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xdomi-nationx-old · 2 years

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I Don’t Know About You - Grace & Max (Part 1)

Who: Max and Grace ( @gracevandixn )

When: September 28th - September 30th

Where: Los Angeles, CA and surrounding areas

Description: After growing closer via text, Max shows up in LA to see Grace unannounced. The two come to realize that feelings were present on both sides after spending time together and growing even closer.

Triggers: Mentions of type 1 diabetes, celiac disease

Disclaimer: I did my best to be accurate based on what i was able to find through google (i know it’s not always correct) and what Max himself has spoken about in interviews and in his book! He’s very open about his health in real life and it felt wrong to not acknowledge it here. Title based on the song “I Don’t Know About You” by Chris Lane

MAX: If Max was being perfectly honest, this might have been his worst idea to date. Half of his teammates had travelled to Detroit, but he wasn't on the roster for the game tonight - so instead of holing up at his apartment in downtown Chicago, he'd packed up a bag and opted for Los Angeles instead. Best case scenario, he'd be able to actually meet Grace, the two seeming to have really hit it off over text the past few days. If she was entirely weirded out by his sudden appearance, he could always just go home again, or meet up with a friend or two in the area. It was risky, and maybe a bit creepy if he was honest, but something in him couldn't let go of the idea that he just had to meet her. He was nervous, and his palms were sweaty as he walked out of the airport with Orion in tow; unsure if that was just nerves or a lingering side effect from the low he'd encountered on his flight. It didn't much matter, he supposed, he felt fine now and made it through the airport without incident. Now came the hard part, telling her he was there instead of Detroit like he'd said he'd be. GRACE: Learning that Max hadn't gone to Detroit, but to her own back garden, had made Grace feel very... Confused. A happy kind of confused, because that had been the main emotion when the hockey player was concerned, some kind of happiness and butterflies in her stomach, but why had he not gone to Detroit? Was he really not going to the game? It filled Grace with curiosity, but all of a sudden, she realized she would be able to curb that curiosity, and every other curious thought she had about him, face to face. For once, she wouldn't have to awkwardly ask via text what his favorite color was and other banal and silly things Grace wanted to know about him. So, after letting him know he could stop over in her house and she could drive them around with the dogs to a nice spot for a walk, she made her way to the shower very quickly and readied herself for when the hockey player arrived, knocking at her door and she opened it with a shy smile "Hey!" MAX: He'd caught an Uber from the airport to the address Grace had texted him, and after what felt like forever, they'd finally made it. He gathered his bag and his backpack before heading up to the door with Orion; feeling even more nervous now than he had before. He was hoping they'd ended up at the right address, or it was sure to be awkward....though, if he was honest it would probably be awkward anyway. He couldn't help the sigh of relief when the door opened and she was actually behind it. "Hi." He said softly, rubbing the back of his neck - Orion sitting right next to him. GRACE: They were both apparently just naturally awkward people. For some reason, the nice and outgoing Grace that came out while meeting new people had hulled back into her shell and she felt like a child in the first day at school, shy about making friends and talking to people. As soon as his face came into frame, all she could think of was that the light blue in his eyes looked a lot brighter than it did in pictures. "Hey..." She repeated herself, stepping aside and letting him into the house "Come in" She said, waiting until they were inside to close the door and bend down to give the dog a pat on the head "Hey buddy... I've heard a lot about you, wonderdog" She said with a little laugh, looking up at Max through the corner of her eye "Baby's in his crate in the living room, I figured it could be a lot for him if he just got attacked with all the puppy energy" MAX: He had never been one to be shy, that just wasn't his personality, but something about Grace had him feeling that way. He offered her a little smile, stepping inside and setting his bag down; backpack still across his shoulders as he unhooked Orion's leash. "thanks..." he said softly, before nodding when she said her dog was in his crate. "I don't think he'd mind, honestly. but this will give them a chance to sniff each other out for a second before we bring your pup out of his crate" he added, watching as she gave Orion some love. GRACE: Standing back up, Grace started second guessing herself for a second. Had she put too much thought into this? Was this too much? She could be a bit much at times, but she didn't wanna seem overbearing or like she.... For some reason expected more than anything out of this. Because she didn't... She'd convinced herself she did't. "Sure... Do you wanna like, rest? Or are you ready to go?" The mention of rest brought his health into her mind "Oh do you... Like... Need anything? Like... Medi-That's not, I don't have any medicine, but like, do you, like, need to eat anything?" She was pacing on herself, her mind heading to the kitchen but her body just unable to move, until she realized how silly she probably looked, her cheeks flushing a light pink "I'm sorry, you probably know yourself and like, you, better than anyone..." MAX: He couldn't help but laugh at her rambling, before stopping himself "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh..." he said softly "you're totally fine, I think i'm okay for now though. I went a little low on the flight but i took care of that already" he explained, unable to notice the light pink of her cheeks. In all honesty, it felt kind of....nice, that she was so concerned. "and i always keep snacks on me anyway, that's what the backpack is for" he added after a moment, giving her another smile. "but we can definitely go whenever you're ready" GRACE: He laughed and she didn't necessarily feel bad, she just laughed along with him. She knew how stupid she'd looked, how silly, but it was just how she was. Unbearably caring and worrying about the ones she cared for. Nodding her head at the explanation, she took in a deep breath "Alright, good. Let's go then, let me go... Get the chaos" she said with a little laugh. Making her way to the living room, she let the tiny dog out of the cage, harness and leash in hand, and took him on her arms to meet Max and Orion. "Everyone, this is Baby... For now" She said slowly kneeling down in front of the retriever to let him sniff the puppy out "I apologize beforehand for all the annoying puppyness, Orion" she said with a laugh. MAX: "That's what you should name him, Chaos" he teased, bending down to reattach Orion's leash. He watched as the older dog sniffed at the puppy, before sitting once again and staring up at him "he's like 'okay dad, I like the little one we can go now'" he teased, pulling open the door for her once she'd gotten the dog ready to go out. "You just got him, yeah?" GRACE: Grace laughed, nodding her head as she held the dog "Yeah! Would you like that?! Agent of Chaos, little one" She said, kissing the dog on the head before putting it down next to Orion. Once Max had translated for him, which made Grace laugh, she slipped the harness and leash on her dog and stood up "Yeah, just when I got back from Toronto. My dad has a dog, but I never had one just myself" She said, grabbing her little bag and car keys "Mhm... Where do you wanna go? You kinda have to drive if you wanna go for a nice walk... But we could walk to the Observatory, we may get there for sunset, it's a really nice view of LA" MAX: "Does he get in a lot of trouble? I can understand that though, thats kinda why Carlin got Dilly - dad had Phoebe and i had Orion." He said with a laugh, following her to the car. He shrugged, getting Orion in the backseat "honestly, you know the area way better than I do, wherever you think is best is perfectly fine with me" he said softly "the observatory sounds perfect" GRACE: Grace looked sideways and down at the little dog prancing around and chewing on the leash, rolling her eyes at his question "Well, he hasn't been home with me for a very long time, but I've been informed he's chewed on a lot of chair legs and peed on several carpets, so..." Her voice rung with laughter as they got into the car. Bringing the dog up with her in her arm, she then stared backwards at Orion laying down calmly "Do you... Should I?" She asked, once again stepping on her words and laughing "Do you mind carrying him? I don't want him to exhaust Orion before he's even started the walk" She said as she deposited the dog on Max's lap and started the drive towards Santa Monica. MAX: He shook his head at that with a laugh, "I bet you're a little scamp, aren't you buddy?" He teased, nodding slightly when she put the puppy in his lap. The little guy was full of energy, that was for sure, but he was a sweet little thing too; eventually curling up on his lap, after attacking his face with several licks. "I don't think he'd exhaust Orion, but I don't mind holding him" he said softly, gently scratching between the puppy's ears as they drove along. There were long periods of silence as they drove but it felt, comfortable. GRACE: Grace smiled graciously as he took the dog and she started to drive. She caught herself trying to take a look at him, and the turns and twists her heart did every time she caught him looking back, you wouldn't believe it. The LA traffic was always reliable to make any journey longer, but between a few comments at the music and the amount of cars on the road, they made it. It seemed to be kinda empty, and she enjoyed the privacy as she got out of the car, crossing her bum bag over her chest and accepting the dog from Max once he was out "Alright Baby, go wild" she unlocked the long leash and let the puppy run wild through the trail, trusting the lock on the leash would make him stop eventually, as the pair started walking "So, how come you ended up in LA instead of Detroit?" MAX: The drive had taken a while, but he didn't really mind it - catching her looking at him every so often on their journey. Once he got out of the car, he handed the puppy back to her; laughing softly when the little guy took off to down the trail, Orion jumping out of the back seat and walking at a much more leisurely pace next to him. He shrugged when she asked how come he was in LA instead of Detroit "I dunno, I just. . ." He started, feeling his face get hot "I've really liked talking to you. . .and I kinda wanted to properly meet you. So I figured. Maybe I'd just come here for a couple days." He said softly, feeling incredibly awkward now "I have friends out here too, so I was planning to see them if you were too weirded out by me just showing up" GRACE: Grace looked at the pup go wild on the trail, sniffing around like it was his job, and Orion trailing on Max's left and paying good attention at his dad. It was kind of endearing, really. She listened to him answer her question, and even if it was the answer she kinda knew was coming, it still made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. Trying to think about how to answer without sounding too weird, she smiled "I'm glad you came... Even if it's just for this walk" She said with a little smile and a shrug "I really liked talking to you too, so yeah... Glad you came" She said with a chuckle "Friends? Like hockey people?" MAX: "I'm probably gonna hang around until Friday afternoon" he said with a shrug, smiling a little when she said she liked talking to him too. "No, not hockey people. I don't know too many people out here" he said softly "did you have a good morning?" He asked after a moment, laughing when he noticed the puppy still snooping around like crazy. GRACE: Friday. Okay, that was a lot longer than she was expecting him to. She thought it was a one day kind of thing... Should she tell him to stay over in her guest room? Or like, ask him where he was gonna stay? Future Grace issue, she'd figure that out later, for now she was just enjoying the view and listening to him talk about his friends "Oh really? I guess.. You'd have friends like, life friends" She said with a laugh and a shrug. Nodding at his question, Baby tugged on her lead and she laughed, feeling the pull on her shoulder "It was really good. My agent came home for breakfast to go over all the things we'd spoken about in our meeting, make sure all the dates are squared off and whatnot, then I had dinner, I was gonna work out but... Then... Well, I guess this counts as a workout" She said with a little laugh "How about yours?" MAX: "Sounds like you were really productive today eh?" He asked, laughing softly "this definitely counts as a workout, 100%" he added before shrugging "pretty good, I had practice this morning and then I kinda just hung around my apartment until we came out here" being around her was....easy, it felt entirely normal in a way it probably shouldn't have GRACE: Grace smiled and shrugged a little at his mention of productivity "I'm usually up kinda early and I start doing things right away because if I don't, I feel like I've lost the whole day, I'm definitely a morning person" She reasoned while keeping an eye on the dog and hearing about his day. "You had practice and still didn't go to play the game?" She asked. There was so much about the daily parts of his life that felt completely foreign. She'd dealt with movie stars and singers, but athletes were something completely new to her "Did you know beforehand you weren't gonna play? Or did you find out yesterday after the game? Which by the way... It was really cool, but it went straight over my head" She passed her hand over her blonde hair, making a whooshing sound as she laughed. MAX: "I'm definitely not a morning person" he shot back with a laugh before nodding "yeah, we knew last night that they were going to send the other half of the squad for tonight. We'll have just one team when the regular season rolls around but camp and preseason is meant to help the coaching staff and management settle on the roster." He said with a shrug, smiling a little as she ran her hand over her head "yeah? I think you'll start to understand more if you keep watching" he said softly, running his fingers through his hair GRACE: Grace looked at him and smiled "I mean, if my mornings started with training six million hours a day, I wouldn't be a morning person either, kid" The nickname just... Fell through. She thought it'd be harder in person, but for some reason, it's like she'd gotten used to it. Nodding her head when she understood how the team dynamic was, she hummed along "Well at least you had a little bit of time to plan the trip and not even let me know" She narrowed her eyes at him playfully and bumped her side onto his gently. He didn't move a bit. Not even an inch. "Yeah, you think so?" She said, looking up at him a little "There were so many words that I couldn't even begin to understand, but I guess it's just... Getting familiar with the terms, right?" MAX: "Well, yeah. I didn't want you to be disappointed if I said I was coming and then didn't show up or something." He started, mentally face palming at that "not that I thought you'd be disappointed. I don't know why I said that just ignore me" he added before laughing softly when she tried to bump him before shrugging "yeah, it's basically just the terms and stuff. It can take time but it's not that hard once you get into it" GRACE: Aha! He also said stupid things, good one Gracie, it wasn't you this time. She laughed along lightly "I mean, I would've been disappointed, sure, but like, you got stuff to do and people to see, so I would've understood" She'd never thought she'd be meeting Max and seeing him face to face for at least a month or so. She was busy with work and streams, and he was busy with being an athlete in general, so it could've very well happened. And she liked him, he was fun to talk to, but she would've never suggested him to come, his days probably were scheduled to the minutes for a pee break. "But I'm glad you're here" She finished off with a little nod and another smile towards him. "Not that hard, says the guy who's been living and breathing it since he was born" She joked "Was it everything you wanted it to be? Playing hockey for a living, making an impact with your health to like, inspire other people?" She asked curiously out of nowhere. MAX: "Alright alright, I guess you have a point" he said with a laugh when she mentioned living and breathing it since the day he was born "it is though, yeah. This was all I ever wanted to do, for as long as I could remember. I started skating when I was 2 and a half, and my mom actually technically lied about how old I was. My older sister was taking lessons and the instructor saw how excited I was and said they had room in the class if she wanted to enroll me too. My mom told them I was only 2 and half, and she thought kids had to be 3. She said the instructor looked at her and asked her again and she got the hint and said "3. Max is 3." So I started the lessons the next week. It was my favorite thing in the world. . .still is. But when I was diagnosed, the first thing I asked and the only thing I cared about was if I could still play hockey. Doctor told me I could and that was enough for me. I'm really fortunate to have the opportunity now to be someone kids can look up to, in the same way I looked up to Bobby Clarke. I remember getting to meet him years and years ago, it was literally all of two minutes and he probably didn't think anything of it but it meant the world to me, so i try to do that for kids now." He rambled before shrugging a bit "i just figure, it's not something thats ever gonna go away and sitting around feeling sorry for myself won't help so I may as well use it for good." GRACE: Grace looked up and listened to him while he spoke, taking little breaks to see where the dog was on in the path. They were maybe halfway up the hill, and the more they went up, the more tired he was getting, but he was still a few feet ahead of them, sniffing around and marking everywhere. Whenever she looked at Max, however, she felt a little bit mesmerized by how she could hear the passion and the love for what he did, the struggles he went through and how he not only overcame it but turned it into a learning experience and a positive outcome for him and others like him "That's... really inspiring" She said with a nod, looking ahead for a moment to collect her thoughts and taking a breath "It's really amazing, like, you turned all of that into something that made you stronger and like, made you more aware of yourself and your limitations, but you used it to make yourself better while still being healthy, I think it's kind of amazing" She needed to stop complimenting him or else it'd turn weird, so she just clammed up. MAX: "It's hard hearing you're 'sick' and never going to 'get better'" he said softly before shrugging again "but luckily it's something that can be manageable, as long as you stay on top of it. I'm pretty good about listening to my body and knowing my limits now, but I definitely pushed it way too far on more than a few occasions when I was younger. It's not fun, i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy but in some ways its been a blessing in disguise because I was forced to really learn my body and recovery and how to take care of myself early on and be disciplined." He ran his fingers through his hair GRACE: She felt far away from any kind of that reality, but she enjoyed listening to him speak about his health and how much he'd learned from his own path, his own mistakes, and now knew how to be better "Yeah, I mean, to a much lesser extent, but it's like with other things in life when you're a teenager, you try and push it as far as you can until one day you're like 'well, that was lucky, better not do that again or I could not be as lucky' and you find a limit" She remembered stupid anecdotes from when she was a teen with a smile these days "Plus, you got that guy on your side, what could go wrong, right, bud?" Her eyes fell onto Orion with a big smile. MAX: "I used to lie about where I was at, blood sugar wise and we had way too many close calls where I was low after games so my parents were like "don't just ask where he's at, look at the monitor" but I'd put hard candies in my mouth against my cheek to try and cheat the tests" he shook his head "and then there was the one game in juniors where I had to sit it out. It was February and freezing cold, I got on the bus and put a show on the iPad, curled up and fell asleep, without eating the meal our trainer had given me. By the time we got to the arena, the boys knew something was wrong because I still hadn't gotten off the bus. I had gone low in my sleep. Our trainer came back on and gave me a shot of glucagon and that wasn't enough. Luckily that league, every arena they'd have an ambulance on hand for games, and it was right next to our bus, paramedics had to come and get me into the ambulance and give me another round of glucagon. I was really out of it, but I'd mostly recovered by the time we got to the hospital." He rambled on, before laughing softly when she mentioned Orion "yeah, if only I had him back then." GRACE: Grace flinched at every part of the story and sighed. It was definitely something that she understood, lying to not get told off or not having to take whatever medication you had to, and when you're a kid, you don't really see the finality in it, so why bother? "Oh God, you... Must've been a real nightmare" She said with a shake of her head and laughed "But good thing everyone knew better than to think you'd overslept in there" She said "And had you had that one, you wouldn't have been able to lie and cheat your way through tests" Her finger pointed at the dog. After a few more turns, the pair made it up to the top, the park with the observatory building behind them and the landscape in front. She reeled her dog closer and clipped the leash, making sure he stayed close and didn't annoy other dogs or people, and walked over to the viewing points "It's kind of a lot to walk, but it's gorgeous, isn't it?" MAX: "I scared the absolute hell out of my teammates, thats for sure. And the trainers and doctors wouldn't let me play that night, which sucked. But yeah, the boys kinda knew something was wrong when I was drenched in sweat, just staring straight ahead and not acknowledging they were talking." He said with a shrug, smiling a little when she brought the puppy in closer "definitely a long walk" he agreed, "but it's beautiful up here" he added after a moment, staying close to her as Orion opted to lay at his feet GRACE: Grace's big eyes grew wider when he brought up the team not letting him play "Well, considering you had to get rushed to the paramedics, I think it would've been a great idea to not let you play... Which sucked" She quoted him with a laugh, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. Boys and their sports. Looking at the bigger dog, Baby mimicked Orion and sat down by him, and Grace felt an overwhelming amount of happiness to be there, especially with Max. The sun had already started to set, and she watched it keep sinking as some sort of magnetic pull made her bare arm brush against his a few times, straightening up after every one and blushing a little bit. "What are... Did you have any plans? For later?" She asked without turning to him. MAX: "I mean, yeah I guess being so low I was almost unconscious is probably a good reason to hold me out of a game" he joked, looking down at both of the dogs for a moment before turning his attention to the sunset. He shrugged slightly, humming softly when she asked what his plans were "haven't really thought about it, honestly" he said softly "I kinda just made the trip on a whim, really" he added with an awkward laugh. GRACE: "As good a reason as any, I guess" She joked along with him and rolled her eyes. Nodding when he mentioned he hadn't thought about it, Grace swallowed a little, trying to take a deep breath and find some courage. This was just friends. They were friends, getting to know each other, and just hanging out "Do you wanna stay for dinner?" The Mulan scene came fresh into her mind and she swore to herself she wouldn't quote it. Instead, she turned to him and gave him a little shy smile. MAX: He was almost a little shocked when she asked if he wanted to stay for dinner, laughing softly "would you like to stay forever?" He joked, before shaking his head "yeah, dinner sounds great babe." He answered seriously, giving her a little smile in return. The 'babe' had slipped out, almost effortlessly. GRACE: He did it! Grace gasped and looked at him with surprised eyes, laughing and smiling like a child "No joke, that's like, one of my favorite movies!" She said with a laugh. Hearing him call her babe felt ten times better than over text, and her stomach was just full of butterflies at this point, it was gonna make her sick. "Alright, dinner and I'll let you go afterwards, so you can see other friends, I won't keep you hostage" She said with a little smile. The sun slowly begun to hide on the horizon, and the actress took a deep breath "I love this" MAX: "I can't say I'd mind if you kept me hostage" he replied without a thought, mentally facepalming when he realized what he'd said; immediately changing the subject back to the sunset "its really nice, isn't it? Definitely worth the thousand miles you made me walk" he teased GRACE: Grace nodded her head with an interesting look on her face "Mhm, noted.. Noted" She looked pensive "I've been needing someone to do some heavy lifting and moving furniture around" She laughed a little. She had no intention of moving, but if it'd keep max around, she'd box and unbox things all day long. "Thousand miles?!" She said with a fake offended gasp "I'm offended, I bring you to the quintessential LA point in the heart of Santa Monica, Hollywood sign right there" She said, pointing at it "And you just say really nice that you made me walk all this?!" She poked his arm "I'm taking Orion in for dinner, I don't know what you're doing, uninvited" MAX: "Hey wait a minute, i didn't say anything about heavy lifting and moving furniture, I did enough of that myself" he joked, before shrugging "Alright, leave me outside to starve then, that's fine. I'll survive....maybe" he teased, Orion sitting up then. "But for the record, it's gorgeous up here and I'm glad you brought me." GRACE: Laughing, Grace shrugged and looked away "Hey, you're my hostage, you do what I say" She said with a laugh, playing along. Hearing him mention staying out made her pout, and she rolled her eyes in defeat "Mhm, only because you like, have to eat because if not you crash and burn and it's not fun, I'll allow it... And because you said that" She grinned when he mentioned how nice the place was "You're forgiven, your dad gets to come in for dinner tonight" She leaned down to pat the labrador's head with a smile, Baby instantly getting jealous and turning around, jumping up into two paws "Yes, yes, you too, little one" MAX: "Maybe I should have chosen my words more carefully" he joked, laughing when she rolled her eyes at him "ah ha, I know how to win with you now" he teased, laughing when the puppy jumped up after Orion was getting her attention. "I think he got a little jealous there eh?" He asked, stretching his arms out over his head "what are you thinking for dinner?" GRACE: "With someone who works with words and line delivery? Always" She said with a little laugh and a shrug "I'm just being considered because you're my guest" Her attention got drawn to the dog and she rolled her eyes a little bit "You're just used to getting all the love from your mommy, don't you?" She ruffled the dog's head with a grin and blowing kisses at him "Dinner... I don't know, I mean, I don't really cook much... But there's a really nice italian restaurant close by we can order from once we get home?" MAX: "I probably won't actually think my words through anyway" he acknowledged before laughing softly at the way she interacted with her puppy. He nodded when she suggested the Italian restaurant "do you know the name? Just so I can like, look at the menu and not take an hour to decide when we get home" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck a bit awkwardly GRACE: "Very well, I'll take note of that" She said with a laugh. His question made her brows furrow "Mhm... I don't remember, I know I have the menu at home, but maybe we'll pass it on our way back home and you can google it?" She asked curiously, looking back out at the scenery. The sun was gone, and the purple hue was starting to leave as well, all the lights coming up on the trail "Come on, let's go back home and get you fed, kid" She spoke while tugging her dog's leash and bringing Baby's attention back to the trail with everyone else who'd stayed for the sunset. MAX: He nodded at that, gently signaling to Orion that it was time to go before he followed her back down the trail the way they'd come up. It was different, hearing her call him kid instead of just seeing it in text, but if he was honest with himself, he kind of liked it. It didn't take too long for them to get back down the trail and loaded into the car, the puppy curled up on his lap once again with Orion sprawled in the backseat. GRACE: The drive home was fast. Traffic was much lighter at this time of day, and with two now very tired dogs and frankly, Grace was pretty tired as well, it didn't take long for them to be back home. They'd passed the restaurant, and she pointed it out for Max to google and get the menu, mentioning she also had it at home, so if he wanted to read it there, he'd be fine with that too. Parking the car outside the house, the actress got out of the car and opened the front door, closing it when all three members of the hike were inside "Have you decided what you're gonna have?" She asked, throwing everything on her table and heading to the kitchen with a deep breath, pulling the menu out of a drawer before snapping out of it for an instant and becoming a good host "I... How rude of me, I- There's- Guest bedroom" She pointed towards a corridor "There's towels and everything if you wanna like, take a shower and freshen up after the flight and the million mile hike I made you do" Grace teased him with a smile. MAX: He'd ended up taking the menu from her when they got home, shrugging a bit "not yet, still looking it over and leaning on the counter. He couldn't help but laugh "babe, you're not being rude" he said simply, nodding when she pointed toward the guest room "i might shower after we order, yeah" he acknowledged, looking over the menu again. there wasn't really a ton on there that he could have...or be comfortable chancing since this was a new restaurant for him, but eventually he was able to actually make a decision. GRACE: They leaned over the same menu when they got there, and there was a proximity that Grace wasn't necessarily aware that they were gonna have when he showed up, but she welcomed it. As friends. He called her babe and dismissed her worries, and she melted on the spot. Once she'd decided what she wanted to eat and he did too, she picked up the phone and placed the order. With all the food sorted and delivered in thirty to fourty minutes, she went over to turn her little bluetooth speaker on "Do you... Music?" She offered the phone, easier to give that idea than to ask the real question and imply that she was offering him to pick what they were gonna listen to for the evening. MAX: "honestly, you can put on whatever. I very sincerely doubt you want to listen to hip hop and rap. and i'll listen to just about anything at this point." he said with a laugh, stretching out "i think i'm gonna take that shower now, honestly. if you don't mind" he added on after a moment, Orion still right at his feet. GRACE: She laughed when he mentioned hip hop and rap. It wasn't really her favorite, not by a long shot, so instead she took his permission and put on some old 80's rock. INXS, Duran Duran and Genesis played lightly through the house. Nodding when he mentioned the shower, she showed him with her hand the small corridor that ended in a bedroom and ensuite bathroom "Make yourself at home and like, if you need anything, I'll be around" She said with a smile, finding a spot in the couch, Baby instantly flying onto her chest with a big leap "Alright, alright, you big baby" She said with a chuckle, cuddling him gently. MAX: he nodded at that, stepping away to grab his bag from the hall where he'd left it; heading down the corridor to the guest room. He dropped his bag on the bed, along with his backpack, grabbing a tshirt and a pair of loose shorts before heading into the ensuite to shower; Orion following behind and laying on the floor right next to the shower. He re-emerged a short while later, running his fingers through his wet hair as he walked out into the living room; offering her a smile. "looks like you got comfy eh?" he teased, taking a seat on the couch himself, Orion laying at his feet again. GRACE: Watching him walk away and get into the guest ensuite, Grace took in a deep breath and allowed herself the first full 'what the actual fuck' smile she'd had probably ever since Max told her she was coming. She needed to tell Sadie, or Joe, or any of her friends at this point, but all she could thing of was their conversations on the trail, the way her arm brushed against his when they stood at the top, and again, how much brighter his eyes were in person. She heard the water shutting off and she focused again, wiping the grin off her face and getting back to playing with the dog, grabbing one of the stuffed animals he'd brought her and playing with it. Once the door swung open, she had a sight of him and bit on her lip very under the radar to keep a smile from shining again "Yeah, someone had a little energy leftover from walking" She kissed the dog's head, watching him sit next to her and Orion went by Max "He can get on the couch if you want to" MAX: "I wish i had half the energy of a puppy" he said with a laugh, before nodding slightly and patting the couch "c'mere bud" he said softly, Orion jumping up on the couch and laying his head on his lap. He hadn't expected things to feel this, normal - he'd essentially just shown up at her door without much warning and now here they were in her living room, cuddling their dogs and waiting for their dinner to arrive. Absolutely none of it made any sense but he wasn't about to dwell on that for too long. "I feel like we did a lot of talking about me" he said after a moment, looking over at her "talked your ear off didn't i?" he added on with a laugh "think maybe it's your turn now" GRACE: "He's very full of energy, aren't you?" She kissed Baby's head and slowly got him to rest up on her lap as Orion got on the couch and got comfortable next to Max. This was... Definitely a sight to see, she wished she could be a fly on the wall at this moment, because she couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so comfortable with someone she'd just met that wasn't on a filming scene. Turning her head when he spoke, Grace chuckled nervously as the spotlight was placed on her "Oh I don't mind at all, I like listening, I'm... A really good listener, if I can like, blow my own horn, but I like listening to people and their stories... Plus, I've always been kinda shy, so anything that gets the light off me" She said with a laugh "Which is ironic because I'm an actress, but whenever I'm acting it's like, I'm not Grace, I'm Chrissy or Princess Dawn or Anna, you know? I'm not... Me, there's nothing of me out there" The blonde rambled on, using her hands to talk and explain herself, until she realized she probably made no sense "But me for me? I'm... Actually kinda shy. I like to read, write, play video games and watch movies. I'm not a big sports person, like I watch it but I don't really obsess over it. I have one brother and two half sisters" She recounted the basics "Like... I don't know, what do you wanna know?" She shrugged curiously. MAX: "I mean, all of that was a good start" he said softly "are you close with your siblings?" He asked, gently rubbing Orion's head as the dog fell asleep "reading is cool though, and writing. I like my video games too honestly and there's a ton of movies I love watching. What are some of your favorite books and games and stuff?" GRACE: Grace laughed, running a hand through her hair and smiling nervously. She'd never opened up so easily like that "I'm... Close-ish. We're in the same business with my brother so we kinda like, catch up and stuff. And with my step sisters too, I'm closest with India, my step-sister, out of all, she's like a really good friend and I tell her almost everything" She thought fondly of the memories with India "And my favorites... I mean, I'm an October baby so I like Halloween movies, scary movies are great. For reading, I'm always all over the place, but I've just finished re-reading Pride and Prejudice and it was such a good time. I like science fiction too, like crazy world building stuff kinda frazzles me but I enjoy it. Games... I like Valorant a lot, I stream it at least once a week with a couple of my Twitch buddies... Aside from that, Animal Crossing and like, all the Mario Nintendo games" She thought and chewed on the corners of her lips "And I guess I like ice hockey now too" MAX: "Are they older, or younger?" He asked, leaning back against the couch and just enjoying listening to her. "October? It's coming up then eh? What day is it?" He asked curiously, looking over at her for a moment. "That one is such a classic oh my god. Sci-fi is fun too though for sure. I don't know anything about Valorant and I've never actually played Animal Crossing but my little sister loves the new one and showed me the like, island thing they did with insulet and JDRF, so that was pretty cool" he explained, smiling a little when she said she liked ice hockey now too, not really saying anything as he heard the knock on the door "sounds like dinner" he said softly, trying to figure out how to get up without disturbing Orion GRACE: "Casper, who is my only full brother, is older than me. India is my step-mom's daughter from another marriage before she met my mom, is also older, and Maya and Celeste are my step-mom and dad's kids, so my step-sisters, are both younger" She had a bit of a jumble of a family, but she liked it that way. It was diverse, it kept her grounded and most importantly, it had her dad in it. She loved her mom, but she'd always been a big daddy's girl. When asked about her birthday, she got excited all over again "The 15th, so like, in a few weeks, I'm excited" She spoke eagerly. Nodding at when he said he didn't know anything about Valorant, she clasped her hands "Well, if you're around here and don't feel like seeing anyone else, I can teach you how to play! It's really fun" She could've kept going about Valorant for hours, but the doorbell rang and Baby jumped up from her lap and ran towards the door in a barking fit "Stay, I'll get it" She said with a big smile, standing up and walking towards the door. She paid for their meal and brought it over to the big kitchen counter island, beginning to set the table for them "What do you wanna drink? There's... Just about anything, really" She brought out a diet coke for her and continued until they were ready to eat. MAX: "Lots of family eh?" He asked, "I have two sisters, Carlin is older and Avery is younger, they're basically my best friends" he said softly, nodding when she said her birthday was the 15th, making a mental note of that "mines in March, March 2nd" he said with a laugh before nodding again at her excitement, "yeah, okay you can totally show me. Who knows? Maybe I'll really like it too" he said, carefully slipping out from under Orion, letting the dog continue to sleep on the couch. He stretched as he stood up, running his fingers through his hair and meeting her in the kitchen "diet coke is fine" he said after a moment, "do you need any help?" He asked a moment after, feeling very guilty she had not only had to pay but also set the table and everything else. GRACE: "Yeah" Her words came mixed with a chuckle "When your parents divorce young... You kinda get all the bonus families that come with next marriages" She'd never resented her parents for getting divorced, and even though she loved her mom and dad and her life while they were together, that divorce brought her India as a sister, and Maya and Celeste, so she was more than happy. "Totally, yeah, we can go and do some Valorant, you can choose your character and you'll love it" Watching him move, she placed the food from the trays on plates and finished setting up, getting a diet coke for him as well "Nope, you're good, thank you" Once everything was done, she sat down next to him and begun eating "What do you usually eat? I bet like, not only because of the diabetes, but the sports thing, you must be on a really strict diet" MAX: "That makes sense," he said with a laugh "I was 11 when my parents were going through their divorce, and they both happened to move onto people who didn't have kids. So it's still just my sisters and I" he said with a shrug, taking a seat after she'd said she didn't need help. He shrugged at her question, taking a sip of his drink "honestly, there's a bunch of stuff. But I usually hire a personal chef in whatever city I'm living in at the time to handle most of my meals for me so I can take that stressor out. There's a lot of stuff I can't eat, not because I'm diabetic but because I'm celiac too." He said, shrugging again and starting on his dinner "slow releasing carbs and good fats though, and some type of red meat or chicken. That's my usual formula for meals." GRACE: They were talking about things that she'd not talked about in a very long time, with someone she'd only met a few days ago and was seeing for the first time today, and it felt.. So natural, and so easy. He listened, and she spoke, and he spoke and she listened. It was very calming to be around him, at least for now "Mhm, personal chef, that's cool" She mumbled as she ate, shrugging her shoulders. Her eyes went wide when he mentioned being celiac too "Wait... Does-" She racked her mind, she had celiac friends, but ironically, she got it confused with diabetes a lot. Sugar? Gluten? Wheat flour? It really just jumbled her mind up "Doesn't that mean you can't really eat- Max, that's pasta!" She said with a laugh, pointing at his plate. She couldn't remember if he'd mentioned some kind of gluten-free thing, and he'd already taken a few bites. MAX: "Babe, I know it's pasta" he said with a laugh "I did order gluten-free though, so it'll probably be fine." He said, shrugging non-chalantly; nodding at the foil wrapped bread that had come with it "you can have that though" he added on, taking another sip of his drink "but yeah. Wheat, rye and barley; anything made with those I can't have because they've got gluten and it can make me really sick. There's a lot of replacement options out there nowadays though that don't have gluten, so it's really not that bad." GRACE: Grace's eyes were still wide. Not only could she not imagine herself not eating pasta, but it was moments like these where she was very thankful for her health, being able to eat just about everything and anything without blinking an eye "That probably doesn't fill me with confidence, but alright" She said with a laugh, shaking her head and sighing. She listened to all his restrictions as she ate, nodding her head and committing them all to memory to try and be as mindful as she could the following days... If he even chose to stick around her and share more of his time "So that's basically why you have a chef" She teased. MAX: "I say probably because cross-contamination can be a thing, so I guess we play Russian roulette to see if they take offering gluten-free options seriously" he said with a laugh, nodding slightly "exactly why I have a chef, I still need to find one in Chicago but it just makes my life a lot easier if I have someone in my corner taking care of all of that stuff for me. And I usually can find some really good options for eating out in whatever city, which helps too. GRACE: She winced and sighed, hoping and praying that he wouldn't spend the night feeling sick to his stomach, but at this point, he knew his health better so she just went along with it. "It makes sense though, like, when I get busy with projects and works, I usually have both of my meals on set or come back and go straight to bed" She said with a shrug as she pushed through her meal "Mhm, I don't... Know-" Come on Grace, don't make it weird "If you booked a hotel or like, I can totally drive you there, but if you wanted to stay, there's the guest room for you to stay in for as long as you want" MAX: "My routine is pretty structured, so it's nice knowing that i can have meals ready for me when I need them you know?" He said with a shrug, continuing on his dinner; though he paused to look at her for a moment. "I wouldn't mind staying.." he said softly, "as long as it's not going to bug you, having me in your space. I can totally stay in the hotel instead of that's easier for you." GRACE: "Yeah, and stuff to take with you if you're going places and stuff, things you know you like and won't make you feel super crappy" She said with a shrug, placing her fork down on her plate when she felt like she couldn't eat one more bite. Shaking her head as she wiped her mouth with her napkin, Grace mumbled "Oh no, I... I really wouldn't have offered it if I did, but I also like, don't wanna make you feel that you have to stay here" She said with a shrug "You're more than welcome to stay here, and like... Move like you live here, if you need a car-" She pointed outside with her thumb "Yeah, so... Stay" MAX: "That's exactly why that night I almost lost consciousness on the bus in Juniors, we had stopped at Tim Hortons and I was sleeping; everyone else got off the bus to get snacks and left me because they knew I couldn't eat anything there anyway. Otherwise they probably would have caught the low before it got as dangerous as it did" he said with a laugh before nodding slowly "Alright, then I'll stay. But you can absolutely kick me out whenever if you find I'm too much of a pain in the ass to deal with" he said softly with a laugh, finishing his drink and reaching a hand down when the puppy ran over; petting him. GRACE: Grace looked at him with pity in her eyes, but also a smile "Aww.... Nothing at all? Like, you're not lactose intolerant too, right? Like milk and cream? Iced coffee?" She asked curiously, feeling like she was learning so much about him in such a small amount of time. The smile only grew bigger when he agreed to stay "Good... And don't worry, if anything, you'll be running out the door when you realize how annoying I can be and wanna dash to a hotel for a moment of peace" She said with a laugh, looking down at the small dog being pet, and Orion still sprawled out on the couch "All the flying really tired him out, huh?" She looked at the retriever with caring eyes before looking down at her tiny dog "And you're still full of beans after all that walking" She chuckled "Do you... Wanna watch a movie?" She asked a little awkwardly "Or you can just... Call it a night, you're probably really tired from the flying" MAX: "Honestly I could have drinks and stuff but that wasn't worth waking me up for, and I don't really drink milk; I opt for the milk alternatives usually" he explained, laughing softly at Orion sprawled out on the couch "I guess it did, yeah. Its okay though, i need some good sleep after work too" he teased, before nodding slightly "yeah, we can totally watch a movie if you want, I'm not that tired yet honestly" GRACE: Nodding her head, she grinned "I'm an almond and oat milk girl too, so you'll be happy with the fridge tomorrow, but I guess that's valid..." She said with a shrug. Grace laughed when he called it Orion's job, making her pout at the puppy "Hard day's work... I'm sure you've brought his food and stuff, you can set the bowls anywhere, he knows he eats in the kitchen so I doubt he'll eat it" She tried to make sure he had everything he needed to be comfortable. "Alright, cool... I'll get this in the dishwasher, TV's over there, controllers on the table, so make yourself at home, kid" She picked the plates and cups up, humming as she did her dishwasher routine. MAX: "If he does, it's not a big deal" he said with a shrug "just a baby after all, right? He's still learning." He added on, standing up to try and help her "why don't I do the dishes? You had to pay and set the table and you're letting me stay here. It's the least I can do" he offered, looking at her for a moment GRACE: Watching him stand up, she bit on the inside of her cheek. Her mom had taught her to be a gracious host and never let guests do anything, but he had a point, and most of all, she wanted him to feel at home "Alright, sure" She set everything down and opened the dishwasher for him, smiling a little as she saw him move around the kitchen, biting on her lower lip to crush the bigger smile threatening to grow when he had her back to her. Twirling around and stepping out of the kitchen, she walked towards the couch and sat down on it, taking the moment when Max wasn't there to pet Orion's sleepy head, since he always seemed to be next to him "Hi bubby, hi" She scratched behind his ears for a moment before grabbing the controller and flicking the TV on. For some reason, her mind went straight to Nightmare before Christmas, her favorite Halloween movie. MAX: He joined her on the couch just a little later, after starting the dishwasher, and getting comfortable on the couch again. "What did you settle on?" He asked, before looking at the screen "ohhh a classic" he said with a laugh, resting his hand on Orion's head and the other arm on the arm of the couch. GRACE: She stole glances of him in the kitchen before focusing on the film, which had just started when Max sat down next to his dog "Yeah, I figured we'd get Halloween started a bit early... Though arguably this is more of a November movie, but it's one of my favorites, so I will watch it any time I can" She said with a shrug and a little laugh, settling into the couch, Baby walking over and jumping on her lap to curl up. MAX: "Honestly, the idea that any movie is only acceptable for certain parts of the year is stupid. If it's one you enjoy, watch it whenever you want" he said with a shrug,smiling a little when the puppy joined them on the couch,curling up on her lap. He settled back against the couch, focused on the movie....though sneaking just a few glances in her direction. GRACE: "I know, but I like the seasonality of them... Like of course, I'd watch it mid June if I want to, but there's something about watching a Christmas movie during Christmas, or a scary movie during October, it's just warming to me" She said with a little shrug. Her eyes were trained on the screen, feeling like a little kid every time she saw this one, mouthing along with the songs and most of the words of every character. MAX: "That's fair," he acknowledged, running a hand over his face a while later; yawning softly about halfway through the movie. Maybe he was a bit more tired than he'd let on, but that wasn't going to stop him from sitting here with her and their dogs to watch the rest of the movie. GRACE: She started blinking her eyes more often than not, mostly to try and keep her eyes open. Waking up very early today, plus the long hike, had really tired her out. But this was one of her favorite movies, and she wanted to watch it to the end... But her eyelids started getting heavier as the scenes passed, and before she noticed, she'd shrunk down into the couch, her eyes slowly closing and her head falling on Max's shoulder as she fell soundly asleep.

