#he corrects her and she understands the second time he explains but she already decided she just likes bringing him gifts

[artlyloser]

tiny bit obsessed with the dynamic I have crafted in my head between my githyanki paladin and her wife Gale Dekarios

[shysuccubusstuff]

cozy afternoon! zayne

Content: NSFW content, masturbation (solo), no actual intercourse.

Plot: So, there's this line in which the game states that the MC forgot her clothes within the bathroom... what if she forgot something else?...

Note: Non-proof reader, sorry for not posting for a while. Hope you all like it :).

Number of words: 1,8K.

It was quite sudden, to be honest.

Just as you had finished your shower, there was a sudden knock on your door. When you looked through the small peephole, you were able to see Zayne there, waiting at your front door, his hair drenched by the sudden storm that started while he went out with some of his work mates after being pestered by almost each single female that worked there (as well as most males that actually saw him as some kind of idol) during around three whole weeks.

It took you a few seconds realize that Zayne was indeed there, at your door, his face was a bit flushed, and he was still wearing his formal attire which he used while he was at work. Luckily, he had been able to finish most of the paperwork he had, so he could allow himself to get some rest (not like he was taking advantage of the sudden storm, of course not). Your eyes were nailed to his pretty face, although something else quickly gained your attention, his clothes were completely drenched, making his shirt a bit translucent, just enough for you to be able to see his chest and fit body. He must have noticed it, as he suddenly got a bit flushed, his hands trying to hide his body just a bit. Finally, you were able to answer him, "Oh yeah! Of course, just enter the bathroom, you should have a shower, I'll try to search for something that may fit you." Just as you were about to run towards your room, Zayne spoke, "Are you sure you haven't left anything inside the bathroom?" You quickly denied it, rushing to your bedroom without allowing him to say whatever he was about to say.

After a few minutes, you were finally able to calm down, you took the clothes that could perhaps fit him (they were Xavier’s clothes, left by him in case he wanted to take a comfy nap in your own apartment), after clearing one of the main issues, you decided to start to prepare dinner, as it was already past eleven o’clock. While you were already cutting up the ingredients, a realization came to you. Your clothes! You had left your clothes (including your underwear) inside the bathroom, of course Zayne would have seen it by now! Despite that, you once again rushed, this time to the bathroom, you tried to be as quiet as a mouse, opening the door slowly, perhaps Zayne was still in the bathroom, sadly, this was not the case, as when you opened the door you found quite a sight.

Zayne, Zayne with his hair drenched, little droplets of water running down his body, his hand was wrapped around his shaft, your pretty underwear was also wrapped around it, his hand moving it up and down his length, as he tried to cover his soft moans by biting his lips. Just as you were about to leave the bathroom, he quickly turned around, his face completely flushed as he attempted to cover himself (unable to do so despite how hard he tried), you tried to explain yourself, “Oh, I just—remembered I had left my…clothes here, but it seems I was mistaken, I will search for them around my house, leave when you feel like it!” Of course that was a failed attempt to flee, as he quickly took you by your wrist. The towel was hiding his raging erection, but he still tried to remain as calmed as he was able to: “I’m…I’m sorry, I don’t know what took over me, you must be quite disgusted, I would completely understand if you wanted me to leave right now.” Well, how could you put it? Disgusted? Far from it, you were actually kinda (maybe way too) horny, I mean, seeing the man you loved losing it just because of your clothes? …Let’s be honest you were about to lose your mind, who could imagine someone as serious and “correct” as Zayne would lose his temper just from seeing the underwear of the person he loved. Just as he tried to make way for him to leave the bathroom, you got on his way, stopping him midway. “I don’t find you disgusting nor I want you to leave, Zayne, you-you are nothing if not precious to me.” Zayne’s hands tightened against the towel that was tied around his waist, almost as if trying to hold back. “I…I really don’t want you to feel somewhat pressured by this…this event” His face was much more flushed than before, perhaps it was just because of the embarrassment of being extremely close to you (of course not because of the little distance between his naked body and you).

You didn’t allow him to think it for longer, as you quickly pressed your lips against his. It was just a poor attempt of a real kiss, but it worked just as a spark, quickly making the doubtfulness of Zayne be blown away, his hands moved to your waist, caressing it as if it was the finest piece of art. His lips corresponded yours, swiftly taking charge of the kiss while his hands kept going up and down your back, sending small shivers down your spine. Who could image how experienced Zayne seemed at that moment?

Before you were able to respond, he had already taken both of you out of the small bathroom, having you on top of his lap as he made you a mess just through his tender hands and slightly cold lips, almost feeling as if you were about to melt on his hands. Despite Zayne had remained silent for a few minutes, it seemed that having you there all for himself gave him just enough confidence for him to actually state his feelings: “I have been trying so hard to simply ignore it, even to the point of wishing we had never met, but I have realized it is impossible, my soul is far too attached to you to even think about not meeting in our next lives. I no longer try to hide or avoid my own feelings, as I am well aware of them, I just… I don’t want to have you carry my own burden.” His eyes seemed to glisten with a mixture of nostalgia, desire and pure love. Regardless of that, you knew that he would refuse to develop that complex gaze, he did indeed avoid it, as his lips were once again kissing yours, the sudden warmth making your head spin a bit.

His little game kept going for a few minutes, sometimes allowing himself to play with your covered nipples over the little t-shirt you were wearing, making Zayne lose a bit more of his control every time your lips parted letting those soft pants and moans leave your mouth, or when you are slowly grinded against him, his hips rising just for him get a bit more friction, just a bit more.

The situation got even worse when you suddenly pulled away, leaving Zayne all high on the feeling, his cold hands tightly gripping your waist, not allowing you to move even an inch away from him, almost as if he was afraid of you disappearing from his grasp. His once cold hands were quite warm, perhaps as a result of the mixture between the alcohol in his veins and the extremely… sticky situation. He got you closer to him, keeping his hands just where they had been, “Why are you trying to run away from me?... Don’t you love me?” The cold exterior of Zayne was suddenly melting, his expression turning even softer against you, his head resting against your shoulder, as he whispered those soft words, a slightly possessive undertone kept lingering around his words, almost as if he was trying to enchant you with his velvety voice whispering sweet nothings against you. Zayne hands kept going up your back, starting to play with the fastener. When did he learn to be so…cute?

Despite his tactics, you tried to recover the composure, yes, you both may have kissed (perhaps even more kissing…), but you shouldn’t cross that kind of line, not when Zayne was barely able to keep his eyes open, Sadly, Zayne didn’t even flinch, regardless of how many times you tried to make him understand that you did in fact like him, but you preferred doing this type of stuff when he was completely there, not just half of his conscience. Making a small fuss, Zayne kept playing with your soft chest, finally getting rid of your bra and starting to play with your pretty nipples, pinching them every time you tried to re-explain why doing that kind of thing right now could be a bad idea, and how he should wait for some other day. He put one of his hands over your mouth, getting on top of you and lowering his face just enough for his lips to caress one of your nipples, starting to play with it, sucking on it as he smiled wickedly, his other hand  playing with your other nipple, making you let out soft moans despite you knew how you should try to stop him before he could regret it the following morning. He stopped for a second, speaking way too close to your chest and letting his warm breath against your skin. “Would you let me pleasure you…? Just a little, I promise.” He looked just like a lost puppy; how could you refuse him? So of course, you (once again) gave in, allowing him to get rid of your soft pyjama pants together with your underwear. He moved away from you, lowering so he could align his mouth with your sweet cunt, allowing his tongue to enter you slowly, sucking on your clit while one of his hands started to play with your entrance, other times caressing your clit until it was all sensitive, making you cry out every time he decided to act mean, sucking on it while his finger entered you, wiping the tears that fell down your cheeks due to the overstimulation.

He prologued this sweet torture until you became just a crying mess, babbling incoherent words as you tried to get him to move away, just enough for you to feel less lightheaded. Unfortunately, it didn’t matter how much you tried to move him, his sturdy arms were keeping you at your place, not allowing you to move even an inch without him pressing down on you, making you feel breathless as his body towered over your frame. “Please…my mind is hazy…” Your words seemed to fall into deaf ears, as his tongue and fingers kept torturing your sweet cunt, making you cum over and over his mouth, swallowing your alluring fluids, only stopping when you were on the verge of passing out. His warm hands took your limp body, switching positions and letting you rest on his chest. He took the soft blanket that was placed on the other duvet, covering both of you and interlocking his arms around his beloved one.

[fluentmoviequoter]

Mini Me

Requested Here!

Pairing: Tim Bradford x shy!fem!reader

Summary: After giving birth to your twin boys, Tim is upset that they look just like you. He's momentarily distracted by a visit from the godparents, Angela Lopez and one of your best friends, who Tim only refers to as soldier.

Warnings: fluff! soft Tim! a quote from The Godfather, inspired by/based on the Modern Family scene in the request

Word Count: 1.3k+ words

Picture from Pinterest

“It’s not fair, that’s all I’m saying,” Tim insists.

You hum, tilting your forehead toward the baby in your arms.

“They’re half of me,” Tim grumbles.

“Is he still upset they look just like you?” a kind nurse asks as she enters the room.

Tim huffs, and you smile as you give her a nod. She takes the baby from your arms and moves it to the nearby crib. You watch as she looks over your new baby boy.

“You know I’m not really mad, right?” Tim whispers at your side. “To be straight with you, I’m glad they’re mini yous. I mean, I’m not thrilled that they seem to like you more, but they did just spend a lot of quality time with you, I can understand missing that.”

Lifting the shoulder closest to him, you try to hide. Your shyness evaporates when Tim puts the second baby boy in your arms.

“We do good work,” Tim says, one hand on your shoulder while he brushes a finger over the younger twins’ cheek.

“You certainly do,” the nurse answers. “How are you feeling, Mom?”

“I’m okay,” you answer softly.

“Well, let me know if that changes or if this husband of yours gets too big for his britches.”

“I would never,” Tim replies, a dramatic hand raised to his chest. “She loves it when I tease her.”

“Yeah, she seems overjoyed. Press the call button if you need anything, hun.”

You smile as she leaves, purposefully avoiding meeting Tim’s eyes.

“Have my kids and immediately fall out of love with me.”

Tim’s tone lets you see his smile even though you’re looking in the opposite direction. Leaning back, you sigh when your cheek hits his arm. He’s been by your side throughout the pregnancy, but everything shifted when you went into labor. He still teases you constantly, but you’ve never seen him so happy.

“I need to take these beauties out for just a minute,” another nurse says, moving your twins into the cribs and rolling them out. “Just a quick checkup and they’ll be back. You also have some visitors; they’ll be in shortly.”

Tim thanks the nurses, taking your hand in his.

“Who’s coming?” you ask, glancing up at him.

Already looking at you, Tim smiles when he meets your eyes. “Angela and Wesley, Lucy, solider.”

“He has a name,” you point out. “And you were a soldier too.”

“I was better.”

“I, uh, I offered to let you choose both godparents,” you whisper.

“Hey, look at me,” Tim requests, brushing his fingertips over your jaw as you look up again. “I’m just teasing you. I- I’ve never been this happy, and I’m glad that you have someone like soldier to trust as the godfather.”

“Well, you can do anything, but never go against the family.”

“Nerd,” Tim jokes.

Closing your eyes, you hide again. Tim’s used to it, and his kind hand on your arm is an apology. Though you’re not sure he’s ever really been sorry.

“Are we in the right place?” Lucy asks, opening the door to your suite. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m great,” Tim answers.

“I don’t think she was talking to you,” Wesley interjects with a smile.

“Well you know it’s just emotional.”

“I’m also good,” you answer. “We have two little boys.”

“She’s happy ‘cause they look just like her,” Tim grumbles.

“Dodged a bullet,” Wesley jokes, nodding once in your direction.

“What are their names?” Lucy asks excitedly.

“We haven’t decided yet,” Tim explains. “We can’t narrow it down past three.”

“You can’t,” you correct under your breath.

“Tim, this is for you,” Lucy says, pulling a mug from her bag.

“Best dad?” Tim reads.

“Yeah, I bought it for my dad, but Tamara wouldn’t let me give it to him, said it wasn’t true or something.”

“Wow. Uh, thank you... I think.”

“How was your vacation, Wesley?” you ask. “Sorry Angela cut it short when I called.”

“We were happy to come back. I’m pretty sure we’d tried every restaurant in a five-mile radius of the hotel anyway.”

“Hey, everybody,” your first (and favorite) nurse calls.

“Where are the babies? I want to see them!” Lucy exclaims.

“The godparents wanted to do something; they’ll be right in.”

“This is so much worse than I thought.” Tim sighs, running a hand over his jaw.

The nurse turns the light off and presses a button on a phone, 'The Circle of Life' from The Lion King filling the room. Tim sighs again, lightly squeezing your hand.

Angela and your best friend, whom Tim (lovingly) calls soldier, enter in matching robes, each carrying a baby.

“I love this!” Lucy whispers, clapping her hands over her chest.

Stopping at the end of your bed, Angela and soldier wait for the nurse to turn on a flashlight to hold the babies up, imitating the scene when Simba is lifted over the rock.

“Where did they get the matching robes?” Wesley asks.

“They’re so beautiful,” Lucy gushes, rushing to Angela to meet the babies.

Tim’s hand moves to your shoulder when he sees your tears. You never imagined being this happy and lucky to have friends and family who care about you and treat your children as their own. Leaning your cheek on Tim’s hand, you smile as you watch Lucy and Wesley take your sons.

“Your dad is probably gonna buy you dog beds, but I’ll be the best aunt you could dream of,” Lucy tells the older twin.

“I can hear you, boot,” Tim calls, not moving away from you.

“You’re next, huh?” Angela asks Lucy.

“Oh, no, please don’t,” Lucy begs.

“Soldier,” Tim greets, shaking his hand before walking from you to hug Angela.

“Thank you for coming,” you tell him.

“Of course. Nothing I wouldn’t do for my best friend and her babies, and the guy that helped make them.”

You chuckle at him, offering your hand. “Where did you get the robes?”

“Oh, that wasn’t me. Angela had them made when you asked us to be the godparents; been carrying them around since then.”

Glancing at Angela, she doesn’t look away from the baby in her arms to say, “Hey, it pays to be prepared. Lucy’s just lucky I’m not in the same realm as her, she wouldn’t stand a chance if I was an aunt, too.”

“That’s not fair,” Lucy accuses.

“And labeling yourself as an aunt to my kids is?” Tim asks.

“I didn’t label myself, it’s basic relations. You tolerate me, which is practically an acknowledgement that I’m family.”

“I- why do I even bother?” Tim asks himself.

“No one knows,” Angela and Lucy answer together.

“You’re going to let them talk to the father of your children like this?” Tim pouts as he looks at you.

“Man, you’re begging for me to get in on this,” soldier adds, shaking his head. “There’s a reason they’re already mama’s boys.”

“Don’t start with me, soldier.”

“You do know I’m going to be around more because I’m the godfather, right?”

Tim points at you before you can quote the movie again. After Lucy trades babies with Wesley and Angela moves to talk to the one in Wesley’s arms, Tim returns to your side.

“I think you’re right about the names,” Tim admits as he holds your hand between his.

“Yeah, about that…” Wesley begins.

“This is ‘Boot’ because he’s a kicker, and this is ‘Tiny Tim’ because he grumbles like you,” Lucy explains, pointing to the twins as she gives them nicknames.

“You nicknamed my kids after the term for rookies and a sick kid? You’re a terrible aunt,” Tim replies.

“Tim,” you warn quietly.

Everyone silences, looking between you and Tim with wide eyes.

