#(sighs) archimedes............

[oldkamelle]

[cheemscakecat]

Fun/Interesting details in Expiration Date

Heavy knows that Pauling is calling them, and lets Scout be the one to answer. Also, road safety because he’s not distracted driving.

Medic is so hyped about tumor bread.

Hoovy smelling the sandwich and deciding it’s safe to eat [or that it doesn’t matter at this point].

Pyro standing like that. He don’t know what’s going on, but he’ll still be polite. Also, Sniper just chillin in the back with a poker face the whole time.

Medic smiles at Soldier as they walk past. Engineer’s got that Conhager death-cheating focus at the moment.

Spy’s eyes widen angrily when he realizes it’s Scout at the door and then he smirks like; “Oh hi! Twelve hours was enough time for you to get bored of my absence, then?”, not expecting a sincere apology [maybe one orchestrated by the other teammates, but not Scout].

There was some vitriol behind that “***”, look at his nose. He does not want Scout to gloat, try to prank him again, or give a fake apology. And that’s valid, since the team dying is something Scout should have taken seriously, and the last wishes handled with respect. He crossed a line that Spy doesn’t take lightly.

Dad, I threwed up. But in all seriousness, that’s the “My family is dysfunctional, and I don’t know how to be emotionally honest with people” posture.

See my bucket scene analysis for more on these two.

He didn’t say “You’re terrible with girls” in a snide or smug tone, he said it with like actual parental concern. “Scout, no you have three days! Do you want to die rejected or die before you can enjoy being together? No. Don’t do this to yourself.”

Look at that cup, he did not need a refill. This fake smirk and disinterest is Spy’s way of checking how serious Scout is about this last wish and taking his advice. And when he goes “This never leaves this room” Spy perks up.

Medic was taking a sample of bread tumor puss [or injecting it with something].

They have a whole entire wrestling ring, how did I never notice that?

This is one of those multiple choice questions where you can choose more than one answer and have it be right. But the chicken in combination with the other options looses you points, and just taking the chicken is like the token wrong answer.

Spy sighs when he realizes Scout chose just the chicken. Like chile, I gave you multiple options and you still went with your go-to that doesn’t work!

This room has a gym floor, which implies Spy took a bunch of fancy stuff from one of his rooms just for this date training. Also shoutout to the other teammates for helping with this.

Okay, so most of these decorations came from Pyro, who Scout is terrified of. Archimedes came from Medic, who Scout also doesn’t want to make angry, and the grass cutouts are potentially part of the base camouflage. But that disco ball? That belongs to Scout, he just doesn't want anyone to know he’s real into that. [The team would not judge, but his brothers would, so.]

Man when he gets his heart broken, I hope he finds the right girl for him. He deserves better than Pauling always making excuses to turn him down instead of telling him like it is.

Foreshadowing Solly being romantical towards Zhanna. Look at this content man.

Spy holding his knife like this. There’s no reason for it to be a threat, so he’s just genuinely in the habit of doing this while listening. Or while nervous, which also makes sense.

[simp999]

You want Medic asks? I got ‘em! (Also hi)

Perhaps a reader that wears long sleeves all the time wears short sleeves, revealing a bunch of scars? Medic gets a little freaked out and the reader has to calm him down and tell him that no, they aren’t self harm scars, and then excitedly tells Medic the stories of how they got their scars.

(Have a nice day Meg friend :))

Scars - They're not what you think.

Medic x Reader Drabble

Wc: 240

Theme: Fluff

Taglist: @electro-omen @skeleton-stomper-xoxo @pillow-14 @moopy-milk @emotionallyunwellmedic

Masterlist

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Lutz' stomach dropped when he saw you roll up your sleeves. He immediately had that pit in his stomach, struggling over his words when he tried to ask if those scars were scars crafted by yourself. You hurriedly had to explain to him that no, they weren't;

"See? This one I got when I fell off my bike,"

You trailed your finger over to another one, closer to your fingers,

"This one was when I cut myself trying to make a clay figure."

You ran your fingers through his hair to calm him down, and he offered you a gentle squeeze.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack, Liebchen!"

He sighs out as he examines your scars, gently tracing over them with a gentle finger. You must have been awfully clumsy to receive al of these, he thought. Either way, he brings your arm up to kiss your scars, tugging you closer to him to get to some of the ones that are higher up. Eventually, you're hugging him with the closed distance. He combed his fingers through your hair, admiring you.

"I think your scars are pretty, mein Kleiner Engel."

You couldn't tell if he was going to follow that up by asking if he could perform surgery on you or not, but you loved him all the same.

Archimedes came to nestle into your shoulder while you leaned into Lutz, him offering you a short, sweet kiss on the crown of your head.

.

.

.

Mar.29.24

[the-laughing-lunatic]

Mediscout cute headcanons!!!

(Omg yea I love these guys so much, def one of my main ships. I also rlly like their dynamic in emesis blue but y’know, not very cute. I have a lot of thoughts about these guys so I accidentally made this really long— word count: 1714. Thx for requesting! :3)

Medic x Scout headcanons!

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── 

☆Platonic☆

Scout’s definitely scared of Medic at first 

I mean, when your coworker mentions plans about putting a baboon uterus inside you you’re gonna be a little on edge

Avoids checkups for so long Medic has to find him and drag Scout himself to the medbay

“Sheiße, you are acting like a little child right now, it is not such a big deal Herr Scout. I am simply going to check a few things.”

“Well I’m sorry if I ain’t too thrilled to have some psycho puttin’ needles or animal parts or whatever in me.”

Medic groaned. “I just need to check your temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. Now can you please shut your mouth and let me work?”

While he took Scout’s heart rate, both annoyed, Archimedes flew to Scout’s shoulder and nuzzled into the man’s neck

After the checkup Medic sighed and ushered his dove over. “Him? Really Archimedes?” 

The dove cooed. “Well then, I trust your judgement, I suppose I’ll try to be nicer to him.”

After that he did try to be kinder to Scout, staying around him more, listening to what he’s saying at dinner, looking through his room to learn more about him—

That’s not how Scout interpreted it though, and one day when Medic was trailing a little too close to him again he just snapped “Will you fuckin’ cut it out!?”

“Cut what out?”

“This- this weird stalkerish thing you’re doing. What, you makin’ fun of me? You gonna take my organs in the middle of the night? What do you want?”

“Oh. I was trying to be nicer to you. I could stop if you want.”

“If you wanna be nice you could try talkin’ to me for once.”

And Medic did

Both of them are absolute yappers, and Scout quickly got more comfortable with Medic as they talked more

He’ll never forget the first time he saw Medic laugh

Like, genuinely laugh

He’d seen Medic laugh many times before, either on the operating table or during battle but it was always just…scary

When he actually laughed Scout couldn’t help but laugh as well, because Medic’s real laugh was so different of what he had thought of him

It was warm and nice, and suddenly Medic wasn’t just this psycho ex-doctor, he was also his friend

When they go out for drinks Medic often has to carry Scout back to the base because of his incredibly low alcohol tolerance (not that it’s hard though)

Medic would teach Scout how to take care of his birds in the case he was especially busy, Scout’s their godfather now

I feel like they’d also work well in a qpr, though Medic would have to help Scout a little since he’s been comfortable with his asexuality for longer and has probably been in one before

I headcanon them as both on the ace spectrum so I’m gonna delve into that a bit

I feel like Scout is graysexual while Medic is completely sex-repulsed

Scout honestly would’ve thought he was allosexual for the rest of his life until he heard Medic talking about how being ace felt for him

And he was like “huh, I relate to some of that”

Scout definitely has a lot of questions though

“So like- what’s romantic? Cus I don’t wanna take this too far, but you’re my cucumber, or squash— whatever the word is an’ I wanna show that I care about ya.”

