#anyways i did! it tastes awesome! it's just making me nauseous

[runningfrom2am]

the sea around us; chapter five

TW: emetophobia, vomiting

*:･ﾟ✧*:･

I excused myself from everyone as they were talking about what to do now that JJ has blown our chances at "laying low", deciding to walk home. I grabbed my cooler backpack with my twelve-pack in it, which I didn't even end up touching, and trudged down the road.  JJ didn't plan on shooting anyone, I know that about him. He would never. The fact that he would hold a loaded gun to my brother's head though, did catch me off guard. I felt sick, oh god, I have about fifteen seconds before I start hurling my guts out on the side of the road- I don't know if it is the copious amounts of alcohol I consumed or the image of my brother with a gun to his head that's making me this nauseous.

I stop and lean away from the road as I start throwing up, holding my hair back with one hand, and resting the other on my knee. After a couple of minutes, I see headlights coming towards me. Awesome. I wipe off my mouth on my arm and stand up, I think I'm done puking my guts out now anyways. I keep walking, reaching into my bag and cracking another drink, hoping to rinse out my mouth and then finish it to keep myself from fully settling into sobriety and realizing the weight of the situation. Of course, I understand how serious what just happened was, but I can tell it hasn't really hit me yet.

The car rolls to a stop next to me as I'm spitting out the swig of Twisted Tea I used to wash the taste of vomit out of my mouth, and I look up as I hear a familiar voice.

"Hey, Snowy, you alright?" Topper. Sarah is in the passenger seat with him, arms crossed, looking straight at the road ahead of her.

"Hi Topper," I say, giving an awkward wave. "You didn't happen to see me hurling my guts out just now, did you?" I try and joke, knowing that of course, they saw.

"Uh, maybe just the tail end. Would you like a ride?" Sarah sighs and leans her head back against the seat as he says this. I've never had a real problem with Sarah personally, but I can understand why she'd be pissed at me now.

"I should be fine, only about five k's to the chateau," I say, a ride would be sweet, but I don't want to intrude, especially after the fight we just had with them.

"I don't know what a 'k' is, but I know where you live and at this rate, you'll get there around six am, Snowy. Hop in. Please." Topper pleads. Despite what happened, he cares for me. I haven't spent heaps of time with him, but he's Kegs' best friend, and he knows how much I mean to him.

I nod a little and get in the back, sliding across the seat so I'm behind Sarah. "Where's Kegs?" I ask quietly once we start moving. "I thought he was with you."

"He went to Erin's," Topper replied, looking at me in the rearview mirror. I take another sip of my drink and nod. Of course he's at Erin's.

"Hey, uh, Sarah?" I say quietly, trying to get her attention. She just hums in response, letting me know she's listening. "I... I'm really sorry I called you a liar. I'm not going to use the excuse that I was drunk, but I am wasted so..." I trail off, I need to get back on the point. "I don't think you were lying. From your distance, I'm sure that's exactly what it looked like. If I didn't panic, it would have been about four seconds before you would have been right, anyways..."

"It's fine," Sarah replied flatly. "I was looking out for you, Kegs just wants you to be safe. And happy." Of course, she knew he would react that way, but why wouldn't I be safe with JJ?

"Why wouldn't I be safe with JJ, I'm with him all the time."

"He just thinks you'd be better off if you hung out with us more. A less risky lifestyle than with the pogues." She explains and I nod softly, even though she can't see me. Classic Kegs, always thinks he knows what's best, and that popularity is the most important thing.

"We literally are pogues. We factually live on the cut, we have one bathroom for six people, for fucks sake. He's just good at golf and went to private school back home, and is likable. I never had that. I'll never be him.." I reply, but I am truly thankful that she cares. Sarah turns to face me, and she has a genuinely sympathetic look on her face.

"I do think you're pretty cool, Snowy. You're welcome to hang out with me and my friends sometime, I can't imagine Top and Rafe are really your scene." Sarah smiles at me and I return it with a slight nod. I doubt I'll take her up on it, there's no way I would fit in with her and her friends, but it was still nice of her to offer.

"Hey, can I interest you in a nice, almost room temp Twisted Tea?" I ask, changing the subject as I hold my bag up to her if she wants to take one. Sarah laughs as she grabs one.

"Thanks, Snowy."

*:･ﾟ✧*:･

When I get home, I hardly get the door shut before my mom starts shouting at me. "Juliette, are you kidding me right now? Keegan just called me and said your friend tried to kill him!"

I sigh and set my bag down, kicking off my sand-filled shoes. "Yeah, he left a key part out of that story." I try and explain, but apparently, she's not having it.

"It doesn't matter, Juliette." He could have been killed tonight and you don't care?"

"Of course, I care, Mom. I- He was literally drowning John B! His head was under the water for so long that he passed out, and Kegs just held him there!" I mean, John B didn't technically actually drown, but that definitely would have happened if JJ didn't step in. "He wasn't listening to me! He wouldn't stop! JJ had to do something."

"He didn't have to try and kill him. I cannot believe you are defending the kid who tried to kill your brother! What is wrong with you?"

Clearly, this isn't going anywhere, so grab my bag as I walk past her to go to my room as she grabs a glass off the counter and throws it at me, just missing as it smashes against the wall. I lock myself in the room that I share with the twins and sigh. I turn around to see them both staring at me from their bunk bed that is on the far wall. They look terrified, tears have stained Deck's cheeks, and Anna just looks shocked. We can still hear our parents talking outside, having a heated discussion about what they're going to do.

"You two should be asleep," I say, walking into our closet to get changed into some pajamas.

"We heard Mom yelling," Deck says quietly as I remove my shirt and bathing suit, facing away from them.

"Did JJ really try to kill Keegs?" Anna asks me and I shake my head.

"He wasn't going to hurt him. He just needed to get his attention." I explain, pulling a new shirt over my head and closing the door so they don't see me change my bottoms.

I come out once I get changed and go sit on the bottom bunk with Deck as he clings on to me, and I hug him back. "Snowy, that was scary."

"I know," I whisper, giving him a kiss on the top of his head.

"Can you sleep here with me?" He asks and I nod, laying down and pulling Deck down with me gently.

"So, was Pope there?" Anna asks me from the top bunk, leaning over the side so I can see just see her face in the dark, as he hair dangles down below her.

"Yes, Pope was there, Anna. Now get back to sleep." I chuckle, holding my little brother as she lays back down and keeps asking me questions about him. "Goodnight, Anna," I say in response, so she knows I won't be answering her anymore.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･

A/N;

Just a short chapter this time, but it felt like the right place to stop.

Business as usual, please let me know what you're thinking! I hardly have any readers so now is a great time to get your suggestions in since I am super active in writing this and I'm more than willing to incorporate different ideas :) Shoot me a message or leave a comment!

Also, I left a little poll so please share your thoughts!

Thanks for reading!

-R

[headgehug]

does anyone else like cook good food, soup or stir fry or whatever for example, and then just not be able to eat it like it disgusts you for some reason. 

[earliebirb]

nosedive

steve/tony, fluff, (newly) established relationship, 3250 words

Tony stares absentmindedly out the airplane window as he puts his phone up to his ear, watching people run back and forth, performing last-minute engine checks. Some of the guys look sweaty and out of breath.

From the comfort of the air-conditioned Stark Industries private jet, he feels a slight twinge of sympathy for the people having to suffer in the humid summer heat.

He loosens his tie and sinks deeply into his seat, closing his eyes with a massive yawn as he listens to the ringing tone. He hadn’t been able to sleep very well throughout his five-day stay in Tokyo, too anxious about the contract to rest properly. 

The ringing tone goes on for a few more seconds before ending with a click, replaced by an achingly familiar voice greeting him in his ear. 

“Hello?” 

Tony’s eyes spring open. Outside, an aircraft marshaller walks by, speaking rapidly into his walkie-talkie.

“I had a blueberry muffin for lunch today. One single blueberry muffin.”

“...What?”

“It didn’t even taste that good. I couldn’t finish it. Too dry.”

“Tony, that’s not good. Is that all you had for lunch? You should really eat—”

“The meeting went well, by the way. Mr. Watanabe finally signed the contract, everything went as planned. My ride to the airport, however…”

“I told you things would go smoothly, you had nothing to worry about. You’re a brilliant negotiator—”

“The traffic? Fuck. I had to keep shifting in my seat to avoid pins and needles.”

“That sounds awful, are your legs okay—”

“Did you know that Tokyo is number nineteen on the list of cities with the worst traffic congestion in the world? I know that, because I looked it up on the way to the airport. But boy, did it feel like it deserved the number one spot. I think I lost feeling in my ass.”

“I did not know that. And, uh, is your ass okay—”

“Thank God for my private jet. These plush seats are the best things I’ve ever spent my money on.”

“That’s objectively not true, and you know it—”

“Then again, I think these seats in particular were Pepper’s choice? We remodeled the airplane’s interior like… two years ago. I couldn’t be bothered to meet with the airplane seat people and I just told her to pick whichever looked best. I had much more important things to tend to, like sewing up the holes in JARVIS’s Christmas stocking.”

“I am concerned about how you sort your list of priorities—”

“Hm, that’s right. I think it was around two, three weeks before Christmas and I didn’t want JARVIS to be upset about the whole stocking thing, you know?”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t have—”

“Also, you’re right, the single blueberry muffin was a bad idea because now my stomach won’t shut up. So I’ve ordered some pasta for my in-flight meal. Robbie’s making it, you’ve met Robbie—”

“I’ve met Robbie, yes, he’s—”

“Larry’s replacement after he resigned. Gotta say, I was sad to see Larry go. Guy worked for me for seven years. But then there was that thing with his grandma, and he had to leave, so… But! Robbie makes a mean carbonara, maybe even better than Larry, don’t tell Larry I said that—”

“I don’t even know Larry like that, how would I—”

“Mr. Stark, we’re ready to go.” The pilot—Paul—emerges from the cockpit, staring at him in anticipation.

Tony nods and makes a few rapid gestures with his free hand that he supposes Paul is only able to interpret perfectly after years and years of working for Tony. The gestures roughly translate to something like “Copy, I hear you, just let me wrap this up and then I’ll let you know when I’m done. Capiche?”

Paul—bless him—just gives him a curt nod and retreats back into the cockpit. 

“Anyway,” Tony takes a deep breath and puffs his cheeks out with the exertion of his exhale, “I called because… I got a feeling, Steve.”

“A… feeling?”

“Just— A gut feeling. A feeling in your gut. Inside of me. Like a hunch?”

“Okay,” Steve says patiently, his voice low and warm, “what are you feeling?”

“I… got a bad feeling. Today. A few hours ago. The feeling came to me when I was sitting in traffic, and I just— I feel like something bad’s gonna happen today, Steve. I can feel it in the air. In my heart. In my gut. In my joints.”

“Your joints? Like… the feeling old people get when it’s about to rain?”

“Okay, maybe not in my joints. Also, are you calling me old, grandpa?”

“I did not, you told me you felt something in your—”

“Anyway, so yeah. Where was I? Oh, right. Feeling. Bad feeling. Like, like, I don’t know, something bad’s gonna happen. Like an accident. Like a plane crash.”

“God, please don’t say that. You’re scaring me, Tony.”

“And I guess, I just called because I… I feel like I need to do this before the plane crashes and I die a violent and fiery death.”

“Nothing bad’s going to happen, Tony—”

“Like, if I didn’t do this today, maybe I’d never get to do it, you know? And, uh, okay, I’ve honestly been ranting to stall for time, but the longer I keep it in the more nauseous I feel, so maybe I’m just gonna do it now so I can die in peace—”

“Do what? And stop saying that—”

“Look, I’m trying to be brave and honest here and— Wait, actually? Maybe I’m being a coward because if the plane actually does go down, I won’t have to face the consequences of my actions, so I guess I’m just going to say fuck it, and say that I love you.”

“The plane is not going to— Wait, what?”

“I, uh. Love you. I’ve known it for a while now. And, uh, I know we’ve only been dating for like, a week, but—” Tony blinks. They’ve only been dating for a week. 

“...Fuck.” Tony can feel his own pulse starting to race. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“Tony?”

They’ve only been dating for a week. What is he doing? What the hell is wrong with him? Normal people don’t do this. 

“Fuck. Shit, I mean— Uh, I’m sorry. That was super weird, huh?” Tony laughs nervously. He closes his eyes, gritting his teeth and cursing his stupid brain. Of course it’s weird. He always gets too attached to people way too quickly. No wonder Pepper was his only long term relationship. She was the only person who could put up with him—everyone else just got weirded out. “Uh, see you tomorrow? Or not. Fuck, sorry, I’m just gonna hang up before this gets—”

“Tony, wait.”

“...Yeah?” Tony says, hyper-aware of how breathless he sounds. His heartbeat is ringing in his ears. Everything is going to be fine. Right? Right. The worst thing Steve could do is… break up with him.

Oh, God, that is the worst case scenario. He really should’ve just kept his stupid mouth shut. 

“Tony, are you freaking out? I feel like I can hear you freaking out from all the way over here.”

“No, I’m not, of course I’m not. Who says I’m freaking out? You have no proof. I am calm, I’m calm as a clam, is that the saying? Did I get it right? Or was it happy— Anyway, I am absolutely calm, I’m the calmest I could possibly be. Any calmer and I’d be asleep. I’m—”

“Tony. Breathe.”

Tony forces himself to drag in a slow breath as he grips the arm of his seat with his free hand, focusing on the soothing hum of the airplane’s engine.

“Look, Tony, I—”

“No, listen. I’m sorry I jumped the gun, I hope I haven’t weirded you out or anything. You really, really don’t have to say it back to me. I mean it.”

“Tony—”

“No, in fact— Please don’t say anything. It’s fine. Let’s just pretend this never happened, okay?”

“But—”

“Drop it, Steve. Please?” Tony pleads. Clearly, his brain hadn’t been firing on all cylinders. That is the only reason that could explain his temporary lapse of judgment. “Look, I feel like talking about it more right now is going to send me spiraling into a panic attack.”

“...Okay. Fine.”

“Thank you. Uh, I’ll see you when I get home. If I get home. If the plane doesn’t crash. Haha.”

“Would you please stop saying that? It’s not funny.”

Tony latches onto the change in topic like a lifeline. “It is objectively true, you know. In order for me to be able to see you tomorrow, the plane has to land safely, and unfortunately, some things are just beyond my control. Like, who’s to say the plane won’t explode mid-air and—”

“The plane is going to land safely and you’re going to come back home to me in one piece. This is non-negotiable, Tony. You hear me?” Steve demands, his voice all hard authority and no-nonsense, like there will be Consequences should Tony fail to comply. 

As if he could ensure Tony’s safety with the force of his willpower alone. 

Come back home to me. 

That sounds good. Really good. Tony closes his eyes and pictures Steve’s baby blues in his mind’s eye. Warmth flowers in his chest.

“I hear you.”

“Great.”

“Awesome. I, uh, I gotta go now.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow.”

“See you.”

Tony hangs up and lets Paul know that he is done with his phone call. The jittery feeling left over from his call with Steve refuses to leave him, however, so he pulls up the drawing application on his phone and begins sketching something just to give his brain something else to fixate on.

He tends to lose track of time when he is hyperfocused on a project, so he isn’t exactly surprised that the next time he becomes aware of his surroundings, the plane is already well up in the air, his sketch of what looks like a flying coffee pot is almost finished, and Robbie is placing a plate of spaghetti carbonara on the table in front of him. 

“Spaghetti carbonara. With extra cheese.”

Tony’s mouth waters as he eyes the mountain of grated Pecorino Romano sitting atop the pasta. He sighs dreamily and smiles up at Robbie.

“You’re a lifesaver.”

“Enjoy, Boss.” Robbie grins and slips back into the kitchen.

He only realizes just how truly famished he is after taking his first bite, and proceeds to finish the rest of his meal with gusto. Afterward, he spends the majority of the remaining flight time sleeping, the result of post-carbonara food coma and his sleep-deprivation finally catching up to him. 

It’s well past two in the morning when Tony finally makes it to his floor in the Tower, which is why he is surprised to see Steve sitting on his couch, one of Tony’s fantasy novels open in hand. 

“Steve, what are you doing here?”

Steve’s head snaps up at the sound of his voice. Tony frowns. “Actually, why are you awake at all?” He is usually an early sleeper, unless—

“Nightmare?” Tony gives him a sympathetic smile. It wouldn’t be the first time. In the early days of their friendship, Tony and Steve would sit together in the living room whenever they had trouble sleeping, talking to each other until the sun came up.

Steve shakes his head, closing the book with his eyes still trained on Tony. “No, I was just… waiting for you.” Tony blinks. 

“It’s…” Tony glances at his watch. “Half past two. In the morning.”

“I know, I just…” Steve stands up, shoving his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. He ambles over before coming to a stop right in front of Tony. “I wanted to see you.”

Tony stares at him uncomprehendingly. “You’ll see me later anyway.”

“I couldn’t wait any longer. I didn’t want to go to sleep without seeing you first,” Steve says, low and earnest. His gaze wanders around Tony’s face, as if he were cataloguing each and every facial feature and trying to locate any changes he might’ve missed during his absence.

“Oh.”

Steve steps closer, arms snaking around Tony’s waist and pulling him close. His next words are whispered against Tony’s shoulder.

“I knew you’d make it home safely.”

“Uh, yeah.”

“You were wrong.”

“I was… wrong.” Tony swallows. “Uh, turns out the bad feeling completely disappeared after I woke up from my nap on the plane, so I suspect that perhaps the bad feeling I got was due to my severe hunger and sleep deprivation. I mean, I’ve heard about hallucinations caused by hunger or exhaustion, but this was—” 

Steve presses a soft kiss to the column of Tony’s neck, effectively cutting off Tony’s ramblings.

“Tony,” Steve whispers against his skin.

“Yeah?” Tony squeaks.

“Please don’t call me before a flight and say that you think the plane is going to crash, ever again.”

“Right. Noted. I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted,” Steve says, pulling away slightly and loosening his hold around Tony.

Tony allows himself to relax, letting out a quiet sigh. This thing with Steve is so new and delicate that every single physical contact still sends his heart fluttering, butterflies going crazy in his stomach.

Which makes, in retrospect, his abrupt love confession—as truthful as it was—that much more insane. God, Stark. Never do that again.

Except, it turns out that Steve only pulled away to slide his hands down the back of Tony’s thighs, wrapping his hands around them, and then lifting him up without warning.

Tony yelps, and in his alarm, promptly locks his ankles around Steve’s waist. When Steve begins moving, Tony quickly wraps his arms around Steve, resting his chin on Steve’s shoulder.

“Uh, Steve?”

“Hm?” Steve says, calm and nonchalant, as he begins walking away from the elevator. 

“Um— Wait— My suitcase—”

“Leave it. It’ll still be there in the morning.”

Tony blinks, staring dumbfoundedly at his lonely suitcase, abandoned by the elevator. It becomes smaller and smaller with every step Steve takes. 

“Where are we going?”

“Your bedroom.”

“Why are you carrying me there?”

“Because I want to.”

“You know it’ll be faster if you just let me walk, right?”

“Maybe. But you won’t be in my arms.”

“Um.”

“Bear with me, will you? I missed you.”

“I, uh, missed you too.”

Steve hums, satisfied. Tony lets himself settle more comfortably in Steve’s arms.

When Steve has successfully carried him to his bedroom, Tony fully expects Steve to deposit him on the bed. 

That is not, in fact, what happens. 

Instead, Steve turns around and begins walking backwards towards the bed before sitting down on it. Tony, still seated on his lap, swallows and pulls back slightly to look at Steve. 

“Look, Steve, as much as I’ve missed you, I’m kind of tired right now. I mean, don’t get me wrong. This whole carrying thing? Great. Very romantic. Ten out of ten. But I’m just not in the mood for sex, you know? Like, I’m not even sure I would be able to get it up if—”

“We’re not going to have sex.”

Tony blinks.

“We’re not?”

“We’re not. I’m just here to tuck you in.”

“Oh.”

Steve reaches up and begins undoing his tie. After setting it aside on the bed, he begins to unbutton Tony’s shirt. He takes his time, one button at a time.

“So…” Steve begins with a deep breath as he unbuttons the final button. “Did you mean, uh, what you said to me? On the phone?”

Tony closes his eyes, feels his own cheeks heating up. “Steve—”

“I’m sorry, Tony, I know you told me to drop it. But— I feel like if you did mean what you said, I owe it to you to… set the records straight.” When Tony opens his eyes again, Steve is looking up at him, blue eyes solemn.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… We have only been together for a week. Well, eight days. In fact, we’ve only been on one date. And it was interrupted. By giant lizards.” Steve chuckles incredulously. 

Tony remembers that day very well. They were in the middle of dessert at Tony’s favorite Italian place when they received the call to assemble—something about giant lizards wreaking havoc in Central Park.

The lizards had green, gunky blood that got into the nooks and crannies of the suit. It had taken forever to clean.

“But Tony…” Steve gathers the material of Tony’s unbuttoned shirt in both of his fists, pulling him closer until their noses are only inches apart.

The second their eyes meet, Steve smiles the sweet, lopsided smile that never fails to make Tony’s stomach flip.

“I need you to know that… I didn’t have to date you to know that I loved you. I figured that a long time ago.”

Tony stills, breath frozen in his lungs.

“I guess, what I’m saying is… I love you too. I’ve loved you for a very long time, Tony. Even way before—” Steve breaks eye contact, looks down as he clears his throat. When he speaks again, his voice is tight. “Way before we got together. I’m talking… years before.”

Tony still finds it hard to breathe. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Steve says, the word more breath than sound. He meets Tony’s dazed gaze. “So you don’t have to worry about… jumping the gun. Not with me. I’m in it for the long haul.”

“...Okay.”

“Okay.”

“Good.” Tony feels a lightness growing inside of him, spreading outwards to his extremities.

“Good.” Steve smiles, warm and impossibly fond.

“...Glad we’re on the same page.” Tony’s gaze drops down to Steve’s lips.

“We are.” Steve inches closer, nose brushing Tony’s. He then tilts his head ever so slightly and takes Tony’s lower lip between his, kissing him so tenderly Tony’s heart feels like it’s about to burst with it.

Steve’s warm hands slide up Tony’s naked back under his open shirt, sending goosebumps breaking across his skin. Tony buries his hands in Steve’s hair and relishes the feeling of the soft strands caught between his fingers. They stay caught up in each other for a few moments, capturing and releasing each other’s lips until the need for breath becomes too unbearable.

They break apart eventually, accompanied by soft chuckles. Steve smiles up at him, lips slick and cherry red, courtesy of Tony. He reaches up to caress Tony’s right eyebrow with the pad of his thumb, fleeting and affectionate.

“Get some rest, okay? You must be really tired. I should probably go to bed, too.”

Tony looks down at his lap, clearing his throat. “Uh, I know that we haven’t done this before, but…”

Steve waits patiently for Tony to gather his thoughts, hands stroking up and down Tony’s sides.

“Do you want to stay with me tonight?” Tony finds the courage to meet Steve’s eyes, holding his breath.

Steve’s blue eyes are gazing at him intently, looking at him like he’s the only person in the world worth his sole, undivided attention.

Tony swallows. “No sex. Just to sleep. If you—”

“Yes.”

“Yeah?”

“I would like that very much.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“Good.” Tony feels his own lips slowly curve up into a smile, wide and unbridled. 

“Good.” Steve nods, lips twitching, his eyes never leaving Tony’s. 

Tony grins, feeling near giddy with delight. “Glad we’re on the same page.”

“We are, sweetheart.” Steve looks up at him, blue eyes fond and smile radiant. “We definitely are.”

[achubbydumpling]

(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66

Rating: Mature Words: 1901 Relationship: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski Additional Tags: Public stuffing, Roadtrip, Chubby Stiles

Summary: Stiles and Derek enjoy their first vacation together. Stiles suggests they take on various food challenges to save money while on the road. However, Derek's werewolf metabolism deals with the excess food a lot better than Siles' strictly human one.

(I tried a bit of a different approach to a stuffing, a bit more focused on the way it makes Stiles feel. Hope you enjoy it!)

“It winds from Chicago to LA More than two thousand miles all the way”

“Oh, my God. This is such a good idea! We’ll save so much money.” Stiles was waving the menu around while he talked and almost knocked over his glass of water.

“Right, Derek?”

“Right. Awesome,” was his clipped answer. Derek looked like his usual grumpy self, but with his hand on Stiles’ thigh and with how close he was sitting, Stiles didn’t worry about the slightly pained expression on his face. He’d soften up once the breakfast crowd died down a bit and there weren’t this many people around.

Read on AO3

“We just have to finish those three pancakes and then the food is free! Even if we can’t finish it’s 15 dollars to try and we can take the leftovers on the road.”

