#everytime its dark i look in the distance and perfectly see them being able to walk out. i think this is the time it happens

[karda]

irrational fears r so fucking stupid my fear of zombies is always there its ridiculous and ik its dumb and its still horrible. its evwrytime i close my eyes its everytime its dark its everytime its a little too quiet im thinking'there is a zombie outside that window/door/building and i am going to die' its fucking STUPID !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[burgundyhaven]

Send Her to Me: Teen! Kit Walker x Reader

Description: basically high school kit walker is trying to ask y/n out to the dance but everytime he tries to ask her out he keeps on missing her so he asks for his friends to send her to him

Word count: 1,702

Warnings: cursing, fluff? Nothing else that I can think of :)

A/n: I had a lot of fun making this, I’ve been in my 60s/70s phase as of recent so I’ve been listening to a lot of 60s garage rock and this is inspired by “send her to me” by the dark knights which is amazing you should go check the song out expeditiously. This is taking place in November of 1957 btw :)))) enjoy!!! Sorry if this is messy I finished writing this at 3:48 am  which explains lots of the spelling and punctuation errors it’s whatever 

Link to send her to me by the dark knights-https://youtu.be/BJKQks4neiI

It was November of 1957 and it was Kit Walkers final year of high school

He just wanted the stress of all of the work and uncertain future to be over

But there was one thing he would miss, you

He’s had a huge crush on you ever since you were in 9th grade, but only now worked up the courage to ask you out

You were putting your things away in your locker when you saw kit coming towards you

“Hey y/n”

“Oh- hi kit! what class you got next?”

“History. you?”

“English”

“Oh- uh… cool”

“Yeah.cool?” you chuckled

“Um-“

“Yeah?”

“Would you want to-“ he stops for a while

“Would I want to what?”

“Would you want to-“

he gets cut off by a loud bell

“Sorry! I gotta go i can’t be late again that’ll be three days in a row, catch you after this class though?”

“Oh. yeah sure” Kit says almost whispering and looking down at his shoes after waving at you

He went to history, though his attention was on the clock waiting for the next chance to see you

Finally, the bell rang and he went right to your locker, but…you weren’t there

He didn’t know, but you just didn’t need to go to your locker that class, but he knew he’d be able to talk to you in lunch

He went to his friends and asked them if they would send a message for him. He knew at least two of them had that class with you

“Hey- hold on wait, Jimmy tell y/n to meet me at the 6th lunch table, I keep on missing her at hall time”

“What for?”

“Nothing I just wanted to talk to her, if you don’t have her class next ask Henry I know he has the same class as her right now”

“Alright good luck… on whatever crazy shit your doing”

“Yeah thanks” he chuckled and looked down at his shoes

You were in your class when you saw one of Kits friends walking into your class, which was normal. But, he never talked to you in particular

He approached you and spoke quickly and quietly

“Kit wants you to meet him at the sixth table in the cafeteria in lunchtime”

“Why”

“I don’t know? He didn’t give a reason”

“Alright… thanks”

*45 minutes later*

Finally, it was lunchtime and he spotted you sitting alone in the corner of the cafeteria,where he told you to meet him

He walked over to the table and sat right in front of you

“Hey what’re you doing here all alone again”

you smiled and put a strand of hair behind your ear

“Sorry about forgetting to tell you i wouldn’t be at my locker, i forgot i didn’t need any books for my class after english”

“no don’t worry about it it’s fine”

“So what did you wanna tell me kit?”

“Oh,uh i wanted to actually show you something”

He walked over and dragged his lunch to your side and sat down

He pulled out a photo from his bag

“Here it is”

He slid the photo to your side

“Oh my god Kit! That’s us! God we were so little” you laughed

“But- how’d you find these i thought you lost all your pictures in the move”

“Yeah, but we found a tin inside of the box with my moms clothes and it had all my baby photos and stuff like that”

“You got any more?”

“Yeah, If you wanna come over afterschool and I could look through them with you. I haven’t gotten a chance to see them all yet?”

“Yeah, of course! we’d have to walk though, i can’t go alone”

“yeah that’s no problem,meet me by the front of the school at around 2:00?”

“K, see you then”

He knew this was going to work perfectly, you would be thinking about the past you guys had and then he’d ask you out and you would just have to say yes

2:00 came and you were out in front waiting for about 8 minutes, he was a little late but he came out eventually

“Sorry i kept you waiting so long. That son of a bitch Mr. Wells made me stay after class for not finishing the test in time”

“No don’t worry it’s okay,it’s only 2:08 you didn’t keep me waiting for that long” you said while smiling at him

“Alright,let’s go- wait did you call

your house and tell them you were coming over?”

“ Uh-yeah I told my mom i’d be home a little late and i’d be at your place for school”

“For school?”

“She wouldn’t let me at any guys house if it wasn’t school related,even though she’s known you since you were born”

“Makes sense” he laughs and looks at you

The cold november breeze made you start to shiver and you put your books close to your chest but it was no use

Kit noticed you were getting cold and gave you his jacket, and even though you told him you weren’t cold, he knew you just didn’t want to seem like you needed anything, so he put it on you anyways

you made it to his house and he got his key out

you went in and his parents weren’t home

His dad was at work, and his mom left a note saying she wouldn’t be home until around 8 as she was out running errands

“Well i guess this is my house for the after noon” he said smiling

You laughed and smiled back

You asked if he wanted his jacket back, but he said you could keep it, so you put it on completely

“So,you wanna eat anything?”

“No, thanks though”

“I’ll go get the box then wait here”

You sat on the couch and heard him coming down shortly after you touched down on the seat cushion

“got it!”

you sat on the floor and the both of you looked through the box and uncovered dozens of forgotten memories

“Oh my god that was your 12th birthday”Kit said pointing to a photo from 1952

“Look at this one we were babies here!” you pulled out the photo form the small stack

“Kit is that you?” you pointed to a picture of him in a bathtub as a baby

He grabbed it and slid the photo under the couch

“No uh- thats my cousin. You won’t see him much because he’s- twice removed? Yeah”

“Yeah sure. don’t be embarrassed you were cute”

“Yeah whatever” he rolled his eyes

“It’s so crazy that we’ve known each other literally since we were born” you say still looking at the pictures

“Well technically…i’m older by a month so since you were born” Kit whispers

“You’re only older because you were born premature” you patted him on the back while getting up to go to the couch

He got up to sit next to you and turned on the tv for background noise

He scooted in closer to you and eventually you found that he had his arm wrapped around you and you were falling asleep

“hey it’s only 4:15, wake up” he tapped your shoulder

“Yeah i know- i just went to bed super late last night and i-“

“No it’s fine- do you want me to drive you home i could use the extra one we have”

“no i uh- i like it here it’s quiet, plus i can’t sleep now. I won’t be able to make it to school tomorrow”

“y/n. Its Friday ?”

“Oh.yeah well still”

“Okay nevermind” kit faintly laughed

You got up to get a snack as you hadn’t eaten for quite some time,then went right back to the couch

You sat crossed on the floor, looking right at the pictures on the wall

You observed all of them, specifically just seeing how much he’s changed over the years

He suddenly spoke out of nowhere

“Hey, so you heard about that senior ball the schools havin in a couple weeks”

“Yeah what about It?”

“You uh- planning on going”

“Probably, I just don’t really have anyone to go with”

“If you want, I could take you. I- I mean it doesn’t have to be like as a date or anything we could’ve go as friends if you wa-“

You hugged him and stopped him from saying anything else

“Thank you so much kit,I didn’t wanna have to go alone.And… yes we could go as a date ”

“Really?” He scratched his neck

You nodded and looked at him for a while, contemplating what you were going to do

You kissed him, out of nowhere

Now, you had just had your first kiss, and he had just had his

It was extremely awkward afterwards, you both just stared at each other and didn’t know what to say

“So uh- what’re we gonna wear” you said, still being in front of him as you were after you kissed him

“ Uhhh- i”

“we could match?” You started to get up to leave

“Yeah, we could match “ he spoke breathily

“I- uh, I gotta go my moms probably worried sick about me it’s” 

you look down to check your watch 

“7:15!”

“I could drive you and take the spare car? It’s kinda cold out”

“Oh yeah thanks sure “

The short 7 minute drive was quiet but lovely and you couldn’t help but stare at him for the whole car ride

You arrived home and quickly  walked to the door

You rang the doorbell and your mom opened the door, she looked pretty pissed but nothing over the top

You turned around and Kit was still there in the car, and your mom moved away from the door

You walked back a little closer to the where his car was  and he said “ come by my place tommorow … for school”

You laughed quietly and whispered “yeah for school… goodnight kit”

“Goodnight”

And he drove away into the distance, back to his house

You went to your room, and got ready for bed, and all you could think about was Kit and the wonderful day you had with him. And about the wonderful day you would have with him tomorrow

[sorenskyhigh]

Pets They Would Have pt. 2

Karasuno

Hisashi Kinoshita

Hisashi is a Train Company Employee. This means he works a lot of hours and just does not have the time to take care of, love and train any other pets

Fish are a really easy to take care of

All you have to do is remember to feed them and have a water filter to constantly clean their aquarium

Some fish, if handled when young, can get big and will let and love for you to pet them

But, they also are just very nice to have

Just to watch them swim around all of the plants with the light on at night

As I said, they don't need alot either

Hisashi could just let them be

They wouldn't beg or need constant love and attention like a mammal (dog, cat, rat, bird)

They also don't need constant vigilance for health issues or specialized diets like amphibian and reptilian pets

Hisashi is going to be tired when he gets home from work, so he needs a pet that is more ornamental than a chore

I feel if Hisashi were to have fish, he'd get the weirdest ones in the pet store

Hisashi seems to have a very strong inner child

So he would want either the flashiest fish, or the ones that cause a double take everytime their passed by in the store

He may get only one or two or get a whole tank full

I honestly feel like it could go one of two ways:

A- He has an aquarium for a wall in his house filled with his wild choice in fish or

B- He has a small, round, spherical bowl with two fish in it

It'd be funny if he had just the two fish to start with then they had babies even though the worker said they were both female

Obviously they weren't

They laid eggs and he had to transfer the female and daughters to one large tank and the father and sons to another so they wouldn't keep having babies

After this he has like 14 fish in total

Then he keeps finding himself at the pet store looking at the "ugly" fish no one wants

He buys these fish and ends up having two tanks that cover a whole wall

One's for his male fish the others for the females

But he screws up and learns the hard way that clownfush can change genders to help make babies

I'm being terrible to this poor guy let me stop

He so would be that fish owner to get real plants and "not those toxic plastic ones, how do they not hurt the fish???"

I honestly love the thought of Kinoshita just spacing out in front of his fish as he just watches them swim and do their own thing

Or if he were to only have a couple fish and he lets them get really big and pets them

Kazuhito Narita

Now, I know what you're thinking

Aren't Ferrets incredibly high maintenance?

