#he’s tired!!! he’s too young for this!!!

[nerdpoe]

Jazz and Johnny got...way more involved that Danny will ever want to know.

And Jazz, very liminal, actually fell pregnant.

She opted to leave for a bit, have the baby, and adopt it out. It was half ghost and half very liminal human, she had no idea what the GIW would do to it.

So she left on an "extended study trip", gave birth, gave it over to the adoption agency, warned them there was a high chance the kid would be a meta, and went about recovering.

Unbeknownst to her, that baby was immediately stolen by one Sheila Haywood for the purposes of tax fraud.

From there, the baby was given to Willis Todd, after Sheila lied and said that he was the father.

From there, the baby was put under the care of Catharine Todd, who died far too young.

From there, the kid tried to steal Batman's tires so he wouldn't starve.

Fast forward, and Jason Todd, now an adult, decides to pay a visit to the new head Psychologist of Arkham to vet the lady.

He ends up staring into a set of eyes that mirror his own, and when he runs the DNA from the hair he stole off of her, it comes back positive that yeah.

That's his mom.

[rea-grimm]

Sleep protector Zoro

Lately, you've been suffering from terrible nightmares. But you didn't understand why. You weren't under stress, there was nothing that particularly bothered you.

They came out of nowhere like a bolt from the blue. However, they were such nightmares that you were woken up by your own screams.

You didn't deal with it the first few days. You thought you'd get over it on your own. But that didn't happen. Instead, you started getting giant circles under your eyes, and sleep gave you no energy at all. Slowly, the people around you started to see it.

You had another long shift ahead of you and wondered how you were going to get through it. When it was a busy hour, it was fine. You didn't have time to think about being tired.

But when there were few guests, they were worse. How many times have you caught yourself leaning on your arm and your eyelids drooping?

But now it was such a more comfortable evening. Not a few people and not a lot of people. Such an ideal, when you managed to serve customers and your colleague unpacked the goods that arrived in the morning.

"Should I take off my shoes? So that you don't swallow me," your colleague asked you with a laugh as you covered your mouth and yawned. “Hey, if you want to take the day off, just say,” he smiled at you and placed a hand on your shoulder. 

You just shook your head over it. You didn't need any time off. You've had enough. In addition, you were able to react well here at work.

"I understand, but if you ever wanted to chat over a glass or cup of coffee, I'm here for you," he said encouragingly, before returning to unpacking again.

"Look at this. Isn't he cute?” your colleague asked you as he placed a box of booze next to the bar that he wanted to refill. Shuffled among the bottles was a green teddy bear in a green coat with a red sash.

The teddy bear looked dishevelled. You took him in your hands when you noticed that one of his eyes was missing. The place had a stretchy scar in that place as if someone had sown it there.

"Keep him. Maybe this little fur ball will protect you from the nightmares,” he said with a smile as he levelled the bottles.

"If so, it would be a miracle," you answered sceptically, but you kept him anyway.

You returned home a little after 3 in the morning. You fell into bed and pulled your stuffed animal closer to you. For how dishevelled and rough he looked, he was surprisingly soft. After a long time, you fell asleep like nothing.

At first, it looked like you were going to wake up again because of the nightmare that was tyrannizing you. At worst, a young man in a green coat appeared there like a bolt from the blue with 3 swords and cut your night demons as if they were made of paper.

The night fury had dissipated, but new ones could be seen forming on the horizon. The young man assessed the situation and put away his swords before taking you in his arms and running away with you.

You had no idea where he was running and at one point you were afraid you were running towards them. You finally ran away from them and hid in a pub. On the one hand, it reminded you of the bar you worked in, and on the other hand, you knew deep down that it was a completely different bar.

You had no idea that you would sleep this well again. The nightmares were slowly disappearing, but they kept bothering you. The young man with the green hair always had to save you.

Thanks to him, you slowly learned to control your dreams at least partially. Or rather, you weren't just a meadow of your wild imagination, you were free to roam.

Thanks to this, you slept better and were full of energy during the day. You were even in the mood to go to the gym after a long time and elsewhere, where you haven't been able to get to recently.

In the end, you decided to go to the gym. You slipped into your sports clothes and went to the first machine.

You decided to try dumbbells too. You put on the weights and started lifting. You made it through a few sets when you started to feel tired.

However, you wanted to finish the set when you missed lifting it 3 times for the last time. You managed it with effort, but you had a lot to do to put the barbell back in the rack. You threatened to drop her on you.

You tried to throw her to the ground, but your hands slowly gave up. You feared the worst when some kind soul saved you. That someone grabbed the barbell and returned it to the supports with ease.

You breathed a sigh of relief and sat up. To your surprise, it was the same green-haired young man from your dreams. But now he was wearing black pants with a white T-shirt.

"Thanks, I thought it was my end," you thanked him.

"No problems. But you should be more careful next time," he replied before going his own way.

You took a moment to rest before heading to the next machine. This time on the treadmill. There weren't many women in the gym and you could feel other people's eyes on you. It was not very pleasant for you, but every time you turned around, they acted as if nothing had happened.

You sighed and focused on running instead. After a while, however, you started to feel their looks again. You wanted to yell at them when it was all over.

You looked over your shoulder and everyone was minding their own business. In doing so, you noticed a green-haired youth with a murderous expression on his face as he worked out on the opposite side. Whoever dared to look at you was met with a murderous look.

When you finished on the treadmill, you moved again to another machine. You noticed that the green-haired followed you here as well.

You felt like you had your own bodyguard the entire time you were in the gym. You had no idea why he was doing it, but he seemed so aware that you didn't even mind.

After some time when you decided to wrap it up for today, you went to the dressing room. You were changing when you heard the scream from the showers. You turned around just in time to see a green-haired with a face as red as a crayfish fleeing.

You giggled at that. You had no idea why, but you automatically knew it was an accident. That he just got slightly lost along the way.

You had a bar shift in the evening. You made the drinks and overall it was such a relaxed evening. You were serving one of the guests when out of the corner of your eye you saw a young man with green hair take a seat at the bar.

As soon as you served the guests in front of him, you went to him. You didn't even ask him what he would like and you immediately reached for a bottle of sake.

“One sake,” you smiled as you placed it in front of him. It wasn't until later that you realized you hadn't even asked him what he would like.

"It is good. This is what I wanted,” he said as if reading your mind. He gave you an encouraging smile before taking a drink.

You were a bit confused by this, you kept thinking about it. However, when you wanted to ask him what he meant, he was gone.

Thanks to your job, you very often worked late into the night or almost into the morning. You came home already tired and sleepy, it's a wonder you didn't fall asleep on the way.

You entered the house and headed to your bed after dark. You were walking around the couch when two strong hands grabbed you. You didn't protest because you knew who it was. That someone pulled you onto the couch and hugged you.

It happened that he rested his head on yours and then you fell asleep together. When you woke up in the morning, you were alone. 

It always felt like a pleasant dream to you, even though you had the impression that you still smelled his scent for a while. However, instead of him, a green teddy bear was lying next to you.

As soon as you woke up, you knew it was going to be a bad day. You first woke up by falling out of bed and spent the whole morning looking for a green teddy bear.

You searched the entire bedroom and almost turned the entire apartment upside down. But he was nowhere. As if he had sunk into the ground.

You thought that made your bad luck go away as nothing out of the ordinary happened during the day.

The evening came and you went to work. However, you were still wondering where the teddy bear had gone. The shift went smoothly like clockwork and everything indicated that it would be a classic evening.

Your friend finished the last of the dishes and you went to lock up when someone grabbed your arms and you felt a knife blade against your neck.

"Don't try anything. Now go inside and you give me all the money. You understand?" the man asked you.

“Yeah,” you breathed. You were afraid that if you nodded in agreement, he would cut you.

“Good. Now move!” he commanded. You led him inside. You understood from the steps that other people were following him. This was seriously a douchebag day.

"Hello, handsome. All the money here, or there will run blood! ” he commanded as you entered. When your colleague saw this, he turned completely pale in this, his hands were tied.

"And hands up! I don't want you accidentally pressing some smart button that will alert the cops!” he added.

Your friend nodded his head in agreement and immediately put his hands up. He didn't want anything to happen to you. He walked over to the cash register and opened it in front of them. Another man walked over to him with a bag of money.

However, before he could take the money out of the cash register, the door burst open and a green-haired young man stood panting in them.

“Finally found it,” he said before frowning. “Hey look Y/N let go! ” he growled dangerously, went inside and closed the door behind him.

"Hold your horses. For now, I'm the one who is holding hostage!” the man who was holding you by the neck snapped at him.

"Zoro!" you called to him pleadingly, fear in your eyes. After that, the man pressed down on your neck until a faint trickle of blood appeared on your skin.

That was the only sign Zoro needed. Out of nowhere, he pulled out three swords, one of which he held with his teeth.

“Hey, don't try any bullshit,” the brute warned him and took a step back with you. His minions rose before him with their weapons aimed at the swordsman.

However, he only frowned more before running towards the brutes. It was a short fight, there was shooting, but the only ones who fell to the ground were the brutes. Zoro stood in front of you with a drawn sword, the tip of which was a millimetre from the neck of the man holding you.

"If you don't want to lose your head, give up! ” he growled at him and by his expression he meant it dead serious. The brute looked at his men writhing in pain on the ground and then at Zoro.

Finally, he pushed you in the swordsman's direction and ran away. Zoro caught you but turned to face the bastard, who he hit in the back of the head with the blunt side of his sword. The man froze before falling to the ground.

You were relieved it was over as soon as Zoro put away his swords you hugged him. He was your solid point that you could rely on.

“I'm so glad you showed up,” you breathed. Zoro wrapped one arm around your waist and tucked a strand of hair behind your ear with the other. He has never seen you so scared and upset before. You weren't shaken out like this even before the nightmares.

“Thanks for the rescue, but who are you? Y/N’s boyfriend?” your colleague asked walking over to you. He already had a phone with the police number ready in his hand.