“It’s zucchini, Jeremy. And the point of being in a queerplatonic relationship is that we get to make our own rules for what works for us. All you have to do is ask me if you want to try something.”

“Oh, um, well then. Is it okay if I kiss your cheek, doc?”

“Yes, Jeremy, it’s very okay.”

♡

Biggest dorks ever btw

Just so you know

☆Romantic☆

Medic would fall in love (or realize it at least) over something trivial

Accidentally brushing hands, a word of praise after a battle that made Medic especially appreciated, Scout falling asleep on his shoulder at movie night, etc.

It was weird, because Scout was almost the opposite of his type, he was loud, arrogant, and less than intelligent, but he accepted Scout as the outlier

Even though Medic fell first he didn’t initiate it

Though his moral compass was less than straight when it came to advancing the field of medicine, it felt weird to be the one starting anything with a guy nearly 20 years younger than him

He even performed a brain scan on Scout just to double-check his brain was fully developed (surprisingly, it was) so he could feel less weird about his crush

For a long time he just thought of it as an enjoyable distraction, not anything that could go anywhere

Scout liked Ms. Pauling, and Medic was fine with it. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to date Scout, he just liked the idea of a relationship, and Scout was an attractive man he could project those wants onto.

At least that’s how he reasoned it to himself

The giddy laugh Medic couldn’t help but let out every time he saw him, the way he always made sure to be gentler when he gave Scout his shots, how a Boston accent now equaled attractive in his mind (that didn’t come from Scout though, that’d be ridiculous)

With Scout though, his moment of realization was much less trivial

He was at four health a minute away from the end of the match, desperately trying to keep the blood from the bullet wound in so he wouldn’t have to go to respawn

Getting in respawn at the end of a match was miserable, because you might get stuck in there for hours after so everyone tried to avoid it at all costs

Scout’s eyes widened as he watched his health drop to three, no dispenser in sight

He closed his eyes and mentally prepared himself for sitting in the cold room for god know how long, until he saw a light above him

Holding his medigun, Medic stood above him, and the red glow surrounding him as he healed him made him almost look like an angel, his saviour

A psychotic angel, but an angel nonetheless

He felt Medic grab him by his collar (at what point did his knees go weak?) and say to him “Get up schweinhund, and fight.”

They won the match, at least that’s what Scout heard, he didn’t remember anything after Medic saved him

His entire body was on autopilot until the time he went to bed, when he had all night to think about how he was definitely attracted to guys

He definitely had a type though, regardless of gender

Glasses, dark hair, smarter and more mature than him (though that was a low bar), an itty bitty bit psychotic and have huge honkers— (jk jk jk) 

Scout starts coming to the medbay for the tiniest things now so he can see Medic more

“Medic, I got a splinter” “Medic, my elbow’s sore” “Medic, I have a major crush on you and don’t know what to do with it”

After a bit of this, Scout just gave up excuses, Medic didn’t seem to mind his company

It became routine, after dinner Scout’d follow him to the medbay and talk with him while  Medic filled out paperwork, occasionally giving a nod or short question to let Scout know he was still listening

One night though, Scout didn’t follow him back

Medic was disappointed, he had gotten rather fond of his chatter, but shrugged it off as Scout being tired

After a few minutes of paperwork, there was a knock at the door

He opened it to see a very nervous Scout holding a bouquet of roses

“H- hey doc! Um, y’know, we’ve been hangin’ out for a while, I really like you, and I hope you at least like me a little, so, uh, wanna go on a date sometime? Please?”

Medic just stands there for a solid bit before taking the flowers and smiling. “I’d love to.”

Scout takes him to a nice restaurant (that was definitely his idea and not Spy’s) and pays the bill for the both of them, which was substantial because Medic has a taste for the most expensive things on the menu

And Scout is a hella picky eater

“So like, can I have the steak, but - and stay with me here - you grind it up, grill it, cut one of the rolls in half and add the steak, along with fuckin’ ketchup, mustard, lettuce, pickles—”

“Sir, are you describing a burger to me?”

“...yeah?”

“It’s on the kids menu.”

“Oh. Sweet, then can I have that?”

After the date Medic lets Scout kiss him

They suck I hate them so much I don’t think about them all the time (lying)

Nicknames Scout calls Medic: Doc, Angel, Angelcakes, Babe

Nicknames Medic calls Scout: Hase, Schatz, Liebling, Dear

On the battlefield Scout’s constantly by Medic

“Hey Angelcakes, check this out!” “Didja see that? Didja see that?”

If they have to be separated any time Scout sees him he’ll give Medic a kiss

“Hase you’re at ten health, can you please stop trying to kiss me for a second so I can heal you?” 

“Ugh, fine.”

After he’s done Medic gives Scout a kiss. “Thank you, on your way.”

Clingy ass motherfuckers

Scout’s way more obvious with it than medic though

Medic hardly even has to do anything, they’ll just be talking and Scout’ll notice half-way in the conversation that he’s cuddled up in Medic’s arms

Scout often sits in Medic’s lap as he works, rambling on about some comic he read or whatever.

After a few months of dating Medic only sleeps in Scout’s room

It feels more homey than his, which he admittedly already slept in very little due to his unfortunate habit of passing out at his desk

Nights often consist of Scout cuddled into Medic’s chest while Medic reads aloud to the both of them

(real talk reading together is such an underrated couple activity can we talk about this—)

“ —alright, that’s the end of the chapter. Liebling, are you asleep?”

“Nah, just relaxed. Love you angel.”

“I love you too Jeremy, Goodnight.”

They are the biggest saps ever and I will stand by this until the day I die

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── 

[jamisonwritestf2trash]

HeavyMedic Fluff As an Appology For The Angst!

————————————————————

Ough, these queers (positive!)

————————————————————

For Heavy, it was love at first brutal slaughter. He saw Medic go absolutely batshit insane and blood thirsty and literally went 😍.

Medic took longer to realize that the warm feeling he felt whenever Heavy laughed or just looked at him warmly while he ranted on about his birds, or human organs and viscera, was a love feeling.

————————————————————

Heavy tried to ask Medic out at least three times before Medic realized he was asking him out.

"Will Doktor come out to dinner with me?"

"Oh! Ja, I'd love to mein friend." Literally just assumes it's a friendly thing and that Heavy could never feel the same way, while Heavy is literally dying across the table. Heavy just finally grabs this man by the shoulders and just says

"I HAVE ROMANTIC FEELINGS FOR YOU DOKTOR!"

"Oh! Well, vhy didn't you say so!?"

Que a deep sigh from Heavy.

————————————————————

Heavy is loved by Archimedes immediately. After all, Medic has ranted about him many times. Happy coos when Heavy enters the lab. Medic would be lying if he said he wasn't a little jealous about how fast their bond was growing, but he's still happy that they seem to get along.

