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katrinawritesthings · 3 years

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jongho/ ontaekey/ also kind of onjongtae; make a wish; pg

jonghyun decides to visit the wish farm on the side of the road for the first of the time, alternatively, happy pride here is some absolutely incomprehensible weird queer bullshit : )

"I just? Pick it?" He asks Jinki, wanting to make sure he does it right. Jinki nods, smile reassuring. Jonghyun bends down and grabs the dandelion, plucking it from the earth. "And then," he says. "Do I make the wish before I blow, or during?" He never knows which way is the right way.

"Whichever way you believe, that's the way it works," Jinki shrugs. "Wishes work on the magic of your own imagination."

If Jonghyun thinks about it, it probably takes him longer to go home along the coastline then it does to sit in traffic on the highway. But even if he does think about it, he doesn't care, because anything is better than just sitting there and doing nothing for over 20 minutes straight everyday. He'd rather spend 40 minutes alone on the road driving into the sunset with his window down and the forest on his right and the ocean on his left and the road steadily rolling along underneath him than just sitting in a grid of cars going two miles an hour.

And besides. He likes taking the scenic route. There's his favorite boulder next to his second favorite tree, the tide pools glistening in the sunlight, all the photographers setting up at the curve in the road that wave back to him every day. There's birds, and ships out in the ocean, and deer sometimes. There's the wish farm, 2 miles turn right, new merch –

Hmm. New merch. Jonghyun didn't even know that they had merch in the first place. He's never stopped by. Maybe he will today; Minho is away all this week doing spring break school camp counselor stuff. It's not like he's waiting up at home for Jonghyun.

The road splits off on Jonghyun's right and he makes the turn.

It's another mile or two over a gravely dirt road after that, but eventually, the trees clear out and he comes up on a quaint little scene. Ahead and on the right is a cute little house decorated all over with hanging plants, nestled up close to the fence separating the area from the forest, and then, expanding all out to the left, a wide meadow made up of yellow, green, and white.

Well, not all out to the left. Coming up quickly, so soon that Jonghyun almost misses it and has to hit the brakes a little harder than normal, is a tiny little stall. It's made out of wood and it has a green roof and hangings in front, so if it weren't for all of the colorful writing on the front and sides, Jonghyun would have mistaken it for one of the trees. When he pulls his car up to a stop in front of it, the person inside glances up from their phone, does a double-take, and then perks up, smiling wide.

"Hi!" they say brightly. "Welcome to the farm!" Their face is soft, pretty, especially for how deep is their voice is. Their smile is round teeth between thick lips and a boxy cupid's bow. Their black hair is long – no, short? Short hair, but they have, if Jonghyun looks close enough, some absolutely awful extensions clipped in that fade into a bluish-white at the bottoms and tangle in with their long dangly earrings. Awful in an affectionate queer way, of course. Jonghyun likes it. The nametag pinned to their bright yellow shirt says, "Taemin, he / they / worm / 🧀." Jonghyun smiles at it, and then up at worm. He definitely likes them.

"Hey," he says. "I've never, um. I've always seen the sign for this place, but this is the first time I've come down here?" He doesn't really know what the deal is, or even what he's trying to ask. "What's, like. What do you. What's a wish farm?"

"Oh!" Taemin says. Their smile gets, if possible, even wider, and his eyes light up even more than they were before. He pats their hands eagerly on the counter. "It's really simple. You can park and get out and go hang out in our dandelion meadow." 🧀 points behind themself, through the back wall of the stall in the direction of the meadow. "And you can pick and make wishes on as many as you want! We also have some fountains with wishing stones and coins and bottle caps and stuff there for you to take. Um, feel free to make any wishes with feathers or falling leaves or acorns that you catch, too. Oh, and, if you have the time, the first star of the night is going to come out in like half an hour, I think, and we were going to group wish on that."

Taemin gestures at someone sitting next to worm that Jonghyun didn't even notice until just now. They are, somehow, at the same time, both softer and sharper than Taemin, both prettier and more handsome than him. The set of their mouth is serious, but when they smile at Jonghyun, it is so powerful that it takes his breath away for a second. It carves deep smile lines around their mouth and crow's feet at the corners of their eyes, and at the same time, it has such a youthful quality to it that reminds Jonghyun of a child. They're wearing a dark beanie, but their sideburns and soft fluffed up bangs underneath that are golden blond. Between their eyes, pierced through the top of the bridge of their nose, are two silver spikes, and around their eyes they've smudged smokey black makeup with darker black polka dots lining their bottom eyelid. They don't say anything, but their name tag says, "Jinki, void / vortex."

Taemin is still talking, Jonghyun realizes with a start. Looking at Jinki was like getting sucked into voids aura. It takes a lot of effort for Jonghyun to rip his eyes back to Taemin.

"But, like, vortexes gender is gay, and I'm dating vortex, so it's like, gayfriend, like datefriend but gay, one word, not two words, though, I mean, I guess vortex is also. A gay friend of mine. Anyway, Jinki will take you on a tour of the farm if you want."

"Uh," Jonghyun says. He fights down his blush, trying not to make it obvious that he missed what was probably a substantial amount of information. He plays off of what he has instead, ignoring with difficulty the smirk on Jinki’s lips that he can see out of the corner of his eye. "I don't know about a full tour," he says. "I'm not super superstitious for faithful or anything. But I'll come back with my babefriend sometime soon. A tour would be right up his alley." He licks his lips, not entirely surprised but entirely amused at himself for making that decision that quickly. Once he takes a second to think about it, that does sound like a fun and nice date that Minho would like. "That’s," he adds, smiling at Taemin, "babefriend, one word."

"Hell yeah," Taemin smiles back. "Do you want Jinki to show you to the meadow, at least?" he asks.

"Yeah, sure," Jonghyun says. Why not. He likes company. "Do I just –?" He gestures out of his window at the space between here and their house. "Park–?"

"Yeah, wherever, just go ahead," Taemin says. 🧀 waves Jonghyun ahead, then leans back in worms chair and goes right back to their phone.

Okie dokie then. Jonghyun eases himself forward until he can park a little bit on the side of the road. He rolls his window up, checks his black hair in the mirror, and gets out of the car, fixing his jacket to be more cozy warm around him. He makes sure that his collar is still popped, too. He refuses to be caught looking anything other than as gay as possible.

Jinki is waiting for him when he turns around, hands in voids jeans pockets. Voids jacket is big and puffy and absolutely conceals anything about what void looks like underneath it. Void pulls out a little pamphlet and hands it over.

"In case Taemin forgot to tell you anything," void says in a tone that adds, "or in case you missed anything." Voids voice is warm, smooth, pleasant and cute. Jonghyun takes the pamphlet and uses it to hide his sheepish smile. "Also," Jinki says, and now void is smiling warm and genuine again, "holding my hand is included for free." Void offers it out, a little small and pudgy, a little sturdy and wide.

"Oh, don't mind if I do," Jonghyun chirps, taking it without hesitation. Wouldn't want to get lost. It's very soft and warm in his hand and the way Jinki's eyes crinkle into little crescents is very soft and warm in his heart. At the same time, Jonghyun gets the feeling that the gentleness of voids grip is a choice that void is consciously making.