Not really

Kazu ends up working at a Realty Firm

Generally their work hours are supposed to be around 40 hrs a week

But they often have to stay longer considering most clients can only meet up on weekday afternoons

So this means Kazu has to work a lot

Ferrets may be mischievous and a little destructive, but that's easy to fix

If a ferret is to be left at home alone for hours at a time, just get it a really big cage and tons of toys to play with

Plenty of food and water too, of course

But ferrets are honestly pretty chill

All they need is for you to clean out their cage around once a week, some light grooming here and there, and some time to run around

Apartment or house doesn't matter with ferrets

They love to just mess around and only need a couple hours of free time a day

They sleep most of the day, 17 to 20 hours usually

They also aren't very vocal

They have a specific noise they make when excited thats barely heard by most human ears

Fun fact about ferrets is they actually have pretty poor eyesight, but their sense of smell and hearing more than make up for it

The only real problems Kazu would have to worry about are hairballs getting lodged and dental issues, no different than a cat

I didn't pick a cat though bc, Kazu seems like the kind of person to have something that doesn't get riled up on a whim like a cat

Cats often have unpredictable moods, ferrets on the other hand can be energetic but won't get into a bad mood at the drop of a pin

They're generally very fun loving

Though, it is always recommended to get a pair

Ferrets are highly social animals, so they would need a buddy for when your not able to be there for them

Kazu would probably get one almost all white ferret and one almost all dark brown ferret for the symbolism

I love the thought of Kazu wrestling with one ferret, it wrapped around his hand, and then the other one if climbing on his back and sliding down the back of his shirt in playful retaliation

Tobio Kageyama

I really really wanted to give Tobio a turtle, but with him being a volleyball player in his adult life, that just won't work

Turtles need very specific temperatures and surroundings so they can live happily and healthily

I honestly feel in terms of personality, nothing but a cute little Eastern Box Turtle would fit him perfectly

I honestly struggled to find something that, to me, fit Kageyama Tobio but also would be manageable for him as a pro athlete

He's a very complex character and something with fur or feather just did not seem to suit him to me

The only problem is.......reptiles and amphibians are generally really demanding pets

From the food they eat, the the temperature their home has to be set at, its a lot of constant care

Some of them may not like constant physical touch, but they still need to be cleaned and have a constant watchful eye to check for any skin abnormalities

I decided on the African Fire Skink after much much MUCH consideration

These lizards don't get large, onky around 14-15 inches

And, unlike many reptilian nd amphibian pets, they don't require any specific heating or lighting

As long as your house isn't like consistently hot or cold or constantly changing between the two, their fine

They do need a substantial amount of dirt to dig and hide in

They mostly eat insects and one very rare occasion would appreciate a pinky mouse

These lizards are also shy and like to be admired from a distance

They don't like to be touched too much

They also have few and far between health problems uike other lizards

The only real problem is you can't find them at local pet stores but, they generally sell for around 25-70 USD

They also live for around 15-20 years

I feel like Tobio would have gotten his lizard as a middle schooler bc he didn't have very many friends, but he also didn't want a really needy pet since he doesn't know how to socialize well

Since this lizard like to be left alone, he could admire it from afar and this lizard could help him learn how to social better

Sorta.....

Imagine Tobio at a table in his room, doing some homework and the little Skink is just lazing about in a sunspot next to him 😍

Shoyo Hinata

YES YOU ARE SEEING CORRECTLY

At first for Shoyo I thought, okay maybe a hamster or a Guinea Pig or something like that

Ya know, something small but mighty and also, incredibly cute!

But I took a look at a list of pets that travel well and one of pets that can be left at howm for days with a proper care taker

I nearly shot myself bc I totally forgot that Hermit Crabs can be pets!!!!!

And they suit Shoyo so well!!!

They are small and sturdy

They fight back and pinch when threatened but can be very nice little pets to have

Hermit Crabs also love, sadly, for only around 10 years and can grow up to 6 inches long

Also, three to five shells per crab should be available

I am living for the idea that Hinata bought a bunch of shells for his crabs and painted them with little volleyballs and crows and ornage and black 🥺

These are good bc as long as you have someone reliable to feed them when they need to be while you're gone

Usually, if they're small, they're tiny wittle claws can't grab onto pellet food, so heir is a specific kind of almost dust like food for Hermit Crabs

Also, dark leafy greens like kale and broccoli or fruits like apples, bananas, and grapes are good too

Just choo them up really really tiny

They also need 2-3 inches of soil, silica play sand, and (optional) coconut fibers for them to burrow in when they molt

They also need a place for water to keep their little shells moist

They also need specific temps and maybe even mist their terrarium with water now and again

Something that us important and why Shoyi would need someone to come in and check on them is bc they are every vulnerable when molting

When a Hermit Crab molts they need to be separated from others so they don't get hurt

Like with many smaller pets you also have to thoroughly wash your hands before and after you touch them

Shoyo would fight Tobio when Tobio said his Crabs are boring and go into a long detailed argument about how each Crab has his/her own personality and how interesting they are

Kei Tsukishima

Did you expect this Dino loving nerd to have anything else other than a reptile?

I tried to find one, as you can imagine, that would fit his adult life schedule but also his personality

I really wanted to give him an Iguana or Chameleon butbthey were really demanding with care

Now.....I know

Anole are native to the Southern US and Southern Hispanic countries such as Mexico, Clolombua, and Venezuela

They are around 20cm long and only live a very short 3-5 years

Also if you own many most should be female and only one should be male if you choose to have any males at all

The males get very territorial and will fight one another

Also the males flair our their dewlaps (skin flap under their chin) in defense and when they feel threatened

The dewlaps are usually pink, red, or on the rare occasion blue

Females have these as well but don't flair them out as much

Anoles are very high energy but don't care to be touched too much

These lizards also can't be picked up by their tales as they have evolved to lose their tales and grow them back

Kei would like these as they are so odd

They're not only descendants of Dinosaurs but they can lose their tales and grow them back at will???

I feel like Kei would constant have new ones

His massive tank (you need big ones for these guys, they are very active and will resort to cannibalism if their space is too small) is never empty, always at least three

He has analbum on his phone of all of the Anoles he's owned and maybe even has a picture book with their names on it

Yamaguchi to this day is the o ky one that has had the privilege to see said book

Yamaguchi is also the only person Kei trusts to take care of his precious Anoles

And when one dies he has really small but none the less grand ceremony for a descendant of the mighty race of Dinosaurs

Yamaguchi always helps him set these up

I fell like he would give them really weird names as well

Like twig, stick, sock, glove, kneecap or some weird shit idk

I'll have Yamaguchi, Yachi, Yui, Natsu, and Saeko in the next one

My requests are open and I hope you enjoyed

@popcorntime-doodles @multifandombrainrot @kneecapstealingalien @jiheonity @weareallhumans123 @smallmangi @canadian-crow @just-jellyfish @immiamarais @i-need-coffee-now-pls @shadowsbutdead @ghostexhibit @goshikisimp @anothershadeofpink @mestayanon @all-around-fandoms31 @thatfunnysprout @itsallgonnabokayihope @g00s3 @boreateo @backalley-astrologer @vaniatslover @lil-mellow-bunbun @strawberrymakki @beelziee @taiyahhh @sakusasgerm @cr4z3d-cl0wn @brendanfkelley @mainnews32 @beelshumanworldburger @mehreenackerman @detective-bakugou

[kileyrose-2003]

Rose the Hat x Teen! Daughter Reader

A/N: @merci-bitch Hi love! This is Jen's request. I hope she/you enjoy it. I'm sorry it took so long to write but I wrote way more than I thought I was going to end up with and I preferred everyone had quality over just another fic to look at. This gets really angsty and sad at times, way more than I planned so hope that's okay.

I highly recommend reading this one in one sitting because if you read part 2 in broken pieces, it might get a little confusing with how trippy it is at one point. Ik you're probably like, trippy? Wtf? This is a hurt/comfort fic with a little angst. It'll make sense one you read it. Trust me. It goes with the backstory/plot. Anyways, I hope all is well with everyone and love you guys :) I have 2 other imagines I'm still working on that should be up soon hopefully.

Warnings: Mentions of miscarriage, child death, violence, violence against children

Pt. 1

Rose the Hat could say she was a lot of things in the 700 years she had been alive but for most of that time, a mother was not one of them.

She tried to be. She really did. The first time she felt a life blooming inside her was nearly two years before she was turned way back in the early 14th century when she was still known by her rube name Rose O'Hara.

Her life was a mystery to everyone including herself. Though her relationship with her mother was short lived, Rose could distinctly remember the woman got around.

Rose got around as well. She didn't know who the child's father was when she found out she was pregnant but nevertheless, she loved the baby. She savoured each kick to felt to her hand she felt as she slept in her cold and torrid room above the local pub. The place permeated with alcohol and foreign tobacco but Rose didn't mind. She had a feeling she wasn't exactly going to be there much longer anyway. Something good was going to come her way in the future and she hoped her baby was going to be a part of it but that wasn't meant to be.

It was a pleasant pregnancy but the labor did not go smooth. There was blood. Too much to mean any good.

She felt the loss of life before she was even told by one of the women she shared her room with that "the lord works in mysterious ways." It would of been a girl, probably special like her too but that chance she had at normality or a chance to feel not as lonely was gone. Rose wasn't the same after that. She became more bitter, more cynical until Grampa Flick found her that day fateful in the streets of some market place that had long since changed names and purpose.

Rose fit in well with The True Knot and it didn't take her long to rise through the rank. She felt a sense of normality and complete for the first time in a while. All the previous pain she felt had been buried and she felt like she could breathe again.

Then she met Crow. Someone who she loved all the more for how special he was. When he first brought up the idea of children to her she was hesitant. The whole knot had been hesitant.

It was possible Grampa Flick had told them, but not likely they'd be able to have a child. They both tried for over 100 years. The two came close on one occasion to almost having the child make it but as expected, they failed.

It was a never ending cycle of joy turned to pain every time they tried again from the first kick to the question Rose seemed to always have on what would of been.

Crow was near at his wits end from the repeated pains of mourning when in the very early 2000s, the pregnancy test Rose always seemed to have in her trailer read pink.

It was not a surprise, as they had no problem making children, it was just the delivery that was the hard part. For the time in a while, Rose felt a strand of hope. Something about this time felt right to her. This one was powerful and horribly strong though Crow refused to get his hopes up.

"If it doesn't work this time," Crow started carefully as he laid next to her in bed one night holding them close to his body. "This is our last time trying."

Rose felt a strain of bitterness inside her. "The fuck did you just say?" She reiterated. "This is the last time, Rosie." She made a face and narrowed her eyes. "Did I say this is our last time trying?"

