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iluvmattsbeard · 3 days

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say it (m.s)

master list

matt sturniolo x reader

warnings: VERY heavy smut and strong language

preview: Matt has been stressed out all day because of filming. his brothers have been on his last nerve. when he gets home, he takes out his frustration on you and he doesn't think you're taking him seriously. so he makes you take him seriously.

a/n: I literally imagine Matt take out his frustration on me 24/7. like yes give it to me lmao. - L 🤍

it was 10 p.m at night. you were waiting for Matt to get home. he was out filming a car video with his brothers Nick and Chris, for their youtube channel. you sat on your bed reaching down at the laundry basket beneath your one foot dangling on the side of the bed. you started folding your clothes neatly as you watched tv.

it’s already been 2 hours since he left at like 8 ish. you yawn still folding your clothes. you always waited for him to get home before falling asleep. you always wanted to make sure he got home safely.

suddenly, you hear the front door opening. you stopped everything you were doing, standing up about to head to the door but you freeze at the loud slam. “i’m home” you hear him yell out from behind the door. he was angry. you open the door and face him. “hey Matt…” you say hesitantly. all he does is look at you giving you a nod before walking to the fridge to grab a root beer. he twists the cap open, then taking a sip. all you do is stare at him before speaking, “how did filming go?” you ask stupidly. Matt then looks at you with a blank stare, “how do you think it went?” he says. “okay so i assume it didn’t go as well.” you say walking up closer to him but he turns away sitting on the couch.

“what happened?” you say turning to look at him crouched forward sipping his drink. “nothing it’s fucking stupid.” he responds clenching the plastic bottle. “well it’s clearly bothering you.” you lean back onto the counter saying. “so it’s not-.” Matt interrupts, “y/n just mind your business.” you knew how he gets when he’s upset. he turned cold and sometimes said stuff that really upset you. “i’m sorry. that was rude of me.” he says placing the bottle on the coffee table. he turns his head looking at you, “it really wasn’t a big deal. i’m just irritated by the fact i can’t ever get a word in without being interrupted.” he says with clear frustration. “Chris won’t ever shut his big mouth. the stupidest shit always comes out and Nick entertains it. every time i try to speak, Chris does it on purpose i swear, he just blurts out something we won’t even be talking about in the moment.” you let out a laugh but shortly stop as Matt darts his eyes at you seriously. “sorry” you mumble out. “see not a big deal since you think its so funny.” he says with a scoff.

you roll your eyes as you speak, “Matt don’t even start. i already said sorry.” his eyes were piercing through yours making you clear your throat. “okay Matt continue please.” you say. “no. you don’t care.” he responds looking away getting on his phone. you groan and shake your head. “fine be like that. i’m going to bed.” before you head to your bedroom, you pour yourself a cup of water and then walk towards the bedroom door.

Matt puts his phone down next to him, shaking his head letting out a scoff behind his smirk. “stop” he sternly says looking at you. you stop in your tracks as you turn around and face him. he stays quiet looking at you up and down before speaking, “put the water down” he says. “Matt i’m going to-.” you let out but he interrupts. “put it down.” with a dominant tone. you put down the water on the counter. you turn to look back at him but you see him walk out onto the balcony. you follow shortly after and join him outside. he was standing there leaned against the railing staring at the city lights. "why are we out here?" you ask confused. he keeps his eyes on the view not saying anything. you let out a soft sigh as you mimic his stance. “Matt-.” you were about to say but he gives you a glare. “you’ll find out.” he responds with a blank face.

eventually he looks away and sits on the arm chair that decorates the balcony. you turn to look at him as you can't help but notice his dark eyes. he leans back into the chair and spreads his legs slightly. he licks his lips raising his hand onto his lap, patting it, "come here" he demands. you nod your head as you walk over to him. you were going to sit on his lap but he sits up stopping you. "on your knees." your eyes widen at the command. "w-what?” you stutter out, “out here on the balcony?” he looks at you with the same glare from earlier. "do it." you nod hesitantly eventually kneeling down slowly. you gulp as you look up at him with your doe eyes. he stays silent as he brings his hands to unbutton his pants not breaking eye contact. he slightly brings down his pants as he pulls out his hard cock into his hand, stroking it.

"you're going to help me. aren't you?" he says. you bring yourself slightly up as you replace his hand on his cock with yours. he brings himself forward a bit. you stroke his dick slowly looking down at it. your hand looked small wrapped around it. slowly, you wrap your mouth around his tip, moving with a normal pace. not too slow and not too fast. you use both of your hands to stroke the remainder of his cock that couldn't fit in your mouth. he lifts his shirt up getting it away from your face. he then uses his other hand placing it on top of your head. he then pushes your head down, repeatedly bobbing it, making you tear up from how big his cock is. you take your hand and tap him to signal you can't handle the size hitting the back of your throat. he lets out a small low laugh as he grips your hair continuing to bob your head up and down. "who's laughing now?" he says. you gag slightly every time your head goes down. more tears streamed down your face with your eyes feeling cloudy. "look up at me." he says.

you look up weakly at him as you keep eye contact. he groans at the sight. "what? you can't take it no more?" he asks slowing down the pace he had you at. you couldn't say anything but look into his eyes that were filled with dominance. he releases your head from his grip, pushing you off him softly. you stay on your knees letting out a soft cough as he wipes your drooling mouth. he leans forward grabbing your hands as he pulls you up. once you stood up slowly he lets go of your hands still sitting there. "take these off." he says tugging your pajama pants lightly. you look into his eyes, pulling down your pants, along with your panties, letting them hit the ground. you step out from the soft fabric and laced garment standing there nervously.

you were scared the apartments in front of you could see you guys through their windows. your next door neighbors could also potentially catch you both in the act if they step outside their own balconies to peak. Matt grabs you by the waist, pulling you onto his lap. he immediately pulls you in by your face, attaching his lips with yours. you could feel his hard dick twitch under your entrance as you kiss back eagerly. the kiss was filled with anticipation. he runs his hands down the sides of your body as he lands on your hips.

he keeps them there gripping a little hard as he starts moving you back and forth against his cock, grinding on it not breaking the kiss. you felt yourself getting more wet after each kiss and each hip movement. he then pushes his tongue inside of your mouth as you fight for dominance. of course, he won. you tangle your fingers in his hair as you buck your hips, matching the pace of his hand movements. Matt then pulls away not wasting time attaching them onto your free nipple. you throw your head back slightly by his wet mouth sucking harshly on your hard nip. still grinding on him, he then stops you, also pulling away from your tit as he raises you up a bit. Matt takes his cock into his hand as he slips it into your wet core causing you to slip out a loud whimper. he darts his eyes onto yours as he brings up one hand, covering your mouth. "you don't want to be caught don't you?" he whispers.

you shake your head as he whispers, "okay then keep it down." he places his hands back onto your waist, with you slowly starting to ride him. you bite your bottom lip trying to fight back the noises. his grip gets tighter as you speed up your pace. he pushes you down a bit more making sure every inch of his cock sits inside of you. you wrap your arms around him, hiding your face in the crook of his neck. "you enjoy this huh?" he whispers in your ear. you try to make out words but you failed or else moans would fly out. "say it." he says firmly. "y-yes" you finally let out. "then prove it." he says breathlessly. you lean back slightly as your hands rest on his knees behind you. you roll your hips back and forth making sure you were pressed down all the way, having him deep inside. he throws his head back biting his bottom lip hard. you throw your head back as well, gulping down your moans.

"you move your hips so perfectly." he says bringing his head back up straight. he bites his lip again as he watches you continue to ride him. "just like that." he says. you wrap your arms around him, hiding your face into his neck again, still keeping your pace. "f-fuck Matt. your dick feels so good inside of me." you moan in his ear. he smirks as he stops your movement. you sit back up confused.

he leans back into the chair, pulling you up slightly as he starts to take control. the sudden thrusts make you moan out by surprise. "shhh.. just take this dick." he whispers. but you were really struggling keeping it in. the more he heard you fall apart, the more he sped up. he covers your mouth as he pounds harder into you, bruising your pussy. you bite the inside of his hand from the feeling of pain and pleasure. your eyes clouded up again as tears rolled down your cheeks. it hurt so good.

you look up and see your reflection in the window. you saw your tits bounce up and down from his thrusts. the clapping noise that was being made with your guys bodies coming together, started to get louder. you and Matt both look at each other when you hear someone open their sliding door. you widen your eyes as he continues to thrust. his hand was still on your mouth so you tap him signaling to stop. all he does is shake his head.

you grip onto his shoulders with your eyes rolling back feeling your stomach in a knot, indicating you were about to cum. you could feel Matt’s thrust getting slightly tamer; you could tell he was close. after a few more thrusts, you finally released all over his cock almost falling because of how weak you felt. “o-oh fuck” Matt whispers out at your actions. he then pulls you off his twitching cock as he cums on his stomach. you collapse onto his chest weakly as you both lay there out of breath.

after you both caught up with your breathing, you guys continue staying quiet, knowing your neighbor is outside on their balcony. but thankfully, after a bit they went back inside. you and Matt look at each other and let out a sigh of relief at the same time.

a/n: likes and reblogs are appreciated! - L 🤍

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m-elshaer038 · 2 days

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urgent : please if you can help don't hesitate If you can't, share the link and I will be very grateful to you

I am Muhammad Al-Shaer from Gaza. I am approximately 23 years old, and like any young man in the world at this age, I am nearing the end of my university and the beginning of the formation of my professional life.

At this age, I only had 18 hours left (less than a year), and I graduated from university with a very good grade, and I had my own house, and I was working in the field I was studying (software engineering.)

As they say, at the age of 23, I have passed halfway or more until the time came that destroyed all these things, destroyed all of my dreams, and destroyed all of these plans.

After October 7 (with the beginning of the war in Gaza,) our entire lifestyle changed. Unfortunately, I stopped studying and I did not finish my university (I did not obtain my degree.)

With the power outage and the internet outage, I stopped working and completely forgot about my field. The biggest disaster that befell us was that my house, my brother’s house, and my family’s house were completely destroyed I became without a degree, job, or home (homeless in every sense of the word).

Since that day when we lost our home, I have seen the amount of sadness and distress in the faces of my family, especially my mother.

And every time our hearts bled, we felt sad for every part of this house. You can imagine this feeling as you see your family’s house and the house of your dreams being slowly destroyed before your eyes, and you can do nothing but pray to God only. The war has been going on for almost 6 months, and I did not think about taking refuge here on gofundme, but when my family and I lost the entire house, I had to create this donation, hoping for your generosity and understanding of the magnitude of the disaster that befell us here.

From a young man who has less than a year left to obtain his university degree, a comfortable job, and my own house, I thought about every detail when building this. To a person without a degree, job, or home, and unfortunately without dreams as well now.

After I lost everything I mentioned previously, which is almost everything I own, and logically all of this will be compensated with the passage of days, but I own something very beautiful that cannot be replaced at all, which is my family (my mother and my brothers )

And after I saw that this war was eating away everything green and dry, and burning everything in its path: people, dreams, and plans. So I thought about trying to get my family out of this war zone, in which not a single area is safe anymore, and every area is literally at risk of being killed at any time, unfortunately, and out of my fear for my family, here I created this link, and Bridget (the foreign Queen of Palestine) helped me a lot with it. Hoping in your humanity to help me get my family out so that I don’t lose them and lose the most beautiful thing I have in my life.

Unfortunately, to leave Rafah to Egypt, each person’s coordination requires $5,000

#fyp #gotham #crowdfunding #palestine #free palestine #gaza #free gaza #gaming #guide #popularblog #popularcultures #explore #trinding #tumbler #fypシ #gofundme

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sayruq · 2 days

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My name is Bridget Kushner and I'm managing this fundraiser for Mohammed and his family. Mohammed and I met and for me to help manage this fundraiser, Mohammed's ID and family situation have been verified by a journalist on the ground. We talk daily and have developed a friendship. I strongly urge you to read through Mohammed's story and follow him on social media. At 22, after 6 months of this, Mohammed has decided he needs to take action so he's quite late to fundraising compared to many people. Thank you for taking the time to read about Mohammed!! My friends, brothers, and supporters of humanity in the world, I am Muhammad Al-Shaer from Gaza. I am approximately 23 years old, and like any young man in the world at this age, I am nearing the end of my university and the beginning of the formation of my professional life. At this age, I only had 18 hours left (less than a year), and I graduated from university with a very good grade, and I had my own house, and I was working in the field I was studying (software engineering.) As they say, at the age of 23, I have passed halfway or more until the time came that destroyed all these things, destroyed all of my dreams, and destroyed all of these plans. After October 7 (with the beginning of the war in Gaza,) our entire lifestyle changed. Unfortunately, I stopped studying and I did not finish my university (I did not obtain my degree.) With the power outage and the internet outage, I stopped working and completely forgot about my field. The biggest disaster that befell us was that my house, my brother’s house, and my family’s house were completely destroyed I became without a degree, job, or home (homeless in every sense of the word). Since that day when we lost our home, I have seen the amount of sadness and distress in the faces of my family, especially my mother. And every time our hearts bled, we felt sad for every part of this house. You can imagine this feeling as you see your family’s house and the house of your dreams being slowly destroyed before your eyes, and you can do nothing but pray to God only. The war has been going on for almost 6 months, and I did not think about taking refuge here on gofundme, but when my family and I lost the entire house, I had to create this donation, hoping for your generosity and understanding of the magnitude of the disaster that befell us here. From a young man who has less than a year left to obtain his university degree, a comfortable job, and my own house, I thought about every detail when building this. To a person without a degree, job, or home, and unfortunately without dreams as well now. After I lost everything I mentioned previously, which is almost everything I own, and logically all of this will be compensated with the passage of days, but I own something very beautiful that cannot be replaced at all, which is my family (my mother and my brothers ) And after I saw that this war was eating away everything green and dry, and burning everything in its path: people, dreams, and plans. So I thought about trying to get my family out of this war zone, in which not a single area is safe anymore, and every area is literally at risk of being killed at any time, unfortunately, and out of my fear for my family, here I created this link, and Bridget (the foreign Queen of Palestine) helped me a lot with it. Hoping in your humanity to help me get my family out so that I don’t lose them and lose the most beautiful thing I have in my life. Unfortunately, to leave Rafah to Egypt, each person’s coordination requires $5,000. We have a brother in Egypt who went out a month before the war to study, and he is the one who will make arrangements for us and receive us there, and our plans in Egypt are to sit there temporarily to protect our lives from the war.

This family has received less than $1000. Please boost. Donate if you can

#yemen #jerusalem #tel aviv #current events #palestine #free palestine #gaza #free gaza #news on gaza #palestine news #news update #war news #war on gaza

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antoncyng · 3 days

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౨ৎ. save my heart — l.mk

synopsis - while your bestfriend saved the city as the friendly neighborhood “spider-man”, he also gets caught up in saving your heart from a lost love.

warning(s) - fluff, slightly angst..? happy ending tho, kissing, spiderman!mark x fem!reader, slightly suggestive towards the end?, mentions of injuries and blood, bestfriends to lovers.

word count - 0.7k (731)

another night studying, calming music from your favorite group currently, TWS. the studying was seriously starting to get to your head, you felt it pounding as your rubbed your forehead, finally putting down your pencil for a break after hours and hours, then you heard it.

knock, knock, knock

you knew who and what it was just by the rhythm of knocks, it was your bestfriend, mark lee. other than your bestfriend, mark was also a well known superhero in your city, as well as around the world. his story about being bitten by a radioactive spider went viral, turning him into the friendly neighborhood spiderman.

you've made a realization over the years that you had gained feelings for your bestfriend, but having to push away your feelings for the sake of friendship and trust wasn't easy. ever since you made realization of these feelings, it hurt and left you with a heavy heart every time he talked about his past and previous crushes.

"yn she's so pretty, what am I gonna do?!"

“i asked her to eat lunch with me today! i might confess soon..”

“from a girl’s perspective, do you think gwen likes me?”

gwen this, gwen that.

"I don't think gwen likes me back.. she said I was like a brother to her when she was talking to hyuck.." was all he could choke out before leaning in and crying into your shoulder, feeling the fabric of your shirt get heavy from his tears over another girl, that wasn't you.

✦.

you heard muffled grunts and groans coming from mark outside your window, rushing to it to open it for him and help him inside, noticing how he stumbles and limps into your room. pulling his mask off his face as he sits on the floor with his back against your mattress and bed frame, laying his head back while sweats drips from his forehead and he’s hissing in pain with every contact that’s made with the fresh wounds on his body.

observing his body in his suit, you noticed scratches that went through his suit, they seemed deep but not enough to have any serious injuries. shocked, you sat there, too scared to touch him in such a vulnerable state, you’ve dealt with marks small scratches and bruises a few days after his “villain” fights, but you’ve never had to deal with fresh wounds like these.

