#did he pick the training look specifically to show off his arms? yes

[tip-top-cloud-surfer]

To Be a Man - Hangman

Pairing: Hangman / Wife!OC (Sophie)

Word Count: 2.2k

This work, all my works, and my entire blog are 18+ Only

Warnings: Secret Marriage; Non-Traditional Family Dynamics; Mentioned Death of Minor OCs; Marriage of Convenience/Necessity; Mentions of Type 1 Diabetes; Third Person POV, Named OC kids and Wife, No Physical Descriptions of Any OCs

Summary: Hangman is married. And it’s no one else’s business.

Prologue Part 2 Part 3

Master List

A.N. Disclaimer - I don’t have Type 1 diabetes and so this is purely based off of a little research and what I’ve seen my friends with Type 1 do.

“You’re married!?”

Hangman turned around at the accusation to find the rest of the Daggers, save for Coyote, who he was talking to before they were so rudely interrupted, staring at him like he had grown a second head. He scoffed and rolled his eyes, not sure why it was any of their business.  

“Yeah, what’s it to you?”

“Who the hell are you married to?” Rooster asked, earning a condescending smirk from Hangman.

“My wife.”

“Well, no shit Sherlock.”

“Where’s your wedding ring then?” Payback questioned, leaning on the table to inspect Hangman’s left hand. “I’ve never seen you wear one around.”

“It’s on my dog tags, dipshits,” Hangman replied, pulling out the chain to show them, even though he didn’t have to do that. “That a crime?”

“Why do you flirt with other women then?” Bob inquired, sharing a look with Phoenix. “Two women gave you their numbers last night alone.”

“Did you see me calling either one of them?”

“Well . . . no, we didn’t, but—”

“—When did you get married?” Phoenix intervened, tilting her chin up and narrowing her eyes a bit. “And where is she?”

“Two years ago. And she’s driving here right now,” Hangman stated, checking his watch. Pulling out his phone, he looked up his wife’s location before turning back to the Daggers. “She’s about five minutes away, if you want to be specific.”

“She’s staying here with you?”

“For a while, yeah. Like anyone else’s spouse would,” Hangman retorted, getting a bit annoyed with all of the questions. “Why?”

“Well, we’ve got to meet Mrs. Seresin,” Rooster drawled, folding his arms across his chest. “Since we’ve heard so much about her.”

“Do you even have a picture of her?” Fanboy questioned, causing Hangman to shoot him an annoyed look.

“Yes.”

“Well, are you going to show it to us?”

“No,” Hangman snorted, shaking his head. “No, I’m not.”

The Daggers continued to list of questions that Hangman half-answered, half-gave bullshit responses, before Hangman spotted a familiar silver car rolling into the lot. Ignoring the Daggers, he set his drink down and got up from his seat, slipping around the railings on the back porch of the Hard Deck to greet his wife. Coyote was about to take a sip of his drink when he found five sets of eyes trained on him.

“I’m not telling you guys anything,” Coyote stated, shaking his head. “They’ll be here in five seconds.”

“So, you knew the whole time that Hangman was married?” Payback questioned, causing Coyote to nod in return. “And you never thought to mention that?”

“Not my business to tell.”

“Jake!” a shrill voice that definitely belonged to a little kid broke through the air.

The Daggers all quickly pivoted from Coyote to the boardwalk where a girl, probably around six, sprinted down the wooden path. Hangman picked up his pace and scooped her into his arms, lifting her off the ground effortlessly. And if the Daggers weren’t confused and befuddled before at Hangman’s personal life, they sure were now.

“He’s a dad!?”

“What the hell is he doing with a kid!? This is Hangman we’re talking about, right?”

“She called him Jake, dumbasses,” Phoenix pointed out, though she watched the interaction closely. “What kid calls their dad by their first name?”

Hangman kept walking with the girl in his arms, chatting excitedly with her. Then another kid, a boy probably three or four years old, jumped up onto the boardwalk and raced towards Hangman as well. The Daggers grew even more confused. Hangman leaned over and scooped him up like he weighed nothing, pressing a kiss to the side of the boy’s head.

A woman finally stepped out from in between two cars and pulled Jake in for a tight hug, which he tried to return as best he could with two kids in his arms. The Daggers watched their interaction like hawks but gave each other confused looks when the woman, who they presumed was Jake’s wife, pulled away with just a kiss pressed to his cheek.

“That’s his wife, right?” Rooster asked Coyote, who nodded. “They’re not that affectionate?”

“Maybe five strangers staring at them makes them a little uncomfortable,” Coyote suggested, taking a sip from his beer.

Hangman eventually led his family to the back of the Hard Deck, dreading the conversation that awaited him. Jake’s wife glanced up at the Daggers, who were clearly waiting for them, before turning to Jake. Nudging him gently with her hip, she jerked her head in the direction of his squad.

“Did you tell them anything?”

“Nope,” Jake replied, shaking his head. “Not a single thing.”

The family of four made their way up to the back deck. Setting Leila on the ground and taking her hand as they walked up the stairs, Hangman finally turned to face the stunned and even more curious Daggers. Leila hid a bit behind his leg, always a bit shy around strangers, but he rested a hand on her shoulder to remind her that he was there and that it was all alright.

“Everyone, this is my family. Family, these are the Daggers,” Hangman introduced, half-assed, earning an immediate poke in the side from his wife. Gritting his teeth slightly, Hangman restarted. “Daggers, this is Leila and this is Tyler and this is my wife, Sophie”

After Hangman introduced her, Sophie waved politely in greeting to the Daggers, who awkwardly waved back to her. Withholding an eyeroll, Hangman started on the introductions in the other direction.

“Guys, that’s Bob, Phoenix, Rooster, Fanboy, Payback, and you already know Coyote,” Hangman listed off, pointing at each Dagger as he spoke.

“Javy!” Leila called, running over to greet him.

“Hey, Firecracker,” Coyote joked, picking Leila up and setting her on the stool that Hangman had been sitting on before.

From there, the awkwardness slowly dissipated. Very slowly, but it did dissipate just a bit. Leila and Tyler were running around on the back deck, laughing and stretching their legs after the long car ride down from Lemoore. Hangman had switched his beer for a water and returned from inside the bar with a drink for his wife, whose order he knew from heart.

They were in the middle of a conversation, though Hangman thought that it was bordering on an interrogation with some of the other Daggers when Sophie’s phone started to buzz with a weird ringtone. In an instant, Jake turned to where Leila and Tyler were playing.

���Tyler, come over here,” he called, causing them to stop.

Hangman picked up his wife’s phone and tapped it, causing Tyler to pout. Tyler begrudgingly trudged over to where Jake and Sophie were sitting and Jake quickly scooped him up and sat him on his lap. Meanwhile, Sophie had been rifling around in her purse, pulling out a separate bag.

“Fruit snacks or the granola bar?” his wife asked Tyler, holding out both items.

Tyler quickly leaned over and grabbed the fruit snacks before turning around to hand them to Hangman. Taking them without hesitation or delay, Hangman ripped the package open and poured the fruit snacks into his hand for Tyler, who started to slowly eat them one by one. The other Daggers seemed a bit confused, though Bob instantly recognized the situation.

“He’s Type 1?” Bob guessed, causing Sophie to nod sadly.

“Yes, he is,” she replied, checking her phone again. She showed Jake her screen, causing him to encourage Tyler to eat the remaining fruit snacks in his hand, before turning back to Bob. “You know someone with Type 1?”

“No, my dad has Type 2. My sister has the same set up on her phone,” Bob explained, causing Jake’s wife to nod slowly.

Tyler seemed a bit upset, though resigned to his situation, but Hangman did his best to try and make it enjoyable for him. Teasing Tyler for his choice in fruit snacks, hiding them and pretending to find them in random spots, and other very un-Hangman-like actions that caused most of the Daggers to grow even more confused at the situation, Hangman blocked all of that out and just focused on Tyler.

“Alright, just hang on for a second, bud,” Jake told Tyler, who clearly wanted to play again.

After they were sure that Tyler’s glucose levels were stable, Hangman set Tyler back on his own two feet. Leila, who had been chatting loudly with Coyote and Fanboy, let out a shriek and started to run after her brother again as if nothing had happened to disturb them in the first place.

“How long have you known that he has it?” Rooster asked, watching Leila and Tyler play.

“About two years now,” Sophie explained, folding her arms underneath her as she rested them on the picnic table. “He was only a couple months old when his doctor suspected something. Took some time to get an official diagnosis.”

“He doesn’t seem to let it get him down,” Payback commented, watching Tyler laugh and run around Coyote.

“No, he doesn’t,” Sophie replied with a soft smile. “He’s like my sister.”

“Your sister has Type 1 too?”

“No . . . she didn’t,” Sophie stated softly, her tone earning a few confused looks.

“Leila and Tyler are her niece and nephew,” Hangman supplied, gently resting the outside of his thigh against his wife’s own to remind her that he was there for her.

“My sister and her husband died a few years ago,” Sophie continued quietly, shifting a bit in her seat. “I got custody after they passed and after Jake and I got married, he adopted them.”

And suddenly all of the pieces were starting to fall into place.

Leila eventually came running over, asking if they could go down to the beach. Sophie got up to take them down herself, not trusting two kids who grew up in desert territory to know anything about ocean water safety. And when they were gone, all eyes fell on Hangman. After a long, drawn out sigh, he slowly narrowed his eyes at his squad mates.

“If any of you fuckers even think about going to the brass about it,” Hangman vowed, pointing menacingly over at the gathered Daggers.

“Dude, no one here is looking to take insulin from a little kid,” Fanboy stated quietly.

It wasn’t exactly uncommon for service members to get married for the benefits. And hell, you would have had to have been a completely selfish, heartless, brown-nosing government lapdog to try and get someone in trouble for making sure that a kid with a treatable condition lived happily without bankrupting his family.

“How did you meet your wife then? You knew her before the kids’ parents died?”

“Yeah. We were in a long term . . . situation-ship at the time,” Hangman recalled, earning familiar looks from his teammates. “And she told me that it was a lot to handle and she didn’t expect me to hang around, especially because I was deployed at the time. I came back home to visit her and saw how stressed she looked—she was crying, Tyler was still in the hospital at that point, Leila was barely talking . . .” Jake trailed off, a dark expression coming over his face. “I didn’t think. I just told her to marry me and I’d get it figured out. And I did. They live up with me in Lemoore now.”

“And you guys have an open relationship?” Rooster guessed, earning a sharp glare from Hangman immediately.

“No,” Jake replied bluntly.

“Not even a little?” Rooster asked, alluding to Hangman’s flirtatious personality.

“No,” Hangman stated, folding his arms in front of him. “We’re not.”

“But you’re not in love, are you?”

“That’s complicated,” Jake responded, loosening his posture a bit sheepishly.

“Yes, they are,” Coyote called back, earning a look from Hangman.

“Yes, they are what?” Sophie called out, strolling forward with Leila and a soaked Tyler beside her.

“What happened?” Jake asked, standing up from the table.

“Leila thought that it would be funny to push her brother into the ocean,” Sophie returned, shooting her niece a look. “She thought wrong.”

“He kept pulling on me!” Leila whined, stomping her foot on the ground. “I told him to stop! And he didn’t listen!”

“Well, that’s no reason to try to drown him. Go, sit on the bench right there. Now,” she ordered, causing Leila to huff but follow her order.

“I’ll take him,” Jake offered, walking forward to grab a soaked Tyler from his spot next to Sophie. “Come on, Ty, let’s get you dry.”

Jake reached out his hand for the keys, which his wife handed over without even a look in his direction. It was that smooth, that natural. Jake held Tyler, who had started to shiver despite the warmth, in his arms, not caring in the slightest that some of the ocean water was now soaking his own clothes. Coyote seemed rather amused at the shocked expressions on his teammate’s faces, which Jake blatantly ignored as he strolled away.

“What?” Sophie asked, spotting their confused expressions.

“Nothing,” they all echoed back to her.

Prologue Part 2 Part 3

[magiccath]

A matchmaker of sorts

tenth doctor x GN!reader

summary: In which Donna is fed up with her love-sick, oblivious best friends.

Warnings: brief use of y/n

Donna had always known that her best friends were in love with each other. She wouldn’t call herself the most observational person, but it really didn’t take much to notice. She was honestly surprised that neither of you had figured it out by now.

The two of you were different in the ways that you showed your affection, but she had picked up on it.

The Doctor always looked at you with that big, stupid grin. He only ever smiled that much when you were around. He looked at you as if you were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. She supposed to him you were. 

He always made excuses to touch you, even in the slightest of ways. He would ghost his hand on the small of your back when you were in crowded areas, something he never once did with her. He was always holding your hand, and you were the very first person he hugged after any victory (no matter how small).

You, on the other hand, were always flustered around the Time Lord. You turned scarlet from his little touches, especially when he hugged you. When he got super excited he would sometimes pull you into a tight hug, spinning you around the room ceremoniously. She could have sworn she once saw you grin bashfully into his shoulder as he whipped the two of you around the room.

When he walked around the ship your eyes would always follow him. Even off the ship, you seemed to be constantly looking at him. You always managed to look away embarrassed before getting caught, though.

The two of you were clearly head over heels. Donna would even admit that you were good for each other. The only issue was that neither of you could seem to see the other’s feelings, no matter how glaringly obvious they were. 

Donna was pondering this issue one afternoon when she got an idea. She could try and mastermind the two of you into each other’s arms. At the very least, maybe she could encourage you to admit your feelings. Mischievous antics were already brewing in her brain. 

“Doctor?” Donna asked, walking over to lean casually against the TARDIS console. 

“Yes?” He acknowledged, not looking up from his work. He was fiddling with the controls in front of him. You and Donna had stopped asking specifics beyond that long ago. Sometimes he just needed something to do with his hands. 

“Let me set you up on a date,” Donna smiled cheekily. 

“Not interested,” he grumbled, eyes still trained on the console. Maybe he actually was doing something purposeful.

“Why not? I know you’re lonely.” 

“I have you.” 

“Oi!” she gasped, slapping him, “not like that!” 

“I mean, I have you to keep me company,” he sighed, taking his glasses off to pinch the bridge of his nose. “And y/n.” 

“Don’t you want someone you can be with romantically though?” 

“It doesn’t work like that,” he sighed, turning away from her, “I don’t age, I regenerate,” he said, a twinge of sadness riddled in his voice. 

“That’s not a valid enough reason,” Donna put her hands on her hips. If that’s all the cause he had for never asking you out, he needed a proper whacking.

“I can’t spend the rest of my life with someone.” 

“Can’t you just enjoy the time you can?” “Why risk it? It eventually ends,” he groaned, moving back to the console. He was clearly done with this line of questioning, but she wasn’t.

 Donna knew the Doctor could get lost in his thoughts, but they usually weren’t this pessimistic. Self-effacing and anxious? Sure. But properly “glass half empty” wasn’t the Doctor’s style. 

“What about y/n?” She gandered. She examined her nails as if her words weren’t carefully planned. 

“What about them?” The Doctor raised his eyebrow in confusion. 

“Why don’t you go on a date with them?” She clarified. The Doctor's eyes widened and he looked away with a scarlet flush. 

“I- uh.” 

“I see the way you look at them,” Donna poked, feeling she was getting somewhere.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, avoiding eye contact. 

“I think you do!” Donna groaned, moving away from him. He could be so stubborn at times. 

She started to walk away when the Doctor’s voice caught her attention. His gaze was glued to the console, so she wasn’t even sure if he was talking to her at first. 

“What if I did?” He finally whispered. Donna looked back with interest, her eyebrows raised. “What if I did have feelings for them?” 

“Do you?” She asked lightly. 

“What if I’m so very in love with them and it scares me more than anything ever has before? What if I think about them all the time and the only thing I want to do is kiss them?” He shoved himself off of the console and started pacing, his hands raking through his hair anxiously. “What if they’re the most beautiful being I have ever seen and I want to spend as much time as I can with them?” 

Donna stared at him wide-eyed and flabbergasted. She hadn’t expected him to admit his feelings to her. 

“Hypothetically,” he added. Donna chorted. Of course, he needed some plausible deniability in the matter. 

“Hypothetically,” she confirmed, smiling to herself. 

“It really hurts, Donna,” He looked at her, pain etched into the features of his face. “Being this infatuated with them, and knowing it can never happen.” 

Donna leaned her head sympathetically on his should, but before she could respond a crash came from the nearby hallway. Both Donna and the Doctor turned in the direction of the noise, clearly confused. 

You cursed to yourself, bending down to pick up the book you had dropped. You had been walking down the hallway when you heard Donna say your name. You picked up that she was talking to the Doctor and didn’t want to interfere, so you just remained in the hallway. You hadn’t intended to eavesdrop at all. Once you started listening, it had just become a little hard to stop.

So much for subtly you thought to yourseld, moving slowly out of the hallway and into the room with a wince. Talk about awkward.

The Doctor looked at you with shockingly wide eyes before quickly averting his gaze. He acted as if you had just walked in on him admitting something horrible. 

“Hi,” you said, your voice barely above a whisper. The Doctor was still fidgeting his face bright red, refusing to look your way. You stared at him awkwardly, the tension in the room at an all-time high. 

You wrung your hands anxiously, not sure what to do now. You hadn’t exactly thought this far ahead.

“Right!” Donna sprung up, her voice breaking the deafening silence. You stared at her in shock, her sudden contribution had startled you.

“I have things to do,” she lied, pointing to the hall. You nodded meekly, and the Doctor didn’t respond. Awkwardly, Donna made her way to the door. She turned back around to send an encouraging thumbs-up in your direction. You smiled painfully back at her.

The room remained silent for a few minutes after she left. It was an awkward and uncomfortable kind of silence.

You sulked over to the console to stand adjacent to the Doctor, but you didn’t know where to go from there. You settled on leaning back against the cool metal, your eyes focused on your trainers.

“How much of that did you hear?” The Doctor finally mumbled. 

“Quite a bit,” you admitted, rubbing your arm absent-mindedly. You really hoped everything he had said was true, but a small part of you still refused to believe it. You’d been in love with the Doctor for so long, the thought of him feeling the same way was so far fetched. 

“I- Uh, well,” He choked. You tried again to catch his eyes, but he averted his gaze. 

“Doctor?” You asked, running your hands along the console next to him. Next to you, he stiffened. 

“Just forget it ever happened,” He said, shoving himself off the console. He ran his hands through his hair aggressively, still not looking you in the eye.

“What?! No!” you gasped, shoving off the console too, “you can’t take it back! That’s such a coward move!” You snapped.

The Doctor looked at you, shocked. His mouth was slightly agape, and he met your eyes for the first time since you had walked into the room. 

“Especially not when I feel the same,” you mumbled. Now it was your turn to avoid his gaze, your eyes settling on the floor.

“What?” He asked, stunned. He didn’t know what he had been expecting, but it wasn’t this.

“You heard me,” you whispered, deciding it would just be worse to double back on yourself. 

The Doctor moved closer to you so he could delicately trace the lines of your jaw, guiding your face gently upwards. Your eyes landed on his and you had to fight the urge to look away. 

“Do you really mean that?” He whispered, his breath dancing across your face. 

“Yeah,” you gasped, voice hardly a whisper. 

The Doctor smiled brightly before lightly gripping your face to guide it up to his own, his lips crashing into yours. 

The Doctor kissed in a way that was so very him. He couldn’t stay still, his hands constantly moving in one way or another. They danced around your face, rubbing small circles into your cheeks, they tangled themselves in your hair, or ran elegantly down your sides. Every touch sent sparks through your body, a warmth spreading with it.

He wrapped his long arms around your waist, lifting you off the ground. Your feet dangled comically, and you couldn’t help but feel silly. 

You hummed happily, sinking deeper into the kiss. You felt more at home than you ever had in your life, and you never wanted it to end. 

The two of you were happy, the world only consisting of each other. 

That was until Donna started loudly clearing her throat. 

The Doctor pulled slightly away and lowered you down to the floor slowly. However, he didn’t remove his grip on you, still holding you gently against him. He wasn’t ready to let you go yet. Begrudgingly, you turned your head to look at Donna. 

The fiery redhead stood with her hands on her hips, eyebrows raised in question. You felt a scarlet flush flood your cheeks, and you avoided eye contact. 

“Been waiting for you two to stop being so thick,” she rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. “Now, if you two will stop snogging, I would like to go somewhere” 

The Doctor threw his head back laughing, arms still lightly wrapped around you. After a minute, you joined in. 

“Allons-y!” He cheered, grabbing your hand with a bright smile.

