#but how much I miss that dishwasher is very real

[isfjmel-phleg]

🍽️

[ultimate-chickennougat]

| Shut up for me, love, | (part 2)

Part 1 (finding out you're pregnant w/Megumi)

Toji Fushiguro x Wife!Reader

Toji can't help but love you and your baby bump!

Word Count: 1.6k

CW: SFW, domestic fluff, Toji has a job, slightly suggestive, lots of pregnancy (mentions symptoms)

A/n: This has generated so many pregnancy fic ideas...

Your husband, Toji, had been a great help through the first trimester of your pregnancy. He was always giving you massages, bringing you water and snacks, and spending lots of quality time with you, among other things, and you were very grateful for it all. 

Many changes were going on throughout your pregnancy, as to be expected now in your second trimester. While the morning sickness was now gone, there was a number of new troubles you could note. Most importantly, the bump. 

For the most part it was a blessing, even when it caused a number of effects, such as walking differently and feeling a rather strange weight on your hips, something you hadn’t dealt with beforehand. It was proof of a growing baby, and both you and Toji couldn’t be more happy about it. Instead, the effects it had on your husband were the real concerns. 

When you were starting to show, your husband couldn’t stop taking pictures of you. It was quite out of the ordinary for Toji, who rarely ever customized anything on his phone or computer, when he finally took it upon himself to learn such things, pasting your image everywhere he could. His new favorite pastime during breaks at work was scrolling through his pictures of you (some of which were taken in the last 5 hours), saving them in a special folder and smiling to himself. 

Your pregnancy in general made him clingy. Along with the pictures, he cut his hours at work and stayed home to assist you, which was appreciated but put a hindrance in your housework. Toji would stand around watching you do everything from unloading the dishwasher to changing the sheets on the bed, leaning against the wall as he tried to lock eyes much to your dismay. 

Fully confident in your ability to do such things, he still found himself keeping a much closer eye on you, only comforted when he was in the same house and could hear, if not see, you. Toji had already began to realize this himself, that it wasn’t an increase in safety concern that caused his behavior. While he always wanted to have eyes on you, to make sure you were out of harm’s way regardless of your pregnancy, there was something he missed so much when he was away from you. 

Watching you cover your swollen tummy with a nightgown, one he picked out specially for you on a shopping trip. It sinched in high, right above the bump that was evident and growing larger each day. Seeing the light apprehension you had when bending down to pick things up, and hearing the compliments your friends gave you whenever they saw you, asking how the baby was coming along. Little things were a constant, and appreciated reminder for him that the two of you were building your family together. Something he loved more than anything. 

Because of this, your husband stopped doing his regular outings all together. Usually he would go out to watch sports and drink with his friends at least once a week or so. Him being gone gave you more time without him interrupting your chores, and he was careful with you in mind. But this new Toji, that was a soon-to-be father, figured he could just watch the game on the TV and didn’t need to go out anymore despite your protests.

“It would save us money, we should be saving up for the nursery,” Toji argued, sitting down on the couch. “I know, honey, but…,” you tried to explain to him, just how annoying he had been. Staring at you all the time, offering you a hand for every minuscule task the moment you had any difficulty with it. Reaching up ahead of you to the top cabinet and grabbing the bowl you were trying to get, when there was a stepping stool right next to you. 

It made you embarrassed, really. His eyes always so sharp, the way he looked at you every time you mistakenly fell into his trap, breaking your three minute personal best at ignoring him properly. Your cheeks heated up each time, scoffing a little as you turned back to the dirty dishes in the sink. It was truly bothersome (in some ways more than others). 

And so, it led to his great discovery of at-home sports streaming. Toji was sprawled out on the loveseat everyday, after he got home from work. Carefully using up his extra home hours, after you persistently told him to give you some space. 

While Toji enjoyed his free time, you, on the other hand, were doing laundry. The warmth of a fresh dry load, coupled with the absence of breathing down your neck, allowed you to relax for a brief moment. You piled all the clothes into a large basket, making your way down the hallway to the living room, where you usually folded it. 

Except… Toji was there. You turned around, hearing the voice of a dull commentator surely explaining something interesting, though what it was you didn’t know. Your house didn’t have too many rooms, and usually the bedroom or even the laundry room would work just fine for folding… if you could bend down well enough. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, your feet barely touched the floor from how high up it was. Bending down over the bump was impossible to do comfortably, and the task could only be done at all if you leaned down to the side and awkwardly grabbed at the basket below while maintaining your balance. 

After a few more attempts, you figured out that there wasn’t enough room on the floor and sitting like that wasn’t very comfortable for long periods of time either. You were reminded why the living room had been your favorite for doing this task, the couch was low enough and comfortable to sit on, with space for folded clothes on the side. 

Holding the basket with two hands, you stood in the hallway watching around the corner to observe your husband’s movements. Toji was lounging comfortably, with one arm laid across the top of the couch. His legs were spread wide, covering most of the seating area. If the game was almost over, there would be no reason to ask him to move… or so you thought. 

The two of you were in reverse positions, your eyes almost trying to lock with his as you admired them from afar, your original mission forgotten as he stared intently at the screen and rubbed the tiredness from his face. Now unlike you, he found your gaze to be rather relaxing, enjoying it before you would inevitably make your move. His chuckle didn’t come from the commercial on the screen, but from you, who was still standing there after 10 minutes, greatly struggling to hold the basket which was feeling extremely heavy. 

Setting it down would make a noise, so you finally decided to give up on finding some kind of good time to interject. “Is the game almost over?” You asked meekly, setting the basket down in the middle of the floor. “10 minutes, about,” he replied, still staring at the screen. You huffed under your breath, unsure of what to say. To that, Toji smirked to himself. He knew exactly what you wanted, and was very much prepared to give it to you… but why not have some fun with it?

“Need a little help?” He asked while you walked a bit closer in curiosity. “My wife doesn’t know what she wants, it’s my duty to give her some guidance…” he finally tilted his head towards you, though he had been ignoring the screen since you arrived. “C’mere… lil’ closer…” he motioned at you, as you looked at him confused. 

It only took him a second to stand up and move behind you, throwing his arms underneath your legs and back, carrying you to the couch with him. He settled you down between his legs, his body back how it was before like nothing had even happened. 

“It’s more comfortable with that bump, hmm?” he asked, already knowing the answer. “I still have to have room to do the laundry, Toji…” he chuckled, moving his legs closer together so you could feel them squishing your thighs. “That better?” you turned your head to blushing smile on your face. 

Toji grabbed the remote while you dragged the basket closer with your foot, still trapped between him. “But there’s only 10 minutes,” you watched as he changed the channel to a show you liked. “I’m gonna lose anyway, what does it matter,” he muttered. “I thought you said you stopped doing that!” you scoffed, looking back at your husband who rolled his eyes. “It’s five bucks, a work thing people are doing,” you shook your head in disapproval. 

As you relaxed into his lap, you got to folding. Part of the enjoyment you felt was due to your husband, softly rubbing your back and occasionally playing with your hair as you got to work. “I’m surprised you didn’t try to kiss me,” you frowned facing the TV, though Toji could still sense your disappointment. “That’s your reward for getting this done - I’m gettin’ pretty hungry…” he continued his massage, but wrapped his arms around your waist to hold your belly. You would make dinner after you finished.

“It feels good Toji, thank you,” you sunk back enjoying the feeling. “You deserve it, you’re doin’ so good, my wife,” a blush crept onto your face again from his words. “Was gonna ask you for a date night sometime anyway,” he mentioned, “and there’s no time like the present.” Toji gave you a quick kiss on the cheek. “So just stay nice… and… still…” he smirked. “Once you’re done, we have the whole night ahead of us.”

[li0nn3stuff]

You and Aemond fought, so he invites at dinner another girl

English is not my first language, be kind.

Modern!Aemond x fem!Reader 

Warnings: Sex description

Part two: You left Aemond on read

Part three: Aemond apologies

You are in a relationship with modern!Aemond

Aemond was just sitting at the kitchen table, as his mother was finishing setting the dishwasher. He was drumming his fingers repeatedly on the table as he looked down, looking at nothing, lost in his thoughts. “She was… nice.” Alicent, his mother, said. “Mhh.” Aemond simply answered in a low grunt. The girl he invited for dinner just left. He actually barely remembered her name.

He could see the disappointment in her face when she left after dinner, clearly hoping to spend the night with him, but he had no interest in it, he never actually had the intention of doing anything with her, she was just… a substitute. No, more like an object he used to prove something to himself.

“She’s pretty…” his mother added then. Aemond rolled his eye, he knew his mother didn’t really mean it, those were exactly the things she said to be polite with him when he brought a girl home and she didn’t like her.

“You don’t like her.” Aemond said, raising his gaze at her. Alicent pressed her lips together and sat at the table with him.

“What happened to the other girl? Y/N?” she asked in a soft tone.

“Nothing.” Aemond looked away.

“Son, I know you… You looked very into her, so why did you bring this girl home now?”

Aemond sighed.

“I fucked it up.” Aemond sighs and Alicent crunches her nose a bit at his language, but Aemond didn’t really care, he had too much on his mind now to care about talking like his mother liked.

“What did you do?” she asked. Aemond looked at her again.

“She got mad, I got mad… we fought. Badly.” he admitted. His mother took his hand in hers.

“I’m sure you can find a way to fix it. She looked very into you as well.” She smiled softly.

“You just want her over again because she always helped you.” Aemond tried to say in amusement, but it came out more like a complaint. Alicent huffed a laugh.

“That too.” She joked lightly. “She made you smile a lot.” she added then, and Aemond looked away from her again. It was true. He smiled a lot with her. He rarely smiled. He liked her too, and her body… Aemond shook his head slightly, not wanting to have his thoughts drift that way in front of his own mother.

“I’ll fix it, don’t worry, mother.” he said then and he got up from his seat, taking his hand away from his mother’s. He kissed the top of her head and went upstairs to his old bedroom, undressing and putting on just a pair of his sweatpants. He got under the cover and he sighed. He actually missed her, and he hated it. He never actually let anyone grow under his skin after… 

Aemond closed his eye and took off his eyepatch, rubbing his temple. He hated that when he last saw her, after the argument, she walked away like he meant nothing to her, and although he acted the same way, how he felt was the opposite. He asked that girl to come to dinner to see if he could have been able to get distracted from Y/N, but to no avail. He was almost disgusted when that girl tried to touch his thigh or arm. He even abruptly took his hand away when she tried to grab it. He knew she just wanted to end up in his bed.

Stupid whore.

He hated feeling so ruined. Y/N was his doom, he was aware of that, yet, right now, all he wanted was to have her in his bed. Take her on his childhood bed. He would have her on her knees, as he grabbed her hair, after having her begging for it, and oh, if she knew how to beg. He would be forcing her throat to accommodate all of his cock, making her gag repeatedly as she dig her nails in his thighs. He would then pull away just before cumming, forcing himself back, so then he could throw her to his bed, and eat her out real good, slipping his fingers in her mouth to keep her quiet. She was always so vocal, so loud, making him proud of his work. After making her desperate with at least two orgasms, reduced her in a babbling mess, he would have her begging for his cock to be inside her, he would have fucked her roughly, pushing her down on his bed, as he squeezed her breast in his hand, then letting it roam to her neck and grip it just as he knew she liked. Aemond groans, closing his eyes. He was getting hard. He hated how she always managed to make him so hard. Fuck, she wasn’t even there. He groaned and he forced himself to stop those thoughts.

He sighed loudly, he grabbed his phone and opened her contact. He looked at the screen of his phone for a long time, but then he moved his fingers over it, and quickly texted her before his ego made him change his mind.

“Let’s meet up.”

“To talk.”

[simp-ly-writes]

Lasting Pictures: Mission: Spill (pt.9)

Pairing: Poly!Task Force 141 x Reader

Summary: A pleasant night out carries out into the morning as Kyle helps you to address feelings left buried in the shadows of work. But soon, your greatest mission yet, the objective that you have been working toward since your reunion with the military is placed on the horizon. Knives are sharped, blood is spread like bullets, and emotions are raised to new heights- the only question left is, will you be able to overcome this all in the end?

Warnings: 5667 words, slowburn, swearing, depictions of blood, injury, PTSD and hospitals.

A/N: ... well... shit happens hahhahaha and we are almost done, lets see what happens next!

Masterlist | Taglist | edited.

Lasting Pictures Series Masterlist

↳ 24 Hours Until Mission “Spill”

When you woke up in the morning to the sunlight hitting your face, peeking out from between the blinds. You stretched your arms outwards and rolled over to your side, patting gently to hopefully find Garrick laying beside you. The space was still warm where he slept but was ultimately empty. 

Your head dipped before a string of curse words came whispering from the kitchen. A large smile spread across your face as you quickly threw on a sweater overtop your pajamas and made your way to the living space. Kyle stood shirtless at the stove, flipping pancakes as you greeted him with a kiss to his cheek in thanks. 

“It’s nothing love, thank you for letting me crash here with you,” he notes with a subtle blush to his cheeks, “Plate up, I’m going to give these a quick wash before joining you,” the man insists as you argue to wash them later yourself. To win the battle, he flashes you a dazzling smile that has you seated at the dining room table. 

“How did you sleep?” you ask, while wiping your mouth clean, Kyle takes a sip of his coffee, wrapping an arm over the top of your chair as he hums out contently, “Like a dream in all honesty, so much more relaxing here even when waking up to Spoons licking me in the ear.” You let out a horrified gasp, standing to go give Spoons a firm talking too before Kyle pulls you back down, “It’s alright love, truly. I took it as very cute- I like to think we have bonded well.”

Taking his plate, you load the dishwasher as you point him in the direction of your linen closet, the shower soon turns on as you feed Spoons and leave a gift basket on the table for your neighbour this evening for when they come to feed the cat dinner. Taking your turn in the shower soon after, you and Kyle head back to base before answering the long stream of text messages and missed calls from the task force throughout yesterday. 

--

As you go to open your door, Kyle's hand falls from the wheel to your knee, eyes asking you to stay a moment as you go back to seated. “Hey, before we go back to the real world again… I just want you to know that…” his eyes trail away from yours, staring off into the parking garage as you squeeze his hand, offering him a small smile- urging him to continue when your heart races. 

“...that I really enjoy spending time with you, in and out of the field. I know this is a weird place to say it but just before all the gear and armour goes back on, I feel more protected than ever when I am with you- in more ways than one and… what I guess I mean to say is that…” your eyes are gradually widening as your palms begin to sweat, you drop Kyle's hand embarrassed because of it and you watch as his small smile fades immediately, he stops speaking. 

“Kyle-I,” you start, heart beating rapidly as you search his eyes, “shit. I really like spending time with you as well,” you state while your brain short-circuits for the moment. “So I wouldn’t be wrong in saying that I really like you?” Kyle questions softly while tilting his head slightly. 

“Wow, umm! fuck-I-uh. Gods I thought you all hated me and then you say this… fuck, I really like you too Kyle” you speak quickly, your blush now carries its way down your neck and up to your ears as Kyle chuckles affectionately, only making you cover your cheeks as you lean forward, hiding your face between your knees as you shake your head when he asks to see your face again. “Love, please,” he laughs out while stroking your head. 

“I never hated you for a moment, I just was upset that the person I really liked then and now was not paying attention to me,” he states as you pop your head up once more, both of your phones are now blowing up as the team demands your attention back at work. You groan out, wanting to keep this little moment going but you both step out of the car and make your way to the boardroom. 

--

Once entering the office space, Soap pulls you into a large hug as his eyes flash over your neck, looking over to Garrick with a raised eyebrow as he shakes his head no. You roll your eyes, shoving Johnny off with a smirk, “get your head outta the gutter, Soap.” 

“Alright, now that everyone is here,” Laswell claps as you and Kyle take your seats at the table, Simon's knee touches your own as he keeps his attention directed to the screen and you feel John's eyes staring at the back of your head. “Tonight you will all be travelling by plane and jumping to location A, it is a 1km hike till the first objective that you will be scoping out from an elevated position. From there you will need to…”

The mission brief carries though as you all become tested on the various escape and exfil strategies, the targets of interest and of course, the accountants’ oligarch that you have a positive ID on. You all exit the room, folders in hand as you move towards the apartment where Gabby pulls you into your room, demanding details. 

“SO! You little, “oh, it’s not a date, we are not fucking…” and then I see that MAN- looking at you with bedroom eyes and what is everyone else supposed to think- I MEAN DID YOU SEE SOAP? He looked oddly disappointed that you and Kyle did not get up to anything when I know of your history together, you have left. Me. in. the. Dark.” Gabby rants while holding your hands as you blush, “Gabby you need to chill out, we were just hanging out and yes, maybe some feelings were regarded but that's it!” you retort as she screams. 

