#I was cutting cherries in half for my toddler and this happened

[trekscribbles]

Cherry Juice

Fandom: Leverage Word Count: 1558 Pairings: Just Eliot and Parker friendship Cross-posted: AO3 and FF

Eliot had blood on his hands, and the fact that it surprised him... surprised him. The sight of it hit him like a punch to the face, the kind he hadn't been expecting—the kind that made him stumble when he needed to keep his feet. He sucked in a breath, feeling his muscles bunch in preparation, tucking his elbows against his body. Parker called it his Danger Mode, and he—

Parker.

Eliot took another breath, staring down at his hands. It wasn't blood, it was cherry juice. He was standing in his kitchen, making cherry chutney for a pork loin he was going to grill later. Parker sat across from him, perched on a stool with her elbows on his island, watching him like a cat studying a bird.

She was saying his name, her eyes all bright and curious. He gave her a wordless grunt and turned away, all but running to the sink, pushing up on the faucet handle with his wrist and scrubbing the red off his skin. It stained the creases where his fingers bent, running down underneath the nails and making his knuckles look bruised.

"Eliot?" Parker was next to him now, peering over his arms as if he was doing something interesting instead of trying to scour the skin off his hands.

He cleared his throat. "It's—the—the juice was sticking to the knife."

Parker's eyes followed the flow of pink draining from his hands. "It looks a little bit like..." Her eyes snapped up to his, and he looked away before he could tell himself not to. I hadn't noticed, he wanted to say, all gruff and confident and dismissive. It was just sticky. You don't want to use a sticky knife.

But he couldn't force the words out. He continued to wash until his skin burned under the steaming water, feeling the heat of Parker's gaze like a he was an ant under her magnifying glass. When his flesh was pink and raw and as clean as he could possibly get it, he turned off the water and reached for the towel hanging from the oven handle.

Parker beat him to it. "Is that what bothered you?" she asked, holding it out to him.

He took it roughly, ready to tell her to mind her own business, but he couldn't make himself say that when he couldn't even meet her eyes. So he nodded, and she nodded in response.

"It wasn't. It was just cherry juice."

"I know that, Parker."

"You wanted to fight something though."

He wanted to argue that too, but his still-tense muscles told him that denial was pointless. "It's a reflex," he murmured instead.

"Would you have fought the cherries?"

The question made him blink at her, and her face looked so sincere, like she'd just asked an actual question and was waiting for an actual reply. "No, Parker," he said, managing a little of his usual gruffness.

"Good. Then I'd have to tell Nate, and he'd have to tell Sophie, and you'd have to take a wellness quiz and—"

"A wellness quiz?"

"Yeah." She leaned away from him, plucking a pitted cherry from the bowl on the counter and popping it into her mouth. "You know, like How are you feeling today? and Why do you think there are monsters in your closet? and How did you find out the monsters had the key to the ice cream freezer?"

Eliot stared at her, trying to make sense of her words. "Did someone ask you those questions?"

She nodded. "You know, the questions they ask you when you're a kid. Wellness quizzes." Eliot shook his head, and Parker seemed to deflate a little. "Oh. Was that just me?"

"No one ever asked me anything like that," Eliot said. His hands were dry now, but he didn't want to put down the towel. "Did you get asked those questions a lot?"

"A few times," Parker said, and he got the impression that she was hedging.

Eliot sighed. The Question flashed through his mind again: How did he end up with these people, these damaged children with damaged pasts that wouldn't let them go? He used to be someone who wouldn't care about this kind of thing—about her wellness questions, about her childhood, about her. He used to be the kind of monster that would have hidden in her closet.

But he'd just tried to scrub the skin off his hands because of some cherry juice.

"Go ahead," he grunted, replacing the towel on the rack and picking up his knife again.

"What?"

"Go ahead and give me the quiz." He forced his fingers around a pitted cherry, focusing on relaxing his grip on the knife so it would glide through the fruit instead of chopping.

Parker tilted her head. "How are you feeling?"

"Hungry."

"And how did you sleep last night?"

"Fine."

"No nightmares?"

"No."

"No getting up in the middle of the night to check for monsters under your bed?"

Eliot looked up from the cherries. "Do you do that?"

"Not anymore. Hardison said you chased all the monsters away for me."

A mix of emotions drove his eyes down again—he was irritated that Hardison was making promises for him, and touched at the thought that his name was enough to banish Parker's fear. "Next question."

"Have you been spending more time alone lately than is normal for you?"

"Parker, you're in my kitchen right now. I told you I was busy and you came over anyway."

"I thought it was code."

"It was code for I'm busy, don't come over."

"Okay. Are you having problems with your teachers or parents?"

He expected the mention of his parents to bring the usual spike of guilt, but instead he only quirked up his eyebrows and scraped the halved cherries into their waiting bowl. "Teachers?"

She nodded seriously. "Or parents. Any arguments with Nate lately?"

"Nate's not my dad."

She rolled her eyes. "Obviously. You don't look anything alike."

"No, Parker, I haven't had any arguments with Nate or Sophie, and I got Hardison to write my term paper for me."

Though he said it as sarcastically as possible, Parker nodded in approval. "Are you taking unnecessary risks or getting hurt frequently?"

"All of my risks are calculated and necessary."

"You did get shot during our last job."

"It was a graze," Eliot argued, rolling his shoulder to prove that it had healed. "Next question."

He waited, but she was quiet for so long that he was able to cut three cherries in peace before looking up. When he did, her eyes were focused on the counter between his cutting board and the bowl. "Will you tell me the next time you go into Danger Mode when there's no danger?"

Eliot frowned, setting down his knife and wiping his fingers on the towel. He wanted to say no, because admitting something like tensing for a fight while he was cooking at home felt like an admission of weakness, but her face was closing off in anticipation of his denial and he hated being responsible for that reaction. So he picked up a cherry half and held it out to her, waiting to speak until her eyes crept up to his. "I will," he said slowly. "If you promise to never tell Hardison."

In a heartbeat, her expression lit up and she plucked the cherry out of his palm. "Deal."

"You shouldn't be this excited about keeping secrets from your boyfriend."

"I don't want to get out of practice," she said, shrugging. "Besides, I keep tons of secrets from you."

"Like what?"

"Like that time Hardison put a clip in your hair while you were sleeping and you didn't notice it and then he got scared that you'd find it so he made me sneak behind you and take it out."

"Parker!"

She winced. "Which he told me not to tell you. So now you have to keep my secret too."

Eliot threw another handful of cherries onto his cutting board, scowling, and his gaze caught on his stained fingers. His body didn't react to the sight this time—his heartbeat stayed even, his shoulders relaxed. He glanced up at Parker, busy stealing another piece of fruit from the bowl, and failed to contain the burst of warmth that spread through him. Maybe she'd been right after all. Maybe "don't come over" was a code, one he hadn't even realized he'd been giving her. One she'd read as effortlessly as she'd read his reaction to the cherry juice on his skin. Had she always been that good at reading him? Were Sophie's lessons finally starting to take hold, or was Parker just getting better at recognizing emotion in others now that she had accepted it in herself?

Or did it have more to do with him than her? Was he starting to let down his guard more than he'd realized?

"Ask me another question," Eliot said quietly.

Parker beamed at him. "Another wellness question?"

"No. Anything."

"What else goes into the chutney?"

Eliot smiled, thinking back to the dish he'd tasted on his last trip to India. "I don't have a recipe, but I think I tasted onion, curry, lemon juice..."

"You always taste lemon juice."

"Yeah, well," he shrugged. "It's a very distinctive taste."

[therealvinelle]

I know this is like taking a bat to the beehive but... I really wanna hear your opinions on the whole... Imprinting thing

(Note before we go any further: this meta is written purely about the shapeshifting aspect of the Quileute characters, I don’t at all get into the racism in Twilight or any kind of social commentary. This is a purely watsonian meta. Others in this fandom have already addressed the racial dynamics at play, far more eloquently and knowledgeably than me. If I say something in here that’s in any way offensive, that’s not my intention and I’m open to criticism.)

Ooh imprinting.

I touch upon it here, basically I hate it.

The imprinting is part of this theme where the shapeshifters lose their free will and autonomy, and I find it tragic, cruel, and unnecessary.

First of, the fact that they have to phase at all.

They’re made warriors to protect their tribe. There’s no choice involved, only genetics and magic irrevocably changing their lives, and at a ridiculously young age, too. Sam is the oldest of them, and he is 19.

Violence is an inherent part of what they become. Their purpose is to protect the tribe, by fighting vampires. Not only is this insanely dangerous (we see Jake get so injured by a single vampire that he’s bedridden for weeks), but if they succeed, they will have killed. In the singularly brutal manner of tearing apart and burning someone who looks a lot like a human, who talks and might beg for their life, at that. And I remind you, most of these shapeshifters are literal children. They might not see vampires as people, but all the same, killing one can’t be good for their mental wellbeing. (Thought: Perhaps an argument can be made for Laurent’s death having a part in the turn Jake’s personality took? Some, though not many, of the symptoms for PTSD do fit. I don’t know enough about PTSD to pursue this train of thought, but it occurred to me just now, in particular he becomes quite aggressive and prone to outbursts after that incident, so into a parenthesis it goes)

Not to mention how inhumane that responsibility is. Vampires in the Twilight-verse are terrifying, and the shapeshifters might have the power to fight them. But (and this is where I plug one of my all-time favorite animes, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, as it asks the question “Is it okay to sacrifice yourself for others?” because that’s... well there’s a parallel to be made to the shapeshifters. It’s on Netflix!) does that mean they should? Is it really their responsibility? Again- they’re kids!

Then there’s the time Sam lost control, and accidentally mauled the girl he loved. And it’s so cruel to both him and Emily. Sam never chose to have to control himself in the first place, he never chose shapeshifting. He didn’t choose to imprint on Emily either, and he didn’t choose to lose control that day. At no point in the series of events that led to Emily being mauled did Sam have any real choice, and yet he will shoulder the guilt for what happened for the rest of his life.

These kids get superpowers, and several of them seem to enjoy being shapeshifters, but the fact remains that they now carry this huge responsibility to protect their families and homes, doing so is incredibly dangerous, they lose out on their regular lives, and they can’t opt out of it.

This all sucks, but then we get to the fact that they are deprived of their free will, as their alpha can issue an order they physically can’t break. The alpha becomes alpha because of bloodlines, not because of a democratic election. Jake got a mockery of a choice in that he could choose to become alpha himself, or let Sam continue, which was really just choosing between a rock and a hard place. There is no limitation to what this order can be, from “don’t say X to person Y” to “let’s kill someone you love”. Jake has to struggle to break that last one, and he’s only successful because of the bloodline thing letting him become his own alpha.

Oh, and there’s the massive invasion of privacy when they have a hive mind. Cool concept, less cool to have it be reality. Leah is the poster child for how a hive mind can backfire, and they can’t opt out of this.

I’m not good at gifs, but the shapeshifters just make me think of that gif of someone flicking a lightswitch on and off, “WELCOME TO HELL!”. Of course, Twilight in general is a pit of despair for everybody, so I suppose that gif really is... well it sums up all of canon.

So, we have these kids aged 19 or younger, as of Breaking Dawn they skew as young as thirteen, their lives are turned upside down by something they can’t opt out of, they must shoulder this huge responsibility to protect their homes and families from the terrifying threat of vampires, and on top of all of that, they must obey orders that are so irresistible, they can compel them to harm someone they care for.

With all of that in mind, you’d think that the shapeshifters had enough on their plate. That through all of this they would at least retain their selves, and be able to look forward to a future where they could stop phasing, and go on to live normal, human, lives.

Yeah, NOT IF THEY IMPRINT.

I’ll just quote Jake’s description:

Everything inside me came undone as I stared at the tiny porcelain face of the halfvampire, half-human baby. All the lines that held me to my life were sliced apart in swift cuts, like clipping the strings to a bunch of balloons. Everything that made me who I was—my love for the dead girl upstairs, my love for my father, my loyalty to my new pack, the love for my other brothers, my hatred for my enemies, my home, my name, my self—disconnected from me in that second—snip, snip, snip—and floated up into space. 

I was not left drifting. A new string held me where I was. 

Not one string, but a million. Not strings, but steel cables. A million steel cables all tying me to one thing—to the very center of the universe. 

I could see that now—how the universe swirled around this one point. I’d never seen the symmetry of the universe before, but now it was plain. 

The gravity of the earth no longer tied me to the place where I stood. (Breaking Dawn, page 237)

Everything that made me who I was disconnected from me.

Jake’s love for his father, his home, his very own self, it’s all gone now. And while I have thoughts on the authenticity of this imprint, whether it was organic, the description above is apparently how imprinting feels. It’s along the lines of what Sam, Jared, and Paul all describe.

I don’t think I can put into words just how devastating I find imprinting, I think the above quotation speaks for itself. And as with all other shapeshifter things, there is no choice involved.

We see its devastating effects in the Emily, Sam, and Leah debacle. Sam and Leah were serious together, so much so that they were engaged. Sam had fallen for and chosen to be with Leah. Perhaps they would have broken up eventually, but Leah was still the choice he made. Then he imprints on Emily, and all that is for naught. He had to break up with Leah, who if she hadn’t phased never would have learned why, Emily and Leah’s relationship is ruined, and Emily must forever live with the knowledge that if Sam had his free will intact he would be with another woman.

Then there’s Jared and Kim. Kim crushed on Jared, but Jared never noticed her. The fact that they were in the same class is damning: if a boy is attracted to a girl, he's gonna notice her. Jared never did.

Quil imprints on Claire, who is a toddler. That’s just a recipe for misery and disaster all around.

And I’ve only touched the shapeshifter side of things. They lose their autonomy and freedom, but the imprintées draw the short straw too. They’re now responsible for this other person’s happiness. Sure, having someone who’ll be whatever you need them to be sounds nice (well, it sounds horrifying, but I’m playing ball) on paper, but you can’t opt out of them being like that. The imprintée can’t say “Sorry, not interested,” and she certainly can’t shut the imprinter out of her life, not without irrevocably ruining the imprinter’s life. The imprinter needs her. She’s the center of his earth now, but she didn’t choose to be.

Imprinting is a liferuiner for everyone involved.

Then we have the question of what imprinting is even for. I’m afraid I agree with Billy, that it’s for procreation. We see Sam, who was dating a woman about to phase (even if Leah isn’t infertile, she’s a warrior now. She can’t run in the woods and fight vampires, and gestate and nurse a child at the same time) conveniently imprint on her cousin, who as cousin to Leah is from a shifter bloodline. Claire, as Emily’s cousin, has those same genetics. Paul imprints on a woman from the Black family line. Jake is the outlier, but either Renesmée’s gift helped that imprinting along, or he imprinted because of the offspring they could potentially have (I firmly believe it’s the former because the latter... NOPE. Also, I can’t imagine whatever magic drives imprinting would want vampiric progeny for the future generations. Regardless of Renesmée’s person, her biology is wired to desire human blood. That’s exactly what Jake is supposed to protect people from. Bad match.).

I just.... ughhh. God, I hate imprinting so much, and on every level.

To me, everything about the shapeshifters is about free will, autonomy, and the loss thereof. And it would have been beautiful if their story was about reclaiming that, but it isn’t. None of this, with the exception of the alpha orders, is even acknowledged.

So, in summation, yes I hate imprinting, but it’s only the horror cherry on top of a very sad and problematic cake.

[whimsicallyreading]

Part Four~

(Part Three)

Aelin loved Elide. She did. The tiny brunette was like a little sister to her.

But if she said Lorcan Salvaterre’s name one more time she was going to throttle her.

Aelin smiled through her annoyance, as Elide filled her in on her new boyfriend. They organized shelves, set up displays, cleaned couches, as she gushed on and on.

If it was anyone besides that walking, talking, ass, she would be thrilled for Elide. She didn’t go on dates often. After the car wreck when she’d lost her left leg, Elide became shy and timid with people she was unfamiliar with.

Aelin wanted to fill her in on what happened the night before. Tell her that exactly how her new boyfriend treated women when she wasn’t around, and the crowd he hung out with. She just- Aelin frowns and rubs the space between her eyebrows. She didn’t want to damper Elide’s happiness.

“He took me to this little restaurant on the Avery River last weekend. It was adorable,” Elide babbled as she rearranged the new releases. “He didn’t even blink when I told him I don’t drink and ordered a Shirley Temple.”

Aelin laughs. “Your ordered a Shirley Temple on a date?”

Elide blushes, “they look fancier than a soda.”

That was a lie. Elide just loved everything cherry flavored.

“Enough about me,” Aelin startled as the tiny girl turned on her. “Tell me how your night went!” Elide beamed. “You went to the rodeo with Aedion, right?”

She gasps as the realization strikes her. “Did you see Lorcan ride? I haven’t even seen him compete, yet! I’m so jealous.”

“Yeah, I saw him.” Aelin answers vaguely, hoping Elide would take the vague answer and carry on.

“He told me he came in second last night.” Elide frowns. “He was really unhappy about it, and I told him that second was great. I don’t think he believed me. Lorcan is such a perfectionist.”

Yeah. So perfect he does drugs with his crappy, friends in a dimly lit bar. Aelin shoves a book onto the shelf a little too aggressively.

“I wish he wasn’t so hard on himself. It’s such a competitive sport, though. His buddies ride as well, and I think that makes it worse. He wants to impress them.”

Aelin looks back, realizing she’d stacked over half the shelf by herself, and sees Elide sitting on the floor behind her. She had a far off look on her face, and her chin was rested on one knee while her prosthetic leg was stretched in front of her.

Taking a deep breath, she tries to swallow back the annoyance creeping up on her. “Elide.”

“It’s just, a lot of peer pressure you know?” Elide continues talking as if she hasn’t heard her. “Despite all of that and the drama, he still makes time for me. It’s honestly really sweet and-“

“Elide,” Aelin tries to catch her attention gently.

“I still haven’t met his friends yet. I’m not sure if it’s just too soon for that, but his best friend Rowan is coming over tomorrow and-“

“Elide,” Aelin bites our sharply, cutting the girl off mid sentence. “I’m glad to hear you are happy, and that your boyfriend gives a shit but can you please help me do the shelving like I pay you to do?”

Guilt. Instantaneous guilt as the younger girl wilts like a flower under a gale-force wind. “Sorry, Lin.” Elide whispers and scurries away, her cheeks reddening.

Shit. Aelin taps her head against the shelf in front of her. She felt like a piece of shit.

Aelin has been dealing with her issues for years, going to therapist after therapist, but she was still prone to bouts of anger and depression. She had it mostly under control, but sometimes it slipped from her. Being tired and skipping lunch hadn’t helped.

As Yrene always told her- “The first step in better mental health is taking care of your body” Something Aelin had never been good about.

Elide hadn’t deserved her ire, she would have to figure out a way to make it up to her. Aelin sighs in resignation, already knowing what she’d have to do.

Aelin finishes the shelves first, figuring Elide would need a minute to compose herself. Her phone dings with the reply to her text message.

Lysandra- Tonight at 6:00

“Elide?” she searches around the shop for her and finds her sitting behind the computer at the front desk.

“Yeah?” Elide replies, her voice is a little gravely and she refuses to meet Aelin’s eyes.

Aelin slinks behind the desk and wraps an arm around Elide’s shoulders. “I’m sorry I wasn’t kind.” She wouldn’t lie, she felt a bit like a toddler having to apologize for her short temper. A little embarrassment was better than an unhappy friend.

“It’s fine, Lin. I know I’m a little much to handle,” Elide still doesn’t look at her.

“No, it’s not okay, but I’m going to make it up to you,” Aelin smiles even if inside she’s cringing.

“Yeah?” Elide finally looks her in the eye, curiosity sparkling there.

“I texted Lys about the party she’s having tonight,” Aelin starts and Elide’s grow wide. “Would you want to go with me?”

“To a party? You hate parties,” she questions but Elide is already thrumming with excitement.

Aelin grabs Elide’s hand and squeezes. She doesn’t hate parties. Contrary, Aelin loves night out a little too much. That was her downfall. Now she was wary of them, but it didn’t mean she hated them.

“Really? You will go?” Elide smiles and stands up. “I’m so excited. Wow. Okay. I’ll go do with you.”

“Great, we can walk over together at five-thirty?” They lived the in the same apartment complex, it was easy for them to meet up and go places after work.

Elide is grinning ear to ear now as she hustles to finish up her chores for the day. “Sounds great. I’m so excited!”

Aelin is feeling a little upbeat herself. Even if parties weren’t really her scene anymore, attending would be fun. Elide being there would keep her from getting into any trouble, so what’s the harm?

