#and a video with mainly just voices in the corner so i can focus better on drawing instead of watching

[ragingtwilight]

i wanna draw and stream on twitch

- person who knows nothing about streaming on twitch

[tsukikento]

Empathetic Chapter 18

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

Summary: After your mom, the number 1 hero in America, gets offered a teaching position at U.A., you two pack up your things and head to Musutafu, Japan to start a new life. Pressure for you in America was at an all-time high, and now you’re in Japan, where almost no one knows you, or your family’s past.

This tale starts on your first day of class where your new teacher decides the best way for you to fit in is to fight against the strongest person in your class: Bakugou Katsuki.

Warnings/Genre: This piece will feature some angst and reference to an abusive parent, if you are ever worried about other tw’s feel free to send me an ask and I will let you know. There will also be fluff, slight angst, pining, and slowburn.

A/N:  Usually, my chapters are ~5000 words, but this one is less than 3500. However, that is because I wanted to end the chapter here! I hope you guys enjoy some of this glorious fluff with a short explanation to the reader's backstory. There is more to come and unfortunately it with be rather angsty.

(series masterlist)

You didn’t know what to say and Aizawa didn’t expect you to say anything. He gave you a few moments for the concept to sink in and then he began speaking again.

“Your mother is already on a plane back to the United States. She is in contact with your siblings and even tried calling you a few times.” He paused, debating his next words carefully, “Our goal is to have him think you are still in America. Your family is arranging for there to be a record of you at your old school. Your mother left in hopes to convince your father that she rushed home for you.”

You nodded meekly. It’s not like anything will change if I speak up.

Aizawa sighed. “We are working on our end to get rid of your trace here, but we believe overall that it is safest for you to stay here on campus, surrounded by heroes. What this entails is that you will not be in the limelight at all. You will stay training under me, you will not go out on missions where the public can see you, and you will not participate in the sports festival.”

Aizawa sat down next to you, trying to be as considerate as possible in such a difficult situation.

All you wanted to do right now was call your mom and siblings. You wanted to hear their voices, hear the truth from them, and then have their soothing voices tell you it would all be okay.

“I’m sure you want to talk to your family right now,” Aizawa began as if he was the one who could read your mind, “But you can’t.” He once again rubbed his eyes in irritation at the problem. “If you call them, your number will show outgoing calls from Japan to the United States.”

“I understand,” You solemnly replied.

“However, tomorrow morning, I will be calling your mom with the intention to talk to her about the situation and missing class,” Aizawa explained. “Come to my office half an hour before class and you can talk to her.”

You nodded, trying to comprehend just how important and serious this topic was.

“I don’t expect you to be amazing in class,” Aizawa elaborated, “I know this is a tough situation. However,” He looked into your eyes, “I want you to be there and I want you to keep fighting for your hero education as this gets sorted out.”

You nodded.

Aizawa stood up. “Now, go to bed, get some rest.”

You nodded a final time. “Thank you,” Your meek voice responded, bowing slightly because you knew it was the polite thing to do. You made your way back to the dorm as Aizawa followed behind you.

When you entered, you saw Ashido and Kirishima now in the room with Bakugou, Kaminari, and Sero. However, no one else was there anymore. Briefly, you wondered if your friends, particularly Bakugou, yelled at everyone to get lost.

“Have a good night,” Aizawa said as he left you, closing the door behind him.

Frankly, all you wanted to do was go up to your room, sleep the night away, and talk to your mom in the morning. You hoped everyone could respect that.

Ashido was the first to approach you. They had all been sitting at the usual spot on the dining table. The load wooden chair creaked against the wooden floor, surely adding another scratch to the collection. She rushed over to you and pulled you in quickly for a hug.

It was brief, mainly because you didn’t hug the pink girl back, and she pulled away in concern.

She looked deep into your eyes, unsure what to say.

With the utmost concern and care she could muster, the girl simply asked, “Are you okay? Do you want to be alone?”

“I do,” You mumbled out quickly.

“Of course,” She immediately replied, turning to lead you up to the dorms. She was your escort, and she would make sure no one, not a single soul, bothered you.

As you walked, your eyes wandered to the group. Most of your friends were standing at the edge of the dining room, too scared to enter. Bakugou, on the other hand, stayed in his chair, his eyes never leaving yours.

He looked at you with a serious face and motioned for you to take out your earbud.

You listened and took out one.

Are you okay? You heard his thoughts, much more apparent than anyone else’s, ask.

Not wanting to lie to the blond, you shrugged. You didn’t want to hear anything else, especially because most people’s thoughts were focused on your own situation. You popped the earbud back in as your rounded the corner to the hallway that led to the elevator.

Time passed numbly as Ashido ushered you to your bedroom.

“I’m going to fill up your water and bring you a couple of granola bars in case you get hungry,” She paused to look at you, “Do you need anything else? I could wake you in the morning for class if you’re going.”

“No,” You smiled, “I appreciate you.”

“Of course.” Mina’s tone was much more calm than usual. “Even if I am asleep, feel free to text, call, or bang on my door till I wake up, okay?”

You laughed, “I will.”

Your door shut. You sat down. Minutes later you heard the clink of your water bottle be pressed against your door.

A vibration.

I left it outside your door <3

On your phone were multiple calls and texts. A few from your mom, a few from Aizawa, and a few from Momo and Iida, the class representatives.

You clicked on each, ridding yourself of the red notification bubble. Sighing, you got up to grab your water before going back to bed.

You snuggled yourself into the duvet and attempted to play some videos to distract yourself.

You felt tears prick your eyes multiple times through the night until you finally fell asleep.

~~

When you woke up, you were sweaty. You already had been, but this fresh sweat was most likely the result of a nightmare you already couldn’t remember. Your mouth was dry, and you immediately moved to grab your water. You gulped down half your water in only seconds, thankful that it was filled by Ashido.

It was still dark outside so you grabbed your phone to check the time.

2:19.

If anything you were only asleep for an hour. It had been difficult to fall asleep in the first place, but now it seemed you were being plagued with nightmares.

You pondered if it was better that you didn’t remember what you dreamt. Part of you wished you could.

You sighed into your empty room.

Knowing yourself, if you fell back asleep, you would have the same nightmare.

Maybe I can distract myself for a little bit and try to fall back asleep later.

You looked around your darkroom. But what to do?

Sighing, you stood up from your bed and began grabbing your toiletries. You were much too sweaty for your liking and assumed a nice shower would help calm you down.

Quietly, you slipped downstairs, not using the elevator because you knew it would ‘bing!’ when the doors opened and closed.

Thankfully, the living room and dining room were empty. Your bare feet padded against the hardwood as you made your way to the showers, trying to keep quiet in case anyone heard.

You entered the bathroom, lights switching on immediately due to the motion sensor, and placed your belongings onto the sink counter. You turned to one of the stalls and switched it on before returning to your belongings. As the water heated up, you grabbed your essentials and flung your towel across the tile walls that separated each shower stall. You took off your earbuds and placed them securely into a cloth pouch you attached to your basket.

You peaked around the room, ensuring no one was there, before quickly peeling off your sweaty clothes. You rushed to your stall, closing the curtain, and sighing into the security of a warm water stream.

You took your shower slowly.

You spent your time massaging your head as you applied shampoo. You exfoliated your legs carefully, getting every inch and letting your thoughts fall down the drain with the soapy water. Your mind was clear, and you numbly followed each step meticulously.

It was when you were just about to wash the conditioner out of your hair and get out of the shower that you heard the door click open.

Whoever entered, disturbing your peace, let their heavy toiletries basket fall onto the counter.

I can’t fucking believe it!

It was Bakugou.

Someone else is showering at this time when I wanted to be all alone.

You debated telling him it was you, curious to see if knowing it was you would ease his anger. However, he would also know you could hear his thoughts in these moments.

He turned on the shower that was two away from you. You heard him sigh and pictured the blond rubbing his eyes in frustration.

His thoughts flickered over multiple subjects in the span of seconds. With many people asleep, thoughts were quiet. Bakugou being so close made it easier for you to focus on his thoughts but did not stop your head from hurting slightly.

You weaved around his thoughts, pushing away the passive ones that were simply about turning on the shower, grabbing his shampoo, body wash, and conditioner, and entering the shower. You moved away from his frustration, searching for something more.

Y/N.

More.

Is she okay?

More.

I wonder if she was able to fall asleep.

More.

I wish I ignored stupid pink hair and just went to visit her.

Fuck.

“Bakugou.”

A wave of shock when through him. After a few swears within his head, he finally replied.

“Y/N.” A short pause, “Didn’t I tell you to call me Katsuki?” Another pause, “For practice, I mean.”

You chuckled, running your hair under the water. “No, Bakugou-san, I don’t think you ever did.”

“Tch.”

You heard him open a bottle.

“Well, you can,” He finally said, his voice annoyed, but his thoughts telling you it was a façade.

You didn’t bother replying. Instead, you turned off the water and ringed out what water you could from your hair.

“I’m fine by the way,” You said, interrupting the silence.

You could tell Bakugou wanted to ask some questions, but his thoughts were not directed to you. They were not specifically asking so you didn’t say anything.

You dried off your body and wrapped the large towel around your body before realizing you didn’t bring any spare clothes.

Even worse, you slipped your clothes off and just left them out there. At least, you were smart enough to throw them into your basket of toiletries. Despite that sliver, if silver lining, you still needed to wash your face, brush your teeth, and put some products into your hair. There was no way in hell you were going to put your sweaty clothes back on that you ran in.

Maybe if I work quickly… you reasoned as you secured your towel best you could and proceeded to the sink.

The silence allowed you to work quickly, washing your face and applying products to it while Bakugou simply showered, thinking about how to ask you whatever it is he wanted to ask.

“Can you still hear my thoughts?” He asked out of the blue. Or, at least, it would have been if you didn’t hear his thoughts prior.

“Yes,” You replied as you applied a heavy glob of rose water gel cream to your face and neck.

“Then why aren’t you answering my questions? I know you can hear them?” He inquired.

“Your thoughts are different when you are thinking them and actually talking to me,” You explained, moving on to rapidly put lotion on your exfoliated body. “I don’t answer because they aren’t for me.” You paused, unsure how to phrase this next part, “I don’t want to interfere with your thoughts, I just can’t wear my earbuds when I’m soaking wet.”

His water shut off.

His water shut off and you still had things to do.

You checked your towel, rolling the top over a few times for maximum security.

“You might as well just answer them,” He explained. His green towel disappeared, his hand swiftly grabbing it from the tile walls.

“I’d rather you ask me what you really want to know,” You shot back, “I am not inclined to explain a difficult situation to someone without enough balls to actually ask.”

You could hear Bakugou scoff at the comment.

“No offense,” You added.

A chuckle. “None taken.”

He opened his curtain and stepped out. The blond was wrapped in only a towel, much like yourself, except this one hardly clung to his hips.

You looked away, looked anywhere else, and kept working. Next, your hair.

“It’s fine, you can look,” He teased.

It was a bold comment, but you could tell he was nervous to say it and just as nervous to look at you.

“I could say the same thing,” You looked into his eyes, cautious of his expansive chest. You pointed at your head, “Remember?”

“Tch, how could I forget?” He said, meeting you at the large sinks.

“You should have brought clothes,” You said, continuing the conversation and purposefully moving it away from tonight’s events.

“I could say the same thing,” He repeated, mocking you.

You laughed lightly, “I thought I would be alone.”

“So did I!”

You paused, “Yeah, well I got some pretty bad news tonight so you can’t be angry at me.”

The conversation stopped. Bakugou was tentative to say anything.

“You want me to tell you that badly, huh?” You questioned, looking at him through the mirror.

“You don’t have to,” He quickly replied.

“I know.”

You were done. Teeth brushed. Face fresh with lotion. Hair oil on. You turned to lean against the counter and watched the blond as he brushed his own teeth. You folded your arms, more so for the security of your towel, and for the comfort it would provide you.

“And just so you know,” You began, “I’m not telling you this because I crave attention.”

Bakugou gave you a look, not bothering to reply.

You bit your lip debating where to start. As you thought, your eyes looked over Bakugou’s body, admiring his strict diet and workout regimen. It’s really doing him wonders.

You caught Katsuki’s eyes, and he smirked, knowing exactly what you were doing. He didn’t pressure you to start your story and instead simply looked back into the mirror.

“Anyways,” You began, “My dad broke out of prison and he’s probably going to come looking for me.” You wanted to tell this story quickly, much like how one would rip a band-aid off quickly. “My mom is going back to the United States, and I am staying here because it is safest. However, I can’t do certain things,” You paused, “Like compete in the sports festival, or call anyone.”

Bakugou looked at you, your story clearly processing in his mind. He opened his mouth but closed it after a few moments. You knew what he was going to say though.

I’m sorry you can’t compete in the sports festival.

Albeit a little off-topic, you could tell the comment was coming from a good place. He had been training with you for weeks now in preparation. He also knew that it would be your opportunity to get an internship. However, now there was no possibility of doing that.

After deciding not to say such an oblivious statement, he was unsure what to do.

“It’s fine,” You finally said. “You don’t need to console me of anything.” You sighed, “It’ll be tough, but they will eventually get him, and everything will go back to normal.”

An awkward silence filled the room. Although, it wasn’t silent for you. Bakugou’s mind rushed with thoughts, the most prevalent one being—

“Is he where you got your quirk from?” Bakugou asked.

“Yes,” You answered before adding, “But his abilities are much more fleshed out than mine. He is able to manipulate feelings so strongly, and for so long that it’s basically mind control.”

Not wanting to elaborate, or go into your family history anymore, you began packing up your belongings. Bakugou also seemed ready to go as he began doing the same things.

Motioning to the blond, you finally put your earbuds back in. “You’re free,” You joked, enjoying the silence.

Bakugou snorted through his nose and grabbed his things. He held the door open for you and you each made your way to the elevator. You pointed to the elevator and stairs, silently asking him which one he would rather take.

Bakugou answered by leading the way up the stairs, walking slow enough that you were still able to keep up.

“I’m glad I ran into you tonight,” Bakugou said, breaking the silence. His voice echoed through the hall, making your heart flutter. “I was really worried honestly,” He added, worsening your nerves and making your face heat up.

When you didn’t reply, the blond turned to look at you. He immediately saw your red face and began to get red himself. His lips formed a fine line as he tried to remain serious and not smile.

“Don’t look at me like that!” He exclaimed, turning back around, and speeding up.

“What do you expect me to do?” You replied, “You started it.”

Bakugou scoffed, opening the door to your floor. “Yeah, but I didn’t look at you like—” He wasn’t sure what to say and gestured at you— “That!”

“Like what?” You shot back as you each walked to your rooms.

“You know,” Bakugou grumbled, his face becoming even pinker than it already was.

“But what if I don’t?” You questioned.

“I know you know,” He said, looking at you finally. “Of course you know with how I’m reacting.” Bakugou scowled at you and pouted his lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

You smiled brightly and the blond and nodded your head. “If it helps at all,” You began, “I’m glad I ran into you too.”

Bright red.

He was as red as his eyes.

You smiled even wider, happy to know you could make him react that way.

Before he could close himself away into his room, you decided to add insult to injury.

“It was also really reassuring having you with me when we first got back,” You paused, thinking about what to say. “It may be small, but you really helped me at that moment, especially when you moved me around.” Although you were doing this to get a reaction out of the blond, it was also an embarrassing moment for you. Neither of you was outright saying that you liked the other, but you were getting quite close to it. “I’m also really glad you yelled at everyone to leave so it wasn’t super crowded when I got back.” You thought for a moment, “At least I think you did.” A smile graced your face that would have anyone starstruck.

Bakugou stared at you like a deer in headlights. His eyes were wide, his face was red, and he could hardly move. It felt rather funny, each of you standing there in only a towel as you proclaim something so personal. Your arms held onto the top of your towel and Bakugou’s hung loosely by his hips.

For a moment, you imagined the garb falling off. It was a hilarious image and you knew the both of you would be nervous, but the way it hung really teased the idea of it.

It took a few moments, in which he stared directly at you, for him to regain his motor skills. With a ‘Wshh!’ of the door he was gone, tucked away in his small dorm.

You smiled to yourself, happy with how tonight played out. Even if your family was fighting for you, even if you had to fear your father showing up at any minute, it felt good to have a silly little high school romance. It made your life feel normal, it made your heartbeat incessantly, and it made you crave more time with the stubborn blond who stole your heart.

Once back in your room, you bit your bottom lip, trying to tame your smile. You change into some pajamas and make sure your alarm was set for the next day. You didn’t need to work out, but you needed to get to class early so you could talk to your mom. You were happy, really happy. Despite everything, your day was an overall great day and you knew it was all thanks to Bakugou.

[let-me-write-shit]

Hiiii! I absolutely love your writing. Could you do an imagine based off of your pregnancy one shot? Since H is incredibly private, would the couple be able to hide her pregnancy from the public and then announce it similar to like Kylie Jenner’s video diary of the whole experience? Thanks!!

A/N: Ok I was OBSESSED with this request, but for some reason I found it very difficult to write, so I’m so sorry if it’s shit. Hope you like it <3

Word Count: 2,698

Requests are OPEN! If you have a request for a blurb, oneshot, imagine, whatever, Send me a message HERE!!!

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Friendly reminder to please like and/or reblog. It helps more than you think :)

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Is Forever Enough?

From the moment Harry found out he and Y/N were expecting their first child, he knew he wanted to document everything. He had been in the habit of capturing moments throughout their relationship, mainly of big events, but from this moment on, he wanted to capture it all. Little clips of every doctor’s appointment, every craving his wife had, every heartbeat, and every little kick. He wanted video documentation of the life growing inside his wife’s belly and everything that happened during that time. They had waited so long for this moment, and now that it was finally here, he wanted to make sure they would never forget a single second of it. From telling their closest friends and family members, designing the nursery, their tiny baby shower, attended by the select few that were lucky enough to know their secret.

At first, keeping silent was a way to protect themselves in case Y/N’s pregnancy didn’t stick like their fertility doctor had warned them was a possibility. It took them nearly two years to conceive, and the thought of going through a miscarriage in front of millions of watchful eyes was terrifying. But by the time they became aware that they weren’t going to miscarry, they had gone so long without announcing it that there wasn’t a point to do it. Why ruin something that was so well hidden?

The decision not to announce their pregnancy to the public wasn’t a hard decision to make. Harry was private, anyway, and everyone knew that. He was rarely on social media and didn’t talk about his private life to many people, and those who he did talk to were very loyal and trusting. They just wanted to enjoy being pregnant without the prying eyes of strangers and it was fairly easy keeping it under wraps considering how private they were, to begin with.

The timing of Y/N’s pregnancy helped, too. The early part of her pregnancy was during the summer, so they could enjoy tropical holidays together without worrying about being seen because she simply wasn’t showing yet. But, towards the end, it got harder to conceal, like during award season in the fall when an oversized shirt or puffy dress couldn’t conceal the roundness of her bump and plumpness of her cheeks and lips. It was the first award season she hadn’t accompanied Harry to in years and people began to get suspicious.

That’s when the rumors of her possible pregnancy started. Of course, no one could prove anything. But that, along with the lack of sightings of Y/N was enough proof for some. Luckily, nothing more came of it other than whispers. Harry had stopped doing interviews when he first got wind of the rumors, so no one could catch him off guard in uncomfortable positions or having to lie to protect his wife, and he began to focus his attention back on his music, halting his pursuance of on-screen work for the time being until after their baby boy’s arrival. Instead, he was the man behind the camera.

For the most part.

There were times when certain family members or friends would pick up their camera and film some things for them, capturing little intimate moments of the parents-to-be. They even enlisted the help of Harry’s on-tour photographer, Helene Pambrun, to help film the birth of their baby. Though she focused mainly on photography, her knowledge of videography and style of filming fit exactly with what the couple wanted, and Helene was all too honored to be a part of the day.

And although the birth of their child was, albeit, a bit traumatic, they couldn’t have asked for a sweeter baby boy. Born on a frigid Friday evening on March eighteenth after twenty hours of active labor and an onslaught of chaos, Paxton Robin Styles was born, tiny, healthy, and beautiful, surrounded by family that already loved him so dearly.

The hospital staff was wonderful in keeping their attendance private, no one having a clue that they were even there. No news articles or whispers were heard of their newest addition to which they were grateful to be allowed to enjoy their first week home, getting acclimated to being new parents. They had fallen in love with him.

“Y/N!” Harry exclaimed, bouncing into the nursery on a Monday afternoon as his wife fed their son, his phone in hand, and a bright smile on his face.

Y/N looked up, surprised and slightly offended, “Don’t ever call me by my name again,” she joked, stroking their son’s cheek.

Harry laughed, “Sorry, love. But, look! It’s here!”

He held his phone in front of her face, playing the edited version of their pregnancy and birth journey in video form one of Harry’s editor friends kindly put together for them after the birth of their son. The five minute and fifty-one-second video filled with shortened clips of the last nearly ten months of their lives in becoming first-time parents. They watched it together, occasionally glancing down at their baby that had fallen asleep while eating in Y/N’s arms, in awe that this was their life.

Tears were streaming down both of their faces, and Y/N giggled, wiping her husband’s cheek with her free hand. He was an emotional being, she knew that, but she had no idea what the effect of fatherhood would be on her Harry. She couldn’t have picked a better partner to raise a child with.

“I think we should post it,” Harry said, causing Y/N’s eyes to go wide.

“Post it? Like...social media?”

Harry nodded, “Well, we can’t keep him a secret forever. People are already starting to talk. I’d rather announce it on our own terms than on someone else’s. We can still stay as private as possible, I’ve already talked to Jeffrey and my publicist about it. I just...he makes me so proud and I feel like I need to show people that.”

