#This is just how she was comforted by her bio parents

[f3ntime]

@ombrathefurry

Queen picked the vegan option of cannibalism with a gf that would probably beat the shit out of queen for being too close to bee

Also bestie almost killed Larry which is funny

[flareboi]

what if purple never calls him dad

[luckydxy]

"Uh oh :) does someone have Mommy / Daddy issues? :))"

[heartpascal]

i was born waiting

▹— joel miller x daughter!reader

▹— summary: you’ve been looking for your dad for as long as you can remember, is this really him?

▹— a/n: hi! i started writing this september ‘23, so it has. it’s been a WHILE. so if this seems jumpy / not consistent then that is why! sorry!!! i have done my best!!!

▹— warnings: canon-typical violence and themes, weapons, parental death, witnessing parental death, aka insane amounts of trauma, death in general, she/her pronouns, reader is biologically related to joel but no mentions of appearance, no mention of her bio mother’s appearance either, fantasising about being dead (sorry), all hurt zero comfort, attempted murder, unrealistic expectations of someone you never met — please let me know if ive missed anything!

▹— taglist: @rhymingtree @sleepygraves @wnstice (everything), @auggiesolovey @just-kaylaa @evyiione @lemonlaides @fariylixie0915  @faceache111 @randomhoex @canpillowscry @pedropascalsrealgf @star-wars-lover @coolchick333 @soobsdior @rvjaa @sunflowersdrop @definitely-not-a-seagull-i-swear @miss-celestial-being @hqkon

MASTERLIST

∘₊✧───── ───── ───── ─────✧₊∘

There are certain things from your childhood that you can remember vividly. Though, really, childhood is a bit of a stretch, isn’t it? It’s hard to find the right word to encompass the way you had grown up, because you didn’t have much of a chance to actually grow.

From the moment you had been born, your life was a battle of staying alive to see another day.

That’s not to say that your mother didn’t do her best for you, obviously. But it was hard to raise a child as a child in the midst of a global apocalypse. You were bound to end up the way you did — moulded and hardened by the world around you, by having to pick up a gun at seven years old and use it to protect your mother. By never putting that gun back down.

For the past few years, you had known your mother was suffering. The world had been anything but kind to her, and age was hitting her harder than she had expected. More than the physical aspect, you knew it had been destroying her, the fact that you were now the one protecting her and not the other way around.

But what choice did you have? Her aging body had left her fragile, prone to falling and breaking even more frail bones. You could see the strain on her muscles, as they slowly decayed and shrunk, until they were barely there at all. You couldn’t let her carry the burden for you anymore, because you knew her body couldn’t handle it.

You had been preparing yourself for that moment, though. Making sure that you were ready, that you were strong enough for the both of you, strong enough to shoulder the burden she had been carrying for years.

When you were growing up, your mother had told you tales of your father.

She had told you all about how strong he had been, how he had been the best man she had ever known. She told you how he had cared for his daughter before you, how he had been the best father to that girl. When you were old enough to comprehend these things, you’d asked what had happened to him. “Is dad dead?” You had asked her, watching the way her face fell.

“I don’t know, honey. I hope not.” She had responded, smiling sadly at you, and patting her hand against your cheek.

It was hard for you to let go of that.

The uncertainty had haunted you for the rest of your life since that very moment, leaving you wondering for hours at a time where he could possibly be, why he would ever leave your mother to carry this responsibility alone. And in your more selfish moments, you couldn’t help but wonder why he wasn’t here to care for you as he had his daughter before you.

For a long time, you had convinced yourself that he was dead, despite what your mother hoped. And sure, you felt that loss, something like mourning weighing you down, but it was the only way you felt you could accept his absence. He had to be dead, because otherwise, why wasn’t he here?

But as you grew up, getting taller, stronger, you felt like you could rationalise his absence even if he wasn’t dead. After all, the apocalypse wasn’t exactly family friendly. You figured that if your mother didn’t know whether or not your dad was alive, that the same could go for him. He might just think that you and your mom died, years ago. After all, how many pregnant women survived the end of the world?

You have a feeling that the answer would have to be not many.

So, really, you and your mother being alive by now was nothing short of a miracle. It was a testament to your mother’s strength, her ability. She had succeeded where so many others had failed, and she had managed to keep both herself and you alive.

It’s a bitter kind of irony that you can’t do the same.

The last dredges of autumn fall away, leading into the coldest and harshest part of the year. Winter is hard — it’s full to the brim with fresh Infected, the ones not yet frozen solid, and resources are more scarce than ever. And this winter feels like something tangible, something which sends unending waves of dread through you.

Your mother gets weaker by the day, spending more time resting than moving, and you spend as much time as you can keeping her warm, finding food and water and pain relief for her broken arm that didn’t heal right. She’s exhausted, you can see it in her face, in her every movement. And you’re pretty sure it’s not just from the lack of rest. She watches you with dulled eyes, something like heartbreak reflecting in them.

For a long time, you pretend not to notice.

You pretend that you don’t see the way she lags behind, just watching you move away from her with speed she can’t quite manage any longer. You pretend that you don’t see the way she hesitates before taking her painkillers, or her food, or the last sip of water.

This year, the winter brings something worse than the cold. A bug, spreading across the state in a way that was familiar to so many. Not quite the Infection, but still able to take out people with ease.

When your mother catches it, you physically felt your heart clench in your chest. You felt it squeezing all of the blood around your body so quickly that you became dizzy with it. There’s a panic so deep that you can’t climb your way out of it. For days, weeks, you’re certain that you’ve lost her. That after everything, everything you’ve done, everything the two of you have been through, a cold would be the end of it all.

But then, she gets better.

The little strength she had before the sickness returns to her, bringing some colour back to her skin, some ease back to her breathing.

Religion wasn’t a thing in the apocalypse. Not really. But if you had believed in God, you would’ve thanked every one that might’ve existed for giving you this. This miracle. This small mercy.

The two of you are in an abandoned barn when it happens.

You’re dozing away, not quite asleep, but not awake either, when you hear the sound of old hay crunching underneath boots. If you weren’t so familiar with the lightness of your mother’s footsteps, you might’ve passed it off as her wandering. But these boots are heavy. They’re purposeful.

The gun in your hand means nothing when you jerk upwards, eyes snapping open and squinting through the light let into the barn by the rising winter sun. It’s an image that has since been ingrained into the back of your skull, replaying each time you close your eyes.

There, right in front of you, is your mother.

Behind her, a man, a gun pressed to the back of her skull.

Your stomach lurched suddenly in that moment, the small rationed dinner you had before dozing off trying to rise to the back of your throat, trying to race the rapid beating of your heart to see which would kill you first.

“Put down the gun.” He said, voice cold, throat dry from the winter air. The sound of his voice is printed in the base of your brain, echoing every time things around you still, go quiet.

He could be bluffing, you thought in the moment. His gun could be unloaded. It didn’t take you long to notice that the safety was off, but in those few moments, he had pressed the end of it harder into your mother’s head. You dropped the gun to the floor without another moment of thought.

You were nauseous, waiting to wake up, to realise this was all some twisted nightmare.

But you could see a look in your mother’s eyes. Acceptance. Defeat. It was almost familiar to you, so closely related to the look she had been giving you for months.

All this time, she had just been waiting to die. Waiting for something to come along and kill her off, to free you from having to take care of her. She knew that if it was up to you, that you would look after her for the rest of your goddamn life. If she lived any longer, she might just live long enough to see you die.

“Slide it over.”

You barely registered the cold pinch of metal against your palm as you pushed the gun away from you, sending it skittering over the rough ground and into the side of an old hay bale.

“Now your pack.”

There was a numbness to you as you gripped the backpack you had been leaning against, and chucked it towards where he stood behind your mother. It hit the front of his boot, but his eyes didn’t stray from where he stared at you.

“Turn around.”

You stared at him, teeth gritted together.

“No.”

There was a beat where both him and your mother just watched you. And then the surprise flickered across his face, apparently not expecting any resistance from you.

“Turn. Around.” He told you, firmer this time.

“No.”

“Okay then,” He relented, after a moment of consideration. His eyes drifted down towards your mother, who stared forwards at you. “This your daughter?” He asked, jerking his head towards you despite knowing your mother couldn’t see the movement.

“Yes, she is,” Your mother said, voice shaking, her breath clouding in front of her face as it reached the cold air. “Please, just let her be.”

He hummed, dropping his free hand down to rest heavily on your mother’s shoulder, his fingers clamping around it and not helping the way she trembled.

“So, your momma, huh?” He asked you, a smirk drawing up his face, showing smile lines around his murky blue eyes. His hair rustled in the wind, a piece falling down across his forehead. He stared at you, and you stared at him, not daring to say a word, still hoping that this whole thing was a dream. Muscles in his cheek twitched, pulling his skin taut and showing a scar across his left cheekbone. “Good.”

There was a moment where the sound didn’t register. A moment where you didn’t even realise it was your mother when the body slumped forwards. A mere moment where you didn’t think about it being her blood that splattered across your face.

The moments after that though, become blurry, hazed over, and you’re not sure it actually ever hit you that the body before you was your mother.

You’ve always had a hard time remembering that bodies were once people, that they once had lives and loved ones and thoughts and feelings. That they weren’t just bodies. So seeing her like that, as a body, not her, was wrong on so many levels. It didn’t feel real. Nothing did.

You heard the second gunshot, just a moment later, followed by a snickering laugh that you would never forget, before the pain bloomed in you.

It was buried by the shock, the complete disbelief, and you only felt the pain for mere seconds.

His gun — the one that killed your mother — was whacked across the side of your head a moment after, and that was the end of that.

∘₊✧───── ───── ───── ─────✧₊∘

Three months passed by, judging by the way the seasons turned, and you were on your own.

It was a strange feeling, really. Throughout the entirety of your life, you had never actually been alone. At least, not really. Your mother was always a small ways away, a mere shout from running to you. There had never been any true distance between the two of you until that day.

A sort of ache claws your throat each day, when you realise that it’s easier like this.

The only back you have to watch is your own, the only life you have to worry about belongs to you, and you have nothing to lose in this world. There was no terrible outcome if you were caught. Nobody else would be hurt, or suffer because of it. And you’re less likely to be caught now, when you don’t have your mother slowing you down. You don’t have to stop for the frequent rest breaks she needed, you can try to outrun Infected without worrying about someone lagging behind, and you only have yourself to feed.

If your mother had known how much easier survival was when alone, you hope that she would’ve abandoned you at birth. Because perhaps, without the burden of you upon her shoulders, she wouldn’t have fallen apart so quickly.

Sometimes, you like to think of a world where she was spared all of this. Never pregnant with you, for a start. So when the infection broke out, she would’ve only had herself to worry about. You think that maybe, one day, she would’ve been able to reunite with your father. If she hadn’t been carrying a child, she would’ve been able to manage the journey to where she believed him to be. You look at the picture that had been in the pocket of her coat for your whole life, the papers folded and clipped to the back of it, one word underlined: Boston.

You had reached a store in the weeks after that day, and when you found a map, it wasn’t difficult to notice that the direction the two of you had been heading in was to that very city.

It’s a long shot. More than a long shot, really, but you find yourself continuing in that direction regardless. You don’t know what you hope to find in Boston, whether it was your dad, or the man who had killed your mother, or perhaps just somewhere to take shelter for a while. You try not to hope for anything. You try not to focus on the fact that you might not even make it that far.

It keeps you up for days.

The uncertainty of it. The unknown. The fact that you’re walking your way to a city you know nothing about, almost certain that your mother’s killer was already there, and more than that, consumed by a fever that might kill you regardless of the where the journey took you.

The only sleep you get results in fever dreams, rippling, warping images that make your perception falter, feeling all too real until you notice that it’s not. And when you do wake up from them, it’s as if you haven’t slept at all. An exhaustion weighs heavily upon you, and your shoulders hunch over with it. There’s almost nothing you wouldn’t do to get rid of that endless feeling.

You hope—or wish, maybe— that if you reach Boston, the journey there will have tired you out so much that your body will have no choice but to rest. It’s a distant thought in your mind, though. You’re almost certain you won’t make it that far, because if the fever doesn’t get you, surely the Infected will.

It’s not as though you’re trying to get killed. But there is a kind of peace that comes with the thought. There’s an idea of rest behind it, hiding within the shadowy depths that make you scared. Would not having to fight in order to survive really be so terrible? You have this image in mind, of a never ending blackness, a void, somewhere that your thoughts and worries can just fizzle away. The small part of your fever-fried brain that has retained its rationality reminds you of the unknown. It reminds you that death could be worse than this.

You don’t like the thought. Not after that day. It’s a shuddering feeling, wondering if your mother is in some kind of unreachable hell.

By the time you’re even close to Boston, a few hours out at most, you’re out of ammo in the gun you’d found along the way. Out of food rations. No knife, no resources. You’re barely standing on two legs, kept up by the adrenaline, the knowledge alone that you’re this close.

When the tall walls of the QZ finally come into view, you start to feel some amount of hope. Which is a dangerous thing, but especially in a situation as dire as your own. You couldn’t afford any adrenaline fading, couldn’t afford to lose your cautious nature. You couldn’t make a mistake. One wrong move, one slight misstep, and you’d be as dead as your mother. Or worse, infected. Though this close to a QZ, you had some amount of relief at the knowledge that they should’ve cleared out any nearby infected. Runners, and clickers alike.

Your steps don’t falter for a moment. Partly because of your worry about the fever taking you out, but mostly because you’re certain that the FEDRA guards on watch on top of the wall will have spotted you, and you don’t want them to think you’re Infected, just because of your sickly appearance, and shoot on sight. Though, with FEDRA’s track record, it wouldn’t surprise you if they just shot you down regardless.

For a while, you’re not sure if you’re even awake, or if perhaps you were stuck in yet another fever dream. Everything felt so real and so not real simultaneously, it felt impossible to believe that you had actually made it.

Soldiers met you on your approach, calling out for you to get on the ground with your hands up. You called back some sort of response as you did so, practically collapsing to your knees and squeezing your eyes shut at the pain that followed. But despite all of it, despite the pain and the rough hands that grabbed you and pulled you forwards, through the gates and straight into a building, you had made it to Boston.

∘₊✧───── ───── ───── ─────✧₊∘

It was maybe three weeks into being a resident of the Boston QZ that you caught wind of him for the first time. Or, at the very least, somebody who might be him. You didn’t know how common the surname Miller was, being a child of the apocalypse, but you kind of hoped the answer was uncommon.

“Goddamn Miller, again.” A man had muttered as you walked through the trading market. You paused almost instantly, pretending to peruse the feeble amount of clothes a woman had to trade. “Said we gotta go through him and Tess if we want anything, as if we gotta listen to them.” He practically spat out, glaring around as he spoke to the woman beside him.

“They’re the most well established smugglers in the whole goddamn QZ. Don’t have to tell you how, do I?” She asked, sounding more annoyed with her companion than she was with whoever Miller and Tess were. “Joel is as nasty as they come, Darren. Don’t get on the wrong side of him.”

Your heart practically stuttered to a stop in your chest, and you had to remind yourself to keep breathing. Could it possibly be a coincidence? Could there be another Joel Miller? One who wasn’t your father? Sure, it was possible. Plausible, even, considering the fact that you had absolutely no idea if he was here. Not any concrete idea, anyway. Your mother had believed as much, but who was to say she was right?

Besides, whoever this Joel Miller was didn’t sound like the man your mother had told you about. As nasty as they come didn’t have any relation to the heroic and kind and amazing father and man your mother always spoke about. Though, you knew as well as anyone what the apocalypse could do to people.

Darren didn’t say anything else to his companion. So, after a few more moments, you continued on your way, making the journey to the tiny box apartment that FEDRA had elected to you.

But even as you got there, sitting down on the poor excuse of a mattress, you couldn’t shake the conversation out of your mind. After everything you had been through to get here, what was it all for? Could you really make this journey and just never try to find Joel Miller? Your father? You could still remember the anxiety that had come when you first arrived, when you were strapped into a chair and scanned for the fungus that had taken over so many. You didn’t know what you were more scared of: the idea that it would flash red, and you’d be killed, or the idea that it would be clear, and you’d be sent out into the QZ, where you may just find the other half of your DNA.

You don’t even know if you want to find out anything about him. Don’t know if you could face that, especially after losing your mother. That’s been the hardest thing since being here, since having your own place, the fact that you’ve gotten it all without her. It feels… empty. For your whole life, she had been there at your side, making every short stay at whatever accommodation you could find feel like home.

Plus, even if you did consider trying to find him, and if it was him those people were talking about, then who the hell was Tess? What if she got upset at your appearance, your claim as Joel Miller’s surviving child? You’re not sure you can lose another parent.

Sure — Joel Miller wasn’t exactly your dad, he couldn’t be classed as a parent in the way that your mother was, but if you never met him, that could’ve been for any number of reasons. He could be dead. He could’ve thought you and your mother were dead, all these years. You didn’t want to face a reality where you met him, and he wasn’t present for you and your mother because he didn’t want to be. You’d rather live your whole life thinking him six feet under, than know he was out there, and just didn’t care about you.

The more you think about it, the more certain you are that Boston was a mistake.

It would all be different if your mother was alive. If she had brought you here, if she had been the one to hear the chatter about Joel Miller, if she had been the one to seek him out. But she was dead, and the only living connection you had to Joel was, too. Hypothetically, if you did seek him out, you didn’t know enough about him to prove your claim as his child, and without your mother, how could you make him believe you?

They had been a family, once. They being Joel, your mother, and your deceased half sister. You’d heard the tale of how Joel and your mother had met, of how it took months for him to finally feel comfortable introducing her to his little girl. Hell, you had heard almost as much about Sarah as you had about Joel. Your mother had certainly adored his daughter, and you’re somewhat sure that they had planned to have you, despite Sarah already being a teenager.

You don’t want to have to mourn a family you had never actually had. Perhaps, Joel and Sarah were out there, living their lives certain that you and your mother were dead, just as you and your mother had done.

Not that any of this even mattered — you didn’t even know for sure if it was the same Joel Miller! And even if it was, it’s not like Boston QZ was small. There’s absolutely no chance you run into the man who might just be your dad. No way.

∘₊✧───── ───── ───── ─────✧₊∘

You find someone else, before you hear anything more about Joel Miller, and it immediately sends the thought of your biological dad to the very back of your mind.

After all, it’s not every day you see the man who murdered your mother.

It wasn’t exactly a surprise. You had guessed that this was the place he was heading, all those moons ago. But to actually see him, here, in the flesh, alive and well despite all of the pain and heartache and devastation he had caused you? It was surreal. You had to practically pinch your skin from your body to make yourself believe he was real.

And it only really hits you now, that this man killed your mother. You had been so focused on surviving, on living to see another day, on healing and moving and getting away from her body, buried in shallow dirt outside of some abandoned barn. You can vividly remember the strength it had taken to pry the frozen dirt from the ground.

Sure, you had felt the guilt over it, the guilt over the ease that came with surviving without her, guilt over your very existence, but you’re not sure you had ever actually grieved over her. Not sure if you had ever let yourself be sad, be angry, be anything about what had happened.

But now, seeing him, you feel… almost too much.

All of the rage and grief you had squashed in favour of surviving another day, all of the sadness and fear, all of it. It all comes rushing towards you at once, hitting you in the chest, winding you. You gasp for breath on the street, ducking away for a moment, gripping your chest like you could physically hold your heart steady.

When you look back out at the street, you see him as he nears the corner. Panic grips you at the thought of losing him, of never seeing him again, of failing to avenge your mother. You follow after him before you can think better of it.

It’s strangely easy. You fall back into the life of a hunter like it’s the most natural thing you’ve ever known — and maybe it is. You’re healed up, by now, or about as healed as anybody gets in this world, and your shoulder only bothers you when you move it too much. Even with that, you’re pretty sure that you could take the man on. Now that you’re not hazy with sleep, caught off guard, held back by any sort of earthly tether.

You’re strong. And despite FEDRA’s harsh reign, their dire consequences for rule-breaking, you have a switchblade stuffed into your shoe. You could do it. You could kill him.

There’s no question about it in your mind, especially as you follow him from a distance, and he remains none the wiser. He takes a left, and a moment later, so do you. He’s clueless. It’s almost painful that he was the one who managed to get the jump on you. How could you have let this man kill your mother?

He skids to a stop outside of a doorway, so you slide down the wall of the building opposite and listen. He pays you no mind as he knocks twice on the door.

“What d’you want, Colin?” The man who opened the door asked gruffly, seemingly inconvenienced by the man. He sounded tired, or out of it, maybe.

“I need the supply.” Colin answered, and the sound of his voice sent a shiver down the back of your neck. It echoed in your ears, the words he said that day. Good. Everything in you itched, like thousands of critters had dug into you and made a home scuttling around your insides. You wanted to kill him. You wanted to end his life, and you wanted to make it slow. Brutal. Painful. Even if it meant you were hung by FEDRA tomorrow morning. It’d be worth it.