————————————————————

Uh, that's all for now because I am so tired. I wasn't gonna write anymore tonight, but i can't just leave you with two straight angst posts, especially when I have another angst ask to write soon 😭

[caramelcoatednightmares]

Just Another Icarus

Joel “Archimedes” is currently walking through the town square of Hels. Normally he doesn’t like to be out at this time when the streets are busy and crowded. He feels like it’s the times where he dies most often. But he really wanted to try this new recipe he saw, and he was just short some eggs. Which is why he is speedwalking rather than walking through the square. He knows exactly where the cart that sells them are and once he gets them he can hurry home just as quickly, no worse for wear and no death to mark off in his journal.

He reaches his hand into his coat pocket and grips the journal for some sort of comfort. Its leather bound and there’s faded brown where he usually rubs his thumb to soothe his anxieties, which he is currently doing. Joel speeds up as he sees market stalls come into view. He’s so close. Then he feels a knife against his side. Well, sort of his side. It’s a bit lower down and he can immediately gauge the height of his attacker. Being as extremely tall as he is, he figures it would be hard or even terrifying to try and kill or mug him. But he quickly learned he wasn’t so lucky. The attacker speaks loud enough for Joel to hear but quiet enough to still be a whisper.

            “Take a right and head into that alley.”

Joel listens, wanting this over quickly. He takes the next right and into the alley. The attacker removes the knife and Joel takes a step back, turning around to see his attacker.

            He looks downwards at them and tries his best to smile. But his lips quiver with nervous. “How can I help you?”

            They scoff and hold the knife up at him. “I don’t need help. I’m mugging you.”

            “Oh.” Joel sighs. He wouldn’t be able to get those eggs now.

            The mugger scowls at the lackluster reaction. “Oh? That’s all you have to say.”

            “Mmm, yes. I think so.” Joel nods.

            The mugger rolls their eyes then sneers, taking a step closer. “Fine. What’s the name now, Beans?”

            Joel puts his hands up defensively as he’s backed further into the alley. “It’s means, actually. But you can call me Archi—”

            “Don’t care. Empty your pockets.”

Joel nods and slowly reaches into his pockets. He pulls out his coin—diamond?—purse and tosses it in the mugger’s direction. They grin, sharp teeth on show.

            Joel suppresses a shiver and clears his throat. “Is that all? If so, I’ll just—”

            The mugger aims their knife at him and Joel freezes. “What else do you have?”

            “That’s all. Promise.” Joel smiles, soft and charming.

            The mugger squints at him. They tilt their head and raise an eyebrow. “Look, Archie. I’d love to let ya go, truly. But there’s just one problem.”

            “Which is…?” Joel’s smile turns more nervous, glancing at the knife then the mugger.

            “Your clothes.”

            “My clothes?” Joel repeats.

            “You’re just askin’ to be shanked walkin’ around Hels like that.”

Joel looks down at himself with a critical gaze. He wears a long coat, maybe the proper term is a trench coat or tail coat? He’s not really sure, he just knows it looks good on him. It’s black with a dark red accent going down the edge. Underneath he wears a faded red vest with muted browns and golds swirling as accents and a white undershirt poking out from under the vest.

            He looks back up at the mugger. “I don’t see the issue. If the outfit is that atrocious, I can just be out of your hair and you’ll never have to see it again.”

Joel once again tries to slip past the mugger and this time it gains him a quick nick of the knife. The blade catches on his coat sleeve and leaves a tear, just barely missing his skin. He raises his hands and backs up again.

            The mugger sighs and twirls their knife between their fingers. “Listen, Archie. If you keep dressin’ like that you won’t survive another hour here. It’s no wonder ya stink of death.”

            Joel clears his throat. “If we’re going to keep talking, I think you should know its Archimedes and not Archie.”

            “Same difference, yeah?”

            Joel opens his mouth the speak again but clothes it when the knife aims at him. He takes another step back and feels his back hit the wall behind him. “Now let’s be reasonable, here. I gave you all I have, there’s really no reason to kill me now is there?”

            The mugger shrugs and steps closer. “Not really, but there’s a lesson to be taught.”

            “That being?”

Joel winces as he feels the knife stab into his side. It digs in and he swears he can see stars as his vision starts to fade in and out.

            The mugger removes the knife with a squelch. “Don’t go dressin’ like that in Hels. Someone’s goin’ to kill ya over it.”

Joel gasps awake in his bed. His side still stings from the harsh removal of the knife, a dull phantom pain. Another name to knock off the list he supposes. Joel closes his eyes and feels another name floating at the edges of his mind. Hypatia. Joel Hypatia. Surely this will go better than before. He still has to collect his belongings at any rate.

archiveofourown.org : Just Another Icarus

my commissions

emergency commissions

other ficlets

[gay-opossum-in-the-garbage]

Heh…Birds

Pairing: Medic/Scout

Rating: T

Word count: 1196 words

Other tags:

Awkward Flirting, Medic being weird, Bird Attacks, Crushes, Not Beta Read, Brief Descriptions of Violence, Engineer showing up at the end, They're crushing on eachother, third person, crossposted on AO3

Medic spent his time in the RED base’s infirmary doing the most important thing he could be doing; spending time with his birds. The pure white doves that he himself had rescued from a Prime Minister’s wedding were his utter pride and joy.

Whether it was playing with them or cleaning the blood off of his favorite, Archimedes, that was when he felt happiest. Besides when he was on the battlefield of course, the glorious sight of blood gushing from his enemies couldn’t be topped.

Though, even then, the birds were always nearby. They would always fly out when he walked out the steel doors and into the conflict, Archimedes propped on his shoulder. He was always just as excited as his owner when they were splashed with a BLU’s blood and guts, that’s why he was Medic’s favorite.

But of course, the Medic loved all of his doves. Though, right now it was just Archimedes and another one of his doves, both perched on his shoulders, while he wiped down his bonesaw.

They had just returned from a successful battle with the BLUs, a quite bloody one at that, and Medic of course needed to keep his tools looking clean enough. How else would he be able to convince his teammates to let him do surgeries on them?

While he cleaned the weapon, his mind seemed to wonder off to where it usually went during these rare moments of quiet: the Scout. Those adorable buck teeth, his freckled face, and those thrilling shrill, high pitched screams of his.

He drifted back to the initial celebration they had when they had killed the last enemy merc. The hooping and hollering of his excited teammates were ignored as all of his attention was on Jeremy, the Scout.

He was congratulating himself, pointing with his steel bat while exclaiming how amazing he was and how many “suckers” he had killed. While many of his other teammates found this behavior annoying or childish (and maybe it was), Medic found it endearing.

Medic laughed to himself as he sidestepped and pulled the Scout into a side hug, Medic’s hand placed on Jermey’s left shoulder with Scout’s face pressed against the Medic’s bloodied chest. He yelled out a congratulation to the team before patting his shoulder and letting Jeremy go.

When they all dispersed to go to their areas for a much needed break, Medic caught a glimpse of the Scout rushing to his room. He was pushing the brim of his hat down to cover his reddened face that was nearly the same color as the small splotch of blood on his cheek, mumbling something to himself while watching his feet. Medic felt his heart flutter a bit as he watched him speed-walk away.

Medic sighed to himself, putting the saw down before hearing a scream ring through the building followed by the sound of many tiny wings beating as once.

He flew around to see the Scout fly through his doors while being tailed by five hungry birds.

“Medic! Get your damn birds dude!” Scout shrilled as he pointed at the flock of birds

Medic whistled and had his precious flock settle down on the table he was cleaning his tools on.

