#affordable bunk beds for kids

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Dear Diary. . .

18+ for some smut. . .

Steve thought a lot about people's sexuality since Robin came out to him on the floor of the bathroom at Starcourt. Well, he thought about it a lot more. Before, it was only a casual thought. How could two members of the same sex do that? Not in like a hateful way but more in a curious way. How could two men have sex? He usually spent time on it, thinking about it. . .too much time thinking about it, really. That should have been his first clue, but at the time, he shook those thoughts away by telling himself that he was just being overly judgemental like his dad. Now, he was thinking about it a lot more, and he couldn't quite figure it out until Eddie Munson walked into Family Video one afternoon.

"It's fucking freezing! I can't believe Keith made us come in. I swear that I'm going to do it this time," Robin said. "I'm gonna kill him."

"You keep saying it, but then it never happens," Steve chuckled.

"There's no one even here!" Robin complained.

It was the middle of December and pretty damn cold. No one would be crazy enough to escape the warmth of their homes just to get a movie. He was quickly proven wrong, though, when the door opened and Eddie Munson walked in.

"Jesus H Christ! It's freezing in here. Do you guys have the air conditioner on in the middle of winter?" Eddie asked.

"It's broken. We couldn't fix it, and we couldn't get anyone to come out," Steve said.

"And you guys didn't just say 'fuck it' and go home?" Eddie asked.

"We can't really afford to do that," Steve said.

"Really? King Steve can't afford to take one day off? The man with his own castle or so I've heard," Eddie said, and Robin scoffed at him, scowling.

"You mean, my parents' house? Yeah, no. It's their house and like they've told me since I was six: It's their house and they just allow me to live there. They made me start paying them rent the minute I didn't get into any college, and they threatened to kick me out without all my stuff if I didn't pay up on time, so no I can't really afford to say fuck it," Steve said. "And the thing about being called King Steve are the assumptions that come with it. They assume that because I was born into money that everything that comes with it is mine. That I have it easy. You know, you can have all the money in the world but you can't pay your parents to love you. I mean, I don't know. Does it make you feel good when people call you freak?"

"Jesus. . . No," Eddie said, looking properly shamed. "Look, sorry, man. I can fix your problem for free."

"Which problem? People calling me King Steve or my parents not loving me?" Steve asked.

"Well, I can't fix those problems, but I can fix your heat," Eddie smirked. "Let me go get my tools."

He left the store, leaving Steve alone with Robin.

"He's lucky he apologized and offered to fix the heat, or otherwise I would have kicked his ass," Robin muttered, and then she paused. "Your parents are home, aren't they?"

"Yeah," Steve muttered.

"You know, my dad put bunk beds in my room like I'm a kid or something. Want to have a sleepover?" Robin asked.

"Only if I get the the top. A top for a top," Steve said with a smirk.

"Ugh. You'll get bottom and like it," Robin said. "You know, my parents love you. I think you should take up their offer and -"

She didn't get to finish her sentence because Eddie made his way into the store. He shook his toolbox at Steve.

"Lead the way, Harrington," Eddie grinned.

"I'll mind the store, although I think it's pointless. I don't think anyone else is crazy enough to come out in this weather," Robin said to Steve. "You mind him."

"Thanks," Eddie grinned cheerfully as he followed Steve into the back.

Wordlessly, Steve watched as he took off his jacket and got to work. The other man was wearing a tight red sweater. It was so tight that Steve could practically see his. . .wait, are those. . .are those nipple piercings? Steve swallowed. Why couldn't he look away? The movement of Eddie rolling up his sleeves tore his attention away from the man's nipples. There was a tattoo of a creature controlling a puppet on his forearm. He stared at it while he worked and wondered if there were any more tattoos on Eddie's body. Steve tilted his head to the side as he pictured taking off Eddie's sweater to look for more, his mind picturing Eddie's piercings. He could imagine them so clearly, and Steve could see his own hand reaching out to brush his thumb over the piercing. Suddenly, Eddie's underneath him, and Steve is reaching down to take it -

"All done!" Eddie's voice called out.

"What?!" Steve exclaimed.

He realized what he was feeling now. The familiar pull of arousal in his stomach is something that he immediately recognized. Mews being eaten by a demodog! Mews being eaten by a demodog! Yeah, that did it. Eddie was staring at him now with his big brown beautiful eyes, his plump lips looking ever so kissable. Shit.

"You okay, man?" Eddie asked. "Where did you go?"

"Oh, nothing, sometimes I just space out," Steve said, trying not to blush.

"Yeah. I do that, too. I fixed it!" Eddie exclaimed proudly. "Am I forgiven now?"

"Oh, yeah, definitely," Steve said. "Thanks."

Eddie shrugged on his jacket and shook his toolbox at him.

"I'm going to go put Bert up now," Eddie said. "And then look for a movie."

"Bert?" Steve asked.

"My toolbox. Problem?" He asked.

"No, it's cute," Steve laughed.

Eddie looked at him for a moment as if he was trying to figure him out.

"Hm. Dustin was right. You are an interesting dude," Eddie said.

They walked out of the back together, and Steve continued to watch him as he walked out.

"It's definitely warming up," Robin said. "Thank God!"

Eddie walked back in and started browsing the aisles, Steve’s eyes never leaving him. Robin unscrewed her bottle of water and started drinking.

"Yeah, I can definitely picture myself having sex with that guy," Steve said, and Robin started choking on her water. "Jesus, Robin. Are you okay?"

"Am I okay?! Are you okay? What the hell, Steve?!"

"What?"

Later that evening, after they got off of work, Steve and Robin immediately got settled up in her room. A random radio station was playing in the background. They were laying on the floor, their feet pressed against the wall, as they stared at the stars on Robin's ceiling.

"So, let me get this straight - something which we apparently both aren't - you kept trying to picture how it worked between two men, and apparently, that made you think that you were homophobic?" Robin asked.

"Pretty much," Steve said.

"Okay, you're going to have to start telling me all of your thoughts outloud so I can tell you if you're wrong or right," Robin said. "I'll do the same thing with you."

"Like we're diaries?" Steve asked.

"Exactly like we're diaries, Steven," Robin said. ". . . Diaries who give feedback."

"What if they're dirty thoughts?" Steve asked.

"I'm a fully grown lesbian. I can handle it," Robin said. "I want every single slutty detail."

"Okay," Steve said.

"For example: Dear Diary, my platonic soulmate realized he wasn't straight today. He also came out to me. I want him to know how proud I am of him and how much I love him," Robin said. "Even if he is attracted to boys."

"Dear Diary, I came out to my platonic soulmate today after finally accepting that I can be queer. . .that I could be bisexual like Bowie. I don't think I ever could have gotten to this point without learning from her. If she hadn't trusted me, then I wouldn't have been able to put so much trust and courage into accepting myself. I'm so proud of her, and I love her so goddamn much," Steve said. "Even if she is a pain in the ass."

"Aw, Steve," Robin said tearfully and took his hand, interlacing their fingers together. "You know what my favorite thing about our friendship is?"

"What?"

"We're both bitches," Robin said and they both burst into fits of giggles.

After that, Steve wished for more interactions with Eddie, but whenever he went to pick up Dustin from Hellfire, Eddie would scowl and look away whenever Steve tried to wiggle his fingers at him. Eventually, it just became awkward, so Steve stopped trying. He didn't even look at him anymore. Steve even tried approaching him in the grocery store just to ask what his problem was, but Eddie took off and ran out of the store without buying anything. Eventually, Steve realized that Eddie clearly still saw him as King Steve and wanted nothing to do with him. So Steve stopped trying, disappointed, and rejected. Instead, he tried moving on by going on dates, and eventually, Steve pushed Eddie to the back of his mind. . .then spring break rolled around. It all went to hell, and suddenly, he was fighting to save Eddie from being convicted of murders he didn't commit while also trying to stop the earth from splitting open.

Luckily, it was all a success with some injuries. Unfortunately, Eddie still needed to be hidden from the town, and Steve's house was the best place for him. He was currently resting in Steve's guest room, bandaged heavily as he was worse off than Steve but not so bad that he needed a hospital. Steve was pacing downstairs. Now was the perfect time to talk to him. He couldn't run away this time. Steve sighed and walked up the stairs. He entered the room without thinking and without knocking. Eddie froze, his unbandaged hand down his pants. He quickly pulled it out.

"I had an itch!" Eddie exclaimed.

"Uh. I can come back," Steve said.

"No, seriously! It was an itch!" Eddie exclaimed. "I was just thinking about you."

Steve’s mood changed pretty quickly. His cheeks turned pink, and he grinned. He slid carefully onto the empty space beside Eddie. He used an elbow to avoid laying on his stomach.

"Really?" Steve asked.

"How could I not? You pulled me out of hell, man," Eddie said. "I wish I could thank you properly, but I can't even get out of bed."

"You can thank me by letting me do all the work," Steve said.

"Uh, yeah, okay," Eddie said, looking at him, confusion as he started to disappear under the covers. "What are you - Oh! Oh! I think there was a misunde - OH, fuck it! It's such a good one. JESUS H CHRIST!"

There was a popping sound from under the covers as Steve peeked out from under the blankets.

"Do you want me to stop?" Steve asked.

"No! Get back down there," Eddie said and pushed his head down. "I can't believe - I, uh, thought that I hated you and I, uh, I uh, I didn't understand why I did. Oh, fuck! It's why I ran - I shouldn't have - Steve, Steve, I think I'm going to - God!"

Steve plopped down on the empty spot beside Eddie, smirking as he licked his lips.

"I didn't think I would be so good that I'd get a name change," Steve said. "God. God Harrington."

"Cocky asshole," Eddie replied. "So, what does this mean? Is that all I'm good for, or do you want more from me?"

"I think I would like to try more with you," Steve said softly.

"Me too, and once I get better, I am so returning the favor," Eddie smirked.

"There's a lot of things we're going to do when we get better," Steve said as he leaned in close to Eddie's face.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

Steve placed a soft kiss to Eddie's lips, smiling when Eddie started kissing him back. Steve pulled back.

"The first thing, though. . .I'm so making you sleep on the couch," Steve said.

"What?!" Eddie yelped. "Why?"

"Well, one, you forced the kids to choose between Lucas and Hellfire. Second, you didn't stick to the plan, and you nearly died in Dustin's arms," Steve huffed.

"But I - yeah, no, that's fair," Eddie mumbled. "I do feel bad about making them go through that. I'm going to work my ass off to make it up to them."

"I know you are," Steve said softly. "Luckily, you've got the rest of your long life to make it up to them."

"Thanks to you," Eddie said, and Steve bit his lip. "You want to tell Robin, don't you? Go ahead."

Steve went downstairs and into the kitchen. He picked up the phone, twirled the phone cord around his finger, and dialed Robin's number.

"Hello?"

"Dear Diary. . . I totally went down on this really cute guy. . .bit of an asshole. . . but he's working on it. . ."

[brandogenius]

Hey could you do boygenius x sick younger artist reader, maybe it’s kind of the beginning of the tour so ya is still kind of shy and intimated by them so they try to hide it until they just can’t anymore and they boys kind of watch of them and take care of them and it becomes like a bonding experience , super excited for you to write the boygenius x ya reader fic series I love ur page and am always checking to see if you’ve updated ❤️❤️

EEEE!!!! i had a lot of fun with this one!! i’m sorry if it’s really long i got carried away!!

consider this part 1 of the young artist au :D an introduction

‼️RPF‼️

“fresh soup”

the boys & younger!artist reader!

Part 2 here!

(not proofread!!)

word count: 1,969

not even two days into the tour and you were in your assigned bunk with the sniffles. as if the universe has different plans for you. you were excited for the tour but having stressed the entire week hoping it all went to plan.

yet here you were. tissue box propped up against your side as you scrolled through social media. the tour bys was on a bumpy road causing you to take deep breaths. it wasn’t helping.

you were the opening act for boygenius. a famous supergroup full of talented musicians. it was your first ever tour and you were nervous. you spent the first day travelling from where you, phoebe, lucy and julien just settled down into their home for the next couple of months.

“kid” startled out of your thoughts, you heard a small tap on the side of the bunk.

“mhm?” you pulled the small curtain open meeting eye to eye with julien. she looked at you with a look of worry and concern

“thought we lost you back at the buss stop. haven’t seen you come out since we drove off. you doing ok?” julien crossed her arms, glancing over you, taking note of the tissue box and scattered tissues in your bed.

“feeling homesick?”

“i’m fine” you avoided her stare, taking interest in the other bunk behind her. your voice was hoarse. sore to swallow and talk. it had you wincing slightly.

“shit- are you sick already?” julien leaned forward a bit, pressing the back of her hand to your forehead. “i said im fine” you frowned.

“doesn’t sound like you’re fine. you want to come out into the lounge and watch some tv with us? instead of being cooped up in here all day” the tattooed woman gave an offer. a small smile on her face. you considered the options. whilst you weren’t that close to the boys or julien you were a bit hesitant on taking up the offer.

weighing the pros and cons felt like it was more cons than pros at this point. what if you got the boys sick? they’d have to cancel the show. you couldn’t afford to get them sick. you’d rather seclude yourself into the safety of your little bunk to wallow in pity and sickness.

“i’m fine- i think id like to stay here, please?” your hand was reaching up to pull the curtains shut when julien nodded. “you sure kid? phoebes makin’ breakfast you want some?”

the thought of having breakfast made you frown. you weren’t sure. you appreciated the thought of julien offering it to you but politely declined. you could make your own breakfast if you wanted to. you didn’t want the boys to use more of what they had themselves. that wasn’t something you wanted to tell julien though.

“i packed some breakfast bars if i need any- thank you though” you gave julien a nod, quickly closing the curtain this time with a small sigh. you listened carefully to julien’s footsteps walking out the door and into the lounge. muffled talking can be heard behind the door. you sighed a little in relief, sneezing a bit as you rolled over onto your other side and shut your eyes for a bit.

unfortunately, people had other plans. the door to the bunk room opened quickly. hurried footsteps made their way down the hallway. you prayed silently, hoping they didn’t stop at your bunk but they did.

“nu uh- absolutely not!” your curtain swung open. you squinted your eyes with a glare, turning over to be met strands of platinum silver hair. phoebe bends down slightly to meet your eyes. “you’re having breakfast, get up and come on” she nodded her head.

“i’m not gonna let you rot away in this ugly-ass bunk. as tour bus buddies, we need to eat and plan for the tour, so come on” phoebe walked down the hallway, humming a tune to herself. an apron was hugging her waist. you stared in confused for a second, watching as she swing a fork around like a microphone.

with a sigh, you flung yourself out of the bunk. your hair was messy and your eyes were dark with bags under your eyes. you wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep but unfortunately, the three musicians in the other room had different plans for you.

“and she has finally left the bunk. seems like the first time we’re finally meeting you!” you quietly opened the door into the small lounge area. it wasn’t big but it wasn’t small either. there was a fridge with cabinets and a sink. on the other side there was a couch with a pull out table.

lucy and julien were sat at the couch. phoebe was hunched over the counter. three pots of cup noodles were opened on the table. a fourth one was being prepared. you took a seat closest to lucy, looking at the tv playing some random cartoon.

“see this bitch” lucy nudged you with her elbow and nodded towards phoebe. “the only woman i know to wear an apron while making cup noodles because she says ‘it’s needed’ needed for what pheebs?” lucy chuckled.

“it’s true- don’t listen to her” phoebe settled the four cups on the small table, taking a seat beside you. “she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. i absolutely need an apron for making these” she twirled the noodles around her fork.

“why?”

“i wanted to look like a cute sexy housewife while cooking you guys some breakfast- damn, you guys don’t appreciate shit in this house” you listened and ate quietly as phoebe and lucy took into a debate. you looked up, catching julien’s eyes as she rolled her eyes jokingly at the other two.

“so i was told you’re sick? little birdie told me you sound like shit” you look up at lucy as she stared down at you. you continued to twirl your noodles. “you could say that yeah”

“you’re lucky tour isn’t for another two days. you can rest and take plenty of fluids. make sure your vocals are good too.” the taller woman added as she pointed her fork towards you.

