#i don't actually want my mother in jail though so I'll have to keep the hair she pulled out with me instead of in a drawer

[cimeriansparrow]

Sister's therapist called child protective services on my mother!!

[slvt4em1lyprenti2s]

First day

Originally posted on my Wattpad @MayaBishop_is_myWife

Alex Vause x reader

!!TW: mention of murder and vague drug mention!!

Work count:: 1.2k (not proof read)

Alex POV: (Alex and Piper aren't together in this)

I walked into the cafeteria and joined the que to get lunch, another day of sloppy something, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. Yum, I can't complain though because it's better than nothing and if I do complain Red will starve me out. Brushing off hat thought, I get my food and saunter over to a table with some of my friends on it, Morello, Chapman and Nicky.  I take a seat and listen in on their conversation. 

Nicky - "No c'mon, she's hot."

Piper - "I agree, I mean have you seen her. The eyes, hair the hair!" dragging out the r sound at the end as if to make a point.

Alex - "Who you talking about?"

Nicky - "That new girl that showed up in the van this morning, she's very good lookin' although she's been crying in the bathroom since she got here so maybe not the most stable girl in here."

Morello - "There's worse trust me, and besides why are you all getting so worked up about this? Yeah she's nice to look at but what if she has someone outside of here? You know, like a boyfriend or girlfriend or someone, she might even be married for all you know?"

Nicky - "Yeah but you said it, she's nice to look at tuts, she's gunna be getting looks from all over. If she stops crying of course."

At this point my interest was piqued and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about so once I'd sat, had a tal and eaten my food I was going to go find this mystery girl and find out if they're actually telling the truth.

Y/n POV:

I can't believe I actually did that. I killed her. I killed my own mother. I keep telling myself it was the only way out but everytime I think about it the guilt and self resentment creeps back in. My mum had munchausen by proxy and she made me believe I was sick and could walk or do practically anything by myself. I really didn't see any other way out so, one night I just did it. Obviously I feel terrible and wish I'd never done it but, there really was no other way out. Anyway, it's done now and I'm in jail, thankfully not maximum security because people could see my side of the story and saw I wasn't just a cold-blooded killer. 

I've been at Litchfield a little over 5 hours now and as soon as I was allowed to go off and do my thing, I went straight for the bathroom and I've been crying ever since. Somehow, I managed to get the only stall with a door so thankfully people can't just watch me cry, hear me yes but watch, no.

All day people have been staring and I don't know why. Maybe they think I'm fucked up for what I did or something. I'm snapped out of my thoughts when I hear a soft knock on the door. 

Alex - "Hey, you okay in there? Stupid question I know because well, you're crying but I still feel like I have to ask."

I bite my lip and sigh before responding, I didn't expect anyone to actually care.

Y/n -  "Uhm- yeah, I guess I'm okay. Not my ideal situation but you know, life goes on."

Alex - "Yeah well you got that one right."

After that a not awkward but not totally comfortable silence fell over us. I slowly stood up and unlocked the door. I stepped out and tried to dry my face from the copious amount of tears I'd shead in the past hours of being here. Instantly this woman picked up on it and gently held my face in one hand and helped me wipe my tears with the other.

Alex - "You'll be okay, I'm going to be brutally honest with you, the first few days are actual hell, you'll miss everything and everyone but, I'll be here is you ever want to talk about it okay? Oh, and I'm Alex by the way, but everyone calls me Vause, it's my last name." 

I smiled at Alex and nodded my head a small thank you leaving my lips. She pulled me into her embrace and held me tight. 

Alex - "You know, they were right."

I was confused because I had not a single idea what she was going on about. So, I pulled my head slightly away from her shoulder and looked at her.

Y/n - "What do you mean? Who's right?"

Alex - "Oh just my friends, they said some stiff about how you were really good looking and what not."

You felt a blush creep across my face as you looked into her gorgeous green eyes only now just realising after looking a her properly just how beautiful she really was. A sly smirk found it's way onto her lips before she spoke again. 

Alex - "Hey, don't get all shy on me now."

A she said that her hand found it's way to my waist as she pulled me closer again. Whilst she trailed her other hand up my body and hooked a finger around my chin so I'd look her in the eyes.

Y/n - "You really mean it?"

Alex - "Of course I do, I mean I've known you what, like 2 minutes and I'm already calling you beautiful I think that speaks for itself ." 

I giggle a bit and looked down in an attempt to hide my flustered face yet again, knowing she was right. I looked her in the eyes again only to see her eyes had never left me and she had a wide smile of her face. 

Alex POV:

I looked down slightly because I was a bit taller than her and just marvelled at this gorgeous girl in front of me she had glowing y/h/c hair and shining y/e/c eyes, her smile could light up a room and her laugh was so fucking adorable. Normally, I'm not the one to fall over small stuff like this but she was different,  I don't know why, she just was.

She looked me back in the eyes and I couldn't help myself anymore, I leaned in and captured her lips in mine. They fit together like puzzle pieces. Her hand found their way into my hair while mine rested on the small of her back keeping her safe in my arms. I swiped my tongue over her bottom lip asking for entrance and she happily agreed. She tugged on my hair a little so in return I grazed my teeth over her bottom lip and she let out a small breathy moan which was almost silent but, I could still hear it. We broke away for ir and as soon as we separated we crashed our lips back together hungrily. She was almost as addictive as some of the things women in the jail used to do. 

Just as things were getting heated someone burts into the bathroom.

Healy - "INMATES NO LESBIAN ACTIVITY ALLOWED!"

We both untangled ourselves from each other and apologised. As he left I whispered in her ear. 

Y/n POV:

Alex - "He won't catch us tonight sweetheart don't worry. I'll have you all to myself, I'll make you feel better."

She then gave me a final eck on the lips and walked out the bathroom. Oh man, I was not going to get much sleep on my first night in prison.

[theerurishipper]

So, as a child abuse survivor and someone who has been sexually assaulted by men who think they're entitled to take what they want Adrien is canonically a god damned dick.

He sexually harrasses Ladybug. When told NO he once let 2.161 million people drown because he was busy throwing a tantrum

Being a victim of abuse does not excuse the abuse of others.

He might not mean any harm but you know who else doesn't mean any harm? Gabriel. My goddamned mother.

Not meaning harm- lacking malice- does not mean harm is not caused.

People are going on about him being a rich white guy because anyone else acting like that in public would be considered an antagonist (in fiction), in jail, or have an active warrant for their arrest. And that's assuming they aren't killed for it.

First off, I am truly very sorry for your experience. No one should have to go through that.

But I still do disagree.

Adrien's pushiness when it comes to expressing his affections for Ladybug are in the same boat as Marinette being a stalker or Chloe being pushy with Adrien: it's a joke. You may find it to be a poor one, certainly, but it's a joke nonetheless. Miraculous relies on this kind of humor, it's not meant to be taken seriously. You can have issues with it, but imho acting like it's any kind of legitimate criticism of his character probably makes people like me less inclined to listen to any actual criticisms you may have.

I don't say this to trivialize your experiences, and if the joke is hurtful to you, you are well within your rights to dislike it or talk about how it's in poor taste to make jokes about these things, but that's all it is, a joke. It's absurdist humor. It's not meant to be taken at face value. It would be creepy if Marinette seriously had Adrien's schedule mapped out, tried to break into his house, or stole his personal items, but it's not supposed to be that way because it's a joke.

And as for your complaint about Adrien leaving people to drown, you can go ahead and blame Master Fu for that one. It's stated quite clearly in the show that the heroes couldn't do anything because everything is underwater. And he's staying there because he's waiting for Ladybug. Making up imaginary civilians who are drowning now isn't a good criticism. Ladybug spends a good amount of time underwater, but there's no-one there. There's no civilian begging for Chat Noir's help as they drown while he ignores them, so suffice to say that we're supposed to assume everyone is safe and sound. This is a kids show, so unless we're shown that people are in danger, we aren't supposed to assume they are.

And then let's talk about Adrien almost quitting.

I'll say it straight: he has every right to quit. He's a 14-year-old kid. This isn't his job. He's well within his rights to quit if he feels like this is detrimental to him. And it isn't about Ladybug not returning his feelings like you seem to be implying. This is about Ladybug keeping secrets from him and leaving him in the dark even though he's supposedly her partner. It took a situation like this for Master Fu to pull his head out of his ass and come give Adrien the tools he needed to do the damn job you're accusing him of not doing. How is he supposed to do anything if he isn't given then necessary tools and knowledge to do it? Should he just accept that he's being ignored and left in the dark? Accept his new role as Ladybug's unquestioning lapdog?

This is not Ladybug salt btw, this is Master Fu salt only, in this house we don't like Master Fu.

Anyway.

Literally look at why he tries to quit.

Adrien:(grimly) If you don't tell me what Ladybug is hiding from me, I'm done! Plagg: You can't do that! Adrien:(bitterly) Why not? No one'll know if I quit. No one'll care!

He doesn't think he's needed. He doesn't think anyone would care if he quits.

This isn't because of any entitlement. It's because he's being cast aside and left in the dark. It's because his partner (it's not her fault either, to be clear, it's Master Fu's fault) is keeping secrets from him even in this time, so he assumes he isn't needed and decides to quit because he feels like he's unnecessary and unwanted, and that no one will care if he quits. Adrien already has very low self-worth, and this is just adding onto all that already. If it is detrimental to his mental health, then he definitely has the right to step aside and quit.

So yeah. If this ask was to get me to change my mind, I'm sorry, but it didn't. You're entitled to your opinion, of course, but I think I've made my opinion on the matter clear.

[tmnt-obsessed-ace]

I was about to ask about the Hamato Ninpo thing, if they would have it or not, but someone else already asked, lol.

Nice to know the kids (and Leonardo too?) will get their Hamato Ninpo, even though u being u, is going to make it harder for them to get it (curious to see how you do this).

Also, poor Leo, trying to raise and teach and protect his kids the best he can, but not teaching them their Ninpo, because he legit had no idea it existed.

Also, lol at Leo bluescreening that the person he thought was Karai (which honestly, I can see why he would think that very much), was actually Casey, and Gram-Gram is Karai (which, to be fair, if he had meant her before Casey, he might have put two to two together that Casey wasn't Karai, but Gram Gram was) instead.

I love, LOVE ur Future Leo look/design so far btw! I love seeing more future leos (Rise, 2012, 2003, etc.) and ones of the other boys too! I think ur design for a older 2012 Leo is one of my favorites so far that I have seen.

I also love this new AU of urs (another AU of urs that I love very much to add to the tab), sad, older, trying his best, tired, single father/mother of 4 (5, counting April) hell children /affectionate.

It makes so sad though, Leo has been apart from his first family for over a decade, but for the rest of his family, it has only been months for them. The poor dude.

Okay, now that I have said that, I have a couple (more) questions:

This is from an answer to an ask that I have actually already talked about in this ask, and I will talk about more here:

"The colored dots represent Leonardo's previous family. (In order Raph, Donnie, Mikey, Splinter, April and Casey.) Its a way to keep his old family close to him even when they're apart."

I love the idea of Leo having colored-items in honor of Leo's previous family (him having ones for his brothers, Casey, April, and Splinter. Ahhh, I love it). It is so sweet and sad. Though, I was just ging to ask about Karai here? Since Leo does really care about her too, and they are siblings? So maybe Leo might have something for her too?

"And the flower is a very pitiful very sad rendition of the 2012 Hamato Clan symbol

"Its supposed to look like this"

Ohhhh, interesting and cool.

My other question, and this is kind of a question that could maybe be directed towards other AUs of urs besides ur 2012 Leo raises the Rise kiddos (and gets Draxum ooze on him too; which is interesting), that being, and this stems from my love of Gram Gram Karai (and Karai in general), but do u think u might include some of that Karai and family bonding time cut content? Because like, Karai's death already heart-broke me (and Rise Leo too), but I could (and 2012 and Rise Leo and Splinter and everyone else too) be even more heart-broken. Also, I just want more of Gram Gram Karai and Karai with everyone else time. If you don't do this though, I totally get it!

Last thing, I am happy you are out of AO3 Jail and can publish and do stuff with AO3 again!

Thanks for the new SOTW update, and excited to see those other updates u have been talking about, whenever u can!!

I knew I forgot somebody and it was Karai. :/

In the final version of the ref sheet I'll include something for 2012 Karai. And I'll definitely include more Gram Gram time because we love gran gram in this house even though Nick cut off Rise before we got actual Gram Gram time.

Gram Gram's death will be fucking devastating for Leonardo. Because he got portal napped when Karai was assumed to be lost after Splinter killed the brain worm. (Ie. he disappeared the morning of Dinosaur Seen In Sewers, which means when Raphael encounters Zog it was because he was looking for Leonardo.) so in his mind this is the second time he failed Karai. The second time he cost her everything.

And it absolutely devastates him. Once the Shredder battle is over and everyone's resting he's gonna have a massive breakdown. :)

[morrisseyhaterr]

7, 8, 11, 18 pls!!

okay, definitely putting a readmore lol

7: Favourite live performance of a song

Okay, I'm definitely biased on this one, because I LOVE LOVE LOVE the demo version of wonderful woman and I don't even want to know how often I've watched this video, but it's this 1983 performance of "What do You See in Her":

https://youtu.be/W9ktxjzC_4A !

The way Morrissey sings is SO incredibly emotional, and you notice how personal those lyrics are to him - this is what people mean when they say "he poured his heart and soul into it". Wonderful Woman is among the most underrated Smiths songs for me, but honestly, I'm still sad about the lyric change.

I also have to dedicate a honourable mention to this 1986 performance to The Queen is Dead: https://youtu.be/-o76TepMrJI. Though i was first completely put off by Morrissey's random gurgling and gagging, and disliked this performance when I first saw this video, it has now definitely grown on me. Though I wouldn't listen to this version when I just want to hear the song, it definitely fits the vibe of the song: it's not only meant to be an easy listen, but also convey a message, while ALSO being witty and ironic. Also, LOOK AT JOHNNY PLAYING THE GUITAR WITH A DRUMSTICK??? i LOVE this man so much.

8: Best cover of a Smiths song

I don't know if this is a basic answer, but I really like the Deftones cover of "Please, Please, Please, Let me Get What I Want". The band brings a completely different sound to the song and changes your eperience listening to both the original and the cover, and I think this is what a great cover is supposed to do. Also love the recordings with Sandie Shaw, but I'm not sure if they count as covers haha

11: Theory I'd like to share

This one is a bit far-fetched, but here goes:

So, I know that "This Night Has Opened my Eyes" is at least partially based on "A Taste of Honey", but I do think that it is also based on another play called "Faust" by german author Goethe. Actually, the only thing keeping me from 100% believing that theory to be true is that Morrissey has never admitted to being inspired by Goethe, like he has with other great authors. I'll summarise the play here, but fyi, in it, themes of pedophilia/grooming and a dead baby are discussed, so if you don't want to read about this, please skip this one! :)

To sum up the play "Faust" as short as possible, there's this guy ( around 50) who is really booksmart, but doesn't know anything about real life, so he basically makes a bet with the devil, who makes him younger (about half his age) and helps him get with a 14-year old girl called Gretchen, which is obviously very creepy, but at the time people thought it was normal. She comes from a poor household, her mother is sick, she basically had to raise her own sister when she was still a child, and her father isn't around - and now there's this older guy, who also seems to have some money, taking an interest in her. She falls for him, thinks he loves her too - which he doesn't, it's implied that he just wants her for her body (also she's 14 and he's 25! let's not forget this fact). He gets her pregnant and leaves her, and now she's on her own, with no way to support the child, and being outcast by the people in her village, so she sadly drowns the baby. She then goes to jail and dies there, but her soul is saved by god and she goes to heaven. Pretty crazy stuff, honestly.

