#and I think we avoid seeing the doctor's face during or right after because they didn't want to shock the viewers too much?

[falderaletcetera]

come to think of it another reason I'm biased towards nine might be because we never reach such beautiful casual queer vibes as the doctor + rose + jack situation again, at least not as far as I've watched. like I'm honestly not that much of a shipper but that kiss scene DOES things to me. and part of that is how loosely defined the relationship seems to be, at least maybe from jack's perspective. I can't rightly say it was wholly romantic in canon, but it sure was something - yes, rose flirted with jack way more than the doctor did when they first met, but the doctor even just being chill about jack kissing him feels significant - and I do love a quasi-romantic loosely-defined Something.

[steddieas-shegoes]

There’s too much pressure on him.

He can’t fuck this up.

Eddie keeps looking at him, suspicious but not saying anything. Thank god.

Robin keeps giving him tiny pep talks when they manage to find a few seconds alone: “you got this” and “I promise he feels the same way” and “if you don’t do it now you’ll regret it forever.”

The last one isn’t so much a pep talk as a threat, but it still does the job.

He shakes his hands out, like he’s about to jump in the pool for a swim meet.

He bounces on his feet, slaps his arms like he’s warming up before taking the court for a must-win basketball game.

He looks and feels incredibly stupid and he’s certain that someone will see him acting like this and have questions. He just hopes it’s not Dustin. Or Max. Or Mike, Jesus Christ.

He sneaks away when the announcers give a five minute warning to the countdown. He needs a minute alone before he potentially ruins one of the best friendships he’s ever had besides Robin.

He hides in the bathroom, looks at his reflection in the mirror and tries to smile. He used to be so confident, used to be able to tell himself to make a move and make it successfully. But it used to not matter, not like this does.

No one has ever mattered the way Eddie does.

And fucking this up will ruin a lot more than just his friendship with Eddie; it’ll ruin the entire group’s dynamics.

No more hanging out at the arcade while the kids play, no more bringing snacks to game nights, no more adults only movie nights to make up for the shitty movies the kids make them watch during family movie nights.

No more getting high in Eddie’s bedroom while he plays his guitar, only trusting Steve to see how he still struggles with some chords because his fingers have more nerve damage than even the doctors know.

No more falling asleep on the couch while Eddie reads to him or tells him made up stories that turn into campaigns for the kids.

No more swimming in Steve’s pool after midnight, when Steve is scared, but wants to face his fears with Eddie by his side.

The bathroom door opening startles him from his morose thoughts, and he rushes to try to close it.

“Chill, man. Just me.”

Eddie.

“Sorry, must’ve zoned out.” Steve pretends to wipe his hands on the towel hanging by the sink. “All yours, man.”

Steve starts to leave when Eddie’s hand curls around his shoulder, tugs him back.

“You’ve been weird all night, Stevie. What’s goin’ on? Worried about having to see Nancy and Jonathan kiss?” Something’s off with Eddie’s voice towards the end, like he was going for teasing, but lost the effort halfway through the question.

Steve could hear a one minute warning from the other room.

His heart rate quickened.

“No. That’s not it.” Steve gulped. “I’m fine. Just worried.”

“I don’t think you need to worry.”

As if Eddie would know.

“I’ll just head out there-“

Eddie pushes him against the back of the bathroom door, hands on his chest and eyes boring into his.

“You were worried about kissing me, right? I didn’t imagine the way you avoided me all night and the way Robin kept poking me and looking at you anytime someone brought up kissing at midnight?” Eddie looks like he’s back in the boathouse, looks wild in a way Steve kind of loves, but probably needs to settle. “I haven’t imagined the way you look at me, have I? Like, the crush on you is probably out of hand, but I couldn’t have made up the way you always fall asleep on my shoulder when we try to stay up too late and your hand always finds mine and-“

Steve couldn’t take it. He could listen to Eddie spiral all night or he could just do what he was pretty sure they both wanted and just kiss him.

So he does.

He leans forward and kisses his lips, hopes that the way Eddie’s fingers curl against his chest doesn’t mean he’s about to push him away.

It’s short, and Steve’s hands are stuck at his side while he waits for a proper reaction from Eddie, who is frozen other than the fingers digging into Steve’s chest hairs somewhat painfully.

“Eddie?” He asks after a long silence.

“Steve, shut up. I might be in a coma still. Or those stupid bats got me and I’ve spent the last few months dreaming up a somewhat regular life.”

Steve smirked and placed his hands on top of Eddie’s, slowly unfurling the fingers and holding them in his.

“Eddie.”

This time, Eddie managed to look at him, and his shoulders fell as he seemed to catch on that he wasn’t dreaming or dead.

“Can I kiss you again or are you gonna panic?”

Eddie let out a strangled noise and nodded.

“I need a yes or a no, Eds,” Steve laughed.

“Yes. Please. Always yes. Kiss me for every single minute of 1987 if you want. Start and end the year kissing me. Kiss me until I-“

Steve shook his head, so stupidly fond of this man, and leaned in to kiss him again.

This time, Eddie managed to kiss him back, lips not as firm as they parted beneath Steve’s.

And this time when he pulled away, Eddie’s eyes slowly blinked open, and he was smiling.

“Can’t believe you did this on New Year’s Eve. How stereotypical. You’ve turned me into a stereotype. How could you do this? Stevie, I’m so ridiculously in love with you, but you really should’ve done this yesterday or something.”

“I love you, too.”

Eddie snapped his mouth shut, eyes going wide as his cheeks turned a bright red.

“I have really gotta learn to shut up. I blame Robin for the rambling.”

Steve’s hands wrapped around Eddie’s waist, pulling him closer as he kissed his forehead with a laugh.

“I think you had this problem way before you hung out with Robin.”

“How would you know, sunshine?” Eddie faked annoyance, but the term of endearment gave him away completely.

“I just know you pretty well. And I love you.”

“So you’ve said.”

“You have too.”

“I have, haven’t I?”

They both stared at each other in silence for a full minute before bursting into laughter.

Someone banged on the door as they rested their forehead against each other, laughing through another kiss.

“If you’re all done making out in there, some of us have been holding it since last year!” Max’s voice rang out.

“That joke doesn’t really mean anything when last year was two minutes ago, Maxine!” Eddie yelled back, not pulling away from Steve.

“I will use Steve’s bathroom if you don’t come out in five seconds!”

“God, please no.” Steve said as he pulled away and opened the door. “You suck so much.”

“Not as much as you apparently,” Max said back as she pushed past them and slammed the door.

“I didn’t even get to the sucking yet,” Eddie whined. “Why is she so mean?”

“She’s a teenage girl. They’re all like that.”

“Thank god I never liked them.”

“Never?”

“Steve, I was so busy trying to hide how hot I thought you were, I didn’t even notice girls.”

“Seriously?!” Steve laughed. “That must’ve been terrible for your image.”

“Yeah, well, now I think I’m the one terrible for your image, so I guess it worked out for me,” Eddie smirked, kissing Steve’s cheek.

“Very funny. Now back to the sucking thing…”

“Oh my god, I can hear you!” Max yelled from in the bathroom, causing Steve and Eddie to roll their eyes and laugh.

“That’s okay, we’ll just go upstairs, won’t we?” Eddie said loudly.

“Yep, I think that’s where we’ll be for the rest of the night!” Steve said back.

“Just go away!” Max yelled as the toilet flushed.

Steve did lead Eddie upstairs, and they definitely did intend on using a few minutes of privacy to their advantage, but were interrupted the moment Steve’s pants were unbuttoned.

Mike Wheeler would probably never recover from seeing Eddie’s lips on Steve’s neck, but maybe he’d at least learn to knock on doors before opening them.

[the-offside-rule]

Carlos Sainz Jr (Scuderia Ferrari) - First Snow

Day 2 of Christmas

Carlos sat in his and Y/n’s shared bedroom, dressing the newest member of their family in various layers of fluffy clothes. Y/n always found Carlos’ careful side funny whenever he was around the baby. There were corner protectors on each and every corner of the house and now that winter had hit, he had spent a lot of his money on warm clothes. “Carlos, I think she will overheat if you put any more layers on her.” Y/n chuckled, looking in the doorway. “You think?” Carlos lifted the 10 month old, her face looking chubbier because of all the layers her father had on her. Her joyous grin still as cute as ever. “I think we could do with a layer or two less, Carlitos.” Y/n said. “No, no, I am not risking Julietta getting sick.” He turned her around to face him and began peppering her face in kisses. “Isn’t that right, bebe? I would never let anything-”

“You do know that too many layers can make her overheat? Then we’ll be in a lot of trouble.” Carlos sat her back down onto his lap. “So less layers?” He asked. “Just a few.” Carlos nodded and removed some cardigans and shirts. “Can I put on the bear jumper?” He was of course talking about the fluffy jacket his mother had bought for Julia to wear to the paddock, where she became well known for it. “Of course. Then we can bring her outside.” Y/n reassured him. “Her first snow.” Carlos hummed. "You're more excited than she is."

"No, she's excited. Can you not tell?" He was saying in his baby voice. "Come on, Sainz. I think we should get a start here." He nodded along, taking off two layers. "Can you hold her while I put a jacket on?" He asked. "I'll bring her outside. You take your time." Y/n assured him. Carlos was speedy with his jacket, not particularly wanting to spend any time away from his daughter that he didn't have to. After all, it's not everyday he gets to see her during the season, so the pre-season became his new favourite time of year. As he walked down the stairs, wrapping his scarf around his neck. It wasnt any scarf, it was a scarf Y/n had bought for him when she moved in with him in London, back when he joined Renault. They had been through so much, but their love was in just as good condition as that scarf.

Carlos opened the door and saw Y/n leaning down and looking at the ground. Carlos looked confused. Where was his daughter? "Look, baby! Your papa is coming." Y/n cooed. Carlos heard the cutest giggles but no sign of his daughter. "Look at her doing snow angels, Carlos." His heart raced. He began running over towards her and as he grew closer, he spotted the baby wiggling around in the snow with the biggest smile on her face. "What are you doing?!" Carlos nearly screeched, picking her up and into his arms. He held her closely in his chest and looked at Y/n angrily. "She's playing, Carlos. It's safe for her to play in snow. We even asked the doctor last weekend like you wanted." Y/n replied, trying to remain calm. "No, no! I want to keep her safe!" Carlos said defensively. "Carlos, she is nearly 10 months old, now. She can play in the snow." He huffed. "I'm bringing her back inside." Carlos muttered. "This was such a bad idea. Why would I-"

"Okay, okay, listen." Y/n held onto both of Carlos' arms. "Breathe." She said. "Breathe? I am breathing, Y/n!" Carlos snapped back. "Then calm down, maybe?" Carlos scoffed. "I don't want her getting sick." He said. "Shes going to eventually. You can't stop that from happening." Y/n chuckled. "No, but I'm can try avoiding it." Carlos mumbled, kissing his daughter on the head. "Carlos. Think of how excited we were for this. Look at how happy she looks." Carlos sighed. "I know. I'm just worried. I haven't got too much time to spend with her this year." He explained. "I don't want some of my only memories of her being that she's sick." Y/n caressed his cheek. "I know, but we just need to let her get on with it I'm afraid."

Y/n and Carlos smiled as Julia threw snow into the air and laughed in delight. Occasionally throwing some at the dogs and giggling when they sneezed back and tried biting the snow. "Do you ever look at how far we have come?" Carlos asked suddenly. "As parents?" Y/n asked. "I mean as a couple. Take this how you will, but I didn't expect us to last this long. Especially when you started college." Y/n chuckled. "We didn't see eachother that much during those years, did we?" Carlos shook his head. "And now look at us. We have a dog, a house, and we have Julia too." He said. "You forgot we're married now." He grinned. "I know. Its crazy."