Stiles didn’t want to throw in the towel before the challenge had even begun, but it was probably for the best to not go into this completely blind. While waiting for their server to return Stiles looked up eating competitions online.

They did have 90 minutes in total to finish all the food, but Stiles hypothesized that eating as quickly as possible would be the best strategy. Derek argued that they should take advantage of all the time they were given. Now that Derek could focus on something else than his surroundings his hunched over posture slowly relaxed.

The banter eventually escalated into a bet that whoever finished first got to choose a punishment for the loser. Stiles was almost certain he would lose out against the werewolf metabolism, but he didn’t think Derek would go for a particularly harsh punishment. He would have never agreed to this with Scott because he always chose the most embarrassing punishments.

This was his and Derek’s very first vacation on their own after finally sorting out their mutual pining. The road trip had been planned for close to year. However, the exact date had always been pushed back by another monster of the week ruining their plans. Instead of making a round trip they had flown up to Chicago and rented a car instead of taking the Jeep like Stiles had initially planned. The old girl probably wouldn’t have made it anyway.

Another consequence of pushing their vacation back was the weather. Instead of driving in late spring or early summer, when the heat would have still been bearable, it was August—the hottest month of the year.

The AC could barely keep up and all the people that had just eaten breakfast here had heated the small diner up even more. Stiles poured himself another glass of ice water.

He was looking forward to when they would get far enough south to where diners started serving real sweet tea. Boyd had shared a few stories with the pack about the summers he had spent on his uncle’s farm in Georgia. How the only thing that could chase the sweltering heat away for a moment was the ice-cold sweet tea his auntie always kept in the fridge.

When their food finally arrived at the table the server could barely fit both plates on the small table for two. Each pancake was twelve inches in diameter, the stack was piled high with maple syrup, banana, and whipped cream.

“Wow, these are huge!” Derek stifled a laugh.

“There was a picture in the menu.” The server cleared his throat to get their attention before they could dig in.

“When this,” he held a tomato shaped kitchen timer up, “goes off and you have not finished the challenge you will be—” he sighed and made an unenthusiastic buzzer noise “—disqualified.”

“Thanks, pal.” Stiles grinned back. The server glared at him for a second before he wound up the timer and left the table.

“Man, that guy is in a bad mood.” Stiles tried joking around with Derek before they got serious about this challenge.

“You haven’t worked in hospitality before.”

“And you have?” He took another sip of water and waved the glass around threatening to spill all over.

“Summer job.” Derek shrugged and finally picked up his fork.

“Wait, you can’t just drop something like that and not tell me more details.”

“If you don’t want to pay for this mountain of food you better dig in.”

Stiles whined Derek’s name annoyed, but also picked up his fork.

“On three,” Stiles said, but Derek was already chewing the first bite.

“Cheater,” Stiles mumbled around a mouthful of pancake.

These were a lot flatter than the standard-sized pancakes. Probably deflated by their own weight, but the mixture of flour, sugar and oil tasted great all the same. Stiles hadn’t had banana pancakes before, but he welcomed the fruity sweetness in contrast with the straight up sugar of the rest of the meal.

Stiles surprised himself when he managed to keep up with Derek all through the first pancake. When he got started on that second one, he even pulled ahead for a bit, but he hit a wall as soon as half of it was gone. It felt like his stomach had suddenly closed down shop and he felt almost nauseous when he thought of eating even more sugar.

However, when Derek pulled ahead and finished off his second pancake without any trouble Stiles doubled down. He knew it was a loosing battle, but he wasn’t about to give up this easily. Yet, as willing as his mind was, his body failed him. With about three quarters of the last pancake left his determination flagged.

The food weighed heavily in his stomach. The vague nausea from eating way too much sugar curled up into his throat and had him sipping water to try and wash it down, which only made him feel even fuller.

Stiles could picture exactly what he looked like right now. He’d done this in front of his bedroom mirror. His stomach rounding out, like half a beach ball taped to his front. The curve of a belly looking out of place on his thin frame.

He had always loved to eat, not only for the sake of taste, but also because of how it made him feel. Sated. Heavy. Tethered down and not constantly in danger of floating away in his own mind. That moment when his thoughts finally ground to a halt and all he could do was to be overwhelmed by that feeling—almost on the wrong side of too much to handle.

However, he wasn’t at that point yet. This was more of a mental block. Unlike Derek, he didn't really have a sweet tooth. Stiles preferred salty, greasy substantial meals over dessert any day.

Stiles had been sat staring at his plate before Derek leaned against him to whisper, “You ok?”

Stiles groaned but picked up his fork again. Derek didn’t seem affected by the amount of food at all. Then again, the wolves always had to eat a lot just to keep their mass up. They leaned out quickly without enough food, preserving energy.

“Just taking a break.” Stiles could see Derek shifting in his seat, the wolf always craving closeness. They’d talked about this, whatever it was, after Derek had accidentally seen Stiles once afterwards. Stiles had tried his best to explain while still caught in that blissed out state. He didn’t know how but Derek had somehow understood.

Derek finally put that last bite in his mouth and then moved closer to Stiles. The entire side of his body was pressed up against Stiles. He was carefully draped over Stiles shoulders offering support, but not crowding him in. Stiles was still steeling himself for the next bite when Derek’s hand slipped under his shirt. Knuckles dragging against bare skin.

Stiles yelped and grabbed at Derek’s wrist. “What are you doing?” he whispered urgently.

“Helping,” Derek answered and furrowed his brows. Like always. Except they were in the middle of a restaurant and not locked in Stiles’ bedroom.

“Stop. Someone is going to see you,” he paused to search for the right word but then just flicked his eyes to where he was still holding Derek’s wrist.

“We’re not coming back here. You wanted to do the challenge.” Stiles wanted to whine and complain at Derek, but he was right. Stiles had suggested doing the food challenge. He’d honestly just thought about getting free food, only when they had already ordered, did he even think of this possibility.

“Plus,” Derek almost purred into Stiles’ ear, “winner gets to choose a punishment, right?”

Stiles’ “not really a punishment” died in his throat when Derek pulled him almost into his lap and his knuckles started digging into the roundest part of his stomach. They probably just looked like an overly affectionate couple, but that didn’t keep that searing hot shame from bubbling up. Stiles wanted to hide his burning face against Derek’s shoulder. He wanted to push Derek away. Stiles wanted to cram the rest of the pancake into his mouth to keep himself from thanking Derek out loud for getting his hands on his stuffed belly.

Derek hadn’t seemed interested in participating in Stiles’ peculiar activities but every time they had somehow ended up in that situation again, he had gotten more and more affectionate towards Stiles and his bloated middle.

“You’re gonna finish that, aren’t you?” Stiles shook his head, but he stabbed his fork into the pancake, nonetheless.

“Are you?” Derek asked again, a teasing edge to it. Stiles didn’t trust his voice and just nodded.

“Yes, look at yourself. The first chance you get to stuff yourself full of some food and you run headfirst into it.” Derek cupped his bloated stomach and lifted it up a bit.

“Look at that. All the food you stuffed in there making a nice little belly. Do you want to eat like this every day?” Stiles pushed another bite past his lips almost all whipped cream.

“Do you?” Derek prompted him. A whine caught in Stile’s throat, and he pushed it down with another forkful of food. He nodded and hummed agreeably.

“You’re just so greedy to be stuffed full.” Stiles was burning up but instead of reaching for his glass of water he gathered the last bits and pieces on his plate.

“You know what’s gonna happen if I let you eat like this every day?” Stiles was fast approaching the simple state of mind he was craving. He couldn’t decide whether to nod or shake his head. The motion of Derek’s hand on his stomach softened. Rubbing large circles into the stretched skin.

“You’re gonna get fat if you eat like this every day.” With that last mouthful Stiles had finished the challenge, but all he could think about was what Derek had just said.

“Feels so good,” Stiles said. Words slurred and a dopey smile on his face while he turned further into Derek’s body.

“Feels too good to stop, huh? Never had all that food just for free. That’s why you dragged me out here, off the highway. Not because you cared about what you’d eat, but because of how much. Is that right?”

“Yes,” Stiles whispered. “Every day.”

“Then it’s a good thing we’ve got four weeks on the road and me to take care of you.”

“Won't you get hip to this timely tip When you make that California trip Get your kicks on Route 66”

[kurts-still-here]

Nothing Breaks Like A Heart Chapter 3 Kurt/ Sebastian FanFiction

Hello everyone, I am back with chapter 3 of “Nothing Breaks Like A Heart”. Please read etheir on here or A03 or FanFiction. Net and leave any comments, questions or feedback for me. I love hearing from you guys and everyone was super sweet about the chapters so far. This chapter is about Kurt and Sebastian and it’s really sad :( Anyway read for yourself and have a good day!! :)

Archive Of Our Own

FanFiction.Net (Chapter 3)

They Say Follow Your Heart But If Your Heart Is In A Million Pieces Then Which Piece Do You Follow?- Unknown

Kurt slowly opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. He was the only one there and he was wondering why he felt like he had gotten hit by a bus when all the events from the previous came flooding back to him. It instantly shocked him and before he knew it he was crying. When the first thing you do in the morning is cry, you know it’s not going to be a good day but Kurt didn’t know how it could get any worse. He had thought about everything the previous night and tried to convince himself to get over it because nothing could be done about it.

He had broken up with Blaine. They were done and he had accepted that even though the wounds were still fresh (both physically and emotionally). He had also accepted the injuries and bruises that Blaine had given him. But it was Blaine. Blaine had hurt him. Blaine was jealous. He was cold hearted and he had proven to Kurt that he didn’t truly care about him. And Sam found out without Kurt even telling him. He knew Sam had sworn to keep his secret but what if someone else found it? What would his friends who were smarter than Finn think when they learned that he had been badly beaten up the same night that he had broken up with Blaine? If Sam was smart enough to figure it out then surely someone like Quinn or Rachel could? It was hard enough trusting Sam, he didn’t think he could trust anyone else besides Sebastian.

He knew that Sebastian knew he had been missing and he wondered if he now knew that he showed up at home. He probably did though and Kurt would have to text him later to tell him what happened. He needed to tell someone to get it off his chest. He had vaguely described the events to Sam but he hadn’t said all of it and he knew that Seb would understand the most. That he would be the most comforting in Kurt’s current situation and that he would just listen and then would give his thoughts and opinions.

Sebastian had never really liked Blaine. Kurt and him had been friends before Kurt had met Blaine and Sebastian could instantly tell that Kurt liked him. At first, Sebastian was very supportive and tried to get the two of them together but then he started to figure out that Blaine was trying to lead Kurt on and he didn’t like that. Sebastian had confessed his suspicion to Kurt but he had just waved him off and told him that he was being ridiculous. If only he had listened to him. But then they eventually started dating and that made Sebastian hate Blaine even more. He hated how Blaine treated Kurt like an object. How whenever Blaine saw Kurt talking to another boy how possessive he got, hanging onto him and kissing him every chance he got. How jealous he was of Kurt to see that he got along with other people besides him.

And the worst part of all was how big of a flirt Blaine was. He hit on everyone, including Sebastian himself. He was subtle about it, so subtle that Kurt didn’t seem to catch on to him but some people seemed to notice and they didn’t like it. Blaine would hit on Nick, making Jeff angry and they eventually stopped hanging out with him unless Kurt, Sebastian or some of the other Warblers were around. The same happened with Wes and David. And maybe Kurt did catch on and he just didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to upset him which was just another reason why their relationship was so crappy.

Even though Kurt didn’t know it, Sebastian loved him. More than a friend as a lover. They had known each other every sense they were kids and had grown up with one another. They had stayed friends when Sebastian had moved to Paris and Sebastian had comforted Kurt the best he could when he learned that Kurt was getting bullied. He moved back to Ohio around the time that Kurt had transferred to Dalton and it felt good for them to be so close again. It was like nothing had even changed between them, they had fallen right back in sync. When he had first moved back he was happy just being Kurt’s friend but then he realized that he had feelings for Kurt. It was too late though because Kurt was already falling for Blaine. And you could say that Sebastian hated Blaine so much because he was jealous of him and maybe that was part of the reason. The bigger reason, the more important reason why Sebastian hated him was because of how much he hurt Kurt and how he was such a manipulative asshole and that Kurt couldn’t see it.

Sebastian had been there for Kurt all the times that Blaine had made him cry. Kurt’s first week at Dalton had ended with him having a mental breakdown because he was so stressed out with the workload and to top it all off, Blaine had told Kurt that he needed to blend in more if he wanted to be a better member of the Warblers. Then when Kurt thought that Blaine had a crush on him just for him to find out that it was on some closeted guy from the GAP. And then Kurt still went to support Blaine even though he was heartbroken and even when the whole serenade had turned to shit and when Kurt had told Blaine that he thought it was for him and Blaine still stood turned him down. Blaine had picked someone who was still in the closet over Kurt and that had hurt him. Which in turn made Sebastian angry. But there was still more. Then there was the night that the three of them had gone to Rachel’s party and Blaine had gotten drunk and made out with Rachel Berry. At first, Kurt thought it was hilarious but as the kissing between the two lasted longer and he saw how much Blaine had enjoyed it, Sebastian could tell that Kurt was once again hurt by the asshole. And why wouldn’t he be, first Blaine chose a guy that was five years older than him, who was still closeted when Kurt was young and out and proud and now he had chosen a girl when he was gay. It just got worse when Blaine told Kurt that he was going on a date with Rachel to the point where Kurt made a comment about bisexuality making Blaine compare him to Karofsky, someone who had threatened to take Kurt’s life. No way were those two the same things, not even close. But of course in the end, both boys apologized and Kurt went right back to staring at Blaine with heart eyes. And of course Sebastian was the one to comfort Kurt the whole time while he cried his heart out over someone who didn’t deserve him. Sebastian’s last straw was when they had performed “Animal” for their sister school and afterwards Blaine had said that Kurt’s dance moves made him look like he was having gas pains, ultimately calling Kurt un-sexy. Now when Kurt had come crying to Sebastian telling him what Blaine had said he was furious to say the least. Kurt was the sexiest person he knew, his dance moves were awesome and Blaine didn’t know the fuck what he was talking about and Sebastian wanted to give him a piece of his mind. And he would’ve if it wasn’t for Kurt, wanting to stand up and protect his crush.

And then the next week, Pavarotti had died and when Kurt had sung him a song, Blaine had figured out his love for the boy. Kurt had been his friend, had been open with his feelings for him and he finally felt that way about him back when Kurt had sung a song about a dead bird. Perfect way to start off a relationship. It only made things even worse when Blaine had chosen a break-up song for their duet. They sang their duet at Regionals and even though Kurt had done great (and in Sebastian's opinion, less could’ve been said about Blaine) they still lost but Kurt was as happy as ever.

And Sebastian should’ve been happy for him but he wasn’t. Because he was the one who had been there for Kurt the whole time and he was the one who had actually, truly loved him yet Kurt had eyes for no one except Blaine. And Kurt wasn’t the only one who was all over Blaine etheir. All but a handful of Warblers (him, Nick, Jeff, Thad, David, Wes and Trent) worshipped the ground that Blaine walked on and he was a respected member of Ohio because of his dad’s wealth. But then Sebastian had wealth and he could sing and was just as good looking and yet he was always second best to the “Golden Boy”. So maybe he was jealous of Blaine but Blaine was still an ass in his opinion and he didn’t deserve anyone like Kurt. He was just waiting for the day when Kurt realized that so Sebastian could have him. So Sebastian could be happy and could feel like someone actually wanted him, like he was worth something.

But Kurt was oblivious to his friend’s feelings for him and thought that Blaine was his only option. And now that that option was gone, Kurt thought that he was never going to find someone who loved him again. Then he realized that he had never found that person in the first place and that hurt him even more. Kurt eventually stopped his crying and got up to go to the bathroom so he could clean himself up some. He looked in his mirror and regretted his decision again because this time he looked worse. His face was no longer red, it was black and blue with some yellow and purple also. His pale, smooth, angel-like skin was now ruined with bruises and scrapes and blemishes and it was all Blaine’s fault. Or maybe it was all his fault, he still had mixed feelings about his role in Blaine’s attack. He sighed, running a hand on his face before opening his cabinet to get out a washcloth and his toothbrush. He washed off his face with cold water, waking himself up some more and wiping his tears and then brushing his teeth, the taste of mint making him nauseous. His head still hurt and he probably had a concussion, which was just something else to add to his list of  “my life is completely going downhill and here’s why”. He rinsed his mouth out and contemplated on whether to throw up or not. His stomach hurt but he didn’t have the energy to get rid of his banana from the night before and he didn’t like the feeling. Might as well stall some more since it was eventually going to happen anyway.

He left the bathroom and made his bed before leaving his bedroom to go downstairs. He remembered falling asleep with Finn and Sam in his bed and wanted to see where they had gone off to. He didn’t like the idea of waking up alone when his brothers had previously been there with him even though he wasn’t really expecting them to stay with him until he woke up. He went downstairs into the dining room where he saw a nicely arranged table with breakfast items on it. He heard noise coming from the kitchen and went inside to see Sam and Finn yelling orders at one another. They hadn’t seemed to notice that he had entered the room so Kurt cleared his voice, causing the two of them to stop and turn their heads.

“Hey, Kurt,” Sam exclaimed. “You’re awake,” Kurt just nodded his head, feeling weird like he didn’t know where he was. He was confused but he didn’t know what he was confused about. He was confused about being confused.

“We made breakfast,” Finn said with a dopey smile. “There’s pancakes and eggs and fruit and bacon.” He said, listing the items that they had made.

“And Carol let us pick some flowers from her garden so we could put them on the table,” Sam added. “It’s all for you.” Kurt continued to stare.

“Are you feeling okay... better?” Finn asked, noticing the look on his brother’s face and instantly becoming concerned but Kurt continued to stare, looking straight ahead.

“Yeah, you’re kind of freaking us out, Kurt. Can you say something?” Sam asked him, wearing the same expression as Finn.

“Where’s Carol?” Kurt asked, shakily. He didn’t know what was happening but he was feeling ten times worse than he had been feeling which was saying a lot. He was getting dizzy and nothing was making any sense to him. He needed Carol or his dad.

“She went out to run some errands and to get your foot thingy,” Finn told him. “And Burt went to work. He said for us to look out for you. Why, what’s up?”

“Nothing,” Kurt lied but his body betrayed himself right then and there when he started to cry. “I’m fine I just need to go back to bed,” He said before breaking down into tears. It was as if he couldn’t control his emotions and Sam and Finn just stood there, shocked, having never seen Kurt in the state that he was in before. Kurt hugged himself and Finn and Sam finally acted, going over to Kurt and hugging him.

“Hey, don’t cry,” Sam told him. “It’s okay,”

“Kurt, what’s wrong? Why are you crying right now?” Finn asked.

“I just… I don’t feel good,” Kurt told them. “I want my dad,”

“Oh, okay. Well we can call him,” Finn offered but Kurt shook his head.

“No, it’s fine. I don’t want to worry or bother him while he’s working. I just need to go back to bed.” Kurt assured them, taking deep breaths in order to calm down.

“Are you sure?” Sam asked. “I’d think he’d want to know if you needed him,”

“I’m sure.., I’ll call Seb instead,” Kurt told them.

“Oh,” Finn said, “Okay, well do you want something to eat. We promise the food isn’t poisoned or anything.”

“I’m not hungry,” Kurt told them and he felt bad when he saw the boy’s face’s fall a bit. He didn’t want to disappoint them or make them feel bad, the gesture of making him breakfast was sweet but he didn’t feel like eating. “Maybe later,”

“That’s fine,” Finn said. “We’ll save you some,”

“Go back to bed and we’ll let Sebastian in for you when he gets here,” Sam added. “Do you want one of us to come with you? You know, so you aren’t alone.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll be fine, all I’m going to do is fall asleep anyway.” Kurt assured them and with that he went back upstairs into his room and laid back down on his bed, letting himself sink into his mattress and comforter. He didn’t know what had just happened but he knew he didn’t like it. He didn’t have any control over himself or his emotions. If anything, Kurt needed control over himself, he needed consistency, something to rely on to know that things weren’t crashing and burning. But then again the lack of control was because his life had crashed and was now on fire.

He found his phone on his table next to his bed and looked at it for the first time since the time he had turned the ringer on it off. And it sure went to show because when he opened his notifications he saw what seemed to be a thousand text messages from all his friends. He went through each one of them, not responding but just reading them.

From Brittany

To Kurt: kurtie, where r u? finn said that u r missing and i need my 🦄 !!

From Santana

To Kurt: Lady Hummel, where are u? Finnigan is having a meltdown because he says you’re missing. Answer me now or else I’ll find you, dead or alive and you won’t be happy 🤬🤬

From Noah

To Kurt: Princess, where the fuck are you? Finn and Sam are freaking out and Blaine says you left his house and no one’s seen you since. Are you okay?

From Sebastian

To Kurt: Kurt what the fuck babe? Where are you? Don’t tell me you’re dead in a ditch somewhere. Text me back ASAP. Love ya 😘😘😘

From Jeff

To Kurt: Kurtie, are you okay? Your brothers are freaking out and no one has seen you around. Please don’t be dead. Call me when you can 😊😊

From Nick

To Kurt: Kurt, Jeff and Seb are freaking out, please tell me you’re ok and aren’t missing. We’re out looking for you right now 😬😬

From Rachel

To Kurt: Where are you? Everyone is so worried. Blaine’s crying because he thinks you’re dead or something. Call someone ASAP

From Mike

To Kurt: U ok dude? You’re freaking everyone out

From Mercedes

To Kurt: Boo, you better tell someone where the hell you are right now or else I’mma about to come find you myself and trust me I ain’t happy. But seriously Kurt, call someone for god’s sake, you don’t want to give your dad another heart attack. Love you 👄👄

From Tina

To Kurt: Finn and Blaine say that you’re missing. I know everyone else has probably texted you now but are you okay? Tell me if you need someone to pick up or something 🙂🙂

From Sam

To Kurt: Dude, your dad is flipping out and so am I. Where are you? Text me when you see this. Hope you’re okay

From Sebastian

To Kurt: Okay seriously what the hell? Where are you? Are you cheating with Blaine? It’s about goddamn time. Okay no jokes. You’re scaring me babe, please tell me that you’re okay!! 😭😭

From Finn

To Kurt: Bro, where are you? I’m so scared, why aren’t you answering anyone? Please tell someone where you are 😞😞😞

From Artie

To Kurt: Kurt, man where are you. I’ve got Mercedes, Santana and Finn yelling at me and telling me that you’re missing. We’re worried

From Quinn

To Kurt: Kurt hon, where are you? Everyone is worried sick and Mercedes and I are looking for you but we can’t find you. Please be alright 😇😇

From Sebastian

To Kurt: That’s it Kurt, I love you but it’s been an hour. WTF!!?? Answer someone for crying out loud. I’m fucking scared babe 😩😩

They were a bunch of other texts from Wes, Trent, David and the rest of the Warblers along with Mr. Schue and even for some weird reason Jesse St. James but Kurt couldn’t be bothered to read any more of them. He went to his call log to find hundreds of missed calls but he only called one person back.

He clicked on the contact information and called the number, waiting for the call to go through.

“Kurt, you better be alive or else I’m coming to bring your gay ass back from hell,” He heard Sebastian yell through the phone.

“It’s me Seb. I’m alive.” Kurt assured him and he heard Sebastian take a deep breath and say, “Thank fucking god,” before returning back to his phone.

“You scared the shit out of everyone last night. Finn called me and told me you showed up covered in blood and bruises. Who did that to you? I’ll beat their ass,”

“Seb, can you just come over?” Kurt asked, breaking Sebastian’s heart when he heard how scared and vulnerable Kurt sounded. “Please, it’s just easier to explain when…”

“I’m already on my way,” Sebastian said, cutting him off. “I’ll be there in like, twenty minutes. I’m bringing ice cream. And you have a lot of explaining to do babe.”

“Okay just, please hurry Seb,” Kurt begged, his voice breaking. “I’m so scared,”

“I will babe, I promise,” Sebastian assured him. “See you when I get there. And don’t be scared. You’re gonna be okay,”

Sebastian hung up and Kurt laid his head back on his pillow, the tears continuing to stream down his face. He was so exhausted and confused and just afraid. He had never felt this way before in his entire life, not when all the bullying occurred or when Karofsky threatened to kill him. He was shaken to the core and it probably had to do with the fact that he thought he could trust Blaine but he had hurt him. That now made it hard for him to trust anyone. He drifted off back to sleep, crying and hoping that Sebastian would arrive soon.

“Hey Finn,” Sebastian said, arriving at the Hummel-Hudson house. “Kurt’s here right?”

“Yeah he’s in his room,” Finn said, letting Sebastian in. “Just before you go, there’s somethings you should probably know.”

