#i hope today rockets by and i’m home before i know it

[tip-top-cloud-surfer]

The Danger Zone (Part 14) - Hangman

Pairing: Hangman / Fem!Bradshaw!Reader | OC

Word Count: 4.8k

This work, all my works, and my entire blog are 18+ ONLY.

Warnings: Unplanned Pregnancy; Military Inaccuracies; Daddy and Mommy Issues Galore; Arguing; Crying; Angst; Screwed Up (Seresin) Family Dynamics Discussed; Use of "You," No Use of Y/N, No Set Physical Description

Summary: You and Jake spend some time apart. Maverick offers his help.

Series Master List

Master List

You called out of work the next day, knowing that you were in no shape to go. Closer to lunch time, after you'd wallowed for a time, Maverick drove you over to Jake’s apartment and packed up a few things while Jake was out. You didn’t take everything, just a few days' worth of clothes and necessities, before heading back to Maverick’s house to wallow some more.

Burying your face into your pregnancy pillow, you looked up when the door to your room opened. You sat up when you saw Penny standing there. And when she walked over and sat on the edge of your bed, you couldn’t help but latch onto her.

Penny pulled you close and rubbed your back as you cried, sharing a worried look with Maverick. He leaned against the doorframe, looking like he didn’t know what to do. Penny gave him a look, glancing down at you, before returning the same look to Maverick.

He nodded and walked away to make a call.

While Penny led you outside, Maverick stood on the front steps with his phone to his ear. He knew that it was the middle of the day, but he was still hoping that there was a chance.

“Hey, Mav, what’s up?” Javy answered calmly after a few rings.

“I’m assuming that you’ve heard,” Maverick stated bluntly, causing Javy to sigh.

“Yeah, I’m putting out my own fires over here,” Javy stated, glancing over at Jake’s office.

Jake was furiously writing away at forms and typing paperwork into his computer, barely taking a moment to blink. He looked like he hadn’t slept all night and hadn’t eaten anything, save for three cups of coffee. He was in no shape to do anything. Javy would tackle him to the floor himself before letting him into a plane in this state.

“How’s she doing?” Javy asked Maverick.

“I haven’t seen her like this in a long time. And I don’t ever want to see her like this again.” Maverick glanced back at the house before turning back to the street. “What happened, Coyote?”

“His mom wrote him a letter.”

“And?” Maverick pressed a bit more, not seeing the connection.

“Jake doesn’t really have a traditional relationship with his parents. And for good reason on his part. And he needs to tell her about it, but he’s not exactly the most emotionally intelligent guy.”

Javy gestured for Fanboy to carry in another stack of files into Jake’s office. Jake didn’t look up, working through the paperwork in front of him like a robot on rocket fuel. Fanboy hesitated for a moment but with another sharp look from Coyote, Fanboy turned to Jake.

“Hey, Hangman, we’re kind of falling behind, so I was wondering—”

“—Just put it on the pile, Fanboy,” Jake stated, not even looking up.

Fanboy dropped the stack and walked out, shooting Javy a thumbs up that Javy returned. Glancing worriedly at Jake again, Javy turned away to continue his conversation with Maverick.

“He’s not anywhere near a plane right now, right?”

“No, I’m making sure of that," Javy promised him.

“It might be a good idea to keep Rooster away from him too.”

“Already on it,” Javy replied, watching his wife march Rooster down the hall to go and teach lessons today. Far away from Jake. “I’ve got it handled here but I’m worried about him when he gets off.”

“I should warn you that we went over, and she took her stuff.”

“She’s already decided to move out?” Javy asked, starting to panic.

“No, she just needed some time and some of her things for now. But I'm worried that if he sees her stuff gone, it might set him off.”

“Alright, I’ll drag him home with me and Phoenix.”

“Actually, Coyote, I was wondering if you think that Jake would come with me for a drive tonight?” Maverick suggested, causing Coyote to pause for a moment. “If you think that he needs more time, he needs more time. I trust your judgment.”

“Tomorrow,” Coyote decided after a moment. “Come to my house in the morning. Before he has a chance to get worked up.”

“Alright. Keep me updated, Coyote.”

“You too, Mav.”

Hanging up the call, Maverick walked back inside the house and paused when he saw you and Penny out on the back porch. You seemed to have stopped crying, but you looked so broken that it felt like a direct punch to Maverick’s gut.

You were the little girl that Goose and Carole hoped and begged for. You were the little girl that Goose continually sobbed over when he got a photo of you from the hospital, having missed your birth. You were the little girl that he then proceeded to sob over at the airport in Miramar when he got to hold you for the first time. You were the little girl that Goose swore up and down that he’d protect and love and definitely not let you anywhere near naval aviators.

And when Goose died, Maverick took up that mantle in his place. And he wasn’t going to let you, or Goose, or Carole down.

They were going to fix this. Someway. Somehow.

~~~~~

Bradley, as soon as he saw that something was off with Hangman, knew that something was probably off with you too. And when you didn’t answer his call, he went looking for you after work. He drove by your apartment and after a quick scan of the parking lot, moved on.

And when he saw your car parked in Maverick’s driveway, he pulled in. Getting out of the Bronco, he walked around the back and entered through the side door. Rooster spotted you standing in the kitchen, pouring yourself a drink. You looked up at the sound of footsteps before looking right back down, defeat written all over your features.

“Where’s Mav?” Bradley asked, looking around.

“He went out to grab dinner. Did you need him for something?”

“No, I came to check on you.”

“Why would you do that?” you asked, adding some ice cubes.

“Well, Hangman seemed off today.”

“Did he?” you questioned quietly.

“Yeah.” Bradley waited a moment before asking, “What happened between you guys?”

“Why? So that you can run off and yell at him?” you scoffed haughtily. “Or make some comment to him tomorrow in front of everyone and watch him bite his tongue? Or finally explode?”

“Are you okay?” Bradley asked you worriedly.

“Yeah, Brad. I’m really fucking peachy,” you snapped, causing him to wince. “Look at how okay I am. I’m living out of a bag in Mav’s house after having a massive fight with my boyfriend while I’m nearly six months pregnant with his baby. And one of the things that we were fighting about just so happened to be about how hard my family was on him. Comparing him to my ex. Making him feel like he wasn’t good enough to be with me. Telling him that he was going to be a shit dad.” Placing your hands on your hips, you glared at your brother. “Does any of that sound familiar, Bradley?”

When he didn’t respond, you grabbed the paper towel roll off the holder and threw it at Bradley’s head. And when that bounced off his arm, you reached over and yanked the dish towels off the oven and chucked them at him too. Bradley walked around the cabinets and grabbed the loaf of bread before you could throw it at him too.

“Just put the bread down,” Bradley tried to coax you, worried that you’d grab a knife next.

“Why the fuck did you say that shit to him!?” you yelled, pushing your brother in the chest.

Bradley called your name softly, but you kept pushing him away or trying to hit him. And when he grabbed your wrists gently, you finally broke down. Bradley, not sure what to say, just pulled you in for a hug. You didn’t fight him on that one.

“I love him, Bradley,” you sobbed, your whole body shaking. “Why’d you say that to him?”

“I’m sorry,” Bradley replied a few moments later.

“Are you? You wanted us to break up and now he’s probably shut down completely and is packing up the rest of my stuff in his apartment as we speak.”

“No, he’s not.”

“How do you know? Do the two of you talk now?”

“After your last appointment, he showed the whole squad and about half of the department the ultrasound. I had several people ask me if he had an identical twin brother playing a prank on everyone because he wasn’t acting like his usual asshole self.” Bradley paused for a moment before adding, “A man who’s that excited about his baby isn’t just going to walk away after a little fight.”

You slowly stopped crying, but you didn’t let go of your brother. And he didn’t let go of you. It kind of reminded you of when he came back home to grab some more of his stuff after his fight with Maverick. You were home and tossed everything but the kitchen sink at him for not calling you to tell you that he was alright.

“Everyone has fights. Emma kicked my ass out onto the couch before. We got through it. You’ll get through it too.”

Maverick walked in with a bag of food, not surprised to see Bradley standing there with you. You and Bradley slowly released each other, and you reached to grab a tissue, but paused when they weren’t at their usual spot. You must have thrown them at Bradley.

“I found them,” Maverick called, grabbing the box from behind the kitchen table.

~~~~~

Jake stared at the ceiling of Javy and Nat’s guest room. He hadn’t slept for more than three hours before the nightmares woke him up. You still hadn’t reached out to him, and he took that to mean that you decided to break up with him and the next time that he’d get to see you was in court about child support.

Well, at least he wasn’t crazy to assume that it could all blow up.

Getting out of bed, Jake got dressed. He usually went for a run after he woke up, but he didn’t even care anymore. He just wanted a coffee. But with his current streak, he’d fuck that up too. Not even bothering to shave, Jake headed out to the kitchen. He heard Phoenix and Javy already up and talking.

But when he turned the corner, Jake was surprised to see Maverick standing there.

“Morning, Jake,” Javy greeted him, placing a cup of coffee down.

Jake walked over quietly, reaching for the coffee. He didn’t respond verbally and simply stared down Maverick, waiting for him to explain his presence.

“Morning, Jake,” Maverick repeated in greeting.

“What are you doing here, Mav?” Jake asked, a bit defensive, but mostly exhausted.

“I came to ask if you were free for a chat,” Maverick replied calmly.

“Do I have a choice?”

“Of course, you have a choice, Jake.”

“Should I bring my photo ID? Or would you prefer to make it a little difficult for whoever drags my body out of the ditch to identify me?”

“You can bring whatever you want.” Maverick glanced between Jake, Javy, and Phoenix before moving to leave. “I’ll wait out in the car.”

Jake turned to Javy and Phoenix, who stared at him with encouraging looks as Maverick walked out of the house. Jake took a sip of his coffee before setting the cup down.

“Did you call him?” Jake grumbled, causing Javy to sigh.

“He called me because he’s worried about her.”

“What do you mean? Is she hurt? Is the baby hurt?” Jake asked urgently, but Phoenix quickly shut it down.

“No, just emotionally.”

“You talked to her?” Jake asked her.

“I texted her,” Phoenix answered honestly. “She responded, but not much.” After sharing a look with her husband, Phoenix added, “And she asked me about you. So, if you want to repair your relationship with her, go for the drive with Maverick.”

“You have nothing to lose by doing it,” Coyote added, causing Jake to look to where Maverick’s car was parked in the driveway.

~~~~~

Jake didn’t know what to think about Maverick taking him for a drive. He just sat and stared. Maverick started driving up the coast, letting Jake stew in the silence, before pulling off the coastal road. It was a random barren pull off with a stretch of sand beyond the pavement that wasn’t even a body length wide.

Jake guessed that Maverick wanted him to swim with the fishes.

They walked to the edge of the lot together, though they made no move to break the silence. Jake stared down at the dark waves, waiting for Maverick to speak. But Maverick was too busy staring off into the distance.

“What is this place?” Jake asked quietly.

“It’s the closest point to where my accident happened. The one that ended the life of my best friend. And the maternal grandfather of your child.”

“Why’d you bring me here?” Jake questioned quietly, sounding like he was walking on eggshells. “Do you even bring them here?”

“I brought Bradley here once. Not long after their mom died. But I never brought her here. I’m sure that Bradley mentioned it to her, but she never asked me to take her here.” A breath of silence passed between them before Maverick added, “I come out here to reflect. I guess it’s a type of therapy for me.”

“Why did you bring me here?” Jake asked again.

“You’re having a baby with my goddaughter. That means that you’re part of our unconventional family now. And despite what you may think about us, we know that we’re not perfect. We’re far from it.”

Maverick stared out at the waves, lost in his thoughts for a moment.

“My father died in Vietnam. He was a pilot and crashed after a dogfight. The State Department ran his name through the mud and sent my mother into a downward spiral. She died less than a year after my father. And then I went into foster care.”

Maverick turned to look at Jake out of the corner of his eye, though Jake did not return his stare.

“The only point that I’m trying to prove to you is that whatever you’re worried about sharing with her about your past, she’s not going to care. Your parents don’t define you. Their lives don’t define yours. And they’re not going to change how she feels about you.”

Maverick turned to Jake, his serious expression hidden by his sunglasses. Jake didn’t return his gaze directly, but his body did tilt more towards Maverick to show that he was listening.

“But she mentioned that you told her that you were trying to ‘protect’ her from your parents, which, as her godfather, raises some concerns.” Maverick folded his arms behind his back. “I don’t need any specifics. All I need to know is whether my goddaughter and her child are in any kind of physical danger.”

“They're not”

“Then what are you referring to?”

“My parents, the type of bullshit that they would try to pull would be financial. They would try to stop the transfer of any of my assets to her and the baby. At least ones that I inherited. They’re not the mafia, just some old money assholes trying to keep their wealth.”

“And the baby? They wouldn’t try any bullshit with the baby, right?” Maverick asked seriously.

“They wouldn't fight for custody. We’re not married and she’s not a choice that they would have ever made for me. They’d probably try to prove that the baby isn’t mine or do something else to cut off any sort of inheritance or child support from me or my estate. They wouldn’t want anything to do with the baby beyond that.”

“We can work with that,” Maverick stated calmly. “But you need to tell her what you told me and even more. If the two of you are going to raise a baby together and deal with whatever your parents throw at you, you need to be on the same page. And we’ll support you through it. All three of you.”

Jake nodded slowly, staring out at the waves in the distance before he looked down at his shoes.

~~~~~

You sat out on Maverick’s back porch in the shade, reading a book when you heard a car pull into the driveway. You assumed that it was just Maverick.

But when Jake came walking around the corner, you completely forgot about your book. Jake slowly walked over to you, stepping up onto the deck, and slowly sat down in the seat across from you. The two of you stared at each other for a moment in silence until Jake finally bucked up the courage to speak.

“Can we talk?” Jake asked softly.

“Yeah,” you returned quietly, shifting in your seat. “Of course, Jake.”

“How are you feeling today?” he awkwardly asked.

“Can we please cut past the small talk?” you inquired, causing Jake to pause, looking a bit surprised. A bit embarrassed, you rephrased your sentiment. “Sorry. I just really want to talk about our fight. It’s been eating away at me since I left.”

“I get it.”

Jake pulled out the envelope that set off a bomb in your relationship. He stared down at it for a moment before leaning over and holding it out to you. You started to reach out but hesitated.

“Read it,” Jake insisted, leaning further forward.

“Are you sure?” you asked quietly, gently taking the envelope from him.

“I want you to read it.”

You slowly opened the envelope and pulled out the card. It started out as a normal card would. But there were a few lines that jumped out at you that were distinctly odd. And by the end of it, you were more confused than you were when you started. You looked up at Jake and handed the card back to him. He placed it on the table between you and stared down at it, getting ready to begin his speech.

“I haven’t talked to my mom in five years. I wasn’t lying about that. But she has sent me a few cards, usually for my birthday, since then. Similar to this one. I’ve ignored them because I was happier without them in my life.” Jake slowly turned back to you. “And the reason why I stopped talking to my mom is because she is an extension of my father.”

Jake looked away for a moment, thinking over his next words carefully, before turning back to you. You were sitting calmly across from him, hands folded in front of your bump.

“My father is the type of guy to make his own kid call him ‘sir’ around the house. He wasn’t caring. He wasn’t ever there for me, except when I won an award or did well. And I caught him cheating on my mom at least three times myself.”

“Does she know that he’s cheating on her?” you asked softly.

“She’s known since the first affair. He’s not exactly a discreet guy. But she’s stayed with him for three reasons—her image in their community, her religion that preaches that divorce is a sin and a bunch of other bullcrap, and because he’s manipulated her into thinking that she owes him.”

“What does she owe him for?” you asked, growing more confused and concerned.

Jake paused, rubbing his hands together. He turned back to you and straightened up.

“Because she could never give him the biological son that he wanted more than anything else in the world,” Jake stated, causing you to blink rapidly.

“But . . . you . . .”

Jake let you fumble for a moment before finally dropping the bomb that he had held inside of him pretty much every day since he found out the news himself all those years ago.

“I’m adopted,” Jake explained calmly. “And you’re only the second person that I’ve ever told.”

“Jake, I never would have cared if you were adopted or not,” you reassured him. “And if I ever did, I’m sorry.”

“You never did. And I wasn’t scared to tell you that I was adopted. I was worried about explaining the story that comes along with it.”

Jake rubbed the back of his neck slowly, trying to figure out the best way to tell you.

“My parents tried to have a baby naturally for three years to no success. My father threatened to divorce my mother because she couldn’t give him a baby. And the bastard never stopped to consider the fact that he might be the problem.”

You sat back quietly, hearing the anger build in Jake’s tone and giving him the space to let those thoughts out.

“He never got any of his mistresses pregnant. If he did, he would have divorced her in a heartbeat and claimed that kid as his true son. And he could have easily pulled it off with a paternity test on me. No one else knew that I was adopted. He would have claimed that my mom got pregnant with another man’s baby and he probably would have gotten away with it. Maternity tests aren’t exactly common outside of adopted children and my mom was never going to expose the secret to the world.”

“There wasn’t any paperwork to say that you were adopted? Nothing?” you asked curiously.

“No, because my manipulative father and desperate mother did it all under the table. They found a woman who was unexpectedly pregnant. Vulnerable. Desperate. Apparently, she couldn’t tell her family about the baby and the father was gone. My mother took her to a doctor and paid for an ultrasound. Discovered that the woman was pregnant with a boy. And so began the sham.”

He couldn’t bear to look at you, afraid of what he would see in your eyes. But now that he had started, he wasn’t sure that he could stop until it was all out there and in the open.

“They took her in until she had the baby. They hid her away with my mother away from everyone for months to build up the story. And after I was born . . . they coerced her into giving me up. They told her that they would give me a better future than she ever would. They offered her money for her troubles and to write a letter to sell whatever story she told her family. And two weeks after I was born, she left.”

Jake stared at the ground for a long moment and only looked up when he heard you move. Picking his head up, Jake watched you as you slowly walked over to him. You hesitated when you drew close, but Jake didn’t pause when he reached out for you. Finding your seat in his lap, you wrapped your arms around his shoulders.

“The only thing that I can think to say . . . is I’m sorry,” you whispered, causing Jake to pull you closer. “That’s awful, that’s-that’s . . . psychotic. Criminal. Absolutely disgusting. I—” You cut yourself off, focusing on Jake in your arms again. “I’m so sorry, Jake.”

The two of you sat there for a long moment, just processing your conversation. You focused on rubbing Jake’s back and slowly combing your hand through his hair to try and soothe him. You could feel how tense he was and had to wonder how much he had worked himself up to tell you those dark secrets.

Jake didn’t say anything, keeping his face buried in the juncture of your neck. His arm was solid on your back, keeping you supported and close with his hand curled protectively around your bump.

Feeling Jake pick his head up, you turned to meet his gaze, letting him set the tone. He took another breath, leaning back and pulling you further into his lap and you had no qualms about curling up against his chest. You didn’t even realize how much you missed the simplest details about him.

“I don’t plan on ever inviting them back into my life,” Jake began, causing you to nod supportively. His voice cracked a bit as he continued, “And I know that you pictured a life with a guy who didn’t have such a fucked up family and past and—”

“—Jake,” you cut in, tears building in your own eyes. Cupping his cheeks with your hands as a tear slipped down Jake’s cheek, you let a few fall yourself. “I don’t care about any of that. It doesn’t matter what I pictured before I met you. You’re my baby’s father and you’re the man that I love and I don’t care about how your family is. I just care about you.”

“You love me?” Jake asked you softly.

“I love you, Jake Seresin,” you repeated with more confidence in your tone.

“You’re not going to leave me for being a complete asshole to you?” Jake added, his voice breaking again. “Because I hate myself for that. I hated that I said that the second that those words left my mouth.”