Simon comes rushing into the room as you stand to let him know nobody was being actively murdered as he walks back out, he throws out a comment that leaves you in silence. “You are part of our team- Kyle just gotta say it before any of us could get the chance after all that shit,” Ghost comments while picking at his gloves. You are wide-eyed, body still as Gabby loses her shit, “OKAY! I am taking that as my cue to leave, have fun before your mission bestie!” she blows you a kiss while making some explicit hand gestures that have you groaning out. 

Your room door slams behind her as you fall back onto your pillows, reaching a hand to pinch the bridge of your nose. You listen as Simon and Gabby exit the apartment leaving you in a conflicting moment of silence. You debate getting up, following them towards the gym while your hand drifts to your phone, fingers hovering over your parents number as you blink away tears. 

The fuck, you think to yourself, holding up your wet hand to your eyes with a confusion  struck expression and in that moment, you don’t realise the phone to be already ringing before their bright voice echos throughout the empty apartment. “Hello hun, everything alright… I know you should be back on base by now, did something happen?” 

“mom/dad…” you comment in a small voice, you keep wiping away your tears, crushing out as you look around for a tissue box or spare shirt to wipe them away on. “Hey, hey, hey, what's the matter? Do I need to come over with the spoon and teach the other lads a thing or two over there?”

You laugh between sobs, shaking your head between your hands, “I just don’t know why the fuck im crying right now, I just- sorry for the swearing picked that up again. I just, I don’t know.” 

“Things are just a lot right now?” 

“Yeah…” you let out with a breath, now leaning against your headboard as you inspect your jeans, pulling out the random items in your pockets and observing them. “Do you… want to talk to me about it?” they ask sweetly but you can hear the concern laced in every word as they fumble around the kitchen in the background. 

“I feel so pathetic right now, I fucked up and everything okay now but I still feel guilty but I don’t know what I feel guilty about or even if its for me…” you trail off, not knowing how to continue the sentence as you stand up and begin to pace around your room. “I am a grown adult, sulking here like a baby that has a gun in their closet and is about to fly to kill someone that I have been stalking for the past three months and then in between that all I meet this group of incredible guys that… that make me feel like I can go through with this mission. Gabby consistently reminds me to choose happiness and when I think it arrives, I only get more confused and feel all the more guilty about feeling happy while this is the shit we do for a living, I should have never came back- FUCK!” 

You hear your parent drop the things around them as they speak more clearly down the phone now, “I am not going to tell you anything is wrong in you having these thoughts but what has made you think these things recently?”

“Kyle told me he likes me… and I like him back but that was after I had been an absolute degenerate- going off with my own team jealous-”

“Then why are you guilty?” your parent cuts you off in a strict tone as your shoulders cave in, feeling as if you were back at home, waiting in the corner on a small wooden chair in time-out. “Because we forgave one another too quickly?” your answer coming out more like a question as you pull the phone away to curse out some more as they tisk you on your language. 

“How could you hear me swearing?” you question, trying to move the conversation on, your head and heart overwhelmed now as you pack your bag and begin to iron your clothing that would be a wreck by the end of the mission. “I am not THAT old yet and don’t you go changing topics on me just yet, maybe you did forgive each other too quickly, maybe you didn’t but by the sounds of it. You both made that choice and look what it amounted to-”

“Wait- Gabby told you!” You grip your hair, groaning out as they laugh at you down the line once again. “I must say, I do approve of your two- stunning couple you would make.” Going beet red you cover your face with your thermal shirt just as you hear a knock on your door, “One sec!” you call out towards them as you call your byes to one another. Setting your phone on to charge you twist the handle open as John stands in the hall with a small smile. 

“All your stuff packed by the looks of it?” You mock salute towards your Captain, “Sir-yes-sir!” you report in a teasing tone as his eyes cast back down to meet your own, a smile spreading across his face as he tilts his head down towards you, now speaking in more hushed tones. “Bring your camera, will ya? Less paper work with pictures involved,” he winks before turning back down the hall humming as you watch him disappear into the kitchen. 

--

When you enter the locker rooms various teams nod towards the patches on your uniform as you pull your equipment bag towards your locker and empty out your pockets once more. You strip your shirt off, fighting yourself into your cargo pants as you snake a leather belt around your waist. You hear a whistle as you turn around with a raised eyebrow to whoever made the noise. Gabby stands fully geared in all-black, helmet leaning against her side as she smiles towards you, a few hairs sticking to her forehead as you reach out to fix them back into place. 

“Thanks,” she comments while looking you up and down, focusing on your colour full socks beginning to be hidden away by your matching black boots. “What?” you deadpan, “Nothing… just… really?” she teases out, “you bought me these, Gabs” you comment with a mocking eye roll just as she shoves you into your locker. “Alright you two,” Laswell comments, doing her best to hide a smile just as you flash her a wide one, shuffling over on the bench so that Gabby can sit beside you. 

You feel a pair of hands on your back as you stretch yourself around to face them, Kyle gives you a joking wave as you do the same with extravagant enthusiasm. He tightens the straps to your vest like usual as Gabby hands you your helmet. Locking it into place, you pat your knees and stand up, walking into line beside Simon who flicks your nose, not knowing how to respond. You look towards Gabby for help as she shrugs her shoulders and wipes down her gun. 

John helps Laswell up onto a table as she yells out into the room, “Our primary objective today is to ensure the lives of the public by removing the foreign oligarch found to be visiting us here in London. We have had the hotel cleared in preparation but if any civilians are to be found on site, relocation rooms have been highlighted on your maps. We go in, go dark, and all go home tonight- is that clear?”

The room fills with claps and cheers as a few slam their fists against the lockers. Your camera is strapped to your chest, gun glued to your hands as both words are to collide in this mission. You look up, praying to whoever was listening that all your friends would make it back to the apartment tonight. You feel a hand soon envelope your own, turning your head down you look towards the tattooed arm with a smile. “Keep that smile gorgeous, god knows we’ll need it for tonight.” You nod once just as the line moves towards the group of vehicles idling in wait. 

Simon slams the door shut as your van speeds off into the city streets, you watch as numerous young-people stand freezing waiting outside of nightclubs in shiny dresses or disheveled suits. A few food stalls have people yelling their prices down the street as a biker cuts through an intersection and horns vary into the night sky. John curses out, clutching the steering wheel as he takes a side road, already fuming about the traffic so late at night as Kyle usher's him to save that anger for later. You lean your head against Simon's shoulder as Gabby continues to look out the window beside you, gripping your hand with every breath she takes. 

--

Pulling into the underground car park, you all unload yourselves from the vehicle and load your weapons, using the elevator the first few floors, a countdown in the radio is heard as your team transitions towards the stairs. NODs fall on as your lazers point up the stairs, a hand on your shoulder signifies for you to move from the rear as the 45th floor comes into view. You all station in the hallway, listening for any moment as a muffled scream is heard from within a guest suite, another squad guides a scared-shitless civilian in their night robe out and towards the front of the hotel where police are beginning to arrive on the scene. 

Crushing underneath your breath, reports only followed a few hours later when social media begins chiming in, a clock had been set for the mission and your time was already begging halved by the hotel not actually being cleared like Laswell announced earlier. Splitting up the task force, you all made quick work of the floor before disbursing to accompany various other teams carrying out separate tasks, moving up towards the penthouse suite. “Dice to Watcher, how copy?” Laswell announces through your wires as you peek around the corner and burst into the bathroom, gun raised just before you snap a photo of leftover documents found underneath the sink, muttering a clear before switching comms. “Watcher this is Dice.”

“Fish has been compromised, there are unaccounted for enemy reinforcements heading up to your position, are you alone?” 

“Negative, Ghost is the next room over.”

“I need you to move towards him, now,” beginning to race over, Simon tips his mask to you in confusion, lowering his gun from your face. “What's happened?” he asks in a gruff tone, eyeing out the growing number of cruises below as muffled voices come through both your communications before going dead.

Your eyes widen into one another's, backing away from the window you both turn to exit into the hall just as a bullet whizzes by your head. You try for the radio to only receive static, counting out to three, you both fire down the hall, hearing grunt and a body falls before you, blood soaking into the brown carpet below your boots. Stepping over the body, you lean to inspect the fresh corpse, feeling around their uniforms you unload the hidden gun in their suit pocket and snap a picture of the tattoo on their sleeve that Simon so nicely cut their shirt open for you. 

A fresh set of boots emerge from a room beside you both as you fall to cover behind the corpse. Picking your secondary from your thigh you shoot at their leg as Simon muffles their cries in his glove and makes quick work to their neck with his knife. The body drops beside your growing pile as you both nod at one another and continue down the hall.

It is eerily silent, you had lost connection to where you team had gone, Simon was glued to your side and reportedly Fish was down. You did your best to not allow these thoughts to weigh you down, forcing yourself up several more flights of stairs. You fail to hear a Ghosts footsteps no longer walk in rhythm to your own, turning around you are pulled into a room just as you raise your elbow to slam your attacker in the face. They curse out in a foreign language to you, twisting their arm, you force the knife out of their hand- capturing it in your own as you raise to stab just below their armpit. Uncovered from the gear they wear, forcing them to the wall they drop their body weight, forcing you down to the ground with them as they pull out the knife and stab your foot. 

Kicking them in the face, you race to grab you gun and a singular shot sounds in the room, their body falling on top of yours as you lie there for a moment, listening to your breaths just before radio communications comes back on line. “Dice this is Bravo Six, where is your location?”

“57th floor, east wing,” you report back, groaning to shove the heavy body off your chest as Simon rushes over to you, mask covered in blood as you pick up a towel from a cleaning cart in the hall and wipe him clean. “We are awaiting your arrival at the penthouse, report when you are in range, over.”

“Yes, sir,” Simon radios in, taking your arm he ushers you behind him and moves to clear the stare well as you both navigate your way through the fire exit. Seeing a flash in your laser, you both nod towards a stationary team in the hall as you make your way towards the door. John nods at you, pointing at a spot across from Kyle where you stand in wait. 

A younger member from an assisting squad inspects underneath the door, reporting to John as he nods his head, glaring at the top of their head impatiently. Johnny moves in to disarm the surveillance in the room set on a separate grid through the electrical closet just as Kyle sends in a report that Shadow Company is providing long-ranged support from the opposite building's rooftop. Another lazer flashing through your NODs has all the conformation you need as you rally at the door. A countdown from three is on the Captain's fingers just as you all burst into the room. Taking the right wing you scan each corner and look over reverie hard-cover voicing over a clear just as you all move further into the suite. 

Room after room, the penthouse is deadly quiet, not a single breath or footstep to be heard as the rooms appear unlived in. Not a single cup removed from the cart or a pillow out of place. Johnny curses out, about to make a comment before bullets come flying from the wall you all are stationed on… someone knew of your operations. 

Your head racks your mind for whoever could have reported this information back in time for them to prepare and study for your team in such short notice to only come back with nothing, adrenaline pumping through your every vein- capturing your every thought. Clutching your shoulder, your foot is still sore from the bruising- no picture from the knife to be seen. Warm blood spills from between your fingertips just as you lean against a buffet-table in the hall for support. 

Kyle races over, bandages already torn out from his vest as he quickly secures the wound with ease. Voicing him a strained thanks, another series of shots are carried out as Laswell begins chirping down the radio as John so kindly asks her to, “shut up for a moment- I’m tryin’ to work too.” John catches your eyes for a split second as you raise your weapon up once again. Slamming the door open with his shoulder, Simon fires a flashbang into the room before you all rush inside. Two shots you place, one to the chest and another to the head to ensure your good work and this pattern is repeated tenfold as the seemingly dead penthouse comes alive with bodies spraying out from closets and underneath beds.

You listen as Kyle curses out in the washroom, the shower being turned out as he gets sprayed, wrapping the shower hose around their neck. You look away only hearing the stangled grunts that stop just as you allow your barrel to cool once again. A shot breaks the window behind you as you shutter and a body falls behind you, turning around you cast a thumbs up towards the Shadow as they flicker their lazer in response. 

--

Your team splits once more, the master bedroom and private living quarters now in view. Both sections are connected to one another in a loop- needing to be simultaneously cleared as you get stationed with Soap who inspects your shoulder and changes the wrap before you both move into the small sitting room. Footsteps of the separated task force echo down the halls as you both sidestep over the half-hazardly thrown chairs and broken glass shards against the floor. Apparent stress is found leading up into the kitchen as you and Johnny look to one another, holding eyes as he tilts his head- it was go time. 

Taking action into the room with guns raised you both shout out into the space, a shot rings out from beside your head as you both flip up your NODs to the light of the room. Taking that split second to blink an accented voice calls out to you, “stop or I shoot the maid.” A man in a white dress shirt, the hotel's logo embroidered into the breast pocket holds your eyes. Tears in their eyes as his hands grip the arm around their neck. In raspy tones they beg for their release, “please,” they choke as your finger stills over the trigger.

Johnny drops his gun to the counter as you keep your raised- waiting to take the shot as he tries to deescalate the situation. Hands extended, his fingerless gloves portray friendliness as he addresses the oligarch who’s grip only tightens on the handle of the pistol, pressing into the staff's head as they wince, larger tears extending from their eyes as they whisper about a mother. For a split second Johnny looks towards you and in that moment multiple shots are fired.

Head slamming into the counter behind you, you curse out before quickly looking up to see the maid grasping at themselves before crying out in relief, running out of the room and towards the other squads stationed outside the penthouse entrance. Your vision soon becomes blurry from your sudden movements, time slowing as you watch the oligarch’s yellow teeth smile at you, hand raised with another is strapped to their chest in pain. A wobbled trigger pull has you breathless and looking up into the bright white lights above. I did it… you laugh before starting to choke on your own blood. 

You are frozen, unable to panic yet Johnny does enough of that for you as his hands scramble over your body, feeling for where the shots entered and exit. Kyle, Simon, and John soon come running in from hearing the earlier screams, blood on each of their faces as horror soon accompanies it. You start to whine thanks while Johnny's face covers the light, he holds your face muttering words unheard to you as you reach a hand upwards and smile before cursing out in blinding pain as your eyes soon flutter closed only to be awakened by the shaking of your shoulders expanding your wounds. 

"fuck it hurts, it hurts so bloody much captain" you cry out to Johnny, your vision of him blurring once more as he holds your side. Soap tries not to shutter at the warm heavy liquid seeping through his fingers, staining the floors and the back of your shirt; mixing with your tears, as you choke back another sob to the throbbing pain- seeing white.

John curses lightly underneath his breath, hands slightly shaking as he looks over your half-sitting against the cupboards. Looking up, he makes sure there are no more imminent threats; he opens a pocket on his vest, pulling out his field medical kit as he shouts down the line for an immediate evac.

Hurried hands quickly kill any bacteria on the wound as you wince loudly and the captain covers your mouth with his gloved hand while looking over once more to check that you two would be uninterrupted. He yells out for the remaining task force to secure the room and pull out the oligarchs body to be bagged. 

Laughing to yourself, growing slightly delirious from the blood-loss and excruciating pain, you think that in any other setting- you would find these actions highly romantic. Smiling and shaking your head as your eyes roll at your loopy self.

John grasps your jaw firmly in his hand while holding a sterile cloth to your side with the other. "I need you awake for me love, eyes on me m'kay? eyes on me only Dice!"

Removing his hand from your face he begins to wrap a bandage around your core, trying it snuggly in position, he leans down and wipes the sweat away from your face and replacing it slightly was a smear, a blood that has him wincing. Giving your temple a kiss before placing his forehead against your own. You can feel how anxious ragged his breaths are against your skin as guilt begins to seep its way into your system. Panic soon seeping into your system as hidden thoughts flood your breaking mind, I should've done more, done fucking better, hell dice; can't even roll with the punches you take- utterly useless.

Yet you hear another set of boots rushing over to your side that has your darkening thoughts pausing momentarily as they drop their gun on the floor while reaching into a bag with a red-cross on the front. Memories float through your head at all the horror you had seen while having to use that bag, your breath catching in uneven sets, eyes stinging from no more tears left to cry.

"Shh, shh, it's okay gorgeous, we are gonna get you out of here, real quick- hold me to it" Johnny replies while taking in your state, eyes becoming wet before huffing out another request down the comms line. He moves to hold your hand, squeezing it in his own as the Captain moves so that you two can share this moment; looking out the window, eying the cityscape while waiting for Ghost and Gaz to report back at the scene with news of the vehicle, he checks his watch.

Your hand begins to scratch at the floor, as a gasp finds its way out of your mouth, trying to formulate words- you find yourself voiceless. A loud ringing now finds itself in your ears, blood running cold through your system as you realize what is happening, your legs begin to kick as you cry out into the darkening space.

Soap chokes back a sob, tears freely falling down his cheeks as he shouts out your name, beckoning you to come back down to him. John shouts down the radio once more- panic taking over his body as he walks in circles around the room. He can't bear to look at you- slipping away and not being able to do anything about it; they had used all the supplies relevant.

Your breaths begin to slow as your tears grace your cheeks once more, you feel your eyes growing all too heavy as you smell your blood coating your gear. The world turns black as a scream can be heard echoing out the building. The walls shaking and following around the men as they sit beside you- still. 

