#Or what animals they look for first at the zoo or their least favorite color or what their childhood pet was

[tiercel]

Whenever i see an usual oc questions post it usually still has pretty normal if not slightly more novel ideas I want to know if your character has the cilantro soap gene or not

[stuffymcstuffsworld]

The cables out

In retrospect, you really should have tried this a lot sooner. I mean, just how long has it been since you left in the first place? You really hoped technology hadn't had a sudden advancement in the time you've been gone.

You winced a bit as sparks flew from the wires you were connecting. Letting out a sharp click of your tongue, you continued. As if that was gonna prevent you from getting some good old Saturday morning cartoons.

You examined your work for a moment. Would it work? Were you going to need a larger power source? Mmmm, a test should be fine. At least it wouldn't explode.... you think.

You should probably start small. Grabbing your phone, you started small. Accessing your earth email. The signal was weak. Barely a single bar. You would need to make a stronger antenna.

That took you maybe two to three days. Only because you had to do more research on hell's power grid. Which was just as complex as earth's. Yeah, you weren't very happy about all the complecations. Why didn't they simplify it?

You grabbed a spare TV and set it up in one of the spare classrooms. There is no sense in destroying any of the used roo.s was there? Balam beside you with a barrier at the ready.

"What is the purpose for this exactly?" He asked. "Well, if this works, you'll be able to witness firsthand human entertainment, receive current events of earth, and possibly get an understanding of the complex society known as humans." You pointed the remote at the TV.

... Well, it didn't explode. That was a good start. You eyed the static with a frown. Hmmmmm... oh! Walking over, you carefully gave the side of the screen a sharp smack. Sound burst to life from the speakers. * In recent news, there has been multipl-*

You turned the volume down slightly and fiddled some more with remote and cable wires. "I've never heard this language before. What are they saying?" You paused. Turning to look at the excited gargoyle. You had forgotten the language barrier.

Quickly grabbing some paint, you drew some translation runes on the back, hoping it would work. * The newest addition to the zoo was born last night. Say hello to Emma the elephant. She's looking-*

Balams' eyes were glued to the screen in wonder as you walked back around. The picture had come in of a baby elephant sleeping against its mothers side. You chuckled. Before glancing at the date in the corner.

The image changed to a building that had been on fire, so you quickly started flipping through channels. "What are you doing?" He asked. "I'm seeing how many channels we have access to." You casually shrugged.

You stopped when you saw an old but familiar movie playing. The large demon next to you gasped. You smiled. "Humans are very fond of this art style. This and many others are called animation, which brings drawings to life."

"So it's a spell?" You snorted at the question. "No, it's multiple images seen at once giving the illusion of movement." You explain as the scene changes. You shoved him down to sit. "Shush, my favorite part is coming on."

You missed watching these silly movies. You watched as Anastasia walked through the dusty old palace. You watched as the demon cooed over the cute dog and gasped at the ghosts dancing at the imaginary ball. They shimmering colors gliding in and out of view.

Before you knew it, you were watching and explaining all that you knew, such as cars and trains. How the movie was loosely based on a conspiracy on how a single Russian princess survived after the monarchy was over thrown. You couldn't stop laughing at him when he had asked if all animals could talk.

It was such a cute and navie question. You often forgot how the Demon had first thought of the human world. Like it was some kind of utopia. Maybe if the world you came from had been more like the one Balam imagined, you would feel more homesick.

Instead, you were enjoying yourself. Not caring that you started to forget the struggles of your old life. Unfazed by the thought of not seeing the people you once knew ever again. It would be just fine. You weren't alone and struggling anymore.

[whatliesbeneath-ao3]

MANAGERIAL NOTE: [Q&A]

A variety of questions and answers from my CuriousCat.

Q1: is there a set of ocs whose dynamic you want to explore but haven't yet?

A1: Pretty much all of them save for the Primary Colors, but off the top of my head, Leander and Mari.

Q2: what are your oc's favorite animals?

A2: I'll do the main four.

Rose likes cats, the same with Hastur. They both also like snakes, and despite being goths, would be a little afraid of spiders in a modern AU, despite liking them. Mari likes dogs. She'd spend a lot of time wandering around the zoo. She also likes sheep and llamas. Chrys likes rats and centipedes (not an animal, but worth mentioning). She's the most likely to keep something "strange" like a leech as a pet, especially in a modern AU where the four of them live together.

Q3: what are the details of valerian's belief in forge?? how did it learn about forge and grow to have such faith in her? A3: Valerian clings onto any facsimile of a God it can find. It, for a time, dabbled in this and that in the City. It was particularly interested in the Index and the Church of Gears, but after some research lost interest. Pre-Lobotomy Corporation, Valerian heard about Forge, and her religion, and followed the lead…

…to Lobotomy Corporation itself.

Valerian's parents were happy to hear it had an interest in joining a Wing, since Valerian spent a vast majority of its time attempting suicide, or otherwise trying to find a way to die. It once nearly got eaten in District 23, but its parents paid a large sum of money to ensure that it didn't get eaten. Valerian's parents were somewhat frustrated with its depression, given they're a rather well off family who attempted to get Valerian mental help, which it didn't resist, but it didn't work out well for them. They just want it to feel better, that's all.

For Valerian, it was reverence at first sight, and it spends a lot of time trying to speak with Forge…!

…not really. It doesn't particularly have the energy for that, and just does it's job, instead, but was as happy as it could get when it became the Information Team Captain, and tries to speak with Forge whenever possible. But in all actuality, they haven't even had a conversation. Valerian just feels that she has all of the answers, especially with the information it has on Forge's religion in the first place.

Valerian clings on, desperately, to anything that might give it an escape. Forge offers answers to any who ask. It's a match made in, well, Heaven.

(Notably, Viscaria tries to keep any people trying to worship Forge away from her, and Narcissus ensures Valerian does it's job by yelling at it when it tries to go plead with Forge for some sort of answer.) Q4: how does forge feel about personal relationships, and how does it contrast to how press behaves? does press proclaim herself close to forge and pester her ? how pushy is press in showing affection? A4: Forge has no particular opinion, or at least that used to be the case. Post What Lies Beneath, she's realized there's a lot about people, and the world in general that she hasn't been aware of. She's always been on a pedestal in her interpersonal relationships, so when someone like Viscaria dumps all of his thoughts on her, she thinks it's just him looking for guidance, instead of them just being friends. Friends or no, still thinks he's annoying, though.

She treats people coldly, but speaks formally and kindly. Her words don't lack care or understanding, but they lack warmth, as if she's reading from a script. People who aren't desperate for acknowledgement would take note of this, but those who are desperate enough to turn to Forge don't notice, or don't care.

Press and Forge show affection similarly, and much differently. They're similar, in that they both treat every single person they encounter with acceptance and understanding. The difference is that Forge feels an obligation, whereas Press is doing it out of a desire to love and be loved.

Press will always bother Forge when she's alone, or doing paperwork. Both Viscaria and Press make it a point to pull Forge out of uncomfortable situations, like when someone is being reliant on her as a guide. She doesn't notice the intent behind this, but realizes it as of Chapter 10, hence the change. Press can be very pushy, but only with people she really, really loves. When it comes to her "darling" she'll smother them in love without even noticing they might not want that. With others, like Forge, she's very socially aware and knows how to handle people. But, this all goes out of the window when it comes to the "person she loves". She also doesn't know how to act when romantic affection is returned, and in part feels like they're lying to her.

In general, Press doesn't believe she's loved, no matter what. It would take a lot of convincing. Q5: i need to study forge and valerian in a lab im kind of obsessed ;-; what WOULD happen if they had a conversation?? is valerian frustrated that it keeps being unable to speak with her? likewise, does viscaria have any particular feelings about valerian? A5: If they had a conversation, it would depend on the context. Forge would see Valerian as just another "lost lamb" in need of guidance. If it was outside of Lobotomy Corporation, she would grant Valerian death just as it wished. Death, too, is one of her roles as God. (Yes, I am implying certain things about Forge's religion.)

Valerian doesn't have any particular opinion about not being able to speak with Forge, contrasting its desire to speak with her. It tends to think "Oh well, maybe next time." Just like Anem not being able to eat his bagel, Valerian just keeps missing chances to speak with Forge.

A post-WLB conversation between them would go differently, but again, it depends on the context of the situation, and how far they are in their individual journeys.

Viscaria doesn't feel any particular way about Valerian, but he does find it kind of weird. Viscaria has talked to his sister about Valerian, who shows it sympathy and relates to the feeling of hopelessness permeating the City. Of course, this conversation naturally steered back to Viscaria being protective over his sister, so it never went anywhere.

Strictly speaking, Viscaria makes an active effort to keep Valerian away from Forge. He doesn't think it would be good for her, and in general dislikes all of the people who are dependent on her and keep her on a pedestal.

He hasn't told her this, though. Q6: whats the dynamic with the information team? how does valerian fit into ivy and narcissus' dynamic, and how do they react to its depression and suicidality? A6: The dynamic with the Information Team is actually somewhat comedic, if viewed from the outside.

Narcissus makes it a point to bully Ivy, because she dislikes how hopeful she is that someone will come and save her. She's doing this out of care, though, as twisted as it is, and despite the fact she'd say you're an idiot if you pointed out she acts this way because she cares. Ivy doesn't think she deserves better treatment, and just lets it happen. Valerian watches all of this impassively, but will always help pick up Ivy's torn poetry on the ground, even when she crumples what's left of it and throws it into the trash.

"If it's important to you," It would say, having taped the crumpled pieces back together, "You should keep it."

Ivy would be grateful, but unsure how to respond. This would happen many times over, and eventually, Ivy would come to expect Valerian to repair her poems and return them to her. Valerian doesn't have any particular reason to do this, it just does. It doesn't know why, but would stop and start again if asked.

Valerian would ask Narcissus why she treats Ivy that way, and would intentionally help her process why, exactly, she does that. Narcissus struggles to understand her own feelings, and often acts without thinking twice. She doesn't lack empathy, though.

Narcissus finds Valerian's suicidality annoying, especially when it ends up a threat to her own life. She prefers to keep Valerian around as a team leader, because she can freely boss it around. Ivy, on the other hand, is very worried about Valerian, but feels too powerless to even make an effort, and instead is quietly grateful for Valerian's presence. Q7: ooo so how does forge feel about press, then? A7: "She seems like she's compensating for something."

Her thoughts would stay the same post-WLB, although they'd have more of a complexity, and a genuine interest as to what made Press become that way. Forge is one of the very few who would willingly touch Press' slime, although she's not particularly enthusiastic about it. When Press asked Forge why she thought she survived Melting Love's infection, Forge said nothing for a few long moments, examining Press' slime closely… before replying,

"Perhaps it's a gift."

"A gift?"

"Yes. Perhaps your love speaks the same language, and that is why you were accepted by D-03-109."

Forge was also the one who advocated for Press not to resign after being infected, when she didn't show any signs of being contagious, or the infection worsening. Forge is also rather curious about it, which is one of the reasons she wanted Press to stay employed. Q8: how much does valerian introspect about its emotions and actions? A8: Very often. It spends most of its time thinking.

Narcissus usually tells it to shut up, if it's monologuing out loud. Ivy listens intently. Q9: i'm desperate to figure out what press's deal is but have no idea where to start. give me a random fact about her, whatever you want to say most at the moment A9: She once tried making boba out of her own slime. It didn't work. Another time, she asked Leander if he'd be willing to use her slime as an ingredient in a drink.

He was drunk enough to agree. This is back when Chrys was on the Disciplinary Team, and she, Leander and Press all tried some. They've vowed never to speak about it again, and Leander, when sober, threatened Press to keep quiet about it. She complied. Leander, secretly, wants to try and use it as an ingredient again.

But he'd never admit that. Q10: does valerian have any hobbies? in what kinds of situations does it feel the most emotion? A10: Out of all the hobbies Valerian's parents suggested it try, it liked needle felting the most, and has a collection of small animals it made back in it's bedroom. Valerian attempting to feel emotions is like attempting to light a match in pouring rain. But, it feels emotion most strongly when its disappointed about something, usually about not successfully dying.

It also likes stand up comedy. Q11: how has growing up in a cult and seen as a god affected forge's personality and worldview? A11: Badly. She doesn't consider herself a person, but not an object, either. She was always worshipped, and doted on hand and foot. She doesn't feel like she deserves this treatment, but goes along with it as it's what others expect and want from her. In truth, she just wants to make people happy, but doesn't really know how to do that. In demanding guidance, they're unintentionally guiding Forge.

If you asked her to describe herself, she'd likely describe her actions instead of her personality. To her, she doesn't have a personality. She doesn't need one. She also struggles to show her emotions, especially the negative ones.

If Viscaria was around, he'd pointedly refute her claim. "What? You're way too sarcastic and snarky to not have a personality. Here, I'll explain how you are to me, since you cleaaaarly~ need my help, oh great leader~"

She considers punching him, and then considers his point. The fact he isn't wrong makes her more angry. Q12: how does valerian see itself? A12: An unwanted actor in a tragicomedy. Rather than avoiding mirrors and reflective surfaces, Valerian will stare for a long, long time, waiting for something to happen, for something to change.

But nothing does, and eventually, it walks away, disappointed.

[newsie-collective]

Lorenzo "Itey" Mancini

Quickfire Favorites

Food: “Ma’s pasta. Anythin’ she would make wit’ it.”

Color: “Green! Blue! Uh… Buttons us’ly call it sea green.”

Season: “Uhh… I like the time ‘tween winter an’ spring.”

Weather: “I like when it’s rainin’ bu’ not stormin’.”

Hobby: “Sewin’ with Buttons an’ Ike an’ Snitch!”

Animal: “Penguins! I seen penguins when i’s sellin’ at the zoo once! ‘N me ‘n Mush sit in the library sometimes an’ read ‘bout ‘em.”

Memory: “Me favorite mem’ry? Movin’ Gio into the Lodge. Him was real excited to fin’lly get to stay with the rest o’ us. Medda ain’t trusted us ‘nough to watch ‘im through the night ‘fore him turned six.”

Comfort Item: “Me suspenders! Madre got ‘em for me when I firs’ got here!”

Big They/He vibes

A first-generation immigrant, Lorenzo is from a small town in Italy called Bussana Vecchia. 

There was an earthquake and tsunami in 1887, just after their birth, that caused the entire town to flee.

Itey's parents set sail for America, hoping to find safety and freedom there. 

They found nothing but prejudice and judgment. 

Even their son wasn't saved from the names thrown their way, being called Itey for most of their life outside of home.

Their parents were victims of hate. And, Lorenzo brought his toddler brother out of the house when they disappeared, knowing the rest of their family was too far away to be of any help.

The two of them snuck into Medda Larkin's Theatre, hoping to find a warm place to sleep.

Instead, they ran into Francis and Jack, who were heading out for the night, followed closely by Albert and Racetrack. The four older boys talked to the two scared kids, and decided to introduce them to Medda, and ask what to do.

Medda said she would help watch Giovanni during selling hours, but she had her own job to do, and that Itey would have to come and get him between morning and evening selling. 

And they did. 

Until Gio was old enough to hawk himself. Then, Gio moved in with the other newsies.

And, since the two of them had been in and out of the Lodge over the years, he was easily accepted into the group.

Now, the newsies had no idea that 'Itey' was meant as an insult when people threw it their way.

Couldn't imagine why anyone would need to insult this kid anyway, they were literally harmless. 

So, the nickname caught on, not even knowing that Itey wasn't their real name.

There weren't enough bunks for all of them, obviously, and so Gio shared with the younger newsies. 

Itey started bunking with Snitch.

And, at first it wasn't pretty. Arguing over space and blankets and clothes and who knows what else, but even if Snitch threatened to soak Itey if they so much as looked at him again, they never rose to the bait. 

Itey was being the best influence he could be to his baby brother.

And, soon enough, the arguing and fighting began to simmer. 

That simmer sparked a new heat between them.

They soon shared stolen kisses and whispered secrets during selling, or late into the night.

Itey calmed the angry fire that seemed to stay lit in Snitch. Until one day, there wasn't any anger left. It melted away like winter snow, and left Itey feeling proud of himself.

They have the biggest smile, and they love love, just like Mush.

Jeez, I love this lil enby. They're so fking adorable, and they just have the biggest smile, and they deserve the World.

They also deserve to smack Pulitzer at least once

This is 1/2 posts for today! We'll eventually get Romeo's all put together 😅

👻

[suckitsurveys]

What would you say is the worst part of high school, period? The constant fear and anxiety from every fucking aspect of it.

What is your favorite color of apple? Red, green or yellow? Green, and some red ones, like honeycrisp.

How old will you be on your mother’s 68th birthday? Is that ‘old’ to you? My mother died when she was 61 so technically she didn’t have a 68th birthday, but I was 30 on that day.

Ever thought you were dying of something you weren’t even close to having? Sure.

Ever want to be a doctor? Is it because of all the hospital shows? I wanted to be an animal doctor for a bit as a kid but never a human doctor.

What do you think of all these reality shows that try to alter personality? I’m not sure what you mean.

Where are your favorite pair of shoes in the whole world right now? In my closet.

Do you live anywhere near a mall? Which one exactly? Yeah, I do. There’s a few in the Chicago area.

If you were dying who would you say goodbye to first out of everyone? I don’t fucking wanna think about that thanks.

Are you someone who actually likes to babysit children? Just my nieces.

Do you ever have those ‘ah ha!’ moments? Do those annoy you? Depends on the moment?

When is the next time you’ll eat a cupcake, if you know when? I'm not sure but there’s nothing really stopping me from going to get one at any given moment..

Does your family go on a lot of vacations? Are they more boring or exciting? We did every summer when I was a kid and we try to go somewhere as a family once a a year. We’re actually all going somewhere in a couple weeks!

Where did you last buy socks from? What do those socks look like? I don’t have a specific place I get socks from.

Do you ever lay in the grass and look up at the sky, just because? Not really but I’m not opposed to it.

When do you normally go to sleep on the weekends? Anywhere between 11-1am. I’ll stay up a little later on Saturdays if SNL is on.

Have you ever met someone with the same ‘biggest fear’ as you? Sure.

Do you ever have movie nights with your significant other? Yeah, or TV show nights. Last night we watched a few episodes of Bob’s Burgers.

Would you rather write with a pen or a pencil? Why is this? Pen. I don’t like how pencils get dull so quickly.