#p: grace van dien #i don't know about you - max & grace #tw: long post

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starfirette · 4 years

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maybe for a part two for mother!reader x armin is when armin is like 15 and she visits the scouts to see him and she ends up embarrassing him??

New Life: a direct sequel to New Start | part three is out!!

The big, round eyes you once swore would be green turned out to be blue.

And they were so eager to leave you and be a man.

It was the hardest choice you’d ever made, allowing your son to leave the village and join the cadet corps. It was what he seemed to want, so so desperately. You couldn’t tell if he wanted it as much as he wanted to follow Eren Jaeger and the Mikasa girl. Both were pleasant enough children. They stood up for your Armin more than enough times to be allowed in your household. You didn’t mind if they both showed up unannounced to take Armin on an adventure or even to eat dinner and spend the night.

Carla was a sweet enough woman who seemed to have the same concerns for Eren that you had for Armin. She wanted them to be friends and be normal children that didn’t have to worry about death and disease. It was a common scene for Carla to walk Eren and the young girl to your house with a freshly baked cherry and butter pie, made from the fresh picked cherries in the shared village orchard.

Hosting the two children was never an issue. You liked having the house filled. The boys even seemed to get Mikasa on her feet, running around and doing some sort of adventure.

Armin’s wide, blue eyes always taunted you, taunting the color green you’d imagined they’d be.

Armin had grown up to be a better young man than you could have ever hoped for. He was a sweet young boy who enjoyed his studies and never forgot his mother’s birthday. He never argued, never disobeyed, (though you like to think he naturally agreed with your set of rules).

It was one evening that he’d burst into a fit of yelling and crying when he broke the blue, crystal vase that had been your obvious favorite piece of decorum in the house. He was a smart child. He noticed how you doted on your vase. It was always filled with fresh flowers, always dusted and cleaned, and never moved from the spot on the credenza in the center of the living space.

You felt a strange sadness as you swept the pieces of thin glass up. You did your best not to let it show. Seeing Armin blubber and apologize profusely with bleeding palms from where he’d tried to mend the vase back together was a sore sight. You weren’t angry. You assured your son as much, holding him and assuring him it was only a ‘thing.’

But you cried that night in your small cot, when you were sure that he’d fallen fast asleep in his own room.

Tears were never a stranger to your household.

You were familiar with them, as you had been all your life.

You’d burst into hysterical tears when, one day, the dishes shook off the counter, clattering and crashing to the floor like an earthquake. You knew like you knew the sky was blue that there were titans. Invasion was on your mind since you’d left the Interior, but you never suspected it would be this way.

You raced to the city square to find Armin. Your boy was with Eren and Mikasa somewhere. But he was small, and tender, and he could be hurt. Your heart fell at the sight of any blond head in the nearest proximity of danger. When you found your boy, you scooped him into your arms, and you ran like you’d never run before.

It was only at the safety point when you’d set Armin down and spoke. You examined him for wounds, asking if he was alright in a straight voice while tears streamed down your face.

It was the beginning of a cruel five years. Eren Jaeger and Mikasa had become your newest children. You cared for them as best as you could. Your discreet funds of money that was stored in banks all across the walled lands did a good job of keeping you all safe and protected. You lived with Armin and the kids for seven months at the new house. It was considerably smaller, but everyone had their own bed, and they never had to worry about food being on the table.

Eventually, the time came for the children to make their choice. You’d sensed it coming from a mile away. How could you not? They were not slick. Eren spoke loudly in the nights about his plan for vengeance and justifying poor Carla’s death. And where Eren would go, Mikasa would. Then Armin would be following close behind, only stuttering when he had the least bit of hesitation.

It was easily, without a doubt, the hardest choice you’d made in your entire life to give Armin your blessing. Even after all he’d been through...he still wanted his mother’s approval.

The time came to leave the children. Their enlistment was eagerly accepted. It wasn’t assuring how quickly they’d been enrolled and cataloged. You knew that the regiments were looking to fill the mass gaps of dead soldiers.

The days of an empty house passed to months. Those winded into years.

You made the three beds every week, re~fluffing the pillows and shaking off the dust. If any of them ever wanted to come back home, you’d have to make sure they had a clean, comfy bed.

It was the motherly part of you that wished for any of them to knock on that door. Where one went, the other two followed, like the stars followed the moon.

Some days you thought of Armin. Armin, the departed husband that is. What a jovial man. You missed him often. He would have approved of the life you’d built. He would have liked Armin, the younger. He might have had better furniture choices.

Letters weren’t enough to keep you from losing your mind. The years just kept adding on, leaving you to wonder what the future held. But one particular letter caught your attention, signed and sealed with the Scout regiment’s signet. Commander Erwin called for an immediate family reunion at one of the safe castles. It would happen while it still could.

Oh, what a relief, you’d thought. You practically threw your clothes in a traveler’s case and took all the paths you could to the castle.

It was clearly a rare occasion. Several wagons and carriages were offering rides to the castle, and every passenger was a parent, aunt, or uncle, with the occasional younger siblings of the other cadets. You hadn’t considered it before, but you’d realized that you weren’t just going to see your son. You were filling the roll as a parent for two others.

Every passenger had a story to tell about their children. You all bonded on the journey with the shared thought, is their child friends with mine? Did they cry together? Train together?

One mother expressed how badly she’d hoped it would be an annual event. Soldiers hardly got leaves of absence. Who knows when you could see your child again?

The last of the wagons rolled up to the castles grandiose pathway. It was quite overgrown with shrubbery, but the look it gave was stupendous. You’d wondered if such a look could be mimicked by growing your own plants at home.

The thoughts vanished as the soldiers were brought out to the courtyard, lining up to find their family. You stood patiently. You waited for the familiar trio to appear. They wouldn’t be the exact same. You caught yourself watching for small children. Everyone here were soldiers, the real kind, albeit most being cadets. You anxiously watched. You tried not to think, “What if they’re dead?”

You’d gotten a letter from all three at least a month ago. And there was no issue of death from the corps. Still, the thought lingered.

You swayed in the breeze, smoothing your dress as you tried to remain patient.

“Mother?”

Your heart dropped into your stomach when you heard the familiar voice call out to you. You looked around, trying to pinpoint the voice from the crowd. You were hardly able to take a good look when you were rushed by two muscular figures. They both pounced on you, pulling you into a giant hug and delightfully exclaiming something you didn’t understand from your heart beating loudly in your ears.

“Oh, Mother,” Armin said into your head, kissing the top of your hair. He was tall.

He held onto you longer than Eren did, who had pulled back and looked down at you with a gleeful smile.

“You’re both so...tall,” you exclaimed as you pulled away to look at them both. Armin was tall and slender, but his shoulders were broad. His blond hair was clean cut to his chin as it had always been. He was always a neat person. You imagine he would be keeping up with his routine hair trims as usual.

Eren stood even taller than Armin, if that’s possible. His unruly brown hair was wavy and too long, as if he didn’t care to cut it when it grew to the tops of his ears. His shoulders were twice as broad as Armin’s, and you could see even under the uniform he’d grown quite muscular. It figures. With him being a titan, and all, it makes enough sense that he’s muscular.

It’s the first time you’d seen Eren in person since learning via letter he was one of the first of what Armin dubbed a ‘shifter.’ You tried not to let the thought show on your face. Besides, no one here seems to be giving him a hard time.

You couldn’t help but feel the tears form along your eyelashes like dew drops on a spider’s web. You had once held that little blond boy close to your chest, telling him how he had made you the happiest you’d ever been.

You meant it, and you mean it now. You couldn’t help but sniffle at the thought of your little boy all grown up.

Eren laughed while Armin smiled bashfully. “Oh, mother, there’s no need to cry,” he said, bringing you close for another hug.

You wiped your eyes with your thumbs, trying not to embarrass Armin further. “Well, young man, where is that sister of yours?” you asked Eren.

Eren’s gleeful smile faltered just slightly. “She’s not feeling well. She decided to use the day off and catch up on some rest. But she’ll join us for dinner.”

You couldn’t imagine the pain she’d be feeling right about now. It’s no surprise that she’d not felt up to the task of greeting a mother that wasn’t even her own.

Even in Eren’s eyes-who was doing his best to be strong-had a distant sort of grief that lingered in his eyes, especially at the sight of you adjusting Armin’s clothes.

“Mother, I’ll show you to your room,” Armin said, linking his arm in yours. You fondly accepted Eren’s offer to link your other arm in his own. You asked the boys thousands of questions, intently enjoying their answers.

The castle towered tall above you, the rooftops that arched up being blushed with the shadows of the bushy tree tops. You were only one of the many mothers being escorted gently through the vast castle built with limestone that was polished down to perfect edges. Parents and siblings were being taken on grandiose tours, all while being hugged and pulled by their solider children.

“This is where the survey corps lives?” you asked. Armin nodded ambitiously, a smile curved wide on his mouth. “We move around sometimes depending on where we’re being deployed, but this is where we usually are.”

“It’s huge!” you awe. The castle seemed ancient. Every turn had a piece of character that felt ageless and wiser beyond even your own years. Thought vast, the castle was well kept. You couldn’t find a single cobweb, even if you wanted to.

“Tell me about it,” Eren groaned as he touched his forehead. “It’s a real bitch to clean.”

You looked at the boy in shock, your mouth open. “Why, Eren, where have you heard such language?”

Eren looked to Armin for help as he floundered for an answer. He couldn’t quite form one, so his mouth contorted uneasily. “I-Well I mean...I...I’m sorry.”

You playfully told him you’d allow it this once.

You felt so happy to see the two boys grown and healthy. Armin’s soft hands had doubled in size. He once had such chubby, little hands that gripped your finger tightly for comfort. Always sticky, even one thumb tucked in his mouth.

Though his face was the same, he looked so different in every other aspect. But, this thought was comforted by the matter of Armin being the same in personality as he has always been. He still wore the little timid smile of someone bursting to the seams with words he wants to share. He always has something interesting on his mind. His intelligence had even taken you aback when he was a child. He certainly didn’t get that from you.

You figured it was a trait inherited by his birth mother or his biological grandfather. Truthfully, those are the only relatives of his that you know. After adopting him, you tried to dig up more information about his family. You would have liked for him to have the answers to the questions he’d one day ask.

“Walk faster,” Eren said in an urgent voice.

“Oh, God,” Armin said under his breath. “Let’s go back that way.”

The two young boys-young men- were now trying to steer you in a jarring direction. “What’s wrong?” you asked, starting to pull your arms away from them.

“Mom, he’ll see us!” Armin urged you in a loud whisper, attempting to push you into walking.

“It’s too late, he’s coming,” Eren said in a stiff voice. “We can’t-He’s looking right at me. He’s looking right at me!”

“Who’s looking at who?” you asked desperately trying to understand.

“At ease, cadets,” a smooth voice said. It came from the figure you finally spotted striding towards you, encased in a not so tall, but lean figure. “I presume this is Mrs. Arlert?”

The words struck you in the chest. Armin’s face became screwed and red as he looked down at his feet. “That’s not her name, captain,” Armin quickly said. “But yes, she is my mother. Y/n L/n.”

You didn’t let the hurt bleed into your expression. “I am Armin’s mother. It’s wonderful to meet you. What’s your name?”

“Levi Ackerman, ma’am,” the man said, holding out a hand to shake yours. You realized why the boys had wanted to run away. The famed captain Ackerman was mentioned in plenty of your letters from all three of the children, even Mikasa’s. Though Mikasa mentioned him only when she asked for favors for you, namely ancestry research. She wanted to know if she could be related to the man at all, since she’d never met any other person with the name. While your efforts proved weak, she’d appreciated the attempt.

Meanwhile, Eren and Armin mostly wrote about the man to complain. He was mean, you’d heard. Stern and, as Eren put it, “A major jerk.”

The captain Ackerman doesn’t leave me side; ever. I’d say he’s obsessed with me, but I know it’s because he doesn’t trust me. My power is one that has to be heavily monitored. I wish it didn’t have to be this way. I wish that, at least, my supervisor could be someone nicer. Someone taller, at least, so I don’t have to look down all the time. It’s strange to be chewed out by someone two heads shorter. Note, auntie, this is an estimate.

You shook the captain’s calloused hand. It was a stark difference from the curtseying and bowing from when you were among the society in the interior. The thought of a woman shaking a man’s hand without wearing a glove was ghastly; it was intimate. This part of etiquette was so deeply engrained in your mind that you blushed at the feeling of the captain’s skin against yours.

It was enough to keep you from thinking about Armin.

