#**just my room the rest of the house is normal dw again

[edraculation]

my parents are tormenting me by making me stay up until the absolute sick and twisted hour of 8pm

[vminizzle]

SERIES || My destiny

Chapter 4 : back to normal?

pairing : taehyung x f.reader

genre : angst?

warnings : none :) mention of : bruises?

words count : 1.3k

A/N :hi hi guys i hope you doing well. Here’s the 4th part of this series. I’m trying to post 2 parts today! REMINDER : POOR ENGLISH.

FEEDBACKS ARE WELCOMED

SERIES MASTERLIST

MIN'S RESIDENCE

"you sure you ready to go back?" Yoongi asked hesitantly as you nod confidently.

"i mean, if you're not ready it's totally fine, don't rush yourself. If you don't f-"

"Yoongi." you whined pulling on his arm.

"i've been telling you that I'm fine and ready to go back to uni. It's been a week now.. i won't be alone! I have Momo-"

"and that's what worry me the most.” he joked making you punched him on his shoulder.

“fuck! it hurts idiot!" you laughed before continuing on trying to persuade your brother.

"I was saying.. ah yea I'm not alone, and i'm fine don't worry."

Yoongi finally sighed defeated.

“fine. but! if you feel bad at any moment let me know and I'll come pick you up, huh?"

"i can go back home alone Yoongi." you whined "i'm not a kid anymore.”

"i know you're not a kid, y/n, but i want you to be safe." he said seriously.

"I won't be able to bear it if something happen to you again.. you're my sister, my family. You mean a lot to me.” he looked into your eyes.

"ew you're so soft." you pinched his cheek.

“ugh i was sure you'd make fun of me but i don't give a fuck. I mean it." he said frustrated making you laughed loudly.

"you mean a lot to me too. you're my brother and you're all i have. I love you. thank you for everything." you hugged him tightly making him smile softly.

"ok enough, take off your dirty hands off of me." he pushed you away making you glared at him.

—

"bye see you later idiot." you waved at Yoongi. This one was sat on the couch with his laptop as you grabbed your bag.

“don't want me to drop you off?" he put his laptop on the coffee table before looking at you.

"don't worry, Momo is waiting outside."

"ok, be careful then. and don't forget, text me if you need anything." you nodded as he watched you leave the house.

⋆⁺₊⋆ * ⋆⁺₊⋆

                                CAMPUS

"i'm so happy you're back, we missed you so much." Sana hugged you tightly as you entered the amphitheater.

You sat with your friends at the back of the room as usual waiting for the professor to arrive.

Groups of students were blabbing loudly, others were sitting alone just waiting for the course to start, and some were resting their heads on the table reading to fall asleep again.

You noticed the professor entering the room, so you grabbed your notebook.

"did i miss a lot of stuff last week?" you asked Momo as she shook her head no.

“I'll e-mail you my notes tonight, don't worry. You can look on my papers for now if you want.” you smiled thanking her.

"good morning everyone!" the professor greeted as the students greeted back.

You listened to your course until you felt your phone vibrate into your back pocket.

yoongi : you good?

y/n : yes yes don't worry.

yoongi : i'm not worried.

y/n : bitch!

yoongi : anyway, i'm eating with my friends tonight.

y/n : ok.

yoongi : i just wanted to tell you, they're coming over.

y/n : home??

yoongi : yea. is it okay for you?

y/n : yea dw

yoongi : i'll tell them not to bother you don't worry.

y/n : i'll stay in my bedroom.

yoongi : u don't have to. stay where you want, it's your house too.

You smiled at his message.

y/n : ty.

yoongi : no prob see u later loser.

y/n : see u later idiot.

⋆⁺₊⋆ * ⋆⁺₊⋆

MIN'S RESIDENCE

"how was your day?" Yoongi jumped on you as soon as you entered the house.

"fine." you mumbled into his embrace. "yours?"

"fine too." he replied.

“my friends are coming soon." he informed making you nod.

“i'm gonna take a shower." you told him before going upstairs.

—

"y/n!" Yoongi shouted out your name.

You jumped out of your bed as you went downstairs gulping as you noticed the little group of guys sitting in the living room.

You’ve already seen them a few times but you didn’t know them really well. Yoongi never introduced you to them, even after all these years.

You approached where your brother was sitting.

"hi." you shyly said to the boys.

"Hi!" the cutest boy stood up from his seat rushing to you, bowing as he took your hand in his surprising you.

"I'm Jimin, Park Jimin." he introduced himself kissing the back of your hand softly.

"nice to meet you Jimin. I'm-"

"y/n! I know, Yoongi told me about you." he smiled widely. He was just so adorable.

"yaaa! enough, let go of my sister's hand.” he slapped Jimin's hand away, making the boys chuckled.

He was a really overprotective brother so he’s always been hesitant of introducing you to his friends. Not that he didn’t trust them or anything, but he felt like he had to keep you away.

Yoongi sighed before finally introducing you to his friends briefly.

"Jimin, Hoseok and Jungkook."

You bowed to them with a little smile.

"we eating pizza, come eat. This one’s for you."

Yoongi said making room for you to seat next to him, but you shook your head, taking the smaller box.

“I'll eat in my bedroom, i need to download some documents Momo sent to me.”

Yoongi just hummed.

"eat well." he watched as you walked to the stairs.

"eat well, Miss y/n.” Jimin said smiling to you making you smiled back.

Yoongi slapped the back of his head making the poor boy whined.

"enjoy your evening." you smiled to the boys.

Jungkook avoided eye contact as you looked toward him.

was he shy? you shrugged it off, going to your room.

Sitting on your bed, you smiled as you think about that "Park Jimin guy".

He was really something. He seemed really nice.

Hoseok seemed nice too even if he didn't talk much but his smile was enough to show his kindness.

But that Jungkook was really mysterious.. he seemed to be the youngest between them.

"oh no.." you stopped eating.

"did Yoongi tell them about what happened to you?" tears started forming into your eyes.

"he was probably embarrassed because of me.” you thought, a tear sliding down your cheek.

⋆⁺₊⋆ * ⋆⁺₊⋆

"your sister is so cute." Jimin said before taking a bite of the pizza's slice.

Yoongi glared at him drinking his soda.

“what? i didn't say anything bad. just as cute as her brother." he teased making Yoongi throw his sandal on the boy, this one avoiding it successfully.

"i feel bad." he suddenly said making the boys look at him confused.

"i've noticed the bruises on her thighs..and arms." he sighed.

"why are you even looking at my sister's thighs?" Yoongi stared at Jimin.

"sorry.. it was just.. the bruises were so dark. It seemed painful." he lowered his head down.

Yoongi sighed as he looked at how his friend felt genuinely sad.

"she said she's fine." Yoongi whispered.

⋆⁺₊⋆ * ⋆⁺₊⋆

"oh no, now I'm sure..he saw the bruises." you gasped as you looked at your body, more tears escaping from your eyes.

"he probably was embarrassed to look at me." you muttered wiping your tears away.

You decided to not think about it much as you finished eating and study the notes Momo sent you before sleeping to forget everything.

⋆⁺₊⋆ * ⋆⁺₊⋆

"wait a minute guys." Yoongi stood up making his friends looked at him curiously.

“I'm gonna check on her." he said making them nod.

"tell her i said good night" Jimin said softly making Yoongi roll his eyes.

"yea yea whatever.”

Yoongi knocked on your door.

"y/n? it's me. can I come in?" he asked waiting for you to answer.

He noticed that the light was off so he pushed the door a little more open and peeked inside the room.

He saw you, sleeping peacefully as he approached you.

He picked up the pizza's box and drink from the floor before kissing your cheek. “sleep well sis."

Walking out the room, he stopped midway.

"Jimin said good night." he whispered smiling.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

─────

TAGLIST : @shescharlie @heyjiminnie @starstruckfangirls @bxcndd @0funsite0 @boredban @kungsoonie @bluekim2130

[jungw8ns]

GOING TO AN ESCAPE ROOM WITH ENHYPEN !

PAIRING: boyfriend!enha x gn!reader. GENRE: established relationship, fluff, crack. WARNINGS: profanity (not that much tho), mentions of death (?). WORD COUNT: 100 - 200 each member.

HEESEUNG:

the two of you were so pumped playing an escape room together for the first time that the other people in line had to calm you guys down (which was trully embarrassing to say the least 🤐🤐)

he was looking at the ranking board filled with pictures of players that had succeeded in the shortest amount of time and he just wanted nothing more than to see both your faces on there

but anyways, we all know how competitive heeseung gets 🕴️

oh boy let me tell you, this guy WAS SPEEDRUNNING IT but not the kind you were thinking

the second the timer had started he was literally SPRINTING AROUND THE ROOM LOOKING FOR CLUES YET COMPLETELY MISSING THEM 🏃‍♂️💨💨💨

while he was busy running around, you were picking up the little details in the room and in no time managed to open a few locks

"y/n look i found– oh 😐😑😐"

HE WAS SULKING PLSSS 😭😭😭

when you noticed him standing from afar staring at you with his arms crossed, you called him to solve this one puzzle you already did

*gasps* "oh no! babe i don't understand how to do this, please help me 😔😔🤥🙏🙏"

he had to bite his lower lip to stop himself from letting out that cocky grin but it got out eventually

"oh it's so easy sweetheart, just put this here and then voila! 😉"

when the two of you escaped you suprisingly got to take a polaroid with him home after ranking 2nd in the records

heeseung was the one who held onto it tho, placing it underneath his clear phonecase for safekeeping <3

JAY:

GOD THIS DUDE

THE ESCAPE ROOM WASN'T EVEN THAT SCARY AND YET EVERYTIME YOU GUYS OPEN A LOCK OR A DOOR HIS FIGHT OR FLIGHT INSTINCTS COME UP 😭😭👊👊

"y/n stay behind me >:(("

"um, babe, you do realize that's just a door right?"

"WE'LL BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY?? THE STAFF COULD'VE PROGRAMMED IT TO GROW LEGS?? 😵🧐🧐"

you knew you shouldn't have played horror games with him a few nights ago cause he looked like he was about to lose his mind 😔

you had to shove his ass aside and move on to the next mission cause the both of you knew that he was stalling 🏌️‍♀️

jay was being extra clingy the whole time you were playing, he'd either link arms with you or hold hands (he's literally so adorable) 💞💞

BUT THEN YOU THOUGHT OF DOING A PRANK ON HIM

while you were roaming around the room trying to solve a puzzle, you saw this horse mask on a nearby table

and so you made sure jay was distracted and put on the mask

you could've NOT worn the dusty old thing but where was the fun in that?

"jay can you come here for a sec?"

you hid behind the wall beside the door frame waiting for him to come into your sight and attacked him

now, how about we guess what happens next?

a. he faints

b. he runs away

or c. he slaps you in the face and forces you to buy him food for the rest of the night

if you guessed c then YAY! YOU'RE CORRECT 🥳🎉🎉🎊

THIS HOE SLAPS YOU AS HE SHOULD

"$##/@+(+'£%(:?!!)&£**/*%@"

when he finally takes off the mask like those scenes in scooby doo he's never felt so betrayed in his life

"i- I TRUSTED YOU 😭😭😭 YOU BETTER BUY ME FOOD LATER, I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS, THE BETRAYAL???? LITERALLY UNPROVOKED?????"

he wouldn't stop side eyeing you until you guys finally pulled up on the mcdonalds drive thru

"hi, can i get two um– bts meals please? 😒😒 and two oreo mc flurries 🙄🙄 and also large fries 😐😐"

sane (1/3)

would be trailing behind you like a little puppy (i love him so much 😭😭😭)

he either has his arm linked with yours or held hands every five minutes

JAKE:

really focused on the puzzles he's doing but the second he hears you call out his name for help he's there beside you with the sweetest smile

but anyways, mans was POPPING OFF the entire time you were playing

he was solving problem after problem in no time (he wanted to impress you is why he activated his inner flash ⚡⚡) but he did let you play tho, the last thing he wanted to do was make you pissed at him for hogging all the games

def buried jake with compliments and forehead kisses right after ❤️__❤️

and so the two of you got out in like an hour and a few which you were very proud of

"you were so cool today babe, good job !!"

"aww thank you angel 😊😊"

sane (2/3)

SUNGHOON:

would be linking pinkies with you the whole time, only letting go whenever the both of you had to solve something that needed two or more people

there was this one game tho where he had to arm wrestle this literal hand lever to open the door to the last room (yea...don’t ask why, the staffs were pretty weird 😬😬) 

it made him enjoy the experience a bit more as it was only the two of you playing instead of getting accompanied by strangers

HGAWAHSGDHSGHDA PLSS THIS GUY

“oh this’ll be easy, y/n step aside, i’ll handle this 😏😏😏”

idk if you were supposed to think about how handsome he looked with his serious expression on and his veiny hands coming into frame or be worried for him because the lever was REAL HARD to pull that his veins looked like they were going to pop any second soon, you stepped in and helped him tho cause you were a good s/o <3

from a spectators point of view, the two of you looked like y’all were about shit your pants but the two of you eventually succeeded on beating it, immediately dragging him to the next room which had a sofa in it, laying down to catch your breaths

cliché moment ahead ⚠️⚠️

the two of you shared a few laughs before standing up on the empty space, held hands and started to jump in circles to celebrate your success 💃💃

yupp, y’all were never going back to that hellhole again

very stubborn at first, he wanted nothing to do with the game but then you held him at gunpoint by saying:

SUNOO:

"please just this once or else i'll revoke your mint choco ice cream rights 🔫🔫🔫"

"BUT IT'S SCARY IN THERE BABE :((("

"it won't be that scary sunshine, besides, i'll be ready to 🤜💥 yk?? trust me babe i would never let anyone hurt you <33"

kinda pissed since you blackmailed him into the place and also bc he wanted to play bumper cars and dance mania but he yea he caved in pretty quick 😋😋

(y/n let him play his games in peace tf >:(((( )

once you guys got in tho he realized how normal it was and that it was not terrifying at all

THE EPITOME OF CLINGY OMFG

he wouldn't stop back hugging you and you couldn't bring yourself to push him away to play the games so you just let him walk behind you with his arms on your shoulders 😩😩

(y'all were walking kinda funny but don't tell sunoo that 🤫🤫🤫)

yea the two of you ended up escaping with a whopping 2 hours and a few minutes

but it was the effort that counts so A+++++ for the both if you 😜👍👍👍

sane (3/3)

JUNGWON:

was the one who suggested going, he even searched on naver about really good escape room places to visit and was overall really looking forward it

he liked going to places and having fun with you so it wasn't a shock how his eyes were literally crescents and his dimples were so evident

yea he literally rushed the both of you to the place that you were the first in line 😵

while waiting for the staff to finish setting up he was playing with your connected hands like 🖐️✊🖐️✊ (so precious 💞💞)

"y/n why are you taking so long 😭😭 what if they close and we end up not solving a single lock, hurry up por favorrr 😩🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏"

when they finally lead you to the room he was kind of surprised that they had separated the two of you into different spaces (like the one with txt where they had the answers to the other member's puzzles yk???)

he was locked inside a telephone stand while you were handcuffed in the main room

dw the two of you reunited after a few minutes cause jungwon was rushing his lock to get to you 🤭

you both were progressing at an average pace and it made you guys a lot more closer (not that you guys weren't before but you get what i mean)

after you guys escaped the two of you went to eat curry and talked about the whole experience 😋✌️✌️✌️

this boy literally dragged you in the escape room with him

NIKI:

HE DIDN'T EVEN GIVE YOU TIME TO REFUSE HE JUST 😐👉🚪

"ok masterchefs, in order to test your abilities we must go through series of puzzles and make it out alive, understood?"

he tried ignoring how confused you were and went on to try and get you guys to escape

HE'S LAUGHING AT YOU FOR WHATEVER REASON AND OBV YOU LAUGH ASWELL CAUSE WHO WOULDN'T??? his laugh is so contagious pls 🤖🤖 he was so close to d wording cause he couldn't breathe from laughing too much

yea.. you guys spent so much time laughing at each other for being so dumb at this that you ended up playing 'till closing time

spoiler alert: he fails on doing anything cause the second you made eye contact with him this child collapses 😍🤩

GIRL SO EMBARRASSING 🤡🤡

THE STAFF KICKED THE BOTH OF YOU OUT AND NOW YOU GUYS WERE BANNED FROM THE PLACE ☠️☠️

"haunted house next weekend???"

"BET"

NOTE – god they were WAY funnier in my head but yeah.... i love them so much AND OMFG HAVE YOU GUYS SEEN HEESEUNG’S SELCAS LAST NIGHT???!?@??#?@?!?@ HE’S NOT REAL WTF ⁉️❓❓⁉️

also, idk why BUT EVERY TIME I SAVE A DRAFT the paragraphs get scrambled?? £!?) 6=6) 🤣😂💔💔🤣🤣😂💔 it's so annoying but anyways, ilysm pls stay safe and have a great day <33

[enjennie]

Summary: Punishing Haechan for eyeing your roommate then making him fuck you as a way to let everyone know you're his and he's yours.

Genre: sub!haechan in the beginning, kinda possessive reader. SMUT, fluff ending. FwB!

Warnings: smut, that's rly it i think.

a/n: sorry I keep writing smut! I’ve been trying to widen my vocab. Dw, I’ve got an angst in the drafts coming up and something more soft coming soon :> Enjoy! ♡

Yours. [Haechan x Reader]

The room was filled with soft groans and light gasps along with the rustling of sheets as the room fell into darkness. The city lights from outside the window being the only source of light coming through allowing you to see the majestic figure before you that was Haechan.

He was sat on your bed, back against the headboard and hands cuffed to your bed as you sunk down lower and took him deeper inside you. He watched with hungry eyes, biting on his lower lip. You enjoyed his state, how helpless he was and the way your name tumbled out of his mouth once in a while. It sounded like music to you.

A sadistic smile crept up to your face as you looked down at him, the veins on his neck appearing and his Adam’s apple bobbing as he gulped the pool of saliva that had accumulated in his mouth from staring at your body. You trail a finger down his chest, tracing his magnificence.

“Who makes you feel good?” your voice came out soft, despite the dominance to it.

You were going painfully slow, rolling your hips and making sure he feels each stroke. This was a punishment.

“Y-you do,” he breathes, his voice quiet as to not disturb your roommates in the house. You smirk, pride coursing through you.

“What’s that? Cat got your tongue?” you somehow make a pun, but only one of you could laugh.

“You make me feel good, baby,” Haechan shuts his eyes closed. You could feel him getting harder, his cock expanding inside you. You bite on your lip to stop yourself from giving him the satisfaction of seeing you weaken just by having him inside you.

You stop your movements, moving close to his ears before giving it a nibble. His skin crawled and you felt him shiver underneath you. You loved the power you had over him.

“Then why were you looking at my roommate like that?” you hissed into his ear. Haechan was panting at this point, desperate to get you to start moving again.

“I’m sorry- I’ll never look at anyone like that again. Only you. I’m all yours,” he whimpers, making you smile. Sweeter words have never been uttered. You knew for a fact your roommate had been eyeing him. You didn’t blame her, Haechan was incredibly sexy. But he was yours. And this was your way of marking your territory.

You take the key resting on your bedside table and unlock Haechan’s restraints. His eyes follow your hands delightfully and once he felt the last lock click, you were on your back and he’d reversed roles.

“Make me scream, Haechan,” your hands trace his v-line. His hard on sprung up, and you feel him at your entrance as Haechan lowers himself to you.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he kisses you tenderly, smirk rising to his pretty lips.

He knew the way your body worked, what you liked, what you didn’t. Haechan pushes himself inside you hips snapping against yours and earning a moan from you. You arch your back and try to meet his thrusts, sending you both into euphoria. Haechan’s eyes darkened, watching your breasts bounce only turns him on even more and prompts him to go even faster.