[tomtenadia]

Check My Heart - 3

Hello all,

Here we are with another chapter and be prepared for a super sweet DadRowan...

MASTERLIST

A week had elapsed and on that morning in late August, Rowan was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for him and a lunch pack for his daughter. It was her first day of school and he needed it to be perfect. He had cleared his schedule for the morning and afternoon. 

The previous night she had been excited and together they had laid out the uniform and prepared the backpack. She had asked for a panda backpack but her pencil case, pencils and pens were all Hawks branded. He was going to buy her regular ones but Maya had wanted to flaunt her allegiances right from the beginning. He knew his daughter and was sure she was going to brag about him very soon and put in place anyone claiming Perranth was better. HE loved his daughter but would admit that she had spent far too much time surrounded by hockey players and for an almost 6 yers old she had very strong opinions already. 

His parents had convinced him to send her to a private school with great reputation and quite an interesting curriculum. He was nervous and prior to enrolment Rowan had requested a meeting with the headmaster to discuss his situation. Had to disclose that the mother was not in the picture and that his parents looked after Maya when he was away and also were the only people beside him to be allowed to pick up Maya from school. 

So far his daughter had lived in a sort of protected environment but now she was going out in the world and, although Elide had done a wonderful job at dealing with most speculation with regards to his marriage to Lyria, he was afraid that something might leak at the wrong time and reach his daughter.

Breakfast ready, he climbed upstairs and went in Maya’s room. His daughter was just getting off the bed, her elf light switched on “morning big girl.”

Maya ran to him for a hug which Rowan did not deny her “Are you excited about school?”

She spread her arm wide “this much.” Rowan kissed her and then both went back downstairs.

“I made you waffles.”

Maya smiled and tucked in as soon as the plate was in front of her.

“I spoke to Miss G and she knows you are starting school but you can have some training in the afternoon with her after school.”

“Can we go tonight, dad? I want to tell her about school.”

In the weeks since the day he had played on the ice with Aelin, he had met her almost every morning. He had started to teach her some basic hockey manoeuvres and in return she had tried to teach him figure skating. Suffice to say that it reminded him of when as a toddler he was learning to skate. But it had been fun. Neither ever mentioned their accidents and he was not sure if she knew about him but surely she was less grumpy with him.

“That we can do.”

“She is teaching me the tappo jump.”

“You need to show me.”

Maya smiled proudly and Rowan was looking forward to see his daughter on the ice.

*

When he arrived in front of the school he paused before switching off the car and pushed back the tears he felt pooling at his eyes. 

“Dada, school!” Maya was trying hard to unfasten her belt so he quickly jumped out of the car and went to her door “wait a second.”

Once his daughter was ready he grabbed the backpack, locked the car and together they walked to the main door. Maya was buzzing, Rowan was struggling to let her hand go.

Inside they were met by teachers and Rowan walked to the table to see where his daughter was heading to.

He had visited the school with Maya a while before and she loved it.

“Name?”

“Whitethorn,” he said quietly. Hockey was a big thing in Terrasen and he did not want any fans interrupting his moment with Maya. The woman at the desk smiled at him and then pointed to a specific room.

“Ready to see your class and meet your teacher?”

“Yes,” added Maya jumping up and down in excitement.

“Welcome,” said a woman with dark skin “My name is miss Falliq and I will be your teacher.”

“I am Maya and I love school.” The teacher kneeled and smiled “I am so glad.”

“Dada, I am at school.”

Rowan kneeled and hugged his daughter “I know baby and I am so proud.” A big kiss smacked on her cheek “and I love you so much.”

Maya returned the kiss “I love you too dad.”

Rowan all of a sudden could not pull back and let her go.

Then he took a deep breath and pulled back “I’ll pick you up after school and we are going skating okay?”

“Okay.”

Finally he stood and the teacher reassured him.

Rowan pulled back his cap and sneaked outside as quickly as possible. He hid in his car for a few minutes and fought the tears that threatened to spill. His girl was growing up fast and there was not a day in which he worried if he was doing a good job.

He was about to go back home but in the end he drove to the ice rink. Maybe some exercise would dull the ache of sending his daughter to school.

In the changing rooms he went for his lockers and wore a pair of training trousers and then his spare clean jersey. It felt strange to wear it again, with his fingers he brushed the C on the left hand-side then closed his eyes and pushed aside all the dark thoughts. 

As he walked along the tunnel he felt the soft notes of music filling the arena. He was positive it was Aelin and his step had an unexpected spring until he emerged out of the tunnel and froze. 

The usual pang of panic spreading through his body.

Rowan cursed. He had been feeling better recently and had no more panic attacks but now… he leaned against the wall and tried to control his breathing as his mother had coached him. She kept insisting that he had ptsd and maybe he should see a therapist but Rowan dismissed the theory every time. When he finally got his breathing under control he resumed his walk and emerged and spotted Aelin dancing at the rhythm of classical music. It was relaxing. While training with her they always kept the music on and he decided that it definitely did the trick. It had the power to keep him concentrated on the music and not on the ice.

He sneaked in and sat on the bench and studied her dance. She probably had spotted him but did not appear to be bothered by his presence. Aelin did a series of loops and jumps and he thought he recognised a Lutz. He had tried and learn more about the jumps and during their sessions he had managed to improve his single toe loop and a waltz jump, he still looked like a demented oaf but at least he was holding the landing now. 

He smiled and kept watching her. Aelin lifted her leg behind her, grabbing it with an hand and then he saw her body folding forward until it resembled a doughnut. She spun and he was mesmerised. 

Watching her skate was a thing of beauty. 

Rowan was quite familiar with some of the performances from when he was with Lyria but Aelin seemed on another level.

She was up straight again and skated in a wide oval to gather momentum, Rowan watched her get in position for a jump but as she was about to take flight he noticed the brief hesitation. That split second was all she needed. Her skate caught in the ice and went flying on the ice. Rowan in terror skated to her “Aelin,” panic in his voice.

“I am fine.” She snapped in a furious tone.

“What happened there?”

She was silent and turned her head away from him.

“Aelin?”

Silence.

“You were trying an axel.” He admitted as he had seen her preparing for a forward take off.

“I…” her hand went to her knee “I just missed the timing.”

Bullshit, he wanted to shout. He had watched a lot of her videos of her competitions and she never missed. She was amazing and all the accolades she had been attributed were deserved. All of a sudden he realised she was struggling just as much as him. 

“No, you didn’t.” He said softly and she looked up at him with a broken stare.

“I know…” he whispered and saw the surprise in her eyes “I saw the video.”

“You mean you saw me throw my career in the toilet.”

“It was a freak accident.”

Aelin scoffed hard “I landed a perfect triple axel and then what do I do? I fucking mess up with a Lutz?”

Rowan chuckled “well, it might be like us not scoring while on a 4 on 3 power play and an empty net.”

“You do realise I have no idea of what you just said?”

“We just need to teach you more hockey.”

They fell into silence and he sat at her side on the ice “want to know something cute?”

Aelin nodded.

“Maya started school.”

She squealed in delight “she told me that she was starting school, she was all excited.”

He lay down on the ice and could not care about the temperature.

“You seem sad.”

“No, I am happy, but it scares me at the same time.”

Aelin was about to ask something but Rowan stopped her and shook his head.

“Get up old man, show me some hockey.”

Rowan got up and went to the locker room and gathered some equipment and got back to the ice. He placed the net and the a few cones.

“You taught me some basic, now it’s my turn.”

He grabbed his stick and with experienced agility he zigzagged between the cones and scored.

“Do I need to cheer? What if I support the other team?”

“You really are a menace.”

Rowan huffed a laugh and continued “now, when you are handling the puck you need to protect it. Other players will try and steal it so they can score. To do that, you do this movement.” He placed the puck on the ice and showed Aelin the motions “see? You move it left and right and protect it using the blade as shield.” He finished skating and scored again “you try.”

He passed her the stick “This is huge.”

“That’s what she said.” He added with a smirk.

Aelin moved on the ice, her agility on the skates was perfect but he saw her struggle to control the puck that kept escaping.

Aelin screamed frustrated and Rowan moved closer. He pondered how close to get “Can I?” He asked, wary of personal space. When Aelin nodded he moved behind her and his hand covered her on the hilt. Slowly he moved their joined hands showing her the correct movements “Try now.” He pulled back quickly but the scent of lemon verbena still engulfed him. 

A scream of joy awoke him from his thoughts and he noticed Aelin skating among the cones with a far better control. She was a quick study. Of that he had no doubt.

When she scored Aelin celebrated with a loop and a jump and Rowan just stared at her mesmerised by that woman with fire in her veins.

“Well, you can join us next game.”

“No thanks, You brutes can have fun.”

Rowan stopped in front of her “now try and get to the net with me blocking you.”

Aelin grabbed the stick and concentrated in a fierce expression “I am ready.”

Although Rowan went easy on her she never moved much as he blocked at every single try.

“I give up.” She added throwing the stick on the ice “I don’t care about hockey anyway.” 

Rowan huffed a laugh “oh, the brute in me is hurt.”

Aelin was about to dismiss him when he stopped her “What’s a tappo jump?”

Her expression was one of curiosity “there is no such thing.”

“Maya said that she was learning the tappo jump.”

Then understanding dawned on her “the tap toe jump.” Quickly she demonstrated it to him “it’s one of the very basic jumps we teach, a fundamental,” Aelin did another jump but different “this is the bunny hop. Another basic jump.”

“Try the first one again.” She showed him and Rowan observed with interest.

A moment later he tried and crash landed on the ice. Aelin circled around him “All okay old man?”

“I haven’t fallen this much in a lifetime.”

Aelin nodded to his feet “your skates are not meant for this, you have no toe pick.”

“Oh, I have heard of that…”

“Good, now let me go back to my training before class comes in.” And with that she skated away leaving him on his own.

He chuckled to himself. It had been fun. Eventually Rowan went back to his training, allowing Aelin’s music to keep him focused. The team was getting back soon and he had to be prepared.

taglist

@rowaelinismyotp @swankii-art-teacher @whimsicallyreading @elentiyawhitethorn @aelin-bitch-queen @bruiseonthefaceofhumanity  @mis-lil-red @thegreyj @sailorsassley @leiawritesstories @clairec79 @morganofthewildfire @sv0430 @heartless--aromantic @autumnbabylon @rowanaelinn  @susumaus98  @gracie-rosee @mybloodrunsblue @tanvee1231 @avenrebekah @whoever-you-choose-to-love  @theywillnotsingforme @universallytreepost @black-daisy-water @goddess-aelin @whispers-in-the-darkest-heart @lovely-dove-zee @athena127 @mariaofdoranelle @yashiw @renxzs  @aelin-gods-killer

[i-writes-things]

Bring You're Kid To Work Day Maria Hill Edition

Maria Hill x (15 year old) daughter!reader

Request:

Warnings-NOne, fluff, a sugar rush, giggles, protests, whining.

Extra Pairings:

Avengers x Hill!reader

Not my Gif*

Steve walked in with a plate of cookies. COOKIES! Maria swiped them from Steve, hoping to hid them from-

"COOKIES" Y/n, Maria's 15 year old daughter shouted from her spot on the ground.

"Oh god." Maria picked her head up, smiling at her little girl. "Yes, my friend Steve brought them for-" She looked at Steve.

"B-both of you guys." He smiled at Y/n.

"Oh my gosh, I have wanted cookies since last week." Y/n shot her mom a quick glance.

"I told you I looked down that aisle four times. How am I suppose to know they are behind a big box of healthy snacks."

"It's their tactic to keep us on a diet. But I've told you about this before."

"Okay, well I can't remember everything. You know that." Taking a cookie and going back to her seat, Y/n says,

"Well you should." And to make sure her mother doesn't hear she adds a quick, "Thanks Steve."

"You're welcome." Steve gives Maria a nod before ducking out and almost instantly someone else walks right back in.

"There she is! The infamous Y/n Hill. If only Maria told us she had a kid. Maybe you'd be an Avenger by now."

"Really?"

"No." Maria butts in, giving Tony Stark a look. "I think Fury needs you, he is on the other end of the hall." She points down the way. Tony hands Y/n a crusty popsicle that he probably found on the ground and leaves the room. Maria walks over and hands her daughter a cookie in exchange for the lolly. She throws it away, despite Y/n's protests. "No, you're not eating that thing. It's not even food."

"Mooooooom!" Y/n huffs.

"Hey, no whining, come on, we're in public. And you're a big girl." Y/n pouts at Maria. "My big girl." She ruffles your hair. Y/n takes another cookie and walked out the door and down the hall. Maria listens from her desk. She hears people greet her and her daughter's laughter as she traveled down the hallway. Hearing Tony again, and Monica, Carol, Wanda, even Vision's, offering her a brownie. And Maria knew bringing her kid to work was gonna be more mothering than work as Y/n walked in with a plate of cookies, a smile and Vision with Wanda on his heels. Come to say hi.

"Hi!" Wanda cheers!

"Mom look what I found!" She showed her mom the plate, offering her one. Which she declines, seeing the chocolate smeared on Y/n's face. She goes to wipe it off, which Y/n avoids, scrunching her face.

"Okay, I have to be at training, 3 minutes ago. She kisses Vision on the cheek and gives Maria and her daughter a smile as she exits.

"I shall be on my way too. Good to see you, Miss Hill." Vision waves good bye to you and your mom.

Over the next few hours it seems you just started to bounce off the walls after finishing BOTH the brownies and cookie plates. With Maria's help, but mostly your own.

"Mommomomomomomomomom-"

"Babe." She held one hand out to you, the other trying to hold herself together. "Please. If you don't specifically need me, don't call my name."

"Mom?" Maria took a breath.

"Yes?"

"I don't know I just wanted to say your name"

"That's-" You were now running down the hall saying, as it echoed across the walls,

"Look mom nooo haaaaands!" Running with your arms flailing about behind you. Giggling you ran back into her office running around to jump into her chair, trying to, but fitting awkwardly in her lap. Maria just let you go, knowing you would crash soon enough. And 30 minutes later you were asleep on the ground. Thor had come in to gift you surprise birthday cake flavored pop tarts but you asleep. So he left. Maria wasn't even able to greet him before he was marching back down the hall. He came back in, gently putting a small blanket on your back. Maria smiled. She finally felt how the rest of her colleagues did. She realized that they were all just big family. And they all love Y/n just like she does.

After Thor left again, Maria took a photo of her sleeping baby. She smiled and watched her sleep peacefully. Turning out the lights she left to go talk with her family right down the way.

🏷️

@ravensinthedaylight @may-z3@youre-a-total--poser

[alexanderlightweight]

I'll confess, I did read your previous prompt but it had slipped my mind and I was not thinking of it specifically when I wrote mine. I just really like hair lore and long hair and fancy hairdos and can never get enough fics with those. So if you want to extend the previous verse or if you've got a slightly different idea and want to write that instead, I will be entirely happy either way Thanks for picking mine! I'm all excited now ~~ \(^o^)/ ~~

haha you're good. i just was trying to figure out if it was a continuation or not but here we go! new hair lore from a different verse lol

i hope you enjoy!

<3 lumine

-

“And what will you need for this ritual?” Alec asks, barely looking up from where he’s bent over a screen. Because if he sees Fray with braids other than training ones, he’s going to throw something — probably her — and he wants to finish this conversation.

There is silence and Alec looks up, frown on his face because he isn’t sure why they’re stalling or why they have yet to introduce whoever they’ve brought with them.

“This is, uh Alec this is Magnus Bane.” Fray says and Alec’s eye twitches, ready to rip out the braids currently in her hair and the small little demon bone charm in it.

“Yes, I know the High Warlock of Brooklyn.” Alec allows, nodding casually to Magnus who is watching him with far more interest than he did when Alec was seven and trying to stalk him out of the Institute.  It’s been years since he’s last seen him and Magnus is only more handsome, more beautiful and Alec reminds himself that business has to come before pleasure.

“It’s a sacrifice.” Magnus allows, “nephilim hair is steeped in their grace and the price to pay for nephilim memories must of course, come from a nephilim.”

“Alright.” Alec says and when Jace gives him a surprised but pleased look he adds, “Fray, you’ll supply as much as needed.  If there is more needed, you can request volunteers though no one is obligated to help you.”

“Alec—”

“Surely you weren’t expecting me to volunteer?” Alec asks casually as he stares Jace down. “If you and Izzy and interested in volunteering then of course I’ll allow it. If mother asks, I’ll make sure she understands it was a sacrifice for a…” his bottom lip curs into a sneer despite himself, “comrade of yours.” 

Magnus Bane is staring at him curiously, eyes incredibly intent and Alec is trying so hard not to let it affect him, even when it makes him want to stand straighter and turn, to show off the charms on his braid.

“Seriously? It’s just hair! These are my memories.” Fray tries to explain and Alec sighs, because his hair is more important to him than a stranger’s memories and he turns to Magnus.

“What are the specifics?”

“I’m not actually sure—” Magnus tells him and he seems completely at ease with the admittance. “Jocelyn Fairchild didn’t care about how they were protected, only that the memories would be nearly impossible to get.”

“My mother—”

“Shut up.” Alec says at the same time Magnus snaps his fingers and Clary goes surprisingly silent and then her face twists in outrage.  Alec snorts and ignores her, giving Jace a look that just dares him to interfere.

“A price will need to be paid to summon the demon, let alone find out what the cost will be.”

Alec sighs and looks at Clary with a frown and draws a small, ritual knife from his sleeve.  “Take off until just above the charm, that should be enough to figure out what the actual price is.” He holds it out, handle first to Clary and she crosses her arms and snorts.

“You cut your hair!” Clary spits out, the spell finally gone, “you’re the leader, aren’t you! So cut your own damn hair, Alec.” She tosses her red tangle of braids, “you’re a guy. You don’t even need long hair.”

Alec blinks and then he moves.  Clary is on the ground a moment later and he pins her there with his foot on her shoulder blades, one hand in the garish mess of braids.

“Do you want your memories back?” He asks calmly and Jace and Izzy are still, their faces pale from the moment Clary demanded he cut his hair.  The moment Clary garbles out a yes, Alec ignores anything else she adds and he cuts. 

There is a tiny chime, like a gong being shattered and Clary shudders as what little has grown of her angelic power is sheared away.  This is meant to be a sacrifice; it always is when a shadowhunter cuts their hair and Alec feels no sympathy.  The tiny demon bone charms disintegrates and he scoffs as he tosses the bundle to Magnus.

“The charm broke, it didn’t consider any of her demon kills to be valid.” Alec says mockingly, because Jace and Izzy insisted that Clary counted as bloodied even though Alec was sure it didn’t.  The charm dissolving without the connection to Clary’s core makes it clear that she’s not as strong or as capable as they keep pretending.

Clary sobs on the ground, looking up at him in horror and Alec shrugs.

He’s given Clary Fray every opportunity to learn and ask questions.

“You don’t get to pick and choose what parts of our culture you like.” Alec tells her and Magnus hums in agreement as he steps up close and the look, he’s given Alec is so hard to turn away from, but he does. “You want to be a part of our world, then you pay the prices like everyone else and you don’t get to ask others to sacrifice parts of themselves for your own vendetta.”

“Get her to the infirmary.” He tells Jace, “she’ll be fine in twenty minutes with a little adrenaline. Tell them to give her one of the weaker IV cocktails for nephilim children, she won’t be able to handle the amount an actual shadowhunter can handle.” He turns to Magnus then and swallows, “would you like to discuss the array and look over the wards in the rooms we have in our ritual rooms?”

“That would be perfect, thank you Alexander.” Magnus murmurs and he steps up next to Alec and smiles, something daring in his gaze. “Lead the way?”

[reytiri]

Kaltxì

Pairings: Neteyam x fem!omitikaya!reader

Summary: Tuk is having an awfully terribly day and you are there to make it better. Neteyam sees this and it makes him all the more fond of you.

warnings: absolutely none, other than a shit ton of fluff <3

| This will be a multipart series || Series master list || Next Part |

without further ado,

I. Kaltxì

You had always loved the forest, the way it connected. You have always felts drawn to Ewya, and all her many beauties, many of them being the people of the forest. You specifically adored the Sully Family. Growing up with them had been a complete dream. Whether you were running through the forest or having a joint ceremony with your best friend, Neteyam.

Now however, you didn't see much of them or the forest with the training to become a mighty warrior like your parents, and destruction done by the sky people. Though, days like these were your absolute favorite, no worries just laying under the beautiful sky of pandora, out in the hallelujah mountains.

As the sun had finally hit its peak in the sky you decided to head home for some lunch, calling your ikran, you swiftly took a leap off the floating island landing onto the ikran, whom you have named, Tsawla (moon).

