#and YAY! there were green skin options!!!

[elliesmainhoe]

Hey there vivi, I think your work is cool <33 Wanted to ask what you thought of Ellie and girlfriend having IVF with both their genetics/eggs so they both have a biological child together. Know it’s not possible yet but im thinking about a Ellie with biological kid. Tmi but im ovulating so this is what im thinking ab rn. Not asking you to do a little blurb if you don’t want to, but wanted to know if you like the idea of Ellie and her kidd, ngl i think is interesting and adorable. Much love!

omg I fucking love this idea!!!! she would be so silly , I wrote some headcanons for this so hope you like it!!!!

ELLIE WILLIAMS HEADCANONS: YOU HAVE A BABY WITH HER (biologically)

okay let's say- distant future, lesbians can now have biological babies (yay technology!)

when you tell her that your pregnant girlie is gobsmacked, even though you two were actively trying. (aka raw dogging every night)

goes through a crisis, buys baby books, pregnancy books, looks into a ton of birth and labour options

shes prepared for everything, goes to Joel to find advice about taking care of a pregnant woman and what to do with a newborn

GRANDPA JOEL????

stop that would be the most adorable shit ever, him sitting on his porch, yours and Ellie's babe on his chest, giving you two a break

stopppp 😭😭😭😭

anyways getting off topic-

she's literally so much more a doting loser than she usually is (which is a feat in itself)

gets you all your cravings, chocolate? done. pickles? done. chocolate AND pickles together? fuck it she'll try some too.

loves decorating the nursery in your house

PAINTS A DINOSAUR AND/OR SPACE MURAL IN THE ROOM???

the nerd indoctrination is already happening.

her and Joel make loads of custom furniture, adjustable crib, rocking/nursing chair, changing station.

the nursery ends up looking so cute, with loads of earthy tones and greens but also an array of rainbow toys.

OMG THEY MAKE YOUR BABY A ROCKING HORSE??

shed be so supportive during labour

whatever birth method you choose shes so supportive, makes you a little emergency bag just in case you go into labour

loves skin to skin

after the birth, you're exhausted of course, so you're sleeping and she's alone with a newborn baby???

honestly thinks that the baby looks a little funky

when babies come out they're squished, red and all silly looking

they're cute of course!!! but Ellie is still hoping your babe grows out of the squished tomato, potato phase?

skin to skin is her favorite thing

having the baby laid on her chest is genuinely the sweetest thing ever

she 100% cries when your baby grows out of their first onesie

she's so sentimental, keeps everything your kid does or has

old dummies (pacifiers if you're American), baby toys that the kid doesn't play with anymore, the umbilical cord? it's in a ziplock bag somewhere.

wears the baby in those baby back pack things (I can't remember the name LMAO)

when the baby starts teething she's always making jokes about how you've given birth to a feral baby.

jokingly scolds the baby when they start biting when you breastfeed them

dresses the kid up in the funnies outfits

the baby's dresser is basically a fancy dress box by now. dinosaur costumes, teddy bear costumes, pirate costume?

literally everything

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

I now have baby fever. kms.

not proofread

she's the best mum especially with a newborn

[deliciouspirateangel]

Finished season 5 of PLL so I have to ramble

it felt like it took us about ten years to get thru this season. some of those eps were dragging and i think i zoned out more during this season than any other

i knew mona was still alive so that twist didn’t get me but it was still a lot of fun to see it play out

SPEAKING of mona. how on god’s green earth can you be on trial for murder when they NEVER FOUND A BODY??? also how are they going to arrest the other girls as accomplices when they weren’t even the ones on trial??? like as soon as they decide ali is a killer they have grounds to immediately send the other girls to prison??? ok

but the absolute stupidest moment this season. was all four girls signing up for a blood drive. to willingly have blood taken out of their bodies and put in lil vials where anyone could snatch it up and use it to fake dna evidence. and you’ll never guess what happened??? like yeah sometimes they make dumb decisions and you’re like “well it wasn’t the best choice but they dont have all the information” or “well they’re like 16 sometimes you do dumb things” but MY GOD this was the idiot moment to trump all idiot moments. this was just downright stewpid. it was five seconds into the episode and we had to pause so i could rant about how idiotic it was aksljfsldfs. especially bc hanna and caleb KNEW there were ziploc bags full of bloody clothes that were evidence for mona’s “murder” and ???? she still gave blood???? maybe she deserved to get arrested alksfjdklsfjdlsfjsdk

but anyway speaking of hanna and caleb they really are like That Ship like they were so fucking ride or die for each other turned up to 11 this season. caleb was like “if you get arrested then im getting arrested too idgaf” and in the dollhouse hanna tells A “if i see caleb in here i will Kill You” like holy shit i love the devotion, i love them so so much

toby was... a cop. he started out with good intentions and the whole “this town is full of crooked cops so you could at least have a crooked cop thats on your side” was sooo true bestie but he kind of got lost in the sauce after that oops. he started to come around and wise up so hopefully he gets better

the relationships this season had me tearing my hair out. paige gets put on a bus which, yay, get out of here. and then two seconds later a grown woman is trying to get with emily. and the second spoby is on the rocks there’s some weirdo living in spencer’s barn that’s trying to get with her. and im still not sure what his age is but that receding hairline they tried to disguise with his stringy bangs tells me he’s too old for her. oh and adam from glee i almost forgot him. and aria doesnt have any time away from ezra before she’s hitting up her tutor. at least he’s her age. but goddamn these girls cannot take a single breath without being involved in ten  different kinds of relationship drama at the same time. its exhausting. it would not kill them to be single for one damn episode

speaking of disgusting age gap relationships. we had to pause the show again just so i could scream about ezria for about the 9184930th time. bc. ezra is mad at caleb over mike, talking about how mike’s just a kid and if he makes the wrong decision then it could fuck up the rest of his life and he’s way too young to do that. mike is sixteen. so ezra views a sixteen year old boy as a kid but a sixteen year old girl is a viable romantic option? ok... ezra deserved to have his dick chopped off, his skin flayed, and be thrown in a vat of acid. minimum. it’s the least he deserves aklsjfskldf

anyway big picture i liked a lot of aspects of the mystery unfolding?? but as a whole this season felt sooo draggy like hurry it up already. the finale was fun and im actually looking forward to starting the next season. two left, we’re sooo close to the end!!!

spencer, caleb, and hanna are still my faves, in that order. toby fell off a little but i still like him. emily is okay it’s just her relationships that are rotted. and aria’s relationships are rotted but i also just dont like her as a person. i dont trust ali and quite frankly i dont believe a damn thing she says ever. mona is a queen and im so glad she’s back. literally everyone over the age of 20 on this show can fuck off and die bc they’re all nasty lmao. thats my thoughts on all the characters <3

[storyknitter]

Tagged by @elveny and @starknstarwars a little bit ago for this picrew. Tagging in @greyias​ @keldae​ @kunoichi-ume​ @commanderlurker​ @km-fullmoon​ and YOU!

Here’s Sanna! (The rest of my avocados are below the cut)

Captain Eli’anara “I’m about to cause trouble On Purpose” Nabeshin

Corey: *long-suffering sigh* then “Kick his ass, babe, I’ll hold your flower.”

Followed by Rineth “Literal Ray of Sunshine Cinnamon Roll” Nabeshin-Iresso

And last--but certainly not least--we have Amareesa “Snark-that-rivals-her-father’s” Nabeshin, daughter of Sanna and Theron

I love all of these dorks so very much!

[petri808]

If you're open for nalu requests, can you write a smut fic where nalu goes to a lingerie store because lucy wants to try on some lingerie and natsu ends up getting aroused? But if you can't it's fine just ignore this ask😊

Hi Nony, this is the last request I’ll do. Decided to save this for @thenaluarchive Sinfully Nalu event Mirror prompt. What did Lucy expect by dragging Natsu lingerie shopping?

“I’ve just got one more stop to make.” Lucy pointed towards the other side of the mall.

“Ugh…” Natsu’s shoulders dropped, “but we’ve been here for 2 hours already, Lucy, and I’m getting hungry.”

“I’ll spring for lunch. Anything you want.”

“I’m holding you to it,” he grumbled, but allowed her to pull him forward.

Natsu knew the mall well enough to know that the section they were heading towards were mostly women’s clothing stores— definitely not where he wanted to be. All these fancy clothes, and accessories, and… stuff that his girlfriend loved to wear. Sure, he didn’t complain cause it made her happy, he just didn’t wanna shop for it. Forever twenty something, Cache or Channel— whatever, “oh, uh-uh, no way,” he jerked them to a halt. “I ain’t going in there.”

“It’s just Victoria’s Secret.”

“Well Victoria can keep her secret. Lucy you’re crazy if you think I’m going in a women’s lingerie store!”

Lucy turned to face, then grabbed both of Natsu’s hands, holding them together close to her chest. “Please,” her eyes begged. “I need you to tell me what you think will be nice on me.”

Thinking about his girl, in lingerie, while standing in a mall was *not* the image Natsu wanted conjuring in his mind. But between the soft, puppy-dog expression, and her whimpering pleading— he was powerless to turn Lucy down. He sighed with a whine. “Fine. I’ll go.”

“Yay!” She giggled, kissed his cheek, and took his hand again, entwining their fingers together. “I’ll make it as painless as possible.”

Yeah, uh-huh, right… Painless.

As they walked down the rows and racks of lingerie, Natsu hummed in his head as a distraction. Bras, panties. Low cut, high cut, thongs, g-strings. Sets, individual pieces. Lace, satin, cotton. So many choices! He let the colors blend in his vision, the scents of brand-new clothing mixed with perfumes sold, or miscellaneous accessories. How do women pick anything when there’s so many options? Give him a t-shirt and jeans and he was good to go.

Every so many picks, Lucy would ask his opinion. ‘Yeah, that’s nice. No, that looks itchy. I like that color. Eww, it doesn’t match you.’ Finding her size in the styles she wanted wasn’t always easy, but after 30 minutes, Lucy had half a dozen or so items to try on. So, they head towards the fitting rooms.

Natsu stopped in front of the doors, and readied himself to stand around and wait—

“You’re coming in with me.” Lucy tugged on his hand. “I need your final opinion.”

Up until now, Natsu had managed to avoid thinking about anything even remotely related to sex, but now?! “Uh-uh, no way!”

“Please…” Lucy turned on the pouty lip-action and puppy-dog eyes again. “It’s not like you won’t see me in them later.”

Natsu gulped hard as the naughty images were unlocked. “Are you trying to kill me in public?”

“Pfft, no,” she giggled. “Stop exaggerating this.”

‘You have no idea, woman…’ “Alright, fine. But don’t blame me if anything happens in there.” Because if the twitch in his pants and slight bulge growing was any indication, it wouldn’t be what she’d be expecting.

“Tch.” Lucy rolled her eyes. “It’ll be fine, Natsu, you’ll see.”

The dressing room was a lot more spacious than he was used to seeing. Men’s fitting rooms, at least the ones he’s been in are like closets with just one full length mirror, and maybe a small bench inside. This one could easily fit them both, with wrap around mirrors to catch every angle. It had a small, cushioned bench along one wall, and a couple of hooks on the inside of the door. But most noteworthy was the fact it was a fully enclosed room— not those partial-length doors at lower-quality stores. It was very, very private.

Natsu sat down on the bench and closed his eyes while Lucy fiddled with her options. He could hear the plastic and metal hangers going up on the hooks, as well as the sounds of his girlfriend shedding her clothing. His mouth suddenly felt dry… Lucy’s voluptuous body bared for him to see with only her regular panties left on— he squeezed his eyes tighter shut. ‘Don’t think about it! Don’t think about it!’

“Ready— Natsu, silly,” Lucy giggled. “How are you gonna tell me if it’s good or not if you can’t see?”

“No.”

Lucy threaded her fingers gingerly through his hair. “Just one peak…”

‘Fuck…’ he groaned as the tightening in his shorts grew uncomfortable. “One peak.”

Natsu opened his eyes and immediately slammed them shut again from the screaming bra and panties glued to her frame. A sheer red with solid fabric only over the nipples and a strip covering her crotch. So much flesh revealed in these outfits, was there even a point to wearing anything at all?

“Great!” His voice squeaked out. “Looks fine.”

Her giggles only added to his demise. The sounds of more fabric rustling, and the twitch in his shorts… Natsu shifted in his seat trying to get comfortable, but he couldn’t. Lucy had grabbed about six of seven different pieces to try, and this was only the beginning. She was too damn sexy, and he swore, derived pleasure out of torturing him like this! Ugh, his cock was so hard right now…

“Okay, next piece,” Natsu heard her say. “I’m not sure about it, cause the color doesn’t seem to look good on me.”

Tch, it could be multi-colored polka dots and Lucy would still be a man’s wet dream. He cracked open one eye. It was a dark green, combo with frilled lace along the waistband. Natsu gulped hard as she did a turn around to reveal a thong and curvy swell of her backside.

“You do realize I’m biased, right?” Natsu blurted out. “Everything looks good on you to me.”

“Awww,” Lucy bent down and placed a chaste kiss to his lips. “I still think I’ll add this to the maybe pile,” she spoke as she started removing the pieces. “I think you’ll really like the next one I found; it has these cute flames on them.”

“You know what I’d prefer to see?” Natsu questioned, for he was done holding back.

Lucy stopped mid-way, bent slightly over with the thong down to her thighs. “What?”

Without answering her, Natsu got off the bench and started helping her take the thong off.

“Natsu, what are you—”

Once off, he moved onto her regular panties down.

“Nat— s-stop!” Lucy grabbed for his hands, but she couldn’t do much without twisting or tripping. “What are you do—”

“Keep your voice down.” He tugged those off too leaving her exposed from the waist down.

“Natsu this isn’t funny!” She seethed in an exasperated whisper.

“Neither is this,” he gestured at the bulge in his shorts. Guiding her against the mirrored wall as he spoke. “You said I could choose whatever I wanted for lunch, and I’ve decided to put you on the menu.”

Lucy whimpered when she felt the cold mirror against her bare skin. “But we’re in public.”

“I warned you didn’t I…” Natsu leaned in with a whisper, cheek to cheek. “Then I suggest you not make any noise,” his words wisp out, warm breath fanning down the barren skin as his lips burn a trail over her neck. Lucy dug her fingers into his hair, holding on but not stopping him as he moved lower.

His stops were brief, lips ghosting burning marks along her chest, a mountainous journey over the pillowy bosoms, a few licks against the pert nipples, and lower… down … snaking over her torso to what he was truly after. “Breathe, baby,” Natsu teased at her halted, bated breathing. “Just look forward and watch.”

She sucked in a gulp of air and stared forward at the mirrored image of Natsu going down on her. It was strange to literally watch every move he made like a voyeur living through another’s body. Lucy’s fingers tightened their grip on his hair in anticipation as he spread her legs a little wider…

“Mmm,” he mused in thought on how to get the best angle. “Hold to me,” Natsu suggested, and before she could reply, lifted Lucy’s left leg, and rested it on his shoulder. “Perfect…”

Natsu dove right in, latching his mouth onto the moist folds he knew so well, humming at the quick squeak his girl couldn’t catch in time. But he knew from the pull on his scalp exactly what she was experiencing. He kept one hand on her raised hip, while the fingers of his other toyed around the edge of her wet opening. His tongue pressed and circled around her clit, sucking, palpating, interspersed with soothing flicks and long strokes to lap up the growing sap gathering in the area. He closed his eyes as he relished in the warmth oozing over his face from her beautiful sex.

Heaven help her, Lucy couldn’t stop staring at that mirror… her gripped fingers to his hair and nails digging into his shoulder for dear life from the seasoned oral ministrations that slowly undid her sanity. Just his tongue alone… but the teasing fingers… Oh! Oh— Her thighs clenched to the sides of Natsu’s head as she felt one, then two fingers slipped through her walls. Lucy’s body arched slightly, and head tilted back as those fingers began swiftly pumping.

“Natsu…” Lucy moaned softly through sealed lips. She could feel his grin against her flesh, hear the squishing sounds, and smell the light scent of her extreme arousal. Damn him…

In a race against time, Natsu pumped fast and hard while his mouth and tongue devoured Lucy’s sex and sanity with an intensity to rival any known battle for supremacy. Each passing second, drawing the heated coil at her core closer to snapping. Her legs trembled, yet clenched and stiffened as his fingers pummeled, bumping the swollen sex being driven to his knuckles reach. He could feel Lucy start unraveling and held firmly to her hip bone as the jerky spasms rocked her body in orgasmic euphoria.

“Stop, stop, stop—” Lucy clawed at his back and neck as she whimpered from the immense pressure boiling in her body, and radiant moisture pooled in her eyes. “Please… enough, Natsu my legs are gonna give out.”

After giving her pussy a few more licks to clean up the excess juices, Natsu finally obliged and put down Lucy’s leg, then stood up while still supporting her as she caught her breath. He licked around his lips and cleaned off his fingers. “Best lunch in the world,” he grinned.

“Oof!” Lucy playfully slapped his chest with a short laugh. “Not what I’d meant. And now I don’t have time to try on the rest.”

“Why not?”

Lucy started putting on her regular clothes. “We’ve been in here for too long, it’ll be suspicious.”

“Tch, then just buy all of it if you like them, cause I’m telling you they’ll all look great on you.”

She glared at him. “Fine, but after pulling that stunt, now you owe me lunch!”

Natsu shrugged and grabbed all the hangers of clothing. “Okay, since you’ll need your strength later.”

“Later?”