“Of course, I’m not leaving you, Jake,” you practically sobbed, tears quickly streaming down your cheeks. “I love you. I don’t want to leave you.”

“I love you too,” Jake returned softly, surprised by the amount of emotion in his voice. “I love you. I love our baby. And I don’t want to do anything else to jeopardize it and risk losing you. Because I can’t lose you. I can’t lose either of you.”

“You’re not,” you promised him, pulling him in for a tight hug again. “We’re not going anywhere.”

“I was stressed and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I just—when Cyclone told me about my promotion, he told me that there was a higher chance that I could get deployed over the next few weeks or months.”

“Jake,” you whimpered softly, drawing your fingers down his cheek. “It wouldn’t be your fault.”

“It would feel that way.”

“But it wouldn’t be,” you told him firmly. “I know that you want to be there, Jake. I’m not going to hold that against you. I knew that was a possibility. And I don’t want you to hold that against yourself, alright?”

“But—”

“—Alright,” you pressed more.

The two of you latched onto each other, letting your tears dry and fade. You felt Jake press a kiss to your neck and leaned into the touch when you suddenly jolted in his lap.

“What? What’s wrong?” Jake asked you quickly, causing you to smile.

“Nothing’s wrong. They’re just moving again. They scared me.” Moving Jake’s hand to rest over the side of your bump that your child was active around, even though he wouldn’t be able to actually feel them, you rested your head on his chest. “They weren’t moving around as much when I was here.”

“Do you need to go to the doctor?” Jake asked, staring worriedly down at your bump.

“I called yesterday. They said just to monitor them and to relax a little bit more. And they were right because now our child’s moving around again.” You leaned back against him as he curled his arm around your bump. “They’re going to be a handful? Aren’t they?”

“More than likely,” Jake agreed, sharing a smile with you before turning back to your bump. “But stop scaring your mom. Do you hear me?” After a moment, Jake turned back to you. “Can they hear me?”

“I think so. At my last appointment, they said that the baby should be responding to sound soon.”

Leaning down more so that he could speak directly to your bump, Jake repeated his earlier message, causing you to laugh. He picked his head back up and turned to you, smiling softly. You leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He, in turn, pressed a kiss to your lips that you happily accepted.

“Do you think that you’re ready to come home with me?” Jake asked, causing you to nod quickly. “Then let’s get you packed.”

Jake got you packed in about ten minutes and as you pulled your snacks out of the cupboards, Maverick came walking back inside. He paused by the door, hanging up his keys, before walking over.

“You’re heading home?”

“Yeah. Thanks for taking me in for a little bit,” you replied softly.

“You’re always welcome.”

You pulled Maverick in for a hug and whispered your thanks again. Maverick gave you a squeeze and looked up when Jake came walking around the corner with your bag. Releasing you, Maverick stepped aside and let the two of you out the door.

“Drive safe.”

“We will,” you promised him, smiling over your shoulder at your godfather.

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[wileys-russo]

face masks and horror films II l.williamson x reader

can’t decide if I love this or I hate this but we do love hopelessly soft girlfriend banter 🫶🏻

face masks and horror films II l.williamson x reader

"jesus babe what the hell is in this? it smells like literal petrol." leahs face twisted into a disgusted grimace as she sniffed the top of the bottle, yanking her head away immediately as you moved the flyaways off of her forehead, tucking them behind her ears and tying her hair back into a loose bun.

today was a day you knew would be nothing short of gut wrenching for your girlfriend, the lionesses world cup squad was to be announced, and leahs name wouldn't be on there.

though she was doing well at hiding how much it obviously hurt, unlike others you were not as easily fooled and knowing the older girl like the back of your hand you saw right through her act.

none the less you were still wanting to respect that the defender clearly didn't want to make much of a fuss over it or even talk about it.

though knowing how much it was actually affecting her you'd used the excuse of being stressed out from your own work load to talk her into an at home pamper day of sorts, with the real intent being to try and take her mind off the squad roster.

you'd been by her side and in her corner every single day since she'd gone down and done her acl, and it had hardly been easy given the your girlfriend was quite honestly one of the most stubborn, independent, strong willed, and sometimes pig headed women you'd ever met, but you loved her dearly for it. 

her burning passion and fierce loyalty made her the perfect leader and the most protective and loving of partners, but it was the moments where her walls were down and she was vulnerable and honest and open with you that really made you fall so deeply for the older girl.

your paths had first crossed at a local park, leah our for a walk with her mum enjoying the rare appearance of sunshine on her day off.

you babysitting your troublesome nephew had hoped some fresh air and a kick around of a ball would help to tire him out, and had promptly whisked him off to the park with you.

you were hopelessly naive though and instead had spent the afternoon tiring yourself out as he ran rings around you, energy supply seemingly endless as he zoomed around the park.

only six years old, tall for his age and far from the most self aware of children with his head in the clouds more often than not. it wasn’t long before he’d quite literally slammed into the back of an unsuspecting leahs legs, taking her down to the ground as he chased after the football you’d toe punted in the wrong direction.

“i’m so incredibly sorry oh my god are you alright??” you’d sprinted over as the girl got to her feet, tailbone throbbing and ready to give a very unimpressed mouthful to the parent of the pocket rocket which had taken her off her feet without so much as a hello.

only the moment her eyes fell to you her mouth dried up, words dying on her lips as any ounce of ill will or anger dissipated. “yeah I’m okay.” leah had managed to stutter out, her mum seeing the slight blush grow on her daughters cheeks and excusing herself with the lie she needed to make a phone call.

“archie oliver green you come here right now and apologise to this poor lady!” you shouted at your nephew as he collected the ball he was chasing in the first place. face paling he scurried over and rambled out an apology toward leah, looking up at you for approval as you nodded, running a hand fondly through his hair before excusing him to continue playing.

you continued to apologise yourself over and over to the unfamiliar blonde who waved you off each time, though after much pestering accepted your offer of buying her a coffee in return for the trouble.

and from the moment you’d teased her for ordering a hot chocolate instead, the rest was history.

"leah you're being ridiculous it literally has no smell." you rolled your eyes, snatching the bottle of face mask mixture back off of your girlfriend and squeezing a small amount of its contents onto your palm. 

"nope, there is no way that's going on my face." leahs hands grabbed at your wrists holding them firmly away from her. the blonde leant back with a determined shake of her head as you again tried to move forward to start applying the charcoal mask to her cheeks, your own already beginning to dry.

"you already agreed!" you protested with a huff trying to pull your hands from her iron clad grip. the two of you stood in the bathroom of your shared north london flat, you had already made quick work of hinting to your girlfriend that a day of self care would really help you get over the stress you were under at work which was a lie. 

and though the idea of caring for you was always a priority in the forefront of leahs mind, a day of skin care and pampering was more to the blondes displeasure.

"well that was before i realised you'd just be slapping mud on my face!" leah argued as you puffed air out of you nose in annoyance, firmly staring the older girl down. "for god sakes leah we just had this discussion, it's not mud!" you groaned loudly as she finally let you go, allowing you to move to wash your hands where the charcoal mixture had already dried on your palm.

"it's good for your skin and you'll feel good once it's done le, i promise." you tried again adding in a charming smile and a tilt of your head as leah simply narrowed her eyes, cute as she found you she wasn't giving in that easily to your demands.

admittedly it normally didn't take much for leah to give in and give you whatever you wanted, hell the blonde defender would spoil you rotten every day if she had the chance. she was always sneaking off to get the dinner bill or paying for activities ahead of time on date nights to stay one step ahead of you, shutting up your whinging about it with a kiss and a mumble of how you deserved it against your lips.

"alright i'll make you a deal." leah started with a deep sigh as you crossed your arms over your chest, begrudgingly nodding for her to continue.

“if I let you put this shit on my face, we're watching a movie of my choice later, no arguments from you at all about what i pick." leah negotiated as your eyes locked, neither of you backing down.

"leah if this is just an excuse for you to make me watch porn with you-" you began as leahs eyes widened at the accusation. "scuse you i'm a good girl i would never do that." the blonde grinned as her hands reached out to ball your top in her fists, tugging you to stand inbetween her legs where she was sat down on the edge of the bath tub.

"thought you wanted to watch game of thrones?" you challenged, your girlfriend having been sure she made it crystal clear that even with your often conflicting schedules neither of you were to watch a single minute of your current shared fixation without the other. 

"changed my mind. we have a deal?" leah raised an eyebrow as her hands wrapped around the back of your legs. her chin came to rest on your stomach, piercing blue eyes staring up toward you as she patiently awaited an answer.

you sighed deeply before nodding, knowing that with all she had going on it really wouldn't be fair of you to deny her just watching a movie of her choosing.

the main turn offs for you only being you knew she would either put on a documentary which was incredibly boring or a horror film, neither of which would be your go to choices.

"look who finally learned what a compromise is." you mumbled under your breath, nudging leah's knees further apart you moved in closer as the english captain pulled her head off your stomach and closed her eyes, hands running absentmindedly up and down your bare sides, you once again squeezing a small amount of the mask mixture onto your hands.

"i would personally say allowing you to hide your face in my chest when we watch a horror film is a very fair compromise my girl." leah stated calmly, a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth.

you rolled your eyes in response her words all but confirming you would both be watching something scary later, starting to gently cover her face with the mask mixture, leah tensing a little and gripping to you tighter as the cold cream touched her skin.

"leah williamson, englands new face of chivalry." you sighed sarcastically, squirming as the blonde pinched at her your side for the comment, rather enjoying her easy access to your skin as you were only wearing a pair of her england joggers and a cropped black tank top.

"how long does this have to stay on for?" leah complained almost immediately as you finished, stepping away to wash your hands before stashing the bottle back on the top drawer of your mirrored cabinet.

drying your hands you slipped your phone out of your pocket, snapping a quick picture of leah when the girl wasn't looking and sending it to alex who'd gifted you the bottle of expense face mask cream she'd gotten in one of her many pr packages.

"twenty-ish minutes, come on i'll paint your nails next." you offered, holding your hand out towards the older girl and wiggling your fingers impatiently. "wasn't this pamper day for your benefit baby?" leah chuckled as she grabbed at your hand anyway. "it's for both of us, and looking after you makes me just as happy if not more." you answered sincerely, dipping down to steal a kiss from the blonde whose heart melted at your words.

leah stood from the baths edge and gratefully squeezed your hand, hating how much she truly was whipped over you, forever teased by her friends and team mates about it this was just further proof in the pudding.

"i'd say pick a colour, but..." you grabbed the small bottle of white nail polish knowing better than to offer something more bold, leahs lips curling into a smile as she sat down on your shared bed, tucking one leg underneath her and carefully moving her bandaged leg to lay down flat, still not having the largest range of movement in the new knee.

"oi i've been meaning to ask you, why the hell do we have so many cushions?" leah questioned abruptly with a frown as she moved several off the bed and wiggled herself into a comfortable position as you sat down beside her, urging her to stay still as you began painting the nails on her left hand. 

"decoration? comfort? cause i like them?" you shrugged without looking up, eyes focused sharply on your girlfriends hand determined not to mess anything up.

"you throw them all off when we sleep anyway, I just don't understand it." leah shook her head making you smile though your eyes stayed trained on the task at hand as you bent her head, gently blowing on the wet varnish and warning her not to move her hand until it dried.

"i don't always throw them off." you defended quietly, moving carefully onto leah's other hand and frowning a little when you noticed your girlfriend had once again been chewing on her nails, an anxious habit you thought she'd stopped, but you decided against mentioning it right now.

"we have never slept with them on the bed." leah quickly disagreed, bringing her left hand to her mouth and also gently blowing on the wet nails to help them dry faster

"well you're not always here are you." you mumbled, leah hiding a smile at the thought of her girlfriend using cushions as a replacement for her when away for the night, which though rare did still happen, especially during the WSL season.

"if I could move my face I'd kiss you." leah commented dryly making you laugh, the older girl trying to move her face which had hardened quite significantly from the mask. "that means it's working." you grinned happily, leah now blowing on the nails of her right hand.

"can i do yours now please?" leah asked softly not having much faith she would do a good job but always wanting to give back to you the love you poured endlessly into her.

with a happy nod you stood and picked out a pale purple for your own nails, sitting down cross legged and speaking the blonde through the task, rewarding her with a soft kiss as she finished each nail, the sweet action only spurring her on further.

as leah finished your first hand her phone began to ring, her best friends name flashing on the screen as leah clicked accept and put it on speaker so she could continue. "hi scotty." leah called out, eyes trained down to your hand as you smiled proudly at her obvious efforts.

"how's the face mask going then spock?" alex teased as leahs eyes flickered up to you with an unimpressed glare. "you sent a picture to her? babe!" the blonde groaned as alex laughed, the three of you falling into comfortable conversation.

"what are you both up to tonight then?" alex asked after she'd finished recounting her morning spent rubbing elbows with celebrities at a charity brunch. "self care and pamper night!" leah answered perkily, voice dripping with sarcasm as you shook her head and playfully kicked at her, careful not to touch her bandaged leg.

"we're gonna watch a movie later if you care to come join?" leah offered, finishing up your nails as you beamed proudly and gave her a proper kiss, alex making gagging noises over the call and complaining she didn't call just to hear the two of you make out.

"which movie then?" alex asked once the teasing had died down. "poltergeist." leah announced happily and your eyes almost bugged out of your head at his words, the older blonde looking to you as if challenging you to argue with her choice. "oh pass thanks, joey had nightmares for months when we watched that for the first time as a family."

"months leah!" you turned to your girlfriend with fear stricken eyes who simply shrugged, unbothered. "deals a deal." the blonde smiled smugly, shutting up your further protests with another kiss as alex gagged again and bid you both goodbye, needing to get back to her event.

"right that's twenty minutes, get this crap off my face now please." leahs phone chimed with an alarms, the blonde swinging herself carefully off the bed with a small squeak.

"You set a timer?" you asked in disbelief, following her back to the bathroom. "my face feels like a rock is this going to take my skin off?" leah asked worriedly, looking at herself in the mirror as you rolled your eyes and pushed her to sit back down on the edge of the bath.

"honestly leah and you tell everyone I'm the dramatic one in this relationship."

***

"feels nice doesn't it? told you the mask works." you smiled noticing leah constantly touch at her face fondly, the defender hastily pulling her hands away and flipping her girlfriend off as she clicked on the tv, scrolling through netflix to find what she wanted.

the two of you had ordered a chinese for dinner and with much begging leah had agreed the two of you could watch an episode of game of thrones as you ate, your plan that she would be too invested to want to watch a film after failing miserably as she turned the show off after two episodes and ordered you up to the bedroom.

"come." leah ordered, making grabby hands at you where she lay down already in bed, patting the empty space between her outstretched legs expectantly. "needy." you teased with a cheeky smile as leah pouted, whining that you were taking too long.

despite her sometimes tough exterior the older girl could be incredibly clingy when she was in the right mood, often tiredly demanding you run your hands through her hair and scratch at her back as she laid down on top of you after a hard training, falling asleep with her head tucked into your neck as you mumbled in her ear sweet affirmations of just how much you loved and adored her, and how proud you were of all her achievements.

since her surgery the two of you had been up and down to say the least. some days leah not wanting any sort of coddling or to hear your insistent positive comments that she was doing well, too engrossed in the reality of what her injury was holding her back from to focus on what she was working towards. 

but a few hours of stony silence would pass as you gave her the desired space she needed and afterward the blonde would always come crawling into bed with you, murmuring a sincere apology as she pressed her face into your neck, slowly trailing gentle kisses down the column of your throat, teeth tugging teasingly at your ear lobe before she'd go in for a proper kiss to show how sorry she really was.

"oh wait, lights." leah nodded to the switch near your head as you gave her a look. "you turn it off or I turn it off, it's not staying on. baby girl we never have lights on when we watch a movie, it ruins the atmosphere." leah teased with a grin and you flipped her off without looking and engulfed the room into a soft darkness, padding your way back to the bed purposefully dragging your feet as leah impatiently tutted, huffing dramatically at your antics.

"oh i'll protect you gorgeous." leah mocked as you carefully sat down on the bed and slid your back into her front, mindful of her knee, the defender squeezing your cheeks between her fingers with a coo.

"don't patronise me williamson." you warned seriously, wrenching her hands off and crossing your own over your chest as leah simply chuckled and grabbed the bowl of popcorn, resting it on one of the many cushions scattered around the bed, both of you laying together on top of the covers as it wasn't all that cold. "sorry, y/l/n." leah apologized with an amused smile.

you sighed deeply as the movie began to play and your girlfriends arms snaked around your waist, hands resting on the warm exposed skin of your stomach and rubbing comforting circles into your hips with her slender fingers.

***

normally when the two of you watch a film together one of you would wind up asleep before the end, and it was usually you.

however tonight was far from that. 

the movie had about half an hour left and you were rigidly awake, to the point where leah could feel the muscles in your abs tense every time you would squeeze your eyes closed at something you deemed scary.

much like right now, leah knew there was a jump scare coming and could feel your stomach tense under her fingers as you braced yourself for what was to come. the music shrill and daunting on the screen infront of you, hinting that there was something sinister to follow.

"ah!" leah suddenly yelled, digging her fingers into your sides right before the jump scare when the movie had fallen dead silent. "fucking hell!" you swore, tipping the near empty bowl of popcorn in your lap all over the bed from shock as you jumped half a foot from the false scare, leah's body vibrating behind you as the blonde threw her head back pissing herself at your expense.

"fuck you leah!" you swore again bringing her clenched fist down hard on the blondes bare thigh of her good leg, numbing it with the force of the hit as you yanked your girlfriends arms off of you, moving the now empty bowl out of your way and getting to your feet.

"i'm sorry!" leah managed to choke out between her laughter, now laying down in bed as she held her stomach trying to catch her breath among her howls. "no baby come back please!" leah called out with another laugh as you stepped into the bathroom, making a point to slam the door closed after you to show your displeasure with the blonde.

"no, get away from me." you ordered moodily, sticking your leg out as a barrier as leah joined you and attempted to give you a hug, the older girl smirking at you as she grabbed her own toothbrush, the two of you wordlessly completing your night time routines

"you know you can't stay mad my pretty girl you're far too in love with me." leahs breath was warm on your skin as she wrapped her arms around you from behind once you'd returned to your bedroom, pressing a few apologetic kisses to your neck as always.

"your ego fueled confidence is nauseating." you mumbled with a roll of your eyes but didn't make any move to pull away only making leah smile against your tanned skin. "don't be so stroppy." leah teased quietly, now perfectly painted fingernails tracing patterns on your stomach. 

"don't you want to finish your stupid movie?" you huffed, unwrapping the girls arms from you and moving toward the bed to pick up the few popcorn kernels which had spilled in the bed after your fright, placing the bowl on your dresser to take downstairs tomorrow, not bothered to take the stairs this time of night.

"no I think there's other things I'd much rather do." leah hummed with a suggestive smile. "oh you wish!" you let out a bark of laughter catching on with a shake of your head, getting into bed and indeed throwing the cushions onto the floor.

"not happening leah, go to sleep." you shot your leg up again, foot pressed against the defenders chest as the girl slipped under the covers with you, moving to kneel between your legs and staring down at you with a charmingly cheeky smile.

grabbing her girlfriends leg leah easily pushed it aside, cold hands resting on the younger girls hips as she laid down half on top of you, body slotted between your bare legs, you having changed out of her joggers into a pair of silk pyjama shorts.

"i'm sorry-" leah began to apologise, hands moving to rest either side of her girlfriends face as she laid down more, body pressing against yours beneath her. "-sorry that you are so easy to scare." leah finished after planting a sweet kiss on your lips, you now shoving her off of you with an unimpressed grunt.

