#and i just kept feeling worse plus the fact that she was sick too told me it was an actual sickness not the random stuff i feel a lot

[steviescrystals]

the last post i reblogged just reignited my rage over something that happened my freshman year of college so mini rant in the notes lol

[bratshaws]

through the hourglass 107. brb x oc

a/n: 👀👀👀👀

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: none.

goodness gracious (pls read this one to know more what this fic is about!!)

chapter

1/

50/51/52/53/54/55/56/57/58/59/60/61/62/63/64/65/66/67/68/69/70/71/72/73/74/75/76/77/78/79/80/81/82/83/84/85/86/87/88

/89/90/91/92/93/94/95/96/97/98/99/100/101/102/103/104/105

/106

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-

Beatrice tried to mask her grimace once she showed up at Marcus’ studio. It wasn’t because of him, but she was feeling really ill and nauseated from last night, maybe they shouldn’t have eaten that chili, maybe she should’ve gotten something lighter instead.

Because her stomach was making her see double, and the bright colors surrounding her were only making her situation a bit worse. She tried to hide her discomfort as Marcus explained everything, sometimes even putting a hand in front of her mouth because that nausea was intense and she feared she’d just blow at any second.

Nicole was happily playing in the playpen Marcus set up in his office, something he really didn’t have to do but he adored her as much as Bea and Rooster did. He was the honorary uncle, the honorary rich stylist uncle who gave her daughter tiny brand toys he got from PR packets over the years.

The Valentino rubber teddy bear was probably the cutest thing she had ever seen…and it was the first time ever too. Black with pink eyes and a bow tie with the ‘V’ on each side, in gold thread that shone whenever Nikki moved it. Her daughter just vocalized when playing with it, she didn’t have a lot of stuffed toys - in fact Rooster’s blue teddy bear was the only one that Beatrice kept in her room since she was so young - so when Marcus said he researched what babies her age could have,Beatrice was more than honored to know that he found something safe for her daughter.

And seeing Nicole have so much fun while playing was enough for her too.

She hoped it’d make the nausea pass, but it was a bit complicated. She also was having a hard time focusing on what Marcus was saying, because she was trying to not die right in front of him. Maybe it was something they added? She never had this issue with chili before, it wasn’t like there was something that happened.

Plus Rooster was feeling so good, maybe it was something in her making her feel so sick.

Marcus, who was very observant, removed the bright colorful glasses from his eyes and furrowed his brows, “Bea,what is the matter? You appear…” he moves the frame in the air,trying to find words, “You appear…confused, or upset…or both.”

“Huh?”

“Are you okay,darling? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, ah,I’m sorry Marcus.” she laughs softly, “I just..I think yesterday’s dinner is kind of messing with me,so…I’m okay.”

“Do you want to sit down?” his whole demeanor changed, “Tea? I can get you tea- Trinity! Bring us my personal selection!”

“W-No!” Beatrice holds her hands up, “No,no! No, water is fine, in fact I prefer it,Marcus. Please.”

The stylist narrowed his eyes but sighed, “Very well, get us the Swedish one.”

Beatrice almost told him there was no need, but chose to just sit down on the chair closest to Nicole’s highly expensive playpen, blinking when she saw her daughter playing with a Versace rattle now, “Um…Marcus.”

“Yes, darling.”

“I…could be very wrong.” she laughs nervously, ‘But um,brands don’t do baby stuff, do they? I mean,from what I’ve seen with you and from what you told me?”

Marcus places his glasses back on the bridge of his nose, pushing it up to his brows with a elegant finger, “Well, they don’t darling.” he says casually, “But I told them that I have a lovely little girl whom I adore and I’d be more than happy to see her enjoying the best in life.” he smirks at Beatrice’s face, confusion slowly turning into surprise and then absolute shock. He holds up a hand, “Ah ah ah! No take backs,darling. I adore you three, you know that.”

“But–”

“Sssh, no no,” he taps her nose playfully, “No take backs,it won’t hurt me to give my favorite people gifts…besides,I don’t have nieces or nephews and since you and Evelyn will be the first of my friends to have children, why not?”

“Does Evelyn know?”

“Of course not,she’d be worse than you if she found out.” he laughs gleefully, grabbing the teal colored bottle from Trinity’s gloved hands alongside the long flute that would usually be filled with champagne, “There you go,darling.” he pours the water and Beatrice blinks at how clear it really is, she could almost see her own past with how beautiful that water looked, “Enjoy it.”

“Thanks,Marcus.” she grabs the flute delicately, bringing it to her lips and blinking at how expensive water could taste. But besides that, it did help her stomach because it slowly settled once the cold water hit it, her eyes closing as a sigh of relief broke out of her.

Marcus crosses his legs once he sits down on the velvet chair in front of Beatrice, “Better?”

“Yes, thank you,Marcus. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, darling.” he waves his hand off, rolling his eyes, “We all get sick…you said there’s something you ate,yes?”

“That and some personal stuff.” she laughs gently, placing the flute on top of the mahogany desk as she leans back on her seat, the papers filled with her own designs were fixed together almost as if it was a Tetris game, “And I got,” she moves her hand, “I got nervous I guess, and my stomach is now feeling it.”

“Oh, goodness, you cannot stress darling. You know it gives you wrinkles.” he pats the corners of his eyes for emphasis, “And makes your brain scream. We already go through so much in our daily lives, there’s no need for more.”

Beatrice smiles thankfully, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and sighing once her body feels comfortable enough for her to speak, “Well,I’m sorry about that, um…so, from what you said everything is good,right?”

‘Yes, darling.” he points a manicured finger to one of her drawings, “It’ll be marvelous and remember: there’ll be no photographers, no paparazzi,nothing, there’ll be only us having a good old time as friends and to celebrate the launch…and obviously,show you the pictures.”

She flushes a bit but smiles more, “Thank you,I know it’s not what you are used to but-”

“Darling,I’m so tired of the vultures that surround me.” he tilts his head fondly, “I am almost forty, I can decide what and who I want in my party.” he looks down when he hears Nicole vocalize and shake a shoe that looked like a small Louboutin, “I can arrange a baby area if you so wish as well.”

“Oh,no,no, she’s staying with her nonni.” Beatrice smiles, gently combing some of Nicole’s hair back when she looks up at her mother, “Plus,I don’t think it’d be such a good idea to take her there, might be too much for her.”

She says as if her daughter couldn’t handle sleeping through a storm.

Which she did. Twice already.

“Oh,very well, I’m just saying…which brings me to my other idea!”

“Other?” Beatrice blinks when Marcus disappears under his desk, his gleeful laughter being the only answer as he messed with something she can’t see, “Marcus?” more laughter and this time he pushes a small box on top of the desk, pushing it towards her, “What’s this?”

“My new plan! I was heavily inspired by the little princess.” Nicole turns her head when she hears, even if in her mind she had no idea what that word meant she knew it was used to refer to her, “And because I adore her so,I am working on my own baby and kids line!”

“Wait…what?!”

“Yes!Oh it’s so fun! Smaller sizes! SO small! And tiny,tiny socks!” he is elated when speaking, “And I’ve never did anything like this before, so I think it’s so fun and out of my comfort zone,I don’t know why I hadn’t tried.”

Beatrice was so surprised that Nicole, in her six months of life, managed to make pretty much everyone around her feel either inspired or happy. The Dagger Squad loved her - and she didn’t want to tell anyone, but it was obvious her favorite people in the squad were Payback and Phoenix because of how much she liked when they held her - Maverick absolutely adored that little girl to the point that she was sure he’d break someone’s arms if they talked about her. Penny wasn’t that far behind and Shells was doing a great job being the crazy wild aunt that could possibly kill anyone who looked at you wrong while Evelyn was the cool, hip, savvy aunt who knew what to give you when you least expected.

To say that their baby daughter was a light of joy was pretty obvious.

“And of course she’ll be one of the first to receive a full batch of clothes.”

“Oh, ah,” Beatrice laughs softly at Marcus, “There’s no need,Marcus, she’s growing so fast I don’t know if it’d be a good idea to…send her more clothing. I even bought some more since she’s already so big.” Nicole chews more on the rubber Louboutin and then looks around for anything else to play with.

“Oh…” Marcus frowns, then his grin returns, “Very well,I’ll save it up for the next babies.”

“HUh?”

“I mean,” he props his chin on top of his interlaced hands, “You do plan on having more kiddos,right? You and your pilot.”

Beatrice’s cheeks flushed red, an embarrassed little giggle breaking out of her as she retucks her hair behind her ear, “Um…” she clears her throat, feeling the words get stuck in there while looking to the side, “One day,maybe. We aren’t in a hurry, Nikki is just six months too and Roos is busy with the Navy and such.”

Marcus hums, pursing his lips as he smiles, “Okay! Well,I’ll still keep them saved up for you!”

“Mama!” Nicole breaks the conversation, and Beatrice is so thankful for the distraction, to show her mother the other toy she got, “Abuuh buh ah!” it was a monkey, of course it was a monkey, from Moschino with bright colors and a huge head that undoubtedly made Nicole think of her own monkey back home.

Beatrice smiles, picking her daughter up when she crawled over to the small gate that held her back, being sat on her mother’s lap as she nommed on the new rubber primate, “Thank you,though. I really appreciate it, you don’t have to but…you know.”

‘Oh darling,you have to stop saying that.” he smirks,”I adore your little family.”

“I know…we appreciate it.”

“And I adore how in love your husband is with you, you two are a fairy tale in real life!” he clasps his hands together, “It’s adorable!”

He wouldn’t be the first one to say that either.

Beatrice just laughs again, still blushing, “Well, he does make me feel that way-” her alarm goes off and she sighs, “Oh,I gotta go Marcus,I have to meet with Penny and Shells at the bar reall quick.” she looks back at him in question, “We ah, we are finished,right?”

“Yes, we are.” he smiles, “But oh, let’s just wrap it up.” she thought he meant the papers and the meeting, but no he meant the many brand toys that Nicole played with. His several assistants just flocked into the room and started packaging everything, everything in front of them with the exception of the playpen.

“There’ll be more when you visit me the next time,”

‘Wait,more?Marcus!”

“Sssh, darling,” he smiles, “Those are gifts for the little princess.” they are all inside beautiful sleek black boxes with large red ribbons and Beatrice could only stare wide eyed.

“I-I don’t even know how to take all of those home.” she murmurs, “I-I mean you–” the knowing look from Marcus was enough to answer, “You are going to send the ones I can’t take over to me.”

“Hmhm! “ he bites the end of his glasses while holding his arm up, then gestures to her body, “Oh I need to send you the dresses too, I know you’ll love to see them. Trinity! Please write that down! Bea needs her dresses.”

Beatrice could only watch wide eyed. Never in one million years she’d ever think she’d be here, standing next to Marcus Beverly - who is her friend now -, helping him with the new launch and being one of his models. One of his favorite models that is.

And that she’d still work at the Hard Deck and be happy doing it.

She bites the inside of her cheek to hide her smile as she follows Marcus and his flurry of assistants out of the building to her jeep. One of the male assistants even holds her bag for her as she unlocks the car, both her and Nicole watching as they put everything inside - almost perfectly aligning each box - and closing it once they are done.

They all say their goodbyes to her and Nicole, the little baby smiling happily when theirs voices get higher when referring to her. Marcus stands outside next to Beatrice, inhaling happily before turning to her, “Well, darling, you must go and so do I.” he air kisses her cheeks while holding her shoulders, “I will give you a call before the launch party, yes?”

“Yes, of course Marcus.”

He smiles fondly at her, before turning his gaze to Nicole, “Goodbye little princess.” he coos, gently kissing her tiny hands and smiling at her happy giggle, “You enjoy your time with mommy, yes?” Nicole laughs louder and Marcus drops her hands from his, “Goodbye darling, have a good day!”

Beatrice watches as Marcus flourishes back into the building, his clothes shining and hair still in place even with the wind outside. She gives him one final wave before the doors closed and she’s left standing with Nicole next to her car “...well…” she laughs, looking down at the little girl in her arms, “That was fun,huh?”

“Ah!’ Nicole’s vocalizations were only sounding more and more like actual words as time went by, “Come on, let’s…” Beatrice frowns when she feels the nausea again, “...not eat Mexican food again so late, oof, I feel awful.’

-

Rooster talked to Maverick, because he wanted to solve this once and for all. They sat away from everyone while in the cafeteria, because they needed privacy and needed to talk about things over.

It was a quiet conversation, as private as they could have, but he knew his uncle appreciated it. Pete’s eyes glazed over with tears but he was trying so hard not to cry, only offering the younger pilot a tight smile and a tap to the hand to show that it was solved, he didn’t need to worry anymore.

And things went back to normal, well, as normal as it could be.

“You are coming to the Christmas party,right?” Rooster asks after taking a bite of his pizza, while his uncle sips his soda “At Bea’s parents.”

Maverick slowly places the soda down, tapping his fingers on the table’s surface as his jaw moves, “I…I mean yes,” his nephew arches his brow at the hesitation, “I don’t know,Brad. I hadn’t…been to a Christmas party in…a very, very long time.” he licks his lips, “How many people will be there?”

“Well, let’s see.” Bradley looks to the side as he things, slowly unfurling his finger as he voices out the family members, “Her parents, her siblings, her nephews and nieces, the dogs, it’s possible her aunt will be there, and maybe her uncle Roberto with his wife and sons…so…” he counts each finger, “Around twenty-five people?”

“Twenty five?”

“You saw most of them at our wedding,Mav.” he shrugs, “Plus, you like parties. And music.”

“Twenty five people,” his uncle rubs his forehead while looking wide eyed to the side, “I…I can’t buy all of them presents, Brad.”

“I told you don’t have to,Mav-”

“Yeah, but isn’t that the polite thing to do?”

Bradley chuckles a bit, “Listen,it’ll be fine and…” he looks down at his hands, “We’d really appreciate it if you showed up…even if it’s for a little bit, you know? Bea especially wants you to go because she thinks it’d be good for you…and Penny said yes already.”

“She did?”

“Way before you.”

Pete huffed softly, in a way it was supposed to mean how annoyingly happy he was because of that woman. He just tsks, then tosses his hand up, “Yeah,well, okay…I’m going.” he huffs, “But are you sure I don’t need to bring gifts?”

“One hundred percent.” he says with a grin, “It’ll be like the first time I met them too,Mav. I didn’t bring a lot and I got…a lot…so you better be ready for that.”

‘What,wait, I am going to get gifts?” Rooster nods, “But I can’t give them back, that doesn’t make much sense.”

Rooster laughs, “Well,” he looks down when his phone starts to ring, “Well, you better get used to it and– it’s Bea,I’m going to answer it Mav. Give me a few minutes.” his uncle just looked stupefied by that, not even looking when Rooster walked away.

“Hellooooo gorgeous.” he drawls, leaning his shoulder against the wall, “You rarely call me, is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine! Well,a little,I’m a bit sick.”

“Sick?”

“I think eating chili so late was a mistake, blegh.” she laughs softly, “I’m okay though,lying in bed a bit, just got back from talking to Penny and Shells and Nikki is keeping me company. How are you though? You okay? Did you talk to Mav?”

“I did,gorgeous.” he looks back to where his uncle was, “We’re good.” but before she could exclaim how happy she was, he cut her off, “Wait, you are feeling sick, do you need me to bring you something? Some meds?”

“Ummm…I dunno…maybe? I just hope I get better until I go to the bar. I’ve never had issues with food like this before. I’m not throwing up or anything, but you know, it’s really annoying.”

“I know,gorgeous.” he whispers, “I’m going to Rizzo’s then, get you some pastries,” she makes a noise of discomfort, “Something light?”

“I might just have juice, I’m not feeling like having anything.”

“I can–oh. Oh. Oh I had an idea.”

“An Idea?”

“I can’t tell you yet but…I will…have to stay with Nikki tonight.” she makes a confused noise from the other side, “Can’t tell you why, but I know you’ll feel a lot better once I do what I have planned.”

“...you know, you can be very dangerous.”

“Yes,gorgeous.” he laughs, “Yes I can.”

[blastthechaos]

Naejunko

All of them

All

Of

Them

All the rainbow colors

Well maybe not the pink ones I'm to soft for that sexual stuff, accept the after care that is wholesome enough for me to ask!

I'm still gonna do Pink but I'll put a warning so you know when to skip it.

For context, there's gonna be a 'Canon' universe which is one where Makoto and Junko were in a relationship but the canon events did happen (as in Junko plunged the world into Despair and the Killing game still happened) and a Non-Despair universe which is basically UTDP and DRS.

This is under a Read More because holy fuck is this shit long

RED! Romantic Headcanons

A. What made them fall in love:For Junko it was the fact that no matter what she did, she couldn't break Makoto physically or mentally, he was unpredictable due to his luck and she couldn't crush his hope no matter how hard she tried, he was...different, entertaining, even though he was constantly annoyed by her and foiled her plans whenever he could he still cared about her, plus he was a constant source of Despair for her since she keep losing and losing to some "nobody", it was a lot of factors basically.

For Makoto is because of how she made him feel, he never got as mad to anyone as he ever had towards Junko, she always made him drag up all the anger he often kept inside of him which was...therapeutic in a way. She always made his life fun with trying to prevent her from causing problem and her trying to kill him. Plus he fpund out there's a glimmer of a good person inside so he wanted to see if he could drag it out of her...or just enjoy spending time with her as she was, he even found out stuff about himself he would have never found out if it wasn't for Junko.

Basically, their lives changed forever because of each other...for better or for worse in various ways.

B. First kiss:It happened one time after one teasing too many, Junko keep teasing Makoto about his crush on her and he was getting sick of it up til one point he decided "fuck it", grabbed Junko by the arms to pull her down and kiss her.

Junko never shut up about her being right and being so happy for her new boyfriend, but seeing her surprised face after the kiss made it worth it in Makoto's eyes.

C. Do they like physical intimacy (holding hands, cuddling, sex):Yes, a lot, it took a bit for Makoto to be comfortable with it (since he's still a little tsundere about it, Junko was all for it) but these two can not keep their hands off each other.

D. How affectionate are they with each other:They both have a "Hate-Love" kind of relationship (cause that's how they work) but even their insults at one point just felt like compliments the way they say it.

So yeah, they're very affectionate with each other, though Makoto still tries to reign it in a little, to...less than successful results.

E. What are their kisses like:Depends on the time and mood, often it's just a quick 'see you later' kiss, other times when Junko is super excited or happy she grabs him and kisses him by surprise, other times Makoto grabs her arms or tie to drag her down and kiss her.

F. Where do they like to kiss/be kissed:Aside from the lips, they like to kiss each other in the cheek or forehead.

G. Who said 'I love you' first:Junko was the first one to say it, she went into a big tirade about how annoying and disgusting he was for being so unkillable and so full of hope, then going on about how she loved these same traits, it culminated in her saying "I hate and love you so much!"

H. What is their reaction to 'I love you': Makoto couldn't for the life of him understand what she meant by that, he even thought this was an attempt to trick him or make him suffer despair, once he understood what she meant ans that it was genuine he felt...weird.

When Makoto told her he hated and loved her too Junko felt like the heavens, she was bouncing all over the place and was so happy she actually felt a tiny bit of hope and puked afterwards...she was still happy.

I. How often do they say 'I love you':Relatively often, Junko says it ore than Makoto.

J. What are their thoughts on PDA:They're a firm fan of this practice, they aren't afraid of doing it in public and screw anyone else who has a problem, even Makoto has no problem because Junko is always so happy about it.

K. What makes their heart race:For Junko, it's seeing Makoto just overcome anything people (including her) throw at him and keep going, it's seeing him trampling her plans she worked so hard for, it's seeing him be kind to her despite how she treats him (even if he wants to pretend he doesn't like her all that much).

In fact, in the 'canon' universe, she was happy when it was her time to go because both the immense despair she felt but seeing Makoto in all his glory, like a reminder of why she fell in love with him (and more despair because she threw it all away).

For Makoto it was often foiling her plans and avoiding whatever scheme she has to kill him, it's when he sees her motivated or happy about something because it means she's feeling happy and entertained, that she's not hurting herself with despair, although he does like to see her in occasional small despair because it means she's happy even if he doesn't like it.

L. Do they like to share their feelings:Yup, very much so...Ok Makoto is more tsundere about it because she often annoys him or makes him mad so he doesn't like to show her she's right...but he really fools nobody with this act.

M. How do they express love:Junko tends to climb to Makoto like a cat or jump into his arms when she feels excited and happy, often she hugs him out of nowhere and drags him by the hand when she wants to show him something...she also attempts to kill several times, because she knows she will fail no matter what she does.

Makoto is a bit more reserved when it comes to that, but he often just grabs her hand tight to reassure her he's there for her, he often gets her gift that he gets from the gashopon machines while making sure it's something she likes, he also doesn't throw her off him when she climbs to him and even carries her around when she does...he also foils her plans to give her that sweet despair of failure, even if he doesn't like it.

There's actually a multitude of ways they express their love, but these are a few of them.

ORANGE! Emotional Headcanons

A. How protective are they towards each other:Junko is more lax with Makoto's protection, but that's due to the fact they both know he can't die no matter what, a magical unicorn appearing out of nowhere is more likely that Makoto's luck ever running out, she still has some instances where she gets worried for his safety.

Makoto, on the other hand, is very protective of Junko. Because he knows she doesn't share his luck and that she has many enemies and people wanting to inflict payback on her, so he always looks out in case something seriously bad might happen to her.

B. What makes them excited:Their usual routine is exciting enough.

C. What makes them happy:Just spending time with each other and seeing the other happy is enough to get them happy, Makoto gets extra happy when Junko is having a good time without despair.

D. What makes them anxious:There's time Junko worries one of her plans is gonna be the one that succeeds on killing Makoto, Makoto is worried that Junko is gonna do something that's too far for him or that she might actually be hurt or even killed.

E. What makes them sad: When they can't spend time with each other, although not by much, Junko's despair obsession often gets Makoto sad because he knows she doesn't actually enjoy it all that much.

The events of the 'canon' universe is just a big sad event from both of them, Junko knows her plans effectively ruined any future they could have had and knows that Makoto is gonna hate her for real after this even if he survives and recovers his memories, she knows she'll never see him again after she dies and the only solace she has is that the Despair she'll suffer from this was gonna be amazing. Makoto is just utterly dissapointed and sad after what she did, not only did she throw the world into ruin, not only did she betray the entire relationship they created together, not only did she force their friends to kill each other...but she also died and he would never see her again, at that point while he was still the SHSL Hope he was never the same after that.

F. What makes them angry:Insulting Makoto is enough to get Junko angry, only she gets to do that! Also trying to deprive her from him.

The same is also true for Makoto, threatening, trying to hurt or actually hurting Junko is enough to get him pissed at you and try to throw hands no matter the result, he knows that on some level Junko does deserve some of the bad things that happen to her (he's not blind to the fact she's not a good person) but he doesn't care.

On another note, they quite often get made at each other, Makoto for the plans to cause Despair and her attempts at killing him and Junko gets mad at Makoto for foiling them, but it's part of their routine and they make up in record time.

G. What triggers them:I...had nothing to add here, sorry.

H. What makes them jealous:Junko often gets jealous of other girls Makoto is friends with, because she knows all of them are better people than her and probably better for Makoto a "normal girlfriend"

Makoto often gets jealous of guys that get close to Junko because he feels he's nothing special and Junko could be doing better.

