#i miss mine so much (they both died of old age and had been adopted dw)

[thetrashthatsmilesback]

Dan and Phil should adopt guinea pigs. 1) i know for a fact Dan would get SO into c&c cage building based on how he was with Norman, their piggies would be treated like kings 2) they could raise awareness on their huge platform that you should adopt cavies through shelters, and that yes adopt don't shop does apply to small animals as well

[janetsboys]

How did you know?

✿ characters: carl grimes x peletier!reader (6 years after his death)

✿ A/N: haven’t been there in a while !

✿summary: you’re carol’s daughter, sophia’s twin sister, you grew up with carl and got together before he died. now your adoptive little brother doesn’t know what his feelings are towards the whisperer girl and you usually give good advice soooooo

✿warnings: mention of death

english is not my first language, i make mistakes <3

————————————————————————————

✿ ✿ ✿

You were both at the Hilltop, this is where you lived. You had just hit 21 and had already been through 6 years without Carl.

Your mom and your step father that was just like the father you never had brought you guys here for a while, especially Henry, you were kinda just there to look after him.

“Hey (Y/N), you got a second?” “Hi, yeah what’s going on?” your adoptive brother walks to you all nervous.

You knew about the whisperer girl that Daryl interrogated, you didn’t know the whole story about her but you knew Henry got close to her and to be honest, you felt like this was none of your business, still worried about your little brother.

Then her mother went to get her back and she left, you knew it hurt Henry but you couldn’t really do anything about it.

You step out of the nursery you were reorganizing and you guys sit down together,

“Are you okay? You look pale Hen” you said worried he’d be sick. You kinda developed a phobia of sick people, seeing Carl after the bite kinda stayed in your mind.

“I’m alright don’t worry. I just- you know the girl that just left, i really think we, i don’t know.” he tried to find the words desperately.

“Did you fall for her?” you said smiling. “I don’t know that’s why I’m here. Do you think she’s worth it?”

“Worth what? Risking your life for her? I don’t think a lot of people are worth your life Henry.” he was exactly the age Carl was when he died. You’re very overprotective of your little brother.

“If i love her then she is, yeah?” he stared into your eyes agitating his hands. “Do you love her?” you suddenly lost your smile.

“How did you know you were in love?” that one hit you right in the face. Your brother knew about the boy you loved, he also knew you never found love again afterwards, at least you didn’t allow yourself to.

But you didn’t talk about it much, you immediately shut yourself up when someone tried to talk about it. I think the only one you allowed to ask about Carl was Henry, cause he reminded you of him sometimes, he had a kind heart like Carl did.

When he asked you this, you gulped and you thought about it, you slowly fell in love with Carl while you were growing up together, the real day you realized was the day you arrived to Alexandria.

You had big trust issues because of the terminus and all the crazy shit that happened to you in the past years.

You and everyone else were sleeping in the living room of one of the houses Deana gave y’all. You were laying in a sleeping bag on the floor right next to Carl.

Everyone was settling their “bed” in the room and you guys were already laying next to each other, “Do you think you’ll manage to sleep tonight?” he asked you nervously playing with the bag’s zipper.

“I think so, i feel safe with everyone here and i know my mom or Daryl are certainly not gonna sleep so we’re alright i guess.” he nodded but didn’t seem convinced.

You wanted him to relax and finally get to sleep under a roof, sort of safe. Your instinct told you to put your hand on his and you immediately did, he stopped fidgeting the zipper and looked at you.

“You finally get a real night sleep, at least tonight, it’s been so long. Look at this house, we talked about this remember? How we missed our old houses? This one kinda looks like mine, maybe it’s not safe here but at least this one night, people are doing the job for us.“ you looked at the adults of the room saying this, Carl followed your look.

He seemed more relaxed at that moment, when you guys stared at each other and when he started soothing your hand with his thumb, it was just the two of you and you finally put words on your feelings, you were very much in love.

✿ ✿

“I don’t think i could’ve done this without you, (Y/N), i couldn’t have been the only kid. Without anyone to talk to, someone who understands.” he looked so tired.

“I’m glad i’ve got you too.” you smile turning to look at him while he was facing the ceiling. You looked at him closely, he was like, the most beautiful boy you had ever seen.

You kept looking at him for a while, everyone treated you like adults and you had to behave like ones but when it was just the two of you you could finally be your age.

You could laugh and talk like actual 14 then 15 year olds.

