#gah that’s three places in one day and I took a test this morning

[bookwyrminspiration]

!!! no longer on crutches!! I have a walking boot and can walk again!! hooray!!

[undyingskies]

Lets Have a Baby

request: yes;

“Heyy i love your writing and if you are taking requests can you do one with charlie similar to the one you did with owen where him and the reader have a pregnancy scare but unlike owens, Charlie is kinda disappointed by not having a kid so he tells her they should actually try. Thank you so much in advance!”

A/N:  I hope you guys enjoy, this was a lot of fun to write!

Warnings: Talk about pregnancy and a few curse words. 

tagged: @mah-gah-lee , her and her fics are the best! check her blog out!

___________________________

You had been feeling really off for a few weeks now. You couldn’t really seem to put your finger on why. They were normal symptoms, nothing unusual, the only unusual thing was the fact that they were constantly persistent.

Over the last few weeks your normal headaches seemed to turn into migraines that would last for days. No medicine could help them, only warm showers and naps helped. In between migraines it seemed like waves of nausea took up that time.

All while dealing with the off and on migraines and nausea, your body was in constant pain and you were exhausted. You couldn’t tell if the exhaustion was just from the constant strain on your body from the aches or from the running back and forth to the bathroom thinking your stomach would empty itself. Or if the exhaustion was just another part of your new normal.

Today was like any other day you’ve been experiencing recently. You were in your bed, a heating pad placed on your lower back, with all the lights off. The strain from your migraine fading as the minutes pass on, giving you some peace.

You can hear the front door of your shared apartment open, assuming that was Charlie coming back from wherever he ventured off to this morning. In your morning haze of nausea and headache you didn’t really catch what he had said.

“Y/N?” You hear Charlie yell as he makes his way into the apartment.

You turn your head to the side so that your voice wouldn’t be muffled by your pillow.

“In here!” You yell out as loud as you can, not wanting to bring back the pounding in your head.

As you get the words out, you see Charlie peek his head into your bedroom. He walks around the room blindly for a few seconds, since you had all the lights off and your black out curtains pulled together, not letting any light in.

He walks over to the window and pulls the curtains back enough just to let a stream of light in. He comes and sits next to your laying body on your bed. He pushes some of your hair out of your face, smiling down at you.

You return that smile back up at him. “Hi.” You whisper up at him, moving to turn over to sit up and face him.

“Hi! How are you feeling?” He asks you, his concern evident on his face. He had been worried about you these last few weeks, neither of you really knowing what was going on with your health.

“Better today, my migraines gone which is nice! My lower back cramps aren’t too bad anymore, seems like the Tylenol may finally be working!” You say answering his question.

“Well that’s good, I’m glad you’re feeling better!” He says. “What do you think has been causing all this?”

“I don’t really know! These are all things I’ve felt before!” You tell him, racking your brain trying to come up with ideas of why this could be happening. “I was thinking it could be my period, but...”

That’s when it hits you. You haven’t gotten your period yet. Being on birth control kept your period extremely regulated. Every month, you could put money down that you would get your period the second week of the month and on Tuesday morning. It happened like that for the last 2 years.

Not this month though. You hadn’t even realized it, you were so caught up in feeling like crap you hadn’t realized your period week came and passed.

“But what?” Charlie asks you, breaking you out of your now spiraling thoughts.

“I didn’t get my period this month.” You tell him plain and dry. You figured cutting to the point was the best option, especially with Charlie.

“Oh shit.” Is all that came out of Charlie’s mouth at your confession. His facial expression screaming shocked.

“Oh shit is right.” You tell him, laughing slightly at his reaction.

You were nervous and afraid, but something about Charlie and his presence kept you calm. You knew whatever happened, he would be by your side.

The big question here was, were you ready to be a mom? A kid can be a lot and you were still young. You wanted kids but did you want them now? Both yours and Charlie’s careers were just starting to take off.

The big questions overwhelming your mind, you can feel the migraine slowly making its way back.

Charlie’s still sitting next to you, watching you silently. Both of your brains filling with those questions, while you panicked, Charlie got excited.

A little human being, 50% you and 50% him, he couldn’t think of anything better. Whether it be a girl or boy, he just knew it would be the cutest baby.

Before the both of you could spiral into your thoughts anymore, you needed an answer. Both you and Charlie knew that.

“So what are we going to do?” He asks you.

“Well I think the first step is to take a test, get a real answer.” You tell him. Your hands coming up to put pressure on your temples, the new pain not subsiding.

“Good point. How about I go get the test? You go take a shower or something, I can tell your headache is coming back.” He says, his hands moving to grab yours from your face.

He moves to press a kiss to your lips, smiling in the process of it.

“Sound good?” He asks. You nod your head yes.

Before he leaves, he helps you get up out of bed and into the bathroom.

“Alright, I’ll get going. You get in there and relax.” He tells you as he moves to turn the water on.

With another quick kiss, Charlie is on his way out and to the store. Secretly hoping that it would come back positive.

The pain in your lower back starts to get worse, the pounding in your head does as well. You quickly strip and hop into the warm water. Every muscle in your body relaxes as it falls over your body.

Hot showers really are a god send in times like this. You enjoy your time in the shower, allowing the relaxation take over you. If you could keep this feeling forever you would.

But like all things, it has to end and it ends too fast in your opinion. A big cramp makes its way through your stomach, and you knew what that meant.

You hop out quick, shutting the water off. You don’t have time to wrap the towel around you before you go sit on the toilet, you make it right on time before your period finally makes its appearance.

The minute your period starts flowing, your cramps and headache ease and start to disappear. It seems that the pent-up hormones were just making you sick.

The timing of it weird and not normal, it usually doesn’t hit like that, but you guess that nothing about this month has been normal. You’re grateful now though, all your pain leaving.

I guess that was the answer we were looking for you think to yourself. You can hear Charlie open and close the front door. You clean yourself up and start to get dressed in some sweats.

“I’ll be right out Char.” You yell out to him as you finish pulling your shirt over your head.

You make your way out of the bathroom and see a smiling Charlie sitting on the edge of your bed with a white bag next to him.

“I didn’t know what test to get so I bought 3.” He says, opening the bag and showing you the three different tests. You giggle at his antics.

You move to stand in between his legs, wrapping your arms around his neck and looking down at him, smiling.

“I just got my period, so we don’t need the test.” You tell him, running your hands through his hair that has gotten longer thanks to the months of not working.

You watch as him smile falters, his eyes dropping from your eye contact, and his hands stop the circular motion they were making on your hips.

“You okay Char?” You ask him, now concerned due to the expression on his face.

“I don’t know, I guess I was just excited about the thought of a baby.” Your shocked at his confession, not thinking that was what he was thinking this whole time.

You figured that he would have been nervous thinking that a baby wouldn’t be the best idea right now. You thought he was just staying calm so you wouldn’t panic, especially because you were feeling so sick.

A smile did make its way onto your face, you couldn’t help but smile at the fact that Charlie was thinking about the two of you having a baby and being excited about it.

“You were?” You ask him, the two of you had talked about kids but not about having them soon. So as happy as you were about his confession, you were still a little shocked.

“Well yeah.” He admits. “I mean think about it, it would be a mini version of us running around.  I don’t know, I just like the sound of that.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad, does it?” You say with a smile on your face. A matching smile makes its way onto Charlie’s face. He nods his head yes in agreement.

“You don’t think we’re too young though?”  You ask, concerned for a few reasons. “Or the fact that both of our careers are just now taking off? You don’t think a baby would get in the way of that or maybe ruin it?”

Charlie can hear the concern in your voice and see the worry in your eyes. He has no doubt in his mind that none of that would be an issue, but he understands where you’re coming from.

“We may be young, but I don’t think we’re too young. I love you with my whole heart Y/N, a little version of us is all I could ask for or want!” He tells you. “Plus, while both of our careers are important, we have enough to support us and a baby. Plus we would not let a baby get in the way of our careers. We wouldn’t let it, we would figure out a way to get it to blend together in a way where it all works!”

He ends his confession on his feet and jumping around in truly Charlie fashion. His excitement contagious and so evident.

A big smile makes its way onto your face. Charlie does have a way with words and his excitement, gets you excited.

Charlie watches you as your smile gets bigger, he knows those wheels in your head are turning. He steps forward to bring you in close and wrap his arms around your waist.

“So do you wanna do this? Wanna have a baby with me?” He asks you, the biggest smile on his face.

You bite your bottom lip trying to contain the big smile on your face, while nodding your head yes.

“No, no, nooooo,” Charlie says, exaggerating the “o” on his last no, “If we’re going to do this, I am going to need a verbal confirmation.” A smirk now replaces the smile on his face.

“Yes Charlie, let’s have a baby.”

The two largest smiles covering both of your faces.

“Well let’s get started then.” He says with a laugh.

Next thing you know your feet are off the ground and your thrown onto your bed. Laughs escaping both you and Charlie.

There’s no one else you would rather be stuck with in this world than Charlie and the thought of raising a family with him felt like the world’s best gift.

[its-karma-bitches-00]

ENDGAME

Chapter 1 : Normal Days...

Description: So... I know many Daminette fans don't like Damian being younger than Marinette so 🚨SPoiler AleRT 🚨 Damian is gonna be younger for a while but an event happens that gets their ages exchanged. (Sort of)

Warning; swearing

Summary: It was a normal day for everyone until shit went down.

-----

"Shit!" Marinette yelled sleepily at the blonde, from the cold hard ground "seriously Chloe?"

"Well you can't blame me!" She hissed right back, fully dressed in her dark blue uniform, the symbol of Gotham Academy shining proudly on her chest. "Do you know what time it is?!"

"Holy cheesecakes!" Marinette exclaimed "I'm late!"

"No. not really, I mean it's not like We've been waiting for almost half an hour!" Chloe snorted sarcastically

"Sorry!" Marinette's muffled voice came from her bathroom

Chloe shook her head with a small smile on her face, before walking towards the wardrobe and pulling out Marinette's neatly folded uniform and placing it on her bed

"Your uniforms on the bed, okay?"

"Okay! Thanks!"

Chloe smiled again before walking out of her room. Marinette came running later, her clothes slightly wonky "lets go!"

Marinette hopped out of apartment on one leg tying to put on her shoes as Chloe pressed the elevator button looking at her in amusement.

"It's not funny" Marinette deadpanned, as the elevator dinged open

"It is" Chloe giggled, walking in "how was patrol yesterday?"

"Eh, same old, same old" Marinette grinned "geez Jason's such a show off"

" 'it's all about impressing the single ladies' " the two friends mimicked Jason before bursting into fits of laughter all the way down.

***

"Took your own sweet time didn't ya?" Tim deadpanned from the front seat as the girls reached the large black car

"Sorry" Marinette cringed, getting in the car "Morning Alfred!"

"Good Morning Miss Marinette"

"Morning Damian" she added cheerfully, turning behind to smile at the younger boy

"Hello sweetheart" Damian smirked, giving her a wink.

"Hey! Stop flirting her!" Tim glared at his younger brother

"Why? Is she your girlfriend Drake?."

Marinette and Alfred sighed simultaneously, Here we go again.

"No, but she's my best friend so piss off midget!"

"What I do is none of your business Drake."

"Why do you want to date her anyway? you're 4 years younger than her! FOUR!"

"So?" Damian raised a perfect eyebrow

"Ugh! I liked you more when you did not have the confidence to flirt with girls! especially my friends!"

"Drake, I've always had the confidence to flirt, I just didn't because the harlots in school, except the angel in front of me, don't deserve my attention"

"Wait-what about me?!" Chloe said, looking offended

"Like I said, I don't pay attention to harlots" Damian

"Ohhhhh burnnnn!" Plagg yelled appearing out of nowhere

"Plagg!" Marinette said, relived to see the kwami distract the rising chaos "where's Tikki?"

"Boo!" Tikki exclaimed in Marinette's ear

"Gah!" Marinette jumped in surprise towards Chloe "Tikki! Seriously!?"

"Got you" The red kwami giggled

"So, how was your night with the Wayne's?" The blue eyed girl asked curiously

"I think it was amazing, all of them are really funny to watch" Tikki giggled again

Marinette smiled happy that her little companion had a great time

"What about you? I hope you didn't stay up all night" Tikki narrowed her eyes

"I didn't" she answered, which made Tikki narrow her eyes even more "No literally. I did not stay up, in fact as soon as I stepped into my bedroom, I felt so damn sleepy. I tried to drink coffee and energy drinks but I was too sleepy to move"

"Of course, who wouldn't feel sleepy with Jason's 'flirting' in their ears" Tim rolled his eyes

"Wait- Todd Flirted with you?!" Damian bristled

"Well no" Marinette answered "he just tested some of his 'pickup lines' on me, besides he does that to almost everybody"

"True" Chloe supported, to which effectively calmed Damian, who knew and was second handedly embarrassed of his brothers behavior.

"We're here, Have a great day young masters and misses"

"Thanks Alfred, same to you." Marinette smiled, hopping out of the car

"Today's gonna be a great day!" Marinette exclaimed, look at the gates of the school

"Great! you jinxed it!" Tim whined "Today's gonna be really bad"

"I don't care what happens" Chloe said "I just want to be done with this."

"Why are we standing out of the school?" Damian interrupted, standing tall beside Marinette

"Why in the world are you so tall?" Marinette playfully hissed

"I'm not tall Angel, you're just short. besides I'm just three or two centimeters shorter but, that will be gone in sometime." He grinned before placing a soft kiss on her cheek

"You're 12 and surprisingly flirty! And I'm not short!" She defended, childishly blowing a raspberry at him before rushing into the prestigious school, as she entered She noticed something different, people were huddled around each other looking into phones

"Hey!" Marinette yelled "All of you should be in your classes"

Some students glanced at her before looking back at their phones, unbothered. Marinette was about to call out again but was interrupted by another louder voice "What are you doing out of your classes!?"

Marinette turned to find Tim glaring at everyone.

Wait- you might be wondering...why are Tim and Mari acting like bosses?

Well it because they are. Marinette Dupain-cheng is the Vice Head Girl while Timothy Drake- Wayne was Head Boy.

"Check the News nerd!" A boy catcalled, Marinette glared at the direction of the boy before pulling out her phone, worried. Tim walked towards her, whispering "do you think joker's at it again? What if Bruce needs help?" Marinette shushed at him, opening the local Gotham news nothing seemed out of ordinary.

"Check the international news" Damian said appearing out of nowhere, Marinette nodded switching her tabs to international news

"What the fuck is that?" Chloe asked pointing at the phone

Boy... the world was in for a life changing ride.

-----

THIS STORY IS FROM MY WATTPAD ACCOUNT

@Aquaqueen2020

[nnightskiess]

r e q u e s t: Hi !! I love your writing ❤️ I want to know if it’s possible for you to write something with Quinn fabray x reader ? They are together in quarantine in New York with Rachel, Kurt and Santana. Also Reader and Santana are best friends. Can you add humor and fluff please ? Thanks ☺️

Quinn and Y/N were walking hand in hand through the streets of New York. They had planned a little getaway together to the big city. It was mainly Quinn’s idea, she wanted to propose to her high school sweetheart— Y/N. But most of their trip, and thus Quinn’s plan, fell apart due to the rapid spread of the Covid virus. Their tickets for Broadway had been refunded. The cute tearoom where Quinn had planned to propose to the girl— and where the two women had shared their first kiss during Glee club’s Nationals in New York— was closed down due to the virus. Most of the things Quinn had planned out for the proposal got refunded, except for the hotel. Quinn decided that she’d postpone her proposal to another time. She didn’t want to propose to Y/N like this. She deserved a proper proposal, like the one Quinn had planned out in her head for years. Quinn tried not to let it get her down but she found it hard to lie to Y/N about the frown on her face. 