"the offer of hiding your face in my chest is still on the table, even without the movie." leah grinned burying her face in your neck, teeth nipping suddenly at the skin as you squirmed. "oh really?" leah smiled in surprise as you quickly moved to sit on top of her, legs resting either side of the blondes hips, once again mindful of her knee.

humming without another word you dipped her head, trailing kisses from the older girls jaw down her neck before bringing your lips together in a proper kiss. and for once you weren't so quick to give over control to the captain laid down under you, your own tongue sliding into her mouth as cold hands trailed up the inside of the light t-shirt that covered her body, pushing it up slightly as her breath hitched.

leah moaned slightly as your knee made its way between her legs, pressing down gently making you smirk against her lips as her hips bucked, the blonde clearly riled up as you'd wanted. "i'm sorry-" you started, whispering in leahs ear softly as her eyes fluttered closed.

"-sorry that this is all you're getting." you finished with a grin, all traces of your touch disappearing from leahs body as you rolled off of her, laying back down in bed facing away from her as the older girl immediately begin to loudly announce her protests, sitting up in bed and glaring down at you as the sound of your laughter now echoed off your bedroom walls.

"you're lucky you're cute." leah grumbled as you smirked up at her, grabbing at the collar of her top and tugging the taller girl back down into your awaiting arms. adjusting her position leah shuffled down the bed slightly, head coming to settle on your chest, her eyes feeling heavy as your fingers weaved their way through her hair, nails scratching at her scalp as you melted into one another's tender touch.

unbeknownst to you leah had known from the moment you suggested the pamper day today what your true motives were, and even more to her surprise it had actually worked and she'd found her mind hadn't even drifted to thoughts of the world cup, spending the majority of her time focused on you and away from her phone.

and the sincerity of your attempted rouse only made the blonde fall even more head over heels in love with you.

[literaryavenger]

Meet The Guardians Of The Galaxy

Summary: The Avengers meet the Guardians of the Galaxy for the first time.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Female Reader

Warnings: Minimal use of Y/N. Language. A lot of fluff. My poor attempts at being funny.

Word Count: 1.4K

A/N: I'm not sure what this is, but I was just thinking how it might go if the Avengers met the Guardians of the Galaxy. It started with the reader cooing at Groot and Bucky being jealous and this is what came out, lol, hope you like it! Needless to say, this doesn't follow the MCU timeline, like basically all of my other stories. Don't ask me how Thor knows the Guardians, the bitch just do. I also just needed Bucky fluff, like always, and I'm really happy how it turned out! Like always I appreciate asks and messages and am always up for it if you have any ideas.

Masterlist

By this point you’re very aware that there’s life on other planets, that the universe is a place much bigger than you ever imagined. Working with the Avengers allows you to see so many things that you never thought could possibly even exist.

Super soldiers, superheroes, enhanced individuals, even Thor himself is a demi-god from literally a different planet.

This particular demi-god is the reason why today you and the rest of the team find yourselves in the common room of the Avengers Compound, a spaceship casually parked in your yard.

They call themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy: Peter Quill, Gamora, Rocket, Nebula, Drax and Mantis, literal aliens currently bickering amongst themselves because they came to earth to visit Thor the wrong day, resulting in Thor not being home for their arrival.

"Is that a plushie?" you ask, a little confused, pointing at a little teddy bear-like thing on Quill’s shoulder and effectively ending their search for who is at fault for their mistake.

He looks even more confused than you and asks "What the hell is a plushie? This is Groot, he’s a Flora Colossi."

You decide, for my own peace of mind, to ignore the latin and instead focus on the cute little thing on his shoulder who is now moving and looking at you weirdly.

"I am Groot." he says in the cutest voice ever.

"Oh my god, you're just adorable!" You say, reaching your finger out for him to hold, freaking out at his cuteness.

"I remember when you used to talk to me like that…" you hear Bucky mumble behind you, which makes you laugh and, with your attention still completely on Groot, you tell him "God, you really are a needy bitch, Barnes." at which everybody laughs.

"Yeah? And you’re just a bi-"

"Hey!" you basically yell, interrupting him and startling Groot.

"I’m kidding!" he quickly says, putting up his hands in defeat. With one last glare at Bucky, your attention turns back to Groot.

"I am Groot!" he says again.

"I know honey, you said that." you tell him.

"I am Groot." he says, yet again, at which Sam answers "Yeah, you’re Groot, got it."

Groot says "I am Groot." again and, before Sam can say something that you're sure is gonna be very rude, you turn to the Guardians and ask "Why does he keep saying that?"

Rocket is the one to answer "Well, he don't know talking good like me and you. So his vocabulistics is limited to I and am and Groot. Exclusively in that order."

His answer leaves you all a little dumbfounded but again, for your own sanity, you all seem to decide to let it go.

Instead Bruce asks "So how do you understand him?"

"We speak Groot." Nebula says like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"How can you speak ‘Groot’ if he says literally the same three words, in the exact same order, in the same way every time?" Tony asks, starting to get a little frustrated, probably because the genius can’t do something that seems to come really easy to a bunch of space idiots.

"We manage." Quill simply says.

At this point Groot reaches his little hands towards you, signaling that he wants to be picked up, so, before Tony can make any sarcastic comment, you look at Quill and ask, excitement clear on your face "Can I?" while pointing at an awaiting Groot.

"Sure." He says, and you very carefully pick him up and put him on your shoulder.

"Be careful not to move too fast, he’ll hold onto your hair for dear life." Gamora warns you.

"Noted." you say giggling a little when Groot sticks his tongue out to Gamora, then she does the same to him, making everyone else laugh too.

"Buck, look how cute he is." you coo at Groot who's playing with your finger.

"’s not that cute…" he says quietly but you hear him, and apparently so does Groot because he says "I am Groot." in a very annoyed tone that prompts a chorus of whoas and protests from the guardians.

"The acorns on you, kid!" Quill says, and everybody just knows he said some really bad words to Bucky.

"Who even taught you that word?!" Rocket sounds like an exasperated parent.

"I am Groot."

"What do you mean, Drax taught you?! WHY WOULD YOU TEACH HIM THAT?" 

"The small tree asked." Drax says unbothered.

"Just because he asks doesn't mean you have to teach him dirty words!"

"How was I supposed to know that?"

"It's really common sense, Drax." Gamora interjects, calmer than Rocket.

"I am Groot."

"See, even Groot knows you don’t have common sense, Drax, that’s why he asked you." Quill says.

"I am Groot."

"I am not stupid, tree!" Drax glares at Groot.

"See, he’s not cute. He’s a disrespectful little shit!" Bucky says, also glaring at poor Groot.

"I am Groot." the guardians snicker, leaving the rest of you confused.

"What? What did he say?" you're too curious not to ask as Groot is now glaring back at Bucky.

"He said he doesn’t understand how a sweet person like you is with someone like him." Nebula translates, earning some gasps and snickers from everyone else too.

You look at Bucky trying hard not to laugh and he looks like he's about 5 seconds away from murdering Groot.

He takes a step towards you but Groot, still on your shoulder, makes the cutest little growl and starts flinging one of his arms around in Bucky’s direction, the other one holding to your hair so as to not fall.

"Oh, he’s ready to fight a bitch." you say unable to hold in your laughter any longer and the others follow you.

"What?" you turn around and Drax is giving you a confused look.

"What?" you say, calming down from your laughter.

"I do not understand. He does not resemble a female dog." he looks at Bucky and then back at you.

"He- I don- What?" you’re as confused as you’ve ever been, everybody else’s faces mirroring your own.

"His people are completely literal, he doesn’t understand metaphors." Rocket explains.

"Oh… fun." Tony says, still a little confused.

"Is it though?" you hear Gamora mumble, before Mantis starts giggling.

"It is!" she says with the joy of a kid on christmas morning.

"It’s really not." Nebula says casually, and from that the Guardians start bickering amongst each other.

You look at Groot who’s still on the warpath with Bucky and then at Rocket, the only one not saying anything.

He meets your eyes and simply says. "This is what I gotta live with."

"Oh, poor little racoon." you coo at him while laughing and that seems to stop the bickering.

"Hey, I am no racoon!" Rocket tells you defensively.

"I am Groot." Rocket groans and Quill snickers.

"Groot’s right, he’s a trash panda." he says knowing the people of earth will know why that’s funny.

Some of the Avengers laugh, but you gasp trying to hide your amusement for Rocket’s sake.

"You know, you might be right, Buck. He’s not that cute and innocent after all." you turn to your boyfriend, who gives you a slight pout.

"I’m cuter than him, right"- he asks you with those puppy eyes he knows make you melt.

"Aww, of course you are, baby." you give him a kiss on the cheek, almost forgetting about Groot on your shoulder until he talks again.

"I am Groot." the Guardians “aww” and coo at him but before you can ask, Mantis explains. "He says he understands now why you’re together."

"He says he can see how much you two love each other." Gamora finishes.

You smile at Groot and he smiles back before making the cutest yawn, looking at Bucky and doing grabby hands at him.

Bucky looks at you and you take his hand and guide it towards where Groot is, he’s uncertain but when Groot climbs on his hand Bucky looks almost like a little kid seeing a butterfly up close for the first time.

He brings Groot against his chest and the little tree gets comfortable and falls asleep almost immediately, while everyone else in the room coos at the two.

"This might be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen." you whisper, not wanting to wake up Groot, and Bucky looks up at you and flashes a smile bright enough to light up the whole of New York.

"I guess he is kind of cute." he says looking back down at Groot’s sleeping form, leaving everyone else snickering as quietly as they can, while he imagines how it would be to be like this one day with a baby that’s his and yours, and you can’t help but think the same thing.

Part 2

[fxckn-sxck-fr]

𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 — 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐈𝐈𝐈

Yandere Dick Grayson x GN Reader

❥ Part I >> Part II >> Part III >> Part IV

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐓: This is basically just Dick metronoming between overly-coddling, emotionally distant, cool older brother, and scary. And also everyone collectively shaving 30 years off of Alfred’s life.

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒: platonic sibling yandere content, older brother Dick Grayson, younger sibling reader, non-vigilante reader, adopted reader, slow burn yandere(?), the pacing is very a-day-in-the-life-esque, overbearing Dick Grayson, lowkey-infantilism, flu-shot/needles (barely mentioned), emotionally constipated Bruce, estranged father Bruce, Dick is a liar (his pants are indeed on fire), Dick just knows shit somehow, Dick’s lowkey a dick, scary Dick Grayson.

“It’ll just be a little poke, kid. You’ll be fine.”

As much as you wanted to roll your eyes at the man’s babying, you couldn’t find the courage to do so. It had nothing to do with the upcoming needle (well, thinking about it may or may not have made you the tiniest bit apprehensive, but that’s besides the point). Rather, for the past 30 minutes or so, you’ve been haunted by the words of the lady at the front desk.

“A walk-in for flu shots today?”

A walk-in.

Dick said this was an appointment.

The whole reason why you were missing school today was because of this appointment. Dick scheduled it under the pretense that it was a Saturday rather than a Friday, and that’s why you were running around doing errands with him all morning instead of making up that damn world history test. So why the hell did she call it a walk-in instead of an appointment?

Of course, while you so desperately wanted an answer, there’s no way in hell you were asking; not after whatever… that… was earlier.

The absence of your response must’ve been translated as nervousness. “Hey,” Dick softly began, “it’ll be okay. I’ll be right here, alright?”

Before you could even think of what to respond with, the doctor walked in with a trey of needed utensils. When it was set down on the counter, you spotted the needle and packet of alcohol wipes, and you couldn’t help but quirk a brow at the array of different bandaids. There was the typical neutral type, but there was also ones with fun patterns, like rocket ships or flowers. The one with a classic comic book style caught your eye as the doctor began to talk.

“Sorry for the small wait,” she said, ripping open the packet of alcohol wipes. “Lots of people coming in for the flu shot.”

“‘Tis the season,” Dick chimed next to you.

You fought the urge to scoff at the doctor’s polite chuckle. Don’t validate his ego…

After instructing you to roll up your sleeve, she gently swabbed your upper arm with the cold alcohol wipe, the strong stench hitting your nose like a truck. Once that was done, she turned towards the counter to prep the needed, and you let out a small sigh. Once this was over with, you could finally go home and hide in your room for the rest of the day. It would finally grant you refuge from a whole day spent running around with Dick (he could be a fun guy, sure, but the awkward air of the morning was still lingering in the back of your brain, and you wanted some time to yourself to actually figure out what the hell the deal was).

A warm hand suddenly engulfed yours, causing you to flinch from surprise.

“It’s okay, kiddo,” Dick assured, stroking the back of your hand with his thumb. “You can always squeeze my hand if you need to.”

Your teeth aggressively bit down on the inside of your cheek. There were many things you wanted to say — “dude, I’m not a baby,” “the coddling is so weird,” “what the hell is up with you” — but you held them back the best you could, barely even registering the small prick in your arm until the needle was being pulled out.

“All done,” the doctor announced. You watched her put down the syringe on the tray as she picked up the different assortment of bandaids. “Hope you’re not too old for fun patterns. I’ve got tiger stripes, flowers, stars, butterflies…”

You obviously picked the comic book one, which you immediately regretted after hearing Dick’s small chortle (was he seriously making fun of you for choosing the objectively coolest looking bandaid?). As soon as the bandaid flaps were carefully rolled onto your upper arm, the doctor told you that the soreness should last for a couple of days, and before you knew it, you were hopping off of the chair and ready to go.

“Told ya you’d be fine,” Dick cooed, one of his hands coming up to pat your head. As if that wasn’t enough to rub you the wrong way, the doctor had the nerve to giggle at you two. Why was she endorsing this bastard’s behavior?!

And it gets worse. Because of course it does. After her little schoolgirl giggle, she let out a humored awww. Like she found your torment adorable in some sick way. You weren’t even worried about this to begin with, so what’s with all the infantilism, huh?!

God, I just wanna go home…

He was out for the night; you had to double, triple check just to make sure. Hell, you even looked up the Nightwing-sightings Twitter account to confirm that he was, in fact, out of the house (fortunately, a video of him grappling to Bludhäven’s Orthodox Cathedral was posted 7 minutes ago, which meant he was on the other side of the city). When you were 100% absolutely certain that — beyond a shadow of a doubt — he wasn’t hiding somewhere in the apartment for whatever reason, you took a few deep breaths and conjured up the bravery to hit the “call” button on your phone.

… Beeeeeeeeep…

… Beeeeeeeeep…

“Master (Y/N), is everything alright?”

A small sigh of relief left your lips. Alfred’s voice sounded fully awake, and you could even hear the clinking of dishes in the background of the call. Not even questioning why the butler was doing dishes at midnight, you tried to make your voice sound casual. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Just wanted to check up on the manor.”

“It’s a rather rare night, here. For once, Master Bruce is asleep upstairs at this hour.” His tone then shifted to something more pointed. “Much like you should be.”

“And you,” you shot back. “Why are you awake if Bruce isn’t?”

“I’ve found myself working on The Batman’s schedule,” the old man explained, speaking over the squeak of a cabinet. “I usually don’t sleep for another couple of hours, when Master Bruce returns from his nightly activities.”

Well, that explains why breakfast is closer to lunch in Wayne Manor. Before he could return the question, you decided to cut to the chase. “Do you think it’d be okay if I tried to call him sometime? Or sent him a text?”

“I believe a call would be an excellent idea.” You could’ve sworn you heard a chortle on the other end. “A text would give him the leeway to procrastinate, and possibly never answer. It’s better to catch him off-guard.”

Something about having to surprise-attack your own adoptive father with a conversation made your chest feel heavy. While you figured out very early on he didn’t like socializing (must suck to be a playboy billionaire CEO and an introvert at the same time), did he really want to avoid talking to you that badly? Ouch…

“Well,” you awkwardly shifted on your bed, “when’s the best time to call him, then?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to that,” replied Alfred. “But I’ll be sure to let you know when the opportunity arises. It’s about time the two of you actually talked, after all. Even if it’s just a simple hello.”

Your lips pressed into a thin line. If you were reading in between the lines correctly, Alfred was suggesting that a call with Bruce at this rate would be a simple, “hi, how are you, how’s it going,” exchange. Which, okay, makes sense, considering your adoptive father may as well be a stranger at this point (you honestly wouldn’t be surprised if you had to reintroduce yourself to him), but that meant it was going to take a while before you could even consider asking him if you could move back into the manor.

Which meant you were stuck in Blüdhaven for an indefinite amount of time.

Okay, it’s not like living with Dick is the worst thing ever. He’s starting to get weird, sure, but all of your basic needs are met, and you’ve got the added benefit of having Nightwing as your older brother, probably making you the safest kid in Blüdhaven right now. If anything, you were being totally ridiculous right now; trying to get in touch with your reclusive adoptive father — who obviously wants nothing to do with you at the moment — just because you didn’t want to talk to Dick about his weird behaviors.

(In other words, you’re opting to avoid the problem altogether instead of addressing it. Why does that sound eerily familiar…)

But nevertheless, even before Dick started to get weird, you’ve been extremely anxious about your relationship with Bruce (or lack thereof). It’d be nice to put your best foot forward and try to make up for being a burden to him.

“I’ll take what I can get,” you sadly admitted. “I just hope I don’t make him upset.”

“I can assure you, Master Bruce would be more than thrilled that you’re reaching out to him.” Ah. So now Alfred’s reverted to lying to you. “Now, it’s about time you get some sleep, don’t you think? Master Dick would be most displeased that you’re taking up The Batman schedule yourself.”

You tried to ignore the way your stomach churned at the mention of Dick. “I guess so… goodnight, Alfred.”

“Good night, Master (Y/N). I hope your next call is at a more reasonable hour for the sake of your sleep cycle.”

And, with that, the call ended.

Just in time to hear the window in the living room open.

“The Flash.”

“Fortnite.”

“Superman.”

“Wordscapes.”

“Green Lantern.”

“Which one?”

“Uh… the one with the brown swoopy hair.”

“Halo.”

“Wonder Woman.”

“Minecraft.”

The sputter you let out almost made you lose your focus. “Wonder Woman plays Minecraft?!”

“Not often,” Dick elaborated, “she only started playing because she saw Donna has it.”

You spared him a glance, though quickly returned your attention back to the computer screen on your lap. “Who’s Donna?”

“Well, you might’ve known her as Wondergirl…” the way that Dick referred to her in the past tense made your heart drop, “but she’s been bouncing between Darkstar and Troia recently. Lots of people still call her Wondergirl.”

Oh, thank god. She’s not dead. “Didn’t take Wondergirl for a Minecraft player.”

“She wanted to play with the rest of the Titans,” was Dick’s simple reply. “We’re hoping she doesn’t check in with the server, though, cuz Wally accidentally blew up part of her house and I don’t think any of us have fixed it yet.”

“And Wally’s Kid Flash,” you presumed, barely registering Dick’s hum of approval after you watched your character get knocked off the track. “Should’ve known the Titans are a bunch of gamers.”

Dick chuckled. “I don’t know about all that. We don’t get to play with each other often, with how busy our lives are, but it’s a nice way to goof around during the holidays.”

“What do you guys play?” You had to fight the urge to let out a curse upon seeing you got 1st place stolen from you. Total bullshit. “Besides Minecraft and, y’know, Garfield Kart.”

“Okay, to set the record straight, I’ve only played Garfield Kart once.”

“Mhm.”

“And Wally thought it would be funny.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And I figured it was fine to only spend 5 dollars on a game I knew I’d play once.”

“Why’s it still in your library, then?”

“Because I still spent money on it,” Dick retorted, his arms gesturing wildly in the air. “Might as well keep it just in case Wally wants us to play it again!”

“You’re getting oddly defensive about this.”

“Cuz it’s the truth!”

“Alright, then. Let’s see.” You dragged the mouse down to his dock and clicked on Steam, pulling up his library tab. “You have a total of 5 hours in Garfield Kart.”