"I'm her protector," Zoro replied, though he paused for a moment.

“Sure,” your colleague smiled as he could see how things were between you two. Or so he thought. He then went outside to call the police and wait for them.

"How is it possible?" you asked him as the two of you found alone at the bar. "I thought you were just a dream."

“Do you remember the promise I made to you when I first saved you?” he asked instead, looking into your eyes. You nodded your head in agreement. That was the first time he saved you from a nightmare.

"I promised you that I would protect you. I'm your protector and that doesn't only apply in dreams, but also here," he said surprisingly softly as he caressed your cheek.

“Thank you,” you replied and kissed him softly in return. When you pulled away, you saw him momentarily lost for words and blushing. Finally, he smiled mischievously and asked for one more. After all, he just saved your life today. Literally.

You just giggled at that before obliging him. However, the next kiss was much longer as Zoro took the initiative.

After that, you went outside together to wait for the police to arrive. It was a long and challenging day. You stood to the side and Zoro hugged you from behind. You leaned on him and you felt safe. Before you knew it and before the police arrived, you fell asleep.

Zoro not only supports you so you don't fall but also protects you so no one wakes you up. Anyone who wanted to talk to you or accidentally wake you up was met with such a stern look that everyone gave up. Not even the police could do anything against him.

When they finally left, Zoro took you home. He was able to get there without getting lost because that place was directly connected to you. He carried you carefully so you wouldn't wake up. At your house, he put you to bed and lay there with you.

Zoro Masterlist

Sleep Protector Masterlist

[ladyempty]

Hello. About Yandere Rhaegar and Baratheon(Steffon'sdaughter).And at the banquet. The Starks (Brandon/Ned), Jaime are flirting with the reader. What would Rhaegar's reaction be?

° | !English is not my first language!|

° | This is a yandere work and may contain triggering behavior. I'm not in favor of that in real life. |

The atmosphere was lively, bards and musicians entertained everyone present in the great hall with endless singing. Under the darkness of the night, the only source of light was the countless candles held by metal brackets and a large old chandelier that hung from the ceiling. Laughter and conversations mixed and echoed around the room, filling the large space with ease

The ladies, tired of dancing, were with other ladies, fanning themselves with colorful fans while whispering among themselves like little mice.

It was a great celebration filled with everyone's happiness and satisfaction. But Rhaegar had something else on his mind, determined to be victorious in the battle he has been fighting since a young age. The battle for his heart.

But the irritating Lannister, Jaime, heir to the proud lord Tywin Lannister also seemed determined to have the same achievement tonight. The boy with golden blond hair and emerald eyes who had never, in his entire existence, irritated Rhaegar more than at that moment.

The dragon prince's fingers closed against his cup, so tightly that his fingertips took on a whitish hue. The dark purple eyes, always so lackluster even when he was young, were fixed on the scene that was unfolding like torture before his eyes. The darkness of his pupils consuming the rich purple of his irises with dark intentions.

The Lannister's movements were bold, he twirled a thick platinum curl under his ring finger, admiring the color up close and softness against his skin. An act that seemed so gallant to others, but so despicable to Rhaegar. How dare he be so close? To insinuate yourself so blatantly? Any rational being in this room knew very well of the prince's obvious interest in his second cousin. Was Jaime blind or simply too stupid to see the obvious? The fact known to everyone?

The green poison of jealousy rose in his throat with every little exchange of words between them, threatening to boil over at any moment and force Rhaegar to commit acts he didn't want to do. Or he would like it more than he should.

And the fact that you didn't push him away only served to hurt him deeply. When you were married, would you continue to allow other men to advance? The sudden thought came to his mind and a deadly pain shot through his insides, a pain as fierce as if you were already his wife and had been unfaithful.

Well, that's enough. He thought furiously, standing up quickly as the young lion grew even bolder, lips hovering dangerously close to his as he whispered words that would make any other Lady blush.

Rhaegar's warm hand suddenly rested on his shoulder, making you jump in your seat at the sudden contact, turning your head to study him.

"Forgive me, but I simply have barely had time to talk to you since the beginning of the banquet, dear cousin." He smiled, a smile that never reached his eyes that were still fixed on Jaime. "I hope you don't mind me stealing from her for a moment." And forever and ever, he completed in his mind.

"How could I be so rude as to disturb a family moment, right?" The bold Lannister hummed, a feline, mocking smile on his lips as he rose from his seat to leave the table he was at, not before placing an infuriatingly long kiss on the back of Lady Baratheon's hand.

"I do not like him. I don't want you near him." Rhaegar growled, his tone always so calm that it perfectly hid his anger. "He's the kind of man no respectable Lady should have around." And you are respectable, aren't you my dear cousin?"

Rhaegar quickly stole Jaime's place at the table next to him, his hand cautiously clasped your, which was hidden between the folds of the skirt of your dress, a gentle but not loose grip, sharing the warmth of his hands to the woman.

"Are you cold? Perhaps the very low temperatures are not the most appropriate place for you." He smiled with a small lift at the corner of his lips. His eyes quickly migrated to the figure of Ned Stark standing in the corner of the hall talking to Robert. Rhaegar has already added the man to your list since the beginning of the night, when the hateful Stark boldly, out of character, stole all the dances with you that night.

"It's a good thing the dragon's blood runs through my veins, so I can keep you warm whenever I want. Forever.”

[actuallysaiyan]

Thank You(Scarred!Rengoku Kyojuro x Fem!Slayer!Reader)

warnings: trauma, mentions of death, wounds, blood, smut, unprotected sex, angst, sadness, fluff, Mugen Train Spoilers, AU word count: 2.3k pairings: Scarred!Rengoku Kyojuro x Fem!Slayer!Reader summary: after Kyojuro survives the events of the Mugen Train incident, he finds himself hoping for someone better to come sweep you off your feet. what Kyojuro doesn't realize is that you are with him, for better or for worse. a/n: IT HAS BEEN SO LONG SINCE I'VE WRITTEN FOR THIS BEAUTIFUL MAN! PLEASE I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY!!!!

Dividers by the loverly @benkeibear

taglist: @beneathstarryskies @benkeibear @misty-angerose @adharadotcom

Since the incident that happened with the Mugen Train, Kyojuro wondered how many days he had left. He hated thinking that way, but he couldn’t help but think about how he was always inches away from death. He just barely managed to avoid death that time, and now he was trying to heal so he could get right back to being the flame Hashira.

But something had been more pressing than that. Even though he lost his left eye and sustained some deep internal wounds, his love for you never faltered. He found himself thinking of not only his mother, but also you, during his final moments. Or at least, what Kyojuro had believed to be his last moments. And when he had bestowed his advice on the young Kamado, Kyojuro felt his life fading fast.

The one thing he hadn’t been expecting was to see your beautiful face as he felt his life slipping away. You weren’t happy though, no you were desperate. You began treatment on him immediately, using a potion from Shinobu. She had been the one to tell you that your lover had gone on to fight the demon plaguing the Mugen Train. 

The next thing Kyojuro remembers is waking up in the Butterfly Mansion. His whole body ached, he couldn’t see out of his left eye and he was tired. But he didn’t think he was going to make it out alive from that battle. He remembered the way young Kamado was so fed up with the way the demon had gotten away. He remembered the determination on your face too.

“Oh, you’re awake.” Shinobu comments as she enters the room. Kyojuro feels so disoriented.

“Mmm…yes.”

Shinobu begins taking his vitals, checking his healing. When she feels satisfied with the way things are going, she begins to change his bandages. While she’s taking care of him, Kyojuro inquires about your wellbeing and how things happened after he passed out from the bloodloss.

“You were so lucky she was there,” Shinobu finally says.

Kyojuro swallows hard, “I know that. I owe her my life.”

Shinobu leaves, telling him that lunch will be served momentarily. He lies in the bed, feeling a little better now that his bandages have been changed and that Shinobu had given him something for the pain. He thinks about you, wondering where you are.

The door opens and there you are. You look inside the room, worried about what you might find. You’ve been missing your lover. You worried day and night about him, unsure if you’d ever get to look at his beautiful face once more. You wondered if you’d ever hear the sound of his voice.

You rush over to him, tears in your eyes. He doesn’t even know what to say. He lets you crumble in his arms, and he lets you press kisses to his wounded and scarred face.

“Oh my flame…” you whisper. “I thought—I thought I was going to lose you.”

“Precious little flame,” Kyojuro murmurs back. “I am happy to see you again.”

You cup his face, careful not to put too much pressure on any of his wounds. Then you press your lips to his, savoring the way he tastes. You swore to yourself that you’d never forget this taste. You’d never forget the way he smells like scorched earth and bonfires. The way he’s always warm, even on cold nights. Tears cascade down your cheeks.

“I love you, Kyojuro. I never wanted you to go on that mission.”

Kyojuro chuckles, “You know that I needed to go. I’m a Hashira. I’m meant to protect the innocent.”

You cry even harder, making his face screw up in pain. He hates hearing you cry. He hates seeing you in pain like this. Kyojuro sits up and he gathers you up in his arms. Even if his bones and muscles scream out in pain, he doesn’t care. What matters most to him is to be able to hold you so close.

“I’m scared to lose my lover,”

Your words pierce his heart. He knows what it means to have this heavy burden placed on his shoulders. His father had quit being the Hashira because of the death of his mother. Kyojuro had watched the man crumble so quickly, taking up alcohol as a way to cope. He wonders if maybe you’d end up like that if you were to lose him.

“You won’t lose me. I promise,”

The next few weeks consist of you helping Kyojuro return to the closest to normal as he can. He’s mostly been relieved of his duties as a Hashira for the time being. He’s healing up well, but something sits deep in his heart. He wonders if maybe you should find someone else.

Not only are you attending to his every need now, you’re just wasting your precious time with him. You could be happier with someone else. You could make someone very lucky. It hurts Kyojuro so deeply when he begins to imagine you with someone else.