“julien is making soup tonight. should help. something warm too” phoebe added

“how are you gonna make soup in a tour bus?” you looked at the three in confusion. maybe there was some type of technique you didn’t even think of. but clearly seeing there isn’t anywhere for a stove or oven you were stuck for ideas.

“our last tour we bought a portable stove. a lifesaver if you want something cooked up, instead of living off pot noodles and snacks. portable stove and a pot and it’s just like at home”

“ahh” you replied. that was interesting. your first time on a tour bus, you wouldn’t have thought about it. you quickly ate the rest of your noodles and leaned back, tugging your legs to your chest. you ended up settling into a peaceful quietness as you and the boys watched spongebob on the overhead tv. you weren’t too interested but it was something to pass the time. you were called out to eat with the boys- you didn’t know if you were able to go back to your bunk even if you so wanted to. you didn’t want to sound or appear rude-

“-yeah?” you shook your head, blinking a bit. three pairs of eyes stared back at you. “huh?” feeling a blush creep up on your cheeks, you quickly looked away, wishing the tour bus would open up and spit you out

“i said, you don’t need to hang out with us here if you don’t want to. we’re not stopping you from going back to the bunk” julien nodded her head. her eyes were kind and soft. there was no anger or upset in them. it made you unclench your shoulders and let out a deep breath.

“i’m just going to sleep for a bit” you whispered. phoebe quickly stood up, making space for you to leave.

“that’s totally fine dude. take all the rest you need. we will be calling you for dinner though” phoebe placed a hand on your shoulder and have it a small squeeze. you smiled slightly, ducking out of the room and back to your bunk.

-

“knock knock” you opened your eyes to the familiar voice outside the curtains. lucy stood at the bunk this time, moving the fabric aside with a small smile. “dinner time, we’d give it to you here but don’t wanna spill it all over the one place you sleep. wanna come eat with us in the lounge?” you nodded your head, hopping out of the bunk silently.

“just have some soup and go back to bed” lucy placed a hand in your shoulder and led you back into the lounge.

“evening, sleepyhead. get good sleep?” phoebe sat on the couch this time. laptop on the table and feet kicked up on the other side of the couch. julien was hovering over the small portable stove on the countertop. the smell of tomato soup filled the air.

“have a seat- phoebe get your damn legs off the couch, let them sit down” julien turned around, wacking phoebe with her hand as she grumbled. “personal space doesn’t exist with this one around” lucy gestured for you to sit down first, sandwiched between phoebe to your left and lucy to your right.

“how are you enjoying bus life so far?” phoebe sat cris crossed on the furnature, typing away at her laptop. you held your phone in your hand, switching it on to check the time. 5:34pm.

“it’s fine. it’s unusual- probably because it’s my first time on a tour bus” you replied, glancing at phoebes laptop. she seemed to be replying to emails.

“i’d say the last time you were on a tour bus must’ve been for high school? field trips or whatever they are” julien speaks from countertop. “you did graduate couple months ago right?” you nodded to confirm julien’s statement

“i feel so old now” lucy leaned back on the couch. “there’s like.. an actual child on tour with us it’s like we’re babysitting”

“i mean, i just turned 19 like a couple of months so i’m not really a kid anymore” you said with a small smile.

“oh god that’s not a child. that’s a whole fucking teenager” phoebe laughed. “or young adult. either way i feel like a senior citizen- feel like you’re gonna ask me what the great depression is like or something” this has the whole tour bus laughing.

“alright, pipe down meemaw. you’ll get your dinner and then you can watch your game shows later” julien joked, grabbing the ladle and filling the dishes.

“fresh soup from the portable stove coming up. careful- bowls are hot” julien placed the dishes down onto the table one by one. cloth covering her hands as a substitute for an oven glove.

you stared at the soup with a small smile. “thank you” julien shrugged casually “don’t even worry about it, kid”

you listened to the boys start random conversations. they’d always include you in them. it made you feel happy. you were happy to be included.

“would you rather - listen ok important question” phoebe swung her fork around carelessly as she started the conversation . lucy frowned “can you not maybe try spill soup everywhere?” phoebe gave lucy the middle finger. lucy giving her back back. you laughed loudly at the interaction unraveling before you

“ok before i was RUDLEY interrupted. would you rather be a worm or an ant. i feel like this really determines our friendship with you, kid”

you sat there with wide eyes for a moment.

“what type of question is that?”

“SEE? THANK YOU”

“OH FUCK YOU GUYS”

maybe it wasn’t that bad hanging out with the boys. you’d definitely be doing this more often.

[kekaki-cupcakes]

BONJOUR (〃^ω^〃)

if your requests are open and if you so feel like, I would LOVE (♥ω♥*) to hear your Connor Stoll HCS whether misc or x reader related I care very little, I just want more content of my fav.

Sincerely eternally yours - anon.

ciao! ヽ( 'ω' )ﾉ

Hey I know you requested this ages ago sorry about that. I've also decided to answer requests in order of which one I like the idea of the most instead of time because I feel like I'm stuck on a few old ones lol

Also this was so fun to write and I ended up writing a short story at one point or smthn.

Conner Stoll Headcanons

»»————-　★　————-««

-He sometimes forgets Travis isn’t really his twin.

-As do most people that know them. 

-He’s so sick of the jokes about his last name he and Travis just pretend to not understand anymore.

-The poison sprayed T-shirt given to the Hunter Phoebe, stopping her from going on the quest to save Annabeth wasn’t just a prank on the stern girl. It was on purpose, so that Percy could go instead, but no one really realized that.  

-Once he moved to New York years after the books ended, he rented a flat with a smashed in window and a leaky bathtub. He had to live off one dollar pizza slices for about a year [he loved them] until he saved up and stole enough to afford a better flat with three bedrooms. One was for him, one was for Cecil, and one was for Katie when she visited with Travis. He has a bunk bed that he shares with Travis, but he makes his brother sleep on the top bunk like they did at CHB.

-Unknown to him, Travis’s room at Camp Jupiter has a bunk bed too, and he sleeps on the top every night. He’s studying Law. 

-Once Conner was able to pay rent by the deadlines and had steady shifts at work [and once his diet had gotten a bit better, although pizza slice Friday is a ritual] Chiron finally let Cecil move in.

-It was only really because Cecil wanted to go to highschool properly, and finish it this time instead of being chased from the year ten open day by feral harpy’s. He works at Starbucks part time and Conner drives him to every shift and then Iris messages CHB and talks to his friends in his car while he waits for Cecil to finish. 

-He’s actually really disappointed when Cecil buys a motorbike and doesn’t need lifts to Starbucks anymore, but then his little brother needs someone to pick him up because he crashed into a phone box and he’s back to annoyed chauffeurTM again.

-He owns the shittiest car ever, like, one of those falling apart pickup trucks with fluffy dice and he actually keeps it pretty clean because he’s so proud of it. He calls it ‘Mater’, from the movie Cars, because it’s Cecil’s favorite movie. It’s also covered in bumper stickers. Like, nearly every part of it, and people just hand them to him sometimes to fill in a gap. 

-He joined the local track team, and he’s actually pretty good.

-His guilty pleasure is Taylor Swift’s 1989 album and eating peanut butter MnM’s by the bag even though he hates real MnM’s.  

-He never really wanted to go to University, and the strictness of Camp Jupiter would’ve killed him, so he got a job at the lolly store Sally used to work at, but was fired when he let too many little kids shoplift. 

-Now he’s working at a backpackers lodge instead, and he actually really likes meeting all the traveling people that come through, even though he knows it’s because of his dad. His relationship with Hermes is questionable, mainly because of Luke. 

-He loved his brother but after the Titan war and all the shame put on their cabin he hated Luke with a passion, as did most of his siblings, even if they sort of did understand why he did it all anyway. Conner wouldn’t have joined the Titan Army, but he knows that if the majority of Camp Halfblood was to stage something like that again he probably would. He’s loyal to his siblings and friends, not the gods. 

-Chris Rodriguez agrees on that part. They’ve talked about it a lot. 

-Chris stayed over on the fold out couch enough for him to get a toothbrush in the bathroom and his favorite cereal in the pantry, which is weet-bix bites with honey and blueberries [if someone went to the shops for something other than pink monster energy drinks and grain waves]. He stills lives at Camp Half-blood with Clarrise most of the time and he’s going to University online but has to come in once or twice a week for tests and practical classes. He wanted to be a paramedic but he knew that would be too much stress on him and so would being a therapist.

-Chris is studying nursing and catches a ride with Pollux [who is studying to be a paramedic] sometimes.  

-Then Pollux began staying over sometimes as well.

-And of course there were times when Clarrise would come into the city with her boyfriend to find late night underground fight clubs and visit Coach Hedge [he was the satyr that brought her to CHB].

-Six months pass and Conner’s apartment is a mini Camp Halfblood stop by.

-This is confirmed when Lou Ellen bursts in at three am with a hellhound on her heels and the app Malcom Pace had invented that directed demigods to nearby safe havens when they were in danger.                                                                                                               She explained that his flat had come up and she needed to talk to Austin [who was sleeping on the couch] about how somebody from his cabin had stolen her voodoo doll of Will that they liked to tickle while he was stitching someone up in the Infirmary. 

-He’s accepted it now but sometimes when a random kid shows up covered in blood he sends them to Sally’s apartment [she’s on the app as well]. There’s only so many blow up mattresses and showers long enough to scrub monster grit off a twenty something year old can afford. 

-He gets promoted at the traveler’s lodge, and ends up sending a lot of demigods, nymphs, and satyrs there as well. 

-Chris’s nursing skills help out a lot more than they were hoping.

-So does having Pollux the paramedic on speed dial. 

-He pirates anything he watches, and his favorites are The Last Of Us and Ferris Bueller's day off. He is obligated to watch Cars at least once a week with Cecil, but his favorite Disney movie is The BFG [it used to be the Lion King but then Luke happened and it hit too far home]. 

-He also really liked watching The Hunger Games but then he realized what it reminded him of and now he steers clear. 

-That, and the fact the Castor and Pollux trope is used. 

-Conner hates musicals. 

»»————-　★　————-««

[kaethefangirl]

A gallavich fic I started on ao3, it's like 6k words give or take

Ian was really, really excited to go to summer camp. He was nine years old with two front teeth missing and a positive soul. On the bus to summer camp, he meets Mickey, who looks really mean but isn't. Ian likes Mickey a lot because Mickey doesn't laugh at his hair or his freckles or his tooth gap. Mickey calls him Carrots and protects him from the other kids. Mickey punches out the kids who are rude to him.

Mickey is Ian's best friend, and Ian knows that no matter what they will always be best friends.

Even if he kind of likes it when Mickey wears his shirts with the cut sleeves so his arms are out.

 

Even if he stares just a little bit longer when Mickey smiles.

Even if Ian is gay.

Chapter 1: ONE

Ian was poor. He was like, really poor. That’s why it made his day when he found out Frank had been able to afford summer camp for him. Ian was so excited when he found out that all he did was ramble on and on about it to Lip, who’d told him if he didn’t shut up about it something was bound to go wrong.  When Ian told Fiona about what Lip said as she walked him to school, (Ian was being chased by bullies at that time. They would call him Chuckie from rugrats and shove him. Fiona had to walk him to school for a week after that,) she told him Lip was just jealous since he never got anything like that growing up. Ian understood but still felt happy to know he was going to get to go to a summer camp like normal (middle-class) kids did. 

He’d gone onto the playground telling his two friends Mia and Jimmy about it, though they really didn’t care. They just told him he shouldn’t be so optimistic because kids from the Southside never got anything without a catch. Mia and Jimmy were twins, and though they were only 9 years old they were as mean and dull as the big kids and adults were. Ian never blamed them for being how they were though, even he got tired of the consequences of living in the Southside every once and a while. He remembered a time when Fiona had her purse snatched and Lip ran after the guy. He returned home a little while later with her purse, a black eye, and no shoes. Ian giggled at the memory though, because he remembered a few weeks after he had to share his shoes with Lip and ten-year-old Lip’s feet were huge. 

Now, Ian was never good at telling time. But he was good at telling the seasons, and the weather. He’d received the news in early spring, just as the weather was starting to turn warm again. (Ian loved the sun.) It was currently very hot, so Ian assumed it must be almost time to go there. He sat up from his top bunk and stretched. He noticed he felt a bit sweaty. He realized the sun was the heat he felt, hopped out of bed, and giddily ran down the stairs to meet Fiona. 

“Hey, kiddo! Guess what today is?” She smiled at him.

“Thummer camp time!?” Ian exclaimed happily. He knew his smile looked goofy ever since his two front teeth came out, but he didn’t care. He loved smiling. He loved feeling happy since he only felt really happy a few times in his life. (Though he did blame Lip for his teeth. They only wiggled a tiny bit and Lip tied two shoelaces around his teeth and tied the other ends to the open door. Ian did not like to think about what happened after.) Ian also couldn't pronounce lots of sounds because his two front teeth were gone. 

“Yeah! You got your stuff packed?” Fiona asked with a huge grin. 

“Mhm!” Ian nodded happily. He was still wearing his jammies, so he ran upstairs and threw open his drawer. He only had a few clothes, but he had been planning which ones he’d wear for months. He pulled out his tracksuit that Lip swiped from the subway for him a few months back and smiled brightly at it. Ian quickly stripped out of his dinosaur print onesie and put on his tracksuit, only needing Lip’s help with putting his pants on right because he always put them on inside out. (It wasn’t Ian’s fault. Whenever he took off his pants they were inside out and he put them in the drawer. He took them out and put them on just as they were. Turning them back right was too complicated and he was only nine .)

“Ready? Your bus comes at ten,” Fiona shouted from downstairs. Ian grabbed his suitcase and rushed down the stairs, his thin legs running with maximum effort. He almost flew past Fiona before she caught him by his torso and lifted him up.

“Not even gonna say bye!?” She exclaimed.

“Bye Fiona!” he giggled as she held him in the air. Once she dropped him he was picking up his suitcase and out of the door. He ran to sit on the bottom of the steps that led to their porch. He waited and waited, checking his watch (that Lip had stolen for him) almost every minute. He saw a butterfly pass him, and he chased it with his eyes for a little while. He also paid attention to the ants that crossed his step. He liked the ants. He did not like the spider that walked after them. He looked at it with a mean scowl (or as mean as a nine-year-old could muster) as it picked up ants one by one and ate them. 

“No!” Ian shouted, stepping on the spider with his light-up sketchers. (Can you guess who stole them?) Ian felt like the spider was a bully. Ian did not like bullies. Why couldn’t the spider leave the ants alone and go eat some leaves or something? 

(Ian did not know what spiders ate. Ian did not know lots of things.)

Along his wait, Ian also met a small flightless mosquito with a hole in his wing. Ian went back into the house to tape up his wing. He noticed the time was nine-thirty. He had plenty of time to waste. 

Just as he was fixing up the mosquito’s wings up in his room, he heard a loud noise from outside. It must’ve been his bus! 

“Sorry Jemmy. I’ll be back in two weeks!” Ian petted his mosquito (He named him Jemmy) and ran out of the house, just barely catching the bus. It was a long gray bus that did not look very fun.

Ian toted his large suitcase (which Lip had also stolen.) around the front of the bus and had a hard time pulling it onto the bus platform. When he finally got it he rolled it behind himself and walked slowly down the bus. The doors slammed behind him with a loud robot sound. Ian did not like loud sounds. But he did like robots. 

He walked down the aisle, noticing that most of the seats were filled. All the kids looked mean and gave Ian nasty looks. Ian did not like the summer camp kids. At the back of the bus was a long seat that could fit multiple people. He saw a boy and a girl sitting there who gave him nasty looks as well. He looked for another place to sit, but his only other choice was a boy who smelled very bad. Ian did not like bad smells, but he guessed nobody liked bad smells. 

Ian sat down next to the girl and the boy in the back and the bus began to move. 

He felt as if he was being stared down. He looked at the boy, who seemed to be his age. They were the same height and size but the boy seemed very very rude. He had his arms crossed and held a firm scowl on his face as he eyed Ian warily. Ian imagined his face would be pretty if he wasn’t scowling, though his face was still a little pretty as it was. The girl looked just like him, and she gave Ian a mean look as well. Ian decided he would make friends with them, after all they were just kids like him.