Jonghyun puts it from his mind before he gets sucked into their presence again. Instead, he looks at the pamphlet. It's a simple dark blue thing, "wish farm" in big letters on the front with dandelions and stars patterned all around it. Opening it up, Jonghyun reads over all of the things that Taemin already told him. Dandelion meadow, fountains, wishing stones, first star of the night. They also have a wishing well somewhere, and there are explanations for what Jonghyun is supposed to do with feathers and falling leaves and acorns as well as other methods of wishing that he'd also never heard of before.

Flipping the pamphlet over, Jonghyun finds all of the new merch their sign was talking about. It's not what Jonghyun was expecting; no hats or hoodies, no coasters or pens. It's handmade dandelion charm necklaces along with an explanation for how necklace wishes work, handmade wishing jars and suggestions for what to fill them with, notebooks for pressing fallen leaves, journals for keeping track of what kind of wishes you make and when. On the next page, there's a list of events that they do: wish bracelet making classes, 11:11 group wishes, and if you call in a week ahead of your birthday they'll make you a cute little cake with custom birthday candles.

There's an addition at the end telling him that wishes are free but donations are always welcome, and a QR code that Jonghyun scans curiously. It takes him, unsurprisingly, to a donation page, where he reads more about how they're saving up to buy a nice solar powered sign for the road so they can display what time every night the first stars should be appearing. They're about 40% of the way there. Since he's here, and he doesn't want to forget, Jonghyun drops $100 into it.

They're far into the dandelion meadow when Jonghyun looks up, pocketing both his phone and the pamphlet. Fresh yellow and old white flowers sway around their knees, a sea of unmade wishes. In the distance, Jonghyun can hear what must be one of their fountains. He doesn't mind being taken so far in; he was going to look for a flower in the middle of the meadow anyway. Jinki stops when he stops, and void squeezes Jonghyun's hand encouragingly, gesturing for him to take his pick.

Jonghyun takes his time, looking for a good one in the golden sunset. It takes him a minute, but eventually he finds one that speaks to him. It's a little short, but it has big leaves, and it looks a little fluffier than the rest of the ones surrounding it.

"I just? Pick it?" he asks Jinki, wanting to make sure he does it right. Jinki nods, smile reassuring. Jonghyun bends down and grabs it, plucking it from the earth. "And then," he says. "Do I make the wish before I blow, or during?" He never knows which way is the right way.

"Whichever way you believe, that's the way it works," Jinki shrugs. "Wishes work on the magic of your own imagination."

"Ah," Jonghyun says wisely. "One of those, if you believe hard enough, it becomes – "

"It becomes a little bit less fake, yeah," Jinki finishes for him. Void smiles again, full power, and Jonghyun squeezes voids hand a little harder so his knees don't give out. He focuses very intently back on his flower.

And then he gets a little stuck. What should he wish for? He casts his mind around, and it lands, unsurprisingly, on one of his favorite things to think about. Minho. He bites his lip, smiling just at the thought. He likes that tall asshole. Jonghyun entertains the thought for a moment of wishing for him to bump his head on a door frame or something, but decides against it. He might not be very superstitious, but he still doesn't want to waste any magic on being mean.

Instead, he thinks back to a text that he got from Minho earlier that day. One of the kids at his camp was coming down with a cold, and it's only the second day of spring break. Jonghyun takes a big breath, brings the dandelion to his mouth, and, as he blows out, wishes that whoever that kid is will recover quickly without actually getting sick. He keeps his breath even and steady, making sure to get every last seed off of the flower in one blow to make sure it works. Then, since it's officially his own personal brand of magic, he ties the empty stem around his finger so the wish will follow him home and stay fresh.

Jinki applauds the completion of his wish. Gently, just tapping voids free hand against voids wrist instead of letting go of Jonghyun. "You can make another," void says. "You can make as many as you want."

Jonghyun could, and he considers it, looking around at the meadow. Dandelion seeds float all around it, twirling, dancing on the wind, each one of them a tiny fragment of a wish. But he decides against it. Wishes are, he thinks, heavy things. He doesn't like making too many at once. Instead, he asks, "what's a group wish?" It was on the pamphlet a couple of times, and Taemin mentioned it, and he's curious.

"Oh, it's just, when a group of people hold hands and make the same wish. It increases the power. A lot of people show up at the 11:11s to make group wishes with their friends. And since there's only one first star of the night, the three of us like to group wish on it together."

"The three of you?" Jonghyun asks. The last time he counted, it was just Jinki and Taemin in the stall. He tugs on Jinki so they can start walking back.

"Yeah, our queerfriend, Key," Jinki says as they walk. That heart-stopping smile covers voids face again. "Key designed the pamphlet, and Key does the baking and the finger knitting classes. Key’s usually out here with us, but Key’s sick today. That's actually what me and Taemin were going to wish on. For Key to get better."

"Oh, neat," Jonghyun says. Sucks about Key being sick, though. He thinks for a moment about whether or not he can ask, and then goes for it anyway. "Can I join you two? Would that help?"

"Really?" Void asks. Voids eyebrows disappear behind voids bangs. "You don't want to make your own wish?"

Jonghyun is quiet for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain how he feels about star wishes. For some reason, he feels a little defensive, a little embarrassed. Looking forward, he watches Taemin hop out of the stall and jog across the dirt road. 🧀 clambers enthusiastically onto the wooden fence so they can sit on top, facing the meadow with the forest behind worm. A little too enthusiastically; he almost falls backwards, and worms laugh when they catch himself is loud and echoey in the wide-open area. Their shirt is a bright yellow against the browns and greens of the forest and their smile is even brighter. Next to Jonghyun, Jinki shakes voids head, smile bigger than voids face.

Jonghyun doesn't know what he's nervous about.

"I've always felt like," he says, "star wishes hold the most power. I don't like wasting their magic on something off of the top of my head." The Stars are so big and so powerful and so wonderful. They're busy and they have a lot to take care of. He doesn't like bothering them unless it's important. "I'm," he adds, wanting to give a little further explanation. He smiles, rubbing his finger underneath his nose, sheepishly proud. "I'm a space gay."

"Nice," Jinki says. "You could say I'm space gay adjacent."

Jonghyun has no idea what that means. It's just as enigmatic as the rest of Jinki, though, so he files it away as void just being like that. He likes it. He smiles, nodding, and Jinki nods back and says, "we'd be delighted for you to join us in our group wish, then." The permission comes just in time for them to reach Taemin at the fence, and for for Taemin to overhear and say, "oh, really? Hell yeah!" with worms fists thrust up into the air. Their feet kick against the bottom slats of the fence so the entire thing jiggles and 🧀 pats the space next to them. "Have a seat," they offer.

Jonghyun takes a seat, and as he hoists himself up onto the fence, he hears Jinki say, "I'm going to go check on Key and see if Key feels up to wishing with us. I'll be back." Jonghyun also hears a little smooch, the smek of lips on a cheek, and when he finally gets himself settled sitting on top of the fence, Jinki is halfway to the house. And Taemin is smiling at him, wide and pretty, hair tucked behind their ear on one side but still somehow tangled in worms long earring.

"Hey," 🧀 says. They point up at the sky. "Check that out."

Jonghyun checks it out; he follows the trajectory of Taemin's finger to a bright, shining dot in the pale pink sky.

"Venus," he says at the same time that Taemin says, "Jupiter."