You can probably already see where this is going: The first verse of the song discusses drowning a baby in a river, which is exactly what Gretchen did. The line that goes "a grown man of 25, he said he'd cure your ills, but he didn't and he never will" also makes a lot of sense through this lens, and by singing "save your life, cause you've only got one" Morrissey could be referencing her soul being saved.

18: How did you first get into the Smiths?

Honestly, completely coincidentally. Last winter, I was just opening up YouTube and looking through my recommended videos when I saw a video titled "There is a light that never goes out". I had heard the name of the band this song was by once or twice, but never really checked them out, but for some reason, I just clicked on the video, and that was it: I was completely enchanted. Naturally, I checked out some other songs and was even more impressed with this band. They became the first band whose full discography I had listened to in the correct order. I just got the urge to find out more and more about them, and they became more and more important to me over time- and now I'm here, with basically almost my whole tumblr account dedicated to this band!

[saltydumplings]

IM GONNA CRY. GIVE ME PART NINE OR EVERY TIME I VISIT YOUR CELL I WILL THROW A TOMATO AT YOU. Also here lemme show you how to get out, it’s pretty easy actually on my cell anyways but it should be the same for yours too…

Snippet #9.8

Part 8

Holy mother of God, so many requests for this one - thank you so much!! Now Epic, you're saying that I just...and then...oh, I see...and then just -- awesome, thank you so much. Also, you realise that by showing me this I can now visit your cell, right? Right. Horny Jail just got twice as fun >:D

Cw: gun violence, character death (don't be scared, it's a good death I swear)

The hero's first punishment for their behaviour was to remain bound by the leash, forced to keep their arms just so unless they wanted to lose their ability to breathe - something that they soon realised they'd have to give in to if only briefly because the ache of holding the position would eventually become too much to bear. Their second punishment was to be put back in the cage.

The hero hated it: it was so small and cramped, and the assassin had removed the blankets from it so that they couldn't even have the smallest of comforts. It was hardly the worst thing though - the hero knew that; the hero knew that this was only the beginning of even more horrible punishments to come...

They turned away as best as they could when the assassin locked the cage door, refusing to let the other see them cry. The idea of the villain's death was still so fresh in their mind - they wanted to kick and scream but they couldn't do any of that so they just lay there, unwanted tears sliding down their cheeks. Was this just it now? One stupid mistake and everything good in their life swept away like it was nothing.

"I'll return within the hour, pet. Until then, I suggest that y--"

The assassin stopped, an alarm blaring out somewhere within the building. Inside the cage, the hero startled at the noise - momentarily flinching just a little too much and making the collar pull taut against their throat. They gasped and relaxed again, trying to turn and see the assassin's expression: their captor's eyes were narrowed, a slight twitch in their jaw revealing their annoyance clearly.

Quickly they walked over to the one table and collected the gag that was laying on it, unlocking the cage to roughly tie it around the hero's mouth before closing it once more.

"Sorry, pet, but I'm going to need you to stay quiet. And if by chance someone does find you then you would do well not to go with them. If you do...let's just say what I originally had in mind for you will seem like a reward."

With that, they grabbed a blanket from the floor and tossed it over the cage - covering it completely and leaving the hero in darkness. They heard the assassin's footsteps walk away and the door close, the alarm still blaring out until it suddenly stopped just a few seconds later.

Was this a good thing? Please let this be a good thing.

The hero squirmed a little, careful not to put too much strain upon the collar as they attempted to escape the bonds, quickly accepting that it was useless. They forced themself to relax again, simply having to be content to listen instead - the sound of gunfire and shouting just audible through the walls. The hero waited and waited, a horrible silence soon settling over the place once more.

When the door to the room suddenly opened again they froze, hearing quiet footsteps making their way around them. A few items were shifted about before they saw the blanket being moved - the whole thing pushed back and a flashlight shined down onto their face. The hero blinked against the sudden light, a figure above them letting out a gasp at the sight of them.

"Hero - Hero, holy crap, just hold on okay?"

The hero knew that voice...

The flashlight was moved to the side, the person setting it down so they could open the cage - the hero blinking a little more before they could see the face of the sidekick clearly. The other wasted no time in breaking the lock, opening the door and reaching out to untie the gag from the hero's mouth. They went to pull the hero out but stopped as soon as the other started gasping for breath, soon noticing the collar that ensnared their neck.

"Sorry - sorry!" the sidekick said in a panic.

"I-It's o...okay," the hero reassured, catching their breath once more.

The sidekick carefully turned them so they could work on untying the leash, struggling to pick the knots for a moment before finally something shifted and let go - the hero taking a deep inhale as the sidekick managed to unlock the collar as well, feeling fully free for the first time in days. They got out of the cage on unsteady legs, holding onto the sidekick like a damn lifeline.

Help had come - they hadn't been abandoned: the sidekick was saving them and they--

"I thought I made myself quite clear, pet," a voice sounded from the doorway.

The lights flickered on and the hero felt a wave of panic course through them, quickly shoving the sidekick behind them as they turned to face the assassin - the gun in the other's hand pointed directly at them. But they knew the assassin wouldn't shoot them: they wanted them; they wanted the hero alive and that was why the sidekick was safe as long as the hero was blocking the other's shot.

"If someone finds you, don't go with them...What was it you were about to do?" the assassin said.

The hero shivered a little but held their ground, reaching back and getting their hand on the sidekick's own gun, the weapon still holstered in their belt. The other let them take it, keeping as still as possible - one move and the assassin would undoubtedly shoot them. The hero brought the gun up with shaking hands, the assassin laughing a little at the sight.

"Let us go," the hero said, "or I'll--"

The assassin took a shot - the accuracy of the aim almost inhuman as the bullet ricocheted off the metal bars of the cage and cut across the top of their arms, only just breaking the surface of the skin but hurting enough to startle the hero into dropping the gun.

The hero gaped, fear gripping them fully as they realised the full extent of their situation: it didn't matter that they were standing in front of the sidekick. The assassin could kill them without blinking but they hadn't; they could have shot them before even announcing their presence but clearly they had other plans.

"Ah, you see it now, don't you?" the assassin said, a sharp, sadistic grin lining their mouth. "How about you be a good pet now and get on your knees - and maybe I won't shoot your friend."

"Hero, you don't--"

"I do," the hero said, cutting the sidekick off quickly and falling to their knees.

"Very good," the assassin praised. "Now crawl over to me."

The hero started to move forward slowly, trying to ignore the complete humiliation they felt knowing the sidekick was watching. They got about halfway before suddenly coming to a halt, eyes widening as they caught sight of something moving in the doorway.

"Don't be shy now, come here and--" the assassin stopped as they felt the barrel of a gun pressed against the back of their head.

"Enough games," a voice said strictly from behind them.

The assassin seemed to freeze completely then - the hero certain they saw something akin to panic flash in the other's eyes. They got up from their position on the ground and moved back towards the sidekick, sensing they didn't have to do what the other said anymore.

The assassin's gun was dropped with an echoing clunk.

"Supervillain," they greeted. "I wasn't expecting a visit."

"Neither was I," the other said, and suddenly more men were piling into the room - guns all pointed towards the assassin. "Unfortunately, this little stunt of yours is proving rather bad for business..."

"You can hardly blame me: it was just a little fun," the assassin tried to argue.

"Yes, well the fun ends here. Now."

The assassin swallowed. "Will you kill me?"

A long silence fell between them.

After a while, the supervillain huffed and lowered their gun. "No, I won't kill you: you're of too much use to me."

The assassin let out a small sigh of relief, turning to smile at the other. "Thank you. I promise you won't regre--"

A shot rang out. The assassin dropped down on the floor, dead - the supervillain frowning down at a small splatter of blood that had landed on their suit.

"H-Hero!" the sidekick cried in disbelief.

The other had picked up their discarded gun and shot the assassin in cold blood, now staring blankly down at the corpse that lay before them, hands shaking slightly. They had to do it - couldn't let that monster live. The supervillain hadn't been willing to kill them but they sure as hell weren't letting them get away so lightly...

"Huh," the supervillain mused as they stared down at the body. "Good shot. Usually I'd shoot anyone that murdered one of my men but..." They shrugged, seeming unbothered. "I'd say your reasoning was fair enough."

They turned their back then, letting their gun slip back into their belt. "Come on, we're done here."

With that they left and the other men followed behind them, each filing out one by one until it was just the hero and the sidekick left in the room. The sidekick moved to stand in front of the other - hands falling upon the hero's shoulders and pushing down slightly in an attempt to ground them. Slowly the hero's grip relented and the gun slipped to the ground, a fresh well of tears starting to build up in their eyes as they shook.

"Hero what - what did they do to you?" the sidekick said, expression deeply concerned - knowing the hero would never kill anyone without reason.

The hero looked up at them sadly, voice wobbling a little as they spoke. "Not to me, they...they killed Villain. I had to: they killed them and I couldn't - I couldn't just--"

"Hero - Hero!" The sidekick shook them slightly, trying to get them to listen. "Villain isn't dead."

Silence. Then:

"Wh-what?"

"Villain: they're not dead. Injured, yes, but Assassin didn't kill them."

So they were fine? The villain was alive - the assassin had lied - and they could see them again and kiss them and tell them that they were an idiot and that they were sorry and--

The hero's gaze wandered back to the assassin's corpse, a sudden wash of regret and injustice overcoming them.

"Hey, it's okay," the sidekick reassured, pulling the hero's focus back to them. "It's better this way, alright?"

Was it? They'd never killed anyone before and now they'd killed the assassin over a lie that they should have never believed in the first place. As much as it was nice to know they wouldn't need to worry about the other coming after them again, they couldn't help but be aware that something in them had shifted now - killing the assassin had changed them. And there was no going back.

The hero let out an unsteady breath, no longer wanting to be in this room but somewhere else - far away from this hell and in the arms of someone they never thought they'd get to see again.

"I need to see Villain," they said. "Take me to Villain."

Part 10

[komotionlessqueenmm]

One man's trash, is another man's treasure.

(1-4)

Short story # 6

2,355 - Words

Fandom - House of Wax (2005)

Paring - Bo Sinclair X Reader

Summary - The reader finds herself & her 4 month old son stranded in Ambrose. While Bo finds himself enamored with the woman, wanting nothing more than to protect and provide for the two of them.

Warnings - Some dark topics, talk of abusive relationships, eventual blood & death, eventual smut. (I'm not sure what else tbh)

Notes - Italics mean the reader is singing.

Pt. 1 ~ Pt. 2 ~ Pt. 3 ~ Pt. 4

----

"No no no." (Y/n) sighed as her jeep sputtered and died, white smoke bellowing from under the hood. "Please don't do this." (Y/n) muttered under her breath, pulling the jeep off to the side of the dirt road, despite her desire to keep driving. "Damn it." She hissed under her breath when it died completely, flipping the four ways on instinctively. The baby fussed tiredly from the backseat, drawing (Y/n) full attention. "It alright my love." (Y/n) cooed before exiting the driver side, sliding onto the back seat, she comforted the infant. "Sh sh sh you're alright baby." She cooed as she brushed his hair away from his face, kissing his little hands. The baby's cries subsided, and he cooed up at his mother. His wide and bright eyes melting her heart, as he peered up at her. Allowing the child to suckle on her finger, (Y/n) used her free hand to check her cellphone, hoping to call triple A. "Of course." She sighed under her breath, tossing her phone into the front seat, after finding it dead. (Y/n) jumped at the sound of someone knocking on the window, looking to find a man standing there smiling at her.

"Oh you startled me." (Y/n) chuckled when she opened the door, leaving her child in his car seat. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare ya." He chuckled with embarrassment. "It's alright, no harm done." (Y/n) brushed it off before offering him her hand. "My names (Y/n)." He shook her hand with a smile. "Lester." He then pointed to the jeep. "Car troubles?" He asked as he let go of her hand. "Yeah I'm not sure what happened to it." (Y/n) sighed as she turned her attention to the jeep. "Mind of I take a look?" He tilted he head a little. "Please do." (Y/n) smiled quickly moving to pop the hood. "Where you headed?" Lester asked as he inspected the engine. "Anywhere." (Y/n) leaned her hip against the side of the jeep. "Running from something?" He asked impulsively. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked that." Lester quickly stammered. "It's alright..." (Y/n) cleared her throat. "Someone actually, I'm running from someone." She admitted. "I'd appreciate... I'd appreciate it if you'd forget ever meeting me after this." (Y/n) added. "Well a pretty face like yours would be hard to forget, but don't worry your secret is safe with me." Lester smiled, his honesty making (Y/n) smile. "Thank you Lester." Her appreciation making Lester grin. "You're welcome (Y/n), but I'm afraid I cant do much about your jeep." Lester's smile turned to a apologetic frown. "Are you sure?" She frowned a little when he nodded his head. "Well I appreciate you trying." (Y/n) sighed softly. "I could give you a ride into Ambrose, Bo owns the garage he could help you I'm sure of it." Lester suggested. "Oh I'd really appreciate the help!" (Y/n) beamed her excitement making Lester smile.

"Give me one moment." (Y/n) quickly moved to the other side of the car, unbuckling the car seat, she hulled her baby out of the car. "Oh you've got a little one." Lester observed with slight shock. "I hope that's not a problem." (Y/n) bit her bottom lip nervously. "N-no not at all." Lester stammered. "You need me to grab anything?" He asked. "Could you grab the stroller from the back?" She asked. "Sure thing!" Lester moved to grab the stroller while (Y/n) shouldered the diaper bag. "Let me lay a blanket down in the bed of my truck real quick." Lester explained as he carried the stroller to his truck, (Y/n) nodded her head in understanding as she closed up the back of the jeep, locking the doors before she joined Lester at his truck. "There we go." He murmured to himself as he laid the blanket out, laying the stroller on top of it. "Don't want to stain that up." He explained with a smile, (Y/n) smiled then looked to the cab of the truck. "I think I'll have to hold him in the truck huh?" She observed, sitting the car seat in the tailgate to unbuckle the infant. "I'm afraid so." Lester rubbed the back of his neck a little. "Oh let me get that." He moved to grab the now empty car seat. "Oh it locks into place on the stroller." (Y/n) explained pointing to where the car seat went. "Well ain't that convenient." Lester smiled as he latched the car seat into place. "Yeah it's really nice." (Y/n) agreed with a smile.

They rode in a comfortable silence for about ten minutes, before Lester struck up conversation. "So what's the little guys name?" He asked as he glanced towards the baby, quickly casting his gaze back to the road. "He's names Von." (Y/n) smiled as she lovingly stroked the baby's back. "Dose it mean something?" Lester asked with genuine curiosity. "I got it from old Norse, it means hope." She explained. "That's really cool!" Lester beamed excitedly, making (Y/n) chuckle softly. "If you don't might me asking... Where's Von's pa?" Lester asked after a few minutes. "That's who I'm running from..." (Y/n) admitted, finding it easy to confide in him. "He do something?" Lester asked. "When he found out I was pregnant... He tried to kill me." (Y/n) murmured softly, her words making Lester frown. "A neighbor heard the commotion, and he saved me. My ex went to jail, but he has friends in high places, and was able to get released last month." (Y/n) paused for a moment. "I received full custody of Von after my ex was sentenced, and when he got out I took off." She swallowed thickly, subconsciously touching the scar on her mouth from where her ex had slashed her with a knife. "He's a dangerous man, and I'm terrified that he's going to come after me, to finish what he started." (Y/n)'s confession upset Lester, he wasn't upset with her, but with her ex, a man he didn't even know.

