#clarke has learned this really quickly

[lexa-griffins]

TAOFIL clexa must be trying all sorts of adventurous positions as they try to conceive their baby. Do they have a favorite?

When it comes to positions, they aren't actually going too wild. They are still very vanilla when it comes to sex and while they are having more fun with it as in they are more relaxed during it, they know better what the other likes so they feel themselves freer to do different stuff - they arent going wild on poses. The "wildest" they go is really the one that will be on the fic, and it'll happen on the horse stables! They actually change locations more than they change positions because they really can't let go of each other, they have even fucked on Clarke's office at the clinic when Lexa when to bring her some lunch!

[murmeloni]

Bruce, who falls first, but not for Superman. He falls for Clark Kent. That idealistic, optimistic reporter from Metropolis, who relentlessly and without fail steps on the toes of the rich and powerful, exposing their schemes and machinations.

Kent first caught his attention because of an article he wrote about the Justice League, ironically enough. Back then he'd just been checking him out because he always did that when major newspapers reported on any of them, but something in Kent's writing had captured Bruce's attention and it didn't take any time at all for him to become obsessed.

When he learns that Superman and Kent actually knew each other, he does the stupidest thing imaginable: he asks Kal to set up a meeting. He quickly makes up an excuse about needing to talk to the man who so regularly writes about them to make sure he's trustworthy. Which they both know is bullshit.

Meanwhile, Clark is freaking out, sure that Batman has figured out his secret identity somehow and is trying to test him. But what else is he supposed to do besides play along? So he sets up that meeting. Only to be promptly confronted with a much more talkative Batman than he's used to, one who's practically singing his praises. It's incredibly surreal. Clark, to his shame, loves it.

They fuck that same night and Clark feels so guilty that he confesses everything immediately after.

Bruce doesn't care. This just means that the two hottest men on the planet are actually one and the same and he can fuck him whenever he wants. It's a win-win, really.

[bruciemilf]

Need a no capes! AU where Clark is Just A Guy trying to help his folks keep their farm going. It’s not easy under the Luthors.

Having to sell their property rights because their farm is on a purchased land wasn’t an easy choice. But if Clark knows something, is that Kents don’t go down easy.

Once Thomas Wayne buys it from Luthor Senior, — Clark doesn’t know the specifics; He just heard the words “old college teammate” and “lost bet” and “fuck you, John” and put it together.

So, Thomas Wayne buys their farm. They have peace, for a while.

Except one day the man himself knocks on Clark’s apartment, switchblade smile bright and fraudulent. Clark quickly learns Thomas Wayne can either be your best friend, or your biggest fear.

“It’s really nothin’ personal,” Thomas shrugs. Maybe, to him, it’s a good apology. “Luthor just found out some…Nasty lies about me. And it’d really affect the cancer research fundraiser if they got out. “

People don’t fear lies, Clark thinks.

“So, your daddy ain’t answering me, and your mom threw a bottle at me when I went over there, so I figured you’re my last resort. I can’t buy if they ain’t sellin’, son.”

“We don’t appreciate being bought, Mr. Wayne.”

“Right, but the other alternative would be kicking ya’ll out on the street, and it’d make me feel like a real asshole,”

You already are, Clark wants to say, but decides it wouldn’t be a good idea.

“ So we have two options: Either you sell me the farm and everyone’s happy; Or you get the best bed at Gotham’s homeless shelter. I’m sorry, Clark. Really.”

He swallows an angry gulp. World’s strongest man and he can’t help but feel such sorrowful helplessness. “And what’s option 3?”

Thomas knows that’s a challenge, and knows Clark has a right to it. Something just clicks in the man’s eyes, thought. Clark isn’t sure he likes it. “Option number three…I deal with this my way. But you gotta do something for me.”

And that’s how Clark ends up babysitting infamously anonymous Bruce Wayne.

No paper touches him; He successfully evaded and escaped any journalist that ever approached, hunted, or tracked him down.

The man is awfully quiet, lilly pale skin glowing pink in Kansas sun. Clark studies the wide, impressive curve of his shoulders, surprisingly thick and strong for such a pretty thing.

The way his eyes are alert and focused and the color of watercolor rain. Mostly, he’s crushed by Bruce’s timidity. God, he’s so beautiful.

“Imma need a week and Brucie’s outta your hands faster than a devil in a church,” Thomas jokes, affectionately ruffling chestnut hair. Clark can see the resemblance, but not the relation. “You be good for Clark, ya hear?”

Bruce doesn’t give a verbal or physical answer. He seems awfully angry about something. He picks up his bags, storms past Clark and stomps off upstairs. He has a feeling this week will be hell for all of them.

“Well, you have fun! And Clark?” Thomas’ voice lowers, “You take care of my boy, now.”

“Oh, I will.”

It’s not a lie.

He’ll take care of Bruce so good he won’t ever want to leave.

[maspers]

Okay but can you IMAGINE if the earrings had gone to Alya like Marinette wanted them to? 

Instead of having a "designated responsible hero", Scarabella and Chat Noir would just be a pair of gremlins high on life because THEY'RE SUPERHEROES OMGOSH they would spend half their time geeking out and basically exuding chaotic sibling energy the entire time. 

They would reveal their identities to each other right off the bat because neither was paying attention when they were told not to, and Tikki just groans. Alya and Adrien quickly bond over being new kids at school who have superpowers, and everyone else is baffled.

Alya decides to try Clark Kenting and run the Scarablog, and Adrien is like "that's an amazing idea I'll help!" and shenanigans ensue. Marinette (who knows Alya is Scarabella since she snuck the earrings to Alya before any of this started) has befriended Alya as in canon but HASN'T told her that she knows her identity, so she gets dragged into the Scarablog staff and ends up doing most of the fieldwork and vlogging, desperately trying to do anything to cover up Scarabella's and Chat's identities (she knows Scarabella's, but doesn't know Chat's) while trying to avoid getting distracted by Adrien, who she's crushing on big time like in canon. 

For his part, Adrien gets totally enamored with Marinette because Ladybug isn't there to distract him and because Scarabella is already more sibling material than lover material, but he thinks Marinette dislikes him and his brand so instead tries to woo her as Chat Noir and more shenanigans happen. 

Nino, however, is low key crushing on Scarabella, and joins the Scarablog staff to try and learn more about her. Alya finds this amusing and kind of adorable, but doesn't really reciprocate for a while because she and Nino don't get locked in the zoo. She does let him investigate on his own, because she thinks pursuing the truth is a noble endeavor and in the meantime the blog can use his skills. Marinette starts silently screaming because GOSH DARNIT the identities are supposed to stay secret! 

Chloe is a huge fan of Scarabella and Chat Noir. She keeps trying to force herself onto the Scarablog team… But Alya is having none of it and throws her out. Chloe engages in spying shenanigans and tries to force Sabrina onto the team in her stead, but that just results in Sabrina getting character development. 

Lila shows up. Nino, desperately trying to learn more about Scarabella, falls for her lies hook line and sinker (sorry Nino, someone has to) but since Alya and Adrien both know each other's identities they see through her lies and (with Marinette) burst her bubble almost immediately. However, since Marinette actually has free time she can do her job as Class Pres and calm Lila down (a la zoe-oneesama's Scarlet Lady AU), and soon Lila shows up on the Scarablog's door offering to investigate Hawkmoth. Her main goal is fame and fortune, but eh Alya knows a good tool when she sees one. Chloe is fuming, and soon Lila gleefully engages in Spy vs Spy shenanigans with her. 

Fu is like "WHOMST IS SCARABELLA" and tells Adrien that Scarabella isn't supposed to be the Ladybug wielder and Adrien briefly angsts about it but is like "who cares have you met her she's literally a great hero and that's what matters" 

Fu is undeterred and keeps trying to give Marinette more miraculouses and she just keeps them in her room and doesn't use them

[l0vem41l]

mean when i'm nervous.

「 tws + notes: no tws, unedited as BAWLS, dc writer newbie but im very enthusiastic abt the comics and shows and movies, dog metaphor but insane and unsubtle, explicitly vigilante!reader in dick grayson’s part, dramatic asf but not really angst 」

「 gn!reader, can be platonic or romantic <3 」

↳ ft. bruce wayne, clark kent, richard "dick" grayson, and john constantine

author's note: so. we all know what my favourite thing right now is (⌒_⌒;) i still adore everything i used to write for,,, but i’ve been on my comic motives recently (*ﾟｰﾟ*) ! reading dc mostly but spider-noir and deadpool have been picked up along the way!!! um. anyways. if i get comfy enough, i might do more dc stuff but i get that this isn't my exact audience on this blog— sorry my loves (´＿｀。) </3 might write a part two cuz i love jason. and booster gold. and like every single one of them (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ) halfway through writing this i realized everything feels very literal, so i feel the need to mention that this is not dog hybrid reader stuff but if u fw that u can imagine it that way

perhaps the habit of burning bridges you’re actively crossing isn’t a good idea. and you’re not an idiot, not in the slightest— but even if you were, everyone knows that needless self destruction when developing relationships is counterproductive.

you strike the match anyways, like it’s just a force of habit. another instinct.

if you spent life knowing that the hand only beats. why would you expect it to do anything else when it’s lowered towards you?

you learn to keep your hopes down, ears alert, and teeth sharp. you learn to get used to the taste of blood. to make things messy and complicated, and to end things when they need to be ended, because god knows it’s only self preservation when you do it.

you learn that the only way to survive is to bite— to hurt before something hurts you.

and one day, an unfamiliar hand that extends towards you decides to feed instead.

why do you still bare your teeth?

▸ BRUCE is unsure why he sticks around. he’s understanding, but also reasonably frustrated with your antics. it doesn’t evade him that they stem from something deeply rooted in your past— but he doesn’t know what to do about it. if there is anything to do.

at his core, he's a detective. he's got an eye for digging into strange pasts and a knack for knowing things he isn't supposed to. but in spite of his paranoia and hunger to know, bruce doesn't pry too much. he can do research on his own, without you ever having to realize.

you’re self-sufficient, he’ll give you that. you’re unsure sometimes of whether he’s proud that you can take care of yourself or irritated that you consistently insist on doing so. he’s unsure too. not like he lets you know.

it’s a mutual understanding the two of you share— he stays, you bite. yet bruce, unsurprisingly, doesn’t mind being bitten. he’d hope that the reason he’s sticking around is for the selfless reason of making sure you’re alright. though, the reality is, you’ve grown on him, whether you realize or not.

bruce has always been fond of strays.

▸ CLARK is nothing but patient. and that scares you beyond reason.

he sees the way you bare your teeth whenever someone gets too close for comfort to you. he knows when to back away, when to speak, when not to— he’s always attempting to never make you feel backed into a corner.

somehow, it makes you more anxious seeing just how much he understands about you. he knows just how to coax you out of the corner of your cage, how to bring you in closer, and it almost, almost convinces you to let your guard down.

the thought of that is terrifying.

you try barking, you try biting— and none of it works. clark doesn’t coddle you when you’re wrong— but he’s absolutely nothing but gentle. patient and understanding, sometimes you wonder how a man of steel can be so soft for someone like you.

▸ DICK isn’t dumb. it’s fairly easy for him to put two and two together. quickly, he figures out what he’s dealing with when he encounters you.

his conversations with you are never without a note of levity— a deliberate action on his end, you’re certain. he knows, you know, and because of it, everything feels oddly tense around him, even with the attempts to banter.

it’s too late to run. his observant gaze has caught a glimpse of you through your one way glass, and he’s chosen to meet your eyes with a smile. there's a sense of foreboding that gnaws at your gut, anxiously anticipating what might be lurking under that grin of his.

on his end, there are no malicious intentions. he doesn’t really have ulterior motives when it comes to you.

most times, he chooses to defend you and be the one standing at your side when no one else does. you don't understand why he insists on offering you friendship when all you do is pull away.

after a long night of patrolling the streets of gotham, you find the two of you leaning on the railing of a rooftop side by side. your eyes are on this cityscape of gotham. his are on you.

“you keep on insisting i’m not as bad as i seem,” you mutter under your breath.

late nights make for loose lips. he’s pleasantly surprised to hear you continue the thought instead of attempting to take it back.

“do you just hate being right?” you snort, allowing your gaze to flit over to him just for a second.

"no." dick smiles, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. “i think you just hate the fact that i could be.”

▸ you tried not to bother with CONSTANTINE. the day the two of you met, you didn’t even introduce yourself.

john constantine’s presence alone reeks of trouble, as acrid and suffocating as the cigarette smoke that clings to his tan trenchcoat. you are attuned to things like that. he notices.

one thing you actually enjoy about him? he doesn’t chase. he’s a nosy one, for certain, sticking his nose into places no one in their right mind would— but for the most part, he steers clear of yours. initially, you think it’s because your urge to be left alone by him is so prevalent that he’s just chosen to heed the warning and not approach when unwanted.

but he’s not a man known for abiding by rules. he’s much more curious with you than you notice or prefer. in a way, your distance has made you more myth than man, more tale than tangible— you are a rumor passed through whispers between lips, a silent shadow lurking in the corner of the room… and he loves a good mystery.

“c’mon. you're actin’ like ‘m gonna bite your head off, luv,” he chuckles, lighting up the cigarette between his fingers.

i'd probably be the one doing that if i got any closer. you keep that thought in your head, standing with a gap between the two of you as always.

he doesn't miss how you avoid looking into his eyes like his gaze could murder, instead, focusing your gaze on the cherry of the cig, burning bright red.

“not much for a wee natter, hm?”

the quick shake of your head only makes his smirk grow. you could just walk away… so why exactly were you sticking around?

“fine by me. quiet company’s welcome.” that’s a sentence he’d probably never say to anyone else. in a strange way, he feels like he knows you well enough to be comfortable with the words that hang in the air.

it’s weird. you’re completely unknown, and yet, an irrational part of his mind keeps nagging at him to look just a little closer at you. sometimes, when he listens to it, he catches a glimpse of something silent in your eyes— an all too familiar pain of a person who can’t help but hurt the things that they cling onto.

so that’s why you’re keen on keeping everyone at arms length. it almost makes him laugh to think how similar the two of you are, plain as day, and yet unnoticed by you— a person who won’t even meet his eyes.

— reblogs always appreciated!

[mind-empty-just-fictional-people]

Two Hearts, One Home

series masterlist

main masterlist

summary: ben hears something when he holds you close

pairing: soldier boy x female supe!reader

rating: R for language, sexual themes (?)

word count: 2.4k

warnings: pregnancy, language, spoilers for the office | mentions of/alludes to - vought torturing supe’s, sex, birth control, infertility issues and abortion

timeline: set in an au a few years after season three; this soldier boy has changed a lot personality wise, he’s a much better person then he was in season three.

author’s note: inspired by this clark kent fic by the lovely @burreaux-drys <3

another note: thinking of doing a part two because i really love how this turned out! let me know if you would like another part, cause i definitely left this fic very open ended :) there’s a part two now :)

gif source

The smell of freshly cooked bacon slowly brought Ben out of his peaceful sleep as he rolled over to pull you closer to him. His eyes flew open when he realized you weren’t sleeping next to him, but he calmed down after a moment of assuring himself you’d never just walk out on this relationship. He put on his sweatpants from the day before and left your shared bedroom.

“Is that my t-shirt?” He smiled as he walked into the kitchen.

“I figured if I was making breakfast and bringing it to you, you wouldn’t need this shirt yet,” you replied, smirking. He walked up to you and gave you a quick kiss on the lips before taking a seat at the table a few feet behind you.

“Smells delicious sweetheart,” he yawned. “But isn’t it my turn to make us breakfast? You cooked dinner last night.”

“I woke up before you and couldn’t bring myself to wake you up.” You turned around and watched as he yawned again. “God, you’re exhausted!” You walked over to him and ran your fingers through his hair as he rested his forehead on your abdomen. “Did you not fall asleep when I did?”

“Shh!” he exclaimed suddenly. He put his hands on your waist as he turned his head and pressed his ear against you.

“Ben-”

“Shut your beautiful mouth for just two seconds.”

“Excuse me?” you asked, slightly insulted.

“Sorry,” he replied quickly as he turned his head to look at you. You were met with his trademark puppy-dog-pout that always made your heart melt. “Please shut your beautiful mouth?” You rolled your eyes a little but nodded nonetheless. You knew he meant well.

He put his ear back against your abdomen then straightened up and put his ear to your chest. He went back and forth between the two a couple times without saying anything.

“Okay,” you suddenly said, getting a little freaked out. “Seriously Ben, what the hell?”

“You’re pregnant.” He looked up at you again with a huge smile. “Baby you- you’re pregnant!”