You’d given him the information about his true name just in case he ever wanted, or needed, to use it. You didn’t expect him to ever go by it. It did hurt, though, to think of your boy being Armin Alert, and not Armin L/n.

“I can easily see where Armin gets his grace,” the captain said in a smooth, deep voice, looking almost proudly to Armin.

Eren looked shocked at your left side, and even Armin’s mouth fell agape. “Your son is quite the tactician,” the captain continued.

You chuckle. “He certainly is. Armin’s been impressing me with his brain since he was a baby.”

Armin laughed nervously. “Mother, we don’t need to share that,” he said in a shy voice. You couldn’t help but continue to gush. You rarely bragged about your child, mostly because your neighbors at home had lost their children and it was a sore subject to speak of.

“Well, captain, I’ve heard so much about you,” you said, offering the man a warm smile. He was awfully handsome with his dark hair that grazed the edges of his jaw.

“If I had realized I’d meet the beautiful famed mother, I would have dressed for the occasion,” Levi said with a remarkably steady voice. You felt your cheeks rush with warmth while Eren forced a loud, awkward cough. It sounded as though he was hacking up a piece of his lung. “We’d better get aunt Y/n to her room, ey Armin?”

“Yeah,” Armin said in a short voice. “I mean yes! Yes, yes, we-yes. She’s tired.”

“She’s exhausted,” Eren added, holding his hands over your shoulders and massaging them for good measure. You raised your eyebrows.

“She’s also so hungry,” Armin added loudly. “She’s starving.”

“There’s a buffet going in the mess hall until mid noon,” Levi suggested. “And then tomorrow there will be a large breakfast party.”

You looked at your son with a teasing look of shame. “Why, you boys never mentioned a party. I would have brought my good dress.”

“As if you’d need a good dress,” Armin teased. “We can go out to town. There’s going to be available transportation all day for your visit. It’s very exciting. I’ve even been dismissed from my chores!”

Eren sent a small glare to the captain. “I wasn’t dismissed from my chores,” he grumbled.

“Unfortunately, Jager, you’re one of my favorite cadets. I just can’t spend a minute without you,” the captain said humorously. It made you laugh, to Eren’s horror. “I hope to be seeing you again during your stay, Missus L/n.”

“Oh, it’s just Miss, captain. I am widowed.”

Armin took a pause in his breath. “...Widowed?”

You realized then that you slipped, too. “Unmarried, I meant,” you corrected yourself, albeit too late.

You could see that even Levi knew the well intended flirting was over. Clearly you and your son had things to talk about, and soon. The matter of the surname would likely not compare to Armin’s questions, especially considering that you never spoke of your old life, or your family (this very well may be the reason Armin chose to use his other name in the first place).

“It was a pleasure, Miss,” the captain said before taking a small bow and walking away. You didn’t have time to notice that the bow was not common for people beyond the interior. “I’m going to go meet Connie’s family,” Eren said calmly, though you felt is was more directed to Armin than you.

“I’ll be seeing you soon, Eren,” you softly bid the boy as he prepared to walk away, leaving his best friend to the awkwardness that would ensue.

You looked up at your son with half a smile; he looked uncomfortable. Your boy was doing that thing he did when he was too afraid to say or admit something--he rubbed his palms together nervously, as if he were trying to start a fire. “I’m not angry with you,” you told him before you said anything else. “You don’t have to explain anything to me,” you added.

“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” Armin explained, sounding shaky as he averted his eyes to the floor. “You haven’t told me anything about your family. Your life couldn’t have started only when I was adopted. I just-I just want to know my history.”

You took a breath. “My days living in the Interior were not something I enjoyed. It was a vastly different lifestyle that I did not enjoy, and likely couldn’t ever enjoy again. Yes. I was married. To a man also called Armin. The marriage was arranged, and he and I held no romantic feelings for one another.”

“Did you have children with him?” Armin asked, his voice quiet.

“None, my love,” you assured him, wishing you could just stroke his hair and cuddle him tight like you did during his infancy. “I am so sorry that I haven’t...That I have failed to be more forthright with you.”

Armin failed so say anything. He stood motionless. “May you please not flirt with Captain Ackerman again?” he finally said, looking exasperated.

Your eyes widened. “O-Oh. I’m so so sorry, honey, I just-You-Of course. I swear to not flirt with anyone. Although, I can’t say that I started that. Rather, you should tell the captain not to flirt with your mother again.”

Armin went beet red in the cheeks. “You can’t just tell the captain what and what not to do, mother,” he said in a low and eerie voice; it was as if someone had made such a mistake before, and Armin had witnessed the consequences first hand.

“Armin,” you said quietly.

“I mean it, mother, he once kicked Eren in the face!” Armin went on to exclaim.

“My dear, I could care less about the captain,” you tell your son firmly. “I admit that I was surprised to hear that you use your biologicals name. And for a split second, it did hurt. But, you are your own person. You have been through things grown men haven’t seen. I am so proud of you. No matter what name you go by, you will always be my dear son. I will always love you with all my heart.”

Armin’s eyes softened, and the corners of his mouth turned into a dimpled smile. “I love you, too, mother,” he said. He brought you close for a hug. He kissed the top of your head as you had always done to him during his youth.

Some things were bound to never change.

Armin would always be your intelligent, kind hearted, good tempered son. When he walked, you could only see his toddling down the hallways of your old home. When he laughed, it reminded you of his gasping giggles as he was fondly amused by something some insignificant.

Armin linked his arm with yours one more time. “Let’s get to your room, now,” he said with a happy grin.

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der-sonne · 3 years

Note

For the prompts,

"I never ask for help because I'm not sure I know how."

For Tangled 👁👁💕

i’m just writing a drabble, she said, as she proceeded to write 1270 words. i’m she.

anyway you can go read this on ao3 or keep reading below!!

***

Before stealing the crown, Eugene had spent two months casing the palace. It was a slow process of finding the old blueprints, memorising the schedule of the guards, and even sneaking into a tour intended for visiting dignitaries. That is to say, if anyone knew how to successfully sneak around the castle, it would be him.

Of course, none of that planning ever accounted for the princess standing with her arms crossed in front of his room.

“Hey, Rapunzel,” he said, using his best and least suspicious smile.

She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Are you alright?” He tried to switch topics. “You look cold.”

It was true, in his defence. Now that he walked closer, he realised she was only in a thin nightgown, and she was shivering. He shrugged off his outermost coat without a second thought, draping it around her shoulders and tugging her into him.

She pushed back. “Are you wearing… five jackets?”

Oh, right. That’s why he was trying to go unnoticed. He stammered for a response while she removed the coat and inspected it. “Technically, two of these are shirts.”

“Eugene.”

“Okay, okay, fine. Can we get out of the hallway before someone sees, though? I can’t have any rumours circulating that my fashion sense is anything less than show-stopping.”

Rapunzel smiled, at least, which he took as a good sign. She had discarded his coat though, and as she tucked her legs under his quilt, he found himself shedding another layer to offer to her. It was still the end of summer, but the past few days had been wrought with thunderstorms and between this and his girlfriend’s habit of running through the rain, he was worried she’d catch a cold.

And she never did say if she was alright. It was just past midnight—by two minutes, judging from the sound of the night guard starting his rounds in the hallway—and Rapunzel had only ever shown up unannounced at his door like this after a nightmare.

He opened his mouth to ask again, but she beat him to the chase.

“You didn’t wear three jackets and two shirts just to give them to me, did you?”

“Ah, well. My wardrobe was looking a little thin, don’t you think?”

In fact, in the five weeks since being invited to live in the castle, he’d barely acquired enough clothes to survive between washes. It was still more than he’d ever had, but it felt pitiful beside Rapunzel’s never ending selection of gowns.

He had a reputation to uphold here, after all. And with the weather getting colder—well, he was running out of options.

“So you went shopping at midnight?” she asked.

He winced, but he’d already promised himself never to lie to her again. “Not exactly.”

Though he was too busy pacing a hole in the floor to bury himself in, Eugene could imagine the look she was giving him now. He only hoped there was loving concern behind it.

“I didn’t steal them!” he quickly explained. “They’d just been… left. Discarded, really. Unused and in need of a new home! It would’ve been a disservice not to take them with me. Cleaning up the town, is what I did.”

He snuck a glance at her, and sure enough, there was that frown. She took the second jacket off her shoulders, spreading it out over the bed.

“This belongs to someone, Eugene.”

“No, no, I made sure of that. Spent days asking if anyone had misplaced a coat, and got zip, nada, nothing. Trust me, there were plenty more I did return.”

Including a very snazzy woollen sweater that he’d been loath to part with.

Rapunzel held a hand out to him, ceasing his pacing at the very least. It just reminded him once again of how little she was wearing since she seemed determined to freeze, so he began doffing his third jacket for her.

“I don’t get it,” she said. “You could’ve bought more clothes.”

“With all the money I don’t have?”

“You could ask.”

“I could never ask for help,” he scoffed.

He was being harsh and he knew it, but it was a sore spot for him—for more than ten years he’d managed just fine without relying on anybody. Rapunzel looked up at him unimpressed.

Sighing, he sat beside her on the bed, and looked stubbornly at the wall. “I’m not sure I know how.”

She leaned into him, head falling on his shoulder as he automatically wound his arm around her. That was the one thing he could always count on her for, as hard as learning to trust another person was. But she understood him surprisingly well.

“Why don’t you practice?” she asked.

“Practice,” he echoed.

“Sure!” She scooted back to give him an encouraging smile, and he watched in dismay as the latest jacket slid off her shoulders. “Go ahead, try asking me now.”

It was absurd, and foolish, but so distinctly Rapunzel that he thought it just might work. What did he have to lose around her anyway?

He cleared his throat. “Alright. Uh, so the thing is, you see—no, wait, let me start again. This is harder than it looks actually. I was just asking, I mean, you know what I’m asking, really, so I don’t know how to—”

“Focus, Eugene.”

“Right, right. It’s just, well.” The words felt glued in his throat, and he felt like an idiot. “Help. You, I mean, me, I mean, would you… me.”

Rapunzel was nodding along, though, with one of the largest grins he’d ever seen on her face. Which was saying something. He really didn’t deserve her.

“You were so close! I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you, sunshine.”

Yeah, he definitely didn’t deserve that, but as she flung her arms around him, he found he didn’t mind in the slightest. She was soft and warm, squeezing the life out of him in the most pleasant way. Wait, warm?

He reached up to cup her cheeks, and placed an experimental kiss on her forehead.

“Hey, why were you waiting at my door in the first place?” he asked casually, as if a thousand alarm bells hadn’t started ringing in his head at once.

“Oh, you know.” She pulled away, and her guilty smile confirmed all of his suspicions immediately. “I just wanted the company.”

He shed off his final extra layer, a green shirt that was several sizes too large, even on him. This time, he guided her through the sleeves, and started buttoning the shirt at her chin. He could tell the moment she gave up her act, slouching into him with a grimace.

“I guess my head kind of hurts,” she said slowly.

“Uh huh.”

“…And my throat’s a little sore.”

“Sure.”

“But it’s nothing to worry—”

She sneezed, and at least had the decency to appear sorry. Not that he was mad at her in the slightest—only increasingly worried. Did she need more blankets? A glass of water? He should call the physician, right?

No, he had to calm down. It was just the beginning of a cold. What she needed now was some rest and someone to hold her. Or maybe that bit was for his sake.

Then it occurred to him. “Are you trying to ask for help?”

“Maybe.” She sniffed.

He slid in the final button, and tucked her more firmly against his chest. It was probably unwise to remain so close to someone sick, but he hadn’t exactly been making the smartest decisions lately.

At least he had someone to remind him why he tried.

#this is the dumbest thing ive ever written #but also probably my favourite #thank u for the prompt!!!!#eugene fitzherbert #rapunzel #new dream #my fic

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marjansmarwani · 3 years

Text

there ain’t a language for the things I feel

4.8k || ao3

In the wake of a tragedy, the firehouse family tries to move on and pick up the pieces while holding onto hope that seems to slip further and further away.

But nothing's over until it's over and they're going to pick up all the pieces and put them back together, just in case. ----- Day 9 of @911lonestarangstweek: Free Choice

Me getting this done and up just at the end of angst week? More likely than you’d think.

Several people read parts of this as I was working, but @moviegeek03 needs a special thanks for helping me with some of the specifics 💜

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

The house at the end of the street looked like all the others.

Its blue siding blended in perfectly with its companions on the quiet residential street and as Judd pulled into the familiar driveway, nothing looked amiss. From the outside, it looked like nothing had happened. From where they stood, everything was fine and this was just a normal day and an average visit. Right now they could be heading to game night or dinner. They could be stopping by to say hello, popping by unannounced as they so often did. But the minute they opened the door that illusion would shatter and they’d have to face the grim reality waiting for them, so they all hovered at the edge of the front walk by some unspoken agreement as they allowed themselves to avoid this for just a few moments longer.

But ignorance couldn’t last forever so eventually, they moved forward.

It was Paul that made the first move, pulling out his keys and selecting the correct one as he approached the door. He slid the key into the lock without a word, all eyes on him as he turned it, pushing open the door to reveal the scene beyond it. There was another moment of collective hesitation on the threshold before Judd stepped forward, grabbing the yellow crime scene tape and pulling it down so they could enter their friends’ living room - or at least, what was left of it.

The once familiar space was unrecognizable as the furniture lay in shambles; splinters of each piece scattered across the room. If they hadn’t known where they were they never would have recognized the space. Nancy toed at the remains of a chair, shifting aside the debris with her foot only to reveal the dark red stain on the floor underneath. She turned away and let the pieces fall back into it.

They had just left the hospital, they had all seen the end result of this destruction. They had already known how bad it could be. Seeing it in this familiar context though? It drove it all home in the most unapologetic way. Nancy in particular was no stranger to the sight of blood, but seeing it in your friends’ home, knowing it belonged to one of them? That was something else entirely and no amount of professional detachment could make this okay. She turned away from the stain - ignoring the sound of glass crunching under her shoe from the shattered picture frames strewn across the floor - beside her to find Paul fingering an indent in the wall with a grim expression. When he felt her looking he met her gaze.

“Knife mark,” he said by way of explanation, his eyes roaming the rest of the walls. “Several of them, by the looks of it.”

Somehow the silence in the room seemed to grow even heavier in the wake of Paul’s words as they all took in the destruction and the damage and the fact that their friends had nearly died in their own home; that they still might, even now.

The silence was finally broken by Judd, his typical drawl much harsher than usual as it sliced through the quiet and dismay that filled the room.

“What the fuck happened here?” he demanded to the room at large, but he got no response. It was the same question they all had and as of yet, there were no answers. Only fear, pain, and a desperate hope that maybe, just maybe, this was as bad as it got. That maybe by some miracle their friends would pull through this, would survive this senseless act of violence.

That somehow TK and Carlos would be okay, because the alternative was too awful to consider.

---------

Marjan had been wrapping up practice when she got the call. It was Mateo on the other line, his shaking voice informing her that he was driving Captain Strand to St. David’s because he had been in the kitchen with the older man and Buttercup when he had been informed.

It was what he had said next that had sent her crashing back down onto the bench, skates in hand and concerned expressions trained on her as she tried her best to not absolutely shatter at the edge of the roller rink.

Nancy was at her sister’s, rolling her eyes at the antics of her nephews as she stirred the sauce on the stove and her sister gossiped about their Aunt Susan and her much younger boyfriend when her phone rang. Then she was out the door, the spoon abandoned on the counter with a shouted apology to her sister as she grabbed her coat and keys and tried to hide how much her hands were shaking as she reached for the doorknob and stepped out into the chilly Austin night. At least, she reasoned as she hurried to her car, if anyone did notice the way she trembled they would assume it was the cold — they didn’t have to know it was because it felt like her world was fraying at the seams.

Paul had been on a date and he felt bad for leaving her at the restaurant, he really did, but there was no other option. He knew his mother would string him up if she ever heard he had done something so rude to any of his dates, but he also had a feeling that in this case even Cynthia Stickland would allow him this one. Maybe he should have taken her home first but she had assured him it was fine and he knew that he couldn’t have handled the wait. He knew that every moment he was driving in the opposite direction of the hospital would weigh on him, that he would crack under the strain and that was not second date territory. So he returned to the table after he ended his call, voice tight as he made his hurried apologies and she assured him that no, it was fine, that she hoped everything turned out okay.

He had somehow managed a smile as he turned away and he thanked her for her sentiments, even if he didn’t share just how desperately he wished they came true.

Judd had been getting their daughter ready for her evening bath when Grace had appeared in the doorway with his phone in her hand and eyes full of fear. He had taken the phone from her and sat heavily on the edge of the tub as Mateo quietly explained what had happened, and where they would be. Grace had already scooped up little Charlotte and merely shook her head when he looked at her.

“You need to go, Judd,” she said softly, squeezing their little girl close as she spoke, “go be with them, and keep me posted. Tell them I’ll be praying.”

And there was so much Judd wanted to say to that, so many thoughts in his head and so many feelings fighting for dominance that in the end, he said nothing. He simply stood on shaking legs and leaned forward to press a kiss to each of his girls, pausing for another moment to hold them both close before he stepped around them, grabbing his coat and heading out into the night.

As he climbed into his truck he tried to tell himself that it would all be okay, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to believe it.

----------

“I talked to Mitchell before we left,” Marjan finally said, breaking the uncomfortable silence filling the room. “She said that APD is done processing, so we can do whatever we want with...what’s left.”

Paul looked up, pulling his gaze from where it had settled on a dark stain on the throw rug. “Did she say if they have any leads? Or even an idea of what happened?”

She shook her head sadly, “No. There’s not much they can go on. None of the neighbors saw anything and all the blood...well, it won’t help to find their attackers, apparently. As for what happened, apparently they have some theories, but we won’t really know anything until one of them wakes up.”

“If they wake up,” Nancy added, voice harsh and quiet as she looked at the destruction around them. She didn’t want to be a pessimist, but the others didn’t know. They knew it was bad, but they hadn’t gotten the rundown from one of the trauma nurses on duty. They didn’t have the medical training to know that what they had been through; that the injuries they had weren’t the kind you always recovered from.

That they could just as easily be fatal, given the chance.

Nobody chastised her for being pessimistic. They simply moved on, nobody willing to dwell on the questions they didn’t have answers to and the fears that they did.

“We should still get this cleaned up,” Mateo said eventually, “so when they get home it looks like nothing happened.”

His words were full of a certainty Nancy wished she felt, but no one countered him either. They all wanted him to be right, Nancy knew and she understood. She wanted him to be right too; she wanted that more than anything.

So she took off her jacket and laid it across the ledge by the front door before pushing up her sleeves heading towards the kitchen.

“I’ll grab some garbage bags,” she called over her shoulder. “Once we’ve cleaned up all the stuff we can’t save we’ll have a better idea of what we’re working with.”

Noises of agreement followed her out of the room and as she pulled open the cupboard under the sink where she knew they stashed the cleaning supplies she allowed herself a moment to embrace Mateo’s unshakable optimism. They would get their home cleaned up so they had somewhere to come home to. They would get it back to normal so it looked like their home and not the nightmare they had walked into.

They would put everything back together so maybe, just maybe, someday when she closed her eyes she would see how it had been before, and not the scene of destruction they had walked into today.

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

“What happened?” Marjan demanded as she stepped into the waiting room, softening when she saw the faces before her all full of the same fear and panic she was feeling.

“We don’t know,” Captain Strand said eventually with a small, helpless shrug. “Nobody knows. One of their neighbors was walking their dog when she saw the door open. She said something didn’t feel right so she went to check, and she found them.”

He didn’t provide any other details, didn’t specify how they were found and that more than anything filled her with dread.

“Gabriel is trying to get answers,” another voice shared, this one soft and thick. Marjan looked over to see Carlos’s mother in the seat beside the captain, her face pale and eyes full of worry, “I think maybe he thinks it’ll be easier to process if we know. Or maybe he just needs something else to focus on. Either way, he doesn’t seem to be having much luck.”

Marjan followed the older woman’s nod to a figure in the corner, speaking into his phone as he turned his hat over and over in his free hand as his foot tapped against the floor. Even from here his distress was palpable; the fear and worry etched clearly into every inch of his face. It made her wonder once again what had happened. She may have only known Gabriel Reyes for a short period of time and not very well at all, but she knew him well enough to know that whatever had happened was bad. Gabriel Reyes loved his son, she didn’t doubt that. But the man was a Texas Ranger; he had spent a lifetime seeing unthinkable things. Yet here he was, clearly shaken to his very core. For something to have affected him this much...the very idea left a cold feeling of dread seeping through her core.

“Do we at least know how they are?” she questioned again, voice quieter in the face of all the hurt and fear encompassing them.

It was Tommy who spoke this time, the paramedic captain’s voice tight with barely concealed pain and worry, “They’re alive, and that’s something.”

The way she said it made Marjan wonder what she knew and what she wasn’t saying. She wanted to push, she wanted to demand answers. She wanted to know what had happened to her friends; to two of the people that had become family to her.

But it was clear they were all in the same boat, that none of these people knew any more than she did and that they all cared just as much. So she swallowed her questions and sank into the empty seat beside Mateo, glancing around at the others as she did. In some ways this was horrifyingly familiar but in others, it felt so different. Every other time they had at least known what had brought them here and what they were facing. This unknown entity; the uncertainty hung heavy in the air around them and it made her queasy. The questions mixed with her fear, leaving an unpleasant taste in her mouth. But there were no answers to be had and, even if there were, they wouldn’t help.

She sighed and leaned back in the uncomfortable chair as she accepted the inevitable: there was nothing she could do but wait, and hope for the best.

---------

People had always asked Paul why he wasn’t a cop, given his propensity to solve puzzles and spot patterns. There were the obvious answers, of course: that the police force was less than tolerant generally speaking, that the very institution wasn’t something Paul thought he could really take a part in.

Then there was the less obvious but just as true reason: Paul wanted to help people, but he didn’t want to watch them suffer. He wanted to help people to escape the worst moments of their lives, not pick up the pieces after. Firefighters got to do that, cops didn’t.

In that regard, he had a lot of respect for Carlos. How he could do that and still maintain a modicum of sanity and compassion was beyond Paul, but he truly admired him for it. Which, somehow, made this even worse.

Paul already knew that he didn’t have crime scene investigation in him, that hadn’t been a question. But he couldn’t stop himself from trying to put together the pieces as he stood amongst the destruction of his friends’ living room. He couldn’t stop himself from seeing the patterns, from hypothesizing how each bit of damage was caused; on how each bit of blood was spilled. It filled his head with unwanted images the moments as it happened; of what they must have been through.

He had never hated his skills more than he did at this moment. He didn’t want to see this, to imagine what might have happened. He didn’t want to move aside some of the debris to find some blood and wonder whose it was. He didn’t want to dwell on the idea of two of his closest friends suffering; being brutally attacked in their own home. A place that had felt safe, that had almost been a second home to Paul. But that illusion of safety had been shattered and now it just felt like an awful reminder, and he would give anything to be able to look at it objectively.

A part of him wanted to keep going, to keep trying to solve the puzzle before him. It would help, a voice in his mind said, it could bring whoever did this to justice.

And that was tempting. He did want to see whoever had done this pay for what they did. But he also knew that it wouldn’t actually change anything. Carlos and TK would still be hurt, the rest of their family would still be suffering.

------

Home invasion.

That was the reigning theory now. It was a home invasion gone terribly, horrifically wrong. They didn’t know whether they had been home from the start or if they had interrupted it; they didn’t know if it was random or if it was something that had been planned; if they had been targeted. They didn’t know anything, and Paul hated not knowing things.

This was one of those things, someone had said. One of those random acts of violence with no real motive or explanation. Realistically, Paul knew they happened. He just couldn’t understand how it had happened to his friends. He had never put too much stock in the idea of fate - he firmly believed that everyone made their own choices in life - but he couldn’t help but wonder why them. Why did TK and Carlos - two people who had given so much of themselves to help others each and every day - deserve to have so much suffering?

Eventually, they did find the culprit, or culprits, as they soon discovered when one of them tried to use TK’s credit card to pay at a gas station only a few miles from their house, but having the answers didn’t make it make any more sense.

Paul had already known that catching their attacker wouldn’t make everything magically better, but he hadn’t imagined it would make anything worse. But as the detective on the case explained, he found he was wrong. Apparently, according to the one who would talk, he and his buddies had broken into an empty home. It was early evening and the lights were off so they had figured it was a good enough target. But they had been interrupted, he said, when two men had entered the house and caught them in the act. They had all been high, he admitted, so the details were fuzzy, but he knew that one of their group tended to have a particularly violent streak and that that night, he couldn’t be reasoned with.

It was him who had used the knife, their informer clarified, but another had helped. He had thought the two men who had come in were dead by the time he had gotten his buddies to stop, he had admitted quietly, so he had pulled them out of the house as fast as he could and had never looked back.

The room was so silent when the detective finished speaking that you could have heard a pin drop. The sound of Nancy’s chair scraping against the floor as she stood and rushed out of the room cut through the space like a gunshot and it was all Paul could do to simply breathe. Slowly the others reacted too, as Judd started swearing up and down and Marjan rose to follow Nancy, her own eyes moist but her back straight as she strode out of the room. He heard his Captain and Ranger Reyes asking questions but for once, Paul managed to shut that part of himself off.

There was no making sense of this, he decided, so the best thing he could do was focus on helping them move forward instead; assuming that they got that chance.

-----------

Mateo was pretty sure he had developed a stress response to the sight of Ikea furniture.

It always seemed to appear in the aftermath of a tragedy, and he had seen it too many times in the past few years. After the condo fire, after his house blew up, and now as they set about replacing some of the furniture that had once stood in TK and Carlos’s living room.

Maybe it should be a good thing, he reasoned. The furniture came with the rebuilding, after all.

It had come when TK and Carlos had first bought this place and needed a couple of staple pieces quickly. They would buy real furniture soon, Carlos vowed, but until they could get around to it, some cheap and easy pieces would do. Mateo wondered if they had ever gotten around to it. He kind of hoped they hadn’t.

“Man I hope they appreciate this,” Paul said as he flipped through the convoluted instructions for the bookshelf.

“Of course they will.” Nancy countered from the other side of the room. “If they know what’s good for them.”

The light and optimistic banter was a change from the days before. The others seemed more hopeful now, readier to believe the best of the situation. Mateo supposed he had himself to thank for it, he was the one that had insisted from the start that they would be okay, after all.

But the thing is, he’s not so sure he even believes it anymore.

As the others’ optimism grows, his own seems to fade. It’s been too long, a voice whispered in his mind. If they aren’t okay by now, they never will be again.

It’s a thought that keeps returning and as many times as he shoves it aside, as he pushes it back; it just keeps coming and coming and coming. Mateo has always been the optimist. He has always been the one to think the best of everyone except himself. He had always believed that everything would work out.

But he’s tired. There have been so many times and so many nights spent hoping when everyone else was doubting. There have been so many times when the worst should have happened but didn’t, by some miracle. And Mateo was okay with the idea of miracles - he had been raised Catholic, after all. But he couldn’t help but think they were running out, and that was something he wasn’t ready to face.

So he shoved it back again and plastered on a smile as he sorted through the packaging to find the piece Paul was describing. Mateo Chavez was an optimist, he reminded himself. And optimists didn’t give up on their friends.

