#but he’s been taking care of this deaf cat for the better part of 7 years

[ringneckedpheasant]

i wouldn’t say that my parents are ““accepting”” of my ““lifestyle”” but it’s been sooo long since my mom has asked me abt having kids and also last time i brought alistair to their house i was constantly referring to my parents as his grandma and grandpa and when i left my dad was like “come back soon alistair :-)” like. he actually enjoys it when i bring him over whereas he’s complained Literally every single time one of my siblings has brought a dog over

[publicaciones-sin-sentido]

Hot Day Part 2 Ghost x Female Reader

Part 1

Warnings: Unprotected Sex.

You knew it wasn't good to eavesdrop, but when it came to Lieutenant Ghost you couldn't turn a deaf ear, you were in the locker room, and an annoying part of being the only female in group 141 was that they didn't exactly have a locker room and bathroom. all to yourself so it was your turn to share, however the guys had been kind enough to bring some disused lockers and tuck them in a corner so you had a little more privacy when you got out of the showers so now you were quiet listening as Soap and Gaz gossip.

-I'm telling you, Ghost is bringing something, he doesn't act as usual- Soap whispered.

-You think he's seeing someone- Gaz widened his eyes.

-No, I think he's looking at someone and doesn't know how to express it- Soap took her hand combing his hair.

-You think he doesn't know how to flirt- Gaz almost choked.

-It's Ghost, he doesn't know much about social relationships- Soap crossed his arms.

-He's been weird since what happened in the Gym with Silver- Gaz snapped his fingers.

-It's a fact that LT likes it, I think Silver's comments turned him on- Gaz and Soap laughed among themselves.

You almost fell on your ass when you heard Soap's last statement but you managed to keep your balance, it was time to get out of here as discreetly as possible, taking your boots you left barefoot, if you were silent enough they would keep talking and they wouldn't see you slip away.

But damn your luck you stepped in a puddle and fell inelegantly.

The murmurs stopped at that instant.

Gaz and Soap appeared at that instant in your field of vision,

-Nice fall Silver- Soap crossed his arms looking at you with narrowed eyes.

-I didn't want to listen, I was here before you- your words came out sharp.

-What's between you?- Gaz looked at you curious.

-It's okay, stop seeing things where there aren't any- you got up and took your scattered things, leaving without paying attention to the two of them.

-Gaz, it's time to interfere and carry out a plan for those two- Soap smiled cynically.

-Are you some kind of cupid?- Gaz put his hands to his head.

-No, I just want the lieutenant to stop being grumpy and if he has someone to scratch his back he will be softer with us-

Gaz smiled like the Cheshire cat - I like how that sounds.

+ + + +

You had three days off from today, but as a habit you woke up around 6:30

You decided to stay in bed until 7:30 marked a shower and have breakfast, there were not many people in the cafeteria today so it would be a quiet day. Much later when you were in the solitude of your room resting and reading one of your romantic novels on the sly, "Yeah.. as if a man could make me feel like this, it would be too good to be true", until now you had had few dates , somehow no man could adapt to what you wanted, you sighed covering your face -The lieutenant left the stick high- on one of your walls the photograph of the team hung, you approached to look at it observing Ghost,

-The Lieutenant is the damn stick-

Your phone rang interrupting your ramblings, a notification from Soap.

"I need you to help me, I'm in warehouse No. 5"

"What are you doing there? I thought you wouldn't take care of it for the moment, Sp"

"Go! If Price finds out about the mess I made, he'll kick my ass for a month."

You sighed exhausted, got up and went to the Warehouse, which was a 15-minute walk, it was quite far from the base, but it wasn't who designed it to judge.

When you entered you opened the heavy gate, yes Soap wanted discretion, you thought it was better to close it -Soap? Are you?- you walked around looking at some scattered boxes- Sp?- you took another cautious step. the hair on the back of your neck stood up, bending around a shelf a large, skeletal hand engulfed your wrist, you let out a sharp cry, because of all things you didn't expect that, the hand dragged you effortlessly, you were spun around and crashed against something hard, you fought trying to get out of its grip but it was useless.

-What are you doing here?- Ghost's voice calmed you instantly, so you stopped fighting.

-Lieutenant!! What a scare! He also came to help Soap? - He released you and you could look at him straight on, although you didn't like losing the heat you felt against your back.

-No, Gaz said that he had to tell me something important away from prying ears- you frowned.

Are you sure I'll quote you here? -I ask- of course yes- you took out your phone and when you entered the chat it almost gave you a stoppage,

“This message has been removed”,

-It can't be, I was saying it right here- you looked at the lieutenant who, although he always had his face covered, now you will be able to notice his expressions more, and at this moment there was suspicion in his eyes -Don't look at me like that, Lieutenant! I didn't invent anything from this!-

-Watch your tone, Sergeant- his voice was a low but demanding growl "Oh Lord!" His voice sends a discharge of electrical current from your spine to the rest of your members.

-I'm sorry, I think I'd better go- you didn't wait for an answer, you just left the place, when you got to the door you noticed the sound of his footsteps behind you, you tried to open the gate, but it didn't move, you tried again and … it did not move. -But what…- you pushed again with all your might.

-I'll try- Ghost passed in front of you and although he was much stronger, he couldn't against the big door.

"It was open a moment ago, I went in without problems," you offered.

-It was also open when I came here- she took the phone from him, raised it and turned her face towards you- Take yours out- without hesitation you gave it to him because you were starting to feel chills.

He took it, the lilac sheath with glitter stones contrasting with his gloved hand, you saw him repeat the movements from a moment ago.

-There is no signal… this is for network inhibitors- his face once again became serious -Damn idiots- he turned around and sat on a wooden box.

-What's wrong?- You got closer but still you stayed a good 5 steps away from him.

-Gaz and Soap have left us locked up here… I don't know why, do you know anything about this Sergeant?- The conversation between Soap and Gaz is repeated in your head… "God those idiots"

-I'm sure it's a practical joke, Lieutenant,- you laughed nervously and avoided looking at him, the dust on the floor seemed incredibly interesting at that moment.

When you looked up, Ghost is right in front of you, one step away, -What do you know?-

-Nah… nothing, they were talking in the dressing room… but I have nothing to do with this- you took a step back, hitting a shelf, you saw the lieutenant's arms rise and cage you in place, -What were they talking about?- you stayed quiet, you lowered your gaze. Something rough touched the side of your cheek, a thick finger leaving his caress. You gasped -What were they saying?-

-They were gossiping about you… say saying that… apparently you were interested in someone but you didn't know how to approach the person you like…- you swallowed, looked up his eyes were piercing your soul -Lieutenant I have nothing- his finger stopped in your mouth silencing your voice, your heart throne in your ears.

-Who was that person… Silver look at me- his voice dropped an octave, turning dark and devoid of good intentions, you looked overwhelmed.

-This is the first time he says my code name Lieutenant- your legs

-It's the first time you say my code name Lieutenant- your legs trembled.

Ghost turned around and walked a few steps away from you- Who was that person Silver?- He repeated the question.

-They said that… it was me…- Ghost turned around with a still hand grabbing your neck. -And what do you think?- You looked at his highly concentrated skull mask.

-You made such a big mistake, Lieutenant, I know you don't like me very much.- Ghost held up a hand.

-Why do you think that?- You looked at him with a blank expression -He almost never wants to train with me and in the missions it's like… he always leaves me behind, I understand that at first he didn't trust me… but I thought that after months of being In this team, maybe I could see that I can take care of what I need in the missions… you know… I thought about leaving, Captain Price will understand, and I won't be a bother in the missions anymore- you smiled looking towards the ground. You looked up looking for a possible way out, a window at least, the tension was getting ugly and you didn't want to continue here, acknowledging out loud what you suspected made you realize that you wanted to cry.

A hard hand spun you around and you were once again backed against a shelf. -What the hell are you doing, soldier? Are you deserting?-Ghost's eyes were dark... but he never saw them like that... you couldn't recognize the emotion they conveyed.-I see you like to talk nonsense, let's keep that mouth busy with something else- confused, you saw him lift his mask, you were going to say something but as soon as you opened your mouth, the Lieutenant kissed you... hard, impatient, destroying your sanity, You froze for a few seconds, but the heat of desire quickly took over your body. Ghost's hands rested on your hips, with a skilful movement lifting you up so you didn't hesitate to wrap your legs around his waist. But you were aware then of what was happening. You walked away from his mouth even though it took every fiber of your being to do such a thing.-Lieutenant, are you okay?-

His deep eyes, dark wells, looked at you with hunger, desire, lust, now you can name that look of his, and then you realized that it was like that, how he looked at you sometimes, the first time he You entered the team, when you went on a mission together and your teams got wet sticking your shirt to your body, the day you wore civilian clothes and thinking of wearing one of those short dresses at the waist.

You always thought he looked at you like you were a mess but now… it came out that you weren't.-Follow the orders, I'll take care of the consequences- he kissed you again, since you were in civilian clothes, it was no problem that he took off your shirt, leaving you in your black lace bra, his mouth traveled down your neck and stopped on your clavicle, barely biting.He sat on an old box with you astride, and you noticed the hard bulge in his pants, "This is really happening" his mouth lowered to your chest biting the delicate bud through the black lace.You gasped and clung to his shoulders. His big, hot hand left a trace on your waist, looking for the button of your pants, he unbuttoned them with a quick and agile movement, when he got up and left you on the box, you almost jumped when you saw him kneeling in front of you.-Lieutenant?-His hands yanked off your shoes and he went for your pants. -Simon,- he growled.

-Say it.- -Yes... Simon, do you want this?--Yes, and you?-His eyes never left your face."Sounds like a fucking dream," you gasped.With one quick movement he stripped off your clothes, placed a series of kisses on your abdomen, moving down, down, closer and closer to your core, pushed aside your lace underwear and placed a loud kiss above your lips, at the top of your lips. not having hair there gave you chills at the feel of his scratchy beard.-I've waited so damn long- I raised your legs and put them on his shoulders, his head sank and you felt the scorching heat of his tongue leaving long caresses in your knot of nerves, you screamed for the sensations, the white dots danced in your eyes , "If that's how I feel with his tongue... what would happen if he?"

Your mind travels to a different scenario anticipating what might happen. The heat spread like lava through your veins, the sensations traveling through your body until you felt there was nothing left of you to hold on to, you felt yourself floating, the only thing you could hold on to was his shoulders, you try to push your center away from his mouth just because the sensations were overflowing -I haven't finished Silver- your name in your mouth sounded dirty, with a dark promise of more.-Please… I can't… anymore- your breathless voice earned you a harsh laugh. -You can do as much as I want Silver- something hard and rough sank into the depths of your folds, you screamed when you noticed his bare fingers leaving caresses, making their way through your narrow channel.

One, two, three… it was too much without warning, without being able to say a warning, you came hard and strong, Simon never moved his face. He dropped your legs and towered over your figure.He sees him take his hands to his belt and remove it followed by his pants, black boxers rising up like a tent. You could see the outline of his member hard and long, you could even almost see the veins etched through the cotton fabric.-You like what you see Silver- you were too hot to feel embarrassed right now.-Yes, please, I want you inside Simon- Like a taut wire, Simon's control broke, he settled you under him and the head of his cock danced against your entrance, getting the moisture he needed, small breathless cries were heard.

They took over you, until you felt the constant pressure, centimeter by centimeter it entered you leaving a trail of fire in its wake.When it was fully inside you moved restlessly needing it to move. -So impatient,- he sneered.When he recoils, taking the heat from inside you, you groaned, almost unable to recognize the sounds you were making, but you saw something in the glint in Simon's eyes tighten and break completely.

It sets a hard pace, that took your breath away, you can only gasp and cry at how it felt. Her hands went to your thighs leaving marks, you didn't notice how much time passed, but you couldn't continue anymore, feeling the delicious pressure in your core again, this time if you could give a warning. Simon just quickened his pace, going crazy and wild, the sounds they were making were obscene and he was thankful he was so far from the base, you couldn't go back there if someone heard them at that moment. With his fingers Simon caressed your clitoris and that was your defeat, your weakness, you came, screaming like crazy with pleasure, it didn't take long for Simon to cum, releasing his hot semen on your walls, he stayed still for a long time trying to catch your breath.

You felt a soft caress against your soaked lips and you complained about the sensitivity. -Shhh I'm just cleaning, I'll leave you at the base to rest- I help you get dressed.

They walked in silence, I couldn't tell if he was comfortable or uncomfortable… He was quiet, but he was Ghost so it was always like that…

-I'll wait for you at 5:00 p.m. in the parking lot, pack something for 2 days-

-What? -You were confused by his words-

-I have a place nearby, I thought we could spend the rest of our break there… but if you don't want-

You realized then that he was inviting to share the days, you took his hand -Yes I do!, at 5:00 p.m. in the parking lot, copied lieutenant- the last thing came out as a laugh, you turned on your heels, but the quick movement made me remember that you were sensitive -Ughh fuck!-

-Take things easy- You turned to see Ghost wink at you. Your cheeks got hot and you went to your room to prepare a bag as he told you, it would be a very good rest days.

"Soap Blessed Idiot I'm In Debt"

[thejosh1980]

Little Wing

(Trigger warning: animal/pet death)

Today, right now, I am sat at the spot where Mijo felt his last sunrise, just 24 hours ago.

He was 28 weeks old, he spent 20 of those weeks with me, and my family. He was my family. He was thrust upon me by my wife and mum, who knew Mijo would be the kind of birthday present I'd want, but could never ask for.

When he arrived he was unexpected. Straight from the car, into my bedroom, onto my lap, what a surprise, it was love at first sight. Those eyes, that tail, that round belly, the fur, I was all in. I had to say goodbye to 4 beautiful pets whom I loved dearly when I left Germany, so then and there I made a quiet, whisper promise to Mijo;

“I'll never ever leave you”...

We began like any other Daddy and cat story, playing, eating, talking to each other. We may have made a few messes on the bed learning to potty train, but I couldn't really fault him, he was perfect. He loved cuddles, got under our feet all the time, talked to us a lot and wanted to be a part of everything happening around the house.

He meowed very loudly too. Sometimes he'd meow from the next room sounding lost and worried. That's when I started to realized something was very different about him. It took about 2 weeks, but then I realized, he was totally deaf!!!! No vacuum cleaner, loud bangs, claps, or door slams could get his attention. When he meowed loudly, it was either because he had to, to feel himself meowing in his head, or he was missing us and could smell us, but not hear us in the next room. I had never had a cat who couldn't hear me call their name, so this was going to be a challenge.

Mijo accepted that challenge...

In a short time I figured out how to clicker train him, using a torch. I love training cats. Most folks think it's impossible, but I've taught cats to fetch, sit and come on command in the past.... So, pretty soon I had him jumping up, over and across chairs and tables on cue. I also learnt a way to “call” him; assuming he could see me, if I knelt down and tapped my leg, he'd come a running. Every time. We had it all figured out.

Grab a harness and a lead, and off we go, walking around the garden. This wasn't a cat, this was a dog. He had very little fear, I mean, he couldn't even hear the birds making a racket or the car driving by or the dog barking next door. He was fixated on me.

I bought him a blow up boat, to use in the pool, to help him get used to floating on water. It was a huge boat for his little size, but he'd hop in, and I'd “treat” him while he got used to the motion. The plan was to build him up to a real boat, or canoe or SUP. I could imagine him walking on water.

He was also great with other cats, so I could take him to visit his cousin and they'd play all day (if we'd let them). He'd come with me to visit other family and then... well, then the real adventures started. Mijo and I could go to the river, the park and the beach. We also went for coffee at the busiest part in the local village, and he took it all in his stride. We took bike rides too, as he sat in a special backpack I had for him. I could hold him while skateboarding or put him on my shoulder as I walked around. He was chill, happy to see and smell his silent world.

When Alex or I came home, and he'd be in the bedroom snoozing or gazing out the window, we could come in, take off our shoes, put our stuff down, maybe run to the loo, then we could snuggle up with him, cause he hadn't heard us arrive. He would just be waiting... He'd just wait for someone to step close enough, blow on his ear, feel a vibration and then he'd meow a big BIG hello, purr and snuggle. He was a no pressure cat... But always ready for hugs and pats.

Besides being deaf, he just didn't seem like any other cat I'd had or even met...

But isn't the way it is with all pets? They're all unique.

He loved Alex. He always had a hard decision between my lap and hers, or sleeping close to one or the other. We had a son to take care of, to love and to enjoy. At the beginning, Alex wasn't sure about having a cat, she'd pretty much always been a dog person, but it didn't take long for Mijo to wrap her around his little paw. She was hooked.

We thought he was going to be grow up to become a big boy. You know, Maine Coon sized 5-6 or maybe 7 kilo. We had high hopes for a dog-like cat, big enough to take on the world. We wanted to show him the world too.

After he had his snip (desexing) in mid March, he wasn't very well, and it really traumatized all of us, we just weren't sure why he took it so badly. He was in a lot of pain, even though the operation itself was quick and really good, with no issues. He would spend the day, in his “bread loaf” position, with his nose to the ground. It was like he was conserving all his energy for when we came home or wanted his attention.

Eventually, after a few weeks he bounced back, back to being his usual self, for a while. He actually lost a lot of fur during this time, most likely due to a reaction to the antibiotics and pain killers. Where his collar and harness were, he lost all his hair. It only took a few days, a bit too quick to realize what was going on, he rarely wore the collar or harness after that. It meant we sometimes lost him in the house without his bell on to tell which room he was in, so I'd be running around turning on and off the lights to get his attention and a meow.

It was our fun game of “Mijo Polo”.

We had noticed he wasn't eating as much, and he wasn't as playful. In fact, all his toys were being ignored, and he rarely chased anything we teased him with. When we took him for playtime with his cousin, he wouldn't last as long play fighting. Something was up, we thought he'd bounce back by now.

Overall, he was a very chilled cat, having just had an operation and now with, ringworm, a tooth problem (one adult tooth was causing him problems and needed to be pulled) maybe that was why he wasn't too interested in food. Surely it wasn't bacteria, an infection or a virus in his blood.

In early May, Mijo developed ringworm, which, by the way, isn't a worm but rather a fungal infection. The vet already had us on anti fungal cream day and night. It's very unusual to get ringworm; it's all around us, but a strong immune system, actually, a decent immune system, would fight off any infection naturally. Cats generally just lick it all off their fur. Humans sometimes get it, from a scratch or a wound. It's in the soil, it's in the air.

When we got the treatment for the ringworm, we also gave him an appetite stimulant, to encourage him to eat, but it made little difference. As nothing changed, we went back to the vet a few days later, and did a hypothyroidism test; the results were borderline.

What could be going on?

At the time of his desexing operation, he was 1.7 kilos, a week later he was down to 1.5 and eventually 1.45 kilo. His body was growing a little, but his muscle and fat wasn't.

We talked to the vet and decided, even though his ringworm was infectious, the tooth had to go, sooner rather than later. It seemed logical that it was his biggest barrier to fulfilling his dietary requirements and his well being. We wanted him fattening up, growing up, and being his usual self again, ASAP. We needed to get him back on track towards good health, enough was enough.

On Monday 17th May I dropped the little guy off at the vet for the day. A check up and a tooth pull.

Before any cat gets an anesthetic, they run a simple blood test to determine if the cat is well enough. During the day we got a call that the operation couldn't happen, and that he'd have to stay in over night or longer, with meds to help him, because his red cell blood count was low. 10%. Most cats need around 40%, if there's any complication with the tooth pull, his blood may not clot.

It's official, he was very unwell.

I was at school when I got the news. I was in shock. Our little boy was that unwell? But he does eat (a little), he does walk on the lead with me, he's eating his treats... was he that unwell?

Suddenly we had to decide on some expensive tests to figure out what was wrong with him. I mean, the red blood cells were being eaten up by the white ones, but why?? We arranged the suggested tests and they kept him in over night.

I was very distraught. How can my little guy be so unwell yet behave well? With that blood count, he shouldn't be able to walk, he should be so lethargic that he can't keep his head up!! He should be in a coma.

All in all, theoretically, he should be dead.

So was it dwarfism, hypothyroidism, mycoplasma??? And and and?? Tests... Blood being taken.. Our boy in the vet over night, alone, worried, scared??? Will he make it through the night? I didn't sleep well...

On Tuesday afternoon the vet let us bring him home. His blood level was down to 9.1%. The idea was that, at least at home he'd have cuddles and love, and that might help his immune system. He was lethargic but not completely terrible. I would need to bring him in on Wednesday for another blood test, to see how he was doing.

On Wednesday, it didn't go well, Mijo had gone from 9 to 8.1% blood level. It was now becoming almost impossible to get any blood out of him. I saw how difficult it was 2 weeks earlier when he had the hypothyroid test, they had to try on both legs and his neck to get a half mil of blood! He was a champ and barely complained. But now, I couldn't imagine the pain he went through with even less blood.

He's been that sick for how long?? Why hadn't we noticed?

We were panicking.

The vet suggested we meet with a mature, more experienced doc, on Thursday. We should be able to figure something out, we had to. Each day = less blood = more chance of...

Well, I am a hopeful guy. I realize, I live on hope. I spent years hoping certain people in my life would change, or love me in a way that I feel some love. I always hope things will change for the better. I don't know why, but it's ingrained in me to feel hopelessness or hope... I think I'm never in the middle... or is that called acceptance? OK, maybe I do feel that too, eventually... But it takes a long long time...

I have videos of Mijo on Thursday 20th, he's cleaning himself in the sun, meowing and purring, happy to see me, walking around the garden with me. Full of life and adventure.

At lunch time, Mijo and I go to the vet. He is his usual cute self, always curious at the vets, and now there's a the new guy he's meeting, what an adventure.

Before he opens the cat box he said something along the lines of “Well, because his blood levels are so low, today is really about deciding if he goes to heaven or not...” I'm not sure, but I know I heard words like “heaven” and “euthanasia” early on in the consultation. Shock was setting in. I barely heard anything else he said, luckily we had Alex on the speaker phone.

Turns out, not only is our little guy deaf, he's an anomaly.

Any cat with 8.1% should be comatose. They should barely be able to walk. They certainly can't pee or poo without help and don't drink or eat much. Mijo came out of his box and sniffed around, was alert and ready to meet the new guy!!

The vet was stumped. He had never seen this before, in over 30 years...

We didn't know he was so sick, because, he was, overall, a well behaved cat. His weight he lost, sure, but he was now at least stable. He was eating, it just took a lot of creativity sometimes to spark his interest (mostly warming up meals and giving him treats).

The vet tried to explain to me, but I'm sure Alex on the phone understood it clearly, that we had very little time, well, no time. We had 3 choices that day. Go to a specialist an hour's drive away, give Mijo steroids and hope he had mycoplasma or Immune mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA) or, lastly, euthanasia.

Wait???? What does that even mean??

The specialist would give him a blood transfusion, and some special custom drugs which should help him. The vet said it could cost in the 10s of thousands, and may help Mijo for a few weeks, but it's not a solution that we are sure would be long term or not.

Giving Mijo steroids would give him a fighting chance, or not... Basically it could cure or kill him. Because we aren't sure what is the cause of the low blood count, it could be IMHA, mycoplasma or something else, but it's a best educated guess at this rate. If it is the wrong choice, he may die quicker than expected.

Euthanasia, no explanation needed.

We decided on steroids. According to the vet, there was a 50/50 chance it would work. If the cause of the blood cells killing off each other was for or against steroids, we'd know soon enough. Still shocked I tried to understand it all. I'm so grateful Alex was on the line and knows this stuff through experience and study.

The idea of taking Mijo an hour's drive north to the specialist, to a cubicle, a place where we may not be with him 24/7, on the off chance that he wouldn't make it and die alone, we couldn't fathom that.

Mijo took the steroid injection like a champ, he always did injections well. He was given some antibiotics to also help. The vet said, that by Saturday we'll know if it was the right decision. We'd know if he would be getting better...