“Uh, no I’m not? And that’s not funny Ben,” you scoffed as you backed away before turning to face the stove.

“I’m not kidding! I can hear our baby’s heartbeat!” he exclaimed as he stood up.

“That’s my heartbeat, Ben,” you replied flatly. “If it sounds weird it’s just because I’m a Supe.”

“Honey, I've listened to your heartbeat every night for almost three years now, I know what it sounds like. Just like I know that right now, there are two hearts beating inside you.”

“You’re adorable.” You shook your head. You reached to take a sip of your coffee but he stopped you.

“Wait…” He narrowed his eyes. “You can’t have caffeine when you’re pregnant.”

“And where the hell did you learn that?” You raised a brow. There was no way this man had read a pregnancy book ever in his life, and you doubted he learned that in school a hundred years ago.

“When Pam was pregnant on The Office, Angela said she shouldn’t even drink out of a cup that used to have regular coffee,” he replied, a smile returning to his face.

“God I love how much you love that show.” You smiled. “But I’m not pregnant, Ben and I’m really tired. Can you please let me drink my coffee?”

He shook his head, “Sorry, you’re carrying my child now. Our child. No caffeine for you, honey.”

“You’re lucky I love you,” you grumbled, flipping the pancakes you’d been working on.

“I’ll finish breakfast, you sit down,” he said. He gently pulled you away from the stove before you sat down.

“Ben, this is ridiculous! I can still cook!” He ignored your protests by continuing your work in the kitchen.

The pancakes and bacon were soon finished and Ben put some on a plate for you before doing the same for himself and taking a seat at the table with you. You focused on your food as you tried to ignore Ben just staring at you. Chin resting on his knuckles, a huge smile plastered on his face, as green eyes watched your every move.

“Ben,” you sighed before looking at him. “I’m not pregnant! Would you stop acting like I’m some miracle and just eat your damn food?”

“But this is a miracle!” he protested. “I don’t think you realize how huge this is!”

“Alright, that’s it! After we eat, we’re going to the store and buying a pregnancy test. We need to run some errands anyway, we’re nearly out of food. Not to mention we’re down to next to nothing for alcohol, which is absolutely unacceptable.”

Ben knitted his brows for a moment, as if in thought, before saying, “You can’t have alcohol while you're pregnant either, right?” You jutted your jaw out in annoyance and looked at him. “Also Office; Jim and Pam’s wedding.”

**

You really should’ve opted to go to the store alone, not that Ben would’ve happily agreed, but anything was better than this. He’d been “protecting” you from quite literally everything and it was starting to drive you nuts. He wouldn’t let you drive, he insisted on pushing the cart, and when you went to reach for something that was even slightly above eye level he pulled your hand away and got it for you.

“You shouldn’t be walking down this aisle, sweetheart!” he exclaimed when you turned to enter your favorite section of Walmart. “Does this smell really not affect the baby?”

“Ben, I can be near alcohol without putting ‘the baby’ in any sort of danger,” you replied, using air quotes because you still didn’t believe you were pregnant.

He pulled you to a stop before you could actually enter the aisle. He looked into your eyes with his concern filled ones and kept his gentle grip on your upper arm.

“Promise me right now that this aisle will have no effect on the baby if you are pregnant,” he said.

“Ben, why the hell would closed liquor bottles have any effect on me or the baby?”

“The very intense smell?” he replied.

“Oh, your Supe smell! That makes more sense. Yeah, I can’t smell the alcohol unless it’s actually open, Ben. If I am pregnant, our baby won’t be affected.”

He nodded as he let go before you walked down the aisle, picking out a few drinks you liked and a few Ben liked. He followed you around the store pushing the cart, lightly scolding you every time you reached above your head or for something that looked slightly heavy.

“Oh you two are an adorable couple!” An elderly woman exclaimed, seeing Ben reaching to grab something for you.

“Thank you!” You smiled sweetly.

“How long have you two been together?” she asked. “You remind me so much of my granddaughter and her husband!”

“We’ve been dating for a little over two years now,” you replied. “How old is your granddaughter?”

“She’s pregnant!” Ben informed the woman, who then smiled widely. Before she could congratulate the two of you, Ben exclaimed; “We weren’t even trying or anything, but I got her pregnant! My super sperm just whoosh! Right through the birth control!” Your eyes widened.

“Oh god! I’m sorry!” you called out as the woman hurried away seeming horrified.

You turned to Ben, a shit-eating smile on his face. He was practically glowing with pride.

“What?” he asked, noticing your very unamused look.

“One, why did you feel the need to traumatize that poor lady? And two, I am not pregnant!”

“One, sex is a part of life, she’s not traumatized. And two, stop saying that! How can you be so positive that you aren’t pregnant?”

“Because there’s just no way Ben,” you sighed. He stayed looking at you, a confused look washing over his features. “After all the experiments with Vought, there’s just no way I can be pregnant, Ben.” His smile faded as a sad one found it’s way to you. “I’m sorry.”

“Well…maybe I really do have super sperm?” he suggested, slightly smiling again.

“Ben I’m being serious.” You shook your head a little. “Don’t get your hopes up.”

“Okay, I won’t,” he lied. He bent down and kissed you sweetly. “Let’s go get you that pregnancy test though, because if you really aren’t pregnant then I’m afraid you might have two hearts.”

“I love you,” you laughed a little.

“I love you too,” he replied.

When you reached the pregnancy test section, unfortunately the most trusted brand was ‘too high up on the shelf’ so, of course, Ben grabbed it.

“Uh, could you grab two?” you asked after he tossed one into the cart. Ben furrowed his brows a little. “These tests aren’t always accurate, if we want to be sure we should get two.”

“Wait, these tests aren’t accurate?”

“Not always,” You shrugged a little.

“Then we need way more than two!” he exclaimed. He proceeded to grab about ten-or-so more, tossing them all into the cart.

“Yeah that’s a little overkill,” you laughed. “We need three at most.”

“We’re both Supes, we need as many positive pregnancy tests as possible!”

“Okay, well now this cart makes us look like we’re boycotting Trojan. Besides, I can't pee ten times today!”

“You can take some today, some tomorrow; just drink lots of water!”

“Or we could just do the normal thing and I could see a doctor?”

“Hun…you know we can’t,” Ben sighed. He walked around the cart so he could hold you, putting his hands on your waist and pulling you to lean on his chest. He rested his head on yours as he continued very quietly, “If you are pregnant you…you’re a Supe pregnant with another Supe’s baby, that’s not something they’ll just let slide. Who knows what those monsters might do if they find out.”

“Right,” you breathed. “Fine, I’ll take a ridiculous amount of pregnancy tests.”

“Thank you!” He grinned.

**

“Alright,” you said as you held up the first unused pregnancy test, about to head into the bathroom, “here goes nothing.”

“Honey, wait.” Ben stopped you. “Do…Do you want to be pregnant?”

“Yeah.” You shrugged a little. You weren’t sure, really. You’d always assumed you couldn’t have kids so you hadn’t given it much thought.

“You don’t have to take the test,” he said, brows knitted with concern. “We- We can just pretend I never heard the heartbeat and maybe it’ll just…go away.”

“Ben-”

“I want to have kids with you. I really, really fucking do! But I don’t want you to feel pressured into anything! If you don’t want this baby, just…just say the word.”

“Ben, I want kids with you too.” You smiled, taking his hand in your empty one. “I really do! There’s just no way anything down there is working like it should! I mean if Vought didn’t fuck me up, being exposed to your radiation for so long definitely did.”

“Oh,” he mumbled, his expression growing even more sad. “But…I’m clean now, I- I mean the radiation’s all gone?”

“I know, and I’m not blaming you for one second Ben, it’s all Vought,” you replied quickly. “However, if by some miracle I am pregnant I’ll be fucking thrilled! I just don’t want you to be disappointed; you seem really excited about this and I’m worried about what’s gonna happen when I walk back out and this test is negative.”

“If it turns out you really aren’t pregnant, nothing’s gonna change between us! I mean, I’ll definitely get my hearing checked out and maybe you should get your heart looked at, but after that we’ll go back to bacon, burgers, and booze!”

You let out a laugh. God, you loved the man standing in front of you.

“Okay.” You smiled.

“I love you,” he said before kissing you. “Now get in there and pee!”

“I love you!” you exclaimed before walking into the bathroom.

**

Three hours and five pregnancy tests later (yes, definitely overkill, but you both wanted to be sure), you stood with Ben in the bathroom and stared at the results sitting on the counter. One negative, four positives. And yet, there was still a part of you that wouldn’t let yourself believe it was true.

You heard Ben laughing a little so you looked at him through the mirror.

“Oh my god!” he exclaimed. “You’re pregnant!” You smiled as you watched tears of joy begin to fall down his face. “You- Fuck! We’re gonna have a baby!?” He took your face in his hands and kissed you before quite literally falling to his knees.

“Ben?” you asked, a little concerned.

“I love you so fucking much!” he looked up at you. He sat up and wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling your abdomen against his face. “Hello little guy!” He mumbled against you.

“Or girl!” you corrected. “Or non-binary person!”

“I was using ‘guy’ as an umbrella term,” he replied, not moving, your heart swelling with pride. “That’s why I didn’t say ‘boy’.”

“I love you,” you laughed a little.

“Hear that little one? Your mommy loves me!” He still spoke to your stomach.

You couldn’t help the tears streaming down your face at this point, you were so happy to see him this excited. You felt the fear you had about this pregnancy, albeit temporarily, wash away and be replaced with pure joy.

**

Ben was staring at the computer getting more and more frustrated with himself with each passing second.

“God-fuckin’-damnit!” he mumbled, putting his face in his hands.

“Ben? What’s wrong?”

“I thought you were asleep?” He looked up at you, suddenly very worried. “Are you okay? Is it something with the baby?” You let out a soft laugh as you placed a kiss on the crown of his head.

“I’m fine Ben,” you mumbled into his hair. “Why’re you still up? I thought you were coming to bed after your shower?”

“Well, while I was in the shower I realized I know absolutely nothing about how to take care of you or a baby so I figured I should order some books but I can’t navigate this fucking website!”

“Can I help?” you asked, taking a seat on his lap after he nodded. “What books were you thinking? Any specific ones? Or just pregnancy books in general?”

“Just books in general,” he replied. He snaked his arms around you, gently securing your back against his chest.

“You know…I really should see a doctor soon to be sure our baby’s okay,” you said as you searched through Amazon’s selection of books.

“I know,” he sighed. “Is it alright if I ask Hughie to find a trustworthy doctor that won’t rat us out?”

“That’d be perfect, Ben.”

Part 2

[sweetbans29]

Pups - CC

Pairing: Caitlin Clark x Reader

Summary: You and Caitlin just keep missing each other until she decides it's been long enough (based on THIS request)

Warnings: just fluff

Word Count: 2.8k

Sweetbans Masterlist

AN: I am switching the request up a little to make it fit a little better since it is set post-college for Caitlin and Kate, I hope it makes sense when you read it!

When you moved to Indiana for work, the first thing you did was head to the local animal shelter. It was your first time living alone and you hated the idea of being truly alone. You walked in expecting to come out with a sweet pup and ended up walking out with two, Pebbles and Bam Bam. When you learned they were surrendered together, there was no way you were going to separate them.

Bringing P&B home was nothing shy of eventful. The second they walked through the door, they were already making it their home. They are the reason your single ass upgraded from a queen bed to a king bed, ensuring the three of you would all have enough room to sleep comfortably together. Considering they were both medium sized dogs, you didn't really understand how you all didn't fit on your queen but your love for your two fur-babies was enough to make the switch.

Your two companions were the sweetest. They typically don't bark inside and are excellently trained.

Since you live in an apartment and work from home, you take them out often to make sure they stay active and so you don't go stir crazy. It works out well. You have found several local restaurants that love Pebbles and Bam Bam and have even met several people who frequent the same places as you. They have helped you build a little community in a place that is starting to feel like home.

It is late Tuesday morning when you take P&B out for their second walk of the day. As you set outside of your door you feel a immediate tug on Bam Bam's leash. You have just enough time to close your door before you are being guided in the wrong direction.

"Bams, chill out," you say as you gather yourself and adjust their leashes.

"Why hello there," a voice says. You look over to see a young man standing holding a trash bag. Bam Bam at his feet sniffing his shoes. Pebbles is much more reserved and looks at the man as if she doesn't quite know what to think.

"Hi," you say thinking the man was talking to you. You quickly realize that his full attention was on Bam Bam who is now running in circles greeting him. The man looks up and smiles lightly at you.

"Hi," he says, attention now on you. "I'm Colin, I believe I am your neighbor."

Colin looks to be a few years younger than you. Your first impression is that he is well-mannered and doesn't shy away from conversation.

"Hi Colin," you say and then introduce yourself. You extend your hand to shake his and you see P&B sitting politely as if they were waiting for you to introduce them.

"Your dogs are very well mannered," Colin says looking down at them.

"They are. I don't know how I was able to end up with them but it was almost as if they chose me when I walked into the shelter," you say with a little laugh. "This is Pebbles and Bam Bam."

"May I pet them?" Colin asks as he sets the trash bag he is carrying down and squats in front of P&B.

"Oh yes! Of course! They would love that," you say.

Colin puts his hand up to let the two dogs sniff it before he begins petting them. Bam Bam being the friendlier of the two has no problem with Colin right our the gate. Pebbles on the other hand, is still friendly but is more skeptical about the new person in front of her. She sniffs his hand but just stares at him.

"The one on your left is Bam Bam, he loves everyone and will be your best friend. Pebbles is on your right and she takes a little longer to warm up to people but once she does, she is a sweetheart and won't leave you alone," you say as Pebbles looks up at you.

"Are they Australian Sheppards?" Colin asks giving all his attention to Bam Bam who is eating it up.

"They are," you say. "I was surprised to see them in the shelter but they weren't there long. They were surrendered just a few days before I went in - sounded like their previous owner passed away."

Bam Bam now has Colin sitting on the ground while he sits right next to him, absorbing all the pets. Pebbles is still sitting at a distance but has laid down, now just observing Colin. You let them interact and watch at how much Bam Bam loves him.

"Bams is a fan of yours," you say. "Give Pebbles a few meetings then she will be just like Bam."

Pebbles stands and stretches as she hears her name, looking at you as if she is saying she is ready to walk.

"I sure hope so! They are already my favorite out of everyone I've met in the building," Colin says and you pretend to be offended. He laughs.

"I can't blame you, they are my favorite too," you say as you both head to the elevator. The two of you talk on the ride down and only part ways after Bam Bam says goodbye to his new friend.

You get back to work when you return from your walk. It is only Tuesday but your week has started off to be a good one.

Caitlin gets home and is exhausted from morning work-outs. When she enters the door she sees dog hair by the entrance and is curious as to where it came from. She just cleaned on Sunday.

"Colin!" Caitlin yells as she makes her way to the kitchen. "Why is there dog hair in the apartment?"

Colin emerges from his room with a smile on his face.

"It is probably Bam Bam's," he says as if Caitlin should know what that means. She gives him a questioning look.

"Bam Bam is the Australian Sheppard that lives next door. He has a sister, Pebbles but she hasn't quite warmed up to me yet. She will be in no time though." Colin says.

"Pebbles? Bam Bam? What are the Flintstones living next door or something?" Caitlin asks.

"Ahhh! That's why the names sounded familiar. I remember when mom and dad would put that on before school," Colin says. "And no, their owner was not apart of the Flintstones."

Caitlin laughs.

"You would love Pebbles and Bam Bam," Colin says. "They are the sweetest. Their owner was also pretty cute too."

Caitlin raises her eyebrows at her younger brother. "A cute neighbor?"

"Ya, not my type but she is cute. Honestly seems more up your ally but we only talked for like 10 minutes," Colin says.

"I don't have a type," Caitlin says with a little scoff. Now it is Colin's turn to laugh.

"You so have a type," he says as he makes his way back to his room.

Caitlin stands at their kitchen island and thinks on if she has a type. She wouldn't say she does, she doesn't feel like she has dated enough to have a type. Colin is just instigating. Yeah, that's it - her brother is just trying to get in her head about the cute neighbor. Caitlin tells herself that before heading into her room.

The next time you run into Colin is on your way back into the building. It is a few weeks after your first encounter with him and Bam Bam goes crazy.

"Bams!" You yell as your pup takes off sprinting to Colin. Both you and Pebbles follow closely behind.

"Bam Bam1" Collin says with the same excitement Bam is greeting him with. Colin immediately sets down his bag and pets Bam.