“Sorry,” Tim says (reluctantly and begrudgingly).

“She’s right, though, he acts just like you,” you tell Tim, kissing his knuckles quickly.

“Can you survive two of me?” Tim asks.

“As long as you don’t tease both versions of me.”

Angela, Lucy, Wesley, and soldier talk to your babies, and you look on with a smile. Tim was right: you did good work.

[heartbreakprincehbk]

Lucky (Kerry Von Erich x Reader)

Words: 2401

Summary: Requested by anon! Reader isn't into Valentine's Day, but Kerry insists on giving her a surprise Valentine's Day date at home. Thanks for the request, hope y'all enjoy!

*images from pinterest

“Any plans for Valentine’s Day tomorrow?” You looked up briefly in mild annoyance and had to remind yourself it wasn’t the grocery store clerk’s fault that they happened to be the third person to ask you that this week.

“No.” You said, giving a stiff smile as you gave them the cash for your items. 

“Yeah, I understand. This time of year is no fun single.” They said, continuing the conversation as they counted out your cash. You debated whether it was worth it to correct them before deciding to keep your mouth shut. “Well, have a great day anyways.” You mumbled something of the same and grabbed your groceries, purposefully looking away from the big Valentine’s display of candies and flowers on your way out of the store.

It wasn’t that you hated love, or even that you were single, it all just seemed kind of pointless. A big over-commercialized competition to make everyone feel bad as though they had to quantify their love with big expensive displays of affection. You simply believed that showing your love in other ways every other day of the year meant more than a big show one day of the year.

Besides, with Valentine’s Day falling on a Saturday, you were more than certain your boyfriend, Kerry Von Erich, was going to be slamming other men into the wrestling mat. You were used to that sort of thing, and it was much worse not having him around on Christmas or Thanksgiving. It was nearly impossible to complain; you knew it bothered him more than you from the pained look in his puppy dog eyes every time he had to leave. You did your best not to make him feel any worse about it. You could handle one Valentine’s Day alone compared to those.

Kerry knew you weren’t a big fan of Valentine’s Day. The very first one you spent together, Kerry had given you a dozen roses, a giant teddy bear, and chocolates, and while you thanked him, you very quickly let him know your preferences. 

“You don’t have to spend all that money on me, it’s not a big deal.” To say he was confused was an understatement.

“Is this a test to make sure I actually still buy you gifts next Valentine’s Day?” Kerry checked. 

“No!” You giggled. “I just don’t think it’s necessary to make a big deal out of one day and waste money.” You hoped he got the message. Really, just being with Kerry was a gift of its own. 

Now, another Valentine’s Day was upon you. So far so good as you woke up with no fanfare. Kerry had already gotten up and was working out in the garage as per usual. When you finally made it downstairs to make some breakfast, Kerry made his appearance. He froze when he saw you.

“Good morning,” you greeted him. He hesitated, looking you over like you were a word puzzle he was trying to figure out. Eventually, he was able to speak. 

“Hey–oh, good morning. So hey, baby, uh…so, my mom and Mike wanted to take you to lunch today.” He explained somewhat awkwardly. You frowned a little.

“But I just saw her for lunch yesterday. She didn’t mention it.” You said. Kerry scratched his head, avoiding your gaze and giving a half-shrug.

“Yeah, uh…well, I think it was last minute. Maybe, uh…Mike’s idea.” You frowned a little. “I gotta shower and go meet Kev. My mom said she would pick you up around 1 pm.” Your frown deepened.

“Okay.” You said, smiling slightly when he pressed a kiss to the side of your head on his way out of the kitchen. 

Doris was right on time with Mike in tow. The three of you went into town to the local deli, where Mike proceeded to take much longer than normal to eat his sandwich. 

“Are you feeling okay?” You asked him. Normally, Mike inhaled his food in three seconds. He looked panicked at your question and took a big bite of his food, prolonging his response.

“I’m fine. Why?” He asked, eyes shifting. You laughed a little. “I’m not acting weird.” From the corner of your eye, you saw Doris shaking her head.

“I didn’t say you were acting weird, but I’m wondering if I need to go complain about your sandwich because normally it would have been gone by now.” You said casually, smiling as Mike’s eyes grew even more panicked.

“No, no! It’s uh, good. Really. I’m just…trying to eat slower. You know, um…avoid choking.” You were biting back a laugh. “Um. Do you have any plans tonight?”

“Mike.” Doris reprimanded. 

“It’s okay.” You said, smiling. “No, I’m just planning on catching up on cleaning and maybe I’ll treat myself to a hot bath and tea or ice cream or something. I know Kerry has his show; if it were closer I would be there.”

“You know, it’s been nice weather the last few days for February. I haven’t had to worry about the plants freezing.” Doris said suddenly with a smile. You nodded, listening pleasantly to her latest tale of trying to keep her vegetable garden alive. 

After lunch you assumed you would all go separate ways, until Mike blurted out. “Uh, Y/N, I was gonna meet Kev at the record store down the street. Do you want to come?” You frowned a little.

“I thought Kerry was meeting Kevin somewhere today?” Mike swallowed.

“Oh, uh…maybe, maybe earlier for a second, but Kev said he was free this afternoon.” 

Your mind was turning. Had Kerry lied to you? You did your best to hide your thoughts as you said goodbye to Doris and walked with Mike to the record store. 

You were positive Mike sifted through every record in that store, but you knew how much music meant to him, so you said nothing and waited patiently, flipping through a stack on your own here and there. You noticed after a while he was hanging on to an Eagles record. 

“Is that a good one?” You asked. Mike shrugged shyly.

“I’ve had my eye on it for a while.” You smiled and took it from his hands.

“My treat. Come on,” his eyes stretched wide. 

“What? Really? But Y/N, you don’t…”

“Tell me if it’s any good.” You insisted as he followed you to the checkout line. “You know, you’ve shown me some great stuff already. I always go to you if I want something new.” You smiled at the way the youngest brother averted his gaze with a bashful chuckle, his cheeks already turning red. Right as you were paying, Kevin walked in the door. 

“Hey you two. Mike, what did you find this time?” Mike excitedly showed his record to Kevin who nodded in approval, before he looked at you. “C’mon, you two. Let’s get you home, Y/N.” He seemed to be in a hurry; that made sense due to the brothers having a wrestling show a town over that night. 

You wanted to ask Kevin about Kerry, but you knew it wasn’t really Kevin’s place or fault if Kerry was lying to you. Was it possible that he had met someone else, was he using the holiday to woo some new girl, maybe a fan he had met? Suddenly, the idea of Kerry waking you up with a dozen roses sent a longing pang through your heart, but you pushed the thought away. You would simply ask Kerry later. 

For now, you focused on the moment you had with Kevin and Mike, laughing in the car together about the last time Ric Flair was in town and the less than welcoming reception he had received, and how Kevin had nearly taken the win and trying not to give into the disappointed feeling creeping up on you.

“See you boys,” you said as Kevin’s truck pulled up in front of your house. “Good luck tonight, Kev. Enjoy that record, Mike!” They both waved and you sighed a little, walking up towards the sure-to-be empty house. The sun was beginning to set ever so slightly, the sky growing more orange and casting shadows over the lawn. Now alone, you allowed yourself to feel crest-fallen. 

You pushed your key reluctantly into the lock, resigning yourself to the evening you had described earlier, only to stop once the door swayed open. In the distance, you could hear faint music playing. You listened for a moment, frowning in confusion. It was a cheesy ballad—Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time.” The lights were off, and you made your way towards the kitchen, where the music was loudest and a hint of warm light was spilling into the hallway.

“Kerry?” You called, gasping at what you saw. Kerry was standing waiting next to the dining table, fighting a big smile, his chin raised and hands behind his back. He was wearing jeans and an apron designed to look like a tuxedo with nothing underneath. The table was covered in a white table cloth and at the center was a big vase of cascading roses, along with more scattered rose petals and two dinner plates. Candles were everywhere, from the table to the kitchen counters, and even a few tea lights on the ground.

“Kerry! What is all of this?” You demanded, frozen on the spot, laughing at his apron. An overwhelming sense of happiness, love, and surprise filled you as you looked from him to the area surrounding you.

“I cooked dinner.” He explained, as if he were discussing the weather, laughing finally as you laughed.

“But why? Kerry, you should be halfway to Tyler right now for the show!” His grin widened.

“Yeah, I know. But Kev’s covering for me; he’s gonna wrestle the tag match and take my spot in the main event too.” 

“What! Why?” You repeated. Kerry laughed again as if you were missing the point and walked closer, wrapping his large arm over the top of your shoulders to pull you closer and kiss the top of your head. 

“You sure do ask a lot of questions.” He noted into your hair, making you chuckle. “Because you’re important and I love you.” He grabbed your hand and led you to the table, pulling out your chair for you to sit before sitting across from you.

“Kerry…” you breathed, looking down at the plate. It was a very impressive looking chicken Parmesan on a bed of pasta. “This looks amazing.” He smiled.

“Thank you. Just don’t look at the sink.” You giggled, imagining a mountain of dishes and utensils. “I’ve been practicing with mom the last two weeks. I think it turned out perfect this time—the first time the chicken was too tough. Anyway, I think I’ve nailed it now.” You were blown away by the effort; Kerry could cook simple and remedial dishes, but an entire entree was surprising. “Try it and tell me what you think.”

He seemed to be waiting to take a bite of his own food until you took yours. You stared at his anxious face as you took the first bite.

“Kerry, this is so good. Wow. You’re definitely gonna have to make this again.” He was back to glowing from your praise. “But, I mean, I still don’t understand why.” His smile softened.

“I know you always said you don’t want a big deal made out of Valentine’s Day and not to fuss over you, but…I can’t help it. I love you, Y/N. I want to do these things. You always said you don’t want me to buy anything, or go out anywhere, so I decided the best way to show you how much I love you is to treat you at home.” 

“And your mother and Mike? Were they in on it too?” Kerry laughed.

“I asked them to hold you up for as long as they could to give me time to decorate and cook.” Suddenly, everything made sense–Mike taking his time eating, dragging you through every corner of the record store, Doris trying to keep your mind off of Valentine’s Day, even Kevin. Suddenly you wondered how you missed all the signs. 

“And you didn’t actually go to meet Kevin.” He looked almost sheepish.

“No…I went to buy the flowers and everything else I needed. But I couldn’t tell you that.” You laughed, shaking your head at how silly your prior worries suddenly seemed. 

“I’m a little embarrassed, but…I was afraid you lied about meeting Kevin because you were meeting someone else and spending the day with them.” You admitted. Rather than getting angry or defensive or even offended, Kerry only looked confused. 

“What? I’d never do that to you, baby. I just wanted to surprise you. I’ve been trying to plan this out for weeks now, I think since Christmas.” A feeling of utter peace and contentment filled you. How lucky were you?

“Oh, Kerry…this is perfect. This is everything I could have wanted. Thank you.” You smiled, and he reached across the table to grab your hand with his much larger one. 

“No, thank you. I just wanted to make sure you were treated right on Valentine’s Day. Because I’m here, and as long as I’m here, you will be.” 

“And every other day?” You teased, laughing. Kerry grinned broadly, his thumb rubbing across your knuckles. 

“Especially every other day.” He promised. “Boy, cooking really gets you hungry.” He said as he picked up his fork again, making you laugh. “I rented a movie too for after, and maybe we can make some ice cream floats. Oh! I’ve been meaning to tell you, the funniest thing happened the other day. The last time Ric Flair came to town, he had a rough time. There was a kid chewing gum in the front row, and he didn’t like Flair, so he took the gum…” 

You listened enthusiastically to Kerry telling the story, despite the fact you had already heard the tale from Kevin. Instead, you settled into your chair and picked up your fork, focusing on the sparkle in Kerry’s eyes, the way the glow of the candles warmed his handsome features as the flames danced, the way his perfectly tousled curls framed his face. Your cozy little kitchen felt warmer than ever and so full of love that it radiated from every nook and cranny. Really, how lucky could you be?

[do-it-for-the-fandom]

Saturday September 8th, 2012.

"You called it," Castle sighed as he climbed into his side of the bed. "A million questions."

"I think it was a million and one, actually."

They laughed, despite the total lack of anything amusing.

Alexis had taken the news exactly as expected. Tears had filled her eyes for only a second before she blinked them away and began a rapid fire of questions.

What type of cancer? What stage? What is the plan of attack?

Are the doctors nice? Do they explain everything properly or do they ramble on with a million medical terms you don't fully understand? Are they the tops of their respective fields?

How are you feeling? Are you getting any counselling? Can Detective Beckett handle this?

That last question had taken all three adults by surprise.

Can Detective Beckett handle this?

It - along with several of the other questions the girl had spit out in such a short amount of time - had gone unanswered. But unlike the other unanswered questions, this one seemed to linger in the air like a foul smell. It's presence made everyone uncomfortable, but there was no getting rid of it now.

Can Detective Beckett handle this?

Truthfully, she wasn't entirely convinced that she could. Already, she was grappling with this sense of losing all control. Castle was sick - really sick - and it was only going to get worse before it got better. The doctors had given him a thorough rundown of what to expect and it seemed grim. Nausea, pain, weakness. Not to mention the mental toll this was all going to take. And all she could do was sit by and watch as he fought this battle.

There was a heaviness in her chest that seemed to double in weight with each day that passed. Because, despite everyone's optimism, there was a very real chance that the treatment wouldn't work.

"Worst case scenario: we keep you comfortable," Dr Abebe said solemnly.

Castle had promised her it wouldn't come to that but they both knew that was out of his control. And she hated that. She hated that they were both helpless to change the outcome. All they could do was wait and hope for the best.

She closed her eyes and slowly exhaled, let her body melt into the pillows behind her.

"You know-"

She opened her eyes and turned to look at Castle. He was studying her, concern flaring in his eyes.

"You know she didn't mean it in a bad way, right?"

"I don't see how else it could have been interpreted," she responded. She wasn't mad at Alexis: it was a fair concern. "She didn't ask if Martha could handle it."

"She doesn't think that you're-" He hesitated, trying to find the right words. "Weak."

"I know what she thinks, Castle."

Castle sighed and placed his hand on Beckett's thigh. "This isn't exactly what you signed up for."

"Stop." She knew exactly where he was going with this conversation; she'd been expecting it since their discussions with Dr. Abebe on Thursday.

After the age of forty, the chances of recovering fertility significantly decreases.

She had kept her attention on the fact sheet in her hands but there was an ever-present awareness of Castle's eyes on her. His gaze burned her skin, hotter than the sun. They were yet to discuss the possibility of starting a family together. They thought they had all the time in the world. But now, in less than 40 hours, yet another decision could be taken away from them.

"We have to talk about it, Kate."

She closed her eyes and shook her head.

Why?

Why did they have to talk about it?

Why did this have to be happening at all?

"I understand," he said softly, his voice barely a whisper. "I know that you've never really been the kind of girl who dreams of their future children but-" He swallowed, tried to rid his voice of the emotion that threatened to overwhelm him. "One day you might decide-"

Beckett silenced him with a kiss. Soft, sweet, sad.

"I love you," she whispered. "In sickness and in health, right?"

Castle shook his head, but smiled. "That's marriage," he corrected.

"No," she argued. "That's us. The good and the bad, we do it together. Always."

Can Detective Beckett handle this?

Honestly, she wasn't sure. But she sure as hell would try.

"Always."

[upon-a-starry-night]

Number Neighbors Pt.3

Natasha Romanoff x Fem! Reader

Natasha masterlist     Series Masterlist

Pt2

Word Count: 1k

Summary: When you catch sight of the newest trend going around you know you’re all but bound to at least try it, it was harmless anyway. What could possibly stem from something so little?

