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#Like. Oh you thought being just a monkey was bad? Wait until you learn what you actually are
imminent-danger-came · 8 months
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okay okay so i was rewatching 'smartie kid" right and there's a moment right before mk gets his gold vision back where for like a frame his eyes flash blue and it's such a quick thing that i didn't notice it the first times i watched it and maybe my brain is webbed up in conspiracy theories but that feels significant? like the writers probably don't mean for people to go through frame by frame or anything but with all the foreshadowing they've shoved into this show it feels like anything could be important??
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(frame anon is talking about)
(Post where I have a collection of strange MK moments that point to MK being related to the underworld)
Anon I will ask you this question—if it didn't matter and the writers don't mean for viewers to go through frame by frame, why include it at all? This is the first moment in s3 where MK uses his powers after supposedly "losing" them at the end of s2, so it's pretty significant. There's totally a reason they had MK's eyes flash blue during this scene. I think it suggest something along the lines of EAMK (Eldritch Abomination MK Theory—aka MK was something terrible in a past life and then sealed in the stone, hatching out a beautiful baby boy), but truly who knows what it's meant to imply.
There are also plenty of other strange occurrences like MK turning Tang Sanzang's magic blue:
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or this weird teal/blue smudge in 4x08:
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Or the curse emanating from MK in both 4x02 and 4x11:
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Hell, even MK stopping the Samadhi fire in 3x11 all by himself! It all seems to suggest that MK is not what he seems (which currently it seems like he's a stone monkey, just like Wukong). I think you're picking up on what the writers are putting down anon! There are just a lot of weird details that are culminating somewhere, and I'm pretty excited to see where it goes
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Omg I am so freaking excited for the next chapter of slow down (you’re doing fine). Like frothing at the mouth, jumping up and down and squealing loud enough to scare my roommates type of excitement. I love, love, love that fanfic and it makes so unbelievably happy to just read the sample, especially from Bradley’s perspective. It’s so much fun to learn a little more about Hangman, Rooster, Ice and Maverick every chapter. I am dying for the reveal at some point that Maverick is in fact The Godfather and that the COMPACFLT is Maverick’s husband. Hangman and the other Daggers won’t know what hit them, they are so clueless.
Also I just recently discovered you other fic ( sometime I feel like) a monkey pilot and I am once again in love with your characterization of Bradley and how supportive Ice and Maverick are. It’s such a beautiful story with so much emotion and I don’t know how I managed to miss seeing it for so long. I feel so bad for Jake as well because it must feel like he’s some how switched realities with all the changes that are hitting him right now, but I also kind of want to punch him for being such a dick.
Finally, I just have one quick question. I noticed that you head-cannon that Maverick is older than Ice and was wondering why that was? I am not against it or anything I am just curious to see how other people determine ages for characters when they are not officially stated in the original movie or book. For movies and tv shows, I just usually base it on the actor’s age unless this is like wildly off for some reason.
Oh my god I'm so sorry it's taking so long, adhd and life hits you at the worst moment I'm afraid...
this is going to be a technical spoiler but I'll just say that there's part two of the series that will be called I took the good times (I'll take the bad times) that will show the sixteen weeks after slow down and Bradley and Jake navigating how to actually be together -- this is where the funny family meeting stuff and first breakdowns would happen.
there will be a small 5+1 fic about Mav and Ice that's, well, that's the summary: five times Ice waited for Mav and one time Mav was ready for him. will be called we have all the time in the world (all the love). Because, a bit of a spoiler even if it was alluded in slow down, Ice and Mav haven't actually gotten together until Bradley was, like, eleven in this 'verse
also i'll say I'm glad you're enjoying monkey pilot! that fic is my ugly child and honestly, I have not expected such warm reception for it... I think I'm incapable of not writing Mav as a parental figure and since I'm also incapable of killing off Ice, he's going to be babytrapped in most of my fics 🤷‍♂️
as for Mav and Ice's age, I either headcanon them as of the same age (born same year) with Mav having his birthday in September and Ice in November/December, or that Mav is actually a year older. I think this is a cultural thing since in Poland some people believe the month you're born would define your personality. It's especially more common in the region I'm from and present mostly in the more superstitious older generation - I was mostly raised by my grandma and still kinda believe that people born in Sep are more temperamental, impulsive, wild but also fiercely loyal and people born Nov/Dec are more cool-headed, calculating and goal-orientated. It doesn't make much sense I'm afraid, it's just me finding the months suitable to their personalities?? As for the 'Mav is older', I assumed that could be a possibility as it's implied that he went to the OCS after college (either in the top gun novel or the movie??) since he wasn't able to get into USNA and I thought that could set him back a year -- and since he seems to have the same amount of experience as the rest of the NAs and RIOs, I thought he might actually be older.
Thank you for your kind, kind words, you don't even know how nice it feels to read your asks or comments. Hope you're doing well 💙
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madalice31 · 11 months
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It’s 2023. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are STILL talking about “exposing racism” in the royal family.
It makes me laugh. I’m one of those people who does not like Meghan. She is not my “black” princess, nor is she someone I feel should be looked up to or admired. Oh let me count the ways.
One, Meghan never celebrated or leaned into her black side until it was convenient for her. I mean let’s be real. She presents white. All of her friends are white. All the men she’s ever dated are white. America treats her like a white girl. All of her love interests in film and TV have been, you guessed it, white. The only black around this woman is her mother. You may catch her in a photo op with someone black, but is there any other black person in her daily life? No. Meghan Markle is used to being recognized as a white woman, so when she got over to the UK, she expected that same treatment. But we all know that UK royalty are all colonizers. Of course they still apply that one drop rule. Of course they’re fucking racist. So as white as she wanted to be, she was still black to them and she the only one shocked and surprised. Well I guess her husband was somewhat surprised cause he forgot his family racists I guess. Or maybe he’s just continuing his rebellious reputation by marrying someone he knew they wouldn’t approve of. But I don’t feel bad about Meghan’s experience because we (people who actually present and identify as black) deal with that shit daily.
Which brings me into reason two. Michelle Obama was savaged when she first became First Lady. People were picking on the way she looked, comparing her to monkeys. They would have been much happier if Barack (a mixed person who actually presents and identifies as black) had been with at least another mixed woman if not a white one. But instead he was with this beautiful brown skin lady who was intelligent and graceful. Not what the racist white public wanted to see. So they tried to tear her down as much as they could. Did she run? Did she tell Barack she wasn’t doing this anymore and was headed back to Chicago? Did she put him in a situation where he had to choose between her and his responsibilities? No. Was her focus on just being an idolized celebrity? No. Instead she was on every stage, Ted talk, and college there was spitting knowledge. Being defiant. Not allowing any animosity deter her from making a difference. Not allowing anyone’s racism stop her from being one of the best, if not THE best, First Ladies this country has seen. Despite the monkey jokes and political cartoons. I mean they dragged this woman and she stood tall. And eventually they couldn’t do anything but respect her because of her actions. Because she proved them wrong. Because she never gave them an inch to run with. That is what I’m going to admire. Not Meghan cutting and running from a tough situation so she can come back to the states to be a famous celebrity. And most importantly to her, still be treated like a white woman. Even more importantly, a white woman who doesn’t have to work. I mean how y’all sign all of these deals with companies but then don’t even produce anything, meanwhile yall wanna make sure papz catch yall at every event 🙄.
Like seriously, she could have been the change the royal family needed. She could have came in there and stood her ground. Proved her merit so that they could do nothing but respect her at the end of the day. Instead she thought she was gonna be the next Diana or some shit. You can tell by the way she carries herself that she doesn’t want responsibility, she just wants special treatment. She wanted that title and accolades so bad. Remember how tight she was learning that she wouldn’t be referred to as princess? Like they actually made that a big deal and blamed the racism 😂. Or maybe it’s just cause you haven’t EARNED the fucking title bitch. Afterall, you marrying the prince’s brother, not the prince himself 🙄.
So yeah. I’m just waiting on them to get divorced honestly. I’ll give it a few more years cause I’m sure they will try to save face, that’s what they’re good at. But it’s coming.
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ultraericthered · 2 years
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Anime Update V2 29
Wolf’s Rain - Episodes 5 and 6 certainly picked up the pace and intrigue of this series in ways you’re not exactly prepared for. Our main wolves went across a bridge to find a decaying slum town that’s home to another pack of wolves, with the leader distractingly having the voice of Vicious from Cowboy Bebop. These wolves have long given up their search for Paradise and even their belief in Paradise, and even worse, the pack are voluntarily harnessed like dogs and used by humans to haul cargo. We also finally got backstory from Kiba, and by the end Higa needs to be rescued and there’s even a small mutiny to be dealt with! The pack leader’s belief that there may be some wolves who can get into Paradise and some who can't is definitely something to ponder over as our strange journey continues.
Hunter x Hunter - The Phantom Troupe is still at large in Yorknew City, Light Nostrade is on his way back over while Kurapika and the others have to protect Neon (who is such a spoiled, sheltered, unempathetic little brat yet also oddly pure and precious too!), and now we finally have Gon, Killua, and Leorio learning about what the Spiders have been getting up to so that their plotline can connect with Kurapika’s. Though Kurapika seems to not have much interest in playing catch-up with his friends since he’s got a Spider to kill now...
Fruits Basket - Oh boy. Thought Kagura Sohma was a problematic character? Wait ‘til you get a load of Ritsu Sohma the cross-dressing monkey of the Zodiac. To put it simply, this character just reeks of unfortunate implications that are sexist, transphobic, ableist, and even racist! The 2001 anime episode to feature them was, to me, a method of torture. I mean, God almighty, not even five whole minutes of Ritsu on screen and I was getting so sick of their shit, and the way Mike McFarland voiced them really contributed to that - the voice sounded almost Michael Jackson-esque until the screaming starts, at which point it’s like a falsetto unholy blend of Mickey Mouse and Miss Piggy. It even had the gall to play Ritsu’s attempted suicide like a big joke, and too often I was finding myself agreeing with every self loathing statement Ritsu made about themself, which I shouldn’t!
The 2019 equivalent came much earlier on in the season (Ritsu comes in right before the climax in the 2001 series!) and in the exact reverse of what happened with Kagura, the episode is so much stronger and better to sit through, with Ritsu’s self loathing and depression over their gender identity and their attempted suicide being treated seriously, there being no “being a biological boy who dresses up in girl’s clothes makes you weak!” messaging, and the friendship Ritsu and Mitsuru strike up at the end helps a lot to make me not totally dislike Ritsu this time around. The one trade-off? Mike McFarland still does their voice and does even worse here, when Ritsu really should have been a recast role like Akito, Kagura, Momji and Hiro. They needed to be voiced by Greg Ayres, who could be grating in the role too, but would match the JP voice so much better.
Rozen Maiden - Know how I said shit would get darker now? Yeah, that includes character deaths. First Souseiseki bites the dust in a big fight of her VS Suiseiseki VS Suigintou (Shinku and Hinaichigo are fending off Barasuishou at the same time), and as sad as it was for Suiseiseki to see her sister go like that (major props to Rebecca Forstadt, that was some amazingly heartfelt voice acting!), I couldn’t feel too bad since Souseiseki brought it on herself by choosing her love for her father over her sister and betraying everyone. And I can’t be too mad at Suigintou for snatching up her Rozen Mystica since she’s just so awesome, I still love her dynamic with Megu, and now she’s turned on Barasuishou to serve her own interests, fuck yes! But I was not prepared for how sad Hinaichigo’s death would be. She’d grown on me so much at this point and having to watch her come to terms with her end as she slowly wound down and just...stopped? Heartbreaking. At the end we seem to meet “Rozen”, who is working together with Laplace and Barasuishou, as the grand finale begins.
Fate Zero - After a cute opening of Irisveil and Saber in a car together as the former drives like crazy, we get a brief but disturbing run-in with Caster, who reports back to his young serial killer master and begins to make plans that said master might not be too keen on. Also learned a little more about Lord El Melloi, the master of Lancer, and saw that Kiritsugu is in fact willing to 9/11 a whole tall building just to off a potential threat. How did this guy ever become such a paragon of morality for Shirou later? But by far the most captivating bit of the episode came last, with Gilgamesh and Kirei’s conversation as they enter a dark alliance of convenience, scheming behind Tokiomi’s back, and Kirei contemplates what is fulfillment to a man who knows no joy, what draws a man of God like him to the many darknesses of the material world, and why does he want the Grail? 
Revolutionary Girl Utena - When you think you’re getting another recap episode, and then suddenly....fucking Akio. He finally went and did what they made me so afraid he was going to do three episodes ago! He coerced Utena into having sex with him, which is pretty much rape in this case. Utena’s response, knowing she just lost her virginity to a man who might not be her prince, as she tries to distract her own mind by rambling about the other night’s food topic, was chilling in a way I’ve not experienced from other anime. Good lord...
Senki Zesshou Symphogear - Episode 2 kicks off with the fallout of Hibiki fighting and defeating the Noise with Gungnir, and I like how this show takes full advantage of its concept by having the idols sing their own songs as they do Magical Girl style battle. After we meet the members of S.O.N.G that Hibiki will now be working with (including an egocentric female scientist who is sus as all fuck), we see more Hibiki and Miku interaction and holy shit, I actually think Kumiko and Reina took a bit longer to get as blatantly gay! Throuh the next S.O.N.G exposition course and one Noise fight later, we can tell Tsubasa is struggling to accept this new girl inhereting Kanade’s power and weaponry. So when Hibiki asked if she and Tsubasa could “fight together” I immediately knew how Tsubasa would choose to twist that request. Very poor choice of words there, Hibiki!
MAR - War Game’s on break now, so none of this one for this week.
AMC: Moriarty the Patriot - Back to 19th Century England with the Noahtic two parter. Moriarty was as charismatic, devious and fiendishly brilliant as always, so I don’t need to dwell too much on him here. But two other standouts. The asshole noble victim this time was a General Zarroff Expy for some reason, but at first nothing about him was clicking for me since he is easily the most flat, absurdly one dimensional, unrealistic depiction of an evil nobleman seen in this anime yet, with his open, over-the-top classism fast becoming tired. But once on the ship, his sheer cartoonishness (like telling a lower class child who bumped into him, in her ear, “should we cross paths again, I will murder you!”) just crossed the line twice into utter hilarity, watching him get totally played by Moriarty was delicious, and his ultimate comeuppance was simply epic. (Also, Alejandro Saab would make a perfect Miles Edgeworth!) The other standout? Liam meets a passenger who is every was his equal in brilliance and might even pose a threat to his plans should he look into the Moriarty Brothers activities now that he clearly suspects foul play in the double deaths aboard the Noahntic. His name? Detective Sherlock Holmes! 
AND
Death Note - It has been 15 years since the English dub of this anime came along, so I decided I had to give the premiere episode a rewatch for old time’s sake. Still as macarbe and psychologically twisted as ever, with Brad Swaile and Brian Drummond nailing it as Light and Ryuk respectively. Shame there was no L in this, though.
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skellebonez · 3 years
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Tumblr Messed Up Fill #5
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Alright, I believe this is the FINAL accidentally posted fill! @winterpower98​ has such a great dynamic between Jin and Yin and the rest of the cast in the Cursed AU that I just love writing these two in any situation. I hope you enjoy this despite the wait!
When MK has been dragged out on an "emergency supply trip" with Jin and Yin he had almost expected he would need to step in to prevent them from doing anything illegal. They may technically be on their side now, but much like Macaque they weren't entirely removed from their villainous past.
What he had not expected was for the two of them announce that they not only intended to pay in cash, something most people didn't do not a days in favor of a single card or paying through their phone, but for them to attempt to give him a crash course in electronics every time he looked at a computer part with vague confusion.
On the bright side, he at least had didn't have to worry about them getting him banned from any of the local stores.
On the down side...
He looked at the massive pile of electronic bits the poor cashier was attempting to scan and bag for them in a timely manner. They had to, somehow, get all this stuff back to wherever they stored all of their equipment. MK was strong but the sheer amount of stuff would prove a problem simply by how much he would have to help carry. No wonder he'd been invited.
"Yin, toss me the wallet will ya?" Jin yelled once the cashier finally announced their total with a relieved sigh. A excessive amount that MK doubted could ever be paid for in cash alone.
Until Yin launched the wallet at Jin's head and it bounced off him and set a few bills flying in the process.
"OUCH, watch it! That's our profits you're throwing around!" Jin complained, grabbing a few bills that were still airborne with a sigh. "Just. I'll ask ya to hand it to me next time."
"Sorry..." Yin said, not really sounding all that sorry. The smirk and the fact he stuck out his tongue did not help.
Granted, Jin didn’t exactly seem genuinely upset at what happened either, judging by the smile on his face.
He probably wasn’t supposed to see it. That was probably why MK didn’t even know they had a wallet, they didn’t want anyone to see what they had in it.
But he was MK. The Monkie Kid. And his first instinct was to kneel down and pick up the wallet to give it back to Jin. The wallet that was sitting open with the inside facing up and bulging with bills and...
One of those folding picture things you would only see parents have of all their kids in comedy movies. It was folded up backwards, tucked into the wallet itself to keep it from unfolding and falling down, and only one picture was visible at the moment. One with a face he recognized very quickly. How could he not?
It was his face after all.
He recognized when it was taken too, pretty soon after the two had joined up with the group as Macaque’s... whatever they were to the reformed monkey demon. They’d been teasing him about if he had anyone he liked and Jin had just managed to make him laugh with some kind of joke.
He didn’t remember a picture being taken but one of them just have had a phone or camera to do so. He remembered their little conspiracy board from the first time they met, they were good at sneaking pictures of people... which, considering what he was holding in his hand right now, was kind of creepy when he thought about it for long enough.
He didn’t have the time to think about it for much longer though, as the wallet was yoinked out of his hand by an excited Jin, shouting a “thanks MK!” back at him when he pulled out the large bills to hand to the cashier.
He didn’t seem embarrassed or upset, in fact the only one who seemed to be out of the four of them was the cashier who had to check that they had enough chance before realizing they would only be getting a handful yuan back.
And then they were outside and making their way back to their workshop, presumably, MK with the bulk of the items but Jin and Yin taking their fair share of the electronic bits.
“Well that evened out nicer than expected,” Jin laughed, tucking their change into the wallet before snapping it closed with a victorious look on his face. “Just enough to grab us all one cheese tea each, if we all want some.”
“Could, uh... I ask you something first?” MK interrupted as they walked, the prospect of being treated to a drink for his work sounding pretty good actually.
“Yeah, go for it.”
“... why do you have a picture of me?” He asked wearily, just…still trying to take in the fact that apparently Jin and Yin shared a single wallet and they apparently just had pictures of everyone he knew in it.
Jin paused for a moment, looking at the wallet and then back to MK a few times before shrugging and shoving it back into his shirt, presumably the same kind of hidden pocket Yin had when he pulled it out. “I dunno? Guess I thought it was important or something, like if we needed to find you. Easy picture to show off if you go missing."
“Right…”
The trio didn’t even get to lapse into silence as they walked, the twins quickly finding some topic of conversation that completely flew over MK’s head regarding computing power and ram drives.
The cheese tea was good though.
~
Jin looked between his younger twin and the wallet. Though he hadn’t really thought about it all that much when MK had asked, something about his question was starting to bother the elder Gold Demon.
It was a simple thing. Small. Kinda bulky despite the size due to the sheer amount of unnecessary things inside it. Receipts for the tech they had actually bothered to pay for, they felt bad stealing from that store in the past when they learned that it was in danger of being shut down due to lost profits, coupons that would eventually be used at the last second… pictures.
So many pictures.
And yet none of them were of either twin. At least none of them alone. There's was a single picture of the two of them together, just one, after building their first successful Calabash prototype. They thought that would be picture enough whenever the off chance they were separated for a... while...
“Oh…”
"What, Jin?" Yin asked, looking up from his soldering work at the loud exclamation.
"I'm starting to think we might be a little dense," Jin replied, opening up the wallet and letting the folded pictures fall out in a line. “Remember how MK asked why we had a picture of him?”