The man at the door sighed, as if deeply bothered by getting Colin what he needed, and disappeared inside. He emerged a moment later, empty handed. “I’m all out. You’ll have to go across town tomorrow.” The man said flatly, saying nothing as Colin swore, before stepping away.

You ducked your head down as Colin passed, all too aware of the man in the doorway watching you suspiciously. After a moment, he sighed again, and retreated inside, slamming the door after himself. It took almost no time at all for you to push yourself back to your feet, and take off after the man who had left.

Despite your pounding footsteps against cracked concrete, he didn’t pay you any mind as you caught up to him. He seemed focused on getting to wherever it was that he was unknowingly leading you to, glancing up at the darkening sky every other step. FEDRA’s curfew would be coming into play soon enough.

To your disappointment, he walked into an apartment building, about three blocks away from your own. It seemed that, unless you were willing to risk being caught and stopped, today wasn’t the day you would be avenging your mother. You vowed that tomorrow you would do it. You would kill Colin. No matter what got in your way.

∘₊✧───── ───── ───── ─────✧₊∘

By the time curfew was lifted, you had been waiting by the exit of your building for an hour.

The switchblade in your shoe felt heavy with every step you took towards the home of your mother’s killer. It weighed almost as much as the picture in your pocket. All of it was heavy. But you acted as normally as you could manage, passing by patrolling FEDRA guards without them so much as glancing towards you.

You were waiting by his building when the door opened, when he stepped out, and headed determinedly in the opposite direction from which you had come. You followed without a moment of hesitation.

He made his way around town, trading with a few people on the side of the streets, handing them small wads of ration cards in favour of various items. Nothing dangerous, though. Not to you. He clearly was oblivious to your loitering figure, standing a few metres away, like some omen of death. Despite your shadow reaching for his shoes as the sun rose, he didn’t flinch.

It was irritating you, just how easy this was. You had been following the man for two days now, and he hadn’t even noticed. How had he gotten the drop on you? How had he managed to kill your mother? How had you allowed him the opportunity to do so?

There was nothing remotely special about him — no reason that he should have survived over your mother, no reason that he should have been granted mercy over the last twenty years. He didn’t deserve it. Not like your mother had. She had done the best she could, for years, for the only daughter in her care. And she had done it all alone. This man, Colin, he was alone, and he had no reason to hurt her. You were going to make sure he regretted it.

You loomed at the entrance of an alleyway as he walked down it, finally stopping at a dead end, leaning against the brick wall as if he was waiting for something. Or someone. You knew it wasn’t you he was waiting for, so you bided your time, cautious of someone happening upon the two of you. If they had business with him, they would care. If they didn’t, then nobody but FEDRA would care.

By the time you finally decided to move, almost an hour had passed, and Colin was facing away from you at the entrance of the alley, head pressed to the bricks.

It was strange, what the innate desire to hunt and kill could bring out in you, that it could make you move silently without thinking about it. It could make you reach for the blade in your shoe, without so much as a rustle of your clothes.

With a final glance back at the entrance of the alleyway, you grew impatient, and you attacked.

From an outside perspective, you probably looked like some kind of wild animal. You jumped at him, tackling him, pushing him sideways and landing on his back as his shoulder smacked the asphalt, and he howled in pain. It was like seeing a cheetah hunt an antelope, the way you bored down on him. If you could have widened your jaws, and ripped out his insides, you think you would have.

But without that ability, you could only press the cold metal blade to his throat, and feel him go still.

“Do you remember me?” You asked, voice flat and still, despite the way your heart felt as though it would beat out of your chest, and splatter down in front of his face. You were quieter than you had expected, too. You thought that the words would burst out of you, vicious and unending, but they were quiet. Calm.

Colin shook his head, as much as he could with the side of his face pressed to the ground, and a blade to the soft skin of his neck.

“Think about it.”

His eyes strained to try and get a look at you, and they widened as you leant sideways slightly, allowing him to gaze at your blank face. “Oh, shit,” He said, mouth fumbling around the words.

“Yeah, shit.” You repeated, waiting for satisfaction to seep into your chest cavity, waiting for the grief to fade away.

It didn’t.

Nothing changed, even as you pressed the blade closer to his throat, even as you watched his eyes dart back and forth, as you watched him try and formulate a plan to survive. “Listen, kid—” He started, throat bobbing against the knife, drawing the tiniest line of blood. You watched him bleed, and expected to feel more than numb.

He threw your weight backwards, sacrificing more skin on his throat to your knife. You went flying off of him, but you flung yourself forward faster than he could stagger up, and dug the knife into his calf as he tried to stand. His yell pierced the air, louder than any of the commotion yet, and likely drawing attention of people out on the street. You just hoped, distantly, that FEDRA wasn’t around.

His flesh and muscle moved as you pulled the blade free, and you didn’t flinch at the squelch of blood that left him alongside it.

Colin fell back to the floor, resulting in crawling along the asphalt without care for how the small stones cut into his palms, leaving streaks of blood. “You don’t gotta do this, man, chill out!” His voice had more emotion in it than it had back when he killed your mother, which was infuriating. “It wasn’t personal!” He insisted, crawling further as you got to your feet, prowling after him similarly to the wild animal you felt like.

You’d disagree with his statement, though.

He already had your pack, you had already relinquished your gun — the only thing you refused to do was turn so you could be executed. If you were going to be killed, you were going to look your murderer in the eye. Instead of that, though, Colin had decided to make it personal. He had decided to kill your mother, to spread her brains out on the ground in front of you, to cover you in her blood, rather than spare her. And then, worse, he had let you live.

That seemed pretty personal.

“You killed my mom.” You stated, getting closer as he turned so he was facing you, watching you get closer. “D’you remember what you said to me?”

He shook his head.

“You said good. You were glad that it was my mother. Admit it, Colin. Tell the world all about how not-personal it was.”

More than anything, you wanted to feel satisfaction for how badly he was trembling beneath you, for how scared you were making him. But you just didn’t. Fear wasn’t enough. Not for what this man had done to you.

“I’m—I’m sorry.” He said, shaking, still shying away from you,

“No, you’re not. You’re sorry that I’m here, that you’re going to die. And that isn’t something to be sorry for.”

“Pl—Please, I have a daughter—a son, you don’t need to do this.” He begged, tearing up as he watched your grip on the switchblade tighten, watched you continue to approach. He was pathetic. Everything about him was pathetic.

“She had a daughter, too.”

His eyes widened as you leaped at him once again, digging your knife as deep as you could get it into his shoulder, feeling it graze bone as you pushed the hilt firmly against his skin, until you could practically hear the blood vessels breaking. He howled, a wounded animal, prey. And he did nothing as your fist descended against his face, once, twice, a third time.

It was just as you were losing count that somebody grabbed you, hauling you up and away from the body sprawled out on the floor, the puddle of blood slowly expanding beneath him. His chest was stuttering, but he had stopped groaning minutes ago.

“Well, shit.” A woman’s voice said, not sounding particularly authoritarian, so you figured she wasn’t FEDRA.

The hands grasping onto your arms released them shortly after, and you dropped to the asphalt, watching Colin’s chest closely, waiting for his breathing to stop. It didn’t seem to be slowing much, and you could feel that unending wave of rage coming back to you, overruling the numbness, and enhancing your need to have him dead.

You moved the slightest bit, about to launch yourself at him, but as soon as your foot was pushing you from your spot on the ground, the hands wrapped around your arms again.

“Fuck! Get off of me!”

“We can’t let you kill the guy, for fuck’s sake. We got business with him!” The woman spoke again, sounding increasingly irate as she moved to get between you and your mother’s murderer.

“He deserves to die. He deserves to be killed. Get off!” You practically roared, resorting to a state not unlike a feral cat, spitting and hissing, spine curling, trying to claw at the hands holding onto you. They stayed steady, even when you managed to scratch one of them deep enough to break skin.

The woman swore again, “Everybody deserves to die, get a hold of yourself!”

“Tess, ‘s probably best if we get him out of here.” The man gripping you said, voice straining slightly as he focused on keeping you restrained. He couldn’t do anything but hold on to you and watch as Tess dragged the guy, by his ankle, down the alley slightly, banging on a side door that you hadn’t even noticed. It opened, and the man inside swore before helping Tess grab the guy and haul him inside.

As soon as the door was safely shut, the man released you.

You walked to the end of the alley, gripping at the back of your head, swearing the whole way. You were probably screaming, given the way your throat was grating on every word, but the sound didn’t register.

“Joel, you’d better get in here.” Tess called, poking her head out of the door. You could hear the irritation in her voice, but it was immediately sent to the back of your mind as you realised what she had actually just said. You whirled around.

He wasn’t exactly what you were expecting.

But he was… familiar.

You couldn’t help it — you laughed, almost hysterically.

“Are you kidding me?” You said, voice strained with laughter, “You are Joel? Miller?” You asked, wanting him to say no and be done with it all so badly, but you knew that he wouldn’t say that. It was ingrained in your blood, in your very DNA.

He stared uncomprehendingly at you, as if expecting a spark of recognition to go through him, but it didn’t happen. You saw Tess step cautiously out of the building, apparently prepared to have Joel’s back, no matter what your next move was.

“Who are you?” Joel asked, instead of answering your question, or even making a move towards where you had begun to cry. If only he fucking knew — he had just saved the man who had murdered your mother, who had murdered the woman who was, once upon a time, his wife.

You reached into your pocket, uncaring of the way they both reached for what you assumed were weapons, and pulled out the photo. The moment you unfolded it, revealing him stood next to your mother, it was certain. This man was your father. You held the photo out towards him.

“Joel—” Tess warned, as he stepped forward, but he dismissed her with a look, clearly communicating that he could handle himself. He wasn’t worried, despite the state Colin had been in when they had arrived.

He stared at the photo, brows creasing, face drawing blank, before he reached out and took it. His finger ran across the image of your mother, her bright smile, not a slither of grey to be seen in her hair. “How did you get this?” He asked, clearly in disbelief, denial, maybe.

You pointed to the woman in the picture. “That’s—was my mom.”

It could’ve been funny, months, maybe years ago, the way his eyes flickered between you and the image of her, as if trying to put together how much of the statement was true. You vaguely noticed Tess shift uneasily behind him, before approaching.

“Was?” Joel decided to ask, eventually, instead of whatever else was going through his head. He said nothing to Tess as she took in the photograph he was still holding onto.

“That man, he—he killed her. A few months ago.” You said, smiling, because you couldn’t do anything else. This was all too much. First, your mother is killed. And then when you finally find somewhere potentially safe, you hear about your father. And then before you could do anything about that, you see her killer! And then, before you could finish the job, your biological dad, Joel Miller, saved his life. It wasn’t funny, but you didn’t know how else to react.

You stepped back, sliding down the brick wall behind you until you were sat on the asphalt, and could hang your head between your knees.

“Oh fuck,” Tess said, connecting the dots as she looked between you and Joel rapidly, brows furrowed as she became increasingly concerned. “Don’t tell me that she’s—” She shook her head, turning away from the photo and Joel and you, running a hand through her greasy hair.

Joel was still processing, or at least that’s what it looked like to you. He was staring at the photo, strangely still, seeming blank of any and all emotions.

Tess paced for a moment more, before releasing a heavy breath. She walked past Joel, over to you. “Okay, c’mon.” She said, holding out a hand for you. When you hesitated, she waved her hand and barely refrained from putting it in your face. “C’mon, we’ve gotta get you out of here before Colin goes to FEDRA.” You take her hand, surprised by her strength as she hauls you to your feet in an instant, releasing you immediately. She shook her head again. “Joel, time to go.”

He looked at her, and then towards you, nodding once. You said nothing when he put the picture in his own pocket, instead of handing it back. You hesitantly followed after Tess, wondering what your next move should be, and Joel followed after the two of you, looking stricken.

∘₊✧───── ───── ───── ─────✧₊∘

None of you had said anything, the entire time Tess had hurried you through borders and to what you assumed was their apartment. It felt like it was miles away from your own.

The wallpaper was yellowed with age, slowly drooping down the walls, peeling away at corners, but it wasn’t the worst state it could’ve been in. The floral pattern didn’t really lend itself to the vibes of the apocalypse, though. Nor did it match either Tess or Joel’s stoic and tough demeanours.

You had no idea what to expect from this.

For as long as you could remember, your mother had told you tales of your father, of the great man he was, the great father he was. But here, on the other side of a worldwide outbreak of infection, you couldn’t quite match the image in front of you to the man in those stories. You had spent so long thinking of him as being dead, unable to do anything to find you or your mother from a grave, that to learn he was alive, and with Tess, it was a shock to your system.

Where was Sarah? Where was the half-sister you had heard so much about from your mother?

Despite Joel matching the name, and the photo that your mother had kept, it just didn’t feel like he was the man you had been imagining as your father. He didn’t seem kind or caring, he didn’t look like he had any love left in him. And maybe, you could have accepted that, if he had other aspects to him, if he hadn’t let your mother’s killer live.

“What happened the day of the outbreak?” You asked, finally, despite the way you ached to run away and cry, for your mother, for yourself, for the father you would never have. Joel just looked at you, rarely blinking as if you were a figment of his imagination, clenching and unclenching his jaw.

“No, we are asking you questions.” Tess responded, clearly taking the lead on the situation, despite having no connection to you. It really shouldn’t have been her business. You scoffed. “Where did you come from?” She asked you, unblinking in the face of your disbelief.

You shook your head, “How is that even relevant?”

“Because I said it is.”

“I don’t care what you say. He’s my dad. You’re not my mom.” You replied, roughly, angrily, and you’re only more irritated when Tess doesn’t even react. You become furious when Joel says nothing. “Are you going to say anything?”

Tess went to speak, but you spoke again before she could utter a word.

“Not even about how you let my mother’s killer go? You don’t have anything to say about that?” You questioned, stepping towards him where he had taken a seat on the couch in front of that god-forsaken wallpaper.

There was an awkward lull in the room, each of you waiting for Joel to speak. He seemed unsure if he was going to speak at all, his brows furrowing further, and he pulled the photo out of his pocket to look at once again.

“She died, years ago. My—my kids…” Joel swallowed, and shook his head. He placed the photo down beside him. The photo meant nothing. You could’ve been to his house, and brought it here with you, never having met the woman he hadn’t seen since the day the world fell apart.

“Did you even look for us?” You asked him, head tilting, eyes stinging, wanting desperately for him to say yes, to say he scoured the world but missed you somehow. But looking at him, covered with scars, you could see he was nothing like the man your mother remembered. He didn’t care, not like she thought he had. The man in front of you wasn’t your father — he was a disappointment. He was your father’s shell.

Joel didn’t speak, swallowing harshly, seemingly unable to form any words.

“You’re nothing like she said you were.” You told him quietly, shaking your head, reaching by his side and taking the picture. You wanted to rip his half off, throw it at him, denounce him, tell him he wasn’t your father, that he was never worthy of your mother, but you couldn’t. It was the only thing that you would ever have of the father you should’ve had. The man your mother had loved. She’d already had so much taken from her, you couldn’t, even after her death, take Joel away too. He could live on in the memory. In pictures.

They didn’t say anything when you turned your back on them, shoving the picture in your pocket, and walking out of their door. You slammed it behind you, felt the walls of their apartment tremble with the force, and kept walking.

Part of you, a big part, wished that Joel Miller would have stayed dead. At least that way, you could have kept pretending.

[aloesarchives]

Domestic Headcanons w/ Mama!Reader and the Fushiguros #2: New Addition to the Family!

TW/Warnings: Domesticity, AFAB/Female Reader, Family life, Pregnancy, Mention of Creampies but not sexual, unhinged crack, JJK OC(but not main x Reader)

Pairing: Toji Fushiguro x Fem!Reader

Pronouns/Usage: She/Her, Mama/Mom

It was about time I finished this, been sitting in my drive for a few months. Anyway, this is a general headcanon that takes place mostly in my Modern Au as Mayumi will appear in future along with her bio. But she may appear in my "Toji Lives" au depending how I'm really feeling, I will probably age her up if I do.

If you has questions or wanna ask more about her, feel free to drop an ask in my inbox!

Introducing:

Name: Mayumi (L/N) Fushiguro

Kanji Name: 万優三

Age: 2-3(Modern Au)

Given how Toji is a dog 25/8 whenever he’s given any alone time with you, Megumi is genuinely surprised he and Tsumiki don’t have at least two or more younger siblings.

It mostly comes down to you and Toji’s schedules and how having another child or having more children wouldn’t be the best choice for you two and the kids themself.

It was decided by you AND Toji that Megumi would be your last child since baby Megumi was a hassle and you two were dealing with two kids under the age of three. As time went on, raising the two was hard work but both of you two managed. Now Tsumiki and Megumi are in high school and can function, there’s no need for you and Toji to treat them like children even though they will always be your babies.

But with Tsumiki and Megumi always away at school, it’s mostly you and Toji at home. Yes, it was nice and peaceful to have your house with you and your hubby. But you start longing for the days your children were younger and small. Missing when Megumi would call you Mama and Tsumiki with Mommy. You become all sentimental especially looking through family pictures throughout the house and the family albums. You started to miss having to take care of a little one in the house.

Toji notices this change in your behavior so he asks what's on your mind. When you tell him you missed your children being children, he suggested having one more child. This shocked you considering that Toji told you himself that Megumi was your two’s last child. He didn’t want to have any more after that because Megumi was a handful. You told him if he’s not comfortable and isn’t ready for another one that he shouldn’t force himself just to make you happy. You’ll just satisfy it with old baby pictures from the past.

You didn’t want to have a child just because you wanted a baby to coddle and that’s it. All children deserve to have a parent but not every parent deserves a child. But Toji brings up the point that both you and him are more stable, both financially and mentally, and have more time to be at home. Since your two other children are teenagers who can do basic functions, you can focus on taking care of a child while taking care of teenagers.

After some time and Toji being the little devil on your shoulder, you gave the green light to have another child. Albeit being the last child you and Toji will ever have.

Toji is excited to have another kid with you and to give Tsumiki and Megumi a younger sibling. But we all know why Toji is REALLY happy to give you another child. As the man got to stepping in making you pregnant and having another kid. This man put so many creampies in you it’s insane.

But you guessed the universe wanted to make it easier the third time because, like all of your pregnancies which is only two, you got pregnant fast. It only took a month of trying to get pregnant. Just like any pregnancy, it was rough. It was your third time so you expected what’s to come, though it had been 12 years since you were last pregnant. But Toji, being your ever loving husband, took care of you and was at your beck and call(Explain in detail here). Your scary, intimidating, and grumpy dog of a husband becomes your sweet and protective puppy all over again(if Toji wasn’t fucking already lol).

You wanted to wait until a visible ultrasound was possible to tell your two children. Luckily, Megumi and Tsumiki would be home right after school ends and you would tell them the news. After dinner, you told your two children to wait a bit at the table as you got the ultrasound that’s sealed in an envelope. As you just place the envelope in front of your kids, they look at it curiously. Toji chuckles as Megumi flips the envelope on both sides before Tsumiki grabs it from her brother.

“So we opened it, Mom? What’s inside?”

“You’ll find out once you open it, my dear.”

Then Tsumiki opens the envelope and finds the picture. She takes it out and holds it so she and Megumi can look at it. It took Tsumiki a few seconds to figure out as her smile extended. Megumi is still confused when his sister says, “Are you really, mom?!”

You nodded your head as Tsumiki stood up from her chair and gave you a hug. Megumi was still trying to wrap his head around the picture. Toji chuckles at his son as he walks over to him. “Are you okay, Megumi? You’ve been staring at that picture like it was a puzzle.” “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be looking at. How come Tsumiki got it before I did?” Tsumiki goes to Megumi as she starts explaining the picture. Before she even finishes, your son looks at you with wide eyes as he blurts out, “You’re pregnant, Mom?!”

Toji bursts out in laughter at Megumi while you smile at your son. You were happy that your children felt the same way you did, especially seeing Megumi smile. You were worried about the age gap between your children and their youngest sibling but it seems to not be a problem to your kids. 

You loved the fact your children were happy about having another sibling.

Ever since the announcement, Megumi has been home more often. While your children have been more considerate(if they weren’t already), Megumi had this shift in behavior that made you a little worried. Once you were in your 2nd trimester, Megumi always tried to be home before sundown. He always called you after school if you needed anything from the grocery or convenience store. He was very reluctant to leave you alone. At home, he always checks up on you whether you’re in the bedroom, sitting on the couch, in your home office/personal rooms. 

As much as Megumi says he doesn’t take after his dad, you thought it was adorable and endearing how Megumi looked after you like Toji did. Because of your already fluctuating hormones, you dote and gush over Megumi way more than usual. You didn’t before because you wanted to respect Megumi’s space and independence. Always playfully pinching his cheeks, giving your mama kisses, petting and ruffling his hair, the list goes on. Megumi never pushes you away or rejects your affection because you are his mama and it makes you happy. It’s also because Megumi loves your affection as it reminds him of when he was a little boy, but since he’s older he wants to be taken more seriously and wants you and Toji to treat him as such. Yet it bit him in the ass because you respected his wishes and only gave him physical affection when he gave the green light.