She should know that’s the question that always goes before the fall.

~~~

Aeljn was feeling good.

She pulled on her slinky, green-velvet dress, and braided her hair into a crown like Aunt Marion used to do for her. Dressing up felt like armor to Aelin and she was a warrior who would turn heads tonight.

Elide has also done a great job dressing up. Billowing black pants and a silver singlet. She didn’t enjoy dressing up as much as Aelin, being the center of attention made her anxious, but she didn’t give herself enough credit. Elide was beautiful and Aelin would make sure her friend new that this evening.

Lysandra lived in a loft in downtown Rifthold. She was old money and Aelin was a frequent of her outrageous parties in highschool. Some of her most iconic teenage memories happened in Lysandra’s family home.

Not her proudest, but memorable for sure.

It was already in full swing when they arrived. Music played over Bluetooth speakers, various concoctions were passed around in red cups and people mingles and moved against one another in every open space.

Elide looked a little overwhelmed, but Aelin smiled at her reassuringly.

“Lin!” Lysandra appears from the crowd like a leopard from a jungle. She filings her arms around Aelin’s neck and kisses her cheek. “I’m so glad you are here!”

“It’s been too long since I’ve been to one of your get together,” Aelin wrapped her arms tightly around Lysandra.

“This is my friend Elide,” she gestures to the girl standing stiffly behind her. “Elide this is one of my oldest friends Lysandra. Possibly my soon to be sister-in-law.”

Aelin throws and wink at Lys who immediately retaliates with a pinch to her arm. “I love you and Aedion but I’m too young for that,” she scolds.

“Sure you are,” Aelin teases sliding back to Elide’s side and wrapping a comforting arm around her waist. “Those two are stupid in love don’t let her fool you,” she wiggles her fingers and Elide laughs.

“Stay right here, I’ll go get us some drinks.” Lysandra smiles and disappears into the crowd.

Almost as soon as she’s gone, there’s a tap on her shoulder. Turning around, absolute dread fills her gut. “I swear you all are stalking me,” Aelin moans.

Rowan Whitethorn is standing behind them, drink in hand and a scowl on his face. “What do you mean? This is the first time I’ve seen you since you ran out on me.” There’s an edge in his voice and Aelin knows he’s there for trouble. “I just thought I’d say hello and ask what the hell is wrong with you?”

“What the hell is wrong with me?” Aelin is indignant. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Um,” Elide stammers. “Should I give you two space?”

“I really liked you, and you stormed out on me.” Rowan growls lowly. “I don’t know what I did wrong? You humiliated me in front of my friends.”

Aelin throws her head back and laughs. A sense of satisfaction brews in her chest when she sees the forest fire beginning in his eyes. “I embarrassed you? Your friends treated me like shit.” She hisses between her teeth.

Rowan’s frown deepens into a near snarl, “I’m not responsible for what those idiots say.”

“You-“ she jabs a finger into his chest. “Stood bye and let them say it, that makes you implicit. If you respected me in the slightest my comfort and dignity would have mattered to you.”

Aelin makes to jab him again but his hand catches her wrist and she can’t control the flinch.

His eyes widen, but a body appears in between them. Elide Lochan stands like a solider in front of the man who is twice her size. “You don’t touch her.”

Rowan backed off a step, his voice raising. “She was prodding me-“ he stops himself and takes a breath, a crease forming in his forehead. “I’m sorry. I’ll back off.”

“What’s going on over here?” Lysandra’s voice cuts through the noise of the party. She doesn’t look happy.

“He put his hands on her,” Elide hisses and Rowan’s eyes go from anger to shock.

He holds up his hands and looks to Lysandra. “I didn’t. I swear.”

Lysandra stands next to Elide forming a wall between him and Aelin. As one of the few people who knew about Aelin’s drama of the last couple of years, the look of this situation boiled her blood.

“Lys, he didn’t-“ Aelin tries to douse the scene they were about to create.

Lysandra gives her a look that makes Aelin quiet. “I love you Lin, but I don’t trust your excuses.”

That hurt. Her heart feels like it was wrung in her chest. Aelin crosses her arms in front of her, suddenly feeling withdrawn from the situation.

Elide hasn’t broken her stare from Rowan. “You should probably leave.”

“What?” He flounders looking equal parts shocked and horrified. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare her. We know each other.”

“I agree,” Lysandra tilts her chin to the door. “You aren’t welcome here any longer.”

Rowan looks at her for help, and she feels bad for him. Aelin knows she touched him first, but Lysandra’s comment was like a cold knife in her side and she was still bleeding. She didn’t know what to do or say.

“Rowan? What’s going on?” Lorcan appears behind Rowan, placing a hand on his shoulder. Aelin knows the moment he sees Elide standing in front of her, because his face deflated.

“You know him?” Elide’s voice is cold.

Lorcan, a beast of a male, cowers in front of little Elide. His mouth gapes like a fish. He can’t deny her question, but affirming it seemed worse. “Ellie,” her name comes out strangled.

“These are your friends, Lorcan? The people you seem to be keeping me from?” Elide darkens further as she looks at Rowan. “I guess I understand why.”

“Both of you can leave, then.” Lysandra smiles maliciously.

“I’m sorry, Aelin.” Rowan rubs both of his hands across his face then through his hair. “Damn it, I didn’t mean for this to go like it did. I wanted to apologize.” He says mostly to himself.

“Elide. He’s my friend. I don’t know what’s going on-“ Lorcan scrambles to cover his ass, but Elide isn’t having it.

“This is Lysandra’s house.” Elide says so calmly it would have been kinder if she yelled. “She asked you to leave.”

Lorcan looks at her, absolutely fuming and Aelin knows he’s beyond pissed. “I don’t know what this lying bitch-“

A slap broke like thunder between them.

Lorcan holds his cheek as Aelin gapes at Elide in shock. There are no tears to be seen in the younger girls expression. Her shoulders are trembling, not with fear but anger.

“Let’s go.” Rowan chokes out. He grabs Lorcan’s shoulder and pulls him away from the trio of women.

Lysandra watches them like a predator until they clear her front door. Her tense shoulders only relax when they leave. She releases a breath and looks at Elide.

“You are hella cool, Ellie. You deserve something better than that piss-poor beer I brought.” She nods to the solo cups that had been abandoned on the table. “I’ve got better shit in my room. Let’s go.”

Elide looks follows Lysandra with an elated look on her face. Aelin smiles dimly, she could see them becoming fast friends. Elide would be a good addition to the group.

They pushed through the crowd, and up the stairs. Aelin wasn’t in the partying mood anymore, which was disappointing. She’d been looking forward to it, and so had Elide.

Shaking her head, Aelin decides she will take a small reprieve in Lysandra’s room then suggest they go back downstairs. Elide was only comfortable coming to a party because she was going to be with her. Now not only was her night ruined, but she was on the outs with Lorcan because of her.

The very least she could do was make sure the night ended on a good note for Elide. Lysandra would be totally willing to help Aelin get her to let loose.

When they reach the bedroom Lysandra stops the outside the door. “You can go in, Ellie. I need to talk to Aelin for just a second.”

Elide nods happily and shuffles inside.

“Lys,” Aelin starts before Lysandra can. “I’m fine. I promise.”

“You promised me before,” her voice is hard but not unloving. “Who was that Aelin?”

She doesn’t miss the use of her full name. “Just some guy I went out for drinks with one time. I honestly don’t even know him.” Aelin assures.

“Has he been bothering you? If he is I will castrate him and feed his own-“ Aelin covers her ears.

“No, no. We just bumped into each other, it was a misunderstanding,” Aelin swears. “Honestly, you didn’t need to kick him out.”

“Yes,” Lysandra hisses. “I did. You aren’t going through that again, Aelin. Not over my dead body.”

“I appreciate that you love me so much,” Aelin whispers, not wanting Elide to pick up on their conversation. “But I can take care of myself. I’m not broken, Lys. Just hurt.”

Lysandra groans sadly, her dark lashes fan against her cheeks as if she’s fighting tears back. Suddenly Lys is hugging her again, and Aelin sinks into her embrace like always.

“I know you aren’t broken. I’m sorry that I’m so fussy.” Aelin let’s her tuck itself into Lys shoulder, aware that she was a safe person to be open with.

After a moment they pull apart. “Please. Just be careful,” Lysandra pleads.

“Of course,” Aelin promises. “Thank you for always having my back.”

“Never again,” Lysandra reiterates, reaching out to grab her hand.

“Never again.” Aeljn squeezes it.

“Lysandra! Your cat is so cute!” Elide coos from behind the door. The tension is broken and the two of them look at the other and laugh.

“Let’s go.” Aelin says, and Lysandra holds the door for the both of them.

Never again would Aelin submit to a cruel man’s will.

Not even for a man like Rowan Whitethorn.

Part Two of the birthday mass update! Thank you guys so much for reading 💚

(Tag list- let me know if you would like to be added or removed? :D)

@charincharge

@westofmoon

@jorjy-jo

@classyclodranchparty

@morganofthewildfire

@ashleymariegriffin

@wordsxstars

@sjmships

@rolltide7

@surielandiareendgame

@jlinez

@rowaelinismyotp

@mariamuses

@swankii-art-teacher

@highladyof-erilea

@untoldstuff

@superspiritfestival

@tillyrubes10

@ghostlyrose2

@live-the-fangirl-life

[clonewarslover55]

I totally forgot to send this in but I saw your post again and it reminded me! I'd love to see Vau around Mird's pups if they had a litter and that made me think about seeing Vau around babies. Like maybe someone is like, oh kad threw up on himself and Vau's not busy so he's like oh I got it. Just calmly washes him off and changes his clothes no big deal and everyone else is like omg wtf?? How do you know how to do that??

Walon Vau taking care of Kad

Omg yes! I loved this so much I decided to do a drabble on it.

Notes: If you haven’t read Memories then the ending of this won’t make much sense….

Warnings: baby vomit, Walon Vau doesn’t sleep because *Trauma*, I have never had a child nor dealt with one of this age so I may be wrong about handling one...….but Kad is also highly intelligent for a toddler so some things may seem incorrect but they’re not. Idk, just enjoy this lol

Walon Vau was sitting in the common room, just reading something on his holopad. Mird was asleep on the couch beside him, snoring gently. It was peaceful and very silent for Kyrimourt…..Well it was the middle of the night after all. Reading was his favorite pastime when he couldn’t sleep. Either that or exercising.

He glanced up when he heard sniffling, seeing Kad tottle into the room. He raised his eyebrows.

The poor toddler was covered in vomit and had obviously just woken up. Walon stood up and walked to him slowly, “Poor Ad’ika. Not feeling well?” He spoke softly, the little boy nodding. “Mhmmm….” Kad whined.

Kad sniffed loudly, hugging his stuffed nerf close to his chest. Walon frowned, kneeling in front of the little boy. He held out his arms, “Come ‘ere. Let's get you cleaned up. It’ll make you feel better.”

He rubbed his eyes, hesitating. He glanced at a still sleeping Mird then back to Walon. The very intelligent kid then nodded again before walking into his arms. A smile twitched onto Vau’s lips as he gently picked up Kad.

He felt his forehead with the back of his hand, “Well, you’re not running a fever. That’s good.” He smiled when Kad nodded like he understood every word. The kid was incredibly smart ....so maybe he did. Vau didn’t know. He never spent a lot of time with Kad.

He carried Kad into the freshers to give him a bath. The toddler was staring at him with big brown eyes the whole time. The vibes he had slightly unnerved Walon…….But he was also just a baby so he wasn’t that bad.

Walon undressed Kad as he filled the tub with water. Kad tried to undress himself, apparently he thought he was grown enough. Vau couldn’t help but chuckle at the little scowl he wore when Vau undressed him instead of letting him do it.

First Walon sat the stuffed Nerf beside the sink, in Kad’s line of sight of course. Then he tossed the clothes in the hamper that sat in the corner; then kneeled by the tub, a squirming toddler in his arms. He shook his head slightly and rolled up his sleeves. Kyrimorut was supposed to be temporary….and here he was bathing a child that wasn’t even his own….

Usually he only bathed Mird, so it was different sitting a toddler into the warm water instead of a Strill. Kad splashed around the warm water, clearly already feeling a bit better.

Walon found the toys that Darman and Kal had bought for Kad to play with in the bath. In the same cupboard there were also some clean pajamas and extra soft towels. Poor Kad had bad acid reflux at times, so this clearly happened enough.

He washed all of the mess from Kad’s face and hands. Kad splashed water everywhere, getting it all over Vau’s clothes. He sighed as he washed the toddler, ignoring the water that was now everywhere.

“You’re very messy Ad’ika.” Walon mumbled as he poured a cup of water over the child's head, Kad giggling in glee. He chuckled at that, the child splashing some more.

Once he was finally all clean Vau drained the tub and removed Kad from it, wrapping him up in a towel. “Do you feel better?” Walon questioned while toweling him dry. The little one nodded quickly, a wide smile on his face.

Walon helped change him into fresh clothes and a clean diaper, Kad yawning once he was done. “Sleepy?” Walon asked in a soft voice, the child nodding as he rubbed his eyes with a tiny fist.

He sat Kad on the floor as he wiped down the water that he got everywhere. Once it was all dry he tossed the towels in the hamper. Walon then picked Kad back up, the toddler nuzzling his face into his neck.

He handed Kad his stuffed Nurf before carrying him to where he slept. Vau checked the bed first, apparently he had only gotten the vomit on himself. That made it easier for Walon. He wouldn’t have to look for sheets.

Walon sat Kad in his crib, tucking him in. Kad yawned once again, hugging Walon’s hand. “You’re welcome.” He whispered, pulling away. Kad fell asleep as quickly as most young children do. Once he was asleep Vau turned around.

He was greeted with a half asleep Darman. “What-” Walon cut him off before he was accused of anything. “He threw up on himself and crawled out. I was already awake in the common room when he wandered in looking for you.” Darman crossed his arms, an eyebrow raised.

Walon sighed, “I bathed him and put him back to bed. You’re welcome. You need to get him some medicine for that acid reflux, he seems to be especially bad at night. Poor kid needs his rest.” Darman was speechless.

“I….How….How do you know this?” Walon shrugged and averted his eyes from the Commandos. Darman blinked at that. Vau walked to him and moved around the clone, leaving the room.

“Thank you…” Dar said. Vau nodded, walking back to the common room. Darman checked on Kad, his son sleeping peacefully and not smelling of vomit. “Wow…” Dar chuckled, shaking his head. He couldn’t believe it.

Vau clicked his tongue and patted his thigh once he got back into the common room. Mird looked up and hopped off the couch with a loud high pitched yawn. “Let’s get to bed.” Walon muttered, handing his holopad to Mird so they could carry it.

He walked into his own quarters, Mird right on his heels. He quickly changed out of his damp clothes, his mind flashing with memories of his past. Mird sat the holopad on a nightstand and crawled onto the bed.

Walon sat on the foot of the bed beside Mird, gently scratching its head. “I haven’t done that in years, Mird.” He muttered, his golden eyes staring at the floor, his mind somewhere else.

“It's a lot different without Rose helping me or watching…. And without Stella crying because she can’t bring her favorite stuffy into the bath with her.” He smiled at the memory of his young daughter, the beautiful little girl that was so much like her mother. And perhaps a little bit like her father…..

“I know you miss those girls too.” He rested his head on Mird’s side, the corners of his eyes burning. Mird whined, licking its master's hand.

Sadly the daughter of Walon Vau and Verda Tal Rose was nothing more than a memory now. Luckily, she will never be forgotten.

Tags: @leias-left-hair-bun @iamassbuttkingofhell @catsnkooks @azem-thefourteenth @colorfulloverbatturkey @blueberrybubblesandboba @ahsokatano-thetogruta @jedi-mando @peacefulwizardfox @hounding-around @julyzaa @feathersforclones @chr0nicbackpain @Strangebroadwaykinks @fyrepen33 @mistflyer1102 @kamino-mermaid @cherry-cokes-posts @cherry-cokes-world @darmanfi @silverinkandstardust @chewychewyque @majorshiraharu @ravenpuff01 @808tsuika @meabravo

If you’d like to be added to my taglist the link is on my masterlist! 

[mikauzoran]

Lukadrien: Zebras Can’t Change Their Stripes: Chapter Seven

Read it on AO3: Zebras Can’t Change Their Stripes: Chapter Seven

“Aren’t you done yet?” Luka half laughed, half groaned, banging his head against the bathroom door.

“Perfection takes time,” Adrien informed primly from within. “It’s my first show. I want to make a good impression.”

Luka clicked his tongue. “Perfect Fifth, they’re going to love you, but you take longer in the bathroom than my ex, and I still need to do my makeup.”

There was a beat before Adrien tentatively asked, “…Are we at a point where we can make jokes about your ex?”

Luka contemplated this for a moment and winced, admitting, “No. No, I actually don’t think we are.”

“…Okay. That’s okay,” Adrien assured, opening the bathroom door.

Luka, still resting his head against the door in question, nearly fell over into Adrien.

Afterwards, he was equal parts glad and disappointed that he hadn’t crashed into his roommate because, if he had, Luka would not have been able to control himself.

As things stood, Luka got an eyeful of Adrien in ripped, black skinny jeans and punk couture topped off with messy, wild hair and a generous helping of eyeliner.

Luka’s temperature shot through the roof as all the blood in his body rushed south.

A frown slowly knitted Adrien’s eyebrows together as he watched his friend closely for a reaction and didn’t seem to get a positive one.

“…How…do I look?” he pressed tentatively, beginning to shift his weight uneasily back and forth, fidgeting under Luka’s intense gaze.

Luka was preoccupied with fantasies of pushing Adrien up against a wall and sticking his tongue down Adrien’s throat.

…Better yet, Adrien pushing Luka up against a wall and sticking his tongue down Luka’s throat.

“Is it that bad?” Adrien demanded, beginning to panic as he took the shocked silence the wrong way. “Did I put on too much eyeliner? I’m sorry. I should have asked for your help, but I thought I knew what I was doing because I’ve seen the way you dress, so I thought—”

“—Sorry. What?” Luka cut him off, managing to shake himself loose from his daydreams. “I’m sorry. I spaced for a minute there. What are we talking about?”

Adrien blinked twice slowly. “…Um… Do I look bad? You were staring.”

“Oh! No! Nonono,” Luka assured, waving his hands in an attempt to clear up the misunderstanding. “Sorry. NO. You look great. I was just…”

Some of the blood deigned to come back up into his face to make him look like a cherry tomato.

He cleared his throat. “Sorry. I’m a little out of it. You look perfect. I love you—your eyeliner. And the hair,” Luka covered, mentally smacking himself.

“Oh,” Adrien responded uncertainly. “Thank you? I was kind of going for a Chat Noir vibe.”

“You look amazing.” Luka finally got it together and replied with an earnest smile. “You really nailed it. Jacob and Josie are going to coo and fuss over you.”

“Are you going to coo and fuss over me?” Adrien hummed, resting his forearm on the wall and leaning so that he very much resembled Chat Noir: lithe and predatory and very dangerous to Luka’s sanity in such tight clothing.

“I don’t think your ego really needs it,” Luka countered, “but I’ll consider it if you don’t make us late and we have a few minutes before we need to leave for the show.”

Adrien pulled out his phone and winced at the time. “Looks like my ego will have to wait to be stroked because we’re cutting it close as is.”

“Pity,” Luka sighed, not sure if he’d dodged a bullet or been deprived of an opportunity.

 True to Luka’s word, Josie and Jacob did, in fact, coo and fuss over Adrien when he and Luka arrived at the bar where they’d be playing.

“Look at him!” Jacob exclaimed, showing Adrien to Marc like a prize being revealed on a gameshow. “He’s so precious! He looks like a real baby punk!”

Josie shot Luka a lascivious grin and quietly teased, “So, how are you holding up with him wearing those pants?”

Luka took her by surprise by answering honestly: “I’m going out of my freaking mind. Thank you for asking.”

The smirk promptly dropped off of Josie’s face to be replaced by a look of concern. “Luc, are you okay?”

Luka shook his head. “Adrien is the guy Marinette never got over, and Adrien had feelings for her too in the past, so when they meet up again, I can only guess at what will happen.”

Josie winced. “That…really sucks.”

“Yeah, so there’s no point in letting my feelings for him come back only so he can break my heart too,” Luka sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Kind of hard with him looking like that.”

“Everything okay?” Marc called out, drawing Jacob and Adrien’s attention to Luka.

Adrien’s eyes narrowed, and he came over to touch Luka’s cheeks and forehead, testing for fever. “Are you still feeling out of it, Orpheus? You do feel a little warm.”

Adrien’s hands on Luka’s skin only served to make Luka’s temperature jump an additional degree or two.

“I’ll be all right. Thanks,” Luka lied, slipping out of Adrien’s reach. “Probably just a twenty-four-hour bug. I’m going to go start the equipment check.”

Jacob opened his mouth to comment, but Josie caught him by the sleeve and whispered in his ear.

Marc quirked an eyebrow, and Josie repeated what Luka had told her for him as well.

Collectively, the group grimaced.

“What’s going on, guys?” Adrien inquired, looking back and forth worriedly between Luka’s retreating back and the rest of their bandmates.

“He’s just feeling a little depressed and hopeless right now,” Marc explained with a sad but kind smile. “We’ll have to figure out some way to make him feel better and lighten up a bit.”

“We should do something fun together,” Jacob agreed, going to sling an arm around Adrien’s shoulders. “No need to worry about it now, though. Right now, we just need to get through the show.”

Adrien nodded as Jacob led him over to the equipment to prepare for the performance.

 “That was amazing!” Josie squealed, throwing her arms around Adrien as soon as they made it off stage.

“I can’t believe we pulled that off without a hitch,” Jacob laughed giddily, carding a hand through his spikey hair.

Marc rolled his eyes, giving everyone pats on the back. “I mean, we have been practicing every day this week for hours.”

“Still, Adrien was incredible,” Luka chimed in, giving Adrien’s arm a squeeze. “That was flawless.”

“Not completely flawless,” Adrien protested sheepishly. “But thank you. Seriously. Everyone…”

He looked around at his bandmates with an enormous, grateful grin. “Thank you so much for your patience with me this week. Thank you for letting me be a part of your group. This was really a team effort, and I never could have done it without you.”

“Aww. He’s so modest,” Jacob chuckled, pulling Adrien into a side hug and ruffling his hair.

“You could have managed without Jacob,” Josie snickered, giving the bassist a teasing elbow.

“Josephine, play nice,” Marc sighed in exasperation, shaking his head with a fond smile.

“We should celebrate!” Josie announced, pointedly ignoring Marc’s reprimand. “Who wants to get some drinks and dance?”

“Me!” Jacob’s hand shot up, and he proceeded to bounce up and down in place. “Me-me! Me!”

Luka winced. “I…can’t. I drove over here, and I need to be able to get Adrien home safe.”

“I could get you guys home,” Marc volunteered. “I need to bow out so I can go tuck my little girl in, but I can come back later and drive you home.”

“Hold up,” Adrien demanded. “You have a daughter?”

“I’m surprised he hasn’t shown you pictures yet,” Josie scoffed.

“Her name is Antoinette,” Marc gushed, beaming with pride. “She’s two years old, and she’s the best thing I’ve done in my entire life.” He whipped out his phone and navigated to his photos.

“Aww,” Adrien cooed as he looked at the picture of a pale toddler with ink black hair and even darker eyes in a green party dress with her arms wrapped around a fluffy white Maltese. “Marc, she’s adorable!”

“Thank you,” Marc preened. “I wish I could take the credit, but that’s all my wife Wakana.”