And then the pair of them look at each other again, Taemin frowning, Jonghyun smiling, confident and a little smug. He looks back to the sky, points at Venus, and then draws his finger in a line all the way to another point in the sky and says, "that one's Jupiter."

"I thought Jupiter was bigger?" Taemin says, still pointing at Venus. "That's why she’s brighter."

"Jupiter is bigger, Venus is brighter," Jonghyun corrects. "Venus is always the brightest planet. And then Jupiter and Mars are tied for second." He drags his finger down to point at Mars even though they can't see it right now. He still knows where it is.

"Hmm." Taemin says. 🧀 Looks down at worms hands, pouting. Clearly they were trying to impress Jonghyun with their cool planet knowledge and now he's grumpy. "Well," they say, and then they shrug, smiling again. "What do I know. I’m an ocean gay anyway. I just like space a little bit too because it's like the ocean but bigger and with more sexy fucked up stuff out there. And also if you go to the aquarium, and you go to the jellyfish exhibit, and you look at all of the little ones, and if you dissociate enough, they look kind of like stars, like, in the night sky. That's what me and Jinki do, sometimes. We go to the aquarium together. Vortex bought me a puffer fish plushie there on our first date. You know the Sanrio characters? Hello Kitty and all of them? I think there should be a puffer fish character. I've written them letters but they've never gotten back to me. Oh, c'mere, little buddy."

And for as many words as Taemin was just pouring out of his mouth, worm suddenly just stops. He holds out his hands together, palms up, under a floating dandelion seed. They don't speak, but they do make a little noise, aaaaahhhh, as it sinks down to worms hands, and then the smallest, cutest, wah! as 🧀 curls his fingers to his palm, bringing the dandelion seed with them.

Taemin smiles at the little seed in their hands, smiling down at it with all of the affection in the world. "I wish you’ll come true," he says to it, and then gently blows it back into the breeze.

Jonghyun could say a lot, he thinks, about any of the topics that Taemin just steamrolled through in the last two minutes. Instead, he just asks, "how do you know that one was even a wish?" And then, when Taemin looks at him, eyebrows raised, continues, "what if it was just the wind?"

"Do you not think that the wind has her own wishes?" Taemin asks. Jonghyun blinks, taken aback. "Or the earth?" Taemin says. "Do you not think that the coyote that walks through the meadow and takes seeds along with her coat wishes for anything? Don't you think that the bird that lands and then takes off again, blowing dandelions into the wind with her wings, don't you think that she has wishes also? Or the rain, dropping the seeds off and pressing them into the ground? Or the dandelions themselves?"

Taemin looks out across the meadow. They're holding onto the fence on either side of worms hips, and the two of them are close enough together that his hand is touching Jonghyun’s. They continue, "wishes aren't things that need to be said out loud with words, or even internally with words. A wish is a feeling. In the heart. A wish is a need or a want turned into hope and set free. If I have the chance, I'll keep hope alive for anyone that sends it in my direction. That's why I started the farm in the first place."

The truly astounding thing about this entire speech is that Taemin is speaking it out just like the last rambling monologue 🧀 blurted out. The exact same way. Just as casual, just as easy. With the same flow and cadence, the same high speed, the same warmth around the edges of each word. Like Taemin is still just saying whatever comes to the front of his brain without a filter.

Taemin is looking at him again, Jonghyun realizes suddenly. They're quiet now, just smiling, long hair blowing in the wind, dark brown eyes speckled with little flecks of gold. Jonghyun knows that the skip of his heart isn't from being startled.

Oh no, he thinks to himself. I'm falling in love already.

Pushing that thought away, shoving it down for another time before it makes him start to panic, he hard pivots the conversation into something he can deal with and says, "my name is Jonghyun, by the way."

"Yeah?" Taemin asks, smiling. Worm holds out his hand, small and cute. "Nice to meet you, Jonghyun," they say as Jonghyun shakes it.

"Yeah," he says, trying not to sound breathless. "And, um." he rubs the back of his neck, a little shy for different reasons than his sudden new crush. He tries to figure out a way to explain his weird and complex relationship with gender and why it's not as weird and complex as it could be, and then gives up. "If I didn't have such a shitty job," he compromises, "I would use space pronouns." And then, to clarify even as Taemin's eyes light up, "like, any space pronouns. Like. You know, star, or sky, or cosmos."

"Moon?" Jinki's voice. Void is back, hands in voids jacket pockets, smile comfortable and familiar on voids face. "I always liked moon pronouns."

"Gosh, I love the fff. The fucking moon," Jonghyun hisses, banging his clenched fists on his thighs. "I love the moon so fucking much." He loves the moon so much that a tear comes to his eye just thinking about it. He loves that big round lesbian in the sky with his whole entire heart. Jinki and Taemin both chuckle, softly, Taemin patting his back and Jinki reaching forward to thumb away his tear.

"Hey, I'm sure she loves you back," Taemin says.

Of course, that makes Jonghyun cry a little bit more, which is utterly embarrassing, except how it's not. There's something about the two of them. Something is just so easy for him to be comfortable around. He can't really be embarrassed because he doesn't think that they're judging him about it.

"Anyway," he says, because he still doesn't want to think about it for much longer. "Are we wishing, or what? Is the star out?" He looks up; it's not. The only star out there is the sun, slowly melting down below the horizon, just barely tinging the sky around it orange against the light navy blue of night.

"Shouldn't be long," Jinki says. Jonghyun nods. Void’s right. Especially this far from the city, the stars probably don't even have to wait for the sun to finish setting all the way to start twinkling in.

Taemin fills up the time with more words, more rambling tangents. It's fascinating, Jonghyun thinks, how free he is with his thoughts, how unrestrained. Well, not really fascinating, exactly, but heartwarming. Both in his confidence and in the way Jinki just smiles and listens to 🧀, clearly enamoured with every word out of their mouth.

Jonghyun is a little jealous. He gets to feel this way every time he comes home to Minho and it's just the two of them, but neither of them have ever come close to having the confidence to be like this with strangers. To be themselves, eagerly and unapologetically. He's definitely jealous. And he's also definitely happy for them.

Jonghyun gets so lost in his thoughts that he is a little out of it when the star does appear and each of them take one of his hands. Jinki closes voids eyes; Taemin looks up at the star. Jonghyun goes with the second option, looking at the tiny dot way up there and making the wish quietly to himself: I wish their queerfriend Key will get well soon, it's okay if you can't, thank you for listening, I love you. He pulls himself together enough to put his whole heart into it, turning his want into a hope and setting it free.

After, though, he's still a little zoned-out. It's what happens to him; once he loses focus he has a hard time bringing it back. Jinki and Taemin notice, but in a gentle way, a friendly way, and they offer him coffee or something else to drink, ask if he'll be fine driving the rest of the way home.

"No, yeah, I'm okay, I promise," Jonghyun says, waving off their concern with a quiet chuckle. "I was just. Hmm." He doesn't want to tell them that he was ravenously jealous of their ability to authentically exist, so instead he says, "thinking." And then, to change the subject, asks, "can I buy one of those little necklaces?" Minho likes necklaces. And Minho believes in the spontaneous power of an unpredictable wish. And it'll give Jonghyun plenty of opportunities to touch his collarbones and neck whenever he fixes the clasp all the way back around behind him.