Megumi, every time he’s home, is stuck at your side. You’re in the kitchen making yourself a drink, Megumi is sitting at the table already. On the couch folding a small laundry batch, Megumi’s helping you with it. Sitting in the garden underneath the tree, Megumi makes you sit on the blanket as sits beside you with his dogs laid out in the shade. The only time he isn’t is when you’re in the bathroom or sleeping in your bedroom. But Megumi sends his dogs to watch over you during your naps. Bro, Toji told Megumi to make room for him on the couch just for him to side-eyes his dad and say “no”. Then Megumi’s dogs appear next to you and lay their heads on your lap. Toji was so annoyed.

But you didn’t know how concerned Megumi was for you until you Gojo called you and said Megumi wanted to opt out of dorming his first year at Jujutsu Tech. You asked Gojo if Megumi said why and Gojo only said, “Megumi-kun only told me he just can’t, (Y/N)-sama.” By the time the call happened you were in your third trimester, meaning you were nearing your due date. You asked Toji if he knew but he had no clue either. You and your husband had a talk with Megumi about it. Megumi said he didn’t need to dorm when he’s in high school because he could just walk to school from the house. But Toji being the better interrogator, he got Megumi to spill the real reason. And so Megumi reveals he doesn't want to dorm once he goes to Jujutsu Tech because he wants to help out around the house and watch his little sibling grow up. 

“Megs, you know I’m home, right?”

Megumi looks at his father before continuing.

“As I was saying, I need to be here in my little sister’s life. I don’t want to be a stranger because she can’t remember me, Mom.”

You gave a reassuring smile to your son, placing a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

“I get it, Megumi. I completely understand where you’re coming from. But I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me. I have your sister and papa after all to help me, especially your papa since he can cook anything we ask for. And know the school requires their first years to live on campus, so you do have to live on school grounds. You can always come back whenever you need to, this will always be your home, My Dear Megumi–Wait, little sister? You think it’ll be a girl, Megumi?”

He shrugs, causing Toji to raise his brow at him.

“Ya sure, Megs? You don’t think it’ll be a boy? Don’t you want another boy in the family?”

Megumi squints at his dad as he frowns.

“If I know this family, your genes are too strong, Dad. I’m a complete copy of you and Tsumiki only got Mom’s personality and smile. If it’s a boy, it will be another version of you and I don’t even wanna think about that. Plus, I wouldn’t mind having a baby sister around, especially if she takes after Mom.”

You were flattered and honored that Megumi felt this way while Toji was utterly offended at his own son.

Megumi is a good brother and son all over. He looks after you, he looks out for Tsumiki when he can, and has a good relationship with Toji. You’d think he’ll be an amazing older brother considering how caring and gentle he can be. He may be a little clumsy but he tries and that is what matters. 

You decided to bring Megumi and Tsumiki with you and Toji to your next ultrasound appointment. Luckily, no problems were detected for the precious Fushiguro baby. The doctor and technician also revealed that you were having a baby girl! Tsumiki is visibly happy, slightly shaking Megumi's shoulders while he had a soft smile of his own. Then you looked over at your husband to see him with a wide but genuine grin.

“What’s with the grin, Toji?”

“Nothing, Hon. Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“Having another girl to spoil~.”

Your pregnancy goes as planned. Much to the dismay of Megumi, you gave birth while they were in school. As soon as Megumi and Tsumiki walk out of the school doors, they see Toji with the car waiting for them. “C’mon you two, don’t ‘cha want to meet your baby sister?” Tsumiki never saw Megumi sprinted towards the car so fast, whipping past her. Toji just laughs at Megumi’s eagerness to go see you and the baby.

Megumi is bouncing his leg in the car as they go to drive to the hospital. Once checking in, Megumi leaves his dad and sister in the dust to go find your room. Once he did, Megumi knocked gently before going inside with Toji and Tsumiki not far behind. Then the kids see the little baby bundled in your arms, sleeping away as you greet your older children. 

Megumi was right because Mayumi took after you except her eye color, which was like Megumi and Toji. But everything else, she was a carbon copy of you. You joked to Toji about being even since your third child looks like you. Toji goes along with it but he can’t help but feel warm inside knowing he has a daily reminder of his beautiful wife.

Megumi and Tsumiki get to hold their little sister. It was game over for Megumi because as soon as she was in his arms, he’d do anything for her. He was melting for his little sister and she didn’t even know it yet.

Megumi tries to spend a lot of time with her until he has to dorm at Jujutsu Tech. Megumi gets sentimental when he sees her baby pictures then and now she’s a toddler speaking full sentences. 

She loves to be held or sitting in someone’s lap. You, Toji, Tsumiki and Megumi, it doesn’t matter. She just likes to be close. It took her a long time to understand personal space but she tries her best. But she mostly likes being held by Toji since he’s tall. Plus she says Toji gives nice hugs. 

But Mayumi is picky when it comes to other people. She gets comfortable through exposure but she doesn’t like other people that much. She knows the others and is fine with them, but she’s not so much a people person. Not shy, just like a small circle.

Mayumi calls Tsumiki Miki-Nee or Tsumi Nee-san, then Mayumi calls Megumi Gumi-Nii and/or Mimi Nii-san.

Toji’s nicknames for Mayumi are Princess, Little Lady, Sweet Pea, and Snapdragon. Sometimes he does a variation of her name like Yumi or Mayu. But those don’t start coming until she’s much older.

Toji gets bummed out that Mayumi hangs out with Megumi and is her self-proclaimed favorite person. But you always remind him that she loves all of you, including him. This is true when she gets picked up by Toji at daycare or Toji comes home and she greets him. Always a smile on her face, arms out-stretched, while saying “Papa!”

Every time Toji is doing something outside, she’s either playing on the engawa, underneath the tree for shade, or running around and playing in the garden and the Koi pond nearby. She mostly likes watching the koi fishes swim around. She even deeps her feet into the crystal blue water as the fish gently nibble on her feet.

She’s also not a picky eater. Will eat anything and everything put in front of her that is seen as food. Her favorites are berries.

Mayumi’s favorite person is definitely Megumi. Toji thought it was him but he soon found out that was not the case. All because her first words weren’t Mama or Papa, her first words were Gumi. Then she started walking because she saw Megumi sitting on the couch while you were making lunch with Toji and took her first steps because she wanted to be near him. Sometimes when she can’t sleep, has a nightmare, or wants someone to take her to the bathroom, she usually goes to Megumi because his room is the closet. Some mornings, you would find Mayumi sleeping alongside Megumi. She usually hangs out in Megumi’s room doing her own thing or playing with his dogs. Megumi doesn’t mind but only gets annoyed when he’s napping or sleeping and she wakes him up. 

But she also hangs out in Tsumiki’s room too. Trying a new hairstyle, clothes, or playing with her stuffed animals. Tsumiki makes Mayumi into a Sanrio fan and even gives some of her plushies to Mayumi because she doesn’t play with them anymore. Every morning, Mayumi goes to Tsumiki to do her hair for the day. Sometimes asking Tsumiki to put a nice hair clip or bow for her. Mayumi’s so happy once she’s done that she shows you and Toji and it’s just so sweet oml.

She loves Megumi’s dogs and shikigamis. But her favorites are his white and black doggos. She loves playing and hugging them, always so gently with them. She likes to put ribbons on them like a collar and read to them. She would nap while laying on top of the white dog’s side and the black one is guarding her feet, making a protective circle around her. Then they allow her to grab onto them to help her practice walking. It’s so cute.

Mayumi knocks on doors before she enters. You don’t know where she picked it up from until you remember knocking on the doors yourself as you hold her. You assume she picked your habit, which turns out to be useful and courteous. It’s always three short knocks, keeping this habit even as a teenanger. 

Mayumi is the apple of the family’s eye and almost everyone, even for Yuuji, Nobara, Maki, Yuuta, Toge, Panda, and fucking Hakari and Kiara. They all have a soft spot for her. The worst of them all is Satoru, proclaiming he’s her big brother to which Suguru smacks him on the hand for it. He tries to win her over but his grand gift-giving actually scares her and makes her wary of him, much to Satoru’s dismay. To which goes to my next point:

Bro, your daughter doesn’t like Satoru. It’s high-key funny. She doesn’t hate him per say. She’s more scared and unsettled by him. One time, she started crying late at night because she had a nightmare. Megumi, with Mayumi in his arms, had to knock on your bedroom door because she was inconsolable and wouldn’t tell Megumi anything. Took all three of you, and eventually Tsumiki joined in, to calm her down. She was sniffling, burying her face into your neck, gripping her little hands as tightly as she could.

“Mayumi, Honey, do you feel a little better now?”

She nods into you but still holding on to you for dear life.

“Can you tell us what’s wrong? Please, Sweetheart?”

“White monster…The white monster with blue-eyes…Scary smile with pointing teeth…”

Tsumiki and Megumi looked at each other confused, you were just trying to figure out where she got that image from, while Toji held a frown before his eyes opened a bit upon realization. He has this goofy smile as he takes Mayumi from your arms and holds her in his own. Upon feeling being inside Toji’s arms, she instantly relaxes and looks up at him with a pout.

“So there’s a monster in your bedroom, Princess? You want me and your big brother Megumi to look for any monsters?”

She looks up at him with her little pout, sniffles, and nods her head quietly. Clutching to Toji like a Koala. Toji gets up with a grunt along with Megumi and they go into her room to look for the “monster”. Turning both the lights on and off along with Megumi bringing his dogs out. Mayumi watches the dogs sniff out her room, under her bed, and her closet.

“No monster, Gumi-Nii?”

Megumi pats her head softly.

“Yeah, no monsters in here, Mayumi.”

She’s still pouting even though Megumi confirmed no monsters while Toji rubs her back gently.

“Well Little Lady, you’re gonna sleep with Mama and I tonight so no monsters can get you. If there are, I’ll eat them.”

Mayumi giggles as he takes her into your shared bedroom to sleep peacefully for the night. Luckily she did as she snoozed away on his chest along with you tucked into his shoulder as your head rested on top of its side.

The next day, Satoru, Suguru, Shoko, Nanami, Haibara, and Yaga came to your house to talk about something. As they were discussing in your personal office, Mayumi knocks and she comes in to be held by you. While being held by you, you feel Mayumi shifting in your arms. You look down as she looks at Satoru with wary eyes. She clutches closer to you as she whines. Satrou looks over at her and smiles, causing her to hide into you further. By then, you noticed Satoru didn’t bring his blindfold. He brought his glasses instead so you could see the glimpses of his eyes. As soon Mayumi caught a glimpse of his eyes, she started getting uncomfortable and whining. You’re worried as you try to calm her down but nothing works. Then Toji comes in with the pitcher of water you asked for and she makes grabby hands at him. Your husband takes her in his arms and she points at Satoru while sniffling, making everyone, including you curious.

“What’s wrong this time, Mayumi?”

“Papa,” 

Points at Satoru

“White monster…big blue eyes and white teeth…that’s him…”

Everyone blinks a couple of times except for Toji who has his dastardly grin. Then the silence is broken by Suguru’s cackling followed by Haibara bursting out in laughter. Now you understand why Toji wasn’t so concerned about last night because he knew what Mayumi was talking about. The monster was random, she had a nightmare about Satoru. Nanami smirks while Yaga and Shoko chuckle at this. The only ones who weren’t anything were You and Satoru. You because you’re just shaking your head at Suguru, Toji, and Haibara. While Satoru looked like a hurt puppy that was kicked. You tried to comfort your unofficial oldest child but he just stayed hurt. He let out a sigh when he and your daughter made brief eye-contact before she hid herself in Toji, causing him to bark out in laughter. His laugh joined in with the other two. 

Toji calms down a bit before comforting Mayumi.

“Princess, that’s just Gojo. He’s not a scary monster, see? He’s harmless.”

Mayumi looks at Satoru before looking at you then Toji. She shakes her head at Toji causing him to chuckle. Mayumi says bye to everyone as she leaves the room with Toji. But Suguru wouldn’t stop teasing Satoru about it and it’s an inside joke everyone is in on.

So that’s why Satoru always wears his blindfold on because he doesn’t want to make Mayumi cry. As she gets older, she gets over it and funny enough doesn’t remember this event. No matter how much anyone brings it up, she can’t fully remember any of it. But their relationship gets better later on.

Though Mayumi’s humble, she’s spoiled. By you, Toji, Tsumiki, Megumi, your family, even Suguru and Satoru, specifically Satoru. Mayumi gets an allowance of 38,948 yen(which is roughly equivalent to $250 US dollars) from Satoru every month, and that’s not including holidays and birthdays. Toji and Satoru are fighting each other on who’s better at spoiling her to which you have to calm them down because it shouldn’t be a big deal.

Mayumi gets all sad and pouty when Megumi has to live on campus but Megumi promises to call frequently or visit once a week for her. Megumi gives her his old plushies of his twin dogs, telling her to hug them when she feels like missing him. Because of that, she is overly attached to them. She sleeps with them, goes to the bathroom with them, brings them outside to the garden, goes out, they come with her everywhere she goes.

Megumi hangs a drawing she made of him and Mayumi with his dogs in his dorm room. Also has a picture frame of him and her on his desk too.

When Megumi brings Yuuji and Nobara over, they always want to play with her. Nobara dresses her up while Yuuji shadow boxes with her. When they come over to sleep over, it’s twice the fun. Yuuji and Nobara get bummed out when it’s her bedtime but they remember they see her in the morning so it’s all good.

They also help Megumi watch and babysit her when you and Toji are out on a date/outing. It’s chaotic but it’s fun.

Toji and Megumi will be irritated and annoyed when someone, other than you and Tsumiki, asks them for anything Gojo. But once Mayumi starts asking for things, they won’t even bat an eye. She is spoiled by both her grumpy older brother and menacing father. One time you came home to see your daughter gleefully smiling at you, holding her plushie tightly as she told you about what she did with Toji and Megumi. Then you look over to see your son and husband wearing bows on their heads and had sanrio stickers all over them.

Mayumi’s such a bubbly and happy child that it’s like looking straight at the sun. Of course, she takes after you mostly both in personality and physical traits. It’s not until she’s in teens when Toji’s traits start revealing themselves in her.

Tags w/ links:

@luqueam @ploylulla @tqd4455 @wolywolymoley @captainbabybear @ravenswife

Tags w/o links:

@szillx @SleppyAnn @g0th1xac1d @kneelarhmstrung

Taglist form Here!

[hellish-sunsets]

Hi, so, can I ask for husker x young reader (platonic)? Readers father knocked at the hotels door when reader was a very young girl, 5 or so, saying that he’ll be right back, and left before the door was answered by the hotels owner, Charlie. 11 years have passed and everyone has become like family to reader, mainly husker, who’s basically become like her father. So what if one day readers bio dad comes back (reader doesn’t know he’s her dad) and tries to get himself back into readers life? Husker knows who he is, and doesn’t approve at all. What then?

Too Late

Husk was the one who ended up answering the door. He was the only one in the lobby at the time. He sighed and grumbled, but opened the door regardless, only to met with... a child?

She didn't look to be in the best condition, honestly. She was thin, her hair unkempt, and her clothes flitby and falling apart. She jumped when the door opened, looking up at Husk with big eyes. She looked off in the distance behind herself, then back at him. Tears welled up in her eyes, her face scrunched up as she started to cry.

Husk was not good with kids, but even an idiot knew you were supposed to comfort a crying kid.

He picked her up, glaring at the surroundings to see if he could spot who had left her here, but closing the door when he found nothing. His focus shifted to figuring out what to do with the kid.

He ended up settling her on a couch in the lobby and getting her a glass of water until she had calmed down. Apparently, her father had left her there. Great. He got her a blanket and pillow and watched over her while she slept. He would talk to everyone else in the morning and figure out a more permanent plan.

Well, considering the people who were there, he probably shouldn't have expected much. They all just decided to hold on to her and take care of her themselves. Which worked out mostly, but it left Husk doing the majority of the proper parenting.

It happened so gradually, he almost didn’t even notice that's what happened. And by the time the kid first called him Dad, smiling up at him from her bed, he found he didn't mind.

So, she grew up in the hotel for eleven years, becoming a fixture everyone loved to see.

Then came the day a man walked in.

He walked to Husk at the bar and he could immediately tell something was off. He narrowed his eyes at the man, managing to stifle a growl. Y/N was behind the bar counter as well, now a teenager. She looked weary as well, glancing up from her phone between the man and Husk.

"Can I help you, sir?" Husk asked.

The man went on to say he was looking for someone. Husk's fur stood on end as he heard the man describe how he abandoned his daughter here so casually, like he hadn't even done anything wrong. His wings puffed up and spread out, protectively blocking her from him.

"Any chance she's still here?"

"What exactly are you going to do if I say no, hmm?" Husk asked, crossing his arms. "What do you want with her?"

The man didn't give an answer, just asked again if she was here more sternly, a cross look over his face. Husk refused to answer, and the man only got more angry. There was about to be a fight in that hotel lobby, but you step in. You had to process what was going on first.

You didn't remember anything about your life before the hotel. You vaguely remembered the night you were left here, but Husk had told you how he found you on the hotel porch. You were smart enough to recognize the connections from that story and this man's ramblings.

"Sir, your daughter isn't here. Kindly fuck off before we have to sick our overlord on you."

"The fuck did you just say to me, bitch?"

Husk felt his heart stop as that man growled at her, standing off. He put a hand on your shoulder.

Thankfully, Alastor decided to show up, appearing behind the man through shadows and placing a hand on his shoulder as well.

"I believe you were told to leave."

The man turned with a scowl, but went pale when he saw who was standing behind him, grin stretched painfully wide. He all but ran out of the hotel.

You gave a deep breath, deflating now that he had left.

"Fucking jackass..." you muttered, returning to your stool behind the counter.

"Hey, are you going to be okay?" Husk asked with furrowed brows. You just shrugged.

"It's fine, he left. Besides, I already have a Dad, and he's a fuck ton better than that guy."

Husk smiled and nodded, returning to cleaning his glasses with a new lightness to his steps.

[rayassecretlife]

Holy shit.. That Neteyam fic you just blessed us with did unholy things for and to me💕💕💕👀 very good that you got carried away cuz you did hell of a good job 🌚💕

I loved every word of it and every second reading it 🙈💓 If i would be called greedy if i asked you for more of soon-to-be-dad Neteyam 🙇🏻‍♀️ then so be it. More Neteyaaam pleaseee

Ahhhhh thank you so much, I was not expecting the love I’m getting from writing so this means a lot 💙. Im in a smut writing mood so here’s this even tho it doesn’t focus on him being a father but definitely gives you more of an insight on their relationship! I will make a part two to this fulllll of dad moments, I have a lot of ideas for that

Requests are open!!! It won’t let me put the shortcut under my bio but you can request using the circle in the top right corner once on my page 🫶🏼

Such a tease

Pairing: Adult!Neteyam x Fem!Omaticaya!reader

PART 2 HERE

Summary: It had been only two years after you gave birth to your first born, But Neteyam had already started planning your next. Except, you two needed to make it past your 4 year Anniversary first.

Warning(s): smutttt (minors DNI), NETEYAM BEING A TEASE, Mature language, Switch Dom!neteyam, praise kink, semi Public f!ngering, pure filth honestly.

Not proof read, sorry for mistakes!!!!

It was finally the day you’d been waiting for—the day you bragged about to the entire clan for months on end just thinking about it. It was a beautiful day too, the sound of the trees leaf’s blowing through the breeze and the small chirps of birds, most importantly, the faint breathing above you.

You and Neteyam’s 4 year anniversary

Your eyes fluttered open at the sound, gaze meeting the beautiful boy above me who had still been fast asleep.

You smile as you study your mates features, your fingertips tracing lines over his biceps. He always slept in later then you—and luckily, your daughter hadn’t been up yet to interrupt his slumber. Like always, his arms were wrapped around you firmly—even when he was sleeping. He never let you go, waking up everytime you’d try to get out of his grasp at night to do something.

And yes, you heard that right, you and Neteyam had a daughter. Manaia, a beautiful little girl with the longest hair you had ever seen, her appearance favoriting Neteyam’s features much more then yours. She was so sweet and learned pretty quickly just like him, even only being 2.

Usually, she’d be the one to wake the both of you up, but Neteyam almost always took care of her for you, ushering you to stay in bed and telling you he’d handle it. He hated waking up before she was born, wanting to stay in bed all day long instead of working, but now? Now he loved waking up to take care of her and you, making you both breakfast if you slept in. The bond he had with her was so adorable, he’d even let her do his face paint before he went hunting.