You swiftly rode back to the village in the cave systems, landing near your Meuai, as you headed towards the entrance you stopped as you saw a small blue body sat on the side, feet dangling with a defeated look.

You walked over gently sitting next to her in hope of not startling her, "Hello Tuk," You smiled at the small girl sat to my side. She sighed before returning a small smile, "Hello, y/n."

"What is the matter?" You asked placing my arm behind the young girl gently rubbing circles along the flesh of her back, "Are you feeling ill?"

"No," She sighed once again, now leaning into your touch, " My mother, promised to rebraid my hair today, and even put beads in as I have been asking for ages now!" She said before looking down once more," But my dad asked her on a scouting mission."

"Well I happen to be a great braider," You smiled down at the girl.

"What about the beads, mother has not taken me to get them just yet," She spoke again defeated.

"Follow me," You smiled, standing from the edge holding your hand out for the young girl.

She stood taking your hand following you as you lead her into your meuai.

Neteyam watched the interaction from a far just behind his ikran, he smiled seeing you with the young girl, and how you knew she needed someone at the moment. He wished it could be him however, he did not know the first thing with braiding.

You swiftly grabbed a small wooden bowl, filled with hair beads. You handed the bowl to the young girl. A smile quick to creep up onto her face.

"Thank you, y/n," She smiled as she began to pick beads from the bowl.

You sat behind slowly beginning to unbraid her hair, "I could even show you how to make them if you would like."

"Oh, yes please y/n!" She said with excitement as she placed the beads beside you.

Once you had finished the braids and adding in the beads, you guided Tuk over to one the water works in the cave allowing her to see her new appearance. She immediately wrapped her arms around your torso, "I love it!" She squealed excitedly gaining the attention of her older brother.

Neteyam walked over to the pair of you smiling. "Nete! Nete! Look at my hair!" Tuk smiled at her eldest brother as he swiftly picked her up.

"Slu (beaufiul) , Tuk," He smiled at the girl in his arms, "Thank you, y/n she has been asking for weeks for her hair to be done."

"My pleasure, she is my favorite Sully after all," You smiled, as he quickly smacked your shoulder playfully.

Before you could carry on the conversation, the horn blew calling all warriors to the air.

You called your Ikran swiftly boarding Neteyam, behind you. You swiftly exited the cave, Neteyam at your side as you flew to the great Toruk Makto, Neteyam and yourself hearing his coordinates through the pieces, Jake had given you both to wear.

As you arrived, The Olo'eyktan, gave the orders that a raid would be happening within the next few minutes. He instructed yourself and Neteyam to hang back and scout.

"I am your favorite, Sully correct?" Neteyam said interrupting the silence.

"Of course you are, skxawng," You smiled at the young warrior.

Lo'ak swiftly joint you and Neteyam in scouting, just as the crash happened.

"Dude we have to get down there," He said to Neteyam. "Dad will skin us," Neteyam quickly objected.

"Live a little, bro," Lo'ak said as he began to dice down, Neteyam following him. You followed them as-well.

As all of you landed, Grabbing guns, Jake called out that there were sky people incoming.

"Shit," Neteyam said, grabbing your arm, "Let's go."

You nodded as you began to run to your ikran, just before you made it however, there was a large explosion.

Thankfully however, your father saw this and rushed over, leaving formation.

"Falik!" Jake called out intending for him to stay.

"The kids, they're down there," He called back as Jake swiftly joined him flying down to where you laid passed out on the ground.

"y/n!" Neteyam called out running through the remains, of the explosion.

He saw you lying face against the ground. He rushed over to you laying you across his lap. "y/n!" He called gently slapping your cheek, no response. He pushed his head down to your chest gently listening in on your heart beat, ensuring your breathing.

He swiftly lifted you calling his ikran, placing you onto the beast, as he climbed on behind you, He saw the two head warriors approaching giving them a signal that he had gotten you. Your father returning a swift nod, as the two returned to the group.

As Neteyam road back slowly ensure he could fly, and you would not fall off, he was worried, what if you had not woken up?

"Kaltxì?" You spoke as your eyes slowly drifted awake, trying to sit up.

"hey, hey relax, I got you," Neteyam spoke as his hand found your waste steading you as you sat up.

"What happened?" You asked slowly leaning back against his chest, something you had done whenever the pair of your road together.

"Lo'ak nearly got you killed," He said harshly.

"Hey he's just a kid," You defended. "He should no better as the son of the, Torok Makto," He spoke once more.

You simply shook your head. As you landed in the cave, Neteyam escorted you to the medical tent, where Mo'at and Kiri sat.

"y'n," Kiri sighed patting the space infront of her. She swiftly patched up the slice on your back, ensuring it did not hurt as much as it would have.

"You must stop getting yourself hurt," She spoke. This being the third time she has healed you up this week.

"I know, I have been careless, I will do better," You smiled at her.

You stood up as she finished assessing your wound, you headed for your meuai. "Ma, y/n," Your mother spoke embracing you gently in order to avoid your injury.

"I am okay," You smiled as your mother pulled away slowly.

"Y/n," Your father said harshly. You turned to face him, "yes sir," You spoke looking down at the ground.

"I am disappointed, how could you act so careless!" He scolded.

"I know father, I will do better," You said, eager to prove that you will.

"I am not sure that you will," He spoke harshly, "You have continued to disappoint me, you have yet to find a mate, and you continue to put yourself in harms way," He spoke looking down at you.

Tears threatened to brim your eyes, however, that would not happen. You needed to be strong even though you knew you were not.

You nodded to your father, "Dismissed," He spoke.

You exited the meuai, headed straight for your ikran, ignoring the protest of Lo'ak and Neteyam, you took off into the night, landing on one of the floating islands.

You laid out on the grass of the island staring up at the stars, your ikran resting to your side.

You tuned out all noises, closing your eyes listening to the sounds of the forest around you.

Neteyam, flew anxiously looking for you. Once he spotted your on the island he approached slowly, releasing his ikran, He laid flat on his back beside you.

"What did your father say this time?" He asked slowly turning onto his side to look at you. His eyes traced along your jaw, following all your features. He thought you were the most beautiful girl, however, his biggest fear rejection, kept him from doing anything about it.

"Told me the truth once again," You sighed.

"Y/n, you are not a disappointment," He said slowly moving the beaded strain of hair behind your ear. His touch lingering longer than what was expected.

You smiled at him before returning to look at the stars.

"Eclipse is soon," He spoke. You sighed knowing your father would tear you piece by piece if your were not home by curfew. You simply nodded standing. You climbed onto your ikran, offering a hand to Neteyam.

He took it sitting behind you, his hands finding their place on your hips. As you took off His hands dug into your sides as gently as possible, yet still being tight enough so you would not fall off.

You landed in the cave saying your goodnights. As you entered the meuai, You startled seeing Neytiri and Tuk sat talking to your mother.

"Hello," You greeted with a smile.

"Y/n!" Tuk said excitedly as she ran up hugging you.

"Thank you y/n, for doing her hair, she had not stopped talking about it since I arrived from the war party," Neytiri smiled placing a gentle hand on your shoulder.

"Of course," You said bowing your head slightly to Neytiri.

"We will be on our way," Neytiri spoke as she said her goodnights to your mother and yourself.

You excused yourself heading to your sleeping quarter.

————————————————————————

DM for an add to my tag list!!!!

[saywhatjessie]

We're Marley and Marley

Day eleven of the Advent calendar! Using this list. Day 11: Sitting by the Fire Fandom: Ted Lasso - Pairing: RoyJamie 1.2k[Ao3]

They were watching The Muppet Christmas Carol, to begin with.

They didn’t really have an excuse for it: Phoebe wasn’t there and Roy didn’t even celebrate Christmas besides. Only, they’d been outvoted for the last team movie night and Roy had seemed genuinely disappointed so after their last training for the night, Jamie had manhandled Roy onto his own couch, thrown a blanket over them both, and turned it on.

Roy had grumbled and swore but let Jamie cosset him, giving his secret Jamie smile when Jamie pulled over the footrest and got his leg situated with the least amount of stress on his knee. He still huffed grumpily as Jamie curled into his side but he draped his arm around Jamie’s shoulders and pulled him in tight, his fingers stroking the skin at the end of Jamie’s sleeve

“It’s just a really good film,” Roy said, as if he still had to convince Jamie to watch it with him, even while it was playing. “Michael Kane approaches his role with such conviction and gravitas, even while the rest of the cast are fucking muppets.”

“Muppets are people, too,” Jamie said with a grin.

Roy rolled his eyes and jostled him, but gently enough that he wasn’t dislodged from Roy’s side.

Jamie turned back to watch the movie, only gently ribbing Roy as he mouthed the words to all the songs. He was sure he’d seen it before but he didn’t really remember it. And Roy seemed to really care about it and Jamie liked Roy enough to want to know why.

When Statler and Waldorf showed up as the ghosts of Marley and Marley, Jamie was immediately distracted.

“Hang on, is this Scrooge bloke about to be haunted because he’s too rich?”

Roy grunted. “You told me you’d seen this.”

“I have!” Jamie said, his eyebrows furrowed. “But like a long time ago I think. I thought Scrooge was just kind of a dick.”

“He is,” Roy said. “He’s just a specific kind. He’s a rich dick. A miser.”

Jamie turned to look at Roy, his pulse picking up. “But we're rich dicks.”

Roy laughed. “Not like that, you fuck . We’re dicks. And we’re also rich.” He shrugged, making Jamie’s whole body move. “It’s different.”

“But, Roy, you don’t do Christmas! Like Scrooge!”

“Oi!” Roy reached up and cuffed him on the head. It didn’t hurt but his hair was probably fucked now. “That’s anti semitic.” but he still just looked amused.

Jamie pulled away enough to cross his arms and scowl at Roy. Roy let him but put a hand on his leg to make sure he didn’t get too far. Jamie wouldn’t let his scowl soften at that.

“I’m serious, Roy. I can’t deal with no more fucking ghosts.”

“We’re not gonna get any ghosts!” Roy told him. “A miser’s different from us. They like hoard their wealth and shit. Exploit workers and spit on the poor. Like Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos.” We waved off Jamie’s protest. “Look, can we just watch the movie? If you’re still worried about us getting ghosts by the end, we can deal with them, yeah?”

Jamie huffed but let himself be pulled back into Roy’s arms and they continued to watch the film.

By the end of it, (and yes Jamie did tear up when it looked like Tiny Tim had died.) Jamie agreed with Roy that it was a great film and he also knew how to fix the ghost problem.

“We should just give loads of money away, right?” Jamie asked. “That’s what Rebecca does, doesn’t she? Every Christmas she buys loads of toys for children.”

Roy sighed. “Philanthropy will certainly keep you from becoming miserly enough for ghosts. But the main takeaway is that you’re not a greedy fucking landlord to begin with.”

Jamie hummed. “Should we also do another curse fire?”

“What the fuck? No! We don’t have any ghosts!”

“But we still could! Scrooge had a lot of money but he didn’t buy himself any fancy shit or nothing. We do buy fancy shit! I feel like that makes us worse for–” Jamie frowned as he searched for the word. “flouncing our wealth or whatever.”

“Flaunting,” Roy corrected him, gently. “So, what, you want to burn some of your expensive shit? I feel like donating it would be better for your philanthropy.”

Jamie grimaced. He had a lot of totally lush shit he did not want to burn, but he didn’t know if donating used silk briefs would work either. Not sanitary, was it?

“I could donate some things,” he hedged. “I got some mint fucking trainers young poor lads would love. I’d have loved my shoes when I was a young poor lad.”

Roy hummed, kissing Jamie’s hairline like a ‘good job’.

Jamie preened. “We should still burn something, though. Ghosts love when you burn shit. Symbolic, like.”

“I wish you didn’t have a hard on for arson,” Roy grumbled.

“Hey! It’s not arson if you’re just burning your own shit, is it?”

“Well, go on, what are you burning?”

Jamie pursed his lips thinking.

“What do you think?”

“You’re stupid fucking face cream.” Roy answered immediately.”

Jamie was scandalized. “My what? But it’s got minerals! And it’s from Finland!”

“It’s bougie trash that has impure metals and makes my lips feel weird when I kiss you,” Roy said. “You can’t donate it because that’s probably not fucking hygenic and I hate it so much and it was so expensive and there are absolutely ghosts in your face cream.”

“You can’t say there are ghosts in it just because you want me to burn it, Roy, this is serious!” Jamie argued. “And you have to burn something, too! What if I told you to burn your new leather jacket that looks exactly like the other three you have?”

“This jacket has burgundy stitching and you know that.” Jamie rolled his eyes. “And I buy way less expensive shit than you. The only expensive shit I buy is for you and Phoebe. You want me to ask Phoebe if I can have her new ice skates back to burn?”

“You’re not burning those skates – she’s gonna be the next Evgenia Medvedeva!”

Roy frowned. “Bit of a random choice.”

“Nah, she’s a little weirdo like Phoebe.” Jamie grinned before remembering they were arguing and then frowned again. “Stop distracting me. What about your fancy tea subscription?”

Roy rolled his eyes. “Fine. I will burn one box of tea. And you can burn your fucking face cream. And tomorrow we’ll donate a shit ton of money to a youth shelter or something. Will this make you feel better?”

Jamie grinned, leaning in to kiss Roy, before vaulting to his feet to collect his face cream from Roy’s bathroom. 

It wasn’t long before they were sitting next to Roy’s fireplace, watching the glass of the bottle of Jamie’s cream break and breathing in the tea smelling smoke.

Jamie stared into it, letting his head nuzzle against the underside of Roy’s chin. “You think Marley and Marley were gay for each other?”

Roy sighed, sadly. “I just wanted to watch some fucking muppets.”

[starandsims]

In the fall of 1910, it was time for Harry to say goodbye to his family, everything had been happening so quickly for him, from his many offers to graduation, to his birthday, to finally this. He hugged his parents goodbye before getting on the train to Brichester, where he would be picked up by Professor Sanders and taken to his home. It was strange, but hugging his father, he reflected on all they had been through as a family. Things had started off great between them, then gone downhill, and now, well now that he was a man he actually felt like he could forgive his father for the past. He felt close to his father like he never had before. (caution: long post)

For George, yes it had been difficult to accept that his eldest son wouldn’t be inheriting the family farm, but he was the youngest son himself, and he had three other sons to prepare for taking over the farm. Peter was the next obvious choice, he loved animals just as much as George and had no love of school like Andrew. And who knew how little Liam would turn out. His fear for the future of the farm had driven his actions to push Harry towards farm chores, but now he felt he could let his son embrace this new future ahead of him, and he was very proud.

Rosalie cried, of course, hugging her oldest baby, who had just yesterday been a wiggly infant in her arms, teaching her about motherhood. She had always been supportive of her son’s academic pursuits, so proud that her son was so smart and showing up all the other students in his class. She had long been dreaming of his successful future, but now that she had to let go of him so that he could pursue that future on her own, she didn’t know if she had the strength to do it.

Finally, Harry was allowed to board the train and waved goodbye to his parents as it pulled away. He spent the ride reading up on the history of Brichester, his patron was a history professor and had worked there for two decades, so he wanted to brush up on possible topics that might impress or interest him. Finally, after a few hours, the train pulled into Brichester Station, Harry had only brought a modest suitcase with a few photos, his chess trophy, and a few outfits. He carried himself and his luggage off the train and searched the crowd for Professor Sanders, it only just now occurred to him that he would have no idea what the man looked like. Did he have a picture of Harry to recognize him? They hadn’t designated a specific rendezvous place, so how was…

His eyes swept over a familiar face and he had to do a double take. Wait a minute, was that? Yes, it was!

Smiling from ear to ear he moved through the crowd, waving a hand in the air. “Aunt Cordelia!”

“Ah, there is my favorite nephew at last,” Cordelia said, only a hint of a smile on her lips. “Let me guess, you barely boarded the train without your mother attached to your neck, hm?”

Her tone was mean, but Harry thought it was funny, and she didn’t actually mean it as mean, that was just how her voice sounded. The same could be said for her face, although at rest it looked judgemental and angry, he knew her better than that. She was happy to see him.

“Aunt Cordelia, what are you doing here? Not that I’m upset to see you, of course, it hasn’t been the same since you moved out.”

“Yes, of course, it hasn’t, you have four squalling siblings now, I’m fortunate enough to have escaped when I did,” Cordelia answered. “As for why I am here, I must admit to telling a few lies. But we best worry about that on the trip.”

“Trip? I’m sorry, I can’t go anywhere right now, I’m waiting on someone.”

“Oh I thought you were smart, boy,” Cordelia sighed. “I’m the one you’re waiting on.”

“You’re Professor Sanders?”

Cordelia hesitated. “Well, for the purposes of your offer, yes, somewhat, as I said, it’s a lot to explain, so let’s get going.”

Harry curiously joined his aunt on a half-hour car (yes a real automobile) ride through Brichester. She had her own driver, so the two of them sat in the back and talked. During this time, she explained that Professor Sanders was a friend of hers. It had not been the professor who had sent the scholarship money for Harry’s secondary schooling, it had been her! She explained that she knew how his parents would feel about her offering them money and never would have accepted it, so she sent it in the form of a scholarship instead. Then, when it was time for his university applications, Rosalie had written to her about Edwin’s visit and how much Harry dreamed of attending Brichester.

“Honestly, for such a genius, Edwin sure is stupid,” Cordelia commented as the strange car contraption bounced across the road. “If he had any sense at all he never would have offered your family money, no matter how he phrased it, he should have known how your parents would react.”

“So you disguised your own offer, and made it so that I still had to do some work because you knew my parents would swallow that better?” Harry asked.

“Indeed, but also, I agree with your father, you shouldn’t accept handouts, you’re far too smart for that, and you’ll never appreciate anything if you don’t work for it,” Cordelia paused and looked far away. “My time with your family taught me that.”

“So my room and board?”

“With me, not Professor Sanders, it will still be 2 simoleons a week and you’ll still have a curfew and other rules to follow. You’ll have a room and an office,” Cordelia answered. “You will still be Professor Sanders's research assistant so don’t worry about that, he is very excited to meet you, but I wanted the pleasure of seeing the look on your face when you found out about the ruse.”

Something akin to a grin crept across her face, and although initially disappointed, Harry was impressed by his aunt’s cunning.

“You did all this for me? Why?” He asked.

“Why?” Cordelia asked incredulously. “Dear child, do not be daft. When I lived with your parents it was not a good time for me. I was barely older than you, I was a spoiled brat whose parents were dead and I was being pawned off to my vindictive, run-away sister. The only thing that ever made that experience bearable was you, perhaps not the diaper changes, but the way your eyes would light up when I came in the room. The way you would giggle at my exasperation and exhaustion, made my heart lift. I would never want to have children of my own, but if I did, I would want him to be just like you.”

Harry sat with a soft smile on his lips and Cordelia demanded he wipe it away. She hadn’t said “I love you” exactly, but it was close enough.

[inconsistentwriting]

Mission: Save the city.

Pairing: Carlos Oliveira x G/N reader.

Notes: English is not my first language. Random acquisition of baby. Part 1 of ?? If you show some support I might do a part two.

How did all of this happen? One moment I was clocking out of my shift at the hospital, walking home, and the next one was taking refuge in the deposit of a grocery shop. The streets of Raccoon City were filled with screams, fire and dead, or undead, to be more specific. I heard the metal curtain of the deposit being opened, a man’s voice calling out:

-”Is there anyone here? Any survivors?”

The fear was paralyzing, yet, my body moved on its own, coming into view for the man.

-”Over here.”

My words came out almost like a whisper, as if I hoped he didn’t hear me. But he did. He turned around and his eyes locked on mine. 

-”My name’s Carlos Oliveira, I’m working with the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service. We’ve been sent to deal with the outbreak. Right now we are evacuating civilians out of the city. What’s your name?”

-”I’m ****. I work as an ER nurse and a first responder.”

-”I hit the damn jackpot, huh? Are you able to provide service given the appropriate supplies?”

-”Yes, I should be able to do so.”

-”Then let me take you where we are holding the civilians, we’ll need you to search for bite marks on them. If we don’t keep that in check they might infect other people.”

-”Where are you keeping them?”

-”The subway station, We are using the train to take them out of the city. Any cooperation you can offer will be welcome. I’ll take you there. Do you have any weapons?”

-”No, I just clocked out of work and I barely made it in here.” 

-”Don’t worry. Just stay close to me, I’ll keep you safe. “

I started to walk next to Carlos, his presence calming my nerves, only slightly, but better accompanied by an armed professional than alone out there. Not only was it terrifying because of the outbreak, it was terrifying because I had just arrived to the city less than a month ago. 