Late at night when everyone has gone to sleep and you’re sleeping in his arms now that Shinobu has given the okay for this, Kyojuro admires your beauty. He admires your strength and your courage. Then he thinks about you marrying someone else. He’s no fool, he knew he should have perished in his last battle. He should have died.

Kyojuro cannot bring himself to even imagine making you his bride. The thought of turning you into such a young widow. It makes him ache so deep inside. He weeps silently, wishing things could be different for the both of you. He thinks about how he’s going to break things off with you. It’s what should happen. You could be so much happier.

The thing is, Kyojuro didn’t realize that you were so determined to keep him close to your heart. One day as the two of you are walking through the wisteria trees, you turn to face your lover.

“Kyo, you know that I absolutely adore you, correct?”

He smiles softly, “I do know this, my little flame.”

His jaw drops when he sees you kneeling in front of him. A beautiful silver band sits in your hands as you present to him this ring. It’s engraved with someone’s name on it, but he doesn’t recognize it.

“I know I shouldn’t be the one to do this.” You try to clarify. “It should be the man. But I love you, and I’m not about to lose you. Please…marry me.”

Kyojuro feels his stomach doing flips. He looks at the beautiful ring you have presented him. He looks at the sincerity in your eyes and it just breaks his heart. You deserve better than someone cracked and broken.

“My little flame,” he helps you to your feet. “I couldn’t…I shouldn’t…”

Your heart shatters at the response. It’s not at all what you were expecting. Tears began to well up in your eyes. You don’t know how to process the words that have just come from your lover.

“D-do you not…do you not love me?”

It was his turn for his heart to shatter. The thought of you even thinking he doesn’t love you was enough to make him tremble. Tears slide down his cheeks as he gathers you up in his arms. You try to squirm to get away, which makes him feel even more guilty.

“I do love you. I love you so much, I’d give you the moon and the stars if you asked it of me.” Kyojuro explains through sobbing and hiccuping. “I’d give you anything you want. I just think you deserve better than me. I’m broken and I’m not good enough for you.”

You shake your head in defiance. “Kyojuro, you are my heart and my soul. You are more than good enough for me.”

Then you cup his face in your hands. It’s been a while since his bandages have been taken off, but he still suffers from nerve damage and sensitivities. He shudders at your touch, loving the way your softness always comes through. He nuzzles his face in the palms of your hands, sighing.

“I am broken.” He finally manages to say. “You need someone who could make you happy.”

You scoff, “You are the one who makes me happy. You are the one I need.”

Kyojuro finally opens his eyes. The left one doesn’t work, only able to see grayscale in that one. He can see very vague shapes through it. But he knows what you look like from memory. Even if he lost his sight completely, he would still know the beauty and grace that has blessed you.

“I wouldn’t want you to regret it.”

You shake your head, “Marrying my lover would never be a regret.”

The day fast approaches. Kyojuro wonders if he’ll look presentable for you. He knows that his father has allowed you and him to wear the family’s traditional wedding clothes, but he still feels like a complete failure to his family and to you.

“Kyojuro,” Shinjuro enters the room. “Are you prepared?”

Kyojuro is touched to see his father looking so well-groomed for the first time in what seems like forever. He smiles, tears filling his eyes once more. Shinjuro is shocked, but he feels this tenderness coming from his eldest son. Shinjuro approaches his son, smoothing down the folds in his garment.

“You will be a good husband. You are patient, caring, sweet and understanding. You have inherited the best qualities from me and your mother, just like your brother has.”

Kyojuro wipes his eyes, pulling on the eyepatch to cover the damaged eye. Shinjuro smiles sweetly, pressing a kiss to his son’s forehead. He doesn’t remember the last time he was this affectionate with Kyojuro. It feels so good to know his son has survived and is taking a good woman as his bride.

“You will be blessed. This I know.”

Kyojuro exits his dressing room and he’s guided towards the shrine that your marriage will take place in. Shinjuro guides him to the altar, and then he takes his spot off to the side. 

All eyes are on you as you arrive. You walk down towards the altar, looking like an angel dressed in your all-white shiromuku. Kyojuro’s eyes widen when he sees you. You’re the most precious thing in his life, and here you are, walking towards him so you can get married.

The wedding officiant begins the ceremony which will join you and Kyojuro forever. You will be bound together. 

Everyone is in tears by the time you two share a kiss. They have never witnessed such a wonderful union in their lives. All your friends are so happy for the both of you.

By the time the wedding is over, you know that you have no regrets. You have made the best choice for yourself. You adore Kyojuro and nothing could ever change that for you.

Kyojuro had been worried that you wouldn’t want to be intimate with him. He had his doubts that you even saw him as attractive anymore. But every doubt and worry and insecurity was tossed out the window the minute you two were relaxing in the onsen in your honeymoon suite.

You straddled his lap gently, kissing him on the lips. Your hands caressed and massaged his muscles, making him feel aroused. His cock twitched to life with every single searing kiss you gave him.

Your tongues tangled together, swapping saliva. His breath feels hot on your skin whenever you pull away to breathe. Soft pleas fall from your reddened and swollen lips.

“I want you,” you purr. “I need to feel you.”

Kyojuro is shocked, but his heart skips a beat. He feels the way you touch him, and he knows you are being very truthful. With renewed strength, your husband picks you up and brings you over to the bed. He crawls on top of you, the lust and love written all over his face.

He kisses you passionately, cupping your face between his calloused hands. His nose rubs against yours, dragging down your cheek as he finds other places to kiss you. Your body feels so hot, so electrified. Every touch and every kiss is mesmerizing.

“You are so beautiful,” he breathes out as he kneads your breasts.

“As you are,” you compliment him. “You look just as beautiful as the day I met you.”

This makes his heart swell with love. Despite everything he was thinking before he married you, he can see that you adore him. You want the best for him, and you happen to be the absolute best for him.

You watch through half-lidded eyes as he suckles on your nipples, then he presses open-mouthed kisses down your body. Kyojuro lets out a growl when he spreads your thighs and he takes a greedy inhale of your scent. You are divine, intoxicating, sweet and musky. It’s all too much for him, he feels like he could lose himself completely to you.

He laps at you like a man who’s been in the desert for ages and you are his oasis. Your nectar dribbles on his lips and tongue, making him moan as he tastes you so fervently. Kyojuro expertly pulls two orgasms from you with just his mouth alone. Then he settles himself on his knees, ready to push into you.

The stretch is delicious and leaves you feeling full. He kisses away all your tears, praising you for taking him so well. Both of you are unable to last long now that you’re making love, and your orgasm makes him tumble over the edge quickly. 

Soft kisses and whispered words of praise are what end the first night as a newlywed couple, and when you awake the next day, you see the man you adore in the shining light of the sun peeking through the curtains.

“Thank you for not giving up on me,” he says, his heart heavy with love.

You kiss his lips. “I’d never give up on you. Because you’ve never given up on me.”

[sixhours]

Remnants

Everything that’s left of her broken dreams is standing at the counter, returning her smile.

Rated: PG Length: 1k

Notes: Post-episode for Per Manum

Originally posted on AO3 1/6/2016

~*~

The apartment is shrouded in gray when she returns, the last of her hopes printed on an appointment summary in her coat pocket. Upon seeing her face, he wishes he’d thought to turn on a light, so she wouldn’t have to come home to more darkness, his slumbering form on the couch not enough to fill this newfound emptiness.

“It didn’t take, did it?”

Disappointment shines in her eyes. Forehead to forehead, he waits until her breathing is calm to offer something more substantial than a promise, but the warmth of her skin under his fingers disarms him, gives him pause.

His hands cradle her face as their lips touch for only the second time, her arms wind around his neck like an anchor, pulling him down into her sorrowful sea.

~*~

Dr. Parenti’s delivery was kind, but she felt the news like a gunshot. It’s worse than Emily, this intangible loss. Failure hasn’t washed away the image of a young girl with auburn hair and almond eyes, or a boy with a shy, quirked smile.

She loves them, the ghosts of her unborn children and all they represented: The intimacy of family life, ringing laughter and a mantle lined with photographs.

A child’s cry cutting through the night, hushed lullabies and the love-drunk smell of a downy newborn head.

Saturday morning cartoons followed by pancakes and bacon, spilled milk and syrup-sticky fingers.

The stillness of reality plays a harsh contrast to her imagination as she listens to the silence of what could have been.

~*~

He wants to punch a hole through her pristine apartment wall. He wants to hunt down the faceless men who did this to her and kill them with his bare hands, until he’s bloody and sore and near death himself. He wants to run, to put miles and years between them, until his bad luck can’t touch her any more.

Sometimes he wishes he’d never followed when she tried to resign from the Bureau, that he wasn’t so chickenshit as to ask her to stay after paying the price for her loyalty several times over.

He’d signed away his rights, but the thing that makes his face burn and his stomach clench with shame, is that he’d wanted this for himself as much as her. Selfish bastard, he thinks. Still a chickenshit.

So he steels himself, grits his teeth and holds her until she pulls away. He takes her hand, leads her to the couch, offers to make tea.

He’ll stay, because he doesn’t have the courage to let her go.

He’ll stay, because he doesn't have the right to mourn what was never his to lose.

~*~

Mulder is opening cupboards, running water. Sleeves rolled to the elbows, he washes the dishes and waits for the kettle, then swipes at his forehead, leaving a trail of suds across one cheek. The sight brings an unexpected smile to her lips.

Her heart sinks with the enormity of her grief and the weight of too many unspoken words. Everything that’s left of her broken dreams is standing at the counter, returning her smile.

~*~

He settles on the opposite end of the couch, letting the mug warm his hands. She stares into hers for a few minutes before taking a slow sip, closing her eyes. When she opens them, she’s looking at him with an expression he’s seen only once before in real life, and too many times to count in recent fantasy.

“I love you.”

He blinks. His mouth must hang open, because she’s smiling at him now, a sad, tired smile.

“Don’t look so surprised,” she murmurs, hiding what’s left of her pride in her cup.

~*~

“What would you have done?” she asks. If it had worked, she doesn’t have to say.