You loved how Neteyam was with Naia, how gentle and protective he had been over her. You knew she was going to follow in Neteyam’s footsteps once she grew older, becoming a warrior. You didn’t see the problem with it, but Neteyam always overprotected her, going on and on about how she didn’t need to be a warrior because he’d always protect her.

She’s often sleep between you two at night, both you and her curled up to Neteyam for comfort. Today, it was just you two, because as soon as you ate breakfast, you had to go help Mo’at with the people, and your parents would be taking Naia for the night so you and him could be alone for a night.

You were beyond excited. You hadn’t had a day to yourself in so long due to you and him always working or tending to your daughter, never finding time for each other except for when you slept.

You nuzzled closer to your mate, his warmth making you smile against his chest. You felt him shuffle as you laid your head under his chin, inhaling his forestry scent. You felt so safe, like nothing in the world could touch you as long as he was here.

“Good morning, pretty girl” Your heart thumps against your chest at his voice, a smile tugging at your lips as you looked up, his eyes still closed.

"Ma’Teyam" you whispered just above a breath, reaching up to touch his braids. He was gorgeous—the most handsome boy you had ever seen. “We have to get up soon”

“I think we can spare a few more minutes” He hums, taking hold of the back of your leg to swing it over onto his lap. You laugh at his words, allowing him to sit you in a straddle, hands laid at your hips as you lean down to the boy, pressing your lips to his.

You wished you could have taken the day off to spend with each other, just one day to yourselves without a care in the world—all alone, secluded from everyone. Neteyam loved that idea, having you all to himself for a day? You could do so much, like you had been teenagers again.

He guides your hips against his and you hum against his lips, pulling away once you felt what he was trying to show you. “Neteyam, we can’t” He ignored you, sitting up so you had now been sitting in his lap, against him as he captured your lips in another kiss.

Your arms wrapped around his neck, hands entwined in his hair as his hands roamed your body. It wasn’t even in a sexual way, but you couldn’t think of much else. You moaned against him, a hand laid against his chest. That was it. He had started, and you prayed to Eywa he was gonna finish it.

“Do you want breakfast, Beautiful?” He pulls away but you shake your head, twisting one of his braids between your finger.

“You got me started, Teyam” You whine and his forehead creased at your words, titling his head like he had been studying your face.

“I was just kissing you, baby. I can’t kiss you?” You glared at your mate clearly acting stupid and he kissed your cheek, removing his hands from you. “I’m gonna make breakfast” he pulled you off of him gently, getting out of your hammock.

“Nete-“

“You want fruit? Like usual?” He asks, completely debunking your confusion as he tied his hair up. “Fruit it is” he leaned down to you, giving you a small kiss, “happy anniversary, Pretty girl”

He left you dumbfounded on your shared hammock, not saying anything else or giving you another look before he went on his way. You were so confused, and so very angry. He did not just pull that on your anniversary.

》* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ * 。° 。 • ˚《

Time went by during the day while you helped Mo’at with the wounded warriors that came in and out of the tent, having to deal with multiple gashes from the hunting party they had just attended to.

You barely spoke to Neteyam when you left the cave, letting him hand your daughter off to his mother while you made your way to the healers tent. You wore his favorite family appropriate clothing, and his eyes wouldn’t leave your body when you left—even with Mo’at there.

“You take forever” you smacked the boys head making him hiss, Rubbing the spot you hit. “It wasn’t even that serious!” The youngest sully brother exclaimed. He had only been there for five minutes.

“It’s only been five minutes, Lo’ak” You argue, the sound of your name being called cutting him off before he could speak.

“Y/N, look!” Tuk ran into the tent, slowing down when Mo’at yelled at her. “I found so many!” She sat next to you, showing you the many flowers that sat in her hand.

“Their so pretty, Tuk” you ruffled her hair as she started to name them, showing them to you one by one.

“And this is my favorite one!” Tuk giggled, showing you a dark blue flower she had picked and you laughed, continuing to patch Lo’ak’s back. “I can’t wait to have an Ikran, she’s gonna be pink!”

“Tuk, they can’t be pin-ow!” Lo’ak turned to glare at you, a smile appearing across your face as you lifted your foot from his tail. “Would you stop with that!”

A whistle echoed from outside, getting closer to the tent as you continued to listen to Tuk talk about her future ikran. You already knew it was him, his scent giving him away.

“Ah, my baby bro, the mighty warrior” Your mate teased, ruffling his brothers hair. “Weren’t that mighty, huh?” Lo’ak pushed him away from you two, rolling his eyes at Neteyam’s laugh. You avoided contact with your mate, still angry from this morning. “What is it this time, Syulang?”

You ignore him, telling yourself to focus on Lo’ak’s wounds but you couldn’t when Neteyam’s gaze was practically tattooed to your face. You felt the heat rise in your cheeks as he walked toward you, standing above you without saying a word. Eywa, the effect he had on you…

“Okay, your done” you pat the brothers back, standing to your feet to put away the supplies you used on him. You drained the bloody cloth, Neteyam watching your every move very closely, almost amused at your pettiness. The sight of you in that outfit did so many things to him, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t ready to rip it off of you and take you right in that moment.

But Lo’ak must’ve noticed, because he just couldn’t help but ask, “isn’t it your anniversary?” While you stayed silent and to your tasks, Neteyam gave his brother a look, nodding toward the doorway out. “Looks like I’m way more mighty when it comes to relationships” Neteyam hissed at his brother, only making him laugh as he pulled Tuk to leave the tent with him, her little protesting voice making you frown.

You truly didn’t want to talk to him, not here and not now. It wasn’t even that you were mad, you were frustrated and he left you like that. You hummed as you placed a few herbs into one of the small stone bowls, crushing it at the sound of his voice.

“Fair play” His arms wrapped around your waist as he pressed his stomach against your back, his head between your neck watching you crush the herbal mix in your hands. “This outfit, you know what it does to me, don’t you?”

Even though your heart was beating out of your chest, you once again ignored the boy, not daring to show him how jelly he made your legs just by talking. “You can’t stay mad at me forever, baby. It’s our anniversary” your ears flatten against your head as you bite down on your bottom lip, feeling him pull you even closer then before, making it almost impossible not to feel what was between his legs.

“Neteyam, I am working” you dismiss him but he doesn’t care, only chuckling in your ear with a small squeeze to your hips before turning you to face him, a gasp leaving your mouth at the sudden movement.

He grabs the bowl from your hands and places it to the side, wrapping his hand around your throat to pull you closer to him. You looked around, worried Mo’at or another warrior would come walking in at any moment, but he didn’t let you continue.

Your breath catches in your thought as he pulls you up by your thighs, placing you on the cold Ledge that the herbal mix had previously been sitting on. You kept quiet but your body was crying for him to touch you, legs not being able to stay still like they were begging him to touch you.

“Aw, Baby. Your so cute when you beg” he praises, capturing your lips in a passionate kiss. It was always so hard to stay mad at Neteyam, he knew you inside and out, making it impossible for you to disregard his presence. His hands traveled your body, slipping his tongue into your mouth before you could.

It wasn’t until you felt his hand enter your loincloth that you pulled away from him, shaking your head as you grabbed his wrist.

“Come on, Syulang. Let’s just act like teenagers again” his free hand cupped the side of your face and he moved closer, your silence being enough for him to resume his actions from before.

He kisses your lips again, a small moan escaping your mouth as you felt his fingers against your core, muffled by his mouth against your own. You tried your hardest to keep your cool but you couldn’t when it came to him, not even for a minute.

“So fucking wet, Baby. You like the idea of someone walking in, don’t you? Someone finding you completely drunk off my touch?” You whined, hands flying to his hair as you felt one of his fingers enter you, curling it against your walls and whispering sweet nothings into your ear. “Quiet or they’ll hear you”

“Neteyam” you whimper in his ear, your voice making his eyes squeeze shut. He was trying so hard to compose himself, but your pretty noises and the way you cried his name made it so hard. Thank Eywa the tent’s cloth that covered the entrance had been down, because someone definitely would’ve seen you by now.

“So good for me, baby. My pretty girl, you look so fucking good like this” his forehead pressed against yours as he sunk another finger inside you, watching your expression twist as you tugged on his braids.

“S-someone will hear” you choked lowly as he pumped his fingers into your core, curling them the deepest they could go. You watched him chuckle at your struggle and y ou felt that familiar feeling begin to build up in the pit of your stomach, hand grasping his arm as your head fell back against the wall. “Teyam, I can’t keep quiet..!” You whispered desperately into his ear, biting so hard onto your lip that you were sure you drew blood.

“Shhh, don’t worry about that, pretty girl. They won’t hear a thing” he kisses you and you cry into his mouth, pulling him closer to you. “You know I love you, Syulang”

“Mmm, I love you more” you pull his face back down to you, kissing his lips again. Something felt off, you were on cloud nine just a second ago, but now it felt like you looked stupid, moaning and begging over nothing. You looked down and sure enough, Neteyam had retracted his dripping fingers from your core, a smirk plastered across his face.

“That was fun, but I have to go take care of some things” You stare at the boy, not knowing whether to beg or yell. That stupid smirk on his face made you so angry, and how he looked at you while he sucked his fingers clean from your wetness, he was so fucking evil. “Why the long face? It felt good, didn’t it?”

You were angry, so very angry at your mate as you watched him feel no mercy for you—not even on your anniversary. You pulled your loincloth back into place and hopped off the counter, pushing him away from you. “If you don’t want to make me feel good, I’ll get Kaonu to do it” His once happy face now turned into an angry one, his eyes scanning your body only making him even more mad.

He knew you were just trying to get him mad, but it was working. Kaonu was the only guy who ever tried to get to you after Neteyam stated you were his, not a care in the world you had a mate and it made Neteyam so fucking angry.

You yelped as he pulled you to him by your neck once again, his other hand tugging your hair to make you look up at him. “I know your joking, but go near that Skxawng and I’ll fucking ruin you, got it?” Your knees fell weak at his voice but you kept your pride, staring back at him as he chuckled, shaking his head.

“Y/N? Oh, there you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Kiri entered the tent as you both looked over, a warrior walking in behind her. “I need you to patch this one up, it’s pretty bad”

Neteyam kissed the top of your head, leaning down to whisper in your ear, “I’ll see you tonight, Ma’Tìyawn” you watched him leave the tent with a stone cold expression, Kiri looking between you two with confusion.

“Okaaayy… I’m gonna go now” You nod your head, snapping out of your thoughts once she left and the boy sat on the ground. Oh Eywa, how you were going to kill your mate.

》* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ * 。° 。 • ˚《

“Y/N, I can’t let you take him, my grandmother said-“

“I don’t care, Kiri. I can take him, you go home” you cut her off, finishing up the last patch on the man in front of you. “Okay, your all good” You told the man, dropping the cloth into the bucket as he thanked you, leaving the now semi dark tent. It was late, but there was one more warrior left and you wanted to help. You were still mad at neteyam, and dreaded going home any time soon.

Kiri left after realizing she couldn’t win that argument, going to help Mo’at in her own tent. You heard the footsteps approach your tent and you called, telling them you’d be with them in just a minute.

“Y/N” Your stomach churned at the voice and you turn around, watching him walk through with a nervous laugh. “You uh… you look great”

Oh great mother, it was kaonu, and you prayed that Neteyam wasn’t on his way to pick you up. You smile at the man, walking toward him with a new bucket and ushering him to sit. Kaonu wasn’t a bad guy, he just didn’t have boundaries, and you knew If neteyam found out you were helping him after your talk, he’d be more than angry.

“How have you been?” You ask the male and he shrugs, watching as you wipe his bleeding arm off. “Are you still seeing Jhanua?” He shakes his head and silently tense, his eyes were on you so hard, and it made you slightly uncomfortable.

“Where’s Neteyam?”

“Kaonu, don’t start this, please” you sigh and he chuckles, shaking his head at your words. “He is your Ole’Eyktan, I am your Tsahìk and you need to respect that”

“How can I respect it when my Ole’Eyktan is mated to the most beautiful girl in the clan?” You glare at him, now he’d pissed you off. “He’s doesn’t deserve you”

“Stop talking before I hurt you even more, Kaonu” You patched his wounds, ignoring his next words just trying to get this over and done with. It wasn’t until you heard the voice outside the tent that your ears perked. “Shit”

You placed the bandages over his arm quickly, trying your hardest to finish before you were caught, but you should’ve known it was too late. By the time you were done, Neteyam was walking through the tents entrance, the smile on his face instantly fading once he locked eyes with the situation in front of him.

“Neteyam-“

“Speak of the devil” Kaonu mumbled under his breath before he stood to his feet after you, turning to give you a smile. “Great seeing you, Y/N” you looked down as he chuckled, making his way out of the tent with his head held high before stopping next to neteyam. “Happy anniversary by the way”

You didn’t move, afraid of what your mate had to say. You knew you shouldn’t have took that last warrior. You should have listened to kiri.

“My Sweet girl” He chuckled, but before you could look up, he was already gripping your arm, pulling you to him. “Let’s go” his voice was mean and his look was meaner. He didn’t understand how this even happened, he specifically told the healers you were not aloud to help him, even in an emergency.

So how the hell did he get into your tent?

“Neteyam, I promise I was just patching him up” you plead as you left the tent and headed to where his ikran sat, running your hands along its back before getting on. Neteyam enclosed your small frame between the two of them, kissing your head in attempt to sooth your nerves.

Great mother, what did you get yourself into…

Im so sorry guys but my keyboard is glitching like crazy so I have to make a part 2 💀. It is a SMUT so just a fair warning, link here: PART TWO

[skzhua]

Episode six.

MASTERLIST

pairing: XO, Kitty's Min Ho x Female Reader

genre: Fluff, angst, enemies-to-lovers, slow burn, coming-of-age.

word count: 3.1k

warnings: A lot is happening in such a short time, mentions of deceased parents, drinking, teenage behaviour, suggestive.

summary: Transferring to KISS was the last thing you had asked for and, yet, a certain tall boy made it seem both worse and better than you expected.

note: Bold - Korean, Italic - Over the phone

(let me know by filling the form in my bio if you want to be added to the taglist!)

Min Ho walked out of his room to see you sitting at the counter, enjoying your morning coffee alone. He went to go grab his mist that stood next to your mug, passing in front of you in the process which exposed you to his shirtless figure. You groaned out of disgust.

"Can't you put a shirt on?"

"Not my fault you can't handle this?" he pointed to his muscular torso with a smirk on his face.

Misting his face with his eyes closed, he didn't notice you got off your stool to step closer to him. You eyed him up and down, checking out how hot he was.

"You're right." Your hot breath made him open his eyes. "I can't handle it."

"I'm right?"

Up on your tiptoes, you leaned closer to his ear. Min Ho felt his heart get faster and faster.

"You're too bloody hot." you whispered sensually

Taking the mist from his hand, you put it aside and slid your arms around his neck. He gulped and his eyes flickered down to your lips. He carefully placed his hands on your waist.

"I hope you're not joking." he breathed out in a low voice.

"Why would I be joking?"

"Because you hate-"

You shushed him and leaned closer to his face. Min Ho felt the pace of his heart quickened more and held you tighter. As your lips were about to touch, Min Ho shook himself awake. Sitting up on his bed, he felt the sweat drip on his forehead. Never in his life had he had such an explicit dream of someone he despised so much.

The week consisted of two things: school and Kitty's venting. As much you liked the girl, she had nothing else to talk about but her supposed-discovery that your professor was her potential brother and that Dae hadn't thanked her for giving him back her necklace. So, reading a book in the comfort of your couch was enough for her to understand you had other things to do and she continued to rant to Q. You hadn't read far because your phone rang to notify you that someone texted you.

Yuri: Sleepover tonight?

Y/N: What's the occasion?

Yuri: Nothing, I just need to get my mind off things.

Y/N: Sure.

Yuri: Are you going to Min Ho's party? We could go together.

Min Ho. Again. And again. The two of you had not talked since the accident. Not that you minded. In fact, you were quite happy to not have him around as much. Though he did start to act weirdly around you the day after. You didn't question it as he was probably getting sick of seeing you just as much as you were.

You weren't going to go to the party. He did add you to the list of guests but it wasn't your thing. Adding the fact that it was against the rules and that your aunt was the vice-principal, you didn't want to get in trouble.

Y/N: I'll see. I'll be at your place in an hour.

You packed pyjamas and clothes for the next day in your bag and went to grab your toothbrush and other necessities in the bathroom. Opening the door, Min Ho was already there putting on his night cream. As soon as he saw you, he stopped moving. You gestured for him to move aside so you can grab your things but he didn't budge.

"Min Ho." you said in a warning voice.

He cleared his throat and finally left you space. You looked at him weirdly while shoving your hairbrush in your bag. You accidentally touched one of his products as it was in the way and he gasped in panic.

"Don't touch that!"

"You're getting weirder and weirder every day." you sighed.

"What are you even doing?"

"Be glad, I'm sleeping at Yuri's tonight. A small break away from you is going to do me some good."

He forced a smile. "That's so thoughtful of you."

You arrived at Yuri's soon enough and she invited you in kindly, offering you something to drink. Walking to her living room, you saw your aunt discussing in laughter with Principal Lim. She got up as soon as she saw you and came to engulf you in a tight hug.

"I haven't heard about you in days, I was wondering how you were doing."

"I'm great. I'm sorry I couldn't spend Chuseok with you."

She shook her head vigorously. "I'm just glad you spent time with your friends."

"Y/N is among our best rising students. Her grades are impressive." Jina added. "And I'm more than happy she and Yuri get to bond."

"Mom." Yuri rolled her eyes.

"What?" she said innocently.

"We'll be in my room."

She took your hand and dragged you behind her before shutting her door. With a heavy sigh, she let herself fall on her bed.

"I'm sorry if my invitation was so sudden. I felt lonely and I'm sick of only having Dae around."

You sat next to her. "I understand. I needed a break from my dorm anyway."

She frowned. "It's not going well?"

"I was misplaced in the boys dorm." you admitted.

"Oh."

"Right, oh." you chuckled. "Don't rat me out."

She zipped her mouth to confirm you that you could trust her. "Who are you rooming with?"

"Dae."

She gasped. "No way."

"And Q, and Min Ho." you failed to mention Kitty since you didn't want to cause a fuss over it.

"Y/N, the hell?"

You shrugged your shoulders. "We manage. The guys are not that bad, I swear."

"You could have asked to change."

"I tried already but the girls' is full. It's all good, don't worry."

She didn't seem fully convinced but she didn't push it. "Alright, if you say so."

"How about you? Have you heard from Juliana?"

Her head dropped down. "I've seen her on the first day but she left to whatever school, away from me. She promised we would find each other again but I'm starting to lose hope."

You rubbed her shoulder in a comforting way. "I'm sorry you have to go through this."

She exhaled loudly. "It's okay, it's only a rough pass, right?"

You acquiesced with her. To take her mind off everything, you prompted you do some face masks while watching the movie of her choice. You definitely didn't think you'd be doing anything of that sort when coming to KISS, even less with Yuri. For once, you felt like the two of you were more than forced friends and that you genuinely were bonding.

You left with Yuri to go to school and went separate ways so she could join Dae. As for you, Q texted you to join him and Kitty before class.

The three of you went to get ice americanos and sat at a table while Kitty went on with her necklace story. You almost wished you had stayed with Yuri.

"While I would love to talk about this whole thing again, I'd rather shove scissors in my ears, no offense." you said after she moved to talking about Dae again.

Q sighed in relief. "Yes, thank you. Seriously, this whole week, all we've been hearing is Dae, necklace, Yuri, Alex, necklace, Alex, Yuri, Dae, necklace... You're like a robot that's malfunctioning, stuck on a loop."

You nodded. "Yeah, and didn't you come here to have new experiences and love your life?"

"You know what Min Ho's Madness Party is?" Q asked which earned him a look from Kitty and you. "A new experience."

"Ugh, God. I can't believe I was about to stay in on a Friday night, pouting about a boy." she grunted. "Oh, no. I'm turning into LJ..."

"I'm out for this one. I'm not going." you announced before sipping on your coffee.

Q's eyes went wide. "What? No, both of you have to come. You're going to go out into the great big world and be a new kind of yourselves."

"A new kind of ourselves who..?" you trailed off in confusion.

"Who'll find someone to kiss?"

You exploded in laughter but Kitty seemed to be in agreement with his suggestion. "I always thought Dae would be my first kiss, and now he's the only boy in the world who can't be."

"Yeah, I know, I know. But think of all the possibilities. Seriously, use that matchmaker skill on yourself. Switch it up!" Q beamed at her.

"Okay... I could kiss somebody tonight. Yeah, I will kiss somebody tonight."

"Yes, girl." he shouted, satisfied.

"You guys have fun boy-chasing." you chuckled but Q shook his head

"Don't think you can get away from this, my friend."

You groaned. "Do I have to come?"

"Yes, please. You could help me with finding a boy." Kitty begged.

"I don't have your talent with that sort of things."

