#i guess i could carry a shield in the backpack

[foxstens]

turns out parrying isn’t that hard

[dunmeshistash]

Saw a post about senshi that said you could tell exactly what parts of his outfit he cannibalized off of which members if his old mining crew and I was wondering if you had any good pics of them I could see?

That's a scary way to put it...

I never heard it but here's some screenshots from the adventurers bible

And here's Senshi

Besides the helmet I cant really see it. Perhaps the leg armor and the skirt? The skirt is less reddish and doesn't have that seam, the leg armor I guess could be, The arm bits from Gilin too maybe? or its just the same style

As he leaves the orc village he's only carrying the Helmet visibly in his backpack

I think its more possible that he just imitates that dwarfish fashion than that he took a piece of each of the teammates equipment but I guess its not impossible. The remains he finds doesn't have any clothes or armor besides what we see him carrying tho (the shield he turns into a pot and the helmet)

[chlorinecake]

🍌 forbidden fruit | j.sc

✼ plot: just the reader catching feelings for her younger sister’s swim coach and doing anything she can to get between his legs

✼ word count: 4.8k

✼ contains: swearing, an oc + anton, teasing with food, mild exhibitionism, unprotected sex (but he doesn’t finish inside), oral (m.r), fingering (f.r)

YOU WERE CONVINCED THAT that your younger sister was born into this world a mermaid, blessed with gorgeous locks and dazzling brown eyes that earned her the name Hazel at birth.

Though her hair now was often covered by a silicone swim cap with her honey-hued eyes shielded behind waterproof goggles, one thing that remained the same was her ability to swim as if the water simply carried her across its bumping waves.

You remember her first time in a pool like it was yesterday, her legs taking off with more ease than she ever had while walking, meanwhile, you sat idly in a donut floaty, cheering her on with smiles on both your faces.

Since then, Hazel never stopped swimming.

Though, you were more inclined to the creative arts rather than anything sporty.

Unless, the sport in question involved chasing after Hazel’s personal swim coach, Jung Sungchan: a former competitive swimmer himself until he opted to train after a minor injury.

You were careful not to let your eyes linger for longer than necessary whenever you stuck back to watch Hazel practice with him, despite the tantalizing view of Sungchan’s washboard abs poking through his swim shirt, or the way his wet hair clung to his sweaty forehead.

Well, with that description, it’s fair to say that your mind and imagination did all the lingering for you, his lower half being practically burned into your mind the moment you got a glimpse of his bulge one day.

Gosh, you felt like such a loser knowing that your main motivation to accompany your sister at swim lessons these days was for the sake of seeing Sungchan, despite how you'd barely even formed a decent relationship with him.

The key word here being decent-

“Breathe, Hazel, breathe!” Sungchan hollered, distracting you from your thoughts and drawing your attention back to your sister who had just beat her fastest 50 meter lap record of her life.

Sungchan met her at the end of the pool, “Less than 24 seconds,” she huffed proudly, just as he rejected their usual high five and instead, helped her out of the pool.

“What was that all about, hmm?”

“I’m not a baby anymore, Coach. I can hold my breath for a lot longer-”

“Don’t make anymore rookie mistakes, alright? It’s not always about time when we’re training, but efficiency.”

Hazel sighed at his words, taking off her goggles and letting them rest around her neck before looking back up at him, “Let me guess then… bobbing circuits as a punishment?”

“After break,” he smiled sarcastically, patting her on the shoulder while she chuckled at his behavior, walking off to the ladies locker room before passing a look your way, “Hey, ____?”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Would you mind getting me a snack from my duffel bag? It’s in the floral container.”

“Sure,” you said, uncrossing your legs and getting up from the bleachers while gathering each others things in a backpack.

Sungchan looked at the time on his watch, and it turned out that practice was already over for the day, “On second thought, how about I treat us all for lunch today?”

His offer caught the both of you off guard, “Seriously?,” Hazel questioned, “even after the little stunt I pulled?”

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” he shrugged, washing some equipment down with a hose.

“Give me twelve minutes to get ready,” she said, skipping to the bathrooms and almost immediately turning on the shower.

You wondered how much you and Sungchan could get away with while your little sister showered.

In a perfect world, your desires would already be a part of your reality by now, instead of something that just kept you entertained during Hazel’s swim classes.

A smirk crept up Sungchan’s deer-like features, shamelessly peeking at you before directing the hose your way, splashing you with a bit of water while giggling to himself.

“What the- stop that, you big freaking dork,” you giggled back, covering your face with your hands while running over to him, grabbing the hose and turning the faucet off.

The way both your hands looked while wrapped around the dark green tube, your smaller ones contrasting with his much larger and veinier ones made your breath stop in your throat for a second, a certain memory of you two resurfacing in your thoughts.

He handed you a towel to dry off, shaking his hair out like a puppy as he took a few steps away from you, your mind finally coming back down to earth.

“My sister seems to be excelling with her training recently… you should really give her more credit for her hard work,” you started, knowing that he'd have a response to that.

“Uhuh,” he replied briefly, leaning down to loop the water hose around its designated hook on the wall, “last time I checked, motivation doesn’t start with fleeting praises, but notable progression.”

“She literally beat a record today, Coach,” you defended, tossing your old towel in the nearby laundry bin.

A bit of silence meddled between you two, your eyes trying their best to be normal as he walked closer to you, every muscle in his body standing out in your peripheral vision, almost making it pointless for you to even try looking away now.

“You already know you can call me Sungchan, ____,” he smirked, hooking a finger in the belt loop of your jeans, “and you’re still wet, by the way... ‘can see it outlining your panties…”

Gosh, you hated how your mind thought of something dirty when those words left his mouth, wanting to disappear as an unbeatable heat raised to your face, all over a brief moment between you two that started and ended with a water hose.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 Later...

The three of you were now eating lunch together at a newly opened seafood bar called Fin & Shell, just a few miles from the training center.

You were all making conversation about the quality of the fish and chips and their odd choice of placing a fruit bowl in the center of the table when Hazel got up to get more napkins, leaving you and Sungchan alone.

Your hand found his thigh under the table before stroking it, dangerously close to his private area.

“Interesting way to get your hands clean,” he joked plainly, making you laugh at yourself a bit before continuing.

“You know there's not a clean damn thing about what I'm doing right now,” you said, fingers tip-toeing around where you wanted to feel him most.

“I know what you want, ____, but I'm afraid you're out of luck these days...”

“And why's that?”

“Because, your sister looks up to me now... I've earned her respect, and it’d only hurt her if she found out about us, let alone our past,” he continued, taking a sip from his drink, “I don't wanna risk it interfering with her athletic progression.”

The fact that Sungchan valued Hazel's well-being more than you in this matter was quite baffling to be honest.

Though, you couldn't help but internally roll your eyes at his empathy, “We’ll just have to be sneaky about it, then,” you tried, hands going back to caress his now tense thighs.

“I’d rather penetrate you with this banana than my dick, ____,” he retorted playfully while picking one from the fruit basket, his cute little smile coming into show despite how you were hardly in the mood to joke around.

You took the banana from his grasp after watching him struggle to open it for a bit, looking him in the eyes while asking, “Can I have a bite?”

“Sure, but don’t be slutty about it,” he teased, looking as your teeth sunk into the banana's sweet flesh, plump lips seductively sealing with the bite before handing it back to him.

The image of you doing that would stain his mind for the next few hours, knowing deep down in the depths of his swim trunks that for professionalism or not, he was gonna get you to look at him like that again real soon.

“Uhhh, you two look strange... What’d I miss?,” Hazel chirped as she came back from her adventure to find napkins, sliding back next to you at the round table.

“Well,” you started, folding your hands over themselves, “Sungchan was just telling me about how he wouldn’t mind giving me beginner's swimming lessons tomorrow.”

“What?! No, I- ngh-,” he groaned, feeling as you applied pressure to his sensitive bulge, one of his hands flying over yours pleadingly as he redirected his initial sentence, “I mean,” he chuckled dryly, struggling to mask the way his facial features were twisting from your actions, “yeah. She’s um… really eager to develop some basic skills herself, y’know? For some sister bonding time…”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” you smiled, just as your sister began to speak.

“Oh… okay then! Sounds fun, I guess... Just don’t think I’ll be sharing my anti-fog goggles with you,” she giggled, looking at Sungchan before noticed the uncomfortable look on his face, your hand still pressing firmly against him, “you alright, Coach?”

“Yeah, just a bit... uhm...” he let out a shaky exhale, “sensitive… to my banana allergy...”

You felt his hand overcome yours with strength, making you retreat from your ministrations with a satisfied feeling in yourself.

“Okayyyy…” Hazel replied, raising her eyebrows dumbfoundedly as he got up from the table, pushing his chair in, “I’m gonna go get some water, but you two finish up. I'll be back in a bit.”

Hazel shrugged off the weird vibes y'all were giving off, taking a satisfied bite of the fish sandwich she'd ordered while you finished eating up your fries, finding immense pleasure in how flustered you got Sungchan to become.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 The next day...

You got up early the next morning, skipping your usual coffee run to avoid any 'pool cramps' while swimming as directed by myth Hazel.

You weren’t one to wear swim caps, so you just put your hair in a cute low-maintenance style, packing both you and her a mini snack to bring for the day ahead.

“Welcome, ladies,” Sungchan greeted, clapping his hands from all the energy pulsing through his veins, “There are de-fogged goggles on the rack over there… kudos to Anton for setting those up first thing, by the way.”

Anton?, you asked yourself, the name alone being nowhere near as familiar as the face you soon were met with, popping out of the water with a navy blue swimcap secured around his head, soft eyes meeting yours as an almost inaudible “hi” fell from his lips.

“Oh my God, Anton!” Hazel yelped, hopping in the water before swimming towards the later end of the pool to meet him, “last one back has to do the laundry.”

Almost immediately, your sister and him both took off with kicks like torpedos, meanwhile you tried piecing together where you recognized Anton from, and then it hit you:

He and your little sister used to train more often together back in the day, but after he got scouted for the swim team in New Jersey, you saw less and less of him over time…

Still and all, he looked quite similar to the sheepish boy Hazel used to crush on a few years back, excluding his now matured physique, of course.

They were already back to the wall by time your thoughts stopped, starting up some small talk between each other.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were gonna be back in town?” Hazel asked, out of breath from trying her hardest to out-swim Anton, who beat her by a landslide.

“Honestly I was surprised, myself. One of my mom’s coworker’s oldest son’s are getting married soon, so we flew out to celebrate... We don’t get back til a week from now, though.”

“Awesome! So that means we can spend more time together til you get back to your fancy New Jersey team,” she teased, shoving Anton’s shoulder playfully as he laughed off her words.

“Stop, you know I love it here, Hazel. This place made me who I am as a swimmer today...”

Sungchan suddenly blew the whistle around his neck, “Hazel, you’re supposed to be working on warm up’s and strength training right now. You can lallygag with Anton later, I’ll need his help and focus today.”

“His help? With what? I say this with all due respect, Coach, but aren’t you the professional here?”

“I indeed am… but he’ll be in charge of teaching ____ today.”

You and Hazel’s eyes widened simultaneously at Sungchan’s words, “You’re joking, right?”

“Nope,” he replied plainly, taking off his whistle necklace and tossing it on a nearby table, “Like you said, I’m the expert, and thus, my expertise is needed more with you, Hazel...”

Sungchan walked around the edge of the pool, keeping a steady pace as not to slip on any water as he met you where you sat, “____’s quite the handsy one, but I’m sure little Anton can manage her for the day,” he smirked, pinching your cheek before handing you a pair of goggles and walking off cheekily.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 ...

You’ll admit that your swimming lesson with Anton went well, though it was obvious you would’ve much rather spent that time with Sungchan, and you planned to give him a piece of your mind as soon as possible.

You had already showered up by now, approaching him in the pool area with every intent to get something out of him.

“So you making me splash around with a kid my sisters age was your way of getting back at me for the Fin & Shells thing, huh?,” you accused, watching as he put away some wet swimming equipment.

“You can’t make me back down that easily, y’know?”

He glanced at you for a quick second, “And what makes you think that’s my intention?”

“Just the plain fact that you’re scared to continue what we started…”

He narrowed his eyes, flicking the water off his hands before facing you head on, “No, but you should be,” he said, voice falling a little deeper, “you’ve seen me before, and that’s not something most girls are prepared for.”

“Please, don’t be so full of yourself,” you scoffed, mirroring his nonchalant voice as your eyes scanned his movements, legs following him all the way to the empty men’s locker room where he sat on a wall bench to relax, looking back at you with a slightly annoyed look on his face.

“You know?… All that stuff you said about professionalism was bullshit… we’ve crossed that line way long ago, and your size isn’t gonna get in the way… trust me...”

You made your way over to sit on his lap, straddling him with your hands at his shoulders.

“God, you’re so overbearing,” he sighed, your lips immediately finding his jawline, causing his words to fall out as hums instead of coherent syllables, “d’you understand what you’re playing with right now?”

“Mhm,” you hummed back, gently nibbling the space underneath his ear.

His hands clung to your loose top as a way to control himself, but also because he wanted more, your hips rocking against his being enough to make him feel needy.

Not that he’d ever admit that to you though…

Your hot and wet kisses started to trail from Sungchan’s neck and to his plush lips, your hands sliding under his shirt to feel him as he mirrored your energy, lips moving in sync.

He was giving in to your ministrations, and you could tell by his breathing, which had become jagged and heavy… not in a submissive way, but with desire.

Frustration, even.

The muscles in his abdomen tensed and relaxed as you went back to kissing his neck, hoping that your lips would leave a mark or two while you were at it, “We can worry about a backup plan later, Sungchan—”

He groaned faintly, just as you pressed your core harder against him, feeling his hardness grow between your thighs.

Sungchan’s mind was getting fuzzy to the point where your words became like background music, present to him, but impossible to really focus on.

And he didn’t like that one bit…

The way you persuaded him so easily, having his dry mouth on the verge of begging you to kiss him again.

If this was gonna happen between you two, he wanted to be the one in charge.

“Fine,” he said sharply, causing you to look into his dark brown eyes, which were still slightly watery from the chlorine in the pool water.

“I just need to make sure you can handle it first,” Sungchan continued, guiding you off of his lap by the waist before digging his thumb into your shoulder, forcing you down to your knees in front of him.

His hands found your hair, leading your cheek to his bulge and lifting his hips to grind into your face slightly, eager to explore the friction but still wanting to test himself.

Test his self-control despite how it was basically out the window by now.

You clung to his toned thighs to keep your balance, eyelids fluttering shut before he smacked you gently on the other cheek, making you look back up at him once again as he rutted a little harder.

“Too big for you, baby?,” he teased, all of that while snickering under his breath, biting his lip before a smirk appeared on his stupid hot face.

It was always strangely exciting honestly… watching him switch from hot to cold, turning himself on just from jumping your cheek.

Everything you’ve been waiting for.

“I can feel you twitching,” you hummed, turning your head to face his heat head on, giving him sirenic eyes as you poked your tongue out, licking a stripe along his clothed member, “can hardly taste you through these pants, though…”

He cooed at your words, stroking your hair as you kept licking him up, a dark spot forming on his pants from your spit and probably some of his precum.

“Can you at least pretend you’re not such an eager slut for me?” He tried teasing, even though his voice sounded a bit strained.

You trailed a finger from his clothed tip to the drawstring of his pants before pulling the bow a loose, “We both know that’s not what you really want, Sungie...”

Shimmying his pants down, you were not at all surprised when his cock sprung out like a hot stinger, slapping against his stomach with an angry vein trailing its underside.

“Fuck,” he cursed under his breath, watching as you didn’t hesitate to take him in your mouth, bobbing your head slowly to adjust to his size, but you could hardly fit more than half of him into your mouth.

“Easy there, ____,” he said in a deepened voice, feeling his balls tighten at the way you gagged around him, trying to fit it all in.

Releasing your lips with a pop, your jerked him with your hand, looking him dead in the eyes before reassuring him, “I can take it.”

“Prove it to me then…,” he challenged you, “or else this is all you’re getting…”

You internally scoffed at his words, “Having second thoughts?”

“No… Just don’t wanna risk breaking you before I even get started properly…”

The top of your tongue found his slit again, running rough stripes past it and suddenly asking, “We’re already taking a risk, why stop here?”

He let you continue fooling around with his dick for a little more until he pulled your chin away, looking you in the eyes-

“Get on your back.”

The voice you heard was enough to make you recognize what was really going on.

“W-what?,” you asked confusedly, having been snapped out of your mind, yet still feeling as though only half of you was present.

���I said get on your back? So we can stretch first?,” Anton said, mirroring the same dumbfounded look you had on your face.

“Oh... sorry, I uh... I got distracted...”

“Its okay,” he answered softly, leading you to the training mat on the floor, “let's just stay focused for now, alright? Once you fully lay down, start by pulling your knees to your chest to stretch out your hamstrings...”

Anton's voice faded into the background of your mind as your body continued to follow his instructions, somewhat thankful for the dark colored fitness clothes you wore considering how wet you'd gotten over your little memory about Sungchan.

It was the first time you actually did anything sexual with him.

It happened over four months ago, but you still remembered the whole thing like it happened yesterday.

Though, Sungchan eventually ended your secret fling for the sake of Hazel, not wanting to hurt her or risk ruining things between you two for 'fleeting feelings.'

Even so, you’d just been so down bad for him all this time that it was getting harder to respect that boundary of his...

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 Later...

Hazel and Anton had ran off to get smoothies together after practice with your permission obviously, Sungchan having stayed back to put the lane lines back in the pool after y’all finished training.