-”Do you have any family or friends in the city that may be in need of assistance?”

It sounded like he could read my thoughts. I looked up into his dark eyes and shaked my head. 

-”No one. I just moved in. Hopefully my family is safe very fucking far away from here.”

-”Where are you from? If you don’t mind me asking.”

-”I’m not from the States, I’m from ****. How about you? Oliveira doesn’t sound very American if I say so myself.”

-”Good catch. I’m Brazilian.”

-"So we are both immigrants that work difficult jobs in a country that hates us. Seems about right."

-"Looks like we are both a little bit on the masoquistic side, huh?"

At least he had a sense of humor, just perfect for the coping mechanism my brain just came up with. His voice cut off my thoughts. 

-”We’ll cut through this shop. Follow me and don’t make much noise.”

I nodded in response and moved quietly behind him. As we made our way through the building something caught my attention. A room, off to the side, its door was locked and a small group of zombies seemed to be pounding on it. I touched Carlos’ arm to get his attention and pointed to the room.

-”There may be a survivor trapped inside. Those things seem desperate to get in.”

Carlos nodded and looked around to make sure there weren't any others in the store before he took his weapon out and disposed of the group. Meanwhile, I entered the little room, it looked like the employee lounge. In one of the chairs there was a bunch of cloth, covering something. As I didn’t see anyone I turned to the door and started walking towards the exit, but I got stopped dead in my tracks by the sound of ruffling. I looked back at the pile of cloth and uncovered it. My jaw dropped as I saw a small baby inside, they didn’t look older than a couple of months. I gently picked them up and I noticed a photo next to clothes, upon further inspection I saw a woman with the same baby in her arms. It was one of the zombies Carlos took care of.

-”Oh my god, Carlos, you need to see this.”

The shock in my voice must have startled him because he walked over to me quickly. When he saw the baby in my arms it looked like he just took a punch to the gut. 

-”Why is there a baby in here? Where’s their mother?”

-”She was outside, one of the undead. Looks like she was bitten and she locked herself out before she could harm them… God…”

-”It’s okay, it’s okay. We just need to take them with the other survivors.”

His voice sounded like he was convincing himself more than me. I started to look in the pile of cloth and found a baby carrier. I started to attach it to my torso and placed the small baby inside of it. I also found a pacifier and a tiny plush toy which I put in my bag, we would need them later. 

-”It’s fine, we have to keep moving. Lead the way.”

My voice took Carlos out of his thoughts and he started to guide me to the subway station once again. We didn’t have many bumps along the way, just a couple of stray creatures. I sensed the baby starting to get fuzzy in the carrier, so I took out the pacifier and gave it to them to prevent them from crying. 

-”Did the photo or something say what their name was?”

-”The photo was written in the back, it seems like her mom left a message. I didn’t read everything but I think she called her Kiania.”

-”Kiania? Huh. In Brazil that name means “New Dawn”, maybe she’ll live to see another one of those.”

Finally we reached the subway station. There we were received by another man in a uniform. The commander of Carlos’ group. 

-”Welcome back, I’m the leader of the U.B.C.S. Delta platoon, Mikhail Viktor. Carlos reported bringing some civilians in.”

-”Not civilian, ER nurse and first responder, at your disposal. The name’s ****.”

-”That name… Did you work under the order of doctor Nathaniel Bard?”

My eyes widened a little at that mention. I know for a fact that dr. Bard had a contract with Umbrella, something had told me to walk away back then and I thought nobody else knew about my association with him.

-”Dr. Bard was one of the researchers in my hospital and I used to work for him, but I got transferred to another department.”

I wanted to cut any ties they may have on me. Something doesn’t feel right about these lines of questioning. Whatever problem Bard got himself in, I didn’t want any part of.

-”Do you know where dr. Bard may be right now?”

-”No, I don’t have any contact with him outside of my professional capacity.”

-”Sir, I don’t mean to interrupt, but the baby is getting annoyed, they both need to rest for a moment before getting to work with the rescued civilians.”

-”You are right, please rest a moment, there must be some baby formula somewhere around here. You can ask the civilians over there.”

-”Thank you sir.”

I walked over to some civilians who were nursing their babies. I managed to prepare something for Kiania to eat and I put her to sleep. Carlos approached me again. 

-”I have to head out, I’ll leave the parenting to you. It looks like you have it under control already. A natural, huh?”

-”Where are you going?”

-”We received orders to save Bard, he may have a way to combat the infection.”

My eyes widened and a flash of memories came to my mind. I looked up at Carlos and said:

-”There’s a vaccine. I know how to get to it.”

-”What?! What are you talking about?”

I quickly jumped from my seat and made my way to Mikhail. 

-”I know where dr. Bard is keeping the vaccine. Mikhail, if you promise to not let Umbrella have it, we can help this city.”

-”I’m sorry? Why do you think I don’t want to save this city?”

-”Don’t act innocent on me. Umbrella is up to no good, you guys are the reason this outbreak happened in the first place.”

-”You are a sharp one, huh? How did you know?”

-”Because dr. Bard had a really bad case of loud mouth. He wouldn’t stop bragging about how his research was financed by Umbrella. When Carlos mentioned he had an order to “save” the guy I realized, you were trying to get him into custody.”

-”A brilliant person like you was working under Bard? That seems like a waste. Fine, I’ll give you the chance. If you can retrieve enough of the vaccine samples for my whole platoon and an extra one to take for research purposes, I won’t hand them in to corporate. Only catch is, the U.B.C.S. can’t help you in an official capacity. You’ll have to do this on your own. Do you feel up to the task?”

A sudden surge of anxiety washed over me, for a second I looked down to the baby sleeping in my chest. For her. For her mother. For every innocent who died here. I looked up into Mikhail’s eyes with a serious face.

-”I’ll do it. I’ll get enough for it. How many men are in your platoon?”

Mikhail smiled, almost amused by my attitude.

-”As of now, there might be around thirty-five members alive.”

-”Deal. I’ll get those vaccines before you even get out of this hellhole of a city.”

-”Wait a goddamn minute. Are we really going to let them go out there all alone? Mikhail, you know how dangerous it is out there.”

-”I can’t order my soldiers to assist in this, it is not our mission. We were sent to get civilians out, and to take Bard in. Nothing more. We’ll be supplying weapons for them, but that’s the maximum I can do.”

-”You can’t really plan on risking yourself like that. You have to be crazy. Do you even know how to handle a gun?”

-”Can’t say I have the pleasure of practicing ranging often, but if my life is on the line I think I can manage it nicely enough.”

-”Why in hell would you do this?, you are risking your life here.”

-”I can’t leave this mess unattended if I have the opportunity to help. I’m a goddamn nurse, it’s kind of my job description. Besides, my life is at risk as long as I stay here. I might as well do something to help.”

-”Mikhail, you say there can be no official involvement in this, right? How about something unofficial? Just one of your platoon members who lost contact for a couple of hours and decided to help a civilian? Would that be on the table?”

-”I can’t allow you to do this Carlos, this is your job. You already have your orders.”

Mikhail interrupted me, looking directly at Carlos. 

-”If I lose contact with my platoon member, I could not give him orders, now could I?”

Great, he sided with Carlos. Now there is no way I’ll be able to take him off my back. 

-”Then, where should we start looking?”

-”We’ll have to go to the hospital where Bard and I worked. There are some parts that had restricted access, but I don’t think the dead would mind If we took the keys. First we should head to dr. Bard’s office, he may still be in there. He could help us get to the vaccine. Though you should probably leave behind the Umbrella logo, it’ll scare the crap out of him.”

-”What about Kiania? We can’t take her with us. It’s extremely dangerous.”

-”I’ll ask some of the survivors who have children to take her with them. we’ll reunite with them after everything is settled.”

-”Good idea. I’ll be waiting upstairs when you are ready.”

-”Actually, wait right here. If we use the subway rails, we’ll get there faster and safer.”

Carlos nods and stands there, talking with Mikhail while I go talk with some civilians to find someone to care for Kiania as we go. A woman and her partner promise to take care of her. After I give them all of her stuff I get close to her little face and kiss her on the forehead, she giggles and I feel my heart sink, a horrible feeling creeps up my back. I promise Kiania that I’ll get back to her, and just like that I turn around and make my way to Carlos. I signal him to follow me and start walking through the subway rails.

-”We’ll get back. You’ll see her again, I promise you that.”

How did he know what was on my mind? 

-”I sure hope so. After losing her mom she needs someone there for her.”

-”I know how you feel. You just want to care for her, don’t you?”

-”I never thought I could feel this way. I used to say I was scared of being a parent. It’s difficult to make a good one when you don’t know how one should behave.”

-”Difficult home life?”

-”Let’s just say I don’t remember ever enjoying a hug my parents gave me. That should say everything there is to know.”

-”I won’t press ya.”

We walked in silence for a couple of minutes. Then, he spoke up again.

-”What’s the plan for when we reach the hospital?”

-”First thing. Prepare yourself for hell out there. If there is a place in this city that will be filled with those monsters it will be that hospital. Second. Doctor Bard’s office is on the second floor. We go in, see if he is still alive and get him to take us to the vaccine. He may even have a couple samples in there. If not, we’ll have to look for the keycard that opens the restricted deposit. It’s the only place where any of this may be hidden.”

-”Does the office have any security measures?”

-”Voice recognition. If we are lucky they still didn’t take me out of the system.”

-”Let’s just hope so.”

-”Alright. This is the station where we go back upstairs. Are you ready for this, Carlos?”

-”As ready as I can be.”

[black-suns-rim]

The story of White Death and Python

You guys wanted to know more about White Death and Python, so might as well kill 2 birds with one stone for the 700 follower celebration post.

Word count: 2,385

Enjoy

"For as long as I could remember, he was always by my side. He always stood up for me. I thought it was because it was the smartest one of the bunch, and he knew it. But he had actually cared for me so long ago… it's hard to believe it. We now hate each other so much — we are mortal enemies — but we never used to be…"

I got off of the throne of bones I had made. A fine trophy within itself made up of the various things I had killed over the years. I made my way to my life's mate. She stood at the temple's arcing entrance.

"You finally want to talk about him? After so long?" She put a hand on my shoulder and we pressed our foreheads together, greeting one another.

"I have never told you why he hates me so much. I have never told you the true reason why he hunts me specifically and I have never told you the real reason why I don't want you to interact with him."

She held my arm and led me out of the temple, "Then tell me, White Death. I have been patient with you thus far, waiting for you to be ready to speak to me about him. All of him."

"As you know, we were brothers by blood. Both of us having the same father…"

☆

Python and White Death grew up together alongside their peers and clan mates. They both belonged to the highly honored and respected Twin Xenomorph Clan of Yautja-Prime. Python was bulky even from a young age. Tundra (White Death's former name) was smaller and looked much different from his clan mates and peers. It was one of the reasons he was picked on and bullied. Almost all of the members of the Twin Xenomorph Clan were dark in color, while Tundra was snow white due to his mother's genetics.

Though he lacked height, he made up for it with his intelligence. Python saw his brother was smart and he could use someone like that on his side, so he began to protect him from most harassment. Eventually, the two gained brotherly love for each other — Python showed more outwardly affection compared to Tundra who almost always was cold to everyone and Python, but he did have some love for his brother. As they grew and became Blooded Hunters, the two drifted apart for a while.

☆

"Out of the blue, he wanted to meet with me many years after we became adults. He said he had discovered something that could improve yautja-kind." Python laid back in his bed. One of his mates, who was a trained medic, was treating one of his hunting wounds. She had given him a heavy sedative since he was in a lot of pain. She was surprised to hear him finally talk about his Bad Blood brother. She knew it was the sedatives but she was curious to know more about Tundra.

"And what news did he have to tell you, my love?"

"He came to me with what he said he had been working on for years. What he thought would make him and many others a better hunter…"

☆

"I showed him my hard work. The data, the examples, even pictures. Do you know what he called my genius work? A DISGRACE!" White Death raised his voice but he didn't startle Da'novi. She was used to his loud voice.

☆

"Do you see this brother? How amazing is my research? It could help improve the hunters of our society. It could help improve me!" Tundra placed down the many papers he had hand written on as well as pictures of his test subjects.

Python looked at the pictures and was slightly revolted by the animals he had changed to fit his vision. "Tundra… I see you are excited about this, but may I share my input?"

"Yes, what is it?" He sat down across from his brother.

"This… isn't natural. We hunt for glory and honor and to impress the ladies, but we don't do it to be…" He paused to think, "We do it to see whose genetics are better. I think this method might go against our culture; it might be disgraceful."

"Disgraceful? I'm looking out for the interest of our people, and myself. Our genetics are limited. With my research, we could become more, be more. Just look at these weak creatures I turned into worthy prey." Tundra pulled out some more pictures of these grotesque animals.

Python was beyond disturbed, "Tundra, there is a reason it was a weak creature. It is a part of life, the natural balance! If we mess with things like this, we would be ruining the natural balance!" Python raised his voice to make his point clear.

Tundra mistook this as aggression, "You do not understand me or my views!" He grabbed his papers and put them back into the bag he was carrying, "you have never understood my views! You will never understand what it is like being born 'inferior'!! Having your early years being a living hell, and being punished just for being alive and different from the rest of them!" He began to leave the room.

"Tundra! I only want to look out for you. I know our views are different, but this might be too far." He grabbed Tundra's arm, "the only support I can give is keeping this information between us. But I do warn you, the Elders may not like this if you plan on showing them in the future."

Tundra pulled his arm away, "you are no support to me. You never have been." His words stung Python like a deep cut. Tundra left the room without looking back and Python sat down, sighing heavily.

☆

"I knew I never understood him or how he perceived the world… but I didn't realize he wanted to mess with things that should never be messed with." Python tried sitting up but his mate pushed him down.

"Rest. If you keep moving, you'll hurt yourself even more." She said in a tone of slight agitation. Python was stubborn, even when he was being treated.

☆

"A couple of years later, he still never saw what potential my research had. The tensions between us grew as I came close to perfecting the sirim that would help me become a better hunter. But one day, his eldest son discovered what I had been doing and destroyed most of my hard work. I killed the brat in my blind fury and rage." For a split second, White Death showed a twinge of regret, but he quickly moved on.

"Of course my brother was… beyond upset with me."

☆

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?!" Python took a swing at Tundra while screaming at him. Tundra dodged his brother's dangerous blow.

"HE DESTROYED MY YEARS OF RESEARCH!!" Tundra grabbed a sharp tool and flung it into the arm of Python. It stuck out from his arm but he kept throwing punches at Tundra. Tundra ran out of the hut he had been using as his lab and Python pursued.

Tundra was much smaller and weaker than Python. One hit from him and it would be all over. He led Python to an opening — a training field. Tundra grabbed one of the basic hunting weapons and shot it at Python. It only made Python's rage stronger. Python lunged forward, "TRAITOR!!"

Tundra used Python’s momentum against him. He had pulled out a traditional hunting knife from his belt and stabbed Python in the gut. He twisted the blade of the Knife and pulled it out in only the span of seconds. Python roared in pain. He fell to the ground.

The two were gaining a crowd. They stayed back and watched. Python noticed the crowd as he struggled to get up. Tundra then stabbed him in the back. He too noticed the crowd and grew nervous. He knew he was going to get into trouble for what he did to Python’s son. Python got up and finally managed to knock down Tundra while he was distracted by the crowd. Python kept laying punches to Tundra while he had him pinned. Python passed out from blood loss before he could kill Tundra.

Both of them were out and wounded badly. Some of the yautja went up to the brothers to go take them to the healer. Once the Clan Leader heard about the fight between them, he went to visit them in the healer's hut once they were awake. Python was the first to wake and he told DiamondBack what Tundra had done.

☆

"So, after that whole incident, they put me in a holding cell and waited for me to wake so I could be put on trial in front of the council of Elders. The rest of the story, you know." White Death sat down by the crystal clear lake that was right in front of the temple the two had come out of.

"Remind me what happened. I do love the story of how I helped you out." Da'novi smirked as she leaned against him. Her soft voice always had a way with him. He could never resist her.

"Hmm… only because you asked."

☆

"Tundra of the Twin Xenomorph Clan, you stand trial here today on the account of the murder of a Young Blood and unethical genetic experiments. How do you plead?" Da'novi had a cold tone in her voice as she looked down at the accused bad blood.

"I am not guilty. I was defending my research from the destructive hands of that vile young blood." Tundra answered coldly back. The Elders were taken aback by his answer. Another Elder spoke, "You have no regret for killing a child?"

Tundra held his ground. His feelings were still hurt and he hadn't had time to process all that had happened, "No. I have no regret." The Elders murmured amongst each other. Da'novi had never come across a yautja like him in her years. She was intrigued and wanted to know more about him.

"The council has decided! You are to be executed in the upcoming days! You have been given the dishonorable title 'Bad Blood.' " an Elder spoke with a tone of disgust. Tundra was taken back to his holding cell. Some hours passed before a hooded figure visited him.

"I was never here, do you understand me?" The figure, Tundra could not recognize them, which is what they wanted. He walked up to the door of the cell, "What do you want?" He asked aggressively.

"Your research, It is nothing like I've ever seen. I am impressed by it. All of your research is being destroyed as we speak, but I was able to grab two of the tubes of liquid you had. Are these important?" The figure grabbed both of the tubes from a bag and handed them to Tundra.

"Yes, these are very important. This is my life's work." He put both of them in a hidden pocket of his belt.

"I assume the liquid is that you used to genetically change those creatures?" The figure asked.

Tundra nodded. There was something about this figure he trusted.

"Then I will see you later… if that liquid saves you from your execution." The figure leaves. Tundra wondered who they were, but he was glad that they gave him two of the tubes of his sirim. He peeked through the opening to see if any of the guards were around. None. He pulled out one of the tubes and a syringe. He put the liquid in the syringe, "you better work when I need you." He whispered to himself.

The next morning, Tundra was taken from his cell and walked by two guards to the public arena where his execution was going to be held. A humiliating death, a dishonorable death. To be killed with such a title as "Bad Blood" meant he would not have a happy afterlife. While he faked trying to get out of their grasp, he pulled out his syringe.

He was kicked in the back of his legs and forced to kneel on the ground. The arena had many spectators in it. The occupants hissed and growled at the sight of Tundra. An Elder spoke, "This hunter is here for murdering a young blood and for unethical genetic experiments on other creatures! His status, Bad Blood! He will be given a dishonorable death for his crimes!" Right as the Elder got done with their speech, Tundra injected himself with the syringe quietly. It only took seconds before he started roaring and contorting his body from the pain.

The guards didn't know what was happening to him but they tried their best to hold him down. Tundra's body began to rapidly grow so fast that his skin tore. He knocked off the guards and slashed them with his claws. The crowd grew loud as Tundra mauled both of the guards within seconds. More guards came out with their plasma blasters aimed at him. Tundra jumped up in the seated area of the arena and made his escape, using the people as a protective shield.

Python had watched the whole thing go down, "He… did it…" He said in disbelief. His disbelief quickly turned to rage and he roared out in anger. His son would not be getting avenged today.

Tundra was pursued off planet but he escaped.

☆

"You were chased off the planet and escaped many Elites while still in the pain of your genetic changes. I still find that impressive." Da'novi stood up, "and now you are the most feared and hunted Bad Blood many years later."

White Death smirked, "I am. And I have gained many followers who believe in the same thing I do. A clan of outcasts and Bad Bloods. Fitting. And you, a spy amongst the Elder Council. A perfect mate." He stood up as well.

"Speaking of which, I must go. The council will be discussing ways of getting rid of you once and for all. You have been a thorn in their side."

They put their foreheads together as an affectionate goodbye. Da'novi left and White Death went back to his temple.

[blacckdiamondposts]

FUN WITH THE CAPTAINS

WHY DID I NEVER FINISH THIS? cries in lower case

You should've known better - winking at Daichi, smirking at Bokuto and teasingly wetting your lips in front of Kuroo - there just had to be consequences.

However, you were Nekoma's third-year manager, wanting to have some fun with them as this would be your last training camp. You didn't realize that they were actually flirting - unlike you, who was joking around.

Today you'd have your fun as Karasuno, Nekoma, and Fukurodani would all be in the same gym.

As you were handing out the water bottles to your team, you noticed how Bokuto looked at you from across the gym.

When you turned to Kuroo to give him his bottle, you smiled up at him, "Good luck, handsome."

You left him standing there, gazing at your retreating form. You were hoping that a specific owl-head was able to tell that you were flirting with the rooster head.