“I’d have asked you on a date.”

She pauses to steady her cup on the coffee table, the tea sloshing in her startled hands. “A date?”

“You know—nice clothes, awkward conversation, an expensive wine list, at one of those places that mixes the salad dressing while you watch.”

“Really.”

“Really,” he returns, ducking his head.

“You’d ask your newly impregnated, platonic friend and colleague on an honest-to-goodness date.”

His smile is embarrassed enough to be convincing. “Yeah. I, uh…I thought…if I could give you…give you that…”

He stops, frowns. Her throat is tight when she finally breaks the silence. “Give me what?”

The tea goes cold before he can answer.

~*~

He wakes with a sore neck and Scully’s nose pressed into his hip, a throw tangled around her shoulders. The Late Late Show plays in the background, casting muted shadows on the walls.

She stirs when he stretches, blinking up at him from beneath sleep-addled lashes, as if seeing him for the first time. He wonders if this is what it’s like to hold a newborn; heart filled to bursting with terrifying awe.

“Mulder?”

“I’m here,” he murmurs, stroking the hair from her temple. “Sorry I woke you.”

“Mmph,” she says, her breath warming his abdomen through his t-shirt. “S’OK. I should get up, anyway.”

He nods in agreement, drawing his thumb gently along the plane of her cheek, but neither of them move for a long time.

~*~

She emerges from the bathroom just as he’s finished washing the mugs. Bare feet peek out from oversized silk pajamas, and she surprises herself, wrapping her arms around his waist before she can lose her nerve.

“I’ll stay, if you want,” he murmurs, and she loves him for offering so she doesn’t have to ask.

She loves him for so many reasons. Someday she’ll count the ways, line them up, and tuck them away; programmed, categorized, and easily referenced.

“I’d like that,” she says instead, words muffled by the thrum of his heart.

~*~

She fits perfectly in the circle of his arms, the way he always imagined she would. He times his breathing to the rise and fall of her chest and whispers a blessing into her hair.

“I wanted more for you, Scully.”

Her arms tighten around him, but she doesn't answer.

He holds what little hope is shared between them, and prays that it's enough.

~*~

cc @today-in-fic

[jamdoughnutmagician]

A Slice Of Life (Waitress AU) part 6

Doctor!Steve Harrington x Waitress!Reader

<- Previous part

Word Count:2,208

*dividers by @saradika-graphics

Masterlist // Steve Harrington Masterlist

“Steve, what on earth are you doing here?” you whisper-shout as you round his table.

“I heard this was a great place to get some pie.” he says with a smile. “Plus I came to see you, I can’t stop thinking about you, Y/N”

“You can’t be visiting me at work like this, doesn’t this go against our keeping things low-profile agreement.”

“I don’t care about that, I know how I feel about you, and I’m not ashamed of that. I like you a lot, Y/N, and sometimes I think you think like me too, and I want to be the one to make you happy.” he says sincerely.

“It’s not that simple, Steve. Yes I like you, of course I do, but all of it doesn’t matter when I’ve got Billy breathing down my neck and watching my every move. He’d wring my neck if he even saw us talking together right now.”

“I know this whole situation is completely crazy, and not ideal, and hell, I’ve only known you a few short months, but you’ve worked your way into my heart.”

“Steve..”

“I’ll wait for you, however long that may be, I’ll wait for you. You’re worth waiting for.”

You fight against the tears welling up in your eyes at how patiently sweet and loving that this man was to you, your heart pounding against your chest.

You wipe your tears with the back of your hand quickly, turning away, before turning to Robin on your way.

“Uh, Rob, can you serve table 7 for me please, I need to run to the back for something.”

“Sure, is everything okay?” she asks, laying a reassuring hand on your shoulder.

“I’m fine, honest I am, thanks” and with that you were rushing to the bathroom, slamming the door behind you with a shaky breath and tears bubbling in your eyes.

Why was nothing simple?

You dry your eyes, and pull yourself together in the bathroom mirror enough to go back out into the diner, and when you look out you find the seat in which Steve was sitting bare. Robin tidying away after him.

“Hey, Y/n, that customer I just served, he sure did leave a generous tip.” she smiled as she wiped down the table with a cloth.

“That’s-uh- that’s really good, Rob, you deserve it.” 

The day had felt long and tiring as you sit down with a sigh next to Nancy on the bench outside the diner.

“You waiting on Billy to pick you up?” 

“Yeah” you say quietly.

There’s a beat of silence between you two before Nancy speaks again.

“You know, you’re a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. That’s the thing that I have always admired about you, you come into work every day with a bright smile on your face, even though that terrible man is waiting for you at home.”

“I guess being here, making pies and making people happy with the pies that I make is the only time I get to escape from being Billy’s wife. We were so young we got together, and I was too dumb to realise that being Mrs. Hargrove wasn’t all that I thought it was going to be. I've been with him for so long that somewhere down the line I forgot what it was like to just be myself.” you huff, wringing your hands together in your lap. “Not Billy’s wife, not Mrs. Hargrove, just Y/n.”

“Well, you know what? Just Y/N happens to be one of my best friends, and I’m so glad that I get to exist in a world with you in it.” she smiles. “And I’m sure as hell this baby is going to have one of the best mothers that they could ever want for.”

Just as you were settling into the warmth of Nancy’s kind words you’re brought out of it by the blaring horn coming from Billy’s car as it cruised to a stop in front of you.

“Alright, well I’ll see you on Friday Nance, I love you.” you give her a final hug before getting up.

“I love you too darling, take care of yourself.”

 You close your eyes as best you can, desperately trying to fall asleep and ignore Billy’s presence in the bed beside you, but that proved to be an impossibility as his form leered over your shoulder, placing a trail of kisses to your shoulder.

“Babe, I know you’re awake, why don’t you come a little closer and treat me how a good wife treats her husband, huh?” He says in that way he does when he’s trying to get what he wants from you. It makes your skin crawl.

“I don’t feel like it.” you mutter, burying yourself deeper under the covers of the duvet in the hopes that somehow the world would just disappear around you.

“What makes you think you have that option, hmm?” his hand traces up your arm, and it’s all you can do to close your eyes as he leans close, his voice in  your ear. “I feed you, I pay for the roof over our heads, I put clothes on your back, c’mon all you gotta do is reach behind and give me a little hand-job or something? I ain’t askin’ for the world, sweetcheeks,”

“Billy, please, I’m really tired. I just want to sleep.”

“Fine, if you’re not going to look after me, I guess I’m just going to have to take matters into my own hands.” he grumbles, before getting out of bed and making his way to the bathroom. “I’m gonna go have a shower and jerk off since you wanna be a bitch about it.” 

The bathroom door closes behind him and you suddenly let go of a breath that you didn’t even know you were holding on to. A relief washes over you, finally a chance at peace. You snuggle down into the sheets, laying a protective hand settling around your growing bump.

Dear Baby, I hope someday someone wants to hold you for twenty minutes straight, and that’s all they do. Without any expectations, hope or agenda, and they don’t pull away. All they do is wrap you up in their arms and hold on to you tight without an ounce of selfishness to it.

Steve had texted you, apologising for showing up to the diner unannounced, asking you for the chance to make it up to you. You told him that it was fine, that his apology wasn’t necessary but he still insisted so, you told him to come to your house at 8.00 am sharp, but to stay behind the cover of the trees on the opposite street, watching out for Billy as he took off for work for the day.

Pregnant, affair with your doctor, lying to your husband pie. Chopped walnuts and pecans, lumpy oatmeal with raisins instead of chocolate chips thrown in for good measure, flambé, of course..

At 8 am sharp there’s a knock on your door, and you can’t help the excited buzz you feel settling its place in your heart. You pad your way towards your front door, waddling slightly as you walk, the past few weeks in your pregnancy had suddenly made the easy, everyday things very difficult and tiresome. Your belly was now rounding out in front of you very prominently, there was certainly no hiding the fact that you were pregnant now.

“Hey, I just wanted to apologise for upsetting you last week, I didn’t mean to just show up to the diner unannounced like that, but I was driving past and before I knew it I was pulling up just to come and see you.”

He’s dressed in a simple and soft navy henley shirt, and pair of light-wash denim jeans, his hair flounces in a perfectly messy style that on anyone else would have looked unkempt, but he carries it off so effortlessly. As you bring him in for a hug, his warm and woodsy scent fills your senses, wishing he would hold you for just a bit longer, if only to be surrounded in his welcoming warmth.

“That’s really sweet of you, Steve. Why don’t you come in?” you say, standing back and opening the door for him to come through. “Billy’s gone for the day, and I’m off work, so I was going to spend my day trial-running a couple of new pie flavours, you wanna join me?”

“I would love nothing more.” he smiles in that glorious way that he always does, pink lips curving into rose-tinted cheeks.

You set out all your ingredients and mixing bowls on the kitchen’s work table, before reaching for your apron that hangs on the hook of the kitchen’s door.

“Here, let me.” Steve says as he takes the apron from your hands, and pulls it over your head. The material clinging to your belly. “Turn around for me.” and as you turn around, you feel his strong hands tying off the strings of the apron in a neat little bow at your back.

You bring out the pastry you had already made from the fridge before handing it over to Steve.

“Here, do me a favour, sprinkle some flour down and roll this out for me please.”

He does as you ask, dusting the worktop in flour before placing down the pastry and rolling the rolling pin over it.

“How’s this?” he smiles looking at you from over his shoulder where you are mixing together the filling for the pie on the stovetop. A slowly stewing mixture of pink rhubarb, green apples and red cherries, bubbling together in a sugary sweet-syrupy mixture.

“Looks good, now all we’ve got to is blind bake the pie shell for a couple of minutes whilst this comes together.” 

“Mmhmm” he hums gently, the pie shell in its tin ready to go, left out on the worktop for a moment as he turns his attention to you, brushing your hair away from your neck as gently kisses your soft skin. 