"For fuck sakes Rosie, we can't keep doing this to ourselves. This pain of trying and trying and no matter what getting the same end result. I'm telling you, don't get too hopeful yet. You know how it ends every single time. Why do you keep-"

"The question should be why do you keep doing it? I would of been perfectly fine to not have another. You're the one who said you wanted to have-"

"And you were the one who agreed and jumped on board right away." Rose rolled her eyes and elbowed him. "Oww!"

"You're acting like a child! Like you said before, don't get your hopes up. I'm telling you. Something great is coming this time. I can feel it." Crow sighed and shook. "If you say so, Rosie.." He was still skeptical though for the remaining months, cherishing every kick and little burst of energy he felt radiating off of Rose until she proved herself right.

The labor had been slow and painful this time but unlike all the other times, she didn't feel herself trying to pry back at the energy fading from her so fastly. The energy remained strong and she could feel her power booming. She had high hopes this one was going to be the one.

The grounds around the campsite they were staying at shook as she dealt with the hard task of delivering this time around. Once it ended there was dead silence for a moment and earth went back to its natural state.

In the midst of her pain, the sound of a cry in the distance rung in her ear and tears started flowing down her cheeks. "Would it of been a daughter or a son?" She rasped, staring up at the ceiling and still out of it. Then the more she listened she realized it wasn't Crow crying this time. It sounded faint, like a baby.

She turned her gaze to the foot of her bed and bit down on her lip as she seen Crow softly weeping as he cradled a pink bundle close to his chest. "Our blessed angel..it's a girl. Ten fingers, ten toes, and a good set of lungs."

Rose let out a sob. Nearly 150 years of taking blows back to back and they finally had the living child they always wanted. She held her arms out. "Let me see her." Crow handed you over to Rose being so gentle it was as if he was afraid he would break you.

Rose moved you close to her chest, making sure you got skin to skin contact with her. "Well, hi there angel. I'm your mommy." You let out a cry and Rose began to nurse you. "Shhh..it's okay my darling. Mommy and daddy's got you."

Your fussing began to subside and you curled your little body up into Rose's chest. Crow smiled with tears in his eyes and slipped next to Rose in her bed, running his one finger up and down your back.

You were so precious to them. "What are we naming her?" Rose thought about it for a moment and kissed the top of your head. "What about, Y/n?"

"Y/n..I like it. It suits her." Rose grinned and caressed your cheeks. "Welcome to the family, my Y/n.."

It took a while for The True Knot to get used to having a child around but once they did, they enjoyed you and you loved them in return.

It didn't take long for any of them to realize you were special like them. When you were happy, radios and tvs would turn on by themselves. Playing whatever song you liked that day and when you were upset about, rare but it did happen, sometimes light bulbs would blow out if your cries worsened and as you grew older it got stronger.

By the time you were 4, you were already having premonitions of things to come in the future and The Knot used it to their advantage. It was something the whole family thought Rose would be jealous of but she loved you all the the more for it.

She made sure you never wanted for anything growing up. Want that sundress with the ombre pattern? Done. You wanted a hug? She'd give you more than you even asked for throughout the course of the day. "Mama will fix it," Was a recurring phrase she often repeated to you and you believed it. You liked being around your mom she made you feel safe. Rose was safe.

Rose didn't like sharing you with the rest of your family, including your father, for that reason. It wasn't that she was trying to hide you from them. It was just that your bond was so strong and Rose was afraid of them weakening it. It caused more arguments with Crow than you could count on your fingers and eventually Rose caved in on letting him see you but she didn't care.

While you and your dad were pretty close wherever Rose went, she always made sure you were with her. Not that you minded anyways. The two of you were inseparable, especially when you hit the beginnings of your teen years.

Your family made it a point to make sure that you never seen or interacted with any of the kids they killed but you knew what they were doing anyways. The smell of iron and bloodshed lingered on them everytime they got close to you and the stench was too strong to mean any good.

You knew they'd never hurt you though but it didn't mean you approved. The night before they captured their food you noticed how your mom would hold your hand a little longer than normal when you'd sit next to each other at the nightly campfire or how your dad would hug you tight compared to the gentle embrace he normally gave you. You were the exception and it shone through.

Pt. 2

"...Y/n..Y/n!" You jumped up and let out a cough, half sitting up in bed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." You felt part of the mattress sink down and you looked at your mom. "No, it's alright. You didn't mean too," You sniffled. "Ugh, damn flu." Your mom ran a hand threw your hair and kissed the top of your sweaty forehead. "How are you feeling?

"Miserable." You looked out the window and seen nothing but darkness. "Where are we?" You asked. "Just outside Bankerton, Iowa. You slept through the whole ride and pit stop."

"Is that what we're calling it now?" Rose frowned. "Don't be fresh." You laid your head back against and waved your hand dismissively in the air. "Where outside Bankerton though?"

"Nowhere you have to worry about. Either way you won't be seeing or hearing it." She took hold of one of your hands and kissed the tops of your knuckles.

Crow stepped out from the cockpit of Rose's RV sharpening a knife. "Rosie, you ready to go?" She nodded and caressed your cheeks. "Stay put and rest please?" You nodded and rolled onto your side. "Love you mama," You muttered into the pillow. "Love you too, sweetie." You could hear the sound of footsteps followed by the slam of her trailer door.

...

You tried to ignore the screams but they were unavoidable. Your hands gripped at the comforter as each word came rolling off whatever child it was that they captured.

"Number 19!" You could hear the smack of the glove through the thin walls. "Kid, you were good." You cringed and squeezed your eyes shut. "No! No please don't-" Tears started flowing down your cheeks. "I won't tell! I won't tell! Please!"

You buried your head underneath your pillow despite the fever baking off of you and tried to ignore the pleas for mercy and final came that scream. That god awful scream you knew too well.

"Please god, make it stop and make it quick," You whispered aloud. You could hear the husky barks of the baseball boy's screams followed by the pouring out of steam. "That poor boy." You found him in the distance and reached out with your shine.

(Can you hear me?)

Nothing. You gave it a shot again.

(Hello?)

This time you were greeted by a sharp, burning pain in your abdomen and you screeched. "Oh fuck! Fuck!" The bohemian-chic setting of Rose's setting began to fade around you and you found yourself standing in the middle of a picnic ground.

The leaves around you were turning and the weather felt beautiful but you had a feeling you weren't there for a beautiful day. You noticed Barry standing next to you and you tried to reach out to him to see if he would react but you got no response.

'What the fuck is going on?' You thought to yourself. You noticed a stuffed bunny similar to the one you had as a child sitting on a picnic table with a needle sticking out of it. "Parlor tricks! It's all a fucking parlor trick!"

(Save yourself while you still have the chance.)

BANG!

You keeled over and gasped as you felt your insides burning. In the far distance you could hear your mother's voice. 'No, get out of there! Get out of there.'

Despite the pain you glanced around and scanned the people around you. 'Dad. Where the hell is my dad?'

BANG!

You whimpered and screamed. Each shot feeling like a stab at your heart. You could feel each of them slipping from your mental grasp and you let out a sob.

(MOM! MOM!)

Nothing.

(Please hear me! Please hear me.)

Still nothing. "Make it stop! Make it stop! Please, how do I make it stop?" You begged, desperate to prevent any of this.

(Leave the looker alone.)

Eventually the vision faded from your mind and when you eventually woke up you were a hysterical mess, refusing any comfort from your aunts or uncles. At first they figured you'd eventually calm down and so they kept at making attempts at trying to hold your hands or run a hand through your hair that way they could get on the road as soon as your parents finished shovel duty but you wouldn't stop. It wasn't until you started sputtering out fragments about an ambush and a looker that they began to listen. Fear unlocked an unnoble reserve across their faces and they scrambled for help.

Rose sent Crow over to you try and knock some sense into you. "What did you see?" Your father yelled over your screams as he attempted to try and pull you into a hug, his bloodied hands and arms staining your skin. "Just get..away!" You knew your mother wasn't there but you couldn't remember if your father was.

That sinking feeling settled deep inside you and you couldn't bear to look him in the eyes. You couldn't-no you wouldn't be able to handle losing either or both of your parents.

"If you think I'm just going to let you be alone while you're like this, you're out of your damn mind." You attempted to push him away but he was strong. You wanted your mom. You couldn't look at him.

"Just relax. I'm right here, baby. Daddy's right here." You let out a wail and buried your head in chest, knowing you weren't going to be getting out of this.

"I-i can't-I want mom!" He shushed you and gently rubbed shapes on your back. "I know..I know but I'm not going anywhere. It's okay." You cried into him, gripping tightly to the back of his shirt.

...

When you woke up in bed the next morning, the space that Crow occupied was empty but you weren't alone. Your mother stood in your kitchenette, rummaging through your cabinets.

You sat up and groggily rubbed your eyes. You noticed your arms weren't stained from the blood of whatever child it was that they took and you wondered how long she had been in your trailer before you woke up. "What are you looking for?"

"Your tea. Did I not teach you anything about self comfort when you were little?" Her tone was teasing and you found yourself hinting at a smile. "Other cabinet, bottom left hand side."

Rose shut the cupboard she had opened and grinned at the sight of neatly stacked tea boxes. "Ah! So nice to see someone else around here with such refinement. Chamomile or peppermint?"

"Peppermint, please." You watched as she poured the clearly hot water into a tea cup. "How long have you been here?"

"Long enough to make sure you were properly taken care of. Does it matter though, my sweet?" You decided it didn't and you shook your head.

Rose walked over with your cup of tea and sat down across from you, carefully handing over the scalding beverage. You set it down on your window sill and your eyes interlocked with your mother's. Despite taking steam last night, she looked barely any younger to you.

She held her mug up to lips and took a sip as if it was a drink she desperately longed for. "Care to tell me what happened night?" The question was met with silence and Rose smiled. "Okay, let me rephrase that. What did you see last night?"

"I'm not talking about this with you." Your mom laughed. "Oh, sweetie. You know well enough that unlike your father, I don't give choices on matters like this."

You glanced around your trailer. "Where is he anyways?" You asked softly. "Out getting Grampa whatever fruit he asked for this morning. Why?"

"Good. Because if we're talking about this, I don't want him to be around because I can't even look him in the eye as it is right now." Rose raised a brow and stood up off the mattress to lock the door. "That bad?"

"Yeah.." As you explained the whole thing to Rose, she held your hand gently in her own. Occasionally planting gentle kisses on your knuckles as you got emotional at times.

"Was he there? Your father?" She squeezed your hand tightly. "I don't know. I don't remember seeing him but I remember feeling him somewhere and he was in pain. You were in pain too but you were back at home."

"And where were you?" You paused for a moment. "With the rest of the family. Dad wanted me to go with him but you didn't..I ended up going anyways. It felt like someone tore my heart out and ripped it into pieces right infront of me."

"Yeah, I'd imagine." Her response was short and snippy almost as if she was being defensive. "The thought of losing either of you, let alone the rest of our family-" A lump grew in your throat and you couldn't say anymore.