It was decided that on Monday 24th we'd go back in for a blood test to actually see if the steroids were working (cause apparently one can't really tell with Mijo's behavior, the cheeky monkey).

Mijo and I came home, and well, he ate, he was purring, sitting on my lap. The usual deal. When I went out to get the washing in, he tried to go out too, something we, as parents, have been very protective about. He doesn't go out alone, he doesn't go out without a lead or a bell. He's not an easy cat to find if he runs off, not that he has ever tried. He deaf, he can't hear cars or other dangers out there.

I promised him I'd take him out to that side of the house/garden that afternoon...

So we did, we went out, we sat down, he explored. He was well, good, better, best. He was my boy. He trusted me, I trusted him. I'm always amazed how well he walks by my side, like a dog, with loose leash... Taking my steps as cues when to walk, and when to stop.

We also met the neighbor's dog, which was a first, both were not really interested in each other... But still, Mijo knew there's a lot to live for...

Overnight he went great... Woke up with him on my chest relaxing waiting for me to get up and feed him, luckily I have a wife who had to get up for work at that moment. I remember she sang him a lullaby and held him like a baby. It was really sweet to see how much love they had for each other. Rock-a-bye Mijo...

We wanted to him feel as much love as we could. We felt that, if the steroids and antibiotics were doing their part, and we did ours, there's nothing he can't beat. And he sure felt the love...

I held him while doing some singing exercises, close to my chest. It was something we hadn't done before, and he purred. He'd look up and meow every time I stopped making vibrations. He felt it, I felt it, it was a connection.

We spent a lot of time, reading, relaxing and sitting on laps. Alex and I cuddled him, told him we loved him. He was really fighting. He was eating. He was a little more playful than in recent weeks. He wanted to live. We could feel it...

He went from eating half a packet to 1.5 packets a day, plus dry food. He always wanted treats, and I was always glad to oblige.

By Saturday he was wonder cat! Kneading... Purring... Chasing toys... Eager to hang out...

We'd overcome the problem! He was getting better. There's fight, love and life left in him. He was amazing. If it hadn't been for his ringworm (which was also healing very very well) I'd say he was perfect, especially once he put on another few grams...

We had 4 awesome days, loads of energy and love. He was never alone in the house, and rarely alone in a room. We wanted him to know, to feel, that we loved him so deeply and that all we want was him in our life, for adventures and cuddles.

On Monday morning, his appetite went down... He didn't really eat much...

We all left for the day, work and school. I think we were all worried, but he'd been so good and improved so so much, that we were sure he'd be fine. We have the blood test booked for the afternoon, I'm sure he'll pep up by then. The injection could be wearing off too...

Mijo and I went in to the vet, and his test came back at 14%!!! Damn, that's 6 points!! The vet expected 3 to be a big improvement. In fact, if he had 3 or less, euthanasia may have been the only option... Happy days! He was well. He's going to live! He'll be fine.

We're not out of the woods yet, but we are in the right direction.

All that love we lavished on him, not just in the past days, but the past 4 months. The adventures, the friends he'd made (both human and animal) the smells and sights he'd seen, the vibrations he felt, it was all coming together... He was a fighter with a lot of love to give...

We were over joyed. Really, I couldn't have been happier when I got the results. I gave a “whoop” and threw my fist in the air (I've never done that before in my life!).

We changed to tablet form steroids, as they'll be better long term, keep up the antibiotics and off we go...

But we all know, that often people and animals, when they know they are dying, they give it one last shot. And that was it... We didn't realize until Wednesday, that he wasn't actually going to get better...

Mijo stopped grooming himself, he slowly ate less and less... He became more and more lethargic, he started to sit in the “bread loaf” position with his nose on the ground, as he did after the snip, resting. We thought it was the change in steroids, and as I was at school and the girls at work, we just kept thinking he'd pep up eventually.

When I left for school Wednesday morning, he was alert, but lethargic. When I came home early to check on him, he had really changed again.

His belly was a little bloated, but he had hardly eaten. He had trouble walking, it seemed like it was a mix of muscle degradation/pain and confusion. His meowing changed to a high pitch cry, similar to that of a young kitten. He also stopped eating, he wouldn't even touch any of his tasty treats. He searched for any bit of sun to stand in, but he was looking so uncomfortable, his posture had changed, half sitting, half standing. I was grateful, when I carried him to his water bowl, that he drank a lot. He also went to the toilet, I held his tail so he didn't make a mess on himself.

We spent the afternoon outside, as the sun started to set. He loved the sun, I wanted him to feel warmth... I held him, talked to him. I don't know now many times I asked him to please hold on, please fight and that I loved him. He looked more comfortable in the sun.

I did film us walking around the pool. I am forever grateful for technology, so that I could just put my phone down, touch a button and record a moment. As we walked and talked, oblivious to the camera, I recognized a change in his breathing... I may have missed it previously, but for sure, his breath was becoming more and more labored. Every 3 or 4 breaths, he just had to try harder... His eyes were changing too... But I was sure he could recognize me, the way the vibrations from my chest reached his body and the way I smell. He would react from time to time, shifting or clawing at me.

He often touched my chest with his paw. Reaching out...

Mum and I went to the vet late Wednesday afternoon, the earliest we could. I explained it must be the change of steroids. No, it wasn't. They were the same type, it was just that he wasn't able to fight anymore. We discussed the specialist, called them and made a plan to go in first thing in the morning. I arranged for a friend to come with me, and Thursday morning bright and early, we were going up to get Mijo cured. Transfusion, drugs, you name it, we were going to do it. We had to, we told him we'd make him better.

There and then, Alex and I decided to trade in our honeymoon, you know from the wedding we had 13 months ago and still haven't done the traditional thing of a week or two away somewhere. We decided the money we had aside for that, would go to Mijo's specialist costs, because without Mijo, our honeymoon, whatever and whenever we decide to do it, wouldn't be worth doing, if he wasn't around.

I made a firm plan on how to help him through the night. We would hold him in shifts... All 3 of us... If one showered, the other held him. Dinner time, we shared the responsibility, not that we ate much anyhow. We cuddled, we talked, we purred, I would blow gently on his head... He was feeling love and he was fighting...

Because he hadn't eaten all day, we decided to try feeding him with a syringe, with success. With the tablets we were putting into his stomach, I felt he needed something else down there too... With a small syringe, he took it well, lapping up a tasty liquid treat.

When it was bed time, we put pillows around the bed, incase he fell, because he was very wobbly on his feet. He would cry out at random times, possibly from pain, but I think more from confusion. He sometimes wanted to get away from us, as we know, pets know when it's time and usually disappear, isolate.

We barely slept. I managed about 3 hours... But it was tough.. He wouldn't stay still, and eventually we put him in his little bed, near our bed... Of course he didn't stay there long.

At 4am I heard him crying... I found him under the bed... Alex woke up too... His breathing had changed a lot... Every breath was labored. He wasn't getting enough oxygen.

I laid on my back, and Mijo laid on my chest. This was how it often was, especially when I was reading... We did that until around 7am... Alex taking turns, holding him, talking to him, loving him. Mijo could barely hold himself up, he just laid in our arms... Breathing... His eyes began to glaze over...

We discussed our options, we felt the specialist was now a long shot. We didn't think he'd make the drive, he was near the end. Our little man had little fight left... And we wouldn't forgive ourselves for him dying in a foreign place. There were a lot of tears and back and forwards, including mum coming in for cuddles with the little guy at 5am...

Alex called the emergency vet, and we planned to go in at 8:30... Mijo's time had come...

When the sun comes up, if the blind is open in our bedroom, the sun shines right on through to Alex in bed, Mijo was in her arms, while she drank coffee as the sun rose.

Sometime later I took the little guy out to the pool, where we walked and talked, cuddled and loved, around and around, in the morning sun. I talked to him about all the adventures we had, riding bikes, visiting people, the beach and the river. I spent most of that hour, holding him, looking to his eyes... He gazed up, I just hope he knew it was me. I just knew he felt the vibrations of my words.

We both told him, it was OK to let go now. We were ready. But he kept on fighting for each breath... I think he was just like his Dad, always hopeful..

He last moments at home, where in the chair I'm sat in now. It gets the best light, first thing, even though it's inside the “catio”. Alex had sat down while I was walking outside, I seem to do better when I walk, and I brought him in for cuddles with her in the sun... He was bathed in sunshine, in Alex's arms... It was beautiful...

Actually getting in the car and going to the vet, was tough, but it really hit me when I walked in. I held the little guy, and just burst into middle-aged-man tears and sobbing... If you were there, you'd know I was my mother's son, cause she was sobbing too... I couldn't look anyone in the eye... I didn't understand what was going on, or about to go on...

I think I was in another place...

We went into a consult room, and I just laid the little guy down, not thinking of using the blanket we had... The vet explained the procedure and took him away for his catheter and first injection, some anesthetic? I don't know, but apparently it was the right thing, it helped with his pain.

I couldn't even look Alex or Mum in the eye... I just cried...

I still had hope...

When they came back, Mijo was wrapped in a soft blanket, what a great idea...!! He was quieter, more peaceful... The vet left to give us a moment...

He was still breathing, still fighting... I put my ear to his face, and heard him...

I kept making sure his eye lids closed from time to time. I remember back when Catalina, my little girl in Germany, needed to be anesthetized for a check up. The vet put some put liquid drops in her eyes and made her blink, so her eyes didn't dry out... So for Mijo, I did that every once in a while... I didn't want his eyes to dry up... I wanted him to be able to see me, because laying on that table, he couldn't hear me.

I begged Alex not to bring the vet back in for the final injection... I think I may have screamed something at her... I don't know... I wasn't me... I was trying to hold him in my arms, without moving him... I was trying to give him another chance...

I bawled...

I don't know if I have ever cried like that before... I thought I'd be all cried out... I thought all my tears had already left the building the previous hours and days... But there was more... a lot more... and more to come...

I know that Alex and I held hands over his body... I felt the love... I felt his warmth... his breathing... I know I cried tears onto him, there were tear drops on his lips...

I looked him in the eye as much as I could, but mostly, I cried...

I felt the liquid go into him, I felt it go around my hand into him...

I don't know much about what happened after that... I know I didn't want to leave him, I had promised him I would never do it. I regret not holding him once more... I know that at that moment, I felt the life drain out of me... I felt hope die...

I walked out, not knowing what to do, and flopped down on the grass outside... I never sit on grass, but Mijo liked it...

I managed to drive home...

That was yesterday...

Since then I've tried to rest, tried to come to grips with what has happened, tried to connect with a few friends, I've tried... I'm still trying...

This morning I got up wanting to do some sport, washing, then study and take on the day with confidence... It's a new day, I should take that opportunity to get back into my routine... It took all of 1 minute, from bed to bathroom, to be bawling... Except for the time I manage to calm down enough to type this blog, I've been crying... It's now 10am... I was awake at 6:15...

We are running out of tissues..

I felt so bad this morning, I wanted to plead with Alex not to go to work, because I just can't today. I just can't. We have discussed how she copes in these situations, and I know that's how she copes, by going to work, so I kept my trap shut. I just want her to hug me all day, so I can feel her warmth.

I cried so much on the drive to drop mum off at work this morning, she started crying too, and contemplated not going to work... She wanted to be there for me, but I told her, honestly, I don't think I'd be much company today.

I don't know the grieving process, we haven't learnt that in counseling school yet, but I do know, I'm feeling very lost... I feel very numb...

I can't explain it, and maybe that's why folks can never really explain how they feel after someone close to them, or their pet, has passed. We are just lost.

I also feel that I am grieving for my other losses in my life. It's a bit like, it's a culmination of all the others before him, plus him on top, making me feel pain like I have never experienced before.

Grief is just love, with no place to go... Alex and I talked about that quote last night. I used this quote to help me through leaving my 4 pets in Germany, I know I have to find a new place for my love, but for now, I just can't.

I know I couldn't have gotten through this without the support of my Mum and Alex...

While Mum cries at the drop of a hat, she is solid and thoughtful and loving. Alex is strong and experienced in these matters. She knew what to say, and when, even if I did yell back… Both have a lot of time and patience for me.

I know Alex and Mum feel bad, maybe even guilty, for choosing him. Mijo was a present, to give me joy and love and comfort. And he sure did, in multitudes, to all of us. I would never have gotten a cat back then, I didn't feel Alex or I were ready, we were still working through our issues with our pets in Germany.

Alex and I decided that we want Mijo home with us. He was only on this earth for 6.5 months, we expected him to be with us for 10+ years. Taken too early. Once he's cremated we'll have him in a little urn. He was so small, but if there's a little left over, we will either plant a tree with his ashes or sprinkle him down by the river, the first place he went to that was close to water.

The past day or so, I have shared what happened with some friends, classmates and family, and everyone has been so thoughtful and caring. Thank you, it's really helped to know you're all out there, thinking of the little guy. He would have loved to meet you all.

He was perfection. If someone else had gotten him, realized he was deaf, they may not have given him the adventures and life he had. Mum considers him a rescue cat...

So here I am, in the chair, his last chair in his last moments at home.

I can still smell him on my shirt. When I walk around the house, dazed, I sniff my shirt. He had a wonderful smell. The smell of love and adventure. I hope that smell lasts a life time.

I miss his warmth, his meow, which was damn loud!! I miss, that sometimes he'd get lost around the house... Or he'd lose me, around the house. He was gentle, and only bit me once, by accident, piercing my thumb a little. I miss the fact he had 1 tooth growing forward, directly out, making him a tri-toothed kitten with a protruding top lip! He took on the world without fear. I've never experienced anything like it in a cat. My girl Catalina did sit on my shoulder as I walked down the street in Germany, but Mijo, he let me go skateboarding with him, played guitar with me (he'd chew the strings) and one time, I even vacuumed his tail.

All trust. No fear.

Back when he lost all his hair around his neck and stomach after his snip operation, we were pretty concerned. Funnily enough, it grew back pretty quickly, but it grew back white, not grey. He had a ring around his neck and kind of marks on his back wrapping around to his belly. Alex googled it, and actually found out, cats can often have their hair grow back white after trauma or experiencing extremes of temperature if their hair was cut short or fell out.

About a month ago, I sent my dearest of friends, Sandra, a photo of his regrowth, and she commented looks like “little angel wings”...

Fly on little wing, fly on...

RIP Mijo Angus

12-11-2020 – 27-05-2021

Thanks for reading,

Josh

[friendofhayley]

This one’s a little late because I’ve just started work again this month! Thank you again to all the fandom content creatures for giving us an escape. Here are the best fics I read in August and they’re all bangers. This rec includes 13 fics from the One Direction, Teen Wolf, and Umbrella Academy fandoms. The starred ones are fics I would drop in front of your door if I was your cat.

Larry (One Direction)

1. Naked Attraction by reader_chic_2 | reality tv au - Louis is basically a pixie dream guy - rock star Harry - true love - 12k

Louis Tomlinson was the only gay and unfortunate staff member chosen to step in for one of the six possible partners when someone dropped out. He hated working there, and he definitely didn't want to agree, but it was too good of an offer to be turned down. Nothing would come out of it, surely, and they even agreed to keep his identity a secret.

That all changed when famous singer Harry Styles walked out. Louis had no idea who he was, and Harry liked that about him.

2. thick alpha (series) by @eeveelou | a/b/o - Louis just wants to take care of his man and that includes kink hijinks - emotional hurt/comfort - chubby kink - 3+ parts

Louis loves Harry's body from the first moment he sees him. It takes Harry a little convincing to see what Louis sees.

3. *still feel the same around you* by @gaycousinlarry | this gave me cavities!! - out of order - girl direction - older Larry - 13k

Twenty-five years is a long time to fall in love with someone, to learn all the ways a person can fit into one's heart. It’s also an awful long time to lie to one of the most important people in your life.

Sterek (Teen Wolf)

4. Who Can Take the Sunshine (series) by Anonymous | fae Stiles - dad Derek - this is just so pure and can just take you out of any bad mood! - see how magic works - 12+ parts

It all starts when Derek and his five year old daughter meet Fairy Stiles at the market.

5. *Blood is (Not) Thicker Than Water* by Anxiety_Baker02 | tw: abusive extended family - BAMF Stiles - pining Derek - this WILL get you worked up - 78k

Stiles hasn’t seen his extended family in years- mostly because they’re assholes. His cousins bully him relentlessly, and his aunts and uncles aren’t much better. So when he hears that they’re coming out for a family reunion, he’s understandably upset. He knows the next week is going to be hell, and it’s made worse when a new pack shows up, vowing revenge on their pack.

6. Be still, my love (series) by tugela54 | werewolves are known and discriminated against - omega Stiles - pining - misunderstandings - 3 parts

When Stiles’ boss unexpectedly goes into rut, he offers himself to the lycan, knowing all too well how utterly terrifying it can be.

Will his gamble pay off, or ruin everything…?

Klave (The Umbrella Academy)

7. Like Real People Do (series) by ObliqueOptimism | yeah so Klaus self-harms himself to deafness - family bonding - good siblings communicate, who knew? - fluff and angst - 6+ parts

Vanya got a call from the hospital, Klaus had harmed himself while in rehab. She decided then and there to be there for him. Together they heal, grow, become the family they'd never been, and change the future in immeasurable ways.

8. And When I Look In My Window, So Many Different People To Be by ObliqueOptimism | witch Klaus - BAMF Klaus still has daddy issues - bless this author - the more ghosts you know - 24k

If you were to go looking for Klaus, you wouldn't look to the alleys where drugs are bought, or to a rave where you could lose yourself in dance, no. No, you would look to his garden full of protective herbs, to his bedroom at three in the morning where he tends to make magic amulets. Klaus grew into his power, both as a witch, and as the Séance.

9. Tombstones In Their Eyes by @siriuspiggyback | disabled Klaus - despite themselves this family can care! - hurt/comfort - angst with a happy ending - 12k

His siblings don't pay a lot of attention to Klaus, don't notice the dog tags and new tattoos, but even the Hargreeves have to notice a missing limb.

10. *Choirs Threaten in Voices I Only Feel* by @veteranklaus | hey veteranklaus? I’d die for you - blind Klaus - I love how this fic changes Harold Jenkins - Ben as a seeing eye ghost? perfection! - 61k

The last time Klaus saw his siblings was at Allison and Patrick's wedding. A lot had changed since then; including the not-so-accidental, irreversible loss of his sight.

There's no time to tell them that, though. Not with the return of their long-presumed-dead brother and the impending apocalypse. Plus, it doesn't matter. He's got Ben as a good seeing-eye ghost.

11. *Numbers (series)* by @veteranklaus | this series legit made me disocciate for a few days especially since I just finished The Accident by Wiesel - the Holocaust is a trigger warning - very dark - the writing is literally award-winning, like the research done? the empathy paid to the characters? god tier!! I’ve written several research papers on post/during-holocaust times and i just want to applaud you for the work you’ve done in writing this - 2+ parts

The briefcase transports Klaus into a time to fall in love with a bookshop owner and photography enthusiast with soft amber eyes and a yellow star sewn into all of his clothes. And later, Klaus will stand next to that same man behind a fence, and he'll hold his hands up to a camera and pray to a merciless god that his siblings open a history book and find him.

12. *At the Edge of the Universe* by @veteranklaus | this is turning into a veteranklaus rec post but i don’t care - this is the life Klaus and Dave deserved!!! - the gays are really winning today y’all - cottagecore but make it the 1970s - 58k+

There is a knock at the door. With a heavy sigh, Klaus untangles himself from the mess of Dave's limbs with a mutter of 'I've got it'. They rarely get visitors out here, their closest neighbour being about three miles away, and Klaus didn't even hear a car or see any headlights outside.

He opens his door, expecting to see old Mrs Richards asking for one of the dog treats they always keep for the occasions her dog runs off. He does not, however, expect to see his siblings - all of them, standing outside his door. Well, Five is being held up by Diego, and Vanya is being carried by Luther, but they are all there, on his doorstep, on this evening in 1970.

13. Counting Down The Days To Go by @siriuspiggyback | sick Klaus - sibling bonding - Klaus goes to therapy - there are some lines that just kick the breath out of you - 24k 

It started off small. Easy to explain away. That was his downfall, in the end. By the time they diagnosed him, it was too late; the cancer had gotten a tight hold on his body.

Klaus wouldn't tell his siblings, not yet, no matter how much Ben begged him. He wanted to feel as normal as he could, for as long as he could.

[mistydacat]

Marichat May Day 6 || Hold my baton

"Purr-incess, are you okay?" Asked Cat Noir when he landed on Marinette's balcony.

Marinette was sitting on her chair, wrapped in a blanked and hunched over. She didn't look up or speak, only nodded.

As Cat Noir approached her, he realized why. He felt his heart clench in his chest when he saw her red, puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

She'd been crying.

But what unsettled him was the hard-cover textbook next to her on the wooden side table with a squished, purple butterfly.

An Akuma.

Cat Noir swallowed. "Marinette?"

Now she looked up at him, startled that he had used her real, full name rather than a nickname.

"K-kitty?"

Her voice was hoarse and weak. She sounded desperate, which only served to break Cat Noir's heart even more. He sat next to her and scooped her up into his arms.

He rested his head on top of hers. "Mari, I'm here for you. You can tell me what happened, or not, that's fine too. I want to help."

Marinette buried her head into his chest, shutting his eyes tight.

"Do you need anything?" He asked. His concern was almost too much for her, but she held back the urge to cry again.

Instead, she took a deep, shuddering breath, though it didn't seem to do much.

"Don't leave," She whimpered. "Please stay. Please stay here and hold me."

"I wasn't planning on doing otherwise." Cat Noir reassured her. He rubbed slow circles on her back, trying to calm her down and comfort her. "I'm here. I'm not going to leave. I promise you that."

It took a few minutes of silence for Marinette to be emotionally stable enough to speak again.

"Thank you, Kitty." She said. Cat Noir wiped off the remnants of her tears with the pad of his thumb, cautious of his claws.

"What happened." He asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Marinette sniffed, and Cat Noir was worried she would break down again, but she took a deep breath and started her story.

"Th-there's this girl in my class, h-her name is L-Lila. You know her, r-right? Her voice was shaky, and Cat noir vowed he would get Lila back for whatever she had done to his princess.

"Yeah, I know her. Did... did she do something?"

She nodded slowly. Cat Noir took a sharp inhale. As Adrien, he had made Lila promise never to hurt the people that he loved and cared about again after she had gotten Marinette expelled. He was gonna make sure Lila got what was coming for her.

"What did she do?"

"She t-told my friends these h-horrible things about me, and n-now, none of them want to t-talk to me. I-I don't know what she said, b-but they believe her. They w-won't even let me explain myself." Marinette let out a dry sob, having already cried all her existing tears.

"And the Akuma?" Asked Cat Noir, tightening his grip around her.

"I-It's the th-third one th-that's come f-for me t-today." She croaked. "Mme. Bustier s-squished the f-first one, and I m-managed to run a-away from the second." She explained in between sobs.

Cat Noir let her cry, offering comforting words to her. Though they fell to deaf ears as Marinette only continued to cry.

A dark butterfly flapped towards them, catching Cat Noir's attention.

No. Cat thought, trying to keep himself from getting angry enough to be possessed by the Akuma.

His princess would not get akumatized, not today, not ever. He wouldn't fight her.

He couldn't fight her.

He raised his hand and called on a cataclysm. All he had to do was brush his finger against the delicate wings, and it disintegrated.

Marinette looked up, her eyes wide in shock at what happened.

They both failed to notice the other Akuma Hawkmoth had sent. The first was only meant to distract them.

Cat Noir didn't see it until it was too late. It had gone into a string of beads sticking out of Marinette's pocket, which he would later realize was the lucky charm Adrien had given her on her birthday.

The charm he had given her on her birthday.

Marinette shook. "No." She murmured. "No... No. No!" She kept repeating the word, her voice getting louder and louder.

The glowing butterfly silhouette appeared over her face.