Gabby shoves her way into the scene before you, she grabs your hand, forcing it against her cheek. She pays no mind to the various calls of the Shadow Company nor Laswells orders as she places her forehead to your chest, breaths swallowed as panic begins to overtake herself at the lowering quantity of your breaths. “No, no, no” she begins to chant to herself as if begging. 

She feels nauseous as your lifetime together flashes through her mind. Elementary school days in watching shoes playing football during recess while you watched her breath a bone for the first time, shattering her ankle while going in for a  slide-tackle. Middle school, you come out as Bi and cried on the couch in happiness for letting it out, going sick from eating too much ice cream on the couch and throwing up in the toilet hours after. You held back her hair, holding back your own feelings as that memory soon blurs into your first high school house party. 

Finding you making out with Scott from maths as she snapped a picture that still sat in your diary back in your apartment with hearts and love notes swirled around like a frame. Gabby held you three weeks later when he cheated on you with the new transfer girl. She remembers you both dancing at prom with one another, your infectious laughter as you both drunkenly sung karaoke into the early morning hours during the after party. 

Months later you both would be separated during college just before you switched and went to study biology at the same campus as her. You both dropped out three months before graduating, your military careers taking off just as Gabby got engaged but never got to see the isle. You held her when a soldier announced that Elijah died while out on deployment you kept her from the edge that night… and now she sits here- guilt stricken for not being able to do the same. 

--

A relentless beeping sound as you whisper at a, “whatever that is needs to be turned off” to yourself just as a gasp can be heard and the hand holding your own falls to cover their mouth in shock. You cannot move, body stationary as they press a series of buttons and you rise to a relaxed sitting position, moving your head comes in a great deal of pain as you meet your parents eyes in surprise. Eyebrows raised, “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“What the fuck did I tell you about language?” They tease back before lightly hugging you, plastering a kiss against your forehead as your face goes beet red and you look around the room for an audience only to find none much to your thankfulness. A clock displays a 3:41 AM on its hands as you curse out, the medication in your system beginning to wear off just as a series of nurses comes running in a few other staff members behind they shout, bodies unseen as they lock the door closed behind them, the blinds falling as the new injection has you in peace. 

“So… how long was I out for this time?” you laugh into a cry- your brain overstimulated after being dormant for the period. “Only a week, you pulled through- I think that it was Gabby’s threats that got to you. I swear that woman could animate a corpse with the sentences she strings together,” your parents smile while brushing the hair out of your face, you murmur a thanks before sleep finds you once more. They circle the back of your hand with their thumb as you lay unknowing to the passive-aggressive conversation that is being carried out from behind your room’s door.

Lasting Pictures Series Masterlist

↳ Taglist: @thriving-n-jiving @cringeycookies @ashy-kit @lilliumrorum @kaoyamamegami @brokenpieces-72

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

Just want to say, I really love your yandere family! They all seem so sweet lajdkal

Ah! Thank you! I'm so glad!

I've been meaning to make more content for them

So here's a little something

🖤🖤🖤

How Sweet They Are | Yandere Family

Remalda

To Everyone else: Is as sweet as she needs to be. How can she be anything other than that when she’s going for mayor? But what’s underneath the sweet smiles and friendly disposition is a spiteful woman with a violent string of thoughts.

“Miss Remalda! If you weren’t married I’d propose to you!”

“Awww that’s so sweet! But I’m very happy in my marriage!”

‘If you had found me 14 years earlier I would have skinned you for even thinking you could replace my love with yourself. Disgusting Pig!’

To You: She’s sweeter than sugar. Anything you ask for you can have even if it comes with detriment to someone else. She just can’t resist it when you look up at her with those adorable (e/c) eyes. It's just too much! Too perfect! That’s her beloved baby alright!

“Awww you reached so nicely for it, you can have all the cake you want!”

“Mom! They can’t even digest solid food!”

“But they asked so adorably how can i refuse?*Mwah*”

Spencer 

To Everyone else: He’s as cordial as he needs to be. He’s been keeping people at a distance for quite a long time so this is nothing new. He doesn’t often waste any time thinking about those he meets or what he can do for them because he’s too busy thinking about his own family. 

“Thank you for your patronage.”

“You’re really pretty for a man in your work!”

“Hmmm.”

‘Did I leave the dishwasher running? If I did (Y/n)’s sippy cup should be in there. That’ll be good. Oh, and Yulia has a skating competition this week…’

He’s so disconnected sometimes he forgets the...consequences that spring from his own actions or lack thereof.

“So darling who was that tramp?”

“What tramp?”

To You: He tries to be as sweet as any parent should be. Your chubby body, your gleeful squeals, and your tiny grip on him–are always reminders to him about how much he cherishes you. He’s aware that Remalda is inclined to spoil you and he doubts that will ever change so he has to take initiative and be the adult. But he didn’t have to worry about it now, not when you were so young and it was normal anyway to act on your whims. You have no other way to communicate so it's okay!

“Baby, be careful waving that toy in the air! You might hit a bird!”

You’ll babble and ultimately end up flinging the toy in the air wacking a bird off its perch.

“Oh s-dear! Okay okay, you can have it back just don’t do that again. Okay?”

Michael 

To Everyone Else: Only if you pay for it. He’s a businessman after all and he doesn’t get the results he does by being “sweet.” He’ll make his peers pay a fee if they want to see his pearly whites and even then it's never the real thing. It’s safe to say he takes after his Mother and Father when it comes to being sweet…it covers his real thoughts that are either completely unrelated or especially violent.

“Geez Michael you could’ve at least acted like you care! I’m paying for the experience, right?”

“You right, I don’t care. But if you want the experience with a friendly disposition you’ll have to pay the fee.” 

“What!? Seriously this is a lot more than I imagined…”

‘Of course I do I need to have enough to support my baby and little sister…I wonder if I would get more if I just stabbed him.’

To You: He’s sweet t in the way that he always holds you with care and reprimands your wrong-doings. While he’s not too different from his father he still feels like it's his duty to ‘properly raise you’. He thinks-no he knows you're the precious baby that needs his loving hand to guide you in this messed up family. And since you're his sweet baby he will be the sweetest to you and Yulia.

“Alright (Y/n)...give me your hand.”

“(Y/n). (Y/n), listen to big brother. Give me your hand.”

He’s trying his hardest to be sweet with you, it's not typically in his nature to choose kindness over violence but he tries. He loves you after all so he’s willing to try anything to see your gummy smile and hear the bells of your laughter.

“Good job, (Y/n). Next, you’ll have to learn to give me one of your toys.”

Yulia

To Everyone Else: Of course, she is sweet to everyone! Why not be? Everyone’s usually so nice to her–always complimenting her ice skating and how good of a big sister she is. Sometimes when she talks to those who know her brother they seemed surprised she is so nice. 

“Huh, Michael? Oh well, he’s quite curt but I wouldn’t say he’s mean.”

So where her beloved brother slips up she carries the weight, hoping to dissuade others from building too much aggression towards him. Because she knows him and he’s the kindest big brother; yes, he may mysteriously be ridding her of any and all problems she speaks about.

“Threatened you? He’s just…doing his own thing. Yeah, sorry about that…”

To You: Yes! Why wouldn’t she?! Her darling baby sibling is just so cute and when Michael’s busy and the parents are fighting+ you always seem to reach out for her. Always seem to remember her. So she gives you kisses and risks her mother’s wrath to sneak into your nursery for a sleepover.

“Come on (Y/n), how about we stay up and I tell you all about everything1”

[softquietsteadylove]

I enjoyed the thenamesh actor au pretty much! Would you write some cute fluff how Thena and Sprite are visiting Gil, spending a nice and fun evening with cooking and then watching a movie and Gil ( he has taken his medication after dinner) falls asleep on Thenas shoulder? Sprite noticing the beautiful chemistry between them?<3

"Hey."

"Hey," Gil smiled as a wisp of blond drifted into his view as he loaded the dishwasher (slowly).

"Thanks for dinner," Thena repeated from several times earlier already, bringing over hers and Sprite's plates from the table. "It really was incredible, Gil."

"Aw," he blushed. "It's the least I could do; you've been such a help since the whole arm thing."

Thena's eyes drifted down to his broken arm in his sling, as it did often. "I wish I could do more."

"Trust me, Thena," Gil closed up the dishwasher and patted her shoulder ever so gently, "it's plenty."

She smiled up at him. The soft lighting of the kitchen really brought out his handsomeness.

"Go sit down with Sprite," he nudged her with a grin, "make sure she doesn't pick something with me in it--I can't bear watching myself with people."

"I know the feeling," Thena laughed, drifting off into the living room as Gil reached for the painkillers he'd been prescribed.

Sprite barely looked away from her scrolling as Thena sat down on Gil's large sectional couch. "You two done flirting?"

"Sprite!" Thena hissed at her sister.

"I had to sit through you two making eyes at each other all through dinner," Sprite pointed out liberally, despite the murderous look on her sister's face. "Not bringing it up until now is a testament to my restraint."

"I mean it," Thena pointed her finger in her sister's face. "You are making him uncomfortable and he is our host, who has been nothing but very sweet with you, may I add."

"You may, but that only makes you like him more," Sprite pointed out. As much as she wasn't really into the idea of hearing about her sister's obvious crush on her co-star, part of her couldn't help its curiosity.

Unfortunately, Thena was so in denial about her feelings for him that she was underwater.

"Don't pick anything with Gil in it, says he can't stand watching himself," Thena murmured, eyes drifting down to her lap as Sprite scrolled through the options on the tv.

Sprite just nodded. Thena had the same problem, although Sprite never had any real desire to watch stuff with her in it. She really did think Thena was a great actress, but it was still just her sister--she saw her everyday.

"Okay," Gil mumbled as he sat himself on the couch with him. "What'd we find?"

"Still looking," Thena sighed, loudly enough for Sprite to know it was expressed just for her.

"Okay, okay," the teenager grumbled back, settling on a thriller. "Oh, this is Sersi's new thing!"

Thena smiled at Gil on the other side of her, "Sersi is our cousin."

"I heard about this movie," Gil nodded as the opening logos began. "Apparently there was a lot of drama onset."

"Unfortunately, although Sersi managed to escape a good deal of it," Thena sighed, unfolding her crossed legs and relaxing her stiff posture. "It doesn't surprise me, with Eros in its cast."

"Have you worked with him before?" Gil asked more quietly as the movie began.

"Once or twice," Thena whispered in reply, even shifting to angle herself more in Gil's direction. "He's...interesting."

Gil raised a brow at the diplomatic choice of words. "What am I--the press?"

Thena let out a little giggle, still trying to keep quiet for Sprite's sake of watching undisturbed.

Sprite wasn't paying attention anyway. She only really cared to watch Sersi's parts. And besides that, the little display happening on the couch right next to her was way too distracting to be ignored.

"I've read stuff about him," Gil whispered, leaning his head down closer to Thena. "He's pretty vocal about having a thing for you."

Thena rolled her eyes, missing the visible amusement - and maybe something else - on Gilgamesh's face as she did. "I think part of his image is being a bit of a stud. But he's closer to Sprite's age than ours."

Sprite rolled her eyes too. That was a bit of an exaggeration, not that she thought much of the slightly pompous actor from the once or twice she'd met him.

"I don't see how that'd stop him," Gil shrugged, his words running together slightly as his eyes drooped. "If you're beautiful, you're beautiful--and you are."

Sprite resisted the urge to call her sister out on her visible fluster.

"He's said so," Gil mumbled out, although it ran right into his yawning. "Said he wishes he could have the opportunity to work with the beautiful 'Goddess' herself."

Thena blinked as Gil leaned - slumped - even closer.

"I think even that's an understatement," Gil practically slurred. His back slid further and further down on the couch until his head collided with Thena's shoulder.

"Gil?" Thena blinked, whispering to him but not daring to turn her head to actually look at him.

Gil just adjusted his position, nuzzling even closer into her.

"Thena, please, I'm right here."

"Sprite!" Thena hissed at her again.

"Sh, Thena," Sprite laughed as she leaned back on the luxurious couch and pointed at the tv, "trying to watch."

Damned menace of a sister. Thena rolled her eyes, not moving a muscle as Gil fell into an even deeper sleep with her for a support. It was a good thing that he was also up against the back of the couch. Although his heaviness wasn't quite too much--it was almost kind of nice. He was solid, but not sharp edged, and he was bulky, but there was some softness to it that was nice too.

Thena smiled to herself as Sprite lowered the volume to barely audible, even turning on the subtitles. For all her surliness and general teenaged attitude, Sprite still had a warm heart under all of it. "Thanks, Sprite."

"Sh," Sprite smiled back at her, "watching."

[ghostypetrainer]

Prompt: how akari's Growlithe with future sight joins the family in the spy x family au.

"Is it here yet?!"

Zisu briefly flinched at the sound of the door being thrown open, all instinct, before slowly relaxing. The source of it wasn't some surprise raid from Pearl Country officials- merely an excited Akari. Despite the early hour, the eyes of the girl she'd adopted were already sparkling, though she had no doubt she'd only rolled out of bed a few moments ago. Heaving a sigh that definitely wasn't fond, Zisu let the edges of her lips curl upwards in a broad smile.

"Not yet," Zisu said, "-it's not coming for another half hour, at least."

Akari's expression deflated, quickly turning into a pout. "I woke up too early."

Zisu just laughed. If anything, she'd woken up late, but she chose to bite her tongue on that part- at least for today. There was no school, and yesterday had been exhausting even for her. It was to be expected that Akari would want to sleep in.

"Don't worry," Zisu said, "-by the time you finish washing up, your partner will be here."

Akari's face lit back up at the statement, the girl eagerly dashing off towards the bathroom, no further prompting needed. Zisu couldn't help but chuckle again. There was no doubt that she had caused her a fair share of headaches over these past two months, but seeing her brimming with excitement like that...

...no. Don't think like that, Daybreak. This is only a temporary setup. She's not your real daughter.

(You don't get to have that sort of thing.)

"Enthusiastic, isn't she?"

Zisu's smile didn't falter as she turned to glance up at the man who'd spoken, as he set up a cup of much needed coffee in front of her. He was her partner in this little fake family of theirs- a train conductor by the name of Ingo, who had been willing to hear out her proposition. Of course, he thought the only reason she needed someone to play a fake husband was for Akari's sake, so that she could be admitted into Jubilife College... which was not entirely a lie. The entrance interview had required both a mother and a father. There was more to it than that, but there was no need to burden a civilian with the details of her mission.

(Especially not one who's twin brother was secret police, she idly thought.)

Ingo returned her smile with what she had learned was his own unique version of one- just the very corners of his mouth tilted upwards, like a mischievous Sneasel. At first she'd thought him expressionless, but living together had given her ample time to pick up on his subtle expressions. He stood in stark contrast to her twin brother...

...who was likely fuming now, having missed yet again another chance to catch the notorious spy, Daybreak. There was a tiny part of her that couldn't help but feel a touch smug at that. Not that she'd let this experience make her cocky- that would be a fool's error. And if there was one thing she wasn't, it was a fool.

(Unless her mission required one. She could play an excellent fool.)

"She is," Zisu said, glancing over her shoulder to where she could hear running water come from the bathroom, "-I just hope she's ready for this responsibility."

"I'm certain she is," Ingo said, his head tilting in the direction of her Ambipom, who was currently on dishwashing duty, "-you said you were her age when you got your Aipom."

Zisu merely hummed. She had said that, but it wasn't entirely true. She'd certainly gotten a Pokemon at that age... but it hadn't been her now trusty Ambipom, the one she'd elected to bring with her on this mission. Among her partners, she was the one most accustomed to dealing with children- and would stand out considerably less than say... her Steelix or Drifblim would.

Bringing them all was simply out of the question. Having a fully evolved Pokemon was already a bit odd, but nine of them? Completely out of the question.

...though perhaps she could have at least brought Lopunny with her, if she had known that the man she would enter into a fake marriage with had two fully evolved Pokemon of his own. But even her foresight wasn't perfect.

"Remind me again," Zisu said, her head tilting in the direction of Ingo's own Pokemon, who were chattering to each other as they ate their breakfast, "-when did you get your Pokemon, Ingo?"

"Hm," Ingo considered the question with a hum, "-I believe I first obtained Litwick when I was fourteen. Gligar came a few months later."

A Litwick and a Gligar. Hardly what she'd consider as a teenager's first choice in Pokemon. She had been quite surprised when Ingo had introduced them both to her. But despite the fearsome reputation of the Pokemon in question, they had proven to be not only exceptionally well trained, but excellent with children- it was clear as day that they both adored Akari. Between them and their trainer, it was hard to say who was the fonder of her.

In a way, it was a relief. When this mission ended, there would be no more need for the Forgers anymore. She would disappear from their lives. Of course, the agency would provide for them should they need it, but...

knock knock

Ah. They were here already? What a welcome distract- no, no. How timely.