Who was the last person to call you fat, if anyone at all? My 5 year old niece. I told her that there is nothing wrong with being fat but it isn’t nice to comment on people’s bodies.

Are you afraid of being kidnapped if you go outside at night time? Yeah.

Has your mother ever called your school because of your grades? I don’t remember a specific incident but it seems like something she would have done if she felt I was being graded unfairly.

The best field trip you’ve ever been on; where was it to anyway? I loved field trips to the zoo as a kid.

In the next twenty minutes, what will you be doing and where will you be? I’ll be here, probably doing another survey since I’m on a roll right now haha.

Do you work? If so, have you ever been fired, then rehired from the place? I do work, but have never been fired from here. I did get “let go” as a temp in the beginning but then they hired me full time not long after.

Can you tell when people are lying or telling the truth? That’s hard to answer. Some people can lie effortlessly.

What would you say your average word per minute time is on the keyboard? I don’t know.

What is your least favorite class in school? Why is this? Math because it didn’t really allow for creativity.

Do you bite your fingernails or tap them on desks? I tap them a lot lol.

Have you ever wanted to be in a band? What position exactly? Sure.

Do you ever call your cousins just to talk to them randomly? Not really.

When did you last spend the night at someone’s house? Uhhhhhhhhhh I guess technically in October when I slept in my friend's friend’s camper after me and my friend saw Pete Davidson in Kalamazoo. We weren’t really in her house but we were on her property.

Do you find any of your friends’ parents creepy or really mean? I don’t interact with my friends parents often enough anymore to find them mean or creepy.

Do you ever have to wash your clothes at someone else’s house? I wash our clothes at my dad’s house because the washer in our building is so small and only holds like 2 pairs of underwear.

When is the next time you’ll go to the library? Why is this? I don’t have plans to do that.

Do you know how to play pool? Are you any good at it? Yes but I wouldn’t say I’m great at it.

Are you someone who likes to get in arguments or fights a lot? Not at ALL.

[persimmonteas]

For the weirdly specific ask!

1 to 15!

Love your blog by the way!

1 to 15!!!! Thank you, ily too anon! 🥹🫶

chipotle order? Sofritas, white rice, black beans, tomatillo-green chili salsa, fajita veggies

thoughts on veganism? I've had stints with veganism and usually cook 80-90% plant-based at home. If I ever fully transitioned to veganism, it would be for environmental reasons.

a specific color that gives you the ick? heather gray

mythical creature you think/believe is real? sometimes i feel like my house is watching me as a spirit going "girl, what are you doing"

favorite form of potato? mashed with gravy

do you use a watch? no, but i love the look of watches so i'll probably get one sometime

what animal do you look forward to seeing when you visit an aquarium? i'm changing this question. i most look forward to seeing red pandas when i visit zoos. they're so cute, i love them

do you change into specific clothes for the house when you get home? i will change clothes if i'm going to sit or lay on my bed, but otherwise no

do you have a skincare routine (and how many steps is it)? i do have one! vanicream cleanser, cerave moisturizing cream, cetaphil sheer mineral sunscreen, rael acne patches

on a plane, do you ask for apple or orange juice? i'd ask for ginger ale or dr. pepper

anything from your childhood you’ve held on to? i still go to the public library at least weekly

brand of haircare/bodycare/skincare that you trust 100%? i really like sun basin soap!

first thing you’re doing in the purge? arson

do you think you’re dehydrated? no, thermoflask (beloved)

rank the methods of death: freezing, burning, drowning uhh drown > freeze > burn. i almost drowned when i was five so i feel like this is my destiny lol

[vilstrupseerup83]

How to Find the Breed, Tame and Trace Minecraft Axolotls

How to locate the breed, tame and tame Minecraft axolotls

Get your very own Minecraft axolotl bucket and make some pink friends of your own

- Finding axolotls and capturing/taming axolotls Breeding axolotls • Axolotl armies

The Minecraft axolotl is one of the most beautiful beasts you'll see around the biomes, small pink amphibians who mainly snuffle about the games caves and caverns, staying close to water if they are able to. This isn't a coincidence; axolotls in Minecraft need to be close to water or they risk drying out and being slightly axed. However, if you are able to understand how they operate and how to find them, you can breed, and tame axolotls in Minecraft to create your very personal gang of friendly amphibians. Here is a brief guide to assist you in locating and mastering the axolotls.

How to find axolotls in Minecraft

Unfortunately finding a Minecraft axolotl is easier said than done. The axolotl is a water-based cave animal. This means that they can only reproduce in darkness and water (light level zero). Naturally, there should be blocks roofing over their habitat.

On the plus side it is possible to create an Minecraft Axolotl Cave Lake doesn't require a deep depth (there must be a solid block not more than five blocks beneath the axolotl spawn point). It's not necessary to dig deep either, as the axolotl can be found below the level of y: 63. Minecraft Servers This means that the axolotl can reproduce at sea level or lower.

Only one to four axolotls can reproduce in one group. They are available in five colors, but the rarest are the blue ones. Blue is the only color that is found in 1200 axolotls. So don't be discouraged If this is your favorite color.

How to capture and tame axolotls in Minecraft

With such an adorable look it's only natural Minecraft players want to tame their own pet axolotl. Unfortunately, it's not possible to tame an axolotl like cats or wolves. However, they are passive animals that can easily be captured and transported. So , yes, you can breed axolotl and create your own axolotl zoo in Minecraft!

The most convenient way to transport an axolotl can be done by using a Bucket on them. You can then carry the axolotl bucket wherever you travel. You could also lure them with an empty bucket filled with tropical fish or a lead. You should be careful not to drop your axolotl. They will die if they are kept without water for longer than five minutes.

How to breed axolotls Minecraft

Minecraft axolotls will enter 'love mode' if you give them a Bucket of Tropical Fish (you need the bucket and not just the fish will work). To make an original one, you will require two Axolotls. A baby axolotl requires 20 minutes to grow into a fully grown.

If you want to spawn an axolotl that is in creative mode, you can use summon commands, a spawn egg, or an Axolotl bucket.

Axolotl armies in Minecraft

What are these adorable creatures adept at? The axolotl is great for fishing and fighting underwater. First, you need to capture at least two axolotls, and begin breeding them. When you have a large Minecraft axolotl army You can put them all in buckets and then take the buckets with you (or just lead them with a Bucket of Tropical Fish). If you encounter a marine enemy, simply release the axolotls of their buckets. They will kill anything so long as they're not a turtle or dolphin.

Minecraft The Wild update Minecraft Minecraft House

[lovemesomesurveys]

**Green Survey.**

What are three things that make you feel sick to your stomach? 🤮: Old food, barf, garbage smell

Have you ever had food poisoning? 🤢: Yes.

What is your favorite shade of green? 💚: Sea foam green and mint green.

What are three items on your current to-do list? ✅: Get better is first and foremost and that’s my focus.

What is one of your favorite Christmas carols? 🎄: Just all the classics, basically. Those are the best.

What are three things that you would buy if you were rich? 🤑: Beach house, cabin, vacations.

Do you own a Nerf gun? 🔫: No.

Have you ever been a member of a 4H club? 🍀: Nope.

Have you ever been to Washington state? 🌲: No.

What is your favorite thing about the beach? 🌴: Being by the water and watching/listening to the waves and feeling the cool air. I’m able to just relax.

Are you afraid of snakes? 🐍: YES.

Do you think frogs are ugly? 🐸: Ehhh.

Are you Irish? ☘️: I have some.

Name three things that you find refreshing. 🌿: The beach, cold drinks, mint.

What are three things you like about spring? 🍃: Easter, the rain, pastels.

Do you like guacamole? 🥑: Yes.

Do you have spring allergies? 🌱: Yes.

Are you currently waiting for something? 🐢: Yeah, a lot of things.

What are three things that don't exist, that you think it would be cool if they did? 🦖: That requires too much thinking.

Are you a bookworm? 🐛: I am.

What is your favorite type of tree? 🌳: Pine.

Do you have a green thumb? 🧤: Nope.

Have you ever had kiwi by itself, not paired with strawberry? 🥝: Ha, strawberry kiwi stuff is good. But yeah, I’ve tried it once. Not a fan.

Have you ever had a coworker named Liz? 🦎: Never had a coworker/job.

What are three of your favorite things to put on salads? 🥗: Dressing, cheese, hard boiled eggs.

What is your favorite vegetable? 🥦: Spinach, green onions, potatoes, broccoli.

Have you ever cut cucumbers? 🥒: No. I don’t even like ‘em.

Who was/were your favorite high school teachers? 🍏: Mr Coffey. He was a cool teacher. He reminded me of Rob Dyrdek, looks and personality wise.

Have you had COVID? 🦠: I think I did.

What's your favorite type of salad dressing? 🥬: Ranch, balsamic vinaigrette, Italian dressing.

How often do you take the trash out? 🚛 : I personally don’t, but I don’t know often ish?

When was the last time you completed a jigsaw puzzle? 🧩: Earlier this year, actually.

What are three things that appeal to you about New York City? 🗽: The sights, shopping, food.

Do you own a pair of Crocs, and if so, what color are they? 🐊: Nooo. I couldn’t get behind that trend. Still can’t.

What is your Chinese zodiac sign? 🐲: I don’t know.

What is your favorite game show to watch? ❎: Weakest Link and Family Feud.

Do you own any succulents? 🎍: No.

What was the last type of fruit you ate? 🍈: Banana.

About how much time do you spend online in a day? ✳️: Not much these days, but I pop on when I can.

Do you prefer canoeing or kayaking? 🛶: Neither.

What is your least favorite shade of green? 🟩: Puke green?

Name three things you hate or dislike that are green. 🟢: Most veggies… uhhh I’m blanking.

What makes you shine? ❇️: Oily skin? Ha.

Do you prefer books or movies? 📗: Both.

Are you more reserved or outspoken? 🈯️: Reserved for sure.

Do you like olives? 🫒: Black olives. Oh, that’s something else I don’t like—green olives.

Do you like pears? 🍐: Pears as well. There ya go.

Do you own a notebook made out of recycled paper? ♻️: Yes.

Have you ever performed a trick with a yo-yo?🪀: I’ve attempted to, but didn’t get the hang of it.

Do you like peppers? 🫑: I used to when I could eat spicy food.

What are three of your favorite insects (or insects that you think look cool)? 🪲: NONE.

What is your favorite zoo animal? 🦚: Giraffes.

Would you ever dye your hair green? 🧑‍🎤: Nah.

When was the last time you had a juicebox?🧃: Earlier this month.

What is the highest level of science class you have completed? 🧪: What’s the highest?

What are three things that appeal to you about Japanese culture? 💹: A lot of things. Different cultures are just interesting.

Would you own a pet dragon if you could? 🐉: Nah.

Are you a tea drinker? 🍵: Not really, but now and then.

Do you like mangoes? 🥭: Nope.

Are you able to keep a plant alive? 🪴: Never attempted to, really. Not my thing.

What is your favorite thing about spring? 👒: Rain, Easter, pastels.

And last but not least, did you enjoy this survey? : Sure.

💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚

I hope you have a magnificent day! 🪲

[alpacaparkaseok]

If You’ll Have Me || KSJ

➣pairing: Jin x reader (established relationship)

➣premise: Kim Seokjin. The love of your life. Your boyfriend of three years. The man who insists on taking you to the zoo for every milestone in your lives together. There’s just one thing...you have no idea what you’re celebrating this time.

➣warnings/tags: fluff, SFW, we live for Jin in this household if you haven’t noticed

➣word count: 4.3k

➣commissioned by @delacyrose224 as a part of army for AAPI! thank you so much for requesting this, I loveddddd writing this little story. I’m so soft for this man. you always have the best ideas!!

“We look like idiots.”

“Yeah, well,” Jin shrugs, handing you yet another t-shirt to try on. “That can’t be helped.”

You gasp, snatching the shirt away from him and heading toward the fitting room. “Rude! I meant with all of these ridiculous clothes!”

Jin’s laughter follows you as you close the door and throw on what feels like the thirtieth gaudy t-shirt from the zoo’s souvenir shop. This one is vivid blue, which you suppose is an upgrade from the caution-cone orange Jin had you trying on a few minutes ago.

“Ok,” you call out, “ready?”

“Ready!”

Peeking out of the little room, you notice Jin sitting on the little sofa in the waiting area. He grins up at you, already wearing a matching shirt.

“Do you like it?” He asks, lips pouting out a bit as he waits for your answer.

Avoiding looking in the mirror for too long, you manage a feeble, “Yeah…it’s not as bad as the others, I guess.”

That’s all Jin needs to hear. With a clap of his hands he’s jumping up and herding you toward the front of the shop. You don’t miss the amused glances people are giving you and your boyfriend, who pauses to grab a couple of baseball caps.

“Let’s see…” he brushes some of your hair back before sliding the cap onto your head, stepping back to get the full effect. “Perfect. And, it’ll protect your scalp from the sun!”

Like a couple of walking mannequins, the two of you head up to pay for the clothes you’re now wearing. Jin has a backpack on hand for your other clothes, which you unceremoniously shove inside before zipping it shut.

The cashier offers you a wide smile as she assists with the transaction. You know what she’s thinking:do I pity or envy her?

Honestly, it’s a toss up. Of course, there’s the fact that Jin often makes you do ridiculous things (exhibit A, bright blue zoo t-shirts with roaring lions on the front and waddling penguins on the back), but then again, you don’t stop him.

Rather, you egg him on. There’s something just so adorable about the way he gets so excited for such simple things. And for today, it’s over a trip to the zoo.

Of course, you’re excited as well. Mainly to see the meerkats, which Jin will never let you live down. When you told him that the meerkats were your favorite animal, he stopped and stared at you for an unnervingly long amount of time. You had begun to wonder if you’d somehow upset him when he burst out laughing, claiming that he could see it.

“See what?” You seethed.

“The resemblance,” Jin choked out between laughter. “You’re basically a meerkat in human form!”

With a smack to his chest, you glared at him and said, “Yeah well…you’re a walrus! Yeah, a walrus!”

Needless to say, he was extremely offended and didn’t speak to you for hours. In fact, the only thing that had brought him out of his misery had been you dragging him to the souvenir shop and giving him permission to get whatever he wanted. That apparently included getting you some items as well.

“Ah, it’s such a nice day,” Jin remarks the second you step outside. His hand slips into your seamlessly, a testament to the countless times you’ve repeated the action. “Perfect day at the zoo.”

Indeed it is. The sun is shining, there’s a cool breeze licking at the nape of your neck, and there’s fewer people than you’d expected to be here on a day like today.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it’s Tuesday morning. It would appear that most people – the sane ones, at least – are busy with work and other weekday obligations. Neither of you are, though. Jin has a rare day off and he’d had the day circled on the calendar for well over a month at this point. You had made sure a long time ago to have this day off.

“When’s the last time you went to the zoo?” You ask, glancing sidelong at your boyfriend.

Perhaps it’s his undeniable good looks or the fact that you hardly get to see each other due to your hectic schedules, but you can’t help the little sense of wonder that comes over you as your survey him in the morning sun. Somehow, you really have no idea how he does it, he manages to pull off the shirt and hat. Sure, he looks silly. But he owns the look.

It’s a wonder that he’s yours.

“Hmmm…” Jin ponders for a moment. “I think it was the last time we went together.”

You gasp. “That was like…three years ago! You seriously haven’t been since?”

Laughing at your shocked expression, Jin shakes his head. “Nope.”

Three years ago, close to the time when the two of you had first started dating, Jin wanted to take you out on a special date to celebrate the beginning of your relationship. Without telling you where you were going, you had assumed there would be a nice restaurant, maybe some sort of play or whatever else it is that fancy people do when they first begin to date.

Oh, how wrong you’d been.

Assuming that just because Jin was…well, rich, you couldn’t be more wrong about his taste in dates. When he had parked in the zoo lot and led you through the entrance, you had been waiting for the punchline.

There wasn’t any. No, he had simply wanted to spend the entire day with you. Walking around, having an “excuse to hold your hand” in Jin’s words, and somehow making you believe that crocodiles’ tails could change color when it danger. (don’t ask)

“I still think that it would be so cool to live up there,” you point to the houses in the distance, overlooking the zoo. There was a neighborhood of stately homes just a little way’s away which the two of you had snooped on after your date to the zoo all those years ago.

Jin chuckles quietly. “What if a tiger escapes and ends up in the yard?”

You shrug. “I guess it makes for a good excuse to always keep a steak in the fridge. I’ll lure it away with that.”

“Absolute genius,” your boyfriend hums, making you scrunch up your nose at his obvious sarcasm. “So, where should we begin?”

“At the beginning?”

Laughing jovially (honestly, the best thing about Jin is the fact that he thinks you’re funny), the two of you set down a little path which will take you to a butterfly exhibit.

“Agh, I forgot how hot it is in here,” you mutter the second you step inside. Plants of all different shapes and sizes loom over and around you, home to several different kinds of butterflies. A few stray butterflies flutter overhead, making you temporarily forget the humidity of the greenhouse.

Jin ooh’s and ah’s over the bright yellow butterfly that brushes past him. “Did you see that? It nearly landed on my nose!”

“Aw, it recognizes a Disney Princess when it sees one,” you coo, earning a half-hearted glare from Jin.

“I thought we discussed this,” he grumbles. “I’m Flynn Rider.”

“Right. My bad. Who am I again?”

A giant grin splitting his features, Jin wiggles his eyebrows at you. “Mother Gothel, obviously.” The slap to his right butt-cheek echoes through the greenhouse, quickly followed by his yowl of pain.

Pretending to wipe tears from his eyes, Jin limps after you as you continue through the greenhouse.

“You’re lucky nobody was in here to see that,” he says. “They could send you away for treating me so horribly. I mean, look! I bring you to the zoo, I buy you a nice shirt, I let you choose where we go first-”

Whirling around to face your boyfriend only to find a knowing smirk already on his face, you glare up at him. He knows that he won.

“Yah! What do you want?” You ask, exasperated. Limping forward, clearly milking this for all it’s worth, Jin pouts down at you with big, brown eyes.

“Just one kiss.”

You gasp, feigning horror. “A kiss?! In this sweaty, public greenhouse?!” You frantically point at the butterflies which are your only witnesses in here. “In front of the innocent butterflies?”

Jin looks at you and shudders. “Wow. I think it’s official.”