You’re a screaming mess underneath him, grabbing onto the pillows, sheets, plush toys, anything. You’re gasping for air at the inhumane speed he’d set. Haechan harshly sucks on your neck, going for the spot he knows you like the most. The smell of your perfume filling his nostrils, he takes it all in and inhales the scent of the sweet pea perfume you’re fond of. You were like a drug to him. He couldn’t get enough, you always had him coming back.

“I’m yours, y/n,” Haechan growls, and he makes sure it’s loud enough to reach the next room. His hands wrap around your neck and he looks down at you in the dim lighting. “Yours,” he repeats and you hold onto his broad shoulders as the knot in your stomach grew. “Yours,” his hand dips down to where you were connected and strokes you where you needed him most.

“Yours,” Haechan’s words were enough to send your orgasm ripping through you. Your mouth hung open as you saw stars while you reached your high, Haechan following suit and filling you up nicely. Your name comes through his lips along with a string of curses and he lets you ride your high before slowing down and pulling out of you slowly.

Haechan collapses beside you on your tiny twin bed and pulls the sheets over your bodies. Your chests rise in unison as you tried composing yourselves. A smile is plastered on his face in the darkness while you positioned yourself more comfortably to rest your head on his chest. You liked hearing the sound of his heartbeat slowing down to a normal speed.

“Did you mean that?” you whispered into the darkness after a while. Yours, yours, yours. His words echoed in your mind.

Haechan places a single kiss on the top of your head, caressing your hair and stroking it gently before carefully giving his reply to you. “Always,”

And forever.

[svgarpills]

Hey! Sorry for two Hop asks so close to each other, but would you be able to write some Hop angst, where he feels so terrible about himself that he eventually starts locking himself away from other people? I like seeing my favourite characters being relatable! Sorry if this is difficult for you!

dw about it! i love hop so i must put him through as much angst as possible /hj

--

Ships: None

Characters: Hop, mentions of a few others (mainly Leon and the protag)

Warnings: Self-hatred & Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms

Summary: He knows he shouldn't be doing this, but it's the only thing he deserves.

*I tried not to go into too much detail but uh...yeah, one of my 1st attempts at hurt/no comfort <3. Anyways i feel like Hop would be compared to Leon a lot in good & bad ways, so i tried playing around w/ that a little bit. This one is a little short since I wasn't super inspired, hope that's ok!

--

"Why can't you be more like him?" The question repeats over and over in his mind. He compares himself to Leon constantly, he knows he's not as good as his brother, and that he's the less talented one. Still, hearing it out loud still stings. His Wooloo is sleeping on the end of his bed, and as he looks over at the Pokemon, he wonders if it ever thinks about finding a better trainer.

He shakes his head and looks back up at his ceiling. There's nothing to distract him from his thoughts except the muffled sounds of the house. Distant chatter and the sound of the news on TV, mostly. He closes his eyes, exhaustion deep in his bones. Maybe he can just sleep for the rest of the day and forget all about it in the morning. He takes a deep breath and tries to relax, ignoring the knock at his door.

The next morning he leaves his room and makes his way to the nearest town, he's running low on potions, and the least he can do is keep his team healthy. He enters through the doors of the center and takes a deep breath. Everything is going well so far, at least, as he pays for the items. He puts them in his bags and turns, only to notice two people talking out of the corner of his eye.

"Is that Champion Leon's brother?" followed by, "yeah, I thought he would look...better. I dunno, there's no way he'll ever live up to Leon's legacy." Hop's heart sinks into his stomach as he quickly leaves. He doesn't talk to anyone as he makes his way back to his house, closing the door behind him and retreating to his room once again.

He leaves the potions on the floor next to his bed and curls up under the blankets, breathing shaky as he tries to calm himself down. He knows that, no matter how rudely it was phrased, those people were probably right. Leon is so much better than him, Leon doesn't lock himself in a room to mope like some sad teenager whenever someone is rude to him, he deals with it like a normal person.

His Wooloo nudges at his hands and he half-heartedly runs his fingers through its thick fur. It hops into his bed and he rests his head on it like a pillow. Wooloo is warm and soft, Wooloo can't judge him for lying around and being useless, or staring numbly up at his ceiling for what feels like hours because he doesn't think he's worthy of being related to someone as cool as Leon.

He knows the people around him are starting to get worried. He notices the looks he gets when he does venture out of his room. His eyes are bagged with heavy shadows and his clothes are wrinkled, he knows he looks awful. Yet another comparison for people to whisper about. Leon always looks good, with his long hair and Champion outfit. If Hop stood next to him, it would make him look like even more pathetic.

He's repeating his usual routine when he hears talking downstairs one day. "-don't know what to do, Leon, he's barely leaving his room. And when he does, he looks awful. He hasn't texted me in weeks!" It's a familiar voice, followed by Leon trying to soothe his friend. Hop swallows thickly, he's making everyone worry. Yet another reason why Leon is much better than him.

Someone knocks on his door again. "Hop? Hey, unlock the door. Please? I'm worried about you, so is your friend." Leon's voice carries his concern and Hop closes his eyes to ignore the uncomfortable feeling of tears. Leon continues asking him things through the door for a while, Hop loses track of how much time passes after the first two minutes. Eventually, Leon gives up. Hop can hear him walking away, and he turns his head to the side, away from the locked door.

He doesn't deserve Leon's help anyways.

[dolokhoded]

I feel the need to tell you that today has been not awesome and you being chaotic is a light in the dark. That said if spromeo had superpowers (whether the rest of the gang does or not is up to you) headcanons on what would happen

!!!! i'm rlly glad to hear my 3am dumbassery has lead to some good :) i hope tomorrow goes better for u, i'm always here if u need a virtual headpat

as for spromeo!!!!!! y'all y'all y'all!!!!!!!!!!!

idk if i've posted about this au here but i actually have an au where everything is the exact same except all of the newsies gave superpowers and it actually started out with spromeo

but that was two years ago so i think it's time to get into that again

i'm doing modern era this time, just for a change from the old one

SO SPROMEO,,

ok let's take it from the top

romeo's power is charmspeak

because of course it is

he actually shares that power with mush and kath but they all use it differently

kath can make any lie she says seem believable and mush is pretty good at the traditional witchy-type hypnosis, while romeo can just mess with people's minds and emotions a little

and obviously he's especially good at making people fall in love with him

well, not really, it's just a temporary infatuation but it feels like they're in love with him

does he use that to get out of conflict like every three days uhhhhhh perhaps

which specs just goes "no ❤️" on because SURPRISE SURPRISE

specs' power is literally just being galaxy brain

and he's also touched up his glasses a bit so now they may or may not be able to shoot lazers

but that's besides the point

the point is, romeo's still learning

which means he cannot mess with specs' big brain power, nor understand him

and this also creates a contrast between them because romeo, being able to manipulate people's emotions can also feel them way more intensely

while specs, using the biggest part of his brain for logical thinking does not perceive them that well

and also they constantly made him feel like this was the only part of his brain that made him valuable so he never thought paying attention to anything else was worth it but anyways

now in canon era they'd still live in the lodging house and no one would know about this

but of course in modern era people would look into that stuff way more so all of those children are under training so none of them like,,, turn evil and start the apocalypse or something

and by these children i mean all of the newsies, i've thought out all of their powers but this ain't about them this is about spromeo

finch is dead

specs and romeo didn't get along at first

which was expected, they thought very differently and once got into a huge argument when finch died

romeo wanted to skip training after what happened, specs insisted that it just meant they should train harder so that nothing like this happens again

listen,,,,, specs isn't a bad person. but he didn't really understand empathy at this point.

so when romeo opened up to him mid-argument about how he felt about literally the death of his friend,,,,,,,,,,, specs may or may not have said "i don't care"

and then everyone got mad at him and he was like "ok hm let's see what we have here social experiment"

"why are you all mad at me?"

",,,,, specs are you insane?? because of what you said to romeo"

"so romeo should be mad at me"

"we're mad because you made him feel bad, and we care about him"

"bad? so he's, like, angry?"

"no, not angry, specs, have you ever felt an emotion?"

",,, irritated?"

he learns

he just needed some time to do it

but in the end, he learns

and of course who better to help him through this than romeo

at first he did not like it

"isn't he, like, a genius or something, let him do it himself! why do i have to deal with him?"

"you're not dealing with him, romeo, he's our friend. specs doesn't know how to interpret emotions and you do, i know you've had your issues but this gives you a chance to talk all of that out too"

"f i n e"

so slowly, they find out what brings out emotion in specs

romeo helps him realize what makes him happy, what makes him sad, what he's scared of, and specs technically knew how brain chemicals worked but he never actually knew what it looked like in practice

romeo will tell specs what he's feeling out loud so specs can identify it easier in other people

oh!! romeo is neurodivergent bc of course he is, and that combined with his powers means he stims pretty often

and one day specs asks him about it

"why do you do that?"

"what?"

"that shakey thing you do, is it a feelings thing?"

"oh, yeah, kind of. sometimes when something good happens i get overwhelmed, and i just do it, i guess. or when i get, like, bad overwhelmed."

"and how can you tell if it's good or bad?"

"well, from context, i suppose. and i'll also look uncomfortable if it's bad. but if it's good i'll look happy"

"so now you're happy?"

"yeah."

"oh. good. i like when you're happy, ro."

romeo's really proud of the progress he's made

specs is doing pretty well, he's literally had to teach his brain to feel human emotions

and OH BOY WHEN SPECS REALIZES HE HAS FEELINGS FOR ROMEO

specs.exe has stopped working

normally he talks to romeo about these things but he had no idea what this is so he goes to race instead cause we all know race is th king of chaotic emotions and he's currently feeling a very chaotic emotion

and race fuckin McLaughs at him

but in a good way dw

"specs you're gay."

",,,,, you're gay."

"yes, i am, but you're a little gay too."

",,,,,,,i have gay feelings for romeo?"

"i'm afraid so"

now specs didn't know he could have gay feelings

so his first thought it "romeo used his powers on me"

so he just fuckin

marches into the bunk room walks up to romeo

"you are unbelievable

romeo has literally no idea what's going on

"wh,, what did i do,"

"we agreed we wouldn't use our powers on each other, and you did! why would you do that?"

"specs, what are you talking about?"

his power is literally mainly to make people fall in love with him

but he can't use that on specs?? even if he tried?? so he's confused for a second

mush is having an aneurysm in the back

and then this bitch realizes,,,,

"holy shit specs did you just confess to me?"

"i- wh- that doesn't count! you did that!"

"i did not! dude, you know i physically can't use my powers on you, right? your brain's far more developed than an average human being's!"

specs just stares for a second

",,,,,,,,,so these are real gay feelings"

"yup"

"well this is embarrassing"

romeo just smiles at him and his chest starts doing the gay feeling again

"you know, for the smartest person on earth you're really fucking stupid. i like you too. with real gay feelings."

and specs just kinda

"o h"

mush is still losing it in the back

"KISS HIM YOU FOOL"

so he does

💞they kith💞

and they're rlly happy together

and do all the cute superpower shit

specs will lecture romeo on being more careful every time he gets hurt on some mission while he's patching him up and romeo just sits there only half listening and looking at him like

they're in love

[an-absolute-travesty]

Secret Santa fic!

Heya @all-eternity it was me all along! I hope you enjoy this :) very much looking foward to actually being able to follow you after this without looking sketchy lmao

Also shoutout to my lovely beta reader @keepersandqueens as if I don’t talk about Salas enough here lol

Warnings: underage drinking, drinking in general, hangover, drugs/medication mention (not abused, basic over the counter stuff dw), mentions of vomit (not described)

Pairings: Kam, background marelinh, ex titz

About: Kam coffee shop college au 

Word count: 5,205

Tag list (tell me if you want to be added or removed): @cadence-talle @ruewen-and-rising @lemontarto @a-lonely-tatertot @clearlyvacksen @percabetn @sewersewersewercouch @everyonehasthoughts @imaramennoodle @enbies-and-felonies @blxckh0les42​ @rainbowtay-11 @callas-starkflower-stew @impostertamsong @appalyneinstitute1 @stars-and-splendor @anna-without-an-e @mistythegenderqueermess @we-have-no-bananas-today @we-wont-dissapear @jadenightthewriter

Tam stumbled into his first 8 am class, anxiety making his heart feel like it was pounding out of his chest and stomach doing backflips.

If he could survive bouncing between foster homes, a short stint at juvie, and worst of all high school, he could survive college.

Well he thought he could until he saw a familiar person right next to the only available chair in the room.

God fucking damn it.

"Hey Bangs Boy!" Keefe waved him down, causing a scene. Tam had no option but to sit beside him, both because of the lack of chairs and the fact that everyone was now staring at him.

Not a great start.

"What a coincidence! I notice you still haven't taken my suggestions on your hair, I'm telling ya' you'd get all the girls and or guys and nonbinary pals with a man bun." Keefe looked smug at the fact he'd be able to taunt Tam for another semester, minimum. Tam was already making a mental note to check when he could swap out of classes.

"Keefe, if I knew you were going here I would've just gotten myself back in jail, oh wait, you were the one who got me in there in the first place." Tam shot him a look, praying that he'd suddenly develop superpowers and shoot lasers from his eyes.

"Hey, just because I came up with the idea...and helped with some of the execution, doesn't mean I'm responsible for you trashing your parents house. Besides, you were only in there for like 3 days max before you got out," Keefe said, shrugging as if 3 days in jail was no biggie.

"Most peaceful 3 days of my life," Tam sneered, turning back to the front of the room as the professor walked in.

"Good morning class!" the prof turned to the white board, writing his name. "I am Dr. Harding," he tapped it for emphasis.

The class was silent.

"And you say good mor..."

"Good morning Dr. Harding," The class said in unison, they all sounded tired and bored.

This wasn't going to be fun.

~*~

"Grande ice vanilla latte for...Hen-are-y?"

The man shot Keefe a look as he grabbed his coffee.

"Henry." He dropped a tip in the jar, fifty cents. How generous.

He had come in before, and never left good tips. Keefe made it a game to pronounce the names of anyone who wasn't a college student and left bad tips wrong, no matter how much they came in. It was a wonder he hadn't been fired yet.

As he turned preparing another drink, the bell at the top of the door rang. He ignored it at first until he heard a quiet, "Fuck," come from behind.

"Bangs boy!"

"Why are you here?"

"I work here obviously," Keefe walked up to the counter. "Now, what'll it be?"

Tam sighed. "Iced caramel macchiato with two extra shots of espresso."

"Size?"

"Venti."

Keefe whistled thinking about how much caffeine that was as he wrote down "Bangs Boy" on the cup.

"Alright, that'll be 5.75, may I ask why the insane amount of coffee? I believe I remember you saying caffeine makes you anxious in high school."

"Yes, but it also helps me focus, and I have a quiz tomorrow I haven't studied for."

"Fair enough," Keefe said, going to prepare the drink. "It'll be ready in five."

Tam nodded, walking off to the side and scrolling on his phone. Keefe made the drink, occasionally sneaking looks over at Tam. He didn't seem to notice, thank God.

Soon after, they finished the transaction.

"See you at class," Keefe said, he was trying to be genuine, but it came across more taunting.

Tam grimaced, muttered "Thanks for the coffee," and walked out the door.

~*~

The class fell silent as a disheveled Dr. Harding walked in, a pack of gatorade in one hand and bottle of tylenol in the other. He popped one as he sat down.

"Hello class it seems today I have the worst headache imaginable, just give me about 5 minutes of silence and we will go over your assignments."

Keefe leaned over to Tam's desk.

"Well, we know what he got into last night," he whispered. "Heard the bar on the corner of 5th was giving out two for ones for professors."

"Isn't that place run by the alumni?"

"Exactly. Gotta thank Alvar tomorrow, Fitz said it was his idea."

"Wait Fitz goes here too? Why did I not-"

"Boys!" Dr. Harding practically yelled. "I am tired of the racket." He put his face in his hands where his elbows rested on the desk, bald spot showing to the world.

"We were whispering!" Keefe made a 'what the hell' sort of gesture. Tam glared at him, hoping he could communicate 'I will kill you myself if you say another word' with just his eyes.

"Sencen, do I look like I care?"

Keefe winced a bit at the use of his last name. That was something Tam could understand.

"Look, boys," Dr. Harding stood up and turned to the chalkboard, writing something down. "If you all like talking so much, you'll love this next project."

He walked to the side, revealing the board, that read '10 page essay, due the 25th'

"With the person next to you, you'll be writing a 10 page essay on um...the importance of keeping your oil changed in your car. You'll then present it to the class. It's worth 25 points."

A student raised their hand.

"Luka?"

"Sir, I thought this was a psychology course?"

"It is. You are all excused."

With that, he left the room with his tylenol and gatorade in his arms. The students glared at Keefe and Tam as they all got up, muttering amongst themselves about the pure bullshittery of it all.

"So..." Keefe said, slowly standing. "Does the library tomorrow at 3 work? I have work until then, so it can't be any earlier."

"Yeah, sure." Tam promptly walked out of the classroom as fast as possible, he didn't know why but his anxiety was spiking. He tried to tell himself it was just because he was a useless gay that didn't know jackshit about cars, yeah, surely that was it.

Just a useless gay.

~*~

Tam waited at a table in the library, it was 3:05, Keefe was late.

He didn't know what else he expected from him, he always seemed to do stuff like this. At the same time, Tam didn't have the energy to be particularly mad at him. This was going to be the stupidest essay ever written in the history of man, might as well put it off.

The library door slammed open, and in came Keefe. He balanced a large stack of papers and books along with four drinks. He stumbled over to Tam and practically threw them down on the table.

"Sorry I'm late, I thought it would be nice to, like, get you a coffee, but I didn't know how much caffeine you wanted, so I got one decaf caramel macchiato, one normal, and one with an extra shot, and also hot chocolate for me."

He sat down in the chair by Tam, as if getting three different coffees for someone you were forced to do a project with was totally normal.

"Um...thanks, I-I can pay you back-"

"Don't worry about it." Keefe turned to him and smiled, bright and friendly. Tam was frozen. "Okay, now it's car time." Keefe turned back to the desk.

"Yeah."

They were silent for a while as they researched, Keefe going through his piles of papers and books and Tam on his laptop like any sane person would.

Tam finally worked up the nerve to talk.

"So um...this is out of nowhere, but I think you mentioned Fitz went here?"

"Oh, yeah." Keefe put down the absurdly large textbook that was set up in front of him. "He's my roommate, he uh thought it would be best not to tell you after everything, I guess."

"That's fine," Tam shrugged like he didn't care. "I'm over it."

He was, really. They only dated like 2 weeks, sure it ended with a...pretty big fight after Fitz claimed he wouldn't be able to date someone who had gone to jail and Tam reminded him it was his best friend that got him in there in the first place, but he was still over it. There was still something bothering him, nothing to do with Fitz himself but...something. He just couldn't put his finger on what.

"Alright, I'll take your word." Keefe shrugged, setting his giant book back up in front of him.

Tam felt the need to start talking again, but didn't. They were mostly silent for the next 40 minutes or so, just researching and the occasional word exchanged between them.

Keefe checked his phone.

"Shit," He got up. "Work emergency, I gotta go. Same time tomorrow?"

"Yeah that works."

"Chill, see ya' later."

"Bye."

Keefe waved (with a wide grin Tam would've called idiotic in high school) as he went out the door.

Tam found himself with a smile on his own face, he quickly stopped, hoping no one saw.

~*~

Keefe hurried into work, pulling his apron on as he saw the absurdly long line and a panicked Marella frantically making coffees behind the counter. She sighed with relief when she saw him.

"Thank God," She said as he stepped behind the counter with her. "There was a scheduling error, Forkle's useless at that stuff."

Mr. Forkle, their well-meaning but often mistaken manager, was out of town at the moment. The fate of the Starbucks rested on two college kids, what could go wrong.