“All from one night,” Dick tried to justify.

“You guys were playing Garfield Kart for 5 hours straight?”

“Roy was having connection issues!!”

“There’s no— I’m calling bullshit!!”

“I’m not making this up, I swear it’s the truth!!”

“Nah, man,” you were fighting through your giggling fits as best as you could. “I don’t believe it. 5 hours in Garfield Kart over connection issues??”

“I have witnesses!!” Dick started to fish into the pocket of his sweatpants for his phone. “I’m calling Wally right now. He’s gonna tell you the exact same shit, and you gonna formally apologize to me with a third party present to…”

Something on his phone screen made him trail off.

You at first thought it was because he couldn’t multitask between pulling up Wally’s contact information and talking. But his fingers weren’t doing anything, instead stagnantly clutching his phone. He looked to be reading something, like a notification on his lock screen. You watched in real time as his humored smile (a genuine smile, not a Richard Grayson smile), dropped into a deep frown. The switch up was enough to kill your own smile, brows knitting together as you asked, “what is it?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he muttered a curse under his breath and abruptly stood from his seat on the couch to make a b-line for his room. The door slamming shut caused your shoulders to jerk upwards, the sound echoing through your brain as you quickly put the pieces together; Nightwing was needed.

Low muttering came from his room — probably a phone call, though you weren’t a hundred percent certain on that — making you wonder just what the hell was going on. Was this a Gotham emergency? Titans emergency? Hell, even a Justice League emergency (if that’s the case, it’s a bit weird to think that Leaguers just text each other when they need back-up, but then again, you’re not entire sure what else they would do… there’s probably a whole system to it that you wouldn’t understand).

Dick’s bedroom door swinging up snapped you out of your thoughts, your pseudo brother now dressed in his Nightwing costume with his phone up to his ear. “I’ll call you back over comms. Just give me a minute, okay?” He then hung up, tossing his phone onto the couch and making his way to the window. “Duty calls, kid.” The pane of glass automatically slid open at his touch. “Leftovers are in the fridge if I come back late.” Before you could even ask what was going on, he jabbed a finger at you in an accusatory manner. “Stay put. You hear me?”

You thickly swallowed. “Try not to cause any explosions this time.”

A ghost of a smile danced on his features, and, within a blink of an eye, he was gone.

The apartment was eerily quiet now. Just a few minutes prior, you were laughing and carrying on about what games each Leaguer played, and now this happened. God, the vigilante lifestyle is one hell of a rollercoaster.

You’ve long forgotten about Garfield Kart, setting the laptop right next to where Dick’s phone landed on the couch. Instead, you tried to focus on taking deep breaths to keep your anxiety at bay. Dick was going to be fine. He’s always come home before, this time should be no different, right?

“I bet this is what Alfred thinks about Bruce,” you humorously thought out loud.

It’s probably what he thought about Jason, too.

… Not helping.

Taking another deep breath, you wrapped your arms around yourself and sank further into the couch. He’s going to be fine. If he’s coming in as backup, then that means he won’t be alone. Other heroes will have his back and make sure nothing bad happens.

“He’ll be fine,” you had to reassure yourself.

Everything’s fine.

Thunkthunk…

…

Thunkthunkthunkthunk…

…

Thunkthunkthunkthunkthunk…

Okay, either a giant bug was trying to get into your room in the middle of the night, or someone was at your window.

Your first thought was to ignore it. What if it was a murderer or a robber? There’s no way in hell you’re about to find out when Dick still hasn’t returned. That’s when you remembered, oh yeah, Dick still hasn’t returned, and that very well could’ve been him. Why was he trying to get into your room instead of the easy-access, less conspicuous window in the living room? No idea. But you decided to risk it anyway, rolling out of bed to face the window.

Sure enough, sticking outside of the building like an overgrown spider was Blüdhaven’s very own Nightwing, his blue stripes shimmering under the full moon. You could slightly make out the sheepish expression on his face as he asked, “could you let me in?”

If your brain wasn’t still foggy with sleep, you probably would’ve been an asshole and toyed with him for a bit, but it was too late for that. Flipping the window’s switch, the locking mechanism came undone with a resonate click, and you pathetically struggled to slide the glass upwards (in your defense, Bat-certified security windows are kinda heavy). Sparing you from further embarrassment, Dick helped out on his end. You found it unfair that he was able to make it look easy with one hand.

“You’re home,” you tiredly noted, allowing relief to flood your senses. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah. Yeah, everything’s alright.” As soon as he took a couple steps forward, you realized that everything was not alright. He seemed to be favoring his left leg over his right, limping towards your bed and sitting himself down on it as gracefully as he could. “Just some business in Gotham, is all.”

Your brows furrowed at how dismissive he was. “What happened to your leg?”

He didn’t answer for a few moments, instead working on tearing his domino mask off (there was an inky black substance left around his eyes, and you wondered if it was some sort of adhesive for his mask or something like that). “Uh… nothing too bad. I’ll be fine in the morning.”

“Nothing too bad,” you flatly echoed. “What does that mean?”

“Minor scratch,” he half-heartedly replied.

“… Right.” You didn’t believe him, but you couldn’t see any sort of obvious dents or deformities to his leg, so at least there was that. “So, is the living room window broken, or…?”

“Jammed,” was his curt answer.

For whatever reason, his total vagueness was starting to get on your nerves. Not only is he keeping you in the dark about what happened in Gotham, but he’s obviously lying about his leg and now reverting to giving you one-word answers. You also didn’t like how nonchalant he was being, like this has been scripted and rehearsed several times (god, he must’ve been a menace for Bruce and Alfred back in the day).

“Probably should get that fixed, then,” you said through a yawn.

“Yup.” He even popped the p. What a jackass. “Was everything fine while I was away?”

Christ. Even when asking a how were things question he sounds so dismissive. Maybe it was just because he was so tired after a long day. You should probably stop assuming he does everything out of pure condescending intent and general assholery. “Yeah, every—”

The sound of your phone ringing cut your answer short. Before you could make a move, Dick leaned across your bed to inspect your device picking it up and reading the caller ID. “It’s Alfred,” he chirped. Now, you would think he would hand the phone over to you (you know, cuz you’re the actual owner of the device), but you were grimly reminded that Dick was still the biggest bastard you know when he answered the call himself, bringing it up to his ear and greeting Alfred with a simple, “yo.”

“Dick, what the fuck are you doing,” you whispered, hoping that Alfred couldn’t hear you curse from the other end. You reached for your device, but he easily caught your hand with his free one.

“Yeah, it’s me,” he said over the line. He continued to talk with that stupid nonchalant tone, and from how Alfred’s voice bellowed out of your phone, you could tell the butler wasn’t having it. Attempted to obtain the device again, you swiped at it with your freehand, only for Dick to catch you off guard by pulling you towards his chest. You barely had time to start squirming before he locked you in place under his arm. “I’m fine, Alfred,” he said after he managed to finagle you onto his uninjured leg. “Honest. I am.”

Now that you were at a closer proximity, you could vaguely make out what Alfred was saying. “You had me scared to death, boy!! The least you could’ve done was answer your communicator, you know!!”

“Didn’t hear you trying to contact me,” he sheepishly replied, an almost chuckle spilling from his lips. “My comm must be jammed after the impact. Sorry, Alfred.”

First the window’s jammed, now his comm’s jammed. Why is everything jammed tonight?

… Also, what’s this about an impact?

“You’ve outgrown the manor and yet you’re still fixed on giving us heart attacks,” Alfred exasperatedly sighed. “Master Bruce was worried you were—”

“Hey, hey,” Dick reassured. “I’m okay, alright?”

You took this as an opportunity to speak up. “No, he’s not!! He did someth—gmgfhfmhm!!”

Dick partially stopped constricting your body to slam your face into his chest, muffling the rest of your sentence.

“… Master Dick, are you hurt?”

“No, Alfred.” A bit of venom laced Dick’s words, but he was quick to recover. “I’m fine. (Y/N)’s just being a little brat again.”

From the small beat of silence, you 100% knew Alfred was not buying Dick’s bullshit. But there wasn’t much the old man could do to call him out for it over the phone. “Well, then, how is Master (Y/N)? You seemed very worried over how they were—”

Dick didn’t even let Alfred finish. “They’re fine, but up way past their bedtime.”

… Wait a minute.

“Master (Y/N),” Alfred chided, this time directly talking to you. “What did I tell you about getting your proper rest?”

This. Mother. Fucker.

You tried to swivel your head out of his chest to A.) breathe again, and B.) give him a deadly glare. Why the fuck was he throwing you under the bus when he was the one that woke you up in the first place?! God, as soon as he lets you loose, you were gonna let him have it.

“It’sh no’muy fauh,” you defended, your words distorted from your cheek being smushed against Dick’s body. Unfortunately, Alfred still allowed his disapproval to shine through with yet another sigh, mumbling something about how everyone in this family is a hazard.

“Don’t worry, Alfred.” Dick shifted you on his lap so you were no longer being manhandled like a teddy bear. “I’ll get them to bed right now. Tell Bruce I’m fine, alright?”

“You should tell him yourself, boy!! He’s been trying to call you non—”

Dick then did the unthinkable; hang up on Alfred.

Oh, hell no. Absolutely not. You do not hang up on Alfred while he’s mid-chastising. Even if he’s a massive douche, Dick should know better than this, especially considering he was practically raised by the man.

So, as soon as he unceremoniously tossed your phone back onto your bedside table, you got vengeance on behalf of the butler.

CHOMP.

“OW!!” Dick unraveled his arm from your form, trying to rip his hand out of your mouth. “You little brat!! What the hell?!”

“Urr fveeinn uh pphrickhh!!”

Be some miracle, he managed to pry your teeth off of him, wiping the saliva off of his glove. “Care to repeat that, you vile creature?”

Spitting the taste of latex out of your mouth, you tried again. “You’re being a prick!! Why are you lying to everyone, huh?! I was worried, Alfred’s worried, Bruce is worried, and here you are, waving everyone off like it’s nothing?! What the hell even happened out there, huh?!”

Dick’s expression hardened. “(Y/N), it’s way too late for this.”

“No!! Don’t even do that!!” You shoved jabbed a finger into his chest. “You can’t come in here waking me up at… whatever the fuck hour it is right now and brush everything to the side!! You’re obviously hurt, dipped out on everyone over in Gotham without a word, have Alfred and apparently Bruce try to get in touch with you cuz they didn’t know what the fuck happened to you, and you expect me to not want any answers?! What’s your problem?!”

“My problem is that I have a high schooler yelling in my face like a 3rd grader,” Dick bitterly snapped. “People are trying to sleep right now, (Y/N)! What if you wake the one of the neighbors and they file a noise complaint?!”

“Wha— don’t try to change the—”

He grabbed your forearms tightly, catching you off guard and killing your sentence then and there. His tone got dangerously low as he pulled you closer to him. “I’m serious, (Y/N). Cut it out. Now’s not the time for this. Can’t you just listen to me for once?!”

… This was unfair. He’s trying to pull some intimidating authority bullshit on you, all to avoid actually answering you. It was so painfully obvious that’s what he was doing.

And yet, despite knowing that…

That look was back in his eyes.

It was the same coldness that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand at attention, vocal cords constricting as though your very subconscious was warning your brain to shut the fuck up as a self-preservation tactic. A ghost hand was creeping up your spine, sending electric signals of unease through your shoulders and into your skin.

Something was wrong again.

Something was so wrong again.

Even if you know this was all just some cheap intimidation tactic, it sure as hell was working.

“Fine,” you muttered, turning your head away so you didn’t have to continue eye contact with him. “But this isn’t over, okay?”

Dick didn’t have anything to say to that. Rather, he picked you up from his lap gently, setting you back down on your bed. “Get some sleep. Okay, kiddo? It’s been a long night.”

You merely hummed, watching him carefully. His calculating gaze — which still held that weird edge — scanned over your form before a certified Richard Grayson smile tugged at the corner of his lips. After a few seconds of just staring at you, he turned towards the door and began to limp out the room.

“Goodnight, (Y/N).”

“… ‘Night, Dick.”

Your door squeaked open, then softly clicked shut.

After he was gone, it dawned upon you that you were holding in your breath. Allowing yourself the gift of oxygen, you flopped back down on your bed, mulling over the timeline of the day. Hours prior, Dick left for a Gotham emergency, must’ve done something to fuck up his leg (you recall him saying something about an impact to Alfred), left for Blüdhaven without telling anyone, ignored comms because they were jammed, woke you up because the Bat Door (the living room window) was also jammed, and then the phone call with Alfred.

And also him being weird again (the scary weird this time, not the coddling weird), but you didn’t really wanna think about that right now.

In fact, if you were being honest, you realized you were too tired to think about everything else, as well. It really has been a long day, and you weren’t even the one dealing with Gotham bullshit (no, your job was to deal with Bat bullshit… batshit). All this dismissive lying shit really tuckers a kid out.

So, as your eyelids began to flutter shut, you could only mutter one last thing;

“… What the fuck is happening.”

[togrowoldinv]

Batter Up

Natasha Romanoff x Reader

When she notices you’re stressed, your girlfriend takes you to do some unconventional stress relief

Note: Yay for more Nat! Please follow my library blog @togrowoldinvlibrary for fic updates! Enjoy!

Natasha Romanoff Masterlist 1, Natasha Romanoff Masterlist 2, Main Masterlist

Once you started dating her, it didn’t take Natasha long to be able to tell when you get stressed. Maybe it’s her spy background or maybe she just knows you that well.

But either way she can tell you are stressed out today.

She gave you some space when she first realized it. But when she sees you sitting at your desk and working on your laptop, she decides to try another tactic.

“Detka?” She tries to get your attention. You don’t look up from your laptop. Nat walks over and pushes the screen down.

“Nat! What are you doing?” You ask her, frantically trying to open it again.

“Come on,” she stops your hands and takes them into hers.

“But-“

“No, y/n. You need a break,” she says. She pulls you towards the door. Before she opens it, she takes one of leather jackets off the coatrack and places it over your shoulders.

“Nat, I really need to work,” you say as she leads you to your car. She opens the door and you get in the passenger side. Nat goes to her side and gets in. “How did you get my keys?”

“They were on the counter,” she shrugs. “Now I want you to take the aux and play whatever you want, okay?”

“Whatever I want?” You ask with a smirk.

“Yes baby. Whatever you want.”

With a kiss to your cheek, she puts the car in drive and takes off down the road. About twenty minutes and some songs that annoy Natasha later, she pulls into a parking lot.

You look around. You definitely wouldn’t have guessed she would bring you here. “Batting cages?” You ask.

“Let’s go.”

You follow Nat to the cage and she helps you out of her jacket. You grab a bat from the rack.

“Alright, let me grab a tee and I’ll get you set up,” Natasha says.

“Oh, I don’t need one. I can hit off the pitching machine,” you tell her. She raises a brow.

“Detka, are you sure?”

“Yes, just turn it on please.”

“You got it, babe,” she says, still a little skeptical of it.

But as soon as you start hitting the baseballs she realizes that you definitely know what you’re doing. With each swing, the balls are rocketing off the bat.

“Well, damn,” Natasha accidentally says aloud. She can’t help but admire you. She finds it incredibly attractive how confidently you are swinging. The last ball comes through the machine and you crush it.

“God, I feel better,” you say as you turn back to Nat with a smile on your face.

She comes into the cage again and immediately pulls you in for a kiss. There’s so much passion behind it that you almost fall over.

“What was that for?” You ask her once she’s pulled away. You’re practically breathless.

“You were just- so hot,” Natasha says. You giggle and she kisses you quickly. “I didn’t know you could hit like that.”

“Yeah well I’m full of surprises,” you joke.

She slips her jacket back onto you and takes your hands.

“I hope you’re not full of stress anymore.”

“I’m much better. Still have a little bit though,” you say.

“I can think of another way to handle that stress,” Natasha says with a smirk.

“Oh, please take me home Natasha Romanoff,” you say.

She smiles and you walk to the car maybe a little bit quicker than usual. Natasha always knows how to make you feel better.

[coallise]

Can I request a part 2 to A Deal and a Dance?

here you go anon and @korrasamiswan

here's part one for anyone interested and here is part 2 of Deal and a Dance

It took a month for Vaggie to get back into practice and once she did, her skills quickly improved to be on par with the sisters.

“Vaggie, a moment before we start,” Carmilla ordered Vaggie when she walked into the training room.

“Is everything ok, miss Carmine?” Vaggie sat obediently on the bench on the edge of the training room.

“I like to think we’re close enough by now to drop the formalities,” Carmilla muttered under her breath as she kneeled down by Vaggie’s feet, moving the box out from under the bench.

“Hmm, thing is, the next step is calling you mama, and I don’t know if we’re that close yet,” Vaggie joked. Carmilla smirked as she started unwinding the silk ribbons from around Vaggie’s feet.

“I wouldn’t mind,” once Carmilla removed both shoes, she slid on a pair of hell steel shoes and tied them tight, “in fact, I think I would be honored if you did.”

Vaggie turned and blushed before taking Carmilla’s hand to help her up and almost falling into her arms. “what the hell? These shoes-”

“Are made of hell steel, the next step of learning our fighting style,” Carmilla helped Vaggie gain her balance before walking to her two daughters vibrating in excitement, “you will spar with Clara today.”

“I thought the deal was just teaching me dancing,” Vaggie took some shaky steps toward Clara. The shoes offered no give and Vaggie felt like she was literally standing on the blades of a knife.

“Hmm, I believe the deal was to teach you as long as you’re willing. Are you not willing to take the next step in our version of ballet?” Carmilla asked, leaning forward so she was at height with Vaggie.

Vaggie pursed her lips. “I’m flattered and, honestly, the idea excites me. I just… well Charlie doesn’t really like… and if I go home covered in bruises, she might not-”

“Are you really worried about your girlfriend not approving of fighting, or are you worried about getting gold blood on my studio floor?” Carmilla quickly used her shoes to slice a shallow cut in Vaggie’s arm, just deep enough for a drop of gold blood to land on the floor.

“How-how did you know?!” Vaggie backed up, holding her arm where the cut happened.

“Are you really as dense as your girlfriend? We’ve known from the beginning, it’s not rocket science. Even if we didn’t, the blisters when you first started again and the fact that you blushed gold when Charlie watched a lesson confirmed it,” Carmilla moved so Vaggie crashed into her when she tried to run. Carmilla yanked her chin up, “you are safe, chiquita. You and your secret. I hope Charlie knows it too.”

Vaggie’s frame shook and she fell into Carmilla. Those words, you are safe chiquita, hit something deep in her. Carmilla ran her large fingers threw Vaggie’s hair, waiting for the young girl to calm down.

“Thank you, …, mama,” Vaggie muttered before breaking from the embrace, “uhm, maybe we can do the next step tomorrow, miss Carmine,” Vaggie said before flinching when Carmilla gave her ponytail a soft yank.

“I heard that, no more miss Carmine,” Carmilla ordered. The practice went normal as Vaggie got used to the shoes, but before she could send Charlie a message that practice was over, Clara stole her phone.

“Hey!” Vaggie made a lunge for her phone.

“Come on, sis, we should celebrate your new shoes,” Clara smirked as she sent the text message.

“Yes, I believe this deserves a day at the emporium,” Odette agreed.

Vaggie got her phone back and looked at the message Clara sent, ‘practice is over but Clara and Odette invited me out. Maybe we can meet at the dinner on the edge of Cannibal Colony for dinner? Red Roses? I hear they have some nice non-sinner options’.

Charlie responded with her usual hearts and rainbow text message with, ‘hope you have fun!’

Clara and Odette dragged her to one of the many cars in the garage and started driving.