“Hi,” Ian whispered to the boy.

“Who are you?” the boy scowled.

“Ian.” 

“No. You’re carrot top,” The boy said. Ian did not like being made fun of. He could not help his bright red hair. 

“That’s mean,” Ian declared.

“How? Your hair is on the top of your head. And it’s orange like a carrot,” The boy told him.

“Oh.” Ian supposed that he was right. But…

“My hair isn’t orange. It’s red.” Ian said.

“No, it’s orange.” The boy said stubbornly.

“What’s your name?” Ian said instead. Whenever he and Lip disagreed Ian always changed the subject so they didn’t argue.

“Mickey,” 

“No. It’s Mick,” Ian decided. If the boy- Mick could come up with a nickname for Ian, then Ian could come up with a nickname for him.

Mick made a face at Ian, and Ian thought he’d said something wrong.

“Or not- I didn’t mean to make you feel sad!” Ian said with wide eyes.

Mickey smiled a toothy grin instead of blowing up like Ian thought he would.

“I like you carrots, you’re funny. This is my sister, Mandy,” Mickey said.

“Hi Ian,” Mandy smiled and waved shyly. Ian liked them both. They didn’t seem so mean, and maybe the rest of the kids weren’t mean either, maybe they just looked that way. 

“So, how old are you?” Ian asked.

“I’m ten, and Mandy is nine,” Mickey said proudly.

“How old are you?” Mandy asked.

“I’m nine! Can we be friends?” Ian asked with a big toothy grin.

“Holy shit! What the fuck happened to your teeth?” Mickey asked incredulously. Mandy pinched him with a scowl.

“My big brother ripped em out with string-”

“He tied ‘em to the door and slammed it?”

“Yeah. It hurt reawwy bad,” Ian said. At the loss of his front teeth, he couldn’t exactly pronounce the letter ‘L’. He felt embarrassed. The kids at school laughed at him alot because of his hair and his freckles and the way he pronounced words funny.

“What’s your problem?” Mickey raised an eyebrow at him.

“I can’t say the L sound. See,” Ian opened his mouth and tried to make the luh sound, but it only came out as wuh.

“I used to have that when I was eight. Why’s it matter?” 

“I get picked on a lot at school,” Ian looked down. He thought Mickey might think he wasn’t cool because of that.

“What school do you go to?” Mickey questions.

“It’s cawwed-”

“Okay, let’s stop you there. If you talk funny, there’s nothin’ wrong with that. Just try to avoid words that make you sound stupid,” Mickey advised.

“What’s avoid mean?”

“It means to try not to say something. So instead of saying called, how else can you tell me what you’re school is called?” Mickey asked.

Ian thought long and hard, or as long as hard as a nine-year-old could. 

“It’s named Powell Elementary,” Ian said.

“Fuck, isn’t it your lucky day? I start there after summer’s over,” Mickey grinned.

“Honest!?” Ian’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah, why would I lie to ya? I’ll be in the fourth grade,” Mickey said.

“Fourth? Aren’t you supposed to be in the fifth?” Ian asked.

“He is, but he failed last year ‘cause he’s a huge idiot,” Mandy snickered. Mickey scowled and pushed her into the bus.

“It’s okay Mickey. We’ll be in fourth grade together!” Ian smiled.

 

*

The bus ride was 2 hours. Ian liked it because he got the chance to talk to Mickey a lot. And Mandy, but she fell asleep halfway through. He taught Mickey how to read his watch. Earlier Mickey said the ride would end at eleven forty-five and they both watched the watch tick as the bus came to a stop. Ian’s watch had the long hand on the nine and the shorthand on the eleven, so Mickey was right.

“How do you know all this stuff, Mickey?” Ian asked as he grabbed his suitcase and walked with Mickey. 

“I dunno. I spend lots of time with my brothers and they tell me shit,” 

Ian noticed Mickey wasn’t carrying a bag. “Where’s all your stuff?” 

“Mandy carries all that shit,” Mickey shrugs. Ian did not like that Mickey treated Mandy mean.

Ian went to help Mandy carry the bags, but they were surprisingly small and light.

“I’ve got it,” She assured.

“I can still carry one,” Ian said.

Mandy stared at him with a gleam in her eyes. She smiled and gave him Mickey’s bag.

“Thanks, Ian,” She said.

“No problem Mandy,” Ian smiled at her. Ian liked Mandy. He walked off of the bus behind all the other kids and noticed where they were. It was a large dirt field with 4 wooden cabins, two on each side of the field. There was a small pond in the middle of the field, and inside of it, a tall American flag stood.

“If your last name starts with an A, C, E, G, I, K, or M and you are a boy, come this way!” A tall blonde man said, waving towards the cabins on the left side of the field. 

Ian was a bit sad because he did not know Mickey’s last name. He wanted to be in the same cabin as him.

“What’s your last name?” They both asked each other at the same time. Ian giggled and Mickey looked embarrassed.

“Mine is Gallagher,” Ian said.

Mickey grinned at that. “Milkovich,” 

Ian smiled and took Mickey’s hand, walking with him towards the cabins.

“Mickey, who’s the runt?” A taller kid asked.

“This is Carrots. You can call him Ian,” Mickey said to the boy. 

“Hey, Ian. I’m Carter,” The boy said. He was a skinny boy with blonde hair and lots of freckles just like Ian. Ian liked Carter.

“Hi. What’s your last name?” Ian asked as he swung he and Mickey’s hands back and forth between them.

“Kelly. Carter Kelly.”

“Cool. I’m Ian Gallagher,”

“Nice,” 

Ian liked holding hands with Mickey. Mickey’s hands were cold, but when Ian held his hand for a while it started to warm up. They walked inside the first cabin and Ian liked it very much. There were 4 pairs of bunkbeds around the entire room, and two stands stacked on top of each other as makeshift nightstands so people on the bottom and the top could have one. 

“I’m Mr. Jenkins, your councillor. I’ll give you all about twenty minutes to settle in before I come back in for a few icebreakers,” The man spoke up. Ian did not like Mr. Jenkins. 

“Fresh meat,” One of the bigger kids said. 

“C’mon!” Mickey said, pulling Ian towards the middle bunk bed. 

“Throw your shit up there!” Mickey shouted. Ian complied, throwing his suitcase on the top bunk. 

“Mikhailo. I heard about you. Nobody is special here, you are not allowed to curse,” Mr. Jenkins said before leaving. 

“Who’s the redhead?” One of the kids asked. 

“This is Carrots. Only I call him carrots though. His name is Ian and if you fuck with him you fuck with me, capiche?” Mickey said to everyone in the cabin, which was 8 other kids. 

“Yeah, we got it, Mickey. Hi, Ian!” Carter waved. Ian decided he did like the summer camp kids. 

“Hi!” Ian waved.

“There’s nowhere to put your clothes, so you’ll have to keep them in your suitcase. But if you don’t want your toothbrush tampered with, I’d keep it in there too. Keep everything in there actually and never let it out of your sight,” Mickey informed Ian.

“Okay,” Ian said. He climbed up to the top bunk and lay down. His mattress was really soft, and so were his covers and sheets. Ian yawned. That bus ride was really- no- very- yes- that bus ride was very long. Ian was happy that Mickey gave him the advice to not use- to avoid words that he knew made him sound funny. Ian closed his eyes and let his head hit the pillow, which was also soft. He thought about Mickey. He liked Mickey a lot, and he was very happy that he sat with him and Mandy instead of the smelly kid. Ian was sure the smelly kid was nice too, but he was just smelly. Maybe Ian would be friends with him too.

Ian listened to the sounds of the other kids putting their own things out and talking. He wondered if he and Mickey would be best friends for the whole summer. He liked that Mickey never made fun of him. He wanted to be just like Mickey. Ian wished he could know lots of things, like when bus rides would end and words like avoid . Ian decided Mickey was very smart. Maybe almost as smart as Lip. Ian giggled a bit to himself. Nobody was smarter than Lip, He knew everything . Mickey and Lip would probably get along. Ian couldn’t wait to tell Lip about all the things he and Mickey did over the summer. Ian wanted to go exploring in the woods with Mickey, and he wanted to roast marshmallows with Mickey and make smores together- oh! And he wanted to play with Mr. Fluffy with Mickey too. (Mr. Fluffy is Ian’s’ stuffed blue dinosaur that Lip stole for him with stuffing coming out it’s mouth that Ian loves very much.)

Ian let himself fall asleep for just a little bit as he daydreamed about summer with his new friend Mickey.

And Mandy too.

But mostly Mickey.

 

/ / / /

 

“Campers!” Mr. Jenkins burst into the cabin, awakening Ian. 

“Come join us around the pond!” He called. Ian slowly rubbed his eyes and frowned. He did not want to join them around the pond. 

“C’mon Ian, we’re gonna lose the good seats,” Mickey called. Now, Ian did want to join Mickey around the pond. He hopped out of bed and ran out of the cabin door right alongside Mickey.

There were small colorful plastic chairs around the pond. Mick took Ian’s hand and led him to two specific chairs right near where the cabin was. 

“Let’s start with you!” Mr. Jenkins pointed at Mickey. “Say your name, your age, and one fact about you!” 

“My name’s Mickey, I’m 10, and I’ll beat your ass if you fuck with me or Carrots,” Mickey said.

“Mikhailo!” 

Ian giggled at Mickey’s response. Mickey wasn’t really mean, he just wanted to look scary. 

 

/ / / /

 

It was lunchtime and the boys and girls all came and sat together under a large tent. Mandy sat with Mickey and Ian and Ian told her what Mickey said.

“Stop being a wannabe gangster Mickey. You’re gonna end up just like Iggy,” Mandy frowned.

“What’s wrong with Iggy?” Mickey asked.

“He’s stupid is what’s wrong with him,” Mandy rolled her eyes. 

Ian did not think Mickey would be like Iggy, because Mickey was very smart. 

“Well, if it isn’t Mickey and his faggy looking friend,” A tall fat kid said to them as he walked up to their bench. 

“Are you supposed to be this year’s bully?” Mickey stared him down. Ian wanted to tell Mickey to stop because he would get beat up really- very bad if he tried to fight the boy. Mickey was short like Ian, and the boy towered over both of them.

“Yeah, and I’m messing with you and Carrots over there,” The boy said. Mickey stood up and grabbed the boy by his shirt.

“Only I call him Carrots. Got it?” Mickey said, almost lifting the boy off the ground. The boy scowled at him but nodded.

“Good. Fuck off,” Mickey dropped him and sat back down.

“I don’t mind other people calling me Carrots,” Ian told him. It wasn’t true, because when other people said it they were laughing at Ian. But when Mickey said it it felt nice. 

“Only I can call you Carrots, alright? It’s not about how you feel, it’s about me,” Mickey said, taking a bite of his sandwich. Ian took a bite of his own and it was very good. Ian saw on TV that summer camp food was usually terrible. 

Once they both finished their sandwiches Mickey asked to see Ian’s watch. Ian held his wrist up to show him. 

“We have an hour left of lunch. Wanna ditch?” Mickey asked with a wicked grin. Ian wanted to but, what if they got caught? Ian did not want to get sent home. He told Mickey about his concerns and Mickey only laughed.

“Look, I’m ditching and if you wanna see where I go, then you’ll come with me. But you don’t have to, y’know? It’s whatever,” Mickey said. Ian liked Mickey a lot. Mickey didn’t make him do things he didn’t want to.

“I want to go!” Ian said. 

“Keep it down! Alright let’s go,” Mickey stood and ignored Mandy’s head shake. Ian stood with him. Mickey grabbed his hand and led him down a grassy hill near the tent. They ran downhill together laughing. At the bottom of the hill was a patch of tree branches surrounding a swampy area. 

“It’s fine, see,” Mickey reached down to grab a duffel bag that was wedged between a couple of branches at the bottom of the patch. 

“What’s in there?” Ian questioned.

“Can I fuckin’ open it first?” 

“Yes, sorry,”

“Don’t apologize. It’s alright,” Mickey said. He unzipped the duffel bag and inside were lots of things Ian thought were cool. He saw lots of flashlights, phones, screens, glasses, and other things in it. 

“How did you-”

“I have my ways,” Mickey shrugged.

Ian thought Mickey was very cool. 

 

Mickey grabbed Ian’s hand. “Do you trust me?” Mickey asked.

“Yes,” Ian replied.

“Don’t. You just met me Carrots. How can you trust me?”

“Because you’re nice. And you do nice things like stopping people from being mean to me and showing me things in your cool duffel bag,” Ian smiled.

Mickey’s face turned red a bit, making Ian worry. “That’s naive. You can trust me, just don’t trust anyone else until you know for sure that you can, alright? You might get hurt,” Mickey told him as he led him down a path around the swamp.

“Did you ever trust someone and get hurt?” Ian asked.

Mickey froze and started to turn even redder. Ian laughed at this. 

“What’s funny!? You’re not safe Carrots, I’ll beat you up too!” Mickey told him with a scowl. Ian did not believe him. 

Mickey tackled him into a pile of leaves. Ian enjoyed playing like this. He wrestled with Lip a lot, but Lip always won because he was older. 

Ian grabbed at Mickey’s shoulders and pushed him down into the leaves. They continued playing until Mickey said, “Where’s your watch?” 

Ian panicked and stood up, looking around the leaves. He hoped it didn’t fall into the swamp.

“Calm down, I have it,” Mickey said quickly. He grabbed Ian’s wrist and tightened the watch. Ian spent the rest of his hour walking around in paths Mickey drafted 2 years earlier. He liked listening to Mickey tell him things that he did not know. Ian liked to know things that Mickey knew, and he liked when Mickey told him things about himself. 

 

“Alright, we’ve got to go back,” Mickey said.

“Race you!” Ian yelled, running towards the hill they came on. He immediately slipped on wet leaves and started falling towards the ground. Mickey grabbed him by the back of his jacket and brought him back up.

“We don’t take that way, they’ll see us. Follow me, there’s a path right behind the bathrooms so It’ll look like we’re coming from there,” Mickey said. Ian smiled at Mickey. He was so smart and he wasn’t rude about it with Ian like Lip sometimes was. Ian looked forward to the rest of his two weeks with Mickey. 

 

/ / / /

 

It was bedtime for Ian. He hopped on his top bunk first but never heard Mickey get on his bed. He looked down and saw that the kid from earlier was laying in Mickey’s bed fast asleep. Mickey scowled down at him.

“Psst! Mickey!” Ian whispered.

“What?”

“Come up here!” 

Mickey blew out a breath and climbed up to Ian’s bed. “You can sleep up here tonight!” Ian whisper yelled.

“I’m not gonna say thank you,” Mickey said.

“I know, I didn’t ask you to,” Ian smiled.

“Okay,” 

“Good night, Mickey,”

“Good night, Carrots,”

Ian felt his chest flutter. He loved his first day at summer camp because he met Mickey. Ian couldn’t wait to leave summer camp so he could play with Mickey at his house. Ian fell asleep imagining him and Mickey exploring the Amazon Rainforest. (Ian watched a Wild Kratts episode about the Amazon Rainforest the day before.)

 

Chapter Management

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Chapter 2: TWO

Chapter Text

Ian woke up with Mickey next to him. Mickey’s arms were wrapped around Ian from under his arms and Ian’s were wrapped around Mickey. They were hugging while they slept! Ian felt himself blush. He saw Fiona and her boyfriends hugging while they slept. Did this mean Ian and Mickey were boyfriends? Ian shook Mickey a few times before he snapped awake.

“What!?” Mickey hissed tiredly.

“Are we boyfriends now?” Ian asked.

“What!?” Mickey said again, this time in confusion.

“Are we?”

“Why would we be?”

“Because we fell asleep hugging. That’s what Fiona does with her boyfriends,” Ian told him. 

“No. That’s homo shit,” Mickey said.

“What’s a homo?” Ian asked. 

“Let me see your watch,” Mickey said, sitting up on an elbow.

Ian raised his wrist.

