#Turtle Sand Pit (Small)

[kidzletplaystructures1]

Best Playground Equipment for All Ages | Kidzlet Play Structures

Playgrounds are more than just swings and slides. They're vibrant hubs of imagination, fostering physical development, social interaction, and a sense of adventure in children. For parks, schools, daycare centers, and any space where children gather, creating a safe and engaging play environment is crucial. This is where commercial playground equipment comes in.

Here, we'll delve into the exciting world of playground equipment, exploring the best options for various age groups and spaces. We'll also introduce you to Kidzlet Play Structures Pvt. Ltd., a leading manufacturer in Delhi specializing in top-tier outdoor playground slide, outdoor gym equipment, and more, ensuring you have a trusted partner to equip the fun!

Enhancing Play for Every Age:

A well-designed playground caters to a range of ages and abilities. Here's a breakdown of some popular equipment choices for different age groups:

Preschoolers (2-5 years): This age group thrives on exploration and sensory experiences. Look for climbers with manageable heights,  a Turtle Sand Pit (Small) for imaginative play, and spring riders that encourage balance and coordination. Kidzlet Play Structures offers a fantastic selection of themed playhouses and toddler-sized climbing structures that spark early creativity.

School-aged Children (6-12 years): As children grow, their desire for physical challenges intensifies. Consider swing sets with various configurations,  Monkey Climber for upper body strength, and slides in different heights and styles., Kidzlet Play Structures offers a variety of options to create a thrilling Seesaw experience that adheres to safety standards.

Teenagers (13+): Teenagers crave social interaction and activities that test their physical limits. Challenge courses with climbing walls, balance beams, and rope bridges provide a stimulating space. Fitness zones with outdoor gym equipment like pull-up bars and leg presses encourage healthy habits. Kidzlet Play Structures offers a range of heavy-duty outdoor exercise equipment suitable for teenagers and adults, fostering a multi-generational play environment.

Optimizing Space:

Not all playgrounds have vast expanses. Don't worry! Here's how to create a fantastic play area even in limited space:

Vertical Play Structures: Utilize climbing walls, rope ladders, and slides that extend upwards. Kidzlet Play Structures offers a variety of space-saving vertical climbers that maximize play value without a large footprint.

Multifunctional Equipment: Opt for equipment that serves multiple purposes, like climbers with slides or swings with attached climbing nets. Kidzlet Play Structures has a great selection of combination playsets that offer a variety of activities in a compact design.

Soft Play Areas: For younger children or areas with limited fall height restrictions, consider soft play equipment like padded climbers and play mats. Kidzlet Play Structures manufactures a range of soft play elements that provide a safe and stimulating environment for little ones.

Safety First: Choosing Durable and Safe Equipment

Safety is paramount. Here's what to look for:

Material: Choose equipment made from high-quality, durable materials like recycled plastic, steel, or treated wood. Kidzlet Play Structures prioritizes using materials that are safe for children and can withstand harsh weather conditions.

Compliance with Safety Standards: Ensure the equipment meets all relevant safety standards set by organizations like the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).

Fall Protection: Consider the use of soft surfacing like shredded rubber or sand under climbing structures and slides to minimize the risk of injury during falls.

Regular Maintenance: Schedule regular inspections and maintenance to ensure the equipment remains safe and in good condition.

Kidzlet Play Structures: Your Trusted Partner in Play

Kidzlet Play Structures Pvt. Ltd., a leading manufacturer in Delhi, understands the importance of creating safe and engaging play experiences. They offer a comprehensive range of commercial playground equipment, including:

Outdoor Playground Slides in various shapes and sizes to add thrilling fun.

Outdoor Gym Equipment designed for all ages and fitness levels, promoting healthy habits.

Themed Playhouses that spark children's imaginations and encourage role-playing.

Climbing Structures with varying difficulty levels to challenge and develop motor skills.

Swings & Seesaws - timeless classics that never go out of style.

Kidzlet Play Structures prioritizes safety and uses high-quality materials that meet international safety standards. Their team of experts can also assist you in designing a playground that caters to your specific needs and space constraints.

Equipping the Fun

Creating a playground is more than just installing equipment; it's about fostering a space for laughter, learning, and physical development. By understanding the needs of different age groups, optimizing space effectively, and prioritizing safety, you can create a playground that sparks endless joy for children. Kidzlet Play Structures stands ready to be your partner in equipping the fun, providing top-tier commercial playground equipment slides that will transform your space into a vibrant hub

[lostsyren]

i have a request for a scene based on these seemingly cut out scenes in episode 4 for part 1

https://x.com/rafeslut/status/1848180750941552843

maybe how it would've turned out if it had not been cut out and how it led to that contemplation scene and eventually influenced his decisions in episode 5 in goat island, idk if that makes sense

𓆉 ❀ 🫧 the right thing

{a/n: thank you for the request, sorry it took me so long to get to it, but I hope you enjoy it and I hope it’s what you expected of the deleted scenes!}

{summary: what happened between rafe and sofia after the showdown in s4 episode 4 on the beach, and a little context to the deleted scene pictures we got from them!}

𓆉︎ ☼ 𓇼 ☼ ꩜ 𓆉︎ ☼ 𓇼 ☼ ꩜ 𓆉︎ ☼ 𓇼 ☼ ꩜ 𓆉︎ ☼ 𓇼 ☼ ꩜ 𓆉︎ ☼

It was downright cruel the way they were all treating Kiara and her friends, Sofia thought, face etched in concern as Ruthie plowed straight through the group all waving their hands at her to stop– to no avail despite their persevering efforts. Ruthie was like that, in the months Sofia got to know her– relentless.

Sofia glanced over at Rafe, who had a small smirk on his face, as if he was trying to hide his glee, but failed, even letting out a little laugh. Her discomfort grew, squirming as she listened to the defensive outcry coming from the other side of the beach.

She inhaled deeply, wrapping her arms around herself. At least it was over now.

But then Sofia heard the low rumble of the engine revving yet again, her frown returning.

The jeep sped up, sending sand flying in its wake, as Ruthie and Topper once gain hurtled past the pogues, who all dove for cover, before Ruthie tipped out her drink over Kiara.

Sofia’s heart sunk for the girl, as she lay on the ground, crestfallen with her hair dripping wet. The way Sofia’s supposed kook friends treated all the pogues made her wonder if they’d do the same thing to her, if it wasn’t for Rafe. The thought made her nauseous, imagining being humiliated the way Kiara was right now and like she was a couple days ago, when she’d overheard Rafe, Topper and Ruthie ridicule her behind her back.

Sofia looked over to Rafe, she didn’t know why, (perhaps for backup, perhaps for comfort), but he remained indifferent, gazing at the scene across the sand with a cool stoicism, lazily sipping at his beer. She shook her head in disdain, finding his behaviour repulsive. She didn’t care about Ruthie, Topper and the others– she cared about Rafe, still, even after he slandered their relationship to his friends.

Sofia spotted Kiara stride over to them, her face twisted in anger.

“Here she comes guys, on a warpath– get ready.” Topper teased with a deriding tone. Sofia observed from a safe distance, mouth still pursed in reproach.

“Look what you did– is this ok?” She yelled, holding out her hands. Sofia peered over to see a baby turtle, crushed in her palms, granules of sand stuck to its lifeless body. Ruthie glanced away, her mouth twisting in an unreadable emotion.

“No look at it! There was a turtle hatch you idiots– you drove right over it!”

Sofia had to avert her gaze, a sickness settling in the pit of her stomach. She hated being on the wrong side of this– being one of the people Kiara was yelling at.

“I understand you’re upset Kiara-“ Topper began.

“I’m more than upset Topper.”

“Alright but it was only one and I mean look,” Ruthie pointed out, tone casually cruel, “there’s so many more of them. A hatch is what? A hundred turtles? Most of them don’t make it anyway.”

“I think it’s like one in a thousand.” Topper added

Kiara shook her head in disbelief. “So?”

“So I think you should go throw that to the seagulls– cycle of life right?” Ruthie plastered on a scornful smirk, her eyes squinted as she stared down Kiara. Sofia could feel the tension fizzle between them.

“Cycle of life? Getting flattened by a truck?” Kiara jumped up suddenly, shoving Ruthie square in the chest.

Sofia bristled in shock, her arms falling away from around her waist as she stepped back from the commotion. Looking around for Rafe, she found him topping up his empty beer bottle, just disregarding the spat completely. She couldn’t help but scoff in annoyance at his as insouciance whilst Topper pulled back Ruthie and JJ reined in Kiara.

“Your move Kie, what are you gonna do?” Ruthie goaded.

Topper held out his hands placatingly, “I would just walk away ok? We’re not doing this.”

“There’s something seriously wrong with you people.” Kiara avowed, Sofia glancing down at her feet at her words, a sinking shame tricking its way down her insides, before Kiara spun around back to her friends.

“Yeah that’s right, go back to your side Kie!” Ruthie called out, right before Kiara shoved their speaker to the ground.

“You come near her or any of us ever again, and I’ll come back and kill every single one of you.” JJ warned, before joining Kiara as they walked away.

Sofia hated this. Hated all of it. Her frown was stark on her face as she ignored the chitters of laughs and fragments of conversation around her, from people she barely knew.

She huffed a deep breath, before stepping back to look for Rafe– someone familiar, someone comfortable.

“I mean did you see that?” Ruthie commented as she walked past Rafe, Sofia hovering a couple feet away from him. She was waiting for him to say something…anything. He could’ve put a stop to this– Topper would’ve listened to him. But no, all he did was watch in silence, drinking like he always did.

“I saw it. All good shit, Ruthie.” He chuckled. Sofia crossed her arms around herself yet again. All good? It wasn’t all good, and she wished that her boyfriend had done something. These were his friends, not hers.

Sofia waited for him to come her way, her hands resting on her hips, face a picture of dismay. He locked eyes with her, and she hoped he’d apologise, criticise what had just occurred. say anything, but all he did was look at her with embarrassment, as if he forgot she was there.

“Not cool Rafe.” She scorned, as he walked past her to take a seat in one of the beach chairs, inciting Sofia’s rage to burn hot and fast.

“They deserved it,” he muttered.

“I wanna leave.” She instructed, her lips twisting in ire when he had to audacity to glance back at her with shock.

“Now!” She spun around, not waiting for him to follow, ready to gather all her things and head home, her mind swirling with shame, rage and disgust.

“What do you mean you wanna leave? We just got here!” He called out from behind her, as she frantically stuffed the sun screen and lotion into her beach bag.

“You serious right now Rafe? You feel good about what just happened?”

Some of the people surrounding them cast glances their way, beginning to whisper and quietly snicker behind shrouding hands.

“Ooo Rafe’s in trouble,” one person chided.

“Why’s she so pressed for?” Another pestered.

“Because she’s a pogue herself– didn’t you know?”

Sofia didn’t care though, but she could tell Rafe did.

“Look just chill ok? I thought you wanted to sunbathe?”

“Yeah well I don’t anymore– I want to go home.” Sofia pulled her tube top over her bikini as Rafe warily eyed everyone around them.

“Baby, just stop a minute yeah?” He tried a more consoling tone, which only cause Sofia to get even more angry.

She stepped through her white skirt, slipping on her sandals, and hoisted her beach bag over one shoulder, before wrapping her arms across her chest.

“I’m going.” She said with a stern face, turning on her heel ready to leave the beach.

Rafe ran a hand through his cropped hair, cursing under his breath before following Sofia down the sandy trail where his car was parked.

“Why are you so mad for?” Rafe wandered after her, easily keeping up with Sofia’s irascible stride with his long legs.

“The fact you have to ask me that is making more angry.”

“Oh come on, it was Ruthie and Topper, what was I supposed to do?”

Sofia stopped in her tracks, swivelling around to face him. They were far away from everyone else at the beach, protected by the thicket of trees encircling them.

“You could’ve said something– anything, but instead you just stood there and watched.”

“Yeah well I didn’t see you speak up either.” He muttered with an eye roll.

She scoffed, piercing him with her unwavering stare, “because in case you’ve forgotten Rafe, I’m a pogue too. You heard they way they were speaking about them– how do you think they’d react if another pogue told them to shut up huh?”

Sofia’s words were thinly veiled from her own insecurities, her hurt and rage at his previous comments resurfacing like flotsam that thrashed in the waters of her heart.

“I’m not living with a pogue…I have standards…”

“You’re not…” he trailed off, for once thinking before her spoke. “it’s different.” He didn’t elaborate how it was different though.

“Whatever Rafe, I saw you laugh and smile as if it was just some big joke– it wasn’t funny, it was straight up bullying.”

Rafe let out a short laugh, “bullying?” He scoffed, “that’s nothing compared to what they all did, they deserve whatever bad shit comes their way Sofia.”

“Yeah well I want no part in it.”

She left him, heading to his car, getting in the passengers seat with a sigh. She hated fighting with him. They both could be so different sometimes, and when they didn’t see eye to eye, it was never a good thing. She was stubborn like her father and Rafe was so…rageful– never towards her though, but when he felt strongly about something, she could feel it radiating off his body in scalding waves.

A moment passed before he got into the drivers seat. She could see him pace the leaf-strewn path, his ring clad fingers running though his buzz cut and he breathed in and out. She rolled her eyes at his dramatics.

The car door shut behind him with a loud bang, Sofia unable to see his face since she’d twisted away from him.

“Are you going to be mad at me for the rest of the day now?” He asked, tone sharp, as he tried to make eye contact with her.

Sofia just shrugged non-committaly, gazing out of the window.

“I did nothing wrong Sofia.” He tried to reason.

“You didn’t do the right thing either.”

Rafe didn’t respond to that.

She felt his hand hover over her knee, “look Sof, I don’t want to fight with you ok? Especially over something as stupid as this, yeah?”

She turned round to face him, her mouth still folded in a frown, “I want to go.”

He retracted his hand from her leg with a deep sigh, “fine– stay mad.”

𓆉︎ ☼ 𓇼 ☼ ꩜ 𓆉︎ ☼ 𓇼 ☼ ꩜ 𓆉︎ ☼ 𓇼 ☼ ꩜ 𓆉︎ ☼ 𓇼 ☼ ꩜ 𓆉︎ ☼

Rafe had tried everything to get her to speak to him normally again. When they reached the house she’d left straight away to have a shower, locking the door– she never usually locked the door.

And when she got out, she got dressed and went and made her own dinner as the sun began to set, the sky doused in the orange glow of the Outer Banks.

Rafe entered the kitchen, hoping to try and make amends yet again.

“Hey baby, what you making?” He murmured gently, sliding his hands around her waist from behind. His fingers brushed away the strands of her freshly shampooed hair, the decadent smell of strawberries filling his nose as he inched his head down to press soft kisses against her neck.

She quickly shrugged him off.

“I’m not in the mood Rafe.”

Stepping back, he tried to hide his dejected expression, leaving her to cook alone in the kitchen, disappearing in the study to let her have the house to herself for a bit. Maybe then she’d cool down.

It was getting late– they’d usually go to sleep around this time. So Rafe got up, shutting his laptop and left to go to their bedroom.