“Y’know, it was my mom who taught me how to bake a pie. I would sit on the kitchen counters every time and just watch her as she worked. She was always so happy in what she was doing, not once did I ever see her in the kitchen without a smile on her face. She’d come up with all these different flavours and combinations and it was delicious every single time. She’d always tell me that the secret ingredient was love, and I don’t know if I ever fully believed her until I started baking for myself. She’d always give the pies the strangest names too, like ‘Bed-Time Story pie’ or ‘Summer Vacation pie’, my favourite one was ‘Pretty Baby pie’, she told me that that was the pie she made when she found out she was pregnant with me.”

“And what’s this one called?” he asks, nodding towards the mixture of fruit bubbling away on the stove.

“Well let’s just call it, hidden lover’s pie” you smile, turning the stovetop off and turning to look at him and as he looks back at you he cups your face in his hands and kisses your lips so sweetly. Pulling back from your lips he smiles at you so warmly.

“You're so beautiful.”

“I’m fat.” you laugh softly, resting a hand on your baby bump.

“You’re pregnant, there’s nothing in the world more beautiful than that.”

“Well I sure as hell don’t feel beautiful. I’m tired and cranky, totally not prepared and have no idea what I’m even doing. Just thinking about having this baby makes me scared as hell. I don’t know how to be a mother.”

“Nobody knows what they’re doing the first time they have a baby. I mean, my friend, Eddie and his wife had a baby not too long ago, and that man was the most nervous, terrified, panicked father-to-be that I had ever seen, but as soon as I delivered that little baby girl and he got to hold her in his arms for the first time? It was like a switch flipped in his brain and it all suddenly clicked into place.” 

“You delivered her?”

“Yeah, little Lydia Munson, I’m her god-father too. She’s a sweet kid, and her parents love her so much, she makes them very happy.”

You give a short hum as Steve takes your hands and pulls you close to his body, wrapping his arms around you in a safe, loving hug.

“..She makes them happy, just like being right here, with you in my arms, makes me happy.” he says, and with that he wastes no time in kissing his lips against yours once more, one hand tangled in your hair, the other hand is a steady presence on the curve your hip as he leans into you more to deepen the kiss.

You make me happy too, Steve, more than you could ever know.

You allow yourself this moment of quiet and blissful peace in Steve’s arms. A chance to let yourself just be taken as you are, not as Billy’s wife, not as the waitress from the diner, just as Y/N, nothing more, nothing less.

@keerygal @penguinsandpotterheads @mrsjellymunson @paybacksawitch @seatnights @ali-r3n @potatobeanpies

[somethingsomethingwords]

Hello hello hello!!! This was born because I needed more Nando being besotted and Lance getting some deserved rest, no other reasons. Thank you for reading. Enjoy 💜.

Fernando was starting to feel some not so vague sense of annoyance at himself.

He and Lance were supposed to go on a date, the first one in a while, because their lives were chaotic and busy as hell.

They were both in Canada, Lance staying home, relaxing after a rough start of the season and some previous commitments, while Fernando was there for some sponsor event that absolutely required his presence, not at all having begged for something to do in Canada, granting him an excuse to be near the other man.

But he must have prayed a little too hard, because not only the event had run later than programmed, but it was followed by a long wait in the car due to the heavy traffic.

While he was sitting in the car, he started making a mental list of all the things he would have to do to make it up to Lance.

The young man had been so happy about finally having some time off together. Despite being visibly tired, he had made some plans, and the promise of more to come once they were back home.

It was strange to think about a manor in a forest as a home for Fernando, but it wasn't home, not really, just like his own house in Monaco wasn't. It was Lance that made every single building that they were in a home.

Love-safety-protection.

But right now, he had to think on how to apologise, because Lance must have been mad as hell.

Usually, when Fernando was late, Lance would write him a text every 10 minutes until he arrived. It was his way of annoying him and still making sure he knew he cared.

Now, it had been radio silence the whole evening. He prayed Lance would let him in, even if just to take a change of clothes.

When he finally arrived, he parked the car and went to the front door.

It was strange, because it was getting dark, but he couldn't see any of the lights on.

He started feeling worried. What if Lance was so mad he left? What if he fell and knocked himself out?

He took a deep breath and opened the door.

First things first, he turned on the lights, and he was going to scream Lance's name, when he finally saw the Canadian.

He was lying on his very comfy sofa, asleep and without his shirt on, because on his chest was napping a peaceful looking blonde baby, thumbs in her mouth, wrapped in a blanket, that he recognised as Lance's favourite, and protected by Lance's arm around her. Her cheek rested on his naked skin, seeking his warmth and lulled by his heart beat.

Oh.

Oh.

This tender moment, the softness of niece and uncle bundled together and asleep in the safety of a house Lance promptly opened to Fernando, it was getting to him.

He could almost see Lance with another baby, their hair brown as their eyes, grins mischievous and big smiles, crawling slowly on this same parquet, then running on some sandy beach, speaking fast english then spanish then french then italian, their pale skin easily turned red by the sun.

He could see them starting karting, or hockey, or maybe wanting nothing to do with sports.

He could see them graduating, moving out, having a family of their own, while he and Lance grew old and grey, happy and satisfied and together.

Together. It seemed impossible, but maybe it wasn't, after all.

The thoughts of a home somewhere quiet, a ring and a child filled his mind, and he softly smiled at a future now lying sleeping on a couch.

At that exact moment, the baby girl started waking up, moving her little arms and softly whining.

He could see Lance starting to wake up as well and decided to intervene. He smiled at the baby, picking her up and gently rocking her. He bent over his lover, and left a kiss in his hairline.

"Keep sleeping cariño, I got her" he whispered, melting at the sight of Lance relaxing once more and mumbling something along the lines of "safe with you".

He rose up and walked to the kitchen. There was already a bag for the baby full of clothes and diapers and baby bottles.

"Are you hungry, mi amor, or you didn't agree with waking up, uh? Your uncle is the same, don't worry" he said, while waiting to understand what she needed: that was pretty clear when she put her whole fist in her mouth.

"Hungry it is. Just give me five minutes, and don't eat your hand" he laughed softly, before sitting her on the high chair Lance had stressed over while buying.

He quickly heated up the milk, making sure it wasn't too hot before feeding it to the girl.  She hungrily took it, and made her way through it, almost finishing it all, before pulling away.

Fernando took her up, and started walking, gently tapping her back until she burped. He then cleaned her up, and returned to the living room.

The moment her eyes were on Lance, the baby tried to reach for him.

Fernando giggled and re-wrapped her in the blanket, depositing her once again on his chest.

Instinctively, Lance put his arm around the baby, and their breaths soon synchronised.

Fernando was left once again the only one awake. He decided to wait for Lance to wake up, sitting on the armchair near his head, just at touching distance. He started passing his hand through the younger man's hair, and was rewarded by a deep sigh of happiness.

Date night could wait, when they had a baby to take care of and some well deserved rest to look forward to.

[hugsandchaos]

Day 3

Summary: So Danny’s injury is almost completely healed and the group goes through the portal to a random world, but that’s not important. What matters is that our little ghost blob finally gets a name!

Word Count: 4,414

Danny woke up the next day feeling surprisingly better, but at the same time, still tired. Then again, that was a normal thing since forever, not just after the incident. He was a little surprised that he’d actually gotten some sleep this time, even though he’d kept waking up three random times. It was early again, so he considered going back to sleep, but decided against it. This time, Sky was up covering the last shift before morning. He didn’t seem like a morning person at all.

Maybe Danny should share some of his precious, limited supply of caffeine?

The young halfa stretched and twisted his body before he stood up, unintentionally popping his back like there were fireworks in there. Sky had asked him if he was okay and laughed a little, and Danny smiled and nodded. Then he picked up his backpack that he’d once again used as a pillow and left for the ruins to get what privacy he could get to change his bandages and put his binder back on.

While he was in the dark room, only using the flashlight from his phone, Danny took a moment to think again. The other day sucked a lot, but he got some confirmation from being temporarily sick that might’ve made it worth it.

First, Hyrule’s little rant was something Danny hadn’t expected, but the way Hyrule repeatedly asked to let him know when he started to show symptoms left Danny with the impression that the group often neglected their health. The young halfa would’ve felt bad if the gratitude that slipped into his voice when he assured Hyrule that he would was fake, but it wasn’t.

Second, when Danny started showing symptoms, it came so suddenly that he was thinking at first that it was an early caffeine crash. Maybe it was part of it, though. Hyrule practically jumped to try to help him, reaching into his brown bag to search for some non magical medicine, but Danny beat him to it.

He opened his own backpack, careful not to let anyone see the little ghost blob, and reached for some of the medicine that Jazz insisted he bring with him just incase before he left. After spending probably five minutes rereading the same descriptions over and over and thinking of what he was experiencing, he finally chose to swallow a pill to help with migraines.

His stomach was felt like it was swirling around, and it didn’t help with his dizzy and suddenly fatigued he felt, but in his opinion, migraines were the worst. After that, Danny put his books away and walked over to sit by a tree under the shade, saying that he was going to wait for the effects to wear off. He had his backpack in his lap so he could keep the ghost blob close and rest his head on it. The young halfa had no plans to fall asleep, only to rest his eyes, but he ended up doing that anyways before he knew it.

When Sky woke him up, it didn’t just startle Danny because he was touching him, but because he didn’t realize he fell asleep. The realization scared him, but then he noticed that nothing happened to him. In fact, they’d mostly left him alone and went off to do their own things quietly. He was a little touched that they’d gotten non-magic food. After that, he drifted right back to sleep for almost another hour. Miraculously, it was the best sleep he’s had in a while.

Also, what was up with that weird man with the hat in his dream?

If they’d wanted to do any harm to him, they definitely would’ve done it by now while he was at a low point, while he was sick and injured.

Unless that’s an act, too.

That thought made Danny shake his head a little. The looks on their faces when they realized magic could make him sick after breakfast and when he started showing symptoms hadn’t seemed fake. He should give them a real chance.

But he’d been tricked before.