And so they went, Keefe taking orders and Marella fulfilling them until there were no more to serve.

Marella, quite literally, threw in a towel she had wiped her face with. Promptly going to the back, presumably for her break. Keefe followed her.

"Alright, I think you can probably go back to whatever you were doing before this now if you'd like," said Marella, inspecting the small braids in her hair in the nearest shiny surface.

"Nah I was just doing a project with Tam for Harding's stupid class, he's probably left by now, I might as well rack up some overtime."

Marella turned back at him, clearly caught off guard at the name.

"Tam? As in my-girlfriend's-brother Tam? As in you-had-a-massive-crush-on-in-highschool Tam? As in dated-Fitz Tam? As in you-got-him-in-jail-"

"Yes! Yes! Why does everyone remind me of that, it was one time."

"When you get someone in jail, people tend to remember," Marella went silent for a second, thinking, before looking Keefe in the eye. "Wow, that must be awkward as hell, I mean seriously, if I were you I'd straight up file a restraining order just to avoid him. Maybe move to another country. I hear Estonia is lovely this time of year."

"Eh, it's not as bad as it seems. I mean it was awful at first, mostly because I tried to resume right where we left it on the taunting front, but I think it's ok now."

"Hm. Well good luck with that," Marella turned back to go to the front, but Keefe grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Uh, actually I need your advice on something. It has to do with Tam."

"Shoot."

"Well I was thinking of maybe, I don't know, asking him out or something? Look, yeah, it's an awful idea but is it 'he never wants to talk to me again' awful or 'he attempts to strangle me' awful?"

Marella looked him up and down, eyes uncomfortably cold, as usual.

"I mean, no hetero, but despite your annoying qualities you're a decent looking guy. Plus Tam's, like, super anxious according to Linh, so maybe he'll be too awkward to say no. You can probably squeeze at least one date in there."

"Wow, thanks Mare," Keefe mumbled, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Yes, I try. Also don't call me Mare."

"Alright Ella!" Keefe called as the front door's bell rang, signalling a new customer. Marella went off to take care of it, unable to respond she growled back at him.

~*~

Tap tap tap tap tap.

Tam glared from across the table.

Tap tap tap tap tap tap.

"Why do you keep doing that?"

Keefe looked up, muttered a simple "Fidgety" and went right back to it, tapping his pen against the table. Tam said nothing more.

Keefe had been quiet for this entire meeting, something highly unusual for him.

"Ok, seriously dude, what's up? I haven't seen you this quiet literally ever."

He only seemed to get more fidgety at this question, his bouncing leg shaking the library table.

"I...um..." he looked down, running a hand through his hair "I have a test I need to cram for and no one to study with and keep me accountable. Y'know, ADHD issues."

Tam didn't overthink for once in his life but the moment the sentence was out of his mouth he regretted it.

"I have a test too, maybe we could study together?"

Keefe smiled his annoyingly charming smile.

"Sounds good."

"Good."

Tam quickly looked back down at his computer, trying to look like he was still doing car research when in actuality he was processing he just actively offered to spend more time with Keefe Sencen.

If Linh found out about this he'd never live it down.

He didn't think he cared.

~*~

Dr. Harding walked through the classroom door, clearly much less hungover than his last appearance.

The students waited, would they get an apology? Any sort of remorse?

"Alright, who wants to read first?"

Apparently not.

Keefe raised his hand with too much confidence for what their essay looked like. Tam gave him a confused look. He had his scheming face on, never good.

"Mr. Sencen!" Keefe winced at the use of his last name by the doctor. "What an amazing start, it's only appropriate. One of you boys come up and present."

Tam gave Keefe a look of 'do you want me to do it?' Keefe just smiled and got up from his chair. This would either be really good or really, really bad. Tam was all too familiar with the scheme face.

"Doc, I did depart from the source material a bit here, hope you don't mind. And I use 'I' because Tam had no involvement in this, he deserves full points for his essay."

Keefe cleared his throat, the room was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

"Doctor Harding deserves to get fired: an essay. (And it's only been a week!) Paragraph one, his drinking problem-"

"Sencen! Back to your seat now. I will see you after class, or I will not see you in my next class, understand?"

Keefe gave a thumbs up as he sat back on his chair with a thud.

A few minutes later, in the middle of another student's essay, he passed Tam a note with his loopy handwriting.

"The amount of comebacks I had for 'see me after class' is absurd but if I get kicked out there's no way Elwin is helping me pay tuition a second time."

Tam tried not to smile, certainly failing, as he wrote his response.

"Yeah I think the time you talked back to Miss Cadence she wanted to expel you. Lucky Principal Alina had a thing for pseudo-dad Alden."

"Oh God I haven't talked to him in a whiiiiiile."

"?"

"You haven't heard? Yeah, he sorta found out like ALL his kids were ell gee bee tees and freaked out. Della found herself a new gf though!"

"Sounds like a lovely extra punch in the gut for a queerphobe."

"Yep. Honestly I recommend looking through his Facebook sometime. Just a million rants about how the gays destroy everything, great entertainment."

"Duly noted."

At that point it seemed like the doctor started to take notice of their note passing, and they stopped quickly. Tam wouldn't be surprised if he did the whole high school read in front of the class thing with the way he had been acting so far.

Tam was 100% sure tenure was the only thing keeping this guy's job intact. Apparently being a drunk asshole wasn't near enough to get a person out of their position. He tried to ignore the professor's annoyingly smug face for the rest of the class.

~*~

Keefe sat in his usual spot at the library, Tam sitting across from him, his brown eyes dancing across the textbook page and lips mumbling along the words. He didn't have much to do, often finding himself just staring at Tam, quickly looking away if he seemed to notice.

Eventually he sighed, sitting back.

"Ugh, this test is in a week and I have so much other crap to do, I'll never get this all memorized by Friday."

Keefe silently thanked his brain for managing to get around the having to study thing. Yay, photographic memory!

"Oh, uh, well I'm free to study more tomorrow if that would help? We could do, like, flashcards or something."

Tam seemed to repress a smile. He did that a lot. Keefe always noticed.

"That's okay, I'm sure you have better things to do. The Starbucks is always pretty packed."

"Eh, sometimes you have to get away from Marella. She's mean to me."

"Not just you, once she told me if I ever made fun of Linh's cat's name again she'd make me cut off my own bangs."

Keefe nodded sagely. "The shorter you are the closer to hell. That's why you're worse than her."

"Hey!"

Tam flicked a stray rubber band at Keefe.

"I'm at least 2 inches taller than Marella...we measured."

Keefe thought up about 12 inappropriate jokes he couldn't make before flicking the rubber band back.

"Two inches only counts in roller coasters, none of which you can ride."

Tam stuck his tongue out before returning to his studies. Unlike Tam, Keefe didn't hide his smile.

~*~

Tam strolled into the Starbucks that Friday morning, no longer surprised to see Keefe working the counter. He could barely hold still in line as he thought about the amount of cramming he'd have to do in the next few hours.

When he reached the counter, Keefe said nothing, just busily worked making a drink.

He stuck it right out at Tam.

"One venti iced caramel macchiato with 2 extra shots of espresso because you have a test today in political science and still haven't studied everything and also a muffin because you probably haven't eaten today. On the house. Good luck with the studying."

Tam froze.

"I- um- th-thaks. Y-you too...sport."

Oh, you fucking idiot.

He quickly scurried out of the Starbucks with drink and muffin in hand. Wow, he had screwed that up.

But...

Keefe...

He...

He remembered his order and that he had a test and that he forgot to eat when he was stressed holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit-

Okay, deep breaths Tam, you got this. You can totally handle a frustratingly cute guy showing care for you this is fine...

Not fine, not fine, gotta tell Linh.

He called Linh with no forewarning. Despite the fact that she was currently across the country at a different university, and it was about 3 am for her, she picked up. He barely let her get out a groggy "Hello?" before explaining everything. She only seemed to think a moment before responding.

"Hm. Well it's good to know that college is going good for you. Do you need advice or comfort?"

"Yes."

"Well, first of all, everything's gonna be okay. And I know that doesn't help much but just try to remember we're eighteen, and it's not the end of the world. Second of all, try to ask him out or something. It doesn't have to be framed as a date, like Marella and I got together on a walk in the park, seriously it can be anything."

"Thanks Linh."

"No problem, also can you hug Marella for me?"

"If she doesn't try to kill me first, yes."

"Nice. Okay go do what you gotta do, also don't wake me up at 3 am again or else I'll sic Purryfins on you, I had just gone to bed."

With that she hung up and Tam continued on his way, still trying to not completely freak out.

~*~

Keefe stared blankly as Tam walked right out of the door. Marella appeared by his arm.

"So, how'd it go?"

"Well, he called me 'sport'."

Marella inhaled through her teeth.

"Yikes. Comfort, advice, or distraction?"

"Distraction, please." Keefe replied, absent-mindedly preparing a cup for the next customer.

"Uh, well I meant to ask you what ended up happening with that ass of a teacher, but I got a bit distracted at your attempt to woo Tam-"

"Hey I said distraction not reminder. But basically I just got a slap on the wrist because, and I quote, 'Your father is Cassius Sencen! He wrote half the books we use in this class, I'm sure he can straighten you out!'"

"There's absolutely nothing papa Sencen could do to make you straight, I'm pretty sure he tried that, and it obviously didn't work."

"He actually tried a few times and it most definitely did not. Lucky he doesn't have my number anymore or else I assure you he'd keep trying."

Marella laughed.

"Well, moving on from grade A assholes, I'm supposed to tell you there's a party tonight. I'll have to send you the address later, I have it on my phone though, I am told there's gonna be booze, so I'm going."

"Eh, I'll probably go. Just to get my mind off everything."

"Thata boy." She lifted her phone. "And my shifts over in three, two, one, and I am out of here! See ya' tonight Hunkyhair."

"That's Lord Hunkyhair to you."

She just rolled her eyes and clocked out, leaving Keefe to deal with both the customers and his own thoughts.

~*~

Tam sat in his dorm room alone, constantly refreshing his grades for the possibility that his 70-year-old professor would post the test results at 1:30 am.

His roommate was gone for the weekend, actually he was gone most of the time. Tam didn't think they'd even had a full conversation before.

He jumped as his phone began to ring, a call from Keefe of all people. He hesitantly picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Tam! Tam Tam Tam Tam Tam" Keefe's slurred speech was too loud for a phone call, Tam held his phone a bit away from his ear. "...fuck wait why did I call you..."

There was a long pause, neither said anything.

"Oh yeah! I needed to tell you something...but uh I uhm I forgot what it was."

"Keefe, where are you?"

"At a paaaaaarty, well, actually just outside a party because it was hot in there, but now it's cold out here so uh yeah."

Tam sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Okay, send me the address, I'm coming to pick you up. Wait right there and don't move."

"Okie dokie."

Tam heard a thud sort of sound and the rustling of grass from the other line before Keefe hung up and soon after got a message of his location.

After 20 minutes of walking in the cold, Tam came up to what seemed to be a frat house with Keefe sitting on the lawn in criss-cross, patiently waiting in short sleeves and basketball shorts, way too little clothing for the weather. His ruddy face smiled as he saw Tam approach.

"Tam! I remembered what I was going to tell you." He stood up, face falling right after. "Oh no wait I forgot again. Ooh! You need a drink."

Keefe grabbed Tam's hand, pulling him towards the house. Tam stayed in place.

"Hey, let's get you home dude."

Keefe pouted.

"I don't wannaaaa."

He slouched down, pulling on Tam's arm like a child having a tantrum.

Tam pulled him back up to his feet.

"C'mon, if you go to your dorm without fuss I'll buy you ice cream tomorrow."

Keefe seemed much more ok with going along with Tam with the ice cream deal. He pulled off his own coat and placed it around the very drunk boy, he didn't complain.

Keefe began humming some annoying song from the early 2000s that was playing from the house earlier as they walked back in the direction of the dorms.

Suddenly, Tam remembered something.

Fitz was Keefe's roommate.

Shit.

"Hey uh do you think Fitz is at your dorm?"

Keefe nodded confidently.

"Yep! Said he was gon' study. Wouldn't come to the party because of his 'reputation' or whatever."

Around reputation he did exaggerated finger quotes, nearly knocking Tam's jacket off his shoulders.

"Hm...in that case let's go to my dorm, ok?"

Keefe shrugged, apparently willing to go along with most things in his current state. Thank goodness Linh had made Tam bring extra pillows and blankets to college, he could sleep on the floor and just hope Keefe didn't get sick on him in the night.

It was ridiculously hard to lead Keefe back to his dorm. He tried to pull down his pants halfway there and Tam almost had to carry him up the stairs but soon enough they got there. He sighed with relief as he led his inebriated friend into the room.

"Okay, you can stay here for the night. I'll sleep on the floor."

Keefe plopped himself down on Tam's bed laying flat for only a moment before sitting up with a snap and a look of realization in his eyes.

"OOH! I remember what I was gonna tell you again!"

"Oh?" Tam said playing along, expecting him to forget again.

He patted the spot next to him on the bed, Tam continued to play along, sitting next to him.

"So Marella said that I should just tell you this, and it worked for her, so I'm gonna. And uh and you have to promise to listen 'cause I'm not sayin' it again."

At this point Keefe grabbed his face with both hands, staring right in Tam's eyes and squishing his cheeks.

"You're listening right?"

Tam nodded, mostly to shake Keefe's hands off his face.

"Okay."

Keefe took in an over dramatic breath as if he was preparing to preform in the Olympics before getting another grin on his face.

"I really like you."

"You really like me?"

He nodded mumbling "mhm".

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I like you. Like, like like you."

"Like...as a friend?"

"I said I wasn't gonna repeat myself. As a booooyfriend." At this point Keefe fell back on the bed, looking at the ceiling. Tam's cheeks were burning.

"How long have you liked me like that?"

"Mmmm..." Keefe seemed to ponder for a moment, "Prolly high school."

"Oh um...good to know. You should get some rest. I'll be down here if you need me."

"Alrighty."

Tam shut off the lights and Keefe started snoring quick. Tam could only stare up in the darkness, unable to sleep.

~*~

Keefe woke up that morning in a room he didn't recognize to a killer headache and dead phone.

He turned to the side, seeing a pile of blankets and pillows with a large gatorade, bottle of tylenol, and a note next to it. Suddenly last nights memories came flooding back.

Oh, shit.

He scrambled out of bed, headache and nausea hitting him harder as he stood up.

Despite the fact his head was spinning, he picked up the note from the ground and read it.

Hey, meet me at the reservoir around 6, we need to talk -Tam

F. U. C. K.

Had he really said all that stuff last night? Surely it was a dream, right?

Oh God.

He gathered his few belongings, plus the things to help the hangover, and left the dorms as fast as possible. Only having to stop once along the way to throw up in one of the campus trash cans, hopefully no one would notice.

Keefe didn't have anything to do and he really didn't want to face Fitz so he went about his day in last nights clothing. Then again, it was a college campus. Someone walking around with rumpled clothes carrying a gatorade probably wasn't that big of a deal for most people. By 5:30 he sat impatiently in the empty park where the reservoir was located, it was colder closer to the water.

Just as promised, at 6 o'clock he saw Tam approaching on the horizon.

~*~

Tam was damn near a panic attack as he walked around the park attempting to find Keefe. Eventually he found him, sitting on a bench still in his clothes from last night, face once again ruddy from the cold. He sat next to him wordlessly.

"So," Keefe started.

"So," Tam replied, looking down at his lap.

"Tam I-" Keefe turned to face him. "I'm sorry about everything last night, I probably just made everything super awkward. Not to mention it's a giant violation of the friend code to even have a crush on your best friend's ex-"

"Yeah, about that."

"What?"

"You're gonna maybe kill me for this but uh," Tam pulled on his bangs. "I sorta talked to Fitz about it, I figured you wouldn't and apparently I was right. He said he was okay with it as long as we were ok with it."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Tam sighed, "Perhaps."

Keefe once again wore that shit-eating grin of his.

"Can I hear you say it?"

"Why don't you have to say it?"

"Already said it last night! Your turn now. Why did you take care of me while I was drunk?"

Keefe stared at Tam excitedly waiting for the answer. Tam sighed.

"Because I love you, little shit."

"Ooh you said it-"

Tam smashed his lips against Keefe's, both quickly melting into it. After only a moment they pulled away.

"Agh, you taste like gatorade and vomit."

"Well you taste like salt so really what's worse."

"Definitely the vomit."

Despite this, Tam leaned back in. This kiss was a moment longer than the last, and when Tam pulled away Keefe chased it.

"Ok, look I'm sorry but you look like shit Keefe you have to go change." Tam removed his jacket, throwing it around Keefe once again and helping him up from the bench. Keefe laughed.

"Yeah, you're right. Ooh now that we're a thing you need a new nickname!"

"I do?"

"You do, how about 'Bangs Boyf' ooh or maybe you can be my 'provoked partner' or my 'snappy spouse' my 'agitated accomplice' perhaps."

"Do you just have these ready and prepared for any situation?"

"A magician never reveals his secrets."

"You aren't Houdini, you're an 18-year-old boy that currently reeks of frat party."

"Eh that's basically the same thing. I've seen some 18-year-olds at frat parties preform tricks Houdini could never dream of."

Tam sighed dramatically. "It's a good thing you're pretty, you know."

"Hey!" Keefe jokingly shoved him.

For the first time Tam's smile wasn't repressed.

[mrsrcbinscn]

That’s Probably Not Good

@professorofcrimeratigan​

Date: April 10th, 2021

Ratigan meets the baby and accidentally gets capital “i” Involved

CW: blood, medical emergency, baby is 100% fine tho it’s Franny lmao dw no baby ouch allowed

FRANNY:

 Pedram Ratigan could deny it all he wanted, but Franny was absolutely certain of three things. One, that they were best friends. Two, that he actually did like Behet Ghol Midam and pretended he didn’t. Three, that when he responded ‘why would I?’ to her ‘miss me yet?’ texts, he really meant ‘you nasty hoe why would you leave me here alone at this university with these clowns?’ 

 It had been a month and a week since her daughter was born and just as long since Franny wasn’t in pain. But Dr. Brennan said she was fine and Franny was always inclined to trust doctors. Still, she thought after seeing him the second time would make him look further into...well, he said there was nothing to be concerned with, so she’d have to believe that.

 She wanted to believe that.

 Staying busy usually helped, but with a five week old baby that could prove challenging. She rarely left her daughter’s side mostly because she was breastfeeding and needed to be close by because this baby could eat, but it had just as much to do with being in pain more often than not in pain.

 Now that Sovanna was a month old Franny felt comfortable inviting close friends over to meet the baby and hold her now that she was a month less delicate and breakable, and of course her “not” best pal Pedram was high up on the list!

 “Are you ready to admit you miss me yet, Pedram?” Franny teased, sitting across from him in one of the first floor’s sitting areas with her glass of sweet tea in front of her and a pot of boring, British people, not sweet tea for him.

 Sovanna rested in a baby wrap, content and quiet against her mother, only occasionally giving a little coo to let them know she was very much awake and there.

RATIGAN:

Ratigan had been waiting for Mrs. Robinson to contact him since her due date had come and gone. It had not been hard to find the evidence that her child had been born and that there had been little to no complications recorded by the hospital staff in her or the child’s records. (It was a small town hospital, their online security had never been hard to bypass.) He knew it would only be a matter of time before she would reach out to those within her secondary circle once she felt she was up to it. 

 The beginning of the semester had come and gone without her roaming the ground of the university and while he would not admit to missing her presence, he would say that it had been rather quiet around there without her— whether this was a good or bad thing would be left up to interpretation of whoever had asked the question. 

 He had made his way to the Robinson home upon her request and immediately he could tell that something was amiss. But, of course, after giving birth to a living being, it would do that to a person. She smelled different and the wolf (aside from its unbound excitement for seeing her and the baby) was concerned. 