“It’s seven in the morning. We don’t have to wake up ‘till eleven. Go back to sleep Carrots,” Mickey grumbled. He covered his head up with the sheets like Ian saw Lip do a lot.

“But could you tell me what a homo is?” Ian asked, picking up the sheet so he could see Mickey’s head.

“It’s a fag. A gay person,” Mickey replied.

“What’s gay mean?” Ian raised an eyebrow.

“Do you live under a rock?” 

“No,” Ian replied.

“A gay person is someone who likes the same gender. And before you ask, gender is being a boy or a girl,” Mickey looked up at him.

“So because we’re boyfriends, are we gay?” Ian asked.

“We aren’t boyfriends! And we aren’t gay!” Mickey hissed.

“But we fell asleep hugging,”

“Because the fat ass down there took my bed. It doesn’t mean anything Carrots,”

“Oh. I like you, Mickey,” 

“I like you too Carrots,” Mickey laid back down and went to sleep.

Ian could not sleep. He daydreamed about being boyfriends with Mickey. He and Mickey would have fun together and wrestle like they did, and Mickey would show him cool things in the forest that Ian had never seen before. They would spend two weeks together being best friends and then they’d go back to the Southside together. But- the Southside wasn’t a very nice place. What if Mickey didn’t like it?

Ian shook Mickey again.

“Okay, I’m up and I’m not going back to sleep,” Mickey got up and propped his back against the railing of the bunk bed.

“Sorry. I’m scared you won’t like where I’m from,” Ian frowned, sitting up to lean on the railing too.

“Anything is better than where I’m from,” Mickey told him.

“I’m from Southside Chicago,”

“No you’re not,” Mickey laughed.

Ian frowned. “Yes, I am!” He got a little louder, still careful not to wake up the other kids.

“I’m Southside, alright? And you’re too optimistic to be from there. You probably have a big house somewhere on the west side, livin’ with your two great parents and-”

“I live in a trashy house on the southside with five siblings. And my mom is a junkie, so’s my dad. My dad’s a drunk too,” Ian confessed solemnly. 

“Oh. My dad is a drunk too, but I never knew my mom,” Mickey told him. Ian liked learning new things about Mickey.

“My mom has a mental illness. It’s caw- named bipolar disorder. Or manic depression,” Ian said.

“Did you give her some medicine?” Mickey asked.

“She has her own medicine but she doesn’t like to take it. It makes her act really crazy sometimes, and other times it makes her lay in bed for a long time without ever getting up,” Ian said. 

“Does it make you sad?” 

“No. She split a while ago, so I hope she’s doing terrible on her own,” Ian said with a scowl. Ian did not like Monica. Monica told him she would do things and take him places but she never really did.

“She probably is,” Mickey agreed.

“What’s your dad like?” Ian questioned. 

“He’s real mean. He makes me and my brothers go out and sell drugs and guns for him,” Mickey informed.

“Guns!? Mickey that’s dangerous!” Ian frowned. 

“No shit Gallagher. I don’t have a choice, if we don’t he beats us up,” Mickey explained. 

 

Ian learned lots about Mickey that morning, and it made him feel better about his life. At least he had Fiona around. And Frank. He decided to stop thinking his life was so bad because people like Mickey were around. Ian did not like that Mickey had to do dangerous things and he did not like that his dad would hit him. Ian learned about Mickey’s older brothers, Joey, Iggy, Collin, Jaimie, and Tony. Joey and Collin were close but they weren’t very smart. Iggy was the leader of everyone but he wasn’t smart either. Tony and Jaimie were older than everyone so they helped their dad, Terry, with more illegal things. Mickey did not know what exactly, but he knew it had to do with prostitutes. (Ian did not know what prostitutes were, and after he asked he regretted it immediately.) Mickey was proud to tell Ian that he would be the leader once he got older. He said he’d drop out of school to help Terry, but Ian did not want Mickey to drop out. Ian wanted Mickey to stay with him forever. Ian knew that was childish, and someday they wouldn’t talk anymore, but he didn’t want to think about that. He liked Mickey a lot and wanted to keep him for as long as he could.

/ / / / /

The first week went by very quickly. Ian did not like it at all. It was very boring, but there were a few things he liked. 

He liked it when they had a campfire. He remembered Mickey telling a scary story about a horror movie he had seen.

“Once upon a time, in the forest, there was a family of farmers. They were fighting with another family of farmers, and they all lived in a small area of the woods. One day, there was a murder. The families thought it was the other trying to start a war, so they went back and forth killing members of the other families. The leaders of both families got messages saying, Come to the heart of the woods, where we can fix things. They thought it was sent by each other, so they both went to the heart of the woods. But they both were confused because neither of them sent it. A strange man jumped down from the trees and killed them both. A little girl saw what happened and ran back and told her family. The man was known as the Mountain Man, and it’s said that he still roams these very forests, searching for the little kid who went and snitched about him. He kills every kid he sees, just in case it’s the little girl. The end,” Mickey finished, turning off his flashlight and eating his marshmallows. The other kids were shaking and trembling after Mickey’s story, though Ian didn’t know why.

It was obviously fake. Ian liked the story though, because he liked Mickey. 

 

Ian also liked when they took baths because they had to pair up and Ian liked taking baths with Mickey. They played together in the water, splashing each other and wrestling. 

Ian remembered when Mickey told him to sit still, and he did. Mickey had run water over his head and washed his hair for him, using his fingers to massage the soap into Ian’s head. He held his hand out in Ian’s face.

“See? Orange,” In Mickey’s hand was a little of Ian’s hair that shed. And it was orange! Ian giggled and thanked Mickey for telling him what color his hair really was. Ian did not like red hair. But he did like orange hair. Ian had made Mickey sit still while he cleaned Mickey’s hair. It was fun, because Mickey had lots of hair, even if it was short. Ian made himself laugh by giving Mickey funny hairstyles with the soap and bubbles. 

“You’d better not be playing with my head Gallagher,” Mickey said, but Ian could hear the smile in his voice. Ian liked that Mickey was nice, and he didn’t mind his mean exterior. (He learned that word from Mickey.) When it was time to rinse the soap out of Mickey’s hair Ian asked him to close his eyes and hold his head back. Ian washed the soap out of his hair by pouring water over it. Mickey’s face when his eyes were closed was very pretty.

“You’re pretty Mickey,” Ian told him.

“You don’t call boys pretty. You call them handsome,” Mickey told him. Ian knew the difference between pretty and handsome. Fiona and Vee were pretty, but Kev and police officer Tony were handsome. Ian still thought Mickey was pretty.

 

It was Saturday, and they were going on a field trip. Ian wore one of Lip’s NASA shirts and jean shorts. Mickey wore a shirt with the sleeves cut off and basketball shorts. They stepped outside and Ian noticed that the chairs where Ian and Mickey sat around the pond were in the shade while the other chairs were in the sun. He giggled to himself a bit, finally realizing why Mickey wanted to sit there.

“The fuck are you laughing about?” Mickey asked him.

“Are you excited?” Ian asked instead with a smile as they walked onto the bus.

“I’m not excited. Just can’t wait to get back to my house is all,” Mickey tried to seem angry but Ian could see that he was really happy.

Ian giggled a bit at him. “Okay, Mickey. Do you know where we’re going?” 

“Yeah, we go to the same place every year. First, we go bowling, then to the waterpark,”

Ian lit up and almost jumped out of his seat. “Wow! I’ve never been bowling or to the waterpark! I wonder how Frank got enough money for this,” Ian said.

“Money? This is for cancer kids. It’s free,”

“Cancer!? Do you have cancer? Do I have cancer?” Ian panicked. He did not want to die.

“No, idiot. My old man sends me here every summer to get me off his back. They don’t ask for proof that we have cancer, we just sign up and say we do,” Mickey explained. 

“Oh. Do you know how to bowl?” Ian asked.

“Yeah! Tony used to take me bowling with his friends and they’d let me keep going until my hands hurt, but it was worth it! I love bowling!” Mickey smiled. Ian smiled because Mickey was smiling.

“Remember when you accidentally threw the bowling ball at your face?” Mandy laughed from next to Ian.

“Fuck you, Mandy!” Mickey glared at her.

/ / / /

 

They stood inside Pinstrikes, and Ian felt awesome ! He couldn’t wait to tell Lip he went inside of a real Pinstrikes! 

The place had dull lights, but the rides and games lit up most of the room. They were led into a private room in the back where the bowling alley was. Mickey’s face looked calm, but Ian looked down and saw him bouncing slightly up and down on his toes.  

A lady went to put everyone’s names into the system, and he walked up to her.

“Hi, I’m Ian,” He smiled.

“Hi, Ian! I’m Shelly. What do you need?” She smiled back at him.

“Could you put my friend Mickey’s name first?” He asked.

“Sure I can!” She rubbed his head as he walked away. Ian liked Ms. Shelly.

“The fuck did you just do?” Mickey asked.

“She’s going to put your name first so you can play first!” Ian smiled. Mickey’s face lit up for a second before he looked off to the side.

“I didn’t ask you to do that,”

“I know I just wanted to,” Ian told him.

“Mickey! Come take your turns!” Ms. Shelly called. Mickey grabbed Ian’s hand and pulled him through the benches and up to the bowling alley. 

“Watch and learn Carrots,” Mickey said and grabbed a bowling ball the size of his head. Ian watched him put his fingers in the holes and raise the ball. He threw the ball quickly and it rolled down the alley very fast. It hit the pin in the middle and all the other pins fell down as well. 

“Homerun!!” Ian yelled, hugging Mickey.

“It’s called a strike,” Mickey smiled.

“Congratulations Mickey!” Carter said, patting him on the back. Ian did not like Carter touching Mickey. 

“Yeah, good job!” Another kid said.

“It’s whatever,” Mickey shrugged.

When Ian’s turn came around he tried to copy Mickey. He put his fingers in the holes and tried lifting the ball but it was really heavy. So he slung his arm back and threw it as hard as he could. It went straight to the gutters. Ian sighed and watched as the ball rolled back up.

“Here,” Mickey gave him a lighter ball. 

“The trick is, you’ve got to roll it real hard and have your arm straight, see?” Mickey demonstrated for him, swinging his arm back and forth with the ball in hand.

“Now, try again,” 

Ian grabbed his ball and focused on throwing it straight. He took a deep breath before swinging his arm back as far as it could and rolling it straight down the alley. Ian’s ball hit the middle pin and knocked down every pin except one.

“Nice one, Carrots!” Mickey grinned. Ian felt pride swell in his chest.

 

/ / / / /

In the end, Mickey had won both games, with a 201 and a 120. They walked out of the building together and onto the bus. 

“I can’t wait for the waterpark! But Mickey you were so good at bowling! You were like, woosh, and schpewww and got so many strikes!” Ian said happily once they were seated.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Tony’s way better than me at bowling though, you should see him,” Mickey told him. 

“Is the waterpark far from here?” 

“No, It’s right there. See?” Mickey scooted over to Ian’s seat and pointed out the window. Ian felt butterflies at how close Mickey was.

“You see it?” Mickey asked, looking at Ian. Their faces were inches from each other, and Ian did not know what to do. He nodded quickly and looked out the window.

Mickey laughed at him. “You’re really funny Gallagher,”

Ian smiled to himself as he watched them pull into the waterpark parking lot.

The bus stopped and Ian heard Ms. Shelly call the back rows to come out first. Ian walked holding Mickey’s hand out of the bus. Mickey pulled him towards the bathroom so they could change.

Mickey kicked the door open. “Alright, you wanna change in the last stall, all the way down,” Mickey told him. Ian smiled and walked down to the last stall. It was very clean and Ian appreciated Mickey for telling him about it. As soon as Ian took his shirt off, Mickey walked into the stall with him. 

“What are you doing here?” Ian asked.

“Changing, what’s it look like?” Mickey said as he chucked his shirt and shorts off wildly. 

Ian could only giggle and take his shorts off too. They walked out together and Ian noticed some of the other boys giving them weird looks. But then they stopped, so Ian assumed they were probably just confused. (Mickey gave them all death stares.)

Ian smiled as they ran down the steps and into the pool. There were tall water slides and short little water rides that Ian wanted to try. 

Just as Ian got into the water Mickey threw a floatie around him.

“Keep this so you don’t fuckin’ die,” 

“Okay, Mickey,”

[cindysimblr]

August grows into a child and is now a heavy sleeper. He has to sleep in the toddler- and baby-room for now, until we can afford a bunk bed. Time to open the business, again!

It's time to harvest the hay and the goats have kids, too. Great! Time for the Mid-spring-Festival. Unfortunately, Ibb gets robbed and can't get her money back, even though she tries.

Back at home, Gilbert grows up - he's now friendly (and sooo cute, omg!). Time for more toddler skilling and another baby - this time, it's a girl, named Ceday.

[flatbstanley]

Thursday, 4:45 PM - Claire Newton's Home, Chestnut Ridge

Justin: So, how do you make the horse do what you want her to do?

Claire: I can’t make her do anything. All I can do is ask her nicely. But she's a sweetie - I usually don't have any trouble. Want to try riding her?

Justin: …No, no, that’s okay.

Claire: Someday we should go to Daddy’s place. He and my sister have a whole herd of horses so we could ride together.

Justin: Speaking of your dad, I know he’s a big player in real estate around here. Would he be able to help me find a bigger place at a good price? The court is being ridiculous—saying I can’t see my kids even for a weekend because my place is too small.

Claire: Daddy says the prices are going to keep going up because of all the people moving out here. I can only afford this house because he rents it to me at a big discount. How much more space do you need?

Justin: Enough for every kid to have their own bed. I thought sleeping bags would be okay, but apparently they're delicate little snowflakes who can't rough it even a little bit.

Claire: Well…would a bunk room work?

Justin: A bunk room?

Claire: Let me show you.

Claire: Lots of the houses around here have upstairs rooms like this. Daddy says they were built as vacation homes — it’s a way to have a lot of guests without needing too many extra bedrooms. There’s a bathroom attached and everything. This would be okay for the kids, wouldn’t it?

Justin: You are just the sweetest, Claire. Really, you are. But if my kids and I stayed here, even just for weekends, people might think we were…well, cohabitating. And I certainly don’t want to lead you into the near occasion of sin.

Claire: But I’d just be doing you a favor. You could sleep on the murphy bed in my office if it bothers you.

Justin: Well…let me ask Father Crane about this. He’s a godly man — you’d like him. Perhaps he’ll say that my duties as a father outweigh any other issues.

Claire: Okay! Well, if you do have your kids stay here, I'll spruce things up a little bit. It’ll be so cute! And it will be such good content for my channel — having a big family in a small space is a something a lot of Catholic moms might want advice on….

[A/N: The horse's name is Shiloh and she is an unproblematic queen.]

[sugdenlovesdingle]

I was literally just thinking this morning about if Robert did come back where he would live. If John is staying with Vic long term I doubt he'd want to be sharing bunk beds with him lol, especially if he finds out about him and Aaron. Then I thought Belle and Tom's house is likely to be vacant soon because I assume she might move back in with her family after the truth finally comes out and he's (hopefully) locked up or dead because she probably won't be able to afford the rent but I doubt Robert will either so that idea went out the window. Him living with Vanessa I could see but would be a bit crowded with Tracy and the kids and Suzie. So in conclusion he needs to get back with Aaron asap so they can live in the mill flat together

obviously!

but also - Tracy and Frankeeehhh can move in with Belle For Reasons, then Rob (and Seb!) can move in with Vanessa (her and Suzy break up, Suzy gets with Mary), Rob and Aaron pretend they don't still love each other, Mack and Vanessa team up to get them back together, Rob moves home with Aaron, Mack sees what true love looks like and him and Charity get divorced because their relationship has lost its spark a LONG time ago, Mack crashes on the sofa in the mill flat, the three of them raise Seb together while he looks for Reuben (because after all the bullshit, he deserves to know his kid) Meanwhile newly single Charity does some soul searching and thinks of the last time she was truly happy and figures out it was with Vanessa. Enter Vanessa having come to the same conclusion and they reunite at Robron's third wedding. Mack finds out chloe didn't actually move to France but lives nearby and he gets to have a relationship with Reuben, and then, because it's a soap after all, an ex from back in Scotland rocks up in the village looking for him. Also the ex is a man and emmerdale remember Mack is bi (or at least not straight).