You didn't forget about the other two males, complimenting Bokuto as you walked past him, "Oh wow, Bokuto, you look really good today!"

"Thank you (Y/N), I've been training extra hard lately," He said, flexing his muscles to show off.

As some of Karasuno's first years were practicing, a volleyball was coming towards you, Daichi didn't fail to pull you away just in time.

"Thanks, Daichi," You exclaimed.

You turned your head, looking at the latter before your eyes fixed on the red handprint on your upper arm.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to grab you like that," Daichi apologized as he noticed the mark on your arm.

"Don't worry, it's alright," You smiled at him, "I wish those marks would be somewhere else, though."

You for sure didn't think that he'd hear your mumbling - but he did. 

Daichi was standing there,  rooted to the ground, wondering if that was meant to sound as suggestive as it did.

You continued to flirt with them for the rest of the day, loving to see their reactions and how much they can show off.

Once practice was officially over, you decided to stay behind to clean up as volleyballs were laying around everywhere.

You were deep in your thought, humming as you were picking up the stray volleyballs - not noticing the three figures that entered the gym.

"(Y/N), you have some explaining to do," Kuroo said as he walked closer to you.

Your lips tugged into a smile as you turned around, smirking at the three males standing in front of you. 

"Oh, and why would I have to do that?" You retorted, raising one of your eyebrows.

"Come on, we've noticed how you were acting around us," Bokuto objected, cocking his head to one side.

"Yeah, and I've heard you after that little incident," Daichi smirked at you.

It took you a minute to realize what the latter was talking about, but as soon as it clicked, you felt your cheeks heat up. 

"I was just having some fun with you guys," You told them, wondering what other reactions you could get out of them.

"Why exactly us?" Kuroo asked, looking at you with a questioning look.

"Why not?" You shrugged, "I knew that I could get a reaction out of the three of you, and you don't look too bad."

They were all looking at you with a smug expression, feeling as if you were their prey.

Daichi was slowly closing the distance, walking behind you while the others were still in front of you.

"You know, we could get the wrong idea," Bokuto warned you.

"Yeah, especially if you wish for handprints on your body," Daichi reminded you of your words as he wrapped his hand around your neck. 

He pulled you closer until your back was flush against his broad chest.

"What if I wanted you to get the wrong idea," You joked, wanting to test the waters.

Daichi tightened his grip, leaning his head closer until you could feel his breath against your skin, "We can show you."

His words surely affected you as you could feel a heat spread in your lower regions. 

Have you ever imagined getting wrecked by Daichi, Bokuto, or Kuroo? - YES.

Have you ever imagined getting wrecked by all of them at the same time? - You were right now, and you loved the thought of it.

"Then show me," You purred as you were feeling bold, earning a chuckle from all three of them. 

"As you wish, kitten," Kuroo chuckled, turning around as he was headed towards the storage room, "Come on, or do you want anyone else to join?"

Bokuto didn't hesitate to follow the rooster head, Daichi quickly picked you up as he walked over to the others.

He placed you down once you were inside - all three of them looking at you expectantly.

Kuroo cleared his throat before he teaset you, "Now, what would you want us to do with you?"

"Oh, I don't know," You flashed an innocent smile, ”I thought you’d show me.”

”Believe me, we’ll do just that, ” Daichi smirked at you. 

[saiilorstars]

Ch.8: Lena Luthor

Story Masterlist // Anais’ Masterlist

Pairing: Winn Schott x OFC

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag​​ @arrthurpendragon​ @anotherunreadblog​ @maaaaarveeeeel​ @stareyedplanet​​ @foxesandmagic​​​​​​​

[If you’d like to be added to this specific OC’s stories/edits, send me a message!]

"So your parents were sent off well?" Kara asked just as she and Anais landed in front of a expensive-looking building J'onn had requested their appearance at.

"Yeah," Anais gave a light shrug of her shoulders. "I told them the man from the pod was another Kryptonian so there was nothing to worry about. They and my godparents are leaving to get some well needed rest."

"You believe that?"

Anais snorted. "They're all science geeks. Anyways, where the hell are we?" The two made it into the building and found the familiar DEO employees going about their usual tasks. "Where are we?" Anais repeated her question and hoped someone would finally answer them.

"The Department of Extra-Normal Operations, where else?" J'onn stopped by them, wondering why they were acting so clueless.

Both women exchanged exact, incredulous glances.

"Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" Kara followed J'onn first. "This has always been here? With the glass and the views and...and you made me fly to that cave every day!"

"DEO has several facilities, Kara."

"A bat bit me in the last one!”

"Whiner," J'onn calmly said, eliciting a snicker from Anais but a rather offended look from Kara.

"Hey, sis," Alex greeted when the trio entered the medbay room.

"You knew about this place, too?" Anais raised an eyebrow. She was beginning to feel rather offended herself for not being in the loop.

"Yeah, it's like a block from my apartment. It's kind of like the old place. Maybe better."

Kara decided to put that behind them or else they would never get to the news of the moment. She gazed at the unconscious man in Alex's care. "He has to be from Krypton. He must have escaped before the planet exploded, like Clark and I did."

"He's comatose. His vitals are stable. Breathing is normal. There's nothing else we can really learn from him because…" Alex had tried to stick a needle in the man's arm but the needle broke instead.

"That proves he's from Krypton!"

"I think it just proves he's not human," Anais chimed in her opinion. Kara looked at her seeming rather offended. "There's a lot of aliens that have freaky strength, myself included."

"Which means he could be dangerous," J'onn said what everyone else had already assumed.

"Sir, I would request that Winn help with the investigation," Alex said once she saw Winn coming into the room. "We need someone to analyze the pod's telemetry, and Winn does read Kryptonian."

At the questioning looks from Kara and J'onn, he meekly explained, "I got bored. I thought I'd pick up a new language. Space talk!"

"You want to prove your worth, Mr. Schott? Find out something my team of highly trained alien experts can't," J'onn said, meaning it as a kind way of letting Winn know his time probably wasn't going to be of much use.

Winn took that as the exact opposite. "Challenge accepted."

Anais laughed quietly. J'onn nodded Winn to follow him out but stopped under the threshold for a moment. "Oh, Solar, your friend is being released in twenty minutes."

Anais eagerly nodded and thanked him again. She turned to meet the smiling faces of Kara and Alex. "What?"

"Arun is getting released today?" Kara asked even though they already knew the answer.

"Yes, he was officially declared nonthreatening," Anais rolled her eyes. "That's still rude but... it's behind us. We're going to watch the Venture space launch tonight after he shows me his art shop."

"Oh, going on a date already…?" Alex purposely teased and Kara really did try to suppress her laughter.

"It's not a date, Alex. He's showing me his life and I'm going to show him mine," Anais smiled brightly at the thought of finally meeting someone like her. "And don't worry Kara, I'll stay clear of the apartment so you and James can have some alone time."

"Oh, so you're the one going on a date?" Alex shifted her teasing glance to Kara instead.

"Yup," Kara answered fast. "It's gonna be great. We are finally both free and clear to just hang out. No aliens trying to destroy the Earth. Just him and me, together like normal people, doing what people do on dates." She had to stop though when she noticed Alex's intense look. "What?"

Alex cleared her throat and purposely moved away from her sister. She went to put down the needle she'd tried using on the mysterious man. "You're just kind of doing that thing where you are super overeager, which means that you really aren't, but you're trying to convince yourself that you are."

"You got all of that from that one response?" Anais blinked in genuine surprise. She wondered if this was what it was like to have a sibling. Sure her parents knew her emotions well but a sibling, she imagined, knew more things about you that the parents wouldn't.

"She does that a lot, you'll see," Alex moved on out of the room but of course Kara went after her, protesting what had been assumed about her.

"I'm excited! I am so excited!"

Anais didn't say anything but she was pretty sure someone who was genuinely excited about something wouldn't go so hard trying to convince someone that they indeed were really excited. Thankfully, things didn't enter into an actual argument since Kara was called away by Cat. Though when she did go, she didn't do it before uttering one more time that she was "super uber excited" which really just proved Alex right.

"Every day I get to know something new about your sister," Anais chuckled as now she and Alex headed towards the main room.

"That's going to happen. I'm really just looking out for her," Alex felt the need to clarify. She didn't want to sabotage Kara's long awaited date but she just knew that Kara wasn't truly happy at the moment. "And I'll be looking out for you too, just so we're clear."

Anais blinked. "What? What did I do?"

Alex playfully rolled her eyes. "Your parents asked me to keep an eye on you."

"Oh great-"

"And keeping my word…" Alex came to a stop suddenly, making Anais dread what was coming, "I want you to be extra careful when you're around Arun."

"Alex, I already told you he wasn't dangerous-"

"You don't know someone's intentions, alright? Now Arun has been living on Earth for a long time. You know who is biologically, but you don't know what kind of person he is in reality," Alex was very serious in this matter. She would be repeating this to Anais every time she deemed it necessary. "So today, while you're out with him, watch yourself. Don't go to his apartment yet."

"Alex, c'mon," Anais laughed at the absurdity of her words. "I'm not a little kid. And I certainly have the means to protect myself."

"I know you do, but I still want you to be alert," Alex smiled and hoped Anais would understand she was just looking out for her too. She left Anais in the central room afterwards but even as Anais tried pushing Alex's words away it was impossible.

Alright, so maybe she couldn't fully trust Arun yet but it didn't mean she had to view him as a villain.

"You alright?"

Anais flinched when Winn touched her shoulder. She snapped out of her thoughts and waved him off. "Yeah, don't worry about it. Alex is trying to be my big sister."

"And that's...bad…?" Winn wasn't sure due to her straight face. "I mean, I know Alex can be scary but, she's fine. She's cool."

Anais chuckled and playfully rolled her eyes. "She is but she just had this idea that I shouldn't be so trusting in Arun."

"He was cleared of any threats, right?"

"Yes!"

"Well, I mean...it wouldn't hurt to be cautious," Winn flashed her a nervous smile when he noticed she was close to glaring at him. "Or not... not works too. Do whatever you feel is right."

She ultimately smiled. "Way to stand your ground. You know, if you're going to be working here, you'll need to learn how to do that."

"Me work here?" Winn's eyes went wide at the idea. "At the DEO?" His laughter wasn't received well since Anais had been dead serious.

"C'mon, Winn. You're more than qualified to be here. Plus, it's pretty obvious you want to be here too," Anais nudged him on the side.

"Yeah…" Winn wasn't going to outright admit the D.E.O. would be a working dream for him. Whether he admitted it or not, it was obvious for Anais.

~ 0 ~

When Arun was finally released, he made a direct demand to go out and eat. Apparently, what the D.E.O. served wasn't as great as one would think. Anais laughed but didn't protest to some tasty lunch.

"We can do whatever you want but I just can't get home until eleven," Anais warned Arun after they walked into the restaurant Arun chose. He apparently had a taste for Italian. "My roommate Kara has a hot date tonight."

"You and Supergirl room together?" Arun was immediately shushed by Anais, even though no one actually heard his question. He raised an eyebrow at her, clearly confused on her rudeness. "What?"

"You can't just say stuff like that out in the open."

"Why? It's not like any of the humans can actually hear us."

"Doesn't matter," Anais frowned.

Arun left it at that and picked up the menu. "What do you feel like having? It's on me, by the way."

"I really love pasta so a chicken alfredo would be delicious," Anais then lowered the menu, revealing a smile on her face. "And thanks for the invite. Next time it's on me."

Arun smiled back. "Don't worry about it. On Solaris, it's customary for the men to pay for the meals."

"Ah, chivalry and tradition - that's not new," Anais playfully rolled her eyes.

"Oh no, Solaris is nothing like...Earth," Arun's brief condescension didn't go unnoticed by the blonde. "Solaris was beautiful in its time. It was always bright and sunny. People were always elegant and there was order."

"Order?"

"Yes, you know, classes? We didn't have to mingle with anyone outside our social class."

"Aha," Anais scrunched her face behind her menu. "Kinda sounds boring."

"What?" Arun sounded offended but Anais wasn't going to keep her opinions to herself just for fear of upsetting him.

"Well, it sounds like a boring, rich place. Don't get me wrong, being rich is probably fun but all the snootiness that comes with it?"

Arun was frowning when Anais put down her menu. "You don't understand. When we can, I'll show you images of Solaris. You'll change your mind in a snap."

"Okay," Anais chuckled.

A young waitress stopped by their table to get their order. Arun ended up ordering on behalf of Anais - which she was a bit surprised with since she was very capable of doing that on her own - then ordered for him afterwards. While they waited for their meals, Arun talked about himself - and a bit of Solaris - for Anais.

As it turned out, Arun was more traditional in that he didn't really mingle with humans except for when he worked. Survival, basically. He viewed humans as a necessity to survive so he kept his interactions civil and short. Anais thought it weird that after living on Earth for ten years, he still kept that type of mentality.

"On Solaris, I was part of a high class so I was just raised with different perspectives," he said with a careless shrug. "Your family was one of them, by the way. The Mjorklands were known for their fine weaving skills. They made the finest clothing on the planet."

"So we were fashion designers?" Anais' joke was met with another frown. She ultimately stopped laughing when he wouldn't lighten up. "My mother never mentioned it."

"Irais should have told you about your history," Arun said quietly, though Anais swore he seemed more upset than she was about the matter.

"She just answered what I would ask. And most of that time was spent in hiding and being absolutely quiet."

"Sorry," Arun apologized. As the waitress came back with their meals, Anais took her turn to talk more about her background.

"My mother was murdered by humans - my father's family, actually - and after the DEO found me, two of the government's employees adopted me," Anais smiled at the thought of her adoptive parents. "They're good people. I love them."

"I'm sorry about Irais," Arun honestly meant it. "But...what was she thinking mingling with humans? Procreating was already a…"

Anais raised an eyebrow, an expression of incredulity flashing across her face. "I'd be careful how you finish that sentence since it's pertaining to me."

"No - I didn't mean it like that!" Arun went wide-eyed once he realized she was right. "It's just...Solaris had a strict rule about procreating with another species. We had these other species sometimes tour on our planet and...well, sometimes they got our people to give them a second look. It's just not right. I mean, look at the consequences you have. Your father never accepted you and his family killed your mother. You yourself only have half of a Solista's abilities."

"And I'm fine with the abilities I have," Anais said calmly despite feeling insulted in about ten different ways.

"I...I just wish that you could have everything you were supposed to have," Arun said, sighing.

Anais grabbed her fork and practically stabbed her pasta with it. She understood what Arun was trying to say and maybe in a way he was right. There were powers that she would never get to experience.

'Hang on, we're hearing of a possible explosion aboard the Venture…'

Anais looked up to the television hanging against the wall. "The Venture…"

"Yeah, humans wanting to reach space," Arun laughed to himself, missing Anais roll her eyes at him.

'Here's all we know at this time. There are over 200 people aboard the craft and the ship itself seems to be propelling down to Earth…'

"Oh my God," Anais dropped her fork on her plate.

'There are no further details, but keep it right here, and we'll continue to bring you the very latest. We can only hope wherever Supergirl and Solar are, we pray they're watching this.'

"I have to go!"

"What? Where!?" Arun scowled as Anais jumped up from her chair. "They'll take care of it!"

Anais was already out the door when he said that. She took off in her speedy run down the streets, picking up her suit on the way, then took off into the sky. She already saw the red cape of her partner and smiled in relief. Supergirl felt the weight of the craft lessen and glanced to see Solar right beside her pushing against the craft's front.

"Good timing!" Supergirl exclaimed.

"What the heck happened!?" Solar groaned as the ship continued to push against their collective force.

Suddenly, they felt a third force join theirs. Supergirl recognized the similar red cape of her cousin and beamed.

"...no frikin way!" Solar was the first to exclaim after seeing Superman smile at them from behind the ship. He breathed an icy air into the engines to force a shut down of its energy.

Between the three aliens, they were able to safely bring the craft into a landing just outside the city.

"That was awesome!" Supergirl laughed when she got to hug her cousin.

Solar practically ripped her away from Superman to have her turn. "Hi! I'm Solar! I love your work!"

Superman laughed at the two women. "Nice to meet you, Solar. I'm a fan of your debut."

Solar screeched and turned to Supergirl. "I really like him!"

"Way to go!" they heard a little girl's voice not too far. The three aliens turned to see a family biking down the road.

The boy next to her pointed at the aliens. "Look, it's Superman!"

"I used to change his diapers," Supergirl felt the need to reveal, making Superman throw her a sharp glance while the boy nearly lost it.

"Uh, not exactly sure you have to tell them that," he whispered but Kara giggled.

"No, I think I really do."

"I think she did," Solar agreed with her own laugh.

~ 0 ~

When Supergirl and Solar brought Superman back to the DEO, there was a whole crowd awaiting to see the Man of Steel. Of course, the man had to stop and greet every employee in the room.

Alex noticed J'onn's grim face as Superman made his way down the crowd. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

"Is...is Superman's appearance a problem?"

"...no."

Alex raised an eyebrow at J'onn but he didn't say anything afterwards. Instead, she heard Winn's squeak beside her.

"Oh. He's coming toward me…" he tried to straighten himself out just as Superman walked up to him.

"Winn, this is my cousin, Superman," Kara almost laughed at his wide-eyed face.

"Hi. I have a million questions," Winn's words were tumbling out of his mouth before he could realize what he was even saying. "When Lex Luthor set off the earthquake in California, did you gauge the focal depth with your X-ray vision?"

"Winn, please breathe," Anais honestly pleaded for him to take a break. He seemed purple around the edges of his face.

"Alex. It's good to see you," Superman hugged Alex next. So far, she seemed like the only one not completely awed by his appearance.

"You, too."

"Kara told me Jeremiah may be alive. And you know your father means a lot to me, so...if there's anything I can do…"

"Thank you, Clark," Alex took his request to heart.

Superman finally met J'onn's hard look and matched expressions with him. "J'onn." Even his tone had flattened.

"Superman. Nice to see you again."

"Oh, don't worry. I won't be staying long."

"Uh, I just invited Superman to visit our mystery guest," Kara jumped into the conversation - if it even qualified as a conversation - before they argued or something along those lines. "Solar, how about you lead the way?"

Anais saw Kara's intentions and of course helped in what she could. "Right this way." And on the way, she grabbed Winn so he could finish asking those questions she knew he was just dying to ask.

~0~

The unconscious man remained just that: unconscious. There didn't seem to be any progress in his state, nor a decrease, but it was difficult to track when they couldn't get any vitals. His hard skin made it far more challenging to do the simplest of things.

"He landed on Earth last night in a Kryptonian pod. We don't know who he is," Anais explained after leading Superman into the room.

"Did you try using a Quantum scan to determine his age?"

"First thing we did," Winn answered since Anais had gotten lost on the point.

"And Kara X-ray-visioned him for foreign objects, like a cybernetic data core?"

There, both Anais and Winn matched in nervous smiles. "She was just going to do that today…" Anais laughed and thanked God that Kara was coming in at that moment. "Kara, remember how you said you were going to use your x-ray vision to see if this guy had any foreign objects?"

Kara's eyebrows raised together, knowing exactly where that came from "Of course I was!" she released a small laugh. "What kind of person would I be if I forgot to do that…"

Superman entertained the show for another minute before very calmly advising, "You should probably go and do that."

"Yeah, okay," Kara x-ray visioned the stranger but saw nothing out of the ordinary. "No, nothing."

There was a ping on the tablet Winn had carried in with him. "Oh, hey, my handy translator just finished decrypting the pod's data log. Now, it seems sleeping beauty on his journey from Krypton passed through something called the Segara Beyal." He showcased his tablet for the three to see an image of a constellation.

"The Well of Stars," Kara recognized first. "My father took me there once. Time doesn't pass there."

"So that's why he's still so young?" Anais gazed down at the unconscious man and wondered what his story was.

"Oh, hey, speaking of age, I've been meaning to ask…" Winn lowered his tablet and garnered a wide, nervous smile. "Superman, you're 12 years older than Kara, right? 'Cause you do not look it."

Superman smiled. "Kryptonians age at a much slower rate here on Earth."

"You look fantastic…"

"When you're finished, we have something more important to talk about," Alex's appearance made the group divert their attention to her.

"Like what?" asked Kara.

"The Venture. The company behind the Venture said there was an explosion when the ship reached low orbit insertion."

"So?"

"Well, if something like that was gonna go wrong it would've happened earlier in the flight."

"The Venture was built here in National City, right?" Anais waited for the others to confirm her question. "Well, then somebody has to know something. That would include on who would gain the most if this craft had actually burned up." The others started agreeing with her and so she added, "And, I don't know, maybe a mild-mannered reporter could make some inquiries while he's here in National City. Perfect cover up."