“Ah, I do apologize Scout. They can get quiet…excited when they see you,” Medic laughed as he helped the two other birds off his shoulders.

“Medic, you gotta get a control your birds man. I’m getting real sick and tired of getting scratched,” Scout said as hopped up on the examination table. This had happened three times already, Medic had to admit, but it wasn’t his fault his birds loved the Scout so much.

Scout WAS very scratched up, though the wounds weren’t too deep and could probably be healed relatively quickly.

“Oh do not worry Jeremy, I will have a stern talking to with them,” Medic laughed as he hoisted up his Medigun on his stand and turned on a low stream of Über directed at the Scout.

He pulled up a chair and sat, looking up at the still bloody face of the younger man. It seemed that he couldn’t get to his room quick enough to get the blood off his cheek before getting swarmed.

Medic stood up, grabbed the rag he was using to clean his tools, and pressed it into the Scout’s cheek, trying his best to clean his face with the bloodied cloth. Medic watched as Scout averted his eyes while his cheeks became a rosy pink.

Medic smiled to himself as he sat back down put the rag in his pocket. He clasped his hands together and rested his head on his hands, just staring.

Scout kept making quick glances at the Medic while twiddling his thumbs.

“Uh, Medic, don’t cha think that you could, you know, up the Über?”

“Now why would I do that? I don’t want to waste all of my precious Über on some scratches”

It didn’t actually save Über.

They continued to simply sit in silence, Scout’s face progressively getting hotter as his wounds slowly healed. Medic eventually, out of nowhere, scooted forward and grabbed Scout’s wrist to inspect his arm.

“Did anyone ever tell you that you have amazing veins, Scout?” Medic smiled up at the other man.

“Uh…no?” Scout questioned.

“Did you know you have -O blood? That means are a universal donor”

“Uh, cool? I guess?”

“You should really let me draw some of your blood sometime. For the good of the team”

Due to the concerning amount of radioactive energy drinks the Scout drank, Medic questioned whether or not his blood would even be safe. He would have to test that next someone needed a transfusion.

But of course, he didn’t say it as a serious suggestion. In Medic’s mind, this was flirting, in Scout’s mind, this was a threat.

Even then, Scout still blushed while praying that the damn Medigun would heal him quicker. Medic let go of his wrist and simply watched him as the last of the cuts finally healed themselves.

He stood up and switched off the stream before getting a spare set of clothes for the Scout due to the ones he was wearing being shredded. Medic always kept a spare set of clothes for the Scout, just in case.

Scout had already jumped off the table, taking the clothes and making sure to keep his distance from the birds that seemed to eyeing him down.

“Well Scout, be safe, and watch out for birds,” Medic smiled as he patted Scout on the shoulder.

“Thanks, for the clothes and stuff. And control your birds!” Scout mumbled as he walked out the doors and down the hallway.

Medic watched him walk away, leaning on the doorframe and sighing to himself. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t even hear the footsteps of the engineer behind him.

He was only alerted to his presence when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Doc, you gotta stop putting birdseed in that poor boy’s pockets,” Engineer frowned.

Medic simply giggled to himself. He definitely wouldn’t be stopping anytime soon. Not his fault that he loved him.

[textingtroublesanswers]

Ludwig! I have a question regarding the doves: when you stole acquired them, did they come with names or did you name them? What are the names of the doves in your flock? What are their favorite treats? Do they have favorite toys?

-🦖

Ludwig beams, "I named them all! There were originally seven of them, Archimedes, Diogenes, Sappho, Arete, Eureka, Euclid, & Persephone. Unfortunately, Persephone is no longer with us." He gets sad for a moment, mumbling something in German under his nose before taking in a deep breath.

"I have since gained more birds. The wedding van crew reproduced, I picked some disabled or elderly birds from the streets, or the others brought along friends. My flight is now made up of both pidgeons & doves, but only the wedding van crew actually recognise their names."

"As for their favourite treats & toys, everyone prefers something else. Most of the flight really likes fruit, but some go nuts over grit, even though they're not supposed to have it as a treat but as a digestion aid. Silly birds." He shakes his head.

"As for toys, a lot of them will try to steal my tools if they're reflective enough. Pidgeons really enjoy mirrors for some reason. Otherwise I have some bells, hanging toys, & other regular bird toys. There's something for everyone."

Ludwig sighs, "Except Archimedes, of course. He is only satisfied by guts. The amount of times I have to clean him in a day..."

[mehidktbh]

Bandages

Pairing: Dr. Ludwig "Medic" Humboldt x Fem!Reader

Summary: Getting hurt on the field leads you to take a trip down to Medic's lab in hopes of a quick recovery. Only to get more than what you expected.

Warning: Blood, mentions of fainting and nausea, serious injury...?, talk of bone, swearing, bad german translations, nakedness???, the reader takes their shirt off and some sexual tension ;)

A/N: Why am I suddenly getting into tf2 again? I mean after years of knowing the game why does the hyper-fixation come back after everything,,, (Anyway let's just hope the fandom isn't that dead) 👀

A soft murmuring surrounds you, your eyelids closing every once in a while as you sit back. Your palm supports your head as you try to stay awake. Unknowingly knowing that you are full-on staring at Solider ahead, he sat opposite you on the other side of the room. The more time passes as you sit amongst multiple (injured) men, some more severe than others as they clutch themselves into a puddle of agony. All you got out of today's battle was a nice old spy knife in the back. Taken out previously by you and now all that was left was a gash, dripping and leaking of blood.

But the loud sound of the lab door awaken you out of your slumped-over state, merely wiping off the drool that had only appeared under your mouth. "Thanks, Doc!" Scout walked out happily, his cheerful mood was something everyone was looking forward to. Instead, he showed off his new bandages. And feeling no pain was something everyone wanted...

Just before you could dip your head down back into your half-asleep state the sound of Medic clearing his throat scared you again. Looking up to see him, his straight posture and evil smirk were too well-known, as his eyes drifted to you as he proudly spoke. "Y/N?" You quickly fumbled getting up from your comfortable position of being in that chair for so long, swearing under every step you took until the doors shut behind you.

"Wieder von hinten erstochen?" You turn to Medic, confused and staring into his eyes as you tried to understand what he just said. "Spy, again?" He said more clearly, turning around as he began to get his equipment together. "Ha, yeah..." You said, standing there awkwardly as you tried to laugh dryly too. Looking around the room, a single bed creepily welcomed you to lie down. But the dark red blood spots that littered the white sheet told you otherwise. Medic looked up, eyeing you from head to toe before smirking.

"Vell, take your zhirt off." Looking over to him he had his back turned to you. Thank God. A bit of respect was something you appreciated out of Medic when it came to you, though he didn't with the other mercs...

So you quickly discarded of your red shirt, of course feeling the sense of discomfort and embarrassment instantly rose to your head and body. Trembly hands, the feeling of fainting and vomiting all over the tilted floors were flooding your mind. But you didn't have any time to act on them as you were soon ushed to sit down on the bed. Medic's hands came out to lightly push you down, the feeling of his latex gloves was cold but comforting.

His tongue ticked against his teeth, as he swore in German, though you couldn't see him you could feel his hot breath tickling your neck. The strong feeling of his eyes staring daggers at every part of your back, not to mention the slight ranking of his fingers down your bare skin too. After a while of sitting in such an uncomfortable position for what felt like an eternity, Medic sighed. The sound of him dropping the tool back into the dish meant it was over.