He heard Sofia brush her teeth in the en suite so he went and sat down on the mattress, waiting for her to come to bed.

After a while, she did, entering the room an impassive expression on her face. He tried to smile at her, but she didn’t look his way, instead walking up to the bed and grabbing a blanket, turning back around again.

“Wait, where are you going?” He asked getting up from off the bed, his brows stitched on confusion.

She remained calm, face as still as a lake. “I’m sleeping on the couch,” she said plainly, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Sofia… you can’t still be mad at me?”

“I’m not mad…I just need some space.”

“I won’t get too close then.”

Sofia shook her head, “night Rafe,” she said softly, before heading out of the room, blanket trailing behind her, leaving him to curse exasperatedly under his breath– leave it to the Pogues to find a way to mess with his relationship too.

𓆉︎ ☼ 𓇼 ☼ ꩜ 𓆉︎ ☼ 𓇼 ☼ ꩜ 𓆉︎ ☼ 𓇼 ☼ ꩜ 𓆉︎ ☼ 𓇼 ☼ ꩜ 𓆉︎ ☼

After an hour or so fruitlessly grasping at sleep, Rafe paced the bedroom, biting at his thumb.

“You didn’t do the right thing either.”

Sofia’s words spun around his brain, making him think about all the shit he’d done. The memory of seeing Sarah today had lingered with him surprisingly, their silent gaze across the windswept beach reminding him of the terse look they shared a year and half ago on the tarmac, where he unknowingly sent his father to his death.

“Look it’s Sarah, do you think she’d want to talk?”

Sofia had asked him as she sat beside him earlier on the warm sand, with that sweet, gentle voice of hers. She always seemed to nudge him to do the right thing– the moral thing. And he always seemed to do the opposite. Rafe realised he couldn’t stand to disappoint her.

Quietly exiting the bedroom, he pattered down the stairs, heading to the living room. There she was, nestled into the sofa, the blanket fallen on to the floor. Rafe smiled to himself seeing her look so pretty and serene, noiselessly approaching and draping the blanket over her exposed legs.

He then meandered over to the gaping window, the cerulean night sky silhouetted by the swarthy trees and faint shape of boats lining the dock.

His eyes snagged on to the picture frames he’d packed from Tannyhill, the final memory of the family he once had. In all honesty, he was going to put them in the trash, or at least let them gather dust in some storage unit miles away; Sofia had been the one to convince him to keep them when she was helping him move out of Tannyhill all those many months ago.

“They’re your family Rafe, you can’t just throw them away like that, come on I’ll help you pack them up.”

It hurt to see that picture of him when he was in his early teens, making Sarah what? Ten? Eleven? Because all he could think about was how she looked when he held her under the water– the terror in her eyes, the tremble of her body. She’d turned into a little girl in that moment, so frail and scared..

“It’s Sarah…it’s your sister…please stop.”

She’d begged, clutching at him, clawing at him. The recollection made him nauseous.

His father used to always say “Family is the most important thing” and here he was alone and unmoored, his two baby sisters no longer with him. His heart ached with a sudden and deep grief, as if he’d just realised the extent of what he’d lost.

But he wasn’t completely alone…he still had Sofia. He sometimes thought of her like light– she had this effervescent, incandescent quality to her. The way her eyes would light up like liquid gold, how her hair glinted bronze in the sun, her smile exuding lustre. She’d make him feel lighter too. Rafe mulled over her words again.

She had a point– he didn’t do the right thing. And he was going to fix that by amending his relationship with Sarah, getting Wheezie back from Rose’s clutches, and finally start a family of his own– with the woman he loved. Sofia wouldn’t lead him astray.

Rafe walked over to her slumbering body, crouching down as quiet as he could be, taking a seat next to her. She stirred slightly, but stayed fast asleep, almost subconsciously nearing him in her dream state. The thought brought a small smile to his face.

His thinking drifted back to the morning, when they were getting ready for the beach. She was telling him how maybe Hollis’ deal was legit, about how the patrons of the club were all gunning for it.

Rafe knew how to show her he listened, show her he valued her– he’d take Sofia’s advice seriously. And with Goat Island soon to be his, Rafe could start that new life and finally start that family, all with Sofia by his side.

𓆉︎ ☼ 𓇼 ☼ ꩜ 𓆉︎ ☼ 𓇼 ☼ ꩜ 𓆉︎ ☼ 𓇼 ☼ ꩜ 𓆉︎ ☼ 𓇼 ☼ ꩜ 𓆉︎ ☼

[aldmeric]

Identity

In terms of my otherkin labels, being bosmer is not one of them — I do not have a biologicaly human body at all, as I am mer.

I use the terms alterhuman, faekind, spriggankind, goblinkind, dragonkind, draconic, kelpkind, snakekind, serpentkind, pythonkind, viperkind, pixiekind and spritekind.

‘Kind

Spriggankind

Spriggans (Coille phytomorphis) are a type of forest fae. A majority of spriggans can be found in the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting densely-wooded areas and taking care of the native wildlife. They are not friendly towards humans and often attack them unprovoked; otherwise, they avoid humans completely. They are more peaceful towards mer, but are still often hostile and violent. They have the best relations with bosmer, who they feel adhere to the values of Y’ffre the most strictly out of all the mer. They have a connection with all types of wildlife, but they share a spirit bond with bears and foxes. Their biology is somewhere in between plant and animal, and they consume soil, minerals, sand, decomposing plant and animal matter, as well as biological waste. However, they primarily drink water to sustain themselves and must drink a lot of it in order to function.

Goblinkind

Goblins (Puko hulbolig) are mistaken for being much more stupid and aggressive than they really are. While it is true that some goblins form hoardes, these events of pillaging are not universal. In truth, goblins form extremely close family ties, and typically reside in caves. Due to most caves in Tamriel being excavated and mined extensively, goblins were pushed out of their native homes and forced to live in exile in city sewers, underground Ayleid temples and ruins, and many of them returned to the caves they once occupied in rebellion. As a result, they are incredibly cautious of most bipeds, and have an instinct to defend themselves. They are omnivores and eat herbs, berries and tubers, along with some grasses. They eat small amounts of ground mineral ores to help them digest this (thus resulting in collecting money whenever they can, as their caves are mostly empty of ores they can safely use), as well as consuming animal meats — usually smaller animals such as weasels, rats, birds, and occasionally fish and shellfish.

Dragonkind

Azure dragons (Draconis veneta), sometimes appearing blue, green or turquoise depending on the lighting source, are a temperate forested coastal cliff-residing dragon, taking advantage of food sources such as dolphins, whales, sharks, seals, deer, wolves, ogres, boar, larger species of trolls, elk, cattle and horses. These dragons are opportunistic feeders but often develop preferences for specific prey items. They are also commonly found to be feasting on kelp, seaweeds and seagrasses. They are adept at swimming and diving, able to hold their breath for up to 20 minutes at a time. They are typically solitary, but will occasionally keep in contact with family, even sometimes forming small groups of friends, or visiting their mates’ family. They are highly elusive and are more often heard than seen, their call reaching an impressive distance of up to 30 miles.

Kelpkind

Giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) is the largest species of brown algae. Brown algae is a large group of multicellular algaes — eukaryotic organisms that evolved the ability to photosynthesize later and separately from plants due to a developed mutualistic relationship between red alga and some kind of basal eukaryote. They live primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting cold and icy waters, and are frequently found attached to rocky shores. They are a food and shelter source for an abundance of plants and animals, and provide a pivotal role in the ecosystems they thrive in.

Rattlesnakekind

Timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus), native to eastern Turtle Island, are pit vipers with a powerful neurotoxic and hemorrhagic venom. They average around 4 ft in length, but some individuals have been found to be over 6 ft. They return to the same den every winter to brumate, often with friends and family. They are often found basking to warm themselves with these social groups, as well. They primarily consume squirrels, mice, rats, rabbits, birds and frogs. They hunt their prey by chemical detection and envenomation, striking a bite, and then waiting for their prey to succumb to the venom before consuming it. They inhabit grassy, forested and rocky areas, sleeping in hidden rocky outcroppings and solid burrows left behind by other animals. They are not aggressive, but they are defensive, showcasing their trademark rattling sound to serve as an announcement of their need for personal space.

Pythonkind

Royal pythons, or ball pythons (Python regius), are constrictor snakes native to sub-Sarahan West Africa, as north as Senegal, as east as Sudan and as south as Uganda. They are known for their round faces, their thick bodies and their striking patterns and bright colors, called “morphs” in the reptile industry. They eat gerbils, mice, rats, small birds, and occasionally, small reptiles. They are solitary, residing in burrows usually abandoned by other animals, but they will also dig their own, as well as inhabiting termite mounds every so often. They live in quite a diverse range, inhabiting grasslands to forests to wetlands, but they are not often found near water unless seasonal flooding is taking place. They are strong swimmers and have no issue using water as a means to escape danger. They are not venomous, using their ability to see heat and sense chemical changes in the air to track their prey, striking and constricting it until the prey is strangled.

Feurfae

Feurfae, or in English, grass pixies (Epiconias gramen), are a type of bipedal plant sprite. They have translucent iridescent wings, and their appearances mimic the lowest growing plants in their environment, allowing them to easily camouflage into their surroundings. Feurfae in particular are found in forests with significant underbrush, as well as grasslands and wildflower meadows, but they are never far from a forest due to their need to pollinate and their hunger for nectar. They eat flower nectar, honey, certain types of pollens and young seeds, flower petals, tree sap and honeydew (insect secretions). Pollen tends to stick best to their manes, arms, legs, back and tail. Feurfae posess incredibly sensitive whiskers and feelers, located on their snout, eyebrows and tail. Their feet resemble spider paws, and work the same way, making use of their retractable claws to grip onto the stems of plants and to the bark of trees. They are highly social creatures, and prefer only to be alone when hunting. Their height ranges from approximately 6.7mm to 2cm.

[aphrosephone119]

first fic of my 'series of Jiara one shots'

(link to my fic at the end)

Kiara was 5 years old when she met JJ for the first time. She was currently in her second week of kindergarten, and was yet to make any friends. There had been a few kids that she loved playing in the sand pit with, and there were a few she'd always sit with at lunch, but they weren't really her friends. She'd spend a lot of her day alone in the corner with the books and art and crafts table, occupying herself as she glanced around the room and saw all the other kids playing together without her.

That was, until a young blonde boy came crashing into the corner one day. He'd been playing soccer inside with one of the other boys, and wasn't watching where he was going before being taken out by the plastic red craft table that Kiara was currently sat at.

The boy groaned, pushing himself off the floor, rubbing the back of his head as he looked up at Kiara. She glanced back at his wide, vibrant blue eyes, and noticed how his face was smudged with dirt. His hair was also sticking up in all directions, and he had a sheepish grin that revealed a missing front tooth.

Kiara blinked at him, dropping the green crayon she’d been using to draw a picture of a turtle, and stood up from her seat, kneeling down to help the boy up.

"Sorry! I didn't ruin your drawing did I?"

Kiara shook her head quickly. "No, it’s fine," she said softly, helping him stand. "Are you ok?"

The boy dusted off his knees and grinned, unbothered by the crash. "Yeah, I'm all good. Thanks." He looked at the picture on the table. "Woah, is that a turtle?"

Kiara nodded, a small smile creeping onto her face. "Yeah. I love turtles."

"Cool! I like sharks. They’re like the tigers of the ocean. But turtles are cool too, I guess," he said with a shrug, as if he had to qualify the statement. Then, as if realizing he hadn’t introduced himself, he stuck out a dirt-streaked hand. "I’m JJ!"

Kiara hesitated for a moment before shaking his hand. "I’m Kiara!"

"Kiara," JJ repeated, like he was testing it out. "That’s a cool name. Hey, wanna play? I was playing soccer with Charlie. You can be on my team!"

Kiara blinked, surprised. No one had ever invited her to play before. "Me? But I don’t know how to play soccer."

JJ grinned even wider. "That’s okay! I can teach you. It’s easy. You just kick the ball and try to get it past Charlie. I think you’ll be good at it."

Kiara hesitated, glancing back at her turtle drawing, but JJ was already bouncing on the balls of his feet, waiting for her answer. Something about his enthusiasm was contagious, and before she knew it, she was nodding.

"Okay," she said, standing up. "But I might be really bad at it."

JJ shrugged. "That’s fine. I’ll still be your coach. Let’s go!"

Kiara followed JJ across the room, her nerves tingling with a mix of excitement and uncertainty. The other boy, Charlie, was waiting by the ball, his arms crossed and an impatient look on his face. When he saw Kiara, he frowned.

"She’s playing too?" he asked JJ.

"Yup!" JJ said confidently. "She’s on my team, and we’re gonna win."

Charlie rolled his eyes but didn’t argue. JJ handed Kiara the ball and said, "Okay, just try to kick it past Charlie. I’ll help if you need me to."

Kiara bit her lip, staring at the ball. Her small sneakers felt awkward, and she wasn’t sure she’d even make contact, but JJ gave her an encouraging nod. Summoning all her courage, she swung her foot, and missed completely, her leg swiping through the air as she stumbled slightly.

Charlie burst out laughing. "She’s so bad!"

Kiara’s face turned red, and she looked down at the floor, embarrassed. But JJ stepped in front of her, his hands on his hips. "Hey! Don’t be mean, Charlie! She’s just learning."

Charlie groaned but didn’t say anything else. JJ turned back to Kiara and gave her a grin, the kind that made her feel like maybe she wasn’t so bad after all. "Don’t worry, Kie. You’ll get it."

Kiara blinked. "Kie?"

"Yeah," JJ said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "Kiara’s kinda long. Kie’s shorter. And cool. Just like you."

For a moment, Kiara forgot all about missing the ball. No one had ever given her a nickname before. She liked the way it sounded when JJ said it, like she was someone special.

"Okay," she said, smiling. "I like it."

"Good," JJ said, nudging the ball back toward her. "Now try again. Kick it hard, and on the inside of your foot. Not your toes.

Kiara nodded, her confidence boosted. She pulled back her foot and swung again, this time hitting the ball squarely. It rolled past Charlie, who wasn’t ready, and JJ cheered loudly.

"Yes! Well done, Kie!"

Kiara laughed, the sound bubbling up out of her chest. For the first time since starting kindergarten, she felt like she belonged.

From that day on, JJ always called her Kie. The nickname stuck, and so did their friendship. Whether they were kicking soccer balls, drawing turtles and sharks, or just sitting together at lunch, Kiara and JJ were inseparable.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time Kiara and JJ were in 3rd grade, they had kind of drifted apart. It wasn't something Kie had wanted to happen, but her parents' whispered words of JJ being a 'troublemaker' and a 'future prison inmate' had gotten to her. They had done everything in their power to keep her away from him, hoping that it'd stop her from following down the same path he'd ended up on. If she was in charge though, she'd be with JJ all the time. After 2 weeks of being ignored by her at school, JJ had sadly taken the hint and moved away. He was heartbroken, of course, but if Kie wanted nothing to do with him anymore, he couldn't exactly force her.