No. They were his best bet at getting home, and so far, they’ve been nothing but nice and considerate. He wasn’t going to let his guard down completely, but he wasn’t going to be a self isolating jerk, either.

“What do you think, little guy? Think they deserve a chance?” Danny asked, wrapping the bandages around the injury, which was recovering very well thanks to his fast healing. It would probably be gone by tonight at this rate. The blob ghost warbled in agreement and even sort of “said” that their emotions the other day towards him were genuine.

As a half ghost, it was sometimes a little bit harder for Danny to sense emotions the way normal ghosts did, especially while in human form, so this was helpful confirmation from the wisp. A small weight lifted from his shoulders.”If you say so.” He said. He put the jacket away after golfing it and started putting the rest of the armor covering his upper body back on. As he was doing this, a realization came to him. He glanced at the bag.

“Actually, do you have a name? I can’t believe I just asked you this now.” He asked.

The ghost blob gave him a negative response.

“How about a nickname, then? I can’t just call you “ghost blob” the whole time. I mean, I can, but that just doesn’t sit right with me. It feels rude, you know?” Danny suggested. He knew it wasn’t exactly fun to just be called “ghost” the whole time you’re talking to someone. Now and then is okay, along with certain variations of the name like “Spooks” for example, but being addressed by just “ghost” every single time gets a little annoying. The ghost blob trilled in agreement with the idea.

Danny hummed and began thinking about possible names. Blobby and Bob were a straight up no, along with death related names. This ghost blob was kind and sweet. Something death related would give the wrong impression and be insulting. A lot of ghost names that came to mind like “Casper” were just too cheesy. He looked at the ghost blob nestling on his jacket to see if anything fitting would pop into his mind.

And something did! It was odd that it was the first thing Danny thought, but maybe it would work?“How do you feel about Orbit?” He asked.

The ghost blob chirped. Well, Orbit now.

“Oh, good, because half the names that came to mind are space related.” Danny chuckled. He reached into the bag and rummaged around for another energy drink. Orbit flew out of the backpack and made themself comfortable nestled in his hair while he did so. Once he found one, he felt around for another and counted in his head.”Only three left?!” Danny exclaimed, probably with more shock than there’d be in a normal person’s voice.

Call him a caffeine addict, but he suddenly wanted to get home even more. Orbit warbled in question as Danny pulled one of them out and opened it, both sounds echoing in the small space.

“I’ll be extra tired and irritable, that’s what’ll happen.” Danny answered before taking a sip. After swallowing some, he started to stand up.“We should head back.” He said. Not needing any instruction, Orbit flew into the backpack and sat on his jacket. The poor fellow was probably wanting to stay outside longer. Danny decided he would have to find a way to get alone time for longer periods, preferably without the group getting suspicious.

He zipped the backpack up and used his only free hand to pick it up and wiggled a little to get it on. He walked out of the room, left the ruins, and was a little surprised to see the rest of the group was already awake and getting ready to eat. Except Twilight wasn’t there for some reason. Danny couldn’t see him in the rising orange light from the sun, or in the shadows that were a bit darker than when the young halfa left. Maybe he just went for an early morning walk or something.

Danny was quickly handed a morning meal by Wild when he got closer.”Thank you.” Danny said. Wild nodded and smiled a little, then went to go sit and eat his own meal. Some of the members still seemed to be waking up, and Sky was one of them. After spotting him, Danny walked over to him and showed him the energy drink.“Want some? You seemed pretty tired and grumpy earlier, so unless you plan on getting a nap in today, I think you might want a sip.” He offered.

He tried to ignore some of the others turning to look at them. Sky took the can and looked at it confused. He turned it around in his hand, careful not to spill it through the opening.

“What is it?” The hylian asked. He sounded slightly hesitant, which was fair. Danny had gotten sick just yesterday from one of their foods. Maybe offering it was actually a bad idea.

“Energy drink. It has eighty milligrams of caffeine in it.” Danny replied.

Sky looked up at him a little surprised, but smiled.“Eighty? No thanks, that might be too much for me.” Sky said, handing the drink back to Danny.”Thanks for the offer, though.” He said.

Danny shrugged a little.“Suit yourself.” He said, then proceeded to take a sip. The others were still staring at him as he went and sat down by the same tree he fell asleep against yesterday to eat, careful not to squish his backpack any. He’d managed to skip dinner the other night, but something told him that he wouldn’t be so convincing this time. Besides, he really was hungry. The young halfa felt a little exposed until they finally turned their attention to something else.

Since Danny didn’t see anyone jump or pull out their swords, he thought it was fine, though. So he put the energy drink down next to him, pausing to make sure it would fall over, then began to eat.

About halfway through his meal, a black nose came into view and started sniffing the food. Danny turned to see Wolfie was back.“Oh, you’re back.” Danny said. Looking at the wolf again, he instantly remembered his first conclusion about Twilight. He pushed that thought down. He still didn’t want to make those assumptions just yet, and it was early.

Danny was going to wait and observe first. After breakfast and caffeine, obviously. Wolfie looked at him and tilted his head, then slowly came closer to get a better sniff at his food. Danny lifted an arm against his chest and shoulders to stop him from being able to lean any further.”Sorry, but no. I don’t know if any of this is safe for dogs.” He said. Wolfie quickly pulled his head up to look at Danny, almost offended by his words.

Danny lifted his free hand up as if surrendering.“Hey, I know you’re not a dog, but you’re still related on an evolutionary and biological level. So we’re not risking it.” He explained. Wolfie was still for a bit, looking thoughtful, before nodding. He turned to sit down next to him. Danny returned to eating in silence, and once he was done, he grabbed the energy drink and downed it.

The cloud of sleepiness still hovering in his head would clear soon enough. He got his backpack off and held it on the opposite side of Wolfie, who turned to him and looked at the bag. Danny briefly glanced at him. Animals were known for seeing or sensing ghosts, and he really hoped that if he knew, he wouldn’t spill the secret or try to eat Orbit. If he even could. Danny put the empty energy drink in the same place as the one from the day before.

After that, he zipped it up and looked at Wolfie.”Sooo, do you want something?” He asked. Wolfie huffed and pointed at the back with his head.”No, you’re not eating anything in there.” Danny said blankly.

He was met with a disapproving look. From a wolf.

Wolfie huffed again and turned to leave, but Danny noticed something as his head turned. He reached out and placed his hand on the wolf’s back.”Wait.” He said, suddenly serious. Wolfie stopped and turned to face him as his expression shifted.”Open your mouth again real quick, please.” Danny requested. Wolfie looked confused, but did as he asked and opened his mouth. Not as wide as he probably could, but definitely enough that the halfa noticed the glint in the sunlight as he turned.

There was a piece of metal in his mouth, wedged between some of his back teeth.

“How did that get in there?” Danny half muttered. He turned over to his backpack and unzipped it.“I’ll make you a deal, Wolfie.” He said, reaching past Orbit and into the first aid bag that held more than a regular kit.”I need you to stay still for a bit, and if you can do that, I’ll give you some of my lunch if it’s safe for wolves.” He said. He found a very small brown bag that had different kinds of tweezers and forceps, courtesy of his parents. He grabbed one of the tweezers and pulled it out of his backpack.

When Danny zipped his backpack up and looked back at Wolfie, he looked a little surprised and even nervous. He’d closed his mouth and reared his head back some.”Oh, don’t worry, these are just tweezers. You want that piece of metal out, right?” Danny said, hoping it would comfort the animal. He was no animal expert, that honor would be better suited for Sam, but he doubted the wolf was comfortable with it.

After a moment’s hesitation, Wolfie nodded and leaned forward. He opened his mouth to allow Danny access to the piece of metal.“Alright, I’ll try to make this quick.” Danny said. Wolfie still looked a little uneasy, but did as Danny said earlier and remained still. It was amazing how expressive the wolf was.

Danny used one hand to stay balanced on the ground while the other went just past the entrance of the wolf’s jaws and teeth. Danny kept his hand as steady as he could as he focused on moving the tweezers closer to the piece of metal without grazing the teeth or gums.

Ancients, this wolf needed a mint.

Luckily for both of them, Danny successfully grabbed the piece of broken metal. He counted down under his breath, then began pulling on the metal, careful not to use too much strength. Danny was pleased to see that it came out quickly.

Wolfie let out a brief whine when he got it out and flinched, but had great enough self control to not bite or pull back. A quick scan at the sight showed no signs of infection or damage to the teeth or gums, not that the young halfa could see.

“Sorry, buddy, but I got it out.” Danny said, pulling the tweezers out and showing the canine the piece of metal that had been wedged between some of his teeth. Wolfie looked at it surprised and closed his mouth. Then he shifted his gaze to look at Danny as he dropped the piece onto a tiny ziplock bag. He’d properly throw it away later.“...What?“ Danny asked when the wolf didn’t look away.

Wolfie nudged his head under Danny’s arm and shuffled a little closer to place his head on Danny’s shoulder. Wolfie’s tail wagged twice, making rustling sounds in the grass. Danny smiled and held his arm around Wolfie.”Your welcome.” He said. That’s when he finally noticed that the rest of the group was staring at him. Time didn’t look quite as surprised as the others, but there was definitely a bit of surprise there. Four was practically the opposite, covering his mouth with a hand. All of a sudden, Danny felt a little exposed and uncomfortable with so many eyes on him like that.

“You put your hand in a wolf’s mouth.” Sky said. It almost sounded like a question asked with slight disbelief.

“Well, not really, I used tweezers.” Danny said, lifting them up.”Besides, it looked uncomfortable having a piece of metal between his teeth. Thank goodness it wasn’t sharp, that would’ve been worse.” He added. Wolfie pulled out of the hug and started walking towards the rest of the group. Danny put the tweezers away and looked at the wolf as he approached Wind.“Also, two words for you, Wolfie. Breath mints.” Danny said.

Wolfie quickly turned around and made a noise in offense. Danny almost laughed, but kept quiet and just smiled. Time stood up.“If everyone’s done eating, we need to start looking for the portal.” He said.