The widest seedy grin bloomed on Natsu’s face. “You’ll see…”

[nataliedanovelist]

GF - We’re Coming Back Home

A Drifting Stars AU one-shot, the last one I plan to do, in collaboration with @clownwry.

1st, 2nd, 3rd.

~~~~~~~~~~

Somehow, miraculously, through all of Ford’s traveling, through countless dimensions, his Quantum Destabilizer remained on his back and fully intact.

Okay, well, mostly intact. Partially intact. 

When he was finally ready to attack Bill and put an end to his reign of terror, his plans had been put on hold when a crack in space-time opened. He didn’t dare hope that it was a way home, but maybe if he aimed correctly, the shot would not only kill Bill, but fly him home. But no, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a young girl fly out of the hole, and with reflexes he developed over thirty years of staying alive in the worst circumstances, he hooked his Quantum Destabilizer onto his back, caught the girl, and swam through the gravity-less air for safety, hiding behind an asteroid, putting a hand over the girl’s mouth and hissing for her silence, swearing she would be okay, and they barely made it out as Bill’s words echoed through the Nightmare Realm.

“Sixer’s caught a Shooting Star, boys!”

Ford had no idea what that was supposed to mean at the time, but now a month later, he thinks he finally understood. His niece, Shermie’s granddaughter, Mabel, loved stars, and was very much like one herself. Always shining. Always so bright and full of hope. Many times in history, and even today in other dimensions, runaway slaves used the stars as maps to guide them to a better place. Ford often wondered if Mabel was his star, maybe not guiding him physically to a safe haven, but guiding him to a happier mindset. Guiding him to a life that isn’t completely isolated. Guiding him to a life that included love.

The last few weeks have been challenging, sure, but not that much more challenging than traveling alone; Mabel was a fast learner, and while she refused to use a knife or gun (“Cuz those hurt, Grunkle Ford!”), she was perfectly comfortable with pop-rocks and making foes lose their footing and fall down so they couldn’t attack. And she was very good at hunting for food and water and other reliable resources. 

In fact, Ford would easily say the last few weeks have been the happiest of his life. Maybe only tying with when Fiddleford joined him in Gravity Falls, before work on the portal became dangerous, but after he realized that maybe the woods had been too quiet the last six years.

After just a day and a half, Ford was fully-aware of his attachment to his niece and how much it would ruin him if he lost her. Mabel was everything a good person strives to be: kind, sweet, a pleasure to be around, but not a pushover, either; Mabel Pines knew how to stand her ground.

And so the last month was littered with so many happy memories. Ford was a little hurt when she “borrowed” two broken fishing poles and fixed them up so they could fish, but he very quickly enjoyed sitting on a log by a river and fishing with Mabel. Ford found it brought her much comfort to brush her hair, and he also discovered he enjoyed a calm brush himself. Ford found he didn’t mind the extra weight of his niece on his shoulders; quite the contrary, he found it comforting, and he was always swallowed with peace when she was so relaxed with him that she fell asleep, using his fluffy gray hair as a pillow.

No longer was Ford met with suspicious looks when he walked down the street of a market alone, face hidden. Quite the opposite. He was always met with smiles and warm greetings, and sometimes a little extra food was thrown into a purchase for free. Be it because people saw him as a parent with an adorable child, or because of Mabel’s charm. Or both.

The dimensions they came across were random and different, just like it was when Ford traveled alone. Some dimensions were like an alien sci-fi movie, completely different with no humans. Some dimensions were scaringly like home, with a small difference here and there. Ironically, the alien-like dimensions were typically safer, because they were used to travelers and weird-looking creatures. 

But Ford guessed it would be okay if he and Mabel stepped into a normal grocery store to buy some food.

They had come across a “normal” dimension, and while Ford’s first thought was to retreat for the woods, he heard Mabel’s stomach growl, and he decided her health was more important. So they stepped in and kept to themselves.

Ford and Mabel were picking up crackers when the little girl grinned at rows of cereals behind them. “Grunkle Ford, can I please pick a cereal?” She asked politely.

The old scientist thought about it for a moment. Cereal would definitely cover a few meals and be light and easy to carry, and it wouldn’t get hold too quickly, and he had wanted to get her at least one nice thing while in the store, so he nodded and said, “Yes, dear, you may pick one box. Any flavor you want.”

“Thank you!” And Mabel took the time to hug him before skipping over to the cereals to look.

Ford chuckled and picked some crackers, then decided to browse the fruit snacks, debating if it would be wise. Probably not, because if they get stuck in another desert climate the gummies could melt and make a mess, but they could make a good snack for Mabel. He held his chin, debating the idea, while a couple was also looking over the cereals.

“Which do you think Dad would want?” The yellow-haired woman asked.

“Honey, who cares what Rick wants? Just get a cereal you’ll like.” The husband said with an eye roll.

Ford froze at that name. No no, that was most definitely a different Rick. It was a common enough name, and there were billions of dimensions. There was no way Ford and Mabel somehow managed to stumble into C-137. He ultimately decided against gummies and he then looked at the trail mixes and granola bars. Both were always a good option.

“I know, but I want him to feel welcome, you know?” The wife said as she picked a box. “He’s been travelling in space alone for years…”

Oh no. No, no, no. Ford quickly chose some packets of trail mix and several granola bars and hurried back to his niece. He was not going to do this today. Nope.

Mabel grinned at him, a box of cereal in hand, and she held it out to him. “Look, Grunkle Ford, do you like this flavor? I can pick a different one if you want.”

“Oh, thank you, my dear, but I like the one you picked.” Ford did a decent job masking his uneasiness and he took her hand and smiled. “Why don’t we pick up some fruit for today, and then we’ll go fishing for dinner?”

“Yay! Sounds great!”

Ford didn’t miss the yellow-haired woman smiling at them as they left the aisle. If that was who he thought it was… She really didn’t look anything like him. She might have just favored her mother. Who else would have spent years traveling space? Bastard.

Ford may have hated him for many reasons, but choosing to abandon his girls was at the top of the list.

At the checkout line, Ford nervously watched the total of their purchase go up with each beep. He recounted their cash and made a small list of items in his mind for them to go down if they couldn’t afford everything. A few granola bars can go. And, maybe they could find band-aids elsewhere and “borrow” them.

The worker rang up the last item and Ford smiled when he saw the total was 29.89. He had thirty. But then the worker pressed the total button and taxes were added. Shit, right. That made their total 35.45. Ford winced. Mabel looked up at him worriedly, but she smiled and stood on her tippy-toes to see the worker better.

“Hi, I’m Mabel! Can you please put the cereal back? We don’t really need it.”

Ford looked down at her, surprised and also a little disheartened. He had really wanted to get her at least one nice thing, but truth be told the cereal was the most expensive item, so it made sense to get rid of it first. Still, it sucked.

“Total’s now 32.14.”

Ford bit his lip. “Very well, may we please put the band-aids back, too?”

The worker nodded, seeming tired and annoyed, but they didn’t say a word. Blissfully, the total went down to 29.99.

With hands full of bags, Mabel and Ford paused at the beginning of the parking lot to move their groceries into their backpacks. While they worked, the old scientist said, “I’m sorry I could afford your cereal, Mabel.”

“Oh, it’s okay!” The girl said instantly. “I’ve got something even sweeter.” And she grinned at her grunkle and gave him a warm smile.

Ford smiled back at her tiredly. “I don’t deserve you.”

“Yes you do.” Mabel insisted and hugged him around the neck, nuzzling her face into his shoulder and determined to sink as much comfort as she could into his skin. “I love you Grunkle Ford. Please don’t beat yourself up, m’k?”

Ford hugged her back and petted her short brown hair. It was certainly easier to feel better with a ball of sunshine in his arms.

They both heard rustling behind them as a buggy rolled from the door to the parking lot. They both looked behind Mabel and saw a bag with the cereal and the band-aids in it. They looked around and saw no one, except for the yellow-haired woman and her husband going to their car.

Mabel grinned and hollered to them, “Thank you!”

They didn’t respond, but the woman did smile and wave before putting groceries into her car. As appreciated as Ford was for her kindness, he wanted to get as far away from her as possible. No offense to her. She seemed like a very lovely lady.

But then it hit Ford like a pile of rocks. What was it he had said before he had pulled out his gun and left Ford to travel alone? “And hey, if you ever wanna travel without customs or waiting for wormholes to open, don’t come looking for me.” And then he winked and fell backwards into a pool of green, leaving Ford to curse his name.

If this was like before, when Ford was alone, he wouldn’t dare. But if he could help get Mabel home…

Ford took Mabel’s hand and muttered, “Come with me.” And she followed without question.

Beth felt good helping the old man and the little girl, and she didn’t expect anything more. Really, it was only five dollars worth of stuff. But she was happy when they started to walk towards her, so she trusted Jerry to finish loading up the car and she smiled at them.

“Excuse me, miss, I just want to thank you for what you did.” The old man said.

“Oh, you’re welcome, it was no trouble at all.”

“I… I hope I’m not being too invasive, but… but I believe you know someone I know.”

Beth smiled. Small world! “Really? That’s great! Oh, are you a relative of Dave’s? Or, you know, I do know a lot of people indirectly from the horse-track.”

“Er, no.” The old man gave her a more serious look, and then asked quietly, “Do you know Rick Sanchez?”

~~~~~~~~~~

Beth was so excited to give Stanford Pines and his niece, Mabel, a ride, and to invite them to dinner, not only because she thought seeing an old friend might make her dad smile, but maybe she’ll learn more about what he’s been up to all these years. The man was very polite and the girl was as sweet as can be, both of whom looked rough and in need of a cozy bed and maybe a soothing bath. Jerry was a little unsure, not wanting “more Ricks” into his house, but after a huf from the girl and a cheerful greeting, Jerry couldn’t help but tell the girl she was more than welcome, so now he was roped in.

Mabel noticed that her uncle looked distracted. He was looking out his window, but his eyes were elsewhere. He was thinking. So she decided to try to help him with his thoughts. “Grunkle Ford, who’s Rick Sanchez?” She asked quietly.

Ford looked at her, sighed quietly, and muttered, “He’s an intergalactic scientist. He’s ridiculously intelligent and clever, and… a bit…” Ford pursed his lips. All the words that came to mind he didn’t want Mabel hearing, so he settled on. “... mad.”

“Oh. Is he like a real mad-scientist?” Mabel asked, eyes sparkling with interest.

“Yes, but with less laughter, more slurs and sluggish demeanor, and even less consideration of other living things.”

Mabel noticed his cold tone and grew concerned. “You don’t like him, do you?”

Ford bit his lip. No, he didn’t. But there was a more important reason why he didn’t want to see Rick today. 

Mabel leaned in closer and whispered, “Is he mean?”

Trust Mabel to sum it up perfectly for her uncle. “Yes.” Ford said just as quietly. “And I don’t want him meeting you.”

“Why?”

Ford hesitated. But being blunt and honest seemed to be working, and it was best for Mabel to prepare herself for the lion’s den they were walking into. “I don’t want him to hurt your feelings.” a bit elementary, but it was the best way to explain it to a child without scaring her too much.

Mabel, however, grinned. “Grunkle Ford, no one can resist the Power of Mabel.”

Ford smiled and ruffled her hair softly. “We’ll see…”

“So, if you don’t like Mr. Sanchez, then why are we going to go see him?”

“He’s an expert on interdimensional-travel.” Ford informed her. “He might know how to get us home.”