 Ratigan ignored this. It was too temperamental. Nothing was wrong with her besides her body adapting to its new normal. 

 “I fail to see what you have to gain from my answer to the question. It isn’t as if you will be returning anytime soon.” He smiled at her from where he sat, teacup in hand. “How are her sleeping habits as of now? Bearable enough for you to sleep, I hope?” 

 FRANNY:

 Franny would take that as a yes, for the record. See, you grumpy-ass man? They were totally best friends, just accept it!

 “Mm, you’re right.” Franny said, patting Sovanna’s little head. “They tried to get me to stay on as an adjunct like Sarabi Lyons, and I considered it...until I found out by chance how much some of my more recently hired male colleagues in the music department were being paid. I’m not hurting for money, obviously-” she gestured to her house around her, which for full transparency, was purchased with her husband’s money before Franny Sor Robinsons was anyone or anything, because she knew Pedram was similarly beyond comfortably wealthy. “And in fact would have offered my pay to be cut if the department was hurting for funds. But it’s the fact my labor was consistently undervalued for nearly a decade.”

 “Not to mention. Who is Andrew Gilliam? Benjamin Davis Braswell? Where are their Grammys, ASCAP and CMA awards, induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Netflix productions based on their lives? Were they gifted citizenship to their mother’s home country because of their accomplishments?”

 This was a sentiment Franny was careful not to express out loud often, only with Pedram, Petunia, and Tallulah who would feed her petty bone. It wasn’t that she thought she was better than Professor Gillam or Dr. Braswell, but a woman with her accolades should have been at the same rate of pay as them, considering her impressive career. And! All by age forty-one! That was all before her most recent birthday!

 The fact of the matter was that Franny Sor Robinson was an asset to Pride U and attracted students to the music department. There are a number of students who passed up scholarships to Juilliard, NYU, or Berklee to come study under her at Pride U. Professor Gillam was a fine man, and as much as Franny hated Dr. Braswell she had to admit that music was the man’s life and his blood, but they weren’t the ones students came to Pride U for.

 That was her. 

 After nearly a decade of putting up with the bruised egos of white men, Franny was relieved to be done with it. She’d miss teaching adults versus just doing music lessons for some local kids at her home, but it also meant she’d have time to focus on her actual career, which was making music.

 She smiled down at Sovanna and said, “She isn’t too hard to get to sleep but the thing is she needs to be held until she’s asleep enough to lay down. If you try to lay her down too quickly she’ll wake up and cry -- isn’t that right, little lady? You love attention and cuddles, don’t you?”

 “And when she’s awake,” Franny said, unwrapping the baby wrap so she could later pass her to Pedram to hold. “She really only cries if she’s hungry or wants a diaper change. If she’s sleepy she’ll make this sound that’s just a single long, continuous noise until you pick her up or she’s out of breath. Cornelius is wrapped around her finger-- he had to pop to Berlin for a one-day no night business thing.”

 Cornelius meant it when he said he was taking six months of time off for the baby, but Franny insisted he go to Berlin.

 It’s one day, darling. I know this day’s important and if your team who has handled everything this year wonderfully is saying they’d feel more confident if you were there, that’s okay. A one day business trip to Berlin is nothing. You’ll kiss her goodbye in the morning and be home just two hours after her bedtime. 

 But he’d be there when she woke up crying in the middle of the night because she got hungry. He’d crawl out of bed probably not fifteen minutes after he finally got comfortable, grab Sovanna from her room, bring her to Franny to feed, and then handle burping her and putting her back to bed so Franny would only barely be woken up.

 She hoped his paternity leave would not be interrupted again of course, but if he was needed, say, once or twice more for just a day, she’d consider his paternity leave successful. Franny was not a selfish woman. She didn’t mind sharing her husband some.

 “She’s a good baby once she got used to being born. Wilbur was too after he bonded with us. It’s always hard at first whether you had your baby or adopted them. 10/10 don’t recommend childbirth though; it’s much better when you get a free baby.”

 Not really free. Adoption was expensive but it at least wasn’t physically painful.

 RATIGAN: 

One of the things he could admire Mrs. Robinson was her ability to speak so freely about whatever it was that popped into her mind. It had taken him this many years to be able to communicate as little as he did but he would never be able to do what she did. Everything that came out of his mouth (for the most part) was calculated and combed over because he was always wearing a disguise— in order for it to be believable the lies had to be fine tuned and consistent. If there was a slip, one single thread there to be pulled on, the whole life he had made for himself could be unraveled. 

 Ratigan sympathized with her and said nothing, only nodded. She was not looking for feedback, she rarely did when it came to these matters. Why would she from him? A man who had no qualms or problems within his department. (Nor should he, if they knew what was best for them.) Maybe he was swayed because being a university professor had less to do with his actual care for the job or the students and more to do with keeping a plausible identity. Ratigan did enjoy academics, it was why he had chosen the day job, but it bored him easily. It was why he relied on the challenge of his other job to keep it occupied. 

 So he remained silent and allowed her to say whatever she needed to on the matter. That was usually the role he played with her, an ear to listen. 

 Again, he had nothing to say in regards to her answer to his question. He had asked it out of politeness, knowing very well what he had come over for— to talk about and see the baby that everyone had been waiting on for months now. She was about as remarkable as he suspected. Which was to say, she was like any other child he had encountered, and that was more than a few considering he had played the role of nanny for the children of the Shrivani’s and other members of their circle when it was needed of him. 

 Babies were what they were, simple, fragile, and small. A fleeting stage in life since soon they would grow and the world would take its toll. 

 “I will keep that in mind,” he said in stride. “And I can assume everyone in the house is happy that she is finally here?” 

 FRANNY:

 “Laszlo most of all,” Franny said, adjusting Sovanna in her arms. “I’m sure as soon as she’s got her vaccines I’m going to wake up to ‘hey I took the baby to school you can have her back at lunch’ texts.”

 Now, most families would find that odd, but that was just such a Laszlo thing to do, of course it would happen eventually. Their family was tight-knit and trusted each other without question so Franny would probably just laugh and fall back asleep.

 “And her father is absolutely in love with her. He’ll just lie down and lay her on his chest and they’ll nap together, it’s precious. He’s going to be a great girl dad.” 

 RATIGAN: 

Bringing a baby to work, even if the man was only an art teacher (which, to Ratigan, was barely a job so much as it was more of a time occupier) was hardly a smart move. Then again he hadn’t known that particular family member of hers to be entirely competent. Also working in an environment filled with adolescents didn’t seem safe for a baby either. Especially in a town like this where anyone of those children could be in possession of magic that they were still working on controlling. 

 He did not care enough to say any of this to her aloud— but that would not stop him from judging silently. 

 “It sounds like everything is going well.” And yet the wolf still did not settle its worrying. It felt more frantic now despite hearing all of what Mrs. Robinson had to say, which was only good and positive things. Ratigan continued to ignore it. “And how are you feeling?” 

 FRANNY:

 Franny’s smile faltered only slightly as Pedram asked how she was feeling. Really, she felt silly for even hesitating since her doctor had said she was just overreacting. Just the hormones blah blah, your body will feel normal soon blah blah. 

 Yeah? Then damn, would she love to feel like that was true.

 There was no reason that she should be bleeding for three weeks straight, right? Right?

 But Dr. Brennan said she was fine. So she was fine.

 Franny was just being a woman, you know, overreacting like they do.

 (but then, why would even Laszlo have pointed out how pale she looked last night, hm?)

 “Uh, happy, of course!” Franny said, deciding to just answer with how she felt emotionally. “I’m just in love with her. It was like when I met Wilbur the first time, just this time I was high off my ass on pain meds.”

RATIGAN:

Raitgan caught the hesitation. Anyone may have been able to, but it stuck out to him as he was someone who over analyzed the body language and patterns of those around him. It was just how he had learned to operate. He had been around Mrs. Robinson for a lot longer than many of the people he’d have to pick up on within the span of a few minutes of meeting them, so the slight misgiving was odd. (And it only gave the wolf something to whine at.) 

 “Of course.” He smiled, but a wrinkle formed between his brows when she did not continue. “I know we’ve not spoken in person for a while, but I did not think that would change the nature of our relationship. I’ve never known you to hold back when asked a question.” 

 He paused to take a sip of tea. When he set it back down he continued. “Is there anything wrong?”

 FRANNY:

 I’ve never known you to hold back when asked a question. 

 Okay, get out of my literal brain? Franny thought, the corner of her mouth twitching upward. Pedram really did know her too well to pretend they weren’t friends, didn’t he?

 “I mean...my doctor says I’m fine. It’s probably just general malaise or whatever. Like, I thought I’d feel better post-baby by now but my body is still like, ‘haha, that was wild.’ Probably just what happens when you wait until forty-one.” 

 She sighed and reached for her glass of sweet tea, only to find it empty. She pouted and set it down, then stood up. “Here, take her for a second, I need to commit more tea sin. She’ll fuss if nobody is holding her.”

 RATIGAN: 

Ratigan had been prepared to ask her more questions about the topic because she was right, the variable of her age did play a significant role to the rate at which her body healed. He felt as though that should have been more cause for concern than simply thinking it was something to be brushed under the rug. They were all there, ready to go on the tip of his tongue, but then she was standing and telling him he needed to hold her child. 

 Before she finished her sentence he was already shaking his head. “No. I— I don’t think that’s a very good idea. She doesn’t know who I am, she’ll fuss either way.” 

 He had not held a child since the detective’s and had no intention of holding Mrs. Robinson’s. His hands were blood stained. One wrong move and nails could turn to claws. He avoided touch with anyone, let alone the fragile body of a baby. 

 “Surely one of the many inhabitants of this place is home?”

 FRANNY: 

 “Not that I wouldn’t have to call down from the third or fourth floor,” Franny said, though she didn’t argue further because a sharp pain in her pelvis made her lightly gasp and her grip on Sovanna tightened a hair. “On second thought. I’ve had too much sugar today already. I need to shed the rest of this baby weight sooner rather than later.”

 That was what she was supposed to do anyway. 

 Sitting back down only made her wince, because every movement seemed to hurt. Hell, she was so weak at one point last night...but she was fine. This must be what having babies is like. She wanted this after all. 

RATIGAN: 

He was about to argue that he didn’t see anything wrong with that. It wasn’t as if whatever they were doing would be any more important than helping her when she asked for it. 

 Then Mrs. Robinson gasped and anything he would have said was pushed away by the sound if it. Inside him the wolf whined in response, scratching in an effort to get closer, the want to provide some sort of comfort or help all the more pressing now.

 “Are you sure you’re alright?” This was said in the form of a question and yet he knew that they both were aware of what the answer was. He just wanted her to say it— to give some form of permission. 

 FRANNY:

 “...yeah, I just-“ Franny said, then she chewed on her lip as she tried to think of a lie. “- realized I’m actually hungry! So.”

 Before Pedram could protest this time, she hopped to her feet and practically shoved Sovanna into his arms. 

 “Be right back!”

 Maybe if she shoved some cold leftovers in her face she’d gain some energy back. She was sure Pedram could tell she was unwell behind her smile and gushing over her baby. Even Lucille had commented on how pale Franny looked. 

 Now, her periods has always been incredibly light, but this heavy, prolonged one she was going through felt truly excessive. She shouldn’t feel this awful, right?

 RATIGAN: 

Mrs. Robinson had left her child alone with him, trusting that she was safe in his hold. 

 He stilled completely, his already stiff posture going completely rigid. His eyes were trained on the doorway that Mrs. Robinson had fled and disappeared through, as if his will alone would make her see reason and return to them before she could get another step farther— but she did not reappear. 

 Ratigan did not look at the baby until she made a noise of protest against his awkward hold on her. When she began to wiggle, trying to regain the comfort that she had just been in and that had been shifted into this for seemingly no reason, he was forced to look down to meet her eyes. Again, the child made a sound, this time louder and more aggravated than before. He knew that it would only get worse from there. 

 Carefully, he shifted her in his arms, his hold on her small body softening and allowing her to be settled closer to his chest rather than where he had been trying to keep a distance. The baby wiggled against him, but less in discomfort and more so that she was settling back down. She blinked up at the new face that filled her view, cooing softly before she relaxed. 

 It had been many years since he had held a baby and yet the mechanics of it had not changed. (She was bigger than Parisa had been.) Such soft innocence should not have been anywhere near him, so content, and yet there she stayed. 

 He continued their staring contest, both of them studying one another for some time. Ratigan was looking at the shared traits of her parents in her features, her mother’s— her mother. 

 It had been some time since the woman had left them. More time than he himself had been aware of. 

 “Bya, kuchak,” he said when the child wiggled when he stood. “We’re going to find your mother.” 

 FRANNY:

 While Pedram was probably busy pretending Sovanna wasn’t the cutest baby ever to baby, Franny was in the kitchen pretending she was actually hungry. The truth was she needed to scurry away and down something to try and quell the pain in her abdomen and pelvic area. 

 She ran the tap to get it nice and cold and she rummaged through the drawer with bottles of aspirin, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen, and other over-the-counter basic medications and grabbed the first bottle of painkillers she found - aspirin. After taking three with a literal handful of tap water, she splashed cold water on her face like that would somehow help.

 Dr. Brennan said she was fine. She was fine, she was fine...then why did she feel anything but fine?

 Time didn’t feel real as she stood leaned over the kitchen sink, the water running and running, her hands gripping the counter no matter how many times she told her brain to reach over and turn off the tap. The sound of the sink so completely mesmerized her that she didn’t even feel herself fall to the kitchen floor. Nor did she remember managing to half-sit half-slump against the cupboard beneath the sink. She could vaguely remember thinking that this would pass soon.

 The tap’s still running, she thought. Someone should turn that off.

 RATIGAN: 

Ratigan could hear the sound of the running water now that he was paying attention— but it was the smell of blood that had him quicken his pace down the hall.

 “Franny?” he asked upon entering the kitchen, unable to see where she had slipped below the countertop. It took him only a few seconds to assess the scene before him, eyes flickering over the room.  (A drawer had been left slightly ajar— probably in haste rather than carelessness. A bottle of pain killer left beside the sink— she had not come here for food. She had also not caused some sort of accident using a kitchen utensil as there was none to be found on any counter or near the sink, unless it had hit the floor but he hadn’t heard the clatter. The faucet was running but there was no glass— again, out of a lack of time rather than laziness.)

 He rounded the other side of the counter and what he found there was to be expected. Mrs. Robinson lay limp in a pool of her own blood. 

 In his arms, the child stirred. In his chest, the wolf howled. Ratigan remained still. 

 If he had been someone else he may have gasped, out of surprise or perhaps fear, and his brain would have spiked in glutamate, sending him into a panic. But because he was who he was he remained calm as he bent down on his knees, beside her on the cold tile. He turned to lay the child down, away but not out of his immediate reach. 

 One hand reached for his phone, dialing the local emergency number as it would shave off time he did not know she had than simply calling 999, while his other reached around to press two fingers to her pulse point. Thankfully, it reached back out to him. 

 “Franny.” He slid his hand up to turn her head to face him, checking if she was still conscious. “Franny, can you open your eyes? Can you hear me?” 

 “Ambulance,” the dispatcher answered after a few rings, “is the patient breathing?” 

 “Yes.” 

 Next to them, the child began to cry. 

 FRANNY:

 “This happened yesterday,” Franny muttered when Pedram asked if she could hear him. “Though not this bad.”

 When her legs gave out on her yesterday like even standing was a terrible exertion of strength, it wasn’t as sudden. She’d had time to bend her knees and lower herself onto the edge of her bed and wait for it to pass. It didn’t pass so she fell asleep waiting and woke up with enough strength to take a shower.

 She thought, as the water and blood swirled down the drain together, that surely a proper heavy period shouldn’t be almost three weeks long. Not even after giving birth. But Dr. Brennan said she was fine.

 Sovanna started to cry and Franny’s mind cleared enough to reach in the direction the cry came from, and even that motion made her hiss in pain but she didn’t stop reaching for her. 

RATIGAN: 

Ratigan stopped mid-sentence of where he had been explaining the situation to the person on the other end of the phone. His stare sharpened as he looked at her.

 “And you did not think to tell anyone? Or see your physician?” His words were not accusing, more so they were angry, frustrated with this woman for not thinking that an excessive amount of blood was not bad or a cause for any concern. His anger was pointed at her family for not noticing something was wrong— at himself, most of all. 

 He had made it this far in life due to being able to pick out the details of people to understand the situation he was in and move forward accordingly. This should not have gotten past him. 

 “I’m sorry, sir? What did you say?”

 “Have you sent an ambulance?” He glanced away from Mrs. Robinson for one moment and it was when she had moved for her child. It should not have struck him as an odd reaction. Most mothers across all species would have done the same. And yet it had. 

 Though she was bleeding, perhaps to her death, she still reached out to comfort her baby. 

Ratigan stopped her, pressing his shoulder up to hold the phone between his cheek and suit jacket so that he could take hold of her upper arms to keep her in place. “Do not move. Your baby will be fine, and if you care about her then you will ensure that she continues to have a mother by keeping still.” 

 “Sir, the baby crying, are they alright?”

 “Where is the ambulance?” 

 “I’ve just been informed our dispatch is on a call, so we have been trying to contact—”

 Ratigan hung up, that was all he needed to hear. He stood to scan the room until he located a set of keys. Though he did not wish to do so, he left Mrs. Robinson and her weeping child on the floor of the kitchen to locate the car the set belonged to. In the garage he ensured that the car’s backseat door was open and turned the car on. Before he left he also pressed the button for the garage door itself to begin to recline. 

 When he returned to the kitchen he kneeled back down beside her. “I’m going to pick you up now.” 

 It was not hard to do so as for the first time in a while he and the wolf were entirely in tune with one another, the strength it lended to him making it easy to stand with her. One arm was around her back while the other had gone under the bend of her knees. His sleeve and skin was now stained with her blood. 

 FRANNY:

 “I did,” Franny almost whined at the accusation. “Doctor said I was...over-reacting.”

“He got real irritated when I questioned him.” Irritated was putting it kindly. Frankly, it felt like sexist treatment, but Franny so badly wanted to be told she was okay that she just accepted it. Franny wanted to explain further just how Dr. Brennan had treated her postpartum, but there wasn’t energy within her to make more words before Pedram went off somewhere.

 When he lifted her off the floor, Franny hissed in pain as the motion jostled her. She tapped his shoulder with what strength she had to get his attention and pointed at her phone on the counter. He’d need it to call her husband at the hospital.

 She let her head lean against his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck with no strength behind the attempt to support some of her weight. 

 RATIGAN: 

Ratigan wished his reaction to her telling him this was not to call his people and have her doctor loudly put on display for malpractice and other crimes. (Drugs were easy to plant, especially on a doctor who had them so close at hand.) 

 He did not regret these thoughts because it crossed some sort of moral or ethical boundary— but if his reaction to her being wronged by someone was to put his own hand on the man’s fate instead of allowing it to be left up to chance. It was that he felt as though he had been wronged as well, somehow, and that his emotions had been stirred at all in regard to this woman’s wellbeing. 

 Ignoring this for now, knowing he would have plenty of time later to go over this later, he managed to slide her phone across the counter with his elbow and use his fingers to pull it up into his grasp. It did not take long to lay her down in the back seat of the car and return for the weeping child on the ground. 

 The pool of blood was left behind for someone else to clean up. 

 He returned to the garage and placed the baby with her mother (as there was no carseat and there was no time to search for one or another vehicle) and got into the driver’s seat. Backing out of the driveway, the tires squealed against the concrete beneath them, Ratigan began the trip to the hospital. 

 FRANNY:

“Shh, don’t cry, baby. You’re okay. Mommy’s got you; see, isn’t that better?” Franny cuddled Sovanna to her chest and, after whining once in pain, pressed kisses to the top of her head. 

 Poor baby. She must feel something wasn’t right like babies do and her little body could only cry about it. 

