#Tumblr. CRASHED after the first one so it took a while to post this too | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

peanutpinet · 1 year

Text

No Regret - Tsukasa x Fem Reader x Yuta (slight)

Main Pairing: Tsukasa (Hokuto) x Fem Reader

Warnings: fighting, angst, right person wrong universe :')

A/N: hello everyone!! I LIVEEEEE!! Can't believe it's been more than a month since I posted on Tumblr :" work has really taken a toll on me and my mental health ain't really the best but after High & Low The Worst X came out on Netflix, you know I'm binging it and well, when I said binge, I meant I watched all of the H&L film series from "The Story of S.W.O.R.D" till The Worst Cross X (even though not in a good order) and lemme just say. I love Yuta's acting even though he doesn't get much lines but the way he expresses his face is 🤌🏼🤌🏼

Now, while I did enjoy the H&L The Worst films, I honestly much prefer the SWORD era films :') it's just that good. Coming from a film studies person, I like how the SWORD era has like a big plot that is continuous throughout the films (except maybe The Red Rain) and well, though there was closure in the big plot, I would really love to dive deeper into some of the gangs and characters. EHEM Amamiya Kyoudai :))

But anyways, here is my first (yes, girl is gonna make some other one-shots) of the H&L film series; starting with the man that caught my attention, Hokuto aka Tsukasa 🥰

Summary: you and Yuta have been friends long before he went to Korea. When Yuta finally had his acting debut, you were more than thrilled to support your best friend and may or may not fangirl over the other characters. But what happens when you and your best friend actually got to experience the other universe?

“Honestly why do you always get to hang out with the badass good looking guys?” you asked Yuta, your best friend who was staying over at your place and currently rewatching his movie, High & Low The Worst X, together

“Hey. What about me and the neos?!” Yuta scoffed, looking at your direction but you avoided his gaze; especially when your favourite character, Tsukasa showed up

“I mean, you guys are hot, I won’t lie. But look at Tsukasa!! Brains and brawns plus the look?! You have to introduce me to Yoshino-san, please!!!” you rambled as Yuta sighed

“We’ve watched this many times and you always say the same thing. That Tsukasa is the best and I went too hard on him during the fight” Yuta tsked as he turned off the TV

“YUTA!! HEY!! That’s not fair!! Just let me fangirl!!” you argued but Yuta didn’t budge

“C’mon, it’s late and we should really sleep. Plus, Hokuto, Ryoki and Kazuma-kun are coming tomorrow to visit. So, save up your fangirling self for tomorrow when you meet them” Yuta argued

“Hontoni?! They’re really coming?! Crap!! I need to plan out what I’m going to wear and how will I dress tomorrow. Yuta, you’re the best!!” you exclaimed as you jump to hug your best friend

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s just sleep alright. Thank me after you meet them tomorrow. Good night (y/n)” Yuta replied as the two of you went to your respective rooms to sleep

“Tomorrow can’t come any faster” you whispered to yourself as you fell asleep

As much as you wanted tomorrow to come faster, you still want your beauty sleep but unfortunately, you were suddenly woken up by a loud crash. Blinking a few times, you were confused about how you were suddenly outside and on the ground. Was this Yuta’s way of getting revenge on you for neglecting his character? There’s no way. Right?!

What’s even more confusing is that it doesn’t look like your neighbourhood at all. Looking around, you tried to find out where you were and even call out to Yuta. As you got up, another crash occurred, making you fall and worry started to creep up on you.

Rushing back to your feet, you tried to find out the source of the crash and when you took a peak, you noticed that it was Kawamura and Yoshino having a brawl against Yuta and Ryoki. Confused, you shouted at Yuta, telling him if this is how he typically greets his friends but instead of Yuta telling you off, the others suddenly stop fighting and what Kawamura said shocked you.

“Who the hell is Yuta? And do any of you know who this girl is?” Kawamura asked as Yuta slowly approached you and grabbed your wrist, pulling you with him

“She’s a friend of mine dan just came back from abroad. Apologies everyone. I’ll be back later. Fujio, Tsukasa, let’s finish the fight later. Amagai, I’ll catch up with you later” Yuta stated, pulling you along with him, away from everyone else

“Yuta?! W-what on earth?! Why did you call the others by their High & Low characters? Are you guys doing some sort of role-play? Because if you are, this isn’t funny” you commented as Yuta pulled you so that you were standing in front of him; his eyes were cold yet serious and concern

“I don’t know what happened when we were asleep or if is this just part of your imagination but we’re basically in the High & Low world. Those guys don’t know who Yuta is. They only know Ryo Suzaki. As for you, you don’t exist in this world. Well, maybe you do. But not in this country at least. You’re practically a foreigner here” Yuta mentioned, making you laugh

“Very funny Yuta. You and your friends are such good actors. You can cut the cameras and all the staff can come out now” you laughed but no one answered you, making you gulp

“I’m serious (y/n), this isn’t a joke. I woke up earlier than you and immediately, Amagai, Fujio and Tsukasa asked me if I was alright because we were in a middle of a brawl. Lucky enough, they believed me that I didn’t remember because I hit my head” Yuta explained yet you still didn’t believe him

“Look. I don’t know how the both of us got here but want or not, we have to blend in until we can find a way to get back to our own universe. Which means, don’t get overly attached to anyone. Especially when your character doesn’t even exist in the High & Low universe. Got it?” Yuta reminded and you quickly nodded

“You handle them, I’ll go look around and find some sort of clues that might help us” you stated, about to turn around until you heard Tsukasa speak

“Don’t think it’s a good idea for a girl to go around this neighbourhood on her own” Tsukasa stated, making you a bit annoyed

“I think I can handle myself well. Yu—I mean Suzaki has taught me a few things about self-defence. You boys can go back to your brawl since clearly, it’s a boys-only thing” you scoffed, disbelief that Tsukasa would say something like this that you were about to walk away when Fujio suddenly stood in front of you, blocking your way

“What my friend meant is that, while we’re sure that you can probably take care of yourself, it would be better if you were with us. Especially since Suzaki-san mentioned that you were from abroad. It tends to get rough around here” Fujio explained, offering you a smile

“I’m Hanaoka Fujio and my friend there is Takagi Tsukasa” Fujio mentioned, offering you his hand for a shake which you accepted

“(L/N) (Y/N). Please to meet you guys” you stuttered, making Fujio chuckle

Ever since that meeting, you’ve been hanging out with the 4 men more often. Heck, you even got to meet the other boys including Todoroki, the four Housen Killer Cops, Sachio and even the Suzuran house. You got along with all of them which made you happy even if deep down you knew that this was all just temporary. Despite so, you couldn’t understand why Tsukasa seemed colder towards you when everyone has been opening up.

It’s been almost a month since you and Yuta came into this universe but neither of you has stopped searching for clues on how to get back to your own world. Though it wasn’t easy, the both of you managed to gain some information that there was a shaman who could talk to spirits and souls from other dimensions. After some digging, you manage to find where the shaman lives and decided to go there yourself because Yuta had to accompany Amagai for who knows what.

The more you walk on your own, the more worried you become because while you’ve gone around the neighbourhood and met with the other factions, you were still unfamiliar with the deeper parts of the neighbourhood. But you couldn’t back down now. You need answers and as much as you want to hang out with the H&L characters, this wasn’t the way you wanted.

You walked through the forest but right before you could go any deeper, you noticed that several other people were surrounding the area. Not knowing who they were, you hid behind the trees and tried to eye what these people were doing.

What you found out was that these guys were a gang from a rural area of the city which makes them an unknown gang. However, when you got closer, you overheard that this gang was aiming to take down Oya High sometime when the main heads are out of town; which you realised that it could be now because right now the main Oya High leaders like Fujio and Tsukasa were out with Housen, Suzuran and even Senomon.

Though you wanted to go and find the shaman, you knew that you had to go back and warn Yuta and the others about this potential ambush. Without wasting any time, you rushed to go back and find Yuta and the others because who knows where those boys are.

You only managed to get away for a bit before getting startled by a rabbit and tripped, causing suspicion among the unknown gang. While they weren’t looking, you immediately got back up and run away but those gangs were used to the twist and turns of the forest that some managed to caught up to you, surrounding you.

Though you were intimidated, you weren’t going to show any fear to them. Especially when they called Yuta and his friends some nasty names; saying how those guys always have it easy and never understand the actual pain of fighting without any backups or without any good resources like the other schools.

Angered by the comments, you didn’t hesitate to take the first move and punched the life out of some of them. Sure, you weren’t as skillful as Yuta or the others; but you could definitely do some damage and outsmart them.

Unfortunately, when you thought that you outsmarted them, one of them came up from behind you and grabbed you by the ankle, making you fall forward; hard. Though you hit your head quite hard, you still managed to return the favour before getting away from the messed-up scene.

Limping your way back, you tried to hang onto whatever it is that you can hold onto since your whole body felt like it was going to crumble any second now. Right when you just reached the Oya High gate, someone came up behind you that you instinctively tried to slap them but they managed to grab you.

Turns out, one of the gang members managed to sneak away and followed you. Unfortunately, because you had just finished fighting off the others, you barely had enough strength to pull away from this guy and he managed to grab you by the neck to the point where you started to lose your vision but at the same time the grip around your neck loosen and instead, a warm strong grip was around your waist.

“What the hell happened to you?!” you heard Tsukasa’s voice, his voice softer than how he normally talks when he was with you

“T-tsukasa…they, they’re coming. For the school. While everyone is…” you breathed out but your body gave up on you and you practically passed out, Tsukasa’s grip around your body tighten

“Hey, (y/n), what happened? Hey, wake up” Tsukasa mumbled, confused about what he should do especially when you passed out

Knowing that you wouldn’t say anything that you don't mean, Tsukasa called out some of his gang members to keep the guy that hurt you to be tamed while he gets you treated and get some answers from you first. But at the same time, he knew that while this guy was from an unknown gang, he can’t easily brush them off; especially when Fujio was out with other leaders.

Tsukasa made sure that some of the better fighters would guard around just in case if what you said about the school going to be attacked was true. Once he took you to the hospital and got you treated, he texted Fujio to let him and the others know on what happened.

While it seemed like Tsukasa only cared about the school and protecting his gang, he was actually worried about you. Sure, he didn’t have the greatest impression of you since he’s very much wary of any new person in the area; especially when he has never heard of them before. This is why when you first arrived and Yuta introduced you, Tsukasa was the first one that was suspicious of you. Girl or not, if you were a spy or someone that would come to destroy Oya High and SWORD, Tsukasa wouldn’t hesitate to put you down.

But as time passed, the more Tsukasa spied on you, the more he realised that you were truly someone outside of the area and even the country. You didn’t know a lot of things and the things you did know, Tsukasa assumed that it was because Yuta telling you stuff; not because you were from a whole different dimension.

Lately, Tsukasa has been keeping a closer eye on you. Not just to spy on you but also because there was just something about you that interest him. How you somehow managed to get close with the other guys not only in Oya High but also Housen and even Suzuran. Each school has taken a liking to you. Not only that, you just seemed too good to be true in Tsukasa’s eyes.

You weren’t the quiet or reserved kind of person. You were more outgoing and voiced out your opinions a lot. Even when you know that you would be outmatched, you kept going on and that is something that Tsukasa acknowledge about you.

When the nurse told Tsukasa that you were already treated and that you were currently resting. Tsukasa thanked the nurse and went into your room. Seeing you all bandaged angered Tsukasa that he swore he would make that unknown gang pay and even come to their knees to beg you for forgiveness once he was done with them.

Before Tuskasa could get closer to you, his phone rang and the other guys at Oya High told Tsukasa that he was right and some unknown gang was attacking the school. Despite being annoyed that he had to leave you, Tsukasa knew that you would be safer in the hospital.

Arriving back at Oya High, Tsukasa didn’t hesitate to knock some sense into everyone in the unknown gang. Their leader immediately fought head-to-head with Tsukasa which Tsukasa was more than happy to brawl with.

“Were you the one that started the attack on (y/n)?!” Tsukasa demanded, his eyes were sharp and angry at the same time

“Who? Oh, you mean that pesky girl in the forest? No, I didn’t touch her. But maybe I should have. To teach her a lesson and…” the leader spatted but Tsukasa immediately punched the leader. Hard.

“The fuck are you? An animal?!” Tsukasa growled, grabbing the leader by the collar and punching him over and over again to the point that the leader was unconscious, blood was dripping from his nose, mouth and Tsukasa’s knuckles

“Ya!! Tsukasa!!” Tsukasa heard Fujio shout, making the blonde stop

“What the hell happened around here? And why the hell are you beating someone until they’re unconscious?! Since when do you do that?!” Fujio snapped, pulling Tsukasa’s bloody wrist away from the beaten unconscious person under him

“Is it wrong? After what he and his men did to (y/n)?!” Tsukasa snapped back, getting off of the unconscious man and yanked his arm back, Yuta immediately came into the scene with the sound of your name

“What the hell happened to her?!” Yuta demanded

“She’s hospitalised right now. This guy and his entire gang were going to attack our school but somehow, (y/n) found out about it and rushed back to warn us but along the way, she was attacked. Badly. When I found her, one of them nearly choked her to death” Tsukasa explained, the other guys were now silent with the information

Before anyone can utter another word, Tsukasa’s phone rang and it was the nurse from the hospital, telling Tsukasa that you were finally awake and were searching for him. Without any more explanation, Tsukasa turned the phone off and rushed away to the hospital to see you.

Arriving at the hospital, Tsukasa didn’t even pay attention that he was pushing through some of the workers but once he got to your room and saw you sitting on your bed, never has Tsukasa felt this amount of relief. Seeing that Tsukasa was finally here, the nurse decided to give the two of you some privacy and left.

“H-hey, a-are you ok?” Tsukasa stuttered, scratching the back of his head as he took a chair and sat right beside your bed

“I think I should be the one asking you that” you replied, pointing at his bruised and bloody knuckles

“Oh. This. This is nothing” Tsukasa breathed out but you took his hand and a nearby cloth, wiping his bloody hand

“You shouldn’t fight so much. Who did you fight anyways? Were there that many people that attacked Oya High?” you asked, wiping Tsukasa’s hands clean from his own blood

“There were quite a lot but it didn’t matter. What mattered was that you got hurt because you were trying to warn us about the attack” Tsukasa explained but you just chuckled dryly

“Wh-what?” Tsukasa questioned as you put his hand back on the bed

“You never really cared nor did you spare me a glance when we first met. What changed?” you asked. It was Tsukasa’s turn to be nervous

You were right. Tsukasa never paid attention nor seemed to care about your sudden appearance. But he can’t help but be drawn to you. It was as if you were someone that he was looking for but when you were actually in front of him, Tsukasa just malfunctioned. He rarely encounters girls to begin with; let alone is interested in any of them.

“You’re right, this isn’t me. I’m not used to any of this yet nor do I know exactly how I feel but what I do know is that I was a coward. In the beginning, I thought that you were just some random girl that was probably a spy from Kuryu or something. But I spied on you, I realised that you were actually a regular girl that was just lost. I know that we didn’t start off well but if you’re alright to start over. If not, perhaps we can just try and get along, slowly…” Tsukasa replied, his hand making its way back on top of yours, caressing your hand

“Tsukasa…I hope that this isn’t a joke” you mumbled, not wanting to give in just yet

“I promise you that I want to start anew” Tsukasa replied back, intertwining your fingers together

But right when Tsukasa was leaning closer and you completely forgot about how you ended up in this world in the first place, Yuta came and stopped you both from going any further. His eyes were worried but sharp at the same time.

Noticing his glare, Tsukasa knew that Yuta would probably want to talk to you alone. “You don’t have to answer me now. I’ll wait for you this time. Get better soon alright? Let me know if you need anything” Tsukasa sighed, kissing your knuckles before excusing himself from the room.

Once he was sure that Tsukasa was out of the room, Yuta sat on the chair right by the bed and observed your current state before speaking up. “Where did you go before?” Yuta asked, still trying to process everything that has happened in the past few hours

“I got a lead about this shaman that would know how do we get back to our world. Along the way, I heard about that gang wanting to attack everyone in Oya High” you replied

“Then why didn’t you just go to the Shaman? Oya can take care of themselves. You didn’t have to go all the way back just to warn them. Look where it got you” Yuta cursed, making you jump a bit

“Well I’m sorry that I got attached to all of them. I love them not just as characters but who they are. Being in this world taught me that. I know we’re not supposed to think of this world as our own but the more I stay here and interact with everyone, the more that I care” you admitted, tears starting to build up

“I know. I know (y/n). I slowly also become attached and I guess that has become a problem for both of us. I know how much you adore Tsukasa but you can’t let him get close to you and vice versa. I’ll visit the shaman tomorrow and let you know once I come back. Until then, you have to set up some boundaries between you and the others; especially Tsukasa. Because from what I’ve seen, it seems like he has also grown attached to you in some way” Yuta suggested, holding your hands in his

“I know. I just. I feel bad. Turning down his feelings? Should we just tell them all the truth? Or at least let me go with you to the Shaman since the two of us are the ones that need to go back” you replied

“Fine. We’ll both go to the Shaman and once we got the answer from them, we’ll both go back to the others and tell them the truth” Yuta replied whilst hugging you, comforting you in the process

The next day came sooner than you’d like. You were getting better and luckily enough, the nurse allowed you to be discharged. Yuta helped you get up and the two of you head out as early as possible. Mainly to avoid the other guys.

The two of you walked through the woods you went through the other day and made your way to the Shaman’s place. Once the two of you reached the place, you noticed that the Shaman was doing their daily activities but stopped the moment the two of you stopped right in front of their house.

“Begone you two lost souls” the shaman stated as the two of you stopped in your tracks

“Since you already know who we are, I’ll get straight to the point. How the hell do we get back to our own universe? Clearly, this universe isn’t ours” Yuta blurted out, trying to get close but for some reason it was as if there was an invisible barrier preventing him

“It’s not about how you get back. But about you truly letting go of this universe. All you had to do to get back was find me but it looks like one of you isn’t ready to go back just yet” the Shaman stated, looking at you specifically

“Not just her though. The boy in this universe is also not ready to let her go just yet” the Shaman added on, making the two of you confused

“(y/n)…” Yuta whispered, facing towards you but his gaze was somewhere else

Just as you turned around and followed Yuta’s gaze did you finally understand. Tsukasa and some of the other Oya High students were there along with other guys from Housen, Suzuran and even Senomon High.

“Tsukasa…” you whispered out, tears were finally starting to fall one after the other while Tsukasa looked at both you and Yuta in disbelief

“You lied. All this time. Both of you. We were all foolish to let you both, especially you…” Tsukasa stated, looking deeply into your figure. “I was foolish to think that we could actually connect. That we have some sort of bond” Tsukasa spotted, his words were practically like acupuncture needles but sharper and would prick deeper into your skin

“Tsukasa. Chotto matte kudasai (wait for a moment). Let me explain…” you tried to reason but Tsukasa already turned his back on you

“Go home (y/n). Your actual friends are probably waiting for you. I won’t hold you back. Goodbye (y/n)” Tsukasa stated about to walk away but stopped when you had an outburst

“How the hell am I supposed to go back knowing that you probably hate me?! I can’t go back even more now” you exclaimed, not holding back anymore tears

“That was on you. You knew where you came from. You knew that you didn’t belong here. Yet you still like as if you were part of this world” Tsukasa shouted back, making you flinch since you have never seen him get angry before

“Ya, Tsukasa. Say anything hurtful towards her again, I’ll knock you out again. You think someone can prevent themselves from feeling how they felt?! Don’t say shit like this when you too also felt something” Yuta growled back, making Tsukasa even more pissed off that he went and stood in front of Yuta and faced him

“You also have no say in this, Suzaki. Or whoever you are in his body” Tsukasa spotted but was immediately welcomed by Yuta’s punch

“You can say whatever shit you want about me but not her. You have no fucking idea how hard it was for her to hold herself back. Not to mention the way you first treated her. Yes, perhaps it was wrong of her to get close with the others. But you also didn’t give her a warm welcome, now did you? Yet yesterday you seemed to be the most fired up when she was hurt and now you’re saying as if her feelings weren’t valid at all” Yuta argued, throwing punches and kicks at Tsukasa which turned the whole meeting into an actual fight

The two didn’t back down for even just a breather. Yuta would throw punches whereas Tsukasa would dodge them and try to hit back. You were sick and tired of all this fighting which happened because of you that you decided that you should put an end to it but right when you were interrupting them, Tsukasa accidentally hit your side and you stumbled and fall, holding your sides while coughing out.

The second Tsukasa hit you, Yuta instinctively grabbed you as all the others that were there went to see if you were alright. Despite you and Yuta somewhat deceiving everyone, they all still cared about the two of you. Fujio especially held Tsukasa back and smacked his friend for what he had just done.