One picture was of MK, the one the young man had seen since it was the one sitting in the only visible stop of the holder when it was folded at the moment. One of Mei working on her bike. One of Macaque they had snuck while he slept. A slightly blurry one of Sun Wukong alone they barely managed to snatch in secret.
Mei and Yin playing some sort of game together, Jin leaning on Red Son and teasing him while MK watched, a proper one of Macaque and MK and Mei together. MK and Wukong, Mei and Wukong, Mei and Macaque, a trio of training pictures. Red Son flaming up at the camera in anger.
A lone one of Tang and Pigsy in the noodle shop that Jin could not explain the reason for taking, as well as one of Sandy on his boat with his cat.
And a few more of Mei and MK and Red and Macaque with either if them in particular for good measure.
Yin looked up and down at the line of photos and then to his brother, brow raised in confusion before his eyes widened in shock and dismay as he came to the same conclusion.
“Oh bloody hell... we’ve started to CARE.”
The twins looked at each other in resignation.
Nothing they could do about it now.
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mcheang · 4 years
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How about one where Marinette gives up on her class, deciding to get holders from other classes
So she decides to give Aurore the Fox, prompting Lila to lie about the fox.
Next akuma is a mind control akuma, and oh no! Aurore is one of the controlled! Well, she was gonna give the turtle to Mireille but maybe she can be the Fox just this once
And then the Akuma after that, Fox Aurore and Turtle Mireille
Basically lots of quick and random akuma attacks make it hard for Lila to keep up her lies
Switch
A Pre-Miracle Queen outline that my mind drove me to
Marinette decides that having her hero allies be classmates under Lila’s spell is a bad idea.
Good thing she is on the class president committee and knows the other class presidents are smart enough to see through Lila’s lies (basically they weren’t pleased with Lila’s flaky absences from class participation. And also because the weather girls know their fair share of celebrities)
First replacement: Aurore as Vixen
The battle was a success but Chat questioned why Rena was replaced.
Ladybug: she can’t tell truth from lies. A bad trait for any hero, let alone one wielding the kwami of illusion
Alya was heartbroken but couldn’t catch Ladybug in time to interview her.
While writing her post on Vixen, Alya asked Lila if she knew what Rena’s flaw was.
Lila: oh that’s easy. Rena and Carapace are so a couple but that just hinders them in a fight. Their first priorities were on each other, not Hawkmoth.
Alya: oh...
So this was about the Scarlet Moth incident. Oh no, then Nino is being replaced too?
Second replacement: Mireille as Kit (she knows she is a substitute so she wanted her name to show she wasn’t a real hero yet)
Aurore had been hit by an akuma, luckily her vice class président had escaped.
Kit’s appearance had Alya confused.
Lila: oh, that’s because Vixen was pregnant. Shocker, I know. Even Ladybug was speechless. But obviously she can’t be a hero in her condition.
Except then why did Vixen return alongside the new heroine, Emerald Shell?
Lila: the pregnancy test results were a dud
Nino was already warned by Alya. While not happy, he was remarkably chill about the new girl.
Honeybee makes her appearance
Lila: ok, how are you surprised Chloé was replaced?
Chloé threw a major tantrum.
Equestria replaces Pegasus
Lila: Ladybug is promoting female power
Max: that doesn’t sound right. She’s unbalancing her team genders.
Not to mention, Max figured he would have been told about why he was being replaced if that was the case. Or maybe he was a one-time hero? Except Party Crasher refuted that theory.
Tarzan replaces Monkey King
Lila: that’s Ladybug’s crush.
Everyone knows that Ladybug prefers to be professional rather than mix personal with business (Aspik was a mistake) so this raised more than a few eyebrows.
Maybe it was that LadyNoir was possibly sunken with that lie, but Alya was determined to ask Ladybug herself.
The heroine had been avoiding her for a while now, leaving her blog posts to have only Lila’s statement for evidence.
It shouldn’t be too hard, except now the Teachers were serious about keeping students safe. Meaning they were anticipating Alya to run to the fight and were determined to stop her.
And apparently Lila didn’t want to call in any favours with Ladybug for an interview because friendships aren’t about favors.
Hence, Alya kept lurking around the park, waiting for the inevitable return of Mr Pigeon.
As has become tradition, after Mr Pigeon is defeated, Mr Ramier treats the heroes to ice cream and they sit down for a while.
But this time, Alya interrupted their peaceful snack.
Alya: Ladybug, Chat Noir, would you please grant me an interview
Ladybug stood up, “Sorry, Alya. But I barely have a minute left. Thanks for the ice cream, Mr Ramier. Bug out!”
Chat had just gobbled his in two bites when Alya called out again, desperation leaking out of her. “Just one question!”
Ladybug stilled, but finally turned around. Her eyes were cold sapphires. “One. I don’t have time right now.”
Be quick about it.
Alya gulped. There were so many questions she wanted to ask about the new heroes, why they were chosen. But if she had to choose one question, Alya blurted out without thinking. “Are you really Lila’s best friend?”
That was her question? Alya wanted to smack herself. That was old news. She should have asked why Ladybug took so long to replace Queen Bee.
“No.”
Alya stared at Ladybug, having lost her focus in her self-reproach.
“What?”
But Ladybug had already zipped away.
Chat coughed. “Lovely to see you again, Alya. Have a good day, Mr Ramier.” And he quickly made his escape too.
Mr Ramier looked at the Ladyblogger with pity. “Do you want some ice cream?”
Alya burst into tears. She had paid for Lila’s ice cream. Because of her tonsil surgery. But that was a lie, wasn’t it? Lila had been lying all this time.
At the moment, Alya could care less about why the old heroes were replaced. That was their affair. But now she understood why she had been replaced. Not because of her relationship with Nino, but because she believed lies about Ladybug without even checking with her. What a gullible fool she had been.
As Mr Ramier tried his best to cheer her up, and keep a sharp eye out for akumas, the tale came out. How she had ruined her credibility and blindly believed a liar despite her own best friend warning her.
Mr Ramier: why didn’t you believe Marinette?
Alya: because I thought she was jealous of Lila. They like the same boy.
Mr Ramier frowned. “Is Marinette the kind of girl to hate a supposedly sweet girl just because they share a crush?”
Alya paused. True, Marinette had issues with Chloé and Kagami because of their personalities but Aurore also had a crush on Adrien and the girls got along fine.
Alya: no, she isn’t. What kind of a friend, am I?
Mr Ramier: a human friend. Miss Cesaire, if I may give you some advice, you made mistakes yes. Everyone does. What matters is what you choose to do afterwards. And to do better next time.
Alya: so...I should apologize?
Mr Ramier nodded patiently. “Yes. To your friend, to Ladybug, and if I may say so, to your followers.”
Alya: what should I do about Lila?
Mr Ramier: what do you think you should do?
Alya bit her lip. “I’ll expose her. But not as badly as I would like, because she’ll just end up as an akuma.”
Mr Ramier nodded and stood, his pigeons flying off. “I wish you luck, Miss Cesaire.”
That night, Alya finally did her ground research on Lila. Needless to say, she was horrified at what she had learned.
The next morning, everyone was whispering about the newest post on the Ladyblog. “The truth about Lila Rossi.”
Not only did it feature Ladybug’s statement and Alya’s apologies, but there were links to warnings about Lila from her old classmates.
Lila was absent, hiding from the disgust of the school, but also facing an angry mother. Alya was persistent in getting Mrs Rossi’s attention. It took a while to convince the ignoramus that she was not an akuma and yes, her daughter is a lying bully.
Alya gave Mrs Rossi a heads up because with Lila now exposed, questions about her leave of absence will be raised. Oh, and she needed to keep an eye out for akumas.
Hawkmoth certainly would have loved to target Lila, but Alya was on lookout. She caught the akuma in a butterfly net launcher 10 minutes before the school bell rang. Now she just needs to deliver this to Ladybug. Though maybe they should just hold on to it. I mean if Hawkmoth can’t create more than one akuma, maybe purifying this one was a bad idea.
Ladybug agreed to wait until Lila was dealt with. She commended Alya for finally opening her eyes. But sadly Rena won’t be returning.
Alya accepted that. She wasn’t ready. It would take time, but she would recover.
The butterfly was kept under guard until Mayura finally sent a sentimonster after it.
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lunar-wandering · 3 years
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@winterpower98 surprise bitch, happy birthday, take this fic for the season 1 of the Cursed AU-
-
"Macaque?"
"Hm?"
"Aren't you cold?" MK asked, staring up at where Macaque was sitting in a tree. "I mean, like, the temperature's been dropping-"
"I'm fine." Macaque said, his tail swishing in irritation. "Go back to your stupid little campfire."
Wukong, who, to be honest, MK thought had been asleep, took this moment to stand up, march over, and grab Macaque by the tail, pulling him out of the tree and down to the ground. Macaque grunted in pain as he slammed into the forest floor, a few twigs and leaves from the tree falling down and landing in both his and Wukong's fur.
"Oh, look at what you've done now." Wukong said, crouching down beside Macaque, who was still laying on his back. "You've gotten both my fur and yours all covered in leaves."
"What I've d- you're the one who pulled me out of the tree!" Macaque said, sitting up and just barely avoiding bumping heads with Wukong. "That was your stupid, impulsive decision, not mine."
"You were being stubborn, what else was I supposed to do?" Wukong asked, a smirk on his face. Macaque huffed, moving to stand up, but was stopped as Wukong grabbed a hold of his shoulders. Macaque flailed a little, struggling to get out of Wukong's grip, but ultimately failed as Wukong made him sit back down, starting to pick leaves out of Macaque's fur.
"What are you doing?" Macaque asked, barely keeping himself from melting into the sensation of Wukong's fingers carding through his fur.
"Fixing your fur." Wukong said, sticking his tongue out a little in concentration. "Seriously though, your fur is in horrible condition, when's the last time you actually took care of it?"
Macaque didn't bother giving that a response.
Wukong hummed in contemplation, before glancing up and looking over at MK, who had remained standing off to the side, looking a little awkward. Wukong gestured for MK to come over, and MK hurriedly sat down beside him.
"Here kid, you've got fur now, so you should probably learn a little about how to take care of it." Wukong said.
"What, you're gonna use me as an example in your little monkey lesson?" Macaque asked, a joking tone in his voice.
"Yes, actually, that's exactly what I'm going to do." Wukong said, and Macaque turned to glare at him. "Woah, hey, don't move, you'll mess it up again!"
Macaque, accepting the fate that he'd been given, moved into a slightly more comfortable position, sitting criss-cross applesauce, and leaning his head on one hand, purposefully putting a grumpy expression on his face despite the fact that neither Wukong nor MK could actually see it. MK leaned onto Wukong's shoulder in order to better watch how Wukong gently cleaned Macaque's fur.
Eventually though, Macaque started to drift a little, shoulders slumping as he relaxed and started falling asleep. MK had already gone past that point, fully asleep, still leaning on Wukong's shoulder. Wukong, on the other hand, remained wide awake, focused on carefully detangling the knots in Macaque's fur, and removing any dirt that he came across while doing so.
So focused, in fact, that he didn't even notice the fact that both Macaque and MK had fallen asleep, or how much time was passing.
He got so caught up in it he didn't even realize Macaque's fur was perfectly cleaned, and that he'd, at this point, just been running his fingers through it for no reason, until the sun started rising.
As soon as the colours of the sunrise registered in Wukong's mind, he practically shot upright, standing up and moving away from the other two- who, without Wukong to lean against, both Macaque and MK fell backwards onto the ground, the impact waking the both of them up.
"Ugh, what was that for?" MK asked, slowly sitting up, rubbing his eyes, glancing over at where his mentor now stood, looking slightly frazzled. It took a moment before things started to register in MK's mind, as he looked up at the sky, then down at Macaque, who had thrown an arm over his eyes, mumbling something about it being 'too early for this'. He looked back over at his mentor.
"Did you.... were you up all night grooming Macaque??" MK asked, and Macaque stiffened as Wukong chuckled nervously.
"Would you believe me if I said no?" Wukong asked, sighing upon only receiving a disappointed look in response from MK. "Okay, so maybe I got a bit distracted by it, but it's fine, I wasn't really tired anyways."
"Oh really?" Macaque said, chuckling darkly as he slowly stood up, and MK leaned back, glancing between the two monkeys with a nervous look on his face. "Tell me, Wukong, when was the last time you slept?"
Wukong opened his mouth-
"And don't lie to me either." Macaque added on, and Wukong paused.
"......Four days ago." Wukong eventually said.
"And you say we're bad at self-care." MK mumbled, standing up and brushing some leftover dirt off his clothes. "Monkey King, you really shouldn't be going that long without-"
MK didn't get to finish that sentence as, without warning, Macaque took off his scarf, rushing forwards, and trapping Wukong in it.
"Wh- hey!" Wukong said, trying to get out as Macaque easily tied the end of the scarf in a knot.
"If you rip my scarf I'll kill you." Macaque said, and Wukong paused in his struggling. Macaque sighed, pushing Wukong down so that he was sitting on the ground. "Kid, I'm leaving him to you."
And with that, Macaque turned and walked off into the woods.
"Hey, wait a second-" MK started, about to follow Macaque and make sure he didn't outright leave, but then paused, turning back to Wukong, who continued to sit on the ground with the scarf wrapped around him, a confused look on his face.
There was still leaves in his fur from last night.
MK sighed, sitting down beside his mentor, and slowly started pulling the leaves out of his fur. Wukong visibly slouched, relaxing a little.
"...You're better at this than I thought you'd be." Wukong mumbled, already starting to fall asleep. MK snorted.
"I was paying attention before I fell asleep last night." MK said, humming a little to himself as he continued to groom his mentor's fur.
-
Once Macaque was a suitable distance from the camp, he sighed, glancing around himself. Once he was sure there was nobody within earshot, he took a deep breath-
And screamed.
He crouched down on the ground, putting his head in his hands.
Wukong had groomed his fur all night-
It had been so long since Macaque had his fur cared for like that and- well, to be honest, he had kinda missed it. 
But he wasn't supposed to miss it, he was the villain. Sure, he'd been tolerating their attempts to 'redeem' him, or whatever it was MK thought he was doing, but their attempts weren't meant to be working-
Macaque groaned as he flopped down onto the ground, laying on his back and staring up at the sky.
He couldn't wait for this whole thing to be over with, and for things to finally go back to normal.
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quindolyn · 4 years
Text
Midnight Walks || James Potter
Pairing: James Potter x Reader
Word Count: 4363
Note: Dedicated to 🦎anon from @/randomoutsiders blog. Where I live it’s already 84℉ so this completely feasible but if you don’t live in hell and it's still cold and wintery outside just push it back a few months.
Warnings: Insecure reader, like 2 sexual comments because I’m filthy, talk of men being pigs and not keeping their hands to themselves, lots of fluff, modern muggle au, monkey bars, public nonsexual stripping,
Masterlist
Part 2
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There were ants in your bones, there must’ve been. Either that or someone was trying to feather dust their way out of them. Your entire body itched with the urge to move, to run, to scream and jump in the middle of the street. You couldn’t quite put your finger on what drove this overwhelming desire, perhaps it was some sort of primal reason coded into your DNA, alternatively maybe it was the sitting at your computer all day. One could only attend so many online classes before they went insane, and a decent way into your second semester and still no sign of going back in person anytime before the next school year. You were like a purebred who desperately needed exercise. It would’ve been a simple enough fix if it wasn’t already 10:17, the sun having set four or so hours ago, even though you lived in a pretty nice area you didn’t feel comfortable going out. Men were disgusting, and going out this late alone meant risking life and limb because too many men thought it was okay to touch what wasn’t theirs. Fucking toddlers. So instead you were forced to open your windows in attempts to replicate the natural breeze and try to find another outlet for your energy. You tried. You really did. Jumping jacks, planks, the few yoga poses you could recall off the top of your head, dancing around your house to your favorite songs, but the music didn’t feel like it usually did, even it couldn’t soothe the itching in your bones. You were fucked, simply and truly. Too energetic without the proper outlet. After none of those things worked you sat down to attempt to get some of your weekend homework done, but somewhere between ionization energy and confidence intervals you found yourself picking at your nail polish instead of paying attention to your work. Groaning you threw your head down onto your desk, wincing as the pain from the impact spread through your skull. Closing your eyes you tried to imagine it, the cool night air in your face, blowing through your mangled tresses, the thud of your feet against the pavement of the sidewalk, the feeling of the grass at the park tickling your exposed skin as you stared up at the cloudy sky, looking for stars. You swore you could almost feel it all, almost pulled into bliss when you were yanked from your reprieve by the buzzing of your phone. Groaning, you pulled your head up, it wobbled on your neck, as though it was loose and needed to be tightened. Had you wanted to you couldn’t have stopped the smile that broke across your phone when you saw the notification on your lock screen, a text from James. Can I call you? Sure. You typed out waiting anxiously for your ringtone to blare through your room. Instead you were met with another brief buzz. One second, Sirius is being an idiot. Another smile, smaller than the last, bloomed across your face, Sirius was often an idiot. Picking up your phone you pressed it to your ear just in time to hear James greet you. “Hey baby.” Loving James was potentially one of the easiest things you’d ever done, if asked you would've said it would be easier to stop breathing before you stopped loving him. There was just so much to love and as his voice tickled your ear you remembered one of the things you so loved about him, the sound of his voice. With two simple words he was able to soothe you, if only a little bit. But still the ache to be outside lessened a little. “Hi Jamsie.” You crooned into the phone as you shut down your laptop coming to the conclusion you were going to get jack shit done tonight. You distantly heard Sirius in the background but couldn’t make out any words, “Pads says hi.” James conveyed. “Hi Siri!” You yelled into the phone, you waited until the bickering and laughing on their side of the phone quieted before continuing, “Whatcha callin’ about bub?” “Missed you is all, was wondering what you were doing?” “Nothing much, tried to get some homework done.” James chuckled knowing how distracted you could get if someone wasn’t there to help you stay on track, “How’d that go?” “Not well,” You grumbled, “S’not my fault either, can’t focus. I just need some fresh air, I need to go on a walk but I can’t.” Flinging your body onto your bed and landing on your back you pulled the phone from your ear, turning it onto speaker and setting it on your belly, liking the vibrations against your body as James spoke. It was almost like he was there with you. “I’m sorry darling,” James knew exactly what you were talking about. Unlike a lot of men he wasn’t afraid to broach topics like these, he would sit and kiss your head if some guy at the grocery store had been a prick and couldn't keep his eyes or his hands off of your ass, or if one of the boys in your class had made an objectifying comment. He’d listen to you lament and apologize, on behalf of all men, for the disgusting things you were forced to deal with. He had learned a lot since you started dating, he’d always been a feminist but before you hadn’t really understood what that meant. His mother and father always made sure he was aware of gender biases and he’d heard stories of women being assaulted, harassed, discriminated against and perhaps it made him a bad person but when it happened to you, when you told him about these things it was different, it was worse, he couldn’t control the rage that bubbled up inside of him. You were (Y/N) (L/N), you were his, you deserved to be treated like royalty. No one got to disrespect you. He felt the pang in his heart when he pictured you holed up in your house, like a caged animal, desperate to get out. “I know, and I love you.” You responded, knowing he hated how you had to be afraid and cautious all the time. “I love you too.” “What were you doing before you called?” You asked after a beat. “Watching a movie with mom and Sirius.” A twinge of guilt twisted in your stomach, “Oh, you should go back to them Jamsie, I don’t want to keep you from your family.” James stopped himself before he could tell you that they’d already finished the movie as an idea hit him like most of his ideas hit him, suddenly and fleetingly. Remus once compared them to a freight train. “Okay angel, talk to you later.” “Bye, Jamsie.” He hung up immediately as the last syllable left your lips causing a frown to tug downwards at those aforementioned lips. Sure, you felt a bit guilty that he’d bailed on his mom and Sirius for you but you couldn’t help feeling a little sad that he was so ready to get rid of you the second he had a chance. Feeling all too familiar insecurity simmer from under your sternum questions popped into your head one after another. Did he really want to be with you? Was this all because he just pitied you? Were you just a substitute for Lily? Did his heart still belong to her? What did he even see in you? You couldn’t help but feel like nothing compared to her, she’s Lily Evans. And you’re, well you’re just not. Time had slipped away from you, you hadn’t realised how much until you felt your phone buzz against your stomach and saw that almost 15 minutes had passed since James had hung up on you. You only briefly noted the time before your eyes flashed down to the banner displayed across your screen, another text. Look out your window. Lifting your torso, propping yourself up on your forearms and twisted your head to see James’ smiling face plastered against your window, a huge, beautiful grin, stretching across his face. You could feel a matching one fan out across your face as you skipped to the window, pulling it open relishing in the cool breeze that let itself into your room. “Hey there handsome.” You joked. “Hey beautiful.” “What are you doing outside my window?” You were befuddled, wasn’t he supposed to be watching some Quentin Tarantino or equally violent movies that he and Siri liked? “I was thinking we could go on a walk,” He explained unabashedly. “A walk?” You asked, a blush blossoming on your face, creeping its way down your neck. “You wanted to go on one, yeah?” “I love you.” Was all you said in response, he caught you as you threw yourself into his arms, the middle of your thighs biting into the sill of your window, but you didn’t care. How could you? All you could focus on was the way his arms wrapped around your body, pulling you close to him so he could bury his nose into your hair. “Love you too darling.” There was a part of you, an admittedly large part, that wanted to stay standing there forever but the cool evening air reminded you about how much you wanted that walk. Peeling yourself away from him you placed your chin on his pectoral, not considerably comfortable for either of you, but you were close to each other, and that’s all that mattered. “Come in.” “I was waiting for you to ask.” He winked, slinging one leg over the windowsill giving him room to maneuver his rather large body through the small opening, but James had experience fitting his body into tiny things (namely your cunt). “Are your parents home?” “No, everyone’s gone for the night.” “Why didn’t you tell me baby, I would’ve come over and kept you company.” You felt heat creep back up your neck to your face, embarrassed by the answer. Though your insecurities could swallow you whole when you were alone, they seemed trivial when James was actually there, staring down at you with so much love in his eyes. “Don’t want to be clingy.” The confession bringing even more heat to your cheeks. “Never, (Y/N), absolutely never. If anyone here is clingy it's me not you.” You corrected him, “You’re wonderful.” “So are you bub.” Reassuring you he brushed a piece of hair out of your face. “Now come on! Let’s get some shoes on you and we can go out.”