Though, luckily, only a few days later, Kiara had seen that JJ made a new friend. A boy in his class named John B Routledge. A boy with curly hair, a face full of freckles, and a smile so big and bright it lit up the room.

Kiara watched them at recess and lunch, wanting nothing more than to run over to JJ and pick up where they left off, but she couldn't disobey her parents.

She thought, at least he wasn't on his own. At least JJ had someone else in his life after such a long time of it being just the two of them. And if she was honest, it looked like he and John B seemed to be even closer than she was with him. He looked happy, and that's all she wanted for him.

By 5th grade, Kiara couldn't help but wonder what life would have been like if she’d ignored her parents and stayed friends with JJ. She often saw him causing mischief around the neighborhood with John B and, later, another boy named Pope Heyward, who was known for being one of the smartest kids in their grade.

The three of them were always together, laughing, running, and getting into trouble. Kiara admired them from a distance but never had the courage to approach. Not after what she did to JJ back in 3rd grade.

When the 2nd year of middle school rolled around, Kiara’s attitude towards her parents started to change. She fought against their demands, called them out when she thought they were wrong, and spent a lot of time sneaking out of her window to meet her friends at the beach.

She was 13 after all. A teenager will always be a teenager, no matter what the parents try to do to contain them.

Due to this sudden defiance she'd developed, Kiara thought back on those things her parents used to say about JJ, and now his friends, and she decided that enough was enough.

Kiara was done letting her parents' opinions dictate her life. She was tired of watching from the sidelines, wondering what her life could've been like if she hadn't listened to them all those years ago.

She was especially tired of pretending she didn't want to be part of something bigger, part of the group that seemed to have so much fun, even if it meant bending the rules. Her friends now were great, and she loved spending time with them, but all they wanted to do was spend time in town, when all she wanted to go to the beach and hit the waves. Something JJ and his friends did ALLLL the time.

One sunny Saturday afternoon, Kiara made her way down to the beach, her heart pounding. She knew where JJ, John B, and Pope usually hung out, near an old abandoned lifeguard tower. She clutched her surfboard tightly as it dragged in the sand behind her, trying to summon the courage to walk up to them.

As she got closer, she could hear their voices carrying on the wind. JJ was laughing loudly, and John B was trying to explain something, though his words were barely audible over Pope’s protests. They were wrestling over a can of beer JJ had probably stolen from his dad's fridge.

13 and drinking beer, definitely something Kiara had heard her parents talking about with hushed voices when they saw JJ hanging out at the docks with John B and Pope.

But their antics were always so carefree and lively that Kiara couldn’t help but smile.

“Hey,” she called out, her voice shaky but determined.

The boys froze, all three heads swiveling to look at her. JJ’s eyes widened slightly when he saw who it was, but his surprise quickly morphed into furrowed brows as he bit the inside of his cheek.

“Well, well, if it isn’t little miss ignore and abandon,” JJ said dramatically, leaning back against the tower like he wasn’t fazed. “Long time, no see.”

John B and Pope exchanged curious looks. “You know her?” John B asked.

“Yeah,” JJ said casually, though his tone had an edge of mischief. “We used to be best buds. But then she ditched me. Right, Kie?”

Kiara winced at JJ’s words, her heart sinking. She’d expected him to be mad, but hearing the accusation aloud stung more than she’d imagined. She took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice steady.

“I wasn't trying to ditch you, JJ,” she said softly, though she knew it wasn't really true. She took a step closer. “I was... I was just listening to my parents, and I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.”

JJ’s posture stiffened for a moment, his blue eyes studying her like he was trying to figure out if she was being sincere.

“Sorry doesn’t really cut it, Kie,” he said finally, kicking at the sand. “You just stopped talking to me. You let me think I did something wrong. Do you know how that felt?”

“I know,” she said, her voice cracking slightly. “I know I messed up, but I’ve been thinking about it for years. I hated not being around you, JJ. I missed you.”

JJ looked away, clearly torn. John B, sensing the tension, decided to break the silence.

“Okay, so this is awkward,” he said with a half-smile, stepping between them. “Hi, I’m John B. And that’s Pope.”

Pope gave her a small wave, though he looked just as unsure as John B about what was happening.

Kiara smiled tentatively. “Hi guys... I've seen you both around school, and hanging around JJ at the docks. It’s nice to formally meet you.” She glanced back at JJ. “And I really mean it. I missed you, JJ. And... I want to make things right, if you’ll let me.”

JJ crossed his arms, thinking over Kie's words, but he still couldn't help but feel hesitant and betrayed. He shifted in the sand and slowly got to his feet, his eyes still fixed on Kiara. The breeze picked up, tossing his messy blonde hair around, but he didn’t seem to notice. There was a long silence between them as Kiara stood there, her heart pounding, waiting for him to respond.

John B and Pope exchanged another glance, sensing the heavy atmosphere, but neither of them said anything. John B had known JJ long enough now to know that it takes a while for someone to earn his trust. It had taken John B 3 weeks of nagging for JJ to finally talk back to him, then it took another 2 months before JJ felt comfortable around him.

With Pope it was longer. You see, John B was in the same classes as JJ, he was with him everyday, so it was easier. But Pope was in the higher classes, being a cleverclogs and all, and it was actually John B who'd introduced JJ to Pope after the two of them had met in the school library.

JJ was so closed off for a long time, but overtime, Pope grew on him and it got to a point where JJ couldn't wait to get to school so he could spend time with the pair.

So as you can see, distrust is something that's built into JJ. It's something that John B now realises may have been caused by what this Kiara girl did to him a few years ago. And if it took him and Pope THAT long to earn JJ's trust, God knows what it'll take for Kiara to earn BACK his trust after betraying it.

JJ finally broke the silence with a small, almost sad sigh. “You think just saying sorry is gonna fix everything, Kie?”

Kiara bit her lip, looking down at the sand. She could feel the weight of his words, the years of distance between them. She had never meant to hurt him, but she had. And now, the damage was there, lingering between them like a cloud.

“I don't know,” she admitted, her voice quiet. “But I want to try. I know I can’t change the past, but I can make up for it now. If you’ll let me.”

For a moment, JJ didn’t answer. He just stared out at the ocean, his bright eyes distant, as if searching for something in the horizon. Kiara could see the muscles in his jaw working, like he was trying to hold back the anger or hurt that had built up over the years.

Finally, he let out a soft chuckle, though there was no real joy in it. “You really are something, Kiara,” he said, turning back to her with a small grin, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You’re standing here acting like nothing ever happened, like we’re just gonna pick up where we left off.”

Kiara flinched. She knew he wasn't wrong. She had abandoned him, and it wasn’t something she could erase in an instant. “I know,” she whispered. “But I want to make it right. Please give me another chance?”

JJ’s eyes softened for a brief moment, but the guarded look quickly returned. He glanced at John B and Pope, then back to Kiara. “You’ve got a lot of catching up to do, Kie. But... I’m willing to let you try. I can’t promise everything will go back to how it was, but I’ll give you a shot.”

Kiara felt a rush of relief. It wasn’t the reunion she had imagined, but it was something. She nodded earnestly, her eyes shining with determination. “I’ll prove it to you. I’ll be here, no matter what.”

John B, always the one to break the tension, grinned and stepped forward. “Well, now that that’s settled, how about we all go for a surf? The waves are perfect today."

JJ shot Kiara a look, his eyes still wary but less hard than before. “You know how to surf?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked down at her board.

Kiara smiled, finally feeling like herself again. “I’m getting there. You gonna teach me?”

JJ shrugged, his grin widening. “Guess I could. But don’t expect me to go easy on you. I'll be your coach."

Kiara laughed, the sound of it echoing in the salty air. It wasn’t the same as it used to be, but maybe, just maybe, they could start over. She joined the boys, walking toward the water with them, feeling the sand between her toes as they all headed toward the waves.

As they waded into the surf, JJ reached out, pulling her board toward him, and with a mischievous smile, he shouted over the sound of the crashing waves, “Just don’t wipe out, Kie. We’ve got a reputation to uphold!”

Kiara grinned, feeling a surge of excitement. “I’ll try not to!"

She thought back to that first day she'd met JJ, and how he'd taught her to play soccer after launching himself into the craft table.

"Hey Jayj!" She called out, smiling as he whipped his head round towards her. "Sharks really are the 'tigers of the ocean' aren't they?"

JJ bit his lips together, staring down at his board as the memory played in the front of his mind. He looked up at the girl by his side, his gaze meeting hers before replying.

"Yeah. Turtles are cool too, I guess."

[ladyfurbton]

Playing in the sandpit.

Image Description:

Batty is a small plush handmade furby. She has  long light green hair going down her back as a mane. Her ears are green and black striped with a black diamond on the side of each of them. There is a large silver safety pin going across her right ear and a smaller safety pin on her left ear with three smaller pins hanging off of it.Batty has black fur with a light green square on her belly. Her face plate is light green and her beak is black. Her eyes are googley eyes and she had black eyelids half way down each eye. Batty has two light green feet with three toes on each foot. She has a black diamond on the end of each toe.  Batty has two black bat wings. Batty is wearing a white diaper with a silver safety pin at the front of it. Gothnita the black handmade plush furby has blue ears, hair and faceplate. She has googley eyes and black eye lashes. She is wearing a black shirt with a white skull and crossbones on the front of it with zebra pants. She has a wedding ring on her left foot. Batty is sitting in a blue sand pit with purple sand in it. There is a sand castle infront of her. There is a light green sand castle mould behind her and a light blue turtle mould on one side of Batty and a purple seahorse mould on the other side of Batty. Gothnita is sitting beside the sand pit. End Description.

[monterraverde]

vs. Red @redlegend

The battle trees arena was empty until the paperwork was completed, which gave them free range of the pitch.

Naturally, her first act is to call for a rematch. High up in the bows of the giant tree at the head of Poni Island, they'd make another stand against him.

She knew she hardly had a chance of winning, but she wanted a battle that didn't end in such a crushing defeat. Five to one on their first proper battle stung deep in her soul, and she refused to stand for it any longer.

Wipe the sleep from your eyes and gear up, Elite, redemptions in the air, now SEIZE IT.

Fafnir and Pikachu hit the field, Sandstorm set, but before it can even get raging, Pikachu cracks the sky with a mighty thunderbolt, and while it stings, Fafnir's almost completely knocked from the platform when the rodent suddenly launches at him in a harsh tackle, Rika quickly recalling him before he could well and truly fall.

Not a good start, she's scared.

Kamina hits the field, and Blastoise on the opposite side. A familiar matchup, with a familiar outcome. Blastoise smashes his shell, blood and shards flying everywhere while Kamina uses the sand to his advantage, moving like a whirlwind through it and using his small stature to get behind Blastoise and Drill Run right into the freshly opened wound on the turtles back- and he doesn't STOP drill running until the matchup is called, and he's returned to his ball. Choice band working perfectly.

One to One.

Bappy and Venusaur next, and Red surprises her by drawing out his Mega stone early. She was expecting Charizard, but the intense light of infinity energy engulfs the gargantuan frog, growing her canopy and empowering her greatly.

Bappy looks on, undaunted, He may not have his big mega spikes anymore, but he refused to back down, and the battle was on, taking swings at one another, the earth quaking beneath their feet as both pokemon sought to use it to their advantage. Venusaur covers him in Leech seeds, and Bappy roars as he endures hit after hit so she wouldn't feel sad, until he finally can endure no longer, and collapses under the onslaught.

You did your best, bud.

Next came Charizard, and she throws out The Don to greet him, the ancient Donphan trumpeting loud to signal his readiness as the Booster Energy around his neck activated. Scarlet energy coursed over his whole form like electricity, driving him into a bit of a battle frenzy as a centralized bit of sunshine seemed to generate from nowhere- and then they were off, Headlong Rush slamming right into the great dragons side. Charizard flames were potent, but the Donphan refused to yield- He was NOT going to suffer that injustice a second time.

He throws his whole body into Charizard, tusks primed and ready to gouge- Close combat.

Charizard falls, and The Don stomps his foot in triumph.

Two to Two. Already better then the last battle

Adniel next, against Snorlax, and Rika syncs with him almost immediately, the energy on the pitch becoming electric from the lingering high of battle, and Adniel roars in excitement before launching himself full force at his gigantic opponent. Claws met claws as Adniel continued to push back against Snorlax, feeling he had no recourse other then to shove the creature out of the ring since his defense was so high... And he almost succeeds, as a harsh brick break attack finally drops the Snorlax... and Adniel lets out a roar of excitement before he's eventually called back as well.

Two to three... One more takes it.

Gremlin emerges, against Lapras, and it's hardly a battle- more like the most calculated grounding of a bat pokemon one would ever see. Ice beam into Sheer cold- Which somehow hit again with deadly accuracy.

A Tie.

They double back and choose three more mons each, but while they're healing, Rika's riding the high. She brought it to a tie this time- There's still a chance she can win, but this alone was a satisfactory outcome for her.

Redemption earned, pokemon healed, and they return to the pitch.

Her three strongest pokemon against three of his, and the battle commences again.

The Don against Pikachu is hardly a fight, a pair of Earthquakes is enough to ground the electric rat, after swatting him away with his trunk.

Bappy and Venusaur return to the field together, and again its an incredibly close match, Bappy enduring hits and dealing back just as much damage, digging his spines into Venusaurs appendages and doing everything he could, but ultimately falling.

And then Adniel and Lapras. A fight that left the whole stadium encased in a light layer of ice and frost. Adniel lashing out wildly with brick break and dragon claw, dodging ice beams, and managing to dodge Sheer Cold a fair amount. The Onslaughts from both sides were intense, and it eventually caused them to disengage and regroup before launching at one another one last time.

It drags on for what seemed like an hour, Rika watching in awe as Adniel slashed into Lapras' flesh and shell, trying desperately to get in whatever critical blows he could before Lapras could attack him again, roaring and biting and snarling...

But it's ultimately a wash, Lapras landing a critical Ice beam straight into the Garchomps core, dropping him to the ground.

Another loss, but one that she- for all her pouting and huffing- couldn't be mad about. Her pokemon performed excellently, she brought it to a tie, and that final battle practically made her hair stand on end.

They just keep getting better... but so does Red, and thats more then fine by her.

"That... That was incredible, Red, well done..."

[rabbitcruiser]

International Mud Day

Participate in a Mud Run, join or watch some Mud Wrestling, or just get out in the dirt with friends or family and let loose by getting messy and having fun.

Mud. It seems like a nuisance, doesn’t it? As soon as it rains, mud is everywhere, and it literally gets all over everything. There are definitely no benefits this slippery, sticky dirty substance could offer, right? Wrong. And the creators of International Mud Day are out to prove it! After all, mud is quintessential to the outdoors, and the outdoors mean fresh air and exercise, two of the best things for people. And so what if we get a little dirty? Plenty of research has shown that coming into contact with a certain amount of bacteria is good for us, as it helps build up immunity, as opposed to living in a virtually sterile environment, which makes our bodies very vulnerable. Not to mention how many minerals mud can—there’s a reason why people pay hundreds of dollars for mud masks and baths at spas. So what are you waiting for? Let’s get dirty!

