#had to do benny bear for you dearest one

[good-things-do-happen-dean]

also for a prompt: dean/benny/cas & puppy

here it is, here it is!!! (puppy is uhhhh very very loosely used, but i couldn’t help myself and made this anyway) ily thank you for sending this 💖

benny bear inspo of course from this amazing art (artist appears to have changed urls?? ahhh sorry i can’t credit completely!! if u are out there op, i love your art)

It’s mostly a joke (but also a last ditch effort) when Dean tries out Benny bear. All the usual ones just don’t work for Benny. They avoid angel and all iterations of it. Sweetheart feels clunky, and sweetie? Come on, Dean’s over forty. Plus, he can’t take honey seriously, baby is taken (obviously), and babe is just not quite right. Neither is love, apparently, because that most recent attempt makes Dean grimace and blush even though Benny just drops a kiss on the top of Dean’s head and says, “You’ll find something, cher.” Which is even more frustrating because the whole point is to find something that works for Benny, not be reminded of how easily cher happened. But Dean leans into the touch anyway, of course, and definitely does not smile, not even a little bit. So, Dean decides, it’s really Benny’s fault that he has to resort to Benny bear, which is ridiculous and won’t fit a however-many-centuries-old vampire.

Except it does.

Just not from Dean.

When Dean says, “I’m all out of options, Benny bear,” stretched out in the grass near the garden, Benny shoots him a bitch face that rivals Sam’s.

But Cas, who’s kneeling in the soil with his worn jeans rolled up to his knees, weeding, perks up. “Benny bear,” he repeats, shaping each syllable carefully. “It suits you.” He wipes at his sweaty brow with the back of one gloved hand and leaves a streak of dirt.

Dean is (he feels, justifiably) absolutely floored when Benny goes all soft around the edges and just melts, bitch face smoothing into a small smile. And leans over to brush the dirt from Cas’s forehead. And kisses him gently. What the fuck.

It turns out that the Benny bear and puppy dog eyes combo slays vampires. Well, specifically one centuries-old, former vampire-pirate, current vampire-diner-cook, anyway, and only when it comes from one ex-angel in particular. (Not that Dean is entirely immune to its power, especially when it’s paired with a little bit of a head tilt.)

And it works for everything. It works for convincing Benny to come back to bed in the mornings. It works for “borrowing” Benny’s sweaters, with the added bonus that Benny always takes Cas’s wrists in his hands and rolls up the too-long sleeves.

It works for getting Benny to turn up the volume of some ‘90s pop something or other that comes on the radio, which he would have done anyway. But that’s when Dean realizes Cas knows.

They’re out for a drive, no real destination in mind, just enjoying the sunset spread out in front of them fading into twilight. Dean’s in the back. His bad knee has been bothering him recently, enough that he passes on driving most of the time. (Okay, just slightly more than half the time. There’s three of them, they can trade off.) And there’s a touch of gray at his temples that wasn’t there before, but that’s all right since Cas can’t get enough of it and kisses him there every morning when he wakes up and every night before he drops off to sleep. But since Dean is in the back seat, he catches Cas’s tiny grin in the rearview mirror when Benny cranks up Britney Spears.

“You’re a monster,” Dean says without heat, resting his palm on the nape of Cas’s neck over the back of the seat and scratching lightly at the hair that’s starting to curl up at the ends there.

Cas only shrugs, grin growing wider, and Benny says, “Surely of the three of us, that’s me.”

Which, while technically true, seems ridiculous at the moment since he’s examining the delicate purple baby blanket he’s knitting for Sam and Eileen through the half-moon glasses he doesn’t really need, and he’s still got the flower Cas gave him tucked behind his ear. And he’s nodding along to Britney.

“Whatever you say, sugar,” Dean says with a laugh. Stops. Meets Benny’s gaze in the rearview mirror.

Benny reaches over to take Dean’s hand resting on Cas’s neck, lacing their fingers together there. “Sugar,” he says. “I like that.”

[merakiaes]

A Nice Night In The Middle Of July - William Miller

Pairing: William Miller x reader

Requested: Yes. 

Prompts: None. 

Warnings/notes: Not proofread so sorry in advance for any possible mistakes. First time I’m writing for Will so sorry if it’s a bit OOC, leave a comment and let me know what you think xx

Wordcount: 3377

Summary: Having a barbecue with Will and the boys on a nice summer night. 

“This is why I can’t have nice things, you know.” You mumbled against Will’s shoulder, looking down at his hands as he struggled to fix the broken chain of your golden bracelet.  

Will only grumbled under his breath, using a small pair of pliers to bend open the small golden rings.

“I’m fixing it, don’t worry your pretty little head.” He insisted, like he had been for the past ten minutes.

But you knew that his patience was wearing thin, pressing a light kiss to his shirt-clad shoulder and gently rubbing his bicep with your hand. 

“Will, I love you and you know that.” You said, pressing another kiss to his shoulder. “You’re a good man and a good soldier, but you’re not handy. Not in the slightest.”

He stopped fiddling with the chain, turning his head around to look at you with his eyebrows raised in a playful manner. “What do you mean I’m not handy?” He asked. “I fixed the broken sink, didn’t I?”

“That’s not quite how I remember it.” You chuckled.

“No? How do you remember it?” He put the pliers down, turning his body towards you.

You raised an eyebrow, smiling as he took you into his arms. “You made it worse and Benny was forced to come over in the middle of the night to clean up your mess so that we wouldn’t flood and permanently damage the house. That’s how I remember it.”

He turned quiet for a moment, his fingers that had previously been rubbing small, comforting circles on your waist where his hand had found its place, coming to a halt.

“What is it with you and nitpicking, hm?” He asked after another moment of silence, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s not nitpicking if your brother saved us from going bankrupt all because you were too stubborn to admit you needed help, honey.” You pointed out, chuckling.

He started chuckling too. “Yeah, yeah.” He agreed, before leaning in closer to your face. “You know you love me.”

Smirking, you raised your arms to wrap them around his neck, fiddling with the hair at the nape of his neck. “Whatever makes you sleep at night.” You mumbled, and began leaning in to close the space between you.

Your eyes fluttered close and your lips were just about to brush against each other’s, when the door to the living room flung open with a loud bang, causing the two of you to jump apart in shock.