James was filling up an old water bottle he found in one of the cupboards in case either of you got thirsty when you entered the kitchen, shoes and socks in hand. Your boy smiled at you, twisting the cap of the water bottle on all of the way before setting it on the countertop and moving towards you. “Want me to put your shoes on for you?” “Yes please.” You nodded, grinning cheekily. His large hands found your waist, lifting you up and setting your bum onto the cool counter. Slipping the socks from your hand he knelt down to roll them over your feet, leaving a kiss on the inside of each of your ankles. “You wanna walk to anywhere in particular?” “The park?” You offered, handing him one of your tennis shoes which were a little beat up, but still a long way from needing to be replaced. “The one with the fountain?” “Do you know of any other parks within walking distance?” You snarked, swinging your legs, feeling the need to be outside return, faster and more powerful than before. “Guess not,” He grumbled, looking up at you with a playful smile so you would know he didn’t really take your sarcasm to heart. “Hey watch it!” He chuckled when you accidentally swung your leg a little too hard and knocked his left shoulder with your socked foot. “Sorry.” You apologized looking about as sorry as Sirius usually did when he was apologizing, which honestly wasn’t much. “There you go Cinderella.” He said, as he pat your thigh once he finished tying your laces, rising from his kneeling position. “You think you’re funny do you Potter?” “In fact I do (L/N).” He grinned, sliding you off the counter, onto your feet. “Shall we?” You offered your hand to him which he accepted like a true gentleman. “We shall.”
You were right, but then again, when were you ever wrong? Fresh air was exactly what you needed, the feeling of the wind in your hair, the twigs snapping beneath your weight, the solidness of the ground. You couldn’t remember the last time you had felt this alive. That was probably stupid but it was liberating to be out of your house, and on top of it it was nighttime too. You weren’t often able to be out this late because you usually didn’t have someone to go out with. You had almost forgotten how beautiful it was when there was no glass separating you from the moon and the stars. Despite the fact that his legs were far longer than yours James still had to speed walk to keep up with you. His heart swelled seeing you so happy and carefree as you strode unapologetically down the sidewalk. “Stop walking so fast.” He complained, finally matching your stride as he loosely looped his left arm around your waist, pulling you as close to him as possible while still keeping the two of you moving forward. “Not my fault you’re a slowpoke.” You retaliated but nevertheless still resting your head on his broad shoulder. “It’s nice out isn’t it?” He pondered aloud. “It’s wonderful,” You agreed, closing your eyes and turning your face up towards the sky, trusting James to guide you safely down the sidewalk, “I’m sorry you had to ditch your mom and Siri to come be with me.” You apologized as another wave of guilt from earlier hit you. “I didn’t bubba, we’d already finished the movie when I called you.” “Really?” Your head perked up. “Mhm.” James hummed. “Why didn’t you tell me that?’ “Wanted to surprise you.” He explained and your heart soared, he really was indescribably sweet. “Well I was surprised.” “Good.” “What movie did you watch?” Wondering if your suspicions had been correct. “Forrest Gump.” He responded by popping his “p”. You laughed squeezing two of James’ fingers on the hand splayed across your stomach. “What?” “Nothin’, just thought you and Pads would’ve made your mom watch Reservoir Dogs or something.” “Come on, you know me and Padfoot (Y/N), nothin’ but a couple of softies the two of us.” “Yes, yes you are.” You responded completely seriously. “You were supposed to disagree, he whispered into your ear. “I cannot tell a lie.” “Hey!” He exclaimed in mock offense. “Come on I found the two fo you cuddling when I came over Wednesday, he was literally spooning you Jamsie. It was rather cute really.” James let you have the last word and the two of you were silent for a minute as you passed a house with a line of cars in front of it, stupid fucking people and their stupid fucking parties. You thought, thinking they’re more important than the rest of us, that it’s okay to throw a party during the middle of a pandemic. “There’s a pandemic going on people,” James muttered as you crossed in front of the driveway, as though he was reading your thoughts. You just nestled into him more. Once you cleared the super spreader house it was only a few feet before you turned the corner and your desired destination came into view causing a ginormous smile to practically crack your face in half. “Come on Jamie!” You giggled, grabbing his hand and pulling him down the street towards the park, not even looking both ways as you bolted across the street to the park. You’d always thought that parks and playgrounds and such looked a bit creepy after dark and while today was no exception you still didn’t think twice before bounding up the steps of the play structure. Laughing, you turned your face back up towards the sky as you reached down to slip your shoes and socks off, tossing them off the play structure onto the wood chips scattered across the ground. “You look beautiful up there.” You hadn’t noticed James approach you, but he was now standing at the foot of the play structure, looking up at you. “Come up here with me Jamie, please?” You pleaded, tugging on his arm. “How could I deny you anything?” “Simple,” You responded, “You can’t.” Pushing himself up onto the structure he tried to envelop you in his arms but you squirmed away, giggling. As you ran toward the slide at the opposite end of the playground he broke out into a run after you, purposefully keeping his strides short to give you the upper hand. Breaking out into a sprint as soon as your feet touched the ground you raced towards the open field, James hot on your heels. He chased you around the perimeter of the grassy clearing, the two of you yelling at each other and laughing until your lungs hurt when he finally caught you in his arms, trying to get you as close to him as possible. He loved the feeling of your body against his more than he loved life itself. Or even Sirius. “What should I do with you now that I’ve captured you?” He mused tauntingly, tightening his grip on you. “Well I know one thing you could do to me.” You murmured. “(Y/N) (M/N) (L/N), get your mind out of the gutter Miss,” “Make me.” You teased, wiggling in his grasp. “I know what’ll fix your attitude.” James declared, adjusting his so his arms were around your waist instead of one there and one wrapped around your shoulders. “And what’s that?” “A nice February swim!” He roared jovially, hefting you over his shoulder as he bounded towards the fountain located on the east side of the park. “Jamie!” You shrieked as you bounced against him, “Slow down.” “Sorry Princess,” He huffed once you reached the fountain, he carefully lifted you off his shoulder and sat you down on the ledge of the water feature as he kneeled before you, hands pressing against your thighs. “Come on baby, go swimming with me?” “Course.” You smiled as you reached for the hem of your shirt and pulled it over your head, throwing it somewhere over Jamie’s shoulder. You didn’t bother watching where it landed, too enraptured with the gorgeous boy on his knees in front of you. “You look gorgeous (Y/N).” He murmured, taking it the sight of your bare stomach and chest clad in a lacy lavender bra. “I let you see mine, now get your shirt off Potter!” You commanded impatiently, you loved James all the time, but you especially loved James shirtless. “Okay, okay woman, calm down, I'm moving.” He playfully chastised shrugging off his jacket which you just now realised was his varsity jacket, his last name emblazoned across the back of it. When he caught you staring at him he teasingly played with the hem of his shirt, rolling it in the tips of his fingers until you lightly kicked his bent knee. He then discarded his pants, throwing them and his shirt somewhere to his right, carefully laying his jacket on a bench a few feet away he was left only in his boxers and you took this time to appreciate how his skin shown in the moonlight, his darker complexion brilliant in the darkness of the park. “You wanna keep your shorts on? He lilted, moving towards where you sat on the bench encircling the fountain. You nodded in response, not wanting to be so vulnerable in such a public space. “Okay baby sounds good.” James leaned in towards you pressing his lips to yours before he scooped you into his arms before stepping into the fountain, even though it was warm ish outside the water of the fountain hadn’t had enough time to truly heat up because the water that lapped at his midcalf almost had him feeling bad for what he did next. Which was dropping you into the freezing cold water, keeping you upright by his hold on your shoulders before you were able to ground yourself on the floor of the fountain. With water sprouting up from the top and cascading down 4 smaller tiers reminiscent of bird baths, getting larger and larger in radius as they went down, cold water nipped at your skin. “Agh!” You shrieked, “It’s freezing!” “Calm down drama queen!” James snorted, “Little cold water never hurt anybody.” “Speak for yourself!” Screaming as James bent down to splash you with water you tried to run away resulting in you falling backwards onto your bum. “You okay baby?” James asked nervously bending down next to you, surveying your near naked body for any cuts or bruises. Your response came as you looped your arms around his neck and pulled him down, submerging the entirety of his body in the chilly water. He quickly pulled you down with him so that your head was submerged, your hair billowing out around you in the water. When you pulled back up to the surface your wet hair was plastered to your face. And though you were cold, wet, and maybe a little banged up your heart was aflame, this had been exactly what you needed, to run around like a little kid and lose yourself, if only for a little while. Glancing back down your jaw dropped, the light coming from the fountain walls made the shadows of the water reflect on James’ dark skin making him look even more beautiful, like something out of a book. He took your temporary lapse as an opportunity to flip you around so that he was on top of you, he thought you were always stunning but something about you beneath him made you shine like nothing else he’d ever seen. Taking good care to make sure your head didn’t bump against the fountain, and that your head was above water, he trailed kisses from your temple to your jaw. When he reached your chin the second freight train of the night hit him head on and he stuck out his tongue licking from the point of your chin, up your lips, the bridge of your nose, and up your forehead until he reached your hair line where he left one more gentle kiss. “James Potter!” You shrieked, a giggling mess, “What the hell?” He lifted himself off you so he could once again scoop you into his arms, “Come on my little water nymph, let’s get you dry, don’t need you getting sick on me.” “Think you should’ve thought about that before you dunked me into the fountain in nothing but my bra and shorts.” You retaliated to which he only rolled his eyes, before shaking his head like a wet dog. “I swear to God Potter, you’re a Golden Retriever.” “Hmh?” He asked, stepping out of the fountain. “Playful, loyal, energetic, smart.” You explained, planting a kiss on his nose. “Shaking off to dry like a fucking dog.” “You love me.” He grinned, like the thought was just now hitting him, like you hadn’t said it already multiple times that night. “That I do Potter.” You agreed as he set you down on the bench where he had laid his jacket, taking care to slip your arms into it one at a time he pulled it close to your body to keep you warm before coming up behind you, tipping your head back so he could wring the excess water out of it, taking this as an opportunity to kiss the hollow of your throat to which you hummed. Upon slipping on his previously discarded pants and shirt, an endeavor you watched very closely, not wanting to miss a second of how his muscles shifted underneath his smooth, taut skin, he sat down next to you. “It’s a beautiful night.” “That it is.” You agreed. The two of you sat there for a moment before James carefully stood up, “Where are you going Jamie? Too tired now, m’done playing.” “I know angel, come on, not gonna play, just get more comfortable.” He soothed, taking you by the hand and walking you over to a set of fairly new monkey bars. Picking you up from the bottom of your thighs he pushed you up and above his shoulders to sit on top of the monkey bars and you were reminded why it sometimes came in handy to be dating the captain of the football team. Swinging up next to you on the monkey bars he slid his arm around your shoulders, both of your legs meeting the edge of the cold metal at the bend of your knees, your bodies there down hanging off leaving the both of you on your backs staring up at the unusually starry night sky. “There’s Orion.” You lifted your arm to point out the constellation, “ Surprised we can see so many.” You marvelled. “It is rather pretty.” “‘Rather pretty’?” You gasped exasperated with the boy next to you, “It’s not just ‘rather pretty’, it's gorgeous!” You corrected with a huff, turning your visage back up towards the heavens. “Eh,” He shrugged, “I’ve seen better.” “I swear to God, James Fleamont Potter if you say ‘You’re prettier than any constellation’ I’m going to push you off these monkey bars.” A chuckle pushed its way past his lips as he brushed his lips along the part of your hair, “You know me too well don’t you (L/N).” “Yeah, I’ve got your number Mister.” James pulled out his phone to check the time, “Hey baby, it’s midnight.” He whispered in your ear, turning his phone screen so you could read the time. “Happy Saturday my darling boy.” “Happy Saturday Princess, let’s get you home.”
Note: I know in my initial ask on @/randomoutsiders you guys went home and more fluff ensued. Maybe a part two?
tagging: @randomoutsiders​ 
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masterhandss · 4 years
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HameFura Manga V6 Bonus SS (translated)
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It says “Magical Girl Flag Breakers” and “Our Enemies: The Ruin Four”
Volume 6 Bonus SS - “Magical★Girl Flag Breakers”
Hello! So I snagged a raw copy of Manga Volume 6 on the internet because I was really excited for the bonus story ever since I got raws of Volume 5. For those who don’t know, typically a copy of the manga comes with an extra chapter with Katarina having a dream about different scenarios (V1 was Fortune Lover, V2 is a Highschool AU, V3 is a Fantasy RPG AU, V4 is a Genderbend AU and V5 is a Kindergarten AU), and alongside the chapter of the volume is a image preview of the next story in the next volume.
I couldn't wait to read this one-shot so with the power of google translate, I’ve decided to translate it myself! Please read this one, it’s a very fun one-shot, so much so that I want more of this story XDD (also because it took me half a day to translate this from pictures qwq)
Please do remember to read this one-shot once an official English Release of Manga Volume 6 comes out, and please forgive me for any mistake I made while translating this story to English.
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It was a sunny morning that day. I, Katarina Claes, an ordinary high school student, overslept that day and was late for school. While I was dashing to school with a fresh cucumber in my mouth from our fridge instead of my breakfast, was suddenly struck with something hard on the head. I was surprised! I rubbed my head and looked around, but I saw nothing.
I was about to start running again because I assumed that I just imagined, until I heard a voice. "Ouch, I'm sorry I bumped into you", the voice said as I looked up to follow it. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH~~~~" I screamed instinctively as I looked at what looks like a small little doll.
There was a small boy with wings. The boy covered his ears and frowned at my loud outcry. "Oh, I'm sorry" I apologized, also instinctively, but this is turning out to be a really weird situation. What even is this small little boy? It's a really well-made toy or something like that. "I'm not a toy", eh did I say that out loud?
I was surprised to hear a reply, so I asked "Are you a dwarf then?"
"No, I'm a spirit" he said with a matter-of-fact tone. 'Oh, so he's a spirit~' is what I would have said........ 
"Wait, what do you mean a spirit?" I wasn't convinced at all. What do you mean it's a spirit? The little spirit boy begins to explain to me, who was still surprised and flustered, while pointing with his tiny finger.
Well, it turned out to be quite the serious discussion. While a story about an evil organization, the most worrisome part to me was, "So, if the 'planet' dies, what will happen?" I could predict what his answer would be, but it still scared me to hear what the answer was. "If the planet dies, all living creatures here will die" The little spirit replied with an expected answer. When he said that all living creatures will die, does that mean everyone?!
"We will fight and defeat the evil organization with the power we receive from the planet," the spirit declared so bravely. He may look cute like a doll, but he was very cool. I instinctively made a guts pose, "In behalf of everyone, I thank you. Good luck on your fight". "Thank you, but the one who will be fighting is not me--. The spirit boy was interrupted by a loud explosion nearby, where I heard a loud scream saying "Ah! It's a monster!".
When I ran over there to check it out, for some reason, there was something big rampaging in a park just further away. Wait, what? There was a giant bear that appeared out of nowhere?! Around these parts, there could be monkeys showing up, but not bears.
Next to me, the spirit boy was visibly upset. "Oh no, They've already started to appear. I haven't even formed a contract with anyone yet" the spirit boy whispered. What does he mean by a contract? No, its not the time for such questions when something serious is happening in front of us.
"Um, Spirit boy, lets run away, the situation over there looks dangerous". I called out to him, but the spirit boy didn't answer with his eyes growing bigger. "And you, can you help me with my work?" He said as if there wasn't anything happening in front of us. What does he mean help with his work? What is he saying in such a dangerous time like this.
"The Evil Organization".
"?!"
"What happening right now, it's involving the things I've told you about. I need your help, please". "Wait, even if you say it so suddenly like this...." I'm already really late for school, and at this point getting in would be really difficult. I'm in deep trouble. "Please, I can only ask you." I was being stared with such a desperate face and moist eyes, making it really hard to refuse. Aside from that, the noise in the park is getting louder, and I feel like it's really dangerous to stay here.
For now, its best to run away for the time being and listen to him when we get to somewhere safer. I thought and said, "I understand. I'll help you, so lets run away from here first." My words did not even finish until the end. Before I finished, the spirit boy grinned and said, "Okay, then lets form the contract."
The moment I saw his grinning smile, I knew something was weird, but before I could say anything, the spirit boy pulled something that looked like a stick with a flag and asked, "What is your name?" "Katarina Claes". For some reason, my mouth started to move on my own and said my name. Eh, what's going on?
"Then, Katarina Claes, I will appoint you as a magical girl who will help protect this planet". When I shook the flag that the spirit boy had, my body was wrapped in light, and my school uniform changed into a cute and frilly costume. 
"What's this?!" "It's a magical girl costume. Now you have the power to do more than what a hundred normal persons can do".
"Wearing this frilly outfit can make me do that?!" "Yes, that costume has that kind of power. With this, you can defeat the enemy as a magical girl". "Wait, what's a magical girl? and by enemy you mean--" "Ah, it's already here"
As soon as the spirit boy interrupted my words with his own, a giant pink bear doll came out from the entrance of the park.
"What's that?" "That's our enemy. Now, let's defeat it with the power of a magical girl." "Even if you tell me to defeat it--?!"
What should I do? The bear started to launch itself towards us while I was trying to figure out what to do. While it is a stuffed toy bear, it was very big so it's power was quite impressive.
It’ll be bad if I get hit, so I jumped really high unexpectedly in order to avoid it. Wow, the bear looked really surprised by my movements, which are a hundred times faster and stronger than a normal person, and it made the bear look like fool as he gave his all into that attack. What a terrifying bear. That bear tried to attack with a punch again. The bear is very quick for its size. Thanks to this outfit, I can easily avoid his punches, but this can’t keep going on like this.