Julia looked back at her parents. They noticed and waved before something incredible happened. She decided then and there to hold onto the dogs laying beside her and trying to push herself up but falling back down. Carlos jumped up to go get her, but Y/n pulled him back. "Just wait." She said. As Carlos and Y/n watched their daughters multiple attempts, hoisting herself up then falling. "If she doesn't make this one I'm getting her." Carlos whispered. "Okay. That's fine." Y/n replied. They watched as she once again leaned on the dogs, pushed herself up and this time, she stood. Carlos smiled and clapped for his daughter. "Muy bien! Very good, Julietta!" He cheered. Before they knew it, Elena stepped one foot in front of the other and leaned forward to walk.

"She stepped! Y/n she stepped!" Carlos said in disbelief. Y/n chuckled. Julia's first laugh had been while Carlos was away doing work with Ferrari. The first time she crawled was while Carlos was away at the Dutch Grand Prix. She first stood up in the Ferrari garage in Austin while Carlos had been out racing. Any of her huge milestones had been missed by Carlos, so her father was obviously ecstatic to be seeing his little Julia talking her first step. "I know. Such a clever girl." Y/n said. Carlos opened his arms wide, encouraging his daughter to walk. She instead giggled again and dropped on all fours to crawl over to her dad. "Nearly there. You're so smart." Carlos smiled, pecking her face a few times. "Should we go inside now? We don't want her getting sick now, do we?" Carlos looked back at his wife.

"No, we definitely do not." He replied. "Okay, Papa Sainz. Let's get some hot chocolate going." She said. "Oh my god, I'm actually Papa Sainz now."

[avatar-anna]

So FRICKEN annoyed at whoever threw that skittle at Harry and hit him in the eye!! 🤬 I wanna know how FRICKEN annoyed the professor is!! 😭😭 can we get a blurb of her looking after him? 🥺💕

I would say professor doesn't know anything until Harry comes backstage squinting. She normally waits in his dressing room during shows because the noise from the crowd is really overwhelming for her. But when she finds out what happened...

“Stop touching your eye!”

“I can’t help it!”

Y/n glared at Harry as she washed her hands in the little sink in the corner of the dressing room. “I still think you should see a doctor.”

Harry wanted to joke that he was seeing a doctor, but he knew better than to make a joke like that right now. Y/n tended to get worked up about injuries of any kind. He was fine, had told her as much when he came back to the dressing room, but she was already sitting him down on the couch to take a look.

“You don't know where that thing came from, or what it touched before making contact with your eye,” she muttered, walking over to him and pulling the sensitive skin below his eye down gently.

“I’m pretty sure it went from the Skittle package to the girl’s hand to my face, love.”

“It could’ve been sharp. It could’ve scratched your cornea,” she continued as if she hadn't even heard Harry.

“But it wasn’t, and it didn’t. I’m perfectly fine, Y/n,” Harry said softly, but also a little sternly. She could get so worked up by hypotheticals sometimes, and Harry often had to bring her back down to earth.

“You could’ve—”

“Y/n, my love. Stop, I’m fine. I promise. My eye’s just a little red.”

She wanted to say more, he could see it on her face. But she didn’t, the tense set of her shoulders finally relaxing. Resting her head against his chest, she mumbled, “Sorry.”

Harry smiled and kissed the top of her head. “Thank you for worrying about me.”

“You’re welcome. Though I have to admit that it was partially self-indulgent. I don't know if I could date someone with an eye patch.”

The professor’s sense of humor was very dry, almost impossible to detect. But Harry had known her long enough to be able to tell when she was joking and when she wasn't.

“My girlfriend is vain now, I see,” Harry said, gasping playfully. “Just know that I would still love you if you were missing an eye.”

“I didn’t say I'd stop loving you—”

“No, no. I've been wounded. Cut deep. Irreparable damage,” he said, purposely avoiding looking her in the eye.

When he finally did look her way, Y/n was pouting at him, a very rare sight to behold.

“Who am I kidding, I can't stay mad at you,” he said, surging forward to kiss her.

Y/n reciprocated happily, her arms snaking around his neck to hold him close. They kissed for a while, talk of scratched corneas and eye infections long forgotten. It seemed Y/n had calmed down enough to realize that he really was fine.

“You’re wearing glasses tomorrow,” she mumbled against him, kissing him again before he could protest.

[saragarnier]

Delivery (Departure pt2)

pairing: Jay halstead x reader

summary: y/n is in labour and jay takesher to the hospital

warnings: none. just fluff (maybe a little bit aìof angst at some point)

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

previous part

When you hoped of Jay’s comeback during his eight months in the Army, you were not expecting that; you wanted to spend some time with your husband, talking about the baby with him, telling him everything that happened during those months while he was away. You wanted to have time for all of that, but you had not.

Jay was driving you to the hospital, hands tightened around the steering wheel, eyes fixed on the road, arms tense. He was so much nervous, and you could feel it from distance, everyone that knew Jay could have felt it too; you wanted to reassure him in some way, but you were to focused in not losing your mind, taking deep breaths, and trying to stay as much calm as possible.

“How are you?” He asked, turning his head towards you when he stopped at one of the red lights; you watched him closely and you tried to smiled at him sincerely; it wasn’t easy though, you started to feel pain because of the labour and all you wanted to do was seeing your doctor.

“I’m goo, Jay… it’s just…” You couldn’t avoid to moan in pain, feeling another contraction; you were just hoping to arrive at the hospital in time since there was so much traffic. “It hurts when the contraction kicks in, but I have endured worse pain after being shot at work, you know.”

Jay nodded and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, watching at the lights to be sure that they were still red; he just wanted to push the accelerator, arriving at the hospital as early as possible. “I wish I have the police lights right now; I could use them to bring you to the hospital in just few minutes.”

You smiled a little and, after taking a deep breath, you took his hand in yours, smiling a little bit and looking at his eyes.

“Jay, don’t worry, okay? Me and the baby are still good, our child just wants to meet his father as soon as he can.” You smiled softly, caressing his hand, and letting it go just when the green lights appeared, letting him drive again towards the hospital.

“Is it a boy or a girl?” He at once asked you, smiling softly and relaxing a bit.

“I don’t know. I didn’t want to discover it without you, so I wait you and here you are. I guess we will find out the baby gender after I gave birth and, well… we still need to find a name for him or for her. What do you think?”

He smiled softly, driving towards the hospital, and thinking about everything that was happening to him; he came home eager to see you again, to hug you and kiss you, to kiss the love of his life. He wanted to tell you that he came back and that he would have stayed with you forever, that he wouldn’t leave you anymore, but he wasn’t expecting that. He didn’t know that he would have become father and, driving you to the hospital, he started to get nervous.

He kept asking himself if he was ready for that, if he would have been a good father.

You notice that something was wrong because you recognise at one the frowning expression he usually had when something was not right. Was he still angry with you? Was he nervous about something?

“What’s going on, Jay?” you asked him, breathing heavily because of the pain of the labour. “Why are you so strange? Are you still mad at me?”

He turned his face towards you after parking in front of the hospital, then he shook his head and he took your hand between his own, smiling softly at you and sighing. “I’m not mad at you. I was angry because I wanted to know it, but right now I’m just worried about you both and I’m nervous. I just wonder if I will be a good father for him, because I really want to.”

You smiled, shaking your head, and leaning forward; you placed a soft kiss on his lips for the first time after all those months and you smiled wider. God, you missed him so much. You would have kiss him for hours and hours if it wasn’t for the baby that was kicking its way out.

“I love you, Jay, and I know for sure that you will be the best father in the world, I already knew that the time I discovered I was pregnant.” You smiled, trying to reassure him somehow. You really wanted him to live the labour in the best way possible, especially since he didn’t have the chance to live the pregnancy as you did. “I never doubted it and I will never do.”

He ran one of his hands through his hair, taking deep breaths and trying to calm down. He needed to be strong for you, he needed to be calm for you; after all you were the one in labour, not him.

“Thank you, babe.” He whispered, nodding slightly, and looking at you with a smile on his lips. He was much calmer after your words, and he was now ready to become a dad. “Let’s go now, I’ll call Will to let him know that you’re pregnant and that you’re in labour.”

You reassured him, exiting the car and thanking him for his help when he got you in his arms, trying to help you walking toward the enter of the hospital. “Will knows that I’m pregnant. I asked him not to tell you because you were in Boliva and because was afraid that you would have done something stupid, that you would have become less focused on your job. He tried to convince me to tell you the truth so many times but, in the end, I always won.”

Jay was angry at the beginning, to discover that also his brother knew about the pregnancy, as well as his friends and everyone in the unit. He was the only one that left in the dark for so many months and he was also the first that should have known about it in the first place. He really wanted to scream, to yell, to let go all of his frustrations, but he didn’t want to do it now; he didn't want to scare you or to make you worried since you were in labour: he needed to stay calm and to be there for you both. It was difficult, he really was, but he did what was the best for his wife and for his future child.

“Okay, don’t worry.” He simply said, sighing. You both finally entered the hospital, and, after that, you were brought up into the obstetrics department of the hospital, were you will have been monitored till the right moment.

You started to become more nervous after every second; you just wanted to take the baby in your arms, to cuddle him and to show him to his father, the man of your life. You hoped and dreamed of that moment for months and, when it came, it wasn’t as you expected. The first visit you made with your doctor showed that there was something wrong. You and Jay immediately understood that when you saw their faces and you started panicking at once.

“What’s happening? Something’s wrong right?”

Jay tried to reassure you, stroking your hair, placing small kisses on your forehead, on your cheeks, trying to make you feeling better, trying to calm you down. The doctor and the nurses started to talk quietly and only after some minutes they talked to you.

“The umbilical cord is wrapped around the baby’s neck.” He said, the exact moment Will entered the room after being told of what was happening. Jay’s heart skipped a beat as soon as he heard the doctor, he looked up and he found Will’s gaze. Before the doctor could have said everything else, you started crying while Jay walked toward his brother.

“Will, tell me that everything is going to be fine.” He immediately asked his brother, not paying attention to the doctor that gave you the news; he tried to answer instead of Will, but Jay stopped him before he could. “I’m asking my brother’s opinion, not yours.” He pointed out.

Will shook his head and placed his hand on Jay’s shoulder, trying to reassure him. “Jay.. I’m not y/n’s doctor and you should listen to him. He knows what the best for the baby is and for her too, okay?”

Jay calmed down a little bit and he sighed deeply; he looked up at the doctor and he nodded at him to let him know that he had his full attention.

“I’ll have to move that from the baby’s neck during the childbirth. It may be painful, but we have to do it for the baby’s sake. It won’t be difficult, okay? It’s nothing to be worried about, I made it so may times and everything went as expected. I need you to stay calm, you both.”

Jay went back to your side, and he took your hand in his, trying to be there for you; he saw how nervous and worried you were and he needed to be strong for you, he needed to be calm for you and the baby. “You heard the doctor, love. The baby is gonna be alright, okay? We need to be positive right now. Maybe we can think about some names, what do you think?”

You nodded, trying to take deep breaths, and trying to be as calm as you could. Having Jay by your side made it so much easier and you were grateful for having him there with you. You both started to say names for the baby and, one hour later, when the contractions were very close to each other and painful, they brought you to the birth room. Jay followed back, keeping telling you that everything would have been alright, that the baby would have been healthy and that you just needed to be calm for him. He was always by your side. He didn’t leave you, he kept reassuring you with soft and sweet words, he kept stroking your head and kissing your forehead. He was with you every second, he never left. Even when the doctor used his hand to move away the umbilical cord from the baby’s neck, that was very painful, Jay was there.

“Hold on, love. Hold on for me, y/n, everything is gonna be alright after that, okay?” he kept telling you, caressing your hand while you screamed in pain. When, finally, the doctor gave you the permission to push again, you did it, hoping that everything would have ended as soon as it was possible. He was just too much to handle, and you just wanted to cry and to rest a little bit.