"Akari!" Zisu called out at she got up. "They're here!"

She could hear Akari stomping around in the bathroom, presumably dressing herself in a rush. Her hair was still dripping wet when she threw the bathroom door open, clearly intending to sprint towards the door and throw it open herself. Ingo caught her first, grabbing a towel and going to work on her hair with it.

"It's a fire/rock type, remember?" Ingo reminded her. "They're not fond of water."

"Oh yeah," Akari said, letting Ingo dry off her hair as Zisu chuckled and made her way towards the door, "-but it is the dog, right?"

"That's right, it's the dog." Zisu said, quickly glancing out of the peephole by virtue of habit. She paused for a moment before opening the door, glancing back at Akari. "Do you remember what you promised?"

"I have to take care of it!" Akari exclaimed, her eyes shining bright as she practically bounced her heels. "Take it for walks! Feed it! Give it Poffins! Uh, what else...?"

"Make sure it doesn't attempt to set the apartment on fire by accident." Ingo added, sharing a knowing look with his Chandelure who chimed meekly in response.

"Yeah!" Akari said. "That!"

"That's right." Zisu nodded, arching a slight brow at Ingo's addition. That was a story she'd have to get him to tell her later. "Then let's say hello to mister dog, shall we?"

Akari furiously nodded, barely able to contain herself. Zisu opened the door, letting the Pokemon in question- a Growlithe of the Hisuian variant- into the apartment. The agent that had brought it briefly locked eyes with her, but it seemed there were no extra missions today, so they quickly departed. Zisu fought the urge to heave a sigh in relief as she closed the door behind her.

Yesterday had been hectic enough already.

"Mister Dog!" Akari exclaimed, throwing her arms around the Growlithe pup, burying her face in its fur. "You're here! Welcome to Akari's house!"

The Growlithe barked, eagerly wagging its tail. Zisu hung back and watch as it explored every inch of the apartment, exchanging greetings with the other three Pokemon that called their apartment home. Thankfully, they seemed to go smoothly, the two fire types especially taking to each other.

In spite of herself, Zisu couldn't help but let a genuine smile creep up her face. It was going to get even more hectic than usual, but... well, given the alternative, this was fine. They'd been able to arrest the terrorists and rescue the Pokemon they'd intended to use to target the Diamond Country's prime minister. If they'd failed, the little Growlithe would have been blown up alongside countless others, and the two countries might be at war right now.

It would be hell all over again.

Compared to that, she'd take this (definitely) fake family of hers gaining another member...  even if it made things noisier.

[echodrops]

The Promises I Made (2022)

...Aha ha ha...

Well, at least that’s over, I guess? I feel such a bone deep exhaustion I don’t even know what to say about this last year. Does anyone? One more year older, I suppose. Last year at this time I felt like I really needed to take it easy on myself going into 2022, but that just led to me drifting aimlessly through this last year as if stuck in a bad dream. Things really are still very rough...

2023 seems to be gearing up for another year of “Who knows?” Will it be better? Will another disaster strike? Let’s hope the former, and not the latter!

This year, like every year, there will be a new set of 50 promises to keep (or break), but in the mean time, here’s how I did on the promises from 2022!

Promises I Made (2022):

1) Get the Utah house chimney repaired before it falls down.

Status: Kept. It doesn’t look “brand new,” but it is properly sealed now and with new mortar between the bricks. Crisis averted.

2) Get both bedroom floors sanded in the Utah house upstairs.

Status: Broken. The Utah house needed a lot of improvements and unfortunately this wasn’t one of them that got done.

3) Get the Utah house sprinklers up and working ALL the way for this summer.

Status: Broken. I literally tried so hard to get someone out to work on these damn sprinklers and not a single person got back to me on this. Guess I’ll have to try again next May...

4) Actually get the back fence fixed up and the greenery back there trimmed and managed.

Status: Broken. I hate those goddamn vines so much. I HATE THEM.

4) Get an official exercise routine including walking/jogging, please.

Status: Somewhat kept. Most of the year I was pretty bad on this; however, I have a new puppy and she is learning to walk so I do got 4-5 miles a day now that she’s managed to work up to that.

5) Related to that, lose at least 20 pounds. 2020-2021 was not kind to me and the stress eating was real.

Status: Ugh, broken. See the above “sat around and did nothing but work for 3/4s of the year.”

6) Successfully set up and use the Roomba my family got for me to hopefully cut down on allergies.

Status: Broken. Okay listen. I was all ready to do this, then I got a P U P P Y. Who chews everything. The Roomba would not survive. It’s stationary until she gets a bit bigger and stops chewing.

7) Keep up with the specialist appointments that my doctor is making for me. No more getting confused on dates and missing…

Status: Kept. I actually managed to get in to see the RIGHT specialist this year who actually diagnosed my issues correctly. Too bad the recommended treatment is surgery that will be several thousand out of pocket...

8) Go see the dentist again because I think I broke/chipped one of my old fillings and it is not feeling good.

Status: Kept. The old filling was indeed broken, but it has been fixed!

9) Finish all the books I received as gifts from 2020 through 2021. It’s rude not to finish books people gave you out of love.

Status: ...Ahahaha. Broken. More books appeared, rather than disappeared, from the list.

10) Organize my documents (especially student papers)—my desktop and documents folders give me nightmares just looking at them.

Status: Damn, broken. I could have done this, but I didn’t think to do it before I left town for the holiday, and now I’m not on my home computer to do it. RIP.

11) Get my new SSD hard drive fully installed and working before going back to work.

Status: Kept.

12) Get a decent paper shredder to shred old mail.

Status: Broken. I completely forgot I made this promise. I do still need a shredder though. D;

13) Get the fucking post office to STOP delivering other people’s mail to my house. 90% of the mail that comes to the mailbox isn’t even for me and it is driving me C R A Z Y.

Status: Broken. Jesus fucking Christ. I am trying so hard. I talked to the postmaster TWICE and they still won’t stop delivering other people’s mail.

14) Get the Texas house dishwasher fixed… I’m so tired of washing dishes by hand… How do people do this, oof.

Status: Broken. I could have and I just didn’t.

15) Get a plumber to stop the dripping spare bathroom faucet and also check behind the wall in the side bathroom… This is gonna be expensive, ugh.

Status: Kept. It was fucking expensive.

16) Talk to an HR rep about my retirement savings so that I can consolidate my retirement accounts. I have been putting this off for like five years now.

Status: Broken. I completely forgot I made this promise. But damn I also still need to do this, lol.

17) Do at least one artwork to actually use that new paint program I bought.

Status: Broken. Oof.

18) Pay my credit debt down by at least $2000. I’m still paying off the hell year but I hope I can make progress on this.

Status: Broken. I was doing so good for a while there, then my car had a major issue that cost over $2000, my back fence blew down in a storm and cost $1700 to re-fence, and I had to pay over $800 for the above-mentioned plumbing fixes... Back in debt again. Fuck you, 2020s.

19) Be a super prepared boss and be ahead of the game on all major requirements for the semester, rather than feeling like I’m playing catch-up all the time.

Status: Broken. Spring 2021 was really good. I thought I did really well that semester. Fall 2021... was a nightmare. Just a complete disaster. I felt so far behind on everything from Day 1. I’m just praying I can do better this year.

20) See a groove-billed ani. This will be the year!

Status: DUDE, I kept this promise so hard that I no only saw a groove-billed ani, I ALSO saw a smooth-billed ani, which is like 100 times rarer. I saw some great birds this year!

21) Make it to 3500 followers on tumblr. You should follow me. I’m awesome. :D

Status: Broken. Despite the porn bots best efforts in November/December, I did not, in fact, make it to 3500. I would have had to POST something to get new followers, after all.

22) Update HaaH at least once. I will do this, no matter what.

Status: Broken. Jesus fucking Christ, I’m so bad at this.

23) Finish streaming all the new Marvel stuff with Kacchan.

Status: Broken. I was REALLY, REALLY close to caught up. Then Marvel released like 50 new movies and 500 new TV shows and I am very much giving up on this lmaooo.

24) Save up to finally buy one of those Ember heated tea mugs.

Status: Kept. My family bought me one for Christmas!

25) Do a better job of working with and representing the other disciplines in my department. I’m really good at advocating for English, but Communication and the foreign languages under my department need more support, and I need to step up for them.

Status: Kept, though mostly by necessity. All our full-time Spanish instructors retired so guess who had to help redo all the Spanish curriculum despite not speaking Spanish???

26) Use the sugar scrub Echo. Just use it. Pamperrrrrr yourself for once…

Status: Broken. It’s RIGHT THERE. Every day, I look right at it, and did I use it? Not even once.

27) Help my parents save money on their bills by consolidating their services and making some calls to retention of these companies for them.

Status: Somewhat kept? I honestly did try very hard on this one and was prevented from succeeding by my parents just being completely unwilling to change, even to save themselves money. Oof.

28) Bird watch in at least three brand new locations this year. I have a tendency to just go back to the places I know, and I’m probably missing some really great birding sites.

Status: Broken. I bird watched one brand new location this year, but alas, only one.

29) Keep up my medicine prescriptions successfully without letting them lapse.

Status: Kept. The new medicine is like the one thing standing between me and death, so I don’t usually forget it anymore lol.

30) Play with my dog and cat more often. They’re bored because I’m working too much, I know.

Status: Somewhat kept. I tried this year to cut down on the amount of work I brought home, but other situations made it really difficult to do so. My poor cat in particular definitely needs more attention.

31) Call an exterminator to finally get the ants that keep coming in from somewhere actually dealt with, instead of just spraying them with bug spray even other week and calling it good.

Status: Kept, in that the ants are gone? After I went away for the summer, there was no water running in the house, so the ants stopped coming in, and even after I came back at the end of summer, they just never came back? So I’m counting that as a promise kept?

32) This is super nerdy, but my bro got me the FFXIV cookbook and made me promise to actually use it, so I guess I’d better at least try to make something from it.

Status: Ooops. I forgot I made this promise. Broken.

33) Speaking of FFXIV: This year, I’ll obtain every in-game orchestrion roll. I’m already 80% of the way there.

Status: Broken. See, the issue with this promise is that they keep adding MORE orchestrion rolls... Not sure what I was thinking lol.

34) Get a new rose bush for the front of the Texas house and keep it alive.

Status: I did not do this. Broken.

35) Get King’s prescriptions moved to the closer vet so I don’t have to keep driving two hours away each month to get his medicine.

Status: Kept, in a sense. I was able to move his medicine over to the new vet, but unfortunately, there didn’t end up being any point to it. At the end of January in 2022, he was diagnosed with throat cancer. He lived until April 2022 and then passed away. My beloved boy...

36) Buy the Noragami volumes I am missing from my collection and do a full re-read of the series so that I can write meta about it again. Right now it just feels like there are so many things I can’t properly remember…

Status: Broken. I still greatly want to do this, but at this point, I’m kind of just waiting for the end of the manga so that I can officially catch up and re-read it from start to finish.

37) Go to Zion National Park with Derby.

Status: Kept. We hiked so much.

38) Go horseback riding on the island. I’ve never ridden on a beach before!

Status: Broken. I did not do this, RIP.

39) Eat healthier. Maybe cutting out snacks is too much to ask, but at least replace some average meals with salads, etc. and overall make an effort to actually eat better. Sometimes the fact that I feel garbage is my own fault.

Status: Mostly broken. The stress was so real this year.

40) Related to feeling like garbage: NO MORE WORKING AFTER 9PM. If it’s a real emergency, okay, but otherwise, it is time to set a boundary about working from home after hours.

Status: Broken. I must have been on crack when I made this promise, because honestly there is no way I could possibly have done the job I have without working to midnight many nights of the year... Someone save me...

41) Get a new office chair, an actual nice one, and some plastic to go under the chair to make it easier to move around.

Status: Broken. I... probably should have remembered to check in on the promises more than a few times this year because I also totally forgot this one.

42) Finish decorating the main office. I’ll feel better if my workplace reflects the level of professionalism and school spirit that I envisioned it having this year.

Status: Broken. I know exactly what I want to do with the rest of the office that isn’t decorated, I just never got around to it. T_T

43) Ensure our department successfully meets all its IEP goals this year.

Status: Kept! We were the first department to confirm completion of all goals!

44) Try to be more comprehensive with giving feedback to students. I’m always good at providing detailed comments on essays, but I’d like to spend more time commenting on smaller assignments too this year.

Status: Broken. I was trying in Spring 2022, but in fall, I was double over-loaded on courses on top of all the administrative work I had and could barely keep up grading at all, let alone give more feedback.

45) Write an FFXIV fic. Even if it’s just a one-shot, write something for this series. I need to express my love…

Status: Kept! I wrote a whole bunch for #FFXIVWrites and even received an art prize for participating! <3

46) Be more proactive about the cleaning. No more accidentally forgetting to take the trash can out to the curb. At least once a month do a full dust and vacuum of the house, not just the one room I spend the most time in (my office lol).

Status: Surprisingly, kept. I don’t really know why, but my house was somehow much cleaner in the latter half of this year. Did I unlock the secret stress cleaning routine?

47) Participate in NaNoWriMo. Even if I don’t finish, just participating again will feel great.

Status: Broken. There was zero chance I could have done this while overloaded on courses.

48) Get a screen door put on the side door of the Texas house. This really needs to happen and I can’t believe I just remembered.

Status: Broken, although not for lack of trying. I did actually have someone come to try to measure for a screen door, but it turns out the door is not a standard size and it would be way too much money to get a custom screen door made.

49) Don’t forget anyone’s birthday or any other holidays this year. (I forgot a close friend’s birthday last year due to being stressed with work and I’m still upset with myself over it.)

Status: Mostly kept. I did better this year--not perfect, but better!

50) I will keep my promises!

Status: OOF. Mostly broken promises this year. 2022 was another hard one. I’m on the struggle buss.

Kept: 16

Somewhat kept/somewhat broken: 3

Broken: 31

Good luck, 2023′s Echo!

[sparklingpax]

The Art of Cooking, or...Not Knowing How

A/N:

-Based on my HC that Ginrai can't cook, has no experience since he never had the time to learn, and every time he tries it goes very wrong. On the other side, Hawk is a great cook, and usually ends up cooking for the base when no one else can. Shush, I like this headcanon ok--

-by this point theyre pretty much a couple :3 or at least, openly physically affectionate towards one another ^^

-oo yes also, set in canon, (hence the tags) but tbh, many of my HCs for canon versions of the characters carry into my Reverie stuff so...this exact thing could definitely happen in that universe loll ✨

-shoutout to anyone who has listened to me ramble about this exact scenario before because not only did you endure that bs but now you get a whole elaborate fanfic about it so....holy shit im so sorry jsdjsiskjsd 💀😳

-omg dont hate cloudburst btw I didn't know how to write this to make him look less bad but I swear hes not a bad person and none of the others are either they just. are used to letting Hawk do most of their paperwork for them & also the other three pretenders (not Hawk) have sort of, day jobs? So they are pretty busy....

-literally y'all I'm so sorry this exists, I blame the early morning hours of yesterday and a single cup of coffee this morning getting me from start to finish of this thing in record time. and my own inability to cook fueling this idea in the first place lmaooo I hope it's at least...somewhat enjoyable....so without further ado, here I go again with self-indulgent ginhawk content o///o''

-bruh it's been an actual age since I've written & finished a real fic-type thing...😳😳 again like, I'm praying I didn't miss anything in my grammar/typo checking 😅

-i sincerely hope you enjoy :]

///

“But—but I can cook!”

“You…can cook?”

“Yeah!”

“You can…cook?” Hawk repeated, as if this was impossible to believe.

“I—yeah? Well, I'm not all good at it, but it's food, right? It's edible…” Hawk raised an eyebrow at this as Ginrai pursed his lips and looked away, flushing slightly.

Suddenly, the kitchen seemed to fill again with the distinctive smell of burning chicken.

The image of large, misshapen chunks of it rather…creatively charred to ashy black and stuck to a Teflon pan.

Ginrai waving the smoke frantically, and then grabbing his cup of drinking water splashing it over the smoky meat, rendering it more inedible than it had already been….it was an amusing, yet depressing sight.

Hawk also recalled the price of the new pan he’d gone and ordered online an hour after.

He wasn’t joking when he told me it was dangerous to leave him alone in the kitchen. Was he aware it was burning before the smoke started up?

“Ok, ok…so I’m no world-famous chef...” Ginrai admitted hotly. He started to play with a stray fork from the newly-cleaned load.

Hawk stifled laughter and shook his head wordlessly.  Ducking below the counter to organize the lids of pots and pans, his lips played at a smile.  

“Yeah, that poor pan might have to agree with you—”

“But I would....like to…try again. Maybe, with some guidance this time,” he added more quietly.

“So that you don’t burn the food?”

“Pretty much,” Ginrai agreed, watching Hawk turn on the sink, continuing to unload the dishwasher.