No matter how bad things might look.

----------

From the moment Grace had handed him his phone time had seemed to slow.

It was the waiting, Judd thought, that made it drag on. All the hours sitting in the waiting room; the sleepless nights spent dreading a phone call to say that the worst had happened. They moved forward and they moved on because they had to, but every moment seemed to stretch as they grew further and further from a time when everything was fine and closer to the moment that could change everything.

Hope seemed to ebb and flow as time marched on and optimism came in spikes. But it wears on them all and Judd wished time could just go back to normal, that this could all be over.

But then he thinks of what “over” might mean, and he backtracks.

For a while it seemed that maybe one of them had better odds than the other. That while one of them might pull through, the other might not. No one really talked about it; what that might mean for the one. They all loved them both and to have either of them with them would be a blessing, Judd didn’t doubt that for a moment. It was what they all wanted more than anything.

But he was also in love, and he knew that those two had the same kind of love that he and Gracie did: all consuming, bright, deep love that wrapped you to another for the rest of time. To truly be one half of a whole. And - it was a thought he kept to himself, of course - he couldn’t help but think that the only thing crueler than losing them both was for one of them to lose the other. He couldn’t imagine facing that and he didn’t want to see anyone else have to go through it either. He knew people did - hell, Tommy was proof enough of that - but if he could he would do anything to spare them the pain of that.

So he prays, more than he has in years. If there were ever a time to test the strength of his healing faith, it was now.

And then, by some miracle, the news finally comes.

He and the others are standing in their living room, taking in the newly repaired space. There isn’t a trace of the destruction they had found when they had first arrived and stepped past the crime scene tape to see the horror within what had been their friends’ home. It now looks almost as it did before: a warm, safe space they had all spent many nights in. A welcoming place that felt a bit like home.

The walls had been repaired and repainted, the floors had been cleaned, the furniture had been repaired or replaced. The pictures had been rehung in new, undamaged frames and all their various knick-knacks and tchotchkes were sitting in their usual spots. The only thing missing now was TK and Carlos.

It was Nancy’s phone that rang, her voice that cut through the room as she asked Tommy what had happened. It was the sight of her collapsing into one of the chairs that drew their attention and stole all their breath. And when she looked up at them, it was her smile and tear-filled eyes that let them know they could breathe again as she said the words they had all been waiting to hear: “They’re going to be okay.”

And then time picked up again and as the others let out sounds of celebration and Paul picked up Marjan to spin her around, Judd simply smiled.

They’re okay, a voice in his head repeated, everything will be fine now.

And for once, Judd actually believed it.

----------

It’s all TK can do not to roll his eyes as his dad insists on helping him out of the back seat of Andrea’s car.

“Dad,” he said evenly, “I can walk, you know.”

“Humor me,” his dad retorted in an unimpressed tone.

TK opened his mouth to argue again but a soft laugh from beside him stole his attention instead.

“Don’t even bother,” Carlos told him, “believe me, I’ve tried.”

Somewhere between Carlos’s words and the warmth in his eyes TK found he couldn’t argue so he nodded and Owen shook his head, mystified.

“I will never understand how you do that. If it were anyone else we would still be having this argument into next week.”

Carlos simply shrugged modestly but TK spoke up as they headed up the walkway to their front door, “It’s just one of his many talents.”

Owen looked beside him to Garbiel with an exaggerated roll of his eyes as Andrea let out a light laugh from behind them. Carlos gave TK a pointed look but it was only met with a grin, and his attention was so devoted to his boyfriend that he almost didn’t notice the small crowd in their living room until they were already there. From there he was forced to do a double-take. His memories of that night were hazy, at best. It was a jumble of pain and fear and worry for Carlos as he watched him being attacked through heavy eyes. His recollection may be less than clear, but he is certain their home had been left in shambles.

Yet here they were, standing in a living room that might just be cleaner than they had left before heading to dinner all those nights ago; before they had come home to find strangers ransacking their home and TK couldn’t understand it.

He looked back to Carlos who looked just as confused as he was before glancing over at the group in the center of the room; his team, their family.

The question must have been clear on his face because Nancy scoffed.

“What?” she demanded, “Did you really think we were just going to let you come home to that mess? It’s like you don’t even know us.”

And TK didn’t have the words to respond to that. Instead, he simply glanced back at Carlos to see the love and gratitude he was feeling reflected in his warm brown eyes before he looked back at the others. He gave them a smile and when Judd moved forward to pull him into a hug, he went willingly, savoring the comfort and love that was emanating from every inch of this space filled by these people.

Someday, when the shock wore off and they were a little stronger, they would find the words to tell them how much it meant. But for now he hugged them all a little tighter and a little longer, and let his whispered thank-yous suffice. They had a long road ahead of them and being okay would take time. But he knew now with more certainty than he ever had before that as long as they had these people, they would always be okay.

#911 lone star #911lsfic #my writing #paul strickland #marjan marwani #nancy gillian #mateo chavez #judd ryder #userkimmy #userjilly #userac #userbones #tuserjamie #tuserpaige #reyesstrand #reyeslonestartag #jazzyjess #buckybarnesalways

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caramelcal · 4 years

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Request: Luke x reader? Luke tries to distract reader throughout the day (like he did to Julie) especially when she tries to talk to Nick? Which reader gets mad about and starts to ignore Luke (because she’s been trying to distract herself from her growing feels for him) and he eventually poofs into he room to talk to her about it?

Word Count: 2k

a/n: hi! sorry this took so long, instead of sitting down and working on one fic i’ve been working on five at the same time. incredibly stressful, i’ll try not to do that again lol especially considering it meant it took me ages to write them all...also someone pls give me something to name this lmao ty, and thank you for the request!

also just in case anyone asks i will not be making a part 2 sorry ! :(

disclaimer: I do not condone the use of my work/writing without my permission. The only place this has been posted is on my (rosemoonmist) tumblr account. This has not been posted on any other platform either. If you see any plagiarism of my work please let me know! <3 People work hard on their fics, so don’t steal them ty.

Masterlist

“So y/n I was thinking,” Luke starts, popping up out of thin air beside you whilst you walk along the corridors. At his unannounced presence beside you, you jump and let out a surprised squeal, gather attention from other students.

Looking around, you notice all of their stares and a blush coats your cheeks. They couldn’t see Luke, you knew that, so they thought you jumped at nothing and your squeal definitely didn’t help. Your head ducks down in embarrassment, trying to avoid the gazes of the students as you start to hurry to your locker.

“Y/n! I’m trying to talk to you here? Hello!” Luke shouts, following your quick, embarrassed walk to your locker. He leans against the locker beside you, arms crossed over his chest, “Y/n, stop ignoring me please.”

“You know Luke, normal people don’t sneak up on others so you definitely shouldn’t,” You mutter quietly, trying not to attract any more attention from those near you. You had already embarrassed yourself enough, you definitely didn’t need to be caught talking to yourself.

Luke watches you as you get your textbooks from your locker with soft, hazel eyes, shrugging his shoulders before he speaks again, “I don’t see what’s wrong with coming to share my ideas with you.”

“When you practically ambush me in the middle of the halls and embarrass me in front of my classmates then there’s something wrong,” You whisper harshly towards the teenage ghost, who gives you a playful smile in return.

“Don’t worry about it, I think your little scream was cute,” Luke tries to playfully comfort you, but you only end up more embarrassed. Ducking your head, you clear your throat, not meeting Luke’s eyes, “Plus, if I don’t talk to you then who is? Flynn and Julie aren’t here.”

“I have friends other than Julie and Flynn, you know,” You replied with a small smile, rolling your eyes at the boy whose eyes go slightly wider in amusement.

Leaning closer to you, he whispers, “Yeah, one of ‘ems behind you right now.”

With that he pulls back, his amused smirk going wider when he sees your eyes widen in panic. At least he’s getting some enjoyment out of this because you certainly weren’t. It was almost as if you were unfrozen, whipping around after several moments of doing nothing and just standing still to see him there.

“Heyyy y/n,” He says, trying to mask the slightly judgmental look he is giving you but you notice. At this rate, you just want the ground to swallow you whole, melt into the floor or just disappear.

“Nick! Hi,” You say, feeling your throat close up as you look at him. You try to keep your eyes on him, but they quickly stray when Luke appears behind him.

“You alright, L/N?” Nick asks, looking at you strangely with concern etched into his voice.

Waving your hand about weirdly, you nod your head wildly, trying to act natural but very much not. Luke glances at you with a judgmental glance, one that he wants you to see as you laugh, “Of course I am! Why would I not be?”

“I don’t know, you’re just acting a little strange.”

“Me? I’m always strange,” You try to wave it off, hoping that soon enough this nightmare would be over and you could go back home. This has to be the most embarrassing day to ever exist, for anyone. You would give anything just to disappear right now.

“Uh oh,” Luke’s voice sounds from behind Nick, his voice teasing as he looked at you with a smile, “has someone got a crush on Nick?”

“What! No!”

Your eyes snapped over to Luke, his smile growing wider. You know that he’s messing with you, but you couldn’t let him believe you had a crush on Nick of all people. No way. You already liked someone else, Luke, so to let Luke believe that you liked Nick was not going to happen. Your eyes hesitantly look back towards Nick, where he looks at you with a confused look.

You know that you can’t explain you were talking to a ghost, he’d think you were even crazier than you actually were. Giving him an awkward laugh you rub behind your neck, “Sorry, Flynn is across the hall and is trying to be distracting.”

“Flynn isn’t even in scho-”

“Sorry, Nick! Nice talking to you but I gotta go, bye!” Cutting Nick off quickly, you wave your hand before whirling around, walking in the opposite direction. A pair of shoes caught themselves up with you, and you knew who it was. The black and white vans were kind of a giveaway.

“I think that went well.”

“Shut up, Luke.”

. . .

Thankfully, your bad and embarrassing day didn’t get much worse. You managed to get through your first classes without Luke trying to annoy you anymore, which meant that you didn’t embarrass yourself even more and when it came to lunch you holed yourself up in the library. Being in the library meant that there was no one around to embarrass yourself in front of.

Your last class rolled around and you were trying to get your head down and do your work so that you could go home and forget that this day ever happened. It wasn’t going to get much worse than it already is considering the day was practically over, so you were just waiting for the time to pass by.

“Y/n, psst,” You hear a voice whisper from in front of you, making you look up. Maybe you spoke too soon, because there Luke is, sitting on the desk in front of yours, that was thankfully empty.

You knew that Luke just liked to talk to people other than Reggie and Alex from time-to-time and you were normally a good option but not in school. And especially not after the embarrassment that happened earlier on in the morning; that’s why you ignored him.

However, it seemed that Luke really wanted your attention and was willing to do anything to get it. Whether it be constantly talking to you, distracting you from doing your work, or humming new songs, he seemed to be doing anything to be annoying.

“What do you think about this one, n/n?”

Often, you were used to Luke just using your first name, so the sound of your endeared nickname falling off of his lips effortlessly caused your heart to flutter. Luke frowned a little, he knew you were listening, he could see you press your pencil down a little harder on your paper every time he spoke, almost as if you were trying to restrain yourself from answering him.

A smirk lit upon his lips, he knew exactly what to do. Jumping off of the table, he made his way over to your desk, taking the pencil out of your hand. Your eyes went wide but you knew you couldn’t make a big deal about it, imagine they seen you jumping after a floating pencil.

Looking up at Luke, you mouthed ‘Luke, put the pencil down’ with a glare, but Luke simply smirked at you. At this rate, you thought that Luke was just trying to get you grumpy. He brought the pencil down to your level to tease you but you caught onto it, tugging it closer to you.

Luke didn’t seem to want to let go, finally glad to get your attention but it shouldn’t have been a good thing, because he was just angering you even more.

Finally managing to yank the pencil off of Luke, you heard a voice whisper beside you, “Hey y/n, are you planning on actually doing any work, or are you gonna continue to cast spells with your pencil?”

The day definitely couldn’t get worse after that.

. . .

After that, you were determined to ignore Luke by any means necessary, even if he stole a pencil and let the class believe that the class was haunted. Thankfully enough, Luke realized that he shouldn’t push your buttons anymore and left you alone. On your walk home you practically wallowed in self-pity and embarrassment and found yourself swallowed in a hole of blankets and pillows watching a movie when you got into your bedroom.

You did not want to go back to school, and you found yourself dreading it more and more with each passing moment. After Luke realized how embarrassed you were the first time, he should've stopped, but he didn’t. Maybe he just liked to torture you and embarrass you in front of all of your peers.

It was a well-established thing that you liked Luke, not that he knew, of course, you knew he didn’t like you back like that. And after today, you struggled to believe he would ever see you as more; it was like he didn’t care about your feelings.

“Y/n, there you are,” Speak of the devil, “I need opinions on these new lyrics-”

“No, Luke. I’m busy.” You snap, eyes keeping on the screen. You hoped that he took the memo and stopped talking and left, but he didn’t, they never do.

Walking towards your bed, Luke sat beside you and grabs the remote that was tucked in between two blankets, holding it up to you, “No you aren’t, you’re only watching a movie. I’m sure you could stop it for two seconds.”

“What if I don’t want to?” You reply sassily, reaching for more popcorn that sat in the small bowl in front of you.

“What’s up with you?” Luke asks, his voice slightly annoyed as he looks at you. He seems confused like he’s completely oblivious to everything that happened today.

“What do you think is up with me?” You ask, finally turning to look at him, e/c eyes meeting the hazel ones you were so fond of.

Luke stares back at you with the same intensity, eyes looking over your blanket-covered figure before realization dawned on his face. Yet, with the realization, annoyance seemed to follow closely behind, “Is this because I embarrassed you in front of your crush?”

“I don’t have a crush on Nick!” Your voice is slightly louder than you had intended, but you don’t bother to apologize anyway.

Maybe you were both overreacting, and you were getting a little too defensive but you couldn’t help it. Luke didn’t seem to listen to you, you had already told him you didn’t like Nick, couldn’t he just listen to you for once in his life?

“Why are you shouting? I’m just asking a question,” Luke says, his voice calm. You had never expected the day where Luke would be the voice of reason between the two of you but here we are.

Eyes looking back up to meet Luke’s, a frown falls onto your face. Sighing, you feel guilt pool in your stomach, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have shouted at you.”

“It’s alright, y/n. I shouldn’t have embarrassed you in the first place. I’m really sorry,” You’re pretty sure that’s the first time you have ever heard Luke apologize to anyone, and you’re surprised at how sincere he sounded. Maybe Luke does care about your feelings more than you expected him to.

Soon enough, the calm and comfortable atmosphere you have created in the room because uncomfortable as you both sit in a silence. You don’t know what to say, or what to do but thankfully, Luke saves you from that.

“Listen, I- uh,” Luke hesitates to speak, feeling nervous when your attention is turned back to him. His gaze looks down at the bed before glancing back up, looking very fidgety under your gaze, “I’m sorry for what I did this morning. I don’t know I just seen Nick, and I thought you guys liked each other and I didn’t like it so I embarrassed you in front of him and that’s not okay.”

“You didn’t like it?” You ask with a smirk, quoting what Luke said as your smirk goes a bit wider. Noticing your words, Luke’s eyes go a little bit wider as he starts to stutter but you quickly end his stuttering, “Were you jealous, Patterson?”

It takes him a few moments to respond, your full body turning towards him when you begin to tease him. You had hoped that he was going to get embarrassed in front of you but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

“Maybe I am, what are you gonna do about it?”

#luke julie and the phantoms #julie and the phantoms #charlie gillespie x y/n #julie and the phantoms x reader #luke patterson x reader #luke patterson #jatp #julie and the phantoms luke #charlie gillespie x reader #charlie gillespie #luke jatp #luke patterson x y/n

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leamy-world · 3 years

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Reaction to The Devil Judge (spoilers for ep. 9 & 10)

It’s been a while since i’ve last been on tumblr, but i got invested in this drama every week & the fandom’s analyses to not talk about it sometime! (Last time i was hooked, it was with Beyond Evil and i watched it by the time the finale already aired so i didn’t suffer from the weekly wait!)

So here i am, this is mainly self-indulgent with essay-long interpretations of some scenes in a totally random order, but i’d love to interact with whoever reads this if they want to react!

I’m sorry for the potential awkward phrasings, english is not my first language!

- The recap was nicely done and tied everything together, it made me realize so many things happened since the beginning! The repetition didn’t make me skip it, the narration was dynamic & fun.

- The ‘power display’ & threat Yohan showed to Soohyun (by lashing out at Juk Chang and strangling him, as proxy for Soohyun, in front of her while staring at her) were something …! She answered in the same fashion, passing by him saying she will ‘arrest Juk Chang’. I wonder how their next encounters will unfold.

- Many people already pointed this out, but Soohyun’s decision to leave Elijah, a minor, alone in her car (with its doors open, daring to tell her to stay there when she has no other choice anyway) + stop the gang alone and unannounced off duty was irresponsible. Anyways, i wonder if she will interact again with Elijah because they were adorable, i would miss it!

- The conversation between Soohyun & Gaon at his apartment (ep. 10) was interesting on both parts:

It sounded casual, but Soohyun wanted to see where he stood in the Kang family and make sure he wasn’t in Yohan’s plans (i hope she didn’t seriously mean the ‘weird’ comment about Elijah, it’d be sad since Elijah enjoyed her company!).

Gaon was anxious professor Min told her about their last conversation (i think she’ll talk to him in the next eps). He also indirectly defended the Kangs by associating himself with them (« I’m pretty sure i’m just as weird ») and voiced his concern about Yohan, speaking more to himself than following the conversation at hand.

When Soohyun changed the subject with the ‘i’m jealous’ bit, maybe it was to brighten the mood with a light-hearted comment, hoping Gaon would follow. And by the look of her pause right after, it seemed she was also expecting GO’s ‘positive’ reaction to her jealousy, giving in to the kind of teasing/flirt they have in their friendship. But deep down, it was also to voice her true unease about Gaon’s involvement with Yohan she had since the beginning and ep. 8.

It’s obvious to us she meant she was jealous of Yohan. And GO could’ve understood it this way too, since she confessed to him multiple times and her feelings must be known to him (i think he takes it as a ‘joke’ given how many times she confessed and each time when he was crying, so maybe he thought, very reasonably, it was to cheer him up? I also guess he’s too absorbed by his current worries about the Kangs and her potential suspicion, to notice her attempts).

But instead of that, he’s not in the same line of thoughts at all and picks up on the « rich », musing on what makes one’s existence rich, thinking Soohyun was envying Yohan’s position and life and proving her he’s indeed in a whole different world, empathizing with Yohan.

She then looked like her face fell, until her eyes lit up again when he was about to admit she was precious to him along with his family.

By the way, this scene picks up right where we were left off in ep. 8, when Gaon tends to his plants:

« - Are you back for good? - Not really. They need some looking after. - You should come back, not drop by. This is where you live. - Someone there needs some taking care of too. - Take care of your own self, please. - What about me? I’m living a shamelessly comfortable life. Soohyun. - Yes? - What are you thinking about? - Nothing. By the way, Gaon … » (i wonder what she was going to say!)

Lost in thoughts, Gaon’s mixed emotions when he said Yohan was not rich (« he’s not rich. If you get to know him, Kang Yohan is really poor. ») were very well depicted by Jinyoung’s acting: the soft voice and the ghost of a smile that convey understanding and endearment, leaning on his counter in a relaxed stance, but also at the same time the stare lost in the space, maybe to all the memories tied to the Kangs and Yohan, and the tension in his left lip corner by the end of his sentence which betray his sadness and empathy with Yohan’s life. After this, when he became aware of Soohyun’s gaze, it’s like his bubble popped. He looked surprised with his eyes widening, and was fidgeting a little, then changed the subject to himself.

And « I have you, Soohyun » sounded truly grateful but also sad and conflicted, GO lets his worries show when she’s gone, maybe wondering if they would be bound to be against each other one day as he continues to side with Yohan, menacing to jeopardize their friendship to the point of no return. In these kinds of stories you expect these kinds of twists, but i grew fond of the cast send help

- I loved how Yohan’s confession to GO about his brother was filmed: the camera faced head-on his pain, slipping unbeknownst to him through the façade he always showed to protect himself. But this time, despite his (late) attempts to dismiss these feelings both for him and Gaon to regain composure (the hand gestures to hide his tears, pretending to be tough with the « there’s no such things as innocent people », drinking away his sorrow with a bitter laugh that rings hollow), all this façade fades out in front of Gaon literally by being blurred out in the shot, as if he clearly sees his pain through (his silhouette appearing clear-cut between Yohan’s gestures). I know it’s a pretty classic shot but it fit well with this scene. He clenches his jaw in the next shot, moved by Yohan opening up.

- The dinner scene was really moving …! Especially when you put the colder tones the kitchen had when we first saw Yohan have dinner by himself next to this scene, full of light in contrast! I wonder when the OST playing will be released, it was so beautiful and reminded me of My Mister’s OST (especially Rainbow!). I look forward to the lyrics, because most of the time the OST gives more layers & depth to the story and the characters! (please don’t let it be about Yohan’s budding feeling of a true ‘home’ ;;) I didn’t realize it upon my first watch, but Gaon really took the cutlery hostage, it cracked me up!

- The parallels in this show will be the end of me: Yohan went from the « i’m so sick of this place » (ep. 5) to asking K to drive him « home » with a delighted smile.

- I liked the parallel of Yohan’s reaction to GO/Sun-Ah sitting in his office chair, impeding on his space (he reminds SA to stay out of it, the first time politely, the second time almost grimacing, his jaw clenched: « Just because you’re the head of the OSC doesn’t mean you can barge in like this (…) So please stop barging in like this. », while he says nothing to GO)

- At the beginning of ep. 10, we have Yohan saying he doesn’t like « hanging out with people » & by the end of it, Soohyun saying « My childhood’s best friend is hanging out with a rich guy ».

- These two episodes gave more insight and nuance into Sun-Ah’s character, which was very nice ; and also Cha Kyung-Hee’s comeback (and her last confrontation with Sun-Ah!!!!)

- The people following Juk Chang also targeted sexual minorities according to the subs i had, i wonder if it will be addressed again sometime in the drama.

- I loved Elijah’s « hacking » technique scene, i felt proud too! I always look forward to her scenes (and Kkomi’s too haha)! And her reaching out Gaon’s shoulder for the first time ;;

- The ‘humans lose their minds when they think they’ve lost what they have’ ……… repeated twice by YH ………… It will hit hard and all those lines will come right back at us viewers, but i’m not prepared haha! And also for the ‘if you want revenge, don’t hesitate’, i hope it doesn’t foreshadow a future revenge Gaon will execute without hesitation aaaaaa

Also, what lawyer Ko said about himself in ep. 8 may apply to Yohan’s case by the end, will he atone for what he did someday? (« I’m no longer a lawyer. I’m just a criminal. When all this comes to an end, I’ll pay for what i did. »)

- I really loved Yohan’s efforts to take into consideration both Elijah’s (he refrained himself from acting rashly like the last time she went out and listened to her) and Gaon’s feelings (stopping him from endangering himself recklessly, not forcing him onto the revenge path lest he’d regret it afterwards, and helping him to face the truth rationally).

- « She’s hungry for affection. No matter how much you hate the world and the people in it, you can never live alone. You always need someone to rely on. As long as you’re a human being. » Many people commented on it, Gaon must speak from his own experience and empathizes with both Elijah and Yohan’s situation. These two episodes showed how Gaon cares for the Kangs more openly, and i live for it!

- Give me that domestic scene where Gaon plays cards with YH, the nanny and Elijah! And also more K and lawyer Ko scenes!

- Jinjoo’s and Gaon’s intervention in the trial were gold! And Satie’s Gnossiennes rearrangement playing in the background during Juk Chang’s speech, it’s the cherry on the cake haha

- By the way, there was also an arrangement of Rachmaninoff’s piano concerto no. 2 during the first charity event Yohan went with Jinjoo in the earlier episodes, it was also beautiful!

- GO’s Awkward Smile. I have no words, it is now forever imprinted on my mind.

Have a nice week and take care!

#the devil judge #tvn drama #my ramblings

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listless-brainrot · 3 years

Note

Hi! I know you love Haru and I'd love to hear your thoughts on what his personality is like? Not his bending or his ships, but just what kind of person he is. He was super undeveloped in ATLA and I'd love to understand him better and write about him!

hey, i'm glad you asked!! super flattering to have you come to me in regards to this question, and i've analyzed this guy to hell and back over the course of nearly a year now, so i'd be more than happy to give you my characterization of him

granted, it's pretty lengthy, and is heavily based on canon, hence why a lot of it ties to his bending, but i'll try my best to make it so that it's more about haru as a person, rather than his service to the plot

also makes me super happy to hear that people do want to understand and write about him!! that really does mean the world to me particularly, so thank you <3

with all of this in mind, here's a collection of my (pretty lengthy, sorry about that) thoughts:

haru being super undeveloped is actually one of the reasons why i find him so compelling- there’s so much you can do with a character of his caliber because there’s not much canon/supplementary material that can discredit your characterizations. canon, however, does actually supply a characterization of him that i’ve managed to compile and accrue over the course of finding nearly every single little detail i can find pertaining to him. this includes his canon episodes in both book 1 and 3, the videogame he appears in (which is straight up called avatar: the last airbender), and even the silly shorts.