“are you gonna sit and stare or help me out here?” he said with a sarcastic tone and a slight laugh, only to be cut off by a hiss and groan of pain. that was your signal to jog towards the kitchen and get your emergency medkit, bringing it back to mark and taking out everything you would need to help him heal his open wounds.

“u-uh.. mark..?” you said quietly after making a realization, and what you got was a curious hum in response, knowing he was in too much pain to respond to your sudden concern. "you're gonna have to.. take your shirt off.. only for me to help you!" darkness was all you could see when you squeezed your eyes shut in embarrassment after rushing out your sentence, only to hear a chuckle with a hint of pain coming from mark.

“you can open your eyes, you know.” you heard before peaking one eye open, only to be met with a shirtless mark and a heated blushing face. you hesitated, but started to help the boy with his cuts and bruises, blushing harder everytime you looked up and made eye contact, not knowing he was staring at you and only you the whole time you were healing him.

after many whines and hisses of pain, all bandaids and ointments were over. “thank you yn.. sometimes i think, i genuinely don’t know what i would do without you, you know? you’ve been there for me forever and for everything, even when i was sad because my mom couldn’t buy me ice cream when we were like.. 6, you shared yours with me! i feel like i would be so hopel-“ but he was cut off by your lips on his, you don’t know what got into you, but hearing him ramble on and on just pulled you in. but what you didn’t expect, was for him to kiss back so quickly.

the butterfly feeling in your stomach increased when you felt his fabric covered fingers make contact with the skin of your hips, closing the gap between your bodies. the two of you pulled away after realizing you both needed to breathe, looking at each other like you’ve been waiting a whole lifetime for this moment. snapping back into reality, you started blushing and attempted to look away, only to be brought back by mark’s index and thumb gently gripping your chin.

“don’t look away now, you meant that kiss right? because i know i did.” he said, looking for any sign of uncomfort or sarcasm in your eyes, but all he found was adoration. “of course i did..” was all you could mumble back, mark felt a weight lift off his shoulders before leaning in and resting his forehead against yours.

“you don’t know how long i’ve been waiting for you to save my heart, just like you save the city.

antoncyng ‘24 — PLEASE DO NOT STEAL OR COPY!

nini’s note — sorry the ending might be kinda rough.. i’ve had this in my drafts for a little while and have been dreading to finish it until today.. 🥲🥲

#౨ৎ antoncyng #౨ৎ antoncyng fics #౨ৎ antoncyng nct #౨ৎ antoncyng nctdream #౨ৎ antoncyng imagine #nct dream #mark lee #mark #spiderman mark #mark lee spiderman #spiderman!mark #mark lee x reader #mark x reader #mark lee x you #mark lee fic #nct dream fic #nct 127 #nct 127 fic

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die-mitri · 3 days

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idk you have to consider that kabru is 5'6 and underweight. if anything, people who give him abs and muscles are wrong about him lol he canonically starves himself and he's too lazy to work out. from what i've noticed labru fans draw kabru with body hair and nice shoulders, and a couple of them make him trans. i really hope you're not talking about the people who give him a pre-op chest when you talk about those who "feminize" him lol...

No need to be condescending brother, we all love the same guy here!!! I just get annoyed that people seem to mess around with Kabru's masculinity all willy nilly so they can fit whatever ship they like into heteronormative roles.

My point was mostly that people seem to miss the mark and either hyper masculinize him or forcibly feminize him and it's a super weird way to interact with the character.

Idk if ur the person in my comments or someone else, but in case y'all are different ppl, I do wanna make it clear. I am literally a 5'6 poc trans man, who starves himself out of laziness/tunnel vision, is hyper-aware of the people around me, leading to me masking ALL of the time (partially to lead people towards my personal goals). He and I are pretty much the same dude. I'm not talking out of my ass or anything, I'm just projecting(?) my reality onto a character that resembles me in almost every way.

The truth is that Kabru is rather androgynous in both presentation and personality. And that switching it up for the convenience of a ship is strange.

He's not an accessory for the white men of the story. He shouldn't only be relegated to Mithrun's caretaker OR Laios's biggest fan/hater. He's very clearly his own character, with a complex and interesting past and motivations. And if he was with either of them, it would be for a good reason. (I'd like to write a meta on the context of his relationship with the both of them and how it changes throughout the story but that's for another day)

I'm just sick of people taking him (and me) at face value or making up some idea in their head of how he (and I) should be, while ignoring the parts that break the illusion.

We don't have to agree, but I'm definitely not incorrect.

#kabru of utaya #laios touden #mithrun #labru #kabumisu #dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon

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cheriladycl01 · 3 days

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My love, is mine all mine - Max Verstappen x Norris! Reader x Charles Leclerc Part 5

Plot: Norris' Twin sister is also a driver in the 2021 line up and is in her rookie era. Not only do the commentators struggle to now talk about the pair in the race, but they also struggle to talk about talent. What happens when two drivers find her eye-catching.

A/N: I've brought Luisia into things because of the timeline and it being 2021. Don't hate on her, or the fact that i've brought her into my writing please!

Credit to countingstars-17 for the GIF

Charles stayed on the yacht with you all for a few days. He ended up sharing a room with you in the two single beds.

You spoke all night… every night and for the most part it was pretty platonic. But there was some wavering moments where he was looking at you for extended period of time. Or you’d accidentally looked from his eyes to his lips and back to his eyes and he’d shifted in the bed.

But nothing more than that, you’d gone around Monaco sightseeing and shopping and Lando finally told everyone he had a girlfriend. Which was a massive shock to the media.

You guys continued your holiday. Charles left, about two weeks before you and Lando. You had spa days with Luisa and then you would all go to the club at night.

But there was one night, one to the end where Max and Pietra had come from London and you were kind of the odd one out. The only one on their own.

So you danced with as many random people as you could. Some random guys who were probably twice your age, some respectable young Monacan bachelors and even just big groups of girls who were all there for fun.

You were happily at the bar having a really loud conversation with the waiter about your life and everything that had been happening in the last few months.

He seemed genuinely really interested but that could have been all the alcohol you’d drank.

“So then … Max you know Max right?” You say with wide eyes to the waiter.

“Yeah… I think I’m familiar with Max Verstappen” he chuckles loving the doe and excited expression on your face.

“Yeah so he comforted me when Charles, you know Charles too right?”

“Yeah I’m also familiar with Charles Leclerc” he chuckles pouring you another drink, one that you’d been having all night.

“Yeah so he was comforting me after he kissed me, and I was really confused. And I thought he was being so sweet and I - THEN, he was with my best friend!” You say with a shocked expression on your face.

He fakes a shocked look as he slides you your drink.

“No way! That’s just not on!” He plays along with you.

“Right? and I don’t even know what to do now” you whine and the waiter just laughs before wishing you well and moving on to someone else.

You sit there and drink until you feel a hand on your shoulder and you look round in shock.

“Max?” you ask seeing the Dutch man.

“Hey Y/N” he says a hand still resting on your waist.

“Wh- what are you doing here?” You ask, looking at him before your eyes panic dart around the room trying to find anyone to help you.

No-one was around. They weren’t in the booth they’d been in and they weren’t on the dance floor. You gulp the alcohol now getting to your head and making you feel dizzy.

You felt awful …

“I live in Monaco Y/N” he laughs as if the two of you are okay, like nothings happened.

And you hated it.

“I have to go… I’m here with people” you voice getting down of the chair stumbling a little as you do making him catch you in his arms.

“I’ll help you, can’t let you go alone somewhere in this state” he admits, and yes it was probaly just him being honest and wanting to help you but it almost felt like a diss to you…

“I’m fine, I’m just going to go find my brother” you say pushing his hands off you!

You walk away walking through the crowd, not knowing Max is following closely behind you. You walk through the club, pushing past the sweaty body’s trying to find anyone that was in your group.

Your eyes darted round looking for Lando, Max, Pietra or Luisa. But none of them were here. They’d vacated the club. You walk out and find the bouncer.

“Erm hi” you say tugging on the shirt he was wearing. He looks down at you. He was a big man. Way taller than you and way bulkier than you.

“You okay?” He asked, he knew who you were. Not because you came to the club often but because you are Y/N Norris and your are kind of hard to miss.

“I was just wondering if you’d maybe seen my brother and his friends out here?” You asked, hoping they’d just come out for some fresh air or maybe one of them, hopefully not Lando had picked up smoking.

“Yeah they left around 45 minutes ago. You need me to call you a cab?” he asks and you nod. Max again was watching on, the bouncer noticed, worried it was a random at first. But once he noticed it was Max just making sure you were okay, there was a silent not between them.

“You’d do that for me?” You look up at him with tears in his eyes.

“Yeah come on hand me your phone” he says and he plugs in the last coordinates that were there which happened for be the marina.

“You on a boat?” He asks and you nod.

“Okay. It should be here soon” he says hanging back your phone.

You were angry and upset that the group had just upt and left you. And no matter how much you’d had to drink it was something you’d be remembering in the morning and you of course were going to be petty as fuck.

And as for Max, you didn’t realise he was watching you, but he was just concerned for you.

Taglist:

@littlesatanicassholebitch @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @daemyratwst @lauralarsen @the-untamed-soul l @thewulf @itsjustkhaos @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @summissss @gulphulp @starfusionsworld @jspitwall @sierruhhhh @georgeparisole @youcannotcancelquidditch @tallbrownhairsarcastic @ourteenagetragedy @peachiicherries @formulas-bitch @cherry-piee @spilled-coffee-cup @mehrmonga @bigsimperika @blueberry64857959 @eiraethh @curseofhecate @alliwantisadonut @dark-night-sky-99 @i-wish-this-was-me @tallrock35 @butterfly-lover @barnestatic @landossainz @darleneslane @barcelonaloverf1life @r0nnsblog @ilove-tswizzle @laneyspaulding19 @malynn @viennakarma @landosgirlxoxo @marie0v @yourbane @teamnovalak @nikfigueiredo @fionaschicken @0picels0 @seomako @urdad-hot @tinydeskwriter @ironmaiden1313 @splaterparty0-0 @formula1mount @styl1shl1v

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sturnsbabie · 18 hours

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THE PODCAST- N.DOE

pairing: dad!nate x sls!reader

summary: in which nate gets invited to the triplets podcasts and gets asked about his relationship with sls and their little family.

warnings: swearing,mentions of pregnancy and labor,slightly suggestive.

SOOO MUCH DIALOUGE AAAAHHHH.

today the triplets had a long awaited special guest on their cut the cameras podcast which happened to be their bestfriend nate. they were super excited for him to be on the show as they were gonna ask him some questions about his relationship with their sister who so happened to be his girlfriend.

tahey started the podcast and did their intros. “alright nate so today we’re gonna be asking you some questions about your relationship with y/n.”nick said.

“everyone knows how nick met nate ain hockey but what they didnt know is that nate and y/n actually met first.”chris said and nate nodded.

“so how exactly did you meet our sister nate i want all the details.”nick chuckled and nate smiled as he started to remember the memory.

“well we met in the first grade with us being the same age we were always in the same classes together. y/n was swinging because we were at recess and i walked over to her and told her how pretty she was. she blushed so bad but it was cute and then she asked if ill be her bestfriend and we’ve been inseparable to this day.”nate said with a small smile.

“aw how cute” nick said smiling as matt spoke up.

“you’ve never really told us how you guys became a couple care to explain?”matt asked.

“well ill leave out some of the details because i know you guys don’t wanna hear that part”nate chuckled and looked at chris.

“if you didnt know already y/n and i have been inlove with eachother since we were kids but we had been afraid to tell eachother up until junior year of highschool.”nate said as he started to tell the real story.

“i took her to prom since her brothers had already graduated and they gave me the okay to of course.” he said as matt and chris nodded.

“i didnt give you the okay!” chris said. nick glared at him “CHRIS!” he said.

nate laughed. “anyway after prom, one thing led to another and im not gonna say much but we ended up in the backseat of my car and thats where we told eachother we loved eachother.”nate said.

nick gasped. “I KNEW THATS WHAT YOU TWO DID THAT NIGHT!”he said and matt laughed.

nate chuckled. “then we snuck off together one evening took her on a little date then asked her to be my girlfriend and she said yes.” he smiled softly.

“i can’t believe we were oblivious to the fact you guys were dating for a whole seven months without us having a clue!” matt said.

“we actually found out because we caught nates car in a parking lot we went to film a car video in rocking back and forth and this dumbass accidentally turned the light on and matt drove by and we saw our sister right next to him.” chris spoke.

“alright lets talk about how y/n used to cheer for us when we played hockey and lacrosse.” nick said.

“she was such a cute little cheerleader loved her in that uniform” nate winked as her brothers rolled their eyes.

“but on a real note, she was my good luck charm just having her there cheering us on made every game so much better.” nate said.

“you guys are so cute it makes me sick.” matt chuckled.

the podcast went on and the boys all talked about memories with them growing up and some more about nates relationship with their sister.

“if you guys didn’t already know y/n and nate just recently had twins a few weeks ago.” nick started.

“chris over here still refuses to believe the fact that shes a mom and lives on her own with nate and their two sons.” matt said laughing as chris was rolling his eyes.

“i cant help it! in my eyes shes still my baby sister who was 4 years old asking us to play dolls with her.”chris pouted.

nick chuckled. “i know its crazy she’s a mom to her own kids now. speaking of that how did you guys find out she was pregnant?”nick asked.

“i knew beforehand because i took the pregnancy tests with her. i thought it had been suspicious with how she was constantly throwing up and she was having major mood swings” nick added.

“well she took the tests with nick but the next day i came into la she pulled me into her room and told me that she was pregnant.” nate said smiling at the precious memory.

“i remember how nervous she was to tell me i could see it and i just comforted her and told her it was all gonna be okay. now nine months later shes the best mom to our babies.” nate said happily.

“alright chris you may wanna plug your ears because of this next question.” nick said and chris gave him a weird look.

“nick what the fuck are you gonna ask”chris said as he looked over at matt who was laughing as he knew what the question was.

“do you happen to know how and when you concieved the twins?”nick said and chris looked at him with a disgusted look on his face.

“well it was definitely in the backseat of my car but i will not disclose any information on what was said or what position.” nate chuckled as they all laughed about it.

“cmon can we atleast know your favorite position you dont have to disclose that much about your sex life but atleast tell us your favorite postion cmon let things get a bit spicy”nick laughed as he looked at all the questions on his phone.

“okay i love doggy style,anywhere anyplace it doesn’t matter aslong as i have somewhere to bend her over its happenin.” nate said shrugging his shoulders.

matt was wide eyed and chris was not having any of this he was plugging his ears. nick was laughing about the information.

“you didnt have to go that far but okay nate get it” nick laughs

“how did you feel when you found out you were having twins?”matt asked and suddenly the door opened as y/n walked in carrying both leo and owen.

“oh hey y/n!”nick said as y/n sat down beside nate as he took leo from her arm.

“babies first podcast!” chris giggled as he looked at the little family.

“to answer your question matt, i was in shock and nervous about it. two babies at once seemed a little difficult but looking back on it now we definitely do a pretty good job with taking care of two babies at once. we have such a good support system.” nate said as he had little leo on his chest holding him close.

“ugh he looks so good holding our son.daddy as fuckk!” she said as chris came over grabbing owen from her arms rolling his eyes at his sisters words.

nick was laughing and matt had a look of disgust. y/n carefully handed owen over to chris.

“wanna hold my twin.” chris pouted as he sat back down in his chair carefully holding his nephew.

“nate you think they would care to watch the boys real quick so we can go make another baby?” she giggled.

“yeah nick would you mind holding leo real quick?” nate added to the joke pretending to hand the baby to him.

“YOU GUYS! we dont need another niece or nephew for a while” matt chuckled.

“yeah give me a niece while you’re at it.”nick also added onto the joke laughing at matt and nicks reactions.

“NO! i dont think owen or leo need a brother or sister just yet.” chris whispered shouted not wanting to disturb his sleeping nephew.

“we asked nate this question already but i have to know whats your favorite postion?” nick asked his sister as matt and chris were not having the sex talk.

“doggy is our go to but sometimes if we’re both feeling lazy we do cowgirl.” she said nate agreeing.

“NICK! why are we talking about our sisters sex life”chris said as owen started to cry.

“shhh buddy its okay. uncle chris has you.”he pats the babies back carefully kissing his forehead soothing him.

“hey matt wanna know a funny story about that flamingo on your mic?”nate said as his girlfriend looked at him giggling.

“im kind of scared to hear this story but sure go ahead and while you at it nate give my nephew.” matt said and nate handed him the baby.

matt held the baby on his chest just soaking in the moment with his little nephew. all three of the boys loved their nephews. even chris even though he still refused to believe his little sister is a mom to her own boys now.

chris and y/n have always been closer than her or matt or her and nick. its always been them two, he would always play with her growing up. if nick or matt was busy doing something he’d play with her and he used to let her do his makeup and nails for fun. he still lets her paint his nails.

“so flamingo is mine and y/n’s safe word when it comes to having sex.”nate said causually and matt threw the flamingo off of the mic.