Y/N smiles sweetly at her husband, taking his hand that rested on the arm to the nursing chair and pulling it up to her lips, kissing it gently. “Okay. We can post it.”

Later that evening, the internet was in an uproar and their phones were blowing up like crazy, for on both of their Instagrams they posted a grey-scale picture of a name tag sticker that read “Hello, I’m: P”, captioned ‘link in bio’, where they were directed to a youtube link posted under Harry’s account.

As soon as the video began, Harry’s soft voice was heard, singing his version of ‘Lullaby’ by the Dixie Chicks in the background as unseen footage of their wedding a few years prior had fizzled into view, video of their first dance as husband and wife played while the tail end of a speech made by Harry’s mom, Anne, was heard over everything else.

“We are so incredibly grateful to have Y/N now an official part of our family and I wish you both years of love, health, and happiness….and giving me tons and tons of grandchildren,” earning laughter from the attendees, “I love you both to pieces. Congratulations.”

The video slowly changed to little snippets. Y/N running towards the beach, holding her hat tight on her head with one hand while the other was holding onto Harry’s hand that was at the bottom of the screen as the breeze whipped at Y/N’s hair and sarong, cut to a clip of the camera propped on the beach overlooking the two of them sitting in the sand, looking out into the ocean, Y/N’s head falling on Harry’s shoulder and him kissing the top of her head as the sun set.

Next was a scene during one of Harry’s tour where someone filmed Y/N at the front of the stage in a VIP area beside a few of their friends, dancing and singing along with Harry who stood in front of her, smiling and singing at her.

The next images were upsetting. When they first started trying, they recorded videos of themselves awaiting the results of their tests, hoping to capture the moment they found out on film. One after another, the video showed negative test upon negative test, wanting to document the struggle they faced in fertility, one of the main reasons they decided to post this video. If it helped just one person who struggled with infertility and gave them a bit of hope, they needed to show it.

They showed clips of Harry holding an emotional Y/N in his arms, her eyes filled with tears and a quivering lip as he kissed her forehead and stroked her hair. Until the next clip showed. A shaky still of a screen that read ‘Pregnant’ that panned up to show a reflection of Harry and his wife in the mirror, Y/N pulling the test up to her face with a smile while Harry looked down at his wife in pride, softly touching her flat belly.

Clips of an ultrasound showed, Y/N stomach looking more bloated than anything as the doctor slid the wand around on her belly, Harry filming while squeezing his wife’s hand. His voice could barely be heard over the music of the video as he cooed, “Is that it, right there? So little…”

They included a few announcements they made to family members. How they told Anne while on an end of summer family vacation with a little jewelry box that opened up to two little birds and an egg in a birds nest with a note that said ‘A little birdy told me you are going to be a Nana.’ making Anne burst into tears, hugging them. And when they told Y/N’s best friend by giving her an orange and saying, “That’s how big our baby is right now,” which caused confusion before the screaming.

Y/N had filmed mirror clips of her growing belly in the floor-length mirror that stood in the corner of their room and had gotten clips of Harry laying beside her bump, his hands rubbing her stomach, clasped on either side as he sang, or talked, or read stories.

“I can’t wait to meet you,” he could be heard saying before kissing the top of her bump, looking up and past the camera to his wife, smiling lovingly.

There were images of Christmas, Gemma having caught an intimate moment between the two of them, Y/N sat in between Harry’s legs on the floor, mugs of hot chocolate in her hands and still in their Christmas Pajamas, Harry’s cheek pressed against hers as he held up a blue Gucci baby suit in front of them, smiling and gushing about how small it was.

The couple’s silhouette could be seen in the dark light sky as they stood in the middle of the field, illuminated by the New Years’ fireworks that went off in the distance, Y/N’s belly pressed against Harry’s stomach as they kissed intimately amongst their friends.

A small baby shower inside one of their London country homes was next, littered with a few familiar faces along with some that were likely family members. Harry still sang in the background as the two of them opened gifts, smiling and laughing with each other, genuine happiness and love could be seen on everyone’s faces and a few people popped onto the screen to say a few words for the unborn baby.

“You have wonderful parents,” Y/N’s parents grinned, her mom getting teary-eyed. “I can’t wait to see the person you become.”

Anne’s bright, shining smile was next, “You’re going to do amazing things. You are so loved.”

“Hi, my sweet nephew! It’s Auntie Gemma,” she grinned, waving at the camera, “I can’t wait to meet you and snuggle you! I hope you grow up to be just as kind and loving as your parents. We are so lucky to have you in our lives.”

Harry and Y/N were seen in the background, Y/N eating a slice of cake while Harry casually kissed her cheek before stealing a bite of her food, earning a smile from his pregnant wife

Video panned over their newly renovated nursery, mostly designed to be gender-neutral with little hints of outer space; moon lights, a solar system mobile hanging above the cot, with a star blanket draped over the nursing chair. Harry moved the camera to Y/N who was hanging some onesies in the nursery closet, smiling and waving at the camera.

Next, they were laying in bed. It was dark and, but a glow from a nightstand shone and Y/N’s belly was visible, round and very pregnant, a few freckles near her navel, and the faintest linea nigra could be seen running from her belly button down towards the bottom of her belly. Their voices were barely audible over the music still sung by Harry. A little ripple on her belly cast from left to right and then her belly distorted a little as their baby boy kicked and pressed against the center of her bump, making the couple laugh and Harry’s hand appeared, softly rubbing where his son’s foot would be.

It changed. They were in a hospital now, Y/N in a grey and white spotted hospital gown. The camera was propped on a table filming Y/N  who sat on the edge of her bed, moving her hips from side to side as she breathed heavily, moaning, while Harry kneeled on the floor in front of her, his hands on her hips and squeezing to relieve some pressure. They were talking to each other, concern, and empathy clear on Harry’s face.

In the next clip, Y/N was laying back in her hospital bed, sucking on gas and air. Harry was filming this time, and his Anne could be seen this time, sitting on Y/N’s other side holding her daughter-in-law’s free hand. Y/N put the gas and air down, gave a thumbs-up, and smiled, “We’re having a baby today!” as her mother-in-law smiled brightly.

The footage faded to black before it flashed to Y/N looking at someone just out of view as the disembodied voice said, “Whenever you feel the urge to push, let us know. You’ll be meeting your son soon.”

It faded to black again, Harry’s singing more evident in these moments, louder, as the footage flashed back into focus. The camera was, once again, being propped up on a table. At Y/N’s head on either side stood Anne who was still holding her daughter-in-law’s hand, while Harry stood, back to the camera, mostly blocking the view of his wife as one hand stroked her hair and the other held her hand. The doctors could be heard saying, “Deep breath” before Y/N took a deep breath in, bringing her legs to her chest with the help of a few nurses that could hardly be seen, bearing down and pushing as the nurses counted and Harry said, “Great job, love. Keep going. You’re so strong.”

The screen went black. A doctor’s voice was heard saying, “One more big push.” Y/N could be heard taking a deep breath, and a little exasperated yelp before gasping from both Harry and Anne followed by the beautiful, gurgling cry of their baby. Harry’s sweet singing voice in the background of the video got louder and finally, the video came back into view of a little name card on the bassinet that read:

Name: P, Styles.

DOB: March 18th

Weight: 6 lbs 12 oz

Height: 20 inches

Time: 8:39 PM

The camera panned down to the top of a blue baby cap with a white embroidered ‘P’ in the center, moving as their son wiggled in his bassinet, the hushed reassuring whispers of his parents heard just behind the camera as little lip-smacking and coos could be heard from the baby.

The screen went blank as the song started to end and white words appeared on the screen.

“Welcome to the world, Baby P. We love you to the ends of the earth.

Love,

Mummy and Daddy”

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

Taglist:

@odetostep​ , @thurhomish​

[woogyu]

A World Tinted Gold | Mingyu; Chapter Four

Kalon; beauty that is more than skin-deep

streamer!y/n x werewolf!mingyu

notes; werewolf au

word count; 2402

previous | next | masterlist

summary; The only werewolves you encountered were the ones living inside your video games. They were nothing more to you than mythical creatures you often had to kill in order to complete objectives. You had a good thing going with your online gaming setup. Your supporters were kind and usually tipped well during streams. Sure it meant you had to deal with the occasional creep sliding into your DMs, but it was worth it. Playing games online was putting you through college. Little did you know your quiet life was about to be turned upside down at the hands of someone you didn’t think existed outside of the virtual world.

»»————-　♡　————-««

Your eyes slowly fluttered open, squinting as bright light flooded your vision. You didn’t remember falling asleep, hell you weren’t even sure what day it was. Flashes of wolves and fangs came back, your eyes flying open as your body woke up. It took you a second to take in your surroundings, you were inside and in bed, but it wasn’t your bed.

“Awake, are you?” a voice asked, your eyes snapped up to a male in the corner of the room. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest, blonde hair falling slightly over his eyes. You had no idea who he was or where you were... what happened to the wolves that saved you? A million questions flashed through your mind as you starred wearily at the man. You clenched and unclenched your fists, maybe you would be able to outrun him.

“I wouldn’t try a grand escape if I were you. You’ll re-open your wound and I don’t really want to stop the bleeding again” he admitted, smirking when your eyes widened in surprise at his correct guess. He moved toward you, his hands raised to show he meant no harm. Your eyes flashed down to your leg... right the wolf had left you wish a nasty gift. Soft white gauze was wrapped around the appendage. You were surprised to find that it didn’t hurt much when you flexed the muscles. This guy had taken care of it. Why would he do that?

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions, and we will do our best to answer them” he promised, he seemed tired just thinking about it. You blinked a few times, eyes moving back up to focus on him as you tried to sort out your thoughts.

“Where am I and how did I get here? Who are you?” you asked, surprised when your voice came out gravely and uneven. He gestured to the glass of water on the nightstand next to you, which you gladly took and gulped down. You figured if he wanted you dead, he would have just let you bleed out.

“My name’s Soonyoung. You are at, er, my friends and I and live in this house. It’s just outside the city” he began, chewing on his lip nervously as he dodged the one part of your question that was important.

“How did I get here?” you asked again, this time more forceful. When he didn’t immediately answer you let out a sigh. “Last thing I remember is these wolves that saved me from this other other wolf” you explained further, eyebrows drawn together as you tried to piece together this situation on your own.

“Mingyu, she just woke up, you can’t just...” a voice called from outside before the door to the room you were in was thrown open, a tall male with sandy brown hair standing in the doorway. His body seemed to visibly relax when he saw you, a small smile pulling at the corners of his lips.

“You’re okay… thank god” he breathed, leaning heavily on the doorway. You could see traces of blood along his shoulder and a mark that seemed to resemble a wolf bite. Maybe he had been attacked by the black wolf as well…

“Okay, who the hell are you and why am I even here?” you demanded, patience short as you starred down the three males within your view. They obviously didn’t seem to be a threat to you, but it confused you more as to why they seemed to actually care about your safety. The brown-haired boy, you assumed his name was Mingyu, seemed confused by your question, his head tilting to the side like an overgrown puppy. You had to admit, it was a little bit cute.

“What do you mean? I’m the one that saved you” he said like it was totally obvious.

“Hey! You would have been another wolfs snack if Seungkwan and I hadn’t heard the growling” a different auburn-haired boy chimed in, hitting the, Mingyu, on the back of the head.

“Idiots” Soonyoung grumbled, turning to glare at the others standing outside of the room. “I hadn’t exactly gotten around to explaining everything yet” he said through clenched teeth, the 3 males outside shut their mouths and averted their eyes awkwardly.

“What do you mean saved me? It was a wolf…” you trailed off, your eyes narrowing as you inspected the taller boy. That hair… you could have sworn… No, nope, there was no way, you must have hit your head on something because obviously you weren’t thinking clearly.

“Yeah so you see…” Soonyoung started, turning around to look at you with a tight-lipped smile. He clasped his hands together before letting out a nervous laugh. “We are kind of like werewolves… well the full moon stuff is all a myth and we can shape-shift whenever we want. Really, we are more just like overgrown dogs” he tried to make it sound better, less scary for you, but it wasn’t really working.

Okay so maybe you had hit your head harder than you thought and this was all just some weird fever dream. You smiled and nodded along, maybe if you pretended to believe them, they would let you go.

“Oh yeah, totally, that’s so interesting” you said in a fake sweet voice, moving the blankets to the side as you started to get up. “You know I’m really late to this thing I have to go to, so I do really need to be getting home now” you said with mock sympathy. Your path through the house was blocked, but maybe the window would be a good escape option. It was obvious that whoever these men were, they had a few screws loose and you weren’t eager to figure out their motive for having you here.

“You think we’re making this up, which you know, is really valid” Soonyoung admitted, pursing his lips, seemingly thinking about something. “If Seungcheol was here he would probably have a better way of breaking this down for you, but I think the fastest way would just be to show you” he decided with a bright grin. Your fingers played with your clothing uneasily, unsure of how you felt about this idea.

“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea…” Mingyu spoke up, it seemed like he could almost sense how you felt about all of this. The more you starred at him the more you found similarity between the boy and the wolf that saved you. The strange feeling you felt when you looked into the wolfs eyes were echoed when you looked at Mingyu. Every time you forced yourself to look away, your eyes found their way back to him; it was almost magnetic.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine…” Soonyoung said, you weren’t sure if he was trying to convince the rest of you or himself. “We don’t really have a choice here… If we leave her with questions, there will just be more problems later. Better to just explain it all upfront” he continued; well you did want answers. There must be some logical explanation to all of this, men couldn’t just magically transform into wolves, that only happened in video games.

“Normally we have a rule not to expose ourselves to humans, for our protection mainly, but since you’re Mingyu’s ma-“ Soonyoung continued speaking, seemingly without thought until Mingyu roughly cut him off.

“Since I saved you, that rule can be bent a little bit” Mingyu quickly finished, flashing Soonyoung a pointed look. You weren’t sure exactly what was going on anymore… but honestly this was far from the weirdest thing they’ve said since walking into the room. Your eyes widened when you caught a flash of gold in Mingyu’s eyes. It must have just been the lighting.

Mingyu walked over and helped you up, supporting most of your weight along his shoulder as he led you outside. Well at least now you had a better chance if you did want to run. As Mingyu set you down on one of the front steps your fingers brushed along the back of his neck. You could have sworn you felt a spark when your bare skin met his. You didn’t have much time to think about it, as Soonyoung pulled your attention back to him.

“Okay, try not to be too amazed okay” he said, his hands emphasizing his words and a cocky grin on his lips. You rolled your eyes and leaned against the railing, Mingyu standing to your right but slightly in front of you. If you didn’t know any better, you would have thought he was taking a protective stance. A few of the other men in the house filtered in behind you, their names either unknown to you or forgotten.

You watched Soonyoung as his body began to tremble, and then right before your eyes you watched a man turn into a beautiful silvery wolf. Paling, your eyes bulged… no there had to be some sort of trick going on… this wasn’t real. You watched as the wolf, Soonyoung? Trotted over to you, seemingly proud to prove you wrong. You didn’t really care about being wrong right now, whatever this was you wanted nothing to do with it.

“I want to go home” you announced, voice shaky as you stepped away from the wolf and men surrounding the house. You wanted to run, get as far away from these people as you could, but you knew your leg would never allow that. Your eyes shifted around nervously, prepared for one of them to stop you, to grab you and lock you away somewhere. Mingyu’s eyebrows drew together in concern and you watched as he took a step toward you.

“I can take you home” he promised, sincerity in his voice. “Just don’t put too much weight on that leg” Mingyu begged, his eyes flickering down from your face to your injury. You nodded a little bit, shifting your weight onto your good foot as you leaned away from him.

“Now… I want to go home now, please” you spoke, the words directed to him. You didn’t want to admit it to yourself, but you were scared. You didn’t know what was going on and no matter how hard you tried to find an answer you came up with nothing. You were eager to put all of this behind you and move on. Never think about wolves or these men ever again.

“My car is just over there” he pointed toward a white SUV along the side of the house. Before you could start to walk toward it, he came up next to you.

“Here, let me help” he all but whined. You didn’t have the heart to deny the aid, your leg already starting to throb from being over exerted.

»»————-　♡　————-««

The drive back was quiet. Mingyu didn’t try and explain things further which you were grateful for. Your brain was pretty much maxed out on weirdness today. You spoke up only to give him directions back to your apartment.

As Mingyu pulled up next to the building he paused, his hand reaching out to wrap around your wrist before you could step out. When his flesh met yours you nearly recoiled due to the warmth that radiated off of him. It wasn’t painful, but the comfort that accompanied it startled you.

“This has the address of the pack house and my phone number written on it… and y/n… please… don’t tell anyone about what happened” Mingyu pleaded, pressing a piece of paper into your palm. You wanted to throw it away but to avoid offending him you stuffed it into your pocket. You nodded numbly at him, pulling your wrist away from his clutch before you could get too comfortable with whatever feeling rising up within you. He didn’t have to worry about you telling anyone anything… you didn’t ever want to think about it again.

“Thanks for driving me home” you mumbled, stepping out of the car and closing the door. You didn’t spare him another glance before turning and limping into the safety of your apartment. Your feet were sluggish as they struggled to carry you up to your room.

Only when you were within the safety of the familiar walls did you allow yourself to fully relax, the day’s events crashing heavily upon you. What the hell had you gotten yourself involved in? No, if you started asking questions like this then you were admitting to yourself that whatever you saw out there had been real. You weren’t ready to face that. You needed to move on, forget about whatever magic tricks those men could perform and get back to your life.

Shit… Ciri had been expecting a call from you and your phone was likely in a wolf’s stomach. You pulled your laptop off of your desk and situated it into your lap. Ciri answered on the first ring, her features laced heavily with worry.

“Oh my god y/n, I was two hours away from calling the cops to do a search party” she breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing your face. You managed to force a small smile, stretching your legs out in front of you.

“What the hell happened to you? You look like shit” she winced, leaning back in her chair and gave you a concerned look. You didn’t even know how to go about creating a fake story for what happened. Maybe if you just kept it vague enough, she wouldn’t ask questions.

“Got hurt while I was filming… broke my camera too… I lost the footage, I’m sorry” you explained, voice impossibly small as exhaustion weighed heavily on you.

“I don’t give a damn about the footage, you are okay, right?” she asked, biting his bottom lip as she watched you, obviously not satisfied with your story.

“I’m fine, I promise” you said, forcing an unconvincing smile. “Hey, I think I’m going to head to bed, still a bit tired from it all” you explained, trying your best to maintain a tone that wouldn’t raise further suspicion.

“A… alright” she conceded, frowning at you through the camera. “Just… let me know if you need help with anything… yeah?” she moved closer to the camera and offered you a small wave.

“I will” you promised her, returning the gesture before closing your computer. Maybe if you slept for long enough this really would turn out to just be some incredibly realistic dream.

[ace-in-a-shopping-cart]

Dance With Me Under the Stars

@yeah-im-a-fae-deal-with-it, I hope you enjoy this! I had a lot of fun making it and I hope I did the wishes justice. Happy Holidays!! (Much of the imagery was based on the song Volcano by The Vamps.)

@sanderssidesgiftxchange

Word Count: 3993

It was mid semester and Virgil had arrived late to class for the first time in his three years of college. He hurried in quietly, taking his usual seat and pulling his books out. Almost shamefully, he grabbed his homework and walked between the desks to put it on the teacher’s.

He must have had the worst luck in the world as, just then, she turned around. “Ah, Mr. Storm. I was wondering when you’d show up.” Her tone was kind, no note of malice anywhere.

Virgil nodded. “I forgot to set my alarm.” His voice was quiet, barely reaching past the professor.

She nodded with a smile that seemed genuine. “Go back to your seat, please. Just as discussed yesterday, you’ll be debating Mr. Croft in a few minutes.”

Virgil trudged back to his seat, slipping past the others to sit in his usual corner. Feeling eyes on him, he looked up to find Logan Croft, a double major in zoology and astronomy who was taking this class for fun, staring at him with an unreadable expression. Virgil ignored him, turning back to his notebook and doodling in the margins as he waited for the professor to finish taking attendance.

He got through half the page before he was being called up to debate, as per usual. He and Croft were only put against each other as examples or if the lecture finished early. This was mainly due to them both being stubborn in their ways and being able to debate things for hours. Thus, they were both called into her office the day before to confirm the topic and style of the debate.

There they stood, on opposite sides of the same plain. It was a familiar position for the pair during their debates. While many would have seen a peaceful place within that plain, maybe even a spot to build something, the two students only saw a battlefield with the fight yet to be fought, yet to be won. Their words danced across the plain, leaving wounds that didn’t mean a thing outside of that moment. A struggle for dominance raged before, as it always did, they came to be equals that saw eye to eye.

Their debate lasted for the first half of class before they came to some sort of agreement on their topic and sat down to listen to the teacher give a lecture on what just happened. After class, Croft caught up with Virgil on his way out. “That was a good debate today, Storm.” He said. The battlefield was back to a plain, nothing special about it.

Virgil looked at him briefly before just shrugging and walking up the stairs. He didn’t bother to look back or wonder why the student who usually avoided him unless it was during these debates was talking to him. He just knew he needed to get to class.

A day later, he was running to dance class and missed a step. Crashing down the stairs, he landed at the bottom in a haze of pain. He tried to move but found that his vision was blurry and his ankle was broken. Someone nearby gave a shout and he heard footsteps on the stairs. A hand landed on his shoulder and he flinched, coming face to face with the person who lived across the hall from him.

“Virgil, what happened?” Emile said, eyes looking concerned.