Absentmindedly, he let his eyes follow the trail of water as it ran from the faucet next to him, freely touching on the items piled in the sink. From the upside-down bowl, down the slim, blue plates, pooling in another bowl, or heading further down to fill an empty red container….

“And…would you be aiming for somewhat of an edible meal this time around?” Hawk asked innocently.

“'Somewhat'—”

A sparkle flashed in the trucker’s gaze, and he reached forward to flick the running water at Hawk, who ducked to the side.  The water hit him anyway, but he didn’t mind.

Meanwhile, Ginrai attempted to defend himself.

Hawk began loading the dishes now.

“In my defense, I’ve only made chicken twice in my life, and that fiasco last week doesn’t count!!”

“Well, neither do the other two times, since those were microwaveable chicken dinners—”

“Shut up!”

But they were both laughing.

Hawk got to thinking all the same.

As it was, there weren’t many people left in HQ at the moment, and fewer who could actually cook. Ordering out was not an option since their budget for the month declared they were already $126 over that spending limit.

So, all that considered, the duty of cooking fell upon Hawk once again.

Well…I have paperwork to start on, but as long as nothing else comes up, cooking shouldn't be a problem.

A quick knock on the side of the kitchen’s entrance grabbed the attention of the pair, and they looked up to see Cloudburst standing on the wooden threshold, holding some papers.

Ginrai had no idea what they were, but from the look on Hawk’s face, one could guess he did.

“Oh—hey, Clouds,” Ginrai waved, grinning.

The man waved back a little sheepishly. It didn’t look like he was here to hang around for fun.

He quickly looked to Hawk, and before he could say anything, the Pretender commander straightened and closed the dishwasher, entering the settings for the load.  

“You…need those investigative patrol reports done, I presume?” He asked, not looking up. As the machine whirred into action, he moved to the sink and started to clean it.

The silence that followed seemed to suffice for an answer. 

And suddenly, Ginrai noticed, Hawk looked tired. Very tired.

After all, Ginrai remembered, it was Hawk who ended up doing most of the paperwork associated with their team. He was supposed to review them, too…

“I take it you forgot to do these, and they’re part of what’s due tomorrow?”

Cloudburst was beginning to look a little embarrassed, and he started to play with the edges of the papers for a moment before stepping into the kitchen and setting them down on the marbled counter.

Finally, he spoke.

“I—well, yes. And I was going to do them tonight, but my office called and, um, they’ve sort of—they’ve got a lot of guys out. Naturally, there need to be people at the desks doing stuff, but also someone to sit watch on the communications station, and I don’t know if my boss would be too happy to have me call in to let him know I can’t…go either…”

Cloudburst broke off abruptly as he watched Hawk slipped his apron off and turned to face him, a polite look tying his features to a mild, calm expression. He leaned over and rifled through the papers for a moment, then spoke again.

“Don’t worry about it, go and do your job.”  

“R-really? And…you’re ok with it?”

Hawk nodded. “This kind of thing can’t be helped.”

Ginrai made a slight face. He wasn't so sure about that one.

“I’m just glad you told me now rather than five hours from now. Remember to let me know immediately if anything important comes through the communications room tonight.”

Cloudburst smiled, saluted. “Yes, sir!”

He then gave a ‘goodbye’ nod to Ginrai, and quickly left the room.

Just a little curious, Ginrai leaned over the counter to take a look at the papers himself, then winced at the sight of nearly-illegible text scrawled in different places on the page, in different shapes, shorthand—

So….this is what they look like before they’re done. This is what he’s got to work with.

The young Autobot commander started to feel bad about the fact that clearly, he’d never even done the record-keeping part of reports, let alone the actual filing of them. In his opinion, they were a little pointless, but that didn’t mean someone wouldn’t get stuck with them anyway.

Yes, it technically wasn’t his duty as the leader of the team, but…he still felt guilty.

It looked like a lot of work, after all.

Hawk really did a lot for the team, Ginrai was always fully aware, just…he wondered if anyone else seemed to realize that. Like, really realize.

If they did, maybe they’d be more careful about their own paperwork stuff, instead of dumping it on Hawk all the time, who’s too nice to say no.

Next to him, Hawk was already starting to read the papers over. Ginrai vaguely recalled the list of projects the man was already swamped with, and came to a new resolve.

Ok, next team meeting, I’ll ask them all to start doing their own reports. I am their leader now, I can do that sort of thing.

Feeling good about this, he put an arm around Hawk, leaning over and giving him a soft kiss on his head. With a soft exhale, Hawk seemed to accept the gesture, letting his weight fall more limply on Ginrai. The smile on his features was a tired one, but it read of soft gratitude.

Neither said a word for a few heartbeats, letting the silence embrace them. No one needed to say anything, no one wanted to.

Outside, the autumn sky had begun to darken, making it seem much further into the night than it likely was. It was as if there was not a living soul in that base save for them.

Then, Hawk shifted and Ginrai stepped to the side to let him stretch.

“Do you need me to do anything?” He offered. The grin from earlier seemed to return.

“Well, Supreme Commander,” Hawk said, giving him a decidedly more sultry look.

“Well, my lovely subordinate?” Ginrai prompted, blushing lightly. 

“I’m going to need some help getting dinner done if I want to have time to file those reports before the deadline…”

Ginrai’s eyes sparkled. He knew where this was going.

“…you said you wanted to try cooking again?”

“Hell yeah!”

///

“Alright, now that we have our water…” Hawk motioned to the pot sitting in the sink, then the stove. “It’s got to heat up.”

Ginrai nodded, still rubbing his newly bandaged hand.

Minutes ago, the two had thought to prepare the vegetables going into the pasta before starting on anything else, just to get it out of the way.

Hawk had begun cutting things up while Ginrai watched, then after a few minutes, handed Ginrai the knife to give him a go at it.

Not a minute went by before the man decided to speed up the cutting pace, drop the knife, and well…the band-aid could speak for itself.

It was quickly decided that Hawk would handle all the other parts of this dish, and Ginrai would be on the pasta, and only the pasta.

What could go wrong there, after all?

“Um…you wanted the fire on high?”

“Yes.”

“So, I turn the knob this way?”

“Other way.”

“Oh, yes, right.”

“Alright."

Hawk quickly added, a little nervously, “And please, try not to burn yourself.”

Ginrai gave a thumbs up, then moved to operate the stove. He frowned at its lack of fire after turning the knob. After a moment or two of trying, he looked to Hawk again. He’d forgotten to push the knob inwards to get the fire going, but clearly wasn’t aware of that.

“Is…is this thing on?”

Hawk fought the urge to start laughing. It would be light-hearted, but he didn’t want to hurt Ginrai’s feelings, so he bit his tongue instead.

He must not be joking when he says everything he eats is store-bought and microwaved. 

What made this especially funny was how he did this wearing an apron Hawk remembered receiving as a Christmas gift from Waverider.

The front side read “Master Chef, Move Along” in English, written with big, red letters.

The irony of it was almost too much for Hawk. However, he composed himself and walked over to the stove.

“Push it first, hold,” as he did this, a rhythmic crackling noise sprang from the stove, “and then, you’ve got a fire. So now, turn it where you need.” He stepped back and watched as Ginrai tentatively held the knob, then nodded to himself.

“Alright, fire on high, here we come,” he murmured.  And with a gentle twist, the fire popped up under the smoky grates at what seemed to be the ‘high’ setting.

At last, they were getting somewhere!

A half hour had gone by, but perhaps the next one would make up for the lost time. And, thankfully, Ginrai hadn’t burnt himself on anything—or burnt anything—yet. The pot was carefully placed atop the fire with no troubles.

Now, it was time to for Hawk to focus on finishing the rest of the meal. Dumping the tomatoes into the bowl and beginning to crush them, Hawk called to Ginrai to add the pasta to the water if it seemed to be boiling.

“And…how do I tell it’s boiling?”

“Bubbles,” Hawk responded more quietly, seeming very focused on smashing the tomatoes in his bowl.  

“Got it!”

The trucker glanced at the pot and saw a couple bubbles. Two, he counted, probably from when he’d filled the pot with water.

Did he mean a lot of bubbles or a little?

Guess there was only one way to know.

He then looked to the unopened box of pasta lying near the edge of the counter. Quickly, Ginrai opened it and plopped it into the water, jumping back as it splashed out a little.

From where he was standing, Hawk called out to him.

“Could you grab the two bowls near the window? The water will need some salt, and this paste will need some flavoring.”

“Roger!”

Hawk thought about going to check the bowls, but his present task seemed to have all his concentration. He only hoped Ginrai knew the difference between the two ingredients.

And once again, Ginrai proved he could not be left to do anything alone in the kitchen.

He played a short game of eeny, meeny, miny, moe to decide on which bowl was going to the pasta, and which was going to Hawk. Then, feeling satisfied with his decision, he flipped one of the small bowls upside down, dumping the entirety of its contents into the pasta.

No, he had no idea which was salt, and which was the flavoring. He'd instead opted to hope it was salt he’d just added to the pasta.

As the water started to bubble more vigorously, the trucker stood and stared at it, thinking.

Huh. I didn’t know you put that much salt in pasta. Maybe that’s why they say it’s bad for your cholesterol or…something.

“Hey, before you bring the flavoring here, you might want to make sure the pasta fits the pot! It’ll be easier to work with if its been cut down to fit.” Hawk called over again, seeming to still be working on the tomato paste.

Ohh…well, that makes sense. How do I get that out of the pot to cut it, though?

Ginrai tapped his chin in thought, still staring at the murky, white water as it bubbled—viciously, now—and the pasta as it started to bounce and move.

I wonder if—

He reached in to pick up the pasta with his bare hands, then snapped back, hissing in quiet pain.

Obviously, it was hot by this point, and so it had burned him. But what really hurt was when the heat felt like it had seared through his band-aid and touched his cut from earlier.

Was cooking supposed to be this painful?

Calm down, you're just resizing it.

He exhaled slowly and carefully putting the pasta back in the pot so he could contemplate plan B.

Which was…well........those scissors near the knives looked pretty good.

Because maybe, he didn’t even need to take the pasta out of the pot?

Shaking out a hand to get rid of the burning sensation, he reached over with the other to take the scissors, and without a second thought, began to cut the tops of the noodles so they didn’t stick out so much.

“When you’re ready, I need that flavoring!”

Ginrai nodded and dropped the scissors on the counter, grabbing the unused bowl and heading to where Hawk was working.

He didn’t quite notice all the extra pieces of cut pasta had rolled all over the floor, the counter, and…into the grates below the pot. Right next to the fire.

“Here you are,” Ginrai said, grinning, brandishing the bowl and getting ready to pour it in. Hawk looked up to thank him, and was glad he did.

“Oh, that’s the salt, what I need for this should be in the blue one. Though, you can add some salt if we need it.”

Ginrai felt the heat rise to his face.

Oh no.

Hawk tilted his head at him, looking a little concerned.

“Did you put the flavoring in the pasta?”

Meekly, Ginrai nodded. He was sure his face was red by now. But Hawk just smiled.

“That’s alright. Pasta can have flavoring of its own,” he resumed stirring the tomatoes as he continued. “But I’ll need both for this, then. Just add as much of the salt in here as what you put in the pot over there, okay? Hold on, I need something from the fridge.”

It’s…okay. Alright. Ok.

As Hawk put the bowl down and headed for the fridge, Ginrai swallowed, staring at the salt sitting on the counter.

He was no cook, but…he wasn’t sure there should be that much salt added to tomato sauce?

But Hawk is a cook, maybe he has his own reasons. He said same as with the pot.

So, Ginrai lifted the bowl, and turned it upside down, same as before. Then, seeing nothing else to do, he started to mix.

Meanwhile, Hawk returned, but didn’t say anything for a moment as he noticed the empty bowl of salt. For a moment, he stood there, visibly piecing together a couple things.

Then it seemed to hit him all at once as he slowly looked from the bowl to Ginrai, eyes wide.

“Um. When I said 'the same as the pot'…”

“…yes?” Ginrai slowly stopped mixing and put the bowl down. He heard the slight uneasiness in Hawk's voice.

“Exactly...how much did you put in the pot?”

“Er….all of it?” He answered slowly.

“I see…so, I assume…there’s no more of the flavoring?”

“Um...and…no more salt, either,” Ginrai finished his train of thought for him.

"I...see...."

Ginrai touched the back of his head awkwardly, feeling the heat return to his cheeks.

Hawk stared at the bowl again, trying to figure out how to salvage this.

Perhaps if we start over, and I handle the pasta. He could crush up the tomatoes.

“Um, Hawk.”

But first there would have to be—

"Hawk."

Ginrai poked him timidly. Finally, he looked up, then followed his gaze to the other side of the kitchen. And promptly regretted taking those extra seconds of thought.

Oh, Primus, please tell me I’m hallucinating.

The deity seemed to answer through the pasta itself.

From under the grate, there was a violent crackling noise and a pop of light. And just as suddenly, smoke started to rise from the floor, the counter, under the grate.

All the while, the milky-white water in the pot seethed with bubbly rage, beginning to overflow and spill over, jostling the uneven pieces of pasta sticking out with such force that a few fell to the floor.

“It's burning!” Ginrai exclaimed, audibly starting to panic. Hawk blinked at it, somewhat amazed at the spectacle.

Yes, it was. It was definitely burning.

“Is—is it supposed to do that?”

No, it wasn’t.

Without responding, Hawk darted towards the stove and reached out to turn it off, but pulled back sharply with an utterance of pain.

The fire had burned him.

Judging by the pieces of pasta everywhere, he must have…literally cut the pasta off to resize it.

After a second try, he was able to switch the stove's fire off, and the two of them quickly stamped out the little flames started on all the pieces of burning pasta.

Then, Hawk ran over to the pantry to get the oven mitts, so he could get the pot into the sink.

But the smoke hazing their visions wasn’t hanging around for decoration. And Hawk realized that a little too late.

He looked over from the sink to see Ginrai carrying the bowl of tomato paste to the garbage and called to him.

“Um—Ginrai, my hands are full, could you open the window so the smoke doesn’t set off the—”

Before he could finish, the piercing, high-pitched sound of their fire alarm went off, startling Ginrai enough that he dropped the bowl he was holding. With yet another loud noise, the ceramic shattered, and the tomato paste went all over the floor.

But, rather than worry about that, he knew Hawk had been trying to ask him for something.

“The what?!”

“The window! Please!” He repeated, his voice rising.

"Open it?"

"Yes!!!"

The window was opened. And thankfully, the noise stopped after a couple beats.

Quietly, the two watched as smoke drifted out of the kitchen and into the night air. Then, they began to clean in silence.

Hawk began to think.

Pasta had been, in his opinion, the easiest option for a guided intro to cooking next to a literal salad, but at this point, he wasn’t even sure if that salad would have been a good idea.

“Hey, um…"

Ginrai’s tentative tone caused Hawk to stop what he was doing and he turned to see the 19-year-old fiddling with the cleaning rag, standing by the counter.

“I feel like an apology isn’t gonna cut it here, but…I wanted to apologize anyway…” he continued, looking to the floor, ashamed.

He was still wearing the apron with words that created such irony to the whole situation that Hawk couldn’t help but smile a little.

“I’m really, really—”

“It’s alright, Ginrai,” Hawk responded, setting the clumps of rubbery pasta back down in the pot and walking over to him.

He looked quite surprised, so Hawk elaborated. “We’re good at different things, and you tried here tonight. Plus, with practice, you’ll get it right someday.”

He then placed a hand on Ginrai’s arm, and squeezed lightly.

The young commander gave a flustered smile and blushed again.

"Well....at the very least, I'm glad we got to spend some time together, you know?" he murmured, still smiling.

“Absolutely. I’ve got a long night of paperwork ahead of me, which I’m dreading, so this was nice. As chaotic as it was, you know I’m glad for the time we spend like this…not fighting battles with Decepticons, not sitting through conferences for battle plans and upgrades…I’m...really happy right now, Ginrai…”

He hugged Ginrai suddenly, trailing off. And after a moment, Ginrai smiled and hugged him back.

“I’ll ask more questions next time,” he murmured.

“I’ll be clearer as well. I was at fault here, too.”

"No way..."

"I was. So don't be too harsh on yourself for it."

“I love you,” Ginrai whispered finally, squeezing Hawk lightly.

“I love you, too…”

And I’m glad both of us come away with only mild cuts and burns, nothing more.

After a period of silent affection, Hawk drew back gently and gave a slight smirk.

“I’ll always love you,” he repeated, “even if you can’t cook to save your life.”

And they started laughing again.

Standing in a messy kitchen with the window open and wearing aprons that read silly things in English. Hawk, with a small burn on his hand, and Ginrai with bandages on his.

The pair laughed about the whole fiasco.

Sure, they’d go into something like $200 over their “ordering food” spending limit after tonight. If there was nothing left to eat from their cooking attempt, then ordering was their only Plan B.