“What?”

“We spend way too much time together. You’re impersonating me right now, aren’t you?”

“Was it that obvious?”

“Yeah. But I still stand by my condition.” Finally taking one final step, Jin towers over you. With a playful wink, he puckers his lips.

“Ugh, I hate you sometimes.”

Jin peeks one eye open. “You just said you loved me earlier.”

“Is it too late to change my mind?”

“Sorry, no refunds.” Then, taking things into his own hands, Jin cups your cheeks and swoops in for a kiss.

On your nose.

Sputtering as he steps away, you glare at him. “What was that?!”

Turning on his heel and heading toward the exit, you notice that Jin’s over-exaggerated limp is long gone. With a devilish grin over his shoulder, Jin says, “You were taking too long. But you still owe me a kiss, whenever I ask for it. No matter where we are or what we’re doing, ok?”

You can recognize a trap when you see one. However, you’re left with no choice. Grumbling out a “yeah, whatever” you follow after him.

After the butterfly exhibit you make your way to the reptile house, opting to get all of the hot and humid indoor places out of the way while it’s still morning. The Gila monsters make you laugh as Jin takes a video of the tongue flipping in and out of its mouth and sends it to Hoseok. The two of you know full well that the boy in question will no doubt scream in horror as he watches the video.

Hand in hand, Jin finally swerves off the path toward one of the final indoor exhibits: Animals of the Savanna.

Once you’re inside, you pull and tug at Jin until he’s relenting and allowing you to find the meerkats. To onlookers, you’re sure you look like a child dragging their disgruntled parent to and fro. However, once you spot the meerkats, any thoughts of maintaining your dignity in front of these people eddies out of your mind.

“Jin! Jin! Seokjin!” You hop up and down on the balls of your feet, completely missing the tender look Jin sends your way as you drag him closer. “Look at them! Woooow there’s so many! Aww and there’s little babies, too!”

Jin just hums along, smiling as he watches your wide eyes. You get as close as humanly possible, grinning at the creatures that occasionally look your way. Through it all, he maintains some sort of contact. Giggling without knowing what you’re laughing about. Just laughing for the sake of it.

He just…loves the zoo. Yeah, that’s it.

It had been a silly idea, to bring you here three years ago to celebrate the beginning of your relationship. In fact, you had looked at him like he was already bordering on crazy when he had brought up the idea of doing something special now that you had agreed to be his girlfriend.

“Don’t people usually do something special for anniversaries?” You had asked. Your hair had been longer then, a tell-tale sign of your youth.

Jin shrugged, completely under your spell without your knowledge. He found it nearly impossible to look away from you at times like these. “We can do that, too. Next year. But for now, why don’t we just celebrate the beginning?”

“Sure,” you mimicked his shrug, snuggling into his side on the couch. Despite his unaffected demeanor, he wondered if you noticed the way his heart was pounding as you rested your head against his shoulder. “I’ll do whatever, as long as it’s with you.”

So, after discussing it with his best friends, he decided to take you to a beautiful dinner looking over the Han river. There was a new restaurant that was outrageously fancy and delicious, and he wanted to treat you to the best.

When he arrived at your apartment that evening, just in time to hopefully catch the sunset on the Han if all went according to plan, he overheard you talking on the phone. Your window was open, and like the snoop that he was, he waited to listen in on your conversation.

He wouldn’t have it he hadn’t heard your mentioning his name.

“I don’t know what we’re doing tonight,” you admitted. You were quiet for a moment while listening to the other side of the conversation. “You think so? I don’t know, I’ve never dated someone like this. You know, like…rich. What do rich people do on dates? I’m a little out of my element here, I just hope I won’t make a fool of myself.” Your laugh had him hurtling to reality, and he realized in an instant that he couldn’t take you to that restaurant.

A part of him knew in that moment that you were going to be the rest of his life. You were it for him. And if you want something to last, you treat it differently.

A perfectly forgettable meal surrounded by gossiping netizens wasn’t what you deserved.

So what did you deserve?

That had been the question on his mind as he tried to hide just how sweaty his palms were when he knocked on your door.

“Oh, I think he’s here. I – yeah, I’ll call you after. Ok, bye.”

Seokjin has always been good at pretending that he has a plan even when he has no idea what to do. Which is exactly what he did. You had been absolutely adorable, bouncing in your seat as he set off down the highway, begging him to give you a hint.

When he’d seen the exit for the zoo, he turned down that road without a second thought. You looked utterly confused when he pulled into the parking lot, and little did you know that he was just as confused as you were.

He just prayed that you wouldn’t think he was the dumbest person ever for letting those reservations slip through his fingers for the fanciest restaurant in Seoul. Perhaps a date to the zoo wasn’t the right idea, perhaps it wasn’t romantic at all, perhaps-

Perhaps you were happiest with his hand in yours and a meerkat a few feet away from you.

He’s so tempted to cash in that kiss right now, with how adorable you look. But he bites his tongue, reminding himself that he has to save it for later.

Once you’re loved of meerkats is sated enough for you to be herded away, Jin leads you to a street vendor. “Eat up,” he says as he passes the bread cone filled to the brim with macaroni and cheese to your outstretched hands. He’ll never understand your love for the little abominations, but he caves and orders one for himself as well.

“Don’t you want to sit and eat it?” He asks as he spies you wandering off. You twirl around, licking the cheese off of your lips. And stupid as it is, his heart skips a beat.

“They’re gonna feed the penguins in ten minutes!” You respond, clearly expecting that to be enough of an explanation. Again you turn to wander away. You’re not worried about leaving Jin behind, though. His long legs catch up to you within a few seconds.

The two of you eat in relative silence as you watch the penguins waddling around. Once you’re finished with your food, you spend a good hour sitting in the amphitheater watching the penguins and wondering which ones the two of you would be.

“I’m that one,” you point to a particularly fat penguin attempting to get out of the water. “That looks like me trying to get out of my chair whenever I eat.”

Jin nearly chokes on his water at your remark, squinting at the penguin that has yet to be successful in getting out of the water. “How pitiful. Oh, that’s me.”

Another penguin appears on the ice, looking down at the fat one.

“Oh, have you come to rescue me?” You ask, sitting forward and resting your chin on your hands. Jin immediately begins massaging the small of your back, knowing that it’s a troublesome spot for you most days.

“Probably- oooh down he goes!”

The two of you burst into a fit of laughter as the penguin pears down into the water only to lose its footing and slip in alongside the previously struggling penguin.

“Yeah, that’s us,” you confirm, still laughing.

“Definitely us. We’re a mess most days.”

You lean back, taking up your usual spot on the crook of his shoulder and resting your hand on the inside of Jin’s knee. “At least we have each other.”

You say it with a teasing tone, but Jin can’t help the way it goes straight to his heart. Sneakily planting a kiss atop your baseball cap, he squeezes you a little tighter. “Yeah, that’s true. Don’t know where I’d be without you.”

“Probably still on land,” you remark slyly, peeking up at him. With slightly pink cheeks and zero hesitation you utter out, “I love you.”

He’ll never get used to you.

“Love you, too.”

From there you head over to the polar bears, which appear to be largely unimpressed by your presence. Jin drags you to see the hyenas, sporting some strange interest in the creatures. It only makes sense to sit and stare at the large tigers after that, your mouth ajar as you marvel at its size.

Then it’s the elephants and rhinos.

“Ugh, it smells like your fridge that one time,” you joke the second to get a whiff of the rhino’s habitat.

“It does not!” Jin shouts, drawing the attention of some of the other visitors. “My fridge smelled much worse.”

You can’t help but cackle at his remark. “I stand corrected.”

Toward the end of your visit you pass by to visit the monkeys. “If you squeeze my hand any harder, it’ll fall off.”

You try and fail to relinquish your grip. “Sorry, they just freak me out.” As if on cue, a monkey swings by in front of the tall glass window, making you jump and squeal in terror.

“Should we leave?” Jin questions, hiding his laughter.

You bury your head in between his shoulder blades, squeezing your eyes shut. “No, just go fast.”

He does just that, speeding through the exhibit until he’s announcing that you’re nearing the end. Slowly you look up, blinking at the now dark sky.

“Have we been here all day?” You ask in wonder. Checking the time, Jin nods.

“Yep. It’s about time to head home.”

Languidly making your way back up the path to the zoo entrance and exit, you swing your hands back and forth. “That was so fun.”

Jin raises his brows. “Really? I thought you were a goner back there with the monkeys.”

Faking a shiver, you revel in the way Jin falls for it and automatically pulls you in closer. “I thought I was, too. But I just thought of the meerkats, and I made it through.”

Snorting, Jin waves goodbye to a few of the staff members the open the gate for the two of you to leave. “Is that so? It had nothing to do with your big, strong, boyfriend protecting you?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Oh really.”

“No. Why? Did you think we had something going on?”

Rolling his eyes, Jin bumps you with his hip, making you giggle. “If not, this has been the most dedicated friendship I’ve ever experienced.”

“Dude, you have six best friends-”

“Ok, first you say I’m not your boyfriend, and then you stoop so low as to refer to me as dude?!”

Your laugh rings out loud and clear in the evening air, followed by Jin’s stupefied laughter. “You’re so dramatic,” you accuse, reluctantly freeing yourself from his grip as you near the car.

“Hey, you don’t get to judge me. It’s not like you’re my girlfriend.” Still bickering back and forth, Jin starts driving and heads off to the right instead of the left.

“Woah, where are we going?” You ask, frowning out at the night.

Jin shrugs. “Let’s go snoop around those houses again.”

“The ones by the zoo?”

“Yeah.”

You’re all too happy to go along with it. Clutching your hand atop the console, Jin maneuvers his way to the small hill overlooking the zoo.

“Wow,” you breathe out. “I forgot how beautiful this view is.”

Indeed it is. The city lights glow and glint in the distance, creating a warm blanket of familiarity. The zoo lights are shutting off, only a few left on here and there. The sound of music from floats up toward you as you roll the window down, drinking it in.

“The residents always hear the closing songs each night,” Jin supplies, somehow reading your mind as you wonder about the music coming from the zoo. “It turns off by ten on weekdays and eleven on the weekends.”

“How’d you know that?”

“I have some friends that live up here.”

You turn to look at Jin, eyes wide. “You do? How come you never told me?”

“They just moved,” he explains with a forgotten smile. “You wanna see their house?”

“Yes!”

Jin turns down a different street, slowly stopping before a beautiful home with colonial style columns in the front. Sure enough, there’s a sign in the front of the house with a red sticker stating SOLD for all to see.

“Should we look around the lot?” Jin asks, turning off the car and taking off his seat. “It looks like they’re not home right now, but they said we could look around if we wanted.”

“You told them we were coming?”

He shrugs, hopping out of the car and hurrying around to open up your door. “I mentioned that we’d be in the area.”

“Who are these friends of yours, anyway?” You ask, stepping out of the car. The house quite literally takes your breath away, and you turn around to capture the full view. The city is still visible, the zoo and its music appearing more like a memory than a reality. “Wow, this is amazing.”

“Uh,” Jin scratches the back of his neck. “Their names should be on the sign right there.”

Frowning, you ignore his avoidance of the question and skirt around him to walk up to the edge of the lawn. Crouching down, your eyes scan the sign for any names you might recognize. There’s a small paper, almost like a receipt, hanging from the sign. Smoothing it out from where it’s flowing in the breeze, you squint at the names that appear.

Sold to Mr. Kim Seokjin and –

You know that name. You know that man.

And the name beside his…

“It’s our names…?” You breathe out, not quite understanding. Straightening up, you turn to face Jin with a confused expression. “Why does it-”

There’s Jin, but he’s not where you left him.

He’s down on one knee, looking up at you with the expression he gets when he holds his breath. Behind him the city gleams as bright as ever, however it somehow dims in the face of what you see before you.

Jin, opening up a small box. And inside the velvety interior, a ring shining as though it were made of stars.

Suddenly, it clicks. The date to the zoo, where you’d first officially began this relationship. The house with your name on it, the way Jin had this day circled on the calendar for longer than you care to remember.

Jin can’t breathe, and he can tell by the way your chest has stopped rising that you can’t, either.

“I- I’d like to cash in that kiss now,” Jin stutters out.

In a rush of limbs and a mixture of laughter and sobs, you find yourself kneeling across from Jin and kissing him hard enough to bruise his plump lips. You’d feel bad, except for the fact that he returns the kiss with just as much fervor. When the kiss begins to taste of salt, you pull away to discern of those are your tears or his.

It’s both, you realize as Jin gazes at you, completely oblivious to the tears streaming down his cheeks.

“O-oh!” He exclaims, staring down at the ring box in his shaking hands. “Will you marry me?”

Without a single ounce of hesitation, you laugh, voice thick with emotion. “Yes!”

That’s all it takes for Jin to pull you in close again, attacking you with kisses at a speed you can’t keep up with. He pulls back, panting and eyes alight with pure elation. “And do you want to live here with me, then?”

You choke on a laugh, still crying and on your knees. “Of course I do, Seokjin. You- you bought me a house.”

“Yeah,” he sniffles. “I did.”

Then, gasping with wide eyes, Jin snaps his fingers. “I almost forgot!” Jumping up to his feet, he runs back to the car. You watch after him, too in shock to stand at the moment. Your glinting rings on your hand catches your attention, making you wonder when exactly he put it on. No doubt it was sometime in the midst of his breathless kisses.

Jin returns a moment later, dropping to his knees again. Nevermind the fact that there are plenty of places to sit. He has a lanyard around his neck, and he places another around your own.

“What’s this?” You ask, grabbing the little card hanging off of the end. Once you catch sight of it, you begin to laugh (and somehow cry) even harder.

Season passes to the zoo.

masterlist

[quarthly]

Twilight characters as random animals that I think are oddly fitting

(Also yes, I am roasting the animals as well)

Edward: He would be a Cheetah. Now I know, seems like a cop out just because of his speed but hear me out. Cheetahs are, at face value, pretty cool. They used to be my favorite animal as a child, but then I grew up.

Cheetahs, through no fault of their own, are severely inbred. Now thats mainly because of poaching, but the cheetas anxiety also comes into play. In captivity, cheetahs are usually given emotional support dogs. I will admit it is cute but it negatively affects the population. Excluding one in the wild, cheetas can be to anxious to breed and thats not good for conservation efforts.

Cheetahs can hit up to 80 miles per hour in a couple of seconds. They are designed for fast running and agility. Their claws are similar to that of a dogs for better traction and they have elongated spines for longer strides. They have a thin build, long legs and a long tail for balance.

This has downsides though. Many times after making a kill, it will get stolen for them by larger predators. Thats right, they get absolutely bodied by the other animals. I should probably make these shorter but I'm on a rant now, so I guess this will be semi educational.

Throughout the series, we see Edward over estimated his abilities and value, constantly getting bodied by others. He's essentially a perfect mormon, though thats on S'meyers. He constantly judges others, dehumanizing them to their baser flaws, without doing any self reflecting. Him viewing himself as a monster doesn't really count to me. While he definitely hates himself, the only thing he is truly demonizing is being a vampire.

Bella: Picking up from Edwards, Bella is a Chocolate Labrador. Yes, she is his therapy dog. I feel like this is really fitting for her. I know Golden retriever would make more sense, as thats the most common breed for service animals. However, I kind of focused on her appearance. Only at first though! I just know that Edward raved about her human qualities and that would pass over as animals as well. Her chocolate eyes and brown fur, very average and boring. Thats essentially Bella. Even Edward wasn't into her until he got a wiff. Labradors a very loyal dogs and while they have more personality than Bella, I just couldn't shake it. Their also very stupid. Ok that's kind of mean, they're not stupid but when it comes to love, then yeah they are stupid.

I used to have a lab, loved him to death, but god he was something else. Very much danger prone, from their own stupidity or their lack of survival instincts. I know that labs are almost aquatic. They love water, swimming, all that jazz. We can just say that bella has a few screws loose in her dna and is just "not like other labs."

Rosalie: Now she was hard. There are quite a few animals that I think would fit for her. I'll list the other ones, but that one I went with is the Swan. Like Edward, seems a little on the nose, but I have my reasoning.

I was going to pick a predator for her, as she is shown to be very vengeful and viscous. I would have pick some type of cat, most likely a purebred, from a rich family. It could still work, but the swan just speaks to me on this one.

Swan's are known for being beautiful, graceful, and are pictured as the symbol of love. They are also very vain. Edward constantly brings up Rosalies vanity. She was constantly valued for her beauty as a human, so of course that crossed over in the transformation. She was raised to be married into wealth, she was used as a bargaining chip to increase the family's standing.

Rose has a very strong character and makes her opinions known. She's assertive and aggressive at times. She's not afraid to get dirty.

Swans mate for life and like geese, are known for being great parents. I was also going to choose geese as an option for the maternal instincts. I was wary at first because swans can be really aggressive. Like actually, you think geece are bad? Yikes bestie...

I was conflicted because swans are known for drowning dogs and sometimes people. However, I can actually see Rose drowning Bella. It's not that unbelievable lmao.

Emmett: Now this one is just ironic. I only associate him with bears. Its inevitable, but picking a Grizzly or Black bear is too obvious. So I went a slightly different route...

So I was going to pick the Sun bear just because of looks alone. Like, I'm not exaggerating, it looks like someone wearing a bear costume. I don't think it fits him but I know for a fact that he would dress up as a sun bear and sneak into a zoo to see if anyone would notice. I'll put a pic of it here

Like look at this thing. I have no words...

Anyway, what I picked was a Sloth Bear. Now Sloth bears are mostly nocturnal, which either way works consider vamps don't sleep. Their diet is also odd but honestly so is the cullens. They're native to the Indian subcontinent, and are known for being aggressive towards humans. Its said that for the most part they're pretty calm, so I think its just fear of humans that make them act aggressively. Honestly, that's a good thing because they are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red list.

They have some similarities with sloths, which is where they get the name. They have long claws and unusual teeth. They are known to hang upside down from tree branches, and is described as having a messy appearance. Honestly, Emmitt has a messy personality. Sorry bestie but you're a lot of work.

Now heres the biggest reason for choosing this bear. Aside from Baloo from the jungle book being a sloth bear, they are known to run fades with Tigers. Honestly, how fucking badass is that!? Now I don't think there are recorded instances of a Sloth bear killing a Tiger, but when push comes to shove, they can hold their own and I find that incredibly impressive.