“WHAT THE FUCK?”matt shouted.

“quit screaming you’re gonna wake the babies up and then you’re gonna deal with them!” nate told matt.

“whats the best sex you ever had”nick asked the couple and they both looked at eachother.

“definitely the night we conceived the twins.” she chuckled

“you mean the night we kicked chris out of the car while we were high”nate laughed as chris rolled his eyes.

“see i told you nick and matt that this would happen now look where that got them!”chris said.

“okay and you’re complaining!?! we got two cute little nephews out of it.”nick said as the girl laughed.

“and yea you’re gonna get another one in about nine more months” nate said with a small smirk on his face.

“no more babies til marriage!”chris said

nate and y/n looked at eachother and giggled.

“wanna go get married tonight?” nate asked her

she giggled and chris just shook his head.

.•°♡°•.

the podcast went on for another 30 minutes as they talked more in depth about the girl’s pregnancy and how she didnt like nate half of her pregnancy.

“so what was your biggest craving during pregnancy?” nick asked his sister.

“uhm nate.” she giggled

“you hated him but still craved him at the same time???”matt asked.

“yeah something like that.” she laughed as she was now holding owen feeding him as nate fed leo.

“what can i say im hard to resist” nate chuckled as nate set the bottle down burping leo.

“how was the whole labor process? i remember y/n calling chris crying and he was so ready to come beat your ass nate”nick laughed and joked.

nate laughed. “yeah i almost had matt come bring me to beat you up”chris joked.

“well she cussed me out and hated me the whole time for putting her in this postion in the first place. but i understood because she literally was giving birth to twins.” nate said.

“she did such a good job though, i held her hand and she gave birth to leo first hes older then owen by 2 minutes.” nate said.

they wrapped the podcast up and nick decided to ask one more question just to mess with chris.

“so when are you going to propose?” nick asked

“you never know”nate said with a wink and chris just shook his head.

TAGLIST: @eupiasworld , @sturniololoves , @mattslovelygf , @smittensturniolos @hauntedxchris , @bernardsbendystraws , @jo-777 , @jnkvivi , @wurlibydominicfike , @meerkatzthings ,

@sturnzsblog , @pinklittleflower , @sturnioloblogs

#sturniolo triplets #matt sturniolo #nick sturniolo #chris sturniolo #sturniolo triplets imagines #nicolas sturniolo #chris sturniolo imagine #christopher sturniolo #christopher sturniolo imagines #matt sturniolo imagines #chris sturniolo fanfic #matt sturniolo fanfic #matthew sturniolo #matthew sturniolo imagines #nate doe imagines #nate doe #nathan doe smut

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flowersforfics · 2 days

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Sixth sense: Pink Bluebells

Chris Sturniolo x Black!Fem! reader

A/N: this may be rushed so yea let me know ow if there are some mistakes, No description of Y/N is said only that she a fem and has natural hair but can be read as any type of fem reader

Warning: Curse word (s) and it's implied that Y/N loves pink

Rating: PG-13, fluff

Request: yes/no

Beta read: yes/No

Words: 884? ( she’s small)

Summary: Times when Chris and Y/N had a sixth sense for each other. + A bonus at the end

Key notes: F/S = favorite soda, F/D = favorite drink, F/F = favorite food, Y/N = Your name

May do a pt2

Chris master list and Main master list

credits to this person for the divider

I do not give consent for my work to be translated or put on different platforms without my knowledge if you would like to do so just send a ask or comment

– Y/N was filming a cooking video with the triplets at their house and she had decided to get a soda. When she opened the fridge she saw a can of her f/s and grabbed it. Chris and Matt were arguing about something and Nick was watching while rolling his eyes and shaking his head. She had tried to open the can but failed because her nails were in the way. She had gotten her nails done the day before and decided to go for a medium-long length. She tried a couple of times more mumbling curses to herself. Chris was now arguing with Nick with his back turned to Y/N but he felt something wrong like his help was needed somewhere. He looked behind him for a second and saw his girl struggling. He turned around and walked away from Nick to Y/N, He took the soda out of her hand rinsed off the top, and opened it for her while planting a kiss on her head. Y/N let out a small thank you before kissing Chris's hand and drinking her soda. Nick and Matt watched the interaction between their younger brother and their friend smiling.

– Chris and Nick were currently sitting in their island kitchen waiting for Matt and Y/N to finish getting ready. The only reason Matt was still getting ready was because he was helping Y/N look for her pink purse while Chris was in the shower.......It was in Nick's room the whole time. Matt had walked out of the bathroom after finishing what he had to do and sat with his brothers. Chris had kept messing with his hair slowly getting annoyed it wouldn't stay in place. Y/n had hurried down the stairs and told them she was ready. She was wearing an all-pink outfit and her natural hair. The boys started heading to the car with Y/N behind them, Once they were in the car Y/N pulled out a brush from her purse and then handed it to Chris. Chris began to brush his hair while Nick and Y/N began talking to each other.

– Y/N was out eating with the Triplets and Madi when their food had come. Y/n got her F/F and Chris had gotten something differnt (idk what to fucking put). Everyone began to eat and talk to each other while Y/N glanced at Chris who was sitting in front of her on the other side of the table then looked at his food every once in a while. It looked really good but she didn't want to ask for some because she had been eating some of Chris's food and snacks all day. She turned her focus to her plate and began to eat her food. Chris looked at Y/N and then his plate he scooped up a spoonful of his food and lightly kicked Y/N's foot. She looked up at Chris with a confused look and Chris held up his spoon and said. "Here comes the airplane" while making plane noises moving the spoon closer to her mouth. Y/N laughed and leaned closer to Chris with her mouth open then closed her mouth around the spoon and Chris pulled the spoon out of her mouth. Y/N gives Chris a thumbs up to show that she liked it and offers some of her food to Chris and he accepts it.

– Y/N was sitting in Chris's room while he played Fortnite with his brothers. She was on his bed when she wanted a snack she left his room to head to the kitchen. When she got downstairs she opened the fridge and grabbed some fruit, an orange, a Pepsi for Chris, and her F/D. She closed the fridge and opened the cabinet to get two nice-sized bowls. She then got some chips and the candy she left last week. She rinsed the fruits off putting them in the bowls, peeled two oranges, and placed them in the bowls. She cleaned up behind herself and headed back to Chris’s room with everything. Once she got back in the room she closed the door behind her and placed her stuff on Chris’s bed. She made her way to Chris placing the bowl of fruit, the chips, and the Pepsi next to him, and kissed his forehead heading back to his bed. “Thanks, babe I was just going to ask you if you could get me a snack,” Chris said turning to her and blowing her a kiss. “You’re welcome love,” she said blowing back a kiss. "CHRIS WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU, BRO, I'M DYING" She heard Matt yell from the headphones and slightly in his room. Chris quickly turned back to his game to help his brother.

BONUS

– Y/N was walking with Chris to their favorite park at midnight to go on the swings for a while on the way there they saw Pink Bluebells. Y/N stopped and picked one then handed it to Chris. “What’s this for,” he said holding it “Giving someone Pink Bluebells can show your everlasting love for someone romanticly wise,” She said avoiding eye contact while taking a step back. Chris grabs one and hands it to Y/N, and she smiles, kissing his cheek.

I hope you liked it and if you would like to be added to my taglist comment below.

Have a wonderful day MWAH

Taglist:

#chris sturniolo x reader #chris sturniolo #chris sturniolo x black reader #black fem reader #black reader insert #black yn #christopher sturniolo #the sturniolo triplets #sturniolo triplets

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vilevenom · 1 day

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This bad boy is dedicated to @em-doods, because her adorable sketches of Hickory and John Dory meandering through the woods 100% are the reason I wrote this. (She also helped push me through a rather rough patch I had while writing the first bit, so a super extra special thank you there!!)

If given the chance I will write Hickory and John Dory getting together in every conceivable fashion. In this fic, they go camping.

Enjoy!!

"I've never been campin'."

"What?!" John stared wide eyed at Hickory, who looked somewhat bashful at his admittance.

"Well, I mean…I've been campin', but not, y'know, camping," Hickory unhelpfully tried to clarify while John Dory continued to stare at him in disbelief. He sighed, scratching at his cheek as he tried to think of a way to better explain himself. "Dickory an' I would need to camp out once in a blue moon, y'know, when we were out on a hunt. But it was never the kinda campin' where you get to roast marshtatoes or go swimmin'. It was just basic survival."

"Well, I can't let that stand," John said, smacking the table they were sat at with gusto, making Hickory jump. "No way. Camping, proper camping, is one of the best experiences in the world! I don't think I can let you go another second without experiencing the wonders of camping."

And that was how Hickory found himself staring out Rhonda's front window as John drove her into wilderness unlike any he'd seen before. The troll kingdoms were beautiful and unique in their own ways, but this place was truly something else. Rhonda ducked under gnarled branches and crawled through twisting vines, with John confidently at her helm, a broad smile on his face as he described to Hickory where he was taking them. The Neverglade trail, apparently, had all of the best camping spots, and he knew just the one that Hickory would enjoy.

Hickory felt like he was going to be sick, though he plastered a pleasant smile onto his face and nodded along every time John glanced at him while he excitedly spoke about where they were headed. It wasn't that Hickory didn't want to go camping with John. Oh, no. It was the exact opposite, really. He'd been looking forward to this trip since John had declared they were going a few days prior. It was the fact that it was just the two of them. Alone. Together. It made Hickory's heart jump into his throat and his palms sweat.

Thinking back on it, Hickory came to realize that he and John Dory had only really known each other for a handful of months. They'd met when Hickory had gone to Pop Village with the intention of visiting Poppy and Branch, only to find the royal couple surrounded by a group of trolls quickly revealed to be their siblings. Swiftly, Hickory had been introduced to all of Branch's brothers, and Poppy's sister, all while beginning to feel a touch overwhelmed by the new mix of personalities. Not quite sure what to say or how to act, Hickory began to flounder, when one of Branch's brothers had tugged him aside with an easy smile.

"We're a lot, huh?"

"I mean, I dunno if I'd say that, exactly," Hickory had started to demure, only to grunt in surprise as John Dory slapped a hand to his back with a guffaw.

"You don't need to be shy, man. We all know we're a lot. Big personalities," John had reassured, sliding his hand up to rest on Hickory's shoulder. "I know you're here to visit with Branch, but how about we get out of here? I happen to know that everyone else will be buggering off here pretty soon, so you'll have a chance for some one on one time with him and Poppy, but probably not for a couple hours. You can show me around town? I assume you've been here before. I've been here for a whopping three days, so I have no idea where anything is."

Hickory hadn't even realized his shoulders had been tense until they began to relax as John spoke to him. He let a slight smile curl his lips and gave a little nod. "Yeah. I can do that," he easily agreed, tucking his thumbs into his belt loops as they began to walk away from the cluster of trolls.

They'd spent the next couple of hours getting to know each other, and, quite frankly, Hickory couldn't help but to be charmed. John Dory was brash and confident in a way that made him laugh, but was also, somehow surprisingly, incredibly kindhearted.

As they were walking through town, a couple of young trollings had dashed in front of them, only for one to trip and fall directly in front of John Dory. Hickory had fully expected John to, perhaps, help the trolling up and for them to continue on their way, but instead he'd crouched down to the child's level to make sure they were okay. When it was revealed that the trolling had a scrape on their knee, John dug into his hair, pulled out a band-aid, and applied it to the injury without batting an eye. Hickory then watched in amusement as John scooped the kid up into his arms and spun around while theatrically wondering where the trolling's friend could have gone. They, of course, had been right behind John, giggling manically as the teal troll continued to spin and pretend he couldn't see them. Finally, he placed the injured child down, and the two all but begged John to go play with them.

"Sorry, I can't. See this guy behind me," John thrust his thumb over his shoulder towards Hickory, who gave them a little wave "He's my tour guide. And I can't just let him go on touring by himself."

The children whined at him while Hickory chuckled at their antics, but John ultimately encouraged them to continue on with their game, which they reluctantly did when it became obvious that John was just this side of too stubborn for them to persuade.

"That was mighty kind of you," Hickory hummed as they began to walk through the village again.

"Hm? Was it? I dunno," John said with a self depreciating little laugh and a shrug of his shoulders, "Just seemed natural to me. But, that probably comes from being the oldest of five. Lots of bumps and scrapes to take care of when they come running to you for comfort."

Hickory decided to side-step the comment about John's brothers going to him, rather than their parents. He was sure there was a story there, but it sounded like one for another time. "So…Yer the oldest brother, huh?"

John snorted, shoving Hickory playfully with an sheepish grin. "Yes. What's it to ya?"

"Not much. Just didn't much figure Branch havin' a silver fox for a siblin'."

"Silver-?! I am NOT that old. Do you see any grey hair here?!" John huffed, puffing out his chest and pulled his goggles up to show off his very teal roots, earning a laugh from Hickory. "If you must know, Branch is about fourteen years younger than me. The rest are all in between."

"Ah, can't remember with yer ancient brain? Ya need help rememberin', old man? I can always go find one of yer brothers, if ya need assistance."

"That is just uncalled for," John sniffed, looking affronted. Hickory worried for a moment that he'd taken a step too far in his teasing, when John snorted and deflated a bit. "I am getting old, aren't I?"

Hickory clicked his tongue, quickly realizing he had hit a nerve, but not the one he'd thought. "John, if I may, an' if my math is right, yer only thirty-eight. That ain't that old," Hickory reassured, offering a warm smile to the teal troll, "Yer only a few years older than I am, an' I certainly ain't old."

"Oh, yeah? And how old is the whipper snapper?" John joked, obviously lightened a bit by Hickory's reassurance.

"Thirty-two."

"Ah, you're between Clay and Floyd," John hummed, though the comment was obviously directed more towards himself.

Their conversation ebbed and flowed easily as they continued to walk through the village, Hickory occasionally pointing out landmarks or buildings he knew, while John Dory made comments here and there about how different the village was from the tree he's grown up in. He also made a point to let Hickory know that he'd obviously need to get another tour through town, what with his poor old memory not being quite what it used to be. Hickory was fairly certain he'd never had such entertaining conversation with another troll.

Eventually, they wandered back to Branch's bunker, where John bid Hickory adieu with a rather ridiculous and dramatic bow before going on his way, while Hickory descended into the bunker to have his intended visit with Branch and Poppy.

Their catching up truthfully didn't get very far before the topic of the royal couple's recent adventure and estranged siblings came up, and Hickory mindlessly blurted out, "So…what's yer brother like?"

"…which one?" Branch said with a snort, arching an eyebrow at the ex-bounty hunter.

"John Dory."

Branch seemed to think for a moment, while Poppy gave Hickory an awkward smile. "He's an obnoxious, self-centered know-it-all."

Hickory blinked, quite taken aback by Branch's opinion of his brother. "Really? I never woulda guessed that by the way he was actin' today…"

"Well, to be honest, he may be my brother, but I don't really know him that well. We haven't seen each other in twenty years, but that's the impression I've gotten of him so far," Branch said with a quiet sigh. "He'll be staying in Pop Village for a while, since Floyd is recovering. Maybe if I give him some time, my opinion will change? But, that's what I've got for now."

Hickory hummed thoughtfully, and decided he would give it some time, as well. He bounced back and forth between Lonesome Flats and Pop Village over the next few months, and never once did John Dory give Hickory the impression of being self-centered, nor did he ever become obnoxious. In fact, he continued to prove the exact opposite. Nearly every time Hickory visited, John was with Branch, Floyd, or both, supporting his younger brothers in whatever they might need. And whenever Hickory made himself known, John offered to make himself scarce so Hickory could visit with Branch unimpeded. Eventually, however, Hickory had to reveal that he'd been intending to visit John the entire time, and that had been something of an awkward chat in and of itself. The sheer surprise that had shown on John's face when Hickory admitted that he wanted to spend more time with John had certainly made his heart twist in an unexpected way.

In the end, the longer Hickory spent with John Dory, the more he seemed to develop a rather inconvenient crush on the teal troll. Especially when he did things as sweet and thoughtful as remembering Hickory had casually mentioned once that he had a soft spot for a particular cupcake made by one particular stand in the market, but he was never early enough to get one. John had presented one to Hickory with a proud little grin on his face the next time the country troll visited. Or the way he obviously thought about Hickory even when they weren't together, as on one occasion when he'd trotted up to Hickory and presented him with a rather fancy looking silver belt buckle emblazoned with intricate little flower patterns. He'd said he'd picked it up in his travels and was going to toss it away, but perhaps Hickory would like it, instead?

Now, most trolls would probably consider such actions to be relatively basic indications of friendship. However, Hickory had had so few friends, or trolls who cared for him (and not a character he and his brother created) that he couldn't help but feel special when John gave him his undivided attention. And he had a sneaking suspicion that John Dory was much the same.

He mentioned the incidents to Poppy and Branch the next time he sat down with them to chat, the former of whom cooed happily at the revelation, while the later gagged quietly.