“YA!!! Wake up Tsukasa!! Do you not realise what you’re doing?!” Fujio shouted at his friend, punching him that Tsukasa was now on the ground yet his eyes never leaving your sight

“Ryo was right. You didn’t even consider how she must’ve felt. She’s not completely at fault. You were the one that told me that you also caught feelings yet now it seemed like you’re blaming it all on her? Look at where that anger brought you!!” Fujio rambled, gripping his hair out of frustration of his own friend

“Fujio!!!” Yuta shouted at the leader of Oya, grabbing everyone’s attention. “We’ll stay here. It’s best that the two of us distance ourselves from everyone. Especially (y/n). At least let me take care of her first before I explain everything to you all. I owe you all that” Yuta stated as Fujio nodded as a sign of acknowledgement

Thankfully, the Shaman allowed both Yuta and you to stay at their place, saying that it would be easier for the two; especially when the two are ready to go back to their own universe. Once Yuta helped you, he told you to rest and to figure out your own feelings as he was going to explain to the others what actually happened.

“I should go too. It’s not just you. I was the one who was most at fault” you mumbled, making Yuta sit back down beside you

“We all make mistakes (y/n). But don’t you ever think for a second that your feelings were not valid. If Tsukasa can’t man up and understand then he doesn’t deserve your feelings. I’m also just going to tell them about what actually is happening so that they would hopefully understand” Yuta replied back, tucking you in bed

“Yuta…” you breathed out, holding his hand, Yuta turned to wait for your statement. “Thank you. When we get back, I think I owe you that omakase dinner you wanted” you chuckled, making Yuta smile

“I look forward to it. I’ll be back” Yuta replied, patting your head then left to explain to the others who were waiting outside of the Shaman’s house

“Honestly, I didn’t expect that all of you would still be here” Yuta stated, putting his hands in the pocket of his pants

“We all wanted to know the truth. After then will we decide” Fujio stated as the others agreed

Yuta then told everyone the truth. How he and you were not from this universe and instead in a universe where he and most of the other High and Low characters are singers; which clearly shocked everyone. In addition, Yuta also told them all that in their universe, you were a close friend of his and was also a fan of everyone in the High & Low universe.

“So basically, all of us have an alternate self in your universe and even if you guys go back, there will be another us over there?” Fujio asked excitedly, making Yuta giggle

“Yes. There are you guys in our universe as well. But I will say this Tsukasa. Even if there is another you in our universe. (y/n) already had an attachment with you as a character but now I guess it’s safe to say that she truly has an attachment with you and even if she has to let everything that has happened here go, she will still have some sort of attachment towards you but not just as a character but an actual person” Yuta explained, silence immediately filled the air

It was when Yuta explained to Tsukasa did he realise that you clearly had more to lose since once you go back, you will have to continue with the fact that all of this might just seem like a dream since in your world, everyone in this world is basically fiction. Knowing that he doesn’t have much time left with you, Tsukasa just wanted to have one final conversation with you. To hopefully bring closure to the both of you before you both part ways. And hopefully not have any regrets when you two actually part ways.

“Hey…How are you feeling?” Tsukasa softly whispered, noticing that you were wide awake and sitting on the bed

“Hey…Am better now. Now I know why they call you the sleeping lion” you joked as Tsukasa went to sit next to you

“About what happened. I’m sorry. I really am. I was just mad about the sudden discovery that all I think about was if you hadn’t been so close to everyone, it wouldn’t be that hard to let go. But after what Ryo, I mean, Yuta said, I tried to see it from your shoes and I’m sorry. I just hope that we can have some closure and well” Tsukasa rambled, stuttering with his words, especially with the next words that he’s going to say. “I do like you too and I know this might seem a bad timing since you want to go back to your own universe but I just feel the need to say it because I don’t want to have any regrets. I know that it might be hard during the first few times after you leave but at least I won’t have any regrets. At least, I’m happy to be able to be honest with you about how I’ve felt” Tsukasa admitted as he held your hand in his

“Tsukasa…” you teared up, slightly hitting his chest while he hugged you, stroking your hair. “You really have one of the worst timing ever” you tried to joke as Tsukasa sighed in relief, holding you closer to him

As you slowly opened your eyes, you scanned your surroundings and found yourself back at Yuta’s apartment. Looking at your phone, you noticed that not much time passed back in your universe.

Sighing, you got up and found Yuta asleep on the floor. You shook Yuta a few times until he finally woke up. Chuckled at his current state, you told him that you were going to make breakfast which Yuta thank you for and hit the shower.

As you made breakfast, the doorbell to Yuta’s apartment rang. Quickly, you turned off the stove and headed to see who it was. To your surprise, it was Ryoki, Kazuma and Hokuto, all in their casual wear but presentable enough just like when you were in high school about to hang out at your friend’s place.

“Hi. Sorry, did we come at a wrong time?” Kazuma asked politely which you shake your head, reassuring them that they didn’t and invited them into the house

“Hey (y/n), who is…Oh, hi guys” Yuta stated, making his appearance as he was also dressed. “Ahh right. This is (y/n), my best friend since before I moved to Korea. (y/n), this is Kazuma, Hokuto and Ryoki. Well, she knows all of you because she’s a fan of the High & Low movies. Plus, she’s a big fan of Tsukasa” Yuta blurted, making you blush and hit his bicep playfully, trying to hide your shyness as the other 3 male in front of you giggle

“Well (y/n). Pleased to meet you and thank you for being a fan. I think we’ll get along pretty well” Hokuto exclaimed, giving you one of the biggest smile you’ve seen him do

A/N: yeap, this almost 6k fic took me practically a month to write :') Anyways, I hope that you guys enjoy it and wow, it's been 3 years since I'm on Tumblr. What a ride it is and don't worry, I don't plan on stopping soon. I just hope that everyone who has similar interest as I do can enjoy the stories that I put out

Also, if anyone wants to ramble about the H&L universe (ehem, Amamiya brothers), please don't be scared to talk to me or send me a message or even a request because I'd be happy to do some H&L fanfics as I have not seen much of it :') Alright, I need to sleep (as of writing this). Thank you all for reading and sticking by for the past 3 years or so. Stay safe and may you always be happy :) xoxo Vinet

#nct #nct yuta #nct yuta scenarios #nct yuta imagines #high and low #high and low fanfic #nct fanfic #nct 127 yuta #nct 127 fanfic #nct nakamoto yuta #nakamoto yuta #yuta nakamoto #nakamoto yuta imagines #nakamoto yuta scenarios #tsukasa x reader #tsukasa takajo #takajo tsukasa #high and low the worst x #high&low

119 notes · View notes

tervaneula · 20 days

Note

Okay i got an emil notification about your NQK update before your tumblr post?! Now that surprised me!

It's like 1 AM and i don't think leo is the only one with Insomnia - ngl i felt that am getting called out 😂 - So we start and i think because it's been a long time friend the previous NQK chapter i really forgot that F!Donnie is now " Donatello " whil F!Mikey js "Michaelangelo" and brain was flipping between "huh? Is that the youngest or the eldest?!"

So we start right off with with F!Dee getting jealous and boy oh boy i believe little ol' Donnie will find this exciting and more of a "parent figure approval" 😂

The talk goes to the bandana and i kid you not i remembered previous fics where some F!Leo/s had either put the other masks as a nice accessory ir put it on his sword and just hung it there as a memory (forgot the fic).

So this makes me think of "How F!Leo would make of the bandanas AFTER he make peace with decades of war?" It really makes me excited thinking about it 🤩

Also it made me think - don't know if i asked before but - does F!Leo still can open his portals and travel? (I know in other fic he can but what about the Canon fic NQK?).

It's kinda sad how Leo's still holding on to the masks but still understandable because well... It's been decades of WAR! That can't be just brushed under the rug with a nice few months in the lair. So until F!Leo finally decided when he can " move on " he deserves to keep the masks with him...

F!Leo hugging ghost!F!Dee was so sad and somewhat... Bittersweet? Because he's glad he can see/talk and almost hug his twin but that's about it, he wants to be greedy and have the two of them, april, his dad back home but that would be too much (And am sure he would be worried about 'Don't push your luck' type of quote or he may lose everything).

But AHHHHHHHHH AM SCREAMING FOR THE ART PIECE YOU MADE! SURE IT'S SAD BUT THE COLORS AND ART STYLE IS REALLY WARMING ME UP AS IF IT'S - again - A BLANKET!! I LOVE THIS FEELING 🩷🩷🩷🩷

Then que F!Mikey entering the chat (lmao ngl thought that was little mikey) and took a pic lol!! I don't know if he can take picture of ghosts but imagine if you can use mystic power or ninpo to see ghosts in the picture?! That would be awesome, F!Dee & F!Raph would mess with so many people.

And then here comes Dracum entering the chat 🐐😂 MF i can imagine him entering the room with sandal in hand ready to beat F!Mikey up especially after hearing "I used it to lift a blanket up" 😂😂😂

But it was so surprising to me when be gave him a "therapist" card, from the color purple i thought it was from either Donnie or 🤢 Big mama 🤢

But god i love a soft carrying dad draxum like my next door neighbour! Always welcomed 🩷

That's all for my review for the chapter! It was such a great treat since it's been a while! Am still gonna keep my eyes - and phone - open for any updates because LORD I LOVE NQK🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

LMAO YEAH that's because I really wanted to publish the chapter that day but was already crashing when I posted it, so couldn't make a Tumblr post until the next day 😂

Hehe we'll see what Leonardo will do with the masks! First of all, wash them, probably :D He has a weird relationship with all of his keepsakes, re: the Raph-like prosthetic arm. He doesn't want to get rid of them but seeing them also still hurts, despite everything :')

Yes NQK Leonardo can use his portals!! He just hasn't had a reason to do that in the main fic (yet 😎)

God. Fug. Dang dude. "Don't push your luck or you may lose everything" legitimately made me tear up. That whole paragraph contributed, actually. "HE WANTS TO BE GREEDY" like ajkhjdsfhj how dare you (/aff) hit me with an emotional bomb like this all of a sudden. He does. He wants all of his family, he doesn't think it's fair that only three of them survived, and this brings us back to the enormous guilt he feels for not being able to save everyone.

Donatello is there with him, not in flesh but literally in spirit, he can be hugged and talked to, but Leonardo wants him to live. It's so freaking heartbreaking. I as the author have the power to bring him his family back, in flesh and blood and bone, but like I said ages ago, that's not what NQK is about. It's about accepting loss and healing and finding happiness, and about family and love. They can't change the past any more than what they've already been graciously given, the only way is forward. ;_;

BUT THANK YOUUU for liking the drawing, it makes me go 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 so bad jdfhj (and to make it worse, I made a different version which I'll post here later)

Ninpo ghosts show up in photos normally!! At least in NQK universe they do 😂 Too bad for Donatello, can't do all the crime if he can be caught in 4K

Soft caring dad Draxum ftw<333

THE THERAPIST CARD. Oh my gosh Draxum does NOT trust Big Mama one bit, rest assured, and Donnie has no such connections. No, the light purple colour is actually referencing... drum roll... THIS GUY

Yes Tev is now a yokai and a part of NQK universe but no, she won't show up in the fic so no worries about me actually bringing in non-canon characters. "Leonardo Goes To Therapy" is not a chapter I want to write, nor sprinkle in the appointments in detail, so it all happens off-screen 😂

Thank you SO SO SO MUCH again for reading and spending your precious time writing this comment!!!! It made me so happy but I'm a little sorry that this reply got so long and rambly XD ANYWAY ILYSM

#Of course I'm Leonardo's therapist in-universe. I'm the one giving him his happy ending after all #fic: not quite kintsugi but close #tervdraws #tevvie

12 notes · View notes

redreart · 2 years

Text

Everything we know about Staci Pratt

Some time ago, I wrote all the stuff you can possibly know about Staci Pratt (everything that was deleted and hard to notice from the first play). But it was in another language so I decided to translate it lol.

Also, I'm really inspired by @lulu2992 posts, because I'm still obsessed with fc5 lore as well

So, let's begin. I'm going to use some materials from other people on Tumblr and I'm going to leave links to their original posts and mention them in the credits later on.

Everything we CAN find in the game

At the very beginning of the game, while still in the helicopter, Pratt jokes about our Dep and offers Hudson to drink something from a flask, maybe an alcoholic beverage. (maybe the flask is to blame for the helicopter crash, lol). And note that Pratt is the main pilot of the helicopter (because he sits on the right).

Screenshot by @llazyneiph

Based on everything, we can conclude that Stacy is not affected by depression and probably is not a part of Eden's Gate at this point in the game. Although from another angle we can see that the flask he holds in his hands has an Eden's Gate cross on the other side, I assume Ubi were just too lazy to create another texture just for that scene.

Screenshot by @llazyneiph

While leaving the helicopter to go follow the sheriff Pratt may say something if you stay there for too long.

Staci Pratt: Suck it up, rookie! Get your head out of your ass and get up to the church. The fuck you doing? Follow the sheriff. Jesus...

When we meet Stacy after the failed attempt to put Joe in jail, he is already serving Jacob it is not clear why the box does not work on him, although then in one cutscene Only You from the loudspeaker has an effect on him. The game does not provide an answer to this question, although hypothetically this can be associated with deleted content, which will be discussed a little bit later.

Please this this amazing post by @lulu2992 because it summarizes what I want to say here

at.tumblr.com/lulu2992/i-feel-there-is-something-about-deputy-staci/pxihfpi1xgp4

And just a quick thing about Jacob.

In oasistrings (you can find it here text.farcry.info) Jacob call's Pratt "peaches" just once and I found no explanation except my own assumptions.

But the most obvious reason is that Jacob uses this to break Pratt. I mean he's already in a bad state but Jacob is just pushing it further. But also It's interesting that Staci likes Peaches the cougar. She's the only animal companion that he's positive about. This part is kind of cut from the game though because Pratt usually stays in the bunker. But if you'll have him as a companion with the help of the Resistance Mod he'll def comment on the animal you're with.

Another interesting thing was noticed by @hopecountyradio. Idk myself, but it is really worth mentioning. In the very first cutscene with Jacob, someone is carrying our Dep. @hopecountyradio thinks that it is Pratt who does it.

I've made a little collage so you guys can compare the shoes.

Just a bunch of random short facts that ARE in the game

Staci is 26 years old

He wears a wristband

He used to be or is a catholic because he knows the "Ave, Maria" prayer (you can listen to him praying here, Ave, Maria is the second one) which is most common amongst Catholics in the US (thanks @noire610 for telling me this)

Content that was deleted from the game

Let's start with the analysis of audio. Interestingly, not all of this ended up in the oasis strings.

Let's start with this interesting thing provided by @voices-of-hope-county. There are several dialogues between the peggies, Pratt and peggies, and even Jacob and peggies. All of them are united by the fact that they took place (should have happened) in the Veterans Center. Only one of them is available in oasis strings. I could not find the rest in the text file. Let's start.

Audio 1

Dialogue 1 | Audio 1:

Female peggie: Can you fucking believe that guy? Male peggie: Who? FP: The Deputy… Pratt. He was wandering around behind the cages. MP: The fuck was he doing there? FP: Who the hell knows? Jacob's probably got him off doing some shit. MP: Hahahah… He's lucky to put two words together after what Jacob did to him. FP: Seriously… Sometimes I think it's a mistake to put so much trust in this converts. You should come willing to the light, or be struck down. MP: Amen to that, sister.

Dialogue 2 | Audio 1 (can be found in oasisstrings):

Dialogue 3 | Audio 1

Staci Pratt: Hey… I need to get in. Male Peggie: Seriously? Didn't I just let you out? SP: There's a new prisoner… I gotta go get him. For Jacob. MP: Fine… Get going. Just leave me the fuck alone.

Dialogue 4 | Audio 1 (It sounds like Pratt knows the person he's talking to well)

Male Peggie: Don't this fucking dogs ever shut up? Staci Pratt: They're called Judges. MP: They are still fucking dogs. SP: Have you ever seen them kill? Those are more than just dogs, my friend. MP: Well… They still stank like dogs. Good Lord… Huh… Anyone cleans those cages? SP: Are you volunteering? MP: Fuck no! Haha… Are you kidding? SP: Then stop complaining.

Dialogue 5 | Audio 1 (It sounds like Pratt knows the person he's talking to well)

Staci Pratt: How does it look? Male Peggie: Not good. SP: What does that mean? Do we need a new one? MP: Not sure… We might be able to get away with just replacing the belt. SP: Right… And how long will that last? MP: Well… It might buy us a couple weeks. SP: Or… It may just blow up tomorrow. And then where will we be? MP: Up shits creek without a paddle. SP: So what do we tell Jacob? MP: We'll replace the whole fucking thing. It's the only way to be sure.

They're probably repairing a car because they're discussing timing belt.

Although the last dialogue in the audio does not involve Pratt, it does include Jacob and an explanation of how the converts are treated.

Dialogue 6 | Audio 1

Jacob Seed: Anything to report? Male Peggie: Sir. Truck just pulled up n' dropped of a bunck of new prisoners. JS: Recruits. MP: What? JS: We call them recruits. Soon they'll be a part of our army… Part of the Project. You need to respect that. MP: Ye… Yes, Sir. Of course, Sir. JS: I'm going down to see how the process is going. I'll be back soon.

As we can see there was plenty of stuff that should've happened in Jacob's region.

Audio 2

Staci Pratt: It's just gonna get harder… They want an offering. A sacrifice… I'm trying… I'm trying my best. You have to know that!.. I'm sorry.

Probably was talking to our Dep.

Audio 3

Starts after the prayers somewhere around here

Staci Pratt: The whole time I was locked in that room I just kept thinking about how I got here. You know why I became a cop? To get laid. That was it. It was a whim. And then... after awhile, I tried to convince myself that I did it for the greater good. To help people. But I can't. I know that now. Jacob taught me that... I don't know what I'm supposed to do anymore... I don't even know who I am. I don't know what we're supposed to do now. Protect and serve? Out here? There's no law anymore, Rook. Look around! Someone should've been here by now. Nobody gives a shit about what's happening here. We're on our own. Survival of the fittest. Weak and the strong.

(I would love to meet these badge bunnies in Hope County ngl. Probably Adelaide eas one of them)

Also as @lulu2992 notices Pratt's name in game files is spelled Stacy.

Previous character designs

@hopecountyradio extracted a bunch of videos of Pratt's confession.

The first version is this one:

Also in this vid Jacob has greenish eyes

The second version is this one

Has an amazing Eden's Gate intro

And Staci looks like that:

A general conclusion can be drawn from all three versions, incl. the one that was included in the final version of the game, even though the water is hard to see there. Stacy was electrocuted here, so when we rescue him in the Armory that's another reason why he blows the control panel.

Thank ya'll for reading 🖤 I would love to chat about it and add info if you know something/can provide something I haven't mentioned

I used materials from @lulu2992 , @hopecountyradio , @voices-of-hope-county and text.farcry.info

#stacy pratt #staci pratt #deputy staci pratt #deputy pratt #fc5 lore #fc5 #far cry 5 #far cry 5 lore #fc5 fandom #far cry 5 fandom #deputy stacy pratt

166 notes · View notes

icedragonlizard · 7 months

Text

Marx headcanons

My "series" of tumblr posts going over general headcanons for singular Kirby characters is finally making a return! I already covered the trio of the third wave of dream friends, and so now the fourth entry is another character that's an ex-villain just like they are: Marx!

Like the third wave dream friends, I also have a whole looooot of headcanons for good 'ol silly clowny guy Marx here. Alongside with the third wave dream friends, this clown is another favorite of mine. With all of that in mind, why don't we go ahead and get this started?

As usual for these posts, I will put a 'Keep reading' tag because it's gonna be a long one. And as usual under these 'Keep reading' tags, everything from this point forward is purely my own headcanons.

Marx, by some miracle, didn't die when Kirby blasted him onto Galactic Nova at the ending of Milky Way Wishes. He himself couldn't believe it! He thought he was a goner when he saw himself flying towards that comet, but after the dust settled, he managed to register the fact that he somehow survived that enormous impact.

When he processed that the impact didn't kill him, it made him shocked beyond belief. But that shock didn't last long when he realized that he couldn't move freely on his own, since his injuries were excruciating enough to render him pretty much completely helpless as he floated around in space. With absolutely nobody to hear it, Marx cursed out Kirby in his seemingly final moments of life until he would eventually bleed out from his hugely agonizing injuries.

However, something occurred that saved Marx's life. Somebody was just quick enough to show up at the scene before it could be too late.

Someone piloting a big blue ship arrived at Galactic Nova's crash site and discovered Marx helplessly floating around. The person that piloted this big blue ship was none other than Magolor! The ship that he was piloting was, of course, none other than the Lor Starcutter.

Magolor saved Marx from death and took him in as he helped recover his injuries. The two became friends as they started pranking people together when Marx started to be in a good enough condition to do so.

Marx has been to Halcandra before, since Magolor showed him that's the place where he found the Lor Starcutter. The two of them caused mischief together, and Marx has seen Landia in person before.

It was after Marx recovered from his injuries is when he found out that he still has all the powers that Nova had granted him from his wish. He found it delightfully devious that he still has those powers!

The large golden wings now act as his forelimbs, as he can unfold or retract them any time, and those claw-like appendages are essentially his fingers. He also has the ability to alternate his eyes' looks to either have his pupils and irises be either round-shaped or slit-shaped, although round-shaped is the default/normal version.