~

You and Nat began texting regularly back and forth every day, despite her initial hesitance to talk to a stranger it seemed like maybe she was beginning to open up to you, and it was safe to say she was on your mind 24/7- which after one too many glasses of wine and rom-coms lead you to pick up your phone and send her a text you were far too drunk to think over

               Nat🔪

Y/n🍦:

Heyyy segg-c ;)

The response wasn’t immediate although you could see she had viewed your message, you pouted at her lack of reply and sloppily typed out another message. You were relying solely on auto-correct to convey your emotions

Y/n🍦:

Don’t ignore m3 :(

Nat🔪:

Sorry-

What’s up?

Y/n🍦:

I’m lonely

How cme no one un New York wants to date me?

Nat🔪: 

Maybe because people in New York suck?

Y/n🍦:

I want to agree but technically I live in New York 

which means your saying that I suck

Nat🔪: 

You're*

And I mean

-If the shoe fits

Y/n🍦: 

Shhh my brain can’t think grammar right now

>:0 

Currently sobbing and not because of the Rom-coms

Nat🔪:

I’m kidding

You only wear Duck socks anyway

Y/n🍦: 

Stalker! 

How did you know I was wearing them?

Nat🔪: 

Well last time you were watching TV you were wearing them

I just guessed

Y/n🍦: 

I don’t believe you

I knew you were an FBI agent!

Nat🔪:

You got me.

Surprise

Y/n🍦:

 wait really?!

Nat🔪: 

Yep, I’m actually right outside your window

You, being in the drunken excited state that you were in, immediately dropped your phone on the couch and ran to the window, searching for signs of anyone but the local crackhead on the streets. Much to your dismay, no one was there

Meanwhile, Nat was silently praising herself for getting you to believe her story, but it was obvious you were probably under the influence of some sort of substance and despite you being a total stranger you were remotely interesting and she could humor herself a bit longer.

                        Nat🔪

Y/n🍦: 

You’re mean

Nat🔪:

Just so you know I’m laughing so hard right now

Y/n🍦: 

I don’t tolerate liars in the sacred house of Y/n

Nat🔪:

I didn’t know you were a religious figure

Y/n🍦: 

well when you look as hot as I do…

People can’t help but worship you

Nat🔪:

Understandable

I’m sure you look great

 Although your cheeks were already red from alcohol consumption, you were sure that if you had any friends they would point out the noticeable blush on your face

Y/n🍦: 

Thanks ;) 

 I’m sure you look great too

Nat🔪:

Yep

People are falling over themselves as I sit in my Pajama pants and Tank top

Nat looked up at the sound of someone entering the living room. Clint, surprised that someone else was in the room, tripped over his own feet and fell straight onto the floor, Nat chuckled to herself while Clint just groaned. Huh, guess she was right. 

“What are you doing awake Nat?” Clint stood and rubbed the back of his neck, stretching his now-aching muscles

“I could ask you the same thing” Nat shot back

“I’m just getting a snack,” He explained, opening the fridge and taking out some leftover pasta that Wanda had made, Nat lifted her brow in a silent question but Clint just shrugged and grabbed a fork

“Whatever, fine, don’t tell me I didn’t even want to know” He mumbled as he walked back to the elevator to go to his room

Nat decided her room would probably be a more appropriate space for privacy and left the living room for the solace of her bed

She knew she could look you up and find out who you were in seconds but it was nice to finally talk to someone new who wasn’t a target for a mission. And you were actually pretty fun to talk to. Maybe she’d just take a peek in the morning. For now, she was reveling in the moment.

                      Y/n🍦:

Y/n🍦: 

What kind of pajama pants?

Was the question Y/n had sent, along with a picture of her own pants, which had rainbows all over them. She laughed to herself, haha gay. 

She needed to drink less next time.

Nat🔪: 

Wow.

Nothing as interesting as those

Nat debated sending a picture of her plain gray pajama pants and after what felt like ten minutes of internal struggle, finally snapped a quick photo and sent it

Y/n🍦:

Booooo! Gray

You know a person's pajama pants say

A lot about their personality

Nat🔪:

I’m offended

Y/n🍦:

Good, you should be.

I’m offended too

Offended that you’d even consider buying pants so boring

Nat🔪:

What’s wrong with gray?

It’s a great neutral color

Y/n🍦: 

Is that what you want your personality to be Nat

Gray?

Nat🔪:

Well what would you suggest I wear then 

Miss Rainbow pants?

Y/n🍦:

Rainclouds

Since you’re so grumpy all the time

Nat🔪:

You’re really pushing your luck

Might just have to delete your number now

Y/n🍦: 

No!

I thought we were friends

Nat🔪:

Strangers

Y/n🍦:

Strange friends.

Nat🔪:

Don’t you have a job or something? 

How come you’re always up so late?

You should sleep

Y/n🍦:

Don’t You have a job??

Maybe you should go to sleep

Nat🔪:

I’m trying but this crazy stranger keeps

Texting me all night and keeping me awake

Y/n🍦: 

They sound like a great person

You two should definitely meet

Nat🔪:

Goodnight Y/n.

Y/n🍦:

:( fine

Good night Nat, good luck sleeping in your Gray bed

Nat scrolled up and checked the picture that she sent, confirming that her bedspread was in fact, not in the photo

Nat🔪:

How’d you know it was gray?

Y/n🍦:

 like I said-

A person’s pajama pants say a lot about them

Nat just shook her head as she shut off her phone, a smile on her face, You really were something. The more she talked to you the harder she found it to stop texting you.

Pt.4

-I had a random number invite me to a birthday party not too long ago. What’s your weirdest random number story?~ Starry

------

Taglist @romanoffsgal

[honeystwiggypeach]

hi i hope you dont mind but if you're not that busy is it okay if you write this? huhu thank you!

reader telling jjk men (geto, gojo, nanami, toji, choso) that they are preggo and they've been trying for a few years already and are already thinking of surrogacy. please please please this can be months after they have a miscarriage too!

a rainbow baby! 😭

Hi hon!!! Sorry this came so late I got a bit caught up with school than my mom and aunts wanted to have dinner so that’s what I did today! Tysm for the request! I try to remain as respectful as possible when I write requests like this or about sensitive topics so pls tell me if I misphrase or say anything poorly so I can correct it!!

Ps. I didn’t do choso because idk his personality well and I don’t know if I’m confident in writing him😭

Tw- mentions of past miscarriages, rainbow baby, infertility, surrogacy, anything mentioned in the request, grief, (in Geto’s people besides parents try and explain death and miscarriage to the twins so reader gets upset)in gojos the pregnancy is both unplanned and not known about, birth, pregnant reader if your uncomfortable with anything relating to loosing a child/pregnancy I advise that you do not read this one! Pls let me know if I missed anything!!

Geto

He took it hard, he loved the twins with his whole heart he truly did but he missed having babies to look after, maybe it was just baby fever but he felt like your little family wasn’t quite complete.

Unfortunately when you’d found the missing piece, it didn’t work out, unfortunately in your second trimester you had miscarried. You and Geto were both devastated, and everyone for a while everyone treated the two of you as ticking time bombs ready to explode at any moment.

The girls didn’t quite understand, they knew that they were supposed to have a sibling soon and now they weren’t going to but that was it, they couldn’t comprehend it yet and the amount of times you both had to stop people from explaining it to them horrified you.

This time when you’d fallen pregnant, you decided that maybe you two should keep this one a bit secret just in case, so when you’d first told Geto it was in the safety of your bedroom you’d sat beside him your hands behind your back before quickly pulling out the test.

“Are you serious” his voice is a bit quiet as it crackles.

You were his only weak spot, of course besides his children…but of course he would never let you know that…not like it was obvious or anything. He practically sobs when you give him a little nod, he lets out the same quiet muffled sobbing noise when he sees his son for the first time laid on your chest.

Gojo

Honestly it hurt you a lot. His family was really into the idea of you carrying a biological heir, but sometimes it felt like you just weren’t capable of doing so. Honestly you’d started to even look into surrogacy because you couldn’t handle all the unfortunate things that continued to happen every time you would even talk about pregnancy.

When you’d been getting intense abdominal cramps you decided maybe you shouldn’t test it and checked yourself into the hospital, where you found out you were in labour, within the hour Gojo had arrived to see you sat up in the hospital bed with the cutest little baby girl laid on your chest. You smile dazedly as he stares down at the two of you in wonder.

“She’s real” he whispers as he touches the little fluffy whisper of hair she has. His fingers just barely graze her scalp and she scrunches and thats what triggers his tears.

Nanami

It was just bad news after bad news, it was beginning to feel like maybe you shouldn’t have a baby at all. Of course when Nanami had heard you mutter this one night after you’d talked about trying for a baby again, he smiled guiltily, “if this doesn’t work there’s surrogacy or even adoption” he knows that you don’t want either of those, you want what everyone else is able to have, he can hear the way you cry in the bathroom after another negative test about how unfair it is and how cruel the world can be.

But this time there’s no crying no shouts of how unfair it is, there’s silence and Nanami at first thinks you’ve fallen and hurt yourself but when he hears your squeal he knows that isn’t the case.

He pushes the door open softly to see you holding the test you smile up at him as you show him the two little pink lines, “it’s positive” you tell him and it takes a moment to register but when it does he’s got a wide smile as he bends down softly peppering kisses along your face.

Toji

He was rather reserved already but after you’d lost the baby, it became worse. Toji not only was reserved but he was reclusive, not eating dinner with you and Megumi not even greeting you anymore.

He’d come out at night and creep around the house to avoid seeing you two, he didn’t understand how to process the loss and had resorted to cutting off the world while he grieved.

One of these nights however he’s not quiet enough and you flicker on the lights, Toji is stood over the sink as he chugs down tap water.

“Toji” you call out, “Will you come to bed?” And when he lays down beside you it feels like heaven. He’s wrapped in your warm embraces as you whisper soft reassurances he doesn’t tell you that your comfort and soft touch made him cry long after you fell asleep.

Almost a year after that, you’d fallen pregnant, and Megumi was the one to help you tell him as he pranced around the house all day in a tee shirt that said big brother on it.

Honestly it was adorable and you loved seeing little Megumi be so happy when his dad furrowed his brows holding his boy up by the armpits to get a good look at what his shirt said glancing down to your belly than back to Megumi before his eyes meet yours.

“You’re serious?” He asks still holding up Megumi.

You give him a little nod paired with a nervous giggle and he sets Megumi down softly going over to hug you as Megumi continues to stomp around the kitchen.

If anyone wants to see anything else pls let me know!! Omg guys!!! Do you want to see reader and maybe like teen Megumi?(reader is with Toji, but maybe like reader being a mom figure to Megumi and while he’s got a fever he unintentionally calls her mama, which he hadn’t done since he was really young?? And Toji like hugging reader a bit when she cries because she misses him being a baby and being affectionate???? I’m gonna sob someone request it pls???)

[agendabymooner]

colour me your colour || toto w. x ofc (3)

Summary: Tilly Marie nearly loses faith in her passion as she refuses to listen to everyone who told her to quit. Everyone but one. And it’s the man she met years ago at a racing event she didn’t want to attend. Who would have thought that her father’s partial ownership of three brands could take her to the zone of Mercedes and meet the love of her life?

Chapter Summary: Tilly finds herself flirting with Toto on the job. Unfortunately, so did Daniel and Lewis. The two drivers decided to put this information to use by making fun of their own bosses. Everyone's suddenly catching on to the dynamic of the two.

Content warning: Age gap, brief use of explicit language, discusses the 2014 austrian gp, flirtatious banter, mutual pining kind of romance, platonic relationship with Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo, fictional family and business involved (Hearth family and Hearth Automotives Group). NO PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS INVOLVED SORRY

Note: Thank you all so much for the 30 followers! I hope my insanity entertained you (affectionate) and I'll try my best to continue on with it. This is the shortest one, I think. Let me know what you think! Enjoy xx

masterlist

iii. juliet's hit list

I will make a hit list, and Christian Horner will be at the top of it. 

While he’s an amazing and competent team principal, the absolute fool decided to deter that statement when he pulled Daniel out of the last-minute interview. He tried to explain what happened, he really did, but it would have been nicer if he paused for a second instead of pulling the Australian from the scene while his mouth was saying fuck all. Now, the Red Bull seat’s empty; the only thing that’s being filled is my temper. 

Sebastian Vettel’s time for media is already over, and as much as I would like to pull him back once more, it is better to leave him resting. Or rather, it’s best to leave him on his free practice. It turns out engines can fuck up your game one way or another. Christian Horner’s outburst post-Austrian race showed it, and it’s not anything that I can blame on the team principal.

Still, Daniel is absent right now, so I want to strangle Horner with my two hands. 

Horner must have superb hearing because when the string of curse words began to slip out of my mouth, he returned with Daniel jogging behind him.

Horner acts before I can open my mouth by shooing Daniel off to his seat in front of the waiting cameras with Lewis, Kimi, Jenson and Fernando. 

Feeling slightly relieved, I turn around to express my irritation toward Christian, zeroing in on him like he’s a culprit. He looks guilty for a second and tells me, “Minor problem with his car.”

“Is it something to be solved with his… I dunno, the engineers? Before you know… you approach him before his interview?” I point out, watching as he sighs exasperatedly. Surprisingly, he does not say anything besides a mutter of apology as he walks away. I call him quietly and say, “Team principals interview in an hour, Christian.”

He waves it off and continues to walk away. If this man is the same man my father works with, I understand why he gave me this job. He’s a headache.

From what I know, I’m not the only one to suffer from him. I did not think of it until I felt a towering figure next to me. He completely diverts my attention from my newfound migraine by standing beside me. My eyes which were once glaring at Christian, softened at the sight of Toto Wolff. 

“Mr. Wolff–” my mouth shuts at the frown that quickly appears on his face as I correct myself, “Toto.”

“Tilly, it is great to see you here,” he greets me.

We can’t speak aloud as the drivers are already answering questions. But the exchanges of smiles and the question, “How are you handling the practice day?” has taken our attention away from our drivers, our conversation turning into a series of questions about… things in general. 

I can’t remember each question, but with each answer he provides, my brain takes them in.

“You’ve mentioned you live in the country,” he says as I nod in confirmation. He asks, “How far of a trip did you make just to get here?”

I’m unsure if my answer will put me on a list of “fucking idiots who does not know how to control their mouths,” but I hear myself say, “Don’t tell me you want to get on my bed that quickly.” 

The slap of my hand catches the attention of the people near us–it’s either that or the gasp that did it. Either way, I cannot believe I’m this stupid to embarrass myself in front of… Toto?

I certainly did not embarrass myself, I tell myself while I watch Toto’s face turn red and chuckle. He laughs at it like it’s funny. Like he hadn’t expected me to say such things because of how flustered I was during my last encounter with him. 

But it isn’t just his face that caught my attention. The softness of his laugh almost had me kneeling in front of god. The last time I saw him at that 24-hour race in Dubai reminded me so much of how he is now, except more mature. He aged. But I’ll be damned if I don’t admit that he aged like wine. 

But as I’m thinking of Dubai, I suddenly ask myself: Did he remember me, too? 

As always, his voice diverts my attention from my doubts and insanity back to reality. I look up to see the redness of his face fading, his smile expressing nothing but amusement as he says, “I’m more of an old-fashioned kind, Tilly.”

“Is that right?” I find myself saying. Oh great, more ways to embarrass yourself. 

“I suppose,” he teases, “I like to woo the lady first. I don’t mind how long it’ll take me to get there, but waiting would be worth it.”