“Her smile is yours, though,” Adrien observed.

“You are the sweetest thing,” Marc laughed, patting Adrien on the shoulder before turning to Luka. “I should be back in about an hour, but you can stay later, if you feel like it. You feeling emotionally well enough to drink responsibly?”

Luka’s teeth sank into his bottom lip. “Maybe?” he fibbed.

Honestly, he was on the edge and could easily go either way. It could turn out to be a fun night with friends or the start of another drunken grief spiral.

Marc pursed his lips.

“Don’t fret so much,” Jacob chided, clicking his tongue as he slung his arm around Luka’s shoulders. “You’re no fun, Maman. I’ll look after Luc.”

“This does not inspire confidence,” Marc sighed.

“I’ll keep an eye on Luka,” Adrien volunteered. “I don’t drink, so I can play babysitter and make sure everyone’s okay until you get back, Marc.”

“Thank you,” Marc replied, only slightly exaggerating his relief. “I feel better leaving an adult in charge.”

“You don’t drink?” Josie pressed, ignoring Marc’s slight as she looped her arm through Adrien’s.

Adrien shook his head and smiled in embarrassment. “Yeah…I kind of don’t like not being in control. It’s dangerous, making yourself vulnerable like that. It would be different if we were somewhere safe and it was just people I trusted, but…”

Josie’s eyes narrowed. “Chéri, are you okay? Who hurt you?”

Adrien shrugged, averting his gaze, still not quite ready to admit that he’d been on the streets until just a few days prior.

Luka broke away from Jacob and went to Adrien’s side, resting a hand on his shoulder and looking him in the eye intently. “We don’t have to stay, if you’re uncomfortable. Just say the word, and I’ll take you home. It’s totally fine, Perfect Fifth. I don’t mind, honestly.”

“No, no,” Adrien assured, waving away Luka’s concern with one hand. “It’s good. I’m not uncomfortable, but thank you so much for always being so considerate. I appreciate it. No, I like dancing, so I have no problem hanging out with everyone.”

Luka let go of the breath he’d been holding, and the tension slowly faded from his body. “Okay. Good. Just let me know if you start feeling uncomfortable, though. Any time. I want to make sure you feel safe.”

Adrien smiled brightly, gratitude and affection filling his eyes. “Thank you.”

“Can we meditate for a moment on the fact that he calls him ‘Perfect Fifth’?” Jacob demanded, unable to hold in his laughter. “That is the sappiest thing, and I’m kind of jealous because I never got a cute pet name like that when I was dating him.”

“Ouch,” Adrien snickered, pulling away from Josie to wrap his arms possessively around Luka. “Sucks to be you. Guess Luka just loves me more.”

Marc shoot Luka a pitying look as he wondered if it were really okay to let Luka drink that night after all.

Meanwhile, Jacob cackled. “Ow! I am wounded. Even more so because it’s probably true.”

“So…if you’re Luka’s perfect fifth,” Josie puzzled, “does that make Luka your tonic?”

Adrien hummed softly in thought, not noticing as Luka tried not to spontaneously combust in mortification.

Not for the first time, Luka thanked the heavens that he was taller than Adrien so that Adrien couldn’t see the look on Luka’s face as Adrien embraced him.

“I mean…yeah,” Adrien replied softly, resting his head on Luka’s chest. “Luka’s always been my ‘tonal center’ in a way. Whenever I felt frazzled or lost as a teen, I knew I could go to him to help me find my way again…so I guess he is my tonic.”

“Aww,” Josie cooed. “That’s adorable. I was teasing, but you are just too cute.”

“Yeah,” Jacob sighed with a shrug. “I know when I’ve been beat. You win, Adrien. I could never say something that gooey with a straight face. You and Luka deserve each other.”

Adrien made a move to pull back to reply, but Luka hugged him in tighter, afraid that how he felt for Adrien was written plainly all over his face and that if Adrien saw it, he wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing a flat with Luka anymore.

“Sorry,” Luka whispered, burying his face in Adrien’s hair. “That’s…That’s really sweet. It means a lot to me that you think of me that way.”

“Of course,” Adrien chuckled, not minding the affection in the least. “You’re one of the few people in my life I’ve always been able to count on.”

“Okay, seriously,” Josie huffed. “Who hurt you? Who do I need to go beat up?”

Adrien broke away from Luka and turned to placate Josie. “It’s really not that bad. Please don’t assault anyone on my behalf.”

Luka turned away and quickly attempted to compose himself.

Marc gave him a questioning look, a silent offer of assistance, but Luka shook his head.

Jacob quirked an eyebrow.

“I reserve my right to assault whoever I determine deserves it,” Josie insisted indignantly, reaching out to ruffle Adrien’s hair.

Adrien gave up and submitted to Josie’s attentions with a small sigh and a reluctant smile. “Thank you, but I really am fine.”

“You’ll never convince her of that,” Luka informed, briskly changing the subject. “Let’s go get some drinks, shall we?”

 Luka had regrets.

At that moment, his regrets were named Whiskey and Adrien.

More specifically, Adrien’s dancing.

Adrien dancing like that while wearing skinny jeans that reminded Luka how he had worshipped Chat Noir’s butt back in the day.

Luka didn’t really dance, but Jacob and Adrien had hit the dance floor, and seeing them together made Luka irrationally jealous, so he’d gone over there and started dancing with Adrien…and the alcohol in Luka’s blood was trying to convince him that it would be a good idea to tug Adrien in gently so that their bodies were pressed flush together and then kiss him for all he was worth.

Objectively, Luka knew that this was a very, very bad plan…but the way Adrien was swiveling his hips gave Luka ideas that would be easier to shake if he were sober.

And Luka was not sober.

“Where did you learn to dance?” he asked over the music in an attempt to distract himself from the bad ideas.

Adrien’s face flushed. “Mostly Chloé. She had alternating phases where she was really obsessed with pole dancing, belly dancing, and burlesque.”

“Oh,” Luka replied dumbly.

“Alya taught me a little too, though. Nino tried, but our styles are different,” Adrien elaborated, body flowing like liquid to the beat as he spoke. “I don’t think all of my lessons in ballroom and Latin dance count, but…I’m sure you’ll recognize where I stole this cute butt wiggle from.”

Luka did indeed recognize Marinette’s patented butt wiggle, and it made him feel all kinds of things he didn’t want to feel.

“Is that Marc over by the bar?” Luka asked, craning his neck as if trying to get a better view.

Adrien frowned and stopped dancing to look too. “…I don’t…think I see him?”

“I think that was him,” Luka lied. “You go ahead and keep dancing with Jacob and Josie. I’m going to meet up with Marc and take a seat.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Adrien inquired uncertainly. “Want me to walk you?”

Luka shook his head, needing to get away so that he could stop feeling so much. “Nah. He’s just over there. I can make it across the room by myself. You keep having fun, Angel.”

“O…Okay,” Adrien replied, still uneasy as Luka smiled reassuringly before turning to go.

Luka was quickly swallowed up by the crowd, and Adrien couldn’t quite relax after losing sight of him.

Luka made a beeline for the bar, numbing himself with more alcohol.

Fortunately, Marc really did show up within a few minutes and found Luka before too much harm could be done.

“I take it the evening took a turn for the worse?” Marc sighed, gently taking Luka’s glass away from him.

Luka groaned, resting his forehead on the counter. “I’m in love with him. I never stopped loving him, and now he’s going to start dating Marinette, and I’m going to have to pretend to be okay with this, to be happy for them, and I can’t do it. I can’t do this.”

“I think you’re catastrophizing,” Marc informed softly, reaching out to rub soothing circles between Luka’s shoulder blades. “I know it feels hopeless now, but hang in there, okay? Things will look a little less dark in the morning. You’re going to get through this.”

Luka shook his head.

“Shhh,” Marc cooed, giving Luka’s shoulder a squeeze. “Yes, you will. You’re strong, Luc. You’re tough, and you’re going to make it if I have to drag you out the other side.”

 “What happened?!” Adrien gasped, stunned at the state he found Luka in fifteen minutes later.

Marc winced. “I think the alcohol suddenly hit him all at once.”

“Luka, are you okay?!” Adrien was at his side, fussing and carrying on, in seconds.

“No,” Luka moaned.

“He’ll be okay in the morning,” Marc promised through a doubtful grimace. “Or…at least by tomorrow evening. He just needs to throw up and sleep it off.”

Marc’s reassuring words did nothing to loosen Adrien’s pinched frown.

“Don’t worry,” Marc soothed, reaching out to rest a hand on Adrien’s upper arm. “He’s going to be okay. Trust me.”

Slowly, tentatively, Adrien nodded.

 They packed Josie and Jacob into a cab to Josie’s house to take care of one another for the night and then loaded Luka into the backseat of Luka’s car, most of his weight supported by Adrien.

“You’re beautiful,” Luka purred as he played dazedly with Adrien’s hair. “So pretty.”

“Thank you,” Adrien replied self-consciously, not sure how to respond. “You’re pretty too.”

“You’re going to-to hurt me,” Luka chuckled darkly.

Adrien gave a start. “No, I’m not. I would never do anything to hurt you, Luka.”

“Not on purpose,” Luka hummed, dropping his head to Adrien’s shoulder. “Not on purpose…porpoise.” He laughed at that.

“Not on porpoise,” Adrien agreed, still feeling like he was on shaky ground.

“…I love you,” Luka snickered, giving Adrien’s neck a wet kiss.

Adrien gasped, his nerve endings lighting up as his stomach flipped involuntarily.

It wasn’t like the other times Luka had said those words or given Adrien a platonic kiss on the cheek or temple or forehead. It felt different and wrong and right all at the same time.

Adrien wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.

“I…I love you too, Luka,” Adrien answered in the most conversational tone he could manage.

Luka only laughed, further unsettling Adrien.

When they got back to the apartment building, it took both Marc and Adrien to awkwardly trundle Luka up the stairs, down the hall, and into his bedroom.

That accomplished, Marc turned to Adrien with a delicate smile.

Adrien recognized it as the kind of smile he’d often received when the person smiling was about to attempt to manage Adrien.

His defences automatically went up.

“I think I’ve got it from here,” Marc informed with a tired sigh. “Thanks for your help.”

Adrien blinked, thrown off balance. “Uh…you’re welcome. I was actually about to say the same thing to you. I think I’m okay now, if you want to go home.”

Marc shook his head. “It’s okay, Adrien. I’ll stay with him.”

It sounded like a polite implication that Adrien should leave, and Adrien wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

Luka had repeated over and over again that this was Adrien’s home now as much as Luka’s, but, suddenly, Adrien was feeling like an intruder all over again.

He turned to Luka. “Orpheus, do you want me to stay with you, or do you want Marc?”

“Marc can stay,” Luka grumbled out from under the arm he had tossed over his face. “Go ahead and go to bed, Perfect Fifth.”

Adrien pulled away, averting his gaze and wrapping his arms around himself. “Well…okay, then. I guess I’m no use here, so…um…I’ll just be in the other room if you need help finding things or something.”

“Thank you, Adrien. I’m pretty familiar with the house, though,” Marc replied with a strained smile.

“Right. Of course,” Adrien muttered, cheeks bursting into flames of humiliation. “Sorry. I’ll just…I’ll get out of your way.”

He’d gotten halfway to the door before Marc caught up and caught Adrien by the shoulder.

“You are not in the way, Adrien,” Marc assured gently, quietly so that Luka wouldn’t hear. “I have no doubt you’d do an amazing job of taking care of him. It’s not about you being capable or not. It’s just that he’s going through some stuff, and he wouldn’t want you to see him like this. He cares about what you think of him, and he doesn’t want you to see him as a mess.”

Adrien’s eyes rounded as he saw the sincerity in Marc’s expression.

“He doesn’t care if I see him gripping the edges of the toilet seat and puking his guts out,” Marc explained, “but he’d die if you saw him like that. He wants you to respect him and think he’s cool and all that.”

Adrien gave a soft snort. “I do respect him and think he’s cool.”

“Good,” Marc chuckled tiredly. “I’m glad to hear that…but he probably still wouldn’t want you to see him like this…you know?”

Adrien stuck out his lip in a pout but begrudgingly nodded anyway. “I just want to help, though.”

“You have been helping,” Marc assured, resting his hands on Adrien’s shoulders. “Everything you’ve done for him since you moved in has been tremendous. Trust me. I’ve seen him before and after you coming back into his life, and he has been doing so much better these past few days. You are a miracle worker…but I think it’s best if I take this one tonight…if that’s okay?”

Reluctantly, Adrien agreed. “…Yeah. I don’t like it, but I get it. I’ve…I’ve not reached out for help before when I needed it because I was afraid to let people see how bad things had gotten, so I do get it.”

“Good.” Marc gave Adrien’s shoulders an encouraging squeeze before pulling back. “You can help out again in the morning. He’ll need breakfast and aspirin and plenty of water. I’ll turn him over to you in the morning, but I’ll go ahead and take the night shift, all right?”

“All right,” Adrien affirmed, finally feeling a little better about it all.

So long as Luka still needed him. So long as Adrien wasn’t in the way.

“Perfect Fiiiiiifth,” Luka groaned deliriously.

Adrien was back at his side in an instant. “I’m here. What’s wrong? What do you need?”

“I love you,” Luka choked, and it sounded more like a lament than an affectionate remark.

“Love you too,” Adrien answered anyway, leaning in to press a light peck to Luka’s forehead. “Marc’s going to take care of you now, so you be good, okay? See you in the morning.”

“I love you,” Luka repeated balefully.

Adrien gave Luka an encouraging smile and patted him on the shoulder. “I love you too. Feel better, Orpheus.”

On his way out, Adrien sent Marc a worried look.

Marc did his best to inspire confidence and optimism, but Adrien wasn’t easily convinced.

Needless to say, no one slept well that night.

[snowflake-of-destruction]

Imagine Roxas’s reaction to seeing Axel shirtless when he started getting buff for the first time

Enjoy the distraction of the evening and Roxas and Sora bonding, and be warned of language and reference to adult situations.

"Can I complain to you about Riku for a second?" Sora asked. It was perhaps not the ideal time to start a new conversation as Roxas was in the process of landing the gummi ship in a clear spot of grass in the courtyard outside the entrance to the keyblade academy at the Land of Departure, but that was how Sora was, keeping things in and then letting them explode forth at times that often seemed odd to others, but were simply the breaking point to him.

"No, I require at least ten minutes of complaining about Riku every week,"Roxas deadpanned, guiding the ship down between two others already parked. "You know the time table. Three minutes without air. Three days without food. Seven days without busting Riku's silver dusted balls."

"Gold," Sora chirped, unbuckling his restraints and going for the door.

"I'm going to regret this," Roxas sighed, half to himself as he followed suit,  "But...what?"

"Gold medal," Sora grinned. "Everything in that area is nothing less than first place." 

"Strongly disagree." Roxas screwed up his face in exaggerated disgust.

"You have no way of..." Sora complained as they started up to the castle.

"Please, can we get to the complaining?" Roxas cut him off.

"It's official even. The council of judges, me and Data Sora judging pictures saved on my gummi phone, awarded him the blue ribbon. I tied it..." 

"I will give you all the munny in my munny bag not to finish that sentence." It was pretty clear to Roxas that Sora was torturing him on purpose for crimes of his past lives. Sometimes he still hated his other.

"Then I suppose you don't want to hear about the ribbon cutting ceremony either? Or, well, it was more of a ribbon untying ceremony. I'm not usually good at tongue tricks like the cherry thing so I was kind of proud of myself that I managed to..."

The pattern of hasty interruption of an oblivious or happily malicious Sora continued. "For the love of sea salt ice cream, Sora, I'm begging you to stop before I hurl."

"What were you talking about before?" Sora blanked and grasped at straws of stray thought. "Tortillas?"

"What? Why would you think that?"

"It was taco night when I came up with the ribbon ceremony."

"You were going to tell me how much Riku was annoying you."

 The enlightened glow of remembrance entered Sora's eyes, but the spark of happiness at conquering his brain only lasted a moment before Sora was collapsing against the doors of the castle academy, playing up the drama of whining, "Riku is driving me crazy!"

"That's more like it! Tell me all about it."  Roxas was perhaps a bit overzealous in his support, judging by the look Sora shot him, so he tried a more nonchalant and less gleeful tone, "You'll feel better."

"He keeps looking at me like I'm going to disappear in front of his eyes. He's woken me up in the middle of the night to make sure I'm still breathing. He keeps tripping me up in battle because he's started diving between me and the Heartless, like all of a sudden I can't take care of myself. I know why it's happening, and I know he means well, but I'm not sure how much longer I can take it. Do you have that problem with Axel?"

Now, he and Axel had to work through some anxiety about being separated again. It had taken a lot of long talks, time, and trust exercises, to work through them, but now Roxas could help Sora with Riku's issues from the point of view of someone who had been there before and gotten out. Or he could just make a joke. "Well, I'm afraid he'll get caught in a strong wind one night and snap in half, but I'm trying to keep myself rational. I mean I can stick unwound hangers in his clothes to try and create a brace from something more substantial than his limbs, and I can put a bell on him so I don't lose track of him when he turns sideways, but after we take all the precautions we can, all I can do is tell him to be careful lifting his keyblade so it doesn't break his arm, and look at the positive. He and Jack Skellington wear the same size jacket and being able to trade clothes with  the King of Halloween is pretty cool."

"What are you talking about?"

Roxas steeled himself to be drawn into a serious talk anyway, taking a spot leaning against the doors alongside Sora and putting a hand on his shoulder, dearly hoping someone didn't open the door from the other side and send them sprawling. "Listen, I picked a ridiculous example, but the same principle applies. Take measures to keep each other safe--simple ones that don't stop you from being able to do your job-- talk about what his fears are, and then just try to find silver linings and agree to live your lives. You guys are going to be okay."

"Oh yeah, I know that,"  Sora dismissed, shaking off his hand. "I was just letting off steam. Riku's actually being really sweet. I just need to make him realize what he's doing before he finds a way to sacrifice himself again to keep me safe. What you said about Axel doesn't make sense though. He's ripped."

"He's a twig," Roxas countered with a scoff. "He's got the muscle mass of the jelly creature from Monstropolis, and looks like it the time it let me suck it into a large straw to make Boo laugh. I love him but he's a scarecrow. My stickman scarecrow, and I love him, but let's be realistic."

The light of dawning realization lit Sora's eyes once more, and Roxas found it a bit unnerving. He was definitely missing something. "...Haven't you visited Axel since he started training with Terra?"

"No, this is my first visit, to see Terra confer the master title on him." Master ceremonies had become a big thing now, a little pomp and circumstance to make it seem more important, Roxas guessed. Riku had missed out. Too bad for him. "He was on a journey of the soul as well as the body...Whatever that means. Terra didn't want me distracting him."

"That's what makes it more fun. When I went to retake my mark of mastery at Yensid's tower...Wait a second, Terra ordered you to do something and you just listened?" Sora's pursed lips and glaring eyes spoke more of tantrum throwing toddler than betrayed friend.

"He's a master," Roxas answered simply, though it wasn't respect for orders of a master that held him back. He could have been a master too, if he wanted, if he felt like he needed the validation of being recognized by the others and wanted to jump through hoops set up by Yensid or Aqua or even worse options. He had been named master of the keyblade by the Organization, that was enough. He and Axel had agreed they would help guard the worlds but they wouldn't play into the ranking game. Axel had changed his mind, and Roxas respected that, but he felt no compulsion to join him.

"You never listen when Riku tells you to do something. He's a master too."

"Master, my ass."

"No, master of my..."

"Why do you have to be like this?" Roxas groaned, sliding to the ground.

"Don't get pissy just because you haven't gotten laid in months."

"I didn't visit because Axel told me not to. We've been doing the long distance thing. We've done it before for stretches, like when he and Isa were working on their first book,"Roxas answered Sora's original question, loudly, to change the subject.

"But you've talked on the gummi phone?"

"Every night."

"With video?"

"Is this going back to a weird place you never leave?"

"I live in the gutter now!" Sora confirmed happily, before going back to neutral. "No, it's a serious question. Have you gotten a good look at Axel recently?"

"Same loveable bozo sleeping in a fuzzy zip up adult onesie that makes him look like a Meow Wow  he's always been. "

"You haven't seen him out of the onesie?" At Roxas's exasperated look, Sora defended himself once more. "Legitimate question."

"Some nights I don't even see him take down the hood. He has a voice for Meowaxel."

"And you were griping about the ribbon ceremony. Your sex story is much weirder."

"We don't have phone sex," Roxas's pining despair outweighed his distaste for discussing this kind of thing with Sora who was a dog that never let go of a bone without making a joke about boning. "We have an agreement. He almost crashed a gummi ship once."

"You...while he was driving?" Sora looked impressed and Roxas felt a rare flash of shame.

"New idea?" He pushed through and said the words as if they were a crack of his own.

"Great idea!" Sora's face split into a wide grin and Roxas apologized to Riku internally, the only way he ever did so. Sora grabbed his former Nobody's arm and dragged him to his feet. "Come on. We're going to spy on Axel sparring with Terra. They have a routine. Terra wouldn't deviate from it even knowing people are arriving for the ceremony tonight."

"I am always down to see my baby light someone on fire," Roxas followed Sora down the hill, pliable and, frankly, excited to see Axel as soon as possible.

"Baby? Blech." Sora pulled a face that lasted maybe half a second and rang false while it did, thrilled and supportive as always to see Roxas showing a soft spot, but attempting to play some of Roxas's own attitude back at him.

"Your pet names for Riku are worse...and you should not prove it by listing them." Roxas tacked on the latter part hastily, leaving no room for Sora to start his reign of terror anew.

" There are several riffs on Dream Eater that would make you wish you were as smart as me," Sora huffed, "But that's not what we're here for." He held Roxas back for a second with a thrown out arm, and glanced around the last bend in the hill. Roxas could hear sounds of exertion. Satisfied with what he saw, Sora withdrew the restraining arm in favor of waving his hands like a cheap magician as he ordered Roxas to, "Feast your eyes!"

Roxas ignored Sora's theatrics and stepped around him, only to stop short when he ended up following the other man's order despite himself. His eyes were feasting and there was an entire buffet in the form of Axel, stripped to the waist and hair up in a messy bun with damp loose tendrils stuck to the back of his neck, twisting away to avoid a strike by Terra (in his weird black spandex shirt like always, showing off for who the hell knew or cared) and using the momentum to whirl the rest of the circle and carry out his own blow, the flex and spring back of newly defined muscles Roxas had missed the development of covered by freckled skin that didn't quite make the definition of tan but had been cultivated into a tone more golden than ghost pale translucent on display. The first dish was broad shoulders that had always  been there, but no longer existed just to make clothes hang smoothly like they did on a clothes hanger now that they were attached to the freshly carved meat station--arms that bulged and Roxas was going to declare illegal to ever hide under bunched neon fleece or a thick black coat again. He'd call Axel's new abs the salad bar because he wanted to charge like a bull and then start grazing, but they could also be the drink station because there was definitely a six pack there much more appealing than the beer Hayner had developed a fondness for, and Roxas was remarkably thirsty looking at them. Axel's waist was still comparatively small (Dorito. Delicious. More buffets should include snack food on the side. Jokes weren't over. The man was a snack.) but then there was perhaps the most shocking addition of all had popped into existence below it.