"I've missed you buddy," Colin says as Bam wiggles his butt in excitement. Pebbles also goes up to Colin, sniffing his knee then looks up at him. Colin takes notices and holds one hand to meet Pebble. She sniffs him as her behind starts to wiggle a little in excitement. Colin begins to slowly pet Pebbles and she lets him for a little before making her way to sit right next to your foot.

"Well that is nice progress," you say with a little laugh. Bam still going crazy over seeing his best friend.

"Hey, I will take what I can get with her," Colin says.

The two of you talk on your way back into the building. He talks about how he is only here until his school starts up again and you talk about what you do for work.

"Is your apartment empty when you aren't here?" You ask as the elevator reaches your floor.

"No, it is actually my sister's apartment. She is here full time, I am only here when I am on break," Colin explains.

"Ahhh, I see. Well don't tell Bam Bam that, he is going to be really sad when you head back to school," you say.

"Just one more semester and then I will be here full time!" Colin says with an innocent excitement. "So he doesn't need to be without me for long!"

You laugh.

You end up inviting him on a Saturday hike with the pups which he immediately accepts. He mentions how that is something his sister loves to do but has work the Saturday that's planned. You mention having her join next time and he agrees.

The two of you build a friendship and you find yourself really enjoying Colin's company. Almost as much as Bam Bam does but you don't think anyone could match the excitement Bams has when he sees people he loves.

Pebbles, like you said, warmed up to Colin. She still greets him with hesitation but lets him pet her and love on her.

Colin tells Caitlin all about you and your pups. Little to your knowledge you are a hot topic in the Clark household. Every time Caitlin gets back from practice, Colin is quick to talk about your most recent outing. He starts off by talking about something cute that Pebbles and Bam Bam did then always goes into how cool you are as a person. It has Caitlin's desire to meet you grow into something she thinks about everyday when she passes your door. She will sometimes slow down in front of your door to see if she can hear you talking to your pups. That is when she realizes that she might actually be jealous of the time that Colin is spending with you. Hell, she hasn't even met you and is jealous. She blames Colin for saying that you are her type after first meeting you.

During Caitlin's next off day, she is determined to meet you. That isn't hard to do considering Colin has plans to go on a walk with you and the pups and she has every intention of crashing it. When Colin calls out that he is going for a walk, Caitlin immediately pops out of her room ready to join.

"I think I will join you today," she says already in athletic shorts and a t-shirt.

"Great!" Colin says. "Bam Bam will love you, he is the softy when it comes to meeting new people. Pebbles will be skeptical at first but just give her some time and she will warm up to you."

Caitlin nods and follows him out the door. Colin walks up to your door and give it a special knock.

"It's open," you yell from the inside and Colin moves to open the door. Caitlin didn't realize the two of you were on such close terms. Leaving your door unlocked for anyone to enter is wild to her considering she has to take so many precautions being who she is.

Once they step through the door, they are greeted by who Caitlin believes to be Pebbles and Bam Bam. Bam Bam makes his way directly to Colin and starts running in excited circles. Who Caitlin suspects to be Pebbles, sits and waits for Colin to come up to greet her.

Once Colin is done saying hi to Bam Bam, he make his way over to Caitlin. Caitlin crouches down and begins to pet the fluffy pup who is excited to meet her. She can't help but fall in love with him on the spot. Pebbles, like Colin said, was much more reserved. She sat at a distance from where Cait stood and just observes her. It is almost as if she is interrogating Caitlin and seeing if she is worthy of knowing her human.

"I'm ready," you say as you pop out of nowhere but head straight to the kitchen. Caitlin barely catches a glimpse of you before you are out of sight again. Colin is already putting Bam Bam's leash on. It's as if he has done it several times before, which he has.

"My sister is coming with us today, if that is okay," Colin says as he struggles with Pebble's leash as she looks at him knowing his struggles.

"Awesome! I finally get to meet her," you say as you grab water for the pups. You finally make your way to the front door with a big smile on your face. Caitlin reciprocates it when she realizes how beautiful you are.

"Hi! It is so nice to finally meet you," you say.

"Same to you, I have heard so much about you and these two little ones for months now but Colin has been keeping you all to himself," Caitlin says and wishes she could have met you sooner, a hint of jealousy reveals itself as she eagerly shakes your hand.

"Wait," you say stopping dead in your tracks. "You're Caitlin Clark."

Caitlin's smile widens at the fact that you know who she is, something she usually tries to avoid when she goes out to preserve any sort of normalcy she can. But when it comes to you, it makes her heart jump.

You turn to Colin and hit him on the shoulder.

"You didn't tell me your sister was Caitlin Clark!" You say to him and he puts his hands up in surrender.

"It is not something I usually go around announcing," he says.

"I don't blame you," you say after thinking for a second.

"Well it is so nice to meet you Caitlin Clark," you say as you reach out your hand to shake hers, introducing yourself. She smiles and repeats your name and it is in that moment that Colin knows he was right about his older sister having a type.

"I see you have already met Pebbles and Bam Bam," you say looking down at your babies. Bam Bam is still getting pets from Colin and Pebbles is sitting in between you and Caitlin while she stares up at her.

"I have, Colin has given me the run down," Cait says with a laugh. You join her with a laugh.

"Good, Pebbles will get there eventually - she is just very protective," you say and Caitlin looks down to see how Pebbles has made it clear that she will be staying in between you and Caitlin.

"Well, I look forward to earning her trust," Caitlin says.

The three of you head on the walk. Colin is holding Bam Bam's leash and is a few steps ahead of you, Caitlin, and Pebbles. Pebbles walks right in between you and Caitlin, only moving to sniff something and relieve herself.

You and Caitlin talk the whole time causing Colin to whisper to Bam Bam, 'I told you they would hit it off'. When you get back to your apartment Caitlin wishes the walk was longer.

"Would you and the pups like to come over for dinner?" Caitlin asks, surprising both you and Colin.

"Are you sure about that?" You ask, knowing some people don't like having animals in their home because of the hair.

"Ya, I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't sure," she says. You nod.

"We would love that," you say with a smile.

"Great," Caitlin says matching your smile. "Why don't you come over around 6ish."

"Sounds great," you say as you enter your apartment. "We will see you tonight!"

Caitlin and Colin head into their apartment and Colin gives her a look.

"You hate when I bring dog hair into the apartment," Colin says. Her inviting you and the dogs over will surely be a cause for there to be more hair than ever before.

"A little dog hair never hurt anybody," she says as she begins to go through the cabinets and fridge to see what she could whip up for dinner.

"Mmmhmmm, I'm pretty sure I remember you saying how it was going to be a 'pain in the ass' to clean when I first started bringing it in," Colin says teasing his older sister.

"Ya well, it's worth it," Caitlin says thinking about the way you eyes smile.

"It's worth it or she's worth it?" Colin asks.

"She's worth is," Caitlin says without hesitation.

AN: Okay but this is absolutely adorable and if you think otherwise, you are wrong. But still, let me know what you think! And as always, thank you for your love and support

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: Queer fantasy, part 1

A note: queer here does not necessarily mean “guarantee of an f/f or m/m ship with a happy ending”, but rather simply a significant presence of queerness. Some of the books feature no romance but has a same gender attracted/trans/a-spectrum lead, or features an m/f relationship with bisexual, trans or aro/ace characters, or simply features a world-building which is heavily queer inclusive in ways that don’t always compare to our own ideas of sexuality and gender. I have however disqualified works where the only queer presence is along the lines of “gay best friend” or a blink and you’ll miss it confirmation that never comes up again.

For queer sci-fi recs, click here! For a masterpost of book rec lists, click here! For more details on the books recommended here, continue under the readmore. Titles marked with * are my personal favorites!

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez*

AKA the book the killed me. Two boys travel throughout their land with the body of a god as her horrible, horrible children try to hunt them down. It’s hard to explain more than that, but trust me when I say the narrative voice and literary techniques are incredibly unique in how they blend past and present, reality and story, lead and bystander. Truly an experience. Features an m/m romance.

The Unbroken (Magic of the Lost series) by C.L. Clark*

Tourraine, who was stolen as a child and trained as a soldier for the empire that conquered her home, is recruited by Luka, the future leader of the conquering country, to root out a rebellion. A game of twisted loyalties and attraction is soon to develop as the two must decide where their priorities lie: with each other, or with their respective countries and people.

Sing the Four Quarters (Quarters series) by Tanya Huff*

Though a royal by birth, princess Annice renounced her throne to become a bard, a musician who through training can Sing elemental spirits to do their bidding. Ten years later, she goes on the run for two counts of treason, first by imperiling the succession order by becoming pregnant, second by helping her ex, and the father of her child, escape the palace dungeons and a death sentence. Bisexual lead in an f/f relationship. When I first read this book I described it as, and I quote, 'a fucking delight', and I stand by that.

The Unspoken Name (The Serpent Gates duology) by C.L. Clark*

The sort of portal fantasy you get when all the worlds connected by portals are fantasy worlds, and none of them are ours. The portals themselves become simply a part of the worldbuilding that the characters use to travel between fascinating places, and it’s all really cool. It follows Csorwe (lesbian orc assassin whom I love), who grew up in a cult, indoctrinated as a child sacrifice to a god. But on the day she was meant to die, she instead chose to follow a powerful wizard and train to become his loyal servant and sword. Aside from being an excellent fantasy, it’s also a close look at the hard path of unlearning indoctrination and the search for love and validation where you’ll never find it, and learning to live for yourself. Multiple queer leads.

The Jasmine Throne (The Burning Kingdoms series) by Tasha Suri

A princess held captive by her own brother, who wants to see her dead, tries to trick a servant into helping her escape, but with undeniable attraction growing between them and the servant having her own goals of liberation things quickly get complicated, both between them and in the country at large as rebellion and dangerous magic brews. Sapphic romance.

The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos duology) by Samantha Shannon

Queen Sabran's lineage has protected the country of Inys from dragons for a thousand years, but now the safety of their land is threatened as Sabran is yet to conceive and assassins are closing in. Lady-in-waiting Ead is secretly part of a society of hidden mages, and is using her position to protect her queen. Meanwhile, on the other side of the sea, dragonrider Tané is faced with an impossible choice. The fates of all three are intertwined as they attempt to stop the rise of a great dragon. 800+ page epic fantasy. Sapphic romance.

The Raven and the Reindeer by T. Kingfisher*

Young adult, fairy tale retelling of the Snow Queen. When Gerta's friend Kai is stolen away by the evil Snow Queen, Gerta must depart on a mission to save him. On the way, she encounters, among others, a talking raven and a pretty robber girl who become her allies. Sapphic romance.

The Rise of Kyoshi (Kyoshi duology) by F.C. Yee*

Young adult. Set in the Avatar universe, but aimed at an older audience than the animated series. Though she will one day be one of the most well-known avatars of the land, for now, young Kyoshi is but a humble girl who has yet to find out her true destiny as the bender of all four elements and keeper of balance of her world. When betrayal strikes and a dear friend is lost, Kyoshi goes on the run alongside fiesty firebender Rangi to find out the truth of her destiny and power. Sapphic romance.

Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes series) by Travis Baldree

Viv is tired of adventures and bloodshed - now she wants a peaceful life, and decides to go after it by opening a café. But going from warrior to small business owner is easier said than done, especially when Viv's old life comes knocking. Best described as a cozy fantasy, with a largely low-stakes but heartwarming plot and a sapphic romance.

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

Gyen Jebi is an artist, but making a living is difficult. When offered a job by the Ministry of Armor to paint the magical sigils that animate their automaton soldiers, they have little choice but to accept. But as Jebi sees the dark depths of the government, especially the shocking source of their magical paint, they must find a way to resist. Perhaps by freeing the Ministry's mighty automaton dragon... Nonbinary main character.

Crier's War by Nina Varela

Young adult. Who says sci-fi has monopoly on robots? In Crier’s War, artificially created automae have defeated and subjugated humans, who live as second class citizens. Young Ayla goes undercover as a servant, meaning to assassinate automae girl and Sovereign’s daughter Crier. This would be easier if the two weren’t quick to develop feelings for each other.

Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky trilogy) by Rebecca Roanhorse

In a pre-columbian inspired world, sea captain Xiala, gifted with an unusual connection to the sea, travels with a mysterious scarred and blind passenger toward a dangerous goal as prophecy heralds the return of a god. Features among others bisexual and nonbinary leads.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin*

In a world regularly torn apart by natural disasters, a big one finally strikes and society as we know it falls, leaving people floundering to survive in a post apocalyptic world, its secrets and past to be slowly revealed. We follow a mother as she races through this world to find and save her daughter, stolen away by a father who just murdered their son after having discovered a terrible secret of their family. Does feature multiple queer characters and a main polyam relationship, but DO NOT read this expecting happy queer relationships as this series handles many dark subjects (you should still read it though, it's incredibly good).

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan*

Young adult. Kids who can walk between our world and a magical one get recruited into a magical school that trains them to be either fighters or diplomats. Our lead decides that fighting is stupid and that he’s going to peacefully solve every conflict ever, all while being the most delightfully obnoxious little brat possible and getting involved in the most bisexual love triangle imaginable. Very good, funny, and heart-felt coming of age story.

Our Bloody Pearl D.N. Bryn

A siren who’s been held captive by a pirate is freed, but too injured to survive on their own as their tail has become paralyzed. Another pirate captain decides to help them out and has to work to win their trust. Fairly fluffy and light on world-building and plot (though there is a bit of a revenge story in there), with a focus on character and recovery. m/nb romance with an asexual love interest.

A Master of Djinn by P. Djélí Clark

Set in an alternate 1910’s steampunk Cairo, where djinn and other creatures live alongside humans. We get to follow an investigator as she races to catch a criminal using a powerful object to control djinn and stir unrest. Fantastically creative and fresh, and also features a buddy cop dynamic between two female leads as well as a sapphic romance.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho*

As a toddler, Jessamyn Teoh left Malaysia. Now a young adult, she’s broke, closeted, and moving back. There she’s faced with the ghost of her estranged grandmother, Ah Ma, who was a medium and avatar of the deity the Black Water Sister in life. Now she demands Jess' help in exacting revenge against a gang boss that offended her god. Meanwhile, all Jess wants is to get her life back on track.

Heaven Official's Blessing (Heaven Official's Blessing series) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Once, Xie Lian was the beloved crown prince of a kingdom. Then he rose to godhood at a young age, and was expected to take a step back from his land and his people, but in his inability to do so ended up losing everything. Now, eight hundred years later, Xie Lian has ascended to godhood for a third time, forgotten by mortals and the laughing stock of Heaven. Trying to rebuild his reputation, Xie Lian sets off on a mission, and on it encounters an infamous demon king who inspires fear in all of heaven. M/M romance.

Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore*

Young Adult. Jane is invited by an old acquaintance to an extravagant gala in an island mansion, stranding her among the rich and glamorous. But being surrounded by rich people is the least of Jane’s problems: the mansion is housing secrets, some of them tied to Jane’s own family. The mansion offers her five choices, all of them leading her down different paths and different answers. Jane, Unlimited is a choose-your-own adventure story of sorts, featuring five different endings in five different genres, each more off the wall bonkers than the next. It also features a bisexual main character!

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children series) by Seanan McGuire*

A tumblr favorite, the Wayward Children novellas feature a school open to children who have returned from adventures in other realms and now have trouble adapting back to regular life. Some installments are set in our world, others follow children as they have their otherworldly adventures. The main characters vary between books, but are generally pretty diverse with among others asexual, trans, intersexual and sapphic leads. Both funny and dark, it takes a closer look at the trauma many endure growing up different.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern*

Surreal and fairy tale-esque, The Starless Sea is stories within a story, following graduate student Zachary as he finds a strange book which, in-between other tales, tells a story from his own childhood. Trying to find out how this came to be, Zachary gets involved with a pink-haired woman and a handsome man who are doing their utmost to protect a strange, otherworldly library available only through magical doors. It’s a book hard to put in words, but which I once described as “romantic without being a romance while stile having a love story at it’s core”, and which can be summed up only as “an Experience”. It’s also quite gay!

Not Even Bones by Rebecca Schaeffer*

Young adult. Nita isn’t a murderer - technically. She just dissects the bodies of supernatural beings her mother brings home and sells for parts on the black market. But when her mother brings home a still living victim, Nita has had enough and frees him. As it turns out, no good deed goes unpunished as Nita is betrayed, her own nature as a supernatural entity outed as she’s kidnapped and placed behind bars. Now she must find a way to escape before she's sold for parts. Features two aroace leads and a queerplatonic relationship, though it isn’t made textual until book 3 and briefly masquerades as a romance, which is pretty hilarious.