“Hey spirit, how I can I defeat this bear?”. While trying to avoid the bear’s attacks, I asked the spirit who was watching me jump above. “Oh, that’s right. Point the bracelet at the bear and say ‘Flag Break’. If you do that, you can defeat it”. He seems to have forgotten to tell me this earlier.
I wondered if that was enough, but I did as I was told, pointing my bracelet at the bear and shouted “Flag Break”, and a ray of light appeared from the bracelet. When the light hits and wraps the bear in its entirety, it disappeared after the light.
I coughed while staring at the spot where the bear disappeared, and the spirit who was now next to me said, “Thank you, Katarina. Thank you for your continued support. My name is Raphael”, he said as I held his outreached hand. 
This how I, Katarina Claes, became a magical girl who fights against evil organizations.
And, through this event, I learned that I should not accept unclear requests so easily. I became a magical girl by being convinced in a shocked state by Raphael, and in the months since I became a magical girl, my number of friends seemed to have increased. After several months, I realized that there are more magical girls in my school, such as Maria who was part of the student council and the school’s cooking club, Mary from the gardening club, and Sophia from the literature club. Strangely, all of them are smart and beautiful students. Not only that, they were all scouted by a female spirit named Anne as magical girls. I was only scouted in the heat of the moment, but everyone else are so good at their job, and eventually we all began to get along as friends. Until then, I usually go to school late because I always get lost, but now we all go to school together every day.
“Yes, I tried to turn the flowers in the gardening club as a bookmark, Katarina. If you’d like, please use it”. “Wow. it’s so cute, thank you. Mary has good taste” “Katarina, I’ve brought a book I want to recommend” “You did? I’m looking forward to it. Thank you, Sophia” “Katarina, I brought some sweets I made in the cooking club, please eat some if you’d like” “Oh! Thank you Maria. I love your sweets so much because they are just so delicious”
Just like that, we continue to have fun chatting to each other, when suddenly there was a figure ahead of us. “Hello, Katarina and co.”
A beautiful young man with blonde hair and blue eyes appeared before me. “Wow, you’re here again Geordo” I frowned, but Geordo returned it with a smile. “Today, I will defeat you and make you mine”, that’s when he suddenly changed into a black cloak with a mask; the uniform of the evil organization.
Yes, this handsome young man is named Geordo, he might look like a prince, but he is actually one of the Four Kings of Ruin, part of the enemy organization that we, magical girls, need to defeat. I met Geordo after I had become a magical girl, during my third battle. It was Geordo who summoned enemies like the giant stuffed toy bear and released it onto the city. Since then, I had fought him multiple times as enemies, where he continuously says things like “You’ve piqued my interest. Would you become mine?” whenever he approaches me. Is this a new form of attack? When I reply to him with an attack, he would reply with “One day, I will beat you and make you mine”. 
I don’t know if this is a new kind of attack, but Geordo would typically show up every three days, and now that its the third day, it probably means I need to transform into a magical girl again.
“I hate you” “Yeah, please stop disturbing our good time” “Please pack it up”
Mary, Sophia and Maria all said, as they transformed into magical girls too. “You girls are interrupting the moment between me and Katarina. You girls are in my way” Geordo said, as he raised his hand to the sky. Then, a black circle appeared, with people falling out from it.
“Ouch! Geordo, do you know how many time you’ve been calling out to us recently? I was gonna take a nap”, that was Geordo’s twin brother who scratched his head, the snobby Alan who is also part of the Four Kings. “That’s right, I was on a date with a girl” said Keith, the playboy from the Four Kings of Ruin, who frowned and brushed his bangs. The last one was expressionless, but was looking at the pasta who had fallen onto the ground with a sad face. He is Nicol, the final member of the four who has a magical and mysterious charm to him.
“Everyone, don’t be so lazy. Let’s work together and defeat the magical girls once and for all” Geordo said to them, and they all turned to me in a daze. There’s something he didn’t know about his allies when he called them out.
“Yo, it’s been a long time, Katarina. You’re still playing magical girl?” Alan said. Perhaps he was embarrassed that he had just declared that he would take a nap, because his face was flushed red. I met him during one of my battles.
“Katarina Claes, you’re always so free. It’s so lonely to think that you don’t have anyone to date yet,” Keith said. Perhaps he was shy or was embarrassed by the girl he was just on a date with, because his face was also quite red. I also met him during one of my battles so I’m acquainted with him.
Maybe he was called from a place where he was eating his pasta, and now it had fallen to the ground and splattered, because Nicol had a very sad expression. ”................” “Would you like some of these sweets so compensate for your food?” I offered to him. He gave me such a happy and devilish smile, saying “thank you” as he reached out for one of the sweets. I staggered a bit at the sight. I also met Nicol during one of my battles.
“What are you guys talking about so happily with my Katarina? I called you guys here to deal with the other three magical girls who are trying to get in between us” Geordo said. “What are you taking about? You’re the ones who are in the way of our good time,” Mary lifted her eyebrows and snapped at Geordo, who simply replied to her accusation with a dark smile. “That’s my line. You high school girls who just talk about crap without any meaning”.
“That’s rude, it’s not meaningless” Sophia said angrily. Well this is the kind of thing that Geordo definitely won’t understand. He doesn’t seem to have a prejudice against high school girls... wait a minute, shouldn’t we be fighting? Geordo, Mary and Sophia are quarrelling, Alan and Keith are summoned but have flushed cheeks and are looking away, Maria is sharing handmade sweets to Nicol who lost his pasta.
Recently, every time we confront the Four Kings of Ruin, we more frequently fight like this, without throwing any hands. I even started to wonder if I was still a magical girl, so I tried to look around for our two spirits, before I was interrupted by Maria who offered sweets to me. It was so good that I lost all my will for battle.
“Lady Katarina, Lady Katarina, please get up. It’s time for you to go to school”
What happened to the battle? “Battle? Katarina, you’re sleeping. We need to get you ready for school”, Anne said, bringing out my clothes. “Oh I had  a very strange dream. I was transformed into a magical girl. Not only that, the enemies were Geordo and the others. What a strange dream”.
“What’s a magical girl?” Anne gave me a suspicious look while the adjusting my clock. “Ah, um, a magical girl fights against an evil organization--”
“Katarina, I’m grateful for your explanations but we don’t time for that right now, so I’ll ask about it later after we finish your preparations”. Ann told me, and when I looked at the clock, I knew that it was almost time for class and that I was about to be late. I hurriedly cooperated with Anne and started preparing myself for school. My usual day begins as from that point.
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That’s it! It’s a very cute one-shot, and I hope after I post this, maybe it inspires people to write stories based on this au qwq. Volume 7′s oneshot is “Detective?! Katarina’s Office” (Tantei?! Katarina Jimusho) so if thats interesting then i’ll translate that too.
Some unnecessary notes from me if you’re interested in reading:
Since Katarina is the hero and Miri is the leader of the evil organization, I guess if this really was a story then the plot twist is that Katarina is her daughter. I can imagine maybe this story takes place in her old world with her old family (mom, dad, grandma, two brothers) but the difference here is that Katarina is adopted or something like that.
It’s interesting that Raphael is Katarina’s fairy partner instead of Ann. It works since both Kat and Raph use Dark Magic in canon lol haha also because it shows how competent Ann is haha
It’s also cool to see the playboy version of Keith liking Katarina.
Sophia and Nicol don’t seem to be related at all in this version of the story, which I’m cool with. They could also have a Hawkmoth-Chat Noir situation where they aren’t aware of each other’s secret identities (though I doubt it myself since they all transformed in front of the boys, but hey i’m just throwing it out there).
Omg rip Nicol’s pasta. Press f to pay respects
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moonlit-imagines · 4 years
Text
Headcanons for being Diego Hargreeves’ child
Diego Hargreeves x child!reader
warnings: knifes, blood, guns, death mentions, mental hospital
a/n:
prompt: anonymous: “Hi! Could you please write a “The Umbrella Academy” Diego Hargreeves x daughter reader headcanon? I always think Diego is such a overprotective softie dad ♥️♥️”
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deigo really said “?????”
how dad
but also he’d just the most loving dad anyone could ever ask for
✨it’s because he was never loved by his dad✨
“hi cutie, i love you, i love you, i love youuuuu”
he locked away all his weapons so that you couldn’t hurt yourself on them
but he always missed a few and he’d turn around and see you holding throwing knives and just FREAK OUT
“no, no, no, you may not have those! knives are for big boys like me, not babies”
“give back”
“‘give back?’ are you nuts?”
diego has conversations with lil you as if you know what the fuck he means dhshshhshs
as you got older, you became more interested in his “career”
“no, i dont care if you have powers or not! you have a bedtime, that means no vigilantism, you hear me?”
“if i say ‘no’ can i be a vigilante?”
“you know what? how about you clean up the gym for al so he doesn’t evict us?”
you did not sign up for this
you really wanted to meet your aunts and uncles, but you weren’t exactly sure they knew about you
i mean, you knew you had a cousin but everyone knew about her because aunt allison was a goshdarn celebrity
“dad, i want to meet the family!”
“no you don’t”
end of discussion
despite having a bedtime, you still watched movies late at night with your dad
he really liked marvel movies
“come on, that would never happen!”
“you come from a family of superpowered kids, a robot mom, and a monkey, and you’re upset about...a guy that shoots arrows?”
“maybe i am, what’re you gonna do about it?”
you ask about umbrella academy stories a lot, you your dad usually makes it about him
“and then i punched that guy in the face! and then i stabbed him in the leg because he was a dick! bet you’re friend’s dads arent as cool as me”
*yawning bc you’ve heard this story a million times*
you go to public school
you do have your dad’s last name
which occasionally gets recognized
“woah! wasn’t your dad a superhero?”
“i have no idea what youre talking about” :)
practicing your knife throwing while diego is away, him coming home to find his knifes stuck through various targets
so proud but he had to make sure you didn’t hurt yourself
you actually had to learn how to patch him up because he did come home a bit battered and bruised several times
“im okay, y/n. no need to freak”
“dad, there is literally blood dripping on the floor will you just sit down and stay still for five goddamn minutes?”
“woah, who the fuck taught you to cuss?”
watching the news at home when your grandfather was reportedly dead
you were actually very upset because you wanted to meet him so bad
even if he was a dick
your dad came home silent and you knew he knew
“you okay?”
“oh, yeah, im better than okay!”
finally getting the chance to meet your family
“who are you?” -allison
“im, uh, y/n. diego is my dad”
*jaw dropping*
and you know what? that happened four more times (plus ben but you didn’t get to see that)
“and you are?” -luther
“who’s the...the little one?” -klaus
“well, what do you know? diego’s a dad” -five
“don’t tell me that’s...no way” -ben
“you’re diego’s? wow, i can’t believe he didn’t tell anyone” -vanya
“i...i know who all of you are” -you
diego bragging about how perfect you are while everyone simultaneously rolls their eyes
“well, y/n, maybe one day we’ll schedule a playdate for you and claire” -allison
“‘playdate?’ how old do you think i am?...but yes i wanna meet her”
“god, you’re so much like diego, it’s unsettling”
you had been secretly training at al’s gym during your dad’s late night activities
so when trouble came your way, you were able to handle yourself pretty well
“where the hell did you learn that?”
“al showed me a few moves!”
“that old man? you’re kidding”
you met your grandmother, grace, who was tasked with keeping you safe at all times
you actually loved her sm
but there was something a bit off about her
besided the fact she was a robot
klaus snuck you out so that you two could have BoNdInG tImE
it wasn’t all bad
ben was a lil choked up that he got to meet one of his niblings
“they’re perfect”
“they just stabbed someone, buddy”
“who are you talking to?”
FIVE EVEN SCHEMED WITH YOU
“okay, y/n, i need you to curve something when i throw it, got that? right at that security guard”
“what are you throwing?”
“you’ll know when you see it, make your uncle five proud”
“IS THAT A GUN”
<3 family
running into patch!!
“hey, kid, i just saw your dad. i thought i told you to handcuff him to the radiator when you were away?”
“yeah, well, he wouldve chewed his hand off so here we are”
that was the last time you saw her :/
well, your dad was now a wanted man
“what happened to your arm?”
“no”
you actually didn’t expect this family reunion to go south like this
wait—yes you did
vanya has powers????
“i thought vanya was the one without powers?”
“yeah. so did we.”
diego straight up did not want you anywhere near that
but you, again, were his child and also fuck authority you do what you want
the vibe is almost getting shot several times
by hazel, cha cha, and “commission” guys?
going 2 ur auntie’s concert 😌✨
“y/n, hide in the bathroom and stay there until i come get you”
“dad, i love you, but no”
“y/n, i love you too, but yes”
“no”
“yes”
“NO”
“YES”
you won
but in the end (or not so much) you time traveled to...1961?
without any of your family
“this is...this is not good”
understatement of the year(s)
what was a kid like you gonna do in dallas, texas in 1961
no seriously, what
it was rough, but you managed to survive on your own
and open a paper in 1963 to find a mugshot of your dad
“son of a—”
visiting dad! (two years later)
“y/n? oh my god, y/n! shit, i missed you so much! why do you look different? you’re bigger, oh god. how long have you been here?”
“2 years, dad. you?”
his hair was so LONG
“2 months”
“christ, that’s it?!”
“i have to stop jfk from being assassinated”
“what makes you think that’s a good idea???”
“its the right thing to do, wanna help?”
“shit, i guess. as long as i dont end up here”
“no promises, people in the 60’s are crazy”
diego: 👁👄👁
you: 👀
running into five on the street soon after
“uncle five?”
“no time to talk”
“okay, asshole? i’ve been here for 2 years and you dont care?”
“two years, huh? i spent 45 years in a post apocalyptic world as a 13 year old and beyond”
“i didn’t say it was a competition, dude. you kinda dropped us all at different times. at least, me and dad. he—”
“is trying to kill lee harvey oswald, i know. come with me”
finally running into your other aunts and uncles, who were so excited to see you
you ran into their arms and they picked you off the ground and you felt closer than ever after only knowing them for 10 days
dad broke out
lila too
“im your new mom!”
“you’re what?”
diego dragged you along with him almost everywhere
he had missed you so much, but he keeps forgetting you kinda grew up without him for a while longer
meeting grandpa :)
“a grandchild, huh? how unfortunate”
“bitch”
“what did you just call me?”
“a bitch.”
your dad and basically the entire table trying to hold back laughter
reggie was stunned
cold hearted just like him <3 he didn’t know if he was offended or proud
this is so confusing
diego just disappeared off the face of the earth
and assassins were on your case
“the goddamn swedes are back oh shittt im gonna die”
“y/n, just curve their bullets”
“it’s not as easy as it sounds, klaus!”
you were doomed
theres too much to go over
apparently you died on a farm????
and then you didn’t??????
and your dad was almost apart of the commission
“hey, you okay, y/n?”
“i would like to take a nap please”
“yeah, me too”
“me three!” -klaus
yeah it was never that simple 😌💕 the end
taglist: @alwaysananglophile // @cullens-stuff // @lotsoffandomrecs // @takethebladeawayfromme // @that-nerd-tessa // @teenwaywardasgardian // @spidergirla5 // @sheridans-dynamos // @freya-xo // @johnmurphyisbisexual // @jay-is-groovy // @ravenmoore14 // @purpleskiesstorm // @abbiesthings // @thereagles // @ofthedewthesunlight //
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dancingthesambaa · 3 years
Text
The Smell of Plum Blossom Tea Ch 17
Summary: Just like a butterfly wing, a single act of kindness can change the course of the future, it certainly did for MK as a black furred monkey put out a hand towards him.
Rating: Teen and up
Chapter 17: Can You Feel The Love Tonight~
“Pass some of that Okra.”
“Here you go.”
“Why is this so spicy?!”
“Well it is the spicy plate, if you can’t handle the heat then you should have gotten the other plate.”
“No, just this one specifically is damn spicy!”
“Red made some of them.”
“It’s not my fault that your taste isn’t refined enough.”
“Come over here and say that!”
“No fighting at the table,” Macaque said as he watched Bohai try to stand up from his seat, while Red was smirking at him.
“Won’t be much of a fight,” the demon prince mocked.
“You little-” his mouth was then stuffed with green beans.
“Just eat some veggies and calm yourself,” Sheng cracked a grin as they put some green beans in their mouth.
The jellyfish demon moodily just chewed on his food in silence.
“Children, all of them,” Mei said as she set down the bowl of Okra Ahmed passed her.
“So have you heard about the rumors about Yakimoto,” Yanyu leaned into MK.
“Yakimoto? The head of the Neurology department?”
“That’s the one.”
“What about her?”
“Well recently I have heard from a friend of mine, who heard from the janitor, who had heard from a physician of that department, that he had heard that she had been having little outings with her lovely secretary of hers,” she whispered loudly.
“Wait, doesn't she have a husband?” His eyes widened.
“Yes she does, but she’s always complaining about the whole ordeal being set up as an arranged marriage by both of their parents-”
“That’s still a thing?”
“Apparently, the two see each other as siblings.”
“Really?!”
“Totally, in fact, there have been whispers that her husband also has a special man as well.”
“Shut up, tell me more,” he stuffed the Tofu in his mouth as Yanyu began to talk all about the man at the flower shop a couple of blocks down from Pigsy noodles.
“Is it always this loud,” Wukong smiled as he watched the table filled with little chaos.
“Like you wouldn’t believe it,” he said as he ate. “Just be glad this isn’t a holiday dinner then it really would be chaotic. Especially with everyone else that would join in,” he remembered last new year when they finally dragged Pigsy to close down the shop for one night to enjoy the holiday. It was a mad scene of chaos and energy as all of them were raving like mad lunatics even before the food came out, Ahmed and Sandy were barely able to stop Sheng, Daiyu, Tang, and Mei from setting off fireworks right next to some containers of peanut oil. And that was after MK and Mei had already demolished the kitchen with Yanyu siblings looking for the moon cakes.
“Everyone else?” He questioned as he noticed the slight smile on his friend's face.
“Oh don’t worry, stick around long enough and you’ll meet them face to face rather than watching them creepily from the distance” he shook himself out of memories.
The Monkey Sage paused, then he smiled widely, “I can’t wait then.”
“Okay, now can we learn how the hell you met Shun!” Mei exclaimed as everyone settled down in the living room. “Cause, I’m surprised you didn’t smell the crazy off of him at first sight.”
“It’s always the quiet ones that get you,” Daiyu muttered. “He seemed alright, but he was just hiding his batshit craziness.
“Right, I mean that just goes to show doc always had terrible taste in partners,” Yanyu nodded.
“Partners” Monkey King emphasized, “as in more than one.”
“Oh yeah, he has quite the number of people after his plump ass,” Minsheng smirked as they tried to smack Mac on the ass when he passed by him, but he winced when a black tail wrapped around his hand and flipped him over.
“No,” the simian deadpanned and was about to sit down next to Ahmed when Wukong pulled him over and sat him down beside him.
“Seems like you're quite popular then,” he joked and wrapped his arm around him.
“Not really popularity wise, but more of him simply having bad taste,” Sheng teased.
“I mean you're not wrong,” he shrugged as he sank into Wukong’s side.
“But how?!” Mei whined once more.
“Tell us!” MK soon joined her as he laid on Red lap.
“I’m quite interested to hear this as well,” the prince asked as well.
“Pleasseee,” Wukong batted his eyes
“Fine, fine, I’ll bite,” he rolled his eyes. “It’s not that interesting how we met, in fact, it was pretty normal.”
“What was it?”
“Amid a territory brawl over a section of land out in the Azurite Forest.”
“…okay I think we have two very different definitions
of normal,” Mei deadpanned.
“Probably, anyways I was sitting high in the tree watching these assholes argue-”
“I told you that past the Vivion Treeline was our territory and yet you dare go past that line and defy us!”
“Well, maybe you should have thought of that before you send your minions down and scavenge in our territory first!”
“You have no proof of any trespassing that happened!”
“Are you saying my own lies to my face?! HA! Now that’s a laugh to even think about, no I trust them long before I will even think about breathing in your direction!”
“I suppose it’s best you lay down and suffocate cause there is no way in hell that my boys lied to me!”
“Now ain’t that a lie!”