“Ok, ideas on what to do? I mean, don’t usually girls have a spa day and go shopping when celebrating something?” Clara tried, gaining looks from the other two.

“You know I hate people touching me,” Odette said.

“And shopping? I have clothes that I like, so no.” Vaggie added.

“Well what do we do then? I mean, can we try to act like normal teens for an afternoon?” Clara huffed. Her passengers looked at each other.

“Is there a bowling ally?” Vaggie asked.

“I have heard mini-golf is a normal teenage girl activity,” Odette added.

Clara took the win in bowling all five rounds and Odette beat the two in mini-golf by a landslide. They sat together inside the emporium to think of what next when a little boy stared at them.

Clara waved but he didn’t wave back, just hid behind one of the mannequin, “aw, he’s so shy. Come here, you want one of our lolly pops? Its cherry not blood flavored.”

The boy peeked out again, Vaggie looked up to see when they locked eyes. “wait, is it you?”

The boy perked up and ran over, “nice angel?”

Vaggie nodded, “yeah, it’s me. Glad to see you’re ok.”

The boy grabbed Vaggie’s legs in a hug, “thank you, miss angel.”

Vaggie scratched the little boy’s head until he heard someone call for him and he had to go.

“Daw, do we get the story?” Clara asked once the boy had run off.

“He’s the reason I’m here. I spared him and they punished me for it,” Vaggie rubbed her missing eye. “I think its time for me to meet up with Charlie. I guess this was fun.” Vaggie smirked as the two rolled their eyes.

“Yeah, next time I think we should do non-normal teen stuff like play with explosives an-”

“Stay out of my lab!” Odette interrupted causing Vaggie and Clara to laugh. Vaggie gave them one last goodbye before running out to meet Charlie at the dinner. Vaggie told her all about her day out and how she thinks the Carmines adopted her, promising herself she’d tell Charlie about being an angel, later.

The boy did find them again when they were leaving and gave her one more hug.

“Aw, such a sweet boy,” Charlie smiled.

“Yeah, he is, and don’t worry, he didn’t take my wallet, just put a picture in my pocket,” Vaggie held up the paper that he slipped in.

“Oh phew, I didn’t want to accuse him but,” Charlie kissed Vaggie’s head.

“But it’s hell, I know. He’s just a sweetheart,” Vaggie kissed her back.

[1-800-teax]

Battle Scars

Avenger!Loki AU

Loki x fem!reader

A/N: Reader has powers similar to Wanda’s.

Avengers Compound - October 17th, 2023

Tensions are high from literally traveling through time and losing Natasha.

You stand off to the side, in deep thought as everyone stands around waiting for the glove to be finished.

You sniffle quietly to yourself when you feel the presence of Loki creep up beside you.

You could hear the sound of my lips parting in hesitation as he tries to find the right words.

Loki finally settles on a simple, “Are you okay?”. With his gentle voice.

Not feeling confident enough to use your voice just yet, you hum in response.

You suck in a deep breath before snapping out of your thoughts and turning your head towards a concerned looking Loki as you give him your best reassuring smile.

You know he doesn’t believe it, he knows you better than that. But maybe your just trying to convince yourself.

“Let’s just get this over with.” You say softly, after clearing your sore ‘from holding in your tears’ throat.

You step away from the corner just as Rocket says, “Alright, the gloves ready.”

“Question is how’s gonna snap their freaking fingers?” He says looking up at all of us.

“I’ll do it.” Thor says volunteering himself, as he steps towards it.

“Excuse me?” Rhodey says besides me.

“Woah, Woah.”

“Thor, Thor. Just wait we haven’t decided who’s gonna out that on yet.” Steve tells him, stopping him from getting closer to it.

“Oh, I’m sorry we’re all just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity.” Thor says with a slightly shaky voice.

“We should at least discuss it.” Scott reasons.

“Look look, sitting here staring at that thing is not gonna bring everybody back. I’m the strongest avenger. Okay? So, this responsibility falls on me.” Thor states.

Protest are being spoken over each other.

“Hold on, hold on-” Tony tells Thor backing him up slightly.

“Stop it! Let me do this. Let me do something good. Something right-” Thor starts emotionally, then Tony cuts him off.

“That thing is channeling enough energy to light up a continent. You’re in no condition-” Tony is then cut off by Thor.

“What do you think is coursing through my veins right now?” Thor asks him.

“Cheese Whiz?”

“Beer?” Rhodey and I say at the same time, both agreeing with each other.

Thor flashes an irritated look your way.

“Lightening.” He says turning back towards Tony, trying to convince him.

You roll your eyes in annoyance and notice Bruce stepping up to the gauntlet.

“Lightening won’t help you, pal. It’s gotta be me. You saw what those stones did to Thanos. They almost killed him. None of you could survive.” Bruce tells all of you.

“And, how do we know you can?” Steve asks.

“We don’t. But the radiation’s mostly gamma.”

“It’s like I was made for this.” Bruce finishes.

Silence over takes the group until i speak up with a nod, “Okay. Let’s do this and hope it works.”

Everyone nods.

I walk back towards Loki, who has been quiet this whole time.

“Good to go?” Tony asks Bruce.

“Let’s do it.” He replies.

“Okay, remember, everyone Thnos snapped away five years ago, you’re just bringing them back… to today.” Tony tells him.

“Don’t change anything from the last five years.” You add.

Bruce nods, preparing himself as we do the same.

You look around to see Steve holding his shield up as cover, Scott deploying his helmet, Rocket hiding behind Thor with Tony using his nano shield to cover himself and Clint as Rhodey gears up.

You take a step up from Loki, so he is behind you as you use your powers to conjuring shield around you both.

Tony initiates a special protocol that has all the doors slamming shut and the widows closed.

“Everybody’s coming home…” Bruce mumbles out, under his breath.

You suck in a deep breath as watch Bruce slowly slip his hand in the glove.

Everything was fine until, suddenly he spams, groaning and grunting in pain.

You cringe, having to look away from your friend in pain.

Protest are spewing out, telling Bruce to take off the glove.

“Take to me, Banner.” Tony shouts out over the protests.

“I’m…okay…” You all hear Bruce pant out.

You turn your head back to him, just in time to see him snap his fingers.

Bruce cries out as a blinding white light flashes you all.

As quickly as the flash of light came, its gone again.

Bruce then falls to the ground, grunting, groaning and heaving in pain.

“Bruce!” Steve and I both call out, worriedly.

“Don’t move him.” Tony quickly says as you, along with Loki, Rocket, Rohdey, and Steve immediately rush to Bruce’s aid.

That is when you notice Bruce’s once strong, green-colored arm is discolored and withered.

“Good job, Bruce. You did good.” You breathe out, giving him a small smile.

Tony uses some cooling spray on Bruce’s arm but Bruce isn’t worried about that.

He grips onto my arm, looking desperately into my eyes.

“Did it work?” He asks.

You are taken aback by his question, and slightly scared to know the answer to it.

Being so worried about him, made you forget why he did it in first place.

But before you can answer the sound of a cell phone buzzing catches your ears.

You watch carefully as Clint stalks up to the phone and picks it up.

“Honey?” He answers.

You look up at Loki with a hopeful look on your face until a large shadow catches your attention.

You squint your eyes and notice a space ship of some sort heading directly towards all of you.

You try to warn everyone but its too late, as the object hits the compound causing the compound to collapse in itself.

You scream out as you fall underground, desperatly trying to hold onto piece of the ground as it caves in.

As you’re falling you feel something wedge into your lower right hip resulting in all of the wind getting knocked out of you.

Your backs hits a stable piece of concrete with much force, earning a loud groan.

You feel droplets of water fall onto you, you look down to see water quickly filling up around you.

Panic starts to set in and the pain gets slightly worse.

You let out a scream out of pure fear, alerting anyone near you.

"Y/n?!" You hear someone call out to you.

Your breath hutches in your throat, “Rhodey?" You call back.

"Yeah." he answers.

You let out a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" he asks you.

"No...I have a large piece of glass in my hip." You say with a slight whimper.

You hear him curse.

"Alright, Y/n I want you to heal yourself." You hear Bruce instruct you.

"Okay!" You shout wincing at the pain the small action caused you.

You take a deep breath, trying to heal yourself but your hand hits something on the side of you.

You prepare yourself before turning your head.

All of the color drains from your face as you see an unconsious Loki with blood flowing out of a cut on his lip, out of his nose and a gash on his forehead.

You gasp and quickly turn onto your side which causes you a great deal of pain allowing more blood to flow out of the huge glass shard wound. You let out a cry as tears spill from your eyes.

"Y/n?!" Bruce and Rhodey shouts out.

"It's Loki, he-he's unconcious. Do you think he..." You start to say and trail off with fear very clear in your voice.

"Y/n, don't worry about that, just try to wake him up." Rhoday says.

You take deep breaths before returning your focus on Loki again.

"Loki!" You say continuously as you repeatedly nudge him.

"Loki! Get up!" You say despesteratly and slap his face with a bit of force.

Loki jolts up with a large intake of air.

You sigh in relief, falling onto concrete out of exhastion.

You place your right hand next to your wound and your left on your head as you try to keep your breathing steady.

"Y/n?" he asks.

"Hey, my love." You breath out as you feel the water start to get higher.

Your eyes droop and you try to stay consicous but the pain is too much.

Loki tries to say something to you but you are already consumed by the darkness hidden beneath your eyelids.

***

You jolt up suddenly and into someones arms.

You suck in all the air you could and try of focus on all of your senses.

You feel a powerful surge of energy coursing through you.

"Y/n!" You hear the person say.

You look up and see that it's Loki holding you up.

"Loki!" You say shock evident in your voice.

"My love, the water is getting higher. I need you to heal yourself." he says worriedly and you see a hint of fear in his eyes.

You nod and he releases his arms from around you, carefully.

You hold yourself up weakly and start to heal yourself.

Your gold colored healing powers fail to heal you.

"I-I can't heal myself." You stutter out in fear.

"What?" Loki asks fearfully as well.

"I think you need to take out the glass." You mumble out shakily.

You lean back and let Loki straddles your legs.

Loki sighs shakily before placing both of his hands on the glass, ready to rip it out.

"Ready?" he asks.

You suck in a deep breath and close your eyes as you nod, wincing for the inevitable amount of pain about to hit you.

Loki waits a few seconds making you open your eyes to ask him what's going on when he rips it out.

You let out a scream so loud your throat burns before slapping your hand over your mouth.

Your body instantly tries to curl up from the pain but can't because Loki's still on top of you.

You cry out in pain and place weak punches on Loki's stomach, trying to channel your pain somewhere else.

"I know, my love. I know. I'm so sorry." He says guilty with tears in his eyes.

You bite down on your wrist as another flash of pain washes over you and more tears spill.

"You have to heal yourself." Loki says cupping your face in his hands.

You nod slightly as your eyes turn golden again, feeling the magic surging out of your hands.

You move your hands around your wound, feeling it start to heal, soon enough the wound was fully healed with no traces of pain, only a small battle scar.

Your breathing was heavy, hands shaky and full of blood.

You try to catch your breath as Loki rubs your arm while getting off of you.

"You did it." he says.

You nod tiredly.

Just then you notice the water is way higher than you realize.

"We have to try get to Rhodey and Bruce." You say.

Loki nods and you both slip off of the wall you were on, swimming through debris towards where you had heard Bruce and Rhodey.

"Bruce! Rhodey! Rocket?" You ask as you and Loki reach them.

"Glad to see you both, okay." Rhodey says to us as we climb up onto the wall he and Rocket are on.

Soon enough more water starts to flood to where its to your necks.

You feel Loki grip your hand in the water.

You look at him fearfully chin wobbling as you try not to cry.

Loki pulls you into him, kissing you like its the last time. And it very well may be.

"I'm sorry." he says once you both pull away.

You shake your head and rest your forhead against his.

You let out a sob and pull him back into a kiss.

You pull apart slowly, preparing to go under when we were lifted up into the air.

You thank God with a relived laugh.

You all get put down and Scott's hand opens up to reveal everyone has come back.

You all jump out and you gasp gripping tightly onto Loki's hand.

You let go of Loki's hand, he takes out his daggers and you allow your powers to surge from your hands.

You watch as every Avenger turn to Thano's arm ready.

"Avengers...Assemble!" Steve says.

There were many battle cries as you all run off into battle.

[joined-by-stars-afar]

tripwire (KNY, Rui x reader (PLATONIC) oneshot)

This was something I wrote a while ago!! I plan on making vers with all the usual demons I write (Tamayo, Rui, Enmu, Kaigaku, Daki, Gyutaro, Nakime, Akaza, Douma, Kokushibo, Muzan) where they find demon!reader evading a very, very close call between themselves, a slayer, and the sun. Enjoy the Rui ver for now!

You just kept running, running, running, your lungs feeling like they were clogging up, your heaving chest making it feel like you were swinging from a meat hook. You couldn’t afford another slip up, not after that damn bear trap, which had cost you a lot of energy regenerating your leg, considering you had to leave it behind. You still needed to get deeper into the woods, make sure not a single ray of sunlight could reach you, or you’d be done for. You didn’t know if you were going to make it. 

A red trail was still constantly pouring out of your torso, since you couldn’t afford to heal yourself, and your vision was already getting hazy. Your only hope now was to lose the slayer and find a way to stop and rest even for a few precious seconds. Your legs couldn’t hold up. You could smell your own blood and the metal of the Nichirin katana that searched for your neck. The slayer wasn’t going to be thrown off any time soon. You just had to keep going.

The tripwires of mount Namagumo quivered, and Rui looked up, already growling furiously into the forest. Those tripwires were the ones he had near the side of the mountain you always used when coming or going. You hadn’t returned yet, and you still had somewhat ample time before the sun fully became a problem. Why were you running? But then, he smelled your blood. 

He snarled, leaping from the branch he rested on, practically rocketing down the mountain from tree to tree, like a falcon diving towards its defenseless prey down below. Whoever was hurting his dearest friend wasn’t even going to have a chance to turn back down the mountain trail. The faint vibrations from Rui’s silk calmed the pounding of your heart. You were almost home free. You knew Rui was likely going to be drawling on and on about your struggle to even get back before morning, but that was just his way of saying how much he wanted to protect you. You didn’t even register Rui’s soundless landing until you heard his scowl. You were pretty sure you were the only person that lived to know what it sounded like. Whenever he scowled like that, it meant the end for whoever it was directed towards.

He liked to be tantalizing. After all, this dimwit had already worn his patience pretty thin. How could you blame him? He stared down at the slayer, annoyed. “I’m sick of you all scampering up here and attacking us like you believe you can actually do something. You’re quite stupid. It reminds me of rats in a maze.” He rolled his eyes when the foolish child made a move for him. Of course they thought they could just dash so clumsily toward him, and behead him just like that. It took a simple flick of his wrist. He yanked on his silk as if he was tearing the slayer’s very life from them, and just like that, the spider demon had sliced through their delicate flesh like a hot knife through butter.

Each bit of the shredded flesh plopped to the ground with a soft squelch. Yes, Rui often had spillage with his kills, but he didn’t care too much. Either way, he had a family to feed. “Hmph. What a simpleton.” He hummed, as if pondering what ridiculous thoughts could have possibly been going through a person’s mind to make such a grave mistake. He turned to you, focused on the gash on your side, which was obviously still oozing blood. You were the only one able to recognize the softness in Rui’s otherwise blank expression. “You’re injured. Come on. We’re going home. Mother has had a very successful hunt today. We’ll dine, and you’ll be just fine. I’ll instruct Father to keep a closer eye on your route home, too.” His eyes narrowed a bit at the thought of someone hurting you like this ever again, especially taking advantage of you in such a state. Effortlessly, Rui scooped you up, carrying you up the mountain. He practically sent warnings into the dark of the forest just with his presence, at any lowly creature that dared to skitter close enough to his path. Nothing else would go awry tonight. Not on his way home, not while he was transporting such precious cargo. And the forest of Namagumo knew better. This was his hunting ground, and he was happy to remind anyone who stumbled upon it that he was the predator. No one else.

[lollystocks]

Therapy for the Dead and Buried, Chapter 3

Chapter two here

Masterpost here

AO3

"Patient 17-X-(A)-2, session three. A lot of progress was made last week, and it seems that allowing the patient to lead the conversation is the key. Any abilities still unconfirmed, though I suspect he has some kind of emotion-altering capabilities. This must be handled with care, for obvious reasons.

“I have practiced self-hypnosis and meditation before today’s session, in the hope that I will be less affected. At present, the only emotion the patient can instill is fear, and he can’t seem to consciously… turn it off. I did notice, however, a slight reduction in intensity when he was distracted by talking about his interests. This is a good sign.

”I’m returning to a traditional cassette tape for this session. My digital recorder’s file was almost unintelligible, again. Must get that looked at…”

--

They talked about wormholes, to start.

They’d been on his mind, obviously. Relativistic physics in this world seemed to be a little behind his own, probably owing to his home dimension’s little… problem. But it was still all way too advanced for him to really get his mind around - tragically, advanced physics required a little more math knowledge than high school pre-calc.

But this world’s understanding seemed to be missing a whole ecto-shaped chunk out of its standard physical model, leaving them behind. It was interesting.

They didn’t talk about that, of course. Just the basics.

“I’m curious, James. Why space? Your interests cover a lot of different fields - astrophysics, aeronautical engineering, relativity, geology. But they all cover this general concept.”

“Not really sure. I just don’t think I ever outgrew ‘wanting to be an astronaut’. I kinda made it my personality as a kid - stars on the ceiling, Apollo 11 posters, rocket plushies, I had three different NASA t-shirts when I was like, thirteen, I wore them on rotation. Part of me wonders why more people aren’t into it - like, the earth is tiny. And on the timescale of the universe, it’s a spec. I don’t think I’m so much interested in space, as like… the whole universe. It feels arrogant to not want to have a sense of what’s out there. Or to put the earth on a pedestal, just ‘cause we’re here.”

Doctor Bright smiled, and her voice was light. “I must say James, you’ve certainly got me more interested. I agree that we can often be wilfully ignorant of the world around us.”

“Yeah. And just, the community’s great too. All the space agencies are just full of nerds doing amazing things, and space-Reddit is insane.” Some things didn’t change across dimensional boundaries. Even as a newbie in this universe, he’d quickly slotted into the online world. “I genuinely like these people.”

“Do you feel you have more of a community online than in real life, James?”

“Well yeah. I have no community in real life, it’s kinda my problem. But the people on discord and the forums don’t have the same issues with me, so I can actually be, you know, social.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Virtual communities can be a fantastic way to socialize across boundaries you may not be able to otherwise - geographic distance, for instance. And in your case, without the need for physical proximity.”

“Yeah! Like, I can feel normal, ‘cause no one who doesn’t know me in real life is gonna call me a ‘school shooter waiting to happen.’ Well, mostly.”

“Mostly?”

“Well, like. Sometimes people are still sensitive to it. Online. There was a whole thing where someone made a separate channel without me and wanted to know why everyone else was okay with such a creep around, but no one could understand what he meant. So like, I think my thing can still work across technology, just. Not as reliably. Thankfully.”

The doctor considered this. “I see. So again, this person couldn’t pinpoint any reason behind their fear, just a ‘vibe’, as you’ve said?”

“Yeah. Sucks. And that’s just with text threads - not like I can even jump on voice channels.”

“Why’s that?”

“Oh. Just, um. Can’t afford a mic. That’s all.”

It was a weak excuse, but there was no way he could explain the effect his voice had on digital audio. Once again, he’d slipped.

This whole thing was dangerous anyway - they had become far too comfortable talking about his fear aura like it was real.

"James, have you noticed any variation in the… intensity, of this phenomenon? That perhaps, your own mood may be having an affect on others? Have you ever tried experimenting?"

Danny winced at the word.