"The DEO is going to take a very interested look too," Alex promised the man in question.

"Great," Kara clapped a hand on her cousin's shoulder. "You can work out of Catco. Just steer clear of Ms. Grant. She's been in a mood."

"Don't worry, I've got some sway with Cat Grant," Superman promised in a strangely certain way.

~ 0 ~

While Kara returned to CatCo. with her cousin, Clark, Anais decided to stay back at the DEO. She couldn't really see herself returning to Arun just yet. In fact, while she was staying clear of him, she wasn't exactly staying away from him.

"Anais, what are you doing?" Winn's voice startled her into almost dropping the tablet she'd swiped from some poor clueless employee. She was still in the room where the unconscious man remained, making her presence even more suspicious.

"Just...playing Candy Crush?" Her convincing face wasn't really convincing.

Winn raised an eyebrow at her as he further walked into the room. "Really? Cos it seems-" as he moved, Anais purposely slipped the tablet behind her back, "-like you're trying to hide something." And when he tried reaching for the tablet behind her, she jerked to the side with the biggest smile on her face. "Anna?"

Winn stepped back with his arms crossed over his chest. "I could try to take that tablet-"

"But you would fail since I am a speedster."

"Or I could call J'onn?"

Anais' face dropped at the threat. "You wouldn't…"

"I would."

Anais groaned and slowly pulled the tablet to her front. "I liked you a lot before this moment, Winn."

"Yeah, most women don't like me anyways so I'm okay with this."

"I wasn't doing anything bad, I was just...researching."

"About what?"

"Arun…"

Winn paused for a second and looked at her curiously. "Why would you do that? I thought you were going to get to know him today."

"I did, and...while I only heard a little about him, it's...not the best." Anais hated to admit that someone she'd been so excited for was letting her down in the worst way.

"Why? Did he do something? Does the DEO need to go pick him up?" Winn was already turning to leave when Anais grabbed onto his arm.

"No! It's nothing like that," she sighed. "He just kind of sounded...smug, you know? It sounded like he thought he was better than the humans."

"Well," Winn swayed his head, "He is super strong, can fly, has telepathic abilities, has solar powers, is a speedster...yeah, I think he has the makings of someone superior to us."

"Having super powers doesn't make you better than anyone else, Winn," Anais said softly. "Arun can have all that but if he has an ugly personality, then he's the worst of the worst."

"C'mon, Anais, you met him for like what? An hour? You can't know everything about someone in one hour."

"I know, that's why I was just looking him up," Anais raised the tablet. "I wanted to know what Arun did in the community."

"And what came up?"

"Um, just what he said he did. He runs an art shop, does paintings every now and then. He seems like a good man-"

"Then why don't you give him the benefit of the doubt and just get to know him a little more? Maybe there's some qualities that make him a good friend. And listen, if he does turn out to be the worst then by all means kick his ass and bring him back to the DEO."

Anais laughed. "I will."

"Hey," Alex stopped by and poked her head into the room. "We might have found something about the Venture accident."

Both Anais and Winn followed Alex into the main room where they had several photos on the screen.

"Ooh, that's Lex Luthor!" Winn immediately recognized the well known criminal of Metropolis.

"Is it?" Anais knew of Lex, but not what he looked like.

"So we did digging and it turns out that there was one passenger who had a seat booked on the Venture but mysteriously didn't show up last-minute," Alex indicated one of the employees to zoom in on the picture of the trio. "Lena Luthor."

The woman in question was a black haired woman with stark blue eyes. She was smiling at the viewer while Lex and an older woman - their mother - was more or less straight faced.

"Lex's sister," Winn realized. "But Lex can't be involved in this. He's in prison thanks to Superman."

"So we're thinking this time it's Lena," Alex said the obvious but Anais shook her head in disagreement.

"Wait a minute, we're going to assume she concocted this whole thing just because she's Lex Luthor's sister?" Both Alex and Winn stared at Anais with faces screaming 'duh!' at her. Anais set her hands on her hips, extremely disappointed in them. "Guys! That's just wrong!"

"You know what's wrong? All the trouble the Luthors have caused," J'onn joined them and, by the looks of it, to help Alex and Winn.

"Lex Luthor," Anais thought she was correcting them. "Superman fought Lex Luthor, not Lena Luthor. It's prejudicial."

"Look, Anna-"

Anais pointed her index finger at Winn. "If you're going to use that nickname it will not be for prejudicial stuff like this."

"Lena Luthor is Lex Luthor's sister. The entire family is rotten to the core," J'onn said but Anais still wasn't buying it.

"Are there any records of Lena ever being involved in her brother's schemes?" Judging by the silence from the trio, Anais assumed the answer was a big fat no. "Then how can you be sure Lena did this?"

"Kara and Clark are going to visit her right now to get some answers. She just moved to National City so it'll be fast," Alex thought that would help Anais but it just did the opposite.

"You mean send the man who probably already assumes Lena is guilty?" Anais was sure that Clark would just see Lena as another Lex copy. Kara was always more open minded and could probably see more than Lex. Still, Anais felt like she needed to be the unbiased party for Lena's sake. "I'm going to join them."

"What for?" Winn asked.

"To make sure we all stay in line," she turned to leave.

~ 0 ~

Lena Luthor may have a reputation thanks to her older brother, Lex Luthor, but as she led Anais, Kara and Clark into her office she showed nothing but politeness and openness.

"There's a perfectly reasonable explanation for why I wasn't aboard the Venture yesterday." Lena dropped her bag over her desk and sat down to face the three visitors. "There was an emergency regarding the planning for a ceremony I'm holding tomorrow. I'm renaming my family's company, and I had to cancel."

"Ah, lucky," Clark's tone was laced with disbelief, but even that didn't make Lena falter.

Lena, in fact, chuckled. "Lucky is Superman saving the day." Her smile widened when she saw Clark blink in surprise. "Not something one expects a Luthor to say, right?"

"And Supergirl was there, too," Kara said just before clearing her throat to add in an aura of innocence. "Along with Solar."

Lena then turned her attention to her and Anais. She looked them over but didn't necessarily see any familiar features she recognized from the Daily Planet. "And who are you exactly?"

"Um... I'm Kara Danvers," Kara answered with a nervous, tight-lipped smile.

"Anais Allen," went the second blonde in a much more carefree manner. "We're from CatCo magazine."

Lena raised an eyebrow at the two women as a smile spread across her face. "It's a publication not known for its hard-hitting journalism. More like 'high-waisted jeans: yes or no?'"

Kara and Anais exchanged glances with each other before Kara replied, "We're just tagging along today."

"Right. Can we just speed this interview along?" Lena gazed at the three of them with a resignation they didn't understand until she spoke again. "Just ask me what you want to ask, Mr. Kent. Did I have anything to do with the Venture explosion?"

"Did you?" Clark bluntly asked.

Anais sent him a disapproving glance but Lena had been the one to ask in the first place. Even then, Lena just smiled again. "You wouldn't be asking me if my last name was Smith." Her polite sarcasm was surprisingly restrained. Not everyone could remain so put together when being accused with attempted homicide.

"Ah, but it's not," Clark went on like nothing. "It's Luthor."

"Some steel under that Kansas wheat," Lena took in a breath and sighed. "It wasn't always. I was adopted when I was four. And the person who made me feel most welcome in the family was Lex. He made me proud to be a Luthor. And then he went on his reign of terror in Metropolis." She paused and looked away from the three, growing distant the more she recollected the path her brother took on. "Declared war on Superman. Committed unspeakable crimes. When Superman put Lex in jail, I vowed to take back my family's company. To rename it L-Corp." The mention of her company's new name was enough to pull her back to the present. "Make it a force for good. I'm just a woman trying to make a name for herself outside of her family. Can you understand that?"

"Yes, we can," Anais was the one to answer her. "We can really understand that, Miss Luthor." She understood perfectly what Lena was trying to do because she herself was attempting to do the same thing. Sure, her family wasn't evil but the Allens were still a high class family surrounded by governmental science and laboratories. Anais moved to National City in order to make something out of herself on her own. She felt a terrible churn of her stomach due to the guilt of coming for Lena Luthor just for trying to do something good.

"I know why you're here," Lena raised her hands to show she was still acting in good faith. "Because a subsidiary of my company made the part that exploded on the Venture." She got up from her chair and went to a set of drawers on the side of the room, missing when both Kara and Clark x-rayed her entire office. Anais inwardly sighed but knew it was standard procedure. When Lena turned back, she held a USB in hand. "This drive contains all the information we have on the oscillator. I hope it helps you in your investigation." She promptly handed the USB to Clark. "Thank you. Give me a chance, Mr. Kent. I'm here for a fresh start. Let me have one."

"We will," Anais reassured her and was the first to move towards the door.

Once out in the safety of the streets, the three discussed their brief visit.

"I didn't see anything when I X-ray-visioned the room," Clark said as he safely tucked away the USB into his pocket.

"Yeah, me neither," Kara agreed. "What do you think?"

"I've learned through hard experience not to believe anything a Luthor says."

"Yeah, that right there is nothing but prejudicial," Anais turned on both of them, forcing them to stop walking.

"You clearly are new to this life but trust me when I tell you that I know all about Luthors," Clark said, believing to have Kara on her side so he was mighty surprised when Kara sighed beside him.

"Yeah, I know I'm not a reporter or anything, but I kinda believed her."

"And until we find evidence that says otherwise, there's no reason why we shouldn't," Anais grinned at Kara for the support she unintentionally gave for their side. "And, just to cater to both sides, I'll personally keep an eye on Lena from afar."

Clark didn't seem so on board with that but his cellphone rang. "It's Lois," he told Kara and stepped a bit away to answer.

"Shouldn't you be getting back to Arun?" Kara quietly asked Anais once they were alone. "Winn mentioned you seemed a little bit down after your lunch. Was it because you left to help Clark and I with the Venture?"

"No, actually...it was...just some things he said during our lunch," Anais shook her head. She didn't want to keep dwelling on something she couldn't really judge Arun on yet. "I do have to talk to him so, you know, I can get to know him better. Maybe I'm just overreacting, I don't know. What about you and James, though? He couldn't have been too happy about your date being interrupted?"

"Uum…" Kara gave a tilt of her head, "It feels…"

"Kara?"

Kara released a big sigh. "Honestly, it feels like it's a lot more difficult than it should be. I'm trying to juggle being Supergirl and this new job Cat is offering and then when I think about James and dating, I…" she shook her head, making a hand gesture that even she didn't know what she meant. "The spark that I felt before...it's not there anymore."

Anais thought about something but she decided that she wouldn't burden Kara with a thought like that, at least not until Kara gave signs that she was already thinking about it. "Maybe you need to take one thing at a time," she offered instead. "That job offer Cat gave you...that's time delicate so you might want to start with that."

Kara chuckled. "Yeah, maybe so."

"Listen, um, I hadn't mentioned it before but I'm going to talk to Cat as Solar. I feel like it's time," Anais nodded with certainty. She delayed it enough and poor James got all the wrap for it.

"You sure that's what you want to do?"

"Yes, absolutely. It's time she got off James' back for that and it's time for me to start sharing with the city," Anais smiled. She noticed Clark coming back to them and decided to take her leave so the two cousins could spend more time together. "I'll be on the lookout for Lena like I promised."

"Be careful," Clark honestly warned her.

"I'm not bulletproof but I am literally faster than the speed of light," Anais smirked proudly and turned to leave.

~ 0 ~

Alex gripped the folder between her fingers as she walked into the room J'onn was in. "I know why you and Superman aren't the best of friends," she just came out with it. She was sure if she thought about it she would turn around and leave. This wasn't something that could be ignored. "Operation Emerald." She let the file drop on the table beside them and waited to see J'onn's reaction.

The man was stoic but ultimately he did have to wonder. "How did you find out about that?"

"I cross-referenced your personnel file with Superman," Alex crossed her arms and hoped that this would be enough to elicit some type of explanation directly from him instead of getting it all from paper.

It seemed like she was on the right track.

"Back when I first took over the DEO, we got a report about a meteorite coming down in the desert. Superman would work with us back then, so we both headed out to investigate. We got there, it was dark and but I could see something down in the crater. Green, glowing like an emerald. It didn't affect me, but Superman got down there, he started heaving. Passed out."

Alex nodded with understanding. "It was Kryptonite."

"I named it that," J'onn admitted. "Superman wanted to destroy it all."

"But you kept it," Alex didn't mean that as an accusation of some horrible secret he harbored but even she was reluctant to keep such a dangerous object around.

"He was not the only Kryptonian out there, Alex. Their powers are limitless. Now we have a way to protect ourselves from them."

"Except "them" now includes my sister."

"Guys, we may have a problem," Winn made an quick stride into the room, nonethewiser of the tersed conversation just had. "I've been going over the data from Luthor Corp. Now, the oscillator that exploded on the Venture, it was located underneath the main passenger cabin, right?" He wasn't necessarily waiting for either Alex nor J'onn to answer. He just kept going. "In fact, it was housed under seat 23B. And according to the manifest, guess who was supposed to be sitting in seat 23B?" He used his tablet to show them the visual of venture's seating arrangement. "Lena Luthor."

"Lena Luthor wasn't behind the explosion. She was the target," J'onn realized along with Alex. It meant they were dealing with the worst of the Luthors.

~ 0 ~

If the DEO wanted a confirmation that Lex Luthor was trying to murder his baby sister, they got it only one hour after making the first realization. Lena had been almost killed while attempting to fly in a helicopter, but thanks to Solar, Supergirl and Superman she lived to see another day.

Now at the DEO, the team was attempting to analyze a piece of the drone they'd managed to salvage. Winn was the closest, and the most eager, to see just what it was made up.

"This thing is like state-of-the-state-of-the-art! Kind of looks like something my dad might have built in one of his more murdery moments!"

"His what now?" Anais repeated in confusion.

"Nothing," Winn said without thinking. Yes, the world already knew just who his father was but if he could save one mind from knowing a terrible truth, then he was glad it could be Anais.

"We've acquired a partial print from the wreckage," Alex called from the controls. She had Agent Velasquez pulling up a mugshot of the man Anais, Kara and Clark fought earlier. "John Corben. International assassin for hire. He's been linked to Intergang, Kasnian terrorists, and the genocide in Corto Maltese. If you want somebody high-profile killed, this is the guy to hire. But who would want Lena Luthor dead?"

"Hey, where's Kara?" Winn asked after realizing they were short one blonde in the room.

"She, uh, is talking to James," Anais answered, sharing a knowing look with Alex. They wondered when poor Kara would get her thoughts straight. "And where's J'onn exactly? And Clark?"

"Also...talking," Alex knew the irony of the situation.

"Is everyone suddenly talking?" Winn paused just to wonder if he had anyone to talk to. Nope. He was lonely. Anais laughed at his expression, pulling him out of his momentary pensive state. "I have people to talk to," the man argued weakly.

"Didn't your girlfriend turn evil?" Alex raised an eyebrow at him. Winn was frankly offended they would throw that back at him.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure me, Kara and my young adoptive dad kicked her ass," Anais joining in didn't make him feel any better.

Winn opened his mouth but no words came to mind. Still, as he pointed between them something eventually came out. "You both...are mean."

Alex formed a small 'o' with her mouth. "Great comeback. You're almost as good as Kara."

"Well, while this is lovely, I'm going to see if I can convince Miss Luthor to postpone that renaming ceremony." Anais figured it was the best thing Lena could do but she had to see if Lena would be willing to even do it. She seemed really set on the ceremony when they visited her at L-Corp.

~0~

Lena was an exceptionally stubborn woman, Anais came to discover. While Lena went around the public event checking for any last minute changes or mending, Anais trailed after her giving her all the reasons why it would be better to postpone the event.

"I'm sorry, Miss…?" Lena briefly stopped her fast paced walking to look at Anais.

"It's just Anais," the blonde waved off with her free hand. The other hand rested over her camera that was slung around her neck. "And I just really think it's a big risk you're taking continuing on with this event when your brother is...well…"

"Trying to kill me?" Lena finished with no apparent hesitation. It almost made Anais feel sorry for the woman. It seemed like Lena was quite accustomed to aggressive family problems.

"Yeah…"

Lena seemed ready to talk but suddenly looked out to the park. She pursed her red lips together and nodded up ahead. "Do you see how many people showed up?"

Anais didn't understand but she looked over and shrugged. "Well, to be honest, not a lot." Lena laughed softly, knowing that Anais was trying to be polite in her answer.

"My brother's serving 32 consecutive life sentences for some awful things, and now when people think of me or the company...all they see is Lex's madness," she sighed and brought a hand to her forehead, gently rubbing her fingers over her skin. "I'm trying to make a life of my own and that includes this company that I know can be something good to the public."

"I know that, believe me," Anais was quick to say. "I've lived with my parents up until last month. This is the first time I'm on my own, in a new city...with my first job ever." She raised her camera a bit, making Lena smile.

"Then you should understand why I have to do this," Lena started walking towards the platform. "I can't start my life if I succumb to my brother's threats."

Anais had stopped following when Lena reached the platform and decided to mingle instead nearby. She was under the guise of a job - which would end up working to her benefit later when she showed Cat the pictures of the ceremony - but was still going to keep a close eye on Lena. And she knew Alex was nearby as well, keeping an eye on any strangers coming by.

When Lena began to address the crowd, Anais started snapping pictures. She had to admit Lena Luthor had no bad angles because every shot Anais took of her seemed to be perfect.

However, midway through Lena's speech, a laser shot right over Lena and hit a statue instead. It was enough to cause panic amongst the crowd. A couple more lasers shot through and struck a nearby building. Anais forgone her camera - in a safe spot of course - then returned as Solar. She was about to go towards the building when she got word of Supergirl and her cousin.

They would take care of the building so Solar could get the people around them to safety. One by one, she sped the people away but when it came to find the actual target, Solar had to actually fly into the air. She could hear Alex calling out the assassin and flew downwards.

Her eyes glowed gold as she fired her laser and caught the man's back. He screamed in pain when he felt the burn on his skin, but the man didn't catch a break because in the next moment Lena Luthor had made her mark with a bullet. It caught him near the clavicle and set him down.

"Badass," Solar said in utter awe.

"If you're done crushing, Miss Solar, we request that you bring the man back to the DEO," she heard Winn's voice over the comms.

Solar playfully rolled her eyes but did as told and super sped the assassin back to the DEO before he could even process.

~ 0 ~

"You did what now?" Alex gaped at both Anais and Winn the next day. Her dark eyes flickered between the two like a mother who was getting ready to scold her children.

"I asked him to," Anais raised a hand, making sure that everyone who knew would understand that she'd made the call. "I mean, I had some good shots of Lena at her ceremony but I thought the one where she took Corben down would be an extra help in her endeavor to show people she was different from her brothers-"

Alex raised a hand to stop the alien. "You hacked into a public street camera for a picture of Lena?"

"I asked Winn and he was really nice enough to do it-" Anais quickly looked at Winn with a big smile, "-and I have to say thanks again."

"It was nothing," Winn said before realizing Alex was now glaring his way. "O-or was it?" he made a face. "Does this at all jeopardize my new job at the DEO?"

Anais gasped, clapping one hand over her mouth. "Oh my God, does it? I-I didn't mean to - I just wanted to help Lena out. I sympathize with her, that's all."

Because Alex knew Anais was telling the truth, she decided to go easy and avoid them the trouble of being confronted by J'onn. "Our system is not meant to take pictures of people for magazine articles. Don't do that again, either of you." Her moving pointing finger was warning enough for the two in question.

"Got it!" the two chorused.

They waited until Alex left to be able to breath with relief.

"Winn, I am so sorry for that," Anais turned to the man afterwards. "I didn't even consider what would happen...I just thought it would help Lena."

"And it did," Winn said. They had both seen the article Clark had written about Lena that used some of Anais' pictures - which Cat would never know that she had given to the Daily Planet - and thought it was nice that Lena was getting a fair chance to start over.

"Congrats about your new job, by the way," Anais said once things cooled down. They headed for the hallway, intending on returning to the main room. "Sure it's gonna be more fun than working at CatCo."

"Definitely," Winn practically beamed at the thought of all the 'cool aliens' he'd get to see now that he was officially part of the DEO team. "Oh hey, did you ever get back to Arun?"

"No," Anais shook her head, feeling a little guilty she was purposely avoiding that subject.

"Don't you think you should do that?"

"Um, tomorrow," Anais said, though was only half sure of it. "Today I have something else planned."

"Like what?"

"...I've got a date with Cat Grant."