“That��s rich coming from you!”
“Sheesh, of course I would happen to stumble upon this right when I have to get some Fuchsia berries,” Macaque grumbled as he watched the argument from above. “Damn idiots.”
“I happen to agree,” Mac barely flinched when a calm voice called out and saw from the tree to the right of him was a gray lemur with a black and white striped tail. “I too have some important items that I need to procure, but these heathens happen to be in my way.”
“Only found in this forest,” the simian said.
“Unfortunately yes the Inada spiritual root is only grown here, if it was elsewhere I would have already turned back and away from this nonsense,” he scrunched his nose in distaste.
“I feel ya on that, the berries that I need happen to be for an elixir for the spiritual development of the 8th degree. One of my clients needs it after her body is close to breaking down due to her organs inability to support her fire breath,” he sighed as he looked down at the argument once more and noted that it would soon turn into an all out brawl.
“You're talking about the Firaga Restoration Elixir,” the lemur had a glint in his eyes. “Not many physicians know of that and even less have the ability to make it.”
“Made it a few times before…how about we help each other out?” He tapped his chin as an idea came to him.
“Go on.”
“Our items are pretty much in the same area, if we can sneak around and past the tree line then it would be homestretch from then on cause I am quickly picking up that most of the demons from each tribe are here.”
“Hmm, sounds adequate though do you believe to be capable enough to pass them undetected,” he turned to look at the monkey only to blink when he saw he wasn’t there anymore.
“Now where did he-”
“Is this good enough for you,” the lemur’s tail quickly shot towards the voice, but it was stopped by a hand. “Sorry, did I scare ya,” Macaque grinned as he held onto the furry tail.
The lemur blinked a few times before a smile grew, “It would appear that you have.”
“Well let’s get moving and the name is Macaque,” he let go of the tail, but the tail didn’t let go as it instead kept almost a loose grip around Mac's hand.
“I’m Shun,” the lemur purred as he stepped forward until their bodies were pressed together and he leaned down until they were nose to nose. “It will be a pleasure working with you.” And like he wasn’t even there, he quickly stepped back and began to move above the treetops of where the fight had commenced.
Macaque stood still for a brief moment before a fierce blush took over his face and he silently followed Shun. If both tree climbers happened to take glances at one another throughout the trip, no one would affirm anything.
“Like I said, horrible taste in partners,” Yanyu stated once more.
“Yeah, like you let him all up in your space and didn’t say a word, clearly bad,” Mei nodded.
“Like seriously, who would just go up and invade someone's personal bubble like that, totally rude,” MK joined in.
“You should have kicked his ass when he did that Mango, you have done it before,” Wukong said as he nonchalantly dragged him to his lap and rested his chin on Mac’s shoulder. “Don’t let anyone near you unless you want to.”
Everyone, barring Macaque and Wukong were either subtly or straight out eyeing Wukong, who was still cuddled up next to the black simian. They can practically taste the hypocrisy going on here.
“Okay I get it,” he put his hands up in mock surrender. “Don’t need to gang up on me like that.”
“So what happened after that?” MK asked.
“Well the rest is history, he began to hang around my place a lot more and next thing I knew we were going on dates with each other,” he shrugged his shoulders.
“Here’s what I don’t get,” Daiyu perked up, “did he ever ask you out?”
“Of cou-…” he stopped mid sentence as he thought it over then he furrowed his brow, “actually, now that I think about it, no. He never did. We were just eating out one day at a restaurant and proclaimed it to be a date.”
“Pops/Doc/Mango/Dude really,” Mei, Yanyu, Wukong, and Minsheng all groaned as the rabbit demon continued, “you really should have known something was up after that.”
“I really didn’t,” he rubbed the back of his head as he remembered he was taken aback by his statement but went with it as he did have a small crush on him back then.
“Just be glad you weren’t around to see Hui,” Ahmed said, receiving a wounded look from Macaque.
“Kitty, I thought you were on my side!”
“I am…just not when it comes to your choice of partners.”
“Even Mufasa here knows that she was batshit insane,” Bohai deadpanned, “nice and hilarious, but holy shit was she insane.”
“She wasn’t that-”
“Did you forget that she was a raging alcoholic scorpion that had the desire to go up to not only to the Celestial Realm and raid their alcohol supply, but to go down under all the way to Yama realm and claim the title of all the ten kings and live in luxury,” Minsheng bluntly stated.
“Just not Yama crown, because she stated that she didn’t want to do all of that work, not because it was suicidal to try to fight him,” Daiyu continued. She loves to fight as much as her siblings, but even she knew better than to pick a fight with one of the big boys on top, or in this case, down below.
“And I’m not even gonna mention that when she was in her drunken rage, she had the tendency to poison others with her tails when they stood opposed or even just breathed near her,” Bohai finished.
“…” Macaque said nothing as he just leaned closer to the other monkey, who happily complied with his actions as he further tightened his arm around him and silently rubbed his thumb on his shoulder.
“So much bad taste in partners, so much,” the bluenette put her head in her hands.
“I’m starting to see your point,” the pigtailed adult agreed as she glanced at the scene with a curious look.
“At least we don’t have to worry about that anymore, what I’m a bit curious about is how all of you guys met MK here,” Wukong tried to subtly move on from the conversation of Macaque’s romantic relationship. If he had to hear about yet another demon he dated, he might actually lose his mind.
“Oh let me!” MK eagerly began, “well I remember that I was sleeping when I heard Daiyu yell out.”
“Because of course it was her,” the bluenette said.
“And I walk into the room and-” as MK enthusiastically told the story, Wukong had quietly taken out the red rubber band holding his hair in a ponytail and gazed at the silky black fur cascaded down his back. And before he knew it, his fingers were entangled in Mac’s fluffy fur as the other simian sighed at the soft touches.
“Been a long time since you did this,” Mac purred as he relaxed into the grooming.
“Well it’s about time we pick it back up, besides no one is better at grooming than a monkey,” he purred, but he paused as he quietly had thought and delicately asked, “speaking of monkeys, do you want to visit the ones back at Flower Fruit?”
Mac's eyes widened as he almost instantly turned his head, but was stopped by hands, “Are you serious?”
“I mean they have missed you a whole lot,” he tried to nonchalantly say, “especially since they smelt you on the kid and was practically begging me to bring your ass over.”
“They are still demanding little shits huh,” he gave a small huff.
“The one thing that hasn’t changed.”
“…yeah I would like that,” he smiled up at him.
“Cool, cool,” he couldn’t stop his tail from excitedly wagging behind him, but he instead tried to stall it by looking at the fluffy fur once more as another purr came through. It’s not his fault he couldn’t stop it from emerging from his long time crush response and his fascination with his long fur.
“You really do have such a long fur, why’d you grow it out anyways, not that I’m complaining.”
“I dunno, I just forgot to cut it short and when I finally noticed I decided to just keep it,” he shrugged.
“Well I’m glad you did, it looks amazing on you,” Wukong said as he looked down to meet Macaque’s eyes and promptly realizing what he said, he quickly averted his gaze and nervously laughed, “Or you know, it looks good.”
“Ah, umm thanks,” the doctor said as he felt the faint blush on his cheeks.
The sage monkey was about to say something else when he noticed that a few eyes were on him and he quickly went back to his grooming session. While making completely sure that his eyes didn’t even go towards anywhere in their direction.
The traffic light trio saw the scene and they all shared a glance at one another, but opted to say nothing as the story continued and the two monkeys, in everyone's eyes, began to cuddle up together.
“Where is he?” Red huffed as he sat on the opposite side of Mei at one of the arcade booths. “Usually he’s the first one here.”
“I know he was helping Pigsy out with a large Party order, but that should have been done by now,” Mei shrugged as she took another sip of her drink.
“Well he should hurry it up else I will-”
“What’s up, party dudes!” An energetic voice cried out that instantly made Mei spit out her drink.
“Oh hell no!” She stood up as she grabbed her dagger and was inwardly cursing herself about leaving her sword at home, “I’m not about to deal with you a second time! Not today Satan!”
“Should I be concerned?” Red raised an eyebrow as he looked at MK, who was for some reason wearing a pink visor, blue headphones and an atrocious cheetah print outfit. “Cause this whole look right here is very concerning.”
“No need to worry hot stuff,” MK said as he wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “Not here to do any lasting damage, unless you're into that,” he winked.
“W-w-what?!” A small burst of flame erupted from his head.
“I don’t trust that for a second,” the Dragon successor hissed as she still held her dagger up.
“I swearsies doll.”
“Wha-no stay focused,” she faltered but shook it off, “That is rich coming from the disembodied attachment of my friend who can just poof in and out without consequences of your actions.”
“Disembodied?” Red, still under the clone arm, confusedly said.
“Touché,” he pointed a finger, “but for real, I’m just here to deliver a message from the big boss himself.”
“Talk,” she demanded as she slightly lowered her weapon at that.
“BB will be late due to a crazy ass bitch on the block doin her usual bitch in and be all complainin about her food order being all wrong and demanding that they hand it over for free.”
“Oh,” Mei's eyebrow raised. “Bet that didn’t go over well.”
“No it did not my lovely Empress, cause next thing they knew the bitch was calling up the rest of her posse upon BB and Big Bad Boss and now she is yellin her ass about about some scam they be tryin to pull on them all.”
“I’m starting to see where this is head,” she sheathed her blade when she said that, though she did have a light blush of confusion over the nickname.
“Your thoughts be right as the next thing anyone knows, everyone is brawling with each other so hard that even some of the people on the street just up and joined in.”
“So MK got mixed up in that, but why didn’t he just text us that,” the Bull successor asked as he finally recognized that this was a clone and not the real MK.
“Cause Triple B ordered Double B to not get the food ruined under any circumstances my sweet King so now BB is hauling ass all around the town as the Karen Gang chase after his ass,” Portay MK smirked as he saw the prince blush.
“Karen Gang,” she snorted at the nickname, “Does he need any help, cause I will be more than happy to bust a few heads for him.”
“I as well.”
“Aww ain’t the both of you just a bundle of sweetness, makes me want to give you both a big ol kiss,” he flirted once more.
“Just show us!” At this point both teenagers had either a small or large flush on their faces.
“Alright Alright, I’ll show ya,” he said as he quickly made his way out of the arcade and to the streets with them both following. “But I won’t stop~ Someone got to help Double B get the ball rollin and I guess it will have to be me. This will be so much fun,” he muttered.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing my Sugar hearts!” He smiled at their groans of embarrassment.
“Is he always like this?!”
“I met him once and that was when he had me tied up during a never ending party, which I still can’t fully remember due to all the sugar and caffeine I inhaled.”
“The WHAT?!”
“Oh yeah, that was a ride.”
“Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve been here, huh,” Macaque mused as he and MK climbed up the mountain.
“Right, you lived here before,” MK said as they climbed up the steps. “What was it like back then?”
“Honestly, at first it looks and feels the same, every time that I breathe I can still smell the crisp pine air and the heavy mineral undertones that I still smell on Monkey King,” he took a deep breath. “This place really brings back some memories.”
“Good ones?” The doctor to be said with a bit of hope as they finally reached the top.
“Yeah, good ones,” he stopped as his ears pricked up at an incoming sound. “That screech,” he whispered.
“Huh?” MK looked to his Dad, only to be bombarded with the most ear piercing noise.
SCREEEEEECCCCCCHHHHHH
Then, almost out of nowhere, a hoard of monkeys all popped out and practically flew towards the black simian.
“What the-!” MK was startled by the sudden attack and was about to step forward to his Dad only to pause at the sight of multiple monkeys, all of them screeching in delight, clinging onto him as the demon joyfully nuzzled them back.
“I missed you guys too,” he purred as he felt many cuddles underneath his chin, on his back, upon his arms, even on top of his head. He really missed these idiots.
“Awwww,” the adult cooed at the adorable sight.
“Man, that was faster than I was expecting,” the student turned and saw his mentor standing right behind him. “One moment they were playing and the next thing I know they all began to run off. I swear their smell has gotten better over these years.”
“So that’s why they could smell Dad on me that time.”
“You got it,” he finger gunned him as he walked up to the pile of monkeys. “So it seems this is one-”
“HISSSSSSS!” All the monkeys clinging onto Macaque hissed at their idiotic king.
“Yeah, I deserved that,” he deadpanned as he plopped himself onto the pile, with MK following suit. “But I promise we won’t be so stupid again.”
“Ooo oo,” a female monkey crossed her arms as she sat on the monkey doctor's head.
“King honor,” he raised his hand.
“Ooo,” she nodded and gave him a flick on the nose before snuggling back on top of the head.
“She really hasn't changed one bit,” Mac snorted at her antics.
“Nope, but she is still as bossy as ever,” he smiled and gave her a scratch on her head.
“Especially when she forced me to drink water,” MK piped up, “she literally forced it down my throat after one of the sessions. I didn’t think you could drown via water bottle, but when there's a monkey there's a way.”
“Yeah, sounds like her,” both monkeys said.
The sun was beginning to set as MK and the rest of the tribe were all playing out in the mountains in an extreme game of hide and seek. Extreme as in they all will literally yeet themself off the tallest rock just so they won’t get found, the first couple of times MK played this he had to stop his heart from trying to run out of his chest, but he slowly found himself enjoying throwing himself off like a rabid maniac. Is there something wrong with all of them? Maybe, but no one can deny that it is really fun.
“I swear, their IQ always seems to decrease when they play these games,” Mac muttered as he watched his child vault himself off of a rock just so the seeker wouldn’t catch him.
“Didn’t you think of this?” Wukong hummed as he smirked when he saw his student delicately land on one of the boulders below.
“Yep and I still don’t know if I regret it.”
“I mean you did worse,” he coyly smirked.
“You don’t want to talk about dumbass ideas with me Mr. ‘Let’s just ambush the trailing cart of a tired ass deity that would happily shank up on our sleep.’” He snarked back.
“Says the one who thought it would be a good idea to toss me in the water, forgetting that my stone ass can’t swim!” He shot back, they were playing around and Macaque had the jump of him and tossed him in the river. The black simian paused at what he just did and immediately panicked and dived down after him.
“You should really think about losing a few pounds, you were heavy,” he mocked and then got promptly tackled by the other monkey.
“I’ll show you heavy, how’d you like that mushroom brain,” he teased as he began to wrestle him.
“Says you rock for brains,” he shot back as he tried to get the upper hand. This went on for a few minutes as both monkeys playfully began to wrestle each other on the ground. It ended when Wukong managed to pin him down while holding his hands above his head and wrapping his tail firmly around the others.
“HA! I win!”
“Yeah, yeah,” he huffed after he tried to get out after a few attempts. “Don’t get such a big head about it.”
“Aww, but you know it only does good things to my ego~,” he teased as he leaned down.
“No it doesn’t, simply it’s truly terrible.”
“It does!”
“Does not!”
“Does!”
“Does not!
“Does!”
“Does not!”
“Does!”
“Does!”
“Does not! Damnit!” He cursed at the trickery.
“How do you fall for it every single time,” he openly laughed.
Wukong was about to refute when he saw just how close to each other they were and sucked in a breath. He can feel his chest against his own with each breath of air, he can see the faintest shimmer of violet deep within his golden eyes, he can feel his nose touching the soft button nose of his partner.
Macaque obviously heard the intake of breath, no super hearing necessary, and was about to ask when he too stopped short. It could be from the fact that their noses were so close to each other that he could feel his warm breath, the way he could feel the muscle very clearly against his own fur, or even how his golden eyes seem to be extra bright today that he can’t. Stop. Looking.
Neither pair noticed a pair of human eyes locking onto them with a curious expression on his face as he slowly backed up.
Either way, all of those reasons are very much valid in both of their minds as a familiar silence filled the air and it felt oh so good as they just almost blend together as one. This wasn’t the usual safe cuddles that both were adjusted to, no this was something long in the making, that this was something that was more than the friend standpoint that they anchored themselves down on and refuse to step off. This was something even more than love, but the word itself is the only thing that fits what they feel for the other, and they instinctively knew that there is something more between them, something devastatingly eternal.
There can be more if they just make that step off the cliff and into the unknown air.
But not today, no not today.
Instead, Macaque put his foot back down to that safe cliff and latched on tightly as cleared his throat. “You want to get off me anytime, I kinda want to feel my bones sometime,” he managed to say. He can’t take that step, he knows he’s a coward when it comes to admitting that he actually loves Wukong, but they just became friends once more after their stupid separation and he refuses to do anything that jeopardizes it.
“Right, my bad,” he said with a fake smile plastered on as he got off him and sat beside him. He can see the air and he can feel his feet wanting to make that leap into the foggy air and see how far the two can go, but he will push down that impulse. He wants this so badly, for centuries (no matter how hard he tries to deny it) he wants to admit that he loves Macaque, but he will keep his mouth shut. His impulsiveness has already done enough damage as it is, no need to add the emotional turmoil on top of all the other shit he did to his friend.
The two of them sat in silence once more as they sat side by side to each other, totally ignoring the small moment between.
“So…what are you doing for the Lunar New Year?” Wukong asked in an effort to get rid of the silence.
“Well this year, we’re gonna spend it in the city with the others this time around. Everyone brings some food, usually, I bring the moon cakes as I have the extra hands and you can never have too many.” Ever since he had met Yanyu, who had dragged him to his first Lunar year with her family in the city, it had become somewhat of a tradition to go to the city every two years and spend time together. “What are you doing?”
“Oh you know, just gonna chill on the mountain with good food and watch the fireworks,” he nonchalantly said.
“Just by yourself,” he questioningly asked. If there was one of the many things he knew about Wukong, it was that he hated being alone on any occasion. He knew it stemmed from his own weird beginnings and his unawareness of the societal norms at the start, but it all went downhill after he was trapped in the mountain with only the bitch ass spirits keeping guard, he could only sneak in so many times before one of the guards noticed something amiss, unfortunately. (Though he quite happily stopped by when Wukong was finally free and he had quite the playtime with them, he still can’t help but grin at the sound of their screams. It was truly music to his ears.)
“Yeah,” he shrugged. It wasn’t anything new, ever since his friends have…gone, he couldn’t quite bring himself to spend the holiday with anyone other than the tribe from time to time. It just doesn’t feel right anymore…it doesn’t feel like he has the right anymore.
“Yeah, no. Your ass is coming with me to the festival,” Mac deadpanned.
“What?!” He turned his head so hard that he could almost hear his neck snap.
“You. Are. Spending. The. Festival. With. Us.” He slowly emphasized each word as if he couldn’t understand it. “Got it.”
“But-but-”
“We’re not talking about your ass here, but you are coming.”
“I don’t want to intrude, it will probably be really weird,” he tried to rebuttal.
“The group has almost twenty people and then those people will sometimes bring their friends along, the more the merrier.”
“What about how I look, cause no offense, but I don’t want to be mowed down in a frenzy to get an autograph or a picture or something!”
“We both know you have a human disguise, hell I sometimes use my own from time to time.”
“But-”
“Wukong,” he grabbed his shoulders. “You are going to come to the Lunar Festival with us.”
The monkey opened his mouth once more, but sighed and sagged his shoulder. “When have you become so demanding.”
“I learned that from you,” he smirked.
“Pfft, nahh you have always been a demanding shit even before me,” he chuckled as he laid his head on Mac's shoulder. “Yeah, I’ll join you guys.”
“Great, but if it does get too much just come grab me and we can bail to one of the rooftops,” he shifted and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
He smiled into his shoulder, “I wouldn’t mind that buttt I wouldn’t mind trying one of the moon cakes, especially if you make some with peaches in them.”
The doctor fondly rolled his eyes, “I’ll make some peach candy mooncakes for you dumbass.”
“Yes!”
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heyheydidjaknow · 3 years
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Hiya! I have a request for an x reader songfic. Snap out of it by the Arctic monkeys gives me so many 2012 Donnie vibes. Maybe one where the reader is in love with Donnie but he likes April and the reader wants Donnie to, you know, "snap out of it" and notice that maybe April isn't the best person towards him. It can end in unrequited love or with a happy ending, that's for you to decide but I just really want to see this concept. Thanks! :>
(feel free to ignore this request if you want 👁️👁️)
Oh, I’m not about to turn away a chance to be pushed out into foreign territory. I admittedly hadn’t known what a songfic was until wikipedia and @kunimikat saved my ass, so this was fun-- and a bit scary-- to write. I hope you like it, even if it might not have been exactly what you were expecting.