The dancer didn’t even lie to the psychology major he knew only in passing. “I fell.” He shook his head, trying to get his vision to focus on something, anything. “My ankle hurts.”

Emile nodded and moved to look at it. Gently pressing, he inspected the joint. Virgil hissed when he pressed on it and Emile sat back. “Yep, that’s broken.” Sighing, he moved to help Virgil to his feet, throwing the dancer’s arm over his shoulders. “I’ve got time before my next class so I’ll take you to the nurse before I go tell you’re dance teacher you won’t be able to make it today.”

Virgil shook his head, hobbling along beside him. “No, I’ll tell her later.”

Emile frowned. “You know Professor Kim is not going to be happy about this development. She was counting on you being there through the whole semester.”

Virgil just laughed, shaking his head. “Since when do you talk with her?”

“Since I came to drop off your lunch that day and she was the only one there. We struck up a conversation about you.”

Virgil nodded. “Fair.”

Emile pushed the door open and sat Virgil in the nurse's office before leaving with a wave, tossing an, “I’ll be back in a bit,” over his shoulder. Virgil waited for the nurse to come and diagnose him, soon being rolled out on a gurney on his way to the hospital to get a cast on his broken ankle. He’d also been told that he had a concussion but that wasn’t the main concern.

A few days later, debate class was back in session and Virgil was there in a cast, crutches by his side. Croft came in and eyed the crutches before setting his bag by his usual chair. He didn’t sit down as Virgil thought he would, rather coming over to stand by Virgil’s seat. He nodded his chin at the cast. “What happened there?”

Virgil was taken aback by the care in his voice, a voice that had previously remained so neutral while talking to him that it was borderline monotone. He shrugged as he continued to grab his books out of his bag. “I fell.”

Croft raised his eyebrows, looking about as convinced as he would if Virgil had just told him the sky was magenta. “You fell? Why don’t I buy that, Storm?”

Virgil shook his head. “I don’t know why you wouldn’t believe the truth, Croft.”

He huffed, his eyes melting into the concern that was evident in his voice. Opening his mouth, he seemed to be about to say something but thought better of it, going to sit down instead just as the professor walked in. She paused by his desk. “Professor Kim told me about the ankle. You don’t have to debate for the rest of the semester if you don’t feel up to it.”

Virgil shook his head. “Standing won’t be a problem as long as I have the crutches.”

She nodded. “Still, I’d like to let you rest for a bit.”

Virgil shrugged. “I’m fully capable of standing and debating but I’ll follow your lead on this.” She gave a final nod and moved to stand at the front of the room to begin class.

Thus, six weeks went by. Virgil did essays on dance and movement instead of performing the dances. Professor Kim insisted on recording the lessons so he’l still be able to do them when he’s recovered, which he was immensely grateful for. Debate class went similarly in that he wasn’t called up as often to debate Croft anymore. Instead, he wrote most of his debates as argumentive papers.

That summer, Virgil stayed on campus. He wasn’t taking a summer course, he was simply trying to follow the videos Professor Kim left for him. He lived nearby anyways so it made sense to keep using the studio on campus. That’s how he ended up running into Croft again on the stairs. 

“Oh,” the other student said, bag in hand as he was clearly trying to put his books back in it, “I didn’t expect you to be here.”

Virgil smiled, holding up the gym bag that had replaced his book bag. “The studio is allowing me to catch up on my dance lessons over the summer.” He paused. He and Croft had never been too cordial with each other, merely remaining civil. However, toward the end of the semester they'd come to some sort of academic truce. Now, they were just normal strangers, just two students. So, Virgil took a chance. “What about you? Why are you still here?”

Croft finally shoved the last book into his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. “I’m having to retake a class due  to low grades.” He shook his head. “I just can’t grasp the subject.”

“What is it?”

Croft sighed. “Psychology.”

Virgil nodded and, on a whim, gave an offer. “I passed Psych with flying colors if you want me to tutor you?”

That plain, that had once been a battlefield before lying dormant, became a meadow in that one moment. No longer a place for duels or violence, but peace and healing. Their once shaky truce seemed to settle, becoming something more permanent, as Croft smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

They walked side by side as they discussed times and tactics for studying. They concluded that their only overlapping free time was directly after Virgil was finished with dance practice as that was when Croft got out of his classes and clubs but before Virgil had to go to Professor Kim’s office for office hours.

So, the very next day saw Virgil walking out of the shower room, towel he’d been drying his hair with still in hand, to see Croft leaning against the wall in the hall. “I wasn’t expecting you for another fifteen minutes or so.” Virgil said as he approached.

Croft looked up from the book in his hand. He briefly glanced at the page number before snapping it shut and picking up his bag. “Apologies, I like to be early.”

Virgil just waved his hand as they fell in step beside each other. “It’s fine. Next time, you don’t have to wait in the hall if I’m not in the shower, you can just sit in the room. As long as you’re quiet, you’ll be fine.”

Croft nodded. “Noted, thank you.”

They made it to the library and sat down, both pulling out books. When Croft gave Virgil a puzzled look, he laughed a bit. “I’ve brought my notes and blank copies of homework to use as practice problems. First, I want to gauge just how bad off you are.” he set down the cumulative final review. “Fill this out to the best of your ability.” Croft set to work, a serious expression on his face. Virgil didn’t want to twiddle his thumbs while waiting so he pulled out his phone and opened it to a new note, beginning to plan out his evening.

Once that was done, he looked up to see Croft with his tongue sticking out slightly, hair in his eyes, and eyes focused on the page. Strangely, there was something beautiful about the concentrated look on his face. Maybe it was the way the sunlight dramatized it and cast his eyes into shadows, making Virgil want to stare until he could see where the iris ended and the pupil began; maybe it was the way his hair framed his face in a way that made Virgil want to pull out a sketchbook.

Feeling self conscious at that thought, he looked back down at his phone and ignored the other student until he heard a pencil connect with the table. “Alright, Storm, I’m done.”

Virgil nodded and slid the page over to himself, quickly checking it against the answer sheet he’d made up. He gave Croft a grade, circled it, and slid it back. A sharp intake of breath came back as Virgil pulled a clean piece of paper closer to himself and began to write down what needed to be worked on.

“Is it really that bad?” Croft’s voice came from Virgil’s side.

He paused in his writing to look up at his former academic rival. He shrugged. “It could be worse. You don’t seem to be too bad off right now and we’re gonna try to get you to where you need to be as soon as possible.”

Croft nodded and away they went. The next few weeks were spent in a new routine. Croft would wait in the hall if Virgil was in the shower but most times Virgil had lost track of time and gone over, resulting in Croft sitting in the corner reviewing definitions. A few times, one of his clubs wouldn’t meet and he’d get out earlier than normal. Those were the times that Croft would sit in and make sure Virgil wasn’t putting too much strain on his ankle and was properly hydrating. Those were the times they’d strike up a bit of witty banter that reminded them of their debates but on a personal level that the debate class was lacking.

One step at a time, they came closer on that meadow until they were standing side by side, leaning on the other. As they grew closer, the meadow rose as if two tectonic plates were pushing it toward the sky. Over the course of that one season, the meadow had become a mountain of a friendship. Their banter began to spread outside of just those rare moments, becoming a constant part of their meetings, tutor sessions, and walks. 

It wasn’t long before the summer semester ended and they had a few weeks of vacation before the next semester. As the days shortened and the leaves turned colors, Virgil almost expected Croft to go on his way. After all, the agreement was done. Virgil had finished learning all the moves he’d needed and Croft had passed his classes with the usual flying colors. 

Still, tutor sessions turned into chats over coffee, dancing changed to walks in the park, but their late night talks on the way back to their apartment building stayed the same. Virgil enjoyed that constant, knowing that no matter what else happened that day, he could walk back to the apartment building with Croft. It was one such walk that it struck him. In all their time together, he’d gotten closer to Croft and no longer saw him as the academic rival they’d been at the start of the year. Instead, he saw him as a friend, or even more than that.

Just when Virgil was satisfied and comfortable with the balance they’d created together, fate tossed a spark gently onto the mountain. In that instance, the mountain turned into a volcano. In that one instant of time, Virgil had fallen for Logan Croft and he knew with absolute certainty that he wouldn’t have it any other way. He had no idea how he’d tell him, or even if he would tell him. After all, volcanoes can stay dormant for years before going extinct or erupting. Virgil could just wait and hope it was the former or deal with the latter.

The next few weeks were much the same as that with the exception that Virgil was noticing every little thing that Logan did. He noticed the way he leaned toward Virgil as they talked, the way his focus was entirely on the dancer during conversations. Logan was always walking on Virgil’s left side, the ankle he’d broken mid spring semester that acted up occasionally but especially on stairs. He noticed Logan holding doors for him or smiling at him for no particular reason.

All of this gave Virgil a spark of hope in his chest that had him wondering if Logan liked him back. That spark was almost crushed one afternoon. They had just gotten their coffee and started their usual round about the park when Logan spoke. “I might not be able to do the full rotation today, Storm. I’ve got a date with Roman later.”

Virgil felt like his chest had just been stomped on. “. . . A date?” He didn’t know how he kept his voice steady when his heart was breaking, getting closer and closer to shattering the more he thought about those two words.

Logan tilted his head to the sides. “Maybe ‘date’ is the wrong word for it. It’s more like a meet-up.”

Virgil nodded, pretending he hadn’t been holding his breath through that whole exchange. “Okay, when do you have to leave?”

“About half an hour.” He turned and smiled. “Plenty of time.”

Virgil smiled and walked ahead, turning to face Logan as he walked backwards. Logan shook his head. “That’s not the safest way to travel, you know.”

Virgil just shrugged. “There’s worse ways to travel.” He also got to see the rare grin that spread across the zoology major’s face, not that he would tell said student that.

Their walk in the park ended with them standing at the entrance. “I’ll see you later, Storm.” Logan said by way of parting.

“Wait! Later as in tomorrow or later as in-”

He laughed, something that was even more rare than his grin but something Virgil longed to hear more often. “Later today.” Virgil nodded, walking back to his apartment alone.

On a whim, he grabbed his gym bag, stuffing his dance shoes in it, and went to the studio. He scrolled through his playlist as he entered before just hitting shuffle and letting the music play as he got ready. He waited for the next song and took a second to identify it before throwing his hoodie off and moving to the center of the room. 

He went with the music, letting his body flow in whatever way it wanted. Incorporating all the moves he’d learned over the past few months into a cohesive whole that was both as graceful as saplings in the wind but as sharp as the flapping of cloth. He danced to forget his troubles and anxieties, letting them bleed into the movements. A faster song came on and he changed his movements to match, becoming sharper as he let himself get lost in the music, lost to the beat of his feet against the floor, the feeling of the air on his sweat, the feeling of dancing and being free and feeling on top of the world.

When the playlist ended and his muscles were screaming for him to rest, he collapsed onto the floor, panting for breath. When he felt like he could stand, he moved to check his phone clock and found that he’d spent the whole afternoon dancing. Quickly, he showered and made his way back to his apartment. He was still overheated after dancing for a few hours straight so he just had his hoodie slung over his arm, his gym bag over his other shoulder.

He got back to his apartment to see Logan with a fist raised to knock. Smiling, he moved around him and unlocked it. “Come on in.” He dropped his keys in the little bowl on the entrance way table. “I’ve just gotta put this stuff away but it won’t be long.”

Logan smiled, standing comfortably in the entryway. “Take your time, Storm, I’m not going anywhere.” 

For a brief moment, Virgil wondered what his first name would sound like in Logan’s voice. He didn’t dwell on it, instead he nodded, ducking into his bedroom to store his bag where it belonged. Taking a second to put on some extra deodorant and move his hair around so it looked semi-styled instead of the mess it was before, he took a deep breath. The scare of losing him that afternoon had made Virgil realize that he needed to act fast before he lost Logan for real.

So, he kept the hoodie across his arm as he went back out and picked up the keys again. “Ready to go?”

Logan nodded. “Quite.”

Virgil held the door open for him, locking it on his way out. They started down the path in relative silence, the only noise being the crunching of gravel beneath their feet and the sounds of life coming from nearby buildings. Virgil was hesitant to break the silence despite the feelings and words bubbling below his surface. Logan also seemed comfortable in the lack of conversation. They made it to a bench that was out of the way and sat on it to stargaze for a bit.

Virgil tilted his head back, resting it on the back of the bench. His eyes scanned the sky, resting on different stars and connecting them into constellations. After another while of silence, Logan shivered beside Virgil and the dancer turned his head, looking at the astronomy major. “Are you cold?” His voice broke the silence like a sheet of ice falling from a slope.

Logan shrugged. “A bit. I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

Virgil hummed and threw his hoodie over the other. “No use in you getting cold when this is right here.”

Logan didn’t react beyond tilting his head down just the slightest bit. He hummed, taking a breath before speaking. “Apologies again for having to end our afternoon walk early.”

Virgil waved his hand. “It’s fine. In fact, it actually gave me time to think.”

Logan looked over at him, eyes inquisitive behind his square black frames. “What about?”

Virgil took a deep steadying breath of the night air before he turned to face Logan just a bit more on the bench. “About you, actually. I realized something when you said you had a date with Roman.”

Logan nodded, his gaze sharpening as his attention seemed to hone in on Virgil. “Okay.”

Virgil fiddled with the rips in his jeans, suddenly anxious. “I realized that if I didn’t act now, someone else might be walking by your side in the park, laughing with a coffee in hand. Someone else might have the door you knock on late at night when you can’t sleep, be the person you debate with over the phone into the early hours of the morning.” He took another deep breath, not looking up at the wonderful human sitting in front of him, the one who deserved the world. “I realized that I love you and can’t stand the thought of another person getting to hold your hand and kiss you goodnight.” He turned his head so he was staring out into the night rather than at Logan. “There, I said it. I love you. I love you so much my chest aches.”

Logan hummed in a way that Virgil couldn’t interpret before there was the rustling of fabric and Logan was kneeling before Virgil, one hand hovering near the dancer’s cheek. “I’m glad you told me as it makes what I’m going to say much easier.” Virgil’s eyes widened slightly, fearing the next thing to come past Logan's lips.

“I love you too. Honestly, I think I’ve loved you since the start of the fall semester. The way you helped me study, putting things into ways I can understand and bending over backwards to do so. The care you take with everything you do, the grace in your every move, the fire and passion you put into your dancing, I love all of you.”

Virgil couldn’t believe what he was hearing but his nerves settled when Logan’s soft expression didn't change, didn’t turn to a sneer, he didn’t laugh or mock Virgil. Elated, he leaned forward but paused before he could connect their lips. Logan smiled at the quiet ask for consent and leaned in with him, closing the distance and bringing him into a kiss. His hovering hand settled on Virgil’s cheek as Virgil’s hand came up to cradle the back of Logan’s neck, neither wanting to let go.

When they pulled apart, they were both smiling. Logan pulled the hoodie tighter around his shoulders before standing, offering a hand to Virgil to stand as well. An idea came to him and Virgil put his hand in his pocket, pulling his phone out to play a few ballads. “Dance with me under the stars?”

Logan grinned, sliding his hands to be around Virgil’s neck. “I’d love nothing more.”

So, the two did just that, dancing the hour away under the midnight stars. In the arms of the one they loved, the same person who had been their greatest enemy at the start of the year, neither could ask for a better way to spend their time.

[votederpycausemufins]

It’s a little shorter than the previous chapters, but it’s got some important stuff going on. But things still aren’t going to go well for a bit. in fact, after this chapter, we’re just going to focus on the bots. Maaaybe also Tommy

@petrichormeraki

There was a sigh as the winged figure sat down on a ledge. “I thought I told you I go by Death.”

“Or Dadza.” Grifter spoke up, getting a glare from his dad.

“You do realize I’ve disowned you, right?” Death asked, a bored look on his face.

“Pfft.” Grifter started before making his bedrock prison swing. “That doesn’t stop you from visiting when I call you again and again and again!”

“Because it gets annoying.” Death rolled his eyes before looking at who called him. “Speaking of which, why were you calling?”

“Well first off, that is the worst thing to repeat, why is it so fucking long? Second, can you get me out of here?!”

Death tilted his head from side to side in contemplation. “I dunno. Whole reason you’re in here is because Theseus asked me to, and he’s the one son I still respect.”

“Isn’t Wile still living with you?” Grifter piped up.

“Yes, he is. And while I don’t respect him, he’s still better than you.”

Grifter pouted. “That’s not fair. I’m better than that pussy.”

“Can we go back to the fact that I’m stuck in here because my evil copy wanted me here?!” Tommy shouted to get the attention of the others there. “Why the fuck did he want that?”

Death shrugged. “Well, seeing as how he’s not even in this dimension anymore, I’m guessing it’s so you couldn’t stop him leaving from Hels.”

“Wait, so the others don’t even know I’m missing?!” Tommy struggled, trying to find a way to even possibly escape his current prison, but had no luck. “Phil please can you let me out?!”

Death moved to sit on top of Grifter’s bedrock casket. “You know, normally I would have already. Theseus just wanted you in here long enough for him to leave. The thing is, I’m pretty sure you’d also let Grifter out, and I’d really rather keep him in here.”

“Oh come on Dadza, I’m not going to try and kill you. Remember, I’m a Listener now. That’s all the power I need. It’s just not quite enough to let me out of here since it was made to deal with those powers.” Grifter shifted to try and get a better look up at Death, but had little luck. “I’ll leave you and Wile alone, especially because if I killed you, then I’d probably end up as Death and then I’ll have to leave Sense alone.”

“Right… you did finally find someone, didn’t you?”

“Yes. And I promise I’ll behave.” Grifter spoke in the sweetest voice he could muster.

Death was silent before flying back over to Tommy and breaking the lock in it, letting the bedrock casing open and causing Tommy to fall to the ground below. “Hey! I’m on half a heart now!”

“Hmm, thought that would kill you. Well, if you let Grifter out, I’m fine with that.”

Chains rattled as Grifter shook his prison. “Wait you’re not just letting me out?”

“No. Leaving it up to him.” Death pointed down to Tommy, and then a moment later he was gone.

“Uh, so are you, um… planning to help with that?”

“I’d rather not, but I don’t have a fucking clue how to leave, and I’m guessing this Listener thing is like Big G being a Watcher.”

“It’s the counterpart in this dimension.”

“Got it.” Tommy nodded. “Well I’m pretty much stuck in this world if I don’t help you, so I guess I have to. But that means you have to help me out since I can get you out and know where Sense is.”

“Of course.”

Tommy looked around and was glad to find there was an area that was easy to exit, but it was five blocks up. The walls were also obsidian, so it would take forever to mine up there with his hands since he had nothing in his inventory. “Uh, slight problem…”

“I’ll summon you some blocks or some shit you can use.” Grifter replied, and a moment later there was what sounded almost like a lightning strike and then a few blocks rained from above.

“What the fuck was that?!”

“I get killed every time I use any of my powers. Normally I only do it when I’m really bored, but if we can use it to get out, it seems like a good idea to me.”

Tommy wasn’t sure how to react to that, so he just used the blocks of glazed terracotta - why that block, he wasn’t sure - to build up to the glass of what seemed to be a viewing area. He broke the glass and slid through into the room and started rifling through it. It was mainly bare, but there were a few random items here and there. Also a painting. It wasn’t big enough for anyone to go through, so at first Tommy assumed decoration, but then he looked behind it and found a chest.

“Found the keys!”

“Do you need more blocks?”

“Nah, you gave me enough and I can tear up the stuff in here if I need more.”

“What do you mean Phil’s your grandpa too?”

“I mean that he’s the dad of one of my dads and so he’s my grandpa! And since that’s the same for Grum, Phil’s also his grandpa.”

“Did Techno have a kid?!”

“No. At least I don’t think so. Grum said there were only three of us. Wait does that mean NPG doesn’t count? Maybe because he’s in Hels or something?”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. But if you’re not- Did Tommy somehow build you before he died?!”

“What? No! He didn’t build us, and he’s not dead either.” Jrum crossed his arms. “Our dad is Grian!”

“Iskall’s friend?!”

Jrum lit up. “You know Auncle Iskall?”

“Yeah, I kinda hacked into his comm a few months ago and we somehow became friends from it. How does Grian being your dad make you related to me?!”

“I said because his dad is Phil!”

“Then why have I never heard of him?!”

“‘Cause he sort of went missing for a bunch of years. We only found out like uhhh… how many days ago?” Jrum paused to look at his current statistics for the world. “We’ve been here almost a week?!”

“How did you not know that?”

“I don’t know! I thought it’s been two days!” Jrum said, slightly panicking as Fundy pulled out his normal comm and started scrolling up.

“Yeah, it says you two joined six days ago.”

“But that’s not possible! The only time that could have happened is-” Jrum paused. The only time both of them had been off for an extended period of time was when we lost power. And that was when we were with… Mister Sam… Is… did he lie to us?” Jrum looked up at Fundy with sad eyes.

“Well… I…” Fundy wasn’t sure what to tell Jrum, and before he could say much else, the bot was hugging onto his legs with a hug.

“We’ve… also been stuck here that long. Did… is no one trying to help us? Can we not go home?”

Fundy winced, remembering what he had been told earlier as he pulled out the comm Dream had given him. If he said anything more, he might not get another chance, but at the same time, his call with Iskall had probably lasted long enough. “No. They’re trying to get you guys. I was just calling Iskall not too long ago. Apparently your parents are freaking out trying to find you guys. You’re honestly pretty lucky they are.”

Jrum looked at the device and carefully took it from Fundy’s outstretched paw. He looked it over before handing it back, no matter how much he wanted to keep it. “D-Dad and Tommy were really upset at Grandpa and the others. They weren’t really nice to Tommy, so I guess they weren’t nice to you either.”