You asked if it was okay for you to hang back in the pool til he shut down the area, just so you could 'work on what you learned.'

He didn't talk to you much, which only annoyed you, leading to your sneaky backup plan to get his attention.

“Sungchanie~,” you sang in a whiny tone, “I need your help!”

“What is it this time?,” he asked, not even looking at you as he busied himself with putting away the tool box he was using.

“My bikini top came off... it floated away…”

“____, stop messing around, alright?”

“I'm serious,” you pleaded facetiously, covering your chest with your arms to sell your performance, “I'd get it myself, but it’s in the deep, so I can't.”

He sighed with a stern look on his face before answering, "Alright, just- … gimme a sec."

Sungchan took off his shirt, tossing it to the side before diving in the pool to fish around for your bra.

He found it pretty quickly, swimming back to the surface while treading with it in his hand.

“This it?” He asked, regardless of how obvious the answer was.

“Mhm…” You nodded back with a lil too much enthusiasm, sitting at the swim steps and waiting for him to go back under the water as you sneakily took off you bikini bottom next, waiting to see his reaction once he came over to you.

Bubbles erupted from his nose underwater, the sight of your bare core causing him to stumble over his trained breathing pattern.

You giggled a bit at his reaction, still covering your tits as his head flew up, shaking the water from his hair in a way that only made you want him more, which obviously wasn't his intention given the look on his face.

“What do you think this is? Some kind of game?” He snapped sharply, tossing your bra to you and using the steps to get out of the pool, just as you reached for his wrist to pull him back.

“Sungchan, wait! I'm sorry—” you started, but his hand left yours anyway, feet moving in the opposite direction of you before a soft "please," left your lips, making him pause in his tracks.

He sighed, “What?,” but it sounded more like a statement than a question.

“Can't you see that I'm losing my mind over this?” you answered with a defeated voice.

“It's not a good time right now, ____—”

“God, would you stop being so uptight like you don't want this, too?”

“I never said anything like that—”

“Because you don't have to,” you interrupted, cutting him off as a lump formed in your throat, not from sadness, but from exhaustion: you didn't know how much longer you could keep chasing him…

Without hesitation, you started to put your two-piece back on, water splashing a bit with your movements as he stood there coldly, not even looking you in the eye as you continued to speak, “You're right, Sungchan... this is all just a silly little game, and I seriously should've stopped trying a long time ago-”

“Just shut up, alright?” he retorted, looking you in the eyes as his body inched closer towards you, your eyebrows furrowing at the harsh tone of his words.

“Excuse me—”

“You win, ____,” his voice was deeper this time, wet hands finding your neck before caressing up your face, everything going black once he found your lips, sealing the the tension with a kiss, “I'll let you have your way.”

HIs tongue tangled with yours as he pulled you impossibly close to him, your heart nearly beating out of your chest before he backed away, hands gripping at everything from your boobs to your hips as he kissed down your sensitive neck.

Your legs subconsciously parting for him as you felt him start to suck at the exposed flesh there.

You don't even remember saying much of anything once he found your bikini, sliding it over as his fingers came into contact with your folds, barely touching you before you started squirming.

“God, you're so dramatic,” he shook his head, applying pressure to your clit with his cold fingers, contrasted with your increasing warmth.

“It’s not my fault you make me this way,” you purred, letting him kiss on you so hard that he left little marks behind, already getting you so worked up that even the simplest of his ministrations seemed intense.

That was when he sped up the movements of his fingers, not even sure how long he'd been at that pace before you started to feel tantalized, wanting to feel his dick before he made you finish.

It was strange though, the way your slick stood out against the water, his fingers gliding in and out of your hole as his thumb circled your sweet spot.

He was making you fall apart, and at that, single-handedly.

“Sungchan~,” you whined shyly, thankful for his arm maintaining your balance as your hands remained around the loop of your bra, giving you something to grab onto as he kept fucking you with his fingers, “I wanna feel you...”

As simple as those four words were, Sungchan knew exactly what you meant and wanted from him, but decided to mess with you nonetheless…

“Baby? You're already falling apart… what makes you think you can handle any more?” he teased, trying to act all tough with you even though he was about to buss in his pants given how unreal you looked in this moment.

Lower lip swollen from the way you bit down on it to hide your sounds, neck sprouting with darkening hickeys, hands clinging to your own tits for leverage, and your wet hair sprawled all over your head...

This was a view that could never get old to him, if he was even lucky enough to see it every single day.

“Please... fuck, just- mmm,” you stumbled over your words, feeling lightheaded as moans fell from your mouth like rehearsed melodies, your back arching even more as his fingers were in knuckle-deep now, your approaching climax causing you to open up for him.

“Cum for me,” he whispered, putting his forehead against yours, thumb relentlessly toying with your clit as he grew more eager in his own pants.

As much as you wanted to refuse his words for the sake of saving your orgasm, you couldn't help but to release, creaming all over his long and slender fingers as you felt your high in every part of your body.

Sungchan didn't hesitate to pull his fingers away from you, sliding down his trousers and spreading your slick across his length under the water.

“You've got another one in you for me, yea?,” he asked, voice sounding rasp as he pressed his tip against you, your trembling thighs struggling to stay open.

“Gimme a sec to come down first,” you nearly begged, watching his eyes grow darker as he pushed through your thighs, hips meeting yours with a splash.

“You know we don't have time for that, ____,” he continued with a suppressed groan, feeling his dick warm up all your insides as he slid past your wetness and bottomed out, guiding your hands from your chest to his shoulders... “just hang on, okay?”

You barely even nodded before he started fucking into you, walls giving in to his size thanks to the water, but you'd be lying if you said it didn't hurt just a little bit.

He caught sight to your discomfort early on, catching your lips with his to keep your mind off the pain, both your breaths sounding shaky now from all the action.

He started to pick up the pace again, not bothering to hide his moans anymore as you clenched around him so hard, he didn't think he'd be able to get back out.

Your wet hands clung to his broad shoulders, glimmered with beads of the pool water from his movements.

Feeling your hips chase his as the pain faded back to pleasure, you knew you were close, especially considering how little time you had between orgasming.

His stamina impressed you honestly, given how he'd been working all day yet still had enough energy to fuck you like this.

A broken whimper fell from his pink lips, words getting lost in his throat even though he had no idea what he wanted to say in this moment.

He was practically intoxicated by the way you made him feel, cursing himself internally for pushing away so many times.

He panted your name out loud, teeth grazing your neck as his head hung in the space provided, feeling weak all of a sudden, “I'm close.”

“Then don't stop,” you huffed back, caressing his pretty face as he chased his high, the water rocking with his movements as he felt his stomach tighten, spurts of his sticky release barely having enough time to coat you before he pulled out, fisting himself in a failed attempt to catch his release.

“Aww, fuck... fuckkk,” he groaned, watching the strings of his cum slip past his fingers and into the water, some of it hitting your legs.

Of course he would've preferred to finish inside you, but he thought it'd be respectful to at least pull out.

You held him close with your thighs around him, giggling a bit at the way he struggled to contain himself.

“You really should've just came inside me, y’know,”you said, feeling a throb in your core after everything.

“Very funny,” was all he said before pulling up his swim trucks and splashing a bit of water on you.

It was interesting seeing how Sungchan could go from hot to playful in a matter of seconds with you.

After everything that'd just happened, the poor guy wasn't at all in the mood to re-clean the pool thanks to the mess you two just made.

So instead, he offered a hand to help you up before carrying you out of the pool, knowing that it wouldn't be easy for you to walk with your legs still shaking.

Neither of you knew how much time you had left til Anton and Hazel came back, but one thing for sure was that you and Sungchan would keep playing this game for a lot longer than planned.

You said so yourself... you'd just have to be more sneaky about it.

⚡︎ Special thanks to @wonbinisbabygurl for requesting this piece ~ (love you princess!!!)

⚡︎ Had to repost this story because the first time around, I wasn't satisfied with the engagement I received ;-; (only 14 notes in 24 hours), so hopefully people see this in the tags this time!!

⚡︎ 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ( 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 ) @squoxle @nikisvanillaccola @ashgonedash @yourmomscuntis2tighy @watamotee33 @addictedtohobi @antonartic

⚡︎ Feel free to also check out my RIIZE masterlist

[elmaxlys]

Judge, Jury, Executioner (part 2)

part 1

Kuon looked at the sandwich in confusion for a few seconds before bringing her eyes back on the man, who had gotten a sandwich for himself in the bag and had sat down to eat.

"This is very kind," she said, fiddling with the sandwich, wondering if she should give it back to him, "but I fear I cannot stay much longer on this roof."

The man raised an eyebrow.

"Why not? It's pretty peaceful for now: no mask and only you and me."

"That's true, but a man has been persistently chasing me since morning and I fear if I stop he'll catch up on me."

The man shrugged. "Why not just wait for him and kill him, then?"

Kuon had a little laugh. "I'm not strong enough for that, sir!"

"I could do it for you."

"You would? How kind of you! Then if you don't mind…" She took off her backpack, put it on the floor, dusted her school uniform and sat down neatly and carefully, back to the concrete wall, next to the man who had a satisfied tingle in the back of his eyes.

As they both ate in silence, Kuon could feel the man's eyes on her. A creeping sensation in the back of her neck told her that maybe it would have been better to keep walking. But it was too late, now. So she took bites of her sandwich and chewed longer than she would ordinarily have as she waited for what would come.

They were both finishing up their meals when they heard him. The stalker was approaching. As they were hidden by the central construction of the roof and they had not made a sound, he had no way of knowing they were sitting right there. He kept walking, his steps hurrying now that he was on solid ground.

The man with whom Kuon had eaten got up slowly and once again she marveled at the slow unfurling of his body. He eyed her so she gave a smile in return. That seemed to satisfy him and he took out the big knife Kuon had seen earlier.

The stalker, no taller but surely even more muscular than Kuon's new acquaintance, was walking deliberately, hidden by his shield. He was taking the same path Kuon had just a bit earlier and therefore turned to find the both of them standing there, waiting for him.

The long haired man whistled in appreciation. "Nice shield, man." He was twirling his knife in his hand, unbothered.

The other chuckled lowly. "As long as I have this shield, there's no way you can touch me, dipshit, so move out of the way. If you're nice we can even share."

Kuon swallowed, feeling a huge lump in her throat. She took a step backward. She kept an eye on the emplacement of the bridge.

"If you think a shield can save you, then you've already lost," said the man in the jumpsuit before jumping on the other man.

The stalker brought the shield up to protect his face and vital organs. A deep dark laugh escaped his assailant then and in a movement too quick not to have been done hundreds of times, he slashed at the man's exposed ankles. A shrill scream answered him. Stumbling, the stalker tried to push the other off him with his shield, without success as he was losing his balance and the other was still carried by the momentum of his slight run and jump.

With one arm, he grabbed one side of the heavy shield and simply ripped it off, leaving the short haired one defenseless and exposed to the blade that ended up embedded in his throat. Next, he effortlessly took his knife back, leaving the man to collapse with a gurgling noise as he choked on his own blood.

In a succession of quick movements, the knife was thrust in a bunch of different places where Kuon could only guess were vital organs or arteries. Soon, the stalker was lying, motionless, in a pool of his own blood. Kuon sighed in relief.

Her savior turned back to her, new blood stains added to his filthy jumpsuit, and smiled as he wiped crimson drops on his cheeks.

"There, he's gone now."

"Thank you very much, mister," Kuon managed, her heart beating out of her chest from the action that took place right in front of her eyes. That and there was still the possibility that he would turn on her.

"Sheesh, don't call me 'mister'," he sighed, "I'm not that old. I'm Suzuki."

As he said those words, he had swapped his knife hands and extended his right hand, bloody and filthy.

"My name is Kuon Shinzaki," she answered and shook his hand, staining her own.

[asksidon]

Okok so let’s say that his SO has had a bad day. It is either a bad day at work, issues with friends, or whatever it is for sure is causing them to be in such a bad mood that they snap at Sidon over every minor inconvenience. What would Sidon do to: 1. Get their SO to talk about what is making them anxious, and 2. To make them feel better and relieve some stress.

The plan was to go shield surfing on a big hill a ways out from the Domain. You know Sidon suggested it to get your mind off your stress, but you halfheartedly agreed to go.

Sidon is already carrying both of your shields, while you carry a small backpack with a few things in it - water, elixir, snacks, and a few books just in case you camp out for a while as you tend to do when Sidon is itching to get away. He tried to carry the bag, too, but you wouldn't let him. You swerve away when he moves to try and take it from you. "I've got it," you say more harshly than you meant to.

And so it goes on for the rest of the hike to your destination. After the third time (a branch that tripped you up, causing you to snap at him again when he asked if you were okay), you can tell he is trying hard to hold his tongue. You take a deep breath but say nothing. The closer you wish you could be to him, the farther away you feel. And you don't know how to fix it.

"Maybe it would have been better if we stayed back in the Domain," you say quietly. "I have a lot of things I need to do."

"Not much farther to go," he assures you. "But if you really want to head back, I suppose we can." You can tell by his voice that he is holding back from something. Frustration? Sadness? Probably both. You don't say anything.

"Come." He changes direction for a small plain where you can take the shade under a tree for a while. "I feel like a rest," he says, but you have a feeling he's doing this for your benefit. He would deny it if you challenged him, so all you can do is follow.

You throw your bag down and grudgingly sit on the grass. Sidon pretends not to notice and examines a patch of small purple flowers peeking out of the green. He plucks one and offers it to you. You feel your stubborn exterior crumbling as he begins digging through the bag for the snacks. "Snacks fix anything," he once said, but he is silent now. He seems to understand that maybe you don't want to be fixed. And somehow, that makes you feel better.

As you spin the stem of the small flower in your fingers, the guilt comes. Aside from an occasional sigh, he has not given much indication of his own feelings. But then, he rarely does, even with you. That bothers you sometimes. "I'm sorry," you say. "I know I'm not much company lately."

He pulls an apple from the bag but only looks at it. He sets everything aside as he looks at you. "I don't expect you to entertain me, Y/N. I am an adult . . . most of the time." He smiles. "I can keep myself busy and generally require no supervision. If you ever don't feel like doing something that I suggest, you only have to tell me."

His eyes sparkle as the humor returns to them. You want to joke about the lack of supervision, but you're not quite ready yet. You do find, however, that you feel ready to tell him what's been bothering you. You start from the beginning, tell him everything, and he goes quiet while he listens.

“I know I should have told you all of this earlier,” you finish. “I don’t know why I didn’t. I guess it’s hard to think about. But I’m thinking about it anyway.” You realize you’re rambling and stop, and he places his hand over your own.

“Do you want to go home?” he asks you, but you shake your head. Not because you worry about disappointing him, but after all, you’ve realized you’d rather spend the day with him than be cooped up on your own.

“I’m ready to surf. And I think you do need some supervision,” you tease. “Remember, you ran into that tree last time and stirred up a Bokoblin camp while you were at it.”

He chuckles at the memory, his cheeks coloring faintly. “I had hoped never to be reminded again. Not one of my finer moments.”

“It was adorable, once I was sure you were okay, and after we made quick work of our assailants.” You grin as you stand and pick up your backpack, tucking the tiny flower into one of the pockets. “Let’s go!”

[stardusthuntress]

you guys, there are WAY TOO MANY LOOSE ENDS regarding Tech there at the end....

(fair warning, this is another one of my longwinded rants)

"the only thing we were able to recover", his goggles...

which he records everything with... Hemlock knew each of the men and quickly caught on to their paternal attachment to Omega, do you really think he didn't do his homework and find out Tech records everything as a hobby? It wouldn't be hard to figure out. video files are pretty big, so why does a clone like him have petabytes of data? Oh, because they're all recordings of his experiences! gold mine of data, right there. Even if Hemlock couldn't access the files, the quantity, and regularity of how often they were uploaded to his personal data (I'm guessing after every mission or two) relative to how long each mission took would be a pretty clear indicator of what they are

so, what did they see? What did the goggles see? And what did the Empire see in his last moments? What recordings did they pull from his goggles, and what did they leave behind for the batch to find when they download his last recordings? You know Echo is gonna wanna see it. Or did Tech use those last moments as he fell to wipe all his data to protect his family?

they didn't recover ANYTHING from his datapad?

none of his tools from his belt? You're telling me the man doesn't carry duplicates of his intel?

and someone pointed out his goggles were UNDER his helmet... I'd like to add to that, that while that could explain how it survived since it was protected by his helmet, it also seems weird. The goggles mark the weak point in his helmet. His face is only partially protected. that visor doesn't really shield his eyes, and the goggles only sorta make up for that... why are the lenses shattered and everything else is completely intact? That doesn't seem weird to anyone else?

Tech is enhanced. The Empire, and that creep Hemlock, totally would steal anything they could from his remains, including his DNA - so like blood samples or stem cell samples or anything to help them figure out how to make more like him, or to make future clones even less like him (so like easier to brainwash)

And besides, Hunter brushed off a huge tumble down a mountain at the end of season 1. Yeah, he used his knife, the mountain, and the trees to slow his fall, but do you really think Tech didn't have SOMETHING ready for a scenario like this? Sure, this is still a little too high to really prepare for.... but we know jetpacks were even supplied if they wanted them! Do you really think he didn't manage to get a hold of, or build one of his own that could be hidden in that backpack of his?

the backpack, which he is wearing when he falls!