“Just one more push and you will meet your children!” the doctor encouraged you, and you did it. You squeezed Jay’s hand as strong as you could, screaming in pain and pushing again for the last time. you could even describe how it felt when you heard the baby crying. Your heart stopped beating and tears ran down your cheeks but, this time, those were not tears of pain. Jay, on his side, just couldn’t believe it, nor even when he heard the baby crying. He just couldn’t believe that he was a dad.

A nurse immediately placed the baby on your chest, wrapped around a pink towel. She smiled at you and Jay. “Congratulations. Mom and Dad, it’s a baby girl.”

You looked down at your baby and you cried again and again, looking at her baby face and at her hands. She was so small and beautiful at the same time. you just couldn't believe that such a beaty came out of you, you just couldn't believe that you were finally see the baby that you felt growing inside of you. You never felt so good, you never felt so alive.

“Do you want to take her?” You asked Jay, softly.

All the pain you felt just vanished when you took her between your arms, and, when you passed her to your husband, you were even more happy.

The way Jay’s eyes lit up when he took her in his arms was something you would have never forgotten.

“Hi, sweetheart.” He said softly, crying when the baby squeezed one of his fingers in her small hand. “God, she’s beautiful.”

He just couldn’t look away; she was too beautiful. He could have stayed there, cuddling, all the time, even for years. He just looked away from her when the nurse asked them about her name, that needed to be written down on her bracelet.

“Halstead, Kate Halstead.” Both of you said, smiling at each other.

[leo-gold-hotchner]

I proposed

I really like my supervisors... one of them looks like a teddy bear...

Aaron Hotchner X G.N. Reader with Jack

“Who proposed?”

At Jack’s question, you and Aaron looked at each other. A little blush crept on Aaron’s cheeks as he thought of how he was proposed to.

“I did,” you replied as you grinned at your husband. “I proposed to your dad.”

“Really?” Jack looked at his father. “I thought dad would propose.”

“Either party can propose,” Aaron let out a dry cough. “But, I wasn’t expecting to be proposed, to be honest.”

“You made me propose.” You let out your tongue like a child. “You don’t know what your dad did, do you, Jack?”

“No?” Jack asked hesitantly as if he weighed if he wanted to hear the story.

“You promised you won’t tell!” Aaron said in horror.

“I promised I won’t tell your friends, not Jack.”

“Okay, I wanna hear, now.” Jack laughed. It must be a funny story if something made his dad horrified and embarrassed.

“I still don’t know why he asked, but I thought your dad was crazy.” Aaron lightly punched you on the arm.

“It was about three months after we started to see each other. We were just sitting, doing nothing other than drinks. So I asked, ‘what do you wanna do today’. Your dad was quiet for a bit, then he said, ‘let’s fight’.” You rolled your eyes at the memory. Jack looked at his father funnily, and Aaron flopped on the sofa closing his eyes. You started to brush your husband’s hair, continuing the story.

“Your dad took me to a gym, giving me gloves and protective gear, saying he won’t be wearing any gear. He taunted me, saying that if I hit him, he would give me what I wanted.

So I tried to punch him a couple of times, but he avoided everything. Smiling like an idiot. That made me, you know, annoyed. Your dad forgot about me being so competitive. So, I seriously punched, and it got hit on your dad’s nose. He was surprised, and I was surprised. We both heard something broken, and lots of blood was coming from your dad’s nose.”

“Critical,” Jack snickered. “That’s why you were in the hospital and bandages around your face?” Jack poked his dad’s side. “You wouldn’t tell me why you were hurt. I knew it wasn’t from a case ‘cause you kept working.”

“Because I knew you’d think it was funny.” Aaron opened his eye and replied.

“But why did you propose?” Jack frowned. “I mean, he did sound crazy. Who says ‘let’s fight’ to a person you date?”

“Your dad,” you lightly patted Aaron’s head. “Anyway, so we went to the hospital right after. I didn’t know emergency could work that fast. They were probably shocked at the amount of blood. The doctor told us that Aaron’s nose was broken and he needed to be hospitalised for a few days. But during those time, he didn’t complain anything. He didn’t blame me for his broken nose or hospitalisation. I broke his nose, but he wasn’t angry at me. So, I decided to propose.”

“You caught dad with your fist,” Jack grinned.

“I guess,” you laughed.

“Please, this story never goes out from here,” Aaron groaned.

[quack-quack-snacks]

hi! i was wondering if u could write a eun-yu x fem reader where reader gets hurt protecting one of the military dudes that likes her and he patches her up, then eun-yu finds out what happened from someone else, and shes like this pouty, jealous girl because how dare reader protect someone else thats not her??? thank you!! the sapphics will be revived!!

Your Protector

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Pairing(s): Lee Eun-yu x GN!Reader Summary: Eun-yu's not a fan of how you saved your comrade. Warnings: Fighting, monsters, blood, depictions of wounds, a little spicy at the end but no smut. Word Count: 1,829 Extra Notes: Eun-yu gives me such sub-top vibes. I hope this lived up to your expectations! I'm not super proud of this but I hope you like it :)

“Seok-chan!” You screamed, aiming your gun at the monster in front of him. Luckily, it seemed like the monster wasn’t all that strong, just very angry and focusing all of that anger on your comrade. “Fuck!” You screamed again when you realized you were out of bullets and magazines. 

Without thinking, you rushed forward, ignoring the calls of your commander and ramming yourself into the monster’s side. 

You were successful at bringing the monster's attention away from Seok-chan. The only problem was now it landed on you. 

Both you and the monster were lying on the ground from the impact, but unfortunately for you, it got up first. It lunged for you with its extended and sharp nails and you only barely managed to roll out of the way. You kicked it in the ribs, sending it away from you and giving you enough time to grab the knife strapped around your hip. It got up quickly, lunging at you again, except this time you were unable to completely avoid its trap. 

Its claws slash the side of your neck and cheek, luckily not going too deep but still hurting like hell. Its knee landed right on your abdomen, knocking the air from your lungs and unwillingly loosening the grip you had on your knife. 

Fuck that. 

You used what strength you had left to grip the knife as hard as you could and stab it into the neck of the creature. You did it over and over again until it scrambled away from you, seeming scared and angry. 

Before you could catch your breath, you felt someone reach underneath your armpits and start dragging you to the jeep you used to drive there. You didn’t resist, knowing it was your comrades and that you were safe with them.

Once they got you onto the platform in the back, you immediately felt the car start racing forward to wherever their destination was. 

“We don’t have anything here to help you with, so we’ll have to wait until we get back to base,” Seok-chan told you softly as he pressed a firm hand against the wound on your side - a cut you didn’t even notice you’d gotten during your time fighting the monster. 

“Okay,” you acknowledged before closing your eyes. It was impossible to sleep, but you rested as much as you could until you got back. 

Loud snores came from the man on the table in front of you and you groaned. 

“I never liked him as the doctor. He’s so weird,” you complained about the Stadium’s resident doctor/scientist, leaning against the door frame while Seok-chan walked around, gathering different equipment to help doctor you up. He snorted and walked back to you with his hands full. 

“Can you walk on your own?” He asked. He had helped you walk and get off the jeep after the intense scolding you received from your commander for being so reckless. Your arm had been thrown over his shoulder despite your complaints. 

“Yes, I can walk,” you reassured, letting him lead the way so he wouldn’t see the pain on your face when you moved wrong. 

You arrived at a bench near some stairs and sat down with him kneeling in front of you. He slapped your hands away when you reached for the equipment, wanting to do it yourself, and you huffed. 

You just closed your eyes and leaned back against the walk as he dabbed an alcohol-soaked cloth against the cut on your neck. It stung but you were honestly too tired to show any of your pain other than the slight scrunch of your brows. Next was your cheek, and you heard Seok-chan speak. 

“Thank you. For earlier, when you saved me. I wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for your quick thinking. If only your thinking didn’t result in injuring yourself.”

You scoffed out a laugh, “This is nothing. You should’ve seen me in the third grade when I got hit in the back with a kickball and fell face-first on the floor. There was a whole lot more blood than this.”

“Are you seriously comparing a monster attack to being hit with a kickball?” He questioned, trying to hide the laughs bubbling in his throat. 

“Maybe, maybe not,” you joked. Silence took over again and your thoughts took over your mind. 

I have to tell Eun-yu. She’ll probably kill me for being reckless but at least she’ll know. 

Shit, she’ll totally be so pissed. 

“Would you like to go out with me?” Seok-chan asked suddenly as he finished putting the bandage on your cheek. You froze, your eyes snapping open to look at him. He was looking directly at you with a confidence that seriously impressed you. When you confessed and asked Eun-yu on a date for the first time, you were shaking in your boots. 

“You want to go out with me?” You asked incredulously and he nodded. 

“Yes. I’ve liked you for a while and I think I could treat you well if you were mine. So, would you be interested in going out with me?” 

Your heart melted slightly, but not in a romantic way. It was just such a cute way to announce your feelings to someone and you knew whoever got with him in the future was a lucky person. 

“I’m sorry, Seok-chan. I’m actually-”

“-already in a relationship,” you heard your girlfriend’s voice cut you off from the polite rejection you were going to give him. You turned your neck, wincing slightly as it moved your cut as well, and looked at her. She seemed disheveled and worried. The red bandana she always wore - because of her theories of it being her brother who placed it on her - was wrapped around her upper bicep. Her regularly worn gray ripped jeans covered her legs while a blue shirt - which you were pretty sure was yours - covered the upper half of her body. “So you can fuck off now,” she continued harshly, glaring at Seok-chan from where he sat in front of you. He looked back and forth between the two of you, seeing your ‘she’s right’ look and her intense eyes. 

“Oh, okay. I’m sorry I didn’t realize,” he apologized and you smiled at him as he stood. “If you’d like, you can attend to the rest of her injuries,” he offered sweetly, walking over to hand Eun-yu the medkit. 

Her eyes widened when she was reminded of the injuries you had supposedly gotten while on your trip with the rest of the soldiers. She took the medkit without looking at him and speed-walked to where you sat. When she kneeled down in front of you with her face set in an angry glare, but her eyes showing the worry she held, you smiled. 

“Hi, Angel,” you told her and she scoffed. The next moment, you felt a sharp sting on the cheek unharmed by the monster and your head snapped to the side. You heard Seok-chan gasp and take a step forward to intervene but stopped when her face cupped the cheek she just slapped and crashed your lips into hers. You smiled into the kiss, her hand caressing your cheekbone, dulling the pain that came from that same palm. 

“Hi, Reckless,” she told you once she pulled away, slightly mocking your words and you laughed. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Why the hell would you do something like that?” 

Seok-chan stood awkwardly to the side, not knowing the right procedure to do in this situation, and you decided to do something for him. 

“How about you scold me in our room, how does that sound, Angel?” You lifted a hand to draw your knuckles over her cheek while she decided. Eventually, she gave in, swiftly grabbing your hand and pulling it away from her face so she could use it to assist you in standing up from the bench. She put your arm around her shoulders, wrapping a hand around your waist and grabbing the medkit in the other. You gave an awkward wave to Seok-chan as you walked past him in the direction of your and Eun-yu’s shared room.

When you got to your room, she took your suggestion very literally and started scolding you right away. You were sitting on the bed while she kneeled down in front of you and attended to the sound on your side. You could see her try to hide the blush on her cheeks when you lifted your shirt and you swallowed the laugh that bubbled in your throat, for the sake of her embarrassment. 

Once she’d wiped away all the blood, you could see the cut was much smaller than you thought. The large, black-and-blue bruise forming on your abdomen looked much worse. 

“You’re so fucking stupid, why would you do that for a stupid soldier like him? If there’s anyone you should be a hero for, it should be me,” she scolded, saying the last part under her breath while she wrapped the bandage around your waist and you almost didn’t hear it. 

But you did.