"I'm really sorry to hear that." Lester cleared his throat, swallowing the emotional lump that had formed. "We'll be in Ambrose in a minute." He added. "Ah hell." He sighed at the sight ahead. "I forgot this road washed out last month in a storm." Lester explained as he parked the truck, I gotta flip my hubs into four-wheel." Lester explained, as he opened his door. "Oh I don't want to trouble you any more than I already have." (Y/n) reasoned. "Oh it's no trouble, I'm happy to help a pretty lady and her baby." He offered her a friendly smile, before setting to work. After he had finished his work, Lester hopped back into the truck with a grin. "Now hold on, I'm gonna take it slow but it's still gonna be bumpy." He explained as he put the truck into drive. (Y/n) nodded her head in understanding, cradling Von against her chest firmly, in hopes of not disturbing him to much. True to his word Lester took the drive nice and slow, the truck rocking this way and that as the tires rolled over some of the larger rocks. "Here we are." He murmured as they cleared the ruble, and made it to solid ground again. "Welcome to Ambrose (Y/n)." He smiled at her as he drove onto town, parking outside of the gas station. "Wow this place is really cute." (Y/n) hummed as she looked at all of the rustic buildings. "I'll go see if Bo is in." Lester offered as he hopped out of the truck. (Y/n) had nodded her head exiting the truck herself a moment later, her legs desperately needing to stretch. "Hello my sweet." (Y/n) mused at Von, who cooed up at her, a little drool dribbling down his chin.

"Bo's not in." Lester sighed as he exited the station. "He should be back soon though, he doesn't typically leave the garage empty for very long." He explained. "Well I guess I'll have to wait." (Y/n) smiled softly. "I could wait with you." Lester offered. "Oh no it's alright, I've already taken up so much of your time." (Y/n) declined his offer. "I'm sure I'll be alright, like you said he shouldn't be gone long." She reasoned as she subconsciously began bouncing Von gently. "Alright here let me grab the stroller for ya." Lester smiled as he opened the tailgate, grabbing the stroller he attempted to set it up. "The red leaver on the side, push it, then pull the stroller up. It'll lock into place with a click." (Y/n) explained, pointing to the red leaver. "Got it." Lester chuckled softly as he pulled the stroller up, smiling when it clicked into place. "Thank you Lester, for everything. You've been a real help." (Y/n) sat Von into the stroller, strapping him in before she turned her attention to Lester. "Here I've got some spare cash." (Y/n) quickly pulled her wallet from her back pocket, pulling out the thirty dollars she had. "Oh no I can't take that." Lester shook his head. "Please it's the least I can do." She smiled before taking ahold of his hands, placing the money in his palms. "What about your jeep, how are ya gonna pay for that?" Lester voiced his concern. "I've got some prepaid cards, I'll be alright." (Y/n) assured him, smiling when he finally nodded his head in agreement. "Alright... But if ya ain't got enough have Bo call me, I'll help ya out I promise." Lester smiled when (Y/n) nodded her head in agreement. "Thank you again Lester." She shook his hands before releasing him, waving as he hopped into his truck, and drove off.

(Y/n) sat on the curb outside of the gas station for about thirty minutes, gently rocking the stroller back and forth, letting Von sleep peacefully. "Go tell Aunt Rhody, go tell Aunt Rhody, Go tell Aunt Rhody that the old gray goose is dead." (Y/n) sang the old lullaby. "The one she's been saving to make a feather bed. The old gander's weeping, because his wife is dead." She reached up turning on the small battery operated fan she had attached to the stroller for Von. "The goslings are mourning, because their mother's dead. She died in the mill pond from standing on her head." (Y/n) smiled at the sight of birds flying in the distance. "Go tell Aunt Rhody that the old gray goose is dead." She finished the lullaby, softly humming in her throat the last line, drawing out the lullaby a little longer. "You've got a real pretty voice." A man called out softly, his sudden appearance making (Y/n) freeze up momentarily. "Oh thank you." (Y/n) smiled up at the handsome man, rising to her feet as he tossed his cigarette off to the side. "My names Bo, I own this shop." He introduced himself, offering her his hand. "I'm (Y/n)." She smiled shaking his hand. "Is there something I can help you with?" He asked. "My jeep broke down a few miles down the road, I got a ride from a man named Lester into town. He said you'd be able to fix my jeep for me." (Y/n) explained, idly continuing to rock the stroller back and forth. "I'm sure I can." He smiled. "Do you know what's wrong with it?" He asked as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I have no clue." She chuckled softly. "Well can you explain what happened?" Bo asked with a small chuckle of his own. "Uh it made this sputtering kinda sound, like it was running out of gas, but the meter said I still had over half a tank. And white smoke started coming out from under the hood, then as soon as I got the car off to the side of the road the engine died." (Y/n) explained to the best of her memory. "When was the last time you put oil in it?" Bo asked with a small tilt of his head. "Last week." (Y/n) replied quickly. "Has it been giving you problems before today?" He asked. "None." (Y/n) shook her head, not having had any issues with her jeep since before today.

"Hm I have to have my brother tow the truck back here, before I can determine what's wrong." Bo explained. "Of course." (Y/n) nodded her head in understanding. "I'll have to call him from the house, my shops phone has been broken for two weeks now. You can come with me if you'd like, give you a chance to relax somewhere a little more comfortable with your little one there." Bo offered as he glanced to the stroller, a friendly smile on his handsome face. "Yeah sure that would be really nice, thank you." (Y/n) smiled as he nodded her head, following Bo to the house on the hill. "What's his name?" Bo asked as he looked into the stroller at the sleeping toddler. "Von." (Y/n) smiled. "I like that name." Bo admitted with a grin of his own. "Thanks it means hope in old Norse." (Y/n) explained. "Well I like it even more then." Bo's smile widened a little when (Y/n) giggled softly, a notable blush painting her cheeks. "You know you and Lester have been some of the nicest people I've met in a while." (Y/n) admitted. "In my experience some of the nicest people are from rural areas like this." Bo mused, his statement making (Y/n) nod her head in agreement. "Yeah it's nice." She hummed with content as they reached the front porch.

----

Part one is complete!

Let me know what you think!

Oh and let me know if you wanna be tagged in the next parts!

Love ya!

PS this is the lullaby (Y/n) was singing, its called Go Tell Aunt Rhody.

[doubleshotofsomething]

To Hell & Back

Part Two: “Lucky for me, your kind of heaven’s been to hell & back”

Summary: You still hate Bucky. But you need him to keep you from going to jail... So, what’s the harm in inviting him over to dinner?

Prompt: “I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.”

Warnings: Angst?? (i think). Probably typos( which will be fixed). Implied violence. 

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Reader

--

Part one [In case you missed it]

----

It's Saturday.

Your day off. Well, what used to be your day off until it was turned into a family therapy session.

Well... Not an actual therapy session. It is literally just dinner with your family, including your sister's husband - a man you refuse to identify as your brother in law for reasons that will end in you being called the j-word. The husband, because he's the only son-in-law your parents have, has been dubbed the "referee" of the Saturday Sessions.

Each session, since you've been discharged, has made committing murder seem more and more appealing.

So appealing, that you're standing in front of your neighbour's door with a basket of muffins and a please-keep-me-from-committing-felonies smile.

Bucky, because he just spent the afternoon searching for a new bar, is standing on the other side of the door. Both confused and frightened to see you at his door voluntarily.

"Is there a bomb in that basket?" He asks, eyes roaming over you suspiciously. "Believe me, it's not gonna work."

You blink at him, then at the basket. Then back at him. "Why would I put a bomb in a muffin basket and then hold it?"

He raises a sceptical eyebrow at you.

You huff. "Fine, they're poisoned. I accidentally added laxatives while making them-"

"Accidentally?"

"Yes, accidentally-" you glare at him. "-they're not for you. They're from us."

He blinks at you, confused. You haven't spoken to him, actually spoken to him, for a few months. You avoid him like he has a disease and when your paths do cross, you just glare at him like he threw your cat into on coming traffic.

It's been a few days since the coffee machine incident. He has a brand new one - better than the last one - sitting on his kitchen counter, waiting for him to develop the courage to give it to you. It should be easy. He has mastered the art of making amends.

But... He can't, for some reason, bring it to you.

"Wait-" he frowns, your words finally registering in his head, "-did you just say from us?"

You set the basket down. "So, remember when you broke my one shot at happiness?"

"Oh god." He forgot how dramatic you are, as well.

"Yeah, you can fix that little error by being a doll and-" you pause, then frown, struggling to find the right words.

"Muffin poisoned your tongue?"

"I'm trying to ask you to be my plus one for tonight's dinner-" you grit your teeth, your blood beginning to boil. "-at my parents house."

You didn't look him in the eye when you said that. And by the sounds of it, he doubts this is something he should be going to. Or something you should be going to. Not if it brings out this side of you.

"Who are the muffins for?"

They were for your sister. You broke her nose last week, which was never your intention, and the guilt has been eating you up alive since. The punch was meant for her asshole husband.

"You coming or not?"

"Let me grab a wine and the keys."

"We have muffins. No need to waste your good wine on mediocre tastes."

"I'm bringing the wine."

"If you make us stop to pick out flowers, I will watch porn with the volume on full blast every night for a week."

"Why are you always so violent?"

--

"So, how bad is it?" Bucky asks.

You've been in the car for a half an hour, because you chose the busiest route and the most congested during rush hour, and that's the first thing either of you have uttered since you politely dragged him out of his apartment.

You shrug. "Three roads lead to this one, so we'll be here another half hour."

"I mean the situation-" he drums his fingers against the wheel. "-you literally chose to be in a car with me, for the longest time possible. Either you want to get there late or you don't want to get there at all."

"Maybe I just like spending time with you."

Bucky scoffs, but doesn't question you further.

The car is silent, aside from the traffic outside, and you could almost relax. For just a moment, you could close your eyes and imagine you're somewhere else.

But you can't. Because you're not. You're on your way to a dinner that shouldn't be happening and is only happening because you're part of your neighbour's redemption list.

Because he just had to have a conscious.

"I punched my sister last week," you mumble.

Bucky wants to laugh. He wants to laugh so badly. He has met your sister, a handful of times - at the hospital, outside your room and outside your apartment door.

Every time she'd come over, she would knock hard enough to make him think she's part of SWAT team. And each time, he would could hear you scramble to switch off all devices that could alert her of your presence inside.

One time, you'd both arrived a few minutes after each other. His door was closer and already open, so you shoved your grocery in his hand and dived into his apartment to hide from your sister. He had to pretend he hasn't seen you since you left for work , and that the packet of sanitary pads that fell out were for his girlfriend.

He didn't have one.

He wants to laugh, because he doesn't like her at all. But he doesn't, because she's your sister. "What did she do?"

"She married an asshole-" you scoff. "-and decided to get in the way and I tried to punch said asshole."

At this, he grins. "And you need me there because?"

"I need you to keep me from trying to kill him," you begrudgingly admit. "I'm too high maintenance for prison."

"How bad is this guy that you need me to help you not kill him?"

"Bad enough that I'm gonna need you to park a few blocks away from the house," you turn to look at him, his confused eyes meeting yours for a quick second. "I told them we're taking the bus."

"Wow."

"Which means we only get to spend less than two hours there, if you drive a little slow-" you pause when he drives passed a McDonald's. "-hey, can we stop and get milkshake?"

He deadpans. "We have dinner plans with your parents."

"I get that you and them might have gotten along since you decided to be a hero," you glare at him. "But they're not as cool as the hospital visits made them seem."

Your parents have invited him over to dinner a handful of times, and each time he had to decline. You and him weren't on the best of terms, and he didn't want to make things worse by showing up for dinner without your knowledge.

He knows, first hand, that a few interactions aren't enough to give the full depth of a person. But he saw how devastated they were, how heartbroken they were, at the sight of tubes and needles sticking out of you.

He doesn't believe, he can't believe, for a second that they're as bad as you say they are.

But he won't argue with you. Not about this. "We'll get milkshake after."

"Hey, remember that coffee machine you br-"

"Oh, fuck you!"

***

You're not a fan of wine. At least, not the wine Bucky brought to the dinner.

An hour into the dinner and you've already had enough glasses to have Bucky worried. The wine is halfway to empty by the time dessert rolls in, and when your sister's husband clears his throat, you abandon the glass and drink straight from the bottle.

The second hour into the dinner is where things got interested. Interesting enough for Bucky to take the bottle from you before you could throw it at someone's head. Mainly because he wanted to throw it at someone's head. Your sister's husband's head to be specific.

Just as your mother gets up to start making tea for the muffins you brought, Bucky is the first on his feet and the first to use the 'we have to get going before we miss the bus' excuse.

You grin at him, vision slightly hazy from the wine you drank on an empty stomach.

"Mhmm," you hum as you cling into him to get to your feet, "the bus. We gotta- the bus. Bah-yeee."

"I'll make sure she gets home safe," he promises to your parents and they believe him.

Hell, you believe him. If there's one thing you can trust your neighbour to do, it's to save your life. But not your coffee machine.

He guides back to the car, which is parked exactly where you told him to, and he's never been happier to have listened to you. You sing all the way back, some ridiculous song about when you're fat and old, and you're the most content he's ever seen you.

Drunk off wine, eyes glassy and smile wide, as you try to mimic his steps. You sigh when you get into your seat, even though you fight him on opening your own door, and fumble lazily with your seat belt until he helps you clip it in.

Your struggle to find a comfortable position, but forget all about that when he parks the car outside your favourite coffee shop. You're out before he can even unclip his seatbelt and you're inside before he makes it to the door.

"Hi," you whisper-yell as you lean against the counter. "Pssst. Hi. Hello."

The barista blinks at you. Bucky cuts in before he can get a word out. "We'll take coffee. Filter. And anything that's bread-"

"-don't listen to him, he breaks hearts for a living. Sometimes he rips them out." I jab your pointer finger against the countertop. "I will take the strongest coffee you've got. I'm in the mood for bad decisions and-"

"We'll be at the booth, in the back." Bucky gently pries you from the counter. "One coffee and two bottles of water-"

You try to smack his hands away. "Why must you be so- Barnes, I swear to god, I will take your parking space."

He shoves you into the booth, then takes a seat opposite you. You attempt to make a break for the counter, but the glare he fixes you with is enough to keep you in your place.

It should scare you. The look he gives you. You know what he is capable of, without mad scientists to control him, you know the damage he's done. It takes a special kind of strength to face people like the flag smashers, and a special kind of crazy to go after them.

Bucky is both. And yet, his glare doesn't scare you. So much so, that you return it.

"I hate your brother-in-law-"

"Sister's husband," you cut in to correct him. "I refuse to recognise him as my anything."

He nods. "Right. So, let me get this straight-"

Bucky pauses as the barista sets down the coffee, the water, two croissants, some breadsticks and a garlic roll. When he's satisfied that there's nothing else, he leaves you alone with Bucky and the breads.

"You got work tomorrow-" he puts sugar into your coffee and stirs, before handing it to you. "-so you're gonna need to eat as much, so that it absorbs all that wine."

You glare at him but still do as he says. He's right and you'd rather sulk than admit it.

"So," he clears his throat to get your attention. "Your sister is an asshole, that married an asshole. And your parents are enablers of all that bullshit?"

You nod, practically shoving the garlic bread into your mouth. You didn't touch the food your mother cooked and, other than that milkshake Bucky bought you, you haven't had anything to eat all day.

"Instead of just sending you to therapy-" he scrunches his face in disgust at the thought. "-I can't fucking believe I'm advocating for that, but instead of paying for therapy. They do that? Host a dinner, sit a circle and kumbaya the problems away?"

Taking a sip from your coffee, you continue to nod. "Is it helping?"

He frowns, meeting your eyes. "What?"