It was Q's turn to beg. "Y/N, I never see you go out much. It'll be fun. Consider it as a night out with us only."

You bit your lip in hesitation. "I guess I can stay for a bit. I might leave earlier, though."

Kitty helped you with choosing what you were going to wear. Since it was supposedly the event of the year, she insisted that you looked your very best. While she picked a tight black top with an equally tight black skirt, she spotted your red sheer top with a V neckline.

"Why is it that I have never seen you wear this?"

You took it from her. "It's something Yuri forced me to buy when we went shopping together once, nothing extravagant."

She scoffed. "Are you kidding? This will look amazing with your black skirt. Oh, and your chain necklace!"

You bickered over it until you gave up and changed. You helped her with the makeup and hair before doing yours. Satisfied with your looks, you went to the event together. The place was gigantic, a good way for Min Ho to show off his wealth as he was the one renting it.

"Do you see Q? He told me he was going to be with Florian." Kitty asked and you shook your head, clueless on where your friend was.

After assuring her that you'd be fine alone, you went separate ways to find the guys. The crowd was already dancing like there was no tomorrow, leaving you close to no space to pass through. You ended up getting out of the pack of people and opted to go look towards the bar. A wave of relief travelled your body when your eyes narrowed down to your friends as they were exchanging hugs and laughs. You wanted to join them but a voice calling you out interrupted you.

"Can I offer you something to drink? It's on me."

You stopped on your tracks as you held your breath, slowly turning around. Coming face to face with Min Ho, you smiled awkwardly as he gasped in horror.

"That's how you pick up on girls?" you let out a laugh as he cursed at himself for hitting on you.

"Ah, my eyes! It's like looking directly to the sun." Min Ho grumbled to himself.

You didn't bother staying with him as Q saw you from afar and invited you to join the lot.

"Hey, guys." you waved at them and Q could only laugh as he watched Min Ho behind you.

"You're so hot, you even got him to stare."

You brushed it off and hugged Kitty instead. However, she immediately broke away from it and pointed behind you.

"Dae is here." she said and Dae smiled at her from afar. "Nope. I am here to meet a new boy to kiss."

She stole Q's mocktail and expected for it to have alcohol in it. After discussing liquor, you picked up another drink that Q ordered for you and asked Florian to put his strong alcohol in it.

"Need to get tipsy?" Florian asked.

"Terribly."

Kitty laughed and raised her glass. "To new experiences. Let's do this."

Dae walked up to her and began to say something but the three others walked away. Clueless, you stood still and gave him a sad look.

"Good luck with that." you tapped his shoulder before catching up to the others.

You all soon went on the dance floor and started to enjoy the party fully. You bumped into someone by accident and apologized quickly. The girl squealed when she saw you.

"Y/N! I haven't seen you around much." Eunice exclaimed.

"I wasn't out much either."

"Good thing you are here. I talked about you to this boy the other day and he's so handsome. He's here, you should meet him."

You shook your hands in refusal. "Please, no."

"Come on, I'm sure you'll like him."

You stopped your protests as she pulled you out of the crowd. She walked around for a bit, looking for the man in particular, and then rushed you to him. He was sitting at the bar and exchanging with some other guy.

"Dongmin, this is Y/N."

One of the two guys excused himself and left you while the other smiled at you warmly. He was much taller than you and was definitely the type of guy who knew he was handsome. Well, like Min Ho.

"It's nice to meet you. Eunice has told me all about you."

"I'll leave you to it." the girl in question whispered before disappearing.

You were uncomfortable but at that point, you didn't care that much. Florian might have put too much liquor in your drink since you could already feel the effects. Dongmin ordered one for you and pulled out a flask out of his vest. Although it was a bad idea, you let him pour some in your glass.

"So, your parents were the heads of a restaurant company?"

"That's right."

"It must have been hard when they died. Going from a rich environment to living with the middle-class."

You almost spit out your sip. "Excuse me?"

"Well, it must be different now, no? I've heard you needed a scholarship to come here instead of being able to pay for your studies."

"I did get a scholarship, but-"

He cut you off. "I'm supposing your parents left nothing for you? Wow, that sucks."

"What? How-"

"Dongmin." someone said as they stopped behind you.

"Ah. The host of the event. How are you, Min Ho?"

"I'd be doing better if you weren't harassing my friend."

You stopped breathing for a bit. Min Ho was coming to your rescue and you couldn't be any more thankful for it. But you didn't understand why he was doing this.

"Harrassing? We were just talking."

Min Ho gave him a sour look. "About her parents, yeah? I don't think she appreciates it."

"We're good, man." Dongmin defended. "Right, Y/N?"

You simply shrugged your shoulders, earning a huff from Min Ho. "Are you feeling comfortable? Really?" he asked to be sure.

You looked back and forth between the two men and slowly shook your head. That told plenty for Min Ho to take you by the wrist and lead you away from the guy. There was a spot away from the dance floor that was quiet enough to feel more cozy. He invited you to sit and took a bottle of water from behind the bar to give it to you.

"I thought you were better than this to defend yourself."

"Thank you for your concern but I was doing just fine." you argued as you took a sip of water.

"Fine? Y/N, you were almost shaking there."

"Well, now I'm good." you shot at him. "I'll find Kitty and Q."

You left him behind and rushed back to the dancing floor. Little did you know that Min Ho followed you from a distance. Only to keep an eye on you in case you had to bump into Dongmin again.

The night went on, more drinks were consumed on your part, third-wheeling Q and Florian was a good way to summarize the whole thing. You had lost Kitty along the way as she went away after she threw a fit at Dae, evidently too drunk to be in her right mind.

The boys were making out furiously next to you and you were growing more and more disgusted. Not that you didn't root for them but they were far beyond keeping it innocent. Eventually, you left and found Eunice again in the crowd as Yuri started her set.

"I'm sorry about Dongmin. Min Ho told me what happened." she said as she gave you a hug.

She focused back on Yuri but your mind went off somewhere else. Maybe, just maybe, you liked the idea of Min Ho caring about you. After all, he hadn't been so bad in the past recent days.

"I'll be gone for a minute." you said to Eunice before starting to look for Min Ho.

You didn't know what you wanted to tell him but there was this thing between you that needed to be cleared up. With people jamming to the music, it made it hard for you to search for him properly.

As you were about to give up, you saw him from afar by recognizing his green suit that fitted him way too well for your own sake. You walked towards him but stopped when you were close enough to see what he was doing. Holding her closely by the waist, his lips were on Madison's. Your heart fell and it felt like everything around you disconnected. He pulled away from the girl and finally noticed you were standing only a few feet away from him.

"Y/N." he said and let go of Madison.

"I didn't want to interrupt." you managed to say. "I just wanted to-"

You couldn't finish your sentence. The music stopped abruptly and you saw Professor Lee with Principal Lim on the stage with stares of disapproval. Everyone began to run out of the place in a hurry which made you stumble only to crash on someone. You were lucky to find out that it was Yuri and she helped you get out with her and Dae. As soon as you stepped outside, camera flashes were blinding you. Yuri pushed you away violently and took off with Dae. You'd usually say it was a bitch move but considering the fact cameras were capturing her, she was probably only trying to protect you.

Min Ho ran to you after seeing her push you. He held your shoulders and scanned your body for any injury.

"Are you sure you are okay?" he asked again.

"Can you leave me be?" you exploded at him. "Go back to Madison or something."

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[halfagone]

So here’s a unique twist of a common prompt. Danny is the son of Bruce Wayne, whoever his mother is is up to you. However, Danny wants nothing to do with Bruce or his family for whatever reason, whether it’s because Damian treated him badly as a child or maybe he just doesn’t like how Bruce operates. Either way, they meet and the meeting ends badly. What do you think?

There are actually a lot of reasons why Danny might not want to stay with Bruce or stay away from Bruce. There is, of course, the usual "Danny has billionaire trauma" route that works for some arguments (although not all (but I'll leave that ramble for another time)). You could always go with Danny and Damian didn't get along (if we're doing a Demon Siblings AU). But I think the route that goes best is just that... Danny has a lot of Trauma™ and he's not ready to join another family.

Unfortunately those kinds of AUs would probably be the sadder ones because that can mean that he has problems and/or is cut off from Jazz too. Because as much as I love Jazz, she was never the bastion of perfection and older sisterhood that we sometimes like to paint her as. She tried, just like her parents did, and sometimes she failed. ㄟ( ▔, ▔ )ㄏ

In those AUs Danny is probably trying to live on his own. Maybe he's emancipated, maybe he's turned 18 already (I do have a fic idea where Danny moves out of the house after turning 18 despite not graduating yet, which is a thing you can do. Plenty of kids' birthdays pass before June graduation in the U.S., after all.) He's just started to stand on his own two feet and probably move past the neglect, both physical and emotional, that came with living with the Fentons.

Enter Bruce. Bruce, who has abandonment issues and is one paranoid motherclucker (and yes, that was intentional), who has just found out he has an unknown son from either a past relationship or one-night stand. Of course he's going to want to know more about Danny and catch up on all the time he lost with Danny. And the thing about Bruce is that sometimes he acts like a bad father purely because he doesn't know how to communicate his feelings and does all these things that come off as insensitive and/or overbearing.

Sometimes Danny might be able to make it work. But depending on the downturn his life might have taken... sometimes he can't. And for a Danny that might have just gotten that hard-earned independence... it likely won't be pretty.

---

Danny doesn't know what to make of Bruce Wayne. The man seems nice... enough. He's a bit too excitable, tries a little too hard. It's clear as day that he's trying, much more than Danny's adoptive parents could ever bother to sometimes, but it's... Danny would appreciate it more if Bruce just gave up.

He's happy to see that Bruce didn't willingly give Danny up. No word yet on Danny's bio mom, but at least he's got that going for him. He could do without Bruce's meaningful attempts to introduce him to the rest of the family or find out more about him.

Danny absentmindedly tugs at his collar. He really wishes he'd just turned Sam down when he had the chance. Tucker had balked when she extended the invitation out to him. Usually Danny would be her first choice, since he had some semblance of High Society Table Manners™ which usually Sam wouldn't give a shit about, but well, Tucker had gone once, got embarrassed to hell and back, and pretty much sworn off against it ever since.

He'd only moved out from Fenton Works three weeks ago. Danny could understand why she didn't want to ask him while he got settled in.

But well, she was his friend. And with the risk of her parents trying to openly marry her off to some rich guy (as opposed to subtly trying to marry her off, like they were doing now), Danny had taken one for the team and agreed.

If he knew this was going to happen, he would have just stayed home and figured out how to cook scrambled fucking eggs.

"I'm not very comfortable with this conversation right now, Mr. Wayne," Danny said plainly to the man. They were off in a side room at this point, tucked away from the rest of the crowd that would usually gawk at them otherwise. Already he'd turned heads when people recognized him as familiar.

To be honest though, even if they hadn't gone to a more secluded room, Danny still would have told it to the man straight.

"Oh, is it because your friend isn't here? I told you you're more than welcome to-" Bruce started again but Danny cut him off with a sigh.

"That's not the problem here, Mr. Wayne," Danny deadpanned. "I don't know why you're expecting me to be on board so quickly but I- I just turned eighteen. I have an apartment, I have a job. I know I'm still a kid in your eyes but I haven't been your kid in- ever. No matter what any paternity test ends up saying, which I still haven't agreed to by the way-"

"You're not even willing to try?" Bruce asked in return, like he'd been struck across the face.

It seemed genuine enough, like he was sincerely hurt by Danny's standoffish attitude. And Danny would feel guilty if he weren't so tired right now. He'd been tired for the past four years and he didn't need this on top of it all as some twisted cherry on top of the shitty whipped cream that was his life.

"No, I'm not," Danny told the man, straightforward. People had said no to Bruce before, right? Surely, someone had.

He began to doubt when Bruce just stared at him, dumbfounded. Danny didn't let the silence linger because he didn't linger, just moved on and left the side room. He could feel Bruce's eyes on him as he went, and then some of the other Waynes' eyes on him when he came into view. He ignored all of them and tried to find Sam.

Maybe her parents would even be willing to let him go back to the hotel room, after the huge 'scene' he'd just caused.

[gayerthanevertbh]

mommy’s little girl

pairings: older!natasha romanoff x innocent!reader

warnings: huge age gap, masturbation, slightly dark!natasha, dirty talking (heavily implied), mommy kink, and praise. 18+ MINORS DNI

notes: mommy natasha who’s also a big bear and i just want to post my fantasies lol enjoy x

masterlist | navigation | kinktober masterlist

“Sweetheart, please turn off your computer. You have school tomorrow.”

I sighed, putting away my book as I turned off my computer with a small smile on my face; showing that I wasn’t ready to go to bed. I recently turned eighteen this month, and I hoped that I’d have a bit of my freedom but that was no longer the case when it comes to my parents. I live in a conservative, religious, and highly respected home. Having a boyfriend or a girlfriend would never be a faith of mine; most certainly having the life that I truly want that isn’t even that stupid. Just a bit of my freedom would be appreciated.

“Mom?”

“What’s wrong, baby?”

I hesitated, but I knew it must be said. I took a deep breath and whispered, “When will I ever leave the house? Like… explore?”

She sighed through her nose and I could immediately tell that she was not having this mere conversation. Every week, I’d ask her about this. And she would ignore or find another topic to talk about so that we would forget about it. But there was no escaping this time; surely, she cannot escape this conversation.

“When you’re ready, Y/n.”

I only nodded and felt her lip kissing the crown of my head and turned off the lights in my room; I felt my own heart grow heavy and lay comfortably on the mattress where I think about another reality. Where I’m happy. When will I ever be satisfied? When will I get to have a life of my own?

Then, I grabbed my phone under my bed and began to download this app that my friend told me, it’s where you chat with strangers. Like Omegle. But she said that this app was different, you get to call and meet them – which is a little strange, but I don’t mind. It was hard to make a profile picture since I don’t take photos of myself; so I chose a photo of me that was almost a year ago and used it instead. I gave it a few minutes and saw an account trying to add me, making my heart beat a little.

At least from an online world, someone could appreciate me.

I clicked on their profile and I almost squirmed underneath the blanket. This woman was a beautiful-looking redhead. She had her hair short, her lips matching the shirt that she was wearing. Pink; is a great color. I smiled when I read her bio, it says: I felt a Funeral, in my Brain, And Mourners to and fro Kept treading – treading – till it seemed That Sense was breaking through – which I understood immediately. It’s a poem by Emily Dickinson, making my heart swell with joy. Finally, someone like me. Someone that I could relate to.

I decided to add them back and waited for their text; I rested my phone against my chest.

I felt my phone buzzing, I immediately threw myself up.

Natasha: Hi! :)

At this point, I didn’t know how to respond. I could do two things; ghost her, or don’t ghost her and face the person who is texting you right now. I chewed on my lower lip, watching the clock tick at its new number whether I should respond to her or not. I know I should, it would be rude enough not to say a simple hello. I began typing quickly and sent my message.

You: Hiiii! I’m surprised you texted me.

Natasha: I saw you here and I immediately had to add you. You’re really pretty, so so pretty.

You: you’re making me blush. thank you, fellow kind ma’am. :)

Natasha: how old are you? You seem extremely young.

I put my phone down and thought intensely if I should give her my age. If she knew I recently turned eighteen, she might block me and never speak to me again. And if she doesn’t talk to me again, that means I can’t have a friend. But being honest is also a good trait when it comes to these things; I have to tell her or else I’ll just keep pushing her away.

I sighed, sending the message of my age.

You: I’m eighteen. I hope you don’t mind.

Natasha: no, not at all! You’re so cute.

You: you’re giving me too many compliments, I can’t take it :(

Natasha: well, if we are going to be friends, you might expect me to tell you these things. Where are you from?

You: Queens!

Natasha: Really?! I’m from Queens too! Well, I just moved here recently. Business stuff.

You: how old are you then?

She’s probably twice as old as me, which makes me a little sad. If she was my age and I was allowed to have a girlfriend; she would be the perfect fit. Even though I only met this person not even an hour ago. It took her a while to respond, but she did and it made my heart drop.

Natasha: 38. Are you okay with that?

You: you’re the same age as my parents.

Natasha: I’m sorry, cutie. If you want, we could stop talking. I understand if you don’t want to talk to me anymore :( but I’ll be very sad…

I don’t want to break her heart, I thought with a sigh through my nose. She must be so kind.

She’s probably the kindest person I’ve ever had a conversation with; I decided to keep going, which made me create a smile on my face like a stupid little girl.

You: I want us to keep talking, don’t go!

Natasha: Okay. We will keep talking then. :)

You: why are you in this app?

Natasha: Because I’m going through a really tough time and I wanted some company… hehehe.

Usually, whenever my friends would talk about guys online, they immediately want to have sex. They tell me it’s a turn-off, especially when the conversation is smooth and delicate until shit has been replaced. I haven’t experienced it myself, and I most likely wouldn’t want to experience it. So I decided to type my thoughts, getting a reply from her before a minute.

You: is sex your catch?

Natasha: you made me laugh, on a fond matter. No, sweet girl, that’s not my catch. I just want to make some friends, can’t I do that? :(

You: of course, you can! I was a little scared that you would want sex with me.

Natasha: sweetheart, I wouldn’t. We haven’t built a relationship, hahaha. Isn’t it late for you? Pretty little girls like you need their sleep. :D

You: you’re a flirt, aren’t you?

Natasha: It’s in me, I can’t help it. Plus, you’re not a minor. You won’t report me to the police, right?

You: what would be the reason for that?

Natasha: I don’t know, it seems like you would. :( Wouldn’t that be juicy?

You: I think I’ll go to bed :)

Natasha: lol. Okay, sweetheart. Get some rest, let’s keep talking tomorrow, okay? Goodnight. :)

You: Night!!

I brought my phone back under my bed and closed my eyes, as I think about the night that I made a friend. It’s a swelling feeling, a good swelling feeling. She was beautiful – too ethereal – and was the sweetest person I’ve talked to, even though she’s a big flirt. Though, that didn’t seem to mind me at all. If I would let her stay by flirting with me like that, then I wouldn’t care. I’d let her flirt all day long until I was bored.

I slept humbly like a babe.

Natasha and I began to have a strong bond a few weeks later, which caused a ruckus in the house since I’ve been on my phone too much. My mother, who’s too strict in everything, demands to have my phone and I would simply give her by not worrying (Natasha taught me how to hide our chats, which I’m grateful for) and she would give it to me back with a defeated face – knowing that I’ve won the fight. I would tell Natasha that her plan had worked and she would give me a response that sounded too flirty but also supportive at the same time.

And there was this gnawing feeling inside of me that wanted to roar out. Sometimes, when I’m in bed, I can’t help but think about her lips on mine. Would we be a great couple? Does she see me as her daughter? She’s older than me, she’s smarter than me, and I feel so young and innocent having someone to talk to someone so… mature. I know deep inside of me that she probably is a good kisser and would touch me delicately; but I also want to experience that and not with my dreams.

I was having a small conversation with her while doing my homework, laughing and giggling whenever she would imitate Mickey Mouse from my favorite TV show in the world.

“Natty, you sound exactly like him.”

“I try,” she laughs faintly, hearing herself flop on her bed. “Too bad I can’t see your face. I would be thrilled and blushing if I did.”

“Yeah,” I sighed, knowing that we wouldn’t able to have a video call. “This app is stupid anyway, I wish I could text you properly.”

“When you have your own life, then you will. For now, this is what we have to work with, m’kay?”

“M’kay.”

“God, you sound so cute. I wish I could kiss your cute face.”

My face flushed, and I immediately stopped writing down in my notebook as I repeated the words she had said in my head. A woman like her wants to kiss me. It felt surreal; different. Yet, it’s a great feeling that I cannot describe whatsoever. I gulped and responded quietly under my breath, “What does that mean, Nat?”

“Would you be angry if I asked you to call me your Mommy?”

“H-Huh?” my breath hitched; I could hear her groaning from the speaker of my phone, and I had to ball my hand into a fist so that I don’t let out a suppressing moan that my mom could hear behind my door. “Nat, what are you talking about?”

“I think about you all the time,” she whimpers with a deep voice. “You’re my sweet little girl, my pure innocent girl. That fuckin’ turns me on so much, you make me so wet.”

“T-Tasha…”

“You want me to keep talking, baby? Yeah? Fuck, I’m touching myself right now. Mmph, call me Mommy. Please, baby, call me Mommy.”

“My parents could hear me if I say that,” I whispered close to the speaker, closing my eyes as I imagined her hands underneath her panties. She must be so insatiable, which I find attractive. I took a breath and whispered close, moaning: “Mommy.”

She groans as I can hear squelching sounds from the background. “Fuck! O-Oh god, you make me so horny. You don’t know what I can do to you, little girl. I can fucking lick you like I’m hungry for you, I can fuck you so hard that you might beg for help. Oh, I’d love to hear you beg, fuck baby fuck.”