"Is it done?" You questioned, looking back for a second, swallowing the amount of swelling you could still feel. "Nein. I still need to wrap you up," He walked around, grabbing a roll of bandages, his whole hand swallowing it up. "Coo!" "Precisely Archimedes." As he walked back to his original spot behind you his hands reached out, directing you to sit up straight with your hands raised. You watched as his fingers rank up and down your whole chest, as he pulled more on the roll of bandages.

Your eyes stalked him as his hand suddenly appeared in front of you. His chest was right up against your back as he was trying to get a clear view of what he was doing in front. Grazing and still trying to be respectful as he slowly and carefully wrapped the bandages around your bra. His fingers just touching your breasts through the material before he finally stopped.

"Alles erledigt!"

[rayclubs]

For Writing: Medic and Pyro interacting? Maybe Pyro helping Medic take care of his birds?

Ficlet under the cut.

"You're not a bird person, are you?"

Pyro shrugged stiffly. The doves flocked to him like children to an ice-cream truck. He swatted them away gently but firmly, and kept his eyes on the exit door.

"They'll grow on you."

A curious pigeon sat on his shoulder and clicked its beak against his eyepiece. He poked its belly in return. Like its owner, it didn't seem to mind.

"You can give him a scratch if you like."

Reluctantly, he traced a few feathers with the tips of his fingers. Predictably, the pigeon bit him.

"Archimedes! No! Shoo!"

He watched it soar and wondered what it would taste like roasted. Horrible, his intuition supplied. Horrible, his stomach agreed, curling up into a knot.

"Socrates likes you."

He looked around, trying to guess which of the haphazard white smudges behind his goggles was Socrates, but they all looked the same, and one of them sat ontop of him like it owned the medbay. He shook his head roughly, if only to spook it.

"He does! Look at him snuggling up to you!"

Before the sugary overflow of undeservedly cutesy descriptors could continue, he stuck his fingers under the seam on around his neck and pulled his mask up to expose a part of his chin. Medic acknowledged it with a quick glance but, thankfully, didn't stare when he spoke out the side of his mouth: "How's that cage looking?"

"Eh, it's a bit more complicated than I thought," Medic admitted, not humorlessly, and pointedly raised two metal parts that very clearly did not go together.

Should have asked Engie.

"Herr Engineer offered some assistance," the doctor continued like reading a man's thoughts was a habitual kind of tease to him.

Pyro hummed. His voice was uncomfortable, like an unwieldy misshapen wrench. "Then why ask me?"

"I thought you'd enjoy it," Medic shrugged, taking no more offense than was intended - that is, none.

Pyro sighed and crouched next to him, causing the dove flock to disperce in a flashy white burst. "You're a bird person. You watch the birds. I'll try the cage."

Medic put the instruction manual down, swept the screws up and into a neat heap next to it, and straightened his back with obvious, long-wanted relief. "Thank you."

[ask-the-tf2-mercs]

Dearest Medic,

I doubt that you would be in bad health, considering your profession, but still I hope this letter finds you in good health. While not a dove, I did find a rather interesting bird while staying at a small hotel in Australia. I have come to understand that you are more interested in cardiovascular research, the Zebra finch is a common research subject in neuroscience experiments.

I also came across a well embalmed body from the 13th century, and the heart is still intact! I hope for it to aid in any dissections you wish to perform.

In the cage is Ziggy, the Zebra finch, and some of her friends, and the one in the body bag is the nameless body.

I hope you can find time to invest in an aviary as to keep your birds happy,

-The Gifting Anon

P.S. would you happen to know of any gifts that Soldier would like? I was thinking a world war II propaganda pamphlet, but I'm not quite sure if that is a good gift.

Medic: To start.. I haven't a single idea what Soldier would like as a gift. He's quite the.. enigma, we'll call it. Putting it nicely, of course. After all, you could bottle him up dirt and he'd probably enjoy it.

Medic: Secondly, as per usual, I can see that someone in the company has taken the body bag and body. A shame. [sighs] But I'm not surprised.

Medic: And lastly, I do appreciate the birds. I will.. need to hurry and find a cage for them. And then possibly a new home. You see, Archimedes barely tolerates the other doves on his best days. He's quite the jealous bird when it comes to my attention. [pets one of the finches and chuckles] I'm sure Sniper will know what to do with you all, don't you fret!

[kellanved-ammanas]

TF2 Drabbles: Heavy/Medic - Bird Heads

Summary: Hallowe'en prompt: anything to do with Medicmedes.

~

Counter to Medic’s expectation upon finding out Merasmus had ‘cursed’ him with a bird’s head this year, his doves weren’t pleased. As he approached, they took one look at him before taking flight to the other side of the lab. Archimedes, forever the bravest of the lot, held his ground but even he flew off when Medic was a couple steps away from being close enough to reach out and touch him.

“There is no need to be frightened my lovelies, it’s just me.” The beak didn’t alter his voice as much as it should’ve but it still did. Seemingly enough that the birds didn’t recognize it. It made whistling impossible as well so he couldn’t even call them that way. Turns out this really was a curse, not something to be excited about as he’d been initially upon catching sight of his reflection during battle.

He could follow the birds across the lab but he’d already done so twice now in hopes of them figuring out he was a friend, if not who he was. All he seemed to be doing was making them more and more distressed, meaning it was time to give up. With a sigh, he let his shoulders slump.

A large hand patted him gently on the back, almost startling him. He turned to see it was Heavy’s; too distracted by the the bird’s newfound fear of him, he hadn’t heard him come in. Heavy had also been inflicted with a bird’s head this year, a robin’s to be precise.

“Is okay.” Heavy’s voice was also not as altered by speaking through a beak as it should’ve been – magic was likely involved in that – but was still a little different. “They’ll get used to Doctor’s new head soon. Or curse will go away when Merasmus leaves.”

“I know, I know. But I’d hoped… I suppose it makes sense that they are frightened. I mean, we would be fairly startled if we an elephant or some other large animal with a human head come out of nowhere that wanted to approach us.” It’d be fascinating too of course, worthy of study. But as smart as his doves were, they weren’t able to make that next step in their processing of this situation. To them he was just a big strange bird face atop a human body.

“Is not all bad. Dove head suits you, is very cute.”

“Thank you. You’re quite adorable yourself.” That aspect of this curse was a nice bright side. But still, hopefully the birds would come around to accepting him soon.

[sk1fanfiction]

this thing i have in my notes that i probably won't finish

Cokeworth is interminably boring.

Cokeworth is grey smoky skies with smog rising from a factory on the horizon.

Cokeworth is long, cold summers without a hint of sun.

Cokeworth is purgatory for teenagers.

It's the intermittent sounds of Eileen and Tobias arguing downstairs as he re-reads his new Potions textbook for the ninth time, fingers drumming against the hard cover to the steady rhythm of their shouts-

A loud thump below the window. Severus's heart skips a beat; he crosses the room and slides the lower half of the window up, and a small hand with short, shiny, black-polished nails emerges, followed by a head of tousled dark red hair and a feral grin.

"Sev!" she says breathlessly.

The climber pulls herself into the room with practised skill but no grace; a large green toad follows. He goes by the name of Archimedes; Severus avoids him at all times.

The climber, Lily Evans, is the single interesting thing about Cokeworth.

She slams his window shut again, panting heavily, and flops down on the floor.