(mild disclaimer, i know full well that the latter two i mentioned are considered non canon, but i like incorporating little bits and pieces of what they have to offer, as i don’t really have any other options. also, the videogames are the only supplementary material where he’s treated as a part of the gaang, so it’s the most personality you’ll ever get.)

i’ll start with main characteristics i try to keep in mind when writing him, and then talk about smaller, more innocuous details that i just find particularly fitting for him.

haru is:

emotionally driven. a lot of his decisions are more driven by emotion, rather than logic. this ties in with his impulsivity and morality. he’s aggravated by his position in the village as the only earthbender left, and this culminates into him still bending discreetly despite the inherent risk. he does this not only for himself, but to preserve the (possibly only) emotional connection he has to his arrested father. this is a similarity he shares with katara, who’s emotionally tied to her mother due to losing her, and haru is the one to understand what that loss really means in this interaction: “this necklace is all i have left of her.” “it’s not enough, is it?” by saying this instead of an apology or some other response, he shows that the feeling of loss she’s experiencing is mutually understood in a way that goes beyond just sympathy. there is nothing that will replace who you’ve lost other than the person themselves, and he understand that more than anyone. it’s also implied that haru doesn’t know if his father is still alive, as no one knows where the prisoners go, but it’s clear that he still holds a sort of hope that he’s somewhere out there, and that keeps him going. it just takes a little bit of outside influence for him to fully believe in that, as well as being reunited with his father again. in general, he’s also pretty receptive of other’s emotions, and is quick to come to their aid.

impulsive. not just impulsive, either- he’s got anger and resentment lying beneath his quiet composure. it’s not as bad as characters such as zuko’s, but it’s still worth mentioning. i’ll mention the impulse part first, though- generally speaking, haru reacts faster than he thinks. upon being spotted practicing his bending by katara, he runs away without pausing to consider the harmful repercussions of being found out (nor followed home). he not only runs away from danger as a first instinct, he also runs towards it in some cases, ironically enough- he’s the first one to notice and immediately run towards the mines once he hears/sees the explosion and suspects that someone’s in trouble. he does this without any prompting by katara, even if the act of actually saving the old man needed some egging on from her in order for him to accomplish. his impulsivity comes to a head in the form of his most dangerous act- him attacking the warden. i’ve already elaborated on that specific interaction here, though i will once again emphasize that haru had absolutely no plans past attacking the warden based on his body language, further fueling the idea that this was just a split second decision, one made on nothing but complete and utter impulse. to bring the anger aspect into this, he’s also unable to hold his tongue and insults the fire nation soldiers and even his town once the former leaves, and his instincts swing wildly between running and fighting on a dime with little in-between.

adaptable. instead of completely shutting down in the face of such a negative situation (and over the course of five years, no less), he brings it upon himself to practice bending, accept his role as man of the house and work in both the shop and on the farm, and other responsibilities that go unmentioned, especially when taking into account that his father is apparently the leader of his village. this is where you could start paralleling him well to sokka, which i have done before, but i will make this more haru-oriented. there is definitely a lot more to be inferred with this particular aspect of him, but i will say that it takes someone of strong will to adapt to the situations presented in his episode, and learning to live with the grim reality of fire nation occupation. to run down what we see again- soldiers freely patrolling the villages, soldiers overtaxing the villagers, soldiers entering wherever they wish unannounced, soldiers stealing away people in the night without much resistance, soldiers forcing villagers to work in the coal mines to gather the coal needed for their ships, and soldiers forcing captured earthbenders to build fire nation ships. this is all off of the top of my head, so i could be missing a lot, but again, seeing haru still be as morally oriented and determined as he is after all of this, it’s pretty impressive and telling of his adaptive capabilities. to take this one step further, he’s also extremely adaptable when it comes to working with others, as in the games he fills his role as a necessary component of the gaang without conflicting sokka or other preexisting roles, and in book 3, he finds his place amongst teo and the duke, taking the most initiative amongst the three.

lonely. a snippet from his personality bio on avatarspirit.net calls him “lonely and brave”, and i think that’s especially fitting for his character. he only had his mom for five whole years after every other earthbender was taken away, and this is without mentioning the ostracization he faced simply being one, given how the fire nation constantly demoralizes his country’s benders and likens them to savages. the village he lives in also appears to be full of old folks, so it’s not very likely that he had friends his age that were even in town, especially if we consider the circumstances of following book 2 episodes with the earth army recruiters. (it’s also unlikely that his friends are alive if they did join the army- take a gander at this line from zuko alone: Gow: Just thought someone ought to tell you, your son's battalion got captured. You boys hear what the Fire Nation did with their last group of Earth Kingdom prisoners? Soldier: Dressed them up in Fire Nation uniforms and put them on the frontline unarmed, way I heard it. Then they just watched.) furthermore, it’s not likely that haru could’ve left his little village prior to its occupation- the games imply he’d been to omashu previously, but the circumstances of the war make this unlikely, unless he was super young. given his not always pleasant attitude and sullen expression we sometimes see him with, it’s not hard to imagine that the effects of him being so alone without the connections he needs has affected him deeply.

some other things:

-he’s horrible at lying (”they’re crazy! i mean, just look at how they’re dressed” is that really the best excuse you could’ve come up with??). -he doesn’t like keeping his hands/arms still (arms are usually crossed, sometimes gestures as he talks, hands usually balled as if expecting a fight). -he’s pretty outwardly expressive (for someone who’s supposed to be hiding most of the time, he tends to wear his emotions/intentions on his sleeve). -he can’t bite his tongue (especially when it comes to something that goes against his personal beliefs). -he doesn’t know how to react to touch (katara hugging him takes him by surprise both times, and he doesn’t reciprocate often, if anything he reacts stiffly) -he’s particular about his appearance (notably in the games, he makes negative comments about people touching his hair, and there’s also. sokka’s comments in book 3. sigh.) -he’s considered dangerous/sensitive by others (note sokka’s comments in book 1, and katara’s comments in the school time shipping short) -he lives a busy personal life (works both in the family shop and on the family farm, and has probably had to work in the coal mines at some point, though this is speculative) -he’s not above poking/having fun (in the games, he’s not above making fun of sokka and his comments about benders, and jumps at the opportunity to ride the omashu mail chutes) -he’s family oriented (count how many times he talks about his parents, it is many times i assure you, it’s important to note that he’s one of the few atla characters to actually have both parents as well as a decent relationship with them) -he has a tendency to idealize. he talks about his father fighting against the fire nation even when horribly outnumbered. it wouldn’t be surprising if he idealized the ideal of rebellion (which would later bite him given that:) -he’s a part of the first successful earth kingdom rebellion. this is mentioned on the wiki, and is unfortunately not shown in the show. it should’ve been, though. -he’s dramatic. he has an entire cliff he brings katara up to just to be dramatic and spill his sad backstory. he needs to be encouraged to save the old man, but he does it in the most dramatic way possible- he really didn’t have to stop the entire avalanche AND push it back into the mines. drama king. -he is very lucky. this can apply to anyone who encounters the gaang, but honestly, given his personality and a few things i’ve mentioned above, it’s a miracle that he’d survived as long as he did without detection nor suspicion. -he’s creative. (this one is much more speculative, but he does create huge statues of katara and ty lee pretty quickly, maybe he’s done similar things before)

to summarize: he’s a lonely impulsive idealist who isn’t afraid to throw hands if necessary and is also very attached to his dad <3 his connection to his dad makes up at least 75% of his personality

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hotchley · 3 years

Text

the date

Surprise! I’m on holiday now so I’m using the time to try and get some of my WIPs finished. This and yesterdays were the most done, so don’t expect too much from the next two weeks because I also do need to start doing my work.

The temptation to post a spoiler was almost overwhelming, but I refrained so now you get to read the whole mess in one go! Also, funny story, this had been sitting in my drafts since last year and I only just got around to finish it.

There is a happy, alternate ending. Let me know if you want to see it!

Trigger Warnings: references to child abuse and domestic violence, both characters have low self-esteem and negative perceptions of themselves

read on ao3!

It's too early for anyone else to be there. The entire BAU is on leave- and given how often that was interrupted, it makes sense for everyone to be enjoying it whilst it lasts, but it still shocks her to see the entire sixth floor empty.

Apart from one person.

Hotch is sitting behind his desk, dressed casually. It's strange to see him there, frowning over paperwork, wearing a pair of worn jeans and a fuzzy jumper. It makes him look younger. more like Jack’s dad than Supervisory Special Agent Hotchner and it tugs at something in Emily's heart.

She pushes the feeling away. That isn’t why she's here. It doesn’t matter that she is the only one- aside from Dave- that knows the way he rubs his thumb against his other fingers is a way to soothe himself, not an indication that he's lying. It doesn't matter that she knows what his tell is, or that the smile that had spread across his face when she told him it was a date made her heart flutter. It's irrelevant that he’d pulled her closer when they were dancing as though he was trying to convince himself she was real.

She's leaving. And he's with Beth. Beth, who she had only spoken to for a few minutes but had immediately loved. She is everything Hotch needs after the darkness of the past two years. And Emily can't resent her. Not for falling in love with Hotch and certainly not because he loves her back.

He isn't hers. Maybe he would've been. In a different life where his torso isn't a mess of scars left by the same serial killer that had put his wife in the ground, and her darkness was something that didn't stop her from loving others or cause fear, they would've been beautiful. A peaceful garden that made people smile and realise that there was still hope and a reason to carry on.

But it isn't a different life. They live in a world where you can't keep a photo of your loved one in your wallet in case it fell into the wrong hands, and where the phone ringing did not provoke an eye roll at the latest scam, but a cold dread that someone else they loved is dead or gone. They live in a world where she taints everything she touches- apart from him because he has always been darkness and what she doesn't understand was that her touch made flowers blossom where only weeds had ever lived in his ribcage- and a world where he cannot handle his own humanity.

She hasn't knocked before walking into his office since that case in Milwaukee, all those years ago. She thinks of the woman she had been then, but for once, it doesn't hurt. She is still that headstrong and fiesty agent, but she is also more open and trusting. Aaron had changed too. He'd gotten older and more tired. But he trusts her.

Enough that she doesn't need to knock before entering. It feels wrong though, to walk in unannounced. He would know immediately if she knocks that something is up, and she wants to cling to the feeling of home for a few more moments. She clears her throat instead. The smile that crosses her face when he looks up, slightly startled by her sudden appearance, was completely involuntary.

"Why are you doing paperwork?" she asks.

He sets it to the side, looking like a child that had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "It's only going to pile up, so I thought I would get a head start."

"You deserve to take a break too," she chastises.

He looks down. "I know. Would you like to sit?"

She nods, taking the seat in front of his desk. When she looks at him, it is almost painful. Five years ago, he had called her into his office to snap at her. And she had hated him for it. She knew he was only pretending to not know where she'd gone for college. So she took the knife in her back and plunged it into his heart when she said he didn't trust women as much as men, despite knowing that wasn't true.

He doesn't trust anyone. How could he, when the very people that were meant to love him and keep him safe from the dark were the same monsters that emerged as the sun went down?

But he had looked younger then. Less tired by life and living. And she had been more hopeful. Not naive. She had never been naive. None of them had been. They'd never been given the chance to experience that feeling. But she'd had hope that they could save everyone.

And he hadn't been able to take that from her, but he watched as she slowly lost it. And she watched as he told the team he loved them in a thousand different ways. And she wondered how anyone could ever call him cold. He wasn't cold. Hotch did what it took to protect the honour of the BAU, but Aaron did what it took to keep his family together.

At some point, they had stopped fighting each other and started to blur the lines between friendship and more.

"Did you enjoy yourself last night?" he asks.

She nods. "JJ deserves it. So does Will. Especially after everything that's happened."

Neither of them know what, but something happened when she was at the State Department.

"We all deserve that," he says, almost too quietly for her to hear. One set of words that she cannot say threaten to fall from her mouth.

"Beth is lovely," she says instead. "What does Jack think of her?"

He smiles at the mention of his son. "She's one of his favourite people."

"That's lovely," she says, wondering why it was so difficult to speak to him. There were only two times their conversations had been this stilted: once when he started working for her mother, and once when she first joined the unit.

There's a sudden silence, and she stares past him and at the books lining his shelves. All the ones that could be seen were law-related. What few people knew was that at the very bottom of the shelf, where his desk and chair would cover it, he has books for Jack.

It had thrown her, the first time she'd seen them. She couldn't reconcile the image of Hotch and the image of Aaron. Now the two were interchangeable. Not that she ever actually called him Aaron. He would call her Emily like her name meant everything, but she was a coward. Aaron was too personal.

She'd used his first name twice. Once after Haley's death, when she thought he would retire even though he would never be happy. Once after her own death, when she told him to burn in hell. She regretted that, even now, after forgiveness had been given.

"She deserves better than me. I know that. I think deep down, she knows that too but I just can't let her walk away from me, and I don't know why," he blurts out. Almost like he needed to say something, but everything else was either too personal or too neutral.

But she understands what he means. She always does.

"You need to convince yourself you can love someone without destroying them. You need a reason to look through case file after case file. You need to know that someone will be waiting when you come home, that this is not for nothing."

Aaron stares, and she swallows. It had been so long since she had been this vulnerable with him. Her bad day, when she had let herself feel after so long of not, felt like decades ago. And in some ways, it had been. She had bought and sold a house. He had crumbled and found love again.

"Emily, there is a reason for all of this. You just need to remember it. And some day, you will have someone waiting at home for you, I promise. Just give it time," he says.

She smiles as he says her name. Ian had tainted it. But Aaron says it like it was something precious and beautiful. What she didn't understand was that, to him, it was. It always had been. It always would be, no matter what.

But then the rest of his words register and her smile fades. He already knows she's leaving, had known since she returned that it was only a matter of time. Foolishly he had hoped it would be far, far into the future, when his own health issues forced him to retire. That would be kind though. And the world had never been kind to either of them.

She would walk away now, even though she didn't want to, because she could not stand the memory of the last time she had been in that office. And he would stay, even though he couldn't, because he would not let the team lose yet another person.

"You know why I'm here, don't you?" she asks, thinking about their conversation the previous night. How it had been perfect, but a cloud shaped like goodbye had been hanging over them throughout the night. She supposed that was what life was though.

It didn't make it hurt any less when Dave forced her into Aaron's arms. He had smiled, that soft and gentle one that transformed him from Unit Chief into the man that knew far too much for his age. That still longed for a childhood.

She hadn't wanted to talk about work, or her departure or even Beth. Instead, she whispered to him about the time he had spent working for her mother, and how even then, his suits didn't fit properly. He responded by talking about the evenings they had spent together watching old reruns of the comedies from her childhood.

And it was nice.

And again, she wonders if she was doing the right thing.

"I have my suspicion," he says, trying to keep his tone light. He doesn't want Emily to regret anything. He doesn't want to influence her decision. But in the back of his mind, she's just another person leaving him. And he wonders if he would ever be good enough for anyone, and then he hates himself for thinking that because this wasn't about him.

It is about Emily. And her need for a fresh start.

"You want me to say it, don't you?" she isn't accusing him. She just needs to be sure.

"Need," he corrects. "I need you to say it."

But it isn't out of spite. Or anger. He just needs to know it was her choice. That he has nothing to do with it. That she doesn't blame him anymore. That the thing that had been building between them before- before Doyle, before Foyet made him too afraid to feel anything- has not been destroyed.

"I'm resigning from the BAU and moving to London," she says. Saying it out loud, for the first time, to him of all the people, made the situation so much real.

She hadn't fully processed that she had accepted Clyde's offer. She knew for a while that she would be leaving, but now, the full impact of it hit her. There would be no more crushing hugs from Derek in private after the cases that destroyed them both. No more little toys from Penelope stuffed into her top drawer to make her smile.

No more Aaron seeking her out to ask her silly questions about foreign languages because Jack had expressed an interest in them. No more Aaron making sure she was fine by simply glancing in her direction. No more coffee on her desk after a difficult meeting that he would never confess to making, but which everyone knew was his doing.

No more phone calls too early in the morning begging for a story, a joke, anything, to distract from the memory he had of her in the hospital after Doyle.

No more them, messy and broken and damaged as they were.

He nods. The smile on his face is forced, and she can see him fighting back tears. He doesn’t want her to go. But he also knows that she needs to. She is doing what he had never been able to do: leave, before it all became too much and whatever life they still had left was permanently ruined.

“You’ll take them by storm. Just like you did here,” he says.

She smiles slightly, thinking back once more to her earliest days. “Only there won’t be someone accusing me of being a spy for their boss, which really did define those first few months.”

She meant it as a joke. She really should have known better. He always took these things too literally, so afraid of the teasing disguising a genuine anger that would only come out hours later when he had forgotten the transgression.

“Emily, I never apologised for my actions, but I need you to know-”

“You have apologised. I don’t need to hear the words to know how sorry you are. Also, it wasn’t really misplaced distrust was it?”

“Still. I am sorry. For everything.”

He isn’t just talking about those early days, she suddenly realises. He was talking about everything, from Milwaukee to Benjamin Cyrus to Ian Doyle. She longs to reach across and take his hand, rubbing her own fingers over the skin that he was always worrying, but that isn’t her job anymore.

It never had been. Even if she had wanted it to be.

“So am I,” she says. “I miss the man you were when I first joined,” she adds without thinking.

He frowns, the furrow so much like the look Jack had given her when she told him the previous night that one day, he would also be old like his dad and her. It hurt, to see how similar they were. Maybe it was because, where Hotch had always hated looking like his father, Jack would love it.

“Why?” he asks, voice slightly hoarse. He's afraid of her answer.

“You had more faith in people and their goodness. More hope for the future. I don’t blame you for changing. Still, it was a beautiful belief to witness and be a part of.”

“Haley always gave me a reason to believe in goodness,” he confesses, fiddling with the pen he had set down the moment she walked in.

“Perhaps Beth can give you some more,” she says, without a single hint of jealousy or anger. She has no right to either of those emotions. Women like her, women that only hurt the people they loved and who were harsh and cruel and rough around the edges did not get men like him.

Men like Aaron got soft and gentle women who saw nothing but the best in everyone. It was the only way that they could carry on doing their jobs. The only way any of them could carry on looking into the abyss without flinching was by having something that would be their solace. Something or someone untouched by the horrors of the day and evil of the night.

He has found his solace. She is still searching. Because he cannot be her solace anymore. It isn’t fair to either of them. She's not going to make him choose between loving her and loving Beth. She knows that people could love more than one person, but he already felt guilty for still loving Haley. After everything else she had put him through, she couldn't put him through the pain of knowing that she had always loved him, had always known just what his lingering stares meant, but had just never found the right time to say it all.

"When I said she deserves better than me, I didn't just mean because I'm broken."

"Aaron, you aren't-"

"Stop, let me- let me finish. I am. I have been for a while now. Maybe I was never whole to begin with. I meant that I'm in love with someone else. I thought I was over it, but I wasn't, and it was only when we started dating that I realised."

"Nobody can fault you for still loving Haley. She was torn from you in the most horrific way possible, and if you still love her, that's okay. Your heart has always been too big for just one person."

"I'm not talking about Haley," he whispers. "I'm talking about you."

"Aaron."

"I love you," he chokes out.

He can't. He can't love her. If he loves her, he will end up in a coffin, buried in the ground because she always kills the people that love her. If he loves her, the flowers in his heart that were finally blooming after Haley's death caused them all to wilt would be permanently destroyed.

He stares at her. She looks away. The look on his face is too real. Too much. If she looks at him, she would end up tearing up the resignation and phoning Clyde to say she couldn't do it. She believes that there was a universe in which she was strong enough to stay. A universe in which she was still beautiful.

But in the universe she lives in, she isn't. She is hardened by life and terrified of love. In the universe where Aaron only knows how to say I love you when everything else failes, who had only ever heard the words used out of fear, shouted by a desperate mother as her husband refused to have mercy, she has gone too long without speaking.

"Say something. Even if it's that you hate me and that I'm a terrible person. Or that I'm being cruel and unfair because I am. You're ready to leave and I shouldn't be ruining your fresh start like this but I just-"

"I love you too," she says.

His jaw drops. "Emily," he breathes.

"I- I love you. I don't know when it started or when I realised, but I love you. I have for a while. I just- I couldn't say anything."

"Why?"

The question catches her off-guard. "What?"

"Why do you love me?"

He's not searching for a compliment. He genuinely wants to know why she- with her beauty and strength and power and loyalty and kindness- could ever love him.

"For the same reason you hate yourself."

He laughs. "That's funny. In some twisted way, that's funny. I love you for the same reasons you hate yourself too."

She looks at him. Him, with his tired eyes and gentle smiles. With his twisted definition of love because nobody ever taught him what it really was. Who believed he had to be perfect, or else people would leave. Who led the team with such passion and loyalty because Haley's love terrified him, and it was easy to push her away. Him, who still does not know the difference between safety and happiness and who does not understand where kindness and love differ.

And she knows that she cannot do it. She is not strong enough to love him the way he needs. Maybe a few years ago. Maybe if this was a few years later. But time was a funny thing. It was always working against them.

"I love you," she repeats.

"You won't stay though, will you?" there is no anger in his voice. Just an acceptance she hates. He always accepts things far too easily.

"I can't."

"I know. It's okay. I don't want you to have any regrets. About anything."

He stands, and she follows almost immediately, her body still attuned to his movements. When he walks around to stand in front of her, she wonders if this is the climax of their story. If this is the final moment, where the tension peaks, and everything ends happily.

When he was a child, he pretended his life was like the films he never got to watch in order to escape the reality of it. He eventually accepted that life did not always come with closure and sometimes loose ends could not be tied up.

He holds out his hand for her. "Agent Prentiss. I wish you all the best in the future."

She refuses to take his hand. "You don't want me to have regrets?"

He drops his hand back down by his side. "Of course not Em. Of course not."

Without giving herself time to think, she closes the gap between them and stands on her tip-toes. He doesn't pull away, but his breathing goes uneven as it catches in his throat. He looks down at the ground, unable to meet her eyes.

There is so much about him she wants to learn. So much she wants to memorise but she doesn't have time. So she presses one soft and gentle kiss to his forehead, smiling through the sadness as he relaxes into the touch with a shaky exhale.

He doesn't move. He can't. And so she steps away, clearing her throat, wiping away the tear that threatens to fall.

"Goodbye Aaron," she says, his first name slipping out without her even realising she was saying it.

"You only ever call me Aaron when you're saying goodbye. I'm not sure whether it makes me hate or love my name more," he says.

"For what it's worth, I am sorry," she says instead. She doesn't want to think about the reasons he hates his name. Or the irony of it meaning exalted, when every single person that was meant to protect him failed.

"I don't want you to be sorry. I want you to look back and smile. And be proud of the lives you saved, the family you found. I want you to remember that you made me a better man. That you were right. I wasn't alone."

"None of us were. Will you come and visit me? Maybe help me get settled?"

It is selfish to ask, but she never claimed to be good. Aaron believes she is, but she knows she isn't.

"Of course I will," he promises. How can he not, when he blames himself for every single bad thing that had happened since she joined?

She gave him one final smile before closing the door behind her, ready to start a new life but still feeling like her heart had been torn from her chest. He watches her go, only falling to the ground to sob when the elevator doors close behind her one last time.

In the end, he does not visit. He gets as far as picking his seat, when he realises he cannot do it. He cannot see her. When he phones Derek, pleading for him to go instead, and to take Penelope so Emily cannot be angry, he doesn't even pretend to hide the fact that he has been crying.

Derek doesn't even hesitate. He just says he'll do it.

Emily hates Aaron for being too much of a coward to come and see her, even after he told her to not have any regrets. She hates herself more for not being able to see him when she hears about the emergency surgery. Saving JJ becomes her apology.

Still, it's not enough for her. Which is exactly why it's too much for him. Because even when they're stood across from each other, drinks in hand as they celebrate JJ's survival, they cannot be honest.

And then she leaves him again. He can't blame her.

He blames time. They never had enough. Or the right one.

#criminal minds #criminal minds fic #hotchniss #aaron hotchner #emily prentiss #sad aaron hotchner #hotch angst #sad emily prentiss #emily angst #tw child abuse #tw negative self talk #sumayyah writes cm

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imagining-in-the-margins · 5 years

Text

H2M Series Masterlist

EDIT (5/2/2021): I am heavily editing this series. I appreciate your patience!

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"You know the greatest danger facing us is... ourselves, and irrational fear of the unknown. There is no such thing as the unknown. Only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood." - Captain Kirk

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Since the dawn of man, we have loved. Scribbled between the adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine is some aspect of a soul beyond the scientific that allowed us the freedom to find someone to spend our lives with.

Love confounds, breaks every boundary and sense of logic. But above all, it makes sense.

I had loved before. A messy and impure collection of memories that I often tried to forget. There are some things, however, that demand to be felt. Things powerful enough to weather the storm and triumph through the drought that follows.

I did not seek out love. She came to me in the middle of a crowded bar. Love introduced herself to me with a smile and a secret, and gave no opportunity for questions.

We should have known better than to trust that things would work out, but we shared enough of her not to care.

We would make it, she said. It was only natural. It made perfect sense.

I did not seek out love, but I found her. And I never let her go.

—————————————————

"You know what the first rule of flying is? Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take a boat in the air you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughta' fall down, tells you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens. Makes her a home." - Captain Malcolm Reynolds

—————————————————

Underneath the cut are chapter summaries for each part of my first series, Here to Misbehave.

Part One | The Nightclub Spencer meets a girl he can’t get enough of at the nightclub, then quickly realizes she is not supposed to be there.

Part Two | The Mayflower Spencer and Reader spend their first night together at the Mayflower.

Part Three | The Handcuffs Spencer decides to return to a previous tryst.

Part Four | The Metro Spencer and Reader go on their first date.

Part Five | The Observatory Reader (accidentally) blows off a text from Spencer for another guy. Later, Spencer takes her for a second date.

Part Six | The Fight Something’s up with Spencer and Derek shows up at his door. The couple has their first fight.

Part Seven | The Aftermath Reader challenges Spencer to come find her at one of the frat houses; Jealous!Spencer makes his first appearance

Part Eight | The Promise The couple agrees to start over - the kind of sort of right way. Derek has some words for his friend, and when Reader comes over unannounced, Spencer tells her he’s sick.

Part Nine | The Movies Spencer is distracted at the movie theater. Reader meets Penelope, and Jealous Reader makes her first appearance.

Part Ten | The Liar Spencer can’t talk to Reader because he doesn’t want his coworker to know. Reader finds something terrifying in Spencer’s figurative and literal closet.

Part Eleven | The Sunshine She tries to get him to open up. The two have yet another difficult talk, and try to trust each other again.

Part Twelve | The Homework A week later, Reader tries to reconnect with Spencer.

Part Thirteen | The Picnic Spencer finally meets Reader’s roommate. After Spencer lectures Reader on the dangers of picnics, the two face a different kind of danger at the bank.

Part Fourteen | The Bank Separated and terrified, Spencer and Reader rely on their unique skills to survive. The team, minus Penelope and Derek, wonder about the strange girl in the bank.

Part Fifteen | The Loneliness At the hospital there are many tears to be shed, but even more questions to be asked.

Part Sixteen | The Cemetery Reader is trying to go back to her old life, which includes the life she led before she met Spencer.

Part Seventeen | The Father Spencer is concerned about Reader’s growing impulsiveness, but Reader is the one who gets a call from JJ asking if she could come get her boyfriend.

Part Eighteen | The Mother Reader finds more productive ways to spend her time, including volunteering at the local inpatient hospitals.

Part Nineteen | The Appointment Reader and Spencer share the night together following her doctor’s appointment.

Part Twenty | The Mistake Reader lies to Spencer.

Part Twenty One | The Drop Unfortunately, a new case couldn’t have come at a worse time for Reader, who’s starting to feel that dysphoria Spencer’s always warning her about.

Part Twenty Two | The Case Things are changing for the better.

Part Twenty Three | The Lecture Spencer’s birthday plans get interrupted by a case. Frustrated by Reader’s busy schedule, Spencer finds a unique way to spend time with her.

Finale | The Question It’s Halloween, and there are a lot of things on Spencer’s mind.

Epilogue | The End

#update #request #here to misbehave #spencer reid #spencer reid imagine

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mishasminion360 · 4 years

Text

Space Age Love Song, Ch. 4

A Mandalorian x O/C Fic

Warnings: Language

Notes: Din and Sara play 20 questions.

You can now keep up with this story on AO3 as well! My username is SwiggitySwagNightmareStag. Happy reading, all!

Ch. 4: Answered

Sara left Din to eat breakfast in privacy. He couldn’t very well stuff his face with the helmet on, and he’d made it clear that he wouldn’t take it off in her presence, so, while he remained in the kitchen, she took her scrambled eggs and bacon into the living room. Alone again, naturally.

After they’d stuffed themselves silly, Sara washed and dried the dishes, and then practically dragged the Mandalorian back into the living room, eager to learn more about the intergalactic anomaly that was Din Djarin. She shoved him (gently, of course) onto the couch before curling up on the other end.