"Princess Justice. I am Hawkmoth. I can give you the power to-"

"No!" Screamed Marinette. "Leave me alone, Hawkmoth!"

Cat Noir knew he should go. He would be vulnerable if Marinette got akumatized. His ring would be easy to obtain, but he just couldn't bring himself to leave Marinette by herself.

So he stayed.

Hey couldn't hear what Hawkmoth was telling her, but by her hesitation to shoot him down again, it seemed tempting.

"I can give you the power to bring justice to those who have wronged you, in exchange for the Miraculous of Ladybug and Cat Noir."

Marinette's breath hitched. She could get her revenge on Lila, prove to everyone what a liar she was. Then, when she was done, she could go after Chloe, then XY and Bob Roth. She would be unstoppable.

"Princess, I know this is hard for you-"

Cat.

"-But, please, hear me out. No Akuma victim has ever succeeded, have they? Hawkmoth is just using you, he doesn't care about helping you. He just wants the Miraculous for himself. Marinette, I don't want to fight you. The last thing I want is to have to harm you. Please."

"Go away!" Marinette cried out. At first, Cat Noir thought she was talking about him, but then realized she was talking to Hawkmoth.

"Get out of my head! I don't want anything from you!" She jumped to her feet and shook her head vigorously, trying to get him out. Eventually, the butterfly silhouette disappeared from her face as Hawkmoth gave up, at the Akuma left her charm.

"M-Marinette, are you okay?" Asked Cat Noir.

"I'm a little dizzy, but otherwise, I'm fine."

Cat Noir pulled her into a hug, sighing with relief.

"Cat?"

"Yes?"

"Am I a bad person for considering accepting Hawkmoth's offer?"

Cat Noir looked at her, surprised at her question. "Are all the other akumatized victims bad people?"

"No... I guess not."

"Then that's your answer."

They sat in silence, watching the sunset, until a group of teenage girls walked by, talking loudly.

"Oh, no." Groaned Marinette.

"What is it?" Cat Noir looked over the railing, spotting Alya, Rose, Juleka, Mylene, Alix, and... Lila?

"Hold my baton." He instructed. "Imma go fight some bitches."

"Cat!" Giggled Marinette, her laughter bringing joy to his ears.

"You can't do that! You're a superhero! And you shouldn't be using that kind of language, either!"

"Alright, you got me." He raised his arms in surrender, then, his eyes lit up. "Can you join me for a walk?" He asked.

His ring beeped a warning; they had three minutes.

"You're about to transform back."

"It'll be quick." He promised, offering her his hand.

"Alright." She gave in, taking his hand in hers.

Cat Noir used his baton to lower them down where Lila and Marinette's friends were walking. He rested his hand on the small of her back and held her close to him. Marinette tensed.

"Trust me, okay?" He whispered into her ear, then turned to the group of girls a few meters away from them.

"He there!" Cat Noir saluted them. "You're Marinette's friends, right?"

They turned around, shocked.

"Cat Noir? What are you doing here?" Asked Alya.

"Oh. I was just hanging out with Marinette." He explained.

Lila shot a glare at Marinette.

"What a coincidence! Lila was just telling us how you and her got into a relationship recently!"

"As in, dating?" Asked Cat Noir.

"Yeah, you're dating Lila, right?"

Cat Noir shook his head, genuinely confused. "That's news to me."

"Lila said you'd say that because you don't want anyone to know. She said you're doing it to protect her from potential threats." Explained Alya.

Lila grew nervous, realizing she was about to be caught in her lie.

"I already have a girlfriend."

He said the statement so naturally Marinette almost believed him.

"Who?" Asked Alya, her interest clearly sparked.

"If I say, you can't post it on the Ladyblog, or anywhere else for that matter."

"Deal." She said, not even hesitating.

"Marinette."

A round of gasps emerged from the group.

But Lila started at them skeptically, clearly not believing them.

"Prove it." She challenged.

"Gladly. May I, Purr-incess?" He turned to Marinette, waiting for her consent. Meanwhile, Marinette was having an internal panic attack. Would Cat Noir really kiss her? Should she kiss Cat Noir?

Well, it was only one kiss, it's not like she didn't trust him. Besides, the look on Lila's face would definitely make it worth it.

Marinette gave him a slow nod, but even after he asked, nothing could prepare her for the feeling of Cat Noir sealing her lips with his own.

The kiss was sweet, innocent. Marinette almost laughed at the fact that Cat Noir had to lean down to kiss her, but she didn't. If she laughed, she'd have to pull away, which was the last thing she wanted.

Cat Noir's ring beeped.

"Well, I gotta run!" He said, pulling away and giving them another salute before reaching for his baton. "Word of advice: Don't believe everything you're told, especially if it comes from her." He gestured briefly towards Lila, and then used his baton to lift himself onto the rooftops, before disappearing into the sunset.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

After a long and tired argument with Lila, Alya turned to Marinette.

"Girl, you really need to start telling me things like the fact that you're dating the hero of Paris. In fact, you're going to tell me everything right now!"

Marinette flushed red. "Um. The sun's almost set, shouldn't you be getting home?"

"Fine, but you're going to tell me everything tomorrow!"

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

Parts: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10

[katsukiboom]

Emerald Green and Darkness

hey guys! this is a commission for my dear @xpegasusuniverse, who requested a retired Eraserhead with an equally old cat, I hope you guys enjoy this! <3

Ko-Fi || Commissions

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The smell of vanilla and the warmth of the place quickly engulfed 53 year-old Shōta’s presence as soon as he entered the little house at the end of the street – Hizashi had found it by chance online and presented it to him, and while it didn’t look sketchy at all it still felt weird to just drop by someone’s house with the excuse of adopting a new pet. The ad his loud best friend had seen only spoke about a middle-aged woman who rescued kittens and nursed them back to health with the help of her quirk, much like Recovery Girl used to do all those years back then.

With grey replacing most of the black in his hair and beard, he sighed as he eyed the place with a certain glee growing inside. It wasn’t long until the petite woman came rushing from behind one of the few doors that were on sight, and quickly introduced herself as the owner of the place. She went on to talk about how she had loved Eraser Head before he retired from the hero world, something that he didn’t feel too comfortable discussing but didn’t do anything to stop either. He thanked her with a small smile. She remarked one last time that she had been beyond thankful for everything he had done, then saw all the strays that were still looking for the one person who’d give them all the love they deserved.

In all honesty, Shōta wanted to take them all home, but as they passed through a small bedroom a dark lump on top of the single bed caught his attention, causing him to stop walking and stare questionably at the breathing figure. 

“Oh, that’s one we got a few weeks back,” the old lady told him gently as she noticed he wasn’t following her anymore, walking back to his side. Both their gazes on the animal, they watched as it began to stretch and he noticed there was something funny about him – he only had three legs. 

“I can only guess he had an accident,” the woman continued. “We found him when his injuries were still healing. At least, I’d like to think it was an accident. He’s also missing an eye, and the doctor told us we had been lucky to find him before it could fester. Due to him being about 13 years old, they only gave him six months.”

“Can I?” asked a curious Shōta, and the lady only nodded.

“He doesn’t really get along with people… it took him so long to even trust us enough to eat what we gave him.”

Despite her words, something pulled him closer, and his hunch hadn’t been wrong.

He ended up taking the green-eyed cat with him that same day, after a bit of struggling to get him in the cage. When they got to his apartment the blob scuttled away from him as soon as the small metal door opened. Shōta then spent all the remainder of the afternoon trying to get him out from under his bed, only to sit right beside it to eat dinner, putting a plate with food next to him in hopes the cat would come out.

It took him a few days, just like the lady had told him, to get it to trust him enough to eat freely when he was around. Soon he found its company to be rather… peaceful. Even during his long walks out all he could think about was if the cat was alright or if it was hungry, if he should buy him more toys or even new kinds of food. Hizashi found his friend’s new facet quite adorable, yet was turned down whenever he requested to meet his pet, partly because Shōta knew how the cat acted around strangers and partly because he feared he’d make it deaf by accident.

As he soon came to know, taking care of a cat also meant having to take extra care of your  furniture. He didn’t get mad as the old cat learned how to use his litterbox but rather at how he seemed to do his business everywhere else for a while as well, testing Shōta’s patience. For some reason, the man believed the pet knew he was pissed off at this attitude and eventually stopped doing it, instead turning to scratching whatever he could lay his paws on. Shōta soon bought him the thickest scratching post he could find online, hoping that would end the rebellion that had left parts of his couch and coffee table completely ruined. Despite the ruined furniture, he was happy that the disabilities didn’t stop the cat from doing its own thing.

Surprise filled the old man when, one morning around three weeks after that, he woke up and felt a lump at the end of the bed right above his feet as if to keep them warm. Opening his eyes and sitting up quickly in fear that it was something bad, he saw his companion sleeping lazily over him, only opening his eye to look at him as if he was crazy and then stretching before going back to sleep. A big smile appeared on his lips and the mere sight made his heart warm up. Not really having the will to make the cat move from the bed – he lay back down and opened his phone, quickly sending a photo to the group chat with Hizashi and Nemuri to share the amazing thing he had just witnessed.

It was only when she asked about its name that he realized he hadn’t really given it much thought at all, and then spent most of that afternoon trying to come up with something that suited both the cat and him. The task proved to be harder than he had imagined, and Shōta gave up when the clock reached 7 pm. Instead he took a moment to sit on the floor with it nearby as he turned on the TV to catch up on the events that were going on in the city. It had been quite a peaceful day much to his surprise, with no real bad news to worry about when a familiar face caught his attention right before he started to channel-surf. Green curls and a gentle smile with freckle-covered cheeks were the main features that decorated the familiar face Aizawa was now watching attentively, and Deku’s imposing voice filled the room with ease.

“Oh, look at that,” he talked to the cat as if it could understand every word he said. “I know him very well. Used to be my student and was quite a troublemaker at first… much like someone I know,” he muttered with a smile on his face. A soft meow distracted him from the screen for a moment and he noticed the animal now standing right in front of the screen, looking up at Izuku like he was the only thing to focus on at the moment. “What are you doing?” he asked softly, trying to call out to him but to no avail. “Do you like Deku?” To this, the cat’s ears perked up and it looked at him with its eye open wide. Then it went back at him and meowed again. “Deku,” Aizawa repeated, but the cat didn’t move this time. “De…” he started, carefully watching the animal in front of him look back at him with a curious gaze. “Ku?” To that one syllable, its eye widened once more as it got up on its hind legs and the man had an idea pop into his mind.

After that night he ended up naming the cat Kuro, both because of its colour and because it reminded him a lot of Izuku himself – rough around the edges when he met him yet sweet and diligent on the inside. Both took their time to truly open up and let others see their true self. Just as if he knew, his pet got used to the name faster than he would’ve expected and even seemed happier when called by it. Shōta’s friends also seemed to like the nickname, laughing just a little bit when he told them the backstory but agreeing that the cat had been a troublemaker at first.

Shōta didn’t notice until the seventh month that Kuro had actually managed to surpass his assumed lifespan of only six months left and while he didn’t think much of it his heart stirred a bit in his chest as he snuggled closer to it one night, its warmth and little paws on his chest more than enough for him to be sure that everything would go more than fine. He had never paid much attention to his own way of acting or if having a pet had changed him at all and vice versa, yet all he could think about was coming back home every day to spend time with him and revel in the company as much as he could.

It was almost as if it had been fate bringing them together but Shōta would never admit to believing in such an erratic thing – he did however believe that it had been their love for each other that had managed to make the pet stay by his side almost twelve times the amount of days that had been given to it up to its seventeenth summer, making the old man very happy as they counted birthdays and holidays together and just coursed through life relying on each other for support. Not even once did Shōta remember the cat’s disabilities and in return Kuro didn’t seem to be bothered about his owner’s casual aloofness and low energy, choosing instead to keep his distance until Aizawa called out to him.

But good things always come to an end, and Aizawa Shōta knew this very well.

After almost four years of living together, it became apparent to him that there was something wrong when the cat gradually stopped grooming himself as often as he was used to witness and eventually started keeping its distance as well, choosing to sleep hidden under the coffee table or just lying on the couch, but not with him. When he noticed those symptoms he didn’t hesitate on taking him to the vet in order to prevent something worse happening to him, though the news he was given was less than encouraging. Shōta had to stop himself from crying right then and there at the vet’s office – the cat wasn’t ill but rather naturally dying due to aging and Kuro’s bright green eye was fixed on him, as if he knew what was happening in his owner’s heart.

It wasn’t as if Aizawa chose not to focus on anything else the next few days – he just couldn’t rid his mind of the worst scenarios possible, even if they felt closer than ever before. Having been through so much with his pet, he felt the need to do whatever he could to make him feel better; he tried to help him groom, eat and brought him to bed at night, but it was only when they paid another visit to the vet for a check-up that he was told there was really no use in doing so. With his hopes crushed and his heart still not ready for what would unfold sooner or later, he returned home that evening to a cloudy sky that mirrored his feelings in every way.

It all came down to a bittersweet ending when one morning, he woke up to feel the same familiar lump at the end of the bed; sitting up slowly and stretching his arms, Shōta would’ve thought it was one of those rare days when Kuro decided to sleep with him had it not been because his perception was extremely good. Reaching out, he took the frail, lifeless body on his hands and brought it close to his chest, unable to conceal the tears that came out after making sure his best friend had already gone to a better place. He felt a knot forming in his throat as he tried his best to hide his crying and bottle it up as he always did, but it was all for nothing when he realized he hadn’t had the chance to say a proper goodbye.

“I hope you’re better and happier now, I’ll try not to miss you too much,” he murmured against the cold fur, and for a moment he thought he had heard a soft meow come from somewhere close in the room which made him look up and around. With wet cheeks and a heavy heart he smiled, knowing he wasn’t truly alone still.

Thank you for everything.

[anika-ann]

Think Again (When You Stop Freaking Out) - Pt.7

In My Own Skin (final part)

Pairing: None                   Word count: 3179

Warnings: language, attempt at humour, sensory overload... irony and sass? ;)

Summary: Things should get back to normal now... right? Friends will be friends and dynamic duo Nelson-Murdock will always keep its promises.

Story Masterlist

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Steve Rogers’ eyes snapped open, greeted by grey. A grey of the ceiling, softened by warm yellow light of a nearby lamp.

Steve Rogers woke up and he saw.

He blinked several times, his eyelids slightly heavier than usual, probably the effect of the tranquilizers, his lips feeling like made of lead. Yet, they managed to form three words.

“Oh, thank god,” he whispered, running his hand down his face and pushing himself up to a sitting position.

“Nope, just foggy,” a voice on his right informed his swiftly. A horrified inhale followed. “Shit, sorry, knee-jerk reaction.”

Steve quickly looked at the man. He was a bit chubby, beige suit, blond rather long hair, inviting smile. Steve thought he was familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

Yeah, things did feel a bit foggy, but that could not have been what the stranger was imply- right. “Right. Foggy… Hi.”

“Am I talking to-“

“Steve,” he assured him, making the lawyer grin victoriously.

“Right. Welcome back, Cap,” Foggy saluted with two fingers, making the soldier smile.

“That’s what the president said,” Tony joined them in the couch area and Steve’s smile widened despite the fact he should probably be annoyed. Who would think that seeing Stark’s face would be an actual pleasure. “At least the Smithsonian claims it. And if you bring up the fact I was there ever again, I’ll deny it. I was only there to draw you a moustache.”

“Hey, Tony.”

“Hey, Cap. How many fingers?” the billionaire asked cheekily, holding three fingers in front of Steve’s face, switching to four just as Steve opened his mouth to humour him. So he closed it again. “What, cat got your tongue? Are you mute this time around?”

Steve sighed and made a disapproving face at Tony, feeling Foggy’s sharp glare even without looking at the lawyer. “Tune it down, Tony. You’re being insensitive.”

Tony raised both of his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Sorry. You know I don’t mean it. My heart’s in the right place.”

“You deal with this all the time?” Foggy asked while Steve just shook his head at Tony, who knocked on the device in his chest gently.

“Yes.”

“Respect, Sir,” Foggy mumbled and returned his gaze to the figure lying on the other couch.

Steve smiled unwittingly at the care Foggy was expressing by guarding his friend and protecting his honour in the process; and from Steve’s experience, also by telling him with no restraint when he was being an idiot when needed. Steve knew that kind of friendships – he had had a friend like that to, always by his side, no matter how much trouble he had got himself into.  

To silence the pang of guilt and longing, he looked back at Tony; despite him being an arrogant human being at times, he was a friend too.

“I’m fine. But since you mentioned it… I can’t believe I’m saying this, but now when I can’t hear your heartbeats, I feel almost deaf.”

“You were able to hear a heartbeat?!” Bruce’s shocked voice sounded from behind him, almost making Steve jump out of his skin, while Tony raised a curious eyebrow, commenting on his own: “You can bond with Barton over that.”

Steve couldn’t help himself; he just rolled his eyes.

“Anyway. How about some calories? You must be-“ the grumble of Steve’s stomach cut Bruce off and  as if on command, one of the specially designed post-mission drinks landed in the table in front of him.

“Thank you, Bruce.”

“One of us has to be a good host.”

“Aaand that’s my cue to leave,” Tony uttered, making a U-turn and disappearing from the room.

“He’s something.”

Steve snorted, relaxing onto the backrest and sipped the green semi-solid drink, grateful he couldn’t taste every ingredient and god knew what, which he would have been able to if still being a resident in Matt’s body.

“He’s a friend… no one is easy to handle. I’m sorry about his manners.”

It was Foggy’s turn to snort in amusement. “Matt would probably encourage him. He makes way too much blind jokes. Dork.”

No one could possibly miss the fond smile Foggy sent Matt’s direction. Steve’s heart ached a little at that, missing his own friend again. This time, he didn’t resist.

“You’re a good friend, Foggy.”

“That’s gonna mean something, coming from Captain America himself,” the lawyer hummed, hiding a hint of red on his ears by letting his hair fall into his face.

“I’m sure he appreciates it. Take it from a guy who needed someone to pull his stupid arse from trouble more times that I can count.”

Foggy looked up shyly, clearly as pleased as uncomfortable. “Well, someone has to.”

“I absolutely agree. Steve, how do you really feel?” Bruce entered the conversation, picking up on Foggy’s uneasiness as well.

“I feel… like me.”  

---

Matt Murdock woke up to a terrible noise of three heartbeats, breaths, low voices and buzzing of the city deep below, smell of something that could not be food and yet he could taste it on his tongue, the scent mixed with a bit of sweat, deodorants and shampoos, leather and coffee. The said leather felt hot under his back, slick and yet harsh against his skin, the cotton shirt and slacks feeling like an assault on his mechanoreceptors.

All those sensations melted together, already helping to build a headache. Lovely.

He didn’t even have to open his eyes to know he was back to his own body. Yet, he commanded the heavy eyelids to check.

Nothing. Darkness. A wildly dancing image that had nothing to do with vision. The world was on fire as it should be.

He could tell the number of people in the room, he could identify one of them as Foggy even, yet, the picture in his head was so messy, scrambled by the fucking pain-meds, that he couldn’t locate his friend. Which was why it startled him so much when he spoke up.

“Hey, buddy. How bad is it?”

Matt winced, probably giving an answer on its own. He couldn’t supress a groan as the world was getting even louder and less bearable with each second he was involuntarily walking towards full consciousness – without being able to control the input.

“That good, huh?”

“Yeah, I’d be better if you knocked me out again,” Matt rasped.

A bottle of water was immediately pressed into his hand in response. He pushed up so he could take a sip. The whole world swam, loud tide waves washing over him, slowly drowning him. Oh jeez. What had he done do to deserve that? He was so gonna punch Stark for the tranquilizers…

He forced himself to open the bottle, trying his best to ignore the plastic he could taste from it. But god, it flooded his taste buds with so many chemicals he could cry – or spit out the water. He didn’t, he was stronger than that.

“Thanks. I’ll be… fine, just… gimme a minute.”

“You want me to stay?” Foggy asked, lowering his voice. The remaining two people walked away, the vibration of the floor rattling Matt’s bones.

He was glad they left, even with the little earthquake it brought on. To be honest, Matt needed Foggy out as well. Focusing on him usually helped, but now, all he needed was as much silence he could get.

“No. Please. I… meditation might help a little.”

If Foggy picked up on the hesitation and shame in Matt’s voice, he didn’t mention it. He reached out to Matt to pat his shoulder, but stopped two inches away; Matt could still feel the heat radiating from his friend’s palm, but was grateful he didn’t go for it. Perhaps he should give Foggy more credit when it came to understanding his senses than he did.

“Sure thing, buddy. I’ll be right-- with the others. Do you want a room for yourself?”

Despite feeling like his head was in a hive, squeezed in a vice and being placed on a ship in the middle of the raging sea, Matt charmed a smile – or he tried to do so. He was whispering, when he spoke.

“That would be really nice.”

“You got it. I’ll be guarding the door with my life,” Foggy promised, the thunder of his heartbeat not faltering. The buzz in Matt’s brain tuned down for a split second, filled with affection instead of the sensory overload.

“Please don’t. They are aliens, supersoldiers and other whatever. Can’t lose you to that squad.”

Matt felt blood rush into his cheeks right after the sentence left his mouth, but he couldn’t find himself to regret it. He was in the whole room at once, his consciousness all over the place, incredibly messy, but one thing was clear as day. He appreciated Foggy’s care. Maybe, he should let him know more often.

---

Steve was biting the inside of his cheek as he watched Foggy’s expression of perfectly faked understanding. Tony had taken him for a tour through the Tower, specifically labs, and then moved onto Avengers’ gear, explaining all the ‘cool stuff’. Judging by Foggy’s excitement, he was fascinated by all the toys, even though he understood even less than Steve; but hell, he was too proud to admit it until the tour ended.

When Friday announced through the speakers that Mr. Murdock requested she informed them he was quite settled and ready to welcome people back in the room, they didn’t hesitate. Foggy was the first to come in, followed by Steve and only then the two geniuses.

They found Matt standing by the couch, turned their direction – just the fact he was standing must have meant a lot if the state he had been in when Steve and Bruce had emerged from the room was anything to go by. This looked like a big improvement – key word: looked.

“Feel better?” Steve asked lowly, examining the blind man, who had somehow managed to find his glasses and slip them on.

“Good enough for not wanting to be knocked out, bad enough for not trying to punch Stark just yet,” Matt said wittily, making exactly three people in the room smirk.

“Should I just leave or— oh wait, this is my building, so if you mind me being here…” Tony hummed, earning a stereo groan from Steve and Bruce.

“Stark, Steve, Doctor Banner… where is Thor then?”

“Oh, Thor flew away. It was supercool. The other part of the artefact appeared – probably when you switched back – and he just took it in this super-secret-government container and… yeah, flew away. Sorry you missed that,” Foggy spilled out in hurry, his enthusiasm not unlike Steve was used to see on children’s faces when meeting him. Matt must have picked up on it, because his smile widened.

“I think I’ll live. I guess you’ll just have to remind me of that often enough.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem,” Bruce noted with a kind smile and handed Matt a cup of the ‘green special’ Steve had received after waking up. “Try this unless it offends your taste too much. High protein, high carb, lots of ions and generally the good stuff. It might even help with burning out the drugs you’ve been dosed with.”

“Hey, we didn’t agree on getting him one. What if he’s feeling good enough to punch me after? Way to be a friend, Bruce!”

Matt scrunched his nose when smelling the drink up-close, but obediently took a sip, accepting the wordless dare. Despite the slightly disgusted face he made, he continued. Steve came to understanding of where he got his street name.

Foggy cleared his throat, looking around. “So… what happens now?”

Steve wavered. Honestly, he had a million questions for Matt – starting with the ones about his senses, which might be more than inappropriate and none of his business, ending with moral ones, which included asking about what had led to his decision to start the part-time job as a vigilante, which belonged to the category of things Matt probably wasn’t up to answering right now.