This was stupid. Admitting this all was stupid. It felt really good, to say it out loud, but Doctor Bright was so cold and calculating and it probably meant nothing but her perfectly pressed shirt was white and she was a doctor and-

"Look Doc, I know this thing is all in my head, you know it's all in my head, so just like, write me a prescription for an antipsychotic and we can move on."

She closed her notebook, and placed it on the coffee table. "I don't think it's all in your head, James."

Shit.

"Sorry?"

The doctor recrossed her ankles. Black shoes, navy slacks. Clear glasses. It was just a white shirt. Cream, even.

No white suit here.

"I don't believe you're psychotic, James. At least, I have no reason to believe so. On the surface this would read as a classic paranoid delusion, but it's hard to ignore the evidence."

"That everyone is scared of me? ‘Cause people have told you so? You can just chalk it up to my actions Doctor Bright, I won’t take it personally."

"But I can’t, James. You’ve been nothing but polite, articulate, and considerate in our sessions. A little nervous and distrusting, but that’s perfectly understandable. But this effect you’ve described - an instinctual feeling of unease in your presence. I can feel that myself, and I can't ascertain a logical reason for it."

Huh.

"You look perplexed, James. Has no one ever admitted that before?"

"I told you, no. It's um. Not nice, exactly. But refreshing."

"I'm curious, James. This phenomenon, that the people you interact with are overcome with a- a foreign emotion. One without a clear stimulus, other than your mere presence. I’ve asked you this before, but I really want you to think - has it always been discomfort and fear? Or has it ever been something else?"

"I'm not sure what you mean, Doctor Bright. That's my thing. Being unnerving." He waggled his fingers. "Fear me.”

"Of course. I just want to explore this further, get some more data points. You clearly have a keen interest in science, James, despite the academic setbacks. Help me understand this on a scientist’s level."

Danny's breath caught, just a little. He knew he was being paranoid. That he was safe here. That he couldn't be taken. He was fine, they couldn't find him here, he was sa-

"You a researcher, Doctor Bright? Obviously you are, you've got a PhD on the wall. Psychology. You work with human subjects much? Non-human subjects?"

"James, as happy as I am to talk about my personal work, this session is to-"

"No, no, this is important, Doctor Bright. Like, who even are you? You're a scientist, but you're a downtown shrink? You just take my whole thing in your stride? Do you ask about anything ‘strange and unusual’ with all your patients? Like I don't want to give off paranoid vibes here but I have good reason to think they are actually out to get me so why should I even trust you? What's your deal? Why are you interested in my whole deal? Who do you even work f-"

With a crack, the light bulb blew. Pieces of shattered glass fell to the coffee table.

A stunned silence followed.

With only the cold, cloudy daylight to illuminate the room, the doctor was backlit against the window, her face in shadow, save for the barest, caustic green glow. Danny could see her fingers pressed against her mouth, as she stared at the ceiling.

Fuck, his ‘angry eyes’. He squeezed them shut.

Danny needed to bolt, he needed to go now, he could go back to school, but his new name was on the file here, he'd need to make new documents, he’d need to-  he'd need to-

There was a squeak of vinyl,, and he heard the doctor rise to her feet, cross the room, and retrieve a gun something from a drawer in her desk. The soft sound of her heels on the carpet then made their way towards the office door. Danny opened his eyes.

"Wait-!"

She flipped the light switch to ‘off’. "Sorry, basic electrical safety, James. This won't take a second."

She walked towards Danny, towards the table, gently picked up the pieces of broken glass, and placed them in the empty box of the new bulb. After a thorough inspection of the surface, she kicked off her heels and stepped lightly onto the coffee table. He saw now that she held a fresh lightbulb in her hand, the base of which she popped between her teeth as she reached up to unscrew the shattered one from within the lampshade. She dropped that into the small box and swiftly fitted the new one.

She hopped down, returned to the light switch, and flicked it on. The new light buzzed to life, and the doctor stepped back into her heels and took a seat, like nothing had happened.

The whole thing couldn’t have been more than thirty seconds, but in Danny’s panic, it had stretched on and on.

She smiled, a little awkwardly. "You'd be surprised how many lightbulbs I get through in this room, James. No need to be..." She seemed to change the word in her mouth. "Anxious."

Danny set his jaw. "Right. Bad electrics.”

“Perhaps. Not always though. Tensions in this room can… run high, as you might imagine.”

Danny could scarcely believe what she was implying. “Tensions running high with your… strange and unusual patients?”

"Yes, James. I assure you, that was nothing I haven't seen before. You may also notice my full suite of fire extinguishers."

"For your faulty electrics?"

"James, correct me if I'm wrong, but - that was you, correct? Blowing the lightbulb in a moment of stress?"

Danny sat back, rubbing the back of his neck. "No. It wasn't."

"Of course."

"Say if it were-"

"Okay."

"What would happen? I mean, what's happened to other people who've blown your lightbulbs? You should know I can disappear. You'd never find me."

"I don't doubt that, James. You seem a very capable young man." The doctor went to pick up her notebook, but thought better of it, and sat back. "Are you asking specifically about clients who have blown my lights, or about all my clients with atypical abilities?"

And wasn’t that an interesting phrase. Danny studied her, eyes lidded. "How many people are we talking?"

"Telling you would breach my doctor-patient confidentiality I'm afraid, and be a breach of all my clients’ trust. However, I can tell you I have been working with 'strange and unusual' people since college, many of them in this room. I'm something of a specialist in providing therapy to people with atypical abilities."

"Is that the official term for it?"

"Well, there isn't really an official term, as Atypicals don't officially exist. But yes, that is the frequently used term."

This was. This was a whole lot. This was totally different to what he’d been frantically building in his head. “But they’re all- they’re all what? Allowed to roam free? Just- be out there in the world, with ‘abilities’?”

“Of course. They have the same rights as anyone else.”

"And you think I'm an… ‘atypical?’"

"Yes James, I do."

“Because your light bulb blew.”

“Yes. Amongst other things.”

“And if I were?”

“Then, James, I hope you’d find some value in the knowing. Knowing, for instance, that you aren’t broken or ill, or even creepy. Merely that you have an atypical physiology that presents an usual symptom, or set of symptoms - namely, blowing light bulbs. And something else that I’m still trying to form a hypothesis over.”

“The scary thing?”

“The scary thing, yes. If you’d be happy to, I’d like to continue to work together, so that we can identify what control you have over your abilities, and start to make them work for you, not against you. How does that sound?”

It sounded… like a lot to think about.

The doctor was wrong, obviously. He wasn’t an atypical, (was that a capitalized ‘A’?) whatever those were.

Danny had never heard of anything remotely similar outside of fiction, in his own dimension; and he was pretty sure that if otherwise-normal people were going around with superpowers , which was what Doctor Bright made this whole thing like, then he’d know about it. His parents would be all over it, as would Vlad, the GIW - hell, half the ghosts he fought.

But they weren’t commonly known about here, either, that was for sure.

It would be a convenient answer. He could explain away the most obvious of his (stupid, fucking, glitching-out) powers in a way that blended in nicely with this dimension.

It wasn’t without risk, though. Throwing his lot in too heavily could spell disaster if he were found out - were ‘Atypicals’ identifiable through their blood, or DNA? Would his weird vital signs cast suspicion? What about all his extra powers? What could your typical Atypical even do?

And all this was assuming that he could trust Doctor Bright - that she did work with these Atypicals, with no ulterior motive other than a modest paycheck, and wasn’t a mole for a-whole-nother shadowy governmental organization who wanted to catch people like him and stab them with thousands tiny needles while keeping him barely sedated and strapped down to a-

But. The GIW didn’t exist here. He’d checked. It was why he’d stayed.

He looked back to the doctor, who was eyeing him patiently.

“It sounds like somewhere to start, Doctor Bright.”

--

You’ve reached the voicemail of Doctor Joan Bright. If this is to schedule an appointment, please press one to speak to Sarah. Otherwise, please leave your name, number, and a brief message after the tone. 

Message received on, Saturday, at, 10:52 AM.

“Hi Doctor Bright, it’s Caleb. Caleb Michaels. Well. I’m not sure how many other Calebs you treat but… but anyway yeah. So. Basically there’s this guy at school, and I think he may be an Atypical? So um, how does this work, do you take referrals? Like I’m sure there are loads of Atypicals who don't need therapy but no offense to this guy but he definitely does. 

“Like I’d love to try and strike up a conversation and I wanna know if he knows he’s an Atypical but I don’t really know how to do that and also I. Um. I kinda really hate being around him. He makes my ability go fu- kinda haywire and I feel like I’m gonna punch him. I won’t, I won’t, you don’t have to worry about that, but uh. Well. I don’t think I can talk to him. ‘Cause he’s either an Empath and we’re getting in a crazy Empathy-feedback-loop or it’s something else, like with Mark. And I can’t get his number, either.

“Adam’s tried talking to him instead but he always kinda bolts. Plus he still makes Adam all freaked out then that affects me really bad for the whole day and just…

“So um, yeah. His name’s James Jackson. I think he needs your help."

...

“Okay. Bye.”

--

To: Caleb Michaels

Subject: Referred Patient

Good afternoon Caleb.

Unfortunately, I can’t reveal any information that would break my doctor-patient confidentiality.

I can assure you though, that while you show wonderful initiative and care for this fellow student, your concerns are already being met.

We can talk at your next session.

Best wishes,

Dr. Joan Bright, PsyD, ABPP

Licensed Therapist

---

Chapter 4

[cricketnationrise]

4:24pm jack's apartment tater

:D

okay for some reason my instinct is to write sad tater but i battled against that bc i didn't want to be sad today. thanks for the prompt, hope you like it!

want your own ficlet? TWO DAYS LEFT rules here.

🏒🏒🏒🏒

jack's apartment, 4:24pm

“But consider this,” Jack is saying, as Bitty pushes him towards the door, “I could stay here instead.”

“You are just the sweetest thing, aintcha? But we both know you’ll melt if you’re away from ice any longer you big Canadian moose. Go skate with Shitty – I know you’ve missed him somethin’ fierce since he was here after the Cup.”

Tater sniggers into the couch cushions at the sight of Jack Laurent Zimmermann – college graduate with honors, top five for the Rocket Richard and Art Ross, runner up for the Conn Smythe, Calder Cup Winner, and Stanley Cup Champion – pouting at his boyfriend.

“Bits—”

“Get out of here, Mr. Zimmermann,” Bitty laughs. “We’ll be just fine on our own, and we’ll be here when you get back.”

“Fine.” Jack leans in for one more kiss and Bitty pushes up into the contact so easily that Tater actually looks away, feeling a little like he’s intruding – only looking up again at the sound of the door closing.

Bitty collects Tater’s evening meds and a slice of pie for both of them before making his way back into the living room, shaking his head fondly. “Never thought I’d see the day when Jack Zimmermann was whining about going to the rink. Somewhere pigs are flyin’.”

“Seem to me like good reason to pout: Little B staying home.”

“You’re sweet as all get out.”

“Am best,” Tater confirms before shoveling blueberry pie into his mouth with a groan of pleasure.

“How’s your leg today? Still sore after PT today?”

“Da. But feels stronger. I’ll be back to start next season I’m thinking.”

Bitty does a little dance in his seat in celebration. “Tater, that’s fantastic! I’m so pleased for you, hon.”

“Is rough, no skate, no running, only bike and swimming sometimes. Feel с ума – not sure what English is – like not wanting to sit still, but forced to.”

“Oh, stir-crazy?” Tater nods. “I totally get that – I got a bad concussion my frog year, couldn’t do anything with impact until the start of the next season. I didn’t think I would miss running in the Georgia heat, but Lord, I would have given anything just to go for a jog, I was so bored.”

Tater lifts his plate and waggles his eyebrows. “Pie helps lots. Would be sad without.”

“Well we can’t have that,” Bitty says, mock seriously before sitting up straight. “Now, to business. Jack will be gone for at least two hours, probably closer to three since Shitty will drag him out for dinner after.”

“We have time to finish Drag Race?”

“We do indeed.”

“Was wrong before. Little B is best.”

Bitty doesn’t say anything, just smiles at Tater fondly, grabs the remote and settles himself against Tater’s side, tucked safely under Tater’s arm. His leg is sore, he’s itching to get back to the ice and conditioning, but Bitty has a way of making all his frustration melt away. 

[stevenuniversequotevstory]

“Well, We’re Getting There” Steven Universe x Female reader story

Chapter 2~ The Arrival

Word count~ 2,806

Page count~ 7.5

Chpt 1/ Chpt 3

A few days have passed and Y/n and Ruby have almost finished packing their things. Of course, Ruby didn’t need all the stuff that Y/n needed. Like clothes, toothbrushes, and all that other stuff. But she enjoyed wearing different clothes and having different items that humans would own.

Right now, both of the girls are laying together in Y/n’s empty room. The only thing that lies in there is her mattress, and of course her and Ruby. Why are both cuddled up together on the mattress  with a blanket draped over them.

Ruby doesn’t need to sleep, but she loves it! Sure it feels weird, but she loves the comfort of it. Especially when she’s cuddling her favorite human friends. 

“I hope we made the right choice” Y/n spoke softly.

” I’m sure we did” Ruby said in the same tone but more tired. “Now let’s get some sleep, we still have to do more things tomorrow” Those were the last words heard from the tired Ruby before she drifted off to sleep.

Y/n glanced at Ruby with a tired smile on her face. She couldn’t help it. This cute, Little Rock has been taking over her heart since they’ve met. Of course she doesn’t mean she has a crush on Ruby, she just loves her as a really great friend. 

Soon, Y/n also drifted off to sleep. Henry came in to tell the girls good night, but was a little to late when he saw then cuddled together fast asleep. He smiled and took a picture. “ Good night girls “ he whispered after shutting the door and walking into his room to also go to sleep.

             After two weeks

Today was the day that the three would be boarding the plane. Ruby was very excited and Y/n would have been, if she didn’t have to wake up at four in the mourning! Seriously, she was so tired and couldn’t believe that she has to get up and stay Ik for the rest of the day. At least she could sleep in the car and plane right?  

“Ok girls, do you have your bags?” Henry asked while putting his bags in the back of his truck. 

“Yep” Y/n stated putting hers and helping Ruby out hers in too.

”Good. Now get buckled and ready to go.” Henry said placing the last of the bags in the truck and then putting a tarp over it while tying it down. 

“Ok! “ Ruby got in on the left side while Y/n got in in the right. Both girls buckled themselves in. Soon Henry followed in suit. 

“Okay. Let’s gets moving” Henry started the car and began to pull out of the driveway. He put some tunes on and sang a little too.

Y/n and Ruby were in the back. All Y/n wanted to do was to fall back to sleep, but that’s kind of hard to do when your in a car that’s blasting music. Plus, Ruby may feel lonely since she may not have anyone to talk to and the nearest airport is two hours away. 

“I can’t wait!!” Ruby said smiling. “Not just an I going to see a Beach soon, I’m going to ride in a human spacecraft!”

”An airplane isn’t exactly a spacecraft, that’s called a rocket “ Y/n said. Even though she has never been on a plane before, that doesn’t mean she’s stupid. She knows things.

”I still can’t wait! I wonder what our new house will look like?” Ruby said getting a bit over excited.

”Ru, chill. We’re gonna see soon okay? Might as well try to not to get too worked up about it.” Y/n grumbled tiredly.

“Oh right heh” Ruby blushed a little and then resumed to fuss over the possibilities of their new home quietly. Y/n tried her best to get sleep, and eventually did.

     After a long car trip later 

The next thing she knows is Ruby waking her up . “ Cone on N/n! We’re gonna be late if you don’t get off your lazy butt!” Ruby said while shaking the girl.

”Okay okay. Please don’t shake me like that again.” Y/n said sitting up and getting out of the car. 

“Here girls, carry your bags okay?” Henry said giving the girls their bags. Y/n’s was slightly heavier than Ruby’s and since Ruby’s are stronger that humans, she asked Y/n to carry her bag.

”Want me to carry thanks one?” She asked the girl who was currently holding  five to six bags.

”Yes please “ Y/n said and Ruby giggled taking the bag and putting it in her back like it’s nothing. “ I still can’t believe you can do that. “

“ I was born to do it” Ruby says winking at Y/n.

”Alright you two lest sign in and get ready to board ok?” Henry asked both the girls.

“Okay!” They both said together with a smile on their face. 

They all got into the lain and signed in, soon walking up to the area where they check your bags and the person. Ruby was very excited to walk threw. Even though it did go off due to her gem being on her neck. Luckily, the security guards let her through. Y/n was a little bit more hesitant with walking through. She wasn’t very fond of the idea of someone scanning her. But she eventually went through and turned out fine. 

After they collected their bags, they went through a hall that had many people walking. They stopped at a door and boarded a subway that will take them to the area where you board the plane. 

“Wow! I get to board a plane and a train! This is so exciting! “ Ruby’s eyes lit up while looking around.

”I’m glad your having fun.” Henry said looking down at the Ruby. “What about you Y/n?” He asked the quiet girl.

”It’s, interesting” She said in a hushed matter.

The subway train then came to a stop. They all exited the train and walked down another hall. After they walked through it, they came to a bigger opening with small stores, gift shops, food joints, and many other small restaurants.

Henry looked at the time and realized that they got there a little early. Their plane boards in 30 minutes. He realized that neither of them have ate anything this mourning.” Hey girls? Why don’t we get some food? We don’t have to board until another 39 minutes.” 

Yeah! I wanna try something new!” Ruby said with excitement 

“I’m down” Y/n said with a small smile.

“ Okay then let’s go.”

All three of them walked through the area with restaurants and food shops. There was a small coffee shop that caught the girls eyes. Henry noticed this and laughed a bit “I see you wanna eat at Starbucks? You do know that it isn’t really an eating place right?”

Both of the girls nodded. Henry told them that they could eat there if they liked. So they both did. Ruby gay a bagel with cream cheese and Y/n got a croissant. Henry was nice enough to buy them each a frappechino . He ordered a coffee to go. They all walked back to the seats where you wait to board and ate.

”Wow!” Ruby said drinking her drink. “This tastes incredible! Y/n have you tried your yet?”

Y/n shook her head no, the. Brought the straw up to her mouth and took a sip. Her eyes lit up with literal stars as she drank more.

” I reckon that you’ve both never had a Frappechino before? “ Henry laughed drinking his coffee.

”Nope” Y/n and Ruby both said shaking their heads.

”Well then we should get you more once we get to Delaware huh!” Henry smiled looking at the two girls. 

“Yes please “ both Ruby and Y/n said together again.

Soon the intercom came on” Plane B now boarding to Delaware, please board the plane.”

“Okay girls let’s throw this away and head on over yeah?” Henry said standing up from his seat, soon the girls followed. 

“Ok we’re coming” Y/n exclaimed since Ruby was trying to finish her drink before they threw it away.

After they threw away their garbage, they walked over to their plane, getting reading to board. They were waiting in line, getting their bigger bags loaded onto the plane while all three of them had their own carry in bags. 

“Have a save flight!” One of the workers told them as they walked through the entry way of the plane. Once they got into the plane, Y/n and Ruby saw how small it was, and noticed a few seats in the front that looked more comfortable and had more space. Luckily , that’s where they sat since Henry can afford expensive stuff like that.

”Ooo~ This is so exciting! And these chairs are so comfy!” Ruby exclaimed sitting by the window seat. Y/n isn’t 100% comfortable sitting next to Henry and he knows it. So he bought a ticket that lets him sit in front of the girls instead of next to. 

“We will be taking off soon. Please make sure you have your seat belts on.” The intercom spoke. Y/n looked over to her side and noticed Ruby fidgeting in her seat. Either out of excitement, or out out of nervousness, probably both.

”Hey, Ruby, it’s gonna be okay.l Y/n said looking over at Ruby.