Your eyes instantly found Ben as he walked outside into the backyard where you were sitting, his arms thrown out and his hips moving around in a ridiculous dance.

“Who’s ready to get their party on? Woo-woo!” He sang and while Will annoyedly rolled his eyes beside you, you laughed at his childish antics, bringing a hand up to your chest in an attempt to calm your racing heart.

“Jesus, Benny!” You exclaimed. “You scared the crap out of me.”

Benny laughed loudly at you, jumping down the steps of the back-porch and heading your way. “Well, I am naturally terrifying.” He answered playfully and you chuckled.

Before any of you could say anything else, Tom appeared, walking out through the same door as Ben had just seconds before.

“I think we’re too old to party.” He commented simply with a small smile playing on his lips as he headed down the steps and in your direction, referring to the first words Ben had spoken when coming outside.

Ben, however, didn’t listen, giving his friend a disappointed look. “Oh, come on, man. You’re never too old for a good ole’ bender.”

Tom raised his eyebrows at his choice of wording and beside you, Will chuckled, pointing a finger to one of the chairs across from you.

“Sit your ass down, Ben.” He said, and his brother flashed him a cheeky grin, doing as told just as Pope appeared on the porch.

The second you turned your heads to look at him, he raised both of his hands into the air to put the four six-packs he was holding on display. “I brought the beer.” He said, stating the obvious and flashing you his pearly whites.

“And I brought the meat.” Tom joined in, coming up to the table and dumping the paper bag he had brought with him onto the wooden table, bringing said meat out and slapping the pieces onto the bag “This is the real deal, I’m telling you.”

Just the sight of the raw meat got you excited and you couldn’t wait until it was all cooked and ready to eat, not having eaten since lunch time.

Before any of you could comment on the good-quality meat, however, Catfish was jogging down the steps of the porch too, waving his hands around.

“And I brought my good company. Thank you, Frankie!” He cheered himself on, causing you to chuckle at the sarcastic tone in his voice.

“Thank you, Frankie.” You told him sincerely, your smile widening as he came up to your side and planted a friendly kiss on your cheek.

Once him and Pope had sat down next to Ben, they wasted no time in digging into the carton packages of beer.

Pope snapped the metal cap off a bottle and stretched it out for you to take and you accepted it without looking at him, keeping your gaze on Tom as he moved to the grill standing off to the side. “We got the grill all warmed up for you, Tom.”

Tom simply nodded his head, flipping the lid open and grabbing the metal kitchen utensils laying on the wooden bord next to the grill to stir the coals around.

While he busied himself with the grill, too engrossed in the task at hand to even spare you another glance, Ben leaned forward in his seat, folding his hands in front of him on the table.

“What have you got there, brother dearest?” He asked, and you moved your gaze to Will, seeing that he was now giving fixing the bracelet another attempt.

You hadn’t even noticed him going back to it, but now that he had, you could only roll your eyes. “My bracelet. He broke it.”

“On accident.” Will quickly filled in, without looking up from the golden piece of jewelry.

“How did you manage that?” Ben chuckled and, again, you rolled your eyes.

“He was fiddling with it, even though I told him not too, and as usual, he was too rough.”

A mischievous grin crept up the youngest Miller’s as he watched you, his hand slowly raising the bottle of bear to his lips. “Really?” He asked when he lowered it again after taking a sip, raising his eyebrows. “Because Will here tells me you like it rough.”

Pope and Catfish both choked on their beers at his words and Tom was obviously trying to cover his laughter up with coughs over by the grill.

Your eyes opened wide for a moment, your mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, but then it turned into a glare, your head whipping around to face your boyfriend and your hand shooting out to slap his chest. “Will!”

Will’s glare was already set on his younger brother when you turned to look at him, his foot kicking him underneath the table, causing his younger brother to quickly raise his hands in surrender. 

“Kidding, kidding.” He said, but your glare didn’t leave Will, your arms crossing over your chest and a questioning eyebrow shooting up.

Before anyone could say anything else on the matter, however, Ben reached his hand out for the bracelet and the pliers in his older brother’s hands, nodding his head. “Let me have a look.”

Will turned to look at him, shaking his head. “I got it.” He insisted and you snorted, putting your hand on his.

“No, you don’t. Time to swallow your pride.” You said, trying to pry the pliers out of his fingers. “Give it to him, baby.”

He sighed, but did as told, handing the pliers and the bracelet to his brother, who wasted no time in starting to look it over.

While he busied himself with that, Will wrapped an arm around your waist and pulled you closer, pressing a kiss to your arm. “Come here, you.” He said, and you did as told, moving into his side and settling comfortably under his arm.

“So, how’s your day been, guys?” You asked then, looking between all of them.

All of them shrugged, and Frankie leaned back into his seat, blowing a raspberry and raising his eyebrows. “Well, no one died.” He replied in a causal manner, causing you to raise an eyebrow.

“Those are your standards?” You asked, but when only getting an amused smirk in return, you shook your head in a chuckle. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at this point.”

They hummed in agreement and you turned to Tom, raising your bottle of beer to your lips and taking a sip before asking. “How’s Tess, Tom?”

Without looking away from the grill, where he had now put the first round of meat onto the metal grid, he answered. “She’s good. Very good, actually. She won the spelling bee yesterday.”

“You should’ve seen her. It was impressive.” Benny wasted no time in pitching in from across you, causing you all to turn to him.

You raised an eyebrow, taking another sip of your beer and snuggling further into Will’s side. “What were you doing at Tom’s daughter’s spelling bee competition?” You asked, and Frankie chuckled, raising his eyebrows at you.

“Oh, you haven’t heard?” He asked, amusement evident in his voice. “He’s trying to nail her English teacher.”

“And I’m succeeding.” Ben instantly answered, pointing the pliers at his friend. “And not only with her. Teachers are just crazy for me, man. I think they’ve got a thing for soldiers or something. Or maybe it’s just because I’m smoother than the cream cheese on a bagel.”

Tom scoffed from where he stood, and you did the same, shaking your head. “Please, you’ve got about as much charm as a dead slug.”

At the sound of your words, he turned towards you, pointing the pliers at you instead. “Watch it, or maybe I’ll keep the bracelet for myself.”