"Bite the buns and have a popsicles for dessert," Roxas whispered under his breath, awed, unable to even be embarrassed by half consciously daydreaming out loud because his eyes had continued their journey and found out there was now meat on the stork (too long to be chicken) drumsticks Axel walked around on.

"Think he's safe from the wind now?" Sora taunted.

"Time for you to leave." Roxas shook himself out of his daze to return fully to the present.

"What?"

"Run up to the castle," Roxas gave the same order in new phrasing as he walked on ahead and waved to Terra, yelling, "Time to leave."

The scene that ensued was bordering on comical as Terra froze, caught off guard and was smacked full in the face with head turning force by the flat of Axel's keyblade, an act that was accompanied by an apologetic, "Oh shit!" and widened eyes that spoke to Axel trying to cut his actions short but being unable to stop the blow, just lessen it. Terra stumbled and Axel reached out to steady him, but then appeared to change his mind or become irrevocably distracted halfway through as Roxas's presence sank in fully. His keyblade disappeared in a shower of sparks, Terra fell, and the lovers ran to be reunited. 

Roxas found himself lifted off the ground like he weighed nothing and his soul left his body, leaving him not responsible for the happily sighed word that he used to greet Axel, "Arms."

[captainseaweedbrains]

Ship: Everlark #48

Thank you so much for sending me a prompt! I hope you enjoy! As always, drabbles don’t exist in my world. So it’s a bit longer than I anticipated. :P 

Prompt: Meeting again at a high school reunion AU

Ao3: X

Send me a ship and a prompt and I’ll write a fic/drabble!

“If you don’t go over there and talk to him, I’m going to and you know I won’t edit out any embarrassing details,” Madge warned when she saw Katniss looking over at the Welcome table yet again. 

Katniss scowled, the alcohol clearly not kicking in yet. “I don’t need your help, Madge.” 

“You’ve been sitting here for twenty minutes, Katniss,” her friend pointed out, “watching that table like a scared hawk.” 

“Can a hawk be scared?” Madge glared at her and she conceded. “All right, all right. Yes, I am acting like a scared, made-up hawk, but I can’t help it! I made a total ass of myself back in high school. I’m afraid he’ll remember.” 

“Of course he’ll remember.” 

“You’re no help. Why’d I bring you as my date again?” 

Her friend smiled a winning smile and rubbed her swollen stomach. “Because my dearest husband decided a fishing trip with his brothers was more important than coming with me to our ten year high school reunion and he bribed you with anything you wanted from his store as thanks.”

“Right, right,” she laughed. “So why are you trying to pawn your date off on some stranger, Madge Hawthorne?” 

“Please!” Madge scoffed. “Peeta Mellark is so not a stranger to you. How many times did you two hook up in high school? In the band room, under the stage in the auditorium, the Home Ec room, and correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you two do it in Abernathy’s office?” 

Popping the maraschino cherry from her drink into her mouth, Katniss smiled. “I’m not confirming, nor denying, anything of the sort. We were total saints in high school.” 

“Uh huh.” Madge sighed and readjusted herself in her seat. “If you were total saints, why not go over and talk about your sainthood with Peeta, then?” 

Because she had broken his heart? Because 18-year-old Katniss panicked and ruined a great thing? Because she knew for a fact, thanks to Facebook and small town busybodies, that Peeta had just gotten out of an engagement with some gorgeous blonde who looked like a model and showing up now felt like cutting open an old scar? Because she was scared of telling him how she really felt then? And how those feelings haven’t really gone away and seeing him there, smiling and laughing next to Delly Cartwright as they welcomed old classmates, reminded her those feelings were definitely still there?

“Because he’s busy working the Welcome table,” she said instead. “Don’t you hate when people chit chat you up while you’re trying to work a table?” 

“No, but that’s because I’m not weird about people like you are.” 

“I miss the shy, barely-spoke Madge from high school,” Katniss teased, bumping her foot against Madge’s. “What happened to her?” 

“I joined a sorority in college and had to do three years of recruitment,” was all she said, still giving Katniss a pointed look. “Go talk to him, Katniss. Rip the band aid off.” 

She looked over at the table and frowned. “What if he tells me off? I don’t think I can handle that kind of rejection.” 

“He won’t,” Madge comforted, resting a hand on Katniss’ knee. “But you won’t know until you go over and say hello. Here,” she tore off her name tag and ripped it in half, handing the two pieces over to Katniss. “Ask for a new name tag for me as your excuse to talk to him.” 

She gratefully took the stickers and stood up, glancing over at the table. Two people were in line, the first person animatedly talking to both Peeta and Delly she didn’t recognize from behind. Yes, she can do this. With one long shot of her drink, she went and stood in line, Madge giving a whoop of cheer in support. 

The wait wasn’t long. Five minutes tops before she was walking up to the table, the two pale blondes smiling up at her, reminding her of all those times in high school they’d be managing the ticket table at lunch for Student Council or the ticket booth for football and basketball games. 

“Katniss Everdeen!” Delly welcomed in her high-pitched squeaky voice that hasn’t changed a bit in ten years. “I thought I saw you around! You silly goose, how are you? What have you been up to? How has life been treating you? How is that lovely sister of yours?”

“Delly,” Katniss smiled. Even now, after all these years, it was hard not to reciprocate the woman’s warmth and energy. “Life’s been good, thanks. Can’t complain. Still living at home with my mom and sister. Prim’s fine. Going to school to be a doctor.”

“That’s amazing! And you’re a teacher now, I hear, right?” 

“Um—yes, I am.” Her eyes shifted to Peeta, who was all smiles as well, before focusing back on Delly. “I’m a high school choral director at the high school next town over.” 

“You did always have a beautiful voice,” Peeta stepped in and her legs almost turned to jello at the sound of his familiar yet somewhat deeper voice. “Inspiring students to find their voices.” Ever the wordsman, Peeta Mellark was. 

“Yes,” she blushed, unable to help herself. “Um. That’s a really nice way of saying I spend half my time telling my classes to quiet down so we can get some work done.” They laughed and that helped calm some of her anxiety. “How are you both? I haven’t seen either of you since we all left for college!” 

Delly answered first. “I’m a proud Stay-at-Home-Mom—” 

“Don’t get her started on her triplets or else we’ll be here all night,” Peeta teased, happily accepting Delly’s shove. 

“Wow,” Katniss breathed. “Triplets. That’s—that’s a lot of babies!” 

“That’s what Thom says—you remember Thom, right, Katniss? We all had gym together in eleventh grade. Well, he’s my amazing husband now and he’s always joking how we nailed it out of the park on the first try.” She held out her phone to show a picture of three chubby toddlers, two girls and a boy, smiling cheekily at the camera in nothing but their diapers. “Gretchen, Analise, and Tommy,” Delly explained, pointing to each happy baby. “They just turned three last month and boy, are they keeping me busy!” 

Katniss nodded. “They look adorable, Delly. Look just like you.” 

“Thank you. That’s what everyone says.” She put her phone away. “Anyone in your life, Katniss?” 

“Oh, um. No.” She looked down at the stickers in her hand, realizing she didn’t need it now with Delly talking a mile a minute. “Work keeps me pretty busy and most guys don’t understand why I prioritize a bunch of high schoolers over—well, everything.” She laughed, feeling a bit awkward now talking about her non-existent love life. 

Delly looked over at Peeta, a knowing look in her eyes. “Peeta knows exactly how that is.” 

“Delly,” he said, rolling his eyes at her. “I’m a high school art teacher,” he explained to Katniss. “And I run the school’s debate and speech teams for some extra money. So I get prioritizing your students over everything else.” 

Oh. She didn’t know he was a teacher, too. Well that made a lot of sense why it was a pain hunting him down on Facebook. How had she not put two and two together? “Elective teachers unite,” she joked half-heartedly, feeling nervous again now that the attention was on him. 

“May our program budgets always just barely make the cut,” he joined in, all smiles. She smiled back, unable to help herself. His smiles, familiar despite time away, always made her feel more at ease. 

“You know, ever since I had the triplets, my bladder has never been the same,” Delly abruptly said standing up. “I have to visit the potty. The bathroom,” she corrected herself. “We’re working on potty training right now. Peeta, guard the table while I’m away?” 

“Oh. Uh, sure thing, Dells.” 

“You keep a close eye on him, Katniss. Make sure he doesn’t cause any mischief,” Delly warned with a wag of her finger before walking away, waving to those she knew as she went, which seemed to be everyone.

Katniss stood there for a moment, forlornly watching their buffer leave. She barely knew Delly, but now as the curly-haired blonde left, she felt a bit of a betrayal of being left alone with Peeta. 

“You don’t have to watch over me,” Peeta said, her attention snapping back to him. “Delly was just teasing.” 

“Oh no, it’s okay.” It wasn’t, not really, but admitting that would make things ten times more awkward. “Madge is my supposed date tonight, but she’s been spending more time in the bathroom than with me. So it’s fine. Um.” Just get it over with! “How are you, Peeta?” 

“I’m fine, Katniss. Thank you for asking.” 

“Of course, of course.” Wishing she’d consumed more alcohol before pursuing this quest, she went forth, “I heard you moved back into town. With your brother?” 

He shook his head. “I forgot how small this town is. Yeah. I moved back. Go on and ask.” He motioned at her, rolling his eyes. “About my engagement. Everyone’s been asking about it.” 

Katniss winced. “I didn’t want to pry, but yeah, I heard.” 

“As did many others.” He sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “I’m fine, really. I broke it off with her, actually. Wasn’t a right fit,” he explained. “I didn’t think it fair to either of us to continue further, but it still hurts a little.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Peeta.” But was she really, though? Was she seriously happy about a guy she hadn’t spoken to in over ten years being single again? God, she was a horrible person. “But it sounds like you did the mature thing. Breaking it off like that.” 

He shrugged. “That’s what everybody tells me.” 

Someone came up behind her and she stepped aside as Peeta snapped into greetings mode. It was amazing watching him change so swiftly like that. Some people truly never changed, she realized, remembering how quickly he seemed to change moods at the flip of a switch. He did it the day she broke things off with him. How his eyes cascaded down in disappointment and she’d wondered if he might cry after confessing how he felt about her for all this time, but then someone had walked in, calling out to them, and he became all smiles and acted like nothing drastic had happened between them.

It was a bit unsettling, the more she thought about it now. 

The line of late comers started growing and Delly still hadn’t returned. Deciding to keep her promise, Katniss took a seat next to Peeta and smiled as another former classmate stepped up, ignoring the quizzical look he sent her as they were asked questions about times for the planned events and how they both were doing. Many assumed they were married now, remembering how close the two were in high school, and thank god for Peeta stepping in and saving her stumbling tongue, explaining how Katniss was just keeping Delly’s seat warm until she returned and that they hadn’t seen each other until tonight. 

After the third or fourth classmate assumed their matrimonial union, Katniss laughed, picking at the ripped sticker she’d stuck to her skirt for safe keeping. “I didn’t realize so many people remembered us together.” 

“Small town school,” he reminded her, his tone light and joking. Like she didn’t stupidly break his heart. “I’m not surprised they remembered you. You forget how much of an effect you have on people, Katniss.” 

Her cheeks warmed. “I think you mean yourself there, Mr. Popular. I was that awkward band and choir girl with the braces who never shut up about why the Baroque style was far superior to Classical.” 

“I remember those rants fondly,” Peeta laughed. “Your face would get all pinched because I barely knew what you were talking about, so I couldn’t offer any opinion. And I loved those braces! The silver brackets really brought out the silver in your eyes.” 

She rolled her eyes, remembering that line he used to pull every time she complained about her teeth. “Well I’m happy to say those days are gone. I’ve been metal-free since college.” 

“Took that long, huh?” 

“I’m pretty sure my orthodontist was just milking it for my money those last three years,” she laughed. “My teeth looked pretty straight to me.” Katniss smiled widely, showing off her white, straight teeth she suffered many mouth cuts and rubber band snaps to achieve. He joined her and wow. It really did feel like no time had passed between them. Like they were just a couple of teens back in high school, making fun of a teacher or a douchey classmate. 

Peeta looked down at the table, tapping his pen in thought. “You know,” he said after a moment, still looking down, “I am free from this table at 7.”

“That makes sense,” she nodded. “If people haven’t arrived in the first hour and a half, that’s their loss.”

“It is,” he smiled, glancing up at her. Yes, his eyes were still as clear blue as she remembered, and was it possible for eyelashes to grow? His looked longer now. “If you’d be fine with it, Katniss, I’d like to catch up with you some more.” Was it her imagination or did he seem nervous? That made no sense. She broke his heart. If anyone should be nervous, it was her. And she was. The constant flutter in her stomach more noticeable now with her sitting so close to him. 

“Oh. Um.” It was her turn to look down at her hands. “Okay. Sure. Yeah, that’d be great.” 

Peeta seemed uncertain, though. “Are you sure? Was I too forward just now? Sorry, ever since my break-up, I seem to be a bit rusty talking with people.” That was hard to believe. 

“No, no!” Katniss rushed to assure him. “I just—didn’t think you’d really want to catch up after how we ended things.” There. She mentioned it. Old heartbreak was out there now. “I know I messed things up pretty badly.” 

To her surprise, Peeta laughed, shaking his head. “Trust me, that is water under the bridge, Katniss. I was stupid and should have picked up on the vibes you were sending me.” 

“And I was stupid, too,” she said, a bit shyly. 

“High schoolers can be pretty stupid.” 

“I don’t know,” she smiled. “Mine seem a lot smarter than when we were that age.” 

“Mine too.” He pretended to think. “Perhaps we were just idiots and it has nothing to do with how young we were.” 

She laughed. “Maybe.” 

He tapped her pen with his. “To being idiots?” 

“To being idiots.” She tapped his pen back. 

And at 7 o’clock sharp, Peeta declared it was time they drank until they got so drunk, it was like they were back at Finnick Odair’s Friday night after-game parties. Katniss happily agreed, sternly reminding him she wasn’t going to make out with him tonight like they used to do in the toolshed during those parties, causing him to burst out laughing. Quickly scrawling out Madge’s name on a new sticker, she told Peeta she’d meet him at the bar. 

“I have to give my date her sticker.” He told her the booze waited for no one and headed to where a group of their classmates were chanting for someone to “Chug! Chug! Chug!” She smiled and went back to Madge, who was chatting with Leevy Anderson, an old friend of hers. 

“Well,” Madge asked after Leevy excused herself. “You were gone an awful long time. Did you get my sticker?” Katniss handed it to her with a smile. “I take it things went well? Or were you just sputtering out nonsense.” 

“It went very well,” Katniss told her, glancing over at the bar where Peeta stood, holding two drinks out, one clearly being hers. “We’re going to get crazy drunk now because this night has been extremely long for both of us. I hope you’re fine driving me?” 

“One of us needs to get crazy drunk tonight,” Madge laughed, patting her stomach. “Drink for me, too?” 

“Of course.” 

“Going to make out with Peeta Mellark like old times?” her friend teased, noticing Peeta now. “I’m sure there’s a closet you two can sneak into.” 

Katniss scoffed at her friend’s blatant assumption. “No, we’re not making out tonight, Madge.” Madge nodded, taking a sip of her pop. “We might next Friday, though,” she added a bit coyly. “He’s taking me out to dinner.” And she walked away before her friend could say anything further.

[spidermandni]

𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑟 — 𝑡𝑠𝑢𝑘𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑎 𝑘𝑒𝑖

note — this is a fem!reader oneshot but if i do actually write more of these, they’ll just be gender neutral. this is also really messy because it’s the first time i’ve done something like this.. anyway, i hope you enjoy it! WAIT I FORGOT TO ADD THAT THIS IS BASED OFF OF WISH YOU WERE SOBER BY CONAN GRAY!! okay bye <3

pt two

word count — 1958 words

tsukishima kei has a crush on you, one of his best friends

it’s sort of obvious to everyone except for you, which is really cliché but hey !!!

he can’t ignore his feelings and you’re very oblivious to the point where it’s ridiculous

an example? tsukishima will literally stare at you for like 10 whole minutes during class and you’ll finally look up from your desk but when you catch him

all you do is give him the biggest grin before going back to work which makes him wanna slam his head into his desk repeatedly

he’ll even compliment you and buy little snacks for you during breaks at school

“[last name], here. i got you that dumb chocolate snack you like...”

and you would turn from yamaguchi and look at tsukki like he was the one who put all the stars in the sky

“you... you got my favorite snack for me?” here you go tearing up and him refusing to make eye contact while holding his hand out

you immediately stand up give him a giant hug and stuff your face into his chest, he grunts and rolls his eyes before shaking you off and dropping the snack on your lunch box

a tiny bit of blush is visible on his face and yamaguchi snickers on the side

“hey, [last name]. your, uh, your hair looks cute today.” he stares at his feet as the three of you are walking to school together

“woooow, so i don’t look cute every day, tsukki?” you turn to him with a slight smirk on his face. he shoves you and scoffs, “shut up before i take it back, dummy.”

you’re just purely oblivious to every attempt he made to get farther with you,

this was the farthest he was gonna be able to get anyway seeing as he was a very awkward person when it came to dating and things like that.

tsukishima isn’t that type of person to socialize with a lot of people but you were. you’re that type of friend that would see one of your friends in the hallway while walking with tsukki and strike up a random conversation while he’s standing there awkwardly

but you refused to let tsukki continue to be that person 😡

which is why you were now begging him to go with you to one of the pre-summer parties!!!

“c’mon, tsukki, pleeeeeease! pretty please with a cherry on top!” you tug at his shirt and give him a puppy dog eye expression while he was dragging the both of you to the cafeteria

“no.” your jaw drops and you scoff, “why noooooot? you never go to parties with yamaguchi and i.” you give him the look again as soon as he looks down at you which causes him to whip his head back up

a noticeable blush on his face while he grumbles under his breath. “what?” you quirk your eyebrow at him

“because i don’t know anybody you know!” he stops walking and stuffs his hands into his pockets

you gasp and pout once again (it’s your thing), “yes you do! it’s kuroo’s party!!” he rolls his eyes (and that’s his thing hehe) before walking off again with you falling behind

“please, please! i won’t ask for anything else ever again! i promise, i really do like i’m serious this time!” you were now pleading in the middle of the hallway which had several people staring at you like you were out of your mind

“you said that last time when you begged me last minute to help you study for our math exam.”

“well-” he cuts you off, “and when you wanted to go get milkshakes at 1am.” you wince and try to argue against him

“but-” you groan as he lists another example, “also that one time when you begged me to watch that new horror movie with you because you were scared to go alone.”

“okay! okay! that was not my fault! there were a lot of jumpscares so i needed you! but this is different, i really do promise. pleeease, i won’t ask for anything e-”

“fuck! fine, i’ll go. just stop talking about it.” you squeal and throw your arms around him. “thank you, thank you, thank you, tha-” he flicks you in the forehead and you jump back but the grin was still visible on your face

“hurry up, yamaguchi is waiting.” he stares at the ceiling while walking but you just kept rambling on about the party

a few days later when it was finally friday night, you face timed tsukishima and as soon as he answered you shrieked

“ooooooo, tsukki! who you lookin’ cute for?” you give him a smile paired with a wink.

“when are we supposed to be there?” he ignores your question and gives you an annoyed look.

“in like thirty minutes! yama is catchin' a ride with suga, daichi, hinata, and kags. they told me to just go with you, i guess they don’t enjoy my company.” you let out an artificial weep while clutching your invisible pearls.

he chuckles while staring at your expression, “well you saying that sounds like you don’t enjoy my company, so maybe i’ll just go alone-”

“nope, see you in a few, love you!”

tsukishima heard the familiar sounds that play after a facetime call ends and he sighs

after a few minutes of preparing to go get you and what to say, he finally heads out. when he finally arrives outside your home, tsukishima rests his head on the steering wheel.

what the fuck is he gonna do at this party?

he can’t just stay by your side the whole time... or can he? NO! he can’t, you probably wouldn’t allow it and force him to socialize.

tsukishima huffs and eventually decides to pull himself out of his car to retrieve you. as soon as he knocks, somebody screams “i’m coming!” and stomping is heard.

the door is swung open and you’re stood there in all your glory. the blonde boy can feel his heart stop and it feels as if he literally stopped breathing. you look really pretty, like really, really pretty.

you’re wearing baggy ripped jeans that sort of clings to your waist with a rainbow crop top and it’s paired with boots that are barely visible because of the jeans. an accidental “wow.” flows from the tall boy’s lips

“what? do i look cute?” a wide grin appears on your face as you spin to show off your look

he covers the bottom half of his face and it’s barely audible when he says “you look pretty.” you giggle and push at his shoulder, “better be careful, tsukki! you might fall in love with me!”

when you finish your sentence, you throw a kiss his way and he just walks back to his car before you catch him looking like a tomato. “wait! wait, wait!”

you quickly close and lock your front door to chase after him. he opens the passenger seat door and waits for you to get inside before closing it. “woooooah! tsukki is becoming a gentleman now!”

“shut up.” and the drive begins to kuroo’s house. it doesn’t take long because you both just begin talking about anything that comes to mind and when you finally get there, a bunch of greetings is said.

immediately, you’re both separated and talking to different people. there were moments when you crossed paths but you were on the other side of the room, downing drinks with your other friends