"I…I think he's got my heart all a flutter. What do I do?" Hickory asked, head in his hands where he sat at Branch's kitchen table. He felt like a little kid, telling his friends about a crush he had on some troll well out of his league. He felt especially foolish that said friend was his crushes younger brother, who was watching him with a wrinkled nose.

"Why are you asking me? At this point, I'm pretty convinced that you know JD better than I do," Branch said with a slight grimace.

"Oh, that's so cute," Poppy gushed, waving her hands at Hickory as he glanced up at her with a long suffering sigh. "Don't give me that look. It is! I've seen you two walking around town together."

"We certainly get along like a house on fire, but I don't know what to do. I haven't done this in a while. Least, not properly," Hickory sighed, slumping onto the table they were sat around.

"I don't know, man. Talk to him about camping? That seems to be one of his favorite things," Branch offered with a shrug. "Maybe that'll help lead the conversation into something?"

And Hickory had, which did indeed lead to this whole escapade in the first place. Perhaps it would allow him the opportunity to talk to the teal troll about his feelings. If he could work up the courage to do so, that is. Especially with the discouraging little voice in the back of his head that kept telling him that if the conversation went south, he was either going to be left in the wilderness on his own, or have a very awkward trip back to Pop Village.

"How much further are we gonna haveta go to get to this mysterious campin' spot a' yers?" Hickory asked, arching an eyebrow as John turned Rhonda down yet another trail.

"Oh, not too much further, I don't think," John hummed with a smile, shooting Hickory a wink that made the ex-bounty hunter need to immediately step away to try and hide the blush that bloomed across his cheeks.

They drove in relative silence for a few more minutes, before John finally pulled Rhonda over, and Hickory managed to calm himself down enough that his cheeks were no longer enflamed.

"Here we are!" John declared, as he spun the drivers seat around to grin widely at Hickory, who offered a slightly mollified one of his own. "Now, grab your gear, we've got a bit of a hike."

"Wait, this isn't where we're campin'?" Hickory asked, watching John pull an overstuffed backpack with a sleeping roll tied to it from atop his loft bed.

"What? No, of course not. You can't get a full and proper camping experience if we're staying in Rhonda. That's, like…'glamping', or whatever. No, if you want a proper camping trip, we gotta hike a bit further in and set up tents!" John exclaimed excitedly, pulling the straps of his bag over his shoulders.

"If ya say so," Hickory said with an awkward chuckle, grabbing his much smaller bag and sleeping roll from where he'd stashed them and following John out of Rhonda.

"Now, you be a good girl," John cooed at Rhonda as Hickory stepped up behind him, "There are lots of berry bushes here, so there's loads to eat. You make sure you're back here in a couple of days, okay?" Hickory watched in amusement as John half wrapped himself around the armadillo bus's face in the closest approximation of a hug as he could get as she churred at him happily.

"Y'sure it's okay t' just leave her here?" Hickory asked as they began to walk away, the ex-bounty hunter shooting Rhonda furtive glances the further away from her they got.

"Oh, yeah. She's a good girl. Even if she's not there when we get back, she usually comes when I call, or we'll just need to wait a day or two when we get back," John reassured, as Hickory watched the energetic bus dart off into some bushes.

"…right."

And so on they went, Hickory diligently following along behind John, until he inevitably got distracted by the massive trees and flora they were hiking past. To the rather unfortunate point where John disappeared beyond a bend before Hickory had even realized he'd been left behind.

"Hey, John, have ya ever-" he'd begun as he turned from staring at a large, drooping orange flower, only to find himself completely alone. "…John?" Hickory tentatively took a few steps forward, glancing this way and that to see if he could spot the teal troll, without luck. "Sugar," he grumbled to himself, unsure if he should proceed forward, or wait to see if John would notice his absence and turn back around to find him.

Just as he turned to sit himself beneath the flower he'd gotten distracted by, a rustling in the bush startled him into pulling a knife from his pocket and brandishing it with a snarl on his face. John had warned him, at one point on their drive here, that wild critters of all shapes and sizes roamed the Neverglades, and that he should be wary of being snuck up on, lest he be eaten. John had said it like it was a joke, but Hickory had noticed the scars John's fur hadn't quite fully grown over. He had no doubt there were plenty of critters who would like nothing more than to get a taste of troll out here, and he was not eager to give them said taste.

So, he stood his ground and waited, until finally John Dory came stumbling out of the brush, leg half tangled in a bramble.

"There you are!" John laughed, shaking the bramble off his leg as Hickory quickly tucked his knife back away, "I turned around to point out some funky looking moss and you were gone."

"Sorry 'bout that. Got caught up admirin' this here flower," Hickory admitted abashedly, gesturing vaguely over his shoulder.

"No worries, man! Just gotta make sure I keep a better eye on you," John chuckled, reaching out and unexpectedly taking Hickory's hand. The country troll felt his cheeks heat up, but luckily John had turned to start tugging him along down the trail, and so missed it entirely. "Don't want you getting lost on me!"

"No, no. Don't wanna get lost," Hickory muttered mostly to himself, his gaze stuck pretty strictly on their clasped hands now, rather than the gorgeous scenery they were walking past. Occasionally John would point something out to Hickory, which would pull the country trolls gaze up for a short period of time, before inevitably trailing back down to their hands.

John didn't let go until they reached a rocky path that lead up what most creatures would probably consider a small foot hill, but was nearly the equivalent of a mountain to the two trolls. The path wound up along the side of the hill, and was only just wide enough for them to walk up one at a time. Hickory did his best to hide his disappointment as John let him go and began to trek up the hillside.

"C'mon! If we're where I think we are, there's a great spot at the top of the hill where we can stop and have lunch," John said, glancing back at Hickory with a bright grin.

"Alright, I'mma comin'," Hickory chuckled, shifting the pack on his shoulders and following along after John.

The two managed to make it about halfway up the hill when they came across a slightly wider spot on the trail, overlooking a rather picturesque little area of the Neverglades.

"Too bad there's not more of a plateau here," John lamented as Hickory stopped next to him, "This would be a great spot to stop for lunch."

"Yeah. S'real pretty," Hickory hummed, turning to look out at the view.

"Wish I'd brought my camera," John added with a despondent sigh, "But I left it in Rhonda."

"Well, ain't that just lucky for you, then," Hickory said with a smile, reaching over his shoulder into his pack, "Because I just so happen to have brought one along." He pulled a little instant camera out of his bag and handed it to John, who snatched it eagerly.

"Awesome! Say cheese," John said with a grin, holding the camera out in front of the two and snapping a photo. Hickory blinked at the flash that went off, trying to get rid of the little flare in his vision.

"Some warnin' woulda been nice," he groused quietly, rubbing at his eyes.

"Yeah, but then I wouldn't have gotten such a great candid shot," John hummed, pulling the photo free of the camera and waving it slightly. He snorted once the image developed, holding it out to Hickory. "See? Perfect moment."

Hickory wrinkled his nose at the photo, which showed a happily grinning John and Hickory looking like he was, perhaps, about to sneeze. "Yeah. Real flatterin'," he muttered, reaching for the photo.

"Hey now, nuh-uh," John said quickly, pulling the photo back to hold against his chest, before quickly stuffing it into his hair, "This one's mine."

"Aw, come on, now," Hickory grumped, reaching for John's hair, "We can take a better one. You don't need t' keep that."

"No," John quickly took a step back, while shoving the camera into his hair as well, "I like it. It's mine, and you can't have it."

"Don't be childish, John," Hickory sighed, reaching for the teal trolls hair again as John quickly took another step back and snorted.

"Have you met me? I'm the least childish troll out there."

"Mhmm, you keep tellin' yerself that," Hickory chuckled, taking another step after John, only for both of them to freeze at a rather ominous cracking sound that emanated around them. "What was-" Hickory barely managed to get the words out, before he felt his foot beginning to sink as the path beneath him began to give way, and the sound of tumbling rocks hit his ears.

"Hickory!"

The ex-bounty hunter gasped as his footing slipped, quickly scrambling for John's reaching hands. The teal troll had his hair wrapped around some roots that were sticking out of the side of the hill, anchoring him as he grabbed for Hickory as he began to fall.

"I gotcha, I gotcha," John chanted as Hickory managed to grab hold of him, using his hair to pull them both away from the crumbling section of path. Once they were both on a more stable spot, Hickory opened his eyes, which he hadn't even realized he'd clenched shut, to find himself practically nose to nose with John Dory, both of them panting like they'd just run a mile.

"You okay?" John quietly asked after a beat, grip still tight on Hickory as he stared up at him.

"Bit shaken up, but I think I'll be right as rain here right quick," Hickory murmured back, glad that the adrenaline of his near death experience and lack of breath were more than enough excuse for how dark his cheeks must be from their proximity. If he just moved his head ever so slightly, he could kiss John Dory right then and there.

"Good," John's voice shattered Hickory's momentary daydream, a short pat on his shoulder telling Hickory to move away. Which he did, taking a quick step back to give John space. "I think we're close to the top now. I'd definitely say we earned our lunch."

Hickory let out a little laugh, hoping it didn't come off as nervous or anxious. "Well, you certainly did," he said, following after John, "All I did was nearly fall down the hill."

"Yeah, but you didn't," John said, glancing briefly back at Hickory, "Doesn't that also deserve celebration?"

Hickory smiled to himself as he followed after John, mentally telling his heart to shut up as it did a little summersault in his chest at John's words.

They reached the summit of the hill rather quickly after that, not stopping until they knew they were on completely stable ground, neither wanting to risk a repeat incident.

"Here we go," John sighed as they reached the top, swinging his bag off his back, "This looks like a great spot to stop for a bit."

Hickory let out a little whistle as he also set his bag on the ground, turning in a small circle to take in the views. "It's a mighty nice spot, that's for certain," he hummed, only turning back to John when he heard the tell-tale click of his camera. He snorted a quiet laugh, arching an eyebrow at John as he pulled the photo from the camera and began to wave it in the air. "Whatcha got there?"

"Memories," John stated, a little smile curling his lips as the photo developed.

Hickory felt his heart skip a beat at the look on John's face, before he cleared his throat and stepped over to take a look at the snap shot. It was a bit of an odd angle, obviously taken hastily while Hickory had his back turned, but it was a nice photo all the same. The rolling hills and vast trails stretching out into the distance could be easily seen just past Hickory's shoulder.

"S'not a bad shot," the ex-bounty hunter hummed, reaching for the photo, only to find it disappearing into John's hair to join the previous one.

"Sure is," John said with a cheeky grin, before turning to start pulling a blanket and some food from his bag.

"Cheeky," Hickory laughed, joining John on the blanket once he had it all rolled out.

They ate in relative silence for a bit, simply enjoying each others company and the view, until the camera came back out of John's hair.

"I regret givin' that thing to ya," Hickory snorted after John snapped a photo of him while he was about to take a bite of his sandwich.

"You can't blame me for wanting to document your first camping trip," John said, sticking his tongue out at Hickory, who simply rolled his eyes and continued to eat, "It's a big deal, y'know. You're trying to start fresh, try new things, be a different troll from who you once were. Taking these baby steps, even just going on a camping trip for fun, it's a lot. You said it's something you've never done before, right? You should have something to remember it by."

Hickory stared at John for a long moment, a slow smile working its way across his face. "Why, that's real sweet of you, Johnny." His smile widened into a cheshire grin as as he watched John's cheeks darken at his comment.

"Shut up," John grunted, a smile betraying his grumpy tone as he flicked a small rock at Hickory, who easily dodged it with a laugh.

They finished up their meal while chatting amicably about the trail thus far, with John animatedly regaling Hickory with stories about the first time he came up this way, long before he'd had Rhonda. He admitted it was part of the reason he'd wanted to bring Hickory to this particular spot, as it held a certain amount of nostalgia for him, since it'd been one of the first spots he'd stopped while exploring the trails.

"Ya certainly do got a lot of good memories out here, dontcha?" Hickory hummed as they packed up their bags, a soft little smile on his face as he listened to John hum to himself while retying his bag shut.

"Sure do," John chirped, before pulling the camera from his hair again and walking over to Hickory.

"Aw, what now?" Hickory snorted, somewhat wary of the camera, now that he knew John was going to take every opportunity he could to snap unflattering photos of him.

"Nothing. Come here," John said, turning Hickory so his back was to the view. He opened his mouth to protest as John stole his cowboy hat and set it aside, only to snap it closed as John wrapped an arm around his shoulder and tugged him down into his shoulder. "There. Plenty of warning this time," John chuckled, cheek practically pressed to Hickory's, "Say 'cheese'!" He held the camera up and the flash went off. Hickory blinked to get ride of the afterimage, rubbing at his eye in mild irritation as John pulled the photo from the camera. "Nice," the teal troll hummed, a warm smile curling his lips. After a moment he offered it to Hickory. "You can have this one, if you want."

Hickory took the photo with mild suspicion, knowing full well the caliber of photo John had been taking thus far, only to be pleasantly surprised by what he saw. John was grinning widely in the photo, his arm blocking the lower left corner of the frame, while Hickory looked a little dazed, with a slightly crooked smile on his own face, and his cheek squished against John's. In the background over John's shoulder the spectacular view from the top of the hill could be seen, with the sunlight speckled across the trees at just the right angle.

Hickory was pulled from his admiration of the photo by John chuckling practically in his ear, just over his shoulder, pack already strapped to his back and bouncing on his toes. "You struck speechless by my excellent photography skills?"

"Somethin' like that," Hickory said with a quiet laugh, carefully tucking the photo into the inside pocket of his vest before scooping his hat up from where John had set it and slinging his pack over his shoulder. "Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

The trek down from the hilltop was far less perilous than the trip up had been. To Hickory's great disappointment, John did not take his hand again once they'd reached the bottom, and in what felt like no time at all, John lead them to what he declared would be their camp site. It was a rather sizeable clearing, with bushes and tall grass most of the way around it, with only two trails leading away from it, aside from the one they'd come down to reach it. John explained that one lead to a little lake they could go swimming in, while the other lead further into the Neverglades.

"Alright," John declared, dropping his pack onto the ground with a thump, "Did you bring a tent?"

Hickory flushed, setting his own bag down more gingerly. "'Fraid not. Not gonna lie, I thought we'd be stayin' with Rhonda," the country troll admitted, with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "But, it wouldn't be the first time I've slept under the stars, so I'll be just fine."

John scoffed, rolling his eyes as he began to unpack his bag, tossing tent pegs and ropes onto the ground in front of him. "Don't be ridiculous. My tent is plenty big enough for two. Besides, you never know what critter might come across camp in the middle of the night. A tent gives us at least a bit of cover."

"Ah," Hickory's brain froze for a moment, the idea of being tucked up close to John in a tent sending a little shiver down his spine. "Uh, yeah," he cleared his throat, ducking his head so the brim of his hat would hopefully hide the blush that was yet again creeping across his cheeks, "Yeah, that'd be right as rain."

"Good," John grunted, pulling folded up tent poles from his bag, "Well, since that's settled, how about you start setting up a spot for the fire while I put up the tent?"

"Sure thing," Hickory said with a quick nod, turning to wander around the camp site to pick up some stones to mark a space for a small fire pit. He paused and glanced up when he heard the soft, tell-tale sound of a pile of fabric hitting the ground, fully expecting John to have tossed the tent from his bag, ready to offer his help once again, only to bite his tongue at the realization that it was his jacket that John had tossed aside. The teal troll was busy setting up the tent poles, a little frown of concentration on his face while he worked, completely unaware of Hickory staring at him from across the clearing. "Sugar," Hickory breathed, jerking into motion quickly as John glanced at him from where he was working.

"Hey, how about, after this, we go for a swim."

"A swim?" Hickory echoed, tucking a rock into the small collection in his arm while turning to arch an eyebrow at John, only to nearly drop them all at being presented with John leaning against one of the erected tent poles, a little smirk on his face and sweat beading on his brow.

"Yeah! It's kinda humid today, and setting up this tent is making me sweaty. I think a pre-dinner swim would be nice, don't you?" John said with a little laugh, shoving himself off the pole to start gathering the fabric of the tent up from the ground. "Work up a bit of an appetite before we eat."

Hickory swallowed thickly as John tossed the fabric over the tent frame he'd set up, his brain taking a moment to catch up to what was being said to him. "Oh! Yeah! Yeah, that'd be a right fine idea," he agreed, shaking his head quickly to try and get his mind off of the sweaty, half naked troll across from him. "C'mon, Hickory. Get yer act together," he grumbled to himself, walking to a spot he thought would be good for the fire and dropping his collection of rocks.

"I think you might be too close to the tents."

"Sugar, honey an' iced tea!" Hickory exclaimed, whipping his head in John Dory's direction, who grinned sheepishly at him.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to catch you off guard. What's got your head in the clouds, anyway?" John asked, propping his hands on his hips and tilting his head at Hickory, reminding the country troll of a particularly adorable cuddle pup.