Carlisle: This one was somehow the easiest as well as the toughest. I know Owl seems like the obvious choice, and I can see it. However, I believe Carlisle values emotional intelligence as much or if not more than academic intelligence. He is so charismatic and values other's above himself. He might not be as Saint like as Edward thinks, but he does try and I think he genuinely cares about others. For that reason alone, I choose a Elephant.

Elephant's are very social animals and are extremely intelligent. I could rave about them for ages, I love them so much.

Now elephants live in a familial unit and are usually matriarchal. Bulls usually are on the outer edges of the herd or form little groups with other males. Honestly, they're not that bad aside from when their in musk.

In the group of males, the elder ones will teach the younger where to get the best food, water, how to use things as tools, and every other thing that will increase their odds of survival. This is really cute to me tbh, they do this because the females usually choose the older males because they've proved that they are intelligent and strong, that they have survived and will continue to for awhile. Teaching the younger males these things are to make the odds of them getting chosen to mate more likely. The whole unit just reminds me of a father that has to deal with rowdy teens.

Carlisle likes to take in strays, he might not have a herd but he will make one and teach them to thrive. That's how he envisions it anyway. He just has a found family and is trying his best.

Esme: Now this might seem like an insult, but I promise it's not! This is in no way misogynistic. I love cattle and ever since I took animal science in highschool, I have appreciated these grass puppies like they deserve. Call me Castro because I love cows.

Yup! I chose a Cow for her. Specifically a beef cow. That might sound weird but its because beef cows have higher maternal instinct than dairy cows. I'm thinking Scottish Highland based on vibes alone.

They are nicknamed the Gentle Giants of Scotland. Super maternal and sweet and ugh look how cute they are!

Esme came from a abusive marriage and had just lost her child, she was depressed and desperate. Her changing was, in a way, salvation. She just fits in. She adopts all these strays along with him and will protect them to the death. She might be gentle by nature, but don't fuck with her family. She lost her first one and she isn't going to lose this one.

Alice: She's an odd one. There are so many possibilities and maybe I'm biased, but I feel like she would be a Crow.

Ok listen, I'm definitely biased but it just feels right. Crows get a bad rap, they are so cool! They are so intelligent and have the ability to actually sit and think about the past, prest, and future. I forget what its called, but this was only seem in humans! Maybe other apes, I can't remember exactly, but either way its awesome. They do live in groups, or murders, and remember people and faces. They remember locations and are able to pass down information through generations. They essentially have their own language! They are able to use tools too!

Alice's story is really sad. When we first meets her, it revolves around the death of her mother and her institutionalized. She was essentially tortured and forgot everything from her past. All she had was the future and even that wasn't constant. Crows a often viewed as omens, they are associated with death. I personally believe that instead of being the cause, they just know something is going to happen. They are very inquisitive and can be creative.

If you befriend a murder of crows, sometimes, depends or the group, they will bring gifts. Its can range from food to shiny metals and colorful plastic. Hell, I think I've seen a post of one stealing things from people just to gift it to their human.

Alice's love language is gifts. Even if they are focused around fashion, she still goes out of her way to get something that will look good and at least be a little comfortable. By that I mean she tends to forget peoples comfort zones, but she means well.

Jasper: Honestly not to sure what to put for him. I know a predator would be more fitting, but for some reason I can see a donkey working. I know, seems like I'm clowning on the confederate. Fair, but I'm serious about the donkey thing. Honestly, it would be perfect if it wasn't a herbivore. Porcupine would also work.

Being a predator would make more sense. Given his backstory and his characterization, it wouldn't make sense for him to be a prey animal. Usually I wouldn't count this, but given his gore filled past and trouble with the diet, it seemed fitting.

I see him as a Big Cat. Honestly, vamps in general just give cat vibes. Jasper though especially have some cat like qualities, which originates from hunting and being a soldier.

I specifically see him as a Mountain Lion. Aside from him being blonde, he just has the predatory stealth to him. In midnight sun, we see him use his gift to make the nomads overlook him. He's honestly really powerful.

Mountain lions are known for being stealthy with an air of grace and power to them. They are stong animals. And I mean strong. They can jump 40-45 feet.

They're very elusive and quite. They stalk their prey and tend to attack from behind but don't think they won't hold their ground if need be.

Jasper was changed during the Civil War and forced to fight in the Newborn wars. He was a soldier as a human and as a vampire. He's able to feel and manipulate others emotions. He's covered in scars and is very intimidating.

He still struggles with the diet and honestly I hate how the others handle it. Like they have no room to talk. I don't want to defend the confederate but it just pisses me off. He has to deal with his hunger on top of everyone else's. Like damn, besties always on edge! Everyone doubts him which I don't think helps any.

Also, Mountain lions and Cheetahs can purr!

@aquanova99 I'll do a Volturi one too. That one will be fun lmao

[ihatebnha]

My thoughts are filled right now of Shinsou as a father and how he is a total simp for his lovely wife, and how he will make an amazing father and husband PERIOD!!

Okay FULL STOP because you said Daddy!Shinso.... and I’m literally going to cry...

I always get so caught up in thinking about this concept and it’s one that I return to allllll the time... (and I mean, what can I say? I’ve been a sucker for family!AUs since I was little...)  

But yeah, though... family man Shinso IS an amazing father and husband... 

I feel like he’d definitely want at least one girl, but I love thinking about him with a little boy as his first child who’s EXACTLY like him; with pretty curls, droopy eyes, and some version of his quirk... 

He’s obviously a super smart and calm kid, doesn’t cry AT ALL, loves tummy time with the both of you and always seems super happy when being read to...

And honestly, I think Shinso would be great with a newborn or young toddler, too, because he’d be happy to do all of the nighttime work just so you can rest... if the baby’s hungry, he’ll just bring them to you, and if it’s anything else, he’s happy to hold them or rock them to sleep for however long it takes.

The only downside to this though, is that I bet when he gets a bit older, just like Shinso, he ends up being super attached to you and is always CLINGING to your side... holding onto your dress or pants around the house, resting in your arms whenever you’re sitting down... you name it... 

And Shinso is definitely a little pouty about this because 1. He is a good dad and your baby does seem to like him okay enough (which you tell him all the time), but also, 2. You and him time has turned into... you, him and baby time, too... With his son always trying to cuddle you when he sneakily tries to get his own cuddles (alone)... 

(Your boy running alongside the both of you when you go into your room after dinner...)

But anyway, your son eventually goes to kindergarten and that’s when you decide to have your second baby... a little girl, and she makes up for everything. 

(I think there would be a bigger age gap between his kids, probably because he’d really want to focus in on them when they were little before having another, and because of his schedule as a Hero...)

For all the ways your son clings to you, your daughter clings to Shinso... and God, he’s so happy because just like he wanted, she look exactly like you. He could never really favor one baby over another, but he can’t deny that he likes being the center of attention for once. 

(You just rolls your eyes when he pretends like he’s not gonna let you hold her... smug grin and all.)

She’s calm and smart just like her brother, of course, but just a tiny bit more fussy (which she gets from you) when it comes to who she’s being held by... growing up to be a little daddy’s girl who’s favorite color is... purple🥺

I feel like her quirk would be psych related but not exactly brainwashing... maybe something in relation to or combination with yours, or even something evolved, like talking to animals or telekinesis... 

But regardless, Zoo Wee Mama because your son is such a good older brother, too... goes around holding her hand when she first learns to walk, comes home from school everyday and reads out all his homework to her... always sits next to her to color with her while making sure to offer her bits of his snacks...

(Just like Shinso does for you when he’s working...)

And when they get older, literally no one bullies her because everyone at school knows about her cool older brother who’s also her biggest hypeman...

And all the while, Shinso is such a good dad... doing stuff like buying your whole family matching puffy coats, helping to put on the kid’s shoes everyday... even taking you all grocery shopping and carrying the little one in a baby sling while holding your hand (he grumbles about it, but lets the older one sit in the cart)... 

And while I know people say this kind of stuff a lot... I also feel like Shinso would be really good at doing hair... Mostly because he’s had to deal with his own wild cowlick for most of his life, so he has a bit of experience, but also because he really just doesn’t want your kids to go through the struggle of having to worry about what to do with it constantly. 

(Also I just love thinking about Shinso’s little girl having cute Dutch braids that he did himself.)

And when everyone is a teen, he’s kind of a cool dad, too... really supportive and thoughtful, always willing to listen, and overall VERY reassuring... who does stuff like drives them places, gets them fast food after sport practices, even helps them and all their friends find internships if need be... and your kids never ever misbehave because of this, as they just don’t want him to be disappointed in them when they do bad things or are mean to you (not that they really want to do bad things in the first place)... 

But Jesus, if you guys don’t have the family that everyone is jealous of... I would be lying. 

So yeah.... Can’t type anymore because I’m FULL ON BAWLING... but you. are. so. right...  

(And P.S., in my humble opinion, you’d have a third baby, too; another girl... this time, she’s a good mix of both of you but 100% gets your quirk, and Shinso is overjoyed. But that’s just me thinking out loud. Okay bye for real now.)

[ps-i-dont-even-know]

Devil may cry parent headcanons

Dante

He probably is a fun dad but at the same time don't leave your kids with him, it would be a disaster

Will wake up to crying at 12 am and try to put the kid back to sleep, ends up with both of them watching tv instead

This man will do anything with your kid, they want to go to the park, sure he'll have to keep an eye on them. They want to see the movies, sure has to be below pg or he will never hear the end of it from the nightmares his kids have. Want to go to the zoo, sure he just needs to make sure they don't go into the exhibit.

He will play dress up and tea time with them. He will put on a dress and have them do his makeup just so he can go to tea time, and might start some beef with Mr teddy for stealing his cupcakes, but he will do it proudly.

He will try to do their hair in the morning for school, again he is not the best at it and will probably give them crooked pigtails, he's trying he really is.

Can't cook for shit, I'm sorry if you think he could cook please take a look at all the pizza box stored around his shop. Like he will take cooking lessons or watch cooking shows but dear god how do you set fire to milk.

He will always be there for his kid to vent even if he doesn't know how to respond he will sit and let them rant about stuff, also trying to cheer them up because he doesn't want to see them sad

If they brought their homework to him he would be confused he can barely pay his bills i don't think he knows how to do math, but drama he will rock that stuff his acting skills are on point even if it's cheesy

Will waste all his money on the kid, toys, clothes, video games, you name it he will buy it and give to the kid

Remember how I said not to leave your kid alone with Dante yeah, he may or may noteave his weapons/devilarms around for the kids to grab them, like halfway of Dante walking into the main room and he sees ebony in his kids mouth he tricksters all the way to them and quickly grab ebony before anything bad happens, but the kid will start crying and he has to find something for them to mess with or he'll get a headache

He accidently devil triggered in front of his kid now depending on which one he get two responses and he's expecting screaming for both, but if its regular dt like humanish looking one, "woah, dad grew scales and wings, are you a lizard king?" Now its his Sin Dt he would get "Oo, daddys a gaint dragon" for both case they will proceed to touch his scales? And will be all over him trying to climb him to the point he literally has to switch out of dt so they don't get hurt. Also he's a heat source for winter if the heating doesn't get paid for.

If his kid comes out as any of the lgbtq+ he would be supportive and loves them for who they are, I also see him being apart of it too.(I know a few people see him as asexual I do too, as well as bisexual)

Vergil

Look this guy probably has no clue what he's doing, even if we wish he could've taken care of Nero (at least I do) he didn't and now he has another kid to take care

Please help him hold the baby, he can't properly do it at all, he's just holding them by their chest and staring at them with confusion as the child cry, "why won't they stop screaming?"

He will get the hang of taking care of the kid, but please don't leave him alone with them for long he still has no clue what he's doing half the time

"Hey can I hang out with (insert name) at the mall?", "Do I know their mom?", "Uh, no", "Do I know their dad?", "No" Then that settles it, you can't go", "But-", "No buts, if I don't know their parents you can't go, and that's finale"

Can he cook, probably but he's been in hell for most of his life and doesn't know what he's doing half the time. Thank god for cooking shows and book he at least tries a learn how to cook, and doesn't burn anything unlike someone else

He will read the kids William Blake or other bed time stories before bed time, and will do activities where they try to make up poems he has to thank Nero for the idea

Speak of Nero, if Vergil has a mission he will leave his kids with him, he's not trusting Dante at all. Nero absolutely loves his step siblings even if their like a few years younger than him, they will either play with the other kids at the orphanages or play Nero which consist of Video games, sometimes sword fights if they beg long enough, or just talk about the stuff their dad and uncle does that are stupid and make fun of them for it.

Also that one dad to try and help with math homework but makes the kid cry because they don't understand the problem and he's yelling at them "What's 2 x 2?" Its traumatizing please someone tell him to cool it or his kid is going to have problems when it comes to yelling and math, also complains how he didn't learn it that way as a kid, I promise you he was homeschooled.

Now his kids can vent to him but he has no clue what to do nor have much good advice but he will give what he knows even if it's not the best.

This can go many ways, this man know his kid is getting bullied he will go down to the school with the Yamato and threaten someone's life, give his kid the sword for them to deal with it instead, or use some brain cells and deal with it like civil people and we hope he chooses the last one

Now he's a little careful with his devil trigger and doesn't want to scare his kids, but its by accident really and he expects screaming, just like Dante he gets two responses. Regular dt and I'm going off of 4 because I don't think he has one in dmc5, "Dad, why didn't you tell me/us your secretly a bug, don't worry well keep you away from shoes." If its Sin Dt, "Wow, your a dragon this whole time, does this mean I'm also a dragon, where do you keep your stashed gold?", I feel like for his regular dt they will sometimes smack him with a fyswatter and he has to turn out of his sin dt quickly because they want to mess with the fire coming out of him.

If his kids come out as lgbtq+ he will be supportive and a little confused because he has no clue what it is. They have to explain what it means and what their sexuality means, he'll still be supportive and loves his kids no matter what they are

Nero

Out of Vergil and Dante, he's probably the one who knows more about taking care of kids since he grew up with them in an orphanage and takes care of them

I feel he's like a mix between Dante and Vergil, Fun dad but will put his foot down on somethings

If its a girl you bet he will go out to a store at whatever time it is and buy then pad/tampon when their monthly comes no questions asked he just knows. If its a dude he will give the talk, not just protection but what not to do, like when a girl tells him to stop he needs to stop, no advancing on or anything like that (I feel like the no advancing will also go for the girl)

Doesn't do favoritism, he hates that stuff since he technically dealt with it as a kid, if one kid ask why he loves the other more than them he will shut that down quickly and tell them he loves them equally and will move moons for them to both be happy

Best cook hands down, and will let his kids help if they want to but keeps them away from sharp objects. He will also take them out to dinner if he doesn't want to cook

He's decent with homework, and goes about it in a fun learning experience for the both of them, if they get an answer right they get a point that they can trade for something special later kne, if they get it wrong they will go over it again, but still get a point because no favoritism. He also help make a volcano, but also put a little extra pizzazz to it, and might have caused the whole kitchen to be a different color now.

His kids can vent to him, he will understand and try to help give advice for some issues, also takes them out of the house to do something they want to do to cheer them up

He will encourage his kids to follow what they want to do, play a sport? He will show up to every game, even if that means giving Dante his mission he will. A club? He will make sure they have everything they need for that club and be on time for it, be it art, book, yearbook, student council, etc. They want to do boy scout/girl scout, he will make sure he gets them a vest and help put pins on as well. He will be the number one supportive dad

As soon as his kid comes to him crying about how some other kid is bullying them he will be mad, he'll reassuring his kid that they are amazing first, then go to the school, if they don't do anything he will go straight to the parent and make sure that their kid doesn't mess with his anymore.

Will watch anime with them, if they agree that is don't want your dad into your stuff. But like he's absolutely into it, he seems like the person to like Bleach (this was not intentional I complete forgot that the voice actor for Nero also did Ichigo) or Cowboy Bebop. Maybe sailor moon but you won't hear him say it

Look he's really new to the devil trigger business, the only thing close he had was that ghost creature, so keeping this thing in check and not popping up randomly is hard. His kids reaction are, "You hair is longer, are you like rapunzel, oh wait you have wings and a crown your an angel. Oh can I braid your hair please," of course he will let them braide his hair he can't say no to a pouting face, they also will poke his wings to see if their real.

He will definitely support his kid if their aprat of the lgbtq+, will buy them flags, merch, you name it. He want his kid to feel safe and loved

Lady and Trish

Look I can't separate these two, when I first saw them I thought they were girlfriends, and I can't let that go. But these two would definitely be the fun and protective mom

So considering Trish and Lady are both females they definitely have to adopt of course, now Lady may not know if its half demon or full, but Trish does and she probably would help the kid when they get older since she knows about the demon body considering she has one, if its human Lady knows the most about the stuff going on when they get older and has I already planned out.

Now Lady has to be the protective mom because the shit happen with her dad she definitely doesn't want anything bad to happen to their kid, and Trish is like you do you kid if you get hurt you learn from it "its the demon way of raising" she says. Though she still will watch over them and make sure they don't get themselves severely hurt

They will buy their kid anything, and take them out shopping. It's like a spin the wheel of pay to see if they will pay for the stuff or put it under Dante's name for shits and giggles

Lady has to like keep her weapons locked up somewhere safe, unlike Dante, she's more careful with her weapons

If their kid is mad or something Trish will take them to some deserted area with some random stuff she found that isn't in use and have their kid throw it in the air so she can blow it up with her lighting, you know to blow steam off

Trish or Lady tell their kid the stupidest thing Dante has done or said, if they visit Dante please note one will scream if Dante says something about a soul, "I should have been the one to fill your dark soul with Light" and get the voice crack right too, he will look so embarrassed

Now Trish might not know anything about homework she'll support the best she can but Lady knows most of the stuff and will help.

Trish will tell their king everything about Hell, who's in charge, what creatures are there, the history of it all. Its a great learning experience until you tell them that the female demons kill the male after finishing mating

If they are out in public and some guy is hitting on their kid and their tell him no, protective mom mode is on. Mostly Lady has to stop Trish from frying thr guy, but Lady will give the man a price of her mind saying if he tries to do this shit again with her kid he will be going home with a foot straight up his ass. So now no man tries to hit on her

Definitely let the kids go venting to them, they give the best cuddled, some good advice, and shopping if they say someone's bullying them they will see that the parent deals with their kid.