He also has another power that he didn't even know he had before: he is has the ability to spit out an infinite amount of beach balls out of his mouth! This is an attack that he can perform in Star Allies. I headcanon that Nova gave him that capability, although he didn't use that attack during his boss fight in Milky Way Wishes. He didn't even know he had that skill until later in time.

A while after recovering from his injuries, Marx then eventually found an opportunity to disclose vital information to Magolor that would essentially serve as the catalyst for a large chain of events later on.

Marx is, more or less, the reason why Magolor comes to know about Kirby and eventually all the others in the first place, and this is what led to Return to Dreamland's events to happen. Marx told Magolor about his incident with Kirby that left him in the condition he found him in. This inspired Magolor to plot his own betrayal against Kirby, which was of course the events of RTDL, and Marx pleaded him to succeed when he set off his plan. Traitors beget traitors, right? Haha.

Ever since getting his ass kicked at the end of Milky Way Wishes, Marx has been holding a serious grudge against Kirby. He wanted to get back at that pink puffball so bad. He would've wanted to get revenge himself, but Magolor assured that he'd attempt his own betrayal against Kirby, and so Marx was able to relax at his courtesy. He really, really wanted Kirby to finally get wrecked, which was why he was pleading for Magolor to succeed with his grand betrayal plan.

To avoid making Magolor a conflict of interest that could easily cause his plans to flop before he could succeed in his betrayal, Marx completely stayed out of RTDL's events. Magolor did say "I even know somebody who knows you quite well!" to Kirby at one point during RTDL, and that somebody is of course Marx, but that's the closest Magolor has gone to letting the cover be even remotely blown. Aside from that, Magolor kept it hidden that Marx was the one who told him about Kirby to prevent his grand plan from flopping.

Marx was just going to numerous other planets to prank random people while Magolor was doing his grand plan in RTDL. Some of the planets that Marx caused mischief in at this time are some of the planets that were in Kirby 64, such as Rock Star, Aqua Star and Neo Star. He also caused mischief in Halcandra when Magolor showed him the place, until Magolor used the Lor Starcutter to open up a rift to let Marx leave Another Dimension before RTDL's events began.

Even though Marx has been having a really sore grudge against Kirby ever since losing, he was also very delighted about keeping all the powers that Nova gave him, and so he used his powers to have great efficiency at pulling pranks on people in numerous planets as his method of coping with his severe grudge against the pink puffball while trying to wait on Magolor carrying out his betrayal plan.

In essence, that's what Marx has been doing until Magolor finally returns to him to reveal that his betrayal plan failed. This disappointed Marx, and it disappointed him even more when Magolor expressed regret and how he wanted to reconcile with Kirby.

At that moment, Marx's grudge against Kirby was still really strong, and so he initially refused to cooperate when Magolor asked him to join in apologizing to Kirby. Magolor didn't like his response, so he tried to keep insist that he get over it and join him, but Marx even went so far as to suggest to try to betray Kirby again. That caused the two to have strife with each other, and so Magolor chose to temporarily leave Marx and make his apology on his own by himself.

During that brief period, Marx just continued his mischievous shenanigans on other planets while Magolor made up with Kirby. This goes on for a few years until something makes the jester change tune.

Eventually, something clicks with Marx and he finally snaps out of it. At some point, he comes to realize that it really would be for his own good to stop having such a ridiculous grudge against Kirby and just make up with him, and so he went ahead to return to Popstar and reconcile with Kirby years after Magolor made his reconciliation.

After reconciling with Kirby, Marx then came back together with Magolor to regrow their friendship after the brief strife that they had. When he did this, it put some weight off his non-existent shoulders, since life really is better and more relaxing without holding a grudge.

Marx's reconciliation with Kirby happens several months before Star Allies, meaning that Daroach, Magolor, Taranza and Susie all made their reconciliations with Kirby before Marx did. Before he made his reconciliation, he literally hasn't been to Popstar since the fight in Milky Way Wishes, since the grudge he had against Kirby was so strong that it made him really not want be anywhere near Popstar at the time. That of course changed when his grudge finally faded away.

And so after finally reconciling with Kirby, Marx became an addition to Kirby's large and constantly increasing group of friends. At this point, he sticks around and gets to know the rest of the notable cast.

Who are Marx's friends in my headcanon universe, might you wonder? Marx's friends are the following: Magolor, Kirby, Gooey, the animal friends, Daroach and the mage sisters.

I already have tumblr posts going over Marx's dynamic with Magolor, as well as his dynamics with Gooey and the animal friends, so I won't elaborate on that too deeply in here. However, I will mention in here that Magolor and the animal friends are essentially Marx's 'supervisors' in trying to get him to be a better person over time, even though they're more than glad to join him in tomfoolery sometimes.

Marx and Kirby have been friends ever since shortly before Star Allies. Kirby actually thought that Marx was dead until he finally came back, and it made him really glad to see that Marx was okay! Marx sometimes attempts to make Kirby laugh, although it doesn't always work since some of his jokes can end up flying over Kirby's head.

There are times where Marx might go too far on things that would make Kirby sad or give him a disapproving look. That doesn't stop Kirby from still really liking Marx as a friend, however. He's aware that the jester isn't always nice, but he does truly believe in him.

Daroach is chill, laid-back and mischief-minded, and so Marx is on his good side as a result! The two are friends as they both have a knack for trolling. Marx and Daroach sometimes cause mischief together, and it's not uncommon for them to be joined by Magolor to form a trio of tomfoolery-doers. Marx thinks Daroach is sly and cool as heck, and may sometimes even assist him into doing robberies!

The mage sisters are people that Marx has a really great time messing around with. They're pretty chaotic and willing to do some crazy stuff that many others aren't as willing to do, and that delights the jester. He can cause chaos with them together! They don't even care when he pokes fun at their trauma, since laughing is their most common go-to trauma response. They really enjoy Marx's company.

Out of the three mage sisters, Francisca is the one that Marx is closest buddies with. Francisca is generally the most notorious of the mage sisters due to her frozen trophy collection as well as being more psychotic than her sisters, and that's exactly like Marx likes her the most out of them. He literally hypes up Francisca's trophy collection! She's easily amused by it and thinks that Marx is the funniest person in existence. These two make a duo of unhinged freaks that do things that would make Magolor afraid to join them.

Flamberge fully approves of Marx due to how much Francisca enjoys him. She herself may also join the jester into starting some chaos sometimes. That being said, Flamberge is generally not as twisted and psychotic as Francisca, so whatever shenanigans Marx might do with Flamberge is not quite as insane as what he does with the ice general. Marx does however very much enjoy the hyper energy and bombastic-ness of the fire general, and loves causing booms with her.

Out of the three mages, Zan Partizanne is the one that is most distant from Marx, but even she still likes him. There are times where Zan actually becomes unhappy with Marx, since she's a bit more sensitive about her trauma being mocked compared to the other two mages, but she can still stand him for the most part, considering that she herself still really likes to playfully bicker and cause some chaos.

Now that we're covered all the people I mentioned being Marx's friends... everyone else in the notable cast aren't really his friends. In fact, some of the others don't get along with him. Marx is pretty chaotic as far as some of his mischief is concerned, and while some people don't mind it too much, there are others who don't take well to it and thus do not like him as a result. He's a bit on the infamous side.

King Dedede isn't really a fan of Marx. Even though he himself has a bigger-than-normal sense of humor, there's been many times where Marx has invited himself to Dedede's castle and caused some chaotic mischief that was too far for the monarch to accept. Marx has caused Dedede to snap in anger to the point of whacking him with his hammer a few times. Dedede tries to put up with the jester sometimes, but overall he really just doesn't like him much.

Meta Knight dislikes Marx and considers him to be a nuisance. He hates it when the jester asks what's behind that mask, and it forces him to use willpower to not skewer him when that happens. He tries to hold restraint in terms of reaction when getting pranked by Marx, but locking these two in the same room would be a terrible idea because Meta Knight absolutely will snap and it will result in a fight.

Adeleine and Ribbon find Marx to be pretty creepy and unnerving, although they're not really adamant on either liking or disliking him.

Elfilin is absolutely terrified of Marx. He wants nothing to do with the jester. Elfilin will immediately hide behind someone else the moment he sees Marx. He's seen all of Marx's powers and it deeply scares him.

There are some dream friends that despise Marx. Out of all the other dream friends, the ones that hate Marx the most are the following: Bandana Waddle Dee, Taranza, Susie and Dark Meta Knight.

Bandee has disdain for most of the ex-villain dream friends like I mentioned in a previous post, and Marx is one of the worst cases as far as this concerned. Even though Bandee had only heard about the Milky Way Wishes events secondhand, Marx loves the negative attention that Bandee gives him. He deliberately provokes and messes with him, which eventually causes Bandee to hate Marx even more than he hates most of the other ex-villain dream friends.

Taranza and Susie both despise Marx because he's literally made fun of their dead loved ones a couple of times. He's caused Taranza to cry and he's caused Susie to beat the shit out of him. He's irritated them in some other ways, but both of them drew the line big-time when he dared to mock their trauma, and thus they've held a grudge against him ever since. They once together ganged up on him in revenge.

Which is also to say that I'm sorry, but I don't headcanon Marx forming a quartet with Wave 3. Magolor likes him, but Taranza and Susie hate him and don't want anything to do with him. Even though Magolor considers Marx to be his buddy, he did not at all condone Marx making Taranza and Susie really upset a few times. He's taken it upon himself to help his fellow wave 3 pals stay away from the jester.

Making fun of Taranza's and Susie's losses is the most infamous thing Marx has done post-MWW. He received a lot of harsh backlash over it, and that's why he only did it a couple of times for each. The mage sisters have a higher tolerance and don't care when Marx pokes fun at their trauma, but Taranza and Susie absolutely do not tolerate it at all, and both would be grateful if they didn't have to see Marx again.

Dark Meta Knight also hates Marx. The reason is why is because Marx considers DMK's existence to be pretty laughable. He does things like making all sorts of emo jokes and edgy jokes at DMK, as well as mocking him for being a more unhinged version of Meta Knight. As one could easily imagine, this really pisses DMK off and he's even tried to kill Marx as a result. These two have had fights with each other as soon as during the events of Star Allies, causing the other dream friends to break them up and separate these two.

And... I'd say that wraps up how Marx interacts with the notable cast. Overall, pretty mixed results. While Kirby and some of the dream friends like him, there are others that do not like him and in fact can't stand him. Marx has had a bad habit of overstepping people's boundaries with his mischief, which doesn't really earn him a lot of brownie points with some people. In fact... he's actually the second most disliked/controversial dream friend after Dark Meta Knight.

Marx loves getting dramatic reactions out of people. He thinks it's hysterical to get people to snap or lash out, and he's willing to go to large lengths to get entertainment. He just has an unrestrained sense of humor that doesn't really sit well with some people. Like stated earlier above in the post, Magolor and the animal friends have had to act as Marx's 'supervisors' in trying to prevent him from starting chaos or going too far with his mischief. Sometimes, it's difficult to get him to listen, but he does actually care enough about his supervisors to where there are times that he does indeed listen to them.

A lot of the cruel and chaotic stuff that Marx has done is stuff he actually wouldn't mind if it happened to him. He loves being pranked, made fun of, and scared! Adrenaline rushes are very fun for him! That's what makes him quick to declare people boring or sensitive when they don't take well to being messed with by him. Unfortunately, this viewpoint of his is not shared by others, and thus his supervisors still work on trying to get him to stop upsetting others.

Marx's favorite food is pizza. He'll eat entire pizzas by himself. His favorite kind of pizza is the all-meat combo type, but he'll gladly eat any pizza, including the pizzas that have pineapples on them.

He likes a lot of food in general, and he can eat a lot in one sitting like Kirby does. There's also times where he tried to eat things that looked like food... such as when he attempted to eat a gem apple one time, until Magolor stopped him and told him that gem apples aren't edible.

His laughter can be fairly contagious to his friends. Sometimes, when he's not really into causing mischief and just wants to say funny things, his laughter can get his friends all hyped up and want to mimic it. He loves it when that happens. Laughter can sometimes be the best medicine, like someone said in a different video game series.

There are times where Marx decides to not cause mischief, and instead just puts up silly little shows to try to make people laugh. This includes things like making a ton of funny faces, or creating a big pile of beach balls by spitting them all out. Sometimes, this works and it makes some people laugh! He remembers doing this somewhere in Dream Land, it got laughs out of some of the random residents. There was a time where a Bonkers gave Marx a playful slap on the shoulder and called him a funny guy... he very much appreciated that!

He doesn't have an actual job, occupation or anything along those lines. The closest thing he has to some sort of 'job' is mischief, considering that's pretty much his spiritual hobby, and basically what he's been doing all his life. He doesn't really intend to change that.

Marx also doesn't really have a home, and thus is effectively homeless. He basically just sleeps wherever, and rarely does he sleep in the same place two nights in a row. He has a range of where he picks out places to sleep, and including throughout Popstar and a few other planets like the ones that were in Milky Way Wishes.

Nearby the Lor Starcutter is a common place for Marx to sleep at, though, considering that Magolor will sometimes allow him to do it.

There are however places where he is forbidden to sleep at... such as Dedede's castle, since the waddle dees don't really want him there.

He's a bit of a nomad. He spends perhaps most of his time in Popstar, but he sometimes goes around to visit planets nearby Popstar. He has a pretty large horizon, which helps in that he's more than glad to go to the Jambastion fortress to visit the three mage sisters.

Marx has been able to visit the Forgotten Land a couple of times, with the help of Magolor using the Lor Starcutter to take him there. The times that Marx was there, Magolor was with him to supervise him, and luckily he got Marx to cooperate and not cause a notable amount of trouble in the Forgotten Land as they adventured the place.

During his visits to the Forgotten Land, Marx loved it! He likes hanging around in Wondaria, since he considers it to be a fun place, and he also enjoyed fighting in the colosseum in Waddle Dee Town.

Marx has spread his knowledge about clockwork stars to some people in Popstar. Gooey and the animal friends didn't even know about clockwork stars until Marx told them about it! Not that they ever intend to go to outer space to try to grant a wish to one, but they thought it was cool to learn about those comets regardless!

When Marx visited Merry Magoland for the first time, he was incredibly ecstatic over the 'Marx Soul' mask. He loves that mask! He was also informed by Magolor to please behave during his time in Magoland. Magolor may be buddies with Marx, but he doesn't want chaos in his park, and thankfully Marx does actually listen to him when it comes to this. I also headcanon that the design of 'Marx Soul' for the mask was completely invented by Magolor, since the Marx Soul stuff from Super Star Ultra's True Arena did not happen at all in my headcanons. So when Marx saw the mask, he asked where it came from, Magolor said it was purely his own invention.

As far as Marx's birthdays are concerned, he had a few of his birthdays celebrated by Magolor before RTDL's events. He went a few birthdays without being celebrated after RTDL, as the next time they were celebrated was when Marx made up with Kirby and started gaining some more friends to be able to celebrate his birthdays.

Marx doesn't actually do much on Popstar for his birthdays. When it's special day, he wants to have a bunch of fun, and that means causing a bunch of mischief. He'll of course swoop by Dream Land to hear Kirby and others wish him a happy birthday, but he'll go by other planets to start some crazy mischief. Magolor joins him in these birthday pranking sprees to make the mischief even more fun, although Magolor may also take him on a Lor ride to some far-away planets to cause mischief on, and return when they're done.

Also, I headcanon that Marx is a young adult. I know that some people headcanon him being a kid or teenager, but for me he's a young adult that's just a little bit younger than the wave 3 dream friends. So in my headcanon universe, he is perhaps the universe's silliest adult.

I think that just about wraps up the headcanons that I have for Marx! What a chaotic and silly guy, isn't he? I've always really liked this freak of nature. I know my interpretation of Marx is pretty wild as he likes to get dramatic reactions out of people with his mischief, but it's just the way I like it! To me, it's fun when he's not always very repentant and willing to start crap with others! Silly chaotic clown guy.

Marx is the fourth Kirby character I've done a post like this for. Last month, I did these general headcanon posts for Magolor, Taranza and Susie, so feel free to also give those a read any time if you've yet to.

I think Gooey is going to be the next Kirby character that I'll write a giant post like this for. I love Gooey a lot, too, and I also have lots of thoughts for that googly-eyed dark matter defect! Stay tuned for that.

Thank you very much if you've read all of this. See you later!

#kirby #marx #marx kirby #kirby super star #kirby super star ultra #milky way wishes #galactic nova #nova kirby #kirby star allies #kirby's return to dreamland deluxe #magolor

21 notes · View notes

misspearly1 · 1 year

Text

When Two Worlds Collide Series

Chp1 || Chp2 || Chp3 || Chp4 || Chp5 || Chp6 || Chp7 || Chp8

Pairing: Joel Miller x F!Reader x Arthur Morgan

Chapter One: The Hidden Antique

WC: 4.9k

Warnings: 18+ Content. Minors DNI. Friends to Lovers. Flirting. Little bit of fluff. Eventual Smut. Arthur doesn’t make an appearance in this chapter. A little background and build up in the story first.

AN: Ok, my loves. This is pretty much an introduction and a lead up to what happened (in relation to the kinktober crossover fic). Starts off with Joel, then Arthur will eventually make an appearance. I’ve broken up the story because posting large works can be a little difficult on tumblr (it crashes terribly lol). I hope you enjoy the first chapter though. Thank you!

You’ve often wondered about the evolution of a yard sale; like where did the idea originate from and who came up with it? Or why does it feel so exciting to sift through second hand goods, looking to buy something that catches your eye? Perhaps it’s because you can sometimes come across antiques hidden amongst the cluttered pile, and finding something that’s not only expensive, but lavish, decorative and useful too, is very exciting indeed.

These questions spring to mind this afternoon when passing through a neighbourhood adjacent to yours. You were in the process of driving home after a long day at work, but stopped the car with a sudden burst of joy when seeing a yard sale sign. They always said one man’s trash is another man's treasure, and while you’re not a man, you do believe in that saying and felt it was worthwhile to take a look through the household goods laid out across the front lawn.

Of course, it looked messy and disorganized with the chairs, tables and even the sidewalk bestrewn with clutter, but you have a little experience with locating the valuables amongst the household junk. You have a keen eye for these things, and it paid off really well too because not even thirty minutes after you stopped the car, you managed to bag unopened box of fairy lights to place around your home somewhere, several scented candles to use for those nights you’d love to take a relaxing bath, a summer dress with the price still attached which is perfectly timed since the summer season is here and many new books to read as well.

But the most valuable item that you bagged today is the mirror. A hidden gem, you might call it, as the mirror was buried behind an attics worth of trash. It’s body length in size, oval shaped and sturdy, embellished with finely hand carved details in the wooden frame and it would fit perfectly in the corner of your bedroom. Even the stand it came with was worth a pretty penny. The whole piece is a vintage antique and highly valuable.

Having said that however, you didn’t want to hustle the man selling the item and told him that it was worth more than the asking price, but he already knew. Josh Sinclair — the seller — reassured you that the price was right for him. He just wanted to get rid of the damn thing as it had been collecting dust in his grandpa’s attic for years, and the reason he drove the price down is because it’s plastered with a heavy layer of soot and black paint.

According to Josh, his grandpa tried to burn the mirror years ago, but failed with the attempt and just painted it over instead. Frankly, you wouldn’t have taken any interest in buying the thing if you didn’t know how to clean it up and bring it back to a good condition. It’s not something you’re planning to sell once you restore it. You want to keep it in your home.

Though, you still didn’t feel comfortable with the asking price and debated a little more with the man, and in the end, you both settled on forty bucks and now it's yours. You paid for your other items then took them to your car before opening the trunk and folding the back seats down. After a struggle and muttering a string of curses under your breath, you dusted your hands off and turned to look at Josh, still feeling guilty for how little he was taking. The mirror is worth thousands.

Reaching into your pocket and pulling out another thirty dollars, you presented it to the man for all of his help. “Here, take this — please.” You persisted and quickly explained. “This mirror was worth so much more in its prime. I feel bad taking it off your hands for only forty dollars and you did all the heavy lifting anyways.” You smiled, hoping it would seal the deal and to your relief, the man didn’t refuse your offer and accepted the extra cash.

“Thank you, Y/N… Thank you.” He replied gratefully, holding your eye contact for a moment as he nodded with appreciation. You returned the nod and began walking around the car to the driver's door. He opened it for you and waited till you were sitting inside comfortably before shutting it. After you had turned the key in the ignition, you opened the window and looked up at the man with another smile as he said goodbye. “It was nice meeting you. Come back anytime you see me having another yard sale, ya hear?”

“I sure will. Thanks, Josh.” You beamed. When he stepped back and gave you ample room to drive away without the worry of squashing his feet with the tires, you looked in the rear-view mirror and watched his figure gradually get smaller while driving down the street. You think about how his face and personality will always stick in your memory. He has bright ginger hair, pale freckled skin, a large birthmark over his right eye and he was so kind, sweet and patient with you too.