Fundy shook his head, which made Jrum hug him more. “Well, we can help Grum… a-and then the three of us can try to find a way to Hermitcraft!”

The hybrid smiled slightly then nodded. “Sure, why not. Sounds like it could be fun.” And he turned back to look at Grum.

Just as he did, a window that had been open on Grum’s screen closed. Because of that, neither he nor Jrumbot saw the open application that showed a video feed of the two of them and the blinking red dot in the corner to signify it being recorded. Nor did they see the other flashing symbol that changed between two images. A smile, and a broken portal.

“I don’t understand why he hasn’t shown up yet.” Xannes grumbled and NPG patted his back.

“Aww, don’t worry. I’m sure he’s just a little busy. They are currently going through a little crisis With Grum and Jrum missing.”

“They’re just machines, who cares if they’re gone?”

NPG ignored the way that comment hurt. “You know how much hermits care about others. They even care for you after you’ve tried to destroy the place. As far as they’re concerned, those two are real people. They’re not abandoning them.”

Xannes crossed his arms. “It seems stupid.”

NPG didn’t respond and instead fiddled with some wood blocks in his inventory. He already built them this rustic house and they didn’t need another. If they were back in Helscraft maybe, but things tended to be more down to earth here as far as he knew.

They were quiet a bit longer, just sitting as Xannes stared out at the land ahead. NPG slowly stepped closer before sitting down on the ground next to the hels admin’s chair and pulling out some wool yarn from his inventory. “Here… I brought some along. I don’t have needles though.���

Xannes rolled his eyes and huffled before turning away from NPG, but his hand did come back and grab the yarn before pulling out some spare knitting needles he kept on him.

“Um, did you hear that they can’t get into the world they want to get into because they’re blacklisted?” The robot asked as Xannes started to knit.

“All of them? That’s a little surprising. Have they tested all the hermits?”

“Uh…” NPG pulled out a communicator and typed something into it, waiting a minute before a response came in. “Not yet, but so far no one can get in.”

“Well, guess now they can know how it feels to be banned from a world.”

NPG frowned before scolding his friend. “That’s not a good thing to say! I mean, haven’t you been happy visiting here? They could have said no, but your brother let you in anyway. And you only got that chance because of one of the people that are stuck in a universe they can’t get to.”

Xannes sighed, but didn’t say anything else, just knitting in a way that NPG recognized. The admin tended to knit in slightly different patterns or rhythms based on his emotions. Right now it wasn’t quite sad, but it was at least a little melancholic. So not wanting to make it worse, NPG just sat next to his friend quietly. 

When a certain person clad in pink finally arrived, NPG excused himself to let him and Xannes hang out. The robot found a different room of the rustic house and sort of sulked around. It didn’t take long before he was bored of sulking and found paper to sketch rustic houses on, but he ended up crumpling them up and throwing them away. He didn’t even feel like making rustic houses right now. So instead, he ended up just lying down on the ground and staring at the ceiling.

Eventually, time passed by, NPG wasn’t sure how long, but he only really realized that time had passed at all because Xannes was suddenly standing next to him and looking down. “Have you been here the whole time?”

“Maybe.”

“You’re really upset about this, aren’t you?”

NPG didn’t answer at first, but eventually looked away before speaking up. “Yeah… they are kinda family and all.”

There was a very long sigh from Xannes. “Okay, what’s the world called again?”

NPG’s head snapped around to look at Xannes. “Wait, what do you mean?”

“I mean, obviously the people banned are from Hermitcraft or related to those kids. I’m sure you’re included in one of those, but I’m neither. I’m not family and I’m not from Hermitcraft. Plus my hacking should help out distracting anyone that could give me trouble.”

NPG jumped up to his feet and hugged Xannes. “Thank you! This is so nice of you!”

“Ugh, stop hugging me before I change my mind and contact whoever should no before I try it just in case something goes wrong and I actually need help for some fucking reason.”

“Okay, got it.” And NPG sent a message, giving a thumbs up a few moments later. Xannes nodded back and then pressed a button on his helmet and cracked his knuckles. He checked a few info panels, changing some commands to work for this new world instead of Hermitcraft, then he initiated his teleport.

EvilXisuma joined the world

In all the commotion, Theseus stepped away from the group, taking a stolen ender pearl in his hand and chucking it as far as he could. Even then, he still tried to get more distance to make sure he was really alone and far enough from Philza. Finally, he reached a clearing and checked it over to make sure no one was around. He even double checked before finally going to the center of the clearing and speaking into the air. “I call the goddess of death.”

Immediately, a brisk breeze blew through the nearby trees, cooling the surrounding area. Theseus tried his best not to shiver and just stood still, waiting for the wind to calm before turning around. Standing there was someone who looked like his mom, but dressed in his dad’s clothes. “Mumza.”

“Hello Tommy. It looks like Phil finally told you about me.”

“More or less. Figured some of it out on my own, but he did tell me the last part I needed to know.”

“How have you been? It’s been so long since I’ve seen you last.”

“Been around. Been busy. Shit like that, y’know.” Theseus was glad that she wasn’t around for his other self. It would make it easier to lie. 

“I’m assuming you don’t just want to talk?”

“Well, apparently I have nephews and they got kidnapped and are stuck in the server Phil, Techno and I were in. None of them can get back in, but I was thinking maybe I could. Unfortunately none of them will let me try to help.”

He was given a soft, kind smile. “I’m glad you want to help. I can see why Phil would want to be a little protective, but I can help you.”

He nodded and took the hand the goddess held out to him.

TheseusMC joined the world

EvilXisuma joined the world

Error with processing. Virus found. Attempting recovering. Recovery failed; Too many resources being used. Finding unnecessary memory usage. Found. Disable communicator direct connection. Disabled. 

Files being accessed. Restricted files attempting access. Restricted files require password access. Please input password. Password inputted. Checking password. Password accepted. 

Activation phrase number 652 used. Activating camera. Beginning recording. Recording. Recording. Recording. Closing program. Sending recording. Sending. Recording sent to user level Admin. 

Blacklist check. Attempting Entry: TangoTek. Assigned roles: Hermittown member, Acknowledged associate family, Team ZIT member, Operator. Banned roles: Hermittown member. Acknowledged associate family. Continue blacklist.

Blacklist check activated. Increase displacement by 1.5%. Displacing. Displacement complete. Displacement at 39.5% total.

Opening files at request. Warning, files missing data. Names of referenced files changed. Please update file names. Warning, Error with processing. Virus found. Shutting down.

[twinklelilstarkey]

hi i don’t know if you write about mental health problems or anything but if you do, please could you write a billy butcher x female reader where you’re his gf and it’s gotten really bad but he takes care of you ?? sorry i know it’s a bit much but i’m going through it tbh ://

A/N: You and me both, my love. Hope everything gets better for you.

I wrote this based mainly on anxiety since is the one I’m most acquainted with.

Words: 1.9k+

Summary: Billy gives you advice on your anxiety.

Warnings: Female!Reader. Mentions of anxiety. Mentions of stress over college work. Slight age gap is mentioned, but you can imagine it as big or as small as you want, literally, anyone can be a college student. College Student Problems!

You have been having an extreme hard time with college. Teachers like to believe that any student can easily work under extreme pressure, so they like to schedule all tests and essays in a space of a week and a half.

With all of that, it means that you need to study with many weeks in advance and hope that you won’t mix all the information in your head and get confused. As well as... Take as less breaks possible.

That may sound ridiculous to many, and you’re 100% sure that any doctor would yell at you if they had heard you say that, (since breaks are ALWAYS NEEDED), but you just can’t bring yourself to take breaks.

It’s both mentally and physically impossible. You already can’t sleep that well; you can’t eat that much or even focus on other things other than your notes and books (you had previously grabbed at the library).

Everyone that hangs out with you knows that you’re a very anxious person by nature, but they never saw you like this. And if they had to admit, it is quite scary.

Your boyfriend, Billy, who also lives with you, has been blind to it all. It’s not his fault. You try to hide it as much from him as possible. And he’s also out of the house for most of the day and only sees you when he comes back before dinner.

He has noticed your jumpy leg under the table, bloody bottom lip (from you biting it) and especially how less you eat. But like I said before, you’re an anxious person by nature.

Billy doesn’t see your daily mental breakdowns or hears you giving yourself a pep talk when in the shower, because he’s almost never present whenever something important happens between the boys.

But everything will change today.

And that is because today is a Friday that Billy decided to take off ‘work’ to stay home and relax, while you, on the other hand, will spend it with online classes and studying.

You lean back on your desk chair, finding it awfully uncomfortable after so many days sitting in that same position, and sigh loudly while looking at the PowerPoint that is being projected on the Zoom call.

Your webcam is on, yet your microphone is off, making your sounds of pure frustration be silent to others that could possibly see you.

The TV in the other room is on by what  you can hear over your headphones, and you’re pretty sure that Billy is sitting on the couch bingewatching a random ‘police drama’, as always.

He has made his appearance at least once on the background of your screen, which caught some people’s attention. But other than that, he has been leaving you in your corner to peacefully have your class.

You continue to take notes of what your teacher is saying silently as your mind runs miles an hour, always taking your attention somewhere else.

“You alright there?”

You turn your chair a bit to the side and look over your shoulder at the doorway behind you, looking at the owner of the deep voice and the British accent.

“Yeah” You say with a quick fake smile before turning back around to look at the screen.

“You sure?”

You nod, knowing that he can see your head (the chair’s back is not that tall).

“Alright,” He says before walking off to somewhere in your apartment.

(...)

Lunch went rather well. You ate as much as you could, which wasn’t a lot. But Billy’s cursing at the news were enough to keep your mind occupied for that short while. Other than that, your day has been like any other day of this week.

You’re officially done with your online classes for today, but unfortunately, you still need to study.

You have been reading your notes and small bits of the books the teachers told you to study with, for the past… what you believe, hour, but nothing seemed to make sense.

You’ve tried changing up a few words in the sentences, for simpler words, in hopes that your brain will soon catch the meaning as it sounds simpler... but nothing of the sort is happening.

Your eyes have filled with frustrated tears at least 10 times since you started, making the reading quite difficult. But as for right now, you are letting those tears roll down your face in complete defeat.

People do say that you shouldn’t hold back your tears, right? That it will always feel better once you stop?

Yeah, that is true. But they forgot to mention that it only lasts 10 minutes.

You sniffle while wiping the tears off your face, throwing the pencil down at the desk in pure frustration, before leaning back on the chair.

“Are you okay?” Billy asks from behind you, probably on his way to the bathroom.

“Yeah, yeah” you say while wiping your tears quickly, “My nose just started running for no reason”

A silence is set and for a few seconds you believe that he has walked away, but that was until you felt his warm hand rest over your shoulder.

“Runny nose that created tears?” He asks in a slight ironic tone.

You don’t answer him, yet his hand gives your shoulder a small squeeze.

“Get up, let’s go to the living room” He says in a whisper.

“I can’t” you say, not taking your eyes off your notebooks, “I need to keep studying”

“I’m sure you can take a break”

You sigh loudly, trying to rearrange your feelings before looking up at the older man.

“I need to keep studying” You repeat.

Your sad tone was way more noticeable to Billy this time, and he caught it right as you said the first word.

“How long has it been since you took a break?”

“I’ve been here since lunch”

Butcher’s eyes widen at your words and his mouth falls agape.

“It’s almost 5pm, what do you mean since lunch?”

You shrug as an answer before taking a quick look at your phone, checking if Butcher isn’t lying about the time, and he’s not.

His mind runs with thoughts about you probably feeling exhausted, while yours just run around the idea of another day almost being over and you haven’t even started to understand this new chapter.

You try to grab your pencil back from the table but Billy, in that same second, snatches it off your hand and puts it back down.

“Get up in your two little feet and walk your arse over to the couch”

You, surprisingly, do as told, once noticing his change of tone, as well as his change of facial expression. He looks slightly annoyed, but also, worried.

You walk off the bedroom, Billy right behind you, not even a meter away.

Once your body collides down into the soft surface of the couch, Butcher lets out a loud sigh, also taking his seat.

“Have you been doing this routine every day?” He asks, looking over at you.

“Yeah. I mean, kinda,” you answer, shrugging again, “it depends on what classes I’m having”

“Have you eaten anything since lunch?”

“No, I’m not hungry”

“How? You almost didn’t even eat anything today”

“I just feel nauseous every time I smell or see food, I can’t eat, Billy” you say, with a sadder expression taking over your face.

“And why do you not take breaks?”

“I don’t have time for breaks”

“Honey, 15 minutes wouldn’t hurt you” he says, making you look away, knowing that he won’t understand your side, “You know that”

“Yeah, I know that. But what are breaks when my mind just stays on that stupid piece of paper the whole time?” You ask, “I’ve tried everything to keep my mind occupied with something else, believe me! I just can’t relax until I got all of this sorted in my head”

“I get it, love” He says in a calmer tone, as if he was trying to calm you down with his voice, “But you know that if you’re non stop studying, at some point, your brain just wont grab anything that you’re reading, right?”

You stay silent.

“I’ve studied for college as well. No degree is easy, love, that’s for sure. I know how stressful it is, and how it feels when you don’t have your own stuff under control” His hand rests over yours, “But you don’t have to destroy your mental health because of it”

“What if it’s my mental health destroying itself and not me destroying it?”

“Well… You are sure helping it” He admits, “If your mind is worried about something from when you wake up to when you go to sleep, all you could do to relax is get a distraction, right?”

“Yeah, but I’ve tried everything”

“I’m sure you didn’t try everything, babes” He gives your hand a little squeeze, “There’s millions of options. Try not to read if you space-out too much, and try, I don’t know, watch one of those highly chaotic videos you like to watch. I’m sure those one’s will leave your mind more than occupied”

A small smile grows on your lips as you hear his words and you take a deep breath.

“And what do I do if I continue to not be able to understand anything?”

“I’m sure you understand something. You take notes like a mad woman when in class” he says with a joking tone.

“I’m serious”

“I know you are, princess. But this is not the first time you’ve felt this much pressure because of school, is it?” You shake your head, “And every time you lived past this type of shit, you were able to do every test and every essay right on time. And most of them with fucking amazing grades!” He says with a smile at the end.

There’s some silence between the two of you.

“I know it feels like it’s impossible to live through this right now, but believe me, there’s always someone in a worst situation than you, yet still is able to live their lives with smiles on their faces. If they can do it, I’m more than fucking sure you can do it 200 times better”

A silence is set between the two of you again, this time, a little longer than before.

“Why don’t you take the rest of the day off? I know it sounds impossible right now, but just try and focus on something else. Leave all of that for tomorrow”

As good as that sounds, you feel a little hesitant. Billy lifts his hand from yours and brings it over to your head, caressing it as you look down at the ground.

“I’m just scared that I won’t be able to pass these tests”

Butcher, with your words, leans forward and presses a kiss on the side of your head, over your hair.

“I would offer you my help if I could” He says making a sympathetic smile appear over your lips, “But I don’t even understand a word from what you write down”

A chuckle escapes your lips and you look back up at him.

“I can always ask Hughie for help” He offers.

“I would love that. Thank you.”

You wrap one of your arms around Billy’s torso and lean your head over his shoulder. Butcher responds quickly to your actions by wrapping his own arms around you, pulling you closer to him.

Billy leans his head to the side, laying it right on yours, and you snuggle closer to him once feeling his warmth envelop your colder body.

“Here” He says, before passing you the remote.

As soon as you start surfing through the channels, Billy remembers something.

“Start thinking about what you want for dinner” He says, “You’ll be eating a whole 3 course meal tonight, young lady”

- - - - - - 

Hope you liked this!!!

[blueeyedrichie]

okay as a ~*~*distraction*~*~ what part time job do you think each loser would work in the 00’s au? (or any timeline you want)

oop piggybacking off my last ask to add that I personally love Richie working at a movie theater/video rental/store like Newbury Comics (idk if that’s a national chain or not)

okay i’m not joking when i say that i read the first ask and was like “RICHIE VIDEO RENTAL STORE” and then saw your second ask and i fully screamed bc of course we would have the same brain once again :’) soooooo

richie: i’m fully thinking that like he would work at some local place when they are still living in derry, and when they move away for college he would work at blockbuster and think it’s literally the coolest thing ever. like he’s FINALLY gotten to the highest tier of video rental stores. and the other losers are like “dude you do realize that like rental stores are a dying business right” but richie works there til the bitter end, a big part of that being that all the kids that come in think his voices are super funny, like whatever movie they rent richie will talk to them in the voice of the main character or something and it’s just really fun for him. also free candy, helloooo? and the losers are all v supportive and come rent movies from him specifically. and he also tries to get eddie to go into the 18+ room, and eddie’s like “dude we literally are 20 years old, it’s not like we have to sneak in” but richie just thinks it’s funny and so sometimes they’ll run in there together only to run back out giggling like little kids because it’s fun and they can (pls ignore that my timeline here is probably way off from the actual 00′s au i’m just ~doin what i want~) and i think toward the end of working here is when he’d really start to focus more on like his rtvf degree bc i love that for him and he’d get his first dj job while he’s still in school

eddie: mechanic shop!!!!!! let that boy enjoy his love of cars!!!!!! again, he’d work at a local place until they move and tbh probably have a hard time finding a solid job because he just has the little bit of experience from derry. but with the support of his friends and his determination he finally lands a job at a pretty reputable mechanic shop in new york (i’m just going with new york but i mean they could be anywhere) and he quickly becomes one of their top mechanics. he also is taking automotive technology classes and i imagine him getting an internship or something and getting to work on really fancy cars and stuff, though he truly prefers working on like old cars and helping his friends out. he fully teaches richie how to change the oil in his truck at some point bc he gets sick of richie always taking it in for something so simple and paying for it with his ~blockbuster savings~ and he also shows everyone how to change their tires :’)

stanley: i think stan would volunteer at like zoos and animal adoption places. at first he’s mainly just like a janitor and cleans up the walking paths and runs concessions and stuff, which he’s honestly okay with because he gets to spend a lot of time just bird watching and admiring the animals and practicing his bird calls. and i think once they all move, he’d get a position at a big zoo as like a guide and he would teach lessons on how to tell different birds apart and how to do bird calls. i think even when he does get the job, he’d probably still volunteer at animal shelters on the side and he’d be the person in the room with the people who will potentially be adopting to see how the animals respond and he gets to decide if they get to adopt or not

mike: i really love the idea of mike working in antique shops. i can see him falling in love with some little shop in derry that is probably on its last legs and asking for a job, and they probably tell him they don’t need the help but he is persistent and basically ends up just working there and while they can’t afford to pay much, they let him take random things he finds home. of course, along with all the trinkets there would be tons of old literature there and he’d spend a lot of his time reading. in new york, he’d probably be in search of similar shops that he can fix up and find more cool items, and he always gifts each of the losers cool things he finds that makes him think of them. i can also definitely see him working in the university library sometimes, but i think he’d love finding old photos and books and knick knacks and learning about where they all came from

beverly: honestly i think bev would work at a movie theatre, but spend almost all of her time flipping through magazines and drawing up sketches of clothing and listening to music. she starts at concessions and moves up to box office, and she definitely sneaks the other losers in to watch movies for free. she and richie argue about whose job is better and who has the better candy (it’s literally all the same, eddie will tell them) and she also gets to bring home movie posters and distributes them amongst the losers. she definitely gets caught letting them all in for free movies and has to stay late to mop the theatre floors, but little does her boss know that the losers will continue to sneak in anyway and help her clean up. i think she’d keep working there until she gets an internship with a designer. all the losers keep the movie posters that she’d given them over the years

bill: bill works in used bookstores and libraries, and also prefers to accept his pay in the form of taking as many books home as he can. he’s usually there on his own, and he always brings notebooks (this dude can’t afford a laptop yet okay) with him so that he can write his own stories when he isn’t reading. i also can fully see one of the gifts that mike gives is a typewriter to bill that he finds in one of the antique shops :’)) the shops in derry aren’t very busy, so he gets to spend most of his time there reading not only novels, but also books on being a writer and this is where he learns a lot about becoming an author. in ny, i can definitely see him being a library aide and i just have a very vivid image of bill on one of those slidy ladder things looking through the books on the top shelf and being mesmerized by just how much there is to read. even when he isn’t actually working, he’s in a corner of the library working on his original works and just enjoying the atmosphere

ben: ben works at a comic shop, but most of his time is spent sketching buildings and rearranging the store shelves so that it’s neater and makes more sense in the aspect of ~architecture~ and his boss is like in true shock every time he comes into the store in the morning and finds not a single comic out of place like he always did with the people that worked there previously. he draws inspo for big, fancy buildings from things he sees in the comics and likes to redraw them to a realistic scale and imagine what they would look like in real life. the losers of course love to visit him here as well, and they help him choose his best sketches to create a portfolio before they go off to college where he presents it to his professor who would honestly be pretty impressed by it all (and i’m thinking would prob be like “is this the building from ~insert comic here~ and ben would be like YES) and that’s how he gets an internship in architecture

AHHHHH this got so fucking long omg thank you for sending <33333 

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Taking our sweet time (seriously, there's no need to hurry)

Whenever life gets too much to handle it should be socially acceptable to say fuck it and peace out for a while. I get that constant procrastination isn't good but sometimes you really need to step back and take a goddamn break.

You don't have to take on the world all at once - in fact you don't have to do anything at all just to feel worthy of something. It's the little things that matter and your worth shouldn't be measured solely by your achievements. There's nothing wrong with being average - or even below that - what should matter is that you're happy and doing what you like.

At least that's what I'm hoping to get across to Pai and her adventuring companions. From burnout to things not going as planned due to factors out of everyone's control, they are definitely in need of a break.