Very quickly, everyone packed up and was ready to start walking. Hyrule decided to walk next to Danny and Wolfie took a position at the back.”Are you okay walking?” Hyrule asked.

Danny nodded, tightening the shoulder straps so the backpack wouldn’t bounce so much.”Yeah, I’m all good. It’s actually even better than I expected.” He replied. He was still a little hesitant to talk with them, but Orbit confirming that all of their worrying and happiness towards him was genuine helped him feel more confident than yesterday.

“That’s great! And don’t worry, we’ll start your training as soon as it’s completely healed so you don’t have to worry about monsters anymore.” Hyrule said. Danny honestly felt a little irritated being underestimated like that, but he did this to himself. On purpose. Plus, he hadn’t exactly been lying, and Hyrule didn’t seem to be trying to be mean.

Danny smiled.”I really appreciate it.” He said. He scanned the group ahead.”But where’s Twilight?” He asked. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his shoulder. Danny inhaled sharply and turned around, but quickly calmed down when he realized that it was just Twilight, who pulled his hand away.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” Twilight said. Danny glanced behind him. Wolfie was gone. He looked back at Twilight, who was holding Epona’s reigns.

“It’s all good.” Danny said.

~~~~~(Time Skip)~~~~~

When lunch came around, Danny decided to sit closer to the group. He wasn’t sore from walking, it wasn’t exactly much compared to the exercise that was ghost fighting, escaping ghost hunters, escaping Dash, and does playing with Cujo count when he can and has thrown him multiple times during tug of war? And that doesn’t include how he and his best friends would have to walk to, from, and around school every day, or gym.

Sure, it wasn’t nearly this much, but the point is that he wasn’t surprised that he wasn’t tired. Hyrule and Twilight asked him a few times if he was tired, but Danny kept saying no, but he appreciated them saying that they wouldn’t mind stopping if he needed to. He was also grateful that they hadn’t asked him about his world again just yet, and instead talked about their own. Maybe they could tell he didn’t want to?

Speaking of Twilight, after he ate, he left to go for a bit of alone time, but wouldn’t you know it? Wolfie suddenly appeared a few minutes after Twilight was gone. True to his word, Danny shared some of his meal with the wolf, who left shortly after.

Three guesses as to who reappeared five minutes later, everyone!

Bingo, it was Twilight!

Danny felt like he didn’t need much more confirmation. Three times, the wolf had appeared when Twilight was gone and Twilight appeared when the wolf was gone. They both had the same eye color and marking, along with the crystal. Still, what if Danny was still wrong? And so what if he was right anyways? What would that change? As a stranger, Twilight obviously didn’t really trust Danny with this if he was leaving to transform, especially if he kept it secret from the others as well, which he wasn’t entirely sure of yet.

Twilight clearly knew them better than Danny. Not to mention the bad reputation wolves tend to have in his world. Maybe it was still attached to them in this world and others, too. And Danny knew well that if a species has a bad reputation, chances are there’s at least one person out there devoting themselves to hunting that species. It was reasonable to keep it a secret.

Now Danny felt a little bad thinking about how Twilight would feel if he was really trying to keep it a secret and Danny practically figured it out the first time they met, but he almost couldn’t help thinking how they were definitely the same. The signs were so obvious to him!

Danny mentally pushed that aside. The main thing was that whatever reason Twilight was keeping it a secret, he was going to play along for his sake. He wasn’t going to ask, he wasn’t going to give hints that he knew, and he wasn’t going to do some dramatic “I knew all along” reveal before he’d step through the portal to go home. If Twilight wanted him to know, he’d tell him. Danny was going to just move on, regardless of whether or not he was right.

“Hey, Danny.” A voice piped up. Danny blinked and looked over at Legend. The sassy one with pink tips in his hair.”I just wanted you to know that the portal is a little random. When we find it, we’re not sure if it’ll take us to your world or one of ours.” He said. Danny’s eyes widened a bit.

There were nine of them. Nine different worlds other than his own. Including him, that made ten. Since they were already in one, it was back to nine. A random chance of ending up in one of these nine other places. It was a roll of the dice. Who knew how many portals he’d have to go through before he finally ended up in his own?

“Oh.” Was all he could say. The train of thought regarding Twilight had just been ran straight through by another train.

After lunch was over, the group continued walking. Wolfie had left, and they found Twilight up ahead.

~~~~~(Time Skip)~~~~~

“That’s a weird water bottle. Why does it have tiny buttons?” Sky asked, pointing at the Fenton thermos in Danny’s backpack pocket from his place on Twilight’s back. Why he was getting a piggyback ride, Danny forgot. He probably wasn’t even paying attention at the time.

“It’s actually a thermos, but close enough to a water bottle that I can’t exactly argue. As for the buttons, my parents made it and they’re... I guess you could say a little extra. I’m not sure what the buttons do exactly, but knowing them, now isn’t the best time to find out. They just gave it to me for whatever reason. I usually put leftover soup in it.” Danny replied.

That earned an odd look from the hylian Danny was talking to, along with Twilight.“...Is there soup in it now?” Sky asked.

Danny thought about it. He didn’t remember putting soup in it before he left. But then again, he also didn’t remember Orbit sneaking into his backpack. Would it even be good by now?

Danny reached for the thermos and began twisting the top off, slowing himself down a little so he wouldn’t step on anyone’s heels. Opening it the normal way like this wouldn’t suck him into the thermos. Danny just had to be careful not to press the buttons.“I don’t think I put any in there.” He said as he twisted the lid. A second later, he opened it and got a look inside.“Nope, none.” He confirmed.

“Found it!” Wind shouted up ahead. Danny twisted the lid back on and put the thermos back into the side pocket of his backpack. Wind was waving the group to go around the cliff they were walking beside, which luckily wasn’t very tall and not much of a safety hazard to be this close to. When Danny followed them around the cliff, he paused seeing the portal.

It was the same purple that he saw only for a split second before darkness. It was shaped like a triangle, and the three points seemed to curved forwards. The dark purple only outlined the portal, the inner part of it seemed to be dark. And yet Danny thought he could see an even darker triangle in the middle. The extra dark triangle swirled, both expelling darkness and absorbing light.

Danny jumped slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder and glanced at Twilight, who looked a little worried, along with Sky.”Don’t worry, we’re all going to be on the other side incase there are monsters.” Twilight said.

Danny didn’t want to admit it with how many times he’s gone through portals to the ghost zone, but a small part of him felt like it needed to hear that.”Thanks.” He said. He looked back and saw that Warriors, Legend, and Four had already gone through. Wild and Wind went in next, followed by Time and Hyrule, who glanced back to give Danny a look of encouragement.

Epona grew a little nervous as they got closer, and Twilight looked a bit regretful. Sky acted for him and pet her gently to help sooth her.

When they got closer, Danny paused.”Hey, Twilight? Sky?” He asked. Twilight paused and both looked at him. “I don’t see Wolfie anywhere, and magic is honestly an unexplored area to me, so forgive me if this is a childish suggestion, but is Wolfie like a magic guardian taking the form of a wolf or something and he’s going to take a different path? Is that kind of thing real here?” Danny asked.

Twilight’s face twisted a bit, as if in thought, and then he smiled.“Yeah, you could say that.” He replied.

Danny gave him a look that said “I don’t like where this is going” .“Do I want to know what you mean by that?” He asked hesitantly.

“Probably not.” Sky answered with a shrug.

“And yeah, he’s coming with us. For what it’s worth, he appreciates you not being scared of him.” Twilight said.

Danny smiled and continued walking towards the dark purple gateway with Twilight, Sky, and Epona.“He talks to you too? That’s pretty neat!” Danny said. Twilight nodded and they stepped into the portal.

(I probably don’t respond to all of your comments, but know that I do see all of them and love reading them! Sometimes, while I’m writing or trying to, I’ll go back and look at them again! Including the things said in reblogs! I hope you enjoyed reading this!)

[dragonnarrative-writes]

GhostGaz Week - afraid of the dark // post mission comfort

@ghostgazweek thank you for the prompts! I haven't actually said that yet this week.

Ghost isn’t afraid of the dark. He was born of it, clawed his way from hell by feel and smell and taste. The darkness was a comfort - he couldn’t see the bones, the blood and dirt caked under his nails, until he was free. And even then, darkness shielded him from the worst of it while he got his bearings.

Now, it keeps him as he stalks through the night. He’s not even the last thing his prey sees, some nights.

He’s not afraid of the dark because he knows it’s full of predators. He is one.

So when Kyle admits one day that he has trouble sleeping with the lights off, it takes Simon a moment to make the words make sense.

They’re post mission, settled into the safe house. Ghost’s been stalking the halls, restless, blood refusing to settle. He’s stood outside the Captain’s room twice already, listening to the reassuring rhythm of his surprisingly quiet snores, and beneath it, the slow throb of his heart at rest. He’d thought he heard both of the sergeants, sharing a room, but really it was only Soap, the mouth-breathing muppet. Gaz is sitting quiet at the kitchen table when Simon starts his third circuit of the night.

The lights are off, which explains why Simon didn’t realize that Gaz was awake.

“Sorry,” Gaz mutters, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Can’t sleep. Soap keeps the room too dark.”

Soap had been almost as pleased as Ghost himself to find the rooms with blackout curtains. Kyle hadn’t seemed moved one way or the other. Had he hesitated as he set his bag on his bunk? Had he rode back in the transport with dread? Why hadn’t he told Soap? Soap obviously doesn’t know, or Gaz would be sleeping with as much light as he could tolerate.

Ghost makes himself detach from the circuit that would carry him through the whole house again to step closer. Shakes himself back into his skin, into Simon, and unmasks himself to sit at the table. Takes in Kyle’s face, the arch of his brows, the shadows and highlights of his lips.

Gaz is a soldier, through and through. Kyle is young and beautiful and tired. He doesn’t say anything, just lets Simon stare his fill. After a moment, he extends his arm, palm up. The Ghost under his skin is fascinated by the throb of his veins, but he pushes down the urge to sink his teeth in and intertwines their fingers instead.