You leaned forward at that, eyes wide with expectation. “Did you fix it?”

Placing his hand over his heart, he gave you a feign hurt look. “You doubted me? I’m wounded.” He said and you rolled your eyes, holding your hand out.

Chuckling, he dropped the bracelet in your hand and you smiled to see that the chain was now whole again. “That was quick.” You pointed out, ignoring the way Will scoffed from beside you and smiling at his brother. “Thank you, Benny.”

“Don’t mention it.” He raised his beer to you and smiled, before bringing the bottle to his lips.

You turned to Will, looking up at him and holding the bracelet up. “Help me put it back on?” You asked and he grumbled under his breath, but nonetheless took it from you and undid the clasp.

You held your wrist up for him and he put the bracelet on without any trouble whatsoever. You moved to bring your hand back down but he caught your wrist, holding your eyes as he moved your hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss to your knuckles.

A smile instantly rose to your face but before either of you could say anything, the egg clock went off inside the house, causing all of you to stop what you were doing to look at the porch door.

You smacked your lips. “Looks like the potatoes are done in the oven.” You told them, and went to stand up.

But Pope quickly got to his feet, holding a hand out to stop you and flashing you a soft smile. “I’ll get them, you sit down.” He said, and you returned the smile, nodding your head and sinking back down next to Will.

Next to stand up was Ben, pushing his chair back and putting his now empty bottle down on the table. 

“I’m gonna go raid your liquor cabinet.” He said, and beside him, Frankie put out a cigarette that you had barely even noticed him light in the first place, standing up too.

“I could go for some whiskey.” He agreed, the three of them heading toward the porch.

You looked after them until they had all disappeared into the living room, heaving a sigh when you could no longer see them. “Oh, well… I guess it’s just us three th- Where are you going?” You cut yourself off when you turned to look at Tom, seeing that he was now also moving to leave.

“You didn’t bring the limes.” He told you simply, wiping his hands on a towel to rid them of the marinade that the meat was covered in.

“Oh, shoot.” You groaned, giving him an apologetic look. “I totally forgot. They’re in the fridge.”

He smiled at you, throwing the towel at the table and nodding.  “Got it, be right back.” He said, stopping only to point a finger at you, giving you a pointed look. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

You opened your mouth to reply but before you could get a word out, you felt a sharp pinch at your butt, a surprised yelp leaving your lips instead.

“No promises.” Will said from beside you, causing you to turn around to look at him, catching him trying to hide his pleased smirk behind his beer.

You rolled your eyes at his cheeky antics and Tom only chuckled, before heading for the porch and leaving the two of you alone.

You watched the side of Will’s face closely as he took another sip of his beer, a hum leaving his lips before he leaned forward to put the bottle on the table in order to give you his full, undivided attention.

When he turned to face you with a small smirk playing on his lips, your face instantly lit up in a big smile, said smile widening even further when he leaned his face into your neck, his beard tickling your skin.

He started planting feather-light kisses along your neck, out on your jaw all the way to your chin. 

“Hey, there.” He mumbled when his face was right in front of yours, and you smiled, looking down at his lips.

“Hi, yourself.” You mumbled, bringing your hands up to his neck, stroking the back of his head slowly.

He analyzed your face, the corners of his lips tugging upwards.

“You’ve got...” He trailed off, and you followed his every move with your eyes as he brought a hand up to your face, the rough pads of his fingers brushing over your skin. “An eyelash.” He finished, bringing his thumb up in front of you, a single, black eyelash now resting on the pad. 

You chuckled, blowing the lash off, before reaching up with your free hand to take his in yours.  “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He replied, taking you back under his arm and smirking playfully at you. “So, you come here often?”

You snorted, raising an eyebrow at him. “Well, considering that I live here, yeah.” You replied, and this time it was his turn to snort.

“Cute.” He said, and kissed you.

You hummed into the kiss, using your hand at his neck to pull him closer. “Thanks.” You mumbled against his lips. “I murdered a care bear and ate its heart to get this adorable.”

At the sound of your words, Will had to pull away from you with a laugh. “Wow.” He drawled lowly, raising his eyebrows.  “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Neither was the care bear.” You gave him a feign evil look, before breaking into a wide grin.

He chuckled at your antics, shaking his head. “You’re evil.”

“You love it.” You mumbled, letting go of his hand to bring it to his neck where your other one was already at, pulling him in for another kiss.

“That I do.” He mumbled against your lips, and you simply smiled, pulling him closer.

The sweet moment of passion was cut short, however, when the sound of a can opening reached your ears, the two of you opening your eyes and slowly turning your faces around to the side, your lips only coming apart when you spotted Benny standing at the end of the porch with a grin on his face.

You brought your hand up to wipe your lips, narrowing your eyes at your boyfriend’s brother. “We were having a moment.” You said, eyes only narrowing further when he loudly slurped the can.

“And I’m having a beer.” He deadpanned, still grinning like an idiot as he walked to where you were sitting at the table.

“I thought you were going to go get the whiskey.” You raised your eyebrow, and he wasted no time in raising the bottle you hadn’t noticed until then.

“I did, but that’s for later.” He replied, sinking down into his old chair just as the others returned outside, talking loudly.

While Pope and Frankie sat back down, Tom busied himself with cutting up the limes at a cutting board he had brought with him outside, all while the six of you engaged in conversation about everything between heaven and earth, reminiscing in old memories.

The food was served close to an hour later and it was even better than you’d imagined it would be, tasting like heaven when you hadn’t eaten anything else for so many hours.

The clock was well past midnight by the time you finished, but the conversations never stopped, drunken laughter filling your entire backyard.

The topic at hand was currently about the time Ben had stolen his neighbor and crush’s underwear in high school and thrown them up in the highest tree in the neighborhood for all to see, something he was still to this day very proud of, when you suddenly felt Will’s face nuzzling into the crook between your neck and shoulder.

His nose grazed over your neck, moving the hair out of the way, so that he could press a kiss to the skin.

“I love you.” His gruff voice came right by your ear a second later, and you smiled, closing your eyes as he hugged you closer.

“I love you too, baby.” You mumbled, your smiled widening when he pressed another kiss to your skin, this time right at the corner of your lips.