Mabel’s eyes widened and she “oh”ed as she realized what was going on. 

~~~~~~~~~~

The garage door was open to let in good lighting and fresh air. But that wasn’t an invitation to come in whenever people feel like it; Rick will have to work on a security system to keep nosy neighbors away. He was opening a box and getting organized when he heard his daughter’s car roll into the driveway. He didn’t bother to look up, instead waited for the sounds of car doors opening to say something.

“Hey sweetie, welcome back.”

“Dad,” Beth said, sounding giddy. Rick hated giddy. But he had only been here for a week and he didn’t feel like making his daughter hate him just yet, so he settled for rolling his eyes and continuing what he was doing. “I have a surprise for you!”

“Wow! You have a nice house! Cool garage, too!” A young voice said.

Rick was halted. He turned in his chair and raised an eyebrow to find a young girl with short brown hair and braces holding hands with an old nerd with fluffy charcoal hair, glasses, and six fingers.

“Oh my God!” Rick laughed. “Holy-...” A dark look from the old traveler made Rick stop; he can piss him off later. First he needs to figure out why the hell he is here and what the hell he wants. “Jeez, you look terrible, Fordsie.” The mad scientist snorted as he leaned against his desk with his hands in his pockets.

Ford rolled his eyes and said, “And you still look like a soft breeze will blow you away, Sanchez.”

Mabel bit her lip and quietly, “Oooooh”ed, like she was listening to a rap battle.

“So,” Beth stretched, clearly hoping for more information or a more satisfying reunion, but she wasn’t getting it naturally, so she decided to push a little. “How do you two know each other?”

“The Multiverse is a pretty big place, sweetie.” Rick answered. “Don’t worry, I’ll have this nerd gone before you finish unloading the car. Don’t want to risk another mass genocide.” He sneered.

Ford’s face turned red and he yelled, “I didn’t know it was a planet! It looked too similar to a sandwich for it to be a planet!”

Rick laughed and looked at the little girl. She looked maybe a little younger than Morty. “Who’s that you got with you?”

Ford closed his eyes, debating if he should tell Rick it wasn’t any of his business, or get the introduction over with. But before he could make a decision, Mabel beat him to the punch.

She let go of Rick’s hand, hopped to him, and looked up at his bean-pole stature and smiled and waved. “Hi! I’m Mabel! You’re a scientist, too? Cool! I like your hair! How old are you? Have you ever met a dinosaur? What’s your favorite food?” 

Rick blinked like a startled lizard at the girl, glanced up at Ford, and then looked back down at Mabel. Rick smiled and sat in his chair to be closer to her level, and held out a hand to shake, which she happily accepted and shook a little rough. “Hey there, I’m Rick. Yes, I’m a scientist. Thank you, I like your hair, too. Yes, I’ve met a dinosaur, several in different dimensions. And, pancakes.”

Mabel’s eyes sparkled. “I love pancakes, too! Maybe we can make some together!”

“Maybe, but I’ve got the feeling that’s not why you’re here.” Rick suggested kindly. And no, Ford wasn’t at all suspicious that he was being kind to Mabel.

“Oh! Yeah! Grunkle Ford thinks you can help us get home.”

“Huh. You’re great-uncle, huh? Sure, okay, let’s get started.” Rick rolled over to a cabinet and took out an odd machine. It came with a tiny needle and was attached to the machine by a small black wire, and the boxed machine had a screen of some sort on the side. “Mind if I prick your finger?”

“Sure!” Mabel held out her finger to him and Rick carefully held her wrist and pricked her finger, so small she hardly noticed it. “What for?”

“I need a blood sample to find your home dimension. Gotta send you to the right dimension.” Rick explained. “Fordsie, lemme get yours, too. How’d you two find each other, anyways?”

“I was in the Nightmare Realm when some idiot opened a portal and this little starshine fell into my arms.” Ford explained, stepping forward and giving Rick his finger.

“Okay, got it.” Rick said. “Well, there’s a possibility that you two come from different dimensions. Nothing too different about your homes, but there’s millions of dimensions. The probability that you two came from the same timeline and reality… there we go. It’s a match. That makes things easier.”

The small heart attack Ford was having went away. The idea of his starshine not being his was a nightmare. His life was complicated enough; he didn’t need his girl to not actually be his.

“Dimension 41’\. Huh, okay, gimme two seconds…” Rick pulled out his trusty portal gun and plugged it into the machine. A long list of dimensions popped up, and Ford prayed 41’\ would be on the list. “You two are lucky. I can go as far as 42’\, but the other 40s are out of range. Huh, i’ll have to work on that.”

“So,” Mabel grinned. “You can get us home?”

Rick smiled smugly and shrugged as he stood. “Yeah, sure.”

“Grunkle Ford!” Mabel cheered and hurled herself into his arms. “I can’t believe it! I’m gonna see Dipper again! I can’t wait for you to meet him!”

Ford smiled softly. He couldn’t believe it. It was all happening so fast and effortlessly. He was going to get Mabel home. They were both going home. Suddenly the idea of seeing Stanley again, meeting his grandnephew and all of Mabel’s friends and her pet pig sounded… a lot. He didn’t realize it, but he was becoming anxious and spacing out. But Mabel noticed, and she kissed his stubbly cheek and brought him back to reality.

Rick shot at the wall with his gun and an oozing green portal appeared. “There we go, 41’\. Wait, sh-oot, gimme a location.”

“618 Gopher Road.” Ford stated as he let go of Mabel. “Gravity Falls, Oregon. USA.”

“Got it.” Rick made the last portal disappear and shot a new one. “There. Now get-... Go on home.”

Mabel stepped up to Rick and said sincerely, “Mr. Sanchez, thank you for helping us.” And she hugged him around his tall skinny legs.

Rick pursed his lips awkwardly, unsure of how to respond to such positive energy and kindness. The old scientists looked at each other, Ford giving Rick a warning look, but something hidden in his face or eyes told the drunk that the nomad was actually grateful for his illegal device.

“Uh…” Rick settled on patting Mabel’s head and said, “Y-Y-You’re welcome.”

Mabel let go of Rick and held out a hand to Ford. “Ready?”

“Nope.” Ford took her hand and squeezed it. “Let’s do this.”

And without another word, the Pines walked through the green portal.

[hypertonicplague]

I’m v bored so time for more!! Obey me!! HCs!!! Yay!!

So this is the first one n if ya don’t read it ya gon be lost

Also sorry if it ends up being a long post!! I’m on mobile so there’s no ‘see more’ option 🥺🙏🏻

Demon body time! Ofc I’d steal the whole “they have more than two forms” hc cuz it’s super cool!! But what’s cooler than a big ol scary form?? :^0 it’s a finale! Finale form!! One in which none of the brothers but Satan has (along w other full fledged demons). Basically it’s just feelin, or smoke! Or like a bend in the air! It goes well past a feral form an is said to be the most condensed form for a demon. Satan’s one is a thin line of green, Dia’s is a small flame, no one has ever lived long enough to see Barbs one. And while they look small and harmless, they’re completely unpredictable and can accidentally unleash a LARGE amount of magic and energy to kill even the strongest of roaches 🪳. In that form they have no consciousness. Just,,,,,emotion-

Gender time BABEY 😩🤙🏼 Mammon was the first to get his breast removed. When they fell (if ya checked the other post ya should know y they have boóbęś) none of the brothers (but Satan) could wrap their heads around why all demons didn’t have breast. They were just like “?????okay???”. Mammon, our lil party demon, actually ASKED at a party one time abt it n a demon said “well,,,,we can choose what we are when we are, y’all can’t?? Lol” (demon got mashed to bits btw) then he found a doc n was like “well if I miss em then I can just get em put bck on loooool” n woke up, looked down, n history my pals 👐🏼 he also didn’t tell his other brothers he was doin this. It felt right for him so he kinda just went home n lived his life normally. When they noticed it they kinda all,,,, ‘secretly’,,,got their breast removed. It was never talked abt n they kinda keep it that way. It’s not a bad thing, n they never felt like it was that big to ever talk abt it. But ig if they ever told MC that’s how it happened MC would probably not take it that way- (also I say they ALL got em done but Asmo still has his n so does Belphie. Asmo’s reason is in the other post Belphie’s is next) 

Baby lazy, at the time that was happening Belphie was adjusting to his sin. So him being alseep all the time it actually took him 4000 years to realize what happened. Beel had explained it to him n he was like “:^0!! We can do that?? I wanna do that-“ then Beel told him abt the appointments and healing n he was like- hmmm maybe later. A binder and baggy clothes will do for now- he’ll get em done. Eventually, just not today, tomorrow, the next day, week, month, r year. But it’ll get done at o n e point.

I started this a month ago n now have time to finish it lmaooo

Man idc what anyone says Belphie eats bugs. His whole animal thingy is a cow/bull n guess what them mfs eat?? Yea. Bugs, Belphie eats maggots n crickets n stuff heheheh tell ur friends

Speaking of bugs ig some ppl forget abt Asmo n how they’re a bug too. N y’all know what bugs do?? Shed. Everyone wants to talk abt Levi shedding but they forget abt fan fav Asmo 🥺😔. They shed too n it’s- less than pleasant to look at and be around- when they shed they have to go into their lil demon mode thingy, they keep themselves in their room n Dia help ya if ya go in there. Mammon once went to bring them food mid shed n got his hand and half his face shredded. N no, no amount of trust or love from MC will EVER break Asmo into letting them into their room during this time. Sorry MC 💔 they adore you but keep that human ass in ya room for now.

An on the topic of Levi, he doesn’t care, he actually gets Mammon or Satan to help him remove his old skin when it’s his shedding time. Sounds gross but when ya got games to play an ya itchy all over, gotta get ya siblings to help.

Vros Satan has a biting thing going on, not a k¡nk r something. They just gotta bite, n when MC shows them chewerly ya could’ve sworn that demon almost started wanting to protect the entire human race. Now they don’t gotta chew on their fingers or hair?? Bitch bet, they bought a whole store of that good good 😩🙌

Lackin Lucifer so I’ma just say, mans sheds feathers all the damn time. You’ll find them EVERYWHERE. In ya book bag, on ya bed, in the dyer, on the sofa, in pots in the kitchen, behind a bookshelf, EVERYWHERE. N fucked part is?? He doesn’t even notice em, if you point it out he’ll just shrug his shoulders. Bastard 💞

That’s really all I can think abt for now sksksk, I needa do a dateables one too

One day when I get more free time again I’ll throw all my lil dummy hcs out for those dummies too 😌

[thewriterisalwayswrite]

Just Sleep

Summary:  Logan has nightmares and subsequent intrusive thoughts.

Pairings: Intrulogical

TW: Self-harm, very brief suicidal thoughts, nightmares

Word count: 1064

AO3

A/N: Yay, vent fic

<-Last     Next->

For the third time that week, Logan found himself ruthlessly jerked into consciousness. As his glance flickered over the room, he instinctively knew he was in the calm before the storm, the calm before the memories of whatever dream had woken him came flooding back.

Sometimes it was a snapshot or two, a general feeling or idea, and other times there was a concrete concept. He knew there was nothing he could do about it either way, so he just waited, helpless, until they rammed into him like a punch to the gut.

in a cage, everyone laughing at you

you’re the joke

you'll always be a joke

always be a joke

be a joke

a joke

joke

He forced himself to his feet, trying his best to block out the one intrusive thought that he couldn’t handle. He didn’t put his glasses on, not ready to face the clarity and sharp edges of the world assaulting his eyes, which were still delicate with sleep.

He forced his hands through his messy hair, trying to drive the repetitive thoughts out. As much as he may have claimed that repression didn’t work, he found it difficult to practice what he preached when faced with the situation.

Pacing back and forth in his room, he absentmindedly snapped the rubber band on his wrist, over and over until the skin was red and raw. Anything to keep his mind away from the darker corners of itself. To keep from diving into the things that he knew were truths, but couldn’t face quite yet.

When snapping turned to scratching, and that drew blood, though, Logan knew it was time to stop. He tried to force himself to, though his hands kept doing what they wanted.

It was then, though, that he felt his stomach turn itself upside down, and he dropped to the floor, coughing and heaving and praying that he wouldn’t throw up. He hated doing this. Hated feeling helpless, knowing it was out of his hands.

The heaving eventually receded, though the nausea did not. He forced himself to his feet, shaking, ignoring the desire to just collapse.

He stumbled to the door, knowing he had to do something, though he wasn’t sure what. He let his feet lead the way, and ended up in the kitchen. Fumbling around half blind, he somehow got a glass of water. After a moment’s thought, he poured it over his head.

That wasn’t a very Logan-like thing to do. He’d hoped, however frivolous the hope, that it would take his mind off the thoughts, if only for a moment.

Clearly, he was not thinking properly. How could he either snap himself back into reality, or stop thinking altogether? One thought pushed through, but he managed to force it out. That wasn’t an option.

Then the less than logical side of him had an idea. There was someone else around who might be able to understand. Who had probably gone through this himself.

Oh, what was he thinking? Remus would surely not want to comfort a useless idiot who couldn’t even take care of himself.

But- he couldn’t go back to his room. Not now. He slightly, hesitantly, allowed his feet to lead him to Remus’s room. He’d just knock once, he told himself. To see if he’s awake.

Once he found himself facing the big green door, he thought about just collapsing right then and there. But it wouldn’t do to have Remus wake up to him passed out outside his door. After a few moments trying to pluck up the courage, he slowly lifted his hand. As it touched the wood, the door swung open. And there was Remus, who began speaking in his usual loud voice, which made Logan cringe.

“Oh thank God you finally made it up here Virge, I could hear you thinking all the way from-”

His eyes narrowed as they fell onto Logan, who shied away, wishing he’d decided against coming here. He took in that he was pale and shaking, with bags under his eyes, and for some reason his hair and shirt were wet. “You’re not Virgil.”

“I- no, I am not. I- I apologize for disturbing you.” Despite his distress, he was able to string together enough words to sound at least semi-normal. “I’ll be taking my leave now and-”

He yelped as he was lifted up by the hips and deposited on a… doctor’s table? Why did Remus have this in his room? And why was he on it?

Remus noticed his befuddled expression. “Look, either Virge or I go through this every other night. I know how it goes,” he informed him, handing him two big white pills. “Take those. They’ll help,” Remus briskly informed him, thrusting a glass of water into his hands.

Logan, while half convinced that the pills would do something awful to him, wanted more than anything to be trusting right now. And he didn’t especially care what happened to him anymore. So he swallowed them. Remus took the cup back.

“Alright, now where’d you hurt yourself?”

“Pardon?”

“Come on. Like I said, I know how it goes. No one doesn’t hurt themselves when this happens to them. It goes for all your insecurities. Now let’s see the damage.”

Logan, shocked, offered his wrists, one still swollen and red, the other leaking blood from messy scratches.

Remus inspected them. “Not too bad. Then again, one would expect Logic to be the one with the most self-control.”

Logan nodded idly as Remus cleaned them and slathered on antibiotic ointment.

“There. That should be good. Do you want to talk about what the nightmare was now, or tomorrow?”

Logan was not pleased that the question did not seem to leave room for opting out, but he supposed he owed it to Remus. Shockingly enough, since taking the pills, he felt both less distressed and more exhausted. He could have passed out right here, and he must have been nodding off because Remus scooped him up again. He yelped, pulled out of his drug-induced stupor.

Remus, much to his continued surprise, gently bounced him in his arms the way one would a child, humming something under his breath.

Logan allowed himself to be pacified. Shortly after, he was set in a bed, and there were blankets pulled over him. He felt someone rubbing his back. “Just sleep.”

[floral-and-fine]

Stitched Together part 1

The creature/Adam x fem reader

Frankenstein AU/ Modern Frankenstein

Warnings: brief mention of suicide, death, and body horror (a little)

Summary: The reader is a mortician and a friend of Victor Frankenstein. After receiving a strange message from Victor, the reader finds herself with a lot of unanswered questions and a new roommate.

A/n: Yay! I wrote something! Sorry I didn’t finish the drawing, but I’m satisfied with it, mostly, lol. Anyways, I’m pretty excited about this story. Enjoy!

Tags: @rusticup​ @luna-xial​

This was insane, in fact, it was by far the craziest stupidest thing you had ever done in your life, but here you were standing out in the rain, in the middle of the night, with no flashlight trying to pick a lock. 

Yes, technically you were breaking and entering, but you had to know if Victor was alright. Rationally, you probably should’ve called the cops, but you weren’t exactly thinking rationally right now. For all you knew, he could be laying on the floor, clinging to life somewhere in his lab. 

God, you were going to feel like an idiot if everything was fine and you were just overreacting.

You blinked in surprise when you heard the lock finally clicked. 

Pushing the door open, you gasped as you entered Victor’s lab, immediately upon entry you were assaulted by a foul stench. Using your shirt, you covered your nose and mouth. 

It was too dark to make out anything, except for the occasional flash of lightning that lit up the room for a brief second. 

“Victor?” You called, feeling along the wall until you found a light switch. However, after flipping the switch nothing happened. 

“Damn,” you muttered under your breath. With shaky hands, you reached into your pocket taking out your cell phone. 

The small light didn’t reach far, only illuminating a couple of feet in front of you, but at least you could see a little.

His ‘lab’ was an old warehouse he was renting. Why he needed such a large space was beyond you. Victor was very secretive of what he was working on, deflecting your concern with vague answers. Very few people were even aware that he was renting this place to use for his experiments. 

With your small light, you scanned the area nearest to you. 

The warehouse was an utter disaster. There were notes with anatomical drawings littered everywhere, furniture tipped over, and broken shards of glass scattered on the ground. 

From the state of his lab, you could safely assume it had been abandoned. It appeared as if Victor left in a hurry, or as if it had been ransacked. 

Neither option gave you much comfort and just brought you more worries. This warehouse, those drawings, all the notes were Victor’s life work, and his work meant everything to him. 

From the moment you met him, all he seemed to care about were his studies. He spent all his time here, rarely slept, and only left for absolute necessities. He even lost the lease on his apartment, so he could continue to afford the rent for the warehouse. 

“What the hell happened?” You whispered to yourself. What had Victor been up to? Why did he disappear? Where was he now?

...

Victor had become an acquaintance of yours through a mutual friend. 

You were a local mortician who lived near the university your friend was attending. You often mingled with various professors and graduate students, because of it. 

Victor had been part of a graduate program to become a doctor before he dropped out. Amongst his colleagues, Victor was known for his peculiar curiosity of death. Upon discovering your friend’s relationship to you. 

Victor practically demanded him to arrange a meeting between the two of you. 

You were able to answer most of his questions, having more expertise on the subject than his peers. At first, his questions seemed innocent enough, but as you continued to get to know Victor the more strange and morbid his questions had become. 

You chalked it up to his youth and his ambition to learn. Not to mention, at the time, you didn’t really question his odd fascination with the subject. 