But both of them at the end of the day knows they love each other and nobody else, that they have nothing to be jealous off.

I. Do they have bad temperament: Junko it's easy to get on her bad side (though never to the extent Makoto does in canon) and get pissed at you, she also gets annoyed at Makoto often for being....well, him.

Makoto is hard to get on his bad side (unless you're Junko, which she does with ease) but man if you're an actual evil piece of shit he will want to fucking beat you to the ground and even cuss at you, just ask Monokuma and Junko in canon, he will try to throw down even if he knows it will end badly for him.

J. Do they have self-control:Junko...not really when it comes to her despair obsession, though she knows when to reing it back a little, she also has self-control when it comes to Makoto when needed.

Makoto does have self-control, he often holds back his more mean comments to himself...though if you're evil that flies off the window, he also has self-control when it comes to Junko.

K. How do they comfort each other:They often held the other's hand when the other is upset or sad and stay as close as possible. Junko actually holds back on causing problems while Makoto sets up pranks on himself so he could make her laugh.

YELLOW! Mental Headcanons

A. Do they have insecurities:Pretty much what was mentioned on the jealous section.

B. Are they dependent on each other:Not really, they both are able to exist perfectly without the other...but their lives wouldn't be the same if it happened after they meet each other, they felt they...complete each other in a way.

C. How empathic are they towards each other:This one is a bit tricky to answer because they effectively embody the polar opposite of the other (Hope and Despair) so it's hard to feel empathetic to someone like that...but they manage.

D. What secrets would they never want each other to know:Makoto generally doesn't have any embarrassing secrets he wouldn't want her to know (aside from the wet the bed one), Junko often keeps her past under wraps and it takes a while for Makoto to find out her origins (and not an outlandish lie she tells him).

But for Junko in the 'canon' verse, the tragedy she orchestrated is something she doesn't want Makoto to know so he doesn't stop it until the right time...and eventually it's also because she knows he'll hate her.

E. How do they react to the other being vulnerable:They get surprised because it's not often the other is vulnerable but they handle it with as much care as possible...though Junko sometimes tries to take advantage of it to cause him despair, though it never works and she doesn't even bother to try hard (though even if she did try hard it wouldn't work).

F. What makes them worry about each other:Pretty much already explained above, Makoto often worries Junko's despair obsession will end badly for her (which it does in the 'canon' verse).

G. What do they find mentally attractive about each other:Junko finds Makoto's mental resilience as annoying as it is attractive, she also finds it attractive how smart he is and how good his memory is.

Makoto does find her smarts attractive, and while they cause him a headache, he also loves her "Multiple Personalities" just as much as her.

H. How do they make each other laugh:Junko once in a blue moon makes a joke that actually makes Makoto laugh, she actually tries to make Makoto laugh as much as possible.

Makoto is able to make Junko laugh simply by having a prank played on him.

I. How do they react on each other's emotions:I think it be redundant what I put here.

GREEN! Spiritual Headcanons

A. Do they have any fears?: Pretty much what I already elaborated before.

Through one primal fear Junko has is Makoto's luck running out and him dying or her finally breaking him, because then she'll have just broken Makoto like everything else she touch, it would mean Makoto wasn't the one, her other half, the unmovable object to her unstoppable force, that the one that countered her and was perfect for her died and never really existed to begin with, because there wouldn't be anyone else for her.

She's also afraid he will leave her behind like Mukuro did.

Makoto also has a profound fear of losing Junko because he knows his luck cannot protect her, he fears that something might happen to her and he would not be able to do something about it.

There's another fear he has in which he's afraid if Junko dropped her despair obsession and was 'healthier' she wouldn't be the woman he fell in love with, but shrugs it off and decides that if that ever happened he support her like always and care for her happiness.

B. Do they have any hopes?:Junko would kill you for saying that Honestly they just want to spend their lives together and that if there is an afterlife that they can spend it together too.

C. Do they believe in soulmates:Junko does, Makoto doesn't have an opinjon on the subject...but both of them think they're each other's soulmate and that is that.

In the 'canon' universe, Makoto never got with anyone else after Junko died.

D. What's their spiritual connection like:They're two sides of a coin (Hope and Despair), so I leave that to your criteria.

E. What are their common goals:To keep their battle of Hope VS Despair (albeit only between themselves Makoto wants) and just spend their life together.

F. How do they complement each other:Makoto manages to drag out the goodness that's inside Junko and also gives her an unbreakable target to her tendencies while Junko brings up Makoto more assertive side and helps him de-stress

G. What are their plans for the future:Junko already has a solid career as a model and with her analytical talent she can easily find work somewhere else...and even then she has enough money to probably sustain themselves for a long, long time.

Makoto wants to work in Hope's Peak to foster talent much like they did with his class and others, Junko helps him in weeding out the corruption of the place for shits and giggles...and cause she likes him.

H. What values do they believe in:I think this one speaks for itself.

I. How do they help each other grow:Again, Makoto helps drag out the goodness in Junko and gives her an indestructible target for her more dangerous tendencies, which means wonders for the rest of the world. Junko meanwhile helps Makoto get a purpose in life and to become more assertive and confident in himself (whether intentional or not). She was also the one who helped him discover that his Luck talent is an actual thing and helped him discover he was the Super High School Level Hope.

CYAN! General Relationship Headcanons

A. Do they fight:Yeah, but as I mentioned before they're often not really serious and they make up quickly.

B. How do they handle conflict:They go cool off and return later to talk it with more calm.

C. How is their communication:Surprisingly good (though in the 'canon' universe there's a few...issues you see)

D. What's their love language:A little bit of all 5 of them.

E. Favorite qualities in their partner:Junko I already mentioned pretty much all that she loves about Makoto.

Makoto loves her energy, excitement, how childish she can be at times, he loves all her personalities, her occasional showings of kindness, how funny she can be and other traits.

F. Least favorite qualities:I think I already pointed out what they don't like of the other.

G. Do they have nicknames/pet names for each other:Aside from the insults they fling at each other, it's "Sweetie" from Junko's side and "Sweetheart" from Makoto's side.

H. Favorite dating spots:Many of them, though one unusual one is Hope's Peak, even after they graduate Makoto occasionally makes some arrangements to have a date with Junko there.

I. What gifts do they like to exchange:Makoto often gets Junko a lot of stuff that he gets from the Gashopon Machines, he even gets her Dragon Quest games when he can.

Junko always tries to get him something nice, she even gets him stuff that she's sure he likes a lot and not just "trendy" stuff cause he knows he likes more stuff than that.

J. What are their important gestures toward each other:Junko tends to hug Makoto from behind and stays hugging him, sometimes she even peeks out from his hair (since she's in perfect height for that), she often does that show her love and that she feels safe with him.

Makoto often puts his arm in front of Junko when he feels there's a threat and never lets it down until he's sure things are safe.

They both also hold hands and never let it go in certain moments to reassure that they're together in this.

VIOLET! Daily Life Headcanons

A. Who is in charge of cooking:Junko, she's a good cook with her Analytical ability...but also because she doesn't want Makoto with his..."unique" taste in foods to get in charge of cooking...though she eventually just accepts it.

B. What good habits do they have:Makoto always makes sure Junko takes care of herself and is safe while Junko always steps in when someone seems like abusing Makoto's kindness.

C. What bad habits do they have that annoy the other:I feel this is redundant to answer.

D. Favorite vacations and getaways:Jabberwock island when there's no evil plan being caused by Monokuma, also Towa City.

E. Favorite sleeping position:Both of them cuddling together with Junko putting Makoto's head in her ****

F. What are their daily routines:Wake up, go to class, Junko tries to make a plan to cause despair only to get foiled by Makoto, she tries to kill him, fails, hang out together and generally stuff like that.

G. How do they spend time together:Read above.

H. Do they spend time on each other hobbies:Yup, they often play videogames together and do other stuff.

I. What are their best memories together:All of them are their best memories, but to be more specific in the night before their graduation Junko cried tears of joy upon realizing that no matter what she did she couldn't get rid of Makoto, which means she found the one person she couldn't fuck up and couldn't get rid of, she found the one person that could make her happy.

Makoto doesn't have an specific best memory, but he considers everytime Junko was truly happy and smiling to be one of his best memories in his life.

PINK! Sexual Headcanons

NSFW Part, skip this if you don't want to see it!

A. How they approach:Generally Junko tries to temp Makoto or teased him until he had it and pounded her.

B. Favorite position:Doggy Style (I'm an unimaginative virgin, sorry about the lack of knowledge in this area)

C. Kinks:Discipline, Bondage, Puppy Play, Spanking, BDSM, Pussy Torture, chastity belt, Roleplay, Butt plug, hatesex, humiliation, etc.

Also, just to make it clear, Makoto is the dom and Junko is the Sub.

D. Favorite body parts:I guess Junko likes her...tits? And Makoto his...cock? I don't understand this one unless they refer to which part they to be played with on their own body.

E. Favorite partner's body parts:Junko loves Makoto's ass, a lot, she actually asks him to sit on her face.

Makoto tries to hide it but his favorite part of Junko is her...tits, he's ashamed of admitting it cause it's the most obvious vanilla answer but Junko reassures him that it's ok and she doesn't mind, she's flattered actually.

F. What they like:Makoto often likes topping Junko even if he wants to pretend he doesn't, mostly because he refuses to even back down or submit against Junko, Junko meanwhile likes to be dommed by Makoto because the 'Despair' of having a loser foiling her plans and then dominating her (In reality though they just like being like this to each other). They both also like getting touchy with others in public (but never actually anything explicit), Junko also likes to incite Makoto's more possessive side and to break his Tsundere facade by making him jealous on purpose, Makoto responds by wrapping his arms around her waist (and maybe touching her butt) and dragging her away because he already knows she wants that.

Junko also calls Makoto daddy...cause daddy issues you see.

G. What they don't like:Well aside from Makoto not wanting to be a sub (he allows himself to be when Junko wants it but he's kinda bored during it and doesn't even bother to act subby), though that one isn't usually a problem because Junko prefers him to be dom.

Also they don't like getting interrupted, but that goes without saying.

H. Do they like eye contact:Yup, they like getting to look at each other while doing it, even while doggy style which is a bit...awkward, but they still try.

I. Favorite places to get dirty:Honestly be easier to list where they don't want to get dirty, Junko can gets mischievous so she wants to do it in certain...places and have others not realize, meanwhile Makoto tries to talk her out of it...but decides not to.

But their favorite place is doing it in the Headmaster's office, so they can roleplay Makoto being the headmaster and Junko a troublesome student.

They still do it when Makoto actually becomes the Headmaster.

J. Aftercare:Makoto hugs Junko, asks her if she's alright and not hurt, then caresses and cuddles with her after she reassures him she's not and that she had an amazing time, then they sleep with Makoto being the large spoon.

Holy shit that was a long part, it took me hours to write all this...but I'm happy that I did, happy that I got to talk about my OTP and Happy that I got this out of the way

NSFW PART END

[stuckinuniformdevelopment]

@albertbutyoucancallmebert

(Previous) Bert came down from his panic as he learned that, no, Teddy did not just escape a blood sacrifice in a demonic ritual. Still, it pained Bert more than anything to see how beaten down, weary, and scared his dearest friend was. And he was sick of seeing him like this. He sorted out the details in his mind to make the situation clearer for himself. So Teddy is basically their new tailor, he’s making that scumbag’s mitre since Commander Peepers shot it off his head, and once he finishes it, then there’s going to be a big ritual. Okay. That didn’t exactly explain his arm, but Bert could guess that he got thoroughly beaten up. By who and what for? Bert shoved a pile of wires resting on a stool onto the floor and brought it over to Teddy to sit next to him. He desperately wanted to provide comfort, but wasn’t sure how. He thought about maybe following Teddy’s example of physical comfort, the way he gave really nice hugs, but… With how injured he was, hugging him wasn’t a good idea. Plus he was trying to not be overly intimate with him… So Bert awkwardly but gently patted him on the head, and spoke softly. “I’m really sorry it’s been so rough… I wish I could do more to help but it feels like even the slightest move that comes from me would only rock the boat.” Bert leaned his head into his hand. “May I ask who did this? Anyone I know…?”

Teddy allowed himself to decompress as Bert’s gentle pats and soft words brought him back from the verge of tears. Nothing had changed. Yet he allowed himself to enjoy the illusion of safety for a moment.

“This helps,” It still bothered him how Bert’s comfort came at the cost of distressing him but... What could he do? He knew for a fact that he hated being kept in the dark more.

Answering his questions— including those which remained unasked— was the least he could do. He shook his head as he answered the easiest of all with, “Probably not.”

It took a bit for Teddy to compile his thoughts. Eventually he hesitantly said, “...There’s this one Glornist named Thomas I’ve been worried about. He’s just too...”

Teddy paused to sigh. “...Nice. Nice enough that there was only one reason to keep him alive...” Then he kept his eye shut as he rested his head against his good arm.

“Somehow I was still arrogant enough to think that I could save him... Except I put it off because its hard to approach a guy you usually avoid to go,” He scowled and swapped to a sarcastic tone as he grew more agitated.

“Hello! If you don’t either dirty up your act or fake your death you’ll be ritually murdered! Here’s how I, known natural shady creep, can help!”

Teddy glowered at a stray beaker left on the desk. “So I tried to earn his trust first, but that..,” He sighed as he closed his eye. “...only made it worse...”

The air became dead as he recalled how even Thomas, one of the most naïve people he knew, couldn't believe that he had good intentions. “Eventually I just cut to the chase and it, well...” His voice quickened and he started to idly rub his finger against the counter.

“I heard him pray to Grop after I made him cry so I tried to give him contact info for them and urged him to leave but then he showed up Slornday anyways and I didn’t know that Sam and Cyrus were already investigating him for being a Gropist and for a bit I thought they heard everything and Sam was gonna accuse me of being one too and-”

Teddy was forced to stop working himself into a panic just long enough to take a breath and pressed his fist against his forehead to ward off an oncoming headache. “It was just Thomas but I still had to use my backup plan before our meeting came out under torture and they sacrificed me too so I told everyone that I was working with them and claimed that I was trying to set him up so he’d find other Gropists on the ship but I told him about Eve because I found out she became a Gropist after what happened to Dawn when I was in the medbay and I may have sealed her fate too and-”

Another sharp inhale. “But I didn't know that Sam was trying to frame Thomas as an infiltrator taking down the Glornch becausethat'slikewanderbeingaslysndcraftygenius so they got mad that they couldn't use the dramatic presentation they prepared but... I think Thomas bolted before they could start because... he thought I was the evil... mastermind anyways and-”

That was as far as he got before he lost the wind for a long-winded rant. While he was recovering he searched the room as well as he could without lifting his heavy head.

Where was Sherri Jr? Because he could really use the big lug right about now...

[tendous-socks]

TOKYO REVENGERS HEADCANONS OF ME BEING NON BINARY / REACTING TO SOMEONE BEING NON BINARY

tw: ⚠️⚠️kisaki⚠️⚠️ and manga spoilers, mentions of death, transphobia,

would misgender and dead-name me

1.kisaki.

must i need an explanation?😐

2. shion

“ what’re you gonna do about it?? HUH?? WHAT’RE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT ???”

actively looks for a fight

… if y’all are in a relationship he’d still call you his “girl” but beats people up for doing so….

3. mucho

i get the vibes that he’s traditional

would silently stare in judgment

4. mochi

he just doesn’t care clslfkxkslk

thinks it’s weird

“ nor/mal”

7. rindou..

“you either have a pen or a vag. “

8.ran

“interesting”

*continues dead naming me*

9. KOKO

he would be nicer about it when he’s in toman due to inui… but once they’re separated- an ABSOLUTE MEANCE

… reluctantly apart of the protection squad with inui ( enjoys beating people up tho)

10. bontent mikey

… he’s just so tired and doesn’t really care ) that is if you’re not close with him… but then again how close can you really get?)

11. ) PAH CHIN

AND ONLY BECAUSE HE WAS IGNORANT AND HIS FATHER DIDN BELIEVE IN THAT STUFF AND HE DIDNT KNOW BUT THEN ( if y’all are close ) HE’D FEEL BAD AND AFTER YOU EXPLAINED IT TO HIM HE TOLD PEH CHIN TOO AND WERE SURPRISINGLY SUPPORTIVE

but if y’all ain’t close he would slowly get the hint… this is canon.

because i said so-

11. sanzu…

he’s quietly judging you

EDIT

SOMEONE SAID SANZU WOULD USE ANY PRONOUNS AND I REALLY LIKE THAT HC-

SO SANZU WOULD PROBABLY JUST ‘ SILENTLY JUDGE YOU’ SO OTHERS DONT CATCH ON MHMHM

12. akashi

traditional- plus it was a different era for him growing up so…

(would glare at someone if he really did see you getting emotionally distressed)

13. smiley

“ that’s one of the most stupidest shit ive ever fucking heard 😁”

.🙁

“ you either have tits or a dick “

.☹️

but would beat people up if you get SUPER upset ( call it his protect instincts with angry, but would send people to the hospital)

14. taiju

“ i wanna church girl who goes to church and reads her bible “

would spit at me

- WHO WOULD BEAT SOMEONE UP FOR DEAD-NAMING / MISGENDERING

1. PAH CHIN AND PEH YAN

THEYRE ABSOLUTE MENACES TO SOCIETY IF SOMEONE CALLS YOU A GIRL / BOY

head canon : during tenjiku you were there and had to adjust your transtape cause it was coming lose 🙄

which is literally the most annoying thing in the world-

and shion saw you.

he came up and was like “ HUH WHAT’VE WE GOT HERE?? A GIRL PRETENDING TO BE A G-“

couldn’t even finish his sentence with how fast peh chin clocked his ass 🤭

( peh yan supremacy)

2. my main man takemichy

no explanation needed ( maybe deadnamed you only once cause he didn’t know)

3. inui cause i said so

5. BAJI BAJI

BAJI WOULD ALMOST KILL A DUDE FOR CALLING YOU YOUR DEAD NAME

i KNOW mama baji raised him right ✋🙄

almost clocked chifuyu when you told him about your first encounter kcksldofospdoco

almost clocked your mom when she said “you got it girlfriend”

she was confused when she saw you desperately trying to prevent the next criminal minds episode

best listener for body dystrophia fight me 🙉❤️

6. senju

*comes out*

“..oh okay! anyways as i was saying [preferred name] “

would need some gentle reminders only once or twice cause i will say it does take a bit of time for people to get used to it and there are always a few slip ups

tells akashi about your pronouns ( ONLY WITH YOUR CONSENT OFC)

( promises to try and be more girly if he calls you by them and your preferred name)

she wants you to go into more details about what you’re feeling cause she’s genuinely very interested about everything and she wants to know more about you.

7. emma 😻 vv supportive 🙌🙌

*sicks mikey and draken out on anyone who hurts your feelings

“you know [blah blah blah] from history?”

“of course yeah “

“yeah he ended up calling me slur during class- what’re you doing?”

*emma pulling out her phone

“hm? oh nothing don’t worry about it”

gave more insight about it to draken and mikey

8. HINA

YALL SAW HOW SHE SLAPPED MIKEY-

THIS GIRL WOULD D R A G A BITCH BY THEIR HAIR IF SHE SAW THEM BULLYING YOU

the one of correct takemichy

9. yuzuha

hina but 10x worse

trips transphobes for shit and giggles 🤪🤞

i like to think that the girls (all 4) would just all stare down a girl who was shit talking you and just pick her apart mercilessly ( a little ooc but this is my head canons so they can be whatever i say they are)

ones idk about

1. mikey

he knows that you can handle yourself so he lets you correct people.

or

sometimes he’ll jump in and correct them instead for one of two reasons.

1. he felt like it

2. they kept calling you your dead name and misgendering you EVEN THOUGH you already corrected them

but if the person ACTIVELY does that and says some… not so fruity things. he’ll send em to the hospital and end up on life support 😌☝️

like dom tertto, he cares about his family. and toman is his family, and you’re in toman ( not THAT kind of y/n way 🙄 )

“ BE WHO YOU AREE🌈🌈��🌈🤪🤞🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈”

1. draken

… listen… idk why, but i just don’t SEE him beating people up for misgendering me… well okay i kinda see it,

but he’d be like, “ i don’t understand what you’re going through, but i support you and if you want to talk about it i’m here”

wants to try and understand so like i said before, he lets you rant about what you’re feeling

would let you handle your own battles cause your strong enough to

a true king 😎🙌

does in fact throw punches when it gets REALLY BAD

2. angry

… idk h o w empathic he is and how mad he’d have to be on your behalf when people actively kept misgendering you to become the blue ogre.

but he’d just start crying at the confrontation.. 😐

my hero ig 🤥

3. izana

“ that’s fucking stupid”

*beats up middle aged woman who said for you to “ have a good day ma’am”

but if y’all close he’ll only say it’s stupid once when he sees you genuinely upset and ignoring him

“ be who you are.. 🌈”

4. kaku

same boat as izana, A LOT less judgmental

5. mitsuya

won’t hesitate to send a bitch flying

actively corrects people

( teaches luna and mana about your pronouns for the next time you come over 🕺🏻)

TAKES YOU SHOPPING FOR CLOTHES

6. haitani brothers

*actively bullies you

*bullies kid into the grave for looking at your chest area

7. …hakkai

he accidentally slipped up once🤒

WHEN I SAY THIS MANS FACE WENT PALE- HE DIDNT TALK TO YOU FOR A W E E K MINIUM CAUSE HE FELT SO BAD

YOU KEPT TELLING HIM THAT ITS FINE-

BUT HE FELT AWFUL

( has nightmares about it)

8. chifuyu would only do it in his mohawk era cause he wanted to seem metal and impress da boys 🥶🥶☝️☝️

pulled you aside at the end of the day to apologize

( like i said before, baji almost clocked him when you told him about your first encounter )

who am i kidding they’re all in gangs, they’d probably kill someone if they hurt you cospwpfoslief

——————

IF YALL GOT ANYMORE IDEAS LMK CAUSE IM INVESTED IN YHIS AND WANNA HEAR WHAT YALL THINK

[chubbyreaderwriter]

Joke Pt 2

Sirius Black X Chubby/Plus Size Reader

Imagine: Sirius really likes you but his reputation makes you think he’s using you for a joke. He has to prove his feelings for you but it goes horribly wrong.

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: none?

Part 1

Masterlist

previously

You looked him in the eyes and you sighed, “I’m sorry, I do forgive you but I don’t think we can be anything more than friends at the moment. I’ll see you around.” You turned around and walked away, wondering if you did the right thing or not. Meanwhile, Sirius was frozen in place, he admit it could’ve gone a lot worse but it wasn’t what he hoped would happen. He was glad that you forgave him but he still had to prove he was serious about you. He wanted to show you that he liked you, in fact, he was probably falling in love with you. But he wasn’t going to give up, he’d get you to fall in love with him by the end of the year...

You stared up at the ceiling of your bed, lying on your back with your hands interlocked over your stomach. It was after hours but still just a Saturday which meant you didn’t have to worry about accidentally sleeping in for class the next morning. You were lying on top of your sheets in your gryffindor-themed pyjamas, thinking about the recent events in your life. The last day or two had been unlike any other. You couldn’t believe that Sirius had humiliated you in such a way. Every time you thought about how everyone pointed and stared and laughed at you, you felt like there was a lump in your throat, feelings of dread bubbling as you realised you would have to see those people again on Monday. You could see now that Sirius might have thought it was a harmless joke, but you were sick of being the butt of the joke all the time, you were sick of being someone people thought it was okay to point and laugh at. You didn’t want to be a laughing stock.