Rose sighed and ran a hand through your hair. You tried looking inside her mind but it was completely blank. "...a long time ago, the person who turned me taught me something smart. The past, that's completely set in stone but the future: that's in pencil."

"Mom, I'm telling you. There's no changing this. If you go after this looker, Uncle Doug, Aunt Sarey, all of them. They're going to die." You insisted.

"You also had a vision of us murdering Ariel from The Little Mermaid when you were six." You could tell your mom was trying to comfort you but you wanted none of it. You had to stop her. "And not even a week later, the little girl you took was wearing an Ariel bracelet. Mama, I've never been wrong on this stuff."

"I know-"

"Bad things are going to happen if-"

"I know! I know but she still has time to ripen. Things might change by then. You might be turned by then." 'I won't let that happen though,' You thought to yourself. You might not have control over this situation but you had control over that. You'd let them all murder you before them turn you.

"You're not that far away from 18. I've got to take care of the family, Y/n. I need to take care of you. I lost your other siblings and I am not losing you. Your father and I wouldn't be able to handle it. Hell, I'd be lying if I said your father wasn't hurt last night when you tried to turn him away."

Confusion mixed with pain as you felt your heart shatter into pieces. Your mother had told you that you were a miracle but never did you think of why you were a miracle to them. "Mama-"

"I will say no more." You couldn't tell if she was trying to protect you or her from more heart break. You figured the chances were it was probably for the both of you. "Besides, when have I ever let you or any of the family down?" You didn't even have to think about the answer to the question. "Never."

"And why is that?" She hummed. "Because mama fixes everything." Your voices blended together and Rose smiled. "See? I've always kept everything under control." You felt a little bit better but still couldn't shake that dark feeling away.

Rose pressed a kiss against your forehead. "Try not to worry about it too much, darling." You nodded and took a sip of your cooled tea.

You could hear the sound of crunching leaves in distance and identified it silently as the sound of the Jeep. "I should apologize."

"To who?"

"Dad. I didn't mean to push him away. I just-" Rose shushed you. "I know." She stood up from your bed and held a hand out towards you. "Come on. I'll take you to see him. That way it's a little less awkward."

"Thanks," You hummed softly and let Rose guide you towards the front door. "Mama?" She turned to look at you as she placed her hand on the doorknob. "Yes, my sweet?"

"I love you.." You didn't have to look at your mom to know she was smiling. "I love you too, angel.."

Pt. 3

Not long after that you did forget about the whole thing for a while but the premonition never slipped from your mind. You were always on alert subconsciously and silently praying whoever this looker was, that their shine would just fade and they wouldn't matter anymore but even though no one was talking about, you could also tell your family was suffering.

While some part of you felt that maybe, just maybe, they deserved it for all the pain they had caused to all those kids and their parents, they were still your family and it didn't mean you loved them any less. You just didn't like what they did.

On that cool, October night you sat next to Snakebite Andi in a lounge with your hands interlaced as you both read a copy of 'The Dark Tower' infront of her RV. It was a reclusive spot away from the rest of the family and it was one of your favorite places to be besides Rose's trailer. Like Rose, Andi was a safe person to you and it helped that you both were close in age. You both understood each other and she enjoyed your company and you enjoyed her's.

"You know," Andi started as finished the fifth chapter. "If your dad had more personality, I could say he almost reminds me of Randall Flagg." You let out a chuckle and flipped the page with your unoccupied hand. "Doesn't help that he wears the cowboy boots and jeans too," You smiled. "He's really not a dry person. It's just that he's very straight forward with somethings."

"That's a word for it." You lowered the book and scowled slightly. "Sorry. It's not personal. It's just-" You gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and gave a sympathetic smile. "I know." She lowered her book as well and you both stared up at the dark night sky. "Your mom tell you what happened to me?"

"Bits and pieces." You paused for a moment. "It's not your fault, you know? If I was in your position, I would of done the same thing." Andi sighed and rubbed her face. "Yeah, I know. It's just hard, you know."

"I'd imagine." Andi cracked a hint of a smile. "Have you seen Rose today?" You shook your head. "No, actually. She told me this morning she had to go grocery shopping but I haven't seen her since. She should be back by now." You sat up. "That's weird..anyways, I had something to ask her."

"You want me to see if she's back?" Andi nodded. "If you don't mind." You waved to her. "Not at all. I'll be back." She returned the gesture and brought the book back up to her face. "I'll see you."

You walked slightly up hill to your mother's RV and carefully knocked on the door. You knew she had to be back. You seen the Jeep parked up hill. "Mama?" Your father opened the door. Normally he was all smiles and amicable but not now. He looked frustrated. "Sweetie, now is not a good time."

"Why? What's wrong?" You asked quietly. "Your mother is a little besides-"

"Crow, who's at the door and don't even think about lying to me!" He breathed inwardly and looked at Rose. "Y/n, dear."

"Let her in. I'd love to get her opinion on the subject." He grimaced and opened the door a little more that way you could step inside. "Sure." Your eyes interlocked with his as you took your shoes off at the door. "Hi mama."

"Hi baby." Rose turned her gaze to Crow. "You can leave now." You could feel him biting back a snide remark and you had to try your hardest not laugh. "Night, Rosie."

"Night." Crow shut the door behind him and your mom paced back and forth for a minute. "You okay?" You asked. "Remember back in Iowa, when you had the flu?"

"Yeah." You felt the pit in your stomach growing. "The looker I told you I seen, she found me again." You furrowed your brows.

"Why?" You asked. "I don't know and I don't care but I want her and your father is arguing with me about having her and I want her." Her eyes looked insane and you had to swalow your fear. The memory of that awful vison you had coming back over.

"S-she's that big of a steamhead?" Rose scoffed and smirked impishly. "Oh honey, she's huge. She's the epitome of the Great White Whale." You shifted uncomfortably and hoped she didn't notice it. "I fail to see why your father can't recognize that."

"I mean, even if none of us agree you're going to do what you want anyways." The words were innocent on the surface but the tonality of your words was snippy and fresh.

Your eyes mixed with her's and before you had the chance to block her from your mind, Rose already seen what laid underneath the surface. "You little bitch. You agree with him."

"I-it's not that it's just- Mom, I've never been wrong." Her eyes rolled into the back of her head. "Are we seriously going back to this again?"

"Mom, what do you want me to do?! Let you go into this thing blind and let you get everyone killed because of one girl?" You screamed.

"Don't you dare back talk to me. Again, you could be wrong. You're just a fucking child and I won't let you control me." There were two ways you could respond to her words. Either use the option that would let her be just a little pissed and life would get back to normal, or B, to push.

"I'm almost eighteen years old! You're not going to have control over me much longer. It's overbearing and if the other's had any balls, they would tell you they feel the same way, including dad."

"If I were you, I'd watch your words dear. They might come back to bite you. Tell me dearest, how am I overbearing?" Despite Rose's anger she was smiling at you.

"You kept me from my own father for over 3 years." You noticed Rose's hands balling up into fist. "I have my reasons for what I do and the sooner you come to understand that, the better. Do you know how long it's been since our family has been able to birth children into it?"

She walked towards you and caressed your cheek. You could feel her anger radiating off of her so much you almost wanted to cry at the near sight of her. "You're special honey. Maybe even more special than I am but that will remain in between the two of us. That's why when we get the lookers steam, I want to turn you."

"I don't want to be-"

"And was I asking for your opinion? No. I didn't ask for yours and I certainly did ask for your fucking father's either." She picked up a vase and threw it unceremoniously against the wall. The shards glistening all over the wooden floor of her trailer and you found yourself relating to it's broken state.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you doing and acting like this? I know you're stressed out but I don't want to-"

"Because I can't lose you, god damn it!!" You were no stranger to your mom's yelling but her words made you feel sick to your stomach. "What?" You asked. "For gods sakes, Y/n. You're a smart girl. Use your brain." Her voice was venomous and bitter. "Everything I do is for you and this family! Not for me! For everyone else's benefit. I want you to have everything I do and be able to live just as long, if not longer than I do and yet here you are acting like a selfish little bitch! You don't want to be fucking turned! Forget going down in the blaze of fire, think of what you would do your family!"

"Mom, I'm not trying to be selfish. I'm worried about you. I don't want you to-"

"Don't talk back to me! I don't want to hear any of your bullshit excuses! You don't know how lucky you are, Y/n! You wouldn't believe how many miscarriages and stillbirths I had until you came around."

"I know, mama. I appreciate you and lo-"

"Then stop worrying about me so much and let me do what I have to do to get us what we need." Tears welled up in your eyes and you nodded. "Y-yes mama."

Rose shook her head and ran her fingers through your hair. "What a waste of life you are." Her words felt like a knife and you finally hit your breaking point mentally and physically. Tears started streaming down your face and it wasn't until Rose seen you crying, she realized what she had.

"Y/n..Y/n, baby! I-" You shook your head. "No, you did. You meant every word of what you just said to me," You snapped. "Y/n, I just got so angry. I really didn't mean it." You refused to meet her eyes and Rose attempted to pull you into a hug. "Sweetie-"

"Just me alone. I don't want to talk to you right now!" You ran out of her trailer. "Y/n!" Rose attempted to grab your wrist. "Don't you run from me Y/n."

"Just get away!" You shoved her the opposite direction and panic began to bubble up inside her as she watched you run into the woods. "Y/n! Y/n!"

Andi tried running after you. She grabbed your wrist and you pushed her away. "Don't you fucking touch me! Any of you!"

Crow stepped out of his trailer, hearing the commotion. "What the hell just happened?" He shouted over to Rose.

She seen red and started throwing her antique candle holders all over the place. "Fucking bullshit! I refuse to deal with this.." She kept going on and Crow tried to grab her hands. "Rosie-"

"Just step away from, Crow! You're turning her against me. This is all your fault!" She shouted then started crying. "My fault? How the hell is it-" His infrequent temper started to shine through and he had to take a deep breath to calm himself down. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Rose explained the whole thing from start to finish, every other word coming out of her mouth being foreign Irish curses.

"Rosie, what did you think was going to happen? For me to say your remark to her was hurtful is an understatement. I get it. You're still in pain but that's been over. What the hell were you thinking?!" Crow spat, unusually harsh in his tone. "I-i don't know. Look- I didn't think she was going to run."

"Yeah well, she did and I can't exactly say that I blame her." Rose paused at his snarkiness. "What do I do now?" Crow covered his face with his hands. "Apologizing would probably be the right thing, Rosie."

"I can't go up there and talk to her."

"Why not?"

"Because, she's not going to want to see me. Not after what I said. Why can't you go talk to her?" Rose could hear the whining tone in her voice and she hated it. "Because I'm not the one who made her upset. Look, just be gentle. Let her get what's in her system out. It'll be fine."