There. I fixed it.

(i realised I forgot John... he can just leave so Oliver can go back to his life in Spain)

[raaorqtpbpdy]

The One (1)

For the Phic Phight prompts: Soulmate Au where after your soulmate dies, you can only see in black and white. As in you see normal colors until they die and then only in black and white for the rest of your life, so you only ever know if you had a soulmate once it's too late. Except Character A's (up to you who you want it to be) soulmate is Danny. While Danny is in Phantom form, character A's vision is in black and white, but returns to normal color when Danny is Fenton. Character A is going crazy trying to find their soulmate who keeps dying and getting resurrected. (from @ghostboidanny) and Wes is the first one to find out Danny's secret. No One Knows AU. (from @murphy-kitt)

Chapter 1: Right Here in Black and White   

Next

AO3 link

[Warnings for death/cardiac arrest mentions]

All told, there was nothing really exceptional about that day. Wes had woken up as usual, gone to school as usual, rode his bike home as usual. It was early September, a couple weeks into sophomore year, and Basketball season hadn't started yet. He was sitting at his desk in his bedroom, working on his geometry homework. He only had a few more problems left and then he could go downstairs and watch TV with his brother.

Everything was perfectly ordinary. Then between one moment and the next, everything changed. The color drained from the world, his vibrant blue walls, his red Casper High swag, the colorful posters on his walls—they all turned to gray.

Wes gasped and blinked in shock at his newly monochrome surroundings. He knew what this meant, what had happened, but it hadn't quite sunk in yet. All his life he'd told himself that he had plenty of time to meet his soulmate. Most didn't meet until their twenties at least. At fifteen, he'd thought he had all the time in the world. But now he didn't. Now his soulmate was dead.

There was nothing Wes could do about it, of course, but there was no way he could focus on his geometry homework anymore either. He stood up from his desk and immediately collapsed onto his bed instead. Numbly, he stared up at the stickers Kyle had stuck to the ceiling back when they shared a room, before their older brother Easton moved out for college and Kyle took his old room. Without a bunk bed it was too much of a pain for Wes to get up there and try to peel them off, no matter how stupid they were.

He could barely see some of them now. Black and white didn't afford as much contrast as colors did. Wes wondered idly if he was really mourning the loss of someone he'd never met, or if he was just mourning the loss of color in his life. Perhaps he wasn't even mourning at all.

He had no idea how long he laid there, his eyes focusing and unfocusing on those stickers, before suddenly, the colors returned. Kyle's thrasher sticker was an eye-burning neon pink once more, and all those ridiculous Lisa Frank unicorn stickers he'd put up specifically to irritate Wes were blindingly bright again. Wes jolted upright and looked around the rest of his room, to make sure he wasn't imagining things, but it was just as it was supposed to be, colors and all.

He breathed a sigh of relief. His soulmate wasn't dead. Probably, something had happened to them, and their heart had stopped for a while, but paramedics or someone was able to revive them. Still scary, but not as scary as losing them forever. Hopefully they'd make a full recovery, and Wes wouldn't have to worry about them anymore.

When Wes went to school the next day he heard whispers.

"Did you hear that Fenton kid got into an accident yesterday?" someone said. "I heard it was really bad."

"I heard he actually died," responded someone else. "Scary stuff."

"Calm down," a third person told them, scoffing. "Every time someone's absent rumors get spread around that they died and then they're back again the next day like nothing happened."

Wes wondered vaguely if maybe Fenton was his soulmate, whoever that was. It was probably coincidence, but you never knew, really. That was the thing about soulmates. You never could know they were 'the one' until they died. It was kind of a fucked up system if you asked Wes, but that was just how it was.

Later that same day, it happened again. All the colors faded away and Wes was left staring at gray buildings, and gray trees, and gray cars as his bike coasted down the road toward his home. He pulled up onto the sidewalk to stop, his breathing tremulous and heart thumping wildly in his chest as anxiety gripped him tightly. The dismal gray distracted him, seemed to suffocate him in that moment.

He'd thought he was in the clear the first time the colors came back, but apparently his soulmate had only been just barely clinging to life. He took deep breaths to try to calm himself. Once he could see more than two feet in front of him he raced home at top speed.

The colors returned as he was stowing his bike in the garage, much to his relief. He took the steps up to his family's apartment two at a time. Even if he didn't know what exactly was going on, he had some theories he wanted to look into. Well, a theory, at least.

The most likely possibility was that his soulmate had been involved in some kind of incident recently, died for a while, and been revived, but they were still in critical condition, and their heart had stopped again for a few minutes before they were revived a second time. That meant that his soulmate, in all likelihood, was in a hospital.

There were two hospitals in Amity Park, not counting the abandoned one. If Wes' soulmate was at either of them, there were ways of finding out. There wasn't much he could do if they were in any other city, but on the off chance they did live in the same town, Wes could find them. Hospital records weren't public, but neither were they all that difficult for Wes to get his hands on, or rather, for Kyle to get his hands of for Wes.

"I'll do all your chores for a week," Wes offered in exchange.

"A month," Kyle countered.

"A month?! No way!"

"You gotta understand—what you're asking me to do is illegal, little bro," Kyle pointed out, as if Wes didn't know for a fact that Kyle absolutely loved doing illegal things on principal, just because he hated police, the government, and institutions in general.

"You're three minutes older than me!"

"Fine, do it yourself, then." Wes hated when Kyle did that. Stupid brothers knowing the value of their stupid skills. They both knew Wes didn't know more than the absolute basics about computers, so there was no way he'd be able to hack hospital records on his own, let alone twice.

"Fine!" Wes growled out finally. "I'll do your chores for a month."

Kyle leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head. "Sounds like we have a deal. I'll get you those records."

His twin brother was a pain in the ass, but he hadn't spent all those summers at computer camp just to pick up chicks. In a couple of hours, Wes had the records, and for several hours more, he combed through the lists of ICU patients at both Voorhees Memorial and Amity Park General. Not a single person had been admitted since yesterday. The most recent had been six days before, someone injured in a really nasty car crash.

None of them were Wes' soulmate.

But he wasn't about to give up searching just yet.

[ridiasfangirlings]

An au where when Yata and Fushimi moved to an apartment, they chose one that looked good and was cheap - something two kids like them can afford. Fushimi already thought it was suspicious that it's priced like that but they had no choice. Then they started experiencing weird stuff and finds out the place is haunted. The moment they both realized this and wanted out, they found themselves trapped inside and must now figure out how to escape.

As I recall canonically the place is cheap because a murder happened there so hey, you never know XD Imagine this happens like in canon, Fushimi is suspicious that the place is so cheap and does some quick internet sleuthing. He finds out about not just a recent murder but maybe there have been several, it’s like the place is cursed. Fushimi doesn’t believe in stupid things like that though so he just decides he won’t tell Yata and they’ll take the apartment, what Yata doesn’t know won’t hurt him after all and only idiots believe in ghosts.

Soon after they move in though strange things start happening. First it’s just the lights flickering, Yata is nervous but Fushimi scoffs and says it’s to be expected in a shitty building like this. Then they keep finding things moved out of where they’ve been left, like Yata will swear he left his skateboard by the door but when he goes to look for it it’s been moved by his bunk. Sometimes he thinks he hears sounds in the night too, banging noises and almost a moaning sound. The first time Yata hears it he freaks out and wakes Fushimi, who says it’s just the building settling and the old pipes creaking. Fushimi’s all crabby at being woken up and Yata reluctantly tries to go back to bed but he keeps hearing sounds. Imagine him sitting there repeating over and over again that ghosts aren’t real and he thinks he hears someone laughing.

Fushimi still thinks Yata’s just making things up on his own but then the strange occurrences get worse, like one day Yata’s cooking and some knives suddenly fall off the counter and almost stab Fushimi who’s lying by the kotatsu. Yata swears he saw them go flying all on their own, Fushimi mutters that Yata must have just hit them with an elbow or something but really he’s concerned too, because he was far enough away it would have been hard for the knives to reach. Then Yata almost gets electrocuted by Fushimi’s laptop sparking in the bathroom but Fushimi knows he didn’t leave it there. Yata’s like see I told you ghosts, we need to get out of here. Fushimi tries to argue as Yata moves to leave, suddenly Yata stops because the door won’t open. Fushimi tries and Yata’s right, the door won’t budge. The lights abruptly go out and the room starts to feel cold, Yata’s like tell me again how ghosts aren’t real.

Something starts moving around them, laughing at them and Fushimi’s fingers clench. Suddenly Yata grabs something from a cupboard and throws it towards the ground, saying it’s a good thing he was prepared. Fushimi wonders why Yata is wasting their salt and Yata says he saw in a movie that a salt circle can stop ghosts, see look they’re retreating. It does seem to be holding the ghosts back but then the whole room starts to shake and Fushimi grabs Yata and pulls him down before he can get stabbed by a flying kitchen knife. Yata’s all what do we do, totally freaking out and imagine Fushimi pulling out his PDA and looking up ‘how to exorcise a ghost’ because the fuck he’s being chased out of here by a ghost. Imagine they find out that the ghost must be anchored to the apartment by something and now the two of them have to find a way to uncover and destroy it before the ghost gets rid of them first.

[countessofravenclaw]

I finally got write some Roller Crew being parenst content. This is quite a fun conversation because, Laura and Ivory are besties, but also Gastina's youngest child and Simbar's oldest... Enjoy a snippet

“Did you already drop the girls off?” Ambar’s face showed up on the video call.

“Yep, long time ago,” Gastón answered. Nina leaned her head on his shoulder.

“How did it go?” Ambar asked. “Did you go in with them?” 

“Well,” Gastón shrugged, “and no, I didn’t. I wasn’t allowed to, you know, for the street cred. We all know they will be fine anyway.” 

“So you didn’t see what sort of accommodations they got?” Ambar kept asking. 

“Darling, what are you doing?” Simon’s head showed up behind Ambar. “Oh hey! Did the girls get off alright?”

“They did,” Gastón nodded, “As I was just about to say to Ambar, I didn’t go in, but the place looked fine. Pretty standard sports academy. Not any sort of luxe hotel, but I think they’ll survive.” 

“Why were you even asking about that?” Simon looked at Ambar. “You weren’t expecting some sort of luxury, for a sports camp, right? You were the one who wanted the girls to go to the nearest public school so we can agree that they don’t need luxury.”

“I wasn’t expecting any luxury,” Ambar glared at Simon playfully, “but surely I am not alone when I don’t want them to sleep in a moldy cabin in the woods.”

“Yeah, there were no woods at all.” 

“I just still keep wondering how the camp fee was so cheap?” Ambar shook her head, “We didn’t have time to vet it when girls found it online.”

“Well, you don’t need to worry about it,” Nina started speaking, “I wouldn’t call it vetting, but we did look it up. It’s run by a church sanctioned nonprofit.” 

“Oh.”

“Apparently lots of the kids attending those camps are being provided aid by the non-profit, because they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford it. They get it half free at least.” Gastón explained, “I have been meaning to look into the organization, see if they accept anonymous donations.”

“It’ll probably be a little different environment,” Nina nodded, “but would be good for the girls, before they start at Blake. Not that they care about those things, but a change of scenery is always for the good.”

“I definitely agree with that,” Simon agreed, “I grew up sleeping in a bunk bed, so you need to experience that at least once in your life. Camps are always so fun.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Ambar shook her head, “It is very good that they went, even if two weeks is a little long… I’m just glad that Ivory has something to do. We’re so busy and summer has just started.”

“Sorry, can't relate with that,” Gastón grinned, “Corporations are summer vacation and so is UCA, so I’m free, outside of a few thesis supervision, but those are not a bother.”

Gastón was such a popular professor in UCA, that almost all of the students who had had his classes wanted him to supervise their thesis. He had had to put a hard limit on three students per year a long time ago. 

“Actually on Monday we are taking off to Santa Cruz. Gonna go take some pictures at the Los Glaciares national park.” Gason looked at Nina, “Now that Laura’s off at camp, we are giving Oscar and Aurora a chance to prove that the house won’t burn down if they’re left by themselves for five days.”

“Vacation? Ah, I would love that,” Simon groaned, “Not us. Pedro and I are going back to the studio to do some recording. We won’t be free before the end of January.”

“And I have at least two court dates in need of my appearances,” Ambar shook her head, “Maybe three, if that one case gets drawn out. We need to figure out something for Esme to do, since I can’t take her to the courthouse.”

“She used to love to come to the studio, but now she complains how boring it is there,” Simon grimaced.

“That’s how teenagers are.”

“She just turned 13, my little gemstone can’t be a teenager yet,” Simon’s face turned horrified. 

“We’ve all been there,” Gastón laughed, “There will always be the time when you little girl decides that she doesn’t want to be a child anymore.”

“We probably didn’t tell you that right before school got out, Laura got in her head that she wanted to dye her hair platinum white,” Nina explained, “We shot that down very quickly. Said that she can have some lighter highlights if she wants, but not that drastic of a full hair change.”

“When she’s 18, she can have full responsibility for those sorts of decisions,” Gastón continued, “but…about Esme. Doesn’t she like chemistry?” 

“Yeah, she does,” Ambar nodded, “Always gets mad at us, when we don’t allow her to mix kitchen soap with all sorts of things.”

“How did I not tell you about this?” Gastón questioned out loud, “There are these summer science workshops held in UCA in summer, for middle schoolers. Few of my star students are TA:ing that. You’d think Esme might like that?”

“She would probably love it,” Ambar exclaimed. “It’s held at UCA? with what sort of timetable?”

“9 to 4 I think. ” Gastón responded, “It starts next week.” 

“Is there still time to sign up?”

“Check the website. I’m not involved with it myself, if I wasn’t a part timer, I probably would bea.” Gastón thought. 

“We'll try. That would be perfect.”

“Tell me if you can’t get her in.” Gastón nodded, “I do know the professor running the program personally, so I can get her in.” 

“Thank you.” Simon made a few gestures with his hands, “Who knew that your kids growing up would be such a hassle?”

“Tell me about it,” Ambar chuckled, “We need to figure out when the Blake Freshmen parents’ conference even is.” 

“At the end of February,” Nina responded, “it’s always the same day, and has the same contents.”

“We probably wouldn’t even need to attend it anymore, we know it by heart,” Gastón rolled his eyes, “Third times the charms and thankfully the last.”

“Well, this is our first,” Ambar remarked. “Ivory’s is seriously starting Upperseconday school.”

[healeroflightanddark]

Family Bonds, Chapter 3: Plans For the Future

Zarc woke up the next day feeling exhausted. He had spent half the night tending to the babies, who kept waking up crying. Whenever one of them started crying, the others were sure to follow. It was mostly the green-and-redhead that would start crying first, followed quickly by the one with purple-and-black hair, then the one with blue-and-yellow hair and the pink-and-purple one, usually in that order.

Half the time they didn’t even need feeding or their diapers changed, but just seemed to miss Zarc. They did usually stop crying when Zarc picked them up and cradled them.

Zarc sighed as he made himself some coffee, knowing he wouldn’t be able to leave the babies home alone while he was at work. He would have to take them in with him. Which would raise a lot of questions, seeing as he had a live interview with the Duelist Entertainment TV station scheduled for today.

“Hopefully the interviewer won’t be bothered by the sudden appearance of the babies,” he said.

“We still need to name them,” said Dark Rebellion. “Got any name ideas?”

Zarc nodded, having been thinking about that since the babies’ arrival, “I’m thinking Yuto, Yuri, Yugo, and Yuya. In that order, based on the order they were born according to the note.”

Odd-Eyes was cooing over Yuya, who had woken up without crying for once. “You like that name, lil Yuya?” Yuya gurgled happily, grasping Odd-Eyes’s finger with his tiny hand. “Aw, I think he likes his name!”

“They’re probably going to be hungry again soon,” Starve Venom said. “We should make them some formula.”