No parachute? Nothing to help break a fall? He already had a box fall on him earlier in the season, you think he wouldn't have something ready to go so that doesn't happen again. Whether it's something falling on him, or him falling on top of something else, it's basically the same thing. Nothing? The genius was not prepared to save a life in the blink of an eye? That doesn't sound like Tech to me

and the parallels to Echo's "end" at the Citadel! We only see his goggles, not his remains. When Echo "died" the first time, we only saw his helmet and Fives' reaction to it. We did not see his body. Echo survived a ship exploding in his face... a ship no doubt loaded with lots of very explosive stuff. Gregor survived the same thing, with a hell of a lot more explosive stuff. They built the clones to be tough as nails! Wrecker and Gregor take multiple stun blasts to drop! And you're gonna tell me the most brilliant mind of them all didn't see a way to survive a fall? While that is technically feasible, it seems very un-Star-Wars-like to me. This is a universe where people survive shit they shouldn't all the time.

Maybe I'm doing this because I'm in denial... maybe. Because I will not accept a Star Wars universe that does not include Tech from this point on.

But I firmly believe there are far too many loose ends here to confirm anything. But of course, they're gonna torture us with it for at least a year, until the next season comes out. They tortured us with Echo's death for far longer than that. And it's not like we didn't all start watching Clone Wars not knowing how it ends. Same goes for Andor. They're gonna use him to torture us for as long as they please. After all, the same man whose job it is to come up with Palpatine's plans is also running this show.... but anyways. Sure, it fits with the tragedy that is Star Wars, but remember how attached Dave also is to hope - it is the star wars catchphrase after all - and to loopholes? He brought Ahsoka back! Now that he knows how much Tech means to us, will he do the right thing and bring him back? I don't think he really realized the extent of Tech's importance to the fanbase, especially after the development he was given this season

What was that he told Omega in the cave, again? Something about we always find a way?

[holliwritings]

10th Doctor/Reader One-Shot

words: 2,131

gender neutral reader

2nd person pov

usage of y/n and l/n

no warnings! just a cute introductory story :)

-

Rain. Today was full of rain. Cold, cloudy days like this are my favorite. Especially during school. It brings me peace and calms me down. It shouldn’t be too much longer now. A few more weeks and I’m finished. High school, over. I almost can’t believe it. 

You closed your journal and looked out window of your last period class. Rain droplets squiggled down the glass, leaving trails of water and making beautiful patterns. The noisiness of the class was almost brought to a silence in your mind. 

A tapping on your shoulder brings you back to reality and the loud voices return to your hearing. You look up to see your teacher looking down at you with a displeased expression. “Get to work, L/N.” He scolded, glancing at your paper with no answers written. Snickers erupted from a few kids and you could feel eyes burning in the back of your head. You pulled your hoodie over your head in an attempt to shield yourself, but it was of no use. Your leg bounced under the desk nervously and you flicked your pen in between your fingers repeatedly. You stared down at your paper, pretending to be focused. 

Everyday was like this. Your stomach full of swirling emotions and anxiety from school. It was too much. It didn’t used to be, but that’s how life works. Everything changes eventually. The dismissal bell rang, and you shoved your notebook in your backpack. You swung it over your shoulder quickly and hurried out of the room. Down the hall you strode, bumping past many kids and not caring. To be home is all you wanted right now.

You exited the campus grounds and walked into the parking lot where your car was waiting. You fumbled with your car keys and pressed the unlock button, then entered the drivers side. It wasn’t a long drive home. In fact, you lived so close you could walk. But it proved to be very difficult for you, so you just choose to drive. It wasn’t long before you were pulling up to the curb in front of your house.

You were so relieved to be home. There’s always something so comforting about opening the front door to your—

Thud.

“Oww, what the hell?” You exclaimed after running into your front door. You tried the knob again. It was locked. That’s strange. It’s never locked. Literally never. You don’t even carry around a house key. You lived in a safe enough neighborhood and your school was close, so there wasn’t really a need to lock it. 

You pulled the welcome mat up and grabbed the spare key. Turning it in the knob you heard a click and pushed open the door, leaving the key under the mat once more. Cautiously, you entered. Something was off. You could feel it.

You stuck your car key between your fingers and made a fist, prepared to face a possible intruder. Slowly and carefully, you headed towards the kitchen. A rustling sound was heard and your heart stopped. There’s someone in there. You thought. I could back away and call the police, but… what good would they even do?

Something lured you deeper into your house, and you eventually found yourself at the corner of the kitchen. You inhaled and stepped into view, holding out your fists. What you saw was not what you were expecting. Not at all.

“What..? What is this?” You murmured. In front of you stood a.. statue. A statue! In your kitchen! How the hell did it get there?

It was tall and made of stone. Concrete, you guessed, and was shaped of an angel covering its eyes. You stared in complete awe, and you reached up to rub your eyes to make sure you weren’t hallucinating.

The moment your hands obscured your vision, pain shot through your veins and you collapsed. Your voice cried in agony and the once carpet you felt beneath you turned to grass. You didn’t even get a chance to open your eyes before losing consciousness. The last thing you could make out was a man calling out to you.

-

You woke up in pain. All of your bones and muscles cried at any movement. You fluttered opened your eyes, your eyelids drowsy as if you had been asleep for a long time. Slowly but surely, the room started to come into focus. You squinted and looked around. You lay in a bed, a rather uncomfortable one at that, with curtain dividers hanging from the ceiling around you. There was no equipment or heart monitors, just a small end table with a lamp on it. It looked like an old hospital.

You tried to position yourself into an upright sitting position, but a terrible pain shot through your muscles. You groaned in pain, catching the attention of a man who was sitting next to you on a chair. You only just noticed him when he spoke out.

“Careful now, your body still needs to heal.” He spoke soothingly. He had a full accent, British or Scottish you couldn’t quite tell. You were still in shock and writhing in pain.

“What… happened?” You slurred, turning to look at the man. Your breath hitched softly when you saw how… lovely… the man looked. 

His eyes were a warm, welcoming brown, and they watched you with such interest. He had brown messy hair with sideburns and a clean shaven face. His outfit looked… peculiar. He wore a blue suit with a red tie, with a long brown overcoat sitting over it. 

You were so busy gawking at the man that you didn’t notice his mouth was moving. Shit, what’s he saying? You mentally cursed.

“Sorry... could you repeat that?” You asked awkwardly. The man raised an eyebrow quizzically, but started again.

“I said you appeared out of nowhere a bit North of town. You were unconscious and l brought you here to get help.” He spoke. 

“Wait… where exactly am I?” 

“I believe the correct wording is, when are you?” He smirked to himself.

“What? Who are you? What the hell are you talking about?” 

“Right, I’m The Doctor. Pleasure to meet you. uh...” He trailed, waiting for you to finish his sentence.

“Y/N,” You said hesitantly. “Y/N L/N.” 

“Pleasure to meet you Y/N!” He beamed, standing up from his chair. “Now Y/N, can you tell me what year it is?”

This man was acting strange. Very strange indeed. Why would he not know what year it was? “What kind of question is that? It’s 20—"

“Wrong, it’s 1913.” 

Your thoughts were brought to a halt and you stared at the madman. You felt frozen in time as he stared back at you, awaiting a response. All you could do was laugh. “Yeah right. 1913? That’s impossible.” Your laughs slowly faded out and you noticed he was still staring. “You’re not serious… are you?” 

“Oh, but I am! Look around you Y/N! Do hospitals even look like this anymore?” He ran a hand through his hair, exasperated. “Right, how do I explain this without coming off as a complete lunatic?” He asked to himself.

“It’s a bit too late for that.” You chuckled. You noticed the pain in your body was fading, and you could sit up properly now. You took this opportunity to get a good long look around you. You noticed things you hadn’t before. Your clothes had been changed from your hoodie and jeans into an ivory colored hospital gown. Your clothes were folded neatly in a pile on the floor by the end table, with your keys and phone sitting on top of it. “Wait, if we’re in 1913, then why hasn’t anyone taken notice of my weird futuristic belongings?” You asked.

“I hid your things while the nurses were in here earlier. As for your clothes, I just told them you were from out of town. Which, isn’t far off from the truth.” He explained, chuckling at that last bit. 

Your didn’t say anything in response, still reeling from the fact that you were a decade in the past. The stranger cleared his throat after a moment of awkward silence. “Right, are you feeling better? Better enough to stand up? Walk even?” He asked.

“Yeah, I am.” You replied, throwing the blankets off of you. Slowly, you put your legs over the side of the bed. The man reached his hand out for you to grab in assistance. “Thanks. What did you say your name was again?” You asked him. You remember him saying he was a doctor, but you didn’t get to catch his name. 

“I’m The Doctor.” He replied promptly, letting you grab ahold of his arm to regain balance.

“I’ve picked up on that, but Doctor who?”

“Oh, I love it when people say that,” He whispered to himself with a smile. “It’s just The Doctor.”

You scoffed. “That’s not a real name, that’s just a title.”

“It’s a real name where I come from!” He countered in an almost whiney voice.

“Where are you from then?”

“Look, now’s really not the time. We need to stop the angels before they get to my TARDIS.”

You stopped. Did he say angels? Wait… that thing in your kitchen was… 

“These angels… are they statues?” You asked. 

“Yes! The Weeping Angels. I’m not surprised you’re familiar with them, seeing as you’re one of their many victims.” He picked up your pile of clothes and handed them to you quickly. You stared at him with a confused look. “Right then. Hurry up and get dressed, we don’t have much time.”

You decided to end your interrogation, for now, and follow his instruction. “Do you mind?” You asked, watching him shift back and forth on his feet.

“Ah yes, sorry.” He apologized and swiftly turned around, sliding through to the other side of the privacy curtain. You promptly put your clothes back on, leaving the nightgown laying on the bed. You felt way better, and more comfortable, being in your own clothes. You noticed your shoes on the ground and slid them back on. Finally you grabbed your phone and keys, slipping them into your pocket.

“Okay. Where to?” You asked.

“This way then, follow me.” He hurried, rushing towards the entrance to the hospital. You wondered why the nurses didn’t seem to bat an eye at the two strangers leaving in such a rush, but shrugged it off. There were much weirder things happening right now. You followed suit, trying your best to catch up. You trailed behind him as he opened the front doors of the hospital, light pouring into the building. You were blinded shortly from the change in brightness, and when your eyes focused again you looked around you.

“Whoah…” You gaped at the sight. It was London but… it looked straight out of a history book. Newsies rode on their bicycles, classy couples drove down the street in their fancy new bullnose cars… it was unreal. “Is this… London?” You turned to look at The Doctor, who was facing away from you and staring at something. You walked past him to see what could be more interesting than what stood in front of you. He was looking at a newspaper box. Inside, a print that read the date November 27th, 1913. Plastered in big, bold letters across the top stood the heading titled ‘More Missing Persons Reported As Month-long Mystery Continues.’

“This has been going on for much too long. I’ve never seen them take so many before.” The Doctor mumbled, standing up straight. He reached into his trench coat and pulled out a long silver device with a lightbulb on the end. “Right then, we need to track them down. Shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”

You stared in wonder at the man as he lit up his little device. A blue light emitted from the top along with a low buzzing sound. “What’s that?” 

“It’s my Sonic Screwdriver. I’m using it to pick up alien life forms,” He answered. His... screwdriver... made an increase in pitch and his face excitingly lit up. “Aha! There you are!”

“Hold on, hold on, aliens?” Alright, that’s it. You draw the line here. “Aliens aren’t real!” Even though your insides began filling with fear, your shout came out as more of a laugh.“Who really are you?”

The Doctor turned to face you, a brilliant smile on his face. “I’m The Doctor, and I’m going to get you home safe and sound.” Everything seemed to slow down in that moment. You stared into each other’s eyes, yours full of anxiety and worry, but his full of hope and determination. He twitched his head to the side and reached his hand out. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

[remarcely]

What Would Spider-Man Do?- Remarcely AO3 [MCU Spider-Man Fanfic]

A high-pitched ringing filled Neds ears as he slowly came to, hands fumbling on either side to pull himself up from where he was laying. He hissed, fingertips brushing against broken glass shards just hard enough to break the skin. He cracked his eyes open and neared on choking at the carnage around him.

They were still on the bus, though it can’t be said the bus was the right way up. It had skidded off the road on its side, the windows shattering down on the inside, and the now-ceiling above them was dented in. Ned could hear shouting and crashes not too far away. It was a safe bet to guess there had been collateral damage.

He hauled himself up and brushed the glass splinters from his clothes. Ned turned to find Peter and give him a hand up as well, but in the midst of their classmates he couldn’t find him. That was, until he heard a shout two rows down from him. Ned stumbled towards the crying- it was Chrissy, the newest member of the Decathlon team, it was supposed to be her first competition- to find three of his teammates crowded around Peter.

His head was bleeding. Hopefully it was worse than it looked, Ned had read about head wounds before, weren’t they supposed to bleed a whole bunch? Chrissy was half holding him up, keeping Peters head from touching what could only be described as a mound of bloody glass beneath him, and was frantically shaking him. He wasn’t responding, practically a ragdoll, and if it weren’t for their other classmates hurriedly checking his pulse, Ned likely would have been panicking too.

“He’s just knocked out,” Betty sighed in relief “Can anyone find a first aid kit? We’ve got to do something for the bleeding.”

“I think I have a travel one in my bag.” Abraham mumbled and staggered through the wreckage of the bus to find his backpack. A few other people went to help him, even Flash doing so without any prompting, and a silent agreement settled upon the group.

“Is anyone else hurt?” Betty called out, helping Chrissy carry Peter to a safer spot.

There was a groan at the back of the bus and Michelle waved her hand up from around one of the chairs “Oh fuck.” She stood up in a dazed state, wincing as she pulled a couple shards from her hair “What the hell hit us?”

She looked up at the now very open window frames on the now-ceiling and narrowed her eyes. MJ climbed onto the sides of the chairs, sneakers almost slipping on the fabric on her first step, and hauled herself up to look around.

It could only be described as a gigantic metal ball on even larger spider legs. It had one leg puncturing the bridge in front of them, another in the river, and the final few being shot at with laser beams by one Iron Man. He was the only hero on the scene, or at least the only one she could spot.

“What do you see?” Ned called up.

“Uh.” Michelle glanced down at him with wide eyes “Nothing good. Tin can is on the scene, he seems to be doing fine at keeping whatever that is away from where we are.” Her eyes moved past him to the very bloody unconscious Peter, Ned following her gaze.

“Yeah, I don’t think Spider-Man is going to be showing up to help anytime soon.” He mumbled under his breath.

“He saved my life.” Michelle stared at Peter, hand gripping the metal frame of the window with white knuckles “When we got hit, I was sat right there and he jumped out to shield me with his own body, like a fucking moron.”

“Found it!” Abe held the tiny green bag above his head, waving it about as he struggled back across the bus.

Betty reached out and took it, unzipping the bag to rummage around inside “Anyone have scissors?”

“Here.” Michelle fished them from her school bag, putting them in Bettys waiting hand “We need to get off the bus, can anyone find the teachers? The driver?”

“Uh, the driver hit the steering wheel in front of her but she’s breathing alright.” Flash called back from the front of the bus “I can’t see Mr Harrington. I think I need to cut the driver’s seatbelt, it’s all jammed.”

Ned took an unsteady breath and covered his face with his hands “Come on man,” He whispered quietly, more to himself than anything “What would Spider-Man do?”

“We fell onto the fucking door, damn it.” Abe groaned and stomped on the sliding doors in frustration.

“Let’s use the emergency hatch and the broken windows,” Ned spoke up and strode towards the hatch, clicking it open with a heave “Betty, you and Chrissy carry Peter out and find some cover. Flash and Abe, get the driver. MJ and I will grab our bags and look for Mr Harrington.”

For once not putting up an argument, everyone did as they were directed. Betty hooked her arms around Peters chest while Chrissy took the legs, shuffling to the exit. Abe pulled a Swiss army knife from his backpack- which he had for a concerning but very lucky reason- and cut through the seatbelt as Flash lifted the driver out of the seat in a surprising display of strength. MJ grabbed their bags, hooking the straps over one arm, and began chucking them out of the open window.

Ned ignored his own backpack, heading straight for Peters to find his phone. He struggled for a minute, unwinding the headphones Peter had wrapped around the sides, and let out a small sigh of relief when the phone switched on without a hitch. He tapped in the password and went to the contacts, finding ‘Mr Stark’ under favourited, ignoring the four missed calls and what he could only assume was a scathing voice message. Ned left the headphones in and dialled the number.

“Come on.” All bags and passengers evacuated, MJ had climbed onto the top of the bus and held down a hand for Ned.

He took it and the two of them stood on the side of the school bus, watching the fight from a not-so-safe distance. After one more ring, the call was answered with a tiny beep.

“Oh, now you pick up.” There was a loud sound through the phone and Ned watched as something exploded on the outside of the metal thing “Not a great time, kid.”

“Hi Mr Stark, I know we haven’t talked before but I’m Peters friend, Ned-”

“Uh huh, sure you are. Mind passing the phone over to Pete?”

“Um, Peters a little too unconscious to come to the phone right now.”

“He’s what?”

“Unconscious. He got hit on the head and it’s bleeding a whole ton.”

“Jesus Christ, call an ambulance! I’m busy right now.”

“I- uh- know. We were on a trip for a Decathlon competition and the bus got hit by the weird metal spider-ball thing. Peter must have sensed it with his tingle thing and took the brunt force or something.”

MJ cursed under her breath, pointing out the crumpled form of Mr Harrington a short distance from the bus, and jumped off the bus to go help.

“Shit. I guess that means no backup. You said you’re on the bus.” For a brief moment, Iron Man stopped in mid-air to look around “Yeah, I see you. Get far away from the bridge, I’ll call someone and have you all evacuated. You said Peter’s out?”

Ned turned to look down at Betty and Chrissy, carrying Peter between them “Oh yeah, big time.”