A tap on your shoulder brought you out of your thoughts and you turned your head to see Lily’s familiar red hair falling down her face and into your view. She gave you a sympathetic smile and lightly tapped your side twice with the back of her hand, a silent request for you to move over. You complied and watched as she lay down next to you, mimicking your position, though had her head tilted to face you, “I’m really sorry (Y/N), I know he’s a prat but I thought he would at least consider your feelings. I’ll talk to him if you want? Make sure he stays away from you.” You released a deep sigh and gave Lily a small smile, she was always looking out for you, “That’s okay, you don’t need to do that. I’ll be fine.” Lily’s eyes still held a considerable amount of concern, “Are you s-”

A loud snore interrupted Lily’s next words and the two of you looked over to the bed opposite yours where a fast asleep Molly Prewett lay, open-mouthed and messy ginger locks splayed all over her pillows. You and Lily shared a look before covering your mouths to muffle your laughs as not to wake the other girl. Lily rolled onto her side to give you a quick hug, “I’ll let you go to sleep now, you need to be rested if we’re going to do all our homework tomorrow like you promised.” You mentally groaned, you’d forgotten about that. You had at least six different pieces to complete by Wednesday, but Lily liked to do it all together with you, to make sure it wasn’t late. You gave her a smile and flicked your wand to shut your curtains, muffling the noise of Molly’s snoring to help you sleep. You turned over onto your side and let out a deep breath before closing your eyes and slowly drifting to sleep.

The next day, you’d tried your best not to think about Sirius and you’d been doing well, thanks to Lily and Molly. You had all sat together with a couple other girls in your year at breakfast so your view of the marauders gang was blocked and therefore, you had no reason to think about one of them in particular. As soon as breakfast had finished, you’d been dragged away to the library to uphold your promise. You moaned and complained about all the work you had to do but one stern look from Lily shut you up as she went over the instructions for the potions homework. You hadn’t been given an opportunity to think about anything else other than work when studying with Lily. You and Molly kept trying to make excuses for why you couldn’t do the work today, but Lily reminded you both that you agreed to do this with her. You put your hands together, elbows on the table, and whined, “Come on Lily, we’ve been doing this for 3 hours straight, can we please take a break?” Molly nodded along to your begging, adding, “Yeah, my hands all cramped up from writing so much, I need twenty minutes to get back some motivation.” Lily rolled her eyes, “Fine, 15 minutes, but not a second longer.” You grinned, perking up in your seat, “Yes!”

Amidst your victory, you hadn’t noticed four gryffindor students sneaking their way into the library, desperately avoiding the librarian, and making their way over the table next to your own until they were pushing their chairs in. Their table was coincidentally located behind a large bookshelf so the librarian wouldn’t be able to see the group sitting there. You tensed up and both Molly and Lily shot you worried looks but you shook your head, silently communicating with them to say that you were fine. You heard someone clearing their throat quietly but you didn’t look up, choosing to ignore whoever it was. Lily looked over Molly’s head to see James waving her over to them. She shook her head and crossed her arms, ignoring the defeated look on Potter’s face. She turned her attention back down to the parchment paper in front of her, sorting it all out into the different subjects.

Molly leaned over to whisper in your ear, “Reckon me and you should hex their arses into next week, filthy toads.” You gave her a look of mock disappointment, “That’s not nice, toads are much better company.” Molly snorted and you giggled under your breath. Sirius heard the sound and looked over in your direction, one hand on the back of his chair and on the table to turn his torso around to gaze at you. The sound of your laughter was like music to his ears and he only wished he was the one making you laugh instead. He wished for a lot of things when it came to you actually. He wished he could hold you in his arms, he wished he could kiss you, he wished he could sweep you off your feet, he wished you had the same feelings for him as he did for you. But of course, he couldn’t make those wishes come true and was having to settle for watching you from a distance. Remus, who was sitting next to Sirius, nudged him with his shoulder, “Cut it out, you’ve been staring for ages.” Sirius reluctantly turned back around in his chair, facing James and Peter. He huffed and sulked, looking down at the table as though it was responsible for all of the wrongdoings in his life. James scoffed at his friend’s attitude, “Why are you so hooked up on this girl? You’re Sirius Black, you don’t do relationships.” Sirius only sighed in response to James’ question. It was true, he’d never felt this way about a girl before, it had scared him at first, but every time he saw you, it made him excited and it felt like there were butterflies in his stomach trying to get out. 

James and Remus shared a look with each other, if their friends was acting like this, then they knew it was serious. James pushed Peter onto his feet and told him to distract the librarian and when she saw him, she wasted no time in dragging the plump boy out by his ear, presumably to Dumbledore’s office. Sirius was oblivious as he still hadn’t taken his eyes off of you. You could feel his gaze on you and it was starting to make you feel uncomfortable, but not as much as when you saw James approaching your table. He pulled a chair up between you and Lily, resting his arms on the table, “Good morning ladies, now i believe we have to talk about the elephant in the room.” You tried not to laugh at the bored look on Molly’s face. James was unbothered by the silence and continued, turning to face you. “So, (Y/N), now that Sirius has apologised and all, what do you say you give my boy a chance huh? Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about being with the Sirius Black.” As much as you could appreciate how good of a friend James was being right now, you really wanted to punch him in the face. James flinched back and seemingly lost all his courage when he saw your face twist in anger. “I don’t care if he apologised, he embarrassed me in front of everyone. I was humiliated. How would you feel if everyone was pointing and laughing at you everywhere you went. I couldn’t even go into the common room without people whispering about me. I’m sick of being laughed at, so you go back and tell your friend that if he wants to come talk to me, then do it himself because if i hear his name come out of your mouth again, I’m going to hex you into next week.” 

James slowly nodded his head, choking out, “Message received. I’ll leave you lot to it then.” He was only too eager to head back to the others and gave Sirius a sympathy tap on the shoulder, “Yeah, I wish i could say I helped but that would be a lie, you’re welcome anyway.” Sirius visibly drooped in his chair out of defeat and Remus pulled him onto his feet by the arm, “Come on lads, we should get a move on before she comes back, I don’t feel like having my ear yanked on today.” The trio left but Sirius kept his eyes on you until you were out of sight. James and Remus stood either side of him, James put his hand on Sirius’ shoulder, “Mate, you’ve got to get over her or do something about it. You can’t just be a creep and stare at her.” Remus scoffed, “‘Cause what you do to Lily is completely different.” James went silent so Remus grabbed his friend’s attention, “Why don’t you try getting her something she likes? Think of it like a peace offering before you talk to her again.” Sirius nodded along, “Yeah alright, thanks mate.”

Earlier in the evening, you had been walking back from the Great Hall on your own, but you didn’t quite mind it that much. Sometimes it was nice to have some alone time with your thoughts. It was a bit too cold to walk outside so you headed straight for the common room, sitting on a couch, staring at the fire. You sighed as you checked your watch, deciding to wait until Lily returned from whatever she was doing to go to bed. The portrait opened and you heard soft footsteps. Out of curiousity, you turned your head to look behind you to see Sirius with something in his hand. For a brief second the two of you made eye contact and your eyes widened as you quickly turned back around to pretend like you didn’t see him. When that brilliant plan failed and you heard him walking over to you, you winced and mentally cursed yourself for not going straight upstairs. To your surprise, he didn’t sit down next to you, instead stood by your side, a little far aways as to not be too close.

He was quieter than usual, which made you look up to see his mouth open as though he wanted to say something but he couldn’t get the words out. He looked nervous and almost worried and you couldn’t believe that the man before you was actually Sirius, this was so unlike him. You furrowed your brow in concern, “Are you okay?” The worry on your face was enough to snap him out of it and he gave you a small smile, looking down at the black box he held in his hands. It was square and not overly large but not very small either and neatly tied with a dark red ribbon complete with a bow on top. He fiddled with it as he spoke, “I wanted to apologise once more about.. you know what. It was wrong of me and I hope the two of us can begin to become friends again. This is for you, I wasn’t sure what you’d like but I saw these and thought of you and so..” he paused to catch his breath and you reached your hand out to place over his, giving him a half smile, “Friends?” you said. Sirius nodded in return, handing over the box, “Friends.” Once you held the box in your hands, you started to unwrap the bow on the top of the box. Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed how he couldn’t keep still as he anticipated your reaction. Carefully, you pulled the lid off and you let out a small gasp as you looked in the box. Inside were a beautiful pair of earrings that had a gold wire wrapped around a deep red crystal. They seemed to shimmer in the reflection of the fire and you were in awe.

You put them back in the box and turned to face him once more, “I can’t accept these, it’s too much.” Sirius stepped back out of your reach in protest, “You’ve already taken them.” You rolled your eyes, gesturing towards him with the box in your hand, “Stop it, just take them back, it’s too much I mean it.” Once more, he denied your request and firmly told you, “As your friend, I insist you keep them.” You sighed in defeat and slouched down back into your seat, “Oh alright.” Sirius grinned in victory, “I’m glad you like them, so I’ll see you around then, eh (Y/L/N)?” You shook your head but were secretly smiling to yourself, “Sure thing Black.” You heard his footsteps retreating and then ascending up the stairs to the boys dormitories. Now that you were pretty much alone again, you pulled out the earrings once more to admire them, holding them in your hands and you had to urge to bring them up to hold against your chest. You’d never received such a gift before, you loved them. Maybe he really didn’t mean to hurt your feelings?

[thebeautyoffanfics]

Hello! Love your work! Can I request Hanako, Yashiro, and Shijima when they find their s/o cutting themselves on their arm? :(

I understand if you feel uncomfortable with the request, so feel free to ignore.

But with Yashiro and Shijima can they just be best friends with the reader since they are two of my biggest comfort characters platonically…

Thank you! You can choose headcanons or oneshots

amane yugi/hanako x gn!reader, (platonic) yashiro nene and gn!reader, (platonic) shijima mei and gn!reader

a/n: thanks so much for the compliment! And sure thing, no worries! I do hope you’re doing alright, and always remember that you’re not alone :)) there are a lot of resources out there to help you, or anyone you may know, struggling, so never give up!! <3 still, i hope you enjoy these, and thank you for requesting!! <33

OH AND! I know you said Hanako, but I’m going to write him alive as Amane- for the sake of convenience I guess-? plus i miss the thought of living hanako, even if it’s the same person in the end-

warnings: self harm, panic attack

word count: 1,568

Amane Yugi <3

“(Y/N), I’m coming in,” Amane had spoken. His voice was sudden, and unexpected- you were home alone. You weren’t planning to have guests. In fact, the loneliness was a reason you had started crying in the first place- everything had spiraled before you realized it.

Little did you know, it was also a reason Amane wanted to check on you. Your last message to him was several hours ago, telling him that your parents were off at work, but their company would have been a bit more appreciated than the completely silent house. Amane knew what it was like to be alone, even for a little while, when you needed company most. He also knew what you had told him about all the other little things- things that he knew were bound to add up, and come collapsing down on you all at once.

“Hang on, plea-”

The two of you made direct eye contact, and you winced. Your arm was too sore to move so quickly. All you could do was sit there, bloodied pocket knife resting in one hand, open wounds dripping blood onto the other.

Amane would do his best to stay calm- he wouldn’t yell at you, he wouldn’t even raise his voice- he’d walk up to you, worry etched into his paleing face, and very carefully take the pocket knife from your hands. He’d pocket it, then wipe the tears from your face. It hurt him to see you in pain, but he knew whatever he felt wasn’t nearly as bad as you had to feel in that moment. All he wanted was to show you love.

“Can you stand up?” He asked, rubbing your back gently, and looking for something to wrap your arm in. You nodded, beginning to cry worse- it was almost embarrassing. No matter what sort of act you put up, having someone walk in on you at what felt like your most vulnerable moments wasn’t anything you wished to happen. He understood that.

“Alright,” Amane told you, offering a small smile, and helping you stand. “Then, let’s head to the bathroom. I’ll wash your arm off.”

He did just that. Leading you to the bathroom, gently hushing you when you cried, and holding your arm as if it were broken. As if it would shatter if he held it too hard, simply because he was terrified of hurting you.

“This is gonna sting a little bit. Is that alright?” He asked, turning on the sink, and grabbing two small washcloths and some bandages. You nodded once more, shaking slightly from an attempt to stop crying. At that, he’d run the water over the cuts, dampening the cloth with water and a small amount of soap, then wiping them off. The entire time he was silent, but not a judging sort of silence. He just wanted to understand why someone he loved so much wouldn’t love themself. Yet, he also understood that it was more complicated than that. He understood.

Once the blood was off of your arm, he’d turn off the sink, and dry your arm. He then bandaged it, as if he cared enough to bandage his own wounds.

“Talk to me, (Y/N)... you can cry. You don’t have to hold anything back. Just… tell me what’s wrong. I can’t solve your problems… I can’t do much of anything, but I can, and will, love and care for you. I can and will listen to you. As long as you need, whenever you need. I love you, and I’m always here for you.”

Yashiro Nene <3

When Yashiro entered your house, she knocked, calling out for you. Beforehand, she even sent several messages- your lack of response started to worry her, especially when she knew that you weren’t doing your best. But, as panic attacks do, everything felt muffled to you. The only thing keeping you somewhat grounded was, unfortunately, the pocket knife you kept in your nightstand.

“(Y/N)!” Yashiro called, nearing your room. A choked sob made her nerves increase, as she rushed towards your room, not thinking to knock before entering. Another panicked “(Y/N)?” left her mouth, as the door was pushed open.

“Yashiro,” You muttered, looking up at her from your crumpled spot on the floor.

Yashiro was slightly less composed than Hanako, concern and panic painfull evident on her face. She wasn’t disgusted- she wasn’t disappointed in you, nor upset. She was just worried. Yashiro rushed up to you, taking your hands and looking you in the eyes.

“(Y/N)? Wh- what’s wrong? Are you alright?” She asked, looking down at your arms, and shutting her mouth tightly. You continued to cry, shaking as Yashiro moved her hands up to your arm, and squeezed your shoulders very gently. She then rubbed her arms up and down your shoulder, hoping that it grounded you in some sort of way.

“I- I just- I’m sorry, Yashiro, I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

“Don’t apologize, (Y/N). Here- let’s try to calm down a bit, alright? Can we calm down in the bathroom?”

You nodded, letting Yashiro help you stand. She led you to the bathroom, motioning for you to sit down on the counter. Once you were seated, she grabbed a washcloth and ran it under water, then poured a small amount of soap on it. “Can you hold your arm over the sink?”

You obliged, letting Yashiro clean off the cuts and blood, as she attempted to calm you. Yashiro told you to breathe alongside her, as she steadied her own breathing, letting the sound of your shaky breaths and her slightly more steady ones be the only sound in the room. By the time she finished washing and wrapping your arm, you were a bit more calm, letting her dampen a paper towel and wipe off your eyes and tear-stained face. Her touch was gentle, almost motherly, and calmer than her eyes looked.

Once finished, she placed her hands on your shoulders once more, looking you in the eyes once she started to speak. “You know I’m here for you, (Y/N)... I’m not scolding you. I’m not going to correct you, since I have no idea what happened to make you panic like that. But, I’m here to listen. Tell me what you’re comfortable sharing, and I promise I’ll stand here and listen to every word. I’m here for you, (Y/N). You’re my best friend, and I love you dearly, so, please…”

Shijima Mei <3

You had pushed open what you thought was the old, unused classroom. You stumbled in, locking the door behind you as you crouched to the floor, your breathing heavy and sporadic. Everything was overwhelming. Too much had happened that day- it was all too much. And so much more was bound to happen once you reached your home. That was your only thought as you, without thinking, rolled up your sleeve, scratching aggressively. Reopening the fresher cuts, and creating even more with your nails.

You cried, hoping that the students who were there for after school activities would remain away from this floor of the school. At least until you calmed down- at least until you could hear yourself thinking clearly. You couldn’t bear to go home now. You just needed a minute.

As you closed your eyes tightly, dread and fear filling your mind and making you feel practically sick, you felt a shift in the air, as someone crouched in front of you. You opened your eyes, as Shijima carefully took your hands, holding them in hers silently.

“Shh, it’s alright, I’m here,” She spoke, her voice gentle and comforting. Soft and caring. Like a sister more than a friend in that moment. You looked around, realizing that you were in the classroom next to the old art room- you mentally cursed yourself, squeezing her hands a bit as you tried to ignore how badly you wanted to keep scratching your arm.

“It’s alright, (Y/N)... focus on your breathing.”

You did as she instructed, and Shijima remained mostly silent- breathing with you, hushing you lightheartedly when you shook or sobbed. Her hands never let go of yours, restraining you lightly so that you didn’t hurt yourself. Shijima remained there, doing just that, until you were no longer panicking. Her eyes met yours, and she smiled lightly, attempting to make you feel a bit better.

“Here,” She spoke, standing, then offering you her cold hand. In fact, the coolness of it was comforting against your hot, sweaty skin. Shijima didn’t let go of your hands, leading you to the bathroom and running the water over your arm, rubbing it with a feather-light touch. “Do you want to talk?” She asked, turning the water off, then drying your arm. “I’m here for you. I know you know that. Even if I’m no longer alive, I still care for you, just like any person could. I’ll listen to you, no matter what you have to say.”

You nodded, as she offered you a paper towel to wipe your eyes. Shijima took your hands once again, leading you to the art room, then sitting down next to you. She’d sit there, letting you talk and cry as hard as you need, for as long as you need- offering any advice she had, but willing to just be there. She knew as good as anyone that, sometimes, that was just what one needed.

[plus-size-reader]

Face Punch

Jacob Black x Plus size!reader

Word Count: 1551 words

Warnings: none

Summary: Bella calls in reinforcements for movie night when the rest of her friends bail. 

——————————————————————————————————

Going to see the new Face Punch movie hadn't even been Bella's idea. It wasn't something she would have ever chosen to do for herself.

Still, when the entire group of her friends decided to go, she wasn't about to be the one to refuse. It just wasn't something she was comfortable with.

Not that any of that mattered when she actually showed up, knowing that Jessica wasn't coming and Angela was sick, meaning she and Eric weren't going to be coming out.

It couldn't have gotten any more awkward.

Bella knew well enough that both males were in some kind of casual competition over her and she wasn't exactly thrilled about that to begin with.

So the idea of being with the two of them alone couldn't have been worse.

That was the main reason she'd invited you.

The two of you hadn't seen each other in quite some time before she moved back to Forks, though when you got together again, it was like no time had passed at all.

You had been best friends as kids and it seemed that some things never changed.

...thankfully.

"Hey, how's it going?" You greeted, giving the dark haired girl a gentle hug. She didn't bother answered your question, giving you a look you couldn't misconstrue.

She never would have put herself in this position had she known how this would go. "Thank you for coming" she whispered, turning toward the waiting males to explain.

"This is Y/N. I thought I'd invite her since no one else could come" she shrugged, doing her best to be casual about it, though the real reason for your invitation was clear.

Luckily, neither Mike nor Jacob bothered to complain.

In fact, the latter was more concerned with the fact that he'd yet to meet you in all the time that he'd been spending with Bella recently.

You were the best kept secret in Forks, apparently.

"We're gonna see Face Punch right? It's not supposed to be very good" you laughed, sitting down at the end of the row beside the dark haired guy you'd come to understand was Jacob.

Mike had made it very clear that he was only present for one thing and that left Bella, in the middle of the two of them. Though, at least she wasn't alone.

Knowing you were there made her feel much better about the whole thing.

You thought that neither male would pay you much mind, seeing as they didn't know anything about you, but that wasn't exactly the case. As you watched the movie, you looked over to see Jacob looking at you in the dark.

"What's up?" You whispered, confused about what it was he needed. As far as you knew, it could have been anything.

Though, when he spoke, you realized that couldn't have been farther from the truth.

"You're really pretty. Did you know that?" He wondered, acting as if he wasn't even aware of how strange that was to say.

You had just met him an hour or so ago, but he'd already decided he was going to hit on you. There was a reason for that, of course, but you didn't know that.

At the moment, Jacob's body was undergoing incredible changes that even he didn't understand. His heart was pumping, his blood was boiling, and he could hardly stand it.

For now, all he could do was sit back and watch the movie and if he happened to bond with you in the process, that was just a bonus.

Not that knowing that seemed to matter when Mike stood from the chair and rushed toward the bathroom.

As much as your image had flooded Jacobs mind, and everything about you was clouding all his senses, the whole thing just made him angry.

The blonde was weak and ridiculous, something that Jacob couldn't hide even if he tried. That was how he ended up blowing up at him, losing all control of his upset.

It wasn't until you asked if he was okay that he found himself even able to focus at all.

"Are you okay? That was kind of intense" you asked, sitting down beside him on the theatre steps. You didn't really know each other that well, but you did want to know he was okay.

You'd heard quite a bit about Jacob in the last few months from Bella and you knew how important he was to her. That was more than enough for you to care about him a little bit.

"I don't know, I feel really weird right now. Do you, uh, mind if I hold your hand?" It didn't make much sense, logically of course, but in his animal mind, that was what he needed.

He needed some kind of grounding, and he just felt like you were the way to get that.

"I guess" you shrugged, letting the younger male reach out to take your hand in his own, feeling his skin on your own.

He was burning up.

Not like a fever either. Jacobs skin was practically on fire and you were getting really concerned. So concerned that by the time Bella came back into the theater after seeing Mike off, you were sure he needed to go home.

If not to the hospital.

"It's just hot in there I think. I'll be okay" Jacob assured, knowing that either of you could argue and when it was time to separate, you convinced yourself that he would be fine. You had no reason to worry for some kid Bella had befriended. He was a little flirty, but he didn't know anything about you.

There was nothing you should have felt for him.

...but you did.

As confusing as it was and as much as it didn't make any sense, you knew that you had to check up on him so that's exactly what you did. You asked Bella for his number and gave his house a call, hoping that he wouldn't think you were a maniac for calling for no reason.

You were just worried that something terrible had happened to him after that night at the theater. There was something wrong, you could just feel it.

It was weird, creepy even but you just couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. So, after going back and forth on the decision for hours, you picked up the phone and dialed the number that Bella had passed along.

It rang; once, twice, three times before there was a voice on the other line.

"Hello?"

You thought it was Jacob, as best you could recall, but there was something off about his tone. His voice was deeper than you remembered, raspier than you remembered, you were sure that it was.

You may not have known him super well, but you knew that he didn't sound like that a few nights ago.

"Hey, it's Y/N from the movies. I know this is weird but I just wanted to call and make sure that you're okay? You seemed really messed up after you left" you explained, rolling your eyes at your own rambling, knowing for sure he thought you were out of your mind.

There was no way anyone would ever do what you were doing unless they were entirely crazy.

There was silence on the other line for a moment or two, mostly as Jacob tried to compose a single thought in his head. He'd been thinking about you constantly since you went your separate ways, along with the other changes in his life.

...But he never thought you'd call.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I think it was just a little warm in there. I'm okay now" he allowed, hoping it didn't sound too fake. He really wasn't okay but there was no way for him to explain what he was going through to you.

Then it would be your turn to think he was out of his mind.

"Really? Cause Bella told me that you had the stomach flu. She's been really worried so I told her I'd try calling" you decided, it wasn't really your place to question what she'd heard over the phone from his family, but you were already here.