No sooner were the words out of his mouth, Yuri woke up and started wailing. Which caused Yuya to start crying too. Which in turn woke Yuto who started crying, followed immediately by Yugo. Zarc rushed to prepare their bottles, which the dragons took to feed the babies while Zarc sipped his much-needed coffee. Fortunately the babies calmed down immediately as they started drinking their milk.

“They’re so tiny!” Clear Wing cooed. “But they have such big appetites. Don’t you, Yugo? Yes you do! Yes you do, yum yum!” Yugo looked up at the dragon as he gulped down his bottle.

“Are we sure they should be going to the interview with you?” Dark Rebellion asked, looking at Zarc. The duelist nodded, “I would leave them here with you four, but I’m worried about that crazy fan that left them here. I don’t want to risk whoever it is deciding that they change their mind, and breaking into the house to take the babies back. They clearly know where we live, and if they’re crazy enough to clone me, they’re probably crazy enough to do other illegal stuff.”

“Fair enough,” Dark Rebellion said. Starve Venom looked around thoughtfully. “In that case, we should probably move to a new home. This apartment is only a studio apartment anyway. It’s not going to be big enough for all of the babies for much longer.”

“True,” Zarc agreed. He thought for a minute. “I make enough money from my duels that I should be able to afford a nice place big enough for all of us. I may have to dip into my savings, but it’ll be worth it if I can get a bigger place. It doesn’t need to be very big right now, the kids should be able to share a room while they’re younger, and use bunk beds as they get a bit older. A nice two-bedroom apartment should be big enough for now. Maybe three bedrooms, and we could use the third bedroom as a playroom for the kids.”

“That sounds good!” Starve Venom agreed. “You can always save up for a proper house later on, when the kids are older!”

The rest of the dragons nodded in agreement, and Zarc smiled. Truth be told, he’d been considering getting a bigger place recently, but he’d never been able to really justify spending more money on a bigger place when there was no real need to upgrade. Now that he had four kids to raise, it was just the push he needed.

[muslimintp-1999-girl]

We'll always have summer if climate change doesn't fuck us up

Pink roses, noisy streets, bunk beds and our miseries

Jokes cracked and laughs echoed, quiet talks and sweet memos

All the things you keep coming back to, all the people your mind lingers back to, no longer exist, not anymore

It's not summer without you, I say, because summer now feels like a pleasant mix of spring and fall

I have discovered a new version of me now that I'm no longer at your beck & call

And just because I miss you doesn't mean I'll pick up your call

Because just coz you care now doesn't mean we have no history at all

Full of back and forth, and silent fights that no one knew about

Avoiding your face at parties coz you made me feel that to be in love with you I wasn't allowed

And the future is unclear but it's still mine and it belongs to me in a way you never did

And though I'm not with you, I can still shine Now that I'm no longer with someone who calls me a kid

And if heaven exists, it would be a place where I can love you in peace for a time infinite Where I wouldn't have to try to move on like my life depends on it 

And heaven is real but baby it's all too far for now to live in The reality is you aren't enough and I can't afford to keep feeding my delusion

So this is the summer

That I rediscover My beauty and my flaws Be with someone who remembers my fav flowers

We'll always have summer if climate change doesn't fuck us up

Wrote this poem like a week ago. It's not bellyjere, more of a Belly’s pov @babyducklingsworld

[thecandywrites]

Jewel Of The North Chapter 15

Woo, it's been several long minutes since I was able to get back to this, but I'm here, with an update. As always, I had- MOST of this already planned out. And I hate it how I can get ALMOST to the end, my brain knows the endgame and suddenly my muse is like "Thank you- next." And I'm like NO, NO, NO! PleAsE lEt mE FiNiSh! And my muse gives me the bird as it walks away. Damn fickle muse.

My goal is to get this off my plate, and FINALLY finish Zorroku and Peaches update. Get to Anastascia and Talisman before Kinktober is here. And because of shit hitting the fan in my personal life, I'm going to cling to Kinktober to get me through these dark times ahead. (My daughter has a bone tumor, now we are testing to see if it's cancerous and go from there.)

So, enjoy the update. Hopefully I can get to the one last chapter and finish this. HOPEFULLY. (Dear God PLEASE)

Chapter 15

“Well if it’s not my favorite customers!” Jim greeted happily as your family returned to the dealership. 

“Did you come back for that camper?” He asked hopefully. 

“We did. I couldn’t stop thinking about it actually. And now that we’re not under such a tight time crunch, could we check it out?” You asked. 

“Absolutely, let me grab the keys.” He answered as he got the keys and then opened it up and let all the sliders out. It was a gorgeous RV that had gotten super fine and sophisticated customizations. And while it was it’s own vehicle, it was an epic one. It was as if someone took a mini semi, and then married it with an RV and a camper, all in one. It was huge. It was extra wide, extra long. And because it was both the semi and a camper trailer, it had more than enough room for the five of you to be very comfortable. 

“This was someone’s home before they bought a house up here with a truck. And we haven’t sold it because no one else can seem to justify paying so much for something that to anyone else would be a recreational vehicle.” He explained. 

“I understand that.” You noted as you checked out the appliances, and the fridge, sniffing deeply to see if anything had ever been left in here to rot. And looking for little details to see how well it had been cared for. Whoever had customized this and redid it, took their time and really put their heart and soul into it. It was the perfect, home away from home. Most likely another wealthy person. But also, someone who could probably afford to hire a driver. 

“So what endorsements do you need to drive it?” You asked him. 

“None. It’s considered an RV. Anyone who has ever driven a truck, and a trailer, or another RV could drive this.” He answered. 

“No way.” You and Noah both seemed to playfully scoff. 

“I’m serious. It’s not considered a semi. It’s classed as an RV.” Jim insisted. 

“Even if it was a full semi, I have that endorsement.” Noah assured you. 

“Well, because it’s it’s own vehicle, it means, we can leave your truck here, for when we come back next spring and just take the dully with the horse trailer.” You offered to Noah. 

“Yeah, and that way, we’d still have the truck to take to the stores and stuff, because getting this out on the road and to gas stations will be a pain in the ass. But once we get it parked in various spaces and get it hooked up, it’ll be ok.” Noah reassured you as he stepped down into the driver’s seat to become familiar with the controls and stuff as you continued to walk through and get used to the space and storage and stuff before you came back to see the kids already in the bedroom part that was put into a smaller room with two twin beds in a bunk bed set up, or the larger room with a full bed. 

“And there’s a king size bed in the trailer. Although, most parks, you’ll need two side by side spaces to get it all together, unless a place has two hook ups, one in front of the other.” Jim explained. 

“Ok, how are the beds guys?” You asked them. 

“Eh, they’re ok. Rutted out right here though.” Zane said as his rear seemed to find a space in the middle of the bed that you imagined the previous owners probably used for sex. So new mattresses would be in order. And…decent bedding too, you realized as you touched the bedding and crinkled your nose that it was the cheap, microfiber crap. Microfiber bedding was “soft” but didn’t breathe for crap and didn’t hold up past a few washings. So you were doing some quick math in your head of what else you’d need to do to get this ready for travel. 

“Let’s look at the trailer.” You insisted before you did and could see that it was the trailer that had all the luxury and all the real “upgrades.” It was basically one big bedroom and a living room with a small kitchenette and a decent sized shower, whereas the one on the RV part was ok. Not great but ok. Clean and functional and that’s what mattered. The one in the trailer? Actual tile. And a bench. Great for shaving and especially shower sex probably- if you and Noah could fit into it together. 

“Wow, this is really nice.” Noah noted once he joined you in the camper. 

“Yeah, it is.” You nodded. 

“Jim was telling me that when we park the RV, we will need either two spots in front of each other, or side by side. 

“Well, actually, did you see how there’s a way to connect the two if they’re in front of each other, and we have a way to make a hallway that connects that to this?” Noah pointed out as he motioned to it. 

“Ooh, no I didn’t.” You noted as you came over to see it. 

“Can we look under it to see the frame?” Skylar asked hopefully before she pulled out her trusty flashlight she always used to inspect things. 

“We’ve already been over it and inspected it.” Jim tried to reassure her. 

“Yeah, but another set of eyes wouldn’t be a bad thing.” Noah insisted before Skylar beamed happily before she and him went out and did just that as she chose to look under the RV first as she started lowly murmuring to Noah to make sure he saw what she could find. 

“Her uncle is a mechanic.” You excused to Jim as you got a picture of Skylar’s legs sticking out with Noah’s under the vehicle, because it was really cute before you got your notebook out to write down what you were hearing from Noah and Skylar. 

“I see.” Jim nodded as he just stood by and you could tell he was a little nervous before you poked around in the vehicle’s crash history, what work it had gotten done, what maintenance it had gotten done, and the fact that it was sporting brand new tires, you wondered if the older ones had gotten dry rot before Noah started asking questions before Jim had to go and get the mechanic who checked it over before Skylar and Noah were beginning to speak mechanic as you barely were able to keep up mentally with the discussion before Skylar found things that the other mechanic hadn’t caught before Noah used that, to let her find every, tiny, little, thing as Noah was beginning to throw out numbers of how much it would take to fix that, and you grinned when you got your notebook out and put the estimates with everything. 

“So how much were you wanting for this?” You asked Jim. 

“Well, we were asking…” He began to list off what the vehicle was worth and all the money, the previous hosts dumped into it. 

“Yeah, but if it needs this much in repairs…” You began as you listed off everything it would need to be really roadworthy and mechanically sound as you did your best to continue to write it out what Noah and Skylar were finding under the vehicle and then once they got through that, popped the hood and continued to look it over with the mechanic. 

“Girl, how old are you?” Bud asked Skylar. 

“Eight. But I’ve been helping my uncles and grandpas with stuff since I was old enough to walk.” She answered happily. 

“And she’s been really the god’s send with helping me with my plane.” Noah praised. 

“Let’s check out the trailer.” Noah urged before they went around to the back as you continued to write down every little thing before they seemed to be done as you helped brush Skylar and Noah off before you handed him the notebook to look over before he added more things that he saw without saying anything. 

“Let’s go inside and talk.” Noah urged you as you readily passed the power brick from your purse to the kids, so that their devices wouldn’t die as you went inside and negotiated, for either the dealership to fix various things, or for the price to be dropped so that it could be handled elsewhere. 

You were simply happy to sit there and help Noah negotiate for it. And help bank on the fact that only you guys would be able to buy such a vehicle, but even when Noah had a whole plane to repair and therefore didn’t have the extra money, especially when a simple camper, that was a fraction of the price, was also available for your family. 

You guys ended up getting it for way less than you feared it would be. And the dealership still made enough money off of it, that it was still worth while for them too before Noah drove it all out of there and to his house and into his own garage to begin working on what needed to be worked on as you got your cleaning supplies ot really dig down and give it another thorough deep clean as you gagged to see how filthy the mattresses really were under that pretty bedding. Someone had obviously gotten drunk or at least very sick, in these beds  before. You could smell vomit and diarreah on them. They had sprayed air fresheners in the RV to cover up this odor. And there was no way you could clean this out of them. So you hauled them out of the RV. 

“What’s wrong?” Noah asked as he watched you push the mattress out of the RV. 

“The mattresses are beyond cleaning and saving. These are so gross. Someone must have gotten very sick on these and they tried to turn them over to cover it up.” You noted. 

“Those better not be bed bugs.” You worried before you went back inside and outright hunted for them, but now that you had the mattress pulled out and really looking, you found the faint aroma of the fumigation. 

“Is that…?” Noah asked as he came over to the edges of the mattress and scratched at something crusted to the mattress.

“Oh gods!” You yelled before you dropped it on the ground.

“Babe?” Noah asked. 

“This thing had bed bugs. I’m just seeing a few dead corpses. But this thing had bed bugs. That’s what Jim was nervous about. He was worried we would find them. OK. Should we fumigate again? Just to be sure?” You asked. 

“Absolutely. Let me get that taken care of.” Noah offered before he immediately got his phone up and called the local pest control and arranged for them to come and treat it again before he found out that they had treated it once before, it had been an issue that the previous owners were ashamed to admit that they could never seem to get them all out, that they would get it treated, then stay somewhere and get them again. And they had thought they treated it really good last time, but offered to come and treat again, just to make doubly sure. 

“They’ll be here day after tomorrow.” He offered. 

“Thank you.” You thanked him as you could do little but look and search for anything else in there. 

“Find anything?” He asked. 

“Thankfully, nothing living, just the occasional corpse in the cracks.” You answered. 

“I’m gonna need a good vacuum.” You noted as you felt like pulling apart the pieces of furniture to see if any were trying to hide elsewhere. 

After getting it fumigated again, thoroughly deep cleaned and new mattresses put in, that had to literally be flown in, you began trying to pack it up to get ready to go on the road. 

Which worked out because Noah needed to take another few days of Ukluk and Nago flying Noah back to his plane to help do some repairs just to get it flyable again which Skylar was exceedingly happy to try to help.

Sakura, Zane and yourself did as much as you could to help too. Both with the plane, and the RV and trying to make sure you packed everything you needed from Noah's house that they wanted to keep with them through the winter. 

Then Noah was finally able to get the plane just to the point that it could start and take off and then land on a tarmac in Fair Banks. And once at the hanger, more work could be done there. To get it at least passable so it could fly to the Great Lakes. Where you and Noah had agreed to rent a space at a local airplane hangar. So Noah could park it there and work even more on it there and do it for much cheaper than he could up in the Arctic Tundra where he had to pay a premium for parts just to get mailed. 

It took a day for Noah to fly down there and park his plane and begin the process of ordering parts and stuff to repair it. He readily made friends with the other pilots, most of which just had small bush planes as they were sympathetic of the crash and gave him a ride to the local airport so he could fly back home to the Arctic Tundra so he could help you pack and drive him and his family and his animals down to the Great Lakes. Since you had been spending all that time getting all the horses’ paperwork prepared and the vet and get them ready for the journey. And get all the cats and get them to the vet and ready for the journey. and of course the dogs as well.  Sakura was happy to start packing too before you had to go and pick Noah up from the airport again. 

“So? How were your flights?” You asked him. 

“Long. How were things at home?” He asked. 

“Busy, the vet I think made his year getting all of the animals ready for the trip. By the way, do you want to pack all of your clothes or do you want to pack just some of them since we will be back up here next summer? Also, what do you want to do about the contents of your freezer?” You asked him.  

“We can either split it between Neena’s parents and mine or whatever, or we can try to bring it with us.” Noah offered. 

“Yeah, no. I don’t want to have to worry about spoiled rotting meat on a cross country trip because that frrzer is only so big in the RV. Let’s give it to the people who are staying up here and we can always bring in more food when we come back, I don’t want anything to go to waste or rotting while we are gone." You answered. 

“Yeah I didn’t want that either.” Noah readily admitted. 

“So, did you want to drive the RV or the horse trailer?" You asked since you had had to drive it to various places to get stuff for it already. 

"Don't care, I can do either one." He offered. 

"Well we can always trade off." You shrugged. 

"Which one would you prefer to drive?" He asked.

"Honestly, I don't care, I'll take whichever one you don't want." You answered. 

"Well, How about you take the RV, I'll take the horses, since they can move while in transit and sway the horse trailer. The RV should be pretty constant." He suggested. 

"Ok." You nodded with a smile. Noah was still, always so thoughtful. 

It took another few days to get everything packed up that needed to be packed up since all Noah and Sakura really needed were their clothes and other sentimental items they didn’t want to live without over the winter since most of everything else didn’t need to be moved as Noah and yourself and all the kids pitched in to winterize Noah’s house and his barn.

Then the fateful day came where you said your goodbyes and made plans for Noah’s family and even Neena’s family to come down for the next high holiday that your family and theirs would be making into one big gosbe to join both the Great Lakes Family and the Arctic Tundra one to converge at your yourse, flying commercially of course for an official, really big, gosbe with all of Noah’s family and yours. 

You went from camp ground to camp ground and even national park to national park. And despite the initial cost of the RV, it really was so much cheaper than staying in hotels and eating out for every meal. Because with the RV, you could camp it in, get showers, do laundry either in the small on board washer and dryer or stop at laundromats for the bigger items like bedding. You could get the horses out regularly, and ride them and the dogs and cats could use the bathroom regularly and the chickens were content in their little coop. And it would give you practically two weeks before school started and with the gradual traveling from the Arctic Tundra to the Great Lakes, you all could gradually get used to the time change. And it was actually, really nice. And it made a lot if really good memories. It really made a national parks pass to stay in all the national parks from June Neau to the Great Lakes worth every penny.