Mr Starks sigh came through a little computerised on the call and muttered “That kid, I swear.” He cleared his throat and continued in a louder voice “He should have his suit with him, take one of the web shooters and keep it on his wrist, that’ll measure most of his vitals. Keep out of the way, stick with your class, and don’t try playing hero. Capeesh?”

“Yes-” The call ended.

“He’s okay!” MJ shouted up from the ground, dragging Mr Harrington in the direction of their classmates “Get your ass down here before you hurt yourself.”

“Coming!” Ned moved to the roof of the bus and half-slid down the curve. He scooped up all of the bags and ran over to the group.

Flash darted back, helping MJ carry their teacher the rest of the way, and jerked his head at the fight “What is that thing?”

“Why would I know, Eugene?” She shot back, the two of them dumping Mr Harrington on the ground next to the group.

Betty turned to Mr Harrington, checking for any blood “He’s hit the back of his head, someone give me a torch to check his eyes.” Abe passed her his phone, the torch turned on, and crouched down to help look over their teacher.

Ned ignored them, moving to sit down by Peter. His head was bandaged and Betty had moved him into the recovery position. He sat and stared, for a few agonising seconds, as Peter didn’t move other than the slow rise and fall of his chest, before remembering himself. Ned rummaged through Peters bag again, using his body to hide it as he dug down for the Spider-Man suit. He fumbled around as he looked for the web shooters, finally finding one pinned beneath a maths folder, and unclipped it to slide up Peters sleeve.

“How is he?” MJ kicked Ned lightly with her shoe.

“He’s doing alright. Mr Stark said he was calling for backup.” He picked at his shoelaces. There was a red mark on the toe- blood- and he had no idea who it had come from.

“What the hell are we supposed to do?” She muttered angrily under her breath.

“He said to stay put and out of the way.” Ned looked to his own bag on the pile and grabbed the strap, yanking it closer. Unzipping the main pocket, he found his miraculously unscathed laptop. He looked back to the Spider-Man suit “He also said not to play hero.”

“Hypocritical, coming from him.” Michelle scoffed and sat next to him “What are you going to do?”

Ned fumbled for the mask and a long wire from Peters bag. He connected the two, tucked the mask out of sight, and joined the wire to his laptop as it slowly booted up “Something stupid, probably. If I can access Karen, I can use her to get a better view on things up there. Then, if I can do that- well, that looks like a lot of machinery to me, someone has to control it.”

“Yeah. It’d be pretty stupid to still be inside it, too, so there’d have to be some sort of wireless connection to pilot it.” MJ nodded slowly, catching on.

“Exactly.” Ned muted his laptop, just in case, and pulled up Karens file. He opened up a text chat with the AI and in a few minutes had the nearest CCTV to the fight pulled up.

“Oh damn,” A voice spoke from over their shoulder and Ned hurriedly shoved Peters bag even further shut by putting his foot on top “That is one big mother fucker.”

“Uh-”

Abe leaned closer to get a better look and a few other team members glanced their way “You said you could hijack the signal?”

“Mhm.” Ned swallowed hard.

“You need a hand tracking it down?” Abe retrieved a small tablet from his own bag, which hadn’t been so lucky in the crash and had a crack reaching across the screen “There’s going to be a bunch of signals from Iron Mans drones and stuff, I can help you narrow it down no problem.”

Abe sat across from Ned on the concrete and pulled up some homemade software, fingers tapping at lightning speed through connections. In less than a minute, he had it, and passed the Tablet to Ned to get a better look.

Michelle watched the two tech nerds work away and took Peters phone again. She scrambled up and walked a good few paces away. ‘What would Spider-Man do?’ That’s what Ned had mumbled earlier, right? Well, Spider-Man would go to Mr Stark with his kickass plan, that’s what.

The phone ringed out again until it was answered.

“I’m a little busy right now Ted, so unless Peter’s awake-”

“The metal thing is being piloted from somewhere else, I’ve got two nerds tracking it down right now.” She interrupted him, eyes on the fight in the distance.

“Who- never mind. This thing is armoured to face anything, I doubt they added Bluetooth or some shit. Tell your friends they’re wasting their time.”

“It’s Michelle, and I very much doubt someone would be stupid enough to put themselves in there when they knew it would be target number one.” She rolled her eyes “We’ve already got the signal and Ned is hijacking it now. We can only see so well through the cameras, where’s a good place to land this thing without crushing half of Queens?”

MJ rambled through her words, taking a heavy breath when she was done. If her friends weren’t in danger or slowly bleeding, she might have even thought it was fun.

Mr Stark sighed through the phone “The water, preferably. Look, I don’t exactly want the control of this in a random kid’s hands.”

“Would you rather the person currently kicking your ass with it did?” Not waiting for a response, MJ pulled the phone away from her ear and turned to Ned “How well do you think you can move that thing without breaking any buildings?”

“Through my laptop? If I move slow, it should be fine, but the more time it takes the more chances its current pilot has to take control back.”

“Here!” Flash piped up, holding a game controller up in the air “Use this!” Of course, he’d brought along his gaming equipment.

“Flash, you wonderful idiot, that might just work.” Michelle breathed out a laugh and passed the controller to Ned “Ready?”

Ned looked down at the controller, tense “This isn’t exactly my forte, guys.”

“It is mine.” Chrissy, on shaky legs, wiped at her eyes with her sleeve. She held out a hand and slid a look of determination onto her face “Let me.”

MJ and Ned shared a look before they both nodded, allowing control to Chrissy. She turned to face the metal thing in the distance and took a few steps closer, standing next to Michelle, who had pulled the phone back to her ear.

“We’re ready. Ned, take it over.”

There was a click behind her and the metal beast froze in its path. Iron Mans suit hung in the air next to it, cautious.

“I’m hoping that’s you.”

“It is. Chrissy, move it towards the river and slowly lower it down, alright?”

The girl nodded. She moved the joysticks slowly and the metal spider moved up and down, side to side, and lifted each of its legs carefully before lowering them again.

“Are you making it fucking dance?”

“I’m getting used to the controls!” Chrissy hurried out a shaky response, having heard the very loud incredulous question through the phone. After another beat, she steadied herself “Alright, I think I’ve got it.”

The metal spider cautiously raised the leg puncturing the bridge and stuck on the mainland. It stepped further into the river with adjustments being passed down the line from Stark, to MJ and then to Chrissy. Everyone held their breath as the spider stood still in the river and slowly lowered itself until it was sat firmly in the water. The thing twitched, hissed, and slunk forward. Whoever had made it clearly hadn’t expected it to take a dunk in the river.

“Holy shit, I did it.” Chrissy muttered in surprise, thumbs flying back from the controls.

“Damn right you did.” MJ laughed and squeezed her shoulder. The girl flung around and hugged her tightly, quite to MJ’s surprise.

“Stay where you are. Once the clean-up crew gets here, I’ll pick up Peter myself. What you lot did was stupid and reckless but…” Stark sighed again and it seemed as if it physically pained him to continue “You did good. Just never do any of that again.” He hung up.

-

In the next ten minutes, an ambulance had arrived and the paramedics had gathered the kids to give them all a check over. Out of the group, it was the driver and Mr Harrington that were worse off, with Peter suspiciously fine if not for the fact he was still knocked out. They were loading the two adults into the ambulance when Iron Man touched down a few yards away, his suit hissing open and Tony Stark stepping out.

He nodded at the paramedics, who nodded out of instinct in shock, and strolled towards Peter. He was still laying on the ground, though Ned and MJ had moved to his side and rested his head on his own backpack “I’m assuming you’re Michelle and Ted?”

“Ned actually-”

“Yep,” MJ cut him off “That’s us. You’re welcome, by the way.”

Stark sent her a look and moved his attention back to Peter “Has he woken up yet?”

“No, but he’s pretty much healed.” Ned shrugged and fiddled with his sleeves “They want to keep him here until he does wake up and check for a concussion.”

“Hm.” Stark hummed and crouched down until they were all eye level “Quick thinking, using Karen. She sent along the pilots’ details to S.H.I.E.L.D, they’re dealing with them now.”

“T-Thank you, sir.” Ned stuttered and looked away.

“I shouldn’t have to tell you how stupid and dangerous that was, right?” Tony narrowed his eyes at them.

“We know.” MJ stared unblinkingly back.

“Jeez, no wonder you’re Peters friends.” Tony pinched his brow and took a deep breath “Your parents are probably on the way to pick you up, the news helicopters got pretty good shots of the bus. I’ll take Peter back with me, get him some proper medical attention.”

He clicked his fingers over his shoulder and the empty suit closed back up, moving forward. Tony stepped back inside and waved the kids out of the way, carefully lifting Peter up. Michelle passed him his backpack too, which he looped through one of his arms.

Ned gave them a small wave “Bye, Mr Stark.”

“Sure, kid. May we never meet again.”

The Iron Man suit rose up into the air and flew into the sky, leaving MJ and Ned to wait and ignore all questions from their classmates for the coming hour.

[ravs6709]

Vanilla Dates- Lumity

Read on ao3 here.

Word count: 1.8k words

Happy birthday @daydream-draws !!! I offer you some lumity fluff!!!

Just some mundane dates that take place post King's Tide!

I hope you enjoy!!!

Warnings: none

•~•~•~•~•~•

"Mija, I'm taking Vee to the parent-teacher's interview, can you pick up a few items at the grocery store for me?" Camila asked. "The list is on the fridge, money's on the table."

Luz nodded. "I can do that!"

"Please don't buy too many extras."

"I won't!"

Luz went to her room so she could grab a backpack—it was easier carrying groceries that way for her—and saw Amity sitting on the floor, staring forward at a wall.

"Sweet potato?" Luz called out. "I thought you would've been in the backyard with the others."

"I wasn't feeling it," Amity replied.

Luz stepped closer and noticed that her phone was in Amity's lap. The screen was still on, displaying a photo that Luz had taken of Amity, Emira and Edric.

"I miss them too. They'll be okay."

The screen turned off, and Amity turned to look at her. "Yeah."

"Hey, Amity. You wanna come grocery shopping with me?"

"Sure, I guess?"

Luz grabbed a backpack as Amity grabbed a headband. She grabbed the list and money and the two of them headed out. The store was only a small walk away, so they walked there, holding hands.

"The human realm is really busy," Amity mused as they entered the store. "It's not chaotic with magic, but there's its own chaos."

Luz laughed. "Oh, you do not want to see the lines during holidays. It is a mess. Ooh, Amity! Get in the cart!”

Amity pointed to the picture on the cart seat. “Um, Luz?”

She shrugged, pointing to a stranger’s cart that seated a toddler. “Mama and I did this all the time!” Luz omitted the fact that “all the time” meant when she was still small enough to fit in the seat. “Just sit here, and I’ll push!”

Amity agreed, and Luz began running, pushing the cart down the aisle.

“Oh, this is fun,” Amity said. I’ll push you during the second half.”

“Aww, thanks.” 

They sped through the various aisles, picking up items from their list.

"Do they really just leave out all the items on display like this?" Amity asked. "Wouldn't it be so easy to steal?"

"Nope! See that round black thing up there?" Luz looked up to a camera, and Amity followed her gaze. "That's a camera!"

"Like the thing on your phone?"

"Kinda. It's connected to a screen that people can watch through, so they can see what goes on in the store. Also we pay at the end, the cashiers'll see everything that we bought."

"Oh, cool. That's really freaky."

"Eh, you get used to it."

"Amity! Look! Sweet potatoes!" Luz gestured to them.

Amity pointed at the purple vegetables. "Is that what I've been calling you?"

Luz squished her cheeks. "Well, humans like using food names as terms of endearments! Like honey and pumpkin! It’s really cute that you call me sweet potato!””

Amity blushed. "You’re sweet, Luz."

This time, it was Luz's turn to feel her cheeks heating up.

The two continued going through the aisles, this time Amity pushing Luz in the cart. They picked up mostly the essentials, but they both got distracted by the snacks.

“Ooh, that looks good,” Amity said, picking up a pack of pocky. 

“Gus did say he wanted to try this,” Luz said, picking up a popular brand of chips.

By the time they reached the end, they had slightly more items than expected, but it seemed like Camila was prepared for that, because they had more than enough money to pay. As they walked home, droplets of rain fell on them.

“Oh shoot! I didn’t realize it was gonna rain!”

“Don’t worry.” Amity conjured an umbrella, shielding them both from the rain.

“The rain’s not that bad,” Luz said.

“I know, but still, the groceries.”

“True.”

After they got home and packed away the groceries, Luz grabbed Amity by the arm and took her outside.

“Luz, it’s raining,” Amity said, finger moving to conjure another umbrella.

Luz batted the hand, stopping the spell. “I know! I’m here to be in the rain! Isn’t it great?”

“I feel wet.”

She shook her head. “Come on, sweet potato.” Luz held Amity’s hand and began twirling her around. Soon enough, Amity was smiling, similar to the sun that peaked behind the clouds. 

“It’s a shame the rain hurts you in the Boiling Isles,” Amity grumbled.

“Everything there tries to hurt you,” Luz corrected.

“You’re right about that one.”

Once Luz was tired of dancing, she pulled her girlfriend in for a kiss. “Ooh, my first rain kiss!”

Amity grinned, kissing her again. “Your second rain kiss.”

Just as Luz was ready for a third, a car’s honk started them both.

“You’ll both get sick if you don’t dry off!” Camila called out. “I need to park the car!”

Luz pouted, but they went inside and dried off.

(They both got sick.)

•~•~•~•~•~•

“Sand feels weird,” Amity commented.

“Agreed.”

Camila had taken them all on a trip to the beach after Gus had managed to figure out how to disguise the witch features from the witches. 

"Ooh, what's that?" Amity bent over and picked up a shell. She turned it over in her fingers. "This is so pretty!" She looked around, watching small children make sandcastles. “I’ve decided we’re making castles and we’re gonna decorate it with shells.”

Amity grabbed her by the arm as they found a good spot and got to work. Luz had a lot of sandcastle making experience (she once spent an entire beach outing making a really good one. Too bad she never got a picture), and Amity seemed very determined to make a sturdy, aesthetically pleasing looking castle. It got to the point where Amity was doing most of the work, but Luz was fine with it, amused by her girlfriend's focused look.

"Luz—oh, was I doing too much?"

"No no, carry on." For emphasis, Luz shifted to lay on her stomach, looking up at Amity with a smile. 

And ooh, this angle made it so that the sun shone on her hair perfectly, Amity almost seemed to be glowing ethereally. A goddess shaping her land with her own hands. Luz admired the view.

“Luz, I’ll be back with shells, protect the castle.”

She nodded. “I’ll do it with my life!”

Amity smiled fondly, kissing her on the cheek. Luz guarded the castle carefully like a knight, all for the sake of her goddess. Well, Luz had always been a fan of the goddess (usually princess, but close enough) and bodyguard pairing. As Amity returned, they placed the shells down and continued working until they eventually got bored. They took a few pictures, gave the shells to Vee (who was comfortably sunbathing and had no intention of getting up), and then Luz picked up Amity.

“Are you taking me to the water—Luz you are not going throw me in there Luz!”

Luz laughed at the splash, then yelped as a hand grabbed at her foot and she fell over. “Oh, this means war.”

The two began fighting, arms waving as they splashed water at each other. A proper duel, that was what this was; one that they could both enjoy as they mutually went at each other. They both laughed as they got the other, yelped as they got splashed, and despite the lack of magic involved, it was exhilarating. 

“Okay I think I’m done,” Luz panted, out of breath.

Amity smirked. “Does that mean I win?”

She glared, but was too tired to rise to the taunt. “We’ve been playing so close to the shore, we should go deeper.”

“Deeper?”

“Yeah, don’t worry! I can swim, and I’d never let you drown!”

“Okay, I trust you.”

Amity held on to Luz’s hand as she tried to float, and she did, for a moment, and then she began sinking and scrambled for purchase, accidentally dragging Luz down with her. As they resurfaced, they both laughed.

“You wanna head back?”

“Yeah, sure.”

•~•~•~•~•~•

“Where are you taking me?” Amity asked.

“It’s a surprise!”

Luz led her by the hand as they walked down the street, weaving through crowds of people. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to blindfold Amity until they were nearly there, but she was already committed to it, so she couldn’t just take it off and then put it on again. They entered a building and Luz paid for their passes.

They walked a little further in, and finally, Luz took off the blindfold. Amity looked around, eyes wide. “Wow… this is a lot of water.” They continued walking, and a fish swam nearby. “Woah, what is that?”

“Those are fish,” Luz explained. “That one’s called a blue tang! I was always a huge fan of animals, and I remember after our school brought us here once, I did so much research on the various fish.”

“They’re different from what I’ve seen,” Amity said. “No limbs, wings, how do they even move?”

“See those things that stick out from them? Those are fins! The fish push themselves in the water and the fins help them move too.”

“Oh, that’s so interes—what is that?”

“A shark! They’re like bigger fish and they eat smaller fish.”

“Was almost starting to wonder if the animals here were too friendly,” Amity joked.

“Oh, you haven’t seen how dangerous animals can be. It’s just that a lot of the time, we won’t ever see them for ourselves.”

“It’s a large world, Earth is.”

“Oh yeah, for sure.”

They continued walking through the aquarium, Amity asking questions and Luz telling her whatever facts that she was able to recall. Amity listened intently, curious about the world she was in. They entered a new room.

“And here’s a touch pool! Whatever’s inside, you can touch.”

“Really?”

“Yeah!” Luz walked up to one and lightly patted one of the stingrays. Amity followed suit.

“Oh… wow…”

“Isn’t it so cool?”

“It is! They're small and cute!"

"They're also not trying to eat you," Luz snorted.

"Yeah, that too."