The Last Sun (The Tarot Sequence) by K.D. Edwards

Urban fantasy. Rune Saint John is the only survivor of the massacre against the Sun Court years prior. Now he’s been hired by Lady Judgement to find her missing son, Addam. Alongside his companion and bodyguard Brand, Rune goes on to question Addam's family and business contacts all over New Atlantis, island city and home of the Atlanteans after their original home was destroyed by ordinary humans. But the more he digs, the more Rune finds clues that Addam's absence is connected to Rune's own tragic past. M/M romance.

Gossamer Axe by Gael Baudino

Centuries ago in Ireland, Chairiste Ní Cummen was trained in the secrets of music and magic. But her pride was her downfall, trapping her and her lover in the land of the Sidh. Only Chairiste escaped, hoping to one day win her lover's freedom in musical battle with the fairy that holds her captive. Now she is Christa Cruitare, harp teacher in the modern world and all but resigned to her loss. Until she comes across a great new music: heavy metal. Taking one last chance to win her lover's freedom, Christa sets out to gather other skilled musicians and bring them with her in her final battle. Sapphic romance.

Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool

Pantomime (Micah Grey trilogy) by Laura Lam

Young adult. On the surface, Gene's life is that of a noble debutante. In reality, she has secrets: she's both male and female, and has magical abilities that hasn’t been seen in an age. In the face of a betrayal from her parents, Gene runs away from home, dresses up as a boy, and joins a circus. Intersex main character.

Ghost Walk by Kay Solo

Maaya Sahni can see ghosts, and does her best to survive in her small isolated town by keeping her head down. But when an entire street full of people is spirited away by faceless specters that scares even ghosts, Maaya must find a way to stop the specters. Lesbian main character.

Swordspoint (Riverside series) by Ellen Kushner

In Riverside, duels are the way to settle disputes, and Richard St. Vier is the undisputed master of the sword - at least until a death is met not with awe but with outrage. M/M romance.

[katelynnwrites]

We’ll Be A Fine Line (We’ll Be Alright) | Felicitas Rauch

warnings: descriptions of blood, injury and general angst along with mentions of smut

word count: 4612

summary: feli accidentally injures you during an international game

a/n: happy monday. i’ve actually always wanted to write this prompt so i’m pretty excited about this. also i couldn’t resist adding that last part, i’m not sorry 😂

You love international breaks. The chance to represent your country on the world’s stage is not something you would ever take for granted.

After you made the move to Germany, to play for VfL Wolfsburg, international breaks become even more special.

They become one of the few times you’re able to be in the country of your birth, with the friends you have grown up with.

This time, you’ve been given an even more special chance, a rare opportunity to play against your German, Wolfsburg teammates.

You’re especially looking forward to playing against one particular teammate.

She’s a defender and you’re a striker. It’s a cliche really.

Ahead of the upcoming Arnold Clark Cup, your girlfriend had bet you that you wouldn’t be able to score against her and you had countered her bet with your own, that she wouldn’t be able to prevent you from scoring.

The reward of the bet is interesting, that the winner will be able to do anything she likes with the other.

And you really really want to win. The thought of being able to have your way with a certain Felicitas Rauch being more than enough incentive for you.

******

England playing against Germany is the last fixture of the tournament so playing against Feli isn’t really on your mind yet.

You do however, text her frequently and in return, receive a constant stream of TikToks that she has found funny.

You’re laughing at one of them when Georgia plonks down in the seat next to you.

‘What’s so funny?’

‘Nothing Georgie.’

‘Aw come on! You’re never here anymore and now that you are, you won’t even tell me what you’re laughing about.’ Georgia pouts.

You soften at her words and quickly unlock your phone, showing her the video Feli had sent you.

The Manchester City player chuckles.

‘That is funny.’ She says and you laugh again.

‘I didn’t know you had a dog though.’

‘Me?’

‘Yes you? Your lockscreen is a brown poodle.’ Georgia says in confusion.

‘Oh! She’s not exactly my dog.’

‘Okay…’ Georgia’s confusion only increases and she makes to ask more questions only to be unable to do so because Sarina starts giving instructions.

As you listen to your coach, you glance down at your lockscreen of Cinnamon before unlocking your phone once more, this time to look at your wallpaper.

It’s a good thing Georgia had only seen your lockscreen because your wallpaper, a photo of Felicitas kissing you would have been a lot harder to explain.

******

It had completely slipped your mind to tell your England teammates about Feli.

There had just been so many things going on, your recent move to Germany, a new apartment for you to settle, a new style of play for you to adapt to and your struggle to learn a new language.

Your relationship with Feli had started amongst all that and before you knew it, months had passed by.

How could you tell them about your German girlfriend now?

******

On the contrary, Feli’s national teammates know all about you.

So many of them played at Wolfsburg with you and the rest have heard all about how head over heels Felicitas is for you.

They would never miss an opportunity to tease Feli who is usually reserved and a tad shy.

The perfect opportunity lies in whenever she calls you.

Somehow even when you are countries apart, you always manage to make your girlfriend blush.

Her German teammates love you for that and you frequently get sent photos of Feli’s red cheeks during the international breaks.

******

Having headed up to your hotel room early, you make the most of your roommate’s absence to call Felicitas.

She answers almost immediately, her smile being the first thing you see.

‘Hi my love.’

‘Hello.’ She greets, cheeks already dusted with pink from the term of endearment.

You grin, ‘How’s England treating you?’

‘Good but I miss you.’

‘I miss you too Feli but we’ll see each other tomorrow.’

‘I can’t wait.’ Your girlfriend murmurs.

She adjusts her phone, giving you a glimpse of her surroundings. It looks like she’s out on her hotel room’s balcony.

Having finished propping her phone up, she cheekily asks, ‘Ready to lose?’

You laugh, ‘You wish.’

‘Liebling, being able to do whatever I want to you is pretty good motivation. There’s no way that I am losing.’ Feli states.

Confidently, she adds, ‘I’m sure you’ll like what I have planned.’

‘Well as nice as that sounds, I think that both you and I will prefer what I have in mind for when I win.’

There’s no mistaking the tone in your voice.

Feli swallows hard, her blush intensifying as she stammers, ‘S-Sorry liebling. No can do.’

You giggle and your girlfriend looks away in embarrassment, clearing her throat.

‘I love you but I won’t be losing. You’ll see.’

‘We’ll see.’ You agree.

You’re content to just look at her but you hear the door of your hotel room opening.

‘I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you Felicitas.’

Feli nods, having heard your roommate from her end of the call.

‘Ich liebe dich. I’m really excited to see you.’

She ends the call, just as your roommate enters the room fully.

‘Who were you talking to?’ Leah asks curiously.

‘A teammate from Wolfsburg.’ You answer honestly.

‘She speaks German to you?’

‘She’s trying to teach me to pick it up faster. I’ve not been too good at it so far.’ You laugh self deprecatingly and your roommate giggles.

‘Are you feeling okay about playing against your club teammates tomorrow? It must be a little weird for you.’ Leah asks, unintentionally slipping into her role as captain.

‘It is but I’ll be okay Lee. We had a conversation about it before I left Germany. We promised that there would be no hard feelings and we’re actually quite looking forward to it.’

******

Sarina and the other coaching staff had asked you about how your German teammates at Wolfsburg played. You had given them as much as you could, telling them about your personal experiences with their playing styles.

They have also come up with their predictions for Germany’s starting lineup.

It’s no surprise to you that they think Feli will be playing.

Your girlfriend had gone from being left out of the 2019 World Cup to being Germany’s starting leftback and you could not be any prouder of her.

You see the work she puts in day in and day out and you know that she deserves to be there.

When you arrive at the stadium, you see that Sarina is right. Feli is starting for Germany and as you line up near her in the tunnel, you give her a brief hug that lets her know that you are proud of her.

You know that the extra tight squeeze she gives you in return means that she understands and is proud of you too.

******

Ellen White scores first, with you assisting her goal.

You can’t help but smirk at Feli as you walk back to your position.

She rolls her eyes at you and later when you’re within earshot, reminds you that you haven’t won the bet yet as you weren’t the one who scored.

******

The rest of the game goes as expected, with Germany playing physically and England playing the ball forward as much as possible.

Your Wolfsburg teammates have landed quite a few tackles on you but have helped you up each time.

You don’t take it to heart, having expected it already. It’s not like you have not done your fair share.

Playing in Germany has rubbed off on you and you now have a tendency of being a little more physical.

You haven’t had any direct contact with Felicitas though, the defender being kept occupied by your English teammates.

By the 94th minute, you know you’re going to win. While you yourself have not scored, Millie and Fran have added to England’s goal tally.

Lina Magull scoring in the 41st minute is not enough for Germany.

You’re thinking about ways to somehow convince your girlfriend that you’ve won the bet anyway as you begin lining up for a corner.

It’s in Germany’s favour but you’re not particularly worried, knowing that Mary has the safest hands around and that this corner will probably be one of the last actions of the game.

Feli’s taking the corner and you focus back on the game just in time to see the ball fly.

You jump up, along with everyone else but Leah is the one who gets her head on the ball.

She clears it and then you’re off, sprinting clear of the other players. Maybe you would be able to win your bet properly.

The ball gets passed to you and you make a run for the goal, only to be taken out a fraction of a second later.

You scream.

There’s no other way to express the horrific pain you are in.

You’re not even aware of the way your body curls in on itself or the way your hand blindly clutches at your injured ankle.

Sobbing into the grass, you cry out again as gentle hands turn you over.

If your eyes weren’t squeezed shut, you would see that your girlfriend looks like she’s about to throw up.

‘I didn’t mean to. Oh my god I never meant to hurt her.’ She repeats, over and over again.

Feli is inconsolable, shaking all over as she looks at you on the ground.

Your English teammates push her away, in their rush to get to you.

She doesn’t register Keira shouting at her or Lucy holding the ginger back.

Laura grabs her and moves her aside, just enough so that she can still see you but not be in the way of the worried England team.

‘She’s going to hate m-me.’ Felicitas stutters.

‘Hey Feli she won’t. It was an accident.’ Laura tries but Feli isn’t hearing any of it. She trembles harder when Laura hugs her tightly, the Eintracht Frankfurt player doing her best to keep her friend’s breakdown from the cameras.

The German players gather around Felicitas, helping Laura to block her.

Your English teammates are trying to do the same for you.

You’re still crying, unable to answer any of the questions the medical staff are asking you.

‘Feli.’ You whimper.

‘Felicitas.’ You plead again.

Leah squeezes your hand. You hadn’t even realised that she’s holding your hand.

‘Yes. It’s Felicitas Rauch that tackled you.’ Leah tells you, thinking that it’s what you want to know.

It isn’t.

‘I want Felicitas. I want my girlfriend.’ You beg.

Leah blinks but doesn’t question you, knowing that you are in no shape to properly answer anything.

She just gets you your girlfriend.

******

‘She didn’t mean it.’ Alex Popp states, as Leah approaches.

‘I hope not. Rauch needs to go to her girlfriend now.’

‘No. I can’t be near her. She won’t want me there.’ Feli cries, furiously shaking her head.

Leah glances at you and then back towards her before firmly saying, ‘Look I don’t know you. But she’s in a lot of pain and asking for you so I’m bringing you to her whether you like it or not.’

******

‘Liebling, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I should never have gone in for that tackle.’ Felicitas rushes out.

‘Feli…’ You gasp and your girlfriend chokes back a sob, taking your hand in hers.

‘I’m sorry.’

‘It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean to but Feli it really really hurts.’

You’re trying your hardest not to cry more but a few tears slip free anyway.

The expression on your girlfriend’s face looks like heartbreak but she whispers, ‘I know. I know. You’ve got to let the medics take you off the pitch now okay?

Trying to be brave, you nod and the medical staff takes it as their cue to put you on the stretcher.

‘Please don’t leave me.’ You beg and Felicitas scrubs her tears off her face. She angrily thinks to herself that she doesn’t have to right to cry.

‘I promise. I’m right here liebling.’

Her gaze remains on your face but the briefest glance at your bloodied and bruised ankle, now visible thanks to the medical staff who had removed your boot and rolled down your sock makes her want to be sick again.

Feli’s face is pale and tear stained but she never lets go of your hand.

She’s right beside you, holding your hand and walking off the pitch with you.

The referee decides to end the match there but that doesn’t matter to your girlfriend who would have walked off the pitch anyway, regardless of what the referee and coaches had to say.

******

Your girlfriend is carefully stroking your hair, doing her best to soothe the pain she had unintentionally caused you.

The bed you are sitting up on is cold but Feli’s hands are warm. You try to focus on that, letting her familiar touch give you some comfort.

The medical staff are examining your ankle now but by just looking at it, you think that there’s little chance you would escape with a mild injury. You are sure you would be on the sidelines for a while.

When your team doctor looks up at you and gives you a little head shake, you know your suspicions have been proven.

‘I’m really sorry but you’re definitely going to have to go to the hospital now. We’ll contact your club and let them know.’

‘How bad is it?’

‘A few months out at least. Your ankle is badly sprained and the hospital will give you a more thorough x-ray but from what I can tell, it’s been fractured.’

Your face crumples and you bury your face in Feli’s shoulder. Her arms wrap around you, holding you close.

‘I’ll give you a moment.’ The doctor murmurs before leaving.

‘I’m so sorry.’ Felicitas breathes.

You cry even harder, the throbbing pain in your ankle doing you no favours.

Your girlfriend inhales shakily, kissing the side of your head before beginning to pull away.

You stiffen the instant you feel her loosening her grip on you.

Your eyes widen in fear and you panickedly ask, ‘Feli w-where are you going?

‘Don’t you want me to go? I’m the reason you can’t play let alone walk. I hurt you liebling.’

‘No. You didn’t mean to. Stay please. I need you. Please Felicitas, don’t go.’

‘I won’t.’ She whispers, her heart breaking all over again as she realises exactly how vulnerable you are.

‘You promise?’

Your girlfriend hugs you close, ‘I promise. As long as you want me here, I’m here.’

******

You don’t want Felicitas to leave your side. You think she understands as well because she’s still sitting by the side of your bed and holding your hand when you wake up.

Her Germany kit has been replaced by a hoodie and shorts so you think that one of her teammates must have helped her out.

The German player’s eyebags have always been pronounced but the sleepless night she has had have made them so much darker, like bruises under her eyes.

‘You’re awake.’ She mumbles, when she feels you moving around.

You frown, trying to wiggle your toes only to fail. The new cast on your leg sees to that.

You don’t remember it being there so you assume that the doctors at the hospital must have done it after you had taken the painkillers which knocked you right out.

‘Felicitas? Does this mean I’ve won my bet?’

‘The bet? Liebling, that’s what you want to talk about right now?’ Feli’s tone is incredulous and surprising to you.

‘Why not Feli?’

‘Because I hurt you. My mistimed tackle broke your ankle.’

‘Fractured.’ You correct but your girlfriend winces all the same.

‘You are here because of me. You won’t be playing for three months. Can you please yell at me? Be angry at me liebling.’ Felicitas insists.

‘No.’ You answer simply.

‘No?’

‘I’m not mad at you. I know that it was an accident. You would never hurt me intentionally.’

‘I would never and it was an accident but please be angry at me. I deserve to have you hate me.’ Your girlfriend begs.

‘No. I will never hate you Felicitas. I love you. You’re the love of my life.’ You easily say.

The words come naturally to you because it’s all true. You know it in your heart.

Felicitas bites back a sob, ‘I love you so much. You’re the love of my life too.’

‘Don’t hate yourself Feli. It really was an accident. An unfortunate one but an accident nevertheless.’ You softly plead.

Your girlfriend exhales shakily, leaning in close and pressing a kiss onto your forehead.

You shiver, closing your eyes and soaking in the feel of her lips on your skin.

‘Feli?’ You breathe.

‘What is it?’

Your request is barely audible, ‘Can you kiss me please?’

Felicitas kisses your cheek carefully in response.

‘A proper kiss Felicitas. I-I haven’t had one of those for weeks and I miss it. I’ve missed you.’

You’re so shy that prior to the events of the last twenty four hours, Feli would have teased you before showering you in as many kisses as possible.

But now she quietly checks, ‘Are you sure? I have missed you so incredibly much but I don’t want to cause you more pain.’

‘You won’t. Felicitas I know you won’t.’ You swear fervently and your girlfriend gives in.

Her lips brush against yours gently and so tentatively that it makes you want to cry.

‘More. Please Feli please.’

Felicitas can’t deny you. She has never been good at doing so but now she finds herself completely unable to even try.

Her hands cradle your face tenderly and she gives you the most loving kiss she can.