They knew their kid was apart of lgbtq+, of course their supportive of who they are, they are dating of course. They will take them to a pride march in June

Kyrie

Look, LOOK, she is an amazing mom, so caring but also will put her foot down on somethings

Besides Nero she is a good cook and baker, while she doesn't want kids in the kitchen while she's cooking will will have them help with baking sweet

Reads bedtime stories and tucks her kids in and kiss goodnight (ugh my heart hurts I love this)

She will play video games with her kids mostly on the wii, she still the champion on Mario Kart and Just Dance no one has taken their spot yet, even Nero tries

Packs lunch for her kids and puts a note in it telling them that she loves them and hope they have the best day

She does worry about them from time to time when they go over a friends house, only because of what happened to her brother and then Nero she doesn't want anything to happen to her kids

Tells them not to climb the tree in their backyard, what does one of them do, they climb it and accidently falls down. She goes to them saying "You know I told you not to do it, and you did it anyways, you need to be more careful and listen to me. I'm not doing this because I'm being uptight I'm doing this for your safety I want you to be able to do the things you want in the future"

I feel like she's the same way with friends like Vergil, if she doesn't know the parents then you can't go out or over their house

She is really a good listener and help with advice, so venting to her is a really great idea also will ask about your feelings and how your doing someday, like she knows your in a sad mood

She also good with homework, I feel like she wanted to become a teacher as well as study for it, but instead stuck with taking care of orphans, so she probably homeschools her kids too

She also makes the kids clothes time to time, they have little sweaters or shirts that are soft and comfortable

She is so supportive of her kids if they come out lgbtq+, she doesn't care as long as their happy thats all that matters.

Nico

Now I love Nico amazing and pretty girl but don't leave a child with her, just like Dante it will be a disaster, but she probably would try to be a better parent than her since he technically wa this weird freaky man who experimented on demons or was weird.

Let's start with teaching the kid every swear word she knows and tells them to go up to Nero call him one of those names, she will hear her name being screamed and find an angry Nero going over to her as she burst into fits of laughter

Will be extra pair of arms when getting a tool they need for fixing the van, when Nero does understand what a Dohicky is

I think Nico can cook, its decent not bad or good, she did nearly burn the van down from trying to cook turkey.

She will try and cut back on smoking or at least not doing it when the kid is around because its bad for them, Nero scoffs because she nags him when he tells her to stop, but not her kids

Now her kids could bring homework to her, like he's good in math, engineering, and probably biology, but she'll act as if she never even seen the stuff in her life, because she wants to get her learn it and not her just giving them the answer. But if their kid is in a science fair I bet she will help make something totally child friendly(its not really), it kind of gets her and her kid ban from doing anymore science fairs.

She will teach then everything she knows about Demon, mostly the biology of it, and when Nero brings a demon part for his breakers, she goes in explain how she turns them into those.

Will tease her kids if they talk about their crush, she's a huge teaser so saying something about someone they really like or anything its a mistake, she will embarrass them in front of their crush, but she means well

If they try to change the channel of the radio she swats their hand saying the driver picks the music and the passenger has to sit and listen.

If she's busy with something she will let Nero and Kyrie babysit her kids, she trust them and the kids love Nero and Kyrie.

Tries to teach her kids how to drive when their of age to learn, but Nero and Kyrie won't let her considering how she drives and that the instructor is more legal to do it.

No but she will tease her kid a bit if they come out lgbtq+ too, of course she supportive I kind of see her being apart of lgbtq+ as well

*Bonus because it seemed reasonable to just put this one here like this*

Nero, Dante, Vergil, Lady, Trish, Nico

They will teach their kid self defense, and how to use a weapon. While they rather their kids have a normal life instead of a demon hunter for many reasons, they at least want their kid to take care of themselves if they find themselves in a situation where their life is on the line

[alyssadeliv]

The Forgotten One

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Chapter 12

They were going to the zoo. Richard had decided that after two months of her living in the Manor it was time to have some family bonding time. It didn’t matter that most of her time in the last months was used to get to know her new extended family or get reacquainted with her old one. 

He was adamant that she needed the full Gothamite experience, so here they were on a Friday afternoon on a crowded metro, listening as the oldest one tried and explained how Metro’s worked to her. He was so happy, gesticulating and smiling, that she didn’t have the heart to tell him that she indeed knew how the metro worked, having lived in Paris for almost two full years.

After Damian, Richard was her favorite sibling, mostly because she had always seen him as a role model, as part of her training had been inspired by him and his trapeze maneuvers, but she did enjoy the warmth that she tended to feel when he was around. He was patient and had no problem explaining pop culture references to her. Not that she didn't enjoy spending time with her other siblings, it was just that Richard went out of his way to make her feel accepted.

Tim was a very busy person, and their interactions were reserved to 3 a.m. coffee hunts. He wasn’t bad, just closed off, and a little wary of her after his first experience with Damian. Not that she could blame him. But she was a bit closer to his girlfriend, Stephanie Brown, who would come to have dinner at the Manor every week. 

And there was Jason. She refused to address him as her brother, that would just be plain weird. After the initial shock of finding each other again had worn out, it had taken a few weeks for them to finally address the elephant in the room. She could tell that he had struggled with the news that she was Bruce’s biological daughter.

“Dick, maybe speed the lecture a bit so we can still get to the zoo before it closes.” Jason was leaning casually against a wall, finding this whole situation funny. He was wearing jeans and his red leather jacket, nothing special, but if she was honest he looked rather handsome. 

“It’s fine Jaybird, I was just wrapping it up!” He says with a smile, just in time for them to catch the next wagon. Because they spent at least 25 minutes listening to Richard’s lesson, the metro had emptied a bit so they were able to find seats. It was just the three of them, the others would meet them there, after being picked up by Alfred, Damian after school, and Timothy after a meeting. 

“So… I know Bruce said not to ask, but I’ve been dying to know…” Richard starts unsure, afraid to cross a line. They were lucky to score seats in the same section, she was seated with Jason by her side, with Richard in front of him facing them both. “But how exactly did you two meet, I mean it was obviously at… Tibet-'' He caught himself before he could out them as members of the League, you never knew who could be listening in their conversation, so better safe than sorry. “- but why do you know Jason, but Damian didn’t?” 

With a glance to the side, she was more than happy to allow Jason to explain that part. In the two months she lived at the Manor she saw how much they wanted to ask about their relationship, but kept their distance. Aside from Damian, they didn’t feel the need to inform the family about their past. 

“Well, Pixie Pop here was the one to train me for the duration of my time in the Temple. Kicked my ass more times than I can count.” He says with a smirk, while casually butting an arm on the back of her seat. “She taught me most of what I know”

“Most of it?” She was indignant, but the smile on her face betrayed her true emotions.

“To be fair B didn’t totally suck as a parent.” She knew that he and Father didn’t have the best relationship after he came back from his time at the League, but according to Damian, it used to be way worse, not that she would know. Richard seems content with their explanation and didn't demand more information, even if he desperately wanted to. He respects their boundaries, and that only makes her like him more.

When they got to the zoo, Damian and Timothy were already there, but surprisingly Stephanie had tagged along, so now she wasn’t the only female in the group anymore, not that she cared, but she liked her brother’s girlfriend so the surprise was appreciated. 

She had never been to the zoo before, just to see the attractions. The times she went to fight an Akuma did not count. It was a bit sad seeing all these animals stuck in a cage, and she could tell her brother felt the same. Damian always had a soft spot for animals, and would not tolerate if they were being mistreated. Not surprisingly, the Waynes made annual donations to the zoo to ensure that all the animals were well taken care of. When she first heard about that she was glad that Father cared about Damian’s interests enough to pay to support every zoo and animal shelter in the city. It helped ease her guilt for abandoning him for two years knowing that now she was not the only one who cared for him.

They spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying the animals. And Dick was glad he chose to go to the zoo as a family bonding experience. When Damian first came into the family he had taken him there, after discovering that his younger brother absolutely adored animals and he was happy to see that Marianne liked it as well.  

Efficient as always, Alfred was already there waiting for them the minute they crossed the exit of the building. As she came to know, the men seemed to have a six sense when it came to all of them. Just by his aura, she could tell he wasn’t someone you wanted to cross, but she could see how much he loved each one of his grandchildren (because she could never kid herself to think of him any less than a Grandfather).

“I assume that today's activities were enjoyable.” The butler asks as he opens the back door of the limo for them. Richard enters first thanking the men.

“It was acceptable” Damian voices, as he too enters the vehicle.  

It was a bit of a ride, seeing that the Manor was almost outside of Gotham, but she didn’t mind. Seated between Richard and Damian she spent most of the journey chatting with everyone. But by the time they arrived at the house everyone was a bit tired, so dinner was a relatively small affair. But not uneventful, because as revenge for Bruce bailing on family day, the boys started sharing with her all the shenanigans of her father’s public persona, Brucie Wayne. It was amusing to see this new side to her father, always so reserved and serious. 

“If you are all finished sharing Master Bruce's embarrassing moments, I believe it is time for patrol.”  Alfred as always came to defuse the situation before it could implode. 

Because she spent most of the last two years fighting almost every single day, she decided that she needed some rest from her hero lifestyle. Even after her father asked if she would like to accompany them on patrols, she decided to turn it down for now. So while her family directed themselves to the cave, she made her way into her suite. 

It was a beautiful room. Although the color scheme wasn’t something she would have picked herself, it fit with the furniture rather nicely, and her artist side appreciated that. The room itself was simple, but the red colors and the dark wood made the room seem cozier than it was. With a double bed with a canopy, two bedside tables, a vanity with a mirror, and a wardrobe, it had everything she needed. Her Father had encouraged her to decorate her room the way she wanted, and she had been tempted to do so, but ultimately decided to wait until she settled into her role as a family member before she went and added more change to the mix. What she had been very close to doing was adding a desk so she could draw and design, but after she discovered that there was a big one in the library just a few doors from her room, she dismissed the idea.  

Quickly she showered and changed into something more comfortable than her street attire, before exiting the room and making her way into the library. It wasn’t as big as the one downstairs, but it had a big balcony that overlooked the gardens, so she liked to just sit in a shadow and sketch away. Damian had been kind enough to spare one of his unused sketchbooks and some pencils, knowing that she liked to draw just as much as he did. She leaned forward into the railing resting her arms and head, but still looking upwards.

The sun had already set, and she was glad that they were far enough away from the city that she could see some stars in the sky. Having lived in Paris, she had really missed all the stars she could see at night from her home on the League. One of her studies had been about the Astros, so she spent a lot of time as a kid contemplating the skies. 

“It’s going to rain soon” A voice comes from behind her. Without having to turn around she knew who it was. A smile appears on her face.

“Aren’t you supposed to be getting ready for patrol?” She asks, straightening her body, but still not turning around. She could feel the person getting closer to her until she felt a presence at her side. 

“That’s the whole point. It's gonna rain.” He carries a hint of humor in his tone “And besides I prefer to keep you company, Pretty Girl. Besides, I believe Red Hood deserves one night off. The guy has been working hard.” He jokes.

With a smile she finally faces him. He had showered and changed, and without his red jacket, he looked so relaxed. It reminded her of their time in the League. Like that he looked so much like the angry boy she helped train. So young and while broken, so full of life and fight in him. He smirks at her but turns his face upwards to look at the night. 

“You always did love the stars.” He commented, not looking at her. “It’s sad that here you can't see them as much.” 

“It’s not that bad. In Paris, you couldn't see any. It was sad, but to be fair the whole city more than compensated for that. It’s beautiful there.” She recalled all the times she went on a midnight stroll around the city, just enjoying the architecture. “I could spend eternity drawing all the details in the buildings.” 

“Do you miss it?” He asks, looking at her. His tone is neutral, but by his body language, she can tell he’s anxious for her answer. She had always been good at reading him, and she was glad that their time apart had not changed that. 

“In a way…” 

She sighs.

“I liked the city, but I spent most of my time there fighting and training. Not much different from before. It was like everything changed but was still the same. To be completely honest… I miss our time at the League the most.” She confesses but hurriedly continues. “Don’t get me wrong, it was hard! But still… at the same time…”

“I get it.” He interrupts her. He has a small side smile, and the dimples on his face make her want to freeze this moment and draw him so she could eternalize him. Instead, she gets closer to him, seeking comfort in his presence at her side. He embraces her. Securing her in his arms, her body pressed against his, her head buried in his chest.

It was funny to think that the most capable woman to take care of herself he knew, chose to be vulnerable around him. It made him feel loved.

“I miss it too.” He whispered in her ear. She raises her head, just enough that she can see his face without removing herself from his arms. Staying like this reminds her of all the nights he used to sneak into her chambers. And they would talk and hold each other for hours. It felt like it was just yesterday the first time he got the better of her.

“Focus!” She yelled while landing a kick at his unprotected left side. “You are unbalanced- in three moves I could have you on the ground again” She punched him to his right, but he was able to block her and tried to deliver a punch of his own. His knuckles were bloodied, and he knew that in the morning his ribs would hurt. But at this moment he was high on adrenaline. She dodged. 

They were training for what felt like hours. But both were too stubborn to ask for the fight to end. 

But just as promised, in three more moves he was on the ground. He tried to get back on his feet to continue with the fight but was stopped by a foot on his torso.

“That’s enough.” She helps him to get on his feet. “You were great! You could have overpowered me so many times! I left you so many openings!” She laughs. This was routine for them. After a fight, Marianne was usually so pumped with adrenaline that she spoke at a mile per hour. “We really need to work on your tactics this week. Oh! You also need to improve your stance, you’ve been favoring your right side too much. I know your ribs hurt but you still need to protect your body as a whole.” She comments only stopping to take a large sip of water. “Well, I am spent.”

“You’re spent? I’m the one that has been eating dirt for the whole hour!” He complains indignantly. She tossed a water bottle in his direction, which he grabs and happily finishes in a single gulp.

“Just another reason you need to study more!” She grins. And turns to exit the room, and while walking to the door turns to him again. 

“See you in a bit” She winks. 

When they meet again they are in her room. She’s seated on the bed sketching some view, while Jason sits on the floor sharpening his knife. They chat casually for some time, but ultimately end speaking about their training session earlier. 

“That move would have totally worked!” He exclaims, knife long forgotten he now kneels facing her bed. 

“There’s where you are wrong, you need strength on your fist on both sides to push my torso, otherwise I would easily be able to doge only one. You need two punches at different sides in succession for you to distract your opponent!” She explains in a hurry. Her thoughts jumped around her head. 

“No way! If it’s strong enough, only one is needed!” He argues.

Worked up she threw her notebook to the side, forgotten. In a second she was up, signaling for him to do the same.

“There is no way. Stand there, pretend to be in stance.” She directs, and without a second thought, he complies. “Okay, so I come for your right side first, you are stronger there.” 

Her movements are slowed, as she demonstrates the move. “That’s going to distract you, and keep you focused on your stronger side, leaving your weaker one unprotected.” She shows him where he left an opening for her. “So all I need to do now is strike again, focusing more strength now. Either a punch or a kick would do the trick.” As she goes to demonstrate her point, he grabs the incoming slow punch and pulls her into his body. 

Unprepared she loses her balance, falling into his chest. In a second he secures her with his other arm, keeping her in his embrace. She feels her face burning with embarrassment. He caught her by surprise, and she felt ashamed.

“Hey that wasn't fai-” But he silences her, bringing his face closer to hers and giving her a heated kiss. It lasts for some time, but when they finally separate themselves he has a grin on his face.

“Just to be clear, I knew the move wouldn’t have worked. You just look cute when you're angry.” 

And before she can protest he shuts her up with another kiss.

So this is by far the biggest chapter! Hope ya’ll like it! We finally get the story behind Jason and Marianne. Let me know what you think!

Next

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[hexpea]

Ch. 8 - Siblings

When you and your mother were all unpacked and settled in, the pair left for their honeymoon. That meant you and the guys had the house to yourselves for at least two weeks. Getting used to the new family lifestyle, you now with three other siblings, came mostly at ease. Considering your older ages, you all just left each other be - most of the time. A morning or two, there was an argument about who put an empty milk carton back in the fridge but that was to be expected. Sharing a single bathroom with three males was also quite the venture. Your mother was lucky to have a master bath to treat herself to, while you were stuck with a messy teen and two young adults who didn't know how to clean.

You wanted to be friendly with your new brothers, so most days you'd leave your door open as you sat at your computer. Often you could be found crouched awkwardly in your desk chair while you snacked and watched your favorite show with your over-the-ear headphones drowning out any outside noise. The boys made it very obvious they weren't used to having a sister, usually staring at you as if you were an animal at the zoo - strange awe in their faces as you went about your day. Choso was the only one who behaved normally considering he knew you from uni. You recalled the first day Kechizu teased you to test your reaction.

You were in your usual position at your computer. You almost didn't notice him standing in the doorway as your headphones kept you pretty distracted. You were startled when you saw his presence standing there. His green locks were a bit faded - needing to be recolored. He had honey-colored eyes, a bit lighter than his older brothers. His face was small and sweet. He was very innocent looking.

He was just standing there...staring at you for seemingly no other purpose. You pushed one of the earphones to the side and stared back for a few more moments as if to wait for a response of some kind. You opened your jaw to start to say something, but just as you did he quickly flicked the light switch off, slammed your door shut, and darted down the hallway.

"Hey!" You shouted, getting up from your seat and opening the door. "Kechizu!" You continued yelling, your voice echoing through the large home. You could hear his snickers from his bedroom down the hall, his door now shut.

Eso and Choso peeked their heads out of their own rooms, looked at one another and then at you. When Eso saw the coast was clear, he went back and shut his door. Choso, on the other hand, walked a bit out into the hallway.

"He taunting you?" He asked as you stood in an action stance in front of your door. Your fists were clenched and anger painted your face. Just as they weren't used to sisters, you weren't used to brothers, and Choso could read that based on your expression.

Without answering, Choso stepped forward and knocked on Kechizu's door. He cracked the door open and stared at his little brother. You watched as he looked into the room, your tense body relaxing as you waited for Choso to finish.

"Hey, what are you doing, man?" He asked his brother. You couldn't hear Kechizu's response, but Choso laughed and shut the door. "He won't do it again," he said to you, still chuckling.