After that, they continued walking around and then left for lunch.

"Thank you, Luz. For all of this."

Luz kissed her cheek. "I told you I'd take you out for some mundane dates, didn't I?"

"Does grocery shopping and a trip with everyone to the beach count as dates?"

"I can take you out for even more dates, if you want. An amusement park, to the movies, a fancy dinner, stargazing—"

"As long as I'm with you, I'll be happy," Amity said, staring at her. "But I definitely won't refuse going to those places with you."

Luz smiled. "I love you, Amity."

"I love you too, Luz."

•~•~•~•~•~•

Toh taglist: @subrosasteath

Want to be added/removed from the taglist? Just let me know!

[carbo-ships]

Chapter XIX

Beginning: Chapter I Previous: Chapter XVIII

A few days later, Ardis arrived at the satanic monastery's gate that Friday afternoon to find Aether waiting for her. He was leaning against the stone wall with his arms crossed, his helmet covering most of his face. She could see him smile as she approached. Ardis picked up her pace, eager to embrace him. She carried a small backpack that contained only a pair of pajamas, a change of clothes, and her toiletries for the night. He hugged her tightly and lifted her off the ground when she finally reached him.

"Hi, cara," he whispered in her ear.

She couldn't help but let out a dreamy sigh, melting into his arms. "Hi, Aether."

When he set her back down, he led her inside the grounds and locked the gate behind them. "How was the journey down?"

"Much better, thanks. The new link point is only about half a mile from here, so it saves me hours."

"Good, good." Now safely shielded from the outside world, he removed his helmet. She felt herself staring as they walked toward the building, but couldn't stop herself. She still wasn't used to seeing his face. There was that beard she loved so much that perfectly accented his strong jawline. He caught her gaze lingering and gave her a playful wink.

"Oh, stop," she laughed, rolling her eyes with a smile. "You'd stare, too, if you were in my shoes."

He chuckled softly, tucking his helmet under one arm so he could hold her hand. "I'm flattered you like my face so much."

"You're very handsome!" she insisted. "If your audiences could see you like this, they wouldn't be able to focus on a word Papa says."

That made his cheeks flush, but he quickly brushed it off. "Since when were you such a flirt?" he teased.

Her cheeks darkened as well. "Flirt? I'm just telling the truth!"

He opened the door to the monastery and they both stepped inside. "Is it safe to assume you'd like to stay with me in my room? Papa could arrange a guest room for you instead, if you'd like." He was fairly certain he knew what her answer would be, but he wanted to make sure. He ought to be a gentleman, after all.

"I, um... Is it okay if I stay with you?" she asked timidly. She seemed embarrassed to admit she wanted such a thing.

He smiled broadly. "Of course. Let's set your bag in my room then go say hi to the others, alright?"

She nodded with a bashful smile and they made their way down the long corridor to his bedroom. Once she'd found a spot for her bag in the corner of his room and shed her jacket, she turned to find Aether looking at her expectantly. She stared back in confusion, suddenly self-conscious. "What?"

"Oh, I'm sure you can guess," he chuckled, sauntering towards her. "I haven't seen you in weeks, cara. What do you think I want?" His hands found her waist, pulling her flush to his chest and leaning down to kiss her. She giggled with delight and met his lips with her own, draping her arms around his neck. When he pulled away a moment later, she had that dazed, dreamy look in her eyes. He smiled back at her and gave her another sweet kiss. "Shall we join the others?" he asked when they finally parted again. She nodded, and they exited the room.

As soon as Aether closed the door behind them, he suddenly swept the girl off her feet to carry her in his arms. She giggled and squirmed, hiding her blushing cheeks in the crook of his neck. "Aether," she whined half-heartedly.

"Yes, cara?" he asked, feigning innocence. She was too shy to protest further and settled for grumbling into his shoulder. He made his way to the ghouls' common room, the lively chatter growing louder with each of Aether's long strides. When he rounded the corner, he stopped in the open doorway. "The angel's home!" he declared, catching the attention of his peers. She gave a bashful wave, still suspended in the large ghoul's arms, and was met with a thunderous welcome. Aether took his seat on the couch and maneuvered the young woman to sit on his lap as everyone took their turn saying hello.

After a few minutes of joyful chatter, Papa's voice sounded from the doorway. "Ah, there's my girl!"

Ardis gasped and lept from Aether's lap. "Papa!" She ran to him and engulfed him in a big hug.

"It's so good to see you, little lamb," he cooed, returning her hug with equal fervor and pressing a chaste kiss to her temple. "Dinner's ready, if you all are ready to eat.”

The group moved to the dining room and quickly settled back into their old rhythms. Ardis was back at her seat in between Aether and Papa, which seemed to delight her. It felt right, Papa thought to himself as he watched her laugh in response to the ghouls’ playful bickering. He refilled her glass for her from one of the carafes of water.

She smiled at him. "Oh, thanks, Dad."

Papa paused, caught off-guard. Had he heard her correctly? Dad? She already had her eyes back on her plate, resuming her meal as if nothing was amiss. He glanced to Aether only to find the ghoul was already staring back at him, mirroring his surprised expression. He'd heard it too. Both men cracked a grin. "What was that, cara?" Papa asked, holding back a chuckle.

"Hmm?" She glanced at him, seemingly unaware of what she'd said. "What?"

Papa laughed. "I believe you called me Dad, tesorina."

Her eyes widened. "I– What? Did I?" Her cheeks were turning red.

"You did," Aether confirmed with a toothy grin.

"Ardis, I knew you looked up to me, but..." he tutted, resting a hand on her thigh and giving it a comforting squeeze. While he couldn't help but tease the girl for her slip-up, there was no stopping the genuine smile that was quickly spreading on his face. "That's very cute."

She hid her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to!"

"No, Ardis, there's no need to apologize! I'm flattered! If you wanted to call me that, I'd be perfectly fine with it!"

By that point, their conversation had attracted the attention of more members of the dining table. "What's going on?" Swiss asked, trying to get caught up on what had made the girl so flustered.

Papa gave her a sympathetic smile. "My little angel accidentally called me Dad." 

Swiss sent the girl a big grin. He loved watching her squirm like that. "How sweet. Does that make you Aeth's future father-in-law?"

Snickers erupted from around the table, which earned them all a glare from the quintessence ghoul. Ardis looked like she wanted to disappear. "Watch it," Aether warned him.

Next: Chapter XX

[whimsicalworldofme]

Saving Grace: Chapter Twelve

(Sorry I forgot to update here last week! I’m going to post 4 chapters today to catch up)

Steve and Grace are reunited and it feels so good.

The flight to D.C. left early, at six AM, which meant Grace had to be up and ready to leave the house at four. By the time Jarvis prompted her to get out of bed, she’d already been laying there with her eyes open for ages, too excited to actually sleep.

“What hotel are you staying at?” Tony asked as they drove the hour to LAX from their home in Malibu. “Did you give them my credit card?”

“Dad, I told you, I’m staying with Steve,” she knew he didn’t want to hear it, but maybe if she said it enough times he’d understand. “He said I can crash on his couch.”

“You know, Gracie, men that age, they’re only after one thing,” he carried on.

“Oh? What’s that?” She chuckled.

“Someone young and able-bodied to change their diapers and give them sponge baths as they slowly decline.” He stated it with full seriousness, which made her laugh even harder.

“He’s my friend and I wanted a chance to hang out with him, that’s all. And as a shrink, I wanted to make sure he’s adjusting all right to living on his own,” she lied. “He’s going to show me the sights, since I’ve never been to D.C. before. I’ll take in some history, see if there’s any work for S.H.I.E.L.D. I can bring back home with me, and just generally have a nice little vacation.”

“Last time I was in D.C. I was on trial,” Tony muttered. “But I guess I can see how it might appeal to some as a vacation destination.”

He dropped her off curbside at the airport, getting out of the car to pull her suitcase out of the trunk. Giving her a tight hug, he kissed her on the top of the head and sighed.

“Say hi to Capsicle for me,” he relinquished his hold on her. “And give Fury a little trouble, will you? Since I can’t do it myself.”

“Sure,” Grace laughed, pulling up the handle on her little rolling suitcase and adjusting the backpack on her shoulder. “Be good, Dad. I love you.”

“Love you too, kid,” he smiled, those soft brown eyes of his crinkling at the corners and lighting with joy.

Her sleepless night caught up with her on the plane and she slept for most of the five-hour flight. When they landed, she stopped in one of the terminal restrooms to check her appearance in the mirror. She had dressed casually, wearing tailored black jeans and a tee shirt with a print of cartoon corgis on it under a cozy black cardigan. She had wanted to dress up, but her dad would’ve asked questions she couldn’t answer honestly if she got too dolled up.

And besides, Steve doesn’t really care what I wear. He’s used to seeing me in everything from pajamas to dresses.

Weaving her way around other travelers moving with less conviction, she made her way to luggage claim, which is where Steve had said he’d meet her. Her heart hammered in her ears as she rode the escalator down to that level, her eyes scanning the room. When she spotted him, standing there with his hands in his jeans pockets, wearing a baseball cap with the NASA logo and a sky blue Henley under a navy blue jacket, she felt her heart flip-flop.

No one seemed to notice that Captain America was standing right there. With his hands in his pockets, his posture shrunk inward enough that no one paid him much attention and the hat helped to shield his identity, he looked like just any other guy.

A bright, uncontrollable smile lit Steve’s face when he caught sight of her, and he looked as though every worry in his life had vanished. As soon as she stepped off the escalator, he scooped her into his arms, her feet leaving the ground as he hugged her tightly. Grace threw her arms around his neck and buried her head in his shoulder, breathing in the familiar scent of his skin, enjoying the familiar security of his arms.

“I knew you’d come,” he confessed with a grin as he finally set her to her feet. “Though there was a tiny fear in the back of my mind that Tony opened that sketchbook before you.”

“Oh my god, could you imagine?” Grace laughed. “He would’ve been suited up and at your door within the day.” She rolled her eyes and Steve let out a half-hearted, nervous chuckle. “I really missed you,” she watched a pleased blush creep across his cheeks.

“I missed you too,” he smiled. Someone hollered “Steve!” across the baggage claim, making his head pop up, but it was for someone else. “Come on, let’s get out of here before someone recognizes me,” he took her hand.

As they took the metro to his apartment, Steve caught her up on his new day to day life, the things he liked about the city. He carried her suitcase in one hand and held her hand in the other as they walked, chatting and laughing, the rest of the world forgotten as they made up for lost time. His new place was on a relatively quiet, tree-lined street full of old historic rowhomes. It seemed fitting for him, comfortable in its age, a bit artsy, definitely charming.

“It’s smaller than what you’re used to,” Steve warned as he turned the key and let her in. “But since it’s just me, I like it.”

He ushered her into a light-filled room, one whole wall full of windows that overlooked the street. It looked exactly like he’d drawn it, with their slouchy old leather couch, small tv, the tiny kitchen with no more than two square feet of counter space, and the little table and chairs that they’d shared so many meals and moments at together. Off to the other side was the bathroom and the open door to Steve’s bedroom, which held his simple bed with white sheets, made with military precision.

“I think it’s lovely,” Grace turned to face him and saw he’d taken his cap off. “You cut your hair,” she exclaimed in surprise and watched a flash of panic cross his face. It was a more modern look, a little more spiky, less fluffy, but it suited him. “It looks good,” she smiled and watched him relax again.

“Nat kept telling me I looked like a boy scout, which I gathered was bad, so I figured it was time for an update,” he chuckled, shrugging off his jacket and hanging it and his keys on a hook by the door. He plucked up her suitcase again and held it in one hand, shuffling into the living room. “So, you can take the bed. I know you don’t sleep well on a couch, so I’ll sleep out here.”

“Or,” Grace didn’t know how comfortable he would be with the proposition, but figured she’d give it a shot anyway, “we could both sleep in the bed and neither one of us will have to suffer on the couch.” She watched the tops of his ears go pink and he let out a laugh, eyes scrunching a little. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” he shook his head. He kept his head down slightly, but glanced up at her, bashfully rubbing the back of his neck. “I didn’t want to presume—”

“Steve, I flew across the country to spend a week with you,” she pointed out.

“Yes, you did.” Setting her suitcase down, he stepped closer to her, grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into his chest, grinning down at her. “I’m gonna kiss you now.”

“Please do,” she snickered.

Leaning down, he started slow, brushing his lips like a light whisper against hers. Grace shut her eyes happily and as he kissed her again, deeper, more passionately, she slipped her arms around his neck, holding him closer. Her fingers scratched lightly at the nape of his neck and into his hair. The hunger from their first kiss had only grown and he pressed his body to hers, kissing her until he finally, reluctantly, pulled back, both of them breathless.

“We should—” his brilliant blue eyes met hers, clearly hesitant, searching for a cue on what she wanted to do next.

“Mhmm,” Grace nodded. “Maybe go see the sights?”

With a nod and one final, lingering kiss, Steve stepped back and relinquished his hold on her hips. Grace watched him go as he plucked up her suitcase and took it to the bedroom. She couldn’t stop smiling, touching her fingertips to her lips, and admiring how nice he looked, even from the back in just jeans and a cotton shirt.

“Ready?” He came back into the room and she nodded. “Good.”

They took the metro to the National Mall. As they walked along, hand in hand, just another couple in the crowd, Steve asked her questions about the projects she was working on with her father’s company, down to minute details, endeavoring to understand all the fine details and beaming at the giddy excited way she bounced a little on the balls of her feet as she talked about it. He laughed as she told him about all the mischief she and Tony got up to together in his workshop. He told her what details he could about his work with S.H.I.E.L.D., running missions with Agent Romanoff, getting more into modern things. Their conversation was peppered with Steve pointing out the different monuments. They stopped at a local ice cream shop and got cones, rocky road for him, mint chip for her.

“I had to get my driver’s license,” he said off-handed as conversation shifted to upcoming elections, since they were in D.C. after all. “Had to take a driving test and everything.”

“Wait, didn’t you have a license before?” Grace eyed him suspiciously, finishing her cone. “The government couldn’t like, make an exception to just renew it?”

“I never got one before,” he shrugged.

They got back to his apartment and he fumbled for a moment with the keys. Grace took a deep breath, enjoying the air conditioning after being in the swampy humidity of the city.

“You seriously never got a license?” She thought about all the photos and news reels she’d seen of him driving different vehicles. “You drove trucks and motorcycles. You flew planes.”

“In the military, they give you training and a special license for whatever equipment they want you to drive,” he explained, hanging his keys on the hook while Grace turned on the lights. “Before the serum, I couldn’t even really see over the wheel of a car anyway, so…”

Grace cracked up and watched the slow smile creep over Steve’s lips and he let out a little snicker. She dropped to a seat on the couch.

“I wouldn’t have been able to eat that ice cream either,” he added, plopping down next to her. “I was allergic to pretty much everything.”

“Hmm,” Grace paused, squinting for a minute before she flashed him an impish smile, one that she knew she’d inherited from her dad, even before she met him. “What about latex?”

Steve sputtered, laughing, as his face turned bright red. He shook his head.

“I mean, I don’t want to be presumptuous,” she kept going, scooting a little closer to him. “But if you wanted to give it a try, we could.”

“I’m not sure what you’re suggesting is how I want to test if that particular allergy is gone,” he stated. “Do you want to be the one to call an ambulance for that sort of allergic reaction?”

Playfully, Grace shifted and climbed into Steve’s lap, sitting face to face, her hands on his shoulders. He grinned, looking up at her, and bit his bottom lip. Grabbing her hips, he held her close, giving her a little tug. She used her fingertips to scratch lightly into his hair, which made him shut his eyes and hum happily.

“If you’re willing to risk it,” she leaned in and pressed a whisper soft kiss to his lips, “I promise, I will call 911 if anything bad happens. But nothing bad is going to happen.”

He smiled into her kiss then deepened it.

“I won’t know what to do,” he pulled away from her, suddenly timid, gaze falling. “I’ve never—”

Grace hooked a finger under his chin and made him look up at her.

“Then you’ll just have to do exactly as I tell you,” she said with a smirk. “You can take orders, can’t you Captain?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he locked eyes with her and grinned.

He stood up, catching her off guard, but he kept her in his grasp as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He strode confidently to the bedroom, kissing her as he went, and kicked the door shut behind them with his heel.

Chapter 11

Masterlist

Chapter 13

[studiojeon]

troubled outsiders | intro - jjk

| summary | -  how you two end up pining for each other.

warnings: none :) 

content: idol!jungkook x student!oc, friends to lovers (because it’s THE superior trope okurrrt), jungkook is quiet and shy but a social butterfly when needed (and when it comes to oc but you’re not supposed to know that yet), oc is both a badass and a socially akward queen, she has TWO friends and only because one is dating the other (like... same), the Lee Charyeong is her bestie, oc works at bighit and feels like everyone either fears her or hates her, author nim is a crackhead and has no plot planned for this series whatsoever (doesn’t know if she’ll keep this up, we’ll see).

words: 1.93 k

His presence was overwhelming, to say the least. Even if he were surrounded by six hundred other equally handsome men, somehow, to you (and the majority of the female population, at that point) he was as captivating and magnetic as they come. Jeon Jungkook didn't pay no mind to no one, but sure as hell everyone became hyper aware of his existence and essence in time. And that didn’t exclude you.

Yet, as nonchalant and indifferent as the man could be perceived, in reality he was more considerate and friendly than the aura he exuded. You knew this because working in the same company had to teach a thing or two about the people who literally carried said company and the whole industry at some point, still you barely knew four or three people, including your assistant and Jungkook, whom you had met once.

The opportunity of working at the company had come to you out of the blue, quite literally, you were attempting to send one of your assignments in when an email appeared in your notifications during your sailor moon study break. 