“I know it’s different.... but... I’m still glad we’re here.” Y/N brought their intertwined hands together and planted a kiss on Quinn’s knuckles. “New York always brings me back to high school.” 

“Remember when we broke the bed during our pillow fight? And, oh God, how Tana fell off it when you smacked her across the face?” Y/N shook her head in amusement, “But the thing I will never forget is when we shared our first kiss in that adorable tearoom near the hotel.”

Quinn gave her a distant smile. 

“And remember how panicked I was when Mr. Schuester walked by the window and I thought he had seen us out of the hotel room?”

Quinn hummed softly, rubbing her thumb across Y/N’s hand. She remembered every little detail about that morning, which made this all so much harder.

Y/N came to a halt and stood in front of Quinn, which caused the latter to bump into her. 

“Oh, baby-”

“Why are you so quiet? I don’t like it.” Y/N seemed genuinely worried. 

Quinn looked at the ground for a second and held her temple, trying to come up with a good enough lie. 

“I-” She looked back up at her girlfriend and her expression immediately softened. Whenever Y/N was worried— particularly about Quinn — her eyebrows would furrow and she’d pout her lips ever so slightly. 

Quinn sighed, “I’m just disappointed that we couldn’t visit it this time. I feel like a visit to New York is never complete without a high tea at our place.” Y/N smiled softly when Quinn grabbed her cheeks to comfort her.  

“You know what else makes our trip complete?”

Y/N grinned like an idiot, immediately knowing what she was hinting at. 

Quinn smiled, 

“Let’s go pick up our stuff from the hotel first and then drive there.”

✫彡

“Wait, let me scare her.” 

Quinn shook her head in amusement as her girlfriend plastered herself against the wall next to the front door of the apartment. Quinn knocked a few times before the door slid open. 

“Oh my God! Quinn! It’s so good to see you!” Kurt’s voice rang through the hallway. He quickly hugged her before calling Santana.

“Quinn’s here!” 

He turned back to the blond in front of him, “Are you alone?” Kurt was in disbelief, knowing very well that Quinn and her girlfriend were inseparable. Quinn quickly looked at Y/N through her peripheral and saw her nod her head.

“...I guess so-”

“Wait... you two are still together, right?” Concern filled Kurt’s voice, but before Quinn could reply, Santana appeared out of the bathroom.

“Ha! You bet they are.” She smirked at her friend, “Wait... where’s the fiancée?” 

Quinn’s eyes widened and she immediately faked a long, awkward laughter. “Good one, San.” 

Kurt looked between the two girls in confusion, and even Santana seemed lost. 

He let out an awkward chuckle. “Am I missing something?” 

Santana got the hint after Quinn shot her another look, “Oh- that’s just an inside joke of ours.” 

“Y/N! Oh my God!” Someone squealed.

The three turned around and saw Rachel stand in the hallway, two large bags in her hand. She had seen Y/N hide behind the wall when she walked up to their frontdoor.

“Damn it, Berry.” Y/N groaned. “You ruined my surprise.”

Santana snorted, “Well, I knew you were somewhere. Quinn gets rashes when you’re not within a radius of 16 feet.” She opened her arms wide when Y/N revealed herself. “C’mere, I missed you.”

The two best friends shared a sweet hug while Rachel clumsily carried her bags inside.

“What’s up with that?” Kurt turned to her.

“Oh- well, now that our shows are postponed to God-knows-when... I thought I’d bring the stuff from my dressing room back home.”

“Why’d you bring this coffee machine home? We already have one.”

“Yeah, but I don’t like that one.”

“Rachel! We have no more countertop space... or available plugs!” 

He gasped when he saw the brand, “These coffee pods are thirty dollars per package?!”

Santana rolled her eyes and walked Quinn and Y/N to the living room.

“So...while we let Bert and Ernie bicker... what’s up? No trouble in paradise?” She turned to the couple, hoping to cryptically find out why Quinn hadn’t proposed.

"I can’t believe you think we’d be able to part ways.” Y/N joked back and cuddled up against her girlfriend, who shook her head at Santana to let her know she’d tell her later.

“What do you girls want to drink? Or do you want some of Rachel’s exquisite coffee?” Kurt asked from the kitchen.

“Can I try a sip first?”

Quinn smiled at the childish antics of her girlfriend. Rachel gestured the girl to come over, which left the two ex-cheerios alone to talk.

Santana leaned in closer so that no one would hear,

“What happened?! Did you freak out at the last minute? Tell me you didn’t...”

Quinn sighed and rubbed her temples, “No, my whole proposal fell into pieces thanks to this freaking virus.”

“People are dying, Q.”

She sighed, “Gah, I know. It’s just- I’ve had this all planned out in my head for years. This was how it was supposed to go. And now everything is ruined.”

Santana gave her a sympathetic smile and squeezed her knee. “And there’s no alternative that you’d like?”

Quinn shrugged and shook her head softly.

“Well, if I may speak freely... we’re the only people who know Y/N in and out... which means that we also both know that she wouldn’t care if you went on one knee in a clown suit or if you wrote your big question in the sky with a plane...” Santana looked back to see if they were paying attention to their hushed conversation, but Y/N was sitting on the counter, her feed dangling while she took gentle sips of the expensive coffee. A small smile appeared on both girl’s faces. 

“The only thing she cares for is that you are the one to ask her.” 

Quinn’s eyes were filled with tears as she came to the realisation. 

“Thanks, Santana.”

“Anytime.” 

The two hugged until they heard Y/N run up to them.

“I want in!”

✫彡

A few hours had passed and all five of them were sprawled about the couch, their take-away food on the coffee table. Y/N’s head rested against Quinn’s chest while her legs were put on Santana’s lap. Quinn mindlessly played with the strands of Y/N’s hair.

It had become a tradition for them to watch ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ every time they visited their friends in New York.

“This scene breaks my heart every damn time.” Y/N mumbled and threw a napkin at the TV when Holly left the cat on the curb in the rain. 

“She goes back for him later, though.” Kurt spoke.

“I don’t care. Damage is done.”

‘People do fall in love, people do belong to each other. Because that’s the only chance anybody has for real happiness.’ Paul, one of the characters spoke.

Quinn put her head against Y/N’s at hearing that. She was filled with so much joy at having this wonderful girl in her arms.

“I’ve been carrying this thing around for months,” Paul grabbed a wedding ring box out of his coat which caused Quinn’s mind to wander off. Even though she had seen this movie a dozen times, she was still surprised to be reminded of her ruined proposal. 

Before she could make herself feel miserable about it again, Rachel’s phone rang. She quickly excused herself but motioned for them to not pause the movie. 

Rachel walked to the living area after a few minutes, her expression tense and filled with worry.

“Guys...”

Kurt paused the movie as the girls turned to Rachel.

“We might have a tiny problem...Well... a big one, actually.”

Everyone got the memo that it was something serious and they sat up.

“One of the ensemble members has been tested positive for the virus... which means that everyone— crew and cast — needs to go into quarantine at home... and that includes everyone they have been in contact with... so that would mean that we have to stay inside for the next two weeks too...”

The bunch on the couch took a moment to take the news in until Santana shot up, 

“I am not going to spend two weeks, non-stop, in here! I already go insane with too much of you as it is. I usually can deal with curtains as walls, your stubble in the sink or your god-awful annoying vocal exercises when I’m trying to sleep but that’s because I get home from work, eat and head straight to bed. But I will literally kill someone if I have to go through that all day long. I was supposed to see Brittany this weekend but hey, thanks a lot, Berry.”

“This is hardly Rachel’s fault. It’s the responsible and safe thing to do. You wouldn’t want Brittany to get it, right?”

Santana avoided eye-contact, but it was clear that she agreed with what Kurt said. 

“Wow, I feel so unwanted right now.” Y/N mumbled out, slightly joking. “You get to spend your quarantine with us!”

Santana gave her a tight-lipped, apologetic smile, “I know, that’s the only good thing about this.”

Rachel saw the gloomy looks on everyone’s face. “They won’t tell us who it is for privacy reasons, but I usually don’t hang out with the ensemble anyway so I hope I’m safe. I’m so sorry, you guys.”

Kurt stood up with a sigh, “I guess I’ll go find the spare mattress then. You two can take my bed.” He was about to walk off but pointed a finger at Quinn and Y/N. “No sex... in my bed.”

Quinn pursed her lips, not that happy with Kurt’s rule.

“You were the leader of the celibacy club, you can last two weeks without sex. Besides, there are no walls so I will know when you break my rule.”

“Like that’s ever stopped you and Blaine before.” Santana rolled her eyes. “But great. We’ll have five, sexually frustrated people cooped up together in a tiny apartment with no walls for privacy, no natural light and no entertainment. Someone’s definitely going to get murdered... by me.” She added.

“My vote’s on Rachel...” Y/N mumbled out. Santana stuck out her hand behind her back for Y/N to high five.

“I’m just glad we decided to check out of our hotel this morning and bring our stuff to you guys... because no matter how much I love you all, I am not going to wear any of your spare panties.” Quinn stood up to go and help Kurt.

“You could just go commando.” Y/N shrugged, “I wouldn’t mind.” 

Quinn sent her a teasing look and winked.

“I would say get a room but yeah, we don’t have any...so...” Rachel shrugged. 

“I can’t believe we’re going to have to do this.” Santana sighed and walked off to her part of the apartment. 

“Hey- but, look at it this way. We’ll have two weeks of non-stop karaoke, binge-watching and eating junk food. Doesn’t that sound great?” Rachel tried again but no one replied.

 ✫彡

One week done, one week to go. 

For Quinn and Y/N, this week had consisted of a lot of cuddling and making out in bed, watching silly movies and cooking with whatever they could find in the pantry.

Santana had surprisingly been on her best behaviour, though they let her be whenever she had a ‘don’t-talk-to-me’ look on her face. Y/N suspected that Brittany had probably told her to be nice and to make the best out of it, but she also liked to think that it was because of her presence. She hadn’t been able to visit her best friend often now that they lived so far away. But it was like old times whenever they saw each other again. However, Quinn had caught herself feeling jealous that the two women had spent that much time together. But her jealousy washed away when she saw the best friends joke or laugh like they used to when they were still 16 year olds. It warmed her heart.

Kurt blended in perfectly and knew exactly when to give someone space or when to approach them. He and Quinn made sure there was food on the table and he had ordered a lot of, mostly useless, stuff online to try and keep everyone entertained. The twister game had been everyone’s favourite so far. And the effort he put into his bingo night was even too wholesome for Santana to make a comment about it, no matter how bad she wanted to after getting a rubber duck as present when she won.

Rachel did her best to help wherever she could and she was, surprisingly, a lot of fun to have around when things got boring. Though, yes, the daily vocal exercises got a bit out of hand when she woke them up belting high notes at 7.30. Santana was close to killing her had it not been for Quinn and Y/N holding her back. Santana wasn’t intimidating at all with her bed head, tangled up hair and red PJs and Y/N couldn’t help but laugh.

Quinn had been over the moon, so to say. She got to spend two whole weeks with the love of her life. Yes, they lived together but that was different. Now, there was no schedule or work to interrupt them or cloud their minds. It was just them, enjoying being in each other’s arms. For a lot of couples the lockdown and quarantine would probably be make or break, but Quinn hadn’t been worried about a negative outcome at all. When you’ve been together for that long, and been through hell and back, you know you will persevere together. The company of Kurt and Rachel was fun, and it was certainly good to have Santana around again but Quinn couldn’t help but wish it had just been Y/N and herself in quarantine. If that had been the case, she knew they wouldn’t just spend their days only cuddling in bed.

Y/N was the only one that was visibly annoyed and on edge. She would roll her eyes or sigh in annoyance if things went wrong or if someone said something she didn’t like. Quinn had caught her staring out of the window, to which Y/N explained that she hoped if she looked hard and long enough she might see the dragon that would save her. She wasn’t used to sit around and do nothing and was bored out of her mind.

Quinn and Y/N were lying in Kurt’s bed with their legs tangled together. Quinn held her girl close to her chest. She squeezed her and inhaled the scent of her freshly washed hair. The window was slightly open, causing a chill breeze to slightly move the curtains.

“Now I’m sure of it...” Y/N started, getting Quinn’s attention, “I’m never going to commit a felony.”

Quinn let out a breathy chuckle, “Were you questioning it before?”

“I can’t imagine being stuck like this for years.”

“Well, you still have access to the internet, great food, your friends...and your wonderful girlfriend.” 

Y/N looked up at Quinn and grinned. She grabbed the girl’s cheek as she kissed her. 

“Can’t believe I’m about to say this but I’m actually really thankful we got stuck in quarantine.”

Y/N subtly arched a questioning eyebrow.

“It made me realise two things— too much of Rachel Berry will be the end of me-” Y/N let out a breathy chuckle at that, “-and...” 

Quinn stared into her girlfriend’s eyes, was she really going to do this now? Yes. Yes, she definitely was. This was the-

“Oh my God!” Kurt’s exciting squeal filled the apartment, startling both girls. They heard Santana shush him and it suddenly got very quiet. Too quiet... 

Y/N tiptoed out of the bed in her PJ’s and fluffy socks and opened the curtain to see Santana and Kurt staring directly at her. She had clearly caught them with something, but with what? Quinn appeared behind Y/N and noticed the jacket that Santana was trying to hide behind their backs.

Kurt noticed she was doing a poor job at it and snatched the jacket out of Santana’s hands to hold it up to his face, admiring it like it was a newborn baby. “Oh my, it’s so pretty! Where did you buy this?” 

Quinn quickly glanced at Y/N, who didn’t seem to notice what was happening. “Guys,” She groaned, “I thought something happened, you interrupted my peace.” She walked back, irritated, and closed the curtain in a swift motion. 

“Why were you snooping in my stuff?!” Quinn hissed and plucked her jacket out of his hands.

“Um, excuse me? When where you going to tell me that you plan on proposing to her!?” Kurt whispered, enthusiasm clear in his voice. 

Quinn didn’t reply and instead searched the pockets. “Where is it?”

“Here,” Santana gave her the jewellery box. “It fell out when Kurt was organising the coat rack.”

“Why haven’t you done it yet?”

“I had everything planned but the virus ruined it. It was suppose to happen the day we came here, but our favourite tearoom was shut down and so were all the other activities I had planned.” She sighed, “I was about to do it just now, in the heat of the moment, but then you two interrupted that. Whatever. I’m glad I didn’t. She deserved better than that.”

Santana crossed her arms, not happy with the fact that Quinn had apparently totally forgotten what the two of them had talked about a week prior.

“Damn, I wish you would’ve done it just now. That would mean the end of wicked witch Y/N.” Rachel joined their conversation. “Oh, so you can make fun of me but not the other way around? It was just a joke.” She added and raised her arms when she saw the looks Quinn and Santana were giving her.

“Okay, I know everyone’s feeling a bit irritated, but it’s just one more-”

The bell rang. 

“Don’t tell me you bought us all matching boho outfits for your Mamma Mia night. I’m not wearing it.” Santana crossed her arms.

“I didn’t order anything?”

Y/N appeared again and opened the door.

“Thank you so much. Here, keep this.”

She closed it, walked over to the kitchen table and went to put everything down, completely ignoring the rest. She noticed the silence and turned around.

“Oh- Don’t worry, I ordered for everyone.” 

Quinn eyed the table and recognised the familiar logo on the napkins. 

“Baby-”

“I felt so bad that we couldn’t go to our place this time. So when I found out that they started doing deliveries this week, I knew I wanted to order their high tea menu. I got the one we usually get... to make you feel better...”