“Angel,” you spoke, putting a halt to her next words of reprimands she had for you. She looked up at you and you could see every emotion she tried to hide from her face. She was done with bandaging you so you reached a hand forward, gently cupping her cheek and pulling her closer. Her hands landed on each side of your hips, dipping into the mattress as she drew closer. When your lips were barely apart, you spoke, “If you really want it that way, you’ll be the only damsel in distress I’ll save from now on,” you promised, rubbing your thumb along her bottom lip and you could hear the tiny way her breath hitched, an action she would deny until her skin rotted off her bones in her casket. 

“I do want that,” she told you, still trying to keep up her tough persona but failing as your fingers caressed the skin of her neck. You nodded, slowly scooting up the bed until you were leaning against the wall and pulling her onto your lap. She seemed hesitant because of your injuries but she couldn’t really protest with the way her breath caught in her throat when your lips skimmed over the pulse point on her neck. “B-but what about your-” she tried but got interrupted by you. 

“It looks worse than it actually is,” you mumbled while mouthing at her neck, giving her little marks so she would be reminded of your presence for the next week. She let out a tiny whimper when you found her soft spot and you grinned. “Besides, I gotta save my damsel. Seems like she’s having trouble breathing correctly,” you teased and she scoffed, lightly hitting your shoulder. 

You made a promise to yourself to be more careful when you went outside. You needed to be around to be Eun-yu’s protector after all. 

[topazy]

Inside, outside

Pairings: 10k x reader, Addy Carver × sister reader

Warnings: Mentions of injury

Chapter: 5.04

During the funeral for all those who had died the day prior, 10k had disappeared, worrying you, Red, and Sun Mei, but after thinking about it, you quickly realized where he would have gone. You walk into the doctor's lab to see 10k people staring at his hand in a glass tank surrounded by blue fluid.

Sun Mei rubs his back. “How are you doing, 10k?”

“How soon can we get out of here?” He asks, deliberately avoiding her question.

“Once you’ve recovered, we can leave and go wherever you want,” you say softly. Since cutting off 10K's hand to save him, you’ve hardly looked him in the eye. You blame yourself for him being in so much physical and mental pain, and 10k blamed himself for Sarge’s death. It didn’t help that you were also keeping a massive secret between the two of you.

“You need to take time to recover,” Red adds. “You don’t want an infection.”

In an unusually snappy tone, he says, “The longer we stay here, the harder it’s going to be to get out.”

It killed you to see him so frustrated.

Sun Mei reaches over to him and takes his arm. “Let me take a look at your arm. See how that cauterization is doing.”

When 10K lies up on the hospital bed and takes your hand in his, you can tell he’s burning up by how sweaty his palm is. Suitably, you move your hands so they're leaning against your stomach. He gives you a small smile before wincing in pain.

“Just focus on me.”

10k nods and does his bed to keep looking at you, but his eyes occasionally drift towards his stump, which had turned black and was leaking. The smell coming from it indicates infection, but Sun Mei tries to not cause him any more upset and lies, “It’s healing beautifully.”

“It’s not.” He gets out of bed and points at his hand. “This is my hand, right?”

“Yeah, Red went back and found it."

“I want you to sew it back on.”

Sun Mei laughs, “It doesn’t work like that.”

You shoot her a look. 10K was being deadly serious; he would have done anything in that moment to have his hand back, but because of a decision you made, he would never have that again. You feel tears starting to pool in your eyes, so you excuse yourself from the room and run into the bathroom down the hallway.

As soon as you lock the bathroom door, you let the tears fall freely. None of it was fair; 10K didn’t deserve to lose a limb, but it was better than him dying.

You had already lost him once; you weren’t going to go through it again.

—

“There’s a film playing tonight that might take your mind off things,” Red says.

10k shrugs. When the brunette offers to make him his favorite meal, he declines it. Sun Mei had already mentioned how little 10K had been sleeping, drinking, and eating since he lost his hand, and if he continued going this way, his body would become weaker, making him more vulnerable to different infections as the wound heals.

You abruptly stop walking, and whatever look is on your face causes him to turn pale and Red to excuse herself. “Tommy, I know you’re hurting, but you need to stop this. It’s one thing to start isolating yourself, but refusing to eat…”

“You don’t need to apologize again,” he says before you have the chance to finish. “I know you only did what you did so you could save my life.”

“I’m not sorry.” You have to fight to keep the tears from falling, not wanting to break down again. “I had to choose between losing you or saving you."

10k wraps his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of your head, and says, “I know, I know.”

You look up at him, holding his gaze. “I love you, Tommy, no matter what, so whatever you’re going through, I want you to tell me. Even if it’s that you hate me, I want to know.”

He lets out a sigh and quietly says, “I can’t sleep because I’m worried about how I’m supposed to protect my family. I never missed a shot; I always got my target, but now... what if a Z gets close to the baby and I don’t make the shot?”

“I promise you, you’ll always make that shot. You’re the most selfless person I know; it’s just one of the many reasons I fell for you, including your badass zombie-killing skills. It just might take some time for you to get used to it.”

10k’s gaze is full of adoration as he leans down to press a soft kiss to your lips. “Thank you for saving me.”

[fancifulplaguerat]

Daniil & Antiocheanism

Welcome to my combination Antiocheanism Daniil Dankovsky brainrot. 

Antiocheanism is a fictional sect described in the zine which comes with Deathconsciousness by Have A Nice Life. The religion is seemingly a response to existential fear, a means to reconcile the knowledge that we all have to die. It provides a very nihilistic answer—there is no hope or meaning in Antiocheanism, whose tenets emphasize that by virtue of being alive, we are all already dead; nor do our deaths matter, and there is not afterlife because God has no care or use for the dead. The central idea of Antiocheanism is that “truth is death, and death is truth,” which I read as that by facing death, one accepts the truth of what it is to be human. There are some quotes from the zine which are distractingly rife for Daniil comparison so I’m now going to go apeshit in a means fit for polite society. 

The first scene I want to bring up is “What Happens When We Die,” during which a boy approaches Antiochus and his followers with a string of cryptic questions (this is the scene I posted screenshots from): 

“All these questions you ask” the child began “are only comments, they dance around the problem with fine words and delicate manners they approach you but you circle your real desire, arms locked at your sides as children circle in our games hands over eyes in giddy enjoyment you do not wish to find that which is obscured you wish to not find it.”

[...] 

Cassius, the doctor who tended to those with sores and lesions and poured into their wounds foul salts grew angry and replied with a harsh voice “We seek Truth only that we seek, and we spend our lives in searching with words we reveal that which is covered we root out that which is false those whose falseness is discovered in the contradictions of their language there are none here who avoid truth”

Any fellow Daniil Enjoyers will probably see the glaring connection here of a doctor professing an obsessive adherence to and pursuit of truth. I also feel that Cassius’ response carries a similar sentiment to Daniil’s notorious “The truth is my shepherd. Whatever happens, I will find answers, and justice will be restored.” Truth is both Cassius and Daniil’s guiding principle, and though I find it a stretch to apply justice to Cassius’ lines, I think there is a common idea here of pursuing truth to find the ‘correct’ and the ‘right;’ “I will find answers, and justice will be restored,” versus “we root out that which is false / those whose falseness is discovered in the contradictions of their language.”  But what truly made this a Category 5 Daniil Dankovsky Moment for me was the preceding passage; what the boy says to anger Cassius. 

The boy accuses Antiochus’ followers of avoiding their real question: “What happens when we die?” I find it interesting how he frames the followers avoidance as a game, like they are playing at being enlightened, but fail to actually confront the truth that they seek. The image of the Antiocheans as children covering their eyes reminds me of Aspity accusing Daniil’s attitude towards death like that of a child covering his eyes. The context differs, and it is almost definitely coincidental, but there are interesting parallels to be drawn here. Like Cassius, Daniil is a supposedly enlightened intellectual who is accused of not properly understanding or recognizing death, i.e. the truth. And again I love the truth framing here because Cassius, who is so dedicated to truth, is avoiding facing the ultimate one he seeks, just as Daniil resists accepting or understanding the game’s proposed truth about death. 

Now I want to turn to “truth is death,” which occurs at the end of Antiochus’ description of what happens after death with yet another Category 5 Daniil Moment: “Because you sought truth / and now you have it. / Death is Truth / and Truth is Death.” Antiochus expands on this later, when he bombards a noblewoman attending one of his sermons with his philosophy to the point that she “tells the truth” in committing suicide. The end of Antiochus’ monologue feels particularly Marble Nest to me: 

“because death is truth - and truth is death - and we move towards that which is true - and move to death - you have the courage to run towards it - to welcome it - to not live in fear of it - to not live in dread of it - always pretending, always lying - saying you don’t see it, that it is not there - that these people are alive - that you are alive - when all you are is dead and a liar - the same as everyone else - why do you not tell the truth? - why don’t you tell the truth?” 

This passage is not 1:1 with The Marble Nest, but Antiochus and Aspity occupy similar roles in both works. They try to convince their respective targets to stop ‘pretending’ by avoiding the reality of death; rather to understand death, but not fear it, for through understanding and lack of fear is ‘proper’ death. Aspity tells Daniil that, “there is fear swelling inside you. And fear won’t help you understand how to die properly.” Daniil needs to understand death, that is the point of his Fever Dream Adventure—Aspity says that Death wants Daniil “to understand why it haunts you, and it won’t take take you in until you do.” Then there is the final dialogue with the Executor where Daniil can agree to die, in which case Death will say, “Good. Finally you understand,” and fuck I still get chills over “Let’s see who you are. Give me your hand.” / “Here it is.” 

I think you can take confronting death in The Marble Nest in many ways, but I personally see it as expanding on ideas from Patho Classic—that dying is not the end, that everything can endure, with the added meta layer that Daniil is a fictional character. Unlike Antiochus’ philosophy of 'we are already dead, so just die,’ The Marble Nest feels more like a narrative that is simultaneously about acceptance and resistance. Neither is framed as a wrong choice—if Daniil chooses to stay alive and replay the day, it seems positive in its own way, again very “Do not go gentle into that good night / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” I still believe what I said before; I don’t find this choice depressing, I think it’s very human, about hope and endurance, how we keep going despite futility. For the purpose of this comparison, about how we keep going despite death waiting for us, and act and find purpose and meaning even if it’s futile, even if it’s just out of pure stubbornness. This is almost directly opposite Antiocheanism, which is ‘we’re going to die, so nothing will matter in the end, and if nothing matters in the end, it doesn’t matter now.’ 

The only choice that is arguably wrong in The Marble Nest is if Daniil agrees to die without understanding. At this, the Executor will deny him and say, “‘Are you ready to die?’ This is what the question was. The wording is important here. You're dying. But you aren't ready. What's the point of such death? You never braved the abyss; you fell limply down its chasm.” I think Daniil dying without understanding would be akin to him merely surrendering to Death, whereas Death wants Daniil to understand why he could not win. 

I have more thoughts but I’d rather this post not get too unruly so. Go listen to Deathconsciousness and give Daniil a tender little kiss on the forehead

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

hiiii idk if you’re taking requests, and feel free to ignore me lol, but i’ve been thinking abt Try Your Best (That's All We Can Do) a lot recently. and like reading it is so perfect and i love it. i was wondering if you were going to add to the story at all. ik it is wrapped up nicely, but i kinda wanna know what happens to them (make sure roman can avoid being murdered and heal), but yeah! thanks for all you write!

I really, really like how I ended that fic, so I don’t think I’m going to do another full chapter, but I’ll do a mini-fic epilogue just for you :)

Roman eventually shares with Virgil and Remus—and Janus, by default, because god knows his two lil gremlins don’t want to keep secrets from their dad if they don’t have to—that he’s been going to a therapist since a few months after Jamie committed suicide. He ascribes a lot of his personal growth to talking things through with them, even though they’re determined to get him to accept some credit on his own.