HYBE Entertainment

We’re glad to inform you that you’re being recruited for the position of Logistics Manager in one of our sub companies, BIGHIT Entertainment. We’ve thoroughly looked through the CV you’ve submitted and are very interested in your capabilities and what you can contribute to our organization. One of our other managers will gladly meet you on a day you can both agree on. Make sure to answer this email to get more details about your interview.

“Nani!? THE FUCK?” sure as hell that your eyes and cognitive functions were deceiving you (ADHD) you went over the text a little over three times in a row before the message settled in your mind. This was sus. 

Before even considering a reply you made a quick call. “Fucking Lee Chaeryeong” you spat on your end of the line. “You did this, didn’t you?”.

Her silence was more than enough to have you cursing her under your breath. “I don’t know what exactly you’re talking about but it most likely was me. Does it have to do with a sex toy in particular?”

“No” you denied almost monotonously, guessing the pile of boxes in the corner of your room with her names on them was what she referred to. “Does anything come to mind if i mention BIGHIT FUCKING ENTERTAINMENT?”

It was her. All those conversations during the summer about how badly you wanted to work in the entertainment business as marketing staff of some sort had their effect on your friend, who, despite all your excuses and denials, knew you better than you and your mom combined did, and because of this, was sure as hell you were not making a move towards that goal whatsoever. So, being the boss bitch she was, she took matters into her own hands, was what she explained.

You concluded that was the reason you had reached a point in your life where you had more experience than most recently graduated kids in your field, because Chaeryeong had you moving every summer break. You had been the manager of a coffee franchise and convenience store during you junior and senior years, and also figured a way to improve the marketing management strategy of a fucking restaurant while at it. Not to toot your own horn, but you were kind of cool.

Or not. “I hope this job satisfies your workaholic ass for once, I’m running out of ideas”. Chaeryeong spat before hanging up.

Sure as hell it would. 

On friday afternoon, you made your way to the HYBE INSIGHT building and introduced yourself to your recruiters who promised to give you a call at some point. “It went fine” you told Chaeryeong once you were in your car. And it was the truth, however you weren’t so sure if they would actually hire you at some point since well, you were a girl in a male dominated industry and, in your opinion, there were always better people than you. “Wanna go grab coffee?”

“I want to. But, I have practice today. I’m actually on my way there. Please avoid driving through Hongdae today, this shit’s packed.” You sighed and thanked her for the heads up. You missed your friend, badly. You hadn’t seen each other in three weeks, and you didn’t even live so far away from each other (you did, but it had been worse before). You two had very agitated lives to say the least. Chaeryeong was a kpop group member, and well, you were jumping from job to job and getting your phD in Business Management at the same time. It was hard to find moments to spare together during some periods of the year, but you guess the anticipation made your encounters better.

“Talk about anticipation” you slammed your forehead against your desk, taking a breather after such an anxiety packed situation. Short story: you got the job (for some fucking reason). And you had gone through a whole week of expectancy and anguish. Not getting that job would have broken your heart, and ego at the same time. 

You guessed the law of attraction tactics Chaeryeong had taught you had sorted their effect and were what led you to your current position in life.

“Miss _____, your presentation’s ready” your work assistant gave you a comforting pat in the back as she took a seat somewhere next to you. You were nervous, shitless. It was your fifth week at the job, and being the proactive woman you were, you had collected lots of data in order to come up with a resources management plan.

It was a Thursday afternoon, and more than a hundred people sat in front of you, waiting for your speech. Including him, who you’d once bumped into accidentally during one of your data recollections runs inside the building. 

You hated having the need to impress others yet, hence your anxious behaviour. But this was a decisive moment in regards to your validation in your new job and how you’d continue to be perceived during your work stance (no reason to panic at all)… you needed to get it together.

“I think I just pissed off a bunch of old men right now,” you told your assistant right after you got off stage. “I need a bathroom break”. Linh gave you a reassuring smile, one she always had plastered on her face.

“Take as long as you need to. I’ll give you a call once the rest are done”.

The commute to the bathroom was unnecessarily complicated in your opinion. You had spent a little over a month rushing through the hallways of the building and you swore every single day your spatial orientation got a bit more fucked up. There was no way there wasn’t a single bathroom on the floor you were in, that would just be atrocious. “It’s not completed yet” someone said beside you as you stared at the half empty map the company had projected on a wall next to the elevators. “Where do you need to go?” 

Kim Taehyung of all people in the world was talking to your ugly and unworthy ass. Your breath caught in your throat and after staring for at least five seconds your body finally reacted to your orders. “Oh, um… the bathroom. I’ve been looking for it for a good ten minutes” you explained with a nervous laugh.

“Trust me, I get it. I still get lost over here” he smiled gently. “It’s in the hallway in the middle of the next hallway” 

You laughed at his very ambiguous explanation. “Thank you” you bowed your head and made your way to said destination.

It was in the hallway to your left, not your right, and it took you a while to figure out that new piece of information. Once you were staring at yourself in the mirror, you realized that you looked considerably tired and exhausted from all the social interaction you had undergone throughout the day. You were used to the side stares and whispering you’d get whenever you entered a room at that point, but some days you just wished you could get a break from them. After all, it wasn’t your fault you didn’t look Korean at all, and that you also didn’t fit the stereotype of a foreigner.

You got that from your mom, both the non Korean features and social fatigue. But that wasn’t even the problem most of the time, it was your friendly and smart nature which she had also passed onto you. Some would consider it a blessing, but to you it was a burden, like a clear glass that shielded you from introducing yourself into other people’s realities. You had few friends and people to trust, but in your everyday life you had to deal with the pressure of standing out too much and that came with a lot of negative energy from others. You sigh as you spray your favorite fragrance on yourself. You could be feeling like shit, but no one will ever catch you slipping.

But that excluded him apparently. You hadn’t noticed that on the other side of the hallway was the men’s bathroom and the realization hit you as you were calmly getting some tea from the vending machine. “Good afternoon” the man greeted you as he made his way out the hallway, but stopped in his tracks right after he noticed you. “_____! Hi” he smiled at you and you wanted to die, suddenly forgetting what you were ordering in the first place.

“H-hi Jungkook” You smiled back, poorly attempting to put your wallet back into your backpack. 

“Need help there?” he noticed your agitated state and held your bag for you. He smelled just as heavenly as you had expected, somewhat between big dick energy and flowers. Oh, and he also remained as kind and polite as you remembered him.

Seeming as if he wasn’t planning on continuing his path to wherever he was heading to in the first place, he stood quietly by your side, waiting for you to be done with your deal. “How have you been?” you break the ice for him.

Quickly, you grab your tea and start walking back to the auditorium together, unaware of your surroundings or the suspicions that could arise. “Busy, but very good. How have you been? I saw your presentation earlier… I wish I understood half of what you said but you still sounded amazing”.

And you would never admit it out loud, but you were positive you were blushing (and falling in love too - platonically, of course). “Oh god, you think so? I basically told them they’ve been doing things wrong all along so maybe you’re the only one who’s appreciative of my work” you handed him the second can of iced tea you bought without him noticing. You swear his eyes lit up like stars in the night sky. “Payback for the other day” you smile at him.

The first time you two had crossed paths you didn’t look nearly as glamorous as you did now. In fact, you looked incredibly disturbed and in pain, carrying a huge pile of paperwork in your hands. But as soon as sweet Jungkook noticed your state, he offered you a hand and somehow ended up helping through your multiple data collecting trips that afternoon. It was a nice day.

“Anytime” he took the can in his hands with a shy look on his face. “Unless I’m practicing, you know…” you look down at his feet, with huge black boots engulfing them, and you smile due to their contrast with his personality. “Here, i’ll give you my number so you can call me whenever you need to put all those papers back. Hopefully I’ll be around” he added as he pulled his phone from his back pocket.

Way to get a girl’s number, my god.

[tsuki-chibi]

MayBee Queen 2022 Day 2: Bee

Read on AO3 instead 

---

“What are you doing?”

Chloé opened an eye at the slightly incredulous question, squinting up at the person who dared to interrupt her quiet, peaceful rest. But she couldn’t look for look. The sun was extremely bright today, and Nino was perfectly framed in the bright golden glow. She ended up closing her eye again and sighing.

“I’m resting,” she said.

“In the sun? Aren’t you worried about getting a sunburn?”

“I’m wearing sunscreen,” Chloé muttered, because the question was unfortunately a fair one. She sunburned almost as easily as Adrien did.

“Oh. Well, that’s good.” Nino evidently took that as permission to join her, because he sat down and then stretched out beside her with his hands behind his bed. Chloé briefly contemplated protesting his presence before giving up. Nino was too stubborn to care whether she wanted him here or not. Besides, at least Nino knew how to be quiet.

Most of the time, anyway.

Nino’s alarmed yelp alerted Chloé to a potential problem long before she heard the buzzing. She opened her eyes and sat up, irritated, only to realize that Nino was trying to swat away a bee. Chloé sighed again and reached out a hand. The bee swerved away from Nino’s outstretched hands and landed lightly on her finger.

“Don’t hurt it,” Chloé scolded him, shielding the bee with her opposite hand. “It’s not going to hurt you. You’re just laying beside a patch of particularly delicious marigolds.”

Nino blinked at her, and then looked down at the patch of yellow flowers that was right beside him.

“Move away,” Chloé ordered, glad when he obeyed. He scrambled around to her other side. Chloé extended her hand towards the flowers and watched as the bee flew from her finger to the flowers.

“Huh,” Nino said after a moment.

“What?”

“I just never thought that you could be gentle with anything,” Nino said.

Chloé glared at him over her shoulder.

He just grinned back at her, completely unrepentant.

“I like bees,” Chloé said, deciding to ignore the comment. “And I guess they like me now too. I blame Pollen.”

“Yeah, Adrien keeps telling me that half the cats in Paris like to follow him around. I’m kind of glad I don’t meet up with turtles on a regular basis.” Nino reached around her and grabbed his backpack, dragging it over to him. Chloé watched, bemused, as he pulled a bottle of bubble solution and a wand.

“Do you just carry that around with you all the time?” she asked after he’d blown a few bubbles.

Nino nodded. “Yup. It’s my way of getting rid of frustrations. Crappy mark on a test?” He blew a bubble. “Gone. Argument with my parents?” He blew another. “Gone. My brother getting on my nerves?” And another. “Gone. It’s much more cathartic than stewing over whatever’s bothering me.”

Chloé considered that for a moment, pulling her knees up against her chest. She had to admit that the more bubbles that Nino blew, the more relaxed that he looked.

“Can I try?” she asked finally, bracing herself for Nino to say no. They weren’t really friends, after all. Teammates, sure, given that they both had a miraculous and worked on the same team. But friends was a stretch.

However, Nino looked over at her with a smile and nodded. “Sure! Have you ever done it before? Adrien hadn’t.”

“… No,” Chloé admitted reluctantly.

“Okay. Just blow gently. Not too hard.” He dipped the wand into the bubble solution and then extended it out towards her. Chloé formed a ring with her lips and then blew gently. The bubble formed slowly before popping free and rising above them. She watched it, delighted, until the bubble floated too close to a flower and popped.

“Thanks,” Chloé said, realizing that she did feel a little better, and Nino grinned at her.

“Anytime.”

[ragingbookdragon]

Raise Hell And High-Waters

Lanternfamily x Reader One-Shot

Word Count: 1.2K Warnings: Explicit Language

Author's Note: Based on the ask about Batman trying to adopt the little scrappy Lanternkid! Enjoy! -Thorne

**********************************************************************

Hal set the kid down on the couch in the lounge, setting their Justice League backpack beside them. They immediately busied themselves pulling out the game console, switching it on as they cocked their legs up on the cushions, slinking down until their chin was in their chest, head bent up against the arm of the sofa.

“You gonna be okay right here?” he inquired.

“Mhm,” they hummed, pressing the buttons until the music flowed through the speakers.

Hal nodded, then reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet; he flicked it open and tugged out some money, setting it in the cup holder of their backpack. “Here’s ten ones, okay? The vending machines are over there, get a snack and a drink if you want it.”

“Can I get a soda?”

“No sodas after eight.” He announced, like a parent, hands even cocked on his hips.

“Loser,” they griped, then looked at him. “Do they have flavored waters?”

“Any kind you can dream of kid,” he reached down and ruffled their hair. “Look, the meeting was last minute, and I wouldn’t’ve brought you if I could’ve found a babysitter in time.” He smiled halfheartedly. “I should only be gone an hour and a half, okay?”

They smiled. “Can we go to the movies after this?”

Hal’s face pinched. “Jesus kid, you really wanna see that midnight showing, don’t you?”

“Well, the child actor in the movie is like me,” they theorized. “Super smart way above their classmates’ levels.” Shooting them a bored stare, they said, “If you weren’t home-schooling me, I’d be a college graduate by now.”

He rolled his eyes and ruffled their hair again. “I gotta go. Don’t move,” he warned. “I’m serious. Stay right here.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” He gave them one last look, then hurried off down the hallway.

***

It’d been an hour or so before they’d heard any movement, but when they did, it was above their head, brushing over the back of the couch. Hal had told them the Watchtower was completely safe, so they didn’t immediately panic. Whoever or whatever it was, was friendly.

“What are you playing?” The person—a man by the low gravel of their voice—asked.

“The new Pokémon game,” they murmured. “It’s easy compared to the other games.”

“How far back through them have you played?”

They pursed their lips, thinking for a moment. “Uncle Barry had his Game Boy and the original Red and Blue still in their cases.” Holding up the console, they said, “Hal bought me the Switch and Pokémon Sword and Shield the other weekend.”

“How do you like the newest games compared to the oldest ones?”

“They’re easier, built for a fun rather than a competitive, skilled mode.” They grinned as they caught a Lucario. “I haven’t lost a single battle since I started playing last week. Honestly, the last Pokémon games that actually made me try were HeartGold and SoulSilver.” Letting out a bored, ‘pfft’, they added, “Every game after that is all about building up a dream team and completely obliterating every opponent.”

“What’s your dream team?” they asked.

“Aurorus, Charizard, Gardevoir, Greninja, Lapras, and Lucario.” They shrugged. “I substitute Lapras out for Talonflame or Yveltal from time to time.”

“How do you play?”

“Offensively. I build up my teams stats then just take things head on.”

“No moves that boost defense?”

“Players that focus on stat moves are losers. Play hard to win or don’t play at all,” they griped, finally turning to look at the mystery man. “You’re Batman.”

He peered at them through his white cowl. “I am.”

“Why do you know so much about Pokémon?” they inquired. “You’re awfully knowledgeable for a grown man who takes down supervillains.”

Nodding, he replied, “My third son loves the games. He’d probably get the crap knocked out of his team by yours.”

They grinned. “Lemme guess, he focuses on stat moves?”

“Mhm.”

“Loser,” they snorted.

Suddenly, Batman looked rather serious. “Why are you out here all alone?”

“Hal had a meeting and couldn’t find a babysitter. The other guys were busy too.”

“They take care of you as well?”

“Yeah. I stay with Hal or John when they’re on earth, Hal mostly. Kyle and Guy keep an eye on my when I’m on Oa.”

“You’ve been to Oa?”

“A few times. Weird place. Weirder aliens and people.”

“What about school?”

“Hal home-schools me.”

“How come?” he questioned, watching them trample another player.

“I’m really smart. Like Einstein genius smart.” They shrugged. “Hal said it’d be easier to avoid attention if we home-school me.”

“Do you like it?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re not growing up around kids your own age. You’re by yourself a lot.”

“I was on the streets before Kyle found me,” they retorted. “I’m used to being on my own. And besides, kids my age are annoying. They’re still stuck in the play stage of development and I’m in the ask really inquisitive questions and solve impossible physics problems stage.”

Batman chuckled. “You’re pretty smart then, yeah?”

“Yeah.” They shut off their Switch and shoved it in their backpack. “Hal and the others can’t keep up.”

Getting off the sofa, they wandered over to the vending machines, sure that Batman was following them. They tried to reach the number pad, but couldn’t, frowning as they turned to him and held their arms up.

“Help me.”

He bent down and lifted them, letting them press the buttons; when they were finished, he didn’t set them down, merely carried them as they opened the chip bag and snacked. They were apparently content to lean onto his shoulder, head tucked under his chin. Batman gently rocked them, as he walked around, and soon they felt their eyelids falling shut.

***

“—ere are they!”

They awoke to shouting, startled by the sound of Hal’s panicked and scared voice. Batman’s hand touched their side. “It’s okay.”

“Hal’s worried,” they murmured, eyes droopy, tone sleep laced.

“Kid!” Hal’s voice was close now, then they were being yanked out of Batman’s arms and into the Green Lantern’s, life practically squeezed out of them. “Holy shit, you scared the hell out of me.”

“They were fine,” Batman sighed. “I had them.”

“I’m not talking to you!” Hal griped. “You okay?”

“Can’t—breathe—” they gasped and immediately his arms loosened, letting them inhale deeply. “‘M fine.”

“Come on, I’ve got your backpack. Let’s go home.”

As they walked off, Batman’s voice reached them. “You need to enroll them in a school that’ll let them grow and mature with other kids their age.”

Hal spun, fire in his voice as he snapped, “Don’t tell me how to raise my kid.”

When they turned the corner and walked to the Zeta tubes, they asked, “Do you mean that?”

“Mean what?” Hal asked.

“That I’m your kid?”

Their voice sounded so far, so lost, so…afraid. Afraid of hope, afraid of love, afraid of another parent leaving them on the streets, turning their back on them like all the rest did before.