But…tonight was a night to remember, like many others.

And, Hawk would be going into yet another paperwork session feeling less stressed than before.

For that, he was also glad.           

Who knew the good that could be accomplished by, well, setting pasta on fire?

///

[pbandjesse]

Happy New Year's Eve! It was very grey today but I don't think that ruin the ringing in of the new year. Honestly all the fog today in made me think back to when we worked at ships and how loud the parrot riffle was on foggy days. I hope the fireworks tonight are extra loud.

It was kind of a sleepy day for me. I have a little bit of anxiety right now on my stomach. But it's not for any real reason. I think I am just tired and a little stressed out. That is alright.

I had a good day. I slept okay last night. I was sad when James decided to try to sleep on the couch for a while and I missed them. I went out and kissed their head before I came to bed and fell asleep myself. It was a good sleep. Even if it was lonely.

I gave James a hug in the morning when they woke me up to say goodbye. They would take a scooter to work today so I could have the car. Very kind of them. It was the first time they've taken a scooter since the accident so I think that it was also nice for them.

I woke up at 9 and was in a pretty good mood. All I wanted to do this morning was finish my blanket. And man am I proud. It took a while to finish those last three rows but it was worth it.

I did my last temperature and that only took about 15 minutes, and then one black line, which took another 15 or so. The part that took forever was casting off the loom and then whip stitching the entire edge down. This took an hour and change. I was nervous the whole time. Like it was a tangible finishing of this project. Like yes I'll still have to weave in ends and some small finishing details. But it's of the loom! It's a useable blanket!! Watching it slowly come off the loom was so weird!!

Right before I finished that last few minutes of whip stitches Mr Will knocked on the door to ask a question. And I brought him in to show him the blanket. I stood on the coffee table to hold it up. He asked if I was going to sell it and when I told him how much it would cost (materials plus paying myself $15 an hour, it would cost at minimum $3500) he was a little shocked. Still he encouraged me to make smaller ones to sell. I'll consider it. I was just to excited to be done this project. Even if it's just for me!!

I finished the last bit of stitching and got my shoes on. Because I can't just sit and enjoy the end of this project, I have to plan the next. And it was time to go to get more yarn for next year project.

It was way foggier out then I realized. Thankfully there weren't many people on the roads. And I had a nice, slow, drive to joann's.

It was sort of raining at this point. I was glad to be inside.

I thought I was going to go with this fleece yarn I really liked but they didn't have a good color range. I knew I didn't want to go with the bulky yarn but I like the brand so I stuck around there. I had fun looking in all of the aisles but I ended up really liking the velvet yarn. I chose 6 and would put them back and make one more lap before deciding on them for sure. And while this precipitation blanket is going to be a little more confusing, I think it's going to be beautiful at the end and very different from this years. I'm excited.

And everything was on sale. So it was like $40 less then I had budgeted in my head. Amazing.

I paid and left and decided to go to the thrift store. I did not buy anything and honestly there were to many people but I had fun looking around. The only thing I really want right now is a small shelving unit but I did not find that. Ah well.

I at least enjoyed walking around the store. And listening to my podcast.

Since I was out there I decided to go to taco bell. Where I ordered and waited more then 10 minutes before I asked and they were like oh we weren't paying attention. And made my food. Made me a little sad to be forgotten but the food was good. I ate in the car and then headed home.

When I got back here I ran the dishwasher and made a chart for what each color yarn will be. And chilled with Sweetp for a few minutes. I decided I want to make a bunch of squares with the leftover yarn from this years blanket. So I started working on that. I want to improve my crochet. I know I learned to do it a weird way but I practiced for a few minutes and got my tension better and started making squares. Now I have 7 whole squares done! Amazing. And still so much yarn to use.

I had some cereal and then went to pick James up from work. It was still very foggy. Lots of accidents out there in the world.

And when I got to the museum Stanley was closing the gate!! He told me to come in the exit and I felt like a rule breaker! But I said happy new year to him and waited for James.

We had to close the gate behind us. So James got out and I drove across the street to wait for them.

We went over to the grocery store next. Where I made James double over when I told them I forget to turn the car off sometimes when I get out and we were just laughing and being silly.

We got the few little things we needed. Milk and ice cream for milkshakes, we were going to get ricotta cheese but they were all out! Thankfully we had some at home. We also got sparkling cider to celebrate tonight.

We drove home and I got back in bed to work on my squares. And James laid with me while they edited their podcast. They made manicotti for me and pasta for themselves. We had dinner in bed. And I kept working on my squares.

At 7 James biked in the living room. I took a shower. And once we were both clean James made me a milkshake and we built some Legos together. I love them so much.

Now I am resting in bed while James plays Mario Cart with their friends. It was a really good day. And a really good year. I got to marry the best person I've ever met. I had more opportunities and love and just felt really happy. There were a lot of hard times. But I was happy.

Tomorrow is 2023!!! If it already is for you I hope the future is bright. Goodnight everyone. Until next year!!

[xoxo-bunnydumpling]

Moses and I laid out in the sun today, in the grass on a blanket, and watched the cat chase flies. I don't get to spend much time alone with Moses, and as much as I miss Eli, I'm glad we have this weekend together.

It's hot as balls but I don't mind at all that he's laying between my legs, his face pressed against my stomach and oddly...despite my weird relationship with my own body, I also don't mind when he pulls my shirt up a bit and noses the not-at-all toned flesh underneath.

"You're just my soft little Bunny aren't you?"

I have to raise up on my elbows and look at him. Really take a good look at him...this delightful person that says things like that to me, in a way that men never did before...not a trace of sexual intent, only fondness. This person that I'm still just shocked that I know at all. This person who would love me however I happened to fit into his life and has promised me this.

"Speaking of bunnies, can I see how the tattoo is doing?" He does not hesitate at all to sit up and shed his shirt. Every time I get a glimpse of it, I go a little wibbly.

"It's healed enough to touch now..."

So I trace the lines of it, a bunny in a heart...sunflowers at her fluffy little feet, serenely eating a leaf, her eyes upturned and the same color as mine. It's massive, and very detailed, and I think of how he sat hunched over for hours in order to have this representation of me painfully etched into his skin. How I'll be there forever now.

"Do you still like it?" He turns his head to look at me out of the corner of his eye, and I can't quite think of the right words to cover how I feel about this, about him, so I dip my head down and kiss the tattoo instead...snaking my arms around him to squeeze him.

"I love you too, baby." Another promise.

He makes dinner later, and I have to laugh at how we all seem to have a reliance on beets. It's become the go-to meatless meal headliner of choice. He says that Eli's vibes are so powerful, he's turning us all Slavic, and reminds me that we'd pickled these, last time we had a few days to ourselves...a highly romantic venture if you ask a chef.

"Um...so...racial question?" I just nod at him. We can talk about literally anything and everything at this point but it's still nice he eases into it.

"Why do white folks like homesteader shit now? Canning, growing, all that. I believe my people tried to get you turned on to that before..."

"Yeah, that's what we stole your land for."

Y'all. It's not funny. I know that. My 1/16th Creek does not entitle me to make that joke but my god did it just fly out of my mouth. I'm cursing my need to joke about literally everything when I find him with his head in his hands, laughing his ass off.

"For fuck's sake, you better drum up a Cherokee great grandma real quick before I call in a hate crime."

I take a peek at him and he is legitimately unbothered...just like I have not been when he has called me a colonizer for seemingly any reason at all, depending on how cheeky he's feeling any given day...or told me "my aunties warned me about snagging white girls." I wonder what anyone else would have to say about the shit we say to each other, how we joke. Eli finds us to be occasionally atrocious but he is very buttoned up.

"Creek, actually, but she WAS a princess so..."

He wipes his eyes, and leans over to kiss me.

"While we're being racist I think I should tell you that I plan to tomahawk chop some white girl ass tonight."

And he gets up to take our plates to the kitchen and load the dishwasher, leaving me to wonder just what in the actual fuck that means.

[crucifixes-and-chrysanthemums]

Dream journal, prior dreams to 10/11/23.

7/29/23

Dreamt I was at this big party at Nan and pap's but not their real house. Anyway a bunch of people I didn't know were there including some people for OpChan. The pary is fun and eventually most people go home so I'm still there cleaning up. I find Hendrix has bitten one of his claws off so I take him inside and get some paper towel cleaning off the blood and tell him to relax. Eventually as I'm walking around outside one guy I overhear is waiting for his wife to bring something. He's really upset so I give him a $2 bill from my wallet. He gives me a hug and says thanks, then I head a burning noise and he's beating up heroine on my shoulder to snort. For a second I'm shocked just that it's happening and he tells me it's cool and relax he just needs a bump. I pull back and get just enough space to wind up and punch him right in the face as hard as I can manage. Then Biff, who physically resembles a professional wrestler, flattens him. Fin.

8/3/23

Dreamt I was back in school. For some reason my sister was in the same class. It was laid out weird with students facing each other. Anyway the teacher was just walking around the room because class hadn't started yet. Someone said something about my sister's jacket, then another person pulled one of those one piece motorcycle suits out of the closet and I was thinking how much I'd like one. We all had big travel mugs (all without lids for some reason) full of pop - mine was Coca Cola.

8/5/23

I'm going through this big massive and I mean huge hospital that's also a theme park. I was there as a patient or something when I tan into Logan. He was also being discharged so we hung out. We eventually start walking around and we've gotta get past this big roller coaster. We think of just walking along the tracks but there's a section where they bend and we realize we couldn't get past that pet so we get down and go under. I realize that a bunch of people are losing their phones off the coaster and joke that you could make a decent living scrounging cell phones from here and re selling them. As I crawl around I find an Alton helmet and a Makarov too. Soon after logan walks away and I'm standing down the room as a black guy (looked like zeb c from work but wasn't him in the dream) comes around the corner. He asks me soemtning and pulls a gun and I return fire. We miss all our shots so I close knowing I've only got the one mag. I fire five shots point blank, all of which bounce off him (I knew this was a thing that could happen for some reason, like I was in a video game). I start running when he pulls an electric corded drill that's plugged into nothing but still works. I put on my Alton helmet and start running when I see an unloaded SKS. I grab it as I run and turn around and stick him with the bayonet but he's still coming. I get under a section of rollercoaster and use it like a wall as he keeps coming after me and I stab at him from under it. He produces an axe or machete and I dodge his swings as I keep stabbing. I'm yelling for Logan but he's long gone just walked away. Prior to this I was making some chicken sandwiches at home but home was sort of circular - like the rooms were all in a line around something. Like the outside of a spinning top toy. The fighting part was very tarkov like I guess?

8/20/23

awoke from a nightmare in the first time in I can't remember when. I was working at some fast food joint. I was helping in the dishwashing for some reason or something like that when some people arrived. One of them, a woman, kept making weird comments like she was gonna do something bad to me. Eventually she does that thing cops do where they put like one arm behind your back and keeps firmly telling me to "mix with the floor" while she's trying to push me down to make me part of the floor. Woke up with an actual "aah!" Prior in this dream I saw a friend I hadn't seen in a while (he moved).

8/22/23

Last night I dreamt that I was talking with some people (I can't remember where - I think it was a classroom) and I said that most people shouldn't climb Mount Everest, and that because it's such an exceptional mountain, only the most exceptional of climbers can climb it, and that's why the only people who've climbed Mount Everest that anyone should bother talking about are people who did it without oxygen tanks.

8/28/23

I was in some sort of steppe town or something. It's sort of segued from another dream which is important to know. I was me but my family wasn't my irl family, and the family I was visiting were some sort of semi distant relation (I'll say cousij for the sake of brevity). Anyway, I'm told that my little cousin is being bullied really badly by these other kids, and the family are sort of known assholes. The village is really hill-y, almost like something out of mount and blade. So I'm walking up the steps to assholes' house and the family patriarch is this guy I know named Art. I tell him very nicely because art is a nice guy that his grandkids need to be nicer and he throws his hands up and says "oh great just kill me now, they're so damn dramatic just talk to them yourself" so I say okay. My cousins' bullies are all like ten years old but they're little fucking shithead half breeds. Im with my baby cousin telling her to fight this one kid giving her trouble. She won't because there's like four of them. So I'm somehow now upstairs in these people's house and I'm talking to them. I'm there by myself, my cousin is back out in the car. I pulled out my carry gun and dropped the mag, cleared the chamber and held one in my hand and said "This is a 115 grain hornady critical defense hollow point. That means when I shoot you for fucking with my cousin more, this little thing makes a fist sized hole in your mongrel nigger body (these people all looked vaguely Asian so I don't know why I called them niggers). I would really prefer if we could solve this all peacefully. We don't have to love each other but I don't want to have to kill you." So the little shit kids sorta grumble and leave and one of them who's sorta their leader I guess gets all shucking and jiving and pulls out a weird ass pistol magazine but no gun and then leaves. I immediately interpret this as a threat. I go downstairs, recalling I have an AUG in the car which is a lot hotter than a handgun. As I get Downstairs I run into my irl friend Dalton who's just like, coming into town or something (I think the bully family lived in the Inn or something idk). Thankfully Dalton is based and I tell him I may be in deep shit, "might have to kill a motherfucker today," and need him to watch and cover me while I get to my car. Just have him watch and be looking for trouble, not actually drawn and firing the whole time. He goes fuck yeah dude anything you need and I say thanks. So I take a deep breath and walk outside down the little hill and get into the back of the car (me and a couple family members were traveling together I guess). My AUG is right there in the back seat so I somehow roll the back window down, tell them to drive now, and watch out the back window with the rifle as we drive away. I vaguely recall how I got the AUG. in the dream before this, I was in some sort of big war. It was weird because I knew it was video game like, but it felt like it was still important. Like we respawned and everything but it was still real war idk. I had a basically bone stock AUG after trading a comfy-to-me decked out M4 for it (which is odd because I wouldn't do that). Then the game ended and I sorta got in my car and left and that's how I ended up visiting my cousins or whatever in the steppe town.

8/29/23

Dreamt I was spending some time with Katharina. She says we have to "have a hard conversation." Oh no. She then goes on to explain how every paycheck, we'll each put $50 of it into our savings accounts. Several minutes later I ask her "I don't mean to sound like an asshole but I'm not sure I understand how that counts as a difficult conversation; could you clarify for me?" And then I woke up.

9/4/23

Dreamt I was watching a pro wrestling pay per view with two friends both of whom are women. One who I could see a future with, Katharina, that would be very good and the other who's just hot, Adina. Katharina tells me she's gonna head out, aww but okay. Adina tells me we can get the PPV at her place and go back and watch it. Oh yippee. Start heading back to hers but to get there we have to go through this massively convoluted public transport thing. I'm talking like one of those weird ass paintings with upside down staircases. Also includes you know that brand lime? In my dream they own large spaces people need to get through so they create floors with sections that move in opposite directions and you pay to make them stop, but only for you somehow. I just ran over it and kept myself from falling. Some old lady told me I should've paid and I called her a cunt sucker (as in a cunt and a sucker). Got separated from Adina somehow but I figured we would just meet back up. All of a sudden Kat taps me on the shoulder and says hi, weird seein each other here still. Says she got turned around at one of the stations and finally got back on the right staircase or whatever it was. I'm telling you this public transport system was fucking nutty. I say let's walk together, we're going in the same direction for a while. She smiles and says sure, sounds nice. So we do and she says something about how it's so nice to see me again and I say likewise. We kiss out of nowhere as we walk and keep doing so. We make it to the next stairway (still going same direction) and walk by it and sit down at this little bench next to it and I sit down and she sorta stands in front of me but leans against me. We both start to cry and say we love each other. Kiss again. Then I woke up.

9/18/23

I was walking around some sort of big grocery store with James and Alex and someone else. The other person mr and James had shopping carts Alex was doing his own thing. I kept telling the other person to slow down. I finally gave her my cart since it had nothing in it and took hers which had stuff in it and moved my few things from her cart tto mine since I had a few things in her cart. I told her to slow down and I don't shop so fast. Then I can't remember what happened to the cart but I was running around this giant open air freezer action ice skating on my feet and saw Alex and said hey.

My sister had built a set out of foam cups and craft supplies. It was just her and the cats and me. We were playing dungeons and dragons but I didn't know. For some reason I smashed it once. She was very upset. The next day I was fighting with the cats about my behavior and I told them I would not be lectured to by a fucking cat. I sat down with my sister and smashed something again. This was because nobody had told me we were playing a game and I can't understate how much that fucked with me. She was even more upset this time and I couldn't find her to apologize. We were in some sort of temple and somehow playing that DND game was going to get us a scroll. One of the guys I was playin with said I didn't deserve to get the benefits of tnt a roll because of my behavior and I agreed. They were runes they taught us about elemental bending in them and I was sort of like the avatar I think. I didn't get the benefits of it and instead the camera zoomed out and I saw him give someone the tubes for death instead of earth.