”I know , I’m just a bit nervous about this! I’ve never been in one of these before!” Ruby said 

“Well neither have I , but I’m sure it’ll be ok.” Y/n said trying to cheer her up.

”We are now leaving California. Please have a wonderful and safe flight.” The intercom spoke again. Soon, the plane started to move and the girls both looked out the window. The plane then sped up and lifted them off the ground. Y/n and Ruby both looked out the window, watching as everything turned smaller and smaller.

”Woah” Ruby and Y/n said together. Henry looked back at then and chuckled. He was currently doing some work on his laptop. Y/n stopped looking out the window and Ruby did the same. Both girls were so excited to see what would happen next!

“That wasn’t as bad as I thought” Ruby smiled relieved. “That was a very interesting experience huh N/n?” Ruby said , trying to sound a bit more professional.

”Sure was Ru.” Y/n laughed looking at Ruby.

”Excuse me?” An airplane attendant said to both the girls. “ Would you two care for a drink or food?”

”Oooo! Me! “ Ruby shouted excitedly. She got some cookies and and orange juice.

”And for you? “ She asked Y/n.

”Hmm. A coke?” Y/n asked. The attendant handed her a glass and walked off to serve others. Y/n has never drank coke before. Even if her other parents owned coke, they wouldn’t let her have some over their dead bodies. She took a sip and loved it! She was surprised by the sparkling taste at first but actually enjoyed it.

Ruby saw her drinking it and asked her a question. “ Can I try some?” Y/n let her have some sips of it, once again, someone was surprised by the sparking taste. “ That tastes good! Isn’t this the soda that the others use to have?” 

“Yeah” Y/n said laying more in her seat. “Hey Ruby? I’m gonna take a nap okay? You can have the rest of the Soda if you want.”

” Really? Thanks!” Ruby stated taking the soda off of the tray. 

“ No problem “ Y/n said as she drifted off to sleep. 

The next day was the same. They got meals, snacks, and other things needed in order to survive. Their flight is a 42 hour flight and they would arrive there in the mourning. So Henry wanted both the girls to get some sleep before they had to wake up early again. And that’s what they both did. Of course they were very excited.

             The next mourning 

“You have arrived at your destination” Was the first thing  they all heard when they woke up. “ Please exit carefully and have a good day. Thank you for boarding”. Y/n watched as all the people from the plane board off. Soon, they stood up with their bags and left.

They walked up to the area where you retrieve your bigger bags and carried them though the airport. With a very tired Y/n falling behind.

”Y/n you gotta hurry up, the bus for Beach City in leaving soon.” Henry said waking over to the tired girl taking one of her bags, with Ruby taking another.

” Yeah sorry I’m just really tired right now.” Y/n said rubbing her eyes. 

“Well you can sleep on the bus ok. It’s another hour or two on the bus in order to arrive anyway.” Henry said 

They all walked out of the building in front of a bus station. They waited for awhile, until the bus drive up and opened its doors. 

“ Let’s go you two.” He said walking up the stairs into the bus. Y/n didn’t care how suspicious she was of this vehicle, she was just tired so she walked up as well with Ruby following behind her. They all sat down in the back with their bags. The bus was practically empty since it was four in the mourning. And just like Henry said , Y/n would fall asleep on the bus.

            After another long ride

Y/n was once again woken by a shake, lucking not so hard this time. “What is it Ruby?” Y/n said in a irritating voice.

” Looks! It’s a beach!” Ruby said getting out of her seat and walking to the window. Y/n also go up and walked over to the window as well. “ Woah! There’s so much water! It’s so pretty!” Ruby exclaimed.

“Hey Henry? Do you think we can check out the beach once we get settled in?” Y/n asked as she glanced at the man .

”I don’t see why not” Henry chuckled at their excitement. The bus came turned on a road and slowed down a bit before fully coming to a stop. The doors opened and the three walked out and watched the bus drive away. “Well girls, this is it, our new home.” The house was bigger than your other house. “ The moving vans should be hear in a few days, so we may need to get some sleeping bags later when the stores open up “ Henry said as he walked up to the house to unlock the door. 

Once they got inside, Henry walked upstairs to show the girls their rooms. “ This is your room Ruby.” He opened the door to show a pretty large room. 

“It’s big!” Ruby exclaimed running through the room. 

“Yep. I’m glad you like it!” Henry said walking out of the room with Y/n. “ Y/n this is your room.” The toon the Y/n received was slightly larger than Ruby’s.

”Oh wow. This is really big” Y/ n said with a surprised look on her face.

” I thought you deserved a bigger room, so this would do just fine! Henry said 

“Heh..thanks” Y/n said holding one of her arms with a small smile on her face. 

“No problem “ Henry said walking out the room. Then he stopped in the middle of the hallway.” I’m gonna be on the phone so if you need me I’ll be in the kitchen.”

Both of the girls yelled an okay. Y/n decided that she would start hanging up her cloths. She has nothing else to do right now since it’s too early to check out shops and stores nearby. And it’s too early to go check out the beach. So starting on decorating and putting stuff away would be a good idea. It really is too bad that the movers haven’t delivered their shelves and stuff. The only things that Y/n and Ruby can put away are their clothes and if they wanted to, put some things on the built in closet shelf.

Y/n started to unpack, getting more and more excited by the minute. She couldn’t wait to explore Beach City in a few hours. And so couldn’t a young Ruby.

[auroraescritora]

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME - PERCY/NICO AU HIGH SCHOOL - CHAPTER V

Hi, we are back (temporarily). I'm still on my resting days, but I managed to bring you one more chapter. Hope you like it.

Previous chapters: CHAPTER I / CHAPTER II / CHAPTER III / CHAPTER IV

As expected, a new day came. The sun was shining brightly through the blinds, the birds were singing and they were late. Still, what worried Nico was not the fact that it was almost seven o'clock in the morning, but that someone was knocking on the door. And that someone was his sister, Bianca, who would usually be long gone to her first class of the day, but now was standing inside his room, watching them happily.

He was in a nightmare, that had to be the only explanation to justify the scene Nico has found himself in. Percy against his back, hugging him tight with only a sheet hiding their crotch. If Bianca decided to pull back the sheets, she would see it all, the marks on Percy's back and the hickey between Nico’s legs, impossible to miss even from that distance. And contrary to what he thought, Bianca decided to be kind. She waved goodbye with a lopsided smile and closed the door softly, though he could hear the sound of her laughter as she walked away down the hall. And again, he wondered what he was doing. He hadn't even… hadn’t reciprocated Percy the night before. He was the pettiest, most selfish person in the whole world.

Nico would’ve continued his self-flagellation if he hadn't felt the silent laughter against his back.

“Are you laughing at me?” Nico said, turning in Percy's arms. The boy was awake and wearing one of those smiles that infuriated and excited him at the same time.

“You have to admit, it's pretty funny.”

"No, it is not!”

"What's new? It's not the first time someone has caught us sleeping together.”

"Yeah? But it's the first time we're naked!”

“Oh.” Percy says, his smile softening. "It's even better.”

"You--you!"

Nico got up faster than a rocket, he grabbed the first thing he saw and threw it at Percy's head. When he saw it was a pillow, he picked up the object again and smacked Percy over the head with it until his arms began to ache and he was forced to stop, settling where he was, only now realizing to be Percy's lap. What pissed him off the most was the fact that Percy didn't even try to defend himself, laughing, sprawled across the bed like it was the happiest day of his life.

“Percy!”

“Gods! I think I’m dying. Did I go back in time by any chance? I still remember--

"Don’t you dare! How old are you?”

"Ten. Want to play house? I’ll build a fort out of chairs and blankets and we can--

"What got into you today, huh?"

"I'm happy. Don’t you?”

Nico stopped in the middle of another complaint, realizing that he was naked and still sitting on Percy's lap, just like he had a thousand times before, but this time, it meant so much more.

“Of course I am. But you don't have to go back to kindergarten.”

"Why not? It’s more fun than pretending to be a responsible adult.”

"We're not pretending… are we?"

“Nico." That's what Percy said before sitting down and hugging him tightly from the middle of his back. “I can fake many things, what I feel for you is not one of them.”

“I don't understand why now. What has changed?”

"Everything changed. You went away.”

“Per… I didn't know you cared so much, I thought… it was better if you didn't have a shadow following you around the corners.”

“Nico." Now Percy looked like he was in pain. "Who told you that? What made you think like this?”

“Well… it's just… you know… she said those things and I asked myself 'what if it's true?' I thought a little distance would be good.”

"For who? For me or for you?”

It was a good question. He just didn't want to feel so bad every time he saw those people in the school’s hallways, murmuring behind his back, things he didn't even want to know what it was, but deep down already suspected what it could be.

"Answer me.” Then Percy grabbed his face and made him look at him closely. "What were you running from?"

"Does it matter now? What will you do? Go after them and say how horrible they are? What... what's the use of looking back at the past?”

"When did you grow so much?" Percy didn't look happy about it, resigned at best.

“When I had to leave behind the one I loved the most.”

This finally silenced Percy, the boy looking at him so sadly it looked like Percy would burst into tears at any moment.

“I know who did this.” Percy said. “I needed to hear it from you. I didn't want to believe that she would do something like that.”

Nico found himself smiling, though it was a wilted, sad thing. That was the truth, people were mean and some of them would do anything to get what they wanted. The secret was not to be innocent and protect yourself, or try to stay away from their wrath. 

What could you do but try? He hugged Percy tightly and laid his head on Percy's shoulder. Since they were running late, there’s no need to rush things up.

***

When they finally went downstairs with their shower taken and hair combed, breakfast was already on the table; eggs, bacon, coffee, and juice. Something simple, but that they rarely had time to do. Why didn't they? Ah, now he remembered. Having to run from Will or explain to his father why he didn't want to spend time at the company had indeed taken up all his time and Bianca's as well, who ran from Hades as much or more than he himself did. But here? In the stillness without people chasing them was heaven, like a weight had finally lifted off their shoulders. It probably wouldn't last long, unfortunately. That’s why Nico wanted to take it slow, and maybe that way, he’d have more time to organize his mind and decide what to do from this moment on.

"All good?” Percy said in the hallway, as they left the room, heading towards the stairs to reach the first floor. “You've been quiet since we got in the bath.”

“Hm.” Was he that obvious or was Percy just paying attention? "I was thinking…”

"In what?”

“I… I just want to finish high school without the drama, you know? Graduate and try to make something useful out of life.”

"Is this about us?"

“I meant it when I said I didn't want a boyfriend. But I want my bestfriend back.”

"Allright.” Percy waved, all serious, though he had his hands on Nico's shoulders as they walked down the stairs, too close, to be honest. But it was a closeness Nico liked, even if he knew it made things more complicated. "Are you going to stop talking to me or is it about the sex?"

"I…" It was another good question. Did he want to get away from Percy?

“So there's no reason to put labels on what we are. It's just a name. I’ll never ask for something that you are not interested in providing.”

Nico knew all of this. Percy had never done something like that before and it wasn't now that his friend would start forcing him into something. In fact, Percy had been so patient that he'd been mistaking care for disinterest all these years. Now, he understood. Well, he understood because of yesterday. It was revealing. For real.

"Percy, look--”

“I understand more than anyone, but that doesn't change anything between us. I'm not in a hurry and I'm not going anywhere.”

"You promise?”

"I promise. I'm the same old Percy and you are my sweet little Nico. Nothing’s going to change.”

Nico blinked slowly and found himself lost in Percy's eyes, caught in every word and every whisper uttered. He knew all of this and hated how sexual the nickname now sounded, ‘my little Nico’ or ‘my sweet Nico’ spilling from Percy's lips in a tone so possessive and hot he should have run far away while he still could. He knew he should, and that was the problem, the urge and compulsion to get close to Percy was greater than any rationalization he could’ve had. When he realized what was happening, he found himself pressed against the wall at the bottom of the stairs, Percy right next to him, hands on his ass, their hips grinding against each other, and Percy's fingers pulling him by his hair in that kind of kiss meant for privacy of a bedroom walls.

He didn't remember Percy being this intense. Was all of this really because he'd been away for two years? The boy he knew was sweet, kind, and selfless. Now, most of the time, he could barely control himself when Percy decided that talking wasn't what they were supposed to do. Like in that moment, feeling Percy's hips grinding against his, almost making him come in his pants like a teenager, something he'd never was defore.

Gathering strength he didn't even know he had, Nico dragged his lips away from Percy's and took a deep breath and then pushed him away, just enough to disentangle their bodies, holding Percy by the shoulders at a safe distance.

"You can’t do that. You said you wouldn't force me.”

“I'm not forcing you.” Then Percy thought again and added, “I’m sorry. I won't do it again.”

Nico wasn't sure he believed it. Those green eyes on him, so intense they seemed to burn wherever they landed and the quick, gasping breaths told him something else, told him that if it was up to Percy they wouldn't be standing in the middle of the stairs.

"Percy, I don't think this is going to work."

“I said I'm sorry. I had to wait a long time. That's it. I'm not a monster, no matter what people say.”

“Nobody says anything.” Well, not since he went abroad. He remembered how Lou and Alabaster had hinted that Percy was waiting for the right moment to strike. And, all he had thought at the time was, “So what if Percy was? Were they jealous?” In the end, he'd walked away with a broken heart and another trauma for the collection.

“Hm, beautiful.” Percy smiled and this time Nico was paying attention. Percy took a step forward and contrary to what he expected, Percy didn't try to kiss him, I mean, not on the lips. Percy took his hands and brought them to his lips, kissing each finger separately. "I would never do anything that could hurt you. I hope you know that.”

"I do know.” Nico thought he knew, but he had discovered that good people could do bad things and after his last relationship, he wasn't sure of anything. “Just… let's take it slow, shall we?”

"Sure, Nico.”

Percy smiled once more and let both hands fall apart only to hold them in a comforting grip as they both looked down at their clasped hands. It was a scene he had never let himself visualize before, him and Percy, in a quiet place, nature around them, maybe some chairs stretched out in the sun and the two of them together, holding each other's hand as they watched the sun go down. Maybe… maybe if he was lucky enough. In a not too distant future. Maybe if they could--

“Here you are. How long will you whisper in the dark?

It was Bianca. Who else could it be?

***

For some reason, Percy wanted to laugh, even though the experience was turning out to be stranger than he'd anticipated. Instead of finding Hades who had told him he would arrive that morning, it was Bianca who had greeted them last night and opened the door for them; she hadn't asked anything and just said, 'Nico's room is in the same place.'

With a shrug, he had picked Nico up and headed upstairs, not the least bit put off by Bianca's presence. Percy admitted he was moving too fast, too eager, but who could blame him when as soon as they entered the room Nico had moaned softly and kissed him even sweeter, starting to take off his own clothes and lying in the middle of the bed with his legs open? He was only human, and like the weak being that he was, he did what Nico didn't have the courage to ask aloud, but said with his gaze and all that bare skin. Percy had knelt on the bed, kissed from Nico's legs to his neck to finally touch where he wanted most. Maybe he got a little carried away, touched too hard, because when he saw Nico, the boy was coming in his mouth and on his face, moaning as if it hurt and contracting so hard that for a moment he thought Nico was going to have an epileptic seizure; the only reason Percy wasn't worried was the expression of pure ecstasy on the delicate face of his baby, the heaving sigh as Nico relaxed on the bed and closed his eyes, calm and content.

He hadn't even cared about the result, him excited and frustrated, and Nico sleeping peacefully. It was his fault, plus Nico was under no obligation to reciprocate, whether they were dating or not. Taking a deep breath, all Percy did for long minutes was watch Nico sleeping comfortably on the bed, arms stretched over his head, gripping the pillows, legs spread and cock now flaccid, small and collected in the path of thin black hair that went from the lower part of his belly button to his groin, still wet with saliva and semen. Percy wanted to touch him again right then, turn Nico on one more time and see how long it took for him to come again.

In the end, making an effort to get away, Percy got out of bed slowly so as not to wake Nico up, entered the bathroom that was inside the suite and lowered his pants. It would be safer if he took care of things away from Nico, just to make sure he could behave the rest of the night; Percy knew how suspicious Nico was when it came to sexuality and trust, especially when a year ago Nico had broken up with his boyfriend and not told him the reason. And even if he suspected what had happened, that was none of his business either. If Nico didn't want to tell him, Percy should respect his decision. For now.

That way, He took care of things mechanically, found a clean towel, dampened it with warm water and cleaned Nico, then stripped off his clothes and climbed into bed with him. Percy had barely laid his head on the pillow when Nico wrapped his arms around his neck in his sleep, snuggling against him. Legs against legs and chest against chest, practically kissing him, stretched against his body.

"I missed you.” Nico murmured, sighing contentedly and falling back into his deep sleep once more.

Percy thought that had been one of the happiest moments of his life, Nico after so long letting himself be vulnerable around him when Percy thought that these scenes would never happen again.

Feeling a tightness in his heart as if it would explode at any moment and wanting to cry, Percy finally allowed himself to close his eyes and accept his feelings. He loved Nico, not even time or other people would make that same sense of completeness set in; no one made him feel as good and as powerful as Nico did, no one made him laugh or cry as easily, or create this crazy desire in him to be the best just to make sure he was able to give Nico everything he needed.

“I missed you too.” Percy ended up muttering back before falling asleep, pulling Nico closer and finally letting himself go.

Now they were sitting at the kitchen table, Bianca sitting across from him while Nico sat beside him, filling a plate with food and a cup of plain, unsweetened coffee, handing it to him.

“You still remember.” Percy said picked up the cup, taking a sip and inhaling the fragrance of freshly brewed and ground coffee, not as strong as he liked, but of exemplary quality. It was all so familiar that Percy found himself smiling, watching Bianca smirking and Nico pretend he wasn't embarrassed by the compliment. Nico was never very good at receiving them.

"I did nothing.”

“Hm.” He murmured, trying not to provoke Nico any further. But he couldn't help it, he followed Nico with his gaze, seeing him finally sit down and grab a glass of orange juice, taking a long sip before concentrating on his plate, when Bianca looked at him and asked:

"Percy Jackson, what brings you here?"

“Nico.” He said and smiled at Bianca. Between them there was never room for anything but outright sincerity. After all, she had allowed Nico to practically move into his home for those long, magnificent years and he wouldn’t do anything to break the trust between them.

"Are you serious this time?"

"Yes.”

"That’s nice.”

Bianca nodded, satisfied. She turned back to her food and raised a mouthful of eggs to her lips.

"What was this?” Nico asked, putting down his fork. He crossed his arms and glared at them.

"I wanted to know.” Bianca shrugged. “You arrived late yesterday.”

"I can’t believe this!” Nico covered his face and groaned anxiously. "Did you see us?"

"I saw everything.”

There was silence, however, not for long. Nico pushed back his chair and stood up, staggering.

“I need… I need to get my bag.”

Which was just one reason for him to hide for a while or until the blush faded away. Percy watched Nico drag himself out of the kitchen and turned to Bianca.

"So, then?" He asked. He knew Bianca wanted to say something, but he didn't want Nico to hear.

"You look different.”

"As?”

“More…decided. Mature.”

“Some things happened.”

When Bianca didn't say anything else, he shrugged and continued:

“Nico left and I found out a few things.”

"Things?”

"Nothing much.”

Bianca raised her eyebrows and Percy surrendered.

“It seems I was very nice and innocent. So I decided not to be anymore.”

"Do not tell me.”

"Nobody tells me these things! I thought Nico didn't think about…about…”

“Sex?”

“Apparently I was wrong and he thought I wasn't interested.”

"Hm..." Bianca looked at him for a few more moments and was merciful. “It's not your fault, it was that blonde girl who was always after you.”

"Damn it. I don't even like women!"

"And? I would be more careful if I were you.”