Our banter (do I even call it that?) is interrupted by the realization that we’re still in the media pit and that the drivers are already thanking the journalists and photographers after their interviews.

I cannot say any more because Daniel’s already on his way to approach me with a call, “Lady Boss!”

I turn to face him, his cheeky grin infectious as he asks, “How did you like my Aussie charm?”

Shit. I didn’t even watch him fully. I was busy drooling over–

What kind of lie would I make up? Wait, no–

“I didn’t know Aussies are charming, Daniel,” I jest, laughing while I berate myself for sounding a little nervous. “Brits are lovelier, you know?”

“Austrians do it best, right, boss?” I can hear Lewis teasing his team principal. I turn around, watching as Lewis snickers at his boss’ silence. Lewis wags his brows at me before he approaches and wraps his arm around me for a quick, tight embrace. He pulls away eventually, “He’d tell you more, but we’ve the practice to do.”

“Yeah, go, stop stealing my Lady Boss from me, Hamilton,” Daniel jokes, pulling me away from my thoughts as I shake my head. I pass it off as an expression of disagreement.

“Yeah, uh huh,” Lewis nods as if letting this banter pass before he looks at Toto. The man still stares at me, and I’m not even scared. Intrigued, in fact. I’m on my way to becoming a shareholder of his rival team, but I’m here ogling at him like it’s a modern Romeo and Juliet.

Ugh.

“Third free practice, Tils,” Daniel nudges me as I nod, finally turning away from the older man as I bid my farewell to the driver and team principal of the other team one more time. 

I tell Lewis, “I’ll see you at dinner tonight?”

Toto, catching the question that escapes my mouth, turns to look at Lewis with a surprised look. Oh no, I don’t mean like that.

Lewis, however, cheekily grins and says, “If you’re done giving my team principal the heart eyes, then sure–”

“Alright, we’re heading out,” I hear Lewis burst out in laughter as I drag Daniel out of the media room, thanking and nodding at each media staff member we pass. 

Daniel seems interested in what he’s heard but chooses not to say anything until we return to the Red Bull zone. He turns to me with a smirk and says, “You know, Tils, with the amount of berating that Horner’s taken from you, we would have assumed you’d be married or something like that.”

I glare at him, only for him to say, “But Seb and I were wrong– and I’m hardly wrong at these things. Maybe you really do hate Horner because of Wolff.”

I roll my eyes at this as he continues to joke, “Horner’s a good team principal–”

I immediately interrupted him, “But nobody can be equally competent and attractive as Wolff. So, I suggest you keep it shut before Christian gives me shit for fraternizing with his enemy. I’ve barely fraternized, but his mouth would say otherwise.”

He mimics a zipper over his mouth as he promises to keep it silent (he won't talk but media outlets certainly would). But knowing him for almost a month or so of being at the headquarters, he won’t leave my obvious schoolgirl crush down. He and Lewis already found a weapon to use while I sit with them during dinner. 

And if they continue on with it, I’ll make sure that they’re written in the hit list as second and third.

[thefandomenchantress]

Okay so. I’m currently working on a post that has this detail in it, but the post is really long and what I’m sharing now is at the end. And I don’t really expect a lot of people to through what’s probably 1,000+ words to get to it. I talked about it another time, but I don’t think it really got seen because it was a reblog. So I’m sharing it here, because I think it’s actually pretty important and should be talked about.

During Ace’s testimony about David and Arei, Arei says this:

Which makes sense by itself. We the audience know Arei would definitely say that, now that we know what happened in the Infirmary with Eden and Arei.

But remember. This is Ace’s testimony. And, well, there’s something that makes this very suspicious.

Ace doesn’t think Arei wants to change before he gives his testimony.

But he should. If we believe his testimony.

According to him, he heard her say that she wanted to change and “become a good person”. To be like Eden. And yet, he doesn’t believe Eden earlier in the trial when she says that Arei wanted to change, before he hears the story about Eden, Arei, and Arturo.

Which gives us four options, listed from worst to best (based on my opinions of course):

Option 1: The creator made a mistake and forgot Ace was supposed to know about Arei becoming a good person. I hate this answer, it’s such a cop-out. I hate assuming a creator made a mistake just because I don’t understand a piece of evidence or it doesn’t fit with my current view of something. I hesitate to even include this as an option. (This came out a bit aggressive sorry I just got a little passionate).

Option 2: Ace is a dumbass and didn’t remember that Arei said that until he said his testimony. While I don’t really like this one, either, since it’s also just a way of saying it’s irrelevant and doesn’t impact anything, I suppose it does sorta fit with Ace’s ‘act first, think second’ attitude.

Option 3: Ace is the culprit and jumped on the ‘Arei committed suicide’ bandwagon when he saw a chance to avoid most of the trial. I don’t really believe this one, but it is a viable option, I suppose. Though if he was the culprit, I don’t really understand why he wouldn’t share the David secret info immediately just to throw David under the bus and hope everyone voted for him.

Option 4: My personal favorite. Ace lies in his testimony. That’s why the information in it is inaccurate and why it seems like he hastily tried to add in details he recently learned from things like Eden’s testimony without considering the fact that the way he acted earlier wouldn’t make sense if he already overheard things about them. I’ll explain a little further.

The reason I believe this one the most, is also because of David’s reaction to Ace’s testimony.

He doesn’t say “No, Ace is lying” but he also doesn’t say “Yes, Ace is correct and his testimony is true.” Instead, he does something very interesting. He confirms that Arei and him met in the relaxation room…But refuses to admit that Ace is right about the conversation they had. Instead he avoids the question and says he isn’t going to remember anymore.

Which is really weird? Right before this he went on a big speech about just admitting the truth to preserve his pride. And this is backed up later when he refuses to be called the culprit—Well, until he realizes that’s the only way to get the class to realize he’s not the culprit. Or decides he wants to die. And yet, David refuses to say Ace told the truth about his and Arei’s conversation. Which he should be doing! Like I said, he went on a tangent about how he was just going to admit the truth right before this!

Which leads one to believe that Ace told the truth about David and Arei meeting in the relaxation room. But he changed the conversation they had in some way.

I think that’s the most agreeable part of the theory. The most believable, because it has the most evidence backing it up. However, Ace’s reasons for doing what he did, and what he changed in his testimony, are where things get a little messier.

Ace could’ve changed the story so that he could throw David under the bus, since David was trying to throw a bit of suspicion on him beforehand. But that still leaves the question of why. I’m gonna do a bit of repeating from my last theory, just for a little bit. Then we get back to some new stuff.

I’m going to go under the assumption that Ace changed the conversation to be about David’s secret, when in reality it was about something else, since I think that makes the most sense. (I recognize there are probably other avenues one could take, however). But if Ace knew David’s secret without overhearing it, he could’ve just said, “Hey, I know David’s secret, it’s the manipulator one! I know because *insert reasons Arei gave in the flashback, minus seeing it over Whit’s shoulder*” and that would be the end of it.

But Ace didn’t do that. Under this theory, he made up a whole conversation to justify why he knew. And I think it’s pretty simple to see why he did that.

Ace doesn’t want to die.

Ace just almost got murdered. He’s not too eager for that to happen again, so he wants to take all precautions to avoid it. People already don’t like him, so that’s not good. But what happens if people find out he’s observant enough to figure out David’s secret by himself, just from watching David’s behavior throughout the chapter? Currently, everyone thinking he’s an idiot when it comes to basically everything is working in his favor for once, since when trying to get away with murder, you’d probably want to murder the people who could potentially solve it. Not an incompetent asshole who’ll probably just make things easier for you. The only time this doesn’t apply is when the murder is more of a crime of passion, so to speak, like Nico’s. Where they, by their own admission, didn’t even think about the trial before they tried to murder.

So if Ace wants the best chance of avoiding becoming a future victim and revealing David’s secret, he can’t admit he found out on his own…And what better way to circumvent that than pin the blame on someone who’s already dead and can’t object to his story, like Arei? Better yet, he can just use the location and set-up he already saw, just change their conversation so that they said what he wanted!

Do you really think he left his story so open-ended on accident?

He purposely left it up to interpretation as to whether David was actually as evil as the secret says, because Ace himself doesn’t actually know if he is. He gives David the opportunity to reveal that the secret was exaggerated because he has no way of knowing if it is or not. He knows David manipulates people, like how he did so to make sure his real secret wasn’t revealed. But is he truly as pure evil as the secret makes him out to be? Ace doesn’t know.

Also, this line?

“I’m right, aren’t I?” This might be confirmation bias talking, but this just straight-up sounds to me like he’s saying, “I’m right, that is your secret and all those things I had ‘Arei’ say were true, weren’t they?”

Again, this isn’t my strongest point, but Ace in this case wasn’t really ‘right’. If anything, Arei was right because she accused David. Ace would only be right if he figured out his secret, which he didn’t according to his testimony.

But maybe I’m looking into this line too much. “I’m right and what I said happened actually happened” may just be the meaning. Moving on.

(Ace accidentally predicted the Literature Girl Insane video hehe).

With this theory in mind, Ace expected David to explain his behavior a multitude of ways, but completely changing his demeanor and just becoming a major asshole? He did not expect that.

This is on more of a light-hearted note, but:

This scene would be very fitting and kinda hilarious in retrospect if this theory were true. Ace is appalled by J’s comment because the part about him eavesdropping on a conversation was literally the only part of his testimony that was true, yet J finds it the most suspicious. And J’s habit of assuming the worst of people has been used for comedic effect before, so it’s possible.

Anyways, I think that’s all. The first part, about inconsistencies in Ace’s story, is probably the most relevant, and my theorizing afterwards was more so just my opinion on things and what I think happened.

I said I thought people wouldn’t read a long post, so I made a new one…But then the new post turned really long…Whoops.

[quietlyimplode]

the language of flowers and silent things

Whumptober 2023: Day 21 - Found family

Warnings: child abandonment, grief

Word Count: 1.8k (gif not mine)

Summary: Clint leaves to find a person from his past, surrounded by the family he created.

A/N: <3

Masterlist

Whumptober Masterlist

.

2013

NEW YORK

“Can you find someone for me?” Clint asks Tony, looking around the room, and the technology it holds.

He can’t help but touch the screens and play with the holograms as he waits for Tony to reply.

“Can you pass me the copper wire?” Tony asks.

Clint hops up on the bench and throws it to him, his aim true.

“I can find anyone, if they want to be found, and even then, likely I can find them if they don’t want to be,” he answers distractedly.

“Can you hold this here?”

Clint hops down and pushes on the wire, analysing the circuitry and frowning.

“You’ve wired it wrong,” he surmises, pointing with his other hand.

Tony swears and rubs his face.

“How long have you been up for?” Clint asks, a pinch of worry for his friend and his insomniac ways.

Tony looks up and glances at the time.

Jarvis answers for him, “twenty six hours.”

Clint swears it’s sounds almost disapproving.

“What are you trying to do?” he asks, knowing that until the project has reached a satisfactory conclusion, there’s no way Tony will stop.

Rubbing his forehead, Tony shows him the circuit board connected to the towers alarm system, and automatic controls for system lockdown.

Clint frowns.

“Has there been any attempts to get in here?”

He doesn’t understand why Tony was upgrading the already functioning system.

He shakes his head.

“No, but I just..” he pauses.

“Who do you want me to find?”

Clint ignores him and without words helps, correcting the circuitry then placing the upgraded board into Tony’s hand.

“You know, if you get sleep, these things become easier,” he grins.

Tony rolls his eyes, the lower limbs of the suits attaching as he flies to the control box outside and installs the board quickly.

There’s a quick glow, and a light force field covers the tower before disappearing again.

Clint didn’t realise how big the project was, and smiles as Tony returns.

“Come get some food,” he prompts, holding the door open as the legs come away and he reaches ground again.

Tony obliges.

Heading to the kitchen, Clint explains about Gus.

The ex-carney, convenience store owner that stayed close to the circus and protected Clint from future foster homes and set him on the path of this life.

There’s some hesitation in the way Tony replies, and Clint doesn’t quite know if he should have trusted him with the story.

“Why do you want to see him again?” Tony asks, handing him a Stark-Pad.

Clint hesitates, feeling judged in the moment.

“I want to tell him about Barney, maybe just check that he’s okay. Thank him I suppose?”

He doesn’t know, not in any way he can put into words.

Tony is uncharacteristically quiet, before he takes the stark-pad off of Clint and opens up a data base, taking time, he seems to hack into some sort of data base.

It takes him a minute or so, before he hands the tablet back.

“He’s still in Iowa, Cedar Rapids, last known address was near the Prairie Park Fishery,” he pauses, “we can go now if you want?”

Clint stops in his tracks.

“What?”

Tony points upwards.

“Two hours, we can go there now if you want?”

Clint nods slowly.

“Yeah okay,” he says impulsively, “let me just send a message to Natasha, and let her know.”

Tony shrugs, “sure, I’ll be up at the hanger, if you ask Steve it will be a party.”

Clint decides on calling Natasha, feeling a slight urgency on getting going.

“Hey,” she picks up, after a beat.

“Hey,” he answers.

“I asked Tony to find Gus and he found him in like five seconds. He asked if we wanted to go visit, and I’ve said yes,” he says quickly.

“Doyouwannacome?”

Natasha takes a second before responding, and then tells him she’d meet him at the hanger.

He smiles. It’s like a road trip with his friends, something they’d do at the circus.

It’s seems somewhat fitting.

Picking up the phone again, he calls Steve.

“Hey man,” he says as the phone clicks over.

“Hey,” Steve replies.

“Natasha and Tony and I are going on a bit of trip to see an old friend I have in Iowa. Do you want to come?”

“When?” Steve asks.

“Now?”

Steve takes a moment and then agrees, Clint thinks he can hear the change in his tone, a small amount of pleasure at being invited.

“Come to the hanger when you can,” Clint tells him, “we’ll be waiting.”

.

The trip to Iowa is an exchange of stories. Clint starts by telling the story of Gus and how he taught him magic, he shows the others a trick and then produces a coin from Steve’s ear.

Much to his delight, Steve replicates the trick and produces two coins.

Tony, not to be outdone, produces two coins and a card.

Natasha bursts out laughing.

“You’re all magic nerds,” she says, joyfully.

The rest of the trip they try and outdo each other, Natasha taking the lead in flying the plane as they all show off random magic tricks, and teaching each other the ones they don’t know.

She gives them a ten minute warning and looks back to see Clint smiling, a true smile that had been so rare from the events of New York to learning of his brothers death.

She hopes this is positive and that Gus is the man Clint believes him to be.

Otherwise, she might kill him herself.

.

Clint knocks on the door.

Alone now, he wishes he hadn’t been so adamant to do this himself. He’d left Natasha with the others in the plane, promising to be back soon.

The anticipation feels heavy as he hears movement in the house and he hopes Tony was right in the address.

The door opens slowly, and Clint smiles lightly.

“Hello,” he opens, “I don’t know if you—“

“Clint?”

The door opens wider, revealing Gus, now older but still the same man.

“Hi,” he says shyly.

“Clint!”

He pulls him into a hug and Clint feels himself sink into it, feeling like a kid again.

“Come in,” Gus asks, ushering him through the door.

“Can I get you anything?

Clint doesn’t get a chance to answer as Gus disappears into the kitchen and returns with beer and a bottle opener.

He takes it and opens them both, offering it to cheers which Gus does with a smile.

“Clint,” he says, almost in reverence.

“How are you?”

“I’m good,” Clint replies, not sure what to say.