April was your friend. She had been for a while, now, since she had moved to NYC. The two of you had come even closer after her kidnapping and initiation into the “Hamato Clusterfuck” as you had affectionately called it at first—you had wisely made a conscious effort to only get involved with them as far as you could throw them, sticking solidly to offering emotional support and half-decent food. At the beginning, you had, on multiple occasions, even begged her to stay out of it, trying to reason with her that getting herself killed by a psychotic armored man with an axe to grind for the crime of hanging out with four teenage shut-ins was an incredibly bad idea. When your logical arguments fell on deaf ears—her owing them apparently being her ball and chain—you had designated yourself as her supervisor to make sure she did not do something overly impulsive. She was reckless, overly trusting, immature, but you loved her like a sister. You balanced each other out.
One of the benefits of knowing someone for so long is that you learn things about them that they do not know about themselves. In April’s case, it had been that she was terrible at making up her mind
 What's been happenin' in your world?
You had borne witness to the love triangle transpiring between Donatello Hamato, Casey Jones and her for the better part of a year now. You were relieved that the two boys had backed off each other’s throats somewhat over the period, but it was as infuriating as it was fascinating to watch them fight over her like a chew toy. Of course, April had her preference between the two, favoring the hockey player mainly for his general normalcy, which was a decision you could approve of, but she had hesitated until recently to make that obvious to the other point because, in her words, “The last thing I want is to deal with is all of that awkwardness.” You could hardly blame her for her hesitation, but you thought it almost cruel not to make her feelings apparent to her lovestruck puppy.
 What have you been up to?
Donnie was the most tolerable of the five, the most normal in your opinion. He was an infatuated, insecure teenage boy with more an affinity towards machines and, best of all, seemed concerned for your friend, all things that you could get on board with. In your opinion, overbearingness is preferable to negligence in this case, and you were just happy that someone physically capable had her back. As such, when you were stuck at the lair for hours waiting for her lessons with Splinter to be over—you were her ride—you found yourself spending the most time around him, and as time went on, you started going out of your way to do so.
Seeing as April and Casey were your only other friends, it was natural you would get romantically attached. They—a couple by high school standards—approved of your crush, and all you told your guardian(s) was that they were smart, fit, and financially responsible, so they asked few questions.
You knew, logically, this was not a competition and that April had little interest in him.
But something about the way he gazed at her made you burn green with envy.
 I heard that you fell in love, or near enough.
His eyes were just so… wistfully longing. He watched as the redhead and her boyfriend played against Michelangelo and Raphael in a game of charades. His expression was just so soft, lips pursing and popping silently as he grieved from his seat in his lab.
It had been a downhill spiral on your end from there, and as your own attachment grew for him, his own depression worsened. Your eyes drifted from your friend as you tried to make him see that, no, the world was not ending because his first crush did not like him back. You would make subtle comments about how happy his brothers were, how happy she and Casey were together, how smart he was and how many people would die for a kind, loving, smart guy to come around and sweep them off their feet. This, again, fell on deaf ears; he would always comment on how, if he were such a catch, April would not have chosen Casey, like It is his fault for her having more of a taste in cocky, fun-loving guys than intelligent ones. Half of it was probably your lack of experience in subtlety, but no matter what you would try to say, whenever romance came up in conversation, his words turned sharp and bitter.
On that day, you just cracked.
 I gotta tell you the truth.
You walked over to the lab door, closing it in a single fluid motion. ‘I’m better at being blunt, anyways.’
He blinked; his trance was interrupted by the small slam.
“She’s not into you.”
“Huh?”
You crossed the room and placed your hand on the desk, expression stern and stone cold. “April,” you repeat. “She’s not interested.”
He did not meet your gaze. “You don’t know that.”
“I do, actually.” You leaned down to look him in the eye. “You aren’t her type. You’re supposed to be smart.” You placed the other on the back of his chair, arms cagging him in, almost. “ She has a boyfriend,” you continued, softer. “You know that, right?”
“I do.” He tapped the side of his thumb against the table absently, throat tight. “But what else do you suppose I do? Submit to the fact that I’ll be alone forever?” He looked up at you. “I know this may be hard for you to believe,” he continued, easily slipping out from under your arms, “but I don’t exactly have a ton of options. She’s the only person who’s ever looked at me like that; how am I supposed to move on from the only person who’s ever even given me a chance?”
 I wanna grab both your shoulders and shake, baby.
 You rolled your eyes, turning to watch him as he crossed to the other side of the room. “That is some blatant bullshit,” you glared curtly.
“Is it, though?” His back was to you as he crouched down in front of his centrifuge, fiddling with it. “As someone who’s never—”
“So help me, if you go off about me not understanding being rejected and feeling like they’d die alone, I’ll rip your tongue out.” You stood back up properly.
“What would you know about it?” He followed suit, eyes locking on yours. “You have other people to choose from.”
“And you don’t?” You crossed your arms, smiling incredulously. “How do we differ, exactly?”
“Besides the obvious?”
You scoffed. “You’ve seen your brothers. Never stopped them.”
“And I’m happy for them, that they’re so charismatic as to be able to find partners so easily.” You could taste the bitterness in his words. “But I’m not them, in case you didn’t notice. That girl out there?” He pointed to the door. “She’s the first and only person in the universe who’s ever given me a second glance.”
“So you’re just fucking blind, now?” You heard your voice rise without your input.
“What’re you talking about?” His voice grew with yours.
“You’re lovesick,” you spat. “Snap out of it.”
 Snap out of it.
You ran your fingers through your hair. “Or maybe you’re just dense.” You felt a laugh rise in your throat. “I mean,” you gestured, “clearly picking up on verbal subtext isn’t your forte.”
You gave him five seconds. “What,” you continued, rubbing your face with your hands, “Are you—” You stopped. “You are, aren’t you?”
Nothing.
You took a slow breath, hearing your heartbeat in your ears. “Let me put it in simple, plain English for you.”
 I get the feelin' I left it too late, but baby—
 “As her friend? You’re a fucking creep.” You crossed your arms across your chest. “Following her the way you did—wait your turn—” A finger interrupted his defense. “Following her the way you did? Objectively creepy. Staring at her all the time? Also fucking creepy.” You felt your nails dig into your skin. “Any person would call it as it is.”
He opened his mouth again to argue. You did not interrupt him this time, but he did not argue, the silence falling like a weighted blanket over the two of you.
“As your friend,” you continued, voice lowered, “as someone who cares about you, I know April, and she can’t give you what you want. It’s not her; she needs to be free, and I love her, but you’re looking for something that’s just not there.” Your voice was certain. “You’re looking for someone to spend your life with. I’m right, aren’t I?”
 Snap out of it.
 He was still for a moment, looking off into the ether. He nodded, face melancholy.
You walked over, resting a hand on his shoulder tentatively. “I’m not saying it’s stupid of you to not be over her. Again, I love her to bits, so I see the appeal.” You broke eye contact, trying to articulate exactly what you meant. “But I’m worried,” you explained slowly, “you’re only hung up on her because you’re scared of being alone. That’s not fair to her or yourself.”
“Do you know that?”
“No,” you admitted easily, “but you and I are the same way, and trust me, I’ve been around the heartbreak block.” You smiled, trying to relieve the tension.
That earned a chuckle. A small one, but a chuckle none the less.
You reached up, cupping his cheek in your hand. “There are seven billion people on this planet. Any one of them—myself included—would be lucky to have a life with you.”
 If that watch don’t continue to swing—
 A pause.
“Do you honestly believe that?”
You nodded, your thumb running along the line of his eye socket. “I do.”
 —or the fat lady fancies havin' a sing—
 You leaned forward, pressing your lips against his cheek gently.
 —I'll be here, waitin' ever so patiently—
 “Y/N!” You pulled back as you heard April calling your name. “We need a moderator!”
You started back towards the door, waving gently. “I wish you good tidings, Donatello.” You smiled quietly, serenity itself standing in the doorway. “May whoever is fortunate enough to call you their own bring you happiness. You deserve it.” You slipped out of his lab, running over to break them up.
Donatello rested his fingers on where your mouth had lit his skin. He felt a bittersweet smile fade onto his face.
—for you to snap out of it.
And that was when it began.
List of Works
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Text
No Matter What
Read here on AO3!!
Summary: 
Bruce figures out that his son isn't straight from an early age.
That doesn't make him love him any less.
- Eight Years Old -
Bruce is finally starting to get a hang of this parenting thing.
The first few months were rough, there’s no disputing that. Bruce lost track of how many times he panicked and called Leslie Thompkins whenever Dick burst into tears over something and Alfred wasn’t home. Not to mention all the times when Alfred would leave Bruce on his own for dinner, insisting that one must learn how to raise a child without a butler to help. Bruce fed the kid burnt chicken nuggets and garlic bread for two nights straight. Now, though? Bruce is immensely proud of how far he and Dick have come. He’s even taken to attending PTA meetings, if only for the free coffee and doughnuts. He hears the front door open right on time, then wet boots hitting the floor. Dick had a half day today to make room for meet-the-teacher night later. Bruce isn’t looking forward to spending two hours sitting in a chair made for eight-year-olds, listening to a teacher in plastic pearls talk about an elementary schooler’s oh-so challenging curriculum. At least he’s only got the one; he has no intention of having more kids after Dick. Bruce busies himself with his mostly unburnt slice of toast, one ear trained on the footsteps through the foyer accompanied by unceasing chatter that Bruce has grown quite fond of over the months. “—and then they let us outside for recess even though it was raining, and I went on the swings and my hair got all wet and it was so cool.” “That explains the muddy clothes,” Alfred says. “Sorry, Alf. I’m not immune to mud puddles.” “It would appear so, Master Dick.”
The two of them enter the kitchen, Dick working his elbows out of his yellow rain slicker to reveal the school uniform beneath. His cheeks are rosy, his eyes bright. “Hiya, Bruce!”
“Hey, champ. How was school?” “It was awesome. It was raining all day and at recess there were a ton of puddles all over the playground and a million worms. I didn’t touch them though, ‘cause the teacher said not to.” “What snack would you like, Master Dick?” Alfred asks, taking Dick’s discarded raincoat and folding it over his arm. “Can you do ants on a log?” “Coming right up, sir.” Dick heaves himself up on the bar stool beside Bruce, his sock feet kicking against the lower cupboard. Bruce spreads marmalade over his toast. “Tell me more about school. Any fights today?” “Nope,” Dick says proudly, flashing his gapped teeth. Dick and another boy got into a scuffle on the first day over a comment about whether Dick’s parents being from the circus meant they were part monkey. It’s a miracle Dick only gave the kid a nosebleed and didn’t break anything. The principal let Dick off with a warning since it was his first time at a normal school, but Bruce has a feeling the only reason he wasn’t expelled was because his guardian is the most powerful man in Gotham City. Bruce had a stern talk with Dick when they got home about the importance of controlling one’s actions. Traveling the world in a circus train car doesn’t do much to help one’s impulse control. He also banned Dick from watching television for the rest of the night, but Dick’s crocodile tears swayed him to balance it out by letting him have ice cream before dinner. That’s good parenting, right? “I even made a friend,” Dick says. “Oh? What are they like?” “His name is Caleb and his desk is right next to mine, so we talked during reading time. Then he gave me some of his chocolate during lunch and we played on the swings together at recess.” “Ah, the wonders of childhood friendship,” Alfred says from where he’s slicing up a celery stalk at the other end of the counter. He sounds relieved, and Bruce finds himself matching it. Dick has been at Gotham Elementary for almost a week and hasn’t made a single friend until now. Bruce can’t tell if that is more because of Dick’s circus background or because he is a tan-skinned boy with the barest of Romani accents attending a predominantly white private school. Sometimes (all the time) Bruce loathes being associated with Gotham’s high society. If you’re not white, straight, and rich, you are automatically shunned in their minds. “He sounds great, Dick.” “Yeah! And he’s got really pretty eyes too. I can’t tell if they’re brown or green, but they’re sparkly like glitter.” Bruce arches an eyebrow. “You must like him a lot.” He takes a bite of his toast, making eye contact with Alfred over the boy’s head. Alfred doesn’t react but for a twitch of his mustache. Dick nods, focus switched over to the plate Alfred slides in front of him. Dick takes a celery stick and picks off the first raisin coated in peanut butter, licking it off his thumb. “I hope he talks to me again tomorrow. Alfred, can I bring an extra snack to lunch tomorrow so I can share it with him?” Alfred smiles. “Of course. I will pack a second cupcake in your lunchbox tomorrow morning just for him.” “Thanks, Alf.” Dick goes right back to eating his ants on a log, cheerful as ever, completely unaware of the swarm of question marks buzzing around in Bruce’s head. Huh. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Eleven Years Old - Bruce gets home from a three-hour business meeting, his sandpapery eyes aching to close and stay shut for...let’s go with ten years? That should be enough. He loosens his tie and prepares to go upstairs to his bedroom where he’ll spend the next decade of his life hibernating, until he sees his ward on the living room sofa. Dick is lying on his stomach with his face buried in a throw pillow, as if he’s waiting for the sofa to swallow him whole. Must have been a bad day if he’s not sliding down banisters and flipping over chairs like usual. Sighing, Bruce goes over. “Dick? You alive over there?” “Mmph.” At least he’s conscious. Bruce sits on the arm of the couch, shaking Dick’s thin shoulder. “Come on, kiddo. Use your words.” “Mmph.” “Bad day, then?” Dick nods. “Do you want to tell me what happened?” Dick shakes his head. Bruce sits back with a frown. “Alfred?” he calls. Alfred pokes his head in. “Yes, Master Bruce?” Bruce gestures to their anguished preteen. “It would seem that our lad had a rough day at school. He wouldn’t tell me what, but I’m making his favorite casserole for dinner. Hopefully that will perk him up.” Bruce turns back to Dick, who hasn’t moved. “C’mon, Dickie. Sit up so I can see your face.” Reluctantly, Dick forces himself upright with one last groan into his pillow. His hair is mussed, standing up on one side. There’s a pillow crease on his cheek. He sits back against the sofa, miserable. “Better.” Bruce prods Dick’s ribs which earns him a giggle, goading the kid into sliding over a few inches so Bruce can sit beside him. Dick leans into his side immediately and Bruce puts his arm around him. “Now, tell me what’s got you down.” “I want to transfer schools.” “How come?” As far as he’s known until now, Dick has loved middle school. His childhood took a bad turn when his parents’ ropes snapped, but preteen life is at a good start. Until now. Dick’s gaze is trained on his sneakers, kicking them where they hang over the edge of the couch. “Some kids in my science class were talking crap about me.” “Don’t say crap.” “Can I go to a new school? Please?” “What did those kids say about you?” Dick picks at a dime-size hole in his jeans. “They called me gay,” he says quietly. Bruce tightens his arm around the boy, his heart panging. Of course someone had to bully Bruce’s kid. As if his life hasn’t already been hard enough without stupid teenagers making it worse. “I wasn’t even doing anything wrong. I was just talking to my lab partner, and the guys at the next table over started whispering about us. Then they started throwing papers.” “Did you tell the teacher?” “No. But I know she noticed. Everyone did. She just didn’t do anything about it.” That sets Bruce’s blood to a boil. Teachers have a responsibility to protect their students, no matter what. What gives her the right to turn a blind eye to bullying, just because a couple of students might not fit the agreed-upon standards of “perfect” upper class society? “I’ll set up an appointment with the principal,” Bruce decides. Dick’s eyes get wide. “Bruce, no. Please. It’s fine, really. I don’t want this to turn into a big deal.” “What did you do when it happened?” Dick shrugs. “Nothing. My lab partner stopped talking to me, so I just asked to go to the bathroom and didn’t come back until the bell rang.” Bruce sighs. Middle schoolers are the worst, every last one of them. (Except for Dick, of course; he is perfect.) “I’m sorry, sweetheart. Kids can be cruel—especially at your age, when they start learning new words that they don’t understand the way they should. They think some words are insults or something to be ashamed of when they’re not. Most kids grow out of this. Too many don’t.” “People suck,” Dick mutters. “I don’t even know why they were saying all that stuff. I’m not...I’m not like that” Bruce bites his cheek. He’s going to have to be careful about this. “Dick, do you know what being gay means?” “Duh. It’s when two guys date each other. I’m not stupid.” “I know you’re not stupid. But gay can mean a lot of things. Men can like other men, just as women can love other women. Like Kate, for instance. Then there are bisexual and pansexual people who love all genders, and asexuals who don’t like either.” Thank god Bruce thought ahead and read some LGBTQ+ research books all those years ago when he first began to suspect that Dick wasn’t heterosexual. “And transgender is when someone doesn’t identify with the gender they were assigned at birth. Sometimes people feel more like a man, a woman, neither, or both.” “...Okay?” “I just want to make sure you understand these things, because part of being a respectful person means respecting others for who they are. And if you don’t completely understand the label they identify as, then it’s your job to try and understand it the best you can.” “Why?” “Because too many people in this world judge others for things they can’t control, and that’s not right. No one should have to feel like they were born wrong. And I want to make sure you know this, that way you can be better than those who choose to hurt others for things they can’t control.” “Does that mean the guys who made fun of me are bad people?” “I’m sure they aren’t. They might just be confused because they don’t understand that being gay isn’t anything bad or dirty. The people in this part of Gotham...they don’t accept a lot of things. They think that being queer or a person of color means you don’t deserve respect, and that’s wrong. It was wrong of those kids to tease you and your lab partner the way they did.” Dick nods slowly. “I’m not gay.” “I know. I just want you to be aware of these things. And if you ever have questions or need to talk, you can always come to me.” He ruffles Dick’s hair. “Even when other people are nasty, remember that I love you no matter what, got it?” Dick shoves Bruce’s hand away and smoothes his hair back out, grinning. “Yeah, yeah. I got it.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Thirteen Years Old -
What’s the difference between a growth spurt and a shark? 