"What even was that?!" You asked as Choso was about to enter his room again. He simply shrugged and left you standing there. Brothers...

Just because you were the newbie in the house, didn't mean that you didn't get into trouble yourself. Not that you knew you were getting yourself into trouble. It was all innocent..mostly.

Since moving in, you had realized you had an unlimited stash of Choso's sweaters.

One day, when you knew he was out practicing with his dumb band, you snuck over to his door. Your hand nervously held onto the knob, slowly twisting and forcing it ajar. It was a typical masculine-styled bedroom. The walls were painted a dark grey, his furniture a dark cherry color, comforter just regular navy stripes. It was a bit messy, clothes strewn about or shoved into drawers that couldn't be pushed all the way shut. You began to pull his drawers open. It wasn't until you got to the middle drawer of his taller chest that you hit the jackpot. There, all stuffed and wrinkled into the drawer, laid dark hoodie after dark hoodie. Some had decals on them, others were plain. He had a few other colors as well to your surprise...or you shouldn't be surprised considering the panda shirt he wore a few weeks ago. You took your pick and figured that anytime it lost its smell you'd just replace it with a new one. With it in your hands, you pressed it to your face and breathed deeply and scampered off to your bedroom. You closed the door behind you and slipped it over your head. After a few seconds, you realized how weird it was that you did that but you shrugged it off and continued your day.

Just as you suspected, the sweater's scent faded and you quickly exchanged it for a new one on another day that Choso was out. You thought you were a genius, stealing without getting caught.

"Hey," Choso leaned on your doorframe. You looked over at him who had his usual lazy, deadpan expression.

"What do you want?" You asked, twirling the digital pen you had in your hands. You were working on some personal art projects at your desk.

"Are you...stealing my stuff?" He asked, furrowing his brow and coming up from his leaning stance. He crossed one arm across his chest and placed the index finger on the other hand against his cheek. You immediately felt your face heat up.

"No! What could make you think that?!" You tried to sound outraged though deep down you were trembling.

Instead of answering he just stared at you, eyes darting down briefly and then back up. You sucked in your cheeks when you realized, changing the grip on your pencil as you thought of what to say.

"I...got cold," you said confidently, closing your eyes and putting the pen to the pad again.

"And you couldn't wear your own sweater because..." he rolled his wrist as if to encourage you to continue his sentence. You pursed your lips angrily and looked upward to search for the words. You couldn't find any.

"You smell good, alright! I can't help it!" You pouted. "I thought siblings shared clothes anyway!" Choso snickered at your defense.

"You don't have to steal, ya' know. Just stop by when you need one," he rolled his eyes when he stopped snickering. Your face fell, just feeling all around embarrassed as he stood there staring at you. "How are you adjusting?" He suddenly asked, walking over to your bed and plopping down. "You like having brothers?" You turned your chair to face him, pulling your headphones down around your shoulders.

"It's...alright," you looked away in thought for a moment, "my dad passed away when I was young so I'm definitely used to living in a more feminine household."

"Heh," he gave you a crooked smile, "I could say the same thing. My mom left us right after Kechizu was born. I was six when she left so I've been with Dad for most of my life. It's been weird having girl stuff around again...you and that fancy, organic hoo-ha soap."

"Hey! It keeps my hair shiny," you used your hand to toss a tuft behind your shoulder. "And don't make fun of me leaving my soap in the bathroom! I swear I used your Speed Stick by accident the other day!" You pointed a teasing finger at him.

"Okay, that's not my fault. They look incredibly different," he pointed a finger back at you and for a moment it felt like a real brother and sister bickering. "And I wasn't complaining...you're supposed to leave your soap in the bathroom." He got you...again. You felt flustered.

He then fell back on your mattress and folded his hands across his stomach as he stared at your ceiling. "I will say it's nice having a different perspective around here, someone who's just so...different...from my brothers and I," he complimented.

"Oh...thanks," you said quietly, feeling your heart race a bit as you stared at his body laying back on your bed. He was just in a white t-shirt and black jeans that had a tear at the knee. His socked feet fell at the floor and you could see the always chipped nail polish on his fingertips as they were folded across his torso.

The two of you suddenly heard a phone ding. It was Choso's. He smiled at the screen when he squeezed it out of his back pocket.

"Who's that?" You inquired.

"Just a girl I've been talking to," he noted, thumbs moving quickly to type back to her, "we're meeting up later. Think I might get lucky," he glanced over to you and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Ugh," you rolled your eyes and spun your chair back around. You didn't know why...but hearing that made you a bit upset.

"What's that noise for?" He asked in a teasing tone, crunching forward to stand up.

"Just...if you bring her home keep quiet. I don't want to hear that," you waved your hand as if to dismiss him.

"Aye, aye, captain," he gave you a lazy salute before stepping out of your room, shutting the door behind him.

You lost track of time, working hard on your project until the sun set. When you heard the front door open, it caused you to look out of your bedroom window and then at your phone for the time. It was nearly one in the morning. You decided at that point it was clearly time to head to bed considering you knew you needed at least an hour of phone time before actually falling asleep. You followed your usual routine, heading to the bathroom for your shower but just as you were about to enter, you heard high pitched giggles come from the girl he had brought home.

Here we go, you thought.

By the time you exited your shower, towel wrapped around your body, the sounds had only gotten worse. You stopped for a moment to listen as they sounded a bit...off. You crept closer to his bedroom door and heard whimpers that quickly cascaded into desperate and pained moans...but not from her... From her came wicked snickers. Your eyes widened and you nearly sprinted to your bedroom, slamming the door behind you. Was she hurting him? You wondered. No...he would be able to stop her... Your mind did a double take. What if he was getting hurt?

You quickly dressed and combed out your wet hair - the sounds from down the hall only intensifying. You wondered why his brothers didn't try to help...unless they were already fast asleep. When you were decent, you stopped in front of his bedroom door and winced before lightly tapping. The whiny noises and incessant evil giggles came to a stop. There was some shuffling around and then you heard Choso, "it's probably one of my brothers or my sister..." He suddenly sounded fine and you regretted disrupting whatever it was they were up to.

Eventually, the door cracked open and the girl he brought home greeted you. You swallowed hard at her intimidating presence. She looked you up and down and smirked. She, herself, was nearly naked - in just a fancy bra and panties.

"Who is it?" You heard Choso's voice in the background. The girl stepped aside and opened the door wider to reveal him.

"Your sister, I think," she looked down at him. You, too, looked at him in complete shock. You felt your heart jump into your throat, it nearly falling out of your agape mouth.

Choso had a hand towel covering his crotch but what was most surprising was the fact that he was kneeling in the middle of his floor with his hands and ankles tied. His face was incredibly flushed, makeup across his nose smudged to oblivion.

"What's up, princess?" He tried to ask calmly with an irritated look on his face. The hands that were tied behind his back formed fists as he took a deep breath in while waiting for your answer. You couldn't help your eyes exploring every nook and cranny that it could before being commanded otherwise. A weird tingling sensation formed between your legs at the sight.

"I...I..." you were desperately trying to get the words out. But your eyes were glued to him. You noticed how he was covered in red and purple marks of all different shapes and sizes.

"Anytime now, Y/N..." Choso's voice trailed off, his back rising and falling heavily - still coming down from whatever it was they were doing prior to the door being opened.

"I...wanted to see if you were okay," the words spilled from your mouth at a rapid pace. The heat had never been so hot in your cheeks. Your eyes began to hurt from the lack of blinking you were doing.

Choso gave you a light, genuine smile, "yes, we're just fine. Thanks for checking in." With that, the girl closed the door as you stood there, brain still trying to process what you saw.

You tried to go back to your room and fall asleep, but as the noises started up again followed by loud and inconsistent slapping sounds, as if he were getting slapped in the face, it just became impossible. After a period of time, you got up and went to the kitchen to make tea. With the warm cup in hand, you plopped down on the sofa in the living room and turned on some late night television - making sure to turn the volume up high enough to drown out the moans that now included hers. After another few minutes, Choso and his date came marching down the stairs fully clothed. You looked back behind the couch and watched them descend. The girl looked prideful and Choso looked incredibly satisfied. You then turned your attention back to the television as Choso kissed his date goodbye, gently shutting the door behind her. With her gone, he came around and sat beside you - plopping down hard on the cushions which caused your body to bounce. He put his arm behind you on the back of the couch and rolled his head in your direction. Eyelids, low as always, he looked you up and down.

"Boy, you look tired," he noted before turning his head toward the television.

"No thanks to you," you mumbled, sipping on your tea. The warmth radiating up to your tired eyes.

"Sorry about that," he said without any hint of teasing, "sorry you had to see that."

"I'm just surprised Eso or Kechizu didn't check up on you first," you glanced at him out of the corner of your eye. His profile looked incredible - jawline sharp, cheekbones perfectly sculpted, and lips looking soft and taken care of.

"They're used to it," he chuckled, "this usually happens at least once a week. Or at least I try to make it that way...I've got needs, ya' know?"

"S-sure," you gulped, looking at him, "very...unique needs." He smirked at your response, a playful "hmph" escaping his lips.

"That's what happens when you've got...mommy issues," he answered suggestively, voice low and eyes back on you again. You blinked hard and furrowed your brow, gaze returning to the television as your heart began to beat out of your chest again.

"I've never seen anything like that," your voice was so quiet you wondered if he could even hear you. Choso gave you a weird look, mouth twisting into a concerned frown.

"You pretty vanilla then? I'm surprised. I would have figured differently with that Mahito guy." He inquired. The question was so inappropriate, but you were too tired to differentiate right from wrong.

"I...don't know," you pressed your lips together nervously. Choso's expression changed from concern to interest, an eyebrow raising though his eyelids still hung low.

"Virgin? Really?" He continued pressing the matter. You then brought your knees up against your chest and hugged them with your free arm while sipping the last of your tea. "Wwooww, never would've guessed with your attitude." His face leaned closer to yours teasingly. His warm breath against your neck sent chills down your spine. "Sounds like I need to get in touch with Mahito and give him some pointers."

"No!" Your head flashed to him, a sudden burst of energy coming from his crazy suggestion. "No..." you said a bit more calm, "we're trying to take things slow."

"Hmm..." Choso rubbed his chin, looking toward the ceiling in thought.

"What are you thinking?" You hesitated to ask, the tone of your voice nervous. "I'm not interested in any of your weird friends. I don't need to lose my virginity right now..."

"Y/N...you're twenty-one...time's ticking," he smirked, breaking his thought sequence for a moment. "You've got to at least masturbate, right?" You stayed silent. "Right, so then you're ready!"

"Who are you to dictate what I'm ready for?!" You whined. "But...I guess I've been feeling the need more often lately..." You genuinely contemplated. "But no Mahito contacting or weird friends." You pointed menacingly at him.

"No, no," Choso closed his eyes and shook his head, "I'm just trying to think of how someone with mommy issues can fuck someone with daddy issues..." "I suppose, for you, I could be a switch."

[boognish-worshipper]

Midnight City AU

it took me forever to decide where to go with this chapter and i was literally getting fed up editing it 😭 i’ve been so busy with all the chaos goin on in my life rn too so yeah writing’s been feeling delayed over all but i decided to just finalize this one for rn and uhhh sorry if it seems funky or shortttt

//Chapter 3: Vanished

The next day, Trevor went back to Sterling Lake Park, after spending the night at Wade’s. He agreed to meet up with him there later, walking around the park with his earbuds in. As he threw himself down on his usual bench, he settled on listening to his usual playlist of his favorite songs. He scrolled through nosedivr once again, taking a photo of the lake. It was foggy, and the thick air sat atop the water. He liked when it was like that. A sturdy drumbeat thumped in his ears, making him feel whole. He paused it briefly, just to change it to a different song that was even louder, but with the lack of music he could now hear the crunch of gravel not too far away. He thought he told Wade to come later on? He looked up from his phone, pulling out an earbud. It was the guy from yesterday.

“Hey.”

“Hello.”

“Where’s Amanda?” He asked, glancing around.

“Uhh she’s.. not here today. I kinda came to see if you were here. I wanna get to know more people at this park if I’m gonna hang ‘round here more I guess.”

“But she doesn’t like me?”

“She don’t gotta know.”

“Well aren’t you Boyfriend of the Year.”

“Oh uh, we aren’t dating yet.”

“Thought she was your girl though.”

“She is, she is. But it’s nothing serious. Not yet. And I don’t know what happened between you guys but you don’t seem that bad, so if I wanna talk to you that’s more of a her problem than me.”

“Huh.”

Today Michael wore an eCola shirt, which was obviously made to resemble their old logo, with blue jeans. He had on a pair of red sneakers this time to match the color of the shirt. They looked slightly newer, compared to the pair he wore yesterday. He dressed nice for such a basic style. Trevor on the other hand, threw on an old, frayed Love Fist t-shirt, and messy jeans. He wore a different pair of boots, some kind of knockoff of a popular name brand. A pair of purple lensed circular glasses sat on his head, the nose pieces caught in his hair.

“So.. uh. Mind if I sit there?”

“Not like I own the bench or anything, go right ahead.”

He cautiously sat next to Trevor, hands in his lap. Trevor started one of his other playlists up again, settling on a mix of Paramore and Green Day. He left an earbud out, just so he wouldn’t be completely rude. He mindlessly scrolled, occasionally looking back at the lake or casting a sideways glance at Michael, who was looking at him funny. Sighing, he paused his music, putting his earbuds away.

“What.”

“I.. nothin’ man. I just, I dunno. What is the point of coming here?”

“It’s a public fuckin’ park man.”

“I know, but you said that you don’t even really like the people here, so what’s the point?”

“There is no ‘point’ to it. I just like time to myself is all. These guys don’t bother me, and I don’t bother them. They only start trouble when they see fit.”

“Ah… I see? What were you listening to by the way?”

Trevor stifled a groan, not really wanting to talk to the guy when he had time to freely plot his scheme.

“Pop punk shit. Ever heard of it?”

“Uh, no? I thought punk wasn’t supposed to be popular. Or fit in. Or whatever.”

“That’s merely the ideology, which I do follow, dear Michael. I just like the sound I guess. You know Paramore?”

“Not really. I don’t listen to that stuff much.”

“Then what the fuck do you listen to?”

“Not sure if it has a genre per say, but I like that song Radioactive goin’ around? Songs that sound like that I guess.”

“You like Imagine Dragons?”

“That’s what they’re called?”

Trevor could only stare at him. Was this guy living under a rock?

“Uh.. yeah. Y’know what- never mind, what else do you listen to?”

“80s music?”

No wonder this guy was unaware of who’s popular now.

“Amanda’s been trying to get me into groups like the 1975. I actually kinda like them.”

Trevor rolled his eyes.

“Of course she did.”

“They’re not that bad to be honest. She likes that weird alternative shit.”

“Yeah, I know. By the way, there is a name for that genre. Indie rock. Can’t stand the stuff.”

“How come?”

“You know, you ask a lotta fuckin’ questions.”

“I’m just tryna understand this shit here. I ain’t in the loop of all these trends.”

“Well, for your information I just find the style to be too slow and whiny for my taste. I like fast, upbeat, wild stuff.”

“Any recommendations then? I wanna impress Amanda by at least knowing one artist off that nosedivr thing she goes on.”

He raised a brow, not really wanting to share anything else knowing he would just repeat it back to her, but he shrugged and continued.

“Alright. Besides pop punk, I like experimental songs. Underground groups. Crystal Castles are my favorite.”

“Never heard of ‘em.”

“Wouldn’t expect you to.”

“Right.”

“If you want more indie rock shit though, I suggest listening to I don’t know, the Arctic Monkeys? That seems more like her taste.”

“These bands have such weird names.”

“I think bands have always been like that.”

“Hey wait a sec, I thought you didn’t like that stuff? How do you know the name of one of those groups?”

“Ugh… I guess I might as well say it if you’re gonna get with her, but we were friends at some point. She introduced me to those bands, but even then I didn’t really like it. We had a stupid falling out I’d rather not get into.”

“Oh.. sorry.”

“Eh, don’t be. Shit happens. You definitely seem like her type though, no wonder she got with you.”

“What’s her type?”

“Heh. As if I’d tell you.” He scoffed.

“C’mon man, please?”

“Nope.”

Michael frowned, slumping in his seat.

“Fine. Whatever. Not like I need to know.”

“You could at least pretend you don’t care.”

“I don’t.”

“You clearly do, bro.”

He sat arms crossed, turning a smidge away from Trevor. This was his opportunity to listen to his tunes again, but before he could Michael spoke up.

“Can I… can I listen to whatever you’re listening to?”

“Huh?”

“I wanna hear what you’re into.”

Trevor shot him a puzzled look.

“Uh.. okay.”

Wiping off an earbud, he handed one to Michael. He already had one in.

“Pick your poison cowboy.”

“Cowboy?”

“Just a nickname I give people.” He shrugged.

Michael settled on his experimental music, actually nodding along to the sound. They were closer than a minute ago, and it made Trevor uncomfortable for whatever reason. Maybe because he was never in such close proximity to strangers, but the other part of him didn’t care that much. Michael’s eyes were closed, smiling.

“You like it?”

“Yeah! Reminds me of synth stuff from the 80s, just more modern I guess.”

He smiled back at Michael, appreciating the fact there was someone else who liked the music he liked. The two listened to a couple different playlists he had, up until the moment Wade arrived at the park.

“Trevor! Hey!”

“Woah. Who’s your friend?”

“Hm?” He pulled out the single earbud, turning his head around. Wade had clown makeup on, making Trevor jump in his seat.

“Fucks sake. Hey Wade.”

“Ooh who’s this?”

He wasn’t sure if Wade freaked him out or not, seeing as the guy not only had matted locs, but many facial piercings as well. And the clown shit. He stood up to introduce them to one another.

“Wade, this is Michael. Michael, Wade.”

The way Michael looked at him was like a kid seeing a zoo animal for the first time. He looked bewildered, but not disgusted.

“Hi. What’s with the..?” He wavered a hand in Wade’s direction.

“Oh! It’s jus’ clown face. Not tryna scare ya or nothin’!”

“Uh huh… man. How have I never been around these parts? You guys are real different.”

“You got that right, Mike.”

“Seems like I’ve been missin’ out. I hangout with some dudes who would hate this place if I’m being honest.”

“I’ll have to meet ‘em sometime.” Trevor chuckled.