"The mandated sessions-"you swallow. "-I heard you and Wings talking about it."

Thin walls. Shared balconies. Despite not being in each other's life, both of you know more than enough because of your apartments.

Your balcony and his are separated by a small barrier, but you can still hear his conversations - and visa versa- if you leave your glass door open enough when he's out there.

The wall that separates your apartment is thin enough for him to pick up on your habits. You don't think you're a creature of habit, but he would disagree.

He can tell, just from your foot steps, what you're going to watch or do in the living room. From the little sounds you make, he can tell which series you're binge watching for the umpteenth time and which one is on just for background noise.

If you weren't a creature of habit, he wouldn't have found you in time. You wouldn't be sitting in front of him, asking about his wellbeing, instead of dealing with yours.

"Wings is Captain now," he corrects, and you accept the deflection.

You would never overstep, or push. Not with him. Never with him.

"If Captain, why Wings?"

Narrowing his eyes, he pushes the bread sticks closer to you. "Fine, Captain Wings."

Again, you obey the silent instruction.

"Where were we-"

"We were plotting an asshole's abduction," you tell him, "and then dropping him off at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean. If that's not available, then maybe near Dyer Island."

He raises an eyebrow at you. “Why would we drop your sister’s husband on an Island?”

"It's a place, with a shitload of great white sharks."

"And you know this because?"

"I like to always be prepared."

"For what?" His brows furrow. "Do you just know random places to dump people that–"

You cut in. "–will lead to an inevitable death by natural causes? Yes."

He stares at you. Actually stares. Openly, at you. He can't remember the last time he did that, looked at you, for no other reason than to just look.

You didn't always hate him. When he first moved into your apartment building, and the landlord introduced you too, you were indifferent. He didn't think you knew who he was, most people don't at first glance, so he was relieved. Indifference was definitely better than everything else.

That was until you walked passed him and Sam in the lobby of the building, a week after he moved in.

"Sarge–" you nodded at him, as you checked your mail. Then nodded at Sam as you made your way out of the building. "–Wings."

You knew, you always knew who he was, and just didn't care. That was refreshing, to say the least.

The hate only came that night, or the following morning, he wasn't sure. All Bucky knows is, he meddled, and now you hate him for it. For saving you.

He's tried to talk to you about it. Countless of times, he's tried, and each time you hate him a little bit more. Or so it seems.

He wants to talk about it now. It's obvious in the way he's looking at you, like he can't believe you're here, in front of him. You can't either, but you won't ever admit that to him.

Hell would sooner freeze over before you actually admitted that maybe, just maybe, he should have meddled sooner.

You won't. So, instead, you put down the bread stick and sit back. "I know a really cool coffee place... If you still need a new place to hang."

It's an olive branch. You don't ever say what you really mean, he knows that, and he smiles at that little fact. That he knows that, he knows you.

"Is the barista as dramatic as I hear?"

"Only to strangers that break down her doors," you shrug. "Oh, and guys who break her coffee machine–"

"You're never gonna let that go, are you?"

You grin. Because you're just as petty as he is.

---

Tags: @sunflowerxbarnes , @ginger-swag-rapunzel​ , @arctic-duchess​

[tortilla-of-courage]

Describing it as being like home is actually pretty accurate yeah.

And YES! I am totally willing to talk about my modern AU.

I've been calling it the Adoption AU because Time ends up adopting all of the boys. It mostly started as, I saw an edit for a tweet someone did with Wars and Wild that involved Taco Bell (cannot remember the blog or post for the life of me though), and so I wrote a thing about Warriors sneaking out of his university dorm to pick up Wild, who snuck out the window despite his broken arm, and then got extorted by Legend in exchange for silence at 3am.

This was followed by a fic where Groose decided spray painting a public building was a good idea and got himself and Sky arrested, set earlier in the timeline.

So then I made a timeline. Twilight is Time and Malon's biological son, and he found Wild on the side of the road one day (Wild's backstory involves a bad car wreck and an underground hospital, but no conspiracy bullshit. Yet). Wild has no memory, so they keep him. Wild brings home Legend, who was told his uncle died at school before a holiday. They then also keep Legend. Malon finds Four in her barn one morning for complicated reasons, and they keep him too. Twilight finds Warriors, who is in his class, hiding in an alley one day after he ran away from an abusive home and brings him home too. SS Impa (who I've nicknamed Shield because there are enough prominent Impas here that they should get nicknames too) is a social worker who's trying to find Sky a home and has run out of options, and turns to Time, who has a record of successfully housing 'unhousable' youths, and asks if he can take one more. He can. Wild finds Hyrule and brings him home because 'Rule needs a shower even more than Wild does. Hyrule stays. Wind's grandma ends up with Wind and his sister but can't financially take care of both and so Wind ends up with the boys and everyone is +1 Grandma.

Twilight has a fic detailing how he knows Midna and Dusk and I ended up shooting him (oops) but at least their social project gets handed in on time.

Then I started hashing out Time's backstory and suddenly this AU had plot. And organized crime. And a conspiracy. And secret societies.

The summarized version is that the gems from OoT are like, Idk what they do yet. Haven't gotten to a point where I need to figure that out yet. But they are Important and have to be carefully guarded. The Great Deku Tree (just called Deku because he's not a tree here) was Time's foster father before Ganondorf killed him. Also, Ganondorf is Deku's half brother. Because. However Time 'stole' the Emerald and he and Navi ran until OoT Impa (Sage) and Lullaby found them. So Time got adopted into Lullaby's family. Ruto inherited the Sapphire from her mother who also died from mysterious circumstances, and Darunia has the Ruby. Lullaby got the Ocarina from her late paternal grandmother.

Then Ganon finds them and tries to steal the Emerald from Time, so Lullaby goes looking for help and thus finds the sages. Saria is an anonymous hacker who uses the screen name 'Kokiri'. Time reveals he didn't steal the Emerald, he was Deku's heir, and then Navi goes missing. Time is home worried enough that he's physically sick, and Ganon decides to try and attack the home. Only Lullaby's family is Olde Money, and they live in a big, old manor, so Lullaby as Sheik decides to play 'Home Alone' with the secret passages in the walls and they piss off Ganon because when did that brat get a sheikah bodyguard??? Sage and Rottla (Lullaby's mother, who is fully sheikah as well) rush home from a thing and Kokiri is running a play by play watching the security cameras.

I pull in my headcanon that Time was killed in the Downfall Timeline by getting impaled on Ganon's tusk and Ganondorf stabs him with the tusk of a mounted boar head and then Sheik shows up to protect his brother, and then Mama gets home and is not happy to find this man in her home attacking her kids. Time is fine, but Navi stays missing. (She's alive tho.)

Also, Time's foster dad was the last leader of a secret society known as The Order of The Lost Woods, and Time learns this upon meeting Tatl, who gets him sucked into another event that would probably make a good action movie. I have thought too much about the Order and it's hierarchy, but what's important here is that Time ends up with a standing job offer and Tatl and he remain friends and we find out how I fit FD into this AU. It's not pretty. This is where Time loses his eye too.

The AoC came out and I added that Link in as Wild's twin brother and he shows up during the main plot.

Which starts with Twi getting kidnapped. (I'm not really meaner to him than the others, I swear, he's just the most logical choice to be Time's heir. Which he is. He doesn't know this though.)

So he's kidnapped by Ganondorf, who broke out of jail, Zant, who shot Twi in highschool, and Ghirahim, who has some history with Sky I haven't fleshed out yet and a very public rivalry with Warriors over twitter. About six weeks later Sage finds him in an abandoned warehouse (because of course) with a shackle on his left arm and a lot of new injuries. He ends up fine, but he tells Time later in the hospital what happened and he's both message and messenger and Time is this close to just committing murder. Tatl talks him down.

Somewhere here is the half finished fic where I introduce AoC Link as Luke/Knight, and this is as far as I've plotted thus far.

Other tidbits: Wild and Lullaby/Sheik are both genderfluid, Lullaby/Sheik married Ruto, Wild has a very popular YouTube channel, Twi does drag racing sometimes, Sky has a pet bird, Four has DID to explain how the Colours are here too, and Wolfie exists in the form of a random wolf-dog Wild found and brought home that Legend somehow convinced half the family was Twilight. Also, Warriors has somehow befriended an entire sorority and he doesn't know how this happened.

This... got long. As you can see I have a lot of thoughts about the Adoption AU. It's gotten a bit away from me, I'll admit. This went from 'Wild does stunts on his motorbike and keeps breaking bones but somehow not the bike' to 'Twilight got kidnapped and Time is the target of a mafia that Ganon runs and also maybe killed a man once' and I don't know how that happened. Also, this is the condensed version of the summary. My actual summary/outline is much, much longer than this. So if there's any detail you want more on, feel free to say so and I'll happily go into more detail (there are so many things I didn't even mention....)

And yes, Robbie having a bong is very important to my best friend, for some reason. He has one in a modern AU and he probably invented one in canon. I happen to agree that this makes sense for his character, if anyone would invent a bong in LoZ it's Robbie (this is such an anticlimactic end to this ask after the stuff about the modern AU...)

Also, sorry for the long ass ask. I genuinely don't know how to condense the Adoption Au down any further. There's a lot of important plot beats to cover, and I still skipped things.

-Attllhak

oh my GOD???? if you ever write and post this somewhere id love to read it, the level of "crazy" conspiracy/action movie elements implemented sound sosososo cool, from Ganondorf being Deku's half brother to trying to "send a message" via Twi and- just- all of this is SO good.i sat here and reread this ask like 3 times as if that would magically spawn more info about it ahaha

there's so much to unpack here but it's honestly so worth it i love every single detail!!! i can imagine the actual outline being way longer, nad honestly that just makes me the more excited/curious about all that might be missing from this ask - i cant believe it started with Wild and Wars going to Taco Bell of all things

also i can totally see Robbie making a bong, no matter the setting or AU. fits him a lot I'd say

and dont worry about long asks!! i adore opening up my askbox to see one ask take over the entire thing, it makes me really happy aha

[kannra21]

@owishi Asdfghjkhgfds I want to write sum HCs rn! 😆✨✨

~o0o~

After a successful photoshoot the MCPTF duo took for a detective magazine, Haru bashfuly thanked the camera crew for their work and started to gather his belongings. After a couple of seconds he didn't see Daisuke moving much from his spot at the studio backdrop so he decided to check on him.

Daisuke was still standing there, petting a beautiful cat on his shoulders. He was smiling for the first time in a long time and Haru couldn't help himself but to tease him a little.

"You have a soft spot for kittens, huh Kambe?" "Huh?" "You love animals don't you?" "Don't get the wrong idea. Just because I helped that little boy with a dog back the-" "I get it, no need to get so self-defensive." Haru approached the two and pet the cat as well. Daisuke continued "We had a family cat back in the days but she died from a kidney failure." "I'm sorry to hear that." "Pedigree cats are always difficult to maintain."

He then approached the studio producer and asked "What's the name?" while pointing at the purring ball of fluff. "Oh the name's Kumo-" "No, I meant the name of the breed." "It's a Maine Coon my good sir."

Daisuke took his phone, dialed a number and a lovely lady could be heard on the opposite line "Yes, Daisuke-sama?" "Suzue, do we have all the predispositions that satisfy the adoption of a cat?" "I mean yes but we can't charge a butler to take responsibility for everything. Consider chipping, regular visits to the vet, special shampoos, nail clippers, toothbrushes, specialized treats, eye drops, litter box, toys, climbing frames, there are many factors which need to be taken care of Daisuke-sama. Besides, it's been such a long tim-" "Alright"

Daisuke ended the phone call with a dissatisfied sigh before asking quietly "How much?" to which Haru needed to interfere. "Didn't Suzue-san just tell you not to take a cat home?" and Daisuke gave him an annoyed side-glance "I'll figure something out."

When he arrived to the mansion in his Bentley Continental GT, he glanced at the backseat to address the feline comfortably lying in the fancy pet carrier. "You better not make a sound, understood?" to which the cat just purred in satisfaction. Daisuke felt so silly at this moment, like a little boy hiding a broken vase from his mother.

When he was about to enter the mansion, he accidentally walked on Suzue typing something on her tablet. She looked up and was delighted to see Daisuke coming home safe and sound. Daisuke stood at the doors, one side of his body peering from the corner while the other with a cat was hidden behind the wall. "Welcome back Daisuke-sama, the crack-open naengmyeon is already served on the table, you can take your seat." "Actually, I was planning on doing something else beforehand. Would you please excuse me for a moment?" "Of course." Suzue turned around and waited for him in the dining room. And although Daisuke was very good at keeping his serious demeanor, Suzue still noticed that something was off, with the tone of his voice for instance. It was very faint but Suzue was able to recognize things like this since she knew him so well. Still, she decided not to question him about it.

Daisuke entered his room and laid the pet carrier on the floor. Opening the zipper, the cat jumped out and rolled cozily on his bed. Daisuke held his phone and took a picture. He decided that he couldn't leave it by itself so he went downstairs to the storeroom where he took a litter box and filled it with old newspapers just in case.

After that he joined Suzue for lunch, they talked about Daisuke's photoshoot and Suzue's data she collected on certain people regarding a case. Daisuke told her that the magazine will be published in three weeks or so and Suzue was so happy she promised that she'll be the first costumer to buy it. Daisuke smiled more around Suzue after he let go of his past and threw his father into the jail. Now that all the bad things are behind him, he can finally indulge in his life and pay more attention to Suzue to whom he has yet to make up for all she has done for him over the years. He's thinking about marrying her soon.

While they were eating and pleasantly chatting, a high pitched "mrow" could be heard from the upper floor.

"What was that?" Daisuke let out a dry cough and said "My apologies. It seems that I needed to take a thicker coat before leaving for an appointment." "But.. you always pay attention to things like this." "It's true, but today I was a little late, had other things to do." "Don't overwork yourself, you need to think about your health." "Seems like you need to take better care of me.", he said with a smirk plastered on his lips to which Suzue just laughed and replied "You're so spoiled." and he scooted closer to her whispering "But I like it better when you do it.", and almost kissed her before the two heard a soft thud coming from the above.

"Excuse me for a moment, I need to check what's happening up there. Will be right back.", maybe the moment was ruined but he kissed her forehead nonetheless and went upstairs, leaving her full-hearted and all mushy inside. Her mind was so hazed from the thought of Daisuke kissing her forehead and almost kissing her lips that she didn't register the cause of his concern.

When he arrived to his room he had things to behold; scattered papers and documents all over the floor and the ashtray he typically used after his "adventurous nights with Suzue" was lying on the ground right next to the nightstand. The cat was sitting on his working table licking her paw as if nothing of this concerned her in the slightest. Daisuke sighed in disappointment and put her back in her "baby jail". She already gave him such a hard time but he couldn't be angry with her, she was his baby (yes he already considered himself a dad for god's sake).

Since they already finished with their meals, Suzue went back to her tech room to finish her work and Daisuke took the opportunity to place some meat and water on small plates and bring it to his naughty little friend.

The cat calmed down instantly after she ate and went straight to sleep. Daisuke couldn't believe his own eyes, the audacity, the sheer amount of spoilage this creature showed was unreal. It reminded him so much of himself and he smiled a little. He really missed having a cat.

After he cleaned up and finished his other tasks, he laid on the bed next to her and pet her soft white fur, making her purr louder and snuggle up beside him. Daisuke knows that Suzue is not stupid and that she'll eventually catch up on him sneaking behind her back to give Furry Elise treats (yes her name is Furry Elise, "Für Elise" might be one of Beethoven’s best-known piano pieces and Daisuke knows how to play it too).