“Hey, no more of that! You can bone each other later, preferably when we’re not here!” Ben’s voice yelled out, and before you got the time to react, you were hit in the face with a piece of lime peel.

You jumped, turning to glare at Ben who was smiling drunkenly at you, looking awfully pleased with himself.

“You’re the worst.” You told him, and he only stuck his tongue out at you, causing all of the others to fall into a fit of laughter.

Will started laughing too, his chest rumbling behind your back, the sound automatically causing the glare to fall from your face and be replaced by a smile.

You turned back to him, bringing your hands up to grab his face, causing his eyes to flicker up to yours.

He raised a questioning eyebrow at you and you smiled, bringing him closer.

“But you.” You mumbled, swiping your thumbs over his cheeks anf pausing to peck his lips, pressing your forehead against his once you came back apart. “Are the best.”

He smiled, leaning in to press his lips against yours in another kiss, but was cut short by another lime peel being thrown at your heads, followed by a second, a third and a fourth, forcing the two of you to come back apart to cover your heads as the guys continued to torment you until they were all out of peels.

It was a beautiful night in the middle of July and you were together, drinking, eating, laughing, talking and having a good time with your closest friends, wrapped up in the arms of the love of your life. Everything was perfect, and nothing could bring you down.

[maj0rmayhem]

I Wish I Were Blind (so i didn’t know) Ch 1

Chapter Title: The Curse of Sight (Klaus)

Warnings: Major Character Death, Injury Description

Summary: Something in Diego’s face snapped, crumbling as he turned his gaze away, “Klaus he’s not here because he’s dead, okay? I fucked up on the mission and couldn’t to him in time to stop it! Are you satisfied now?”

The Umbrella Academy learns of the death of their Number Six

An air of worry hung thick over the Academy. Diego and Ben were supposed to be back hours ago. If there was one thing that didn’t vary in their lives, it was schedules. Even on missions, Reginald built time in case anything went wrong, and when they had gone out, there had been two hours of what they liked to refer to as “shit hits the fan” time.

It was also when the first seeds of anxiety set in. Most missions didn’t even have an hour built in, much less two, and Ben and Diego had never been sent on a mission alone together, without the others there their powers were considered “too aggressive”. Klaus personally thought that was bullshit, but never really thought about it beyond that until now.

Now it was all he could think about. What had that meant, what it could mean. The house was dark. The five of them had snuck back into the living room after curfew to wait for their return. Luther and Allison were whispering in the corner, curled up near the fireplace, shoulders tense and eyes flickering around the room like all they had to do was wish hard enough and their waiting would be over. Five was sitting in one of the many armchairs, legs and arms crossed and trying his hardest to look bored, to make it look like the furrow in his brow was from aggravation and not mounting unease. Vanya was pacing, her steps blending with the rain pounding on the windows until they became one monotonous drone. And Klaus… Klaus was curled on the couch, his head tucked between his knees and replaying his last conversation with Ben over and over until the words distorted and bit at his already fraying emotions.

“I just, I dunno man, something about this seems really off Benny-Bear”

“God, somehow the nicknames just keep getting worse,”

“No! I’m serious! I know I haven’t gotten good at reading the cards yet -”

“Klaus, last week you swore up and down the cards were telling you to dye your hair pink,”

“Yeah and maybe if I had I would have avoided this haircut. But, that's not the point! Every time I look at them I keep getting Death. Like seriously. Last night I pulled Death four times. That's not physically possible! Are you going to try and tell me that’s not a sign?”

“I mean, it might have to do with something else. You are connected to Death, and besides, I’ll have Diego with m-”

“I’m serious, Ben! Something is seriously wrong and I just think you going on a mission with the one person you’re not supposed to at the same time is a little convenient!”

Klaus hadn’t used his name in years. Not since he found more amusement in nicknames. Ben was silent.

“I’m… scared, okay? You’re right, I don’t know exactly what they’re trying to tell me. But it can’t be anything good,”

“I’ll�� I’ll be careful, okay? You know I can’t just...not go. Lives are at risk, Klaus. I can’t… I can’t back out because I’m scared.”

The room was quiet for a moment. Thick with tension, until Ben retreated to the dresser (messy, but that was probably Klaus’s fault. He liked Ben’s mirror better). With a soft smile, he grabbed a small string bracelet. It was dark blue, with three faded purple beads on the center. The two had made them one night when Klaus had knocked on his door, in tears because of the screaming. It was the closest they ever got to a normal sibling activity. The smile grew slightly and he slipped it on while Klaus watched silently,

“For good luck, right? I’ll have you watching over me. You and your spooky friends.” Ben stepped forward and flicked at Klaus, who dodged out of the way and snorted,

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. We’ll be there to watch you get your ass kicked,” And then he surged up to wrap the other in a tight hug.

Now, he looked down and fiddled at the ratty bracelet on his own wrist. It had the inverted colors of Ben’s: purple string, and dark blue beads. Ben didn’t wear it with his uniform normally, not after the first time. Klaus didn’t give a shit what Father Dearest had to say about it.

Gradually, the occupants of the room left. First, Vanya and her pacing retreated up the steps, although Klaus doubted she would sleep. Then Allison and Luther, still whispering as they disappeared. The last to go was Five, but when he left, he literally disappeared, Klaus looked up and he was just gone, having jumped to god-knows-where.

So that left Klaus alone, wide awake and curled up and staring at the front door with an intensity like he could summon them. That's the way he stayed for the next hour, hardly moving, barely daring to breathe like doing so would break the silence and reveal his darkest fear.

He wasn’t sure when it happened. One moment he was starting to nod off, and the next moment there was the sound of a choked sob from the front foyer and a figure curled on the ground.

Klaus shot up so fast the world spun, but he rushed forward regardless.

“Ben? Diego? Are you guys alright? Where have you been?! We were all worried sick!”

Very softly, more like a sigh of wind than a voice, he heard, “K-Klaus?”

Said boy immediately dropped to his knees in front of the figure, “Yeah, Ben. Where’s Diego?”

“I-I don’t know. E-Everything was so chaotic, a-and we got separated and i-it really hurt and then… then…”

“Hey, hey, shh, it’s okay.” His hands hovered uncertainly over his brother, not sure if or where he was hurt, “Geez, you’re shaking like a leaf. Come on, let’s warm you up,”

The commotion brought footsteps echoing behind him. Light and hesitant. Vanya. He knew she wouldn’t be asleep.