In all honesty, you almost welcomed his straightforwardness and his interest in your work. So many of the people you met always skated around the subject of your job, or visibly cringed anytime you mentioned the morgue. It was very refreshing to be able to talk about your day without having to worry or freaking someone out.

In a short time, you became friends with Victor. You checked in on him frequently, dropped groceries off at his place hoping he’d take a break and eat something, but 

Then suddenly he fell off the face of the planet. He stopped visiting the morgue. He didn’t return any of your calls. Weeks passed before you received a rather cryptic voicemail from Victor. 

What he said in the message didn’t make a lick of sense, he just rambled on and on about how he had finally figured it all out, that it had to be done tonight, and that it was all thanks to you. 

You had tried calling him back several times but each time it went straight to voicemail. 

...

Letting out a long sigh, you hoped you would find the answers to all your questions. 

Steadily you took a few steps forward, and slowly moved the light your phone provided, scanning your surroundings. You frowned as you stepped in something wet, the squelching sound underneath your foot was rather unpleasant. 

Looking down, you covered your mouth and stumbled backwards. Dropping your phone in the process. 

“Oh God!” On the floor was a pile of discarded limbs in a pool of blood. “What the hell did he do?”

You noticed a familiar tag hanging off of a toe in the pile.

“He didn’t,” you thought out loud. “He wouldn’t...”

You shook your head and closed your eyes tightly. He used you, he got close to you so he could learn about the morgue. God, how did you not realize it? 

A few weeks before, around the same time Victor seemed to disappear, several bodies were taken from your morgue. You reported the break in when you arrived to work the morning after. You couldn’t imagine why anyone would steal bodies. 

Feeling an overwhelming mixture of disgust, betrayal, and stupidity, all you wanted now was to leave this nightmare and report your findings to the police. 

Grimacing, you bent down to pick up your phone wiping the screen off with your sleeve.

Lightning flashed, and suddenly, you heard a loud crash, as if someone had bumped into something metallic knocking it to the floor. Your head whipped around to the direction of the sound, “Hello?”

The silence that followed was somehow quieter than before. You stared out at the vast darkness, waiting for a reply. 

“Victor?” You called, rising to stand. “Anyone there?”

Once again there was only silence. You used the light from your phone as you proceeded to search. 

Your brow furrowed as you discovered various machines you didn’t recognize. They were large, with all sorts of wires, cords, and coils. In the center, was a surgical table covered in blood. 

As you studied the scene before you, from the corner of your eye, you saw movement. Without thinking you pursued whatever it was. 

You managed to corner it, watching as the creature withdrew into the darkness, cowering on the floor.

You shined your light on the shadows to reveal a man huddled in the corner. His legs were pulled up to his chest, his arms curled over his head. 

As you got closer, the man curled further into himself even more, shrinking down as far as he could. He flinched back, shielding his eyes from the light.

“Oh, sorry,” you murmured, lowering your phone. “Is that better?”

Slowly, he moved his arms down. His yellow eyes watched you cautiously, but he gave you no indication as to whether he understood anything you were saying. 

Crouching down to his level, you noticed that he was completely nude. Long strands of greasy black hair hung in front of his face. His skin was pale and sickly looking.

You wrinkled your nose as you noticed the stitches all around his wrists, then the ones on his forearms, shoulders, neck, knees...

Slowly reaching out, your fingertips lightly brushed against his arm, feeling along the stitching. Upon further inspection his skin appeared thin like paper, and almost transparent with a bilious yellow tint to it. Underneath, you could make out clearly, blue and green veins all over his body. 

Your teeth clenched and your stomach dropped, as you started to realize what Victor had accomplished. 

This poor man and those poor people he used for his experiment, they were all victims of the careless ambition of Victor Frankenstein, a foolish boy trying to play God. 

The creature trembled under your lingering touch like a scared rabbit.

“Are you cold?” You asked him, without thinking you stood up faster than the creature cared for, who flinched and shrunk away again due to the sudden movement. 

“It’s alright,” you cooed, reassuring him as you would a scared child. You made a conscious effort to make your movements slow and fluid as you searched for something he could cover up with. 

You spotted a thin white blanket on a cot that was in the corner. You figured Victor was probably sleeping here after he lost his apartment. 

Returning to the creature, you slowly knelt down once more and offered him the blanket, but he remained still. It was unnerving how he kept staring at you, but you doubted he meant you any harm. The poor thing was simply so frightened that you couldn’t hold it against him for being so wary. 

“Here,” you murmured as you gently placed it around him. “Isn’t that better?” 

You smiled, as he clutched the edges of the blanket and wrapped it around himself tighter. 

Slower than last time, you stood up again. “I’m y/n,” you introduced yourself offering him your hand. “Would you like to leave this place with me?”

This was crazy, but you didn’t know what else to do. You couldn’t just leave him here alone, he had already been abandoned once in this dark cold warehouse by his negligent creator. You couldn’t do that to him, he seemed so helpless. 

Shyly, he accepted your hand and rose to his feet.

Looking up at him you couldn’t help but gawk. The man towered over you. He didn’t appear to be so large when he was cowering in the corner. 

“We’re going to my house, okay?” You shared with him giving his hand a light squeeze. Still holding his hand, you led the way out and back to your car. He moved awkwardly and walked with a slight limp, so walked at a casual pace. 

Reaching your car, you adjusted the passenger side seat moving it back, to make more leg room so he could sit comfortably.  Helping him into the car, you buckled him in. 

You didn’t say much on the drive. It all seemed so surreal, like you had been dreaming. Even when you arrived home and he followed inside it still didn’t seem real. 

“Home sweet home,” you chirped, opening the front door and turning on the lights. You guided him inside and kicked off your shoes . 

Finally, seeing him under some better lighting, you realized how dirty he was. He was covered in all over with some kind of filth, mostly dirt and blood you assumed, but you couldn’t be sure. 

“You need a bath,” you announced. Walking into the bathroom, you turned on the faucet, allowing the water to warm up before putting in the stopper. 

Once the tub was full, you guided your guest into the bathroom. Gently, you took the blanket from him and discarded it on the floor. 

“Get in,” you gestured to the bath. “It’ll be alright. We just need to get you cleaned up.”

He hesitated for a moment before stepping in and slowly sinking down. He held the sides of the porcelain tub with a tight grip, as if he were to slip he’d drown in this shallow tub. 

You couldn’t help but giggle over how endearing he acted. Getting on your knees next to the tub, you gently started to wipe off the dried blood on his face with a washcloth. 

Despite the discoloration of his skin and the unnerving yellow of his eyes, he was handsome. He had a strong jawline, pouty lips, high cheekbones… you shook your head when you noticed you had been staring, not that he seemed to mind. 

His own eyes were busy moving, looking at everything, taking in all of his new surroundings. It was kind of cute how awfully skittish he was for such a large person. 

You couldn’t imagine what he was going through, or even what was going through his mind. As much as you hated Victor after discovering what he had done, you were still aware that this man was just the product of it, not the cause. He didn’t ask for any of this. 

As you began to wash his arms and chest, that’s when you noticed a familiar scar on his wrist. One of the bodies Victor had stolen was of a young man who had taken his own life. 

It always broke your heart when you had cases like that, not that your job was a happy one and that you didn’t care for the other people who ended up in your care. It was just that you often wondered what sort of pain were they feeling that ending their own life was a better solution. 

You recognized a few more familiar body parts, but what rattled you was how the creature’s face and a few of his other limbs weren’t familiar at all. 

Biting the inside of your cheek, you tried to figure out where else Victor could have gathered parts for his experiment. They would’ve needed to have passed away recently, they were probably taken from a nearby location...

You shook your head, none of that mattered right now. The only thing you should be worrying about is this strange man, who was sitting in your tub patiently waiting for you to finish.

Once he was clean, you helped him out of the tub allowing him to lean on you for support so he wouldn't slip on the tile floor. He seemed to still be figuring out how to move correctly, as he kind of moved in a disjointed fashion. 

Grabbing a couple of towels, you wrapped one around his waist, and then led him to your living room and had him sit on the couch. With the other towel, you leaned in front of him and dried his hair, arms, and chest. 

He tilted his head to the side as you dried his face, his eyes focusing on you. Unexpectedly, he caressed your cheek, you lowered the towel and smiled at him. 

“I’ll be right back,” you told him, before getting up and  heading into your bedroom. 

Digging around your closet you tried your best to find anything that would fit him. Sadly, the best you could do for now was letting him borrow your bathrobe. You laid it on your bed, so you could change into something more comfortable. 

Stepping out of your room, your heart almost jumped out of your chest, as you came face to face with your guest, who was waiting patiently outside of your door. 

“Sorry that took so long,” you laughed, recovering from the slight scare. “I found this for you to wear for now. Tomorrow, I’ll try to figure out how to get you some actual clothes.” 

You covered your mouth hiding your smile. The poor dear looked ridiculous. The silk robe barely reached above his knee and the sleeves ended at his elbows, but at least his private bits were covered. 

Now that he was clean and dressed, you wondered what else he needed. Was he hungry? thirsty? Was he bored? 

“Do you need anything?” You asked, knowing there was a good chance you wouldn’t get any kind of response. He simply just looked down at you. 

You bit your lip, as the two of you just sat there in silence, side by side, on the couch. Hopefully, he’ll learn to talk or perhaps find another way to communicate with you. You weren’t sure how long you would be able to care for him if not. 

“Well, I’m feeling a little hungry, so I’m going to get us a snack,” you explained standing up.

He watched your movement and then followed you to the kitchen, similar to what he did earlier when he was waiting outside your bedroom. The creature stood outside of the kitchen and watched as you prepared a couple of cups of tea and grabbed a pack of cookies for the two of you to share. 

You felt a dull ache in your chest as you realized that him following you around, was probably out of fear, scared that you were going to leave him.  

Gently, you placed your hand on his arm and tried to comfort him, “I promise, I’m not going to leave you.”

Carrying your snacks into the living room, you turned on the TV, putting on one of your favorite movies and started eating. The creature sat next to you, and watched carefully as you took a few sips of tea. 

He didn’t seem all that interested in any of the cookies even after you offered him one, but he did pick up his cup and repeated what you had done, including blowing on it before taking a sip. 

You tried to focus your attention on the movie, instead of worrying about the crazy day you just had. This was usually your way of unwinding, having a warm cup of tea and watching a little TV before bed. But your eyes kept wandering over to the creature. 

You frowned at yourself, referring to him as the creature was wrong, even if it was just in your head and not out loud. The poor guy needed a real name.

Resting your chin on your hand, you mulled over different options, making an imaginary list of names, and trying to decide which one suited him best. 

Lost in thought, you were surprised when he suddenly yawned, in fact the action seemed to startle him too. He looked over at you wide eyed, causing you to laugh lightly. He probably hasn’t slept since being created.

“C’mon,” you started, getting off of the couch and taking his hand. “It’s time for bed.” 

You led him into your room. “Here,” you said, pulling back the comforter on your bed. “You can sleep here for tonight.” 

He climbed into the bed, his feet hanging off of the edge. Despite his size, you couldn’t get over how small he acted, how timid and afraid. 

You brushed a few strands of hair away from his face, and caressed his cheek, “Good night, Adam.” You smiled, glad you finally picked a name for him. 

As you started to walk away, his hand shot out and grabbed your wrist. Adam looked up at you with pleading eyes. 

He didn’t have to say anything for you to figure out what he wanted, since meeting him it seemed that all he wanted was not to be alone again. 

“Oh, alright,” you relented, approaching the bed. “But just for tonight.”

Adam shuffled to the other side making room for you. You crawled into the bed, and turned off the light on the nightstand. 

Laying down, you realized how exhausted you actually were. Before passing out, you felt Adam’s hand finding yours, his fingers curling around it and holding it gently as you fell asleep.

[five-rivers]

Stuck

Continued from Science.

.

.

.

Danny took a deep breath. Okay. He had a camera strapped to him, and his parents were probably watching him through it right now, trying to figure out how to ambush him. Yay.

He had to hand it to them, this was inspired. If Skulker were here, he'd take notes. Or maybe not. Despite Skulker's obvious personality flaws, he did have a sense of sportsmanship. Sometimes.

If he stayed here, they would find him sooner or later. He wouldn't be surprised if they put a tracker in here, too, somehow. So, he had to go someplace they couldn't, at least not right away. Then, he could figure out how to get rid of the thing.

The question was, up or down?

Down would be faster, and have less chance of getting hit, but the sewers and storm drains weren't pleasant, and Danny didn't like phasing through solid ground very much. He could never quite shake the concern that he'd get stuck.

But he also wouldn't have to deal with things like tracking missiles, like he would if he went up, above the clouds.

Down it was.

He dropped until he was level with the storm drain tunnels, and then shot sideways. Being directly below where he was last seen didn't strike him as particularly clever, even if the camera included a tracker.

Once he'd passed through enough walls to get to a secluded and reasonably clean juncture, Danny stopped. He felt around the collar again. It seemed to have fused to his suit, somehow. No, he realized, sticking fingers into the neck of his jumpsuit, it had fused to his skin through the jumpsuit, somehow.

Gross. Why did his parents build such gross things?

Okay. First, phasing.

Extending intangibility to the device worked fine, phasing it off of himself, less fine. It was the 'phase along' version of phase-proof, then.

Next on the list was body manipulation, and- nope. He made his body warp into all sorts of horrible noodly shapes, and the device just warped along with him, flowing and misting. The only part that didn't change and twist was the camera itself.

Fine. He'd cut it off, then. It would probably hurt a lot, but he could do it. He'd endured worse than the removal of the top layer of skin from his neck and a small portion of his chest.

He summoned a blade of ice to his hand, made a mirror of the same on the tunnel wall and carefully, very carefully, began to cut away at collar. It bled green, ectoplasm trickling down to his shoulder.

It repaired itself.

Brilliant. His parents had really gone all-out with this one. It was really stuck on him.

Normally, this is when he'd reach out for help, when he'd call Tucker, Sam, or Jazz, but he couldn't exactly do that when his parents could be watching and listening to his every move.

Could the camera bit heal itself, though?

Last item on the list: just smash the camera to bits.

Wait.

Actually, wasn't this sort of an opportunity, a blessing in disguise? His parents were looking for proof that he, that all ghosts, were evil. Obviously, he wasn't going to give them that, but maybe he could show them evidence of the opposite?

Maybe he could do what he had always hoped and change their minds?

Maybe.

He couldn't really do what he needed to here, though. The risk that his parents would find him, or, worse, any ghosts that he interacted with, was too great. He'd just have to hope that the camera continued to work, continued to broadcast in the Zone.

But he couldn't use the Fenton portal. If they saw him getting too close to Fentonworks... well, he somehow doubted that the results would be pretty.

That left him a few options.

There were a number of reoccurring natural portals around town. But, he didn't really want to compromise their positions, though. Ghosts used them to get around, and not just the ones who caused trouble. Besides, none of them were open right now. He have to wait 'til dawn if he wanted one of those.

There was always Vlad's portal, but, well, as much as he liked annoying Vlad, revealing to his parents that Vlad had a portal could lead to unpleasant consequences. He wasn't nearly that desperate.

Which left... one option, actually. Oh, he knew he was going to regret this in some way shape or form.

He turned to face the warehouse district and set off.

.

The warehouse district was bright with security lights and sparsely populated by late-night delivery-people and the odd security guard. Still, there were many shadows and, being able to turn invisible, Danny had no difficulty hiding.

Danny wondered how, and if, the camera functioned while he was invisible. Light would go through it, after all, and Danny didn't see in human colors while he was invisible. It would be good if it didn't work, if it didn't have some kind of ectoplasm detectors or sonar, but he couldn't know, so he couldn't risk it.

Which meant that he had to do this fast, before his parents showed up.

He made his way to the one completely dark building in the warehouse district: the abandoned packing plant.

Correction: the theoretically abandoned packing plant. It had specialized in cardboard containers, after all.

He phased through the walls (and how did the camera register that?) and his ghost sense went off. His eyes rapidly adjusted to the dark, and he rapped his knuckles against a wall. "Hello?" He called into the dark. "Boxy?" He paused. "I know you're here, I can feel you. You realize that, right?"

A mountain of boxes in the center of the room trembled and formed into an approximately humanoid shape, blue light streaming through the gaps. "IT IS I, THE FEARSOME BOX GHOST!"

"Wow!" said Danny. "You're really working on that entrance! Much better than last time."

"WHY HAS THE GHOST CHILD COME TO THE DOMAIN OF THE AMAZING BOX GHOST?"

"I need a favor," said Danny. "Well, a couple favors, actually."

This apparently startled the Box Ghost so much that he lost control of his boxes. His carefully constructed stack tumbled to the ground, the light fading. The Box Ghost himself flew out of the heap.

"A favor?! From me?"

"Well, yeah," said Danny. "You agreed that if I let you stay around, you wouldn't bother anybody and you'd help me with questions about ghost stuff."

"Yeeeeeees, the Box Ghost remembers," he said, tapping his fingers together. "But he did not think it would actually happen. Well, what have you come to ask the great," he raised his hands over his head and waggled his fingers, "BOX GHOST?"

"I need you to help me find a transient portal," said Danny. "My p- the Fentons put this, uh, camera-tracker thing on me, and I can't get it off." Danny made a face. "You'll probably want to lay low for a while, too, after this. Maybe relocate for a bit."

"Back to the Realms?" asked the Box Ghost, sagging.

"No, no, you can still stay, just... maybe not in this building for the next little bit. You remember the other one we checked out for you?"

"Oh, yeah, in the-"

"Don't say it!" Danny took a deep breath. "They could be listening," he said. "The hunters."

"Oh, right. The great BOX GHOST is aware of this."

"So, can you take me to a portal?"