"Yeah, hell yeah," Taemin says. Worm practically launches themself off of the fence, landing hard and with way too much of a tilt so he almost falls flat on his face for a few steps before picking up a controlled jog back into the stall. Behind 🧀, noticed only by Jonghyun, Jinki starts forward, arms outstretched, and then breathes a sigh of relief.

Chuckling, Jonghyun hops off of the fence himself. He can already tell that Taemin is a bit of a handful. Jinki offers him his hand again for the way back, smiling that overpowering smile, and as Jonghyun takes it, he rubs his free hand over his cheek. Both of them. Both of them are handfuls. He can't wait for Minho to absolutely roast him about his instantaneous crushes when they go on their date.

Buying the necklace goes smoothly enough. It's a cute little metal dandelion seed on a silver chain, tiny and handcrafted by Jinki voidself. Jonghyun gets one and then also in a ceramic wishing jar for himself, also handmade by Jinki. He thinks maybe he'll start putting all of the torn off edges from his songwriting notebook papers in there along with the wish that he'll get published one day.

And after, just like that, he's back in his car and heading back to the road. Both of them wave at him as he leaves, Taemin enthusiastically, Jinki with just one flick of voids hand. Jonghyun finds himself watching them in his rearview mirror before they get too far away.

A wish farm. Somehow that was exactly what he expected and also so much more at the same time. Jonghyun turns back onto the road, driving into the dusty blue of a just finished sunset. To his right, the forest rushes by, to his left the ocean rolls and crashes. Above him, more and more stars fade into existence.

Jonghyun wrapped the necklace on his wrist so he wouldn't forget about it and the metal twinkles at him as he drives, a little miniature star of its own. Jonghyun smiles to himself, biting his lip. A farm and three very devoted caretakers.

He wishes them well.

#jongtae #jongyu #ontae #jongho #jonghyun #jinki #onew #taemin #oneshot #Jonghyun Brings Minho for their date and Key is there and the two of them bond over having absolutely gremlin babes #while the other three bond over having babes that have absolute yaoi hands and all of them bond over being very gay #jinx meant space gay adjacent as in eldritch horror black hole infinite vast emptiness spiraling vortex into nothing and everything #looking into the void and knowing without seeing that it looks back #but jinx also meant space gay adjacent as in. Jonghyun is next to him : )#if you're texting or writing you can just do the 🧀 or draw a little picture of a cheese #but if you're speaking then you have to say the words cheese emoji out loud with your mouth and he smiles at you the entire time #Jinki of course can say 🧀 perfectly with voids mouth and no one knows how void it does it #taemin voice I'm pretty but not in a way that cis people understand #ydw

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neshabeingchildish · 4 years

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League of Extraordinary Geniuses || Chapter 1

A/N: I never actually rated this, I don’t believe, but there’s a little bit of cussing here, I can’t tell you yet exactly which direction everything is going in. I’m predominantly an angst writer and I do have a lot to give to this story, mainly with Chase, just because, plain and simple... I don’t know if that man has really had people in his corner the way that he’s needed in the past, so there’s things to work through with him in particular and there’s always things to sort of try to get over and into in relationship dynamics and moreso when more people are involved than two. Also, at least two of these people are workaholics, so work projects, assignments, flashbacks, etc, will be something that is likely to appear a lot as a backdrop. The work won’t always be things that we, or even sometimes they agree with, but it’ll be there. Tagging only who I heard from last time @kiddangers @sunbeameyes @just-a-j-reallly @supercasperprincesslove-blog Let me know if I need to take you off. Edit: Thunderbolt headcanon from flashback was introduced to me by @famousflowermagazine (You don’t have to read, but I wanted to make sure that I credited your idea)

They’re the Same Picture

Charlotte woke up to the hyper sounds of the excited yipping of puppies and she immediately got out of bed and headed for the courtyard. The caretaker was out there, minding them, but when they saw Charlotte, they rushed back to her and she waved to let the caretaker know that the puppies were coming with her. They were light brown with black ears, and wearing matching little malleable outfits. She brought them to her lab and let the caretaker worry about accepting her guests, because she left her phone in the bedroom and she was not going to pick it up any time soon.

She had one group chat titled Defenders for herself, Henry and Jasper, and it was the most used one in her phone. She had one titled Bionic Forces, for Chase and his siblings, and sometimes Donald. She had been added to that one at one point by Leo, whenever he had to casually ask her a question that she could somehow feel was tied to a catastrophe that he and his older brother, Adam were trying to evade at the Academy (and if she was being honest, one of them probably started), and she didn’t get involved again in that one until after she met Chase and he at’ed her to say that he realized that she had been in this old GC of theirs before. Now, she frequently visited and used it.

She had one titled Elite Force, one titled T-Force, and one titled Danger Force and she hadn’t thought about how many Force teams had a GC with herself and the members, or even the fact that she knew several Force teams, until those three were active and she kept switching between the 3, one particular day. IF. EVER. There was another triple crisis, she vowed that two androids would have to get onto cloned phones and be her, because trying to sort out more than a dozen names and comments for a foreseeable incident was… a mess.

Fortunately, Chase, Max, and Mika each took initiative in their respective chats after a while to be the point of contact and unclutter the chat at the time. But still… There were androids capable of evaluating very accurately exactly what Charlotte might think and say to responses.

She had several GCs that were business related, several that were science-for-fun related, one that was the Bionic Academy mentors, one that was everyone that she knew who had bionics, one that was everyone that she knew who was a superhero, one that was her team of androids, and one that was her lab workers.

She was a busy woman who knew busy people, but she also was the type that liked to be helpful to friends and associates and to keep up with her loved ones and business relationships. So, most of the ones who she had GCs with… They also individually texted with her, as well.

Currently, her most frequent ones were from Henry or Jasper, who truth be told, would likely be texting her frequently for the rest of the three of their lives as lifelong best friends. Almost as frequently though were Chase Davenport and Max Thunderman.

It was a little shocking to her after she met Chase, to find out that they were extremely alike in a lot of ways, considering how differently the conversations she had with each of them went. Chase was always the perfect gentleman. If she mentioned a problem, he would factually assess it, give her stats, numbers, wish her well and ask her to touch base with him later to let him know if his assistance was fruitful.

Max was less precise, but as correct in advice… he could probably give her stats, but knew that they weren’t usually needed and it wasn’t his default to calculate outside of an invention or something where exact numbers were necessary. Also, he was a little more profane.

Whereas Chase might say something like, “I’m sorry that they’re making you jump through these hoops at a place of business. That is terrible customer service. Do they not realize who you are?”

Max would say, “Those guys are dicks. Just drop your name and get ‘em fired.”

Which… was in essence the same response, to her, as their responses frequently were, and yet worlds apart. That was who they were, in her mind too. The same great person presented in two extremely different, but equally attractive ways. She valued them on the same level, though she was closer to Max, because she had known him longer and gone through more with him.

Whenever Max posted his video journal of gadgets and inventions, Charlotte noticed (and this was whenever she was in Dystopia, towards the beginning of the trio’s rise in popularity there), that he had both artwork of Dystress, her alter ego on his wall, and Charlotte Page accolades. News and fanfare!

She honestly lost her shit for a moment and squealed to Henry and Jasper, “This guy that creates gadgets and shares them online KNOWS ABOUT ME!” They had been in the habit of listening to her, but what were the odds of some dude from Hiddenville who posted science projects online for nerdy strangers like Charlotte to wind down, chewing on ice and making comments like, “I didn’t expect that to work out so well. This dude’s a genius!” just knowing about Charlotte, tucked away in one of the most silenced charities in Dystopia?