Percy knew this wasn't a threat but it was a warning, as Bianca would never do anything to get in the way of Nico's happiness.

"Do you think I should do something more drastic?"

“I think Nico would do something drastic if he thinks he's in the way.”

Percy stopped breathing for a moment and realized the seriousness of the problem, only now did he see that Bianca looked worried. She wouldn't be home when responsibility always came first for the Di Angelos; she wouldn't be wasting that precious time if Bianca didn't think it was extremely important.

“I'll take care of everything. You don’t need to worry.”

"It's what I hope.”

With that, they both lowered their heads and continued to eat until Nico returned, calmer and more composed. Both finished eating the rest of the food, and in a hurry, Nico soon pulled him by the hand and towards the car parked in front of the Di Ângelo's house.

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As always, your feedback is always important. Thanks for reading!

[chatotbox]

“ You’re to take an extended leave, Sato. ”

The Director of the Radio Tower is a kindly man named Hiro who Remy has known for three years now. He looks frazzled still, his auburn hair refusing to lay flat with the stress of the tower’s takeover by Team Rocket in the last few weeks. He’s aged overnight almost -- if Remy looks closely, they think they can see gray starting in his hair already.

(They think about how the morning started so normal, how Hiro had greeted them so kindly, and the sour roiling in their gut when it turned out to be Petrel in disguise -- the way he grinned with recognition at seeing Remy has their skin crawling even now.)

The command (because it is a command, not a request) comes on day two of Remy’s hospital stay. The burn salve under the bandaging wrapping their left side does very little to stave off the intense pain that thunders through them without strong painkillers. There’s talk of what can be done and what has to be tested first. Houndoom bites, apparently, never stop aching.

(Archer must know about it, because why else would he point a Pokemon at a person like that?)

Remy nods numbly at the order when Hiro pauses for a response, before he continues speaking.

“ You’ll be paid for it, of course, and the Tower. . .well, the station is going to be closed for repairs and renovations for some time anyways. You’ll have time to recuperate. You aren’t the only person I’m paying visits to today. ”

He tries for humor and Remy misses it in the fog of painkiller and exhaustion. The station is going to be closed for an indeterminate amount of time while they clean up the broken machines, busted furniture and Rocket blood.

(There’s a lot of Rocket blood, too, because of a boy and his hulking beast of a Feraligatr.)

They have time off for now, to recuperate and wonder how fucked their life might be now. It’s not like people aren’t going to notice the recognition from the Executives that had decided to torment them in the Tower. Remy hopes, more than anything, that they can brush it off as a case of mistaken identity.

Hiro, in his infinite patience and honestly baffling charisma, says nothing of the matter right now. It would be insensitive to insinuate such a thing to a worker who was now hospitalized because of those same Executives, or so Remy assumes.

“ We’ll keep in touch, of course, and you’ll be one of the first to know when we’re back up and running. If you decide to continue with us, we’ll be happy to have you. ” He strokes a hand through his hair and musses the auburn strands more, causing them to fall across his face. “ You did good work up there, or so I heard. I didn’t know you were a trainer! ”

That gets a little smile from Remy, the forced kind of kindness that comes with a public persona, and they shake their head.

“ I don’t -- battle, usually. It’s been a long time. Thank you, sir. ”

The smile, wobbly as it is, works -- Hiro takes it in stride, leaves them a get well soon card and a promise to call when work resumes, and Remy’s left alone in the buzzing quiet of the hospital room until a nurse comes by to tell them they’d be going home soon.

And home they go, with more painkillers and a note to seek out a therapy group for other people with chronic pain problems.

(Home is hardly comfortable either, with their face known to Rocket again. They don’t sleep very well, not until their Pokemon post up around the home to keep them safe. The first time they sleep through the night, they do so with Ariados hanging by their side and Arbok curled across their feet.

Ampharos, newly evolved, stands guard with a slowly blinking red light illuminating the room to chase shadows from every corner.)

[jimbleswrites]

Nora, The Sole Survivor

Chapter 4: Old Friends & New Faces

I woke up to a beam of light shining through the broken wall. I looked over to my pip-boy to see it was 7 in the morning. I heard Codsworth moving things around in the home. I sat up and yawned. 

Codsworth hovered in front of the door. “Good morning, mum! Today’s the day!”

I nodded half-heartedly. I straightened out my vault suit and stood up, grabbing my pip-boy and my pistol. I was a mix of anxious and fearful, but still hopeful that I would find something out there. I grabbed my pack that I had made yesterday and pulled it up on my shoulders.

“You said it would be about an hour's walk?” I asked Codsworth.

“Correct! Concord is an hour away, and there is a Red Rocket at the midway point for a rest stop if you need it.” Codsworth pointed towards the wooden bridge. “I will be here with a wonderful meal when you return!”

I started my walk, Codsworth waving me off as I stepped onto the bridge. The walk gave me time to look at the state of the world. I followed the road, made of splintered asphalt with plant life growing between them. The plants were doing well, despite the now brownish tint they all had. There was still wreckage on the roads, cars rusted over with skeletons inside. I looked around for any animals, but it was a quiet walk. I walked in silence for the first part of my trip. I finally was getting used to, or at least not as shocked, the new world I was in. I saw the Red Rocket station coming up on the horizon. It was a popular chain I remembered from before, with the iconic rocket on the roof above the filling station. It was in decent shape compared to some of the houses in Sanctuary. 

I decided to stop and take a drink. I walked up to the building, seeing a small fire pit and two folding chairs outside. Apparently other people had stopped by here. I sat down and pulled a bottle of water from my bag. I started to open it, when I heard noise from the building. I froze, unsure of what it could be. I put the bottle back and slowly approached the door to the Red Rocket. I leveled my pistol in my other hand as I pulled open the door. I heard more shuffling as I quietly snuck in. There was a small garage down the hall that had a flickering light. The noises seemed to be coming from inside. 

I was terrified as I got closer. Maybe it was more of those roaches? Or maybe a person! Was this their house now? Codsworth said he was chased off with sticks last time he left. Were people just crazy now? Did I need to shoot first? Oh god, could I kill another person? While I was stuck in my head, something came out into the hall. It was a person, but something was wrong. They were just wearing pants, and their entire torso and head was covered in some kind of scarring. It looked like the skin had been burned off, leaving splotches of still burned skin hanging off the walking corpse. 

The being turned, only now noticing me. Their pure black eyes widened, seeing the gun I had. “WAIT, I’M NOT FERAL!” They wheezed in a raspy voice. “DON’T SHOOT!” They put up their hands in surrender.

“Feral?” I repeated, confused. The thing then focused on my face, and they looked confused as well.

“What? No, it can't... It... It's... it's YOU! From Sanctuary Hills, right!?” They seemed as bewildered as me.

“Yeah, I’m from Sanctuary Hills. How do you know that?” They didn’t seem dangerous, but I kept my pistol up just in case.

“I sold your husband that space in the Vault, remember? But then I wasn't on the list to get in. You ran by me as the bombs fell.” They explained. They pointed to a card on a nearby counter. I looked over to see a weathered ID card from Vault-Tec, with a picture of a person and a name. Moe Hawthorne.

“The Vault-Tec Salesman?” I asked aloud. I had so many questions.

“I AM Vault-Tec! Twenty years of loyal service and now look at me! I wasn't on the list!” He was upset at this, but then took a deep breath. “But you. Look at you. Two hundred years and you're still perfect! How? How's that possible?”

I lowered my gun. “The Vault had these pods that froze us in place. I only thawed out recently.” I was saying this like it was normal, but this whole conversation was already odd.

“What? Vault-Tec never told me that! Unbelievable!” He sighed, clearly angry. His stomach rumbled. “Look, would you stay for a meal?” His rage was replaced with a sad look as he pointed to the fire pit outside. “You don’t have to, but it's been a long time since I was able to talk to someone.”

I nodded, and he turned back in the garage. I went back outside and pulled out my bottle again. I couldn’t believe someone could still be alive from my time. And what the hell was going on with his skin? I sat in silence for a while, until he came out. He was now wearing a yellow trench coat and hat, hiding the scars and burns I saw earlier. 

He handed me a bowl of something. “Vegetable soup. I have a small garden here.” He explained. I cautiously put the bowl to my lips. It was on the salty side, but was nice to have something fresh versus the pre-war food I had packed away. “Please, tell me about the Vault. I want to know how you got here.”

I told a shortened story. The first freeze, then the kidnappers, then finally leaving. I tried my best not to stare, but his face was still covered in those burns, with pure black eyes that could be looking anywhere. He was shocked to find all other people in the vault were dead when I came to.

“Well, I had to get to the future the hard way. Living through the... filth. The.. decay. The bloodshed.” He seemed to be remembering something as he spoke, reliving some terrible event I’d assume.

“I'm so sorry. I didn't know this would happen.” I apologized. I genuinely never could have imagined this happening. I still had questions about him, but I was trying not to be rude. “So, you lived through all of it? Is that how you got… those?” I gestured vaguely at his burns.

Moe laughed, a raspy chuckle that reminded me of a chain-smoker’s voice. “I lived it, yeah. I was normal at first, but all the radiation over the years did this. My skin started flaking off, I started getting headaches all the time, and I got to live for over 200 years. They call our type ‘Ghouls’. Lots of people don’t like us.” He slurped some soup. “You know... you're the only other person I met from... before. They didn't tell me much. Vault-Tec. Just to make sure everyone filled out their forms. I was supposed to win a pack of steak knives...”

I felt bad for him. I didn’t know what to do, but it was reassuring even having someone to talk to. “Do you have any idea what you’ll do now?”

“Survive, just like always. I’ll hang out here until something inevitably goes wrong and I’ll move again.” He was pessimistic, but I’m sure having 200 years of being an outcast changes your view.

“What if you came with me?” I offered. Moe laughed again, but I persisted. “I need to find my son, and I don’t know anything about the world. You can help me, and I’ll… I don't know, pay you or something.” It was a weak argument, but I needed a guide to this new world.

“You got caps to spare?” Moe lifted an eye.

“Caps?” I asked.

“You don’t even know what caps are for.” Moe rolled his eyes. “Caps are currency now. Easy to verify, hard to counterfeit, and most people can get them easily.” He explained.

“If you want to split caps we get, sure.” I held out a hand. “Please?”

Moe thought for a second, then shook my hand. “You’ve got a deal, Nora.” He quickly finished his soup. “200 years of Vault-Tec sales experience, at your service.”

***

I helped Moe pack his things in a satchel he had, then we continued out to Concord. Moe explained that this area was pretty quiet, but we would run into more threats as we got closer to Boston proper. He also filled in a few gaps in my knowledge. Apparently the huge roaches I saw were common pests called Radroaches. He also explained some ghouls lost their minds over the years and are now basically brainless, attacking and eating like wild animals. They were called feral ghouls, and tended to be a reason people didn’t trust ghouls. We kept talking until we reached concord, with the road leading into the main street.

Moe suddenly pulled out a revolver, grabbing my shoulder. “We got incoming, get ready.” I quickly scanned the area around to see a dog running towards us. It looked friendly, but Moe had warned me around wild dogs, so I pulled out my pistol. The dog trotted up, stopped a distance away, and woofed softly. It was a german shepard, with no collar, and it seemed friendly. 

I put away my pistol, walked up, and petted him. “Hey, buddy.” I gently spoke.

Moe, however, continued to look around. “I don’t trust this.”

The dog, seemingly in response, yipped, and looked back towards the town. He stood up and motioned with his head towards the town.

“I think he wants us to follow him.” I started to walk behind the dog, towards the main street. I saw Moe looking around, still unsure, but he followed us as we walked along. We moved along the road, slowly coming to Concord proper. The town was like Sanctuary, buildings falling apart with ruined cars in the road. Unlike Sanctuary, the buildings were fixed in some areas. Boarded up windows and doors, planks between rooftops making bridges, and even marks on the road where cars were pushed to the side. While this was still an abandoned town, some people had clearly been here. We also heard noises as we got closer. Gunshots. Moe crouched down as we neared the main road, and I followed his lead. Even this stray dog lowered itself as we ducked behind a car on the onset of the town center.

I looked through the broken car windows toward the center of town. There were some people wearing strange armor shooting at a building. I recognized it as the museum of freedom, a local tourist trap before the war.

“Raiders.” Moe whispered to me. “They steal whatever they can, and destroy what they can’t.” I looked closer at them. They had armor and weapons seemingly made of scraps of other things, laughing to themselves as they shot the building. That’s when I saw him. On the balcony, there was a man shooting back at the raiders. Dressed in colonial gear, wielding a musket of some kind, someone was defending this building. I looked over to the dog, only to see him also staring at the man.

“I think this is why the dog brought us here.” I turned back to Moe. “To help that guy on the balcony.”

Moe shook his head. “Bad idea. I’m not a fighter and you don’t know anything. We go around.”

“But, that guy in there…”

I didn’t get a chance to finish before Moe interrupted. “Rule #1 of the commonwealth. Everyman for themselves. You stick up for someone, you wind up dead.” Moe looked down, avoiding eye contact.

I looked again at the man. He was outnumbered and struggling, trying to pop up to fire only to duck down again quickly. He wasn’t going to make it if we went around. I stood up, walking before I registered what I was doing. The dog was on my heels, growling at the raiders as we left cover.

“Get back here!” Moe hissed, not leaving his cover. I ignored him. I was scared as I quietly got closer to the raiders. I didn’t have a plan, but I couldn’t just leave this person to die. I pulled out my pistol as I ducked behind a wall. Now that I was closer, I noticed there were only 2 raiders. They were so focused on the balcony, they didn’t seem to notice how close I was. I took another step, only to step on a twig, it cracking loudly. The raider turned around and saw me, immediately pointing his gun at me. Time seemed to slow as I sprinted forward, firing wildly at the two raiders. I managed to hit one in the leg, with him crumpling to the floor. The other began to fire, only to be hit by a flash of light that disintegrated his arm. The two raiders, now wounded, began to retreat, only for the dog to chase them down. He leapt on one, biting and thrashing, while the other was shot again and fell over. I turned to see Moe, holding a sawed-off shotgun, running towards me. The dog hopped off the raider, with both of them not moving anymore. I stood in the now silent road, looking at the people I had just killed.

I turned back to the balcony, looking for the man. He was now leaning over the railing, staring at me. “You gotta help!” He shouted. “I've got a group of settlers inside! The raiders are almost through the door!” He pointed to a body I hadn’t seen before. “Grab that laser musket and help us! Please!” There was a muffled boom from inside, and the man scrambled back in doors.

Moe finally caught up to me. “Are you hurt?” Moe asked as he put his hand on my shoulder. I shook my head. He took a moment to look me over before walking to the bodies. “Grab what you need.” He began checking them, grabbing ammo and food from their pockets.

“He needs help in there!” I ignored the bodies as I walked up to the front door. I was quickly stopped by Moe, who was apparently done with looting.

“Nora, stop for a second. You just charged down some raiders for a stranger.” He pointed to a graze I hadn’t noticed on my sleeve. A bullet had been close enough to tear the sleeve on my vault suit and leave a burn mark on my arm. “You’re gonna end up dead if you just keep charging in without a plan.”

“I can’t leave him to die.” I was sure of that. “I already lost so much. I don’t want to stand by anymore.” I looked at the body the man had pointed out. It was another man in colonial dress, holding the same type of musket. He also had some leather armor strapped on, clearly more prepared than I was. If I had been here earlier, maybe I could have helped him too.

Moe sighed. He leaned down and unstrapped the leather armor on the man’s arm, then held it out to me. “If you are gonna charge a building with nothing but hope and a pistol, at least armor up.” I smiled as I took the armor. Moe cocked his shotgun, loading a shell. “Now, let’s save a stranger.”

[chryzure-archive]

going into work today like i NEED to be thinking abt chrysi and jacks kissing. for my well-being.

[elis-corner]

Hallooooo! If it doesn't bother you too much could you write for Mumbo, Grian, and Scar with a gender neutral reader whose birthday is today but things didn't go as planned and it gets ruined but the boys cheer them up in the end? It's okay if you don't wanna do my request, I totally understand!

Hi there!

I'm always happy to write anything for anyone, as long as it fits my rules :)

My birthday was ruined because of the virus last year, so this is pretty relatable. I'm getting vibes that this request happened to you too, so I hope this helps cheer you up! Thanks for the support :>

Kinda based off of recent events in my country (it didn’t stop raining for, like, two or three weeks). 

------

Shivering, you run through the cold, heavy droplets splashing against you, soaking your clothes and making it impossible to use rockets.

The rain had been constant the last few days, drowning plants, ruining builds, starting up a chain of viruses spreading from one hermit to the next—it certainly was getting in the way. You were hoping, begging, praying that it wouldn’t rain to ruin your special day. The weather had a mind of it’s own.

So, of course, it had to rain in the week that you were going home to see your family for the first time in however long it had been. The week of your birthday.

Grian, ever the understanding, had offered you a ride on the G-Train to get home. What you didn’t expect, was this.

Water seems to be flowing in rivers down from where the railroad was, steady yet with an almost pulsating rhythm. The closer and closer you word your way towards it the deeper it gets, until it reaches as far as your knees. You can barely move from all the resistance. As you somehow manage to step onto the platform, it hits you; the tracks.

Filled to the brim, they could be mistaken for a small river. All you can see reminiscent of what you’re used to is the half-drowned train sticking out from the top, an avian cowering atop of it. Grian’s wings are cast over him as protection from the rain, but the buffeting winds slide under his wings and threaten to blow him away. Tears begin to mix with the rainwater speckled across you face.

”Y/n!” Grian calls, but all you can do is turn and run through the bucketing rain back to the warmth and safety of your base.

———

You didn’t stop running until you were safely at home, the rain only a distant sound, bundled under the covers. The world felt like it had stopped moving entirely. There you stay, silent tears staining the soft linen cradling you in its warmth.

The click of a handle. The creak of a hinge. The scrape of wood against floor.

Your bed creaks under the added weight of another three people, sitting by you in silence. “Y/n,” Scar begins. “I- I’m sorry, y/n.” His voice is soft and deep in his unique and charming way--you can’t help but smile just a bit.

You sit up to face him, Grian, and Mumbo, all of them looking at you with hesitant smiles. Mumbo rests a hand on your shoulder. You could feel him vibrating slightly, as if he were tense. You lean slightly into his touch, and you feel him relax slightly.

“I get you’re upset,” he says quietly, “but we’ve got a bit of a surprise for you. I- uh- wanna come and see?” No, you did not--you wanted to go drown alongside your hopes of seeing your family--but you don’t want to be rude to three of the kindest people you know.

Slowly, you stand, Mumbo and Scar taking one of your hands each. You can feel how calloused Scar’s hands are from all his terraforming, and you can feel grains of redstone dust rubbing between yours and Mumbo’s skin. Grian stands in front of you, majestic wings spread out to block your view.

The trio gently guides you towards your longue, before Grian tucks his wings back and steps aside.

The room has streamers of your favourite colours strung everywhere, balloons taped to the walls. Upon the table rests a large cake, “Happy Birthday y/n” written in neat cursive--Grian’s work, most likely. Cards and presents are scattered around the table, too.

“We know it’s not the same, but we couldn’t leave you now, could we?” Scar leant onto your shoulder. You can just tell he had his charismatic smirk spread across his face.

Lots of food, soda, cake, and laughter later, you find yourself lying across the sofa, with Scar squashed up next to you, Mumbo beneath you, and Grian atop the three of you, his wings covering you like a blanket.

“Thank you, guys,” you say softly, drawing further into their warmth. “I don’t know how you managed all this so quickly, but I just--”. You receive a face-full of feathers from the avian, effectively shutting you up.

“It’s you we’re doing it for--of course we’re going to try and make it as perfect as possible. Perfect as you.”