"Ah, y'know, just , uh, doin' a mental checklist. Tryin' to remember if I brought my swim gear," Hickory offered with an awkward little laugh. "Sorry. What were ya sayin'?"

"Even if you forgot yours, you can always borrow mine. I don't mind swimming in my regular shorts," John offered with an easy smile, "And I was just saying that I think where you're setting up the fire might be too close to the tents."

Hickory looked between where John had most of the tent set up, barring the tent pegs being hammered into the ground, and the pile of rocks he'd dropped on the ground to find that he was, indeed, just a bit too close. One good breeze in the wrong direction could carry embers onto the fabric. "Oh. Beggin' yer pardon," the country troll apologized quickly, bending to pick the rocks back up, "I really was too lost in my own head just then, wasn't I?"

"Hey, happens to the best of us," John laughed, shrugging a bit. "Just move it a bit over there," he gestured vaguely away from the tent, "And it should be fine. I think I saw a decently sized stick over there, too. We can move it into the clearing to sit on later, by the fire."

Hickory nodded, dropping his rocks where John had gestured. "This whole campin' for fun thing is turnin' out to be a lot like campin' for survival," he noted, arching an amused eyebrow at John who snorted and trotted back over to the tent.

"Set up is always a pain. Same with take down. But all of the in between is great," John shot Hickory a charming smile, completely unaware of how it made the ex-bunty hunters heart flutter, before crouching down to hammer in the tent pegs. "Just you wait!"

"Sounds like a plan," Hickory muttered, though he very much doubted he was heard over the sound of the hammer. Which was probably for the best, as he had to shake himself out of staring after the teal troll once again.

In relative short order, Hickory set up his little circle of rocks while John finished up with the tent pegs. He then shoved his way through the brush surrounding the clearing to see about gathering up some wood for the fire they would be building when they got back from swimming. He deposited his selection of twigs, sticks and bark next to his rock circle once he figured he had enough for the night, just as John finished tying off a large tarp above where he'd finished setting up the tent.

"Y'all set?" Hickory asked, trotting up to John as the teal troll wiped his brow with the back of his hand, dislodging his goggles so they sat askew on his head.

"I think so. We're looking pretty good!" John chirped, grinning up at Hickory.

"I'd say so," Hickory agreed easily with a quiet little laugh, reaching out to fix John's crooked goggles. John looked startled by the gesture, Hickory barely catching a glimpse of a dark flush creeping over John's cheeks before the teal troll turned away from him once his hands dropped away. He took a quick step back, watching as John swiftly moved across the campsite to dig into his bag. Intrigued by the reaction, Hickory made a mental note about it for later.

"Did you bring your trunks?" John's voice snapped Hickory back to reality.

"Pretty sure," Hickory hummed, shuffling over to his bag to dig into it and pull out his swim shorts.

"Great! Then get changed, and we'll head down to the water," John said, staring at Hickory expectantly.

Hickory stared right back, slowly arching an eyebrow at the teal troll. "You gonna stare at me the whole time I'm changin', or just for the first little bit?" He snorted quietly as John's face lit up as he turned on his heel to face away from Hickory. The ex-bounty hunter shook his head with a quiet laugh, setting his hat aside and quickly changing into his swim trunks. He then dug into his bag and pulled out the beach towel he'd packed, draping it over his shoulders as he cleared his throat. "All set. You gonna change, too?"

"Nah," John hummed, glancing at Hickory over his shoulder, though he did pull off his goggles and glove to toss them into the tent. "I'm just gonna go as is. These shorts are already sweaty and dirty, may as well sorta wash 'em by swimming with them on."

"All right," Hickory chuckled, stepping up next to John, "Lead the way, then."

And so John did, after grabbing his own towel from his belongings. The path down to the lake was relatively short and straight forward, but John seemed to take pride in leading Hickory around, so he diligently followed along with an indulgent smile on his face. The lake itself was relatively small, as John had already mentioned, but that didn't make it any less picturesque than the rest of the Neverglades had been thus far. The shores were soft slopes of jutting rock and densely packed dirt, surrounded by drooping trees with their branches and leaves barely grazing the water, causing little ripples every time the wind blew. Early evening sunlight was dappled across the surface of the lake, making it sparkle.

"My," Hickory breathed, almost feeling like he shouldn't be there. Like he was intruding on sacred ground.

"It's real pretty, isn't it?" John hummed quietly next to him, "Almost makes you not want to swim."

Hickory opened his mouth to agree with the sentiment, only to jump slightly as John let out a whoop of a shout while tossing his towel aside, before running towards the water. Hickory couldn't contain his laughter as John jumped from the shore as he reached the waters edge, canon balling into the lake with a large splash.

"Well, that's one way to do it, I s'pose," Hickory chuckled to himself, tossing his towel next to John's. He let out a shout of his own once John surfaced further out into the lake, running and tossing himself into the water with gusto. He surfaced to the sound of John's laughter, followed shortly by a splash of water to the face. "Hey now," he laughed, returning the splash blindly, figuring he'd hit his target based on the sound of John sputtering. He wiped water from his face and grinned at finding John coughing and blinking water from his eyes. "That's what ya get for tryin' a sneak attack," Hickory stated, self satisfied smirk on his face.

"I'll show you sneak attack," John grumbled to himself, before launching himself through the water at Hickory with a yell. Hickory let out a startled shout in response, flailing rather uselessly in the water before John tackled him around the chest and dragged him under the surface.

The two tussled in the water like that for some time, with John using any means necessary to try and catch Hickory off guard as they swam back and forth across the lake, waging war with sweeping splashes. Hickory finally called it quits when John tried to use a handful of slimy lake weeds to retaliate against Hickory for managing to dunk him underwater.

"All right, I'm think I'm done," the country troll sighed, pulling an especially long piece of weed from his hair and tossing it aside.

"Aww, but we haven't even been out here that long," John practically pouted, earning a fond smile form Hickory.

"Never said we had to go back. Just that I think the war is over," Hickory hummed, kicking his feet off the bottom of the lake to float on his back. He watched John continue to pout for a minute out of the corner of his eye, before the teal troll began to swim towards the shore. "Where are ya goin'?" he called, turning to tread water with a small frown on his face.

"If you're done," John called back, walking up onto the shore, running fingers through his water logged locks, "I'm gonna work on my canon balls."

Hickory was quite certain that John had no idea the kind of sight he made as he trotted along the lakeside, looking for a good spot to use as a pseudo-diving board. He kept absently running his fingers though his hair, which supplied a steady supply of water droplets that cascaded down over his torso, which Hickory had to fight with every fiber of his being not to watch as they made their way down to the ground. The country troll had never been so happy to be submerged in water as he was just then, letting himself sink so his nose was barely above the surface as he watched John Dory pause at a particularly large rock and nod to himself. The teal troll climbed up onto it and shot Hickory a winning grin once he was at the top, waving enthusiastically, before letting out a bellow and tossing himself into the water. He was completely, stupidly endearing and Hickory knew that if he didn't say something by the end of this trip, he might just go insane.

John continued his cycle of climbing out of the water and jumping enthusiastically back in for some time, Hickory not even noticing that the sun had began to set with how enraptured he was with watching. That was, until the teal troll finally scooped his towel up from the ground instead of running off to his chosen diving rock.

"Hey, it's getting late," John called out to him, gesturing that he should swim to shore, "We should probably go get started on the fire and make some dinner."

"Oh! Right. Dinner," Hickory muttered to himself, before he began to swim back to shore, shivering as he climbed out of the water and a cool breeze swept across the lake.

"C'mon. We'll get a nice big fire going, and get you toasty warm," John said with an easy smile, handing Hickory his towel.

Hickory bit his tongue to keep himself from saying something stupid like 'Or you could warm me up', and instead murmured a quiet thanks as he took his towel and rubbed at his sopping hair.

"I brought some classic camping food," John hummed as he began to lead the way back up to their campsite, Hickory hot on his heels, "Hotdogs to roast over the fire, and marshtatoes for later!"

"Sounds swell," Hickory said with a little nod, draping his towel over his shoulders as they reached the campsite. "By the by, where did ya say that stick was? The one we could use as a bench near the fire?"

"Right! We should move that first," John said as he snapped his fingers, and pointed towards a patch of grass near the tent.

Moving the stick was only a small struggle when they discovered it was actually much larger than they had anticipated, as part of it was buried in the dirt. Luckily, what Hickory lacked in tenting supplies, he made up for in random assorted other items that John, apparently, neglected to bring along. Such as a hatchet. He made rather quick work of hacking into the stick and cutting off the portion John had indicated would make good seating, and if he happened to flex a bit more than he normally would because he caught John watching out of the corner of his eye, well, who could blame him?

The two of them managed to drag the end of the stick over to the little circle of rocks without much trouble after that, and Hickory promptly dropped himself onto it once it was settled where John thought would be the best spot.

"Gonna need to go for another swim, after that," the ex-bounty hunter joked, kicking his feet out in front of himself as John crouched next to the rocks and began to set up the bits of bark Hickory had gathered.

"If there are enough glow flies in the area we can go for a night swim, if you want," John muttered, half distracted as he struck a match and lit the kindling he'd set up. Gently, he blew into the small pile of bark and twigs until the flames began to grow, a proud little smile on his face as he slowly fed twigs into it until it was large enough that he could put a couple of the larger sticks on. Once it seemed like he thought the fire wouldn't need to be babied further he stood with a pop of his knees and a crack of his back, a low groan leaving him as Hickory winced in sympathy.

"That sounded like it hurt," Hickory commented idly as John dropped onto the stick next to him with a grunt.

"Don't get old," John joked, laughing as Hickory shoved him lightly.

"I'll remind ya, since yer memory's apparently goin', that I'm only a few years younger than ya. Yer knees ain't the only ones that make noise when ya stand up," Hickory said as he rolled his eyes. "Anyhow, d'ya really reckon we could go swimmin' at night? Y'don't think that'd be dangerous, with all the critters roamin' around?"

John shrugged, watching the flames as their fire slowly grew. "I mean, I don't see why not. Like I said, there just needs to be enough glow flies so we can see. The stars out here are pretty bright, but it's better if there are glow flies. They're a really good, obvious, first alert system if something is close by."

"Cause they'll fly away," Hickory hummed with a nod, "Smart."

"Yeah. It's something my dad taught me, a long time ago," John sighed wistfully, leaning forward to prop his elbows on his knees, his gaze distant. Hickory took that as his queue to go and fetch the hotdogs from John's bag, as well as grabbing a couple of sticks from their little stash to spear the hotdogs with.

"Here," Hickory gently nudged John in the shoulder with his own, offering the teal troll one of the sharpened sticks as John visibly blinked himself back into reality.

"Oh! Thanks," John chuckled, gingerly taking the stick from Hickory, "Sorry. Sort of zoned out there. Didn't mean to get so lost in thought."

"It's alright," Hickory said with a small shrug, cutting open the package of hotdogs to spear one on the end of his stick, "Happens to the best of us. Mind if I ask what ya were thinkin' 'about?"

"Just family junk," John offered with a little shrug of his shoulders, taking a hotdog of his own and stabbing it a bit more violently than strictly necessary.

"I assume 'bout yer dad?"

John clicked his tongue, a wry little smile turning the corner of his lips. "Yeah. A bit. More about my brothers, though, I guess. I never did this with any of them," he gestured vaguely at their campsite. "I got to go camping once with my dad, and he taught me loads. But none of my brothers got to. And then things just sort of got crazy out of hand, and I never got to take any of them." He paused, sitting up and shooting Hickory an apologetic smile. "Sorry. This is supposed to be a fun trip, you don't need me babbling about family drama."

"I don't mind," Hickory reassured, gently resting his free hand on John's elbow, "Don't got much family, myself, aside from my older brother, an' that's a whole can a' worms on it's own…But, I don't mind hearin' 'bout other folks family. If ya need someone with a willin' ear, I'm always here."

John turned his head to look at Hickory, his gaze almost searching as his brow furrowed slightly. "That means a lot," he murmured, shifting so he could take the hand on his elbow into his own, entwining their fingers together. "I really…I really like talking to you, Hickory. I know we haven't known each other that long, but you mean a lot to me."

"You mean a lot to me, too, Johnny."

John seemed to think for a moment, watching Hickory intently, before he leaned down to prop his stick between two of the rocks around their fire. He then took Hickory's and did the same with it, before turning sideways on their make-shift bench and taking Hickory's hands in his own. He visibly swallowed, thumbs brushing the backs of Hickory's hands, which sent little shivers up the country's trolls spine.

"You okay, John?" Hickory asked, leaning forward slightly with a concerned frown.

"Can I kiss you?"

It was said so quietly Hickory thought, perhaps, he was hearing things. "Pardon?"

John flushed, his ears drooping slightly as he gave Hickory's hands a little squeeze. "Can I kiss you?" he repeated a little louder, gaze fixed on their hands. "I might've been reading you wrong, but I think…I think you want to kiss me, too? It's okay, if you don't. I won't be offended, and we can pretend this never happened, I just…" He lifted his gaze, letting out a little breath, "I really want to kiss you."

"John Dory," Hickory stated, tugging John's hands closer so the teal troll was forced to lean further towards him, "If ya don't kiss me right this instant, I will be madder than a wet hen."

"Can't have that," John chuckled, before tilting his head and pressing his lips to Hickory's.

It was like pop rocks were poured down Hickory's spine, little tingles igniting what felt like every nerve ending as John shifted closer on their little bench so he could kiss the country troll more deeply. Their hands parted from each other, only to slide into hair and cling to shoulders, earning little shivers and soft sighs each time their lips parted for a moment for air.

"C'mon," John breathed after a time that Hickory's mind could hardly fathom, though the world was distinctly darker than it was before he got lost in John's lips. John stood, a hand outstretched towards Hickory in offering.

Hickory took it without hesitation, letting John lead him to their tent, anticipation twisting in his gut, their dinner and plans of swimming long forgotten.

When Hickory woke the next morning, it was to a tent distinctly devoid of John Dory. Groggily, he rubbed at his face as he sat up and looked around, finding what he assumed was John's silhouette on the outside of the tent, puttering around their campsite. He grunted as he shoved away the blankets he'd gotten tangled up in during the night and somehow managed to locate his pants and belt, tugging them on quickly before he stumbled into the morning light.

"Good morning!" John's voice was chipper and loud, making Hickory cringe slightly as he finger combed his hair.

"Mornin'," the country troll drawled, squinting against the sun until he found his hat and tugged it on, letting out a contented little sigh. He turned to find John Dory hovering over the fire, poking at what appeared to be eggs cooking on top of a flat stone. "Yer up mighty early."

"Habit," John said with a shrug, "Once the sun is up, I'm up."

"Disgusting," Hickory snorted, earning a light laugh from John.

"Yeah, well, can't be helped," John hummed, grabbed a large leaf and scooping one of the eggs from the stone onto it with a knife. "Forgot to bring plates, so you're going to have to deal with eating off a leaf with your fingers."

Hickory took the leaf happily, trotting over to their stick bench and sitting down. "I think I can live with that."

"Good, 'cause there wasn't much in terms of other options," John snorted, taking up his own leaf and egg before knocking the flat rock off the fire and walking over to the stick to sit as well.

They ate their breakfast quietly, John staring off into the fire, while Hickory let his eyes drift shut, smiling slightly to himself as he let the early morning sounds of the forest wash over him. He felt peaceful and calm, a warm little ember in his chest growing steadily at the knowledge that the troll his heart chose to beat wildly for was sat next to him and felt the same. Or, so he assumed.

"Hickory," John's quiet but serious tone shattered the tranquility of the forest, and drew Hickory from his revere. He blinked and turned his gaze towards John, who was still staring intently into the fire.

"What is it?"

"About last night…"

Hickory frowned, his posture stiffening at the words John spoke. He had to force his fingers to not tremble around the leaf he held. "What about it?"

"It doesn't-…Look, I know I dragged you all the way out here, and I'm your only way home, so just in case," John rambled, speaking without taking a breath, "It doesn't have to mean anything. We don't…If you felt obligated, I'm sorry. We can pretend nothing happened and go home right now, if you want."

Hickory stared John down, absentmindedly crushing the leaf in his hands. "Ya think I'd feel obligated to sleep with ya, just because we're out in the woods?"

"I mean," John flushed, looking up at Hickory, anxiety clear as day on his face, "…maybe?"

"I would sooner stab any troll that tried somethin' that I didn't want, then go willingly off to their tent," Hickory practically growled, before taking a deep breath to try and calm himself down. He closed his eyes and counted to ten, listening as John shifted and squirmed on the stick next to him. "I ain't mad," he said after a beat, letting out another breath.

"You sound like it."

"Only 'cause you implied I was easy."

"Sorry."

Hickory opened his eyes, taking one last deep breath in, before turning his gaze to John once again, arching an eyebrow at finding the teal troll practically curled in on himself in his seat. "This been buggin' ya for a while?"