9/30/23

I was walking through this sparse woods (low density of trees but still not a clearing or anything) to find my friends with an AK. I was just looking for them because we got separated but I wasn't anxious or anything. So I'm walking with the rifle slung with one hand on it just to keep it from banging into me as I walk and I get to a small ridge overlooking a valley. (The more I think about it, the more I think I actually know this place - it's a few mile hike behind my house.) So I get to the ridgeline and look down and my friends are just chilling in the valley sitting down maybe 70 yards away. Before I can call out this bear walking on two legs runs into the camp and starts trying to kill them. I lay prone and dump the rifle at the bear and kill it. Drop the mag and reload, scan for a second, and it's clear. Scoot down the ridge to my friends and despite the bear at one point having someone in its jaws swinging them around everyone is unharmed and super chill. Not denying it happened but like "yeah it's over so everything is cool now. "Oh and I found it weird how everyone was so chill, but I sorta figured "well yeah I suppose it is over with so no reason still being anxious about it"

10/3/23

First I'm out hiking with a friend. I'm standing a few steps up on the stairs to this fire tower almost with a ranger and my buddy Griff is walking a bit away. Suddenly this rabbis opossum looking thing comes up and starts trying to attack us. I look at the ranger and he's all sad but says I've gotta shoot it. I do and feel bad so I decide to bury it. Ranger says he doesn't have a shovel but there's a trowel somewhere so I walk his little campsite complete with garden and try to find it. Eventually I do right as Griff gets back.

Next thing I'm on some sort of military base with friends as a civilian. At one point there's this really nasty ruck sack, but like a framed one, that has a port in it that everyone is laughing at and smelling because it smells horrid. We're all hanging out in this almost loading dock type area having a good time with a woman loads up and smacks me across the face hard. I ask her what the fuck and she says we've all got to LEAVE! There's suddenly an alarm blaring and nobody has any idea what's going on. I turn back after a few steps to make sure I've got my CC but I don't find my keys. We're all separated in the exiting but brought back together outside the building. Nobody is told what's going on but a bunch of people exiting the building are wearing OD T shirts and multicam pants, some of whom it looks right on and others it doesn't, and issued weapons. Nobody I know is part of that group including some people I know either in the dream or in real life are good at that shit. So we're all sort of milling about trying to figure out what's going on when my friend Griff gets mad at being so bored and takes a stick and throws it. He's sort of a floor above me but it's this weird construction site type deal where there's a bunch of it as like, scaffolding. But the good metal scaffolding. So I look up and he's part of a chain of people. He asks if I know jiu jitsu, and I say only what I've seen on UFC so no I don't want to be a part of. Whatever is going on because I'll just hold people back being unable to hold my own. He goes nah don't worry it's not like that, we're just having some fun so I say fuck it sure why not. Next thing I know a bunch of us are standing on a big circle drawn on the ground. Were told that we each have to push one person out of the ring using whatever fighting style we want. Everyone is on their own and everyone starts at once and the round ends once half the players have been pushed out. First bell rings and I don't have a target at the beginning but nobody's going after me. I pick out one kid, middling thin Asian guy, and bull rush him, grab him by the waist in a bear hug, and basically just keep bull rushing him out of the ring. Easy peasy. Bell rings and that's the end of round one. Those of us who won return to the circle line for round two. The whole time there's this sense of... Dread. Like we're playing games in a death camp to pass the time, but not so certain. More of "what the fuck is going on we might as well find a game to play because nobody is going to tell us anything." I remember in the dream having this feeling of a bomb, and the date having something to do with 9/11 but not being 9/11 - maybe it was just "is this going to be another date like 9/11 that people just know". Anyway, right before the bell rang for round two, I woke up.

[abimess]

A last-minute Christmas and some other things

Zooey Kern x Reader

Summary: Zooey works a lot and you thought she wouldn't even spend Christmas with you. Turns out she would, and you had to bring your plans forward.

Warnings: none

Pronouns: none || Word count: 1.274

Two Zooey stories on the same day, because she deserves all the love in the world haha enjoy!

You do NOT have permission to repost or translate my work on any platforms (even with credit)

For this request I Christmas Special Masterlist I Masterlist | Library Blog

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This is not going to be your best Christmas. In fact, it was very likely to be the worst.

Your family is away on a cruise during the holiday, and your girlfriend Zooey, with whom you had planned to spend the date, will have to work during the weekend. You could've accepted the invitations of some of your close neighbors, but the truth is that without Zooey there, you didn't see much to celebrate.

You still remember when you met her three Christmases ago while volunteering at one of the nursing homes in your town, how her eyes sparkled when they met yours for the first time, how your heart beat faster at her presence.

You asked her out that very same day and she said yes to all the dates that followed.

But this Christmas she would be miles away, far away from you, and out of your reach. The fact that she is missing you as much as you are missing her should comfort you, but it doesn't. The only thing that can comfort you now is the presence of your girlfriend with you.

In the blonde's absence, you put on the most comfortable set of pajamas you can find in your closet and drag yourself into the living room. Throwing yourself on the couch with a heavy huff, you turn on the TV and try not to be a total Grinch while watching all the happy couples in the Christmas movies.

An hour or two after that, you hear the doorbell ring. Grumbling in irritation, you walk to the entrance hall of the house with lazy steps. When you open the door, however, your scowl falls apart.

"Zooey?!" You ask in shock, the sight of the blonde before you almost a mirage. "Merry Christmas." She says with a broad smile, and her voice is enough to prove to you that the image is indeed real.

You move forward toward her and Zooey giggles happily as you hug her tightly around the waist and spin her around, hugging you just as tightly around the neck. When you set her down again, the blonde takes no time to hold your face and plant a loving kiss on your mouth, you smiling against her lips.

"I brought a little something." She announces as the kiss ends, holding up a bag with your favorite wine inside, and you grin from ear to ear, still stunned by your girlfriend's presence there. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, it turns out that my patient's daughter decided to give him a Christmas surprise." She tells you as you enter the house and you close the door, giving her your full attention. "With the family there, they won't need my services. I'll have to come back tomorrow afternoon, though."

"That's okay, at least I'll get to spend Christmas with you." You say reassuringly to the blonde, and her apologetic smile turns to a grateful one soon after.

"How was the trip?" you ask as you pour the wine for the two of you, and Zooey hangs her coat by the door before joining you at the kitchen counter.

"Terrible, all I could think about was getting back to you." She says as she takes one of the glasses from your hand, and you smile fondly, pulling her around the waist and kissing her again.

The two of you then set the table for dinner. You didn't prepare much, it would only be you tonight after all. But it was enough for the two of you, and you talk while eating.

It's amazing how the mere presence of the blonde can make you so happy and alive, the melancholy of a few hours ago completely forgotten by you.

With the meal done and the dirty dishes properly placed in the dishwasher, you and Zooey snuggle in front of the fireplace, her arms around your waist as yours wrap around her under the blanket, your fingers caressing the soft skin of her arm.

"I missed you so much." The blonde confesses after a while, nuzzling her face into your neck and inhaling your scent, and you giggle as you tighten your arms around her. "Me too, my love."

Depositing a soft kiss on Zooey's forehead, you widen your eyes, an idea crossing your mind.

"I have something for you." You announce, and without giving the blonde time to respond, you stand up. "What is it?" she asks curiously, watching you run down the hall toward your shared room. "No peeking!"

Zooey chuckles softly as she waits for you to return. It doesn't take long for you to do so, you walking toward her with your hands behind your back and an expression of genuine anticipation on your face. She narrows her eyes at you. "You're acting weird."

"I am weird, I told you that when we first met, you chose to be my girlfriend because you wanted to." You retort as you sit down in front of her, and the blonde giggles, shaking her head reproachfully at your playfulness.

"And it was the best decision I ever made." She says, leaning forward and capturing your lips in a simple kiss. You smile, wishing she hadn't pulled away so quickly.

Looking at her, lost in the emerald eyes fixed on yours, in the perfect smile that ends on the blonde's naturally rosy cheeks, you think of all the words you could say right now to show her how much you love her.

But she looks at you so tenderly, you sigh. She already knows. And yet you will repeat them to her all your life if you need to.

"Maybe I don't want you to be my girlfriend anymore."

"What?" she asks quietly, her eyes searching yours for some explanation, but you keep smiling.

"I want you to be my wife instead." You complete as you bring the small velvet box to the front of your body, and Zooey gasps when her eyes rest on the item. In the next second, however, she delivers a slap against your arm. "You scared me, you jerk!"

You chuckle softly at her reaction, but before you can ask what her answer will be, the blonde stands up. "Wait a second." She says, making her way to her coat hanging by the door. "Wha-"

"Wait!" She interrupts you, rummaging through the pockets of the garment, and you giggle, looking at her curiously. When she turns back toward you, an ear-to-ear grin on her face, you can't help but hold your breath.

"I don't want to be your girlfriend anymore either." Zooey breaks the silence next, another velvet box in her own hands, and you let out a happy giggle, tears forming in your eyes as you see them forming in hers.

"I love you." You say as you pull her to you, your hand on her neck as you kiss her with all the love and care you have for her, and the blonde matches it with the same intensity, the smile on her lips making itself feel as they dance against yours.

"I love you so much." She whispers softly as the kiss ends, and you smile widely before placing another kiss on her lips.

You exchange rings then, Zooey putting the one she bought for you on your finger and you putting the one you bought on her finger.

Tucked under the covers now, you admire the jewelry on your hands, happy smiles on both your faces as your hearts beat contentedly together.

And lying there, cuddled up with your now-fiancée, you are sure there will never be a better Christmas than this one.

───── ⋅ ⋇ ❅ ⋇ ⋅ ─────

#Day 27: The Boss's Daughter (Wanda Maximoff x Reader) - AU

And that's it for today! I hope you enjoyed it, thoughts and comments are always welcome ツ

Taglist: @yuhloversxx @madamevirgo @an-evergreen-rose @helloalycia @wandas1mp @cantcontroltheirfear @diaryoflife @cristin-rjd @ensorcellme @aimezvousbrahms @natasha-danvers @purplemeetsblue @randomshyperson @peggycarter-steverogers @b0mbdotc0m @ethereal-pxradise @stephanieromanoff @tomy5girls @gingerbreadcookieforlife @imapotatao @musicinourlips @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @allfiguredout @olsensnpm @magicallymaximoff @nothing-isimpossible @mionemymind @itsmionet @xastrydx @sxfwap @nicole-rayleigh-hot @wellsayhelloaagin @midnight-lestrange @1-800-depressedlesbian @b-5by5 @blackwow34 @nervoustrack @somewhatgreatexpectations @yeetus-thyself @chelleztjs18 @franfineashell @mrromanoff (if you wanna be tagged check the form on my BIO)

[imaginethatimaginethis]

Hi Sweetie, hope you are doing well! I just saw you askbox open and I want to request smth? Changkyun MX reaction to his gf being mad at him and giving him the silent treatment since days ago cuz they fight but both have a similar way to be and miss each other but she is a little stubborn so he's trying to fix things even with both of them mad at each other. Smth angst w/a fluff end? I'm sick for him🤣 Thx n' much❤️x. u!

a/n: Hey love, i’m so sorry for the very late reply! Here you go and i hope you like it and i hope this is what you thought of and i hope that it’s good enough for you to enjoy and i hope you have a great day 🥺

„Babe come on“ his held out his hand in front of you and you just looked at it disgusted.

“If you touch me i will punch you in your dick. And i’m not playing”

His eyes widen as he let his arm fall to his side. Confusion on his face, as he put both his hands in his jeans pockets.

“I don’t understand your problem right now” Changkyuns face turned from confused to just annoyed in seconds as soon as he saw you roll your eyes.

You placed the last dishes into the dishwasher and closed it’s door while Changkyun just stood there watching you. Drying your hands on the towel next to you, you hung them behind you on the stick and made your way to the bathroom, walking past your boyfriend and not giving him one second of your attention, ignoring him completely.

“For real now?” thats what you heard him yell right before you closed the bathroom door.

That was 3 days ago. 3 days with you not talking to him and ignoring him completely.

You weren’t mad at him. It was just that sometimes he does things that piss you off to the core and telling him exactly that, your wishes or pleads are getting ignored.

So now, it’s your turn to ignore. And what better to ignore then a whole ass Changkyun. You knew it was a very childish behavior and you were actually going to talk to him after a day but as you found out that he was ready to play the same game as you did, you just weren’t to stop.

Still childish but you didn’t care at this point.

It was quite, 11pm and Changkyun still didn’t get back home. The television was playing some interview of some newcomer actors with their new tv series. Your tummy growled and you were starting to get hungry. Thinking of something to cook you grabbed your phone and googled some fast recipes of a good meal.

In that moment, you heard the keys clink on the other side of the door. Changkyun entered the apartment with a loud huff, throwing his shoes to the side and slipping his jacket and mask off.

When he entered further he saw you cuddled up on the couch, his first instinct was to come closer to you and throw himself on you. But he wasn’t going to.

You turned around for a moment as you saw him place one plastic bag on the counter, another one was in his hand still. He grabbed a fork out of the shelf. Your eyes meet for a moment and he just gave you a small smile before disappearing into your shared room.

After a minute you got up from the couch and walked towards the plastic bag. There was a small note saying ‘for u’ inside and a box from your favorite restaurant just at the corner.

The next morning you woke up, getting ready for your work day. Changkyun was already out and about and probably left the place hours before you woke up. Tapping your way to the kitchen to prepare your breakfast, you noticed a box filled with cut fruits, and a little note ‘have a good day’.

This kinda made your day, packing the box in your bag and slowly getting ready for your work.

After your a little late end of the work day, you almost stormed inside your apartment, finally being able to take your uncomfortable uniform off. You smelled Changkyuns cologne and new that he was home already. As you entered your bedroom he was already laying there with his phone in his hand.

Placing your bag down and grabbing your pajamas, you walked towards the bathroom to take your shower. It felt too weird to not talk to him and to ignore each other. The wish to just lay next to him and kiss him was so big that your heart beat faster at the thought.

You shower was long, hot water falling on your skin, embracing you and making you wish to never get out of it. As soon as you turned off the water it would be too cold and so you stood there for a while longer. Your skin almost burned red from the hotness.

You wrapped yourself in your towel after you finally turned off the water and noticed how warm and cozy it was. Normally the cold would hit you instantly but the towel had the perfect warmth and made everything way better. As if the towel just came out of the dryer..

Walking out of the bathroom you noticed Changkyun already turned off the lights and probably already swam away to dreamland. You changed really quick in the dark, quietly to not wake him up and finally got ready for bed.

You grabbed the blanket and opened it for yourself, looking at Changkyun who was laying on his stomach, both arms under the pillow and facing away from where you stood.

It was quite for a second.

“Thank you” you slowly slid inside your bed next to him, still keeping your distance for a moment.

“You’re welcome” he mumbled into his pillow. It took you a few long minutes until you finally placed your head and hand on his naked back, laying down completely on him.

You noticed him stop breathing for a second until he exhaled his breath as if he was holding it. His back muscle flexed as you kissed the skin you were laying on, now finally enjoying the warmth of him.

[fruitcoops]

okay so we all love dad dumo and he's an incredible parent but even dumo isn't perfect. Could we maybe have dumo snapping at logan (or sirius, if it strikes your fancy, but i love dumo+logan dynamics) and then apologizing for it like a parent actually f*cking should

Oof, yes. Combined with asks for Sirius and Logan bonding, as well as some pre-Cap and James. SW credit goes to @lumosinlove!

TW for parental figure disappointment

The car rumbled. Dumo’s hands squeaked on the wheel as he flexed his fingers. Logan felt like he was going to throw up.

Can we turn around real quick? No, too vague. Can we go home so I can use the bathroom? No, he’ll say I can wait another ten minutes. I forgot my phone at home? No, he saw me put it in my pocket. Logan ran through every possible way of asking to go back to the Dumais house without giving away his dilemma; with each scenario, they grew further from where he needed to be.

“Hey, Dumo?” he began quietly, swallowing around his dry mouth. What was it his father always said? Honesty is the best policy. “We need to go back to your house for a moment.”

“We’re already running late,” Dumo said, not even sparing him a glance in the rearview mirror. The traffic around them was a mess. “If we go back, we’ll miss the first part of warmups.”

“I know, but it’s kind of important.”

“So is the game. If it’s your wallet, you don’t need it right—”

“I left my skates by the front door.”

Dead silence filled the car as Dumo slowed to a stop at the fourth red light. Logan’s heart sank and his stomach crawled into his throat. “What?”

“I left my skates by the front door,” he repeated, staring at his hands. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking—”

“Tabernak, Logan!” Dumo snapped. He felt something inside him wither and die. “First the nap, then forgetting to wash your jersey, and now you left your fucking skates behind? What’s going on in your head? You are an adult now with responsibilities, and it’s your job to keep track of your shit.”

“I know,” Logan said quietly.

Dumo huffed. “Clearly you don’t! Do you just not care? Is that it?”

“I care.”