"Okay." Rose let out a shakey breath and began her walk up hill. She didn't even know how she was even going to begin what she had to say. She heard sniffling in the distance and breathed inwardly. "Y/n?"

"I told you I don't want to talk to you. Go away!" Rose had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. "Y/n..Y/n, I'm sorry." She called out. "No you're not. You wouldn't of said what you did then."

"Well even if you don't want to talk, can you at least just show me where you are." Rose heard the crunching of leaves and you stepped out from behind one of the large trees. Minimal lightning shined on your face but she could see your mascara was running.

Rose pulled one of her cloth bracelets, a souvenir from one of her victims, of her wrist to clean your face up. "Sit down, please." Rose was surprised you obeyed and she knelt down across you. Tenderly wiping your makeup off your face. "Never can quite understand why you and Andi feel the need to wear this stuff. You both are young girls."

"Yeah." You let out a chuckle and your eyes locked for a minute. In that moment you both looked at each other something inside you clicked and you felt a pang of sadness.

"Y/n, are you okay?"

"I-i" You bit down on your lip,silently hating yourself for the words that were going to come next. "I'm sorry!" You let out a sob and held onto your mom tightly. "No, no. You have nothing to be sorry about. I just felt so angry and the words just spilled and I'm sorry. You're my world, my everything, and I'd never mean to hurt you the way I did." You sniffled and nodded your head feverishly. "I'm just so scared," You whispered so softly you didn't even know if she heard you at first.

"I know but I'm going to fix it because I always fix what's wrong, right?" Rose forced you to meet her eyes and you sniffled. "Mama always fixes everything."

"Yes, but-"

"But what?" She wiped a tear away from your eye. "You can't fix everything, mama." Rose sighed and you nuzzled close to her. "I'm going to try to though. I want a good life for you. That's all I ever wanted for you and our family. Just think of what this looker could bring!"

"But mama, people are going to get hurt. Good people! You, daddy-"

"Your father and I are strong."

"But you're not invincible."

When you looked into your mother's eyes they were full of mania and panic and it scared you. "Please, just this once, listen to me," You begged.

The look on Rose's face was unreadable and she pressed a kiss against your forehead. "I make no promises but for at least tonight, this will be the end of the discussion." You sighed some relieved and Rose smiled, placing her one sleeve under the bags of your eyes and wiped them. "God, your eyeliner is so smudged too."

You chuckled and rubbed your eyes. "That makes two of us then because so is yours." Rose actually chuckled and held her hands out to hold yours. For a moment you felt as if you actually understood her. "You're coming back to camp with me?"

You thought about the words of the baseball boy and you looked down at The True's campfire you seen in the distance and everything came together. You were like the fire burning below. Fast and passionate yet delicate and easy to put out. Destiny was destiny and if you were to go in the blaze of fire then so be it. You knew where you belonged and no matter what, that was with your family. "Yeah..I'll come."

"Good." Rose's smile on her face was bold and you couldn't help but felt a tinge of irony panging through you. Their only living child who came so close to life yet would lose it so within arms reach. While you fulfilled your destiny, they would live theirs. All those children they took from families who loved their child so similar to the way did, they would also lose their child and now that they knew what was supposed to go down like the other families, they also would have to live with it.

A cynical smile graced your beautiful face and you smiled. "Mama?"

"Yes, my sweet?" You pressed a kiss against her cheek. "I love you." Rose smiled and swung her hand back and forth as you walked back home together. "I love you too my blessed angel. I love you too.."

[slidewhistlebj]

Riren Secret Santa Fic

@constant-catastrophe    I got you for the Secret Santa event, I hope you like this little ficlet I made for you!

Wants: domestic rivaere growing old together, fluffy, bonus for greying Levi and long hair!Eren 

“Levi!” Eren called from the kitchen, tossing the vegetables he was cooking a few times as he waited for his husband to appear. They were having a special anniversary dinner to celebrate being together for four years and the food was pretty close to being done with no hint of Levi in the room.

Levi had been excited for the dinner for the past week, making sure that everything was going to be perfect in his own quiet little way. He had spent forever making absolutely sure to have the right music queued up on their speakers and making sure the room was perfectly clean, any dust in the room was seen as a personal offense.

Eren had almost wanted to make a comment to Levi about how nervous he seemed, but he held back. Levi hadn't been in many serious relationships before and tended to get nervous when big relationship milestones came around so Eren decided to let him work it out himself, in his own special way.

It was good for Levi to find his own way to balance nerves and fears without having Eren constantly checking in on him about it...at least that what Eren told himself as he watched Levi over the past week.

Finally Eren watched Levi enter the kitchen, having heard Eren’s call. Good, Levi looked much calmer and more relaxed than the rest of the week, it must have just been stress. Now that he was feeling better, they could have a fun evening together just like they planned.

///////////////////////////////////

He was just about ready for tonight.

Levi only needed to check over his outfit one more time, but other than that, he felt prepared for the evening in with Eren. Plopping down before at the bar that separated the kitchen from the rest of the room, Levi took Eren in as he cooked with the kind of confidence only a seasoned chef could have.

His husband was skillfully moving between all the different stations he had arranged in the kitchen, tossing vegetables in their pan on the stove before turning and cutting a few slices from the baguette he had bought then moving to checking on the chicken, making sure nothing was burning in the process.

Eren was quite the chef, if his job was anything to go by, and he had a dorky smile on his face the whole time he moved around the kitchen in a little haze, having forgotten he called his husband in the room.

Levi was happy to let Eren forget he was even there, content to watch him in his natural element. As he watched, he took in Eren’s anniversary outfit. While Levi was dressed in a button up and a tie to be a little nicer and dressed up, Eren was more casual, wearing a soft red sweater with its sleeves rolled up and his favorite dark jeans.

Neither of them were very up-tight or fancy people so a simple, relaxed dinner was more than enough for them to celebrate their four year anniversary.

Eren’s shoulder length hair was tied back, excluding a few strands that refused to cooperate, in a ponytail to keep it all out of his face. When they had gotten married, it had been shorter, but over time it grew out and they had both grown to love the new style too much to let it go.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Levi entered his music app and turned on the connection to the speakers. Pop music drifted through the room from the speakers in the living room and Levi let out a little laugh as he watched Eren do a shimmy to the beat of the song.

Eren finally turned his head and saw Levi sitting there with a soft smile on his face, watching him from the comfort of a bar stool. Smiling right back at him, Eren leaned over the counter and gave him a quick kiss.

Pulling away slightly, but not farther than a couple inches, Eren smiled sweetly before leaning in again. He paused, a hair’s breadth away from Levi’s lips, and whispered, “Did you remember to water Mrs. Smith’s flowers? We’re supposed to keep them from dying while they’re on vacation.”

Levi’s nose crinkled as he tried not to smile at Eren’s little trick. Very sneaky.

Pecking a kiss onto Eren’s lips, Levi decided to copy Eren’s move, only leaning back slightly as he whispered, “Those plants were dead when we got them and they’ll be dead when we give them back. Fuck the system.”

Eren rolled his eyes in mock annoyance as he pulled back to look at Levi fully. “Fuck what system, Levi? The ecosystem?”

Levi’s brow furrowed for a second before he smirked and responded, “If that’s what it takes!”

“I thought an old man like you would love nature. I thought the rules were the older you get, the more sentimental and sappy you become.” Eren snarked, smiling like the sun as he teased Levi.

Levi rolled his eyes as Eren started laughing at his own joke. “Har har, you’re so funny. My hair is turning more and more grey everyday and you want to just sit there and make your little snarky jokes at me! Well, two can play at that game!”

“Oh, really?” Eren smirked. “You think you can keep up with me?”

“Of course.”

“Give it your best shot.”

Levi straightened up again and surveyed Eren, looking for something he could tease him about.

“Well, I might be an old man, but you’re a…”

Levi’s voice faded as he couldn’t think of what to say. He had come up blank when he had tried find Eren’s flaws. With Eren staring at him, a wide smile on his face and soft music filtering in the room around them, Levi couldn't think of a single thing he could possibly want to change about who he was with…

“...model.”

Eren’s eyebrows furrowed and he paused, trying to figure out how Levi was getting back at him. They sat there in a strange silence for a few seconds before Eren burst out laughing. Levi joined in a few seconds later, chuckling about how ridiculous his come-back had been.

Still chuckling, Eren called out to Levi as he turned back around to attend to the food. “Can you grab some wine to go with dinner? I think we have a bottle that we didn’t finish the last time that your mom was here for a visit, it should be in the cupboard by the sink.”

Walking over to the cabinet, Levi pressed a kiss to Eren’s cheek as he passed him, smiling at the little blush that still rose to Eren’s cheeks when he didn’t expect that things like that to happen.

Opening the cupboard, Levi was just able to spy the sealed opening of the wine bottle on the very top shelf.

Goddamnit.

Levi began to wonder if Eren had planned this, making him awkwardly reach for the bottle on the top shelf as Eren just watched him struggle. His fingers were about an inch shy of the bottle, and he started getting impatient, not caring for the reminder of his height. A little snort from behind him made him turn his head to glare at Eren for watching him just as he gave a little hop to try and grab the mouth of the bottle.

Everything began to move in slow motion as the bottle’s stopper came loose in his hand and wine spilled out of the cupboard like a slow motion waterfall. Levi turned his head back to the cabinet just in time for the wine to splash his face like a bad skin care commercial.

Time regained its normal speed as Levi moved his hands to shield his face, squinting to keep the wine from getting in his eyes. The stream quickly stopped, leaving only an empty silence behind, neither Eren nor Levi were sure how to break the tension.

Levi ended up breaking the quiet with a stream of curses that could make a sailor cry as he tried to wipe off the wine that had fallen on him.

Quickly grabbing some paper towels, Eren came to his rescue, cleaning off his face and dabbing at his now stained shirt and pants. Eren tried to give Levi his space to vent at the mishap, but as he let loose a new stream of curses, Eren couldn’t stifle his giggles anymore.

Levi paused in his plan to curse the entire universe out of existence for fucking his night with Eren over when he opened his eyes and saw Eren barely hiding his laugher, little snorts and shaking shoulders giving him away.

“What,” Levi asked incredulously, “could possibly be funny about this right now?”

Eren just smiled at him and responded, “I don’t mean to be rude, sweetheart! I promise! it’s just that you stressed out so much about having the perfect anniversary dinner over this past week that I don’t think you even realized that this is the perfect night to represent of our relationship. We are just trying to figure out how to adult together, everything doesn’t need to be perfect for us to figure out who we are. This is the best possible way I could could think to celebrate our anniversary.”

Levi paused for a few seconds as he thought it over before he grinned at Eren in one of those rare smiles that seemed to blind Eren every time he saw it.

Taking a step back from Eren so there was some distance between them, Levi slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a little velvet box as he bent down on one knee in the puddled wine on the floor. Neither of them even seemed to notice it staining his pants further as Levi finally worked up the nerve to speak.