The History of International Mud Day

The creators of International Mud Day wanted to find a way to help all of the children of the Earth feel closer to each other…and what a better way to do it than through the Earth itself? International Mud Day began in 2009 at a World Forum event, when Gillian McAuliffe from Australia and Bishnu Bhatta from Nepal got together to talk about ways to encourage feelings of community and appreciation for the world around us. The collaboration that followed has inspired educators, children,and families across the globe, from Holland to Nepal to the United States, to celebrate International Mud Day together each year on June 29. Regardless of age, race and religion, covered in mud, we all look the same!

How to Celebrate International Mud Day

There are countless ways to celebrate International Mud Day, but all of them have one thing in common: you have to get dirty. This day can be especially fun if you have children, because who likes to get dirty as much as children? One of the most creative and fun activities that would be perfect to do on International Mud Day is making mud sculptures or mud cakes. It’s easy to adjust the consistency of the mud you’re using by simply adding a little more earth or water, so it should be easy to make what you want to make, while enjoying plenty of carefree laughter and quality family time in the process. Yet another easy way to enjoy this day to the fullest is to make a homemade mud pit using a blow-up pool. Not only is this cheap, but it also makes for a truly unique experience. All you have to do once you’ve bought a small blow-up pool is fill it with mud that can easily be filled using a mixture of earth and water that your children can then splash around in. Just make sure that you’re prepared to throw out your their clothes once you peel them off, because there is no way those clothes will ever get clean again.

After all, as American botanist Luther Burbank said,

“Every child should have mud pies, grasshoppers,water bugs, tadpoles, frogs, mud turtles, wild strawberries, acorns, chestnuts, trees to climb. Brooks to wade…bees, butterflies, various animals to pet, hayfields, pine-cones, rocks to toll, sand, snakes and hornets; any child who has been deprives of these has been deprived of the best part of…education.”

Source

[golden-dragon-feathered-serpent]

DC/ROTTMNT Crossover Idea

Okay, so. I am SHOCKED at the lack of DC/ROTTMNT crossovers right now. I wanted to fix that. There's a few versions I have rattling in my brain, but this one is a personal favorite. Whenever I finally make art for it I will post it BUT FOR NOW-

Turtle Tots & Baby Birds.

How it goes is this, Batman and Robin (Damian) are currently busting a meta human trafficking ring at the docks in gotham. As they are releasing the hostages, Robin opens one of the containers to find 4 baby mutant turtles. Raph (5 yrs) standing in the front, arms outstretched as he tries to hide his brothers. Shaking like a leaf, hissing, and a horribly fitting dog muzzle shoved over his face. Leo (4 yrs) is nearly laying on top of Donnie (4 yrs) and Mikey (3 yrs) also trying to protect them. Donnie is in shock, with another muzzle over his face. While Mikey is refusing to leave his shell.

We know Damian LOVES animals, so when Damian sees them he goes “Mine.” and adopts them immediately. Convinces Bruce that these turtles are obviously very different from the average meta human, so they should absolutely take them home and investigate further. No other reason involved of course.

They do take the brothers to the Bat Cave eventually. (Damian refused to let the police see the brothers, with how freaked out they are.) And get them medical attention. Raph is the most roughed up, Donnie & Leo are mostly Okay, but Mikey is sick and still refuses to leave his shell. During this, Batman takes some DNA samples from the 3 more so okay turtles (Just a q-tip with saliva) and runs tests. Finds out how they’re perfect genetic hybrids of their various turtle species, some small traces of unknown DNA (Yo’kai), and action star Lou Jistu, who has been missing without a trace for about 13 years at this point. This of course makes Bruce very concerned and curious. (Bonus points if Bruce was a fan of Lou Jitsu like he is of Grey Ghost)

Meanwhile with the turtles, they are currently feeling ALL the feelings, like:

Raph, he is incredibly suspicious and still in Protective mode. The whole incident with the smuggling ring was his first ever interaction with humans! It was scary! He doesn’t know if these new humans are any better yet.

Leo seems to bounce back almost immediately, babbling about any and everything as he tries to cheer his brothers up. (Hes not fine)

Donnie, who is terrible with change, is temporarily shut down as everything calms down. (He probably snapped at Alfreds or Dr.Thompkins hand when they removed the muzzle from his face on reflex.)

While Mikey is very lethargic, maybe a bit delirious and scared.

The humans around aren’t entirely sure how to treat Mikey given his Turtle DNA yet, tho they do their best. (Damian absolutely goes to the most trustworthy vet he knows and has them swear a blood oath to never tell anyone else about the turtles.) Damian also convinces Bruce to get the fanciest pool, UV lamp, and sand pit for the brothers. They WILL be spoiled rotten Damian will be SURE of it.

Now what of Splinter? Well, he is alive! However he's very hurt. Splinter took the boys to the surface to look for medication for Mikey when they were attacked by the Kidnappers. Splinter, of course, fought to save his sons back but gets shot in the gut and left for dead. (During the fray Raph absolutely bites off the fingers of one of the kidnappers) Splinter gives himself medical attention, barely survives off of pure spite. And as soon as hes able to walk again, he immediately goes to find his sons. Though, not knowing where to start, he goes to Big Mama first. He WILL find his boys.

Misc Info:

I wouldn’t be surprised if the League of Shadows & Hamato Clan know each other. However mostly leave each other alone… well, mostly because you BET Ra’s Al Ghul would want the Hamato’s Ninpo abilities (When Damian finds out the brothers are related to the last known Hamato Clan member, he gets even more protective.) Ra’s probably proposed for a unification of their clans before, but of course. The Hamatos will not touch that crazy with a 100ft pole, and.. Maybe the LoS had a hand in the declining Hamato Clan in an attempt to pressure them to unify. Doesn’t work however. The Hamatos are way less afraid of death than the LoS is after all.

Also wouldn’t be surprised if many magical heroes might’ve heard whispers of the Hamato Clan but put it up to myths. I mean, they are ninja mystic warriors after all.

Turtle Tot Shenanigans:

Now onto the adorable part. Just, let them be cute while plot is happening..

Mikey, when hes feeling better. Absolutely paints on the walls of the Bat Cave & Manor, the batfam keep the paintings in the batcave but had to stop him from painting on the Manor walls.

Leo copying anyone he sees sparring. Damian absolutely tries to give Leo a knife when he sees this but is stopped by Alfred. (The batfam may be a bit weirded out at how fast Leo seems to be learning the moves however. Because he is a built super soldier)

Raph chews on the manor furniture and. Absolutely destroys the legs of every table and chair until he gets something proper to chew on.

Jason or Alfred helping Raph to learn how to read (HC that Raph has dyslexia) Mikey too.

Donnie getting his hands on some bat or Wayne tech, manages to perfectly pull it apart to see how it works… and because hes 4, shoves a piece into his mouth.

Leo: Where are we?

Damian: In Gotham.

Leo: Wheres that?

Damian: In New Jersey.

Leo: …Ew

Anyways thats really all I have for this AU so far. I’m okay if people want to make a fic bout this, just credit me for the idea.

[ruzek-halstead]

the way you move is like a full-on rainstorm (and i’m a house of cards)

outer banks • jiara • post-season two • fluff with a sprinkle of angst

In the beginning, the idea of a deserted island to themselves sounds like a paradise.

No parents, no rules, no murders — just each other and a fierce determination to get back what's theirs.

In theory, that was great, but it doesn't take long before a sinking feeling settles in the pit of Kiara's stomach. She thinks about the similar feeling of despair her parents must be feeling at her disappearance and it's paralyzing. She isn't sure if the others notice her change in behaviour —  Kiara thinks they're just happy to be alive, after so many close calls.

Kiara doesn't understand how the gravity of what they've faced doesn't hit them now that they're alone and stranded.

Don't get her wrong, Kiara is always down for anything, especially if it's for her friends. Her loyalty knows no bounds, and she doesn't regret a single moment, but now that she has the time to reflect, she isn't sure how to process it.

They almost died.

JJ almost died.

She understands they're just happy to have made it out alive, but Kiara can't forget the fact that they almost didn't.

Sometimes when she sleeps at night, it isn't the chilly breeze or the uncomfortable sand that keeps her awake. It's the fact that every time she closes her eyes, she feels like she's underwater again, being dragged under by the dead weight of her best friend. She can't un-see it, she can't forget about it, and it's making it incredibly difficult for her to move on.

Kiara quickly realizes the water doesn't just affect her when she closes her eyes. Every time she moves to enjoy the benefits of an ocean six feet away, her legs stop moving as soon as her toes merely dip into the water. She hasn't been able to have a proper swim and it doesn't take her long to figure it out; so, she just stays away from the ocean, unless it is to cleanse her skin. Even then, she can't go too far.

The fact that JJ acts like he didn't nearly have a brush with death doesn't help her anxiety.

He acts like his normal carefree and reckless self, and don't get Kiara wrong, it's one of the things she adores about him. But she can't look at him the same anymore. His head wound was serious and they had no medical supplies to treat it. Sometimes Kiara watches him carefully, watches his movements because sometimes, she catches the way he wavers when he stands and needs to blink multiple times to even take a step forward. But then he's running with the boys, eagerly tackling each other and Kiara cringes every time his head connects with various hard surfaces.

It's painful to watch, and the fear that something serious is wrong but they have no way of knowing is sometimes too much for Kiara. That, piled with her nightmares and her conflicted feelings about her parents, is enough to dissipative any joy she might feel about a deserted island with her best friends.

It's only been a few days since they've arrived onto the island, and Kiara isn't sure her friends have caught onto her standoffish behaviour. It should hurt a bit, but Kiara can't bring herself to care.

When they decide to hop into the ocean for a late-afternoon swim, Kiara mumbles an excuse and hangs back, watching them from afar. She's sat against a tree, her knees pulled up to her chest as she watches. The jealousy hits her square in the chest and she's slightly angry her body doesn't allow her to join in on the fun. She doesn't know how to get over her new fear of water; the images of JJ's bloodied blonde hair against her skin, trying to stay afloat, haven't disappeared from her mind, and she's beginning to fear they never will.

Kiara is so deeply stuck in her thoughts that she doesn't even notice JJ stepping out of the ocean and approaching her.

When he sits down next to her, he's soaking wet, but the hot sun is quickly drying out the droplets scattered along his bare chest. He reaches for a split coconut and offers it to Kiara; she shakes her head so he takes a small sip.

"So," JJ starts, clearing his throat. "Are you going to tell me what's up?"

Kiara doesn't take JJ for the most perceptive out of their group, but he always seems to surprise her. Perhaps just how she's been keeping an eye on him since they arrived on this island, he was doing the same with her.

"Silence isn't a good look on you, Kie," he says, and Kiara realizes she failed to reply to his question. He's not wrong either. Kiara isn't exactly known for being quiet — rather, she's known for her passionate rants about the environment, turtles and the abhorrence of single use plastic. She hasn't been feeling any of that lately; she hasn't been feeling herself at all lately. "I'm not blind, you know. I can see something's up."

Kiara shrugs, because she truly doesn't feel like talking, and she can feel JJ's eyes burning a hole into the side of her face. How does she explain to her best friend that every time she looks at him, she pictures his unconscious, bruised and bleeding body?

"Kie," JJ sighs, quieter this time. "I'm starting to get worried."

The softness and sincerity in his voice causes her to look over, and she almost wishes she hadn't. His eyes are the brightest blue with the sun shining down on them, his hair messy and pulled back and a slight frown etched on his pink lips, that he bites anxiously.

"I'm just starting to miss home," Kiara replies, and it isn't a lie, per say, but it isn't the entire truth either.

JJ seems a little relieved he's managed to get something out of her, but his eyes stare at her as if he's expecting her to say more. "Okay, and what else?" Kiara's head swivels around to look at him questioningly. "Kie," he starts exasperatedly, "You've barely stepped into the ocean since we've gotten here and you've been so closed off. Seriously, what's going on with you?"

Her jaw locks and her eyes harden for a reason she can't determine. This is what she wanted, for someone to notice, to care about what the hell was going on with her. But her throat is burning, and she's selfish because all she wants to do is scream at him — scream at him because she's like this because of him.

Deep down she knows she doesn't regret jumping overboard to save him for even a second. She doesn't. But she resents him for putting her in that position in the first place, for jumping to her defence and getting hurt, for being the bravest friend she'd ever had. It's starting to make her brain hurt; she plans to avoid this conversation at all costs.

"I already told you," Kiara mumbles, standing up and dusting the sand off the back of her shorts. She ignores the pleading look in JJ's eyes. "I miss home, that's all."

Kiara turns to walk further into the trees, farther from where her best friends are screaming in utter happiness with each other. She nearly expects JJ to give up and go back into the ocean, allowing her some time for herself. But when she turns to look at him approaching with heavy footsteps, his expression is tight, angry even, and his jaw is clenched as he stares at her.

"Kiara, I'm not playing this game with you," JJ rumbles, and Kiara knows he means it by the use of her full name. "And I'm not leaving here until you tell me what the hell is wrong with you."

Kiara's fists clench at her sides and JJ's eyes drop to them. "You want to know what's wrong with me, JJ?" She spits, feeling the fire spread through her veins and into her brown eyes. She steps to him and continues, "Why don't we talk about you instead, huh?"

"What?" JJ responds, clearly confused. "Kie—"

"No, JJ! Let's talk about you!" Kiara snaps, continuing to step into his space. JJ doesn't step back, and his expression only darkens. "Let's talk about how you're pretending you're fine, but you're clearly fucking not! I see you, JJ! I see you when you stand up too fast and it takes you a full minute to get your shit together. You're obviously hurt but you act like it's nothing! What if you hit your head again? What then? We don't have a doctor — we can't save you again, JJ!"

JJ's expression is calculating, trying to gauge what this actually has to do with Kiara's new behaviour. He spots her trembling bottom lip when she says they can't save him again. He knows she means herself, because she's the one who saved him, no one else.

"Kie, I'm fine. Sure, it's a little sore, but I'm not going to stop living my life because of a little injury. I've had worse, Kie, and you know it."

Kiara nearly growls in response.

"Seriously, Kie, what the hell is the matter with you?"

Kiara can only take so much. She snaps.

"I can't fucking sleep!" Kiara shouts, voice cracking, but she powers through. "I can't sleep because every time I close my eyes, I'm back in the ocean, holding both of our bodies above water so we don't fucking drown! I can't go in the ocean because we nearly died and then you almost died in my arms and how am I supposed to just get over that, JJ?"

JJ's eyes are wide as she explodes.

"Kie—"

"I'm terrified you're only one hit away from just never waking up again and I can't have that, JJ — I can't."

Kiara is standing right in front of him at this point, eyes wide and filled with unshed tears. It feels good to just yell, to get her frustrations out, even if she's yelling at JJ. His expression is blank, save for the pity in his blue eyes.

She blinks and a tear escapes. His face betrays him and his lips curl in a frown before he's wrapping his arms tight around Kiara's waist and pressing her to his chest. Her arms get crushed in his embrace but the comfort is all she needs to let it all out. She cries, loudly and embarrassingly but she can't bring herself to care. The past few days have been building and building up inside of her and it was only a matter of time before she cracked. She isn't sure how she's going to get rid of the nightmares, or get over her newfound fear of the ocean, but standing there in JJ's arms, she doesn't care.