and whenever he tried to make his way towards you, yamaguchi would drag him to do some random activity like play beer pong or whatever

time had passed and though tsukishima didn’t know how much, he was already tired. he felt somebody’s hand latch onto his arm and begin pulling him towards a room

“tsukishima, c’mon! we’re playing spin the bottle!” your hand clutches harder as you turn to look at him and you have a soft flush on your face along with a small smile

there was a large group in the living room playing childish games in a circle as you pulled him down and he plops with you. “let’s go! tsukishima is finally livin' a little.” bokuto screams and throws his hands

“only because [last name] is forcing him.” hinata says and gets nudged by yachi with a light glare. the game begins and a bunch of random kisses are shared. kuroo and bokuto, shimizu and akaashi, and sawamura with a girl he didn’t know

finally someone had spun the bottle and it landed on tsukishima, but you squealed out of anger. “absolutely not!”

kuroo cackles, “why not, [last name]?” everyone starts giggling while some are waiting to see what you argue with

“tsukki can’t kiss anyone but me!” you cross your arms across your chest and turn to stare tsukishima down with intimidation which, clearly, wasn’t working as few started bursting into laughter

yachi is looking at you with wide eyes, sugawara has his head in his hands, and kageyama is wheezing at tsukishima’s flustered expression.

“hey! tsukishima, seems like [last name] has a big crush on you!” nishinoya snickers while tanaka is sitting beside him losing his mind.

tsukki scoffs and stands the both of you up, “i’m going to take her home before she embarrasses herself. good night, don’t do anything stupid.”

“we won’t!” “we’ll try!” and with that, he was off while dragging you to his car with him

“awe... tsukki, does that mean you don’t wanna kiss me?” he can actually hear the pout in your voice. “that’s not it, [last name]. j-just be quiet.”

he began playing music to keep you occupied during the car ride back to your home as he thought about what the literal fuck just happened.

when he finally pulled up at your house, he went to your side to let you out but you started making grabby hands at him which obviously meant: you weren’t getting out this car unless he carried you.

a few minutes later and after a bit of arguing, the tall boy was now holding an already asleep girl in his arms like you were a toddler. you had given him your house key before just incase so it was easy for him to get you inside.

he helped you change into your pajamas and prepared headache pills and water for you in the morning when you would wake up with a hard hitting headache along with a tiny note on the side. he gave a light kiss to your forehead before leaving.

as soon as he reached his home, tsukishima cleaned himself up before laying down to rest.

he sighs as he lays there because fuck. he’s really in love with the cutest idiot on earth.

now he regrets leaving that note, and he’s stressing over the fact that he had too much confidence in that moment.

tsukishima eventually, after 30 minutes of overthinking, falls asleep.

when you rise in the morning, you look an absolute mess. you groan with a grumble of annoyance and turn on your side to see what tsukishima left.

immediately, flashbacks of last night come to your brain. you stuff your face into your pillow as you let out an embarrassed scream.

you completely embarrassed yourself in front of your best friend.

after wallowing in self pity for a few minutes, you reach for the pills and the water and finish them off.

when you’re done and turn back over to see if he left anything else, you see the note and grab it with swiftness.

What you said was really sweet but I wish you were sober when you said it. - Tsukishima Kei

[orangenfrottee]

Hey ho there, feel free to ignore this and I hope I'm not bugging you as I awkwardly slide in here, but I must ask: if you had full creative control of the show, how would you run season 5? You can pick and choose whatever leaks you want to include.

Ah!!! Thank you for your ask <3 I might have spent a couple nights typing out my answer, but in short: I'd cherry pick old story arcs, bring back everyone I like and who doesn't run when they hear Riverdale's calling.

I'd definitely get some decent writers (I'm partial to Jane Espenson, but no idea if she'd be a good fit) and definitely some diversity. I might accidentally fire all men and then play up all their shitty recurring themes for fun as a weird inside joke between me and the show.

I think if they ever gave me creative control of the show it would swerf hard to the crazy and not leave that lane because honestly, i think that's what Riverdale does best.

So, where would I start...

Instead of giving season four a decent ending, I would start with an extra long pilot with the title 'previously on' where the best and most important bits of the teens' school lives is shown with a heavy focus on Jason and the Farm. Parallely, we get to see the lovestory of Chic and Charles. The episode ends with a few very short scenes of the prom where everyone's happy and pretty.

Then we'd start on the real season five. It's been seven years and our characters are older and more grown up.

The show would at first only present the present lifesbof our characters and the barest bones structure to keep as much a little mysterious as possible (but here I tell you what happened during timeskip, too).

Archie is often considered the main character, so let's start with him:

Archie went to the Army after school (though he didn't actually pass his exams and thus didn't graduate, Mr Honey was quite amused). On his most recent tour he met someone special: Eric, his new friend.

Archie was wounded in battle with a... giant mutated elephant with sharp teeth and hallucinogenic venom. Or something. He isn't really sure what happened, but he's got a huge new scar all over his torso. The abs stayed in tact, but oh his pride. During recovery he met new wheelchair user (and on occasion crutches) Eric who has trouble walking since his legs are misshapen/he only has one. Archie thinks Eric got maimed by the same elephant he was, but thinks it rude to ask.

For Eric I'm picturing Sabrina's Ambrose.

With his hurt pride, Archie can't stay with the military and decides to go back to Riverdale.

Eric doesn't have a place to go, so Archie invites him along.

They need a job and since Eric has a calendar full of sexy half naked firefighters AND since they both have abs, Archie decides that type of uniform is the perfect fit for them and trades his newly renovated and well running boxing gym against the old fire station Penelope Blossom owns. (Literally, they even meet at Pop's to exchange keys and sign papers Penelope brought that Archie doesn't even skim.)

The fire station is quite out of everything, but it has a huge pool Eric likes to swim in and a fire truck. To make ends meet Archie sells his sperm to the Greendale sperm bank.

Archie is of course in love with Eric but unfamiliar with the concept of bisexuality and struggles to identify his attraction for what it is. Eric is a foreigner to Riverdale (or is he?) and unfamiliar with the town's culture and quirks. Still, something going on in Sweetwater River seems to be related to him.

Archie and Eric share the Andrews' House - and in the house next door... live Gladys Jones and Polly Cooper!

After Jughead and Betty left for College Alice' horrid mom impulses settled on Jellybean who didn't stand back, grind her teeth and took it but instead broke Alice' teeth. Her and FP were not amused (though FP was also angry at Alice for being too strict). Alice moves out but stays as a journalist in town.

FP gets in trouble for being a brutal gang leader without a gang beating up criminals behind the boxing gym on tape. Not wanting to go to an illegal fighting club prison, he hides with Canadian Serpents behind the border. (Joaquin's identical twin brother and Ricky live there, too. They're happy there.)

Maybe he'd call once or twice with misleading wrong snake facts that have nothing to do with the current mystery of the episode but fit into perfectly by chance.

Jellybean was invited along, but she chose to stay because she thinks Riverdale is rad and the old Cooper House is luxurious as hell. Also, her mom came back to become the new Sheriff!

Nearly seven years in, Gladys still holds the position because no one legally qualified wants it and she manages to keep gang violence at an all time low for Riverdale. Plus, she and Mary Andrews are not exactly friends but able to work well together. When there's another serial killer running wild in town she has no problem with having another girlfriend of Mary who happens to be a skilled professional in the most relevant field take over for a bit. If needed, the Riverdale gangs are usually willing to add muscle to good causes, too.

Jellybean has left Riverdale for university and will only be present for holidays and breaks. She'd still be played by Trinity because I love her and honestly, real nineteen year olds look like fourteen year olds everywhere in the world. Also this gives the viewers 'Archie vision': he will always see his best friend's toddling baby sister in the young woman which makes her the only undatable (legal) female on this planet for him.

While attending Riverdale High she lead the Andrews Boxing Gym and made it the most successful gym in the area. It won't be a plot point in the show (apart from her being angry at Archie for just trading it against trash) but there will be framed newspaper articlesband the like in Gladys' house.

Around the time everyone graduated, Polly was released from Shady Grooves and is back to her old smart self - and really missing her babies! As Choni leave for whatever private college Blossom women have always gone to, Polly takes them and goes home - just to learn on the porch that not only did her mother sell her childhood home more than a year ago without anyone ever telling her, the college fund she never had gotten legal access to and planned to use for the twins is gone too and her sister left town without saying goodbye.

Gladys has always taken care of all the stray kids she found no matter how tight the budget was and now there's this young desolate mother with twin toddlers in front of her posh murder house she'd gotten for cheap and she has this new gig as sheriff. Of course, she takes them in.

They stay in Betty's old room at first, but they soon get to remodel the attic to give Polly her own room. At present, Dagwood has Polly/Chic/JB's old room and Juniper the one facing Archie's. (When Archie sees her in the room, he actually has a flashback once to when he and Betty used to be so young, but then Juniper turns her gead, stares at him really creepily and smiles weirdly. Archie will be somewhat scared from then onwards and be reminded of when everyone thought Polly might gave killed Jason. Juniper would murder.)

At first, Polly's a full time, stay at home mom, but once the kids are older, she starts working part-time: for Gladys.

It turns out they work amazing together. Gladys tends to jump to convenient conclusions and threatens violence way to freely. Also, she is intimidating as fuck.

Polly is everything she isn't: level headed (to a point, in comparison at least), brilliant at combining clues and steering people (remember how she infiltrated Thornhill and made Cheryl unknowingly assist in her snooping plans?). On top of that, she has these stepford smiles and all the ways to appear unthreatening drillend into her head. Honestly, she and Betty are quite alike. While Betty has the lockpicking skills and knows her way around cars, Polly used to be really into fashion (or something) and, with all her experiences at the Sisters, the Farm and Shady Groves, Polly knows psychology.

She started solving some of Gladys' cases at the breakfast table, but now she's officially a deputy or an advisor or something. They're essentially like FP and Jughead, just that Polly is an adult (and that she wouldn't be in a gang beating suspects up regularly).

(These characters would all be mostly in the background though.)

Veronica finally gained perspective on her relationship to her father and grew up. Hiram's cut out of her life for good. They won't ever interact. (In fact, Hiram either moved to New York or he had a minor traffic accident where he lost all of his memory for good and now lives as Ram Rod and works as a trainer at Penelope's newly acquired boxing gym. Everyone is confused about it but doesn't care to ask.)

Veronica is successful at whatever she's doing and doesn't plan on ever moving back to Riverdale, but maybe something is up at Pop's that requires her checking up on in person and she just happens to cross paths with Betty who is also just there for the weekend. And they haven't had quality time together for years, because it's so hard to stay in contact sometimes even with people you love so much you'd die to keep them safe.

If I could come up with something meaningful for them to catch up on emotionally, I'd have them sitting together in a booth at Pop's for a whole episode just talking (but I'm not that deep).

Veronica might be engaged, but we see it fall through without really getting to meet the guy. She mostly just talks to Betty about him on occasion but in a somewhat messed up way. Ultimately, she realises how she treats him in some regards like Hiram treated her and her mother. She wants to grow up further and not be like her father anymore. Since the fiance was only a trophy pawn, she breaks it off and concentrates on introspection/ maybe therapy for a bit.

Later that season her sister comes back and surprise: Hermosa embraced becoming Daddy.

(These would have to be restricted to two half episodes only, she definitely deserves story arcs that aren't about her dad.)

Careerwise: she has a couple businesses, maybe a restaurant chain or a franchise and she seems to collect startups. She reinvests a lot and has to travel quite a bit but can work remotely too.

Everyone seems to want FBI agent Betty and if I'd go that route I'd have her demask Charles as the fraude fake FBI who hires guns for hire and fake emergency teams while making up fantasy horror stories about serial killer genes to scare his biological family into killing each other that I wholeheartedly believe he is. But I also like Betty's interest in mechanics and would love for her to have a career in mechanical engineering. Maybe she switched majors at uni and now works for a company developing prosthetics. Maybe she tries to get Eric into joining a study. (I mean, prosthetic legs would help his work as a fire fighter...).

She's in town to visit Polly and the twins but after talking to Veronica she spontaneously stays in town. She can do her work remotely, really. The two of them move into a two bedroom 'shared bnb' (or whatever it was called in season two) and we finally get to see their friendship on screen.

Betty isn't in a relationship at the moment abd she's so into her work, she isn't looking for one either.

Jughead had broken up with Betty seven years ago and never really had a well working relationship after. He's grown obsessed with finding a way to recreate what he had with Betty.

Not in a totally creepy psycho way, he's simply not understanding that he might be sex positive and he had been in love with Betty, but he is ace and quite aro, too. It doesn't help, that he finds people sexually attractive on their online profiles just to be repulsed by the tought of even kissing them goodbye in person.

(I don't think tv is generally a fitting medium for this, but I guess he can narrate for himself and make it work.)

I guess he has to be an author. Obsessed as he is about finding love again (he wouldn't call it like that) he figures it had either been the location or the constant fear for his life. He chooses to return to Riverdale. He probably instantly moves with everything he owns to Riverdale (not that it's much beside a modern laptop, the typewriter and his camera).

Archie gives the great advice how Jughead is obviously still innlove with Betty, duh.

He of course runs into Betty some day, they end up investigating some random murder together and find themselves in familiar positions and kiss - but it just isn't there anymore. Jughead feels nothing and Betty isn't really into it either.

Veronica later points him in the direction of maybe not being allo (because she used to question herself as aro).

Funfact: Jughead would have failed graduation with Archie if Mr Honey didn't forge some records that weren't actually submitted from Stonewall (they claim all records were deleted during a power outage). Jughead knows and is deeply shamed.

Thornhill has been renovated! Toni is pregnant! Choni will be raising their kids (surprise, it's going to be twins!) in Cheryl's ancestral home. Choni are married and happy.

Toni has reopened the White Worm with Fangs somewhere at the Southside and yes, let's make her the official Serpent Queen. Let her work lots of social causes (remember toys for tots?), grey area rule bending for good and of course she works well with Gladys. I've seen talk about her being a social worker floating around and honestly, I think that works amazing. She's working the local cases (and a few unofficial ones) and I think she and Cheryl are registered foster parents. On occasion (like once) they'd be shown taking care of a random kid.

Cheryl used her College time to study two things: business and Riverdale town history. Remember how in season two she took so much pride in her ancestors because she believed them to be good people? She might be disillusioned but she is the Blossom heiress and her and Toni's as well as Jason's kids will one day inherit a better family legacy. She'll invest in Southside rebuilding projects, advocate for new town memorials, maybe rebrand some of the Blossom product lines. Something like that

She won't run for mayor yet, but she's definitely invested in (local) politics.

Of course the pregnancy was with artificial insemination, the donor was either an unsuspecting red head from the Greendale Sperm Bank or they use some of Jason's that has surly been saved to guarantee the Blossom line when everywhere was scary talk about sperm counts going down due to mobile phones.

In addition: the maple factories need worker bees! Cheryl has a few programs with Toni to get Serpents/random Riverdalians newly released from prison or just with bad luck into a steady job and a cushy appartement overlooking the ex prison on the Southside. Pop's is also participating. Ethel works as a landlady for said appartement complex.

Also, why not add a second Blossom-Topaz lovestory to underline this incest-adjacent show and bring back Toni's grandpa and set him up with Nana Blossom. XD

Then during this season's arc, the Blossom uncle's corpse will be found in the river and the mistery is whether the FBI will figure out who the corpse us and what happened or not.

I love Reggie. Since Varchie is unlikely thanks to Eric, him and Veronica rekindling their relationship would definitely be a possibility I'm into, but he also seems to have an interesting connection with Kevin and Fangs that could be built on.

He would definitely have a car he'd love very much and I think it would still be Bella.

I'm not sure about his career, but it wouldn't include his father's car dealership. Maybe he'd be a successful movie star just in town between movie shootings.

Kevin was doing something with musicals on Katy Keene, I think? Writing or directing? He was trying to nake it big, but some plans fell through. Now he's back in Riverdale. Luckily, they are just about to open Riverdale's first theater in the relatively newly built but forever closed prison. Next to the Southside Theater the complex holds a mall and the White Worm.

Fangs works full time as the manager of the WW that he co-owns with Toni. He meets Kevin again once he's back in town.

Sweet-Pea somehow ended up as a junior doctor at the Riverdale hospital. He spends all of his scarce free time at the WW.

Some of the background Pretty Poisons officially work for the police now. Different than Gladys, they are actually ccccc for the positions they hold.

Peaches works as a manager for one of Cheryl's companies. She's happily married and has a kid (or something).

How long in prison do you get in the US for standing in as the head figure of a crazy pen and paper cult that has literal murders committed in his name? As a blond white dude probably just parole? So honestly, once they actually bring his case to court (and they have nothing against him because anyone could have been under the mask at any one time and people know of different gargoyle kings) he's released of all charges. No one in Riverdale actually knows though since his case took forever, Bughead had already left Riverdale and Alice didn't step up to follow the case. No one wrote about it, so no one knows. They just assume that of course the guy will be locked away forever, he's guilty.

In reality, he and Charles have bought a house somewhere in a different street of Riverdale where they aren't quite known and have adopted a couple kids.

Charles meets Alice regularly for lunch and she thinks he's this workaholic FBI agent only living for solving crime. They play a long con game I don't know the goal of.

(They have been behind the tapes even if that storyline gets totally ignored. They pretend FP being in exile is their doing, but the tape responsible was just a random security camera in the area.)

Josie's plans in New York sadly fell through (I haven't seen any Katy Keene but I want her back)

Lot's of bonding scenes with her brother Kevin who's also back in town. The two share a flat and on occasion burst into song together. Since I've already invented the Southside Theater, maybe she'd find a job there, too.

Val and Melody stayed in Riverdale aftee highschool and made careers in town for themselves. Maybe Melody at city hall and Val as a marketing specialist at the farm, Riverdale's most outstanding new grocery mart. Half of all Riverdalians don't get the controversy of the name, the others either think it's brilliant or tasteless. (Kevin for example has repressed the nemories so gard, he doesn't get it. Josie is very protective and angry at Val for working there.) The store belongs to the eccentric redhaired Eva Everafter or whatever pseudonym Evelyn can come up with to thinly hide her identity behind.

Somewhere in it I'd throw in a few lines vaguely referencing older happenings like "I still can't drink tap water" and the very first time Veronica sees Archie again after seven years she identifies him through his ab muscles.

So in short: Archie would be very dumb, everyone else is just there.

Also: Pop's would serve 50% vegan burgers and milkshakes so I could dig in with gusto.

[eyes-of-simha]

my love is like a dream

Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)

Pairing: Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian/Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji

Word Count: 1500

Summary: Lan Wangji comes home, not even aware that it's his birthday. Wei Ying on the other hand is fully aware of it.

Beta Reader: @spots-of-gold

Read On AO3

The cloudy sky was a good reflection of how Lan Wangji felt. He was exhausted. His day at work had been longer than usual and now he couldn’t seem to get rid of the pounding in his head. Even though it wasn’t that long the quiet ride home in his car was a bliss. He knew that he shouldn’t work that much overtime but if it meant that other people would get to go home earlier to their families, it was worth it.

But there was also someone waiting for him at home.

The thought of Wei Ying made Wangji smile and the pounding in his head seemed to slow down. Wei Ying always had this effect on him. He calmed him down and grounded him. When Wei Ying was present, Wangji instantly felt relaxed and comfortable. Time and time again, he was surprised how well Wei Ying could ease his anxiety and make him feel safe.

Lost in thought about his boyfriend Wangji didn’t even realise he had already arrived home. As he made his way through the cold evening from the car to the door of their apartment building he thought he could maybe drink a cup of tea with Wei Ying before going to sleep. Of course that would only be possible if Wei Ying wasn’t sleeping already.

Wangji shook his head. When has Wei Ying ever gone to bed this early?

That suspicion was confirmed as soon as Wangji reached the door of their apartment. He could still hear noises from the other side of the door. He was excited to see Wei Ying. Although he saw him everyday, there was still a slight flutter in his stomach as he unlocked the door.

But what he saw then was indeed unexpected.

The room was mostly dark. The only light came from the coffee table in the living room. On it were a bunch of lit candles that glowed like stars through the black of the room. In between the candles lay a plate of muffins as well as a couple of packages wrapped in colorful paper. Gifts, Wangji realised.

It was his birthday.

How did he forget that? He usually had his calendar very well memorised. But mostly concerning his appointments and meetings, not really birthdays. Although he was certain he would never forget Wei Ying’s birthday.