“I meant for this to be a lot more dramatic and...not so covered in wine...but you’re completely right. Those fairytale proposals that we all see on TV just aren’t for us. We spend our weekends playing video games together and claim that we see Bigfoot everytime we go hiking. We aren’t a textbook couple, but that just makes us all the better because of it. I wake up never knowing where my day might lead with you, everything is spontaneous and sometimes ridiculous, but there has never been a single moment where I haven’t known you are the man I want to spend the rest of my life with.”

Eren teared up as he watched Levi speak, the truth of everything he was saying was clear in his eyes which were so hopeful as they looked up at Eren for a sign that he understood what he was trying to say.

“Eren, you are the love of my life. Every single day seems brighter just because you're in it with me and I wouldn’t be half the man I am now without you. You are my love, my life, and most importantly, my home. So...will you do me the honor of being my husband as well?”

Throwing himself forward, Eren pressed his lips to Levi’s in a tender kiss, both flushed from the abnormally long speech Levi gave. Eren’s arm’s came to wrap around Levi’s neck as he held Levi as close as he could.

Pulling back slightly, Levi had to make sure. “That...That’s a yes, right?”

Eren snorted as he nodded tearfully, not really trusting his voice.

Levi smiled at him as he slipped the ring onto Eren’s finger before laced their fingers together in a tight grip like they couldn’t let go of one another.

They met in the middle for another sweet kiss before Levi whispered, “I can smell the food burning… should we get up and take care of that?”

“Fuck the food! I just got proposed to, nothing is interrupting this.”

“Message received: Fuck the food and fuck the ecosystem!”

“...Shut up and kiss me, you asshole…”

“Anything for my lovely fiance.”

“Say that again.”

“Fiance.”

“I can't wait until you say husband.”

“Just trust me, I won’t let you wait long for that.”

“Good, I’m counting on it.”

[the-energon-hole]

The tfp bots and their s/o who they find curled up in dark room (either by accident or frantic searching) crying because theyve been very stressed and depressed lately and its taken a mental toll on them. I just really need some bot comfort my heads gone to shit and im confused in life. Sorry for blurting my feelings but i need bot love and thank you love the blog. ❤️

((A/N I am proud of how this one turned out, and I am sorry you feel so awfully about something- I get like that too every now and again, but I have a great network of support around me to hep perk me back up when I am feeling bad. You didn’t specify bots, and I kind of wanted this to be special and written well, so I just picked my top three from TFP if that was ok. The bots I am most comfortable writing for and the ones whose characters I know very well… I wanted to diversify emotions and situations each bot would find you in- I hope you feel better soon and I hope this is adequate enough for you to read))

Optimus Prime

-He was a rather busy bot- he did  a lot of work to make sure this whole Autobot/Decepticon conflict didn’t blow up the entire planet, and harm more people than it already has, it was a full time job. He sometimes felt bad because he did not have time to constantly spend with you, but it was what you agreed to when you decided to be together- as no offense to you, certain things have to come before you, like the welfare of your planet. Though, he has noticed that you have been rather distant lately- and that scared him a little bit, truthfully he tried very hard to distance himself from you, mostly to protect you, but you were always so open with him it almost felt wrong not to seek you out. He had the time to do so now, or at least time in the moment where the world wasn’t hanging in the balance by a small thread, so he sought you out in all of your normal get away acces. Places you told him about where you like to go when the weight of the world became to much for you- and you just needed somewhere to go to forget everyone and everything. He doesn’t want you to forget for to long the troubles you face, after all, the way you handle a situation is very important- and it is avery terrible thing to run and hide all of the time. He found you in one of the first places he looked, a small dark corner of the base that had been abandoned by everyone but you, and he could see you curled up and sobbing slightly- and he felt his spark tug  little in sadness, he should have been there for you more and he was very sorry for that.

-He learned long ago that it was just easier to allow someone to vent their feelings, rather than interrupt them and cause a conversation to happen to early- and the person not be fully tady to share their feelings. He approached you slowly, and took you into his servos as you continued to cry as if he wasn’t there- he had time now, so he just sat in the corner you once were hand held you while you sobbed, he would wait for you to be ready to share. It was only a few minutes more of your sobbing, before you sniffed a little and began to perk up to look at his sparkling energon blue optics, you noticed he was waiting patiently to hear what you had to say when you were ready, and it was always something you appreciate about him and his character- his patience and never ending love he seemed to hold for all kinds of people ad bots, it almost made you feel undeserving. You spilled your feelings to him- your fear of the future, your fear of the present, and even some fears about the unknown- and he just stared and nodded as you continued to rant and rave while tears fell heavily from your eyes. He didn’t respond right away, but sighed as he leaned in close and touched your face with one of his digits- “It is hard carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders all the time, it is a difficult task to not only take care of yourself , but take care of those around you” he began “allow me to take some of that burden, allow me to bare some of your fears- if we are to be one, than your anxiety will be my anxiety, and I will do what I can to help quell all of thee fears you have.” You thanked him for his kind words and loving gestures, as you embraced his faceplate with your body in a tight embrace- he was the leader of the strongest Cybertronian force and was an icon to all who needed him to be, qnd right now he was all yours and was here to love and listen to you- you never in your life have felt so lucky to have him to yourself, even if you have to share him majority of the time. He was always there when you needed him to be your rock, nd in the end, that was all that really mattered.

Bumblebee

-A lot of people considered him to be a great comfort in times of need- mostly because he doesn’t have a real voice to respond to problems presented to him. In a way though, losing his voice has made him mush more of a sympathetic bot- he finds that he enjoys helping those who are just so frustrated and sad vent out their problems to the world and actually try to solve them. He thinks it’s always better to just let it all out rather than bottle it up inside and let it fester and grow into something ugly and resentful. He isn’t the best at comforting words or gestures, but if you find yourself in need of someone to talk and cry to- he was always the first in line to be that someone. You appreciated how kind hearted the gentle Bumblebee was, he thinks he isn’t much of a comfort and is only good for listening- but really he was the best bot to go to when you had problems. He loved hearing you talk and he loved hearing you complain, ironically, as you two had such similar thought patterns it was as if you were communicating for the both of you sometimes. He wouldn’t know what to do without you anymore, you were such a big and impactful part of his life now that everytime he thought about you it gave his spark little flurried of electric excitement to even be thinking about being in your presence. That’s why when you disappeared and hasn’t returned for awhile, he grew a little restless and worried. He knows sometimes you liked to run and pretend life didn’t exist, but you had been gone much too long for his comfort and he needed to seek you out and make sure for himself that you were ok- even if the others insisted that you were most likely unharmed. He didn’t care, they didn’t know you like he did- and he knows that you shouldn’t run and hide from your problems when you have a perfectly good bot to bring them to whenever you needed him to be there.

-He found you after a little bit of a frantic search, he wasn’t really thinking clearly through is worry and distraught, You were simply sitting alone, looking forlorn and sad as you hugged yourself a little while just staring into the empty void of space. He knew that look, he had seen it on you many times before when you were racked with worry over something you had little control over. He noticed that is what cause you most of your stress- worrying over the things you can’t seem to change because it is out of your scope of power to do, he can relate, as there is a lot of things he isn’t able to do or change in his life too. He can sometimes spiral downwards into a depression about it too, the only difference is he has a great support network to build him back up after he has been feeling down, before him you had almost no one- and that was a big travesty. You were such a nice and kind person, you deserved better than to be wracked with constant fear all the time, so he made it his life’s mission to be your network of support- he would be there for you even if you didn’t want to be there for yourself. He never felt like this about anyone before, so he took it upon himself to make sure you were always hapy and you always felt the same way he did- it was a big job, but e was down for the wok if it meant he could spend more and more happy moments with you. He just sat next to you, as you leaned into him for physical support, and you just sat and continued to stare off into space. He didn’t mind- sometimes just actually being there was enough to let you know that everything will be ok, he can be that ground you need to keep you on track and thinking clearly.It was another hour or so before you were ready to go somewhere to maybe get something to eat, or just change your dreary scenery so you would be more willing to talk and engage, and Bumblebee was always more than willing to be or personal car- it was nice always having a ride somewhere when you needed it. Little did you know though, that he would always be there when you need it- he might not be the best at words, but his attempts at comfort were always so sweet and caring.

Arcee

-When you look at a bot like Arcee, you are under the assumption that she is pretty hard core and isn’t exactly the nurturing and caring kind of femme. You would be right to assume that, but it’s not fair to just write her off like that because she isn’t very good with words or comforts. She is the definition of being a product of her upbringing- and war and fighting is all she really knows how to do, not to say she isn’t familiar with the physical aspect of relationships, she was just a little fuzzy when it came to comfort and love. Not to say she doesn’t enjoy cuddling and spending time with you doing all these mushy things, she is just a little more conservative when it comes to special times like that- she wants them to remain that way, special. She understand thought that you weren’t always the best of head spaces, she can relate to that one very well, so when you were feeling off about something or unsure about something else- she was always there to reassure you in her own special way. She was a little more harsh in her comforts than you would like, but you know that it is just her way of trying to perk you back up and make you feel stronger and wiser. She is a little funny when it comes to sharing her real feelings- as in you thought Bumblebee was bad with words, Arcee was probably the leader when it comes to cotton mouth syndrome where she swears her mouth dries up and she cannot speak properly. It was cute that she was so bad at what she was trying to do, and it was endearing that she tried so hard to please you with her words- even if majority of the time they absolutely fell flat and had no leverage whatsoever. It wasn’t her words as much as it was her attempts at making you feel better, she was much sweeter and kinder than she liked to let on, but that was ok since you were one of the rare few that got to see that much softer and squishier side of a bot who has gone through so much heartache and war- that thought was almost always enough for you to feel better, knowing you had the undivided love and adoration of such a wonderful femme- she was like the light at the end of your tunnel. Granted, she was a blistering light that shone a little too bright at times, but that’s ok, because you know that in the end she will always be there for you when you needed it most. WHich was why when she noticed you hasn’t turned up for quite awhile, she decided that it was time to seek you out, whether you wanted her to or not.