"Yeah, that's easy. Come on," said the Box Ghost.

.

The portal was a bit of a tight fit, but Danny managed. Not having bones could be useful, on occasion.

He spun slowly around, orienting himself. He knew where he was. Good. Now that he was no longer stuck in Amity Park, his first order of business was to get to the Far Frozen. If anyone could help him get this off, they could.

.

.

.

To be continued on day 11: Doctor.

[gildedmuse]

ZoAce talking about devotion (to Luffy, whitebeard etc). If you feel like it, of course

So I realize this doesn't feel the brief at all. I'm really sorry guys, I just got to spend five days in hospital (yay genetics!) And so the plan is for there to be a second part follow up soon.

Also, not gonna lie, I cut a very much R rated scene where Zoro and Ace have sex while Law watches because I realized that wasn't even CLOSE to the request. I'm sorry for this new OT3 I'm just way too in to. However, keep your eyes peeled for part two: the actual conversation, rated g for everyone.

I Couldn't Lose Him, Part One

"You could come with me, you know?"

You ever say something stupid, and before the words are even out of your mouth you know how stupid it is, but you end up saying it all the same?

Ace is always saying those kind of things. Especially since the failed execution when he almost died without saying some of the most important stuff. Now a days, these things would just flare up inside him, and he either had to spit them out or they would burn his throat all the way down as he swallowed them. Even then they didn't disappear, they just turned into flickering embers, not hot enough to explode outward but too hot to finally die down to nothing. He felt them all the time.

Like all those things he never had a chance to say to his captain.

But this... This was really stupid, because Ace knew what the answer would be before he even says anything.

Zoro rolls over in bed and smiles at him. Well, not exactly a smile smile. But a nice enough look. It said that he knows that Ace already knows his answer.

You could come with me. Shit. It really had been a stupid thing to say.

Zoro isn't going to leave his crew, his captain. Not until Luffy reaches the end of the Grand Line and can declare himself pirate king. Maybe not even after that. No, Zoro is a believer. He's steadfast, he's resolved, he's determined, he's loyal and committed and unfaltering in his trust and faith he places in Ace's crybaby little brother. He's unwavering in his support no matter how crazy the plan, because he has no doubt Luffy will carry through on his word.

Zoro is above all else devoted.

Ace had spotted it almost immediately in Alabaster. When Luffy said that he had to face this fight alone. Nami and Usopp were both practical - in a way Luffy needs to balance him out - and immediately pointed out that he in no way had to do it himself, they had numbers on their side, why not use that advantage? Sanji approached it a little more subtly, which Ace thinks is very much his style but will never work on Luffy. "They might be expecting us, they'll probably try to thin the herd to just Luffy regardless. Of course, if just Luffy goes than he'll have to face down whatever security forces they have in place by himself."

Chopper just wants to be helpful. "I know I'm not much of a fighter, but I'll happily guard Luffy against whoever they send after him!"

Zoro picks up the panting, overheated reindeer. He looks at Luffy, studying him for a mere second before nodding. A dangerous, toothy grin pulls at his lips. "Good. I wanted a second chance at that swordsman," Zoro says, as if he had planned to go off and fight the other kenshi regardless of what Luffy was planning on. As though if Luffy had said, "Zoro, come with me," Zoro wouldn't immediately forget about the other swordsman and follow Luffy anywhere he went.

Ace had noticed more than that, of course. Come on, the kid was cute. With spikey green hair and skin that looked like golden sand soaking in the heat of the sun. With his smile that tried to be hard and yet there was still so much shine to it, a sort of untainted joy that he couldn't hold back.

So, yeah, Ace had noticed, but he is also noticed all that loyalty, all that faith; it was all for Luffy. Poor kid. He didn't know that while Luffy loves his crew and adores his friends, his real loves will always be adventure and freedom and following his dreams.

Still, Ace isn't about to get between his brother and his first mate. Zoro could never compete with the promise of endless freedom, Luffy's general love of adventure, but what was the point of saying anything? He could already sense the resolve radiating off the swordsman. He'd already swore an oath to his captain, and it seemed clear to Ace his conviction was something deeper than a first mate's to their superior officer. Nothing Ace could have said would have changed that.

Besides, back then, he had his own mission to accomplish. Something entrusted to him by his own captain, and that was far more important than hopelessly flirting with some kid.

Of course, Zoro's not really a kid anymore.

-♠️-

When they met again in the new world, a whole lot had changed. Ace is captainless, crewless, mission less, sailing out on his own unsure where he's headed or what he is searching for. He stops by an island for a few days, partly to restock and partly because, well, it's not like he has anywhere else to be.

The ship docked nearby isn't at all familiar to him, but the loud shouting about meat and exploring and the new world certainly are.

Luffy hasn't changed a bit, Ace thinks with a light chuckle as he casually sneaks onboard this huge new ship to surprise his little brother.

Then there is Zoro.

As in, no, there - suddenly and far more sneakily than Ace remembers any of this crew being - is Zoro. He has Ace backed against a wall, sword at the other man's throat and a mean expression.

Ace finds himself having trouble swallowing, and it's not because of the sword.

"Oh," Zoro cocks his head and gives Ace a crooked smile, as though Ace can't hear that note of disappointment in his voice as lowers his weapon. So Zoro hasn't entirely changed. "Luf-Mmph!"

Ace gives Zoro a mischievous smile, holding a finger to his lips to signal he needs the swordsman's silence. He leaves his hand over Zoro's mouth as the strawhat vice captain arches an eyebrow, clearly wondering what the hell the older pirate thinks he's doing.

"Shh." Ace leans in to whisper into the swordsman's ear, pressing up against him maybe a little more than strictly necessary. Well, that's not entirly true. It's very much necessary in order to feel all those gorgeous new muscles. And Ace is really enjoying this new loose-fitting-kimono-practically-falling-off-his-shoulders-if-his-shoulders-weren't-now-as-broad-as-their-new-ship look.

Ace had heard rumours Zoro had spent the last two years training with Dracule Mohawk, and Ace could definitely see the influence, what with his robe hanging open practically to his waist.

"I want to surprise him," Ace whispers, his hand slowly dropping from Zoro's mouth. It takes a slight detour to his shoulder, broad and strong and just was well muscled as the rest of him. Ace can't help but give a firm squeeze, delighting at the play of strength he can feel flex in response.

Zoro crosses his arms over his chest and shakes his head, but Ace can see the hint of a smile tugging at his lips. He still can't hide it completely. "It doesn't matter of you surprise him or not, he's going to be excited either way," Zoro points out which is fair, but Ace's way is more fun. "Don't expect me to jump in after you if he knocks you off the ship."

Ace has to stifle his laugh. Luffy's definitely gotten stronger, Ace saw that for himself at Marinefird. Still, he's not about to be knocked out by his baby brother. Like that could happen.

-♠️-

Zoro does jump in after him.

Of course he does. His other option is to let his captain's idiot brother drown.

Luffy must have knocked him pretty far, too, because by the time Zoro breaks back up to the surface, Ace is nearly unconscious, with Zoro's grasp on his hands and the arm pushing him up the other man's (also very finely muscled) back being just about the only thing keeping Ace on his back.

"ZORO!" Luffy yells from the side of the ship even though he could just stretch his neck out to them. Ace wonders if the crew understands the sort of people that could be tracking them through the Grand Line. Ace hadn't had the slightest clue either the first time he's arrived, but then again, despite being a super rookie himself Ace hasn't caused nearly as much trouble for the world government not too mention countless others by the time he reached the second half.

Luffy could probably stand to learn to announce his entrance a little less loudly.

"TELL ACE I'M SORRY!" Luffy continues to shout, in case someone at the port hadn't already worked out who they were.

Ace couldn't help but notice there is no question that Zoro had recovered Ace just fine. Luffy seemed to instinctually know that Zoro wouldn't fail him.

Ace use to have that.

Of course, what Zoro actually said was, "I did warn you."

"Yeah," Ace draws, ends up sputtering up a bunch of water still in his lungs. "But you also said you wouldn't jump in after me, yet here you are."

"Don't make me drop you."

"You wouldn't do that." Zoro was kicking them back to the boat, paddling with one arm, with Ace draped over his back. Ace vaguely remembers what it had been like to get in the water and not immediately feel drained, and he's pretty sure that this still isn't fun or easy. Especially with all this wet clothes weighing him down.

"Wh-what are you doing?" It's the most Zoro has reminded him of the same kid back in Alabaster, and Ace snickers at the slight stutter in his voice.

"Helping you out if this wet kimono," Ace purrs against Zoro's ear, which gets him swatted at like a particularly annoying fly before Zoro quickly snakes his hand back under Ace's leg, sure not to drop him. Ace doesn't let himself get distracted from distracting Zoro. He dips his hands bellow the sash, fingers sprawled out over the taunt muscles of Zoro's lower stomach. "Don't you think it's be easier t-"

Zoro does the last leg of the swim underwater, where Ace can barely stay conscious, much less mess around with the young vice captain.

-♠️-

Ace hits the deck with a wet thud.

"Why were you under water so long, idiot marimo? He could have drowned!"

"It got us here faster, didn't it erocook?"

"Back up, let me see! .... It's okay, he still has a pulse."

There's a great sigh of relief.

Ace pops open one eye, staring directly up at Zoro. "Does that mean you won't be giving me the kiss of life?"

"Ace!" Next thing Ace knows, he's losing all his air gain, this time due to the rubber ball that's been thrown directly into his stomach aka his little brother.

Luffy squeezes him so tight, Ace might actually pass out, or would have if he weren't practically made of fire. Instead he just laughs, knocking that ridiculous hat off his head just to ruffle up his hair before setting it back. "I didn't know it was you!"

"That's because the idiot wanted to sneak up on you," Zoro informs Luffy, but he's expression is less severe than his words. If anything he looks down at the two brothers with fondness.

Luffy laughs at this, pulling his cheeks wide to stick his tongue out at Ace. "Not anymore! Rayleigh showed me how to never get snuck up on - Owe!"

Luffy rubbed his head after Nani's hand connected with his skull in a hard smack. "Then what was with those pirates the other night!?" She asks, clearly still upset about some event Ace hadn't witnessed.

"That was marimo's fault. He was on watch. He should have told us!"

"I took care of it."

"They almost blasted a whole in the side of The Sunny!"

"Yeah, Zoro bro, you could have been a little more careful."

"The Sunny is fine, and I took care of it."

"Yeah, Nami, Zoro took care of us. That's why Zoro makes the best watch!"

For as much as the crew looks to have changed, it's good to see they're not so different.

Ace just starts laughing, enjoying the nostalgia of their little argument, and that seems to get everyone's attention off whatever happened a few nights ago and back on their more recent visitor.

The Straw hats stopped their argument, turning to stare at Ace like he is the crazy one on the ship.

Their last argument seemingly forgotten, Sanji lights up another cigarette. "What are you doing way out here on the Grand Line by yourself, anyway?"

"Oh, you know, just trying to get the old crew back together," Ace lies casually. He'd met his old crew, but without whiteboard there it all felt so..

Empty.

[zuffer-weird-girl]

You don’t have to make this in to a story if you don’t want to but would Kai find his s/o breastfeeding kaito gross or be fascinated with it like wow that’s coming out you thats weird or how about taking a pregnancy test I feel like Kai would be like “yay we having a baby but I’m not touching your Gross pee stick”

Oof. Took long enough for me to write this... by the way did you notice how cute this man can be? Look at this gif.

Judging by your symptoms you were definitely sick.

There was no other option. Just looking at you every one could point it out with no difficulties.

Mood changes, lots of colics even not being on your period, low back pain, sore breasts, fatigue, nausea, constipation... One time he even saw you almost puking when Chrono came in for cooking holding a can of peas.

He was... worried at this point.

Although it seems like that just because he was stubborn his wife also had to be one... claiming that she wasn't sick.

He tried to examinate or even hire a particular doctor but when you had darkned your eyes and threatened him to not sleeping on the same room as his if he dared to do one of those, he shuted up pretty quickly.

When you marry someone you DON'T sleep apart from that person. THAT'S A FACT. also he needs you to sleep. Not that he is going to tell this anyway...

"Kai..?" You entered in his office only poking your head on the room in case he was busy.

He looked up and with a signal of his hand, he allowed you to enter... He was only doing taxes anyway, so screw it.

"You're feeling nauseous today as well?" You nodded while scrunching up your face in disgust.

"Peas... this time I throw up... damn those peas honestly." He hummed, placing the papers down as he got up from his chair.

"Angel I think its getting only wo-"

"Anyway~" you interrupted him while singing, giggling a bit when he rolled his eyes and sighed in irritation.

Does it cost too much of you if you even LISTENED to him?

"Since is Christmas season, I thought that... maybe I can give you a present earlier?"

He furrowed his eyebrows, you know how he felt about you buying him gifts and also how he felt about the... holiday in general. Thankfully it wasn't just as bad as was when he was still on that personal hell with his.... with those two people.

But still the thought still disturbed him a little.

"Ok. Before you say something about it, I swear this gift will be for both ours and even Pops enjoyment! Well, at least I really hope you get just as happy as I am with it."

He lifted one of his eyebrows in suspicion and doubt but sighed while crossing his arms when he saw that dammed puppy eyes of yours.

"Do as your wish." You let out a tiny yay and mentioned for him to follow you to your shared bedroom.

Well... you ended up fainting in the middle of your walk and Chisaki almost had a heartattack.

"(Y/N)!" Luckily he catched you in time before your body hitted the ground with full force.

"That's it." He growled and picked you up in bridal style and carried you to the bedroom himself.

Whatever virus it was in you he was going to yank it off by force.

He layed you on the bed and started to take his gloves off. When he was mere inches away from your skin you opened your eyes and yelped away from his hand.

His reaction had nothing pleasant about it..

"Get the hell back here. You are with a infection clearly, and must be cured now."

"Can you at least open my present before you have any regrets about it?!" You exclaimed while getting up, still a bit dizzy from the abrupt way you fall from your own bed.

He took a big breath in while pinching between his eyebrows.

"(Y/N)." He said darkly "Stop acting like a damn child and just... you put that look away. Is not going to work twice."

You out your bottom lip out and closed your palms together while looking uo at him.

"Please with a cherry on top?"

"... just give me this thing before I take you to the hospital by force." He growled while he sitted down on the bed.

You came in with a tiny rectangular black box with a green bow on it.

"After I see this. We will go to see what the hell is wrong with you. No objections." He demanded as he yanked the box away from your hands with a huff.

You giggled before sitting right besides him, no touching since he claimed you were sick, and waited paciently as he untied the box and opened the box slightly slow.

"..what the-?" He picked the objected and brought closer to see what the hell it was that stick.

"Wait, there's two lines on he-" realizitation hitted him like a train and he let go of the stick as he made way to the bathroom in hurry.

You were nervous until you heard the sounds of water splashing before you shook your head in disbelief with a smile.

Mysophobia was never going to get away from him.

He returned shortly after, rubbing his hands fervently, with probably alcohol gel, before he outted his gloves back on and looked at you with wide eyes.

You were getting slightly worried at the way his eyes were alnost popping out of his face.

"Uh... Kai?" You spoke reluctantly, standing up to properly look at him.

His wide gaze trailed from your face to your stomach... he stared for what seemed like five or even eight minutes as you started to tremble.

Why wasn't he saying anything?!

He slowly bringed one of his hands up and touched slightly with his middle and index finger the place which was growing another life.

A baby.

"Pregnant..." he mused monotonously while he still traced his glived finger over your civred skin area "I didn't stoped to reconsider that... possibility." His tone was numb but his eyes remained wide.

"Is... is it bad?" You whispered, feeling shivers go through all your body at the cool feeling of his gloves sliding now directly on your skin.

He chuckled, as he touched his foreheaded against yours. His eyes still pierced on your belly with a new... appearance on them.

"There was something on you... someone actually." He touched his intere hand now, pressing slightly.

"This is mine... I... made this. Angel I corrupted you badly this time." You gasped at his words, feeling your whole face heat up due to remember... nostalgic events.

He muffled kissed your between your eyebrows.

"I'm... happy. Is better than you being sick. Way better..."

You smiled up at him with tears in your eyes in relief that he hadn't gotten mad or even worse at the news. You hugged him tight, feeling his muscles contract but slowly relaxing back as he awkwardly enveloped his arms around your form.

"... heavens what is going to come out? Is a mixture between me and you in there." He said nonchalantly bjt you could feel the tiny hint of sarcasm and slightly desperation on that. "Betwen a demon and a angel... for God's sake..."

"A defiant? Half and half?" You looked up at him in mockness as his face transformed into one of deep thought.

"Huh. Is accurate."

"Wait what? No, Kai, you're not calling our baby this. That was only a joke."

"Too late."

[writingwithbella]

Old Scars/Future Hearts: Salty Like A Summer’s Day

series summary; one summer. one tour. six people. touring with your older brother and the band he manages is supposed to be fun. you get to be with all of your favorite people, go to different cities, and jam out to shows every night. so why is pope so set on making your experience a living hell?

pope heyward x routledge!reader 

2.4k words (👁👄👁we really went off with this first chapter ngl)

a/n: yay! first chapter in @bricksatanakinswindow​ and I’s new fic! We are both very excited to share this with you and would love to hear what you have to say on the first chapter! this fic is definitely going to be a wild ride, but one we hope you enjoy as much as we do!

JJ Maybank sees you first.

He’s booking it across the parking lot, his hat close to flying off his head and his backpack slapping violently against his back as soon as you step out of your car. You’re too focused on tugging your charger from the port to realize he’s barreling towards you at full speed. When you finally look up, you have less than ten seconds to brace yourself before JJ is slamming into you, squashing you between him and the car.

“y/n!” he shouts, nuzzling his face in the crook of your neck. “JB said you were coming but I said I wouldn’t believe it ‘til I saw it. You know how flaky you can be, right?”

You roll your eyes and shove JJ off of you, a grin making its way onto your face. “Fuck off, Maybank. I always keep my promises.”

Before he can answer you, another voice sounds from the other end of the parking lot in the same tone of elation as JJ. “Thank god!”