(Remus may or may not hit Roman in the face with a pillow for the same reasons and the two of them may or may not get into the habit of pillow-fighting whenever they see each other. It’s unclear whether or not this is actually a good thing.)

(It is, don’t worry.)

Roman actually plans to meet up with Virgil for a date right after one of his appointments, and Janus drops him off outside the building. While there, the therapist asks Janus if he’s Roman’s father. He isn’t, and says as much, but he starts to worry about how Roman’s managing to afford this if his therapist can’t even recognize his parents. He confronts Roman about it and Roman says that the school’s guidance counselor actually recommended and they worked out something with insurance that his parents never had to personally approve.

There’s another indecent at school where Janus is called in because Remus got into a fight. When he gets there, he sees Roman sitting outside the principal’s office, holding something to his head again, and Remus glowering at the wall. For a terrible second, he has memories of the same thing happening in middle school, only this time Remus has his arm around Roman’s shoulders and Virgil comes running up a second later.

Jamie’s friend had attacked Roman again, and Remus had tried to stop them. Roman had shoved Remus behind him and been rewarded with a textbook across his temple. The administration had found the three boys like that: one bleeding, still holding back another, the third crying and screaming on the floor.

Roman’s parents never make an appearance.

Janus offers to drive Roman home—and maybe not-so secretly give them a piece of his mind—but Roman pales and makes up something about how that would just leave his car in the school parking lot overnight and he’d have to figure out a way to get to school tomorrow. Janus lets it go, mostly so the poor thing doesn’t freak out even more, but he’s oddly quiet for the rest of the night.

He also turns into a total cuddle monster for the rest of the week, but that’s not that big of a surprise.

No, the surprise comes when Virgil gets a call during one of their weekend afternoons and finds out that Roman has to cancel their date tomorrow because he’s in the hospital.

The call doesn’t even end before Janus is barking at both of them to get in the car.

They’re almost not allowed in, because only family is permitted, but then the orderlies reveal that Roman’s actual family hasn’t showed up at all, didn’t answer the emergency call, and Janus just about shoves his way past them to let Virgil run into Roman’s room. The room is filled with machines and loud beeping and a scared child in an oversized hospital bed, and all Janus can think about is the little boy in his father’s suit, all alone in a graveyard.

The doctor comes in. All three of them completely fail to be subtle at eavesdropping as she tells Roman that his attacker has been taken into custody, and that it’s a good thing his family came so quickly.

Virgil barely stifles a gasp, Remus’s eyes go wide, and Janus’s just watches the most heartbreaking confusion cross Roman’s face until he realizes that the doctor is referring to them.

“…yeah,” Roman mumbles, not meeting any of their eyes, “I guess I am.”

The doctor turns to Janus. “Did they tell you what happened?”

“No, not yet.”

“Your son was hit by a car. Luckily it wasn’t going very fast and his injuries aren’t too severe, but he’ll need to rest and heal. Is there somewhere you can—“

“Can you give us a moment, please?”

The doctor looks at Roman, surprised, then back at Janus. Janus just raises his eyebrow—“He’s the patient, it’s not up to me.”—and the doctor leaves.

“If you say anything about being sorry for being an inconvenience or her assuming we’re your family,” Remus says before Roman can say anything, “I’m gonna hit you with a pillow.”

“Remus,” Janus warns.

Roman winces, holding a hand to his side. “Don’t make me laugh, my ribs are cracked.”

“Good thing Re’s not funny, then.”

“Boys.”

Roman does, in fact, try and apologize for everything, but Janus stops him with a hand on his uninjured shoulder.

“You’re hurting,” he says softly, referring to far more than just the car accident, “let us help you, please.”

When the doctor comes back, the first thing they do is change Roman’s emergency contact to Janus.

[maes-flowers]

We’ll be okay [3] (Marc Spector/ slight!Steven Grant x Reader)

Summary: After Marc Spector leaves your life to focus on his own goals, what happens when he comes back into your life at full speed after years of being apart?

Word Count: 3,649

Warnings: Violence and slight angst 

Authors note: Thank god for moonknight for getting me out of my writing slump lol If you enjoy this part and would like to be added to the taglist comment below!

You had been following the car Steven was being held in on foot for the last ten minutes after getting off your Vespa to avoid being spotted. Your hood on your jacket was pulled far over your face as you maneuvered from alleyway to alleyway. Your heart hammered in your chest, anxiety running through your veins as you gripped the gun tightly in your clammy hands.

“Come on, Y/n” you whispered to yourself. “Marc has done this a hundred times. If he can do it then you can too.” which was a stupid attempt to hype yourself up, Marc was a trained veteran and continued to refine his skills after he was discharged. You, on the other hand, were a doctor who spent more time with books than people, and the only training you had was a twice-a-week self-defense class you took after an attempted assault on you during an expedition in Greece two years ago. But even that didn't help if a swarm of men came on you at the same time. You continued on though, ignoring the slight ache in your knees from crouching as you continued to push forward to the next alleyway right behind the car Steven was in. You winced when a man with a cane came to the car and opened the door, making Steven fall to the ground on his shoulder.

“I'm sorry for the wait, we just need the chance to better understand your situation.” the man kneeled down to Stevens's level, unlocking the cuffs that bound his hands to his back. Steven slowly stood up with the help of the man with a cane who helped him steady as he stood up straight.

“No wonder your scales are unbalanced, it must be difficult having all these voices inside one head.” The man dusted the dirt from Stevens's jacket. “Steven Grant, Marc Spector, Khonsu.” Your brows knitted tighter at Marc's Name, how could they have known of his system from a duffle bag? And Why is the god Khonshu being brought up?

“I'm curious, do you think Khonsu chose you as his Avatar because your mind would be so easy to break or because it was already broken?” the man asked, Steven just shook his head weakly.

“No I'm not broken, just need some help maybe.” You shook your head at Steven's words, Steven sounded so exhausted and lost and you were hoping it wasn't due to Marc pushing the body they shared physically and emotionally beyond its ability.  You watched as Steven started to hyperventilate, his gaze focused on the roof above him, you followed the line of sight only to see nothing.

“Do you see him? Do you see him right now?” the man asked and Steven nodded.

“That's a privilege I no longer have. What is he saying? Is he telling you to kill me?”

Steven nodded.

“Yeah,” he whispered, his voice small and weak. You found it hard to process such vulnerability coming from Marc's body.

“Before you get excited and put on the cape, I'd love to take this opportunity to show you around.” 

A large gust of wind blew through the street making signs, and the plastic window covers, making garbage cans fall down and skitter across the street. You watched as the two men walked away, you stood up to go after him but froze when you felt something watching you. You peered around the corner and saw no one around, the rest of the group following the man and Steven but you felt the hairs on your arms stand up and more wind came at you, making your hair whip around your face. You shook your head before you stood up and followed the crowd to the building. Each person who walked past the door greeted the guard with a simple phrase.

“Praise Ammit.” 

You took a beeline towards the side of the building, some scaffolding on the side that led up to an open window. You fixed the bag on your shoulder before beginning to climb to the window. Your clammy hands made it hard to grip the metal, you slipped and grunted as your back slammed into the metal. You winced in pain as you reached up and grabbed the bar again. You scrambled up the next few feet and crawled headfirst into the window. You sat there for a few seconds, catching your breath as the adrenaline pumped fast through your blood.

“I need to work on my upper body strength, Jesus Christ.” you wheezed out as you stood up. Heading down the hallway that led to a balcony looking above a large area where people were cooking, watching movies, and tending to an indoor guardian. You scanned the room until your eyes landed on Steven and the man who goes by the name Authur assuming from the people who keep coming up to greet him. You couldn't hear a lot of their conversation since you were up so high, but as you got closer down the stairs you could hear Authur speak about being a formar avatar to the god Khonshu and explaining that Ammit who was the goddess of divine retribution must be resurrected.

You didn't really believe what you were hearing, these gods were myths. Stories told from generation to generation to explain how the world worked when they didn't have the science to show them how things came to be. But the more you thought of it, the less crazy it seemed to be. The last decade the world has been surround by aliens and genocide from the blip before it was reversed and if Thor, a norse god be real how come Egytion gods couldnt? 

“Ammit will light the path to good by eradicating the choice of evil,” Authur said, taking a bite of his food. “Which brings us to the scarab.” as if that was the queue for everyone to stand up and start to surround Steven. You reached your hand into your pocket and gripped the scarab tightly as you watched.

“That scarab functions as a compass that leads us to Ammits tomb, she's out there waiting and longing to be freed. The cruel masses deserve to face her judgment and in the wake of their screams, evil will be eradicated.” Arthur explained. You ignored the slight drop in your gut as you processed what he said. Millions dead for a possibility they might do something evil? All this death for something a person might not even do? It was sick and wrong.

“So, the scarab.” Arthur repeated.

“Oh, uh I don't have it.” Steven said.

“No?” the author hummed in thought. “Maybe you know someone who does? Maybe Marc?” You stilled at that question, did he know you were here? You didn't think so, you had avoided him at all costs when you arrived here. 

“No I don't.” Steven finally responded but Aurhur looked unconvinced.

“Marc, what has Khonshu promised you? That this is your last mission? Then you'll be free?”  Arthur paused. “Trust me when I tell you khonshu is a liar.”

“I'm sorry,” Steven interrupted. “If ammit judges people pre-evil, then does that mean she's judging an innocent person? I mean a thought can be evil, can it? Would she kill a child for something they might do in thirty years?”

“Yknow,” Arthur said, “Sometimes, the cure is a little taste of the disease. The difference between medicine and poison sometimes is the dosage. Like amputation, horrific and grotesque but if the limb is dying it's needed for the larger health of a person.” you had to cover your mouth at the disgusting comparison to avoid gagging.

“A child is not a diseased limb though,” Steven said. “I'm sorry, is that what you support? Killing children?”

Arthur grabbed his cane and helped up to steven. “Do you know what this is?” he asked.

Steven nodded his head. “Yup it's a cane.”

“No,” Arthur said as he stood up, holding it in front of Steven's face. “This was Ammits gift to her first Avatar, it contained in it just a sliver of her power.”

Steven stood up from his spot and began to back up.

“I don't want to use it.” Arthur said.

“Then don't.” Steven shrugged.

“I need to know Steven, where is the scarab? Arthur began to raise the cane, and you could see a purple hue glowing from it. You began to climb down the stairs, hopefully you can be enough of a distraction for Marc to front and get you two out of this mess.

“Where is the Scarab!” 

You jumped down the last few steps and walked forward ignoring the eyes of a couple of followers as you pulled down your hood and held up the scarab. 

“I have it.” you announced, your arm held high as everyone turned to you. You slowly put your arm down and stepped closer to Steven.

“You couldn't possibly understand the value of what you're holding, let me have it and keep it safe.” Arthur demanded, you scoffed.

“I do understand the value of what I'm holding, you jackass. That's exactly why I have to keep this from you.” You glared at him as you stepped in front of Steven and handed him the scarab, you hoped deep down that Marc would keep it safe even if he wasn't conscious right now.

“So be it.” Arthur sighed 

“Let's go, let's go!” you rushed Steven forward as you pulled the gun out and flipped off the safety, a man grabbed your arm and yanked you back but you turned quickly and smacked the butt of the gun right between his eyes. He dropped your arm as you sprinted for the stairs. Aiming the gun up, you fired a shot to make everyone jump back at the warning shot as you turned around. Steven was right behind you when another man came at you. Jamming your foot into the soft side of his knee to make him bend before you shoved your hands on his chest pushing  him off the railing of the stairs.

“That was awesome,” Steven said in awe.

Arthur raised his cane high, purple light swirling from the ground before he rammed it into the ground. The power of it makes you stumble and lose balance but Steven holds you up as you continue to run into an empty storage room. You rushed in and grabbed one side of the big door while Steven pushed the other.

“Bolt the door!” you rushed as you looked for a way out.