Two weeks later in the late afternoon, early evening, you, very tiredly pulled into your driveway at home, putting in your code to open the gate and led the way in, Noah and the horse trailer behind you as Sakura gasped when she saw your house. 

“This is my house?” Sakura asked in excited awe when she laid her eyes on it. 

“Yup, this is your house Sweetie, but we gotta get the horses into the barn.” You told her as you parked the RV, as Noah drove down to the barn to unload the horses into the barn. 

Your mother had already gotten the barn doors open and helped Noah back up the horse trailer to the barn as your horses were eager to see who was new to the barn as your mom had already gotten new stalls ready for the new horses. 

Your parents were eager to meet their new granddaughter and of course see Noah in person as they already had dinner ready and waiting on you in the house as soon as you could get the horses unloaded and the dogs of course beginning to mark their territory and meet all the other dogs who were excited to see you and the kids again and eager to meet Sakura and Noah as your parents warmly and eagerly hugged Sakura first and then Noah. 

And once the horses were squared away, you brought your family back into the house and had them drop their bags at the door and led the way to the kitchen that was open to the dining room as Sakura and Noah were both taking in the sight of the very nice house you had. Noah was trying to keep his awe down and not completely gawk at his surroundings. 

His sister Alorna may have been onto something, this felt like a mansion. It was huge and very high end materials and was overall very luxurious and he was getting overwhelmed by just the foyer and the chandelier in said foyer. Which was the fanciest crystal thing he had ever seen and then the kitchen was straight out of a magazine, and the feast that your dad had prepared was delicious and immaculate and somehow very familiar as Noah could see and taste where you had gotten your culinary upbringing from. 

“Hey, it’s just a home right? Just a really nice one.” You reminded in a soft whispered murmur to Noah as you noticed he was just staring at everything around him wide eyed as you reached over and held his hand as you walked him down the buffet line that was on the kitchen counter as you both were piling on food onto your plates. 

“Yup, just a super nice, luxurious, super spacious house.” Noah whispered back. 

“That you should feel comfortable in, you’re not just a guest, this is your house too.” You reminded him with a reassuring but tired smile as you then got a beer from the liquor refrigerator and Noah was frankly impressed that you had a refrigerator in your kitchen that was completely dedicated to bottles of beer and wine and was full of it too which Noah nearly cried opening and made the cutest little whimpering noise that was a noncoherent string of half words of awe and amazement and appreciation to the sheer variety of what was before him.  

“We didn’t know exactly what you’d want to drink so we got a bit of everything.” Your mom, Stacia offered sweetly. 

“Uh...everything? I will happily try...anything..ev..every...everything.” Noah stuttered as his brain was short circuiting which cracked you and your family up. 

“Well how Zara likes to keep things organized is we have the lightest beers on the top shelf, the pilsners, the ales, then we have the medium bodied beers, the lagers and some porters in the middle and the heavier, stouts and things at the bottom and the freezer has frozen glass steins to pour it into.” Your mom explained as she gestured to the many levels and opened the freezer and Noah looked like he was going to cry which got your dad to bark a laugh and pat Noah on the back and wrap his arm around his shoulders and give it a good squeeze from the side. 

“I know, it’s a thing of beauty, just wait till you see the kegs in the gameroom in the basement.” Your dad offered teasingly to Noah. 

“She has kegs?” Noah asked in awe. 

“Yeah, they are wonderful things. She had me pick them up and install them earlier today, special, just for you. Because she wants everyone around her to be well fed, well watered and taken care of. She is aggressively hospitable. I blame that southern bell of a mother in law she has or had rather.” Your dad teased. 

“Yes I am.” You crooned as you sat down at the table before Noah got his selection and walked over to the table to sit next to you. 

“Although Andrew’s mother Nancy, that woman can cook me under the table, but she focuses on quantity, my family prides itself more on quality, for instance, I would wager you spent what, five hours caramalizing these onions?” You posed to your dad. 

“Nah, just four.” He waived off with a appreciative grin. 

“Oh don’t sit there Noah, sit here, this is your place now.” Your dad insisted as he moved Noah to sit at the head of the table as a sign of respect as he sat on one side and you sat on the other side but still said prayer, thanking the gods for your safe arrival home and your new complete family, which was very touching and appreciated.  

“So? How was everything? How was your trip?” Your mom innocently asked. 

“Horrible at first, then morphed into OK, then good.” You started laughing which got your family to start laughing with you before Noah and yourself told your parents about how everything seemed to go wrong from the storms on the cruise, to the objectification Noah and Sakura got for being ice orcs, to Zane getting recognized and practically swarmed on the cruise because he was ‘a celebrity’. To the plane crash to the loss of the rest of Noah’s flying season, then to your driver license expiring and all of your check cards expiring except for a couple of credit cards who were already almost at their max limits thanks to the cruise and how getting money up there was a nightmare and how you had to out yourself to a few bank branches who you were sure were going to use all winter to tell everyone there at that bank branches how a millionaire was now banking there and what rumors you would find when you got back there in the spring to how the truck nearly overheated and died on the highway from pulling the horse trailer even though it was technically brand new and shouldn’t have had any issues. 

But then you got the RV, so it was rather just a two week long camping trip, going from state park to state park all the way from there to here for the horse’s sake and riding a few trails to let the horses stretch their legs so standing in the trailer wasn’t so hard on them or hard for the other animals either because finding hay along the way was a little tricky and when you could find it, you loaded up on it and it would often be you’d be on your last bale of hay before you would find more along the way. But feed stores were relatively easy and getting to laundromats so you could wash all the clothes and bedding and how the kids traded off between the RV and Noah’s truck so all the kids got one on one time and attention and everyone got to know each other really well. Along with everything in between, you were so grateful to finally be home and very much looking forward to sleeping in your own bed tonight and getting a decent shower. 

But what became clearly evident was how together, Noah and yourself and the family managed to roll with the punches and take each problem as it arose, together and how each problem only made you grow closer as a family, and learn to depend on each other. Which was awesome which made your parents glad to hear that effort was being put forth on both sides and despite a rocky start and admittedly some of the worst of circumstances, things were still going well. And thanks to the long drive from the Arctic Tundra to the Great Lakes, your kids and yourselves had a chance to get reacclimated to the time zone change really gradually which was nice. 

After dinner your parents helped unpack and unload the RV and then left your family in peace so you and your children could give Noah and Sakura ‘the grand tour’ of the house. Sakura had instantly fallen in love with a cockatoo that had been a pet for one of your adopted grandparents and the moment when she had come into the house the parrot had immediately flown over to her as she happily let it rest on her shoulder as that bird had always been rather stand offish to you and your family but with Sakura, something about her seemed to click with the bird as the bird kept kissing her cheeks and saying ‘I love you’ and ‘pretty girl’ over and over again and wanting bits of dinner as she happily fed it little scraps as she surprised both Noah and yourself as all the birds seemed to flock to her. 

“Well she always was the chicken whisperer in the past.” Noah tried to shrug off as Sakura happily got to find and explore her new room. 

“Can Ollie’s cage be put into my room?” Sakura asked hopefully. 

“I don’t mind.” You put to Noah. 

“If you want it to be.” Noah agreed before you and Noah relocated the bird and it’s cage to Sakura’s room and got a spot for it as Sakura’s dogs didn’t seem to mind the bird’s place in Sakura’s room since they took up position on the dog beds in Sakura’s room, complete with a dog door just in case they needed to leave to relieve themselves. Since you had doggy doors that led to a fenced in portion of the yard that the dogs could take themselves out to relieve themselves as needed which your dogs seemed to show Noah’s dog’s how to do and what to do in that department as the rest of the “pack” accepted Noah’s dogs pretty well. 

Noah’s cats and your cats of course kept their distance from each other but Noah’s cats were happy to have a cat tree and some perches and happy to see so many litter boxes available to use and of course some really good wet and dry cat food to eat. 

Then Zane got to show off his snake collection to Sakura and Noah. Noah did his best to act cool about it even though he had never even held a snake before, much less seen one in real life, and now he was holding one, one of the tamest and sweetest ones in Zane’s collection, he was stiff with nervousness but still trying to remain calm as it wasn’t so bad as he thought it was going to be. 

“They’re so soft!” Sakura cooed excitedly as she held hers and pet hers softly. 

“They are.” Noah had to admit before he handed it back to Zane to put away. 

You got the kids to get showers before bed and walked Sakura through how to work her shower and stuff since she had her own bathroom for her bedroom. 

You were delighted when she loved everything in her bedroom and bathroom before you helped put the kids to bed. 

Then you led Noah to your bedroom, the last stop on the grand tour as Noah softly gasped when he saw it. It was gorgeous and smelled amazing and again, right out of a magazine as you readily put your dirty clothes into the washing machine that was in your bathroom and asked for Noah’s clothes too so you could start that while you got a shower with him l. 

You giddily got him into your bathroom and into your shower that was the most epic shower Noah had ever been in. You waked him through how to work it and washed happily got to finally have sex with Noah in your shower as he sat on your bench and let you ride him as hard as you wanted to.

Once you were done, you got the now clean but wet clothes out of the washer and into the dryer and let him get changed into some underwear and pajamas you had gotten for him. You already had ready for him in his new dresser that you had put into your bedroom for him. 

Noah sunk into your almost excessively soft bed with you. 

“Oooh.” Noah cooed appreciatively as he climbed into bed and got comfortable, feeling like he was sinking into a soft pillowy cloud. 

“And if you don’t like your pillow there’s a few more to choose from in that closet over there.” You pointed out your linen closet in your room as you got into bed and took your meds and then cuddled into his side. 

Noah touched his lamp to turn it off and practically melted into the bed with you and was happy that because it was still August in the Great Lakes, it was still hot and you thankfully had the air conditioning up so he could rest comfortably before you both succumbed to sleep. 

Noah woke up just as the sun was beginning to rise as he looked down at you sleeping blissfully still in his arms and just that made him smile happily before he peeked around the room, appreciating the soft pastel turquoise walls with punches of royal blue and royal purple throughout the room as he tried to bat away the feelings of guilt and self doubt that he belonged there. He wondered if that’s how you had felt in his home at first, a guest, too scared to call it home yet. But this was still his first night, and first morning waking up like this. First of hopefully many more before he looked back down to you, still resting in his arms, your back to his front as he spooned you. He had realized that over the last few weeks, home was wherever you were, whether in an RV, or his house or now this house. And if this house was your home and you were his home, then yes, this was his home too, just...one he wasn’t used to yet. And it was clear that to you it was important that he felt comfortable and worthy of ‘such a setting’ for the jewel you were adamant he was. 

But if you thought he was worthy, then by the gods, he was going to do his best to live up to it. 

Noah fell back asleep for a couple more hours before you stirred awake, waking him up in the process and morning sex without having to worry about noise or movement because every movement could be felt in the RV, so sex had to be sneaky for the last two weeks. 

But here and now, it could be enjoyed in all of its vigorous glory as Noah happily pumped you full again but that was only after he had eaten you out and after you had returned the favor. Noah felt like he was in heaven in such a wonderfully soft bed with the woman of his dreams with her mouth full of his cock and his balls being stroked and tantalizing scratched in her hands as his own hands were in her silky soft hair and the hard growling grunt of his climax was especially sexy. 

After you were both decently sated you went down to the kitchen to make breakfast while you went down the line and filled all the dog’s bowls full of food for their breakfast as well as all the cats as you went around and checked on all the other birds to make sure they had enough food and water too. 

You refocused on making breakfast for your family as Noah was already getting acquainted with the restaurant sized walk in refrigerator you had and found thick cut bacon and ham steaks, and cubed steaks that were practically begging to be floured and fried to have chicken fried steak and gravy, which you felt definitely needed biscuits to go with it. You got those ready along with some eggs and hashbrowns and just as the bacon was starting to sizzle, all three of the kids made it down the stairs, all of them looking still half asleep. 

“Oh thank the gods, you guys started breakfast.” Zane murmured as he got up into the breakfast bar and folded his arms and laid his head on his arms, still tired as Skylar did the same but Sakura was having Ollie sit on a perch with the other birds in the “menagerie” and once everyone was served breakfast at the breakfast bar, then you all got dressed. 

The, right on time, Zane got his rat shipment in so he could feed his snakes who had built up quite the appetite since his friend had come to the house to feed them two weeks prior. 

After breakfast, you showed off your spa to Noah and Sakura and then Sakura was happy to meet your flock of chickens.

Noah especially was practically drooling over ‘the man cave’ which was your outbuilding and your other garage that had your other vehicles that you had accumulated since all of your adopted grandparent’s death and when Noah saw your motorcycle collection he nearly fell to his knees, and then the four wheelers and other ‘toys’ you had. 

“Too much?” You asked teasingly with a giggle. 

“Yeah?” Noah admitted, feeling overwhelmed. 

“Well, when the plane is fixed and things settle and we get used to things and find our new normal, then we’ll work on simplifying then ok?” You offered. 

“Ok.” Noah nodded.

You took Noah to your local branches of your banks and got him on your accounts and got Noah’s signatures into their systems and everything squared away before you all got fully settled in, with the last thing being, to add the other sacred sculptures onto the walls so that all of the gods your whole family worshipped were now represented before you all offered up prayers of thanks for all of you getting home, safe and sound. 

Then you took your family to the school to finish Sakura’s enrollment and had your kids help show her the school and meet her teacher who was very sweet and welcoming of Sakura. She wanted to know about Sakura and her culture from Sakura and Noah so she could mindful of that in class. 

And after that, you went to the post office to get all of Noah’s and Sakura’s mail changed to your address and of course receive a whole huge box full of mail again before you grabbed lunch on your way out. 

You felt like you spent all  late afternoon and evening going through all of the mail. It was a task in itself, as you almost spitefully laughed when you found the replacement cards you had needed back in the Arctic Tundra as you went through activating the new cards before your family made dinner together. 

You still had a few days before school and that meant back to school shopping the next day, and clothes shopping and buying special wearable cold packs for Noah and Sakura so they could tolerate the heat easier since August was still high heat in the Great Lakes region. 

To say Sakura got a lot of attention the first day of school, was an understatement. Being the only ice orc any had seen in their lives in the area before. But Sakura was happy to make so many friends and instantly being somewhat popular and thanks to those wearable ice packs and a special cooler, filled with a small square of dry ice, to keep the other cold ones in so she could change them out periodically was a lifesaver for Sakura, especially when the classroom was a little stuffy for her liking. 

You eased back into work yourself, only seeing a few clients a day to let yourself get back into the swing of things. Noah took the new truck and went to the airplane hanger and began to do some more assessments of his plane and what it needed and began working on it and bringing it up to code as his new equipment began to arrive. 

Granted this was not the ‘construction’ he thought he would be doing at the moment, but it was still work that needed to be done and ordering new parts and having the shipping and waiting periods to be so small, was a pleasant surprise. 

And of course having Skylar chomping at the bit to be helping him fix his plane and help put it back together when she wasn’t in school, or martial arts classes and Zane wasn’t in ballet classes which Sakura was much more interested in Zane’s dance class than she was in Skylar's martial arts class. You readily got her signed up and in a beginner’s dance class, she was really happy to be in something new. 

And slowly but surely, things fell into a new rhythm, a new normal. And just as everyone got to learn their stride, then was the next high holiday that was also being turned into a giant gosbe, where your family, complete with your late inlaws, together with all of your siblings and their families and even Natasha’s mother, Olga was coming to give her blessing which you appreciated. 

But you knew it was going to be the biggest “full house” you were ever going to have. You had every guest room assigned to who was going to be sleeping where, as even your parents and late inlaws helped you place different members of Noah’s family and Neena’s family that overflowed from your house, into theirs.

You went into a big box store and had practically bought out the store in ingredients so that everyone could have their ingredients to cook all their dishes that they were making for what you knew was going to be a gosbe to end all gosbes.