You would have cried if the door of your hospital room didn’t open. As it is, Feli pulls away from you with a sharp jerk.

‘Okay then…Is this a bad time?’ Leah asks.

Behind her, Alessia and Tooney’s faces are tomato red from the display of affection. It makes you giggle.

‘No. I’d say come in but you’re already inside.’ You joke.

Leah laughs and places the bouquet of flowers she had been holding on your bedside table.

‘They’re beautiful, thanks Lee.’ You genuinely tell her.

The England captain smiles at you, ruffling your hair in the manner that only an older sister does.

Alessia and Ella settle themselves onto the couch along the side of your hospital room and you give them a warm smile.

Felicitas stands awkwardly beside you and as Leah starts telling you about how the other England girls will be along any minute, she murmurs, ‘I’ll give you a moment liebling.’

‘No don’t go. Stay. I’d like you to meet my national teammates.’

Your girlfriend hesitates and you add, ‘They’ll be nice to you, I promise. You can tell them what the doctor said because I was asleep for most of it.’

‘Okay…’ Feli sits back down by your bed and you grin, reaching out to intertwine your fingers with hers.

Leah looks at you expectantly and you sheepishly grin at her.

‘I’m sorry for not telling you earlier but this is my girlfriend. I always meant to introduce you guys to her but I guess she made her own introduction.’

All three of your national teammates chuckle at your sense of humor.

‘Nice to meet you.’ Feli cautiously says.

‘It’s nice to meet you too Rauch. Next time have a less dramatic introduction okay?’ Leah teases.

You laugh and Feli has a tiny smile on her face when she agrees.

******

You think your hospital room must be the noisiest one around. You’re actually worried that the nurses would kick all of your fellow players out.

When Laura Freigang arrives, bringing a pack of Sharpies along with a couple of other German players, the noise level gets even higher.

Your friends argue over who gets to sign your cast first but you put a stop to it.

‘My girlfriend gets to go first.’

Laura hands the Sharpies over without protest.

Felicitas takes it and after a reassuring nod from you, goes over to the end of your bed, where your injured foot is propped up on a pillow.

Gingerly, Feli begins to draw.

She sticks her tongue out in concentration and everyone in the room can see your obvious heart eyes.

Kathy takes a photo subtly.

Felicitas finishes soon after, pressing a kiss onto your forehead before sitting back down at your side.

There’s a small grin on her face and you look at your cast to see a brown dog.

‘Is that meant to be Cinny?’

‘Yeah.’ Feli’s smile widens and you laugh.

‘Thank you.’

There’s a moment where it’s just the two of you in your little bubble before Tooney loudly says, ‘My turn now!’

******

As your fellow players continue to talk, you can see that your girlfriend is exhausted. She rests her head on top of her folded arms that are on your bed.

The dark circles under her eyes are worrying you.

You know she hasn’t slept since before the match so you decide that despite how well meaning your England teammates and Feli’s national teammates are, visiting hours for you are over.

It doesn’t take much convincing on your part. All you had to do was tell a half truth and say that you are tired.

Leah wrangles the English players out and Sara Doorsoun shepherds the German players out so that you’re left alone with your love.

Feli anxiously smooths loose strands of your hair out of your face.

‘You’re tired? Do you want to sleep more liebling?’

‘Only a little and I wouldn’t mind another nap but that’s not why I asked them to leave. I asked them to leave because you need to sleep.’

‘Me?’

‘Yes you. Now get in with me.’ You insist.

The hospital staff had informed you that you wouldn’t be discharged till later in the day so you could let your girlfriend get some rest first.

Felicitas hesitates, eyes flicking down to your injured foot. Your friends have seen to your cast, ensuring that it is now thoroughly decorated.

‘You won’t hurt me. There’s a pillow propping it up so I’ll be okay.’ You assure her, already shifting to the side of your hospital bed to make space for her.

It takes you lifting the covers and staring at her expectantly for her to tentatively settle down beside you.

‘I missed you.’ You mumble into her shoulder.

‘Ich liebe dich.’ Feli promises and you give a contented sigh once you bury your face into her neck.

Inhaling deeply, you begin leaving little kisses on her tanned skin.

Your girlfriend lets out a soft moan.

‘Liebling…now’s not the time or the place.’ She breathily says.

Drawing back slightly, you sheepishly mumble, ‘Sorry.’

Felicitas carefully scoots closer to you, so that your back is pressed against her.

She kisses your shoulder, pushing your hospital gown to the side so that she has access to a larger expanse of skin.

‘Feli this isn’t fair.’

Your voice is tight and it’s taking every ounce of your self control not to turn around and kiss her silly.

‘I thought you said that this isn’t the time or the place?’

‘I’m sorry.’ Your girlfriend apologises but you can feel her smile against your shoulder so you know that she isn’t sorry at all.

Felicitas presses another kiss onto your skin and you audibly groan, ‘My love you’re supposed to be sleeping.’

‘Soon. But first I need you to know.’

‘Know what?’

‘You win the bet. I’m yours.’

You smile, turning to face her with some difficulty.

Your girlfriend’s smile matches yours and you can’t resist tracing her dimple with your finger. It makes Feli smile wider.

‘I had a plan but it’s got to wait a while.’

‘What did you have in mind?’ Feli asks curiously.

You blush furiously and quietly admit, ‘I wanted to fuck you in the shower.’

Your girlfriend giggles.

‘Shower sex? Liebling, that's what you want?’

‘You don’t have to if you don’t want to. Don’t feel like you owe me anything, especially sex.’ You quickly tell her.

‘Liebling no. I want to. I just- You didn’t have to make a bet to have sex with me. In the shower or anywhere else. It’s actually kind of hot.’ Feli murmurs.

She brushes a feather light kiss against your nose.

‘You’re really hot and I kinda sorta am always at least a little turned on by you.’ Your girlfriend happily confesses.

Your eyes widen and your blush that you don’t think can get any darker, does.

‘How about this? When your ankle heals, you can fuck me in the shower as many times as you’d like. But when we get back home, as your ankle is healing, I’ll give you the shower sex that you want.’

‘Really?’

‘I promise liebling.’

‘Okay. Now I’m really looking forward to getting home.’ You breathe.

‘Me too.’ Feli agrees.

You can’t resist kissing her affectionately.

Her eyes shine a little and you find yourself kissing her again, whispering against her lips, ‘Felicitas it wasn’t your fault okay? It was an accident.’

‘Okay.’ Feli quietly answers.

‘I mean it.’ You emphasise, wanting your girlfriend to know that she doesn’t have to blame herself.

She gives you a tiny nod in response, ‘I know you do.’

‘Are you gonna sleep okay? I’ll be here if you have nightmares…’

Your girlfriend exhales in surprise. There’s no way you could know that unless Sara had told you.

And her friend had.

When Feli had been distracted earlier, Sara had taken full advantage and confided in you that when she brought a change of clothes for your girlfriend, Feli had admitted that she could not sleep without hearing your scream of pain.

Her guilt ridden nightmares are the main reason for the dark circles under her eyes and you needed to help her see that she had absolutely no reason to feel guilty.

Feli takes your hand in hers, ‘I won’t. I know I didn’t mean to injure you and I know that you aren’t angry at me. It wasn’t my fault but I will definitely be working on my slide tackles from now on.’

‘Good.’ You whisper, giving her another kiss.

You try to pour all your love for her into it, needing her to know how much she means to you.

Felicitas must feel it because she sighs into your mouth, her entire body relaxing.

She wraps her strong arms around you, letting you find comfort in her embrace and in her effortless ability to make you feel safe.

And loved. So incredibly loved.

The painkillers have eased the throbbing pain in your injured ankle but it’s Feli’s presence that helps you get through the remaining ache.

Your girlfriend takes in a deep breath, soaking in the moment.

It’s brought to an end by her yawning loudly.

She tries to stifle it but fails, the resulting tinge of pink on her cheekbones making you giggle.

‘Love, get some sleep please.’ You instruct and Feli huffs a laugh, kissing your forehead protectively before finally, finally letting her eyes slip close.

******

If she spends the flight home thinking about how best to pin you against the bathroom wall and fuck you gently with her fingers, all while making sure that you keep your weight off your injured ankle and are in no danger of slipping, well she would just say that she’s being thorough with her preparation.

German Translation:

liebling - love

ich liebe dich - i love you

[river-bottom-nightmare]

au where the batkids just sort of,,,,,,invent a new batkid

it starts fairly innocuously, a cowl for someone’s costume ends up the wrong shape or the wrong colour. dick, having dropped by the cave to hand off some evidence or beg alfred for his new potato recipe (most likely both), sees it and his instant reaction is oh my god did bruce adopt another child vigilante? he’s colour-coding us now? fucking splendid

the confusion is cleared up quickly, but everyone got such a good laugh out of it that they keep the new helmet, insisting it belongs to bruce’s new kid ecurb. their vigilante name is Shadow The Dark Lad Blackwing Moron-With-An-Orange-Helmet Batbird. ever so creative.

(bruce doesn’t want to know.)

they collectively design a new costume for him. they convince oracle to help them get ecurb into the system, though it really doesn’t take much convincing, just a bit of dick’s puppy eyes and the utter ridiculousness of the situation that has her cackling. ecurb’s backstory is that he was part of travelling circus in america when he was kidnapped, held as a hostage, and tortured by the joker, during which he learned of batman’s true identity and also How To Fight Good, then was sent to kill bruce but was adopted by him instead. he’s a little older than damian but a little younger than duke, fights exclusively with brass knuckles, and his costume is black with orange polka dots.

(bruce really doesn’t want to know)

they talk about good old ecurb, or batbird depending on the company, amongst themselves all the time. good old ecurb, the only bat fast enough to get cass in rooftop tag. i heard ecurb took on bane with nothing but a water balloon and an empty laptop case and won. well i heard ecurb can get the gotham’s corrupt politicians to apologize to him. yeah, well i heard ecurb’s secretly a meta whose power is to neutralize other metahumans, and bruce keeps him as the ultimate contingency plan.

they talk about ecurb so much that the justice league believes bruce really did acquire a new child. other superhero teams are a little more skeptical, but after several select appearances in which different batkids donned batbird’s armour and were conveniently caught on camera, even they start to believe it. the titans really want to meet this new vigilante who can actually, consistently get dick to sleep. young justice want to fight him. but ecrub’s always undercover, or on a mission, or recovering because bruce trusts him so much, he’s already putting him in charge of the big stuff.

(bruce really really doesn’t want to know)

there are legends about ecurb. photos of him looking powerful yet mysterious, a carbon copy of batman but with orange polka dots. there are stories of the villains ecurb took on singlehandedly and won. apparently the green lantern corps contacted him and he turned them down. apparently he infiltrated the fortress of solitude and now is the leading expert on kryptonian tech. ecurb doesn’t fall off a cliff, he just changes the altitude of his fight. ecurb crashed a plane into a mountain and the mountain apologized to him.

they fake ecurb’s death as part of a plan to save the world. over a hundred heroes show up at the funeral. clark’s heart aches at bruce’s red-rimmed, watery eyes. bruce is two seconds away from collapsing on the floor in disbelieving laughter. ecurb rises from the dead a couple weeks later, no worse for the wear. his new costume now includes orange and pink polka dots.

the bats swear to take the secret to the grave.

[robinsegghead]

Danny's Daycare Part 8

[Master List]

“And that’s pretty much it.” Danny ended their tour in his office. “Any questions?”

Duke shook his head. “I’m excited to start.”

Danny showed him back out into the main area filled with kids which Mia and Ember had been taking care of while Duke learned about the daycare, the schedule, and what was expected of him. It seemed pretty simple- though he knew kids would always create unpredictable problems, but the job itself would be fine. The things he did for Tim.

“Finally!” Mia shouted, picking up a crying kid beside her and carrying her towards Danny and Duke. “Clara’s been asking for you for a while!” She passed the crying blonde child off to Danny before pointing back towards the kids. “C’mon Duke, the kids are coloring for now.”

They left Danny to handle Clara’s tantrum and watch the rest of the kids. Duke settled down next to a group of five kids, all coloring different pictures of Gotham vigilantes. He settled next to a little blonde girl who was coloring a picture of Robin with only shades of purple.

“Whatcha coloring?” He asked.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, assessing. “Robin.”

“That’s cool- why’s he purple?”

The girl sighed dramatically, like Duke had asked a stupid question. Apparently he had because nothing would have prepared him for the lecture he was about to get. “Not him- her. Robin was a girl and she was the coolest Robin ever! How can you not know that? Everyone knows that girl Robin is the coolest one! But since she’s gone, Spoiler's my favorite! So I thought- how cool would it be if girl Robin and Spoiler were the same person and now I’m coloring robin purple!”

“Oh.” Duke managed to respond.

“Boys.” She sighed, rolling her eyes and turning back to her coloring project.

He’d have to tell Steph about her little fan the next time he saw her. “Spoiler’s one of my favorites too.” He offers, hoping she’ll un-shun him. 

It works, she turns back with excitement on her face. “She’s so cool! I wanna be just like her when I get older!”

The day went by quickly. Mia left much earlier than Duke did so the last three hours of his shift were just him and Danny and the kids. Somebody named Ember popped in briefly in the evening to drop off food for Danny and Duke. Her aura was… strange- but not as strange as Danny’s. 

When Duke first met Danny he didn’t know what to think. No one had ever been as… bright as Danny. Duke figured he was some kind of meta and filed away the information for later. After meeting Ember, however briefly, he wasn’t so sure anymore. She was the same as Danny. They kind of… glowed and it was so similar- like how Clark, Connor, and Jon all had a similar aura. If that was true, then Danny and Ember were likely aliens.

He hadn’t told Tim that yet.

Tim had been busy lately and if Duke hadn’t taken this task off his hands we would be even busier. Truth be told, Duke didn’t understand Tim’s fascination with Danny. Sure, it was strange that someone willingly moved to Gotham and chose to use their, apparently very large, inheritance to help the people of a city they weren’t even from as a favor to someone else, but if Duke couldn’t believe in the goodness in people then what could he believe in?

Besides, there was no proof that Danny was doing anything nefarious. None of the kids had gone missing, he didn’t have any strange or large sums of money being added to any of his accounts, nothing seemed amiss. So Duke agreed to apply for a job at the daycare and keep an eye on the situation for the summer. Just to make sure Danny really was a good guy.

Spending more time with Mia was a plus. With school and his extracurriculars Duke hardly had time to hang out with any of his non-family friends. Tim definitely owed him one for giving up his summer vacation to work at the daycare.

“Thanks for all your hard work today, Duke.” Danny approached having just sent the last kid off with their parents. “I’ll see you on Wednesday.”

Duke nodded, putting away the books he had in hand. “You need any help cleaning up?”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I’ve got a couple of guys who will be here shortly to help me clean the place up.” Danny smiled softly.

Did he have a cleaning crew? If so, why did he seem so happy about it? “Cleaning crew?” Duke asked nonchalantly.

Shaking his head, Danny fell back into a rolling desk chair that had been brought out earlier in the day. “Just a couple of street kids who need some money and won’t let me give it to them without doing something to ‘earn it’ so…” Danny closed his eyes, slouching in the chair, and rested his head against the backrest. “I’ll let them work for an hour or so, overpay them, and get out of here.”

That was… not exactly what Duke had expected. Just one more thing he could use to prove Danny was a good guy and get Tim off his back about this whole ordeal. Maybe he’d even convince Tim to take a day off. That was probably hoping for too much.

“Well, have a good night, Danny.” Duke waved, grabbed his things, and left. There was still a bit of daylight but despite originally planning on going out as Signal, he’d decided against it. Kids were exhausting.