Quinn wrapped her arms around the girl’s waist from behind and put her chin on her shoulder. Y/N leaned into her touch.

“This is the sweetest thing ever. I love you.”

Y/N kissed Quinn’s forehead and sat down, immediately grabbing a brownie.

“You need to wife her up, fast.” Santana whispered into Quinn’s ear when she walked by.

And she would, when the moment was right.

✫彡

Kurt was watching a movie with Blaine through face time, Rachel was practicing some lines and Santana was face timing Brittany. Quinn and Y/N had promised to do the dishes, but Quinn ushered the girl to take a nap on the couch when she saw how tired her girl looked. 

Quinn took quick glances towards the living room every few seconds and saw that Y/N had finally fallen asleep on the couch. With a faint smile on her face, she grabbed a blanket and tucked Y/N in. One of Rachel’s dvd’s, The Sound of Music, was still playing in the background. She slowly took the remote out of Y/N’s hands and turned it off.

“You’re the best and most precious thing in my life. I love you.” She bent down and caressed her cheek.

She widened her eyes when an idea suddenly struck her mind. 

✫彡

“What do we sing?”

“No... no singing proposal. Y/N would hate that.”

“I loved it.” Kurt shrugged.

“So, then what’s the plan?”

“Listen up...”

✫彡

Their quarantine was over and no one had gotten sick. No one from Rachel’s crew or cast had gotten it either. Brittany and Blaine came over as soon as they could. They were over the moon to hear about Quinn wanting to propose and agreed to help. 

“Love, what are you doing?” 

Y/N sat on her suitcase, desperately trying to get it closed.

“I thought I had gained weight, not my clothes.” She grunted, “If we want to get home before the dark we should drive off by-”

“Actually... I had something planned before we go home.”

“Oh?”

“Is it okay if we leave as soon as you can? Bring a jacket, I don’t want you to get cold.”

Quinn left Y/N to get ready and anxiously walked into the kitchen where the rest were whispering words of encouragement to her. Quinn knew how much they had loved each other for the past years, but something inside her was still very insecure if Y/N would say yes to her question... to her. What would she do with herself if Y/N didn’t accept her ring?

“She’s going to love it.” Santana hugged her tight but quickly let go when Y/N opened the curtain.

“Why are you all looking at me?”

“Because you look lovely.” Quinn grabbed her hand. They all sent her thumbs up as she took one last glance over her shoulder. 

✫彡

Y/N was eating a pretzel that Quinn had bought her in the park. The two were walking in a comfortable silence. Quinn glanced to the girl beside her, hoping that Y/N would catch on on what was happening soon. 

They had walked almost the very same route that they walked on that morning in New York many, many years ago. Their end stop would be at the edge of the park, where Santana and Brittany were now probably busy setting their high tea up.

“Why are pretzels so much better in New York?”

“Eh, I don’t know. I’m not really a pretzel girl.”

The park was normally crowded with locals and tourists, but they had barely seen a handful of people so far. 

“Wasn’t this where we sat with the kids from Glee?”

Quinn smiled softly.

Finally.

“Yeah, it is, actually.”

“Oh- Well, everything from that trip is very blurry in my mind, except for our first kiss, of course. I can even still tell you the colour of your coat.”

Quinn gave her a playful smile and grabbed Y/N’s hand. “Which was?”

“Red.” She booped her nose with the end of her pretzel, earning a giggle from Quinn.

She grinned softly, “Remember that snow globe I bought for you? With New York’s skyline?”

Y/N gasped, “I loved that thing.” 

The two laughed, remembering that Y/N had dropped it when they rushed to cross the street only half an hour after buying it.

“Then you bought me a couple others throughout the years but none of them have ever been able to have the same value to me. Sorry not sorry.” 

Quinn smiled to herself, hoping she was about to change that in a few minutes. She saw Santana and Brittany sitting on the grass in the distance and guided Y/N to the two. They left without saying a word, but not before giving the two enthusiastic but knowing smiles. Santana wiggled her eyebrows but Britt pulled her away.

“I am so confused right now.” Y/N hesitantly sat down on the blanket. “Why were they here?”

“I asked them to help me set up this little picnic so it could be a surprise. I know you ordered the high tea last week but I wanted to end our trip off like this, with just us. Also, we’ve spent the last two weeks in NYC without even a day outside. I didn’t want to leave before we went somewhere. I hope you like it.”

“Like it? I can never get enough of their cheesecake bites.” 

Quinn smiled nervously, trying to hide how stressed she felt. She poured the juice in their glasses and fed Y/N a bite of a scone with butter and peach marmalade.

“How does that taste?”

Y/N threw her head back and groaned. “I’m going to miss their food.” 

Quinn barely replied, too focused on how she was going to bring it up. Backing out now felt like a good way to calm her nerves but she knew she shouldn’t. Not only because Santana would kill her if she did, but also because there would never be a more perfect moment than now.

“Quinn?”

“Uh-Yeah, love?”

“What is this?” Y/N repeated. 

Quinn’s eyes widened when she saw the wrapped up package Y/N had grabbed out of the basket. 

“Oh- I... that...-” She sighed, “Screw it.” She went to sit on her knees and ushered Y/N to open it.

“For me?”

Quinn nodded, a big smile on her face.

“Quinnie... you-”

“Open it, my love.”

Y/N removed the wrapping paper and gasped when she saw what it was. It was a handmade snow globe, made in a mason jar. The New York skyline was glued to the bottom of it with a laminated picture of the two of them that they took during their first visit to New York. (Thank God Kurt was into a crafty phase during the second week of quarantine).

“I’m not the best at crafts but I just thought-”

“I love it.” Y/N beamed from ear to ear and her smile only widened when the snow inside of it fell onto the skyline.

“This is the most thoughtful gift someone has ever given me.”

“I’m glad you love it.” Quinn grabbed Y/N’s hand and softly moved it around so that the bottom of the snow globe was now facing up. Y/N furrowed her eyebrows until she realised what was scribbled down onto a piece of paper at the bottom. Quinn put the snow globe down and grabbed both of Y/N’s hands in her own, brushing her thumbs against the girl’s knuckles.

“I must admit that I thought what I’m about to say a million times over for the past days and I imagined what I would say to you in this moment for years—but truth be told, I kind of forgot all of that because of the nerves,” Quinn let out a chuckle, “To be honest, I have always known that you were the only girl I wanted to be with in this life. I don’t know what it was, but we’ve just had this instant gravitation towards each other. I know I wasn’t always the kindest to you in the beginning yet you still helped me through everything. The pregnancy, the accident... Now I can say all this cheesy shit about how you and I bring the best out of each other and how much love we have for one another but I think I don’t need to say that. We both know how much our relationship means to us. New York has always been a special place to me since it reminds me of why and how we fell in love. Which is why I wanted to do this here. This is were it all began. Now, I had everything planned months ago but... the situation changed and well... yeah. I had to adjust. At first, I wanted to postpone it all. Until I realised that I couldn’t wait any longer. Y/N, you are my everything. I want to be by your side until eternity. I want to be your person for as long as I can. I want to love and care for you for as long as you want me to.” 

She let out a shaky breath.

“So I guess...what I’m trying to say here is...” She grabbed the box out of her pocket, opened it and presented it to Y/N. “Would you like to marry me?”

Y/N looked at the box in shock, she hadn’t made eye contact with Quinn ever since she had presented her with the ring in her hand. 

The silence lasted only for a few seconds but it felt like minutes to Quinn, who slowly lowered her hands. 

Y/N suddenly let out a sob, then another. She jumped onto Quinn and wrapped her arms around her neck.

“Yes.” She said through her sobs. Quinn let out a gasp of relief and squeezed the girl in her arms, letting her own tears fall freely now. 

“Oh-” Y/N groaned and let go of her embrace. “I stepped into the scones...” She pouted and looked at her marmalade stained knee. Quinn laughed through her tears, realising this was exactly why she had asked this girl to marry her.

Y/N forgot it immediately the moment she locked eyes with her fiancée. She held her tight and kissed her like she never had before. 

They let go like two love-sick puppies when they heard all of their friends approach. The newly engaged couple was radiating.

“I love you, so much.”

[miraculousagentsofkrypton]

Imagine an Alien Sister Pt 5

Arrival (14 yrs old) AO3

It had been three weeks since Kara vanished. That was the longest Alex had ever gone without Kara in her entire life. Her usual disappearances were a few days at most. Alex was lost, and starting to be convinced that Kara really wasn’t ever coming back. She didn’t know what to do without her. Kara was her sister, her best friend. They did everything together. Heck, to her parents, they were the same person. Kara loved tigers, so that meant, to them, Alex loved tigers. Kara loved to draw, and now her mother thought Alex was an artist. The list went on…

Alex had managed to stumble her way through the previous few weeks by focusing solely on schoolwork. She found she didn’t have the will or energy to deal with anything else, especially other people. Her parents tried many times to cheer her up, but everything reminded Alex of Kara. She just couldn’t escape the memory of her.

Alex was sitting in the kitchen when a call came from Clark. Her father picked up the phone, and his smiling face quickly turned serious as he listened to what Clark had to say. Before Alex could figure out what was going on, he rushed out of the room. Alex gaze after him curiously, but couldn’t find the energy to care enough to snoop.

Whatever Clark said ended up causing a strange flurry of activity over the next couple days. Eliza seemed strangely cheerful, reassuring Alex that she would love whatever it was, though they didn’t seem to want to actually tell her what was happening. They thoroughly cleaned the entire house, and the extra guest bed was placed in her room, which Alex was wary about. It seemed obvious someone was coming, but no one would tell her who, for how long, or why.

This was their room, where Kara and her had the privacy to be themselves, and though Kara hadn’t returned yet, Alex didn’t want some stranger coming in and messing up their space. Kara would return eventually. She had to. This stranger coming in and replacing her space seemed like disrespect for her sister, and made her disappearance feel more final. Alex. Hated. It.

After the preparations were complete, her parents sat her down with big grins on their faces, excited to finally tell her the news, and then said… they might be adopting a young girl around Alex’s age. At the very least she would be staying with them for a while. So Alex would be getting a sister.

NO. Nononono

Kara was her sister. Not some stranger. Kara was still out there, waiting to come back. They couldn’t just… just replace her!

Alex blew up at them before they could say anything else. She wasn’t going to stand for them replacing Kara so soon after she was gone! Even if they didn’t know that was what they were doing.

“You can’t just do that! You- you can’t just force this on me! I don’t want a younger sister! You didn’t even ask me if I was remotely ok with this! You - I - You just- UGH! I can’t even deal with this right now!”

The smiles slipped right off their faces, but Alex stormed up to her room before they could even get one word in in defense. She fell into the bed, punching the pillow over and over in anger. Gah! Why couldn’t they even consult her about this! Once she’d exhausted herself, she slipped her hand under the pillow, where Kara’s diary, also containing all her drawings, lay. She rolled over onto her back, and held it close. She hadn’t succumbed to the temptation to read it yet, knowing Kara would be pissed if she did, but it was the closest thing to Kara she had. Kara’s thoughts and feelings laid inside. This latest upset finally had Alex opening the cover, needing something more from her sister than just the thought of her. But before she could actually read anything, a soft knock came at her door. She snapped the book shut, stuffing it back in its hiding place.

“Alex, I understand that you are angry. We wanted to surprise you. We thought you’d be excited because you were always going on about having a sister when you were little. You’re within your right to be angry that we didn’t bring you into the decision, but she’s coming tomorrow. Please give this lost girl a chance, she’s gone through a lot and doesn’t need you channeling your anger at us through her.”

Alex replied with a terse, “Fine.”

“Thank you. I love you.”

Alex simply rolled back over, face down in the pillow, and silently cried.

-----

Alex spent the morning watching Kara’s favorite movie, the Wizard of Oz, and eating a tub of ice cream. Her mother looked on disapprovingly, but didn’t say anything as both her parents ran around the house finding last minute issues to panic about.

Kara said the movie reminded her of her own life, in a strange way. A girl, far from home, stuck in a strange, almost unreal world, finding a new family to help her find her way. Kara also loved singing along to the songs and purposefully annoying Alex with them at the randomest times. One time she started singing Over the Rainbow at the top of her lungs during a math test, which Alex was not happy about.

The movie was almost over when her father suddenly called, “They’re here!”

Alex just rolled her eyes as her parents rushed outside. She sunk deeper into the couch, sticking another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. She was not looking forward to this. Alex knew she shouldn’t hate this girl before she even knew her name, but she couldn’t help the resentment at the idea of her taking the place of the sister she already had.

After a couple minutes she heard the group come back into the house. Her father was explaining, “And this is the kitchen, where we store and prepare food.”

Why was he explaining what a kitchen is.

The next voice had her shooting straight up in her seat, spoon dropping from her mouth in shock. “I know what a kitchen is Jeremiah,” Kara’s voice said with a chuckle.

Kara.

“Speaking of, your english is amazing Kara! How did you learn?”

“Oh, uh, Kryptonian brains are very good at processing and retaining information, including languages. It wasn’t really that hard to learn.”

Why was Kara speaking to her parents. How was Kara speaking with her parents. They were responding as if they could hear her.

Alex felt herself turning towards the doorway as Clark and her parents stepped in, followed shortly after by her sister. Alex gaped at her. Kara stopped in her tracks as they locked gazes. She couldn’t believe her eyes, it had been far too long. Neither of them moved a muscle for a moment, too overwhelmed with emotions. She could see the same love, joy, and relief flash through her sisters eyes, as she’s sure flashed through her own.

Eliza 'introduced' her to Kara, “Kara, meet Alex, our daughter. Alex, this is Kara. She’s Clark’s cousin. She’s also from Krypton.”

Kara waved at her shyly, with a small hesitant smile. “Hey Little One.”

Alex broke. She shot up and across the room in an instant, pulling Kara into the tightest bear hug possible. She couldn’t comprehend what was happening, but she knew her big sister was back, and she cried in relief. Kara hugged her right back, with tears of her own.

Alex let out a watery laugh. “You’re here. You’re actually here. ”

As they pulled back, Alex worriedly looked over her sister, “Are you ok? What happened?” She paused, “Actually, what’s going on right now?”

“That’s what I’d like to know to be honest,” came her mother’s voice. It startled them, having forgotten anyone else was there. “Honey, are you crying?”

She finally took in everyone else. They all stood there staring at them, baffled looks on their faces.

“Oh, um.” She wiped away the tears. “Um...”

Kara came to her support as she floundered for what to say. “I haven’t exactly been… honest… with all of you. I may have just landed a couple days ago, but I’ve been on Earth much longer than that.”

“What do you mean?” questioned Jeremiah.

“We aren’t actually sure how, but my, I’m not sure how to explain, my, uh, spirit, has been visiting Earth for fourteen years.”

Clark interjected, “We?”

Finally Alex stepped in, “Kara and I. I’m the only one who could see her for some reason.”

“Wait, Kara as in your stuffed tiger?? As in your imaginary sister from when you were little?” her mother exclaimed in realization, “That Kara?”

Both of them nodded.

“But you haven’t even mentioned Kara in years.”

“I pushed Alex to be more careful,” Kara explained guiltily, “ I was worried about people thinking her crazy for talking to someone no one else could see.”

Jeremiah motioned between them, “So you’re saying you two have known each other for most of Alex’s life?”

“All of it actually.”

He pinched his brow. “Explain.”

“My connection to Earth was tethered to Alex. The first time I appeared here was during her birth.”

Her mother collapsed into the couch. “This is insane. Kara is younger than Alex, but you are saying you remember my giving birth to her. And you weren’t even physically there. And Alex was the only one that could see you for fourteen years.”