So Steve said the only thing he could think off. He took a leap of faith, deciding to believe that Matt would stay in touch somehow (read: via them visiting his apartment or office if it came to that) and to let him leave with no feeling of owing anything to them. But there was something he needed to do first.

“I believe someone asked for an autograph…?”

Steve didn’t need to hear heartbeats to know Foggy’s just skipped a beat in joy – his expression spoke volumes, no matter how much he tried to stay contained.

“That would be awesome, Captain.”

It didn’t end with an autograph. They took a photo too. They took one with reluctant Matt as well – the vigilante ruined all Foggy’s fun when he forbade framing it and hanging it in the office.

“But, Matt! Clients!”

“But, Foggy! Too many questions!” Matt mimicked, but had enough decency to look guilty about making his friend’s face fall.

“Alright. But the selfie is my new lockscreen. You can’t take that away!”

Steve wasn’t sure what lockscreen was, only knew it had something to do with phones; he hoped it wasn’t anything that would embarrass him too much. Matt’s lips twitched, which actually worried Steve a little.

“Not sure Marci will like that.”

“She’ll understand,” Foggy muttered and took selfie with Tony as well as with Bruce, who seemed quite uncomfortable, but didn’t have the heart to disappoint the excited lawyer – how typical of him. He excused himself right after.

Foggy and Matt looked genuinely surprised and grateful when Steve announced his intention to let them leave whenever they wanted, no questions asked. Tony, on the other hand, appeared to be ready to punch the supersoldier to his face, but didn’t protest, clearly already planning a surprise visit to the office; Steve immediately felt sorry, especially for Karen.

“We’ll be in touch – I’ll make sure of it,” Foggy assured them, shaking Steve’s hand for probably longer than was socially acceptable. Steve didn’t mind, if only because it irritated Tony. To be fair, he received the same treatment afterwards.

“See you around, Steve. Soon, Mr. Stark,” Matt threw over his shoulder when he was entering the elevator on Foggy’s arm, grinning as the door was closing.

“You’re terrible,” Steve heard Foggy huff and that was the end of it.

Steve felt strange lightness in his soul, blaming the enthusiastic blonde for it. The world needed more people like him. Matt needed him for sure. Despite the warmth, Steve couldn’t help but worry about the vigilante though.

“We should keep an eye on him. I have a feeling he has no self-preservation.”

“Consider it done, Cap. And you know that behaviour sounds familiar, right?”

Steve smiled for himself, ignoring Tony’s nudge. “Well, at least he has good friends to take care of him.”

“Cheesy, Steven,” Tony hummed when he realized the analogy, but Steve had a feeling it pleased him anyway.

He didn’t call him out on it though. After all, some things were better left unsaid; yet, it didn’t mean they weren’t true.

Feeling’s usually mutual. Yeah, Tony. I care about you too.

“Whatever you say, Stark. I’ll be in the gym. I feel like I need to burn some of the tranquilizers you shot me with before…”

“You’re welcome!” Tony shouted after him as Steve just waved at him blindly, making his way to his room to change.

Yeah. I know.

---

Exiting the Tower with relieved sigh, Matt leaned onto Foggy a bit more.

“Thanks for putting up with this,” Matt whispered into the cold of the night and heard Foggy’s heartbeat falter. It made him frown. “Foggy? What’s wrong? I’ll be fine, I mostly already am. We’ll be fine. Hell, Tony Stark even promised to get us better heating to the office. How many people can say that?”

Foggy gulped, his cheeks burning up. Oh god, what?

“You wanna know what’s wrong, Matt?”

“Yes, of course. Talk to me, Fog.”

Foggy took a deep breath, more blood rushing to his cheeks. “Please don’t laugh, but… I really made an idiot of myself.”

“When? You were great the whole time. You were a good friend to me. You apparently even helped me get dressed! Kinda me…” Matt corrected himself, not bothering to clarify, knowing Foggy understood what he meant. But he was only rewarded with silence; he was getting worried, to be honest. “Foggy?”

“Matt… I called Captain America a duffus.”

Matt was silent for a split second and then he burst out laughing, stopping in his tracks in order to throw his head back.

“I asked you not to laugh!” Foggy hissed, squirming in embarrassment and it only made Matt laugh harder. Foggy slapped his arm. “You jerk!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry-“

“No you’re not…”

“No, I’m not. He didn’t seem to hate you for it. And to be fair, my hand punched his face, so I think that from the two of us…”

That seemed to calm Foggy down and he let Matt take his elbow for guidance again. “Okay. Thanks. I think you actually were worse. We’re menaces, Murdock.”

“Yeah, Fog. We sure are. Earth’s mightiest menances.”

Matt could hear a grin in Foggy’s voice when he spoke again. “Best damn avocados.”

“Best damn avocados-- oh, that reminds me. So, I heard you agreed it was a fruit-“

“Shut up, Murdock…”

“Captain America told me that-“

“Blah, blah, blah-“

“You’re such a child-…”

Their laughter echoed in the streets of Manhattan and despite the insanity of that day… Matt thought that life was good.

---

A week later, Tony Stark received an envelope he would never expect to receive.

It wasn’t particularly unusual for the billionaire to get sued – hell, he often was on the receiving end of everyone’s fury when it came to the damage the Avengers had made (please note, the golden boy Captain America was never blamed, how outraging) -, but being sued for drugging someone wasn’t exactly daily occurrence. Neither was the complaint about the ADA incompliance of the Avengers Tower.

The first set of documents was signed Nelson. Naturally, the latter held the name Murdock, or Tony guessed so, because it was hard to decode the scribbled letters.

He couldn’t believe they had actually done it. He had honestly thought that all of their threats had been only a joke. Clearly, they had been deadly serious.

So if he took off – quite literally – the moment Friday announced that Matt Murdock entered the building, supposedly to have a training session with the American Golden Boy, no one could blame him.

Yet, it didn’t mean Matt didn’t laugh his ass off when the AI informed him of Sir’s departure. It seemed that the genius would have to wait and the only person punched by Matt Murdock’s fist today would be Steve Rogers.

But that was okay. Matt would love to wait for his moment and it would get only sweeter.

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Just FYI, some of you noticed/know EN is not my first language. Matt had a brilliant line to Foggy: “Yeah, I’d be better if you knocked me up again.” I re-read it at least three times before it hit me just how much the course of the entire fic would change if I missed the typo and left it that way.

Aaaanyway, thank you for reading! If you’re interested in more fics, indulge yourself AND me by checking out the masterlists :))

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Main Masterlist

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Tags: @mermaidxatxheart​

@igobypoet​

[kmseokjins]

Thunderlight (Chapter 7)

Fandom: BTS Pairing: BTS x Reader / OT7 x Reader Warnings: n/a this chapter Chapter Summary: Reader needs information and she goes to the only person she knows that can give her answers. This decision sets things in motion..

Archive Of Our Own || Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

Notes: Unfortunately, this chapter only focuses on Y/N and Arshkia. We get a little more insight on Y/N's history with the demon, Asa, and we learn a bit more about soulbonds! It’s short too, I’m so sorry ;_;

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Soulbonds.

Despite your best attempts to forget about that word, it kept coming up. Sometimes you would hear it in a conversation, one time you had to do a double take at a sign because you swore you’d seen the word. It was going to drive you mad .

Curiosity killed the cat. You told yourself. But satisfaction brought it back. Came the reply.

You hated yourself sometimes.

The problem with satisfying the curiosity that was eating you was that you had no one to go to. There was no one you could go to for answers, at least not without taking the risk of being dragged into the world you were trying to keep your distance from.

Arshkia was an obvious choice, but you couldn’t quite bring yourself to go to the club again. Everytime you even thought about it, a sense of dread would pool in your belly until you felt like you were going to have to run to the bathroom to heave up whatever was in your stomach.

Proceeding with caution when it came to the older witch was a must, and you didn’t want to be indebted to her anymore than you could afford to be. She was a power witch and no doubt she would crush you under her heel the moment you’d become useless to her. You weren’t deaf to the rumors circulating about her, the whispers of what she did to soulbonds.

“Should one of those seven souls find you and mark you…” She had made it sound so archaic. You had no doubt that she was referring to being bitten, although you supposed that not all supernatural creatures marked by biting. How did that work with those that were human? Being bound to any supernatural creature was dangerous, and no doubt the risk increased tenfold for a human. No, no. You couldn’t think about that now.

The books wrapped up and locked away in your closet held no answers. You hadn’t thought they would in the first place, since Arshkia had been surprised you didn’t know anything about soulbonds in the first place. Apparently every supernatural, even witches, were taught such things. Except for you . You’d been raised on this belief system that brought you were questions than answers the longer you thought about it. You’d been so stupid! Why hadn’t you connected the dots sooner, seen the bigger picture?

You shouldn’t be surprised. No doubt most witches were carefully directed on how to manage and control their powers, make potions and tonics; hell, even tell fortunes, probably! Instead, you had been subjected to lessons on how to be a dutiful wife and mother. Sure, there had been lessons on controlling your powers mixed in, but that seemed like something off-handed, like it didn’t really matter. You later learned why harnessing your powers wasn’t a priority.

They were ripped from you in a ritual. When you married, your husband took them from you, transferred them to himself. Women were only meant to be dutiful wives and mothers to their husbands. It was disgusting. Your father was disgusting. Your future husband was disgusting, whoever he turned out to be.

You were merely the host of your powers until they ripped them from you, making you no better than you are now. You would be worse, a shell of a person with a hole in the fabric of what made you.

Exactly. Stop pretending to be human. Embrace yourself. Find your soulbonds. Better together than apart.

Since when did you get so philosophical? You didn’t want to admit that perhaps you’d gone about this the wrong way. You’d been scared all those years ago when you’d finally gotten the courage to run away, to leave before you became nothing more than a puppet on a string.

You almost ran away sooner than you planned. You should have. How you wished you did. If you had known that you’d become the object of a demon’s obsession, you would have.

Asa. He’d been handsome, sauve. Black hair, cut close and neat to his head. Dark blue eyes almost like the depths of the ocean. Tall and undeniably handsome. Catching his eye and smiling had been your first mistake. Letting him touch you had been your second mistake. Learning he was a demon and not caring had been your third mistake.

He’d been fascinated by you, by your mind and your body. He’d been your rebellious stage, that middle finger at your father because while your father dealt with demons, he would have lost his head if he’d learned what you were doing with one.

You body shutters at the memories. If you could take it back, you would. Asa had been a dangerous and terrible mistake. He still was. You hadn’t seen him since the night you’d left, running until you couldn’t hear him screaming for you, only to keep running. For years, you’d constantly looked over your shoulders for the pitch black eyes.

Even with this much distance between you and your former life, you still looked over your shoulder. It was only a matter of time before the new life you built came crashing down.

Before you knew it, you’re grabbing your jacket and keys and walking out of your apartment. You could do this. You could power through.

++++++++++++++++

“Tell me about soulbonds.” You wince when the words come out as a demand rather a question to Arshkia. Your head was pounding, your stomach was rolling. You were tense and uneasy, your fingers gripping onto the chair you sat in minutes ago as your fought the urge to bolt.

You shouldn’t be here. This place...it was wrong. You shouldn’t be here.

“You want to know about them now?” Arshkia questions, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes at you, “You’ve changed your mind?”

You wanted to scoff at her, but you didn’t. “No, but I need to know. I want to know. I should have known about it, but...I don't.” It’s the truth, and you’ve learned being honest with the witch usually got you somewhere.

Arshkia regards you carefully for a few moments before she finally leans back in her chair, “Think of it like how humans use the term soulmate. A soulbond is a very powerful bond and sacred among us supernaturals. It’s rare for one of us not to have at least one soulbond. The only exception are demons, very rarely are they part of a soulbond.”  

Your body stiffens even more in your seat, “How...how do you know if you’ve met your soulbond?” The mention of the word demon sends a jolt of fear through your body.

“You don’t, since you’ve been taking those tonics.” Arshkia answers bluntly, tapping a fingernail against her cheek. “The potential bonded will know, but how they know depends on their species. Vampires need blood. Werewolves require eye contact and hearing their bonded’s voice for the first time. There are too many species to list.”

“And...and demons?”  If Asa was a potential “soulbond”, you could feel the bile rising in your throat. You couldn't do it, you wouldn’t.

You don’t miss the sharp look Arshkia settles you with, lips stretching in a thin line before she answers, “I couldn’t tell you. A demon in a soulbond is volatile, a ticking time bomb.” Arshkia pauses, icy blue eyes searching your face, “I can tell you, however, that a demon is not among your soulbonds.”

Your whole body slackens ever so slightly at her words, “How do soulbonds mark each other?”

“Usually by biting, but some species are different.” Arshkia leans back in her chair, “Have you met one of your bonded, [Name]?”

You blink at her for several moments, “No, I don’t think so. I’m...just curious, like I said. How can I avoid all of this if I don’t know anything?” You bristle slightly in place, uneasy with how interested Arshkia is in your soulbonds.

“You can’t escape it, little witch. You can run all you want, deny it all you want, but the fact remains that this will come to pass.” Arshkia leans forwards against the desk, blue eyes glittering, “There is immeasurable power among those in a soulbond, especially when rarer creatures are involved. Your powers are strong, [Name], but you do not seem to understand just how much more powerful you’ll become bonded with your soulbond. Your power increases, as does theirs.”

“Why are you telling me this? I don’t care about p-” You swallow your words at the look Arshkia sends you.

“You are running from someone. Embrace the soulbond and you won’t have to run anymore.” A sigh leaves her blood red lips, “Intentional or not, your soulbonds will mark you. It is a primal drive to do so, especially heightened by stressful situations.”

“Can soulbonds be reversed?” You can’t stop yourself from asking, even though the question almost makes you wince. You don’t know them, but yet feels wrong to ask.

“Yes.” Surprise filters over your face at Arshkia’s admission, “Cutting off a soulbond will cripple the remaining bonded. Their power diminishes, and it’s not unheard of those remaining to die, whether by heartbreak or their own hand. Losing a bonded is like losing a piece of your soul. Literally.”

You’re speechless at her words, dropping your eyes towards the floor in shame. Her gaze made you feel ashamed for asking such a thing, for even thinking such a thing. A soulbond was reversible, but at the cost of lives. All the more reason to avoid being marked. To do that, you needed to know who they were.

“Can you tell me who my bonded are?” Your question is hopeful as you look back up at the witch.

“Can I? Yes.” Her answer has you straightening in your seat, eyes widening, “Will I? No.”

Wow. What the hell? Mouth gaping open in shock, you fumble to form words, “What? Why not? I have to right to know!”

Arshkia raises her eyebrows, scoffing softly in your direction, “Do you? Don’t they have a right to know as well? Besides you have nothing of value to bargain for such a request.”

“I..I-,”

“No, [Name]. Go home.” The witch fixes you with a stare before she abruptly turns in her chair, facing towards the windows that look out onto the club.

You slowly stand and shuffle from her office, knowing that there is no arguing with her. You’ve gotten some answers, but you feel like you’re only leaving with even more questions.

+++++++++++++++++

As soon as the click of the door echoes in the room, Arshkia sighs out loud to herself. You were beyond being simply stubborn and it was going to drive her up the wall. She had plans and your stubbornness was really dragging said plans down. Tapping a fingernail against her lips, the witch hums softly as her blue eyes track your progress down the stairs and across the floor to the exit.

Once you’re gone from her view, the witch slowly stands and makes her way around her desk, pausing in front of the chair that you had occupied only minutes before. She reached out to pluck a strand of your hair left behind, taking great care to keep it pinched between her fingers as she crossed the room to a large collection of cabinets.

A flick of her other free hand in the direction of the cabinets is followed by a soft click, the upper left door popping open to reveal four rows of glass jars filled with an array of  colored liquids. Arshkia plucks a pink one, a red one, and a blue one from their resting place, placing the three jars on the counter before her.

Apparently you needed a push, or rather, one of your bonded needed a push.

Arshkia was more than happy to set things in motion.

[blxckdamask]

Trashcan’s Fic Rec

So since it's the end of May, I thought it would be nice to rec some of my favourite fics I've read throughout the month. Most of these are BNHA since that's what I’m into now lmao. I’m doing this instead of writing the 5 fics I have planned and I havent posted in like 3 weeks oops.

Bakudeku Fics:

Plus Ultra Parenting by Superior_Moustache | 39k | 10/? | fluff | established relationship | kidfic 

Izuku and Katsuki, better known to the world as the Wonder Duo: Deku and Kacchan. The married hero couple finally adopted their first child together, a bouncing baby boy. Luckily, they're on paternity leave for one year (thank god), so they can bond with their son as much as possible. They're going to be the best damn daddies and go beyond PLUS ULTRA!

Katsuki Bakugou has No Goddamn Chill (But Its For The Best That He Doesn’t) by Rosae  | 8k | 2/2 | hurt/comfort | fluff | platonic or romantic 

Alternatively titled: The Entire Goddamn School Gives Up On Trying To Understand These Two & Aizawa is Really Tired.

Izuku and Bakugou had a long and complicated history, but most of the school was pretty sure that they understood where the two currently stood as rivals. Then Izuku's dad showed up on campus and everyone's preconceptions were mercilessly thrown out the window. In which Bakugou tries to murder a man, has a soft side and convinces his entire class the twilight zone is real.

Ft. Part 2: Turns out Izuku and Bakugou will work together willingly if given proper motivation. Endeavor showing up for a training exercise apparently qualifies. Aizawa is really tired of these children not asking for help and everyone else is absolutely terrified (and secretly very glad these two don't work together more often).

briar roses (and hundred years of sleep) by vannral | 15k | 5/5 | angst w/ a happy ending | get together | eventual nsfw 

In complete honesty, no one who knows the Class 3-A should be surprised anymore. Izuku is asleep.

In which Izuku is hit by a ‘Sleeping Beauty’ Quirk, Class 3-A tries to find his True Love and get them to kiss him, and Katsuki’s very angry about it all.

Six Between by majjale | 2k | 1/1 | angst | established relationship | betrayal 

Izuku is hospitalized after a nasty fight. Katsuki finally visits.

Utopia by Kanea_vR | 2k | 1/1 | fluff | established relationship | marriage proposal | domestic 

In which Izuku worries that his and Katsuki’s relationship has become too domestic, and Katsuki proves him right. Not that either of them are complaining.

Todobaku Fics: 

No Questions by ravenssaur | 3k | 1/1 | hurt/comfort | angst | deaf!bakugou

Everytime his doorbell rings at 3am, Todoroki knows exactly who is it.

Kitties Tale by Midknight_works | 2k | 1/1 | fluff | domestic | slight nsfw

Bakugou brings home a stray box full of kittens for his and Shouto’s one year anniversary.

Where White Lilies Lay by sodapopcurtis | 17k | 1/2 | break up & make up | angst | hurt/comfort | fluff 

Shouto’s eyes light up in a way that rivals every star in the galaxy, and the past year falls to pieces. “You’re Katsuki.”

With staggered breath, he replies, “You remember me?”

“Of course I do,” Shouto says, “You’re my boyfriend.”

---

Todoroki Shouto gets amnesia and remembers only two things: 1) his name, and 2) that he's dating Bakugou Katsuki.

The only problem is, they broke up a year ago.

Deeper by snakeskinbuffalo | 3k | 1/1 | soulmate au | get together | tw suicide attempt, self harm, depression 

“Katsuki, your soulmate is someone who will always be by your side. They will be someone who completes you. Together, you will make an unstoppable force.”

AU where Bakugou and Todoroki are soulmates and Bakugou is in denial.

Do You Like... (series) by degradedpsychotic | 3 works | 57k | not completed | very nsfw | established relationship | cheating 

Shouto is looking at the damn vent like he’s about to make a break for it. “It’s not, um, what it looks-” “It’s exactly what it looks like,” Katsuki cuts across, his voice losing its bite. Shouto flinches, and silence spreads between them like the frost on Shouto’s fingers.

- - -

Shouto Todoroki and Katsuki Bakugo are tired of their marriage.

better late than never by bonnia | 12k | 1/1 | body swap au | get together | aggressive hand holding (lmao) 

“I’m sorry, but I’m not letting you go. I quite like being in my own body.” Todoroki's next breath comes out icy cold, and Katsuki leans as far back as their joint hands will allow.

“Are you fucking hearing yourself?” he sputters, feeling heat crawl up his neck to his ears.

(or: bakugou and todoroki get hit by a body swap quirk, and physical contact seems to be the only answer to their predicament)

Without Hesitation by XenophoneSpeaks | 8k | 2/2 | love confessions | hurt/comfort | get together | fluff | angst w/ a happy ending

The first time Bakugou told Todoroki he was in love with him, he thought he’d die.

Starting Over From Ground Zero by HyacinthAtropa & XenophoneSpeaks | temporary amnesia | get together | coming out | nsfw | angst w/ a happy ending 

“What would their relationship have been like, if Bakugou’s pride hadn’t stood in the way? Would they have been friends, or would things have mostly stayed the same? Would Bakugou have been happier, more open and honest about his feelings and wants and needs as a person? Would he have accepted and even appreciated the comfort others offered him, rather than always keeping people at arm’s-length in an effort to maintain an image of independence and strength?

Todoroki didn’t know.

He didn’t know. But he wanted to.

Abruptly, like a bolt of lightning, he realized he actually had the chance to find out.”

(Or: that one where Bakugou has temporary amnesia and Todoroki is tasked with caring for him until his memory returns, but ends up falling in love with the part of Bakugou that Bakugou has always kept hidden away instead.)

i don’t need to hear to know how i feel (series) by Lizxcliff | 5 works | 16k | not completed | deaf todoroki | coffee shop au | get together | fluff | angst | eventual nsfw 

“English tea, right?” He asked. The man in front of him stared, unsure of how to interact with the handsome, blonde man. This, of course, annoyed Bakugou. “Speak, moron.” He said harsher. Todoroki continued looking at him. He probably doesn’t speak sign language. He reached towards the left end of the counter and grabbed a paper menu. Searching quickly, Todoroki found the English tea, and pointed to it.

Kacchako Fics:

pink cheeks, calloused hands, small wonders by TheGodWith5Yen | 37k | 7/7 | established relationship | domestic fluff | pregnancy | kid fic | adoption 

Her hands found his. She breathed out. Her breath smelled like Listerine, it made Katsuki wrinkle his nose at her.

“I’m pregnant.”

Katsuki’s eyes widened and he stared at her, his mouth opening. “Oh shit. Shit, whoa, okay, wow.” His hands unclasped from hers and traveled down to her stomach. “Ochako, wow.” Not even an hour ago he was convinced his girlfriend was breaking up with him. His mind couldn’t completely wrap around what was happening, but he couldn’t stop looking at his girlfriend in awe. He kissed her forehead, a smacking kiss with a “mwah” sound that had Ochako rolling her eyes and cuddling closer to him. “You’re pregnant.”

“I am.” Ochako agreed, her voice steady and confidant.

Katsuki licked his dry lips. His mind was racing. “Cool.”

It’s Our Secret, Angel Face by thesweetestnerd | 200k | 39/39 | nsfw | mutual pining | get together | fluff | angst | friends with benefits 

Broken down and humiliated after her crushing defeat in the Sports Festival, Uraraka just wants to sleep off her injuries in the infirmary. She didn't expect to get a very loud and very angry roommate for the night.

(A Kacchako one shot that turned into a love story.)

Other Fics:

Perception (series) by aizawashouta | erasermic | 2 works | 10k | not completed | nsfw | friends to lovers | mutual pining | get together | angst w/ a happy ending 

Five times Hizashi feels like a burden to Shouta and one time he finally snaps with Shouta by his side to pick up the pieces.

-

Hizashi is all too aware that they’re polar opposites, Shouta being the calm to his storm, the quiet to his loud exuberance. Shouta, who’s at his most content curled up on the couch in their shared living room, or anywhere, really, napping or idly playing with their two cats while Hizashi’s busy going through his ever-growing music library, bothering Shouta for his opinion before adding the songs that have gained his friend’s grudging approval to whatever new playlist that he’s working on.