If Jacob didn't already think you were insane, he certainly did now, but that wasn't the main reason you did it. You were like an outsider in this whole thing, he didn't owe you anything in the way he owed her.

The two of them were close and she'd been a wreck these last few days.

"I'm fine, I thought I was sick but I woke up all better" he lied, this time not even bothering to try and make it convincing. He'd had his dad on his back these last few days, along with the rest of the pack and Sam Uley.

He wasn't going to have you on his back too. It crossed his mind that maybe he didn't want you to worry, and that was why he did it, but that couldn't have been the case, right? You hardly knew each other.

There was nothing Jacob should have felt for you, though, crazier things had happened since that night at the movie theater.

[skellebonez]

Since it's been a while since I prompted you, 38/51 for Traffic Light Trio and Spicynoodleshipping?

It’s also been a while since you... sent this... I am getting through my prompts slowly but surely! Hopefully the wait was worth it, it has been a while since I have written TLT or SpicyNoodles alone so this was really enjoyable! I apparently missed this more than I realized as this is quite long! (There are references to a past fill as well, but this can be read stand alone.)

If you move from that spot, so help me, I will tie you down/Can you two save the kissing for later?

“For the love of- stop trying to get up Noodle-Brain!” Red Son snapped, albeit more with exasperated worry than anger this time. “You’re only going to make it worse!”

“No, really, I’m fine!” Xiaotian insisted, moving to once again attempt to stand.

He was not fine and his face soon came into contact with an impromptu date with Red Son’s open palm, catching him before he landed on the floor instead. Normally Xiaotian would have pulled his face back with a muttered "sorry" or "thanks" or "wow Red that was shockingly nice of you".

Instead he groaned and allowed himself to just kind of... hang there, his weight being held by that palm that probably felt oddly normal temperatured to him at the moment. Understandable given that his face was flushed red and that even to Red's naturally warmer body temperature touch he felt overheated in fever.

This was not quite the sight Red Son had expected to see when he had ventured out into the city on his own, just wanting to have some kind of time away from his work to gather his thoughts about... well, a lot of things. Ever since the entire fiasco with the Lunar New Year festival his mind had been wandering back toward when he worked with Xiaotian and Xiaojiao and things that happened afterwards.

He still had the phone he had accidentally kept from the green dragon and they had talked a few times. More than a few times. ... ok, maybe they had been texting near daily and had calls every other night and maybe he started watching her streams out of curiosity, and maybe he had been added to a group chat with the Noodle Boy and started to text him too, but he didn't really have anyone else to talk to outside of the his parents and Bull Clones! They were still enemies, just friendly ones! Frenemies! And it had been... nice. To talk to someone who seemed interested in what he wanted to say. And maybe understood him a little. Maybe possibly... didn't actually dislike him as much as he had believed initially.

... and maybe Red Son was deluding himself when he said he didn't actually like either of them, but that was neither here nor there! His thoughts were getting away from him!

The point was thus- he'd gone into the city for a break with the intention of heading to his private apartment he had for such occasions, happened upon one Noodle Boy laying face down on the seat of his (otherwise empty and clearly not being used for work that day) delivery vehicle looking absolutely miserable and burning up, and against his better judgment he took him back to said apartment. That was shockingly easy considering Xiaotian was pretty much passed out due to the high fever combined with his moving around and the fact Red Son could lift the vehicle himself if he wanted to (he didn't, he just took the keys with them so no one would make off with it).

And so that was how Red Son found himself in this predicament. In his apartment with the AC on just enough to be slightly uncomfortable, one sick Monkie Kid doing his best to remove himself from his couch with a cold compress on his forehead while insisting he was fine when he clearly was not, debating on whether or not he should have taken this dumbass to the hospital instead. If only because he was being frustrating to keep still.

"You are most clearly not 'fine', now lay back down," Red Son said with a warning growl, pushing his rival (gently, he wouldn't be so callous as to kick someone while they were down like this) back into the mound of pillows he had laid out for him. He never had visitors so he may as well make the best of this and pull out what he had in storage so they could be used for once. "If you move from that spot, so help me, I will tie you down."

"... ok," Xiaotian finally acquiesced, closing his eyes and laying back into the plush around him and looking even worse than he had before he had been trying to convince the other he was fine. (Though had he not looked clearly sick the sight would have been almost cute to-NO! Red was not going to think that.)

Red Son didn't know what precisely was wrong with him, though based on his symptoms and reactions it was likely a basic but now out of control flu (regardless, he knew he himself was in little to no danger of most human illnesses) and helping him recuperate here (because no one except Red Son was allowed to defeat the Monkie Kid, not even an illness!) was looking like a more reasonable idea now. But he couldn't help but wonder how had the other man allowed himself to get this bad. Why had he even gone outside in his state? He wasn't working, his lack of normal uniform or delivery orders was evidence enough of that, so it wasn't as if he had been forced to go out by his boss. Was he just too stubborn? Did he think he would be ok for a few minutes and not realize he was this ill? The delivery boy was of no help in that regard, brushing off every attempt from the fire demon to learn the answers to those questions. He wasn't delirious, he just refused to answer!

So instead of trying to push again Red Son sighed and stood up. When Xiaotian opened his eyes to look at him in curiosity he frowned at the deep dark bags under them (had he ever been sleeping?) and the dull sheen they seemed to have before he held his hand up in a "stop" motion.

"You stay right there. I meant that threat. I am going to be back in 10 minutes. Do not test me..." Red stood, lifting both his arms for a moment before giving the other another glance. "And don't, uh... die, I guess."

And then Red was gone in a wave of his arms and a flash of fire.

~

He landed at the entrance to a nearby convenience store, not somewhere one would normally think he would frequent but convenience was convenience. And they had very good coffee to grab when he ran out in his apartment. Yes, he was a Villain with a capital V and could just torment the staff for free goods... but he knew that if he did that long enough the stores would start causing him trouble or close down and that would negate the convenience.

No, it wasn't because the first cashier that greeted him was willing to pay for his goods believing he had forgotten his wallet and thus felt guilty for his first attempt at doing so. And he would deny that until the day he died.

That wasn't his goal for the day, however. Red Son may not get ill the way humans did, but it felt useful to him to know how how to treat the more common ailments in the event his family may be forced to work with one. So he grabbed a basket and made a quick beeline straight for the nearest aisle with medicine.

In even less than the 10 minutes he cited he had a basket filled with flu medicine, more cold compresses, soup broth, and much more. Yes, all of this was absolutely necessary. He didn't care that much about his nemesis, he just wouldn't let an illness make him weak. Nope. That was the only reason. Nothing else. He totally wasn't caring for someone he considered a friend, he didn't have friends, not even Xiaojiao was a-

"Red?"

Crap.

"What are you doing standing in line at a convenience store?" Xiaojiao asked, and as Red turned back to her he saw that she had... some very similar items in her own basket, plus some comics. At his eyes widened in realization she looked down at his own basket and sighed. "... either this is a very interesting coincidence or Xiaotian did something he shouldn't have."

~

Red entered his apartment through the door, the noise rousing the apparently lightly sleeping man on his couch.

"Red? You're back alrea-!?" Xiaotian snapped his mouth shut as he turned his head and opened his eyes to see the wide smiling face of a, clearly to someone who knew her well, angry Xiaojiao. "... I'm in trouble aren't I?"

"Oh you have no idea," she replied lightly, setting down the snacks and books and other assorted items she had purchased while Red made his way into the kitchen with his purchases. "I told you I would be at your apartment with stuff after I finished covering your shift for you, so would you like to explain why Red Son found you nearly passed out in your tuk-tuk half way to the nearest store?"

Though her words were sharp and snappy, it was clear to the listening Red that they were so in genuine concern for her friend. There was a mutter from Xiaotian and a questioning sound from Xiaojiao before the man cleared his throat and repeated himself.

"You already helped me out... I just wanted to try to get that stuff myself so you wouldn't have to do more. I was feeling pretty ok until I drove for a while..."

Ah. So that explained it. Xiaotian had just been going out for medication himself. Not the best idea with a fever of his magnitude, but understandable if he believed he could handle something that simple. Red had begun to wonder if he had been trying to head to Flower Fruit Mountain with bow evasive he was being, but this was a much less disastrous answer.

"Xiaotian, you're my best friend," he heard Xiaojiao say in a much softer tone, and there was the sound of the shuffling on the couch. "I wanted to help you, it didn't matter to me how much it was. I've helped you get to Flower Fruit Mountain and kick demon ass! A delivery shift or two and a convenience store run is something I'd do in a heartbeat. Now open your mouth, I grabbed a thermometer so we can see how bad off you actually are."

There was an agreeable sound and a chuckle, then silence as Red continued what he had been doing. Taking out a dose of medication and preparing something for Xiaotian to eat. Or, rather, drink along side the tea he was also preparing for himself and Xiaojiao. It was little more than chunks of tofu and soup broth with some mild flavoring, something simple and easy to make and eat while sick and-

Red Son held his face in his hands and groaned softly as he waited for the broth to warm. What was he doing? His greatest enemies were in his living room, one sick with fever, and he was preparing medicine and food for him. Frenemies? Only he could defeat them? Is that really what he was telling himself to justify his actions? That they were friend-enemies and they were his to beat?

That was a bold faced lie and he knew it. Had known it for a while. Maybe since he first called Xiaojiao just to speak with someone who would listen to him. Maybe since he first watched her stream in curiosity. Certainly, though, since he accepted being added to the group text she had named "Traffic Light Trio" (really? What kind of name that that?). He would have never done that had he not considered them his friends, he knew that deep down. He just didn't want to admit it (and he super did not want to admit that he maybe felt his own face warm up when they complimented him or that he had butterflies in his stomach the off times they called him by nicknames).

As he turned off the now lightly boiling broth and set it to the side to cool, Red Son began to admit to himself that maybe he was just as much of a dumbass as the Noodle Boy. It seemed that out of the three of them Xiaojiao had firm hold on the only available brain cells when it came to interpersonal relationships.

But that train of thought was not helpful at the moment, so he pushed it down (deeeeeeep down) as he gathered everything up and made his way to the couch again.

The sight that greeted him gave him pause Xiaojiao sitting on the arm of the couch and running a hairbrush through Xiaotian's tangled hair, Xiaotian looking slightly better thanks to the compress against his forehead and smiling softly against the pillows.

There were those butterflies. Oh. Red Son had it bad.

"So?" He asked, drawing their attention to himself as he sat everything on the nearby table. "How bad is it?"

"Not enough to take him to a doctor yet," Xiaojiao answered with a chuckle as she hopped down. "Though I think what you did before helped with that."

Red flushed a bit himself in response, grumbling under his breathe as he shoved the medicine and a cup of water into Xiaotian's hands. "WELL. Take this and. Maybe it’ll stay that way!" He attempted to sound as snappy as normal but the looks on both his guests faces told him he failed miserably in that regard.

"Thanks, Red," Xiaotian said with an earnest smile, and the butterflies were back and Red Son couldn't help the slight sparking of his hair in response.

"Don't mention it. Ever." He grumbled a bit, taking the cup before sighing and helping Xiaotian sit up straighter. "You shouldn't eat half laying down." He maneuvered the pillows to make a little wall between Xiaotian and a space next to the arm of the couch. A space he quickly occupied himself before handing him the bowl of broth over his shoulder. "So you don't have to move more."

The other two looked at each other with surprise on their faces before Xiaojiao smiled and sat on the other arm as they grew silent. Xiaotian eating, Xiaojiao playing on her phone, and Red... well. He tried to look like he was doing something on "his" phone, the one he took from Xiaojiao and replaced the old case with a showy flame covered one. But in reality he was just sitting there staring into space thinking "holy crap this is happening what have I done what happens next oh crap".

"Hey Red?"

"YES!?" He asked far too loud and quick with a squeak in his voice as his hair flared at Xiaotian's words, clearing his throat before repeating himself in a much more appropriate tone (only to earn a giggle from Xiaojiao).

He felt the other man lean back against him, and before he could even begin to fight his flush on his face he heard him chuckle as well. "I appreciate your help."

"L-like I said... don't mention it..."

Xiaotian chuckled again in reply and sighed, leaning completely against Red Son and as he looked over and down he saw his relaxed face and flushed deeper and... it felt nice.

He wondered why he ever pushed down his feelings before.

Xiaojiao grabbed the dishes with a knowing smirk, heading into the kitchen with a few parting words.

"Can you two save the kissing for later? Maybe when Xiaotian isn't sick?"

Both men flushed as deep as they could and sputtered out denials in response, and if that wasn't an indication that Xiaotian maybe felt similarly to Red as Red did to him...

[bansheeoftheforest]

Can we get some rambles about some Moreau's Revenge AU? Like more in deoth about how everyone reacts and feels? Maybe some Emma reaction? Jacob? The public? Does feral!Jekyll ever hurt anyone badly? Do he and Zosi play alot? Is Hyde still there, just trapped in the subconscious of Henry's mind? When he's back to himself, does he still maintain some of his feral behaviours? Does he slip into his feral state as a defense mechanism?

Ok i just gotta mention I love it when people come up with aus, thrust them onto me, and then tell me to come up with ideas/the canon for the aus, I'm not even sarcastic, I just love that everyone has collectively decided that I'm an au hoarder and therefore, I should have all the aus and I should also be the one making the content for them. I love my job and I love all my little kitties bringing me dead mice all the time <3

Also! I'm just going to ramble every single fact that my brain comes up with, and this is specifically going to be about the Feral!Branch of the au <3

Henry got kidnapped after walking home from a dinner with a few of his close friends. Moreau stalked him until Henry was alone, to which he knocked him out and dragged him off to his funky hideout.

It takes a whole month before people find Moreau's hideout. By that time Henry has already been severely beaten, his bones are broken and his body is bloody, yet that doesn't stop him from prowling his tiny cage. Much like an abused dog, he completely ignored his wounds or just made them worse by biting on them, or by trying to stand on his legs when the rescuers found him. Instead of cheering and being relieved, he snarled and growled and tried to swat at them with his claws.

The first four that got into the hideout were Brokenshire, the Commissioner, Jenkins, and Wipple. The four of them were already friends with Jekyll and they were the most worried. While the other police arrested Moreau, they took it upon themselves to find Henry.

They found Henry in a small labspace, laying on the floor while whimpering. The moment he saw them he became aggressive. The only indication that he really was not human anymore was his eyes, sharp teeth, claws, and pointier ears. Subtle changes that were enough to tell them that there was no awareness behind those large eyes.

The sound of pain and anger that Henry made when they had to muzzle him is a sound that will forever haunt every single police officer from that day forward. They had to cuff his arms and practically drag him to the police vehicle, despite the muzzle he managed to make his displeasure and pain quite clear.

They brought Henry to the Society immediately, and made sure that no one else saw him. They but a sheet over the cage they kept him in and told anyone who asked that it was a runaway monster that they were going to dump with the Lodgers. They made the Lodgers gather in the foyer before the revealed who actually was in the cage.

The Lodgers were, to say the least, shocked and horrified. Not only was Henry so badly beaten that he could barely stand by himself, but the way he snarled and swatted after them invoked such a... Uncanny feeling within them. It wasn't really until then they realized how serious all of this was, the whole situation with Moreau.

All Lodgers were absolutely disgusted with what Moreau had done to Henry, but Ito, Maijabi, Jasper (plus Rachel and Robert, of course) were the most affected. The police had to physically restrain them from rushing up to the cage because if Henry got close enough he would not hesitate to hurt them. Brokenshire and the Commissioner (God I swear to god I'm THIS close to oc-fying him oh my god) both have scratch marks from trying to get close and calm Jekyll.

The police helped the Lodgers move Henry to an empty lab room where he could be alone. They still kept him in a cage for quite a while, yet the moment that they had gotten him into the room, Robert completely burst out crying. He really could not believe that happened to his best friend, he is unsure if they even can save him, yet he swears to himself that he will make sure that Henry is safe. He was this close to decking an officer who, during a meeting that he attended at the police station with those present during the day of Henry's rescue, suggested that they put Henry in Bethlam.

Robert did not allow anyone to get into Henry's room, mostly for their own safety, and because he wanted to monitor Henry's recovery himself. No one really listened to that. Sometimes a Lodger (or a whole group) would sneak in just to have a look at him, or give him some treats or some kind of toy. Henry often found himself too exhausted and too wounded to try to chase them away, instead panting on the floor of his cage for most of the time while his visitors observed him with pure sorrow.

Ito, Maijabi, Jasper, and Rachel were the ones that visited Henry the most. Ito and Maijabi would often just sit a bit away from the cage and observe him for a bit, maybe try to talk to him, occasionally they would help steal food from the kitchen to give to Henry. Rachel and Jasper were put in charge of feeding him most of the time, and it was only when Rachel and Jasper threw in chicken in his cage that he let himself be distracted from them and stop snarling just so he could eat. All of them left with tears in their eyes most of the time.

All the Lodgers would be worried, all Lodgers would try to visit Henry, but out of them Ito and Maijabi had it worst. Maijabi felt like he was losing his son, Ito-- so often cold and honest-- had never cried so much in her life when seeing her mentor in such a state. They often comfort each other, and do their best to always be available to help Robert with whatever he needs.

Emma route: I imagine that Henry and Emma are already married at that point. She has been worried sick for Henry the entire time, the police stop by her and Henry's house immediately after dropping Henry off at the Society. She rushes to the Society and the Lodgers all seem so... Sad, horrified, she gets more and more scared and suddenly she sees Robert and Rachel and Jasper, all three looking pale and ill. She begs them to tell her where Henry is... Robert can't even get any words out of him. He simply shows her to the room where they are going to keep Henry and shows her Henry's cage. Poor man is still laying bloody on the floor, still in a muzzle, but he barely has any visible sclera from his dilated irises and his hair is wild. He lays like a beaten dog, he doesn't even react as Emma kneels on the floor outside his cage. Emma turns around and demands and explanation from Robert, Robert sits down on the floor next to her and quietly explains everything the police told him, what Moreau did to Henry. Robert hugs Emma as she just starts crying, but both leave quickly to not... Well, bother Henry, who grows impatient and starts rattling against the cage. Not only has she been incredibly scared and worried for her husband the entire month he was gone, now Henry seems so close and yet so far away and he doesn't even recognize her, he is beaten like a dog and thinks he is some sort of animal and it just... It all becomes so much for her. She leaves the Society and the Lodgers don't see her much after that, although she does come and visit almost every day (and whether or not people know that she does it, is an entirely different question) just to see her husband. Sometimes she will bring food (Henry always loved her cooking) or a toy for him, and she ends up being the first person that he actually allows to touch him voluntarily, despite Robert forcing himself on him so he can patch him up.

Jacob route: Jacob would find out because Abberline and or Brokenshire would tell him about the state they found Henry in. Jacob would probably hear the news that Moreau’s lab got busted and immediately make his way to the Scotland Yard and demand that the police tell him where Henry is. They would tell him as much as they are allowed to about the case, then tell him to go and talk to Robert Lanyon in the Society. Of course Jacob doesn’t do that, he just immediately breaks in and searches everywhere for Henry. Eventually Robert spots him parkouring over the rafters and chases him down until Jacob manages to find the room where they keep Henry. Jacob opens the door and immediately finds Henry tearing through an entire turkey leg, although he immediately abandons the food snarl and bark (or, well, the aggressive equivalent of a bark) at him and Robert, reaching his hand out of the cage in an attempt of tearing them to shreds. No recognition at all in his eyes, Jacob can only stare for a while. Henry looks the same yet so inhumane. Robert does his best to explain everything, Jacob can only watch in pure horror as he hears what became of his lover, seeing it right in front of him. He doesn’t even let Robert finish his sentence before he has already stormed out. He does not care what the police planned to do with Moreau, he goes straight to whatever cell they keep him in and murders him in cold blood. He doesn’t go back to the Society afterwards, no, he goes to the train hideout and hastily tells Evie and Green what happened to Henry, he spends the rest of the night drinking. Unlike the Lodgers and Emma, he stays away for quite a bit. He doesn’t return until a few days later when he has managed to pick himself up. He makes sure that the news and/or rumors of what happened to Henry dies down quicker than they can rise, sometimes he actually has the courage to visit him but only every few days. He gets to see first hand how Henry recovers-- physically, at least, and slowly and surely he starts warming up to having people near him. After only a few weeks, Henry allows Jacob to touch him. Something about him (and Emma in her route, of course) feels familiar, calm and protective. Henry puts his head in Jacob’s hand and Jacob quietly swears that he will always protect him, no matter how long this goes on for.

The public (even including the Lanyons and the Carews, and most parts of the Scotland yard) never get to know what actually happened to Henry, as the rescuers made a good job at making sure no news or rumors spread or that anyone saw Henry in the state he was in. As far as they are aware, Henry is currently in a coma, and slowly Robert feeds into the news, updating people around them about Henry’s condition. “He is stable”, he will say, “but I’m afraid it’s hard to know when he will wake up... If he ever will”. It’s safer to make it seem like he is unconscious rather than conscious because Robert knows that people (journalists, Lanyon Sr, Sir. Carew, etc) will demand to visit him. Once Henry is unferal, they let him decide when he wants the news of his “awakening” to be spread.

The worst Henry has hurt someone was either fighting back to Moreau (which didn’t happen often, as he was too scared of him), but I’d also like to imagine that besides scratching the officers, he bit and hurt Robert quite badly, either Robert or one of the Lodgers, because he got overwhelmed and stressed. Robert really does not blame him no matter how badly it hurt or how serious the wound got, he shouldn’t have overwhelmed him but in his defense, cat body language is hard to read on a human. A positive from that was that Henry clearly felt guilty afterwards when he calmed down, which might have been the first ever sign that Henry was “savable”, as he clearly felt bad over what he did rather than trying to finish the job. It was the first time he actually walked up to Robert and touched him-- headbutted him, even, because he felt so bad for what he did because Robert has only been nice to him. Robert was wrapping a bandage around his arm when Henry came up to him, gently chirping and headbutting him, and Robert straight up bawled his eyes out.

Zosi was literally the only living being that Henry allowed close to him for many, many days. Zosi was both undead and also an animal, which was the two things that Henry associated with safety after having found comfort with Moreau’s monstrosities. Zosi was quickly in charge of being the one to give Henry food and medicine since Henry would allow no one else to get close to his cage, and Zosi was in sole charge of keeping Henry entertained and happy and calm while Robert tried to figure out how to proceed with the treatment. Zosi was just happy to have Henry back, and Henry was happy to have a friend.

When Henry got tortured and lost his sense of awareness, Hyde faded away, but only temporarily. He is, as said, trapped in the mindscape for the time being and until Henry gets his awareness back. It’s quite a nightmare for Hyde because he is watching in real time, while also processing the trauma from Moreau, as Henry’s mind crumbles. Gone are the mind people, instead they are replaced by vague primal instincts and animal behaviors. It’s definitely not as serious as Hyde feels it is, as it’s a slow but sure recovery from a steady dip to awareness as soon as Henry is removed from the lab, but it’s still incredibly scary for him. Henry can’t see or hear him anymore, and even if he could, he wouldn’t be able to react or process him.