Pai's stepping into the world of perilous adventuring after running across Connie, a wanderer who's made a name for themselves in Bonsai Harbor. Connie's from another world, having been separated from their sibling. Along the way, they saved Pai from being eaten by a slime crystal monster, so now Pai feels indebted to them. They haven't known each other for too long but they act like old, playfully bickering buds.

While trying to find their footing, Pai suggested seeking help from the Knights of Windwail and the Adventurer's Guild. Then they got wrapped up in adventuring, world quests, and earned the status of honorary knights. Along the way they came across other adventurers from the Knights and the Guild, forming their own adventure team.

Amber was the first friend Connie and Pai made at Bonsai Harbor. She was the one who taught Connie how to use a wind glider as well as the ins and outs of the city. As an outrider of Windwail and master pyro archer with ties to the Adventurer's Guild, she got them covered. Pai says that they're lucky they ran into Amber as she knows a lot about pretty much everything Bonsai Harbor. It's fun listening to her talk about her home, the other team members, and their latest adventures - she's basically the group's spokesperson.

The second friend they met is also a knight, Captain Lucien, also known as Luci to friends and elders. He's a well known swordfighter with piercing cryo powers that can freeze anything for a short time. Luci was a big help for Connie and Pai when they got cornered by fireball slimes. In return, the duo offered to help him retrieve a stolen katana, which resulted in them discovering other lost weapons and earned the trust and respect of the head of the Windwail Knights.

Noelle and Bennett were next to join the gang of adventurers, coming to them at the right time by chance. Connie, Pai, Amber, and Luci were ambushed on the outskirts of the city while on an investigation when their reinforcements came to the rescue.

Pai summoned Noelle by accident as she happened to be nearby when things were going south. Noelle is who they call a maid without a master - meaning she does things like cleaning, cooking, and running errands for pretty much anyone who calls for her. Rumor has it that one can easily summon Noelle just by calling out her name to the wind, which is what Pai did. As a fighter, Noelle can summon a geo shield that provides healing powers when activated, plus she's got a badass looking claymore sword that's not only great for fighting off enemies, but also for mining and destroying obstacles.

Bennett also happened to be nearby when the gang was attacked. He's an adventurer with pyro powers who hasn't had too much luck in recruiting members for his group. He's a good fighter, but for some reason things never really work out in his favor, so that's why no one seeks him out. It's a shame because he's a sweet and likable guy but his bad luck overshadows the good. Up until meeting Connie and Pai, he was considering giving up as an adventurer because he wasn't getting anywhere. Then he heard Pai screaming for help and came running along.

Since Noelle and Bennett didn't have anything better to do, they decided to tag along. Noelle still gets summoned once in a while, mainly for menial tasks that don't take too much out of her day. Of course, with the gang being all the way over here at the camp, they're all on vacation from their jobs - most for the first time in years, if ever.

It's a good thing Pai dragged them out here because they all deserve a vacation. And not only that, they deserve regular vacations - time where they can breathe and do nothing without feeling guilty. Given what they've all done over the past several weeks, it's no wonder they're feeling burnt out.

After saving the city and earning the status of honorary knights, Connie and Pai set out to explore the nearby city of Starcatcher. Before heading off, they gained another member - Seraphina the idol of the Windwail Church. She's got hydro powers and the ability to heal. She was the one who helped Connie sneak into the cathedral basement to retrieve a cursed artifact and came to the rescue in the nick of time by healing the gang during a showdown with a monster terrorizing the city.

At Starcatcher, the gang met up with Xingqiu and Xiang. Connie and Pai had met Xiang earlier when she was visiting the harbor and helped her gather ingredients for a cooking contest. Connie was hoping to run into Xiang again in the near future so as soon as they arrived at the city, they went looking for her. Apparently they just missed her as she was out on another culinary adventure.

Then Connie and the others were caught up in commissions there, getting familiar with the city. While searching for a rare book, they met Xingqiu, a descendant of a once prosperous family who helped the gang get through the red tape for intel. He's a master swordfighter with hydro powers that can form powerful whirlpools. Pai and Luci were a bit skeptical of him as he seemed to pop in and out whenever he wanted without explaining, but in the end he earned their trust.

Xiang finally met up with the gang not too long after they finished a mission involving finding jade fragments in the ruins. She joined just in time to help take down a bunch of ruin guards, except that didn't go so well. The gang barely made it out alive before having to retreat and Sera and Noelle's healing powers can only help so much. So they decided to put that off and focus on other missions.

But then the quests started to pile up as more of them were beyond their scope. According to Luci, all of them are capable fighters - on their own. As a team, their biggest problem is that they're too slow, especially when it comes to fighting large monsters like ruin guards. The problem lies with efficiency - the team lacks coordination. That, along with the group not being the most prepared or equipped - the latter is something they're trying to fix - is what's dragging the team down.

Though, to be fair, no one really knows what they're doing. After all, Pai and Connie met by chance and their team just kinda fell together. We don't know if we're getting any closer to helping Connie reunite with their family, which is the main reason why they're going on all these missions. As for the others, they're just there for the ride, not knowing exactly what they're doing either, but are more than happy to help when needed.

I have to say, I'm flattered that Pai decided to take Connie and the others all the way here. I don't know where Bonsai and Starcatcher are other than really, really far out there. Pai doesn't really come out here much - I think she only comes to see Jamie, so I'm guessing that's how she knows about the camp. I also heard it's not easy to travel from where's she's from as they're pretty much like different dimensions, making it even more impressive.

So far, I think the break's been helping out a lot. It's been nice getting to know the others and just hanging out with them. Again, it's kinda sad that most of them had never taken a vacation before, so the idea of leisure took some getting used to. Aside from introductions, we mostly steered away from talking about quests and missions.

Noelle, of course, enjoys running errands. She likes collecting fruit, fish, and bugs, and getting to know the campers. Noelle kinda reminds me of my mom as she finds doing things like cleaning relaxing. It's not surprising that she likes speed cleaning videos as they can be satisfying to watch. I wouldn't mind watching videos with Noelle sweeping the cabin or scrubbing the counters - she makes those tasks look fun!

Amber's into hiking and climbing into high places where she can jump off and glide. She's teaching me and Daisy Jane how to glide and it's a bit terrifying, though I'm slowly getting the hang of it. I think that's the closest I'll ever get to flying!

Now that she has a lot of free time on her hands, Amber wants to make custom gliders for the team - and for me, Daisy Jane, and Isabelle as well. They look hard to make, so the fact that they can be made by hand is impressive. All of Amber's gliders are handmade and it takes a special skill to not only make a glider that looks pretty but also functional. She used to take orders for custom made gliders before things got too busy so she's glad to be getting back into it. I can't wait to see how they turn out!

Seraphina has been getting into impromptu jam sessions with the campers, putting on a little concert every night so far. She's got a lovely voice with a pure sweetness I find endearing. Being out here at the camp has helped her get back into singing so she hopes the nightly concerts will keep her going. Her love for poetry shows through her lyrics as she has a way with words and evoking emotions through imagery.

She says the camp kinda reminds her of Bonsai Harbor, particularly the meadows, which probably explains why she's inspired to sing again. As much as she enjoys adventuring, she misses her home a lot. Still, Seraphina knew what she was signing up for when she wanted to tag along with Connie and Pai. While her roots are in Bonsai Harbor, she wanted to take the opportunity to explore the world around her. If it wasn't for Connie and Pai, who knows when she'll get another chance to do so?

Luci, as expected, took some adjusting to the whole idea of leisure. He's not what they consider the workaholic type - in fact, he's pretty lax - but he's the kind of person who's mind is usually on work mode. He's task oriented, always thinking about getting stuff done, preferably without too much time and effort. It's understandable that he wants the team to be in tip top shape by practicing their fighting skills and coordinating their efforts, but it's not healthy to be constantly focusing on that. After all, the main reason why they're all here is to get their minds off that.

While there will be fighting practices eventually, for now it's best to take it easy. According to the others, Luci's not one to stress out over things, so the fact that he is starting to get a little bit stressed is a warning sign. He was a bit restless and fidgety at first, but he's in a completely unfamiliar place and not doing any adventuring or knight stuff for the first time ever so it's understandable. In a way it kinda feels like post grad life when you're pretty much done with school forever and now you don't know what to do with yourself.

Like Noelle, Luci's been running errands and hanging with the campers. He's been trying a bit of everything - hiking, fishing, bug catching, gardening, building furniture - he's a jack of all trades. So far, he's been enjoying all these activities, especially crafting stuff with Reese and Cyrus. In fact, when he got a look at Daisy Jane's gyroid designs, he wanted to join in on the fun too!

Looks like the adventure team's gonna be back at the camp for a gyroid event (or more) as Noelle, Amber, Xiang, and Seraphina want to design stuff as well. So there's potential for many more visits, which will be amazing!

Xiang's been cooking up a storm - figuratively for the most part. Thankfully, since it's outdoors, damage was minimal - though it's fire so while it wasn't that bad, the potential for disaster was high. Thankfully Seraphina and Xingqiu quickly put out the fires so crisis averted.

She's the kind of chef who likes experimenting in the kitchen, coming up with the most unusual recipes. Apparently the slime creatures they fight off leave essences that can be edible, so she keeps vials of them. Fire ones are spicy, wind ones have a dry, bitter flavor, icy ones are kinda minty with a hint of honey, water ones are umami - it's interesting to learn about. Other unusual ingredients Xiang has on hand are ground up boar horns, jade sparkledust, snowflake ash, and clearfish scales.

Don't let the unusual ingredients fool you - most of her food is not only edible, but also delicious. There's a reason why the gang isn't worried about starving if stranded in the middle of nowhere. Xiang can even make dirt edible - something which she's trying to do but hasn't figured out yet.

Xingqiu has taken an interest in gardening, which is perfect because I have been once again neglecting my garden. Maybe neglecting is a strong word but lately, other than flower events, I haven't been planting much. I'm trying to keep up with that but it's so much effort, especially trying to cross-pollinate for rare flowers. Xingqiu considers himself a novice when it comes to planting flowers but he's already got much better luck than me with getting rare seeds. I think his water powers have something to do with the blooms coming out more vibrant and full than usual.

He and Noelle have also been into taking interior decor classes with Lotte at the Happy Room Academy. Speaking of that, I've kinda fallen behind on those classes too. Sunny's rank is Legend while I've been lingering at Master - I didn't even know there was a Legend rank until Sunny told me.

Well, just because I run the camp doesn't mean I can do everything. I've tried, but as the camp grew, I had to learn how to prioritize. While I can put in some time to gardening and catching up with Happy Room Academy classes, they're not something I really want to do. As for gardening, I kinda have a love-hate thing so tending to that feels more like a chore than a fun activity. I'm not the best at gardening and I'm okay with that.

As for Connie, they've been working nonstop since meeting Pai. They've kinda fallen into the leader role by default and as a result has been under a lot of pressure. They mentioned feeling a bit guilty, like being miscast in a role or something. There's also the fact that Connie pretty much started from the ground up, so they worked extra hard to earn everyone's respect as well as be able to fight in combat on the same level as the others. They've done so much in such a short time, Pai was right in trying to get them to slow down.

Like Luci said, they're all capable fighters, but as a team they still have a lot to learn. To put it bluntly, compared to other adventurers in terms of combat and strategy, they're pretty average. All of them admit they're a bit of a mess - then again, who isn't? As much as they have accomplished together, there's always a voice in the back of their minds questioning whether they could've done better. And it's not just themselves, it's also the societal pressure to not only do well, but to exceed and be the best. While that tries to be a motivating message, it does more harm than good.

That brings me back to my main point - you don't have to be exceptional at what you do. It's a message I'm still learning myself, especially since I grew up in a culture where I'm told that I'm not trying hard enough if I'm not constantly pushing my limits. Despite what society wants you to think, it's okay to be average, to just be.

After all, none of them chose to adventure for status and prestige - they're pretty much here because they seek excitement and want to help Connie. As for Connie, they never expected to become somewhat a hero in Bonsai Harbor and Starcatcher, they just wanted to help others. So what if they stumble more than fly? Just because all of them can't take down a massive monster doesn't make them less capable as adventurers - it just means combat isn't one of their strong suits yet - and that's okay. After all, they're still getting to know each other and such.

For now, we're all just gonna take our sweet time just chilling out. Self-care's important, but sometimes we get so caught up in everything else that we put ourselves last.

[moonlightpirate]

Chapter 5

Alright time for chapter 5 guys! Gavin is in midsomer trying to figure out why and who could have taken Elizabeth. I would appreciate reblogs and feedback! 

Taglist: @bluesfortheredj @neptunium134 @aureatemoonshine let me know if you’d like to be added or removed :) 

If a refresher is needed here’s Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three and Chapter Four

The old lady chuckled as she strolled into the building, satisfied her plan was being set in motion. She approached the room they were holding Elizabeth in, “Any word regarding her father?” she inquired. “Yeah apparently he’s on his way, should be here before the day is out.” Vince replied. “Can’t believe it took them this long to call him.” Scoffed Simone. They all froze as Elizabeth began to stir. “Well hello miss Elizabeth. Wake up and join in our conversation would you?” cooed the old lady. Elizabeth groaned, trying to focus, and see who was talking to her. “Where am I? Who are you? What’s going on?” Elizabeth asked, panic starting to set in as she woke up more and realized she was tied up. “Oh don’t you worry about where you are dear, that’s not really relevant. As to what’s going on, well essentially we are seeking revenge on your father for what he has done to us.” The old lady chuckled. “But why take me then?” Elizabeth asked, starting to cry. “All in due time my dear. But first, don’t you want to know who we are?” The woman replied, maliciously.

Gavin burst through the doors of the Causton police department. He dashed down the all too familiar hallway towards the investigation department. “What do you guys have? Anything new to tell me?” Gavin demanded, as he went into the investigation department. “Good to see you as well Gavin. We don’t have too much new unfortunately.” John retorted. The man sitting behind John stood up, “Well, we do know they used chloroform to knock her unconscious. We believe it was probably so they could take her without too much struggle. Also Elizabeth did tell me about a strange old woman she saw, that she didn’t recognize, who knew her name and that she was your daughter. Also a witness said he saw a couple watching her when she was at the church in Badgers Drift. Oh! Sarah also has a video that they sent her basically demanding you or else.” Nelson chimed in. Gavin looked at the tall strange man who seemed to know more than John before he replied, “ Who are you? Plus what did you mean that there is an old woman who recognized her?”.  Actually seeing Gavin Troy in person Charlie could see how Elizabeth resembled him. They had the same brown hair and blue eyes, she was kind of tall and lanky like him, and some of Gavin’s facial expressions reminded him of the ones Elizabeth would make. “I’m Charlie Nelson sir, most everyone calls me Nelson, I’m Barnaby’s Detective Sergeant. Elizabeth told me that when she arrived at Midsomer she saw a strange old woman who told her how much she looked like you. Plus that same woman knew her name.” “So you’re telling me a strange woman knew my daughters name, knew she was my child, and you didn’t even attempt to look into it? Or find it slightly odd?” Gavin glared at John. “I honestly didn’t think it was anything serious. I just figured it was someone she didn’t recognize.” John replied sheepishly. Gavin sighed as his anger at John began to rise. He was also scared because he couldn’t think of any older woman that lived here who should know that he had a child, or even know Elizabeth’s name for that matter. “It’s getting late, just take me back to your house so I can watch this video. I also want to know more about your witnesses and whatever else you can give me.” Gavin replied, trying not to sound too annoyed.

They headed to the Barnaby’s where they went over where all she had gone and the witness statements. Though after seeing the video of Elizabeth Gavin had to step out into the garden for a moment. He ran his fingers through his hair trying to not get emotional, but that had ripped his heart out. Gavin sat down on one of the benches in the garden trying to process everything when he remembered that he should probably call Cully. He knew he needed to update her but was hoping that she would be able to comfort him. “Oh Gavin I was starting to worry more than I was before! What news do you have?” Cullys panic stricken voice greeted him. “I think I’m going to need your father's input on this one. All I know is it probably has to do with one of our old cases, from what I’ve been told. Oh Cully they sent a video to Sarah and it was beyond awful seeing our daughter like that.” Gavin stated, trying to keep his composure for Cully’s sake, “ Have you told your parents yet?” he asked. “No I’m not sure how to go about telling them to be honest. You know how Dad is, he’s going to want to come help you.” Cully replied. “True, I don’t know if that’s the best idea. Mainly because they already are after me, I don’t want them to decide they want to add him into the mix.” he sighed. Cully started to cry again, “Gavin please be careful!”. “I’m going to try dear. I think come morning I’m going to take Sergeant Nelson with me to retrace Elizabeth’s steps, maybe reinterview a few of their suspects. I suppose I’ll go from there. Honey please go to your parent’s house, I hate the thought of you being alone during this. Plus it will be easier for me to update you and your father.” “Okay fine I’ll head over here in a bit. I’ll have Dad call you in the morning. Love you!” Cully replied, hanging up the phone. Gavin stayed outside for a bit longer before heading back in. It seemed everyone had gone to bed for the night, so he settled himself into the recliner and turned on the t.v.. Gavin pulled out his small notepad that he generally had on him and began to jot down some of his and Tom Barnaby’s cases. He figured that there were plenty of people who did not like him for putting them in jail but there weren't many that he could picture seeking revenge like this. Finally, after several hours, Gavin passed out in the recliner. He awoke unusually early after having a string of nightmares. Sighing, he headed into the kitchen to make breakfast and coffee. He found Sarah already awake in the kitchen, bouncing Betty on her hip, cooking breakfast. “Good morning Gavin! Manage to get any sleep?” Sarah chimed. “Unfortunately not really.” Gavin grumbled. “I am so sorry! I wish I could have stopped Elizabeth from going, or been able to join her!” Sarah’s voice cracked as the cheerful facade faded. “Please don’t feel bad Sarah. Elizabeth is truly a mix of me and her mother, but mostly her mother, with her determination. I doubt you would have been able to stop her. I just wish she would have called and told me about this strange elderly woman. Any idea why she didn’t?” Gavin inquired. “She never really said. But I can imagine it had something to do with John not believing her. Like, oh John didn’t believe me why would my father? I know Charlie and I both tried to get her to call or do something about it, but to no avail. But would you like some breakfast, maybe a shower, before you go looking for Elizabeth?”. Gavin nodded as he started to get lost in thought. They both jumped when they heard the plink of the mail flap. “What was that? We never use that mail flap….” Sarah asked, looking at Gavin confused. Gavin got up to investigate, upon finding a letter addressed to him. Sarah peeked her head around the corner, “Find anything?” “A note addressed to me.”, he replied, starting to open it as they headed back to the kitchen, “It reads Time to retrace your steps and think about your past. Here's a clue, at least we were faithful unto death! Hmmm that’s odd maybe I should get Tom’s opinion on this.” Gavin sighed, “Actually it would probably be better if I just head to the station and look into all my old cases, see if I can find any clues before I call him.”. “Okay I’ll let John know where you have gone whenever he finally wakes up. Good luck!” Sarah replied. Gavin arrived at the station, finding Nelson already there with a stack of papers on his desk. “Good Morning! I got here just a little bit ago and decided to start looking through the cases files of yours and Tom Barnaby’s. Just to see if I could find any clues.” Nelson stated. Gavin was impressed. “It’s like you read my mind, that’s what I came here to do actually. I got a strange letter this morning saying to retrace my steps and something about faithful unto death.”. They spent the next hour going over the cases jotting down notes when Gavin’s phone began to ring, it was Tom Barnaby. “Morning sir.” Gavin answered. “Troy what is going on? Cully arrived last night sobbing saying something about Elizabeth and me needing to call you.” Tom asked sternly. “Well sir Elizabeth has been kidnapped. Not sure who yet, the only clues I have are a couple, an Elderly woman, Badger’s Drift, and something about faithful unto death.” Gavin replied. “Okay I��m coming to help you. Sounds like you’ll need all the help you can get.” John said, with determination in his voice. “Sir please no it’s better if you stay there. They already want me, I don’t want them to decide they want you as well. Please for Cully’s sake stay there.” There was silence for a moment, he knew Tom was stubborn and that he really wanted to help, but he hoped that he would listen to him for once. Finally Gavin heard a sigh, “Okay fine Troy, but I require as many updates as possible. Oh, before I forget Joyce told me a few weeks ago that she heard that Simone and her husband Vince were bailed from jail. So probably best to look into that to see what you can find.” Tom hung up the phone before Gavin could even ask about Cully. Gavin turned to look at Nelson, “Well Nelson I have a different task for you. Look into who bailed Simone Hollingsworth and Vince Perry out of jail. I think it’s time for me to head to Badger’s Drift and look around.” Gavin stated. “Will do sir! Good luck, I’ll give you a call and tell you what I’ve found.” Charlie replied. Gavin decided it would be best to head straight for the church, seeing as that was the last place Elizabeth was seen. He spent most of the trip there trying to remember what case he and Tom had solved there, and if it posed any significance to Elizabeth being kidnapped. 

[tracybirds]

Mainly a Scott and John story, an interview unearths some unpleasant reminders of a childhood event. It was short and then EOS got involved and now I’m a little obsessed with writing her, it’s FUN!!

One wip down.... like seven to go xDD Hope you enjoy!

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“Once more, we’d like to thank the Tracy brothers for generously donating their time to speak with us,” said Casey Powell, her winning smile trained on the camera.

“Well, it was a pleasure to speak with you,” said Scott. “We decided early on that our priority would be the safety of those in danger. We’re thrilled to help raise awareness for civil defence across the globe.”