“This isn’t a college team, Logan.” Dumo’s accent grew harsh around his name. It had been a bad day for him—Adele came down with a nasty cold just after Celeste left to visit her parents for the weekend, and there was always an added pressure with home games. Logan knew that, and he knew he should have been paying better attention.

“I know.”

Dumo muttered a curse under his breath and pulled onto a side road, then swore again when his duffle bag slid in the passenger seat. Logan closed his eyes; there was no way they would make it all the way to the house and back to the rink in time for pre-game rituals. Damn it, Tremblay. What were you thinking?

They drove the rest of the way in silence. Dumo parked the car with a quiet “go”, and Logan hurried inside with a slight nod to the babysitter as he grabbed his skates before slinking back to the car with his head hung low.

“I’m really disappointed in you,” Dumo said when they reached the freeway again.

“I’m sorry.”

He received no response.

They won the game despite skipping all their superstitions, no thanks to Logan. He played like shit; Arthur barely gave him four shifts the whole night. Finn shot him a concerned look as he rinsed off and slipped back into his street clothes, but Logan didn’t have the energy to confront both his best friend and the upsetting feelings connected to the aforementioned best-friend-slash-secret-crush. If he tried, he’d certainly end up doing something stupid.

He packed his things, slung his bag over his shoulder, and followed Dumo out to the car like a stray dog with his tail between his legs. “I really am—”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Dumo interrupted as they pulled out of the parking lot. Logan pressed his lips together. “Are you hungry?”

Starving. “Kinda.”

“I’ll heat up some leftover lasagna when we get back to the house. Will you pay the babysitter and make sure the kids are in bed?”

“Sure.”

“Thank you.”

Logan ground his teeth around the steady ache building in his chest—he hated disappointing people in general, but it was a whole different story with Dumo. He was his second father, the person Logan admired most on the team. He gave him a home and a substitute family to ease the homesickness, and was always there to cheer him on. And Logan let him down.

They went through their nightly routine silently, which was a sharp contrast to their usual banter. Marc and Louis refused to go to bed at first, nearly bringing Logan to tears in his frustration, but he eventually got them settled down and tucked in. By some miracle, both the girls were already asleep.

“I’m going to call Celeste,” Dumo finally said as Logan unloaded the dishwasher. He nodded without a word, not trusting his voice.

As soon as the dishwasher was full and running, Logan took his phone out and dialed the only person he wanted to hear from. It rang twice before connecting. “Hello?”

“Hey.” His voice cracked and he cleared his throat. “Hey, Cap, what’s up?”

“Not much.” Sirius sounded confused, and more than a little tired. “Ça va?”

Logan’s eyes burned. “Not bad. Do you have a minute?”

There was a rustling noise from the other end, followed by the clink of keys. “You’re at Dumo’s, right?”

“Oui.”

“I’ll be there in ten.”

“Thanks,” he managed around his tight throat. “See you soon.”

Hushed voices came from the living room and Logan padded down the hall, knocking gently on the doorframe. Dumo looked up and furrowed his brow. “Un moment, mon amour. Are you alright?”

“Sirius is coming by in ten. We’re going to hang out for a bit, if that’s okay.”

“Tell him I say hello.” Without another word, Dumo uncovered the base of his phone and returned to his conversation. Logan nodded and headed back out into the hall, swallowing down the tears forming behind his eyes.

Ten minutes turned out to be seven minutes—Logan was simultaneously flattered and concerned—and a soft knock startled him out of his thoughts. Sirius already looked worried when the front door swung open. “What happened? Is everyone okay? Did something happen to Celeste?”

“She’s fine. Dumo says hi.” And he’s horribly disappointed in me. Logan took several deep breaths through his nose to control the tremor in his voice and Sirius gave him a worried once-over. “Can we drive around for a bit?”

“Of course.”

For all of his bluster and general brooding vibe, Sirius continued to be the king of empathy and (in Logan’s opinion) a secret mind-reader. The second his arm draped across Logan’s shoulders and held him close as they walked down the sidewalk, he felt some of the pressure in his chest release. “Sorry about the late call,” he sniffled. It was a cold night—the snot threatening to drip from his nose was frigid already. “I just—I needed to get out for a minute.”

“À tout moment.” Any time. Logan didn’t feel deserving of that kindness after the mess he had been on the ice. The heaters kicked on as soon as Sirius started the car and Logan closed his eyes, leaning back into the warm seat. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“It’s so stupid.”

“Doesn’t sound like it.”

Logan took a moment to breathe before shaking his head. “I forgot my skates. We were already running late, and I forgot my fucking skates at the house.”

Sirius hummed, but said nothing.

“It’s—Dumo has been having such a horrible day.” Tears clogged his throat again. “And I took a nap earlier because I stayed up late last night like an idiot, and Adele’s sick so he had all the kids and no help while he was trying to get ready, and then I overslept so it was already going to be rushed and forgot to clean my jersey and then—and then I forgot my skates. God, I’m so stupid.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s true.”

“It’s not.” Logan wanted to kick him for being so infuriatingly patient. Sirius glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “That’s not why you’re upset, though.”

“He’s—” Logan broke off and swiped the first tear away with his sweatshirt cuff. “He said he was disappointed in me.”

“Ah.”

“It’s such a stupid thing to be upset about.”

Sirius sighed through his nose and pulled into the parking lot of a 24-hour Taco Bell, then turned off the car and faced Logan with one eyebrow raised. “Stop doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Belittling yourself.”

“Okay, Heather,” Logan snorted. Sirius reached over and flicked him on the forehead. “Hey!”

“You forgot your skates. Big deal. We’ve all been there.”

Logan shot him a glare. “You’ve never forgotten your skates.”

“Yes, I have. My very first game with the Lions, actually. Except I didn’t realize it until we were already at the rink.”

“Did Dumo drive you back?”

“The whole damn way. He was mad as hell, but he did it.” Sirius’ face softened, and he poked Logan gently on the thigh. “Stop kicking yourself for this one. It sounds like it was a bad day for you both.”

“I still feel like shit.”

Sirius shrugged. “I bet. Disappointing Dumo is the worst feeling ever.”

“He wouldn’t even let me apologize.”

“He will.”

They sat in silence for a full minute as Logan tried to find the right words. “How did you deal with it? Letting people down. It feels like I’m drowning, sometimes.”

“Really, really poorly,” Sirius half-laughed, crossing his ankle over his knee. “It wasn’t until I was named captain that I started accepting that people weren’t lying when they forgave me for fucking up.”

“Why?”

“Believe it or not, the people I was around as a kid didn’t make a habit of apologizing to me when they did something wrong.”

Logan looked up from the faded letters on his sweatshirt sleeve and sniffled. “Thanks for bringing me out here.”

“Pas de problem. I figured you could use some company outside the house.”

“You’re the best.”

“I try.”

“You succeed.” You’re like a brother to me, actually. “Is this what James did for you?”

“No,” Sirius laughed. Affection took over his face, bright even in the dim light from the streetlamps. “No, he snuck me onto the roof of the rink with massive amounts of junk food and stayed with me until the imposter syndrome faded. It was fantastic, but we nearly got hypothermia several times in the winter. This is much more comfortable.”

“Thanks for helping me keep all my fingers and toes,” Logan said wryly. He lapsed back into silence and folded his forearms on the dashboard, sighing at the pleasant stretch of his back. “I know I have to go back eventually, but I’m scared.”

“Honestly, Logan, I bet he’s already forgiven you. He knows it was an accident.”

“But what if he doesn’t?” The words came out as little more than a whisper. Sirius’ hand rested hesitantly between his shoulder blades until Logan leaned back into it, then began rubbing gentle circles.

“He does,” Sirius said softly. “And he loves you so much.”

Logan sniffed back more tears. “Really?”

“Ouais. You’ve been living with him for nine months now, and he’s so proud of how far you’ve come.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he told me. Last week, after your hat trick. People fuck up, Logan, but that doesn’t mean they’re unforgivable. You don’t need to flay yourself for one bad day.”

Logan shut his eyes with a slow exhale and buried his face in his forearms. “I think I’m ready to go back now.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“D’accord. Buckle your seatbelt.”

He straightened up and stretched, wincing at the crack of his back. Sirius drove out of the parking lot and hummed under his breath to the radio, but Logan didn’t miss the careful glances out of the corner of his eye. “You don’t need to worry about me,” he finally said. “I’ll be okay.”

“I know,” Sirius said casually, though he looked like he was holding something back. Logan didn’t press; Sirius would talk in his own time if he wanted to. He opened his mouth, paused, then sighed. “But I do worry about you.”

“Why?”

“Because.”

Thank you, Captain Black, for the most media answer of all time. “You really don’t have to.”

Sirius parked the car and leaned his head back against the seat. “You’re my friend, and I care about you, so I worry.”

Logan blinked at him. “You care about me?”

“Obviously,” Sirius muttered. Even in the darkness of the street, his cheeks were pink. “Now go on, you've got someone waiting for you.”

“I care about you, too.”

“Out of my car, Tremblay.” Despite his words, a smile quirked at the corner of Sirius’ mouth. Logan socked him lightly on the arm and opened the door, shivering in the night air as it bit through his hoodie.

“Drive safe, Cap.”

“I will.”

The walk to the front door felt less like a trip to the gallows and more like coming home; Logan felt his muscles relax, and saw the curtains shift as someone moved away from the window. Dumo opened the door before he could even knock.

“I’m sorry,” they said in unison. Logan raised his eyebrows and Dumo opened the door the rest of the way, ushering him inside.

The moment the door closed behind him, Dumo wrapped him in a hug. “I’m so sorry for what I said earlier, Logan. You made a mistake, and I shouldn’t have come down hard on you.”

“I’m sorry I made us late,” Logan said into his soft shirt. “And for not helping earlier. It won’t happen again.”

“All is forgiven.” Dumo patted him on the back of the shoulder and held him at arm’s length with a sad smile. “I should have kept a better handle on my temper. You don’t deserve to be spoken to like that.”

Logan bit back the urge to say it’s okay or I deserved it and instead pulled him in for another hug. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I didn’t realize how much you’ve helped me until today.”

Dumo made a quiet sound and held him tighter. “It’s a gift to have you here.”

Logan squeezed his eyes shut as a wave of emotion rolled in his heart. “There is nowhere I would rather be,” he whispered. They stayed like that for a long moment, swaying slightly, before Dumo stepped back.

“Get some rest. We have early practice tomorrow.” He mussed Logan’s hair and gave him a nudge toward the stairs. “Bonne nuit, mon fils.”

Mon fils. Logan’s breath caught for a second and he smiled. “Bonne nuit.”

[elvensorceress]

sunrise

(the 5x03 episode coda we all deserve) 

Inspired by @eric-dierr ‘s post

on AO3

There’s finality to the sound of the door shutting behind her, but the weight of more years than he’s ever known her disappears as soon as she does. 

He can breathe again. He can relax. He doesn’t have to play a part. He doesn’t have to fake picture perfect, too-exaggerated-to-be-real happiness. He can finally take his home back. 

The irony of his disaster kitchen is not lost on him. But he starts with a message, because it needs to be said, and he hates the idea of hurting anyone. Least of all hurting someone the way Buck was hurt. 

Done. It’s over.

Is what he sends. And then goes to strip the beds and cycle the laundry and wash his whole fucking house of anything touched by her. It’s only a few minutes before he receives a response. 

it go ok? r u ok? 

He could be better. He could have a clean house and a clean mind and he could simply enjoy curling up with his son and finally spending time with him. Fixing everything has to come first. 

It was fine. Probably. Who knows. You make it home?

Once the sheets are washing, he turns to the kitchen and who does this to someone else’s kitchen and just leaves it? He digs out gallon sized ziplock bags and fills them with the assortment of muffins and other baked goods. He’ll have to make a note to himself to take them to the station on his next shift. At least he won’t have to pretend to like bland, flavorless cooking anymore. 

He checks his phone and it’s been a good ten minutes without a response, so maybe Buck decided to nap or cook or… Oh, god maybe his girlfriend is there. 

At least there’s not much of anything in Eddie’s stomach right now because it twists and he’s nauseous and of all the people Buck had to pick her and it’s just… none of his business but Buck could do so much better. He deserves so much better. Though the idea of Buck with anyone is not something he wants to think about. Not that he wants Buck to be alone forever. He’s been so lonely and Eddie knows he desperately wants to be loved. But no one is ever going to be good enough for him, no one can know him well enough or love him the way he needs, he should be adored and cherished and treated like the most precious thing in existence because he is.

And that’s the most Eddie wants to think about on the subject. 

He starts by unloading the dishwasher and then has to restart by organizing his cupboards back the way the dishes and cups and silverware are supposed to be organized. Halfway through the third cupboard, his phone chimes. 

idk. technically. what r u up to?

He reads it and rereads their whole conversation, and sighs heavily. Buck could take his own advice. But then they’d both be alone again. One of them should at least have something? He starts typing and hesitates and knows his typing must have appeared and notified Buck that he’s working on a response. But. Should he? 

Fuck it. Why not. 

Cleaning up my disaster. Want to come over? 

The response is immediate. 

Yes

It’s another moment where he can finally breathe again. In that case, he unloads the clean dishes into a mostly empty cupboard and tries to tackle the dirty dishes in the sink before Buck shows up and sees the mess made of his kitchen. 

disaster?

Is the next message that pops up on his phone and Eddie contemplates sending a picture, but some things are better left a surprise. 

You’ll see.

It takes him less than fifteen minutes to walk through the door and the kitchen is only partly under control. He hears Christopher excitedly exclaim, “Buck! Buck is home! You’re here!” 

And Buck’s near giddy reply of, “Christopher! You’re also home!” He laughs and Eddie has to see them. 

He grabs a kitchen towel to dry his hands and finds Christopher clutched tightly in Buck’s arms, melting onto his shoulder much like he did at the station a few days ago. They both have their eyes closed tightly, swaying as if there’s joyful music only they can hear. Eddie wonders what it might take for him to hear it as well. 

He swallows hard and can’t look at anything else. 

Christopher lifts up and presses both of his small hands into Buck’s cheeks. “I missed you, kid.” 

Buck laughs again but his eyes look glassy even though there’s something about him that is radiant sunshine after years of being lost in a cold night. “I missed you, too, buddy.” He sets Christopher down but bends to leave a kiss on his forehead. When he looks at Eddie with that glowing sunrise of a smile, Eddie can almost believe in hope and happiness and the future. 

It makes him want to believe real love is still possible. That there is something, someone, in existence who might make his heart want and need and bleed love in every incarnation. 

Buck lets Christopher go back to playing and follows Eddie into the kitchen. Where his expression immediately turns into something horrified. “What in the,” he glances in the direction of the other room, shuts the door and mouths quietly, “Fuck happened here?”

“I told you. Disaster.” Eddie tosses his kitchen towel onto his shoulder and returns to the kitchen sink with soaking cupcake pans. 

“But,” Buck says, supremely distressed. “My kitchen.”

“I’ve been working on it,” Eddie promises. He needs to scrub down and wash away everything. 

 “She wasn’t even here that long. What the hell did she do? Who does this and just leaves someone else’s house like this?”

Eddie shrugs but gives him a smile. He can finally smile. A real smile in his own home. It’s almost strange now, but it’s possible. Then again, it’s always real when Buck is around. “That’s exactly what I thought.”

Buck shakes his head and goes to the cupboards to finish organizing them properly. He knows better where everything is supposed to belong anyway. 

With Buck’s help, it doesn’t take long to reorganize and wipe down the entire kitchen. They put new sheets and blankets on the beds and Eddie does a quick cleaning of the bathrooms while Buck vacuums and tidies the living room. They bring the dried laundry to Christopher’s room to fold and put it away and start a load of all Eddie’s work clothes, and only then does Buck turn to him and put his hands on Eddie’s shoulders. 

Eddie tries not to go weak at the touch. It feels like an eternity since they’ve hugged, since they’ve been home, since they’ve been close. 

“Thank you,” Buck says softly.

Eddie looks at him, unsure, uncertain, and longing for something they can never have. “For what?”

Buck bites his lip and tears well in his eyes. “For not being Abby. For being you.”

Eddie takes a deep breath and very lightly rests a hand on Buck’s chest. Over his heart. “Thanks for being you.” 

Buck bends his head and Eddie holds onto him, pulls him closer so Buck’s forehead rests against his own. 

It’s so easy to believe now. He can almost feel it with how they’ve grown together, built this together. There’s something so close it feels inevitable, but he knows it’s something they chose for themselves. 

When they let go, they join Christopher on the sofa and cuddle together closer than they ever have. So close Christopher wriggles out from their tight grasp because they are interrupting game time, okay? Buck looks at him for a moment but curls against Eddie’s side anyway and drifts off as they’re stretched on the couch together. 

His house his clean. His life has a new page, a fresh start, it can be anything. But he knows, no matter what, they’ll have each other and their son. It’s all his heart has ever wanted, and this time, it feels as if they will have it. 

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