~ 0 ~

Cat was more than prepared for the interview James Olsen had finally set up for (in her mind) her and Solar. It was about damn time, she thought. This was the last thing she needed in her 'bucket list' to feel like she could...move on.

Overlooking the balcony, Cat saw the familiar gold streak zipping down the street. She stepped back when the streak started running up the building. With Solar's arrival, the media queen stumbled back from the force of wind.

"Miss Grant," Solar smiled widely. She had to admit she was fairly excited to do this interview. Kara had warned her that Cat was no joke when it came to interviews but it didn't scare Solar. She just wanted people to finally get an idea of who she was.

Cat got over her initial surprise fairly fast. She grabbed the recorder she left on the table and made a gesture that she wanted to turn it on. Solar gave her the nod to go for it.

"Curious, do you prefer running or flying?" Cat pointed out the balcony. "Because we've seen you do both…"

"Because I'm a speedster, I go about the same speed whether it's running or flying...but I like to run. It gives me some exercise," Solar made the motion of someone jogging.

"So, you're not of the same place as Supergirl nor Superman?"

"Nope," Solar popped the 'p' in that word. "I'm actually a unique case for my people. I am half human and half alien. A hybrid, if you will."

"Your half human?" Cat blinked in surprise. Solar nodded and allowed Cat to say her assumptions out loud. "One of your parents is human then...amazing…"

"They're both gone," Solar said before Cat started on a crusade to fish out the two. "It's just me and, um, that man that you saw the last time?"

"Name?"

"He hasn't picked one. Actually, I don't know if he's joining us, but he's not a danger to the public."

"So where are you from, then? I mean the alien part of you, anyways."

Solar smiled for a moment. "I'm from a planet called Solaris. My people are natural speedsters and can wield the sun's powers."

"Do you know if there are any more of them on this planet?"

"No, not really."

"And you…" Cat moved forwards, startling Solar for a second. Cat's eyes were scrutinizing the alien up and down. At one point, she started to circle Solar. "Where did you come from? I mean, you showed up only a bit after Supergirl. Where've you been?"

"Training," Solar could honestly say. "Because I'm half human, I developed my powers a lot later than my people typically do."

"And is that why you showed up, now? Because you were done training?"

"Yes, and no," Solar sighed. "Look, I'm not here to be painted as a hero with a tragic backstory, nor a wannabe Supergirl. I'm here because of who I am. I am Solar, half human and half alien. I was born on this planet," she pointed her index finger down, "So this is my home. You are my people too and I want to help. I want to do my part in the community."

"A bit cliche…" Cat's lips twitched into a smirk.

"But it's the truth and there's nothing to be ashamed of," Solar shrugged. "That's why I came to you, to tell you and your readers that I am here whenever I am needed and wanted." She tilted her head when another idea popped into her head. "Oh, right, and for you to lay off James. Don't threaten his job to get more interviews, please."

Cat's smirk fully developed. "Got your attention, didn't it?"

Solar playfully shook her head. "This interview is now over. Have a good night, Miss Grant." She gave a mock salute with her two fingers before rising into the air. She would definitely be looking forwards to reading Cat's article.

[dark9896]

No... Way [Raju x Reader]

Requested by Anonymous 😏

Christ, it was one thing after another around here. Zapp could really use a good night out drinking. But you'd probably bail again. That damn dish cloth has been hanging around a lot lately. Helping Libra take out threats of all things.

That didn't make a lick of sense.

Zapp couldn't remember the last time he'd had a conversation with you, or even texted... But a quick peek at his phone made him stop dead in his tracks.

Nine, no damn near ten months. Wasn't that about how long the old rag had been in town? Why in the hell did this feel like an omen? He should just call and see what's going on.

Before Zapp could press the button, he spotted a familiar face across the park. At least, he thought it was you. There was a baby stroller in front of you and a large dog at your side. If that even was you to begin with.

"OI! Crazy!"

You turned, the only person who called you that was Zapp after all. And since you'd decided... well, a lot of things, you hadn't seen him at all. So naturally, he didn't know about Wisp or little Gloria. Though one was far more noteworthy than the other.

"Hey Zapp." You said.

"Hey? I haven't seen you in a f-!"

"Don't cuss in front of my daughter please." You cut him off quickly, "I don't want her picking up your worst habits."

"DAUGHTER!"

"Yes, chill." You had to lean over to lift Gloria out of her stroller. It was clear she would start crying from the sudden loudness, "Or I will sick Wisp on you."

"Wisp? You mean this mutt?" Zapp pointed at your pet, "I'm not scared of this flea bag."

"You should be." Zapp looked up at the descending form of his 'Master', "He's been trained. And he's a far better fighter than you."

Twisting his head back and forth, Zapp could see the slightest resemblance between the toddler in your arms and the floating dishcloth on a stick. But, no... surely not.

"[Name], don't tell me you actually decided to have a kid with this sadistic homunculus." Zapp pinched the bridge of his nose, "Let alone him training your dog."

"Wisp is a wolf." You corrected, "Someone decided that I would need more protection while pregnant and brought home a young wolf."

Raju refused to make eye contact, turning his attention to Gloria. Presenting the little baby with a new little trinket. A large, colorful plushie with visible stitching, a clear sign Raju had made himself.

Zapp however was rubbing his mouth and chin, "So he's been sticking around because you were pregnant with his kid?"

"Well, yeah I guess." You shrugged, "Though it's been a learning curve for him specifically. He's never been around toddlers before. Or anything younger than about ten years old."

"Of course..." Zapp half growled, "And you're just... okay with this? I mean, he'll probably want to train her to be a fighter or some sh-"

You stomped Zapp's foot to keep him from cussing, but it was Rjau who spoke up.

"I will do no such thing!" He protested, "My daughter won't have a need to touch a weapon at all. I refuse to let such a thing happen."

"Oh really!?" Zapp turned his snarl to Raju, "And why should [Name] and I believe you, huh? After everything you-"

"Stop!" Both froze stiff, turning to you and the scowl across your face, "Look, I know you don't wanna hear this Zapp. But Raju has been nothing but a sweetheart to me. The best relationship I've had in my whole life. So stop antagonizing him for your own amusement."

"You don't know what he's capable of!"

"Neither do you." You glared at your buddy, "But I know that Raju has been very gentle, sweet, and loving towards me. I know that he has been trying to be a good partner."

You took a step toward Zapp, causing him to back up a little, "I know that Raju has been doing a lot of things to make things as easy as possible for me and Gloria. So just stop trying to turn me against my husband."

Zapp felt his spirit leave his body for a second, "Hold on, husband!?"

Holding up your left hand and showing Zapp an absolutely stunning ring had him opening his mouth like a fish. He couldn't believe it, he didn't want to believe it. How could you... how could Raju... Why would you go this far??

"What in the world?" Zapp finally managed a croaking voice, "Where did you even get that ring?"

"Raju made it himself." You said, "He's made a lot of things. Like this stroller, the crib, the bassinet... pretty much anything that could be made of wood and metal. Well, some things made of metal. He's even been dabbling in stitching."

Zapp's eye twitched, so this dirty sock does have a kind side. Raju however was trying to figure out how to vanish. He wasn't expecting you to start bragging about his handiwork. Though he was at least a little happy that you thought so highly of these things. It still flustered Raju to hear you say it out loud.

"Just when were you gonna tell me you were getting hitched to this..."

"I don't have to tell you everything about my life numbskull." You frowned again, "Especially when I know you'll try everything in your power to stop me."

"Did you choose to have a kid before or after?"

You sighed, "A bit of both really. We were a little drunk, talking about where we thought life would take us. Ended up on the topic of kids and I mentioned what getting married meant. Overall and to me, and a few days later we started talking about it while sober and..."

"Okay, okay." Zapp held both hands out in front of himself, "You don't want me cussing in front of your kid, so maybe keep it pg-13, yeah?"

Raising one eyebrow, you chortled a bit, "Oh, suddenly you don't want to talk about someone's personal life, eh?"

"You picked up on his bad habits." Zapp jerked a thumb at Raju, "I really didn't need the mental image of you getting 'a little drunk' with him."

[mariaferero]

CIA in North Island (Part 2)

Bob Floyd x OC

A new team member joins for a big mission at Top Gun

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

"How many pull-ups did you end up doing?" I chuckled, questioning Phoenix as the group headed back into the hangar.

"Bob and I did two hundred, I think Fanboy and Payback did three, Hangman, and Rooster literally killed each other, so they did four." She laughed along with me, putting her helmet under her arm.

"Damn." I sighed, my arms hurting at the thought.

"I say we raise the stakes tomorrow." Hangman declared. "If we make it through in our first three runs tomorrow, you and Agent Taylor have to do one hundred pull-ups."

"We can't force Taylor to do pull-ups, but I will agree for myself." Maverick agreed, offering Hangman his hand.

"That's no fun. Where's the team bonding?" Hangman smirked, looking right at me.

"You all have to succeed in three tries?" I questioned, trying to weigh the pros and cons of this agreement. Sure I could do pull-ups I was in the CIA, for god's sake, but one hundred was a lot.

"Yep." Payback agreed, leaning on one of the tables.

"Did they get it that soon last time?" I asked Maverick.

"Nope."

"Okay, well, I'll take those odds. Deal." I agreed, offering Hangman my hand. He took it, offering me an even bigger smile before letting go.

"Wonderful, then I say we make our way to the bar." Rooster declared, heading towards lockers on the side of the hall. They all followed, depositing their helmets and other gear. The pilots all made their way to the bathrooms as I stood with Maverick, trying to judge whether that invite included me.

"Yes, it does include you." Maverick chuckled, looking at me from the corner of his eye.

"What, you can read minds now?"

"Just body language." He shrugged. "You'd think, for a CIA agent, you'd be better at this."

"I am. I'm just not great in situations like this. Put me on my own mission and I thrive. No one ever suspects the woman." I sassed, shrugging my blazer off and rolling up my shirt sleeves.

"No, they do not." Phoenix agreed, appearing beside up, now decked out in a tank top and a pair of ripped jeans. "Do you need something to change into?" She added, looking at my dress pants specifically.

"Do you have something?" I murmured, glancing down at my pants before glancing back at her.

"Of course I do. I have an extra pair of jeans in my locker. Just give me one sec." She beamed, dashing away as the others started to approach now in civilian clothes. Phoenix gave me the jeans very similar to her own, just lighter colored, and I changed as fast as I could, tucking my pants away in the bathroom behind the paper towel dispenser, an old trick from school. I speed walked back to where the group was standing, chatting away.

"Great! Let's go." Payback declared, holding up his keys. Instinctively, I reached for my own from my pocket, picking them up.

"Perfect! Bob and I are with you." Phoenix declared, looping arms with me before dragging me away, Bob following us like a lost puppy. She jumped into my passenger seat as Bob got in the back. "Don't let Hangman and Payback get to you. They're just stereotypical loud men, they're harmless and trainable."

"Trainable?" Bob piped up, peering around Phoenix's seat to show her his confused expression.

"Yes, men have to be trained, or they're just pains in the ass. Payback and Hangman have the potential to be trained. Fanboy's engaged, so he's already trained. Rooster is in the process, though he likes to take steps backward sometimes. Coyote is basically trained, though it seems like he decides not to be some days, and you're already trained because you had older sisters." She explained easily, jokingly bopping his nose, causing him to scrunch it up.

"She's right." I agreed more so on the general theory and less on how it applied to all of them.

"Interesting." He murmured, sitting back quietly for the rest of the ride as Phoenix and I talked back and forth. Somehow she convinced me to drop her off before I parked the car. I guess she just started talking, and I would listen like the Pied Piper.

"I'll stay and walk her to the bar." Bob offered, when Phoenix jumped out of my car, looking back at him. She just nodded, closing the door and dashing off to catch up with Hangman and Rooster.

"I think I'm under her spell." I laughed, pulling into the parking lot and searching for a spot.

"Yeah, she kind of has that effect on people." I saw him nod through the rearview mirror. "You get used to it, and it's really nice to have on your side when you get into any kind of problem."

"I could see that." I chuckled, putting my car into park once I was properly in a parking spot. We both jumped out, and I locked the car as we headed toward the bar. "Am I about to go through some weird Navy initiation if I walk through these doors?" I joked, stopping right as Bob held the door open for me.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that theory." He chuckled, a smile taking over his face. "Isn't that what you CIA agents are supposed to say?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny that theory." I smiled, sending him a wink as I walked inside.

"Taylor, what's your poison?" Coyote yelled at me the second I was within his eye line.

"She drinks a vodka lemonade." Penny rolled her eyes, putting a filled cup on the counter as I approached.

"Thanks." I smiled, taking the drink willingly.

"I see you've integrated yourself into the group." She smiled, nodding towards the gaggle of pilots scattered around me, drinking or bickering with each other.

"Maybe... the jury's still out." I murmured, glancing at Maverick as he watched Penny and I talk.

"Oh, ignore Mav. He's useless." Penny chuckled, moving to grab a towel it and throw it at the man.

"Noted." I chuckled as he came our way, a smirk on his face. "I'm gonna go socialize. Thanks again for the drink."

"Of course! Go mingle." She beamed, gesturing for me to go move. Before another thought could even come close to gracing my mind, Rooster, and Hangman were suddenly racing to the piano tucked away on one of the walls. Rooster won, and he instantly started playing the song from last night that I did not recognize.

"What is this?" I whispered in Bob's ear as we both stood there watching Fanboy, Coyote, Rooster, and Phoenix sing while Hangman and Playboy grumbled to themselves.

"It's called Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis, I think." Bob shrugged, gesturing to a table near the piano. I led the way and we both took a seat to watch the show.

"I appreciate your group's atmosphere." I chuckled, leaning back in my chair to watch them all dance around obnoxiously. "You get what you need to do done, but you also know how to let loose and enjoy life."

"I think that has to do with the fact that we have a few too many near-death experiences. It sort of opens your eyes to how short life can be." Bob shrugged, tipping back his glass to consume the rest of his beer. "I'm grabbing another, do you want anything?"

"I'm okay." I smiled, holding up my half-full cup as proof. Bob pulled Penny away from her flirting session with Maverick as Hangman came up in front of me.

"I believe it's time for you to join the dance." He smirked, offering me his hand. The rest of the group danced around or near the piano, with huge smiles plastered on their faces.

"I'll have to pass this time." I murmured, leaning farther back in my chair.

"You're sure?" He smiled, putting his head down, but cocking an eyebrow at me.

"I'm sure." I nodded.

"You have to dance with us at least once on this mission." He threatened, pointing a finger at me jokingly.

"When you guys don't die in your first three tries, I'll do the pull-ups and dance with you." I wagered, offering him my own smirk.

"Sounds like a deal to me, Taylor." He beamed, dancing his way back to his buddies.

"Don't make deals with the devil." Bob joked, coming to sit down next to me again.

"What, you're not going to dance with them?" I smiled, tilting my head to look at him suspiciously.

"I'm not much of a dancer. I'm more of a drink, chat and play pool kind of person." He offered, gesturing to us and then the pool tables behind us.

"Well, then, do you want to play?" I smiled, gesturing with my head to the tables.

"If that's something you want to do, sure." He smiled, raising his arm in a 'you lead the way' kind of gesture. I did just that, making my way to an open pool table, grabbing two pool cues as I went. "Thanks." He smiled, taking the one I offered him.

"You break." I offered, leaning across the table from the cue ball. Bob stood up tall, cracked his neck, and aimed. He easily got two balls and stood up, offering me a smile. Taking advantage of his success, I knocked a ball in and then another, missing my third. We went back and forth until we each only had one ball left.

"Here's your time to shine." He joked, narrowing his eyes at me jokingly as I lined up.

"Shut up, your voice is distracting." I tried not to laugh.

"That's kinda the whole point." He smirked. THE Bob Floyd actually smirked at me.

"Shhh." I shushed, going for it and missing. "Well, damn," Bob said nothing, only lining up and sinking the ball. He called the pocket, took his shot, and won like it was the simplest thing he's ever done.

"Good game." He offered, smiling at me as he held his hand out for my cue.

"Good game." I laughed, giving him the pool cue and turning to find the rest of the group. Maverick was still at the bar with Penny, while Hangman was seemingly trying to flirt with some girl with Payback as a wingman. Rooster, Fanboy, and Phoenix were still at a table near the piano. I decided it best to join the piano group.

"Did Bob whoop you at pool?" Phoenix chuckled, obviously a bit drunk.

"Yep. He's a real pool shark." I laughed, pulling up a chair and sitting down.

"I try my best." Bob chuckled, appearing behind Rooster. "When are we planning on leaving? We have training at nine tomorrow."

"Soon. I just want to finish my drink." Fanboy explained, picking up his beer glass and downing it in one sip. "Now we can go."

"Whatever, stupid." Phoenix rolled her eyes. "I'm with you, pretty girl." She slurred, slinging her arm around my shoulder, making me chuckle.

"I'll take the rest of them. Just take Phoenix." Rooster nodded, gesturing for me to head out.

"Thanks! See you guys tomorrow." I waved, securing Phoenix's arm around my shoulder, my car keys in my other hand. I prepared myself to haul her to my car.

"What about Booooob?" She tried to whisper in my ear, even though it wasn't very quiet.

"Bob, you're with us." I declared, too tired to be awkward and anxious right now. I'd had a big first day and wanted to go home and sleep before doing it all over again. Bob blindly followed us out to the car, not saying a single word.

[samatedeansbroccoli]

📓📓📓📓📓📓📓📓📓📓📓📓📓📓📓📓📓📓👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️👁️

God damned that’s a lot of books. How many plots do you want?

I guess I’ll hand you a Star Wars one since that’s the fandom I’ve been chilling out in recently. This one was inspired by a My Little Pony fan song called “Rainbow Factory” so do what you will with that information. As per usual, it’s a giant synopsis.

Tw needles, implied child death, blood, torture.

Those words probably don’t look good together.

It’s almost Obi-Wan’s 12th birthday! As excited as he is, he’s also extremely anxious. If he can’t impress anyone during the padawan trials, he’ll be sent away to become a farmer when his birthday rolls around.

As he practices, he overhears Master Qui-Gon Jinn arguing with other masters about sending children away to become farmers. Behind Qui-Gon is his padawan, Xanatos (in this AU story, Xanatos is a lot younger), who is looking like a kid awkwardly waiting for their parent to stop talking to someone in the grocery store so they can go home.

Obi-Wan doesn’t really care and continues training.

The day of the trials rolls around and Obi-Wan does his best to put on a show. Canonly, he was almost kicked out because he was a bit too aggressive and this is the same. But he’s also rather weak when it comes to the Force, hence relying on his swordsmanship more than the Force.

Qui-Gon is impressed but Dooku, who is running the trials (as he did canonly) doesn’t think it’s very good. By stupid luck, Obi-Wan does pass by a few short points, he just needs to wait for a master to pick him up.

No one does.

Obi-Wan’s fate as a farmer is sealed, and as bummed as he is, his distress is nothing like Qui-Gon for some odd reason. Qui-Gon practically begs before the Jedi Council that Xanatos is ready to take his trials so he can have Obi-Wan as a padawan, add Xanatos is like “uh… yes. I am totally ready” even though he’s about as dumbstruck as everyone else.

No one actually believes whatever Qui-Gon says about cloning children to the Council so they reject his pleas.

Qui-Gon instead meets Obi-Wan before Obi-Wan’s shipped off with other younglings to farm. He tells Obi-Wan to survive. Obi-Wan is mortified by this.

This does not ease any of his fears during the ride. Most of the younglings are mad at the Jedi for rejecting them but Obi-Wan is just straight fear.

They end up at Kamino where the Kaminoans show them around, revealing an army of cloned babies from one guy supposedly. It’s creepy. Weird. And frankly nothing like farming.

The younglings are split up, taken by different Kaminoans and Obi-Wan is asked to lay upon a stretcher to check for his health. He assumes he’s healthy but whatever I guess. What he doesn’t like is that he’s being restrained, which doesn’t settle right with him.

And then he’s stabbed in the arm with a needle and the Kamonian starts draining his blood. Obi-Wan freaks out and tries to get away only to end up worse by hurting himself.

He’s drained low until he’s too weak to fight back, then thrown into a prison where he stays until the Kaminoans repeat the process a few days later. And then again and again. They won’t tell him why they’re doing this. Obi-Wan can only try and survive as Qui-Gon directed, though when the first few younglings die to weakness, he’s not so sure he can keep that promise.

Meanwhile he notices more and more of these clones soldiers are being created. Their Force presence grows stronger every day the more they fill the facility, and their like signature molds into one until it’s almost overwhelming. To top that off, a few of the strongest younglings join the clone training where Obi-Wan watches them become brainwashed into soldiers.