"You'll fall to your death one of these days," Severus rebukes, shaking his head. But he's glad she's come; he's always glad to see her. His bad mood lifts, and his parents' shouting seems far away now.

Lily ignores him, brushing dust and dirt off her favourite dungarees, her wand propped behind her ear, and rifles through his box of records. Cheap, faux-silver earrings dangle out of ear piercings she did herself with a needle.

"I've told you, there's nothing good in there - it's just my dad's stuff." He pauses. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Tuney's driving me up the wall. She's got another one of her boring boyfriends over. Probably wouldn't want me around him, anyway. I might do something weird and scare him off."

Tuney, or Petunia Evans, is Lily's older sister, and they are as alike as a vulture and a swan; that is to say, they are different in every which way. To begin with, Lily is a witch, like his mother, and Petunia is not.

"She just-" The earrings shake indignantly "-won't stop calling me a freak."

"She's an idiot," Severus responds reflexively. Lily Evans is utterly perfect, and even James Potter, moron supreme, agrees.

"I know." Lily sighs. "But for better or worse, she's my sister."

She flicks her wand at one of the records, and it slips out of the case, hovers hesistantly, and then settles down onto the record player. It's terrible, but at least it drowns out the sound of his parents arguing.

Lily's gaze falls onto the Potions textbook, and a smirk crosses her face. "Read it from back-to-front three times already, I assume."

"And added annotations. Can you seriously believe Borage suggested chopping instead of crushing peppermint leaves?"

"The idiot," Lily agrees.

[uloelu]

Location: Lakeside Lagoon, Newcrest

(transcript under the cut)

Episode 3 | Previous | Next

Here it is! As stated before, episodes 3-5 are a bit shorter than usual, but only because I'm in the process of planning a huge slate of parties, plot-changing events, etc. for summer break. No additional parts to this episode, so I'll be back with episode 5 as soon as I can.

If you haven't seen it, I made a post yesterday about my future plans for this series. Link is here!

Copperdale Records lot created by @softerhaze: link here

Episode 4: Mark Collins

Scene 1 - Newcrest

(starts with a boy walking a dog)

Meet Mark. (And Archimedes.)

Mark’s a first-semester senior at Copperdale High, scheduled to graduate early in the winter.

These are his parents, Drs. Whitney and Landon Collins. They’re both esteemed mathematics professors at the Foxbury Institute.

And Marissa, his nearsighted little sister, who’s a sophomore and currently freaking out.

Marissa (examining an acne breakout in the mirror): How am I supposed to show my face at school today? (phone rings) Ooh, Rani’s calling!

Like her parents, Marissa is a math (and science) genius. She’s also a cello prodigy and an outstanding painter. Mark never stops hearing people praise her many talents.

Scene 2 - Copperdale High

Compared to them, Mark’s more like your typical teenage boy. He’s a science whiz, sure. But he’s not Marissa trying to collect skills like infinity stones, or his parents earning PhDs by 25.

He likes to chill with his friends after school, suck face with his sweetheart before it, and just in general enjoy life as a 17-year-old boy.

Don’t believe me? Here he is at lunchtime, grabbing a bite to eat in the cafeteria.

Let’s pretend he hasn’t decided to dine with the principal today.

Ah, he’s moved to sit with Sofia Bjergsen. Finally.

[How cute! Some freshmen are getting lunch with their teacher. They look like babies!]

(cut to Copperdale students eating lunch together)

Social cliques are loosening up as we creep towards summer break. There’s camaraderie to be found in being tired of school, it seems.

Scene 3 - Dog Park, Brindleton Bay

After classes and extracurriculars, Mark and his sister like to take Archimedes to the dog park.

Here’s Marissa feeding a stray. She’d love to have another dog in their home, but her father’s sensitive constitution can barely handle the one they already have.

Let’s listen in on their conversation.

Marissa: You okay? You’ve been quiet all afternoon.

Mark (frowning): Yeah...actually, no. I’m so tired of going to that physics prep class. I think it’s time I put my foot down and tell Mom and Dad that I want to study music in college.

Marissa: You know what they’ll say about that—

Mark (rolls eyes): I know—

Marissa: “The hard sciences are the future. No one with any real life goals wastes their precious education on the humanities.”

Mark: What about you? Don’t you want to become an artist?

Marissa: Sure, maybe as a side job. But I like math, and I like what Mom and Dad do for work. I’m okay with art being just a hobby for now.

Mark (sighs): I wish I could be like you.

Scene 4 - Copperdale Records

(cut to a record store)

Music? Where did that come from?

Oh, right.

Copperdale Records, the hottest place for music lovers and alternative teens to hang out after school.

(Mark is mixing beats in a studio)

Our boy Mark sneaks here on his way home from the dog park (under the guise of studying with a friend, of course).

Fancies himself a producer, a musical jack-of-all-trades.

To be fair, he did teach himself how to mix beats, edit tracks, and play the guitar, piano, and bass. What can I say? The kid knows what he wants.

(cut to Mark strumming an electric guitar)

And as he tests out the newest six-string in the shop, I wish him the best of luck. He’s sorely going to need it.

[jamisonwritestf2trash]

Hello!

New to the fandom and your posts have been lovely to read! I don't know if it's been done already, but, may I request the TF2 mercs' reactions to having a nightmare? Like, frequency, how they cope with them, how they handle them when they happen?

The TF2 Mercs Reactions to A Nightmare!

————————————————————

Anon, you are making me sob. Welcome to the fandom. You'll never be able to leave. But I haven't done this prompt before, so I'm glad to do it now! Uh, angsty as hell and a small spydad mention.

————————————————————

Demo wakes up drenched in sweat. He's had nightmares before, but he doesn't really dream. Dreams are a rarity. Nightmares aren't too common either happening, maybe twice a month. He hasn't found a way to handle them. Drinking booze like water helps temporarily, but so does going back to sleep because if he falls back asleep, then he doesn't have to reflect on what his nightmares might mean. He'll probably end up staring at the wall for a while before going back to sleep. Hoping his brain will forget it by morning. It doesn't. He doesn't know how to cope.

————————————————————

Engie is just tired. He usually buries himself in work so he doesn't have to sleep. Nightmares are a regular occurrence. He doesn't know when they started, or even what they're about half the time. He wakes up with a deep feeling of dread and fear, but he doesn't know why. He can't remember them, so it's weird they have such a hold on him. He'll normally just get up and start his day at that point regardless of its 2am or 7am, trying to distract himself in any way he can. He uses work to cope, tinkering away at some new projects he pulled out of thin air.

————————————————————

Heavy just sighs, rolling over to go back to sleep. He has nightmares very rarely, and none are particularly scary, mainly sad. Occasionally, he'll cry if the nightmare is about something that's too real to him. He doesn't feel the need to react, to cope, to do anything other than let the haze of sleep overtake him again. He likes to think he forgets about the pain his nightmares cause him, but memories of them creep in during the day sometimes. He does check in the mornings that everything is okay and everyone is alright as a sort of coping mechanism.