You’ll never forget your interaction with Josh because it was nothing but a pleasure and you’ll certainly be coming back again when he next hosts a yard sale. Maybe next time, you could even invite Joel Miller to tag along with you. He sure likes a yard sale just as much as you do. In fact, it was only a few weeks ago that Joel dragged you to the flea market near town to buy some decorative items for his house as he was in desperate need of your ‘expert opinion’. But to be quite honest, you don’t think the man really needed your opinion at all. He had that covered all by himself. You just think he just wanted your company for the day, and you didn’t mind at all because he’s become someone that you enjoy spending time with. And of course, he is really handsome too.

Joel is your neighbour. He lives next door to you and often spends most of his free time sprucing up his home interior after only just moving into the neighbourhood two months ago. He has a brother named Tommy, a chunky brown Labrador named Rex and a fluffy white Persian cat named Felix. The man's house is warm, welcoming and chaotic, especially with the exciting activities that Rex and Felix get up to. You often watch them from your back porch playing in the yard. They’re so cute together, but you miss them dearly as they’ve been staying at Tommy’s house for the last week.

While Joel has been busying himself with the home décor ever since he moved in, he’s recently taken it upon himself to put his skills to use and just fully renovate instead. His daily work and passion is carpentry after all, which means his house is currently looking a little worse for wear with the scaffolding poles set up, the bags of cement along his front porch and the large yellow industrial dumpster placed on his front lawn. The place is simply too messy and dangerous for Rex and Felix to be around. They can’t even play in the backyard anymore as it’s covered with even more waste that needs to be discarded.

For the longest time, you have thought about getting a dog for yourself and yearned to have that connection that Joel has with Felix and Rex. You love to watch him interact with the little guys. They’re more like his babies rather than pets and sometimes he just sits out back and plays the guitar for them while you eavesdrop from next door. Sometimes he even sings for them, albeit it’s very quiet and only a few words here or there, but the notion of singing to his little fur babies is most adorable.

Clearing your mind as you pull into your street, you look upon the eyesore that is Joel’s home and laugh sweetly when seeing the man scratching the back of his head as he stood on his front lawn. He looked a little frustrated and confused while overlooking some building plans with his buddies, as if he were trying to figure out what the next best step was. But that focus and concern etched on his face was distracting to say the least as you try to drive without staring at him too much. It’s dangerous to gaze upon him like this while behind the wheel.

You snap out of your ogling and focus on the road, keeping Joel and his buddies in your line of sight as you drive carefully. The house may look like an eyesore right now, but you know that once it’s all said and done, it’s going to look perfect. Joel and his brother do most of the work themselves, but some of their work friends pitch in to help whenever and wherever they can. It’s really rather generous and thoughtful of them. You adore that he has friends like that, and secretly hope their generosity extends to his neighbour with the big heavy mirror in the backseat of her car.

Parking your car up in the driveway and hopping out, you walk around the back and open the trunk. “Hey.” You waved to Joel as he looked in your direction. He said something to his friends before making his way over, no doubt telling them he’d just be stepping away for a moment. They all smirked and whispered amongst themselves, watching the man like a hawk as if he were approaching his crush, and the mere thought of you being his crush made your cheeks burn.

“Hey, doll.” Joel greeted you in that thick southern drawl as he approached. “You need some help with the groceries—wait… What’s all this?” He cuts himself off to ask, his tone sounding slightly offended. “Did yer go back to the flea market without me, girl?”

“No, Joel. I would never.” You barked out a laugh and shook your head at the man. “There was a yard sale in the Sunlight Grove neighbourhood. I stopped the car and bought a few things. Look –” you pointed a finger. “–I even bagged this really cool antique mirror.”

“Oh yeah, that is cool.” He agreed, then furrowed his brows a little upon noticing the thick soot and black paint on the mirror. “You can fix that, right?”

“I hope so.”

Reaching for the cardboard box filled with your candles, books and fairy lights, Joel reaches for your summer dress and pulls the straps around his neck, laying the clothing over his chest before turning to his friends with a loud whistle. “Hey pretty boys… Come help me with this thing will yer.” He asked, oh so politely. You and his friends laugh at him plenty, your smile growing bigger and wider over his sense of humour before he turned back to face you and winked. “This dress works a charm. I can see why you bought it, darlin’.”

“That's actually not why I bought it, but thanks Joel.” You giggled and shook your head at him again. Turning away and heading towards your porch steps, you quickly mount the stairs and open the front door then place the cardboard box of goodies to one side momentarily as you help the guys out however you can. Joel didn’t even lift a finger. He just left his buddies to do all the heavy lifting while leading them into your house. He was even swaying your dress around flirtatiously which earned himself a couple catcalls and wolf whistles.

“Getting real comfortable wearing that, aren’t you?” You pointed out and teased, to which he returned the playfulness confidently, “Oh yeah. M-hm. Why? You think it looks pretty on me?”

“Oh yes. It’s very pretty, Joel.” You nod seriously without any trace of a lie in your tone. It actually did look good on him. The pattern and colours paired so well with that dark brown head of hair of his and that deep summer tan on his skin. You often spend every morning reminding him to put sun cream on before heading out to work, sometimes even texting him on your breaks and reminding him to add another layer. He needs that protection, but boy does he look good with a nice golden tan.

“Hey um...” You snap out of your mindless gazing once again. “Do you have any WD-40 in your garage? It will help with removing the paint and soot off the mirror.”

“Yeah, sure. I got a couple cans you can take.”

After the mirror was gently placed in your lounge, you grabbed an old sheet and placed it underneath before heading outside with Joel and the guys. You walked towards his garage and thanked him for letting you take a can of WD-40 as well as borrowing a scraper and some industrial cleaning wipes too. “I wanna get started on the mirror right away, but I’ll come back later and bring a couple beers for you and your friends.”

“Will yer be wearing that pretty dress when you come back to see me with those beers?” He grinned and gathered a sarcastic round of applause from his friends as they all mocked him jokingly. “That’s some next level flirting right there, Joel.” One of his friends said, his words making you stifle a laugh, yet hearing him confirm that Joel was in fact flirting with you made you smile a flattered kind of smile.

As they continued to laugh and jeer at him, you rolled your eyes at their remarks and replied loud enough for them to hear. “Yeah, sure. I’ll wear the dress just for you, Joel.” You throw him a little wink before turning to walk away, the sight of his smile making your stomach flutter and your heart skip a beat. He looked so shy in that moment when his friends honed in on him, as if they were revealing some big secret about how he feels about you. It’s no secret that something is slowly forming between you and the man, but it’s still too soon to assume that it’s more than just friends.

You like Joel’s company. He likes yours. And that’s all there is to it for now.

Upon entering your house and releasing the breath you didn’t realize you were holding, you made your way into the lounge and got to work right away with restoring the mirror. You have a few tips and tricks up your sleeve when it comes to restoration, and WD-40 is just another trick you’ve learned to use along the way. It works wonders for a lot of things around the house too. You used up the last of your own supply the other week when cleaning your bathroom mirror and shower doors, lifting the stained fog straight off the glass.

With a little music playing from your stereo, you took your time removing all the dirt and grime from the mirror bit by bit with gentle scrapes and wipes. It was actually really rather relaxing and enjoyable. You lost track of time as the hours rolled by quickly, and before you knew it, the cicadas and crickets had alarmed you that it was night time outside. You didn’t even notice the sun going down. You were so invested and focused on the mirror instead. It looked a hell of a lot better though. You’ve made a big dent in the progress and can actually see yourself in the reflection now. All that’s left to do is remove the soot and paint from the crevices in the wood.

Reminding yourself of those beers you promised Joel and his friends, you exited the lounge and made your way into the kitchen, then retrieved a four pack of cold Budweiser's from the fridge before heading toward the front door. That summer dress was left hanging on the coat hooks along the wall, and the half-hearted you made to Joel crossed your mind as you contemplated whether or not you should actually wear it for him.

After a moment thinking about it, you set the beers down on the cabinet and reached for the dress, deciding to fulfil all of your promises. Even if you weren’t being serious earlier, you concluded that there really wasn’t any harm in wearing the piece of clothing for him. Besides, you wanted to see how it looked and felt on your body anyways.

You were just in the middle of taking off your sweater when there was a knock at the door, the sound so sudden and startling that it made you gasp and jump on the spot. “Who is it?” You called out.

“It’s just me, doll." Joel answered reassuringly from the other side. You quickly pull your sweater back over your head and hold the dress behind the door as you open it, greeting him with a surprised look on your face. “Hey. I was just about to come outside with those beers when you knocked. It gave me a fight.” You laughed bashfully, noticing the way his eyes dropped to look at your clothes.

“Sorry ‘bout that, darlin’. I came to tell you that me and the guys are going out for dinner. You wanna come with us? They keep badgering me to check out that new diner in town so I thought we could go out instead.” He explained, but his words went right over your head. You didn’t even hear him at first. You were too caught up on the fact he looked at your clothes, checking to see if you’re wearing that dress for him, and the way he looked a little disappointed that you weren’t was saddening. If he had just knocked on your door a few minutes later, then he would have seen that you were wearing it for him.

“Um.. It’s okay, Joel. Don’t worry about it,” you stammered. “I’ll keep the beers for some other time instead. Have fun with the guys…” you pause midway through your sentence with the sudden realization that he actually offered you to go out with him and his friends. You didn’t hear him, and it’s too late now to fix your mistake. He already began nodding with acceptance of your answer, and there was yet another disappointed look in his eyes. “... Y'all stay safe out there too,” you quickly add, finishing your sentence.

“We will.” He nods, then holds your eye contact for a few moments while shuffling on his feet awkwardly. You could see that he was hesitant on deciding whether or not he should lean in and kiss your cheek goodbye, so you took a step forward and prompted him to. He finished closing the gap, and you watched as he closed his eyes when leaning in to plant a chaste kiss on your cheek. His lips were soft and plump, pressed against your skin so gently before he stopped back. It was bliss, and you yearned to feel it again.

“I’ll see yer sometime tomorrow, darlin’." He said with a deep smile that displayed his relief and joy. You know that he saw you holding the dress when he leaned in to kiss you. And you can see with your own eyes that it made him feel less rejected and more optimistic that something was still there between you and him.

“See you tomorrow." You muttered and threw a goodbye wave to his friends waiting for him in the car. They all waved back and quietly said their goodbyes too before one of them opened the back door for Joel to hop in.

You probably should have closed your front door and got back to what you were doing at that point, but you didn’t. You instead waited for him to look at you through the backseat window, and you’re glad that you waited too because when Joel’s eyes met yours, he blew you a kiss and still wore that same joyous smile.

It was as if he could hardly wait to see you tomorrow.

Later that night while laying in bed, the entire house shrouded in darkness and complete silence, you open your eyes the moment after you hear a noise echoing through the walls. It sounded like metal clanging against metal, and it was so faint and barely noticeable at first that you wondered if one of your neighbours were watching something on their TV so loud that you could hear it from here.

You didn’t roll over and close your eyes right away and instead chose to focus on those noises to pinpoint their location. You know Joel is home and laying in bed right now because you were awake at the time when he came back from dinner with his friends. They were so quiet and respectful of how late at night it was, not wanting to disturb your sleeping neighbours.

As that metal clanging noise subsides and is replaced with several men hooting and yelling as they ride horseback, you assumed that someone couldn’t hear the old western movie they were watching and finally rolled over to ignore it. Although you could hear the movie and all of the sound effects, you didn’t mind all that much as you’re used to something playing during the night anyway. Sometimes you even play some music on your phone and turn the volume down low just to have that background noise while you sleep.

Now that you're facing the direction of your window however, you narrow your eyes with focus and just make out the waving beam of light coming through the blinds. It was Joel signalling you. He occasionally does that whenever he sends you a text and you don’t reply, but since your phone was under your pillow, you slip your hand underneath to retrieve it and read his text.

‘Darlin’, you’ve left your TV playing downstairs. I can see your living room lit up with light,’ he wrote and you quickly text him back, replying: ‘Joel, I shut everything off before I came to bed. Are you sure it’s my TV?’

You look at your window again and focus on the gaps between your blinds, noticing that he had climbed out of his bed now to look through his window and check. ‘Yeah, sweetheart,’ you received a text from him, then another one shortly after. ‘It’s definitely your TV. I can hear that it’s a western movie too. I didn’t know you like that sort of stuff :).’

Overlooking how happy that little smiling emoticon made you feel, you couldn’t shift the anxiety in your stomach and decided to just go downstairs and check. Maybe you forgot to turn your TV off after all and you’re worrying over nothing. You quickly shoot another text to Joel before climbing out of bed, ‘Yeah. I like that sort of stuff :). I’m gonna head down and shut it off though. It’s really late and I don't want any complaints from the neighbours, lol.’

Exiting your room with that worry still gnawing away at your gut, you grabbed your metal baseball bat just for precaution and started making your way downstairs. You definitely remember turning everything off and you’re finding difficulty in rationalizing how your TV is even on right now, but as it turs out, Joel was right all along. There was a western movie playing in your living room. You could hear the movie as you walked down the stairs and see the bright flashes of light flicking across your walls.

With another text from Joel chiming through, you look down at your phone and read what the man wrote. ‘What does 'lol' mean?' He asked, and it made you giggle before he quickly sent another text. 'Maybe we could watch a movie together sometime? I’ll bring the snacks and even cook dinner for you.’ His offer made you smile as you think about what it would look like to cosy up on the sofa together.

You entertained the thought for all of two seconds before lifting your head to look at your TV in the living, and seeing that it was shut off instantly brought that panicked feeling back to your stomach by tenfold.

You stood still, frozen in place with fear as you realized where the source of those sounds and bright flashes of light were coming from — behind you in the mirror. It was displaying a series of images and producing sound, and it’s physically impossible that it could even do that, yet you could see those images in the reflection of the black TV screen and hear the sounds over your shoulder. There was a group of men riding horseback yelling as they shot at the sky. It looked so surreal. You couldn’t believe what your eyes were witnessing and your hands began to tremble so violently that you dropped the baseball bat to the floor below.

A flood of text messages came through your phone from Joel, no doubt asking what that clattering noise was or asking if everything is okay. You don’t know for sure. You couldn’t even look away from the TV screen to look at your phone right now. You were too afraid to take your eyes off what you were seeing in the reflection. There was a man lying against a rock around the edge of a campsite, a dark cowboy hat on his head pulled down as he slept peacefully before the next image took over and was replaced by a large oak tree on a hill.

You eventually gathered enough courage to turn around and take a proper look at the mirror. It’s as if you were looking into a TV, the sight unbelievable as it was only hours ago that you saw your own reflection, not what you’re seeing now. There’s no possible explanation as to how it's possible, and despite how afraid you are, there is also a sense of curiosity to know more as well. You continue to watch and drink in the displayed images, watching them cycle through like a slideshow.

The first image was of workers hammering giant nails into an unfinished train track, hence the noise you heard earlier of metal clanging against metal. And the next image was a wide shot of a small town and the land surrounding it, a place that looked to be over one hundred years old. You’re almost certain you saw a big wooden sign over a building that said ‘Saloon’.

But before you could see the next image, your attention was torn towards your front door with Joel pounding his fist against it urgently. “Y/N, open up,” his voice demanded through the wood, “Is everything okay in there, doll? I heard a commotion and I’m worried. C’mon, I need yer to answer me.”

You could hear that concern in his tone and watched as he twisted the handle with force, damn near ready to break the thing before his knuckles began rapping at the door again much louder now. “I’m coming.” You called out shakily.

Walking towards the door and unlocking it, you stepped back as he pushed his way inside and reached out to hold your arm. “What’s wrong, girl? Did someone break in?” He questioned instantly and pulled you close, almost moving you behind him actually, as if he were shielding you from whatever spooked you inside the house. You looked like you had just seen a ghost, and your state of shock worried the man, so it’s no surprise he’s acting so protective right now.

“No — no one broke in." You managed to utter, then pointed a finger in the living room as you fully stepped behind him now and held onto his bicep. “It’s that mirror. Something’s wrong with it.” He looks at you with furrowed brows, as if he couldn’t believe you were so alarmed over a mirror, but his expression softens when he realizes that you’re being genuinely serious. You looked like a deer in the headlights.

Joel decides to take a look by peeping his head inside your living room and sees for himself that the source of light and noise isn’t coming from your TV like he expected. He turned back to look at you with a mildly confused expression and reached past you to shut your front door. “I ain’t ever seen a mirror play a movie like that before.” He said with bewilderment, then stepped into the living room with you to investigate. As he takes a closer look though, he now fully understands why you were so alarmed in the first place and asked: “How the fuck is it doing that?”

“How the hell should I know?” You retort, your voice laced with as much concern as his. Moving towards the mirror together cautiously, you stick to the man’s back like glue and remain close as he scans the object with his eyes and searches for answers.

“I can’t see anything that can explain it,” he mutters cluelessly, “There’s not even a little projector at the top, speakers or a power button to explain how this is possible.” You nod in agreement with him and feel a whole hell of a lot safer that he’s seeing what you are seeing. It was reassuring and validating your reactions that he, too, found it so bizarre and inexplicable. You couldn’t find a rational explanation, and neither could he.

However, curiosity got the better of Joel as he reached out to touch the mirror. It didn’t feel right and you had a horrible feeling in your gut, but before you could even think about stopping him or voicing your concerns, he was sucked inside with so much force that he yanked you in there with him.

You screamed and yelled while falling into a seemingly endless void of darkness. It was no longer than two seconds really, but it felt like an eternity before finally breaching the other side and landing on tall blade of grass with a soft thump. You were beneath a tree... a large oak tree.

And it was the very same oak tree you had seen earlier.

Next Chapter

Tagging

Perma Taglist (Everything): @marydjarin @kirsteng42 @supernaturalgirl @supernaturalgirl20 @harriedandharassed @joelmillerscoffee @joelsrifle @swtaura @alexxavicry @boliv-jenta @dragonsondragons @practicalghost @janebby @faceache111 @sleepylunarwolf @tusk89 @anismaria @graciexmarvel @munsonownsmyass

Joel Miller Taglist: @extraneous-trip @readsalot73 @luvmeijii @pale-gingerale @something-tofightfor @ponyofmilfmom @hb8301 @squidwell @spideysimpossiblegirl @mooraakath @michele131 @chxpsi @zeida @wordsfromshona @dins-cyare @maggiehelene @trickstersp8 @killergoddessmm @kunakizen @scorpio-marionette @churchofrain @oogaboogasphincter @jmillerswife @misspascalpunk @uwiuwi

All Arthur Morgan Content: @pale-gingerale @readsalot73 @mooraakath @chxpsi @wordsfromshona @kunakizen @churchofrain @margofiore @emiemiemiii @phillygraves @cowboydisaster @grumpykitten85

82 notes · View notes

skellymom · 9 months

Text

"Redneck Doug's Bad Batch Family BBQ"

Cool divider by the talented @cafekitsune

Background: Bad Batch Family BBQ is crashed by Tech's crazy ex-wife. This one shot includes Maadienne "Mad Momma" my OC character from Vagabonds. This story takes place in the BB future when everyone is safe, settled down, and enemies can be friends (except for Hunter and Crosshair-they're family frenemies).

Word count: 2K

Warning: swearing, the "C" word, alcohol, sexual references, drunkenness, Crosshair being inappropriate with Hunter's wife (she no stand for it), Wrecker/Crosshair pyromania, Tech losing his temper/ vomiting, nasty/horrible ex-wife, messy family shenanigans.

This One Shot is based on Tumblr user @talesfrommedinastation post about their Redneck neighbor Doug who has a very fun take on the Batch. To read it (which will make everything in this story more understandable):

https://www.tumblr.com/talesfrommedinastation/727350948139302912/my-redneck-neighbor-dougs-interpretations-on?source=share

Mad heard the Batcher Brothers before they even turned into the driveway...well, at least Wrecker. Tech had driven his extremely quiet fully loaded Tesla. But Wrecker screamed down the dirt road in his “custom” painted LOLAMOBILE (Omega and “The Littles” did the custom work) with Down blasting at an ear shattering volume. He was kicking up dust like a desert storm. Crosshair was in the front seat and Echo holding on for dear life to the roll bars in the back.

Mad met the brothers at the door to her and Hunter’s home. She and Hunter had been preparing a huge meal all morning for their family gathering. Hunter barbequed a huge side of pork to perfection and Mad heated up the kitchen with her famous delicious side dishes. She wore her comfy black cotton body hugging T-shirt dress and kitchen apron with the words “I poisoned your food” emblazoned on it. Her long undercut was braided with the end barely tickling the top of her butt. She was still fit after birthing 5 children with Hunter, just with a bit more curves and tattoos. Hunter lovingly referred to her as his “Big Tiddie Goth Momma.”

The Brothers took turns entering their humble abode and greeting the hostess.

Echo stepped in first, pecked Mad on the cheek, and gave her a bouquet of wildflowers and then handed over a box of Cinnabun toaster treats “This is for Omega. Tell my loveable smartass sister Toaster Strudel thought of her!” They both broke out in laughter.

“I’ll give this to her when she comes back from the Tipoca City Mall on the Ocean. She took The Littles so Hunter and I could cook without them getting in our way.”