It takes almost about 1-3 months before Henry has warmed up to everyone, physically healed, and was able to get the therapy he needed to even become aware, yet he never got rid of the feralness in him. Whenever he is stressed, scared, or overwhelmed, he might jump back into pure feralness or get a few of the key characteristics; subtle physical and behavioral appearance, etc. Sometimes it’s hard for him to get out of it, sometimes it’s not. Sometimes all he has to do is calm down and relax, sometimes he has to sleep it off. Regardless, the Lodgers and his friends/love interests all do their best to keep Henry calmed and relaxed, and make sure he never has to endure as much stress as he did before and after what happened with Moreau. 

(Basically, he goes from full feral to what the Feral Au is rn)

The public never really gets to know about Henry’s... Ahem, condition, however, most seem to accept the excuse that Henry has terrible anxiety after his torture, ergo making it easy for his friends or lover/s to help Henry out of a room or a situation when he starts feeling overwhelmed and like he is about to turn feral. They are all calm and patient and loving and protective with him, every single one, and Henry is forever grateful for the patient they bring him.

Some random rambles btw:

Out of everyone that isn’t his lover for the branch, Henry’s favorite persons are Maijabi and Ito. Maijabi because he feels like his dad, Ito because the feral state in Henry sees her as his cub or pup, in some weird way. When Henry is docile, both Maijabi and Ito quickly learn that Henry very much loves attention and grooming his favorite persons.

I got the idea while writing the Emma route that maybe she was already pregnant by the time that Henry got kidnapped and turned feral, although it was early on in the pregnancy. I just love the angst of Emma wondering if she will lose her husband and if Henry will ever get to meet their child, and the thought of feral Henry freely being allowed to get close to Emma (they were all very worried about that) and immediately sniffing and headbutting her belly is just <3 (Also the thought of Henry almost immediately panicking when the kid is born and Emma wants him to hold him, suddenly his eyes dilate and his hair puffs up but it’s like a cat staring at something absolutely wonderful)

Surprisingly, Frankenstein was one of those who often would sneak into Henry’s room just to see him. In this crossover au, I’d imagine she’d be much more sympathetic for him. Maybe she would talk to him and apologize for bringing him into this at all, maybe she would even apologize for what she said and did to him personally.

I refuse to acknowledge a bad au branch for this one where Henry turns permanently feral and they either have to kill him or let him loose in the wild <3

[ampmiscfiles]

Let Us Love You: Chapter 8

Start at the beginning

Bucky watched with a thoughtful expression as Peter left. There was no denying the omega hadn't looked at him quite like he had before.

He looked......unsure.

He debated on letting the others know, but he didn't have to say anything.

"That was interesting." Natasha said, eyebrows raised.

"What was?" Steve asked, turning from where Karen had walked off.

"Bucky and Peter." she answered.

The three other alphas snapped to attention.

"What about them?" Thor pushed.

"We just made eye contact. She's making something out of nothing." Bucky said, rolling his eyes.

"There was something different in that look." Natasha said, crossing her arms.

"I don't see why this is such a big deal. We all know he was close to the version of me in his world. He damn near shuts down every time he sees me. You'd be better off ignoring what you saw. It wasn't me he was looking at." Bucky glared before stomping off.

"Was it really a big deal?" Steve asked, looking at Natasha carefully. "I mean, Buck's not wrong. Peter had a connection with his version, it really could just be that."

"Oh, it's definitely a little bit of that. I could see it. He misses him. Most likely it's the same with Sam. Still, he knew he wasn't looking at his Barnes. He was trying to seen him in ours though."

"Perhaps this is a good thing." Thor hummed. "If we can convince him to talk to our friend Barnes, then he could see ours is the same as his!"

"That might work in theory, big guy," Tony nodded. "But how do you propose to get close enough to Peter to suggest it? How would you suggest it?"

"It's not a bad idea. I think Peter wants to talk to him, but our other selves have left a serious impression on him." Natasha said, moving to follow where Bucky had gone. "Let's go. We need to do a little brainstorming."

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

"Welcome to my awesome abode. I'd be glad to show you around. Maybe you'd like to see the inside of my bedroom?" Johnny winked, opening the door wide for Peter to enter.

"I've literally been here multiple times. I think I can get around just fine." Peter smirked. "Plus, I've seen your bedroom. It's a disaster."

"You've seen theother me'sroom. I can assure you thatmineis ready for company."

"I bet it is." Peter rolled his eyes. "Where is everyone?"

"In the kitchen. Come on, I'll win you over with my co-"

"You can't cook." Peter snorted.

"You don't know that!"

"What are we having?"

"It's.......um..."

"Exactly." Peter laughed, passing Johnny and heading towards the kitchen.

"Are you sure we're just friends? I feel like there's something between us."

"Yeah, a mutual respect for giving each other shit."

"You know, I think you're ignoring the fact I'm a different Johnny Storm here." Johnny pouted, crossing his arms.

"No. You're still the same idiot." Peter chuckled, flicking his forehead.

"I'll have you know, I'm a highly sought-after alpha. Everyone wants a piece of this." he gestured to his whole body.

"I bet. I had to fight the crowd of screaming fangirls just to get in here." Peter deadpanned.

The truth was, Johnny was every bit as good looking in this universe as he had been in Peter's. Still, just as he retained his looks here, he also retained his extreme level of self-confidence.

"I'll win you over yet, Parker."

"Uh hu. Sure. Just don't hold your breath."

Peter would never admit he had once had a major crush on his own Johnny.

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

"Peter!" Reed smiled as he and Johnny entered the kitchen.

Sue smiled as she looked up from pulling a pan of lasagna out of the oven.

"Hello, Peter. Everything is almost done. Why don't you all go join Ben."

"Yes! I have so ma-"

"Reed." Sue warned. "He only just got here."

"It's ok, really." Peter smiled.

"I was used to this." he said, motioning between him and Reed.

"Let's talk then. I'm curious about your story. The multiverse isn't a common topic I get to discuss!"

"Well, I can't tell you you're gonna like most of what I have to say. Still, it's great to see you guys again." Peter smiled, genuinely happy to see the family of four back together.

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

"Heard we missed all the fun." Clint called, stepping off the elevator with his bags. "You guys couldn't have waited?"

"Sure. Next time we'll ask the killer robot army to hang on and let our other team mates get back from their impromptu vacation." Tony huffed.

"You all seem in a better mood than when we left. Something happen?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow at others.

The alphas were gathered in the common area talking eagerly amongst themselves.

"Yes." Thor smiled widely. "We have decided to properly court our omega. We shall return to the old ways."

"Who says romance is dead?" Tony grinned. "We're gonna woo the hell out of him!”

"This should be fun." Sam deadpanned.

“Oh ye of little faith. We're an extremely romantic bunch when let loose.” Tony scoffed.

“The guy couldn’t be more clear on his desire not to be your omega.”

“We’ve been talking to Karen and each other. Slow and steady wins the race and all that.”

“I think we made it back in perfect time then!” Clint grinned, opening his bag. “Brought some of Laura and the kids’ things. They missed you guys.”

Clint passed out the few items he had brought from his home. The scents of Laura and the three kids extended into the room. The calm of knowing their distant pack members were safe settled the atmosphere.

“We’ll get out to see them soon.” Natasha smiled, rubbing the small stuffed bunny she knew belonged to Nathaniel.

“We may even get to introduce them to Peter.” Steve said, a hopeful lit in his voice.

“Please don’t push that on him.” Bruce sighed. “It’s going to be enough on him dealing with you all, much less integrating into a full pack.”

“We are fully prepared to take it slow with our young omega.” Thor smiled.

The four other alphas nodded in agreement. There was no other option really. Sam was right in his statement that Peter seemed to want nothing to do with them, but Peter's conflict over Bucky had revived their hopes.

Maybe it wasn't such a lost cause after all.

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

“Your universe sucked.” Johnny scoffed from his seat next to Peter.

“I don’t always get along with Stark, but it’s deeply upsetting to hear about a version of him that was so violent.” Reed frowned, taking his own seat.

“I just can’t picture any of them being like that.” Sue agreed.

“Well, good thing ours arn’t like that. Not sure I could clobber them all at once.” Ben huffed.

Peter listened as the four voiced their opinions of the Avengers.To be honest, he was getting a little sick and tired of everyone telling him how wonderful they were.

They were wonderful in his world at once too!Everyone loved them and practically worshipped them!

Truth be told, there was no real understanding of the change. It wasn’t like anyone was opposing them. Who would? The Avengers risked their lives to help people, to keep them safe. Why would they evenneedto change?

Not that it mattered. They did change. They went from saving people tohurtingthem. They lorded their power over the people, and gleefully killed those who posed any real threat.

They were monsters!

Peter absently ran his hand along his thigh where he knew a long scar sat. A memorial to a particularly brutal up close fight with Black Widow. She had managed to stun him with her widow bites, slowing him down enough to prevent an unharmed escape. It could have been much worse, he knew, but he got lucky in where the bites had hit him.

She had been aiming for a fatal blow.

His movement had saved him from a slow death, but the blade had torn practically through to the bone in his thigh. If Bucky hadn’t shown up, she would have finished the job. As it was, he was out of commission for two weeks before the wound had healed, feeling had returned, and the leg moved without stiffness.

God, the blood she had spilt.

“Peter?”

Peter startled out of his thoughts to find the four looking at him.

“Sorry.” he mumbled. “I can get lost in thought sometimes.”

“Well, I’m more than willing to help you with that.” Johnny grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Oh I know you can. You always could bore me right to sleep.” Peter snarked.

The others laughed and began passing around the food as Johnny pouted.

"So, you said there are no second genders where you're from?" Sue asked, curious as to how Peter was handling the change.

"No, we definitely didn't have alphas, betas, and omegas where I'm from. It was.....surprising to say the least." Peter winced.

"Well, you seem to be doing alright as a beta." Reed smiled.

"Beta?" Peter raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Your scent is barely there. Beta scents are generally muted. Yours seems a little more so. Maybe it's because you weren't originally from here. Do you not know your second gender though, or did you think you hadn't gained one?" Sue frowned.

"I would have figured Matt and Karen would have explained things to you."

Peter looked around the table, unconsciously touching his wrist where one of the patches sat under his sleeve and web shooter.

"No," Peter hesitated. "They did, I.....I'm just still adjusting it all. I mean, I lived 26 years without all this, so it's easy to forget sometimes."

Ben, Sue, and Reed nodded, striking back up light conversation and more questions about himself and how he was getting along. Out the corner of his eye, Peter couldn't ignore the strange look Johnny kept giving him.

"So, what are you going by if you can't be a Parker?" Ben asked, drawing Peter's thoughts away from Johnny.

"Jones." Peter sighed.

"Any relation to Jessica Jones?" Reed asked.

"Yeah." Peter huffed. "Everyone thought they were so funny when they decided to make me Jessica's cousin."

"What's funny about that?" Sue frowned. "Did the two of you date back in your world?"

"Not hardly." Peter laughed.

"No, they just thought my initials were a nice joke.They left my first and middle name then changed my last."

"What's your name then?"

"My name is Peter Benjamin Par...err, Jones. Peter Benjamin Jones."

"I'm sure you'd make a delicious sandwich." Johnny snorted.

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

A few hours had passed before Peter noticed the time. He had been enjoying himself while getting acquainted with this version of the Four. They were practically identical to his, making connecting with them extremely easy.

“Well, I guess I better get going. Karen’s a worrier.”

“Don’t let Matt fool you, Peter,” Sue smirked. “He’s a worrier too with people he cares about. I saw you two talking.”

“Matt was the first person I went to after I got here. I was good friends with him.” Peter smiled.

He was happy to have Matt and Karen, and to be gathering back all the people he lost, but Ben, May, Bucky and Sam were never far from his mind. The people he wanted most were the people he’d never get.

After promising to visit again, and give a demonstration of his strength levels compared to Ben's, Johnny led Peter out.

"So, Pete," Johnny started, unusually hesitant compared to his normal composure.

"The others didn't press, but I'm going to. You're an omega, aren't you?"

Peter blinked in surprise. He had yet to have to admit his second gender to anyone on his own yet. Everyone who knew, had either discovered from his scent, or been told by someone else.

"I could see the scent patch occasionally when your sleeve moved up and your, whatever those are on your wrists, shifted."

Peter swallowed hard, not missing the fact Johnny had moved into his space.

"I...uh.."

"It's ok, Pete." Johnny smirked, stepping back. "I'm not going to blab your secret. I am, however, going to knock you off your feet! You'll give in to me yet, Jones."

"I don't think you want to try, Storm." Peter replied, breathing a little easier as Johnny's alpha pheromones calmed.

"Why? Do you already have an alpha? I just don't see any mating marks."

Mating marks?

Peter frowned. He hadn't heard of any 'mating marks'. Was there more he had to learn? Maybe he should keep blowing Karen's lessons off.

"No. I don't have an alpha, and I'm not interested in one." Peter narrowed his eyes.

"Fair enough." Johnny smiled, holding up his hands in surrender. "But that doesn't mean I won't keep trying."

Peter sighed. While he wasn't about to let Johnny Storm in on his alpha problem, he couldn't forget how the Avengers had reacted to Wade when they realized the two were hanging out together.

Deadpool hadn't been in any real danger since he could easily regenerate, but Johnny couldn't.

If anything Karen had already told him had gotten through, it was that alphas could be possessive. He had already seen it in action, and the Avengers were anything but normal alphas.

Still, he wasn't going to let that stop him from hanging around people he actually trusted.

They would just have to deal.

If they couldn't, and tried to hurt his friends, he'd be ready.

As he made his way back toward Matt and Karen's, he didn't even notice how his thoughts on the Avengers had changed from "when", to "if".

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

"You smell like Johnny Storm." Karen frowned when he walked through the door.

"Hello Karen. I see your fine after today's events. My dinner with the Four was great. If was nice to catch up. Thanks for asking."

"Don't sass me, Peter Jones." Karen glared, following him to his room, passing a smirking Matt along the way.

"What if you had run into your alphas? You're unmated and smelling of an alpha that's not one of them! Even worse that it's Johnny with his flirty reputation."

"I'm not avoiding friends just becausetheymight not like it, Karen!" Peter shouted, turning around with his own glare.

"They don't own me and never will. I don't want them! I don't trust them! It doesn't matter what everyone else thinks of them. I can't stand them!"

"Peter, please," Karen tried.

"No. This discussion is over Karen. I'm never going to be with the Avengers. It's not happening."

"You won't even give them a chance!" Karen shouted, her frustration rising. "You're so hell bent on seeing them as the same villains they were in your world that you refuse to see them as the heroes they are here! This isn't your old world, Peter! You can't keep hanging on to what happened there. You're here now!"

The two glared at each other, neither wanting to admit defeat.

"You don't know what you're talking about Karen. You have no idea what I've been through."

"I have a damn good idea, Peter! You've made no effort to hide your disdain for them. You have no problems admitting what those other Avengers did to you. I know it's left physical as well as mental scars, but did you ever stop and think that maybe getting to know these Avengers could help you heal?"

There was complete silence as Karen's words hung in the air.

"Getting to know them and seeing they're who you wish your Avengers had been could be good for you. You could finally relax a little and try to move on. You've been here for months now Peter, and yet you still hold everything from your past so close it's like it all happened yesterday."

Karen sighed, running her hand through her hair.

"We're all still here, Peter. Nothing has happened to any of us and they've had more than enough opportunity to hurt us if they wanted to. They've had plenty of chances to kill the others and make it look like a casualty of a fight and no one would question it, but they haven't. They haven't, and you need to realize and accept it."

Without another word, Karen turned and headed into her and Matt's bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

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

Anger rippling under his skin, Peter left the apartment and headed towards Luke's bar. Maybe he could find something there to keep himself busy.

Anything to get his mind off his....whatever that was, with Karen.

Shoving his way into the back door, the sounds from the front filtered in through his ears. The place was at peek hour.

"I swear, if one more asshole-Peter?"

Peter looked over as Luke stormed into the back, grabbing a bucket and mop.

"Rough night?" Peter asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, it's gonna be for the shit that just broke a beer bottle over a guy's head. They're both about to clean up their little mess, then get thrown out on their asses." Luke grumbled, kicking the door back open and shouting.

Peter decided to hang out in the back, letting Luke handle things before making his way up front.

"Get out here, Jones." Luke snapped, sticking his head back through the door. "Make yourself useful and come serve some drinks."

Grinning, Peter slid his way behind the bar and got to work.

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

It was slowing down to the more, quieter patrons of the night. These were the people Peter liked the most. While the more boisterous crowd could be fun, they could also be annoying and demanding. Some even tried to get a little handsy, over the bar.

This crowd though, this was crowd was just looking for a little break from the world.

Peter heard someone sit at the bar while he was crouched, placing glasses back into their places. Rubbing his hands on his pants, he stood up to greet the customer and....froze.

Sam Wilson stared back, as equally surprised to see him.

The two just stared at each other, neither knowing how to react.

"Hey, Pete-" Luke stopped as he took in what was happening.

He wasn't quite sure what to do, and it didn't appear as if Peter or Sam knew either. Had it been any of the alphas, Luke would have easily jumped in, knowing how stressed Peter would be.

Sam wasn't an alpha though.

“Let me start by saying your secret is safe with me.” Sam said. “I’m pretty burnt out on alpha desperation at this point. I just want to have a drink and enjoy it.”

Peter stared at him a moment before moving forward.

“What would you like?”

“Whatever you recommend.”

Peter looked at him again. Guess Sam was willing to trust his judgement in drinks in any universe.

Sam nodded as Peter slid a glass across the counter top and took a swig.

“I hope we’re not gonna spend the entire time in here in this strange, tense silence.”

Peter sighed.

“This isn’t....this isn’t easy for me.”

“I’ve gotten that impression. I also heard you were close to your world’s Bucky and I.”

“Y...yeah.” Peter frowned. “By the end, they were my best friends.....they were all I had left.”

The two were silent again as Peter busied himself with meaningless tasks.

“I’m sorry this is happening to you.” Sam said suddenly. “I think I would have reacted the same way.”

Peter stood with his back to Sam, debating on his next move.

Finally, he turned.

“You’re a lot like him, well, when he wasn’t giving me shit anyway.” Peter chuckled.

“Oh, I can give you shit if that’s what you’re looking for spider boy.” Sam grinned.

Peter grinned back, strangely comfortable in this Sam’s presence.

Maybe all Sam’s were pretty much the same.

“Look. I know you’re probably willing to talk to me like thishere. I can see Cage keeping an eye on you, but I think, if we got along in your world, we could get along here.”

Peter hesitated, the since of unease returning.

“I’m not trying to hand you over to the wolves!” Sam said quickly. “I’m more so trying to offer up another friendship. One that gets me away from everyone at the tower and one that offers you.....” Sam hesitated, unsure if he should continue.

“Maybe something that offers you a bit of what you lost?”

Peter’s eyes widened in surprise. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of this Sam’s offer. As much as he missed his own, and as similar as the two seemed, could he really ever think of this Sam as a friend on par with his?

“I...um...”

“You don’t have to answer me now.” Sam assured. “Maybe just think about it. I realize I’m part of the enemy here, but I promise I’m not a bad guy.”

“Yeah.” Peter snorted. “You’re not trying to get into my pants.”

“You do realize there’s more to it than that, right?”

“I’m not really interested.” Peter replied. “You don’t know what it was like to see them hurt people. To see them kill you and Bucky.”

“I’d offer up the argument that these Avengers haven’t done that considering Bucky and I are clearly still alive, but I have the feeling you’ve heard that line enough.”

“That obvious?”

“From five words in.”

Peter let out a breath, running his hand through his hair. It was hard having someone who looked like his lost friend be so close, and yet so far.

"I'll share a secret with you, kid." Sam grinned, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

This caught Peter's attention as he leaned onto the bar.

"There are three betas in the tower. Me, Clint and Bruce-"

"I...I like Dr. Banner." Peter mumbled.

"What?" Sam asked, unsure he had heard right.

"I....I like Dr. Banner. He.......he had it hard in my world. Hulk is a force to be reckoned with. He can be easily enraged to the point that even the intelligence he does have can be quickly over written. When the Avengers...turned.....they held him hostage. Bruce was far to gentle in nature to side with them, so they held him captive, using Hulk against him. They'd do whatever they could to bring out Hulk, then set him loose on the city."

Sam sat in stunned silence. He could never imagine putting Bruce Banner through that kind of torment. Bruce struggled with balancing himself as both separate and part of Hulk.

"I wanted to free him. Tried several times, but it never worked. They kept him in an underground bunker beneath the tower. I only saw him once. I'm not even sure how I managed to make it that far. I've never forgotten how defeated, miserable and pained he looked inside that glass cage they kept him in."

"Glass doesn't sound like it would hold-"

"Oh, it was 'Hulk proof'." Peter hissed. "Before things went bad, Bruce and Tony created it to contain him if things got to bad and he needed somewhere safe to be until he returned back to himself."

"They used his own creation against him." Sam sighed, running his hand down his face. "Guess that explains why you didn't do anything to Bruce that day."

"I told Matt and Karen it was because he let me out. I'm telling you the truth because you live with them and need to know what they're capable of doing."

"If it makes you feel any better," Sam started. "We don't have a Hulk room or cage or anything."

Peter narrowed his eyes.

"Serious!" Sam defended. "Bruce comes and goes just like the rest of us. He pretty much stays at the tower though. We don't have many instances where the Hulk is needed, but Bruce's medical training comes in handy a lot. Even stepped up a notch when you showed up." Sam snickered.

"Are you.....enjoying me hurting them?" Peter asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Immensely. Clint and I, don't tell him I agree with him, think it's amazing."

Peter didn't stop the upturn of his lip at Sam's grin.

"Omega's don't typically kick their alpha's asses on the regular. I mean, I've heard of those mutant omegas at Xavier's going out and fighting, but I've never seen them do it in person. You, on the other hand, I have watched fling every alpha on the team around like rag dolls. It's humbling really."

Sam's laughter filled the small space between him and Peter.

"Well, I do have a history of fighting the hierarchy." Peter smiled.

"Tell you what," Sam said, holding out his hand. "Let's start fresh. No alternate identities. Just two guys meeting at a bar. I'm Sam Wilson."

Peter looked at the outstretched hand and up at Sam's face. His spider-sense remained, as it had the entire time, silent. Slowly, Peter took the outstretched hand.

"Peter Jones."

Sam raised and eyebrow.

"Doesn't surprise me." Peter rolled his eyes. "Of course you'd all know my real name."

"Why change it?"

"Because a version of me existed here at one time." Peter replied, looking away. "I can't be Peter Parker when he's dead."

"I guess not one that looks just like him." Sam nodded. "I'm guessing there's also family then?"

"Yeah." Peter replied, not willing to say more.

"Alright then, Peter Jones, it was nice to meet you. I better be getting back home though." Sam smiled, standing up and taking his jacket off the back of the chair.

"You'll cover that for me, right?"

Peter looked down where Sam nodded at the empty glass.

"No way Wilson."

"To think, I wanted to be nice to you." Sam said, pulling some bills out of his pocket.

"There's no such thing as free alcohol, man." Peter grinned.

"Then what's the point of being friends with the bartender?"

"The fabulous company?"

"I know that's what you get, I'm still trying to figure out what I'm getting." Sam smirked.

"I'll tell you what, this time." Peter's grinned turned wicked. "You'll get to keep a place you can go where the other Avengers can never bother you. I'll personally see to their exits if they ever show up."

Sam barked out a laugh as he straightened out his jacket.

"Well, if they ever show up, it won't be because of me. With that said, I appreciate your willingness to uphold the sanctity of my sacred drinking hole."

The two nodded at each other as Sam walked out the door, followed shortly after by the last of Luke's customers.