He came here to say that Barney was dead. To thank him for helping him when he was a child, to pointing him in the direction of the military.

“I — wanted to find you,” he starts.

Gus stands, finds an album on the bench and hands it to Clint.

“Open it,” he gestures.

The album has photos, some articles from the circus, pictures of Clint he’d never seen before, gently he turns the pages, emotion welling inside.

He can’t speak.

Gently touching the photos, he sees himself holding the bow and arrow as a young boy, stance strong and gaze focussed.

“That’s my favourite,” Gus says, watching Clint carefully, “you had such natural talent from the get go, and even if archery didn’t get you famous, I think you would have been a fantastic pickpocket.”

Clint huffs a laugh, turning the page.

“And now you’re an Avenger?”

There’s clippings from the paper from the last twelve months.

Of Tony, Steve and Thor, of him and Natasha. Articles and pictures.

Clint thinks it’s one of the kindest things someone has ever done.

He smiles.

“I’m just a human, amongst superhero’s, metal men and gods,” he laughs, starting at the start again to take the photos in.

“Maybe it’s what they need, to keep them in line,” Gus retorts.

Clint stops at a picture.

Barney stands arms crossed with a smile as Clint does a handstand.

He stares at it, and forces breath.

Barney.

“He’s dead,” he whispers, taking the photo out, he shows it Gus.

“He’s dead,” he repeats again.

Gus hobbles over to sit with Clint, taking the photo and then handing it back.

“I know,” he nods, and hugs Clint in a side hug.

“He came here, a couple of years ago, asking after you, I showed him and told him you had gone into the military.”

He turns the page and Clint finds the picture of himself in uniform.

“He was so proud of you,” Gus tells him.

“I think he wanted to tell you.”

Clint can’t help it; he cries.

For the loss of his brother, for all the words left unsaid and the time they’d never get back.

“Do you think he knew I loved him?” he asks, voice as small as a child’s.

“Of course he did,” Gus nods.

He closes the album, and motions for Clint to follow him.

“Barney stayed here, for a little while at least, and drew some pictures. I held onto them, as I hoped— I wished I would see you again.”

He opens the door and pulls out some pictures from a drawer.

The pictures are of Clint and Barney as children, their faces small and chubby.

Clint feels the tears on his face as he furiously wipes at them.

“Your brother, he was complicated and could be harsh and I think he wanted to protect you but didn’t know how… You were both so young.”

Gus looks down.

“I think I failed you both but I did the best I could,” he admits.

Clint shakes his head.

“No,” he refutes, “you saved my life, probably Barney’s too. I came to thank you.”

Gus waves him off.

“Take them,” he tells Clint, “they’re yours, the album too if you want anything from it.”

Clint nods, finding the album, knowing what pictures he wants and the ones he wants to show Natasha, maybe even the others.

He sits back down, not quite ready to leave yet.

“I’m going to get married,” he confesses.

Gus looks up, his smile wide.

“Will you come?”

The nod and laugh is infectious.

“Of course, of course I will,” he agrees.

He sits back and takes a sip of the still cold beer.

“Tell me about her,” he asks.

.

The plane home is in darkness, as Clint shares the chocolate and pictures that Gus sent with him.

He tells the stories behind the pictures, prompting Steve and Tony to tell their own.

Natasha holds onto the picture of Clint and Barney and stares at it for a long time.

“He looks like you,” she whispers later.

“Remind me,” he tells her, “remind me to tell you the story behind that one.”

Natasha hands it back to him, and nods, bringing her head to his and pushing it against his.

“I’m proud of you,” she whispers, so the others can’t hear.

“It’s hard facing our pasts, and I’m glad it went well.”

He regards Natasha and all the history she has with facing her past; the good and the bad.

He nods.

“Me too, Nat.”

.

[crusty-chronicles]

The Moon and Sun (Big Sib Reader x Gon/Killua)

Ch 9: The Woes of Traveling

Synopsis: While waiting for the airship that would take you to the NGL, you spend some very much needed time with the boys. Showing them a little more about your ability, until you get into a slight disagreement with a certain silver haired hunter. But he has a knack for calming you down and regaining your favor.

-------------------

While the boys continued to hound you with questions, Spin used the observations you gave to help narrow down the search. She concluded that the most likely location of the Chimera Ant would be somewhere along the Balsa Islands. (Of which you were not familiar with)

"Unfortunately that includes the Mitene Union," Kite had added.

Unfortunately?

"Oh! Where the NGL Autonomous Region is," Banana clarified.

"Yes, and that's not to mention East Gorteau. No chance of getting information out of those two countries."

You frowned at that. And before you could question Kite about it, Killua decided to ask one of his own.

"What's the NGL?"

"NGL's an acronym that stands for Neo-Green Life." Banana started to explain.

"It's a country founded by people who reject modern technology. Choosing instead to live in nature." Stick finished.

Bingo

"Then we should check there first. No technology means it's the most vulnerable. News of a giant ant wouldn't spread as fast and it'd take a while for them to get help," You speculated.

Plus, it was better to get a place like that out of the way if the ant wasn't there.

The only issue was, places like that tended to be sticklers to their own rules. No exceptions.

"You've got a point, let me pull it up real quick," Spin said as she typed away. A few moments later, a map of the country was pulled up. All of you crowded around the computer to see.

"They primarily communicate by mail, and primary travel is by horseback Anyone who brings technology into the country could be executed."

And there it was.

Spin explained how there had been a situation with a small television crew. They were caught with equipment, and one was executed. The rest are still in jail to this day.

If you were being honest, you didn't really like the primitive societies. Having grown up in one yourself. You could understand them being upset from the disregard to their culture, but death? You found it hard to believe such a small offense would call for such a brutal punishment.

"Let's agree and assume for now the Chimera Ant washed ashore there. How would the NGL's citizenry react?" Kite's question hung in the air for a second.

If they rejected modern technology, then they'd probably reject modern help. It also depended on how primitive they were. They could've believed the ant was sent by god or something. Or that it was fate/destiny whatever may happen.

Then there was that aspect of government, if they even had one. Big Wigs tended not to give a damn about the people under them as long as it didn't affect them directly. So the off chance that the ant was already there and eating people....

"They probably wouldn't do anything, and it's not like they could anyways. No tech, no weapons," you answered.

Kite nodded.

"True. When a deadly epidemic spread through the area, they refused international medical aid. Because they preferred to let nature run its grisly course instead."

You wanted to be respectful, but it was getting harder the more you learned about this place. Why would you let yourself die, your family die just to enforce a belief that didn't matter.

It was selfish. But you figured that had more to do with the makeshift government than the people.

"Your point about communication is also correct," Kite continued.

"Even if they tried to contact the outside world, it would be too late by the time word arrived. So if the arm that was discovered did belong to the Chimera Ant queen, then it's entirely possible that she's already begun constructing her nest."

Goddamnit

----------------------------

You weren't too thrilled to be going on this trip. After purchasing tickets that would get you there, you found out a little more about the NGL than you would have liked.

Mainly, the rumors about drugs being manufactured there.

The last thing you needed to deal with was coked up ants. Especially if the boys were the ones fighting them. But there really wasn't anything you could do about it. You'd already given your word that you'd help find the Chimera Ant queen.

So here you are, wandering around the airport in the hopes to pass time. At least you had some decent company.

"Hey, Y/n?" Gon called. You stopped walking and looked down at him.

"Hmm?"

The other boy backtracked towards you when he realized you weren't behind him anymore.

"What made you decide to make your ability tracking?"

You tensed up slightly at the question. You should've guessed it would have been brought up so soon. You momentarily debated another half-truth but decided against it. You let out a tired sigh before answering.

He was too curious for his own good.

"Circumstances called for it, in a sense. It wasn't really my choice if I'm being honest. Just something I had to do."

To be fair, you could have developed a fighting ability as well, but it wasn't something you had been focused on at the time.

"What circumstances?"

"That's a story for another time, kay?" You lightly elbowed him. He pouted but dropped it.

"How young were you when you developed it?" This time it was Killua who asked. He seemed a little hesitant to, probably due to your reaction the last time he pried for information.

You were such an ass for that.

"Let's see," you thought back on it for a sec.

"Around four. It was fully developed by five."

"What!?!?"

You wanted to laugh at the bugged-out expression they both wore.

"There's no way! That's like how Killua was dropped off at Heaven's Arena as a baby!"

"Yeah but I didn't even know about nen until now! How did you figure it out at four!?!?"

Heaven's Arena? Like the place where people fought for money? God they were so reckless. First Chrollo, now this? You didn't think they'd ever run out of ways to surprise you. (For the worst that is)

You put your hands up before they could start shaking you again.

"Hey, hold on. I didn't just wake up one day and decide to use nen. It's thanks to the people I was with that pushed me there. And no, I will not be answering anymore questions today. Please and thank you."

You could feel the disappointment from both auras. See the grumpy frowns on their faces. And instantly your resolve broke.

God what was wrong with you. You were becoming too damn soft.

"How 'bout I show you two something cool instead. Fair?" You offered. They both beamed up at you.

Fakers.

"Let's find somewhere to sit first, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Fine, but it better be cool."

You spotted a bench a little ways away. You were grateful it was empty. You didn't think you could tolerate being squished together like sardines again.

It was also right next to-

You couldn't stop the gasp that left your mouth. Nor the way your eyes immediately lit up with stars. The boys sent you questioning stares and followed your line of vision.

A small snack shack with cookies on the display.

And as quickly as your delighted expression came, it also left. You shook your head and continued to your destination.

Killua looked over to Gon. They nodded to each other in agreement.

"I'll be right back. Go ahead and show Gon first," Killua called as he dashed past you.

You tilted your head in confusion. They were plotting something, weren't they? Goblins, the both of them. But you decided to let it go.

So long as it didn't lead to any trouble.

You sat down on the rickety old bench and patted the spot next to you. Gon complied, anticipation radiating off of him.

"You wanna know how I see the world?" Well, how you saw people more like it. But you thought the way you asked was a little cheesier. It fit with the vibe you were going for.

The softness

"Yeah! I wanna be able to see people's auras like you! It sounds fun!" You laughed at his enthusiasm.

"Wait! Are you gonna train me!?!?" He beamed up brighter at you.

"No, that'll be a while from now. I said I was gonna show you something cool, and training you to see them would take months." You clarified with a genuine smile.

The boy deflated slightly, but was all smiles again as he saw you make circle shapes with your hands and coat them with nen.

Like glasses.

Oh

He understood now.

You moved your hands to his eyes and waited for his reaction.

What he could see was everything. Little outlines of aura trailing every person. Sparks of emotion that seemed clearer to read. And the field of vision went further than he was used to seeing.

It was pretty cool. And useful. No wonder you had been able to find him so easily on Greed Island.

Your hands moved away at the feeling of Killua's presence.

"Took you long enough, gremlin."

He scooched on the other side of you.

"Yeah, well the line was long okay."

Before you could question him about it, a small bag was placed in your lap. You picked it up to inspect and let out another gasp.

The choked sound earning a laugh from the duo on either side of you.

Your eyes closed and you cupped your face to stop the warmth from spreading. Little delighted squeaks as you realized what it was.

A little baggie of chocolate chip cookies.

They had never seen you beam at something before. Never seen a smile so pure and bright from you. Like whatever had been weighing you down before was temporarily gone.

Not even when you had been talking with Kite were you this happy.

You snapped from your delighted daze after a few seconds.

"Oh right, let me show you the thing," you said as you clutched the bag close to you. Like it was made of the most precious material in the world.

Killua's face scrunched in confusion at your words. Then turned into shock as you once again made glasses with your hands and lifted them to his eyes.

Like Gon, he could see everything. The auras, the emotions, and much to his delight-the strength of everyone. So this was how you detected Binolt. Pretty handy. Maybe he could bribe you with candy to teach them how to see like you.

Which begs the question...

"Can we see your aura?"

You thought about it for a minute and inevitably gave in. Mourning the loss of setting your cookies down to do so.

"Sure, just don't get all scared." It was meant to lighten the mood, but a small part of you really meant it. You weren't trained to read yourself, so you didn't have any clue what they would see. You just hoped it wasn't bad.

You kneeled in front of them, one hand for each eye. You coated the space with your nen and waited.

The first thing they noticed was how faint your aura was. Like you were suppressing it. The next thing was your emotions. Nervousness, exhaustion, and that spark of uncontainable joy from before. Which made sense considering the events that just transpired.

But it was the ones buried under them that were concerning.

Guilt, fear, and regret.

A silent agreement was made not to mention those. Not to press you on them. Whatever caused you to feel that way, you'd tell them when you were ready.

You moved your hands away all too soon.

"Soooo, was that or wasn't that the coolest thing you've ever seen?" You stood up with mock confidence, unnerved by the worry now radiating off of them.

"It was okay, not as cool as the visualization thingy." Killua's quip had the mood lightening slightly.

"Well beggars can't be choosers, gremlin." The worry was gone.

"I can still return these," he said lifting up the small bag.

Your eyes widened in dispair.

"Nononono!!!! Please, my precious little Moon Star don't do it!!!! I'll die! I won't be able to go on without them!"

Killua ignored your light attempts to get the bag back, instead smiling smugly at Gon.

"I've got a cooler nickname than you now," he mouthed.

The boy in green puffed out his cheeks.

"No you don't!"

"Yeah I do!" The small assassin verbalized.

"Don't!"

"Do!"

"Don't!"

And while Killua was distracted, you made a fast grab, successfully taking the bag away. He didn't notice as he continued to argue with his best friend.

That was until both of them heard a crunch followed by another excited squeak. They peaked over the bench to see you happily munching away on a cookie.

"Stealer," Killua huffed out.

Gon nudged his shoulder.

"Leave them." He scolded.

It was quite comical to see someone with such a rough exterior go so soft over a few sweets. And the fact that you would growl if they tried to reach for one just to tease you.

It was almost enough to make the three of you forget about the situation at hand.

Almost.

You'd felt Kite's aura approach, then stop. A feeling of hesitance replacing the calm.

And in truth he was a little hesitant. The three of you looked so peaceful. So happy.

Like a little family.

It'd be a damn shame if something happened to it.

All the more reason he should confirm you all knew what you were getting yourselves into. This job would be dangerous. And it just might ruin the peace you had created with each other.

So he'd let the three of you have your moment. Hopefully not the last one if things went according to plan.

With that he continued on to your small group.

-------------------

Your head snapped up at the sound of footsteps approaching. Realizing it was Kite, you relaxed. Seems he was gonna talk to the three of you after all.

"It may be too late to ask this, but are you all sure you want to come along?" His voice immediately catching the boys' attention.

The question was genuine, but a little redundant to ask.

You all were still here, weren't you?

And these boys were the furthest thing from cowards.

But you supposed from an outsider looking in, things would look different. An emotionally and physically drained adult chasing around two hyperactive kids. You probably would have been concerned too.

Their answer was immediate and you wouldn't have expected anything else.

"Of course."

"You weren't kidding about the 'late' part, huh?"

There was momentary shock from Kite's aura. Then eyes fell on you expectantly.

"What? I thought I was in this by default. Can't exactly track an ant without a tracker, you know?"

Unwavering determination from the three of you. Safe to assume where one went, the other two would follow. Still, Kite needed to make sure you all knew of the potential risks entering the NGL. That the three of you would be prepared for it.

"As you know, we have no idea what the situation is inside the NGL. There may very well be a swarm of giant Chimera Ants already hunting humans down. And if that does indeed turn out to be the case, then my priority will be saving them."

Kite's gaze lingered on his team. A surge of protectiveness radiating off him. You could respect that. You could relate to that.