 “Don’t worry about mama, sweetheart.”

 Sovanna quieted down in her mother’s arms and Franny, through her pain, managed to keep her demeanor calm so as not to startle her. If Franny lost it, Sovanna would know something was wrong and cry again. 

 “Pedram.” She said quietly, suddenly turning her attention from Sovanna. “How bad did it look? As bad as I feel, or do you think my ob is right?”

 Surely if he was driving her to the hospital, it was worse than her being hormonal and just spotting or having a heavy period after childbirth. 

 RATIGAN: 

While he knew that talking to a baby was important to the development of their brain, he did not understand the point of telling the child that it need not worry. It lacked the cognitive ability to understand the situation outside of its own needs, why would she say to not worry about her when she was all there was to be worried about? 

 He said nothing, knowing it best he merely focused on the road. 

 Someone honked their horn as he paid no mind to the stop sign. (The chances of getting hit had been slim to none due to only one other car pulling up and at their rate of speed he could have dodged them should they have also not abided by the road sign. But it was also a small town, the patrons of it usually did.) 

 His grip on the steering wheel tightened at her question. “I think that you are in need of a new doctor.” 

 The trip across town was short— as any trip across Swynlake was, but in a car whose breaks had not been applied through the whole trip until they had reached the entrance of the hospital, it was shorter lived than usual. 

 Ratigan left Mrs. Robinson and her baby in the car to go inside. It took him little time to rally a group of workers and while they all scrambled (someone calling for a gerni, another for supplies, another to call the attending, and someone to get a room prepped) he returned to the car to open the backseat door. 

 “I will contact your family.” He glanced back over his shoulder as the group of medical staff came jogging out. “Is there anything else I can do?”  

 FRANNY:

 Franny’s last few logical brain cells kept her calm and she wasn’t sure whose benefit it was for more, hers, or the baby’s. She handed Sovanna to Pedram as the hospital staff filed out of the building and said the most pragmatic, least full of jokes, lacking any sexual innuendo thing she’d ever said to Ratigan in the over a decade they’ve known each other:

 “My phone password is capital-B Bitches-aint-shit with the I’s being exclamation points, no apostrophe in ain’t, and dashes between each word.” It was something other than a four-digit code to keep her from trying to unlock it at all while driving. “Call my middle brother first, Art. He’ll leave work early and take Sovanna. Tell him not to tell Wilbur, I don’t want him to worry, and tell him to call Lucille. She’ll handle my husband, I won’t put that on you.”

 She nodded to her phone. “One of my bank cards is in the phone case. The PIN should be 5739 but if that doesn’t work, try my wedding anniversary...it’s on my Wikipedia page...give the card to Art to give to Dimitri to pay for cleaning my blood out of his car. Shit, that’s probably a lot to remember…”

 RATIGAN: 

It was— but for a brain like Ratigan’s the amount of information could easily be acquired and remembered. “I can manage.” 

 He was surprised to realize he would have done far more had she asked it of him, her saying that she would spare him the experience of telling her husband what had happened having made him want to protest against it. But why? While the words would not be hard to say nor the answering questions hard to hear, it would have been more time out of his day that could have been spent elsewhere. She had given him an out and yet his first instinct had been not to take it. 

 Before he could say anything else the hospital staff was nudging him out of the way of the door, pulling the stretcher closer in order to transfer her from one surface to the other. Ratigan watched, now off to the side, while the child lay restless in her bundle. The changing scenery and noises most likely disorientating enough to aggravate her. 

 The lost comfort of her mother also taking its toll— reflected both in the cries of the infant and the rigid posture of the man whose arms she had been entrusted to. 

 Ratigan watched as Mrs. Robinson disappeared into the hospital, the wolf clawing whining within in the want to follow. When his attention turned back to the baby so did the wolf’s, knowing that she was now in his care until her family could arrive. He only allowed himself another moment to reign in the wolf and the emotions that had begun to cloud his judgement. 

 Then, he pulled Mrs. Robinson’s phone from his pocket, and got to work. 

[mistersshelby]

Love “the woman assassin”!!!! Since you asked, may I request a short tommy piece?? Maybe something like the reader and tommy fight over him saying the reader can’t go out on a Friday night??? Dw if not!! X

hehehe yes of course!!!

***

You knew it would probably go like this when your best friend asked you to go out to a bar for her birthday this Friday, but it didn’t stop you from fighting with him about it. You loved Tommy, but you were tired of him dictating where you could go and giving you a curfew, like a child every time you went out at night.

“I’m going to a bar for Maggie’s birthday tonight.” You announced when Tommy walked in the door.

He hung his jacket up before turning to you, “The Garrison.”

“No,” You said, and prepared yourself when you instead gave him the name of a bar, the known territory of a rival gang.

“No, you’re not going.” Tommy said casually, before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

“I don’t recall asking your permission.”

“That doesn’t really matter seeing as I forbid you to go.”

You laugh, but it falls flat, “You’re joking, right?”

“Am I laughing?” He asked with a straight face.

You scoff, “You’re a fucking prick, Thomas, you know that?”

“Because I want to keep you safe? If you think I’m a prick for keeping you alive then so be it, I’d rather you resent me than be dead.”

“You can’t just coop me up in this fuckin’ house all the time because you think someone might kill me to hurt you! I need to go be with my friends! You don’t let me go anywhere!” Angry tears were beginning to prick at your eyes, but Tommy just stared at you passively.

“If you want to go out so badly then you can go to The Garrison. Now stop throwing a bloody fuckin’ tantrum.” And then he just walked out of the room.

You pinched the bridge of your nose and looked up at the ceiling at an attempt to force the tears back in your eyes. You were going out whether Thomas liked it or not. You were an adult for Christ’s sake and you weren’t his property. When you heard the door of his office close, you grabbed your coat and a small pistol to stow away in your bag before quietly slipping out the door.

***

The gin had definitely begun metabolizing in your bloodstream when Maggie noticed a guy staring at you. She elbowed you sharply and nodded her head in his direction, “Who the fuck is that?” 

You didn’t recognize him, but he had a mean look about him and he was definitely watching you. You felt your heart rate pick up a little bit, but didn’t show your nerves to Maggie, “Dunno, probably just some perve.” But Tommy had taught you better than that, so you stuck your hand in your bag and rested it on your pistol just in case.

It was a little while later when you noticed him beginning to head in your direction. At the same moment, you noticed another man heading your way as well and blocking the exit. “Maggie, why don’t you go get us some more drinks.” You said urgently, wanting your friend far away from you in case things got ugly.

She giggled, “But we just--”

“Maggie, go.” She caught the look in your eye and scurried away just as the two men reached your booth, one sliding in on either side.

“What the hell is Thomas Shelby’s pretty girl doing in our bar, eh?” The one on the left said. 

You moved to pull the pistol fully out of your bag, but the man on the right grabbed your wrist, “Don’t do that, love, we just want to talk.” He said, but with the hand that wasn’t holding your wrist, a gun already sat, cocked and pointed at you from under the table. “No one’s gonna hurt you, we just want to take you somewhere quiet to talk.”

You tried to keep your mind clear and calm as possible, “Tommy knows where I am. He’ll know exactly who took me and neither of you will live through the next fortnight. He will make you suffer, worse than you could ever imagine. Is that what you want?”

They pretended to ponder it, “You know, I think she’s bluffing, mate.” Said the one on the left and then redirected his attention to you, “Tommy Shelby is a smart man, he wouldn’t let his girl step foot in this bar. So I’m willing to guess you didn’t tell him where you were going.”

You were so focused on trying not to panic and thinking of some other way to talk your way out of this that you didn’t hear the entrance door open and shut. You didn’t notice the way silence fell in the bar as multiple pairs of footsteps made their way over to your booth.

“Boys,” A familiar voice started, feigning politeness, “Are you harassing my girl on her Friday night? Where are your manners?” When you looked to the source of the voice, Tommy stood there, a cocky smile on his face with John and Arthur standing behind him looking like murder.

“She’s in our bar, we was just welcoming her, making sure Tommy Shelby’s girl was comfortable.” Fear was beginning to enter their voices and relief began to spread through your bloodstream.

“Now, in your experience, does pointing a gun at a girl make her more or less comfortable?” Seemingly on a signal from Tommy, Arthur and John both raised their own guns to the men.

People began fleeing the bar when they spotted the pistols and the men next to you raised their arms up shakily, the one with the gun placing it on the table in front of him. Arthur took it.

“See, I knew you were smart men.” Tommy said, “Now get out of the booth and run. If Arthur or John see you when they leave this bar they will shoot you, so I suggest you run fast.” They scrambled out of the booth and the tension in your body left, though you knew another fight with Tommy was about to begin. The bar was deserted now and John and Arthur gave you a nod before leaving you alone with Tommy.

“Tommy, I’m sorry, I--” You began, but he cut you off.

“Get up.” He said sternly and didn’t wait for you to follow the order before he turned to walk out of the bar himself. You had to practically run to catch up with him.

“You were right, okay?” You started again when you caught up to him, “I shouldn’t have left like that, I--”

He roughly grabbed your arm and pulled you into an alley, pushing you up against a wall. You gasped, startled by his roughness, but when his hands came up to cup your face, you noticed they were shaking, but you didn’t get a chance to comment on it because he was suddenly kissing you. He was angry, you could practically taste it on him. But the kiss was also desperate and with his hands shaking, you could tell that for a few moments there he had been scared he’d never get to kiss you like this ever again.

“I thought--” He started breathlessly as he pulled away, his voice ragged, “I thought the next time I saw you would be in a morgue.”

You shook your head and stroked his cheek, “I’m sorry, I-- I brought a gun, I didn’t think they’d recognize me anyway--”

“I told you they knew who you were--”

“I know you did, I just--” You sighed, “I thought I had it under control.” You bent your forehead against his, “I’m sorry, Tommy.” You whispered again.

“You know, I don’t enjoy constantly fighting with you or making you feel like you’re trapped at home. I just want you safe. Maybe... Maybe you should be with some normal bloke, someone who’s not always putting your life in danger--”

“Oi!” You said, shoving him away, “Don’t you dare say that, Thomas Shelby, you hear me? I love you. I don’t want some normal bloke. I knew what I got into with you. I still choose you. Every day.”

He smiled that smile that he reserved just for you and then he kissed you again, “No more sneaking out of the house, okay” He said and you nodded between kisses. “I love you, too.” He added, “Now let’s go home.”

[marvinswriting]

water

hurt/comfort(/hurt?) fic one ;) dw guys its not to bad in the hurt/comfort range,,,i’ve written worse. GENERALIZED TW: death (fear of it, mentioned, and/or, actual death); graphic descriptions of pain; water and fear of drowning; general sickness mg borrower (roommates) au

There were lots of things borrowers weren't taught as a kid that my roommates and I thought were normal and Damian couldn't believe.

Like, basic math, what a hot pocket was, or swimming. And that's just naming a few.

We had all the skills we needed to know to survive. Nothing more and nothing less. 

I remember sitting in Damian's room on one particularly hot day. We were talking about my childhood. Damian found it crazy that we were expected to move out and survive on our own at such a young age. 

It's probably one of the only reasons Gretchen, Kevin, and I stuck together when we meet. All scared young teenagers who just needed a home. Kevin's the oldest, then Gretchen and then me. I met them on my first night in the outdoors. Kevin had just evacuated because he had been caught and Gretchen was on the verge of death from being without a home and food for months. Under any other circumstance, I don't think we would have banded together.

"So you're telling me, you're parents taught you thirteen different ways to tie a knot, but you can't swim?"

"There isn't exactly a residency borrower pool where I can get taught. Besides, I'm never around big bodies of water. Being able to use a rope is a much more necessary skill. We have to climb everywhere."

"I just can't wrap my head around it." Damian paused for a moment. "Is that why you hate the sink?"

"That and the big daunting drain at the bottom."

I smiled at the memory. Just as I found Damian's life interesting, he found mine entertaining as well. Apparently, it's not normal to be doing life or death activities like borrowing at age eleven and moving out to never see your parents again by thirteen. 

Damian says humans move out typically around age eighteen. 

We're seventeen now, I don't want to think about the house without him.

My hand slips, jolting me back to reality. I really need to pay attention. I'm currently climbing up the counters. Its mid-day and I'm halfway up, which is probably the most reckless thing I've done since meeting Damian. But- Kevin and Gretchen were sick and somebody needed to get them water. The thimble in my arms is making it hard to climb and I really should wait till night, but Kevin is burning up hotter then any of us have ever been and they're both so dehydrated. Kevin can barely move and each time Gretchen breathes it triggers a fit of dry heaving and coughs.

I may not like my roommates but I really don't want them to die.

But- my hand slips again- I also should focus on not dying in the process of getting them help. 

I'm only holding onto the rope with one hand and with the amount it's sliding down it feels like I'm making no progress. 

I can't tell if my mind is replaying the ghost coughs of my roommates or if Gretchen is heaving so loud I hear it from here.

Fuck.

I'm sick too, but not in nearly as bad of shape as those two. I just feel weaker, and scaling a kitchen island isn't a low key activity. It works the full body. And I'm not doing too hot.

When I finally reach the top of the counter I feel dizzy. I toss the thimble onto the marble and hoist myself up, cringing at the clatter the metal makes. 

Nobody in the house seems to hear it. I think Damian and his parents are in the other room watching a movie together. I heard the TV go on while climbing and almost had a heart attack, but none of the Hubbards have entered the kitchen for snacks yet. 

I lay half on the counter trying to catch my breath. My face feels hot and theirs a ghost tickled of a cough at the back of my throat. That scares me more than anything. 

Each time I heave for air my lungs feel tighter as I press the side of my face to the cool marble. 

My body wanted to shut down and fall asleep right here but I needed to get water for my roommates. Besides, I'm still out in the open. 

I push myself fully onto the counter and retrieve the thimble. The world sways slightly and I try to ignore it in favor of walking over to the sink. 

This was my least favorite part of borrowing. Kevin typically did it. 

But Kevin is passed out with a fever right now.

The sink was slippery with dish soap residue around it. I peered over into the undrained sink. Plates and utensils were sticking out under the murky water. 

It was up high enough that if I leaned over, I could scoop up some of that and call it a day.

No.

Gretchen and Kevin needed real water.

Or else they could-

I didn't finish the thought.

Yeah, Kevin and Gretchen were probably the most annoying people I've ever met, but they were practically family. We've been living together for four years. We've seen each other and lows and highs. From life-threatening sickness to Grechen's on her period be careful she might throw something at you.

The walls would be so quiet without them.

I don't notice there I'm crying until a tear lands in the water I'm leaning over, creating small ripples through it.

My stomach twists as the realization of how bad this could be dawns on me.

We aren't doctors.

We're borrowers.

The best we can do for sickness is a cold washcloth and hydration. 

If it's a life or death sickness, death often wins.

I can't let it happen. 

I clear my throat trying to will the urge to cough away and grab my rope out of my bad, leaving the rest of my tools abandoned on the counter. I hook the rope around the faucet handle with one arm, the other arm still holding the thimble. 

I haven't gotten the water in so long, I forgot how hard it was to pull the handle. No matter how hard I tug the rope, it won't move. It's hard to get a footing with all the soap as I lean away from the sink.

Fuck!

Why was borrowing so hard?

I hear footsteps approaching the kitchen and I panic. My tools are lying everywhere, there is a rope around the faucet handle and I'm right in the open. 

I drop the rope and step away from the faucet. It's not worth it, I need to hide-

Damian walks into the kitchen, looking over his shoulder as he yells something at his parents.

Oh.

I step over to grab my rope again. Since its just Damian, I can-

As I put all my weight on one foot to reach the rope, my foot slips on the soap. 

I almost didn't notice I was falling at first, the world had been spinning the whole time anyway. It was only until my brain caught up with the feeling of gravity did I let out a yelp. My arms flailed, as the thimble slipped from my grasp. 

I was falling into a fucking sink.

All the borrower horror stories I thought I outgrew as a kid came flooding back to me as I hit the water.

My uncle drowned in a sink. My cousin fell into an empty sink and was caught by humans. My father almost fell down the drain and died if it wasn't for my mom to save him. My mother's childhood roommate also drowned in a sink.

Nothing good happens in the sink.

This is why Kevin gets the water.

I don't know what I'm doing.

Oh god.

The water was ice cold. I felt it seep through my jacket and layers of clothing, weighing me down. The soapiness burned when I opened my eyes and I couldn't tell which way was up. It was a white fog all around.

The was no oxygen. 

I knew better than to try and breathe.

I'm gonna die.

Wasn't Damian in the room?

What if he finds my body.

Kevin and Gretchen will never know what happened to me.

The white fog was being replaced with black spots dancing on my vision. 

My roommates need their water.

-

I glance around the kitchen.

I wasn't going crazy, right?

I was getting popcorn for the movie my parents and I were going to watch.

I swore I heard Janis.

Maybe I was going crazy.

My eyes trail over all the places a borrower could be in the room. She wasn't on the floor, there was nobody on the counters-

My eyes land on a abandons tool bag on the counter by the sink. There's a rope on the faucet handle. A borrower was definitely here.

It wasn't like any of them to just leave their tools out in the open.

I looked to the sink.

No.

"Janis?" I ask softly, rushing across the kitchen.

I look across the counters one last time. Hoping I just missed her.

The sink was filled with dirty water. Ew. 

Whoever did the dishes last really needs to learn not to leave the stopper in. 

My eyes fall to a thimble floating in the water, half full with the murky liquid.

Did- did Janis fall?

I could feel my heart stop at the possibility.

"Janis," I call out once more, my hand hovering over the water. "Where are you hiding?"

There was no response. 

Where were Kevin and Gretchen? Was Janis left to do such a daunting task alone?

My eye is drawn back to the sink as small bubbles surface. 

Oh my god.

It's all I needed to dip my hand into the water.

Janis was in there.

I cringe at how cold it is. 

My heart was pounding. As much as I wanted to find Janis, part of me wished I didn't. That I was wrong and shes okay somewhere. 

Maybe she's hiding on purpose. 

My hand touched something soft and warm in contrast to the cold water. For a second I froze.

What am I doing? Fucking grab her!

My hand wraps gingerly around the small form, and I can feel Janis's hand grab my finger. Her grip is lose but its a small sign of life. I let out a shaky breath and I lift my hand out of the water.

She's okay.

Well-

The second I gently place Janis on the counter shes shaking with coughs. Her entire body wreaks as she spits water onto the counter next to her and gasps for air.

I'm momentarily worried my parents might hear over the movie, but I've got bigger things to stress about.

"Are you okay?" I ask softly as the coughing dies down.

Janis looks up at me. There are tears in her eyes and she's shivering.

"I thought I was gonna die." There was so much fear in her voice as it cracks.

My heart breaks at the sight of her. Yes, she normally looked small, I mean- she's a borrower. But seeing her with her knees to her chest trembling? Janis had shrunk in on herself so much it reminded me of when we first met. When she had herself pushed up against the wall to hide from Ariel.

"Jan," I reach out my hand but hesitate. I don't know if she wants to be touched.

"I'm so cold." She whispers letting out another weak cough. 

"Take off your jacket," I say.

"What? But then I'll be more co-"

"No," I cut her off softly. "You're jacket is soaking. That's probably the biggest reason why you're cold."

Janis nods and begins to strip off the layers stuck to her skin. I grab a dish towel, one of the smallest I can find. It's still huge compared to Janis. 

"C'mere." I say softly. Janis shakily stands up, stepping away from the small puddle she's created on the counter, leaving her jacket behind. She's still got her arms wrapped around herself. 

"I'm fine, just a little cold." She insists, but she allows me to scoop her up gently anyway.

"Yeah, well its gonna be a bigger cold if you don't dry off." I say placing her in my hand with the towel. I wrap her in it closely and hold the hand to my chest so I can clean up the water.