“Oh my god, I'm going to die in an evil magician's man cave.” Steven hyperventilated. You turned around and saw Steven clutching his chest.

“Hey, hey” You said putting a hand over his chest, you squeezed gently. You're free hand cupping his cheek to make him look down at you.

“I know this is scary, but we need a way out of here. Is there any way you can let Marc have control?” The pounding on the door made you jump but you kept your eyes on him.

“Steven?” you asked but he just shook his head frantically, covering his face.

“No. I can't! Stop both of you!” Steven begged desperately, the pounding on the door grew louder and louder.

“Okay! We'll find another way then, yeah?” you comforted, dragging him to a ladder on the wall. As you were climbing it the door busted open.

“Jackal, jackal, Jackal!” Steven shouted and pointed at you but saw nothing there.

“What Jackal!?” you shouted, but right after you spoke Steven flew in the air and crashed through the large window.

“Steven!?” 

You cursed as you put the gun in the waist of your jeans and slid your sleeves over your hands to slide down the ladder. Your shoes slammed hard on the ground as you stumbled around looking for Steven. You flinched hard when the wooden doors broke open and Steven came flying out, landing in front of a car. As he used the car to get his balance his hand crushed the metal as it detached from the rest of the car. Your eyes widened in shock when Steven was thrown onto a car by an unknown force, you ran up to help him but he held his hand back.

“Stay away from me!?

“Wait-” you yelped when you got shoved back by whatever was attacking Steven.  Landing on your backside you scrambled back until you back hit the brick wall. You watched in horror as Steven was lifted by his throat struggling to get air as he squirmed to get out of its grip. You grabbed a half empty bottle of scotch on the ground and got up. You grunted as you slammed the glass on its head. The amber liquid allowing you to see the face of a monster. It grabbed both you and Steven before slamming you into the brick wall, your head smacking the rock as Steven smashed into the car's window. You hissed in pain when you stood up but grabbed the broken glass and stabbed it. All it did was yank it out before grabbing you by your feet, you screamed as you struggled against its grip as you hung upside down. You watched Steven grab a wheel hub to a tire and smack it in its head, allowing you to kick its arm and fall to the ground while Steven got back handed.

“Get away from her you!” Steven stood up. “Yeah I see you, you pug-ugly coyote! You're on the wrong end mate. You're in my yard now!” he taunted, ripping off his jacket and rolling up his shirt sleeves.

He sang a little tune as you watched in confusion but cheered when he threw a hard enough punch the jackal landed on a car.

“Y/n ,did you see that!?” Steven exclaimed.

You were about to answer but Steven got thrown into the street, rolling until he came to a stop. Standing up he kept fighting as he got slammed into the bus repeatedly before a car ran into the both of them. You gasped as the car got crushed and Steven went flying backwards. Steven crawled up to the bus window and stared at it, almost as if he was talking to it.

“All right, do it. Take control for now.” Steven said. You jogged over to meet him but stopped when his head snapped back, and the suit he was wearing transformed into a mummified costume, a cowl and a hood covering his face as a cape flowed behind him. You gulped at the sight of him, because you could see from the mere change in demeanor that this wasn't Steven anymore.

Marc walked to the beast grabbing two blades from his chest, you looked at him for a moment before pointing at it.

“Get it out of here!” You yelled. Marc went off immediately spriting at inhuman speed, jumping on a car and leaping onto the side of the building leading the jackal away. You avoided all the stares you were getting before you took off in the same direction Marc did.

As you sprinted down the roads, you followed the nose of the jackals' loud pants and the occasional view of Marc leaping from building to building before you saw him jump down in front of a church. You walked slowly, peering around the building as you watched Marc talk to something, his head tilted back allowing you to see the expanse of his neck, his curls plastered to his forehead with sweat, and his chest rising and falling rapidly. You waited until he stopped speaking, he kicked a chair over in as he yelled in frustration.

“Marc?” You called out, you watched as he sitfend before he turned around. Once his eyes met yours, you started to feel tears prick at your eyes. This was different from seeing Steven, you knew Marc. you've held Marc's hand, wiped away his tears, cleaned his wounds, got drunk with him, and laughed until you cried with Marc Spector not Steven Grant. The stress about his well being over the last three months and just tonight alone hit you like a train as you ran over to Marc, slamming into him making him grunt in surprise as you held onto him. After he realized what was happening he wrapped his arm around you, gripping your shoulder tightly. 

“What the hell are you doing here, Y/n?” Marc asked, his tone laced with annoyance but deep in it you heard relief. As if he has needed this reunion now more than ever, even though he didn't fully realize himself yet. Although you were happy he was okay and with you the tears of relief didn't last long until it turned into anger. You pulled away from him and shoved him lightly in the chest not moving him at all but he still looked surprised.

“I could fucking kill you, Marc!” you cried. “I thought we could be honest with each other no matter what, but all you did was leave me in the dust as you let me think you were dead! Do you know how messed up that is? Letting me think the only person I had left in my life was gone?” You wept, eyes burning from your tears as you stared at Marc, whose face was emotionless besides a deep frown.

“I want to know everything,” you said, crossing your arms. “Everything that you've kept from me. The foreign money, the guns, the scarab to Ammits tomb, and you being able to turn into a mummy. At the very least I deserve to know that.” you demanded, Marc laughed bitterly.

“You sure you want to know?”

“Yes, you jerk.”

Marc clenched his jaw and put his hands on his hips, as he sighed in defeat.

“I serve Khonshu, I'm his avatar.”

“Khonshu, as in vengeance seeking and protector of travelers of the night, Egyptian god of the moon Khonshu? You clarified. Marc nodded in agreement.

“I-we,” Marc corrected himself, “Protect the vulnerable and deliver Khonshu justice to those who hurt them.” You sighed and sat down on the ledge of the statue.

“Yknow, if I didn't see a crazy ass old man send an invisible monster after us I don't think I would have believed you.” you laughed triedly, hanging your head between your knees. “That man wants the scarab to release Ammit?”

Marc only nodded.

“Well,” you sighed. “At least we have the scrab instead of him.”

“About that,” Marc trailed off and you looked up, the look on his face made you frown.

“No… Marc, you lost the scarab?” you said in disbelief, he just avoided your gaze.

You stood up and grunted in pain, Marc immediately came to you, his hand settling on your waist as you tried to level your breathing to go back to normal.

“What happened? Are you hurt?” he asked, his eyes scanning your for injuries but you shook your head.

“The Jackal smacked my back pretty good, all the adrenaline is going away so i'm just achey.” you shook Marc off as you sighed.

“When do we go after Arthur and the scarab?”

Marc looked at you like you were the dumbest person in the world when you said that. His whole demeanor changed as his eyes bore into you. You resisted the urge to squirm the intense gaze, instead keeping your eyes trained on his with your head high.

“You're not coming with me, this is not your fight.” Marc said pointing a finger at you. “You can go back to Stevens apartment until you can find a flight back home.”

“No.” You said simply.

“No?” Marc laughed incredulously.

“No.” you practically growled. “I have been studying Archaeology as well as Egyptology and more for over a decade. I can help Marc! I've been there on expeditions. I know my way around and I have contacts there that could help if needed.” you stubbornly stood your ground.

“And what would you do If I just left without you knowing? Huh?” 

“Then I'd still follow you,” you said, and Marc furrowed his brows in confusion. “I found you once already, I'm not afraid to do it again.” you shrugged, as if it was the easiest  thing in the world but it infact costed you 200 dollars to hire a person to track his phone and to download the program to keep tracking him, but Marc didn't need to know that. “It doesn't take much to know you're going to Cairo, most ancient temples for gods are there and then there's the pyramids on the outskirts. If any godly tomfoolery is going to happen it's gonna happen there.”

“I'm not gonna let you put yourself at risk for a problem that has nothing to do with you-” Marc started but you interrupted him.

“This is not just about you,” you said softly. “This is about millions of people who could have a choice being taken away from them at the cost of their own lifes. Including our own lives.” you pulled the picture you found in Marc's bag out from your wallet and handed it to him. His face grew soft as he looked at the photo.  “And I just got you back so I'm not letting some old white man and some crocodile ruin that.”

“I missed you, I hope you know that.” Marc whispered, his voice vulnerable and full of emotion you couldn't really name.

“I missed you too, so much” you admitted. “Now come on, we got a flight to catch.”

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[elia-de-silentio]

Chapter 8: Kill a Man and Die Thee Too

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

We pick up roght from where we had left: Atsushi facing the little girl. She introduces herself as Kyouka, lists her likes and dislikes, and declares that she has killed thirty-five people up to that point. She proceeds to thoroughly trash Atsushi.

Meanwhile, Yosano talks philosophy with the mafia bomber, who muses on the essence of 'death'. He answers by locking her with a bunch of bombs and leaving her to die.

Back to Atsushi, who takes a moment of reprieve by hiding, and observing the scared passengers, he thinks that if he will be able to 'prove' himself by saving them, he will demonstrate that he has a right to live, contrarily to what the orphanage headmaster told him. So, he returns to the fight, summoning the strenght and speed of the tiger.

Kaiji returns to see if Yosano is properly cooked, and he gets decked in the face as an answer. Yosano reveals how she survived by explaining her Ability: a healing power that allows her to cure any wound, but only activates when the vict ... the patient is near death.

She promptly tortures informations about the bomb out of Kaiji by this very method, and communicates them to an Atsushi who has just 1) defeated Kyouka and 2) realized that the girl looks so unfeeling and prompted her to express herself more. The bomb is activated at a distance, and Atsushi realizes that this is true for the Ability of the girl, too, that obeyed the voice from the phone instead of orders from Kyouka. The voice now orders her immolation in the bombing, but she rebels, jumping out of the train to avoid exploding onboard. Atsushi jumps after her, and manages to get the explosive off her and protect her from the impact.

The voice is revealed as Akutagawa's, who nows closes transmissions and comments on the event to a chained-up Dazai.

NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES

During the fight between Yosano and Kaiji, we (and the latter) are baited into thinking that Yosano is dead, because she's half dangling from the window and we don't see her face. Then she springs into action.

In the last page, there is a cliffhanger of Dazai in the mafia's clutches: he says nothing, and we have no clue on what is going to happen to him.

CHARACTERS

Yosano: in the first chapter, she was introduced as a generic 'hot sadistic lady'; here, we get to see more of her depths in her conversation with Kaiji. When he muses a preposterous reflection on death which he wants to investigate by killing people, Yosano bluntly answers that death is the loss of life, despite a doctor's efforts. Here it becomes clear that she values life, and what she does to preserve it, very much. Her hurting people is actually a necessity to save them, not something she does for the fun of it; the questions stays why acting like she enjoys it, but this will have an answer in another chapter.

Atsushi: here he shows himself as very shaped and controlled by the environment he grew up in. The headmaster's abuse instilled in him the idea that he was worthless unless he was 'useful', and he sees saving lives as a mean to prove that he is worth something, that he is worth to keep on living. Once again, he is a fascinating mix of selfless and selfish: he risks his life to protect a bunch of strangers, putting himself in the line of fire despite having had a taste of how dangerous Demon Snow can be; but he also is saving those lives as a way to prove that he himself is important.

Kaiji: he tries very deep to be profound about death, noticing that the medical conditions that cause it can be easily reversed in a lab, so why is death so final? He wants to find it out by bombing things. As I said, he tries to be deep, and is very arrogant about it (he is very condescending to Yosano until he realizes who she is) and gets promptly trashed by the superior philosopher as a result.

Kyouka: the mysterious little girl from the previous chapter finally receives a name. And the 'mystery aura' takes some heavy hits: it's revealed that her Abilityis controlled by someone else through a phone, and the girl that seemed so terrifying is actually unable to even control what happens with her own powers. She still takes the responsibility of the people killed by the Ability, but she's far from remorseless: a tiny hint of sympathy from Atsushi is enough to prompt her to make it known that she doesb't want to kill anymore, and tries to off herself to save the people on the train.