"You ok?" Luke asked as he restocked the bar while Peter swept.

"Surprisingly, yeah. Dealing with just Sam was way different than the others."

"Well, being a beta probably helps." Luke shrugged, not wanting to verbally address the other issues.

"Maybe." Peter nodded.

"You worried you'll have more 'customers'?" Luke asked after a moment. "I can't exactly say I can ban the Avengers..."

"No." Peter said, looking up at Luke. "I'm actually not."

Luke stopped and raised an eyebrow.

"You do realize-"

"I don't think he'll tell. Not them anyway. Maybe Barton and Dr. Banner, but not them."

"Well, I heard about Banner, but what about Barton. What's the feelings on him?"

Peter stopped sweeping, letting his thoughts gather themselves.

"He was just as ruthless as the others in my world. Tony made him explosive arrows. He caused so much damage with those. Lots of innocent people lost their homes and their lives. I don't trust him any more than the others."

Peter's face turned stony as he thought about the archer.

"He shot me in the back once. Went right through my right side."

"He did what?" Luke growled, walking from behind the bar and over to Peter.

"Yeah, right here." Peter said, lifting his shirt and tracing the scar on the side of his stomach, then moving to the part on his back.

Luke looked at the two scars, not missing a few others as well.

"Jesus, kid."

"I keep trying to tell you all. The Avengers can't be trusted this blindly! They could turn at any moment, and you could end up with the same scars as me......or worse."

Luke frowned as he watched Peter try to keep his breathing calm. He wasn't sure Peter having contact with Sam was a good idea anymore. It didn't matter what intentions the man had, being around him definitely opened Peter up to chances of having to see the other members of the team.

"I worry though, that I'm letting positive memories of Sam cloud my judgement here." Peter sighed. "I'm worried desperation for that connection is taking over."

"You can always keep to meeting here. You never have to meet him anywhere you don't want to." Luke shrugged. "I know you're tired of hearing it kid, so I'll save a lot of it."

Peter frowned, unsure of exactly what Luke was going to say.

"I don't have a problem with the Avengers, but I'm also not you. I don't have your past, so my opinion means nothing. Sam though, Sam's not an alpha. He's a beta with no romantic interest in you. I don't think it would be a big deal to consider the option of some form of friendship with him. Shit on the others if you don't want to."

Peter didn't know what to say. He was genuinely worried as to what accepting Sam's offer might lead to. The worst scenarios running through the forefront of his mind. Still, the possible benefits kept pushing their way in.

"I'll think about it.

[nyxdelanuit]

We All Fall From Heaven

Hello my little constellations! Here is the third chapter of mine and @mammonrightsYandere House of Lamentation series c: Please be aware of the tags, and enjoy! I also will not be adding my usual tag list to this due to the themes involved, so please let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future chapters!

MASTERLIST

WARNINGS: YANDERE THEMES, DUBCON/NONCON, Abusive/Obsessive Relationships, Branding/Marking, senpai/kouhai kink, Anal, uHH,,tails... and of course, SMUT ABOUND~ Please be sure to mind the tags <3

It was easy to convince Lucifer to let you stay home that day, your throat, raw from crying, conveying a sickness you didn’t have even through the shut door. You waited until all noise faded away, longer still until you were sure all the brothers were gone for the day. Only then you changed into loose sweats, comfy clothes for a day of wallowing in bed. You considered using any of the presents Asmo left in your room, but the thought churned your stomach. Maybe another day. Maybe when your head was a little more clear.

 Food you could handle. You didn't bother with making yourself presentable, merely padding through the halls on bare feet. The kitchen was only next door, after all. It still took you a bit of time to recognize what foods were okay for you to eat, avoiding Beel's food and any that wasn't… fit for human consumption. The names still threw you off a bit, but it tasted close enough to what you were familiar with that you could stomach it. You had to, at least for now.

 You were so caught up in searching for food so that you could lock yourself away for the day, that you didn’t notice another presence in the kitchen. Turning around with arm-fulls of food, you ran into another sweat-clad figure. Both you and Levi jumped back, nervous and flushed, for entirely different reasons.

"Oh… I was coming here to grab some of those snacks." Levi looked away nervously, and you were tempted to just thrust all the food into his hands and run back into your room. "You're skipping today, right? Come watch this new anime I found with me! T-then we can share the snacks…" Your every cell was yelling, begging at you to run. But this was Levi, he was just as touch-averse as you were now, he just wanted someone to share his hobbies with. Plus, what better way to distract you from all the problems rattling around in your head than escaping into some fantasy world, where things were predictable and made sense.

 So with that, you followed Levi to his room, the swirling blue bringing a sense of calm you hadn’t felt in days. You weren’t sure you even felt it now, but the ambiance sure helped you pretend. It was even… comfortable, lounging on Levi’s couch as the two of you bickered about whether the protagonist was good or cheesy. You could almost forget. At least Levi could be your safe haven.

 Your eyes lit up when you remembered that he was the third brother, above both Belphie and Asmo. If you told him, would he protect you? He was stronger, after all. Maybe you could make an actual pact with him. If he believed you at all. You fidgeted as you thought about it, not noticing the shrinking space between you and Levi.

 Static passed between you as your fingers touched his, both of you pulling away. Levi yelped, and you couldn’t help but chuckle nervously. Even so, you put your had back where it was and focused on the show while Levi… red-faced and not looking at you or even the show, slowly encompassed your hand with his own. There was something so sweet, so innocent about it that set your heart thundering.

 The credits rolled on the last episode. Your hand was still nestled in Levi’s carefully, kind of clammy grip. His nervousness helped ground you, and you couldn’t help but feel butterflies in your stomach every time his eyes drifted to yours only to look away and blush.

 “Levi… the show’s over.” You didn’t really want to leave, but if you didn’t go now, the rest of the brothers would get home before you could lock yourself in your room. “I should go, for now.”

 “W-wait!” Levi jumped up from his spot on the couch, offering you a hand. “Let me walk you to your room?” You chuckled and took his hand, letting him help you up.

 “I’d like that.”

 You walked in silence, Levi's grip on your hand feather-light. He wanted to be sure you could pull away if you wanted to; in fact, he almost seemed certain that you would. He stopped at your door, staring at your intertwined hands.

 “D-do you want to skip tomorrow too? We could cosplay together… I found a few premade outfits on Akuzon I could have ready for you.” He rubbed his neck nervously until you nodded. One more day locked away in the sanctuary of Levi’s room felt just like what your heavy heart needed. With a furious blush, Levi placed a chaste peck on your lips and slithered away, leaving you blinking at his quickly moving back.

 For once, you laid in bed with a smile on your face. You couldn’t help but trace your lip lightly, daydreaming of what tomorrow would bring.

 Lucifer was not as accommodating the next morning, and you were glad you passed out dressed in your comfy outfit from the day before. He forced you down for breakfast at the very least, and you felt the tension in the air as Asmo and Belphie abandoned their usual seats to place themselves on either side of you. One hand fell to your hip, one to your thigh, and you could feel your breath catch.

 Across the table, Levi caught your eye. The look in his eye was indecipherable, but you hoped that he saw your plight. You shuffled the food around your plate, your appetite suddenly gone, pulling worried and hungry stares from Beel. He accepted the plate when you slid it over to him, but the look on his face was akin to a kicked puppy.

 Breakfast passed with a quiet tension as Levi’s eyes hardened on his brothers, the grip on his silverware turning his knuckles white. As soon as his food was clear, Levi pushed away from the table. He grabbed your arm, dragging you from your seat and the grips of the hands on you.

 "I'll make sure the normie stays in bed today, so she feels better tomorrow." Lucifer rolled his eyes at Levi's tantrum but nodded.

 “It is important that they stay healthy and do not miss too many classes. Please see that you do.”

 You thought that maybe Levi had meant it when he said he’d keep you in bed by the way he stomped out of your room after breakfast, but after an hour or so, a timid knock sounded from your door. Levi stood at the threshold, looking nervous.

 "You ready?" He couldn't meet your eyes, but you timidly reached for his hand, and he didn't pull away. The two of you walked the halls much like you had the night before, hand-in-hand and bashful. "I got a couple different ones for you to try on… I have a matching one for each cosplay… like a c-couple's cosplay." You thought you had seen the full range of red that Levi could display, but it seemed as if you had been wrong with how his face burned. You nodded, escaping to his bathroom to try the first one on. "I-I'll change out here!" He called after you.

 You examined yourself in the mirror as much as you could. All things considered, it could have been worse. All your bits were properly covered, and although you couldn't see too well from the waist-down, it didn't seem like the skirt was too short.

 You had barely stepped out of the bathroom when Levi suddenly appeared in front of you. He seemed frozen in time, taking in your figure with an ever-reddening face. You went to reach for him, but he crushed you to his chest, kissing you fervently. He pulled away panting. “I’m sorry… you just look too cute.” He allowed himself a touch to your cheek before he pulled away, but your hands tangled in his shirt. “P-please. I don’t know if I can control myself,” He covered his face with his hands as he whined, trying to distance himself from you.

 He was giving you a chance to go. To run, but you were still here, clinging to him. Why were you still here?

  He peeked through his fingers to see you standing before him, not even a step where he left you. His eyes roamed your figure like he was seeing you for the first time, stopping where your hem ended against your thigh. Your breath hitched as he took in the delicate lines of Belphie’s mark peeking out from the delicate fabric. Horror raced through your veins as you saw the red fade from his face only to be replaced by the look he sported during breakfast.

 Jealousy

 You took a step back as he approached, and another until your back hit the tank's glass wall. His arms caged you in, and he gave a hollow laugh.

 “I should be excited, it’s my first time actually kabedoning anyone, but for some reason I’m not happy about it.” You barely registered his shift, unable to tear yourself away from the look in his eyes. His tail wrapped around your bare thigh, tightening over Belphie’s mark before continuing its ascent. His eyes widened as the tip of his tail brushed over Asmo’s mark.

 "It's not fair," he whined, closing in on you. "I understood! You weren't going to be my Henry, but you were supposed to be my player two." The warmth of Levi's tail trailed over your panties, mixing with the icy chill of his eyes and sending a shiver through you. "Still you let them touch you, take you from me, it's not fair."

“L-Levi, I didn’t ask for this.” You trembled under his gaze.

 "Taking their older brother's things…" He tilted your head up with a firm grip on your chin. "I'm going to show you that you're mine." His tail slipped under your panties to rub against the slick, slowly accumulating, the tip of his tail curling gently around your clit as he kissed you.

 It was different from the kiss from last night, more malicious, but your head was full of soft, nervous Levi. You couldn’t help but give in as he bit at your lip, letting his tongue consume the moans falling from your mouth. His tail kept moving, eventually sliding into your heat with a lewd sound. You were filled so suddenly that you had a hard time keeping yourself upright, your legs shaking underneath you.

 Levi chuckled mirthlessly, grabbing at your arms to keep you from tumbling to a heap on the floor as his tail writhed within you. "Uwaah! It's just like in those H-games. Keep showing me that face." He quickly slid the fabric of your outfit under your chest, wasting no time in propping you against the cool wall so he could sink his fingers into each breast, his face joining soon after.

 It seemed the further he indulged himself, the more his jealousy faded. He might not have been the first to have you, but he at least got to have you like this, trembling as he smothered himself in your tits. He gave one nipple a gentle lick, testing the water as you squirmed, the mild pleasure mixing with the overpowering passion of his tail and coalescing in a rising heat in your stomach.

“I’m not going to stop until you make that face." He chuckled, enveloping a nipple with an amateur suck, too harsh and painful, but your body responded all the same. The sharp cry that left your mouth only pushed him further as he rolled and pinched the others in his fingers. The pain drug you further to your peak, and with a last thrust of his tail, you came.

 Levi watched you the whole time, enraptured as his tail worked faster to prolong your release. Your mouth fell open as your cries echoed through the room, and you could feel drool spilling out the side as he brought you to the edge over over-stimulation. Levi followed the trail from your chin to your lips with his tongue, giggling as he covered your mouth with his own.

 "So good, what a good kouhai I have." He picked you up easily, keeping his tail planted inside you as he walked the two of you over to the couch. The same one you spent the day on yesterday, watching anime and holding hands like first-crushes. He maneuvered your limp body over the arm of the couch, your bare breasts roughly rubbing against the coarse fabric. He flipped the skirt of the cosplay over your ass, clearly enjoying the sight of your tail-filled pussy covered by the wet fabric of your panties. You keened as he slowly removed his tail, enjoying the way you squirmed at the sensation.

 Once it was fully removed from you, he used his tail to rip your panties from your body, baring you to his sight. You weren't sure what embarrassed you more, the knowledge that sweet, nervous Levi was staring at your bare core or the obscene noises coming from the demon behind you. He wasted no time in pulling himself from his pants, palming himself with quick strokes before plunging into you. His tail had prepped you well, only the pleasure of being filled consumed you, causing you to arch off the couch.

 Levi was clearly inexperienced, his thrusts much too quick for your liking, but your body still hadn’t recovered. Bliss flowed through your veins unbidden, and you tried desperately to hide your reaction in the cushions. Levi didn’t seem to mind, gripping your hip and pushing down on the base of your spine to keep you pinned.

 “They got you first, used you like some toy, but I wonder if they got here too?” Levi’s obsessed voice drifted through your ears, but you were unable to decipher their meaning until you felt the tip of his tail trailing above your slit, circling the tight ring of muscle.

 “Levi, please-”You tried to plead with him, but before you could finish your sentence, his tail was breaching your ass.

 “Begging for me already? You really are the perfect little kouhai.” He ignored your struggling as he pumped his tail in and out of you, going further with each pass.

 "Please, it hurts, Levi!" You cried out. Levi chuckled, realizing his guess was correct: You hadn't been taken there, not yet.

 "Call me your senpai, and I might listen to you." He mocked, "But since I'm such a nice senpai, I'll help distract you from the pain until you get used to it. The hand on your spine heated, and you tensed for the pain you knew was coming.

 It seemed even worse this time, the pain traveling through your spine and spreading to every nerve throughout your body. You faintly recognized the moans drifting through the air as Levi's as your body tightened and locked up against the pain.

 Marked, again.

 At least Levi was true to his word, once the burn subsided, all you could feel was the bursting pleasure of Levi’s tail rubbing the thin tissue separating it from his cock pistoning in your heat. It was overpowering, feeling both at once. Each thrust made you more sensitive, and you could feel your mind start to fade as his dick and tail worked in tandem.

 “S-Senpai, please.” You had finally broken, bending to Levi’s will. Anything to get you just a little further, to let this pleasure finally crest.

 “Such a good little kouhai, cum for me.” He purred in your ear, spurred on by your words. He thrust into you mindlessly, losing himself in the tightening in your cunt. With a press to the still tender skin of your lower back, you came, clenching so sweetly around Levi’s dick that he had no choice but to follow you over the crest.

 He panted on top of you for what seemed to be hours. “My heart is beating so fast. You’re so cute like this, begging for me.” He talked about you like you were one of his idols, cooing over your every reaction. You felt exhausted, your limbs not responding to your urge to make them move. Levi seemed to prefer this, posing you on his lap when he plopped onto the couch as if nothing had happened. He fixed your hair and outfit with tender fingers, wiping your face until he deemed you satisfactory. Your stomach turned as he fidgeted with his DDD, opening the camera to snap a few pictures of the two of you in your cosplays.

 You only hoped that no one noticed the fucked out look on your face, and that the cum you felt seeping onto your thighs wasn’t visible.

taglist: @marvel-imagines-yes-please @johannakhalafalla

[lunmelia]

I praythee... more dadstiel raising Jack... please?

I was gonna hold off on this for a bit, but I’m feeling a bit sick and unmotivated to do anything else, so here you go. I’m putting the rest of the post under a line because I maybe got a bit carried away. maybe wrote just a little tiny story. just a small one. Maybe 2.

----

Okay, so maybe Dean did not like baby Jack at first. He had his reasons, okay? Weak reasons, but reasons. Firstly, a baby shapeshifter is very different to the baby of the literal devil. Secondly, that baby is the reason his mom and best friend almost died. Weak reasons, but reasons. But his dislike for the baby only lasted three days. Three days of the other three frowning at him and repeating, “he’s just a baby, Dean.” Three days of Castiel somehow succeeding in keeping the baby calm. Three days of Dean avoiding the room Cas and Jack were situated in. But on the night of the third day, Jack had decided he would not be persuaded to go to sleep. No matter what Castiel did. Dean and Mary had been holed away in Sam’s room, far enough that their ears weren’t damaged from the cries, close enough to act quickly if anything were to go wrong. Three hours into the crying, Dean decided he’d had enough. “Alright,” he snapped, pushing himself off the wall he was leaning against. “I’m putting an end to this.” He marched towards the door. “Dean,” warned Mary, rising from her seat. Dean paused to turn back to them, throwing his arms out in exasperation. “I’m not gonna kill the damn thing, jeez,” he said before continuing his steps.  A few minutes later, the door opened to the room where Cas was hurriedly shushing and bouncing baby Jack, and Dean strode in with a guitar in hand.  Cas threw panicked eyes to him. He was worried about the nephil’s cries affecting the human’s ears. “Dean-”  “I’ve heard worse, Cas. Had you screaming at me after I crawled outta hell, didn’t I?” He threw the angel a grin before closing the door. “I can deal. Put him on the bed, will you?” He gestured to where four pillows were assembled in a rectangle border. Where Jack had been sleeping, since there was no crib to be found in the bunker. Cas hesitantly did as he was told, settling Jack down as he writhed and screamed, his small face scrunched up, red and wet with snot and tears.  “You’re terrible at this, by the way,” Dean commented after wincing at a particular loud scream. “You were basically shaking the kid when I came in. And you need to change into some softer clothes, man. Your suit’s too rough, and that’s all he’s been feeling since he was born, apart from that blanket we’ve got him in. No wonder he’s upset.” He settled on the edge of the bed, propping one knee up on the sheets and resting his guitar atop it.  “Oh,” Cas said, “of course. I hadn’t realised.” “Hm.” Dean gave him an obvious look. “Now shush for a minute.” He looked down at his guitar, adjusting his fingers on the appropriate cords before beginning to strum a soft tune. Jack’s cry abruptly cut off as his ears caught on the new sound. Yet he quickly ignored it in favour of continuing his screeches. Dean plucked the strings for a few more seconds before taking a breath, and singing in a low baritone,  “There is a young cowboy, he lives on the range.” Cas gave a short gasp as if he had just realised what Dean was doing. Dean spared him a glance before focusing back on the guitar. “His horse and his cattle are his only companions He works in the saddle and he sleeps in the canyons Waiting for summer, his pastures to change.” Dean was now looking at Jack, who was looking back and releasing confused whines. Dean looked up to the angel and whispered, “sit down, Cas.”  Castiel slowly lowered himself to the bed as Dean moved onto the next part of the verse. “And as the moon rises, he sits by his fire Thinkin’ about women and glasses of beer Reclosing his eyes as the doggies retire He sings out a song which is soft, but it’s clear As if maybe someone could hear.” By this point, Jack was still whimpering with tears gathering in his eyes, but his full focus was on Dean with a curious tilt of his head. Dean watched the baby, the irritation in eyes now lessened. Instead, he now regarded the nephil with a soft, considering look. Cas, same as Jack, gave his full attention to Dean, a twitch in his lips. “Goodnight, you moonlight ladies Rockabye, sweet baby, James Deep greens and blues are the colours I choose Won’t you let me go down in my dreams? And rockabye, sweet baby, James.” Jack was now soothed to soft coos, the red in his face having completely receded. Dean, unconsciously, was leaning towards the baby. A soft smile fought to pull at his lips. “Now, the first of December was covered with snow, So was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston Though the Berkshires seemed dream-like on account of that frostin’ With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go.”  Jack’s eyes were fluttering. It seemed that he was fighting sleep, however, as he kept blinking to gaze at Dean. A sudden yawn escaped him. Cas’ face bloomed with a wide smile while Dean let himself grin softly.  “There’s a song that they sing when they take to the highway A song that they sing when they take to the sea A Song that they sing of their home in the sky Maybe you can believe it if it helps you to sleep But singing works just fine for me.” Cas huffed a laugh at Dean, who threw him a grin before turning his gaze back to the now asleep Jack. Dean pitched his voice quieter, almost a whisper so not to disturb the sleeping infant.  “So goodnight, you moonlight ladies Rockabye, sweet baby, James Deep greens and blues are the colours I choose Won’t you let me go down in my dreams? And rockabye, sweet baby, James.” Dean let the last chord fade away, and the room was cast into silence. He gently laid his hand atop his guitar, afraid to make any noises that might awaken Jack. He gazed at the baby nephil with a soft smile. 

“He’s kinda cute when he’s not trying to blow out our eardrums,” he admitted quietly. Cas smiled and hummed.  After a moment, Cas whispered, “that was beautiful, Dean.” Dean snapped his gaze to the angel, alarmed and caught off-guard by the compliment. “I- oh. oh, y-yeah, sure, okay. um...” he trailed off, looking away back to the infant. Cas tilted his head, amused. Dean stared at Jack for a moment, a furrow working its way to his brow. “... We’re really going to raise Lucifer’s baby, aren’t we?” he asked.  Cas frowned at the mention of the archangel, but nodded. “It would seem that way, yes,” he said. He waited for Dean’s response, for him to argue the fact one last time.  But Dean sighed, his irises bouncing back and forth for a moment before he said, “okay. We’re going to need to buy supplies, then. This place is lacking. Not surprised by that, though. Not exactly the kind of place you’d expect the Men of Letters to be raising their kids.” Cas hummed his agreement. There was another moment of silence before Dean rose from the bed. “Right, I guess I’ll go discuss that with mom and Sam. You... keep watch over him.” He gestured to Jack, still sleeping.  “I will.” Cas nodded.  Dean nodded back. “Right.” He stepped up to the door.  “Goodnight, Dean,” Cas softly called.  Dean looked back to him, nodding again. “Night.” He slowly, quietly opened the door and stepped out into the hall, where Sam and Mary stood waiting. He raised a brow at them as he clicked the door close.  “He stopped crying,” Sam said, stating the obvious. “He’s sleeping?” Dean nodded.  Mary looked from the guitar to her son. “You sang to him?” she questioned.  Dean paused a moment, then nodded with a shrug as if nothing were out of the ordinary. “Yeah. We need to make a list of baby supplies,” he said, quickly changing the subject. “And baby-proofing stuff. That should definitely be a priority. This is not a safe place to raise a baby without baby-proofing.” He waved a hand, scoffed while glancing around the hall as if observing the entire bunker, then turned and walked away.  Sam and Mary looked at each other, both equally confused at Dean’s sudden change of attitude towards Jack. Sam then shrugged, grinned and chased after Dean, calling in a whisper, “what song did you sing?” “I ain’t telling you. Why’d you wanna know?” Dean gave his brother a look of disgust. 

“Oh, come on. Was it Blackbird? It was Blackbird, wasn’t it? That’s so obvious.”

“No, Sam, it wasn’t Blackbird.”

Mary huffed a laugh, shaking her head before following after her sons.