-She found in in an unusual spot, which was why it took her so long to find you, and she could tell right away that you had been crying recently. Your eyes were red and your cheeks a little puffy and stained from all the liquid that forced its way through even if you protested it. She felt her spark tug a little as she saw how much anguish and pain you seemed to be in- since you weren’t bonded she had no idea what was bothering you, she didn’t know exactly how to comfort you in this moment. She went with her instinct and gut feeling, and slowly approached you as she sat close enough to you to where you could lean to one side and she would be there- it was nice to feel sometingwarm like her frame, rather than the cold emptiness you felt inside during times like this where you just can’t control how your emotions come out. The weight of the world sometimes just felt so crushing, and knowing there was so much that you couldn’t fix or change, it was hard and ade your heart clench a little in sadness. You felt her use one of her digits run through the locks of you hair, and it was comforting and soothing to feel how gentle she can be when you needed it. She was somewhat a constant in this crazy life you live in- and even if sometimes you had to share her with the younger Jack, you knew that she had enough room in her spark for the two of you. Besides, she’s here with you right now and not with him, that certainly says a lot- as it was almost like she could sense when you were feeling bad and would come running to your rescue like this. You leaned into her touch and smiled a little through a new wave of tears that were falling, and you spilled a lot more than you wanted to in her direction when she asked was what was troubling you. In the end you felt like you might have overwhelmed her a little with your words, but she took it rather well and was just there to sit and listen-she didn’t offer any words of comfort or any kind of kind gesture of warmth. She was just there, and you were just there, and sometimes that’s enough to let you know that everything would be ok.

[midz13]

Sorry for being abscent tumblr, I’ve been super busy with the work! I’ll make a mega update here to get us caught up, and ill upload more photos after.

Since unwrapping the environment I have taken it to substance, got all the maps generated, made some optimisations on render time (Still some noise but render time is at 18minutes at some points so wont push it any more - waiting to hear back from Sang on how good the render time is/optimised the scene is before i send render farm requests) and done my animating!! Phew!

The substance painter stuff was good fun - I learend some lessons with the character, and knew the best way to approach this was to put everything under one material that I wanted on one map. To that end I put the entire room (walls floor etc) as one material (due to its physical size and wanting to put text on the floor) and the objects within the room - computers, piping, platform etc - on another atlas. Both atlas’ were 4k, and the only exceptions to that was a few individual maps - one for the robotic arms holding her, as I made them seperate and couldnt/dont know how to combine maps, and one for the pistol (ill show in next post) as I did that after (I decided a couple days before starting animation to test myself to model, wrap and texture a pistol in one day - I did it!! :D

I messed around with colour palette a bit with the room. I wanted a dark ominous room, but felt that showing the room with grey or dark surfaces lost the clean room/labratory feel. I think its vitally important in a sci-fi environment to try to keep real world links as close as possibly as they act like markers for the viewer to follow. I.e. by maintaing an aesthetic in this room or a labratory or hospital with the clean shiney surfaces, and the screen terminals using words like testing etc, the viewer will hopefully understand that its a lab/test facility of some description for the robot - That’s the plan anyway. By making the room darker, it might all into question the use or purpose of building. For example. is she there to be interogated? Has she been captured? As opposed to thinking oh this is a new technology...

I’ve not done any animation before, so was both excited and concerned to start, although it was a nice change of pace and helped keep me interested with a change of the usual workflow.

Luckily, as my story focuses on her being restrained for a large majority of the film, I didn’t have any massively challenging animation to do. However this didn’t mean I would coast the work and get it done as soon as possible. I wanted to make sure her acting and performance read as clearly as possible, as I need her movements to be one of the key indicators of her “state” i.e. human, or robot. I also quickly created blendshapes for her - I planned on her being unable to emote, but I felt this was a bit of a cop out. I didn’t want her to open her mouth, sure, as I felt that was a one way trip to uncanny that I coulnd’t use within the story, and would make her impossible to empathise with (if I had time, sure it would be a fun experiment to see what worked better, but time isnt on my side). This did mean that her emotions were slightly limited , BUT, because i wanted her to see trapped in her own body, and like her faculties were limited (due to the fact her head has been removed and put on a robot!!) I think it worked well. I created blendshapes for fear, sadness, anger, a blink, and a frown (to augment the other emotions). I’m so glad I did these, as the became key in a few of the shots, and really make them pop, and make her “come to life”, so I’m pleased I took the time to do them.

The animation was fun, a few issues came up however, but for the most part it was pretty straight forward. I took some videos of myself doing some of the movements as reference for the animations. I tried to do it in a week or less, which I managed, to make sure that I stay on target time wise, and as I opted to use After Effects to show the screens, I wanted extra time to learn - I want the screens to flash and change, and thought it would also be a good oppotunity to learn how to use After Effects as I’ve not used it at all.

I’ve spent a bit of time too working on camera movement and set up. I’ve weant for a 25mm focal length for most shots to show as much of the set as possible, situating the camera more. I try to frame each shot as well as possible to make it look good, draw the viewers eye to key information, and on a few shots, frame screens so that they can get plot information as to what is going on. It’s been difficult to make sure the camera looks as natural as possible, and not like a maya camera, which is tough. Camera work itself is an entire artform in itself...

So, I want to discuss a few of the issues I’ve had and how I got around them or solved them.

So, as I mentioned I had some issues with the animatiom. These came from the rig, and the blendshape.

First of all the blendshapes for her face - as I think I mentioned before, I did blenshapes for her bicepts so that when she moves her arm, her biceps will tense and relax to show that movement. It’s very subtle and probably never be noticed, but it looks cool when you look for it, and it was a great learning experience. I had to move its order in the channel editor to make sure it moved at the right time within the rig, and it worked totally fine, and easier than I thought! I did the same with the shoulder muscles, but more as corrective blendshapes as the rig/deformations isnt perfect. However, the face blendshapes wouldn’t play ball... I tried adjusting their order, I tried every combination, I tried deleting their history and their transforms, nothing worked - everytime I applied them, her head would shoot off into the distance. I spoke with both Sang and Michael and Patrick Sloan, eventually the 2 Sloans worked out that by deleting the meshes post, and applying them all as one blendshape (originally I did them one by one) it worked. I tried doing them as one BS without deleting them and for some reason it didnt work. I took it as it was and even asked Sang if he knew why (he didnt). As long as it worked though, I didnt care...

The next issue with the rig was something that totally slipped by somehow; When I rotate her global control her chest and abdomen wouldnt deform right AT ALL. I had no idea how it happened and started freaking out. The 2 Sloans couldn’t work it out either. If I grabbed her chest and her global, she would rotate better, but her stomach would twist up strangely. Eventualy Sang diagnosed that the issue was the IK Spine not twisting right, and that I must have done something wrong during the rigging stage. This was super frustrating as I took my time with the rig and followed Sang’s video perfectly. It must have been one little step, a constrain or a parent, that i missed, omited, or applied incorrectly, and more than a month later, it came to the surface. I was especially confused/frustrated as I tested the rig post completion and binding to check, but obviously hadnt used the global control to twist her. Sang found a work around, but it did mean that one of her spine controls was lost. I then realised towards the end of the animating that a few of her poses caused strange deformations, like verts jutting our, or generally not following the rest of her body too well. I would go into weight paints and smooth out the issue as best I could even though I couldnt see anything glaringly obvious, like an arm joint effecting her lower stomach, but now that I’m processing this, I wonder if perhaps losing a handle reassigne weights and didnt do it right??

Another issue I had was her armor and torso/muscles being SUPER Shiny. I couldn’t work this out especially as she looked totally fine within substance. Initially I assumed it was an arnold render setting and that I hadn’t turned samples high enough, but after optimising the samples using Sang’s tutorla (which made the render time too high unfortunately) I realised the issue remained. One day I eventually decided it wasn’t right and that it wasn’t just me - it was too much. I worked my way through Arnold’s material settings, turning this up, down, off, every which way, to see if it effected the shine. I eventually found the culprit was Diffuse Roughness and nothing more, and that by simple adjusting the exposure/alpha in the settings, it reduced this shine completely. The way I set up my materials meant that it effected her whole texture (even though muscle/skin and armor are in different graphs) so I lost a tiny bit of shine to her skin, but I think it still looks fine - if anything before hand her lips looked too shiney, as if she had on lip gloss.

I also had some issues creating the cabling for her helmet. I needed the cabes to flex and bend with her as they moved. In my head the best way would be and IK set up. Initially I tried this, and I use a cube to measure the start and end points, and used an arc to create a perfect bend over the 90 degrees. This was a good idea, and the cable could go from a 90 degree bend to perfectly straight, but any additional bend didnt work and just turned the cable. I then started thinking about IK Splines, and watched a few tutorials online but couldnt get it to work. It made sense though, a spline would allow the perfect movement! Evnetually me and Sang spoke a few times and he was able to find a solution. An spline set up that didnt work like an IK and meant I had to do lots of manual adjustments, but for the most part it looks great. So for the small cables on the sides of her helmet, i kept the simple but effective “fire and forget” IK cables, and for the rear of her head I used the spline, as this area would move and twist much more. It took a while to create and solve, but meant that it looked good and only took a small amount of additional work to animate.

I will upload some more images, such as test shots, the pistol (which barely gets any screen time, but only took a day to work on so not a massive loss.

Only a few weeks to go! Waiting for Sang to get back to me on scene set up and optimisation, once that gets the green light I’ll start sending render farm requests!

[dahcyst]

PURPLISH BLUE [Chapter 8 : The Awakening]

[AO3 link : http://archiveofourown.org/works/9645383/chapters/24677136 ]

"Take care about your control abilities, Lance," Thace had said later during the night -even thought it was probably late as hell already. "Your eyes turned back to blue when I...Touched you..."

Thace's words still echoed in Lance's ears, even hours after. The room was quiet by now, if it wasn't for the soft snoring, almost imperceptible, of Thace's breath while sleeping. Lance had been the first to fall asleep after eating something -the Galra did bring decent food with him when he'd come in the room actually, and had woke up in a jump later, his Altean body a huge mess on the bed, to find Thace half sleeping by his side. The Galra hadn't left his clothes, sitting casually on the matress. Silently, Lance crawled on the sheets; Thace's face was a little down, and the lack of glow told him that he was simply asleep.

Thace hadn't forgotten; in a small bag, he'd brought food with him, for Lance's happiness. No fucking crackers : it was some real food, altean military rations that Thace had managed to trade somehow. To Lance, despite the weird taste of old and dryness, it was better than anything he'd tastes until now -at least it felt this way.

Throught the curtains, Lance could catch a glimpse of the moonlight from outdoor. Morning was coming soon, quickly.

He had slept, even if it was only for a few hours, but it had felt good. Somewhere in the corridor, he could hear soft footstep, as if someone was walking barefeet. Lance's heart jumped a little when the sound echoed by his door; his body was still Altean after he'd passed out during the night while talking with Thace, the Galra telling a weird tale from his childhood -absolutely not something Coran would have narrated to his sister and he. The sound didn't last for long, the man was already gone too far. It was probably Shiro. Keith and Ulaz weren't that discreet while pacing the corridor after waking up -they were hard to get in shape for the day in the morning, and most of the time Lance tried not to cross their way before they were gone to the military basement.

"Thace," Lance called with a low voice.

The Galra didn't move and Lance tightened his lips in a thin line. How did the soldier intend to protect him if nothing could wake him up? Sighing softly, Lance sat, head buzzing a little at the first move in the morning -eating so late in the night hadn't really been that of a good idea and his stomach was aching a little. The motion of the matress under his body, dspite his light weight, made Thace move a little. Or rather, it just helped the heavy body to fall flat on the matress, the Galra mumbling a little in his sleep.