“Vanya, thank god! Ben’s back and I… I think he’s hurt but I can’t see and I don’t want to leave him. Can you get the lights for me, pretty please?”

“Oh… oh my God, yeah. Yeah of course,” Warm yellow light flooded the room following the panicked exclamation, and Klaus immediately flinched backward.

Ben was covered in blood. That wasn’t technically what alarmed him (they’d all seen it before) (Well, except maybe Vanya) (which made her sudden silence… odd). For the first time, he could tell the blood was mostly Ben’s. There was a deep cut from his left temple to the bridge of his nose, he was curled protectively over his chest and stomach, where blood was steadily leaking, forming a pool beneath him. There were tear stain tracks through the grime on his face, and his mask was missing as he looked up at Klaus, confused and frightened.

“Jesus fuck!”

“Klaus, I don’t-” Vanya tried to cut in, only to be interrupted.

“Let me… let me get Mom or something… she, she can help just don’t… don’t move!”

Ben winced, “Klaus, wait -”

But before anyone could get any further than Klaus scrambling to his feet, the front door burst open in a loud crash, revealing Diego. He stood leaning on the doorway and there was a similar slash across his face, although it looked much shallower than the one marring Ben’s. His face was grim and somber as he looked at the startled group.

“Get the others,”

“B-But what about Ben! We can’t just… leave him here!” Klaus gestured wildly to the curled figure, who was looking between the two almost helplessly.

“We’re not leaving him anywhere because he’s not here, Klaus. Now is not the time for your games,” Diego’s reply was curt.

“What do you mean? He’s sitting right there and obviously bleeding out on our floor, Diego!”

Something in Diego’s face snapped, crumbling as he turned his gaze away, “Klaus he’s not here because he’s dead, okay? I screwed up on the mission and couldn’t get to him in time to stop it! Are you satisfied now?”

Everything in Klaus suddenly went very still, and his gaze slowly traveled back down to Ben, who underneath the fright on his face, his gaze looked unbearably guilty.

“Benny-Bear?” Klaus breathed, slowly slinking back to his knees and reaching for his brother, watching in an almost detached horror as his hand phased right through his shoulder.

“I… I tried to tell you, Klaus.” Ben murmured, looking up at his brother, the fright fully giving way to sadness.

“What… what happened?” It was Vanya who asked.

“We were separated, Ben… lost c-control and I couldn’t reach him fast enough to talk him down before it… ended,” Diego explained, voice rough as though he were fighting for each word.

“I didn’t even realize what happened at first. That was why I was so hysterical when you first found me,” Ben explained, shivering slightly, “No one ever told me being dead would be so cold,” He chuckled, but it was jagged and broken, lacking any mirth.

Klaus shook his head, ignoring whatever was going on above him as the rest scrambled into the room, “No. Fuck that, Ben. Fuck trying to be brave right now.” His voice broke, and he wiped aggressively at the tears on his face, breaking down as the weight of what talking to Ben right now truly meant hit him, “You just died. You get to be scared. You get to be- fuck Ben, you shouldn’t have to be going through this shit,” In that moment, Ben looked so small, he had always been one of the smallest, but now, curled up and covered in his own blood, breaking down, he had never looked smaller. He looked so lost, and confused and endlessly, endlessly frightened of what his existence would be as his cries caught in his throat. Klaus wanted nothing more than to gather him into his arms and assure him that it was okay, and he wouldn’t be alone. Instead, he let himself cry too, and though he knew Ben wouldn't feel it, silently placed one hand over top one of Ben’s relishing in the quiet feedback of energy back through his arm. Ben looked up and offered a watery smile, and Klaus returned it.

For years, he had wished to be rid of his powers, but now, at this moment, he was grateful for them. He may never hug his brother again, but he caught a glimpse of the bracelet still tied to Ben’s wrist and knew that he was luckier than most. He would learn to still have Ben, count himself lucky they could still be there for each other, for better or worse.

 It would have to be enough.

[nastyukulele]

The end of the Journal of Benjamin Jackson Callaghan

(WELP, since I’ve seen my first character die in the LxU story, I figured I’d close out my part in his story with a last journal entry and a letter that was never sent to his wife. Benjamin Jackson is the first Callaghan to hit Final Death and the first (primary) character of mine to die during a campaign.

@bloodoflordaeron )

Last Journal Entry

Apparently, these goddamned nazis have some sort of super dirigible type thing. Some sort of airship, called Valhalla or some such nonsense. Ain’t real sure about the details, but from the files we managed to find, looks like it acts like aircraft carrier. Ain’t that some shit? An aircraft carrier in the air? Well, can’t allow that, no question there. Even if it’s nazi engineering, some shit like that, dropping planes from the clouds and all that? Gonna fuck up the Allies lines something awful. We shoved in some sort of, I dunno, computer thing. Gonna be honest, ain’t really my area of expertise. All I did was push a few buttons. Added some thing to the whole project that I think was supposed to fuck it up. Some ‘Zero file’ or whatever. Well, thats not the end of that, but there is more in between that and what we’re heading out to do, so I gotta touch on a few other things first here.

So, after we found this thing all about valhalla or whatever, we were getting ready to leave this crazy nazi science factory. Then that damn nazi fellow, some commander or whatever threatening this nice scientist wizard lady, the one Mort’s sweet on, for her helping us out. Of course, us all being the good guys, we rushed off to her rescue.

Found her in this big factory floor place, all chained up and hanging over an honest to god pit of molten steel. With some wizard lady doing some evil magic shit. Hand to god, I swear that’s what was going on. Krautsberg or whatever his name was was on the other side in that teuton robot thing we fought before I died and became a vampire.