No matter how hard he tries, he can’t leave him alone and, miraculously, Shouta’s been tolerating him for fifteen years.

He hopes to God that it hasn’t become an obligation.

like-like by nanasekei | stony | 5k | 1/1 | POV morgan | fluff | kid fic | steve being a cool step dad | domestic 

Morgan doesn’t really know Captain America.

After The Tournament by bluewerewolfprose | wolfstar & drarry | 175k | 53/? | canon divergent | fix it fic | fluff | angst | angst w/ a happy ending | everyone is gay | trans Sirius | eventual drarry | nsfw 

What if Remus and Sirius realised Harry was being abused? What if all Dumbledore’s careful plans were pulled apart by the power he relied on most of all?

After the Triwizard Tournament, a traumatised Harry admits he can't go back to Privet Drive. Sirius and Remus refuse to submit to Dumbledore's plan and take him back to Grimmauld Place with them, where they must learn how to live together, how to care for one another, and how to trust one another. After so long, can they build a family together? Will they even have a chance when a war rages outside their door? And can the prophecy ever be fulfilled?

[formerlyrunephoenix6769]

RWBY VOL 7 / VOL 8 - HEAD CANON TRAJECTORY/TIMELINE.

Heya Folks, so I’ve been enjoying the weather and bashing around ideas that would make for an epic fic,or even just my theories of how V7/8 could possibly play out. 

(Its in no way a prediction or do I have any expectancy of this any of this happening, just a lil bit of fun  and by no means a demand made of CRWBY or a claim that I know what they have planned or that I can write it better, anyone who claims any of the above and that they can are dipshits in my eyes.) 

I don’t have time to dedicate to writing it so I thought I’d get it down on bullet points, but If I do make it into a fic with will be called “Birds of a Feather.”

As we are going into Vol 7 and the Atlas arc, here are some thoughts. 

 * Picking up immediately from the end of VOL 6

 TEAM RWBY/ORNJ/Q&M

 Arriving in Atlas, our trusty heroes touch down and are detained by the Atlas Military. Though they plead for an audience with General Ironwood and explain why they are in possession of a military Airship from the Argus base, (The ‘lengthy’ report from Caroline Cordovin having yet still to be written and submitted.) their pleas fall on deaf ears at first.

 Weiss makes an adamant plea that her sister, Specialist Winter Schnee be contacted, rather than her father, as they have top secret information detrimental to the tide of the coming war which needs to be delivered immediately.

 They are still detained whilst the personnel in question are awaiting confirmation of information provided. 

Whilst detained, Blake is split from the group, much to Yang and Weiss protests, but Blake tells them that its ok, and is taken to the Faunus allocated holding cells, I shall be referring to as The Pound/Kennels

 (Divergent, Yang refuses to be split from Blake and so is held with her.)

 Whilst split from the group, Blake (&Yang?) sees how the Faunus ‘prisoners’ are treated, realizing that there is still very much to be done with regards to Atlas and its prejudices towards the Faunus community

 (It would also be a great way to show and not tell, even if there are snippets of info about the disparity between Mantle and Atlas parted to the two women.)

 Maybe Blake tells the Faunus of what occurred in Haven, that the WF is now back under the leadership of Ghira, returning to the previous peaceful ways, working with the humans rather than against.

That Adam Taurus and Sienna Khan are dead. (This could also segue-way into a brief moment of showing just how much killing Adam has affected both women)  The news is met with mixed reactions from the Faunus.

 * Specialist Winter Schnee arrives to the holding place of our main cast. After a heartwarming reunion between the Schnee sisters (as heartwarming as Winter can be) information is relayed minus a few omissions bout stealing an airship and vicariously causing the subsequent Grimm attack back in Argus, the Relic and Ozpin being in Oscar’s head, a request to see Ironwood is made.

(Extra points of some Winter/Qrow friction… The pair are cynically sassed by Maria.)  

 Weiss also makes it known that Blake (&Yang?) have been detained elsewhere and demands their return. The heroes are delivered to Ironwood and they are reunited with Blake (&Yang?). Apologies are made to Miss Belladonna for her treatment. 

Discussion of the Relic, Salem’s plans, Cinder as the Fall Maiden, etc occur, finally bringing Winter into the fold and Ironwood up to speed.

 (Yang still does not admit that she is aware that Raven is the Spring Maiden)

 Ozpin finally makes an appearance, much to the groups surprise, Winter’s shock and Ironwood’s expectation. (Maybe a tiny bit of unmentioned but shown discord from Winter towards Ironwood at being kept in the dark?)

 Qrow questions Jimmy about the Relic of Creation/ where abouts of the Winter Maiden and the importance that Salem and her faction do not get their hands on the two Relics. Ozpin presses the issue to be met with Ironwood cryptically parting that the Relic of Creation is ‘safe.’ Much to Ozpin’s and Qrow’s frustration.

 Mention of new clothing needed, Maria’s goggles, Yang’s arm and Gambol Shroud needing to be fixed. Lodgings are offered at Atlas Academy

 Our heroes make moves to go to lodgings leaving behind Qrow, (maybe Oscar/Oz and therefore vicariously Ruby) with Ironwood and Winter so that they can strategize. 

*Weiss begins showing the group round Atlas, (perfect opportunity to show us the aesthetic of Atlas much like we got to see Argus. The tech, architecture, culture etc.)

 Blake is ‘cat’ called so to speak, (Get your pet back on its leash) thereby showing the audience and the group just exactly what Faunus face on day to day basis.Everyone comes to Blake’s defense, esp Weiss and Yang.

 If Blake does not come under fire then at least in the background the group witness Faunus treatment, via difference in clothing, service jobs etc. 

It could even play out that when trying to enter an establishment that Blake is either denied entry or forced to enter through a Faunus door, akin to Apartheid or at the minimum, disgusted looks.

 Weiss is rather vocal. (What’s that supposed to mean?) and outright refusing to enter an establishment that treats Faunus that way…. The proprietor would end up grovelling and snivelling…. 

“I’m willing to make an exception for an illustrious Schnee!” OR ”So the news ‘is’ true… You have lost your mind!”   (As a call back to Jacques threat in Vol 4)  

 Nora offers to go in there and smash the place to bits.

 Blake begins to voice concerns that maybe she ought to put back on her bow, much to the group’s dismay.  (Maybe some sage advice parted from Maria)

 Henry Marigold is in the background having witnessed the altercation before slinking off????

 Our group meets Flynt and Neon, who offers to take them to the Academy and get settled. Brief happy reunion occurs. 

Neon walks through the streets of Atlas bold as brass, seemingly unaffected by the looks they are garnering, but also calling out to a few vendors she knows who jovially return her greeting, giving the sense that she is much liked (and as a direct contrast to the previous altercation) much to Blake’s surprise  

 New outfits are acquired. A few weaponsmiths admit that maybe Yang’s arm Atlas Tech is beyond their skill.

 Maria says that an ‘old friend’ will most certainly have the skill to repair her arm, and Blake’s weapon.

 *Maria goes to visit her ‘old friend’, with Blake and Yang(Ruby if she has returned from strategy meeting, or if she never attended it) in tow.

 They are brought to a workshop/lab. As Maria and the old man catch up, and he is looking at the goggles/weapons that need to be fixed. the girls have a look around.

 Ruby is fangirling over weapons. (They come across either the schematics for Penny, half built androids, ie inner framework etc ) OR a previous model, who is working as the old man’s assistant. 

Ruby is taken aback, when she meets the Penny 2.0, who does not recognize her and Ruby realizes that she has none of Penny’s memories. Ruby is visibly upset OR The audience sees schematics for Penny’s design, or an arm on a workbench in the processes of being rebuilt, or very distinctive feet poking out from under a cover. (this would save Ruby from yet another heartbreaking moment)  The old man in question is Professor Polendina. Once they find out that this professor Polendiina, he and Ruby have a heartfelt discussion about Penny and he is pleased to hear that penny had become what she always wanted which is a real girl and that she had made friends, who remember her fondly and will never be forgotten.  Prof Polendina fixes the goggles and begins preparing to fix Yang’s arm telling the group that it will take time and they can return at a later date.

 The group leave.  

(DIVERGENT NEON BRINGS BLAKE TO MANTLE TO SEEK OUT A FAUNUS WEAPONSMITH TO REBUILD GAMBOL SHROUD WITH SOME NEW ADJUSTMENTS, THEREBY SHOWING THE AUDIENCE THE AESTHETIC OF MANTLE, OLDER TECH, LIVING SPACE AND CULTURE THEREFORE FURTHER CEMENTING THE DISPARITY BETWEEN THE TWO PARTS OF THE CITY)  

 *Meanwhile. Cinder and Neo arrive in Atlas/Mantle, immediately going about finding a Spider’s Den for information on TEAM RWBY.

 Tyrian is stirring up trouble amongst the Faunus in Mantle, claiming that siding with his ‘Queen’ will grant them the tools to overthrow the Atlesian Elite whilst Watt’s pays a visit to Jacques and other people in positions of power, fear mongering and telling them what exactly is coming to Atlas, that they don’t stand a chance and the only way to ensure their survival is by siding with his employer.

 This begins to sow the seeds of dissonance, and doubt in Ironwood’s leadership.  

x-x-x-x 

THIS IS ONLY AS FAR AS I HAVE GOTTEN WITH PAINSTAKING DETAIL, THE REST BELOW IS BRIEF OVERVIEW.

I have have a loads more written that I am corralling together but its something I’ll keep working on keep you posted.. If I do ever write a fic .. It will be called Birds of a Feather cause a good chunk of it is tied to the return of Raven and a desperate last stand with the Branwen twins back to back, trying to give Tai much needed time to get the kids out of the city. 

 There's a huge flash in the sky, behind the kids as they are escaping and all we hear from Yang is a very soft '"Oh' or a gasp. .. 

 (She is the only one who knows her mother has died as she felt the power entering her.  She keeps this to herself as nobody knows Raven is the Spring Maiden other than Cinder.

 It’s not meant to be some overly dramatic scene, just a soft realisation that Raven was indeed thinking of her in her last moments and did care.

 I'm a firm believer that Raven made out to Cinder's faction she didn’t give a shit about Qrow or Yang as an added layer of protection, that when she finally did double cross Cinder that Salem's faction wouldn’t come after them in retaliation, esp given Raven's semblance and her still being able to make a portal suggesting that she is still very much attached to her brother and daughter)

TO DO WITH THAT.

Yang spends the rest series not using her semblance, her father and friends believing it is to do with what she has learned in the last 3 volumes, rather than something else, which Blake does pick up on.

If Yang does use her semblance it will be sparingly and the others just think that is has evolved.But Blake defo knows otherwise and presses the issue.

 Maybe someone returns with Qrow's weapon signifying he is dead and that there was no sign of Raven, who everyone assumes ran and left him to die. Maybe a negative comment is made by Tai to that effect causing Yang to lash out an tell him Raven's died protecting them..

 When asked how she could possibly know, she tells the others that she is the Spring maiden. 

On the Weiss /Blake/Faunus issue. The Fall of Atlas causes the Atlesian elite to flee to Mantle where they are met with mixed reception. Some Faunus are adamant that they don't help. Others rush to help them.. 

 The Atlas Elite come to realise the kindness that these people are offering even after they have been treated as lesser.. (extra brownie points if the douchebag who told weiss to get her faunus on its leash is actually the background accepting help) 

 Whilst the group are hiding amongst the locals, attempting to regroup and Winter tries to coral what is left of the Atlesian Military, taking over command after the death of General Ironwood

.Weiss comes to see just how bad the conditions really are in the factories, esp SDC factories and truly sees how the other half lives. She is aghast to see other human beings running around with her Grandfather's legacy branded into their skin.

 When she points this out to Winter, she finds out that her older sister was aware of it,  but only due to her military duties. 

Weiss is of course appalled that Winter would keep this from her, who in turn tells her it was out of protection, that there was never a right time.

 Weiss vows that when all this is done she is taking back the SDC from her Father/Whitley no matter the cost.

 Some faunus are not at all happy that the Schnee's are down amongst them and it is Blake that comes to her defence explaining the new focus of the WF, what happened at Haven and that Weiss will stay true to her word. The faunus from the detention centre back at the start, back this up. 

The group find that they are being hunted for and make the ultimate desicion to leave and make a bid to escape.

A call is made for all Atlesian Military personal to return to their posts as the a new council has been formed , with Jacques Schnee at its head, (with Salem obv pulling the strings cause Jacques is a now a puppet.) having taken the place of Ironwood.

All Atlas students are also called to go back to the academy. Team FNKI refuse.    And Winter goes freaking rogue, gathering soldiers and personnel loyal to Ironwood.  Team FNKI join her, as do other students and Faunus from Mantle  vowing to protect what it is left and not let it fall until the very last man/women

(maybe the Branwen’s Last Stand happens here??? ).

Our heroes abscond with the Relic of Knowledge but without the Relic of Creation which is now in Salem's possession.  Spotted by Emerald, and it is suggested by a short clip that she follows them at close quarters. 

Our heroes are battered, injured and moral at an all time lows, (similar to vol 3 , as in all fairness they need a huge loss to balance things out and remind us of the stakes and NO ONE is protected by plot armour, extra points if Ruby loses an eye)

At the end of volume 8 , our heroes are in a non disclosed location, licking their wounds and wondering if they can truly carry on.  

A flash to Atlas devastated, surrounded by flying Beringals etc in the sky circling.

 TO DO WITH THE VILLAINS , 

This plays out concurrently over the two volumes. 

As Salem and her hoard of flying monkeys descend on Atlas and tear it asunder. Emerald and Mercury come across Cinder and Neo.

As Emerald rushes to apologise profusely that they didn't know  she was alive. Cinder brushes her aside. 

 Over time, Emerald comes to witness the difference with the way that Cinder treats Neo and becomes increasingly envious, Mercury points out what he did in V6E9 that Cinder doesn't give two shits about her, to which she replies,

 "You don’t know that!". 

The tension between Neo and Cinder build, mainly from Emerald's side, as Neo literally sassily  shrugs it off. Maybe at some point there is a 1v1 fight

 (mainly cause I really wanna fricking see a battle of the semblances... Hallucinations v's Illusions. 

Creating something from nothing, that only one person can see,  ie, Emerald's multiple copies of Mercury surrounding Yang back in Haven..... 

V'S twisting the real to look different, as I noticed Neo can only manipulate matter, as a disguise rather than create something from nothing.Neo needs something to work with. So Neo manipulates matter and Emerald manipulates the mind) 

 We know that Neo would win in a 1v1 with just fighting skills,  though we are also aware that Emerald is fully capable of taking on a number of Grimm by herself.  I think the semblance aspect would really make fight between the pair anyone's guess.

 Ultimately, either Neo throws the fight in order to stay close to Cinder and her original goal which is stabbing that bitch in the back, or Emerald wins.

OR 

 Emerald is defeated, exhausted and hurt. Surrounded by Grimm, Cinder leaves her to die.  

(Extra points for Emerald on the ground reaching out with hand as the city burns around them , eyes brimming with tears, as Cinder gives her a look , before turning her back and walking off. Cause I’m a sucka for heartbreak)

 Emerald's fate is unknown, until we see her at the end of the volume, spotting our Heroes leaving , there by kick starting her road to redemption, of sorts.

 (It always struck me as odd that in V6E9 why her and Mercury were present and told a very strategic piece of info.

 "The only thing that can stop Salem's plans for Atlas, is Vacuo coming to their aid, that Vacuo must be kept out of it at all costs!"

Esp when CRWBY are known for keeping things very close to the chest and making every cent of their budget count.. Which leads me to believe that it is important esp with concern to Emerald and Merc, which again makes me think that Emerald will eventually leave with that information and deliver that info to Vacuo, either out of genuine guilt and wish to make rights, or as a way to avoid being imprisoned. 

 We know that Vacuo have a very laxed view on criminals etc.. so it’s the perfect place for Emerald to flee to,  whether Mercury goes with her remains to be seen.)

 That’s as far as I’ve gotten with concerns to that. 

TO DO WITH THE BRANWEN’S LAST STAND.

This could happen anywhere long the narrative, maybe towards the end of v7 or v8 I see this pair standing back to back surrounded by enemies. Anything to stall and allow Tai to lead the kids out of danger. Cuts to scene in the aftermath of an epic battle with their slain enemies, Both sat on the ground, leaning back to back, both exhausted, maybe Qrow injured,  Qrow takes out his hip flask, giving it a shake, he takes a sip. He hands it to Raven, who takes a small sip before handing it back, Enemies approach a second time surrounding them, Cinder or maybe even Salem. they are severely outnumbered. The Branwen’s struggle to their feet supporting each other. 

“I never thought it would end like this!”

“We came into this world together, we go out of this world together!”

“Ah come on, that’s not like you, who says it’s over?”

(either line is interchangeable for either character)

They exchange a look, both knowing that this is the end, before turning with weapons raised and running into the fray. 

Cut to where the kids are, who witness sanse huge flash in the background, Yang’s soft ‘Oh’ and then cut back to Qrow’s hip flask on the ground, dented and scorched. 

Yes! I know , I am  a monster!

[essiefreds]

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18,  Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22

Ah, yes, the fabled return that everyone has been longing for. 

Probably gonna do a part a week, ‘cause I don’t... have a surplus, like I did when I first started writing, so... keep an eye out, I suppose. 

Word Count: 2572

Tagged: @hotemotionalmess, @justtolkienabout, @uservalkyrie, @writing-for-a-chance, @hufflepeople, @alexfayer, @guaibi

You begged to be let in on the mission. You followed Director Fury, Deputy Director Hill, and Agent Coulson around for almost a full day, just listing all kinds of reasons that you should be allowed to go, most of which revolved around your position as the liaison between Stark Industries and Steve’s liaison to the 21st century. For the most part, the pleas were heard by deaf ears, but…

Eh, that had never stopped you before, especially when Steve had asked if you were coming along. What were you supposed to say, no?

Yes, you were, apparently.

“Oh.” Steve did not look happy with the response you had given him, which had been a resounding Of course I’m coming, are you kidding?

“What?” you asked, not really knowing if you wanted to hear his answer.

He shrugged, slightly, as he poked through his dresser, finding things to pack for the trip to wherever they were going, for however long. It was a mission, after all. There could never be a set time line.

“I don’t know,” he said, and he sounded genuine. “I mean, if it were anything else, I would definitely want you to come, but… this is all going to be super dangerous.”

“And you don’t think I can take care of myself?” You’d be lying if you said you weren’t offended by the implication. “I know you haven’t seen me fight yet, but let me assure you, I can.”

Steve smiled a little, glancing at you as he carried a few shirts to where he had a duffle bag sitting on his bed. “I’m not arguing with you,” he said. “Just… I’ll feel better, if you’re not there, I think. I’ll feel better knowing you’re here, relatively out of harm’s way.”

“That’s not it, though,” you concluded. You knew him well enough by this point to be able to tell when there was more to what he was saying. “What else is there, Rogers?”

Steve sighed, just loud enough for you to be able to hear it. “You might be a distraction,” he said. He sounded embarrassed, almost, and most definitely apologetic. “If you come along, I mean. I’m gonna need to focus all of my attention on doing whatever they need me to do, and if you’re there, my attention is going to be divided.”

You did not like being called a distraction, but you were touched that he felt as such. “I won’t be a distraction when I’m miles away?”

“No,” he said, turning around to face you after zipping the duffle bag closed. “You’ll be here, safe, like I said. That’s one less worry.”

“We don’t know for sure,” you reminded him. “SHIELD has no idea what Loki’s plan for the Tesseract is. What if New York ends up being in the line of an alien invasion? I won’t be “safe” then, will I?”

“Maybe not,” Steve replied, “but I’ll be here again, if that happens, and I’ll be able to protect you.” At your dry look, he smiled. “If necessary.”

You exhaled a breath, turning your gaze downwards. “Y/N?” Steve prompted. If you knew him well, he matched you on that same level.

“I guess you’re lucky, then,” you told him, quietly. “Director Fury said I don’t have clearance for this mission, that I’m supposed to stay here and keep an eye on things. I guess I’m the ground crew.”

You heard him cross the room to where you were standing, and he tilted your chin so that you were looking at him. His blue eyes were gentle with barely suppressed affection, but there was a hint of sadness in them, too.

“Somebody’s gotta stay, to keep an eye out for that invasion,” he said, smirking, and you laughed.

“Yeah, I guess if not me, who else?” You sobered up, again, and gazed at him. “Don’t… well, don’t do anything that you can’t do, and… come back safe.”

“I will,” he assured. “I’m not about to leave another girl behind.”

You stared at him, wondering if there were any last minute pieces of advice that you could give to him. He waited, patiently, like he expected something from you.

“Uh, Tony Stark’s kind of a dick,” you blurted, and the small grin on his face grew about tenfold. “I mean it. You’re not gonna agree with him a lot of the time, and it’s probably gonna make working together really difficult, but… you’ll be able to handle it. Just keep your head.” You paused. “And don’t insult his tower.”

“What tower?” Steve asked, amused.

“The Stark Tower.” You paused. “I guess it makes sense that you haven’t seen it. Hang on.” A quick search on your cell phone, and you had a picture of the tower up on the screen. You showed it to him. Immediately, he made a face.

“It’s… ugly.”

You laughed out loud, again, and you lowered your phone. “Yeah, see, don’t say that to him, ‘kay?” You slid your phone away into your pocket, again, and considered. “Uh… the helicarrier is nuts, so don’t be too freaked out by it.”

“I doubt I will be,” Steve commented. “It won’t be new territory by any means.”

“Hah,” you said, although without much infliction. He didn’t seem to notice. He was busy watching your face, as though trying to memorize it. You offered him a look complete with raised eyebrows, and he smiled again, softer this time.

“Sorry,” he said. “Just… taking it all in.”

You leaned up on your toes to kiss him. One of his arms wrapped around your waist, even as he picked up his bag. He held you close for several minutes, a couple of which were really not affordable, and then he let you go.

“I’ll, uh…” He pushed a strand of hair out of your eyes. “I’ll miss you.”

“Yeah, well, take care of it quick, and then you can come back,” you retorted lightly, tapping him on the chest. Seeing the expression on his face, you exhaled a breath. “I’ll miss you too, Rogers.”

There was a knock on his apartment door, and you both turned in that direction. “Captain?” That was Agent Coulson, there to escort him to a quinjet that would fly him to SHIELD’s specialized helicarrier. “Time to head out.”

Steve looked back at you, placed kiss on your forehead. “I’ll see you later,” he said, and then he was gone.

You stood in the middle of his bedroom, arms wrapped around your middle. You hated how empty the apartment suddenly felt, how empty you felt alongside it. You worried the inside of your lip for a moment, wishing that there was some way of getting rid of the uncomfortable sensation. You’d never felt empty before. You’d been heartbroken, obviously, when your father had died. You’d experienced extreme sadness, after your very first cat had to be put down. But emptiness? That was a new one, but you were positive that was the only description you could give to what you were feeling.

You inhaled, slowly, glancing around his bedroom for a moment. It was not good, probably, how attached you were. Even with a relationship having been established between the two of you, wasn’t it too soon? Why were you taking this separation so badly, already? You’d only just recently stopped separating yourself from him. How was this any different from that decision?

I was the one to separate us, that first time. That was on me, it was optional. This is a lot different from that, because neither of us can make the choice to end the separation. It just has to happen, one way or another.

You shivered, involuntarily, and decided that it was time to go back to your own apartment.

Before you left his, however, you searched through his closet for something of his that you could take with you, as a sort of comfort item. You decided on a soft sweatshirt that had Brooklyn, New York written on it. You’d never seen him wear it, but it smelled remarkably like he did, his cologne and the charcoal that he used to draw.