Sam joined them as Finn continued. “He’s in a really fragile state right now. He came down here this morning and burst into tears and we don’t really know why.”

“Just don’t freak him out Seb,” Sam added. “I don’t know how you would seeing that he loves you but take it slow and don’t yell.”

“Don’t pressure him,”

“Ask to touch him and don’t move around too much,”

“Try to get him to eat something,”

“And be nice,”

“You guys, chill out,” Sebastian told the boys. “I think I can handle it. I got him some ice cream and I just want to make sure he’s alright. I got this,”

“Fine,” Finn said. “Just follow our advice and don’t make him cry,”

“I won’t,” Sebastian assured before turning to go up to Kurt’s room. He knocked on the door and when he didn’t hear a response he slowly opened the door and walked inside.

“Kurt? Babe, are you here?” He asked and he saw something moving in Kurt’s bed and was happy to see that it was him. That was until he saw all the bruises on his face. Fuck staying calm, Sebastian was pissed off and wanted to beat the crap out of whoever hurt his friend.

“Oh my god,” He said, his eyes wide as he made his way over to Kurt’s bed. “You look terrible,”

“Gee thanks,” Kurt said, the sarcasm not present in his voice.

“You know what I mean. You’re still the hottest person I know, babe,” Sebastian assured the boy. “So I brought ice cream but do you want to eat it or put it on your face? Looks like it hurts,”

“It does, I’ll go with my face” Kurt said as Sebastian passed him the pint sized tub.

“So, are we going to pretend that nothing happened last night or…?”

“Seb, if I tell you what happened then you have to swear to me that you won’t tell anyone, okay?” Kurt told him. “I’m serious, Sam’s the only other person that knows and he promised not to tell anyone so you can too. Please?”

“I promise,” Sebastian said, kicking off his shoes and getting into bed with Kurt. “Spill it,”

“Okay,” Kurt said, taking a deep breath. “Don’t make me regret my decision,”

“I won’t,”

“It was Blaine,” Kurt said and was thankful that Sebastian was hiding his rage and anger. It was going to be so much easier if he just got it all out there before hearing Sebastian yell. “We were hanging out last night at his house and out of nowhere he just started yelling at me. He said that I spent too much time with you and Nick and Jeff and all the other guys and he accused me of cheating. He wanted to see my phone and even though I wasn’t cheating on him I still told him no because it was a violation of my privacy and then he got mad and he…” His voice broke and Sebastian started rubbing circles on his backs, already knowing what Blaine did and boiling with rage. He was so going to kick his ass. “... he hit me. He hit me in the eye and my jaw and in my stomach and he shoved me against his wall and I hit my head. Somehow my ankle snapped and when I got home Carol had to snap it back into place. They think I have a concussion and my wrist is messed up too. My stomach hurts and it’s all blue and he told me to leave once I told him he was hurting me. He said that he couldn’t believe that I came to his house and told him that he was acting irrational. He said he didn’t want to hurt me but that I hurt him first but he was just jealous. I didn’t see how it was fair to me to give him my phone so I didn’t and he hurt me. I thought I could trust him Seb but this wasn’t even the first time this happened, it was just the worst. He said he would call me but I told him not to and I broke up with him. I told him how I felt and that he wasn’t being fair to me and then I left. I didn’t know what to do and the thought of a million people asking me a million questions was overwhelming so I put my phone on silent and that’s why I didn’t answer anyone’s texts. I got home so late because Blaine had driven me to his house and I didn’t have a ride home. I didn’t want to deal with anyone or else I would’ve called someone to pick me up. It wouldn’t have even taken so long if it wasn’t for the fact that my ankle was dislocated and my body hurt like hell. Sam only knows that it was Blaine because he figured it out himself and confronted me but no one else knows and I’m just scared about what he’s going to do now. Like what if everyone takes his side? Sam and Finn already said they’re on my side but I’m not sure about everyone else and… I’m just so scared Seb,” He finished saying before bursting into tears and burrowing his face in Sebastian’s chest. “What if it’s like Karofsky all over again and he threatens to kill me? I don’t know what to do,”

“Is that all?” Sebastian asked, calmly.

“Yes, you can talk now,” Kurt told him.

“Okay well first of all I applaud you for breaking up with that dickwad. He just lost the best thing in the world. Second of all, I know you probably don’t want me to but I’m going to kick his ass once you stop crying. And trust me, he’s going to look much worse than you do when I’m done. No one beats up my best friend.”

“No Seb, you can’t,” Kurt cried, scared to death. “He’ll know that I told you and I don’t want anything else to do with him. I already told him to act like he didn’t know me and that he needs to stay away from me if he’s going to stay at McKinley. Sam and Finn already told me that they won’t let him anywhere near me but I just don’t want anything more to do with him.”

“Kurt, you can’t seriously be thinking about keeping this to yourself, babe,” Sebastian told him. “He abused you and from what you said, he seemed like multiple times. He deserves to be in jail.”

“Seb, please, you promised me you’d keep it a secret,”

“I know I did, fuck, you’re right,” He admitted. “It’s just, you can’t just tell me something like that and expect me to be okay and to not want to beat someone’s ass. Everyone was so worried about you, Jeff actually started crying when we went out to look for you. And now I figure out that you were missing because of Blaine, your supposingly, loving boyfriend. I knew he was no good. I knew it and I should’ve never let you sing that god awful duet or let you go out with him.”

“Seb, I’m a person you know,” Kurt said, lifting his head off of Sebastian’s chest. “I can make my own decisions and I can deal with their consequences. And that’s what I intend to do. Yes Blaine was wrong but… you know, who knows maybe I did do something wrong and he had every reason to do what he did,”

“Are you serious right now?” Sebastian asked him, getting pissed off. “I hope this is just because you hit your head and that you aren’t being fucking serious right now Kurt. How are you going to stand up for that asshole when he did this to you?”

“I’m just saying Seb. Maybe I really was in the wrong? I’ve just never seen him so angry about anything so maybe it… it was just me,” He finished saying, lowering his voice to a whisper.

“No, you know what Kurt, Sam and Finn told me to go easy on you because you’re in a quote on quote “vulnerable state” but you need to wake the fuck up, babe,” Sebastian said, jumping out of the bed and staring at Kurt while Kurt avoided his eye contact. “For two years I’ve been in love with you, alright. I’m your best friend, I’m the one who’s always there for you and for two years I’ve watched you as you followed Anderson around with heart eyes and then continued to give him heart eyes even though he treated you like you're a piece of garbage. He’s flirted with other guys right in front of you, barely even trying to hide it and you still choose him. And you still choose him after what he did to you. But here I am, I haven’t put myself in a relationship for two years because I have been waiting for the day when you would finally dump him and would choose me. But that’s never going to happen is it? What’s so great about him that you’d literally put yourself in an abusive relationship when you could have me? When you could have me and I would treat you the way you deserve to be treated? I remember when you used to come to me all the time last year, crying about how he didn’t love you, how he would’ve rather dated a girl than date you and how he said you weren't sexy and then I watched as you went off to date him and I held my tongue because you seemed happy but then again you seemed happy. You really weren’t and you know how I know? Because I love you. Because I know you and I know when you’re happy and I know when the smile is fake and I know when you aren’t being yourself. And you were being that way every single time you were around him. I love you Kurt, I love you and I’m not afraid to say it anymore but honestly…” His voice broke and he started to cry. “.. fuck I can’t do this anymore. I can’t sit around here while you fall for everyone else but me. It's just like how you felt about Blaine at Dalton last year, only you’re better than Blaine. But then again maybe you aren’t because you're doing the same thing that he did to you to me.” He stopped talking, out of breath. This was how he had felt for two years and he had always been there for Kurt. Now he needed Kurt to be there for him. He needed Kurt to realize that he deserved better, that he deserved him.

“I never loved him Seb,” Kurt whispered. “I thought I did but… I don’t even know what love feels like,”

“I’ll tell you what it feels like,” Sebastian said, sitting back down on the bed and taking Kurt’s hands. “It feels like you and me. I love you Kurt and I would do anything for you. And you love me too whether you realize it or not,”

“I don’t know,” Kurt said, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t want to mess anything up. You’re my best friend, I don’t want you to realize how messed up I am,”

“I don’t care. I don’t care if you’re crazy or fucked up or anything Kurt. Just give me a chance, please,” Sebastian begged him. “I’d treat you like a fuckin princess babe, I’d give you anything,”

“No,” Kurt said a little too harshly, removing his hands from Sebastian’s. “I can’t. I don’t lov… I don’t feel… I just don’t know how I feel, Seb. I’m sorry,”

“Oh,” Sebastian said, the tears coming back to him. He softened his voice, disappointed. He was sure that Kurt loved him. That he was just hypnotized or manipulated by Blaine. But he was wrong. Kurt didn’t love him and it hurt. It hurt so much and he couldn’t take it. “That’s fine. It’s fine. Hey, look I just remembered that I have to go do something. Sorry I can’t stay around but… it’s not like you really need me anyway.”

“No Seb, wait,” Kurt said, realizing that he had hurt Sebastian. “I do need you, don’t leave. I’m sorry. You’re my friend, I just don’t know about anything. After everything with Blaine… I just need to think about things for a while. I still want you.”

“No, Kurt,” Sebastian said, getting off the bed again and putting his shoes back on. “That’s your problem. You’re so obsessed with Blaine, you always want his opinion and it's like you live your life for him but he hurt you. I didn’t and you still choose him. He did this to you,” Sebastian said, gesturing to Kurt’s face. “And yet you still care about him. It’s not fair to me and it’s not fair to you. I’m not going to stay around when I love you and you don’t love me back and you’re just going to run back into Anderson’s arms because it hurts. You don’t love me and the sooner I accept that, the sooner I can go back to my own life. Because I have spent way too much time on you and Blaine and not on myself and that ends now.”

“What are you saying Seb?” Kurt asked.

“I’m saying that I’m taking a break. I’m going to take some time for myself while I give you some space. Don’t call me or text me unless you absolutely need me and if you do anyway I’m going to ignore you. You’re obviously going through some shit right now and I don’t really think you need me around now that I told you how I feel and you don’t feel the same way. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you all of this especially after what had happened but it’s better this way. And don’t try to change my mind either because I’ve already made it up. I just… I need some time and so do you.”

“Seb wait,” Kurt cried, once again not understanding what was happening. “Please don’t go, I need you,”

But Sebastian didn’t listen. “He grabbed his bag and headed towards the door. He took a dramatic pause before looking back at Kurt. Kurt seemed so broken and sad but so was Sebastian and he needed a break. “Goodbye Princess. Keep the ice cream.” And with that he rushed out the door and walked right past Finn and Sam, towards the door.

“Hey man,” He heard Finn say but ignored him. “Where are you going?”

“Home,” Sebastian replied shortly.

“Oh, are you okay? I thought that you would stay with Kurt for a while,” Sam said, concerned.

“Yeah, I’m fine. He’s the one who’s not.” Sebastian lied.

“Wait what? Seb what did you do man?” Finn asked.

“I did everything apparently,” Sebastian snapped. “Okay, because I love him and he doesn’t love me back. Get used to not seeing me around anymore because I told him I need a break. Sorry for not being gentle with him,”

And with that he rushed out the door, getting into his car and slamming the door shut. Finn and Sam just watched him as he drove off. He drove out of sight of Kurt’s house before parking on the side of the street, bursting into tears. What had he just done?

Kurt sat up in his bed trying to figure out what had happened.

Sebastian loved him.

He didn’t know whether he loved him back.

He didn’t even know what love really felt like.

He had thought he loved Blaine but he didn’t.

He had thought that Blaine loved him but he didn’t.

He didn’t want to mess anything up with Sebastian.

But he had anyway.

Is that all he did?

Just mess everything up with the people he cared about.

Because now Blaine was hitting him.

And his dad was acting weird.

And he had lost Sebastian, his best friend.

Should he even try to get him back?

Should he apologize or should he do what Sebastian wanted him to do and stay away?

God why was he such a screw-up, why did he ruin everything?

These thoughts bounced around his brain and no matter how hard Kurt tried to think of something else, he couldn’t get rid of them. This was how his day got worse. Sebastian was gone and it was all his fault. He had been right there this whole time and Kurt had been blinded by Blaine. Blaine had ruined everything for him. Wait, no it wasn’t Blaine’s fault, it was his. Or it was both of their faults. He had been a bad friend to him while Sebastian had been nothing but comforting and caring and now he blew everything.

He laid back in his body, hugging himself up in a ball and crying. Sobbing. He couldn’t breathe and once again, he had no control over himself.  How does one’s life fall apart so quickly in less than twenty-four hours? How does one lose so much? Just his luck.

He drifted off back to sleep and didn’t hear when Sam knocked on his door. Sam, not having gotten a response from Kurt, opened the door and saw that Kurt was asleep. He noticed the tear stains on his face and contemplated waking him up to ask him what had gone down between him and Sebastian or letting him sleep. He decided to let him sleep, seeing that he was probably exhausted and that he would get upset if Sam woke him up. He would ask Kurt about it later and Sam only hoped that Kurt was going to be alright.

[galactic-magick]

I’m Real: Emile Picani x Reader

Prompt: could i get prompt 21 & 30 (“you left this in my room” and “i didn’t make out with him, did i?) with emile picani? maybe they’re close friends pining after each other (is ‘pining after’ the right term? i hope so). thanks, ily!!

Summary: You, Emile, and the sides go to a party at Remy’s house and things get a little out of hand.

Words: 1400+                                            

Warnings: some swears, you and the sides get a bit tipsy

Author’s Notes: First time writing for Emile! Hopefully you guys like it!

Taglist: @luluwinchester​ @nerve-ous-love​ @zarieslayer​

-

-

-

“I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna tell him tonight,” you say.

“You said that last week,” Virgil rolls his eyes. “And the week before,”

“I’m serious this time!”

“It’s alright if you’re not ready yet, kiddo,” Patton assures you.

“But I am ready! I’m gonna do it!”

The poor sides have had this exact conversation with you too many times by now. You’ve been crushing on Emile for a while but haven’t had the guts to tell him. Everyone’s super supportive, but they’re getting a bit annoyed, especially since Emile won’t shut up about you either when you’re not around. But this time you’re serious. Remy’s hosting a party tonight and everyone’s invited, and you’re hoping for a moment where you can tell Emile how you feel.

You put on your favorite outfit and hop in the car.

“Remy better not screw up the drinks again, last time I felt awful for days,” Roman groans.

“Oh I hope he does, that was so much fun!” Remus laughs as you pull in the driveway.

Remy swings the door open, “What’s up losers! Come on in!”

There’s some music on and tons of snacks on the table and Emile is already there.

“Hey, Y/N!” Emile waves. “How have you been?”

“I’m alright, how are you?”

“I’m great! I had multiple breakthroughs in my sessions today and most of them want to come back!”

“That’s awesome!” you smile, reaching to grab some food and a cup. “Hey Remy, what’s in this?”

“Geez, you guys are such stuck ups,” he sneers. “But no, it’s just sparkling juice. I do not want to see Roman and Remus drunk again,”

“Agreed,” you nod, grabbing a couple for you and Emile.

Logan, Janus, and Virgil seem to want to be there the least, but everyone else seems to be having a good time. Roman is singing loud to the music and everyone starts dancing. You stick with Emile, talking about anything that comes to mind. You feel so happy and comfortable with him, and sometimes it even feels like he already knows. Why tell him when you’re already in such a good place?

You go back to the table after a while to get more snacks and a drink. The juice tastes a little weird now, but it must just be that it’s been sitting out for a bit.

When you come back, Emile looks concerned, “You alright?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Patton said you needed to tell me something,”

“He what?!” you glare at him across the room.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, no, just… give me a minute,” you leave to go outside for some fresh air. Is he seriously trying to push you to do it now? You already said you would tell him today, why is an extra nudge even necessary?

You have a couple more drinks, hoping the sugar will help your light-headedness. As close as you are with Emile, the idea of things changing between you two is nerve-racking. What if he doesn’t feel the same way? What if he does but the relationship doesn’t work out so you lose your friendship? You can’t do it. You just can’t.

Or maybe you should. Might as well get it over with, right? He’s a therapist for goodness sakes, he knows better than to blatantly hurt your feelings. Even if he doesn’t feel the same, he’ll still be nice about it.

But you also could just go home. Run away. Deal with it another day. You’re feeling a bit sick and tired anyway, it might be best.

“Shut up, Remus! It’s my turn to slay the dragon witch!” you hear Roman shout from inside.

“Bitch, I am the dragon witch!”

Oh no.

You stumble inside to see them at each other’s throats, using random household objects to swordfight.

You find Emile and tug on his cardigan, “What’s…what’s going on?”

“I think Remus put something in the punch when we weren’t looking so he could get drunk, and Roman drank a lot too…”

“So that’s why I’m feeling a little tipsy! I thought the last few tasted funny,”

“The last few? How many have you had?”

“I dunno, I’m probably fine, my heads just being weird,”

“Don’t go all Sokka-on-cactus-juice on me honey,” he laughs. “Is your vision distorted at all? Are you feeling nauseous?”

“A lil’ bit…but you still look really pretty,”

“Wow, um…” he smiles nervously.

“Aw shit,”

“What’s wrong?”

“What am I doing? I can’t believe I just said that…”

“No it’s okay!” he assures you. “Let’s go outside, it’s getting a little loud in here,” You can hear Roman and Remus still screaming at each other as you walk away, holding onto Emile to keep your balance. You sit down together on the back porch steps.

“I can’t believe I thought this was a good idea,” you sigh.

“What do you mean?”

“Ugh,” as anxious as you are, the alcohol is making you feel a bit more relaxed and confident, so you might as well spit it out, “I had this whole plan for tonight. I was going to try to have a good time with you and then get you alone and finally tell you how I feel, but I’m a coward and I couldn’t do it so now I’m just embarrassing myself,”

“You feel something for me?”

“Yes! I feel a lot actually, every single day I love you and I always want to be around you. Everyone’s been teasing me about it for months and I just wanna be with you already so they’ll shut up about it but-“

Emile smashes his lips to yours, cutting you off. You completely forget what you were saying. His embrace is warm and compassionate and gives you all the answers you need.

He pulls away slowly, “I love you too,” he keeps a hand on your face, “Hopefully that was clear before, but I’m all about communication,”

“Yeah…” you nod breathlessly.

“You know what’s interesting, everyone’s been teasing me about it too,”

“Really?”

“Yup. Can’t believe they knew about both of us and just watched us dance around each other,”

“Oh believe me, they’ll pay for that,”

“Revenge is never the answer, sweetheart,” he jokes. “Come on, I’ll take you home,”

He drives you there and carries you inside, setting you on the couch and getting you some water.

“Are you feeling any better?” he asks, rubbing your back.

“I guess, it’s just that none of this seems real,”

“How come?”

“I feel like I’m gonna wake up tomorrow super hungover and find out this was all a dream and you don’t actually love me and you didn’t actually kiss me, maybe you’re not even here right now,”

“I assure you honey, you’re not hallucinating,” he takes your hands and squeezes them. “I’m real. I’m here. I love you,”

“That’s exactly what a hallucination would say!”

“Would a hallucination do this?” he kisses you again, his fingertips sliding into your hair. Who knew a cartoon geek could be such a good kisser?

“I guess…not…” you smile against his lips.

 -

 You wake up to your phone ringing, begrudgingly picking it up.

“Y/N! Are you okay? You left so suddenly and weren’t answering any texts!” It’s Patton, worried about you as usual.

“I’m fine, I just didn’t feel good,”

“I’m so sorry kiddo. Did you tell Emile how you feel?”

“I…think so,” the memory is a bit fuzzy, but you’re pretty sure it happened, right? “I think he was the one who took me home, but he’s not here. Maybe I didn’t make out with him…did I?”

“What’d ya do kiddo?”

“Nothing. I’ll talk to you later,” you hang up the phone and flop back hopelessly on the couch. You remember kissing him, a lot, and falling asleep in his arms. You thought you heard him say he was going to stay, but the room is empty.

“Hey, sweetheart, I made you some breakfast,” Emile comes in from the kitchen, setting the plate down in front of you.

“You’re…you’re still here!”

“Of course,” he kisses your forehead. “Although I do have to get to the office for a couple appointments, but then I’ll be back,”

“Okay,” you nod, taking a bite of your breakfast.

“Keep drinking water and resting, okay? I love you,” he says it so naturally, as if it’s been like this for years. He presses his lips to your cheek and heads for the door.

“Wait!” you go after him. “You left this,” you hand him his tie.

“Oh! Can’t forget that,” he laughs.

“So I’ll see you later?”

“I promise,” he wraps his arms around you tight. “And every day after if that’s what you want,”

You hug him back, “That is very much what I want,”

[lepetiterik]

tmi below

awesome so the birth control I’m on is what is making me nauseous and have to pee ALL THE FREAKING TIME. Like the nausea should go away in 3-4 months (sob) but the need to pee? It’s literally driving me nuts. Like I have to fucking pee all the fucking time. AND I DON’T EVEN HAVE TO GO.

Like the urge is there. I could literally have just peed, lay down to sleep and I’m like “I have to pee.” [insert that blond guy staring face.jpeg] It’s the worst. But like no period, and no continuous bleeding, my acne is getting better (somewhat. THe masks don’t help) and no pregnant so... is it worth it? I’m not sure. I’m at least going to finish what prescription I have (3 months) and if the nausea gets worse or I actually puke, then I’ll stop and call a doctor but if it’s just like this then I can live with it. 

On an entirely different note that I need to vent about. My mom was like “Oh you look good” in a weight loss sort of way. And I think I did drop a couple pounds which is weird because I have done exactly nothing to change that other than I never eat out because I’m too lazy to drive to get it and eat cold take out (I live 15 minutes from like everything) so it’s easier to just cook. and she’s like “it’s so good you cook for yourself” well duh, I can’t live on mac and cheese alone. I do have some standards. sorry you like to live on cottage cheese and granola (bleh). and like, she was like “I’ll never be a mother who comments on weight” Now I’m heavy. I know that. I’m only five feet two and a half inches, and I know I’m heavy. But considering my father and my grandfather are both built like refrigerators and with the exception of my mother and grandmother, most of our side’s women are 6ft and big women. like... what were you expecting from me??? anyway, at literally every meal she made some comment about me eating or like “Oh don’t eat it all” or some other weird pointed comment. When she comes up this weekend if she does it I’m going to call her on it. Like you just said I looked like I lost weight and now you’re making weird unnecessary comments and I’m like??? There is not need??? fuck off??? I like food. I like the way it tastes. I like to cook stuff. I get enjoyment out of it when I’m not tired and my feet don’t hurt (standing. I stand all day and I don’t want to come home and stand more. And when I’m not having anxiety issues, which are also something that’s been happening lately. A lot. My body hates me right now???) But anyway, this is something that pleases me, it’s my body, it feels fine. I’m happy in it. Would I like to look like the standard of beauty? sure. Do I? Nah. am I okay with that? absolutely. My body holds me and it does what it needs to and it’s been feeling a little icky lately but that is see above. so like... my mom’s issues with her body are not mine. She doesn’t need to project onto me. I don’t really care what my body looks like it, it’s job is to keep me alive and it’s doing that, so like, whatever. but I’m not about to take up running and I hate traditional gym workouts so like, my body is staying as it is. so meh, I just wish she’d leave it alone.

[aaronhart93-archive]

mixed signals ll aaron & roman & alexander

Discord thread featuring: Aaron & @romanbeckett & @ambrcsials

Mentions: - 

When: August 14, 2020

Where: Aaron’s penthouse

Triggers: alcohol

Description: Aaron and Roman take Alex out and show in the nightlife in New York. They get back to Aaron’s pent and Alex misreads some signals from the couple.

Alexander.

Alexander was never really a partier before coming to America. The birthday party that Aaron and Roman got him into was the kick off for it all. They were amazing to him, open and honest, they very much wanted Alex to have the best life he could have and be open about his own life. He told them a lot already, blurting that he never had his first kiss at the party, among other things. He had no experience in love and the two men seemed to be experts. Maybe he was crazy, but he was starting to think they liked him a bit more than a friend at times. He thought that Aaron was flirting with him at the birthday party and they did know that Alex was coming to their office the day he caught them in the act. Sober, he would never think on these things, but another party came around and Alex was just as drunk as last time, luckily this time Aaron was there to take him home. The dorms were strict and being eighteen, if he was caught this drunk, he would surely be sent back home. " Are you sure you don't mind," Alex asked, holding onto Aaron as they walked to his car, " I-I don't want to intrude." He was offered a room at Aaron and Roman's home, or maybe he was invited to stay the night with them.

Aaron.