How Danny managed to run the daycare every day for twelve hours without passing out from exhaustion was beyond Duke.

~~~

Danny was exhausted.

Along with the Daycare, taking care of Miguel and Santiago, and his usual Kingly duties, Clockwork had been on his ass recently. Something about taking his job more seriously- what part of doing a favor for a prominent city spirit wasn’t taking his job seriously? Apparently Danny was also supposed to find and appoint his own Fright Knight- which would have been awesome to know a long time ago but whatever-

Could he just get ONE night of sleep? Please.

He’d canceled on his friends for three weeks straight, unable to find the time or energy to even video call and catch up. They’d started asking if he was okay, Jazz had started threatening to show up and force him to rest but she had her hands full between school and her internship so he wasn’t convinced she’d actually do anything.

Duke had been great, having the extra help at the daycare was really great and the days he didn’t work were much more difficult. Ember had agreed to come back regularly on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a little while, but she really wanted to get back to touring and playing music and he couldn’t really fault her for that.

It was the Thursday night after Duke’s first day when she showed up.

“Danny- how the hell am I supposed to know this?” Miguel groaned.

“You’re gonna have to be more specific, kid.” Danny called back, serving the steaming bowls of paprikash. Dani got lots of souvenirs from her travels and while Danny had certainly not thought he’d ever need to use the recipes, he was grateful for them now. 

There was a shuffling sound and only a moment later Danny found Miguel standing beside him, pointing at a chemistry equation. “This. This is bullshit!”

Sensing Miguel’s rising frustration, Danny tried to placate him. “How about we take a break from studying for dinner? Afterwards I can explain it to you and anything else you’re confused about.”

“Except English.” Santiago muttered bitterly.

In the short time Danny had known the boys he’d learned a lot about their learning styles, their strong suits, what they liked and disliked, and what kind of smart they were. Santiago was a lot like Danny, scientifically minded- Danny had already caught him taking apart the toaster and the TV just to figure out how they worked. Which meant, while catching him up on STEM classes was relatively easy, they struggled much more with the arts.

Miguel, on the other hand, was competent. He was street smart. Although he wasn’t dumb by any stretch of the imagination, he struggled with learning anything from a book. Despite all of that, he really tried. He’d been keeping up with the worksheets Danny had gotten him and helped Santiago with anything he could, but he hated it and it showed.

Suffice it to say, the boys were struggling- all three of them.

“Dinner. Then we can figure it out.” Danny repeated, placing down the bowls and grabbing drinks.

Miguel left briefly to feed the cats, before joining them at the table.

“You know,” Danny started casually. “I was thinking about the cats.” Miguel tensed up. “It’s a lot of cats in my small apartment and I’m gone all day. I was thinking- if you had wanted- that you boys could have one of them.”

Like always, Danny spoke casually. He’d learned quickly that they didn’t respond well when Danny spoke too decisively. It was like they thought he was trying to tell them what to do, so in general, he made sure it was clear that he was only suggesting ideas.

He also knew that Miguel had taken a liking to the cats- especially Curiosity, and he wanted to find a way to give Miguel stability. 

“You…” Miguel swallowed. “You mean it? Really?”

Danny nodded. “Of course. We can go shopping for everything this weekend. You remember Damian- from the mall?” Miguel nodded, confused. “He taught me everything I’d need to know about owning cats. I’ll give him a call and see if he’d be willing to come over and teach you what he knows.”

Santiago opened his mouth but was cut off by a rapid knocking on Danny’s front door. The three exchanged looks, no one really sure who it could be but all prepared for the worst because of their upbringing. 

“Probably a neighbor or something.” Danny shrugged, hiding his own concerns as he moved away from the dining room towards the front door. Technically, they did have one neighbor on the floor in the apartment across from Danny’s and next to the boys but they kept to themselves. It was not likely to be the neighbor.

He didn’t see anyone when he looked through the peephole, saw nothing, and opened the door slowly.

“BOO!” A voice shouted only moments before a girl appeared out of thin air and lunged at him. Danny grabbed an outstretched hand, spun the body around, and slammed it into the nearest wall. “OW! Ancients dammit, Danny!” She shouted, phasing out of his grip.

“Dani?”

“Holy shit, Danny, that was badass! Maybe try not to slam me so hard next time though?” She chided goodnaturedly.

He let out a deep breath, calming his racing heart (Racing being a relative term because it was probably only beating as fast as a normal completely living human heart would). “Ancients fuck Dani, don’t do that!”

“Danny?” Miguel’s wary voice sounded.

Dragging his sister towards where he’d left the boys, Danny composed himself. “Sorry guys, this is my sister- Dani.”

“Danny?” Santiago squinted.

He shook his head. “She’s Dani with an ‘i’ and I’m Danny with a ‘y’. I know, it’s confusing. Dani, this is Miguel and Santiago.” Danny gave his sister a pointed look. “Have a seat, I’ll get you a bowl.

Dani plopped into the seat across from Santiago and waited for Danny to deliver the food. “So this is why you’ve been so busy?”

Returning with the food, Danny rolled his eyes. “No, I have been busy with everything else. Miguel and Santiago take up barely any of my time and I like having them around.”

“You two ever seen this man sleep?” She asked conspiratorially. They shook their heads slowly, looking between Danny and Dani. “Exactly. He’s been neglecting sleeping and eating because he’s a moron!”

“Dani.” All eyes landed on Danny who was rubbing a tired hand down his face. “I’ve been sleeping and eating- can we move on to why you’re here?”

Taking a big bite of food, Dani rolled her eyes. “Can’t a sister visit her brother?” She pointed at him and looked at the boys. “Can you believe this guy? Don’t ever treat your little brother as badly as Danny treats me, you hear?” She directed at Miguel who nodded in confusion.

Danny smacked his sister’s leg, which she’d propped up on his chair, and took his seat again. “I treat you just fine! You just don’t drop by that often- it’s been nine months since I saw you in person last and that was because you needed a favor!”

Dani cackled, shoveling down the food quickly and kicking her feet up onto her brothers’ lap. He rolled his eyes but let them remain as he finished his own food.

“I didn’t know you had another sister.” Santiago observed.

“You don’t talk about me? I’m hurt!” She gasped mockingly.

Miguel brought his and his brothers’ bowls to the sink and started washing them while everyone else chatted. “Miguel- I’ll do the dishes, don’t worry about it.”

“It’s fine, I’m almost done already.” It was just two bowls and spoons after all, but Danny still didn’t want them to do dishes when he’d cooked the meal. He wanted them to focus on school and making friends and forget about everything else- at least while they were at his apartment.

Santiago squinted between the two of them. “You look really similar.” He noted, suspiciously.

Danny offered a nonchalant shrug. “We’re siblings.”

“So’s Jazz but you two look nothing alike!” He exclaimed.

Miguel put a hang on his brother’s shoulder calmingly. “I think we’ll just head back to ours for the night.” He glanced at Dani a bit uncomfortably. 

“If that’s what you guys want, but you don’t have to. I promise she won't bite- probably.” Danny chuckled. 

The older boy shook his head. “We’ll let you two catch up and come back to do more school stuff tomorrow- if that’s all right?” Danny nodded and the boys left quickly.

“Awwww- I wanted to get to know your kids!” Dani pouted.

He sighed, grabbing his and his sister’s plates and carrying them to the kitchen sink. “Miguel’s pretty skittish- you scared him off. Not your fault really, but he doesn’t like new people, a skill that has kept him and his brother alive for the last three years.” Drying his hands on a towel, Danny leaned against the counter facing his sister and met her eyes. “But you didn’t come here for that, you didn’t even know about them. So what brought you here?”

She looked at the cup of water he’d given her and fidgeted with the condensation on the glass. Sheepishly, she looked at him before looking away again. Gathering her courage it seemed. “I… I want to get my GED… and go to GU.”

Although it seemed out of left field, Danny schooled his expression. She was always more in tune with emotions than even he was (whether that was because he’d been human before becoming a halfa and she’d only ever known life as a halfa or just because that was her personality, he didn’t know) and he knew that his opinion meant something to her- even if she pretended it didn’t.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” She squinted.

“Well,” He sat across from her, hands on the table. “Are you just telling me that, or are you asking for my help?”

“Don’t make me say it.” She groaned.

With a smirk, he shook his head. “Okay, so you want my help?” She didn’t respond and he took that as a yes. “You can join the boys and I when we work on school stuff, I can help with getting your GED and putting together the application to GU as soon as that’s done. Do you need a place to stay?”

She wrinkled her face. “I’m not living with you.”

“Hey! I resent that! Besides, I own this building and most of it’s just empty apartments.” 

Dani’s eyes widened. “Are you offering me an apartment?”

“Are you asking for an apartment?” He challenged, smirk on his face once again.

“I swear this is why everyone likes me better- I’m literally the better version of you!” She shouted, landing her forehead on the table and groaning at her brother’s silence. He remained silent while she continued to avoid looking at him. They were at a stalemate.

“Fine!” She shouted. “Can I have one of your apartments?”

He tilted his head to show he was still waiting for something.

“...Please?” She gritted out.

It was going to be nice having his sister around more often.

~~~

Turns out, tutoring kids who haven’t been in school for three years and one who has never been in school was a lot harder than Danny had anticipated. He didn’t know how to teach certain subjects (curse the arts) and was struggling to get Miguel and Dani to understand what he was saying when it came to math and sciences. He’d finally had the brilliant idea to go to the library and pick up a bunch more books.

Danny had left a clone to finish up at the daycare for the last couple of hours and made his way to the library. He’d need a couple of textbooks, a GED study book that was highly recommended, and a bunch of different literature books. Probably. He thought. Who knew really? He certainly didn’t.

He noted the library was pretty empty, the only patron was leaning over the front counter talking to the front desk girl. Danny didn’t pay them much mind as he moved throughout the library collecting books- though he was sure he felt their eyes on him any time he passed by the front desk.

Eventually, he had a stack of books that would keep his three ‘students’ busy for a while. Hopefully a long while, he was kind of out of ideas after this round of books. 

Dropping them onto the front desk, the side opposite where the man was still standing, Danny sighed. 

“That’s quite the collection.” The man noted.

Finally, Danny actually looked at the man. He hadn’t been expecting the most beautiful man he’d ever seen to be casually checking out his stack of books. He had short black hair that was slightly longer at the top with a shock of white right at the center of his forehead. His eyes were blue with a hint of green around the edges and he was built like a brick house. 

He was wearing a red t-shirt, brown leather jacket that hugged his body nicely, and tight black pants which Danny refused to see how they hugged him. 

With a shrug, Danny leaned against the counter, the front desk girl nowhere to be seen. “Yeah, they’re not for me.”

“Who’re they for?” The man asked casually. 

“I’m helping a couple of kids get back on track in school but they haven’t gone in three years so there’s a lot to catch up on. I’ll admit,” Danny chuckled. “I’m only really built for STEM… the English side of things is… not my forte.”

The man nodded slowly. “Yeah you’ve got quite a collection of works there.” There was amusement in his voice.

Groaning, Danny rubbed a hand down his face. “I’m just going to have to hire a tutor in Literature or something. I barely have the time to teach what I know- I almost failed literature in high school.”

The man -Danny really needed to get his name- watched Danny closely for a moment. “Who are these kids to you? Why do you have to get them into school?”

“I said I would.” Danny shrugged.

“They family? Friends of yours?” The man probed.

Danny shook his head. “Just a couple of street kids who needed help and were willing to let me give it.”

The man squinted. “So you’re trying to help a couple of kids you barely know?” Danny nodded slowly, unsure if the man was judging him or not. “Well, if they get in- great. But if they don’t- at least you tried, right?”

Something about the way he said it set Danny on edge. “Excuse me?”

“They’re just some street kids, who cares, right?”

“What the fucks that supposed to mean?” Danny asked, voice rising. He didn’t give the man a chance to answer, anger already overflowing. “I promised I’d help them cause I have the means so I’m going to. And the reason Gotham’s such a shithole is because of people like you who think the homeless population are worthless good-for-nothings instead of the intelligent and down-on-their-luck people I know they are. Ancients- this whole city is fucked!”

The man began chuckling, setting off Danny’s anger even more. “What are you laughing about now, asshole?”

Offering a genuine smile that took Danny completely off guard, the man offered him a hand to shake. “I’m Jason, former street kid, it’s nice to meet someone who actually cares.”

Stupefied and completely confused, Danny shook his hand without meaning to. “Danny- did you say all of that shit to test me or something?”

The man- Jason- shrugged. “Had to make sure you weren’t some kind of creep.”

“What the fuck?” Danny breathed trying to reign in the anger he’d let seep out before (he had years worth of repressed rage and nowhere to put it, he’d thought he might finally have someone to unleash the anger on). 

“Well, if I haven’t completely scared you off with that little stunt,” Jason smirked, grabbing one of those flower pens libraries always seemed to have and scribbled something down. “Literature was my best subject in high school. I’d be more than happy to help you tutor a couple of street kids in need.”

Jason slid the piece of paper to Danny. It was a phone number. People were giving him their number a lot recently- what was that about? As a teenager Danny could count on two hands how many contacts he had in his phone, after… the incident, he could count on one hand how many contacts he had. After moving to Gotham he’d slowly begun collecting numbers from apparently the entire city.

“What was that yelling about?” A woman’s voice cut through the silence Danny hadn’t realized was there.

Waving his hand casually, Jason smiled. “Just me being an asshole and Danny here defending his people. I’ll see you at brunch?” He directed the question at the red headed librarian who nodded suspiciously. “Nice to meet you Danny, think about my offer.”

He didn’t mean to track Jason’s movements as he left but he couldn’t help it. He also didn’t realize he was doing it until the librarian cleared her throat. “Ah, right, sorry.” Danny pushed the books towards her sheepishly. 

She began scanning the books, typing something in the computer between each one. “Danny was it?” He nodded. “I’m Barbara, sorry about Jason, he can really get under people’s skin if he wants to.”

“Nah he’s fine.” Danny sighed. “I probably would have done the same thing.”

She eyed him curiously. “What did he do?”

“Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t some asshole who was just using some street kids I’m helping.” He paused, offering his library card to Barbara. “I’m not- for the record. Just trying to help them get into school again.”

Barbara bagged up his books during his explanation. When he was finished she handed him the bag. “Jason really is one of the smartest people I know- if you’re considering letting him help you with that…. You won’t be sorry.”