Dick doesn’t have any sharks. “We’re home!” Dick announces. He and Alfred stumble into the house, their arms filled with all kinds of shopping bags. With Dick shooting up half an inch nightly these days, he’s growing out of his clothes at a rate even Bane would gawk at. Bruce and Alfred can barely keep up with the kid. “Want to see what I got?” “Show me, pal.” Bruce sets aside his tablet and pushes his reading glasses up on his head. (He does not have poor vision, thank you very much. Leslie just made him get a prescription as a precaution, that’s all. He’s still young by anyone’s standards, just ask Selina.) Dick starts pulling clothing out of the boutique bags, showing off every one of his new sweaters and pairs of Alfred-approved jeans. After ten minutes that Bruce desperately tries to look interested during, Dick pulls out what looks like a t-shirt that’s been sliced in half horizontally. The fabric is bright pink with a chibi whale on the front. “This one is my favorite,” Dicks says. His grin is blinding. Bruce stares for a long moment, his brain a lagging computer drive. “What is it?” “It’s a crop top. You know, like a belly shirt?” Memories from Dick’s Kim Possible phase flash in front of Bruce’s eyes. “Alfred let you buy that?” “Yeah?” Dick’s smile flags. He lowers the crop top, suddenly self-conscious. “Do you not...like it?” “You were supposed to get winter clothes, Dick. For cold weather.” “So?” “That’s clearly something you’re supposed to wear during the summer.” Dick pouts. “But I like it.” He holds it up against himself, twisting this way and that like an amateur model. “Sorry, kiddo. You’re not leaving the house in that until springtime.” “Oh, so Robin can wear tiny shorts in the winter, but Dick Grayson can’t wear a harmless crop top? I smell hypocrisy.” “Yes, because Robin has thermal leggings and a built-in heater in his uniform.” He looks back at the pink monstrosity, at Dick’s pleading eyes. “I would be open to negotiations if you’re willing to wear a sweater under it.” “That’s not how fashion works, B.” “I don’t care. You can wait until it gets warmer out to wear it.” “You’re such a drag,” Dick whines. He lifts his dozens of shopping bags and goes to leave, then turns right back around. “What if I wear a jacket over it and promise to keep it closed whenever I’m outside?” Bruce considers that. “Fine. But not below fifteen degrees, got it? And if I see you outside for even five seconds without the jacket, I’m confiscating the Xbox. Deal?” “Deal.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Fourteen Years Old -
Something is different about Dick today. You’d think his boots were made of helium with the way he floats through patrol, and then smiles into his late-night milkshake like it did his homework for him. Bruce sits beside his Robin on the roof of Wayne Tower, silent for as long as he can bear before he can’t hold it back any longer. “Did anything interesting happen today?” “Huh?” Dick looks up as if Bruce pried him and his thoughts apart with a crowbar. “You’ve been...different. Happy.” “Am I not usually happy?” “No, you are. Just seems like you’re...extra happy, for whatever reason.” A blush dusts the kid’s cheeks. He sips his chocolate shake and shrugs. “Dunno. It was just a good day. Nothing special.” Yeah, and Bruce is a goddamn unicorn. Still, he knows better than to pry where Dick doesn’t want him. It’s a delicate thing. “If you say so.” “I got a hundred on my English essay,” Dick offers. It’s a start. “Was that the one on Grapes of Wrath?” “That was last month. We’re on Animal Farm now. It’s not my favorite.” “Yeah, I wasn’t a fan of Orwell either. Shakespeare was okay, but I preferred his tragedies over his comedies.” “Of course you did.” That makes Bruce laugh. He’s not worried; the two of them are high enough that no one can hear it. Bruce even has his cowl down, his face exposed to the cool air. “They had quinoa burgers at the cafeteria today.” “Mm-hm.” Dick is dodging something, beating around whatever bush he wants to talk about. Bruce can be patient while he figures it out. “And I spent some time with Barbara after school.” “Oh?” “Yeah. We walked home together and we took this old path through the park. Then we kissed.” Bruce chokes on his milkshake. He coughs, his sinuses burning and eyes watering. When he recovers, he says, “That’s...that’s great, chum.” “Yeah.” Dick can’t stop smiling, a true schoolboy in love. “And she asked if I wanted to patrol with her tomorrow night, but I said I needed to check in with you first.” “I don’t see why not.” It’s not like Bruce hasn’t patrolled without Dick before. Sure, he misses the company on the few days a week he’s alone, but he’s not about to deny Dick the thing he clearly wants. “You sure? You look...freaked out.” “No, no. That’s...great, that you kissed. Congratulations.” Awkward. He’s so fucking awkward. Stop being awkward right now. He doesn’t know why this is messing with his head so drastically. Bruce has listened to Dick moon over girls for the entirety of his pubescence, talking about them like they’re goddesses he’s forbidden to look upon, Barbara included. And Bruce has seen the way Dick and Barbara interact with each other in between muggings, always talking with their heads bent close like they’re the only two people in the world. Who would have thought Batman could be a third wheel? “I’ve liked her for a while now, but I didn’t know if she liked me back and I was too nervous to ask.” Dick’s face goes even pinker. “Kissing her was cool.” Part of Bruce’s brain jumps at the realization that, holy shit, Dick just had his first kiss, my little boy is growing up, what a milestone. The other part is far less happy about this new development. Yes, Bruce has seen Dick win brawls with men three times his size. He can fly the Bat-jet on his own, knows six languages, and is even leading his own superhero team. And yet, all Bruce can think is, no, not my little boy, he’s just a baby, Batgirl is corrupting his innocence and She Must Be Stopped. With great effort, Bruce holds it all back. He’s read the parenting books, he knows that it’s important to be supportive when they’re at this age. “Good to hear. I’m happy for you.” He pats Dick on the shoulder. “Thanks, B.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Sixteen Years Old - “Hey, Bruce? Can I talk to you?” Bruce doesn’t look up from the metal flakes he’s testing. “What is it?” “I can come back later if you’re busy.” “No, I’m just analyzing some samples. I’m looking for residue from one of Zsasz’s blades.” Dick steps forward, tentative for once. “Need any help?” “I would like for you to come out with whatever it is you clearly need to tell me.” Dick snorts quietly. “Nice phrasing.” “What?” “I think I’m bisexual.” Bruce turns around, forgetting about the samples entirely. Dick’s arms are crossed over his chest, his eyes skipping between everything that isn’t Bruce’s face. At sixteen years old he’s finally tall enough that he doesn’t have to crane his neck to look at Bruce anymore. “You...think?” “I am. I’m bisexual.” “Okay.” “Is that cool with you?” The question shocks Bruce. “Of course it is.” Did Dick honestly think this would change anything? Has Bruce done something wrong, made Dick think that he wasn’t loved unconditionally? Dick squints, appraises Bruce’s reaction. “You knew, didn’t you.” “No.” “Bruce.” “I knew a little bit.” Dick rolls his eyes. The tension slips from his shoulders. His arms uncross. “Of course you did.” “Well, you weren’t exactly subtle about it.” “What the hell does that mean?” “Language,” Bruce chides, more out of habit than anything. “And do you realize how often you would come home after elementary school complaining about stupid pretty boys?” “That was just me being dramatic.” “I’m not disputing that. But they were still crushes, pal.” “I figured you thought it was just a phase.” Bruce shrugs. “Maybe for the first few days. But trust me, I have known you liked boys since you were a kid.” “Then why didn’t you just say so? It took me years to figure this all out, and you’re telling me you’ve been sitting on this info the whole time?” “Because this is your truth, not mine. I knew that you would tell me about it when you were ready. And you have.” Dick is clearly fighting a smile. He bites his lip instead, runs a hand through his mop of black hair that not even Alfred can wheedle him into combing anymore. “Well, I’m heading to the tower for the night, so don’t wait up, ‘kay? Kay. Good talk.” He goes to leave, but Bruce stops him. “Hang on. Why choose now to tell me?” Dick stuffs his hands in his pockets—an obvious tell. “No reason. I just...wanted you to know. Just in case.” “In case of what?” “Oh, you know.” Dick waves his hand in a gesture that clarifies absolutely nothing. “Life happens. People meet each other. You know how it is.” Bruce’s soul implodes. “You have a date?” “I never said that.” “You implied it.” “Real detectives rely on evidence, not theories.” Dick winks. “Tell me who it is. Are they a civilian? A hero? Do they come from a respectable family?” If it’s Roy Harper, Bruce might have to bury a body tonight. Especially after learning about Harper’s drug problem. Dick is too pure for someone like that. Or—heaven forbid—that Wally West kid. Dick is already walking away. “See ya, Bruce!” “You come back here, Richard John Grayson! Do I know him? Does he know your father is Batman?” Dick’s cackle echoes around the cave. “It had better not be a speedster!”
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skellebonez · 3 years
Note
Prompt 76, MK accidentally lets it slip to Pigsy that Monkey and Macaque are “seeing each other” as in not quite dating but been on a few “dates”...again. Pigsy who is on a low profile and hasn’t told MO who he really is, let’s it slip how he thinks “his eldest brother can do better” and MK is very confused.
Feel free to ignore!!!!! I’ve never asked for something like this before and if I did it wrong feel free to ignore it!
I may or may not have a soft spot for protective younger sibling type scenes in media so I had way too much fun writing this.
It could be worse. They could be dating. Wait? They are?!
"I don't understand what that damn monkey is thinking half the time," Pigsy said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his snout with a groan. "Just... let Macaque on the ship, yeah, that totally isn't going to backfire. Not like he has ulterior motives at all, not like we just learned all the stuff he pulled over the last year including trapping three of us in a lantern to fight you and teach you some kind of lesson.”
Things had been tense on the drone ship for the last month. They’d barely begun on their journey before a certain immortal monkey managed to catch them off guard and chase them for multiple days under the White Bone Spirit’s influence.
It became apparent very quickly that she was using him to toy with them, a sort of gloating in her victory. Well, joke was on her. Sending him after them meant they were able to see just how far her influence and control actually reached and they were able to find a way to free him from that with more than a little force and some stolen artifacts.
The fact she hadn’t sent anyone else, however, was... concerning to say the least. If she wasn’t worried about losing her grip on Macaque, of all people, that did not bode well for them.
But for the moment that was neither here nor there. What mattered in the moment was that in the month since the immortal monkey had managed to be dragged onto their ship to recuperate Wukong had become far too comfortable with letting him have free reign over whatever he wanted to do on the ship (within reason).
And Pigsy didn’t like that. Aforementioned soul trapping in a lantern and trying to turn MK against his teacher and all that. Pigsy didn’t trust Six-Eared Macaque as far as he could throw him.
"It's been a month and nothing's happened yet?" MK offered not so helpfully, shrugging with an awkward nervous chuckle. “I mean... unless he’s playing a really long game he’d probably have done something by now, right?”
"Well... It could be worse," Pigsy admitted with a chuckle as he stretched out and started to cut up the ingredients for his lunch dish. "They could be dating."
MK made an awkward choking sound as he inhaled his water.
"Wait...?" Pigsy turned around slowly, leveling the young man with a half glare. He stared for a moment, watching as MK refused to meet his gaze. Looking left and right and literally anywhere not at Pigsy’s face. "THEY ARE!?"
"I didn't tell you!" MK shouted, jumping up and hiding behind the table and pointing at Pigsy dramatically. "I said nothing, you cannot pin this on me!"
"YOU KNEW AND YOU KEPT IT A SECRET!?" Pigsy yelped, tone not angry but loud enough to make MK freeze with wide worried eyes. The chef stopped, sighing again as he took in a calming breathe before continuing. "Ok... ok... MK, I ain't mad, being mad at you would be ridiculous. But exactly how long have you known?"
MK frowned, looking up at the ceiling in thought before a tentative but curious look passed over his face.
"...I can neither confirm nor deny that I caught them smooching in the med bay two weeks ago."
"TWO WEEKS!?"
“You didn’t hear it from me!” MK said, pointing at himself as he backed away with another nervous laugh. “I have plausible deniability, you figured it out on your own!”
“Of all the hard headed thick skulled bad decisions that stupid-” Pigsy mumbled to himself, burying his face in his hands as he held back a scream of frustration. “There are so many men. So many men! So many ex-enemies even! But no, he had to go and hook up with his actual ex that tried to take over his identity and kill his entire travel party!”
“To be fair he kinda seems to be changing for the be-wait...?” MK started to offer, watching at the chef paced around the kitchen. “How... do you know they used to date? I don’t think even Tang knows that.”
“He could have dated literally anyone else and he chose to get back with Macaque,” Pigsy said with another sigh, removing his hands from his face with a scowl. “I knew he was dense but elder brother can do so much better.”
“I’M. SORRY?” MK yelled, this time being the one to startle the other. “ELDER. BROTHER?”
Pigsy froze, eyes wide in horrified realization. “... you didn’t hear that.”
Pigsy ran out of the room, MK hot on his heels.
“PIGSY COME BACK YOU NEED TO EXPLAIN AND NOT MAKE RASH DECISIONS!”
Pigsy did not go back to the kitchen, instead heading straight to the rec room that he knew the two monkeys were spending most of their recent time in when not off alone who knows where (now he knows where). MK was following right behind, trying to both get an explanation out of him and to dissuade him from confronting the Monkey King and also looking generally very confused and concerned.
He didn’t succeed before the pig demon slammed the rec room door open.
"WUKONG!" Pigsy shouted from the doorway, startling the two immortal monkeys from whatever conversation they were engrossed in . "You. Me. Deck. Now."
"I-"
"NOW. ELDER BROTHER."
The facial journey through confusion to realization to horror on Sun Wukong's face was worth the delayed reaction shout of "WHAT DO YOU MEAN ELDER BROTHER!?" from the other immortal sitting next to the Monkey King.
“BAJIE!?” Wukong yelped.
“YOU’RE ZHU BAJIE!?” MK yelped in much the same tone.
“Oh fuck,” Macaque whispered under his breath.
“DECK!” Pigsy repeated.
“BAJIE WHAT THE FUCK!?” Wukong repeated himself.
“ZHU BAJIE!?” MK also repeated.
“How many other enemies did I piss off that are on this ship?” Macaque continued, seemingly resigned to his fate.
“YES I’M BAJIE STOP YELLING MY OWN NAME AT ME!”
Needless to say that conversation was the most incoherent non-productive mess they had on the ship in the last month. Until Sandy burst into the room and forced them all to talk it out peacefully.
Macaque did, in fact, learn how many old enemies he had on the ship when Sandy came clean that he was also Sha Wujing.
And Pigsy did not, in fact, manage to talk any sense into his elder brother given how much MK was yelling at him for keeping his identity a secret from him.
Wukong just sat with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands wondering what in the actual hell his life had become.
(The next day, after a night of rest and a day talking to MK and apologizing and explaining everything, Pigsy caught the two immortal monkeys asleep cuddled on the couch of the rec room and decided that his elder brother could make his own decisions. And maybe MK had a point, given Macaque hadn’t done anything. Yet.
If he pulled a blanket over the two of them while they rested and they noticed no one said anything about it. And if Macaque snuck off the ship and there were, coincidentally, some rare ingredients for some dishes Pigsy missed making and a few scrapes and bruises on the immortal when he resurfaced... well, he didn’t say anything either. But he made it a point to have more mangoes and plums on hand.
Just in case.)
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lunar-wandering · 3 years
Text
100 kilometers left to travel
so me and the ~discord~ came up with a MK clone (not a hair clone, this one was created by science! how fun!) and I kinda. went a little wild so now I’m Making A Fanfic for him-
Word Count: 3.4k
Read on Ao3
He knew something was wrong the instant he woke up.
The ground was hard and cold, he could feel tiny rocks digging into him as he slowly became aware of his surroundings. He could faintly hear water dripping in the distance, the sound of a car driving overhead. The soft click of somebodies shoes hitting the floor as they approached him.
He moved his hand to the side, trying to find a better position to push himself up and off the floor. His hand landed in something wet, and he hurriedly pulled it back. His eyes were still closed. He couldn't see what he had touched.
He hoped it was just water.
Taking a deep, wheezing breath, he slowly pushed himself up, trying to stand, before stumbling, sitting down and leaning against the cool metal behind him. His limbs ached, they felt like they hadn't moved in ages.
Now that he was thinking of it, had he ever moved before?
....Who was he?
A flash of some kind of memories danced in his mind. A hint of pink, the taste of something good, a book being placed in his hands, a flash of green, a dash of red, the warmth of tea, a touch of gold, a tint of purple, and something blue.
Blue.....
His head hurt. He couldn't make sense of any of the colours within his mind, the emotions they brought with them coming and going like the tide, vanishing before he could even begin to decipher them. He didn't..... he couldn't understand.
"Ah, I see you've survived."
He'd forgotten about the footsteps.
Something about the voice sent shivers down his spine, making him curl up, every inch of him shouting 'protect yourself! you're not safe!'.
"Oh, well we can't have that."
A hand softly ran through his hair, before harshly pulling it, moving his head out of the curled up position he'd put himself in. It didn't hurt a lot, but it still made him whimper in fear.
"Look at me."
He didn't want to know what would happen if he disobeyed. Slowly he tried to open his eyes, the colours of real life swirling almost as much as the colours within his brain. He closed his eyes in response to the sudden stimuli, before remembering the voice's demand and forcing them open again. Despite this, he couldn't make out who was in front of him, his eyes incapable of focusing.
He could only see blue and white.
"Hm..... I suppose you'll have to do." The voice let go of his hair, but he didn't move. He had a feeling curling back up, despite how every instinct was screaming at him to do so, would be a bad idea. "You certainly didn't melt like the others."
Melt? What did they-
"Tell me, Experiment Number 7, are you ready for your mission?"
He didn't even know what his mission was.
But he knew, down in his bones, that saying 'no' would have consequences.
"Y-" He tried to speak, but his voice cracked, breaking off into nothing. He coughed, trying to speak again, only for the voice to huff in irritation.
"You needn't continue. I suppose I should give you a bit longer to adjust before I send you out....this must be perfect in order for destiny to come to fruition."
The footsteps clicked again, and he waited until they had faded away and he couldn't hear them anymore before he slumped, curling in on himself again, letting out a wheezing breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding.
Alone, he listened to the sounds surrounding him, colours flickering in his mind again before, inevitably, he fell back asleep.
-
"MK!"
MK jolted, leaning back and falling out of the chair he'd been sleeping in. On his way down, he knocked the table with his head, sending a bowl of broth (there had been noodles, but MK had already ate them) flying down to splatter on the floor beside him. He groaned, rubbing his head as it ached.
He felt like he'd dreamed about something important....
MK blinked, and suddenly Mei was leaning over him.
"You alright?" She asked, holding out her hand to help him up. MK took her up on her offer, standing up and dusting himself off, before looking at the shattered bowl and liquid on the floor, and sighed.
"Guess I'll have to clean that up...." He mumbled, before switching gears and turning to Mei with a smile on his face. "Anyways, I'm fine, but Mei, what are you doing here?"
"Did you seriously forget already?" Mei asked, "You promised you'd come with me to the arcade today!"
"Oh. I didn't forget I just, I didn't realize so much time had passed, I must've been asleep for longer than I thought...." MK said, stretching a little to get the last bits of tiredness out of his limbs. Mei watched him with a look of concern.
"Have you been sleeping enough lately?" She asked, looking him up and down, searching for any sign that he wasn't taking care of himself like he should.
"Yeah, I just...." MK paused for a moment, before shrugging. "I keep having these weird dreams. They feel important, but I can never really remember them."
"Is it a side effect of your monkey powers?"
"Monkey King doesn't have prophetic dreams Mei." MK said, walking out the door, Mei keeping in time with his stride. "Or well. It's never mentioned in the stories."
"You'll have to ask him when he gets back from his vacation then." Mei said.
"Yeah, I guess I will......"
-
He took a deep breath, leaning against the wall of the alley way.
Glancing out, he could see his original, walking beside the green girl.
(He hadn't bothered to learn her name. He felt like he should know it, but it would be fine. He could learn it later, it wasn't important for his mission yet.)
Right now, what he had to do was simple. Grab his original, bring him back to the lair, and then, once he'd gathered his information, replace him.
Simple. Easy.
He looked back out at the fairly crowded street.
Simple. Easy.
And then suddenly there was a crash, his original shrieked, and then red was there too, the green girl holding him back from attacking the original.
When has anything ever been easy?
He turned and started heading back to the lair.
The Lady wasn't going to be happy about this, but there was no way the plan was going to work today.
-
Two weeks later, MK leaned against the railing on the deck of the ship, while Wukong sat on the railing, swinging his legs off the side.
"....Monkey King?"
"Yeah, what's up, bud?"
"Have you ever had like, prophetic dreams?" MK asked, and Wukong's legs paused mid swing.
".......No." He answered, slowly, "Why? Did something happen?"
"Well, not exactly." MK said, thinking of how best to explain it. "I've been having these dreams, but it's like I just can't remember them once I wake up. I know they happened, and I feel like they're telling me something important, but what actually happened in them just keeps...slipping out of my grasp."
"And you're sure they're not just regular dreams?" Wukong asked, sighing when MK shook his head yes. "....Okay. I can't say that I've experienced anything like that, but I can look into it if it really concerns you."
"Thank you." MK sighed in relief, before giving Wukong a smirk. "On another note, you should probably run, I think Pigsy's finally noticed that you stole all the snack food."
"Oh n-" Wukong scrambled off the railing, causing the spoon Pigsy threw at him to just barely miss. Hurriedly, he turned and ran back into the ship, Pigsy chasing after him. MK gave a little laugh as he watched the both of them disappear through the door, leaving him alone on the deck.
It was almost...nice to be able to relax like this. Sure, the Lady Bone Demon was after them, but it wasn't like there was a demon attacking every other day. In fact, thus far into their journey, they hadn't been attacked at all.
So of course, it was immediately after he had that thought that something hit him in the back of the head, hard, causing him to pass out.
-
MK woke up to a dark room.
No, not a room.
A cell, as evidenced by the bars.