She pointed out and zoomed in on things on his wall - framed photos of her at gizmo fairs, plaques of her stats in Swellview, etc, and on THE SAME WALL, her with her purple hair and the mask that covered the bottom half of her face, many, MANY shots of her and stories about the mysterious new three Defenders who appeared in Dystopia and began vigilante justice. “That dude knows who you are, Char,” Henry said, worried.

Stressed out, she made a whole account and sent a private message, “So, I saw on your wall that you have the Dystopian Defenders. That’s cool. I like them.”

He almost immediately answered, because he was simply at home, and he was interested in fanboying any chance that he got. “Not so much interested in the Defenders as The Damsel.She’s currently my muse.”

She replied too quickly, “She prefers to be called Dystress.” The she winced and wished she could take it back. How would someone know that? Maybe another hardcore fan? There were a lot of clips of her online...

Well, that had done it. Because, now this complete stranger seemed to be trying to suggest to Max that THEY knew his favorite underground vigilante better than HE did, and before he decimated them, he was curious who he was about to destroy. “Is that something she told you?”

“I’ve heard it around Dystopia...”

He kept up the conversation long enough to trace her IP address and phishing her account. He almost fell out of his chair.“Are you Charlotte Page???”

“WHAT?” She screeched out loud, then typed, “Is that the other Black woman on your wall? You know… People are gonna think that you’re obsessive… or have a fetish... or something unbecoming.”

“I’m a fan. I didn’t mean to alarm you… So… WAIT… You’re Charlotte Page AND you are a Dystress fan AND you’ve seen my series??? This is perfect! This is like a DREAM for me! Or… is this like one of those things where you contact me and tell me that it’s creepy that I have your stuff on my wall? Because, honestly, that’s fair. It’s just… I looked up some of your work and you were super brilliant, but we’d met previously under not so great circumstances, so I didn’t want to be that guy and make it weird, but this is just how I’ve decorated my workspace. I just admire your work, a lot.”

Charlotte had watched --she didn’t know how many of this dude’s invention videos -- Every time she saw his face, a glimmer of a thought that he looked familiar passed through her mind, but his face wasn’t on screen most of the time. The focus would be on his hands and his inventions, so she didn’t notice his face too much. The way that the human brain works, she simply put it out of focus and subconsciously presumed she’d seen his face there, in the videos.

But, now that he said it, she gasped again. Realizing the familiarity, she dropped a phone number. She did NOT want to continue this conversation on the same device he had just hacked, and she had a burner phone on her.

“Hello?” She said. It took him only long enough to pick up his phone and dial while looking at the computer for him to call her.

“Is this real???” He asked. “Are you honestly Charlotte Page?” Before she could even answer, he continued, “I am absolutely freaking out!”

It was a far cry different from the first time they crossed paths, the time that she had remembered only after he made it known that they had before. When he was a little villain-to-be. She hadn’t gotten a very good look at him, but her eyes had at least passed over his face a little, years before.“What do you want?” She asked, through her teeth. “To expose me?”

“Expose?” He gasped and lowered his voice, but heightened his excitement, “Are you some kind of criminal mastermind, because I can totally dig that.”

“I’m…” She looked at the muted video where she had been studying his wall and she realized something. There weren’t photos of each, next to each other. There were no lines, or notes or string... He didn’t know that those were the same people. He didn’t know that she was the Damsel of Distress. He really was... just a fan of both of them. Maybe it was subconscious on his part, but she didn’t feel like he was playing mind games or anything. And… he had powers, so exposing her wouldn’t be wise for him or other supers.

“Charlotte? Are you still there? I’m not gonna expose you, if you were waiting on an answer to that. But, I’ve gotta tell you… I’m a superhero now and if we gotta cross paths while you’re in your criminal phase… I mean… It’ll be AWESOME and like hella fun… but, I’d have to take you down. Duty and all that.”

Now, she laughed. “The Dystopian cops haven’t been able to, but give it your best shot.” There was a long pause and then a longer gasp, then the exhaling and declaration, “CharlottePageisalsotheDamselandIcan’tbelieveIdidn’tnoticeitbefore!”

“I prefer Dystress. With a “Y,” like Dystopia + Mistress… The Damsel of Distress was supposed to a clever one liner and nothing more. Some overgrown goon caught me about to tamper with supplies that we needed to steal from the criminals to give to the kids in our charity, and he said something like, “Looky here, a damsel in distress,” and…”

“And you, a 4’11 (I can’t believe that I didn’t even place your identical measurements to figure this out), you touched your wrist, hulked up somehow and beat him with his own weapon, then said, “More like a Damsel OF Distress,” and it was caught on security cameras. I HAVE that footage. I’ve gotten probably every piece of footage of you that has been recorded. I am not kidding when I say to you, that I am your biggest fan.”

“You’d think that with that wall you’ve collected,” she said, her wide smile evident in her voice. She knew that the kids in Dystopia stanned Dystress. They would tag her name and image all over the place and whenever in costume, girls and women always gave her stuff, sometimes, what appeared to be their last. She would refuse it and give them whatever she had on her to spare.

Dogfight was in essence sleepwalking through battle, so even though he could reply to people (in Spanish), they usually didn’t understand it and generally didn’t talk much to him.

Deflector was just that, on or off the battlefield. Henry had never mastered lying, that much was sure, but found that avoiding questions because he only spoke English, or if they spoke English, simply deflecting the conversation instead of making up something worked better for his mystery and his cover than lying ever did.

Dystress was the one who spoke with the people. She spoke their language. She spoke to them as people. All of the Defenders were heroes to the Dystopian downtrodden, but Dystress was like a motherly hero. She could be both that ferocious bear whose cubs are threatened but she generally delivered the goods while Dogfight and Deflector fought off the criminals. Her covered face and purple ombre locks were what they saw right before they had meals that weren’t drugged to kidnap them or rotten. The image that they saw whenever they got clean socks, soap and towels...

“What are you thinking about?” Max wondered, his voice now soft, having regained control of himself after this wondrous discovery.

“I’m hoping that my secret really is safe with you and I’m appreciating being noticed by someone who I didn’t have to help save, first.”

He smiled, “Of course your secret is safe with me. I admire everything you do, apparently as you and her. I’d never let myself be a threat to you.” She was smiling on the other end and he knew it, but he also knew that this was a Dystopia line and probably a burner she got from a corner shop. He needed a doorway in. He didn’t want to let her slip through his fingers. “I can probably actually help you, you know? I have a lot of resources, with T-Force. Dystopia is a red level city. Every time the Hero League has assigned someone, they either die, quit, or turn, because the crime is like a hydra. It would only take a mention that the heroes there need supplies for me to get approval to bring some.” There was another long pause and he said, “I wish I could see your face right now.”

“You can see it… As soon as we get some supplies.”

“How do I contact you? I know this is a burner you’re on.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think this is a burner you’re on and I got your number when you called. Thanks in advance… what should I call you?”

“My name is Max.”

“Thank you, Max.”

“My pleasure, Charlotte.” They both smiled and hesitantly hung up their phones. But, Charlotte was looking forward to seeing “her biggest fan” in person… ESPECIALLY if he was using his power to come with supplies.