Aaron felt liked Alex. In a way, Aaron felt like Alex was someone he should help get acclimated to city life. He was a native New York, he had money, he knew all the right people to introduced him to. Who better to help him? He wanted to take him out; give him a taste of what the city was like. They had had a fun night. They'd bounced from Club Delilah in Manhattan, where Aaron had introduced Roman and his new friend to is rich, socialite friends and co-workers who were even bigger dicks than Aaron. Then they moved back to Kingsboro to Cherry Pop, Echo, then Throuple. Aaron knew there was no way Alex would make it back to his dorm in one piece. Of course, Roman and Aaron had offered to take him home. There was no way they were going to let him stumble home himself. Aaron called his driver and the three men piled into the car. "It's fine, it's fine." Aaron insisted, leading him into the car. "You're new to the city and I don't want you getting lost." He told him as the pied into the car. 

Roman.

It had been ages since Roman had done this much bar hopping all in one night. He was honestly tired, a little tipsy, and ready to climb into bed. He was happy though that Alex seemed to be having such a good time. The poor boy had never experienced a night like this in his life, and Ro hoped it was a good thing. “Aaron has a guest bedroom you can stay in, and it’s nice. Might as well give it some use.” Roman mumbled while buckling his seatbelt, and then ran a hand through his falling curls. “You good?” He turned to ask Alex, an amused smirk on his face.

Alexander.

It was clear that Aaron and Alex's relationship was mutual, Aaron had a world to introduce Alexander too, including other people in his social class and a wilder lifestyle. Alex on the other hand had people in England to introduce to Aaron, if they ever made it across the pond, and it he hoped his presence grounded Aaron some. A lot of bars and friends were introduced to him tonight, he got the number for a couple dozen people, some were even interested in him! " Thank you mate...the R.A.s won't let me in like this," He admitted, motioning to himself, " Even all suited up nice and proper," a giggle left Alex's lips. Looking to Roman, he nodded with vigor, " I'm great...you guys are awesome and so nice to me, and cute," He said with another giggle, sitting back in his seat and buckling up.

Aaron.

Aaron just laughed to himself and gave his boyfriend a quick glance when the youngest of the three called them cute. He was clearly very drunk and the whole way home Aaron was concerned he’d throw up in his car. Thankfully he did not. His driver dropped them off in front of his building. “Thanks, man. Go home, take off tomorrow, and say hi to the wife for me.” He waved goodbye to his driver as he helped the college student inside his home.

Roman. 

Roman, being the caretaker he was, held the boy up the entire way to their flat. Funny, he thought of it as their flat. They were pretty much with eachother all the time anyway, so it was just easy to feel like they had two apartments this point. “You need some water.” Ro advised once they got Alex through the door, and onto the couch. He got him set up with a bunch of pillows, and even helped him take off his shoes. God, he was such a Mum. “You hungry? Cold? Hot? Need anythin’?”

Alexander.

Alex didn't feel nauseous in the least, he felt amazing. Very light and airy and ready to take on the world....and a little sleepy. But he was with his two favorite people in America and he was having a great time. As he was carried to the flat, Alex's hand was wrapped around Roman's side, as well as Aaron's holding on. " Water is nice," Alex admitted, pulling of his bow-tie and suit jacket, he put it aside, now just in his dress-shirt, under shirt, slacks and socks as Roman helped him get his shoes off. " I'm not sleepy yet though, we can sit and talk...you guys are so awesome, I want to get to know you both more." 

Aaron.

The three of them had had a fun night overall; Aaron introduced Alex to a lot of prominent people in the city and once they found out out who Alex was related to, he was instantly liked by all of them. Aaron looked over at Ro and gave him a tiny nod, his way of asking him if he could get him some water. Aaron sat down next to the younger on the couch and helped him get comfortable, loosening his tight tie for him. “I can make food. What do you want?” He was going full on dad mode right now. Sometimes he couldn’t switch that off. 

Roman.

Ro nodded, and immediately went off to get Alex some water while Aaron decided to father the boy on the couch. They really were acting like the other male’s parents or something, which was ridiculous, but, whatever. Ro was ten years older than Alex after all. He felt like he needed to like...look over him or something. He was back with an ice cold bottle of water for the younger within seconds, handing it over as he ran a hand through his curls, and plopped down on the couch. 

Alexander.

Alex didn't know what to think of the two men, they have been on his mind for the past two weeks since he met Aaron. He didn't know what it was about them, but for the first time in Alex's life, he was a bit smitten, over two men, over both of them together. " I'm not all that hungry," Alex admitted, looking up to Aaron, " Thank you...you guys are awesome," Alex admitted, holding Aaron's hand to move him to the couch, Alex leaned up against him and rested his head on his chest, " You guys are becoming my best friends here." 

Aaron.

Aaron wasn't exactly sure what to do right now. He didn't want to be rude and push the younger away from him, and he knew he was drunk. Maybe he was just an affectionate drunk. Aaron cleared his throat and looked up at his boyfriend, giving him eyes that said I have no idea. What do I do?. "You okay, man?" He asked. He wasn't quite sure how to respond to him, but again...he didn't want to be rude. 

Roman.

Roman had been in a poly open relationship before Aaron. Alex vaguely knew about that, he’d mentioned it before, but for whatever reason, he wasn’t thinking about that right at this moment in time. Instead, he was thinking about the fact that the younger was sprawled out against his boyfriend, and he could feel his cheeks getting a little hot. Alex was drunk though, he knew that, and it’s not like Aaron was asking for this to happen. He wasn’t an overly jealous person. It seemed innocent enough. For now. “Thank you. We’re glad you feel that way. Drink your water, love. You’re probably dehydrated.” He tried to convince Alex. 

Alexander.

Alex sat up and drank some of his water. To say that he was nervous was a bit of an understatement. Alex had thought up all of these ways to think that the other's liked him in that way, their talks and seeing them in the office, how open Aaron was about his sex life with Alex and Roman talking about his open and poly relationship. Putting his water down after taking a sip, Alex looked at the other, " You guys have just been awesome...and open and it's been lovely," Alex admitted. " You guys are just...wonderful people, and beautiful...I...when I walked in on you two...I just...wanted to," Alex looked to Roman...then to Aaron, where he leaned over and kissed him.

Aaron.

Aaron’s smile faded quickly. What happened next was unexpected to say the least. What signals had Aaron been giving off that made Alex think that that was something he wanted? He did share a lot about his sex life with Alex, but he was genuinely just trying to give him some advice. Like he had done with Alison when she first started dating Luca. Aaron and Roman were monogamous and, quite honestly, very territorial over each other. Aaron thought that they had made that obvious. “Whoa!” As Aaron immediately pushed Alex off of him, he shot a look over at Roman knowing that what was about to happen next wasn’t going to be pretty. 

Roman.

Ro’s eyes went wide when Alex leaned in to kiss his boyfriend, very confused obviously as to what he was witnessing. It didn’t even register at first, because it seemed so unexpected. Roman stood up, and looked at the two, mostly at Alex for obvious reasons, because he knew Aaron didn’t have anything to do with this. Why??? The words were stuck on the end of his tongue as he kept eye contact with Alex, and then swallowed slowly. “I know you’re drunk...and might not fully know what you’re doing. But, please don’t kiss my boyfriend.” Roman tried to say in a steady voice, the look of confusion still in his jade green eyes. “Why did you do that?”

Alexander.

Alex was pushed off and it felt like his was falling a bit as he laid back on the bed. At once his face started to get beet red and heated. " I.." he was a bit choked up, knowing that he made a mistake and feeling so stupid that he made one, " I thought...you said you have been in open relationships and...walking in on you guys and talking with Aaron...I thought you guys wanted me," Alex admitted softly, he was a bit teary eyed, feeling like an idiot in this moment. Sitting back in his seat, as far as Aaron as he could, he was so embarrassed, " You guys have this love that I thought was being open to me and I thought that you two would have been good for my first time...I-I'm so so sorry." Alex couldn't look at either of them.

Aaron.

Aaron felt bad. Well. He felt a lot of things at this moment. Mainly confusion. He was thinking back to what the fuck he could have possibly done to make him think that that was okay. The way he was speaking about Roman to him at Club Echo the other week...Couldn’t he tell that they were in love? Aaron didn’t do polyamory and he most certainly did not like sharing Roman with anyone else. Aaron just thought that Alex was lucky that Roman wasn’t the one he was kissing or else they would be hell to pay. For sure. Aaron just stood up and faced his boyfriend with a confused and fearful look on his face. He wasn’t quite sure what to say without sounding like a completely asshole. It was kind — what he was saying about their love. Which actually made Aaron’s heart happy and if this was a different situation he would be really happy and flattered by that. “What did we do that made you think that?” He said, blinking a few times in complete disbelief.

Roman.

As soon as Alex started tearing up, Roman felt like the biggest asshole to ever walk the earth, especially when he explained himself. He was a sweet boy, innocent, and curious. Was Roman happy that he felt the need to kiss his boyfriend? No, but it’s not like he could blame him for wanting to. Aaron was super attractive, and alluring in so many ways. “Alex...” he sighed, and then sat back down next to the boy, his hand resting on his shoulder. “That’s really sweet, it means a lot that you’d think so highly of us, and I’m sorry if we gave off that impression.” He squeezed the younger’s shoulder. “I have been in an open relationship before, but Aaron and I are exclusive, I’m sorry.” 

Alexander.

Alex could tell they were in love, he just thought they had more love to share and that they were looking for someone, not really to be in a trouple with them, but to have a night with them. He flinched a bit when Roman sat next to him, hand on his shoulder, he felt horrible still. " I just thought you were giving me...vibes..I don't know. Like you two..together, when I met, you knew I was coming over but you still, did that, I was thinking it was because you wanted me to see or something," Alex admitted softly, " I'm stupid for thinking so...I'm sorry. I just didn't want to...be with a stranger for my first time and I thought you two could have helped me."

Aaron.

Aaron scratched just head. This was not how he expected the night to end. That’s for sure. Still, he admire his boyfriend’s empathy and kindness. It was something Aaron lacked in these situations. The businessman sat on the couch across from them. He cleared his throat. “Yeah. I’m sorry.” He muttered, trying to follow Roman’s lead by actually being an empathic person for once. That was never a personality trait that Aaron thought was important to have until he met Roman.

Roman.

Roman felt like a steaming pile of shit. Why? He really didn’t guess he should, seeing as how another man had just kissed his boyfriend. But, Alex was young, and he knew the boy was just trying to find his way. The wrong impression had been given, he was clearly sorry, so there was no need to beat him up about it. “Your first time needs to be a big deal, with someone special. I agree it shouldn’t be with jus’ anyone, but maybe a one on one with a guy you really like. It makes it so much better.” He suggested while rubbing the younger’s back comfortingly. 

Alexander.

Alex didn't want them to feel bad for him, but it just made him more sad that they felt bad, it was an endless cycle that he didn't really know how to fix. Still, he was in no state to go back to his dorm, he would still be kicked out if coming onto campus like this. " You both are special to me," Alex admitted softly, not really know why he said that, he couldn't stop himself. " I...really like you two." 

Aaron.

Aaron didn't quite know how to respond to that. How was someone supposed to respond to that. He scratched his head. "Look..." He began, still trying to find the right words. He was not going to be as nice as Roman, not matter how hard he tried. "You're still welcome to stay here for the night because I am genuinely worried about you getting back." He admitted. "You're a good guy. But it's not like that." He sighed.

Roman.

In another life, maybe this would be something they were open to, helping the boy with his first time. After all, Ro was used to being open, and sex just being sex. Alex didn’t need sex to just be sex though. This was his first time, and maybe people thought it was stupid to think about it that way, but, even after all the people Roman had been with in his life, he never stopped believing sex was better with feelings. The younger needed someone who felt the same for him, and could really connect on that level. “Alex, you’re an attractive guy with a ton to offer. We’re so flattered, please don’t think we aren’t. We’re jus’ exclusive.” He squeezed the other’s shoulder, and looked at him with a sympathetic expression. “Please don’t be upset.” 

Alexander.

Alex wanted to get it over with, sure he was a bit enamored by the couple, but if they wanted it to be sex, it could have just been sex. He nodded softly, he was upset, he thought tonight would be his night and that he didn't have to be that virgin anymore, it was going to be a new beginning for him and he didn't want it to be with some stranger...and he didn't really have friends beyond Aaron and Roman. " I'm fine," He lied, " I think I'm just going to head to bed for the night." 

Aaron.

Aaron stood up from the couch and loosened his tie. He cleared his throat and glared over at Roman. There were a lot of things swirling around in his mind - mostly what the fuck and the face that him and Ro were going to have to have a long conversation later. "guest bedroom is up the stairs, first door to the left." he said, pointing towards the larger staircase in the middle of his penthouse. "C'mon, I'll show you." He waved for him to follow him up the stairs. 

Roman.

Roman bit his lip when he could tell Aaron was a little frustrated with him, though he wasn’t fully sure why. Ro just hated to make anyone feel bad, he was constantly attempting to lift others up. Alex was sensitive right now, and didn’t need to be kicked while he was down. “Guest bathroom’s all set for you. Take more water with you to bed.” Ro advised the boy before standing up, and stretching out his back. “Sleep well.” 

Alexander.

Alex took his water and letting Aaron lead the way, he followed the other to the guest room. Once inside, he sat his glass on the nightstand before looking back at Aaron, " I...I'm sorry Aaron...I just, that was stupid of me," He admitted. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he took a breath, " You guys have a good night...I'll let myself out tomorrow, no need wake up or anything." 

Aaron.

Aaron has a very hard time making eyes contact with Alex at the point. He just lead him to the guest room and shook his head. “Don’t be, bro. It’s okay.” He cleared his throat. Yeah, Aaron was pissed. Not at anyone particularly. Just at the situation in general. He was definitely being a bigger asshole than he needed to right now. But Ro was nice enough for the both of them right? This was just...awkward for him. And he wasn’t quite sure to to process it. 

[thegoodthebadthesickly]

Barbara Gordon- Pneumonia

Request- Pneumonia

Fandom- DCU

Requested by MelodyTheMusicMaker on Wattpad

@badthingshappenbingo​

Stars are completed, swirls are requests

I'm still fairly new to this fandom, so please don't come for me if this is all terribly out of character!

The wheels of Barbara's brain slowly began to turn as she woke up. There was a general since of ick that she could feel rapidly taking the place of the tiredness in her muscles. She shivered and curled into herself, despite the three blankets she kept on hers and Dick's bed, even in the summer.

She stretched her arms up, the motion apparently aggravating her lungs and making her chest ache. All in all, this didn't raise any alarm bells. Ever since the Joker, her lungs and heart-pretty much everything, if she were being candid about it- worked at about half the capacity it used to.

She coughed lightly and reflexively reached for the side of the bed that should, in theory, hold one sleeping Dick Grayson. Empty, how unusual. Barbara rolled her eyes and sat up, trying not to pay attention to the odd pain in her chest, she'd probably just slept weird.

Sitting up fully, Barbara reached for her chair, but a sharp pain in her chest pulled her back and into a coughing fit. Barbara put her hand on her chest, willing her body to remember how to breathe. After a moment, the pain subsided, but it felt as if there were a block sitting under her lungs, making it impossible to take a deep breath.

Once again, carefully this time, Barbara reached for her chair and expertly scooted herself into it, even if the exercise did leave her way more winded and tired than it should have. Trying to force her lungs to cooperate, Barbara took a few shallow breaths and pushed herself into the living room where the famous Dick Grayson was dead asleep and drooling over his laptop, the screen long since faded to black.

"Did you even attempt to come to bed last night?" Barbara asked- maybe a little louder than she needed to for the close quarters- noting the dark circles under Dick's eyes and the rumpled button up.

"Batman's wearing pants!" Dick yelled, sitting bolt upright and almost flinging his computer across the room.

"I certainly hope so, also, I guess that-"Was it usually this tiresome to wheel herself ten feet?  "-answers my question." Barbara laughed, wheezing slightly.

Dick, not one to miss subtleties-unless you were his girlfriend and you happened to want to kiss him sometimes- looked over at Barbara, a question in his eyes.

"You alright?" He asked, yawning as he stood up to stretch. Man, sleeping in a computer chair really did hit different when you were thirty versus seventeen. Barbara looked, well, sick, Dick thought. Her skin was pale and Dick could just see a few beads of sweat on her hairline, despite a notable shiver. He surveyed Barbara further, seeing how her shoulders hitched just slightly every time she inhaled.

"Yeah. Just feeling ugh today." Barbara shrugged.

"You kind of look like crap, Babs" Dick sucked at his teeth.

"I'll try not to take offense to-" huff "that." Barbara laughed, although it came out sounding more like the broken squeaky toy from Toy Story.

"Seriously, you look ready to pass out. Plus," Dick walked over and squatted to look Barbara in the eye as he put a hand to her forehead. "You are almost definitely running a pretty impressive fever." Dick stood up, feeling a small tendril of worry wrap around his stomach.

"Dick, seriously, I'm fine. You know as well as I do that ever since the Joker, my immune system has all but given up hope on me and that I latch onto any and all cold bugs like they're a life raft. If it will make you feel better, I'll take it easy today, let this bug run it's course." Barbara bargained, fixing Dick with a glare that said this was the final offer.

"Alright, but if you're not at least marginally better tomorrow, I'm calling in reinforcements." Dick crossed his arms, giving Barbara's glare right back.

"Fine."

"Fine. Now, go get back in bed. I'm going to make you some soup." Dick stood up and mentally cursed all of the unnecessary acrobatics he'd done that Alfred had insisted he'd regret one day. Today was the day.

"You can't cook." Barbara said simply.

"I can buy." Dick quipped, smirking and grabbing his coat and car keys. "Be back in a bit." Dick bent down to give Barbara a peck on the cheek and then he was out the door.

Already feeling fatigued, even though she'd just woken up, Barbara was glad to climb back in bed and wait for Dick.

Barbara thought she must have dozed off. The next time she was aware, Dick was gently pushing back a piece of hair that had slipped out of her ponytail. Barbara smiled and broke into a cough that made her chest burn and ache in an odd way.

"Dumpling soup! See, I am useful for something!" Dick laughed, helping Barbara sit up before setting the bowl in her lap. "But first," Dick pulled a digital thermometer out of a little bag she hadn't seen before, Alfred must be helping from the sidelines on this one.

"Open up!" Dick mimed an airplane with the thermometer.

"You're such dork!" Barbara smiled and rolled her eyes, but complied.

At the beep, Dick looked at the digital read out. "100.5. Not awesome, but not something that's going to kill you. Ibuprofen, soup, and cuddles are the order of the day."

"Mhm, and where exactly did you earn your medical degree?" Barbara smiled, pushing herself to one side so Dick could slide under the duvet.

"Yale." Dick deadpanned.

"They'll just let anybody in nowadays, huh?"

"Rude!" Dick laughed, nudging Barbara in the ribs, pulling her into another burning coughing fit that made her eyes water. It was getting harder breathe all around, like her lungs couldn't expand all the way.

"Babs? Barbara, you okay?" Dick's impish look turned to one of worry as Barbara struggled to pull in a breath.

"Fi-" huff "fine."

"Clearly." Dick pursed his lips, turning to get a better look at her.

"Seriously, just got choked." Barbara shrugged him off.

"On what?"

"Air."

"Mhmm." Dick hummed.

"Do you wanna" huff "watch a movie?"

"Yeah. Movie day." Dick tried to sound excited and like a guy that definitely wasn't worried that his girlfriend might have somehow punctured a lung.

Dick got up to find a movie and Barbara started on her soup, but found that she just wasn't hungry. In fact, the thought of any more food made her just a little nauseous.

Dick smoothly pulled himself back into bed and put an arm around Barbara, a move that no human should be able to actually make look good, but Dick was a superhero, Barbara laughed to herself. Barbara tried to stay awake, but her body longed for sleep. She nuzzled into Dick's chest and closed her eyes.

When Barbara woke up, she was alone and cold, so cold. It was dark out now, or maybe the shades had been drawn to let her sleep. Everything felt just a little off. She fell back into sleep, her brain too fever addled to pick apart fine details at the moment.

When Barbara woke next, someone was talking to her, coaxing her to open her mouth. A piece of cold metal was briefly stuck between her lips. She didn't want to. She felt sick.

"Babs, please, I need to take your temperature. You're burning up." Barbara opened her mouth, but only to vomit over the side of the bed. "Shit!" Dick exclaimed as Barbara closed her eyes again.

Barbara was somewhat aware of something being pushed between her lips and onto her tongue. There was a beep. "103? Why isn't it going down?" Dick's voice sounded scared. Barbara wanted to tell him not to be scared. She was here. Everything was fine. She was just so tired. Sleep pulled at her again.

Barbara felt hot. Burning, She was going to combust! She threw off the pile of blankets on her, only to have the pushed back up to her chin. She opened her eyes, but nothing made sense. Dick rushed into her line of sight for a moment, but just as fleetingly, he was gone. It was dark, but also light and there were more faces around her this time. This didn't feel real. Nothing felt real. She was just so hot and nothing was real and she couldn't see Dick anymore. Barbara started to cry. Soon, she was hyperventilating. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe! Barbara wanted to scream, but there was no air in her lungs and something was placed over her face and a low hissing sound was coming from nearby.

After that, Barbara lost track of what was a dream and what was reality. Everything felt odd and floaty, like the ocean. Sometimes there was Dick or Alfred or another familiar face, sometimes there was only inky, sleepy darkness.

When Barbara woke, she at least hoped she was awake, anyway, she felt nothing short of disgusting. Her mouth tasted awful, like someone had been shoving sand into it. Her body ached like it hadn't in a long time, it was a feeling not unlike getting shot. She fought against the remaining fatigue to open her eyes. Early morning, or maybe late evening, sunlight peaked into the room, just giving enough light to tell Barbara that she was no longer in her and Dick's house.

She tried to push herself up, to give her brain a little more material to work with, but her arms were jelly and she flopped back onto the pillows unceremoniously.

"Oof" She huffed at the sudden fall.

"Babs? Dick's voice rang from somewhere else in wherever they were.

"Dick?" Barbara croaked, her vocal chords felt absolutely shredded and her lungs felt as if they'd been used as makeshift bagpipes.

"Hey, I can't tell you how glad I am to see your eyes opened." Dick sighed, smiling and walking over to sit on the edge of the bed.

"What happened?" Barbara whispered, trying, in vain to save her throat from the pain.

"You woke up sick and we were just going to have a lazy day-"

"The last thing I definitely remember is falling asleep while we watched a movie." Barbara cut in.

"Okay, good. So, that was three days ago."

"Three days! What happened?"

"The short answer? Pneumonia. The long answer? You fell asleep and I couldn't get you to wake up no matter how hard I tried. I tried to take your temp, but then you went all exorcist on me. That's when I called in reinforcements ala Alfred. You've been in and out for the past three days, mostly out, if I'm honest. You're fever got up to 106. I didn't even know that was possible. You had a seizure." Dick admitted.

Barbara swore she could see a little fear in Dick's eyes. She motioned for him to come closer and twined her hand with his.

"Alfred said, um," Dick took a shaky breath. "He said he wasn't sure if you'd wake up, or if you'd be the same if you did."

Barbara watched helplessly as Dick cried, from fear, relief, or both, she really couldn't say.

"Hey, I'm okay now. I'm here." Barbara reassured Dick, part of her remembering her question from earlier. "Where exactly is here?" Barbara looked around at the unfamiliar room.

"It's my old room. We're at the mansion. It was the first place I thought of and, after a while, it really wasn't safe to move you anymore." Dick explained with a sniff.

"C'mere." Barbara said simply, trying, in vain to pull herself over to one side of the bed. Thankfully, Dick got the message and helped her over to one side while he lay down on the other. Twisting around to face her, Dick quickly pulled Barbara into his arms.

Barbara reached a weak hand up and stroked Dick's hair as he pulled her closer to him. She didn't miss how his shoulders shook lightly with sobs, but just let herself be held and quietly hushed him.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm okay. Shh." Barbara repeated it like a mantra. Eventually, Dick seemed to cry himself out and his breathing deepened enough that Barbara could assume he had fallen asleep. Poor thing, he probably hadn't slept in nearly 72 hours. Even though she'd apparently been asleep for the better part of that 72 hours, Barbara soon found herself yawning and followed suit.

Alfred, who'd heard Barbara wake, quietly walked into the room and set down the two mugs of tea he'd been brewing and walked out again just as quietly. If he stopped at the door to watch the two kids-yes, they were in their thirties, but they'd always be his (and Bruce's, although he'd scarce admit it) kid's- for a while, he would keep that snapshot of a memory to himself.

[lovemesomesurveys]

How do you feel about Motorhead? I don’t listen to them. What words or phrases do you tend to overuse the most? “I don’t know.”