“They’re real cool guys. Didn’t expect our paths to cross, but anything’s possible in this fuckin’ city.”

“Oh yeah. Land of opportunities, for all types of wackjobs.”

“Ain’t that the truth.”

A hand tapped Trevor on the shoulder.

“Uh, excuse me, Trevor, but are we still gonna talk about the Merryweather thingy-”

“Wade! Shut it-”

“What Merryweather thing?”

“Nothing, nothing. Not important.” He said, gritting his teeth, glare strong on Wade.

“Okay..”

“But you said we’d talk about it over icecream!”

“Later, Wade. Not right now.”

“Fiiine. Can we still get icecream though?”

“Sure. Promise. I’ll let you know.”

“Okay! Bye Trevor, bye stranger!”

Michael lifted a hand to haphazardly to wave goodbye.

“What was that about?”

“I told ya man, nothin’. Just going over some plans we’re making.”

“Is it about that special event being held there?”

“How you know about that?”

“Mandy told me.”

“Mandy… yeah. Figures as much.”

“She got an invite, and wants me to go as her plus one. I don’t know if I really wanna go though, I’m still pretty unfamiliar with all this.”

“Trust me, you don’t.”

“Seriously, what is your beef with those guys?”

“I told you, they start shit when they want. Taught ‘em a lesson and that was it. Nearly got me banned from this place, but it was kinda worth the looks on their faces.”

“You are.. quite peculiar y’know. Anyway, you mind showing more of that music? I was honestly gettin’ a kick outta it.”

“Uh, yeah.”

He sat back down next to Michael, handing him the same earbud as before. He clicked on one of his favorite Crystal Castles songs, Vanished. As they were listening, Michael furrowed his eyebrows.

“Hey wait a minute.. I think I’ve heard this before.”

“You have? I thought you didn’t know them.”

“No, I mean yeah I haven’t, but that’s not it. The lyrics. Vocals. I’ve heard them in a different song.”

“Oh.”

“Lemme think, lemme think, ah… I got it! Pass me your phone real quick.”

His fingers typed in the song title fast, pressing play right away. It was an indie rock song, much to Trevor’s dismay. But something stopped him from complaining, seeing how Michael’s face lit up.

“Yeah! This is it, Sex City by Van She. Y’know, I honestly think that’s neat.”

“What is?”

“The fact that a song you like, samples a song I like! Who would’ve guessed?” He said, eyes sparkling. Trevor didn’t notice how bright they were until now. The eye contact, along with the lack of space between them, made him feel stuffy again. He averted his eyes back to his phone, trying to loosen up a bit. As the song played, he savored in the sound, shocking himself a bit. The rock sound was there, but had an 80s sort of feel to it. The song finished before he knew it.

“So.. What’d ya think?”

“You know my thoughts on indie shit. Wasn’t for me, sorry.”

“Oh c’mon, you know you liked it.”

“Nope. Prefer Vanished.”

“Yeah, okay. Keep telling yourself that, but I honestly think they’re both really good. You think that too, I can feel it.”

“Whatever you say bro.”

He switched the song over to that Grimes song he listened to yesterday, the two of them sitting silently. It was a pleasant afternoon they shared. Suddenly Michael’s phone went off, and he yanked the earbud out.

“Ah shit. I gotta take this. Mandy.”

“Gotcha.”

Trevor grabbed the other earbud, putting it back in. He saw Michael wave his free hand around, looking close to hurling his phone right into the lake. Trevor assumed he must’ve been shouting as well, from the way other people were looking at him. Hanging up not much later, he returned to the bench, as Trevor put his earbuds away.

“Fuckin’ Christ.”

“So.. how’d it go?”

“She’s finally not mad at me anymore, but demanded I go take her shopping now. I swear, she’s gonna clear out my bank account or something.”

“How? You guys aren’t even dating.”

“I know, but I just can’t say no to her.”

“Uh huh.”

“Look, I’m sorry to leave so suddenly, but I really gotta go before she goes back to being pissed at me. See ya around?”

“I’ll be here man.”

Michael stood up, storming away. Seemed like he had a short temper, huh? He wondered to himself how long he was gonna stick around, seeing how Amanda’s dating history was… an extensive list. He thought back to last night, when he had seen that post of them, remembering the fact that no guy stayed for longer than a week. It almost made him bummed, seeing as he only had Ron and Wade for friends. Lester too, but that was on rare occasion. Shit. The plans. What time was it?

“Ah, fuck me.” He muttered. How did he let the day go by so quick?

He shot a text to Wade, telling him to grab Ron and meet at some icecream place. He did promise Wade after all.

Ron ended up meeting them there a little bit later, apologizing profusely before Trevor told him to just sit down and shut up. He did just that, almost apologizing once more.

“Now, let’s get down to business. Who do we know that would help us sneak into that club to cause sheer utter mayhem?”

Ron raised his hand excitedly.

“I could get Floyd maybe-”

“Definite fuckin’ no. He would have a heart attack the minute he set foot in there.”

This was getting nowhere. He tossed his head back to look up at the sky. As he did, he saw a couple walking out of the icecream place.

“Oh fucking hell.”

Was this guy following him or something? He snapped his head forward, trying to be a little more hidden.

“What? Trevor what is it?”

“Shh! Keep your fucking voice down Ron!”

He made all three of them lower their heads as the couple walked away, peeking over his shoulder to make sure they were gone. As he did, he could’ve sworn he saw Michael looking back at him. The both of them turned away as quick as possible from the split second of eye contact.

“Trevor?” Ron repeated.

“It was nothing. Just thought I saw someone.”

“Ain’t that the Michael fella I met today?”

“Nope. Don’t think it is.”

“Are ya sure-”

“Pretty fucking positive. Now, back on topic.”

The next hour or so still went nowhere. Wade had gone through two servings of icecream, and Ron started to get restless. Trevor was just bored.

“Ughhh there has to be something we can do!”

“I don’t know what to tell you Trevor. We’ll find someone, soon. There’s enough time isn’t there?”

“Yeah, but I’m not waitin’ til the last possible fuckin’ second to get a guy to help us out here.”

“But we still have time.”

“If you fuckin’ say so Ron.”

The three of them called it a night, as Trevor tossed around the idea of possibly getting Michael involved in his head. On one hand he wanted to out of spite just to make Amanda and the other hipsters mad, and on the other he didn’t want to screw up whatever new friendship he had started with Michael. Ron did say they had time to find someone soon. They weren’t exactly in a rush, but he still wanted to make sure their plan was concrete. They all went back to Wade’s, Trevor deciding to take a walk along the beach. He threw on the same playlist from earlier, watching the sunset. As he walked, he didn’t pay much mind to where he was going, bumping into someone.

“Ah fuck, watch where you’re going-”

“Shit, sorry man-”

As they spun around from the collision, he realized exactly who he had run into.

“Trevor?”

What the fuck?

“What the fuck? Are you following me or something?”

“Huh?”

“This is the third time I’ve seen you today. What are you even doing here?”

“Uh, it’s a public fuckin’ beach man.” He said, mocking the comment Trevor had made earlier.

“Don’t get smart with me.”

“Hey, I’m just tellin’ you how it is. I didn’t purposely search for you, hell I didn’t even know you lived this way.”

“I do. So make like a tree and fuck off.” He said bitterly.

“Woah, chill the fuck out. What’s your deal? I thought we were cool man.”

“I don’t like being followed.”

“I just told you I wasn’t!”

“It doesn’t exactly seem like it. You just so happen to look for me this morning, and just happen to go to the same icecream place I went, and then I find you here? I mean Jesus-”

“I’m telling you, it’s all purely coincidence.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Fuckin’ hell man..” He mumbled.

“Y’know, you’re as fuckin’ stubborn as Amanda is. I already told you-”

Trevor balled his fists, before jabbing a finger into Michael’s chest.

“Don’t fucking compare me to her.”

Michael threw his hands up defensively, not realizing he touched a nerve.

“Woah woah, easy dude. I didn’t think it was that bad between you guys.”

He exhaled loudly, unclenching his hands.

“It wasn’t. Isn’t. Just.. don’t compare me to her.”

Michael pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling hard himself.

“Look, I think you’re cool and all but you can’t flip out on me like that. I mean we are just getting to know each other y’know. I can’t have you wanting to bite my head off like that if I just so happen to keep running into you. I really am just trying to navigate the area better, so forgive me if I came off as some sorta fuckin’ stalker. Amanda went home and I had nothing better to do so I chose to walk over this way.”

“Hmph. Fine. Whatever.”

“So we good?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Now, since we’re already here why don’t we just hangout or something?”

Trevor folded his arms, trying to look like he didn’t want to spend another minute with him. It didn’t really work though, because he actually did want to talk to him more.

“If you insist.”

“Alrighty.”

The two of them started to head in the direction of the boardwalk, neither one speaking yet. After finding a bench to sit on as the sun sunk below the horizon, the silence was still there. This sort of thing was bizarre for both of them in different ways. Michael never really frequented these parts of LS, and Trevor never really hit it off with any kind of stranger. Ron and Wade were exceptions if anything, and he had known Lester for a while now. Yet there was something about this guy that didn’t make him feel like he was spending time with a stranger, even though he knew jack shit about him. He might as well try to make small talk.

“So I-”

“So uhh-”

They spoke over each other while trying to start up a conversation, making things feel a little more awkward.

“Shit sorry, you go first.”

“Nah nah you go.”

“Um. Okay. So.. tell me about yourself? We haven’t really talked about much besides music.”

“Yeah.. right. What do ya wanna know?”

“I just asked you to tell me about yourself, so it’s your job to decide what to say.”

Michael gave him a sardonic smile in response to that, partly because he wasn’t sure what to bring up about himself. It seemed like they were gonna be here a while if they wanted to say the most basic shit you say when getting to know someone.

“Well, I ain’t that interesting if you really need to know. I’m guessing you already know about my whole ‘affinity for the 80s’ thing, like the culture n shit that came from it. Real sick stuff.”

“If you say so.”

“Yeah. Anyway, if you really want to know plain shit about me though, I will tell ya that my favorite color’s blue.”

Trevor snickered at that.

“Pfft, seriously? We’re talking favorite colors now?”

“Hey man, you said you wanted to know more about me.”

“Uh yeah, but that’s so fuckin’ silly.”

“Maybe it is, but what about you? You got one?”

“Favorite color? You kiddin’?”

“I’m waiting..”

“Uh huh… I’ll give. Always liked the color red I guess. Like, in variety. Not picky about something as childish as that.”

“What’s childish about that?”

“Cuz only kids exchange that whole ‘oh what’s your favorite color?’ thing. It’s like if I were to ask you what your favorite dinosaur is.”

“Hmm.. I’d probably say a T-Rex.”

“Oh now you’re just pulling my dick. And no, I’m not telling you what mine is just because you did.”

“Hey, I didn’t ask you though. That was all you.”

“Mm… shut it.”

“You got one though?”

“I’m not telling you!”

“Ah ah, I didn’t ask which one, I asked if you had one.”

“Well I don’t, so knock it off.”

“That’s fair. I won’t push.”

They grew silent for the second time that night, before Trevor mumbled something under his breath.

“It’s a pterodactyl..”

“What was that?”

He forced a breath through his nose, acting annoyed.

“It’s a fuckin’ pterodactyl. That’s mine. Okay?”

“Hah, okay. Any reason why?”

“You’re so nosy.”

“You’re the one who started this conversation about getting to know each other man.”

“Ugh, I know that.” He said, lightly shoving his shoulder.

“I think it’s cool that they could fly and shit. I like flying.”

“You like flying?”

“Loved it.”

“Wait, you tellin’ me you fly? Like, planes and shit?”

Trevor winced at the words, regretting what he just said.

“I did.. at some point. Air Force shit. They said I was one of the best they’d seen in a while but I.. left. Sort of.”

“Then why’d you leave?”

“I didn’t exactly leave on my own accord. More or less got kicked out.”

“How come-”

“I don’t like talking about it. I know we’re opening up or whatever the fuck but that.. that’s still too soon for me to want to bring up. Especially to someone I barely know.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He said, even though it really wasn’t. It’s not like Michael knew though, he really wasn’t trying to prod in a bad way.

It was almost pitch black by the time their conversation got to that point, only distant streetlight and the nearby pier lighting up their surroundings. The whole mood had shifted, and both of them decided to just break it off there.

“Hey uh, I’ll probably see you tomorrow man. If I’m with Amanda I think I’ll just send a wave or something your way.”

“Got it. See ya.”

“Bye.”

Trevor stayed put, watching Michael leave as he turned down a random one way street. This guy was tripping him out and he couldn’t pin point why. It was getting late though, and walked off himself back to Wade’s. He’ll save that vexed question for another night.

//ahhhhhh i rlly did not know what i wanted to do with this….,,., sorry if this wasn’t as good as the first two !! i alrdy know i repeated a bunch of stuff in there and i feel like it got kinda sloppy so again, soz (including typos or whtevr)

but uhhhh anyway yeah i cut it off here bc i wanted to continue some of this shit in the next chapter ig lol,, more stuff to come soon god willing

[argylemnwrites]

Why Are We Still Waiting? - Chapter 3

Pairing: Drake Walker x MC (Riley Liu)

Book: The Royal Romance (It Couldn’t Wait Another Moment universe)

Word Count: ~4900

Rating: PG-13 (brief language)

Summary: A trip to meet the newest Beaumont isn’t off to the greatest start.

Author’s Note: So, since it has been ages since I updated this story, I feel like a quick recap is in order. Drake and Riley are in Cordonia to meet Savannah and Bertrand’s new baby girl, Caroline. They just met Liam’s new girlfriend, Iris, and her innocent questions about their postponed wedding made it clear that Drake is very frustrated by the fact they aren’t married yet. To catch up/jog your memory fully on this series, you can check out the It Couldn’t Wait Another Moment masterlist (link in bio).

“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Drake groaned as Riley reached forward to start scanning across the radio stations.

“What?” she asked. He noticed her give a tiny shrug out of the corner of his eye as she leaned back after settling on a Greek Top 40 station.

“I knew it. I swear you pick this one just to annoy me, Liu.” Drake had made the mistake of complaining about this particular station on one of their first trips back to Cordonia, right before she’d gone back to university. It was all over-produced and sugary, and the DJs were just fucking obnoxious. Of course, that last point probably didn’t actually bother Riley, since she couldn’t understand a word they said.

“Maybe I just like this station.” 

Drake glanced over and took in the giant shit-eating grin plastered across her face and just rolled his eyes. “Uh huh, sure. Let’s ignore the fact that this station plays a ton of songs in Greek.”

“I’m just trying to broaden my cultural horizons.”

“Says the woman who refused to watch Parasite because it has subtitles.’”

“If I wanted to read something, I would pick up a book,” she said, but she did lean forward again to flip over to a different station. 

“Thank you,” Drake said, clicking on the turn signal as he switched into the right lane.

“You make it too easy sometimes,” she said, Drake noticing that she shrugged a little out of the corner of his eye. “If you didn’t act like that station was pure torture, I probably wouldn’t enjoy it so much.”

All Drake could do was shake his head. “You know, some people might not be so open about liking something out of spite.”

“No, it’s not spite.” Drake glanced over and raised his eyebrows at that, so Riley elaborated. “Spite is mean-spirited. I know you like my teasing too much for it to be spite.”

“Really.” Drake deadpanned, although he wasn’t able to hold back his grin and fully play along.

“Uh huh. What other explanation is there for you hanging around me after all these years?”

“I can’t think of a single one,” he said, earning him a flick of her fingers against his shoulder.

“Well I guess I will have to keep teasing you then. Otherwise I might have to settle for a guy who would have made me get up before six this morning.”

Drake looked over at her at that. Even after years together, her ability to jump from intensely sarcastic to gently sincere in an instant still amazed him. Last night, Maxwell had called and offered to pick them up from the palace after dropping off Mom and Aunt Leona at the airport, but they had a very early departure time. Drake had turned him down, feeling like it would be a shitty move to force Riley to wake up early on vacation, particularly since she never complained about using her limited vacation days to visit his family. Yet here she was, appreciative of his gesture that cost him nothing.

“Maybe I just didn’t want to spend two hours in the car with Maxwell.”

She let out a laugh at that. “Well, at least I rank as better company in your book.”

“Always, Liu. Always.”

“Seriously though, thank you.”

“Of course.”

Her left hand settled on his shoulder and gave him a little squeeze at that, but she didn’t say anything else, just glanced out the window as Drake turned off the main road and onto the smaller one that led to the Beaumont’s estate. Within a few minutes, they were pulling onto the driveway. As they climbed out of the car, they heard an excited little voice calling from the direction of the estate’s entrance. 

“Uncle Drake!”

Drake closed the driver’s door and pivoted around quickly, crouching down and extending his arms. Bartie ran across the drive and threw his little arms around Drake’s neck, laughing as Drake scooped him up and hugged him tightly. 

“We saw your car diving! I wanted to go out. Say ‘hi’ like Mommy or Daddy. Uncle Maxwell said I had to stay inside. Had to stand still ‘til you stopped,” Bartie rambled off, barely taking time to take a breath. 

“Thought that a little toddler darting in front of the car might not be the best start to your visit,” added Maxwell, strolling over to their car. “Hey, little blossom,” he added as he hugged Riley.

“Oh, you don’t get to just ‘little blossom’ me after you convinced Liam to keep me away!” she chuckled as she gave him a playful shove. “What happened to me being a Beaumont and always welcome here?”

“He told you guys?” Maxwell asked, turning to glance at Drake.

“Of course he did!” Riley said, drawing Maxwell’s attention back to her. She laughed a bit and shook her head before walking around the car to Drake and Bartie. “Hey, Bartie! Wow, you’ve gotten so big!” Drake passed Bartie over to her, watching as she gave him a squeeze, but Bartie started squirming in her arms, clearly wanting to be released from the obligatory hugs.

Riley placed him down, and he turned right back to Drake, grabbing his hand and tugging on it. “Uncle Drake, come see my new playhouse!” he said, attempting to drag Drake along after him as he started moving back towards the estate.

“Hey, my favorite dude, do you remember why Aunt Riley and Uncle Drake are here?” Maxwell said, crouching in front of Bartie. 

Bartie kicked his foot against the driveway before he answered. “Everyone wants to see Caroline. But she’s boring. She doesn’t do anything!”