Kie’s making her way towards the two of you, a radiant smile on her face. She looks as beautiful as ever, her hair falling behind her shoulders in curls. Her skin is glowing, and her eyes are bright. You move from JJ’s grip in favor of pulling Kie into a bone-crushing hug, a small giggle escaping your lips when she gasps.

“If I had to suffer through this tour without you or Sarah, I’d go insane,” she says, moving to drink you in. “You look good, y/n. When did you start wearing so much black?”

You laugh a little, shaking your head at her. The last time Kie had seen you, you were going through your pink phase. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, really, except for the fact that it wasn’t your style. You had experimented different styles over the past few years, deciding that a mixture of pretty much everything suit you. “Just recently. I decided it’s the right vibe for now.”  

“Well, I, for one, don’t care about clothes. Let’s go back to the bus,” JJ says, grabbing two of your bags. “John B. says he misses you. Surprising, right?”

“Shut up, JJ!” you and Kie say at the same time, falling into a fit of giggles as he rolls his eyes at you.

Kie links her arm with yours, guiding you towards the tour bus that would house you for the next four months. You had been excited when John B. had called and asked you to help him manage to band on tour. Your summer was originally going to be spent in your hometown, pretending your brother wasn’t traveling the country while you worked a minimum wage job.

But this option was much, much better.

You see John B. and Sarah before they see you. You can tell right away that your brother is smitten with Kie’s best friend. His attention is fully on her, a smile brighter than the sun painted on his face. You knew your brother like the back of your hand, having watched him fall in love with girls time and time again.

“Ah, so JB is already making moves?” you ask teasingly, resting your hands on your hips.

“Sarah Cameron does have that effect on people,” Kie comments.

You snicker, shaking your head at your brother. He is a hopeless romantic through and through. You could only hope Sarah possessed some of those traits.

“I was hoping JB was lying when he said you were coming along for the ride.”

Pope’s voice turns your blood into ice. He was the last person you wanted to see – the person you were dreading seeing. Pope wasn’t nice to you. There was no way around it. For some god-awful reason, Pope Heyward fucking hated you. And because you weren’t one to back down, you reciprocated those harsh feelings.

It was exhausting being around him, always being so angry and rude. But you weren’t going to let him push you around.

You turn on your heel, catching Kie’s eye. She sends you a pleading look, one begging you to be nice. You can hear her voice in your head; C’mon, y/n, it’s the start of the tour. Let’s not do this right away.

“I promised,” you say stiffly, your eyes raking over him lazily. You ignore the tug at your heart when you see him. He always looks attractive, but today especially, he seems to have turned up the heat. He’s wearing ripped black jeans, a Nirvana tank top, and his hat backwards. He looks like a tall glass of water, begging to be drank on a day as hot as this one.

But then he opens his mouth.

“We all know how hard it is to keep your promises,” Pope says dismissively. “Kie, did you see where JB left the keys? I want to get the AC going so we don’t all heat case.”

“I don’t know, why don’t you ask him?” She replies offhandedly, gesturing towards the love-stricken boy. Pope rolls his eyes, but not frustratedly like he had with you. Rather, he seems amused, humored by the older boy’s antics. You scoff, but rather than begin the argument again, you turn to face Kie and JJ who are trying to ignore the obvious tension in the air.  

“This is gonna be so much fun!” JJ mocks, to which you and Kie laugh raucously, catching John B’s attention and breaking him out of his Sarah-Cameron-centered trance.  

“Alright, alright, calm down kids. Let’s get on the bus, I feel like I’m dying.” He pulls the keys out of one of the pockets of his cargo shorts and begins walking towards the bus. The rest of them follow after, lugging their suitcases and duffle bags behind them as if they had been walking for miles. Under his breath, Pope mutters.  

“That’s such a great idea, John B. I wonder who literally said that not ten seconds before?” You can’t help the snicker that you make at his words. He looks over at you, but before he can make whatever snarky comment had come to his mind, John B interrupts, opening the door to the bus and gesturing to the ample space within.  

Note your heavy sarcasm.  

“Welcome to your humble abode for the next four months. There’s a living room, a kitchenette, and in the far back, behind the curtain, the bunk space. Bunks are first come, first serve, so if you want a top bunk, I suggest you claim it now.” His words spark a race within the group and the six of you push and shove each other out of the way to claim your ideal bunk.  

You are reaching to seize the top bunk for yourself when a dark arm moves past you and places an olive green duffle bag on the undressed mattress. You turn to look at the owner of said arm and, unsurprisingly, find it attached to Pope, who is smiling innocently.  

“That’s my bed.” He laughs slightly, to which you cross your arms and stare him down with your most intimidating look. He laughs harder.  

“Really? I didn’t see any stuff on it saying that it was yours. No sign, no luggage. In fact, the only stuff on there is mine, so I think this is my bed. Sorry.” You can tell by the smile on his face that he is in no way sorry. But, it doesn’t matter. JJ and Kie are giving you both wary looks as if waiting for a fight to break out and this is going to be a four-month long tour. You will have plenty of time to annoy and argue with each other later.  

For now, for them, you’ll just grit your teeth and bear it.  

“Fine. I’ll just take this one. But, if I hear a single snore from you, I won’t hesitate to smother you with a pillow.” You place your stuff on the next bunk down, ignoring Pope’s looming presence behind you.  

“Fine, but one peep from you and I won’t hesitate to push you onto the floor.” You scoff.

“Fine.”  

It’s hours later that you find yourself alone with Kie, JJ and Pope having left to get either groceries or something they’d forgotten to pack, while John B is still attempting to woo Sarah by taking her to some park nearby. A sort-of goodbye to the Outer Banks before they depart for their four-month venture.  

“It’s so weird,” Kie mutters, sipping on a can of beer she’d pulled from the minifridge. The boys may not know how to pack the basics like a toothbrush or enough socks, but they’d remembered to stock every cool place in the vehicle with alcohols of all types from cheap beers to hard liquors.  

“What’s weird?” You reply, sipping on a cold beer of your own and staring out the tinted windows into the nothingness of the parking lot beyond. There really isn’t much to do on the bus when it’s just the two of you, resigning you to talking or staring—you at the outer world and Kie at her phone.  

“I feel like, I don’t know, we should all be at a dinner, celebrating us leaving for tour. Instead, we’re just sitting here, doing nothing, while everyone else does whatever. Just feels like a shitty start to tour.” You shrug, looking away from the window, and turn to face her, who hasn’t looked up from her phone in the entire time she talked.  

“Well, there’s still time for us to do all that. Maybe not a celebratory dinner, but we leave at 11 o’clock tomorrow. We could have a nice breakfast send-off.” She scoffs lightly, jokingly, and finally looks up from the screen to meet your eyes.  

“Very funny. I’m just saying, I thought tonight would be going differently, that’s all. I thought maybe we would all be sitting around a table and drinking and laughing and talking about all the things we want to do on tour. I thought we’d be trying to keep you and Pope from killing each other and be separating John B and Sarah so they didn’t try to fuck right there in front of us all. Instead we’re all separated and we’re drinking and I don’t know. I just thought things would be different.” You could definitely see where she was coming from. This isn’t how you thought tour would be starting off either, though you couldn’t say you were surprised. The group had never been very well-organized, so the idea that they are all on different pages doesn’t surprise you.  

“Well, there’s still enough time left in the day for me and Pope to start arguing again, so don’t discard that idea yet. But seriously, if you want to have a celebratory send-off, I can goad my brother into a breakfast thing tomorrow. I’m sure they’d all love to eat before the four-hour drive to Raleigh.” Kie shakes her head amusedly, looking down at the can in her hand.  

“Nah, I don’t want to force the boys to do anything they don’t want. If they want to start on a low note, that’s on them. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of group meals on the road, it’s kind of inevitable. Speaking of low notes, what the fuck is up with you and Pope?” You suspect that this was the motive behind the entire conversation—to get you to talk about Pope, but you can’t find it within yourself to be surprised.  

The tension between you and Pope has always been a point of contention within the group. No one within the group seems to know how it started, not even you. All you can remember is Pope meeting you and immediately treating you with hostility, which you returned because you didn’t know what else to do. Now, because you both possess deep friendships with every other member of the group, you are forced to tolerate each other's unbearable existences. But your friendships with the others doesn’t mean you won’t still make comments and pick fights with each other every chance you get.  

“Nothing new. He’s still an asshole and I still don’t know why. But I’m trying to be nice, for you and JJ. He just makes it so difficult. He keeps making little digs at me and stealing my bunk? He just keeps acting like a child! I don’t get it, what did I ever do to him?” Kie shrugs, but before she can reply, the door opens and the topic of your conversation enters with JJ, carrying multiple bags. At the sight of you, Pope’s expression sours.  

“Hey, so we got some basic needs for the road so we aren’t just eating junk all the time.” JJ tosses a bag to you, which you examine with an amused expression.  

“This is exclusively gas station junk food. There’s not a single healthy item in here.” JJ laughs, swiping the bag from your lap as he and Pope move past you and Kie to the kitchenette. Pope refuses to look at you.  

“Okay and? Fresh fruits would rot so fast, it doesn’t make sense to have them. At least these things will last.” JJ says, pointing at you.  

“Yeah, but my waistline won’t. We have to eat healthier, even if it means buying fruits and veggies and eating them within the day,” Kie speaks. Pope rolls his eyes, but jokingly, like he’s amused by what she said. You’re sure that if you had said the same thing that he would be going off on you or making comments. It’s frustrating to you that he held you to a different standard than his other friends.  

“I’m going to bed, guys, you all have fun,” you mutter, chucking your empty beer can into the trash can in the kitchenette and maneuvering past the confused boys. You just don’t have it in you to deal with Pope at the moment and it makes more sense for you to just remove yourself from the situation entirely rather than listen to Pope make snide remarks towards you all night.  

You dress quickly for bed and ensure the curtain is closed before you slide into your bunk, covering yourself with the blanket you had packed, not realizing the beds wouldn’t come with any sheets. You’d have to buy something soon if you were going to survive the next four months.  

As you lay still in the bunk, eyes open despite your pleas for sleep to come quickly and easily, you hear Pope’s voice cut through the silence of the bus despite its hushed tones.  

“What’s her problem?” It’s said jokingly, a mockery at your expense, but the reply you issue within the depths of your mind is serious: you are.  

taglist; @sarahcxmeron​ @northcarolinanative​

[appalachianwiine]

Swim - Chapter 5 - A Light In the Darkness

I need light in the dark as I search for the resolution   

-"The Resolution" by Jacks Mannequin

“Well we’re not going to be starting Chemo tonight after all.” Dr. Rhee says as she walks in shortly after lunch. 

“We’re not?” Daryl frowns.

“No her post op lab results show just a little bit of an increase in white blood cells.” Dr. Rhee explains. “I’m going to give her some antibiotics and retest tomorrow morning. But the good news is that means she can go down to the playroom for a bit.” 

“Can she have visitors?” Daryl asks. Lydia had been asking about seeing Carl since the child life specialist, Beth, had left. 

“Yeah she can, but visiting hours for non family end at 8pm” Dr. Rhee informs him. 

“Want me t’ call ‘em baby girl?” Daryl asks. 

“Can you?” Lydia pleads. 

“Yeah.” Daryl picks up his phone and dials Lori. 

“Daryl?!” Her voice is a little strained. “We’ve been calling all day. Is everything okay?” 

Its with a rush of guilt he realizes he’s hardly looked at his phone since she called him yesterday. “Shit sorry Lori.” He gives her the short version of it all, about the leukemia, the lumbar puncture, the results they were waiting on.

“I can’t believe you didn’t call earlier.” Lori scolds. “Daryl, we should’ve been there. I can’t believe you had to do all this alone.” 

Daryl grimaces. “Sorry, I uh - I actually had a meetin’ this mornin’. With a nice woman who runs the support group here fer parents. She was a single parent when she went through this with her daughter.” 

“Oh.” Lori says. “Is - is there a lot of that? Single parents I mean.” 

Daryl glances over at Lydia, who’s drawn back into the television. “I ain’ even the only adoptive parent righ’ now. There’s a guy across the hall, Ezekiel, an’ his kid.” 

“Shit.” Lori mutters. “Well um - do you - do you want us to come by? Can she have visitors?” 

“Yeah she can. She’s been askin’ t’ see Carl. Real disappointed in not getting t’ see him yesterday.” Daryl says. 

“I’ll give Rick a call and we’ll be by.” Lori says. “You need anything from home?” 

“No we’re alright.” Daryl says. “Thanks Lori.” 

“Of course.” Lori says. “We’ll see you around 3?” 

“See you then.” He hangs up, turning back to Lydia, who’s watching him with hopeful eyes. “They’ll be here around three.” 

“Yay!” Lydia grins, bouncing up and down. 

“Ya know,” Dr. Rhee says. “Maybe Miss Lydia would like to check out the playroom. She’ll have to wear a mask and stay connected to the infusion pump, but they’ve got a lot of good stuff in there.”

“Can we daddy?” Lydia asks. 

“Sure.” Daryl agrees, he’ll do anything to keep her in good spirits right now. She seems to be feeling good and he’d like to keep it that way. “You know there’s a little boy yer age across the hall?” 

“There is?” Lydia asks. “Can I see him?” 

“Sure, lets go over and see if he wants to come with us.” Daryl helps Lydia out of bed and sets her carefully on the floor. “Hang on let me get the pole.” He reaches for the infusion pole, fumbling with the latch that attaches it to the bed for a moment. It releases and he pulls it towards him, it’s surprisingly heavy. “Alright lets go kiddo.” 

They have to pause twice for Daryl to gather up the tubing that comes out of Lydia’s arm and up to the bag of antibiotics. As he loops them around his hand it strikes him that this isn’t unlike Dog’s long line, wrapped around his hands and unraveling as they move. Lydia looks back at Daryl as they reach the door of 323. 

“You knock daddy.” Lydia mutters, reaching out to grab his hand. The wariness returns to her as they stand in front of the door. 

“Okay.” He says, squeezing her hand and reaching out to knock. 

“A moment!” Ezekiel’s voice comes from beyond the door. There’s some scrambling and then the door pulls open. “Daryl!” 

The booming voice makes Lydia flinch and draw closer to Daryl. Daryl reassures her with a hand on her head, stroking her hair back. “Uh, Ezekiel. This is Lydia.” He smiles. “She was wondering if - if Henry might want to come to the playroom.” 

Ezekiel kneels in front of them, and it’s then that Daryl sees he’s wearing a paper crown colored in yellow and pink. “Hello Lydia.” His voice drops. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Ezekiel.” He holds out a hand. 

Lydia’s brown eyes look back up at Daryl, and then, slowly, she reaches out to shake Ezekiel’s hand. “Hi.” 

“Would you like to come in and meet Henry?” Ezekiel asks. Lydia nods silently, and Ezekiel stands, offering a smile and stepping back from the door. “Come in, he’s over there with Carol.” 

Daryl pushes the IV pole into the room, it’s a mirror image of their own, except this one is decorated. Behind the bed is one of those banners you get from the party store spelling out ‘Henry’ in bold green letters, and a bunch of printer sheet sized papers with colorful backsplash and lettering taped around the room. As he walks past one Daryl sees it’s a bible verse, the others appear to be too. Over by the window the bald little boy is sitting on Carol’s lap and holding plastic dinosaurs. 

“Henry.” Ezekiel calls. “Someone is here to see you.” 

The boy’s head turns and Daryl is struck by how in the light of day his skin appears almost translucent but his eyes are bright and alert. “Hi.” He says, climbing off of Carol’s lap and trotting across the floor, his own infusion tube trailing after him. “I’m Henry.” 

“Lydia.” She mumbles, hiding her face against Daryl’s leg. 

“Go on.” Daryl mutters, nudging her forward. “Ask him.” 

“Do you um… want to go to the… to the playroom?” She mutters, half into Daryl’s leg. 

“Sure.” A smile stretches across Henry’s face. “Can we daddy?” 

“Sure Henry.” Ezekiel says, already fumbling with the latch on the infusion pole. 

“Hi Daryl.” Carol says. “She doing okay?” 

“Yeah I think so.” Daryl nods. “Better now that she ate, and uh her friend is coming to visit soon.” 

“Are you coming with us?” Henry asks Carol as he drops a few plastic dinosaurs into a tub. 

“If your daddy doesn’t mind.” Carol smiles. 

“Never do.” Ezekiel smiles, sliding Henry’s own infusion pole over to them. “Ready?” 

The playroom is at the other end of the floor, it’s empty and clean, even here everything smells sterile and controlled. There’s a sign telling the kids to wear masks before they go in, and two boxes, one with princesses and the other with trucks. A bit gendered but it’s an option. Henry reaches confidently for the princess one and puts it on, Lydia on the other hand looks warily at them. 

“I don’t want those.” Lydia murmurs. 

“I know.” Daryl sighs. “But those are the rules, if you don’t follow them you have to go back to the room.” 

“Fine.” Lydia scowls, grabbing one of the pink princess ones and putting it on. “Can we go play now?” 

“Go on.” Daryl says, pushing her infusion pole over to one of the small tables and watching her drag out the barbies.

“They seem to be hitting it off.” Carol comes to stand next to him, Ezekiel is helping the kids pull the toys out, still wearing the paper crown. 

“Yeah.” Daryl mutters. “What’s uh - what’s with the crown?” 

“Oh,” Carol chuckles. “Henry was making us play something he calls ‘’Kingdom” It changes but the theme is usually he’s a prince and Ezekiel is the King and they have to fight monsters.” 

“Ah.” Daryl chuckles. “A fun kid?” 

“Oh tons of fun.” Carol nods. “When he feels good anyway, he’ll probably take a hit after this round of Chemo.” Her smile fades a little bit. 

“Oh.” Dary mutters. 

“Sorry.” Carol apologizes. “It’s just - it’s always a little hard being here.” 

“I can’t even imagine.” Daryl sighs. “Losing her it’s -” 

“Don’t.” Carol cuts him off. “I’m sorry just - the words don’t… they don’t help and you don’t need to go there right now.” 

“Right.” He’s quiet for a while, an awkward silence stretching out in front of them. 

“What do you do?” Carol says after a moment. 

“Cop. Special Victims, domestic violence and child abuse mostly” He nods. “‘S how I met Lydia. You?” 

“High School English teacher.” Carol says. Daryl chuckles. “What?” 

“I don’ know I didn’t picture that.” He shrugs. 

“Oh really?” Carol raises her eyebrows. “What did you picture Mr. Cop?” 

“I don’t know. I just can’t picture you as a strict highschool English teacher.” He scratches his chin. “You uh make the kids write a million drafts?” 

“If I don't, no one will.” She chuckles. “I wanted to teach Elementary though, but after Sophia… highschool was easier.” 

“Ah.” Daryl nods. “And uh, you an’ Ezekiel, how long has that been a thing? Just since he moved down here? Or did you know him before?” 

“Me and Ezekiel?” She raises her eyebrows. “Oh we’re not - no, just friends. Trust me the last thing either of us has the time or energy for is dating. He got in contact with me a lot like you did actually, referral through Maggie.” 

“Oh.” Daryl says. “I uh, sorry I just assumed, I mean Henry seems to adore you and I just assumed.” 

“It’s fine.” Carol promises. “So what’s her plan?” 

“Lydias?” Daryl asks, Carol nods. “Oh um, well apparently the lab is closed on Sundays, but we should have results by Thursday, but I think she’s supposed to start Chemo tomorrow. What uh… what can I expect? I mean Dr. Rhee told me but it’s kind of overwhelming.”