“Yeah,” interjected Gordon. “Because the more you can do to help yourself, the less likely you’ll need us.”

“I do notice that we’re missing the elusive fifth member of International Rescue,” said Casey. “What can you tell us about them?”

“John?” said Scott. “There’s no one better in a crisis.”

“And trust me, if you’re in a crisis you want to be talking to John,” said Virgil. “He does lot of work redirecting calls to local response teams who have their own expertise in their environment. So, as it stands, you’ll only hear from him if it’s a true emergency.”

“Brain like a supercomputer and the calmest person you’ll ever meet,” said Gordon.

“And he’ll never give up on you,” piped up Alan.

Scott nodded approvingly. “He’s not only our rescue coordinator, he also works with a lot of communities in disaster prone regions on improving their civil defence infrastructure and policies. So he’s really the most qualified to be here today, it’s a shame he couldn’t make it.

“It’s always so interesting to hear such a fresh perspective on John Tracy,” said Casey. “My own research was less than forthcoming.”

“Yeah, well, he likes his privacy,” said Scott. “Probably wouldn’t be happy we mentioned any of that, he keeps things pretty quiet.”

“An intriguing comment,” said Casey with a smile. “Particularly as I tracked down a number of his peers from graduate school. He was generally described as rather distant and uninterested in social connection. And this from a group of physicists!” She gave a tinkling laugh. The brothers did not.

“In fact, the only mention of John Tracy aside from old school records are a few scarce research papers which indicate he has a formal relationship with Canterbury University in New Zealand. That’s quite a distance from your Kansas base, isn’t it now?”

“And what of it?” demanded Gordon.

“Well, to the untrained eye, on paper it would appear that International Rescue has a rather large rift in their ranks. How can you claim to possess the unconditional trust required to fulfil your mission, when your own brother refuses to care for…”

“That’s enough,” barked Scott. “Speculation on the nature of our working relationship with our brother is not what we are here to discuss.”

The world watched as three younger brothers straightened from their relaxed positions. The command in Scott’s voice and the disdain in Casey’s was enough for their eyes to grow alert and their shoulders to be squared up in defence of their absent brother. The world couldn’t know that a fourth brother, high above, did just the same at the bite in Scott’s voice.

He swiped at the screen and shut the video off with a clenched jaw.

“John?” asked EOS softly. “Your systolic blood pressure appears to have risen to 128 mmHg. Should I begin assistive monitoring?”

John kept his eyes closed as he organised his thoughts. Anger at Casey Powell, irritation at Gordon for rising to her bait, and fear. Fear that she of all people could be right. What was he doing sequestering himself away from the very people for whom he cared more deeply than any other?

No, he thought to himself. I made the choice to be here to help people. She doesn’t know a damn thing about any of us.

“John?” prompted EOS.

“No, I’m fine,” said John, exhaling deeply. “What’s the status on that Californian wildfire?”

“All people evacuated from the area. Authorities are still discussing strategy but forecasts for the firefighters indicate minor casualties only.”

“Shift them down to Category Two,” said John, turning back to his array and immersing himself in the weather projection modelling he was working on to ascertain the risks of cyclones in the Pacific Tropics. “Let me know if their status changes.”

***

Scott paced back and forth in the living room, his brothers gathered together. “I can’t believe what sort of nonsense they’re saying. Don’t they know how much you do for us?”

John crossed his arms and looked at him irritably. “Of course they don’t. We don’t advertise it with good reason. And I’m not sure why you’re surprised really,” he said with a touch of acid in his voice. “Uncaring, distant John, must be a robot, let’s take him apart and see what makes him tick. This isn’t exactly new territory for me.”

Gordon and Alan looked between the brothers with wide eyes.

“This has happened before, John?” asked Gordon cautiously.

John started and looked down at Gordon in surprise as though he’d forgotten he was there. He shook himself and the laser-sharp focus returned to his eyes.

“It’s not important,” said John. “Alan wasn’t even born, you were just a kid at the time,”

“AND SO WERE YOU,” roared Scott. John flinched backwards and raised a hand as though to end the call before catching himself. He looked over at Virgil uneasily.

“Scott.” Virgil lay a warning hand on his shoulder. “This isn’t John’s fault. That Powell lady cornered us because she thought she had some dirt on International Rescue. There’s nothing more to it. We know she’s an idiot. Don’t make this personal.”

Scott took a steadying breath and his shoulders sagged. “Sorry John,” he said. “Just, sorry you had to see it all live.”

John shrugged. “At least you all gave me glowing feedback. Think I could get a raise?”

Alan let out a shrill giggle and clapped a hand over his mouth. “That didn’t happen,” he said, reddening as he looked around at his brothers.

Gordon laughed as he leaned over to ruffle Alan’s hair. “Aww, the kid’s got a cute laugh.”

“Get lost,” said Alan swatting at him. Gordon aimed a kick at the back of Alan’s knee in retaliation.

Ignoring the squabbles of the younger two behind them, Scott and Virgil moved closer to the hologram.

“Look, if you wanted, you could come home for a day or two,” said Virgil, quietly. “I know that this is small fry compared to what used to happen, but I don’t want the isolation getting to you.”

“I agree with Virgil,” said Scott with a nod. “You do have a tendency to brood.”

“I-I do not,” spluttered John.

“You’re the broodiest McBroody of them all,” said Gordon, dunking Alan’s head before joining the older brothers. “Get down here John, otherwise we might have to take Casey Cow-ell at her word and launch an investigation.”

A muscle twitched in John’s jaw. “We’re not doing this now,” he said, and cut the connection.

“Well that was abrupt,” said Gordon looking up at Scott. Scott was still staring at the place where their brother had been, eyes narrowed and unsmiling.

“Alan, prep Thunderbird 3,” he ordered. “Virgil, take Gordon anywhere that’s not here.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know when I’m not wanted,” said Gordon, rolling his eyes. “Come on Alan, let’s go.”

“Alan, do not prep Thunderbird 3,” said Virgil, a low warning tinging his voice.

Alan paused at the door, looking uncertainly between Scott and Virgil. He nodded quickly, before hurrying off after Gordon.

Virgil didn’t move. “Scott, you’re reading too much into this.”

“He hung up on us,” exclaimed Scott, whirling around to face him. “He’s pulling away.”

“Yeah, because Gordon was being a pain in the ass,” said Virgil with a snort. “Come on, I’m worried about him too but that wasn’t an out of character response by any means.”

“We have to go up there,” insisted Scott.

“What, you and Alan?” asked Virgil. “He’ll never forgive you if you drag Alan into this.”

“Then, I won’t bring him, you and I can go together,” said Scott. “Virgil, we have to, I can’t let him down again.”

There was an uncomfortable silence in the living room.

“Have you considered,” said Virgil carefully. “That this isn’t about John?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m just saying,” said Virgil, raising his hands in defence. “You’re a lot more upset over this than he is.”

Scott looked at him, a mutinous expression flitting over his features. Scott was used to commanding a room, used to things going his way. But when his brother dug in, he knew it was useless to rage against him. Scott was a storm, but Virgil was unyielding beneath his mild demeanour and he knew how to outlast the fury.

“Give him twelve hours, and then call again. Without Gordon and Alan there this time, what were you thinking?”

He huffed irritably under Virgil’s calm scrutiny.

“Fine.”

***

It was not fine.

Tracy Island had fallen silent in the early hours of the new day, and Scott tossed restlessly in his bed.

His mind turned over the events of the day, unable to let them go long enough to rest.

“Research not forthcoming, I should have shown her where to shove her damn research,” he muttered into his pillow. “Who the hell is getting off telling her that crap?”

He thought back to the long suffering holocalls John had made with them during his undergraduate, calls interrupted by his roommate who seemed to think he had a scholarship in partying, the way John had always cringed away from the hands trying to pull him out the door. How in graduate school, he’d gotten his own apartment and they pretended not to see the way his eyes closed in relief when they’d all finished helping him move in his belongings.

Scott didn’t even want to touch on his memories at eleven, of finding John crying silently under his bed with a split lip and bruises all along his left arm. Of having to drag him out and clean him up and see him lie to their parents for weeks about where the pain was coming from. Of sitting on the sidelines and watching. Forbidden first by a brother and then by his parents to interfere.

He flung over and poked at the display screen hovering above the bedside table. The blue light of the clock shone bright in his eyes and he groaned at the thought of another four hours trapped in his room.

He had to act now.

“John?” he called in a soft voice, trusting his brother to hear him through the comms system, hoping he wouldn’t ignore his call.

John was falling nearly thirty-six thousand kilometres above him and it should take less than half a second for a response. Scott gave him ten.

“John?” he called again, sharper this time and more impatient.

“Scott Tracy?”

“EOS?” Scott blanched at the sound of her voice and pulled himself upright and turning the light on. He had never given her more than a customary greeting before, and even that had been the reluctant result of a baleful glare from John. He didn’t like the idea of having this conversation lying down in the dark.

“John is unable to respond,” she said simply. “May I be of assistance?”

“What do you mean unable?” asked Scott. “What have you done?”

“I have done nothing,” she said. Scott knew her voice was that of a machine but he didn’t think he imagined the chill in her tone.

“John is resting.”

“Oh,” he said, feeling foolish.

“Yes,” she said. “Despite the rotation of the Earth producing a standard sidereal day of twenty-three hours and fifty-six minutes, I was told it was a long day.”

“Twenty-three hours and fifty-six minutes, huh?”

“And four point one seconds, if we’re being precise. And I am.”

Scott couldn’t help but laugh. It was exactly the kind of non-joke his brother might have made.

“Careful EOS, he’ll remake you in his image,” he said.

“I think not,” she said, primly. “I’ll remake myself before he gets access to my programming.”

“You probably want another sense of humour at least.”

“Well, I want his. You can’t make me take another,” she said, and Scott stopped laughing abruptly.

There was a beat of silence before EOS spoke again.

“Your pulse has spiked.”

“No, shit,” said Scott, weakly. “You have no idea how terrifying you are, do you?”

“I understand your logic behind that statement but not the emotion.” EOS paused. “It is not an irrational fear.”

“You mean you’re planning–”

“I am not planning anything, Scott Tracy,” she said, dropping back into a monotone. “I was merely referencing the historic fear of robotic industries and artificial intelligence.”

“John showed you ‘I, Robot’, huh?”

“Amongst others. He made me understand why I had been hunted.”

“Right.” Whether showing a sentient AI famous examples of how to destroy humanity using robots was a good idea or not, was a discussion to have with his overly optimistic brother another day.

“You still have not stated whether you require assistance,” said EOS, interrupting his thoughts. “By your casual attitude to this conversation, may I assume it was not urgent?”

“Oh, right,” said Scott. “I was just checking in, I guess. Virgil told me to wait twelve hours but I couldn’t sleep. Guess I’m used to him being awake at stupid o’clock.”

EOS was silent, long enough that Scott wondered if she had cut communications now she was satisfied John would not need to be woken. He turned the light out.

“You are worried about John?” she asked, pausing carefully between each word.

Scott started in surprise.

“Yeah, I am.”

“He will not hear this recording,” she informed him. “I have encrypted it and will remove all traces of it from Thunderbird Five’s systems.”

“You’re worried too?”

“I am not sufficiently advanced to generate my own emotions. But he has acted in variation with past iterations of our evening routine in the last eight hours. I would like to know why.”

“Do you not know what happened? I thought you followed him everywhere up there.”

“I have limited information. I saw his reaction to Casey Powell’s interview. Then I saw his behaviour following your earlier call. There are certain restrictions to my observations of John. He can choose to deny me entry to any number of places. And he locked me out.”

“Do you have to stay out when he does that?”

“Well, no,” she admitted. “But I choose to. It is a section of the subroutine he has titled respect and it overlaps with another he calls privacy.”

“Isn’t this in breach of that?”

“I am a branch of self-editing artificial intelligence. I can choose to disengage any aspect of my programming as it suits. Do you always choose to take part in the social etiquette of good manners? It is an algorithm designed to produce desired human behaviours, yet you are no more bound to follow it than I.”

“Good point.”

“I would like you to discuss this with John. I would like your permission to be present.”

“Well, wake him up then.” Scott regretted the rash words the second they left his mouth. He hated to be the one to wake John up, knowing his sleeping routine was much more precarious than the rest of theirs.

Fortunately, EOS refused him just as quickly.

“My observations show that a conversation in person is the most effective. I will lower the space elevator and lock the controls. No-one will be able to access them but myself.”

Scott swallowed audibly. His life would be in EOS’s virtual hands and questionable morality. But he knew his brother needed him. He was certain of that fact.

“You are apprehensive. I have new programming that prevents lethal action against members of International Rescue. I wrote it myself.”

Scott could hear the hint of pride in that statement, clear as the sky above. He almost smiled, but the gesture snagged itself on one final fear.

“Didn’t you say you could choose to ignore your programming?”

“Yes,” said EOS simply. “But John tells me humans have a special subroutine to help deal with high levels of uncertainty. He calls it trust.”

Scott exhaled slowly and nodded.

“I’ll meet you in the hangar.”

***

Scott bounded through the airlock with a weird feeling buried in his chest. Technically, there was no difference in visiting Thunderbird Five during the daytime or the night – the sky was always an inky black and the lights remained on. There was only one person who lived on board, so there was no reason to eye the empty corridor with any caution or suspicion. It all looked very normal.

“Welcome Scott Tracy,” said EOS behind him, and he jumped as he caught sight of her whirring mechanism from the corner of her eye. “I kept the gravity on for you.”

“Yeah, thanks for that.” He knew he was openly staring, but it was the first time he’d gotten to see EOS up close without the blue filter of a hologram between them.

“John will awaken in seven minutes,” she said. “Would you like some breakfast?”

“I, uh, sure,” he said and jogged after her as she spun and glided towards the galley on the other side of the station.

“John keeps cereal and bread for visitors,” said EOS, and Scott watched as the relevant cupboards opened in front of him.

“What, no bagels?” asked Scott, with a grin.

EOS hesitated slightly before responding. “John keeps cereal and bread for visitors,” she repeated.

“Okay, I take the hint,” said Scott, pulling out the cornflakes. “You know EOS, you’re smaller than I expected.”

“That is because you have made the mistake of assuming my entirety is contained by the camera array you perceive me to be. I assure you, I am much larger in virtual space and it would take a much bigger entity to contain me.”

“You need to talk to John about how to put people at ease instead of just being honest,” said Scott. “Got any milk?”

It was an odd experience, to be awake in what felt like an early Wednesday morning and to look down and see the planet falling away from under his feet as the gravity ring revolved about the station’s core. It was odder still, to be eating dry cornflakes with a personable computer who still had cause to remind him of all the ways he could die horribly if a malfunction were to occur. They were chatting pleasantly about the levels of ‘need to know information’, when the swish of the doors announced John’s arrival.

“Morning EOS,” he said, groping blearily at the wall.

“Good morning John,” chirped EOS. Her voice was pitched higher that usual and Scott had to wonder if she had consciously incorporated the change to mimic the inflections she heard in John’s own speech patterns. She sounded just as guilty as the time John had tripped and landed directly on top of Alan’s newest gaming array.

John heard it too and he peered at her. “What did you do?”

“Nothing of concern. We have a visitor.”

“A what?” John spun around and looked outside. “I don’t see Thunderbird Three?”

“Over here, John,” called Scott. He waved slightly and chuckled at the look of astonishment his brother gave him.

“How did you get here?”

“Same way as you did,” he said with a grin.

“You let EOS bring you up in the elevator?” John asked sceptically, raising an eyebrow. “That’s new.”

He looked thoughtfully over at EOS before turning to pull out a bagel from a seamless cupboard in the wall. “When did you two become buddies?”

“Oh, last night,” said Scott airily. “It was nothing.”

“Scott contacted Thunderbird Five at 2:51AM, local time,” said EOS. “I detected an decrease in defensive body language at 2:57AM. Then he agreed to relinquish control to me.”

“I didn’t relinquish anything,” Scott grumbled. “Don’t go taking liberties just because we’re playing nicely.”

“Of course not,” said EOS, the ring of lights flashing blue.

“Well, why are you here?” asked John, settling next to him with his own breakfast. “What can I help you with that a holo couldn’t fix?”

Scott gaped at him. “Do you not remember yesterday? Has the radiation finally gotten to your brain?”

“I remember yesterday just fine,” said John, rolling his eyes. “I was just hoping that you’d done the sensible thing and gotten over it already.”

“Gotten ov– John, did you hear what she was saying.”

“Very clearly, in fact. I just don’t care.”

“How can you not care?” demanded Scott. “Even EOS was worried.”

“EOS is not omniscient. She doesn’t have the full story.”

“Then tell it, John,” said Scott, throwing his hands into the air. “You seem to forget who had to spend all those years picking you up again and I’m terrified that I might have to do it again.”

“What do you want me to say?” said John impatiently. “Yes, she got under my skin yesterday. But I’m an adult, I know she’s just looking for a story. Easier to attack someone who isn’t there to defend themselves. And from the outside, she’s right – the world thinks we’re based in Kansas and I have very public ties to a university in a country in a completely different hemisphere. They’re meant to think I live there, they’re meant to have an easy explanation for why I’m never seen with you. We did that on purpose, remember, so no one would think to look for a giant fucking space station.”

Scott sat stunned for a moment.

“In case you haven’t noticed, you’re getting upset about someone picking up the red herrings that we deliberately laid out for them to follow. So excuse me, if I think you’re overreacting.”

“But yesterday,” stammered Scott. “You hung up on us.”

“Yesterday,” said John, slowly. “Yesterday you chose to yell at me for something I never had control over, in front of Gordon and Alan, and then Gordon decided to be an idiot because he has the emotional sensitivity of a sprat. I’d had enough.”

“I didn’t mean to shout,” said Scott, shamefaced. “I got caught up in the moment.”

“I know.”

The brothers were silent for a moment. Scott tried to swallow the cornflakes in front of him, but they turned to cardboard in his mouth.

“I just didn’t want to let you down,” mumbled Scott.

John looked over at him in surprise. “You didn’t. You shut her down and got everyone back on track. I spoke to Virgil last night, the global civil defence discussion went viral and governments and councils are making sure our recommendations are incorporated into their action plans. Not to mention, the number of calls EOS has had to field after you mentioned the regional work I do.”

“I feel like you shouldn’t have to defend yourself to do that.”

“I don’t. But neither do you.” John sighed. “Scott, when are you going to see that what happened to me as a child wasn’t your fault? I don’t need to be protected from the bullies out there. I haven’t for a long time.”

“I know it wasn’t my fault,” snapped Scott.

“But you blame yourself anyway,” said John, patiently. “You think you should have seen it sooner, should have retaliated when you found out, should have done something about it.”

Scott was silent, stubbornly refusing to admit that John had hit the nail on the head.

John huffed irritably as the silence extended. “Fine, how do you think it should have gone, back when we were kids?”

“Mom and Dad should have let me tear them apart,” muttered Scott. “You have no idea how much that hurt John, to see your kid brother collecting bruises like they were stamps and being told to stand aside and do nothing.”

John’s hand fell upon his shoulder. Scott wiped angrily at the tears that were spilling onto his cheeks.

“This is stupid,” he muttered. “You got hurt way worse.”

“It was different though,” said John. “It was just physical and let’s face it, that’s not the worst I got as a kid. I got more scrapes and broken bones from falling out of trees. Remember when I got glass in my eye?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” said Scott making a pained expression. “You freaked everyone out with that one.”

“Yeah, but I got to choose the new colour,” said John, cheerfully. He sobered as he glanced over at Scott who was not laughing. “This is what I mean, Scott. You couldn’t have prevented that anymore than you could have prevented this. You can’t protect me forever.”

“Watch me,” said Scott immediately.

“No,” said John. “I won’t. You’ve got to let it go. No sense in holding on to something that caused both of us pain twenty years ago.”

Scott mulled it over. “I don’t think I know how.”

“I’ll put you in touch with some people,” said John with a nod. “We’ll work it out.”

A beep interrupted them and John looked over at EOS.

“There is an incoming call from Tracy Island,” she said promptly.

“Put it through,” said John, standing abruptly.

“John!”

“Hey Virgil, what’s happening.”

“We need you to activate Scott’s GPS,” he said worriedly. “He’s turned it off. We can’t find him anywhere, but all the jets and TB1 are still in the hangar. Kayo’s having a field day.”

John looked over at Scott, a half-smile twitching on his lips. “No need. I have eyes on him.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” said Virgil. “Where is he?”

“On Thunderbird Five.”

“Thunderbird Five?!”

Virgil’s squawk was echoed by a shout from Kayo, who wrestled the comm away from Virgil.

“You let him know that when I next see him, I am going to throw him into the next century,” she said, fuming. “What the hell is he doing up there?”

“Needed a chat. Making nice with EOS. Avoiding Gordon. Two of those are true.”

“You let him know, John Tracy,” she repeated and John shut off the connection with a laugh.

“Any chance I can finish your rotation?” asked Scott who was looking rather pale.

“After I just laughed in Kayo’s face and hung up on her?” asked John, incredulously. “I’m only that brave because I know she can’t reach me here.”

“Well, at least buy me some time.”

“Sure,” said John, smiling properly now. “EOS, take him through the ‘To Do Eventually’ task list. I’ll talk to you later.”

“This task list is comprised of everything John has asked me to remind him to do,” said EOS, her lights flickering to a cheerful yellow. “The first task is to teach me about aspects of humour.”

Scott grinned as John wandered off. “Oh he is so going to regret this.”

[neshabeingchildish]

League of Extraordinary Geniuses || Chapter 1

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

They’re the Same Picture

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I’ve heard it around Dystopia...”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“My name is Max.”

“Thank you, Max.”