“Pretty much.”

“You kept this from us, your entire life. I can’t believe you didn’t trust us enough to let us into such a big part of your life.” Eliza sounded so broken at that thought.

Alex felt guilt rush through her, but argued anyway, “Well, to be honest I wasn’t exactly that good at keeping the secret as a little kid. You guys just never believed me.”

They paused. “Fair point," Jeremiah admitted.

There was silence for a minute. What can could anyone even say in that situation? Everyone was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the revelations and could probably use some time to work through what this meant, so Alex grabbed Kara’s hand and started tugging her upstairs. “Well, Kara and I are going to go to our room. She doesn’t exactly need a tour of the house. And you guys obviously need some time to think.”

They quickly left the tense situation, and Alex pulled Kara into another hug after they made it to the bedroom. When they pulled apart, Kara looked around the room in confusion. “Why’s it look so different?”

“Oh, to prepare for my new sister obviously.” Alex laughed, before returning to serious. “So what happened? I was so worried about you. You’d never been gone so long before.”

Kara rubbed the back of her neck. “Oh yeah, well, it seems the connection broke when I left the phantom zone. And it took a couple weeks to actually travel from there to Earth. But I made it, so here I am. In the flesh.”

“And I’m so grateful for that. I don’t know what I’d do without my big sister.”

“Technically you’re the big sister now Alex.” They both laughed, more from relief than any true humor.

Kara started searching around the room, exploring any changes, when she paused. “Did you take my diary you goober?” She said the words lightheartedly, but Alex noticed how she tensed.

She took it out from its hiding place under her pillow and held it out. “I never read it. Promise.” She blew out a breath to release some tension. “I just needed something tangible that reminded me of you, while you were missing.”

Kara relaxed, and she smiled at her. “ I missed you too. ”

Alex nudged Kara’s shoulder with a returned smile. “So if Mom and Dad are adopting you, that means we’ll be official sisters soon.”

“Eh, we’re already sisters in every way that matters. You’ve got that annoying little sister act down perfectly.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you mean big sister?”

“Oh, ha ha. We both know I’m the more mature one either way,” Kara shot back.

Alex stuck her tongue out at her.

“Way to prove my point.”

Alex simply grinned back, warmth spreading through her chest. Her sister was really back, and they were going to be just fine.

[kumkaniudaku]

Chop, Chop!

A/N: This is for @alltheestars. Thank you for the request. I did a little CoCo and Chad throwback. I hope you like it!

Warnings: None. Just fluff.

Chadwick Boseman x Black! Female Reader (Chad & CoCo AU)

If there was one thing you took pride in, it was your hair.

In primary school, your mother would decorate your luscious pigtails with ribbons of every hue, being sure to match them to your school uniforms per your request. When other little girls would come home with unruly manes after a long day of playing, you returned with every strand neatly in place, almost identical to the way you had left the house.

By middle school, you had transitioned from the elementary hairstyles orchestrated by your mother to the beautiful press and curls from Ms. Gina, the family beautician. Your father would happily spend the $80 a week to make sure that you and your mother were well taken care of on Saturday mornings. Ms. Gina would take your virgin hair and wash it, grease it and press it to your specific instructions. Even when she’d bump the ends a little too much and leave you as a shoe in for a role asJames Brown, you marveled at how grown up you looked.

In high school, you took over the reigns and began crafting your own hairstyles. The ability to quickly transition from a flat press to a ponytail and back to a french roll gave you a liberating sense of freedom. When you were awarded ‘Best Hair’ as your senior superlative, you carried the title with pride.

College held more of the same. It was at Howard University that you were introduced to Aaliyah and her iconic swoop bang. There wasn’t a day that went by that your hair was not carefully parted on the left side with a thick bang covering your left eye. You figured that, if you couldn’t mimic her singing ability, you’d at least take her personal style for a spin.

Chadwick would often tease you by blasting her music whenever you’d visit his off campus house and beg you to do the dance moves in his living room. As much as you’d deny it, you loved being the center of his attention, even if he was picking on you.

With all of your previous hair triumphs, when your roommate Lynn needed a practice dummy to test her beauty skills, you were all for it. A simple color job inspired by Janet Jackson’s Velvet Rope era was the deal but, soon you found yourself with a snug processing cap over your head and the stinging of a box perm burning tears into your eyes.

“Lynn, this shit burns! Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Yeah! My cousin Monica perms and colors her hair all the time! What’s the matter? You never had a perm before?”

You hadn’t. You’d always beg for one but your mother made sure you knew that everything a perm could do, a hot comb or flat iron could do just as well.

Your lack of knowledge and eagerness to change up your look seemed to be harmless at first. The subtle scarlet color was the perfect complement to your brown skin and came with the just the right amount of sheen. The perm left your hair so silky and smooth that you didn’t even mind the slight loss of volume.

“Lynn, I could kiss you in the mouth!” You exclaimed while executing a small spin to see your hair move behind you.

“I’ll pass. Save that for your revolutionary little boyfriend. Now come here, your roots are still puffy at your crown.”

What you didn’t expect from your little experiment was the handful of hair that left your scalp and clung to the flat iron. One handful turned into three and those three turned into breakage all around your head.

“What did you do to my hair!”

“All I did was a little bleach and color with the perm.”

“BLEACH!”

It was too late. No matter how much you tried to fix it, the damage was done. In a matter of hours you’d managed to trade in your healthy hair for a broken, brittle mess. Distraught and hopeless, you knew what needed to be done.

The next morning, with tears in your eyes, you watched a local hairdresser trim your hair to the root, only leaving a curly skeleton of what you use to hold so dear. When she was done, she handed you a tiny list of product suggestions and a little advice before pushing you out of the doors into the DC streets.

Maneuvering around campus proved to be the most daunting task. You’d grown to be a bit of a socialite, forcing you to avoid the three c’s: conversations, club meetings and Chadwick.

Through careful planning, the first two were easy but, Chad was hard to shake. After three days of no communication, he left a note in your work study office practically threatening you to stop by his house at the end of the day.

“CoCo, don’t make me come find you. I’ll be home at 6. Come by.”

Reluctantly, you trudged down the hill carefully covering your head with the hood of your Howard basketball pullover and a hat for added protection. It was foolish to think that the ever inquisitive and observant Chadwick Boseman would not immediately notice your odd attire but, it was worth a try.

Stepping to the front door, you quietly prayed that Chad was caught up in class or too busy working on a script to answer so that you could say that you tried and scurry back home. Instead, the weathered door swung open to reveal your shirtless best friend with a guitar in his hand and a confused look on his face.

“It’s 75 degrees out. Why do you have on that sweatshirt?”

“Is that how you greet people now? No, ‘Hey, how are you?’, just questions? What if I did that to you?”

“Well...you kind of just did.”

Pushing him aside, you marched through the house and into his bedroom hoping that your petty argument would dead the inquiries. It wasn’t long before you were flopping across his bed and staring at the ceiling to fight back tears.

“So, you gon’ tell me what’s going on with the hood? You pledging Que and hiding a bald head under there?”

He was joking but your uneasy laugh and averted gaze alerted him to a larger problem. Hesitantly, you allowed him to lay in the space beside you to remove your hood and hat.

“This is...new.” Chadwick responded after carefully choosing his words. His fingers lightly caressed the top of your head, stopping briefly to fiddle with a ringlet at your crown. “Are you really pledging Que? Should I get balloons? I know you’re the tre because Tim and Eric are short as hell.”

“Ha ha, Chad. You’re so funny.” The tears you’d been trying to hold in slipped past your closed eyes and rolled down your cheeks.

“Woah woah, CoCo. Don’t cry. What’s wrong? How can I fix it?”

“You can’t fix it, Aaron!” You hadn’t intended to yell at him but the frustration of the last few days was starting to catch up to you. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have talked to you like that. This isn’t your fault.”

Enveloped in comfortable silence, Chadwick examined your face. Usually you’d tell him to take a picture so that it would last longer but now, with your eyes closed, he could take as much time as he wanted.

“If it helps, I think you look amazing.”

He watched you slowly open your eyes and scrunch your nose at his statement. “Yeah, right. I look like a dark-skinned DeBarge.”

“Yeah but, you can’t sing.” His boisterous laughter managed to pull a laugh from you until your stomach was hurting from the force. “But seriously, you look fine. It suits your face. I can finally see your eyes without that bang in the way.”

“You told me you thought it was fly!”

“It was! But, I like this one too. I like whatever to do with your hair and stuff. You make all of it look good.”

A familiar set of butterflies fluttered in your abdomen at his kind words and the feel of his hand returning to rub your head. How was he able to make you feel so beautiful with just a few words? He could’ve repeated that same line to every girl on campus but, in this moment, you felt like the luckiest woman in the world.

“So I don’t look like a low budget Missy Elliot?”

“Actually, that’s probably the best comparison.” He laughed. “Look at it this way though; we can go get haircuts together.”

“Haircuts? You been on this Basquiat journey for a while now. Would you really go get a haircut with me?”

Running his hands through his ‘fro, he gave the thought of a haircut serious consideration. He’d spent a lot of time growing his hair out to achieve the locs that were sprouting from his scalp. Not only did they fit his image but they’d received a lot of attention from the other women on campus. Was he really willing to get rid of them for you?

“Give me three weeks. If you still want to maintain the haircut by then, I’ll go with you.”

“Really!” You squealed, pressing your body into his bare chest. He never had the chance to keep you close before you hopped of the bed and danced around the small room.

Grabbing his guitar, he began strumming background music to your solo party.

“CoCo’s big ass head just got bigger…” He sang, a broad smile contrasting your straight-faced expression. “I’m messing with you!”

Rolling your eyes, you drug yourself back to the bed to sit beside him and lay your head against his shoulder. “Thanks, Chad. I needed this.”

“Anytime, CoCo. I got you no matter what.” His eyes found yours again in the tender moment, sharing a sweet smile with you.

“Your head is still big though. You look like Michael Jordan with hair. I mean gah damn!”

_____________________

FOREVER TAGS: @njadont  @k-michaelis @wakandanmoonchild​  @idilly @texasbama @afraiddreamingandloving @inxan-ity @daytimeheroicsonly @thiccdaddy-mbaku @onyour-right @briannabreeze @sisterwifeudaku @ironsquad @killmongerdispussy @90sinspiredgirl @killmongersaidheyauntie @willowtree77785901 @maynardqueen101 @heyauntieeee @halfrican-heat @purple-apricots @lalapalooza718 @blue-ishx @profilia

[theworldoffostering]

Today

I know I am not alone in my thought process being all over the place and going a million miles a minute...

E: I’m pretty sure E’s glasses are too big.  DH left a message with the eye doctor today asking about exchanging from for the same frame, only smaller.  Now that we know her eyes are crossing, I feel like we should see an ophthalmologist.  She was diagnosed by an optometrist.  Am I being paranoid?  I emailed her GP today to ask if she would refer her.  In addition, E is having a hard time keeping her glasses on because her ears lack cartilage at the tops of them which make them a bit more floppy than the typical ear.  This is due to her genetic deletion.  I also asked the GP for a referral to have someone look at them.  I’m guessing this is a plastic surgeon, but I really have no idea.  I may be way overthinking at this point, but admittedly I feel overly cautious with E due to her diagnosis and all of the unknown that it entails.  If she needs glasses for the rest of her life, at some point having to strap them on is not going to be cute or comfortable, so I guess I’m looking for options. I need to buy her a car seat because she is outgrowing her five point harness.  Currently looking at the Clek Oobr (I need to be able to get three seats across), and have one in my online shopping cart, but they are so expensive.  Gah.  I hate spending money on this kind of thing. DS: Since he is away at camp, I went through his dresser and organized it all.  I also took out all of his winter clothes and put them in a bin.  There’s probably only 6-8 weeks until I need to drag out the long sleeve shirts again, but whatever.  He’ll appreciate having more space in there.  I had him strip his bed before he left, and DH put clean sheets on his bed so he has that to come back to.  Ms. 6: I left a message for her therapist today as she is talking a lot (for her) about wanting to return to her birth family.  She swears she doesn’t remember anything bad that happened to her as a child, and that maybe the “bad things” only happened to her siblings.  She wants to see her biological family and is professing her love for her.  I know I should expect this, but I’m surprised by it because her siblings are terrified of ever having to see their biological parents again.  TPR has been done for years, and Ms. 6 hasn’t had contact with them for at least four years if not longer.  H: Never changed out of his pajamas today.  He went with DH this morning to Home Depot and then to watch machines work this morning.  He played outside this afternoon in the sandbox and rode his bike a bit.  Still my most easy going kid. DD: I had DH drag two big trash cans into our driveway this morning, and then gave her the keys to the car and said, “Go practice parallel parking.”  DH gave her some instruction and then just let her be.  DD does not like driving with me at all.  I love DD, but I do not enjoy driving with her either.  I told DH that I will never survive teaching five more people to drive.  I’d rather pay someone.  Seriously, it’s that bad.  DD has postponed her license test twice.  It’s scheduled for next month, but I don’t think she’ll be ready by then.  She just is not motivated to practice driving, and she’s not a natural, so she needs the practice.  At least when she’s 18, she can take an Uber I guess.  I told her she really needs to bike more if she’s not going to practice driving because I need to be doing less for her as she gets older.  She is scheduled to work one whole day this week.  I love all of the benefits (free coffee) that she gets from working as a barista, but seriously, one day of work?  She applied for a job at a grocery store today because she needs to be working more.  Baby: I take back everything I previously posted on potty training.  The last few days have been exactly how I imagined they would be.  So many accidents.  I would so much rather be doing diapers.  I think we may just go back to them because I don’t have the patience to deal with it.  He uses it as a way to be distracting.  For example, I had him sitting on the step today (part of our whole PCIT thing), and he said he had to go potty so he could quit sitting.  Same with the bath.  He wanted to take a bath.  Once I had him in there, he kept asking to get out to use the potty, but he didn’t really need to go.  Then he was outside today and peed his pants three times in less than ten minutes.  There is something appealing about diapers instead of managing this kind of thing. He learned how to unlock the baby gates a few weeks ago so we took them all down this weekend.  I love being able to walk around my house again. Parents: Fried and need a vacation.  We were supposed to get away this month, but the babysitter canceled.  Ms. 6′s Big Sister officially quit today due to an injury that has prevented her from mentoring for the past six weeks.  Basically, they met, and spent one afternoon together and now are parting ways.  There is just no respite or break of any kind and I’m spent.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Chapter 13; Christmas in Wakanda

Here we go guys as a special Christmas treat I made a Christmas chapter for my Bad Wolf series. Hope u all have a Happy Holidays and may the New Year bring you all peace and happiness and thank u all for being so kind to me ever since I joined Tumblr. Have a Happy Holidays everyone :)

_________________________________________________________

It was that time of year again, well at least it was in America.  It was Christmas time again.  But unlike last year, this year my family is torn apart, kept away from each other and fallen apart.  I wonder what Wanda and Steve were doing right now? As well as the rest of Team Cap. Sam, Clint even Scott.

I was sitting in my room cutting up some paper snowflakes and painting a Christmas tree to decorate my room a little bit in light of the Christmas season.  I used tape and thumbtacks to stick the decorations all over my room and placed the painting of the Christmas tree in the corner of my room when I heard a knock at the door.

“Come in”. The door soon opened to reveal my mother Morowa.  “Hey mom”.

“So this is what you’ve been doing all morning?” We both laughed then she said “Well this room is all festive and bright”.

“Yeah just thought that even though I’m no longer in America, I’d bring a little thing from home for me while I’m here, plus I didn’t want to intrude on your traditional Kwanzaa holiday preparations”. 