After a few weeks, he made good on that. She sent him a list and asked, “Is this asking too much?” He was confused at first, because it was a different phone number, but whenever he saw the list, he knew who it was from and he smiled brightly. “Not at all. I can be there by Friday. Send me coordinates to wear to meet you.”

The Defenders were there. T-Force shook hands with them and commended them on volunteering to take on Dystopia. They unloaded everything onto a trolley and Thunder Man was explaining to Deflector and Dogfight that once everything was out of the transport, his youngest could teleport them to wherever they felt safe to bring it.

Charlotte realized that they had brought twice the amount she requested when she placed the order, and Max added, “We also took donations up from the Hero League and transferred the total into yen, in case something comes up in between now and next time that you need us.”

“You’d do this again?” She wondered.

“For you? Are you kidding?” He laughed, but was silenced when she practically leaped up so that she could throw her arms around his neck. Nobody was paying attention, because the rest were working. He was staring into her eyes, because that was all he could see, and it definitely was enough for him to recognize them from footage of her Spelling Bees and stuff, but, he wondered, “Could I see...” he didn’t get a chance to finish the question and she pulled down her mask, stuck her tongue out and smiled. “I’d do this however many times you need,” he finished.

Since then, they’d been gravy. Chase took much longer to warm up to her like that, and even when he had, his gushing in her presence, was generally due to some exciting news, findings, work, etc. He hadn’t gushed over her like that, and Max did not mind doing so, at all. Really, the fact that she was always comparing the two in her mind was how she came up with this idea to… well… to ask them to come on an adventure with her towards saving the world.

She knew that she could tell Max to do anything and he would say yes and figure out how. Chase would WANT to say yes, but have some questions and need some reasonable answers. He would ultimately say yes, whether or not she was able to provide them, but he would be out of his comfort zone without a fully detailed, full transparency blueprint and trajectory. But, he would say yes no matter what she gave him because, if she knew one thing about both these people, it was that they both trusted, respected, and she hoped, loved her, and they listened to her for these reasons. SO, she would always try to reciprocate it. That was something that she knew that they didn’t always get. Max from knowing him and his family for several years and Chase from mostly Douglass and Leo’s stories. Chase only ever seemed to talk about his attributes and advantages. He never complained about the things that she’d heard about his life. Or maybe, he just didn’t trust her that much yet.

She opened a GC with the three of them and asked them when they could all meet sometime in the near future. Max was getting ready for a furlough and Chase was finalizing another bionic mission team for field work. She was getting ready to take a hiatus on degree work for the first time in 8 years and get settled into her castle that it took 5 years to have built. For reference, it took longer to build her castle than it did to rebuild Dystopia itself, but of course, one of these things she was paying for and the other had been greenlit by a billionaire.

Eventually, the three found where they could make the meet happen and she could hardly wait to share her ideas with them and also just spend time with both of them, instead of having to always divide herself.

Max was visiting, spending his furlough in the castle and Chase was there “on business,” because Mr. Davenport literally never allotted vacations for him, so Charlotte told a half truth about requiring him at her place for a few days for a special project and since they scheduled it after the formation of the most recent bionic field team, Donald approved the request, but reminded him that he would still be on call, if needed.

“Firstly, I need to apologize to you both for the short notice, but whenever I realized that you finally both were free at the same time, I made sure that we could all get together! I’ve… introduced you two before, right?’

Chase raised an eyebrow and studied Max. She had never introduced them, but she talked about Max to him a lot, and pretty fondly from how he recalled. “I’ve never seen this man before in my life,” Chase said. It was partially true. He had not met him face to face or even crossed him in passing. They were once in Dystopia at the same time, but although she planned to introduce them, both had avoided allowing it to happen.

Max said, “That’s your boss’ little kid, right?” Max knew exactly who Chase was. He had read about him, seen his work, talked to Charlotte NUMEROUS times about his ideas, and even was impressed by him, sometimes, But he also knew that there was no way that this dude didn’t know who he was. Therefore, two could play that game. “The one that doesn’t really fight much,” he added for good measure. Chase narrowed his eyes. He fought all of the time, but people often reduced his efforts because he didn’t have feats like the members on his team. He had better feats…

“Chase Davenport!” Charlotte corrected Max and cut him off at the same time, seeing it might turn into a pissing contest if she didn’t rein it in, “Mission Leader of the world’s first bionic mission team, Mentor at the Davenport Bionic Academy, he creates most of the bionic teams that you see on the news during missions!” She proudly announced.

Chase blushed and shuffled his feet bashfully, then said, more confidently, to Max, “I do more than that, actually…”

“Cool,” Max said and made a little sound with his mouth, to which two puppies came trotting into the foyer to him. “Hey, Buddies!” He cheered and began to love talk to the brown puppies with black ears.

Chase wondered, “Oh, you have pets?”

Max collected both puppies into his arms and stood, “Have you not been invited here, yet?” He asked, meaning for it to sting.

Charlotte interjected, “Chase is usually too tied up in missions for social visits, so this is his first time being able to stop by and his first time seeing them.”

“They’re her kids,” Max said.

Chase cleared his throat and wondered, “I’m sorry, what?”

“These are the Swagger twins,” Charlotte clarified.

Chase let out a sigh of relief, then immediately engaged with the puppies, while Max grimaced, still holding both. “They should be about two years old, shouldn’t they? Why are they puppies and not full grown dogs? Also, why are they dogs?” And both pups became toddlers in Max’s arms, causing Chase to flinch a moment, but he still petted both their heads.

“They have shapeshifting bionics with identical coding,” Charlotte said. “Jack had very specific speculations for them. He wanted them to be male presenting, have certain traits from himself and certain ones from Cheyenne, and identical bionics that were allotted for them to transform into dogs. They are currently puppies because they’re too young to realize that a two year old dog would be full grown and probably too small to do it, if they knew it.”

“Why does Jack Swagger want his kids to be able to turn into dogs?” Chase asked, very confused.

Max grumbled, “Because celebrities are weird and gross!”

Charlotte laughed and said, “Jack’s fiancee is Max’s former celebrity crush. He’s been moody since the engagement,” she laughed. “I, on the other hand am DELIGHTED that celebrities are weird and gross. Jack has funded all of my private research on genomic architecture JUST so he can both have perfect babies with his future wife AND also have dogs.”

“Whatever happened to good old fashioned going to a third world country and buying a desperate mother’s kid from her because they’re both starving?” Max asked and scoffed.

Chase, ignoring the rhetorical question, asked, “Why do you have his two year olds at your castle?”

Charlotte shook her head and said, “Oh, these boys aren’t going to go to him. He’s not going to actually collect until I get the formula for the perfect sons who shift into the perfect dogs, with the perfect model bionic chips, and I’m going to take that to create the embryos for their surrogate.” She forced a smile and her eye was twitching, but it was extremely lucrative, if not incredibly privileged and highkey eugenics.

“Weird and gross,” Max repeated.

“Well,” Chase ignored Max again, “Where are they going to go?” He wondered, concerned about the Swagger twins.

Charlotte laughed and said, “Budding Flowers,” like it was obvious.

“That orphanage?” He asked, a little bit horrified.

“It’s really more like a boarding school,” she told him. “And shelter for orphans. People aren’t exactly adopting them.”

“But… these boys are bionic. Aren’t the kids there all… normal?” Chase wondered.