"What happened anyway?" I ask, fishing the thimble out of the sink before pulling the drain. Not letting that happen again.

"Kevin and Gretchen need water." Janis said, a level of panic in her voice.

"So they sent you to get it?"

"They're really sick."

I can tell Janis is trying to hide her emotions, but the fear seeps through. 

"They needed water, I said I'd be quick."

I hug Janis closer. I wish I could help. I can feel her shivering though the towel snd she still lets out an occasional cough. 

"The towel's wet now." She said quietly. "There was a lot of water."

I laugh softly. "You did fall in a sink." I placed her down momentarily on the counter before placing her jacket on the dry part of the towel and filling up the thimble for her. Janis watches as I turn the tap on with a look of envy.

"Stupid giant-sized taps." She mumbled.

I laugh, placing the thimble on the table and scooping her up. 

Holding Janis always felt like holding one of those hand warmer packets, but right now she felt ice cold. She shivered, leaning tiredly into my touch. 

"You're hands are warm." Her voice is soft as she looks up at me with half-lidded eyes. 

"Don't fall asleep, love." I say wrapping my fingers gently around her in a vain attempt to stop her from shivering. "You gotta get the water back to your roommates."

My last sentence seems to snap her out of whatever adrenaline crash she hit. "Oh my god." She wiggles out of my grasp and I lower my hands to the counter before she can fall. Kevin and Gretchen must really be in bad shape because Janis is gathering her supplies with such speed and purpose you wouldn't know she just almost drowned. She scoops up her tools and the water before eyeing her jacket.

"I'll take it to my room," I offer. "You can come back for it when it's dry."

Janis visibly relaxes as she shoves rope into her bag. "Thank you so much, Damian. Not just for the jacket but for saving my life earlier and everything. That's the third time now." She stands up straight, slipping the bad on her shoulder and the thimble resting on her hip. "If I get a break from taking care of Kevin and Gretchen I may stop by."

I nod, picking up the wet tea towel and the tiny jacket. "I'll be waiting. Bye love."

"Love you."

I watched as Janis rushed over to the outlet on the counter, making sure she was safe and in the walls before leaving the kitchen, request to make popcorn long forgotten.

ive written worse hurt before,,,, this is just a warm up to fics to come. this is why i say take away my rights. I have to much power @realmisspolarbear @musicallygt @smallsoysauce @sourishlemons

[nitr0glycer1ne]

Ducktober/Duckvember Day 15 - Back to school

Heya! I didn't really like the original prompt for day 15 (sorry...) so I went with this one instead :) Hope you enjoy some Mallard-McQuack family fluff! (feat a small appearance of one of my headcanons: Gosalyn has ADHD).

--

It's 6 am when you wake up, the pounding alarm dragging you away from your agitated sleep. Launchpad starts turning, grunting and moaning something unintelligible, so you quickly turn your alarm off before pressing a kiss to his forehead and caressing his cheek. It seems to do the trick, as he does something resembling a smile before falling back into slumber. You sigh, stretching your weary arms before getting up. It's far too early for you, and your body is sleepy and begging you to go back to bed, but you won't listen to it - not that it's used to you listening to begin with.

You make your way to the kitchen and brew some coffee to help your head get rid of the fog blurring your thoughts. The bitterness works its magic, and you finally start working on the reason you were up in the first place - breakfast. Breakfasts are usually simple in the Mallard-McQuack house: toast and eggs for you, cereal and bacon for Gosalyn, and sugary cereal with coffee for Launchpad.

However, today's a special day, so you're going all out. You take the box of cookies you baked yesterday from where you hid it, on top of the highest shelf. You had needed help from your boyfriend to hide them here, for the modest fee of one chocolate chip cookie, a small price to pay compared to the number Gosalyn would have gulfed down if you had left the box out in the open. You open the box, eat one of the cookies and are pleased to find they're still just the way you've left them yesterday, golden with dark chips, crunchy on the outside and tender in the middle. Satisfied, you put some of them in a plate, trying to make it look extra appetizing.

The next step is easy: grabbing oranges from the counter and squeezing them. The machine is a bit loud; Gosalyn is a heavy sleeper, so you're not afraid to wake her up, but you do hope LP won't be disturbed. Once the carafe is full, you put it in the fridge and then get on to making pancake batter, a recipe you've learned from your grandmother years ago and still remember clear as day.

You hum as you mix your preparation, the fresh ingredients combining in a soft batter, your wrist firm and flexible, and a smile on your beak. You've always liked cooking; well, you've always liked what keeps your hands busy, be it by sewing or cooking or, lately, tinkering with the gadgets LP has gotten you from one of his friends - Fenton? yeah, that's the guy's name - but cooking is special. There's something almost magical in seeing the pleasure with which the people you cook for eat what you've poured so much love into making for them. It’s something you had forgotten, but that feeling had rushed back when seeing your boyfriend and your daughter's merry faces after eating the simple mac and cheese you had cooked on the day Gosalyn had officially become Gosalyn Mallard.

(She insists on calling herself “Gosalyn Mallard-McQuack”, and even though it's not going to be official before a few months, several papers and a wedding ceremony, neither you nor LP correct her.)

There's a spring in your step as you put the batter on the side of the counter and make your way towards your room. You carefully walk to the bed and you gently pet your boyfriend's head, before kissing him on top of his beak and whispering:

“Good morning, babe.”

LP opens an eye, then the other, before lazily grinning at you. He throws his arms around your waist, and before you know it, you're sprawled on top of him in a tight hug. Your heart can't help but flutter like a high school girl's, which would be embarrassing if it was because of anyone else. But it's because of Launchpad McQuack, Duckburg's kindest duck, everybody's friend and, most importantly, your boyfriend, so it doesn't count.

“'morning Drake.” he mumbles, still half asleep.

As much as you'd happily stay in his embrace all day long, you have some important stuff to do today, so you give him a peck on the bill and untangle your limbs from his.

“We'll have all the time you want for a hug later, LP, but you gotta get up now. Today's special, remember?”

You stand up, and you clearly see the realization hitting him all at once, his eyes widening and a strangled gasp leaving him as he sits up.

“AAAAH!!! Today's Gos' first day of school!!” he yelps. “Nice to see you remembered.” you tease him, amused by the embarrassment across his face. “Don't worry, I, of course, took care of everything, you just have to go in the kitchen and wait for us.” “Sure thing!”

You fondly look at your boyfriend jumping out of bed, and then you walk to your daughter's room. You make sure to knock twice before going in, and sure enough, you find her sleeping deeply, her small chest rising and falling with every breath. Something tightens in your throat, and you sit on her bed, overwhelmed by the sheer love overflowing you. You reach for her head and soothingly pet the ginger strands, and for what must be the thousandth time since you've adopted her, you thank your lucky stars that the duckling was put on the quite lonely road of your life.

“Hey, honey.” You speak softly, your fingers still petting her head. Gosalyn groans a little in her sleep, but before she has a chance to turn around, you speak a bit louder: “Gos, it’s time to wake up.” “Hmmm… five more minutes…” “No can do, honey, not today.”

You feel a little guilty at denying her request - the kid is very good at weaponizing guilt, even when she’s not fully awake. You get up and open the curtains, letting sunlight reach inside her room. Gosalyn growls a bit and tries to cover her eyes with her arms, but you’re faster and grab her wrists gently:

“Ah-ah, young lady! Not on my watch.” “But daaaad!” your daughter whines theatrically. “I’m tired!” “Well, that’s on you for staying up past your curfew yesterday.”

Gosalyn grumbles, but she sits up and stretches her arms. Satisfied, you give her a small peck on the forehead before heading downstairs, loudly announcing you’re going to make the pancakes and that she’d better join you quick if she doesn’t want LP eating all of them.

-----

Breakfast went great, as expected. You have quickly glanced at the clock after Gosalyn had put her fork down, gasping when you had realized you only had twenty minutes left before the bus arrives. (Launchpad has kindly offered to take Gos to school with his car, but you have declined. You’re not exactly sure that it would be good for the kid’s first day at school to start with a crash.)

Gosalyn is upstairs, brushing her teeth and listening to some weird CD Lena’s lent her. She’s trying to sing as she’s cleaning her teeth, which means you’ll probably have to scold her for getting toothpaste all over the bathroom’s mirror again, but that’s not the most important thing right now.

“Do you need help, DW?” Launchpad asks, standing behind you and startling you.

You loudly curse as the knife you were using slips and you cut your finger on the edge of the sharp blade. Thankfully, the cut isn’t too deep nor too big, so it’s not a life threatening emergency this time.

“Oops, sorry.” your boyfriend apologizes, looking embarrassed. “You need a band aid? Antiseptic? Or-” “I’ll go get that, LP, just finish preparing Gos’ lunch.” you mutter, at first glaring daggers at Launchpad and then softening your gaze after only seconds.

LP nods, and you rush to the bathroom. Your boyfriend is… not exactly the best at cooking, but he knows how to pack sandwiches and cookies, so it’ll be enough for today. You feel kind of weird when you climb up the stairs, as if something is missing. And you soon understand why, when you step inside the bathroom – your daughter isn’t singing anymore.

Instead, you find Gosalyn sitting on the edge of the bathtub, looking downwards and kicking her legs. You know that posture, and you don’t need words to understand just how anxious your daughter is feeling at the moment. You sit right next to her, and wrap an arm around her shoulders. She leans into you, before getting up and giving you a tight hug, her face buried in your chest, messy ginger strands tickling your beak.

“What’s wrong, kiddo?” you ask, patting her back. “… dad, what if things… go bad, at school?” her muffled voice reaches you. “What do you mean? Me and LP have run a background check on all of your teachers, and-” “No, dad. What if the other kids…”

Your heart sinks as you finally understand why your usually cheerful girl means. Gosalyn isn’t known to really care about what other people think of her; the duckling is unapologetically herself, and you couldn’t be a prouder father. But at the same time, you know just how rough things have been for her lately, between her grandfather’s death, being kidnapped by an old enemy of her beloved grandfather, and being adopted. Her life has been quite hectic, and it’s normal for her to feel a bit disorientated.

Besides, she’s going to find herself in yet another unfamiliar place again. Sure, she’s going to the same school as the triplets LP has introduced her to a few days ago, but Gosalyn is as stubborn as you and has the same tendency to hate relying on others. On top of that, it’s been three years since she’s last been to school, given that her orphanage had its own classes. It’s also going to be her first time going to school with the help of her ADHD medication, and you can easily see why that could scare her, for a number of reasons.

So you take a deep breath, and you speak as gently as you can:

“Gosalyn Mallard-McQuack. Look at me.”

Surprised to hear you use the name she chose for herself, Gosalyn lifts her head and takes a small step back. You move your arms from around her back to let your hands rest on her shoulders, and you look at her with all the determination and love you can gather.

“It doesn’t matter what the other kids think of you. What does matter is that you stay true to yourself, and that you’re proud of yourself. And if the others don’t like you – well, sucks to be them, because they’re missing out on the bravest, most clever, most wonderful friend they could wish for.” “Dad…”

You ignore the way your eyes fill up with tears, or the slight quiver in your voice as you continue:

“Go show the world what you’re made of. Don’t look down, don’t apologize for being who you are. Show them all how bright you shine!” “Thank you, dad!” she yells as she gives you yet another hug, her wet bill pressed against your chest. “I’ll make you and LP proud!”

You can’t help but laugh as you return her hug. You suddenly hear a sniffing sound, which abruptly brings you back to reality, and you find Launchpad standing in front of you, wiping his eyes and holding a brown paper bag.

“That was so sweet…” he cries. “You’re so lucky to have each other, and I’m so lucky to have you…” he stops for an instant, reaching for his pocket from where he fishes a tissue, before continuing: “…but the bus is here, so-” “What?!  Come on, Gos, you’re gonna be late!”

You snap Gosalyn’s lunch from Launchpad’s hands, and the three of you dash down the stairs, making your way to the living room. Your daughter puts her favourite sneakers on - the ones that light up when she clicks her heels - Launchpad grabs her backpack, and you make your way to the small room where your and LP’s impressive Darkwing Duck memorabilia collections are displayed. You smile fondly in front of one of the shelves, before grabbing the only object displayed on it. You brush your thumb on it, gently, the memories fondly rushing back to you as your fingers follows the dips of the mark your face left in the cheap metal.

“DAAAAD!” Gos’ shout reminds you what you intended to do in the first place, and you run to the front door, where she’s waiting for you, backpack on her shoulders and a weeping LP holding her hand. “Sorry, had to get you a proper lunch box.” you smile as you hand her the old box.

Her eyes widen when her hands hesitantly wrap around the handle. She looks at you, mouth hanging open, as if to ask permission, as if to ask if this is really happening. She knows the story behind the seemingly wonky Darkwing Duck lunchbox – of course she does. You’ve told her ten, maybe twenty times, and every time she’s rolled her eyes or teased you a little. But today, Gosalyn’s hands are shaking under the heavy weight of what you’ve entrusted her with. Her fingers caress the dented surface of the box, just like yours have moments ago.

LP has the same look of disbelief on his face, but it’s quickly replaced by an impossibly fond expression as he watches both of you, not daring to interrupt the almost solemn silence hanging in the room.

Gosalyn finally snaps out of her trance-like state, and she almost steps outside, but before she starts running towards the yellow bus angrily honking, she embraces you in a last hug, and her words are barely audible:

“Thank you for everything, Dad.”

You proudly smile as your pat her back and watch her dashing towards the bus, not letting your eyes leave her until the bus has left and moved far, far away. And even then, you don’t move, your heart still beating insanely fast. Launchpad wraps a shaky arm around you, and you lean into his strong frame.

Everything will be okay, for you, for them. And in fact, Drake Mallard has probably never felt prouder or happier.

-----------------------------------

Hope you liked that cheesiness! I tried to stay true to Drake's character, although maybe I made him too soft... tell me what you thought of him! Also wrote in 2nd person once more, it's fun to do.

[peachyteabuck]

fool outta me [bucky barnes x reader]

summary: bucky and you finally have a conversation about your feelings after you catch him getting jealous about your friendship with thor

pairing: bucky barnes x writer!reader

words: 2080

trigger warnings: some teeth rotting fluff. talk about personal insecurities. allusions to previous and future sexual contact without much specifics. mentions of an unspecified childhood trauma

notes/other: hi hello i know i’ve been writing a lot of fluff n stuff. i will get back to fics abt two or more ppl just fuking rawing each other soon. dw. 

ask box / masterlist / commission info / ko-fi

You and Bucky have been dating for awhile. Not a long time, but awhile. You hadn’t officially moved in together yet (you still paid your half of the rent for your shitty apartment), but you still often slept in his room in the Tower. You’ve had sex, but had never gotten too adventurous. It’s good, Bucky and you are happy. You’re in love. No need to push it, no need to talk it further, no need to complicate things.

You’re sitting on the couch, reading some book about the gendered politics of crafting, when you hear a loud crash in the kitchen. The others are all in other places at far ends of the Tower, and you’re pretty sure Natasha went out to get coffee. But any of them in the kitchen on the common floor? Without you noticing? Nope. Not possible.

Good news is, you trust Tony enough to not allow some stray or burglar to come and kidnap you, so you decide to investigate. You keep your hardcover novel with you to act as a makeshift weapon...just in case.  You’re expecting a rat, or maybe some sort of ghost, possibly a dog no one thought to CC you on the email about - definitely not the god that’s been spooked by a a Nutribullet plastic container thingy that’s fallen from a poorly-stacked cabinet.

“Thor Odinson,” you groan, grabbing and gently placing the large smoothie-thing (oh god, what do you call those things anyway? Do they have names?) in the sink. “You scared the shit out of me!”

He looks sheepish as he explains. “Sorry, my lady. It looks like someone in this residence didn’t put…” he gestures to the object. “That away correctly.”

“It’s fine.” You half laugh, half sigh as you go to hug him. “It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?”

Thor chuckles. “It has! Please, sit back down. I’ll be there in a minute and you can tell me everything I’ve missed!”

You smile, nodding and going back to your place on the extremely comfortable couch. Ever the gentleman, about two minutes later he hands you your favorite mug - a baby blue one with cursive gold lettering that says “flight” with little birds on it- with your favorite tea inside. It’s warm under your hands and provides a relief to the ache from holding the book.

“An apology - for scaring you like that,” Thor tells you as you blow lightly at the steam from the beverage.

Again, you smile. “Apology accepted.”

The conversation between you two flows beautifully. You two talk about this and that: about your writing and his kingly duties. About your new book deal and his universal travels. It seems ludicrous, comparing your lives. But he seems genuinely interested in your life - just as you are his.

Book long forgotten, it seems like hours later when Bucky enters the floor with Natasha and Sam in tow. They’re all chatting about some new upcoming training technique they’re going to try with some of the subordinates. Once they all see Thor, they greet him with the same grand gestures and loud voice they’ve always seemed to use with the equally grand and loud god.

Well, except Bucky. He greets only you and only you with his signature peck on the lips, sitting beside you and pulling you into his chest. He’s showered - thank Gods - and he smells like the body wash you bought him. The honeycomb is calming and comforting, much more so than sweat and adrenaline and whatever else got stuck to him.

“How was the workout?” You ask.

He shrugs when he answers. “Good - the usual.”

You roll your eyes. Bucky may not be able to see it with the angle you’re at, but he knows you’re doing it anyway. “Always so descriptive,” you tease. He smiles, welcoming your chide remarks.

Thor watches the pair of you. You can tell Bucky notices, but neither of you really say anything. He had a habit of staring at things while on Midgard, it became a habit after one-to-many all-too-forward inappropriate questions, mostly made while in public (Why does that woman have a metal bar through her ear? He asked in a coffee shop. Why would anyone want to build a bear, especially little children? He texted you when he went to the mall for a first time. Why does this text end in an eggplant? He questioned when he picked up your phone and accidentally read all of your notifications).

It’s no biggie - at least not to you, so you badger Natasha about her postponing a girls’ night. Bucky, though, doesn’t take his eyes off of the God. He watches Thor with his assassin’s precision, and you choose not to comment.

Soon, your conversation with Thor picks back up. The whole time, Bucky’s muscles occasionally tense. For awhile, you ignore it; You know better than to push anything, so you drop it from your mind for the time being. Later that night, though, you bring it to the surface again as you get dressed for bed and Bucky brushes his teeth.

“Sooo…” you begin, leaning on the doorway to the bathroom.

Bucky spits the black (charcoal was Steve’s new thing, and Bucky’s always willing to be his guinea pig) saliva into the sink. “What’s up, babe?”

You shrug, attempting to remain nonchalant. “What was with you while I was talking to Thor on the couch earlier this afternoon?”

Bucky immediately denies his actions. “Nothing, it was nothing.”

You scoff. “I’m a retired interrogator for the United States Navy. You can’t knock me off your path that easily...James.”

Oooooo, full first names are coming out now. This is getting serious.

Bucky scoffs, too. Yours was serious, though. The one he does is obviously an attempt to mock you. “And I was interrogated for like, seventy years. You can’t crack me that easily.”

You stare at him via the mirror, blank-faced. “Really, you’re pulling the Winter Soldier card?”

Bucky shrugs, finally wiping off his face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

You don’t budge, metaphorically and literally. “You’re deflecting and you know it.”

He just grumbles something unintelligible and brushes past you, huddling under the thick comforter on his side of the bed and turning off the lamp on his nightstand. Bucky’s acting like a small child who just got told he can’t go over to his friend’s house on Saturday because he has to get up early for Sunday mass. Luckily, the only more stubborn person on this Earth besides him (and Steve) is you.

Plus, you babysat until grad school: you know how to handle petulant children. You turn off the rest of the lights and snuggle into bed right beside him, curling your arms around his middle - just like he loves it. He’d never admit it, but James Buchanan Barnes (World’s longest serving POW, Winter Soldier, Veteran, Avenger) absolutely adores being the little spoon.