“Are you–”

“I think you’ll love my cock much more, don’t you think? Please, baby, let me see you soon. I want to lick you, I want to kiss you so much. I love you, I love your little body. God–I know you’d be so little, and your pretty pussy must be so tight.”

“Keep talking to me, Mommy,” I whispered with a whining moan as I slipped my fingers into my underwear to touch my clitoris, shutting my eyes tight; not having an idea what to do next. “M-Mommy, I’m touching myself…”

“S-Shit, you have no idea what you’re doing, huh?”

“Mhm,” I continued to rub my clit, biting my lower lip to keep quiet. “I can’t be loud, they could hear me.”

“Imagine me going to your room as your parents are downstairs, thinking about their daughter being so innocent. I’ll take your virginity, I’ll keep you quiet. Do you think about me kissing your lips? Baby, talk to me. I need to hear you.” Natasha thrusts her fingers into her rapidly, as she thinks about the naughtiest imaginations about fucking me in her head. The things I could do for her.

“I-I can’t be loud,” I rest my forehead against my desk and continued to rub my clit in circular motions, counting how many times I should do it in my head. I heard her groaning from my speaker and heard something, but I couldn’t figure it out. “Mommy, I feel so icky…”

“Mommy wants to help you out so bad,” she whines as she creates a rapid pace into her cunt. “I love you, my little girl. Keep it down for me, sweetheart… I’m going to cum soon. I wish I could cum in your mouth.”

“My mouth?–Oh god–”

“I wish I could fuck you in the ass, I wish I could taste you. Mommy’s cumming baby… yeah, I’m–Oh SHIT!” she lets out a strangled moan and arches her back, whimpering and whining out my name multiple times as she has the orgasm that she wished would last forever; it felt too good for her, especially when she thought of her strap-on inside of my little pussy, as she says.

I pulled my hand out and wiped it on a paper towel near me, I waited for her to calm down before hearing her say: “We have to meet, okay baby girl? I really want to see your face.”

“I want to see your face too, Tasha bear.”

She chuckles deeply as I hear a ruffling sound that was coming from her sheets, I was guessing that she was changing or getting herself comfortable; the sound lasted for a minute. When silence hit us both, I realized that I was about to fall in love with an older woman. And I wished that she felt the same way; otherwise, it would be embarrassing enough to have feelings for someone else who wouldn’t give them back to you.

But she has said I love you to me multiple times; she must love me then, right?

“I’m your bear, alright.”

“You’ll always be my bear.” I responded shyly, tucking a strand of my hair in my ear. I hear another chuckle again that churns my stomach; she really has that effect on me that I don’t understand.

“I want us to meet at the Avengers Cafe, can we? Please?”

“But what if my parents find out?”

“They won’t,” she reassures desperately. “I love you, I want to see you. I promise I’m not a pervert.”

It took me a while to respond, and I could tell that she was losing hope. I knew immensely that Natasha wasn't a pervert nor a threat; it was more of how will I survive when my parents know about her? Especially when I live in such a conservative home, it's really damn hard. But I knew, deep inside, that it was worth it. Meeting the possible love of my life would be the greatest challenge I'll ever do.

I decided to give in and nodded, smiling through the phone.

“Yeah,” I said quietly. “Let’s meet then.”

“Good,” she sighs happily and closes her eyes; her hand still in her panties. “Tomorrow sounds good?”

“Yeah, it does.”

“Goodnight, my dearest.”

i’m serious. should i post part two where natasha fucks reader in her innocent bedroom? ooooo

[tofuingho]

What if Dani's melting problem is less about being an unstable clone and more about the aging up process that she went through?

Obviously, if they can figure out how to reverse the process, she'll be fine. And they know just the right guy for messing with time!

But now they've got a baby with superpowers and nowhere to keep her. She obviously wouldn't be safe at Danny's house, the Manson's would flip their wigs and send Sam off to boarding school, and Tucker's parents would definitely ask a LOT of questions. Vlad's obviously a no-no since he's the one that made this mess in the first place!

I think either:

1) Jazz takes Dani with her to University. Maybe she pretends that Dani is her bio-baby or maybe she tells people it's her little sister. I think Jazz is smart enough to get some scholarships, but the Fentons also seem to be fairly well off, so she could probably support herself and a toddler with a part-time job. (Can be Jazz/Jason or Jazz/Dick; maybe go avant garde Jazz/Roy or Jazz/Starfire)

2) Danny, Sam, and Tucker use their skills to find someone to take care of Dani. At first, they wanted to drop her off with Superman, but then they find out about how he treated Conner (pre- or post-makeup.) and just don't feel comfortable leaving her with someone who's shown bias against clones. Then they thought about Batman, but the "No Metas" rule and how dangerous Gotham is made them decide against him. (I couldn't pick who they'd leave her with. Probably Wonder Woman or the Flash. Maybe they give up and decide to figure out a way to keep her. It'd make a good 5+1 fic)

To include:

*Several people mistake Dani as their/a friend's illegitimate child.

*Superboy has the same problem, but hasn't started melting yet. The JL/YJL finds out that Superboy has an impending melt issue due to meeting Dani. (Yes, they have to de-age Superboy too.)

*Dani hates one member of the JL and goes feral kitten on them whenever they're in the vicinity.

[anyoldfandom]

I am actually. I am so emotional over the Salazar parents and I need to share this to tumblr too.

A lot of stories where the MC is adopted I feel. Either dismiss the biological parents and the impact they have on the kid's life, or makes them evil and abusive, framing the loss of the bio parents as a good thing, or at least something we shouldn't think about just look at this new family.

But Genrex doesn't do that. From the start, Rex wanted to find out more about his parents - it's one of his primary character motivations, next to helping people. He loves them, even though he doesn't know them.

And the more he finds out about them, the more he realizes they loved him. Rylander is consumed by guilt but as Rex's first connection to his pre-Event life, the first thing he does is hug him. And when he tells Rex about his parents, the two things Rex knows is that 1) they were scientists, and 2) that when he was in danger, they were desperate enough to use their secret, experimental technology to save him. Technology built from their desire to help the world, to save countless lives and end countless suffering.

And then. When he finds out that they were dead, he doesn't stop caring. It'd be so easy, too, to tie it up there - his parents were good people, he got his answer about them, the end. But they don't. He doesn't. Because the show is saying once again that they are his parents. He still calls them mom and dad, even as the show makes it clear Holiday and Six adopted Rex as their son. Even as the show even parallels Six and One with Rex and Six (and I will talk about that more later if I don't forget, trust me), to really drive home how much they're family. Rex even says he considers the two of them family, and later that he considers Noah, Claire and Annie family.

He has new family, the show tells us, but his old family still matters to him. He's upset that he never has the chance to meet his parents, that everything he hears about them, about his time with them, is secondhand knowledge. It tells us clearly that not only does Rex still love them, but that he still wants to know them. And everything we find out about them reinforces the love that they had for each other.

We see Abuela and the family in Mexico, who connect him to his birth family and tell him that he was so loved back then, and still is now. We see their office in Abysus through Rex's eyes. The picture of him and his dad on his desk. The drawing Rex drew, proudly pinned to the wall.

We see it in the familiarity of the drawing. That that robot, that build, was what Rex created when he was lost and scared and alone - that it was made to keep him safe. That it first appeared in his mind in a place he felt safe.

The show says, tenderly and softly, that the love is still there. That the fact these people died was nothing but a tragedy, that their love is a big part of what made Rex who he is today - that every molecule in his body is filled with their final gift to him. That every time he cures someone, every time he uses a build, every time he makes a machine - we see the love that they had for him.

And the way he quietly absorbs his father's face. The way he freezes and whispers "Mamá?" when he finds out Zag-Rs has their mother's voice. The fact that she even has her voice as a testament to Caesar's love, too - that it was meant to bring comfort and safety. The way Rex yells at Caesar when he finds out they have a family property, a connection to their past, the way he fights to protect it.

And, none of this takes away still from Six and Holiday being Rex's family too. None of this removes the work either set of parents did for him, the love either set has - the show says that it was unfair that the Salazar parents were lost. That Six and Holiday are not replacements, that they still love him as parents but play different roles in his life. They can not, and have no desire to, replace the Salazars. But Rex needs parents, he needs protectors, and so they will do what they can for him - at first out of necessity, to keep this kid they barely know safe, but then out of love. They aren't replacing what was lost, but are doing their best to do what Rex's bio parents would do. And they do mess up in it - they mess up in ways Rex's bio parents might not have. Six is clearly bad with showing affection, affection we saw the Salazars give Rex so easily, and Holiday is overworked and stressed constantly, sometimes breaking under the pressure and snapping at Rex and Six, things we never saw the Salazars do.

It's just. It's about how sometimes things will not be the same. They will be different. That doesn't mean the people you lost aren't still with you.

[hyperfixatedoncrimminalminds]

Can I request an Aaron Hotchner x autistic!daughter young adult ideally but any age. Or even she’s on the team and he’s a father figure to her because her own is so ableist. My dad is so ableist and I have so much autistic trauma from him even though my autism is from him too. He thinks that gives him even more rights to say whatever he wants to me and bully me even more. I just need to know what it feels like to have a good dad who cares about my autism. Who cares about me ❤️❤️

Aaron Hotchner x Autistic! Young adult reader

Of course I can, I'm sorry you have to deal with that, my parents have trouble understanding my Autism as well but they are getting better. I will write this for you!

Summary: Y/Ns ableist Dad comes to the BAU and starts being an Ableist arsehole to his daughter, her father figure (Hotch) steps in and saves her.

Third Person pov...

It had been 3 years since Y/N L/N joined the BAU, she was 21 when she joined and instantly became the baby of the team and Hotch became her Dad, Y/N is autistic and has sensory issues.

Ever since she was little her father was ablest and would bully her and verbally abuse her saying how her being Autistic meant something was wrong with her and that she needed fixing, the man caused her to have so many meltdowns and sensory overloads that it made others concerned her teachers as school.

He was later arrested for child abuse and was sent to prison, Y/N was then left with her neighbours who were a nice loving family and always liked her but hated her dad and were glad she got away from him after suffering for years, her Mum was out of the picture.

The young girl had so much trauma from her childhood when she joined the BAU that Hotch became her father figure, their relationship helped mend Y/Ns trauma from her bio dad and she was able to live comfortably knowing he wasnt in her life anymore, she was treated with respect and was always told that her autism wasn't a bad thing.

From being with Penelope and Spencer (who are also Autistic) her relationship with her Autism was mended and she was able to be herself, while with her dad she could stim or doing anything 'autistic' but with her new found family she was free to stim and had all her accomedations, if anyone disrespected her or called her weird they would have to deal with an angry Hotch and the rest of the team.

It was a normal day for the team, they weren’t on a case and for once they all got to relax and fill out paperwork, well aside from Hotch and Spencer no one was doing any paperwork, Derek and Emily were sat giggling loudly like children as they kept throwing rolled up pieces of paper at their second youngest member.

The laughter increased as they kept hitting their mark, Spencers head, the genius was none the wiser as a pile of paper was forming around him at their many failed attempts. From the side JJ and Penelope sit and watch as Spencer doesn't realise, opposite the genius sat Y/N she was busy spinning in her chair with her headphones on and watching the scene play out.

She had the perfect poker face for when a paper ball hit Spencer's head, as the children in the bull pen play the two adults Hotch and Rossi where actually getting work done, , well Hotch was at least the Italian was drinking and watching the kids outside keeping an eye on them as someone responsible needed too.

As Y/N continued to spin around her in chair she didn’t hear the heavy footsteps off someone walking up behind her, the H/C woman was suddenly yanked off her chair and onto the hard floor by a man, in the process of being manhandled her headphones when flying off her head.

“What did I tall ya about doing that Girl!” exclaimed a voice that haunted her nightmares, gasping in terror Y/N stared frozen at her Father who was suppose to be in prison, the large man had a sickening grin on his face as he saw the terror in his daughter eyes.

“Yes its me!” he laughed that horrible laugh that had Y/N holding her hands overs her ears, the 21 year old was still frozen on the floor while the others were staring at the scene before them guns raised, by this time Hotch and Rossi had heard what happened and were out of their offices.

“bu-but your supposed to be in jail!” exclaimed Y/N finally finding her voice stuttering, the man looked down at her crumpled form, he then grabbed the front of her blouse pulling his daughter close. “they let me out for good behaviour, did ya miss me!” he semi whispered as Y/Ns face grew a sickening pale white, she scrambled to get away but the man wouldn’t let go instead he raised his hand and slapped her.

Y/N cried out in pain. “you really didn’t think I could be held for long did ya you retard! You really are still a fucked in the head as you were years ago” yelled the man, Hotch had had enough, he rain down thw ramp arms raised, gun in his hands. “Get your hands on hr now, you do realise you just assaulted a federal agent” growled out Hotch as the man teared his eyes away from the shivering form of his daughter.

He spat at Hotch. “your not her father I am, this waste of space in am Agent HA!”!” he laughed again and kicked Y/N hard in the ribs, Penelope gasps tears in her eyes as she witnesses her friend get beaten. Y/N holds in her cries of pain and raises her head from the floor glaring at the man.

“your not my dad you never have been!” she cried tears rolling down her face, the sadistic man smirked at the tears rolling down his daughters face, the sight reminding off when she was a kid and he would verbally abuse her, he had never hit her before now, it felt good.

Her words made him angry. “I am your father retard, though I hate to admit it you share my blood, your as stupid as I remember crying on the floor like the child you are to stupid to do what I say” he goes on on berating Y/N and saying how stupid she was once again verbally abusing her, as he went on his rant Y/N managed to stand up.

She was then pulled behind Hotch, his finger close to pulling the trigger. “you Bastard, you shut the fuck up now, you have crossed the line now get out of my building and away from my Daughter before I pump your body full of bullets!” yelled Hotch threw clenched teeth, he was so close to pulling the trigger instead he stormed up so he was chest to chest with the man and pulled back his fist.

When he lets go his right hand connected with the nose he was satisfied to feel it shatter, a smirk on his face before gesturing to a couple of agents. “now don’t ever come back or I will kill you” Hotches hand was burning but he felt satisfied when Y/Ns Dad freeze before he tsked and stormed out not before calling Y/N the R slur before he was detained by two agents ans forced into handcuffs.

Hotch crossed his arms before turning around to hug Y/N was had collapsed, the stress from her dad coming in draining her, she was then sat at her desk with Hotch hovering around her looking at her injuries, E/C eyes locked on his brown ones.

“Im your daughter” she whispers hoarsely, this made Hotch smile and run his hand through her hair. “of course, you are sweetie” he smiled softly kissing her forehead still smiling when she smiles back.

The end!!

Hoped you liked this oneshot so sorry for the wait! As usual sorry for the grammar and spelling mistake!

Requests are open!

Word count: 1366

[star-girl69]

Hi, I love your work! Your Jake x Reader x Neytiri is a master peace!! I was wondering if I could request a polly Jake x Reader x Neytiri where Neteyam is still a baby and reader is so scared to screw up because she’s not bio mom like Neytiri but is obviously very active in his life as a third parent and Jake and Neytiri reassure her that she’s doing a good job. If you don’t want to write it I totally understand I know it’s kinda of a weird request but if you do write it thank you so much!!! Again I love your writing have a good day/night. 💜

Nothing to Him

Jake Sully x Neytiri x Fem!Reader

a/n: sorry this took me forever to get out! this is kinda shit but i hope you all enjoy!!

warning: insecurity, mentions of pregnancy, crying, hurt/comfort, tell me if i missed anything!!

—-

Neytiri knows what each of Neteyam’s cries mean.

She is the only one who can decipher them, like they’re some unknown puzzle, and only she has the pieces.

And here you are, perfectly capable- in theory- and yet you don’t know. They all sound the same to you. Sure, the volume changes, and sometimes he is simply screaming more than crying, but still- you don’t know what it means.

But Neytiri knows.

Neytiri carried him, Neytiri gave birth to him. He carrie’s Jake’s genes in him, and he carries nothing from you. You are simply there, not even in the body you were born in.

You feel like an imposter. Like you are simply there, simply a placeholder until something better comes along. You are nothing to Neteyam.

—-

“Come, Y/N,” Neytiri says, slinging a bag over her shoulder.

“Where?” you frown, looking up from the fruit you’re cutting.

She rolls her eyes. “The river? To give Neteyam a bath?” She smiles kindly at you, holds her hand out for you to take- but Jake is already at the threshold of your tent, cooing down at Neteyam in his arms.

“N-no,” you say suddenly. “You guys go- I’m kinda tired.”

“Oh. Okay,” you ignore Neytiri’s frown, her lingering. She wants you to change your mind, you realize, to come with them. But you won’t.

They are simply so happy together, so perfect, so meant for each other, you can’t ruin their perfect little bubble. It would be cruel of you, no?

Besides, you don’t know his cries, he prefers Neytiri and Jake over you. He would probably squirm so much in your grip you would drop him.

That is what being a good mother is, you rationalize. Doing what’s best for your child. And you are not best for Neteyam.

—-

“Why did she not come?”

Leaves crunch under their feet, like bones, like hearts. And that’s what Neytiri’s heart is doing- breaking.

Slowly, at least. Not in half, or anything. Just slowly chipping away, piece by piece, moment by moment.

“What do you mean?” Jake shoots her a look, fingers of Neteyam’s tummy, making him squirm. “She said she was tired?”

“Yes…”

He smiles, chuckles a little. “Then she’s tired, my love.”

“This is only the third bath we have given him,” Neytiri argues, the water now in sight. “This is special. She should be here.”

She has to look away when Jake places a hand on her shoulder, understanding in his eyes, softness in his touch.

“There will be more,” he whispers.

She nods, but she doesn’t believe him.

She knows the world turns fast, that there is an end to each day, an eclipse. She knows that time is never promised. And she knows that her Y/N wouldn’t miss this. They had talked so much when she was pregnant, everything they would do, how much Neteyam would be loved.

And then he comes, perfect and sweet, and she pulls away? Neytiri doesn’t believe that she is just tired. Neytiri knows her Y/N, Sees her, loves her. And she knows this isn’t her.

—-

Neytiri’s eyes flick from between the baby in her arms to the boiling pot over the fire.

She could ask Y/N to stir it, but she wants her to know that Neteyam is as much hers as he is Neytiri’s.

“Can you hold him?” she whispers, shifting the sweet boy in her arms, forcing Y/N to put down the beads in her hands.

“Oh-”

But Neytiri will not take no for an answer- Neytiri will see her family together, happy and loving.

“It’s alright,” she whispers, to the both of them maybe, but she sees the stiffness in Y/N, the unsureness. She still holds Neteyam perfectly, holds him like a mother should. And she is a mother, and she does.

But it simply seems like- like she does not want to hold him. Like she is scared of it.

“You saw that,” Neytiri hisses.

Jake meets her eyes, slowly flicking from her to Y/N.

“Yeah, but-”

“No. No, something is wrong.”

He sighs. “I… uh, yeah. Yeah, there is.”

—-

“Something is wrong.”

Their bed has felt like this for a few weeks, cold, like something is taking up the extra space and expanding, pushing them apart.

Your back is pressed against Jake’s side, limp and cold, even though he is so warm.

It is Neytiri who speaks, hand reaching over to your shoulder, while Jake’s arm curls above your head on the bed, preventing you from shifting, from trying to get away.

You paint on a smile, even though they can’t see it. It’s for you, you to force yourself to pretend it’s all fine.

You have this fantasy that maybe you can simply fade away, let them be the perfect family. You are the black sheep, the odd one out. You are nothing to Neteyam- even when you think he is so sweet, so perfect. And that is why you have to pull away- so he can stay sweet and perfect. You’ll only mess him up.

“What do you mean?”

“You.” Her hand squeezes. “You have been… off. What is wrong, my Y/N?”

Your heart squeezes, a million warning signs going off in your mind, alarms blaring. “Nothing,” you hum, pretending to yawn. “I’m tired-”

“Don’t lie,” she pleads, and you still love her, of course you do, so the emotion in her voice makes your heart squeeze again.

“I- I’m not.”

“My Y/N…” she sighs, fingers digging until she’s tugging you onto your other side.

“It’s nothing!” you say and shrug her off, perhaps a little too loud, because Neteyam stirs from his sleeping nest a few paces away. The three of you let out a breath when he stays asleep. “Sorry,” you mutter, feeling horrible and horrible and more like nothing to him.

“Come on, sweetheart,” Jake whispers, and his hand curls to brush the top of your head. “Tell us what’s wrong, babygirl,”

And you do love them, you love them so much, and hearing them call you theirs, hearing them call you such sweet names, their skin soft on yours. You fell for them and you fell hard, you fell that consuming and reckless way. Like you threw yourself off of something, with only the chance of water below.

But you had fallen and you had fallen good, into their arms, into their lives, and you thanked Eywa and whatever force was out there for it everyday.

But- they were so happy, so perfect together. Everything you had ever dreamed of, the three of them, happy and loving. It was right in front of you and it hurt not to be apart of it.