Do you celebrate/believe in Valentine’s Day? I think it’s cute, but I’ve never had anyone to celebrate it with so it’s just another day for me.

Is there someone on your mind at the moment? :] Not really.

If you’re a tea person, what types/flavors do you like? I like peppermint or Chamomile. 

What makes you squeal like a school girl? I couldn’t tell you the last time I “squealed” lol.

Do you tend to hide your feelings from others, or are you more open? I may be very open on here, but I’m not like that in person. It’s easier for me to be that way on here because I’m not talking to anyone. This is like my diary, I’m just venting and rambling to the void.

Does anyone call you baby? :3 No.

Is there anything in particular that you’re shy about? I’m a shy person in general.

Do you prefer gold or silver jewelry? I like both.

Are you familiar with the Fail Whale? xD I don’t think so.

Classic rock love ballads: totally cheesy or totally awesome? That reminds me of these old informercials back in the 90s for classic love ballad CDs, ha. Anyway, I like some of them.

If I were to offer you some tacos right now, how many would you want? I wouldn’t want any, but I’d take a few and give ‘em to my mom cause she loves ‘em.

Are you more kinky or conservative? ;D I’ve never done anything “kinky.”

Aren’t white contacts awesome? :D Kinda creepy.

Is there someone/something you’re trying to avoid right now? Yes to both.

Do you own any wall sconces? No.

Isn’t it just adorable when the opposite sex gets all embarrassed? :3 It can be cute when someone is shy, but I wouldn’t say embarrassed. That’s not a pleasant feeling.

Do you tend to follow your head or your heart more? Both, just depends.

How do you feel about David Bowie? I mean, I like his collab with Queen, “Under Pressure.” I’m not a big Bowie fan.

When was the last time you had an embarrassing song stuck in your head? Uhh I don’t know. 

Do you have feelings for someone right now? Not romantic ones.

What color is your pillowcase? The pillow I sleep with has a pink pillowcase. However, I have like 6 other pillows my bed with different cases.

Pigtails on girls: cute or suggestive? Suggestive? Wtf.

Who was the last person to make your heart race? I haven’t experienced that feeling in a good way in years. My heart races a lot for other reasons, though.

Without using a search engine, name a song by Slayer. I can’t.

Isn’t pyrotelekinesis AWESOME?! o.e No. Good thing it’s not possible. 

What does your shampoo smell like? Like salon style shampoo.

Are you familiar with the band Rage? No.

Chivalry is NOT dead: agree or disagree? Agree. I see it and I’ve experienced it.

What’s the weirdest way you’ve ever pulled a muscle? Just moving, honestly.

Would you consider yourself rebellious? Pfft, no.

What’s your favorite symbol? (i.e. the pentagram, the cross, etc.) I don’t have one.

Make a confession here: Nah.

What methods are most effective for you when you’re trying to relax? ASMR often helps.

Aren’t those loud, obnoxious ‘party girls’ annoying as fuck? .___. Anyone loud and obnoxious would be annoying.

Are you any good at making the infamous puppy face? Nah, it never worked haha. My doggo sure is.

Would you rather date your opposite, your 'twin’, or someone in between? I would like to be with someone with shared interests and traits, but definitely not someone exactly like me. Differences are good, too.

Do you have any 'irrational’ fears? Yes.

Do you eat the required amount of fruits and veggies each day? I eat spinach daily because I put it on my sandwiches, which I have everyday for lunch. I often have it with my eggs as well. That’s the only vegetable I eat regularly. I haven’t had any fruit or any other vegetable in quite a long time.

Are you a moaner, a screamer, or totally silent? xD I wouldn’t know.

What documentary topics interest you most? Various ones. What do you get complimented on most often? My hair if it’s been recently dyed and styled.

Is there currently someone you want to get closer to? No.

Do you take any medications that make you nauseous? My pain med does sometimes, especially if I don’t eat something with it.

Can you chop an onion without crying? I’ve never chopped an onion. 

Do you ever make up your own words? :] I probably have. Sometimes it happens on accident, like “grool.” ha.

Do you tend to use excessive amounts of emoticons? x] No.

Do you have any nicknames that are actually true about you? My only nicknames are Steph and Sis.

How long before you’re able to 'get used to someone’? Uhh I don’t know. It depends how often we talk or see each other. Some people you just vibe with right away.

Chocolate-covered strawberries or chocolate-covered cherries? Strawberries.

How many videos do you have favorited on your YouTube account? I don’t know. I haven’t favorited or checked my favorites in years.

Do you like making homemade nachos? :3 I used to do that sometimes.

When did you have your last 'facepalm’ moment? I have a lot of those.

Has a boyfriend or girlfriend ever nicknamed your, erm, 'privates’? xD Uh, no. That’s weird.

Do you know anyone who has carpal tunnel syndrome? One of my uncles has it.

Who would you love to punch in the face right now? No one.

Who would you love to hug right now? My doggo.

Are you old enough to vote? Yes, have been for over 10 years.

Is it just me, or is the hot dog-eating process reallyyy awkward? o.o It’s just you.

What’s the perfect day for you like, weather-wise? Fall weather. Do you prefer long or short hair on the opposite sex? Short.

When was the last time you did laundry? It was done last week.

Are you confused about anything at the moment? Yes.

What was the last thing you looked up on Google? Something that came up in a survey.

Everything tastes better covered in cheese: fact or fiction? I do love cheese.

[walviemort]

how quickly things change

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DARLING FRIEND @sherlockianwhovian!!!!! Hope you’ve had the most amazing day full of all your favorite things!! And thank you for helping me embrace a side of me I’d hardly let out to play...which means I couldn’t let your birthday pass by without a fun bit of mpreg (with a wee bit of whump!) Hope you enjoy it, love, and keeping being awesome!!!

Summary: The Black Fairy is up to no good, as usual, this time setting her sights on Storybrooke’s favorite True Love couples. She needs the products of their true love—and she’s not patient. For an extra sadistic twist, why not have the guys carry out her bidding? When Killian and Dave are faced with a two-week pregnancy, how do they handle it—and how do they protect their families?

5.2k | Rated T | AO3

“Eat up,” Granny told them in her usual friendly-but-commanding way. And David and Killian weren’t about to argue; they were starved after a night of surveillance, trying to figure out just what the Black Fairy was still up to. At least, with the sleeping curse broken, Snow and David were back to full strength, but that just meant they were working twice as hard to take down this villain and save Emma from whatever fate lay ahead.

Wordlessly and voraciously, the two men dug into their meals as they sat hunched over in a booth. They just needed to eat, and go home and recoup; after a fruitless night, they just wanted to sleep and then come up with another plan.

If they noticed that anything tasted different than usual in their meals, they were too tired to comment on it and chalked it up to fatigue anyways. Once they were done scarfing down breakfast, David tossed some cash on the table, nodded at Granny as they headed out the door, and then drove Killian home. And later in the day, when they were both suffering stomach aches, they just took some antacids and figured it was stress.

What they didn’t see—nor anyone, for that matter—was Granny slipping into the back room behind the kitchen and locking the door behind her, before a swirl of black smoke engulfed her and left the Black Fairy herself standing there. The real Granny lay unconscious, as a result of a sleeping spell, on some sacks of flour in one corner of the room. Gideon stood up from his seat in the opposite corner and approached his grandmother.

“Is it done then?” he asked.

The Black Fairy nodded. “Indeed; everything is going to plan. Soon we’ll have exactly what we need to enact our curse—the product of true love, twice over.”

“Can I ask—why the men?” Gideon wondered, curious.

She shrugged and giggled. “Why not? It’s more of a surprise that way, isn’t it?”

“So what do we do next?”

“Be patient and lay low; in two weeks, we’ll have all we need.” She gave a sinister smile that quickly morphed back into Granny’s. “Let’s get back to work, boy,” she told him from her disguise.

Gideon transformed himself to look like the fry cook and they headed back out to the diner.

A mile away, new life was quickly growing in two unsuspecting bellies—but they’d find out soon enough.

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

“You don’t look so hot, mate,” Killian quipped at David a few days later. They were eating breakfast at the loft, trying to find some sense of normalcy despite the ongoing sense of doom. Emma and Snow were doing some wedding planning at the table, but David looked like he was about to lose his meal.

“I must have ate too fast or something,” David brushed off. “Just feeling a bit nauseous.”

“Have any ginger tea around? That’s what we’d always give a seasick sailor.”

“Yeah, I think we have some leftover from when Snow was pregnant; I’ll give it a try.”

When the tea kettle began to hiss a few minutes later, Killian too requested a mug.

“Maybe there’s a stomach bug going around?” David wondered as he sipped his tea.

“Just what we need,” Killian complained.

Their thoughts seemed to be confirmed not an hour later, when both men were dashing for the toilet.

Snow and Emma told them to stay home that day and rest, and made sure they were well stocked with ginger ale and saltines as they went off for the day, taking baby Neal with them. They spent the rest of that day and the following one splitting their time between the bathroom and the couch as the illness held a grip on them, though it started to loosen its hold later in the second day.

“Thank bloody goodness,” Killian sighed as he slumped into bed that night, finally feeling normal again, even if his midsection still felt sore. He was ready to put that behind him and get back to the task at hand.

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

The next day, they’d convened at the Swan-Jones house around lunchtime to work on things. Snow was already there when David arrived.

“Why did you change your pants?” she asked when he came in. “Did Neal spit up on your jeans?”

“No, uh,” David stammered, looking down at the track pants he’d changed into that he’d hoped no one would notice. “Uh, they were feeling a little snug today, so I put these on instead.”

“Too many pancakes will do that,” Killian quipped as he set out some sandwiches for lunch.

David rolled his eyes, but tried to take the attention of him and redirect it. “I don’t see you giving Killian any crap for wearing a tshirt instead of his usual getup,” he grumbled at Snow.

Now it was Killian’s turn to blush.

“No, babe, he’s right—are you feeling okay? Is the stomach bug still bothering you?” Emma asked.

“Er, no, just—I may have had a similar problem as Dave, as far as clothes fitting properly,” he explained scratching behind an ear.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Snow said, confused. “You’ve barely been able to hold anything down the last two days; if anything, your clothes should be a little loose.”

“Um,” Emma started, running her hands up and down Killian’s abs. “Then what’s this solid thing in my fiance’s belly?”

Snow turned to David and found the same: something was rounding out his stomach from within, and it had nothing to do with poor diet. “Maybe we should head to the doctors,” she said quietly, worry filling her gaze as she found her husband’s.

Emma silently agreed, hugging Killian close. What the hell was this?

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

Whale had quickly determined they’d need to do an ultrasound. David went first. And whatever they thought they were about to see was not what showed up on the sonogram screen.

“That’s…” Emma started, but couldn’t finish her sentence.

“Yeah,” Snow breathed.

Even Killian recognized the image: there was a baby in there. He wrapped his arm around his stomach; was that what he had, too?

David had to stay seated after the revelation, and a few minutes later, the exam on Killian revealed the same: they were both impossibly, inexplicably pregnant.

“From the looks of things, you’re at about 14, 15 weeks,” Whale said. But then he squinted at the screen. “Wait...what?” He stared at it some more, then had an assistant zoom in on the image. “Wow, I can actually see it growing; something is accellerating this—by a lot.”

“What the hell?” Emma murmured.

“Bloody magic,” Killian sighed, staring at the ceiling.

“That’s where I’d put my money,” Whale agreed.

Snow nodded, but her pallor was living up to her name. “Okay, okay...let’s call Regina.”

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

They’d barely entered Regina’s mansion when the mayor wrinkled her nose.

“Wow—I can smell the dark magic rolling off of you. What did you boys get into?”

“If we knew, we wouldn’t be here, would we?” Killian snapped back. He wasn’t sure if his short temper was caused by the stress of the situation or the normal emotional fluctuations he knew were part of pregnancy, but he didn’t really care—especially when, now that he knew, he was fairly certain he could feel the fluttering of the fetus inside him.

“Calm down—she’s the only one who can help us!” David yelled at him, similarly distressed. He wrapped an arm around his waist; he was pretty sure he could see his belly growing.

“Everyone just take a breath,” Snow said, oddly calm. “Regina, can you figure this out?”

“Come on; let’s have a seat.” She directed the boys to the sofa in her study, then stood in front of them, one hand extended to each as she magically examined them. Her eyes were closed in concentration and they could only watch as her expression morphed into a furrowed one, then as she raised her brows in surprise before finally opening them.

“Well, damn. That’s all I can say.”

“Uh, you can say more than that, right?” Emma asked, moving to Killian’s side and grabbing his hand.

“I was getting to that,” Regina retorted. “It’s definitely dark magic, but what kind, I’m not sure; I’ve only heard of things like this happening—never seen them. And there is an accellerant, like what you used on Zelena,” Regina explained, nodding at Emma, who suddenly looked sheepish. “But a much lower concentration.”

“So...do you have a due date?” Snow wondered.

“My guess? It looks like it’s going at about 20 times the normal speed, which means the entire duration would be 2 weeks-ish—roughly 3 weeks of a normal pregnancy per day. Did the doctor say how far along?”

“About 15 weeks,” David said quietly.

“So it’s been 5 days,” Regina assessed. “So, you’ve got 9 more or so to go.”

“Bloody hell,” Killian cursed. What the hell was going on?

“Emma, you need to get these two into a safe location. Someone is targeting you for some reason. Wherever you go, set up wards as soon as you get there,” Regina told them, taking command of the situation. “Snow, you’re with me. I think we need to pay a Dark One a visit.”

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

A few hours later, everything was settled for the Nolans to be spending the next several days at Killian and Emma’s house. Neal was settled into one of the spare rooms, while another was reserved to become a new nursery. Emma honestly never thought they’d get the chance for that, and obviously not in the way it was happening, but as terrifying as this all was, she couldn’t deny—she was a little excited, too.

The guys were squabbling over what to order on pizza—Killian wanted anchovies, David wanted olives, which was a change from their normal preferred pepperoni—when Snow and Regina arrived.

“Well?” Emma asked, setting out plates on the dining table.

Regina huffed. “Gold says he knows nothing, and unless it has to do with Gideon, he’s not concerned. He didn’t say it wasn’t his mother, though, and that’s my only theory at the moment.”

“Why would she do this, though?” David wondered aloud.

“Because she’s evil and sadistic?” Killian offered.

“I’m guessing the truth lies somewhere in there,” Regina mediated. “There’s one thing I can say, though, that I forgot to earlier: those are your babies.”

“Like...ours?” Snow asked, wrapping an arm around David’s side.

“Yeah. Those kids have ‘true love’ written all over them. So it may not be the full ‘why’, but it’s definitely part.”

“Thanks, Regina,” Emma said, giving Killian a hug. “You want to stay for pizza?”

“Ew. No. I have lasagna waiting at home.”

“Okay, have fun with that then.”

“I will. And guys?” she added, eyes flitting between Killian and David. “Take care of yourselves, and good luck.”

“We will.” “Thanks, luv.”

Regina headed out, and the four of them settled in to what was going to be a new normal for the next several days.

“To new adventures,” Snow offered as a toast, albeit tentatively.

The other three mumbled it back, but as they quietly ate, they began to realize just how dramatic a ride they were in for.

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

“Say ‘cheese’!” Snow said with forced cheer.

“Cheese,” was the less-enthusiastic response from the guys.

They were standing back-to-back against a blank wall in the living room with their shirts lifted up to reveal the slight curve of their stomachs. For two men who’d always prided themselves on their looks, it felt awkward to be revealing themselves this way, even if they knew what it was.

“Come on, you two,” Snow complained. “Yeah, it’s weird and it’s probably gonna suck, but 10 years from now, we’re going to want to have this documented. Play along?” She said it like a question, but they both knew it was a demand, so they put on some smiles and posed. “Okay; let’s try to do that morning, noon, and night.”

“Seriously?” Killian whined.

“Just do it,” David said under his breath.

And so began the first day of their strange journey. The plan was for the boys to stay at home with Neal while the girls kept things as normal as possible. Snow came by at lunch to check in, and Granny stopped by in the afternoon with some snacks to get them through; they’d told her given that she was one of the few people in town they trusted. Everyone else was just told they were fighting off the flu.

By the end of the first day, Killian knew he was going to have trouble making it through. His ankles hurt and already his tshirt was ready to pull taut against his growing stomach. David wasn’t much better off—his back was aching from the combination of everything going on in his body and Neal’s refusal to be put down that day.

“I wish there was some way to make this a little more...interesting,” he complained to Killian. “I can’t even have a beer, dammit.”

“I’d say this is plenty interesting already,” Killian answered, hand resting low on his belly, not far from where he could feel intense flutters within. “But...perhaps we could set up some wagers?”

“What are you thinking?”

“Who has the biggest belly? Who goes into labor first? Something like that?”

“You’re on, man.”

So, when Snow took their photos that night, they started keeping track of circumference, too—if only to have numerical evidence of all the changes going on.

Their bellies were tied at the start of the next morning, but by nighttime—at what would be 21 weeks in a normal pregnancy—Killian had pulled ahead by a couple centimeters.

But David had more exciting news. “Oh!” he exclaimed, resting his hand on the curve of his stomach. “Snow, come here!”

“What is it?” she asked, rushing over.

“Feel!” David grabbed her hand and put it next to his.

“Oh—oh my god! It’s kicking!” Snow was grinning. “Wow, it’s so fast—faster than these other two were,” she said, nodding at Emma, who was holding Neal.

“I mean, it should be, right?” Emma said.

Killian was woken in the middle of the night by what he had to assume was the same fast-paced wiggling in his own belly—and promptly woke Emma up, too.

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

Their growing stomachs quickly revealed another problem: they were going to outgrow their clothing soon, probably by the next day if not before then.

“I’ll see what I can find in the shops in town,” Emma offered. “But...they don’t exactly make male maternity wear.”

“Maybe some of my old tops would fit Killian?”

“Maybe; just leave the dresses at home.”

“Obviously. Though he could probably rock them.”

“I think I’ll leave that one to you, milady,” Killian quipped back. By that night, he was definitely nearing capacity in his tshirts and was eyeing David’s, hoping to take it when he outgrew them.

“Look at you boys,” Granny gushed. “You carry it all out in front of you, Hook; and Charming—what a cute bump!”

They both blushed as she handed over the bag of pastries, but it was kind of comforting to hear such normal reactions.

Now that the babies had started moving, it seemed like they never stopped; it was probably due to the accellerated nature of their pregnancies, but it grew old rather quickly (as did their frequent trips to the rest room).

“I mean, at least we know they’re growing,” David decided in the middle of the 9th day—somewhere around 26 weeks. “I know that this all started with some dark magic, but I already love this one.”

“Me too, mate. I’ve...I’ve worried that Emma and I would never get this. Whatever lies ahead, at least we have this.” Lovingly, he traced his hand over the growing curve of his belly.

After his shower the next day, Killian was gazing at his reflection. It looked so odd—granted, he already knew that from Snow’s continued documentation (and he still had the lead in circumference), but there was also something somehow perfect about it. He knew that, given the choice, he’d willingly do this if that was what it took for them to have a child. But in the current situation, he only worried for the future.

And then he turned to the side and his tune quickly changed. Nevermind, this monster was destroying his body.

He was in a foul mood when he slumped down in a chair for breakfast. “What’s got you down?” Snow asked from her perch at the stove, making eggs.

“Oh, nothing; just realizing that beauty is temporary and my body will never again be the same.”

She turned down the burner and moved the eggs to the counter. “You’ve got stretch marks, huh?”

“Aye.”

“Do you want to see mine? I’ve got to imagine you’ve seen Emma’s.”

“Yes, I have—and no, you don’t have to. Just...it’s jarring.”

Snow set a plate down in front of him. “I get that. But you’re both doing so well; you can do this.”

“I sure hope so.”

David followed a few minutes later with similar grumbles. Snow wasn’t as gentle with him. “Try dealing with them from two babies!”

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

Ten days into this ordeal, still no one had seen or heard from the Black Fairy in weeks. In reverse of that, Emma’s visions and tremors had yet to abate. She woke every night whimpering at the dreams that haunted her, and though she tried to hide it from Killian, he picked up on everything right away.

Though he was into his second trimester and it made it harder for him to hold and comfort her the way he wanted to, he did his best, and she seemed to glean some comfort from the constantly moving baby within him.

Late at night at the end of the 11th day, she’d woken again and Killian had brought her into his side as much as he could; their joined hands lay on top of his round belly.

“I’m scared,” she whispered into his shoulder.

“I know, love; me too,” he admitted.

“I’m so worried—about you, about the kid—about...that I might not be able to be here for this kid, and I’ll leave Henry…” He felt a tear wet the fabric of his (well, Dave’s) shirt, and knew his own would be joining it soon—damn these hormones.

“My darling, if I have anything to say about it, that won’t happen. I won’t stop until we can have the future we’ve fought for and dreamed of.”

“I know, I know; but this complicates things—we have someone else to think about now,” she countered, tracing his stomach.

“It does, yeah; but have hope—we’ll figure this out.”

“You sound like my mom.”

“A wise woman.”

“Yeah, she is.”

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

The sun rose and fell on the 12th day, and it seemed like their babies were now in a sprint to the finish line; both bellies grew a few inches just in one day. When David flopped down on their bed that night, massaging the globe that was his abdomen, his anxieties were racing. For one, they still had Emma’s fate hanging over their head; two, he was exhausted from looking after Neal while this new baby was playing football with his kidneys; and three, they only had a little more than a day left in this ordeal. He and Killian had done their best to get the nursery ready here, and he knew Emma and Snow had set up an extra crib back at the loft. Belle had brought over some of the baby things she hadn’t gotten to use on Gideon for Emma & Killian, and they hadn’t gotten rid of any of Neal’s stuff yet, so everyone would probably be set.

It was just...a lot.

He sighed heavily as Snow came in and settled on the bed next to him. “What was that for? Kick to the bladder?” She started to massage his belly; her touch was heavenly on his strained muscles.

“No. Just...everything. Emma, and Neal, and this one...how are we gonna do this?”

“Together, of course.”

He scoffed a bit. “Yeah, but I’m the only one who’ll be giving birth here and Snow...I’m not sure I can do it.”

She gave him a sidelong glance. “If I could do it twice, you can do it once.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s not that; I’m...I’m not as strong as you are, Snow. I don’t know how I’ll get through it.”

“Hey.” Her tone was surprisingly stern. “You are a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. And you know I’ll be there right at your side; you’ve got nothing to worry about—I promise.”

“Well, okay. But only because you promised.”

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

Things were tense the next day, knowing that the babies could come at literally any moment. Emma and Snow stayed home and hovered over the guys nervously, jumping at any noise or movement from them. They’d both been experiencing some Braxton-Hicks-like contractions over the last day or so, but no one knew what to expect with this.

Killian still had the advantage by several centimeters in their belly circumference competition; though it had only been days, he already couldn’t remember what his feet looked like and was sure the way his large, round stomach was straining against David’s shirt looked absolutely ridiculous. But he did get an odd comfort from hugging his belly and feeling the way his baby still moved about, even if the way he or she was now resting low on his hips made it difficult to move with any ease or speed.

David was honestly surprised that Killian’s belly was bigger, because with as large as he felt, he was sure he’d win that challenge. And given the way he’d been addicted to anything sugary or salty over the last couple weeks, he knew he’d probably done some damage to his body that had nothing to do with this kid. He had to admit, though, that he hadn’t completely hated this; it wasn’t anything he ever expected, and having two kids so close in age was going to be an adventure in its own right, but feeling and seeing this one grow inside him was, honestly, really cool.

Late in the afternoon—approaching the 39-week mark—both men kept shifting in their seats uncomfortably.

“Killian, do you think it’s time?” Emma asked, bringing him a tall glass of ice water; he was sweating a bit, but no more than he had been the last couple days.

“I’m really not sure,” he answered, taking a long sip. “I guess we wait and see?”

David, who had been wincing on and off all day, suddenly groaned and doubled over. “Well, I’m not. I think...I think my water just broke.”

“Oh, shit,” Emma cursed, and Snow ran in from the kitchen to inspect. One look at his (size XXXL) sweatpants told her all she needed to know.

“Yup. You’re in labor.”

A minute later, Killian did the same thing, crying out in pain.

“Shit, you too?” Emma asked?

“Seems so, love,” Killian said through a wince.

Of course, there was a knock at the door just then. Emma fussed over the guys while Snow ran to get it.

She threw open the door in her panic. “Granny, hi; now isn’t a good time,” she greeted the old wolf. “They both just went into labor.”

“Oh?” Granny seemed surprised, but oddly not stressed—or even remotely like herself. “Well, isn’t that perfect.”

“What?” Snow was suddenly very confused, especially as Granny barged past her to the living room (that couch was definitely going to need to be replaced).