Hal pulled back so he could stare at them, and he took their small chin in his hand, affirming, “Absolutely.” His eyes were serious but still warm. “You’re my kid and you always will be. And if anyone, and I mean anyone, tried to take you from me…I’d raise hell and so would your uncles to keep you with us.”

Tears flooded their eyes and they sniffed, burying their face in Hal’s neck.

He smiled, gently petting the back of their head. “I love you, kid.”

[supercorpkid]

Once Upon a Time in…

Camelot

Supercorp, Kara Danvers x Daughter!Reader, Lena Luthor x Daughter!Reader, Emma Swan x Reader, Regina Mills x Reader, Snow White x Reader, Prince Charming x Reader, Merlin x Reader, Morgana Pendragon x Reader.

Word Count: 3100.

Previously on the series - Neverland

“So I guess we’re going to Camelot.”

You look at Henry, not knowing what that means. Wait, Camelot. Legend of the sword? It can’t be it. They can’t be talking about that, right? But you look around, you see Snow White’s soft smile at you, the ‘Evil Queen’ appearing and disappearing with nothing but a purple fog around her. They are definitely talking about king Arthur, and Lancelot and the sword buried on the ground that no one could lift it.

“I need my bow and arrow.”

“And my sword!”

“We should take more than one magic bean.” How is it possible that you’re not even surprised about magic beans anymore?

It takes around fifteen minutes for everyone to be standing in the same place close to you, ready to go to Camelot. Henry nods his affirmation at you, and you almost feel bad for making all these people use a magic bean and go to a different world, just to ask a powerful wizard how to take you home. But then again, you really need to get back home. So, you’ll accept the help.

“We’re all ready?” Emma asks and you nod in agreement. “To Camelot!”

And to Camelot you go, through a magic bean, and dear Rao you can’t wait to tell Jamie this. She is never going to believe you.

When you get to Camelot, to the castle, Merlin is nowhere to be found. King Arthur -although he is not king yet, so- sends someone for him and all you can do is wait.

“Wait, wait! They’re here! My moms! They’ve come to pick me up!” You point out the window. Watching Lena, all dressed as she belongs in this story, walking by.

“No, I believe you’re incorrect, child. That’s Morgana.” Arthur says, making you even more confused. “She might look like someone you know. But there’s nothing in her heart that shall confuse you any further.”

“What happened to her?”

“What didn’t? That would be far more of an appropriate question. But this matter shall not be discussed any further, as Merlin should be returning to assist you.”

You look around. Snow, Charming, Emma and Regina are waiting on Merlin for a solution. And you want it too. You need to go back home, but-

You look out the window again. To where you saw ‘Morgana’. She looks just like your mother. You can’t help yourself from sneaking out of the room in a flash. You think you’ve left unnoticed. You’re wrong.

“Hey, where are you going?” Henry yells at you and you finally stop. You look behind and see him running towards you. “Merlin is coming. He is your chance to go home.”

“Henry, I know what I saw, ok? That woman, she-she looks just like my mom. Don’t you think that’s a crazy coincidence?”

“She could be using magic to trick you.”

“Yeah, she could.” You agree with your head, but don’t turn back. Henry stands beside you, looking like he’ll follow you if you decide to go. “I have to.”

“Wait, before you go.” He takes an enormous book out of his backpack. “Maybe you should read her story first. See what you’re dealing with.”

“Do you just carry this monstrosity everywhere?” You ask while he places the book in your hands.

“Just read it.” He flips through some pages, and you use your super speed to read faster.

“Huh.” You put the book down, furrowing your brows. Henry has the same expression. “Her story is-is like my mom’s.”

“How come?”

“She is an illegitimate daughter of someone powerful, raised as if she wasn’t family at all. She was good.” You open the book again to show it to him. “Then she was betrayed by Merlin! Her friend. He knew she had magic and thought she would become evil, so he tried to poison her. And that is what turned her evil.”

“Oh, is your mom evil? Mine was too!”

“No. That’s the thing. My mom, she had her moments, but she redeemed herself. My mom was always supposed to fall into the light. But Morgana-”

“Is supposed to be the darkness to Merlin’s light.” Henry finishes reading the sentence back to you.

“Don’t you get it? She wasn’t evil. She doesn’t have to be evil. If we can save her then-”

“Then what?”

“I don’t know.” You breathe deep. “I don’t know, but maybe that’s the reason why we’re here. Because heroes need to save. And Morgana needs saving.”

“Maybe we should call the rest of the family.” Henry says looking to where his mothers are.

“There’s no time. There she goes.” You watch Morgana going inside the woods. “MORGANA!”

“It’s High Priestess to you.” She turns around and you look at her. You really look at her. There’s no kindness in her face. “What do you want?”

“I wanna help you.” You give one step forwards, shielding Henry with your body.

Morgana looks at you, she really looks at you, like she can see deep inside your soul. It’s so hard seeing her, as she looks just like Lena. And you wonder if Lena could have fallen into this dark path too. Why does one have to fall into the light, and the other into the darkness? What if things weren’t as black and white?

“This isn’t you. You were good. Kind-hearted. They’ve turned you into this, but you can fight it.”

“I don’t want to fight it. I want to embrace it.” Morgana gives you an evil grin. “I want power, I want to rule Camelot. Being good will take me nowhere.”

“You will never rule Camelot being evil.” Henry chimes in. “Haven’t you heard? Good always wins, so you will never take over Camelot like this.”

“You’re looking at this all wrong, kid. What do the good guys get in the end? A happy little family? Settling for dumb hopeful kids?” She scoffs and you know she is talking about you and Henry. Dumb hopeful kids. Ouch. “That’s not in my cards. I want something far greater, but you wouldn’t understand.”

You look back to Henry, exchanging a hopeless look. “Arthur was right. There’s nothing in your heart to confuse me.”

“Arthur being right? That would be a first.” She looks at Henry behind you, gives you a mischievous smile. “You don’t have to protect your brother. He doesn’t look powerful at all. You, on the other hand…”

“He is not my brother.”

“And I guess he won’t ever be, if you make the right choice.” She quirks one eyebrow at you looking amused. Your mind screams Lena. Your heart says otherwise. “You mistake me for someone else. I do not know why the person holds your heart like that, but I assure you, if you stand with me, you won’t need anyone else.”

“Why?”

“Because I can give you power. Beyond the one you have.” Morgana motions to the castle. “This entire kingdom shall be mine. Soon. It could be ours, if you wish.”

“Don’t do it.” Henry whispers behind you. You give one step forward, instead.

“I don’t want a kingdom. I want to go home.” You say, earning a smirk as a response.

“Great. I wouldn’t want to share, anyhow. Why don’t we make a deal? You help me take back what’s mine by right, and I’ll send you to wherever you want.”

“Another reality?”

“Don’t do it!” Henry speaks a little louder. Morgana’s eyes turn bright yellow, and she moves her hand, throwing Henry backwards, with nothing but that.

“Believe in me now?”

“Yes.”

“NO! DON’T DO IT!” You hear Henry’s yelps getting louder as you move closer to Morgana.

“Does he ever shut up?” She asks, eyes turning yellow again.

“Get away from her, Morgana!” You hear from your side and see a guy raising his sword at her. “She’s just a kid and has nothing to do with your desire for revenge.”

“Merlin.” She points out, nonchalantly. And you blink your eyes feeling yourself coming down from a weird dream. When you look behind yourself you see Snow with her bow and arrow ready to shoot. Charming is pointing a sword at her too. Regina’s hands are on fire. Emma also has white magic coming out of her hands. “I see you brought a cavalry. You always need it when you’re up against me.”

“Get away from the kids!” Emma yells from behind you.

“Too bad.” Morgana looks at you, ignoring everyone else. “I would’ve guessed you wanted to go home. Merlin cannot do that for you. You’ll be STUCK with them.”

Her words send shivers down your spine. And you cave, feeling like you should follow her because she is your only hope. You give one step forward again.

“Get away from her! You’re not the only evil witch in here.” Regina says, earning a sigh from Morgana.

“I see the decision was made for you.” She says while she leaves, as quickly as she appeared.

“Are you ok?” Snow runs to you, while Emma and Regina help Henry up. She touches your face looking for any bruises.

“She didn’t hurt me.” But your eyes are full of tears, and Snow can’t believe you’re not hurt.

“Come on.” She throws her arms around your shoulders and guides you back to the castle. “Merlin’s here now. He’ll help you.”

But she was wrong. Merlin can’t help you. So Morgana was right.

“Another protection spell around the city, you say?” Merlin seems to be considering the information. “I’m sorry to inform you that there are no shortcuts, and you must break this curse as you’ve broken the last one.”

“But we don’t know who started the curse this time.” Regina says.

“Then you must start there. But quickly. As long as she is in Storybrooke inside a curse, she’ll become part of the book. And then, she won’t be able to leave again.” Merlin has not even finished talking and you’re already crying. Storybrooke is nice but you can’t be stuck there. You have to go back home. “I apologize if my help wasn’t what you required.”

“It’s ok.” You sigh. Heart even heavier on your chest now. “I’m used to losing.”

“I have victories and I’ve losses-” Arthur puts his hand on your shoulder. “And I’ve learned that it’s the losses that require us to be brave.”

Sure, it makes sense. You know it’s true, you know you have to be brave. But his words don’t fix the ache in your heart and the emptiness in your stomach. You’re still a kid, stuck in a foreign city, with fairytale characters as friends. If the pain didn’t feel so real, you would’ve thought you were dreaming.

“Thanks.” You point to the door. “I’ll wait outside while you guys figure out how we’re leaving.”

You walk outside. Looking around to see if anyone is following you. It seems that this time Henry didn’t follow you, so you’re safe. You don’t want to help Morgana take over Camelot, especially not because she’s doing it for revenge. But she was right, Merlin can’t take you home. Maybe she is your only option. Maybe you have to do the dubious call so you can get back home to your moms, aunts, cousin, girlfriend-

One step forward.

Kara would never tell you to do the wrong thing, no matter how long it would take for her to see you again.

One step back.

But would she be right? Would it be fair for you to wait to get home and maybe never get back, because you couldn’t do what’s morally wrong even if it was for you to see them again? Maybe Lena would have told you to help Morgana. So you could get home to them and be safe and sound.

One step forward.

But then again, would she have wanted for you to fall into the wrong path because of them? Would she have liked to have that guilt hanging over her head?

One step back.

“You’re still here.” You hear Emma’s voice, and you look back at her. “I was sure you would be out in the woods looking for that woman.”

“So you stepped out to stop me?”

“You know she can’t be trusted, don’t you?” She ignores your question. You agree with your head. “But you’re still considering following her.”

“She might be my only hope to see my family again.” You bite your lower lip, holding your tears. “Henry told me a little about your story. Back when you were a kid, all alone in that universe. If someone could have brought you to your family, wouldn’t you have followed them?”

“I think I would.”

“Then you understand why I’m considering doing it.”

“Trust me, kid. I know what it’s like when others tell you what you can and can’t do, especially when you’re a kid. But ultimately, whatever you’re considering doing or giving up, the choice is yours.” Emma says and you shake your head, confused and lost. You weren’t expecting her to say that. You thought she would stop you immediately. It feels heavy, having a choice. “I know you have no reason to believe us, but we’re not going to stop until we can find a way to your home.”

“You won’t?” You ask, a lonely tear streaming down your face. Emma shows you her hand.

“We won’t.”

And so you take her hand. Leaving Morgana, and maybe your chance of getting home, behind you.

“Hey, are you two ok? We’re ready to leave.” Regina says and Emma looks at you, waiting for your response.

“Hmm, yeah. Sure. Let’s go back to Storybrooke.”

And you all come back. And everyone finds their way into what it seems to be the only diner in town, sharing a table like a big, happy family. And it doesn’t matter how welcome they are making you feel, your heart still aches, and you can’t be around them without being sad and without missing your own family.

So, you step outside, and sit alone on a bench watching leaves flying in the wind. Thinking about what Kara must be looking at right now; wondering if Lena has left her lab in days to see that it is Autumn already; asking yourself how long they will keep looking without success, because as long as there is a curse cloaking this city, they won’t find you.

“Hey.” You watch Snow White coming closer to you, she points at the space next to you. “Can I join you?”

“Sure.”

She sits next to you. “What has come over you?”

“Just thinking that I probably left my only chance of going back home behind.” You sigh, heavily.

“You might have.” Snow agrees with her head, and you look at her waiting for more, because this is not comforting at all. “But it was the right thing to do, and you know that too. Because heroes do what's right. Not what's easy.” You agree with your head, because you’ve heard that before. “You know, every time I look at you I see a very strong hero.”

“Thought you were going to say that you saw yourself when you were younger.” You smile, and she chuckles, denying.

“Oh no. When I was younger, I would’ve followed Morgana into the forest because it was easier. It would’ve been a mistake, because there are other paths – harder paths, and later I would’ve wished to have taken them instead. So, I don’t see me in you. I see someone far greater. But I guess you are a Superhero, huh?”

“Just-” You stop yourself. It’s insane that you’re about to open up to a fairytale princess. But she is here, she looks interested and most of all, she looks like she cares. “I’m not really a hero anymore. Being a hero is exhausting, Snow. We fight every day, and we get beat up, and we get scared. And what for?”

“For the ones who can’t fight for themselves.”

“So because I was born with these powers, I’m supposed to fight for everyone? I’m not supposed to choose what’s right and better for me? What if I want to be selfish?”

“Kid, I know you’re tired of what life has thrown at you.” Snow holds your hand, and you agree with your head, unable to get your words out. “But you still fight for the good every single day. Every time you have hope, and faith, and care, you’re fighting against darkness whether you mean to or not. You did that today with Morgana.”

“But I failed.”

“No, you didn’t fail. She did. Her darkness was too strong. But your light is still intact.” Snow cups your face gently, like a grandmother would. “Sooner or later you will find your way back into saving. Because being a hero is not what you do, but rather who you are.”

“But what if that is not who I want to be?” You ask, eyes filled with tears and fear.

“Oh, honey, but it is.” She gives you a soft smile that says it all. “The choices you make every day it’s what makes you who you are. If Henry was lost in-” She narrows her eyes, trying to remember.

“National City.”

“If he was out there all alone, wouldn’t you do everything in your power to bring him back home?” Snow asks, but she seems to know the answer already, before you even nod at her. “See, being selfish could have made your life a lot easier. But would you be able to live with yourself while doing that?”

“No.” You cry, thinking about your life. “I would probably feel sick, and empty, and-and I don’t think I would make it out of bed.”

Huh. Did you just have a therapy session with princess Snow White?

“See? You can try and run from it, but if it’s who you are then it will always catch up to you. Trust me, I’m familiar with heroes, and you are, for sure, one of us.”

“Indefinitely.” You think about not making home, being stuck in Storybrooke until someone finally lifts the curse. You don’t know how long that will be. You hope your moms don’t give up on finding you.

“For as long as you’ll have us.” Snow throws her arms around you, and you let yourself fall into her comfort.

Being away from your life will suck. But thank Rao, they are the ones you’re stuck with.

Notes:

Am I making a crossover with Supergirl, OUAT and Merlin? Yes, yes I am. And I have to thank @oncemoonie for the prompts. That was really fun

[absolutepokemontrash]

MC’s Half Demon and They Look Awfully Familiar Part 4

(The side characters strike again!)

Part 1 Part 2 Lessons 1-5 Part 2.5 Group Retreat Lessons 10-12 Part 3

L!MC= Lucifer’s kid | M!MC= Mammon’s kid | A!MC=Asmo’s kid

Let’s get right to it!

The Uncle That Hardcore Simps For His Spouse In the Most Wholesome Way (Diavolo)

Gasp! More half-demon kids? Oh my! Maybe if he tried again next year a kid of his own would pop down! Hang on- he hadn’t slept with a human in almost a century... dang. No kids for him...

...maybe...

Remember when I said Diavolo would try to do those stereotypical dad (tm) things and be hip with the kids? Yeah he keeps doing that.

The number of broken windows related to wayward baseballs goes up 150%. At least that’s how they all figured out that M!MC is nearsighted like their dad!

M!MC had developed a bit of a habit of telling Diavolo about cool human stuff and making the Crown Prince even more interested in the human world than normal.

You may be thinking “what’s so bad about that?” well, the number of yo-yos at RAD went up so high that Lucifer had to ban them.

Belphie and Satan, being the rebels they are, became yo-yo masters specifically to spite Lucifer.

It was sort of like the fidget spinners craze if you were in school for that.

Oh, hi Lord Diavolo. What’s a fidget spinner? It’s this- I should stop talking...

Since no one learned their lesson from the previous incident, Diavolo threw another BBQ.

“Why are we doing this again?” L!MC asked to no one in particular.

“Don’t worry, L!MC. I’ve taken every precaution possible to make sure that what happened last time doesn’t happen again.” Diavolo said and continued in his crusade to cover the entire pathway with sidewalk chalk doodles.

L!MC, Luke, Diavolo, M!MC, Belphie, and A!MC were all busily drawing a wide variety of doodles and drawings with chalk while the other guests milled around nearby. A!MC was in the middle of drawing quite the nice looking Cerberus chibi, while M!MC and Belphie were drawing a lot of stick figures. L!MC and Luke had just finished a wonderful drawing of... an alpaca? Giraffe? Thing...? Hell, even they didn’t know what it was.

Diavolo looked over at M!MC’s stick figure army with a big smile on his face. “So what are all of them doing? It looks like that one’s flying!”

You could practically hear the Addam’s Family theme play as M!MC and Belphie looked at each other and grinned.

“Oh Belphie was just talking about L!MC’s flying lesson fails and I felt that an artist’s rendition was needed.” M!MC explained, he began to point out certain doodles. “Here’s L!MC getting up off the ground, then there’s them actually flying, and this is them falling in the fountain.”