Well, always one for round two, not to mention there was even another one of them lifters there, I revved that bad boy up and drove her up. Not a tank, but definitely the next best thing given the circumstances we found ourselves in. Of course, first plan was to negotiate for the release of our friend and ally, and only let things get messy if we had no other recourse. Well, someone once said that plans never survive first contact or something like that. We got the girl safe, and Mister Krautsenburgen wanted us to do something for him in repayment. Of course, as we were getting ready to leave he decided that maybe we would turn on him and not hold up our end if we took the girl with us. Fair, since he wouldn’t really have any sort of guarantee we would complete his task. He decided to keep the girl with him

Armand, being an honorable and chivalrous chap didn’t take to kindly to that. Neither did that Crowley lass. Was time to throw down and so we did. Big ol’ violent fight, us, that wizard, the teuton thingy and a bunch of those little helmet-gun-robots. Then the flying armored fellows showed up and everything became a mess. Lucky for us we had a big ol’ robot of our own on our side. I managed to ram one of the armored fellows with my lifter, almost took him out. Shot another, almost dropped him too. I was, embarrassingly, rendered unconscious during the battle, but we managed to prevail in the end thanks to our mechanical ally. Even captured that robo teuton suit. I can’t wait to drive that thing around.

We’re gonna be heading into this nazi airfield place next seems like. Deal with that airship thing, make sure it goes down in flames for good. Might try and take the teuton out for a spin. Or that tank I swiped. I’d rather take a look at either of them, try and make sure they are up to snuff. After all, these ain’t good ol’ American machines. Gotta make sure they won’t break down in the middle of a fight. Should probably write to my wife too.

An unsent letter

Dearest Leilah

We’re getting ready for another mission. We’ve had quite the streak of successes. Blow after blow against the nazi war machine. I write to you to inform you of this and so that you can share news that we managed to capture an experimental nazi machine. A variation of tank that ain’t been seen on the field before. And, thanks to us, probably won’t be used against Allied forces. In fact, after we have our tech boys look it over, I plan on using it to wreak havoc against those bastard krauts. Pass this news along to Father, and inform him that, if possible, I intend to include blueprints that he can use in his factory once the intelligence boys give it the go-ahead.

In news unrelated to the combat missions we have been undergoing, we had the free time to visit a local carnival that had set up away from the conflict and the nazis in the forest. They had all sorts of delicious food, a fortune teller, some critters in cages including a tiger. They even had a fellow wrestling a bear. Of course, I took the opportunity to regale my comrades with my story of the time I won a woodland creature wrestling contest against some wolves and two bears. You know, the one I told you on our first date. I embellished it a bit further this time, to enhance the story and even better fit the fact that we were already witnessing a man wrestle a bear in a ring.

Folks in my company seemed to enjoy it, wanted to hear more of my stories too. Shared a few more, and a couple tales about Paul Bunyan, John Henry, all them good folktales from back home. Not all the folks we’ve picked up are American, whole bunch of them are from other Allied nations or local resistance forces. Getting to hear the stories and have some time to relax seemed to lighten spirits. I’ve got another mission soon. Real important this time. I know I always say this, but this one is a real big one. Stopping a major nazi project. As always, I can’t give you any details, just in case some kraut bastard intercepts this letter (if a kraut bastard is reading this: fick dich, du hässlicher kraut mutterficker) but I can tell you that success may turn the tide of the war tremendously in our favor, and failure may mean the jerries stand a chance at almost winning half the war.

I know that with your picture in my locket over my heart I shall succeed though. Ain’t nothing that can stop me as long as I have you in my mind and heart. I’ll make sure to mail you a scrap of the nazi machine we’re gonna bust up with my name etched into it.

Yours forever, Benny J.

[kittyactive]

February and March have been such busy month for me. Thought I really need to tell everyone my busy schedules the fun time I had with my friends, kids and family!

Month of February 

Birthday

February is my birthday month – sigh, another year older, nothing like a kid’s excitement when it’s his/her birthday, just hoping people do not squeeze to get me to tell my age… then followed by comments like ‘you look REALLY good for your age’! Enough the sympathy, I just don’t like to be reminded of my age that’s the truth. I didn’t do anything fancy on the actual day of my birthday, just took a day off on the day, enjoyed the luxury of dropping off kids at their classroom and managed to pop in an exaggerating smiling face to the teacher. Typical working mum guilty syndrome all over… I’ll stop here, otherwise it will be the kids or work talk again, the never ending working mum’s dilemma! Anyway, on my own birthday, I just really enjoyed the moment of fulfilling a mum duty that otherwise not possible on a normal working day for me…… Then on the Friday evening, I had a lovely meal with my dearest friends at Frankie and Benny‘s. Cocktail on offer – Hooray to my dearest friends! What do you do for your birthday? I’d love to hear your story about how to celebrate your birthday – just to give me some more ideas! Please leave your comments below to let me know!

Birthday cocktail!

  Scotland

Then there’s the excuse to visit my in-laws in Scotland because of my birthday. Kids are always looking forward to see their cousins in Scotland. When my kids and their 3 cousins gathering together, 3 girls and 2 boys are always having so much giggling about everything! It’s so lovely to see the kids having a lot of fun but it also makes every departure a difficult one as they are so fond of each other’s company. This time round, grandma Maggi suggested a swimming fun at the Double Tree Hotel by Hilton Strathclyde. What a lovely hotel! Even though my favorite hotel is under the MacDonald group that not only I had my 40th birthday there, we also booked in a MacDonald resort in Malaga, Spain! But Double Tree by Hilton is a good one, particularly the nice pool with Jacuzzi and sauna room along side the facility. It provides plenty of way to play with kids as well as a chance to enjoy yourself!

Double Tree Hilton Hotel Strathclyde

Swimming pool and jacuzzi hot tub

  Having lunch with grandma!

  NCT

As a charity volunteer, I devote some of my time to NCT (National Childbirth Trust) Preston, Fylde and District branch on a regular basis. I organise a group called NCT Stay and Play Group. It welcomes all parents, grandparents and carers alike with their kids to join in. The February group was taken place at Ham and Jam Cafe, a very family/kids friendly cafe located in the city centre of Preston. This month we were lucky to have a face-painter coming along and lending a hand to the group. She’s from from a local kids holiday club business called The Nest. My son M is sooo happy to have his face painted. Theme?! Ehhh just a green robot will do!

I have a robot face!