Speaking of Wei Ying, he sat on the couch looking up at Wangji and even though the light was dim, Wangji could see the bright smile on his face. It glowed even brighter than the candles.

Once he got through the stage of surprise and shock, Wangji realised what was happening and a warm feeling like he had already drunk his tea began to spread through his body.

Wei Ying bounced off the couch and a took a few steps towards Wangji, still smiling.

“Happy birthday, Lan Zhan!“, he said and and threw his arms around Wangji.

He buried his face in the crook of Wangji’s neck and his warm breath caused Wangji to get goose bumps. Ignoring the feeling of his ears blushing vigorously, Wangji closed his arms around Wei Ying. He was wearing an oversized hoodie and had his hair in a messy bun so it felt like hugging a big stuffed animal.

They broke apart but Wei Ying still had his arms on Wangji’s shoulders.

“Well?“ Wei Ying said in an expectant voice. Wangji wasn’t really sure what to say to that so he remained silent.

“Are you surprised?“ Wei Ying added.

“Yes.“ Wangji tried to keep his tone as neutral as possible. Wei Ying raised a brow.

“Did you forget?“

Wangji didn’t say anything but it seemed to be enough.

“Oh my god, Lan Zhan! You forgot your own birthday! How could you just forget? I always spend weeks looking forward to mine. Now I’m even more glad I planned this. It really is a big surprise now, isn’t it? Oh god, next year I promise you I will plan the biggest birthday party just so you never forget again. Stop smiling! Do you know how long I’ve been looking forward to this-“

Wangji cut Wei Ying off by pressing their lips together. He could not express how much he loved this man in any human language. Wei Ying giggled and deepened the kiss.

After a few minutes of blissfull kissing Wei Ying suddenly pulled back. “We have to stop. You have to unpack your gifts!“ Wangji didn’t want to stop so he leaned in again but was stopped by Wei Ying putting a finger on his lips half way. “Nope. I will not let myself get distracted by you. You have to open your gifts.“ Wangji gently kissed the tip of Wei Ying’s finger and Wei Ying groaned. “To be continued,“ he said with a suggestive look on his face before turning towards the couch and pulling Wangji with him.

They sat down and Wei Ying turned the lights on so they could actually see the gifts.

“Look what I made!“ Wei Ying exclaimed and pushed the plate of muffins in Wangji’s direction.

“You baked?“ Wangji raised an eyebrow.

“I did,“ Wei Ying stated proudly. “Well, Jiejie helped. But it was my idea! And they’re vegan.“

Wangji smiled at Wei Ying’s demeanor. He looked like a proud toddler presenting something they made to their parent. “They look very delicious,“ Wangji said as he picked up one of the gifts to start unwrapping.

The first gift was a book of poetry by one of Wangji’s favorite authors. Wei Ying complained about the poet having written “just way too many“ books and him not knowing which one to get.

He ended up choosing this one because he liked the cover art. It was a watercoloring of a cherry blossom tree on a mountain. Wangji smiled to himself as he had actually been planning to read this one next.

The second gift was a bunny plushie. It was pearl white and stared at Wangji with big eyes. Wangji stared back.

Wei Ying started petting the stuffed bunny. “I know we were talking about getting bunnies because you had them when you were a kid and you really like them and I know that we can’t right now because of our jobs but I thought this little guy could stand in for them until we get real bunnies. Do you like him?“

Wangji answered Wei Ying by kissing him on the cheek. Wei Ying turned pink and quickly handed him the next present.

It was a box with different kinds of teas. Green, black, fruity, herbal, sweet, and some that Wangji had never heard of before. “We can try some tomorrow if you want,“ Wei Ying suggested. “Mmh,“ Wangji nodded.

He was quite proud of turning Wei Ying into more of a tea drinker. He still drank a lot of coffee. More than Wangji thought was good for him but at least he wasn’t at the three-cups-just-to-wake-up-stage anymore.

Wei Ying handed him the last gift. Wangji hesitated but before he could even say something, Wei Ying already protested, “Don’t even say that it’s too much. It’s your birthday. It’s your day and I want to do something nice. And I didn’t have to pay for this one, so…“ and he put the gift in Wangji’s lap. Wangji sighed and unwrapped it.

It was a framed drawing. Wangji immediately recognised that it was Wei Ying’s work.

The drawing itself was of Lan Wangji. He was sitting with his legs stretched out but slighty bent. He leaned back on his arms for support. He was naked except for a thin silk cloth which was elegantly laid over his crotch. His head was thrown back, his eyes were closed and his mouth slightly open as if in deep satisfaction. Strands of black hair fell into his face and a flower was tucked behind his ear. It looked a bit like a lotus.

At the bottom of the drawing were a few finely written chinese characters. They spelled out two lines out of one of Wangji’s favorite poems. They translated to:

‘my love is like a flower my love is like a dream‘

Underneath, Wei Ying’s signature was scribbled.

Wangji looked at the drawing for a couple of seconds. It almost felt like he was holding his breath. Then he touched the glass of the frame and started to gently follow the lines of the drawing with his hands. He hovered over the arms, the legs, the chest and the face of his drawn self. Lastly, he caressed the delicate lines of the words at the bottom.

„My love is like a flower,“ he breathed, barely more than a whisper. „My love is like a dream.“

He looked up and found Wei Ying’s eyes softly looking at him. Wangji moved his hand to meet Wei Ying’s and intertwined their fingers. Wei Ying scooted closer to him until there was barely any space between them anymore.

„Happy birthday,“ Wei Ying whispered.

„Thank you.“

[respectablesentiment]

the first draft of a scene with Ellie and JJ from chapter 10 of waiting for dawn, had to get partially cut because it strayed from Dina’s POV but I wanted to share :)

obviously contains spoilers for ch10

If you haven’t already, check out my now completed post-game Ellie x Dina continuation fic on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24995950/chapters/60521611 

---> original draft of JJ calling Ellie ‘mummy’ the first time. In this version, Dina was downstairs still with dinner and steps out during the story to say goodnight to others. You never end up hearing the first time in the published fic, Dina only catches the second. 

--

They have a large dinner that night with Jesse’s parents and Maria and Tommy – mostly food the others had brought.

Ellie steps out to bathe JJ after dinner, the others chatting quietly downstairs. Everyone was so happy for them and Dina’s heart feels like its burning in her chest. Butterflies in her stomach flutter every time Dina brushes passed her or touches her softly.

They’ve lived together before; they’ve definitely slept together before… not since Ellie returned though. Nothing comes close to as heated as they got the day after Ellie returned. She feels like she’s an awkward teenager again, comfortable around Dina half the time and the other half she’s a blushing mess. (A/N: this was written prior to the additional make out sessions, the workshop kiss post-patrol/the farm scene/the cherry scene were all written later)

JJ is fussy in the new bath, not necessarily upset about Ellie trying to wash his hair but very determined to stretch out in the larger tub, touch all the surrounding tiles and splash Ellie’s face. Ellie loves every moment of it, even when he tugs roughly at her hair, she never remembers to put it up in a proper bun when she does this.

He is happily chatting away to her, seeming to be discussing a great battle between the plastic clownfish and plastic submarine toys that Ellie had distracted him with. Ellie normally kneels beside the bathtub but the edges are higher here and she has shifted to crouching at one point, not realising how much water is on the floor until she slips. She’s knocked something off the counter behind her as her back crashes into it, a loud thud sounding throughout the house, she can hear JJ pause and then cry for her. “Mummy!”

Ellie is feels more winded from his cry than the blow to her back. She groans, rolling her shoulders, and rocking forward onto her knees to coo to JJ, “It’s okay, spud, I’m alright, I’m just clumsy.”

Tears are rolling down his cheeks and she feels guilty, she runs her hand tenderly through his short hair one more time to be certain she’s washed out the conditioner and then lifts him out of the bath in a soft towel. She adjusts him carefully so he’s completely wrapped up and cradled as close as he can be to her, a small hand reaching out to grip at her shirt as he cries.

“Ellie?” She can hear Dina yell distantly, her footsteps quick and heavy as she races up the stairs and bursts into the bathroom. (A/N: this is where the published version picks up but obviously actually edited)

She finds them both crying, Ellie too focused on JJ to realise she’s crying as well.

“What happened, baby?” Dina asks softly, coming forward to wrap her arms around them, rubbing gently as JJ’s back as he slowly calms.

“I slipped on the water,” Ellie blushes, “Hit my back on the counter behind him and the noise frightened him I think.”

“How bad were you hurt?” Dina asks concerned, “You seem really upset.”

“Okay Mummy?” JJ asks, hiccupping, his eyebrows scrunched together just like Dina’s.

“Oh,” Dina breathes, looking from JJ to Ellie again with wonder in her eyes.

“Yeah, Potato… Mummy is okay,” Ellie reassures him, pressing soft kisses to his cheeks as she bounces him gently, “Let’s get you dry and in your jammies.”

Dina hovers after that, not wanting to take over but not wanted to leave them either.

JJ wants four stories for bed that night. It is more than he normally wants, and they can both tell he’s trying desperately to stay awake, drifting slowly through the story and then perking up each time Ellie closes the book. It might be because of his scare earlier, but it could also be that they’ve put him in a new bed. It’s a small child size bed that Ellie had converted under John’s watchful eye to a toddler bed with sides that can be raised to keep him from falling. Ellie is sitting on the bed beside JJ, holding the book open so he can see the pictures as she reads to him.

Dina ducks downstairs between the second and third iteration, saying goodnight to the others and explaining that JJ needed more time to settle. They leave quietly, telling her once again how happy they are for them and each hugging her tightly.

She’s upstairs again by the time Ellie finishes the fourth time, JJ still blinking sleepily up at her.

“It’s late, Potato, why don’t you wanna sleep?” She asks him softly, blowing a raspberry on his cheek and making him giggle.

“Story,” he says again.

“Alright,” Ellie agrees easily, a total pushover for whatever JJ wants. Dina sits on the rocking chair beside the bed, watching as Ellie puts the book down, leans back and talks to JJ about the space. “Has your mama ever told you that the sun is a star?” She asks gently, ruffling JJ’s hair softly, “It’s very close to us which is why it looks so different from the other stars…”

--

Fucking loved writing a Dina-centric fic but I totally feel like I could explore the same narrative from Ellie’s perspective and it would Hit different. This was something I wrote relatively early on and I very very clearly shifted away from Dina’s focus. 

I like the final version obviously, but I just think the original scene was really sweet and figured I would share :)

[let-it-raines]

Second In Command prompt: I loved seeing Killian so caring and concerned when Emma was hurt (cutting herself at the pub and collapsing on stage). Worried Killian is too adorable. I'd love to see something where Killian is away on a work trip and he gets a call one of the kids had an accident (of course they are ultimately fine in the end with no lasting damage, just lots of extra love and care from mom and dad).

Killian’s guided around the facility, several different people telling him the ins and outs of what they do every day and what is done when they’re deployed overseas. No matter how many times he’s heard it before, it’s all a bit overwhelming to him to have to hear about the military and their daily tasks, especially when he knows that he should have been a member of the Royal Navy after he graduated from University, but it’s honestly mostly the emotions behind it all. He’s heard several stories about the loss of loved ones or serious, life-changing injuries today, and it makes his stomach twist in uncomfortable knots. These people are protecting him, protecting his family and the families of everyone in the nation, and all he does is take guided tours and cut ribbons to open new physical therapy offices.

Really, he knows that he does more, knows that he does actually help and do good, but after listening to someone tell him how much of an ache it is to miss the birth of his daughter and most of her formative years, he can’t help the nagging feeling that’s settling within him. He can’t imagine missing the birth of any of his three children or missing so much of their lives when he already feels like he’s missing so much of them when he is home as often as he can be and more than most working parents.

Linnie turned one two days ago, and he’s still not over it. That’s his smallest little love, and she’s technically a toddler. He’s not sure if he believes in the fact that once a baby turns one, they’re no longer a baby, but then again, his rambunctious six-and-a-half year old lad is still his baby.

He’s getting sappier in his old age.

Who is he kidding? He’s always been sappy when it comes to his children.

When he finishes touring the facility, cataloguing stories he’s told and improvements that need to be made, he loads up in the backseat of the car and lets Thomas start the hour-long drive home while he makes notes over ways that he’d like to personally help more. He knows that nearly everything on this list will get rejected, that he’ll be stretching himself too thin, but it’s at least worth the effort to maybe get one or two things approved.

If Emma doesn’t absolutely veto everything since he’s already been taking on more than strictly necessary.

Emma is most definitely going to veto him.

“Have a good weekend with your family, mate,” he tells Thomas when he’s dropped off at home, the car parked on the cobblestone pathway that leads to their front door.

“You too, sir. Please tell Sutton thank you again for the lovely pictures she drew me.”

“Aye, I will,” he laughs, getting out of the car and shutting the door behind him.

He can’t hear the sounds of anyone playing outside, so he figures that Emma has them all inside for dinner. Quickly, he makes his way to the front door, typing in the code for their security system before stepping into the entryway so that his shoes hit against the dark hardwood the fills most of their bottom floor. He can hear Sutton talking, her little voice carrying from what he thinks is the kitchen, and he smiles a bit to himself knowing that she’s going to come running up to him the moment she realize he’s home.

It’s the little things that make his day. To be loved so deeply by someone that their entire day is made simply by him coming home is…everything.

But before he can even make his way to the kitchen, he’s intercepted in the hallway by his wife who looks as beautiful as always but a little worse for wear with her un-brushed hair and smudged makeup with her lounge clothes from this morning still on.

“Hi, beautiful,” he greets, stretching his lips into a smile while he dips his head down to capture his lips with hers, his hands finding their place on her hips while he tastes the bit of chocolate on her. “How are you?”

“I’m fine. I just – ” She looks up at him with her bottom lip between her teeth, a little worry in her eyes, and he gets that familiar twisting in his stomach that he felt earlier. But worse. Far, far worse. “Don’t freak out.”

Shit. That’s never good. No one has ever told him not to freak out and then he has proceeded to not freak out.

He always freaks out.

“Emma, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong,” she promises, sliding her hands up to rest on his chest. “I mean, technically something is wrong, but it’s not a big deal. I just don’t want you to freak out.”

“What happened?” he insists, squeezing her hips a little more tightly to encourage her to speak.

“Okay so – ”

“Daddy,” Andy screeches, running toward the two of them at full speed, and over Emma’s shoulder he can see that Andy’s right arm is wrapped in a blue cast.

What in the world? That worry that had settled within him twists up again, really burning to blazing new heights, and his eyes glance toward Emma only for her to lean forward and rest her forehead against his shoulder for the briefest of moments before she pulls back.

“Daddy, will you sign my cast?” Andy asks with a bright smile on his face, his front tooth missing even if it is growing back the tiniest bit. He looks ridiculous, but honestly somehow Andy is even more persuasive with things than he was before.  

“I want to draw on it,” Sutton shouts as she follows in behind Andy. And if Linnie could walk, he’s sure she would be just behind Sutton.

“I want Daddy to sign it first, Sutton.”

“You already let Mummy draw on it.”

“That’s because she’s Mummy.”“Well, I’m Sutton,” she huffs, placing her hands on her hips with all of the might that a four-year-old shouldn’t have.

His daughter isn’t any four-year-old.

“Woah, woah,” he sighs, his eyes not sure where to focus, so he leans down and picks Sutton up, kissing her cheek before he squats down in front of his son to look at his arm and make sure it really is there underneath his cast. “Would somebody like to tell Daddy what happened to Andy’s arm before I sign any casts? Huh?”

“Well,” Andy starts, shaking his head and flicking back his black hair because it needs a trim, “I was on the playground at school, and Oliver and I were playing Pirate Captain, which is really cool because I got to be the Captain.”

“Of course. Who else would you be?”

“I don’t know. I also like being the guy who gets to steer the ship.”

“That’s fun too, lad,” he encourages, putting Sutton on the ground and watching Emma walk into the other room with Sutton following behind her, mumbling something about her wanting to be a pirate captain too. His children are insane, and he still needs to see Linnie. She’s likely in her play pen. God, he hopes she’s not simply crawling around with no one watching her. They don’t need any more broken bones. “But how did we get the broken arm?”

“Oh, I fell.”

“Off of what, lad?”

Andy shrugs his shoulders, his smile still just as bright as it was in the beginning, and he wonders just how crazy everything was without him today. Seriously. His son has somehow broken a bone while at school, and he’s only finding out about it hours later. How did no one tell him? Why did no one tell him?

“The monkey bars,” Andy sighs, exasperated as he throws his head back. “I was pretending to climb up the sails, and I fell super far down onto the ground. It hurt. Like, a lot, but then Mrs. Simon came and got me, and I got to go to the hospital like last year when Linnie came out of Mummy’s tummy and was all red and squishy and gross.”

Indy walks into the hallway then, her tail wagging and Sutton’s favorite doll in her mouth, and he wonders if their house could be any more chaotic. Then again, he doesn’t know what’s going on in the other room with Emma and the girls.

Quickly, he reaches to stratch behind Indy’s ears to try to get her to drop the doll. When she does, he picks it up, ignoring the slobber and sticking it in his coat pocket. These trousers are really too tight for him to be squatting down this long, and honestly, he’s not sure that they won’t rip when he stands up.

That would be the cherry on top of today, really.

“Are you okay, buddy?” he asks Andy, reaching forward to push his hair off his forehead while his eyes scan Andy’s face to make sure that there aren’t any other injuries. He can’t believe any of this. This was…his children aren’t supposed to get hurt. He knows it’s going to happen, that it’s life, but he wants to forever keep them safe in his arms like he did when they were infants. “Does it still hurt? Did Mummy give you any medicine?”

“Yeah.” He sticks his tongue out. “It was nasty.”

“I bet it was.”

“She also let me have an extra biscuit before dinner.”

“Ahh,” he chuckles, shaking his head a bit before he leans forward to brush his lips over Andy’s forehead. “Why don’t we go in the kitchen then? Get some of that dinner in your belly.”

“Are you going to sign my cast?”

“Of course, but you have to let your sister draw on it too.”

His nose scrunches up at that, but he does end up nodding his head up and down in affirmation.

When he and Andy make their way into the kitchen, Indy following at their ankles, Sutton is sitting in the cushioned nook surrounded by windows that give them a view out into the pool and the garden. She seems to be picking at her plate of pasta, while Emma is currently trying to keep pureed carrots off of Linnie’s high chair and in her mouth. It doesn’t seem to be working. But these are their nights, so he fixes himself and Emma a plate of something to eat, helping Andy along the way, before he joins his wife and his kids at the table, the conversation loudly flowing as Andy decides to continuously retell the story of his broken arm, each retelling getting a bit more dramatic, while Sutton has to share about her own day and how she had to miss ballet class. Linnie only babbles, but he imagines she’s wondering if she can somehow trade out families for a quieter one.

He can nearly guarantee it.

After dinner, he and Emma split up getting everyone to bed, bath time the thing that still consumes most of their night, even more so now since Andy’s cast can’t get wet, but after he gets Sutton to sleep, he moves down the hall to Andy’s room, opening up the door and peeking inside at him lining up all of his trains on the table. He’s so much like Emma sometimes, but then he does little things like that, and all Killian can see is himself. It’s the oddest thing.

He quite likes it. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be in bed, lad?”

“In a minute,” he responds, not bothering to turn around as he switches two trains on the table.

“Andy.”

“Sorry,” he apologizes, fixing one last thing before he quickly makes his way into his bed, climbing up on the mattress and tucking himself in while Killian settles down on the other side of the bed, propping his socked feet up over the navy comforter.

“Do you want me to read you a story?”

“Can you make one up?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I think I may be out of all of my made up stories.”

“Dad,” he whines, scooting down further into the bed until Killian can only see the bridge of his nose that’s covered with freckles and the blue of his eyes partially hidden under dark lashes. “You can’t be out.”

“But what if I am? What if I have no stories left in me?”

“Then you need to go get Mummy.”

Killian chuckles to himself and folds his hands together before placing them on his stomach, looking up at the ceiling fan for a moment while he clicks his tongue. He needs to dust in Andy’s room. He needs to dust in all of the rooms now that he thinks about it. “Hmm, so fifteen years ago on a dark and stormy night a young prince was running away from his family. You see, they’d gotten into a rather big fight.”

Andy shifts in bed again, turning onto his side so that he faces Killian with half of his face squished into a pillow. “About what?”

“They wouldn’t let him have chocolate for dinner.”“I’d fight about that too.”

“I know you would,” he chuckles, unclasping his hands to reach over and brush Andy’s hair back since he knows that it’s soothing. His cast is resting on top of his comforter, Killian’s scribbled “Daddy” with a drawing off Indy prominent next to Emma’s neat script and Sutton’s rather messy one, though not as messy as the scribble that Linnie added. He can’t believe Andy hurt himself so badly. “So the prince was caught in the rain, and he needed a place to go so he wouldn’t get sick, and there, in the dark night he found this shining yellow light.”

“What was it?”

“Well, another magic castle of course.”

“Was it big like the prince’s castle?”

He’s never going to get through a story with his son asking every question in the book, but this is always what happens when Andy asks him to make up a story instead of reading on in a book full of pictures. And maybe he’s copping out by telling a fantasized story of how he and Emma met, but he’s tired. He’s tired and there’s only so much he can do.

He likes the days where he gets to read actual books.

“It was smaller, but oftentimes smaller things mean so much more. Houses don’t have to be big to be special, lad. And that’s what happened here because inside this small castle with the glowing yellow light was a fair maiden.”