But you didn’t know what Neteyam’s cries mean. You didn’t carry him. He has nothing from you.

You are nothing to him.

But for this one moment, maybe they do still love you-

“I’m nothing to him,” you say, and you faintly realize you’re crying. “I’m nothing to him.”

“Oh, my Y/N,” Neytiri croons, helping you to rollover.

“Let it out, baby, let it out,” Jake whispers, letting you muffle your cries into his chest. “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”

“I’m nothing to him,” you say again, louder this time, clearer, so they can hear you.

“To who?” Neytiri asks, hand in your hair.

“Neteyam,” you breathe, his name like a promise, like a prayer. A wisp of something you’ll never know. “I’m nothing to Neteyam,”

Neytiri’s hand stops, and Jake stiffens underneath you, and your mind races, and you pull yourself up.

Wiping the tears off your face roughly, “I’m sorry. Sorry, sorry. I’ll-”

“No.” Neytiri says, grabbing your hand, tugging it to her lips. “You’re his mother. Why-”

You scoff, disgust in your throat, something hard in your heart.

“No. I did nothing for him- I didn’t carry him, not like you, he carries nothing from me-”

“That shit doesn’t matter,” Jake says, grabbing you by your biceps, shaking you when you can’t look him in the eyes. “Look at me. That doesn’t matter- it doesn’t. You’re ours, our mate, and that is our son. All of us- that’s our son.”

“But-”

“Blood doesn’t matter,” Neytiri whispers. “He will grow up, and he will know you as a mother. That what he will carry with him- your love. And that is what matters, isn’t it?”

You shake your head, and Neytiri sighs, moving away from you while Jake tries to tilt your chin up, until Neytiri’s hand is at your shoulder again.

“Take him,” she whispers, shoving him into your arms while you cry and try to refuse- “It’s okay, it’s okay,”

And you have to screw your eyes shut, pretend it’s not happening, terrified he’ll squirm away or fall out of your arms. Just terrified you’re not good enough.

Suddenly, there’s silence, and Jake’s hands on your face, forcing your chin to your chest, to look down-

“Open your eyes, my Y/N” Neytiri whispers, hands over yours on Neteyam, warm and comforting, lips by your ear.

And you do, because you love them, and Neteyam looks up at you blankly, eyes open, hand reaching out to your face.

“Look,” Neytiri says, soft, so only the three of you can hear. “He’s reaching for you,”

“He’s reaching for you,” Jake agrees, and you nod.

“He’s reaching for me.”

—-

[rogersideup]

Nice to be Kneaded

Chapter twelve

Homecoming

Series Masterlist

Previous Part: Courage Next Part: Cardboard Castle

Word Count: 7,220

Warnings: My blog is 18+ only. All minors or blogs without an age in bio will be blocked. Minors DNI. Mentions of medical equipment, loss, abuse, PTSD, anxiety and depression.

"Alright, just a small pinch." Bruce explained to you before inserting an IV catheter into a vein in the ditch of your arm.

This moment felt a little unreal. Sitting criss-crossed in an armchair in the Avengers living room in their own compound somewhere in upstate New York. Bruce Banner, the fucking hulk, on your left giving you medical attention, and Steve on your right, holding your hand giving you emotional support.

After a whole night of Steve trying his hardest to nurse you back to health with lots of love, cuddles, and bribery in the form of your favorite Chinese food, you just couldn't keep anything down.

Even though you wanted to drink and you desperately wanted to shove Crab Rangoons down your throat, you just couldn't. Half a glass of water and two bites of fried rice had you feeling nauseous and uncomfortable. This time, the discomfort wasn't from trying to out eat a super soldier.

Steve was such a sweetheart, he didn't push it too hard, but he did push for exactly what was happening right now. Some fluid and parental nutrition through an IV to get you right on track for a smooth recovery from what the agents put you through. He could tell that although settling more and more by the minute, your nerves were still off the chart. Your lack of eating made perfect psychological sense, but he still wanted you to feel better.

So he convinced you to let Bruce do this, and you agreed without hesitation. The lack of medical environment and the never ending warmth you've felt from every Avenger you've met thus far made you feel comfortable and brave enough for something like this. Really, it was no biggy.

The IV went in without a hitch, and you barely even felt it.

"Okay, I'm going to flush this out with a little bit of saline. It might taste kind've metallic in your mouth for a few moments. That's normal." He told you while inserting a syringe looking thing into the end of the line going straight to your vein.

Just like he said, you tasted metal. "Ooh" Your eyebrows pinched together. "Weird."

"I think it tastes like expo markers" Steve commented.

"How do you know what expo markers taste like?" Natasha asked, head leaning to the side with a grin.

"I don't know... it just tastes how they smell." He shrugged.

"You're so weird, Rogers." She commented before looking back down at her laptop.

You giggled at her comment before biting your tongue considering he was right next to you.

"Come on, back me up, Sweetie." He asked.

"I wish I could" You laughed. "But I have no idea what you're talking about."

He pouted, Bruce didn't even give him a chance to rebuttal. "You're all set and ready to go. The bag should be done in about an hour then I'll come take the IV out."

"Thank you, Bruce, I appreciate it." You grinned.

"Of course, I'll be back in a bit." He gave you a polite nod before leaving again.

As Bruce left, Nat sprung up from her spot on the couch and approached you and Steve before knocking his hand off of yours.

"Let me have her" Nat said, walking around the back of your chair.

"What the f- Nat!" Steve complained.

"Stealing his girl and he still won't drop the f bomb" She teased, running her fingers through your hair that you washed yesterday but had yet to do anything with.

You had no idea what was going on, but you remembered the first warning Steve gave you about being around the Avengers, there would always be chaos. So you sat there with an uncontrollable smile as Nat played with your hair, and Steve argued with her like a child.

"You aren't stealing anyone from me." Steve whined. "What are you doing? Did you even ask?"

"She has such beautiful hair, I want to braid it." Nat answered Steve, then leaned over to see your face. "Is that alright, Cupcake?"

"That's more than alright" You grinned.

"Cupcake?!" Steve puffed playfully. "I know you're not calling my girl Cupcake."

"How is it any different than sugar cookie?" Nat asked as your cheeks blushed at Steve calling you his girl.

"I don't know, it just sounds patronizing." He complained.

"Do you feel patronized, Cupcake?" Nat asked you, parting your hair from behind the armchair you were sitting in.

"This feels like a trap." You giggled, reaching out to hold Steve's hand again. He accepted it quickly, then gave it a little squeeze.

"Smart girl" Nat smiled.

The three of you chatted away while she sectioned your hair down the middle, and worked on the first of the two french braids she was putting into your hair.

Once it was finished she tied off the end with a hair tie, then worked on the next one on the other side. You guys were so preoccupied I'm the easy flowing conversation that the opening door, and approaching footsteps went unnoticed.

"What is this?" An iconic voice asked, immediately sending a shiver down your spine.

You looked from Steve's laughing face over to the source, none other than Tony Stark. Steve's face fell into an expression that was much more guarded, and you immediately felt uncomfortable.

He warned you about everything. Talking raccoons, blue Cyborgs, bickering, weapons you might see, emergency codes you might hear. You felt prepared for every situation but this one.

You didn't know what terms Steve and Tony were on, but you did know he was one of the most powerful people in the country. Quite honestly, you didn't even know if you were allowed to make eye contact, or speak unless spoken to. So you sat respectfully quiet, and tried to keep your cool.

No one responded to Tony as he pointed to you, a measly little thing sitting criss cross in a chair wearing Steve's clothes that were far too big for you, with an IV in your arm, all while Natasha braided your hair.

"Make a wish foundation?" Tony asked again.

"Oh god, Tony-" Steve scuffed, shaking his head.

"Okay? Another super-person I need to worry about?" Tony's eyes went from Steve's to Natasha's, everyone but your own.

"Well, she's certainly super, that's for sure" Natasha smiled.

"So, no one's going to tell me who you are?" Tony finally asked you, looking at you directly.

You opened your mouth to say something, but nothing came out, so you looked at Steve to help guide you through this. He could see the worried look in your eye, so he took over.

"This is my-" Steve stared fully confident before realizing that you didn't even really have a title in his life.

Girlfriend. No? He never officially asked you to be his considering you both knew he had to leave.

Friend? Kind've, but not really?

Neighbor was an absolute no, you were way more than just a friendly face next door.

He looked at you, and you were thinking the same thing he was. The confused look on his face made you bite the insides of your cheeks to hold back laughter.

"Well I'm certainly a girl, and I'm definitely his friend." You took the pressure off of him. If the two of you were doing down, you would go down together.

"Wait a second," Tony started. "You're sugar cookie?"

"Didn't know I had a reputation around here, but I guess so." You confirmed.

"No way." Tony shook his head. "Let me see your hands"

With reluctance and no confidence whatsoever, your put your hands out to him. He walked closer and saw the scar on your palm.

"Well no shit!" He enthused. "A baker who caught a falling knife, you're real! That's incredibly stupid by the way, you should always let the knife drop."

"Why are you here, Tony." Steve redirected him, you could hear the annoyance in his voice and feel the tension in the room.

"Just here to grab some stuff then I'll be out of your hair." Tony addressed him, then immediately started pestering you again. "So, what's wrong with you?"

"Oh, I just- I was arrested and it's bee-"

"No" Tony cut you off. "I mean which wires are loose in your head that makes you want to play stuffin' the muffin with Rogers?"

"Enough." Steve put his foot down.

"Leave her alone, Stark." Nat sounded from behind you.

"Damn, tough crowd. Reminds me of exactly why I'm leaving for the woods and never coming back." Tony quipped. "Peace out."

You watched as Tony left, and Steve let out a breath of annoyance. You didn't need to see Nat's face to know she was holding back a smile.

Silence fell over the three of you for a little while, it seemed as though Steve was steaming in a lump of his own negative emotions over the billionaire while Nat kept her mouth shut as to not fuel the fire.

In attempts to calm him down without even needing to use your words, while simultaneously comforting yourself, you pulled his forearm onto the arm of the chair you were sitting in. You played with his fingers and rubbed his soft skin.

When the second braid was done, Nat tied off the end then hugged you from behind while excusing herself to get some work done.

Still feeling emotionally and physically exhausted from the past few days, you readjusted with your IV arm out where it should be, but curled your legs beneath you and rested your head on Steve's arm.

You could feel him relax under your touch, and his hand moved up to gently cup the side of your head before placing a kiss to your temple.

"M'sorry about that" Steve apologized quietly. "Really wasn't expecting him to be around today... or ever."

"Don't apologize, it's not your fault." You reminded him. "Never thought I'd be here, but this is definitely a story I'll tell my grandkids one day."

Steve giggled at your comment, the thought of you old and grey with grand kids running around with endless cookies in their hands made him smile. "I never really thought you'd be here either but I'm glad you are."

"As cool as this is though, I can't wait to get back to Greenwood." You explained, feeling homesick. You barely ever left the small town, so being away combined with the three most terrifying days of your life, you were longing for your own house.

"I can't even tell you how much I miss it." Steve shook his head in disbelief. "I miss the bakery."

"The bakery misses you too, she told me every day." You joked.

"I wonder if Bruce can make this IV drip faster so we can leave sooner" Steve pondered.

Unfortunately for Steve, he had to wait the full hour before he could take you home. But luckily, getting you home was a breeze.

You were a rockstar in the Jet, to Steve's surprise, you found in interesting. Tiny bits of your personality were starting to shine back through as you asked him a million and one questions about what everything did on board. He was more than happy to answer every single question, and let you push every single button so long as it didn't interfere with a smooth flight.

Sometimes he found it really easy to normalize these aspects of his life that were completely out of the ordinary to the average civilian. He didn't know if it was because it was a survival tactic of his own, or because he so desperately craved to feel normal even when most of his life was everything but average, but he found so much happiness and beauty in sharing moments like this with you.

You quickly brought him back to earth, and your childlike curiosity and amazement for even something as simple as transportation that was a normal part of life as a superhero reminded him of all the ways his life was enriched.

This time bringing the Jet to Greenwood was a lot more welcomed with a lot more accommodations. The police department cleared Steve to land in their private runway and store it in their hangars. Immediately upon exiting, you were met with the chief and a few officers who came to check in on you and make sure you were okay. And for the first time ever, you saw Steve hold himself high and be greeted with respect by anyone in Greenwood.

The police escorted you two home, which lead to more fascination by you because you had never been in a police car before. Steve reminded you more than once that it was a really great thing that this was a whole new experience for you, but once again he couldn't stop smiling.

Both of you had never felt more relief than when he opened the car door and helped you out. Waiting for you in your driveway was a handful of your friends and neighbors who were worried sick about you, and had heard about your arrival back home.

While each one greeted you with long, tight hugs, hair pets, back rubs, and cheek kisses, Steve watched from a slight distance while he sorted out the rest of the information the police needed to make sure you were as safe as could be.

His heart was happy knowing you were so loved by your community, and when he caught a glimpse of all the flowers and letters and pictures in his own driveway that you had told him about, he couldn't help but to feel loved as well.

After Steve introduced himself to everyone at your homecoming, he got you back in your house safe and sound. Right back where the journey started, you picked your phone up from underneath the couch and plugged it in.

He could see it on your face that you were still drained regardless of the excitement of getting back home. Some of your employees and friends had promised they'd be over at your place tonight with dinner and good company to try and ease up the hardship of the past few days, so now was a good time to leave you alone.

You were thankful to have someone like him who understood your needs without even having to express them, someone who understood the value of processing your thoughts by yourself without being offended.

So he tucked you into your bed, then sat next to your hip before giving you a series of sweet kisses.

"Are you doing okay?" He questioned genuinely.

You grinned and nodded, feeling relaxed and relieved. "thank you for rescuing me, Stevie."

"That's what I'm here for, Sunflower." He rubbed your cheek with his thumb. "I'll be back here in a few hours, but if you need me before then you know where I live."

A smile took over your face, then a thought occurred. "Hey, can I have your real phone number now?"

"Are you hitting on me?" Steve questioned cheekily.

"Of course I am" You confirmed. "What's a pretty boy like you doing all alone in this part of town?"

He shook his head at your antics, before giving you another kiss. "Yes, you can have my real phone number now."

"I'm really moving on up in this world." You celebrated.

"I'll put it in your phone on my way out." He assured you. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay" You agreed as he tucked you in tighter.

"I love you" He reminded you sincerely.

"I love you too" You happily wrapped your arms around him in a goodbye hug, this time you kissed him. "So so much."

He said goodbye then put his real personal phone number in your contacts just as promised before making his way to his house. Checking the inside before dealing with the fanfare in the front, he found something he suspected, the loss of some of his clothes.

But, everything else was just as he left it but tidier. He could tell you had gone in there a few times to clean up and make sure everything was as it should be.

After checking upstairs he made his way back down to the garage to open up the big door to make clearing out the front of his house a lot easier. The pile of broken down cardboard boxes neatly stacked against the wall reminded him that he still owed you a cardboard castle.

Steve opened up the door and spent hours picking up each letter and reading every word, looking at every picture, saving every little shield and stuffed animal that was left for him. Some of the kind words brought tears to his eyes, most of them were words of thanks for what he and the Avengers did and how they continued to be a beacon of hope during uncertain times.

It reminded him of how much had changed since he was in Greenwood last, it looked a little different, felt a little different, but now it was a little different. Because as neighbors walked by they finally made it a point to introduce themselves and apologize that they had never come by before now.

The a few of the neighbors kids even came out to talk to him, their parents pulling them away after asking for a picture. This time around, the eyes on him felt starstruck rather than judgmental.

Although some of it felt hypocritical, he was happy to be back and involved in a community rather than having to isolate himself and hide from the world. Every word, every picture, every dead flower and passing neighbor felt bitter sweet.

That was until he was in the middle of reading another letter he had picked up from the ground and he could hear footsteps approaching behind him. He stopped what he was doing and looked back with a friendly smile, only for it to drop when he was met with Georgia rather than another new friendly face.

She wasn't worth his time, he didn't even want to hear her out after what she did to you. Yes he heard all the awful things she had said about him. Terrorist, war criminal, out of control, selfish, manipulator, but he didn't care. He could let all of that go, in fact, sometimes the avengers needed to be criticized by civilians. But what she did to his love was unforgivable.

So, he ignored her and proceeded to read the letter right where he left off. This one was from a 17 year old named Jack, currently telling him all about how his plans for the future. He wanted to go to school to become a fire fighter and a paramedic as the avengers inspired him to save lives ever since he was just a little ki-

"You killed my husband." Georgia's voice sounded from behind him.

Ah yes, another thing Steve has had to come to terms with. People directly blaming him for the loss of people he had no control over. Guilt ate him alive over the blip every single day, but he was working on it and this simply wasn't helping.

"I'm sorry?" Steve turned around, eyebrows furrowed.

"Michael is gone. He was blipped." Georgia explained.

"I'm very sorry for your loss." Steve monotoned, turning around as to end the conversation before it got out of hand. His heart was beating out of his chest.

"You don't even have remorse." She practically spat. "Do you even care? Look what you've done."

Steve took a big deep breath before he bit his tongue and turned back around to face her. "Last time I checked, I was trying my absolute hardest to make sure nobody had to go through this. My hand isn't the one that snapped."

"How hard could you have possibly been trying? I have to live everyday without the love of my life because the Avengers can never get their act together."

"Well if it's any consolation I lost a lot of people that I loved too." Steve scoffed, heart beating even faster, trying so hard to push down the guilt.  "People I loved died trying to keep this from happening. So I'm sorry for your loss, but we really did all we could."

Georgia rendered silent for a few moments as she could unexpectedly see the pain of what he had gone through in his eyes, and the faded scar on his forehead. But it wasn't enough to appease her anger and hatred. Nothing was. "You took my sweet baby away from me." All he did was cock an eyebrow and tilt his head to the side, not understanding who she was referring to. "She was nothing but kind, all she did was mind her own business and run the bakery but you swooped in here and you changed her."

"I didn't take her away from you" Steve shook his head. "You pushed her away. That was your own choice."

"I pushed her away because I already knew what was going to happen and I was trying to spare her." Georgia explained. "Has she even told you anything about what the last men like you did to her?"

"I have an idea, yes." Steve nodded. "I understand and appreciate that you're trying to look out for her, but I would never hurt her. She's a grown woman, she makes good choices, and you went about it all wrong."

"Oh? Really? You'd never hurt her?" Georgia scoffed.

"Do you understand how traumatic the passed few days have been for her because you reported her to the government?" Steve questioned. "They hurt her, you hurt her, and now she has to pick up the pieces all over again. I don't want to hear anything else about how much you care about her, because someone who cares wouldn't cause her even more pain."

"Had you never been here, I would've never had to report her." Georgia pointed out. "And you know what? If I put the pieces of this stupid little puzzle together and I didn't report her, then I would be a criminal too. So guess what? That's also your fault."

"Her criminal record is completely clean by the way, but I did notice that assault charge on yours from a few years back." Steve chirped. "Spitting on an officer is not a good look."

"You killed her mother." She barked. That statement took Steve down a notch... or two. "She just lost her dad not too long ago, and now her Mom is gone. Of course she didn't tell me that, I found out on a Facebook post she was tagged in. Did you know about that?"

"We haven't talked abo-"

"Of course you didn't, and guess what? She's never going to tell you that. You know why? Because she's incapable of healthy relationships."  Georgia ranted. "She's going to love you so hard but emotionally shut you out whenever things get hard in her head so much so that it'll suffocate you. I'm the only one who knows what really happened between her and her ex, she didn't even tell her Mom. Wherever her Mom fell flat in the emotional support department, I picked up that slack. And guess what? She doesn't have either of us now. And that's your fault."

Once again, Steve was speechless. He wasn't sure if it was from her words or her audacity, but either way he wanted to throw up.

"I don't care who you are or what you've done. I see past the whole superhero facade. You say you'd never hurt her and she believes it, but I don't because you've already hurt her in the worst way imaginable."

"But you've done nothing wrong, right?" Steve questioned. "You're just this perfect person who's done nothing but improve her life?"

"I know what I did wrong, the difference between you and I is that I can admit that while you sit here and act like you're better than everyone else because you wear stars and stripes."

"Georgia, I've felt unimaginable guilt every single day of my life since I became Captain America." Steve admitted. "Survivors guilt. Guilt that I haven't done enough. Guilt every single time I try to relax. Guilt that I put the kindest person I know in a tough situation. And though I don't need to explain myself to you, you have to understand that I'm human too. I try my hardest to be the best that I can be and make good choices, but sometimes I mess up. Should I have just left her alone at the start? Yeah, probably. But she was the only person I could connect with after almost a whole year on my own. She made me feel like I could keep going when I was about to give up. Yes, she knew who I was, but she chose to stay by my side. Do I regret letting her do that? Absolutely not. Do I feel guilty about everything I've put her through? Every waking moment."

"So why do you continue to be in her life when you could so easily just let her go?" Georgia questioned.