He hesitated, unsure if he wanted to accept the stranger’s help. “I’ll think about it, thanks.”

~~~

When Danny left the library Babs immediately pulled out her phone and texted Jason. She hadn’t seen him smile like that since before he’d died, there was no world in which she let him let Danny get away. Whether that boy knew it or not, he was going to be a part of the family. It was like fate- he even looked the part, black hair, blue eyes, completely exhausted, going out of his way to help people he barely knew- he was perfect.

Now to strategize getting them together- she’d need Dick’s help. He’d be more than excited for the task at hand.

If she closed the library a little early in order to find everything she can on Danny Nightingale- the man Tim had been low-key convinced would become a rogue and had begun obsessing over for the past couple of months- and find a way to orchestrate is integration into the family then who could blame her?

Prev. Next

[haveihitanerve]

“Where the hell is bats?” Superman looked up in surprise, finding a very angry looking Green Lantern standing above him, hands on his hips. Clark turned and did a quick scan of the tower. “Uh, meeting room with Barry and Ollie-” “Thanks.” Hal bit out quickly and turned on his heel, storming for said meeting room. “Hal wait-!” Clark stumbled to his feet and sped after him but Hal seemed to have no intentions of stopping and plowed right into the meeting room, slamming both doors open. Clark, unbelievably, heard Bruce sigh. “When the fuck were you gonna tell me?” The Lantern demanded. Bruce had removed his cowl, standing at the table with the other two men, who had both removed their costumes and were dressed in sweatpants and a Batman hoodie. Hal gave them both unimpressed looks. “Really?” “what?” Barry defended, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “B is the only one who actually has a change of clothes here thats comfy.” “Something that needs to change by the way.” Bruce informed him, pointing his pen at them. “Thats Dick’s and Jason’s and while Jason is sure to be fine with it, Dick gets a little stiff about sharing his hoodie.” Oliver raised an eyebrow, setting his feet on the table as he sharpened an arrow. “Really? He doesn't share hoodies?” “Oh he shares them.” Bruce corrected. “Just not that one. Not often.” Hal smirked, seemingly understanding the underlying meaning, then his face turned back to anger. “Ahem.” He growled. Bruce sighed, turning to face the man. “Why do-” “if you're about to ask why i even care i will shove his arrow up your ass.” Hal fired off before Bruce could finish. Bruce rubbed his forehead. “Its not a big deal.” “Its most definitely a big deal, especially since I only learned about it because fucking Damian threw an ingraved katanna at me that had it on it.” Bruce raised an eyebrow. “Really?” “Thats fucking scary and insane Bruce!” Hal shouted. “A katana?” Barry asked, interest piqued. Hal gave a quick nod. “Yeah. its actually pretty cool except it has that written on it and he didn't tell me.” Bruce sighed, slumping into a chair. Clark hovered in the doorway, extremely confused. “Why didn't you tell me?” Hal demanded, still standing. “I never intended for you to find out?” Bruce offered, wincing. “Wrong fucking answer Bats.” Bruce chuckled. “I know, I know. Its just- it wasn't important?” He offered instead. Hals face grew positively murderous. “Are you serious right now Bruce?” Bruce sighed. “Its- its not a big deal!” He defended. Hal scoffed. “Right. As if. I bet you even jason showed up. Thats how ‘not big of a deal’ it is.” Bruce sighed once more. “Jason- he shows up for it no matter what. Its- hes more reliable than Dick in that sense.” Hal glared at him. Bruce deflated. “Okay. Okay alright im sorry. I’ll- well you know now so..” Hal shook his head and looked at Oliver. “Were you there?” Ollie glanced at Bruce then back at Hal. Hal scoffed in disgust. “Wow. Wow. Barry, I don't even have to ask. I was wondering why you were vibrating the other day. Was the cake good, huh?” Barry rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Sorry um, I’m still unclear as to what we’re talking about.” Clark finally intervened, stepping into the room. Hal glanced at him. “Oh. Bats here forgot to tell me it was his birthday.” “its not that big of a deal!” Bruce protested. Hal shook his head in defeat. “Alright whatever Batsy. It doesn't even matter. I got Dick to promise he’d invite me next year so whatever. But I am buying you dinner!” He pointed a threatening finger at the male. Bruce’s lips twitched. “Alright Lantern. If you insist.” Ollie chuckled and Hal finally released his anger, slinging an arm around Bruce’s shoulders. “I really do.”

[superbat-lmao]

A young Bruce Wayne asking Alfred what he did before working at the manor and learning that he was an actor. Where do you think Bruce learned the skill from?

The separation and performance level of Brucie Wayne vs Batman is completely intentional and NOT Alfred’s plan at all. He did not realize that Bruce would use it for secret identity/isolation purposes, but Alfred would definitely discuss his past performances/roles or other actors and their acting choices with Bruce. They would sit together and watch movies, plays, operas, anything where people were pretending and discuss the performances, believability, what factors leant to a credible performance or seamless one, and what things were a dead giveaway.

A lot of it comes down to studying the nuance of emotion and behavior, and then replicating it. People ask about “motivation” when acting, but what they’re really saying is that a character has to feel an emotion and there are different ways of making people feel something as well as the multitude of ways people react to those feelings. Why is the character sad? Are they only experiencing sadness or is it complicated by another emotion? Most people don’t feel single things, they are a summation of experiences. So Bruce would come up with narratives, explanations for characters behaviors and feelings so that he would be consistent in his performance.

Bruce would often watch a performance done by someone else, and work towards replicating and improving on it. Everything is an approximation of real emotions and behaviors in order to be convincing. And it is continually refined by Alfred, until he’s unable to assist with this insane level of mental separation necessary to turn all actions into a performance.

Maybe it started as a coping mechanism to distance himself from his feeling about the deaths of his parents, to try and separate himself from that pain, but now he seems able to convince everyone that anything he does or says is a performance or a cover.

Except Clark. Sure, he knows Bruce puts on a show often, even most of the time, but there are certain physical responses that can’t be controlled, not so quickly that Clark can’t catch them. So for every signal Clark is sure he’s giving off, he catches 3 that Bruce is actively trying to suppress and smiles even wider. This means that every active signal that Bruce is giving off is a choice, that Bruce is choosing Clark, that he has recognized his own emotional and physical responses to him and is allowing them.

[spider-jaysart]

Bruce and Clark bringing both baby Damian and Jon to a JL meeting for the first time:

The Justice League members: Talking to eachother about something important

Clark and Bruce: Walk into the place

The Justice League Members: Stop their conversation and turn around to see who it was that came in, seeing that it's just Clark and Bruce carrying their two new babies in a baby carrier on their chest

Also the Justice League members: Quickly light up in excitement and joy as they all immediately go to greet the two heroes adorable babies for the first time

Diana, happily: Are these your new babies?

Clark, with a smile on his face: Yep! This is Jon!

Bruce: This is Damian

Dinah: So that's who Damian and Jon are. Hello, cuties! (happily waves at the little two as they both giggle and try to wave back to her in response)

Hawkgirl: Cutie pies!

Diana: Ohhh and just look at their cute little cheeks (goes to lightly pinch their cheeks)

Baby!Damian: slaps her hand away

Diana: Awww and he's a little fighter too! How adorable!

Dinah: Maybe they can have playdates with our son Conner sometime

Clark: Sure! That sounds like it could be fun for them

Hal: They're both little cuties! They look just like you guys!

Clark, playfully ruffling Jon's hair: Thanks! He really does, doesn't he?

Bruce: Damian may be cute but... he can also be very feral

Barry, getting a closer look at Damian: Aww but he doesn't seem so scary to be around, he's adorable!

Baby!Damian: Some how jumps out of his baby carrier and jumps at Hal's face

Hal, falling back: Ahhhhhhh! Help! I'm being attacked by an angry baby!!!!

Barry, immediately while Bruce just has a blank expression: I'll save you, Hal!

Oliver, to baby Jon: Awww, do you want to see me be cool and shoot some arrows? Oh, yes, I bet you do!

Baby!Jon: Happily giggling and clapping his hands in response

Arthur: Oooor maybe he would perfer to see me do some really cool tricks with my triton instead

Oliver: No, he obviously wants to see me be cool, which is something you definitely aren't, Aquaman

Arthur, offended: You take your cruel word's back!

Oliver, glaring at Arthur:..... No

Bruce, annoyed: Shouldn't you all be focusing on more important things? Like League work?

Diana, playing patty cake with Jon: Oh, c'mon, Bruce. We're just trying to get to know the little two

Bruce, grabbing Damian off of Hal's face since Barry failed to do it himself: And you already did, so it's time to get back to work

Baby!Damian: Begins to cry

Bruce, pinching his nose due to being able to smell Damian's diaper: Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go change Damian's diaper and when I get back, I want to see you all getting busy with your work

The League members watching Bruce as he walks away: .....

Also the League once Bruce is gone: Immediately go straight to interacting with Clark and Baby!Jon again

Later, after changing Damian's diaper:

Bruce, comes back with a clean diaper hanging on his head that Damian threw at him as he sees the League still cooing over Baby!Jon: Ahem!

The League: Turns to look at him

Hal, as if he and the rest of the group are being interrupted: What?

Bruce, annoyed, as he throws the wasted diaper off of his head: Can we get back to focusing on our work already? We have important things to do

Soon, Bruce and Clark put both baby Damian and Jon in their baby gate so that they can play with eachother while they work

Baby!Jon, as Bruce and Clark go to have their League meeting at the nearby table: Tries to grab a toy from Damian's side

Baby!Damian: Hits Jon's hand to say no, sadding the little half Kryptonian after he does

Meanwhile, with Clark and Bruce:

Clark, after Bruce hit his hand: Hey! Rude!

Bruce: That's my pen and whenever I let someone around here use my pen, they never give it back to me, so don't even think about touching it

Clark: Okay, jeez, Grumpy

Baby!Damian, after standing up: Does a literal flip that he learned from Talia to get out of the baby gate

Also Baby!Damian as he's walking away from his baby gate: Quickly waves over at Baby!Jon to follow him

Baby!Jon: Tries to his best to jump outside of the baby gate a couple of times but fails and begins to float in the air instead to escape with his best friend

Damian and Jon both then runaway together to go have some fun in the League base

Meanwhile:

Diana, with shopping bags on her arms as she's holding two fluffy teddy bears in her hands: Hey, can I give these to Damian and Jon? I just bought them

Clark, confused: Wait- huh? You just went out shopping in the middle of the meeting? How did I not see you leave-

Diana, cutting him off: Can I give this to them, yes or no?

Bruce: Only after it's passed inspection

Diana: What?

Bruce, grabbing the teddy bear that's meant for Damian as Clark simply takes the one that's meant for Jon: You never know what crazy villains may be disguised as some Toy shop keeper and could be selling you things that you don't even know are secretly dangerous

Diana: .... They're just teddybears

Bruce, about to cut open the teddy bear to make sure it's safe: Not to me, until I know that for sure

Diana, seeing this: Hey! I paid for those!

Clark: (Quickly grabs the teddy bear away from Bruce, earning a glare from him) Uh, hey, you don't have to do that, Bruce. You could just put it through the X-ray scanner here and see it, you know?

Bruce, still glaring at him: Right, cause you just know everything, don't you?

Clark, as him Bruce both walk past Damian and Jon's baby gate to go scan both bears (to calm Bruce's paranoia): (Gasp!) Bruce! The babies! They're gone!!! We have to go find them!

Bruce: (Drops Damian's teddy bear) We need to go search for them! Now! (Runs to go look for them with Clark following him from behind)

Back to Damian and Jon in the weapons room:

Baby!Damian: Happily playing with one of Diana's old swords

Baby!Jon: Giggling while throwing one of Oliver's extra arrows at the wall

They soon see a hole being created in one of the walls there

It is soon revealed to be the Joker who's breaking into the room through the walls as he's covered in armor and has some Kryptonite tucked away in his belt as well. He was planning to steal some of the Leagues weapons and use it against them

The Joker, bending down to Damian and Jon's very small height to get a better look at them: Ooooh, and who are these two little beans just sitting around?

Baby!Jon: Begins to cry after seeing the Joker's terrifying face very close in front of him

Baby!Damian: Gets mad that his best friend is crying and stands up in front of Jon, glaring at Joker

The Joker, amused by his young bravery: Oh, what are you going to do? Fight me?

Baby!Damian: Angrily pulls his nose

The Joker, in pain: Ahhhh!

The Joker, as he angrily grabs Baby!Damian and glares at him: Why youuu little-

Baby!Jon, in defense, Lasers the Joker's shoes, burning his feet with hot heat (but not enough to lit them on fire or laser them off)

The Joker: (Drops Baby!Damian and immediately grabs his feet in pain as he begins to hop around the room) Arrrggggh!!!

Baby!Jon catches Baby!Damian and helps him stand up

They both each grab a weapon from the room

Baby!Damian grabs one of Diana's old swords and swings it at the Joker, making him quickly move back

Baby!Jon, with one of Diana's old shields, throws it at the Joker's direction, knocking him down to the ground

The Joker then tries standing up, about to pull out the Kryptonite from his belt

Baby!Damian: Turns on a switch on one of the rockets that Cyborg created, making it quickly turn on and and fly in Joker's direction, knocking him out

They both then throw a random net on top of him and happily high five eachother and crawl out of the room through one of the vents there

Back to Bruce and Clark and the rest of the League who are looking for Damian and Jon:

Superman, using his x-ray vision everwhere: I can't see them anywhere!

Bruce: Keep looking!

Clark: Wait! I can hear something!

Bruce and the rest of the League listen with him in silence

Bruce, taking out a Batarang: In the vents! (Throws it at the vent, slicing it open as Damian falls out of it and falls safely into his arms giggling)

Clark then lasers through the vent, letting Baby!Jon also fall safely into his arms with a smile on his face as he joyfully claps his hands

The League members quickly surround them both, happy that Damian and Jon are okay

Hal, behind them: Hey guy's, you won't believe this! But... The Joker is knocked out in the weapons room!

Minutes later:

Diana: How did he get knocked out when no one was around to fight him?

Barry: What an idiot, he must've gotten himself knocked out while walking around in this room

Oliver: What do we do with him now?

Bruce, with a smile as he hugs baby!Damian who's in his arms, as Clark is also hugging Baby!Jon: We send him back to Arkham, but the most important thing here though is that these two are safe

Jon and Damian both happily giggle at the warm hugs from their Father's and soon fall asleep in their arms after the fun day they had together as the young Supersons

(I just wanted to do something silly and cute :) )

[burnthoneydrops]

Moonlit Confessions

Synopsis: What was once thought to be a fizzled out attempt at marriage might have a second chance

Warnings: implied fem!reader (use of miss and dance cards for regency style traditions)

Word Count: 1523

a/n: here's the part two of this request !! i didn't think it would take this long but i got a random burst of inspiration last night and finished it up today so here it is! i'm learning i really don't know how to do short slow burn but oh well haha. i hope you lot enjoy!!

This night seemed to be repeating itself. Couples twirl themselves like planets orbiting the sun as the small band plays from their spot in the corner. You stand off to the side, huffing as you glance at your empty dance card, your eyes in a narrow glare as you try to find the reason for its current state. Anthony Bridgerton seemed bound and determined to keep the slots on your dance card name free and had yet to name a reason why. Having resigned yourself to moving past your offer of marriage with no meaningful result, you thought throwing yourself into that which your mother had always wanted would help speed up the healing process. Somewhere along this new stage of your martial quest, Anthony had decided that he did not like any of your new prospects at all and made it his mission to see that each and every one of them failed. 

“Miss Y/N, would by chance-” a gentleman had approached you but was stopped in his tracks, glancing quickly at something behind you before it looked like the fear of god had been instilled in him and backing away slowly. 

You quickly turn around, only to come face to face with Anthony, and the dots begin to connect. This was the third gentleman this evening, and who knows how many that brought the grand total for the week up to? Your mother probably did, you wouldn’t doubt that she was counting off to the side. Your blood begins to boil. In the past few weeks since you had proposed a marriage of convenience to the eldest Bridgerton, your season had been absolute hell and he seemed to only be more interested in your life when you tried not to involve him. 

“What is the matter with you?” You scold, moving closer to him to try and keep the conversation between the two of you. 

“The lemonade tastes a little funny tonight-”

“That is not what I meant and you know it”.

“Lord Garrison is not to be interacted with. He is not worthy of anyone’s time, much less yours”. 

You are slightly moved by his words, though your anger blinds you to much else other than the issue at hand. “Is that for the same reason as Lord Andreas then? Or perhaps Lord Henderson? Or maybe even Lord Clark? But heaven forbid I ever know that reason as you seem so hellbent on never enlightening me!” You seethe, gritting your teeth in an effort to keep your volume down. 

“I am simply keeping your best interests in mind,” Lord Bridgerton answers simply, as if it were obvious. 

“I never asked you to do that! I am not Daphne or Eloise! I am not one of your charges and therefore none of your concern and quite frankly,” you sigh, trying to steady your breathing before you get too riled up, “I thought you made your opinions quite clear at the Beauxton’s ball, so I intended to move on but you are making that quite impossible”. 

“We are still friends, Miss Y/N. Believe it or not, that makes me worry about you,” he replies, though there is something in his eyes, almost like he isn’t saying everything. 

“I never intended for you to worry about me! I am simply trying to lighten the burden that I am to my parents by finding a husband and cushioning our lives with a bit more funding, but when you constantly scare off all of the Lords possibly coming my way, you are ensuring my failure”. 

“You would that quickly give up your interests for the sake of the marriage mart?” 

You glare at him as if he has gone insane, which it frankly sounds like he has. 

“Lest you have forgotten, Lord Bridgerton, not every match is created out of love. Some are created out of necessity, which appears to be my only option”. 

“But what if it isn’t? What if there is someone out there who might secure you that love match and allow you to keep your books?” This seems entirely out of character for the man in front of you. 

“Oh the romantic expert now are we? Last I remember, you were rejecting a poor girl because she tripped over your left foot!” 

Anthony scans the room fervently, as if looking for someone before finding nothing. Instead, he mutters “christ” under his breath and grabs your hand, pulling you toward the open door to the balcony. 

“Lord Bridgerton, where are we-” you huff “where are we going?” He does not respond, choosing instead to drag you through the crowd of people, no doubt collecting pairs of eyes as you two pass. Once the two of you are outside, away from the curious ears of the ton, he faces you, his chest rising and falling at a rapid pace. 

“What has gotten into you Anthony?” You look between his eyes, hoping to catch whatever was the reasoning behind this out of character moment. The night air nips at your collar bones and you shiver slightly from the combination of the sudden cold and being locked under Anthony’s gaze. His silence scares you, and he keeps opening his mouth before shutting it a second later. It is quite unusual to catch the Viscount without words and this is surely the worst you’ve seen.  

“I have not been able to look at any man near you for weeks. Do you know how infuriating it is to see someone else chase after the person who has your heart?”

“Where is this coming from?” 