And it actually happened that same night. Daisuke was about to fill her small plate with more meat when he met Suzue in the kitchen and she asked him what he was doing. He instantly gave up because it would be so blatantly obvious and incredibly stupid of him to say that he was trying out a new weight-losing tip when no one in this god-forsaken world ate raw chicken.

So he took her to his room and showed her Furry Elise. And although the cat purred really loudly upon seeing them, Suzue wasn't happy about it. In fact, she looked really disappointed and Daisuke needed to apologize. He explained her how it happened and how he wished to have a pet after a really long time. He thought she liked cats as well and therefore concluded that it wouldn't be such a big deal to adopt this cute little feline she loved so much, but apparently it was, so he asked her one more time why she was so reluctant to the whole idea of owning a cat again.

Suzue now shredded a couple of tears and Daisuke was seriously alarmed upon seeing her like this so he carefully cupped her with his hand behind her back and hugged her, asking why she was crying all of a sudden.

"It's just.. I don't want to go though this all over again." "What are you talking about?" "You see, my parents died, your parent died, our previous cat died so soon. I'm living in fear every day and asking myself if something's going to happen to you as well, that's why I'm so excessively worrying about you. And everything I need right now is another sweet creature that I love so much leaving us again. I don't think I'd be able to handle it anymore."

"Suzue.. I never thought..", Daisuke kissed her head and felt a big amount of guilt dawning on him. He was so selfish for only thinking about what made him happy without considering Suzue's emotions. But then he reclaimed his mind and tried to concentrate on saying the right thing. Hopefully he can make her feel better again.

"Suzue, my dear, you shouldn't limit yourself to things that make you happy. It's not healthy. You see, none of us is eternal; neither you, nor me, nor this kitten down there looking at you with so much love in her eyes. But for that very reason that none of us is eternal, we should dedicate our time to one another and make most of it. So please don't deny yourself or your feelings. Instead of dwelling on the sad things, we should concentrate more on our time spent together and be happy, okay?"

Even Daisuke didn't know how he managed to word it this nicely but he did and he realized that both of them were crying by now. They shared a passionate kiss but got interrupted by a small furball rubbing on their feet like it wanted to share a hug as well and Suzue smiled through tears.

She squatted and carefully took the cat in her hands. "What's her name?" "Furry Elise." Suzue now needed to laugh so much and she hadn't even recovered from her previous emotional outburst.

"I love it, you're really good at this.. it's.. the song you used to play for me all the time before you went studying overseas."

He looked at her with so much love and adoration at this exact moment.

"Know what? I think I'm falling for you all over again, Mr. Millionaire." Daisuke swore, his heart was full that night and no money could ever compare to this feeling.

@daisuzuship @innovativestruggles @narcopharmacist @unholysoggytea @riaymei @ieatcrumbs @cow-goes-oof @matchabucks @bluegleeful @levi-is-heicho @kakooshi @kokorokai @darknessrxse @fluffyyagiza @geniusmeemee @sungmnnnn @koalarin @alstroemerie @petiamaximoff38 @hellohellokookie @marialenikiforov

It's daisuzu stuff so I hope you enjoy. If you want me to delete your tag you're free to tell me. 👍

[evanescent-art]

❝ Dabi Todoroki :: Short Story :: If I fall ❞

  。＼｜／。

Synopsis :: Dabi may have been caught, but the interrogation couldn't break him more than his childhood already had.

。／｜＼。

Okay, you got me. I'm crazy. But listen here - The fact that I acknowledge it in an intellectual way makes me just as sane as everyone else. It's not like I do the shit that I do for no reason. In the beginning, I had a guilty conscience. I questioned constantly if I was doing the right thing. Always had a nagging voice in the back of my head that told me that I would regret it one day. This voice happened to remind me that once I go, I can't turn back. It took awhile, but believe me when I tell you, that voice is long gone.

Now, I feel nothing.

Except, of course, these damned handcuffs that felt likey they were cutting into the flesh of my wrists. Using my quirk was futile. With these cuffs, there was a tingling sensation throughout my body. That feeling you get when your hands or feet are on pins and needles. Even If I wanted to, I wasn't stupid enough to try and fight my way out of this interrogation room with a building full of hero-wannabes.

The door behind me opens and closes. I suck in an annoyed breath and prepare for the obvious.

"You go by Dabi, right?" a man slid into the seat on the opposite side of me, gently sliding the folders on the table in front of him.

"Aren't you observant," I drawl, feigning amusement in my tone. I look this man dead in his dark eyes. He doesn't seem to be intimidated, but I wanted him to know that neither was I.

He cleared his throat, finding my sarcasm a good enough answer. I raise an eyebrow. I can't stand half-assed people.

He continues despite my clear disinterest, "my name is Koriko Ho-"

I really don't care.

"-and I'm going to ask you some questions," he glances down at the paper. "For starters, Is Dabi your real name?"

I chuckle slowly.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" This time I actually am amused. They seriously can't expect me to just hand over my identity so easily. I almost find it insulting. Only an idiot would do that, especially in my damned-to-all-hell case. Yet, the idea of my father's name being all over the news for his villain-son appealed to me a little. The humiliation it would undoubtedly give him was tempting, truly.

"We'll find out one way or another," his voice sounded as though it was forcing to stay calm. His slight discontent brings me further satisfaction. I allow the corner of my lips to curl into a small smirk. Koriko takes a small breath.

"You know what, how about we not beat around the bush, yeah?" Koriko says. Now he's speaking my language. "You were turned in by pro-heroes after a fight in an abandoned building downtown. You were left behind by your colleague, am I correct?"

Left behind isn't the term I would use. I did this willingly. I may be a damaged villain, but the one's that were there for me I have their back. I'm loyal. It was a classic 'wrong place, wrong time' sort of deal. I needed to gather just enough time to let Toga get away. If staying behind to face a fight alone to allow someone like a sister to me escape while she was recovering from her own wounds, so be it. It's worth it.

"I'm not telling you a damn thing. Save your energy for someone more useful to you," I advise. I lean back in my chair, keeping my eyes trained on him.

He pressed his lips into a thin line, takes a deep breath, and pushed his glasses up his nose.

"I tried to do this the moral way, you know," he tells me, as if I knew what the hell that meant. Until he adds, "without my quirk."

"Your quirk?"

"Feeling reading. I try not to do it as often as possible," Koriko pursed his lips and looked me up and down, no doubt noting my momentary surprise. "After all, people like to keep their feelings to themselves. Yet, you are a curious case."

So I've been told many times. I stay silent.

"You're in a lot of pain," he continues. His eyes go over my excessive burns for a moment. "Physically and emotionally. Mostly emotionally."

"I don't need you as my damn therapist," I scoff.

"I sense depression. I sense something hollow as well. Anger." Koriko looks as though he wishes he could stop, but doesn't. I begin to get a little uneasy, because I happen to be a personal person that takes a great offense to someone violating my mind, "Yet, you have it all bottled up, huh?"

"Stop."

"You need help. You want help."

"No, I don't. I'll deal with shit on my own like I always had," despite my deadpanned tone, it was obvious to this man that he was striking some nerve. The nerve that I have of violating my thoughts. My feelings. The only thing I was able to keep to myself.

Koriko smiles a bit.

"That's where the hollow feeling comes from, isn't it?" He says to me . It seemed that the more irritated I got, the more intrigued he became. I liked it better when he was the one getting angry. Then again now that I think about it, it probably wasn't anger. More like stain from trying not to use his quirk. I suddenly felt like the little bit of power I had left had been taken away.

What's the point?

I was going to jail. Most likely for a long time. It wasn't like I could save myself. The realization that I was only stalling the inevitable hit me hard. Suddenly, all I wanted was to get out of this room. Away from this man. I grew tired.

"Touya Todoroki," I tell him. The name sounded disgusting coming off the tongue. I look away from him to avoid the shock on his expression.

"Now that explains it," Koriko nodded slowly, stopped himself to think for a moment, then added. "I heard things, you know. That you were the one that drove your own mother crazy, not your little brother. Just rumors, of course."

I wanted to hurt him.

My expression shifts to a rage that I try and breathe deeply to contain it better. An image of that pathetic woman comes to my mind. She did nothing. Nobody ever did anything. She sat by and let me hurt. Let her children hurt. Oh, I never blamed my siblings. They were victims to that ass just as much as I was. I can only Imagine how it's been since I've been gone. I suppress the urge to envision it myself.

Shoto looked like me, didn't he?

It hurt because this man was most likely right. And I hated it.

"I'd hate to see the look on Endeavor's face when he sees you like this," Koriko was starting to sound like a demon, nagging at my deepest ticks. It was like he was made to do this. I hated him. I hated everyone.

"I don't give a damn what he thinks anymore," I seethe. If I could slam my hands on the table I would have. "Why do you insist on being so invasive?"

"Because I happen to think that you are far too young and damaged to be sitting in front of me!" Koriko raised his voice, standing up with his papers. He looks strained now.

"Where are you going?" I ask.

He stops and turns to me, unsure of what to say at first.

"Because your feelings are far too intense for me to take right now. It's making my head hurt."

I was left to do nothing but let those words sink in.

[ma-gic-gay]

Knock Before Entering

If Chase had simply knocked before he went in that room, there would be nowhere near as much awkward tension right now between the three of them.

But alas, he hadn't knocked and they were all in an uncomfortable position.

Let's set the scene: Just an hour ago, Michael and Willow had made their marriage official. In Wiley's playroom they were supposed to be painting stars on the ceiling in so their son could have stars to see when he was an astronaut. He was going to be one when he grew up and so they had begun painting them when the annulment papers had came in.

Instead of annulling their marriage, however, they'd finally said everything they felt about each other to each other- and acted on it. Several times.

They'd decided to go again and were making out like fifteen year olds when Chase barged into the room.

The mood had never been killed quicker.

Glaring at Chase, Michael and Willow threw on their shirts and tried to look somewhat presentable as Chase was standing there awkwardly, looking at everything but the sight in front of him. Willow blushes a deep red color, more embarrassed than upset. For her especially, this is an awkward situation.

When everyone's fully dressed, she excuses herself to go find Wiley. As she leaves, Michael's glare returns, as well as his bulging neck veins. "You wanna explain what you're doing here right now?"

"Brook Lynn and I made a deal where if she and Ned talked, I'd talk to Willow," Chase explains, clearly digging himself deeper and deeper into the hole he's created.

"Why are you and Brook Lynn making deals? And what do you have to say to Willow?" Michael asks.

"We're friends. For God's sakes, she's living on my couch! So, since we both have things we don't want to do but should, we made this deal. She tries to work things out with her dad and I tell her how I feel."

Confused, Michael asks, "What do you feel for my cousin that involves Willow?"

"No, not Brook Lynn. She's great, and very interesting, but I don't feel that way about her. We're just friends, nothing more. The deal was I tell Willow what I feel for her. Willow, she told me you two were getting an annulment so I thought it was my final chance to tell her how I feel about her."

Taking a deep breath, Michael asks, "And what do you feel for my wife, Chase? Please, tell me. I'm dying to know. I'm dying to know how you feel about her."

Chase can sense the anger in his tone as he says, "I love her. I-I know what you two-"

"You cheated on her with Sasha. The two of you broke our hearts when you did that, and I don't think you can say you love her if you can have an affair. I get that your conscience might not have let you date Sasha afterwards, but you still managed to cheat on her while you were supposedly in love with her. It's been months Chase, months since the affair," Michael reminds him. "So don't tell me you love her when you broke her heart and didn't care about that. Don't you dare do that."

"I didn't have an affair with Sasha! We faked it for the custody case, so you two would get married and keep Wiley safe from Janelle and her manipulations," Chase exclaims loudly.

Suddenly, everything comes to a halting stop. How loud was he, could Willow hear? Could Brook Lynn hear? What had he just said? The affair was fake?

Willow walks back into the room, confused. "What did you just say?"

"Willow, I love you. Sasha and I never cheated on you and Michael, we made up the affair because you two needed to get married for Wiley's sake. Now that you're getting annulled, I thought this would be my last chance to tell you that I love you and I don't know if I'll ever stop loving you. I need you to know that I still love you." The look on Chase's face is one of anxiety, but it's obvious he's telling the truth.

"You two were making out on a couch! That's still cheating, you just didn't have sex. Do you want an award? Some applause? Chase, you broke my heart. You broke Michael's heart. I've moved on and I don't love you anymore. It's best you move on too," Willow explains to him.

Brook Lynn opens the door, seeing the three of them in an awkward conversation. "We heard yelling from Chase and it was decided I'd be the best to come up here and figure out what's happening."

Angry, hurt, and annoyed, Chase kisses the Quartermaine girl intensely. Is he using her? Only slightly. The kiss feels right though, and so they pull away moments later breathless. Neither were expecting that to be... That. For a first kiss, it was a solid 10/10.

Anger fuels through Michael as his cousin actually kisses him back. "What the fuck are you two doing? Chase, you love Willow but somehow you're making out with her? You can't make a decision for the life of yourself. When you chose to play god with all of our lives, you knew what you were doing. And now you don't want to deal with the consequences of your own actions."

"Michael! I'm an adult, I can take care of myself. Look, I'm fine, alright? That was the first time him and I did that," Brook Lynn reassures him and his breathing calms slightly.

There's a pause before Michael's anger at Chase continues to spew, uncontrollable. "I can't believe you! Saying you're in love with my wife one minute and the next you're making out with my cousin. Brook Lynn, I trust you can take care of yourself, and I trust you told the truth. But Chase, how can you do that? How can you break someone's heart and then say, months later, that you love her? Tell me, please. I'm begging to know. Maybe I can break someone's heart who doesn't deserve it like you did!'"

"Look, let's all take a deep breath before we do anything we're going to regret," Willow suggests, bringing Michael back to reality: they're still in the playroom, trying to solve a problem. With annulment papers conveniently somewhere around here if they so choose to get them and sign.

After that momentarily breather for everyone, Chase says, "I do love Willow, and I think you might love Sasha still, Michael. Things could go-"

As he says that, Michael can't hold back and, neck veins bulging, punches Chase. It's a good punch, one Jason taught him to throw years ago. There are perks to having your mother's best friend being a hitman and your father being in the mob, and one is punching lessons. Well, really more self defense lessons, but still. It's a perk to growing up in dysfunction.

Chase and him fist fight for several minutes to the protests of Willow and Brook Lynn, who both were trying to stop it. But alas, nothing can stop two angry men from fist fighting each other like 12 year olds over an XBOX.

They finally stop the fight, both having taken good punches and thrown good ones. Fury burns in Chase's eyes as shame fills Michael. He let his temper get the best of him and this happened. "Look man, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have thrown that punch and started that-"

The detective throws another punch, this time leaving a bloody lip. "Damn right you shouldn't have. But now, you're going to be arrested for assault."

"You do not want to arrest him. Arrest me," Brook Lynn suggests.

"As much as I'd like to, Brook Lynn, you don't have any grounds for arrest at the moment and he does," Chase reminds her.

"Chase, please don't do this. At the very least, let me take care of his bloody lip," Willow begs and Dante walks into the room.

Whistling, Dante says, "What the fuck happened in here? It smells like sex and Michael's got a bloody lip and Chase has what looks like a bruised forehead. Is this some weird sex thing I don't know about because if so I feel like it's illegal."

"Do not start that conversation or there will be more blood," Brook Lynn warns him. "But currently all I know is Chase told Willow how he feels and Michael punched him when he said that she still loved him and he still loved Sasha. But I'm guessing that the sex thing came from Michael and Willow, so I'm pretty sure that's actually encouraged in most religions. Also Chase made out with me."

"How much did I miss? But Detective, arresting him is a shoddy at best move. Trust me, I was with the police department for a while." Dante chuckles.