"Kie," JJ murmurs against the curls near the crown of her head. "You were a fucking rockstar out there and you saved my life. I can never thank you. But don't you ever think you can't come to me for shit like this. I might not be the best person for it, but Kie, I promise I'll do my fucking best to help you through it."

Kiara pulls away from his chest, but JJ doesn't remove his arms. "J, I don't know what to do," she whimpers, "I can't fucking sleep."

"Fuck, I really wish we had weed here."

Kiara laughs, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. JJ's smile is pained; he always hated seeing Kiara in pain. And if tears are involved? Even less.

"Listen, if you can't sleep, I'll stay up with you. We'll talk until you're tired — or maybe having me right there beside you, alive and shit, you can tell your nightmares to fuck off because JJ Maybank is alive and kicking, baby."

Kiara laughs again, enjoying the hopeful glint in his blue eyes as he rambles. She responds with wrapping her arms around his middle and pressing the side of her face to his chest. She can hear and feel his heart beating and it brings her a sense of calmness.

"Kie, I'm so sorry," he mumbles quietly, "This is all my fault."

"I don't regret a single second," Kiara replies fiercely. She pulls back to drill it into him with her eyes, because she knows JJ and his self-blaming tendencies all too well. "I love you JJ and I would do it all over again. If I have to deal with nightmares just to have you here with me, then bring on the fucking nightmares."

Now it's JJ's turn to cough out a laugh, though it doesn't reach his eyes. It kills him to know that Kiara is suffering through all this pain and hurt — pain and hurt she's only dealing with because she saved his life.

"I love you too, Kie. And I promise I'm going to help you through this, okay? You're not alone."

Kiara's eyes search his face, ultimately landing on the side of his head that's still a tad bit sore from the hit he'd received less than a week ago. Her fingers reach up to caress it carefully and he schools his facial features to not let her know how sensitive that area of his skull is. He knows what she's thinking before she even says anything, and he sighs. "Just be careful, JJ," she says, surprising him with her words. "I don't want to lose you. I can't."

"You won't," he promises, and even though they both know it's a promise he can't keep, the conviction with which he says it nearly convinces her.

For a moment, it's just the two of them. JJ and Kiara. Best friends with endless possibilities.

Kiara thinks about it for only a second. She can kiss him right now, and he would probably welcome it. But she doesn't want to treat him like that; he means too much. Her hand slides down his bare arm instead, clutching his hand.

"No more shutting me out, okay?" JJ orders, though it lacks any authority. It's more of a pleading ask, than anything else. "Because JJ Maybank hates to be ignored and I tolerated it once, but I won't do it again, Kie."

Kiara's lips crack into a smile and it's like JJ can finally breathe easy once again. "Why do you keep talking about yourself in the third person? It's weird."

"Because it's effective."

"It's lame is what it is."

And suddenly they're back to their normal, bickering selves and JJ is wrapping a comforting arm around Kiara's shoulders as she nudges in close. He quietly promises to help her through her sleeping issues and her newfound water phobia as best he knows how. Both issues have to do with him nearly dying, and he hopes the fact that he is very much alive will help in overcoming them.

They start off slowly, JJ easing Kiara into the ocean as she clutches his hand for dear life. He makes joke after joke to make it easier. Sometimes it works and she forgets, sometimes it doesn't and she has to rush back to land. It's a process, but JJ has endless patience when it comes to Kiara and he's willing to do whatever it takes.

At night, they curl into each other, JJ's arms tucked around Kiara, while she tangles her legs with his. They talk until JJ accidentally dozes off, but it's alright, because Kiara lays her head against his chest and focuses on his heartbeat. That's how she falls asleep. She doesn't expect her nightmares about him to disappear just like that, and they don't, but with JJ's steady heartbeat underneath her, she's able to push past and get some actual sleep. In the morning, JJ apologizes profusely, but all Kiara can do is smile, as she's gotten some decent sleep for the first time since they arrived.

JJ becomes like her lifeline. It's the only way she'll survive the island.

Her parents are gone, and the pain is still fresh. She still worries about them and what they're feeling, but all she can do is think forward, on how she'll eventually make this up to them.

Her worries about JJ and his head wound don't subside either, but to her surprise, he's unbelievably more cautious as he horses around. He attempts to avoid situations where he might hit his head, and periodically asks Pope to check it out and make sure it's looking alright. Pope's knowledge is limited, especially since his fascination is with cadavers, but it's the reassurance it brings that counts. JJ also knows Kiara appreciates his cautiousness, and he'll do anything to see her smile softly at him, pride in her beautiful brown eyes.

Kiara isn't exactly surprised when she realizes she has feelings for JJ, but she is frustrated as hell. What she pulled with Pope earlier in the year wasn't cool and she'll never forgive herself for it. The realization makes her shove her feelings down, far away. She can't mess up another one of the most important relationships in her life.

Even when she gets the vibes that maybe JJ feels the same way, she still shoves her feelings down.

She notices it in the little things, such as staying back with her when their friends dive into the ocean, sitting beside her at the camp fire and throwing a comforting arm around her shoulders, pressing his face into his neck in his sleep, consistently reminding her how important she is to him.

It's starting to eat her up inside, and she hardly notices when she begins to pull away from JJ for both their sakes.

JJ notices, and he isn't fucking happy about it.

"Kie, I thought we talked about this," he says in a stressed voice, his fingers pinching the skin between his eyebrows. He had spotted her trek out into the woods for more firewood, and the urge to follow was just too strong. He's a weak man when it comes to Kiara.

Kiara startles, not having heard anyone follow her. She throws him a dirty look. "What are you talking about now, JJ?"

"You're doing it again!" JJ sputters, hands flailing as if that would drive his point home. "Pushing me away. I thought we agreed you wouldn't do that anymore."

"I'm not," Kiara replies automatically and JJ raises an eyebrow. "I'm not!"

JJ rolls his eyes, huffing out a scoff. "Oh, cut the bullshit, Kie. I told you I wasn't going to do this again with you, and I meant it."

Kiara visibly hesitates.

Does she want to spill her guts and tell JJ she's potentially falling for him? Absolutely not. But is he giving her much of a choice?

"Listen JJ, this isn't about you at all. I'm just — I don't want to hurt you or mess anything up, okay? Just  — please, don't ask questions."

Kiara absolutely butchers her explanation and she can tell by the unbelievably confused expression JJ wears.

"Kie, what the fuck are you talking about?"

She sighs, deciding maybe the best option is just to completely disappear from this conversation. JJ disagrees and he blocks her exit. "JJ, I'm begging you. Please."

"What the hell?" JJ asks, holding his arm out in front of her waist so she doesn't walk away from him. "Kiara, I swear to God—"

"What do you want me to tell you?" Kiara snaps, wild eyes darting to his confused blue ones. "That I'm staying away from you because I think I might love you and it took you nearly dying in my arms for me to figure it out? Or that I'm avoiding you because I seem to fuck up every important relationship in my life and I don't want to ruin you? Or ruin us—"

JJ interrupts, face completely blank as he says, "Shut the fuck up, Kie."

Kiara startles, shocked at his words, even though he doesn't say them angrily. She's bearing her soul to him and this is what she receives in return? She has half a mind to punch him in the throat, but then he continues.

"I've literally been in love with you since the fifth grade." That is definitely not what Kiara expects him to say. "Do you think I give a fuck if you think you're going to ruin me? Because I can assure you right now that you won't. You're one of the best fucking things to come out of my shitty life, and I don't want you to ever think you can ruin us, because you can't."

Kiara's gone speechless. For once in her goddamn life, she's absolutely speechless, and it's at the cost of her reckless, gorgeous, best friend who is currently staring at her as if she just offered him the fucking moon.

"Fifth grade?" Kiara croaks, her lips splitting into a bright smile.

JJ matches her smile, a slight blush creeping up his neck as he momentarily dodges her eyes. "Give or take. You were real annoying in fifth grade, Kie. Take this as a massive compliment."

"Oh, I do," Kiara laughs as her arms wind around his neck. She grabs onto his chin, dragging his gaze to focus back on her. His blue eyes are wide as they drop down to her lips.

Before either of them can make a move, Kiara says quietly, "Eighth grade."

"What?" JJ sputters in confusion.

"Eighth grade is when I momentarily saw you more than just JJ, my dumbass friend," Kiara explains, rolling her eyes at the smirk that graces his lips. "Momentarily!"

JJ chuckles, tongue darting out to wet his lips. Kiara's eyes track the movement. "I'll take it."

After another moment with no movement, Kiara huffs, tugging him closer. "Am I going to have to ignore you again for you to fucking kiss me or what are we doing here?"

"Pushy," JJ quips, nearly laughing at Kiara's murderous expression. "I always knew you wanted me."

"You know what? I've gone seventeen years without it, I can go seventeen more."

JJ's grin drops immediately when Kiara starts to pull away, so he tugs her closer and feverishly presses his lips to hers. He immediately slows down, wanting to savour this long awaited moment, but Kiara isn't interested in slow. Her hands slide into his fluffy hair as she deepens the kiss with a level of desperation she isn't even aware she possesses. Kiara absentmindedly tugs on his blonde locks and JJ lets out a low groan; she takes full advantage and sneaks her tongue into his mouth. JJ only groans louder.

"Holy fuck, Kie," JJ breathes against her lips when they inevitably pull away from each other to catch a breath. "I just always assumed you were an amazing kisser but Jesus Christ, I think I need to sit down."

Kiara wants to roll her eyes, but she finds herself laughing instead. "You're an idiot."

"Your idiot, though," JJ replies, then pauses. "Right?"

The moment of insecurity in his voice is telling, especially for a man who hates to show it. He wants to be sure they're on the same page, because it'll hurt too much if they aren't.

"My idiot," Kiara confirms, latching onto his hand.

JJ pulls on their intertwined hands, before adding in a condescending tone, "See what communication can do, Kiara?"

Regardless of what Kiara wants to fire back, he's absolutely right. But she can never leave him with the satisfaction.

So, she shoots him a glare and says, "You want to see what my foot in your ass can do?"

"That's kinda kinky, babe," JJ smirks, "Don't worry, I'm all for it, though."

Kiara doesn't argue in response, or follow through on her threats of bodily harm. She stands on her tip-toes and presses a gentle kiss to JJ's unsuspecting lips. When JJ looks at her with questioning blue eyes (though he's definitely not complaining), Kiara shrugs and says, "Just because I can."

She can and she does, very willingly.

JJ doesn't mind one single bit.

[remmushound]

Toddler Mutant Ninja Turtles, chapter 1; Hall of Science! @brightlotusmoon @selfindulgenz @scentedcandlecryptid

They were running. Silent feet pounding on stone and impressive forms guiding them over the gaps between rooftops fast enough to disappear between blinks. Like shadows, completely unseen, the brothers raced to the location of their next mission.

“Can I get another runthrough, Don?” Raphael called to his brother as they glided side by side, looking to each other mid-jump.

Donatello didn't need to pay attention to where he was going; his body was so used to the nightly activity that his feet guided him even as his mind was focused on other subjects. He tapped the band on his wrist to bring up a map of New York that immediately settled on his location and the path they would have to take to arrive at their destination; naturally, being the only one with such tech, and as second oldest, he took point with Raphael.

“There’s been a recent string of robberies in every major museum and science building in a hundred block radius. Just the normal stuff: jewels, gems, priceless artifacts, experimental technology—anything worth a pretty penny really.”

“And we’re sure this is our kinda thing?” Leonardo asked; for stamina, the turtle was not built, so already he was panting and coated in a heavy layer of sweat. Still, he was able to keep up quite easily with his brothers. “We do mutants and we do Foot Clan, we don’t do petty robbers.”

“With their MO, I am 99.8 percent certain this is a new mutant.” Donatello reported.

“And what MO would that be?” Raphael questioned.

Donatello cleared his throat and closed his eyes, sticking a finger in the air to annunciate himself as he spoke. “They break in without any clear entry or exit points, door and windows locked and intact, and no security cams or security sensors can seem to pick up on when the attacks occurred. And, most incriminating, they leave behind nothing but a water trail.”

Michelangelo whistled. “Did Piebald go all dark side? Can’t she do all that?”

“I don’t know Michael.” Donatello admitted, “But we’re about to find out. I’ve figured out a pattern in the places they’re targeting and I have a pretty good idea of where we can catch them in the act.”

Raphael nodded and gave an approving grunt. “Then let’s put a hustle on it!”

The journey was an easy and short one. They came onto the roof of the museum and, while they split up at Raphael’s order to find a way into the building, Leonardo took the chance to read the sign.

“New York Hall of Science?” Leonardo scrunched up his beak.

Michelangelo hummed and put his hand on his hip; he had just found a way in through the vent shaft. “Are you sure this is a mission and not just a Donnie field trip?”

Donatello’s lips curled down and he put a hand to his chest. “I reel at the actuation! Gasp! I, the respectable and beloved green mutant lad I am, would never ever do anything like that, never in a million years!” Wild hand gestures enunciated his dramatics. “This is purely professional!”

Michelangelo rolled his eyes. “I found a way in!” He pointed to the vent shaft and was easily able to pry the cover, tossing it aside and going to climb in.

Raphael was there before Michelangelo could do much more than put a foot in, grabbing his baby brother by the shell to pull him out and plop him back down on the safety of the roof.

“Leader goes first!” Raphael declared proudly. Then he immediately melted into soft coos and kneeled beside Michelangelo, pinching the box turtle's cheeks and rubbing his head, “I can’t have my baby brother getting hurt can I?”

He stood up again and gave the seething Michelangelo a final pat on the shoulder before jumping into the vents without a care as to where they led. Michelangelo tried to follow after, but he was forced back by sharp nudges from Leonardo and Donatello as they side-checked him before ducking inside. Michelangelo was the last one in the vents and the last one out.

The brothers fell one by one from the vent shaft, landing with solid, yet muffled thumps as the stealth mode drilled into them took over. The building was completely dark, but that was expected given the fact it was long after hours and the security guards and workers had all gone home for the night.

“Nice.” Leonardo whistled, eyes going white as they scanned across the dark room. “Now this is more my style!”

The museum, despite its namesake, didn't much resemble a museum as it did an indoor playground. There were several exhibits quartered off with rope and chains; a rocket ride that resembled a better, cooler version of a coin-operated horse, a trampoline with a harness attached to a bungee cord, several displays showing off depictions of the solar system or sand dollars you could dig for in a sand pit or a small chemical set for little experiments. It was like something straight out of a child's imagination! Michelangelo had to rub his eyes several times just to be sure he was actually seeing it.

Donatello stepped in front of the awed group and gave a bow before motioning widely to the room. “Welcome, dear brothers, to the greatest place on earth if you happen to be a science child! Ohhh I’ve always wanted to come here!” Donatello practically melted, his eyes shimmering with the child-like wonder as he leaned his full weight on his bo staff. He sucked in a shaky gasp and one of his spider arms deployed to offer him a tissue. “It’s so beautiful.”