She pointed to him and said, “You are absolutely right! We need a bionics specific orphanage/education center. I propose either in Dystopia or Centium City.”

“Why not on the island?”

“Are you kidding? You think she’s gonna hand her babies over to Davenport after how he raised you?” Max asked.

“Max!” Charlotte hissed and held her hands out like wtf. Chase was definitely a little bothered. Charlotte tried to explain, “Excuse him for that. Sometimes Dougie complains about The Dom whenever we’re hanging but I don’t know WHY Max would bring any of that up!” She threw Max a look. Max looked unbothered.

Chase squinted, “He… knows my Uncle Douglas?”

“He’s your dad, Dude,” Max said.

“Douglas just TELLS people these things???” Chase said, highly upset, now.

“No. It’s mostly been said in what was supposed to be confidence. With the two of them both being on the board of the Max O. Thunderman Rehabilitation & Reformation Metropolis.”

“I like to call it the Maxtropolis,” Max said, smirking with his mouth and his eyebrows.

“And everyone hates when you do,” she teased. “They’ve got stuff in common.”

“You… wait… Your friend Max is ON the board at that place?”

“It’s literally named after me,” Max said.

“Yes, I realized that, but I thought it was because you were a donor or something. Douglas said that board is composed entirely of villains!” Chase said, now on alert.

“Reformed villains,” Charlotte corrected. “Like Douglas, and like Max.”

Chase ground his teeth and stared at Max. He didn’t fully always trust Douglas, at times. He certainly wasn’t ready to trust this very shifty character, so close to Charlotte AND with a villainous past? He REALLY needed to start paying more attention to others, even those that he was writing off. Now, he would have to research and review everyone that came into contact with Charlotte. How many other dangerous possible traitors did she trust in her midst? Charlotte and Max were staring at him and he realized that the puppies were too. Also, that the kids were puppies again.

Charlotte offered, “Let’s go settle into the lounge and sit down.” She opened her hand to let Chase see were the lounge was and she caught Max’s hand and whispered as low as she could, “Why are you antagonizing him?”

“I’m not. I just don’t like him.”

“You haven’t even given him a chance!”

“I did whenever I came in and he started it. “I’ve never seen this man before in my life? You and I both know that waif has seen me before.” She covered her forehead with her fingers and lowered her face at the insult. “Furthermore, I don’t like his sanctimonious song and dance, just because he’s the poster boy for heroes, a position that he has only been granted because bionics in the past few years that they’ve been accepted have taken credit for every superhero’s victories and act like they’re doing us a favor by doing small percentages of the work and capitalizing on all of the victories!” He folded his arms and Chase turned around and looked at them. Max glared at him.

Charlotte noted still whispering, “He has super hearing. I think he’s heard us whispering.”

“I did,” Chase said.

Max shrugged his shoulders, “Where was the lie? Bionics are just non-supes with technology. You’re only special because a madman put technology into you when you were too young to consent.” Charlotte covered her lips with her fingers this time and lowered her face again.

“You obviously know enough about me to continue to personally attack me because of your perception of my position. If that makes you feel better, do it,” Chase said. What wasn’t about to happen was him losing his cool in front of Charlotte, or worst, inside of Charlotte’s home.

She shook her head, “I thought that the two of you would get along. There’s so much greatness inside of both of you, that I see, I guess I presumed that you would see that in each other. I had no idea that there was some kind of superhero vs bionics bad blood in you two.”

“Seriously? Because, I’ve heard that your friend here is pretty anti superheroes. Besides the members of his team, who he’s been openly negative towards (we talk, Bionic Boy), and the only super that you’ve really fully accepted was your sister, after she siphoned a little from Skylar Storm. You had supers right in front of your face, proof of our existence and you berated them and talked trash on them. At least that’s how Sky would tell it.”

“You… know Skylar too? Technically… she’s not a super. She’s an alien. All of her people are like that.”

“Wow. So not the point,” Charlotte said. “Are you actually anti-supers?”

“No! I may have said some of what he’s gossiping about, but I was younger at the time he’s speaking about, probably not much older than he was when he was aspiring to be a super villain.”

“So, NOW you know who I am?”

“I researched the information while the two of you were whisper arguing!” Chase said.

“You knew who the fuck I was when you walked into this castle, Boy! You, the smartest man in the world, who has been betrayed and bamboozled multiple times didn’t do a background search on someone who was going to be staying in the home of the woman you love and meeting up with you for possible business? I’m not the smartest man, but I’m not a dumbass, either. You absolutely looked into me, just like I’ve been looking into you from the first time she mentioned your name. Maybe you could get a fast one on the simpletons you’re usually surrounded by, but Char and I? We're in the genius leagues.”

Chase was breathing hard and eyeballing Max, looking a bit menacing and sort of hovering over him. Chase scanned him over and Charlotte stepped between the two of them, into Chase’s line of sight. He seemed to calm down and she was grateful, because he’d looked pissed and she heard that could make things get really ugly. “I heard your response, Chase and it’s valid. You were younger and didn’t subscribe to the value of superheroes. Max was young and didn’t either! Yayyy! Similarities…” She looked at both of them. They both folded their arms and scoffed, then both groaned because they’d had the same reactions. Getting them on the same page might be a hard sell. But, she had a few days. “Let me show you your quarters, and maybe everyone can have a drink and kinda…” her shoulders slumped and she sighed, unsure of what words to use.

Henry and Jasper had been friends when she met them. Douglas and Schwoz hit it off right away. These two… SHOULD have too. But, they were both extremely pissed and she felt like she’d missed something that she should have considered before bringing them together like this. That argument proved that she missed several things. She was so in love with the idea of them being science bros, she didn’t think about Chase’s trust issues and how they might affect his view of Max. She didn’t think about Douglas telling Max things that she didn’t even know about, like Chase having a past with superhero hate, or maybe just a little bigotry, but, still… She was supposed to be smarter than that. She had been judging both of them with her heart for so long… it just seemed natural that anybody else, especially one another, would adore them too.

“Charlotte, are you okay?” They both asked her in unison. She looked up and both of them looked concerned and a little guilty. They were most likely going to at least squash it for tonight, for her benefit.

“I’m sorry for not doing MY due diligence. I just think, if you two could get past it all, you’d understand why both of you are here with me as I embark on a new chapter. You two were my first choice and it was an equal choice. It wasn’t one over the other, it was… I know that you both bring what I want and need to the table. I want it to be a table of camaraderie.” The men looked at each other with a raised eyebrow and flared nostrils.

“It’s fine,” they both lied. At least she knew that they’d try.

#Henry Danger #Lab Rats #The Thundermans #Chasing Thunderbolts Fic #League of Extraordinary Geniuses #LOEG Update #Nesha Fics #Multiverse Fics

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halsteadsis21 · 5 years

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A Shelby sister imagine! Please let me know what you think!