"Thank you for your input Dante, but I'm going to go and bring Michael to the station," Chase says before reciting the Miranda rights to him. "If you don't want him to be in jail tonight, I suggest you go to the police station."

"I feel like this is harassment and that that's how the commissioner will see this as well," Dante informs him.

But the protests of his family don't have any meaning as Chase handcuffs him and he's dragged out to the police car, absolutely silent while everyone sees him being arrested by his former best friend.

An hour later, Diane's there and clearly displeased with him. "Michael. I would expect this behavior from, say, Jason or Carly. They've actually both been in a situation like this at one point. Irony's a beautiful thing. That's not the point. You are supposed to be the good one! Not the one fist fighting people with no real reason except you're mad they're in love with your wife!"

"I know, I know. I overreacted to it and I'm sorry for that and I let my anger get the best of me which I shouldn't have and I feel like hell but it was so great finally punching him. But, in my defense, he also said false things that we'd already said we're false and made out with Brook Lynn after insisting they were just friends. And he gave me a bloody lip, so I'd say we're even," Michael struggles to defend himself. "Is it still bloody?"

"Yes, it's still bleeding. Carly, Sonny, and Jason have been made aware you're here, and I'm sure that you and Chase have very different sides to the story but, provided he drops the charges, you'll be let free. If he doesn't, someone will need to post bail money for you and this petty case will be taken to court."

Chase walks back into the interrogation room. "Michael, I think we can make an agreement. I'll drop the charges if you and Willow get annulled."

Diane steps in, chuckling. "This form of agreement seems harassing, as does the proposition in question. Detective, I understand you decided to arrest him on the grounds of assault but a jury or the commissioner will just see this as you harassing my client. Additionally, the annulment papers were received by them today."

"Diane, we're not getting annulled. We, uh, we decided we're staying together. Chase, he walked in when we were making out and then told us he'd lied about the affair and that he still loves Willow and so Brook Lynn came upstairs to figure out what was happening and he made out with her and I asked him how he could do that and he insinuated several things about my love life so I punched him, not hard, and he fought back so we had a minor fist fight and then I apologized for throwing the first punch because that wasn't smart or productive and he gave me a cat lip," Michael explains.

"Detective, I strongly advise you stop harassing Mr. Corinthos here because that's what it looks like to me. Willow can make her own decisions, that's her choice who she wants to be with. She is not to be sold as property."

Chase, exhaling, says, "You're right. I shouldn't have arrested him in the first place, and I'll drop the charges, but someone does still need to bail him out."

"What is bail set at?" Diane asks, smiling.

"$500. I'll alert his family, which is loudly congregated out there," Chase says, standing up from the table.

"Thank you," Michael smiles.

As Chase leaves, Diane's smirk widens. "What's this I hear about no annulment? Did your grounds for it become, how shall I say this, void?"

"Well, the Quartermaine's already know, why not you. Yes, we did decide not to get annulled. It isn't something either of us want, so sorry for wasting your time."

"It's your private life so I'm not going to dig into it, Michael, but for what it's worth, I wish you and Willow the best on your marriage. Trust me, she's probably the only woman who both of your families will agree is good for you and who can deal with the chaos that is your life."

"Thanks, I think," Michael chuckles as she leaves and he finds out his bail has been posted and gets uncuffed.

He walks out of the room, embarrassed but fine minus the bloody lip, and sees that there's a good fifteen people out there for him; Carly, who's pacing and talking to Jason very loudly, Jason, who's remind her they're at a police station, Willow, who's trying to just ignore the situation, Brook Lynn, who's harassing Chase about how he acted, Dante, who's smirking about everything that's happened, Wiley, who clearly isn't comfortable with this situation, Sonny, who's just scrolling through his phone, Diane, who's discussing something with a disinterested Sonny. Dysfunction at it's finest.

Willow looks up and sees he's there and runs up to hug her husband. "You're okay? Your lip's not bleeding, but are you sure you're okay and we don't need to go to the hospital right now to get you checked out?"

Chuckling, Michael says, "Willow. Look at me. I am fine. Trust me, I've been through worse than my busted lip and soreness. You have absolutely no reason to worry."

"You were arrested! For punching him over me! I feel like there was plenty of reason for me to worry and be upset," she smiles.

"Well, I promise you, I am fine and don't need to go to the hospital. Your overreaction is, though adorable, unnecessary right now. I'm fine, Wiley's fine, you're fine, and that's all that matters," Michael assures her.

Smiling, she quickly kisses him which is convenient seen by everyone there. "Promise on your life?"

"That's a bit extreme."

"Then you're going to the hospital," she declares as Carly and the adults are laughing. "What's so funny?"

"How casually you two just kissed. Yesterday, you were getting an annulment and today there's this. We clearly need to be caught up on what happened. Besides, your concern is just so much like a wife, you two really are married now," Carly laughs.

"I'm still making him get checked out at the hospital. Would any of you like to join me?" Willow asks, earning another chuckle from them.

"Sure, why not?" Dante chuckles as the rest of them minus Brook Lynn agree to join; she's doing a thing she does where she just stares blankly while you talk so you can't see her emotion with Chase.

"You are way too worried about me," Michael protests.

"You wouldn't swear on your life."

"You're lucky you're my wife."

"I am," she agrees as they walk out, him kissing her forehead. "And you're lucky I'm your wife."

"That I most certainly am."

wsdfgbhnjm words

[ketso]

"Hello Mrs Mohale", I hear Khotso say as I dress up and get ready for the day.

"Hey you", I say to him.

He kisses me.

I kiss him back.

"You look nice. Where are you going?" He says to me.

I'm honestly just wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Nothing special.

"I have to face my father, my love. Kea hhaye to talk to my parents." I say.

His face drops.

He sits on the edge of the bed and looks at me. We are still at Shaka's and Fifi's house.

"I'll be okay, baby. I promise. Is there something you needed me for today?" Me.

"Nah. We are just meeting up with lawyers today. I would've wanted to go to your parents with you." He says.

"I'll be fine, Khotso. I'm worried about you, though. Are you going to go to jail? We just got married." I say.

He smiles at me.

"And you know, I just started having sex. What am I supposed to do with myself should you leave?" I say.

He bursts into laughter.

I wear my sandals then sit next to him.

"So, what's going to happen?" I ask him.

"Regodise... ai, she really really made sure that we don't forget about her. Those people are sitting with evidence that could put us away for life. The police officers on the inside that we've been working with have been arrested. We don't know if they'll sing. They are all in isolation at a maximum prison with no rights to an attorney. It's bad, Remo." He tells me.

"What can I do?" I ask him.

He takes a deep breathe then says, "Promise me that you'll look after my children. You'll be both a mother and father to them. Thabi is present, but she's not exactly a parent. And if we go away, she will grow even bigger to want to take over the country. She won't have time for the kids. I need you to put them first."

"Khotso, you are not going away. We will find another way and we will use it. I'm not ready to lose you." I say.

"Baby, we have to be ready for anything." He says.

"What if the evidence disappeared?" I suggest.

"It would have if we still had our people on the inside." He says.

"Do you know who is prosecuting the case?" I ask him.

"Some guy... Reggie Lamola."

I laugh.

"You know him?" He asks me.

"I do. He and I dated. And he broke up with me because I wouldn't sleep with him. But my dad loved him because they both shared the same love and passion for the law. Actually, now that I think about it, Reggie was more my father's boyfriend than he was mine."

Khotso laughs.

"Maybe I can get the evidence for you guys?" I suggest.

"Remoletile Mohale? You?"

"I'm a princess first before I'm the daughter of Judge Sedibe, right?"

"You don't have to do this, baby."

"If you can find another way to stay out of prison, then fine. I'll leave Reggie alone. But if you can't, I have to get to Reggie and make this go away."

We are at breakfast now. Everyone is extremely tense. The lawyer is here too.

"I can steal the evidence", I announce.

Everyone stares at me as if I'm high.

"Reggie Lamola is an ex of mine. I know his weak spots. I know how to get the evidence."

"You are not going to sleep with him for it, are you?" Ona says.

Khotso suddenly gets upset and says, "ey!"

"Focus!" Thabi aggressively says to them.

"What's the plan?" Thabi asks me.

"Well, I don't know. I haven't thought about it." I say.

"What are his weak spots? Professionally that is. I don't care for the bedroom stuff." Thabi says.

"Hai man!" Khotso.

"Khotso, you can kill him another day. But today, we are focused on ensuring that you don't go to prison. We have to go all the way." Thabi aggressively says. Does she have to be so rude?

"Remo, focus. Talk to us. What do you remember about the way he worked on cases?" The attorney, of all people, says to me.

"He didn't trust the police. He says that the police always have a way of losing evidence. So, he would keep evidence of his cases in his house."

"His house?"

"Yeah. He has a room and a safe that no one knows about. I found it because I once followed him in there without him even knowing about it. But, he also goes to my dad for everything. When he's working on complex cases, my dad is his soundboard." I say.

"Even now?" Khotso.

"Khotso! Be a jealous son-in-law another day." Thabi.

"Can you draw the room on a map and tell us where to look should we break in?" Shaka.

"I have a key. He gave it to me when we were together. But yes, I can tell you where to go. I also know how to unlock the room itself and the safe." I say.

"This man really loved you to not have been this aware of you", Shaka says.

"Precisely why I have a problem with all of this", Khotso.

"KHOTSO!" Everyone at the table now snaps.

Silence.

"I have a plan." Letlali says.

We all look at her.

"Give me the keys and I make copies of it. Then, you go to him and return the key - just so you are not implicated at all should he find out that someone was in his house." She says.

"Then, when you return the key, be distraught. Tell him you had no idea who Khotso was. Be a damsel in distress and let him take care of you." Thabi.

"That’s it! Fok! You are not doing this!" Khotso.

"Ona! Take your brother for a walk", Shaka says.

Ona giggles then says, "let's go".

"You don't have to do this", Khotso says to me much to Thabi's annoyance, but Mme-mofomahadi smiles.

"I know. But remember what I told you this morning." I say.

"Promise me that you won't sleep with that man." He says.

"I would never! And you know why." Me.

"No kissing", he says.

"This has to be believable", Thabi.

"No kissing, Remoletile."

"Cross my heart." I say.

He kisses me then takes a walk with Ona.

"Why don't you go to him, return his key and need a shoulder to cry on. Then ask him to go with you to your dad to apologise for what has happened, explaining that he isn't the man you thought he was. When you leave with him to go home, you stall him. That way, Letlali and Teboho get into the house. They get to where they need to be and take what needs to be taken." Fifi says.

"My dad? Please don't involve my parents in this."

"REMO -

"No, Thabi. No! My father has nothing to do with this. Hai! What the hell!"

Thabi and I stare at each other.

"Nothing is going to happen to your dad. We will replace the evidence in there with other stuff. Just so we throw him off and when he realizes it, he will think he just took the wrong things from the police station. He won't suspect a break-in or let alone that you had anything to do with it", Shaka says.

I breathe heavily.

"He has cameras around his house. He is a bit paranoid." I say.

"I'll give you something to put there that will jam the signal. He won't pick it up. We will also wear gloves and PPEs so that none of our DNA is found in there." Tlali says.

Wow! What a circle of crime.

"Does he make copies of documents?" The attorney asks me.

"Yeah. He keeps the copies in his study. He has another hidden safe in there." I say.

"Kea, you and Thabi will have to go in too." Shaka says.

"Someone needs to stay here for camera work", Tlali says.

"Camera work?" I ask.

"We will give you some slight cameras to jam his cameras and use ours so we can keep our eyes on the coast in case it gets too hot for you and you won't be able to give us a heads up on anything. You'll also be wired, so we can hear your movements and questions. It's to keep you safe too." Tlali says.

"Damn! You are all too good at this." The attorney. I'm just as shocked.

"We will be on camera watch. We can't go anywhere anyhow", Zithulele says.

"Qwabe and I will do it." Shaka says.

I'm getting nervous now.

"Remo, we need this." Teboho says to me.

I nod my head, taking a deep breath. God help me not to mess this up.

...

I arrive at Reggie's house. He is reading in his garden.

He is so happy to see me. I am his weakness. I always have been. I've always been the girl who was too perfect and too fragile for anything in his eyes. He doesn't even suspect that I'm here to save my husband's freedom by ending his career and ruining his life. I've already put devices that Tlali gave me at his gate. I still have to put more inside the house.

"Hey", he says as he immediately hugs me.

I'm already fake crying.

"Hey", I say. So sad.

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm here for you, my love. You know that I'm always here for you." He keeps saying.

We hug for a while then we come out of the hug.

"Come. Let's go have some hot milk so we can talk", he says. Yes, he still offers me hot milk to calm my nerves.

I follow him inside, remaining behind him and plug these devices on his walls and door as I walk in. The devices are so small. If you are not looking for them, you won't find them.

"How are things?" He asks me as I drink my hot milk while he drinks orange juice.

"I don't why papa would marry me off to -

I cry.

He puts his hand around me.

"Reg, please come with me to talk to him? Please? I'm so scared to even face him and it's not like I chose this for myself. Papa just -

"Hey! Hey hey hey... come here." Reggie says then hugs me.

"This was never supposed to me my life. Why did you have to break up with me?!"

"Sssshhhhh... I'm sorry, my love. But don't worry, I'm going to see to it myself that they get locked up for ever! Then I'll help you divorce him and we can get married and start our family." He says.

WTF?!

But I just sniff and remain Damsel in distress.

...

Tlali and mofomahadi have gone into the guy's study. Thabi and I are in his hidden evidence room.

"OH MY GOD!" Thabi and I say together.

"What?" Khotso is talking too much over these pieces. We have earpieces so we could talk to each other and we get out of here clean.

"This guy has been researching you for years. Your entire family and all church members are on his walls. There are pictures of us in Miami, in the Tsakane houses. What the fuck?! This guys is obsessed with us." Thabi says.

Silence...

The men are stressed.

"Guys, stay focused. Take what needs to be taken." Maboko says.

"We need to burn this room down. Everything in here is -

"Thabi, what are you doing?" Me.

"It's a chemical. Steal what you can. I'm going to clean this wall. I'm going to use this chemical to turn everything on this wall into blank paper where everything on it cannot be retrieved."

We work in here. After about two hours, mofomahadi and Tlali walk in. I'm still pulling the evidence. Dise's cellphone and consent for the cellphone to be used is also here.

"You will need to do that chemical thing in his study as well. He has a wall-to-wall wallpaper of Remo." Tlali says.

"WHAT?!" Khotso yells in our ears.

"Why is Khotso there? Why?" Thabi.

"I'm not going anywhere!" Khotso is annoying all of us now.

Mofomahadi is helping me finish up packing.

We take another hour.

"Guys, how far are Remo and Reggie?" Tlali asks the guys..

They can hear the conversations.

"Still with Remo's parents. Keep going there. She texted us and asked how much time we still need."

"Mofomahadi and I will start taking these boxes of evidence to the car. Tlali and Thabi will start replacing the evidence. We need another three hours." I say.

"Cool."

Indeed, we work as planned and after two hours and thirty minutes, the house is as it was before - just with different and fake evidence. We even planted fake phones and fake laptops. I honestly cannot believe Regodise. Yerrr! We quickly remove all the pieces of devices that were here as well and we drive off.

We get to Shaka's house and the men come help us offload these boxes. As we offload into Shaka's study, Remo also drives in.

Khotso grabs her into a hug.

"Are you okay?" Shaka asks her.

"Yeah, I'm good. He doesn't suspect a thing." Remo says.

"How did you leave him?" I ask.

"Thabi gave me something to put in his drink or water. He was passed out when I left. I left a panty there just so he thinks we had sex."