You pulled the sweatshirt on over your head, and left his apartment, hoping it wouldn’t be too long before he was asking to draw you, again. You hadn’t let him, not at first. You’d thought it was weird, but maybe that had been a thing, back in the 1900s, just casual drawing of one another between friends. Jack had drawn Rose in Titanic, after all, but that had been raunchy as hell. Something inside of you said that wasn’t what Steve had had in mind, but all the same, you’d said no.

But he’d been persistent, and after about a month of working with him, you’d given in, because you were curious about his skill level. So, for the better part of a two-hour period, you’d sat reading, like he’d asked you to, and waited patiently as he drew. The end result had been so good, that you’d taken it home and placed it on your fridge; you weren’t allowed to hang frames in your apartment. If you were, the drawing would have a place of honor on your wall.

You sighed to yourself as you settled down behind the steering wheel of your car, and you did something that you hadn’t since your father had died; you prayed.

Please, keep him safe, and keep everyone else involved safe, too.

Steve rubbed at his eyes as he sat in a chair at the conference table located near the helicarrier’s bridge. He was the only one still present in the room, after the conversation that the entire team had just had. It had ended in a disagreement, which seemed to be a pattern for them, already. They’d only just started working together, too. Things were not boding well for their future as a cooperative group of people.

At least they’d got the guy. Loki was a strange one, and obviously not the most friendly. He was a bully. Steve hated bullies. He was locked away deep within the recesses of the helicarrier, however, probably already trying to think of a way to escape. The fact that his brother had come along, Thor, that didn’t help matters much, especially since he seemed set on taking Loki back to their home world for trial there.

Under any other circumstances, Steve probably would have agreed with him. Anything to get Loki off of Earth. However, they still had no idea where the Tesseract was. Knowing Loki’s plan was useless when they did not know the location of the thing he hoped to pull it off with. Hopefully, Stark and Banner would get on that sooner rather than later. He supposed he could sit in on their work, keep an eye out, but he honestly would not be able to understand any of the scientific stuff that they’d be working with, and he’d only be a distraction.

Stark did not like him. Steve had no idea why, but thanks to Y/N’s warning, he’d been expecting an attitude similar to the one that Stark currently possessed. It did not make it any easier to deal with him, but at least he wasn’t able to catch Steve off guard. He’d have to thank Y/N for that later.

He did not appreciate how much he missed you already. It had been… what, two days? Maybe even less than that, he wasn’t sure. The trip to Germany had thrown him off. Whatever it was, it felt like it had been years, and he’d slept through seventy. His separation anxiety should not be going wild the way it currently was. He chalked it up to the fact that the world was not yet safe, and that meant you weren’t either.

He lowered his hand to the table top, gazed down at the glass for a moment. Work needed to be done. The world needed to be made safe. You needed to be safe.

He pushed himself up from the table, sticking his hands into the pockets of the pants he was wearing. The best place to get work done was the lab where the Tesseract was being tracked. After all, the sooner the Tesseract was back in SHIELD’s hands, the sooner he’d back back with Y/N.

“Can I talk to him?”

Fury sighed on the other end of the line. “No,” he said. “He needs to focus on what’s happening here.”

You scowled down at the floor, before lifting your gaze towards the sky, which you could see through a nearby window. Somewhere overhead, miles apart from you, was the helicarrier that currently carried Steve, and the rest of the Avengers. It also carried the body of Agent Phil Coulson. This call from Director Fury was to inform you of his death.

You’d miss Coulson. He’d been a friendly guy, always ready with a joke, when the situation called for it. He’d also been a huge fan of Steve, something he’d no doubt expressed to the man himself. You could sense Steve’s horror and regret over the loss of Coulson, which was desperately why you wanted to speak to him.

“Please, sir,” you said, calmly. “Just for two minutes.”

“Y/LN, a god has just escaped from our custody, after wreaking havoc on the helicarrier,” Fury replied. “The last thing that Captain Rogers needs is for you to distract him.”

“I’m not going to!” you said, firmly. “Director Fury, I’m making this one single request of you. Can’t you grant it to me, after not allowing me clearance on the mission itself? Think of it as me checking on him to see if he’s still handling the 21st century.”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a long moment. Finally, Fury cursed, under his breath, and then he said, “Two minutes.”

Relief blossomed in your chest, and you waited to hear Steve’s voice with anticipation.

“Y/N?”

God, he sounded so sad, but also relieved to know he was talking to you.

“Hey, Rogers,” you greeted, settling down on the edge of the bed in his apartment. You’d headed over there to clean, a little, since it had no doubt gotten dusty. “How’re you doing?”

“Could be better,” he admitted. “Losing a soldier is always hard.”

“I know. He’ll be missed.” You paused, suddenly not sure of what to say, when only three minutes prior, you’d had about eighty million things. “Uh… I miss you?”

He responded with a tired-sounding chuckle. “Yeah. I miss you too. Hopefully, we’ll be able to figure this out soon.” He paused. “And sign of an alien invasion?”

You smiled. “Not yet. Why, should I be expecting one?”

“Uh, maybe,” Steve said, and your smile faded. That had not sounded like a joke. “We’re working it out, as best we can.”

“Wait, so, aliens are an actual possibility?” You couldn’t believe it, didn’t want to believe it. Aliens? Really?

“Y/N -“ He stopped, and fell silent. You heard someone speak to him. His reply was muffled, and then he was speaking to you again. “Gotta go. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

There were other things to say, but no time. “Okay,” you sighed. “Be safe.”

You had no idea whether or not he heard you, because the call had ended. You lowered your phone, sighing to yourself.

Aliens. What the fuck?

[kingkeerys]

the art of chasing ♔ billy hargrove [six]

concept: steve has a female best friend and billy has taken it upon himself to flirt with her just to piss steve off. that’s it. that’s the plot. [vol. 6]

a/n: okay so this wasn’t posted last night like i said it would be because i fell asleep lmao but i got it out today so be proud of me!! more was going to happen in this chapter than what actually did but it was getting too long so i had to stop it somewhere bahah. so the next part will technically be part 6.5 rather than 7. enjoy! xoxo

masterlist

Standards set and broken all the time Control the chaos behind a gun Call it as I see it even if I was born deaf, blind and dumb

Annie stared at Billy’s unconscious form from across the room.

At first she thought about just leaving him. When she got back inside the house her hands had been shaking. She’d never felt so angry in her life and for a while she paced in the kitchen, unable to even look at him, until the brunt of the anger faded away and she’d nearly burned a hole in the floor from walking back and forth. She wanted to just leave him behind and find her own way home, sort of hoping that he’d wake up scared and alone, but she had a feeling Ms. Byers wouldn’t appreciate coming home to a bloody boy passed out in her disarrayed living room.

So instead she decided to sit in the corner of the living room with her knees pulled into her chest out of his eyesight in case he finally came to and just watched him silently.

He’d crossed the line with Steve. In the beginning it’d only been simple teasing here, a bit of mockery there, but it’d never gotten physical. Well, unless you counted that time he shoved Steve in basketball. It’d never gone this far. Nothing Steve could have done warranted such a violent reaction. Clearly Billy had some serious issues to work out and she wasn’t going to subject herself to any of that. If she knew Billy at all, he wouldn’t see it that way. According to him he’s got nothing to fix, so really he was beyond help.

But it did beg the question though: what were the kids doing at Will Byers’ house without Will or his Mom around? And why was Steve with them? What wasn’t he telling her?

It made Annie feel uneasy knowing Steve was keeping secrets from her. And maybe it wasn’t that big of deal. Maybe he was just babysitting them again and they were playing a game. A very elaborate game. But why at Will’s house? She knew kids were imaginative. Hell, it wasn’t even that long ago that she was one. Some might say she technically still was. But it seemed like they were taking everything really seriously; not even joking or messing around at all. What was that about? And why did it seem like Steve was playing along?

Nothing Billy did was justified but she could kind of get why he was so suspicious, because she kind of was too. And she hated that.

How was it that she could go from knowing Steve so well, almost more than she knew herself, to not knowing him at all? In what universe did that make sense? How was it fair?

He should probably go to a hospital, she reluctantly thought, staring at Billy’s still body.

Who knew what kind of stuff was pumping through his veins because seriously, what the hell was that needle all about? She could see his chest moving up and down so at least he was still alive. She almost didn’t care what happened to him but she didn’t wish death on anyone if she could help it. Anger was only temporary, death was not.

But why did she have to deal with it? Did she piss off some higher power? Was this some sick and twisted form of karma?

Maybe it was because she hadn’t returned her copy of To Kill a Mockingbird in sixth grade and lied to the librarian about it. Right after that happened their library had to start accepting donations because they were so low on reading material. What if that was her fault?

Heaving a sigh, Annie stood up from the floor and made her way into the kitchen. She grabbed a glass from one of the cabinets and filled it with cold water from the sink before making her way over to Billy’s strewn body. She stared down at him for a few seconds, doubtful if this would even work or if it was just something the movies made up to seem possible. Licking her lips, she held the glass of water above him and slowly tipped it.

Water spilled over his face, washing away a bit of the blood that hadn’t yet dried and immediately his eyelids twitched. His brows furrowed and he jerked his head to the right, breathing in a bit of water through his nose and immediately sputtering from it. Annie sat the empty glass on the dresser next to them, eyes trained on Billy’s scrunched up face.

Once he finished coughing his eyes began to blink open. He sniffed and brought an unsteady hand up to wipe at his nose, pulling it away to see a smear of blood. He squinted and his forehead wrinkled, obviously disoriented and a little lost. Naturally his gaze slowly turned to meet Annie’s and the vague surprise was clear on his face. He carefully dropped his arm to the ground and returned her stare silently for a few seconds. Then he cleared his throat.

“You’re still here?”

His voice was raspy and she found the sound grated on her nerves. Her lip curled and before she knew what she was doing, she was on top of him with her fists slamming into whatever part of his body she could find. His face, his chest, his shoulders, anything.

“What the f—“ Billy quickly brought up his hands to defend himself, still a bit out of it and slightly dazed.

“You—“ smack, “—are—“ slap, “—such—“ punch, “—an—“ scratch, “asshole!”

Even still she had a hard time fighting against his strength and after a few seconds she was just swatting at midair while he was holding her wrists in his fists. She continued to snarl and growl and make a bunch of noises he hardly found intimidating, gazing up at her with a hint of confusion and mild irritation. It didn’t take long before her energy was spent and she was breathing heavily while glaring down at him with as much hatred as she could muster.

Billy panted along with her, a hard set in his brow. Then he tugged her down until her elbows were against his stomach and he snapped,

“Stop. Hitting. Me.”

He then shoved her back and released her wrists. Nostrils flared, she grudgingly swung her leg over his hip and pushed herself onto her knees, still giving him the third-degree through heated eye contact. He rolled his eyes and wiped his nose on the back of his hand again before carefully sitting up, wincing at the pain. He brought another hand up to his neck and pressed against the spot where the needle had entered.

“The hell did that bitch do to me?” Annie didn’t answer and Billy’s lips thinned, his jaw clenching before he shook his head as if to regain his bearings. He glanced around the room, noticing the obvious mess he’d caused and whatever had already happened prior to them arriving. “Jesus.”

“You’re an asshole,” she repeated for good measure. He huffed a laugh through his nose, clearly unimpressed, and her glare worsened. “Really. I didn’t know a single person was capable of being that much of an asshole but you proved me wrong. What you did to Steve was…” she shook her head, unable to come up with the right words. “You’re such an asshole. And Lucas! What did he ever do to you?”

“Would you just shut up for a minute?” Billy snipped, turning his own glare on her. “You’re giving me a headache.”

“Oh, I’m giving you a headache?” she raised her eyebrows challengingly. “You smashed a plate over Steve’s head!”

“Fucking hell,” with a bit of effort he managed to crawl onto his knees, arching his back a little and rolling his head to stretch out his neck. He then got about halfway to standing up before stumbling and catching himself on his hands, gasping on all fours. Apparently his equilibrium hadn’t quite caught up to the rest of him yet.

Annie frowned despite her temper. “You should go to a hospital.”

Billy snorted. “Yeah, not happening, sweets.”

“I’m serious,” she said, brows pulled together. “You don’t know what was in that needle. It wasn’t even sanitized.”

“Do you hear yourself right now?” Billy looked over at her with glazed eyes. He sniffed again and shook his head. “I’m fine, just give me a minute.”

“Your funeral,” Annie shrugged, not willing to fight with him on it any longer. If he wanted to be poisoned then that was fine by her. Bet that would teach him a lesson.

“Which car do you plan on getting to the hospital in?” Billy outstretched his arms, finally able to sit up on his knees again. “Do you see one around? Because if my memory serves me right, the little shits took my goddamn car!”

“Which wouldn’t have happened if you had just let it go,” she retorted. “But let me guess, that’s not in your vocabulary,” she mimicked his comment from earlier.

“Damn straight,” he replied, trying to stand up again. This time he succeeded but not without looking winded afterwards. He placed his hands on his hips and made quick work of sweeping the room with his eyes again. “The fuck happened to this place anyway?”

Annie didn’t know why she answered. “I don’t know.”

“I mean, it’s fucking weird, right?” Billy spun around with an intense look, shoulders squared like a cat ready to pounce despite the paleness of his cheeks. “What the hell were they doing out here? I don’t give a shit if you and Harrington are best pals, something was going on.”

She wasn’t pleased with the reminder. “I don’t know.”

“What do you know?” Billy countered snidely.

“That you’re an asshole,” she replied without missing a beat. “I thought we’d established that already.”

Billy shook his head, looking about ready to make a tasteless comment but thinking better of it. He turned away from her, eyeing the hallway next to them before making his way down it.

“Where are you going?” Annie demanded. When he ignored her she got to her feet with a huff and quickly followed him in case he decided to vandalize Will’s room or something just to spite his sister.

Instead, she found him in the bathroom with his hands in the sink. He leaned down and began to splash water over his face. The water ran red for a moment and then eventually settled into a light pink as it washed down the drain. He pulled back to glance up at himself in the mirror, chin dripping with water.

At least the blood was gone. He had a nice shiner below his left eye and his nose was a bit swollen but nothing too noticeable. His knuckles looked the angriest, a few cuts and bruises decorating his hands. He wouldn’t be able to hide the fact that he’d gotten into a fight. She wondered if his parents would care at all.

“Enjoying the view?”

Annie snapped out of her trance and blinked herself back into focus, realizing Billy was watching her through the mirror. She felt embarrassed despite the situation.

“Not nearly as much as you’d think,” she snapped without thinking, unknowingly admitting that she had to have been admiring at least a little in that case. “Especially not with all those bruises on your face.”

“Kinda suits me though, don’t you think?” he asked, rubbing a hand along his jaw. “Bit of a rugged handsome, eh?”

“Not even a little bit.”

He stood back up and turned to face her, stepping into her space until they were nearly nose-to-nose.

“You sure you didn’t hit your head on anything?” he asked lightly, a smirk curving up the side of his mouth before he brushed past her.

Annie inhaled slowly to reign in her annoyance before following after him into the kitchen this time. He began shuffling around in the cabinets and Annie opened her mouth to ask what he was doing but he apparently found what he was looking for. He retrieved a white bottle and snatched up a glass from the counter. Annie recognized it to be aspirin and he popped several pills in his mouth and threw back a few swigs of water.

“Do you really think that’s going to solve everything?” she asked with her arms crossed. “A few pain pills and you’re good as new?”

“Never failed me before,” Billy answered easily, taking another long drink. Annie’s brows furrowed.

“You get into fights often?” she replied, feigning disinterest.

“More than you’d know.”

The way he said it made her stop. There was a hint of disappointment in his voice, along with something else. Anger? She couldn’t really tell. She tried thinking back to all those times she saw him in school. He seemed to always be with friends, or whatever closely represented the term in his eyes. Sure, he looked like the type to constantly make enemies and get into trouble but other than making snide remarks she’d never actually seen him get into a physical altercation with anyone.

Maybe he was talking about when he lived in California.

Billy finished his water and then tossed the glass in the sink. Annie winced at the sound it made and Billy turned to give her a false smile.

“Let’s go.”

He brushed past her again and began making his way towards the front door with a purpose. Annie was momentarily confused before she scuttled after him, mind racing.

“Go where?”

He threw the door open and a harsh bite of cold wind swept into the house that made Annie’s spine shiver. Billy didn’t seem to react and he stomped across the porch, the heels of his boots thumping on the stairs as he walked down them. Annie was quick to follow, disgruntled at seeing her breath fog up in front of her. How long were they in the house? She realized she’d never been paying attention to the clock. And then a sick sense of dread filled her stomach.

Her parents were going to kill her.

“Hope you’re nice and cozy,” Billy’s sarcastic tone pulled her out of her horrified thoughts. She tossed him a confused look and he nodded down at her apparel. She blinked at the leather jacket she was still wearing and balked. She’d completely forgotten about it. She noticed Billy’s unbuttoned, thin shirt and began peeling the jacket off.

“Oh, I completely forgot I was wearing it—“

“I don’t care, keep it on,” Billy waved her off as he stepped onto the road. Annie mindlessly kept up with his stride, her forehead wrinkling with the jacket halfway down her arms. She technically still had a light coat on underneath the jacket so she didn’t really need it.

“Aren’t you cold?”

“Nah,” Billy said carelessly. He began to pat his jean pockets and then scowled. “Damn it, left my smokes in the car.”

Annie pulled the jacket back up without thinking much of it. “Where are we going? To a hospital?”

He rolled his eyes. “Forget the hospital already.”

“Then tell me where we’re going,” she said impatiently, wrapping the jacket tighter around her body.

It was a bit unsettling walking down the middle of an unlit road at God knows what hour of the night, the trees on either side of them disorienting their view. The moon was high in the sky and it left little trails of light between the branches on the road in front of them, giving off this eerie vibe Annie wasn’t comfortable with.

“You’ll see,” Billy finally replied with the vaguest response that made Annie’s tonsils curl.

“I don’t think so,” she said immediately, pausing mid-stride. Billy continued on a few feet before finally realizing she wasn’t at his side anymore. He stopped and turned to cast an expectant look at her over his shoulder, one of his hands tucked inside his pockets. “There are only two options here. One,” she held up a finger and Billy raised his eyebrows, “is you take me home. That option’s a bit hazy because I don’t actually want you to know where I live so once we get to a place I recognize well we can just part ways and forget this ever happened. Or two, we can go to the nearest emergency room and get you looked at. There is no ‘we’ll see’ option on the table.”

“What if I put it on the table?” Billy asked after a moment of silence.

“I’ll take it right back off,” she countered easily.

Billy licked his lips, eyes skirting around the forest on either side of them before nodding to himself. He took a few steps towards her until they were only arm’s distance apart and Annie watched him warily.

“If I remember correctly,” Billy said, eyes glinting. “You promised to go to a party with me.”

Annie stared at him incredulously.

“I didn’t promise anything. Besides,” she motioned behind her wildly, “have you completely forgotten what happened back there? I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“You’re going somewhere right now,” he remarked humorously.

Annie stuttered. “That’s only because I don’t know my way home.”

“So you’re using me,” Billy surmised.

“That’s not what I said.”

“It’s what you implied,” Billy took another step forward and it took everything in Annie not to take a step back and keep the distance between them. “So you need me to get you home but you don’t actually want me to know where home is, but you also don’t want to be anywhere near me and yet you have to be because you don’t actually know how to get home,” he squinted at her in false confusion. “Did I get that right?”

“You know what, forget it,” Annie pursed her lips and made a point of stepping around him. “I’ll find my own way home, I don’t need you for anything.”

She heard Billy’s footsteps trailing after her. “So you’re just going to guess how to get home and potentially get yourself lost?”

“Better than having to deal with you,” she replied snappishly.

“That’s real mature,” he said, catching up with her and walking by her side. “So because you don’t want to deal with me, you’re willing to put yourself at risk. What if someone finds you walking on the side of the road?”

She gave him a peeved look. “Like you did?”

He sighed and corrected himself. “Someone dangerous.”

“Still not seeing the difference.”

“You’re fucking impossible, you know that?” Billy said impatiently, an irritated press between his brows.

“I’m sorry, I just find it funny that you expect me to believe you actually have a conscience. You beat my best friend half to death but now you’re all concerned for my well-being? I don’t think so.”

“I didn’t beat him half to death,” Billy rolled his eyes as if she were being dramatic.

“Did you see his face?!” Annie yelled.

“Well excuse the fuck outta me for trying to figure out what the hell was going on with my goddamn sister!”

“I thought you said she wasn’t your sister?” Annie countered, looking at him closely. Billy gritted his teeth and exhaled loudly.

“She’s not,” he said, tone slightly less hostile. Annie watched him quietly for a few seconds, trying to read the expression on his face.

“I really don’t get you,” she told him honestly. She didn’t. He was so unpredictable, so unlike anyone she’d ever met before. When she thought he was going to do or say one thing, he pulled a complete 180 and did something totally unexpected. He beats Steve to a bloody pulp but then he comes back and says she shouldn’t walk home alone because of strangers. Nothing about him made sense to her. He was a walking contradiction.

Billy smiled mirthlessly. “It’s a fucking gift.”

They maintained eye contact for a good ten seconds before he gestured to the road with all the elegance of a four-year-old throwing a tantrum.

“So are we going or do you want to walk the opposite way like a brat?”

Annie mutely shook her head. She was almost too angry to say anything but there was something else there that made the anger a little easier to bear.

Then she motioned ahead.

“Lead the way.”

[kpopandcream]

Moon Day - I

Pairing: Dongmin x Reader & Yoongi x Reader

Genre: Fluff, Angst, Humour.

Warnings: Strong language, Implied smut, some dark themes.

Jungkook told you about Min Yoongi many times. How he didn’t take to strangers. How he preferred to stay unknown. How he thrived in the underbelly of society where he could do what he wanted without anyone caring. Yet, after many short talks about him, all of that information still seemed to land on deaf ears. You couldn’t remember a single thing about him except for his name, which landed you in a puddle full of milk and under a confused stare.

Word Count: 4.8K

Part: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Masterlist

Jungkook’s laugh rang through your ears, both of your eyes squinting from how large your smiles were. His hand smacked down on his crossed legs repeatedly, face turning beet red from the stupid joke said before. You had called the cat that was lying on your chest a booby cat, which your friend Soojin called stupid. Sehun nearly threatened her into making a better suggestion but it was Ahro who spoke next. She was the quiet one, hardly ever speaking up when things got a little ‘distasteful’ as she would call it but, over the top of her cup, she’d whispered “titty kitty” and it sent all of you into a fit. Even Dongmin, who’d been in the bathroom cracked a smile with a shake of his head as he came back into the living room.

The six of you were fond of sitting on the floor, the couch and chairs always too small and uncomfortable to fit your personalities. There was a formality of sitting in chairs that you were against the most, always taking the position of lying on the floor with whatever pet was in sight. Tonight, it was Dongmin’s cat, Gina, who was asleep amongst the loud voices and less than faint music playing in the background. Your thumbs traced the spots on his (yes, his. Dongmin insisted on Gina no matter the sex, stating that his future wife would probably never agree to the name so he needed to have at least one child called Gina. You suspected he was lying and got dared to do it. He’d never admit it, of course) ears absentmindedly as the rest of the group spoke about nothing and yet everything.

Jungkook raised his arms over his head for a small stretch, closing his eyes as he did so. A small portion of his skin showed and you poked it with the end of your nail, earning a small twitch as a reaction and then a curse.

“If you don’t want me to do that then stop buying crop tops,” you murmured quietly, returning your gaze to Gina’s face and your fingers to rub behind his ears. Jungkook defended himself just as quickly as Ahro spoke.

“It’s not a crop top.”

“Are you saying men shouldn’t wear crop tops, y/n?”

Soojin quirked up a heavily defined eyebrow at this, staring down at you seriously. “Yeah, y/n, is that a problem?”

You shrugged as best as you could, supressing a smile with a small, “of course not.”

“Then don’t tell our crop top wearing friend to stop wearing them,” Sehun joined in, draping an arm over Jungkook’s shoulders, which he tried to shake off but Sehun was stronger. A pout formed on his lips and Sehun shook his head, continuing, “look, now you’ve made him sad. How could you do that to this poor face?”