————————————————————

Medic wakes up crying, well, sobbing. He puts up a good front during the day. Not letting the mix of past traumas and present traumatizing events get to him while he works. But oh boy, is this man riddle with nightmares. He almost thinks it's a punishment of some kind. He can't remember the last time he slept soundly. He'll spring out of bed, wiping the tears from his face and grabbing his glasses, much like Engie he's ready to just start the day, but he hears soft cooing and the flap of wings. Archimedes lands softly on his shoulder, demanding affection from him and immediately distracting him from whatever spiral he's currently in, and sits with him until Medic is subtly convinced by the birds insistence of moving him to the bed to go back to sleep. Always staying in his line of sight while the ex doctor sleeps, making sure his friend is okay

————————————————————

Scout is terrified. Like petrified in fear. He won't move from his bed. He doesn't have nightmares too often, but when he does, they hit him like a train. He just wants to sleep and not be plauged by bad thoughts. He tried to reassure himself that it's all just a dream, all in his head, and most of the time, it works. When it doesn't, however, he thinks about how his mom used to comfort him when he was younger, or just thinking of his mom or his childhood in general, it gives him a safe feeling. He might even find himself calling his mom after just to make sure she's okay.

————————————————————

Snipers eyes open with a sigh as he stares at the ceiling. He's pissed. He's always tired because of this shit. Nightmares are a common occurrence, not as common as Medic's, but still frequent enough to interfere with his sleep schedule. They're stressed induced, and he can't ever find a way to stop them. He's tried drinking, smoking, he even asked Medic for advice, only to be told that, "If I had a cure, everyone would know about it by now." So he just lays there in hatred for his brain, a brain that cursed him with horrible dreams. Sometimes, though, if you catch him on one of his better days, he'll open up just enough for someone to maybe offer up some advice.

————————————————————

Spy only lets a few tears out as he drapes a hand over his face to cover his eyes. His nightmares are more like regret filled dreams, he has them quite a bit, the frequency increasing after Scout joined the other mercs. He lets himself feel sad for only a few seconds before a guilt washes over him, making him feel as if he has no right to feel upset. He might light a cigarette cope. Smoking is the least likely thing to help, but hey, it's an excuse to go outside. He'll never address any of the guilt, shame, or fear feels from his nightmares. He just buries it. Never learning to cope and never feeling like he deserves it.

————————————————————

Soldier is used to it. Nothing really phases him anymore. Not the real world, not the nightmares, nothing. He just goes back to sleep, silently hoping that he doesn't slip back into the nightmares, but he does. He has them at the same frequency as Medic, but is granted no support. He does find comfort once when he finally opens up about them to Medic. Medic and him discussing nightmares between the both of them. He's not one to do this often, though, finding that he doesn't need to cope as long as he pushes down the reoccurring thoughts of his nightmares. He's sure he'll be just fine.

————————————————————

Pyro is hyperventilating, crying, and just a mess. They don't have nightmares often at all, maybe once a year, their mind always being able to protect them from it somehow, but when the nightmare comes its bad. Enough to probably actually traumatize Pyro on some level. Crying helps them in the moment, being a way for them to let their emotions out quickly, but after that, they need comfort, turning to whatever friends (mostly Medic or Engie) who could help them. Both are more than happy to comfort Pyro in their time of need, helping them forget about the dream until next time.

————————————————————

Hot take! These fuckers cry, a lot. Men can cry and still be strong and manly, especially traumatized men. I want to give them hugs :,) I hope this makes sense and follows the prompt bc i am so tired rn, but i had to get this out 😭Anyways, I hope you like this Anon! And again, welcome to the fandom. Enjoy your new life >:D

[twoidiotwriters1]

The Curse of Oenone (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: They deserve a bit of silly goofy -Danny Words: 2,021 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter // Next Chapter Listen to: 'Past Lives' -by Børns

XLIX: No Thoughts Just Concerns

"We have two weeks," Ara whispers anxiously. "How are we supposed to—"

Leo hushes her quickly. "Your brother is coming."

"Oh, cool, exactly what I needed, more people telling me I'm over my head," Ara grumbles as she glares at the couple.

"Be cool, they went through hell for us," he reminds her.

Ara stands there scowling at Percy. "Stop looking at me like I'm mom," he complains. "I won't scold you for hiding food under the pillow."

Annabeth points at the Archimedes sphere. "That looks great, Leo. How does it work?" She's trying to send a message: These two need a moment. 

"Found it before we went to get you, check it out!" The boy guides her away and glances at Ara pleadingly, he looks more concerned about her than for her, like she would stab her brother unprovoked.

She can hear Piper and Hazel sword fighting, and Jason chuckling while he listens to something Frank's telling him. The girl keeps her eyes on the starboard, feeling somehow alienated. She's not sharing the fate of any of these kids, Leo is tied to her by a curse, and once this quest is over, she doesn't know what that'll mean to their relationship.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Percy stands next to her, staring in the same direction she's looking.

Ara smiles a little. "You know I love gossip."

Percy chuckles and then sighs. "I've been having nightmares... about drowning. Even before I went to Tartarus."

The girl looks back at him and fixes her posture. "Oh."

He makes a face. "My current theory is that I've felt pretty uh... not very good at what I do."

Ara frowns. "That's crazy."

"Is it? Couldn't get us out of the Aquarium, and after that I got my ass kicked by a sea monster, and after that, I almost drowned in a cave..."

"Those traps were made to catch you."

"Yeah?" He asks quietly. "Or maybe I was never that good to begin with."

"That's insane," Ara raises a brow. "Percy, you're the greatest hero of our time."

"Nah, Birdy, that's you," his face shows a tentative smile.

"I'm only great because you guys made me great," she squeezes her shoulder. "Without my mentors, there would be no daughter of Olympus."

"That doesn't make me feel better," he admits awkwardly. "You grew up thinking it was okay to risk your life—once you realized you wouldn't get those chances naturally, you..."

"My fatal flaw is ambition, if you hadn't helped me find a way to channel that need, who knows? I would've joined Luke, probably," she pats his back. "Cheer up, Nemo. This was the best possible outcome."

"I'm not sure..."

"Don't even," she says firmly. "Please."

Percy looks at her dejectedly. "You look tired. Go to bed."

Ara laughs. "You just need to feel like you have some control over me, right?"

Percy pulls her close in a loose chokehold. "I'm your brother and I love you, accept my advice!"

Ara smacks his arm and coughs. "Fine, fine! I'm leaving!"

"Hey!" Leo shows up, sneaking between the siblings and pulling Ara to safety. "No tough love!"

"She's alright!" Percy laughs, raising his hands in surrender. "Birdy's just whiny."

"Exactly, don't get her going!" Leo jokes, hugging her head against his shoulder.

"Hey!" Ara complains.

The boy clicks his tongue, patting her hair. "S'alright, doll, let's hug it out..."

"Hey!" She insists grumpily. "I'm not whiny!"

"I thought her voice would change after the growth spurt, but it's still pretty annoying," Percy comments playfully.

"Knock it off!" Ara pushes Leo away and both boys laugh. "I don't like this! Stop it."

"You want them to stop being friends?" Annabeth approaches with a grin.

"Sorry, sunshine, no can do," Leo says gleefully. "Your family loves me."

"Perhaps mom would like to trade you for him," Percy continues.

"I think Paul would love that—"

"No, he wouldn't!" Ara pouts. "Dad loves me!"

Ara's pitiful doe-eyes make the boys cave. Percy tries to comfort Ara but Leo moves faster, his arms wrap around her, and he kisses all over her face. Percy's expression is hilarious as it happens, Ara has allowed other boys to fuss and pamper her throughout the years, but usually, he's the one she chooses. Now Leo has taken his place.

Annabeth holds his hand. "You okay?"