“Okay, here’s how this is going to work. You ask a question, I answer. Then I ask a question and you answer. See? Easy. Care to start us off?”

Din leaned back and folded his armored arms.

“Ladies first.”

“I see that chivalry is a thing on your planet, which I’m assuming is...Mandaloria?”

“Close. It’s called Mandalore. Does that count as your first question?”

“Sure.”

“My turn, then. What planet am I on now?”

“This is Earth, my friend. The only populated planet in the Milky Way Galaxy. As far as we earthlings know, anyway.”

Milky Way Galaxy? That was a solid 2.5 million light-years from his own. He had no idea he’d come so far, and he would be utterly amazed if he discovered that he hadn’t completely burned out his hyperdrive.

“And what galaxy is Mandalore a part of?”

Sara’s second question put an abrupt end to the calculations he was doing in his head. And he was honestly grateful for it.

“The Andromeda Galaxy.”

Sara let out a low whistle and started doing some calculating of her own.

“How the hell did you manage to get all the way here? Aren’t our galaxies, like, a crap ton of light-years apart? How did you get here so fast? How long have you been traveling to get here?”

“That’s more than one question.”

“Shit, sorry.”

“It’s fine. Did you want me to answer all of those now, or...”

“No, no. Rules are rules. You go ahead and ask your next question.”

“Alright. Where’s my ship?”

Sara looked past him to the back door and he attempted to follow her gaze.

“It’s, uh, in my backyard. In a crater. You came in pretty hot there, Din. Your ship’s a little banged up. It was on fire when I first found it, but I managed to put most of it out. There were a lot of flashing lights and alarms going off. I don’t know my way around alien technology, so I can’t tell you with any certainty if it’ll still run. I can say that it appears to be all in one piece. I think. I hope.”

Dank Farrik, Din cursed to himself. One problem after the next. If the Razor Crest Sequent was nothing but a pile of scrap now, this would be the second ship, and the third home, he’d lost.

“How did you end up here, Din?”

Once again she managed to rip him out of his own head. There was something about the way she said his name that had an almost soothing effect on his anxious mind. Something he liked.

“I....that is a long story.”

Sara crossed her arms and leaned back into the couch, getting comfy.

“I’ve got time.”

Din sighed. Where to begin? He didn’t even have all the details fleshed out himself, so how was he supposed to explain the situation to another?

“Mandalore was attacked by...well, I don’t know, to be honest with you. Just some random squadron of thugs. They appeared out of nowhere, demanding the king.”

“The king? Of Mandalore? You and your people have a freaking king?”

“You’re looking at him.”

Sara instantly went rigid. For once she was at a complete loss for words, and completely at a loss for what to do with herself. She’d never been in the presence of eminence and everything she knew about royalty she’d learned from Netflix and Disney films.

“You’re a....should-should I bow?”

“Please, don’t.”

Sara nodded for him to continue. Her face was expectant, excited. She was hanging on his every word as if his story were the edge of a cliff. She clung to his tale for dear life.

“Right, so, they came looking for me and I still don’t have any idea why. Needless to say that my people weren’t just going to surrender me to some unannounced, unknown individuals, so they chose to protect me in case this squadron turned out to be a threat.”

“Which they did, I’m guessing?”

“They were armed, but they were few and inexperienced. They couldn’t take my planet by force alone, but they could still cause some significant damage while trying. I didn’t want to see any of my people hurt because of me. Our clan had already been divided for far too long, our home nearly lost, I just wanted to choose a course of action that would keep the peace.”

Sara cocked her head to the side.

“You ran, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I thought if I could lure them away I could figure out their intentions. Or, at the very least, fly long enough to ditch them in hyperspace and return home.”

“And you never found out what they wanted?”

Din shook his head. This is the part of the story that still remained a mystery to him.

“No. The second they caught up to me they opened fire. I was able to make a few light speed jumps without taking any serious damage. But....well, you know the rest. Here I am.”

“And you don’t know where these creeps are now? Is there any chance that they may have followed you here?”

He had frightened her. He could see it in her eyes. Din had basically just admitted that he may or may not have just led a band of violent ruffians to her home planet.

“If they knew where I’d landed, they’d be here by now. I think I effectively gave them the slip.”

Sara sighed, a little too loudly, in relief. One spaceman was about as much as she could handle at the moment; she didn’t need more showing up on her doorstep. Especially not the dangerous kind. Din, at least, seemed gentle enough.

“They’re still out there searching. I’m sure of it. But I can’t just lay low forever. That’s never been my style. Especially not when I have people to protect. I left Mandalore in good hands for now but, king or not, it’s the only home that I have. I don’t....I wouldn’t know where else to go.”

Without even thinking, Sara leaned across the sofa, closing the little space between them, and grasped both of Din’s gloved hands in her own.

“I promise you, Din Djarin, I will do whatever it takes to get you home safely. Anything within my means.”

For a few silent moments they simply sat hand in hand, and time was irrelevant. It wasn’t until she heard Din swallow audibly that Sara realized that she was probably making him uncomfortable and she reluctantly released her grip.

“May I ask a question?”

“Sure,” Sara croaked. “I’ve asked, like, what, 10 in a row by now? So much for ‘rules are rules’, huh?”

“Why did you help me?” Din asked, his voice the softest she’d heard it yet. “Why do you keep helping me? I have nothing to offer you in return.”

Din seemed to have a lot of trust issues, whether that stemmed from past personal experiences or just the Mandalorian creed, so Sara wanted to supply him with an honest answer. There was the logical honest answer, or the honestly honest answer. In the end she decided that the former would take a shorter amount of time to explain. And it would be far less depressing.

“Well, the easiest answer is that I’m a nurse, Din. And as a nurse I took an oath to help those in need. I intend to fully adhere to the terms of that oath even beyond the sanctity of hospital walls. You needed help, I gave it. Simple as that.”

Din saw it the second the warmth left Sara’s eyes and the hazel orbs grew distant. They shone with something sadly nostalgic, like two unreachable distant stars.

“And, quite frankly, you’re the first person, other than myself, to set foot in my house in a long, long time. I didn’t want my houseguest dying on me.” She disguised her sadness with a chuckle. Just barely.

Din suddenly found himself eager to ask her more questions, practically burning for it. Though they’d only just met, just opened up to each other, he knew that there was something that bonded them. A sensation that he couldn’t quite place, but that he knew all too well. He had to steel himself against this unbidden desire for knowledge; time was of the essence.

“Sara, would you take me to my ship?”

***

“Dank Farrik! Son of a Mudscuffer!!”

“Are those good alien words I’m hearing?”

“No, they’re kriffing not!”

“That one was a bad one, too. Got it.”

She stood just outside the ship’s open doorway, arms crossed and fighting off a childish grin, when she heard his angry, booted feet come thump thump thumping down the ramp. She turned to meet his gaze and, even with his helmet hiding his face from her sight, she could tell that he wasn’t amused in the slightest.

“I like the way you curse, Mando.”

He stared her down for a minute before trudging off. Yep, definitely not amused.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Sara called sprinting after him and snagging him by the arm. How could he move so fast with all that armor weighing him down?

“Can you fix it?”

Din heaved a heavy, frustrated sigh.

“It’ll take time. And parts. Neither of which I have.”

“But you can fix it. See, there’s a silver lining to this situation,” Sara said, punching him playfully in the arm. He didn’t respond, only stared, his helmeted face surveying her blankly.

“Look, you’re welcome to rummage through the old barn for spare parts,” Sara offered, gesturing to the decrepit old structure behind Din. “My gramps was a bit of a tinkerer, so he let a lot of tools and miscellaneous crap pile up in there over the years. My guess is if you need it, it’s in that barn. And whatever I don’t have, the hardware store will.”

Sara flexed her arms, giving him her best Schwarzenegger impression and a one way ticket to the “gun show”.

“I’m not too shabby when it comes to fixing up things myself. I’ve got my grandpa to thank for that, too. We’ll have your ship back in orbit before you can say ‘E.T. phone home’.”

“Why would I say that?”

“It’s...oh, never mind. Anyway, that being said, you’re welcome to stay here as long as you need. It’s no trouble.”

Din started to protest, but Sara shushed him with a finger to his helmet, pressing it to where she assumed his lips were hiding underneath.

“I want to get you home, Din. Home to your family. But I also want to make sure that you’re fully healed and well rested before you go. This is ‘nurse Sara’ talking, and she is not to be trifled with.”

Then the Mandalorian did something unexpected. Something wonderful. Something Sara had begun to assume it impossible for him to do.

He laughed.

And it made her heart beat a little faster.

“Fair enough,” Din said. “And...thank you. Again.”

“You’re welcome,” Sara responded. She said it so softly that she wasn’t even certain that she’d actually said it out loud.

“Can I check out that barn now?”

Sara folded her arms and nodded, suddenly feeling like a mother sending her child into a Toys ‘R’ Us unsupervised.

“Knock yourself out. Better sooner than later, while you still have daylight.”

He turned and left her without another word. But he walked away slowly.

And Sara was left to watch him wander, the sound of his laugh still echoing in her ears. It may have been unfair to assume, but she figured she’d never hear such a sound coming from the stoic Din Djarin. Now that she had, it became the only sound she wanted to hear.

@just-another-dumb-artist @mamacitapascal @grimeylady @rav3n-pascal22 @obsessivelysearching @insomniamamma @cixrxb @mandolydian @lv7867 @calliedjarin @mando-pamine

#pedro pascal #the mandalorian #original work

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misssophiachase · 4 years

Photo

For @klarolinefallbingo - “Slutty Halloween Costume”

This is more sexy Halloween costume to me. Caroline is heading out for Halloween with her friends but Klaus has other ideas after seeing her chosen costume.

The Cat’s Meow

31 October, Atlanta GA

“So, I’m going to head out,” Caroline called from the hallway, grabbing her keys and purse in the process after a brief glance in the mirror.

An exorbitant amount of leopard print. Check.

Ears. Check.

Tail. Check.

An abundance of bare skin. Check.

Perfect.

But she was still running late and the last thing she needed was a barrage of texts and calls from her two best friends about her delayed ETA. They were doing the group costume thing this year and if she wasn’t there it wouldn’t have the optimal effect as Bonnie insisted.

Truth be told, if Klaus hadn’t hijacked her mid-shower she would have been ready much sooner. Her boyfriend had the ability to make time stand still in the best possible way. Plus, he had a mouth and accompanying tongue that could perform miracles.

Multiple times over.

Luckily their neighbours didn’t live too close and the glass shower screen could sustain some extra force. Unfortunately, the hot water running out was out of their control.

They’d met nine months earlier. She’d begrudgingly accepted Katherine’s invite to an art gallery opening. Not because she wanted to but because her friend had the ability to nag her senseless if she’d declined.

Caroline wasn’t an art aficionado but on arrival she immediately loved what she saw. She even bought one piece until the artist in question backed out of the sale. Apparently he couldn’t part with it and that had led to a war of words over email.

Then, he appeared unannounced to make his case in person. Turns out the emails were just foreplay and his extra curricular talents more than lived up to his professional ones.

What Caroline didn’t expect months later was that her live-in boyfriend would be so against Halloween. He was an artist so she assumed it was already deeply ingrained in his psyche. But he complained he was British and didn’t do dress-up.

Caroline celebrated every holiday, most would say to the extreme, but she maintained that was just her over abundance of enthusiasm. Then she came up with a secret plan to make her boyfriend realise just how good Halloween could be.

“Aren’t you going to come say goodbye first?” He asked, his low drawl causing a few places to stir even after their prolonged workout.

She made her way towards his art studio, the fluttering in her stomach not lost on Caroline. She didn’t think there’d ever be a time when he didn’t cause those feelings.

Her black, high heels clicked on the floorboards as she rounded the corner.

For a guy who wasn’t partaking in Halloween festivities, he certainly looked the part of the tortured artist. Denim jeans riding low on his hips and a bare chest marred with a few stray paint splatters.

Why was she going out again?

“Holy,” he cursed, his dark, blue eyes devouring every single inch of her ensemble. There was no mistaking his views on her costume. Caroline was trying to work out where exactly the tingling feeling was emanating from but couldn’t pinpoint given her current state.

Not that she’d admit that to him. This was her plan after all.

“You like?” She asked, a knowing smirk crossing her face. She even executed a pirouette to further accentuate every single arsenal she possessed. “I know you don’t really get into Halloween but Kat, Bonnie and I decided to go as Josie and the Pussycats.”

“Well, I mean,” he stammered, his paintbrush clattering to the ground. His palette only saved with a delayed catch by the artist. “It’s, uh, it’s..”

“I’m playing…”

“Melody Valentine,” he replied, his husky tone not lost on Caroline. The crimson lips she knew so well had taken on a life of their own or was that her imagination?

“I didn’t know you were a fan,” she lied.

She’d ‘accidentally’ seen his sketches from high school that he kept in a box in the closet. Every adolescent male had a comic book crush and she’d discovered his last month. Now, she was the living, breathing version of it.

“I better get going.”

“You can’t go out like that,” he insisted, ditching his art supplies and walking purposefully towards her.

“Oh, really? And why not?” He stopped briefly, shoving his hands in his pocket, clearly trying to work out a plausible response. He knew just how much she hated those kinds of overbearing men.

“It’s, uh, cold out, I wouldn’t want you to catch something, love. Maybe a jacket might help?”

“Oh, I checked and it’s going to be a mild 73 degrees,” she offered. “I should go, the girls are waiting and we are a trio.”

“Maybe I should come along,” he blurted out.

Now, that she didn’t expect so soon.

“Really?” She squealed excitedly. “I did get you a leopard loincloth just in case you changed your mind.”

“Loincloth,” he gulped.

“Well, I figured Tarzan might be a good addition to the pussycats. You can never have enough leopard print especially on Halloween.”

“I’m,” he stumbled. She could see the confusion in his eyes and suddenly felt bad. Apparently her charms had worked too well.

Plus, it wasn’t his fault he didn’t get into Halloween like she did. She figured this was the compromise step couples talked about.

“How about,” she smiled, moving closer and looping her arms around his neck. “I go to this party with my friends as promised and then, when I get home, we celebrate together?”

“Well, every artist needs their muse, love,” he smirked, pulling her closer and nuzzling into her neck. She could feel his arousal rubbing against her teasingly and was willing herself to behave. “So, I want you to pose for me later.”

“Only if you wear the loincloth while doing it,” she grinned knowingly.

“I think that could be arranged, love.”

#klaroline fall bingo #klaroline fanfiction #klaroline drabbles #klaroline #josie and the pussycats #halloween #hope you like it #misssophiachase

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voidstilesplease · 4 years

Text

mania

steo + the types of love

Scott's pack has broken apart.

Liam tries to kill Scott when he refuses to bite his dying chimera girlfriend. Malia is searching for her mother, the Desert Wolf. Lydia is in Eichen House. Kira is trying to fix herself and the fox spirit inside her. Stiles confesses about killing Donovan, and Scott doesn't believe it's for self-defense. Then, his father gets attacked by one of the failed experiments and almost dies.

They're all dealing with different problems, and Theo sticks with Stiles through everything. He knows they've entered into a relationship at quite a stressful time, but he believes they'll rise above it.

He can't say the same thing about Stiles.

"You called Derek Hale?" he can't help the aversion curling in his lips as he enters Stiles's bedroom unannounced.

Stiles rubs at his face, the screen of his computer bathing him in severe radiation. "Not now, Theo, please."

He can't stop the raging jealousy he feels, however. "You told me you used to have feelings for him,"

"Used to, yes," Stiles says through gritted teeth, losing patience. He rotates his desk chair to face Theo. "How did you even know about that? And besides, it's not like he's coming home because I called." Stiles sounds bitter, and it only sparks Theo's anger more.

"Chris told me,"

Chris Argent came back to Beacon Hills a few days ago when, probably out of desperation and lack of pack, Scott called him for help. He immediately takes Theo to his wing, and just tonight, he mentions Derek Hale contacting him before Scott, hoping he could check Stiles for him. Stiles had called him about Donovan, but the former Hale alpha had to take care of matters with his younger sister and the still elusive Kate Argent, that he was unable to drive back to Beacon Hills just yet.

Stiles looks drained; there are shadows under his eyes. He sighs heavily, "Please, Theo. Let's talk about this some other time - or better yet, never again, because it's nothing. We have a literal beast on our plate right now. I can't deal with anything else."

Theo wants to argue, but the pleading look on Stiles's eyes makes him concede.

He's not dropping the subject, though, and they both know it.

***

Reluctantly, Scott's pack regroups again to fight the enemy they will later recognize as The Beast of Gevaudan.

Theo comes with Chris to collect Gerard. He is appalled at the condition of the old hunter when he sees the black goo that keeps on spitting out from his facial orifices. Chris then presents the yellow wolfsbane that can heal Gerard of the poisoning he suffered from ingesting the poisonous purple flower while he took the werewolf bite from Derek Hale.

Gerard knows about The Beast and explains to them that while there were a lot of descriptions of it, their forefathers passed on the knowledge that the body was oil-black, solid but shapeless at the same time; a shadow pretending to be real. As far as the legend goes, the only weapon proved effective against it was a simple spear wielded by a young woman, The Maid of Gevaudan.

The two elder hunters quickly integrate Theo into their hunter team and even let him come with them as they scour the tunnels where there was a sighting of the monster. They end up finding dead bodies presumably killed by the giant werewolf and reporting it to both Melissa and the Sheriff.

"Stiles," Theo sighs when the call goes straight to voicemail. They haven't spoken in days what with everything happening. They've yet to find out the teenage chimera hosting the monster. "Call me."

He whips around to his eavesdropper.

"You've been distracted by the Stilinski boy, Theo," Gerard appears from the shadows, the tone of his voice suspicious and chastising. He adds in afterthought, "I've always thought he'd eventually fall to the temptation of the bite, but never him surviving it."

Theo feels the need to defend Stiles, "He's stronger than anyone gives him credit for."

Gerard smiles, but it's not the kind variety. "It's not a good idea, Theo. You can sweep anyone else to their feet, but not the kind we exist to eliminate."

He frowns and points out, "We're working together,"

"Only because we have a bigger common enemy." Gerard picks a knife from the tools table. "Take it out, and we're back on opposing sides."

"But," Theo tries to reason, licking his lips. "We don't have to be."

"We hunt,” Gerard enunciates in emphasis. “that which hunts us."

"Yes, I know. But Stiles is not hunting us."

"Not yet," Gerard slams the pointed end of the blade to the table, and the weapon sticks, vibrating on impact. The old hunter wanders back to the dimness, but he turns to Theo with a cutting smile. "Besides, the boy is infatuated with someone else, and unless you become Derek Hale - a sad excuse of a werewolf - then you don't stand a chance."

Theo's fists clench as his stomach sinks. Gerard glances down at them in amusement.

"But we both know who should be on top of the food chain, and it's not those vile creatures, Theo."

***

The Beast of Gevaudan was defeated by the first hunter, an ancestor of the Argents, with a steel pike forged in wolfsbane, mountain ash, and Marie-Jeanne Valet's blood under the light of the full moon.

Naturally, the same pike melted into a cane that one of the Dread Doctors, the Surgeon, possesses is what defeats Sebastien Valet this time, as well.

In the end, like the mural in the Dread Doctors’ lair, The Beast and the Hellhound combat for dominance. The inflamed harbinger of death and body stealer turns out to be one of the deputies, Jordan Parrish. The Dread Doctors have resurrected the Beast of Gevaudan as a precaution to a hellhound's omen but ends up murdered by the very creature they brought back to life. Gerard loses the cane to Scott in a double-cross by him and Chris, and Scott gives up the weapon to Parrish for a final stab on the beast.

What Theo doesn't understand is why Deucalion is there and why Scott is on his side.

He forgets about the beast and Mason, its teenage chimera host, and the hellhound when he zeros in on Scott's ally. Deucalion of the Alpha Pack - the same Deucalion that killed his sister.

"What's he doing here?" Theo yells, voice echoing in the tunnel. His blood is boiling at the sight of the werewolf. "Most importantly, why is nobody killing him?"

Gerard sneers, angry about the deception of his son to take the side of a werewolf. "He's an associate of Scott."

Theo's face twists in utter disbelief, "What?" He transfers his glare to Scott. "How can you be allies? You're a True Alpha, right; you turn your nose up on people who commit murder - even your own best friend? Well, Deucalion is a mass murderer with no conscience and no right to live!"

Deucalion, the audacity of the evil dog, speaks with indifference. "I don't remember killing you."

Theo's face reddens in rage, "No, but you killed my sister."

He launches to attack the alpha, but Scott and Stiles are swift to block him. Scott, he understands, but Stiles? He looks at him in betrayal.

"He killed my sister!"

Something passes in Stiles's face, but before he can say anything, Chris is pulling him to Gerard.

"Theo, we'll talk about it later."

He can't believe his eyes and his ears right now. There's nothing to discuss; Deucalion needs to pay for the innocent lives he took to form his pack of alphas. He didn't only kill betas; he killed sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters.

Gerard takes him, loathing in his feature. He shakes his head, "They've lost their minds," he spats disdainfully. "We'll not share the same stupidity, Theo. Let's go."

Gerard turns and walks away, spitting for show. Pure, unadulterated fury overcomes Theo that even when Stiles gives him an imploring look, he doesn't even think twice when he follows the old hunter out.

Besides, the boy is infatuated with someone else, and unless you become Derek Hale, a sad excuse of a werewolf, then you don't stand a chance.

But we both know who should be on top of the food chain, and it's not those vile creatures, Theo.

No, Theo thinks, heart surging with deep-rooted hatred that influenced him to become a hunter in the first place, not those vile creatures.

~•~

obsessive love: an obsessive love towards a partner. It leads to unwanted jealousy or possessiveness — known as codependency. Most cases of obsessive love are found in couples with an imbalance of love towards each other. (catalyst: survival instinct)

#steo #steo au #steo fic #steo ficlet #types of love au #part 5 #stiles stilinski #theo raeken #teen wolf #fics tag

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marril96 · 4 years

Text

Extra to the Bone

Pairing: Rowena x reader

Summary: Unhinged members of Rowena's former coven kidnap her girlfriend, and she enlists Sam and Dean's help to rescue her.

A/N: I wrote this back in April. It just never felt like the right time to publish it. So I just figured, why not today?

Editor: @miss-moon-guardian

*****

The last thing you expected when you went grocery shopping was to be kidnapped by a group of women — girls, really, for even the oldest among them had the minds of adolescents, though it didn't make them any less dangerous.

They appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and before you could utter a spell to protect yourself, they were spouting magic of their own. Strength in numbers, because why play fair when they could gang up on their target?

Girls like them never played fair.

You supposed you should have expected it. After all, it was you who had been warning Rowena about them for months now. All your pleas to be careful fell on deaf ears; they were harmless, Rowena had said, and stood by it. Just an overly enthusiastic group of witches. A coven — hers, once upon a time, now independent, theirs. And, oh, boy, had they made it theirs.

Rowena considered them nothing more than a nuisance. A part of her, you assumed, was flattered by their antics, even as they leveled up from annoying to creepy and, in what seemed like no time, stalkerish. Even when the two of you had put on a new set of warding on your home — just in case they managed to track you down — Rowena had insisted you were safe. They adored her. They wanted her attention, her approval. They weren't interested in you.

Until today when, apparently, they were, and, god, it sucked. You hated them. Loathed them from the depths of your soul. Less than pleasant (to say the least) words burned at your tongue, itching to break free, to set loose at them, but before you could utter anything, a piece of cloth was pressed over your mouth, and, moment by moment, everything went black.

As you faded into nothingness, it wasn't fear that occupied your thoughts. Or worry, or desire to rip them apart.

It was, Damn, they can't even knock me out with magic.

Some witches they were.

*****

It wasn't every day that Rowena showed up at the Bunker — willingly — but desperate times called for desperate measures. She stormed in without even ringing the bell and started shouting for Sam and Dean as if her life depended on it.

Yours, however much she wanted to deny it, might have.

"Y/N's been taken!" she yelled when the brothers showed up, looking at her as if she'd grown a second head.

It was Sam who spoke first. "What? Taken by whom?"

"The Extra Coven!"

Dean raised his eyebrows, baffled. "The what?"

"The Extra Coven!" Rowena repeated in the voice of someone announcing the antichrist's second coming. Or was it third, at this point?

"What's the Extra Coven?" Sam inquired.

Now wasn't that a story? "It's a coven of rather mediocre witches," she explained, face contorting with disgust at the memories that flooded her brain. Screeching. Cheering. The pride she used to beam with at the sight of those girls, which quickly became unease as their antics, once cute, precious, became uncomfortable. "My former coven, to be precise."

Sam frowned. "Your former coven?"

"Aye." Rowena's cheeks flushed with shame. It wasn't something she looked back on fondly — not anymore. "After the Mega Coven fiasco, I tried again. Y/N wasn't too thrilled at the idea—" and that was putting it lightly "—but I wanted a coven of my own." She wanted the admiration. The adoration. The Grand Coven had taken it from her, and she wanted it back.

You were right there, loving her more than anything in the world, but she didn't appreciate it. Not nearly enough. Her icy heart had started to melt at that point; she could tell you cared, and she was starting to realize she felt something, too. Something she, at the time, was too afraid to give in to, to even attempt to understand. It was just there, and it was terrifying.

Amara had just been dealt with, the world saved, and Rowena was left confused. All the power she sought, all the magic wasn't enough anymore. She felt… empty. Without purpose. Brimming with feelings she was too frightened to explore. If two divine beings couldn't figure their lives out, what hope was there for her?

So she'd decided to try for a new coven. It was a new world. New beginning. New Rowena. You'd told her it wasn't the best idea, but she was adamant to give it a try. What was the worst that could happen?

"I named it the Extra Coven, because Extra is better than Mega," she continued with a grin, which earned her puzzled stares. She ignored them. People never appreciated her genius. "Things were going well at first. The girls were learning fast, everybody got along. Then a few of them started getting… odd."

Odd was too mild a word. They'd started showing up at Rowena's hotel room unannounced, bearing gifts and jolly smiles. Every magic lesson she started would be interrupted by the select few individuals asking irrelevant questions. Often they would demand help, even if the spell they were being taught was easy; they would pout and whine, and when Rowena would approach them to go over it step by step, they would dissolve into giggles.

At first Rowena was flattered. Attention was like a drug to her; the more she got, the more she craved it. So what if it was a tad unconventional? Those girls admired her. Cherished her. Loved her. She could do no wrong in their eyes. When you complained they were taking a bit too much of her time, she dismissed you. So a few of them would show up at her hotel room for some after-hours tutoring, or they would take her to dinner to the most expensive restaurant in the city — so what? What was wrong in being pampered by her proteges?

As time went on, though, Rowena's enthusiasm withered. The Extra Coven was doing well, for the most part. Most of the witches were hard workers, genuinely interested in the craft and, at the same time, mesmerized by her presence. Fans, one might call them. They were kind and friendly, and they did as they were told. Rowena was beaming with pride.

However, as the rest of the group was growing into a true coven, the girls that had taken so much of her time had started to demand even more. It was always the same five girls. They never seemed to be improving; they asked for help, but they never took her advice. She might as well have taught the wall. They wanted after-hours lessons, but never learned anything. All they appeared to be interested in was being around her. The fact would have flattered Rowena had they not gone about it in such a way.