Dongmin’s hand came to grip Jungkook’s chin to bring it closer to your face, making you crack up as Jungkook bit at his hand. He didn’t hit anything really, just grazed the side of Dongmin’s hand but it still evoked a hiss from the black-haired boy. Jungkook looked slightly pleased but still under the heavy arm of Sehun, who kept a stellar straight face.

“I’m sorry, Jungkook,” you professed lightly, pressing your left hand over your heart with a small giggle. “They’re right, you should wear all the crop tops you want.”

“There you go,” Sehun crooned, letting go of Jungkook and beaming at him. “Didn’t that make you feel better?”

“I hate all of you,” was the only response they got from Jungkook and Ahro sipped from her cup deeply to stop herself from outwardly laughing.

The night passed quicker than you wanted it to and soon, everyone was filtering out of the small apartment Dongmin and his roommates called home. Moon Bin and Minhyuk didn’t come stumbling home until 2 in the morning, with Jinwoo and his girlfriend Haeun trailing behind them to make sure they got up safe. Dongmin decided that was a sign their little party had to end and, by Dongmin called it, you mean Sehun got up to leave, calling it a night. Sehun and Moon Bin couldn’t stand each other after a fight three years ago they couldn’t seem to get over so they were never found in the same room at a time. You didn’t know all the details but figured it was serious so you never asked. Besides, Sehun and you were the least close in the entire group, so you figured it was out of place.

Dongmin ushered Moon Bin into his room to avoid the two from meeting, him shooting you a desperate look to keep Sehun away from the door for a few minutes. You peeled yourself from the floor, coming to a seated position and tugging on Sehun’s pant leg before he could walk to the door. He looked down at you, eyes void of any emotion. You stared back, mind not thinking of anything quick enough to keep him stalled for the few seconds, so you blinked instead.

“What is it?” he sighed, shoulders slumping.

“Can you get me a glass of water before you leave?” Your voice was steady, as if you’d meant every pause and wanted to annoy him. He furrowed his eyebrows, somewhere between confused and amused before denying you and walking away. Your hand reached out to keep him in his place but Dongmin appeared in the living room and you stopped your stretch.

His hands fell into the back pockets of his dark-wash jeans and he rocked back and forth on his heels before the five of you. A little shy smile appeared on his lips as he mumbled, “time to go, huh?”

“Y-yeah, I’ve got work at 3:00 so…” Sehun trailed off, motioning half-heartedly. Dongmin nodded, knowing everyone would start filtering out afterwards. He seemed a bit disappointed but you couldn’t figure out why, so you simply sat Gina in your lap again and continued your business. Besides, you were always the first to arrive and last to leave so you could take your time.

Jinwoo said hello after putting a very giggly and drunk Minhyuk to bed, Haeun standing at door awkwardly. Soojin tried to pick up a conversation with her to make her feel alone but it didn’t work. The girls looked deathly embarrassed at a dumb comment Soojin made, which led to her sprinting to the bathroom for relief. Despite claiming herself as the ‘bad bitch’ of the group, she had very little confidence. She tried her best though, to be more open. It was only the rare times where she didn’t try did she succeed at making new friends. You didn’t know how to tell her that without her getting upset.

After the hello and small pleasantries (which Sehun tried to avoid like the plague), the couple left as quickly as they came, hand in hand. They’d gotten more serious lately, or so Dongmin said a few nights ago when you were out together. He’d come to pick you up from work because you ended late and were in a bad neighbourhood so he offered. He hardly ever spoke about his other friends around the group, thinking it made everyone jealous but he never seemed to mind when it was just you two. It was just Soojin who got upset but that was because she basically dedicated herself to this small group of friends, claiming it was “too hard to care about more than 3 people and I’m already doing that”. You liked hearing about his life outside of the six of you though. You knew that you couldn’t be someone’s whole world and being reminded of that was humbling somehow.

               Soojin left with Sehun, who promised her a ride home. They had been friends the longest, which surprised you. When you first met them, it made sense but getting to know Soojin and Sehun through Soojin, you wondered how they were in the same room together, much less alone. The two were volatile people, very impulsive and explosive under the image of being that cool, out-of-reach person. Maybe because they were both so emotionally unavailable, they could understand each other and their hardships. You pulled guesses out of the air as Jungkook and Ahro helped you off the ground, tearing you away from Gina as gingerly as they could- which meant picking Gina up and keeping him out of reach until you agreed to put your shoes on.

Dongmin leaned against the opened door of his apartment, flashing them a tired smile. His hair fell into his face, strands of black finding their way over his eyes and you reached your hand out to fix them.

“Sure you’ll be okay with those two? You know how they get when they’re drunk.” Your brain recalled fuzzy memories of watching Moon Bin claiming himself as king of the world at the edge of a building and Minhyuk breaking his grandmother’s urn and then crying for 3 hours.

“Yeah, yeah,” he sighed, letting his eyelids fall a bit until you pulled your hand away, focusing his attention on you again. “It’ll be fine. I might just lock them in their rooms or something after I give them each a water bottle. I don’t want to deal with them at all.”

“You should make doggy doors to give them food and water,” Ahro suggested, hands in the pockets of her girlfriend’s jean jacket as her feet led her out of his door. She slipped past the two of you and into the hallway with a small smile, causing a giggle to form in your chest.

“Like prison?” you asked, always amused by the quiet girl and her antics.

She shrugged. “Maybe it’d teach them a lesson.”

Jungkook, who was having trouble with his shoes before but seemed to have worked it all out. tapped the top of the doorframe as he exited the house too. He was halfway through responding to Ahro but received a small tap on his stomach from Dongmin as he passed by and grumbled, “you know what? I’m nothing but nice to you guys and this is the treatment I get?”

“You’re nice to no one,” you retorted, watching him open his mouth to defend himself before closing it with a frown.

“Well, I’m less mean to you guys than everyone else,” he said, voice quieter than usual. That, even you couldn’t deny. He was hardly one to be this passive with the jabs you’d been giving him the whole night, much less anyone else.

You’d heard him on the phone with his room mates, or when you’d been over to his house before class would start. He had more poison in his words than anyone you’d met but you suspected that was the reason behind your friendship. He could take as much as he could dish out.

“You’re right,” Ahro voiced your thoughts, rubbing his back in circular motions. She called it therapeutic touch and she loved to use it when she was being condescending. Your eyes briefly flicked to Dongmin’s and your gazes met, a small smile threatening to break through on his lips. “We’ll stop being so mean to you, Jungkook. At least for now, I need a ride home.”

“Is that really the only reason you keep me around?”

Ahro pretended to think for a moment, pushing her cheeks out before nodding and saying a curt, “yes.”

Jungkook simply narrowed his eyes and mumbled insults under his breaths as he walked down the hallway, twirling his keys around his finger while he did so. One hand raised as a goodbye to Dongmin, who did the same. Ahro waved goodbye too, not ready to let Jungkook get away with his insults but beaming nonetheless. You were the only one to give him a hug goodnight. He held tighter than usual.

“What’s wrong?” you murmured, a crease forming between your brows and he simply exhaled a laugh, pulling away.

“Nothing’s wrong. Why do you always assume something’s wrong?”

His smile seemed weak, but you could tell he was tired. He hadn’t been sleeping for the past few days, claiming it was nothing and not letting you in on the secret he held. You searched his eyes for a moment, pressing your lips together in a tight line when you couldn’t find what you were looking for.

You let out a small sigh, releasing the tension in your shoulders as you did so. “I don’t, I just worry.”

“I know,” he said quietly, making those his final words that night. You took a few steps away from the door, raising a hand. He did the same, almost shutting the door before opening it again. His mouth was perched, like he wanted to say something but Ahro called you down the hallway, saying the elevator was there. She waved you forward and you felt the pull away from Dongmin.

You shot him a sympathetic smile, body angled down the hall so you could jog down it. “Tell me later?”

He reluctantly nodded before shutting the door, letting you run down the hallway at half-speed to make it to the elevator. Ahro looked at you through half-lidded eyes and smiled lightly.

“What?” you pushed out as the elevator doors closed and drifted down to the first floor.

“Nothing,” was all she said until she returned to her relentless teasing of Jungkook, who pretended like he wasn’t enjoying it.

It was past two in the morning and, logically, you should’ve just stayed home. There was no real life outside, save for the few people on breaks from their overnight shifts or who worked in twenty-four-hour stores. You’d always wondered what those were for until you ended up desperately craving chocolate before bed one day and went out to buy some. It was the odd couple, women wearing scrubs and doing their grocery shopping, and some teenagers you wished would just value their sleep.

This was no normal craving for chocolate you could just ignore. After Jungkook dropped you off outside your shared apartment with your brother, you nearly went upstairs. You had your keys perched in the first lock that let you into your lobby but you hesitated. It was a weird feeling, to not want to be home. Usually, you’d find comfort in your sheets and the smell of books and your brother’s whole smile. You were content with having a home that felt like one, where everything could be forgotten for a few seconds when you’d talk to your sibling or through a simple meal.

Tonight was different though. There was something eating at your stomach, clawing its way out slowly and you couldn’t figure out what was bothering you. A frown plastered itself on your lips before you knew it and you simply looked at yourself in the glass and sighed deeply. The reflection in the mirror wasn’t one you were proud of. Your hair was a mess and you’d started to break out again and, no matter how hard your makeup or your skin routine tried, nothing seemed to work. There were bags under your eyes, which made no sense because it was the summer so how could you possibly be tired? Yet, there you were, looking at the knot of hair on your head and the sapped look of your skin and all of this made your stomach ache some more.

On a whim, you grasped your keys and turned on your heel. You didn’t know where you were going but you just felt like any gasp of fresh air might help you forget the ongoing discomfort in your body. The sidewalks were empty and a small breeze fell through the city. You were lucky to have brought your brother’s jean jacket, which you wrapped a little tighter around your body as you moved through the streets. Your eyes fixated on the lights that moved past you and your mind focused on the steadiness of your breath.

The beat of your shoes matched your heartbeat and that was when your mind reeled, settling into the pattern and allowing your consciousness to slip through. Dongmin’s face drifted past your mind and you blinked to make it go away, not wanting to think about him. He’d been a close friend, one you could confide in and believe in, every step of the way and unconditionally. Recently though, you could feel him pulling away.

He was never one for actions and never acted first. You knew this when you first began talking. It’d been slight flirtation on your side and you wanted nothing more than to see where it could possibly go. Of course, you were attracted to him, who wouldn’t be? That’d be like pricking your finger on a sharp knife and saying you felt nothing. There just seemed to be no real push for anything more. He made it comfortable for you to speak and say how you were feeling. You were able to cry or scream or not talk at all, just sit and watch movies for hours. Sometimes it felt like you were practically dating just without any physical intimacy.

You became comfortable though. You stopped looking for that in him because you figured it wouldn’t happen at this point. His smile which was as soft as a flowerbed and eyes that were warmer than a summer day, they would never be your possession, at least not in the way you intended them to be. You figured it sounded sad, or like you had given up, but you just wished he would try something at all. You wanted to know if he had any intention of seeing you the way a small part of you still saw him- the part that was the most hopeful than anyone you knew and held a candle to the dark in your mind.

What would happen if he did try did scare you though, you had to admit. How would it change? Would it change? What could possibly go different? What if everything went terribly wrong? You didn’t have anything near an answer to these questions.

As you turned a small corner, you found yourself biting your lip and faced with fluorescent lights. Your hands pushed the door to the large shop open, mind still reeling but forcing yourself to be conscious of your surroundings. You scanned the nearly empty shop. There were aisles of essentials, then groceries, and then wrapping paper and cards for gifts. Beside the entrance, you found a small basket and picked it up, walking up and down aisles with no real purpose.

One part of you wished you’d brought your headphones, ears tuning into the faint music that made your ears hurt. Late night radio was either intense remixes of the worst pop songs or slow songs that forced sleep on you. With a deeper frown, you piled a few items into your basket and forced yourself to ignore your brain’s urge to take over your thoughts once again. Dongmin was just one problem of many that you needed to filter through but you didn’t want to give yourself time. Not tonight at least.

You drifted past the essentials, hearing a loud laugh and then a hissing shushing. It almost brought a smile to your face but you didn’t bother looking to see who it was. You were near your apartment complex but far enough for there to be an all new set of people who had no idea who you were and vice versa. With small bags of oranges and a carton of apple juice, you heard more hushed whispers and laughter behind you and vaguely felt like you were living a horror movie. You’d watched too many of those, feeling Dongmin cling to your arm and then let go just as quickly to show he could handle himself. The same anxious yet curious feeling built up in your chest as you hurried through the last produce aisle and turned into the dairy.

The whispers came louder here and you met eyes with two men around your age. One, taller and with ash-brown hair, was leaning on a shorter, black haired man. The taller one had a smile wider than the earth itself flashing across his lips, mouthing words that reached your ears and obviously amusing himself. He laughed boisterously then shushed himself and laughed quieter, leaning over to slap his knee while the shorter one struggled a bit under his weight.

You felt a bit odd, watching the scene play out. It was very much like watching a horror movie and you were terribly embarrassed for the shorter friend, who was reaching out with one hand for a milk carton. You couldn’t figure out why, considering the general remedy for a drunk friend was water, but he seemed determined. His skin was pale under the bright lights and he tried to reason with the friend, which he called Namjoon, to just relax while he went to grab the carton.

“Noo,” Namjoon

“Yoongi,” Namjoon said very seriously, perching his hand over his heart and tucking his chin all the way into his neck. You wanted to laugh but was unsure if you should, stuck between helping Yoongi or just watching the show. “You can’t treat me like a child, I am a grown man.”

Yoongi simply blinked, mouth parted slightly and eyebrows arched ever so slightly. He seemed to sigh, giving in as he handed the carton to the stumbling drunk.

“Fine, do whatever you want.” He seemed dethatched already, which seemed like a stark contrast to his previous scolding. To give yourself something to do, you turned and opened a door and pretended to be picking out which frozen hamburger brand you wanted. It wasn’t until you actually looked at your choices that you realized there wasn’t any at all, just the no name brand with a vibrant yellow box, as if that could ever make you want to buy it.

You made a face while hearing a small clap and a very loud, “well, thank you” and turned your head slightly to see Namjoon had snatched the carton and was struggling to stand up straight, moving his feet so they drew a messy circle.

You pulled your lips inwards, fighting back a small giggle and looking at another section of the refrigerated aisle, taking steps smaller than a bird’s towards them. Trying to be inconspicuous, you stole glances, watching Namjoon sip very delicately from the carton, then back at your basket. A part of you hoped that maybe this was why you’d felt the need to stay out. You loved your friends and your brother but sometimes it felt a bit trapped and you felt disconnected with the outside world. You didn’t do the regular ‘parties and drinking’ thing. You never cared for it but you always felt like maybe you were missing something too.

It seemed cliché and kind of gross to think that just because you didn’t fit the social stereotype of a regular person in their early twenties meant you weren’t living properly. You often fought people who said that about themselves but there was something so truthful about their words. Maybe you fought so hard because you believed it yourself and you were just waiting for someone to tell you the same thing- but they wouldn’t. You’d never tell anyone that’s how you felt, so they’d never know.

“Ah,” Namjoon drew out and you imagined a large smile on his face as you opened another door to grab a few microwavable meals, keeping your ears open for the action. “See. I told you I’m a careful drunk. Never spilt anything in my li-”

You heard the scuffle of feet and an anticlimactic crash and turned to look at what had happened, already guessing but hoping not. Your eyes went wide, catching the spreading milk before it came closer to you and stepping away before making direct eye contact with Yoongi. He looked at you for a split moment, confused before going to help up Namjoon, who was sprawled perfectly on the floor. He had milk spots over his glasses and in his dirty blonde hair and you resisted the urge to laugh.

“Do you need help?” you asked immediately, biting back your smile again. Yoongi briefly met your eyes but gave no answer to it and you just sighed before putting your basket down and making your way to the front.

An automated voice came over the P.A. asking for a spill to be cleaned in aisle eleven as you were walking down it again, some paper towel from a package you’d ripped open on your way in your hand. Yoongi had gotten Namjoon standing but he was still covered in nearly a litre of milk and it was spreading. Your stamped the paper towel down with your foot, mind still reeling in the back to figure out why their faces looked so familiar. It didn’t help much but it was worth a try. You went back and handed Yoongi more paper towel, which he took reluctantly.

“Thanks,” he muttered before roughly attempting to wipe Namjoon’s face and then groaning under his breath and handing it to his friend. You went back to your basket, hating the squeak of your shoes against the polished floor when you heard him mumble, “this is fucking ridiculous”.

And then it clicked.

“Holy shit, you’re Jungkook’s Yoongi and Namjoon!”  

You’d turned to face them so fast your got whiplash but smiled brightly for remembering it. Yoongi was a bit afraid at what you’d said but Namjoon simply grinned and opened his arms.

“That’s me,” he slurred, then continued to wipe at his clothes slowly and with a furrowed eyebrow. Yoongi simply readjusted himself under Namjoon’s free arm to keep him propped up and asked, “how do you know my name?”

You paused, the smile on your face falling ever so slightly. How could you explain to someone that you didn’t know that you’d stalked their social media and that’s how you knew their name? That was the only thought running through your head as he stared down at you. You hated to think it but his eyes were intimidating and it seemed more like he was looking through you than at you.

“Uh. I- um, I- Jungkook’s like, shown me photos of you guys together a while ago. Not anymore but I just remember lots of irrelevant information so. Yeah. Yes.” You lowered your hand from tapping your temple and nodded, hoping it was a plausible lie.

“O-Okay?” was the only response you got from Yoongi but Namjoon simply began speaking about something you couldn’t quite follow. Yoongi tried to shush him and apologized to the janitor, who was now coming to mop the floor begrudgingly.

He got a grunt in response and then wheeled Namjoon towards the front. You moved out of the way and paused before asking, “are you sure you don’t want any help?”

“Yes.” Yoongi’s response was curt and you nearly took it until Namjoon whimpered.

“No.”

The black-haired man stopped in his tracks. “What?”

“You’re hurting me because you’re so short,” Namjoon whined a little quieter and you snorted (Yoongi death-glared you for it) before playing it off as a cough. “Maybe I’d stop leaning to one side to make up for it.”

“Or you wouldn’t get so drunk and drink all my milk so I wouldn’t have to drag you here at two in the morning, so you wouldn’t have to be leaning to one side because I’m ‘so short’.” Yoongi cut his words as he spoke, being quick and lethal. You waited for Namjoon to respond, feeling ridiculous just watching it.

“That’s a different thing though,” he protested lightly, raising a finger and pressing it against Yoongi’s nose with a small smile. “You need to learn how to argue without bringing other things into it.”

“I’m not arguin-”

“So should I help?” You intervened, not wanting to stand around like a fool any longer.

“No,” Yoongi sighed before Namjoon made eye contact with you and mumbled, “yes please.”

“Fine, I’ll just pay for this and then we’ll go,” you murmured, taking your wallet from your pocket and humming as you grabbed your basket. You walked with purpose, feeling the melatonin seep through your veins slowly and trying to ignore it.

“It’s fine, really,” Yoongi tried to assert behind you and you simply pretended not to hear it, Namjoon arguing on your behalf. You vaguely remembered Jungkook saying almost everyone lost in an argument against him and your brain came up with scenes of Namjoon delegating to groups of people.

You didn’t know why but the thought made you smile.

The cashier looked miserable and you tried to be as kind as you could, taking out your debit card and placing the basket on the counter. You heard the shuffling of feet behind you and wondered if Namjoon would let Yoongi take off without you but caught them waiting by the exit and smiled.

“It’ll be all this and a carton of milk, please.”

A/N: Hi friends! I hope you all enjoyed this! This is actually my first thing I’m posting on this blog which is terrifying but also exciting because I’m actually pretty proud of this so far? So yeah! I hope you like it and part two will be coming soon! Keep yourselves posted friends 

[wildlyhardphilosopher-blog]

Pitbull Puppy Training | Get the Best

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Pitbull Puppy Training | Get the Best

Knox Jump up ^ McGreevy 2011, p. 280. Level 5 Office: 18 Heussler Tce, MILTON 4064 Toilet training Move to hand Individualised training is used with dogs that have an urgent or unique training problem such as fear, hyperactivity, aggression (and other related problems), separation anxiety, biting, excessive barking, insecurity, destructive behaviors, walking difficulties, and inappropriate elimination.[80][81] This type of training would normally be undertaken where the problem naturally occurs rather than a class situation. Class training can be effective in encouraging socialization and play with a peer group. Classes are often offered at a more affordable rate and can cover both problem behaviors and teach new skills. Classes can range from puppy and beginner training to more advanced training and skill training such as performing tricks or therapy work. Recreational fishing Jockey Physical and Mental Exercise Special pages Time: 2018-07-21T13:29:56Z In Memory or www.relayservice.gov.au