“Didn’t know,” Simon rasps. He clears his throat, tries again. “Didn’t know you was scared of the dark.”

Kyle shrugs. “’M not, usually. But sometimes I have visions when I’m sleeping. Hard to shake if I wake up and can’t see.”

“Don’t touchin’ make the vision’s worse?” Simon wiggles their clasped hands.

“I like seeing you.” Kyle gives a gentle squeeze. “Dark’s not so bad, from your eyes.”

Simon hums at that. He hears something upstairs, cocks his head to listen as Johnny mutters something and stumbles out of bed. “Pup’s up.”

Kyle grins. “He’s about to knock a vase over. It’s plastic.”

Simon listens as something thumps just up the stairs. Soap muffles a curse and a yelp, there’s the slap of his palm trying to catch something and then a sigh. “Fuckin’ plastic piece o’ shite.”

It’s good to hear Kyle laugh.

[cottagecoreismysaltlick]

Arlecchino’s story quest just revealed how old Lyney, Lynette, and Freminet are. (Spoiler kinda)

Tl;Dr: late 20s

“I wish Genshin would give us solid numbers for character ages!” Sometimes they do. And those numbers give us ages of other characters too, if you pay attention. And yeah, I know the Genshin community doesn’t like to read, but you don’t even have to do much reading for this.

And let me preface this. When you go through this much work to “justify” characters being adults some people will say it’s just “an excuse to sexualize minors”. No. This isn’t even about that.

This is about me being absolutely sick and tired with the teenagers with careers trope.

First of all, what we know:

Childe is the YOUNGEST of the Fatui Harbingers.

Childe woke up the whale when he was 14 years old, and that was 20 years ago. He is 34 years old.

Arlecchino became the Knave at 17 years old.

The Hearth siblings came to the house within a few months of Arlecchino gaining control.

Lyney and Lynette met a magician named Caesar who over 10 days, helped them hone their stage magic skills

Caesar died 10 years ago.

Toddlers can’t do street magic.

Honestly the last couple of points aren’t even needed, but they’re helpful to solidify this number. You’ll see.

Let’s do some basic Arlecchino math first.

Again, she’s canonically older than 34, but if you want her and the siblings to be as young as absolutely possible, we can start there. (Maybe she’s a few months older than Childe. Idk)

34-17=17

Absolute bare minimum, Arlecchino has been the knave, and the siblings have been in the house for 17 years.

And quite frankly, I don’t think the “kids” were embryos when they joined.

But now that we have a minimum, let’s get a maximum to cover our bases. I’m going to use the serial disappearances as a marker here, because given what we know about her she would definitely look into that sort of thing. So she can’t be much older than 37.

So, when did the siblings join the house?

First of all, let’s get a few facts from earlier involved. Cesar died 10 years ago. That means he died while they had already been in the house for 7-10 years (depending on Arlecchino’s age.)

And a widely overlooked fact that personally I think needs to be taken into account more often, is that TODDLERS CANT DO STREET MAGIC.

But I get it, this is an anime game. And for some crazy reason some fans are convinced that characters should be as young as they can possibly be.

So let’s be just, the most generous that I could possibly be here and say those kids right there are 6 years old (anime 6 year olds don’t act like real 6 year olds so I’ll give you that), and it’s been an EVENTFUL couple of months worth of mastering street magic, trauma, and joining the House of the Hearth.

6+7=13 13+10=23

So the absolute bare minimum you are being silly at this point age for the siblings is 23, and depending on how old you think Arlecchino is, up to 26.

Personally, I feel like Freminet can help us out here, but we’ll have to apply just a teensy tiny bit of real world logic if we want to get anywhere. So,

How old was Freminet when he was sent to the house?

Freminet was very close with his mother, he was incredibly skilled at fixing and building things, to the point where he would help bring in money for the family for a few years before he was dropped off at the house with the old Knave where he’d notice other children with depression who he’d seen kill themselves.

Now I ask you, does that sound like a toddler? If you’re going to look me in my eyes and try saying he was sent to the house at 5 or 6, when the earliest of memories are being DEVELOPED, you’re not just silly, you are high. There’s really only so much disbelief I can suspend here.

Let’s be generous and say he was 8 years old. You can still have your over developed anime 6 year old, but at least it gives a few years for him to have been tinkering and making happy little memories before the trauma.

Again, using the youngest possible Arlecchino age,

8+17=25

So baby brother Freminet is bare minimum 25 years old.

In conclusion, let’s use those concrete numbers here to make an age range for the House of Hearth siblings. (I could absolutely give you my personal head canon timeline, yes. Will I? Maybe if you ask nice. But this is about cold hard numbers)

You’re absolutely fucking kidding yourself here ages: 22 for Freminet and 23 for the twins.

Low end: 25 for Freminet and 26 for the twins.

Reasonable maximum (the oldest I think they could be in the flashback is 13) 32 for Freminet and 33 for the twins!!

[studentinpursuitofclouds]

Im curious to know how would Lance would react to and say about the risgeside villagers like Freddie and Lola, Jio and Daia and the other magical characters! <3

Sure thing :3

_________________________________________

When Lance spots Lola and Freddie walking peacefully through the Ridgeside Village main square, he will greet them politely and bow to them as a sign of respect for elders. The two old couple will stop and chat a bit with the young adventurer, not missing the opportunity to reminisce about their youth and offer a couple pieces of advice. All three are smiling and the atmosphere is relaxed. At least because Lance is smart enough not to ask too many questions. He knows perfectly well who is in front of him. And while Lance knows that these old couple are retired adventurer-assassins who wish no harm to anyone, they could kill him in a heartbeat with the flick of a finger. He admires this and is a little tense about it. But everyone parted on a good note, as Lance is a well-mannered young man, and Lola and Freddie always welcome kind youth.

Lance swears that if Isaac and Jio were placed side by side, the adventurer would have the audacity to say they were twins. Not in appearance, but in their murderous stare, resting bitch face, anti-social behavior, and even their posture. Only the pink-haired man wanted to ask the living elf (a living elf!) a few questions, as immediately got in his face the phrases "You don't belong here" and "Why are you still here?". Yoba almighty... The elf's temper is worse than Isaac's. It's like Lance is talking to an obnoxious child... The fact that Lance is a mage and adventurer added fuel to the fire, because Jio doesn't want the bigwigs at the Ministry to find out about the cult. Lance decides to back off to avoid a fight. There's no point in spilling blood.

Before Lance could step back, he heard a slightly squeaky "Kiwi stab you! Intruder!" and turned around to see... junimo coming toward him. Hmm, a strange junimo that didn't emanate forest magic... Jio managed to teleport between Kiwi and Lance. "Jio must not stop Kiwi from stabbing the impostor!" Kiwi is junimo's name, huh? Interesting. But that was something to think about another time. So Lance decided to left Ridge immediately, while Kiwi is trying her best to prove to Jio that they "should chase down the pink man and stab him with knifes!"

And just when the adventurer thought the rest of his day would go smoothly, Daia appeared out of nowhere, showering the slightly tired Lance with more compliments and ambiguous hints. On another day he might have played along, or even counterattacked the insistent lady with flirting, but he's already a little tired. Especially since he senses the same aura as he did from the elf with junimo, and her clothes immediately tell him that this is another cult member. Daia has already had enough of playing with Lance and before she teleported away, without removing her smile, she threatened him that if any of her members were injured, she would destroy him. Lance assured her that he didn't want to hurt anyone, so the two parted on a more or less good note. Although, after her hints, Lance had a feeling- Well, he doesn't have to think about it, because he's well-mannered.

Belinda and Raeriyala couldn't help but notice magical aura emanating from the newcomer, and they remembered Farmer's words that this pink haired man could be trusted. Rae wanted to remain secretive, but Belinda was too curious, and was not afraid of Lance at all: she could stand up for herself, plus her loyal followers were always on guard. The spirit appeared before Lance too abruptly, forcing the adventurer to grasp the hilt of his sword. Just as Belinda was about to scare him some more, her beloved Raeriyala scolded Bel for her rudeness and apologized to Lance. They can see that he has a kind aura, and if he makes a promise to remain silent about them, they can answer a couple of his questions.

[littlefankingdom]

So, in World's Finest: Teen Titans, there's this scene where Bruce and Dick are discussing why Dick cannot go to the Teen Titans Convention with his friends, while Bruce is working on the Batmobile. (It's weirdly domestic even if they are in costume and speaking about being vigilante, because it's literally a teen being "Yeah, I know it's dangerous and a bad idea, but I still want to do it and hang out with my friend! Pls, let me go???" to his father who is fixing the car. I love it.)

And I couldn't stop thinking about how Jason loves cars, and all the time he and Bruce must have passed together working on the Batmobile. Dick sticks around but he isn't helping, and neither does Tim or Damian later, they aren't interested. Jason "stole the Batmobile's tires" Todd, Jason "told Two Faces his car is tacky" Todd must have asked if he could look and learn, and help, and Bruce taught him and let him with a small smile. Numerous good times between father and son, working on the Batmobile, while Jason talks about his day at school.

Jason who comes back and knows the Batmobile so well he tries to blew it up to kill Batman, before changing his mind (it's because he loves the car, he tells himself). Bruce getting a brand new Batmobile after Jason's death because working on the one he worked on with Jason hurts. Now, she sits in a conner of the garage of the batcave, and when Jason comes by for the first time, he recognizes the old car. Bruce breaking down everytime he works on his car in the months following Jason's death, because he is so used to having the kid helps and chats with him. Bruce offering to Jason to help him fix the Batmobile when they are trying to fix their relationship, and father and son falling back into the comfort of working together on the car.

[luck-of-the-drawings]

smth smth about 'the thing that the character did that you thought was rly rly funny in the moment is actually linked to a terrible trauma that lies within said character.' or wahtever.

[detectiveforfree]

when u gotta get up early after a long grueling night of superheroing