Next was Wrecker, “Hey Julio, my big beefcake. How ya doin’? As he picked her up and hugged the total stuffing out of her with his huge arms.

“OHHH Mad, thank you so much for feeding us! I NEVER leave your place hungry!!! Looking forward to those amazing biscuits you make.” He let go and handed her a huge tub of Mantell Mix. “For dessert!”

“Thanks, Wrecker.”

Then Crosshair, who removed the toothpick from his mouth to lean down and smootch Mad on the cheek...while grabbing a handful of her generous derriere, “Daddy Warcrimes has been looking forward to those ‘biscuits’, too.”

Mad immediately slapped Cross upside the head with the kitchen towel that was slung over her shoulder “Hands off or I’ll Daddy Whip Your Ass!”

“Whatever you say, Vixen” he winked and removed his hand.

Hunter was used to his sibling pining after his wife since returning from Mount Tantiss. Crosshair could get any woman he wanted, and usually did. But he carried on like he really wanted Mad... or thought he did. She was more than Crosshair could handle, and Hunter liked it that way. Hunter and Mad were over the moon sweet on each other, even after being married all this time.

“You look like Daddy Womp-Womp to me. Touch my wife again and I’ll snap your skinny ass in half like those Slim Jim’s you live on.”

“Got your weekly shower I see Hunter. She must have felt randy today and wanted you sweet smelling.”

“OH, KNOCK IT OFF YOU TWO!!!

Mad turned to see poor Tech standing silently in the doorway looking anxious and forlorn. He handed Mad his 6 pack of fancy IPA’s (he always brought his own booze and refused to drink anything else Hunter or Mad stocked) and a bottle of Mad’s favorite. “Oh honey, thank you!” She put her arm around Tech and led him into the house. Then put the alcohol on the counter. “I’m SO proud of you finally serving divorce papers to Laura. I know it was hard, but she’s not treated you well at all.”

“Hunter, get everyone a drink, will ya?” She ran to the stove to stir the homemade Mac and Cheese.

“I’m on it hon.” Catching a glimpse of her beautiful bottom jiggling as she sprinted across the kitchen. He shot a look at Crosshair with an antagonizing expression of “Mine, NOT yours”. Crosshair sneered back.

Wrecker patted Tech on the back as the brothers sat down at the kitchen table with their drinks, “So ya FINALLY did it! You’re free!!!” Tech flinched and looked guilty.

“About time!” Added Echo

“Hated that crazy bitch Laura” Crosshair squinted while inserting a fresh toothpick into his mouth.

“Oof, she made everyone else around her miserable, too” Hunter put his hand up to his head, like the mere thought of Laura was giving him a migraine.

“OH GAWD...remember when she nearly ruined Rex and Ashoka’s wedding?” Mad gestured to Tech with potholders before checking on the biscuits, “Had to get nasty jealous when all you did was say ‘Hi’ to Phee Genoa during the reception.”

“Ashoka using the Force to shut her ass up. That was GOLD!” Echo threw his head back and laughed.

“Well, no matter. Better fish in the sea. You know Phee asks about you all the time when I’m at my Ladies Group...so I invited them over tonight.” Mad winked at Tech and bent over to pull out the biscuits.

Crosshair craned his neck hoping to see Mad’s shirt dress ride up her thigh.

Hunter punched his brother in the arm.

“Oww, FUCK Hunter!”

“HAAA, caught ya lookin!” Wrecker gleefully pushed Cross back into Hunter, who gleefully punched his brother in the arm again and sent him back towards Wrecker. Cross managed to stay in his chair but lost his toothpick.

“The whole Group is coming...The Martez Sisters...” Mad wasn’t even paying attention to the shit going on at the table.

“YEAH! My honeys!!!” Wrecker grabbed Cross and shook him in excitement.

“You’re spilling my beer, Wrecker!” Crosshair pushed Wrecker away.

“...Fennec Shand...” Cross stopped. Mad had gotten his attention. They liked to talk guns, plus Cross thought she was a hot little honey.

“…mmm...and Riyo Chuchi.” Echo grinned, tipped back the chair, and crossed his arms behind his head.

Tech didn’t look excited at all. He was unnaturally quiet and halfway through his second IPA already. Not a fast drinker and it seemed like he was sucking them down tonight.

“Ok, sides are done. You boys go out and start up the bonfire, it’ll be dark soon and the ladies should be arriving.”

Wrecker got up and hurried toward the door, excited to set something on fire. Crosshair followed him. “I’ll make sure they don’t set fire to the backyard...again.” Echo promised as the screen door slammed shut.

Hunter got up from the table and looked at Tech. He had peeled the label off the now empty second bottle of IPA. “What’s up? You’re not usually like this.”

Tech barely looked at his brother, attempted to say something, “...nothing!” He ignored the rest of his fancy beers, grabbed the full bottle of Jack Daniels, and sprinted out the back door.

Mad and Hunter looked at each other. Tech was acting strange and extremely out of character. He almost looked scared.

Hunter walked over and embraced Mad, “Man, Laura did a number on him. Glad I don’t have that problem.”

“Yeah, not into yelling at my hubby. But I WILL punish you accordingly if you’re bad” Mad sassed.

“Oh, I’ve been SO bad” Hunter growled and nipped at Mad’s neck while squeezing her bum.

Mad growled back and was about to give Hunter a huge passionate kiss when a small, controlled explosion rocked the house...followed by Wrecker wooping loudly.

“For KRIFF SAKE! NOT AGAIN!!!” Hunter let go of Mad and ran outside. Mad decided to wait on bringing the food out and survey the damage.

Apparently, Wrecker had found Omega’s four-wheeler gasoline can, emptied it onto the fire pit, and Crosshair climbing the old Oak tree across the yard decided to show off. He shot into the pit from 40 feet up and several yards over to start the fire. Echo was mortified and immediately apologized when Hunter ran out of the house.

“It’s ok brother. At least they contained the fire and didn’t burn down my shed...again.”

The timing was perfect, as The Ladies Group screeched up to the house in a modified topless Humvee.

Fennec, Riyo, Phee, and the Martez Sisters descended on the backyard inferno whooping and hollering in excitement. They brought booze, music, and a large sheet cake.

Phee made a beeline for Tech, who was now sitting on a plastic lawn chair dangerously near the fire and getting clearly inebriated on the Jack. The alcohol and heat made him sweat, and he uncharacteristically shed his whole shirt (a very expensive one) ...which was now burning in the bonfire. So now he was shirtless AND drunk.

“Hey Brown Eyes” Phee regarded Tech with interest. She had never seen him like this. He looked slightly scared but working on being drunkenly feral.

Phee opened her mouth to speak again to get Tech’s attention, but was cut off...

“I HAVE A CONFUSION TO MAKE!” Tech slurred loudly. He had everyone’s full attention.

“Huh? What did he say???” Wrecker looked around for clarity.

Echo translated, “I think he has a confession to make.”

Tech pointed at Echo then comically pointed at his nose.

“I LLIED ABOUT SERVICING DIVORSH PAPERTHS TO LAURA LAST WEEK. DIDN’T HAVE THE BALLTHS. OH MAKER...” Tech tipped Jack Daniels back and chugged another third of it down.

“Shit, I didn’t expect dinner AND a show!” Crosshair leaned back in a large sprawling settee with a shit eating grin.

“Shut up Cross! What do you mean Tech? Hunter inquired. “So, you didn’t serve the papers at all, and she doesn’t know you want a divorce? How did she let you come here by yourself if you’re both still together??”

“OH...MY TIMING...” Tech looked up at Phee with total drunken embarrassment.

“Come on honey, you can say it” Mad tried to coax Tech to get to the point.

“You got this Brown Eyes” Phee smiled at Tech with reassurance.

Tech tipped back the Jack and downed several gulps. He was applying liquid courage. He was sweating like a mad man.

“I FFINALLY DIDIT THIS WEEK...”

“When???” Wrecker threw up his hands. He couldn’t stand the suspense!

“ABOUTH AND HOUR AGOO.”

And that is when everyone at the party heard the angry roar of a Hyundai Kia approaching at top speed towards the house.

“Oh, this is getting good” Crosshair cracked a cold one and waited for all Hell to break loose. Fennec slid in next to him on the settee, stole his bottle, took a swig and handed it back. Her eyes locked on the epic clusterfuck that was to unfold. Laura’s bitchiness was legendary in the Batcher Circle.

“I’M STHO FUCKED!” Tech screamed

The Kia skidded to a dramatic stop next to the Humvee, the driver’s door thrown open, Laura emerged with hateful toxic fury, screaming at the top of her lungs as she advanced upon the party. A skinny, overly processed blond, overly make upped, overly augmented, hateful harpy of a woman. “RYAN! (her despicable pet name for Tech). RYAN, YOU FUCKING USELESS TIT OF A MAN! YOU CAN’T PULL THIS SHIT ON ME! WHERE ARE YOU?”

Echo grabbed Riyo and led her away from Laura’s path. The Martez Sister’s weren’t so lucky as Laura slapped the sheet cake from their hands and it hit the ground. Wrecker was offended at the total waste of cake and the treatment of His Honey’s. “Eyyy, what the fuck, Laura!”

Brave Hunter stepped in front of Laura and put his hand up in protest “Now Laura...”

She slapped his hand away, “GET FUCK OUT OF MY WAY YOU SKEEZY REDNECK BASTARD!”

“OH NO, YOU DON’T DO MY MAN LIKE THAT!” Mad ran up on Laura, but Hunter was faster. He picked up Mad and threw her over his shoulder walking away “Nope, we aren’t doing this tonight.”

Then Laura noticed Phee Genoa standing there next to Tech and she totally lost her shit, “OH, SO YOU’RE LEAVING ME FOR HER? HAVE YOU BEEN FUCKING HER SINCE THAT REXSHOKA WEDDING???” Tech sat there mortified to be accused of infidelity. He kept silently nodding no over and over while Laura screeched at him.

“JUST AS WELL, I’M LEAVING YOU FOR ADMIRAL RAMPART. HE’S BETTER THAN YOU, FUCKING RYAN-FROM-ACCOUNTING!!!”

Tech took another few swigs from the bottle, stood up, swayed a bit, then with the fury of a man who had been kicked too many times, slammed the Jack into the bonfire. There was a sound of glass breaking and the fire roared up as the rest of the alcohol ignited. The fire reflected in his glasses, totally hiding his eyes. He was wet with sweat and his hair was an unruly mess. His chest, since it was bare, and close to the fire was red hot. Tech advanced on Laura with rage from years of abuse and seeing her treat his family and friends so horribly.

“YESTH I FUCKING SERVICED YOUTHE PAPERSS, YOU FUCKIN HORRIBL CUNT! COULDNOT STAND ANOVER DAY WIF YOU! RUMPFART CAN HAF YU!!! The last sentence was right in Laura’s face, and she got the brunt of Tech’s drunken breath. She reeled back, but Tech advanced on her. He obviously wasn’t done, either. He pointed his index finger at Laura, poking her sharply in the chest, “I DIVORTH YOU!” Poke. “I DIVORTH YOU! Poke. “I DIVORTH YOU! Poke. She kept backing up with each poke. “BEGONE YU VILE BEASTH! FUCK OFTH TO TH DEPFTHS OF HELL YU COME FRUM!!!

Tech stood there looking Laura right in the eye. She had never seen him stand up to her like this.

“BY THEWAY...” he swayed unsteadily “...MY NAME ISSNOT RYAN. ITS TEEEECBLAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!” Tech projectile vomited violently upon Laura.

There was a collective gasp from the group. Then everyone started laughing.

Tech still wasn’t done. He vomited a second time on Laura’s expensive heels for good measure.

“This is fucking GOLD!” Crosshair smiled, threw his arm around Fennec and pulled her close. This barbeque was going down in Batcher history as LEGENDARY!

Laura, thoroughly disgusted, screamed, cried, and made her way to her Kia. She got in and tore away from the scene narrowly sideswiping a red Jeep Cherokee that was coming down the road.

The Jeep Cherokee carefully pulled into the driveway and parked. Omega and The Littles emerged and walked down to the bonfire.

“Some crazy driver almost wrecked us!”

Hunter replied, “Yeah, that was Laura.”

“Glad we missed her”

“She’s a BITCH!” The littlest little chirped

Hunter sternly corrected his youngest “Language, young man!”

(NOTE: I heavily considered Phee just pounding Laura into the pavement. But then, I thought Tech needed to take a stand for himself...even if he needed the help of Jack Daniels).

PLEASE like, comment, and/or REBLOG!

25 notes · View notes

skyhighru · 6 months

Text

I've actually had no idea when exactly I first started playing sky (because my memory is garbage 90% of the time)

but a couple months back I found this screenshot in my google photos, and the date said december 25th 2022

sooooo...

25.12.2022

25.12.2023

today marks one year of me playing sky🎉

although I was very confused at first, since for some reason I refused to go read the game's wiki during my first month in game (which at the time caused me to completely miss and not buy anything during days of feast and season of Aurora), I ended up really liking sky. so much so, that I've been logging in daily for almost half a year (I think?)

the highlights of the whole year were probably the first (or, rather, the ones that were happening during the season) and the world record Aurora concerts (pics only from wr ones, since I didn't took any at the time of season of Aurora)

even though the wr concerts were heavily lagging my game and all the servers fell off the stairs during the first day (which also somehow broke in-game camera, I still don't know how that happened), it was still a great experience

I remember how I was sitting there, whisper-yelling at the screen every time a song ended and we were back at the coliseum: "DON'T YOU CRASH YET, GODDAMIT! WE HAVE A WORLD RECORD TO GET! HOLD THE SERVERS TOGETHER, LADS, WE HAVE TO PULL THROUGH!"

another highlight was probably the season of aviary and aviary village. while yes, the season's quests weren't anything too great, since after the 4th quest, where LowTierSteward told us to commit sudoku, he then proceeded to ghost us and not even hold our hand, to go meet past season's guides, I still liked it and the whole feel of it. also this season spawned my "least autistic Hopeful Steward fan" phase (which is still ongoing lmao), since, like, 80% of my tumblr posts are HS related

overall, this year was great. had its ups and downs (most of the downs being trials, I hate them, never going back there, trial of fire killed my grandma), but overall great.

I'm looking forward to whatever next year will bring🧡

#sky children of the light #sky cotl #skyblr #sky cotl screenshots #1 year anniversary #technically I first played this game in 2020 #but I quickly ran off when I realized you had to be social lol #so I'm not gonna count that #funnily enough even though I've been playing for a full year I still haven't bothered to write some lore for my skykid #there's only like 2 or 3 small facts and that's it💀

9 notes · View notes

aeriona · 1 year

Text

OKAY FINALLY I finished this, another short story set in my Eldritch AU! this one's post-manga.

AND I POSTED IT ON A03 TOO! my other short story is over there as well (it's chapter 1!)

This was my writing prompt: Shadow freaks out during a thunderstorm and runs off to hide. Vio shows up and reassures him. Partially inspired by a short comic I found on Tumblr.