“Aww (y/n) you know we’d gladly accept you into our Kwanzaa festivities, I’ll teach you everything you need to know about Kwanzaa”.

“If you’re sure about it?”

“I am. Plus if anyone else gives you a hard time I’ll give them hell for not allowing my daughter to be a part of a family tradition”.  She stroked my head softly.  I then took notice of a package she carried behind her back.

“What’s that?”

“Oh I almost forgot, this arrived for you this morning”.  She handed me the box and when I looked at it, it was addressed to me but there was no return address.  All it said was one word.

CLASSIFIED. 

I shook it gently and could hear something shaking inside of it.  As precaution, I sniffed it and my wolf senses didn’t pick up any trace of gun residue so I knew it couldn’t have been a bomb.  So I decided to open it and inside of it was a DVD disk inside of a CD case.  Morowa looked at me and she said.

“I’ll leave you alone for a bit”. She kissed my temple then left the room without another word shutting the door behind her.

I walked up to my DVD player and opened it up and put the disk in, closed it up then turned the TV on and put it on HTMI 2. I watched as the disk was being read on the player and soon it began to play.

Coming to view was a person I have not seen in over 6 months, my sister Wanda.  I gasped and covered my hand with my mouth as tears filled my eyes.

“Hi (y/n). How are you doing? Are you safe? Of course you must be safe, Steve told me you were in the greatest of hands but you know me. Old Mama Bear always worrying” she laughed which made me laugh too as her voice continued, “As you can see from the background I’m no longer in the Raft prison, but unfortunately I can’t tell you where I am now, just know that I am safe and that I’m doing okay. I wanted to make you this video just so you could hear my voice again and to let you know that it’s okay. I understand your feelings for Bucky, you and he are more alike than you, me and Pietro were. There’s no bitterness, I just wanted what was best for you and I hope you understand that”.

“I do Mama Bear, I do”. I choked out as I wiped the tears away and smiled happily.

“Also I wanted to tell you that even though we are worlds apart, I still love you and that I am always thinking and dreaming of you, my sestra. I hope you have a Merry Christmas and know that I am always with you in your heart, until we meet again”.  She then pressed her hand to her lips kissing it before reaching out to touch the screen.

I held out my hand and placed it over hers and the two of us stared at each other with tears in our eyes as Wanda said a final farewell before the screen turned black.

I sniffled and wiped away my tears as I took out the DVD and put it back in its case before holding it close to my heart as more tears kept spilling out.  I had a feeling that Steve must’ve been behind it and I couldn’t thank him enough for allowing me to see my sister after so long.

“Thank you Mama Bear, I love you too”.  I then placed the DVD in a special drawer in my dresser.  The one place I knew where to find it and the one place I knew it would be kept safe.   

Once it was put away, I took a few deep breaths and wiped my tears away with some tissues, I was finally calm and went back to finish decorating my room. 

When my room was finally finished, I smiled and then left to go to the lab where I pulled out my secret project.  As I was screwing in some parts, I then heard Bucky’s voice call out for me.

“Shit” I muttered as I quickly put the project under a box and pulled out my blueprints of a new armor set that I’ve been working on.

“There you are I’ve been calling you for the past five minutes”. Bucky’s voice said as he got closer.

“Sorry Bucky-bear I guess I was just lost in my work here”. I then felt him come over me looking down at the blueprints and he said. 

“What’s this?”

“Well if I’m gonna protect you and the rest of Wakanda then I need to protect myself better, make me more menacing while I’m in my wolf form but also adjust whenever I need to be human. These are just the blueprints I’ve been working on with Shuri”.  Bucky looked at the blueprints to see wolf armor that could fit over my wolf form then a scale drawing of me with the armor on in human form that was slightly different to the wolf armor.

“This looks fucking awesome”.

“Really?”

“Yeah, look at my little Wolfie becoming a strong little warrior” Bucky cooed as he brought me close to him and playfully noogied my head.

“Gah! Bucky-bear stop!” I then freed myself from him as the two of us laughed.

“You two better not be roughhousing in my lab” Shuri’s voice stated firmly.

“Sorry Shuri” we both stated.

“So, you’re working on the armor without me Raksha?”

“I only wanted to see the blueprints again to make sure I want it exactly as I envisioned it you know I’d never start fully working on it without you. Plus you’re the only person who knows how to work with Vibranium”.

“Damn right I am now that I’ve got some free time, why don’t we get to work on it?”

“Sounds good with me, so Bucky if you don’t mind….”

“I know when I’m not needed, I’ll just be out in the training grounds maybe challenge Morowa to a rematch”.

“Please Bucky-bear she easily kicks your ass every single time”. I mocked him.

“Way to hurt my pride Wolfie” we both smiled at each other then he brought me into a one-armed hug before kissing the top of my head before finally leaving the lab.  As soon as he was gone, I took a groan of relief and said.

“Finally I thought he’d never leave”. I put the blueprints away and took the box off my secret project and grabbed the screwdrivers and the magnifying glass.

“So this is what you were working on?” Stated Shuri.

“Yeah it’s something for Bucky, since he hasn’t had a Christmas in over 70 years, and since we’re the only two Americans here I thought…..I’d give him something special for his first Christmas in over 70 years. To let him know how much I care for him”.

“I see, but you’ll still be joining us for Kwanzaa right?”

“Yeah Morowa invited me and she said and this is her words ‘that I’ll give them hell for not allowing my daughter to be a part of a family tradition’” Shuri and I laughed softly then she said.

“So what is it exactly?”

“Well I’m almost done with it, let me just tweak some wires and circuits here then I’ll test it out for you”. She nodded then watched me in complete silence as I continued to finish my secret project. 

After about an hour later, I stated.

“There done, now let’s see if I did this right”. I then pressed a button and soon the top portion opened revealing a wolf with a full moon coming out and soon the wolf began running as the instrumental version of “Once Upon a December”.  I smiled and raised my hands up in the air in success.  “It’s alive!”

“A music box?”

“Yeah just a little thing for Bucky. I used to make musical instruments like flutes and drums back when I was a kid in my village so I just youtubed on how to make a music box. Took me three tries to get it right but I finally managed to get the circuits and wiring right with this one after asking Morowa for some advice”.

“I must admit this is beautiful and you handcrafted the entire thing?”

“Yep the entire thing handcrafted and decorated”.“When will you give it to him?”

“I’m thinking either Christmas Eve or Christmas day I haven’t really chosen a date yet”.

“I’m sure you will, now then why don’t we really get to work on your suit?” I nodded then Shuri and I took out the blueprints and we began brainstorming on how to start the suit. 

*Time skip to Christmas Eve*

Finally the big day came, I was currently wrapping Bucky’s Christmas gift up and after it was nice and wrapped up, I wrote a little note for him to read once I gave it to him.  I took a sigh and said to myself.

“Oh I hope he likes it”.  I then decided that before giving him the gift, I should go and find him because I already had the day planned ahead of us, hopefully he’ll join in.  I soon found him at the gym going at a punching bag pretty hard.  “Ohh man thank god I chose the right side. I would not wanna tangle with you Bucky-bear”.  He smiled and turned towards me and said.

“Well I know I wouldn’t have to beat you with hard punches or swift kicks”.

“Oh really?” I teased to him.

“Really all I would need to do is get close enough to give you a belly rub!” He then captured me in his arms and proceeded to attack me with tickles.  I squirmed and tried to free myself as I laughed.

“No fair…..Bucky-bear!”

“Just admit it Wolfie you love this” he dragged out the love on it talking to me like I was a dog who loved belly scratches.

“In yohohohour dreams flyboy!” He then stopped but kept me in his arms allowing me to catch my breath.  “Steve was right, you are a jerk”.

“And you’re adorable my little Wolfie” he nuzzled into my neck then kissed my cheek.  “So what are you doing down here interrupting my workout session?”

“Well I came to ask you if you knew what today was”. I got out of his arms and he looked at me confused.

“Isn’t it Monday?”

“Well yes but the actual date”.  He remained silent for a moment before replying.

“I give up what is today Wolfie?” I then pulled out my miniature calendar pad and showed him that today was December 24th. “Are….are you serious?”

“Yeah. Listen Buck, I know you haven’t had a Christmas in over 70 years ever since…..well you know. And I totally understand if you don’t want to celebrate it but I was kinda hoping that since I’ve got no one to really share the holiday with, if you’ll join me for some Christmas festivities”.  He was silent for a moment before he said.

“I used to always love Christmas, it….it was my favorite time of the year. But when the war came it—I didn’t really think much of it. I don’t know if I remember any of the old traditions I used to do with my ma and Becky”. 

“I can reteach you, plus I can teach you what my parents and I did with our tribe. Again it’s up to you if you want to do it, I won’t force you because you’re in control here. My feelings won’t be hurt if you don’t want to do this”.  Bucky placed his hand on my shoulder and he said.

“I don’t want you to be alone on Christmas, that’s the one thing I remember that my ma drilled into me. No one should be alone on Christmas. Of course I’ll join you, but you’ll have to catch me up on what you do on Christmas these days”.

“I got some ideas come on old timer” I laughed at my last statement before shrieking as Bucky proceeded to chase me around the gym.

We were currently in the kitchen making some Christmas cookies well at least trying to at least.  Having a former Hydra assassin and a wolf baking Christmas cookies will not go down without the two of them being covered in flour and cookie dough from fighting over who got to lick the spoon first. 

Once they were done, Bucky took the Christmas tree one and I took the reindeer one and we touched them together in cheers like you would cling glasses together at a fancy dinner party before each taking a bite of our cookies and moaning in pleasure.

“We did good there kid”.

“Yeah we did gramps”. Bucky then bopped my nose with flour making me gasp and him laugh.  I then took a handful of flour and flicked it in his face making him stop and me laugh and soon after that we proceeded to have ourselves a FW2 (Flour War 2).

 After cleaning the kitchen up so that T’Challa and the kitchen staff wouldn’t get mad with us, we were up in my room and as Bucky sat down on my bed while I turned down the temperature to get into the Christmas weather mood.

“You painted and decorated all of this yourself Wolfie?”

“Yeah just because I didn’t want to bother the others with their Kwanzaa tradition preparation by invading their traditions with mine”.

“You’re so cute (y/n) always thinking of others before yourself. But not that I don’t like the tree cause it’s beautifully painted, it just—doesn’t feel right”.

“Well they don’t really sell Christmas trees in Africa Bucky”.

“We’ll see about that, come with me”.  He then took my wrist and the two of us left outside and ventured into the jungle.

Eventually we found ourselves a decent sized tree that even though it wasn’t a full on Christmas tree, it felt like Christmas to us. Bucky then using his super soldier strength, pulled the tree right out of its roots and we both carried it back to my room.

When we got back, Bucky and I proceeded to decorate the tree with some of the decorations that I had up around my room. After folding and decorating a beautiful star, Bucky lifted me up onto his shoulders and I put the star on top of the tree.  After putting me down, he pulled me to his side and said.

“Now that’s a Christmas tree”.

“Yeah, thanks for doing this with me Bucky-bear”.

“Anytime Wolfie”.  He kissed my forehead and held me close to him as we stared at our beautiful tree.

As the sun was starting to set, I had Christmas music playing over my stereo and I secretly played with the box that was hiding under my bed that held Bucky’s present.

“I gotta say, this has been the best Christmas I’ve ever had in years”.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yeah, the one time I’ve actually almost felt like the old Bucky. Thank you (y/n)”.  I smiled then I decided to just go for it.  I took the present out and held it out to him.  “What’s this?”

“Well it’s…..it’s a present for you”.

“Aww Wolfie but I didn’t get you anything heck I forgot that it was Christmas”.

“I don’t need anything, all I care and need is your happiness”.  Bucky smiled at me and took his present out of my hands and first shook it but didn’t hear much rattling in it so he proceeded to open it.  Once the wrapping paper was torn off, he opened the box to reveal my music box as well as the letter I had put inside it.

He looked at me in shock as he took the music box out as well as the letter and I told him.

“Read the letter first”.

“‘To my big brother Bucky-bear. May all your dreams and happiness come to you each and every day. And may your new life be filled with music. And know that I will always be there for you till the end of the line. Forever your sister (y/n) aka Wolfie’”.

“Open the box”.  Bucky then took the music box in his hand and slowly opened it and it soon revealed the full moon, the running wolf and it began to play the song.

“Oh my……”

“It took my three tries to finally get the mechanics together but the entire thing was handmade as well as the carvings. I wanted to get you something special for your first Christmas in a long time”.

“You—made this?”

“Yeah, again not an expert with mechanics but I did use to make flutes and drums back at my tribe so I kinda just used that to kinda help me with this, along with Morowa teaching me how to do the wiring. Do—do you like it?”

“Like it? (Y/n) I love it. This is the most precious gift anyone has ever given me, thank you”. He immediately took me in his arms and I could hear him beginning to cry.

I held onto him tightly as I rubbed his back and stroked my hand through his soft hair.

“I’m glad you liked it Bucky. I thought you would hate it”.

“Hate it? (Y/n) there are many things I think about your gift but hate is not one of them. You gave me something very special and I will treasure it and your love forever”. He said as he looked down at me and cupped my cheek in his hand. “Merry Christmas my Wolfie”.

“Merry Christmas my Bucky-bear”.  He kissed my forehead and for the rest of the night, we spent Christmas Eve snuggled up together under the Christmas tree.

Bucky bear held me close to his chest with his metal arm wrapped around me protectively and laying underneath his normal human hand was his music box.

*3rd Person POV*

(Y/n)’s door slowly opened to reveal Morowa coming in to check in on her adoptive daughter and her brother and when she saw the two of them cuddled together by the tree like two kids waiting for Santa to come, she couldn’t help but feel a flutter in her chest.

She silently walked up towards them and took the blanket from the bed and covered them both up with it.  She then stroked (y/n)’s head motherly and leaned in and kissed her temple before whispering.

“Merry Christmas my little one”. She then turned to her bag and pulled out two perfectly wrapped Christmas presents and placed them under the tree and silently walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

[kuriquinn]

Underneath the Underneath [2/?]

Temporary Blanket Disclaimer

First Chapter

AN: Not edited yet. Honestly, I’m just amazed I could write something this week with how brain-dead I’ve been feeling. Here’s hoping things calm down soon so I can get back to my stories!

AN2: Also, I got the opening scene from a comic I saw somewhere here on tumblr. Can’t remember the artist, but if someone finds it, let me know so I can credit that person as inspiration here.

“Oh, you beautiful lady…you’re amazing.”

Hana Inuzuka freezes in mid-step, halfway through the door into the back room of her uncle’s veterinary, wondering if she’s hearing things.

“You are just gorgeous,” the voice continues, warm affection colouring the words.

A frown on her face, she peeks farther into the room and then has to resist the urge to smack her palm into her forehead. Kakashi Hatake is crouched in front a small pen, where one of the Inuzuka hounds is curled up with her puppies, congratulating the dog.

“Women all over Konoha would literally kill to have you say stuff like that to them, but you reserve it for the dogs,” she remarks as she wanders into the room and begins checking charts. She’s only an intern, but it’s generally accepted that as soon as her formal veterinary training is complete, she’ll be in charge of the place.

“Dogs I get,” the masked man replies, not budging from where he’s scratching the mother dog behind the ears. “People are weird.” The animal makes a noise of agreement, tongue lolling out in amusement, and he pats her once more before straightening up. “So, how’s the patient?”

He’s referring to Bull, one of his ninken, who is in the quarantine room sleeping off anesthesia from a recent procedure.

“He’ll be fine,” Hana says. “Uncle Kōga says the treatment was a complete success and there aren’t any poisonous toxins left. But take it easy with him for a bit. No missions and plenty of rest and fluids.”