Book of the Month

February is also a book reading month! I was very happy that I finished a book – Water Witch by Carol Goodman. This is the 2nd book in The Fairwick Chronicles Series. It was recommended by a friends of mine, although it has an incubus as the centre of the story, who is a demon creature by nature praying on women to fall in love with him so he can turn into human shape. The whole story is rather romantic as Callie (the Water Witch) discovered herself really fall in love with him and he was willing to sacrifice his life for her in the end (ops, hope I didn’t ruin this for you for those who still want to read it yourself!) In the story there’s also a fairyland – Fay that Callie found out that she is the door keeper between the human world and the Fay. Creatures good or evil all played an important part in the story. I truly enjoyed this book and hope you would give it try here as well!

Like what you read so far? Join my free newsletter here!

  Month of March

NCT NNS

Through hard work and sheer determinations, 5 dedicated women volunteers (including myself) successfully delivered the charity NCT Sales (we called it Newly New Sales – NNS) on 11th March. The sales provides all parents and carers alike the opportunity to buy quality ‘nearly new’ children items, from clothing to toy, from cot bed to pram system and so on and on. We had about 100 sellers happily sent their items to sell at our NNS and an overwelming 250 buys turned up on the day. The chair lady Kate stayed almost 10 hours from the begining to the end. The sales generated about £3000 pounds of sales and 25% of the profit went to the NCT Headquarter! Well-done to all the ladies Kate, Emma, Natalie and Lorren, of course there’s myself. I managed to sell cupcake and hot/cold drink at the sales and raised £88 within 1 hour and half! Hooray!

Sadly our NCT Preston, Fylde and District branch is losing its chair ladies and facing closure after many years of hard work. The branch is still seeking for a new chair volunteer (until 1/05/2017) to take over and if you are interested please contact the branch’s Facebook page here!

NCT cake sale

  Hobby Craft

March is also a month running up to the preparation to Easter. I have discovered Hobby Craft has so many decoration and craft idea for Easter! They also have a ‘100s of lines at £1‘ sales on right now. I have got myself plenty of supply for kids’ to do their craft this Easter holiday break! Looking forward to the crafty fun! My girl B is always fond of making things, I also found their Easter bunny making a particular art project for her. Find out from their website and give it a try yourself!

Easter Bunny Making

Easter Crafts for Kids

ILM Course

Another thing worth mentioning here is I had a huge relief that I completed one of the biggest tasks I have to do for my ILM NVQ course. Phew! ILM is short for Institute of Leadership and Management. I feel extremely proud to be part of this and is studying toward a valuable qualification awarded by this reputable institute. Delivered by Preston College as an apprentice program, I will gain a Qualification on Principle of Leadership and Management as well as a NVQ Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management, double awards that’s the bonus! Although writing thousands of word on assignment isn’t exactly a fun task, I found the group discussion gives me so much inside about management! A guy called Garry told us how bad management could nearly cost him an electrocution death sentence -what the heck! Yep management IS really important in his company that’s for sure! Then again, I had to stand in front of the tutor to give presentation using the PowerPoint file I created myself, reciting all the words and try not script reading, a total challenge for me! I enjoyed the experience, particularly released when I received a few ‘good pass’ on the feedback mark sheet. Hours of practice has eventually paid off!

If you are interested in management theory or simply interested to know what ILM is about, please get in touch here, I will send you my PowerPoint presentation to you as a free resource, all you need to do is to get in touch and let me have your feedback!

ILM – Institute of Leadership and Management

Windermere Treetop Nets

We have been to Brockholes Windermere a few times, but never tried Treetop Nets until this March. It happened to be one of the rainy days, yet the kids enjoyed the 3-meter high up play in the trees (rain wasn’t heavy and stopped eventually!). According to their website, they are a UK first treetop adventure. Adults and children alike can all play in the walls of netting up and down the slide, kicking a ball or two, chasing around each other without any safety hazard. In the past when we came to Brockholes Windermere, most of the activities we do are walk around garden and the little children park. This is because most of the activities here are adventurous and targeting to older age children or adult. This is the first time M could join in as Treetop Nets accepts kids from age of 3 and above, so he pretty much enjoyed the ‘big kids’ game this time!

  Mother’s Day 

Last but not the least it’s about my Mother’s Day Sunday. I had a well-attempted ‘serving-mum-breakfast-in-bed’ style treat from my 10-year-old daughter B. Never mind fairy cake for breakfast, I got buttered toasts made by B herself with no help from daddy, plus some nice chocolate flower buds and a lovely heart-shaped balloon with a bear mum and a bear kid! Only my 4-year-old son M was too eager to ‘try’ the flower buds, that he forgot to leave one for his big sister… ‘all tried and they taste good’ he told B!!!(I was trying very hard not to laugh out loud…)

How’s your Mother’s Day Sunday? Would love to hear about your treat! Please leave your comments below.

Mother’s day treat

  That’s it from me now, hopefully I will be back here soon to tell you all about my Easter!

  The post Busy February and March! appeared first on .

[workingmumkitty]

February and March have been such busy month for me. Thought I really need to tell everyone my busy schedules the fun time I had with my friends, kids and family!

Month of February 

Birthday

February is my birthday month – sigh, another year older, nothing like a kid’s excitement when it’s his/her birthday, just hoping people do not squeeze to get me to tell my age… then followed by comments like ‘you look REALLY good for your age’! Enough the sympathy, I just don’t like to be reminded of my age that’s the truth. I didn’t do anything fancy on the actual day of my birthday, just took a day off on the day, enjoyed the luxury of dropping off kids at their classroom and managed to pop in an exaggerating smiling face to the teacher. Typical working mum guilty syndrome all over… I’ll stop here, otherwise it will be the kids or work talk again, the never ending working mum’s dilemma! Anyway, on my own birthday, I just really enjoyed the moment of fulfilling a mum duty that otherwise not possible on a normal working day for me…… Then on the Friday evening, I had a lovely meal with my dearest friends at Frankie and Benny‘s. Cocktail on offer – Hooray to my dearest friends! What do you do for your birthday? I’d love to hear your story about how to celebrate your birthday – just to give me some more ideas! Please leave your comments below to let me know!

Birthday cocktail!