“I don’t think they need bearclaws right now, Granny; you know anything about being a midwife?” Emma asked as she placed a cool cloth on each of their foreheads.

“As a matter of fact, I do.” But it wasn’t Granny’s voice. Four pairs of eyes pointed at Granny, who was covered in black smoky magic and revealed her true self: the Black Fairy.

Emma and Snow stared in shock, while the guys were attempting to stand and fight.

“Oh, sit down, boys—you don’t want to harm the babies now, do you?” The fairy pushed them back down on the sofa with her magic. “I’m afraid they won’t do me any good if anything bad happens,” she continued. “I need two products of true love for my plan to work; no less.” Then she glanced at the girls. “However, I can’t risk you two meddling, so…” With a wave of her hand, she whisked herself and the men away.

“Oh, I’m gonna kill her,” Emma yelled, already making for the door. They needed help and backup, as fast as they could.

“Just let me get a shot in, too,” Snow followed.

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

When the smoke cleared, the three of them were in a cave—in the mines, if David had to guess. Weak torchlight shined above; he could see Killian next to him clearly, but that was it.

“Well, I better leave you two to it, then,” the Black Fairy said. “Not that I think you’re going to be able to escape, but just in case…” She waved her hand again, and shackles appeared on their ankles, connected to the wall. “Happy laboring! I’ll be back to collect those babies in a few hours. Scream if you need help! Tata!” And then she was gone.

“Bloody...buggering...hell,” Killian panted, tugging on the chain to no avail. “Got any ideas, mate?”

“No,” David breathed, which he was doing heavily as he gripped his large bump. “I think...this one’s coming fast.”

“Are you sure?”

“No, but—” He gritted his teeth in pain. “Damn, does it hurt.”

“I’ve got you, Dave,” Killian told him, holding out his hand. David took it, and together they labored, squeezing and embracing each other through their arduous—but fast—contractions.

It became obvious that David’s labor was progressing quicker than Killian’s, though. “I think I need to push,” Dave said in a tired, strained voice.

“Okay; we can do this,” Killian said, though he supposed he was comforting himself as much as David.

As carefully as possibly, they got David’s pants off and sure enough, the baby was crowning. “I can see the head; push!”

David was yelling and the torches were flickering, but after a few quick pushes, the baby was in Killian’s hand and brace; the hook had been left at home.

“It’s a girl,” Killian said, smiling, as he put her in David’s arms.

He watched with happy tears in his eyes as David reclined on the stone wall and fawned over the tiny new life in his arms, who was crying something fierce. But he could feel his own time drawing near, the contractions becoming nearly constant and pressure increasing on his pelvis.

David was wrapping his new daughter up in his discarded pants when he noticed Killian’s distress. “Your turn?”

Killian nodded. “My turn.”

As quick as they could manage, they reversed their positions, David carefully setting his baby on a flat part of the rocky floor, and guided Killian through it like he had just done for him.

But this one wasn’t coming out as easy. “Gentle pushes, man; you can do this.”

“No, I can’t,” he cried. What if he died here? Or the baby?

“Yes, you can; I won’t let you not.”

With one last, fierce cry, Killian pushed harder than he thought possible—and heard the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.

“It’s also a girl,” David told him as he put the squealing infant in his arms. She was so perfect and so precious. David handed him his pants, too, and he swaddled the babe as best he could.

For a long while, they sat huddled together, shaking a bit from the cold air—they’d put their pants back on and wrapped the babies in their shirts—but mainly staring at their little ones. Eventually, though, David wondered, “Now what?”

“Well, if the Black Fairy hasn’t come to claim them, I suppose that’s good.”

“And what do we do if she does?”

“Fight like hell.”

“Well, duh. But with what?”

They were discussing battle tactics and keeping an ear open for anything while the babies slept. For a long time, nothing happened, but then, they finally heard it—footsteps.

Gingerly, they both rose to their feet, clutching the babies close. As the sound grew, they could tell it was more than one person. “Bloody hell,” Killian muttered; there was no way they’d be able to defend themselves against this many.

But then the steps came into their cavern, and they relaxed immediately: Snow and Emma ran in, quickly followed by Regina, Belle, and Granny, armed with her crossbow.

“Don’t worry; it’s really me,” she said gruffly, then turned and guarded the entrance. “I owe her a crossbolt to the skull for tying me up like that.”

Snow and Emma rushed to their respective True Love’s sides. “Oh my god, there they are,” Emma gushed.

“You guys did it; I told you,” Snow said through her tears.

“How did you get in?” David asked. “How long have we been here?”

“Only a few hours,” Belle said. “When I heard what happened, I had to come along. I...I made a deal with her; she’ll let you go free.”

“But what about Gideon?” Killian asked; he hated to think what his friend might have given up.

“Don’t worry about it; Rumple and I will deal with that. I wasn’t going to let her take you babies.”

Killian took a step to go give her a hug, but nearly stumbled when he did. “We owe you, love.”

“Just take care of them, okay?” She closed the distance between them to give him an embrace, and then Emma did the same.

“Okay, now that this reunion is done, can we get out of here? I see four people who probably need some serious medical attention,” Regina called out.

“Lead the way, Regina,” David replied, and she poofed them all to the hospital with a single wave of her hand.

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

Hours later, with clean bills of health for the new dads and the babies, both families were squeezed into a booth at Granny’s. Snow and Emma had their respective new daughters in their arms, while their tired, sore boys were basically propped against the window. They were sure their now-soft bellies would never be flat again, and certain that they’d never catch up on sleep, but as they looked on the sweet faces in their loves’ arms, they knew it was all worth it.

The rest of town was gathered in celebration—both for the new little princesses, and that Granny was back; the quality of food had really taken a nosedive.

And, with the proper pomp that such a celebration deserved, the babies were presented to the kingdom properly: Princess Ruth Nolan, and Hope Swan-Jones.

The diner erupted in applause, Henry gushed over his new sister and aunt, and even Regina seemed to shed a happy tear. But the immediate families themselves were just happy to be through their latest adventure.

Despite the tumult of the day, spirits were high.

“I’m usually the one preaching the optimism,” Snow commented as she looked at Emma and Killian, both grinning. “What changed?”

“There’s no way the Black Fairy can beat us now,” Emma replied. “Not when we have Hope.”

thanks for reading! Go give @sherlockianwhovian some birthday love! tagging a few others who might like this:  @sancocnutclub @ashley-knightingale @jennjenn615@wyntereyez @superadam54 @killianjonesownsmyheart1

[2spry]

Ozark Foothills 50k Race Recap

Oh man… so I don’t even know where to start. I guess at the beginning. This was my first race back since I broke my foot, 1 year to the day actually. I still can’t believe it worked out that way. I was looking at races that were easy to travel to, and that were loop courses. I wanted a looped course in case my foot said “nope” and I needed to hop off course easily. I signed up for this race only 5 weeks out! I had had a year of major ups and downs, with multiple attempts at upping mileage with no avail. Every time I tried to increase or even add in a little speed work or hill training, my foot would blow up. When I say blow up, the pain would be bad enough to cause me to limp. It wasn’t until really February where I was not having much pain anymore. I hit, on average, in the 60-70 mile range for Jan and Feb, with 116 miles total in March. I also had only 2 speed work sessions (they were easier ones). So I signed up with the goal of only using this as a training run, to make sure my foot could handle the distance. If it did, I was going to pick a longer race next and really train for it! I was extremely nervous because having your foot snap during a race is very scary and the pain is something you never forget. I have had to work hard on my mind this past year because the fear was really taking over. The mind is so powerful. Working hard on mental training has been a huge help for me. That is one of my weaknesses.

The day before the race was crazy!!! I thought I really had everything lined up, but so many things happened which led to getting off late. It worked out though! This was an Altra sponsored race so I was also going to the packet pickup to help out my local Altra rep Erica, and I was covering the race for Road Runner Sports on their Instagram account. Doing both of these things was incredibly fun for me! I love new experiences! Plus, it got me out of my head!!! They had a screening of The Double, and the speaker was Jeff Browning (aka @GoBroncoBilly). It was chalk full of awesome information. One of the main things I took away from his talk was to slay the negative thoughts of the mind. I know this, but to hear someone so accomplished say that they have to do this all the time, really brought it home to me. The mind is so powerful. Once that was over we headed to the hotel.

We got to the hotel around 8:45ish and headed to the room. So far everything had been rather uneventful. Then the room keys wouldn’t work and we got locked out! Phones were in the room (key worked at first and then just wouldn’t, no idea). Anyway, we finally got everything in and ate dinner around 9:30. While I was eating, I realized, oh my goodness, I forgot to get my race packet!!! LOL!!! I mean who does that!?!? Goes to the race packet pickup and forgets to pickup their race packet!?!? Me apparently. Thank goodness they had race day pickup! Then we realized we forgot the bottom to the electric kettle for coffee in the am. Oh well. The front desk was able to provide it. After all that, I finally headed to sleep close to midnight. And sleep I didn’t.

Up at 3:45 exhausted! However, I did not have a headache or migraine which was HUGE!!! I cannot remember a race where I didn’t have one of those the night before or the day of. (When I ran my 50 miler, I had a migraine from the night before and it didn’t abate for 7 hrs of the race!) Not having a headache gave me such a boost!!! We got there at around 6:15 and it was foggy and dark. I had thought for a moment that it wasn’t going to lift, making a note to bring my headlamp next time just in case. It did finally lift and turned into a gorgeous sunrise!

I was super nervous, freezing (yes me the cold weather runner was freezing lol!), and very thankful once she blew the horn to start. I kept reminding myself that this is a training run, no pressure! I started out very conservative. I was really watching my footing (I did the whole race) and just trying to ease into a steady easy pace. It did take me awhile to warm up, but once I got going I felt pretty good! I would say after the 5th mile I felt like I was getting in a groove, getting more comfortable with the terrain, but I could feel my lack of training then too. Just the amount of vert and all the rocks and roots that I am not used to. My quads and ankles let me know that really quick, but I told my mind to shut it, slayed those negative thoughts, and told myself to just enjoy this! (There was 3,800 ft of ascent so lots of hills) I started to look around at the beauty of where I was and just got really emotional. Here I was running, in a gorgeous area, on trails, in an ultra, healthy. What a blessing!!! That gave me a boost and I started to pick up the pace. I think this was around mile 10-12. I started to pass people, but I had no idea what race they were running. You are on the course with 25k, 50k, and 50 mile runners.

Coming through the half, I felt really good! I really was ultra conservative with my footing and therefore hadn’t fallen yet. My upper body felt really good, and I know a big part of this was because of my new race vest fitting seamlessly. Super important to find one that works for your body! I filled up my water bladder with Ultima Replenisher, and headed out! But then had to run back cuz I forgot my MUIR gels!!! LOL! Made a bathroom pitstop and finally headed out. I had no stomach issues with that combination, it worked well!

The hardest mile for me was 17. My hands started to swell like crazy! I was using salt, so I didn’t know why I was swelling so bad. Still unsure of the cause. They were so swollen that I actually thought I was going to have to cut off my ring. I was feeling a bit more tired, and just kind of worried. I started opening and closing my hands and telling myself it was going to be fine. Then, about a mile or two later, it started to go down a bit and relief washed over me. I began to think about all my friends that can’t run right now and began running miles for them, praying for them and for this race. I started to pick up the pace. Once I started running, I began to catch up to people. It was so spread out at this point that passing was pretty easy. I hit a string of two people and wanted to pass them but I kept thinking, no they are keeping you conservative, you don’t want to blow up you’ve come so far. I was kind of panicking. I felt so good I thought it was a fluke. So I stayed for too long. Finally I told myself what are you doing!?!? Get going! So I asked to pass and took off. I kept passing people. I had someone tell me hey you’re going really fast!!! Are you sure you're feeling ok? (It was getting really hot at this point, 70’s) I said yes I feel great! They cheered me on! Each aid station had amazing volunteers and I cannot tell you how much their cheers help! I continued to try and catch people. I started having water poured into my mouth (I didn’t have a cup) and ice in my fandana to help with the heat. Plain water was tasting so good at that point. I also began grabbing orange slices.

I hit the last aid station feeling great! So much so that I neglected to check my water bladder. It was empty. You might not think that is a big deal, but it really is. In that heat with miles to go, you need it. I let myself have an “uh oh” moment and then moved on. Those last few miles were tough. I felt pretty dehydrated and very nauseous, but I kept pushing. I fell twice because I got a bit sloppy at watching my footing, and then rolled my ankle pretty bad. I noticed that not one person was around me still. I ran alone for a lot of the race. After limping a bit I pressed on and started running, only to hear footsteps behind me coming fast, I moved over and it was Jeff Browning. LOL! He was cruising, but made sure to take the time to tell me to keep pushing! So I did! I ran all the way into the finish! I had no idea if I was even in the top 10, so when I crossed the line and Shalini the RD told me I was 3rd female I was in complete shock!!! It was like a dream.

From one year ago breaking my foot, to now taking 3rd was crazy. It was a huge confidence boost to know that my foot could handle the distance and that I was able to have a podium finish with as little training as I did. I felt so blessed and humbled. A new memory to replace the old. A realization that I can do this! A thankful heart to have been able to run this race and finish. A grateful heart for all of the support and new friends that I made at this event. Thankful to the Lord for the gift of running.

Now that I know I can handle distance again, I am going to find my next race and really train for it. I am so excited and hopeful for the future. I cannot wait to see what happens!!!

Huge thank you to all the volunteers, the RD Shalini, my mother, and all of you who commented and supported me through this journey. Big thank you also to Road Runner Sports, Altra Running, Jaybird Sport, OS1st, Yukon Charlies, and Momentum Jewelry for your awesome support and gear to get me through!

Gear: Altra Running King MT 1.5 and gaiters Road Runner Sports R-Gear Recharge Compression Capri Altra running performance tank Garmin Fenix 5 Os1st Arm Sleeves Injinji trail crew socks Ultimate Direction Race Vesta with bladder not front bottles

Fuel: MUIR energy gels Ultima electrolyte replenisher Salt stick KION essential amino acids

Balm: Squirrel’s Nut Butter

Pic Cred IG accounts: Trail @mile90photo, Finish @alex.fagin

[builder051]

Sorry, if I may, I had perhaps a thought/question/suggestion for daredevil? I haven’t seen the third season yet, but so far I perceive him to be someone deeply self-destructive but utterly unaware of that fact. If this rings true at all, I imagine that the realization would hit him hard, particularly since he’s Catholic. If this were ever something you’d be interested in writing, I’d be interested in reading it, but please don’t feel obligated. I hope that things are going well for you!

No need to apologize for talking to me.  As long as you’re not spewing hate, the askbox is open, and you’re not directly contradicting something I recently stated as a preference, I’m not going to explode at you.  

I’m in the process of watching season 3 now.  I’m really loving it.  The whole thing with messing with Matt’s public image to getto him, I relate so hard.

This is an awesome prompt; thank you so much for sending it. I know you probably wanted something set in the present, but the way this started coming to me really had to be set at Columbia.  I imagine Matthaving a lifelong struggle with self-harm, and Daredevil-ing is like a copingmechanism.  I wanted to explore it before he went that route.

That said, this story contains self harm, but it’s vague. It treats the essence of the issue, not the details.

_____

The chicken or the egg.  

It’s not a bad metaphor.  It does a decent job of summing up the thought circles that are impossible to understand, but insist on baffling Matt anyway.  Normally he’s perceptive enough to suss out the nexus of his issues, and if they’re worthy enough, address them at the source.

Not today, though.  His head’s cloudy and throbbing. He doesn’t think it hurt so much when he first lay down on his narrow dorm bed, but time has given up on being linear.  Matt’s no longer sure if it was the depression or the malaise that hit first.  The chicken or the egg.

Matt’s thoughts aren’t linear either.  Foggy insists on vegetarian fried rice when they go out for Chinese.  “Because it’s weird, Matt.  You can’t have the grown-up and the baby in the same dish,” he’d explained.  “Isn’t there something about that in the Bible?”

Goats, Matt had told him.  It’s about goats.  But Christ declared all foods clean, and that’s why his followers don’t keepkosher.  But Foggy grew up in a deli, so of course he’d see it from the other side.  Funny how the realization only hits him now, when the thought of food makes his mouth water in a way that’s distinctly unpleasant.  And lack of sustenance probably has something to do with the nauseous ache crashing around the inside of his head.

Matt lets out a dejected sigh and shifts onto his stomach, burying his face in his pillow.  He knows his glasses sit safely on his desk, but he still feels the shadowy indents of the nose pads.  It’s like rubbing his face in powdered glass.  He wishes twin extra-long sheets came in a higher thread count.

Matt’s eyes start to water.  Tears of pain pool beneath his eyelids and run out of the corners.  The pillowcase soaks up the droplets and spreads them, creating wet spots that press against his brows and cling to his cheeks.

The dampness is cold, but Matt’s wires are crossed, and it may as well be burning.  He smells the salt, the stress in his sweat, the sulfates in the laundry soap.  His brain throws in the memory of burned rubber and sunbaked asphalt, and before he can stop himself, he’s on his back, kicking off the covers and floundering.  

He can’t take this pain.  He can’t find his dad.  He can’t see.

But it’s coming through all wrong.  He went blind first. Then Jack died.  Right?  And the migraines came later, at the orphanage.  Along with the nightmares.

And that’s what this is, isn’t it?  Scratchy bedding, a roommate who only pretends to like him.  But Sister Maggie likes him. She comes when he calls out to her.  And when he calls out to his dad.  And even when his brain goes primal and fuzzy and he yells for the mother he’s never even known.

Matt‘s throat is working, his vocal cords pulsing like plucked guitar strings.  But he can’t hear the notes.  He’s too disconnected, his mouth and ears too far apart.  Matt rolls onto his side, dragging his knees to his chest and clamping his arms around them, squeezing himself into aball.  He wraps his palm around the opposite wrist for good measure,sliding the chain on a door that’s already bolted.

But someone’s rattling the knob.  Matt hears metal on metal, the scrape of a key.  There’s a creak, then a slam, then, “Whoops.”

A couple shuffling footsteps.  “Oh, hey, Matt.”

Matt flinches at the sudden influx of sound.  He couldn’t hear himself groaning a moment ago, but Foggy may as well be speaking through a bullhorn.  The jump in logic makes Matt’s temples throb sickeningly. But if Foggy’s here, then Matt’s definitely now.  Pinpointing the x,y, and z of location on coordinate plane grounds him in the fourth dimension too, even though his math classes haven’t taught him how to do that yet.

A bitter taste pools under his tongue.  Matt swallows to slow his racing heartbeat.  He takes a breath.

It’s 2009.

He gets a whiff of candy corn coming off Foggy.  It’s October.

The streetlamp hums outside the window.  Matt can smell beer, too.  And Vaseline.  A hint of latex.  It’s the middle of the night.  He’s definitely in college.

“You ok, buddy?”  Foggy flips on the overhead light. The fluorescent bulbs sizzle to life, and Matt’s stomach flips, bubbling like a cauldron of vomitous witch’s brew.

“Fine,” Matt croaks.  He lifts his head an inch from his still-wet pillow and loosens his tightly wound posture.  His hackles are still up, but Foggy’s buzzed and blissful.  He doesn’t need to worry.

“You sure?  You were in bed when I left,” Foggy says. “And that was, like… early.”

“Hm.”  Matt’s hand is wet, too.  He wipes it on hissheets.

“Party’s still going on, if you wanna drop in.  I’ll go with you.  It’s…”  Foggy laughs.  “It’s a good party.”

“Nah.”  Matt’s senses are going off again.  He smells metal.  But that could just be the nausea crystalizing in his sinuses.

“You really should.  If you’re just sad, you should get up. Do something.”  Foggy’s uneven footsteps approach Matt’s bed. “Come on.”

“Not sad.” Matt means to add some more detail, like the building migraine, the rising urge to throw up.  He means to add the just, theway Foggy did.  He doesn’t mean to lie.

“Yeah, right.”  Foggy grabs Matt’s wrist.

“No, Fog—”  Matt isn’t expecting to be pulled out of bed. And he isn’t expecting searing pain to lance up his arm.

“You’re not— Jesus, Matt!”  The exclamation comes across suddenly as Foggy’s fingers find the half-moon scratches on Matt’s forearm. Surprise ups the spit and anxious vibration in his tone.

For a second, Matt’s lost again.  But then the blocks stack up.  The memories, the hurt, the cycles of illness he has trouble labeling as physical or mental.  It’s happened before.  It makes a sick sort of sense, made sicker by the fact that Matt knows he deserves it.

“You’re not Jesus.”  It’s clear it’s not what Foggy meant to say, but his friend runs with it anyway.

Matt makes a cynical noise.  His mouth is too dry and wooly for him to force out more than one syllable.  If Foggy’s contradicting something, it didn’t come from Matt’s lips.  Even if his head hurts enough to make that kind of gibberish a real possibility.

“You don’t have to suffer.  And, god, I can’t believe you did this to yourself.”  Foggy doesn’t want to touch the wounds anymore. He’s sticky with Matt’s blood.  Matt can hear him bouncing the pad of his index finger against his thumb, repeatedly breaking the seal as the viscous fluid starts to dry.

Matt’s going to tell him he didn’t mean to, but Foggy makes to walk away.   Matt decides it’s not worth opening his mouth.  He turns inward again and tries to talk himself through relaxing the tension in hisneck.  

He doesn’t expect Foggy to swoop back in and pull him out of bed by the shoulders.  “No, no, Fog,” Matt protests, attempting to push him away while also being conscious of the facts that blood is running freely down his arm, and he’s perilously close to vomiting.  “I—my head—”

“Cut it out, Matt.  You’re depressed.  You’re bleeding!”

It’s the middle of the night.  Foggy can’t be dragging him to the campus health clinic.  Matt’s clearly in no shape for a party. He gets a mental image of himself sitting on the bathroom counter, slumped against the mirror, explaining in broken sentences how this is not an intentional act of self-flagellation while Foggy applies Neosporin and Band-Aids.

But they’re not going to make it that far.  They’re not going to make it out of the room.  Matt gags and claps his hand over his mouth.

“Shit.”  This time, Foggy interprets correctly.  He shoves Matt into his desk chair and thrusts the trash can into his lap.

Matt coughs harshly.  He heaves up a dribble of bile, then waits for the room to stop spinning.  He’s definitely dehydrated. Some simple carbs would probably do him good too, but Matt’s not ready to brave anything that will require chewing.  Or anything with a flavor.

“Sorry.”  Matt scrapes his tongue with his teeth and wills them to stop chattering.

“You didn’t have a headache when I left,” Foggy says, a little defensively.

It’s probably true.  Matt doesn’t remember the details well enough to refute it.  “I do now,” he murmurs.

Foggy sighs.  “Yeah.  You do now.”  The mini-fridge opens and closes.  He cranks the top off a bottle of water and nudges it against Matt’s hand.  “Here.  Rinse.  I’ll get you back to bed.  And put something on those scratches, if you want.”

He thinks about it as he swishes the water and spits it into the trash.  The wounds themselves don’t hurt.  But the drying blood itches.

“Or I could go, if you’d rather…” Foggy waffles.

Matt’s taking too long.  Foggy doesn’t want to leave him alone, but he’s going to come out and say it.

Matt hates that he does this to himself.  He hates even more that he’s ruining his friend’s night.  But, truth be told, he doesn’twant to be alone either.

“Sure,” Matt finally says. “You can stay.”  It’s too demanding.  He quickly revises. “I mean…you should.  I want you to stay.”

[stony-feels1776]

Recovery - A New Day (Chapter Three)

This is part three of Recovery, a Stony Fic!

Warning: Angst

{More under the read more}

{link to it on wattpad: x }

{part 1}

{part 2}

Tony woke with a start at five am, the faint streaks of light from the sunrise sneaking into his dark room. Tony tried to slow his breathing. He wasn't sure if he had a nightmare or something- but he did know that he actually slept alright for once.

He took a shaky breath and groaned as he got out of bed. He looked at his alarm clock and sighed, stretching before wincing in pain. He strapped on the stupid leg thing that would support him as he walked and exited his room, yawning.

Today, he was feeling much better. Tired, dizzy, and a tad bit nauseous, but alright. He was pretty sure he'd basically threw up his whole stomach last night. He limped out into the living room, where he was surprised to see Clint still awake, staring at the TV.

Tony silently snuck around him - which wasn't hard to do, once Clint gave his attention to something almost nothing could distract him. Ah, Disney, of course. Cinderella. One of Clint's favorites. Tony smiled at him and walked into the kitchen, wanting to make himself a cup of coffee. However, he was disappointed when he realized the coffee machine was still gone. He sighed hastily, which made Clint jump and pull his bow and an arrow off the ground.