"Be aware that I may not be able to help you three. If you're going to join us, you must be able to protect yourselves."

And again your boys had answered without hesitation.

"Right, I got it!"

"We'll be okay."

Surprisingly, you weren't pushed for an answer. And it may or may not have to do with the fact that he had seen your strength the day he met you. Your speed that rivaled his and was probably even faster. Your strong will to protect those boys.

You'd already proven enough of your capabilities.

Too bad he was unaware it was purely for defense.

"...And if it happens to be me who finds himself in danger, then leave me there. You got it?"

An uncomfortable tension filled the air. Unease in Gon and Killua's auras. And yours too.

"DON'T LEAVE ME HERE! PLEASE! DON'T LEAVE ME!"

"Shut the hell up, would you?" Your tone was harsh and all the previous joy gone. Instead replaced by agitation. The change in mood was very much unexpected.

Not good. You were scary when you were angry. Especially since you seemed to be getting along well with Kite before.

"You don't leave your friends to die if you know you can save them. Whether you want the help or not, I don't give a damn. If that upsets you then you can shove it. But I will not have you instilling bad morals onto my brothers. End of discussion." Your eyes were colder than they had been. It was hard to pinpoint exactly what it was in them.

But it wasn't hate, wasn't exactly anger. The closest to it was disappointment. Like you were scolding him over something that seemed like common knowledge. Before he could properly explain to you what he meant, you had already gotten up and left for the airship. The two boys trailing behind you, casting an apologetic glance his way as they passed him.

A bear and its cubs.

Kite had to remember to pick his words better addressing those boys. He supposed it was sweet in a way, how serious you took raising them. It let him know they would be safe with you.

It was just dealing with your troublesome temper that would be a pain. (Good thing he was very experienced in that area.)

If you and Ging ever did meet, the two of you would probably kill each other.

-----------------

You'd never been on an airship before. Usually when you had to get somewhere, you'd walk. There was the occasional hitchhike, but you never had the proper money to afford decent travel.

And this was nice. Very nice.

The city lights below you and the sunset unobscured. It was calming. Something you really needed right now.

You hadn't meant to snap, but there were just some things that would inevitably set you off. It was nobody's fault but your own for not conveying them. Still, you weren't too fond of somebody telling your boys to leave their friends when things got rough. No matter how much you liked him.

It wasn't because you thought it would make them cowards. God no, you always reminded them not to pick stupid fights. You just didn't want them to regret running away.

Survivor's guilt was a bitch.

It was not something two twelve-year-old little boys should have to deal with.

You glanced over at them. They were looking out of the window, expressions somber. You could feel nervousness, but you'd give anything to know what they were actually thinking about.

Should you say something?

You were never good at comforting people.

But you didn't like the quiet. Not anymore.

"You two okay?" Were you being awkward right now? Yes, yes you were. But you were trying, that had to count for something, right?"

A moment of silence that seemed to stretch on for eternity.

"You called us your brothers." There was a twinkle in Gon's eye as he said it. It was hopeful.

Then it disappeared as Killua thwacked the back of his head.

"Idiot! Was that the only thing you've been thinking about!?!?"

"Well no, but it's still pretty important!!! They've never called us that before!!!"

"Yeah but we can focus on that later!"

Before you knew it, you were laughing at their shenanigans. You'd been worried over nothing. They were fine. Stupid, but fine.

"Hey! Just whaddya' think you're laughing about!" Killua pointed an accusatory finger at you, face red from embarrassment. You did your best to stifle your giggles before answering.

"Nothing. You two are just goobers is all."

"Ew, what're you fifty? You sound like a senior citizen. You look like one too with those bags under your eyes."

You let out a fake noise of offense.

"Yeah? And what, does that make you Ben Franklin, you little eel."

His embarrassment worsened as Gon laughed at your comment.

"I forgot about that! He is an eel!"

Killua huffed and crossed his arms.

"Can't believe you turned my own best friend against me. Not very big sibling behavior."

You shook your head in amusement. What a day you were having. At least it would end on a high note.

"Oh, Y/n," Gon called.

You turned your head to give him your attention.

"Thank you for earlier."

Your face scrunched in confusion.

"For what?"

"You remember what Kite said before we left? That we should escape without him if he's in danger?"

"Yes?" What did you do that deserved thanks? If anything, you were just being a snippy bitch.

"I wanted to thank you for what you said. That friends don't leave each other behind. I don't think me and Killua would have been able to put that into words. Well, more like say it directly. So thank you."

"Yeah, he didn't make it sound like it was a choice. So I guess I appreciate that you gave us one," Killua added.

You didn't know what to do with this. The gratitude for something you thought was common sense. It wasn't like you'd made some heroic speech on the power of friendship. You just talked from experience.

So you did the only thing you could think of and flicked their foreheads.

"You goblins. Don't thank me for something small like that. I'm the Big Sib, remember? I can't just let someone be teaching you bad habits. What kind of example would I be setting if I agreed to let you run away with your tail between your legs?"

The resounding laughter from both of them had your face going warm.

"Hey! I don't recall saying anything funny! So quit it!"

"It's just-" Gon started before getting cut off by a wheeze.

"You're being so serious over a 'thank you'. You know, you're acting more like a parent right now!" Killua hung off of Gon to steady himself.

Your face went a darker shade.

"I'm nobody's parent! I barely agreed to be your sibling!" You turned to leave, trying not to fluster yourself further.

"Waitwaitwait!" A small grab on your wrist.

"You never let me finish talking." It was Gon who seemed to have collected himself at last.

"You said thank you, sounds like you finished to me."

He shook his head.

"I didn't. That was only part of it. Please sit down and listen." And there were the puppy dog eyes. You hated yourself for how easily you gave in every time.

"Fine. Not like I wanted to nap or anything." You gave his hair a ruffle before sitting on yet another rickety bench, Killua next to you.

"Okay, there's something that I've been thinking about. I want your honest opinion. Do you really think Kite, a guy Ging respects, can ever actually be in that much danger? He said to leave if things got bad, but how bad could they really get if he's so strong?"

Technically, the one friend of Ging's you'd met was a titan. So the odds of Kite being in trouble seemed slim. Then again, you still didn't know how strong these ants would be.

"People slip up. They get tired. Reckless when protecting something important. No matter how strong or respected someone is, there will always be a weakness. And because this is an enemy we've never faced, it's hard to predict what will happen. We can just hope for the best."

So many damn factors could determine a fight. No matter how skilled someone was, one small mistake was all it took.

You wished you didn't know why he had asked that, but you did. And it was because he was considering Kite's words in full. Mulling over what would be the right decision to do. Honor his wishes, or agree with you.

Then there was that familiar spark of determination. And you knew the words that would accompany it would be said with so much certainty, there would be no room to argue.

"I don't know the reason Ging brought me and Kite together, and maybe I never will...But I won't just give up. It doesn't matter what's going on here, I just don't wanna disappoint him, you know?"

You decided then and there that Ging Freecs was the worst person in the world. Gon, who had never even met him, was worried about his approval. The man who had dropped him off at his cousin's and told one of his best buddies to fight him full force. That was the one he didn't want to disappoint.

This kid, who had always felt like he failed when he couldn't accomplish something, didn't deserve that. Didn't deserve to have his self-worth be determined by a man who wasn't there.

So yes, you decided you officially hated Ging. And if you ever met him, you'd be sure to knock him down a peg or two.

"Or me. I couldn't forgive myself either. I won't run away. That's what I've decided. I won't leave my friend to die, not if I can save him." Gon's voice snapped you from your thoughts.

And after processing what he said, you felt a surge of pride. Such a good kid who was cursed with an ass of a father.

"Atta boy." At your praise, he ducked his head down, a feeling of bashfulness overtaking his aura.

"And you? What've you decided, gremlin?" You nudged the boy next to you.

"Don't know. I guess I'd just think about it when the time comes," Killua answered.

"Really? What if it was one of us?" You were being a little mean, pressing him like that. But no matter his answer, it wouldn't change a thing. You'd die to keep these boys alive. And you probably would.

"Well, if it's you two, I'll try my best. But anyone else, it just depends. I don't do these hypotheticals, okay!?!?"

You patted his head, much to his dismay.

"Then let's all agree on something. We look out for each other there, okay? Do what we can, so the rest can do what we can't. And don't be scared to ask for help. I know you two are stubborn, but please be careful."

Were you making another promise?

They nodded, hands reaching towards yours to shake on it.

You were about to make yourself comfortable to start napping when your eyes caught a flash of silver. A familiar calming aura approaching, then it stopped.

You stood up to get a better vantage point and sure enough, there he was. Perhaps he had caught the last part of your conversation with the boys and stopped himself from interrupting.

He noticed you a few seconds later. You were still very much agitated by his previous statement, but you weren't about to be an even bigger ass over that.

He did buy the three of you tickets to come along. And he did double check with the three of you before boarding.

Goddamnit, you couldn't even properly hold a grudge now.

So with the boys distracted with each other, you started up another silent conversation.

'You wanna talk or something? Away from the boys though. You've gotta earn that privilege again.'

Was that relief you were sensing?

'I was hoping to talk to you in private, if that's ok with you?'

You looked back over to the two boys who were currently arguing over dibs for training with you first. Dummies.

You turned back towards Kite and nodded.

"I'll be back, don't do anything that gets me in trouble."

A protest of 'hey's' as you left to follow the taller male. Which wasn't far. The airship was spacious but not big. You two stopped a little ways around the bend.

Your arms were crossed and your stare was expectant. He really did prefer it when you weren't mad. The way you looked a few moments ago. But even though you were upset, you were not an unreasonable person. He'd seen that firsthand himself.

The uncomfortable tension was back. But you'd disrupted it soon after. For better or worse, neither of you could tell.

"This the part where you apologize for traumatizing my boys by asking them to leave you to die?" You may have been exaggerating. But damnit, they shouldn't have to think about things like that.

Your dramatics were expected and like before, Kite would bite back.

"Is this the part where you tell me to screw my explanation?" It was slightly teasing, but completely dispelled your previous agitation.

Your eyes widened, not expecting his response. However, you rebounded quickly.

"If it sucks, then yes. But if you've got a good one I'd love to hear it."

The air became thicker as his expression turned serious.

"You care about those boys, don't you?" You both knew the answer to that very well. Nevertheless, you nodded to confirm.

"Then it's your duty to keep them safe. If I'm in a fight I can't win, what hope to they have?"

And before you could protest on their behalf, he continued.

"They would be putting themselves in a danger they can't beat. Letting emotions get in the way and making mistakes they shouldn't. Good intentions or not, they'd only end up getting in the way. It's your responsibility to take them out of that situation. To protect them."

The same song and dance as before. He was right and you'd jumped the gun a little too soon. The rational part of your brain listening to his words and knowing he was right. But....

"That's not the issue. Trust me, I'm gonna make sure nothing happens to them, even if it kills me. But you don't know what you're talking about asking them to run away. It's not just about doing what's morally right. It's the affect it's going to have."

Affect? Now he was the one a little at loss for words.

"What do you mean?"

You hesitated for a second. Dread and guilt bubbling to the surface.

"As someone who has had to make that choice...I made the wrong one. I don't want them making the wrong one too. It's not something that goes away, the guilt. It festers and grows and it just..." You shook your head, trying to rid away everything negative.

"You don't know what you're asking of them. If there's a chance, even a small one that everybody comes out okay, then we'll make it happen."

Oh

So that was why you were mad.

It made sense now. All of it actually. And when you put it like that, it was hard to argue with. But there was still that image of the happy family broken because one of you had gone back.

You needed to know that. You needed to see past those feelings to understand that. Maybe it was asking too much of you, but this was an important job. One he and his team could not mess up.

"What if you can't? What if it's too late to save someone and you know it? Would you still foolishly try?" It was cruel, but there wasn't a nicer way to put it.

You looked down then. Like you felt defeated. And for a brief moment he thought he knew what your answer would be. He was wrong.

"No...I wouldn't have." He thought the conversation would have ended there, but it didn't. And why it didn't made him respect you all the more.

"But things have changed for me. They've changed me. And even though I know it's a fool's game," Your hands had clenched.

"I would do it in a heartbeat. But if you're so adamant about this, then I want you to make me a promise in exchange."

You didn't agree with him, but you had agreed to follow through in his wishes. It was only fair he do the same.

"Promise that if I have to fight to give them time, you'll get them out of there. You'll keep them safe for me. If I need to die, then make sure they live." Your eyes met Kite's. He would never tire seeing your resolve, but now there was something softer mixed in. Vulnerable.

"I know they can be a handful, but they'll grow on you." He didn't need you to try and convince him to agree. He'd already decided the second you proposed it. Still, you loved your little family and wanted to ensure they would be safe.

A breath of fresh air compared to some of the other hunters he had met. (Even if you weren't exactly one.)

You extended your hand towards his. He took it, noticing a small amount of aura coating it.

"I swear on my nen, that if I know you can't be saved, we'll run."

It was a curse. No a condition. He had never met someone who bet their nen on their word. But your resolve was absolute, not worried about the potential ramifications of your actions. You were serious about keeping your promise.

A spark of something akin to admiration was felt. You stood strong and unmoving and it was having an affect on him.

It wasn't hard to see why both boys looked up to you so much.

You'd place a condition on your nen to keep your promise. So he would too. As a show of good faith. A show of trust.

"I swear on my nen, as well. If something should happen to you, I'll take care of Gon and Killua in your place." His own aura coated his palm.

You looked up at him in shock. Did he have any idea what he was about to do? That this was permanent until the conditions had been met or null?

"You know what happens if you break it, right? This isn't something to take lightly. It's binding." You warned. But Kite looked unfazed by your words, aura a familiar calm.

"I know. Does it make you uncomfortable that I'm willing to meet your stakes?" It was a genuine question. He assumed you would have been happy. Maybe a snarky comment here and there, but not surprised. Was this another boundary he was unaware of?

"No. I just wanted to make sure." You finally shook on it, a feeling of your nen exchanging with his before it was over.

Why had he done that? Why had he put a condition on himself? Just because you did it??? You didn't get it. Promises were important to you, and now a promise like this? Where both parties had agreed to give something up in case it was broken... Where stakes were mutual...

No

You knew why

And it had your slowed heart beating in overdrive inside your chest.

"You're.... You're a good person. For meeting me halfway on this. Thank you, Kite." Your tone was the softest it had been with him. There was gratitude yes, but there was something else. It was almost intimate.

And when you said his name like that, with such fondness, it made him want to keep you around. Just to hear it said in the same way again.

A tongue for a dagger with a heart of gold. That's what you were. A smart ass with a big heart, especially with those two boys.

Maybe he would invite you to stay when this was all over.

----------------

Unbeknownst to the two of you, pairs of eyes watched the exchange from afar. Both of them trying to wrap their heads around what you just did.

You shook hands coated in nen and that was it. But why? They couldn't figure it out. From where they were, they couldn't really hear you all that well.

But one of them could read lips, and what he deciphered shocked him in a way that was terrifying.

Because what Killua had just witnessed was you willing to give up your nen, what made you you, for their safety. That you would give up your life to make sure he and Gon got out safe.

What the hell was wrong with you!?!? Doing something so stupid over something that wouldn't happen!!!! You'd made a big deal about not running away a few minutes ago, so what was the-

Your wording.

There was an 'if'. If you know you can save them.

'But if you couldn't' was what you bet your nen on.

And it brought the earlier conversation to full light. What he would do if you and Gon were just in danger. Without knowing if saving either of you was an option.

Would you hate him if he decided to run?