Enjoy!

~~~~~

“Hey. Can you hear me?”

“...yeah.”

“Do you want me to stay with you?... I can leave.”

There was a long pause. Vio took that as a no, and turned to do just that.

“...um. Please stay.”

Alright then.

There was still the occasional rumble of thunder outside, but it was distant, softened by the walls.

Rain was pelting the window across the room, creating a dull din Vio personally found rather comforting. He could understand why Shadow did not, however.

He was still curled up on the floor beside the bed, and Vio could already see from here that his entire body was tensed like a bowstring ready to snap. Several sets of arms were curled tightly around his body, hiding his face. The end of his hat was still visible behind it all, flicking back and forth anxiously by his feet.

Vio sat a healthy distance across from him on the floor. He opted not to speak or stare, instead examining the darkened window and the rain outside.

They both sat like that in silence for a while, before another bout of thunder rumbled their bones, causing Shadow to flinch out of his melancholy stupor. Surprisingly, he was the first to speak.

“I’m sorry I ran off.” he mumbled, muffled by the wall of limbs over his face.

“It’s okay.”

“...You shouldn’t have to see me like this.”

“I don’t care about that, Shadow. You know that.”

“Yeah, but I.” he broke off with a frustrated huff. He went quiet for a moment, before Vio noticed a glowing red eye peek through that wall. “Did I hurt you?”

He sighed. Of course he’d ask that. “No, I’m fine. You didn’t hurt me.”

Shadow stared at him, unmoving.

Vio huffed a laugh. It was more of a forceful breath, if anything. “Really, I'm okay.”

“But I scared you.”

Ah. What could Vio say to that? He had been scared.

A thunderstorm had started about two hours prior, causing loud bouts of thunder that trembled the very walls of their home. In retrospect, Vio thought, Shadow had never heard thunder before, so he had likely assumed something monumentally terrible was happening.

Vio had been reading in another room when he heard a violent crack of lightning, followed by a loud shattering-crash from the kitchen. Vio had walked in, horrified to see his partner had been scrabbling about on the tile floor, all fangs and maws and limbs and spitting feverish desperate curses as he bled all over the broken hyaline-glass shards under his feet.

Vio didn’t even have a chance to speak when Shadow suddenly bound across the room on powerful legs, forcefully tossing him aside and bolting into the nearest room with reckless abandon, slamming it behind him.

Yes, Vio concluded, it was certainly scary.

After some thought, he adjusted his approach and assumed a careful expression.

“It was just sudden, that’s all. I didn’t expect you to just,” Vio waved a hand, “y’know?

“If anything, I should be the one asking if you’re alright. You were really scared.”

Shadow said nothing, so they both lapsed into a tense silence. There was no thunder outside this time. Vio waited patiently.

“It’s just…” Shadow began, letting a pair of taloned arms fall to the floor, “it’s stupid.”

Vio stayed quiet to allow him time to elaborate, but he never did.

Maybe a different approach, then.

“Is it alright if I touch you?” he asked.

Shadow chuckled, humourless and wounded. “I don’t know why you’d want to, but sure.”

Vio frowned, scooting closer to squeeze one of his hands. It had sharp claws, and was very cold.

“Do you really think of yourself that way?” Vio whispered.

“What else is there to think, Vio? Look at me.”

Shadow dropped his remaining limbs to his sides, pinning Vio with a fanged, seven-eyed stare.

He didn’t flinch. “I’m looking.”

Shadow deflated and looked down at his hands, dejected. “...just. I’m really fucking dangerous, Vio.”

Vio took another one of his hands, holding them close to his chest.

“I don’t see that, Shadow. You’re not dangerous. At least, not if you don’t want to.”

Shadow looked like he was going to argue, but Vio kept talking.

“Vaati made you in that mirror so you could destroy towns and kill many people. Sure, you may have fulfilled the former to some extent in regards to the local villages, but you’ve never killed anyone, Shadow. You chose not to.”

Shadow looked at him with a conflicted expression. Vio shuffled closer until they were pressed together from hip to shoulder.

“I’ve hurt people.” Shadow spoke quietly, just loud enough for Vio to hear his voice crack.

“You didn’t know how fragile Hylians were at the time. You didn’t know.”

“I’m dangerous.”

“Never on purpose.”

The look Shadow fixed him was tortured, clearly not liking what he was going to say next.

“I could kill you.”

Vio sighed, searching his eyes for a moment.

“...Would you do that on purpose?”

Shadow baulked, caught off-guard. “Wh-no! Of course not!”

“Then it wouldn’t be your fault, would it?”

“But what if I did hurt you? I nearly did, today.”

Vio smiled. “Then I'd forgive you.”

Shadow looked like he was going to argue, but Vio pulled him in for a hug. Shadow tensed for a moment, before breaking down and wrapping all his arms around him, doing his best to hide his face in the crook of his neck.

“I love you. So much, Shadow.

“Your entire existence doesn’t hinge off of killing people. It doesn’t have to be, you realise that now.”

“You are not a monster.” Vio paused for a bit, then backpedalled,“Uh. Wait, I mean, not like a-”

“I get it,” Shadow laughed weakly, “and um. Thanks.”

Vio kissed his head. “Don’t mention it. I was just terrified I would say something wrong.”

“You nearly did, dumbass.”

As he recovered from his impromptu laughing fit, Vio came to a realisation.

He knew that even if he were to spend the rest of the evening reiterating to Shadow that he wasn’t dangerous and that he is loved, the shade probably still wouldn’t believe it.

That was okay. An internalised, existential terror regarding the mortality of everyone around you doesn't just disappear overnight. He’d be impressed if it did, this emotional stuff takes time.

“..How many eyes do I have right now?”

Vio leaned back and tilted Shadow’s face with one hand so he could see better. “About seven,” he said, glancing down, “one for each arm, almost. I can’t really see from here.”

“Har har.” Shadow deadpanned. Then, he looked confused. “Wait, About?”

“It’s dark! It’s hard to tell!”

“My eyes glow in the dark are you blind or insane-

They were okay for now.

#my writing #holy roly polies it's finally finished rejoice everyone #four swords #vio link #shadow link #vidow #vio x shadow #four swords manga #fs eldritch au #this was very tough for me to write so I'd appreciate kudos or something on AO3 lmao no pressure

47 notes · View notes

shatteredsilverwing · 3 months

Text

Different Stages of Life AU - First Sleepover Pt. 1.5

Since I have to split my First Sleepover fic up into two different posts (Thank you kindly, Tumblr~), I'm going to post the first part of it here, and the second part of it seperately... Part 1 can be found here!

Enjoy! Words and Characters in total: Words: 1,971 words Characters: 10,869 characters

DING DONG! There it was. That sound which made Sephiroth feel antsy the moment the sound reached his delicate ears. The doorbell. Well, actually, It wasn’t the doorbell itself that frightened him, but more the reason why it rang. Angel was supposed to visit him this weekend and moreover, she planned a sleepover at his place. No one has ever visited Sephiroth before, much less staying overnight. It was the very first time, so he was very jittery. His Mother’s encouragement, that he would play an excellent host to Angel, soothed his nerves a little. She also made sure to teach his son how to be a gentleman towards a lady and how to make sure that she felt comfortable and welcomed at all times.

DING DONG! The doorbell rang once more, and even though he stood right in front of the entrance door, Sephiroth still hasn’t moved an inch. He took a deep breath and reminded himself of one of the rules his Mother taught him: Never keep a lady waiting!

“Okay, Sephiroth…”, he mumbled to comfort himself, “You’ve got this…” With a shaking hand, he grabbed the door handle and, to his own surprise, accidentally flung the door open, almost crashing into Angel. “Hello, Sephy!”, Angel greeted him with a bright, enthusiastic smile, “If I had known that you were that excited to see me, I would’ve arrived earlier!” Sephiroth’s cheeks turned scarlet when he realised what she just said and immediately adjusted his posture. “Hello, Angel. "Please, come in.” He stepped aside to invite her into his home and Angel happily obliged. Even though she was carrying one of her favourite rucksacks on her back and another shoulder bag, she entered the house at an easy pace. After Sephiroth closed the door behind him, he seemed unsure on what to do next. Should he ask her if he should carry her belongings into the guest room upstairs? Should he offer her something to drink first? Just when he was about to ask her, they both heard soft-footed steps from across the kitchen. “Angel, it's good to see you! Have you arrived safely, my sweet child?” Mother Jenova hugged Angel together with her luggage into a tight embrace, almost squeezing her. But Angel didn’t seem to mind, as her smile got even wider and nodded eagerly in response.

“That’s good to hear! Sephiroth, be a dear and help Angel to carry her luggage upstairs into our guest room, alright?”

“Y-yes, Mother…”, he replied and couldn’t help but feel relieved that his Mother began to speak before he got the chance to do so. Otherwise, he probably would’ve stood there for a few seconds in awkward silence, making both of them feel uncomfortable. Angel stripped off her shoulder bag and carefully handed it over to him with a bashful smile. “I hope it’s not too heavy… I couldn’t decide which stuffed animal I should take with me…” When Sephiroth took it, he smiled at her reassuringly. “It’s not too heavy, don’t worry!” And thus, they both went upstairs with Sephiroth taking the lead. Angel was mesmerised by the size of the upper floor and didn’t know where to look first. With all the paintings, family photos and shelves filled to no end with books and sketches, the upper floor resembled a museum gallery more like. There was a lot to discover! “Who drew all of these paintings?”, she asked without averting her eyes from them. “My Mother”, he answered briefly as he headed to the door of the guest room. Angel was speechless with amazement while passing all the paintings and photos one after another, until one particular photo caught her eye. She came to a stop to take a closer look at it. In the photo, there’s Sephiroth’s Mother, Jenova, holding her beloved son within her arms when he was still a baby. If Angel would have to guess where this photo was taken, she would bet on a hospital. Probably shortly after Jenova gave birth to him. When she moved her eyes to the right side of the photo, she noticed something unusual about it. The photo was torn apart and the part that was ripped off was missing. She blinked a few times before she tilted her head in confusion, but before she could say or ask anything about it, Sephiroth already came running and pulled her away from it. “I’ll bring you to our guest room now. It’s on the opposite side of my room. Come on.” Usually, Angel would’ve scolded him for this rude gesture, but her guts told her to keep quiet and to have patience with him. There’s probably a good reason why he reacted like that, so she didn’t take it with a grain of salt. Instead, she tried to change the subject when they entered the guest room to lighten up the mood again. The room was painted in a delicate pink that matched perfectly with the carpeted floor and the pale pink curtains on each side of the window. The window reached down to the floor and had a good view on the landscape that stretched out to the horizon. The blankets and the pillows, who would have thought, were also covered with delicate pink sateen bed sheets. The bed itself looked very comfy and bouncy, Angel already planned on making use of that mattress… In the same corner where the door was, stood a wooden rocking chair that felt like it didn’t belong in this room. “I thought I was sleeping with you in a room together. A lot of children don’t have the luxury of having a guest room at home.” “I don’t like sharing my room with someone else. B-but…”, he hastily added while he turned around to face her, “that has nothing to do with you! I just… Never had a sleepover before…”

Sephiroth looked down, ashamed of his answer. He worried that Angel might get mad at him for his stupid reasoning and didn’t dare to look at her. But she wasn’t mad at him. In fact, she was more heartbroken to hear that Sephiroth never got to experience the joy of a sleepover. She knew that he hadn't had that many friends to begin with, or, none at all, rather. But this… She tenderly grabbed his other hand as well, giving them a loving squeeze. “Don’t worry, Sephy. If you don’t like it, then I can sleep here. I don’t mind.” After hearing her reassurance, he got his courage back to look at her, and when he saw her smiling gently at him, he blushed heavily and relief spread through his whole body. He even managed to return a slight smile. “Do you want to go down to the kitchen? My Mother is making some pancakes for us.” “Of course! But first, I want to see your room!” Though Sephiroth could have guessed it, he was taken aback by her demand to see his room first. It’s not like his room wasn’t clean and tidy all the time, he just didn’t find his room to be interesting in general. “Okay, but it’s nothing special, trust me.”

[To be continued]

#sephiroth #final fantasy 7 #final fantasy #ff7 #ff7 sephiroth #shatteredsilverwing #different stages of life au #headcanon #fanfiction #jenova #ffvii #angel

6 notes · View notes

jiffygis · 2 years

Text

[SILHOUETTE] John Doe X Reader. Chapter 3

No notes for this chapter, other than a reminder that in wattpad (CassTea) as well as in AO3 (GisLikesTea) this fanfic is already in chapter 6. It's a bit hard for me to post in Tumblr, so if you it's wanna read more of this you know where you can find more :)

With many unread messages and 14 missed voice calls that invaded your phone for a whole hour, unnoticed because you were stuck with that weird looking dude in the subway, you were now standing in front of your manager in the gas station. You certainly didn't have anything against her, but she wasn't exactly friendly sometimes. It didn't seem to be personal tho. She was a tired mother of 5 little pieces of hell, you understood her bad mood sometimes.

She was staring at you, as if you had just stolen all her money and her dog.

Behind her, still behind the cashier was Lydia, your coworker. She had a weird look in her eyes, a mix from "I understand" and "I hope you literally collapse right here right now".

- I'm just hearing right now this isn't your first time arriving late - your manager directed her head towards you.

- Yes, miss I'm sorry it's just that sometimes I- - I'm not the one you should be apologizing to - she said in a mad voice tone. She continued, - I understand that we're not all absolutely perfect but your co-workers are not responsible for whatever you do. Have you ever stopped to think about the stuff they have to do?? That they're also busy?- she said. You just looked down, maybe you had thought about that, but in the end you didn't do anything to change your behaviour.

- Lydia - your manager started to talk yet again - called me because she just didn't know what to do! (Y/N) you didn't reply to any messages, you didn't respond to any calls- just look at your phone! Look at it, I want you to tell me how many calls you got - she said pointing at your phone, you slowly lifted it up and unlocked the screen. -...fourteen- you slowly spoke. She just stared at you for a small moment, then sighed and took her hand up to her face, covering her eyes and letting out a tired sigh. Everyone stood quiet, she was thinking and you and Lydia just didn't know what to say. - and you didn't just arrive 30 minutes late, you got here 2 and a half hours late...- she said, more to herself than towards you but you did understood the gravity of the situation you had gotten yourself into. You wished you could say it wasn't your fault... This time. That you were stuck in the subway for God knows how long with this creepy and weird dude but... The whole situation just dictated you fell asleep and was having a hyperealistic dream, after all the whole ordeal was impossible.

After a while, she spoke again - sorry, (Y/N) but...- your heart started racing and your eyes tearing up. You knew what she was gonna say, but you needed to stop her. You couldn't loose this job, you truly couldn't afford it right now. Her words were coming out faster that your thoughts tho, -This isn't your first incident and I need to protect the time of all of my employers, so I need to let you...- you were about to speak, to beg her to stop and assure her this would be the last time, that this would never happen again, but a certain someone jumped faster to your aid than you. Before she could finish, a loud crash came from the fridges, as if many glass bottles had fallen to the ground and made a huge mess. You jumped at the sudden sound because of how tense you were at the current situation.

Before anyone could even process what had just happened, you heard a high pitched voice... one that was way too familiar, exclaiming in pain. Immediately the three of you headed towards the source of the loud sound.

Standing there was a tall, almost lanky figure with long, really long hair. You knew him, you knew who he was... But your brain couldn't point it out, right now he was just a complete stranger to you, one that you knew from up close.

He was looking down at the mess... Smiling. His smile relaxed a bit when he turned to look at you, almost as if a kid was trying to hide a bad thing they did. This all happened in less than a second, but you saw it all clearly. Your manager and Lydia, however, did not notice the mischievous smile and instead were met with a surprised almost scared look and a surprise exclamation, which then turned into a pained one.

His hand was bleeding, it seems while trying to catch the bottles in order for them not to break, one of them broke in his hand.

- Sir! Are you ok?! - said your manager, quickly turning her body from yours and running to aid the man. He didn't say a word tho, and instead backed away from her, with an almost mad look. - you should really check on your stuff, ma'm. As soon as I opened the door it all came crashing down!! - he said. She started to apologize, something you didn't saw often but this time the client was actually hurt, she didn't want to catch a case. - I'm sorry sir, do you need an ambulance?? -, well that was too much - it's just a cut, not too deep or wide - he said, pissed off. She just nodded and agreed with him, then turned towards you and Lydia, - Lydia! Please come clean this up. (Y/N), bring the first aid kit! - she ordered both of you. You moved fast, approaching him and carefully taking his hand to check on it. He was right, it wasn't too wide but it was quite deep.

- This way - you said pulling him towards the bathroom. It was small but not extremely, it was enough.

You closed the toilet seat and sat him down over it. He was holding his hand up, close to his chest like a hurt puppy who was scared to hurt himself even more.

Moving some of his extremely long and tangled hair out of the way, you took his hand yet again; this time with a cloth soaked in hydrogen peroxide.

-This thing hurts less than alcohol, but it still will sting a bit so stay still- you pointed out.

The man in front of you seemed almost amused, rather than scared or in pain, in fact he was smiling and as soon as he turned to look up at you his smile widened, showing his teeth; you smiled back, a bit unsure tho. His attitude had completely changed from how he was defensive and mad out there towards your manager, and how he was looking at you like he didn't have a worry in the world. But it wasn't your job to psychoanalyse him, you just had to heal his wound, so you started doing that.

-ow- he said after you put the cloth over his wound. It didn't sound like a normal pained "ouch!", It sounded more like he said it just out of habit, he didn't even flinch.

First, you cleaned up the blood, which was quite a lot by now but nothing serious; it's like when you get a small cut but blood doesn't stop coming out. Afterwards you sprayed some microdacyn and cleaned up some more blood.

While bandaging his wound, you spoke, -This is to stop the bleeding and close the wound so that it doesn't get any bacteria. I don't have the resources right now but when you get home, if you have onions, take a thin layer of onion skin and put it over your wound, put a bandage over the onion and it's gonna help heal faster. Remember that you need to clean it up and change the bandages so that bacteria doesn't accumulate.- you sounded like a doctor, but you knew some tips here and there.

You turned to look at the man, your stomach churned when you met his eyes completely focused, engrossed by your figure as if he was seeing money fall from the sky.

You knew him, you could say that with certainty. If someone asked you about him you would say that, in fact, he was no stranger to you, but if they asked who he was or where you met your mind would be completely blank and you wouldn't be able to put together a solid answer, not even a half assed one.

A phrase that made your skin crawl, however, soon came out of his mouth, -Don't you remember me?- he said , -You looked so scared in the subway... do you like being scared?-. As much as you would've loved to run out of there, you stayed. -...uhm, sometimes? I think it depends.- his eyes sparkled for a second, amused, almost happy to hear that, -on what?- he asked, - I think on the situation? And the person- you answered. Before he could reply you opened the door, smiling at him; you just wanted to get out of there. You said, as loud as you could so that everyone in that store could hear you, -We're done! Don't worry about the bottles, you don't need to do anything about it-.

He stood up, looking confused but not surprised. Without a word, he left the bathroom.

You quickly went to look at your manager, earlier today she was the last person you wanted to see but right now you were begging to be as close to her as possible.

When you walked towards the fridges, however, you were surprised.

There was no one there, neither your manager or Lydia. There weren't any bottles in the floor, in fact they were all neatly placed in the fridge, almost as if nothing had happened.

-wh... how? They were just... they were right here- you said, both confused and scared.

-Are you ok?- that familiar voice asked.

-No! They... you saw them, didn't you? You saw they were here, they were right here cleaning up the mess-, the man did nothing but tilt his head with a confused smile. -Sorry, but who?-, "you have to be fucking around" we're the thoughts that started to float in your mind. You quickly turned on your phone to call Lydia but... there were no missed calls from today, not a single message from her. How was this possible? What was going on?

You sent her a text,

Y - Hey, where are you?

L - ???

Y - I just finished healing that guy, but I can't see you or Petra anywhere! Did you finish cleaning up?

L - wait did Petra show up today? ;0;

Y - ... you literally called her to come to the store

L - dude are you ok? Are you high again? Don't tell me you are

L - I thought you were over that

L - you cant show up to work like that, you'll get in trouble

L - I literally left work almost three hours ago now :P

You placed down the phone, trying to process what was happening.

After a couple minutes, you replied.

Y - you're right. Sorry, I fell asleep and mixed my dream with reality.

L - you should sleep more :/

You quickly went to search for that guy, he was roaming around, looking at the products. But he had the wound right there! You literally cleaned it and bandaged it not too long ago... then... it had to have happened, right? You arrived late and you were just in the process of getting fired when he showed up...

Slowly approaching, you were thinking carefully what to say.

- thank you- came out of your mouth.

-for what?- he asked

-... hey, I never got your name-

He fully turned his body towards you, almost as if he was waiting for this moment his whole life.

-You can just call me John Doe, or Doe if your prefer-

- It's good to finally know your name, Doe-

#fanfic #horror games #john doe #john doe game #john doe x you #john doe x reader

72 notes · View notes

barbiewritesstuff · 2 years

Text

Church Encounters: Chapter 20

-- Enjoy this monster of a fic!!

Tw. This is angsty!! Mention of injuries, plane crashes etc.!!

this fic is written is collaboration with @lgg5989 who is posting this on her tumblr and her AO3! She also made the lovely moodboard below!!

Comments and reblogs are appreciated! We also accept in-universe requests!!

Previous Part

Taglist: @acarboni21 @unsurebuttrying @dempy @peaches-1998 @bbooks-and-teas @roosterscock @positivelyholland --

It had been two weeks since Jake left for deployment and you were beginning to worry more and more. Your doctor had been telling you that it wasn’t good for the baby to be so stressed all the time, but it was so hard not knowing what was happening over there, if his mission was going well, if he was sleeping okay.

To take your mind off things, Bob and Maria had offered to accompany you to mass and then breakfast afterwards. You felt Jake’s absence the most on Sundays. He wasn’t there when you woke in the morning, he didn’t have anything sweet to say about your outfit, and you missed his homemade pancakes more than you were willing to admit.

You had gone to mass early, Maria and Bob coming with you, because every Sunday, they prayed the rosary in the morning before mass began. You wanted to pray for Jake’s safe return home. Standing with Bob and Maria in your usual pew made you feel more normal than you had for the last two weeks. During the Our Father, Maria held your hand and when giving peace both she and Bob hugged you tight.

The new priest that had replaced Father John was a kind man. He was significantly younger, barely over 28 and his youthful energy and wonderful sense of humour had made this the best mass you had been to in a few years. The homily had been good too, Father Daniel clearly knew his audience and related that Sunday’s reading to the hardships of navy life and deployment.

You left church feeling slightly better, your worries a little lessened after seemingly hearing exactly what you needed to feel better. It also helped that Father Daniel came by after mass to speak to you.

“Mrs Seresin?,” he called out; running after you, dodging running children left and right to catch you before you turned around, curtseyed towards the altar and walked out of church, “Sorry to hold you up like that. I just wanted to say that I knew your husband had been deployed. I have met Jake before, he’s a lovely guy. If you need anything while he’s away, don’t hesitate to come to me,” he said, taking your hands in both of his and giving them a comforting squeeze. He gave you a reassuring smile which you tried to return.

“Thank you,” you replied, your voice small and wobbly.

“Here let me --” he started, bringing up his vestments to get something from his trousers. Once he got access to his pockets, he took out a piece of paper and a pen and scribbled his number down, “-- That’s my number. Don’t hesitate to call.”

Giving him a tight lipped smile, you took the slip of paper and walked off to find Bob and Maria. They were deep in conversation with Mrs Wilkinson, local florist and well-known town gossip. When you arrived, their attention immediately turned to you.