Your warnings suddenly started making sense. They weren't in the coven for the experience of witchcraft. They were there to be close to her. It had gotten to the point where, if you happened to be talking to her, one of the girls would butt in to reclaim the attention for themselves. The first few times it looked like a coincidence. However, it soon became clear they saw you as an obstacle. You were Rowena's girlfriend. You lived with her. You shared a bed with her. It was you she kissed on the mouth, and who had her undivided attention.

They'd engaged in a war that didn't exist and they were intent on winning.

Seeing you in distress too many times for her liking, Rowena had decided that enough was enough. She'd started declining invitations to lunch and dinner. When she taught, she kept her distance. After-hours lessons were officially stopped. That didn't stop those five girls from showing up at her door every night to ask for them, so, after the third time, Rowena stopped answering and pretended she wasn't home.

It did nothing to deter them, so, after a lengthy conversation, the two of you had decided to move. Rowena was sick of being disrespected, of her privacy being invaded. She cared about the coven, about those girls who genuinely wanted to learn, but she couldn't do it anymore. Her announcement that she was leaving the coven was met with tears and disappointment. Something had come up, she'd said, and she needed to go away. Indefinitely. She wished them the best of luck, but she couldn't be their mentor anymore.

The two of you traveled half across the country and settled in a fabulous hotel, breathing in relief at finally regaining your freedom.

Then, a week after you'd arrived, a knock sounded on the door, and when Rowena opened it, she was met with five smiley, very familiar faces.

The same thing happened five more times, each in a different city, different hotel. Wherever she went, they'd managed to find her. And each time, they acted as if it were a coincidence. As if they just happened to be there and came across her door by pure luck.

Rowena wasn't born yesterday.

Sam and Dean stared at her in shock as she told her story. "When Y/N and I settled down, we put wardings around the house to block tracking spells," she said. "All was fine until today."

She supposed it was bound to happen sooner or later. The peace had lasted three years, almost four — considering those girls' track record, it was good. She should have dealt with it at the start. Should have cut it off at the root before it managed to grow and blossom. Annoying her was one thing. Taking you was crossing the line.

They would pay. Rowena swore it on her life.

"How do you know it's them?" Dean asked.

Rowena held up a glittery hex bag. "They left this." Right there by the road, where they'd taken you, alongside your wallet. A loud and clear message.

He nodded. "How dangerous are they?"

"They are more of a nuisance. But it's been three years. Who knows what they're capable of."

For all she knew, they could have found another witch to tutor them, to help them perfect their craft. They were far from good witches, but even the worst behaved dog could learn a trick or two.

"Great," Dean said with a sigh. "Crazy stalker witches who may or may not be dangerous."

"Welcome to my life," Rowena said dryly.

"Do you know where we can find them?" Sam asked.

She smirked. "Och, aye." They weren't trying to hide from her (not that they could; she was more powerful than all of them combined). They wanted her to come to them, to bless them with her presence. All Rowena needed were reinforcements, just in case, and she was good to go.

This is the one attention demand they would come to regret.

*****

As far as villain hideous went, the Extra Coven's was standard. An abandoned cottage in the middle of nowhere. Sort of cliche, though Rowena supposed that was the point. They wanted her to find them. They were counting on it.

What kind of an idol would she be if she didn't deliver?

She elected to go in first. Sam and Dean advised against it, but she was adamant. The Coven wanted her. Adored her so much they'd kidnapped her girlfriend to get her attention. They wouldn't hurt her. The Winchesters were there as backup, in case they turned out to be more powerful than she predicted.

Your face greeted her upon opening the door. You were seated on a sofa, bound in iron chains. Powerless. Helpless. Your lips were tight in anger, features arranged in a matching expression. Pissed to high heavens.

Rowena was relieved to see no marks on your body, no bruises or welts. You were unharmed. A point for the Coven, not that it mattered much. Being so obsessed with her, they surely knew she wasn't big on forgiveness. If they'd hurt her, she might have considered giving them a second chance. But they went after you. There was no forgiving that. No letting them get away with it.

A long time ago, Rowena had made a promise to never let anything happen to you. She intended to make good on it.

"Rowena!" one of the Coven girls, a perky brunette with curls, exclaimed just as you were about to call for her.

"You came!" another, a blonde, said in awe.

There were five of them in total, all bright eyed, excited, as if this were the highlight of their lives. As if they hadn't kidnapped a girl — an innocent girl — in order to get Rowena's attention. It made Rowena sick. Anger burned in her veins, and with it her magic; it roiled and coiled, boiling hot, ready to burst at her command.

If they loved her so much, surely they knew you were off limits. They'd seen her curse people over insulting you — hell, over looking at you the wrong way. You were her number one priority.

They had made a horrible mistake.

"Girls," she said in a tone that made it clear she wasn't happy to be here. Not by a long shot.

They either didn't notice or didn't care for as soon as she addressed them their faces lit up.

"I can't believe you came!"one of them — a horribly dyed ginger — said. "I thought we'd never see you again."

That was why they'd kidnapped you. Because they totally didn't believe she would come to your rescue. Rowena scoffed. Right. "You've certainly been… persuasive."

"It was Greta's idea," the ginger — Sandra? Rowena was pretty sure her name was Sandra — said happily, pointing to a pudgy brunette.

Of course it was. "I expected nothing less."

Greta had always been the most enthusiastic one of the group. The one who butted in everywhere, and sought her attention the most. At times Rowena thought she was living on it. Her praise was like a drug to the girl.

She turned to you. Looked you over one more time just to be sure. "Are you alright, dear?"

"I guess," you said with a shrug. You rattled your binds. "These chains are uncomfortable."

"Have they hurt you?"

"No."

Rowena breathed out in relief. At least there was that. One point for the Extra Coven, she supposed. Not that it mattered much. They still took you, and they would pay for that. Rules were rules.

"They kinda suck, to be honest," you said after a few moments. "I mean, they knocked me out with chloroform. Who does that?"

Rowena raised an eyebrow. Really, who did that? What self-respecting witch resorted to chloroform to incapacitate her target?

"Shut up!" the other redhead, Victoria, screamed.

"Lass," Rowena said in a barely raised voice, tone more strict than threatening, but it was enough to shut the girl up. You snorted, and Rowena barely resisted a smirk of her own. It felt good to have so much power over people. To have them obey her every command. She just wished it was under better circumstances.

"Rowena, are you—" Sam suddenly rushed in, followed by Dean, both with guns raised, witch-killing bullets ready to fire.

"What the hell?" Dean stared at the girls, looked them over one by one. "These are grown-ass women!"

"Never underestimate the power of crazy. "Like she had, and look where it had gotten her. Where it had gotten you. Even when they were stalking her, she thought them nothing but a nuisance.

You were right about them all along.

Rowena dreaded that conversation at home.

The girls gasped in surprise.

"You brought hunters?" the blonde said, outraged. As if she'd been punched in the gut.

Once Rowena was done with her, she would wish she was. "What in hell did you expect?" She was done with their antics. Done with the fake smiles and pleasantries. "You kidnapped my girlfriend!" The words were bitter on her tongue. Poison. "Was I supposed fall to my knees and beg to get her back?"

"We didn't hurt her!" Sandra said, as if that made everything better.

"We just wanted to see you," Greta said.

"I didn't want to see you," Rowena retorted. "Can't you take a bloody hint?"

"But—"

"I've had a wonderful coven, and the five of you ruined it!" The other girls were there to learn, to hone their magic, to find a place where they belonged. They were lovely proteges, on a surefire way to greatness. They could have accomplished a lot had Rowena not been forced to leave them behind. All because of five rotten, selfish girls. "I left because of you!"

All five paled. Teared up like children being chastised by a teacher.

"Don't say that," the curly brunette said. Begged. Pleaded.

"It's true."

"We love you," Victoria said.

"You're bloody sick!" Rowena snapped. "You've ruined the Coven, and you've tried to ruin my life!"

Tears fell. Sobs and sniffles sounded. Good, Rowena thought. It was time they learned the truth.

"We just—"

She put up a hand. "I don't want to hear it! I don't want anything to do with you!"

"You don't mean that," Sandra whimpered.

Och, she did. She meant it more than anything in the world. "Release Y/N," she said — ordered, really, for her voice was nothing but stone, cold and cruel. No mercy. No sympathy.

"Are you gonna leave if we do?" Greta asked.

Oh, Rowena thought, she was going to do more than that. Much more. "What do you think?"

"Please, don't," Victoria begged, red-faced and puffy-eyed.

Rowena wasn't in the mood for theatrics. "Release her. Now."

"No." It was Sandra who said it, brave face on in its full glory. As fake as the colour of her hair. Rowena raised an eyebrow. "Why should she get to have you and not us?"

Because you were her girlfriend. Because she loved you more than she'd ever loved anyone. Because you understood her like no one else ever had. Because you'd never judged her, never tried to change her. Because you loved her as the petty, flawed, formerly evil creature she was.

She couldn't expect these girls to understand that. They didn't even know what love was, their obsession twisting their hearts, turning them dark. Consuming them from the inside. They were addicts, really. Chasing a high that would never come. Desperate. As angry as she was, Rowena pitied them. It must have been a horrible life, to be so lonely amongst so many people. To crave something they could never have.

"She doesn't deserve you," Greta agreed.

"Wow," Dean said, flabbergasted.

And really, wow. Who were they to say you didn't deserve her? Who were they to even think it? They knew nothing about you. They barely knew anything about Rowena.

She blinked, two times, three. Baffled. Outraged. Blood burning white hot in her veins. "Beg pardon?"

"Greta's right," Victoria said. "Y/N doesn't deserve you. She doesn't love you like we do."

"Is that so?"

"Yes!" the blonde said. "We looked everywhere for you. We knew we'd find you." She threw a filthy look at you. "She'd never do that."

Well, they were right about that. You gave her space when she needed it. You respected her wishes.

You wouldn't stalk her.

"She doesn't love you," the curly-haired girl said.

"If she did," Sandra said, "she wouldn't have left you alone."

Rowena swallowed an array of swears that itched at her throat and uttered, "Huh."

So it was like that. They didn't just feel entitled to her. They felt entitled to act as if they knew you. Who gave them the right? They didn't know her, and they knew you even less. They had no right to take you from her. They had even less of a right to judge you. And based on what? Envy? Entitlement?

It was time to end this charade. Rowena thought she could do it the diplomatic way, but it was clear the Coven wasn't here for negotiations. They wanted war, and they would bloody have it.

"You should have listened to me, girls," she said, finally calm, at peace. Relieved to have given herself permission to do what was necessary. "I'd planned for this to be painless, but you left me no other choice."

Sandra frowned. "What do you mean?"

"As you rot in Hell, remember that you chose this," Rowena said. As their faces paled, and fear settled into their eyes, she spat, "Impetus Bestiarum!"

The girls stilled. Their eyes, so bright a mere moment ago, filled up with ripe, rich red. Blood slid down their cheeks like tears. Humanity gone, they were beasts; wild, feral. Ravenous.

Rowena allowed herself to smile at her accomplishment, allowed a relieved sigh to leave her mouth. They got their wish, she supposed. They were hers. Her pets. Her puppets, and she was the one holding the strings.

She looked them in the eyes — in those wild red eyes that were no longer human, that flashed with hunger and rage, and craved orders to attack, to finally set the beast free. Rowena was all too happy to oblige. "End it."

For a moment they just stared at her, still as statues. Then, as more blood fell down their cheeks and veins dark as bruises bloomed all over their faces, they lunged at each other with the ferocity of werewolves at the height of the full moon. They ripped and slashed and tore and roared. Blood seeped free. Screams let loose. Teeth dug into necks, and nails bit into arms and backs.

The chaos lasted no more than a minute, and by the time it was over, all that remained were pools of blood and torn strands of hair strewn around. The girls' bodies laid in a messy heap. Every inch of exposed skin was torn, bloody. Faces so ripped apart they were unrecognizable.

The room fell silent for a moment. Then Dean said, "You've gotta stop doing that."

Rowena smiled, smug, proud of her feat. "Effective, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Sam said. "Maybe a bit… too effective."

She took it as a compliment.

"It was awesome!" you said, grinning like the proud girlfriend you were.

"Why thank you! At least someone appreciates my talent."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

"You okay?" Sam asked as he and his brother started working on the chains.

"Yeah," you said. "Just uncomfortable."

As soon as you were free, you threw your arms around Rowena and squeezed as if your life depended on it. Reluctantly, she returned the embrace; she wasn't one for public displays of affection, especially in front of the Winchesters, but she couldn't push you away. It felt good to have you so close again. To feel your heartbeat on her skin. To hold you and love you and hope with everything she had that this would never happen again, that no one would ever get their hands on you again. Not in this lifetime.

"I knew you'd come for me," you said.

She always had, and always would. "You were right about The Extra Coven." It hurt to say it, to admit it out loud, but it was only fair, after everything that had happened. You deserved that much. "I should have killed them a long time ago."

You pulled back. Looked her in the eyes. "It's nice to know I was right, for once," you teased.

"Don't get used to it," Rowena said with a chuckle.

"I'll enjoy it while it lasts." Your eyes wandered to the blood-caked bodies. "What about the rest of the Coven?"

"I don't think they will be a problem. They're lovely girls." Were it not for the five stalkers, Rowena would have most likely still been in the Coven. "These five were the ones causing trouble. Without them, I think they will prosper."

"You thinking about contacting them?"

"Maybe." If only to check up on them. To see how they would function without the extremists. You frowned. "Don't worry, darling. I've no plans to lead them again."

"Good," you said, grabbing hold of her hand. "I don't think I wanna share you."

Rowena smiled. "I'm all yours."

And you were hers.

And so it would remain for as long as you both lived.

*****

Tags: @werewolfbarbie @oswinthestrange @songofthecagedmoose @apurdyfulmind @getthesalt-sam @metallihca @salembitchtrials @jay-eris @hellsmother @elizabeth-effie @shadowgirl-vsb @rowenaswife @wonderifshelikesroses @xfireandsin @liddell-alien @hotdiggitydammit @lae-lae @darkhumorsblog @angel7376 @cherrypierowena @evil-regal-vampiress @hellbentredhead @angel-e-v-a @a-queen-and-her-throne @carryon-doctor-lock @fangirlxwritesx67 @theeasterbilby @midnight-lestrange @oster-hagen @impala-1979

#rowena #rowena macleod #spn #supernatural #spn family #rowena x reader #my fics #fanfiction

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ohscorbus · 4 years

Note

Scorbus Anastasia au where Albus got amnesia after escaping death eaters and one day while working at the bookshop he was raised in he meets a boy called Scorpius who says he’s a Potter and can bring him back to where there’s still one Potter left in the family meanwhile Delphi’s looking to end the Potter bloodline for good starting with Albus

I know literally nothing about Anastasia but based on just that AU you’ve outlined? I’m so here for it. Does he get amnesia as a child so he grows up not knowing who he is or does it happen to him as an adult? Either way, it’s super interesting to think about who Albus would be without the Potter legacy and Scorpius. On one hand, a weight has been unknowingly lifted off his shoulders. He’s free to be just Albus without everything that comes with being a Potter. He’s safe to walk the streets without whispers and befriend strangers without fearing ulterior motives. But on the other, is he aware that he’s missing whole pieces of himself? Not just his identity, but the love of his family and the power of the friendship he’s left behind? I guess that’s why I love the idea of him finding a life in a bookshop so much. It’s a place full of stories which would suit someone who doesn’t know their own. I can just imagine him reading book after book and wondering if his old life was like the life in these pages. Did he have friends and adventures and his own library of books? Or maybe there were dragons and banquets and castles! That one always makes him laugh, but it doesn’t stop him from daydreaming. Which is exactly what he was doing when the beautiful blond walked into his shop and dislodged more than just the books on the counter. Suddenly he’s got his story and it’s overwhelming and full of complications and implications no amount of fiction could have ever prepared him for. I bet there are days in the following weeks where he longs for the quiet safety of his bookshop again. But at least here he has Scorpius now. He doesn’t know quite what that means but he knows what he’d like it to mean, and so he decides to write his own story from now on. Like I said, I have no idea what actually happens in Anastasia but I’m guessing they live happily ever after? Because Albus and Scorpius certainly do.

So! Funny story. I wrote that previous paragraph the day I got this message but I decided it wasn’t good enough so I bought a copy of Anastasia so I could watch it and properly engage with this AU. But honestly? I didn’t really enjoy the film. Sorry! I think as lost heirs go, I’m definitely more of a Tangled fan. So I’ll give you a mash-up of Anastasia and Tangled, swapping out the royalty aspect for magic and I’ll turn it into a ‘choose your own adventure’ because I couldn’t decide which route to take. Enjoy : )

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I don’t like the idea of Scorpius as a con man. Instead he’d be a dreamer with a connection who’s still looking for Albus after everyone else has given up. He loves stories and myths but to him, Albus is a real boy. He remembers him. Grew up and lived with him inside those castle walls. He’s not a legend, he’s a friend. So when he accidentally stumbles upon him in the muggle bookshop he just knows it’s him. Except Albus takes a lot of convincing but as he learns about the Potters and the existence of the wizarding world, he finally starts to remember odd things. The book he used to read to his sister. The jumper that used to belong to his brother. His mother’s perfume. His father’s eyes. An actual castle. The boy who would sneak him sweets during class...

Scorpius never hides who he is from Albus. The best friend. The suspect. The shunned. But as they keep meeting to discuss his past (which of course neither of them secretly think of as dates), Albus doesn’t just remember his kindness. His sugar supplies. His knowledge of the secret passageways in their school. He also learns how he takes too much sugar in his coffee now. How he still sings some of his words and doesn’t care who hears. How his book recommendations make him question if he has a bookshop too. (He doesn’t. He’s just an uber nerd.)

But Albus is still a cursed child. Delphi is still out there with her augury sidekick, following them across the country as they finally make their way back to….

[If the Potters are still alive then read ONE. If the Potters are all dead and the only family left is Molly Weasley, read TWO.]

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ONE

...Godric’s Hollow. Harry and Ginny never moved out of the cottage, even once James and Lily grew up and moved out, just in case Albus ever returned home. They never stopped looking for him. The stolen spare, the Daily Prophet calls him. But to them, he’s still their fourteen year old boy who went missing in the night. Although their clock says he’s lost, not dead, years of false leads have left them exhausted in every sense.

Albus still isn’t sure about magic and even more so when Scorpius explains it can be tracked, so the two of them travel like muggles across the UK. They survive runaway trains and dementor attacks but eventually make it. Yet Harry refuses Scorpius entry on sight. They can’t bear any more false hope and especially not from a Malfoy. The last person to see him alive before Albus disappeared from his dorm. He’d heard rumours about him trying to clear his name but showing up here with someone full of false memories? He’ll see him in Azkaban for this. It’s crueler than anything his father had ever done. But then suddenly Albus is right there. And as Harry steps back, his son steps forward. Over the property line and through the wards like only a blood relative could do. They take their reunion to the kitchen and process with tears and tea, but it’s the clock with his name on saying he’s home that finally makes it all sink in. He’s Albus Potter. He has a family. (He even finds out dragons are real and that one really blows his mind.)

The wizarding world is overjoyed with his return, but the fact it was Scorpius who found him only darkens his name with suspicion further. So Scorpius leaves so Albus can enjoy his family. Except everything doesn’t just fall into place for Albus. This life is as overwhelming as he feared it would be. He already loves his family but it doesn’t stop him from missing his bookshop and his cat, but most of all, Scorpius. Ginny finds him watching the crowd at his welcome home party and knows exactly what he needs. She tells him to go. That they are always going to be here but Scorpius won’t be. He hugs her in thanks and promises, then runs after the man who changed everything. He catches up with him just as Delphi finds them both. There’s a final showdown in which Albus helplessly watches as Scorpius sacrifices himself to save him. That’s when it happens. The anger over what had been done to him and what his family and friends had been through collides with the prospect of a future without Scorpius, and Albus explodes. He doesn’t understand it but he feels the power all the way down to his fingertips as it finds its purpose. She never stood a chance against the raw energy and emotion of a Potter fighting with his heart for justice.

Once she’s been stopped once and for all, Albus and Scorpius return to his bookshop and make a life for themselves. Albus never really uses magic again. What he’d felt with Delphi had scared him. He’d lived his life without magic and was happy to carry on doing so. Although he did immediately have a fireplace installed at his parent’s insistence. He grows used to his brother dropping in unannounced and disturbing the peace. He learns to expect his mother will always check in to see if he’s okay even though he’s an adult. He looks forward to visits from his nephews and nieces and even turns a corner of the shop into a child friendly reading area for them which is equally as loved by his customers. His dad kept his location out of the press but made sure everyone knew Delphi was to blame. Scorpius is free. But he never leaves Albus and the old cat and their bookshop. They live out their days surrounded by stories but loving their own the most.

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TWO

...The Burrow. Molly Weasley never gave up hope on her grandson. Her clock never lies. His hand still says he’s missing, not gone. The rumours say she’s driven herself mad staring at it. But they don’t know Molly. They mistake her insistence as delusions which only appear to increase in desperation with each new false lead. Another green eyed boy who’s read a few books about Harry and wants the glory. But they never know what song her daughter sang to her children at night. They never know what her son in law cooked for them every Sunday morning. They never know his favourite place to read or how he hates pumpkin juice or when he got that scar on his elbow. The last encounter broke her heart for the final time. She decides to pack the clock away and refuses to see any more young men claiming to be her grandson. She’ll live out her days knowing he's alive and that’ll have to be enough for her. But then suddenly Scorpius Malfoy finds her while she’s out shopping. He says he’s found him but she stops him before he can explain. She can’t go through this again. Unlike the rest of the wizarding world, she doesn’t believe Scorpius had anything to do with the attack, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t unfairly blame him for surviving. He was sleeping over at the Potter house the night it happened. He had managed to escape in the chaos but somehow Albus had slipped through his fingers as they ran and was never seen again. She can’t look at him now without painfully reliving the what ifs. So she turns and walks away. That’s when she sees him. Albus is stood outside the creature emporium, gently stroking a small tawny owl. Just like the one he got when he was eleven. He’s twenty seven now but he’s still got his dad’s hair and small stature. He’s even got his own pair of glasses over those green eyes she hasn’t seen in over a decade, and when they turn to look straight at her she knows for sure. She takes them both back to the Burrow and watches as Albus walks around the kitchen. He looks at the pans which are cleaning themselves and the overflowing shelves of trinkets and moving photos and stops in front of his own portrait surrounded by what he presumes is his family. Scorpius quietly explains he’s lived as a muggle all these years. He didn’t come back because he couldn’t remember. Any of it. Molly’s heart breaks all over again as she walks over to Albus and tells him about them. How Ginny was fierce and Harry a hero, how James was brash and Lily bold. But the one thing they all had in common was how much they loved him.

The wizarding world is shocked by his return but the fact it was Scorpius who brought him back only seemed to give the rumours of his involvement some credibility. So Scorpius leaves so Albus can enjoy life with his grandmother. Except everything doesn’t just fall into place for Albus. This life is as overwhelming as he feared it would be. He loves his grandmother dearly but he misses his bookshop and his cat, but most of all, he misses Scorpius. Molly finds him on the sidelines watching the crowd at his welcome home party and knows exactly what he needs. She tells him to go. That she’s always going to be here but Scorpius won’t be. She’s lived her life and she won’t stop him from living his. Not after he’s already lost so much. That’s all he needs to hear and after a hug, he’s running after Scorpius. He manages to catch up with him just as Delphi does. There’s one final showdown. Albus helplessly watches as Scorpius sacrifices himself to save him and that’s when it happens. The anger over what had been done to him and the loss of his family collides with the prospect of a future without Scorpius, and Albus explodes. He doesn’t understand it but he feels the power all the way down to his fingertips as it finally finds its purpose. She never stood a chance against the raw energy and emotion of a Potter.

Once she’s been destroyed once and for all, Albus and Scorpius return to his bookshop and make a life for themselves. Albus never uses magic again. What he’d felt finishing Delphi had scared him. He’d lived his life without magic before and was happy to carry on doing so. Although he did immediately have a fireplace installed at his grandmother’s insistence. She checks in with him every day and their chats over tea quickly become one of his favourite parts of the day. Some of the others? Waking up beside Scorpius every morning in their little apartment above their bookshop. Listening to Scorpius read to the younger customers in their newly painted kids corner. Watching his usually shy cat snuggle up beside Scorpius like he’s known him all his life. It wasn’t what he expected, but he’s definitely found his family and his home.

#albus potter #albus severus potter #scorpius malfoy #scorbus #text post #long post #mypost #Anonymous

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eternallyyoungjustice · 3 years

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Wherever the Winds Take You: Chapter 12

A/N: Another chapter! Yay! Thank you to those of you who read/liked the last chapter! This is definitely just a fun little thing I like to write in my free time for brainrot reasons, so knowing that even a couple of you read and enjoy this, genuinely makes me so incredibly happy! So thank you! Anyways, not much else to report! Hope y’all enjoy!

Star City

July 22

07:50

The sun was already risen by the time Roy Harper swung his body through his window and into his apartment. His new black, grey, and red uniform stretched awkwardly as the material hadn’t yet been fully worn in, but it was still much easier for agility compared to the old tunic.

When the ginger looked around his apartment, however, he was shocked to find it much cleaner than it had been when he left for patrol. The dishes he had left out in the living room were gone, everything looked as if it had been dusted and vacuumed, and the room smelled faintly of citrus. For a moment, the archer thought that perhaps he had swung through the wrong window. But then he looked to his old, mishappenly stitched, leather couch and all became clear when he found the sleeping form of a familiar young brunette. She was curled up under a threadbare blanket and wearing a pair of sleeping pants that he was pretty sure were his, so he assumed she must have been here for a while.

Walking towards the sleeping girl, Roy rid himself of his mask and weapon, placing both on the coffee table as he knelt down beside her.

“Lin’?” He spoke softly, grasping her arm and running his thumb along her skin. For a moment, she did nothing. But when Roy spoke her name again, her nose twitched and a small groan emanated from her throat as Lina’s face rolled into the pillow underneath her head. Roy smirked and gently shook her arm. “Come on Frenchie, time to get up. It’s almost…” he checked the clock on the opposite wall, “4 in the afternoon in France, you should be up and at’em.”

Another moan, followed by a muffled. “Que sont les fuseaux horaires? Je ne sais pas!”

Roy stopped, hesitated, then said “yea...you know I barely passed sophomore year French by the skin of my teeth, right? I can say ‘I’m a baguette' and that’s pretty much it.”

Lina sighed and sat up slowly, her eyes drooping as she tried to run the sleep out of them. “Good morning, Roy.” She smiled sleepily.

Roy smiled back at her, rubbing her matted hair before plopping down on the couch. “Good morning to you too, Lina.”

“Sorry for coming in while you were on patrol, I needed a quiet place to sleep.”

“Trust me kiddo, I’m pretty used to it at this point.” Roy shrugged. “Everything alright?”