“I guess.” Raphael laughed, smiling at the sight of his brother happy as could be. “But I don’t really see how this fits our thief's MO…”

“Allow me to elaborate!” Donatello declared, spinning on his heels to face his brothers again as he threw purple sparkles into the air, “This museum of wonder and extravagance will be displaying the illusive and highly controversial trillion-sided die in their Math-mania exhibit this Saturday eve! School children from all over with come to marvel as this beautiful piece of scientific—“

“Woah woah woah, trillion-sided die?” Leonardo interrupted, fixing Donatello with his ‘I don’t believe you’ eyes, “That sounds totally made up!”

Donatello gasped as if Leonardo’s words were a personal affront. “I assure you the trillion-sided die is a hundred percent, genuine marvel of the world—“

“How could there be a trillion sides?” Leonardo asked, “Who counted all them sides!”

“T...they clearly had a highly advanced expert to prove—“

“Another question,” Leonardo raised his hand, “How big is the die? It’s gotta be pretty big to have a trillion sides.”

“I… It’s a… it’s just a regular sized die!”

“Then are the sides all like… really small or… or how did they do that?” Leonardo leaned against a wall and smirked.

Michelangelo was quickly growling bored with the argument and his eyes began to wander, searching for some movement or stimulation to keep his mind happy. What he found instead was a wet spot on the floor, and once he saw it, it was impossible to unsee it. It was like someone had been carrying a bucket full of water with the bottom full of holes, dripping it all the way through the walkway and then around a bend and out of sight.

“Guys—!” Michelangelo tried to get their attention. He was met with a finger pressed to his lips to silence him.

“Shush, Angelo. Big boys are talking!”

Michelangelo’s hands became fists and he growled. If he had been in a cartoon, steam would have poured out of his ears! But before he could try again to call their attention, Leonardo had jumped forward, leaning his entire weight on Michelangelo’s head to point.

“Hey look! A water trail!”

Raphael came over grinning. “Good job Leo! Great find!”

“Oh come on!” Michelangelo groaned loudly.

[appleebees]

MINE CRAF!! started this world a couple weeks ago? been working on it on and off because School

so this is some of my current stuff that i’m working on!! not counting the nether haha. 

 descriptions of what each thing is under the cut :p

1- Shot of my ~base~ area from the bottom of the bridge. The gay rights orbs really stand out at night, and so do the lanterns, so.... :)

2/3- Wide shots of the area!! unfortunately both cut this off, but I also have really large tree farm in the area. it’s behind a mountain :( there’s also a strip mine entrance, fishing area, and boat dock, but they’re kinda small so I didn’t get individual photos.

4- my house, specifically! that’s the outside. it’s actually hollowed from a natural structure, which you can still kinda see.

5- THE BRIDGE. it’s the first aesthetic thing i built and probably my favorite?? i just think it looks cool as hell B) idk lol

6- bottom floor of my house...it’s so small....there’s an upstairs but i couldn’t fit that picture so :]

7- my furnace pit!! its under the house in the courtyard/patio area. built it for smelting like.... 22 stacks of sand at one

8- BEACH HOUS!!! secondary location bc I was building a trident farm so. the fence area is home to a couple turtles!

9- inside of the beach house. i really like the floors. i like them so much. it’s pretty.

10- my trident farm! it’s super simple, and the most recent addition to the world. built it last night at like 1 a.m. i’ll link the tutorial i followed if anyone is interested. took so many fucking blocks ://

[seafleece]

you know, the worst fucking thing about it is she almost doesn’t. jester almost checks in time.

—

there’s a funny swirl of sensation— she thought the hand would be cold, clammy or oily, like the hair or just otherwise filthy, the kind of hand only a desperate man would shake, the kind of hand that feels like it’s knitted together with sorrow, but it’s not. the fingers are really long, but that’s about it.

the door is opening behind her, that predictable witch-y creak, and isharnai’s grin isn’t as evil as she thought it would be. her eyes dart towards the door, and back to beau, and when jester calls to her, something curiously mundane, she sinks in this huge, satisfied exhale. like she’s done. like she’s settling in to watch.

“beau, are you done yet, we—“

isharnai lets her go and she falls backward onto the floor.

—

there’s a distant yelp, and the sound of feet. isharnai is perfectly still above her, perfectly silent, her work done.

jester’s hands cradle her face, lift her up, like she had back in the cathedral.

this will be the last time, beau thinks. tries to drink everything about it in.

jester’s eyes, big and deep and purple. her mouth opens— she’s saying something, shouting something, her hands cold and curiously shaky against her cheeks, but beau can’t hear it. so pretty, she thinks, should’ve told her again. just to say it. just to know she knows.

—

“beau? beau, what happened, what did you do—”

beau smiles at her, a loose and open thing. her mouth opens and shuts again, and the look in her eyes is so warm it almost makes her forget the sight of isharnai letting go, long fingers unwinding from beau’s wrist like threads. almost makes her forget that beau’d been gripping back.

isharnai drifts over her so smoothly, like shadows drawing forward with the sunset, and she reaches for jester’s face. there’s not much she can do to fight the pull as isharnai twists her, peering down into her face with that serpentine curve to her spine, looking somehow sleepy, sated.

she’s starting to cry, and isharnai’s eyes glitter at the sight of it. she looks between them, at jester’s tail still wound around beau’s wrist, at the way beau’s hand twitches, tries to close around it, and falls slack again.

“oh,” she says. “oh, i see.”

her long, too long, unsettlingly long thumb swipes under jester’s eye, and the shadows spread from her like long hair in water. when she lets go of jester she falls, too, and the darkness creeps up from the corners of her eyes.

—

“i have to say,” isharnai says. “i did not expect this.”

—

sitting up is like pulling herself through molasses. she clutches at her head— breathing feels like fog is pouring from her nose, her mouth.

“beau?” jester stirs from beside her— she’d been on the floor when beau had fallen asleep, she remembers, the bed was gross and she’d said something stupid about the poison not being able to hurt her, but it’s not the first time she’s gone to sleep alone and woken up to jester next to her. “what’s happenin’—?”

“i—” she says. “where are we?”

jester’s eyes are open for only a second. they don’t glow so bright as molly’s used to in the dark, but she can feel them on her face before they close again and jester pulls herself further into beau’s side. her horn digs a little at her ribs.

“we’re in the inn,” she says happily, “in kamordah.” like all is well. “we’re going to mount menteri tomorrow.”

“no, i—” she pauses. “we already did that. we were just there, i—”

“yup.” jester’s voice is muffled where her face presses into beau’s back. “you messed up, didn’t you.”

it’s not a question.

“yeah.” beau laughs, pulls a hand backward through her hair. “just like always. what’s— why are we back?”

“you’re doing what you said you would. giving it up.”

“huh.” beau lays back down. she and jester don’t fit together perfectly, like the people in jester’s books probably do. she’s a bit too small in jester’s arms, gets swallowed just so if one of them rolls in their sleep. jester’s horns wake her up sometimes, sometimes she elbows jester in the stomach and jester wakes with an oof— she sees it all happening in a blur, a montage of fond imperfection. of things to miss.

“you know, you kinda sound like isharnai.”

she falls asleep again to the sound of laughter.

—

she opens her eyes in nicodranas to the sound of water on the rocks by the chateau— she’s been wading in from further out in the ocean. on the sand, jester is standing, holding a big floppy hat down over her hair with one hand and waving furiously with the other.

it’s foggy out, but she can still see jester’s cheeks scrunched up towards her eyes with her grin, the ribbons of her dress catching the breeze. the chateau’s secret little beach is boxed in by low cliffs and crawling coast plants— everything is still except for this, the others are back inside still. asleep, or preparing breakfast. they’d left this moment for just the two of them.

they did that a lot, she thinks. even nott. there are so many of these she still has to remember, still has to wade backward through.

she makes for shore, but with each step the water drags heavier and heavier at her legs, refusing to get shallower. nugget is barking and barking— he runs out toward her, into the water, but the fog is drawing down to meet the ocean until she can’t tell where one ends and the other begins.

—

“love you, jes.”

jester’s tears bleed into her vestiges— funny, how she can feel it even with the rain.

“it’s not that i don’t believe you, you know,” she says, “but do you really believe me?”

“i—”

“it’s how you show it, too.” she squeezes tight around beau’s waist, and lets her go. “it’s whether or not you act like the other person loves you, too.”

beau turns. lightning breaks the sky at last, and the thunder rattles something deep in her chest. jester seems so far away all of a sudden, tears still rolling warm and unabashed down her face. “i’m gonna try,” she says, has to raise her voice over the storm. she’s crying, too. “i’ll try to remember.”

“me, too,” jester wraps her arms around herself, preserving. “i love you.”

the storm carries the sound of it to her, even as the sky swirls black and endless overhead.

—

“i don’t think i’m forgetting everyone else,” she says, miserably. “just you.”

they’re in the cart, and jester has her eyes closed— it’s a pretty good facsimile of sleep, she’s even remembering to breathe like it, but beau knows she’s awake, knows the inside of the cart is too familiar for her to look at. a stray tear curls into the hollow under her chin.

“it’s funny, you know. i didn’t get it until just now. why it would just be you.”

“yeah?” jester’s voice scratches with disuse, with tears from earlier.

“yeah. you were what i thought of when i said i’d give it up— i thought it was the traveling part, but it was the traveling with you part all along.”

“you should have told me.”

“yeah.”

“i’m gonna forget, too, you know.” jester opens one eye. the purple is so deep it’s almost black. “i’m forgetting right now.”

“i’m sorry.”

“we will still do it, you know. what we planned. but none of us want to. something isn’t the right way, or what was supposed to happen, just because you can survive it.”

“when’d you get so damn smart, jes?”

jester laughs— a sudden bark— if beau didn’t know better, she’d think it loud enough, harsh enough to alert everyone else, but the magic on the cart keeps it in. anchors them in this sad little nest, together still for a moment. “it’s you,” she says. “this is what you know.”

“oh.”

jester’s eye closes again. the uneven rattle of pebbles under the wheels of the cart grows smoother, less distinct, a falling away of sensation.

“dairon’s not gonna know how to braid the circlet into my hair as nice as you do, huh?”

“no.” it’s a whisper.

“i hope she doesn’t get too offended when i talk about you in my sleep while we’re traveling.”

“she already knew, i think. that night in rosohna.”

“yeah, probably. i was never too subtle, was i?”

“only for me.”

“funny how that works,” and it doesn’t feel funny at all.

—

it’s getting dizzying, faster and faster— isharnai must be bored, she thinks. so many nights of them crowded together and whispering, the next little bit of one long conversation, one they never quite finished.

she sees, for the first time, the funny look jester gives her when she sneaks back into caleb’s hut after keg leaves, wary of the magic— it had been the first night they spent in the hut, and she left them. keg was lovely— is lovely, flushing bright red when she puts her armor back on and beau stirs— but peering into her face again beau thinks that she looks an awful lot like herself. sharp-edged in strange places, snapping like the baby dragon turtles the shop in kamordah somehow got their hands on when she was little, and without someone to worry her into something softer in their embrace.

—

jester beams when beau blows her a kiss in the victory pit— “this is the first time you said you loved me!” she shouts across to beau, and beau’s grin slides off her face into something brackish and cloying at her feet.

—

jester traces the blackened veins in beau’s neck when they embrace, crushingly, on the ground in the evening nip. “i wouldn’t have done this with anyone else, you know,” she whispers.

—

they’re face to face in the shitty little trostenwald inn, heads on the same pillow. jester looks so deep into her eyes she feels pinned there like an insect; she shifts, and her hips bump sleepily into beau’s.

“you’re almost done,” she breathes, sweet and damp. “one more. what are you going to do?”

beau reaches for her hand and lets the nebulousness of the memory shift to create the sensation of jester’s grip. “my job,” she says. “i’m gonna keep working. the soul needs at least one expositor on the dynasty’s side.”

“i’m gonna be so proud of you, still,” jester whispers. tears blot the rough fabric of the pillow. “even if i don’t know it.” she shakes a little.

“yeah.” beau pulls the dreamy rendition of jester’s hand up to her mouth, presses a kiss to the cold center of her palm. “me, too.”

—

jester spins her in a dizzy, joyous circle and she tries to catch her breath, afraid to hold on since her hands are still slick with snake blood. fjord pulls his falchion out of the thing’s head— the blade is almost unrecognizable, a solid, single-edged blade with no accents, no golden tinge. he can’t even un-summon it, has to sheathe it like a regular mercenary and everything.

she wants to laugh, but there’s this sick, rotten feeling in her chest. the death of something final.

“jester,” she says. “can you help me do something?”

“sure,” jester says, voice too serious for the smile on her face.

—

they kneel right there in the mud— the farmer hasn’t even come to check on them yet, and fjord just stands there next to the snake’s body, looking on.

jester folds her hands around beau’s.

“okay,” she whispers. “no promises, but he’s listening.”

she’s quiet for a few seconds.

“uh, hey. traveler. the traveler? whatever jester calls you—” she scratches the back of her neck, the unadorned back of her neck.

“i don’t know if you can even answer prayers— jester says you’re a god, though, so— but anyway. i’m scared. for me and her, and i get if you don’t care about me, but i don’t think she wants to forget me either.”

she screws her eyes further shut. “no, fuck— i know she doesn’t want to forget me, because that’s not what people who love each other want, i know— i just. if there’s anything you can do, if you can save anything, can you at least try? i want to see her again, even if i think it’s for the first time. please.”

jester squeezes her hands. “okay.”

“okay.”

“are you ready?” she opens her eyes and jester’s looking at her like she did on the floor of isharnai’s, watery and afraid and raw.

“no,” her voice is like a kick of gravel, like the backwards sandpapery drag of frumpkin’s tongue. “i’m so sorry.”

jester lets her hands go. “i know.”

and beau falls back, again, spread-eagled in the mud. the morning mist swirls heavy and fathomless overhead, and on the other side of her next blink is dairon’s face, huge and worried.

—

she turns the sending stone over in one hand and strolls off the plank, head on a swivel.

“hey, just made anchor. i’ll check back in when this stupid thing reloads, but i’m gonna take your advice and do some sight-seeing. we’ve earned it, right?”

the first thing she hears is dairon’s sigh. “beauregard, it cut out again. you have to count, remember? anyway, that’s a good idea. if i were you, i’d check out the, uh, the—” the message cuts out, and she huffs out a laugh.

then there’s a weird scuffly sound and dairon’s voice comes back. “sorry, had to steal someone’s— it’s the lavish chateau, beau, the lavish chateau. you should really go there first. like, today.”

“uh, okay?” she waits a few seconds to let the spell end, so she can mutter only to herself instead. “lavish chateau, huh, sounds kinda—”

and then this funny thing happens— it’s like getting kicked right in the solar plexus, the first place dairon taught her to stun someone. she almost pitches forward off the deck and into the shallow water of the quay.

something blurs behind her eyes— a whirl of color, the sound of the ocean, a woman singing, a room covered wall to wall in children’s scribbles. it’s like in her dreams— everything is tinged green, just so, and she just sits right down when it ends, lets her boots dip into the water.