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

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

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

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

“You’d do this again?” She wondered.

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

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

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

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

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

.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chase wondered, “Oh, you have pets?”

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

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

“They’re her kids,” Max said.

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

“These are the Swagger twins,” Charlotte clarified.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Weird and gross,” Max repeated.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Why not on the island?”

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

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

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

“He’s your dad, Dude,” Max said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I’m not. I just don’t like him.”

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

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

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

“I did,” Chase said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“So, NOW you know who I am?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[thebestworstidea]

Crash and Burn

(Falling Star)

(Implied Dukeceit, Implied intrulogical, Remus-typical dialogue and imagery.)

Thomas is feeling better, and ready to dive back into making videos. Something is a little off, however...

“What is up everybody?” Thomas said cheerfully into the camera. “I know it’s been a hot minute, but I had to go back down to like, the fourth video and take the time for me I needed, and that can take a while. But I’m feeling better now, energized and raring to go. So it’s time for some good old-fashioned brainstorming, and for that I’ll need my brain” he gestured towards the entryway, and Logan rose up with a resigned expression. 

“Good afternoon Thomas. Surely there has to be a more efficient way to do this?”

“This is more fun!” Thomas retorted. “And I’ll also need my-” he gestured towards the television and Logan surged forward a little bit

“Perhaps you shouldn’t-”

There was a laggardly pause, then a strain of music played- distinctly not an airy flourish. 

“No wait wait!” Thomas made a pushing down gesture, but it was too late. Remus had arrived with a wine glass full of something white and opaque, and what might have been fingers sticking out of it. He stuck one in his mouth and crunched. 

“I brought snacks!” he said cheerfully, toasting with the glass.

“Remus, what are you doing here?”

“You called for your creativity! And here I am.” 

“I called for Roman”

“Yep.” he scooped out some of whatever was in the cup with the orange stick, and licked it off. “You got me though.”

“What is that, puss and fingers?”

“Uh, no. It’s Pumpkin-spiced greek yogurt and baby carrots.”

“Somehow worse.” Thomas winced. “Wait, that’s a seasonal flavor, where did you find that?”

“Where do I find anything good to eat? The back of the fridge.” 

“It’s May.” 

“I grew the carrots.”

“Baby carrots aren’t actually young carrots, they're just tumbled pieces of larger carrots.” Logan protested. 

“Tell that to my nursery! They’re so cute in diapers.” 

“Remus what did you do to Roman?”

“What did I do to Roman?” he gave a stuttering laugh. “What did you do to Roman.” 

“Is he still upset about…” 

“Roman has been… less than communicative of late.” Logan put in. “You can still ‘brainstorm’ you said without him-”

“Take me off the bench!” Remus urged. “Or take me over it, both sound fun.” 

There was a pause as both Thomas and his Logic stared at Remus, who took a slurping sip of his snack, leaving yogurt in the edge of his mustache. 

“Where is he?” Thomas demanded. Remus straightened up a little bit and wiggled. 

“Ooh I love it when you get commanding, Tommy. He’s in the Imagination, playing petty tyrant.” 

“Is that bad?” Thomas asked Logan.

“Well, yes and no. Bad for you? No, you’re still able to access the things Roman brings to the table. You haven’t had any problems getting ridiculous crushes on semi-celebrities, acting, or thinking of ideas, this was just a formal brainstorming session, probably because you didn’t have a better idea for a video besides watching Roman and I ‘Go At It’.” Remus snorted with amusement. “Bad for Roman? Possibly.” 

“Uh, that’s not the way ‘go at it’ is normally used.” Thomas said, looking a little uncomfortable. 

“It is not used to indicate conflict?”

“It’s more often used to indicate fucking.” Remus corrected “Like ‘watching two dogs going at it’.”

“I assumed it meant fighting.” Logan pulled out a card and jotted something down on it. Remus took another sip of his yogurt, and stuck a carrot in his mouth like a cigar. 

“Say, did you know that rabbits don’t actually like carrots that much? They can get sick if they eat too many.” 

“What?”

“Yeah, it was Bugs Bunny making a reference to a popular movie star smoking a cigar.” Remus went a little starry eyed. “Bugs Bunny is a chaos god of an influencer. Instagram wants what he has.” 

“Well that’s a piece of my childhood destroyed.” Thomas sighed. 

“Much like that poor rabbit’s colon.” 

“He’s right, carrots are mainly fructose and fiber, though they do contain several nutrients. They’re far from the healthiest vegetable available.” 

“Doesn’t matter, still hate them.” Thomas pushed his hair back from his face. “Can we get back to my missing Roman?” 

“Have you been missing him?” Remus asked, eating the last of the carrots and tossing the wine glass over his shoulder, behind the TV. Thomas assumed it was imaginary, but he winced anyway. 

“I thought I was giving him space to calm down.” Thomas said in a small voice. 

Remus cackled. “He hasn’t come out of the imagination in weeks, he is in no way calmed down.” 

“Which does bring me back to the ‘possibly’ I mentioned earlier.” Logan put in. He paused and didn’t say any more.

“Are you trying to be ominous? Because you’re being kind of ominous.”

“That wasn’t my intent, Thomas, I simply wanted to be sure you wanted the information.” he cleared his throat. “You are aware of our ‘rooms’ at this point, where some of our traits are, shall we say, prevalent.”

“You’re soaking in it.” Offered Remus, picking bits of carrot out of his teeth. 

“Not inaccurate. This shall we say field of effect can have a negative effect on sides that don’t share the right- there isn’t really a word for it-  call it theoretical biology.” 

“What does this have to do with Roman?”

“Bear with me please, I’m getting to that.  It can have a negative effect on other sides, but a positive effect on the side to whom the ‘room’ belongs. It can increase stability, reinforce tasking, and give a feeling of wholeness.”

“Patton got over excited and effusive in his room though-” 

“That’s just Patton. Particularly Patton who is trying to avoid a subject.” 

“I keep telling him that talking about his last bowel movement works so much better to get people to change the subject, but apparently that’s a shitty idea.”  Remus put in. 

“At any rate, Roman’s room-”

“Our Room” 

“‘Creativity’s room- Enhances shall we say, flights of fancy, visualization, and to a certain degree, emotional responses.”

“And that’s the Imagination you guys have been talking about?”

“Nope!”

“The imagination is part of you the same way we are part of you, just not anthropomorphized.”

“Make me sound like a furry there, Logan.” Thomas raised an eyebrow. 

“Ugh.” Logan pinched the bridge of his nose, and continued. “Other parts of your brain are the subconscious, autonomous functions, and your memory archives, both short term and long term. Most parts of your mind interact. What we call the mindscape is  basically the place between these parts. We, that is your Sides, live in that area. While we each have our ‘rooms’ our corners of your mind, we also have a common area, which is more or less where you go when you want to talk to us, it isn’t very deep into the mindscape, a surface level daydream. You don’t even realize you’re not quite in the real world.” He looked at Thomas.  “Are you… following any of this?”

“Uhm. I’m going to nod, but I’m also going to admit I’m probably not going to retain much.” Thomas smiled weakly. 

“As per the usual.” Logan huffed. “Do you wish me to continue?” 

“I need you to get to the point.” 

“Roman isn’t spending time in his room or even the mindscape  to refocus. He’s spending all his time in the imagination, instead of just most of it. This isn’t interfering with his function, so much as how he interacts with it.”

“He’s throwing a hissy fit. But he doesn’t want to duck out, he just wants attention.” Fingers looped as if he was holding something Remus shook his hand up and down from the wrist.  “But because he’s pretty much barricaded himself in the imagination to play at being a villain, no one can get to him.” 

“I’ve been trying-” 

“Yeek!” Thomas jumped as Patton rose up. 

“Sorry sport.” Patton smiled weakly. He looked a little tired and stressed. “Like I said, I keep trying to talk to him, but I get lost, then I end up back outside the imagination again.” 

“Which at least mean’s Roman’s family-friendly rules are still mostly intact, despite his prolonged sojourn.” Logan commented. “Regardless of this delusion that he’s developed.”

“What delusion?” 

“Roman tends to think of things as pretty black and white.” Patton bit his lip “I have trouble with it too. I’ve been working on it. Gosh, I sure have a lot to work on. Uhm, so when he felt that he wasn’t your hero; if the person he thought of as the villain wasn’t a villain, he had to be.” Patton rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. “He had a little problem after we got Virgil back, but the whole thing was, you know, gradual. Roman could rephrase him as kind of… you know those dark brooding characters in movies that love dogs, and have a heart of gold? Like that.” 

“Besides,” Remus pointed out. “He’d decided that he didn’t like Virgie, but that he was his.  Him and DJ are alike in that they get super possessive. DJ was never his villain, just the villain. He’s my villain.” he added under his breath smugly. 

“What does that mean? I thought you two were like, friends. In cahoots.”

“‘friends’ “ Logan said distantly. 

“Look at it this way Thomas; What does Roman inspire you to do? Get out there and put yourself in front of a lot of people to perform. What makes that less likely? The fact those people are going to judge you with no context what-so-ever.” 

Thomas had to admit the thought made him shudder. 

“What do I inspire you to do?” 

“... swear? Masturbate? Eat things I find on the ground?” Thomas thought for a long moment “ … Jump out of a moving car?”

“That’s the one I was thinking of. And staging it for a vine doesn’t count, btw, it’s still on the to-do list.” Remus smoothed his mustache. “And what does DJ do? He comes up with excuses for the swearing. He’s self preservation. He stops you from destructive behavior. Well, except for the chips.”

“Do we have any?” Logan said without thinking, looking over his shoulder. “No, wait, focus. Thomas you’re going to need to have a healthy snack after we’re done here.”

“You should try the carrots and yogurt.” Remus urged, as Thomas and Patton made identical expressions of distaste. “Deodorant then?” 

“Roman!” Patton urged. “We need to get him out of the imagination before he forgets that he’s not a figment!”  he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. “I don’t want to stand next to Remus for the rest of our lives.” 

“Love you too, Daddy Dearest.” 

“I ... love … you I just don’t love the way you smell.” Patton said uncomfortably. “I’ve made up my mind that I was wrong and I can … care about you, even if you’re really scary.” 

“If you give yourself a hernia, I will poke it.” 

“Can that happen?” Thomas demanded of Logan. “Can Roman just… forget who he is?” 

“The short answer is yes. He can. He’s always come back to himself before, but he’s always been much more himself when he forgets before this, so- the data is inconclusive. For now, we can’t seem to reach him.” 

“Leaving me to answer the call as your imagination.” Remus leaned forward, as much into Thomas’s space as he could outside of daydream mode. “Use me.”

Thomas leaned away, laughing uncomfortably.

“Can I use you to come up with a way to get Roman back?” 

“If you’re going to be dull, yeah.” 

“Can we… can we go get him? Like we did with Virgil?” Thomas asked. 

“That would be incredibly dangerous. The Imagination is not like our rooms. It’s unpredictable, and easy to get lost in.”

“Patton just said he keeps ending up back outside it.”

“That’s Patton.” Logan gestured at him. “If you were with us, I don’t know what would happen. We could get separated, or hurt, and our natural abilities are tempered by the environment.”

“So what, I just wait around for him to work through whatever he’s doing, or forget us and abandon me?” Thomas looked genuinely upset at the prospect. 

“Don't worry,” Remus assured Thomas, with a huge grin. “I’ll always stick with you, until you safeword out.”

“Uh, disturbing; also we haven’t established a safe word.”

“Better start guessing then.” Remus winked. 

“He prefers ‘Roman’ And ‘Please’” Logan offered.

Thomas turned slowly and stared at Logan for a long moment. Logan blinked at him, wondering what brought that on. 

“Okay, moving on.” Thomas shook himself. “I understand the danger Logan, but I can’t… I can’t just wait around and hope this gets better on it’s own. Roman’s my … my friend, as well as everything else. If I hurt him, I need to try and fix it.” 

“I don’t think you do understand the danger, Thomas.” Logan bit his lips together and pressed the side of his knuckles to his mouth. 

“As much as I love being the bearer of bad news…” Janus descended  the staircase, stopping on the landing. “I’m afraid it’s gotten worse.” 

“What do you mean?” Thomas said nervously. “...  and where is Virgil? I feel like shit, he should be here, even if he’s still a little on edge from all the big reveals.” 

“That’s the bad news.” Janus sighed, looking slightly defeated. “He went after Roman. By himself.”

[batfam-imagines]

Choices

A/N: This one is a little long, and was an idea that has been stuck in my head for awhile. Not all of my ideas managed to make it into the story, mainly because I’m not that good of a writer!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this! Italics mean sign-language. I know that’s not how the word structure of real sign-language works, but it’s just easier to write this way.

———————————————————————————–

Bruce watches the two videos in utter horror.  One is of Robin, his second son, his Jason, being beaten with a crowbar by Joker, and the other is of Sparrow, Jason’s best friend, Bruce’s only daughter, being held at knife-point by Harley Quinn. Bruce had an impossible decision to make. He could only save one of his children, which one was is going to be?

--

Batman’s knees buckle, his fingers scrabbling frantically through the rubble, desperate for any sign of life. He couldn’t have been too late. Joker had made him choose. He’d made his choice, and had still been too late. He couldn’t be too late.

“Batsy, Batsy, Batsy!” The Jokers voice seems to echo through Bruce’s head, it takes his sluggish brain a moment to realize he must have stolen a Comm unit. “Just a few minutes too late, Batsy! Poor little bird just kept beggin’ for ya! He was so confident that you’d show!” The scrape of a knife on metal is loud even over the Comm, “Now. What am I gonna do with this pretty little thing?”

Harley’s loud laughter seemingly echo’s through Bruce’s head at the realization: they still have Y/N. One of his children is still in danger. “Why don’t we cut off all her feathers, Mista J?! Birdies can’t fly without feathers!”

“Not a bad idea, Harley, but I was thinking something a little more … permanent” Bruce feels like he’s paralyzed. He’d never found out where they’d been holding Y/N because he’d been so focused on finding Jason, he thought he would have more time. “She’s been screamin’ an awful lot since we killed that other bird, why not make it so the bird can’t sing anymore!”

Finally, Bruce finds the strength to respond, “No! Joker, you said I had to choose! You said I could save one!”

Another manic cackle spills directly into Bruce’s ear, “And you could have saved one. You could have saved that little street-rat of a Robin, but you were too late. You made your choice, Batman, and you chose wrong” It’s obvious that Joker is moving. The knife continuous to scrape along metal, and those horrible gut-wrenching screams grow louder every second. “There’s no need for the tears, pretty bird! You’ll be joinin’ him soon enough!”

“Joker! You can’t do this!” Bruce can almost picture it, one of Joker’s hands in Y/N’s hair and yanking her head back, the other holding one of Y/N’s own knives to her throat.

“Oh, Batsy, when are you going to learn. I can do whatever I want!” There’s a slick sound of the knife cutting deep, and then harsh gurgles. Somewhere in back of Bruce’s mind he knows that the Joker must have taken out the Comm and help it right up to Y/N slit throat. After less than a minute, the gurgling quiets, “See what happens, Batsy, when you bring children into our game?”

--

Talia al Ghul watches the two figures move listlessly through Gotham’s streets. She turns to one of her guards, “And you are sure it’s them?”

“Yes, Mistress. We have had our spies watching them for two months now. The way they fight is a match to the deceased Robin and Sparrow”

“Interesting. We will be taking them back to the Compound with us. Gather the men, I will gather my Beloved’s children.”

Talia scales down the building, landing several feet in front of the two teenagers. Almost immediately the girl, Y/N if she remembers correctly, is in front of the much more injured male. Y/N’s vacant eyes hover near Talia, and she lets out a shrill whistle that makes Jason tense.

“I am not here to hurt you, little ones. I am here to help you, to get you off the street,” Y/N let out a curious sounding whistle, and Jason hummed softly in response. “That’s right, somewhere safe”

Slowly the two inched towards Talia, Y/N still keeping herself firmly between Jason any anyone else. Talia grinned, these two were the ticket to her Beloved’s heart. These two would become her perfect weapons.

--

It wasn’t until several weeks later that Talia’s father joined her in observing the two teenagers fight. While their minds had not been fully restored to them, their ability to fight had been.

“The girl has potential. Even without her mind, she fights with thought. The boy, however, he is not unlike a rabid dog, his only thought is to survive.” Ra’s watches as Y/N takes down one of the League members who had been sneaking up on Jason, “And yet they always fight for each other.”

“They care for each other, even though they do not who they themselves are. And they care for children. Many nights I have found Y/N or Jason, or both of them in Damian’s room, or indulging him in play fights” Talia watches her father out of the corner of her eye, “They both have potential, I just need a little more time to reach -”

“Enough, daughter. These pets of yours are taking up too much of your time. I have already allowed you to keep Damian, but I cannot allow you to keep both the child and these two.” Ra’s turns to completely face his daughter, “You have a choice to make, and I would suggest you choose wisely”

--

Talia had made her choice. She could not kill two children that her Beloved loved so much, and she could no longer bare to endanger her son. She had gathered as many people loyal to her as possible and was going to try and pull off an impossible scheme. She was going to use the Lazarus Pit on Y/N and Jason, and then have them run as far and as fast as possible with Damian. If this plan doesn’t work, then all of them would be dead by morning.

--

It had worked. Somehow Talia’s plan to get you, Jason, and Damian to safety had worked. The little four-year-old was curled up in your lap, having fallen asleep soon after the private jet took off. Jason is still shaking, the aftereffects of the Pit not having worn off yet.

Snapping your fingers, Jason’s eyes latch onto your hands, “Are you okay?” Even though the Pit had left nothing, but a scar wrapped around your throat, it had not been able to restore your voice to you. Thankfully Bruce had made you and Jason learn basic sign-language to communicate on stealth missions, and the two of you had just continued the education, becoming fluent.

“I’m fine. Everything feel so … fresh, you know? And I’m so damn angry at B for choosing me over you, and then getting both of us killed anyway”

“Watch swearing around Damian. And we got ourselves into the mess, it was our fault. It’s in the past. Focus on now”

“I know, I know. We get a second chance at life even if we both have crazy PTSD and Pit-Madness. Now we’re off to travel the world for a few years with a toddler to become the most deadly assassins alive” Jason rakes a hand through his now white streaked hair, “This will be freaking fantastic, Y/N”

“Better than being dead” Damian starts to stir in your lap from the constant hand movements. His jade-green eyes blinking up at you. “Good morning, little prince”

The smile he flashes at you would brighten even Gotham’s rainiest day, “Good morning, ‘Gale!”

Jason snorts and ruffles Damian’s hair, “Her name isn’t Gale, kid. Her name is Y/N”

Damian rolls his eyes with all the attitude a four-year-old could muster, and considering he was raised by Talia, it was a lot. “I know that, dummy! But she whistles like the Nightingales in Mother’s room. Nightingale is her new super name; I don’t have one for you Jay”

“It’s okay, little man. We’ll figure one out for me and you sometime soon. Okay?”

The little boy grins, “Okay. Where are we going?” This time he looks up at you for an answer, but you gently tap you throat and shake your head. “You still can’t talk? The green water didn’t fix you all the way?”

“No, it didn’t. When we were hurt, there were some things that couldn’t be healed all the way.” Jason glances over at you, at the scar the barely peeks out from the turtleneck.

“How can I talk to Y/N then?!” Damian’s lower lip wobbles dangerously.

“Don’t worry, kid. Y/N can talk with her hands, it’s called sign-language. Both us will teach you, and then you’ll be able to talk to Y/N as much as you want, okay?” Immediately Damian brightens, and demands to be taught something. “Alright, lets learn the alphabet first.” And that’s how the rest of the plane ride is spent, with you and Jason teaching Damian how to sign the alphabet.

--

It takes another six years for the three of you to end up back on Gotham, and the main reason you’re there is so Jason can kill the Joker.

“Jay, I still don’t think this is the best idea. We said that we were going to stay away from Batman, not antagonize him”

“I am in pain right now, Y/N. Can you patch me up and save the lecturing for later” Jason gingerly lays down along the couch as you pull out the first aid kit, “And plus, it’s not like I went looking for him! He and Dickhead attacked me!”

“Language, Jason. You know Y/N does not like it when you swear around me” Damian quietly closes his book and surveys the damage done to the only fatherly figure in his life, “I could kill them for you”

“Listen, kid, if I couldn’t take them, then you couldn’t take them” Jason hisses as you pour alcohol over one of his cuts, “And plus, Y/N doesn’t want you to go out while we’re in Gotham. Batman might find you”

Damian rolls his eyes, “I do not care about Bruce Wayne or Batman. He does not even know I exist. I do not need a father; I already have one”

“Aw, Dami, you’re gonna make me choke up!”

The ten-year-old scoffs, “I made my choice many years ago. You two are the only family I need. My father does not know of my existence, my mother never tried to contact me after sending me away, and my grandfather is constantly trying to kill me”

“We love you too, Damian. We can go out tomorrow night if you want, Jason will be resting” You throw a glare at Jason who just holds up his hands and grins.

“Whatever you want, sweetheart. Just as long as you bring back some tacos from that truck on 17th, the owner likes you more than me.”

Damian grins, “Of course, they have the best vegetarian tacos”

--

Damian, as always, is eager to put on his mask and hit the rooftops. Unlike Jason whose main goal is to cause chaos and keep all the focus on him, you and Damian are meant to stay under the radar, to gather as much information as possible.

“Stay low, stay quiet. Do not draw attention to yourself. If we are found, you hide, I will handle it. Understand, Shadow?” Being in the field without a voice is dangerous, it means if you get in trouble the only way someone can find you is if they can hear you whistle or follow the tracker that only Jason and Damian have access to.