Akutagawa: a new side to his ferocity is revealed: he was quite willing to use a little girl as a 'pawn' to further his plans, forcong her to become a killer and then pushing her to her death.

THEMES

The 'importance of life' makes its great return in both fights. With Yosano and Kaiji, it is discussed indirectly, through its cessation: Kaiji focus on 'death' in itself, Yosano instead focuses on life and the fundamental importance of it, to the point of defining death as simply its cessation. She has seen much more death than Kaiji has, and still, her focus stays firmly on life.

With Atsushi, the value of life is put into discussion and seen as depending on other factors; in this case, the 'usefulness' of the person. How much a person can be useful to a child abuser is no great parametre for the importance of lufe, but go tell this to the abused child: Atsushi, while hating the Headmaster, still embraces his worldview, trying to prove not that his life is essentially important, but that he is worthy of it.

SYMBOLISM

• The tiger: once again, Atsushi's Ability comes to represent his will to live and self-affirm. Although it is through wanting to defend other people, his core motivation here is wanting to prove himself as worthy of living, and this gives him better access to the tiger's strenght and speed.

• Demon snow: Kyouka's Ability is powerful, deadly, and controlled by someone else. A good representation of the state of Kyouka herself: a kid who is controlled by a large organization of stronger people, using her and forcing her to do something she doesn't want to.

REFERENCES

• Kyouka Izumi comes from the pseudonym of a male writer, Kyotaro Izumi (1873 - 1939). Active in the prewar period, he is known for the richness of his prose and for the reoccurrence of supernatural themes in his writing.

• Demon Snow comes from Izumi's play Demon Pond, in which the character Shirayuki (...'snow white') is offered as a human sacrifice to a demon pond of which she becomes the princess instead, but with a clause of being unable to leave it, lest the village be submerged by floodwaters.

Thank you for reading!

[genevievemd]

Long Story Short (1/4)

Chapter One: We Were Happy

Book: Open Heart Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Genevieve McClure), mentions of F!MC (Genevieve McClure) x M!OC (Patrick Bailey Word Count: 1461 Rating: G Category: Fluff, Ethan POV, Mini Series Trope(s): and an ex came back in the picture, and they were in a supply closet

Summary: ~Series: The four times Ethan met Genevieve’s exes. (In chronological order) ~ Chapter: Ethan is struck with jealousy when he sees the woman he desires with someone, he thinks, is new. Aka Ethan meets Patrick. (Set during Gen’s second year) 

Warnings: none

A/N: What’s up party people? We’re back with a mini series. I was going to wait until TYB was completely over but inspiration for this chapter struck and so here we are. As with most things, this takes place in Saraland, because what is canon at this point. Also, every chapter is named after the Taylor Swift song Gen would associate with each ex, so feel free to listen while you read. Enjoy the pining in this chapter from doctor grumpy. 

It’s most likely obvious to anyone that he’s staring at her, face twisted in annoyance or curiosity. Or both. 

Taking slow deep breaths as he watches a certain blonde resident laugh, and touch, and talk with a tall dark haired man. Someone she clearly knows well. 

A new boyfriend, perhaps. And old flame. 

Whatever the case, it’s causing Ethan’s blood to boil, his face flash with jealously. A jealously he has no right to. 

All they’ve done is kiss two and a half weeks ago, and again during their Mass Kenmore heist. Before that they were in a reset, and they have yet to discuss the earth shattering kisses. So, it wouldn’t be implausible that Genevieve potentially has a boyfriend now. And completely within her rights. 

Because Ethan is still being a damn fool and avoiding what is most likely an easy conversation. Instead, he’s standing at the nurse’s station, watching the object of his every desire talk flirtatiously with a man. 

“That’s Patrick.” Dr. Trinh appears at his side, handing the nurse a chart, knowing smirk on her face. 

“Pardon?” He looks away from Gen quickly, eyes back on the chart he was supposed to be reading. 

“You know, Patrick.” Sienna whispers the man’s name, as if to remind him of a fact he should know. 

She tilts her head with curiosity when he still looks puzzled, lowering her voice even more. “Wait, you guys haven’t had the exes talk?” 

“Why on Earth would I discuss my subordinate’s dating life, Dr. Trinh?” 

“Cause you totally like each other.” Sienna shrugs, taking a new chart from Nurse Sarah. “Well, either way, that’s her ex boyfriend, Patrick. They dated in high school for two years and are still good friends. According to Mrs. McClure, everyone wanted them to get married one day.” 

“Hm.” The information makes his stomach drop and his chest feel like it’s caving in. 

Which only infuriates him more. He shouldn’t be thinking this way, whether they’ve kissed recently or not. Genevieve was supposed to be off limits. 

“Go introduce yourself.” Sienna looks up at him, smirking. “I bet he already knows about you.” She walks away without a second glance, leaving him once again staring brazenly at Gen. 

He watches her laugh again. The pretty sound echoing down the hall, and that’s all it takes for him to decide he’s had enough. He closes to file in his hand, stalking up to Gen and Patrick, heartbeat loud in his ears. 

This may be the stupidest, more irrational thing he’s ever done, but Ethan can’t endure another second of whatever is happening at the end of the hall. 

“You’ve never changed, Genny.” The boy pits his arm on her shoulder, the nickname Ethan knows she hates leaving his mouth with ease. 

“Dr. McClure, the hallways are for walking not socializing.” 

His aggressive tone makes Gen turn in his direction, eyes wide with shock. And something else. 

Amusement, it would seem. If the slight upturn of her lips is any indication. 

“Hi, Dr. Ramsey.” She extracts herself from Patrick’s hold, still smirking. “I was just catching up with an old friend between rounds.” 

“And the hallways is the best place for that?” 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Ramsey. Genny’s talked a lot about you.” Patrick offers his hand in greeting. 

At least he has manners, which is more than Ethan can say for the interns. And some of the residents. 

“Has she?” He shakes his hand, his stomach swooping involuntarily at the thought of her discussing him with an ex. 

“Oh yeah. She’s been obsessed with you for years.” 

“Patrick!” Gen hits her friend’s arm, cheeks turning the most endearing shade of pink. “Shouldn’t you get back on the road. If I keep you here any longer your mom is gonna file a missing person’s report.” 

“You’re right.” Patrick smiles, pulling Gen into a hug. “It was great to see you. Next time you’re in D.C. hit me up.” 

“Will do.” She lets him go, waving as he walks to the elevators. 

“So,” Ethan clears his throat, pulling at the lapels of his white coat. “Patrick seems nice.” 

“He is.” She tilts her head, eyeing him curiously. “Si told you about him didn’t she? I saw you at the nurse’s station.” 

“She merely informed me of the nature of your relationship with the man you loitering the halls with.” 

“Loitering?” She has the audacity to smirk at him, eye brow raised. “Are you jealous, Dr. Ramsey?” 

“I’m not jealous, Genevieve. I’m… I'm not entirely sure what I’m feeling, if I’m being honest. Although, I do know that I don’t enjoy seeing you laugh so intimately with someone else.” 

“Hey,” The amusement leaves her face in an instant, replaced with something akin to patience. A gentle hand dragging down his until it reaches his hand. 

Her fingers lace with his before wordlessly tugging him towards a supply closet. He should stop them from entering the dark room. It was neither the time nor place, but Ethan finds himself unable to utter a single word. 

Instead, he lets her drag him into the closet and lock the door behind them. 

“Why are we in a closet, G?” 

“Because I didn’t want to finish what I was going to say in full view of the hospital. I know how much you hate gossip about us.” She smiles again, green eyes looking up at him reassuringly. “Patrick is my ex, yes, but now he’s nothing more than my very good friend who works for a medical device company in D.C. And…” 

She takes his hand again, squeezing gently. “I don’t know how much Sienna told you, but he and I will never be together romantically again. That fizzled out when we were 16. He and I aren’t endgame.” 

“Endgame?” 

“You know, like, soulmates.” 

“Right.” 

Gen steps closer, and he can feel his heartrate increase. The smell of her perfume filling his lungs as if it’s some kind of toxin made to lower his defenses. Though she never needed help with that. Unfortunately for him, all she needs to do is smile at him and Ethan is a blubbering fool. 

“I know we haven’t talk about the kiss at your apartment, or the one at Kenmore yesterday, but I’m not with anyone, Ethan, and I don’t plan to be. The only person I want to be with, is you.” 

Her confession takes him by surprise, though it shouldn’t. She’s never been shy about where her feeling for him lie. Something he envies – her freedom to feel however she wants without fear. 

There are no walls around her heart. No fortress he has to climb over, unlike her. 

“I know you need more time, Ethan, and I’m willing to wait. For however long you need.” Gen leans up on her tiptoes, lips against his cheek with such delicacy. 

As if he’s glass and she’s afraid she’ll shatter him if she presses too hard. 

After a few seconds, she steps away, squeezing his hand before removing herself completely from his space. 

Maybe he doesn’t need more time. Maybe the jealousy and insecurity he felt watching her with Patrick was a sign he was ready;. That they were in a place to finally see what had been blossoming between them for the past year. 

“Genevieve,” Ethan reaches for hand, pulling her back to him. He takes ahold of her face with the same delicacy she’d just kissed him with, smiling softly. “I don’t need time. Come over tomorrow night. I’ll cook for you and we can talk.” 

“Okay.” 

He leans in to kiss her, relish in the touch and taste of her before they leave the sanctuary of the closet. But they’re halted by the screeching of their pagers. 

“Damn it.” Ethan pulls away with a frustrated sigh, taking the offending piece of tech out of his pocket. “The senator is on his way. We should get to the office.” 

“Promise to finish the moment we were totally just having tomorrow night?” 

“I promise, Genny.” 

“I like G better. I mean, you can call me Genny, if you want, I’ll allow it. But,” She reaches up to touch his cheek, thumb stroking gently against his stubble. “I like it when you call me G, cause no one has ever called me that before. It feels more special.” 

“Noted. G it is. Come on.” He leads her to the door, propping it open to make sure the coast is clear before opening it completely. 

As they walk back to the office, he waits for regret to sink in. For his mind to come up with an excuse to cancel they plans they made. But it never comes. 

The only thing he feels is hope.

A/N: You know what actually happens tomorrow night? Gen almost dying. 

Next up is Satan, aka Ryan Ozwell. That will be fun, you’ll get protective Ethan. 

Hope you liked this first chapter! And a giant thank you to @jamespotterthefirst​ for letting me hop on the exes train with her. ILY Bree

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@choicesficwriterscreations​ @openheartfanfics​

[theunstuffedpepper]

Is anyone else tired of this heat wave?! It’s been HOT here, as I’m sure it’s been most everywhere else, too. That means lots of early morning outings and park trips to avoid being out during the hottest part of the day and lots of kiddy pool afternoons at home. Homemade apple juice popsicles have also been a big hit.

Pep has developed a deep love for trains over the past month or two and he constantly pumps his tiny arm up and down going “mmm mmm!” to signal “choo choo!” to us.. as in, please put on YouTube videos of trains, my people. So we’ve been at least watching less cocomelon, to my great relief. When we take him to the local parks, pep often gets to see the trains in real life and he gets such pure joy out of it. So — we decided one day last week to take him on his first train ride! A quick 15 minute trip to a nearby town and back, and he loved it so much. It was a juggling act getting out of the house with both boys but we did well! When this heat breaks, we need to get out as a family more often.

Pip is doing great and has actually fallen into a pretty predictable sleeping schedule (!) which still seems too good to be true to me sometimes because we struggled so much for so long with pep’s sleep. He usually has his last big meal (which I’ve dubbed ‘ultrafeast’, channeling our best Kevin Malone vibes) around 730-8pm and it’s lights out by 830. He then sleeps till about 1am when he wakes up to eat. He goes back down till about 5, when he wakes again, and he may or may not go back down again after that. I’m still the one getting up with him 100% at night which means I’m tired, but it’s getting better. Slowly.