—

the lavish chateau looks a little different than she expects— blue, almost the same color as the sky, and there are no guards out front. she stands there with the map clutched in her hands, feeling the odd need to hold tight to something, and a figure ducks out of the front doorway, leaning down to avoid hitting his head and straightening up.

there’s a long second where he and beau just look at each other, and then—

“caduceus,” she breathes, and goes running.

—

caduceus doesn’t run, but he spreads his arms out wide— still wearing that shirt with the one stupid sleeve, she sees— and lets her bull up into him.

he’s stronger than she remembers, grunts and manages to lift her off her feet, and his laugh rumbles, honey-warm, in her ear.

“beau,” he says. just “beau.”

—

he tows her inside under his arm, her head ducked low and sheepish, and she’s barely back through the door when they all swarm her.

everyone’s hair is so long— they all seem to have the same funny little crown braided into it. everyone except caleb and nott takes a turn crushing her half to death, though for their part they try their best.

“we have not seen you since the ceremony, beauregard,” caleb says. “you should have told us you were coming!”

“yeah, well,” she scratches at her neck, uses the buzz that touching the tattoo always gives her to center herself. “no magic, remember?”

“lousy excuse.” fjord elbows her. “like the soul doesn’t have a million people who could do it for you.”

“i, uh, didn’t know you guys would be here.” which is true, why the chains of tharizdun are milling around in the lobby of the menagerie coast’s most famous courtesan, she can’t quite fathom, imagines it’s for something stupid. “i’m just being a tourist, y’know? never been here before.”

everyone stops talking at once. caleb’s face sinks into its old scowl, and they sort of all collectively sink into their chairs at the first big table.

the synchronicity of it hurts— she used to feel it, too, but it’s her own damn fault, right? she gave it up. nott looks fucking stunning, though— halfling and happy and resplendent, resplendent as a dress stitched full of buttons can possibly be. she’d do it again, maybe not in a heartbeat, but again all the same.

“ah,” caleb says, suddenly gravelly. “yes.”

“hey,” she panics a little. “it’s okay, i’m here now, right?”

they exchange looks— simultaneous, again, and she aches to trade expressions in kind. to be on the same page.

“beau,” caduceus stands, puts a massive hand on her shoulder. “i think you should see the beach.”

“what? i’ve seen the beach before. i still remember being here with you guys, you know—”

“the chateau has a private beach,” fjord says. “it’s really something special. why don’t you check it out, and we can catch up when you get back?”

“uh—”

“i’ll come with you,” yasha says, and stands. “i would like to see this as well.”

“okay?” it does sound nice, a walk on the beach with yasha. they never really got around to talking, beau thinks, after they got yasha back, just sort of danced around each other. broken people broken differently, magnetized towards each other a little but never enough.

“let’s go.”

yasha links her arm in beau’s and near-marches her down the hall, to the little back door.

—

it’s weirdly foggy when they step outside— the sun doesn’t usually take long to burn off the morning sea chill, but it’s still early, she supposes.

they walk in silence, not uncomfortable but not especially calm. there’s this weird anticipatory buzz she can feel from yasha that’s passing into her.

the path is laid with this colorful little stones, flat pieces of sea glass. it’s almost childish— not in the bad way, just something she wouldn’t expect from a place like this. it reminds her of the path into a family’s backyard garden, something a child would walk with wonder.

she has the image of a little girl running, full-tilt down to the water. she’s seen portraits of the ruby of the sea, and there’s a familiar curl to the girl’s horns, the heart-shape of the tail.

“here,” yasha says, and the vision is banished. the fog is thicker still here, clinging to the sand and spreading out across the water.

there’s a dim shadow a ways away, and wouldn’t you know it, beau’s heart starts in this messy gallop that steals her breath. “i—”

she has the vague sensation of yasha pushing her forward, and she half-runs down to the water on fawn legs, suddenly wobbly.

the fog feels thicker, and thicker, until suddenly it clears.

and she’s there.

heaving with breath, the little bells dangling from her horns jingling. cheeks flushed purple almost deep enough to match her eyes.

the fog is pushed out from behind beau in this impossibly strong rush of wind, and when she closes her eyes it’s like all her dreams superimposed.

crowding together on a narrow inn bed, blowing kisses, trading i love you in the rain, tearing out onto this same beach in ribbony dresses, waking up with the slick crunching of broken glass in the belly of a cathedral and hands on her face. lying on the floor of isharnai’s hut, limbs heavy with misery and magic.

jester rushes into her like the tide, none too gentle, fully bowling her back over into the sand. before her body warms with the returned memories, before her hands can reach for jester’s face, jester’s mouth is on hers.

it’s not a particularly skillful thing— their teeth jar for a moment, and they’re both still out of breath, but the first desperate second passes and then jester’s arms slide around her waist and she sighs happily and it’s perfect, really, just perfect.

distantly, she can hear barking— nugget recognizing her, no doubt— and the crash of the waves on the chateau’s private beach, but everything beyond this feels as far and unimportant as the fog.

i remember you, she thinks, i remember i remember, i love you i love you i love you, and jester’s tears run into their kiss and they break apart so she can say it for real, so she can clear her head just enough to hear jester saying it, too.

[tsukaramachi]

Lovesick Valentine (Amir x Reader)

(The lovesick valentine for this year is Amir requested by an anon)

Gentle waves brush up against your ankles as the water climbs up onto the shore. With your hands behind you back, you admire the view of the open ocean. The clear blue skies up above you with the vast ocean beckoning you with its tranquil surface. The sand is soft underneath you and the sun’s rays caress your skin like a thin blanket. 

You always loved the ocean since you were little. Many find it enticing with the many mysteries and wonders kept down below and others fear it for how it can change any moment. But for you, it’s just always on your mind like nothing else. 

It’s charming and beautiful, yet alluring and vicious. Which is why you love it so much.

You feel arms slowly snake around your neck as you’re pulled into someone’s embrace. Looking up, blue gentle eyes look back lovingly at you. Amir’s fingers tenderly brush against your cheek.

“I see that the ocean is taking your attention away from me once again, my dear.”

“Ah sorry Amir...” you look back towards the sparking blue water, “It’s just that I’m always drawn back to it.”

While you stare at the water with your mind up in the clouds wondering what could lie in the ocean. You fail to notice the forced smile Amir kept on as he looked at the sea with you.

After spending some more time watching the water drift. Amir proposed for the two of you to go to into town. While the thought of leaving the beach pained you. The opportunity to go and see the various shops along the docks is a rare occasion for you. 

You didn’t like going into town. The busy crowds and, the exuberant shopkeepers, and the overwhelming amount of people in a big area made you feel sick. Before, you didn’t have anyone to go shopping with. You had no one to wait for. No one to browse with and no one to keep you company. But that was before you learned more about the ocean.

Now that you’re older, it’s been quite a long time since you went into town. You never needed to before for how your family would have others run errands in town and so you mostly stayed in your room or be escorted to the beach by Amir. But maybe, you’ll have fun like the others now that you have him by your side.

As you walk along the docks, you cling close to Amir. The various voices filling the air is a bit too much for you. It makes your stomach churn more when the voices of others reach your ears. You’re not used to crowds and loud sounds, so it makes you feel dizzy. You close your eyes and hide your face into Amir’s white sleeve.

You can hear him chuckle, but it’s quickly muffled. Opening your eyes again, the voices aren’t as overwhelming and they’ve become more manageable. A small smile graces your lips as you continue to walk forward with Amir as his hands stay cupped over your ears. It’s much better this way. 

As you continue to look around, out of the corner of your peripheral vision. Dazzling blue, green, and white catches your attention. On the planks of white wood, you can see the colors projected on its surface. Looking up, you can see differing sizes of bottles hung up with rope along the opening of a small shop. 

Inside, you can see that there’s various treasures within. The wooden carvings of dolphins; turtles; whales along with crates full of assorted colors of seashells draws you in. You head towards the shop and Amir follows you closely behind. 

As you take a step in, you feel the pressure on your ears release. The sounds around you becoming more clear, you feel relief wash over you as the sounds from outside are subdued. 

“It seems that no one fancies this place.” Amir steps next to your side, a pleasant smile up on his lips.

You nod, “But I do.” taking a look around the shop, you explore the items littered across the shelves up on the wall. A ship in a bottle, a painting of a might kraken emerging from a sea of storms, and dried up chunks of coral. Inspecting each one, the smile on your face spreads as you can’t help but feel like your back at the beach. But as you continue to explore the store’s goods, a cheery voice breaks through to you.

“Find anything interesting?”

A young man greets you. Black hair, tan skin, and ocean blue eyes catch you off guard as his face is centimeters away from yours. Startled, you take a step back. 

“I uhm...” it’s a struggle to figure out what to say. You start to feel nauseous in the pit of your stomach as your palms begin to sweat. But the fear holding you ceases as the young man calls your attention to a clam shaped box in his hand.

“Ah I’m sorry miss... here, please take a look at this!” he winds up a golden knob in the back of it. With care, he opens it up to reveal a small sun and moon. The two gracefully twirl around another in the center to the sweet tune that emits from the box. Behind them, a picture of the ocean’s wonders. Black silhouettes of fish flow around colorful coral as white jellyfish are scattered about. It’s painted so delicately and the details are distinct despite being so small. 

“This music box is one of my favorite items from the shop. I’ve never seen anyone so immersed in the shop before so I thought you might like it!” the man says cheerfully as he hands you the music box. The music still playing, you feel yourself drawn to the box.

But before you can touch it, the top is shut making the music abruptly stop. You snap out of the trance you were in and see that Amir has his hand on the top. 

The young man looks confused “Excuse me sir but-” 

With closed eyes and a small smile, Amir cuts him off.

“I’m sorry but it looks like it’s time for us to leave. My lady has had quite enough troubles to deal with today.”

You feel yourself be pulled back by Amir’s arm and his hand rests firmly on your shoulder. He bids the man a good day and ushers you out to the front door. When you look back, you can’t take your eyes off of the music box in the man’s hands.

---------------------------------

It’s been a couple days since your trip into town. After leaving, Amir has had you kept in your room. But you don’t mind for the big window facing towards your beloved ocean is always open. 

A few knocks come from your door and Amir walks in. With a hand behind his back, he walks over to you and sits next to you on the soft sheets. As your occupied staring out the window, he pulls you into an embrace. 

“You know my dear, it’s Valentine’s day and I’ve gotten a surprise for you.” he pulls back and hands you a sky blue box encased by a white ribbon topped with a white bow, “To show my love to you.” 

You take the silk ribbons off and open the top of the box. Your eyes shine as you take out the clam shaped music box you saw from the man before. Brushing your hand over it, the smooth texture soothes you. Turning it around, you wind up the knob in the back and face the music box towards you. 

The top opens and the same small sun and moon begin to twirl, but a horrible twisted tune creeps out from the box. Your brows furrow as the music grows louder. It sounds ominous and the lullaby like tune is replaced by a rotting melody. The sun and moon begin to slow down and stop in place, but the haunting music continues to play. 

You feel uncomfortable by the music box. The sick feeling from before arouses in you and you cover your ears. It feels hard to breathe and your head feels dizzy. But before it can utter out another sickly note. Amir closes the box and tosses it onto the floor. With a swift graceful stomp, he brakes the box and the music stops.

The sick feeling is still present within you. It’s hard to think and you don’t like the strange feeling in your chest. 

As you continue to hold your hands over your ears. Amir briskly walks over to the window and closes the curtains. Your once bright room is now dimmed from the lack of sunlight. With a small shut of the window, Amir goes over to you and wraps his arms around you. Gently rocking you back and forth, he continues it for the next ten minutes as he hums a small lullaby of his own to you.

It’s the same tune he always hums to you when you feel ill and it never fails to calm you. After you feel better, you free your ears and listen to what he has to say.

“Oh I’m so sorry my dear. I knew that small shop we visited enchanted you. So I went back and bought you that music box from the young man. Ah, but it seems like it’s gone bad hasn’t it? How silly of me to buy such a wretched thing.” Amir says as he pets your hair softly.

“Forgive me my dear. If I had known that it would croak out such an ugly tune, I would’ve gotten you a better present...”

A frown hangs on Amir’s lips as he lays his head on top of yours. No longer feeling sick, you now feel troubled by his sad expression. You don’t wish for your dear playmate to feel sad because of something so small. Nuzzling your face into his chest, you hug him back and hum him the tune he had sung to you earlier. Rocking back and forth like the oceans waves, you try to comfort him the only way you know how. 

---------------------------------

“How adorable you are my dear...” brushing his fingers against your cheek, Amir cradles you in his arms. You had fallen asleep while you comforted him and seeing you rest peacefully in his arms is the most beautiful thing in the world. 

“I wonder what you’re dreaming about my love...” he looks up at the white canopy with a smirk across his face, “I do hope it’s me. The thought of something else invading your mind is quite annoying, but I’ll keep those thoughts at bay for you.” 

Looking down at you, he smiles as he thinks about how you’re his alone.

“Oh my dear sweet love. I’m sorry I have to expose you once again to those unpleasant bottom feeders.” He chuckles out a low sickly laugh, but it doesn’t wake you.

“Ah I love you so much (Y/N). You know, I’ve always been jealous of your adoration for the ocean. You find anything about it fascinating just as much as how I find you intoxicating. I can never get enough of your pleasant scent. I’m drawn to your form where ever you go... but I hate how you look at the ocean as if you’re in love.”

He grits his teeth.

“You always gaze at it so longingly...yet I’m right here. Don’t you know I was made for you? I exist only for you but the ocean seems to always clog your thoughts.” 

Holding you tight, his form begins to tremble.

“Why must something so endless cloud your mind? I’m unable to get rid of it like I did with the others. But maybe that’s the charm I see in you. As you fall more in love with the ocean’s mystique. It makes me want to make you mine even more. My body, mind, and soul are all for you yet you choose not to explore them.”

He sighs as he stares down at you.

“I try so hard to make sure that you only enjoy the things I know that are suitable for you. I can’t have you being drawn to others and it helps that you’re slowly getting used to it. Ahaha~ you can’t help but rely on me when those ugly feelings begin to creep in, but I love it so much. I just can’t get enough of you and knowing that you need me more just makes my patchwork heart overflow.”

Leaning down, he inhales you scent.

“One day, one day (Y/N)...I’ll make you sink down into something more wonderful than the ocean’s depths. I want you to drown in this love that I harbor for you. So that you can never escape and no matter what happens, you won’t reach the surface. It excites me to think that one day this will happen and when it does...”

He leans down and plants a kiss on your forehead.

“We’ll be trapped together and forever. Soon my love, you’ll be bound by the red strings that draw me back to you~”

[dxsole]

@rcppled​ | Liked For A Starter

He refuses to budge. People have started to complain that he can’t just sit in the middle of some prime real estate on the beach and expect others to just walk around him— but he did. And he would whack anyone that dared to try and make him move. His insistence and refusal to move is much like that of a cranky child. “It isss the turtle.” He begins to explain to the first sensible person who has decided to ask why he won’t move.