  Scotland

Then there’s the excuse to visit my in-laws in Scotland because of my birthday. Kids are always looking forward to see their cousins in Scotland. When my kids and their 3 cousins gathering together, 3 girls and 2 boys are always having so much giggling about everything! It’s so lovely to see the kids having a lot of fun but it also makes every departure a difficult one as they are so fond of each other’s company. This time round, grandma Maggi suggested a swimming fun at the Double Tree Hotel by Hilton Strathclyde. What a lovely hotel! Even though my favorite hotel is under the MacDonald group that not only I had my 40th birthday there, we also booked in a MacDonald resort in Malaga, Spain! But Double Tree by Hilton is a good one, particularly the nice pool with Jacuzzi and sauna room along side the facility. It provides plenty of way to play with kids as well as a chance to enjoy yourself!

Double Tree Hilton Hotel Strathclyde

Swimming pool and jacuzzi hot tub

  Having lunch with grandma!

  NCT

As a charity volunteer, I devote some of my time to NCT (National Childbirth Trust) Preston, Fylde and District branch on a regular basis. I organise a group called NCT Stay and Play Group. It welcomes all parents, grandparents and carers alike with their kids to join in. The February group was taken place at Ham and Jam Cafe, a very family/kids friendly cafe located in the city centre of Preston. This month we were lucky to have a face-painter coming along and lending a hand to the group. She’s from from a local kids holiday club business called The Nest. My son M is sooo happy to have his face painted. Theme?! Ehhh just a green robot will do!

I have a robot face!

Book of the Month

February is also a book reading month! I was very happy that I finished a book – Water Witch by Carol Goodman. This is the 2nd book in The Fairwick Chronicles Series. It was recommended by a friends of mine, although it has an incubus as the centre of the story, who is a demon creature by nature praying on women to fall in love with him so he can turn into human shape. The whole story is rather romantic as Callie (the Water Witch) discovered herself really fall in love with him and he was willing to sacrifice his life for her in the end (ops, hope I didn’t ruin this for you for those who still want to read it yourself!) In the story there’s also a fairyland – Fay that Callie found out that she is the door keeper between the human world and the Fay. Creatures good or evil all played an important part in the story. I truly enjoyed this book and hope you would give it try here as well!

Like what you read so far? Join my free newsletter here!

  Month of March

NCT NNS

Through hard work and sheer determinations, 5 dedicated women volunteers (including myself) successfully delivered the charity NCT Sales (we called it Newly New Sales – NNS) on 11th March. The sales provides all parents and carers alike the opportunity to buy quality ‘nearly new’ children items, from clothing to toy, from cot bed to pram system and so on and on. We had about 100 sellers happily sent their items to sell at our NNS and an overwelming 250 buys turned up on the day. The chair lady Kate stayed almost 10 hours from the begining to the end. The sales generated about £3000 pounds of sales and 25% of the profit went to the NCT Headquarter! Well-done to all the ladies Kate, Emma, Natalie and Lorren, of course there’s myself. I managed to sell cupcake and hot/cold drink at the sales and raised £88 within 1 hour and half! Hooray!

Sadly our NCT Preston, Fylde and District branch is losing its chair ladies and facing closure after many years of hard work. The branch is still seeking for a new chair volunteer (until 1/05/2017) to take over and if you are interested please contact the branch’s Facebook page here!

NCT cake sale

  Hobby Craft

March is also a month running up to the preparation to Easter. I have discovered Hobby Craft has so many decoration and craft idea for Easter! They also have a ‘100s of lines at £1‘ sales on right now. I have got myself plenty of supply for kids’ to do their craft this Easter holiday break! Looking forward to the crafty fun! My girl B is always fond of making things, I also found their Easter bunny making a particular art project for her. Find out from their website and give it a try yourself!

Easter Bunny Making

Easter Crafts for Kids

ILM Course

Another thing worth mentioning here is I had a huge relief that I completed one of the biggest tasks I have to do for my ILM NVQ course. Phew! ILM is short for Institute of Leadership and Management. I feel extremely proud to be part of this and is studying toward a valuable qualification awarded by this reputable institute. Delivered by Preston College as an apprentice program, I will gain a Qualification on Principle of Leadership and Management as well as a NVQ Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management, double awards that’s the bonus! Although writing thousands of word on assignment isn’t exactly a fun task, I found the group discussion gives me so much inside about management! A guy called Garry told us how bad management could nearly cost him an electrocution death sentence -what the heck! Yep management IS really important in his company that’s for sure! Then again, I had to stand in front of the tutor to give presentation using the PowerPoint file I created myself, reciting all the words and try not script reading, a total challenge for me! I enjoyed the experience, particularly released when I received a few ‘good pass’ on the feedback mark sheet. Hours of practice has eventually paid off!

If you are interested in management theory or simply interested to know what ILM is about, please get in touch here, I will send you my PowerPoint presentation to you as a free resource, all you need to do is to get in touch and let me have your feedback!

ILM – Institute of Leadership and Management

Windermere Treetop Nets

We have been to Brockholes Windermere a few times, but never tried Treetop Nets until this March. It happened to be one of the rainy days, yet the kids enjoyed the 3-meter high up play in the trees (rain wasn’t heavy and stopped eventually!). According to their website, they are a UK first treetop adventure. Adults and children alike can all play in the walls of netting up and down the slide, kicking a ball or two, chasing around each other without any safety hazard. In the past when we came to Brockholes Windermere, most of the activities we do are walk around garden and the little children park. This is because most of the activities here are adventurous and targeting to older age children or adult. This is the first time M could join in as Treetop Nets accepts kids from age of 3 and above, so he pretty much enjoyed the ‘big kids’ game this time!

  Mother’s Day 

Last but not the least it’s about my Mother’s Day Sunday. I had a well-attempted ‘serving-mum-breakfast-in-bed’ style treat from my 10-year-old daughter B. Never mind fairy cake for breakfast, I got buttered toasts made by B herself with no help from daddy, plus some nice chocolate flower buds and a lovely heart-shaped balloon with a bear mum and a bear kid! Only my 4-year-old son M was too eager to ‘try’ the flower buds, that he forgot to leave one for his big sister… ‘all tried and they taste good’ he told B!!!(I was trying very hard not to laugh out loud…)

How’s your Mother’s Day Sunday? Would love to hear about your treat! Please leave your comments below.

Mother’s day treat

  That’s it from me now, hopefully I will be back here soon to tell you all about my Easter!