(The song Dean plays and sings is “Sweet Baby James” by James Taylor, in case you wanted to take a listen)

--

Although, yes, Cas can put Jack to sleep with his grace, he refuses to. He’s afraid that would intefere with Jack’s natural growth, and that Jack will begin to depend on his grace and will never be able to put himself to sleep. So Cas doesn’t. Besides, Dean singing to him seems to work just fine.  -- They were all afraid that they were going to have to feed Jack some weird, special combination since he’s a nephil. Like, milk and holy water, or something. But nope, normal formula works just fine. He’s actually a pretty normal baby. Just, plus deafening screaming, wings and healing.  -- I’m honestly not sure how to approach Chuck with this AU. I don’t want him to be evil because I want this to be a soft, happy AU but he is an evil bastard, so. If anyone wants to handle the angst side of this AU that involves Chuck go ahead but I ain’t touching it. I will say this though; I can see Amara convincing Chuck not to kill a baby. Amara: it’s a baby, God Chuck: yes, but it’s a very dangerous baby Amara: ... it’s a baby. Chuck: ... a very dangerous baby. Amara: there is... no such thing as a dangerous baby. there is literally... nothing dangerous about a baby. nephil or no Chuck: but- Amara: do not kill a baby, God. Chuck: ... fine. -- The four of them were so busy getting Jack settled in the bunker that they just completely forgot to tell the other hunters that, y’know, they have a baby now. So it was a bit of shock to Jody, when she called to check in on them after not hearing from them for weeks.  Jody, on the phone with Sam: yeah, we haven’t heard from you guys for weeks! what’s going on, everything okay? Sam, on the other line: uh, yeah, no everything’s fine, we’ve just been *glances over to where Mary and Cas are bathing Jack in the sink* busy. Jody: busy? you guys need help with anything? Sam: no, no we’re fine- Jack: *coos and smiles* Cas: *gasps* was that his first smile? Mary: it was! he smiled!  Dean, jumping up from where he was sitting: he’s smiling!?  Sam, hurrying over: wait, I wanna see!  Jody: ... Sam. Sam: oh- uh, heh, yes, Jody? Jody: do you have a baby? Sam: we... might.  Jody: why do you have a baby, Sam? Sam: uh, well, see it’s a long story- Dean: *laughs* look at him go! look at that little smile! Jody: oh my god I’m coming over- *hangs up* Mary: was that Jody? Sam: yep Dean: ... we completely forgot to tell the others about the baby, didn’t we? Sam: yep.  -- Dean, with Jack in his arms: Claire, you wanna hold him? Claire: uh, no thanks Dean: no, I think you wanna hold him *steps up to her* Claire, panicking: no, I really don’t- oh my god no don’t- *squeaks as Dean passes Jack to her* Dean, directing her: put your arms like that, hold his head like this- there you go! look at that, you’re holding him Claire: I hate you so much right now. *looks down at Jack with wide eyes* Jack: *stares up at her* Claire: he’s so tiny. so fragile... am I holding him right? I don’t wanna hurt him- Sam: you’re doing great, Claire. Don’t worry about it Claire: okay... can I... can I keep holding him? or- Cas: of course you can, Claire Claire: okay, thanks... *goes back to staring at Jack*  Jack: ... *pulls at Claire’s hair* Claire: ow ow ow ow okay no I changed my mind take him please now- -- Jack’s first word, or at least first coherent sound, was surprise surprise a simple drawn out “daaa”. After weeks of Dean, Sam and Mary and everyone else referring to Cas as “dada” “dad” and “daddy” to try and get Jack to say it, the moment finally happened. It came out of nowhere, in a moment where they weren’t even trying to get him to say it. Dean: *sitting on the floor, watching Jack crawl around and fiddle with his toys* Jack: *loses interest in the block he was holding, looks at Dean, giggles then disappears* Dean, scrambling to stand: shit- Cas! Jack’s flying again!  Cas, appearing before him three seconds later and holding Jack at an arm’s length: Jack, we’ve discussed this many times. You’re not to fly when I’m not in the room. Do you understand? Jack, cooing and reaching a hand towards Cas’ face: daaa Dean and Cas: ... Dean: did he just- Jack, more enthusiastically: da! Dean: he did! holy shit, Cas, he said it! he basically called you dad! he- Cas? Cas, tearing up: I believe... I am going to cry.  -- After that, Jack developed a bad habit of flying whenever he wanted to see or be held by Cas. Honestly, it got annoying at times, especially when Cas was busy with other matters. But what else were they supposed to do, let him fly around until he gave up? They did eventually solve the problem after Gabriel came back and they got some of the other angels on their side. When Cas wasn’t available, one of the other angels fetched Jack. Though, the first time Jack was caught by Gabriel and not Cas, he was extremely upset. He blew out all the lights in the bunker and shattered glass and porcelain with his cries. 

He could not be consoled for hours, not even when Cas was holding him. He latched onto Cas and cried until he was sure Cas wasn’t gone or going anywhere. He could not be separated from Cas that night, screaming whenever someone tried to take him from him. They concluded that he probably had separation anxiety since he had never really been separated from Cas before. Cas was there during the pregnancny, there when he was born, was his primary caretaker since Jack’s crying didn’t affect him like it did the humans, and he always catches him whenever he flies away. Cas was worried that Jack was going to depend too much on his grace, yet in the end Jack ended up depending too much on him.

Trying to ease Jack’s separation anxiety was a process, and a difficult one. Especially with him being a nephil. 

He seemed okay with being without Cas for an hour and a bit, so they started by increasing the amount of time that Cas is gone. Which failed because whenever Jack noticed it had been a while since he’d seen his dad, he flew away. And since they wanted to avoid another huge tantrum so soon, they let Cas fetch him. 

Ultimately, the only solution was getting other angels to catch him, and braving through the tantrums. Increasing the time in which Cas had to wait before going to Jack. It was... very, very difficult. 

Because it turned out that Jack wasn’t the only one with separation anxiety. 

They discover this fact the first time they attempt to separate them. Cas broke three minutes in, and flew to Jack with a muttered, “I’m sorry” to Dean. A collective sigh fell over the room as they looked to Cas, guiltily holding a wailing Jack. 

“Alright, then,” Dean said, scratching at the back of his head, “guess that’s just something else we gotta work on.” Cas looked to them with wide, apologetic eyes as he held Jack closer. 

From then on the “sessions”, as they started calling them, weren’t just trying to calm Jack down in Cas’ absence, but also trying to get Cas to stay put. To not cave in and go running to comfort Jack. Which was hard, seeing as Cas was an angel and didn’t really have to listen to a bunch of humans telling him “stay.” It took a lot of convincing. Convincing from Dean, mostly. Because Cas listened to Dean. For some weird reason, Dean thought. 

The third session was the most difficult one they had at that point. It was three hours into Cas being away from Jack after another angel caught him, and they were aiming for four. Dean had left Cas with Sam for a minute to get himself some water, taking Cas’ impulse control with him. When he came back, Sam was very nearly begging Cas not to leave. 

“Sam,” said Dean. “Go check on how the others are doing, will you?” Even though they could clearly tell, based on Jack’s screams echoing down the hall. 

Sam hesitated. “You- you sure-” he stopped at the flat look Dean gave him. “Right, yeah, sure thing.” Sam glanced at Cas before hurrying out of the room. 

When the door clicked shut, Cas stepped up to Dean. “Dean, I have to-”

“Sit down, Cas,” he told him, placing his glass on top of the drawers. 

Cas paused, then tensed his shoulders as a glare settled over his features. “No. Will you just let me-”

“Cas!” Dean snapped, standing straight and regarding him with a hard glare. “Sit. Down.” 

A tense silence passed between them as they glared at each other. Then, with a huff Castiel looked away and sat down on the bed. Dean dragged the desk chair to the bed and sat down, resting his elbows on his knees. 

“Now I know this is really hard for you right now, but you have to push through and stay. put. This is a good thing for Jack-”

“How!?” Cas threw his hands up, restless. “How is this a good thing for him? He’s crying, he’s inconsolable, he’s in distress. How is something that is having such a negative effect on him a good thing?” He glared at Dean as if he were challenging him to answer. 

“It may be affecting him badly now, but I promise you that this will not last forever. I know it’s hurting, but there ain’t another way for us to deal with his separation anxiety. We gotta get through the shitty stuff to get to the good results, Cas,” he reasoned, imploring Cas with his eyes to understand that this just needs to happen. 

Cas opened his mouth to reply when a particularly loud screech ripped through the air. It caused the lights in the room to flicker. Cas looked in alarm towards the door, a weak sound escaping him. He threw worried, scared, eyes towards Dean and pleaded, “my son needs me, Dean.” 

Dean sighed. Right. It seemed the only way to get Cas to stay put was to ground him through physical touch. He scooted the chair forward, reached out and tightly grasped Cas’ hands in his own. Cas’ gaze snapped down and back up, surprised. Dean ignored the look. 

“What happens if we decide to enrol him in school, huh?” he asked the angel.

Cas’ brow furrowed, momentarily confused. “What?” 

“What happens if we decide to enrol him in school?” he repeated. “Say I let you go right now, say we give up and just let you stay by Jack all the time, come whenever he calls. Okay, then what? He grows up, only knows a world where you’re always by his side. Then one day, you tell him that he has to go somewhere without you for 6 hours, everyday of every week. He reacts, only this time he knows words. He says ‘please’ and ‘no’ and ‘don’t do this, don’t leave me dad I don’t wanna go’. What then?” 

Castiel winced, his heart tightening as the image of a 6-year-old Jack begging him not to leave came to mind. “I...” he trailed off, not sure what to say. 

Dean nodded. “It would hurt a helluva lot more, wouldn’t it? Be a lot more difficult to leave once he has words to express how much he doesn’t want you to. And let’s say you don’t. Let’s say you cave in, because he’s your son and you love him and you don’t wanna see him cry. So you homeschool him, continue to stay by his side. You know what’s gonna happen? He’s not gonna be able to do anything without you, Cas. He’s not gonna know how,” he said, words clear and expression honest as he tried to get through to the angel. 

Cas lowered his gaze, narrowing his eyes as he considered Dean’s words. 

Dean suddenly laughed, bitterly saying, “I should know.”

Cas looked back up at him, tilting his head with a silent question. 

Dean sighed, his shoulders dropping. “I spent most of my life with Sammy by my side every single damn day.” Castiel’s eyes cleared with understanding, but he let the other continue. “A life with Sam in it was all I knew. When he left for college... I was a mess. A big ol’ rage-filled mess. I hated Sam for leaving me, and that’s what I thought he was doing. Leaving me. He was just trying to live his life, but... I just didn’t know how to live without him. I couldn’t. I still-” he laughed breathlessly, shaking his head before gesturing to his neck. “I still get this nervous itch when he’s away for a few days. And I’m almost forty.” 

He felt Cas’ hands tighten around his, and he shrugged off the sympathetic look the angel was giving him. He raised his brow towards him, questioning, “do you want that for Jack? For him to be crying and begging you not to go when you drop him off at school? For him to not go on any camping trips or sleepovers because he’d rather stay home with you? For him to get a nervous itch whenever you leave even though he’s a full grown adult?” 

Cas shook his head. “No... No, I don’t want that.” 

“Okay.” Dean nodded, and patted his hand once. “Then this is what you gotta do.” 

Cas nodded slowly, understanding and acceptance sinking in. The lights flickered as another one of Jack’s cries echoed through the bunker. Cas sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted. “This is... this is really hard,” he finally admitted. 

Dean gave a sad smile. He knew that. He knew how much Cas was struggling. He watched Cas look longingly towards the door, then made a decision. “C’mere.” He rose to his feet, tugging on Cas’ hands as he went. Cas hesitated, looking uncertain. “The offer’s gonna go away real quick if you don’t hurry up,” Dean warned. Cas stood and Dean wrapped his arms around him, tugging him in. Cas sagged against him with a sigh. He pressed his face into Dean’s shoulder, and his hands gripped at the back of his jacket. 

After a moment, Cas began to cry. Dean was shocked for a moment, not expecting to hear the sniffles and hitches of breath. He had seen Cas cry quite a few times since Jack was born, but he hasn’t gotten used to it yet. He quickly got over himself. This wasn’t the time to freak out. His friend needed him. He began to rub a hand over Cas’ back. “I know it’s hard, but you’re doing the right thing,” he murmured. Cas hummed in acknowledgement, but didn’t say anything. 

After another moment, Dean said, “y’know, I think I’ve seen you cry more these past few months than I have in the 12 years I’ve known you.” 

“Clearly, Jack brings out the worst in me,” Cas replied, his words muffled by Dean’s shoulder. 

Dean chuckled as a response. The two stood in each other’s arms, quiet apart from Castiel’s sniffling and Jack’s distant cries. The nephil caused the lights to flicker again with another screech, and Cas’ arms tightened around Dean. 

“How much longer?” he asked. 

Dean paused in rubbing his back to check his watch. “You got 27 more minutes to go.” 

Cas nodded. “Okay. And you’ll... stay with me?”

Dean squeezed him, then resumed rubbing circles into his back. This was unusual territory for him. A hug that’s lasted this long was rare for him. But Cas was feeling bad, feeling awful, and Dean would be damned if he let him. If Cas wants Dean to stay by his side during this, then so be it. “Of course, Cas. Of course...” 

----

Alright, that’s it for now. I got carried away ajshfkajhfaj but fuck it I’m actually invested in this AU now, dammit. This wasn’t part of the plan!!

Now to tag some lovely people <3 your comments brighten my day

@arimeii @marvelmisha @astermacguffin @cursed-byesexual @kichisk2020

[cartoonfangirl1218]

Sick Days

Obviously before Mon el admits his feelings.

So how do you feel?" Mon-el asked when he entered Kara's room.

"Sick, so so very sick. I want to die" Kara sniffled.

Mon-el patted her shoulder, and pulled the blanket over her curled up body again.

"I hope Snapper undersdands. Ugh! I forgod to dell her!" Kara cried, she struggled to get up and rush to the phone but Mon el forced her to lie down again.

"It's okay. James already made an excuse as to why you're not going." Mon el assured her

"An excuse! Bud... I'm just sick, Dan excuse wilb ondly make id worsde." Kara whined as she tried to reach for the phone again.

"No it won't. We just told him that you have wild food poisoning and are throwing up as we speak. It sounds a lot better than just a cold."

"Jusb a cold. This a Krypdoniand cold, dose are mega worsde. It's den million colds at once." Kara groaned, swiveling her head dramatically. Then she sat up.

"Whab about you! Your fake job," She cried.

Mon-el brushed a stray hair out of her face, a smile creeping on his face as he looked at her. Even though her skin was ashen, her usually bouncy blonde curls were limp and stringy and her eyes were bloodshot and her nose was as stuffed up as a Build a Bear, she was cute.

She cared about his job, she cared what her boss would think. That was true determination and loyalty. Just generally niceness. That was Kara. She may be an alien, but she could fit as the girl next door any day of the week. She was just so optimistic and cheerful, it was one of the best things he liked about her.

In fact that was why he volunteered to help stay with her today. He didn't really know how to take care of a sick person but he googled it so it seemed easy.

Now Kara was a grown woman, but she was practically useless when she was sick, physically not able to get out of bed useless, and that usually put a damper on getting lunch herself or getting dress or getting tissues when she ran out.

Alex was going to do it, but once Mon-el heard he volunteered. And insisted that Alex go do her job and he would take care of her.

Lately Mon-el had been thinking a lot about Kara. A lot. She would creep up into his mind and random parts of the day even if she wasn't in the room.

He would stare at daffodils and think "Kara would love those. The first sign of spring. What did she call them? Oh right, cups of sunshine in bloom."

To a regular person that would be cheesy but that was just Kara.

He would watch tv shows and suddenly a particular line would pop up and he would be tempted to write it down so he could tell her later.

Yeah, he had to admit it. He got it bad for the Kryptonian.

But he couldn't admit it TO her.

She was just so strong and caring and yes, that might be her point of weakness. She would care too much. And when people fell in love, those feelings only amplify and then she would be protective of him this way and that and then there would be the whole "it's not you, it's my enemies." He was aware of the danger. It still didn't mean he could get over his feelings just like that.

Especially when she sounded like that.

"I'm gonna make you some food. You stay here and start getting better." Mon-el told her. Kara did what she was told and buried her head under the pillow without a second thought.

When Mon-el came back from the kitchen, Kara had fallen off the bed, and was staring dazedly at the wall.

"Mon-el. Fuddy ting. I can'd ged up." Kara said. He could swear the stuffiness was getting worse.

He placed the bowl of piping chicken soap on the dresser and swept her up in an army lift. He gently placed her into bed, rearranged the pillows, and pulled the blanket over her again, and made sure the tissue box was close by.

"Here some soup." He handed the bowl to her and she grinned happily.

"Danks" She took a slurp of it and spewed it across the bed, coughing violently.

"Sorry! I didn'd mean do!" Kara cried, she got off the bed and was about to start wiping the blanket when she dizzily fell again.

"Kara, you rest, I got it." Mon-el said, he lifted her again and walked her to the couch in the living room.

"Sorry," she muttered again.

"No it's not your fault. Your sick. Just relax, watch some tv"

He went back to the room, stripped the sheets and managed to wrangle up some new blankets in the back of her closet.

"Danks for all dis. Really. You could be doing domthing more udful or fun than be with me." Kara blew her nose in a tissue when he handed her the box

"It's my pleasure. You do so much for everyone, and for me. It's not a big deal to care for you" Mon el replied

"Dupergirl does do a lot of duff for everyone," Kara said.

"And Kara Danvers does too." Mon-el said as he sat next to her "She makes me happy, she brightens the workroom everyday and tries to see the best in things. I really like her."

Kara blushed, and hid her face behind her blanket. James froze, did he just admit his crush? More importantly, one of the most dreaded scenarios of this whole conversation was that she was just being Kara. She was nice to everyone including him. He was no different than Winn or Cat to her. Okay maybe he was step up from being Cat in her eyes but still.

"I really like you doo," Kara mumbled shyly. Mon el' heart skipped a beat.

Mon-el put his arm around her to adjust the blanket, and she leaned his head on his shoulder.

Soon she fell asleep but he just sat there contently and grinned like an idiot.

"She likes me. "Mon-el thought "She said she REALLY likes me. She'll probably be sick tomorrow so I should probably bring her daffodils just to cheer up. Oh and I could rent a movie. Has she seen that ER show yet? Oh and some super hot fudge. Yeah, tomorrow's sick is gonna be great!"

————————————————————————————————-

No way had Mon-el thought that in his days of taking care of a sick Kara that he would get sick himself.

But here he was, in bed, freezing, his throat burning me nose so clogged up that everything he said was filled with ds and his hearing felt like he was underwater the whole time.

In Daxam the closest thing to this was the daily headache of a hangover from the late night parties. In all honesty he was pretty sure his parents wouldn't allow him to be sick on account of being ruler and all that.

He wished he could just have those hangovers now. Actually he wished for some water because his threat was not only burning but felt like a little porcupine was scratching it as well.

Then he heard the door bell ring.

"Mon-el can I come in?" A sweet voice that reminded Mon el of a angel in his sick state.

"Yeuhh" Mon-el managed to cough out.

Kara walked in. Pristine and near as usual in her cardigan and glasses. Her hair perfectly curl and seemed so soft. Mon el really liked the smell of her hair. Well, if he could smell. He remembered what it smelled like though. Like fresh apples. Wholesome and good like Kara.

"Jew divil women. Jour are dill tryin' do kill me" Mon-el mock glared when he was seized by another harsh sneeze making his threat burn more.

Kara simply shook her head as she started to take out a soup container from her bag.

"We don't know how colds affects Dazims" Mon-el groaned "Dis could kill me."

"I'm here to make sure that doesn't happen." Kara said as she opened the container, "So I made this for you."

Mon-el gave hr an genuine smile. This was the Kara he admired. Someone so willing to do things for others from saving the world to giving soup to him.

Mon-el eagerly grabbed the container, but another sneeze took him and he spill some of the hot soup on his sweat pants.

Mon-el barely concealed how much he wanted to scream with what he hoped was a manly grunt.

"Oh oh I'll take care of that" Kara quickly grabbed the tissues and dabbed at the spill. "I'll just give it you."

Mon-el cocked his head questioningly until he realized that she meant to spoon feed him.

He didn't understand why he felt so nervous about it. Maybe it was the way Kara looked at him as she put the warm soup in his mouth. Caring, focused only on him wth those piercing, kind grey eyes.

"Tank you" he croaked

Kara put a finger to his lips and Mon-el noticed even though most of his senses were dulled he could feel how smooth her skin was.

"Rest your voice."

"Bud I like talkging with jew. Jour indersing,” He smiled.

Kara turned away but Mon-el could see her bite her lips as the end of her lip curled into a half-smile.

Mon-el smiled to himself. He still had his charm. Plus he had meant what he said. She was interesting. She was bubbly, and entertaining. But she also wasn't afraid to tell him he was wrong. While that was infuriating and annoying, it also intrigued him. Years of being with complimentary bimbos made him forget that some girls were headstrong.

And Kara was plenty headstrong. She had personality. That personality made her seem full of life and vigor. And he wanted to have her next to him and feel that vigor. She was so..so complex. As Supergirl she seemed industrictable, almost unattainable but here right now. She was pure and genuine. He wanted all of it.

"You're interesting too," Kara replied.

With those words, Mon-el felt like he had been given the greatest compliment. She thought he was interesting! No one at home ever thought he was interesting. Pretty, hot, fun usually came up. But interesting never.

Mon-el finished his soup so Kara started arranging his blankets, and started a movie. "Hope you don't mind, but I thought you need to see the greatest movie of all time."

"Stard Ward" Mon-el guessed. Winn kept going on and on about how awesome Star Wars was. And it was. It had so much action and drama and even some of the planets were realistic for a human movie.

"No." Kara chirped, “The Princess Bride. I think you'll really like Ingio."

Mon-el shrugged and settled closer to the blonde. He felt hotter with her body heat next to him. It was tempting to move away but he didn't want to. She may be hot as hell but her prescnce was also comforting and warm and soft.

Mon-el dazedly opened his eyes to see moon light streaming through his windows and that the night sky was alight with the flashing lights of buildings.

"Whad happened?"

Kara leaned over him, her blonde hair brushing against his cheek. "You conked out during the commercials and it's eleven."

"Oh sstorry?" Mon-el murmeered

"It's fine." Kara smiled at him, "We can see it another time. You looked cute asleep." Then she paused and blushed as if she hadn't meant to say that last part.

Mon-el was too happy about that to tease her. "Jou lookd cute lasd week doo."

Kara put her hand to his forehead and smiled at him once more. "You're less hot. So you're probably be better soon. And not going to die." Kara added

"Good." Mon-el said "But I'm glad jou were here with me if I did."

"Me too." Kara whispered softly, "I better go now. But I'll stop by tomorrow."

"Okday" Mon-el waved as Kara left his room.

He settled himself to sleeping position once more, utterly beaming with happiness at spending an afternoon with Kara and being called cute by Kara. Kara, Kara, Kara. That was all he could think of. He never felt this way about a women before. Then again, he never met a women like her before.

The door cracked open and Kara scutler back in adorably. "Sorry just wanted to make sure you had all the blankets on you. Okay, good. Sorry. Go back to sleep, I'll see you tomorrow."

Mon-el managed to wave goodbye as the mild manner reporter went away, "I'll be waiting."

[join-the-joywrite]

For @authorpendragging

I'm going to try for something other than angst but we'll see, ig. I'm going way out of my comfort zone for this -- look at me making an effort not to make you cry akxnnsnss

Julie had had food poisoning before. Multiple times. It wasn't really cause for concern. She just wasn't observant enough sometimes, or she forgot that the container at the very bottom of the fridge was meant to be thrown out. But regardless, food poisoning was mainly just a nuisance to Julie.