Drake was trying to figure out the best way to deal with his nephew’s clear jealousy, but Riley stepped forward and bent down next to Maxwell. “I would love to see your playhouse, Bartie.”

“What do you say?” added Maxwell. “Why don’t we show Aunt Riley while Uncle Drake goes to see your mom and dad and sister?”

Bartie was silent for a few moments, but then nodded, grabbing Riley and Maxwell’s hands and heading inside without a glance back. Maxwell chuckled, twisted around, and called out to Drake, “You remember where the nursery is, right?”

Drake nodded and raised a hand in acknowledgment, taking the time to pop the trunk and grab their luggage before venturing inside himself. He went straight upstairs, pausing only to place their bags in their usual room, before heading down the hall, turning to the left and entering the private quarters, making his way to the small room located all the way towards the end of the hallway, the last door on the right.

It seemed like just yesterday he was building a crib in there for Bartie when Savannah was moving in. The room looked much the same, the walls still a pale grey, the furniture all pure white. The layout hadn’t changed much, with the crib placed against the far wall beneath a painting of stars shining over a lake with a squid waving a tentacle in the air, the changing table right next to it, and the dresser next to the rocking chair in the corner. The only thing that looked different, as far as Drake could remember, was the sheet tucked around the crib mattress. Back when this had been Bartie’s room, the sheets were covered in a variety of zoo animals, the only splash of color in the otherwise greyscale nursery. Now, they were a black and white check, much more subdued.

Laying in the center of the crib, wrapped tightly in a light pink blanket, was a sleeping baby. Drake didn’t have a lot of experience with infants, but even he had heard you never wake a sleeping baby, so he stepped further into the room carefully, trying not to make a sound. When he reached the crib, he couldn’t help but stare. This was Caroline. His niece.

He wasn’t sure how long he stood there, just taking her in, but eventually Savannah’s voice caught his attention.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s a bit creepy to just sneak into someone’s home and watch their child sleep?”

Drake turned his head to look over his shoulder. His sister was standing in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest, an eyebrow cocked. “Hey, Sav. Maxwell sent me up here.”

“I should have known,” she said, walking over to join him by the crib, wrapping an arm around his waist as she gave him a half-hug. “I see you’ve met Caroline.”

“She’s beautiful,” Drake said, looking down again at the little baby in the crib, a few fine brown hairs covering her head. His niece. She was so tiny. It was kind of overwhelming, seeing her like this. When he’d met Bartie, it had been such a total shock that he even existed. Plus, he had been so much older than this. “Congratulations.”

“You can pick her up, you know.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to disturb her.”

Savannah let out a few little chuckles. “She is the one who disturbs everyone most of the time. Besides, she’s just about due for a feeding.”

“I don’t know…”

“Come on, Drake. Just go wash your hands, and then you can hold her.”

And so a minute later, Drake found himself being handed his niece, so small and fragile-seeming. “Is this okay?” he asked, trying to make sure he walked the fine line between being gentle and holding her firmly as he tucked her against his chest.

“You aren’t going to hurt her!” Savannah laughed out.

“I just… I’ve never held a baby this little before. I don’t want to mess this up,” Drake said. Caroline felt so light in his arms. She was blinking, slowly becoming more alert after being shifted from her crib. Her bluish-grey eyes finally seemed to lock on his. “Hey, Caroline,” he said, “I’m your Uncle Drake.” But before he could think of anything else to say, she opened her mouth and let out a piercing wail.

Drake glanced over at Savannah. “What do I do?”

She laughed again. “God, what is Riley going to do with you when it’s your kid? She’s a baby, not an alien. She’s either hungry, sleepy, or has a dirty diaper.” But before she could poke fun at him any further, she reached over and shifted Caroline into her arms. “And since she’s hungry, I’m really the only one who can handle that.”

“Oh, do you want privacy or should I…”

Savannah shrugged. “I use a nursing blanket since Barthelemy walked in on me and made things real awkward.” And with that she settled onto the rocking chair, adjusting her top, positioning Caroline, then tugging a little cover over herself.

“What did Barthelemy do?” Drake asked as he moved to the side wall, leaning against it.

“Just acted real weird about the whole thing, talked to Bert about reminding me how a duchess should comport herself.”

“What a jackass.”

Savannah let out a sigh. “Bertrand was very apologetic when he relayed the message. But using a nursing blanket is not a big deal, and if it makes things easier for Bert with his dad…” She trailed off, staring down at Caroline, reaching under the nursing blanket to adjust something before she spoke again. “Having him around here has not exactly been some big happy family. I don’t know if his illness changed him, or if my memories of him were just fuzzy, but he’s an odd duck.”

Drake glanced over to the doorway. “Uhh, Sav. Not that I care, but the door is wide open and-”

She laughed and shook her head. “He’s at his rehab and physical therapy appointment this morning.”

“Ahh, gotcha. Any more talk of him trying to regain the title of duke?” Back when Barthelemy had returned to the estate, Sav had confided that it seemed like he was hinting that Bertrand should renounce his title and return it to his father. But since their wedding, it had seemed like most of that talk had died.

“No, he and Godfrey laid on the pressure after the honeymoon, but as soon as we announced the pregnancy, he backed off. His new mission seems to be to convince Liam that either Bartie or Caroline should be appointed as heir to the throne, which is crazy to think about, but it keeps him busy, so…” Savannah tilted her head to the side and raised her eyebrows, letting the thought just hang there in the room. 

Drake was bothered by the implications of that statement, but he knew that pressing Savannah on it would not really get him anywhere. As inappropriate and concerning as he found the implication that Savannah and Bertrand weren’t shutting Barthelemy down completely with that shit, he knew voicing his objections now would not solve anything. Discussing this all with Liam would make much more sense. So he just filed the statement away and moved to change the subject.

“Is it easier this time around, knowing what you are doing?”

Savannah smiled before glancing down at Caroline. “I think it’s more that I have a support system. And yes, I know it was my choice to not have one before,” she added before Drake could interject. “I guess in some ways at least I know what to expect, but Caroline is way more cranky than Bartie was at this age. Besides, I don’t think any parent ever really feels like they know what they are doing.”

“Nah, you seem to have it down.”

“It’s just a lot of trial and error. You’ll see when you guys have a baby.”

Drake ran his hand across his jaw, glancing down and watching his toes nudge into the baseboard. “I have a feeling that’s gonna be a while for us.”

“Oh come on! Don’t you want your kids to grow up with their cousins?”

Drake swallowed before taking a breath. “Of course I do.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

“Well, getting married to start.” Shit. “Not that I think people have to be married to raise a kid or-”

“Relax, Drake,” Savannah said, cutting off his apologetic ramble. “It’s not like Bartie was a planned pregnancy.”

“Neither was Caroline,” he thought, but kept his mouth shut, not wanting to risk offending his sister or make her feel like he was judging her and her family. 

“I know you have an old-fashioned streak-”

“Hey!” Drake interjected, but Savannah just kept on going.

“-but I think you guys should think about having kids soon. You were going to be married by now anyway! And isn’t that the modern, New York thing to do?”

Drake didn’t know where all this was coming from. Why she was so insistent about something that didn’t involve her. But man, he wished she would move on to any other topic of conversation. Because what could he say? That he was ready to be married with kids? That he would have no problem starting a family with Riley tomorrow? He couldn’t share that with his sister, at least not without sharing things about Riley he was pretty confident she would never want Savannah to know.

The fact that she had decided on a birth control option that would last for three years made it pretty clear where her head was at with the whole kid thing. She wasn’t really ready, not by a long shot. And until she was ready, there was really nothing he could do about it. Drake was just going to have to wait until she felt like the time was right, whenever that might be.

Maybe it was just that he was four years older than her. Maybe that’s why he felt so ready to take those next steps when she seemed so unbothered, so willing to just roll along. And to be fair, it’s not like they were ever going to be a couple like Hana and Catherine, who had timelines and life plans and five year goals. But deep down, Drake couldn’t help but wonder why Riley seemed so ambivalent about them getting married and starting a family. Was she unsure about something in their relationship, unsure about something with him?

It’s not that she didn’t want kids ever, as far as he knew. She’d mentioned wanting kids before. And they’d planned that first wedding without issue. But now it seemed like she was stuck. No rush to get married. Not thinking about having kids for years. And Drake didn’t know how to approach the whole topic without seeming like he was demanding things. Putting pressure on her. He was happy. They were happy. It was something his younger self would have never thought possible, and it should definitely be enough. But maybe he was selfish, because there were times where it just didn’t feel like enough.

Maybe it would be helpful to talk to someone about this, but that would feel like violating Riley’s trust. He knew Riley had her therapist she talked to, and he was sure their relationship was a topic of conversation there, but that was different. The therapist wasn’t someone who knew Drake, who was his friend or family. Anyone Drake would feel comfortable talking about this with knew Riley. Knew her well, quite frankly. 

So for now, he was just going to have to keep moving forward. Keep hoping that Riley would start to feel ready soon. And at the moment, that meant sidestepping his sister’s questions and prodding.

“Geez, Sav! We haven’t even been here for an hour, and you are laying it on really thick.”

“Sorry, sorry! I know it’s not my business! If it makes you feel better, it’s not just with you. Kiara also told me I needed to back off when I started asking her about when she and Oliver were going to have kids right after their wedding.”

“Wait, when did Kiara get married?”

“Oh, Drake! At least you have an excuse for not knowing all the news now that you live abroad.” she said, shaking her head. “They eloped maybe… four months ago?”

And then Savannah was off, filling Drake in on tons of gossip he didn’t give two shits about. But it made her happy, and it was a safe topic of conversation, so who was he to complain?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Riley sat crossed legged on the floor in Bartie’s room at a little table, Maxwell seated across from her. Meanwhile, Bartie was hard at work at his toy kitchen set, organizing pieces of plastic food on plates. He wanted to show off and make “lunch” for them. Riley supposed that this was probably a common way for a three and a half year old to want to play, not that she had any such memories from her own childhood. What wasn’t common, she was sure, was the formal table setting Bartie had carefully placed in front of each of them, the perfectly pressed white apron he’d asked Maxwell to help him tie on, or the fact that he was arranging his plastic lettuce, eggs, and meat on actual china.

“Looks excellent, my favorite dude,” said Maxwell as Bartie carefully carried over several plates to the table. “What’s on the menu?”

“Steak tartare with a fresh greens salad,” he said before turning and heading back towards his little kitchen.

“Wait, aren’t you going to join us?” asked Riley, trying to keep from bursting out in laughter at the thought of a preschooler preparing such a meal.

“Aunt Riley, no aprons at the table!” he said his eyes wide as he turned back to face her.

“Yeah, come on Aunt Riley, where are your manners?” Maxwell winked before twisting to look over at Bartie. “You need any help untying your apron there?”

“No, I can do it,” Bartie ground out, tugging on the ties without much luck.

“Okay, well I’m right here if you do need help,” Maxwell responded. Within five seconds, Bartie was back, standing right next to him.

“Thanks, Uncle Maxwell!” he said, happily pulling the apron off and jogging over to hang it up nicely once Maxwell had it untied.

“You’re working hard to maintain your title as best uncle.” Riley said.

“Every time you guys come to visit, he suddenly wants to go fishing and camping instead of having dance parties with me.”

Riley laughed at that. “We’re new and exciting, what can I say.”

“Easy for you to say, you’re the favorite aunt by default.”

“What does default mean?” asked Bartie, plopping down on the floor next to them.

“It means no other choices, dude.”

“Oh,” Bartie said, nodding before picking up his silverware, pretending to cut into the plastic in front of him with surprising coordination.

“So has Uncle Maxwell been hanging out with you a lot since your sister came home?”

Bartie shrugged. “I guess.”

“We’ve definitely been seeing some jealousy,” Maxwell said with a nod. “I kind of thought this might happen, so I made sure to clear my schedule for a handful of weeks around the due date.”

“That was thoughtful of you.”

Maxwell tilted his head to the side and smiled. “Hey, I’m favorite uncle for a reason.”

“Uncle Drake is my favorite,” said Bartie, causing Riley to burst out laughing.

“Dude, that wasn’t the deal! You’re gonna pay for this,” Maxwell said, leaning over and wiggling his fingers. “The squid’s about to attack.” With that, Maxwell started tickling Bartie, triggering wild giggles and Bartie rolling backwards on the floor.

“Bartie!” Bertrand’s voice cut across the room. Riley twisted over to find him standing in the hallway, his eyes scanning over the scene in front of him. “We don’t make our guests sit on the floor, do we?”

“No, Daddy.”

“Bertrand, it’s fine-” Riley started, but he held up a hand, cutting her off.

“What do we say, Bartie?”

“Sorry, Aunt Riley.”

All Riley could do was nod, accepting an apology from a toddler that felt entirely unnecessary.

“Good,” said Bertrand, “Now go wash your hands and get cleaned up for lunch.”

Bartie scampered out of the room, turning to his left in the hallway.

“I offered to play with him, Bertrand.”

“Well, he was told that you were coming to visit Caroline. He should have known better than to monopolize your time.”

Riley opened her mouth, ready to respond, but Maxwell grabbed her wrist and shook his head. 

“How are you, by the way? I apologize for not being there to greet you and Drake.”

“I’m good, Bertrand,” she said as she pushed herself up on her feet, walking over and giving him a loose hug. “Congrats, by the way.”

“Yes, thank you. Drake and Savannah have Caroline in the private lounge if you want to go meet her. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go check and make sure Bartie isn’t making a complete mess in the bathroom.”

And with that, Bertrand was off, following the path down the hallway that his son had just taken.

“Yikes,” said Riley as soon as he was out of earshot.

“Yeah, I know,” replied Maxwell, looping his arm around her shoulders and guiding her in the opposite direction. “That is another reason I made sure I didn’t have any need to be on set or in LA for any writers meetings for a few months.”

“He’s more of a tight ass than ever.”

“I think he’s very anxious because he missed this part of Bartie’s life. The amount of research he did and the number of parenting books he read is insane. But any time any little thing isn’t what he expects, he flips out.”

“What does Savannah think about that?” Riley asked, following Maxwell down the stairs.

“Either she’s too sleep deprived to notice, or she’s just pretending not to see it. I decided to give him two months to settle into things. If he’s still snapping at everyone then, well… I guess I’ll have to stage an intervention or something.”

“Wow. Well at least you’re here to look out for the kid.”

“Yup, figure I can keep things normal-ish for him. Though I will say between watching Bertrand spiral and hearing Caroline’s shrieks, any faint consideration I might have given to parenthood has gone straight out the window.”

Riley laughed, prompting Maxwell to keep going. “I’m serious! I know I told you I was pretty sure I was good being the fun uncle, but these past few weeks have really locked in that decision. Don’t tell anyone I told you this, but Bartie is right - Caroline is boring. And loud. And I am so glad she is not my responsibility.”

All Riley could do was laugh more. “Do you need me to make up an excuse for you so you don’t need to be in the same room with her?”

Maxwell nudged her with his shoulder. “Oh, laugh it up! I don’t have any issues with her. She just confirmed that fatherhood is not for me, no matter how cute she is when she isn’t screaming her head off.”

At that point, they entered the lounge, so Riley dropped any further teasing she had for Maxwell. “Hey, Savannah. Congrats!” she said, walking across the room and giving her a hug.

“Thank you, Riley. It’s so good to see you!” Savannah replied as they pulled apart. Riley moved to sit down next to Drake on the couch, who was cradling a baby against his shoulder.

“This must be Caroline,” she said, watching as Drake tapped his hand against her back lightly.

“Either that or I have a lot of explaining to do,” Drake said, glancing over at her. Riley just smiled and nudged him lightly with her elbow.

“Drake, why don’t you let Riley hold her?” Savannah asked. “She should get to meet her aunt, too.”

“Do you want to?” Drake asked, his eyebrows raised.

“Of course,” said Riley, reaching over and helping him peel the tiny little girl off his chest, nestling her into her own arms.

Caroline was awake, her eyes roving around as Riley shifted back onto the couch more fully to try and get comfortable. After a few seconds, they seemed to settle on Riley’s face. All she could really do was stare back, taking in this child, this baby girl who might not have been planned, but would certainly be loved by so many.

“Yeah, I know I’m a stranger right now. But in a couple of decades, I’ll be the one you come to when you want nightclub recommendations in New York City.”

“Hey, I want in on that invite,” said Maxwell as Savannah let out a few chuckles. Riley glanced over at Drake, expecting him to be rolling his eyes or shaking his head, but instead was caught off guard by the intensity of his gaze. He was staring at her holding Caroline with such passion, such longing, she felt almost exposed. All she could think to do was drop her eyes back to the baby, not wanting to dwell on what that meant at that moment.

Unfortunately, Savannah must have noticed Drake as well, because she said, “Oh, I see that look. ‘A while’ my ass. I bet you’ll be pregnant by the end of the year.”

Drake let out a sort of sputtering cough at his sister’s comment, but before he could say anything, could so much as get a word out, Riley felt her own mouth opening. Her own response spilled out so glibly, without a second of thought. It was almost like she heard someone else saying the words, even as she knew she was the one speaking.

“Don’t give him any ideas.”

She felt Drake stiffen beside her, saw Maxwell shifting in his seat, and heard Savannah mutter out a little apology, but all of that was just background noise as her brain screamed at her. How could she have been so fucking stupid? What possessed her to say that? Or at least to phrase it like that? There were ways to shut down Savannah’s prying without implying that Drake had baby fever and she wanted no part of it.

The uncomfortable silence in the room was broken as Bertrand and Bartie entered. “Lunch is ready in the dining room,” said Bertrand, gesturing to the door behind him. Bertrand then stepped over to Riley. “I can go put her down,” he said, gesturing at his daughter still in Riley’s arms.

“Oh, sure thing,” said Riley, passing him Caroline before standing up. Savannah, Maxwell, and Bartie had already left the room, but Drake was still seated, his eyes locked on his knee that was bouncing up and down.

“Drake, I-” she started as soon as Bertrand had stepped out, extending her hand to help him to his feet. But Drake ignored the gesture, pushing his hands into the cushions of the couch instead.

“I’m hungry. Let’s just go eat, Riley.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t-.”

“It’s fine, Riley, Really. We can talk later” He nodded at her and started walking towards the door, leaving Riley to follow after him. And more than the brush off, more than his refusal to hold her hand, the fact that he’d not called her ‘Liu’ let her know that she had made a huge fucking mess.

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