L!MC looked over at the chalk and glared at M!MC. “It’s generous to call that an artist’s rendition. It looks like crap.”

“And what did you draw?” Belphie smirked at the alpaca-giraffe-thing, Luke protectively covered up the drawing (side note, Luke was wearing white and playing with sidewalk chalk, by the end of the day he looked like a walking pride flag).

“None of your business!” Luke huffed.

“And what about that one?” Diavolo seemed completely oblivious to the hostility brewing between the two groups, A!MC was completely used to this and walked away to grab a drink.

“Ah, good eye, Lord Diavolo!” M!MC chirped. “This is a drawing of the time L!MC almost burned down your kitchen.”

Diavolo laughed and gave M!MC a few pats on the head. “Very accurate!”

“You’re so lucky I followed the rules and didn’t bring a water gun...” L!MC growled as they slowly reached for their backpack.

“Yeah... lucky. Real lucky...” M!MC nodded as they tried to casually reach for their bag, Belphie followed suit.

“I’m so glad we all followed the rules.” Luke smiled, his own hand inching towards his bag.

There was a brief moment of stillness before the four of them whipped out their water guns and pointed them at each other.

“This BBQ ain’t big enough for the both of us!” M!MC’s terrible cowboy impression aside, their gun was poised to shoot directly at Luke and L!MC’s alpaca-giraffe-thing.

“Everyone, I know this is a human world tradition but-”

Belphie silenced Diavolo by pointing his water gun at him. “Sh, don’t talk unless you have a water gun as well.”

Deciding not to smite Belphie for treason, Diavolo pulled his own water gun out of his shirt. “Okay, what now?”

“Now, we’re in a standoff...” L!MC glowered at M!MC, the air was practically crackling with hostility...

Until a burst of flames got everyone to whirl around to see A!MC with hairspray and a lighter.

“No water guns! I refuse to go home shivering and covered in grass again!”

Crisis averted. Everyone went to go fail at throwing beanbags into a hole instead of shooting each other.

That was probably for the best... Belphie filled everyone’s water guns with paint.

The Uncle That Does All the Cooking for Family Dinners (Barbatos)

Remember how I said that Barbs liked smol Lucifer? Yea, he likes smol Asmo too. Smol Asmo is willing to admit that they don’t know how to use an oven and is willing to learn.

M!MC is formally banned from being within 50 feet of the kitchen. It’s for the best.

A!MC often tries to get Barbatos to look into the possible futures so they can see if they can avoid messing anything up and A!MC is just so adorable that Barbatos actually thinks about it.

He still says no every single time.

“Could you at least tell me if I have the possibility of doing something embarrassing in the near future?”

“My apologies, A!MC, but no.”

“P-please?”

“The answer remains the same.”

A!MC sighed and went back to helping chop vegetables. Under Barbatos’ tutelage, A!MC’s cooking ability had increased tenfold, they could now make as many burgers as they wanted without worrying about burning down the kitchen.

Pitying the anxious half-demon, Barbatos sighed. “I cannot confirm nor deny a future where your outfit gets ruined.”

A!MC perked up. “H-huh?”

“I cannot confirm nor deny a future where your outfit gets ruined.”

Quickly understanding what Barbatos was trying to do, A!MC quickly nodded and spent the rest of the cooking time carefully taking note of their surroundings.

“Hey! What’re you guys doin’?” M!MC had managed to get in... damn! Everyone must have been putting their best efforts in keeping Solomon away from the kitchen and forgot about M!MC...

“We’re just finishing up, M!MC,” Barbatos had on his ‘oh no...’ smile. “We don’t need any help.”

“Really? You guys sure?”

“Why are you so interested?” A!MC asked.

“Lucifer said that idle hands are the devil’s playthings and that I should go look for something productive to do.” M!MC huffed. “Very ironic phrase.”

“F-fine, I guess you can...” A!MC searched for the least destructive task they could give. “Take the utensils and set the table.”

M!MC gave them a mock salute and grabbed the utensils, as they turned to leave, they knocked a large bowl of chopped fruit over, sending the fruit pieces flying.

Remembering Barbatos’ prediction, A!MC didn’t bother to try and stop the fruit from falling, they only grabbed the nearest big plate they could find and shielded their outfit from harm. The fruit splattered harmlessly against the shield.

“Whoops... my bad. You alright, A!MC?” M!MC asked as A!MC inspected their outfit.

“Y-yes actually...” A!MC turned to Barbatos, who was already getting the cleaning supplies.

“Thank you!” A!MC whispered.

Barbatos smiled and nodded. “You’re very welcome, A!MC.”

Barbatos now has two sorta-children. A!MC and Luke!

M!MC means well, I swear! He just shouldn’t be allowed in a cooking environment!

The Cousin That Your Mom Points at and Goes “Look at Him, He Helps With the Dishes, Be More Like Him.” (Simeon)

Oh man... time for some more embarrassing stories.

“Asmo was the most adorable child, it’s a shame he was such a troublemaker...”

“Really? My dad?”

“What about mine?”

“I think you can guess.”

I cannot comment on Simeon’s help with flying lessons because I refuse to Headcanon what Simeon’s wings look like until canon gives us a GLIMMER. LIKE SERIOUSLY SOLMARE IM CURIOUS-

I have a feeling the children were quite curious as well.

“What do you think his wings look like?” M!MC asked A!MC as the two peered around the corner of one of the hallways in Purgatory Hall.

“I bet they’re super nice. But besides that...” A!MC leaned over and squinted. “Why is Simeon writing with a pen and pencil? He’s writing a book... shouldn’t he use a computer?”

“Bold of you to assume he knows how to use a computer.” M!MC snickered.

A!MC frowned. “Don’t be mean... I’m sure he knows how...”

Simeon picked up his DDD and took a picture of his face, seemingly by accident, with the flash on, causing him to drop the phone in surprise.

“Probably...”

The two surveyed their angel friend like two wildlife documenters, here we see, the Simeon, not in his natural habitat, surrounded by confusing technology...

“Do you think if we scare him his wings might pop out in surprise?” M!MC wondered aloud, A!MC shrugged.

“Maybe... but I don’t think we should bother him...” A!MC whispered. “He looks busy.”

“What are you two doing?”

It took literally every bit of willpower for the two half demons to not scream in absolute terror at the sudden interruption.

Ah... it was just Solomon... in an apron... Solomon... in cooking clothes...

Oh no.

“Spying on Simeon?” Solomon asked.

“N-no...” A!MC giggled nervously. “Just crouching casually in this hallway...”

“...smooth, A!MC.” M!MC rolled their eyes.

“Well, it’s great that you two are here, I made lunch!”

A!MC and M!MC looked at each other in pure horror, they needed to get out of there!

“Uh- um... we’d love to but...” M!MC looked around frantically before just pointing at a random spot behind Solomon. “LOOK! A DISTRACTION!”

A!MC and M!MC ran out of there as fast as their legs could carry them. Finding out if Simeon had wings was not worth being poisoned. Not at all...

Good ol’ Simeon... Mr. Cristopher Peugeot on the other hand- M!MC had some questions for him.

“TSL is literally the most popular book series ever, does that mean you’re completely loaded?”

“Oh, no I’m not, I don’t have any use for human world money in the Celestial Realm. All the profits go to charity.”

“...Dude really?”

“That’s nice of you, Simeon!”

“You didn’t keep any of it..?”

Wait... Who the Hell Are You..? (Solomon)

So A!MC basically has three dads; Fabulous-dad, butler-dad, and wizard-dad!

“So you just... have capes lying around?”

“Yes, would you like a cape?”

“Okay if they don’t take the cape I want it.”

Solomon shows up to RAD with his nails painted different wacky styles every week, courtesy of A!MC.

Though- the unholy combination that is M!MC and Solomon is feared by all.

“Road work ahead?”

“Uh, yeah I sure hope it does.”

Solomon and M!MC’s rampant quoting of vines elicited another glare from Lucifer.

Despite Solomon having literally been alive since the seven rulers of hell were angels, he had kept up with pop culture fairly decently. Decently enough that M!MC had someone that wasn’t Levi to bounce memes off.

“Pff...” M!MC suppressed a laugh at a seemingly normal water bottle advertisement. “Enslaved moisture.”

“I’m not going crazy, right Simeon? You’re hearing this too?” Lucifer tiredly turned to the angel, who shook his head.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg. Solomon quacked at M!MC earlier and they lost their minds laughing about it.” Simeon shrugged, unbothered by the sorcerer and the half demon’s rampant meme-ing behind them.

Lucifer on the other hand, was quite bothered. Incredibly bothered, if you will. “If you two don’t shut up right now I’m going to-”

“Quick! We must abscond!” Solomon turned and heelied away, followed by M!MC. The shoes that Mammon bought to replace the ones lost during the casino incident were apparently heelies as well...

The day was saved when a rock jammed one of Solomon’s wheels and he slammed face first into the concrete. Yikes... that had to hurt.

A!MC had fun glow in the dark bandaids for Solomon to patch up his face. Even though he he could heal himself with magic, he let A!MC do what they wanted because they were just too adorable to say no to.

Asmo has pictures

The Cousin Squad (tm)

(Luke, L!MC, A!MC, and M!MC)

Ah yes, the bab squad. The most adorable group in the Devildom. Surrender your candy immediately or face destruction.

M!MC teases the crap out of Luke, and A!MC tries to stop it, but L!MC is the one who manages to actually make M!MC stop.

Only L!MC gets to pick on the smol angel. GOT IT?!

A!MC and Luke are already baking buddies because of butler-dad so they get along swimmingly.

Poor Luke’s the victim of many of M!MC’s shenanigans.

Luke: Are you sure this is safe, M!MC?

M!MC (about to put mentos into the bottle of coke Luke is holding): No.

L!MC and A!MC get along really well, being honest, everyone loves A!MC.

A!MC makes sure L!MC gets some sleep because they don’t want their cousin picking up on Lucifer’s habit of living off of coffee and coffee alone. L!MC doesn’t get it but they’re very grateful anyway.

M!MC and A!MC were friends from the start. Well... M!MC decided they were friends right from the start and A!MC did not have the ability to fight the power of friendship.

M!MC: You are being befriended. Please do not resist.

Since M!MC is great and amazing like their pop, they took it upon themselves to be the friend that speaks up when A!MC is too nervous to do so.

M!MC and L!MC? Lucifer and Mammon 2 electric boogaloo. Sorta.

L!MC and M!MC bicker all the time but the babs bounce back from their fights way easier.

One minute they’re at each other’s throats and the next they’re showing each other memes.

“There’s no escaping this.”

Lucifer stood between M!MC and the door... their one way ticket to freedom...

“You need to go to the dentist.”

The entire HOL plus the Purgatory Hall crew were getting ready to go visit the dentist to get their teeth cleaned. It was the time of the year that Mammon dreaded most... and his child felt the same way.

“My teeth are fine! Lemme stay home! I’ll hold down the fort with dad!” M!MC smiled and nodded as enthusiastically as they could, but even the most unobservant person couldn’t miss the sweat beading on their forehead.

“Beel.” Lucifer snapped his fingers and before M!MC could do anything Beel had thrown them over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“Don’t worry M!MC, the dentist isn’t that scary.” Beel tried to assure them. By the way M!MC was still kicking and screaming, they were not convinced.

“Y-yeah kiddo, suck it up! Don’t be a baby! I’m just gonna take my car there-”

“MAAAAAAMOOOON?!”

“YIKES!”

Lucifer had the important task of keeping a hold of Mammon as the very large group made their way to the dentist’s office.

A devious little idea popped into L!MC’s head as they all sat down in the waiting room. They began to hum a familiar little tune.

“She said be a deeeentiiiist~ a dentist!” L!MC sang to M!MC, who’s attempts to escape increased tenfold after hearing the song.

A!MC began to hum along, not seeming to notice the commotion going on next to them.

“Son be a deeentiiiiiist~ people will pay you for causing them PAIN! She said be a deeentiiiiiist~”

Belphie perked up and smiled deviously as he realized what L!MC was doing, he began to sing along as well. The three were a veritable choir of terror to poor M!MC. Mammon did not understand his child’s terror and was more unnerved by what a great team Belphie and L!MC made.

Satan rolled his eyes and tried to focus on his book, Asmo was absorbed in his magazine, Levi was having a very in depth conversation with the fish in the aquarium, Simeon and Solomon chatted about school, and Luke was stuck watching the train wreck go down.

Thankfully, it was halted by Lucifer. “L!MC, A!MC, Belphegor, stop tormenting M!MC with show tunes.”

“You would have made a good dentist in another life, Lucifer,” Belphie cooed. “You know what they say, the only difference between a dentist and a sadist is that one has newer magazines.”

Asmo grimaced at his magazine. “Is it the sadist? Because I’m reading a magazine from 1843...”

The conversation was interrupted by one of the dental hygienists coming into the waiting room and saying that Mammon was up first. The Avatar of Greed’s final escape attempt was foiled by Satan (not even looking up from his book) clotheslining him.

Thirty minutes later, Mammon emerged from the forbidden dentist room, with the look of trauma in his eyes and eating a lollipop.

One by one, the group went in, A!MC took it upon themselves to try and make the rapidly panicking Luke feel better.

“It won’t be too scary, in the human world dentists are usually very nice.” A!MC smiled encouragingly.

“I-I’m sure that’s true but...” Luke looked around. “We aren’t in the human world...”

Asmo skipped back in and flashed a blinding grin to the group. “Absolutely perfect, no flaws! It’s your turn, A!MC!”

“If you die I get to say I told ya so!” M!MC shouted as A!MC walked into the dentist’s room.

They did not in fact, die because of the dentist. A!MC walked out and gave a thumbs up. “The dentist said they had never seen a kid with such perfect teeth.”

“That’s my baby!” Asmo chirped.

“M!MC, you’re up.” A!MC and Beel had to practically drag the poor kid out of the room and into the dentist area of doom.

“GO BE A DEEEEEENTIIIIIIST!” Belphie and L!MC shouted one last time as the doors shut. Wow, what dickheads...

Mammon probably would have tried to save his poor little bugger, but he was in the middle an impromptu therapy session with Simeon over the scary scraping dentist knife thingie.

Beel was the last to go, and he walked out of the dentist’s room with his face covered in blood, the dentist walked out after him, missing a hand.

“You tasted like toothpaste.” Beel sighed. “Not good.”

“Don’t worry,” The dentist said to Luke, who looked like he was about to pass out. “My hand will grow back in about four to five minutes.”

Luke, still terrified, nodded. L!MC patted him on the shoulder.

“Anyway, almost all of you are fine, but I have to recommend M!MC to the orthodontist.” The dentist flipped through their notepad one-handed. “Their secondary set of fangs are coming out crooked and need to be corrected with braces immediately.”

M!MC sat calmly for a moment, then attempted to sprint out the door. “NO NO NO NO NO!” One of the dental hygienists grabbed them by the back of their shirt and halted their escape.

“Sucks to be you.” L!MC smirked.

“And L!MC needs to fix their cross bite, braces are a strong possibility.”

The colour drained from L!MC’s face as the news dawned upon them. “Pardon, but what exactly are you talking about..?”

“Your top jaw and bottom jaw aren’t properly lined up.” The dentist explained. “It will lead to problems later if it’s not fixed now.”

Lucifer rubbed his temples and sighed. “L!MC, if you try and run away I swear...”

L!MC stiffened and shook their head. “I’m not some coward, I’m not running away. Just... what exactly are you going to do to my mouth?”

The dentist pulled up a few pictures of the braces and explained what would be done. L!MC nodded, and turned to their father with a big smile on their face.

“It won’t be so bad, mind if I go to the bathroom before I get the mold for my teeth made?”

Lucifer nodded and almost audibly sighed in relief. He basked in the glory of having a child that wasn’t afraid of the dentist and faced their fears like an adult-

L!MC sprinted past the dentist’s office, they had busted out of the bathroom window.

“...Beel.”

“Yep.”

A few minutes later, Beel returned with a completely irate L!MC who was screaming their demands to be put down and be allowed to run for the hills. Taking advantage of the distraction, M!MC ran for the door again, only for Belphie to tap them on the forehead.

M!MC collapsed into a snoring heap on the floor.

“FATHER! DON’T MAKE ME DO THIS!” L!MC practically screamed as they tried to wrestle themselves out of Beel’s bear hug.

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “L!MC, calm yourself down. It’s just braces.”

“AS EVERYONE HERE AS MY WITNESSES I’LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS! NEVER!”

The half-demons in need of braces were dragged right back into the dentist’s area... poor fools.

“They’ll be okay... right?” Luke asked.

“Of course they will be. It’s just braces.” Simeon patted Luke on the head. “They’ll both be fine.”

The scream that came from down the hall right after Simeon said that did not reassure anyone.

“Hey,” Mammon piped up. “How much do braces cost?”

“From what I know about dental procedures,” Satan rubbed his chin. “A few thousand Grimm.”

“Mammon if you try and run for that door I will cut your credit card into a thousand pieces.” Lucifer growled.

Overall, it was a fairly average trip to the dentist. 0/10 would not recommend. A few weeks later L!MC and M!MC were fitted with their mouth prisons- I mean braces, and the two cousins bonded over their horrific mouth pain...

Seriously- braces suck.

——————————————

So! Those are the headcanons! Four and a half whole parts... phew... To all the people who enjoyed this series, thank you so so much for reading! You guys have been so super nice!

Fret not, I plan on writing more for this universe! From what I know about season 2 of Obey Me things will get... interesting. Stay tuned for more! Or don’t, I can’t force you.

...or can I?