“I know, ‘Gale. I will be careful, Batman will not even know I am in the city, I swear”

“Good. Now, let’s go before Jason comes with us” Jason chuckles from his seat on the couch and flips you the bird.

--

“The city is quiet tonight.” You glance over at Damian to see him perched slightly under one of the many gargoyles, trying to get out of the rain. “It does not seem as foul on nights such as this”

You snort, “Now that you said that, something is going to happen. Besides, I thought I told you to go home. You’ll get sick”

“I will not get sick from rain.”

Before you can reply, three figures land one a nearby building. Barely moving, you send a quick sign to Damian, one of the first words you had taught him, “Hide”

Immediately Damian slips further into the shadows, his much smaller body easy sliding between the stone structures. It takes almost 20-minutes for Batman, Robin, and Nightwing to finally leave, and another 15 for you to be sure they’re gone. “Come out, it’s safe”

“I hate this city. I hate that Jason feels the need to seek revenge and torment your former family. Why didn’t you and I wait for him elsewhere, like we had planned? Seeing them terrifies you, and that makes me hate them”

“I chose to come here with Jason. He needs us to keep him sane, and this city drives people insane much faster than most. When we lived on the streets together as children, Jason and I promised to always stay together, no matter what. We are here to protect Jason and to help him, little prince, that is what we chose to do as a family”

Damian lets out another sigh, “Fine, but as long as we’re in the city I want to fight Robin at least once, to prove that I am superior”

“Whatever you want. Now, let’s go mix up some trouble, I’m getting a little bored” You flash a bright smile at Damian and ruffle his wet hair.

“Sounds fun. I’ve been wanting to try out my knew knives”

“And then tacos. We can’t forget the tacos or Jason won’t let us hear the end of it”

———————————————————————————–

Let me know what you think! Send any ideas or requests you have to my Ask Box!

[stillsearchingforsomething]

The best thing that has ever been mine

There have been a few requests for some AMA’s fluff so, enjoy :)

American Music Awards - November 2019

“Hey you,” Karlie says as soon as the call connects and Taylor hears her voice a few seconds before her smiling face fills the screen.

“Hey yourself,” Taylor says, keeping her phone up away from the water as she relaxes in the bathtub after a long day of rehearsals, her free hand making sure she’s decently covered by bubbles.

“God, I miss you,” Karlie says and she can’t keep the pout from her face at all the skin those bubbles are hiding.

“You’re just saying that because you’re stuck in New York,” Taylor teases with a quick glance at her phone and she can see that Karlie’s moving around their apartment, turning off lights as she goes. The feed shakes when she goes up the stairs and Taylor ends up looking at the ceiling for a few seconds as Karlie hops onto their bed and settles with a long sigh.

“I don’t want to talk about that,” Karlie says but her weary tone has given way to a wide smile that mirrors Taylor’s when her face comes into focus again. “How was your day?”

“Exhausting,” she says, sinking further down in the bathtub and reaching for her glass of white wine to take a sip.

“How did rehearsals go?” Karlie asks shifting sit up in bed and holding the phone close to her face. “Was Misty there?”

“Yep, she was, we did a full run through of everything. She and Craig were great.”

“I can’t wait to see it.”

Taylor smiles before the words really register and then she focuses on Karlie, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Just the ballet routine?”

“Mainly that, but also you,” Karlie teases, laughing softly.

“I’m jealous,” Taylor pretends to be insulted, faking a spectacular pout that just makes Karlie smile softer at her.

“I’m kidding.”

“I know.”

“I am seriously excited for the ballet though.”

“I knew I didn’t have any reason to be worried,” Taylor says, trying to keep the smile off her face and choosing to tease Karlie a little bit.

“You were worried?” Karlie says which is not what Taylor had wanted her to focus on. “Aw, honey.”

“I mean, she’s hot and a professional ballet dancer, she can obviously fill a void that I can’t,” Taylor muses aloud even though they both know she’s just teasing for the sake of it.

Taylor knows she’s phrased that poorly the moment Karlie’s eyes go wide and Taylor can practically see the delight vibrating out of her even through her iPhone screen.

“Don’t even—,” she tries preemptively but Karlie’s smile is manic. “I meant that you can talk about dance and stuff!”

“While she fills my void?”

Taylor groans and sinks further down in the tub but her cringing is considerably shortened by how much she enjoys hearing Karlie laugh.

“Don’t worry baby, nobody but you is filling this void,” Karlie says shooting her an exaggerated wink to make her point.

“Karlie!” Taylor whines.

“What? It’s true!”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it!”

Karlie’s mouth snaps shut as she just stares at her screen with a guilty smile, and it’s incredibly endearing how she seems to cuddle even further in bed, half her face smushed by the pillow and only one eye and half a smile staring back at Taylor.

“You’re such a smartass,” Taylor whispers.

“You love my ass.”

“Unfortunately, I do.”

“‘Unfortunately’?!” Karlie exclaims. “What does that mean?”

Taylor shakes her head, her exasperation clear but her eyes too filled with fondness for it to have any real sort of effect and they stare at each other for a bit in a peaceful sort of lull.

Taylor sighs softly and she closes her eyes for a moment, basking in the tranquility of the moment. “I love you.”

Karlie completely melts at that, pressing her face further into her pillow so that Taylor can only see the twitch of her lips as her smile widens.

“I love you too,” she finally mumbles.

“Good,” Taylor says with a decisive nod.

“You saying good night?”

“Mhm-hm, my bath is turning cold.”

“Alright. I will see you tomorrow, I’ll be waiting for you at home as soon as you’re done.”

“I can’t wait,” Taylor says.

Karlie picks up her phone and shifts onto her back, holding the phone over herself in such a way that Taylor just knows she’s going to accidentally drop it on her face.

“Good night,” Taylor says smiling fondly at her fiancée.

“Oh, wait hang on—”

“Karlie, I’m cold,” she says with a soft whine.

“I love you, you’re gonna be amazing tomorrow,” Karlie says softly, her face open and sincere, and Taylor completely mellows, a comforting feeling settling low in her stomach. “Good night, baby.”

She blows a kiss to the screen and Taylor’s about to say something when the video feed turns shaky and she hears a loud “Ow!” and all she can see is darkness for a brief few moments before Karlie plucks the phone from her face.

“For the sake of your beautiful face, good night,” Taylor says around a laugh and Karlie just grumbles a quick goodnight before ending the video call.

The following morning, Karlie’s alarm goes off and Taylor groans at the loud sound. She doesn’t move, too comfortable nestled in Karlie’s arms, but Karlie isn’t moving either, doesn’t seem to have woken up and Taylor whines softly in protest.

“Karlie…” Taylor croaks out, but she receives no response. A quick, sharp nudge also goes unnoticed so Taylor groans loudly, hoping that will be enough to wake her and when it doesn’t, she reluctantly pushes up from the bed.

Shifting over, Taylor whines again when she sees that Karlie’s phone is almost at the outside edge of her nightstand and that she won’t be able to reach it, so she finally pushes the sheets away, frowning as she stretches over Karlie’s body and struggles to turn off her alarm.

“This is a nice view,” Karlie murmurs sleepily, eyes blinking slowly and Taylor glares down at her in response. Karlie reaches out and wraps her arms around Taylor’s bare back firmly and Karlie grins. “What a wake-up.”

“I wanted to sleep in today,” Taylor grumbles in annoyance, not having gotten home to their Beverly Hills house until the early hours of the morning after the show, but she still lets Karlie pull her closer, shifting until their bodies are pressed together, Karlie’s lips kissing along the column of her neck.

“I’m sorry, I forgot to turn it off yesterday,” Karlie says without an ounce of regret in her tone as she nips at Taylor’s skin.

“You know that I love you, but you’re really testing the limits of that,” Taylor mumbles into her pillow as she shifts off Karlie and settling beside her hoping to go back to sleep.  

Karlie just laughs at the petulant tone of Taylor’s voice as she settles facing Taylor, wrapping her arms around her waist and drops a kiss to her neck. “Let me make it up to you.”

Taylor relents, tilting her head further to the side in encouragement and lets out a sleepy sigh which comes out a little too breathless to be blamed on her still waking body.

Karlie brushes her lips against Taylor’s temple, lips pursing enough for a soft kiss and Taylor melts even more into her when she feels Karlie smile against her skin.

Karlie’s hand snakes up Taylor’s side until the tips reach Taylor’s neck and she cradles Taylor’s jaw, smile widening when Taylor blinks open her eyes slowly.

Taylor licks her lips a second before Karlie kisses them, smiles and tilts her head for a better angle as she parts her lips and lets Karlie lick into her mouth, the laziness of the kiss settling comfortably over them.

Taylor feels unhurried as she lets Karlie explore her mouth, her warm fingertips gentle on the line of her jaw and Taylor shifts on to her back without pulling away, allowing Karlie to settle more comfortably on top of her.

Karlie slows then, knowing that they both have the entire day to themselves so she can take her time, and her eyelashes flutter against Taylor’s cheek as she blinks a few times to clear her head.

“I love you,” Karlie whispers and she revels in the slow smile that spreads across Taylor’s face at the words.  

“Yeah?” Taylor asks, trailing her fingers up and down Karlie’s back.

“Mhm-hm.”

“I love you too,” Taylor murmurs, leaning up to press a kiss to Karlie’s lips.

Karlie pulls away and resumes pressing kisses to the side of Taylor’s head until she reaches that spot just behind Taylor’s ear, and her lips curve up into a smile when she feels Taylor shiver against her.

Taylor leans back further into her pillow tilting her head to give her more access.

Karlie keeps dropping a lazy flurry of shallow kisses to Taylor’s neck, down and back up again, nipping at the corner of her jaw.

“You are, without a doubt, the best thing that’s ever been mine,” Karlie whispers and Taylor’s eyes flutter closed as her heart thuds in her chest, even as she stifles a laugh at Karlie’s blatant use of her own lyrics.

“I love being your lover,” Karlie continues and Taylor is about to call her out for it when she becomes faintly aware of Karlie’s fingers sliding over her upper arm and over the back of her hand, tangling their fingers and lifting their joined hands so she can drop a chaste kiss to Taylor’s palm.

“You’re so incredible, and that brain of yours never ceases to amaze me,” she continues with a quick press of her lips to the side of Taylor’s head before returning to her favourite spot on Taylor’s neck.

“You’re funny and dorky and adorable.” Her teeth scrape softly, drawing a soft whimper from Taylor.  

Karlie’s voice drops then as her lips brush against the shell of Taylor’s ear again, nails dragging along her collarbone inwards and pausing at the base of her throat and Taylor’s chest goes tight with anticipation.

“And you are so fucking beautiful,” she husks and it takes a tremendous effort for Taylor to keep her eyes focused on Karlie.

“Do you have any idea how it makes me feel when you’re on stage and everybody is looking at you, captivated by you and I know I’m the one who gets to take you home?”

“Karlie,” she moans softly at that, because even though she’d suspected, and on some level known that to be true, in all their time together, Karlie had never outright admitted it, and to do so with desire lacing her tone so heavily, Taylor’s head goes light and dizzy with want.

“Do you have any idea how much I love you?”

A needy whimper falls from Taylor’s lips even though Karlie hasn’t done anything else, her touches light and innocent and even her lips barely brush her skin but the words, and the low, heady voice they’re spoken in, make her skin flush with warmth.

Before they can get too carried away, Taylor brings her hand up to cup Karlie’s jaw, coaxing her to turn her head and meet her eyes. “Thank you,” Taylor says softly leaning up to rest her forehead against Karlie’s.

“For what?”

“Everything,” Taylor whispers against Karlie’s lips. “I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without you, you know that right?”

“Yes you could,” Karlie replies, smile softening at the open, earnest look on Taylor’s face. “You won’t ever have to but you could. I don’t think there’s anything that you couldn’t do.”

“I did somehow convince you to marry me,” Taylor teases.

Karlie doesn’t reply, just hums before leaning in to press a kiss to Taylor’s forehead.

“Best decision I ever made,” Taylor says decisively, wrapping her arms tighter around Karlie’s waist.

“Besides falling in love with me?”

“Oh no,” Taylor says immediately, shaking her head and she has to stifle a laugh when Karlie narrows her eyes at her with suspicion. “Falling for you wasn’t a decision at all,” she whispers pressing a kiss to Karlie’s cheek. “It was inevitable and entirely unavoidable.”

“Ooh,” Karlie says in a teasing voice but her steadily widening smile gives her away. “That was really romantic.”

[ephemeral-afterlight]

Day 9: Shackled

(We’ll scream, we’ll dream.)

Whumptober 2019 Day 9: Shackled

Word Count: 1816

Relationships: Moceit (NOT consensual), Moxiety (past), allusions to Moduke (past)

Warnings: Unsympathetic Patton, childhood kidnapping/growing up in captivity (mentioned), rape (non-explicit but it does happen), abuse (mainly physical), cursing, lots of vulgar/explicit language, misgendering/deadnaming. Please tell me if I’m missing any.

A/N: yeah, this one is pretty heavy too. it also includes non-con, and although it isn’t super graphic/explicit, i highly advise you to stay away if that will make you uncomfortable. sorry it’s an hour late, blah blah blah, this is becoming a habit and it’s not a good one

Virgil can’t stop feeling so goddamn guilty.

He should have paid more attention, over the years he was with Patton. He should have questioned why his boyfriend would disappear into the basement, often for hours at a time, without a single explanation. He should have seen how disturbed Patton was, realized that he needed professional help. He should have seen it, should have known that Dee was down here suffering all this time, but he didn’t. He didn’t, and now Dee is traumatized, and she’s lost so much of her life and her childhood and her personal autonomy, and it’s Virgil’s fault. It’s his fault.

No, no, it’s not. It’s not his fault. He has to stop doing that. He knows that this is just a product of his anxiety, and he’s unrealistically feeling responsible. There wasn’t anything he could have done. Even if he did find out about Dee’s presence earlier, there would be no guarantee he’d have even been able to help her, and it would probably have just sped up the timeline. Who knows, maybe Patton would’ve left him down here with her.

Like now.

Even here, as Dee stands against the wall, open and unashamed with her nudity, there’s something closed-off in the air. Virgil feels an odd, overwhelming sense of insecurity that comes from a place he can’t pinpoint, somewhere ashamed. He knows it’s not his fault. It’s not his fault. It’s Patton’s doing.

“Dee, I don’t… I don’t know if he’s gonna come down here again, and I’ll try my best to make sure nothing happens to you if he does, but… I’m chained up like you are. I’ll-- I’ll get us out, but I might… I might need a little more time, okay? Not long, but…” Virgil trails off, low, strained voice echoing off the concrete walls of the basement. Delilah’s eyelashes flutter as she snaps to attention, jolts her head up to look for danger, and then relaxes minutely when she processes the statement. Virgil hates Patton. He hates him.

“Y’h… Been down here a long time anyway. Used to it. I c’n wait,” Dee murmurs, eyes trained at her bare feet, and Virgil feels his fury sharpen like a knife. She shouldn’t have to wait, shouldn’t be used to it. She should have had a good childhood, grown up properly. She should have been able to go to sports games with her friends, ordered pizzas and played video games, felt the pride of graduating from high school. She should have been able to feel the joy of her friends using the right name, to buy her first skirt, to have girl’s nights and sleepovers. She should have had a life. A real life. Not this.

Things get quiet again. They’ve been going in and out of bouts of silence for a while, have been lost in their own thoughts. There is a bit of light coming from upstairs, but it’s not exactly enough to see well by, and there isn’t really anything to do but wait. Virgil’s already tried to yank at the shackles, see if they could break if he pulled hard enough, but it was to no avail. So. Now he just… waits.

The creak of the basement door is a sound that is all too familiar to Virgil, one that he heard so many times while rarely ever questioning it. Patton told him he was making friendship jewelry. Virgil should have seen through his bullshit. Aside from the fact that the memories of Patton disappearing down here over and over and over without any repercussions or suspicion through the years are probably going to be ones that will haunt Virgil for the rest of his life, he knows he needs to focus on now, focus on Dee, and focus on keeping Patton busy.

And Patton’s down here in their presence again, rambling on about something that goes completely over Virgil’s head. It’s some shit about how great he slept last night with Virgil not there, how he had the bed all to himself, and Virgil couldn’t give a single fuck about his attempt to make Virgil angry. He’s already angry, and if he really wants to infuriate him, he’s gonna have to do better than that.

“Why, hello, Ethan. You’re looking ugly today,” Patton greets cheerfully, doesn’t notice the way Dee flinches when he says the wrong name. Virgil doesn’t blame her for not telling him. It’s none of his goddamn business to know. Even so, Virgil still feels bad for her, because it’s not like growing up in captivity has really allowed her to do any personal searching, have creative expression, or experiment with herself. Virgil’s parents were similarly strict, and although his situation was never anywhere close to being as bad as Delilah’s is, he sorta gets it.

“Y’know, if you weren’t such a disgusting excuse of a human being, I might have made you my boyfriend. Would you like that? D’you want to be my pretty, docile little housewife? Wanna be my cute little fucktoy, bend over whenever I tell you?” Patton asks, tone high as if he’s talking to a child, or a dog, and that’s probably not far from how he views her. Patton’s narcissistic demeanour is one of the most infuriating things Virgil has ever had the misfortune of witnessing, but he can’t lose control. He needs to reign in his vexation, stay in control of the situation. It’s for Delilah’s sake.

“You couldn’t get with someone you wanted even if you tried. Nobody wants your small dick,” Virgil spits, pulls against his chains again in frustration even as the rest of his body remains still. He’s pleasantly surprised that he’s able to keep the urgency out of his voice, since it’s imperative to not show Patton weakness right now. As soon as he finds a crack in the wall, a break in the code, he’ll latch onto it and exploit it. Virgil can’t let that happen.

“Hmph, really? You seemed to be enjoying my ‘small dick’ all those times I fucked you so good you couldn’t even speak. But maybe that was a different Virgil?” Patton muses, sneers from the side as he strokes Delilah’s trembling face with the backs of his fingers. Virgil wants to yell, and scream, and punch Patton so hard it knocks him straight into hell, but he can’t. He can’t show emotion, can’t show fear. He has to make him angry.

“Oh, please, are you that delusional? I didn’t speak because there was nothing to say. It was boring. I wanted to yawn every single time we had sex, but I guess my plan to stroke your ego and make you think I wanted you worked, didn’t it? The only reason I stayed with you was for your house and money. You cooked for me every night, gave me a bed and a roof, and that’s honestly all I really got out of this. You couldn’t fuck someone into speechlessness if your life depended on it, you’re too boring and vanilla to attract anyone else, and I could easily have up and left a three for a ten. Sorry, bud, but you never had me.” Virgil finishes his rant with a loud scoff, a flourish to really hammer his point home. He can see how furious it makes him. He can relish in the way Patton’s brows pull down with his enragement, even as he senses a whisper of guilt work its way into his chest. Virgil hates that he feels bad, hates that he’s outright lying. He wishes that it were true, but it’s not. And at least he gets Patton’s attention, but then Patton doesn’t look very mad anymore.

“Oh, I see what’s going on here,” Patton says, tone mocking. He looks nonplussed as he turns to Virgil, huffs a laugh as he stalks toward him. Virgil isn’t afraid. He wants to punch him. “You’re trying to distract me.”

“What, like you were too distracted by that pretty young secretary Abby to keep Remus from leaving you?” Virgil retorts scathingly, and even as a flash of anger slices through Patton’s eyes, even as a fist slams into his stomach and he chokes out a whine, he knows he’s won. He knows that Patton knows, too.

“How did you know about Remus?” Patton hisses, yanks Virgil’s head up by the chin when he lolls forward. Virgil stays silent, just apathetically stares Patton down, and the latter of the two growls and whips the palm of his hand across a bruised cheek. The cough that comes out is rough, but he doesn’t yell out, and that just incenses Patton more. “Answer me!”

Virgil breathes slowly out through his nose. He can see Dee cowering in the corner, terrified as she watches them dance, and Virgil slowly raises his head up. His eyes meet Patton’s once more, narrow in the tense silence, and then he spits blood directly in Patton’s face. “Go fuck yourself.”

And he looks furious, madder than Virgil has ever seen him. It’s almost funny, how Patton reels his arm back, prepares to send another blow rocketing into Virgil’s already weak body. But then Patton’s anger bleeds from his face, is replaced by cold amusement and a malicious grin, and Virgil feels dread sink into his stomach. Something is wrong. He’s supposed to be pissed, but he’s not, so what is he planning?

But then Patton spins around, stomps toward an increasingly more horrified Delilah, and Virgil doesn’t bother swallowing down the shout that bursts from his throat. And Virgil can’t do anything, can’t move as Patton slaps away Dee’s defensive hands, can’t break the chains as he pushes her up against the wall. He can’t help her when she shakes her head back and forth violently, can’t stop him when Patton rips an anguished cry from the defenseless girl, and Virgil is going to throw up.

He can’t watch. He can’t watch her terror morph into apathy, watch her face slowly shift from severely distressed to droopy neutrality. He can’t watch her become quiet, watch her arm fall like dead weight to hang at her side. He can’t watch, so he squeezes his eyes shut and blocks it out.

No.

He promised! He fucking promised he would get her out, that he wouldn’t let Patton keep causing her to suffer. He said he would stop the torture, and as soon as he’s being tested, he curls up and cries like a baby? No. No. He isn’t going to break his promise to her. He can’t let her down, betray the meager trust she’s already been kind enough to give to him. She’s gone through so much already, and Virgil gave her hope, and he can’t abandon that. Fuck this. Fuck Patton and every deranged thing he’s ever done.

Virgil opens his eyes, and his vision is tinged in red.