“All good to go?” Bob asked, raising one hand to wave at someone. You turned around to find Father Dan returning the gesture, shooting Bob a wink.

“You know the new priest?” you asked.

Bob hummed, “He helped with youth group Bible study sessions back when we partnered with the Sunday school for activities in the afternoons. He was actually one of the first friends I made when I converted. Dan coached me through a lot of things, especially when I got baptised. He’s a good teacher,” he explained

“I heard my name,” Father Dan said, clapping Bob on the shoulder with enough force that the man took a step forward to avoid falling over.

“Yeah I was explaining how we knew each other,” Bob said, giving his friend a warning look, clearly trying to stop him from saying something.

Father Dan gave him a shit-eating grin, “Yes, we’ve been friends for a while,” he said as innocently as he could manage, “Saw you praying the rosary before mass,” he noted, the corners of his mouth twitching, itching to stretch into a smile.

“Daniel, don’t,” Bob warned

“Don’t what?” Maria asked, smelling blackmail material from a mile away.

“Oh, nothing,” Father said, “You’ve put me in a nostalgic mood, I’m afraid. ‘Can’t help but think back on the last time I saw you praying the rosary…”

“Daniel, I swear I--” Bob started but Maria waved him off, she signalled for Father Daniel to continue.

“Did you know I taught Bobby how to pray the rosary?” he asked, both of you shook your heads.

“Okay, right, that’s enough!” Bob interrupted, grabbing yours and Maria’s hands and leading you out of the church to the sound of Daniel’s loud laughter reverberating through the building.

He kept a hold of your hands until you got to his car where he watched you get in, afraid you would book it back to the church to hear the rest of the story. You wouldn’t have dared but with the way Maria’s eyes darted around for escape routes, you were fairly certain she had at least considered it. She got into the passenger seat with a pout.

:readmore:

Bob drove you to a small independent coffee shop in town. It was a quaint little café, sticking out like a sore thumb in the midst of San Diego, with its cute pastel wooden shutters, large flower pots hanging from the windows and adorably decorated windows. It looked more like something you would have expected to find on the fashionable end of Paris, than a side street of San Diego.

“It’s my favourite,” Maria admitted as she pushed the door open for you to enter, “They are the only ones to do decent coffee.”

“By decent, she means they serve way too strong coffee in cups the size of thimbles,” Bob whispered in your ear as he passed by you to scout out a table. Maria hadn’t heard his comment, too engrossed in the various pastries, sandwiches and salads on display to pay attention to her surroundings. So much so that she almost ran face first into a very disgruntled woman.

“I don’t know what I want,” she admitted, whispering it to you like it was a state secret, “We’re thinking of getting them to do the cake for the wedding, but they do so many other nice things that I really can’t pick.”

“Oh yes! How’s wedding planning going?” you asked, eyeing a chocolate donut the size of your hand. You pointed it out to the person behind the til and ordered a decaf caramel macchiato while Maria explained her vision for the day.

“We’re thinking of a green and like champagne colour scheme? So it looks a little rustic but still classy, you know. I think most of our decor will be like fairly woodsey so it goes well with the theme. The only thing that won’t match is the cake. I’m not keen on the naked cake idea, but it’s the only thing Bob requested so it would be so mean to refuse him,” she said, “then, obviously I’ll be in white -- or champagne, I haven’t decided yet -- and I was thinkin like sage green for the bridesmaids?”

“Oh! I was going to ask if you wanted to be a bridesmaid,” she added quickly, “I’d like to have my future sister by my side.”

“Technically I’m already your sister,” you answered with a smile and a warm feeling spreading in your heart

“I don’t need to be reminded of our very complicated family tree,” she laughed, playfully rolling her eyes at you as she placed her tray onto the table Bob had chosen and gave him his matcha with almond milk, and his chocolate coated waffle before placing her own matcha and cannoli onto the table. You sank down on one of the comfortable chairs and took a sip of your drink.

“Anyway, what do you say about being a bridesmaid?” she asked.

“I don’t know… I’m really flattered, but I’ll have the baby and I don’t know how they’ll be. I don’t want to say yes and have to bail out at the last minute,” you said, leaving out the rest of your sentence, not wanting them to know that your biggest worry at the moment was to figure out a way to bounce back from your pregnancy.

“That’s fair,” she replied with a disappointed pout on her face, a second later, she stood up again, “I need the bathroom, be right back,” Maria said, putting her drink down and speeding off towards a small corridor next to the tills.

“I think I’m going to invite my parents,” Bob blurts out as soon as Maria is out of earshot, “Maria doesn’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Oh,” you said, not really sure how to process that information. Bob looked at you expectantly though, so you forced yourself to say something, “Is Maria scared they’ll make a scene?”

“I think so,” he replied.

You thought for a moment before asking, “Do you think they would?”

“My dad would,” he said, “But I feel like I can’t not invite them, especially my mom. Technically, she never did anything to me.”

“She stayed with him while he hurt you Bobby,” you said rather sternly, “She picked him, that’s not doing nothing.”

“I guess,” he hesitated, “God gave me a lot of good things, and he gave me them… Maybe they’re not all bad?” he asked.

You recognised those words as the ones you had thought when you were making up your own wedding guest list. That nagging feeling of guilt, growing more and more overwhelming as the list grew and you resisted putting your mother’s name at the bottom of it.

“He didn’t give them to you, Bobby,” you said, leaning forward and placing a hand on his arm, “He gave you to them. You were the present, they must thank Him for you. Not the other way around,” you added, squeezing his arm.

“What about Ephesians 6:1?, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” Bob countered, his eyes glued to the table.

Without missing a beat you shook your head before quoting back to him, “Ephesians 6:4, Fathers do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.”

“Alright,” he said, “Fair point…So you think I shouldn’t invite them?”

“It’s not up to me,” you replied. Bob shot you a look, “Fine. I don’t know what you should do. I obviously didn’t invite my mom, but you don’t have to do the same. Just do what makes you happy.”

“That is the most diplomatic answer I have ever heard. You should be president. The Princess Diaries taught you well,” he chuckled.

“I can’t believe you still remember that,” you said, laughing at him.

“I look like a moose,” he quoted, his hands held up behind his head to look like antlers.

“But a very cute moose. Make all the boy moose go 'WHAAAAA’,” you finished, sending you both in a fit of laughter.

“You know,” he said after a while, “I think I’m finally happy. I’ve spent so much of my life trying to move onto the next thing or get out of situations and I don’t think I’ve ever sat down long enough to realise I’m happy. I mean can you believe I’m going to marry Maria?” he laughed, “I mean not only is she smart, funny and drop dead gorgeous, but she’s also willing to put up with me forever? Tell you what, next time someone doubts prayer works, I’m just going to slide a picture of her over to them. That should do the trick.”

He took a sip of his drink, “And I have a family. One I love and that loves me, not because I can amount to something special but just because I exist. I don’t know when I started calling the Admiral dad, but man, he’s the only one that’s ever deserved the name. And Lizzie is … Lizzie,” he summarised, “She’s a powerhouse, she’s kind, caring, welcoming, warm. I never have to doubt that she likes and wants what’s best for me, because she’ll tell me. And I have no doubt that if anyone ever says anything bad about me, she’ll simply skin them,” he laughed

“Obviously there’s Pete, Matt and the girls, who are angels and I love them all,” he kept going, looking you right in the eyes, “And there’s Annie and Audrey, who, despite having met me twice, are already treating me like I’m their annoying little brother. I love it. I love the memes, I love the voice notes they send, and I love that I get a care package in the mail from them on a weekly basis containing nothing but cookies from that bakery they like.”

“And then there’s you. I’m so happy I got to be your friend, that you let me wallflower those shitty parties with you, and that you forced me to watch The Princess Diaries, Pride and Prejudice -- 2005, obviously -- 10 Things I Hate About You or even About Time, because I swear I became a different person after that film. I’m happy that you let me force you to watch Talladega Nights, Rush or even fucking Rodeo Rythm. But tell you what, you’re a better sister than you are a friend, and the bar is already pretty high. I just --” Bob wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

“I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this. I’ve not always made the right choices, or been the right person. But fuck! I still get to marry the love of my life, I still wake up feeling loved and supported by friends and family. And I couldn’t tell you why the Lord decided to bless me like this, but I’m so happy He did. I’ve done a lot of growing up these past few years, I’ve changed so much and that is such a good thing. Everything I was, He made anew. He took me in like a lost little lamb, hurt and scared and he helped me find the people I was always meant to be with. He freed me from fear, doubt and loneliness and I am so glad that his mercy isn’t based on individual merit, because I think I’d be pretty low on the list,” Bob finished, his face showing the gratitude he felt towards the Lord for his new found lot in life.

“Bob,” Maria said softly, appearing from behind the corner, having heard everything. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, “Jesus bared the cross for all of us, not just the saints. His blood washed our sins away regardless of who we are and what we have done so long as our hearts are repentant. Whatever you have done, or think you have done, is not and never will be too big for God to forgive. The Lord doesn’t put you in situations He cannot forgive you for, but he does put you in situations He can help you out of. He is good, He wants what’s best for you. He loves you, so much that he brought you to us so that you could finally feel that love for yourself,” she finished, a few tears running down her own face.

Maria pulled Bob into a hug and you felt a smile come across your face. The two of them were well suited and you knew that their marriage would be a long and happy one. Once the food had been eaten, you suggested having Bob over for the afternoon to keep you and Maria company.

Your mistake, upon taking in the rainy day, and suggesting you play board games, had been pulling out Monopoly. It had been three hours, and you were still playing. Bob had bought Boardwalk and Park Place before proceeding to load them down with hotels. Now, it was a gamble every time you rolled the dice on that side of the board, you could pass ‘Go!’ and receive your two hundred dollars, or you could land on Boardwalk and go bankrupt.

Maria let out a heavy sigh as she counted the money out, “six hundred, seven hundred, eight hundred, and fifty. Mr. Moneybags,” she said before leaning back on the couch with her arms crossed over her chest.

“It’s not my fault you didn’t make a good investment at the beginning of the game,” Bob said to her, a shit eating grin on his face, “Don’t worry honey, I’ll be incharge of our retirement accounts,” he added, patting her on the thigh.

You laughed at the pair of them when Maria’s eyes flared and Bob’s grin shrank slightly.

“With your winnings, we won’t need retirement accounts,” she in a sassy voice, gesturing to the handful of fake money Bob still had clutched in his hand.

“I think we are going to need more than eight hundred and fifty Monopoly dollars for retirement,” he replied, tucking his money under the corner of the board before settling back on the couch, shooting Maria a wink.

Shaking your head, you picked up the dice and rolled, “Oh no!” you exclaimed, causing Bob and Maria to look at you with wide eyes, both of them immediately focusing on your belly.

“Oh my goodness, I’m not due for another two months,” you said, rolling your eyes at them, “What a shame!” you continued your dramatics from before overexaggerating the disappointment in your voice, “It looks like, Bob bankrupted me!” you said, a smile now firmly fixed on your face as you scooped up all your money and handed it to him, along with your properties.

“Hey! You can’t just quit!” Maria exclaimed, “You hadn’t even mortgaged those!”

“The pregnant lady can do what she wants,” Bob said, looking at his fiancee with a grin and victory in his eyes.

“How about the pregnant lady makes some dinner considering it’s now almost six?” you asked, trying to push yourself up from your place on the floor.

Bob rose from the couch, offering you a hand and pulling you up to your feet, “Do you need any help? We can pack this up-”

You laughed, “I think if you don’t let Maria win, you might not be getting married,” you answered him, “I’m fine, I’ll just be in the kitchen anyway, I can still watch you two play.”

“Alright,” he said.

“Let us know if you want any help?” Maria asked, since she had been living with you, she had seen first hand how quickly you could get tired in the middle of a task.

You smiled at her, “I will,” you said before turning and walking into the kitchen.

You turned on one of your and Jake’s favourite playlists before pulling ingredients out of the fridge. Tonight was roasted chicken breasts with baked vegetables, and rice. You preheated the oven and just as you hit the button to start it, your phone started ringing.

Your heart started pounding in your ears when you saw the number, BLOCKED, flashing up at you from the screen. Sliding the green call button to the side, you put the phone up to your ear, “Hello?” you asked.

“Is this a Mrs. Seresin?” a man asked, his voice gruff.

You tried to take a deep breath, expecting it to be Jake, the unfamiliar voice startled you, “This…this is she,” you forced out.

“Ma’am, I am sorry to inform you that your husband, Lieutenant Commander Seresin, is MIA,” he said bluntly.

You didn’t hear the rest, because at that moment, you dropped the phone. It clattered to the floor, or so you thought because you could see it there, but the only sound in your ears was the beating of your own heart.

“Y/n?” Maria called from the living room, “Are you okay?”

You opened your mouth to answer, but the only thing that came out was a strangled sob. Your legs started to give out, and you sank to the floor, your arms wrapped around the little life inside you. Suddenly arms wrapped around you and you could hear again.

“Who is this?” you heard Maria ask.

Then, “I am his sister, Maria Seresin,” there was a longer pause before, “Who is your superior? Yes, your superior! How could you think it was a good idea to give a pregnant woman this kind of news over the phone?” she practically screamed. When you looked up at her, you saw tears streaming down her own face.

“You will be hearing from the Admiral, I guarantee it,” she said before hanging up the phone and sinking down next to you and Bob. She wrapped you up from the other side and whispered into your ear, “It’s going to be fine, I promise he is going to be okay.”

—

Jake knew a few things about the Indian ocean: it spanned over roughly 27 million miles, including the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, it was about 12 thousand feet deep on average but with a deepest point at 24 thousand feet below water, and it made up about 20 percent of the Earth’s entire ocean volume.

What Jake hadn’t realised before crashing his plane into the middle of it, was how unbearably hot it actually was. The water temperature wasn’t too bad, having stayed at a cosy 75F since his plane went down, but the sun was unrelenting. He felt like he was on fire.

Although, considering the crash, he probably was. Or had been. It was day two now, with no news of the search and rescue team and Jake was starting to feel desperate. Not because of any real threat of starvation or dehydration, but because his brain had remembered that the Indian Ocean counted about 19 species of sharks and he swore he could see fins out of the corner of his eyes.

His arms stung where his flesh had been singed by the burning jet fuel that had circled the plane when it hit the surface of the water, knocking him out cold for a few seconds. That had been his saving grace, really, since by the time he had miraculously managed to open the canopy underwater, he was far enough down that the fire wasn’t boiling him alive as he swam right under the puddle of kerosene to safety.

His brain, unable to compute anything but the agonising pain of salt water on cuts, had grown quiet as he swam up, somehow finding a second to take in the scene. Away from humans, the water was clear. Fishes swam, dead leaves floated, and an occasional plastic bottle found its way to the fiery hell that had formed quite the considerable tower of smoke. Search and rescue might have found him already if he had stayed by the smoke, but Jake needed to survive and getting high off of jet fuel fumes didn’t seem like a good idea. It might have helped with the pain, though.

That had been day one, hour one.

It probably wasn’t the right time, but in all honesty, he couldn’t remember much. Thinking was hard, and telling time when nothing changed at all was something he had never had to do before. So hour one eventually blended into hour seven and Jake’s attempt to keep track was already beginning to fail. Ever since he had hit the water he had been praying the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, any prayer he could think of was sent up. He prayed the Our Father when the sun rose and prayed the Hail Mary when the sun set and he just hoped that would be enough to remember what day it was. He knew one thing though, regardless of how much pain he was in, or how much blood he lost, he needed to come home to you.

Day two had just started or was about to end, it didn’t really matter. The only thing that mattered was that Jake was on the raft, and surviving seemed just a little more plausible. He was making baby steps back to you. Soon, he might even be able to reach for his bottle of water. He’d been taking small sips every few hours, trying to ration what little water he had left, cursing the fact that he had given Tiny some of it before the flight.

His head hurt so badly, and he couldn’t quite tell why. Was it the dehydration or the impact induced concussion? The dry mouth, lips and eyes, and mind numbing heat were telling him dehydration. The vomiting, confusion and large bleeding gash underneath his hairline was telling him concussion. Not that it mattered, since it wasn’t his only problem. Jake was fairly certain he had broken his leg, and considering his chest hurt he thought he might have broken a couple ribs too.

The sun went down on day two and Jake fell asleep for a few hours, waking up just in time to catch the sky turning from starry night to early morning. And so day three started.

He sipped his water and waited, feeling hot, in pain and slowly growing weaker. Ironically, as he grew weaker, his mind grew louder and soon enough, when he had no strength left to even shoo them all away, it felt like his mind was screaming. Still it grew louder and louder and louder, and then, nothing.

The world went dark for Jake as he hunched over the raft and fell into the water.

When he came to, he was on top of a mountain. Isaac and Abraham had just left, the leftovers of their sacrifice still on the altar, blood glistening in the sun. Jake stook a few hesitant steps forward, his leg dragging behind as he made his way to the edge of Mount Moriah. Before he could waddle his way there, a voice rang through the air.

“Jacob,” it called.

Jake looked around, trying to find who it belonged to, “Jacob,” it called again. He looked towards the sky and over the edge, but still he found no one.

It called him again, shaking the mountain and dropping him to the floor as if it was shaking the very foundations of the Earth.

“The pain you have been feeling cannot compare to the joy that is coming,” God spoke. The wind on Mount Moriah picked up, shaking leaves on trees and bushes so that they lay almost flat to the ground.

“Jacob,” He called again, “The ladder.”

“The what?” Jake called out but no one responded, “THE WHAT?” he repeated, his voice swallowed by a growing noise. It sounded strangely symmetrical and terribly familiar.

“THE WHAT?” he screamed, his voice rough with disuse and lack of lubrication. The wind whipped sand into his face, stinging his skin, and Jake closed his eyes.

“THE LADDER, CAN YOU GRAB IT?” someone replied, the voice of God replaced by a woman he had never heard before. Jake’s eyes flew open to reveal the Search and Rescue Helicopter.

Jake reached for the ladder and grabbed it, trying to pull himself up on it. A flash of pain tore through his body, emanating from his chest and he was forced to let go. He fell back into the water with a gasp, his lungs filling with ocean water. A hand reached down to pull him up but the world faded back to black before he broke the surface.

----

Your group on the floor was interrupted by the phone ringing again. This time you didn’t even move to reach for it, your body numb and your mind racing with the information, Jake was missing.

“Hello?” you heard Bob say, “Yes, we are with her,” it was quiet a moment longer before he spoke again, “I will let them both know, be safe.”

Maria brought her tear stained face up from your shoulder, “Who was that?”

“Your mom,” he answered quickly, “Her and your dad are on their way to the airport, they bought a ticket for the first flight out.”

You felt like you were in a trance, “Good, good,” you said.

“Are you okay?” Maria asked, her face full of concern.

Before you could answer, pain ripped through your abdomen and you hunched forwards letting out a groan, “Owww.”

“Oh my God,” Maria said, her eyes getting wide, “Is that?”

“No,” you said, shaking your head, your teeth clenched together in pain, “It can’t be, it’s too soon.”

When the pain subsided, you looked at her, panic flooding through you, “My water didn’t break, they can’t be coming this early can they?”

You tried to stand up, but couldn’t, your centre of gravity too far off from your normal. Bob pulled you up gently and you felt fine for a few minutes before another contraction ripped through you.

“What do we do?” Bob asked Maria, as they both watched you sink into the couch, both hands clutching your stomach.

“Call Cyclone,” she said, pulling his phone out and pressing it into his hand, “Lizzie might know something, and he will definitely know about Jake.”

After only two rings, the Admiral picked up, “Hello?” you heard, Bob had put him on speaker phone.

“Beau, we need some help,” Bob said, his voice sounding more nervous than you’d ever heard.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, seeming totally calm as another contraction started at the bottom of your belly.

“What’s wrong?” you shouted at the phone, “Do you mean to tell me that you don’t know my husband is missing?”

The line was silent for a minute before he answered, “I made the executive decision not to tell you that…”

“Well that was dumb dad, because some fucking Rear Admiral called anyway and now I’m in labour, and I’m going to have this baby, and it’s too soon. How am I going to tell them about their father’s eyes or his..” you let out a grunt as the pain came to a peak, “His smile and how good of a man he was?” your question ending on a sob.

“What do you mean you’re in labour?” he asked, his voice quiet.

“I mean I’m in labour, how much more of an explanation do you need?” you yelled into the phone, sobs now breaking up your words.

“Oh shit,” he said, “I’m, we’ll, we are coming, be there in five minutes,” he stumbled out before the line went dead.

Bob and Maria were both looking at you, your breathing coming in shallow pants, “What? He may be the Admiral but he is my dad and I reserve the right to bring him down a peg.”

Bob just nodded but Maria scooted closer to you on the couch, “Honey you need to take a deep breath.”

As another wave of pain hit you, you thought that this is what hell looked like. It wasn’t fiery heat and torture, it was an early labour, for a baby who’s father may be dead. All you could think to do in that moment was pray, you fell to your knees from the couch, bending over as far as you could, and the first words that came out of your mouth were, “Hail Mary, full of grace…”

By the time you had finished the prayer once over, Bob and Maria had joined in. Your breathing calmed as you prayed and you felt the little one inside you settle at the sound of your voice, and your hands pressing gently to their feet. A loud knock on the door brought Bob to his feet and before you knew it, Beau and Lizzie were in the room, Lizzie kneeling in front of you on the floor.

“Are you alright? Labour? Did your water break?” she asked, her questions rushed and her eyes searching over you frantically.

You shook your head, “I’m not alright. I don’t know if I’m in labour. No, it didn’t break,” you answered before leaning forward and resting your forehead on her shoulder, your shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

The house was silent save for the sound of your stuttering breaths. Lizzie pulled you to her, rubbing your back gently as she whispered words of comfort in your ear, “It’s going to be okay, they’re going to find him, I promise. You aren’t in labour, it's the stress, take a deep breath honey. There you go, now another one. Good job. Just close your eyes, Jake is going to come back, he is a strong man and he won’t leave you and this precious baby without a fight, you know that.”

The rest of her words were lost on you because at that moment, Beau decided to open his mouth, “I um, can we do anything?”

“You’ve done enough,” you said, your voice filled with venom, “How could you keep this from me? How long has he been missing?”

“I didn’t want to worry you,” he said quietly, not elaborating on your other question.

“Dad, how long has he been missing?” you demanded more than asked.

After a moment of silence he answered, “Almost two days.”

“Two days?” you questioned, “I could have been praying for him for two days? I can’t believe…I’m…Oh my God…” you broke down into another fit of tears, who could survive in the ocean for two days alone?

Your hands were pulled away from your face, strong arms wrapping themselves around you, before your forehead met soft fabric on a firm shoulder, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I should have told you, but I couldn’t…what if something happened? What if we found him and then you didn’t need this stress. You thought you were in labour five minutes ago, I just wanted to spare you the stress honey, your body can’t handle it.”

You couldn’t find the strength to pick up your head, so into his shoulder you mumbled, “He’s my husband, the father of my child, the light of my life, I deserved to know, and I deserved to know much sooner than two days after you lost him.”