“What’s a maiden?”

“A girl.”

“A pretty one?”

“Aye, but she was also very smart and funny, which are two very important things, my boy, and she was very kind to the soaked prince because she gave him dry clothes and food and a place to spend his time until the rain disappeared.”

“Do the girl and the prince fall in love?” Andy gasps, very obviously knowing enough about fairy tales to get where Killian is going with this even if their life is not a fairy tale. He likes it that way, but they do have a damn good story.

“You bet they do.”

It takes about five minutes before Andy is drifting off to sleep, his lashes landing against his cheeks, and Killian leans over to kiss his forehead. “I love you,” he whispers, lingering a bit before propping a pillow under Andy’s cast, hoping that he doesn’t roll too much tonight. But Andy is a heavy sleeper, always has been since he got past his infant days, so Killian is able to quietly leave the room, turning off the lights and shutting the door behind him as he walks toward his own bedroom.

Emma isn’t in bed yet, so he’s not surprised to find her in the bathroom standing over her vanity rubbing some sort of cream into her face. He knows that she knows he’s in the room, but he quietly steps up behind her anyways, wrapping his arms around her stomach and resting his hands there while he buries his nose in her neck, peppering a few kisses there and breathing her in like he’s longed to do all day. He stays still while she keeps moisturizing her face, only moving to rest his chin on her shoulder when she pats his hands against her stomach.

“So, anything exciting happen to you today?” he jokes, the exhaustion hitting him in a way that he knows must have hit Emma hours ago.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you when it happened, Killian. I – ” She looks at him in the mirror and leans her head back against his cheek while her eyes close for the briefest of moments. “I got the call while I was feeding Linnie. Like, I legit had my boob out feeding one kid while Sutton was running around with her ballet outfit on backwards, and I get this call from the school saying there’s an accident. I think my heart stopped beating. I know that I stopped breathing.”“I’m sorry, love,” he murmurs, kissing her shoulder. “I can’t imagine how terrifying that must have been.”

“It was awful. I mean, she said accident, and I lost my mind. I could barely understand anything after that, barely heard that he had hurt his arm and that the school nurse figured it was broken, but I was grabbing the kids and rushing out the door. He was so brave, babe. I mean, his face was all red and puffy, but once he calmed down, he was just awesome. He thought it was the coolest thing, and I was a complete and total mess thinking about him being hurt.”

“Why didn’t you call me? I would have come home immediately. Surely you know that.”

“I didn’t want to worry you until I had to. I knew today was important to you, and honestly, until about the time when you texted me that you were coming home, I figured I didn’t have to worry you until you actually got home. There was no point in making you suffer in that car.”

He hums, not really sure what to say but knowing what he wants to say. “Darling, if one of our kids was hurt, and I didn’t call you right away, you realize you would murder me, right?”“I definitely would.”

“So maybe next time one of our children gets hurt, because it is going to happen again, you don’t worry about carrying that burden all on your own, yeah? We got married for many a reason, but one of my favorites ones is sharing the burdens.”

“In that case there’s a really nasty spaghetti sauce stain on the carpet in the living room, and I need you to get it out.”

Killian chuckles against her before moving his hands off of her stomach and encouraging Emma to turn around until her hands are wrapped around his neck and his hands are inching ever so close to her ass, fingers nearly there. “I am always here to get your spaghetti sauce stains out.”

“How do you know I made the stain?”

“Because you never would have let the kids in the living room with marinara sauce.”

[arcadeguk]

got juice?

prompt: jimin just wants to make it through his shift, scanning almond milk and weird organic kiwis as fast as he can, so he can leave this pit of hell and crash - maybe even getting in a quick drunken game of overwatch before night’s end. however, his days going from meaningless to “okay maybe a little interesting” when his manager decides to hire a deadass smokeshow to work the juice bar, directly in front of jimin’s register.

pairing: cashier!jimin x juicebar!reader (ft. god only knows who)

genre: fluff, banter, slow burn, strangers to humping in the cleaning closet

a/n: i don’t know what’s gotten into me but u can blame @pjmults for it

if jimin’s register could talk, it would ask you, get down on it’s knees and fucking beg you, to convince its poor blonde haired operator to please pretty please with lots of cherries on top go talk to the cute girl working the juice bar. after all, it wasn’t fair for jimin to take out his pent up sexual frustration out on the keyboard, but nonetheless, here he was, pounding the produce code for a bunch of bananas, beating the aged to thing to death like it owed him money.

jimin’s good at his job, and not only that, he likes it, which is more than can be said for his coworker, taehyung, who’s currently slouching against the register next to his. jimin likes the people, the light conversation, the money, and something to do during the summer, (the store is air conditioned, his apartment is not). it keeps the sweet little mochi happy and busy, and the whole job was nothing but butterflies and break room antics until you showed up.

even as jimin stands here, watching you expertly put together a mango smoothie, he’s annoyed at how goddamn perfect you are. really, seriously, how much was jimin expected to take? you coming in with an adorable little outfit, disguised by the juice bar apron?? and that sweet little visor that cast the cutest shadow on your face, and if jimin looked up at just the right moment, the light would catch your eyes, and they’d be the only thing illuminated on your face?? how you always were so friendly with customers, and whenever one of them made you laugh loud enough and he could hear it from his register, he debated running out into open traffic at that very moment??? no, this abuse was too fucking much, he wouldn’t stand for this, he was a man with morals after all… the juice girl, of all people? the person who worked 9-5 in his direct eyeline? he couldn’t have fallen in love with someone in his peripheral vision? not someone he had to see every single time he glanced up? this was god-tier level stupidity, this was -

“hey dumbass, anyone home?” the charming question is followed up with an even more loving knock on jimin’s skull, and he turns to the side, eyes burning with hatred, tongue full of fire ready to be spat at whoever interrupted his existential life crisis. said assailant quickly draws his hand, tucking it cutely into a fist under his chin and feigning innocence.

“what i meant to say was, ‘hyung, i’m going on break, so i won’t be at the register. unfortunately, that means i won’t be here to watch you ogle poor y/n, but since you insist on taking your breaks at the same time she takes hers just so you can stare at her world class -” this final comment goes a little far for jimin, and he draws back an open hand, poised and ready to land a loving, brotherly slap. taehyung jumps away, and wiggles his eyebrows towards the juice bar. if it weren’t for taehyung’s impossibly long legs (and head start) jimin would have beaten him to a pulp. taehyung escapes and jimin pulls himself away from the younger boy’s jeering to mentally prepare himself for the next customer, who’s already lining up their items on the conveyor belt.

jimin glances up past the belt, towards the juice bar, like he’s done at least a million times a shift. but this time, the scenery has changed. no longer are you digging out smoothie contents, arm deep in a blender, or furiously stabbing away at your own outdated register. no, this time, you’re standing calmly at the bar, looking directly ahead of you, locking eyes with the blonde haired angel prince who’d been staring you down from your first training shift.

jimin freezes, and his mind comes to a complete stop. surprisingly, panic doesn’t set in, and he finds himself entirely content to ignore the line forming to instead stand here all day, looking at you looking at him. it’s only when your eyes break with his, glancing over at the overgrown toddler taehyung, who’s still jeering his way down the storefront and making kissy noises, does jimin understand what’s happening here. suddenly, like those atypical war flashbacks that happen in every hollywood blockbuster, the entire scene comes rushing back to jimin in the form of flushed cheeks and a gnawed lip. he’d been staring at you, cursing the angel who’d decided to materialize in the form of a juice bartender, when taehyung had started messing with him. you’d so conveniently looked up, and caught taehyung’s wiggly eyebrows, and jerked thumb, right towards you at the juice bar. jimin’s palms go sweaty, beads of sweat break out on his hairline, and the flawless, uninterested facade he’d kept for exactly 7 and ½ weeks came crumbling down in the form of a laugh.

your laugh, to be exact - loud, tinny, high and full of hope and clouds and sunshine. laughs that were usually reserved for only the funniest customers, or a super good joke from one of your coworkers. jimin never believed, in a million fucking years, that that laugh would be directed towards him.

but as soon as the moment started, it ended. reality came rushing back to the both of you - items that needed scanning, fridges that needed restocking, and smoothies that needed blending. the rest of the afternoon keeps the both of you pretty busy, and jimin spends every break in the action praying he’ll get to recreate it, maybe later on, during your lunch break. he only ends up heartbroken when he’s told the juice bar was swamped today, and that you hadn’t even ended up taking a lunch break, let alone a shorter break, where jimin could duck out of his register and pretend he was just dying for a stale package of cookies from the break room vending machine.

jimin knows his shift has come to an end when taehyung clocks out of his register, only to reappear in jimin’s line, holding a massive energy drink.

“big night planned?” he asks, giving taehyung a broad smile.

“oh you know, the usual - papers to write, video games to play, dicks to suck,” jimin snorts, any sentence he had planned turning into a throaty laugh.

taehyung fakes a heaving sigh, and smiles, “never off the clock…” his gaze travels to the godforsaken juice bar, where you’re tiredly wiping down counters and blenders, cleaning up only for it to be dirtied all over again the next morning.

“you should talk to her, at least once.” taehyung whispers, leaning over the edge of the conveyor belt towards jimin’s ear. jimin gives a little humph - half annoyance, half a poor coverup of the crippling fear of being afraid to talk to you. he hands taehyung his receipt, and waves the boy away. “one of these days… maybe”, jimin mutters under his breath, and taehyung answers with a cheery, “before you die, park jimin!”

jimin’s eyes keep glancing anxiously towards the clock. only five more minutes, then he’s freed from this endless purgatory. it’s your tiny “hey,” that breaks him from his obsessive clock watching, and it takes every ounce of energy that jimin has left in the tank to keep from collapsing right there on the spot. there you are, in his line, looking like heaven dumped everything beautiful and perfect right in front of him. jimin offers an even smaller, “hi, how are you doing?”, his obligatory company line.

“i mean, i only got 4 smoothies and a wheatgrass juice poured on me today, so far, i’d say i’m doing pretty good,”

jimin can’t mask the surprise on his face, eyes glancing up to meet yours. he laughs, out of genuine humor, or out of the fact that you said it so carelessly, so easily, like the pair of you were friends talking about a long shift - he can’t decide, but he does know one thing: he thinks the sound of your voice is the prettiest thing he’s ever heard.

“you looked like you were handling everything pretty well over there,” jimin says, the timid shyness that had settled in his chest now blossoming into a rosebud of confidence.

“well, if anyone would know, it would sure be you, mr. park jimin.” you say with a smile, drinking up the confused, caught-in-the-act expression on the boy’s face. plump lips puffed out into a surprised pout, eyes opening a little larger than normal, but he shakes the expression off pretty fast, replaced with a look of concentration as he rings up your groceries.

“not that i mind,” you add quickly with a smile, and the boy glances up again, gifting you with the smallest of grins.

“we are across from each other, every day, all day,” jimin adds, bagging up your final items. “kinda hard not to look, i mean, you know, the juice bar just happens to be in my natural eyeline, so when people look up, it’s where your eyes naturally fall, and there’s that huge neon sign…” jimin knows he’s starting to ramble, and in order to save him any more mortal embarrassment that he knows he won’t recover from, he decides to cut his losses and stop talking, rubbing the back of his neck as he waits an eternity for your receipt to print. your eyes meet again, and you grace him with the prettiest smile. jimin waits for the sound of his body hitting the floor.

“your shift ends soon, right? do me a huge favor and help me carry this out to my car?” you ask, and jimin smiles.

“meet you outside in two minutes.”

after your groceries are packed away in your trunk, you take the opportunity to look at jimin’s face. you turn around to see him, and here, under the soft yellow lights of the parking lot, you can appreciate the features of his face much better than under the flourescent light of the store. the sweet, quick slope of his nose, the hillside ending in a sweet little button tip. the fluffiness of his blonde hair, moving slightly in the breeze and looking all that more golden in this light. the curve of his cheekbones, slender and slim, turning into pinchable, kissable little pouches on his face when he smiles. the eyes that are wide, curious, but also so full of happiness and sheer joy. and his lips, a perfectly formed pout, pink and full, sitting on the bottom half of his face. your eyes move upwards to meet his, only to find him fixated on your own pair of lips.

“park jimin, are you thinking about kissing me?”

jimin’s eyes meet your own, a mixture between tenderness and shyness. “maybe,” he giggles, and takes a nervous step back.

“well, then do it already,” you say, lips curling up into a cat like grin, enjoying teasing the boy who was practically shaking with nerves. what you didn’t expect was that he’d actually do it.

soft, pillowy lips attach to yours, gentle at first. his hand creeps up to cup your jaw, and he softly deepens it, aligning himself to gain better access to your mouth. it’s his turn to tease you, landing sweet kitten like licks and nips, before pushing his mouth deep into yours. you try your best not to lose yourself in how intense this kiss is getting, but every swirl of jimin’s tongue is driving you further and further to the edge of euphoria. he can’t help but hum as he explores your mouth, tasting the sweet strawberry banana smoothie you had for lunch, melting into your flavor that only he gets to taste, to remember. it’s when you’re both breathless, heads spinning, do you break away, opening your eyes only when you’ve committed the taste to memory.

“do you, um, wanna know something funny?” you ask, too distracted by jimin’s swollen pink pout too even finish your thought.

“what’s that?” he breathes out, moving in closer with every breath, not quite done with the bruised, swollen artwork he was making on your face.

“i just bought 57 dollars worth of groceries that i didn’t need. i literally grabbed the first shit i saw. i just wanted to go through your line and talk to you, because, i’m not sure if you know this, park jimin, but i stare at you at least twice as much as you stare at me.”

jimin stops his descent to your lips, and pulls back, a smile sitting pretty on his face.

“adorable,” he murmurs, and within seconds, his lips attach to yours, returning to the place that already feels like home.

now, whenever jimin glanced up from his register (who had been treated much kinder in recent weeks, thank you very much), he would find you looking at him, offering a sweet smile, a little wave, and if he was lucky - a kiss, blown from your lips, landing right on his heart. joint lunch breaks were no longer coincidence, but yet the best part of both shifts - lunch breaks that sometimes ended a little early for PG-13 romps in the nearest custodial closet.

jimin had always liked his job. he liked his coworkers, he liked the people who came into his line, and he liked the fast-paced atmosphere of the register. but what he liked most was the pretty girl who worked across from him, pouring juice and blowing him kisses all. day. long.

[fourthlinefic]

Diversions IV

It’s been 84 years,,,

Sid should have known that something was up when Kris invited him round for lunch straight after practise. Usually, he gave Sid at least a day’s notice of any social engagement. If Sid had taken time to think about it in the sudden recalibration of his day, he would have realised that it was one of the places that Kris knew that they wouldn’t be interrupted by cameras or any of the five guys who had ‘emergency’ keys to Sid’s back door.

He was halfway through a ham and salad sandwich (on rye, no mayo) when Kris sprung his trap. But by then, he already had an Alexander in his lap and nowhere to run.

“So,” Kris started, spearing a cherry tomato with his fork. “How are things with you and Jamie these days?”

“Is this- is this is an appropriate topic for little ears?” Sid said, nodding at Alex's dark head. He didn't appear to be listening, instead straining across the kitchen counter to try and reach his juice cup. Sid handed it to him and got a broad smile in return.

“Who's Jamie?” Alex asked, after he'd taken a long pull of juice.

“Just a friend of Sid's. You met him at the rink remember?” Kris said. Alex shrugged. “Hey, why don't you go find mama, eh? See what she's up to.”

“Why?”

“Because me and Sid need to have a chat about some grown up things.”

“What sort of things?” Alex asked.

“Things for grown ups,” Sid said, hoisting him under his arms and depositing him gently on the floor. He and Kris watched as he toddled off, though at nearly five years old, you couldn’t really call him a toddler anymore. Kris found he never felt older than when he noticed how big the kids were getting. He turned back to Sid.

“So. Jamie.”

“I told you before,” Sid sighed, taking another bite of sandwich. “We’re just messing around. It’s just fun. And none of your business.”

Kris wrinkled his nose at Sid. He would have thought that at thirty years old, someone would have taught him not to talk with his mouth full. “I mean, it kind of is my business since you started up with a teammate. And no offence, Sid, but,” he paused, because Sid was right. This was not a conversation he wanted being overheard by little ears. He cast a quick eye around and dropped his voice anyway, because you never knew. “But you're kind of a slut, and not everyone is used to the Sidney Crosby Treatment.”

“That’s not fair,” Sid frowned. “It’s not like I’ve had much of a chance at dating long term, y’know?”

And maybe Sid had a point, except Kris knew his friend, and he knew that Sid felt no remorse at his perpetual single-hood. Kris sighed. “I’m just trying to look out for you, Sid.”

“I know, bud,” Sid smiled. “And in my defence, you were there when I swore off Seguin. And the thing with Giroux doesn't count, we were in Prague.”

“I was there the last time you swore off Seguin, but you say that after every Dallas game,” Kris pointed out. Sid glared at him, and Kris stared back. He should be glad he wasn't bringing up his history with Ovechkin, or Weber, and he was pretty sure Taylor Hall was involved at one point. Sid sighed resignedly and shrugged.

“It’s different now. He’s got this regular thing going on with Benn,” he said, wrinkling his nose at the thought of exclusivity.

“You know, most people would call that a healthy, monogamous relationship, Sidney.”

“No, because then that would mean me and Jamie are in a relationship.”

Kris blinked. “I'm sorry, What?”

“Having sex exclusively with one person doesn't mean you're in a relationship,” Sid said with a shrug, and maybe if it was anyone else saying that, Kris would have been inclined to agree with them. Except.

“No no no, wait. No. You're sleeping only with Jamie?”

“I mean, it's not like I have many options these days. Most guys are either too young or married,” Sid shrugged. Kris sighed, rubbed his fingers against his temples. He had long ago come to the realisation that Sid was a special kind of emotionally emancipated. He had accepted that. It was just a Sid Thing, like so many other Sid Things. But Jesus, did he worry about him sometimes.

“That is so far from the point I'm trying to make here, Sid. When was the last time you were seeing only one guy?”

The long pause before Sid could answer would be enough to make his mother weep. It nearly made Kris weep. Just when he thought he was going to have to spell it out for him, Sid’s eyes suddenly flashed with realisation. He put his sandwich down on his plate, and blinked at Kris.

“Fuck. We’re dating.”

Sid eyed his phone as it started buzzing along his kitchen counter. Flower's grinning face beamed up at him, the top of Estelle’s head just visible in the frame of the photo. The ache of Flower’s drafting wasn’t as painful as when it was fresh, not since Flower had found a decent phone plan, but Sid couldn’t help the half sigh that escaped him before picking up his mobile.

“Whatever Kris told you, it's a lie,” he said as he put him on speaker, and Flower's laugh crackled down the line. Sid felt his own mouth twitch upwards in response. It was still so easy to fall into the familiar patterns of chirper and chirpee, the distance doing little to diminish Flower’s ability to verbally destroy Sid any chance he got.

“Hello to you too, Sidney.” Flower said. “I hear I should congratulate you? That you're finally growing up?”

“Don't you guys have better things to do than gossip about my love life?” Sid asked, going back to stirring the chili on the stove. He'd remembered to leave out the bell pepper this time, how Jamie had picked all the pieces out and left them on the side of his plate. And okay, yeah. He could see how maybe this whole thing had turned into dating.

“Sid, you know you're the most interesting part of all of our lives,” Flower said, and Sid could still pick out the teasing edge in his voice.

“Duper’s maybe,” Sid allowed, smiling at Flower's snort of laughter. “You and Kris should still be thinking about hockey.”

“Well the thing is, Sidney, we actually do have interests outside of hockey unlike-”

“How am I an interest outside of hockey?” Sid demanded. “I am about as hockey as you can get. I am literally dating a hockey player.”

“Aw, you said the D word!” Flower cooed and Sid seriously considered just hanging up on him. “We only gossip because we care. I’m just mad I’ve had to hear about all this second hand from Tanger. What’s he like?”

“Tanger? Uh, he’s about six foot, very pretty, great ass. Spills all my secrets to the French-Canadian mafia.”

“Sid…”

“Oh, you mean Jamie. Yeah, he also has a great ass.”

“Is he good to you?” Flower asked, and he sounded so concerned and exasperated and fond, all at the same time that Sid couldn’t help but feel a little bad for being such a dick about the whole thing. He turned the heat down on the chilli so that he could turn his full attention to Flower.

“He’s great, Flower. He’s very sweet and thoughtful. And he gave me his instagram password.”

“I’m sensing a ‘but’ here. What’s up?”

And this is what Sid loved about Flower. Kris and Olli treated this whole thing like something with an expiry date, something that Sid was going to get bored of and drop as quickly as he had picked it up. And Sid couldn’t blame them really. A precedent had been set years ago, a pattern that had been traced over and over. So he couldn’t blame them for being more concerned with Jamie’s heart than his own. But Flower had never put up with Sid’s love ‘em and leave ‘em outlook on life. As much as Sid claimed he hated it, hated the judging eyes of his friend, he knew that Flower just wanted him to be better. It mattered to him what Sid’s heart was going through.

“I dunno,” Sid sighed. “He’s just young, and probably way better to me than I deserve. I just can’t help feeling like it’s going to fall apart. And I don’t even know if we have enough of something to fall apart. Sometimes I feel like it’s just sex, but then I look at him and I just feel. I don’t even know what I feel. It’s just, it feels good. And I’m probably gonna fuck it up.”