"I couldn't sleep," John admitted, and upon closer inspection Hickory could see the bags under John's eyes.

Hickory sighed quietly, letting his irritation slowly seep out of him. He reached out, his heart twisting as John flinched slightly at the movement. "I ain't gonna hurt you," he reassured, gently taking one of John's hands in his own, "I'd never hurt ya. John…I was so happy, last night, when ya said ya wanted to kiss me. I've been wantin' to do that for quite a while. Just didn't quite know how to go about sayin' anythin'. I like you, John Dory. A whole lot."

John's posture loosened as Hickory spoke, his hunched position straightening as he unconsciously leaned in towards the country troll. "Really?" he breathed, and Hickory could almost describe his expression as being starstruck.

"I don't have a tendency to say things I don't mean."

Hickory let a crooked little smile settle on his face as John slowly shifted closer to him, turning slightly so he could wrap both of his hands around Hickory's. "I'm so sorry. For thinking I'd taken advantage of you. For implying you would do anything you didn't feel comfortable with. I just thought that, if you didn't want it, or felt bad for me or something-"

Hickory cut him off with a snort of a laugh, shaking his head slightly. "Why on this green earth do you think I would feel bad for ya?"

John blinked, tilting his head slightly. "Uh…'cause I'm a washed up ex-boyband member with a laundry list of family trauma issues and no friends?"

"Who's also mighty handsome, talented, a skilled survivalist, and who seems to be completely blind to the admirers that watch 'im every time he goes to the market?"

"…You think I'm handsome?"

"Not the take away ya should be focusing on here, Johnny," Hickory snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Sorry. Go on."

Hickory chuckled, cupping John's cheek in his free hand. "You think pretty little of yerself, an' that's a real shame. I wish ya could see yerself the way I do."

"And how's that?"

"Like a shootin' star in the night sky. So beautiful an' bright, but burnin' out so fast most folks can't appreciate ya for yer true magnificence," Hickory hummed, enjoying the way John's cheeks darkened, just before he gently tugged the teal troll into a kiss.

They parted with a quiet gasp between the two of them, John looking a bit dazed.

"So…you're my boyfriend now, right?" John asked bluntly after a beat, earning a surprised burst of laughter from Hickory.

"You bet yer bottom dollar, playboy."

#trolls #dreamworks trolls #trolls band together #trolls world tour #trolls hickory #trolls john dory #hickdory #trolls fanfic #things that i wrote

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laughhardrunfastbekindsblog · 2 days

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All through season 3, I was looking for reasons to let go of Tech, but hope just wouldn't die and until the finale I still thought there was a chance Tech would turn out to be alive and well. Even with this hope I found it... odd... that the show skipped over the inevitable conversation between Omega and Crosshair with Crosshair learning what happened to Tech. So I wrote this just a few days after the season 3 premiere and posted it to AO3 since I didn't have tumblr at the time. I'm posting it here now, mostly because the past few days this blog has turned into one of my ways of fully processing Tech's death.

NOTE: the first two sections are scenes directly from the show. I included them to clarify the timeline of events and add some detail as to what I imagine was informing Crosshair's thoughts and remarks during the second scene in particular.

Revelation

“Crosshair!”

No. It couldn’t be.

“Crosshair?”

He must still be dreaming, stuck in the nightmare…

“Crosshair?”

The voice sounded just like Omega, but that would mean Omega was here. And if Omega were here, that would mean his brothers…

“You must be Omega.” He knew that voice, and Emerie Karr’s statement removed all doubt.

“What did you do to Crosshair?” he heard Omega reply.

“He’s recovering. I tried to warn him what would happen if he did not cooperate with the doctor….”

He kept his eyes closed, feigning continued unconsciousness, wishing he had never awoken.

**********

“Crosshair. I tried to come earlier, but there were too many guards watching me.”

Crosshair sighed. He had noticed Omega’s attempts to catch his attention when they passed each other in the halls, and had deliberately ignored her. He couldn’t very well do so now. “You shouldn’t be down here at all.”

“Well, how else are we gonna plan an escape?”

Where did the kid get her unfailing optimism? But hope was useless here – worse than useless. Best to disabuse her of any fanciful notions before she was crushed any further by the weight of disappointment. “There is no ‘we,’” he replied curtly as he sat up to face her, “and there is no escape. I’ve already tried.”

He wouldn’t tell her the details of what had happened: that the primary objective of his “escape attempt” had been to warn his brothers about the danger they and Omega were in. Omega hadn’t yet told him whether the message had been received, and Crosshair had no inclination to broach the subject. Believing he had failed in getting the message to his brothers was easier to stomach than knowing the message had been delivered yet still yielded this outcome.

Thankfully, Omega didn’t probe for details – she was still too focused on the prospect of freedom. “Every stronghold has a weak point,” she was saying now, before adding thoughtfully, “Maybe I can convince Emerie to help. She’s one of us.”

No. This had to be nipped in the bud. If Crosshair managed to teach the kid anything, it had to be this, the one crucial lesson that was even more important than learning that hope was pointless. “Not every clone is your ally,” he warned her firmly. “You trust too easily.”

Omega looked taken aback for only a second before resisting the lesson. “Maybe you don’t trust enough,” she retorted.

Crosshair wished he could think of precisely what to say to convince her of her errors in judgment, but his hand started shaking… Blast, he thought as he gripped his hands together, hoping Omega hadn’t noticed.

“Crosshair?” she said gently; and he knew she had noticed. Yet more proof that hope was useless.

He wouldn’t let her see any more. He didn’t need any more reminders of his shortcomings, his failures, his mistakes, his losses. If he couldn’t teach the kid just how futile it was to hope and trust, maybe he could at least convince her to stop doing things that would put her in more danger. “Just… go, before you make things worse for both of us.”

Omega hesitated only briefly before turning to leave, and Crosshair thought that maybe he had succeeded – but then she spoke once more. “There has to be a way out of here,” she said, determination adding a layer of steel to her tone. “I’ll find it.”

**********

“You’re awake,” she said cheerfully as she sat cross-legged on the floor.

Crosshair didn’t reply, only fixed her with a sullen stare that did nothing to dampen her spirits.

“No one said anything after I came here last time, so I think I might be able to keep visiting you,” Omega went on. “Of course, we’ll have to be discreet when discussing some topics…”

He couldn’t ignore her when he was stuck in a cell, and she was going to keep visiting… “Why are you here?” he cut in sharply.

Omega paused mid-sentence, the slight crease that appeared on her forehead attesting to her confusion even as she gamely shifted topics. “I… well, I don’t have an escape plan yet, but I thought I could…”

“No,” he brusquely interrupted her again, waving his arm to gesture toward the hallway in an attempt to make his meaning clear. “Why are you here, on Tantiss?”

“The Empire captured me,” she answered in a low voice. “I think they want me to make Nala Se cooperate with them.”

Crosshair growled in frustration at the kid again missing the meaning of his query – he had to know, but that wouldn’t make the knowledge any easier to bear. He tried one more time, “What happened?”

Omega went perfectly still, and Crosshair’s heart sank. This is precisely why he had avoided asking about his brothers’ fates; but not knowing meant he could only imagine the worst possibilities. He didn’t let a shred of emotion show on his face, however, as his sister finally moved to reposition herself so she was no longer directly facing him, instead sitting in profile, gazing down the hallway as she wrapped her arms around her knees.

“We… Tech was going through some intel for Echo when he found out you were captured, and then he found the message you sent to warn us. We were trying to track Hemlock’s ship so we could find you. We knew Hemlock would be meeting with Tarkin on Eriadu, so we infiltrated the base to place a tracker on his ship. But…” she faltered, then everything spilled out in a flood of words. “Everything went wrong. We tried to escape, but there was an explosion at the base that left us trapped in a rail car with Imperial troops and ships attacking us. Tech was on the rail line to fix the car and he tried to make it back, but the car was breaking in half and falling off the track, and then the added weight…” Her voice broke, and she took a shuddering breath before soldiering on, “Tech fell, he severed the connection to the broken half of the car and he wouldn’t let us save him…”

The words were like shrapnel ripping through his heart. Hemlock seemed to think the interrogation droids were one of the most effective means of inflicting pain; the experiments were mentally and physically relentless, excruciating, exhausting; but this… This was true torture.

Omega had paused in an effort to regain her composure, wrapping her arms ever more tightly around her knees in an effort to stop shaking. Determinedly looking at the floor, she continued her story, her voice cutting through the void of Crosshair’s bereavement and bringing him back to the current situation with a painful jolt. The way she was rushing and stammering through her story, Crosshair could tell this was the first time she was really thinking about it, the first time she was allowing herself to relive the tragedy, reopening the painful wounds of this memory just so she could satiate his need to know.

He didn’t want to know any more – the worst thing he’d imagined had happened to one of his brothers. But he couldn’t manage to speak, couldn’t beg Omega to stop talking…

“Tech’s repairs worked, the car started moving, but we crashed and… I don’t remember much after that… I woke up and Hunter and Wrecker and I had all been bandaged up by AZI. Then Hemlock found us. Hunter told me to run, but I couldn’t leave them.” Omega’s chin was shaking so hard Crosshair wasn’t sure how she was managing to still speak so clearly. “Hemlock captured Wrecker and Hunter, and I tried to stop him, but one of his guards stunned me and I woke up on Hemlock’s ship.” She paused again; Crosshair, outwardly still and silent as stone, inwardly reeling from pain and shock, only peripherally noticed her bring her hand to her cheek to wipe away tears. “I had sent AZI to get Echo, though, so maybe Hunter and Wrecker managed to escape.”

The flash of relief upon hearing that Hunter and Wrecker and Echo might still be alive disappeared almost before Crosshair felt it, suppressed under the massive weight of sudden loss.

Tech.

Crosshair had always pretended to be even more annoyed than the others when Tech spouted off three datapads’ worth of information on the most mundane topics, but secretly he had been fascinated by how smart his brother was, how Tech not only knew the information but could seamlessly apply it to improve almost any situation. Hunter was the one with heightened senses, but Tech sometimes seemed even more skilled than Hunter in knowing exactly what Crosshair needed without Crosshair needing to say a word – and, being the most reticent member of the group, Crosshair couldn’t say he ever minded.

That was the thing about Tech: when it came to any given topic – including his brothers – Tech didn’t just know, he understood.

Crosshair didn’t have Tech’s skill in this area, but he knew and understood his brother well enough to fill in the details himself. Omega had said Tech had been the one to discover Crosshair’s imprisonment and the message, which meant Tech would have been the one to bring the fact to the squad’s attention, comb through intel that led to the discovery of Hemlock’s existence, and join the push for a rescue mission to be mounted despite the warning the message conveyed.

Omega and Crosshair now sat in silence for what may have been hours, may have been seconds – he would never be able to tell – before Omega spoke again. Despite the tears still silently falling down her face, her voice took on its signature hopeful note. “Maybe we can…”

‘Maybe’ was dangerous territory, and Crosshair – sick to his stomach, burning with regret and shame, broken and empty with no recourse available to him – could not let Omega continue. Tech was dead, and Crosshair could not allow himself to entertain the idea that maybe his remaining brothers were actually okay. ‘Maybe’ meant hope. Hope meant more pain.

“No,” he said, so sharply that Omega finally turned to look at him. The sight of her tear-streaked yet resolute face only deepened his agony. “No more plans. Can’t you see? It’s over.”

“But if Hunter and Wrecker escaped, that would mean…”

“NO,” he said again, glaring at the kid.

He wasn’t going to say anything else; but suddenly a sentence from Omega’s story struck home - we were trying to track Hemlock’s ship so we could find you – and his thoughts, his deepest regret, took form in words and slipped through his mouth before he could stop himself. “I told you to run. I told you all to hide. Why didn’t you hide?”

Omega’s eyes softened, and her sympathy made him drop his gaze to the floor. “Because we’re a squad,” she replied softly, “we’re family, and we don’t leave anyone behind.”

“Look where that got you,” Crosshair retorted bitterly. Look where that got Tech, he thought.

Footsteps sounding in a distant hallway seemed to remind Omega that she did not have unlimited time to spend on visits, and she hurriedly wiped her face again as she got to her feet. She didn’t immediately depart, however; and Crosshair, feeling her gaze on him, refused to look up.

“You’re worth the risk, Crosshair,” she said simply. “Tech thought so too.”

He remained as he was, staring at the floor, numb and broken and alone, long after she had gone.

**********

“Crosshair? Are you awake?”

He gave a prolonged sigh in an effort to cover the fact that a tiny part of him was actually glad she had come to visit – it had been several weeks since the last one, and he had started to wonder if she had been outright forbidden from seeing him. “What does it matter? You’re going to talk anyway.”

She hesitated briefly. “If you need to rest, I can come back later…”

He groaned a little as he sat up – this round of experiments was leaving him increasingly sore, but he would never admit this to anyone, least of all Omega: she would spend the entire visit fretting about him. “It’s fine. I’m already awake.”

She regarded him for several long seconds before kneeling in front of his cell. “Sorry it took so long for me to come back. Nala Se kept giving me additional assignments. I think that phase of experimentation is over now. They don’t tell me much about what the experiments are, though.” She was quiet for a moment, before continuing, “I like taking care of the hounds a lot more than helping in the lab. Batcher is finally warming up to me – she doesn’t try to bite me anymore when I feed her. Oh, K9X1 finally told me a little more about the hounds…”

Crosshair listened as Omega continued talking about all the details she had learned about the species – their origins, development, life cycle, characteristics, and more – and wondered why he felt such a bittersweet ache in his chest…

Omega’s chatter reminded him of Tech.

Identifying the cause made the ache grow more potent, and Crosshair almost snapped at Omega to leave so he could busy himself with forgetting the tragedy. Over the past few weeks, he had thought he had come to terms with the loss of his brother – the shame, regret, and emptiness no longer felt like they would completely consume him – but in moments like these the pain would return in full force, and it was almost too much to bear.

And yet – right now, the ache wasn’t just bitterness and sorrow. There was a hint of solace, a touch of comfort, the warmth of nostalgia and happy memories, that took the edge off the pain. And, somehow, this comfort came from Omega.

Despite what Omega had said, he knew he didn’t deserve the risk his squad had taken for him. Tech shouldn’t have died for him, Omega shouldn’t have been captured because of him, the others shouldn’t be facing dangers unknown because of him. Knowing this, he wouldn’t let anyone else take such a risk for him again.

But Omega was feeling the loss of Tech just as much as he was. She had lost her brother, just as he had.

Crosshair wouldn’t encourage her insane ideas of the both of them managing to escape together; but if these visits made her current captivity easier to bear, he wouldn’t send her away.

Resting his forehead on his hands, he sat and listened to his sister.

#tbb #the bad batch #star wars the bad batch #star wars #tbb spoilers #tbb season 3 #tbb crosshair #tbb omega #tbb fanfiction #tbb canon compliant fanfiction #grief #dealing with grief #gone but never forgotten #rip tech

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gotstabbedbyapen · 1 day

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Here me out; the second gen Olympians using eachother as scary guard dog privileges but none of them are aware of it:

Ares getting back after a battle and being too tired to speak to anyone but suddenly everyone’s too scared to even look at him. He thinks it’s because he’s covered in others blood but it’s because his siblings look on the verge of slaughtering anyone that comes near him.

Hephaestus finally coming out of his forge to spend a day with them, only for someone to make a jab about his leg. Luckily enough that person just seems to magically disappear, he assumes they just had enough that he doesn’t notice blood stains covering his siblings hands

Someone dares to insinuate that Athena isn’t a ‘real war god’ because she’s a women. Athena just rolls her eyes because she’s heard that a million times before. You know who’s also heard it a million times? Her brothers and sister and they’re not about to take that disrespect to her.

Artemis venting about the amount of creeps she has to deal with on a daily bases to her siblings only for that number to mysteriously start to drop afterwards. And if you dare try that shit in front all of them at once? Especially if it’s one of those ‘dark humour’ kinda jokes? You’ll wish they killed you for that kinda thing, because they take her vow just as seriously as she does. It’s a disrespect to her and any disrespect to her is a disrespect to them.

Every single time that Apollo falls for someone that person will be getting a shovel talk at some point. You don’t know when or who but depending on how long they date every single one of his siblings will threaten your life at some point. And if you break his heart or god forbid cheat on him? No one can save you at that point.

Hermes coming back from a bad shift and being so exhausted from the workload that he can barely stand. And when Someone tries to approach him with another thing to send only to end up getting a very nice and calm discussion with his siblings about treating their brother as if he’s some kind of slave.

People not respecting Dionysus due to the fact his mother is a mortal and him being the last to join the Olympians. Them calling him a ‘lesser god’. Dionysus just flips them off and goes back to drinking. The person thinks they got away with it only to be met with the most pissed off older siblings ever because ‘the fuck did you just call our younger brother?’