Both teens watch Ara blush while Leo showers her with attention. It's hard to see her as the same kid that would cry during quests, now she looks like a real leader, strong and scary. To Percy, having to come to terms with the fact that she no longer needs nor wants his aid is like a punch in the gut, he enjoyed being an older brother, how is he supposed to act around her now?

"Leo's her soulmate, I didn't know those were real," something weird churns in his stomach, like fear, but sadder.

Annabeth smiles. "Ara's a matchmaker, that should interest you more."

Percy frowns. "I thought they were a myth—Cabin Ten's boogeyman for when they were teased a little too much."

"She says our lights are the same color."

Percy's face flushes. "Does that mean we..."

Annabeth kisses his cheek. "You didn't answer my question, Seaweed brain."

He chuckles and shrugs. "I'm alive. That's what matters."

"I'd like a proper answer, please," Annabeth presses.

"Look at those two," Percy responds, unable to do it himself. "I couldn't wait to see her in love so I could tease her... but I don't think I like it," he rubs the back of his neck. "It's weird. I'm happy for her but I guess I thought..."

"That it would take years for this to happen," Annabeth nods. "You weren't there to make sure Leo was good for her before he could date her."

"My mom loves him," Percy replies, and Annabeth has to suppress her laughter when he says it like it's such a terrible thing. "And it makes sense. A Cabin Nine boy with a sense of humor and so affectionate it's kind of cringe? Aphrodite knew what she was doing."

"Was that her dream boy?" Annabeth asks with amusement.

"I don't know, I'm just saying it suits her," Percy insists. "I'm glad she's with someone so unapologetically head over heels for her... But what they mean to each other..."

"It's a complicated situation," Annabeth admits. "He's cursed, and Ara's the cause. Leo has a plan, and our General is against it, that is the real crossroad."

"I don't want her to go back to how she was when Mike died," Percy says worryingly. "That whole thing about Paris and Helen... I don't know what to tell her."

Ara and Leo return and the girl seems in a better mood. "I'll go to bed only if you convince Leo to do the same."

Annabeth shrugs. "We all need sleep—and Festus can keep an eye on us now, right? No need to have someone on night watch."

Leo scratches the back of his head. "Well, no, but I wanted to check the state of the ship since I've got time—"

"We just came back from a big mission," Ara holds his hand with both of hers and pleads. "Let's go have dinner, then I'll give you thirty minutes to come and check Festus's noggin!"

"Why thirty minutes?" Percy asks.

"It's how long it takes me to get ready for bed," she replies casually.

Percy frowns. "Wait, is Leo sleeping with—"

"Let's all have dinner!" Annabeth pulls Percy away. "We'll call the others, you two go ahead!"

The seven and Ara are having dinner together, all of them wondering out loud what Nico, Reyna, and Hedge may be facing on their own.

"At least they're moving out of the ancient lands, not further in," Frank sighs.

"Yes, but Nico isn't strong enough to move as fast as they need to," Ara points out.

"Well, they have Coach with them, right?" Piper replies sarcastically. "He can keep Nico and Reyna in one piece no problem, as you two were so keen to point out."

Frank and Ara share a guilty look. Leo makes a noise and points at them with his fork. "What's that about? What are you two hiding?"

"Do you think it's okay if we...?" Frank leaves his question open and Ara shrugs.

"Mellie's pregnant."

"What!"

"When did that—"

"Who's Mellie?" Percy frowns.

Ara grins. "Hedge got a girlfriend last December. We thought they were casual but I think they're married now? I'm not sure, that guy is a mystery."

"Dang!" Leo smirks. "Hedge wasted no time..."

"No wonder he'd been looking so stressed lately," Jason grimaces. "Good move from you two, sending him home. He should be with his family."

"Yeah, let's hope he gets to camp safely."

"Birdy, let's keep that kind of thoughts for your inner voice, alright?" Percy scowls. "You sound like Nico..."

"He's a good kid," Jason quickly defends him. "Maybe just a bit pessimistic."

Leo snorts. "That guy opens his mouth and all that comes out are death omens."

"He's the reason we got out alive of the House of Hades," Jason points out gravely.

"What's up with you and Nico?" Piper questions. "One day you're telling us we can't trust him and the next you're Nico's fan club—"

"WOW—"

"I just—"

"Don't ever call me Nico's fan club!" Ara exclaims.

"That's more like it," Percy smirks, eating a mouthful of fries. "But seriously," he swallows and clears his throat. "What's happening?"

"People grow up and realize there are more important things in life than holding grudges," Ara shrugs.

"Yeah, and Eros poked each of you in the butt with his fancy arrows, made you hold hands, and list five things you love about each other," Leo taunts them.

"You shouldn't make fun of Eros, dude, he's the reason Ara's dating you," Piper teases him.

"I pulled Ara because I'm awesome, it wasn't Eros."

"No, it does feel like Eros was bored and realized he had the opportunity to do the funniest thing," Frank adds with a grin.

"You're going to come at me with that, Zhang?" Leo demands with annoyance. "After I saved you from spontaneous combustion? You wanna go there?"

"I wanna," Jason offers bemusedly.

"Petition denied," Leo retorts. "Next!"

"Hey, you're the one who made fun of me for not insulting Nico and he's not here to defend himself! I have the right to tease you!"

"You don't have what it takes, Grace, let it go."

"I think I do," he responds calmly.

"I so wanna use charmspeak and make this worse," Piper nibbles on a strawberry, watching the exchange with bright eyes.

"Piper, control your white boy, don't encourage him!" Leo says.

"Ara, you gonna do something about your chihuahua?" Jason asks back.

"Chihuahua?" Leo squeaks. "Is it because I'm Mexican? WOW, Jason, your Roman racism is showing."

"What? No!" Jason blushes and everyone else starts laughing. "That's not what I meant and you know it!"

"I really thought you weren't like all the other Americans out there," Leo turns to Percy. "You're my last hope, Nemo."

"You're not allowed to call me that," Percy says, still grinning.

"Got it, little mermaid."

"Knock it off, Leobard," Ara chortles. "Jason's being a good friend to Nico and that's not easy, I would know. You should too, you guys were getting along when he started training you!"

"Oh, I understand how hard it is. I don't understand why Jason wants to be friends with him, though," Leo says sarcastically but truly curious. "He's nothing short of hostile towards all of you, except Hazel. And maybe Ara, when he's well-fed."

"Maybe I got tired of having a short and scrawny best friend and I'm trying to change it to a tall and fit one," Jason taunts him.

Leo raises his eyebrows in surprise. His face denotes something more dangerous than hurt or anger, Leo looks at Jason like he's just handed him the best fidget toy on the market.

"Alright," the boy speaks with a shit-eating grin. "Yeah, that's probably good for you, Jace. Giants don't have it easy, huh? Sucks to be you."

Jason hesitates, sensing danger. "I mean..."

"No, no, I get it," Leo stops him from talking, lifting one hand to silence him. "Life is tough for the big guys, I would hate to be you—I get to sleep and don't feel the need to lock my door at all! Good night, y'all!"

He pulls Ara out of her seat and the Mess Hall. The girl waves happily before leaving with him, and Percy tenses as if wanting to follow, but Annabeth keeps him in place and whispers something in his ear. He mutters a reply with a grumpy expression.

Jason turns to Piper and Frank. "Should I lock my door tonight?"

Next Chapter –>

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