“Daryl.” Carol sighs. “Are you sure you can handle this right now?” 

“I’m fine.” He insists. “The hallway was just -” 

“It’s okay.” Carol reaches over and squeezes his arm. “You don’t have to explain, I promise we’ve all had breakdowns in the hallway.” 

“Right.” Daryl rubs his hands on his jeans.

“So um,” Carol says. “So they’ll probably give about four hours of fluids first, chemo does a lot of damage to the kidneys so they’ll want her to flush it as quickly as possible. So expect a lot of potty breaks, then she’ll get her chemo, then another four hours of fluids. She’ll feel pretty tired, nauseous, she might get constipated, and her blood counts will plummet.” 

“What does that mean?” Daryl asks. “Like what do I - what will she look like.” 

“Um, pale, they’ll watch her for a certain kind of bruising, she’ll have a higher chance of infection. It’s not too bad when they’re checking her all the time, but it’s nerve wracking when you’re at home.” Carol sighs, chewing her lip. 

“Her hair.” He says quietly. “How long… um will that take to…” 

“To fall out?” Carol says slowly, he can still sense some reluctance on her part. “Sophia's took about 2 weeks to really start coming out and then we shaved it after the third week, it was starting to upset her. But Henry kept all of his until it was gone and that was about a month.” 

“A month.” He mutters. “That’s uh - that’s not very long.” 

“No.” Carol shakes her head. “But you’re gonna get through this Daryl. It’s like Ezekiel said, you’re not alone in this. You can call me any time, seriously.” 

“Yeah.” He nods. “I uh - I will.” 

“I know that look.” Carol says. “Which means I’m going to be calling you to check in.” 

“What d’ ya mean?” He gowns. 

“That look means you’re not going to reach out first and you’re going to be stubborn about it.” Carol nudges him. 

He blushes, that had been what he was thinking. “Fine. FIne. I’ll call.” 

“Before you’re discharged. You’ll need help with that. There’s a lot that needs to be done for her to come home.” Carol insists. 

“Yeah alright. Before she’s discharged.” Daryl promises. 

They linger in the playroom for another half an hour, after which Henry starts complaining that he’s tired. Ezekiel takes Henry back to their room and Daryl helps Lydia put away some of the toys. 

“Come on kiddo, Carl will be here soon.” Daryl says, putting a few barbies in the bin. 

“Alright.” Lydia pouts putting a couple more barbies away. “Is she coming with us?” 

Daryl looks over at Carol who’s putting away a few plastic animals. “Um, I don’t think so. Why?” 

“I thought she’s Henry’s mom.” Lydia shrugs. “But he says she’s not.” 

“Yeah.” Daryl nods.

“You two want some help getting back to the room?” Carol offers. 

“Nah.” Daryl shakes his head, sliding the bin of barbies back into the cupboard and starting to gather up Lydia’s infusion line. “I think we got it. Don’t we Lydia?” 

“We got it.” Lydia nods. 

“Alright.” Carol smiles. “I’ll get going then okay?” 

“Yeah.” Daryl nods. “And uh… thanks for everything.” 

“Of course.” Carol says, holding the door open so he can push the heavy infusion pole through it. “And I mean it, I’ll be calling you. I want to see you in our meeting on Tuesday okay?”

Daryl’s about to answer but he’s cut off by a sharp yelp, Lydia has rushed forward to the end of her line and tugged it. “Lydia!” He mutters, hurrying over to her and kneeling in front of her, it doesn’t appear to have come out. “What are you-” 

“Lydia!” And in a blur another eight year old has rushed up beside him, hugging her tightly. 

“Carl!” Lydia grins, barely noticing the worry she’d caused Daryl. “Move Daddy!” 

“I - “ He looks over at Carol, she’s covered her mouth trying to suppress a giggle. 

“It’s cute.” She says apologetically. “Tuesday?” 

“Yeah.” His shoulders relax. “Tuesday.” Carol walks past him towards the elevator and Daryl pulls the infusion pump closer to them. “Carl where’s your mom?” 

“I don’t know.” Caryl shrugs, sticking his thumbs in his belt looks. “Somewhere.” 

“Carl Grimes!” Lori’s harsh voice says, coming up rapidly behind them, baby Judith on her hip. “Don’t you ever run off like that again you understand?”

“Sorry. I saw Lydia.” Carl shrugs. 

“I can see that.” Lori sighs. “Daryl, sorry about him he knows better.” 

“It’s fine Lori.” Daryl assures. “We’re just heading back to the room.” 

“Who was the woman?” Carl asks, holding Lydia’s hand as Daryl gathers up the cords again and loops them around his arm.

“Oh that’s Carol. She’s not Henry’s mom.” Lydia shrugs. 

“Then who is she?” Carl frowns. 

“I don’t know. Daddy's friend I guess.” Lydia doesn’t seem phased by it and the two start off down the hall, leaving Daryl and Lori to hurry after them. 

“Woman?” Lori raises her eyebrows. 

“Carol.” Daryl says. “She’s from the single parents support group. She uh - saw that whole fiasco.” 

“Ah.” Lori chuckles. “She's pretty?” 

“Yeah I guess. Why?” Daryl narrows his eyes.

“No reason.” Lori smirks. 

“Oh no no no.” Daryl says. “My kid has cancer, you're not playing matchmaker.” 

“You’re no fun.” Lori pouts. 

“Where’s Lori and Michonne?” He’s eager to change the subject. 

“Already in the room probably, they didn’t have a baby to hold them up.” Lori chuckles. “Or a little boy who likes to play the world tour of bathrooms every time we’re somewhere new. They brought some decorations for Lydia.” 

“Daddy look!” Lydia grins from the doorway. “Look what aunt Michonne and Uncle Rick brought!” 

Sure enough, when he gets to the door the entire room has been done up like a Little Mermaid party. Balloons, streamers, and a big ‘get well soon lydia’ sign hanging above the bed.’. He grins sheepishly at rick. “Y’all didn’t have t’ do this.” 

“Of course we did.” Michonne grins. “Now come on Lydia we brought you some presents.”

[kaleidescope-writes]

Heart of Audrilluria- Chapter III; Simple Dreams

Modern Fairytale AU

Prince!Tom Hiddleston x Theif!Reader

The limousine door opened, greeting the sisters once more. After a long welcome by the royal staff, Y/N and Amelie finally made their way to the place they’d rest for the night. It had been nearly seven hours since the pair had stepped foot in Audrilluria, and so far, everything had gone smoothly. The sun was already setting, illuminating the island in a lavish purple tint with feathery pink and yellow clouds floating overhead. Amelie entered the vehicle first, letting out a long sigh of relief the instant she let her tired feet rest below her. Y/N followed suit. Both sisters exhausted by the day’s activities. Both impatiently waiting the moment they could rest their backs on what they’d assumed was a mattress made from the richest cloud royal wealth could buy. 

“How much longer until we arrive at the guest house,” Amelie asked the driver, who until now had been quiet since their arrival. “It’ll only be a couple minutes, Lady Santiago. The Guest House is a mile south of the castle. Once we arrive, your Chaperone, Edmundo will take you to your joint room and help you settle down,” the driver replied, his baritone voice sounded with hints of a northern Irish accent.

“Thank you, Mr.--” 

“Corb, Elliot Corb.”

“Mr. Corb it is then,” Y/N confirmed. There was a brief pause surrounded only by the gentle whirring of the air that passed the vehicle. “I assume you would like some time in private,” Corb spoke before closing the window that separated the driver's seat from the rest of the vehicle. 

Amelie turned to her sister, sure that they were given complete privacy. “That was an eventful first day.” Y/N nodded, letting her shoulders slump into the seat. “Absolutely,” she sighed. “How many times did we have to repeat our names to other noble persons?” Amelie laughed lightly rolling her eyes and relaxing into the seat as well, “I lost count after a thousand! And it’s only the first day.” Y/N shook her head and shivered slightly. “If this is what it’s been like so far, I can’t imagine how we’ll feel after two weeks.” Amelie groaned playfully. 

She turned her attention to the window, captivated by how the light from the sky illuminated the lush green life outside the vehicle. The trees and vast areas of grass painted by the purple tint coming from the sky. Y/N followed her sister’s gaze, seeing the same beauty of the island, finding herself captivated as well. “This place really is straight out of a fairytale,” Amelie said for the second time since their arrival. As the vehicle slowed, the peaceful green scenery was replaced by a garden with a large fountain. Turning into the driveway, the limousine’s windows revealed a large, illuminated building. It’s beauty second only to the castle they’d come from. Its white, window covered walls were decorated by golden accents. The vehicle stopped in front of the guest house entrance and Edmundo opened the door. 

“Welcome to Queen Georgiana Clementine Rosewell's Guest House,” he announced, motioning to the entrance with his right arm. Y/N stepped out first, still admiring the building’s beauty. “Woah,” Amelie gasped, following Y/N, “This is definitely not what I was expecting!” Edmundo chuckled, leading them through the doors, “You’re in Audrilluria, you’ll have to get used to fairytale life.” 

They walked passed the lobby and entered one of the elevators, also decorated in the same white and gold as the rest of the building. Once the doors closed, Y/N turned to Edmundo, “Shouldn’t we check in first?” Edmundo regarded the older sister, “No, no, that’s already been taken care of, madame. One of the perks of having a chaperone. We are headed to your suite on the third floor. I hope you don’t mind separate beds in a joint room.” 

The elevator doors opened to reveal a long hallway with three doors on each side. The walls were decorated with chestnut pillars and intricate designs that looked more like they were painted instead of wallpaper. “Down the hall to suite 142,” Edmundo instructed. They continued down the hall, taking in every detail of the walls. They stopped in front of the last door on the left. Edmundo opened the door to reveal a large, brightly lit room. Everything was cream and had bronze-colored accents. The room consisted of two couches and an ottoman in the center and a chandelier hanging overhead. The decor around the room matched the overall vintage royal feel of the room. 

The girls looked around the room in absolute awe. “Ah, I see you like it!” Edmundo walked around the room, making sure everything was in order. “As I said, you have to get used to fairytale life.” Amelie walked around the room and stopped at the door on the right. She turned the knob and opened the door to reveal a dazzling aquamarine room adorned to the brim with bronze accents and a few cream structural accents. The walls had a few paintings of former Audrillurian royalty with a plaque identifying them. The bed matched the chairs and carpet and the chandelier was a smaller version of the one in the main room. 

Edmundo walked in behind her, smiling. “The room across from it is the exact same in looks,” He commented. He motioned to the corner that contained her luggage. Walking out of the room, he addressed both girls, “Well I will leave the two of you to rest. There is a telephone in both rooms and you will have an 8 am wake up call followed by a breakfast gathering at 9:30. Anything else, just dial the front desk and ask for me.” Edmundo walked out to the hallway, leaving both girls to marvel in the room’s charming appeal.

“Ok, so today we rest, and tomorrow..” Amelie started. Y/N snapped out of her stupor and turned to her. “Tomorrow we use to gather intel. After breakfast, we’ll have a few hours of recreational time before the ball. We'll get as much Intel now so we can put parts of the plan together accordingly. After tomorrow, we only have a week and five days until the coronation. We can't waste time unnecessarily." 

Amelie sat down in one of the large main room couches. "So let's start listing our options for intel."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

              “Well,” Charles started dramatically, “That was hell!” Thomas walked over to his bed and let all his weight drop. “You’re not making this feel any better.” Lying on his stomach, he let himself relax while facing Charles. “I’m right! I miss the simplicity of not having to impress other noblemen and focussing simply on governing the people behind closed doors.” Charles continued. To this, Thomas sat up, facing him with a slight hint of annoyance in his tone, “That’s not exactly what I would consider simplicity.” 

Charles turned to him, his face contorting with confusion. A sudden wave of realization washed over him and he turned to fully face Thomas. “Oh! Right, don’t mistake your cherished dream of the simple life for the luxury of living quite literally like kings! How could I forget?” Thomas sighed, relaxing once more on the bed. “Perhaps we should just try our best to deal with being good hosts for the rest of the time they are here.” Dismissively, he kicked off his shoes and undid his tie, setting it neatly onto the nightstand to his right. 

“Right, right let’s talk about something more interesting,” Charles began. Thomas, having enough for the day, covered his eyes with his arm, “And what would that be?” Charles smirked deviously, going to sit at the foot of the bed and leaning in towards him.”Don’t think I didn’t catch you staring quite intently at the daughters of the Spanish Marquess,” he teased. Thomas removed his arm from his face and stared intently at the ceiling. For a moment, he tried to analyze what Charles was insinuating. For a moment, he wondered if he wanted to know. 

“What exactly are you implying?” He asked, almost instantly regretting his question. Charles leaned in closer, his smirk growing. “I think you know. I mean it’s one thing to stare because they finally revealed themselves to the world, but your wandering eyes never left one sister in particular.” Thomas shot him a warning glare. “Why is that, dearest cousin?” Charles persisted.

Thomas sighed, “You said it yourself, I was surprised to finally see them at all.” 

“Of course, of course. It’s not at all because she was beautiful and carried herself in a way that suggested she was a free spirit,” Charles teased. “It’s not at all because the colors of her outfit perfectly complimented the color of her skin. Or how her clothes accentuated her features. Or how her hair brought out the sparkle in those beautiful eyes.” Thomas sat up. “Or how--” “Enough,” Thomas interrupted. Charles chuckled. 

“Well then,” He stood, walking back towards the door, “I’ll leave you to dream about a simple life with the beautiful Santiago heiress. Y/N, was it?” With that, he left Thomas alone with his thoughts. Maybe Charles was right. Maybe he did feel a certain infatuation with the Spanish Marquess’s eldest daughter. Maybe there was a possibility that at least one of the things he longed for could be true. Maybe--

He shook those thoughts out of his head. Simplicity has never been a part of his life, and that wouldn’t change when he was crowned king. He had to get up early tomorrow, so he had no time to melt his mind over the ‘what if. Charles was right though, he could always dream. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: This chapter is a little shorter, but it’s done. This took me a while because of a mild writer’s block, but it worked out in the end. Another added character, yay! Let me know if I missed you on the taglist!! Anyway, feel free to give me feedback, as I would really appreciate it!! Have a great day!! New Chapter on Tuesday!!

Taglist is OPEN

@ladyblablabla @tvdplusriverdale @pipolaki @myraiswack @shockwavee @harringtonb-blog​ @cynic-spirit @little-moonbeam-666 @ochizokulevy

[imma-fucking-nerd]

Satisfied

(Hey guys! This is my first fic at least the first one im actually posting. This is based off of the song Satisfied from the musical Hamilton. I hope y'all enjoy! Constructive criticism is VERY welcomed!)

Beetlejuice x reader (kinda)

It was October 31st. Halloween. I watched as my younger sister, Violet, applied her glittery makeup. She was dressed up as a fairy this year. The Deetzes/Maitlands, our neighbors, were throwing a massive Halloween party, and of course Violet wanted to go. She was the tutor for the Deetz kid, Lydia. I had met her a few times, and she too could see the dead. She was a good kid.

"Why do I have to come to this thing again?" I asked as I leaned against the doorframe.

"You don't have a choice, remember?" she replied matter-of-factly.

"Of course, how could I forget," I sigh in response.

She was right, I didn't have much of a choice. I was bound to her. You see, I'm dead. Have been for a little over three years now. It was a freak car accident and Violet survived. I wasn't so fortunate. Although she survived she was badly injured, almost lost her life too. That must have been the reason why she could see me, and others like me. Ever since my death I followed my sister wherever she went. She's my best friend. After a while I had latched onto her and wasn't able to leave her side. Not that I would anyways.

"Are you ready yet?" I asked, impatiently tapping my foot.

"What's your hurry? Are you actually eager to party?" She glanced at me through the mirror with a hopeful grin.

"I just want to get this over with," I responded with a shrug.

"C'mon, can you at least pretend you'll have fun?" she flashed her puppy eyes at me and batted her eyelashes. She knew I couldn't resist her puppy eyes.

"Fine, fine. I'll stop complaining. Thankfully no one there can bother me there anyways," I said rolling my eyes at her.

"Yay!" She jumped up, her fake wings bouncing as she does. She would have given me a hug if she wouldn't just fall through me.

"Are you finally ready?" I asked, moving away from the doorframe.

She added some extra lip gloss before nodding. "Yep! Let's go!"

Upon arriving at the Deetz/Maitland household Violet was greeted by Delia. While they were chatting I took the opportunity to look around. The decorations were very impressive, the cobwebs and the skulls that adorned the walls looked very convincing. The chandelier above had victorian style candles which where sat upon skulls. The walls looked like they were crawling with bugs. Wait, those are bugs. Okay then. While I was looking at the place I ran into Lydia, not literally of course.

"Hey Y/N, nice costume," She said sarcastically, eyeing my outfit which very obviously not a costume.

"I don't need a costume, I'm dead. And what are you supposed to be? Yourself?" I asked playfully.

"A plague doctor, actually," she said, holding up her plague doctor beak mask. It looked genuine. Other than the mask her outfit was basically her normal style.

"Anyways, I gotta go talk to your sister. I have a math test coming up I need help on. Later." And with that she walked by me and headed for my sister.

There wasn't really much for me to do at a party where no one could see me. I just stood in the corner and observed. My eyes scanned across the room until my they made contact with a pair of pale green ones. Little did I know, I wasn't the only one who spotted the odd figure. As soon as our eyes met the stranger perked up and made his way over to where I was. He wore a filthy black and white striped suit with a forest green tie. His hair was wild, electric green and stood out in all directions. At first glance I would've just assumed he was in costume, but his skin was far too pale to be makeup. Plus the moss growing on his skin was a dead badum tss giveaway. He was like me. Another ghost. Despite how dead he looked, he was actually kind of good looking. Did that make me weird? Whatever, I'm dead I don't really have many options. As he approached he leaned on the wall next to me.

"Heya babes, haven't seen you around here before. Got a name?" His voice was gravelly and flirtatious as he eyed me up and down. I was suddenly thankful for being dead, and therefore unable to blush.

"I uh-" I tried to speak but no words came out. He smirked and chuckled, his fangs slightly showing as he did.

"Wow, speechless? I can't really blame you, I tend to have that effect on people. How bout I go first." He handed me a card with the word Beetlejuice written on it three times. I took it and shifted my gaze onto the card then back to him.

"Your name is Beetlejuice?" I asked, an eyebrow slightly raised.

"Well, it's actually my middle name. ANYWAYS, you can call me Bj, or Beej, or your new boyfriend. Whatever works for you," He replied with a sly grin.

I rolled my eyes but couldn't stop the smile from growing on my face. I'm not going to lie, he was oddly charming.

"So, are you going to tell me your name? Or should I just call you gorgeous?" His grin widened, I could tell he was proud of that one.

"My name's Y/N Smith. Are you from here or-" I was suddenly cut off him gasping dramatically.

"CANDY!!!" His eyes were wide and I could have sworn there were sparkles in them.

He then sprinted towards the newly set bowl of candy that Delia came out with. He didn't even say a goodbye or anything. I watched him as he disappeared into the crowd. I'm not going to lie, he was pretty cute, smooth too. I'm definitely going to have to keep an eye out for him later. He was the first interesting ghost I had met since I died. No offense to the Maitlands, they were sweet but a little boring.