Nursing is going pretty well all things considered and I’m now happily supplementing a few bottles of formula a day. It’s what works for us. My biggest complaint: I cannot get this baby to stay awake while nursing. He gets so cozy and passes out so quickly. A friend told me oh, just rub his head and blow in his face! Oh, I am. I am.

How am I doing? Not too bad, really. I worked out for the first time in a long time the other day! Did a 30 minute fitness marshall workout. I really need to get serious about weight loss again. I hoped pep would be super into dancing around the living room with me but his interest faded after a minute or two and then he just got annoyed I wasn’t paying attention to him. Typical. 😂 I have my postpartum doctor appointment this coming week so fingers crossed I’m all good to go. I think I’m healing alright, but definitely not totally healed just yet.

I keep wondering whether therapy is really benefitting me. I’m just not sure. Some days I feel better afterward, but I don’t seem to get a ton of feedback from my therapist — it’s kinda just one way. Who knows. I feel like I should be getting more from her. Like, analyze me, woman! Fix me! Tell me how to Be Better!

On that note, I just started reading “How to be Perfect - The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question” by Mike Schur (of The Office, Parks and Rec, The Good Place) and it is FANTASTIC. Highly recommend if you’re looking to learn about ethics in a funny, witty, relatable kinda way.

As far as watching goes, I started rewatching Parenthood (big heart eyes) and B and I are currently halfway through season 4 of Stranger Things. Shit, does that get dark. Right?? Not sure how much I love it if I’m being honest. Obviously I’m also watching Bachelorette. How do we feel about two bachelorettes this season? Jury is out on that one, but I love the mindless trashy show anyway.

That’s all for now; it’s 1am and I’ve got a baby who is hopefully about to let me go back to bed. Love to you, friends!

[dendro-bunny]

Normal pt. 4

Sakusa x FEM!reader

Genre: angst to fluff, ex-best friends to lovers(?), Slow burn

Synopsis:Life has a strange way of being people together and apart. For you and Sakusa it's a rollercoaster of leaving each other and coming back together. Can the two of you mend your broken friendship and go back to normal... Whatever normal is.

Warnings: depictions of serious injuries, emotional and psychological damage, ignoring of one's own health. (Probably missed a bit but the general gist)

(a/n): oof lost motivation for this series but imma finish it I swear, i just need... To not... ???

"Is anyone here for (L/n) (Y/n)?" The male nurse's voice rings in Sakusa's ear. The moment he hears your name he jumps up and races towards the man. Aswell as your parents.

"We are! The both-" your mom turns to Sakusa. He was always well mannered, and a handsome young man. However the red puffy eyes and pale face makes her pity him. "The three of us are here to see her, We are her parents and this is her friend."

"well it's nice to meet you all, I'm nurse Kūujo, You're daughter is alive, though we had to do emergency surgery. She broke the bone in her left arm and righ hip, and the worst of them was her rib cage, a few were damaged but not broken but one was dangerously close to puncturing her left lung." He continued with a remorseful look on his face.

Sakusa felt as if something punctured his lungs. Why must all the bad things happen to the people he cares the most about. When he looks over your mother is stunned, her hand over her mouth tears threatening to fall.

"I-is she gonna be ok?" You step father asks, his hands on both Sakusa and your mother's back. It's oddly comforting, nothing like Sakusa felt before.

"Yes, doing any activity that requires a lot of strenuous work should be brought down to a minimum till a week or two after her casts comes off. Also avoid bright lighting or harsh movements as she had suffered light brain trauma. But she will make a full recovery and will be required to take certain pain meds, aswell as bi-weekly check ups." He nods looking down at his sheet flipping through notes the doctors left.

"when can we see her?" Sakusa's voice came out small and quieter than normal. He couldn't stop imagine the bruises that may litter your body, or the white awkward cast on your arm. The scene of your body hitting the ground, playe over and over again in his mind. Wishing it was him, wishing he was the one who's blood eas rushing from their body, barely able to breathe, he wished all the pain you had to endure went to him instead. But that wasn't possible.

"Right now she is resting, we will allow you to see her when she wakes up. However during the procedure she did come too just enough to ask if someone named Sakaka(?) Was here with her." Sakusa and your parents just look at each other.

Your mom starts chuckle. "Sakaka?"

"Well i could be wrong it was hard to hear with she was mumbling." He starts to chuckle softly.

Sakusa deadpans at the two trying not to laugh. But he sighs and looks past them. There was the corridor that lead to the E.R. The same one where some people enter and are never seen again. Sakusa's blood runs cold the more he thinks about it. Never seeing you again, and not because of his own stupidity and you just ignoring him. No because of his own incompetence and not being able to keep you safe.

"is it ok if we stay here till she does?" Your step father asks.

"Yes we have a separate waiting room in that part of the hospital that you can stay in till she does. Though after a certain time all people besides family can stay." He tilts his head side to side in contemplation.

The three nod and follow the doctor to the waiting area. Sakusa never liked hospitals. The draining feeling of death and disparity. The desperation of people wanting to live. The grimm reaper was watching over the place.

Nevertheless he pushes on. He's the reason your here so he's obligated to stay. For now though he pushes the thoughts out of his mind, and focuses more on you. How you may be sleeping peacefully and not in pain. How tored you must be, all of this on the first day of school. Sakusa himself feels exhausted, he sits down and closes his eyes. Just for a second, to colect himself. Your parents beside him talking about how to prep your home for your arrival. All of that doesn't matter, though the chair is uncomfortable it still brings him to a world of lullabies and dreams. He wonders what you're dreaming of. Maybe a world where he never met you, or him never existing, because he was, he was thinking of a world where you would be happier without him. Like you were before.

Almost as if constant bad luck is around him. If only he knew what you were really dreaming of.

IT'S SHORT IK, BUT MY JOB IS FUCKING ME UP BRO.

[zaenaris]

How we can imagine Koko and Inupi having some domestic life, sharing a appartment, and being happy together. Because it can be canon now, right? =)

Of course it can be canon, because if anything bad happen to them, my therapist will hear about it 🙃

But let's dig into some domestic headcanon post current arc! Also, the second data book gave me some nice ideas lol

after the final battle, they find the way to talk, like, really talk, extensively, about all the unresolved questions they have between them and they officially get together

even if Koko doesn't like bikes, he admits he's happy to ride behind Inupi again. He loves holding Inupi's waist while he drives and resting his face on his shoulder. Inupi is warm and smells like home. He low key missed Inupi's bike as well, but only because it's Inupi's baby and he knows Inupi cares about her

When they drive by car, they like holding hands, and when Inupi has to switch gears, they basically switch it together. They plan in the future to buy a car with automatic transmission to facilitate the hand holding thing lol 

immediately after the battle, they start living together in Inupi's apartment above D&D, because, why not? Compared to when they used Shin’s abandoned shop, now they have like, electricity and they live like actual human beings and not feral little gremlins!

in the first period they are worried the police could arrive any moment to arrest Koko due to his role in KMG, so they make their mission to make every second with the other count, reminding each other how much they love the other and missed the other when they were apart (Koko lives peacefully because, if the police starts an investigation, I feel like some other executive of KGM would take one for the team, so the others can be free)

while cuddling, they enjoy being big and little spoon, taking turns; they love so much the idea to be hold by other other, to feel safe and sound  and they equally  love securing the other in their arms

Inupi loves Koko’s haircut and  the feeling of Koko’s shaved side under his hands, both when cuddling and in more spicy situations. Koko makes the mental note to always keep his hair cut with some sort of undercut/shaved form. Inupi keeps letting his hair grow and Koko thinks he’s stunning

Koko never really understood why the hell Inupi liked the feeling of getting his blood sucked during blood donations and, while it was really nice of Inupi donating blood, Koko doesn’t really like hospitals and needles and such. Despite that, he’s always at Inupi’s side when he donates (probably he doesn’t trust doctors that much). Growing up, they started joking about it

“If vampires existed, I guess I should have been worried about the competition” “You think I’d be so superficial? Besides, if you were a vampire, we wouldn’t have to worry at all” “So you admit it!”

In the late ‘00, when Twilight was a thing, Inupi was unimpressed by the lack of gruesome parts. True Blood, on the other hand  👀instant fave. Inupi and Koko barely speak any English, but they love the intro song so much that years later, (after the honestly anticlimactic finale) they still remember it by heart (the refrain says I wanna do bad things with you )

After one of their first passionate nights together, after the battle, when the lights were already off, Koko felt cold and since Inupi was already asleep, to avoid waking him up, he grabbed blindly from under their bed the first available T-shirt or whatever, then he came back to sleep in Inupi’s arms. Next morning, Inupi is horrified to see that Koko is wearing the Thousand Winters t-shirt.

“Seishu what’s wrong? *looking at the T-shirt* Holy shit, what’s this thing” “You would never believe it. Matsuno is crazy and Mitsuya will always have my eternal gratitude”

Despite that, Inupi didn't have the heart to throw the T-shirt away since Chifuyu worked so hard on them and Koko was kinda impressed by Matsuno’s entrepreneurial spirit

Inupi keeps working in his shop and D&D becomes a successful little business. Of course Koko helps with accountability and such. In this scenario, I'm not sure if Koko becomes the co-owner with Inupi because, while I think Koko would be happy to help Inupi in his business, Inupi would probably ask him to reflect about it because he wants Koko to do something he likes and really wants to do in his life, even if he would be happy to have Koko as his business partner, other than romantic one. And of course Koko would be happy to help Inupi in any way

If Koko doesn't work with Inupi, maybe he'll work as a librarian, since his favorite place is the library? Who knows?

While in the end Koko gets his driving license because he rationally knows it's important and can be useful, even if they live in a metropolis, he doesn't particularly enjoy driving, so when they need to use the car, most of the time Inupi drives but they switch for long distance trips.

After the battle they have more time to indulge in their hobbies and passions. Inupi loves when Koko talks about all his weird rocks, that apparently have various beneficial properties and, while he personally doesn't believe in tarots and such, he lets Koko read his hand, or whatever. (Nerdy Koko lives rent free in my and Inupi's heart)

Koko always loved the duality of Inupi, his angel features and his strength, his passion for heels and his fashion style and the fact he's good with motors (even if he doesn't like bikes per se, but he will listen everything Inupi says and trusts him on that)

D&D became in time a safe place for everybody, from former gang members to lost kids. Inupi is happy because it was like it used to be when he himself felt lost and found the Black Dragons and Shin's shop. You can be sure any little boy that likes wearing heels and painting nails and every little girl that loves motor and act tomboyish, or anyone that doesn't act "as they should" according to the society norms, is welcome to D&D, and Koko and Inupi will personally fight anyone that has a problem with them.

They borrow each other clothes all the time but  they style them differently

Same sex partnership is a complicated topic in Japan, but Koko and Inupi after some years together start referring at the other as their husband, may the system and the law be damned. At some point they started wearing matching rings

They stay friends with the former Toman guys, and even years later, they all make sure to find time to hang out together. During the summer, Koko and Inupi often invite the guys and their partners to D&D for a barbecue. 

Despite some initial awkwardness on Inupi’s side due the Shinichiro situation, they became friends with Kazutora as well when he gets out of jail. 

Inupi and Koko actually became friends with Hakkai and Yuzuya, the times of Black Dragon belonging to the past. Sometimes Koko still call them silly nicknames like “young master Hakkai” or “Lady Yuzuha”. They actually always respected Yuzuha since she was both a badass and good at her job, but during Taiju’s days as BD commander they never were too friendly with their captain’s siblings in order to avoid complications. They were also wearing their mean facades at the times and realized there was some serious problem in the Shiba family and they wanted nothing to do with it

They will always be grateful to Takemichi, since it was thank to Toman second generation they had the chance to reunite again and Michi says there’s no need to thank him, but they do anyway