We all giggle.

The guys and their attorneys head to Shaka's office with the evidence boxes.

Now, we are here, chilling together.

Remo seems stressed.

"You did good, nana. Rea leboha." Mme-mofomahadi says.

Remo nods her head.

"Why are you so down?" I ask.

"My dad wants me to divorce Khotso", Remo says.

Hectic!

We are all so shocked.

"Then he said he'd help Reggie with the case." Remo says.

Yoh hai!

"I don't want to divorce Khotso. And I don't want my father to die." She says.

"The attorneys got to the police that are arrested for this. They appear before a judge tomorrow. They let them know that we found a way to get them out. We just going to treat your dad like a judge here. We will get rid of every evidence there is and tirelessly prove that none of these things are true." Mme-mofomahadi says.

Remo is not convinced.

...

This morning, we are all headed to court. We are the wives who are headed to support their husbands in court. They were told that they have to be at the courthouse today. So, we are all going. I feel better knowing that we have stolen the evidence. I'm still slightly nervous though.

Remoletile volunteered to stay behind with the kids. I think it’s also because we still need Reggie to believe that she's not on our side. Appearing with us at court is not a clear sign of that.

"Ushup?" I check in with Maboko.

"Ke shup. I'm just thinking about how you guys saved our asses." He says.

"We love you guys. You are not going down. Not if we have anything to do with it. What are we supposed to do with this squad of children that you have made us birth?" I say.

He laughs.

He looks so handsome in that suit.

If there's one thing this squad of men know how to do, it is to wear a damn suit.

"The evidence... what did you do with it?" I ask him.

"Lulu's duplex. It's there. We will go sleep over there for a few days to work through it. Maybe if we work through what this idiot has, we might even find who is not to be trusted in this church."

I nod my head.

"Yeah. Even if they break into our houses, they won't think to go there. Before he died, morena dug a basement at that place. We put the information in that basement, closed the trap door, put a rug over it and the office furniture." He says.

I start laughing.

He looks at me.

"My poor friend... she didn't even know her duplex had become a house of the church behind her back." I say and we both laugh.

"She was okay with not knowing shit, so we didn't bother her with information unless she needed to know." He says.

"Ja. Remo is thug wife. She's just not ready to admit it. Part of it may be to rebel against being raised by judges, advocates and hectic rules... then she dated a prosecutor. She studied the rules and learned how to break them in the process. The way she's just moving and literally saving our asses. Ke le pantsula that one", I say and he agrees with me, laughing.

"Khotso also thinks so. She has an innocence that guards her thug style that he absolutely loves." Maboko tells me.

"I'm happy for him. I'm really happy for him. He deserves the craziness of love again."

Maboko nods his head.

"Thank you, T. Thank you for not making it difficult for him. We know how close Lulu was to your heart."

"She was my sister. But she'd want him to be happy. She loved him with her all." I say.

Maboko hugs me then kisses me.

We get to breakfast and find the kids and Remo getting along like a house on fire. They are actually so happy that she's babysitting them today.

We quickly eat then it's time to go.

...

Court is weird.

Judge Sedibe is here, but he isn't presiding over the case. Ona is the king, so any case that concerns him in any way is not open to the public. Judge Sedibe might not like us, but I'm sure he played the "my daughter is married into this family” card just to get in. He didn't greet us or even acknowledge us. I wonder.

Reggie Lamola is extremely unprepared and our attorneys are pulling him apart. He is presenting weird evidence that have nothing to do with the case. The parts that actually have something to do with the case are just phone sex conversations between random couples. The judge is PISSED and our attorneys are not making this easy for Lamola.

He then says he has cellphones and laptops to submit into discovery. Not porn playing on all devices, Chile!

The guys are giggling under their breaths. Lamola is mortified! I cannot believe he still hasn't put the pieces together.

The judge calls the attorneys into his chambers and calls the court for recess.

We are sitting together and waiting to hear what the judge has to say.

"Satan!" Judge Sedibe says to us.

"Excuse me!" Mme-mofomahadi.

"What did you do to that poor boy? I know this has you written all over it!" He says.

"Ntate Sedibe! You are in the presence of a royal family! You are in the presence of a queen. You are in the presence of a queen-mother. And you are in the presence of a king! Stay within your limits and watch your tone when you speak to us. I don't have to tell you what happens to people such as yourself who don't know how to behave in the presence of a royal family!" Mme-mofomahadi pulled that card honey! It must be because this man who believes he is holier than thou told Remo to divorce one of Mme-mofomahadi's greatest treasures.

The attorneys come back to tell us that we are done for the day. We have to come back tomorrow. Then he also tells us that the officers who were arrested are being released pending the finalization of this matter.

"I want my daughter home by the end of today!" Judge Sedibe says.

"Your daughter is a married woman. A grown woman. That decision will only be respected if it comes from her." Khotso says with his chest.

Nna, I don't want to see an old man and a young man fistfight each other hle.

"What did you say?" Judge Sedibe says.

"My wife is not going anywhere until she tells me that she wants to leave and go back home. So right now, I'm going home. I'm going to hold my wife in my arms, possibly climb on top of her -

"Khotso!" Mme-mofomahadi calls him to order.

What's wrong with Khotso? Is he still pissed off about judge Sedibe loving Reggie more?

Judge Sedibe tries to physically attack Khotso, but it's Shaka who holds the man back.

"I'll phone Remoletile. She will tell us what she wants." Shaka says.

Shaka dials her number. He puts her on speaker. I hope she doesn't slip up and lands us in greater shit.

"Hi Shaka." Remo answers her phone.

"Remoletile, we are with your father. He wants us to return you to him by the end of today", Shaka says.

"Why?" Remo says.

"Because I made it very clear that you should divorce Khotso. Your mother and I made that very clear to you".

"Khotso is my husband, papa. I don't want to divorce him."

"Reggie Lamola -

"Papa! I'm not divorcing Khotso!"

"Remoletile! Since when do you defy me like this? I'm your father! When I speak -

"HAI!" Then she hangs up.

Ey!

"What have you done to my child?!" The father yells at us.

"Eh baba, we phoned Remo. She doesn't want to go home to you. Now stop insulting us. Khuzeka njalo!" Shaka is not having it.

"Or what?!" The judge.

"Old man! That heart will stop beating prematurely. Don't you dare test me!" Shaka.

"Are you threatening me?" The judge.

"I don't make threats." Shaka.

"Shaka, let's go." Mme-mofomahadi says and pulls Shaka away.

...

Today is Nomagugu's 3rd birthday party and Ranwedzi has been invited. But obviously, we have to go with Ranwedzi to the party so that will be our entire day.

Ranwedzi has already bathed. I made sure of it. The girls have also bathed.

Thomas and I have just finished showering, but we have decided to have some sex before we get dressed and leave.

As we lie next to each other, he says to me, "I don't trust Richard."

I look at him.

"I think he's come to turn our company - probably steal our company - for the family. That's what Kenneth did to one of our dad's brothers who was successfully running a company. When Kenneth stole it, we all jumped in and branded it Ramaru Group Holdings. Kenneth wouldn't be the one to come and do this to us because he knows we'd all be suspicious. I think Richard is here on his behalf."

"Thomas, why are you suspicious?" I ask him.

"I checked his reference of where he said he was working. It didn't check out. Mthunzi knows a few people he claims to have worked with. They had drinks and he casually asked questions. None of them know Richard."

Now I'm panicking.

I climb off the bed and pace up and down the room naked.

"Thomas, he is my Managing Director. Do you have ANY IDEA what kind of information he has been exposed to? And Kim is my PA."

He sits up on the bed. He is also still naked.

"Yoh, Nkosi yami." I am panicking, trying to get my phone so I can do something about this.

"Mfundo picked up some questionable payments from Richard's cost centre and he brought it to our attention", Thomas says.

I'm going to kill this guy!

Thomas can see that I'm more than pissed off now.

"So, we got forensics to launch a full on investigation on him. They've called us into the office for an hour this morning to get the results." He says.

"Thomas, why wouldn't you tell me this? You don't think I deserved to know?" I ask him.

"I wasn't sure. And I didn't want to plant doubt in your mind because if he turned out to be genuine, you still wouldn't trust him."

"I never trusted them from the beginning. I agreed to this because it meant something to you. You asked me to trust them. Every time I'd give them limited access to things, you barged into my office and gave me hell about it. Now that they've been exposed to everything and my suspicions are true, you don't think I needed to know that I needed to stop trusting this guy?!"

He is quiet.

"You are full of shit, Thomas. How dare you! And if he succeeds in stealing this company, I will never forgive you!"

I charge into my closet and find a suit. I'm clearly going into the office now.

When I reach downstairs, Thomas is also in a suit.

"I thought we were going to Nomagugu's party", Khanyisa says.

"We are, nana. Sbo is coming to take you guys there. We will meet you there." I say.

I phoned Sbo and asked him to take them to the party. His one-year-old daughter was also invited, so I asked if he could take all the kids.

"Fikile -

I just walk past Thomas and go to my car. I'm not impressed with this guy right now. I'm actually very pissed off.

We are driving together in one car. He is driving and I'm just pissed off in the passenger seat.

Kim tries to call me. Thomas sees it. I'm so angry! I decide not to take the call. Thomas doesn't say anything. It's a silent thirty-minute drive to the office.

As we drive into the village, we see the team practicing and working out on the grounds. Mfundo and Mthunzi are here. They arrived using one car.

"Why wouldn't you tell me? Why?!" I ask all three of them.

I'm so hurt. I feel betrayed. This is my company. But obviously, I can't say that out loud.

I then see a police van drive onto our premises. We all look at each other.

My chief of legal and chief of forensics arrive then we all make our way to Mthunzi's boardroom. I don't know why, we just all decide to meet there.

The forensics team basically tells us that our IP has been hacked. Our finances are compromised. And there have been funds that amount of over ten million rands that have been transferred to a Ramaru Holdings fund.

I'm literally shaking. I feel like I'm about to burst.

"Have them arrested. Each and every one of them", I make the call.

Everybody nods their head.

"And I want my money back. Each and every cent. I want Ramaru Holdings to pay me back every cent that was illegally taken from my company." I say.

Thomas and Mthunzi look at each other.

"Can I have a minute with my wife, please." Thomas says.

I get up and leave with Thomas.

"You can use my office", Mthunzi offers.

We are now in Mthunzi's office.

"Ramaru Holdings will go under if we make them pay back that kind of money." Thomas says to me.

"I don't give a shit!"

"Fikile! They are already getting arrested. What is going to happen to their children and the elders that the company looks after if people get arrested and the company goes under?"

"I don't give a shit! Zero! None! They came for us! They came for our company and they didn't give a shit about what would happen to our children and the people that we look after."

"Fikile! I don't want to have the kind of relationship that you have with your family with my family!"

Did he really go there? Really?!

"I'm sorry." He says.

"No, don't apologise. You mean it. And it's okay. I'll own it. I know what my relationship is with my family. I'm not delusional about it. I don't like it, but I've accepted it. I know that when my sisters call me, they need to use me and not be grateful for what I do for them. I know that they are naturally entitled to my achievements even though they'd sabotage me the minute they had the chance and have enough resources. That's why Nelisile will never be more than an administrator in this company, reporting into someone who will filter the bullshit before it even starts. You don't want to see your family for who and what they are. You are delusional about your relationship with your brothers. They don't give a fuck about you or your family. They don't! They couldn't care less about what will happen to you and they know that all they have to do to get you to feel sorry for them and get them off the hook. We could lose EVERYTHING that we have worked so hard for, Thomas. Everything! Just because you don't want to have the relationship that I have with my siblings with your siblings? Do you ever think about the people who rely on what these people have stolen from us? About Mthunzi, Mfundo and their families? Fuck your family, Thomas! Fuck them all! And I want my money back. They can even hand me Ramaru Holdings on a fucken platter for all I care. But I want my money!"

I leave him there and go to my own office. I'm pacing up and down my office space. I'm shaking off the feeling of doing something that could end my marriage. But what choice do I have? Thomas is compromised. I can't go to him and ask him to make cut-throat and calculated decision on this kind of matter. His brothers are on the line and he would never make them suffer... not if he can help it. I can't trust him with this. Family means too much to him.

I guess this is the first secret I have to keep from my husband and I'm praying with my all that it's the last.

I make the phone call.

"Hello", he answers.

"Khotso, hi. It's Fikile."

He takes a deep breath.

I take one too.

I'm not proud of this, but I need help and he's the only person I could think of.

"How are you doing, Fiks?"

"I'm okay. I've been following what's happening with you. I'm sorry about morena and I'm sorry about your wife. In the same breath, congratulations on your new wife."

"Thank you. And congratulations to you too with your marriage and on being a mother."

I breathe. He breathes.

"I need your help, Khotso", I say.

"After the way I treated you, Fiks, I'm forever indebted to you. So, anything."

I don't know why that makes me emotional, it just does.

"My company is in trouble. My husband's family has stolen over ten million rands from my company and have hacked our IP. Any day, Khotso, any flippen day, I could wake up and those people would have stolen my company from me. My husband is a bit compromised. His brothers are to him what Ona is to you, so he's not going to make the call that needs to be made."

"What do you want to see happen, Fiks?"

"I want to come to the office on Monday and find my ten million rands back in my company's account. I want to come to work and not be threatened by my threatened systems. And I don't want those men to ever be a pain in my life ever again."

"Do you want them to still breathe?"

"Yeah, they can breathe. I just want one breathless... the one who came to my house and played my husband. The one who hurt him the most. His name is Richard Ramaru. Then there's one that just needs to be taught a lesson. He and his wife are the ring leaders of this nonsense. He can live, but I want him traumatized. His name is Kenneth Ramaru."

"Consider it done." He says.

"Thank you, Khotso. I'll never forget this. I promise you."

"I know. All the best, Fiks."

"Take care, Khotso."

I stay in my office for another hour just trying to view what Richard had access to. Mthunzi, Mfundo and Thomas walk into my office. I look at them. I'm pissed off at all of them. But, I feel better knowing that Khotso will take care of this.

"Baby", Thomas starts.

"They've been arrested", Mfundo says.

I'm still quiet.

"We apologise for not saying anything." Mthunzi says.

I just shut down my laptop, grab my bags, walk past them saying, "I need to meet up with Koena. Please excuse me."

I just leave them in my office, grabbing a key from Mfundo. I'll drive back in Mthunzi's Porsche. They'll follow me in the car Thomas and I arrived in.

...

I started at home and changed my outfit. Now, I've just arrived at the birthday party. Mthunzi, Mfundo and Thomas are still not here. I find Nene sitting by herself in a corner and playing with her phone. Bontle, Nomagugu's mother, is here. She is the one who is handling things and shining as Nomagugu's mother.

I sit next to Nene.

"Hey", I greet her.

She actually puts her phone away and seems excited to have someone to talk to.

"How are you, makaRanwedzi?" Wow, that felt so good. No one has ever called me that. Ever.

"I'm okay. How are you doing? Why are you sitting here alone?" Me.

"Yoh, umakaGugu wanted to beat me up in front of all of these kids. And I'm only here for Gugu. I'm not trying to replace her in Gugu's life. I'm not Gugu's mother and I'm very much aware of that. Why does she treat me like I'm the reason she and Mfundo broke up? Does she think I don't have my own challenges with Mfundo?"

Ja no, she's stressed. But I'm here for her.

"I'm sorry, babe. These mothers are like that. She's probably also hurt that you get to be with Mfundo in a way she always wanted to be with him, but never got the chance to." I say.

"I suppose. I even wanted to leave. I really did. But, I had to keep reminding myself of why I'm really here." She says.