They all are aware that they do it for their other siblings but none of them are aware that their siblings do it right back for them. They’re all equally protective over eachother and will take no one disrespecting their siblings

Well... I have nothing more to add 'cause this is already perfect 👍

#ares #hephaestus #athena #artemis #apollo #hermes #dionysus #the twelve olympians #sibling bonding #sibling shenanigans #headcanons #ask me anything #tumblr ask

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certifiedl0verboy · 9 hours

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12 days of kolowv: day 8

my baby @theapocryphaofantares's birthday is in eight days, and because i love him with all my heart he gets a small microfic every day until he gets his big present on his actual birthday.

prompt: eavesdrop | jegulus | words: 640

“You’re going to have to talk to me at some point,” James says. “You can’t ignore me forever.”

“Watch me,” Regulus replies, his eyes still focused on the door.

“We’re locked in a closet,” James reminds him.

“We still have five minutes.”

“Keeping track, huh?” James says, and Regulus may not be looking at him, but he can clearly hear the smile that’s on James’ face. “You hate me that much?”

Regulus doesn’t know how to respond, because that’s the whole fucking problem.

He doesn’t hate James. He’s so stupidly crushing on him that he’s drowning and he doesn’t know how to pull himself out. Regulus can try and pretend all he wants that he doesn’t like James, but it’s hard to do that when his entire mind and body are consumed by the thought of him.

See, Regulus made the mistake of coming to this party that his brother was hosting, and Sirius had brought up the idea of playing Seven Minutes in Heaven. Regulus refused to play at first, but Barty convinced him to play and Regulus, a little tipsy, finally agreed. When James had also agreed to join, Regulus automatically wanted out. Sure, there were a lot of people playing, but of course, it would be just his fucking luck that when Regulus spun the bottle, it landed directly on James.

So now here they are, sitting in a small closet, leaning on opposite sides of the wall.

“I heard a little rumor,” James says. Regulus wants to tape his mouth shut.

“And I’m supposed to care about this, why?”

“Rumor has it that you have a crush.”

“Where did you hear that?” Regulus asks, finally turning his attention to James.

“I was listening to Pandora and Dorcas talk—”

“Didn’t anyone teach you that eavesdropping is rude?”

“Sure, yeah,” James answers, shrugging. “It’s a little different though when it’s about me.”

“What are you implying?”

“I’m implying that you have a crush on me,” James says.

“You’re delusional.”

“Am I?” James is smiling now, and Regulus wants to bang on the door and tell his brother to let him out.

“I would never have a crush on you.”

“So why would Dorcas and Pandora say that you do?”

“Like you said,” Regulus says. “It’s a rumor. It’s not true.”

“Prove it,” James counters.

“I don’t have to prove anything to you.”

“So you do, then. You have a crush on me.”

“What will get you to shut up?” Regulus asks, rolling his eyes. “We have three more minutes and I would prefer to not hear you talk.”

“You want me to shut up that badly?”

“Yeah, I do—”

“Then kiss me,” James says.

Regulus raises his eyebrow. “Why would I do that?”

“You want me to shut up? Then kiss me,” James repeats. “Unless you’re too chicken—”

Regulus grabs the front of James’ t-shirt and pulls him forward. It’s awkward and clumsy at first—their noses bumping into each other because it’s dark and Regulus is pretty sure he kissed James’ chin before James cups Regulus’ face to get better alignment. Their lips are overlapped and Regulus lets out a small noise when James nips at Regulus’ bottom lip. James tastes like beer, and he doesn’t mind the taste when it’s coming from kissing James. Regulus feels like he's on fire, and all of this feels so right to him.

Regulus’ fingers are still tangled in James’ shirt when they both pull away.

“How many more minutes do we have?” James asks, breathing a little heavily. His voice is low and quiet, and it makes Regulus feel dizzy.

“I don’t know,” Regulus replies. Before pulling James into another kiss, he says, “I don’t know, and I don’t care.”

#12 days of kolowv #kolowv tag <3 #india's writing #the marauders #the marauders era #harry potter #jegulus #microfic #james potter x regulus black #regulus black x james potter #starchaser #james x regulus #regulus x james #sunseeker

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dixons-sunshine · 13 hours

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Shopping Spree, Hangout Dreams AU Headcannons: Part Three | Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Word count: 861.

A/n: So I've made it a habit recently to post a fic every one-two days, but I was extremely busy today, so I didn't have time to start working on any of my other requests. I still wanted to post something, though, so here's a part three to my personal headcannons for the SSHD AU that nobody asked for. This is mostly set in the future but before the outbreak. I hope y'all like these! If you wanna see more, let me know.

➳༻❀✿❀༺➳

★ After graduating high school, you went to college to get a degree in teaching.

★ Daryl didn't go to college, however. He felt like more school was unnecessary for him, but he encouraged you to do it since he knew you wanted to become a teacher.

★ Daryl managed to land a job as an apprentice of sorts to a mechanic and got a second job as a bouncer after a while, and used some (most of it but he didn't tell you that) of the money to help pay for your tuition and textbooks.

★ You had your suspicions about it, and got a job of your own to help pay for everything. However, Daryl shot down any talks of you getting a second job, claiming that one job was already hard enough added on top of college.

★ The two of you rented a crappy, worn down apartment until you graduated and landed a full-time teaching job at a kindergarten near Atlanta, and you and Daryl finally managed to upgrade to a decent apartment.

★ Once the two of you had settled down and had gotten hitched at the courthouse, you invited your mother over for a housewarming of sorts.

★ She definitely tore into you both for eloping, but in the end, she was ultimately happy for the two of you.

★ She started teasingly calling you Mrs Dixon at every opportunity, and playfully threatening Daryl that if he ever broke your heart, she'd kill him.

★ She was a decade too late for that talk, however, so Daryl paid it no mind whatsoever.

★ Your mom was practically your best friend, so when she died three years later due to cancer, you were devastated.

★ You regretted not having a proper wedding like your mom had wanted you to have, but Daryl assured you that she didn't hate you for it.

★ Daryl was also heartbroken. He couldn't believe that the sweet woman who had basically taken him in was dead.

★ It was a hard couple of months after that, but Daryl refrained from falling into old habits and distancing himself to deal with his emotions alone. He reminded himself that you were a team and that you needed him more than ever at that moment. He couldn't pull away at a time like that.

★ Things got better with time. With the both of you taking the time to properly grieve and mourn, it got easier. The sadness when you thought of her death never fully vanquished, but with time, you were feeling better, visiting her grave whenever you had the chance.

★ When you and Daryl moved from the trailer park all those years ago, he didn't tell anyone from his family where he was going.

★ He didn't even tell his father. He just packed his bags with his things and silently disappeared from the trailer.

★ Merle didn't know about it, either. Daryl loved his brother but he knew what a dick he was and what he involved himself in, and he didn't want that in his new life with you. He wanted to start fresh, wipe the slate clean.

★ It was a couple of months before the outbreak when you and Daryl saw Merle again. You were walking around, doing grocery shopping, when you bumped into him.

★ Merle was immensely surprised when he noted the wedding rings on both of your fingers, and demanded to know why he wasn't invited to the wedding.

★ However, he guessed he shouldn't have been surprised when Daryl bitterly spat out that there wasn't a wedding and that you eloped. If he knew anything about Daryl, it's that he doesn't do big, fancy events.

★ About a month before the outbreak, you started feeling nauseous and more tired than usual. A total of three pregnancy tests confirmed that the reason for that wasn't because you were ill, but because you had a life growing inside of you.

★ Daryl was surprised to find out you were pregnant. Neither of you planned the pregnancy and it was extremely unexpected.

★ However, you both decided to keep the baby.

★ Daryl was scared of what parenthood had in store for him. He didn't want to end up like his father or be even worse than him.

★ It took for you to gently talk him through his fears for him to start calming down.

★ After he was calmed down, he allowed himself to feel happy. The two of you were in a stable environment with enough money between the both of you to accommodate a baby, so he felt himself relax.

★ That didn't last long, because soon the two of you would hear about the dead rising and see the news reports that warn you to evacuate immediately.

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holylulusworld · 2 days

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Summary: Broken hearts are hard to put back together. 8 years ago, Dean lost something he didn’t even know he had in the first place. Will he get a second chance?

Pairing: former AU!Dean Winchester x fem!Reader

Warnings: angst, language, past break-up, arguments, daddy Dean

A/N: This was an alternative idea for the first chapter of my Bucky story: Monster-in-law masterlist. I decided to use it for a story with Dean.

Dean looks at you, silently apologizing for messing up his chance to talk to you. Your son was all over the stranger he invited to your home.

Now you try to find a way to get Dean and his brother out of your house. Sam tried to help. He called every hotel and bed and breakfast in your area, but no one had a free room for the night.

You sigh, deeply and exasperated. You’re tired and wound up by your unexpected encounter with your former lover.

All you wanted was to forget about your meeting with him in the States and go back to your life.

If not for your son being overly excited to talk some more with Dean, you’d call Ketch to have your back in this. He’s your best friend, an ally, and the brother you never had.

“Not even for tonight?” Sam sighs too and hangs up again. He looks at you and shakes his head. “Y/N, I’m sorry. I tried anything but there is no free room for tonight or the next days.”

“We are having an important exhibition next week, and it’s the busiest time. Tourists all over town, exploring and annoying…” You bite your tongue, and huff. “You can both have the guest room.”

“There is only one bed,” your son says while stuffing more food into his mouth. He chews loudly and burps.

“Michael!” You tut. “What has gotten into you?” You’re too tired to let your son walk all over you and your feelings too.

“A real man does that!” He argues and crosses his arms over his chest.

“No,” Dean jumps in. “A real man respects the person taking care of him. Especially when the person is his mother. He will not do such a thing after she has made sure he’s well-fed and happy.”

Michael pouts, and sniffs. “I’m sorry Mom. I won’t do it again.”

“Good. Now you will go and wash your hands, brush your teeth, and get ready for bed. The day was long, and you bugged your mom with the toad and me,” Dean gets up from his chair and points toward the door. “You’re lucky you’ve got a great mom. Not everyone is so lucky.”

You watch Dean handle your son while you try not to scream at him. How dare he act like a father only to get you to talk to him?

“Uh-Y/N,” Dean nervously stammers. “I’m sorry I spent so much time with Michael. I came here to explain a few things.”

“Dean, I’m beat up and not in the mood for more lies. Let’s just leave the past behind. Get on a plane, leave this continent, and forget we ever met.”

“I-I believed you didn’t want me anymore,” he says before you can walk out of the room. “I came back to our room and found the ring. There was no note. Anger got the best out of me. I gave up without knowing about the baby or that you wanted me to go after.”

“How many more times do I have to tell you that I left a note,” you snap at Dean and throw your hands up. “Do you still want to pretend I’m the villain in this story?”

“No,” he shakes his head. “It was my mother. Sam and I talked to her before coming here. She finally admitted that it was her stealing the note.” Dean drops his gaze. “If not for Sam, I’d never found the guts to confront her. I’m so fucking sorry.

Dean steps closer. He looks at you, silently pleading with you to not kick him out before he gets the chance to at least apologize for all the things he did in the past and today.

“Did she tell you what I wrote?” You ask while keeping a close eye on Dean. He tends to overstep and get physical. If he hugs you like he used to do, you are done for.

“No,” he wipes his eyes. “We tried anything, but she refused to tell us. I assume you told me about your pregnancy and wanted me to man up and not be an idiot.”

“You’re an idiot, that’s correct,” you snap, struggling to hide the grin wanting to fight its way on your face. “I guess the note wouldn’t have changed a thing. You still ignored me, and let your mother treat me like shit. You were all over that ex of yours too.”

“I was drunk,” he raises his hand before you can tell him this doesn’t matter. “I know this is no excuse for acting like I did that night. But, you must believe me, if I knew about the baby…” Dean sniffs and drops his head, “I would’ve followed you to the ends of the earth.”

Sam awkwardly sneaks inside the room to get his bag. “I’ll retreat and try to call a few hotels again. Maybe I forgot some.”

“The guest room has a bed and a couch,” you wince as you must admit the lie you sold them so easily.

“Sneaky,” Dean grins. He chuckles and winks at his brother. “I guess we don’t need to cuddle tonight, Sammy. I hope you’re not disappointed.”

“Jerk,” Sam grumbles before leaving the room. “Goodnight, Y/N. I’m sorry you have to endure my brother’s presence. Be patient. He’s an idiot and has abandonment issues.”

“BITCH!” Dean bites back. “Who asked you?”

“Who came to me, desperate and crying? You wanted me to help, so I help,” Sam huffs. “Don’t fuck this up too. I’m done watching you waste your life.”

“Sammy…”

You watch Sam leave, swallowing thickly. “Do you still want to know what the note said?”

Dean fights the lump in his throat but nods. “Yeah…”

“Fine,” you turn around to grab your notebook and a pencil. You rewrite the lines and push the piece of paper in his hands. “It’s late, and I’m going to bed now.”

Dean looks at the piece of paper in his hand. He reads the lines, feeling his heart break all over again…

One night of passion, a life-long responsibility. This is your decision. Are you in or out? I got a job offer in London and will accept it if you don’t want to be a father yet (or at all). If you are still the man you made me believe you are, call me tomorrow. If not, have a nice life…

#dean winchester #dean x reader #dean winchester fanfic #dean winchester x reader #angst #Designed by pain (8)#au!dean winchester #au!dean winchester x reader #female reader #x reader

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winniemaywebber · 2 days

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The Apple Tree • Part 7

(gif by @hephaestn)

Rosie and Y/N make a decision about their relationship.

A sweet breeze ripped through the trees, the May weather finally rearing its head between inconsistent cold snaps. The children were grateful for it, the sun shining in their faces once again. One of the greatest joys in life was seeing them run madly through the fields, the sunshine turning their pale skin a delicious golden brown color. Another was seeing their eyes widen with joy when their persuasion worked.

“Please, Miss!” they'd beg, their puppy eyes softening your already mushy heart. “Please can we go over to the air field?” You'd pretend to consider, falsely uhm-ing and ah-ing, keeping them on tenterhooks until you pretended to relent. It wasn't hard to say yes; the children got to see the planes take off and land, some of them hanging around with their favorite crew chief - sweet Kenny Lemmons was only nineteen and far away from home, a playful big brother to the kids. Always so gentle with them and always so willing to answer any question they had about his job, he made them feel so special with his kindness.

“Children!” You'd softly scold, making apologetic eyes at Ken. “Leave Lemmons alone. He has a job to do, and you're under his feet!”

“No worries, ma'am,” he'd reply, his young eyes twinkling with joy at being able to pass on his knowledge to more young minds. “I don't mind at all!” And he'd take them across the field, letting them watch him and the rest of his crew patch up flak holes.

You'd get to see Rosie, always so darn handsome in his flight gear. The best part of it all would be seeing his face light up the second he saw you, running over to give you a secret kiss when the children were distracted by Kenny and the crew.

“I'll be back before you know it,” he'd murmur, pushing your worries away with a soft kiss to the forehead.

“I love you, darling.”

You'd started to enjoy the longer days that this new summer was bringing, especially how the sun rose even earlier, flooding your bedroom with bright light. It was even better when you got to wake up next to Rosie - the soft morning daylight reflecting over him; the reddish tint in his hair coming out because of it. He'd usually kicked off the covers, the blanket ending up at his waist. Sometimes, the prettiness of him would take your breath away, your hand stroking every exposed part of him you could reach. Even in his slumber, he'd smile softly at your touch, humming as your gentle tickles on his broad shoulders would wake him slowly.

“Hi, pretty girl,” he murmur, pulling you closer as he woke up.

“Hey, handsome,” you'd reply, curling up in his arms and savoring every second of his warmth. It's on one of these mornings that he looks at you seriously with those beautiful blue eyes, still full of sleepiness.

“What happens when this is all over?” he asks, suddenly.

“What do you mean, my love?”

“When this is over…and I have to go home.”

“Yes?”

“Would you come with me?”

The question shocks the breath out of you, you crawling out of his arms to sit up and look at him.

“Darling,” you begin, your hand on his chest. “I absolutely would. But I have a life here. I have my job, I have this house. My friends…my whole life is here. I can't just simply turn around and give it all up.” You feel him sigh under your hand, his face dropping slightly. Without a word, he takes your hand and kisses it, nodding. A moment of silence passes between you both, the tension of the question hanging in the room.

“Will you at least think about it, Y/N?”

“Yes, sweet man. I will.”

—

“Turn on the radio!” Sally squeals, rushing through the door as you're in the middle of explaining fractions. “Oh, heck. Sorry, Y/N.” Their eager eyes turn to you, and then back to Sally.

“Miss Sally,” Harrison pipes up. “We only listen to the radio at school on Fridays.”