Clint rolled his eyes and let out a heavy sigh when he saw Tony. Sitting down, he smiled at him. "Hey, Tony," He said quietly, "can't sleep anymore?" Tony nodded, expecting Clint to yell at him for being awake. Instead, he just nodded in understanding, "I'm glad you slept."

Tony sat down next to him, yawning. "Yeah, me too, bud. Seriously? Cinderella? Again? You're such a nerd. Is that what Disney fans are? Or are they dorks?" He asked, his voice sharp, sarcastic, but caring.

"Ner-orks. But also really cool people, if you must know, Tony. I would know," he put his hand under his chin, "because I am a Disney fan and extremely cool, obviously." He sounded full of himself. He fidgeted with the arrows and ruffled his hair. "Are we going to completely ignore last night? Because I'd both love to and hate too."

"God, Clint, you're a weirdo." Tony said, chuckling, "Make up your mind." Tony patted Clint's knee gently before standing up.

"Actually, I did. I've decided that we'll talk about it later. But for now, I have a prank. A little bit of fun. I figured you needed it," Clint touched his hearing aid gently, smirking a little.

Ah, leave it to Clint to figure out a way to piss off/amuse the team. Tony spread his arms and make a 'let's hear it' face. Clint licked his lips and started to use his hands to explain.

"Okay, so, the team thinks slash knows you and Steve are basically a team - by the way, you are a thing, right? Y'all kissed. Three times. I didn't tell anyone about the first time, y'know, I was being a good friend back then. But you kissed twice. In front of everyone, dude. It's obvious y'all love each other." Tony awkwardly shifted on the couch as Clint talked, "But no worries, Tony, no one will bring it up yet. Anyways, I have a plan. The Avengers need a laugh." The smirk on Clint's face was priceless. He'd come up with something clever.

"We should totally act like a couple to freak everyone out," Clint said, a smile playing on his lips. Tony laughed.

"Oh my God, Clint, they'd have a heart attack. Natasha would probably give me her sternest parent-talk about how if I broke your heart she'd stab me violently." Tony said, ignoring the pain in his ribs as he coughed. He was fine.

Clint raised his eyebrows. "I bet Steve would get jealous. You did kiss him yesterday."

"Hey!" Tony protested, "We're not actually dating or anything." He paused. "Kissing him was a mistake." His voice dropped. Clint put his hand on Tony's shoulder.

"Hey, it was not. Steve kissed you like five seconds later. Dude, you're fine. He loves you." Clint said supportively, gasping at a part in the movie. Tony looked at the screen then back at Clint. Clint smiled at the movie in such a Clint way that it made Tony laugh some more. He clutched his ribs and coughed slightly. Clint immediately turned to him, concerned.

"Tony, ground rules: you are to tell me if you feel sick or tired or nervous you are to tell me immediately. And, try not to puke all over my hot bod." Clint said, accidentally slipping and using sign language again. Clint did this whenever he was nervous.

"Alright," Tony said before raising his eyebrows, "honey."

"I see we are using my awesome, hilarious plan!" Clint said, whooping. "Alright, sweetheart. Should we just," he suddenly looked awkward, which was a weird look on Clint, as nothing ever seemed to faze him, "flirt with each other? God, they'll all fall for this."

As if on cue, Bruce walked into the room, clearly exhausted. "Oh, darling," Tony complained, "you simply must buy me a new coffee machine." He wrapped his arms around Clint, who was still sitting.

Clint rolled his eyes. "Love, you're not allowed to have coffee." Clint wrapped his arms around Tony's waist and put his forehead against Tony's. Bruce sighed and the rest of the team appeared. Tony jumped - a real flinch, they popped out of nowhere, the goddamned idiots - and Clint stood up. Tony rubbed his face and didn't look up. Clint was stuttering, pretending like he couldn't get words out. Unlike Tony, Clint could blush super easily. A single thought? The man's face could turn red. And so it did.

Steve paused, and Tony could see him fighting a war within himself. Thor was laughing. Bruce was shrugging it off, although he looked confused, Natasha was basically glaring at them but her eyes sparkled, and Rhodey was blinking in astonishment.

But Steve's sad look was killing Tony.

"Hey! Hey! Just a joke, y'all." Clint said, noticing Steve too, giving a sorry look to Tony. "We wanted to see if y'all would be happier or something. Tony and me? Seriously, guys? He'd gladly punch me and I've literally shot at him before."

Tony stood up and smiled, laughing. "Yes. You really thought I'd date someone like Clint? All of you are fools," he glanced at Steve, who was looking confused and a little hurt still. Natasha gave a sigh of relief and the rest of them laughed.

"Steve's an exception. He's an idiot, but he's a handsome idiot." Tony added, regretting it immediately. Steve blushed and looked like he was unable to say anything. He still looked iffy on the situation.

"Th-thanks...?" Steve finally responded, looking at his feet. Tony clenched his jaw. Great job, Mr. Stark, you've made the room awkward again.

"Alright. Let's go out. I don't want to stay here. Unless, of course, you let me go into my own basement." Tony said, throwing his hands into the air and picking up a cookie from a plate in the kitchen. He bit into it. It tasted lovely - Natasha and Bruce probably made them (don't tell anyone, but Tony knows how they love to cook together - and even though Wanda and Vision usually are the ones cooking, everyone agrees Nat and Bruce are the real talented chefs).

Clint shifted and smiled at Natasha. "We should go out," he said, "some sunshine would do us all good." Steve nodded and grabbed Tony's hand. Tony shivered at his touch. Steve's hands were cold but soft. Tony could feel the gentleness and the strength in them. Tony looked up at Steve's eyes.

"I agree. Who's up for a picnic?" Bruce said, toying with a pencil. Natasha was already searching for some sort of big basket. "I can get Thor over here. I talked to Rhodey; he's busy. Sam is too. I can see if Pepper can meet us." Bruce offered.

Natasha nodded. "Thor should come, but Pepper's working today. Vision and Wanda are probably making out somewhere in a romantic forest, so let's not worry about them." She grabbed a large woven basket and started planning what everyone would eat.

"We all like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, correct?" Tony asked. Everyone nodded. "Alright, Nat, you're on sandwich duty. Brucie, you can borrow one of my cars, please go get some snacks. Uh - let's see - Clint, we need some - goddamn, am I still not allowed to drink? - water, I suppose. Sparkling, please. And Steve, I need a kiss right here," he pointed at his cheek finally, ordering everyone around. Like he usually would.

Steve kissed Tony gently on the cheek and everyone scurried to do what they needed to. Tony smiled and helped Natasha with the sandwiches. "Tony, I'm proud of you." Nat whispered, "Look at what you've done."

Tony sighed. "It's not enough. I caused all of you grief. I made you guys worry." He responded quietly, dropping the knife. He bent over and picked it up, walking over to the sink to clean it, not trusting the floor to be perfectly clean.

"Tony, after you got - when you were in the hospital, we all thought the team would disband. We fought. Steve said that what we were doing was getting too dangerous. Bruce said that Steve was being stupid and that the world - and you, Tony - needed us more than ever. Steve threatened to quit. Physical fighting almost broke out. But Tony, you, you and your brilliant, charismatic, kind mind brought us back together." Natasha said, putting together two sandwiches for every one Tony made.

Tony sighed. "I'm glad some people feel that way," he mumbled, "but I should have listened to Clint. We could have captured them and rescued his daughter."

Natasha sighed, "You're wrong, Tony," she whispered, "they called us right after you left. They said that if the team - or more than one person - showed up, they'd kill her right away. We couldn't go after you, even."

Tony sighed and licked his lips, swallowing. Natasha suddenly took a sandwich without the top piece of bread and smacked it on Tony's face, making him stumble as it slipped off his face, leaving a trail of peanut butter and jelly on his cheek. He smiled and laughed, sticking his finger in the jelly and flicking a bit at Natasha, who gracefully avoided it, a smirk on her lips.

Clint walked into the kitchen and naturally joined in, grabbing the ketchup from the fridge and holding it dangerously. Tony put his hands up instantly. Natasha, unfortunately, was too late to surrender and Clint sprayed her with the red liquid, making her smooth ginger hair drip with the stuff. Tony chuckled before a spray of ketchup landed on his cheek. "Not fair, Barton! I had surrendered!" He exclaimed.

"What in the world are you doing?" Bruce whispered, horrified. He nearly avoided a squirt of ketchup. "Clint! Watch it! I'm not in this!" He said, slowly walking backward. Thor suddenly burst into the room, and when Clint tried to hit him with the vile tomato paste, his hammer got hit pretty hard.

Thor laughed. "You humans are hilarious! You throw food at each other simply to create conflict and make a mess!" He said, wiping his eyes. He licked some ketchup off his hammer before grimacing in disgust. "You drink weird liquids, too! What a vile kind of wine!" He said, obviously confused.

"Hey, bud, that's not wine, I'm banned, remember?" Tony said, and then Clint pointed the ketchup back at him.

"And you won't drink anything, right?" Clint threatened, eyes cold and face hard as he glared at Tony, squeezing the ketchup bottle slightly. Tony raised his hands a bit more.

"Nope! A good person, I am, would never disobey my best friends," he said quickly in response. He slowly grabbed the spraying thing by the sink and tapped it, spraying Clint with viciously cold water instantly, making him jump and drop the ketchup. Natasha swooped down and grabbed it, pouring loads of the tomato sauce on Clint's head, where it dripped down all across his body.

"Aaah! Nat!" He cried in dismay, jumping backward and grabbing a cookie that was sitting on the counter before throwing it so it just missed Natasha and crumbled against the wall. "You know I never miss, Nat!" He cried, picking up a pie. Natasha gasped.

"You wouldn't dare!" She said, mocking betrayal. Clint began to throw the pie, but instead of hitting Natasha, it landed right on Tony's face. Tony gasped and the room began to scream in uproar as he wiped his eyes. Clint fell on the floor he was laughing so hard.

Thor laughed and Bruce was doing the 'oooohhhh' thing that happens in public schools with Clint, and Natasha was whooping. Tony blinked it out of his eyes and grabbed the sink thing again, spraying Thor and Bruce with it. Bruce yelped and ducked behind a couch and Thor pretended to wash his long hair with the water.

Clint leaped from off the floor and turned the squirty-thing to face Tony, making him get himself all wet. Tony gasped as the water sloshed against his face. "Friday! Turn off the sink!" He cried and the sink turned off quickly. Tony wiped his face, laughing. "My house, Clint, I make the rules! No spraying me with water!" Tony said, smirking.

Just then, Steve walked in and came up to Tony, grabbing his hand. Flustered, Tony didn't realize Clint pouring a bottle of water over his head. Tony gasped as the cold water ran down his body. "Clint!" He cried. Steve chuckled and Tony looked ultra betrayed, with his mouth hanging open and everything. Tony could hear Bruce laughing on the couch and Thor was grinning.

"Hey! Hey! I surrender!" Tony cried, feeling his ribs starting to ache. He gulped and tried to force his body to stop hurting. He raised his hands, ripping his hand out of Steve's maybe a little too forcefully. Steve looked at Tony with a confused and hurt look.

Clint narrowed his eyes. "Alright, guys," Tony guessed Clint must have been able to tell Tony was hurting, "let's clean up and get going." Natasha nodded, examining Tony with her eyes. Tony shifted, uncomfortable. He needed to step up his 'I'm fine' game.

"Dum-e, hey, you two, clean this all up," Tony commanded, making the robots jump a little before scurrying over. "They'll probably be half-way done by the time we get back, but they'll do it. Or I'll sell them online," He added, glaring down the robots, which moved faster.

Clint was in charge of holding the basket for the whole walk, despite his efforts to avoid this duty. Originally, Steve was going to carry it, because of super-strength and everything, but after Clint's act with the ketchup, they all deemed it an appropriate punishment for poor Clint. He'd grumbled a little, but when the whole team's staring down at you stubbornly, you kind of have to obey.

They walked for a little while. It was a sunny day with a nice breeze, and the grass was green as spring had begun. Tiny flowers were sprouting up along the sidewalks. Tony led them to a small park. It looked like nothing at first; New York had much larger, nicer parks, but this one was small with one table and was surrounded by trees. It was also completely empty.

Except for two people.

"Bucky!" Steve cried, running towards his friend, who was supposed to be sitting at home, far away, in a cold forest cabin. Bucky opened his arms too late and Steve and him ended up on the ground.

"Peter!" Tony said, grimacing. He loved the kid, don't get him wrong. Peter walked over, smiling awkwardly, ruffling his own hair.

"Hey, Mr. Stark," He said. Tony rubbed his head but smiled and patted Peter on the back. Clint squinted at Peter before handing him the basket. Peter took it, almost falling with its weight, which he didn't expect. Natasha shook Peter's hand and grabbed the basket from him, giving Clint a mean look. Bucky was awkwardly trying to push Steve off of him while Steve pestered him with questions.

Tony looked away. Why couldn't Steve hug him like that? He tried to push away the spikes of jealousy. He gulped and gestured to the table, sitting down next to Peter. Natasha put the basket on the table - which rocked everytime someone moved or bumped into it - and took a sandwich out before jumping up into a tree next to the table. Clint tried to grab one too, but Peter grabbed it and pulled it towards him, smirking at Clint. Peter took two out, handing one to Tony, who accepted it with a quick 'thanks, kid.'

Everyone took a sandwich. Thor ended up sitting on the grass - Clint told him he'd crush the seat with his massive muscles - Steve sat next to Bucky, Clint had climbed into the tree - higher than Natasha - and Bruce sat down next to Tony. Tony, Bruce, and Peter began to talk about electrons and what Peter was doing in school, while Steve and Bucky talked about the 'old days.' Clint and Natasha were bickering fondly, as usual.

When everyone was done, Peter jumped up on the table and smiled at everyone. He clapped his hands together, making Clint, who was arguing about scientific things he didn't know anything about, jump and almost fall. Tony snickered. "I have a friend I'd like all of you to meet," he said, "well, you've technically met her before. She'll be here in five, four," he started counting down.

Interrupting him, a young, pretty girl walked up. "Shuri! That's my main meme! Everyone, officially meet Shuri. She's King T'Challa's sister." Peter said, extending his hand. She took it and jumped on the table with him.

Clint fell with a yelp suddenly. Everyone turned to see Black Panther in his place. T'Challa took off the mask and looked at everyone, smiling at his sister. "Ow..." Clint groaned from the ground, where he landed on his bum. Natasha laughed at him. Everyone stood. Tony, Bruce, and Steve bowed. Steve elbowed Bucky, who then bowed with them. Peter saluted the King. Thor smiled.

"Ah! So you're the other king!" Thor said, chuckling. "I am Thor." T'Challa raised his eyebrows.

"I know," T'Challa responded. Shuri touched Bucky's hair, making Bucky turn around, perplexed. "Shuri, please cease touching people's hair. It is not only strange, but it is also awkward." He commented. Shuri shrugged and touched Peter's.

"It's nice to see you again, Your Majesty," Tony said. Natasha nodded in agreement. Bucky and Steve shifted. Bucky hid his face and looked like he was going into cardiac arrest and was constipated at the same time. Steve grabbed his hand. Another wave of jealousy ran over Tony. Bucky was just Steve's friend. They were like brothers. No reason to get jealous.

Clint walked over to stand by Steve. "I apologize, Barton, for knocking you down. I hope that all of our rivalries have diminished. Same to you, Rogers and Barnes." T'Challa commented, jumping down and landing with perfect grace.

"We apologize too. We all forgive each other, then?" Steve said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Awesome. Now, what are we going to do?" Clint said.

"Vines!" Peter and Shuri yelled simultaneously.

"Shuri, your addiction to 'vines' and 'memes' is getting out of hand, please do not annoy everybody with them like you do me-" T'Challa started, facepalming, shaking his head.

"Peter, remember how I told you to not do anything that I wouldn't do? Would I indulge in vines?" Tony said.

Shuri and Peter laughed. "Hey, Jared, can you read number nineteen to the class?" Shuri asked.

"No I cannot," Peter responded, "hi I'm Jared, I'm nineteen and I never fucking learned how to read."

Tony gasped. "Watch your language!" He scolded. T'Challa looked like he was dying. Thor laughed.

"Peter, your name isn't even Jared!" Thor said, slapping his knee. Clint looked pleased and Natasha raised her eyebrows. However, Bucky and Steve looked confused and lost.

"Brother! Please, put your mask on. I wish to show them the technology." Shuri said. T'Challa did so, standing on the bench. Shuri pointed to the ears. "Such ears! Much wow! Very good! Such awesome! Much cat!" She exclaimed. Peter was laughing so hard he had to sit down. T'Challa put his hand up to where his mouth would be before jumping back on the tree.

"Shuri, I swear-" he started.

"Captain Rogers, may I see your shield? It's made of vibranium, right?" Shuri asked sweetly. Steve handed her the shield, nodding, confused. Shuri handed it to Peter. "This bitch empty!" Shuri yelled.

Peter looked at her with a desperate look before throwing Steve's shield, screaming "YEET" as loud as he could. Steve looked so confused he might cry. Bucky was chuckling. Tony and T'Challa glanced at each other.

Clint grabbed a stick. "This bitch empty, too!" He shouted before throwing the stick at Natasha, screaming 'yeet' too. Natasha caught it easily. Thor raised his hammer.

"Wait, no-" Tony said before Thor threw it gently, whispering 'yeet.'

"It didn't do anything special. What is the point of this spell?" Thor asked, looking genuinely disappointed.

"It's not a spell," T'Challa explained, "it is a stupid thing that children these days find interest in."

"Hey! I'm old and I like vines!" Clint objected. T'Challa sighed, obviously pondering his existence.

"You don't count. You're basically a big baby." Natasha chimed in, sharpening the stick with a pocket knife.

"What? Explain!" Clint demanded.

"Well, you like to throw fits, are dramatic, egotistical at your low skills - I mean, Tony's egotistical, but he at least has some skills - and you like to color in children's coloring books. Not to mention you cry at Disney movies." Natasha retaliated instantly. Clint stuck out his tongue at her.

"Okay, but how can you not cry at them? Y'all don't have hearts." Clint shot back.

"I cry at Disney movies!" Peter chimed in. Tony looked disappointed.

"If I may interrupt," Clint said, gently pushing Peter off the table, "can we talk about how Tony Stark and Steve Rogers are totally fucking in secret?"

"Clint!" Steve and Tony both cried. Steve covered his face with his hand and Tony put his head on Bruce's shoulder as Bruce laughed. Peter gasped. Shuri and T'Challa looked confused. Peter whispered to her why everyone was freaking out about this.

"Wait! Does this mean all that fighting was sexual tension?" Shuri asked. Steve looked at her with alarm. Tony shifted.

"No, it wasn't!" Tony said finally, "It was - we were - it was fighting! Disagreeing!" He said. Bruce pat him on the shoulder. Steve's face was red. Wait- did Steve feel that way back then? Oh god.

"Ah, so it was just a divorce." Shuri came to the conclusion.

"We weren't dating!" Tony said. "We- we aren't dating! Wait- are we dating?" Tony said, confused. His head was beginning to spin and he felt lightheaded. He took a deep breath. He was fine.

"Uh," Steve paused, "a-are we?" Tony didn't answer. How could he? They waited in silence. Steve walked over to Tony and put his hand on Tony's cheek. "Do you want to be?" Steve asked gently. Tony looked up at his blue eyes and his gentle face. Tony opened his mouth but no sound would come out. Tony nodded and gently leaned his head against Steve's chest. Steve ran his hands over Tony's hair before kissing his head gently.

"Oh, aren't I the perfect matchmaker?" Shuri bragged. Tony lifted his head and looked at her, mouthing 'thank you' to her. She winked at him. "Well, T'Challa and I better be going," she paused and smirked, "for now. My main meme, keep sending me memes you find." And with that, her and T'Challa walked away.

Steve leaned down, startling Tony before Steve picked him up bridal-style easily. Tony smiled fondly. "I weigh nothing to you, do I?" He asked.

"Tony, a car weighs nothing to me," Steve said, "but that worries me because I could so easily hurt you." His hands gently held Tony, but fear was prominent in his eyes. Tony reached up and touched Steve's face.

"You never hurt me," Tony whispered. It wasn't true, of course. Steve almost killed Tony. Tony swallowed hard. No, this Steve, the Steve he loved, wouldn't hurt him. Steve smiled at him and put Tony down gently.

"Okay, good job guys, but get a room? My poor eyes," Clint said, covering his eyes, acting disgusted despite grinning. Natasha nodded in agreement but gave them a thumbs up. Bruce was focusing on sketching something. Peter clapped. Thor smiled.

"Well, I must be going," Thor said before promptly leaving, shooting into the sky. They waved and watched him go.

"Anyone else leaving?" Tony asked, his gaze falling on Bucky. He didn't hate Bucky, don't get him wrong, but knowing that Bucky had such a deep relationship with Steve - and was single - worried him. What if Steve decided he loved Bucky more and left him? Tony couldn't talk much of the old days with Steve, while Bucky could recite their precious childhood memories.

Natasha nodded. "I've got a mission. Clint, you can stay here. Bucky, you're coming with me. We've got heavy things that need to be lifted." She said. Steve looked at Bucky, longing in his eyes. He missed his best friend. They'd lost so much time together. A pit of sorrow was dragging Tony down. Maybe Steve deserved Bucky. Maybe Steve shouldn't love Tony. Why should he? Tony was cocky, arrogant, and stupid. Someone like Steve deserved better. The whole team deserved better.

Bucky smiled at Steve. "Well, you've finally decided to get in a relationship," he said, eyes shining. He looked proud. A little sad, maybe, but mostly proud. As a friend should be. He and Natasha walked away, talking.

"Okay, guys, uh-" Peter began, "we should dance. Aunt May and I always dance when we go to empty parks. It's fun, c'mon." Tony was about to object when Peter said, "Please?" God, how can anyone not give into that? Tony sighed and chuckled.

"Sure, kid." Tony said. Steve jumped up on the table - which creaked and complained - while Bruce sat on the grass, running his fingers over the blades and drawing. "Friday, please play my kid-friendly playlist." Clint jumped to his feet.

"No way. Disney music?" He cried, excited as 'Be Our Guest' started playing. Clint jumped up and down, acting far too dramatic. Steve looked around.

"How are you supposed to dance to Disney?" Steve asked while Peter did a backflip, landing it perfectly. Clint climbed up the tree and did a backflip too, barely landing it with an 'oof.'

"You're right. Friday, please." One of Tony's favorites came on. Classic 'Back In Black.' Tony began dancing to it. It wasn't good dancing. If they were recording, it would probably end up on the 'cringier' side of YouTube.

Crash!

The table fell with a crash. Peter, luckily, landed on Steve instead of Steve landing on him. Clint began to laugh obnoxiously. Clint could laugh very loudly, and if you weren't in a good mood, you'd slap him, but usually, his laughter made everyone else laugh. And it did. Peter started laughing so hard he was crying while Steve looked concerned.

Tony chuckled and asked, "Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah," Peter said in between wheezes. Steve nodded and gently lifted Peter off of him an set him on the ground carefully. "Oh! Captain. I'll go get your shield. I'm sorry for throwing it." He added apologetically. Steve laughed and patted him on the back.

"It's no problem," Steve said kindly. "But I would appreciate it if you could retrieve it for me." Peter nodded and quickly ran in the direction he 'yeeted' it in. Steve turned to Tony, Clint, and Bruce, "So, this was fun. What now? What excitement awaits us?"

Just then, Thor landed back in front of them. With Loki next to him, smirking. Clint took a deep, shaky breath and Bruce let out a tiny 'oh no' while Steve and Tony simply looked at them. "Hello, friends! I brought my brother! Loki!"

Loki bowed, chuckling. Clint reached for the stick that Natasha had been sharpening and then held it threateningly towards Loki's heart. Loki raised his eyebrows. "Ah, lovely, you're all still feisty." He said, "What fun this'll be."

"Don't fucking try me," Clint hissed, "I'm a trained assassin. I'll kill you." Thor laughed at this. Loki stepped closer, looming over Clint. Clint held the stick tighter - so tight that his knuckles were turning white and the splinters were digging into his hand.

"Oh, I don't doubt it," Loki said, walking around Clint. "Ah, Captain Rogers. What a pleasure to see you and Mr. Stark again. And is that the Hulk? Wow. I'm so pleased." Loki reached for Tony's hand. Tony slowly shook hands with him, but when he tried to pull his hand back, Loki gripped it tighter. "Ah, so you are injured. What a pity." Tony took a deep breath and yanked his hand back.

"Hey, back off," Steve said, intervening. He grabbed Tony's hand gently, making sure Loki hadn't hurt Tony. Clint suddenly stabbed the piece of wood into Loki's shoulder violently. Loki sighed and lazily pushed Clint to the ground. Loki grabbed the piece of wood and yanked it out of his shoulder.