When he settles into you, you know you’ve got him right where you want him. “You know, if you don’t want to talk to me, I could just give Wanda the go-ahead to read your mind and spoil all of the pranks you were planning to play on Sam…”

He flips over and gasps. “You wouldn’t…”

“And I won’t!” You assure. “You just have to tell me how you feel.”

“Ugh,” Bucky exclaims dramatically. “Talking about emotions.”

You snort a little, kissing his warm, sweet-smelling shoulder. Damn, you really know how to pick a body wash.“You knew this was going to happen! My mom was a social worker, you can’t hide that part of me for long!”

He growls, then sighs. “Fine. But turn over.” You start to question him, but he cuts you off before a single sound can leave your lips. “I can’t have you looking at me while I say this.”

Listen, you bargain with yourself. You got him to open up! That’s great. Let him do it in his own way. Being the loving girlfriend you are, you flip over and face the wall.

It’s a few pregnant moments before he starts, but when he does - he can’t seem to stop. “Look, I know...listen. I was super like, sauve and stuff...pre-war and shit. Talk to Steve, he’ll tell ya. But being under mind control for a Nazi organization doesn’t really like, help your self-confidence, you know? When I met you, it was hard. I remember you, at that party. You looked...oh god, you looked so good in that velvet pantsuit. And those heels! When Natasha introduced us, I legit almost fell over,” it takes every ounce of all willpower you have not to giggle. You remember that day so vividly: how much your bra hurt, what the champagne tasted like, wanting to jump Bucky’s bones the minutes you saw him. Everything, you remember everything. “And then Natasha threw, like legit threw all of your books at me once we got home. And I read all of them. Several times. It was just...I remember I wrote down all of my favorite poems and like, read them every chance I could get. I just, you’re so articulate, the way you use your voice, the way you write. I was...floored. Still am. I just, you never cease to amaze me. And I remember the first time we slept together, and your dirty talking - god. I wanted to stop fucking you so I could write down everything you said. I’ve just never, I’ve never met anyone who could manipulate the English language like you can.”

You wipe a tear from your eye. God, what a fucking charmer. No wonder you let him get it on the first date.

“You’re so...like, you’re like some Greek statue. Carved from perfect marble and so precious. Sometimes I want to touch you make sure you’re real but I don’t want to smudge you, wreck your beauty. And I’ve always felt like...remember that poem, from your second poetry book. The one about trauma from your childhood?”

You sniffle. That poem, that’s the one he talked to you about on your first date. Normally you felt so uncomfortable when people complimented you, but with Bucky it felt so natural. “That my trauma felt like the jagged edge of a rock at the bottom of the pond; ever present but with no exact location until it was too late.”

Bucky picks up, still facing away from you. “Yeah, I just...I never thought anyone so fucking amazing could love someone like me. It felt like you were a shooting star that somehow fell in love with some stupid cliff’s edge, or some other shitty rock or something. I don’t know. I just...I’m worried that you’ll see me like I see me, and Thor is like...the hottest person ever. He’s just as bright as you are...at least, I don’t know, I remember you and him talking about your writing’s allusions to mythology and I had no fucking idea what you were talking about and I just...I don’t know. I love you, I love you so much, and I’m trying everyday to prove that to you. But I just, I’m not sure how to do that properly, so sometimes I-”

You don’t allow him to finish his sentence. You surge forward, your salty tears mixing with his as you kiss him. Bucky kisses back without hesitation. Both of you are reluctant to pull away, but oxygen cares not one bit about how in love two people are.

“I think dating a writer rubbed off on you,” you whisper, lips still almost touching his. “Because those words...fuck. If you keep talking to me like that, we’ll never be able to leave this bed again.”

He laughs, deep and husky. “What can I say, I’m a changed man. First the loofah and that body wash, then the yoga, now this…”

You bark out laughter, then sigh happily. “If Thor would make you crack like this I would’ve invited him to Midgard a long time ago…”

Bucky jabs his fingers into your side, tickling you. “Don’t even joke about that! I’m trying to be tender here, and this is how you treat me?”

You kiss him again, smiling. “Aw, my love. How ever will I make it up to you?”

He taps his finger to his chin for a moment, then flips you over so that he’s on top of you. “Oh, I think I have a few ideas…”

[euphanisms]

dnp venus signs

so i was reading up on Dan & Phil’s natal charts kind of recently, specifically their Venus signs, to get a better understanding of their relationship & love languages. a lot of us who are interested in astrology have probably looked into this already, but i just wanted to compile some stuff here in case this is new to you

i added a couple of my own notes into what i’ve copypasta’d from Cafe Astrology, but i’m sure you’ll be able to see other parallels in this text as well

Dan ~ Venus in Leo

Venus in Leo men and women have high expectations, but once you know that these expectations revolve only around how much attention you are giving them, you’ll see that they are really quite big-hearted about most everything else. They are threatened by a relationship that appears to have settled too much, or one that’s lost its spark(1). They are also threatened by indifferent or impersonal behavior on your part(2).

a cool thing about Dan & Phil’s relationship is it’s always ALWAYS been fresh. it’s always been an adventure. even just meeting each other was charged with so much excitement. then they moved in together for the first time & started the radio show, & then after being constant sources of inspiration to each other for their personal channels, they started DanAndPhilGAMES. TATINOF, TABINOF. II. all of their side projects. their travels, moving houses, growing as people & becoming famous. all by each other’s sides. so it’s no wonder that Dan feels safe in his relationship with Phil: they’ve never lost that spark.

sounds like our sweet, jealous Dan

Although their needs for physical expression through sex are generally quite strong, their need for love is perhaps even stronger(1). It is hard for Venus in Leo people to separate love and sex, and even their most erotic fantasies are infused with love and affection. For this reason, few Venus in Leo folk would last long in a relationship that is mostly sexual. On the flip side, they may last longer in a love-only relationship in the absence of satisfying sex, but they are unlikely to feel very satisfied(2).

yea like. we been knew that Dan loves him some sex. but his edgy exterior isn’t quite covering the glaringly obvious softie within. this boy straight up just wants to be loved, & he’s not gonna let many people close enough to give him that (hi Phil)

is it just me or is this screaming 2012? when dnp were carefully & cautiously maintaining a very obvious distance from each other, they still stayed together. they still wanted to live together & work together. they were still so close. we can’t truly know what happened away from cameras & the internet, but we know that while their relationship may have changed, their bond did not.

Pleasing Venus in Leo involves paying loads of attention to them. If you’re willing to make only one adjustment in your ways, it should be to remind Leo how wonderful they are(1). Respect and appreciate them, always. Put up with their childlike moments and their tall tales. They want to be seen as attractive by you, so avoid (at all costs!) putting them down in this area(2). They actually lose interest when they perceive the slightest loss of interest in their partner, and you can expect that any letdown will be acted out in a dramatic fashion. Remind them, in a gentle way, that your emotions count too. If you are feeling a little jealous, let them know. Remember, to Venus in Leo, your small jealousies are affirmations that you find them attractive and expect the rest of the world to as well(3). Let them decide where to go on a date, and let them pay too. When Venus in Leo feels loved and appreciated, they reward you with loyalty, a big sense of fun, and plenty of physical expressions of their love.

yep. Dan loves attention.

to me, it always seems like Phil is genuinely happy to allow Dan his little Extra Moments™. he’s just giggling good-naturedly & looking at Dan like sunshine is coming out of his ass. & you better believe Dan is fucking Thriving off of that

@ jealous Dan 👀 u seeing this, babe? yeah, Phil’s hot. people with eyes are gonna look at him. but dw, you already got him. he fucking loves you. you can breathe.

Love is magnificent and grand to Venus in Leo people. They take pride in love and their love relationships, and they are typically generous with their money(1). This is a warmhearted, teasing, expressive, proud, and extravagant placement for Venus. Love is a bit of a game–a game that is perpetual, as Venus in Leo is forever stuck in the romance stage of a relationship(2). They feed on attention, acknowledgement, validation, and adoration. Venus in Leo loves to be adored, pampered, and admired(3). They have a strong ego investment in their love lives. The negative expression of this placement is overstating of feelings simply for the effect, as well as extravagance(4).

i know we all love the idea of sugar ddy Capita£ester, but i also bet Dan has his own little ways of spoiling Phil that would probably make us all dissolve into a pathetic pile of tears & puke if we knew 💕

immediate visual of Heart Eyes Howell

i think this is part of why Dan does so well with YouTube & liveshows & all that, despite his introversion & social anxiety: he’s got a really deep-seated need for validation & adoration.

ahem

Venus in Leo people may spend a lot on entertainment or sometimes just to show off! They generally are big tippers and give special and generous gifts. They are attracted to art, furnishings, clothing, and music that is bold and passionate, renaissance, lush or opulent, lavishly comfortable, and romantic(1).

like if that doesn’t have Dan’s name written all over it idk what does

Phil ~ Venus in Sagittarius

When Venus in Sagittarius people are in love, they need to feel they can grow and expand their horizons through their relationship. They want to learn new things, and experience everything together(1). These are idealistic lovers who want you to appreciate their beliefs, visions, and ideals. They can be a confusing mix of the lighthearted and serious(2). They are roamers and seekers, and don’t commit in their relationships as easily as others.

now who do we know who are attached at the hip & have been through every major milestone in their adult lives together? 🤔🤔 i’ll echo what i said for Dan: every success they’ve achieved, all their self-growth... they’ve attained together or by each other’s sides. i’m not crying you are

P H I L - WHAT DOES THAT SPELL

Venus in Sagittarius men and women turn others on with their big smiles and laughs, their jokes, their grand schemes, their dreams, and their friendly, flirtatious behavior(1). They pride themselves on their open minds, but you may notice they can be judgmental too. They are threatened by inhibitions on the part of their lover, dullness, and emotional overkill. They are restless, and won’t put up with lovers who dwell on any one thing. When the going gets tough in their relationship, they have an overwhelming need to run away. Usually this only means getting out and experiencing something new before they come back, but sometimes it can be for good(2). They are attracted to people in love with life. You don’t need to be refined, polished, or graceful to win their favor(3).

aka Phil’s entire channel + why we all love him to fucking death. also, the friendly, flirtatious behavior thing?? omfg, they’ve got his fuckin number there

man, i mean. again: we don’t for sure know all of what happened in 2012. but we do know that their relationship is resilient. maybe that’s in part due to the distance they placed between themselves. who knows

good news, Dan :+)

Pleasing Venus in Sagittarius involves allowing them lots of room in the relationship to grow. Avoid getting stuck in a rut, and understand their need to move on. Learn to laugh, but take their rants and raves seriously(1). Avoid criticizing their beliefs, join them in debates, and philosophize along with them. When they feel the need for more experience, join them! Learn to look past their clumsiness with you and your feelings, and avoid cornering them or forcing them to commit(2).

“So what japes do we have planned for today, Phil?” Dan asked, a fond smile playing at his lips even as his eyes flicked skyward for a half-second. yeah, we see that all the time. Dan is very good at going along with whatever silly thing Phil wants, & that is important

Phil is clumsy... he might be clumsy with feelings sometimes too. that’s pretty normal for Aquarius (his sun sign) as well

Romantic adventures, as well as a straightforward–even blunt–approach to love(1), are themes with Venus in Sagittarius. Truth and higher meaning are things that take priority with Sagittarius. There can be some inconstancy and possibly a tendency to escape or flee when love is too complex, intricate, or needy(2).

hey remember 18 year old Dan tweeting to Phil like his life depended on it until he got a response? & then remember how fucking openly flirty Phil was with him all the time after that? pepperidge farm remembers

yikes. i mean i’m js: this is likely a tough point of contention that they deal with often in their relationship. Dan is a v emotional dude. Phil might find the need to detach himself from that intensity sometimes & i guarantee that Dan is Not having it. :/

They are usually sincere, upright, and straightforward about what they want. They enjoy getting to know a lover on a philosophical level, exchanging ideas, and experiencing things together(1).

again, i really feel like this is their whole life together. they’re always bouncing ideas for content off of each other, talking about pop culture & world events, & everything they experience (say it with me) they experience together.

Venus in Sagittarius people are not always especially attached to personal possessions. They are not known to be especially frugal(1), although some of them equate money with freedom, and will gladly put money aside for travel.

js

all in all: these boys work stupid well together. in love, creativity, friendship, & their professional life. it’s literally written in the stars. sorry i don’t make the rules

Venus Signs - Cafe Astrology

[sidespidey]

Deck the Halls- Harrison Osterfield

Authors notes: OH BOY has it been a while since I’ve posted a piece of writing wow! Is it too early for Christmas fics?!? I hope not bc I’m feeling festive. I kinda came up with this while I was decorating my house with my family and now here we are. Like I said its been some time since I’ve written so I’m sorry if this is trash, but I’m always open to some constructive criticism! I hope all you lovelies enjoy! 

Word Count: 1557 (oops)

Warnings: pure fluff dw

You loved winter. The cold weather called for days inside cuddled under a blanket with hot chocolate, reading a book or watching your favourite movie. Your boyfriend Harrison also loved winter, but he’d rather spend it another way. He’d drag you out from under the blankets on the day of the first snowfall to catch snowflakes on your tongues and attempt to make snowmen with the little snow that fell. Although your feelings towards how you wanted to spend winter were different, you could both agree that the best part of the season was Christmas.

You both loved Christmas. As soon as Remembrance Day had passed, you two would be found hand-in-hand with Christmas flavoured drinks traveling shop-to-shop gathering decorations for your shared apartment. You’d be out finding the ugliest matching Christmas sweaters and taking cute pictures for Christmas cards to send to your friends and family. You thought the idea of Christmas cards was cheesy, but Harrison convinced you that everyone loved them.

Since you started dating, you made a tradition amongst yourselves of buying each other a tree ornament that reminded you of each other. They had to stand out from the generic ornaments you both brought from home however, so each year two new creative ornaments would be placed on the tree on Christmas Day. 

The ornament exchange was a sort of competition between you and Harrison. You competed with each other to see who could find the best ornament, Harrison normally winning because he would find you a unique one during his travels with Tom, practically dragging him and Harry to any store he thought could have ornaments. This year would be different though. You went all out and spent the money on getting Harrison an ornament decorated with a picture of you and Monty, both dressed up in Christmas sweaters and reindeer antlers that you had taken while he was away on press tour. The two of you continued through the mall, picking up new decorations to spread around your apartment. Harrison grabbed a few strands of new christmas lights to put on the tree, claiming that “the tree needs to shine brighter than your smile love”.

“I think that’s enough haz,” you told him after almost 3 hours of looking at decorations, “we have enough decorations to cover every inch of the apartment” you laugh as your boyfriend pouts. “That’s the whole point (Y/N), as the saying goes, the more the merrier” he says while winking, placing a kiss to your forehead. You look up into his blue eyes, feeling a blush rise to your cheeks just like when you two first started dating. “But baby, i’m tired and my feet hurt” you whine, knowing that it is impossible for Harrison to say no to you.  “Alright let’s go, i want to spend the rest of the night putting all our new decorations up” he says, grabbing your hand with his free one as you walk out to your car.

Spending the night putting up decorations is exactly what you did. Once you returned home, Harrison fixed you both up a cup of hot chocolate while you gathered all the decorations into the living room. It’s not long until Christmas music can be heard throughout your apartment, dancing through the air as you and Harrison get to work. You start on hanging tinsel around your windows as Harrison puts your tree together. Christmas lights are soon wrapped around the tree, Harrison gloating that the new ones he had bought that day made the tree look better, earning an eyeroll from you.

The two of you get to work decorating the tree. Ornaments of gold and red soon cover it, and of course the ornaments of your past competitions as well. Your favourite one being the one Harrison had given you the year you first started dating; a blue ornament with both your signatures tattooed to one side in white writing with the date of your anniversary on the other side. It was a simple idea, but it meant the world to you. Harrison knew you appreciated simple gifts with lots of meaning behind them, so when Sam gave him the idea, he ran to the nearest craft store and had it made.

“You know, i can’t wait to beat your butt again this year in the ornament exchange. Face it love, you’ll never beat me, i’m just too good of a gift giver” Harrison proclaims proudly as he hangs up his winner from the year before on the tree. “Ya ya tough guy, you just wait. I went all out this year and i’m so going to win” you remark. “Well if it’s anything like this one,” harrison replies holding up the batman one you got for him your first year together, “i’ll have no problem winning.” “I thought you loved the batman one though?” you question, sounding a bit hurt and beginning to fake sob. Instantly feeling horrible, Harrison hugs you close. “I do, i do love it! I love it so much its my favourite one imsosorryiloveyoupleasedontbeupset im a div iloveyouimsorry(Y/N)pleaseforgiveme” he pleads making you giggle. “You’re such a div, i couldn’t get mad at you over a Christmas ornament. I love you too much” you laugh, leaning in to peck your boyfriend’s lips making his frown convert into a smile. “I love you too my little snowflake”.

You were finishing the final touches to the tree when Harrison tapped your shoulder causing you to turn around. He looked at you with a sly smirk and held a piece of mistletoe over your head. “Oh look! How did this mistletoe get here?” he giggled as you wrapped your arms around his neck pulling him closer. “I’m not sure, but it’s pretty good timing. This place could use some heat” you reply, pulling him down to meet your lips, his hands finding your waist pulling you even closer. You break to rest your forehead against his, breathing in the warm scent of your boyfriend, slowly swaying to the Christmas music in the background. “As much as i enjoy this,” Harrison says breaking the silence, “I think it’s time we put the star on top.” You nod your head in agreeance as you place a soft kiss to his lips and turn to find the star.

As you pull the star out of its box, you feel Harrison’s arms wrap around you. “You ready?” he whispers in your ear, letting go of his grip on you. He turns around and kneels slightly, just enough for you to wrap you legs over his shoulders and get comfortable on his back. He stands slowly, lifting you up so you can reach the top of the tree. Placing the star on top, you feel him slowly draw shapes on your shins and place light kisses to the inside of your knees and thighs causing you to giggle. “Don’t giggle too much or i might drop you love” he warns you before kneeling once again so you can safely get off his shoulders.

He stands up and pulls you into a hug, admiring the beautiful job you had both done on the tree. He smiles to himself and kisses the top of your head, your face nuzzled into his chest. You stay like this for a moment, the two of you humming along to I’ll be home for Christmas  enjoying each other’s warmth, swaying lightly. The moment is cut short once you hear the piano notes of your favourite Christmas song start playing from the speaker. Harrison looks at you with fear in his eyes as you pull away from him, smiling at him with a devilish grin.

“(Y/N), no. please don-” he tries saying but he’s cut off short as you attempt to match your voice with that of Mariah Carey’s. You let go of his waist and run to the bathroom and grab your hairbrush, running around using it as a microphone as you lipsync All I want for Christmas is You  to you boyfriend. He stands there in awe as you sync each word perfectly, watching as you jump on top of the coffee table and point to him as Mariah’s voice sings “all i want for christmas is youuuuu, youuuu babyyyyy”.

Harrison laughs and jumps up on the table with you, grabbing the hair brush from your hands, mimicking your exact moves causing you both to fall onto the couch in a fit of laugher. Once you both have caught your breath, Harrison turns off the speaker and grabs you by your waist, pulling you on top of him as he lays down and wraps his arms around your shoulders, hugging you close like a teddy bear. His hands find your hair and he starts playing with it as yours rest on his raising chest, feeling his lungs emptying and filling again under your fingertips. Your head rests on his chest listening to his heartbeat as it slows to a relaxed pace. And it is in this position that you feel yourself slowly drift to sleep, the only light in the room is that of the christmas tree in the corner, and the only sounds are those of muttered i love yous and the light snores that escape Harrison’s lips as you both fall into sleep.

Tags: @zendmylife @aliedelanie 

[hold-my-hair-back]

More high school au destiel but with sick Dean?