“Well, I'm sure Miss Y/N here will make a special exception,” she replies brightly, turning back to you with her teeth gritted. “Turn on the darn radio.” With a sigh, you do as you are told and hear the familiar voice of Prime Minister Winston Churchill:

"Yesterday morning at 2:41 a.m. at General Eisenhower's Headquarters, General Jodl, the representative of the German High Command, and of Grand Admiral Doenitz, the designated head of the German State, signed the act of unconditional surrender of all German Land, sea, and air forces in Europe to the Allied Expeditionary Force, and simultaneously to the Soviet High Command…Hostilities will end officially at one minute after midnight to-night, but in the interests of saving lives the "Cease fire" began yesterday to be sounded all along the front, and our dear Channel Islands are also to be freed to-day.”

The whole room erupts into cheers at his last words, the booming voice of the country's leader being drowned by joyful screams, the children pumping their fists in the air. You and Sally grab one another, hugging tightly and jumping up and down. As you break apart, the joyful tears in her eyes suddenly turn to sad ones when she figures out what it all means for her. With a deep breath, she slinks back into your embrace, her whole body shaking with sadness and adrenaline.

“Oh, Sal,” you say, surprised to feel a sob catching in your throat. “Hey, now. No need to cry.”

“I'm scared,” she weeps into you, her arms getting tighter around you. “I don't know what I'll do without you.”

“Doll,” you sigh. “You'll be fine. We'll write all the time, Sally.”

“B-but…”

"No buts, lady. Give me a minute.”

You break away from Sally and clap three times to get your students' attention, them stopping their celebrations immediately upon hearing it.

“Wow, thank you. This is a very exciting day and it would be rude of me to not let you celebrate properly. I'm dismissing you all early!” Another cheer erupts, some running over to wrap their arms around your waist in thanks. Retrieving their belongings from their cubbies, they hastily wave as they rush on home, except for Penelope who hangs back.

“What is it, dear?” you ask, walking over to her. She reaches into her bag and pulls out a shiny red apple, placing it in your hand.

“Wanted to give you this, Miss,” she says sweetly, her eyes bright. “Was gonna give it you at the end of school. Picked it this morning.”

“Thank you, darling. You are so sweet. Go on home to mum now, okay?” Penelope nods and skips out of the school house, her long hair flowing behind her before breaking into a run to catch up with her friends.

—

Walking home arm-in-arm, you and Sally have to stop every few moments to greet or wave to someone passing by. Some even hug you both in celebration before rushing off down the street to the pub which, no doubt, was opening early today.

Opening the door to your cottage, you let Sally in first. She sniffs, her eyes cheekily squinting at you.

“It smells different in here than usual,” she teases, elbowing you in the ribs.

“Whatever do you mean, Sally?” you reply, winking back at her. “I guess it's just because it doesn't smell like solely me anymore. It's me and someone else.” Her face drops suddenly, her eyes filling with fresh tears.

“And what will you do when it just smells like you again?”

“Oh, Sally!” you say, exasperated. “You keep dropping these hints, like I'm meant to know what to do.”

“You never told me he asked you to go home with him,” she replies, sitting down in an armchair.

“Because it doesn't matter if he asked or not,” you respond, kicking your shoes off in the entryway. “I haven't made a decision. I thought I'd have much longer, but obviously after today, I–”

“You'd better make up your mind. Don't break his heart, Y/N.” Suddenly frustrated, you stare at her pointedly.

“I wasn't planning on it,” you say, feeling your cheeks turning an angry shade of red. “But what about all this? What do you think Granny would think if she was here if I just gave up this nice house she left me? And what would the kids do? I can't just leave them like that. I can't abandon them when they need me.”

“When will you ever think of yourself? What do you want?”

Without hesitation, you respond, the words spilling out of your mouth. “I just want to be with Rosie,” you say with a shrug. “But it's not that simple, is it?”

“There. Yes, yes it is. You and I, we'll figure this out.”

“What if they figure out we're hard to live with, huh? What then?” You joke, Sally breaking into giggles.

“Then at least we'll have somewhere to come back to.”

—

The celebrations on base had carried on until first light, you and Rosie walking back to your cottage hand in hand. The early morning mist hung atop of every house in the village, the grass sparkling with dew in the morning light.

Walking into your cottage, you lean down to start the fire to warm you both up. Sitting on the couch, Rosie sits next to you and wraps his arm around you, his warmth enveloping you instantly.

“What a night,” you murmur sleepily into him, and you feel him nod in agreement. Taking a deep breath, he lifts your chin to get you to look at him, his eyes softening as you do so. His thumb begins to stroke your cheek as he speaks.

“Did you think on what I asked?”

“Y-yes,” you stutter out, suddenly awake. “But I haven't made a solid decision yet. There's so much to figure out, but I–”

You’ve barely got time to finish your sentence before he's getting up from his seat and walking towards the door.

“Hey!” you blurt out, walking towards him to stop him from leaving. “Where do you think you're going?”

“I'm going back to base,” he says flatly. “It seems you haven't thought about it at all, Y/N.”

“Believe me, I have.” You reach out and take his hand, kissing his palm gently. “I've been thinking about it an awful lot. It's been torture. I think of saying goodbye to those children and it breaks my heart.” Hot tears begin to spill down your cheeks and you try to wipe them away as fast as they come but the constant stream is too hard to keep up with.

Suddenly, you're wrapped in a tight hug, Rosie shushing you with his hand stroking your hair until the cry is spent, you feeling the frustration leave his body the moment you wrap your arms around him in reciprocation. Sniffling, you break away to look at him, your hand on his cheek.

“Please, don't go,” you whisper, your voice croaky from the sobbing. “Please?”

“I won't, I'm sorry, I--ugh, I just reacted the wrong way and honestly, I'm being selfish. I want you to come home with me. I want to give you a beautiful life, give you whatever you want. I want to take care of you. My ma will love you, Y/N, so will everyone else and–”

“Rosie, you have to understand that I cannot rely on you,” you interrupt. “I've been on my own for so long that being ‘looked after’ is a difficult concept for me. I haven't needed anyone and I don't intend to change that.” You see him sigh, his eyes downcast. “But,” you begin again, your fingers under his chin to have him meet your gaze. “I love you. I'm in love with you. And if there's anyone I want looking after me, it's you.” A pause hangs in the air for a moment before you reach up to kiss him, your hand playing with the soft curls on the nape of his neck. As you break away and see how he looks at you, your breath caught in your throat at the sight of him, how he smiles softly at your touch, you've relented and done for. It's the easiest decision in the world.

“I will come with you, darling. I'd love nothing more.” There's a moment of silence as you press your foreheads together, noses touching.

You break apart and sit on the couch, Rosie holding your hand in his and rubbing his thumb over the surface.

“How will this all work?” you say, meekly, voice squeaking with nervousness. “I mean, where would we live? What could I do for work? I mean…I–”

“I understand your worries, sweetheart. How about this,” he pauses, clearing his throat. “We give it, I don't know, from now until Christmas. We'll write and I'll keep you updated.”

“That's over six months,” you say, eyes squeezing shut. “That is unbearable.”

“I know,” he grins, leaning over and kissing you on the forehead. “But how else do you expect me to save for a ring?”

“A ring?!” You reply, voice full of surprise.

“Yes, my love. I’d ask you right now if I could, and–”

“Just say the word. Then I'd race you to the courthouse.”

“I know it's a long time apart. But, it gives me time to make sure I can look after you the way I want to. I want to find you the prettiest house in the neighborhood, with enough room for a whole army of kids.” You giggle, your head now on his shoulder. “I'll find you the best school to teach at. I'll find you the sweetest dog at the pound. I'll find you and get you whatever you want and need, Y/N.” He pauses for a second, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “I just want to spend my life with you. In the grand scheme of things, seven months isn't long when we've got forever together.”

“Oh, darling,” you whisper, kissing him gently. “I'm over the moon.”

—

“Everyone?” you squeak out, trying your best to get their attention despite the crippling sadness clutching at your throat and chest. “I have something to tell you all.” The children's sweet eyes are on yours in an instant, ready to listen as usual. You take a deep breath to try center yourself, calm your nerves and steady your pounding heart.

“Now, you all know that I've been seeing a lot of Major Rosenthal and–” you feel the tears pricking at your eyes as you try your best to stop them running down your face. “Well, he's asked me to join him when he returns home to New York. This means that–”

“Miss?” Harrison responds, his big green eyes brimming with tears. “Are you going with him?”

“Y-yes, dear. I am. I'll be with you until the Christmas holiday, and then I'll be leaving. But don't worry, I've made sure you'll be taken care of.”

A few days prior, your nerves shot after agreeing to Rosie's question, you had seen Rita, bicycling down the lane to her family home. She'd caught sight of you first, stopping the bike as quick as she could and wrapping her arms around you. It had taken everything in you to not begin to weep at this close contact, her face full of concern as she'd taken your expression in.

“Y/N!” she coos, rubbing your shoulders quickly. “Talk to me.”

You'd explained everything, from Rosie asking you to go home with him, you agreeing and then it all hitting you: leaving the children you had taught and been around from infancy, the cottage having to be sold and the thought of being so homesick you could barely stand it.

“Oh, darling,” she soothed. “But think of it this way! What a wonderful adventure, how fantastic for you. You and Major Rosenthal make such a great couple, too. I know you'll be so happy together, no matter what's thrown at you both.”

“What about you?” You sniff, wiping your damp face with your handkerchief. “Are you leaving anytime soon?”

“Oh, no,” she replies wistfully. “It turns out that I'm better off alone.”

“Nothing to do with the fact both your Yanks found out that they were simultaneously engaged to you?” You smirk at her, waiting for her reaction.

“Hey, I'm young,” she giggles. “It's all fun. Fun while it lasted.”

Through your stress, Rita's face still etched with sympathy, the answer had come to you.

“Well, if you're staying, I have a job for you.” You shrug as casually as possible. Rita's face lights up in an instant, nodding enthusiastically before you've even finished your sentence.

“Oh, Y/N!” she wraps her arms around you again, jumping up and down with you. “I'd love to. I'd be honored. Though I'll never compare to you–”

“Oh, stop it, you,” you cut her off, smiling nonetheless.

“I'm being serious! Nobody will compare to you. But I'll definitely try my best.”

---

“Miss Rita will be coming to teach you in the new year. What do you all think about that?” The children's faces go from sadness to excitable within an instant, some even pumping their fists in cheer.

“Good! That makes me so happy.” You let the tears fall freely now, your hand clutched to your chest. “You'll never know how much I'm going to miss you, darlings.” You hear a few sniffles from the little crowd in front of you, and you turn away for a second to wipe your own tears. “But, luckily, we have all this time left together. No use being sad now, chickens. Shall we run over to the air field?”

“Yes!” they yell in unison, zipping out the door in a flash.

—

Rosie's departure date comes quicker than expected, the news hitting you like a freight train the night he tells you, you both sat in the officer’s club.

“Monday?” You manage to push out, feeling your throat close at the suddenness of it all. “Two days away?” Sally looks over at you, those big doe eyes of hers overflowing with tears. At any moment, the floodgates will open. You know you're able to stand it and be strong if Sally doesn't cry, but the second you hear her sniffle next to you, it's game over.

“I need some air,” you croak out, trying your best to stand up without wobbling, in part from the three Old Fashioneds you'd consumed in quick succession. As you turn to grab your handbag, you see Sally clinging to James, him shushing her and stroking her hair as she weeps into him, leaving a dark stain of mascara on his dress uniform. You wipe your own as you walk away, not wanting to overwhelm the situation any more.

“Sweetheart?” You hear behind you as you lean against a wall, face crumpling in what you thought was privacy. Rosie walks up to stand in front of you, his thumb stroking your cheek, catching the first tear that drops from your eyes.

"I'm sorry,” you snivel, holding the hand that's resting on your face. “I thought we'd have more time.”

“I know, baby. Honestly, me too.” He sighs a long breath leaving his nostrils. “But I promise you, it'll go so quickly. Before you know it, you'll be on that boat to New York to start your life with me.” He smiles his beautiful smile, your nerves gone in an instant.

“I love you, Y/N. So much.”

“I love you too.”

—

Monday morning. You awaken before Rosie, not feeling well rested at all. Sleep had refused to come for the pair of you until the wee hours, you both falling asleep on tear stained pillows, clinging to one another so hard that you're sure you've left bruises on his soft skin. The soft morning light peeks through the thin curtains, flooding the room and enveloping Rosie. The gentleness of it brings out the red hints in his pretty hair, his subtly tanned skin glowing in the sunrise. Knowing this will be the last time in a while you'll wake up to him, you reach your hand out and run it along every exposed part of him, just as you do every morning.

The blanket - always kicked off in the night by him - begins at his waist, so that's where your fingers start. Gently tickling upwards, your hand dips at his torso, all the way up to his collar bone before leaving your hand on his face, your thumb stroking the end of his mustache. He sleepily grabs your hand and presses a kiss to your palm, pulling you closer.

"Hmmm, morning, sweet girl.”

“Hi, handsome,” your voice a little shaky. Feeling fresh tears threaten to spill from you, you sniff, trying to will them away. Without needing to say anything, Rosie places his hand on your waist and kisses you deeply. “Let me make love to you one last time before I go,” he asks. “Please?”

You nod before the plea is even out of his mouth. Not wasting a moment, he's inside you, his mouth hovering over yours.

“God,” he murmurs. “How will I manage without you?” You giggle, your hand stroking his face.

"It'll be easy,” you moan. “Just think of all the time we'll have when I'm home with you.”

“Yes, my love,” he breathes deeply, kissing you. “I can't wait.”

—

“Come on, kids,” Rita says, trying her best to hurry them along to the air field to watch the planes ascend for the last time. They walk along, sluggishly, not one single sweet face holding a smile. Their usual ruby red cheeks are flushed, their demeanors the opposite of their happy selves.

“My darlings,” you coo. “I know you will miss your friends. But, let's look at the bright side. They're going home to their families today, after so many years. Let's be happy for them for that, yes?”

“Yes, Miss Y/N,” they chorus, eyes suddenly looking a little brighter as you take control of the situation. Rita looks at you and bites her lip worriedly.

“Don't worry,” you reassure her. “They'll take to you in no time. We have months and they'll get used to it, alright?”

“If you say so.”

Walking along the grassy footpath that leads to the edge of the airfield, you see Croz and Rosie in a final conversation. You hear their joyous laughter from across the way, their bond always softening your heart.

“You want me to bring my infant son to a jazz club?” you hear Croz laugh, his bag swinging in unison with his body.

“Hey, it's never too early,” Rosie replies, his finger wagging at him. With a knowing glance, they part from one another, acknowledging the fact with a glance that they've been bonded together forever due to this experience. As Harry walks away, he catches sight of you and waves, his usual anxiety and nervousness gone. You wave back, some of the kids around you saluting him. He reciprocates, putting his bag down and giving a proud salute in their direction.

You turn back to Rosie and see him masterfully run his hand on the aircraft's every curve, using the same movements with his hands as he does on your body. You feel your stomach drop and it's an effort to keep standing as you witness him put his hands on every part he is able to reach. He sees you staring at him and grins, you running over to him as quick as a flash.

“Love bug,” he whispers as he envelopes you in his arms. At this, you whimper and begin to sob, your body wracked with sadness. “Hey,” He soothes, his beautiful hand stroking your back. “Shh, darling. Those kiddos will keep you occupied and we'll be at city hall before you know it. Yeah?”

“Mhm,” you manage to muster out, your voice blocked by his shoulder. You break away and kiss him deeply, not caring who sees. “I love you, Rosie. So much I can hardly stand it.”

“I love you too, Y/N. My girl.” He hugs you tightly again, as if he cannot bear to let go. Alas, he does, sighing as his arms leave your body. He gently pulls your chin towards him and gives you the most soft, sweet kiss that makes your stomach flip. You take a few steps back and watch him clamber gracefully into the aircraft, your heart in your throat.

You find Sally a few moments later, both your faces blotchy with tears. Hilariously, you both reach into your pockets and swap matching embroidered handkerchiefs, Granny coming in clutch once again.

"Frances strikes again,” Sally says, shoulders shaking from laughter and residual sobs. She reaches down and clings to your hand, her free one waving to James as she sees him whiz down the runway. Following behind is Rosie, who blows you a quick kiss before slamming his window shut.

Over the familiar hum of the aircraft, the gathered villagers cheer a chorus of “bye, goodbye! We'll miss you! Get home safe!” The final aircraft ascends, the noise going with it leaving a sort of eerie silence over the village that hasn't been heard in years. With a deep breath, you beckon the children down from the tower and lead them back to the schoolhouse.

Once there, you let them play outside so you can compose yourself before beginning to teach for the day. Sitting under the apple tree, you pull out your book from your bag and plan to read where you left off last week. A small piece of paper falls from it, scrawled in Rosie's penmanship.

“Counting the days until I see you again. I can't wait for you to come home. All my love, always. Rosie."

friends! thanks so much for reading this series. this is the final part of this arc but I hope to bring them back to you soon!!! <3

taglist: @sagesolsticewrites @ginabaker1666

#masters of the air #mota #masters of the air fic #mota fic #rosie rosenthal #rosie rosenthal x reader #rosie's riveters #the apple tree #winnie writes

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