“I wasss asssked to watch her young.” Between his criss-crossed legs was indeed a disturbance in the sand, a small pit with sand-covered eggs laying within. “I have been ssstationary for 14 sssunrisesss now— I will not be ssswayed.”

[acelikesturtles]

“Ice Cream Sunday”

Prompt: Depression Comfort One-shot feat. Olivia & the Turts

Warnings: Lots of internal reflection about depression and mental health stuff. Also there’s like one curse word, maybe more, I don’t remember??

Word Count: 1,783

A/N: The formatting on the original post got royally FUCKED as always and near gave me a heart attack when I realized what I did. Hope you don’t mind @dw-im-just-sad​! I also hope that there are sunnier days ahead for you, I too have been struggling with a depression episode recently (which is part of why the drabble for this prompt is coming in a little later than I’d have liked it to), so I definitely know at least some of the feeling. <3

Lazy Sundays were normally pretty good in Olivia’s mind.

The lack of obligations, the peace and quiet paired with the promise of a more fun night ahead when the boys got finished training or doing whatever it is they did during the day. Today’s Lazy Sunday didn’t feel as good though, if anything it made her feel worse the more that she was a part of it. Staring up at the ceiling of the lair, her mind felt simultaneously numb and tired while still managing to be alive with an uncomfortable amount of unaddressed emotions.

Aside from the laid back bliss that came with a Lazy Sunday, this was supposed to be her happy place. Although the initial experience of the stench when she came in was (and always would be) unforgiveable, her nose became adjusted to it until it was practically background noise amidst the experience of being with the turtles. Their little home environment was always so loving and warm, a spot where she could escape or run away from a world that felt so harsh and anxiety-inducing and instead surround herself with people that eased her into smiling even when life was at its most difficult.

Even if the lair was usually a safe and happy place for her, it didn’t mean that it cancelled out the rest of her own very prominent emotions, particularly right now. Reluctantly, Olivia had to admit that this was probably her depression again, baring its teeth and looking for a fight that she didn’t have the energy to start. It wasn't like it ever went away when she met the boys, if anything it just enjoyed burying itself like an ostrich in the sand when they were around before pulling its head back up when they weren't. It didn’t quite like company as much. After all, it was infinitely easier to take her down when she was alone.

Blinking slowly, she recognized that while there may not have been one singular reason for the depression to start bubbling up, its persistence despite her attempts at distracting herself from it probably meant that it would be there to stay for a while, or at least until she found a big enough distraction to offset the emotions and the experiences. The boys had said they wanted to run a movie marathon once the day’s activities were over, so that would probably help. Or at least she hoped it would.

Olivia ran her hand down her face and let out a deep and shaky breath. The weight of her own emotions started nudging her closer to tears, and she gave in rather reluctantly. She tried to be quiet, only letting one or two tears out so she wouldn’t break into a full out sob. This wasn't the place to cry and be sad, this was the party pad and nobody cries when they're in the party pad, Mikey had said it himself one time.

Right as she was about to get up off the couch she had been curled up on to get herself a glass of water, her eyes quickly met with Mikey's. He was hovering over her now, a few beads of sweat on his forehead running down the side of his face. Their training session must have been particularly brutal today if even Mikey was sweating. Normally that was reserved for Donnie, he tended to get winded a little bit faster given the brutal workout routine Splinter kept them on.

"Are you crying, dude?"

"No," Olivia said defensively. She sat up so she wouldn't have to feel like she was under a magnifying glass quite as much as she did with Mikey peering down at her from over the back of the couch. "I'm tired, that's all."

"Nah, nah, dude you were crying, I can see it in your eyes they’re all red and stuff," Mikey seemed really insistent with one hand reaching for and firmly grasping her shoulder. His face seemed more empathetic than it did confrontational. "What's wrong? You can talk to me."

"I-"

A jumbled mess of every last thing that had ever felt wrong or ever been wrong throughout her entire life flashed in front of her mind. It wasn’t like one specific reason stood as the answer to why she felt like this, it was more like an unfortunate combination of it all that left her drained, and had been leaving her drained for years now. She frowned, then looked down at her jeans and began picking at the worn frays of denim at the bottom of her pant legs. Talking about it would just get complicated, especially to Mikey. He oozed pure light and joy almost all the time, would he really understand what this kind of thing felt like?

"Seriously Mikey, its not that bad, just feeling kinda off I guess. I'll be okay."

Mikey narrowed his eyes at her before thrusting himself over the back of the couch and onto the cushions to join her. Clearly he wasn’t buying it. “Its okay to cry, I do too,” He said softly. His own openness to admitting his emotions was remarkable seeing as . “He wouldn’t wanna admit it, but Raph does too at those puppy commercials.”

“ASPCA Ads.” Donnie interrupted through a sigh. He had been sitting in his desk nearly the entire time, typing away at something important while monitoring the security cameras. As for how he managed to get out of today’s training, she didn’t know, but he at least had seemed to be enjoying his little vacation time away. He got up from his chair and plopped himself down criss-cross on the floor in front of them, whispering, “Sometimes we gotta flip the channel cause he gets all worked up seeing them. But you didn’t hear that.”

Olivia couldn’t help but smile, even if it was just a weak smirk that tugged at the corners of her lips. That sounded like Raph alright, the boy had a soft spot for pit bulls and other big tough seeming dogs and seeing them suffering in kennels all alone would probably pull at every last heartstring he didn’t even know he had.

“I better not have heard you say what I just think I did.” The now looming shadow over her spoke. She turned her head and saw it was Raph, who only peeled his eyes away from Donnie for a moment to look down at Olivia. Suddenly the thought of beefing with Donnie outside for embarrassing him didn’t seem as important to him once he caught sight of her puffy and reddened eyes. “Are you crying?”

“Fine.” She gave in. “Yeah, I am, but its fine, seriously. Don’t worry about it.” Olivia sighed. “Sometimes I...I don’t know, I just feel like this, no reason to worry.”

“Nah, I ain’t worrying, just wanna make sure its not because of one of these two knuckleheads.” Raph responded coolly before shoving at Mikey playfully and pushing him off the couch so he could sit. “Why are you feeling like that though?”

“I don’t know,” Olivia sighed. “I just do sometimes. It doesn’t really ever go away, just subsides for a little while."

A couple moments of silence filled the air, only punctuated by the sounds of Leo's footsteps as he joined the conversation and sat down beside Donnie. "What's going on?" He asked, looking from brother to brother.

"Olivia's been feeling super sad and its bumming her out." Mikey answered, rolling onto his back.

Great. Now everybody was on her case. Olivia braced herself for the long and draining conversation that was bound to be ahead about why she was actually sad and why she had depression when her life “wasn't as bad as some other people”. She had heard it all before and none of it helped, it only made her feel worse, like she was a weight that everyone else was forced to carry.

"Is there any way we could help?" Leo asked. His expression seemed genuine, as if he was coming from a place of understanding rather than judgement. As her gaze drifted over each brother she noticed a similar strain of understanding and friendly compassion behind their eyes (except for Mikey, who was still laid back on his shell waving his arms back and forth as if he were making snow angels.) Even the usually closed off Raphael, who seemed particularly invested in what she might suggest.

Olivia didn’t really know what would help if she was honest with herself, but maybe there was some merit behind the thought that their genuine desire to help her could take the edge away for the time being or push her out of the storm clouds she had been sitting under. Her gaze once again drifted across the room to each turtle, hesitating to answer as she parted and closed her lips again. What would help?

“I don’t know.” She answered truthfully, feeling a little embarrassed at her own lack of an answer yet again. There had to be something, she just didn’t know what it was, couldn’t place her finger on it. Crawling out of one of these depressive episodes was a process, not something that happened overnight.

“That’s okay!” Mikey said, now sitting back up and pointing a set of finger guns at her. “We can help until you do know.”

"We could all use a little company when we're not feeling good." Don smiled.

“Not going anywhere until you’re feeling better.” Raph nodded in agreement.

Small waves of relief washed over Olivia’s body. The numbest parts of her mind began to feel a little more warm and relaxed. The turtles didn’t know the full extent of how much their friendship meant to her, or the positive effect they had on her most crushed and beaten down psyche. Despite maybe not entirely understanding, they were still able to offer a hand out in peace, something that reminded her of why she so often called the lair her second home. This was a happy place, a party pad, a place to have a good time like Mikey always said. But Olivia saw another side of the lair too now.

This could be a place where she was able to cry and feel her emotions while still having a support system at her side by the end of the day.

Although she still felt pretty shit, Olivia finally had something on her mind that she felt like could help her, even if it was just a little. “Movies and ice cream.” She said softly, rubbing her puffy eyes. As Mikey excitedly got up to fulfill the ice cream part of her request, she shouted after him.

“Two scoops!”

[keeroo92]

Beach HC’s

A quick dose of beachy headcanons for your enjoyement :)

Dante

The beach? He’s so in! He’ll grab his trunks and a pair of sunglasses and be ready to leave in five minutes flat. He cracks a few jokes about seeing you in a swimsuit but you can tell from the sparkle in his eye he’s genuinely excited.

He takes full advantage of the opportunity to rub tanning lotion over your skin. His fingers skim over you, paying special attention to your shoulders and legs. You can’t help but blush as he rubs up your thighs, winking at you and humming suggestively. You promise yourself you’ll pay him back later.

Surfing? Hell yes! He’ll rent a pair of boards and show you the ropes, coaching you until you ride your very first wave. After that, it becomes a race to see which of you gets to the wave first. He lets you win a few rounds, keeping a close eye on you just in case.

Watching him surf is a thing of beauty – his hair blows out behind him and his smirking whoops make you laugh. After a while he starts doing stunts, showing off with glee and shooting a silly face your way during the more complicated moves.

He challenges you to a sandcastle contest once you start to tire, running to the surf shop to get some buckets and shovels. You glance at him as you work on your own creation to see a look of total focus on his face, his hands as careful as they are on your body as he builds a miniature motorcycle, complete with a gas cap. You concede to him and he claims his prize – your lips.

His stubble tickles your chin and sandy fingers pull you closer. You can smell the sea water on his skin and feel the strength of his body as he pulls you down onto the blanket. Even though he doesn’t do anything explicit, you’re still a panting mess by the time he pulls away with a roguish gleam in his eyes. He gets no complaints from you as he packs up, smacking your ass on the way to the car; a promise of how he’ll fully claim his prize when you get home.

Vergil

He’s not keen on the idea until you mention you’ll wear nothing more than is absolutely necessary. At that, his eyes light up with curiosity and he sets aside his book and leads you to the car.

His hand rests on your knee through the whole drive, a subtle twist of his lips the only outward sign of his interest. You can’t resist teasing him and reach out to muss his hair, laughing as he growls at you in annoyance. You tell him it’ll get messy on the beach anyway and he sulks, knowing you’re right but still grumpy.

You duck into a changing booth and don your beach clothing. The twitch of his hands and the bob of his Adam’s apple are all the signal you need to know he’s enjoying the view when you rejoin him. He’s in a pair of board shorts that match his eyes and a light t-shirt and you whistle at him approvingly.

He’s not one to lounge in the sunlight idly and takes you on a leisurely stroll down the shore, looking for shells. You find a particularly shiny one and present it to him, much to his restrained delight. To anyone else, he may seem bored by the trinket, but you spot the sparkle in his icy gaze and know he’ll treasure it.

The tide pools are his favorite part. He can barely look away from the assorted crabs and barnacles, poking an anemone after some prodding. He chuckles at its instinctive retreat and brings your hand to join him, sharing the strange texture. He presses a kiss to your forehead as you pull away and you bring his knuckles to your lips in reply.

Somewhere in the rocks, he finds a discarded hermit crab shell and he promises to make it into a necklace for you. It warms your heart to know he cares enough to create something just for you and you lean into his shoulder, wrapping your arms around him in a hug. The two of you spend the rest of the day side by side, roaming the beach until the sun sets.

V

He’s curious – he’s never been to the beach before and smiles gently at the idea, leaving whatever task previously held his attention behind. You make sure to slather him in sunblock before you even leave the house, knowing how easily he burns. The markings on his skin wiggle at your touch, the same way they do whenever he particularly enjoys contact.

Soon enough you step onto the sand and watch his reaction. He wiggles his toes in the warm granules, eyes wide and wondrous as he stares at the ocean. He comments that it’s much bigger than he imagined and pictures simply don’t compare. You take his hand and lead him forward, giggling at his childlike awe.

It was already late in the day when you arrived and you quickly claim a firepit, arranging some choice driftwood as seats as he scavenges material to burn. He settles in between your legs and watches the sun set over the waves, humming his pleasure as you play with his hair. He’ll kiss the inside of your knees to show his appreciation.

He starts the fire as the last few rays of light vanish and chuckles as you pull a bag of marshmallows from your oversized beach bag. You show him your well-practiced technique of continuously rotating the sugary treat, but no matter how hard he tries he can’t seem to keep it from catching fire. Luckily, he likes the crunch of the charred sugar. Soon enough, he has his own method of lighting them and blowing out the flames before it’s too late.

You take turns feeding each other toasted marshmallows, but watching his lips close over the morsel is too much. He teases you mercilessly, moaning around the sweet flavor and deliberately licking the sensitive tips of your fingers until you can’t resist and lean in for a sugary kiss.

He points out his favorite constellations in the star-strewn sky and you pick a cluster and name it after his favorite poem. No matter how many times he tells you its real name, you refuse to call it anything else until he surrenders to your will. He covers your shoulders in a constellation of his own design, and soon enough you’re too busy gasping beneath the lanky poet to care about the stars.

Nero

You don’t warn him, instead pretending you’re taking him out to eat. He barely pays attention as you drive to the shoreline of Fortuna, only catching on once you take the last turn into the parking lot. His stomach rumbles and you smirk, handing him one of the sandwiches you brought for this exact reason. You wolf down your own serving almost as quickly as he devours his own and chuckle at the crumbs on his shirt. He blushes and looks down as you brush them away.

Once his hunger is satiated, you lead him to the surf shop to rent two pairs of snorkels and fins, grinning at the look of confused surrender on his face. As always, once he’s fed he’ll go along with whatever you have in mind.

You wade into the shallows after a quick change and dive in right beside him, paddling out to what looks like an interesting area. The water is so clear you can see the rocks below and you point out a school of fish to him. His gasp of enjoyment echoed up the snorkel and he took the lead, his clever eyes picking out every creature and pretty shell with ease.

His eyes light up when he spots a turtle and you can’t help but laugh. He takes your hand and drags you after it, following with a respectful amount of distance. It traces a meandering path for an hour before it finally notices its audience, darting away to hide faster than the pair of you can follow.

Another few hours pass and you return to the beach, returning the rentals just as the shop starts closing up. You lead Nero to a secluded section of sand and together, you build a hideaway from the driftwood. He digs a shallow pit to give you more room and you wiggle your way inside with a laugh.

You can barely see his blush as he joins you, forced to hold you extra close in the small space. It gives you the perfect chance to tease him, running your hands across his muscles until his flush reaches his pecs. Your bodies work together to displace even more sand, deepening your fort in a symphony of subdued moans.