“You asked me what had gotten into me? You have. You have lodged yourself into my brain and into my heart and I cannot get you out of there to save my life. When you offered marriage I assumed it was a joke and realised too late that I was wrong”. 

“Anthony I-”

“You have consumed me, and I know that I made it clear that I would not marry for love, but watching you sacrifice yourself in such a way has been gnawing at me. Please, tell me you won’t do it”. He looks intently at you, begging both verbally and visually. 

“What are you saying?” 

“Tell me you won’t find another man for whom you would have to give up everything just to please your parents. You know damn well I have enough wealth and resources to remedy any worry and would never make you give up anything. If you do not wish to marry me-” “Marry you?” You try to interrupt, to no avail. 

“Then spare me the rejection and you can head back inside, but I know there is a part of you that feels the same. Allow me to make up for the time I’ve lost being an idiot and please,” he bends down onto one knee, “marry me”. 

“Are you quite finished?” 

He looks at you as if you’d grown a second head. It is clearly not the answer he was expecting, though you doubt any man would be expecting anything other than a “yes” to a question like that. You grab his hands, clasping them between your own and holding them between the two of you as he stands up. 

“If we are going to really do this, then I believe we shall do it properly. To prove you are serious about this, my favourite flowers are lilies and I shall be expecting you with a bouquet of them at my front door tomorrow”. 

“I should have known you were not going to make this easy,” Anthony smiles, though the anxiety of your possible rejection is still running through him. 

“You denied the easy way out, so you seem to have left me no choice,” you counter. 

“But is it a yes?” He raises a brow. 

“Eventually, but who are we to deny ourselves a longer honeymoon period? If you truly want to be wed, then we are to do absolutely everything”. Simply because you enjoyed your studies does not mean that you had never wished for romance. You had known that the majority of what the ton had to offer was men who would strip you of your most favourite hobbies for more motherly and homely activities, but now that you had an offer to keep the former on the table, you were going to relish it. 

“Tomorrow it is then,” his smile grows, squeezing your hands. 

“My mother will be so pleased,” you tease. 

“As will mine, though do not go thinking that I got down on one knee for the sake of our mamas”. 

“You mean to tell me you weren’t proposing to get to my mother? She will be positively offended,” you joke with a smile. 

“You are making me regret my decision,” Anthony teases back. 

“You would never,” you chuckle, pulling the two of you so his back is blocking the view of any passersby to try and keep the whispers at bay for a little longer. This moment is yours, and you intend to keep it that way before it inevitably reaches the ears of the curious partygoers.

[sweetbans29]

Out - CC

Pairing: Caitlin Clark x Reader

Summary: You show Caitlin there is more to love and she shows you the world isn't as scary as it seems (based on THIS and THIS request)

Warnings: none that I can think of - fluff

Word Count: 3.6k

Sweetbans Masterlist

If someone were to ask you what your spirit animal was, you would say an elephant. Generally not an animal you would think of when it comes to spirit animals but to you it made sense. On the outside, you weren't the smallest - definitely the most built on the team, but on the inside you were loyal, protected your own, and provided an overwhelming sense of stability to those around you.

If you were to ask someone what they thought your spirit animal was, they would probably say something deadly or that lacked heart. But if you were to ask anyone who genuinely knew you - they would speak to your gentle nature.

You weren't a part of the Iowa basketball team but had quickly become friends with Molly who was on the team. She learned quite fast that you really enjoyed keeping to yourself. The two of you met in the gym one night at like 2AM. Molly liked going in that late to avoid anyone bugging her and you liked it for the quiet. Most nights it was just the two of you with the occasional 3rd or 4th person joining. That is what started your friendship - sharing a similar schedule. She was super easy going and never pushed you too far out of your comfort zone.

Being friends with Molly included hanging out with her team. For some reason, they had taken a liking to you and would invite you to all team events which Molly would drag you to. You weren't the outgoing type like Jada and Gabby, but complimented the team well. It was cool being able to hang out with such a fun group and they loved you because you treated all of them with love and respect.

You soon became someone the team would always want around. You would always listen to their problems and make sure they were safe. It was like you became the team's own personal bodyguard.

During games, they would want you right behind the bench. At first, you didn't understand why, but as the season progressed it was evident why they wanted you there. It all started on their first loss of the season.

Kate was typically the one who was able to keep everyone's head on their shoulders but for this game, she was having a particularly hard time doing so. She came over and sat at the end of the bench and you noticed how her demeanor was one of defeat.

You reached forward and gave her arm a little squeeze to comfort her. The second she felt your arm on hers she began to break down. She got up and started walking to the tunnel - coaches yelling at her to get back over to the bench. She just kept walking and you followed her, waving at the coaches signaling you got her (which you have no idea why you did considering you have never talked to them).

Kate is crouched down in the tunnel trying to compose herself but is having a hard time doing so. You weren't far enough in the tunnel to be shielded from the court but in enough that it was ever so slightly more quiet.

You crouch down to her level and grab her arms. You begin to take deep steady breaths which she slowly begins to match.

"I don't get it - it is like they are always three steps ahead of us all the time. Even with Caitlin's play-making, we can't keep up with them." Kate says trying to comb through all the plays that their team had been making.

"You guys have played 4 games in the last 6 days, give yourself a little break. You are tired and worn and haven't had a solid practice in the last week." You say trying to get her to see that it has less to do with their skill and more to do with their exhaustion.

You help her stand and bring her in for a hug.

"As much as you want to win, the only thing that is important now is leading your team and you could do that in your sleep. Don't kill yourself trying to win the battle, focus on winning the war." You say and she nods.

"I see why we have you close by during games," Kate says with a little smile. You smile back and pat her back as she goes to take the court again.

You follow her out and take your seat.

What you didn't see during that interaction was how it drew Caitlin's attention. She watched as you calmed down her best friend and restored her confidence. Caitlin took note of how Kate came back out encouraging the team and ready to finish the game even though it would be a loss on their record. Watching you there only added to the confusing feelings that she was feeling for you.

From then on, nobody questioned your game attendance. The girls would use you as an outlet during games when they would get in their heads. The only one who would rarely come up to you would be Caitlin.

You never questioned it as the girl held herself well most of the time - she was a feisty one on the court but once she sat on the bench would compose herself.

Little to your knowledge, she thinks about you almost constantly now. There have been several times during games that she feels like you would be the perfect person to calm her down but is nervous about showing her competitive side (not that you couldn't already see that on the floor). It wasn't until she was sick during a game and had to play that you decided to take the initiative.

It was an away game and Caitlin had been violently ill. During the game, you could see the toll it was taking on her. You heard her talking to Kate earlier about how she didn't have a choice in playing. There were people there who had paid hundreds of dollars to see her and it was also the game she could potentially break the NCAA shooting record. She was going to play.

Caitlin had an incredible opening half, allowing her to rest a little in the half. She is sitting in one of the chairs with her head in her hands. You weren't even supposed to be back there but you were talking with Molly on the way back.

Seeing her sit there so helpless had you feeling some sort of way. You grab a Gatorade and tap her arm with it.

She looks up at you then at what you are offering her. It takes her a second to register what she is looking at. You take the top off the bottle and pass it over to her. She takes it from your hand and drinks half the bottle - sighing when it parts from her lips.

You put the cap on the bottle and pat her back.

Neither of you said a word but there was a mutual understanding.

The team goes back out and Caitlin struggles. The whole team does. The final score was 79-81, a loss for the Hawkeyes.

When they came back in Caitlin was on one. Saying that their team was better than that and that they should have beaten them. She was right but that doesn't change the outcome. Once she is done going on her rampage, the fatigue sets in.

The team is heading the bus and you can see she stops and puts her hand on the wall to stabilize her. She would never admit to needing help but in this moment - she needed help.

You walk over to her - again not saying a word and wrap your arm around her waist. She leans into you and continues walking.

"You're almost there kid," you whisper to her as you approach the bus.

You guide her to the steps, letting her go up first. Your hands fall to her waist, ensuring she doesn't miss any steps.

As much as Caitlin hates being sick, she is glad she is because no one would question her rose cheeks or burning skin. Both reactions to you helping her.

When you get on the bus, she is hopeful that you will sit by her.

You don't, opting to sit next to Molly which causes the feeling of disappointment to build within no. 22.

Both Kate and Molly notice Caitlin's disappointment, taking mental notes.

Following that interaction Caitlin begins to make more of a point to talk to you and try to get to know you. She talks to Kate about the feelings that she is getting for you and Kate walks her through her first girl crush. Caitlin would always make a point to see how you are doing and thank you for being at their games, even though she still wouldn't come up to you when she needed someone during a game.

One of the bigger turning points that solidified Caitlin's love for you was when you were at the Ohio State game.

It was another Iowa loss, one they probably could have had if there was a little more cohesiveness within the team (not that you were a coach of any sorts). At the end of the game, Ohio students began to storm the floor causing a slight panic in the players to get off the floor.

You saw Caitlin and a few girls started heading back to the locker room and were right behind them when a girl from the crowd came and ran directly into Caitlin.

Caitlin goes flying on the ground and doesn't get up. Within a second, you are by her side. You are crouched next to her with your hand on her waist.

She is trying to refill her lungs with air and she does, grabs her neck.

"Come on kid, we need to get you out of here," you say and you effortlessly lift her to her feet. One of her arms goes around you to stabilize herself while Jada is on the other side helping. You are pushing people out of the way to get her back to the locker as fast as you can. She is walking which is a good sign, but she is grimacing pretty hard.

Once you make it back, you take her directly to the trainers who are there and they check her out. You don't leave her side when they do. Her eyes are closed and she keeps rubbing her head. They give her an ice pack and tell her to wait there until they load up to the bus.

You are sitting in a chair next to the table Caitlin is laying on and are looking at your phone. After the trainers leave, one of her hands comes down and grabs yours.

"Thank you," she says, eyes still closed.

"They shouldn't have let students storm the court like that, that was crazy. Someone better be talking to the school about that - that's just not okay." You say, your protective nature kicking in.

"If you weren't there it could have been a lot different, thank you." She says again.

"You know I am always here, I got you, kid," you say. "I've got the whole team."

Caitlin nods, hoping you would get her hint but you didn't.

Later that week Caitlin is talking to Kate about after the game and Kate sort of puts CC on blast.

"Caitlin, there was absolutely no hint in what you said at all," Kate says with a laugh and Caitlin hides her face in her hands and groans.

"I don't know how to do this," Caitlin says. "I have never tried to hit on a girl before, let alone anyone like her. She is perfect." The last part is muffled but Kate still hears it.

"Also, I never let anyone near me when I am sick or when I'm hurt and she has been there both times. You would think she would take that alone as a hint." CC says.

"Caitlin. That is normal behavior. Anyone looking in would say that is normal friend behavior." Kate is trying not to laugh but can't help it watching her friend figure out how to talk to you.

"What am I supposed to do?" Caitlin practically yells. "I am not going to go straight up to her and be like, 'Hi, I like you, let's go out'. That would be embarrassing."

"Maybe try taking a less subtle approach, like asking her to sit next to you when we are out or do something while we are together as a team," Kate says trying to encourage her best friend.

Caitlin nods.

The next time the team is together, Caitlin make sure to ask you prior if you are going to be there. She tries to be more bold and asks when you are meeting Molly after practice.

When Caitlin comes running up to you before you can walk away with Molly and asks if you are joining the team for their game night.

"Of course I'll be there kid," you say with a small smile.

Caitlin nods and says she looks forward to it. You continue walking with Molly and Cait runs back to the other girls.

Molly laughs.

"What?" You ask confused.

"Nothing - nothing," she says and you guys go to study before heading out to Kate's apartment.

That night Caitlin spends most of her time around you. Whether it is talking in the same group or playing with you in a game. You really enjoyed getting to know the girl and seeing her lighter side off the court. The night as a whole was fun.

As the weeks progressed, you noticed Caitlin was spending more time with you and would often ask for your help with things but didn't think much of it.

What you did notice was how she brought you out of your shell more. Not that you were always in it but you found yourself laughing more and being more involved when she sought hanging out with you. You felt lighter around her.

It was when the team decided to have a night out that Caitlin was fed up with your lack of acknowledging her effort.

The team was out at a bar when you noticed Caitlin hadn't said a word to you all night. If it was three months ago, you wouldn't question her lack of interaction but since getting to know her it had you confused.

You are standing with Molly, Jada, and Kate when you decide to ask if you have done something wrong.

"Did I do something to make Caitlin mad?" You ask. You had no intention of ever making her feel that way but she had been avoiding you so you couldn't ask her directly.

"Are you serious?" Jada asks with a laugh. Molly and Kate just look at each other.

"Wait, she doesn't know?" Jada now is looking between Kate and Molly.

"What do I not know? What did I do?" You say. "if I did something wrong I need to know so I can go apologize." You are now looking around to see if you can find Caitlin.

"I told CC to make it more obvious and she has, I mean the whole team has noticed," Kate says putting her hands up in defense.

"Wait the whole team knows?" You say. "Please just tell me, I need to make sure I didn't upset her. I know she can get really upset and there is no need her for to be stressed because of me."

Molly grabs your shoulders and looks you dead in the eye.

"She loves you dumbass," Molly says.

"I know, I love her too. I thought that was known. I love the whole team, that's why I spend most of my time with you all. And because you sort of force me," you say.

Kate jumps in.

"No, you idiot. Caitlin is quite literally in love with you. Like almost to the point of obsession," Kate says as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

You stand there confused.

"She has liked you for the past few months and thought by hanging out with you more you would figure it out...but by the look on your face it seems like you had no idea," Jada says.

You shake your head no. Caitlin likes you? You didn't even know Caitlin was into girls. Your head was spinning and between the music and the newfound fact that Caitlin likes you, you are overwhelmed.

You excuse yourself and head out the door to get some fresh air. Your mind begins to go back. Yes, Caitlin has been more present with you lately but nothing screamed 'I like you' from any of her interactions. Think harder - you tell yourself. When did that change? Maybe it was when you helped her when she got bodied on the court?

Caitlin is a beautiful woman, she has a kind heart, loves to mess around, and is beyond competitive. Her love for the game did captivate you. And her love for all the young girls she is inspiring does swell your heart.

What are you doing? Of course, you like the girl but why did it take so long to realize?

"Hey, I saw you head out - are you okay?" Caitlin pulls you out of your thoughts.

You turn to face her. Your eyes meet hers and she holds a genuine look of concern.

You step towards her and graze her arm. When you do, the hairs on it rise. Her eyes don't leave yours but you notice how her breath hitches. Your hand drops and she breaks your eye contact looking down at your hand.

She wants to ask why you removed it.

"Caitlin," you begin and her eyes close.

She knows. She knows you know. She doesn't want to see the rejection in your eyes which is why she closed hers. She doesn't know how she could be so dumb. It is not like she could stop her feelings. Caitlin saw the way other girls looked at you, not that you ever noticed but she did. They would fawn over you and it killed her. You could essentially be with any girl so why would you be with her? A girl who didn't even know she was into girls until you came along and showed her there is more to love.

Caitlin tells herself she will not cry and she stands there - eyes closed and holding it together by a thread.

You look down at her and just admire her. She is trying so hard to keep her breathing steady. Her hands are by her side and you can see she is trying to hold it together.

You gently grab her hand and give it a little squeeze hoping she will open her eyes and look at you. She doesn't.

"Caitlin, look at me please," you say in a soft tone. It takes her a second but she finally looks up at you.

"You are beautiful," you say. "Why didn't you say anything?"

She shrugs - this is your first time seeing her insecure.

"This is all new to me," she says. "I didn't know how to navigate the feelings." She looks down.

"Say it." You say, not really sure why you need her to say that she likes you. Her head whips up.

"Please say it," you practically beg. You see her swallow.

"I like you," she says. "I like you a lot. So much that it scares me and I don't know what to do with myself. And if you just had me say that to make fun of me that is so high school and is not cool."

"Caitlin, you know me better than that." You say. "I like you too, a lot."

Finally, a smile breaks on her face.

"Wait really?" She says - her confidence restoring by the second.

You nod with a little laugh.

Time begins to slow and you bring your hand comes up to caress her cheek.

"Can I kiss you?" You ask looking into her eyes once again.

Caitlin doesn't trust her voice and nods.

Leaning in, her eyes close. You stop right before your lips meet hers you stop. You take in the sight of her before closing your own eyes and connecting your lips.

The kiss isn't crazy, it's slow and questioning. Caitlin's hands come to grab your shirt, bringing you closer to her. She wants more but you don't want to rush her and pull away. A little whine escapes her lips and you laugh.

"You're cute," you tell her and she pulls you into a hug.

"Stoppp," she says as she buries her head into the crook of your neck all while trying to bring you closer to her. Your arms wrap around her waist and you lift her up slightly, swinging her side to side.

The two of you decide to spend the rest of the night talking. You find a bench outside of the bar and talk through everything that has led up to this moment and how she thought she was being so obvious. You countered by telling her you are completely oblivious.

The two of you spent hours talking - only stopping when the rest of the team stumbles out.

You and Caitlin follow behind the group. Your hand finds hers and intertwines your fingers. She leans into you with a stupid smile on her face. She wouldn't hide it even if she could.

You see Molly and Kate look back at the two of you.

"About freaking time!" Jada yells.

AN: I tried to do the best of both worlds - hope you liked it! Let me know what you think. And as always, thank you for your love and support 🤍