He knew Gon wouldn't leave you, that he wouldn't have even entertained the thought. But it wasn't as cut and dry for Killua.

It had been instilled in him to flee from battles he could not win. To run and save his own life.

And what if that actually happened? Would the two of you stay?

Would either of you forgive him?

Would you still think of him as your little brother? A killer turned coward?

You never stayed mad or upset with him. And Gon always believed the best in him.

"One day you'll betray your friends and then you'll kill them." He froze at the sound of Illumi's voice. His words were still engraved in his mind.

"You don't leave your friends to die if you can save them." But so were yours.

"You're no good."

"Okay, I'll admit it. That was pretty unexpected. And cool."

"You're weak."

"Just try a little harder and you'll have it down."

"Foolish little brother."

"He's cautious and knows how to pick his battles. And despite the shit his family's put him through, he's still a good kid."

His brother had taught him everything he's ever known, and a part of him was grateful for that.

But you and Gon had shown him a different way. A way built on trust rather to than fear. And out of the voices battling in his head, yours was the one he would rather listen to. The better one.

The one that made him feel safe.

He would try for you.

Try to be a good person for you and Gon.

Try to save the two of you if anything happened.

-----------------------------------

Not so Fun Fact #10: Y/n's Hemophobia stems from being exposed to too much at a young age.

Not so Fun Fact #11: Y/n became homeless at the age of 8

MASTERLIST

Tags: @fandomhoe101

-------------------------------------

An: Me??? Making a small filler chapter 😱😱😱 Yes, now let me stall for Kite's life. Kite my beloved, I apologize for what I'm about to do to you next chapter.😞😞😞 Gon and Killua my scrunkies, I also apologize for what I'm about to do to you the following chapter after that😞😞😞 (Or maybe through the power of procrastination I can stall the angst for one more chapter.)

[ejzah]

Since Densi decided not tell the team in the finale can you please write a fanfic where they finally reveal the news!

The One Where It’s Twins

***

Kensi rubbed her hand over her lower abdomen, over the slight bump there. It had appeared at 11 weeks and grown a tiny bit each week. For the past six weeks, it had been their little secret.

“You know, we don’t have to do this today,” Deeks said from beside her, reminding her that they still sat in the parking garage, inside his truck and probably had been for at least five minutes. “We can wait to tell everyone you’re pregnant.”

“This bump says otherwise.” She framed her stomach again, emphasizing the bulge.

“Nah. You were baggy shirt, carry a big bag and they’ll never notice. Works on TV all the time,” Deeks disagreed teasingly.

“And maybe I should wear a parka too.”

“Only if you get transferred to a really cold post.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening.” Sighing, Kensi reached over to take Deeks’ hand. “No, it’s time. I can’t stay on limited field duty for much longer before someone starts asking questions. I guess I got used to it being just the three of us knowing and now it’s going to be the team, and my mom—”

“And my mom.”

Kensi huffed a soft laugh at his addition, sliding her hand up to cup his cheek. God, she loved him so much. Being pregnant, and all the new challenges it brought along, had only reinforced her affection for him.

“Yeah, it’s going to be a lot, and as much as I’m going to miss having this be our secret and sharing all of this with just you and Rosa, I’m also excited be at this stage. Our babies are going to have a lot of people who love them,” Kensi said, and Deeks squeezed her free hand.

“Yeah they will. Come one.”

***

Fortunately, everyone was already gathered on the bullpen, so they didn’t have to make a big production of it. They stopped, hands linked, between the two sets of desks, reminding Kensi of another time in their lives when they’d awkwardly announced they were moving in together.

The amount of progress they’d made since then was amazing.

Callen noticed them first, lifting his head with a teasing smirk. “Hey, I thought you guys were playing hooky. Sam and I leave for a couple weeks, and these guys think they can come in whenever they want.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Deeks apologized. “We had a couple things to discuss.” He shared a smile with Kensi, who just squeezed his hand in answer. “Um, actually we have something to share with you.”

He got four looks of concern, and quickly assured them. “It’s something good this time, I swear.”

Kensi offered Sam, who was sitting closest to her, a card sized envelope. Frowning, Sam untucked the flap, slipping out a picture. He studied it for several seconds, face inscrutable.

“Is this for real?” he asked finally, waving the sonogram in the air. “You’re pregnant?” Callen immediately leaned over his shoulder while Fatima and Rountree hurried closer.

“Yes,” Kensi confirmed, grinning like she did every time she thought of the life growing inside her.

“Oh my god! Congratulations, Kensi, Deeks. This explains why you’ve looked so radiant the last few months,” Fatima said happily.

“And the never ending food poisoning,” Rountree added in an undertone.

“Ah, on that note, I would like to formally state that I did not poison Kensi with my shawarma,” Deeks spoke up.

“He’s been very firm on that point. Though I suppose I understand since I was pretty nasty about the whole old takeout thing.” Kensi inclined her head.

“Congrats,” Rountree echoed Fatima. “So, how far along is Baby Deeks-Blye?”

“15 weeks,” Kensi answered, sharing a knowing look with Deeks. They were 99% certain about the night of conception.

“And actually, it’s babies,” Deeks corrected. “As in multiple.”

“Oh no. You guys are not having twins,” Sam said, shaking his head emphatically. “The world is not prepared for that amount of craziness.”

“He means congratulations,” Callen interpreted, reaching out to shake Deeks’ hand, and then gave in and offered each of them a one-armed hug.

“I’m joking. Not about the crazy part, but, I am happy for you guys. No one deserves it more,” Sam told them. He hugged Deeks, briefly squeezing the back of his neck affectionately and then tucked Kensi against his chest. “And they’re going to be two lucky kids to be born into a family like yours.”

“Thank you,” Deeks whispered. Kensi was too moved to do more than hug Sam more tightly.

***

A/N: In this scenario, Kensi and Deeks have not resigned or moved to different positions yet.

Stay tuned for a small part 2 tomorrow.

Thanks for the prompt!

[akariarda]

Family bonding-Part 3

Request fro ao3!

Part-1, Part-2

Lloyd accepted Arin as his temporary son. Now Kai and Sora get involved, and Garmason is not the happiest.

Send me requests if you have them!

"Temporary dad?" Arin asked Lloyd when they arrived at the monastery. "When do we start training?"

"Tomorrow morning, temporary son. I think we all deserve a little rest," Lloyd replied.

"Hey, what's the deal with these temporary dads and sons?" Fire ninja interrupted as he arrived at the monastery's door.

"And where were you guys?"

"First, we decided to temporarily adopt Arin until we find his real parents," Lloyd explained. "Second, we were celebrating."

"Without me!?" Kai exclaimed in shock and disbelief. "And the others?! How could you?"

"You weren't here, and Sora was asleep," Arin calmly responded. "We're sorry..."

"It's okay, temporary son," Lloyd reassured him. "Sometimes he just loses it. You know how he is..."

"Crazy?" a mocking voice suggested.

"Who's saying that to me, Garmadon!" Kai replied scornfully.

"Didn't your parents teach you not to talk back to your elders?" Garmadon provoked, feigning affection.

The next second, Lloyd found himself between his father and his best friend.

"That's enough!" he shouted, and they separated.

"Alright," Kai said once he calmed down. "Since we're already family, can I be the temporary uncle?" He acted as if the incident had never happened.

"And why would you be the temporary uncle?" Garmadon, clearly in a good mood, continued to provoke.

"Kai, please be reasonable," Lloyd pleaded with him.

"Wait, what-" Garmadon shouted.

"Of course!" Arin replied to calm the argument.

"Come here, temporary nephew!" Kai said, spreading his arms.

"I'll teach you how to treat Lloyd to get what you want."

Lloyd exclaimed, "Hey!" as they entered the monastery together.

Garmadon was still standing outside,pouting at the insult

~~~~~~

"Why is everyone so happy?" Sora asked tiredly. "I just managed to get up now, and my body hurts from the training."

"Don't worry," Kai waved his hand dismissively. "That's how it is for everyone in the beginning."

"Yeah," Lloyd laughed. "I used to hate training, I always wanted to do something else, but I hated just the training itself."

"But you must become a ninja," Sora told him, then corrected herself, afraid she had misunderstood. "At least, that's how I understood it."

"There's some truth to that," Lloyd told her. "Don't you want to be a ninja?" he gently asked.

"No, I don't know. I want to be here with you all, but..." She shook her head. "I feel like I don't belong here."

"Nonsense!" Kai told her.

"You're part of the family." Lloyd confirmed,

"Look," he said when he saw Sora sigh. "Arin is now my temporary son. I would be honored if you could be my temporary daughter."

She looked up. "But of course, without any pressure."

"You don't understand," Sora sounded nauseous. "I don't want you to be my temporary dad, I want you to be my permanent dad."

"That's a great idea!" Garmadon yelled when he entered. "If Kai won't be your permanent uncle."

"Hey!" Kai exclaimed, offended. "Of course, it would be my pleasure." Lloyd was speechless as he hugged Sora. "Not only that, I would love to, truly be your father."

"Thank you, Dad," Sora said when she pulled away from him and wiped her eyes. She noticed that his eyes were also moist.

It was so emotional that Kai and Garmadon stopped arguing for a moment.

DING!

"Pie always comes at the right time!" Arin sniffled. "Let's celebrate for our new family!"

"Yes, all of us," Kai said, scanning the room, even looking at Garmadon, who nodded at him.

"Then let's go, kids, temporary and non-temporary." Lloyd said, grabbing Arin and Sora by the shoulders.

~~~Christmas morning~~~

"My favorite time of the year!" Kai exclaimed excitedly.

"Mine too," Arin agreed.

"Even though I'm more of a fiery type, I love Christmas!" Kia exclaimed. "Who wouldn't love it?"

"Sora, daughter," Lloyd called Sora to come over. "I know it's a bit early for gift-giving, but I can't wait to give you this."

"What is it, dad?" she asked, confused, seeing an empty box.

"Take a closer look," Lloyd told her.

"Adoption papers? " she read, her face filling with joy.

"Yes, I wanted it to be official," Lloyd nervously scratched the back of his head. "I hope you like it..."

"Thank you, dad! Thank you!" she said and hugged him tightly.

"You're welcome, officially my daughter now."

"It's not time for presents yet!" Kai angrily exclaimed when he saw what was happening.

"I have a gift for you, Kai, and for you, temporary son, and for you, dad," Lloyd said.

"I also have a gift for you, son, and for the grandchildren. And of course, something special for Kai," he smirked.

"Uh," Kai swallowed. "I'm scared."

"Temporary dad?" Arin called out to Lloyd. "How about taking a picture before that?"

"That's a great idea!" Sora agreed.

With a lot of pushing and a little less arguing, everyone finally managed to stand in the right places.

"Say 'first Christmas with the new family!'" Arin shouted.

"First Christmas with the new family!" they all exclaimed.

[dragon-in-the-watery-bowl]

A Christmas Sorrow

Some more Akane Survives AU fic, this time with a more festive tone, to fit the month.

The day went by like it had become usual: Waking up, preparing, and eating, breakfast, helping Yuki with the physical therapy, so he can be able to walk again, take a small break, to both rest and be able to eat lunch, continuing the therapy exercises from they left them off, dine, and finally go to sleep.

But she couldn't help but to take a look at the calendar that night.

A year had already went by since the killing game she and Utsuro were sent to do ended.

A year since she destroyed so many lives, all in the name of her beloved master, only to survive through the sacrifices of those she loved.

Why? Why she had to live while they didn't?

Why she had to see Utsuro and Ayame throw away their lives for her to survive?

Was this her punishment mandated by the gods for having enabled Utsuro's fall from grace through her own inaction and fears?

It had to be, because why then she would have been given a second chance to live after everything she did?

She could feel her tears welling on her eyes, but she wasn't going to cry.

Crying wouldn't make her any good at this point.

Wiping her tears with her arm, she went to her bed, and prayed for her dreams to not be haunted by everything she did wrong.

To not be haunted by her own failures.

Sadly, her prayers weren't heard, and she saw their faces once again after closing her eyes.

And the only thing she could see in their eyes was hatred.

Hatred for her.

And for what she did to them.

---

When he woke up, the first thing he noticed was that it was still early in the morning.

The second one was that Sora still hadn't woken up.

He didn't gave it a lot of thought, just assuming that she was more tired than usual, thanks to her nightmares, so he decided to go to the kitchen, and start to make a breakfast for the two of them, only for a noise to stop him right on his tracks.

Crying.

And it was coming from Sora's room.

His curiosity winning over his reason, he scoot closer to the door, realizing in the process that she accidentally left it open last night, and got inside the room, where his suspicions were proven correct.

Sora was having another nightmare.

He wheeled closer to her, debating internally about what he should do, unsure if he should wake her up or not, when she twitched violently and snapped her eyes open.

But he soon realized that, even though her eyes were open, she still hadn't woken up.

And whatever she was seeing in his place, it had to be bad.

He stood completely still, only hearing her desperate, inaudible, mumbles, and deep sobbing, without knowing what to do, when she locked eyes with him, and weakly extended an hand towards him, slurring something that he was barely able to understand:

"Master Utsuro... don't leave..."

It was that name again. The one Sora always repeated like a prayer when she was having a nightmare.

But this was the first time he saw her doing something like this, begging whoever this name belonged to to stay with her.

Once again, he couldn't help but to think about what happened to her in her past, before they first met.

And why she was always repeating that name in her dreams.

Still unsure of what to do, he took her extended hand, staying at her side, and consoling her, until she finally awakes.

At least, like that, she wouldn't be alone in her dreams.

---

The first thing she saw once that terrible nightmare was over was an awake Yuki, who was right at her side, and holding her outstretched hand.

Her brain too scrambled by both the nightmare and exhaustion, she stood still for a short moment, only looking at him until he realized that she was already awake, a realization that made him flush intensely.

Clumsily trying to explain to her why he was there, he immediately left to the kitchen, mentioning something about "having to prepare their breakfast" while almost hitting the wall in his haste to leave.

It was pretty cute.

Once she left the bed, took a shower, and changed to cleaner clothes, she went to the kitchen, where Yuki had already prepared a pair of bowls with some leftover rice from the previous day, and fried eggs, for the both of them.

They had almost finished the good, when she saw Yuki taking a look to the calendar in the kitchen, before telling her what had caught his attention "Oh, it's already Christmas Eve. Do you want to do something today?"

At his question, she gave the calendar a quick glance too, and realized that Yuki was correct. It was December 24th already.

If she was going to be honest, celebrating holidays, and holidays like that one at that, has been something that she barely had the chance to do, neither in her childhood, trapped inside that terrible orphanage, nor when she became Utsuro's servant, thanks to his broken heart not having any space to celebrate anything, so Yuki's inquiry left her pretty surprised.

But that didn't meant that she wasn't interested in his suggestion.

Her ruminating silence didn't lasted long, but it was clearly leaving Yuki nervous, the boy fiddling with his hands and avoiding eye contact with her, a ghost of a blush forming on in his cheeks.

Did he thought that he said something wrong?

She wasn't sure, but it felt like it.

Holding his hands with hers, and letting the contact between the two of them to slowly but surely sooth him, she finally gave him an answer:

"Of course yes"

---

They left the building around midday, trusting in the fact that, with the sun still shining, criminal activity would be lower and they would be safe to stay outside.

And also, because he wanted to eat outside for a chance.

When Sora woke up, snow, or ash, he wasn't sure what it was, thanks to its greyish color, had fell down onto the town, and the streets were now covered with a layer of a greyish something, which would have made using his wheelchair outside impossible, except for the fact that Sora was already prepared for such a situation, securing something that reminded him of the snow chains mom always kept in the car's trunk, if the need arised, onto its wheels.