"Because I love her, and the one thing I will never allow myself to feel guilty about is staying with someone I love." Steve explained. "She was loyal to me at my lowest and I intend on being there for her whenever she needs me. So I'm sorry that Thano's blipped Michael, and I'm sorry for unintentionally driving a wedge between you and her, but her and I have enough on our plate at the moment so please just give her some space."

"I don't hate you, Captain Rogers, but I will continue to be your harshest critic."

"I don't need you to like me, and I am my own harshest critic." Steve stood his ground.

"Take care of her, treat her well." She lectured. "By all means, you've got to do better than this."

"I'm not interested in continuing this conversation."

"I'll be praying that she tells you the whole truth about what happened with her last boyfriend, and that her love doesn't suffocate you into insanity like it did to him."

"I know gods, ma'am. Your prayers don't mean anything to me." Steve sassed, throughly annoyed by Georgia's comments. "The only person I feel suffocated by is you."

"So be it."

She walked off back to her own house, Steve let out a puffed breath, trying his hardest to remain composed regardless of the nausea and anger settling into the pit of his stomach.

Luckily, reading the rest of the letters and clearing off the rest of the driveway did wonders to improve his mood. Though he still felt awful for the reality of what he did to you, he felt better nonetheless.

Even better after a shower, a change of clothes, and the promise of you behind your front door when he made his way back to your house half an hour before everyone else said they were going to arrive.

"Stevieeeee!" You cheered enthusiastically, opening your arms wide for him.

"Baby! It's been so long!" Steve cheered with your same enthusiasm, accepting the hug after stepping into your house.

"It should be illegal for a man to look this handsome in a t-shirt and jeans, you heathen!" Your smiley face did wonders for his mood.

"Says you, pretty girl." Steve said before kissing you. "Ooh, you smell so nice."

"Thanks, I tried." You shrugged. "How's it feel to be back?"

You started walking further into your living room, Steve trailed behind you like the big dog he was.

"Feels great" You could hear the smile in his voice. "I cleared out my driveway. Surprisingly, a lot of people are actually happy to have me here."

"I could've told you that, you should see how insane the bakery has been since everyone found out you were hanging out there."

"What?" Steve questioned, wanting you to elaborate.

"A line wrapped around the building every morning" You nodded proudly, gracefully plopping down on the couch. "Everyone from every surrounding town wants to try the same treats Captain America has been eating. We usually sell out around noon, but haven't had the hands or kitchen capacity to keep up with the demands."

"Oh gosh" Steve sat next to you, welcoming your legs being thrown over his thighs as he threw his arm around your shoulder. "I'm glad business is going well, but you and your poor employees must be exhausted"

"I was pretty worried about it when I was in custody, but I talked to the head baker not too long ago. She held down the fort perfectly."

"Has there been press?" Steve asked. "I haven't been checking local news at all, it's been a little overwhelming."

"I understand" You placed your hand on his chest to feel the comforting thumps of his heart against your palm. "Yeah, there has been. A lot of people try shoving cameras in my face or try asking me about you. I try my hardest to just be polite while not saying anything about you. Which is really hard by the way, you're my favorite person and I could talk about you for hours."

"I'm sorry that's happening" Steve sighed, gently running his knuckles down the side of your cheek.

"Don't be sorry" You grinned, reaching up and grabbing his hand. Guiding it to your mouth, you kissed the back of it. "If anything, you've brought in a ton of business and new customers. The store has never been so busy even with the other half of the population still around, so thank you."

"Nope, uh-uh." Steve denied. "The line is wrapped around the building because you're amazing at what you do. You're not allowed to accredit your success on anything other than that."

"I'd be ignorant, and it would be a disservice to not acknowledge everyone who's helped me get to where I am, I certainly didn't do this on my own." You grinned, both of your connected hands now resting in your lap as you squeezed and massaged his lovingly yet absentmindedly. "I think that's a beautiful thing, by the way. I really cherish the love and effort it takes to keep the bakery running. Every person who adds to its success story makes me love it even more."

Steve squeezed your hand and let out a sigh. "You're heart is too good for this world."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." You raised an eyebrow.

"No, it's definitely not." Steve grinned even though the residual guilt was pounding at the forefront of his brain, "Sometimes I just have a hard time believing that I deserve so much grace for everything that I've put you through."

"You're far too hard on yourself, Honey." You told him sympathetically. "You know what you've put me through?"

"Hmm?" He questioned.

"You've put me through one of the best friendships I've ever had. You've put me through facing my fear of being trusting and vulnerable to new people in my life, less lonely hours by myself in the kitchen, more time smiling and laughing, so much more time loving." You reminded him. "But you also did put me through that five mile run that one time and I'll never forgive you for that."

A real laugh escaped his throat, and you smiled in accomplishment. "That was your idea."

"I don't care." You denied with a giggle. "I didn't even know who you were yet, and I signed myself up for a run with Captain America. I deserved a warning... or an Advil... or like, a gallon of caffeine first."

"Well now you know for next time!" His cheeky smile poked through.

"Yeah... next time!" You said super sarcastically. "My point is, I can tell you feel guilty, but I don't blame you for any of it. I love you, I love that you care so much, but I just want you to relax."

Steve closed his eyes for a moment to try and get your reassurance really sink into his brain.

"We both deserve to enjoy each other without all the weird emotional strings and heavy baggage we've had with us before, and now we have a whole month together."

He leaned closer to you and laid a loving kiss on his lips. They were as sweet as him, it lasted a while, but you were perfectly happy to kiss his brain noise away.

"You always know how to make me feel better." He stated, your two foreheads pressed together.

"I'm my happiest when I'm with you." You smiled against his lips.

"I love you, baby" He stated before reconnecting your lips for a little while. The two of you stayed like that for a while, holding each other close and exchanging slow, romantic kisses. But it wouldn't be Steve if his mind wasn't always one step ahead of himself, so he pulled away when a piece of information came to the forefront of his mind. "Would this be a good time to tell you tha-"

He was cut off by the doorbell.

"No, actually, now is a terrible time to tell me." You joked with a giggle as you slowly got up off of him and the couch. "You should hold onto that thought for a few hours while we socialize then just hope you remember it later."

"Yep, I'll just live with this information for a few more hours, no problem." Steve laughed, getting up to follow you, hoping it didn't look like the two of you had been making out for ten minutes.

Company filled your house and warmed the inside of the walls alongside the parts of your soul that had felt so cold and dark for months. Friends, neighbors, and coworkers alike, you all ate dinner together while exchanging stories and laughs.

After dinner everyone squeezed in the living room around the coffee table. Uno cards and wine glasses occupied its surface while everyone sat shoulder to shoulder on the couches and on the fluffy rug. Occasional competitive shouting sounded from the area while a few of the bakers in the group had snuck into your fully stocked pantry to provide a tray of brownies and a batch of warm chocolate chip cookies.

Steve was almost overwhelmed by the sense of comfort and familiarity he hadn't felt in a long time. It was this small town magic he had always heard about. A group of people, most of whom had never met each other before, coming together and truly enjoying each other.

Just for you, there were strangers sitting together on your living room floor, a shared blanket across their laps, and giggling together after a glass of wine. Your sweet employees in the kitchen teaching your neighbor the secret to the perfect chocolate chip cookie with a gooey center and a crispy edge. You snuggled on the couch with your head resting on one of your best friend's shoulder, while Steve made his rounds and got to know everyone as much as he could.

Each one was kinder than the last, and each one asked him questions about himself. They weren't about the Sokovia accords, or what Thanos had ripped away from everyone, they were about his interests and hobbies, what he did to occupy his time, and how long the two of you had been together.

Through a mixed group of people, the one thing they all had in common was their love for you, and that was more than enough for them. Strangers became friends, and Steve finally felt like he might've been part of the small town community.

Steve's mind ran back to that same night you suggested a cardboard castle. You invited him to the neighborhood game night at Georgia and Michael's place, but rather than attending, he watched the lively get together through a double pained glass window and open sheer curtains from across the street. He remembered how isolated he felt after all that time on his own, how badly he craved to be surrounded by people who cared.

And now here he was, inside the four walls, surrounded by people who cared, and right on track to getting all he's ever wanted since his mom passed leaving him on his own at 18 years old. A family.

The Avengers were a little less than put together at the moment, and that wasn't their fault as a collective, but he was happy to have some real, normal people in his life to keep him grounded. The only thing that could've made him feel complete was if Nat, Sam, and Bucky were here.

But he had you, and you were more than enough.

Committed to forcing you to relax and enjoy yourself after all you had been through, he helped the girls clean up the kitchen, refilled wine glasses, and did all the dishes.

Then when the time come and the grip was dropping like flies, he offered rides home just in case anyone was too sleepy or had one glass to much, and stood in the driveway to make sure everyone got to their cars safely in the dark.

Of course it was a safe neighborhood and everyone lived on the block or just a few minutes away, but who would Steve Rogers be if not a protector.

As he leaned over the porch railing watching the cars drive away and enjoying the fresh, crisp air, you came out to join him. You wrapped the blanket around your shoulders around his too, and your arms snaked around his waist in a side hug.

His arm was quick to sling around your shoulders and pull you in closer before pressing a kiss on your forehead. You couldn't help the invasive smile tugging on the corners of your lips. He was happy, you could tell he was, and you were happy too.

An easy, simple, small town life with Steve was something you could imagine for yourself. Blanket covered snuggles on the porch under the stars, a house full of people you cared for, the man you loved dearly in your arms.

"How are you doing, my love?" He questioned above you, both of you looking out into the neighborhood.

"Good; happy." You said confidently. "You?"

"Good and happy." He copied your answer.

"Even better now that you finally got a homemade cookie?" You questioned knowing it was one of the things he had missed the most in his time away.

"I think I ate five, no joke." Steve smiled.

"You deserve them all." You squeezed him tight. "Will you stay over tonight?"

"Of course."

"Or we can go to your house? Whichever one you want." You threw out there. "Fist night back, we can be wherever you missed the most."

"Well I missed you the most, so I'll sleep whenever you want to sleep."

"Well we're already here, so might as well." You shrugged. "Hey, what we're you going to tell me earlier?!"

"Oh! Right!" Steve perked up. "So, remember how you like... hid me away for all that time and like... made me so happy and took good care of me and then you were abducted by the government and I yelled at them really bad?"

"Yeah," You laughed at his means of explanation. "I think I remember that."

"Okay good." He smiled. "So I thought the government owed you for A, doing super illegal stuff to you and B, doing them a favor by keeping me safe and sound so I bargained a deal with them as reparations of sorts."

"What was the deal?" You asked, eyebrows furrowing together.

"Well for all the time you spent with me and kept me from losing me mind, I made them pay off your mortgage. So, your house is completely taken care of." He smiled.

You turned to him, shock smeared across your face. "What?!"

"It's done." He reassured you. "No more home loan, you owe nothing else. It's all yours."

"Steve-" tears welled in your eyes, feeling the weight of the world slip off your shoulders.

"And for the time they took you away for the bakery, your business rent was payed off for the rest of the five year contract." He explained the kicker.

"No way." You shook your head.

"Yes way." He nodded in assurance.

"That's too much, you didn't have to do that." A tear slipped off your cheek.

Thought business was doing well again, those few months of being closed were weighing on you. Once again, this was a huge relief.

"I didn't do anything other than get you want you deserved." He reminded you. "All it took was some glaring and some yelling."

"Damnit, Baby. I didn't want to cry anymore!" You playfully yelled at him, very gently hitting his chest before he pulled you against him and you hurried your face in it.

Gently swaying you from side to side, he continued to explain. "I can't imagine life has been easy for you since we met or even before then, but any chance I have to make it better I'm going to take no questions asked."

"But this? This is a lot Steve, that's a lot of money. And the business?"

"Use the rent money to give yourself and your employees a raise. You all work hard, you deserve it." He suggested. "I told you, the Avengers are yours now and you'd get everything you deserve because of what you did. You were here exactly when I needed you. You took good care of me, so now I get to take good care of you."

"I'm so grateful, thank you so much."

"No, thank you." He kissed your forehead before you looked up to kiss his lips.

"Wow, I'm going to sleep so well tonight" You laughed, wiping the tears off your cheeks. "I'm back home, I'm feeling better, I get to sleep in a completely paid off house, and my favorite person is back here with me alive and well. That's all I could ever want."

"What if we throw in a bag of spicy Doritos?" Steve questioned playfully, raising an eyebrow.

"That's too much, that would be an embarrassment of riches." You laughed, a yawn taking over.

"Alright, let's get you to bed, Honey." Steve giggled before kissing you and sweeping you off your feet like a groom carrying his bride through the doorway.

You shrieked before laughing and tightly wrapping your arms behind his neck, peppering kisses all over his face.

Right before bringing you inside and closing the door, Steve caught a glimpse of Georgia staring at them through her window.

Now she was the one watching game night through the windows, watching love after her lover was gone, and living an isolated life away from the people she once loved.

Maybe now she'd understand Steve a little better, everything he had to go through, all the choices he had to make, the extreme isolation through the hardest part of his life.

He made eye contact and gave her a friendly grin, empathizing with the feeling of loneliness. But now he knew better, and now he felt better than he did before.

He would never feel guilty for loving you.

Next Part: Cardboard Castle

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[evilbihan]

Debunking ridiculous arguments from Bi-Han haters

Bi-Han's one and only mistake was breaking his oath to protect Earthrealm. A lot of people like to jump to conclusions about him and make up the silliest excuses to justify hating on him, so I'm here to provide some much needed facts in these trying times.

"But he wanted to benefit from the soul stealer's magic that would have killed millions!"

Yes, because his loyalty is to the Lin Kuei, not Earthrealm. In his mind, he's doing what needs to be done to protect his own clan and make it stronger, even if that demands sacrifices. A good leader puts his own people first and that is essentially what he does. For Bi-Han, the end justifies the means. His cause in and of itself is not a malicious one. He cares about his clan. Part of the reason why he wants power is to protect the Lin Kuei from other threats.

Think about it, they defended Earthrealm for generations, not a single Lin Kuei has ever lived a normal life. They begin their training as children and are forced to live secluded and lonely lives. No one even acknowledges that and shows them gratitude or respect. All Bi-Han wants is for them to receive recognition for everything the clan has done. He wants the Lin Kuei to be independent, for his own people to benefit from the sacrifices they made for once. He's not some tyrant obsessed with power, he doesn't want to conquer all of Earthrealm, only for the Lin Kuei to be recognized as one of its nations as stated in his official bio.

Spoilers ahead: According to story dlc leaks, even Liu Kang admits that there's nothing wrong with Bi-Han's ambitions, just the methods he chooses to achieve his goals. What more do you need than the literal creator of the timeline confirming that Bi-Han is not "evil"?

At the end of the day, Bi-Han himself would not have killed anyone. The soul stealers belonged to Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. He never even made use of them to begin with.

If this is where the bar for being evil is at, we would have to start calling other characters evil too.

I don't know how many residents Vaeternus has, but I don't see anyone faulting Ashrah for making it her mission to kill all Vaeternians for her own purification. Absolutely no hate towards Ashrah, she's one of my favorite characters in the game, but she's using questionable methods to achieve her goals too, yet she's perceived as a "good" character because she's protecting Earthrealm. Are Earthrealmers somehow worth more than Vaeternians? I don't think so. What about Rain who flooeded an entire realm and doesn't face nearly as much backlash? Make it make sense.

"Bi-Han hates Smoke and tried to kill him."

Wrong. I already wrote an in depth analysis of the brothers' relationship here and I'm not going to repeat myself in this post, but I will add upon what we previously established. Bi-Han never once said he doesn't consider Smoke his brother, just that he doesn't consider him Lin Kuei, which is a subtle, but huge difference. In any of their intros, whenever Smoke refers to Bi-Han's biological parents as "mother" and "father", Bi-Han never tells him they are not his parents or that Tomas has no right to call them that. Yes, he doesn't call Smoke brother directly, but that's because they seemed to never have been close. Bi-Han's distrust towards Tomas is entirely justified, considering that Smoke's family died at the hands of Lin Kuei warriors. As grandmaster, it's his duty to keep an eye out for outside as well as inside threats and he might have considered Smoke one.

Additionally, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Bi-Han disliking Tomas. He doesn't owe him anything. People are allowed to dislike each other. He was a young boy when Smoke was taken in by his parents. Maybe he saw Tomas as another competitor for their attention, specifically his father's attention. Bi-Han being cold with Tomas doesn't make him toxic or abusive. He might have just never felt comfortable around Smoke, given the circumstances of how he became part of the Lin Kuei and that's why he was cold and kept his guard up around him. Every individual also has a different definition of family.

Family are the people you feel safe around, the people you trust and get along with, the people you want to surround yourself with. Siblings don't always get along and that's okay. Some don't talk in years after moving out of their family home. I'm fairly sure we all have that one relative we just don't vibe with or even cut ties with entirely. Two people just not getting along and therefore being distant with each other isn't toxic, forcing people to like someone because "they're supposed to be your family" is toxic.

As for the rock scene, I already talked about it in the post I linked above. I will just briefly say, Bi-Han did NOT kick that rock onto Smoke, it would have been impossible for him to do so and he was just as concerned in that moment as Kuai Liang was. I included the slow-motion gif of the scene here too, so you can see the proof for yourself.

See that surprise and shock in his eyes? He did not kick that rock intentionally.

"Bi-Han let his father die!"

I elaborated on this here but I will add a second explanation that is less headcanon territory.

Smoke lost his family due to Lin Kuei members not following orders, a mistake that was ultimately the fault of Bi-Han's and Kuai Liang's father. Even if the old grandmaster took responsibility for it and adopted Tomas, he is still at fault for Smoke being orphaned. Bi-Han witnessed his father's mistake and saw it as "weak leadership" on his father's side, weakness that caused the death of innocent people and a stain of shame on the clan. His mind about his father was probably already made up at that point. However, if he was truly evil and wanted his father dead, he could have killed the old grandmaster himself. We've seen how impatient Bi-Han is, he wouldn't have waited for his father to have an accident or succumb to old age. I think there's a part of him that lives with guilt and regret over letting his father die. The scene where he says "... and I was right to let him die." sounds like he's trying to justify his actions to himself, not to Kuai Liang. He also sounds hurt and angry when Johnny mentions his father in one of their intros together. I think there's a lot to unpack here but the story mode and intros don't really tell us enough.

Surely, part of the reason why Bi-Han didn't save his father was because he wanted to take control of the clan himself, but not for the selfish reasons people accuse him of. Bi-Han has the Lin Kuei's best interests at heart. He's certainly not entirely selfless but he was willing to share his power with Kuai Liang and in his taunts it's always "Kneel before us" not "before me". He always emphasizes on how the Lin Kuei will rule part of Earthrealm, not just him. His motivations are far deeper than just wanting power and so were his reasons to not help his father.

"He started the Cyber initiative!"

I don't see how the cyber initiative is a negative thing in the new timeline, given that they're just suits of armor made by Sektor that the Lin Kuei put on when they fight. No one is being cyberized against their will or otherwise tortured. No one has to die for the cyber initiative. I guess people have a negative association with it due to the old lore but that no longer applies.

I keep seeing people say "They turned him into Sektor" but that is far from true. Sektor was much more ruthless, going as far as to force his own clan members to become cyborgs and killing his own father to become grandmaster himself.

That is how a man who only cares about power would act and it's not how Bi-Han is acting.

"He scarred Kuai Liang."

Again, something I wrote a detailed analysis of already in the post I've linked above. He did scar his brother, but Kuai Liang was not only the first one to draw blood, but also attempted to kill Bi-Han in his rage.

No matter which brother's side you're on, you can't argue with the fact that they both have hit their lowest low the second they decided to shed each other's blood. Both are willing to kill each other. One brother wanted to violently beat the other's face in and the other one scarred his brother for life. You can't fault one for his actions and not the other. It would be wrong and hypocritical. I'd call them even.

In conclusion, the majority of reasons that people claim to dislike Bi-Han for don't even make sense and are absolutely baseless. They contradict any existing canon material and it's embarrassing how desperately people want to dehumanize Bi-Han and make him into some sort of horrible villian, which he canonically isn't and never was. At the end of the day, you can try and twist the narrative to match your opinions, but that doesn't change canon facts. You can claim that grass isn't green. That's not going to make the grass any less green though.

I see other Bi-Han fans trying to defend Bi-Han and argue back to those hating on him, but honestly, his actions don't even need defending. His reasons and motivations and the depth of his character are obvious enough in my opinion. People who call him a "joke villain" didn't understand his character at all and you can't reason with someone if they're being ignorant and refuse to see past their own bias.

To those who dislike him, here's an idea. Block the "Bi-Han" tag instead of flooding it with bad takes. Why bring unnecessary negativity to the community all while being wrong at the same time? No one needs that.

I might make a part 2, but I think all that needed saying was said in this post and the one I've pinned at the top of my blog already.