"Hey", Mfundo is now in front of us, extending his arms to clearly receive Nene in a hug.

"Hey babe. How was your meeting?" Nene says, standing up to hug her.

"My boss is upset with me. I'm sorry, Aunt Fiks." He says.

I just chuckle. This child is too smooth.

They come out of their hug.

Thomas sits next to me. Ranwedzi runs towards us, and he dives straight into his father's arms. Thomas is greeting him and loving him here.

"Why are you guys sitting here? Let's go find Gugu." Mfundo says.

"Bontle has attacked me three times when I tried to help or be involved. I even had to change the tag on my gift for Gugu and said it's from you. I was even contemplating leaving, but umakaRanwedzi changed my mind."

Mfundo looks at me with thankfulness.

Then he looks at Nene and says, "Yaz uBontle neh-

"No Mfundo. This is not the place. Today is about Gugu. Don’t start anything that will make these kids scared and Gugu upset. Gugu knows who she is to me and that's all it comes down to at the end of the day", she says.

I love this girl. I really do.

"Thatha. Wear this t-shirt. It says you are the father of the birthday girl. Then please come and actually host your child's birthday party." Bontle says to Mfundo.

Mfundo just looks at her. He doesn't even take that silly t-shirt. Then he holds Nene's hand and disappears somewhere with her.

It's just Thomas and I now. Ranwedzi has gone back to play with other kids.

"Love, I'm really sorry." He says.

"What's the plan, Thomas? What are we going to do?"

"Richard, Kim, Kenneth and Penny are all arrested." He says.

"And the money that they stole from us?"

"I don't know, baby. I don't know what to do", he says.

I nod my head.

"Mama Ranwedzi, I'm so sorry. Please help me fix this. Please, my angel." He says.

"It's fine, Thomas. I'll think of something", I say.

"Please stop being upset with me. Please baby." He says.

"Thomas, this can never happen again. This is our business. You and Mthunzi cannot treat me like a random employee. This becomes my problem too. We are in this together, right?" I say.

He kisses me.

I laugh.

I kiss him too.

"Mama!" Ranwedzi comes running to me. Gugu is with him and they are running together towards us.

"What's wrong, babies?" I ask them.

Ranwedzi climbs on top of Thomas and Gugu climbs on top of me.

Mthunzi and Koena approach us.

"Hey girl", Koena greets me and we hug.

"How is the party going?" I ask.

"Bontle is driving all of us crazy." Koena says.

"And poor Nene, hle -

"Leave Mfundo and his women. We are too old for this." Mthunzi says.

We all laugh.

The kids are having fun, enjoying entertainment and eating. It's a good day.

Until...

A call comes into Thomas' cellphone.

"Hello?"

...

"This is Thomas Ramaru."

...

"Excuse me?"

...

"I don't understand."

...

"Okay, I'm on my way."

He hangs up.

Khotso really works fast.

Thomas is on his feet.

I'm on my feet too, searching his face for answers.

"Baby? What's going on?"

"Richard... he's been killed in prison. Kenneth is in a critical condition. He's at the prison hospital." He says.

"I'll come with you. Let me get the kids." I say.

"Go ahead. We will take care of them." Koena says.

Thomas and I dash out.

Thank you, Khotso! Thank you!

...

We are finally back at our own houses and this investigation is officially behind us. Letlali and I have been invited to have lunch with her father and Mme-Onica. But, Letlali is tired and I actually understand. I have never, in my entire life, wanted to just sit in my bed with my wife and kids and do absolutely nothing but just sit in bed all day with my wife and kids.

"Hey you", I say as I creep in behind her, hugging her and kiss her.

She is busy sorting out the laundry in our laundry room while keeping her eye on our kids playing in the garden outside. Ntombi is reading a book. The boys are playing on the jungle gyms and trampolines in our garden.

"Love. Hey. You good?" She says to me.

"I'm good. I'm just hoping for a relaxing next couple of years." I tell her.

She giggles and says, "The lives we chose have definitely put us in a position where we do nothing but attract drama."

We both laugh.

"Maybe this lunch with papa, Mme-Onica and Mme-Onica's kids is not a bad idea. We need moments like this - as uncomfortable as it may be - we need these kinds of moments to be reminded of what normal feels like and to create a perspective of normal for our kids. I'm worried about them. I'm worried that -

"I get you. I actually understand you more than you know." I say.

She comes into my arms for comfort. I hold my beautiful wife. I kiss the top of her head.

"How's Nothile doing?" She asks me.

"I don't know."

"Baby, don't be like that. She's still your sister."

"She just... I knew this would happen and I told her that this would happen. I'm upset and disappointed in her decisions. She's capable of doing better. I'll never understand why that doesn't apply in her decisions regarding men."

"Lalela... look at me."

I look at her.

"She's still our sister. And we will still love the hell out of her. Besides, she's pregnant again and I've been tasked with telling you to negotiate her inhlawulo." She says then looks away from me.

"Excuse me?"

She tries to run away, then I catch her and say, "Yeyi, what's going on?"

She starts behaving like Ruri when Ruri has to be the one that negotiates things on behalf of the kids.

"Nothile, Zama and I were on a virtual call, yabona. Zama is happily married -

I look at her and start laughing. I don't know what's fascinating me the most... her relationship with my sisters that I absolutely love watching, but clearly don't know the depth of... or the fact that she can't shit on me the way she always does when it comes to telling me things I clearly need to know. Lol! When she has to deliver things like this, she behaves like she's my daughter reporting something and hoping to not get into trouble.

"She met someone, okay... and they did big people things. Now she's pregnant." She says.

I laugh.

I'm not happy that all she does is get pregnant, but I'm very happy to hear that she has moved on and living in Meadowlands is working out for her.

"I love you, sthandwa sami. You know that, right?" I tell her.

She smiles at me and says, "I love you too, Zithulele Khuzwayo wami."

That makes me feel things a man probably shouldn't feel. It must be those imaginary butterflies people talk about all the time.

Fuck! I love this woman.

Now, we are kissing.

I'm getting hard and she's running her hands all over my body, showing me that she wants me as much as I want her right now.

"Baba! I told you to stop kissing my mom!" I don't even know when these kids came inside the house. But I can't wait for the day that I can tell Mnqobi to fuck off. He thinks this is our wife.

Tlali laughs at me. I need her. She knows it. She felt it. But this brat we call our child -

"Go wear your shoes, all of you. We are going to have lunch with grandpa and grandma." Letlali says, keeping the kids focused on something else while I pull myself together and get my body to cooperate with me again.

...

We arrive at Ntate Thokoane's house. There are three cars already parked here. One of these cars are Tumi's cars.

Mnqobi finds his way to being picked up and placed on his mother's hip, while Banathi and Ntombi walk in together. I am walking in from behind them.

We are greeted by everyone and it seems as if we are the last people to arrive. Ntate Thokoane is not even here. Mme-Onica is by herself entertaining a squad of us kids and grandkids. We say hi to everyone and the grandkids kind of warm up to each other very quickly.

Ntombi says hi to Tumi and Atisang, but not Suzi. Letlali saw that then she says, "Ntombi, say hi to Mama Suzi."

"Hi", Ntombi says and walks out of the room.

When did Ntombi grow such an attitude?

It's those books she reads and those shows she watches. I've always told Tlali to make her read or watch something that was within the age restriction of five to twelve years old. But, even that content is problematic these days. The kids must just get spinning tops and marbles then play outside until they look like they bathed in dust.

I saw her putting on makeup the other day and I just know that our problems had started, therefore, Tumi needs to start getting his house in order so he could live with his daughter.

"Sho", Tumi greets me.

"Sho. You good?'

"I'm good. Ntombi is looking well. Thank you." He says.

Is this the right time to tell him to take his daughter because adolescence is knocking at our door?

"Where is the old man?" I ask instead.

"At the tavern, apparently. I was thinking I'd go and fetch him." He says.

Tlali is going to show that man his mother if he comes back home drunk and starts swearing at everyone. That man - as old as he is - has no idea how to control his liquor. Disgusting!

"Sho, let's go!" I say.

We get to the tavern and this old man is dancing on a table, shit drunk and even singing to whatever music is playing out loud. Tumi and I actually start laughing. We know Tlali is going to blow a fucken gasket about this, but I wish I could take a video of this. People are even cheering him on. This man is funny! He's actually hilarious.

He's twerking for the drunk huns and the other drunk skhotheni men are trying to compete with him but shame, they have nothing on him! Zero. This man can get down. How is he not stiff every morning when he wakes up?

Now that he's had a good dance and Tumi and I have had a good laugh, we go to him and tell him that we need to go.

"Hai man! We are still having fun! I don't want to be running back to that uptight woman! Let me tell you something, mkhwenyana... I only have one wife! ONE WIFE! And she is six feet under the ground! One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. That one that is called Onica, she thinks she's my wife. She will never be my wife. Never ever! And ever ever ever and ever!"

I honestly cannot stop laughing. Poor Onica, man.

"Even that house you bought for me, mkwenyana, it's a house for me and my wife. But my wife is six feet underground. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Now Onica wants to move in and take over. No man! We don't do that!"

Kanti, she doesn't live with him?

I'm so confused.

But I'm also entertained.

Stru.

"Now, she brings her illegitimate brats to my house EVERY DAY! EVERY FUCKEN DAY, mkhwenyana! Nna, I have three kids. One. Two. Three. I have my big boy that makes babies everywhere and dates rich woman ONLY! My clever clever son who will never wake up broke - Reitumetsi. Then, I have my little gay. He could also make me Thokoane grandchildren, but, he wants to buy babies instead because he chooses to not fertilize eggs like the rest of us men. Oh, my Atisang. But we accept. Re tla reng?! And then, oooohhhh my princess... my Letlali. You know, we always knew that she was the one who was going to make our name shine. If she were a boy, myyyyyyyy Gooooooooood! My God. My God. My God. But, she hates me. But you know what, with their imperfections and perfections, they are mine. And my beautiful wife gave them to me before she went six feet underground. Those ones that Onica brings to mine and my wife's house and they just eat my food and call me papa... those ones are not mine. I don't want them!"

"Papa! Let's go! Stop this, man! Stop it!" Tumi says.

I'm in stitches. I cannot help him.

But we pull him out the tavern and leave.

As we walk back to the house, Tumi turns into Letlali junior...

"Papa, what will Letlali do when she sees you this way?"

"Letlali hates me", he insists.

"Do you think she will love you if she sees you like this?" Tumi says.

"Okay... I'll be a good boy. I will brush my teeth, bath very nicely, and dress in my best Christmas clothes. Then I will love love love my baby girl." He says.

I just giggle.

We get to the house.

"Grandpa!!!!" All the grandkids see him and sprint to the man.

He takes my kids and Tumi's kids saying, "My grandchildren."

Then he looks at the rest and says, "The rest of you I don't know. Go home to your real grandparents."

Those kids are sad. Very sad.

He turns back to "his grandchildren" and starts dancing for them. They are in stitches! Stitches, I tell you! I've never been more entertained in my life.

Tlali stands at the door and observes the scene before her. She's so annoyed. Extremely annoyed.

Mme-Onica stands next to Tlali.

"Ey wena, Thokoane! What do you think you are doing?!" Mme-Onica yells.

"VOETSEK!" This man yells and gets back to dancing. Mnqobi even joins him, copying the dance moves while Ntombi laughs and takes videos with her cellphone.

"Let's go", Tlali says.

Ja no, ichayile!

"Mama, look at mkhulu! I'm dancing with him." Mnqobi is too entertained.

"Mnqobi! Ntombi! Banathi! In the car, now! We are leaving!" Tlali says. Yoh, she's pissed.

"Letlali, my baby. My angel. My baby girl! Come to papa. You know, wena -

"Voetsek, Thokoane! Fokof! Do you hear me? Fuck off!" Letlali is yelling now.

I tell the kids to get into the car. They follow each other to the car.

The man starts crying.

"Tlali doesn't love me. She doesn't love me at all! I didn't kill your mother, Letlali!"

Yasuka indaba!

"Don't talk about my mother, wena Thokoane! Don't you ever talk about my mother!"

"She was my wife!"

"You clearly didn't know what to do with a wife. The only thing you've ever been married to is that alcohol you now reek of! That's the very thing that sent her to her grave!"

"Maka! She followed you! Akere you became the man in our house and you took my wife from as if you were the one sleeping with her?! Then, the police were after you and mkhwenyana because of all your money. That's how your mother RESTED IN PEACE! Me and my bottle -

Letlali has now slapped her father and now the old man is on the ground.

We are all so shocked.

"Mme-Onica, this is the life you are really choosing for yourself? I hope you know what you are doing because if you don't, you'll follow my mother."

From there, she charges to the car.

"Baby", I try.

"Zithulele, asambe! MANJE!"

"Hawu! O buwa lesiZulu?! My girl!" The old man from the floor says after surviving words and a slap from Tlali.

Honestly, I need to burst into laughter. But faces are serious, so I must obviously go. Siphumile isiZulu!

[gb-patch]

I gotta say the game came out f*king great!!! Congrats!!! I never met a greater group of assh*les in my life, bless Lynn's kind heart.My favorites being Nate and Pran. I just need to know their situation with their parents. From Jeremy's info, Pran parents are idiots and Nate's are too concerned about themselves.Like if their parents don't want them, I'll adopt them!

Thank you >v

Thank you for the ask :D!

Neither of Pran’s parents are the parental type. They barely take care of themselves, much less anyone else. Pran’s dad is a non-conformist, anti-everything, drifter type of guy. He works as a freelancer, though he doesn’t do anything to promote the business and only does work when people he knows needs it. Obviously, he’s not the one who makes ends meet. Pran’s mother is the only child of a wealthy couple who run a multi-million, multi-national company together. She was/basically still is a spoiled socialite who was charmed by Pran’s dad’s devil-may-care attitude (he’s also a quite good looking guy, which didn’t hurt). The two married after she got unexpectedly pregnant. They were able to get a house together thanks to Pran’s grandparents (he calls them his naans). His mom started working as a secretary at her parents company (she’s not interested in taking on more responsibility than that). Even with that income, Naans to this day continue to chip in extra money at the behest of their daughter to keep the lights on, though they know much of that is her taking advantage of their sympathy to get spending cash.

From a young age Pran was left to his own devices. His parents were off doing who knows what, usually not doing things with each other either. The two of them are actually quite happy with their non-conventional relationship style. They like only seeing each other when the mood strikes. And they don’t view themselves as bad parents. Pran is alive and healthy, he’s not in jail or addicted to anything. It’s all fine, as far as they’re concerned. He’s always seemed like a loner, so of course he wouldn’t mind being on his own. Of the two, Pran’s mom is a touch more invested in him.

Nate’s parents are a bit more ‘normal’. They met in college while they were both pursuing a degree in law. The two got married after they graduated and decided they wanted a kid. They continued to progress in their careers and it didn’t take long for them to get to a point where neither had enough time to dedicate a chunk of their day to taking care of their child. Nate didn’t respond well to nannies and Nate’s emotion heavy attitude didn’t go away during the times his parents were around. He was always angry at them for being gone in the first place. That made them avoid the house even more, which made the problem worse. Though they’d never admit it, Mr. and Mrs. Lawson began to feel like they weren’t suited to be parents and that having Nate was a mistake. It was decided that sending Nate to a boarding school was probably for the best. Since them being around sometimes and then being gone was what really upset him, it seemed that not being around at all was the way to go. Nate was still young so they assumed in a little while he’d forget what it was like to see his parents and he’d get over it. To help with that process they didn’t get in touch much. Nate did eventually stop wanting to have them around, though he never became comfortable with the school either.

So, yeah, all things considered you’re probably welcome to adopt them ;v;.