“I’ll tell the rest of the back the same, then.”

“And I want him back here in two weeks for a follow up. No excuses.”

Kakashi is notorious for being late or absent for most appointments, and she shoots him her most challenging glare. Considering she perfected it staring down three giant wolf hounds, she knows how impressive it is. Grown men have been reduced to tears at the sight of it.

But Kakashi just snorts.

“No sense in arguing, I guess. Seems like that’s a theme with your family.”

Hana blinks. “Huh?”

“I met your sister the other day,” Kakashi says mildly. “She’s…certainly a character.”

“That’s the nicest anyone’s ever put that before,” she replies, raising an eyebrow.

“Maybe unusual is a better descriptor,” he corrects. “What made her choose demolitions over working here with you?”

Hana continues to frown at him in confusion. She’s a little unsure, considering Kakashi doesn’t really talk to her much beyond matters related to his ninken. He’s not the type to waste words, and so small-talk seems very out of character for him. At least based on the observations of a completely objective bystander.

Eventually, she shrugs.

“She has her reasons,” she says. “Let’s call them philosophical differences and a stubborn streak, depending on who you ask.”

“I’ll take your word on that. Still, it’s interesting. There aren’t many Inuzuka who aren’t actively part of Konoha’s defensive forces, right?”

His tone is casual enough, but Hana has been a shinobi long enough to recognise even an informal interrogation. The question is…why? It’s common knowledge that her twin dropped out of shinobi training after her failed Chūnin Exam. There are records of that which anyone—especially a former ANBU operative like Kakashi—could find if they looked. And he doesn’t take interest in people without some actual purpose.

“It helps that she has a natural talent for being destructive,” Hana says, noncommittal.

“I believe that,” he says with a nod. “She gave me a few of her explosive tags to try.” Hana’s eyebrows shoot towards her hairline at this. “If I hadn’t been as fast as I am, I’d have lost a limb.”

“She gave them to you?”

“Yes?”

“For free?”

“No. To test out for her,” he says slowly, and then frowns. “But from your reaction I take it that’s significant somehow?”

“For Manako, sharing explosives is kind of like giving someone a friendship bracelet,” Hana informs him.

“What exactly did you do?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kakashi says abruptly, suddenly straight-backed and tense. He seems alarmed; she’s not sure how she knows it, because his entire face is covered, but he is.

Well, his hair kind of looks agitated, anyhow. Maybe that’s it?

Kakashi rubs the back of his head, almost sheepish, and edges to the door. “Anyhow. I have to check something. I’ll be back tomorrow morning to pick up Bull.”

“And then again two weeks to check up on him,” Hana agrees.

“Right!”

He vanishes into thin air.

“Because that wasn’t weird at all,” Hana says, making a mental note to ask Manako what that was all about the next time she sees her.

はたけ

“So, your new friend came by,” Hana begins apropos of nothing. She stands in her sister’s tiny kitchen, picking through a box of yakisoba and trying not to wrinkle her nose at the unwashed dishes in the sink.

Manako peers at her, a mouthful of noodles spilling over her mouth like she’s some kind of mutant jellyfish.

“Oo?” she mumbles, confused for a moment before her eyes light of. “Oh! A gah wih ah heh?”

She makes a demonstrative, up-and-down motion meant to mimic the masked jōnin’s hair, and Hana sniggers.

“Yeah, that’s the one. Though most people would recognise him just by the name.” Hana watches her carefully. “Looks like you made another wonderful impression on someone.”

Manako swallows.

“It’s what I do.”

“I guess it could be worse…Thanks to you, I have a stellar reputation around here. Everyone thinks I’m the good one.”

“It’s not my fault you’re boring.”

“Better boring than misanthropic.”

“You work with animals all day, you don’t get to pass judgement on my judgement of stupid people until you’ve worked in retail,” Manako reminds her.

“You’re the one who didn’t want to go into the family business.”

Her twin shoots her a single, unimpressed glare as though to remind her they are straying dangerously close to a topic that is not to be spoken of.

Hana dutifully changes the subject. “So, what do you think of him?”

“Who?”

“Kakashi.”

Manako shoots Hana a funny look. “Why would I think anything of him?”

“It’s not every day of the village’s most prolific shinobi walk into your shop. He could be good for business. Especially if you ever want to take over the place officially.”

“I doubt it. He didn’t come in to buy anything, he was just avoiding someone,” Manako points out. “That taijutsu master that has a thing for bodysuits, I think.”

Hana sniggers. “Gai? Yeah, I can see that.”

“That man exhausts me just existing within the same country as me,” Manako shakes her head.

“You can say that again…”

“Anyway, I took pity on broom-head and let him hang out for a bit.”

“And convinced him to test out your explosive tags, from what I heard,” Hana remarks innocently. “That’s impressive. Especially considering how famous the guy is for avoiding work. How sure are you that he’s actually going to do it?”

“Pretty damn sure. It’s all about knowing what people like,” Manako replies easily.

“Oh, ew, do I even want to know?”

“Probably not.”

Hana squints at her, trying to see beyond the casual tone figure out if her sister is joking or not. Manako doesn’t have the same reservations about certain behaviours as Hana does; she’s like Kiba and their mother in that respect. At the same time, she sets high standards for the people she gets close to.

And if she’s looking at this guy as friend material…

Hana chooses to tread carefully. Manako tends to be very guarded about her relationships, and even alluding to any serious interest in another person, whether it be a friend or something more, might cause her to torpedo that new relationship.  

Especially since what happened with Izumi.

Sadness creeps over Hana. She was never as close to the Uchiha girl as Manako was—they weren’t teammates, after all—but they were peers at the Academy. What happened to her was horrible.

Since then, Manako has been even pricklier than she was growing up, utterly isolated from everyone except Hana and Kiba.

But if she’s showing even this little bit of interest in being friends with someone? Even someone as weird as Kakashi Hatake?

Hana considers the very odd situation for a moment, and then nods to herself.

That settles it. Jōnin or not, the man has the emotional maturity of a fourteen-year-old boy, so at least they’d be on the same level, mentally. And he’s trained to deal with difficult cases, right? Being friends with Manako shouldn’t be too difficult to him.

Kakashi’s hypothetical feelings on the matter don’t factor into it, of course. Hana has a duty as the older sister to look out for her younger siblings.

Even if one of them is only three minutes younger.

“Well…as long as it wasn’t anything too weird,” Hana muses out loud, keeping an eye on her sister’s reactions. “I mean, it’s hard to tell with that mask of his, but he doesn’t look like he has much fun otherwise.”

“Nah,” Manako dismisses, waving her chopsticks. “He gets along with dogs. Dogs are fun. And he reads. So he probably has some vague idea about fun.”

“Things are so simple for you, aren’t they?”

“Life is way too complicated as it is. Keeping things simple keeps them real.”

“We’re shinobi, everything’s pretty real.”

“Speak for yourself. Proud dropout here. Maybe that’s why I don’t have to torture myself with in-depth philosophical issues.”

“At least not until the next family dinner.”

Manako snorts in annoyance.

They eat in silence for a bit.

“They tell stories about him, you know,” Hana says after a while, in a quieter and less jokin tone now. “The things he’s done…what he’s seen…”

“Eh, I bet he’s just as hoity-toity as any other jōnin,” Manako dismisses. “Though, he’s got some questionable reading preferences, so maybe not that stuck-up.”

“How do you know what he reads?” Hana asks, not so innocently.

“Because I’m blackmailing him to test out my equipment. Why the hell else do you think I’d give him free explosives?”

“Manako!”

“Well, it’s not exactly blackmail,” Manako considers. “It was more withholding a book he wanted to read. But then again, I did threaten him with spoilers, so maybe blackmail is the right way to put it.”

“I don’t know whether to be disappointed in you for blackmailing an elite shinobi, or to be disappointed in him for his terrible taste in literature. Especially if he’s borrowing something from you.”

“Don’t pretend like you’ve never read a romance novel in your life.”

“Romance, yes, soft-core pornography? Not really.”

“Prude.”

“Pervert.”

“Bitch.”

“Assface.”

“You realise we’re twins, right? You just insulted yourself.”

“It depends on the ass,” Hana sniffs. “Mine is nicer than yours.”

“Oh, screw that!” Manako cries, tossing her unfinished yakisoba on the counter and twisting to point at her posterior. “See this? This is gorgeous. It’s got all that padding that you’ve trained away.”

“So, what you’re saying is…you have a fat ass.”

Her sister growls and lunges at her.

つづく

Yes, I know it wasn’t terribly shippy, but I did warn you all that Kakashi and Manako’s relationship is really slow burn. It takes place over the course of years, and barring the minor failure of the Bechdel test in this chapter, neither character really thinks overly much about the other at this point in time.

Also, I realised that I’ve never really spent much time on Hana before, barring that one chapter in Unplanned. And I’ve never written her and Manako together, and I figure it’s time. Also, everyone thinks Hana is the good one…when she is clearly much more conniving than her sister, hee hee.

Comments and constructive criticism are much appreciated, and very motivating—and if you enjoy my writing, check out my original stories as they are posted on patreon!

栗

Next Chapter

[fallen029]

Three Wishes

With Mirajane, there were a lot of rules. And Laxus, who considered himself the most innocent party of their relationship (ha), got inundated with a large number of them all at once.

For one, there were no shoes in her house. Or any messy behavior in general. Get mud in the house? You clean it. If Mira has to clean it, you're gonna be in trouble. Laxus struggled with this one a lot, but Elfman assured him it was just a guy thing; he couldn't count the number of times he'd been scolded for the same thing.

Another was that Laxus always had to walk her home after dates. Even when they wouldn't be staying the night together. Oh, and if he planned on doing something with his night that didn't involve her, that was fine. It just had better be run by her first.

Or else.

There were a lot of gulping moments in the early days of their relationship.

But, eventually, the Thunder God got used to all the demon's quirks. He knew to come to her the second he got home from a job, usually bearing a gift. And having to cut mow the lawn at her house in the spring and summer. Help Elfman rake the leaves in the fall. Shovel snow in the winter. Take out the trash. Not be late to dinners.

All in all, when he looked back on it, most of her rules were actually pretty good. Sort of. At the very least, they were making him more responsible and if he ever truly did plan on taking over the guildhall from the old man, that was something he needed some schooling in.

Man, if Mira did nothing else for him, it was that. She made him accountable. For everything. He'd never had a woman that he took so seriously before, or had a relationship that meant so much to him.

Not that there weren't moments when he honestly was prepared to walk away. Even from the guild if it meant getting away from her. She was just so…aggravating. And that was what people didn't get. 'cause all they saw with the Mira up at the bar who was so ditzy and cute and fuckable.

Which, by the way, she was all of those things.

But that wasn't the point!

Because she was other things too. She nagged the hell out of him most of the time. And when she wasn't doing that, she was usually weeping about something. Man, the woman could cry. And yell. And scold. Or just downright ignore him, refusing to say anything to him as she tried to force the silent treatment upon him.

Which, with Mirajane, usually didn't last more than a day, but hey. It was annoying.

The top most of Mira's rules though should have been pretty simple. One would think.

Instead, at times, it proved to be the most complex.

He had to get along with her siblings.

And, yeah, Lisanna was pretty cool and Elfman was…Elfman, but it shouldn't have been that hard, right?

Wrong.

It was horrible.

There were pretty easy periods of time with him and Lisanna though, where they both got along and he even let her hangout with the Thunder Legion and him occasionally.

Elfman though…

Sigh.

They were just so…different. Elfman was annoying, boisterous and talked way too much about being a man, where as Laxus was cool, suave, calculating, and no talk at all. Just all man. No words needed.

And yes, Laxus did realize that his calculations of the man were extremely biased. He just didn't care.

All of that came to a head though when Laxus asked Mirajane to marry him.

Apparently, Elfman was not okay with that. At all.

"Mira," Laxus groaned one night as they laid in bed with one another. "Why is it my job to-"

"It's not just your job, Laxus. It's both of your jobs," she said, laying with her back to him. "You're going to be brothers now, when we get married, and-"

"No, we're not."

"Yes," she said. "You are. And when we have kids, they're going to love their uncle. I know that they will."

"Jury's out on my side."

"Laxus-"

"Mira, what do you want me to do?" He stared at her back with a slight frown. "Seriously. We don't hate each other. Not really. Isn't that enough? I feel like that's enough."

"Well, it's not."

"Mir-"

"I'm not saying that you have to, like, be best friends with him or anything."

"Good."

"But," Mira went on. "I want you guys to try harder. Please? It would really make me happy."

With a sigh, Laxus reached over to pat her on the head. "Alright, demon. Just…just give me a day or two, huh?"

"I don't want a quick fix with this, Lax. I want-"

"I know," he sighed. "But it'll be a start."

Laxus spent the whole next day, trying to come up with something he could do to get Elfman and him to have a better relationship. He thought of all the things they could possibly bond over. But the only thing that they had in common was Mirajane and, well, gross. They both had knew Mira in very different lights and Laxus was sure Elfman didn't need the other man's brought to his attention.

Hmmm.

It was Freed though that gave him the idea he finally settled on.

"You could just ask him," Freed said.

"Ask him?"

"Yeah." Bickslow, who was with them at the table in the guildhall, was quick to butt in. "You know, ask him the one thing that you can do for him. Like…like…the one wish you can grant him."

"Can grant him," his dolls bellowed.

"Grant him a wish?" Laxus frowned. "That sounds stupid."

Freed shrugged. "I wouldn't have phrased it that way, but think about it, Laxus. What better way for you to give him the olive branch than to do one thing for him? It wouldn't hurt to at least hear what it is that you would need to do for the two of you to become comrades, would it?"

He mulled it over the rest of the day. Then the next morning, after Mira had already left for work, he went down to the kitchen to see if she'd made him breakfast before leaving.

Negative.

But Lisanna was up and making her own food.

"Make me some too," he said, nodding over at the pancakes she was making. "Five."

"You could say please."

"Please," he told her, all deadpan and stuff. It just made Lisanna giggle.

Elfman woke up about the time that they were sitting down to eat. He greeted Lisanna, but completely ignored Laxus.

Which he wasn't surprised by. They'd been in a heated battle of wits since Mira had announced their engagement.

And because they both had a limited amount of wits to begin with, their battle had quickly shifted into a pledge of silence between the two, which worked for Laxus.

Now he was going to have to break it. Lose. Sigh. Mira was lucky that he loved her.

Then again, considering it took him years to come to that conclusion, he figured he owed her one.

"Hey," he grunted out as Elfman went about making his own breakfast, his gruff tone making even Lisanna stare at him. "Mira wants us to get along. So-"

"Not interested."

"Really?" Laxus couldn't help the snide tone that came into his voice then. "You can't do one little thing for your sister? Don't sound too manly to me."

Growling. Then, "I'm way more off a man than you! I don't care what you say! You mean absolutely nothing to me anyhow! You're just using Mira and you're-"

"And I'm making an offerin' here, if you'd can it."

That interested Lisanna, who sat up. "An offering? Like you're going to pay him?"

"No," Laxus said with a frown. He definitely drew his line at paying the freak. "Absolutely not."

"Then-"

"I'm giving you a one in a lifetime opportunity here," Laxus said simply, glaring over at the other man. "You're going to get one favor from me."

"Favor?" Elfman grumbled.

"Yeah. You know, like I'll do somethin' for you," Laxus said with a shrug of his shoulder. "Whatever you want."

"Like a wish?" Lisanna asked.

What the hell was up with people and wishes? Gah.

"Fine," he grumbled. "Call it that if you want. But you only get the chance to take me up on it today, Elfman. And afterwards, you're not allowed to tell Mira about how I'm a mistake or that I'm a horrible person."