“I think you need to talk to Jamie,” Flower said after a second. “I know how much you hate that, but you need to figure out what you have here. I'm just glad you're moving on, you know?”

“Uh, no I don't know,” Sid said, caught off guard. “Moving on from what?”

“You and Geno. You had that whole thing-” Flower suddenly stopped, as if the line had been cut. There was a pause before, “you know what, it doesn't matter. Forget I said anything. What are you up to tonight?”

“I've got some guys coming over for food and PS4, but what do you mean me and Geno?”

“I just mean you were both really into each other for a while and nothing really happened and I don’t think you ever got over that. But now you’ve got Jamie, so it’s all good, right?”

“Wait, do you think I’ve never dated because I was waiting for Geno? Flower, me and Geno were always just friends.” Sid said, torn between laughter and horror. “He’s beautiful and he plays beautiful hockey, and yeah maybe I was a little bit in love with him once, but no. I sleep around because I enjoy it, not because I’m hung up on Geno. Which is some backwards fucking logic by the way.”

“Okay, okay!” Flower cried. “Crisse, sorry for thinking you have human emotions. So you're not in love with Geno, that's cool.”

Sid went back to stirring the chilli, pursing his lips when he felt it starting to stick to the bottom of the pan. Like his mother before him, Sid kept a bottle of cheap(ish) red wine open for cooking, and he slopped another half a cup into the pan.

“If I burn this chilli because of you, I'm flying down to Vegas to beat you up myself.”

“I'd like to see you try, Croz. You wouldn't be able to get past Reaver.”

“I think I could take him,” Sid hummed as he fished a tablespoon of out the cutlery draw to taste the chilli with. “I’ve seen him fight, could probably get in his head a bit.”

“And I’ve seen you fight,” Flower said, his tone of voice telling Sid exactly what he thought of his attempts at dropping gloves. “So, you’re not in love with G. Are you in love with Jamie?”

Sid almost choked on a mouthful of chilli. “Oh for-”

“Joking, I'm joking!” Flower cackled. “Man, I wish I could have seen your face.”

“You’re so fucking annoying,” Sid muttered, and swore when he noticed that he’d spilled chilli down his shirt. That Flower had made him spill chilli down his shirt. “I’ve gotta go change, and the boys are gonna be here soon. Can we talk later? Properly?”

“You just want to get out of talking about feelings,” Flower said, and then steamrolled over Sid’s protests. “No, I get it, you don’t want to talk to your best friend about the things that are most important to you. You’d rather talk to Mr Degrassi. Yeah, talk to Tanger about that.”

“Okay, I’m hanging up now,” Sid warned, his finger hovering over his phone’s screen. “If you have anything nice to say, now’s the time to get it in.”

“Have a good night, Sid. Be good to your man, eh?”

“I’ll try. And I’ll see you around.”

“See you in the fourth round, baby,” Flower laughed, and Sid hung up on him with a smile.

[surveystodestressme]

212.

3000 questions survey pt. 2

101. Have you ever swerved off the road to avoid hitting something?

yeah

102. Compare your driving skills to something.

a toddler trying to drive a car lol

103. What food is romantic to you?

ice cream? idk, dessert i guess

104. Do you forgive and forget, just forgive but not forget, or neither?

i usually forgive but don’t forget

105. Have you ever had an out of body experience?  If so describe it.

yes!  one time i got a bad batch of weed and had an out of body experience.  it was like i was floating above my body and watching myself.  it was super weird

106. How easy is it for you to get along with people?

easy enough

107. Has someone ever given you a “last chance”?  If so, what was it for?

oh probably who knows

108. Something on your “to-do list” that never gets done.

house chores

109. What’s your favorite thing to eat with your fingers?

fries

110. What is your favorite or most used cookbook?

i don’t think i even have a cookbook

111. What food best describes your personality?

idk

112. Would you ever do a ride along with a cop, if so what do you want to see?

yeah, anything really.

113. Do you think ignorance is bliss?

eh

114. Are you a pacifist?

no

115. What do you need to do to grow?

be a better person

116. What is something you wish you learned?

how to fix things

117. Where’s your favorite place to order pizza?

papa johns

118. Who taught you how to drive?

my drivers ed teacher

119. If you were to ever win a Nobel Peace Prize, what do you think It would be for?

oh i don’t know.  being a good person?

120. Do you ask enough questions or do you settle for what you know?

i think i ask enough questions, depends though i guess

121. Have you ever helped someone across the road?

a homeless man one time fell out of his wheel chair and my friend and i got out of our car to help him up and made sure he got across the street okay.

122. What is legal that you think should be illegal?

plenty of things

123. Would you rather own a private jet or luxury yacht?

jet

124. What’s the first impression you want to give people?

that i’m a good person?

125. Which would you rather have if you had to, a broken leg or a broken arm?

arm

126. What profession do you think is the most undervalued today?

a lot of them are

127. What is your favorite thing to put ice cream on or eat ice cream with?

whipped cream and cherry

128. Who would you love to collaborate with and what would you collaborate on?

morgan freeman, and anything

129.Where do you cut costs when you need to save?

grocery money, gas money

130. What was one thing you begged your parents for as a kid and they finally gave it to you?

a cat?

131. If you could have someone serenade you over a candlelight dinner, who would it be?

i know it sound cheesy, but my boyfriend tbh.  I’ve heard him actually sing twice in our relationship and we’ve been together for almost 5 years. 

132. Do you think horoscopes are accurate?

ehh sometimes

133. How do you describe millennial's?

they are millennial's that’s it

134. What have you ever ran from that you needed to face?

my fears

135.What makes you unique?

eh i don’t really think i’m that unique

136. Do you have a pet, if so what kind?

we have a cat and a dog

137. If you were a bartender, what famous person would you like to serve?

liam neeson or morgan freeman

138. If you could choose your last words, what would they be?

something cool

139. Do you have a calling on your life?

i want to be a veterinarian someday

140. Have you ever let someone win an argument even if you knew you were right, if so who?

yeah, i let my boyfriend win arguments all the time even though he’s usually wrong

141. Could you ever be a medial guinea pig?

i was in a clinical trail last year for an anthrax vaccine so yeah i’d do it again, it was easy and i made a lot of money

142. What is the most annoying thing about the opposite sex?

they're very hairy

143. How do you feel about investing your money?

don’t know much about investing tbh

144. What is something you’d like to grow instead of buying?

veggies

145. How do you like to take your coffee or tea?

i like my coffee with cream and sugar and my tea with a little bit of sugar

146. How smart is your significant other?  Which of you is smarter?

i think he is very smart.  i think we’re both intelligent about different subjects so it’s hard to say who’s smarter

147. What is your preferred swimming stroke?

i do not like swimming as i am not very good at it

148. Have you ever had something snowball out of control, if so what?

my life lol

149. What is the likelihood you’ll make the half-court at a game for some serious cash?

i don’t even know what this means

150.What is the main thing you like to do on vacations?

relax

151. Were you popular in school, if so what made you popular?

not at all lol. i mean people knew me but i definitely wasn’t popular

152. What risk would you take if you knew you wouldn’t fail?

oh plenty.

153. What was an offer you couldn’t refuse?

anything concerning money

154. Do you believe in angels?

nope

155. If you were guaranteed the correct answer to one question, what would you ask?

what happens after we die

156. Would you rather lose all of your old memories or never be able to make new ones?

never be able to make new ones

157. Have you ever been at the wrong place at the wrong time?  Where was it?

oh i’m sure but nothing i can think of specifically right now

158. Have you ever been whistled at in public?

yes

159. What is something totally relatable to you?

uhhh i don’t know

160. What’s the best pickup line you’ve ever heard?

oh god.  i don’t even know, i have heard some good ones over the years

161. Would you ever steal to provide for your family?

yes

162. In your opinion, who do you consider a visionary?

morgan freeman

163. If you could live forever, would you want to?

nope

164. What or who are you a champion for?

i’m a bowling champion

165. What is your favorite store at the mall?

hot topic and spencers were my favorite lol i haven’t been to a mall in ages

166. Have you ever touched a snake or would you?

yes! i love snakes

167. What do you think gets better with age?

sex?

168. Do you ever forward or reply to chain mails?

nope

169. What scientist in history is most credible?

there are plenty

170.  Have you ever been called immature, if so what were you doing to be called that?

yes, probably something really stupid and immature lol prob drawing a penis on something

171. Is there a place in your neighbordhood or city you’ve been meaning to visit, if so where?

the theater here. it’s a one theater cinema and i really wanna go but they usually don’t have a movie out i want to see

172. What slogan or jingle got stuck in your head forever?

like a good neighbor state farm is there

173. Could you ever grow your own food? 

yes! we started doing that last summer but we did it a little late in the season and they all died.  we are going to try for it again this summer and hopefully we will be more successful.

174. If you could be a bird, which would you be?

idk a bald eagle.  they’re badass

175. Do you watch foreign films, if so do you have a favorite?

i’ve watched foreign horror movies, not really my favorite as i’m not a fan of reading subtitles while watching a movie lol

176. What specific work of art do you admire most?

anything by van gogh

177. Which are cooler: dinosaurs or dragons?

dragons

178. Has your work ever come between a relationship you were in, if so how?

my boyfriend complains that i work a lot but i need to in order to provide for us.  sometimes it annoys us but i don’t think it has affected anything drastically.

179. Have you ever needed to find yourself and if so are you still looking?

i mean yeah i did and i’m always still looking

180. What is your all-time favorite selfie, and what was going on in it?

i only post the good ones lol so they’re all my favorite

181.If you could have a clone to help you out when life gets busy, would you want one?

absolutely not.  that shit would go wrong i just know it

182. What are you “self taught”?

i taught myself a lot of things.

183. The beatles or rolling stones?

neither honestly.

184. What do you try and keep an open mind about?

everything

185. Would you rather ride along with a firefighter or police officer for a day?

police officer

186. Do you believe in the saying kill your enemies with kindness?

yeah i guess

187. What do you love most about the night sky?

everything honestly but the moon is probably my favorite

188. In the argument do you have to have the last word?

preferably

189. Have you ever participated in a fundraiser, if so for what cause?

yes, plenty of different ones.

190. What is the heaviest thing you can lift?

i can pick up my brother he’s around 150#

191. Would you ever consider training for a triathalon?

yeah sure if i was in a fitter state

192.What is your perfect pairing for coffee?

coffee cake

193. How strict are you going to be as a parent?

i will not be a parent

194. Who do you matter most to?

my family

195. What move director do you find completely genius?

i do not follow movie directors

196. What’s your favorite hobby?

drawing, playing video games, watching shows or movies

197. Do you think a person can be born evil?

i feel like it’s more of a learned behavior but idk

198. Do you believe in PDA (public displays of affection)?

i mean a little peck every now and then, holding hands, and hugging is cool but not like full blown making out.  that’s weird

199. Would you date anyone in a wheelchair or with a handicap?

yeah

200. What is an article of clothing you’ve bought or received second hand and loved wearing?

i love all of my animal themed clothing

[jarpadandjensenaremyheroes]

The Little Princess: Chapter 15

A/n- I’m really sorry this took so long. I’m not really sure what happened. Well, life happened, and I hit a road block in my writing. But I’m back in it now! There is at least one more chapter already in the works for you guys. Thank you to everyone who has liked/commented/reblogged on this story! And a huge thank you to @queen-of-deans-booty for convincing me that this wasn’t complete trash.

Word count: 2,255

Warnings: Daddy!Dean fluff. Like, please consult a nutritionist before consuming this much sweetness.

Characters/Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader, Mary Winchester (OFC)

Chapter summary: You and Dean take Mary out for some “normal” fun, and end up making your first home video in the process. Dean has a secret he's keeping from you.

Need to catch up? Here is the Masterlist!

Chapter 15

After staying with Bobby for one more day, you and Dean finally took Mary and headed back to the bunker. Halfway home, Dean Stopped the car at a little gym for kids.

“What are we doing here?” you asked him.

“I thought we could have one more day of normalcy before we go back to our hunting life. We can let Mary play here for a little while, and then I thought we’d go out for lunch and get ice cream and maybe go see a movie? Just spend the day together as a family.”

You grinned ear to ear. “I would love that. And I know Mary would too. She loves you so much, Dean.”

Dean got Mary out of her car seat and brought her inside with you. Once he paid for her entry, the three of you headed off to the gym for the toddlers. Mary squealed with excitement when she saw all the play mats and little tumbling areas. You and Dean both laughed as she frantically tried to push her daddy’s arms away to get down and go play. Dean hadn’t even put her down yet and her little legs were already moving to run. As soon as her feet touched the mats underneath her, she took off like a bullet. As she ran away screeching with joy, Dean grabbed your hand.

“God she’s perfect. I don’t know when I’ve ever been this happy, Y/N. You’ve given me the greatest thing I could ever dream of. I’m gonna make it a point to have more days like this. This won’t be the only one, I promise.”

“I know Mary will have so much fun with you, no matter where we are Dean. She loves and adores you, and whether we are at a place like this or at the bunker, or on the freakin’ moon, she’ll always have a good time with you; as long as you’re there.”

“You really think so? I just really don’t wanna screw her up baby. I don’t want her to grow up hating me for doing things wrong. I want to be someone she can trust and depend on. I don’t ever want to let her down…”

You could see the fear in his eyes. He was terrified of becoming like his father.

“Baby, when I was in labor with her I was terrified. I had no clue what I was doing. I still don’t. This is one big, 18 year-long learning process. We’ll screw up at some point. But she’ll still love us because we will still love her. As long as we have a roof over her head, clothes on her back, food in her belly, and give her all the love we have, she’ll turn out just fine. We can’t let ourselves be consumed by the fear. The moment we allow that to happen is the moment we turn into your father. He was terrified of raising you and Sammy alone; he had no clue what to do. We will be the best parents we can, and that’s all we can do. But we’re in this together, and we’ll get through it, together.”

He smiled at you. “Where did all this wisdom come from? The Y/N I knew was a goofy ass-“

“Dean Winchester! There are children here!” you hissed at him as you whacked his shoulder.

“Oops. Guess I’ll have to work on that…”

“Yes you will. If our daughter starts saying ‘son of a bitch’ I’m going to kill you. At least wait until she’s 15 or so to start teaching her those kinds of words!”

“Still, you’ve grown up a lot since I last saw you…”

“Yeah well, having a kid will do that to you. The night you found me was my first night out since I got pregnant with her.”

“Your first?” Dean asked with a gulp.

You laughed at him. “Yep. I haven’t exactly had the time to go out. But now that we have each other, and we have Sam, I’m sure we can figure out how to have a night or two to ourselves…” you trailed off as you traced your finger down the front of his shirt. Just then, an older lady cleared her throat loudly next to the two of you. When you turned to look at her, she gestured towards the couple dozen children.

Dean chuckled, “yeah Y/N. There are children here!” As he echoed your words, you turned to give him a glare that could kill. He quickly shut up.

“If you don’t stop Winchester, I’ll find a witch who can turn you into a child!”

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but seemed to think better of it as he turned you around in his arms and wrapped them around your waist. He pressed a kiss to your hair and mumbled a faint I hate friggin’ witches before moving to rest his chin on your shoulder. The two of you contentedly stood there giggling at Mary’s antics for a little while longer until she came running over to you both squealing “Dada Mama!”

Dean released you as the little girl neared and swung her up into his arms as she screeched with joy. He threw her up into the air, letting her fall back into his arms as she wrapped her tiny arms around his neck screaming “Dada!”

You quickly pulled out your phone to take some pictures and a video, hoping Dean wouldn’t notice you filming. You stood there snapping pictures while Dean swung Mary around in his arms and up into the air. As you started taking a video, Dean noticed you. But to your surprise, his smile only grew.

“Is that a video?” he asked. You nodded your head. “Good. Mary, wave hi to Mama!”

Your little girl emphatically waved to you as Dean whispered in her ear. Whatever he said brought on a fit of giggles so hard that she couldn’t even keep herself upright in his arms. Next thing you knew, Dean was twirling her around and around as Mary continued shrieking with laughter. The sight in front of you was too great, the feelings of peace joy too contagious to contain your laughter any longer. Dean came over and grabbed the phone from you while placing Mary on your hip. He trained the camera on you and grabbed your hand and wrapped it around his neck.

“Dean what are you do-”

You were cut off by him wrapping his arm around your waist and spinning you and Mary in his arms. You allowed the force of it to throw your head back. Mary gripped tightly to your arm, and Dean gripped tightly to your waist. You held her securely to your side as all three of you lost your composure and laughed so hard you cried. Dean ended the video by giving you a chaste kiss on the head.

“My two beautiful girls. I love you both so much,” he whispered as he wrapped you both in his arms for a hug. “Let’s go get some ice cream!”

Mary clapped her hands exclaiming “Yay!” the whole way to the little ice cream shop. Since it was only a block and a half away, you decided to walk rather than get her in her seat just to get her right back out.

Dean ordered ice cream for the three of you while you took Mary to the bathroom to get her washed up. As you came back out, Dean was getting your three bowls settled at a table. Mary wrenched her hand away from yours and went running to him, bouncing up and down on his leg. He sat down and pulled her into his lap and began feeding her the vanilla ice cream in front of him. With each bite she squealed in excitement.

You took the seat next to him after grabbing a handful of napkins for your messy eaters, giving him and her quick little pecks on the cheek.

“I hope cookie dough is still your favorite,” he said shyly when you sat down.

“After all this time, you still know me better than anyone, Dean Winchester. Just like I know your favorite flavor is Cherry Pie!” you said with a grin.

He smiled and nodded sheepishly and continued feeding Mary. She wouldn’t let the poor man get a bite of his own frozen treat though, so you decided to take pity on him. Picking up his spoon, you scooped up a glob of it and held it up to his face. He eagerly took the bite from you, but winced a second later.

“Oww! Oh ow that hurts!” he cried while holding his forehead. You laughed when you realized he had gotten a frozen headache.

After a few more grumbles from him, he glared at you. “S’not funny! That hurt!”

“I’m proud of you though! You managed to get all the way through that without cussing!”

“Well we have precious cargo here,” he said while patting Mary’s chest. “Besides, if I were to have said what I wanted to, you woulda smacked me in the head and only made it worse.”

You smiled and shook your head. “Just finish your ice cream mister. I’m sure Sam and Cas are waiting on us back at home.

He got the biggest, face splitting grin when you said the word home.

“I can’t wait Princess. I’ll be right back. Just gonna go call Sammy real quick, then we can head home.”

You nodded in acknowledgement and moved to pick Mary up, but he swooped her away in his arms. “I got her. You go enjoy a moment to yourself.” He winked at you as he walked outside and you took the opportunity to finish your ice cream. You cleaned up your table and walked outside to meet Dean so you could all three head back to the car, but Dean was still on the phone. You went closer with the intention of stealing the phone to say hi to Sam, but you overheard part of their conversation in the process. Well, Dean’s side of it anyways.

“No, Sammy… Listen, man! I just need you to find it, okay. It’s in my room somewhere. I think in my dresser, but it may be in the desk.”

Silence

“No no no not that dresser, the one by the bed.” He paused. “Yes! Yes! Oh thank god you found it. I was worried I’d have to go buy another one. She always said she loved that one. I can’t imagine having to find another one that she’d like that much. I’m gonna need your help with it. Can you do that?”

You decided to let him know you were there. You grabbed him and wrapped your arms around his waist from behind and he jumped.

“Oh hey love, I didn’t even see you come up. How long you been there?”

“Long enough to have some questions, but not long enough to know the answers to them. I’m curious, but I’ll leave it alone if you ask me to.” You kissed him between the shoulder blades and he relaxed a bit.

He chuckled. “Yeah. Please don’t ask questions. You’ll find out soon enough, I promise. You nodded against his back and squeezed him a little tighter.

“Okay Sammy, we’re headed back to the car and we’ll be home soon. Yeah. Couple hours maybe? Okay. See you then.”

He hung up as Mary leaned her head over her daddy’s shoulder to smile and gurgle at you. You returned the sentiment and Dean tried to turn around, but you moved with him, remaining glued to his back. Mary began to giggle a little and Dean tried looking under his arms at you before finally sighing in defeat. You felt his shoulders slump slightly, making you chuckle. He threw Mary up on his shoulders, who continued giggling with glee as she slapped her hands on his head and grabbed his hair. He then moved faster than you anticipated and managed to pick you up bridal style and began carrying you both down the street.

“Hey! Put me down you oaf! You can’t carry us both at once!”

“Oaf, huh? Last I checked, I was your knight in shining armor!”

“Yeah—well…” you sputtered and Dean laughed at you.

Sooner than you’d like to admit, you were getting Mary strapped into her car seat and then slipping into the front with Dean, headed back to the bunker for the first time in almost 2 years. You tried not to let your anxiety get the best of you, but all you could think about is the what if questions rolling through your mind. Dean caught on quickly.

“Princess, it’s going to be fine. Mary will be safe, you will be safe, we’ll all be together as a family and there is nothing to worry about. Mary won’t hate it there. You know you won’t hate it there. You know this is the best thing we can do for her, right?”

You smiled slightly. “How do you always seem to know what I’m thinking, Winchester?” you asked with a little sass.

“Because I know you,” he shot back.

Not long after the car was rolling down the street, Mary had passed out in the back. Seeing how tired she was, you decided to skip the movie and opted instead to head straight home. But the whole drive, all you could think about was his conversation with Sam...

TLP Tags:

@petrovadixon

@quackerstheduck663057

Forever Tags:

@queen-of-deans-booty

@gone-to-fight-the-fairies