Meanwhile he’s just used for blow draws.

It’s one day when Obi-Wan can’t even put up a fight as he’s being drained does someone come to his rescue. Not anyone he knows. A man in black and grew armor. The man instructs the Kaminoans to stop drawing from this specific child because he’s too weak in the Force. He has a better job for Obi-Wan as sanitation or test dummy.

Just sanitation, please? Obi-Wan would really like that.

The man drags Obi-Wan off then takes his helmet off and Obi-Wan freaks out when a clone stares back. He tries to run but gets nowhere.

It’s actually Jango Fett but Jango lets Obi-Wan panic briefly before assuring him that no, he won’t become a slave.

Jango doesn’t want a slave. He wants a helper to bring the entire place down. He had become the clone model thanks to the giant sun of money, but the more younglings he had seen tortured to death here, the more he wishes to get away and destroy the facility and all the research with it.

It’s here Obi-Wan learns all the youngling’s blood has been used to make Force sensitive clones. Someone figured out genetic mutations that can take midichlorians and combine them with DNA to make a factory Force sensitivity, which is why all the clones are Force sensitive. Add explains why Obi-Wan could feel every single clone in the facility.

Why would Jango want Obi-Wan’s help specifically? Because he was the only youngling that had come here whose midichlorian count was so low and weak it couldn’t be synthesized into clone DNA. Hence all Obi-Wan’s trials came back negative.

Reluctantly, Obi-Wan agrees to help and starts doing little tasks under Jango’s command, all while still unsure if Jango’s being genuine or not. The one thing that’s noticeable is that he’s treated with far more kindness, which accounts for something, though he’s still careful. Mainly, he helps Jango collect a bunch of randomized items all while supposedly just cleaning the area.

It’s only after he’s asked to clean the training room and steal one of the actual explosives from the practice range does he realize what’s about to go down: Jango’s just going to blow up the entire place.

He finally speaks up, saying he wants his friends to survive. How?? Jango wants to know, because most of them are so drained of energy that getting them out would be impossible. Obi-Wan won’t take no for an answer and unless Jango wants to put him back into torture, he’ll only work with Jango if thy can save his friends.

Jango reluctantly agrees.

They decide to try and contact the Jedi instead. The facility doesn’t allow for long distance contact without full authorization, which means Jango will have to fly out and contact the Jedi himself. But because I like to make things hard, he can't really do that without the permission of the Kaminoans to leave the building.

"But you're 21," says Obi-Wan. "Who cares what 21 year olds do?" And Jango is like "Aren't you an innocent little one."

Still, Jango figures out a way (no idea how so there's a giant gap until I get smart enough to come up with a creative way) and with Obi-Wan's help, is able to send a message to the Jedi to come save the younglings.

The Kaminoans catch him and berate Jango, but don't tie him up. They do tie up Obi-Wan and begin pumping him again, seeing that if he can't produce enough midichlorians to create fake Rorce sensitivity.

Jango tries to help his friend, but for whatever unspecified reason, he can't and Obi-Wan is left basically alone for a long time. Naturally, he's pretty pissed and blames a bunch of people before realizing none of that is going to get him anywhere. He tries to escape a few times but isn't strong enough to do much and ends up taking a couple naps instead.

At some point, Jango rescues him and after a brief talk and Obi-Wan yells at Jango for not doing anything for some time, Jango tells him the Jedi are heading this way. It won't be long before they reach the Kamino airspace, and he needs Obi-Wan's help to make sure the airspace isn't locked down.

Some intelligent heist mission later with a bonus of punching a couple Kaminoans, the Jedi's ship lands and Obi-Wan happily runs down to greet Qui-Gon, who's come with Xanatos and Dooku in tow. While Xanatos rounds up the Kaminoans, Dooku goes and frees the other younglings as Obi-Wan rants off about everything that's happened.

Qui-Gon immediately asks the Kaminoans to confirm or deny. Most of them deny what they've done until Dooku kills one. Then they admit to the truth.

But the Kaminoans reveal in their fear that this wasn't their decision. Someone else was in charge of them, forcing them to perform such horrible experiments on the kids.

Jango then appears when Xanatos, helping carry the last of the younglings. He’s happy to see Obi-Wan not only pulled the fear off but also survived, then introduces himself to the rest of the crew.

Xanatos announces he’s found there’s a ringleader to this operation, but Qui-Gon assured him they already know. Qui-Gon then asks Obi-Wan if he knows anything about this ringleader.

Obi-Wan nods and raises his hand, pointing directly at Jango as he says “It’s him.”

Only Jango sees the small smirk from Dooku that the others fail to notice.

[kin-the-muffin]

you have no idea how happy i am that i finally finished this

ive had this in my drafts for months

i made my own outertale sans

his name is altair

i love him very much

yes the following is entirely self-indulgent

dont judge

You slammed the door shut, locking it behind you as you tossed your backpack onto the couch. You brushed your hands through your hair and fought back tears but to no avail.

“Hey, how’d the first day go?” You heard your roomate, Avery, say from their room.

“Fine,” You called back, quickly retreating to your room so as to avoid more humiliation. You didn’t know your new roomate very well, so you couldn’t trust them to understand. Or at least not make fun of you. The only interactions you’d had with them in the past two weeks of living together was when they invited you to parties or told you it was your week for chores. Eventually, even those conversations ceased. They realized you weren’t a fellow party-goer and figured you had gotten the gist of the housework schedule.

Dropping that train of thought, you picked a book off of your nightstand and lied on your bed. You should have started studying but you really needed to let off some steam after today. Plus you had left your backpack in the front room so you couldn’t risk Avery seeing your tear-stained face and giving you a sympathetic attitude you both knew they didn’t really mean.

Shaking off those depression-accompanied thoughts, you focused on your book.

You were barely through the fifth chapter when you heard Avery shout from the living room.

“I’m going to Lilo’s party. Don’t wait up and don’t wake me up tomorrow.”

You sighed, “Don’t you have exams this week?”

They didn’t hear you, or if they did, they just didn’t care. Not that you had expected them to. The front lock clicked and the door opened.

You were about to return to your book when Avery again interrupted your thoughts.

“Oh, well hello there.” They had put on their flirty voice so you figured it was a monster boy, their current center of attraction.

Whoever he was, he talked a lot quieter than Avery, so you couldn’t make out any specifics of what he was saying.

“Well that depends on who’s looking for ‘em,” you could almost hear them winking at the poor monster.

After a moment of what you assumed was the boy talking, Avery replied, “What’s a fine man like you want with Y/N?” They sounded almost annoyed at what he had said.

You finally put your book down at the mention of your name and sat on your bed, listening.

You could tell that Avery was trying to whisper now, though you doubted anyone else could, as their volume only decreased a little, “I’m plenty friendly, say, here’s an idea: you ditch the wallflower, join me on a short ride, and I’ll take you out for the time of your life.”

You would have been offended, though you still had no idea who in the stars they were talking to.

You guess he finally told them off, as they huffed, mumbled a gruff good-bye and closed the door. All was silent so you could only assume that Avery had left. Without a second thought towards your unstable roommate, you returned to your book.

You nearly dropped it on your face when a knock on your door startled you. The door opened a crack and you warily sat up. The sliver stretched to reveal who it was. Your eyes widened and your face broke out into a smile.

You jumped off of your bed and into Altair’s arms, burying your face into the fluff on his hood. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see his freckles glow a soft blue and you smiled. You’d been dating for at least five months now and he still got flustered whenever you showed affection. Of which you had a lot for him.

If it wasn’t obvious enough, you were overjoyed that he was here. You hadn’t seen him since you left home to head to college three weeks ago.

“Wait, what are you doing here?” you pulled your face out and looked at him questioningly.

Then he made that face at you. The one that said that he was amused by your antics. He grinned slightly, one eyebrow raised, and a light glow exuded from his freckles. What did you do that’s so funny??

“Today is the thirteenth, isn’t it..?” He asked.

“What? No, it’s the twe-“ you stopped and thought. Your eyes went wide.

He laughed, “But we talked about today yesterday.”

“Was that yesterday?”

“Yes,” he chuckled.

“I am so sorry! I didn’t- okay, I kind of did forget, but I didn’t mean to!! My plan was that class would end and I would pick you up at the train station and take you to the beach, but things got so hectic and class was awful and-“ Stop talking, dangit.

“Hey, hey, hey,” he interrupted the word-vomit, took your face in his hands, and looked in your eyes. “I get it. I’m here, aren’t I? I got here alright. I’m just glad I had your apartment address. Everything’s okay.”

“But you were-“

“Nope.” He put a finger over your mouth. “We’re not doing that today. I heard mention of a beach, is what we’re doing today?” He grinned.

“Uhhh, did you say that?” That was supposed to be a surprise! Why did you say that??

“I believe you did, actually.” He booped your nose and leaned back against the door frame.

“Uh- well- I, um-“ Oh, screw it. You sighed, “That was supposed to be a surprise…”

“Pfft, just because I know it’s a beach, doesn’t mean I can’t be surprised, right?” He offered a hand for you to take.

You put yours in his and your fingers folded together. Closing your eyes, you drifted toward him and put your cheek against his chest. You just stood there for a few minutes, you listening to the barely-discernible sound of his soul pulsing inside his ribcage, him putting his other arm around you and waiting.

Once your thoughts stopped racing around each other, you sighed and opened your eyes.

“We should probably go now if we don’t want to miss the sunset. I still can’t believe you haven’t seen it yet.” You said.

“What are you talking about? The first month back on Earth, I watched it every morning.”

“Only from your house. You haven’t seen it,” you insisted as you leaned away from his peaceful aura, “Not really. Not yet.” A smile creeped out and you tapped between his eyes.

“Alright, you’ve convinced me.” He raised his hands in surrender, “Show me what I’ve missed, Nine.” He grinned right back at you.

Taking his hand, you led him outside and into the passenger seat of my car. You climbed into the driver’s seat and switched the car on.

As you pulled out of the parking lot, you remembered something, “That reminds me, how is your driving going?” Since monsters had returned to Earth, those who wanted to drive had to take a nine-week course. There was a lot of annoyance at the length once monsters realized that the courses for humans were much shorter, but there wasn’t much anyone could do. Even though monsters have been living on Earth for quite a while now, there’s still a lot of mistrust towards them. Most of it unwarranted, in your opinion. But anyways, Altair was currently in the driving hours phase.

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Altair grumbled.

“Whoa, that bad?” That surprised me, since you had met Altair, he had been really optimistic about everything, curious and excited by many new things here. He never grumbled about anything. Scratch that, he only grumbles about politics, though you can’t say you blame him for that.

“It’s been a month since class finished and I only have two hours in.”

“Oof, I didn’t know you hated driving so much.”

“Eh, that’s on me. You would if I texted more often.”

“Hey, I’m the one with bad communication skills here.”

He smirked at you, “Okay, okay, I’m bad at texting and you’re bad at communicating your feelings.”

“Wha- I- that’s a low blow, dude,” you stammered.

“You didn’t deny it.”

“Denying it! You are dead wrong, handsome.”

He pretended to be thinking for a moment, “Hmm, no, that’s impossible. I am an astronomer and a marine biologist! Scientists are never wrong.”

“Ah, ah, ah! You are a marine biologist-in-training. Don’t think you can pull the wool over my eyes so easily.” Smirking, you looked at him out of the corner of your eye for a moment.

“Hmph…at least I’m still an astronomer and that has to count for something, right?”

“Weeeellll… Technically, your degree doesn’t count for much until the curriculums from Starter University are approved.”

He mock-gasped in horror, “You would doubt the scientific prowess that is Professor Willhem Kansay?! He is a modern genius and an awesome entrepreneur. I am offended that you would suggest anything that would downplay his scientific achievements.”

You chuckled. It was mean of you to go after his old school but he acted really cute and funny when he was defending something against the attacks of others.

“Professor Kansay is a modern genius.”

“You already said that, Altair,” you said with a smile.

“Only because it’s true,” he huffed.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Kansay is pretty cool.”

“Thank you.”

“Hey, look at that.” You decided to change the subject. “We’re here! And we have yet to miss the sunset. Yes! Would you mind helping me with the stuff in the back?” You parked the car and turned it off.

“No problem.”

He climbed out and walked to the back of the car. You popped the trunk and he started to unload the trunk. You hopped out and joined him.

“Whoa, dude! Chill!” You tried to hold back your laughter. Altair was trying his best to pile all of your stuff on his back, “We don’t even need all this!” You pulled things off of him and packed it back into your car.

“What? Then why’s it here?”

“Because I’m bad at cleaning my car, okay? C’mon.” You swung a backpack over your shoulder, shut the trunk, and locked the car.

“Hey-! What do I carry?” He called over to you.

“Well, if you wanna help so bad,” you reached into the backpack, yanked out a blanket, and tossed it at him, “then here.” You laughed a little, as your aim had gone right past his open hands and straight at his face, covering his head. You walked back to him and lifted the edge of the blanket. “You okay in there?”

He chuckled lightly, his freckles glowing brightly, “I’m fine. Uh, oh.”

“What is it?”

“It’s getting dark,” He pointed up at the sky, which, true to his word, was dimming to deeper shades of blue.

“Oh, no!” You grabbed his hand and pulled him along behind you as you quickly ran across the parking lot, through the tall grass, and up a large hill.

“Wait-“ He panted, “Where are we- Can’t we just-“

“Ack, sorry, Altair, but we can’t miss this. Just a little more!”

You jogged up the hill, which was starting to feel more like a mountain, just based off of the ache in your legs. And as you ran, the sky only darkened further.

“No, please.”

You finally reached the top but to my dismay, the sun had disappeared and stars were beginning to appear. A whisper of the beautiful streaks of orange and pink and blue faded away with the light of the sun. Clouds slowly moved over the scene, further dampening the colors.

You dropped your backpack on the sand with a soft thump. You pressed your lips together in an attempt to not shout your frustration at the world and stared at the sand. Behind you, Altair panted as he finally caught up to you. When did you lose him?

He crouched next to you, breathing heavily for a few moments before standing up. He gasped softly and whispered your name in disbelief.

You sighed heavily, defeated. “I’m so sorry, Altair. I got you all excited and we got here too late and it was all my fault.” You had let your own crap get in the way of picking him up from the train station so he had to find his own ride to your apartment; you were clingy and too excited to see him so you left late; you were distracted by your conversation in the car so you missed that turn; and you were messing around too much at the car. If you had just stayed focused instead of being selfish with Altair then he could’ve-

“Wait- what?” Altair turned towards you. “You mean this wasn’t what you-? Oh, come on.”

Your gaze lifted as he pulled your face in his hands to meet his gaze. A determined expression sat on his face. Brows softly pressed together with a concerned frown and a light blush. You felt your soul flutter, as his blue-and-purple eyes now contained a galaxy’s worth of sparkles and stars in them, which were only made more mesmerizing by the look of warm adoration. You felt your own cheeks warm.

He sighed, his expression softening, “I know what you’re thinking. You’re rationalizing that very irrational line of thought.”

You looked down, not sure you deserved someone so amazing looking at you like that.

He tilted his head to meet your line of sight. “I wish you wouldn’t. It’s not fair to you.” When you shifted your look away again, he sighed and straightened. “You should know by now that I really like you. We wouldn’t be dating if I didn’t.”

“You don’t.” You whispered, “You just haven’t realized it yet.”

“Hey, now that’s definitely not fair. To you or to me. For one, you planned this whole outing so I could see something amazing.” His expression softened.

“But you didn’t even get to see the sunset…and it was my fault.”

“You know what? You’re right. I didn’t get to see the sunset, and not because of you. But because I’m here now, I got to see this.” Altair shifted a hand behind your back and turned you to face the sea.

You let out a small gasp and your eyes widened.

Flying high above the ocean floated a host of wispy cirrus clouds. You could hardly even see the horizon, there were so many. They were beautiful in and of themselves but what really took your breath away were the colors. Each cloud had the luminous coloring of a rainbow. Every color you could think of was being showcased in the skies. They almost seemed to glow.

“How- what- when-?” You stammered, completely dumbfounded by the sight.

“Yes, it’s been there almost since we got here,” Altair answered, knowing perfectly what you had been trying to communicate.

For some reason, you started crying. Maybe it was the stress of the past few weeks finally coming down. Maybe you were just a big softie and the clouds got to you. Heck, maybe it was just hormones, you sure couldn’t tell.

Without a word, Altair enveloped you in a hug, radiating safety and comfort. You wrapped your arms around his neck and put your face in his hood again. You knew this couldn’t last forever so after a few minutes in his embrace, you dropped your arms and he copied your movement. Instead he took both of your hands in his and just looked at them. He glanced back up at you, his brows scrunched in frustration.

“What?” You asked.

After a moment of hesitation, he replied softly, “How do you not see how amazing you are?”

The warmth returned to your face, “I-I’m really not that great. Nowhere near perfect.”

“When did I ask for perfection? So what if you have flaws? Everyone has them. And I happen to quite like yours.”

You weren’t sure your face could be any redder. “You don’t really like me. I’m just so charismatic that I tricked you into thinking you do,” You joked pathetically.

“You’re right.”

You looked up at him in surprise. His look was tender and his freckles glowed.

“I don’t like you.” Your heart almost broke. “I love you.”

Before you could think anything, he closed the gap between the two of you and kissed you. Your eyes were wide for a moment before you melted into his embrace and you put your arms back around his neck, answering him. The kiss was tender and sweet, in it you could feel how much Altair adored you. You felt the struggles he had gone through and realized how completely he understood your own. You also felt his happiness. His love. It was no shock for a lot of it to be saved for his brother and friends, but you were surprised to find that a large portion of his soul was cordoned off for one person. You.

Somewhere in the background, someone was setting off fireworks on the beach but their loud explosions took nothing from the moment. Their brilliant lights burned behind your eyelids, creating incomprehensible images and shapes. For some reason, you found yourself comparing each one to Altair.

Surprised at yourself, you broke away without thinking. Altair’s expression was full of light but you could see the thin layer of hesitation at you pulling away.

“S-sorry, I just need a moment to think,” You quickly explained.

He nodded and took a step back, though you felt your heart stretch towards him in longing.

Ignoring your inward pleading, for the moment, you turned back to the beach and sat on the sand. You heard Altair plop down a few feet behind you. You let yourself enjoy the beauty of the scene in front of you, but just for a minute, as Altair was waiting for a response. You knew how patient he was but you thought it wasn’t fair to keep him in suspense.

After revelling in the night sky, you turned your thoughts back to what had just happened. You raised a trembling hand to your lips, which were buzzing softly from the sensation. You put your hand down and sifted them through the sand, returning your thoughts to the important subject.

I love you.

You couldn’t believe he had said that. You didn’t doubt it for a second, first because he was no liar and second, because you had felt the truth of his words in his kiss. Still, you were surprised at his feelings for you. You had convinced yourself that your relationship would never grow into anything else, maybe that it would even end and you would part as friends. You hadn’t dared hope against it until now. You looked into your soul and imagined everything you two had gone through together in the relatively short time you’d known each other. You peered into lots of memories, or more specifically, your feelings in each memory. It only took a moment for you to realize what you felt.

You took a deep breath then turned around to face him. He had been looking at you with anxiety but when he noticed you moving, he put on a calm face. Your brows furrowed softly at that. You made a note to bring it up later.

You looked into his eyes, but found his gaze too penetrating and instead locked onto his hands which were folded neatly in his lap. As smooth as his facade was, you could see his foot bouncing nervously. You decided to start out easy.

“H-how long-?” You gestured from him to you, hoping he would understand.

Altair laughed once then put on a thoughtful expression. He thought for a moment then replied, “Not very long.” You waited for him to elaborate. “I-I suppose that’s an understatement. It kinda just hit me like the Core, only just now I guess. But I should’ve noticed before. N-Not that what I feel for you is insignificant, in any way, I feel very strongly for you! Wait, that sounds like I’m pressuring you- I will accept whatever your feelings are for me, even if they are non-existent, which they probably are. Oh stars, why did I even do that?” He mumbled that last part to himself and his calm exterior crumbled. Hunching over, he put his face in his hands.

Suddenly you could see his anxiety, clear as day and just as overwhelming as your own. You couldn’t help it, you panicked.

You rushed forward and put your arms around his shoulders. You squeezed for a moment then let off a little. Under your breath, you whispered, “I love you too.”

You pulled back, smiling a bit at his wide eyes, and kissed him.

thanks for reading (if anyone made it this far, yes i realize how cringy this is)!

hope you enjoyed!