That is, until she met three ghosts whose death came from bad hot dogs. Luke almost put her off sandwiches in general completely.

Now, Julie wasn't afraid of dying. No, no, she knew she would be fine. She had food poisoning before and she knew what was coming and how to help herself. What she was afraid of, was her boys finding out.

Thankfully, whatever it was that she ate wasn't too bad. She went through school and was fine all through band practice. And then the nauseating feeling plus the cramps got too much for Julie. She told her boys she wanted to work on a little bit of homework and that she was not to be disturbed. They agreed but everyone knew they'd be in her room later that night.

As she headed back to the house and straight for the bathroom, Julie hoped she'd be fine by then.

As it turns out, Julie was not fully fine by then. She ended up eating a bit of toast for supper and was reminded by both Carlos and Ray to take a bottle of water up to bed with her.

She didn't really need the reminder -- she'd been here enough times to know exactly which bottle could hold a full litre of water and which one would keep the water cool for the longest possible time. (When she was eleven, she had one marked as poopy water, to indicate she should fill that up to the top and make sure to drink all that when she had diarrhea. Rose had laughed so hard, they kept the bottle until it broke.)

So, there was Julie, curled up under her blanket with a very large sippy cup her water bottle, headphones on and watching something on her phone, periodically sipping at the water to ensure that when Ray came to bid her good night, the bottle would be at least halfway finished.

The boys poofed in without warning. Alex was the one to tell her that Carlos told them she had food poisoning.

Julie's first thought was that she was going to kick Carlos. The second was to immediately reassure them that she would be fine.

Of the three of them, it was Reggie whose expression truly stuck Julie hard. His terrified look reminded Julie of the look in his eyes when Luke almost didn't make it to the Orpheum -- but worse.

"You know I don't like being sick around people."

"Yeah, but we're not people, we're ghosts."

Julie shot Luke a glare that held very little annoyance and a lot of fondness. "Fine. I suppose you can stay."

Reggie stood behind Luke and Alex, picking at his fingernails. It was a nervous habit, so Julie learned, but one that only cropped up when Reggie was truly scared. "Are you gonna be okay?"

Luke pouted when Julie opened her arms for Reggie and let him lay with her, but he knew Reggie needed the assurance.

Julie kissed the top of Reggie's head as she held him tight. "I'm gonna be perfectly fine by morning."

"Promise?"

"Mhm."

Still, Reggie needing the assurance didn't stop Luke from getting jealous. After all, he was worried too. He jumped up and climbed onto the bed on Julie's other side. "Make room, I want a hug too."

Julie laughed softly as Luke wrapped his arms around her, forming some sort of hug chain. "You worry too much," she said, noting the fact that Alex seemed to be most calm about the whole situation. She looked up at him. "You can come down here, too. I promise to try not to barf on you."

"It's not the barfing I'm afraid of," Alex joked, receiving three glares in varying levels of disgust and annoyance. He grinned. "What? It's the truth!"

"Just shut up and come here," Julie said.

Of course, Alex was in the mood to lighten the air -- hopefully bringing a smile to Reggie's face in the process -- so he did the silliest thing he could think of and that was to throw himself over all three of them.

"And what are we gonna do when I need to go to the bathroom?"

"We'll shit on that bridge when we get to it."

"ALEX!!"

"Gross, dude."

"That was horrible."

After a moment of silence following his bad joke, Alex blew raspberry that sounded suspiciously like a fart.

"I regret saying you could stay."

But Reggie was grinning again and Julie couldn't be happier to have her boys around her, smiling and laughing.

But it didn't last long.

"Bathroom break!"

Alex made several farting sounds as Julie escaped their clutches.

"You disgust me," Luke said, staring at Alex.

Alex made another fart sound.

Reggie chuckled.

"I CAN HEAR YOU GUYS FROM THE BATHROOM, SHUT UP!"

Downstairs, Carlos and Ray shared a glance before turning up the volume on the TV. If they didn't hear the boys troubling Julie, they couldn't be held accountable for picking sides or not.

I know it's short but I wanted to do something cute & happy or just plain funny and I'm hoping I checked at least one of those boxes amdnnxjsnd its 8am and I've been up since 4 if there are mistakes in here, no there aren't shhh

Mara's masterlist

[artificialqueens]

Galactica, Chapter 65 (Group Fic) - TheDane/Veronica

A/N: Chapter 65 seems like a good time to tell you that there’s nothing we love more than talking to you guys about this story! We are both on tumblr (@theartificialdane and @veronicasanders) and we’d love to hear from you!! We also have other Galactica content there under the “galactica” and “galactica wardrobe” tags. XOXO!! Click here if you’re looking for previous chapters (or here if you’d rather read on AO3). 💫

Last Chapter: Bianca threw a wrench in the annual holiday party when she brought Courtney as her date, and Katya tried to (not) deal with her surprise pregnancy.

This Chapter: Miss Fame and the team work on the final lineup for the spring runway, and Katya figures some things out.

***

It was Violet’s luck that she was a light sleeper, the first note of her alarm barely ringing before she had grabbed her phone from under her pillow and turned it off.

There really wasn't a need for Violet to wake up at 6, for her to start her day so early since she couldn’t go to the gym because of her ankle, but habits were hard to break, and she liked how quiet the world was in the morning, how it felt like she was the only one awake.

She wasn’t hungover, had barely had a drink because of her crutches, but she had a feeling all of her coworkers would be wearing sunglasses and asking each other to shut up, the Friday after the Christmas party always an experience.

Sutan’s bedroom was dark, his curtains swallowing the ever present lights of Harlem, the man asleep next to her, his head resting on his pillow.

It took everything in Violet not to reach out and run her fingers through his hair.

She had been so annoyed with him last night, so uncomfortable in the beautiful red dress she had bought with his money, the simmering anger not leaving her until she had felt Sutan’s clever fingers undo the zipper on her back, skin against skin finally freeing her from the smoldering fire.

“Stop staring at me.” Violet froze, Sutan’s voice deep with sleep.

“I’m not.”

“Oh?” Sutan cracked an eye open, a smile playing on his lips as he reached out, grabbing her hip on top of her blanket. “Could have fooled me.”

“Well,” Violet smiled back, allowing him to pull her in, “Maybe I was. A little bit.”

***

As her alarm sounded, Courtney groaned, burying her head into Bianca’s neck. Bianca laughed, reaching over to hit snooze, giving them a few more precious minutes in bed before Courtney had to get up.

Bianca had never been much of a morning person, but she’d discovered that, in many ways, this was her favorite part of the day. When the world was dark and still, and they were curled together under the covers, naked and warm. She trailed her fingers up and down Courtney’s back, pressed a kiss to her temple.

“You okay, sunshine?” Bianca asked.

“Mmmhmm...I just don’t want to go to work.”

Bianca smiled, one hand settling into the curve of Courtney’s waist, enjoying the way they fit so perfectly together.

“Then don’t,” she stated, warming up to the idea of taking a day off, just the two of them. “Call in sick.”

“I wish,” Courtney scoffed, a deep sigh leaving her. “But I can’t, so…”

“Why not?”

“The day after a party? Everyone will think I have some crazy hangover.”

“Yeah, so?” Bianca laughed.

“Plus, I’m pretty sure Miss Fame is less than pleased with me right now. I don’t want to give her any reason to be annoyed. And there’s a big meeting to decide on the spring runway, and I have to-”

“Alright, alright...forget I suggested it,” Bianca said, holding up her hands in surrender. “I just really liked the idea of spending all day in bed with you.”

Courtney raised herself up on her elbow, gazing down at Bianca with a dreamy smile on her face.

“Maybe, um...can we do that tomorrow?”

“You’re on, angel,” Bianca said, reaching up to run her fingers through her hair.

“And...we still have about seven minutes before the alarm goes off again.” Courtney brushed her lips against Bianca’s neck, murmuring, “You wanna go back to sleep, or…?”

“Hmmm...” Bianca cocked her head, pretending to think. “I may have some other ideas…”

Courtney let out a delighted squeal as Bianca flipped her onto her back with a wicked grin.

***

Maxwell groaned as a loud clatter sounded through the design floor.

“Sorry!” Kiara whisper-shouted, quickly picking up the pair of scissors she had dropped. Trixie had gone to the department head meeting about 20 minutes ago, which meant that everyone had given up the pretense that they were working. Alexis had gone straight for the couch to take a nap as soon as the door had closed behind him, April still nursing a terrible-looking green smoothie at her desk. “Sorry everyone!”

“Don’t even think about it girl!” Bob smiled, his phone pressed between his shoulder and his ear, and Maxwell groaned again, sliding down so he could rest his head on his arms, Bob chatting away.

He loved his boyfriend, he really did, but there were few things more annoying than when Bob had managed to get into any tabloid, the perceived fame of it always going directly to his head. And of course, it was made even worse by his friends and family back home in Georgia playing right into it, acting as if it meant anything at all.

“Listen, I didn’t ask to be born fabulous, but it’s my cross to bear, and I’m-” Bob laughed, adding, “Exactly!”

“He’s really getting into it, huh?” Maxwell looked up to see Violet standing next to his desk, looking over at Bob, Jovan at her side holding three cups of coffee.

“Here,” Jovan smiled, giving one of them to Maxwell, the scent filling his nose.

“Oh god I love you,” Maxwell grinned, taking the liquid magic. It was probably not healthy to be on his third cup already, but he didn’t care.

“Love you too boo,” Jovan grinned, taking a seat on the edge of his desk, Violet doing the same, balancing her crutch so she could take her own cup. They didn’t talk, and Maxwell loved that, Violet fitting so nicely into their little boys club that he barely even thought about the fact that she was a girl and straight most days.

***

“Pearl! Pay attention!”

Pearl snapped out of it, the wheels of her chair squeaking as she moved, her eyes wide open at the commanding tone in Fame’s voice.

“Sorry!” Pearl sat up straight, Bendela hiding a snicker behind a sketchbook, her brown eyes clearly filled with delight over Pearl getting reprimanded.

“God,” Fame rolled her eyes, her hand on her hip, her outfit of the day a white cropped cashmere sweater and white linen high waisted pants, her blonde hair in a high delicate updo, a golden belt snug around her waist. “Did anyone come to work today?”

If they had been alone, Pearl would have opened her mouth to point out that she was the one who always arranged for the Christmas party to be on a Thursday, but they weren’t, so Pearl kept her mouth shut.

“Fame,” Raja’s voice was warm, and it apparently functioned just as intended, her tone a soothing balm on whatever had Fame into such a tizzy. “We’re almost done.”

If Pearl had to make an educated guess, she’d say it was probably the whole Courtney and Bianca thing, though it could be anything from her breakfast grapefruit not being ripe to morning traffic to a photographer catching a bad angle of her last night.

“You’re right,” Fame sat back down, sliding her chair over to Trixie. “So, fourth look. What do you have?”

“I was thinking about these pants?” Trixie held out a sketch, and Pearl folded her hands over her stomach, watching her best friend do his job exceptionally well.

Fame tapped her fingers against the table, french tips hitting the wood and Pearl made a mental note to see if she could sneak in a visit to Fame’s office, providing their boss with an orgasm before lunch a great Christmas gift to everyone in the company.

***

V-List Alert: BDR’s Latest Blonde Bombshell

[Pictured: A large photo of Bianca and Courtney kissing on the red carpet, along with a few smaller shots of them looking giggly and affectionate. And lastly, a grainy, low-res photo of them on the street after the event, kissing while a driver is opening the car door.]

Well, well, well…

Okay, so to begin with, let’s all admit that BDR showing up on a red carpet with some sweet young thing is nothing new. In fact, it would be strange if she didn’t. But the shameless PDA last night at Galactica’s annual Christmas party—both on and off the carpet—had us wondering...who the hell is the new paramour?

We did a bit of digging and strap in kids, cause it gets juicy…

Turns out that this little darling is named Courtney Jenek. Sound familiar? No? Yeah it shouldn’t. But she happens to have two very interesting connections to BDR: 1, apparently she’s friends with B’s baby sister, princess of the underground punk scene Adore Delano. And 2, even more hilariously, Lil Courtney here is the Executive Assistant to none other than Miss Fame of Galactica.

Wonder what the illustrious and brand-conscious Miss Fame thinks of her bestie using her staff in what appears to be an extremely filthy unprofessional way? And how’s it all gonna play out?

We can’t wait to watch this drama unfold…

***

As Courtney slipped on her coat and grabbed her bag to head downstairs for yet another coffee run, she glanced at her personal phone, laughing to herself when she saw the 17 missed calls from Morgan. She scrolled through the text messages in the elevator.

MORGAN: COURTNEYYYYYYYY!!!

MORGAN: OMG PICK UP

MORGAN: WERE YOU PLANNING TO TELL US YOU’RE FUCKING BIANCA DEL RIO?????

TYRA: She’s WHAT

ADORE: You guys didn’t know? ;)

TATIANNA: Yawn, old news :p

MORGAN: BITCH

MORGAN: COURTNEY I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DON’T PICK UP

MORGAN: COURTNEYCOURTNEYCOURTNEYCOURTNEYCOURTNEY

Courtney called her back, laughing some more when she picked up even before the first ring.

“You know I’m working, right?”

“I am going to murder you,” Morgan announced.

“Wow Morgan. A hate crime? I really thought more highly of you,” Courtney replied with a giggle.

“Omigod, shut up! How could you not have told me already?!”

“Well...I don’t know, I wasn’t sure what it was at first-” she said.

“It’s still fucking major!” Morgan laughed. “I guess it makes sense, though. God, you always chose the worst men.”

Courtney chuckled, nodding as she exited the elevator and headed for the coffee shop.

“So what did your parents say?”

“Uhhh...I haven’t exactly told them yet.”

“Courtney!”

“What? It’s not gonna be dramatic or anything, you know my brother’s gay.”

“Omigod, Court, you absolute idiot. You have to-”

“One sec.” Courtney lowered her phone to give the orders for the meeting, then went back to the phone. “Sorry, I’m on a coffee run.”

“Yeah, I heard. Listen, Courtney, you have to tell them! Do you really want them to find out that you’re dating a woman who’s almost twice your age from a fucking tabloid?”

“I don’t think my parents subscribe to American fashion blogs.”

“Did you even read the link I sent you?! Someone’s gonna send it to them, trust me.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll tell them,” Courtney told her with an eye roll. She really didn’t see the big deal though; telling her parents was the last thing on her list of worries at the moment.

“Also…” Morgan’s voice lowered, taking on a sing-song, teasing tone now that the business was out of the way, “When are we hanging out? ‘Cause you know I absolutely need all the sordid details.”

“Soon, I promise.”

“Tomorrow night?”

“I’m kind of busy tomorrow,” Courtney admitted.

“Busy getting railed, you mean?”

“Maybe…”

“Ha, you slag.”

***

Maybe she was avoiding going home. That was certainly possible. But on Friday, Katya just seemed to keep finding things to do to prepare for the next week of school. It would be their last week before winter break, so she knew that any kind of serious learning would be difficult. Rather than spend her time fighting with the kids to focus when they just weren’t capable of it, she planned as many fun projects as possible, and though a lot of them were old hat for her by now, the prep work never seemed to end.

Which is why, when Jasmine, the woman who ran the afterschool program, came to her door at almost 6:45, she was still there.

“Hey, I’m sorry to bother you…”

“It’s no bother, come on in,” Katya said, a big smile on her face, especially when she saw that Jasmine had Grace with her--one of Katya’s favorite students.

“You know we close at 6, and Grace’s mom is running late today,” Jasmine said. Her tone of voice was light and cheerful, but her eyes told Katya a different story--that this wasn’t the first time it had happened, and that she was likely furious. “I gotta get home, and Dani’s out with the flu, so...do you mind keeping her here until Leslie shows up? It should be soon, she texted me ten minutes ago that she’s on the way.”

“No problem. We’ll have a great time, won’t we Grace?”

The little girl nodded, skipping into the classroom happily.

“You’re a lifesaver,” Jasmine said. “Thank you!”

Katya turned to Grace, who had dumped her jacket and backpack on the rug and was already prowling around the book bins, likely looking for her favorite Junie B. Jones stories. Soon, the two of them were settled into bean bag chairs in the comfy zone, Katya reading a few chapters out loud to her before realizing that she was probably hungry and suggesting a snack. Grace was just finishing her juice box and goldfish crackers when her young mother, Leslie, came rushing inside, harried and out of breath, apologizing profusely.

“Mama!” Grace jumped up from her seat at the little table, knocking the chair over in her excitement to leap into her mom’s arms. She hugged her tightly, face buried in her neck, and Katya could see some of the tension in Leslie’s face melt away.

Katya stood up from her own seat, picking up the book they’d been reading.

“I’m gonna put this book in Grace’s backpack so that you can finish it together this weekend,” she said, and Leslie shot her a look of pure gratitude, nodding.

“Grace, can you say thank you to Mrs. Zamo?”

“Thank you Mrs. Zamo!” she echoed cheerfully, taking the backpack and her jacket as Leslie dropped a kiss to the top of her head.

“Honey, can you go wait for me on the bench for a minute?” she asked, tugging gently on one of her pigtails.

“Okay!”

As Grace skipped into the hallway to wait, Leslie turned to Katya, tears filling her eyes.

“I’m really so sorry about being late, I-”

“It’s okay,” Katya said, head tilted sympathetically. “I get it, things happen.”

“It’s been happening all week. I got this new job, and the hours are so tough and the commute is shit, but it’s an extra two dollars an hour and I can’t say no to that. But I just feel like...I feel like I can’t do anything right.”

“I understand,” Katya nodded, putting a hand on her arm. The truth was, though, she didn’t understand. Not really. She’d never been in a position where an extra two dollars an hour would make such a big difference in her life--not even when her dad cut her off. She’d always had money, and by the time her trust fund was depleted, she was living with Trixie, whose generous salary more than covered what they needed, her meager teacher’s salary mostly paying for fun extras, keeping them entertained and living their best lives, or just going in the bank.

She knew she was lucky, but until that moment, seeing the pain in Leslie’s eyes, the fear that she was failing at life and failing her child, maybe she didn’t understand just how lucky.

“I was sitting on the bus thinking about her waiting and waiting, wondering where I was.”

“Can I tell you something?” she asked softly. “Grace didn’t care that you were late, she was just happy to see you when you got here, because it’s really obvious what a good mom you are.”

“Sometimes I feel like the worst mom ever,” Leslie admitted, tears spilling down her cheeks.

“No way. Grace is an amazing kid. She’s smart and kind and enthusiastic--and it’s totally okay if you need some more help. That’s what all of us are here for. I can talk to Jasmine about maybe extending the hours next week, until you can get your schedule sorted. Or maybe Grace can go home with Joey’s mom...don’t you all live in the same building?”

Leslie nodded, a deep sigh leaving her. “Thanks, that’s a good idea. I...I’ll figure it out.”

“Okay. Just remember that you’re not in this alone, you know?” Katya handed over a box of tissues from her desk.

“Yeah. Thanks. Sorry, I-” Leslie wiped her eyes.

“Don’t be sorry,” Katya said, giving her a warm hug.

***

“Oh god!” Gigi groaned, pushing the door to the modeling apartment open, her shoulders aching, her fingertips numb. “Finally!” She dumped her bags down in the hallway, slumping against the wall.

She had been around the town with Sutan all day, shopping for what he called a model wardrobe, Gigi trying on several pairs of heels and flats, her new backpack and purse stuffed with a newly printed book and her brand new phone, their last stop of the day Gigi’s new gym that was just around the corner.

“Gigi?” Bimini popped her head out of the kitchen door, the golden rim around her eyes and her crimped hair clear indicators that meant she had been shooting, Bimini rarely bothering with removing hair and makeup on set. “Welcome home sweetie! How did it go?”

“I’m exhausted!” Gigi pushed out from the wall and kicked her sneakers off. “Who knew shopping could be that hard?”

Gigi heard Symone giggle, her friend sitting at the table and painting her nails, the apartment's newest arrival chopping vegetables for whatever vegan crock pot Bimini was cooking for everyone. They had someone new arrive every couple of days, most girls only staying for a night or two in the bunk beds in what Naomi had dubbed the summer camp room before they were shipped off again if they didn’t interest any of the agents.

“I told you, didn’t I?”

“I know,” Gigi groaned, dumping down in a chair to rest her aching feet, “but I thought you were kidding.” Symone had gone on the trip two weeks ago, her Instagram exploding with content now that she had a brand new phone to post with.

“Did he give you the drink speech too?”

She had eaten lunch with Sutan at an awkwardly fancy restaurant, three sets of cutlery surrounding her plate, her manager going through each set as well as her wine glasses, explaining it to her. Gigi’s mom had always insisted on good manners, but it hadn’t been anything like that.

“The ‘never leave your drink unattended’ one, I mean.”

“Mmh,” Gigi nodded. “The whole entire speech.”

She hoped it’d be unnecessary, but Sutan had run her through what he called the basic safety procedures like putting a hand or a napkin over her glass when she wasn’t paying attention, her manager drilling it into her skull that she shouldn’t accept poured drinks or opened bottles from strangers in clubs unless she saw the bartender prepare it.

“Is he seriously doing all that?” Naomi raised an eyebrow. “So far, all my agent has told me is that if I showed up in any tabloid looking messy, he’d drop my ass.”

Suddenly, Sutan’s mothering didn’t feel as smothering, the attention and assistance the man had poured over her nothing compared to the terrifying thought of being left basically on her own like Naomi.

***

At first, Katya wasn’t sure why she stopped at Macy’s on the way home. Especially now, on a Friday night during the holiday season, when the sales clerks were at their most frazzled.

She wandered around, unable to get Grace and Leslie out of her mind...and in particular, the look of pure joy on Grace’s face when her mother appeared in the doorway. Leslie was a single mom, and by the look of her, she was pretty young, but she had managed to raise an exceptional kid who was sure how much she was loved.

Why was Katya so afraid of having a baby? It was like she’d told Leslie--she wouldn’t be doing it alone. Not by a long shot. No, she was fortunate to have the most wonderful man in the universe by her side. And lord knew, Trixie would make up for any maternal instincts she may lack herself. And plenty of people, people much less capable and loving than her, had babies every day.

She stopped, looking around, realizing that she’d found herself in the baby department. Specifically, in front of a shelf full of tiny little infant shoes. She smiled to herself, knowing exactly what she needed.

When she arrived home, she was thrilled to see that Trixie had prepared dinner, heating up some leftover chicken and mashed potatoes and throwing together a salad--exactly what she was in the mood for.

She smiled when she saw him, announcing, “I brought you a present.”

Trixie’s face lit up, and for a split second she could imagine that exact same expression of joy on a tiny child, the thought making her insides warm as she handed him the little bag.

He looked inside, where the two tiny pink moccasin slippers sat in their plastic box, his head then snapping up to look at her with an expression of amazement.

“Kat, are you-” His eyes were bright with tears, hopeful but still a bit tentative.

She shrugged slightly, self-consciously, afraid to say what she’s been thinking out loud, but Trixie seemed to know anyway.

He rushed forward and swept her up into the biggest, tightest hug she’d ever had, repeating over and over how wonderful she was going to be. She took his face in her hands, kissing his tear-stained cheeks, finally sure that as a team, they could do it.