dog training

puppy training

dog obedience training

fbq('track', 'ViewContent', content_ids: 'dogtraining.dknol', ); Training Your Dog Why Should I Train My Dog? Don’t rush the process. Remember, you’re asking a lot of your dog. If you take it up a notch and he’s really struggling, go back to the previous stage. K9 Dog Obedience Club of Whyalla Inc Download as PDF Main article: Clicker training Klever Kanine Dog Obedience School Inc. Pet Cremations The rule of thumb for dog training is “set the dog up for success”. Supervise the puppy at all times until he/she has learned what they are allowed to chew, and where they are supposed to eliminate. Keeping the puppy on a 3 metre remote leash is an excellent way to keep him/her in sight, and to train them not to wander off. This is particularly helpful with a highly investigative puppy or for a very busy household. Pooches @ Play Bird Show all Find a Delta Dog Trainer Copyright © 2018 · All Rights Reserved · Amy’s Puppy Preschool Vomiting Edit links Web: www.positiveresponse.net.au Puppies for Sale News & Inspectorate no bookings required Who we are Defining Your Own Path as a Trainer w/ Kacie Gauld Your dog’s favorite toy Taking the time to learn alongside your puppy and completing a certificate III in dog training will ensure you are well-equipped to handle any situation at home. A dog behaviour course is a valuable way to prevent the formation of negative habits. Licking people or things too much M T W T F S S Peticulous Animania Albion Park, New South Wales Places – Council parks, facilities and venues This is a 6 week course that will run for 45 minutes either on Thursday evenings. Puppy School (Part 1) Ph: (02) 9797 7922 Houses Jump up ^ Most 1954, p. 7. Bandogs Bay dogs Bird dogs Bulldogs Catch dogs Companion dogs Crossbred dogs Curs Dogos Eskimo dogs Feral dogs Fighting dogs Guard dogs Gun dogs Hairless dogs Herding dogs Hounds Hunting dogs Lap dogs Livestock guardian dogs Mongrels Mountain dogs Molossers Meat dogs Pinschers Pit bulls Pointers Purebred dogs Retrievers Setters Scenthounds Sighthounds Sled dogs Schnauzers Spaniels Spitz Street dogs Terriers Turnspit dogs Village dogs Water dogs Wild dogs Wolfdogs Foobler $49.95– Interactive Food Puzzle. The timer dispenses food throughout the day. Main article: Dog collar Frequently Asked Questions Last night was the first night that Bear hasn’t demanded us to play and wrestle and was happy to lay quietly on his bed while we were relaxing. © National Dog Trainers Federation Specialized training[edit] Find us on Facebook Email Address * CommunitySee all Dogs have become closely associated with humans through domestication and have also become sensitive to human communicative signals. Generally, they have a lot of exposure to human speech, especially during play, and are believed to have a good ability to recognize human speech. Two studies investigated the ability of a single dog that was believed to be exceptional in its understanding of language. Both studies revealed the potential for at least some dogs to develop an understanding of a large number of simple commands on the basis of just the sounds emitted by their owners. However the studies suggested that visual cues from the owner may be important for the understanding of more complex spoken commands.[77] Cuddly Toys Sit and drop at side Menu Algebra Data Probability You can always teach an adult dog to stop chasing cars, wildlife, and farm animals – but it’s a lot easier to teach a puppy not to pick up these unwanted hobbies in the first place. If you’ve got a breed inclined to chase, or a puppy of any kind who you’ll want to have around other animals as an adult, Puppy Un-Chase!® is a smart puppy raising investment. Plus it’s an awful lot of good fun! Media Releases About Cesar Choosing an NDTF Trainer Canberra The 21st century has seen the proliferation of television programs and accompanying books that feature dog training and rehabilitation,[35] including Joel Silverman’s Good Dog U, Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, It’s Me or the Dog featuring Victoria Stillwell, The Underdog Show, Dogs in the City, and SuperFetch. The Association of Pet Dog Trainers advises that television programs are produced primarily for entertainment, and while all programs will have good and not-so-good points, the viewer should critically evaluate the information before deciding which training tips to adopt.[36] RSPCA Pet Insurance Why does your puppy refuse to eliminate in your presence, even when outdoors? We recommend that you start building a healthy foundation for your puppy with an initial two hour home consult that includes general puppy training as well as: E dogtraining@awlsa.com.au Thank you Allie for your training today here in Canberra! I learned so much and so did Cloudy! With your super informative session and my understanding, Cloudy’s going to be an amazing little girl and… those bad behaviours will be gone! I’m so glad we started this journey!! I can already see changes in her behaviour and how I was affecting her as well with my behaviour! Consistency is going to be the key, but we’re both ready for it and I’m looking forward for nice calm walks and relaxed energy around the house! Amazing, thank you!! See more Jump up ^ Millan 2010, p. 83. Working with and around hazardous substances. Adopt Meet our adoption animals and you could find your new best friend! Search cats, dogs, kittens, puppies and rabbits Read more Choosing/working with a vet Jump up ^ Tinbergen, N (1963). “On aims and methods of ethology”. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie. 20 (4): 410–433. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1963.tb01161.x. Sunday 6th May View our Classes Fundraising Coffs Harbour Shelter Training Obedience Trials · 13 April 2017 ©2015 City of Tea Tree Gully To begin the right training for your pawed friend or to learn more about undertaking a canine training course, speak to an NDTF expert online or call 1300 66 44 66 Jack E : Recall dog from play Uncategorized Guard Dog Training Centre Leave it This is a 6 week course that will run for 45 minutes either on Thursday evenings. News Edit links no bookings required Policies and Class Information © 2018 ABC Found a better price? We’ll match it. We had Emma around today to help us learn what to do with our new puppy Max. We really enjoyed her techniques and explanations and can already see our Max responding to the techniques. I also love tha…t the focus is not on using food/treats as reward – her explanations made sense. Thank you Emma! See more Website by Darwin Web Design Pathways Mateusz : Jump up ^ “Animal Learning”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved September 21, 2011. Page last updated: 11 May 2017 Environmental enrichment Please provide your feedback. Mind Sharon Crichton is the trainer and behavioural consultant for Positive Dog Training. Sharon has a range of qualifications and has been working with dogs for many years. Gradually increase the number of steps you take before giving the treat. Credit Card – Visa or Mastercard I LIKED THIS STORY 8.45am – 5.00pm Sarah Arbon Email: trades@bluedogtraining.com.au Terms of Use Level 1 Basic Dog Manners 7 week course – Upgrade $295.00 Standard $235.00 Each week, our Puppy School trainers provide participants with recommended activities to complete with your dog before the next week’s class. The work you do at home with you dog is vital part of achieving success in PETstock Puppy School! 1.5 Hour Private Training Session (In Home) ABN 65 930 847 824 © 2018 Mars. Incorporated and its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Decorations The puppies were sooo cute. I really want one! 🙂 …to train. In around 127-116 B.C. a Roman farmer, Marcus Varro, recorded advice on raising and training puppies for herding livestock. His writings indicate that not only was dog training for specific tasks well established, but that the value of early training was recognised.[5] for cats and dogs. WaggTagg™ Contact details for Council Certificate III In Engineering – Boilermaking/Welding Create a book Reviews Hannah RuessGovernment Accredited Dog Trainer Report cruelty Eye care Greeting guests calmly Adopting from a breeder Search Learn more about the classes Online Course -Basic Dog Manners – Level 1 Copyright © 2018 Animal Welfare League of South Australia Careers with Dogs interaction Jump up ^ Millan 2010, p. 88. In Home Training Deaf, or hearing or speech impaired? 1300 4 777 22 Tool Definition Animal Cruelty amp Welfare Email Tools Lesson Time: 1hr per wk The Advertiser Facebook Basic health and care 7. Please feel free to add any other comments & suggestions you may have for improving our courses. Best Dog Obedience Training | Get the Best Best Dog Obedience Training | Top Online Resource Here Best Dog Obedience Training | Top Online Resource Available Here Legal | Sitemap

[skylarkstarflower]

Time Twin Headcanons!

I wasn’t going to do this, but I kinda had to. Oh well! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Anyway, here are some dumb headcanons about Acronix and Krux. Though, admittedly, mostly Acronix. :3 There are a lot of them because I obsess over these dorks (also I’ve been working on this list since early April. I waited for the season to air in the US so most of the fandom would see it before I released this into the wild :B). There are some slight spoilers for anyone who hasn’t seen season 7 yet. (Seriously, though, if you’ve seen the first two episodes, you should be fine.)

-While Acronix adores technology in general, there are three items he treasures above all else: his BorgWatch, BorgPad, and, the jewel of his collection, his BorgPod. 

-Acronix absolutely LOVES music. He’ll listen to practically anything, but his favourites include metal of pretty much any kind, like nu, pirate, and especially anything that could be classified as hair/glam metal. Dubstep also ranks high on his list, because it sounds like someone fiddling with time while playing music.

-If he ever, somehow, gets his powers back, Acronix totally plans to learn how to play drums and join a speed metal band. :P

-Acronix’s favourite Stratovarius song is The Hands of Time, though he is a little disappointed that it’s not about him and his brother.

-Acronix also secretly loves Yanni, but he absolutely won’t admit it to ANYONE. (Or the fact that his most favourite song ever is Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.) :3

-Acronix can sing. Like, really well. And he loves karaoke. He’ll drag Krux out to sing all the time, and Krux hates it. He couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. But he loves his brother, so he’ll humour him.

-Krux dislikes music in general. It all sounds like discordant noise to him. He suffers from Amusia. (He’s tone deaf.)

-Krux is actually secretly upset that he can’t appreciate his brother’s singing talent.

-As it turns out, Acronix got the BorgPod specifically so he wouldn’t aggravate his brother’s condition on a regular basis whenever he wants to listen to music.

-Acronix is a cheap drunk. Get a couple shots into him and he’s totally wasted. Meanwhile, Krux will drink you under the table.

-Also? Acronix is the most maudlin drunk ever. Seriously, even if he doesn’t have a care in the world beforehand, once he’s soused, he’ll be bawling like a child with a skinned knee and belting out Komm, süsser Tod at the top of his lungs.

-Acronix will deny that he listens to country music, but when he’s drunk, he will go into a litany of sad country songs. Stuff like Feed Jake, Little Rock, There Is No Arizona, I’m Gonna Drive You Out Of My Mind, pretty much everything from Reba’s For My Broken Heart album... 

-Acronix is a total memelord.

-When Krux needs to calm down and/or relax, he’ll go fishing. Acronix finds it stupid and boring. Meanwhile, when Acronix needs to chill out, he’ll go hide somewhere quiet with his BorgPad and play Quell. He has all four. (And he WILL collect all the clocks in Quell: Memento, you just watch!)

-Acronix is Team Instinct on Pokemon GO.

-Both twins go nuts over fob watches. (For Acronix, the geekier the better.)

-Acronix prefers cats, while Krux is a dog person.

-Acronix won’t admit it, but he relies a lot on his brother for, well, everything. Now that Krux is so much older than him, he’s secretly terrified of what’s going to happen when Krux almost inevitably predeceases him. He has no idea how he’s going to get by without him. This worry is why he tends to be short-tempered lately. (Well, that and the fact that being defeated and stripped of their powers is still a fresh wound for him...)

-Also, Acronix is actually desperately lonely. He has no friends and can no longer really relate to his brother. He tries to fill the void with social media, but it only helps a little.

-Acronix has never killed anyone, not even during the Serpentine War. He sometimes boasts that if he did, it wouldn’t affect him at all. (It totally would, though.) Krux, on the other hand, HAS killed someone, and it messed him up but good. (Acronix has no idea, and no one is ever finding that body...) Krux does his best to keep his brother from following in his footsteps because he doesn’t want him going through what he did, regardless of the reasons.

-Acronix’s blog is nothing but memes and shitposts. Unbeknownst to either, Jay is one of his followers. Also, he found Kai’s Chirp profile and trolls him mercilessly. Whenever Kai blocks him, he just makes a new account and starts over. (Even Krux will admit that the trolling is kinda funny.)

-Also on the topic of Acronix’s blog, he keeps a side blog where he posts all the pictures he takes with his BorgPad. They’re actually quite artistic, for the most part.

-Acronix is a worse cook than Cole. For example, Cole's cooking can actually be called edible, and it usually doesn’t explode. Acronix will readily admit that the things he makes are unfit for human consumption. He shouldn’t be let within five miles of a kitchen. He’d starve if Krux weren’t around to feed him.

-On that note, Krux is an excellent cook. Acronix’s favourite thing in the whole world is his brother’s sushi. (As illustrated here by my friend Blysk!)

-Krux’s pickled beetroot tea may very well be the finest in all of Ninjago, but Acronix still doesn’t like it very much. His brother makes him drink it often, though. (Possibly in retaliation for dragging him to karaoke all the time. :3) (ShinyShiny9 and I are jointly responsible for this one.)

-Acronix wasn’t always the competent, confident fighter he is today. When he was a child, he was actually a shy, anxious, socially awkward momma’s boy. Krux honestly hasn’t changed all that much since childhood.

-Acronix has a massive sweet tooth. (Seriously, hide your candy, Lloyd. :3) Krux prefers foods that are either spicy, bitter or sour.

-There is one technological advancement from the past 40 years which both twins can agree upon was a good thing: indoor plumbing.

-On that note, one of the first things Acronix did after being introduced to it was take a nice long, hot shower and wash his hair with modern shampoo and conditioner. He was thrilled with the results. (He is very proud of his hair. He styles it himself.)

-Acronix was one of those kids who used to spin around in circles until he got so dizzy he either fell over or threw up. (Sometimes both.) :P

-Whenever Acronix made himself puke, Krux would take the chance to dump a bucket of (preferably ice cold) water on his brother’s head. His excuse was that he was helping him clean up, but in fact, he just thought his brother was an idiot and deserved what he got.

-Acronix’s love for future technology also includes swivel chairs... :B

-Acronix has a large scar on his left side, from an incident during the Serpentine War. He refuses to be specific about how he got it. Even Krux doesn’t know the whole story.

-Krux doesn’t get sick very often. In the 40 years he spent waiting for Acronix to show up, he might have been ill three times. Acronix, on the other hand, has a miserable time during cold and flu season.

-Both twins can sew. (Acronix sometimes does embroidery when Krux isn’t looking... :B)

-Both twins are ambidextrous, though Acronix tends to favour his left hand and Krux his right.

-And now for something completely different! When it comes to Vermillion, the colour of the snakes decides how venomous they are. The orange and brown Vermillion aren’t all that deadly, but their bite can still make you very sick. The red ones are deadly poisonous, and a bite from one can kill you in less than half an hour.

[jarpadandjensenaremyheroes]

The Little Princess: Chapter 6

A/n-Full disclosure, I was in a mood when I wrote this, so there’s lots more swearing in the next two parts than what I normally write. I got impatient. I didn’t know that was even possible to do with your own work! I couldn’t continue with the story line any more where it was at, so I decided to skip around a little bit. Things should stabilize after this. I hope. Sorry for the cliffhanger (but not really) Chapter 7 is already written though, and if I’m able to get chapter 8 done today, I will post chapter 7 tonight!

Word count: 2,572

Warnings: BABY FEELS, lots of swearing, ANGST, I think that’s it? Let me know if I missed anything!

Chapter summary: 9 months after Dean watches reader in the park, some discoveries come to light for Sam and Dean.

Characters: Reader, OFC Mary, OFC Topri, OMC James, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Castiel

Need to catch up? HERE is the Masterlist!

Chapter 6

9 months later, Y/N’s POV

“Come on, you can do it Mary! Come see mama!”

You, James, and Tori were all three sitting on your living room floor, watching Mary’s chubby little legs try to take steps. You all had tears in your eyes, and where as giddy as teenagers getting their first kiss.

“James please tell me you’re taking a video!” Tori’s voice was a little wobbly with emotion.

“Of course! I wanna remember our little Mary’s first steps forever and ever!”

You couldn’t do anything except grin at the thought of having these wonderful people in your life who loved Mary as much as you did. And she loved them. Just then, your daughter took 7 steps towards you and promptly fell into your lap with a fit of giggles. Tori frantically waved her hands around as she squealed, and James just grinned like a mad man. All three of you had tears of joy and pride rolling down your cheeks. You couldn’t help the tears. It was such a special moment, and although you were so damn proud of your little girl, you were also feeling guilty. Dean should be here for these moments…

“James, could you please send me the video? I’d love to have it for my own.”

“Already done, my dear,” he said with a wink.

One day, I’ll have all these moments to share with him. Maybe one day we can share them with more children.

You couldn’t let go of the hope you had. It was stupid, because hoping for this outcome in an impossible situation wouldn’t do any good. But the hope was all you had left…

Dean’s POV

Nine whole months, and I hadn’t figured out anything. No birth certificate for the kid, no records of any hospital stays for Y/N; she was really covering her tracks, and really didn’t want anyone knowing about the little girl.

Everyone I tried to call in favors with couldn’t get anywhere near her. The warding and protection on the house was too strong. The smart ass had even warded against reapers! Not even Tessa could help. Although she came back to me looking like the cat who ate the canary. Just a simple, “Sorry Deano, I can’t help you. The warding is too powerful.” And then poof; she was gone.

I had managed to keep Sam in the dark about it all. As far as he knew, Y/N had just disappeared. He still worried about her from time to time, bringing her up at dinner or over drinks at a bar. I just told him that Cas checks on her for us, and lets me know that she’s okay and alive. He didn’t need to know the other details, and what information I did give him, seemed to be satisfying enough.

Sam snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Earth to Dean!”

“What dude?”

“Are you okay man? You’ve been pretty out of it lately. What’s going on?”

“Nothin’ Sammy. Just restless I guess. We’ve been sitting on our hands for two weeks now; I wanna get out there and gank somethin’.”

“Well if you had been paying attention, you would have heard me tell you that I found us a case. Looks like a couple demons.”

“Awesome! Let’s go! Where’s this at?”

“Orlando, Florida.”

I choked on my coffee. Maybe I could pop in on her. She did always say if we were near Orlando… “Alright, let’s go then,” I said as I dropped some cash on the table for the waitress. Suddenly I didn’t care about getting her in bed. I just wanted to get to Orlando and kill this demon or demons, and go see the love of my life. Maybe I can convince her to come home…

16 hours later, we had made it to Orlando. I hadn’t slept a wink, but I didn’t feel tired at all. I just wanted to go to her. I wanted to fix all this as soon as possible. Not until it’s safe, Dean. Not until the threat is gone. With that one simple thought, all I could think of was killing the damn things so I could go to her. Now.

“Dean come on man, I know you want to kill something, but I’m exhausted. You didn’t want to stop on the way here, and I need to sleep. YOU need to sleep. Otherwise we’re gonna end up dead and a great big help to nobody. Alright? So please, just sleep.”

Sam doesn’t know anything. He doesn’t know that I won’t be able to sleep until this thing is done. That I won’t be able to sleep without seeing her first. Maybe I’ll take Sammy along this time too. Cas said he can’t even go in the yard, so we won’t be taking him. But Sam deserves to know that she is okay.

As I laid there in bed, I couldn’t help but think of her. Her gorgeous y/c/e eyes, and long y/c/h hair that curled softly against her face and back, and the way her smile lit up a room. The way her laugh could bring joy to even a deaf man, and the way she loved so fiercely. I know she loved me; at least at some point. I don’t know what I did to screw that up, but I’m going to fix it. I’m going to do whatever it takes to get her back.

I continued my walk down memory lane with Y/N, and soon I had relaxed enough to fall asleep. And for the first time in a very long time, I didn’t have any nightmares. I slept through the night with no interruptions.

I woke up in the morning with a start, surprised to see the sun filtering in through the yellowed curtains of the motel window. “Sam? Why the hell did you let me sleep so long?”

“Dude. I tried to wake you, but it was like trying to wake sleeping beauty. Only in this little fairy tale, it’s the sleeping ogre.”

“Ugh. Whatever. I’m getting breakfast, and then we’re heading out. We got us some demons to find.”

Y/N’s POV

“Okay, you know where all her stuff is, and her food is in the pantry and fridge. I labeled it all, so there’s no confusion and searching while she screams. She loves her food, ya know.” Just like her daddy. “You have my number, so call if you have any questions whatsoever. I’ll keep my phone on me at all ti-“

“Y/N!” James cut you off; the sudden noise in the usually quite calm environment made you jump. “We’re gonna be just fine. I’ve taken care of her dozens of times now. Just because you’re spending the whole night away doesn’t mean anything. Mary will be just fine. I promise you. And you’re only going to be 30 minutes away. Go, have fun please. You deserve it.”

You smiled softly, knowing James was right. You had checked all the warding and protection on the house at least half a dozen times before James had shown up. Everything was still in place. You even sent a prayer to Cas letting him know you would be away from Mary for the night, and that if anything should happen, he was to zap you to her immediately, no questions asked. He sent you back a message in your head somehow.

You have my word, Y/N. I told you I would always keep watch over both of you, and I intend to keep doing just that. She will be safe.

You’d have to ask him one day how he does that. And why he had never done it before when you and the boys prayed to him.

With one last look at your daughter and James, you turned to leave the house. In your purse, you had packed one of your tiny handguns. But this time, you loaded it with Devil’s trap bullets; a nifty trick Sammy taught you.

You and Tori had this night planned out for months so you couldn’t cancel on her now. The papers and news crews all claimed a crazed killer, possibly serial killer, but you knew better. Each of the 3 victims so far had their throats slit with ‘an extremely sharp and rare’ blade. And there are 2 others missing. Everyone who reported or worked at the crime scenes claimed it smelled like rotten eggs. Demons. You didn’t want to cancel on Tori, and she didn’t see the danger of going into town. You tried to convince her that you two could just stay closer to home and it would be just as much fun, but she wasn’t having any of it. So, off to Orlando you went. You almost called Bobby to see if he could dispatch someone down here to take care of the problem, but you didn’t want to bug anyone. Someone would be along shortly to take care of it.

There was another reason you were nervous though. While hunting with the brothers, you had become almost as notorious as they had. Except to the monsters, you were “The Winchester’s and their little Whore.” Not exactly how you wanted to be known, but whatever. You killed them all in the end anyways. Demons were especially bad though. Over the years, there had been some that smoked out of their meatsuits and got away. They knew your face, your name, and if they ever found you again, they would kill you. Or worse, they would hurt Mary…

You tried not to think these thoughts though. You wanted to at least try to have a good time with your best friend. The odds of running into a demon were super slim anyways. Orlando was big enough, you’d be fine. You didn’t think you would run into anyone you knew, but apparently fate had other plans. You saw them before they saw you luckily; and managed to grab Tori and steer her away from the situation.

“Tori, someone I know from my past is here at this bar, and I really don’t want to be in there. Can we please go somewhere else? I promise I will make it up to you, I just…I-I can’t be in there…”

Tori wore a look of bewilderment on her face. “Y/N, are you serious?” All you could do was nod your head. You really didn’t want to see Sam and Dean.

“Okay okay. Clearly you’re freaked out by this person, so I won’t push the topic right now. But in the morning, when we’re sober, you are going to tell me about whoever it is. Got it?” You nodded your head again in response. “You’re just lucky I had bar hopping planned woman,” she added with a devious smirk.

“You know I haven’t had any form of alcohol since I got pregnant. Are you trying to kill me? I mean, I’m probably gonna have 1 beer and fall over babe!”

Her grin grew at that. “I forgot to tell you…we have one rule for the night. No wine or beer.”

“Well, I’m drinking soda! I have no intentions of killing my liver in one night.”

“Yeah…there’s no soda or water either unless you drink it alongside the alcohol. That’s rule number two.”

“Holy shit Tori. You’re actually going to kill me tonight. You want my little Mary that badly?” you teased her.

“Oh shit! You caught me! Whatever will I do for a genius plan now, Mr. Roadrunner?”

“Well you’re not taking my daughter!” You feigned shock as you started running away.

With that you both burst out laughing, accidentally drawing the attention of some people in the streets. And since you were actually enjoying yourself, you didn’t notice the man who had come rushing out of the bar behind you. And he had heard the whole conversation.

Dean’s POV

“Sammy! Where you goin’? We just got here!”

“I just…I thought I saw someone. I’ll be right back. I promise.”

Sam practically ran out of the bar. “What the hell has gotten into him?” Maybe he saw another Jess look alike. Poor kid. I continued nursing my whiskey, still thinking of Y/N. I was jerked out of my thoughts as Sam came back in. He had a look on his face that was a mixture of confusion and shock. That can’t be good…

“Dude…I just saw Y/N.”

My breath caught in my throat. “Uh…yeah…I was uhh-I was gonna surprise you with a visit to her once we finished the case. But she lives about 30 minutes away, so I figured we could go see her once the case was all wrapped up. She’s out now, so she doesn’t want us coming around unless we’re trouble free.”

“You…Dean how…You knew she was here??? And you didn’t think to tell me?!” His voice was laced with anger.

“Yeah Sam. She didn’t want anyone to know where she is. She’s out, and she wants it to stay that way. She doesn’t want trouble showing up on her doorstep all the time, and for a very good reas-”

“Yeah, like the fact that she has a kid? Named Mary, I might add.”

I sputtered on my drink after slamming it down on the bar top. “The kid’s name is Mary?” I couldn’t manage anything above a whisper; partially because of the whiskey in my lungs, but mostly because of the feeling of being punched in the gut.

“Yeah Dean, the kid’s name is Mary. Just like mom.”

“Why the hell would she name her daughter Mary?” I said, almost to myself. That awful gut feeling was back. “CAS get your feathered ass down here right now or so help me-”

“What is it you need so urgently Dean, I am busy watching over someone else.”

“Does that someone happen to be named Mary?”

“I…Dean it’s…complicated…”

“Oh yeah, it’s so complicated Cas. Who is Mary’s father?”

“I cannot divulge that information Dean.”

“God dammit Cas tell me right the fuck now!”

“Dean I-” Cas sighed. “You should go talk to Y/N. She is at a bar called Cheers. It’s just up the street. Be cautious though, her friend does not know who you are or the life that Y/N had with you both. For what it’s worth, she is hurting very badly in this situation. She misses you both very much…”

“Sam, I need to talk to Y/N. Alone, please.”

“Of course Dean. I’ll go wait by Baby. Call me if you need me, or if you go anywhere. Alright?”

“Yeah whatever. See you soon.”

I took off down the street at a furious pace, hoping that my speed will help diminish the rage in my body. I made it to the bar in less than 5 minutes, and spotted her almost immediately. As I strode towards her, I heard her laugh. God damn that laugh. I want to be so mad at her right now, but I feel my anger melting away the closer I get. This woman does things to me.

Her friend was facing my direction and must have seen me coming. The smile slowly faded from her face as she said something to Y/N quickly; but I was quicker. I grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face me as she let out a little squeak of surprise. Her friend stood there with a shocked look on her face.

“Hey dollface. We need to talk right now.”

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