He shivered, as a cold breeze blew through the cell. His jacket was missing.
Recognizing that this was probably not good, MK quickly sat up, grabbing hold of the bars and pressing his face against them, trying to tilt his head to see the surrounding area better.
"Hey you, you're finally awake."
MK bit back a shriek, startling and hitting his head against the bars with a clang. He let go of the cell bars to hold his head, crouching down as he hissed in pain.
"Woah, don't go knocking yourself out again so soon, I need someone to talk to around here."
MK knew that voice.
Looking over to the side, he could see someone sitting in the corner, half enshrouded in darkness.
"Why are you here, Macaque?" MK asked, rubbing his head as he stood up again. "And also, did you seriously just quote a meme at me?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Macaque said, amusement in his voice. "And I'm here because I wanna be."
"Bullshit." MK deadpanned.
"If Wukong was here you'd get smacked." 
"Well yeah, but he's not, so-" MK said, smirking, before looking back out through the bars again. "Where are we anyways?"
"One of the Lady Bone Demon's lairs." Macaque answered, standing up and walking to also glance out through the bars. As he entered into the slightly more lit area of the cell, MK could see that his clothes were torn, dried blood staining it, and a torn piece of his scarf wrapped around his arm. MK barely bit back his concern in favor of a different question.
"She has more than one lair?"
"Apparently." Macaque shrugged. "This is a different one from the one I first woke up in, so I can only assume it's a different location."
"...How long have you been captured? Actually, wait, better question, how long have I been captured?" MK asked, panic starting to grip him. What if he'd been gone for too long, and something had happened to-
"I don't think it's been any more than a few hours for you." Macaque said, alleviating at least some of MK's worries. At least he hadn't been passed out for 3 days or something.... "As for me....I don't know."
"Wh- how could you not know?" MK asked, "Have you seriously been in here long enough that you can't remember how much time has passed?"
"I think it's been a week."
"You think!?"
-
In the end, it had been rather easy to escape.
Scarily easy, to be honest. There hadn't been a single guard, and they hadn't encountered the Lady Bone Demon so much as once the whole time.
Macaque had, in return for MK not telling Wukong that he had helped out, personally gotten MK back to the ship via shadow-teleportation. MK had to admit, traveling through shadows was a weird experience, but it was kinda thrilling in a way, a bit like a roller coaster. The two of them popped out of the shadow of a tree beside a forest clearing, where the ship had landed on the ground.
"This is as far as I'm taking ya, kid." Macaque said, falling back into the shadows. "......You might want to mentally prepare yourself before you get back on the ship by the way."
"Prepare myself for what?" MK asked, but Macaque had already vanished, leaving MK alone.
MK sighed, then walked over to the ship, going to climb up the side of the ship and onto the deck, but then paused, one leg over the ship's railing as he took in the sight before him. He slowly blinked, wondering if he was just seeing things, but nope, Mei was holding another him at sword point, the others standing behind her in a defensive position.
"Who are you and why are you doing a horrible job at pretending to be my friend!" Mei asked, leering over the other MK in a threatening matter.
"Hey, I thought I was doing a good job at pretending to be MK!" The other MK yelled.
"Evidently not!" MK said, fully climbing over the rail and dropping down onto the deck, drawing the attention over to where he was. "Seriously, who the hell are you?"
"Who the hell are you?" The other MK shot back, before realizing what he said. "No, wait that was a stupid question, I know who you are- why did I say that?"
The others ignored him, in favor of staring at MK in suspicion.
"Are you the real MK?" Pigsy asked, causing MK to sputter in offense.
"Wh- of course I am-" MK said, before cutting himself with a yelp, as Wukong suddenly appeared beside him, lifting his arm, picking him up, basically checking him all over before placing him back on the ground, seemingly satisfied.
"Yep, this one is the real deal." He confirmed, before glaring at the other MK. "That one, on the other hand-"
They turned back to the other MK, who had, in the moment of distraction, begun to slowly inch away from Mei's sword, and now was halfway over the railing, about to jump off.
"Oh no you don't." Mei hissed, grabbing onto the back of the other MK's jacket (and oh, so that's where MK's jacket had went, not only did he have a double, but said double was a jacket thief-) and pulling him back onto the ship, letting him fall backwards and slam down on the metal deck. "You're not going anywhere until we get some answers out of you, KM."
"KM?" The other MK asked, everyone else looking at Mei with the same degree of confusion.
"I needed something to call you other than MK." She said, shrugging, before getting right back to business. "Now. Who sent you?"
"What, like I'm just gonna tell you that-" Mei's sword poked closer to his neck. "The Lady! The Lady Bone Demon! She's the one who sent me!"
"Well. That certainly explains why I woke up in one of her cells." MK said, and was immediately met with various looks of concern. He threw his hands up in self-defense. "Hey, don't look at me like that, she didn't even show up, like seriously, it was ridiculously easy for me and Macaque to escape-"
"I'm sorry, you and who?" Wukong interrupted, looking like he was about to breakdown then and there.
"Oh, that's the shadow guy, right?" KM asked, ignoring the glares the others sent him. "I talked with him a few times. Or, well, we didn't so much as talk, more like I walked past him, but like. Same thing, right? Ha ha, yeah, uh, anyways, can we put the sword away now?"
"Depends." Mei said, "What're you gonna do now that we know? You going to go ham, no offense Pigsy, and kill us all?"
"What? No." KM said, "Well. Is that what I'm supposed to do?"
"No, no, no-" MK hurriedly said, rushing forwards, pushing Mei and her sword to the side in order to be face to face with KM, which, wow, that was weird seeing his own face not on him and not on a hair clone- how does KM even exist if he's not a hair clone- wait he's getting distracted- "It is not what you're supposed to do. You are not going to do that. Right?"
"....Right." KM said, slowly nodding. There was a moment of awkward silence, then Mei was back up, shoving MK over as she pointed her sword at KM again.
"That didn't sound like a very confident answer." She said. KM glanced at her, taking in her threatening expression, looked over her shoulder, seeing the expressions of the others-
"If I give you the staff, will you not kill me?" He asked.
That made everyone pause.
"....What, exactly, do you mean by that?" Wukong asked, and KM, in response, hurriedly removed his jacket, shaking it out a little-
And the staff fell out, clanging and slightly denting the deck.
There was a moment of silence.
MK slowly reached over, grabbing hold of, and lifting the staff, feeling a familiar warmth rush through him.
"Why did you have this?" He asked, and KM rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
"Well I mean, you had it in the videos I watched, but I couldn't make a realistic replica, so when I saw it in the Lady Bone Demon's lair I just... took it?" He said, carefully watching the other's blank expressions. "I-I figured it'd make it easier to pretend to be you if I had it-"
"So what you're saying is you stole it." Pigsy said, "From the Lady Bone Demon."
"I don't know, maybe?" KM said, and Mei slowly lowered her sword, before finally putting it away.
KM watched on as the group all looked at each other, seemingly having a silent conversation via eye contact.
(They were, in fact, having a real conversation, as Wukong was astral projecting to everyone, and thus basically opened a telepathic connection.
"We could just let him stay with us." MK said.
"Kid, are you crazy? Do you know what he is?" Wukong asked.
"No actually." MK said.
KM, not being in the loop, had no way of knowing this.)
"....So uh, KM was it, what exactly are you?" Tang asked, and once again all eyes were on KM, who shifted nervously.
"Uh, a clone? Like- like test-tube clone. Created in the science goo and all that." KM said, making jazz hands as he said 'science goo'. No one looked very impressed.
"She knows how to do that?"  Wukong whispered under his breath, sounding almost horrified.
"Are there any others like you?" Sandy asked.
KM thought back to the wetness he'd touched when he was first created.
"....No." KM said, "The others failed. They.....they melted."
There was another moment while the others had a silent conversation.
( "Look, he's all alone, we can't just leave him be!"
"But-"
"Look, we know you don't trust him Monkey King, which to be honest the rest of us don't really trust him either, but we can't just leave this kid alone!")
Wukong gave an irritated sigh.
"Fine." He said, marching over to KM, grabbing hold of his arm and pulling him up so that he was standing. He grabbed MK's jacket out of KM's hand, tossing it over his shoulder, where it proceeded to land directly on top of MK's head. "Look, kid, the others have decided to trust you, and I've been outvoted, so listen. We're going to let you stay on the ship. But if I catch any sign of you being up to no good, I will not hesitate to throw you overboard. Clear?"
"As crystal." KM said.
"Good." Wukong said, "But, just in case-"
And then KM's bandana was gone, replaced with a golden circlet. With nothing to hold up his hair, it flopped down, almost completely blocking the new circlet from view. KM reached his hand up to feel it, instantly recognizing what it was.
"....Why." He asked.
"Like I said, just a precaution." Wukong said.
("I have always wanted to do that to someone else-"
"Monkey King."
"Oh. Oops, forgot this connection was still open-")
"You don't have to worry though." Wukong continued, "It won't hurt you or anything, you just won't be able to get more than a kilometer away from me or MK."
"Okay??" KM said, and, well, that was that.
KM was officially a member of the ship.
-
"Out of curiosity, what was it that made you realize KM wasn't me?" MK asked, later that night. Mei immediately broke out into a wild grin, while KM groaned.
"Well first of all, he didn't call any of us by our names." Mei began, "He called me Green Girl, Sandy was Tea Man, so on and so forth. But the real thing that made us realize was that-"
"Don't say it-" KM started, but Mei wasn't going to listen.
"He referred to himself in the third person." She said, "Or, really, he was referring to you, but since he was pretending to be you-"
"Look, I just got used to thinking 'MK smiles like this' and 'MK moves like that', okay?!" KM said, covering his face with his hands. "It just became the default y'know?"
"Understandable, but really?" MK asked, "You didn't once train yourself into talking like you were me?"
"Look, I've only been alive for one month-"
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percabethfiles · 3 years
Text
Charlie
Uh... Hello? Anybody still here? I haven't been around in years and years. But I keep my fandoms stored in some corner of my brain waiting for something to tug them out. And of all things this time it was Taylor Swift re-releasing her old songs, because I used to imagine so many percabeth scenes listening to "Fearless". So have this little something that's been sitting unfinished in my archives for years now.
Remember that time Percy saw Sadie Kane and thought “Hey, this is what mine and Annabeth’s daughter would look like”? Yes.
(Also there are small nods to that fic I wrote about Logan, Hidden Heritage, but I've been meaning to re-write it someday because there were SO MANY PLOT HOLES omg)
When they find out it’s a girl it’s a bit too soon to know for sure, or so the doctor tells them. They’ll have to wait for the next appointment to know for certain. “So don’t go buying any tiny dresses yet,” he jokes and they laugh along, but they’ve been together for approximately eighteen years now, they can tell what the other’s thinking with a glance and the ecstatic grin that breaks through their lips lets him know they’re on the same page. Too late. They’re already thinking plush bow and arrows and a Merida costume for her first Halloween.
Percy tries to keep his cool. As the weeks progress, he tries not to get his hopes up, but in his heart he knows already. They hadn’t really had a preference before, they’d been too happy knowing their baby was fully human and had all its limbs (with the number of deities they’d pissed off, you never knew), but a little girl? It feels right after their two boys, it feels like their family will be complete.
(He thinks about a slight blonde girl with streaked hair and a British accent dropping from the sky on a magic camel, remembers thinking “if Annabeth and I had a daughter…” and his chest squeezes tight with happiness so raw he has a little trouble breathing)
When the doctor beams at them next appointment and says “Congratulations, Jackson family, it really is a girl,” he’s not surprised, but no less elated. He doesn’t hear the lame joke about Jackson Five, he’s too busy trying to be a manly man and not burst into tears because he’s going to have a daughter. When Annabeth’s in the other room paying for the appointment, and he’s waiting for the doctor to print the really impressive high tech 3D picture of the ultrasound, the man asks him “So did you go ahead and buy a tiny dress anyway?”
Percy blushes.
The man shakes his head in amusement. “Every time”.
His work colleagues, proud dads of little girls themselves, try to terrorize him with tales of tea parties and future boyfriends, and Percy thinks somewhere in the middle of all that teasing they mean well, but really, he’s mostly annoyed. It’s not like he’s new to parenthood, he’s got two sons already and they seem to be turning out okay, and before, when Logan and Nathan were just a nice dream for the future, there was Estelle, the little sister Percy had never expected, but loved to bits all the same.
And then Charlie is born.
She’s tiny, warm and pink, all curled up in her yellow cable-knit blanket, a tuft of blonde hair peeking out of a tiny, tiny beanie, features scrunched into the most adorable variation of a grumpy face. He’s not new to parenthood, he’s been here twice before, but the rush of affection and protectiveness and awe and raw love is just as genuine. He’s smiling like a dork, can’t seem to stop, walking from side to side, avidly searching her traits. She’s bigger than Nate was when he’d been born, but smaller than Logan. Her hair was light, like Nate’s, would it stay blonde or darken with time? Would her eyes be like his or Annabeth’s? And oh, she had her mother’s nose (they all did).
It never fails to amaze him how such a small, vulnerable being can shake up his whole world until it’s made a space for her. And he’s done this before, he’s no first time sailor this time, he’d thought he had it all under control. But she blinks and looks up at him with half-lidded eyes and a frowny face and—they’re green. Her eyes are the blue-green Logan’s are, Percy’s are.
(He’s got two sons who are his life, and he does love all his children equally, but holding his daughter for the first time, he thinks he understands his friends’ warnings. He doesn’t love her more, it’s just… different. It’s special.)
When he goes back to work, Nick takes one look at him and bursts into laughter. He claps him on the shoulder in commiseration.
“I told you.”
He’s completely wrapped around her finger already.
It’s not too different, he finds out. Especially having been pre-trained by Estelle. He’s got to brush up on his Disney princess knowledge, and hair braiding skills. He hasn’t gotten much better at color coordinating the polka dotted bows and tiny shoes, but Charlie is really forgiving. She is a very happy baby, much happier and easy going than any of the boys had been.
She’s also fucking crazy.
She is smaller and skinnier than her brothers, likes to wear frilly dresses and talk to plush animals and dance around the house in a pink tutu, but she’s wild. She never learned to crawl, just held on to the couch until she was wobbling on two feet, and it seemed like the very next day she was running across the house, the mall, the park, and if he turned his eyes away for one second, she was shooting off in the streets and nearly getting run over.
He’d found her dangling from the kitchen cabinets, trying to reach the cowering cat. She had a phase when she thought she could fly and she would climb furniture and stairs and the window sill and just… Launch herself into the air expecting her flying powers to manifest spontaneously. If they hadn’t been trying to raise them away from the whole mythological world, he would have sat her down and clarified that she had the wrong Olympian Grandparent in mind. She might have had more luck jumping into the ocean.
She had a way to jut out her lower lip, and turn those big green eyes on him that could render his every effort to be a responsible parental presence useless.
Besides, she was so funny. He could never muster enough anger to discipline her, because if he found her on the kitchen table covered in peanut butter, somehow sporting a very sticky Mohawk, and looking entirely unapologetic, well, he just couldn’t stop laughing.
One day he’s coming home from work and he hasn’t even pulled the key from the lock when Charlie calls out ‘you’re back daddy,’ in what sounds vaguely like a new jersey accent. He finds her sitting on the floor of the living room, drowning in one of Annabeth’s bathrobes, pink plastic barbie sunglasses on, holding a pooh bear sippy cup with one hand and a pinky stretched out.
“Charlie, what are you doing?”
“It’s wine Wednesday, daddy.”
“It’s what?”
“Wine Wednesday.”
He had half a mind to check if her sippy cup actually contained wine because they hid their alcohol way up in the cabinets she can’t reach but that girl could climb like a monkey. He knows he should follow that remark up with some kind of questioning of where she’d even heard of ‘wine Wednesdays’ and then explain that kids don’t drink wine or some other kind of responsible parent speech, but a sudden burst of incredulous laughter bubbles up in his throat and he takes refuge in the kitchen, lest he encourages her behavior.
He finds Annabeth there, hand over her mouth, clearly in stitches over their daughter’s performance. He wants to question if she gave her permission to wear her bathrobe but finding his wife nearly doubled over in silent laughter in the kitchen is too much and he finally lets out the guffaw he’d been trying to hold on to.
It’s not the first time Charlie leaves them breathless with laughter, and he’s almost scared of what she’s going to cook up in the future.
Charlie is a hellion.
There isn’t one person safe from her pranks, but she’s so adorable she hardly ever catches hell for it, and she’s learning to use it in her favor – thankfully, just in time for her parents to develop immunity to her puppy eyes. And she’s… difficult, yes, but not always, and not in a terrible way. For all her climbing the roof, organizing illegal cookie sales, getting in fights with her classmates, she’s not a bad kid. She’s got Percy’s penchant for befriending the kids no one wants to go near, and defending her ragtag team of losers. She’s loyal to a fault, and it gets her in trouble often.
She and Nate have epic jealousy fights over everything, including – but not limited to – Logan’s attention, the crayons, the biggest piece of cake and all the videogame characters in the world are not enough, they will always want whatever the other picked. It gives them many, many headaches. Logan, on the other hand, positively spoils her, and whenever Charlie gets in trouble they can be sure to find her hiding behind her big brother while he gives them this solemn look and says “It’s ok, mom and dad, Charlie promises she won’t do it again. We’ve talked.”
When the whole “Logan being attacked by a dracanae in school and thus finding out his Olympian heritage” debacle came to pass, and they started frequenting camp again, there was nowhere in the entire Camp Charlie would rather be than the stables. She’d spend hours there with the Aphrodite kids, brushing the pegasi and talking to them endlessly about all her classmates and her friends, and her dolls, and her new dress, and the new book grandma gave her. It was all really cute until Percy realized the pegasi were talking back, and she fully understood their replies.
And it’s funny, really, because Logan had taken after Percy, to a point where bathing him had been hard as a child because he tended to stay dry in the tub, and Nathan was Annabeth to a T, but Charlie was a perfect mix of them both.
He guesses it makes sense it would be so explosive.
When Charlie is twelve, she gets kicked out of school.
Percy is not overly worried about it himself – the number of schools he’d been kicked out of reached double digits, and this was only her first – but he is worried about how she will feel. Getting the boot from a place that’s housed you for years, where your friends are, where everyone already knows you and having to start over is never pleasant, no matter how used to it you were.
He’d expected the school to have gotten tired of all her pranks and misbehaving, which was fair, he guessed. But when Annabeth comes home from the meeting with the school director, she is seething, and not at their daughter. Charlie is angry too. In fact, it’s the first time he’s ever seen his daughter well and truly pissed off. The two of them are a sight for nightmares, both blondes standing side by side ranting with righteous fury, they look ready to start a revolution. What he gets from her angry snarls and Charlie’s rushed rambling is that Charlie had talked back to a teacher that was picking on the autistic kid and demeaning the thirteen year old who was repeating sixth grade.
She’d called him a brain-washing small minded overgrown bully who, he was quoting, didn’t get enough love from his parents.
And Percy is so proud his eyes even get a little misty.
Because he’s getting old and sentimental and raising kids is very hard. No one knows what they’re doing, not one person, not even the fancy psychologists with those books on raising perfect, well rounded, high-achieving members of society that Annabeth insisted on reading when she was pregnant with Logan. You do your best and you hope for the best, and you don’t know what you get until it’s basically too late to do anything about it. And even if he did have the best mom in the history of the entire world to draw example from, he was also half of an absent Olympian father whose heritage condemned him to dance in and out of battlefields half his life.
He’s always been terrified of being a crap father.
He looks at Charlie cussing out with every mild version of actual cuss words, stalking around the kitchen like a little lioness in a cage, furious at the unfairness of the whole situation, caring less about being expelled and more about who was going to defend her friends from that awful teacher when she’s gone.
His daughter is only twelve, but she’s already so brave, such a force of nature. She won’t stand for injustice, and she won’t take insult lying down. And she’s so kind. She’s growing up, and the person she is slowly turning out to be… is good.
And something in his heart shifts and settles down, smooths over old fears and anxious thoughts.
Percy doesn’t mean to brag, but he thinks he’s not doing half bad as a parent.
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