"You do realize, Clint Barton, that I am a god?" Loki said, looking disappointed. Clint clenched his jaw and stood up. Steve stepped closer to Loki, his fists clenched.

"Hey, Captain Crunch, calm down," Tony mumbled, "we're in a park near apartments. A fight here would not be good," Tony glanced at Bruce, who was looking at the ground. Steve unclenched his fists and stretched his fingers. Thor laughed.

"Anyways, I'm leaving you with my brother for now. He was being bothersome back at home, and I figured you would be the perfect," Thor paused, looking perplexed, "babysitters. Ah, that's the word."

"Thor, he tried to kill us!" Clint said, clearly outraged.

"You're allowed to smack him. He does require food occasionally. Get ahold of me if he starts killing people. See you soon! Love you guys." Thor said before flying away. Loki licked his lips and put on a smile.

"We can't - I - I'm - I did not sign up for this!" Clint yelled, kicking the tree. Loki laughed.

"Well, now you're stuck with me. Let's go somewhere. Ooh, how about Stark's home? Don't all of you basically live there anyway?" Loki slipped a gold ring off his finger and swung it around on the tip of his pinky. He was chewing something - Tony guessed some sort of space gum or whatever the hell they eat.

Steve grabbed Loki's arm suddenly, holding it so tight that Loki winced. "No games, alright? If you do anything fishy we'll beat you." He hissed. Loki nodded promptly and Steve let go. Holding his wrist, Loki looked at all of them.

"I'm not here to fight. I don't have any weapons and I know that I cannot beat you without something strong. Don't get me wrong - I'm strong. But it's so much effort to fight! Let's play a game. A fun game." Loki paused and smirked at Bruce, but there was fear deep in his eyes. "How about truth or dare? I hear mortals love that kind of game."

"Yeah, why should we 'play' with you?" Clint hissed.

"Because if you don't," he smirked and pointed a long finger at Bruce, "I might not behave." Bruce shifted and gulped, playing with his pencil. Tony stepped in front of him. What choice did they have? Maybe this could stop Loki from wreaking havoc for a little while. Plus, it's just truth or dare. Nothing too worrisome. They might even have fun.

"Fine," Tony said, jumping in. Clint started glaring at him. "What? Do you really want a fight, right here, right now, Clint?" Tony hissed back at him. Steve sighed. Bruce opened his mouth but didn't say anything. Clint forced a smile on his face and turned to Loki.

"Good. Let's play at the house. Where I have my bow." Clint said, looking darkly at Tony. Tony couldn't help but worry; had he made Clint seriously mad at him? The badass archer was usually pleasant but once you got on his bad side... well, things were never fun. Tony nodded in agreement.

They all started walking back. "This is a terrible idea," Bruce muttered, standing next to Tony. "I-I think it'd be best if I went home. Or somewhere." He whispered to Tony, "I'm not safe." Tony sighed and gritted his teeth.

"Yeah. If you want." Tony responded, rubbing his head, "Good plan." They continued walking for another minute before Bruce apologetically patted Tony on the shoulder and turned around, walking the opposite direction. Tony waved to him and sped up a little, keeping up with Steve and Clint, who were basically marching, glaring down Loki. Loki simply smiled up at them both.

"Bruce decided to walk away," Tony whispered to Clint, who simply ignored him. Tony swallowed hard and rubbed his ribs, which were starting to hurt even more. He walked behind them, carefully, watching the ground, nearly panicking. Everyone hated him. He shouldn't have made the decision. He should have left it to Steve.

Soon enough, they reached the house and went inside. Loki threw himself down on one of the couches and Clint sat down, fingers running over his bow as he grabbed it. Steve sat down next to Tony on a separate loveseat.

"Perfect. The game commences. Tony, darling, truth or dare?" Loki asked, playing with a pen he'd picked up off the coffee table, smirking, eyes glittering. Tony shifted uneasily.

"Truth." He finally answered. He could always lie. Plus, with his body starting to ache, whatever sick dares the manic came up with wouldn't be fun.

"What's your honest opinion on everyone in the room?" Loki asked smoothly after a brief silence. Huh. Tony had expected worse.

"I think you're a fucking idiot and are deeply annoying and I'd gladly kill you. I think that Clint is a pretty alright person and is a very skilled individual, although stubborn, like me. And Steve," Tony paused and looked at him, "well, he's Steve." He hadn't planned on saying anything else, but something unsettling came over him and forced him to keep speaking, "He's perfect. Gorgeous. Strong. Reliable. I don't deserve him, honestly. He's... well, perfect." Tony tried to shut up, but he couldn't. "And he has a nice ass." Tony's face flushed red. "What the fuck?" He said finally, able to control the words coming out of his mouth.

"Ah. Playing truth or dare means that you have to tell the truth and always do the dare. Did I not tell all of you this? And if you decide to quit, I will have to unfortunately light things aflame, and that's never pleasant, so please continue playing." Loki explained with his eyes closed, clicking the pen and shrugging.

Tony's heart rate quickened. Oh no. This could be bad. Clint looked even angrier now and Steve just looked simply confused, flustered, angry, and somewhat pleased all at once. It was odd and confusing. "Clint. Truth or dare." Tony said - he wanted to give Clint the option to pick on Loki.

"Truth," Clint responded, eyes not moving to look at Tony.

"What's your honest favorite color?" Tony asked.

"A soft lilac." He responded, eyes narrowing at Loki, "Okay, asshole, your turn. Truth or dare."

Loki paused and his eyebrows twitched, "Well, since everyone's chosen truth, I'll choose that as well, please."

"What is your most traumatizing experience?" Clint asked. Tony let out a shaky breath, glad he wasn't the one receiving this question. Steve reached out and touched Tony's hand, making him jump. Tony ran his fingers over Steve's hand gently, before giving it a little squeeze.

Loki looked at Clint spitefully, "When I was six I stabbed my brother for the first time. I thought he was going to die. I stabbed myself as well, just to experience what he was going through. After I learned that both him and I could recover from measly stab wounds easily, stabbing him became easier. But it had scared me as a child." Once he was done, he whispered a string of curses and clenched his fist. "Steven!" Loki said sharply, "Truth or dare?"

"I can't believe we're doing this," Steve mumbled, "dare."

"I dare you to throw Mr. Stark out the window," Loki said, a devilish smile growing on his face. Steve opened his mouth to protest and his breathing became increasingly fast as he stood up and grabbed Tony, again bridal-style.

Tony sat in Steve's arms, silently panicking.

You never hurt me.

Tony felt like he was going to throw up as they approached the window. "Stop!" Clint screamed, "Loki, you unprecedented asshole! Stop!" Tony tried to scramble out of Steve's arms as Steve basically hyperventilated, whispering 'no' and 'stop' and 'sorry' over and over and over again.

Steve suddenly threw Tony. The window broke with a crash and Tony began to fall. His armor was destroyed. There was no rescue. The wind whistled in his ears as he fell. Luckily, Tony had been looking up.

The blue sky would be an okay sight to see before you die.

Blue like Steve's eyes.

\\author's note//

ah, yes, the angst train has returned

this one was a doozy!!

struggled a lil bit, but here it is.

please!! leave kind things!! or funny comments!!

also wow how rude of me to leave y'all on a cliffhanger,,,, tell me if you want me to tag you when I update!!

date: 3/28/18

word count: 6333

[feywildatheart]

Asar-Pika,

So, I’m writing you a letter, and I hope you won’t frown at me for doing so, but I think it’ll come as no surprise to you that I’m not as good at talking as Elyn is, say. (And you can say that that’s saying something mean about myself and now I have to give you a list of eleven things tomorrow, but I’ll fight you on that, I don’t think it’s true. I don’t think it’s mean to be aware of your own strengths and weaknesses. I’m better at jumping and climbing and things than Elyn is, and Elyn’s better at talking to people than I am, it’s just the truth. It isn’t mean to be honest with yourself.)

I’m getting off the point already. The thing is— The thing is, I’m…kind of young? I mean, you’re all grown up and have been for a bit and you’ve done all these cool things before we even met on The Hammer of Antas, and that’s great. It’s really awesome, actually. But I…haven’t? I mean, I think I said, coming to Mir was the first time I left home, and before that I was just growing up in the Feywild and moving around with my moms. I don’t have impressive and slightly-scary friends who can swan on down and just completely dismantle the lives of people who deserve it, or anything like that, and I haven’t really done all that much that’s worth telling? I mean, I’ve written my moms lots of long letters about the things we’ve done together, but that’s not what I mean. I mean before that, in the Feywild, with my moms.

So I don’t know how long you’re going to make me keep making these lists, but ten every day is going to add up fast? And I haven’t really done that many things that are worth putting on a list? And so I don’t think it’s my fault if eventually I stop being able to come up with things to put on it. It’s not my fault I’m young and just leaving home and haven’t had all sorts of cool adventures already like you have. And I guess I could start just giving you lists that say things like ‘I have pretty hair’ but it’s not true. I mean, it is, I got it from Darna and I think it looks lovely in the sunlight, the first time we visited Homai and I got to see it in proper sunlight instead of the Feywild’s twilight, Cylla laughed at me and Darna had to practically pry the mirror out of my hands because I couldn’t stop twisting about and watching the way the light played off of it. But my point— my point is I could give you a list of ‘I like my hair, and my nose, and that freckle on my chin, and the third knuckle on my left ring finger’, but it would still be a kind of a lie, because I don’t actually think any of that…matters?

Also, the thing is. You started giving me these assignments to come up with things I like about myself, and I’m not even sure why? I do like myself pretty well, most of the time? The conversation we were having when you decided this was a thing I needed to do wasn’t about me not liking myself, it was about— Well, you and Elyn. Because, well, look, it’s not like I don’t know that the reason the two of you joined the Silver Tree with me was because Athan said you had to, to get the information you wanted. And Elyn and I get along well enough, but you, um… don’t talk to me? Or didn’t talk to me, you’ve been very talkative ever since your friend showed up on Mir and I think it might be giving me an ulcer, frankly.

Sorry, that was mean. I didn’t mean to be mean. But the thing is, I sort of lied this morning when I said you didn’t scare me at all. I definitely lied. There, you can have that as number-one on your list of nice things about myself: I am really terrible at lying and even when I try I don’t last very long before I give up and admit the truth, because it’s just too stressful.

Anyway. My point. Right. So, you didn’t really choose to choose to join me in the Silver Tree, not of your entirely own free will, at least, and you’ve got important things going on, I know, I wouldn’t ever try to say you don’t, or that your priorities should be other than they are. And you pretty much never talk — talked — to me aside from when I, like, dragged you into teaching me how to talk to Squirt, so it’s not as though you’d want to stick around for the scintillating conversation I provided. So I think that’s all the more reason that it was entirely justified and reasonable for me to not be sure whether you’d want to stay with us — well, with me — once you’d satisfied the terms of your agreement and gotten the information you needed from Athan? That’s not me not liking myself, that’s just me not being the sort of horrible person who assumes that everyone else in the galaxy must think I’m the best thing around? I don’t think it’s mean to acknowledge that there’s no possible way that every single person in the galaxy is going to want to spend time with me.

(Also I think if that were true, I’d go screaming back to the Feywild and never show my face in civilized space again. That sounds awful.)

So, I mean, I guess you can say that number two is this: I don’t have an inflated ego or a warped sense of self. I’ve got a very reasonable head on my shoulders, and I won’t apologize for that. So if you’re worried that I don’t like myself, you needn’t be. And if it’s that I’m not sure if you like me… I mean, I don’t think me making a list of nice things about myself is going to be the thing to fix that.

And you know what, for another thing. I don’t actually think you’re right. (Oh gods, I might throw up. I haven’t even sent this and I feel like I’ve eaten a bowl full of off-season dirwa-fish.) (There’s number three for you: I do things that are important, even when they’re scary and make me feel nauseous.) (And number four: I don’t let other people’s disagreement sway my opinions. Not even when they’re people I like and hope like me back and who are more than a little scary and are friends with people who can just walk into a space station and destroy someone’s life.) (Oh gods.) You said trying didn’t matter, only doing, and I think you’re wrong. I think it’s important to try, even if we don’t know if we’ll succeed. If we only ever did things we knew we could do, then we’d never do anything new, would we? I’d have never left home and I’d have never joined the Silver Tree or talked to an elk-spirit or stood in front of a deity. I didn’t know I could do any of those things, and the only way I found out is by trying. I tried to shoot that awful hag and I missed a few times — should I not have tried at all, those times, since I didn’t actually manage to do it? Did it not matter that I was trying to fight in defense of my friends, and in defense of a good man who was suffering? If I’d never managed to land a shot, would it have been the same as if I’d stood to the side and not drawn my bow at all? I don’t think it would have. I think intent matters. I think sometimes people fail, but it’s important that they try. And, you know, I like that I think that, so there’s number five for you, too.

Anyway, I’ll still keep making your lists if you think it’s important, but don’t scowl at me when they inevitably turn into lists of inanities. It’s not my fault I haven’t lived much yet, or had the opportunity to do much worth congratulating myself about. I’m trying, it’s why I’m here. It’s why I left home in the first place. And here, just to satisfy you:

6. I killed that awful hag and spared Bizza from suffering from her nightmare’s anymore.

7. I sort of got us free crepes for the rest of our stay on Sumula Station? Don’t tell me that doesn’t count, I know you’re happy about that.

8. I GOT TO PET A CHADO. THAT IS A THING ABOUT ME AND IT’S A VERY NICE THING, IT’S THE COOLEST THING, SO DON’T EVEN TELL ME THAT IT DOESN’T COUNT, I WILL FIGHT YOU.

9. I have good taste in friends. You don’t get to argue with me on that, either. You are, and I do.

10. I do have nice hair, so there.

All right, I’m going to send this before I lose my nerve, or throw up that very nice supper all over my LICD and destroy it completely. You seem dead-set on reassuring me that you do like me, even if you’re going about it in a bit of a backwards way, and I hope you still feel that way once you’ve read all this.

Oh gods, I really am going to throw up. Talking is the worst.

-Maliah

[avocato-plao-blog]

Never be the same

Title: Never be the same Word count: 2170 words Fandom: Hamilton Notes: Based on @jamsandhams Agent AU! Check them out and check out their awesome AU! All credit to the AU goes to them. -- Thomas found himself twirling a pencil in between his fingers, bored as he listened to his boss, George Washington, drawl about the assignments on the next mission. It was nothing, really. Just a quick job where they went into an overly crowded bar and detained a suspect without raising too much suspicion. They had done this thing all the time, so it made no sense to Thomas as to why George was making such a big deal about it. “...Lafayette will, like always, stay at home base. If any of you, at any time, need him you know where to find him.” George sighed, staring at a folder that held dozens of note-filled papers. “I'm going to have three agents go into the field on this one. I've decided upon Aaron, Angelica, and Alexander.” “Triple A.” Alex laughed, earning a glare from Angelica and a simple roll of the eyes from Aaron, who was lounging in a chair a few feet away from the Caribbean man. In response, however, Alex gave them finger guns with a quick flick of his wrist. Clearing his throat, George continued, “Angelica is going to be our lookout. She will keep an eye on the doors for any sign of the suspects men. Aaron will keep an eye on Alexander, who will try to persuade the suspect into cooperating.” Alex’s eyebrow quirked up, “You want me to seduce him?” “For the lack of a better term, yes.” Thomas scoffed, kicking his feet up on the table. “Are you sure we can trust this...this gremlin into getting the job done efficiently and correctly? Because I don't-” “Mister Jefferson.” George sternly commanded, looking the Virginian in the eye, “This isn't your call, and I personally think Alexander would be a good candidate for the job.” Alex opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by George, “You should all get ready, yes?” Alex raised a hand to interject, but was grabbed by Peggy whose eyes were lit up with enthusiasm. “Come on, Alex! Let's get you fixed up!” As Peggy began to pull the boy from the room, he shot a look at Aaron and Angelica. “Meet me at the bar. And remember, suit up!” “Son!” Alex let his head shoot back to look at his boss. He was about to let out a comment about the word, but George quickly spoke once again, “Be careful.” “I will. Thank you, sir.” - - “Nice suit.” John smiled, leaning against the door frame of Alex’s office. “Shut up, Laurens.” Alex chuckled, “Peggy picked it out. And anyway, you can't go to a bar without a nice suit.” He winked. “Haha very funny.” John paused, gazing out the window. “Just to let you know, Mr Washington assigned Thomas and Hercules to be there as well. Wants them to stay outside the building to watch for any other gang members.” Alex hummed softly in response, “This seems like a lot of agents for such a small job.” “This guy’s dangerous. He works for a really large group. Not exactly the type of people you’d want to grab a beer with.” “Well,” Alex grinned, “Looks like I am.” “Promise you won't do anything stupid?” “John, I-” once he saw the worried expression sprawled across his friend's face, he sighed. “I promise.” - - “I told you to suit up!” Alex whispered harshly, staring at his colleagues attire. “When I say suit up, I mean it!” “Hamilton, you know none of us are ever going to wear a suit on these. And anyway, you’re the only one that needs to.” Thomas sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Shut the fuck up, Jefferson.” Alex sighed, “Okay, so I'll go in and approach the suspect. And then,” he winked, “I'll work my magic.” There was a laugh on the other side of the microphone that was stuffed in his ear. “Oui oui, Mon petit lion. You do that.” Lafayette laughed and Alex swore he heard Peggy’s giggling on the other end. “Oh,” so it was Peggy, “Eliza told me to tell you guys to be careful.” “Of course she did.” Angelica chuckled, “Tell her we will.” “Will do.” Peggy replied. “Oh!” Lafayette exclaimed, the clacking of a keyboard resonating throughout the room he was in. “Your man is on the south side of the bar. Join him, Alex. Use that, how you say, charm of yours.” “Will do, Laf. Thanks.” He turned to the people around him, “Well, I've got to go.” Fixing his suit, but characteristically leaving his tie messy and undone, he strutted into the bar. He walked around a little bit, getting drinks and acting normal. When he sneakily made eye contact with the subject, he grinned and walked over with an obnoxious amount of self-confidence fluttering around him. “Is this seat taken?” He questioned, smiling at the man. “No, of course not. Go right ahead.” Alex, from the moment he lay his eyes on the man, felt himself become uneasy. He was quick to play it off. “So,” the man grinned, laying his hand near Alex’s thigh as he spoke, “What’s your name?” “Nathan Drake.” Alex lied, his wide grin becoming even larger, “and you must be the well-renowned Mr. Montreal.” “Guilty as charged.” Montreal laughed, hearty and rich. Alex hated it. “So tell me, Mr. Drake-” “Please, call me Nate.” “So, Nate.” The man grinned, “What are you doing here all alone tonight?” “Well,” Alex began, trying to ignore Peggy’s gagging sound on the other side of the ear piece, “I've been having a hard time at work lately. Extremely stressful. I came here to let off some steam and get completely wasted.” “Cheers to that.” The man smiled, “I wouldn't mind helping. How about a drink, on me? You seem like a chocolate martini kind of guy.” “You know me so well.” Alex winked. Montreal called over the bartender and ordered the drinks. He turned back to Alex while they waited. “I have that type of charm with people.” “Oh,” Alex set his hand on the counter, “I'm sure you do.” The bartender came quickly, setting the drinks down in front of Montreal. The man picked up both drinks, setting the martini in front of Alexander. Alex, however, failed to notice the pill the was quickly dropped into his drink from the man’s suit sleeve. “Thank you.” Alex grinned, bringing the glass to his lips. As soon as the liquid flowed past his mouth and into his stomach, he felt nauseous and sick to his stomach-as if someone were stabbing him. He winced. Moments later he sat, stunned. His vision clouded and his mind became hazy. The sounds around him became almost muted over with a thick buzzing. He could barely hear Lafayette. “Hey, Alex….okay? You….stopped….not moving.” He hardly noticed when a purple liquid began to flow from his cracked lips. His hands, as if mechanically, flew to his mouth and covered it. The pain in his stomach was now excruciating. He fell from the chair, crashing to the ground and shaking. Two people rushed up to him and he could barely see the figures of Aaron and Angelica as they desperately tried to support him. Aaron put his phone to his ear and yelled at someone on the other end. Alex felt dazed, his mind buzzing and his ears ringing. He tried to focus on Angelica’s horrified face, wanting some familiarity as he drifted off and on, but he found it to be difficult. He saw two figures run up to them, pushing through the crowd of patrons and rushing to Alexander’s side. Thomas? Hercules, too. Then there was the coughing. Alex hacked into his sleeve, feeling a liquid soak into the fabric. Poison? Maybe blood. Colors were fading together, so telling the difference was proving to be difficult. Alex assumed it must have been the poison. However, the iron taste that filled his mouth proved otherwise. Moments before his eyelids closed, he felt a new set of hands wrapping around his body and holding him close to their chest. He felt wind in his face. Running? Running…running out of time. Time's up time's up time’s up- He blacked out. - - “Shit!” John exclaimed as Thomas ran in the facility with Alex in his arms. “Lafayette and Peggy said something was wrong. But-but...I didn't think-” “Washington.” Angelica demanded, running up behind Thomas. “R-right…right! I'll go get him.” John’s eyes lingered on his best friend’s limp form before he darted from the room in search of George. “What happened?!” George ran in, frantic and wild. It was very rare to see their boss in a state of such distress. “Take him to the medical bay. Now!” Thomas was quick to oblige. “Poison. We think the guy was on to us. He was fine one second and-” “Angelica!” Eliza ran in. “I came as soon as I heard. Where’s Alexander?” “Med bay.” Her sister explained, panting slightly from the run. Eliza’s eyes widened slightly. “How bad-?” “Bad.” - - Washington sat at Alexander’s side, his head down as he held onto the boy’s hand. The quiet was unsettling, but George needed his head to be cleared. Alexander, after having his stomach pumped and his vitals checked was proved to be in a comatose state. He had been like this for 3 days. He had all of his friends frequently checking up on him, talking to him even though they knew they were not going to receive a response. Hopefully they would soon. Because if not- George would rather not think of that. “Sir?” Lafayette questioned, peeking his head into the room, “Would you like me to take over?” “That's...that's not necessary.” Lafayette looked like he had more to say, opening his mouth and the closing it like a fish out of water. He nods, sending a sorrowful glance at Alexander, then exits the way he came. The quiet remains. George never liked the quiet before. No, George decides, he still does not like it. - - Alex feels like he’s on fire. Like he's dying and oh my god he's dying I'm dying dying dying dying. He glances over to his mother, coughing and wheezing from beside him. She's whispering sweet words into his ear, telling him that it's all going to pass and he's going to be alright. He is quick to notice how she doesn't tell him that she will be alright. But the thought is quick to leave him as he begins to hack, blood spurting into his hand and staining it red. His mother rubs his back, rocking him back and forth as he cried. He finally falls asleep, his mother holding onto him as if he is her life line. And he was. The next morning, as the sun rose above the horizon, Alex awoke. He looks at his mother, her eyes closed, and sits patiently as he waits for her chest to rise. It doesn't. Silently, he sits back and rests his head on her stomach. He holds her lifeless body as the tears begin to escape. Moments later he begins to scream. - - “Alex!” George yells, holding down the once quiet boy as he thrashes about violently. Lafayette and John rush in, followed by Hercules and Angelica. “What-?” “Alexander!” George yells once more, trying his hardest to drown out the screams. The boy stops, crying softly as he wraps his arms around George’s neck. George is quick to do the same. - - Alex walks inside the compound, sluggish but ready for another day of work. He holds a book tightly to his chest, eyes drooping as he gazed at the ground boringly. “Alexander?” A voice questions from across the room. He hums in response. “Shouldn't you be at home resting?” Alex glances up at Angelica and sighs. “Psh, no I'm completely fine.” He drones, rolling his eyes softly. Nonetheless, he still appreciates her concern. She growls softly, “You were literally in a medically induced coma three days ago.” “Sure.” He supplies, “But-” “Alex?” Another voice cuts in, “Is that you?” Alex sighs as he looks at the figure. “Burr-” “Go home!” Burr calls, “You look like you’re about to fall over and die.” Angelica stands by Burr with her arms crossed, glaring at him. “And you’re wearing pajamas.” Alex doesn't even glance at his book printed pajama pants before he snarls at Burr. “No one fuckin’ asked you, Burr.” “Lay off him, Burr.” John smiles, lazily throwing his arm around Alex’s shoulders. “For what it's worth, I'm glad to have you back.” “As much as I hate it.” Thomas calls from beside Burr. “I'd have to second that. Although,” the man looked Alex up and down, “you could have come looking a little more professional. I'd expect that from you, anyway.” “Shut the fuck up!” Alex yelled, throwing the book he was holding at Thomas. And yeah, Alex may have been a shitty little gremlin. But they didn't mind. Things just wouldn't be the same without him.