I know it’s been forever since I posted a story (or really anything at all) but college is keeping me busy and I’m also substitute teaching at the local high school here. So, I hope some sick!Dean makes up for my absence. The season 13 premiere made me in the mood for a Dean story. Thanks for the request! I’m glad you guys like the high school era I’ve established. 

The first thing Castiel heard when he walked towards Dean’s locker, was a series of wet coughs followed by a creative string of bad language only Dean could think of. On a normal day, Castiel would walk into the school, head toward Dean’s locker, and see him standing in wait, usually listening to music and ignoring the rest of the student population. Now, Dean was hunched over, looking tired and miserable and coughing up a storm. Castiel felt his stomach clench with worry as he stood in front of his pale, shaky boyfriend. Instinctively, Castiel wanted to throw his arms around Dean, feel his forehead, and then comfort him. However, he knew by now that Dean was different and needed to be taken care of in a more discreet manner. Dean has always been defensive, but nothing amplified that more than when he was sick. Approaching Dean like this was similar to approaching a wild animal. “So,” Castiel began slowly and carefully as he leaned against the lockers, making sure not to stare too much. “I’m guessing this was why you weren’t at school yesterday?”

Dean opened his mouth to respond, but instead of words coming out, it was another series of wet coughs. Castiel watched as his boyfriend turned away from him and covered his mouth with a tissue until the coughs finally subsided. “Yeah, sorry I didn’t text you,” he answered. Castiel had to hold back from wincing at how rough his voice sounded.

“You never text me,” Castiel pointed out, trying to sound dismissive about it. “Anyway, I just figured you were ditching. Wouldn’t be the first time.”

Dean only shrugged as he coughed up phlegm into the overused tissue. Castiel wanted to make a snide remark about Dean’s smoking but held back. This was definitely not the time to stage an intervention for his boyfriend. After Dean was finished, he stuffed the tissue into his pocket and sighed, the breath sounding short and rattly.  “No, Principle Crowley has been getting on my ass about missing school. I really didn’t want to get into it with him again. Anyway, I’m fine. Just a cold.”

Castiel didn’t believe that for a second. Dean could have blood oozing out of every orifice in his body and still claim to be fine. There wasn’t time to protest though as the loud bell announced that first period was about to begin. Usually, Castiel would give Dean a quick peck on the lips before scurrying off to class, but this time he hesitated. He didn’t want to leave Dean alone until he knew for sure he was okay. However, Dean gave him a pointed look and he knew it was no use. Castiel sighed softly before kissing his boyfriend’s cheek and heading off in the direction of his first-period class. The entire walk there, he debated on what he could do to help Dean, even if help was claimed to not be needed.

Halfway through his honors government class, Castiel received a text from Dean, that simply said: 

Bleugh. -DW

Castiel couldn’t help but smile at the simplicity, knowing that was as close as Dean would ever admit to not feeling well. He couldn’t help but text back. 

Are you actually still in class? -CN

Dean’s reply took a while. 

No. I left the auto shop to puke and when I came back Mr. Turner told me to go to the nurse. -DW

Castiel frowned at Dean’s text and didn’t hesitate to respond. 

You threw up? Dean, I don’t think this is just a cold. -CN

Castiel waited a few minutes, but when no reply came from Dean, he knew he had to take action. He told his government teacher he wasn’t feeling well and hurried out of the room towards the nurse’s office. Dean would probably be angry with him for skipping class to see him but he didn’t care. Dean didn’t often admit he was sick, so Castiel knew this had to be worse than he originally thought. He felt his stomach clench with worry as he stepped into the nurse’s office, not sure what to expect. However, Dean wasn’t in the room and Castiel gave the nurse a curious look. “He’s in there, honey,” the nurse explained, gesturing to the bathroom. “Are you the boyfriend he’s been talking about?” The fact that Dean had been talking about him made his face heat up, and Castiel nodded. “Yeah, that’s me. Is he okay?”“He’ll be fine,” she assured him, standing from her desk.”There’s a nasty flu bug going around, and Dean was apparently the next unfortunate victim.” The nurse came and stood in front of him, holding a hand out with a smile. “I’m Jody Mills, by the way. The new nurse.”Castiel returned the smile and shook her hand. “Castiel.”“I know. He’s only said your name a million times.” Jody sat back down at her desk and looked up at him, and Castiel knew he was blushing again over the fact that Dean had been talking about him a lot. “You can go in there if you’d like,” she continued, looking at the closed door. “But if this stuff grosses you out, I understand. I’m sure he would too.”

Castiel was already making his way to the bathroom. “No, I’m fine. Thanks, Jody.” Castiel was sure Dean needed his space, but he needed to see for himself that his boyfriend was okay. He opened the bathroom door and made sure to shut it behind him before looking over at Dean who was crouching in front of the toilet, a string of sick hanging off his lower lip.

“Why are you here?” Dean grumbled, spitting into the toilet. The sick was still on his lip and Castiel quickly moved forward and wiped it away with a piece of toilet paper, ignoring the protests as it was done.

“Because you clearly aren’t as fine as you’d like to believe,” Castiel answered pointedly. He took a seat on the ground next to Dean and stared at him, looking for signs that this was something serious.

“It’s the flu,” Dean snapped. “Go away.” The venomous tone would have been more effective if it weren’t for the fact that he gagged right after, bringing up a small mouthful of vomit.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Castiel protested. “You always take care of me when I’m sick. Though, I’m not this much of an asshole when I’m sick.”

Dean burped into the toilet bowl before answering. “No, you just whine the whole time.” Castiel didn’t miss the grimace Dean’s face nor did he miss the way Dean’s arm wrapped around his stomach.

Castiel placed a hand on Dean’s back and reached forward to wipe away the sweat that was gathering on his forehead with some toilet paper. “You got me there,” he answered. “No shame.” He could handle Dean’s attitude – he’d been dealing with it for years, but what he couldn’t handle, was the idea of his boyfriend suffering alone. So, he would put up with the remarks and stay with him and help him through this.

Dean’s muscles tightened from beneath his hand and Castiel watched as he heaved into the toilet with tremendous effort. The toilet bowl had already been full when Castiel arrived, and he knew there couldn’t be much else in Dean’s stomach. The heave had only brought up a small bit of yellow bile which most of it remained on Dean’s lips until Castiel wiped it away. Surprisingly, the action hadn’t been met with a snippy comment from Dean, which told Castiel that his boyfriend was starting to get tired. Assuming Dean was done for a while, he flushed the toilet and leaned the other male against the wall while he went over to the sink and began to wet some paper towels with cold water. When he was finished, he knelt back down in front of Dean and began to gently wipe his face, ridding it of any sweat or vomit that might have still been lingering. “Alright,” Dean said after a while, moving his head away. Castiel was surprised he had let it go on for as long as it had. “I’m good.” Dean

Castiel shook his head and tossed the paper towel into the trashcan. “Just because you’re more or less clean now, does not mean that you’re ‘good’, Dean.” Dean began coughing, as though to emphasize his point, and Castiel could only raise an eyebrow. “Yeah, you need to go home and go to bed. Do you need a ride?”

Dean had to finish coughing before he could reply. “Home? I’d rather not.”

Castiel wanted to slap himself, as he should have known that wouldn’t be an option for Dean. “Well, as irritating and fussy as my mom can be, she would never turn away anyone who needed a place to stay. Especially anyone who looks like they’re on their deathbed. You can come to my house and crash, she won’t mind.”

“Yeah, but Sammy–”

“Sam is more than welcome too. We have a guest room that both of you can sleep in,” Castiel interrupted. He knew that even while sick, Dean would always put Sam before himself. Well, Dean put almost everyone before himself which Castiel both loved and hated at the same time. It often led to a small illness turning into something more serious that could have been prevented if Dean had just taken the time to take care of himself.

Dean was either too tired to argue any further, or Castiel finally managed to get through to him, because Dean nodded in agreement – something he didn’t do often regarding his own health. Castiel would take the win though, hoping that with some help, his boyfriend would be back on his feet quicker. He helped Dean up and led him back into the room where Jody was waiting. She had made up a bed for him and Castiel sighed in relief, knowing Dean wouldn’t be able to stay upright for much longer.

“Here we go,” Castiel said softly as he ushered Dean down onto the bed. “I know you don’t like this kind of thing, but you really should rest while I call my mom. I’m gonna sign us both out, okay? And then I can take you to my house.” Much to Castiel’s surprise, Dean nodded in agreement, which only proved how tired he was. Castiel stayed with Dean, gently stroking his hair until he fell asleep, and he then began the process of getting his very sick boyfriend in bed.

About twenty minutes later, Castiel was gently nudging Dean awake. He wished he could let his boyfriend sleep without interruption, but he knew he had to get them both home. Dean’s green eyes fluttered open slowly, and Castiel took a step back to give him some space. “Hey,” he greeted gently. “We should get you out of here. My mom is cool with you and Sam coming over.”

The mention of Sam’s name had Dean sitting up instantly, the movement causing him to wince and put a hand to his head. “I gotta go get ‘em,” he mumbled.

Castiel shook his head and moved closer to Dean again, reaching up and putting a hand to his head. “I’ll pick him up once school is out, but that’s not for another three hours.” Castiel frowned when Dean winced again and he put his hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Does your head hurt?” Dean only shrugged in response, but it was as close to a confession that he would ever get, so Castiel decided to take it as a win. “Okay, well we have some stuff back at my house that you can take for it. Come on.” Castiel helped Dean off the bed and wasn’t surprised in the least bit when Dean shrugged off his touch and began to make his way out of the room on his own. With a sigh, Castiel knew the only thing he could do was closely follow him.

Getting Dean home was harder than it should have been. First off, Castiel had a hard time convincing the other male that he was, in fact, not okay to drive himself. That was met with an ‘I can’t leave Baby here’ to which Castiel offered to drive them back in the Impala. That was only answered with a glare, which eventually led to Castiel driving the two of them back in his own car, leaving the Impala in the parking lot for the night. Second of all, Castiel had to pull over twice during the fifteen-minute drive back to his house so Dean could vomit. Well, the first time he threw up, the second time he dry heaved for five minutes until Castiel finally forced him to sit back in the car, handing him a bag he could heave into.

When they were finally pulling up to the house, Castiel sighed in relief and looked over at his sick boyfriend. “We’re here.”

Dean lifted his head from the passenger window and nodded. “Thanks. I’ve only been to your house a million times. I know what it looks like, Cas.”

Dean’s irritability was really getting on Castiel’s nerves, but he knew that there wasn’t much that could be done about it. He got out of the car and made his way to the front door, knowing that trying to help Dean would only get him yelled at. He did wait on the porch for Dean, however, and once they were both at the door, he led the two of them inside. His mom was at work, and his dad was probably in his office working on his book so that basically meant it was just the two of them. “Do you need help up the stairs?” he asked Dean, risking whatever snarky response he would receive. To his surprise, Dean only shook his head, the exhaustion probably outweighing his agitation.

Castiel stayed behind Dean the entire time up the stairs and toward the guest bedroom, just in case he fell. Luckily, Dean made it to the bed without any incident and he unceremoniously collapsed on top of it with a heavy sigh. Castiel sat down on the bed beside him and put a hand on his back. “Would you like some water or something?” he asked.

“Don’t think I’d be able to keep it down,” Dean mumbled into the pillow. His green eyes slowly slid shut as he finally began to relax once again. “You’ll pick up Sammy?” he asked.

“I promise,” Castiel assured him. “And we’ll talk about books and homework the whole ride over.”

“Nerds,” Dean said, but there was a hint of affection in his tone. Castiel didn’t miss it, and he dared to reach out and place a hand on Dean’s cheek. To his surprise, it wasn’t brushed away. “Cas, I’m sorry I’m such a dick.”

Castiel couldn’t help but scoff; he was thankful Dean was aware of his attitude. “Well, it happens to the best of us. I snap at you when I get migraines. It’s only fair.” Castiel leaned down and kissed the top of Dean’s head, his other hand rubbing up and down Dean’s back to coax him to sleep. “I love you, though.”

Dean smiled for the first time that day, and it was the most beautiful smile in the whole world, Castiel thought. “I love you too.” With that, Dean drifted off and Castiel stayed by his side.   

[phan-tassssstic]

The bus boy

Words:1743 Ao3 link:http://archiveofourown.org/works/13911513 Summary: Phil misses his bus and a boy forgets his oyster, this was the best mistake of phils life I took the bus home every day, and i thought it would be like some kind of magical fairy tale as a kid, nope, just a miserable place where teens go when they can't drive, or your local elderly people. One day I was late for my bus an I had to go to the other one. I was walking onto the bus with my headphones in and my daily boost of Starbucks in my hand and i did what I had to do, tap oysters, say hi to pat the bus driver and get on. I sat in the seat just behind the bus driver looked out the window and took a sip of his coffee until the bus Stopped to the next stop. I unplugged my earbuds and looked at the load of people going on. About the same age as me, wearing a uniform similar to mine but the logo was different, I recognised it as I played a sports fixture against them a few months ago for football. There were 3 boys, one around 5'10 one 6'0 and one about his height 6'3 I stared at them all entering the bus until the taller one with crisped brown curly locks, chocolate brown eyes, slender fingers and a black backpack suddenly tuned very pale "Urm I lost my oyster..." He said to pat. The bus driver looked unamused and told the kid "Sorry boy, can't go on without a pass," the boy was even more in distraught. "Please, just one ride my house is miles away I can't possibly walk! And it's raining! Please!" He begged but pat wasn't having it. He was about to kick the kid off the bus! I knew that I had a Spare oyster. "Urm I have a spare oyseter," I said whist shuffling for it in my snazzy Spider-Man wallet,"here use it, it's my spare I have two," pat looked angry and slightly annoyed and the kid just smiled at me "Thank you so much," was all he could say. The man ran off to the back of the bus with the rest of his friends "Kid I know you're a nice guy but I get this all the time, don't be too nice ok? You're just gonna be in a loss," pat said with a sigh. I decided to do the most 'wisest' decision (well at the time I didn't realise where that would get me) I decided to talk to the boy. I nervously creeped up to their area and cleared my through "Hi I'm phil, um who are you,"I asked nervously "Well cause ya asked so nicely, I'm dan," he gave out a smile with those dimples..... "Oh hi dan," I said with a wave "These are my friends, pj an Chris," they both waved at me. I smiled in return and then noticed his bracelet. It was a LGBTQ one, only used by bottom males. I wave my wrist where my one was (for top males) and he was bound to have noticed as he had a grin on his face. "So phil I know nothing about you but here's my snap and my number. He proceeded to write his number and his snap chat on the paper and handed it to me. I put it in my pocket and smiled. 'Bus is stoping at, stratford station' "Well that's my cue to leave, good bye phil," he said and then he was gone with all his friends. I smiled at himself as i clenched the paper in my hand and decided as soon as I got home i would text him. As soon as i did get home i plopped his body on his bed and added his snap chat and added him as a contact. 'Hello Danny:)" i texted. I smiled as i instantly got a reply 'Who dis?" 'Phil ;)' 'Oh thanks again for giving me your oyster.' I forgot about that dan hasn't retuned it yet. 'Yeah when will I have that back?' I asked. There wasn't much money in there so i didn't really care he could of kept it. 'The day you marry to me :p' dan said I couldn't help but laugh but then i realised im never going to get my oyster back and it takes forever to get a new one 'Wow dan, now I wish I was on time for my first bus' 'Anyway, tell me about yourself daniel' 'Well I'm a nerd who likes anime, the colour black, dark clothes and being a semi-repressed-emo' 'Is that a real word?' 'Probably not :p' i smiled at that 'Well I like lions,muse, anime and movies' 'YOU LIKE muse XD aka the best band' 'Well it's great isn't it?" I said 'Oh and to say sorry let's go to Starbucks and get coffee tomorrow let's say the one next to arsenal stadium? Dw I'll pay XD' hummed and thought for a second 'What time?' asked '4?' 'Yeah why not' -----the next day------ "Hello dan," I said "Ah phil, what drink do you want?" "Caramel mochiato," I said without hesitation. "Coming up," dan joked as he went to order our coffees. This dan guy seemed cool. "So one coffee for you and one for me," "Thanks," I took a sip of my coffee and smiled. "So do you play video games?" "Yeah," "Wanna come to mine and play some?" Dan said. I agreed cause video games. "So how fars your house?" "Not far," he said ,"maybe a few minuets away, come on take your coffee get to the gamingggg," he said full of energy. I was happy with his energy, it was cute. "Ah no fair you cheated!" I said during our one millionth round of mario kart," "No you're just bad," he said whilst sticking his tongue out "You know dan," he made a huh noise and faced me," I think we are going to be good friends. He just smiled "I hope we do phil," he whispered,"I hope we do," -----10 years later------------- "Phil were's my pikachu socks!" Dan huffed whilst tipping our house upside down "I don't know darling," I said realising how cute but Sad it is when my boyfriend is mad over losing something nearly as bad as when he threw our passports in the bin,"I'm busy dan by the way, I booked dinner tonight at this new French place," "Why? It's not my birthday, it's not your birthday, it's not our anniversary and you're parents aren't coming down town till another year so what's it for," "Just something I wanted to try they have good food," I shrugged. Dan sounded happy by that," also dress nice it's a special place," I said with a grin "Ok sure," I stand In the mirror fixing my hair an taking a deep breath "Ok dan our cab awaits," I say whist locking into his arm. He kissed my cheek and giggled. The food was quite nice until dessert came. I passed a note to one of the waiters whilst dan went to the bathroom and they nodded and went straight back to the kitchen "So what's for dessert?" Dan said whilst scanning the menu. "I don't know," I was looking behind dan and saw the people with flowers placing them and they brought the cake. "So dan," I cough out "Yes phil? Are you ok? You're looking paler than normal," dan said "Yeah I'm fine it's just," I Took a deep breath,"dan you are such an amazing guy, you're strong, beautiful,smart but-" I was interrupted by dan "I get it, you wanna break up," he said "No no no the-" "No phil! I can see it! Why would you want to date such a usless chump!" He ran off out of the restaurant and I was left alone there. By the restaurant there was a river and that's where I saw dan "Dan," "Go away!" "Dan listen, please! Just a minuet," "Fine you have two minuets," "Thank you," "So dan, you're such an amazing person and i love you with all my heart, but I think it's time we should stop being boyfriends," dan looked like someone just died and before he could run I got down on one knee and pulled out a little red box," dan I don't want to be boyfriends anymore, I want to be husbands, so dan will you do the honour of marrying me?" I said hoping he'd say yes The now in tears boy stared at me and could barely speak words "Yes phil! Yes I will marry you," he give me a hug and I pulled him in for a kiss. I fitted his ring on and he squealed like a little child. "Phil," he said "Yes dan?" "Thank you for taking the wrong bus," he cried. I smiled at that. Seeing my fiancé infront of me with his smiley face made him look so beautiful It started to rain and the moon was shinning in the river as be linked hands and exchanged grins. ----the wedding day!----- It was our wedding day! Finally I can be married to Daniel howell the man who makes life so much better! As he was walking down the aisle my brother giggling with excitement as well as dans brother just rolling his eyes at how sappy weddings are (what a teen) and there he was infront of me, my beautiful Danny. We shared our vowes and the whole chapel was filled with cheers. When we got to our hotel room dan said something to me "Well a promise is a promise,"he said "What is? You never promised me anything it think?" Dan just laughed "No but," he reached for his pocket," here you go, I told you I'll give it back when you marry me," it was the oyster from 10 years ago I gave dan on the first day I met him "I think it still works and still has money in it," dan said "Do you wanna go somewhere?" I said Dan took a pause and thought "Soho cemetery," "Why? And at this time?" I asked dumb fondedly "The asshole who wouldn't let me on his bus is buried there,I'd like to thank him" he said I grinned. "Yeah, thanks for being an ass hole pat," I whispered after," thank you so so much," And that was the story of how I met Daniel James Lester