"Even though you are."

"Even though," he agreed through gritted teeth.

"No fair," Lisanna complained then, frowning at Laxus. "What do I get?"

"What are you talking about?"

"It's not fair that I don't get a wish too," Lisanna complained as Elfman went back to making his food, mulling over what Laxus had said while he was at it. "Just because I don't say it, Laxus, I think that you suck too. There. Now do I get a wish?"

"Stop calling it a wish," he grumbled, stabbing at his pancakes. "And yeah, Lisanna, if you want a favor, fine. You get one too."

"Great!" She put a finger to her lips, thinking hard. "What do I want from you? Ooh, I know…no. Maybe…nope. I…um…"

"I know what I want." Elfman, who had started frying a few eggs, turned to look over at them then. "I know what's worth giving away my sister for."

"When you put it like that," Lisanna said with a frown, looking over at him, "you had better hope that your wish is important. And hey, Laxus, don't genies normally grant three wishes?"

"I'm not a genie! And they're not damn wishes, they're-"

"Wow, you're really making me wanna rethink your offer here."

"I never offered this to you in the first place!"

"Laxus," Lisanna complained. "I know I haven't shown you before, but I have a really devious side. And if I want, I can make Mirajane call this wedding off. Right this second. Test me. You think she loves Elfman? I'm on a whole other level."

Elfman nodded. "She is."

"Yeah," he grumbled. "I know."

"So-"

"Fine," he grumbled. "You both get one favor and then one joint one. Happy?"

"Yes," Lisanna said. "I-"

"I said that I know what I wanted," Elfman reminded.

"Fine," Laxus groaned, still messing with his pancakes. "So say it. What do you want?"

"I want you to get me and Evergreen together."

Laxus blinked as Lisanna almost snorted up the milk she'd been taking a sip of.

"What?"

"Elfman," Lisanna giggled. "You guys already are-"

"No, we're not."

"This…this is for real?" Laxus looked to Lisanna. "Ever and… Ew. Gross. No. Never mind. Deal off."

"You said-"

"I lied."

"Elfman," his younger sister kept up. "I'm serious. Aren't you and Ever…dating now? I mean, I thought-"

"No," he said. "We're just hooking up together sometimes and-"

"Ew, gross! Never mind!"

Laxus was still playing over the words in his mind. "Is this some sort of joke? Seriously, guys, I-"

"I just want her to acknowledge that yes, we are seeing one another," Elfman said. "I'm tired of hiding it. I-"

"Hide it?" Lisanna was still confused. "Seriously everyone in the guild knows. How are you hiding anything?"

"So you guys really aren't shitting me with this? This is a thing?" Laxus shook his head. "Wow. I mean, I thought I was observant, but-"

"That's my wish," Elfman said. "To be able to openly say that I'm seeing Evergreen."

"You're wasting a wish on this?" his sister asked. "Really, Elfman, I think that everyone-"

"Little shocked that you're giving your sister away to me at such a low price, but done," Laxus said, pushing away from the table. "Meet Ever tonight at the guildhall. Around seven. It'll all be set up then. Bring flowers. Or whatever Ever likes. And Lisanna, be ready with your wish then. And wash my dish, huh?"

It was actually easier than Laxus thought. After showering, he headed out to Freed's place, to find out if he knew where Ever was.

Lucky him, both she and Bickslow were over when he arrived.

"You want me to what?" Ever had exclaimed after he told her.

Bickslow only frowned. "Why are you so shocked? Don't you go on dates with Elfman all the time?"

"Yes," Freed agreed as they sat around at his kitchen table. "I thought that this was a normal activity for you."

"Yeah, I swear you missed last week's practice for-"

"I had an emergency," she hissed.

"If banging the Strauss brother is an emergency, then I hope it's one that I never get afflicted with," Bickslow said.

"I concur," Freed said with a nod of his head.

"How did everyone know about this, but me?" Laxus was still in a state of shock. "I mean, I know I'm kinda self-absorbed and the rest of my time has gone to Mira recently, but seriously?"

"This has been going on for quite some time," Freed told him. "Years."

"I don't know what you guys are talking about." Ever took to crossing her arms and looking off. "Elfman and I… No. Just no."

"Ever," Freed told her. "It's okay. I mean, we all of weird…enjoyments at times."

"Yeah," Bickslow agreed. "And besides, everyone already knows. Except the boss apparently."

"I swear, I'm missing something here." Laxus gave her a strong gaze then. "You and the Elf, huh? Hmmm. What is it about him? All that man talk? Or-"

"Nothing," Ever insisted, his tone and words making her squirm. And his gaze wasn't helping anything anyhow. "We're not together, so-"

"I believe you," he assured her. "It'd be crazy to think that you'd lower yourself to his level."

"Thank-"

"And besides," Laxus kept up. "You wouldn't lie to me, would you, Evergreen?"

"W-Well-"

"I mean, if you were seeing him, you would tell me, right? Why wouldn't you? You should never lie to me. I-"

"Okay, okay, so I'm sleeping with Elfman…frequently…and going out on dates with him. But-"

"Fine. Then do it publicly and let me get some damn peace," Laxus said, looking to Freed then. "Now that that's done with, I feel like some coffee."

"Right! Of course."

As Freed jumped into action, Bickslow's dolls following, Ever took to denying once more.

"It's not that simple, Laxus," she said. "I mean, sure I might see him occasionally, but…but…"

"Oh, please." Bickslow stuck his tongue out, wagging it slightly. "She don't see nobody else. We would know about it. He's your boyfriend, Ever. Just say it. If it's bothering him enough that he wasted his wish on you, then you have to get how important you are to him, huh? So help Laxus grant the wish! And stop being so uptight. The poor man's clearly hurtin' here. I mean, yeah, he's not the best guy around, and even if I was into that, I wouldn't be into him, but there's someone for everyone. And you're his someone."

Laxus blinked. "That sounded sweet. And sorta rude. But still really sweet. You wanna speak at my wedding?"

"Of course, boss!"

Ever huffed then, still refusing to stare at any of them. "But Elfman is-"

"Look, Ever, I really don't care who you fuck," Laxus told her bluntly. "At all. It could be multiple guys and I still wouldn't care. But this is my relationship with Mirajane here. So you're going to openly admit to dating this clown. Got it? And…Bickslow's right. If you guys are seriously seeing one another anyways and apparently everyone, but me knows it…what are you hurting?"

So after drinking some coffee and telling Ever to be around the guild at seven to meet with Elfman, Laxus departed to go workout some.

Not before checking one more time.

"This seriously isn't a joke?" he asked Freed. "They're…dating?"

"Yes."

"Wow. I feel, like, so blindsided right now." Laxus shook his head. "Today sure has been weird."

"At least it's over, yes?"

"Not quite," Laxus sighed.

"Hmmm?"

"I got two more favors to fulfill."

"Really? What are they?"

He only sighed. "I don't even know yet."

When he arrived at the guildhall that night though, he was more than ready to find out.

"Hi, Laxus," Mirajane greeted as he came over to the bar to greet her.

That was another rule. Put no one above her.

And believe him, he didn't. Not even himself.

Anymore.

"Hey," he said as she leaned over the bar to give him a kiss. "Your brother been by or-"

"He's downstairs," she said, staring at him. "He seems real stressed about something. I asked, but he-"

"Yeah, well, that's about to all fad away, huh?" Laxus grinned at her. "Your man took care of everything."

"Of everything?"

"Of everything."

"What?"

"Ever-ything is taken care of."

"You're not-"

"Just…bring me a beer, later, huh?" He turned to walk off then, over to a table off by himself.

Gah! They all made his life so complicated.

Elfman came upstairs later, immediately heading over to Laxus' table. Lisanna, who'd been working up until that point, came over as well.

"So?" Elfman was staring at him hard. "Did you-"

"I told you I would, didn't I?" Laxus grumbled as Lisanna took a seat. "So just calm down. She'll be here soon. And where are her flowers?"

"Oh. That." Elfman reached into his pocket and produced some sort of tiny figurine.

"The fuck is that?"

"You said to get something Ever liked," he complained. "She likes these."

"What the hell, Elfman?" Laxus shook his head. "No wonder she wouldn't admit to you."

"They're just little collectables," Lisanna told him with a giggle. "So, hey, about my wish. I think I'm ready!"

Great. Laxus took a sip of beer before saying, "Alright. Lay it on me."

Lisanna was just about ready to ask Laxus help convincing her siblings that they were totally cat people and should adopt one, when Ever showed up.

"Elfman," Ever greeted as she approached the table. He was real nervous, it was clear, and only moved to hand her off the little figurine.

"I got you this," he said quickly. "I'm sorry if you already have this one, but I thought-"

"I told him to get flowers," Laxus told her. "If you wanna break this date right now, I understand. Or reveal to me that this is all just a big joke, which I'm still thinking it is-"

"Elfman." Ever giggled which was not something Laxus ever wanted to hear her do. At all. Gross. He and Lisanna shared a gag. "That's really nice. Thank you."

"Uh…well…Laxus told me that we were going to go out on a date tonight. Here. In Magnolia. So I thought-"

"We are," she told him, making eye contact with the man. "But Laxus also wanted me to remind you-"

"Uh, right here," Laxus complained.

"-that you have to accept him now. As your brother or housemate or whatever."

"Ew, don't ever call them mates again." Lisanna made a face. "That makes me think of, like, animals. And…no, wait, yeah, you guys are mates, Laxus. That's funny. Housemates? Get it? Like-"

"This genie is about to retract your wish," he told her, void of emotion with that one. Lisanna only giggled.

"Of course," Elfman said, looking at Laxus now. "Thank you. I-"

"Yeah, yeah, go away. On your creepy little date or whatever. Just don't reproduce. Please. For the sake of humanity." He was staring at Lisanna still. "So? What do you want? Huh?"

"I want a cat."

He blinked. Then he sighed. "One of those annoying talking ones? Because-"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Not an Exceed. I want a little baby kitten that can sleep in my bed and I can-"

"Fine. Let's go find someone selling them and-"

"I take it back, I take it back!" Lisanna was practically bouncing then as she noticed something across the bar. Laxus glanced over, but didn't see anything of interest.

"What?"

"You got Ever and Elf together, right? I mean, sort of. So can you…can you get me with someone?"

"With Wakaba?" He frowned, glancing at her. "Uh, Lisanna, I think we need to discuss not only your standards, but also your tastes. Older's fine, but that much? And married? I'm not-"

"Not Wakaba," she told him tensely. "Natsu."

He about died at that one. He saw the Salamander then, with his cat and blonde friend, over at a table near Macao and Wakaba, the three of them happily speaking to one another.

"That's what you want? The Salamander?"

"Isn't it obvious? I thought everyone knew that?"

He grunted then as Elfman and Ever set out on their date or whatever they were doing. Bleh. Laxus didn't care. He was already putting it out of his mind. Gross.

"You want the damn Salamander, kid? Your big brother's gonna get you the Salamander."

"Really?" Lisanna was staring at his with so much awe that, damn it, if she'd asked for that Exceed, he'd of gone out and gotten her one!

Maybe.

He'd have tried.

And then given up.

But Mira always told him it was the thought that counted.

Except for when he thought about putting the toilet seat down and forgot.

Every rule had an exception, after all.

"Yeah, sure. How hard could it be?" Laxus moved to stand. "I mean, even though I hate him, I'll put that aside, just for you. I did it with Ever and Elfman. So-"

"Wait! You can't do it now!"

"Why?" He frowned when she reached out to grab his arm and pull him back into his chair.

And all those times that he'd seen Lisanna restrain Elfman, it hadn't made sense. At all. How could she keep him from doing anything?

But it made sense in that moment.

Little sisters, man.

"Because," she hissed. "I'd be, like, so embarrassed."

"Don't you tell him all the time that you love him and-"

"See? You do pay attention."

He sighed. "Look, Lisanna, you've known him since you were kids. And he's known that you were into him. Has he ever turned you down? Huh? Huh? No. Because clearly, he's into you too."

"Yeah, but Laxus, can't you just wait until I'm not here? I-"

"Nope," he said, shaking her off. "You got one wish. I get to oversee how that wish is put into action. Now sit here and watch."

"But-"

"Lisanna," he sighed, getting to his feet. "What's the worst that can happen?"

Apparently, not what Laxus thought. Because as he went over to Natsu, the last thing he ever thought would happen did.

"Hey," he grumbled as he approached the table, both Happy and Lucy staring up at him in shock, if not slight fear, no doubt running through all the things they'd done wrong recently, trying to find one that had pissed off the Thunder God enough so that'd he'd approach them.

Natsu though, he was always the optimist. Jumping right up, chicken leg still in hand, he said, "Hey, Laxus! You here for a fight?"

"No," he said simply. Then he paused. "Err, fine. We can fight. But you gotta do somethin' for me first."

"Alright!" Natsu fist pumped before holding the chicken leg out to him. "Here."

Laxus blinked, not moving to take it. "What?"

"Well, that's the one thing, right? You want my chicken?"

"No," he told the other man dryly.

"Then what?" Lucy was interested then too as Happy only took to snickering.

"What difference does it make? Natsu's about to get hurt either way."

"Way to be supportive, Hap," Natsu complained, sending him a look.

"I'm being helpful."

"Helpful? How was that helpful?"

"I'm trying to persuade you-"

"Enough!" Alright, so maybe Laxus wouldn't be rushing out to get Lisanna one of those flying cats after all. He didn't know how the others coped with them. They were just so annoying. Gah. He'd never been happier with his generation placement on the slayer scale.

"Oh, right." Natsu grinned at him then. "What is it that you want? Laxus? And can you make it quick? I wanna show you my new super awesome move I've worked out. It's gonna just kill ya! But not really. Or maybe. I dunno yet. So-"

"I need you to go on a date with Lisanna."

"Like what? She's bored or something? Cool. Me and Hap and Lucy and Lisanna can go-"

"A serious date, dumbass," Laxus grumbled. "And keep dating her. For the length of me and Mira's marriage. So forever."

Lucy blushed then and Happy took to snickering.

"No can do," Natsu said, going back to eating his chicken leg then.

"What? Why not? I-"

"Me and Luce are sorta dating, so-"

"Natsu!" Lucy sent him a look. "You weren't supposed to tell anyone."

"What did you want me to-"

"You're what?" Suddenly, Mirajane was at their sides, pulling Lucy up so she could hug her.

"The hell type of hearin' you got, demon?" Laxus grumbled, glaring at her.

"When it comes to stuff like this, I have a sixth sense."

"I believe you," he sighed.

Natsu grinned then as Happy took to the air, excited that he didn't have to keep it a secret anymore. It had been almost impossible for him. Constantly he felt it just slipping out. Now he didn't have to worry about it anymore!

"You love Lucy," Happy mocked. Laxus only frowned at the way Natsu was grinning.

"Great, so you idiots too? What's with this place? It's like all the men that should never reproduce are suddenly landing women."

"Considering you're about to get married, I really don't think you can throw stones," Lucy told him as his fiancée about choked her out. When Laxus sent her a look though, Lucy was glad to have Mirajane right there to protect her.

"You still owe me a fight though, Laxus. Regardless," Natsu was saying then.

"No way."

Upon making it back to his table, Laxus only took his seat before taking a sip of beer. Then he remembered why he'd gone and messed with the stupid Salamander in the first place.

"Where'd Lisanna go?" He looked around, but couldn't find her.

Oh…oh no. Laxus downed the rest of his beer quickly. Shit. Shit. Shit. She must have overheard and…

Awe man.

Why did Laxus life always have to be so complicated?