I stayed in my spot in the corner as the party went on. Not too long after meeting Beetlejuice, Violet had come up to me. Her cheeks were dusted with a light blush as she rushed to my side.

"Y/N! Y/N!" she was more hyper than usual and her eyes were wide in excitement, she was even bouncing.

"What's up Vi?" I asked with a chuckle and a raised eyebrow.

Violet giggled like a school girl and leaned in, whispering in my ear.

"You see that guy over there? I call dibs!" she was pointing to Beetlejuice as she spoke.

I kept my smile but on the inside, my cold unbeating heart was breaking. I knew that if I told her that I saw him first, she would back away no doubt. But the look in her eyes told me she was just as smitten as I was. I internally sighed and left her side, possibly making the worst decision of my life- uh death? I made my way across the room to where Beej was, passing through a couple of people on the way. Violet went to object but stopped herself and watched as I made my way over to the man of the hour. Once he spotted me he smirked.

"Hey there gorgeous, back for more?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Actually, I'm about to change your...death." I grabbed him by the arm and guided him to where I left Violet.

As Violet spotted us getting closer she quickly touched up her hair and quickly applied more lip gloss. Once we arrived at Violet, Beetlejuice instantly looked her up and down. I let go of his arm and stood by Violet.

"This is Violet Smith, my sister. Violet, this is Beetlejuice." I pushed her towards him slightly.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, m'lady." He took her hand and laid a wet kiss to the top of her hand. Violet's face turned a deep crimson and she tried to stifle a giggle.

"Well, I'll take that as my cue to leave. Have fun you two." My smile faltered slightly as I turn to leave, but Violet stopped me. She mouths 'Thank you' and I nodded in response with two thumbs up.

I returned to my corner of the room and remained there watching the living as they had their fun. Every now and then I would look over to see Violet and Beej laughing, or flirting. It hurt to, a lot. But then I sew how happy she was and realize that her happiness was more important than mine. The only regret that I really had was that I met him first. It was about an hour or two later when Violet and I had left the party. For the rest of the night, she went on and on about Beetlejuice. I chimed in here and there but I mostly listened. She really seemed to be head over heels.

The weeks that followed the party consisted of many, many, many visits to the Deetz/Maitland household. Most of the time I would leave the two to their own devices, spending most of my time with the Maitlands. As time went on, it was easier to see them together. But there were always times where he would make a comment, or look at me and all those feelings would come crashing back. It was hard, but my sister was more important than anything to me, in life and death. It was almost a year later when Beetlejuice came to me, asking for my blessing to marry Violet. He told me about how he could be alive again, and have a family with her. That was the moment when all my doubts that I made the wrong decision were erased. Of course, when he proposed Violet couldn't have been more ecstatic. From then on I watched over them and their growing family, forever bound to watch the future that I gave up unravel.

[darkdevasofdestruction]

Day 23 : Confession - Satan

“I am very upset to announce you that we will have to prepare for that puny human holiday called “Christmas”. “ Lucifer stated clearly, yet with much disgust in his voice, at lunch where all 8 of us were gathered. “YAY! Finally something fun in this Hell!” I fist-pumped the air, making Lucifer glare at me. “I take it it’s your fault Diavolo came up with this idiocy, right, Katrina?” he asked in a darker voice, but I only smiled innocently at him. “Whatever could you mean, Lucifer, dear? You and Diavolo were the ones to want the exchange program, and thus, the Next Demon Lord thought it wise to make the humans feel at home! I don’t see why you’d blame me?” I giggled, shrugging my shoulders as if I had nothing to do with it. “This just confirms it’s your fault.” he sighed in defeat, as I winked at him. “That just means we’ll have to make the best out of it! Decorating the place, the Christmas Tree, giving gifts, baking and cooking, fireworks-...” I trail of, already making a list with whatever we need to do, but Lucifer put his hands on my shoulders, stopping me in my tracks. “Enough, please stop. One at a time. Since you’re so knowledgeable in the human traditions, I will make you responsible with organisation. From now on, all of you will be listening to Katrina and will do as she commands. Dismissed.” just as he left, a triumphant smirk came on my face. “Well, since there’s 8 of us, we will be paired up in teams of 2, okay? Let’s see...Beel, I would like you and Belphie to get a Christmas Tree and start decorating it in the Ball room. Asmo, could you and Lucifer decorate the place? I trust you the most when it comes to great taste, and besides, after they’re all done, they will come help you out, and when that happens, Asmo is in charge of it. That leaves...Mammon and Levi to cook and bake. I will be giving you simple recipes that you can follow, and more, I will look with Levi for YouTube tutorials to follow. On top of that, everyone needs to give each other presents, so I will make sure to get lots of wrapping paper and ribbons for you. Moreover, I think Diavolo would love it if we would dress him up as Santa, so he could be the one to give the gifts around. I and Satan will go to the human world and gather all the useful items that we will be needing, and we’ll make sure they will arrive here as fast as possible. Is that okay with everyone?” I asked, writing down everything in my agenda. “Aww, Kat, I’m so happy you trust me with such an important task! After this, want to go to a Spa Day with me? We haven’t been in more than 2 weeks!” Asmodeus grinned, satisfied with his task. “Of course we can, Asmo! Our skin has to be as soft and flawless as possible!” I put my hands on my cheek, thinking how great it would be to relax again at the Spa. “Why can’t I be in charge of cooking?” Beel pouted, looking up at me from the table. “Because, dear...You would be eating everything.” I sighed, patting his hair. “Don’t worry, tomorrow is Christmas and you will be able to eat as much as you want. You will love it!” I cheered him up, earning a small smile. “Well then! Now that everything’s settled, I will give each of you the task you have to do. I and Satan will have to go now, but please go inform Lucifer and give him this paper with the tasks too, okay? He won’t be able to complain, since the complain will be directed to Diavolo, which is a big no-no, so you’re all safe.” I gave them a thumbs up, before looking at Satan, who seemed very passive. “Are you ready to go?” I asked with a soft smile on my face. “Sure, let’s go.” he nodded, getting up and following me to the human world, where it was already evening.

The streets, trees and buildings were heavily decorated and the fact that it was night and the beautiful silver Moon was illuminating the city, along with the colourful fairy lights, didn’t stop me from staring in awe at the city.

All around, everyone seemed to be feeling festive and happy since there were only good vibes and smiles on their faces. “This is beautiful...” I gazed at the place as my heart clenched in happiness, raising my hand into the sky, saying a little incantation I learnt in the Celestial realm, making it snow softly, with big and delicate snowflakes. “I didn’t know you could do that.” Satan stated in wonder. “I have a few little tricks up my sleeve from up there. After all...Lucifer wasn’t the only favourite of God. And...I liked my magic.” I winked at him as I started on ahead, guiding him to the huge decoration market that left me as mesmerised as never before (by human standards). “That’s...A lot of decorations and colours. What should we get?” he asked, shocked by the never-ending variety. “We could either settle for a combination of 2 colours for the whole place...Or Choose 2 colours that would match everyone’s colour scheme for their rooms, and choose Diavolo’s colours for most of the place. What do you think?” I looked at him with a pondering face, and after a few seconds, he seemed to agree with the 2nd option. “Okay.Diavolo, definitely Red and Gold. For Lucifer, maybe Red and Black? Mammon...Yellow and White? Levi...Dark blue and Silver? How’s that so far?” I ask, looking up at the different colours of tinsels displayed. “I think that’s fine. Green and Yellow for me, please. I bet Asmodeus would like Pink and Silver, Beelzebub would go for Orange and Yellow and Belphie...Blue and...” Satan began, and as he was thinking, I blurted out “Purple!” “Yeah, that’s nice, I bet he would love it. What about you, Katrina?” he asked, which made me widen my eyes. “Ah, right, I completely forgot about me! Well...I think Light blue and Silver works for me.” I grinned, clapping my hands together in glee. “Sounds like a nice combination. Well then, let’s put the decoration in the shopping carts. Great thing they’re very large...We will need all the space.” he hummed in amusement as we started putting boxes of decorations in the cart, as if we were playing Tetris.

“Well then, now that we’re done with the more difficult part, let’s take everything outside so I can put a spell on them and teleport everything inside the Mansion.” I looked at the carts filled to the brim with decoration boxes as we pushed them outside, in a dark alley where nobody could see us. “Now, then...”

I look left and right to make sure nobody was watching, so I could transform in my demon self, making it easier to use my magic and send everything to the Devildom...But that left me rather exhausted, and I fell on my knees, panting slightly for air.

“Katrina, are you okay?” Satan asked, kneeling down next to me, helping me get up. “Yeah, don’t worry about me. Magic outside Devildom takes more of a toll on me than I realised. But it’s fine, our job is basically done. We can go back now, if you want.” I smiled at him tenderly, thanking him for helping me out. “Lucifer and Asmodeus are there to make sure everything goes well. I’m sure they won’t be missing us for a few hours more.” he let out an amused breath. “It’s not every day when we get to the human realm, so why not explore a bit?” he suggested, motioning for me to hook my hand to his arm, like a gentleman would. “I like what I’m hearing! Oh, I know a nice little vintage tea shop where we could go to. I bet you’ll like it. They always put classical music, and since today is Friday, it’s gonna be Debussy and Tchaikovsky, I’m sure you’re gonna love it!” I exclaimed in a gleeful voice, not noticing the look he was giving me, nor the tender smile.

As we arrived there, we got immediately greeted by the rich aroma of sweet tea and Debussy’s melodies bringing peace into our hearts. We sat down at a table next to the fireplace, and admired the pretty decorations.

“You were right, this place is really...Calming. Worth it after all the chaos from the Devildom. Thank you for bringing me here.” he smiled softly, blushing as he sipped from his tea. “I’m just glad I can enjoy this with someone else. I’m not sure who else would have been able to properly enjoy this experience without ruining it in some way.” I hummed in amusement, holding the cup in both my hands, letting it warm them. “Oh...Claire de Lune...” my eyes widened slightly as my smile curved upwards. “Do you like it?” he asked in a hushed voice. “It’s...My favourite song. I haven’t played it in a long time...” I looked down in reminescence. “I didn’t know you could play the piano.” he raised his eyebrow in curiosity. “I...Haven’t, in a very long while. Didn’t really want any of those normies to find out. You know how they can be. I do play occasionally with Diavolo, though, so I’m not that rusty.” I chuckled thinking of the duets I’ve done with him. “I see. Would you...Play for me, some day?” he asked in an uncharacteristically timid voice, making me smile tenderly at him. “Christmas is all about giving and miracles. When we get home, I promise I will. I really hope you’ll like it!” my smile never faltering.

We enjoyed the peace and melody of the place for just a while longer, before we went back home, to see everyone arguing for some reason, and decorations all over the place, making both I and Satan facepalm.

“Will you SHUT UP?!” Satan’s voice boomed through the room, making everyone halt in place. “It’s his fault!” they all yelled at once, but one look from Satan made them all shut up again. “How did this happen? Lucifer, explain.” I crossed my arms, not ready for all this mess.

Of course, the brothers can’t cooperate and do something right no matter how hard they try, so Beel ended up eating the food, decorations ended up randomly put in all the wrong places, Belphie fell asleep, Asmo became a dictator...But at least the Tree was put where it should be.

“I am very disappointed in all of you. Honestly...You are grown up men, and yet, you behave like little children. Get to your rooms right now, I don’t want to see you until tomorrow.” I reprimand all of them, and thankfully, instead of arguing, they all left. “What are you going to do now?” Satan asked, still irked. “You should go to your room too. It will be easier if I take care of things on my own. I will give everyone their decoration since they can at least do that themselves...And when I’m done, I will let the human put the Star on top of the Tree. Thank you for today, Satan, I really appreciate you helping me out today. Goodnight.” I smiled at him, kissing his cheek before waving at him. “Are you sure you don’t need help?” he asked again, but I shook my head. “It’s better this way, trust me.” I winked at him playfully, letting him know I will be okay.

Which...I hope I will.

I transform in my demon form and use magic to arrange everything in its rightful box, and then put them all in front of their rooms, letting them know they can decorate already.

After that, I decorated the Tree and the Ballroom, but it was extremely exhausting and I couldn’t do think I would be able to cook or bake anything for the night. Hopefully, tomorrow I would have time until evening.

I didn’t even realise I fell asleep on the couch, but when I woke up, I noticed a green blanket over me and the smell of gingerbread in the air. I look at my D.D.D. to see that it was afternoon already...I can’t believe I overslept so much...!  Never mind that, I have to hurry and see what’s going on in the kitchen!

Holding the green blanket close to me like a cap, I walk still sleepily in the kitchen, only to gasp in shock as I see Beel, Belphie, Levi and Mammon cooking and baking, and batches of gingerbread figures and cupcakes already done and ready to be eaten. “This is torture...My stomach wants to eat everything at once...” Beel muttered, clutching his stomach. “Whose initiative was it?” I ask, somehow surprising them. “Ah, Kat, you’re awake! We’re sorry about last night...But I see Satan made sure you’re okay.” Mammon sniggered like a schoolgirl, making me raise my eyebrow in confusion. “What do you mean?” I as, tilting my head. “That’s Satan’s blanket.” Belphie yawned, pointing at the green fluffy blanket. “O-Oh...Then, I can safely guess he was the one with the initiative, wasn’t he?” I half-smiled, grateful for his kindness. “Yep.” Beel nodded, making Levi smirk. “Satan and Katrina sitting in a tree~!” he began, but I stopped him by bonking his head, not wanting to hear more teasing than needed. “Before you leave, Diavolo said the party in at 8pm, so be ready by then, okay? You know how they can be.” Belphie pointed out once again, and thanking him, I leave to my room to get ready for the party properly and wrap all the gifts neatly, before putting them under the huge Christmas tree.

I put on a black dress with black leather boots, some accessories and left the room, making sure my fire red hair cascaded over my shoulders gracefully. In the Ballroom, and everyone was already there, including the angels and humans.

“Woaw, you’re all looking great! So festive!” I clapped my hands together, grinning widely seeing everything looking so nicely. “Katrina, I was right, you did such an amazing job with this Anti-Christmas!” Diavolo chuckled gleefully, making everyone around sweatdrop. “Diavolo, dear, I’m sure you said it like that on purpose. Honestly, you look great today, but why don’t you try the Anti-Christ Santa suit I gave you?” I wink at him playfully. “This way, you can be the one giving everyone the gifts! You’re the perfect person for that!” I flash him a peace sign, making his laugh boom through the wide room. “Very well, I’ll go change now. Y’all better behave.” his usual cheerful grin sparkled as usual as he patted my head and left. “Now then, is Kitsune ready to put the Star on top of the Tree? I hope you don’t mind, Solomon.” I smile at them, getting closer to the tree. “I...! Well, yes! But how am I gonna reach so far up, the tree is at least 3-4 meters tall!” the little human girl gasped, looking up at the huge tree towering over everyone. “Now, now, Kitsune, don’t be silly.” I giggled at her, letting my demon for take place, my big black wings like the abyss fluttering around me. “Are you ready?” I smirked, extending my arm towards her. “HELL YES!” she shrieked as I picked her up and jumped into the air, close to the peak of the Tree, and the sparkling face she held as she put on the Silver Star was everything I hoped for. “SO COOL!” she cheered up as I let her down, high-fiving each other.

For the rest of the evening, we ate the amazing meal the guys prepare, which were surprisingly amazing, and all was well, people got drunk, as usual...

And when the night was over, I felt refreshed... My heart felt so warm that I went back to the Ballroom, gliding my fingers on the keys of the piano, before siting down and playing Claire de Lune, just like I hoped for. It’s been so long since I’ve played this particular song...That it felt surprisingly nostalgic.

“You play much better than I imagined. I’m impressed.” a low, velvety voice called out from behind me, and upon further inspection, it seemed to be Satan, my favourite blond. “Thank you. Want to stay?” I asked, patting the place next to me. “I would love to.” he smiled, sitting next to me, as I started playing another song. “Say, Katrina, you know more about these human traditions, correct?” he asked, a bit evasively. “I suppose I do. Are you interested in one of them?” I smiled at him, ready to answer. “Asmodeus mentioned this plant that’s hanging from some places.” he continued, and yet, it seemed he was holding back. “Oh, yeah, of course. It’s called Mistletoe. You’re supposed to kiss whoever is with you underneath it. It’s supposed to bring fortune and happiness throughout the year and whatever nice things you can think of.” I shrugged, chuckling softly at the weird traditions humans come up with. “Interesting. Which reminds me...Here. This is my gift for you. What was it Kitsune said...Ah! Yes, Happy Christmas, Katrina.” he blushed slightly, handing me a neatly wrapped green gift with a beautiful golden ribbon. “Awwww, thank you, Satan. I really appreciate it.” I thank him, holding the gift to my chest as I kiss his cheek. “Here, this is my gift for you.” I smile at him tenderly, urging him to unwrap it. “Oh, is this a music box?” he asked, opening the lid, as a figurine with red hair, dressed in black, with black wings spun in circles and the soft tune of Claire the Lune rung peacefully through the air. “I recorded myself playing it. Hope it doesn’t sounds condescending or anything...” I look away timidly, but I was met with a sweet chuckle. “I like it. You play really well, and now I can listen to you playing even when you’re not with me. Thank you.” he kissed my forehead as a thank you, before urging me to unwrap the gift. “Oh...! It’s my favourite book, thank you so much!” I grin, opening the book, only to find a beautiful confession of love written on the front page.

“Thank you for showing me I’m still alive and I can feel other emotions other than wrath, what I’m most known for.

I love you, Katrina.

Satan xx “

“I suppose...Mistletoe would be useful now.” I smiled widely, looking down as I felt my heart beat faster than usual. “Good thing Asmo put some above everything...Including the piano.” he raised my face up so I could look at him, his gorgeous emerald eyes gazing right into my soul. “Guess he is useful once in a while.” I joke breathlessly, as he inched closer to me, pressing his soft lips over mine gently, before putting his hand on the back of my head, deepening the kiss more. “I love you too, Satan. Happy Christmas.” I whispered, putting my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me. “I guess Christmas isn’t as bad as I thought it’d be.” he smirked in the kiss. “We should do this more often.” I suggest, before leaning my head on his shoulder, enjoying the peace and quiet, combined with the warmth my heart felt and the sweet aroma of Christmas dessert.