Beau couldn’t find an answer to that, his silence speaking louder than any words he could have spoken. You allowed him to pull you closer to him and he brushed your hair away from your face, “I’m so sorry honey, they are looking. I promise you, on my orders they are looking.”

Nodding your head, you tried to fight the tiredness that had overcome you, but against your will, your eyes drooped closed, and the world faded to black.

When you woke up a few hours later, you found yourself in your bed, the blankets draped over you carefully and a dark figure slumped in the corner of your room. For a second, you had forgotten what happened, the phone call, the contractions, Beau’s bullheadedness, but in the five seconds you had been awake, it all came rushing back to you.

You pushed yourself up to sitting in the bed, scooping up one of Jake’s pillows that you had stuffed into his favourite sweatshirt. Burying your nose into the fabric, you let out a quiet sob when his fading scent hit your nose, the notes of leather, whiskey, and pine were prominent and every now and then you caught a hint of vanilla. No matter how many times you had sprayed it with his cologne, it didn’t smell quite the same as he did and only this sweatshirt got close to feeling like Jake.

You felt a hand on your shoulder and you had to choke back the instinct to scream. Pulling your head from the pillow you turned to find Isabella sitting on the edge of your bed, tears in her own eyes.

Without saying a word, she wrapped you in her arms and the two of you cried together. There was something almost Biblical about it, the mother-in-law comforting the daughter-in-law.

When you had run out of tears, and your breaths were coming in hiccups Isabella pulled back from you, her hands coming up to wipe your cheeks.

“He knew this was a risk when he took this job,” she said slowly, “But I am happy that he has such a strong wife to carry on in his absence, however short or long,” she paused, seeming to think, “I hope you know that we will be here for you, whatever happens, no matter what.”

You hugged her to you again, “Thank you,” you whispered into her hair, “You don’t know how much that means to me.”

When you finally let go of her, she brushed away the last of your tears before standing up, “Let’s go see the others, shall we?” she asked, holding her hand out to you.

“Okay,” you said, your voice rough from crying and disuse. You allowed her to help you out of bed and down the stairs, your belly no longer tingling with the pain of contractions.

“There she is,” Lizzie said, her face brightening at seeing your presence in the living room. Everyone was gathered around the kitchen table, Maria had a rosary in her hands and her lips were moving quickly. Bob was seated next to her, talking quietly with Father Dan. Giovanni was seated at one head of the table and at the sight of you and Isabella emerging from the hall, he got up and came over, wrapping you in a tight hug.

“Where’s dad?” you asked Lizzie, looking around for him, “I’m afraid I may have said some things I shouldn’t have…”

“I think you said everything he needed to hear,” Lizzie told you, her voice firm.

At that moment you heard a raised voice from outside, “I don’t care how long it takes or what kind of resources you are using, he is an asset of the US Navy, one that we have spent a lot of money on, and I expect you to find him, today,” Beau said, a note of finality to his voice, “And don’t think I don’t know that you went around my back Rear Admiral MacFarlane.” There was a pause before he continued, “Because the next of kin is my fucking daughter who is seven months pregnant, you think it was right to tell her that when she could have been home by herself?”.

You watched as Beau’s face turned red and for the first time since you had known the man, he lost his temper, “I don’t care if that isn’t in the rulebook! It fucking should be, no one should receive that kind of news alone, especially if they are carrying one of our sailor’s babies. Find Seresin and do it today.” He hung up the phone and in a stunt that made you laugh, threw it across your lawn. With his back at the house, he put his hands on his hips and turned his head up to the sky, letting out what you imagined was a very deep breath.

You excused yourself from the room and made your way into the backyard, walking up behind the Admiral.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so angry,” you said, scaring him.

He jumped, turning to you with one hand pressed over his chest, “You scared me, twice,” he said, walking towards you quickly and pulling you into a hug.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t-” you started but he cut you off.

“No, I’m sorry. I should have told you about Jake, I just wanted to protect you,” he said, “But you are a grown woman and you did have the right to know, and I’m sorry you didn’t hear it from me.”

You wrapped your arms around his waist as best you could, your belly getting in the way, “It’s okay dad, just help me get him home?”

“Of course, we are going to find him,” Beau said, rubbing your back.

You stood there for a few minutes before asking the question that had been plaguing your mind since you got the news that Jake was MIA, “What happened?”

You felt him sigh before answering, “Their mission was going well until Prince hung Jake out to dry, saving his own ass. Jake’s plane went into the Indian Ocean almost fifty hours ago,” he paused and you knew the next bit of information was going to be what worried you the most, “They had no report of a chute, but his life raft deployed because there was green dye in the water at his last reported location.”

“Why haven’t they found him yet?” you asked.

“His transponder isn’t working and the boat took almost an hour to get to the plane’s location. Those two things combined mean he’s drifting somewhere out at sea,” Beau finished.

You nodded, burying your head into his chest again, “Thank you, for working so hard to find him.”

“I would do it for any of them, but especially him,” he said, letting out a breath.

You stepped back from him and he took your hand in his, wrapping it around his arm as he escorted you into the yard to pick up his phone. The two of you walked in silence, him crouching to get the phone and then steering you both back towards the house. It was getting into late October, and the weather was cooling down quite a bit. You weren’t sure of the time, but the chill in the air made you think it was early morning.

When you reentered the house, you found everyone watching you expectantly.

“Yes?” you asked the room, looking around to see who would break first.

“We have an idea,” Bob started, “We want to recruit the church, well some of the church to start a prayer vigil for Jake, until he is brought home.”

Father Dan nodded, “We would send an email to the parish and then people can sign up to pray between certain hours so that there is someone always in God’s ear for his safe return.”

“I think that sounds great, in fact, I’ll take the first two hours,” you said as you made your way to the bookcase you had decorated to be your little ‘shrine’ to catholicism. On top of the table was your rosary, Jake’s was probably in his bag on the carrier and the thought made your heart clench. Pouring it out of the bag and into your hand, you made your way back into the living room and took a seat on the couch, beginning the first of many times around the rosary.

While Isabella and Lizzie were fixing breakfast, everyone in the house found some way to occupy themselves. Maria was cleaning, Bob was pacing the floor speaking quietly with Father Dan as emails from parationers rolled in saying they would help, and Giovanni was talking with Beau at the table, the two of them bent over a map of the Indian Ocean.

When your two hours of prayer were up, you almost didn’t want to stop. The repetition of the words was calming and focusing on finding Jake was keeping the rest of your worries about the circumstances of his accident at bay.

The day passed slowly, most of your time spent clutching a cold cup of chamomile tea to your chest while you sat in Jake’s recliner in the living room. Every now and then you would feel your little one move, like they were reminding you that you weren’t alone even in a room full of people.

As you started to nod off in the evening, a blanket spread over you, the chair reclined back, and Jeopardy playing lowly on the TV, Beau’s phone rang. He looked up at the room before picking it up, walking into your garage.

Immediately you were awake, getting up from the chair and standing in the living room. When he came back in, the look on his face made your heart race, he was happy.

“They found him,” he said, “He’s on a chopper now headed back to the boat.”

The relief that flooded through your system made your legs weak and you sat heavily back into the chair. You crossed yourself and thanked God, for bringing him back to you.

Beau’s face turned slightly less happy and you seemed to be the only one who noticed it, “What’s wrong?” you asked, your voice wary.

“They said he’s pretty severely injured,” he said quietly, “They expect several ribs to be broken, and he has a broken leg. In addition to that he is suffering from a concussion, severe dehydration, and sun poisoning. Once they get him to the carrier they are going to update me again on his condition before they load him on a plane back to North Island.”

The relief that you had been feeling was swept away from you in an instant, it was replaced with an intense worry and fear. Was Jake going to be the same when he came back? How bad are his injuries? At that moment, your baby kicked hard. You rubbed over its little foot, “It’ll be okay, daddy’s going to be alright,” you whispered to your bump.

Isabella voiced another question that you hadn’t the mind to think of yet, “When will we be able to see him?”

Beau paused for a moment before answering, “By my maths, I believe he will arrive back tomorrow. Depending on his injuries they may not allow visitors or they may want to perform surgery if something is bad enough so I can’t promise a time, but tomorrow he will be here.”

Everyone nodded along with his words, Father Dan asked, “Should I keep the prayer vigil up then? Just until he is home and through any surgeries?”

“I would appreciate that,” you said, a sad smile coming over your face.

Now that Jake was coming home, the relief felt through the house was refreshing, but you had your own worries about his injuries. That night, before you went to bed, you kneeled down next to it and thanked God for returning Jake to you. You prayed that he would recover quickly and you tried to keep the thoughts of what Beau had said about his injuries from your mind.

As you climbed into bed and turned out the lights, you mentally prepared yourself for seeing him the next day. By the time you fell asleep, you were hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst.

----

“ -- broken ribs, broken leg --” someone said, their voice sounding so far away, as if Jake was listening to someone speak through a thick brick wall, “ -- concussion and severe dehydration. His chances of survival are good, but recovery will be slow,” they said, becoming slightly clearer, “Physical therapy, and likely a skin graft surgery for the burn on his back.”

Jake coughed and silence fell over the room. He opened his eyes, eager to see you again, but the only people in the room were a greying doctor and a group of medical students, standing alert in their scrubs with a stethoscope hanging around their neck. They made him feel like a zoo exhibit.

“Mr Seresin, you’re awake,” the doctor said, moving towards him to check him over, “How do you feel?”

“Like someone tap danced on my chest,” he joked, his voice sounding strange as it passed through his bone dry throat. Speaking sent him into a coughing fit, the pain in his chest making him see stars with every movement. He gritted his teeth together and stayed perfectly still for a few seconds, hoping the pain would pass but it didn't diminish much.

The doctor looked at him, then pressed a button and a nurse appeared. They exchanged words and she left again, only to come back a minute later with a syringe. Jake felt his heart drop in his chest and he tried to fight back, two of the medical students held him back against the bed and she sank the needle into his arm. A minute later, his eyes fluttered closed again, not before seeing your scared face in the doorway.

“ -- Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgement on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practise the very same things --” a familiar voice read.

Jake’s eyes fluttered open, revealing Daniel lounging in one of the uncomfortable chairs by his bedside. He was wearing his regular clothes, a pair of black jeans and a white tee hidden underneath a half zipped up hoodie. The steady beeping of a machine to Jake’s right sped up as he looked around, desperately trying to find you.

The pillows piled high underneath his neck were making it hard to look around and moving his body was impossible but still he tried, straining as much as possible to look over any obstruction. He groaned and Father Daniel stopped mid-sentence. He closed his bible.

“Jake, it’s alright,” he reassured him, moving to sit on the edge of his bed, “She went home to shower, she’s okay. She’ll be back. We’re watching over you in the meantime, you can go back to sleep,” Daniel said and Jake didn’t struggle, falling back into sleep’s open arms as soon as the words had come out of Father’s mouth.

When he woke up again, Father was still there, speaking into the empty room as if it were a packed church, pacing around the room and rehearsing that week's homily, “Judgement is very prominent in today’s society. We like to judge people for who they are --” he started and stopped, fishing a piece of paper out of his back pocket and checking his script, “We like to judge people for what they wear, what they own, what they do. We judge people for how much money they have, what they do with it, what their jobs are. I will admit that I have been guilty of that sin. I have looked at celebrities and criticised their appearance, I have scoffed at teens when they tell me they want to be influencers, I have caught myself thinking that some of the citizens of this fine country must have gotten their driver’s licence in cereal box tops,” Dan paused, checking his piece of paper, “All of these, regardless of how mean or menial they are, are bad. All judgement is bad. But the worst one in my opinion is one I encounter daily, be it through seeing memes on facebook, or hearing it from the mouths of my parishioners, it is the judgement we cast over others for their belief or disbelief of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

“When we look upon others and judge them for the way they do or do not worship. When we look at their faith and tell them they are doing things wrong, when we look at their relationship with the Lord and think that they could do things better, we must remember that the standards we apply to them, the Lord will apply to us --” he continued.

“Most people do get their licences from cereal box tops,” Jake said, his voice raspy and hard to understand. Father Dan turned to him.

“Seresin, I have experienced your driving. That line was specifically directed at you I’ll have you know,” he joked.

“How dare you, I will have you know my instructor said I was a delight,” Jake replied, pulling himself into a somewhat upright position.

“Sure he did, you’re built like a mountain and you have the worst road rage I have ever seen,” Dan laughed.

“Bob,” Jake replied, Daniel paused, giving his retort some thought.

“Second worst road rage I have ever seen,” he acquiesced, “How are you feeling?”

“You know, I have never been so aware that I had ribs in my life,” Jake joked, wincing only a second later.

“No kiddin’... You want me to call a nurse or something? See if they can get you a pain killer?” Dan offered.

“No, but I want my wife,” Jake replied.

“I called her twenty minutes ago when you came to. She’s on her way. Bob’s driving though, so you can expect her to get here in a year or two,” he laughed, “We were taking shifts at your bedside so you wouldn’t have to wake up alone.”

“I can’t thank you all enough,” Jake said, accidentally shifting his weight on the pillows, “Shit, that hurts,” he winced.

“You’re going to need to watch your mouth when your kid gets here,” the priest chastised him.

“I got two months to kick the habit,” he replied, “How is she? Everything okay with her and the baby?”

“Everything is fine,” Dan said, “You sure you’re okay, bud?”

“I thought I was going to die,” he said, “I think God spoke to me.”

Father Dan smiled, “What was it like?”

Jake closed his eyes and tried to remember. As if projecting a film on the back of his brain the memory came back scene by scene. He felt the gravel of Mount Moriah underneath his boots, the stones sliding and rolling away as limped his way up the path. The sun was beating down on him as he walked but it didn’t hurt, it felt gentle and warming, almost like the setting Texas sun of his boyhood.

Jake remembered the vague understanding that he had crossed Abraham and Isaac on the path at some point, but the altar confirmed it. The stones were red with blood, seeping through the cracks and dripping onto the ground. Jake, before he could stop and think, reached for it, using it to pull himself forward. He leaned against the altar, turning his hand around expecting to see it slick with the ram’s blood but it was clean. His name was called, shaking him out of his reverie. The voice resonated through the air, cutting through everything as though the volume had been turned down on the environmental noise. Jake turned around, trying to catch a glimpse of who the voice belonged to.

There really hadn’t been a doubt in his mind about who the voice had belonged to. He felt the words in his bones, flowing through his blood, his body reacted to it like he had never been made to do anything else. He still limped his way to the edge of the mountain and looked down, seeing nothing but grass, birds and people. He raised his head to the sky, but the clouds gave nothing away.

The Lord called to him once more, sending a jolt through the earth that threw him against the ground. Jake braced himself for a wave of pain, but nothing came.

“The pain you have been feeling cannot compare to the joy that is coming,” God said, and Jake knew it was true. As true as the fact that you loved him, that he was alive, that your baby would be born, that his name was Jacob Thomas Seresin and that God was Good and speaking to Him.

The wind picked up. The breeze that had been making the air up on Mount Moriah pleasant and fresh grew stronger and stronger until it lifted earth and sand and spun it upwards into the sky. It blew until trees bent and leaves flattened. There were no more birds, no more insects, and soon the dust made it so that there was no more Mount Moriah.

“Jacob,” He called again, his voice swallowed by the wind, “The ladder.”

Jake opened his eyes again and blinked rapidly at the cool white light emanating from the large overhead lamps.

“It was…Everything,”he said, his voice a whisper in the room.

“What did he sound like?” Father Dan probed further, looking at him like his nephews did whenever they asked him to describe what flying was like, full of wonder and amazement.

Jake thought for a moment, “Hard to describe, really. Loud, I guess. Unmistakable? But gentle and reassuring at the same time. And just… I don’t know, inevitable. Like whatever he was telling me was certain, it would happen and I have no choice in the matter.”

Dan took a breath before speaking again, “Can I ask, you don’t have to answer obviously, but what did He say?”

“He said I’d be okay,” Jake replied, feeling strange about revealing His words. They had been spoken to him, and selfishly, he wanted to keep them for himself.

Father Dan smiled brightly, sitting up on his chair. He looked at Jake and let out a breathy laugh.

“Has it happened to you before?” Jake asked but Dan never had time to answer as just as he was about to, the door opened to reveal you. It felt like the world stood still, like the clouds parted to reveal the sunshine after weeks of torrential rain. It felt like taking a breath after diving underwater for too long.

“Hey,” he breathed.

“Hey,” you replied in the same tone of voice.

“We’ll leave you two alone,” Dan said, pushing Bob back out of the room before Jake could see more than the back of his hand pushing the door open further.

“I thought you had died,” you said, tears welling up in your eyes as you made your way towards him.

“Never,” he smiled brightly, “You’re stuck with me forever!”

Jake stuck out his arms to ask for a hug, you sat on the edge of the bed so as not to hurt him but he pulled you into him, ignoring the agonising pain he felt when you leaned into his chest to squeeze you close, “I love you,” he said.

“I love you too,” you replied.

----

Almost ten days after Jake’s skin graft surgery, the doctors cleared him to go home. To help while he recovered, Isabella and Giovanni had decided to stay, stealing the guest room from Maria and banishing her to the sofa. She grumbled and groaned for a few days but whatever Jake had asked her to do in the nursery was taking up half of her day, the other half being almost solely dedicated to placing the finishing touches on the house, to get it ready for the wedding.

You hadn’t been in weeks now, but she had been all too happy to show you pictures. They had done some wonderful work. All bathrooms had been retiled, with new showers, baths and sinks installed. The bedrooms had been painted and carpet ripped out, and the kitchen had been gutted and changed from outdated to modern. In the livingroom and dining room, Bob had installed beautiful hardwood flooring. The garage, which could have housed two cars had been divided, one half turned into Bob’s very own workshop. All that was left was to finish the attic, which they would turn into Maria’s art studio, and buy the furniture, which she was more than thrilled about.

“I’m thinking maybe like, lots of white and light colours, so it feels very lit up. We have those beautifully large windows that show the yard, so I feel like we need to take advantage of that. But obviously I don’t want it to be too monotone? So I feel like we need a few pops of colour, you know?” She asked, leaning her head against the back of the sofa, “Did you guys have this much trouble decorating this place?”

“I’ll be honest, we had most of the furniture already and Jake painted everything in about a week. We got lucky, the house was in really good condition and the colours were pretty much what we wanted already,” you explained, rubbing your belly. Beanie had been making their presence known since Jake got home, sending their little foot into your tummy every few minutes. Recently though, their aim had gotten worse, and every other kick landed straight into your ribs. The only thing that seemed to improve it, was an extra large tub of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream and some belly rubs from Jake. Conscious not to let you eat too many calories, Maria had graciously offered to help you finish off your tub, and was now digging a spoonful out of her own bowl.

“So lucky,” she said, licking the back of her spoon, “I am so sore,” she stated, “I need a bath.” Maria stood up from her seat and left in the direction of the bathroom, passing her mother in the kitchen and her father reading the newspaper by the dining room table. It had been a quiet day, with everyone at home as rain poured down from the sky in thick droplets that left everything muddy.

Jake entered the room. The doctors had asked him to keep moving to a minimum and to sleep on his front, two instructions he ignored almost immediately but it didn’t seem to hinder his recovery all that much.His crutches ticked against the floor as he approached you. You lifted your spoonful of ice cream up to your lips but your tongue never tasted the sweet treat, as just as you were about to, Jake swiped the spoon out of your hands and ate it himself.

“Hey!” you protested but Jake crutched away as quickly as he could, the spoon still in his mouth. He made his way through the living room and then the kitchen, scaring his mother in the process.You followed right behind.

“Non correre con un cucchiaio!” she shouted after him. Don’t run with a spoon!

Jake laughed, “Non sto correndo!” he mumbled, I’m not running! Isabella rolled her eyes.

You followed him to the nursery where you finally got your spoon back, but before you could turn around and walk away, Jake pushed the door open to reveal what was inside. You gasped. It was beautiful, Maria had truly outdone herself.

The whole room was painted a crisp white. Even though the day outside was rainy, the brightness of the walls made the one window in the room shine with light. On the wall with the crib, there was a delicately painted mural. The wall itself had been painted a sky blue and a few puffy white clouds had been added to the atmosphere. A squadron of F18s was pictured flying across the top corner of the room, a two seater front and centre featured Dove and Hangman name inscriptions below the pilot and WSO seats. There was a smaller plane centred over the crib, its name place missing an inscription. The painting was realistic but also slightly animated, making it feel fit for a child’s room.

Turning your head, you spotted a changing table, painted a light grey to match the F18s, its knobs little bronze stars. Over it hung a canvas, on it in calligraphy was James 1:17, every good and perfect gift is from above.

There was a grey rug in the middle of the room and in one corner was tucked a white padded rocking chair. Over the back Maria had thrown the blankets that Nonna had made them. Once you had finished your quick scan of the beautiful room, you walked over to the mural wall, stopping next to the crib, you brushed your hand over the little F18 on the wall, “What…Did…is this what Maria…” you couldn’t find the words.

Jake came up behind you, he leaned his crutches on the crib before wrapping his arms around you, “Do you like it?”

“I love it,” you said with a smile as Jake pressed a kiss to the top of your head. The two of you stood in a comfortable silence, Jake’s arms wrapped around your midsection, you making sure not to lean too far into him as he was standing on one leg.

Your bubble of peace was interrupted when Maria walked by in the hall, “Oh, so you showed her without me?”

Jake let out a quiet laugh, “I wanted it to be a private moment, I didn’t know how she was going to react!”

Maria just rolled her eyes, “I figure we can fill in the name spot when the little one gets here,” she said with a smile aimed at you.

“It’s lovely, thank you so much,” you said, “I don’t even know what to say to be honest.”

“I will take your speechlessness as payment enough,” Maria said with an excited smile before walking down the hall towards the stairs.

As Maria left, you felt a little kick from your stomach. You guided Jake’s hand over it and smiled as he rubbed a finger over their little foot. Standing in the nursery, with your newly returned husband, you found yourself disappointed that the baby wasn’t there yet.

Turning back into Jake, he hugged you as a few tears slipped from your eyes.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, brushing your hair away from your face.

You let out a sigh before answering, “I just wish he or she was here already, I want to hold them and show them this beautiful room.”

“They will make their appearance when they are ready Princess, we just need to be patient,” Jake said, kissing your forehead.

You let out a laugh, “I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything more.”

#fanfic #top gun fanfiction #top gun maverick #top gun x reader #fanfiction #original fic #hangman x reader #jake hangman seresin #jake seresin #hangman top gun

54 notes · View notes