Once everyone was landed then it was an ordeal making sure everyone had their own rental cars so that they had their own independent modes of transportation to get to your house. 

You felt like Noah and your family and yourself practically led a caravan to your house where everyone from your side of the family was eagerly waiting to meet Noah’s family. Every parking space both for your own driveway and for your business was filled with vehicles as you had already gotten a competition BBQ joint to come in and cater all the food for tonight’s dinner, roasting several hogs and dozens of chickens and brisket and steaks and all the sides and fixins since everyone was no doubt tired and jet lagged and nervous and excited. 

The moment Ukluk came through the door though, your father greeted Ukluk like the long lost brother the two had always been. 

“Ukluk!” Your father boomed as he came forward and practically ran into Ukluk giving him a big bear hug. 

“Grusta!” Ukluk cheered as he did the same. And while Ukluk was bigger than your dad, they both hugged each other tightly and started crying at being reunited in person. 

“Gods you got old and fat!” They both cried and but smiled so bright and happily at each other before your dad introduced your side of the family to Ukluk and his family and Neena’s family while Ukluk introduced his side of the family and Neena’s family to everyone else too as you literally had everyone put name tags on so everyone could get each other’s names right but Olga needed no such measures as she practically knew each person by name before they could introduce themselves to her. She seemed to be so relieved that what she had seen in her peering years prior was coming true. She very graciously welcomed them into the home and thanked them for bringing love and kindness, respect and dignity into the home. 

Your dad and Ukluk went to the kitchen to see the feast that was laid out there as your dad and Ukluk gently argued about who should say the prayers before Ulga interrupted them and pulled the ‘I’m a High Priestess, if anyone is going to give a prayer of thanks and blessing it’s me’ card which got your dad and Ukluk and everyone else to agree as everyone gathered around in the kitchen and closed their eyes and bowed their heads while the families huddled close and held hands. 

“To Aura…” Olga began before she peeked at the list that had all the gods and goddesses both your family, Noah’s family, Neena’s family and Andy’s family believed in before she closed her eyes and concentrated again, letting the god’s holy spirit flow through her and help her choose the right words. 

“Thank you all, for helping two lost parts of your family find each other again and make each other whole when they had felt so lost and broken before. Thank you for giving your blessing and letting it be so acutely felt, that our family is now whole, happy and where they should be at this time. And while these lost pieces have picked up other families, we are all here, and united now. Our family is now complete. Please, let every single member of this family feel peace, serenity and security, knowing that Sakura, Skylar and Xander now have both of their parents. Who love each other and their children very much. Thank you for blessing them and their family. And thank you for allowing those blessings to radiate to everyone else. Please, do not forget Anarra’s family, since we know that she is with you in the afterlife. She is no longer in pain and no longer worries for Noatak or Sakura for she knows that Zara will love her daughter just as much as she did, will protect her just as much as her own, will train her just as much as Anarra wanted to and will embrace her culture and heritage with arms wide open, without judgment and respect and dignify Noatak and Sakura’s culture and heritage and make it her own. As will Skylar and Xander since they are Sakura’s siblings both literally and figuratively but especially spiritually. Anarra is at peace and happy that Sakura and Noatak are where they should be. And please, do not forget Andrew and his family either, please let Andrew’s family who remains, to find peace, comfort and serenity as well. Knowing that Noatak will do his best love and care for his family the way they deserve. And be comforted that Noatak and Sakura will also respect and dignify Zara’s, Skylar’s and Xander’s culture and traditions. And welcome those with open arms and without judgement. For he knows that Noah will love his children as his own, protect them as his own, train them as his own and care for them as his own, just as much as Zara will continue to do as well." Ulga prayed, her voice almost a beautiful song. As the acoustics in the kitchen seems to amplify her voice. 

"He too, is happy and at peace, knowing that Zara and his children are loved and cared for in ways he could only dream of. He is so proud of his children for protecting each other and their mother from the wolves and vultures that would come to feast on the material possessions that the gods sent to Zara to take care of her in his place when he was suddenly taken away. And the gods know that Zara, Skylar and Xander will teach Noatak and Sakura and their families these same lessons and defenses to protect Sakura and Noatak from the wolves and vultures in the future." Ulga perceived. 

"And once Zara returns to the Arctic Tundra next summer, she and Noah will take care of the wolves and vultures for good. And Sakura and Noatak and their immediate family and extended family will know peace, serenity and success. They will be a family- having two homes, one here, and one in the Arctic Tundra, but one family to bring from to the other so that both of them may be happy and fulfilled, having occupations that they not only enjoy, but were meant to do. Let them find peace, happiness and success in those ventures as well. We know Anarra and Andrew are so proud of Noatak and Zara for sticking it out and becoming stronger and waiting for their perfect second mate to find them and not to fall victim to loneliness or desperation before it was the right time for them to find the answers to their own prayers." Ulga stressed. 

"Thank you so much for bringing this family together, and their extended families together and continue to bless their immediate family and their large, extended family. In all this we pray and give humble thanks. And all of us appreciate all of you for giving Zara- who has always been the most gracious and generous of your loyal servants- the tools and education so that she may use those generous gifts best and use them to build herself, her immediate family and her large extended family up. Because only Zara would look at such generous gifts and only see how she can use them to help others, instead of hoarding them to herself. Which is why you have blessed such a magnificent jewel of a person with such a wonderful and beautiful setting and allowing her to find the perfect jewel of the north in Noatak to join her in both the setting she has made for herself, and the setting that Noatak has made for themselves. And together, the two jewels together with their children, who will be the biggest and brightest jewels of the future to shine brightly, reflecting the light you shine on them. In all this we pray- Amen.” Olga prayed as everyone was trying to keep their appreciative weeping as quiet as possible before they too, echoed ‘Amen’. 

“Thank you Mama Olga.” You thanked her as you hugged her tight. 

“Marry him quick while they are here, wear your best priestess dress as your wedding dress, and when you return to the Arctic Tundra, you will have a fourth on the way and give Noah the one thing Neena didn’t give him- a son. I will perform the wedding myself after the gosbe tomorrow. The marriage license is already ready in my purse.” She whispered in your ear as others were going down the buffet line and getting their plates piled high with food as you were grateful that there were stacks and stacks of each thing so that everyone could get as much as they wanted from each dish. 

“My Zanochka Volchietsa, you have risen again and you will continue to rise to new heights.” Olga praised as she held your face in her hands and wiped your tears away with her thumbs.

“I told you that if you built this home- your family will come, and look, they all have. They are all here. And they love you and your family wholeheartedly. Do not fear that anyone in here will do you harm or hold back because no one in here will ever take advantage of you. You are safe and surrounded by family.  Enjoy it.” She encouraged you before she went to your ear. 

“Really?” You whispered as your smile shamed the sun it was so bright. 

“Really, think of this as your rehearsal dinner.” She advised. 

“Ok,” You nodded. 

After the prayer, your father went down the line and announced what each thing was in the buffet line since all of it was being served from buffet that was being held in chafing dishes in wire racks with the little torches under them to keep the food warm as your father took the aluminum foil lids off of each thing down your kitchen counter as everyone eagerly grabbed a plate and started piling it high with food. 

Then your dad showed Ukluk the beer fridge and laughed when Ukluk put his plate on the counter and actually got on his knees. 

“Thank all the gods for bringing my son and our family to paradise,” Ukluk sarcastically began to pray on his knees in front of the fridge which got everyone to erupt into laughter as Ukluk got back onto his feet and picked his favorite one before nearly crying again at seeing the frozen glass steins in the freezer and picked one before he and your father sat at the foot of the table as Noah’s brothers and brothers in law also nearly cried at seeing the beer fridge too while even the cater-ers were invited to grab a beer and enjoy the feast they had made with you and your family. 

You were so grateful that you had gotten such a huge and long formal dining table as every adult had a place to sit at it while all the kids had another table just for them that seemed to be just as long and just as full as Sakura sat in between Skylar and Xander. 

Olga sat at the head of the table while you and Noah sat to her right and Natasha and Gavin sat to her left as Olga talked to her daughter in Siberian about what was going to happen tomorrow as Natasha’s eyes went wide as she looked from her mother to you as your brother barely caught a few words. 

“Marriage?” Gavin began to say before Olga, Natasha and yourself shushed him. 

“It’s a surprise.” Natasha whispered. 

“Wait what?” Noah asked as he looked to you once his ears perked to that word. 

“A gosbe is a wooing marriage feast, Olga offered to make it an “official marriage feast” tomorrow while your family is here, but I want it to be a surprise. I’m going to wear one of my priestess gowns. You could wear your regalia if you’d like to, make it a mixture of both cultures.” You whispered to him. 

“Ok, they’re in for the surprise of their lives then.” Noah grinned happily, elated that you wanted him in his Frozen Tundra Clan regalia. 

“And I can get my IUD out when I go to the OBGYN in a couple of weeks and we can get another bun in the oven if you want to.” You murmured in his ear.

“Don’t tempt me beyond what I can bear, I don’t want to kick everyone out so I can feast on you on this table again.” Noah practically purred in your ear. 

“Later. Eat, you’ll need your strength.” You purred right back before you both chowed down on your dinner. 

“So, tomorrow?” Noah asked Olga. 

“Yes, the reason I was late today was because I was getting the document from my temple before I left.” She answered. 

“And I’m not…?" Noah began to ask. 

“No you’re not rushing. It’s time. Besides, when you see your homeland again, you will be coming back with more than you left with. Take care of her, for she will carry for you a blessing to really cement your family together.” Olga hinted as you smiled cheekily at Noah who blinked in surprise. 

“If you’re ready, that is.” You hinted. 

“Been ready.” Noah readily and adamantly nodded once the weight of her words finally seemed to sink in. 

“Good, me too.” You smiled.

[postapocalyptic-cryptic]

Prompt fill! @certified-anakinfucker requested dratchet and “c’mere, let me hold you” from this prompt list.

Trigger warning below the cut for vague reference to a canon suicide attempt (Red Alert’s MTMTE attempt).

Ratchet drops heavily into Drift’s desk chair, frame creaking under the weight of the day. It’s been… well. It’s been a day. 

He’d had a long-distance appointment today, a call to Red Alert all the way on Luna 1 to make sure his recovery from his self-imposed decapitation is coming along smoothly. He’s doing well, both mentally and physically. Better than Ratchet could have hoped for, but still, he’s struggling. It’s heavy business, and Ratchet feels drained. He pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing.

“Hey.” 

Ratchet looks up to see Drift standing in the doorway, back from his own shift. He’s watching Ratchet with soft eyes. “Hey,” Ratchet responds. 

The door slides shut again. “Long day?” 

“Mmph.” Not really. Not as long as they used to be before First Aid stepped up. “Tough meeting.” 

Drift makes a sympathetic noise and walks over to sit on the edge of his bed. “C’mere,” he calls, holding his arms out to Ratchet. “Let me hold you.” 

Ratchet heaves himself to his feet. It’s getting harder these days to start moving again once he’s stopped. He manages, though. He always manages for Drift. He staggers stiffly to the bunk and drops down half on top of Drift, who shifts them until they’re horizontal. They fall easily into a comfortable position, legs tangled together and arms on each other’s waists. Drift runs warm, and the little insulation afforded to speeder frames means the warmth radiates off of him, cuts straight to Ratchet’s protoform like sunlight. 

Drift smiles and leans in to press a kiss to his forehead, lingering to cradle Ratchet’s face in his hands. “I love you,” he murmurs, lips brushing Ratchet’s brow. He starts to pull back, but Ratchet catches him by the finials and keeps him close, pressing their foreheads together. 

“Love you, too, kid. So much.”

[little-cereal-draws]

ok i'm on a bob's burgers kick again and

do the kids feel bad that they don't have as much as some of their friends? This is probably me projecting but I was watching the episode where Rudy breaks his arm and at the end, he mentions to Louise that he's keeping his new bunk bed and his dad got him a trampoline. Watching that, I felt sad because that's something that would never be a possibility for the Belchers.

One of the reasons I like bob's burgers so much is that it's the only show I've found that's about working class people. They live in an apartment, not a house, have crappy phones and struggle to pay rent. And they make jokes about it and go on crazy adventures bc of it but it’s also so real.

Tina can’t go to the fancy horse camp or get a phone like her friends. Louise wanted a bunk bed so bad and it took them forever to get it bc it’s expensive. In one of the Christmas episodes, Bob was so genuinely excited that they could afford nice presents for the kids this year. They’re always having to choose between doing smth for the kids (like going to trampoline land) or keeping their business/house functioning (like fixing the deep fryer) bc there’s not money for both.

My family is working class and all of these things are so real. We’ve driven around and looked at the rich houses and pretended they were ours like the Belchers. My phone is secondhand and six years old just like theirs. We don’t go on vacation bc it’s too expensive so we just do activities within the city like they do. Idk it just makes the show so much better for me than watching another show abt a rich suburban middle class family. Tv almost never presents lower class ppl in a fun goofy light like the Belchers that doesn’t also make them feel lesser than the other characters bc of it. Idk where I was going w this anymore, I’m just so glad they wrote them like they did

[mandruga]

Trans Weasley twins

One of them is AFAB, one is AMAB. (Unsure if it’s Frederick and Georgiana or Frederica and George, but they’re both shortened to nicknames real quick) They were born fraternal, but they start noticing the dysphoria when they’re kids. They’re both SO SURE that they should be identical, they practically live in each others head, for a while they aren’t sure if they feel that’s they’re boys or girls. They realize it’s neither, but the biggest issue is that they’re not identical. Sometimes magical twins have heightened magic that makes them share sensations, memories, dreams, etc etc etc. they keep getting mixed up bc they’re different when they should be the same. It results in speech delays and stutters, their accidental magic breaks mirrors and changes their hair length but it’s not enough.

Eventually, Molly and Arthur talk to a mind healer who suggests prolonged treatment with Polyjuice. Molly is already an adept potion maker (usually for household remedies) so she brews Polyjuice CONSTANTLY (there’s always a cauldron in the shed), it’s subsidized through their ministry health plan so they can afford it. The twins don’t care which of them has to change, they just need to be identical; they both carry around little canteens on their hips and switch which twin they change into depending on the day, sometimes there will be two little “girls” or two little “boys”, but they generally dress androgynous and they use they/them pronouns bc they’re more of a unit than they are separate. They sort of consider themselves a hive mind, some days they’re Fred and George and some days they’re more Gred and Forge, speaking in unison and unable to stray too far from each other.

When they reach Hogwarts age, there’s long talks with where they’re going to be housed. Bc there was never a question of whether they’d be sorted into the same house, but which dorm they’d be put in was a question. Somehow they agree on a plan where they’d place one bed in each dorm, enlarge it a bit, and they’d just bunk together whichever way they were feeling that night. It’s a bizarre system, but there’s not enough students to warrant a third gender dorm and they don’t want to be excluded from having other roommates so they’re up for it. People get used to asking the name of the twin they’re talking to before starting a conversation, but even if they didn’t it would be okay bc they almost always have each others memories so it wouldn’t matter too much. They do act /slightly/ different when they’re feeling more apart, and on those days they usually wear their ties differently so that people can tell who they’re talking to.

When they’re older they enter a poly relationship with Lee and Angelina. Some people think it’s a bit weird bc it’s maybe incestuous, but it’s hard for /them/ to feel that way bc Gred and Forge are more like one person than two so it’s more like there’s just extra bodies and they’re dating the same entity.

(No Fred death in this AU, but George does lose his ear) When George loses his ear there’s stress bc of the difference. There’s a compulsion for them to also slice off Fred’s ear. They want to get George’s ear remade, but bc it was cursed off it can’t be healed by spell work. Hermione suggests going to a muggle plastic surgeon to get the ear reconstructed. Molly is initially against it but considering it’s either that or Fred won’t be able to stop themselves from cutting off their own ear, they go do it (Arthur is fascinated). When they eventually get settled down in their Polycule after the war, with Lee and Angelina and the two of them all in one magically expanded apartment above the Wheezes, they have kids. Angelina carries them bc there’s extreme dysphoria (not to mention the consequences of Polyjuice use) about one of the twins doing it.