Lance rolled his eyes at the scene. Dears!

Shit.

The most dangerous soldiers in the whole universe, uh?

"Are you fucking kidding me," he growled, and quickly on his four, he approached.

Well. There wasn't a big distance between the two of them -leaning onThace had been enough actually. He hesitated, called again -so low that he barely heard himself anyway. It was stupid. His hesitation was stupid. After all, he remembered clearly shwing his soft spot to Thace the night before -and the memory made him so ashamed that he felt like his face was about to burn all of a sudden. What had he done? Giving their ennemies one of his weak point was absolutely dangerous and stupid -but it was Thace, he had to trust him, he had put his life between his hands for the next years and Thace had to know that type of things not to go too far with his touching and--

Wait.

Why would Thace touch him, by the way?

Lance frowned, already annoyed right in the morning by his own train of thoughts.

"Hey, Thace, wake up!" He insisted, his pout hearable in hi voice. With the tip of his forefinger, he tapped lightly on a cheek offered to his view. The feeling of the fur under his smooth skin was as soft as usual, enough to make his heart jump with pleasure, and one second later he was digging his thin fingers into the fur on the top of Thace's head. He didn't have to wait for long; a soft sigh came from the huge soldier, eyebrows frowning slightly under the touch.

Oh well.

It looked like the Galra was asking for more petting in his sleep and it reminded him of those cute small furry pets they had when they were young -except that they couldn't kill someone with a sharp blade.

The idea made Lance freeze for a second, but he refrained his need to run away from the place -it was stupid.

He was a Galra, now. He was ok.

"Really, Thace, what will they think if they find you here," Lance sighed this time, his fingers still stroking the short dark hair.

"Mmmmh-- they won't care at all," was what answered him in a sleepy sigh, almost sounding like a purr.

"Like, what, really?" Lance rolled his eyes at it. "Man, everytime you talk, I feel like you Galras are--"

He hesitated, staring at Thace's face; the Galra was still half asleep, sighing under the light touches as he wasn't really able to realize what was happening right away -Lance wasn't sure if the soldier would appreciate being patted like a pet, but well.

"Mmm-are?" Thace mumbled after a few seconds of silence.

"Weird?" Lance tried. "I don't know actually. It's-- I--"

"You?"

A glowing eye cracked open, searching for him a moment before focusing, and Lance found back the small golden sparkles in it. Two weeks ago, he would have probably never cared about it, would have never noticed it. He would have never looked carefully enough.

"I'm surprised," he admitted.

"Oh?"

Both glowing globes opened wide at that and Lance felt a little trapped. "I, uh, you know why I say it, don't take it for yourself, ok?"

"Well, you're touching my head in my sleep knowing perfectly what it means to us, so I guess I don't take it too personally?"

Thace slow voice took its time to reach Lance's ears; the next second, he had put his hand off Thace head with a high pitched scream, cheeks red as hell and Thace's laughter resonnated in the small room.

"Oh god, Lance, are you always like this?"

"Like what?" the Altean hissed, and Thace immediatly knew that the prince was on his guards. So, he took support on his elbow to have a better look at Lance.

"Well, innocent? That's unexpected, coming from you."

Lance snorted, looking annoyed -but taken off guards again. "Coming from me, uh?"

"Due to your origins, I mean. People like you own the Aknowledge from far." Thace didn't say Alteans out loud; even if they were in Lance's room, quite far from the door, there was still a possibility that someone could get some words, and this one especially was dangerous here. "They're wise, most of the time."

"They're old guys," Lance mumbled. He had crossed his arms, hidding his hands while sitting slightly away on the bed. "Of course they know everything!"

Thace chuckled. "You get a point. You're young, after all."

For a moment, he kept watching carefully the thin body on the matress. He'd barely seen him since the day they met, since the moment he'd brought him here, and the feeling of guilt hadn't left him for two weeks.

Guilty that he had left him alone, but at the same time he knew he had no choice after the attack of Balmera's base. Everyday, he'd woken up in his small personal room set at the base, wondering if everything was ok for the Altean prince. He couldn't call to take news -it would sound weird and bring the attention to Lance, and he didn't doubt that the Altean would already be enough of a weirdo by himelf.

He knew that Sendak wouldn't be one to ask so much -but he wasn't stupid, if something was going really abnormal, he would come to Thace first.

His brother hadn't called him for anything about Lanice. When they met during the extraction of the multiple corpses, Sendak hadn't said a word about their new roommate.

Sendak only called Lance funnily weird and refreshing when not puking, and it had made Thace raise an eyebrow. Well. Why not. But the fact that Lance was vomiting so often was making him worrying even more.

He couldn't help. He knew since the beginning that it would be the most difficult part of the Altean's immersion into their culture. Kicking their poisoning food out of his system was the best Lance could do for now -Thace knew it pretty well. But what would happen if he couldn't do it anymore and had to keep it inside? Could he get used to it? Alteans were the best to adapt themselves to any situation, but this one? Would his body change that far?

He had managed to get back a little at the apartment, bringing whatever food he could for Lance, but the tireness, the lack of time and the measure of urgency on Balmera had taken a priority over the situation.

So, seeing him right now in front of him, lively though a little pale and skinnier than before, had made him feel incredibly reassured at first.

But the fact was that Lance was different. Slightly, but not the same than on the first days when Thace was present. He dared.

He dared talk.

He dared touch. He even petted his head a few minutes ago.

Even if he could feel the reluctance still present in Lance's behaviour toward Galras, it wasn't the same. At least with Thace.

And it didn't feel so bad, he had to admit.

"Of course I'm right," the young prince rolled his eyes in annoyance and it was made in such a manner of habit that Thace instantly knew that it wasn't some fake reaction of his and he couldn't help but laugh a bit. "What?"

"Nothing. You're funny."

Lance opened his mouth, shaping it in a 'o' of indignation.

"Fu--"

"I'm glad that you're doing so great, Lance."

The silence fell easiy between the both of them; Thace knew that it could become uncomfortable, but he didn't really care and continued. "I was afraid that it would turn out pretty bad for you during my absence."

Lance shrugged. "I'm amazing. Might become the best diplomat soon, then!"

"Lance..."

"I just need to survive the horrific Galras, piece of cake!"

His laughter echoed softly in the room, but his poor smile coudln't fool Thace. He straightened up, sitting on the bed.

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

Lance sighed. "I know."

"You know?"

"I can see it all over your face. Even if you're still half asleep. What a bedhead by the way..."

"You're impossible."

"Yeah, I've been told."

But what should have been impossible, a moment later, was Keith's face with his mouth still deep in his morning mug in the kitchen and his eyes blinking so hard that it had to be painful at some point. His bedhead didn't help with the scenery, and Lance had to bite the inside of his cheek not to laugh.

Were those bedheads a Galra thing, by the way? He usually managed to avoid them in the morning, so he hadn't really noticed that until now.

"Excuuuuse-me?" The young Galra growled. His glowing eyes darted to Lance, switched to Thace, then Lance again.

Thace cleared his throat, trying to keep his calm despite his cousin's features quickly falling appart. It seemed that the idea wasn't so appealing. It didn't sound dangerous though, and he said it again, giving Keith his superior glare. Obey, soldier.

"I said, you're taking your day off and go with Lanice in town. He needs a lot of new things."

This time, Keith's face uncolored and he spit his drink -Lance could recognize the failed coffee he was trying to make sometimes.

"WHAT THE HECK!?"

"Sendak's ok."

"Senda--WHAT!?"

"Why are you drinking that garbage? You're going to be sick again."

"You don't mind when it's Lanice!"  

"Lanice's already sick."

"I don't want to bodyguard that jerk!"

Lance turned back, unable to handle the picture in front of him without bursing into laughters. Thace was incredible, fully under control despite the situation -despite Keith's face turning a deep shade of purple.

Well.

He could understand why Keith was overreacting like that. It wasn't as if he had been easy with the Galra during the few days they had to spend together, for the very few times they had to see each other. Actually, days after days, Lance had discovered that the young Galra was pretty fast to react to almost everything -either it was bad or good. No need to say that Lance had tried him on everything small things he could find, convincing himself that it was in order to understand Galras' habits. He got it that his appearance couldn't let anyone think that he wasn't a Galra -except Shiro, but he was a human and had a different way of thinking than Galras.

"Why doesn't he even have a paire of trousers or a fucking shirt, by the way? Thace, you thought I didn't notice that he's wearing your old suits!?"

Lance almost jumped at it and turned to face the two Galras in silence. If anything, he'd learned not to talk when he hadn't been asked to, and here the question was for Thace. The big soldier slowly crossed his arms, eyes narrowing to Keith whose face was deeply annoyed. Dealing with Lance's case surely hadn't been in his daily planning.

"Oh, you noticed?" he hissed.

"Easy," Keith snorted with a mocking grin. "That's your smell all over Lanice's room. So?"

Thace hadn't flinched at Keith's question. His hips pushed a little on a chair nearby when he moved a bit closer, the dark material rasping on the smooth floor.

"Everything was on Balmera," he said. "We didn't have enough place in my ship and I had asked him to pack his stuff for later."

"But--" Keith had opened his mouth to argue, first. But the second after, his eyes were opening wide and he stared at Lance, who was cautiously looking at them from his place. "Wait, do you mean that--"

"That everything has been destroyed on the day after his arrival here? Yes. I mean it."

Thace's rude tone didn't let any place to more question, but Lance was quite sure that Keith wouldn't ask Thace anything anymore. Instead, the young Galra sent him another type of look, something that gave Lance a long shiver down his spine. It wasn't pity, more like...Sympathy?

"Oh, shit, I'm--" Keith started, then hesitated a bit. "--Sorry, dude."

And he looked sorry. At that, Lance choose not to answer, shrugging a little -he wasn't concerned, didn't feel like he should really answer to that and decided to play the cold type. After all, Keith wasn't someone he really wanted to hang around with, and his sorry behaviour wasn't any of his problems. So, Thace's new lie about him didn't really matter to Lance.

"It's ok," he mumbled, trying to play the game, at least a little. For Thace and his safety.

Keith rolled his eyes quickly at that. "I'll go with him, Thace," he continued, giving up with the Altean right way. "Can't let him wear your trash suits forever."

At that, Lance couldn't help and let out a sudden laughter despite his hand clasped tight on his mouth and Keith growled softly.

"Thace, is that guy insane?"

Thace sighed.

"Not exactly..."

_______________

Hey cuties! Finally could release this chapter >< I’m almost done with all my overworking period! x_x I missed writing so much so I’m cathing up with all my works in progress ahahah XDDD Two VLD chapters, and I’ve finished the 7th for A flower for the Bee last night uh!

I hope you liked this one by the way, I try my best!