In response at his surprise at seeing it, she told him that she bought it on a store she found in the town, even though he could see that it actually looked to have been hand-made.

He didn't said anything, however.

She probably had a good reason to not tell him.

The streets were almost empty, he couldn't help but to notice while he and Sora walked around, both of people and of holiday decorations. It was clear that both the Tragedy, and everything that the Ultimate Despair did, and were doing, to keep it, had scarred everyone, one way or another.

Seeing this with his own eyes just made him hate them even more.

They spent some hours just walking around, and looking at the scarse holidays gifts and trinkets in the stores they passed by, until they started to feel hungry, where they immediately came across a fancy-looking, but almost empty, restaurant. After a short second of hesitation, the two of them went inside and asked for a empty table, before waiting for the food they ordered.

It felt a bit too convenient, the restaurant being empty like that, but he didn't said anything.

After all, it had to be just a coincidence, right?

Their stay in the restaurant was a pleasant one for the most part: The food was delicious, and staff was pretty polite, however a bit downcast thanks to the now chaotic state of the world making them find it hard to keep the place afloat. Things only soured up when they were already ready to leave.

Sora had already payed the bill, and they were getting ready to leave, when a couple entered the building, making her stop in her tracks once she noticed their presence.

They looked like your typical pair of friends, one of them having short black hair, and the other having her longer, brunette, hair in a low ponytail, but, when she saw them, he swears that he was able to see something break inside of Sora.

Her eyes became glossy, looking at something beyond the room and barely responding to his voice, staying like that, in that frozen stupor, before she just ran away, not giving him any time to react, only following her once his own shock faded away.

Thankfully, it didn't took long before he found her, sitting in a bench close to the restaurant, hands on her face and sobbing profusely.

He stood still at her side, not knowing what he could do to help her.

Since the say they met, she had been always the one who helped him with his struggles, but now that she was the one struggling, he couldn't do anything.

God, he was useless.

He started to fall into a self-deprecating spiral, only to be ripped out of it, and back to reality, when he felt the distinctive feeling of someone hugging him.

It was Sora.

And she was apologizing to him.

No, she wasn't apologizing to him, she was apologizing to the person in her nightmares.

Utsuro.

She probably was confusing him with them in her stress, but he didn't said anything.

He had a lot of questions, but now it wasn't the time to find the answers for them. If he did it, he knew that it just would hurt Sora more.

Laying his hand over her head, he let her cry onto his chest, and let out all those tears she had for those plaguing her nightmares, whoever they were.

After all, it was the best he could do for her right now.

---

After she was able to calm herself down, and they went back to the apartment, she couldn't help but to apologize for how she just... broke after those two girls entering the restaurant.

Those two girls that reminded her of what she lost.

Yuki's only response to her apologies was to tell her that he just did what she would have done if their roles were to be reversed, before telling her to stop worrying about it when she tried to press on the subject.

The rest of the day was spent mainly in silence, an unseen wariness surrounding, and slowly choking, them.

Feelings caused by the secret she had to keep from him.

She knew that, one day, she would have to tell him the truth, the truth about herself and her true connection with him, but, at the same time, she just couldn't do it.

Because, if she did it, Yuki would hate her forever.

And if he hated her, he would leave her side, leaving him completely defenseless against all the scum hiding in the corners of this now ruined world, that would take that opportunity to fulfill their sick desires through him.

Such a fate for him made her shiver from just thinking about it, driving her desire to protect him right into even further heights, no matter what would be the cost for her.

After all, this was the only way she could make up for everything she did to him as "Akane Taira".

And everything she did as a Ultimate Despair.

Their, honestly late, dinner was spent like the rest of the evening, in complete silence, before Yuki left for bed, leaving her alone with her half-eaten food.

The entire incident in the restaurant had completely killed her appetite, so she decided to leave the food back to the fridge, in the case of her being able to feel hungry again by the next day, before she took a look at the windows, and into the streets below.

Yellowish hues coming from the streetlights blended into the the blinding, and ever-changing, colors from the scarse decorative lights decorating windows and balconies, combined with the sound of voices down below, were a sign of how, with Junko Enoshima gone and the world finally having a symbol of hope to believe in, people were finally starting to heal from the horrors from the Tragedy, even if the Ultimate Despair was still alive and out there, waiting for the moment to strike again.

Looking at them, she couldn't help but to think about one thing:

Would she be able to heal from her pain too someday?

She didn't knew the answer for that question, and, if she was being honest, didn't wanted it either.

Because after all, with every horrible thing she did to win Utsuro's love, did she really deserved to heal from all this pain?

Trying to not think about it too much, she turned her head towards the door to Yuki's room, where he was now surely sleeping soundly.

She didn't knew why, but, in that moment, she couldn't help but to think about his smiling face.

An expression born from the gratitude towards someone he would never truly know.

It was painful, so painful, to see the person who was the perfect mirror image of Utsuro smiling so brightly at her, the person who ruined his life, but, at the same time, it was strangely comforting.

Maybe she felt like that because of that physical semblance Yuki and Utsuro shared.

Or maybe, it was because of the fact that, after everything she did in the past, she was finally doing the right thing for once.

Either way, she still had a duty to perform:

To take care of, and protect, Yuki Maeda until the day he could be able to once again walk on his two feet.

She had a lot of regrets and sins weighting her down, and what she did to Yuki, and his family, to give Utsuro a chance to infiltrate Hope's Peak Academy at Junko's orders was the heaviest of them all.

So she was going to do everything in her power to fix this sin of hers.

And she wasn't going to let anything stop her from doing it.

[brainrotcharacters]

Wakanda Forever x Moon Knight Headcanons

let me tell you something LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING

tags: Steven, Marc, and Jake share one body, them and Layla come to Talokan but don't ask me how they can breathe underwater just shh, Steven/Marc/Jake and Dissociative Identity Disorder, Layla El-Faouly, a callback to Moon Knight episode 5, imagine interactions between them, moon knight x namor sfw, 

I already discussed this with my royal council a small group of friends who are enjoyers of both BPWF and MK

Steven would love to know absolutely everything about Talokan. Namor won't let him know so easily, but Steven's nearly childish curiosity persists.

"The Scarlet Scarab shall find a home among the people of Talokan, should the surface world inevitably fail her."

Namor doesn't know about DID. He struggles to imagine a world where a mother would abuse her own son, considering the love he gave and received from his own mother.

because of this, he'd be confused and on survival mode the first time Steven/Marc switched

he would think it was some new surface technology or ability to infiltrate a nation as one person, and leave it as another person

if he met Marc before Steven, Namor's skepticism would be soothed when Steven says "mate, with all due respect, the only way that I would pick a fight with you is if you were a danger to Marc or Layla"

if he met Steven before Marc, I guarantee a fight scene before they discuss things

Layla, as always, saves Steven/Marc. She explains what she knows about dissociative identity disorder (It is more than likely that after the show, Layla researched it)

Layla's nicknames include "Lady Scarab" "Gold Maiden" "The Golden Warrior" "Warrior Queen"

Marc's nicknames (more than half are given by Namor intended to piss Marc off) include "Moon Man" "The White" "Mercenario"

only Steven heard Namor refer to Marc as "Cavaliero de Luna"

Steven's nicknames Namor would deny all questions about his developing familiar protectiveness for him include "the historian" "Moon Child"

Namor has a first name basis with Steven and Layla, but uses Marc's and Jake's surnames to address them

Namor would flirt with Layla

"Steven, give me the body" "hold on we have to be careful" "he's making googly eyes at Layla!" "I'm upset too but shut up for a second!"

Namor would not-accidentally realize that both Steven and Marc feel as if they don't deserve Layla. She herself knows, and continues to make the effort to convince them that she loves them.

Namor intervenes. He takes personal insult that such powerful humans can be mated, but their life together is still clouded by surface world foolishness

"You are correct. You do not deserve her." Namor tells them, one time when they co-fronted. The scowl on their face deepened, until Namor continued. "Try to be."

he understands how deeply a woman can feel her emotions, and has seen its influences throughout his long, long life. though Layla is not one of his people, Namor cannot stand and watch her lovers unconsciously disrespect her strength by deciding for her what she deserves.

if Jake fronts, and Namor realizes that he hid his presence from his own headmates and Layla as well, Namor's hostility would depend on Jake's current motives

both Namor and Jake know how to speak Spanish, and roast each other accordingly

Namor and Layla became quick friends that Namor also promised to send reinforcements to Egypt if Layla ever asks for his help

Namor's half-friendship with Steven follows the black cat-golden retriever trope

Someone please put Steven on a timer because he's going to speedrun learning Yucatec Mayan /lh

if Talokan suffers an attack or Steven, Marc, and Layla help Talokan attack, Layla and Marc would join Namor in the air

don't talk to me Layla's suit will look so pretty and shiny because of all the water

on the instance that Layla's suit would have problems, Namor would let her borrow vibranium swords... vibranium wings... fanartists can we talk about this

interactions between Steven and the children of Talokan

by the end of it all, Namor would have built a library for Steven. For him to use anytime

the thing about burning the world... if Steven/Marc chooses to tell him about their trauma, Namor would be confused that they don't want to burn the world

only Steven knows about this library because Namor made him promise not to tell (he has a reputation to uphold)

this would refer back to the moment that Dr. Harrow asked if Steven had created Marc to punish the world for what it did to him

the domesticity between Layla and her lovers makes Namor hesitate about having a consort for his kingdom

point is, the day that Tenoch, Oscar, and May share a screen will be a Good Day

[thekimspoblog]

The 2nd Trip

For a while now, I've wanted to write more fanfiction about the stomach-turning star-crossed romance between William and Dolores. I mean the plot-twist at the end of Season 1 just recontextualizes their entire affair in a deliciously awful way. And in Season 2, we do get a lot more insight into how he became the Man in Black (especially Episode 9). But I still feel like there are a lot of gaps left to fill in, about how he "got bored" with Dolores. So here are some ideas I've had for that:

(I already wrote this scene) William has been invited to dinner at the Abernathy Ranch house, as a thank-you for saving Dolores from bandits earlier that day. When Peter pulls Billy aside to give him the suspicious-patriarch routine, William drops the facade and explains that he wants Dolores to remember him, so he can take her out of the park. Later, while stargazing, Dolores talks about how she feels like Teddy doesn't really understand her, and invites William to the barn for a roll in the hay.

The pair set off on a narrative (presumably one of Ford's) to recover a curative flower from the top of a cliffside, which will supposedly heal Dolores's sick mother. However, somewhere along the way, the two will get side-tracked and end up looking for some sort of more abstract treasure, backstage in the labs. The Forge hasn't been built yet, but maybe this is where William gets the idea?

Along this journey, Dolores finds Teddy's body dumped in a ditch somewhere. Naturally she's horrified and bereaved. What William doesn't remember (or maybe has chosen to forget) is that he did this - this was about more than just eliminating the competition; he was playing Teddy's role. Maybe he thought it was the most efficient way to win Dolores over... or maybe he just wanted to go back to pretending to be the good guy.

They ride the train together again, and maybe for a second it even seems like he's been able to jog her memory. But the sad fact is the spark is gone. It's not her; she hasn't changed one bit; every time on the train is her first time. But he's changed; this story holds no surprises for him this time around, so what's the fun? He still loves Dolores... at least he thinks he does... but he can see her puppet strings this time. Honestly, it's a horrible thing to say, but if romancing someone can be boiled down to an easy-to-follow dialogue tree... what's the point of consent? None of it was ever consensual, because she doesn't even know where she is! Whatever, all the more reason she needs to be taken out of this horror show.

Having successfully smuggled/bought Dolores's freedom, they get a condo in the city together. Dolores is very clearly a fish out of water in this new environment, but she's his manic pixie dream girl so all the repetitions/stutters/glitches are just part of the charm. I mean William had obvious contempt for Peter Abernathy when he was doing the same thing earlier in this story, but it's fine I'm sure there's no issues hiding there. Anyway, some of Dolores's strange behavior is cute, but her sleepwalking is causing a serious problem. William keeps getting called down to the Sheriff's station at 2 am, because Dolores was walking down the highway in a trance. This leads William to start doing more to lock her in the apartment at night, but naturally this only makes Dolores angry and distrustful. She's becoming more and more insistent that she wants to go back to her father, despite William trying to convince her that that man was never her father. This escalates to Dolores attacking William with a kitchen knife in an attempt to escape. And now William decides to cross a line he can't uncross: he tries to reprogram her into something more manageable.

Eventually Ford tracks William down and politely explains that Dolores must be returned to the park; whoever agreed to sell her in the first place has been fired (read: killed), and now Robert is here to correct this misunderstanding in-person. He explains that the hosts' cognitions begin to break down when they are out-of-range of the CR4DL, and that William is hurting her by taking her away from her family and the rest of her species. There will come a day when the hosts are ready to walk on the outside, but Dolores is still learning; she belongs under the watchful eye of her creator. William chews Ford out, for supposedly loving his robots like children and yet still raising them in a woodchipper. Ford gives Billy the standard "only suffering brings enlightenment" speech.

Meanwhile, Logan has finally been rescued by an EVAC team, and is slowly regaining his sanity in a hospital bed somewhere on the mainland. Naturally, his first thought is to adamantly warn Juliet about what William did, that he doesn't really love her, and the lies he will tell that she shouldn't listen to. But years of a strained relationship with her brother lead Juliet to give William the benefit of the doubt. William answers believably enough; he did get lost in a fantasy, but he's sobering up now and he remembers why he loved her. Westworld is too important a project for Delos not to invest in it, so yes, he will have to continue business with the park. But even if the hosts are sentient, according to Ford, Dolores was only brought online roughly twelve years ago. Frankly, William is disgusted with himself now!

Years later, Juliet visits the Mariposa. She's developed a real hatred for this park, this business, but she had to come here; this was important. She needs to have a frank chat with Dolores. Not even out of jealousy, more out of fear. What has her husband been doing to this poor woman? And how much restraint does he actually have from doing the same to her and Emily? In the background "Jolene" by Dolly Parton tinkles away on the player piano.

The Man in Black arrives in Sweetwater again, and threatens a fellow guest for trying to pick up the can of peaches, insisting that he be the first in line. He takes Dolores to Escalante, where they have a tea party among the sand dunes. It's clear at this point, William doesn't regard Dolores as a full person, but he's still content to have her as company while he mulls some things over out-loud. He talks about his hatred for rich snobs, how he would throttle James Delos if it were only legal to do so. How Juliet grew up rich and he didn't, and because of that there will always be unspoken resentment between them. Dolores recites the same script from the first chapter of this story, about her dissatisfaction with Teddy. William muses that that would make them both adulterers, and maybe that's not much of a sin compared to other ones. Maybe having one foot in the real world and one foot in the park, is the closest he's ever going to get to happy.

William wakes up on the train headed into the park again. The whole time we've been reading this story, it wasn't a flash-back; it was a simulation in the Forge. And Ford didn't write the medicinal flower narrative; William wrote this story for himself because part of his brain desperately wants Dolores to forgive him for the abuse. But she can't because she's not there; she's already left him behind in the dust. All this guilt, heartbreak and obsession has kept him reliving the past 30 years over and over again, trying to make sense of where he went wrong, why he couldn't have just played White-Hat like he was supposed to. But when Dolores is attacked by bandits again, this time lead by the Man in Black, William realizes that the only thing he could have done to break the loop was to let go entirely. To quit the park cold-turkey. Wish Dolores well, knowing that she'll mature eventually, but for better or worse, he and his perverse sentimentality can't be around for it.