Lina nodded, “Kaldur and I were on patrol in Gotham until two a.m. Eastern last night...I don’t know how you guys do it. Patrols are very much not for me, I have learned.” She explained. “But then, after all that, my brother came home drunk and started very loudly talking about a party he went to last night.”

“Oh Calvin, you bastard.” Roy gave her a sympathetic look. “And I take it the, uh, ‘Cave’ you guys called it, wasn’t any good?”

Lina yawned as she stretched her arms up to arch her back, “Superboy doesn’t sleep very well, so he gets up early and watches static on the TV, and since my bedroom is right next to the living area…”

Roy nodded, looking around his apartment to study the unfamiliar cleanliness, “Well you know you’re welcome here anytime, even though the cleaning wasn’t expected.”

As Lina dropped her arms, she gave Roy a look. “The room was dirty, I didn’t feel like sleeping next to a bunch of dirty dishes.”

Roy couldn’t help but chuckle. “I swear sometimes you’re like if Dinah and Nanny McPhee had a lesbian lovechild…”

“Nanny McPhee? I do not know this woman...” Lina asked with a raised eyebrow, and she leaned over to look into a bag that was sitting on the floor by her head. Roy watched as she rummaged through her bag, before pulling out her uniform. Her hands went to the thigh of the clothing, identifying one of the hidden utility pouches, and opened it to reveal a compartment fitted to house an emergency dose of her medication.

“It’s a movie, don’t worry about it.”

Lina hummed, pulling her medication out. As she injected herself with it, her eyes shut and she focused on the feeling of cool ice flooding her veins. Once the syringe was empty, Lina took it out of her arm and placed it back in its case. Then she looked around, suddenly appearing much less sleepy.

“What time is it? I will make us food.”

“It’s about 8, I think.” Roy hummed and then got up. “But don’t worry, I got it. You’re a guest.”

Lina sprang up from the couch, waving his words off. “No no no silly, I’ve got it. Please, you know I love preparing food. Plus, you need to shower and get out of your uniform…”

Then she looked down and noticed the red and black fabric. Her eyes widened.

“You changed your uniform!”

Roy chuckled and nodded. “I thought it would help separate myself from GA, I’m also still workshopping a new alias. What do you think?”

Lina poked and prodded at the material covering his chest, studying the design and fabric. “Very cool, I bet this is much easier for stealth missions. What did you use? Where did you get it?”

“Cotton-spandex hybrid fabric, coated in CNTs with some leather reinforcements here and there.” He explained. “I got it from a guy.”

“...so the same idea as mine and Robin’s?” Lina asked with a raised eyebrow.

“How do you think I knew it would be good for agility?” Roy smirked, and Lina smiled back before pulling away.

“Well, it’s good to know you’re at least trying to be safe. But don’t think I won’t stop worrying just because you’re smart with gear.”

“I would never expect you to stop worrying, Frenchie, I’m smarter than that.”

“Good,” Lina smirked. “Now then...I will start on breakfast. I hope you have some decent food I can use...may I borrow a sweater?”

“You know where they are.” Roy gestured to the hallway that leads to his bedroom, and Lina flew off. The archer watched her fly away, then turned to pick up his weapons and put them away in the chesterfield beside the couch. Not the best hiding place, but he didn’t exactly have his own secret stash of warehouses quite yet.

“So how is the Junior Justice League?” Roy called out.

“Not the Junior Justice League, first of all,” Lina called back. “You know, you really hurt the guys’ feelings by brushing them off.”

Roy sighed, letting her comment sting him. “I’m sorry Lin’, but you know I was just stating my opinion.”

“We’re allowed to choose our own loyalties, Roy.” Lina said, walking back into the living room; now clad in one of Roy’s sweaters. “Just as you have chosen yours.”

Roy shrugged. “Ouch...but I guess I deserve that. I’ll send them all an apology text or something…”

“‘Apology text’, bah! Ce qui s'a passé à parlant dans vraie vie, là?” Lina sighed and walked into the kitchen. “We’re good though! We fought an evil air-manipulating robot named Mr. Twister the other day.” At the mention of the air-manipulating robot’s name, Lina had to tune out the sounds of angry Winds.

“Okay, that’s a terrible name.”

“Right?!” Lina exclaimed. “And I know from personal experience that air-related names can be hard to come up with but I mean...that just sounds so foolish, non?”

“Definitely.” Roy nodded. “You think there’s any relation to RT? We still don’t know where Morrow is, last I checked.”

Lina was silent for a moment, then answered. “Perhaps...he did seem to have a personal vendetta against him. And you’re right about Morrow...it doesn’t help that Red was off after the whole thing. But we defeated Twister, right? So I’m sure it won’t be any issue.”

“Your call.” Roy nodded and sat back down on the couch; deciding not to shower and change quite yet. “So...have you guys chosen a leader yet?”

Lina was, once again, silent. For a second, Roy didn’t know if she had heard him or not. Just as he was about to repeat himself, Lina replied, “no, we haven’t...I wonder if Batman will assign one before our first real mission…”

“He kind of seems the type to let you figure that out by yourselves, doesn’t he? Who do you think should be leader?”

Without even a moment’s hesitation, Lina knew her answer.

"Who do you think?"

“Yeah, figured as much. He definitely has the makings of one. But are you sure the others will be okay with that? Robin may want a seat at that table, and personally, I think you’d be a decent leader.”

Lina hummed in thought but didn’t respond so Roy decided to drop it. An unspoken agreement was made between the two, both knew that Lina wouldn’t be elected as the leader and wouldn’t try to force herself onto the position. Robin, however…

“So how is Kal? I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“You would know if you reached out to him...” Lina said in an almost sing-song voice, and Roy sent her a look through the wall. Even though she couldn’t see his look, she knew it was there. “You guys are best friends, right? You should at least try and act like it. He may not admit it because he’s all stoic and calm most of the time, but trust me; he’s worried about you! To an extent we all are, but he’s not like me and the boys. He won’t drop in unannounced to check up on you.”

“That’s only you, Lina.”

“Bah! You know what I mean.” Lina exclaimed. “Obviously you can’t reach him right now because he’s in Atlantis with his parents but...just try to call him and invite him over every once in a while, okay?”

“He’s in Atlantis? Didn’t you say you were on patrol together last night?”

“He said he felt that he needed to be there or something.”

Roy let out a low chuckle. “What do you want to bet he just really wanted to see Tula?”

Although they had never officially met, Lina practically knew enough about Tula to write a small book about her. The pretty Atlantean girl who was Kaldur’s peer, friend, and crush. In the early days of her and the Atlantean’s friendship, Lina had asked him if he had someone special at home; and he had happily gone into a half-hour tangent about how Tula was not only one of the best friends he had ever had (along with his other childhood friend, Garth) but also one of the strongest, smartest, and most beautiful people he had ever known.

It was admittedly very cute, watching the usually very reserved man blush as he spoke about the young Atlantean girl. The one time that Lina actually saw Tula, when Kaldur showed a magic-infused picture of the trio of friends, she agreed that she was indeed a sight to behold. After one of his long tangents about Tula, Lina had once asked Kaldur why he didn’t just confess his feelings towards her. He replied that he had always wanted to, especially before he started splitting his time between land and sea. But for a multitude of reasons, he never had.

“You’re changing the subject,” Lina spoke sternly.

Roy let out a loud sigh at having been called out.

“Yes, I’ll reach out to him.”

“You promise?”

“Yea...but don’t tell GA alright?”

Even though he couldn’t see it, Lina rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect your stupid masculine ego.” And with that, she collected the bowls of yogurt and freshly cut fruit she had prepared and brought them out to the living room.

“My stupid masculine ego thanks you.”

Mount Justice

July 22

19:00

“Isla Santa Prisca.” Batman spoke clearly and loudly, as he stood in front of the team of 6 supernatural teenagers. Behind him shone a holographic map of an island that sat in the heart of the Caribbean. “This island nation is the primary source of a dangerous neo-steroid, a strength-enhancing drug, sold on the streets under the name Venom."

The screens flashed with images of factory blueprints.

"Infrared heat signatures indicate their factory is still operating at full capacity, but all shipments of Venom have been inexplicably cut off. That's where the team comes in." The Bat turned to face the eager-faced teenagers standing around him.

"This is a covert recon mission only. Observe and report. If the Justice League needs to intervene, it will." The leader of the Justice League turned back to the screens. "The plan requires two dropzones."

"So who's in charge?" Robin piped up, not at all hiding his excitement.

Batman and Red Tornado exchanged glances before the former said sternly,

"Work that out between yourselves."

Caribbean Sea

July 22

20:08

As everyone sat around the bio-ship, stale tension filled the air. Nobody dared to break the silence, if they were even aware of it. Most of the team stared ahead through the window at the sprawling sea, their thoughts locked away in their own mind. For Lina, her thoughts lingered with anxiety. The fact that they were going into their first mission without a clear chain of command made her innards tie themselves into tight knots. But instead of trying to make small talk, Lina cast her eyes up to the moon above them (trying very hard to not think about the flying contraption she was sitting in) and thought about the small bit of dialogue she and Roy had shared over the topic of team leadership…

There was no way she could be team leader.

Being responsible for the success or failure of six powerful teenagers? No, thank you. Sure, she could look after her family and Roy. But that was small stuff; making sure they ate and were hygienic, healing any minor injuries, giving them advice and making sure they were happy. But in battle? When one wrong decision could lead to real consequences…

She shivered at the mere thought of it.

Not to mention her sheer inexperience was enough to disqualify her from the discussion on its own. Just three years ago she had been a simple circus girl, a civilian, and she barely had a year of field experience under her belt. She didn't know the first thing about tactics or battle strategy. Running a hand through her hair, Lina let out a long sigh, and began mentally preparing for a mission she hoped wouldn’t go terribly wrong.

“Approaching Santa Prisca.” Miss Martian announced, snapping everyone out of their trances. “Dropzone A in thirty.”

Almost in unison, Kaldur and Lina stood from their seats. As their chairs sank back into the ship’s floor, the two teens reached for their insignias and gently pressed them. Black began to pulse from the letters on either of their waists, and slowly the darkness began to cover the entirety of their uniforms. Aqualad’s red and Zephyr’s white and gold all turned to the colour of the Caribbean night sky, leaving nothing but the metallic gold-tinting of their respective symbols.

As Lina pulled up her hood and looked down at the new look, she grimaced.

“I feel so…angsty.” The girl muttered, but then looked back up at Kaldur. Their eyes connected, silently communicating before the taller of the two looked to M’gann.

“Ready.”

“Putting bioship in camouflage mode,” M’gann replied, and the cabin’s air pressure changed as they descended from the clouds and closer to the water. The two teammates nodded at one another. “Go.”

As a hole opened up under the hero’s feet, they both fell down and into the saltwater below. Just as her body was about to breach the surface, Lina circled her hands and formed a bubble of air around her form. Then, once the two had fully submerged, the two rocketed off towards the shore. The darkness of the water made Zephyr’s human eyes strain, barely able to make out Aqualad’s form as she followed behind him, but the water was thankfully clear of any obstacles. Or rather, almost clear. After a moment, the two came across a long, large wall of netting, but Kaldur was able to promptly slash it open with a swipe of his sword, creating a hole big enough to swim through.

Not long after, they breached the surface. Kaldur poked his head out of the water for a moment, then dove back under.

“I’ve located the security sensors, are you ready?” He asked, used to speaking underwater. Lina nodded, then with one sweep of her hands, blasted them both through the water, breaking her protective bubble and lifting them into the air and over to the heat and motion sensors. When they landed, Lina pulled out a USB drive from one of the hidden compartments on her upper arm and plugged it into the large, boxy machine. After a moment, the USB began to blink a blue light.

“Heat and motion sensors have been patched. Data is now on a continuous loop. Move in.” Kaldur spoke into his earpiece.

“Acknowledged.” Robin spoke back.

As Zephyr and Kaldur made their way over to the end of the beach, they were met with a tall cliff. Overhead, they could see trees, foliage, and other signs of a jungle peaking over the surface, the jungle that housed the Venom warehouse. Kaldur turned to face Lina.

“If you please.” The young man leads as he placed a firm hand on his partner’s shoulder, and with a small nod, Lina summoned her Winds and began lifting them as slowly and as quietly as possible. About halfway up, however, they were interrupted with their com’s sparking to life yet again.

“Aqualad, Zephyr; dropzone B is a go.” Robin’s voice came through.

Kaldur lifted his finger to his ear. “Head to the factory. We’ll track your GPS coordinates and rendezvous ASAP.”

Once they landed, Lina lifted one hand to her ear and pressed her com. “Be careful, and let us know if you need assistance.”

“Copy.” Robin responded.

And with that, the two teenagers began sprinting/flying in the direction of the factory. Partway through, however, movement caught Kaldur’s eye and he slid to a stop. Lina had to quickly drop her Winds to avoid flying into him.

“What is it?” Lina whispered as she stood, and Kaldur motioned silently over to where the movement was coming from. Stepping over a little to get a better look, they were able to make out a slow procession of armed men a few meters away...and headed in the direction of the four younger team member’s coordinates.

“Superboy, KF.” Kaldur spoke as the two partners began their sprint yet again. “Switch to infrared, see if you are being tracked.”

A moment later, Wally replied. “Got a band of armed bozos incoming.”

“Two squads, but they’ll reach each other before they find us.” Superboy added.

“Sweep wide and steer clear.” Kaldur instructed, but apparently, his words fell on deaf ears as hardly a minute later, the sound of loud gunfire rang through the forest.

“Those miscreants always find a way to bring chaos to nature, so much disruption.” A voice sighed into Zephyr’s ear.

Almost in unison, the two heroes let out whispered curses in their respective mother tongues and picked up their speed.

Once the two had reached the source of the gunshots, a large clearing amongst thick greenery; Kaldur and Lina found their teammates fighting groups of men. Some were in long, dark red coats with black face masks, and others wore typical dark street clothes. Two of the red-clad individuals caught Aqualad and Zephyr’s attention and they jumped to action; the former leaping in front of the first goon, placing his hand just over the man’s heart and lighting up his tattoos to send a surge of electricity into it, and the latter using her Winds to pick up the other cloaked man, sending him flying into a nearby tree.

The last of the men fallen and unconscious, the team turned to look at one another.

“Nice of you to join us.” Wally smiled bashfully.

Santa Prisca

July 22

20:20

“I recognize those uniforms,” Robin spoke up once the last of the men were hogtied and safely incapacitated. “The Cult of the Kobra…”

“I am certain Batman would have mentioned it if he knew a dangerous extremist was running Santa Prisca’s Venom operation.” Said Aqualad.

“Agreed.” Robin nodded. “And since there’s clearly no love lost between the cultists and those goons...I’m betting Kobra came in and tossed them out. That’s why normal supply lines have been cut off.”

“We get it, Kobra wanted super cultists: mystery solved.” Wally piped in. “Radio Bats and we’ll be home in time for-” He was quickly cut off by Robin.

“These cultists aren’t on Venom! Kobra’s hoarding the stuff. We don’t leave...not until I know why.”

“Until you know why?” Kid Flash spoke, frowning.

“This team needs a leader.”

“And it’s you? Dude, you’re a thirteen-year-old kid who ducked out on us without a word.”

“And here we go…” Lina sighed, just loud enough that Superboy, the closest to her, was the only one that could hear her.

Robin let out a cackling laugh. “And you’re a mature fifteen? You broke our cover the first chance you got!”

“Don’t you want to lead?” M’gann asked, tilting her head towards Superboy.

Superboy scoffed, obviously not fond of the idea. “You?”

“After the Mister Twister fiasco..?” M’gann cringed, raising her hand up in rejection.

Superboy gave her a shadow of a smile. “You did alright.”

M'gann face lit up with pink as her eyes grew wide. She quickly caught Lina’s amused gaze and the French girl gave the Martian an approving nod and thumbs-up behind Superboy’s back. Turning her attention back to Kaldur, Lina saw that he was carefully watching Robin and Wally bicker with a look of mild annoyance on his face. After a moment of trying to find the right words, Lina leaned in closer towards the Atlantean so that she wouldn’t be overheard.

“Being a leader is a very important burden.” She said. “It’s important to have the one bearing it be cool-tempered, reliable, patient, and level-headed.”

Her hinting wasn’t meant to be subtle.

“A good leader must also care deeply for their team, always have their best interests at heart, and have a good moral compass.” Kaldur countered.

“Fair enough.” She nodded but then turned to look directly at her Atlantean friend. “Although one could argue that some people on the team embody all these traits, while also having real experience with combat and strategy.”

Kaldur didn’t respond, but it didn’t much matter as not a moment later Lina’s attention was diverted by her overhearing someone muttering in Spanish. In her peripherals, she saw Superboy turn towards the sounds as well.

“Look at them argue.” One man spoke in Spanish. “Free yourself now and take them while they’re distracted!”

“Quiet!” Another man, this one larger and wearing black and white face paint. “For now I play along, they’ll give me what I need.”

Superboy and Zephyr exchanged looks.

“Yeah? You don’t even have superpowers!” Wally screamed, drawing the attention back to the young arguing boys.

“Neither does Batman!” Robin exclaimed.

“Duh,” Wally scoffed, “you’re not Batman.”

“Duh,” Robin mocked, “closest thing we’ve got!”

The two’s bickering was interrupted by the man from before, the one with the painted face, laughing.

“Such clever ninos.” The man spoke. “But you only know half the story. Let me show you the rest, get you into the factory via my secret entrance.”

M’gann knelt down to the man and began focusing, channelling her telepathy. “There is a secret entrance, but he’s also hiding something.” Her eyes began to glow white as she attempted to dig deeper.

“Ah ah ah chica,” Bane tutted, “Bane is not that easy.”

After a pregnant pause, M’gann let go of her telepathic connection and groaned. “He’s mentally reciting football scores en Espanol...this could take a while.”

“I can try and translate.” Zephyr voiced. “Mi Español debe ser satisfactorio.”

“Suffocation is an effective means of interrogation.” A deep, dark voice whispered in Zephyr’s ear, causing her to jump, straighten her back, and wave off the sadistic Wind.

“It’s not that complicated.” The man, Bane, said. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

The team exchanged unsure looks.

Santa Prisca

July 22

20:39

As the team hiked through the forest, led by Bane, each and every one of them felt uneasy. Even Miss Martian, arguably the most naive and inexperienced of the group, knew that their guide wasn’t trustworthy. It was like a ringing feeling in all of their heads, telling them that they shouldn’t be doing what they were doing. Eventually, however, they came to a cliff, and Bane silently motioned towards a large industrial compound. Robin took out his binoculars and began to scout.

“Look at all that product…” Robin whispered. “A buy is going down. But if Kobra’s not selling to the usual suspects, then-””We need to identify that buyer.” Kaldur finished.

“Just what I was thinking.” Wally nodded.

Robin scoffed. “Yeah, you’re the thinker!”

The look Wally gave his friend was the most unimpressed anyone had ever seen him. “Sarcasm? Dude, a real leader would focus on getting answers.”

A loud grunt, followed by a crashing sound made all of them turn to see Bane removing a large boulder to reveal a hidden passageway.

“Answers are this way.”

“So now El Lucador is our leader?” KF exclaimed, only to be smacked by Robin. “Ow!”

The passageway led to a gate, which-with Bane’s thumbprint-led to the factory’s interior. Bane poked his head through but was nudged to the side by Robin. After a moment, the young boy gave the all clear and ran out. When the others caught up, however, he was gone.

“Has that little fool already been captured?” Bane grunted.

“No...he just does that.” Kaldur spoke, disappointment evident in his face and voice.

“Stay put.” Wally whispered, slipping his goggles over his eyes. “I’ll get our intel and be back before the Boy Wonder!”

“Kid, wait-“

But Kaldur was too late, and the ginger had already sped off.

“Great chain of command.” Bane spoke, which to everyone’s surprise, earned him a deadpan remark from Zephyr.

“Bueno trabajo manejando tu fábrica.” Bane cast the girl a dirty look.

“What’s that?” Superboy piped up, and motioned to a nearby opening. It was a large garage door, littered with tall piles of crates with a forklift moving some out. The group moved to kneel behind the crates.

“It’s a massive shipment.” Kaldur muttered.

“Yea, but they’re only taking new product outside. They’re not touching this Venom.” Superboy noted.

“Maybe...freshness counts?” M’gann tried.

Suddenly, almost like a dog, Superboy’s head jutted upwards at attention.

“Helicopter’s coming.”

But of course, to everyone else, there was utter silence.

Santa Prisca

July 22

20:45

Kid Flash zipped into the control room where his best friend sat. The older boy munched on one of the energy bars he kept in the hidden compartments in his suit as the Boy Wonder sat above a knocked out Kobra cultist. The sight of the limp body on the group didn't even phase the snacking speedster, however, as he walked over to peer over the Boy Wonder’s shoulder.

"What'cha got?" Kid Flash asked.

"Chemical formulas." Robin explained, not even looking away from the monitors. "I'd say it involves Venom but…"

Robin pulled up two pictures of molecular makeups and their chemical formulas as the ginger's eyes squinted in focus. Not even after a second of thinking, Wally's granola-holding hand extended to motion to one of the pictures. "That one's Venom", then to the other, "and that one's...Woah, the Blockbuster formula from CADMUS."

In a simulated diagram, the two images formed together to create a new compound.

"Mixed correctly, Kobra's new juice would be three times as strong as Venom...and permanent." Wally turned to Robin. "But how did Kobra get access to Project Blockbuster?"

"Our mystery buyer must also be Kobra's supplier!" Robin exclaimed. "Using the cult to create a Venom-Blockbuster superformula!" Robin raised a hand to his com. "Robin to Aqualad, we got-" He was cut off. Static.

Meanwhile, back at the loading dock. The helicopter Superboy predicted had finally landed. A blonde man wearing a hockey goalie mask walked out of the flying machine, met by an awaiting Kobra and two of his goons; a tall punk girl with orange hair, and an inhumanly bulky male with skin akin to that of a post-Blockbuster Desmond. The two men spoke, discussing business. But unbeknownst to either of them, an invisible force watched them from above. The camouflaged martian watched closely, barely being able to hear the words they were exchanging in soft tones. But she could clearly see when the cult leader, Kobra, opened a silver briefcase. Furthermore, she could make out the several vials of purple liquid that lay inside. Quickly, Miss Martian opened a telepathic link.

"Aqualad," She mentally spoke, focusing her gaze intently on the masked man. "Sending a mental image of the buyer now."

Back inside the factory, Kaldur focused on the image of the blonde man that flashed in his brain. Once he had, he opened his eyes to the other people sitting with him on the raised catwalk Bane had taken them to.

"Sportsmaster? He is the buyer?" He muttered to nobody in particular.

Lina knew very little about 'Sportsmaster', never having run into him herself. But she recalled reading his file at one point. An average man, Lawrence “Crusher” Crock, but apparently some sort of sadist that was affiliated with the League of Shadows. He was trained in more than a few martial arts and was known to have access to an arsenal of dangerous weapons. Basically a glorified goon-for-hire, but a dangerous man nonetheless.

Kaldur raised a hand to his com. "Aqualad to Red Tornado, do you read?"

Upon only receiving static, he attempted other channels with very much the same degree of success.

"I cannot reach Robin, the League, or Kid. We need a plan. Now."

Bane gave a smile, an eery one that shot straight through Zephyr's spine. "I have a suggestion." And then he leapt right off the catwalk and straight into two armed cultists, quickly taking them down, but not before getting them to open fire at their attacker. The sounds of the gunfire quickly notified the rest of the security forces around the warehouse, who all rushed over to zero in on their intruders.

"What is he-" Kaldur didn't get the chance to finish his question, as the Blockbuster-esk Kobra goon (a previously normal man who went by the name of Mammoth) leapt through a nearby window and crashed straight into the catwalk. This caused the three members to fall or haphazardly fly down onto the floor, ridding them of any sense of safety.

“There goes our cover.” Superboy huffed.

Mammoth ran straight at the heroes, and the clone charged back at him, causing a resulting force strong enough to shake the whole building. As the two tanks went head-on with one another, a few dozen cultists began shooting at the two remaining young heroes. Aqualad knelt down, using his water-bearers to form a shield that protected both him and Zephyr from oncoming fire. Meanwhile, the young air manipulator lifted her hands, targetting the closest cultists she could see as her Winds picked them up and sent them all flying into metal walls.

“Where did Bane go?” Zephyr asked once she had realized that, once the shooting had started, the Spanish man had seemed to disappear into thin air.

“I’m not sure.” Aqualad shook his head as he lifted his other water-bearer to begin shooting cultists. “But I’m afraid we have more pressing matters.”

The fighting was a blur, with the members of the team very obviously outnumbered and confused, all of them internally reeling at how the mission was playing out. The large, open area of the warehouse floor made for little cover, and the sounds of repeated and multiple bouts of gunfire made it difficult for the team to get their bearings. At some point in the chaos, Miss Martian and Kid Flash had returned, only for the former to be blasted into a nearby wall by a rocketed projectile.

To put it simply, they were losing. And there was still no sign of Robin.

“Miss Martian, radio is jammed! Link us up!” Kaldur shouted.

A moment later, a sharp ringing entered each team member’s mind. Zephyr winced a little, but noted that the link didn’t hurt nearly as bad as it did during the initial cave tour.

“Everyone online?” The Martian girl’s voice rang into each member’s mind.

Superboy’s mental voice growled, but reluctantly spoke, “Yeah.”

“You know it, beautiful.” Kid Flash said from his place behind another support beam.

“Present,” Lina spoke, creating her own shield and blasted more cultists that were aiming at M'gann.

“Good. We need to regroup.” Kaldur’s voice rang.

Robin’s voice came through, rushed and chaotic. “Busy now!”

“Busy? What does he mean busy?!” Kid Flash’s actual voice sounded over the gunfire.

“Where did he go anyway?” Lina asked, but then spotted another cultist aiming straight at Kid Flash from around a corner. She delivered a quick air-strike to him, but in doing so, opened herself up. A sharp blast sliced at her arm and with a loud yelp of pain, she flew back behind the support beam for cover. “Putain!”

“Are you okay?” Kaldur asked, eyes darting to her injury.

Zephyr examined her arm, finding a tear just below her shoulder. Crimson blood seeped into her uniform, and the girl was suddenly grateful her costume was no longer white. “Just a graze, I’m fine.”

“Robin!” Aqualad called over the telepathic link. “Now!” After giving the order, Kaldur ran out, forming his weapons into water-whips and taking out as many cultists as he could.

“Strategic retreat! Kid, clear a path.”

A dark blue zig-zagged across the warehouse floor at top speeds, sending cultists down onto the ground as the remaining team member followed close behind and into a side door. Superboy lagged behind, having to wrestle Mammoth. But after a moment, the clone was able to leverage his strength into gripping Mammoth’s hands and send him flying into a group of armed men. Once the clone was able to enter into the side-passage way with the others, he and Aqualad promptly closed the door and resumed running. This only granted them a short reprieve, however, as Mammoth busted down the metal and was quickly followed by shooting cultists who open fired into the cramped walls of the hidden passage.

“Superboy! The support beams!” Aqualad exclaimed, and the clone delivered quick, strong strikes to the wooden support beams around him. Not a moment after, the rocky passage began to collapse, and with a rattling ‘boom’, all surroundings went dark.

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