✿ ✿

When everyone headed to sleep, at least for some of you, Carl decided to get his sleeping bag closer to yours when the lights were down so he could hold you in his arms the whole night.

At first you thought he did this to reassure you but rethinking about this, Carl did this to reassure himself. To know someone was there.

When you fell asleep that night, you knew you were going to love him for the rest of your life. And you’re convinced he realized he was in love with you right at the same moment.

✿ ✿

When you get back to Henry after this split second of reflection, he’s desperately waiting for an answer.

“Well, when i realized i felt safe around him, i could lay my head on his shoulder to fall asleep as if i was in the safest home in the world. That he was the one who understood me and that i understood too. When i realized i could calm him down with my words because he truly cared about what i had to say. Because he cared and i cared. Because he looked after me and i looked after him.”

Henry was paying so much attention to your words.

“He wrote me on his death letter, you quote him, “I knew that wherever i would go, i would find my way back to your arms, back to the house we built for each other. I know that someday, i’ll walk in our little house again and i���ll find you waiting in a sleeping bag.” if she feels like a safe home to you. You’re in love.” your eyes were watering of course.

“I don’t know if she loves me as much as you love Carl but, i think i love her. And if i’m right, i’m losing her right now.” he had glowing eyes, you had a feeling he was in love with her.

You pulled him into a comforting hug; “Please, Henry, do what you gotta do but i beg you to stay safe and think before you do something sweetheart.”

You held him so tight into your arms “Promise me, Hen.” you told him a tear rolling down your cheek. “Promise me.” you said again.

“I promise you, (Y/N)” you let go of your strong hold and kiss his forehead, hands holding his face.

“I love you, and i have a feeling you’ll really see him again one day.” he smiles down at you.

“I love you too, i love you so much.” you let go of his face and watch him walking away, not knowing what he would do.

✿ ✿

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sorry for the long absence i’ve been through some serious shit omg

hope you guys enjoyed that tell me what you think love y’all <3333

[notchesandbullets]

She’s Mine (Protective!Bakugou x Punk!Tattooed!Reader) feat. Erasermic

Warnings: racism, implied homophobia (not by anyone in the main cast), sexism, discrimination/discriminatory behavior, Modern!AU, Aged-Up!AU, features Bakugou’s parents, Erasermic, Kota, Eri, Mahoro, Katsuma and all of Class A defending you when insults start to fly.

Synopsis: This is not the first time you’re seeing Bakugou’s family but it is the first time you’re meeting his grandmother, who is not the best company to be around. He comes to your defense after you stand up for yourself and he had no qualms about sticking his face in the old hag’s because he’d be damned if he lets anyone talk to you like that. You’re his.

Words: 3.2k

“Y/N’s here!!!” Mitsuki called over her shoulder as she threw the front door wide open before you could even ring the doorbell.

Her son had texted her that you two were on their way and she was eager to see you. With the job and your relationship with her son, you two were busy bees and didn’t come around as often anymore. 

Which is why she insisted that her stubborn son at least come around for his birthday since it only happened one day out of the year. Then he could continue doing whatever it was that he was doing. 

Luckily, you were on her side and helped convince him to go just this once.

You laughed at the pitter-patter of tiny feet scampering across the cherry hardwood before dropping everything to catch the little kid that tunneled into your legs. 

“Y/N!!! You’re back!!!”

Eri’s ruby red eyes sparkled with joy as she clung to your legs.

“I missed you!!!” She shouted excitedly, hugging your knees tight.

You giggled, resting a hand on top of her head. “I missed you too, munchkin.”

Bakugou snorted behind you and you were reminded of his presence. “Oi, brat. Are you going to let us in or what?”

Eri stuck her tongue out at him childishly before dashing back inside, a trick she learned from her big brother Izuku, doubling back to grab your hand and hauled you inside with her. You casted a glance over your shoulder at your boyfriend but he shrugged, giving you the go-ahead.

He would catch up to you two troublemakers later. Besides, he knew you would want to see all the kids first. 

Kota, an orphan whose extended family gave him up for adoption, along with the siblings, Mahoro and Katsuma, were all under Aizawa’s guardianship.

After he adopted Eri, it sort of just snowballed until he was in too deep. He told Mic repeatedly that it wasn’t his fault that he had a soft spot for orphans.

His husband had merely shook his head with a laugh and hoisted Katsuma up higher so that he could reach the cupcakes they were going to sneak behind his back before dinner.