Annabelle POV

“I WONT DO IT” I screamed at Michael who was trying, yet failing to get me to do my homework, “do NOT raise your voice at me” He demanded making me scowl “now I’m not asking you Annabelle, I’m telling you, do your homework” he lectured; not waiting for a response he sat back at his desk and continued his work. I started to break off pieces of the rubber that was attached to the end of my pencil and flick it across the room in an attempt to procrastinate from my homework. Michael snapped when a rather large piece of the rubber flew and hit him on the head causing him to stand up and stride towards me, “that’s it” he grasped hold of my arm and pulled me to the corner of his office and forced my nose into the corner “hands on your head” he ordered, but when I didn’t oblige he grabbed my arms and placed my hands up there himself. I once again ignored his demands and allowed my arms to fall by my sides. I turned around and as the anger boiled inside of me I let out a blood curdling scream in to the face of my shocked cousin who was quick to silence me with a sharp smack to my backside. “What do you think your playing at?” He demanded, but before I had a chance to reply Tommy came storming in. “What’s all the bloody racket?” He asked stopping to take in the scene before him “Michael is being nasty to me” I declare crossing my arms across my chest. Tommy raised his eyebrows at me “is that right?” He asked “and I suppose you were doing absolutely no wrong yes?” He questioned. I hesitated at his question “I...I-“ I was cut off “that’s what I thought”. He turned to Michael “Michael what the issue?” He questioned my older cousin, “I was trying to tell Annabelle that she needs to do her homework, but she seems to have other ideas, so I told her she had to stand in the corner” he stated. Tommy paused “ seems fair to me” Tommy stated “try telling her that” Michael muttered as he sat back behind he is desk.

Tommy made his way over to me with an unimpressed look plastered across his face, “you need to do your homework” he stated making me whine but he put his hand up to stop me “so therefor, you are going to do as Michael says and stand here until your told you can move, and then you can complete your homework, do I make myself clear?” He questioned as I groaned and stomped my foot “I don’t want to do it! “ I cried with tears falling from my eyes. Tommy held his stern expression “Annabelle, I’m not asking you what you want to do. I’m telling you what you ARE going to do, now I’m going to leave this room and return to my work and I trust that you are going to listen to Michael and do as your told” he lectured making me screech even more “Annabe-“ I cut Tommy off “that’s not fair” I cried stomping my feet. Tommy swatted the back of my legs making me cry even more “ENOUGH” he bellowed making my sob silently “now turn yourself around and I don’t expect to hear another peep from you for the rest of the day!” He stated turning me around a pushing my nose against the wall before turning and leaving the room.

A few hours later, after I had reluctantly finished my homework, I was sat at the kitchen table staring angrily at the plate of food that was placed in in front of me. Ada sighed as she walked in to the kitchen unimpressed with my lack of effort on my meal, “you may as well eat up Annabelle because you’re not getting anything else” she stated. I whined “what makes you think I WANT to eat your manky food?” I questioned with my voice full of cheek, “oi, don’t talk to Ada like that” Finn chastised making me roll my eyes “what not? I’ve heard you say much worse to her” I challenged “yeah, and he got a thick ear for it” Arthur said from behind me, giving me a clip round the ear making me screech and grab my ear “you don’t eat that, then you go hungry” he stated making me roll my eyes “and you better reign in that attitude before someone does it for you” he threatened. I stood up allowing my chair to fall behind me and stomped up the stairs, ignoring the shouts from the kitchen behind me.

It was now later on in the evening and I was sat by the fire in the living room drawing in one of my many journals when Tommy and Arthur walked through the front door. “What are you still doing up?” Arthur questioned making my sigh slightly “I wasn’t tired” I flatly stayed hoping that I would now be left alone “right well, it’s late now so I think it’s time for you to go to bed” Tommy simply said as he took off his coat and lit a cigarette. I frowned at his order “no” I replied making Tommy pause as he sent me an icy cold stare, “excuse me?” He challenged making me raise my voice “I SAID NO!” I bellowed. Arthur spoke up before Tommy had the chance “Annabelle, I warned you about this attitude earlier” he stated making Tommy chime in, “ it’s funny you should say that Arthur, because so did I” he informed. A thick silence filled the room as everyone waited to see you would make the next move. I was beginning to get frustrated with my older brothers presence as I asked “are you going to leave the room then?” Making both of my brothers look at m with shock. Tommy took a step forward slightly making me regret my words “I think you’ll find young lady that this is my house and I’ll go where I wish.” I decided to back down “Fine, I’ll go to my own room then” I angrily stated as I told up with my journal in hand “I don’t think so Annabelle” Arthur chimed “I think we should all have a little chat, don’t you?” He asked making me groan and roll my eyes “make up your mind, you wanted me to go to bed a minute ago” I remarked. Arthur turned his head slightly as he commanded “just sit down little girl” making me nervous, I suddenly begin to realise that my words were about to have some consequences and I wasn’t to keen to stick around to find out what they were going to be. I turned around d making a run for the stairs only to be stopped by Tommy as he picked me up under my arms and carried me over to the seat in which I had previously been lounging. Without saying a word he sat down and pulled me over his lap and beginning to smack my now upturned bottom. I screamed out in surprise and attempted to push myself off my brothers lap only to feel an exceptionally hard swat “stay still or this is gonna take much longer” he threatened as I cried, trying my best to stay still.

After what seemed like forever Tommy stops the smacks and lifts me up to my feet, wiping away a few stray tears with his thumb. Nobody said a word until Arthur walked back in to the room handing a lathered up bar of soap to Tommy making me shake my head, “please” I begged “I’ve learned my lesson I promise” I pleaded as Tommy brought the bar of soap to my lips, “then this will help you to remember the. Next time you think about talking to people like that” he declared as I pushed my lips further together. Tommy sighed “Annabelle” he warned as I shook my head once again feeling a sharp smack to my already saw behind making me yelp and Tommy using this as an opportunity to shove the soapy substance in to my mouth. I shrieked Ana Tommy pointed at me “don’t spit it out” he threatened as I tried to fight and ignore the horrid taste that was filling my mouth. Tommy silently led me to the corner of the room and and instructed me to stay put.

After fifteen minutes of hell I was eventually allowed out of the corner and I rushed to the bathroom to spit out the bar of soap that was now melting in my mouth. I spat it in to the sink and tried to get rid of any bits that were stuck in my teeth. I went to reach for a glass of water only to have it removed from my hands making me groan, “but Arthur, it tasted horrible” I whined as he shrugged “that’s the point, now go back downstairs” he ordered. I reached the bottom of the stairs and was met by Tommy in the living room, “sit down” he simply stated as I slightly protested “can’t I just stand up?” I asked thinking about my bright red bottom, but Tommy simply stated once again “sit down Annabelle” so I reluctantly complied and waited for the lecture that was surely to begin, “I don’t no what has gotten in to you today Annabelle but it’s unacceptable behaviour” Tommy reprimanded; “ I don’t no why you’ve suddenly started behaving like this but I expect this to be the end of it, because not only are you six years old you are also a member of this family, and whilst you are under our care and protection you will treat people with respect and do as your told.” He informed, “is that understood?” He asked making me nod “yes sir”, “good girl” he said “now come on, it’s way past your bedtime” he said as he picked me up, carrying f my up the stairs and tucking me in to bed. “I’m sorry Tommy” I said a a tear slipped out of my eye “I know you are darling” He soothed “are you still angry?” I asked concerned making Tommy half smile “not anymore, now get to sleep. It’s a new day tomorrow” he whispered as he leant down and gave me a kiss on the cheek “night night Tommy” I said as he got up to leave “night sweetheart”.

#arthur shelby #finn shelby #michael gray #peaky blinder imagine #polly gray #tommy shelby #shelby sister #tommysister #arthursister #babyshelby #finnsister #john shelby #peaky blinders

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