"I don't wanna be a big brother anymore," he sighed that night as he sat on Mirajane's couch, her glaring as she stood before him, arms crossed. "It sucks."

"Why would you ever think about making that sort of promise to her anyhow?"

"I was high, Mira. High on the fact I'd gotten Ever and Elfman together. Weren't you listening to the story?"

"Yeah, I didn't get that. Haven't they been together?"

He only shook his head at her. "That's another story for another time. The point is…am I in trouble?"

"With me? No. I'm a little angry right now, but I'm not going to punish you for trying to do something nice."

"Oh, good, then-"

"But Lisanna's in her room, upset still, because you embarrassed her."

"And crushed her dreams." Laxus sighed, shaking his head. "Now what?"

"Well," Mira said slowly. "Considering I like Natsu and Lucy together, breaking them up is out of the question."

"Uh, Mir, it would have been either way."

"So I guess you better go talk to her."

He groaned.

"Laxus."

"Please, don't make me. I don't do crying. At all."

"It's your mess. Go clean it up."

"But-"

"Would you rather her stay depressed?"

"No," he sighed, getting to his feet. "But… How much do you think Gajeel would sell me his cat for?"

Mira blinked. Then she only pointed, not wanting to even know about that one. "Go."

He really didn't want to, but what choice did he have? With a sigh, he headed for Lisanna's room.

He knocked first.

"Go away, Mira."

"It's not Mira."

"You go away too."

"Lisanna," he groaned. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not. I told you not to-"

"What did you expect? I would have had to have asked him somehow."

"In front of the entire guild though? And Lucy?"

"Hey, in my defense, he's always with the blonde chick, so I would have never had a chance to…and now it all makes sense. Huh." Laxus was coming around to Mira's point. They did make a pretty nice couple.

"You're not helping!"

Eek. Right. Hmmm.

"Uh…is there something else I can do for you? Like, gee, I dunno, come in? So I can stop talking to a door?"

"Go away."

"Is that your wish?"

"Laxus-"

"I just want you to feel better, okay?" Gah! She had him sounding so stupid and being concerned and…and… "Hey, tell you what, I'mma get you a way better boyfriend than the Salamander."

"There is no one better than Natsu!"

He blinked. "Again, we are going to have to talk to you about your standards."

"Lax-"

"And, for the record, I'm way better than Natsu."

"Leave me-"

"What if I get you one of my, you know, more mature friends? That aren't in our guild?"

That made her pause. "Like who?"

"No one you would know. I know a lot of people, alright? Mages, civilians. I'm pretty popular."

"You?"

"Me."

"Are you sure?"

"Lisanna-"

The door opened then and she was standing there, her eyes still puffy. "I don't want another guy. I want Natsu."

"I know." He reached out to pat her on the head. "And if it makes you feel any better, what are the chances of Lucy and him working out, huh? Next to none."

She sniffled. "Lucy's amazing and Natsu's amazing and they're amazing together and everyone thinks so and-"

"So? Who cares? You're way better than Lucy."

"I am not."

"Well…okay," he said.

"Laxus."

"What?"

"You're supposed to tell me I'm wrong and that I am great."

"Why? If you don't even believe it?"

"You-"

"You still want a cat?" Laxus was staring at her. "'cause the demon's feeling real bad for you right now. I could probably get you two if you wanted. Or a dog. I'm leaning towards that more than a cat, but hey, it's your wish."

She sniffled. Then, "No. Even a cat wouldn't make this better."

"And a date wouldn't either?"

"No."

"Really? I know some hot guys."

"Really now? And you're the one judging this or-"

"Lisanna."

He got a giggle out of her then before she turned to close her door.

"I'm fine, Laxus," she said before doing so. "Just…leave me alone, huh?"

But he felt real bad. Which was stupid. People got rejected all the time.

Not people like him, of course because, duh, but he got it. Lucy versus Lisanna? The Salamander was smart.

…Err, something like that.

"I will go on a date with her, Laxus, if it will help," was Freed's offer the next day when Laxus went over to his place to talk about it. Bickslow was, once again over (he frequented there because Freed actually stocked his fridge instead of just buying and living off candy), and was listening too. At Freed's suggestion, he took to snickering.

"Poor girl. Can't get the Salamander and gets stuck with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" Freed frowned at Bickslow.

"Nothing," he said. "But-"

"I really don't think it would be a good idea to boost Lisanna's spirits by setting her up on a date with a guy that feels forced to go on it," Laxus said.

"She won't know it. I will date her until you tell me to stop. I am that committed."

"Yeah, but…I mean, I think when she finds out that you're not…into women that…that would be a bigger blow, you know?"

"She will never find out! I will go to the grave with it."

"Yeah, that's sorta like Ever thinking Elfman was a secret," Bickslow remarked.

"You-"

"I'll date 'er, boss," Bickslow said, grinning as his tongue tumbled from his mouth. "I-"

"No."

"But-"

"No."

"You-"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Why not?" his dolls mimicked

"Because," Laxus said with a shake of his head as they sat on the couch. "It's still someone being forced to date her."

"No way! I'd love to get it in with her."

"And that." Laxus sent him a look. "Lisanna's... She's Mira's sister. And soon, she'll be my sister. You're not… No. Just…no."

"Aw," Bickslow complained. "I won't sleep with 'er if you don't want me to, boss."

"No."

"But…I dunno. I was kinda getting my heart set on impressin' ya."

"Well, do it some other way."

"I'm kinda like the Salamander, huh?" Bickslow looked to the man who refused to give him a second glance.

"How?"

"Well, we both are real fun, ain't we? And he's got the cat, I got the babies. His hair's a weird color. Mine is just freaking awesome. We're practically twins, boss."

Laxus blinked as Freed sighed.

"Bickslow," he said. "You are being blind here. You and Lisanna? Never. But me and Lisanna-"

"I thought we already went over this?" Laxus groaned.

"You say you don't want him to be with her because they might… Well I guarantee you that we won't!"

"I have no argument for that," Bickslow said, nodding his head. "They seriously won't."

Groaning then, Laxus said, "I don't even think she wants a date anymore. At all. I think she just wanted the Salamander."

"You want us to go kidnap the blonde one then?"

"How would that help, Bickslow?"

"I dunno," he said with a shrug. "I just kinda always wanted to get it in with that one too. And you're over here grantin' wishes and stuff-"

"Enough with this wishes shit! I got one couple together that, according to all of you, was always together. I give up. I'm no good at this."

"Oh, Laxus, you're good at everything," Freed said.

"Yeah, boss," Bickslow added. "You're amazing."

Grunt. Then, "I gotta make it up to Lisanna somehow. Make her feel better."

"I'm tellin' ya," the seith kept up. "I'm a fun date. Women love me."

He had a headache. "If it gets you to shut up, fine. Go on one date with her. But don't mention me. Make it seem like-"

"I'm on it, boss!"

"And make it real nice, huh?"

"Totally."

"And no sleeping together."

"Boss," he complained. "Would I ever ignore orders?"

Laxus sure hoped not.

And, because right after that, Freed began praising Laxus once more over his many accomplishments, he sorta forgot all about Bickslow and Lisanna.

The whole day, in fact. It wasn't the next morning, when Lisanna didn't come home the night before and Mira was worried that Laxus found himself making the trek to Bickslow's tiny apartment.

"I didn't sleep with her, I didn't sleep with her," he was complaining as he opened the door to reveal a very ticked off Laxus. "But I did make her feel- Ah! Boss!"

Laxus only shoved him out of the way as he came into the apartment. Lisanna was there, clearly having been sleeping on the couch only moments before, as she sat there on it, a blanket over her.

"Laxus, what are you-"

"I get it, alright? You get your heart broken, you go out and screw someone, but Lisanna, him? Seriously?" Laxus couldn't help the annoyance in his tone. "I mean, a rebound date, fine, but a rebound fuck? Him?"

"I didn't sleep with him! And it wouldn't be any of your business if I did."

"Oh, you didn't Lisanna? Really? You didn't?"

"No!"

"Then you just went home with some guy that you went on one date with that you barely know-"

"I've known him my whole life!"

"Stop yelling at me."

"Then stop getting in my business!"

"You take one girl home, babies, when she gets drunk on a date and suddenly you're a bad guy," Bickslow complained to his dolls who were swarming around, fearful over Laxus' loud voice. "Some would hail me…I dunno…a hero? A valiant guy? With a dark past? But is willing to change? For love?"

"Love?" Laxus got started again. "What is he-"

"You had to say that," Lisanna complained.

"We are in love." He grinned at Laxus. "We talked last night, me and Lissy here-"

"Lissy? What the… Is this a joke?" Laxus looked between them. "You spend one night together and-"

"It was really magical," Bickslow said.

"Totally."

"I mean, boss, me and Lisanna? We're meant to be."

"You are not!"

"We kinda are," Lisanna told him as she moved to get off the couch. "He explained to me about how my feelings for Natsu have been misdirected. I love Natsu, but I don't love him. I love Bickslow."

"After a night?"

"Who's to put a time frame on this sorta thing?"

"I don't know, Lisanna, but a night is definitely not in that time frame!" Laxus went to grab her arm then.

"Hey-"

"We're leaving. Put on your shoes."

"You're not being fair!"

"I don't care."

"Bye, Lisanna," Bickslow's babies called out. "Bye, boss."

Bickslow only shook his head. "Your resistance is making our love grow stronger, boss. We had a real heart to heart."

"She was drunk!"

"So was I! And I didn't sleep with her. You know why?"

"Because I told you not to?"

"That was part of it, yes."

"What?" Lisanna frowned at Bickslow. "He told you to-"

"Lissy, Lissy, Lissy. Don't ruin this magical date with lies."

"They're not lies," Laxus grumbled as Lisanna only shot him a look. "And I'm taking you home to your sister so she can yell at you."

Only she didn't do that. Oh, no. When they got home, Lisanna yelling at him the whole time, Mira expressed her joy over the whole thing.

"You're in love! This is great."

"My whole life is a joke," Laxus grumbled as Mirajane and her sister hugged. "Seriously, Mirajane? You know as well as I do that they're not-"

"Why are you so against this, Laxus?" Mira frowned. "See, Lisanna? I told you. He just hates love."

"I do not hate love. I'm in love with you, demon."

"Aw."

"But they're not-"

"What do you know?" Lisanna stuck her tongue out at him. "Hey. I know. For my wish, I want you to shut up and let me just be in love with Bickslow."

"You're not in love!"

"But you can't say that anymore because I wished it, so-"

"That's not how it works!"

"This is exactly how it works!"

"You're such a cute big brother," Mira told Laxus who only gave them both the stink eye.

"Fine. There goes your wish," he grumbled, heading out of the room they were in then. "But when he hurts you just like the damn Salamander, don't come crying to me! Because you're not in love. At all. Grow up."

"You grow up."

"No, you."

"You."

"You!"

"You!"

He slammed the front door behind him as he left.

To Mirajane, Lisanna said, "I think I like him a little bit more than Elfman."

Mira only hugged her again. "He's a lot more protective."

"And argumentative."

"You got him really worked up though."

"Yeah," Lisanna giggled. "I know."

"And you're not really in love with Bickslow."

"Of course not. But he said it to get Laxus all riled up and…I dunno. I like making him mad."

Mira got that.

"You two didn't really-"

"No, of course not. I just… We went out and we were drinking and… I just slept on the couch. And we talked a lot. And… I like him."

"That's good."

"Yeah."

The front door was opening again and, not a minute later, Elfman appeared in the kitchen, where they were standing.

"I just saw Laxus as I was coming up the walk," he said. "And he seemed really pissed."

"He is," Lisanna said as Mira giggled, letting her younger sister go. "But he'll get over it."

"What'd you do to him?" Elfman asked, frowning. "I mean, not that I'm hatin' it, but he really did help me out with Ever."

"I just cashed in my wish," Lisanna told him with a giggle.

"Oh, yeah?" Elfman looked at Mirajane. "Your boyfriend's real great. He-"

"I heard. Favors or something?"

"Yeah, and actually," Lisanna said as Mira went to finish washing the dishes, as she had been before they entered. "We have one more wish, remember, Elf?"

"Oh yeah! A joint one. So what do you want, Lisanna?"

"A cat! No, I… Well…"

"I think," Mira said, glancing over at them. "That you got this all wrong."

"Eh?" Elfman shook his head. "No, the rules were pretty clear. He said-"

"Laxus both gave you guys want you wanted, right? Which was super nice. Well, this is a big adjustment for him too," Mirajane said. "So for the third wish, I think you should let him tell you two what he wants from you."

Lisanna frowned. "That's no fun."

"Yeah," Elfman said. "I wasted my wish on something I already had."

"See? I told you," Lisanna said. "And mine's not that great either. I want a do over."

"Why didn't we just wish for more wishes?"

"That's what we'll do with the last one."

"No," Mira told them. "When Laxus gets here tonight, you're going to tell him that you're going to give the last wish to him. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Fine."

But Laxus didn't wanna go back over there. Lisanna had him all feeling weird and…and…caring and then he ran into Ever who was all bubbly about Elfman and, seriously, was that whole thing not a joke?

Laxus kept expecting it to be a joke.

Still though, he'd told the demon that he would eat dinner over there, so he really was in a bind.

Hoping that Lisanna wouldn't be around when he showed up, Laxus was disappointed to find not only her, but also Elfman.

And Mira, but that wasn't so bad.

"Sit, sit, sit," Mira giggled, dragging him over the couch.

"Mirajane-"

"They have something they want to tell you."

"Like what? Sorry?" he asked, staring at Lisanna.

"No," she said slowly, frowning over at him. "Just that…well… Mira, do we have to?"

"Yes."

"We're giving you our last wish," Elfman told him, nodding his head. "Men know how to share! And give back. You gave to us, so now we're going to give to you."

"Give me… What?"

"They're gonna grant your wish now," Mirajane told him, all peppy and bouncing. He loved her, fine, but sometimes she gave him headaches. "So what do you want?"

He blinked. "What?"

"Laxus, just ask them for something."

"I don't want to ask them for something," he complained. "That's stupid. The whole thing was stupid. But it entertained them and it would get you off my case, so I did it. That's all."

"You don't want anything?' Lisanna asked. And since she was next to him on the couch, he only reached over to flick her head, which of course made her bat at his arm.

"No."

"You gotta want something," Elfman said. "You want us to…to make you food or something? Bake you a cake? Or…move out?"

"Elfman," Lisanna complained before looking back at Laxus. "You cannot wish that. I can't afford that. Please don't-"

He patted her on the head that time. "I don't want you guys to go anywhere."

"You don't?"

"Of course not." Then, just because it would make the demon happy, he said, "We're a family. We belong together."

Elfman took to sobbing and Mira more bouncing, but Lisanna only gagged.

"You're going soft," she complained.

"Shuddup," he said, frowning at her. "'fore I go and tell Bickslow to never talk to you again."

"You can't do that!"

"I can too. I can do anything."

"You cannot! Mira-"

"Laxus." She was still in a state of disbelief. "This is so sweet! You love them, huh?"

"Wouldn't go that far."

"I've never had a brother!"

"Elfman," Lisanna complained. "The other day you hated him."

"It doesn't matter. Brothers fight. But we'll always make up."

"And I'm done being nice for, oh, the year." Laxus shoved off the couch then, headed to the kitchen. "I want my dinner now, Mirajane."

She followed along. "You're so cute."

"I am not."

"Are too. I'm going to tell everyone how you-"

"You will tell no one."

"Everyone."

"No one."

Lisanna though stayed out on the couch, watching as Elfman slowly came to sit down next to her.

"I guess he'll do," she said slowly to which her sobbing brother nodded.

"Yeah," he sighed. "He will."