Mitsuki closed the door behind him as her son kicked off his shoes. 

“She gets that from me.” She said proudly as she gazed lovingly at Eri. She loved having her around the house. 

Since Aizawa and Mic lived relatively close, they came over often since she was feeling rather lonely with an empty nest.

Bakugou snorted. “Yeah, no shit.”

His mother glared at him for his language but didn’t reprimand him like she normally would and his eyes turned into hateful slits.

“Don’t tell me—” He started, gritting his teeth.

“They’re here.” She said with a heavy sigh.

Bakugou cursed vehemently under his breath, his brow furrowing deeply as he fought to control himself. He was banking on them not making an appearance today. 

His grandparents on his dad’s side, though he adored his grandad and thought the world of him, he absolutely could not stand his grandmother. 

She was racist, sexist, had limited views on literally everything and would raise hell if she didn’t get her way and she was a huge pain in his ass.

Even his own mother couldn’t stand her and that was saying something because she tolerated everyone to some degree, despite her odd love language when it came to him. 

They were both shit at communicating but it had gotten better as he got older. 

Now, the worst things that happened were spats here and there when they disagreed but his mother was usually good about backing off if she felt he could make the right decision for himself, which wasn’t often but it was better than none. 

Bakugou strolled inside and his eyes softened for a second when he saw you playing with Mahoro, Kota sitting on your lap as Eri was climbing all over Midoriya. You four were currently playing Monopoly and Eri exclaiming in shock as she realized she was losing since the devious Kota was slowly claiming more and more property.

“Haha!!” He cackled, rubbing his hands together evilly. “You landed on the purple one!!”

“No fair!!” Eri protested. “I don’t have enough money!!!”

“Too bad!!”

“Deku-niichan.” Eri cried, her eyes watering and you nearly fell over laughing as he frantically tried to get her to stop crying. 

The rest of his old class from college was already here, as per his mother’s request and Kirishima’s invitation.

Shinsou, Tsuyu, Todoroki and Iida were all near the food, the previous class rep serving drinks even though it wasn’t his job to play host. 

Tokoyami was currently engaged in a conversation with his dad and as Bakugou spun around the room, he realized every last one of his old classmates had shown up.

It was fucking crowded in his house. 

But the spark of joy he felt diminished the instant he saw his grandmother and he scowled, straying to your side almost protectively as her eyes burned into his back. 

This. 

This was why he didn’t fucking want her here. He didn’t want her to rain judgement upon the person who had won over his heart.

No way in hell.

Look, you weren’t fragile by any means. Your heart was filled with a healthy amount of self-esteem and you had built up your walls to protect yourself against people who had something to say about your many tattoos or piercings, yet you still were the kindest soul he had ever met. 

It was in the way you walked and interacted with people, a genuine smile always present on your features as you gave them more respect than most would give you upon first glance.

Bakugou knew you could handle yourself but you shouldn’t have to with his own fucking relatives. That shit was messed up. 

You glanced at your boyfriend out of the corner of your eye and your gaze dropped down to where his hands were clenched into fists, jaw locked tight and you sigh, softly urging Kota to get up and continue playing with Mahoro and Katsuma until you got back.

The boy grumbled but did as you asked, easily getting swept up in the competition of the game as you drifted to Bakugou’s side.

“I know that look,” You murmured into his ear, your hand covering his as you ignored the idle chatter coming from your friends and family around you. “What’s wrong?”

Bakugou clenched his teeth and debated about it for a second.

“Nothing.” He spat out eventually, choosing to deal with the old hag himself and you let him go when he stomped off, knowing that Kirishima or Kaminari would handle whatever it was that just happened if he didn’t want to talk to you about it. 

Momo greeted you warmly and a smile slipped onto your face as though it had never left. 

You hadn’t bothered to dress all that nice or different from your usual getup, feeling more comfortable in leather and all black that looked like you just came from a rock concert but you got the feeling that not everyone was feeling it as much as Jirou was when she came over to compliment you on your fashion taste.

Shoji and Koda each greeted you respectively and before you knew it, the catered dinner arrived and it was finally time to eat. The judging look you had been aware of from someone you didn’t recognize passing by as you brushed it off as unimportant and focused on helping Mitsuki set the table. 

You clapped your hands gleefully when Eri pitched in to help, complimenting her on how well of a job she did as she finished and you beamed at her when she smiled up at you.

Of course, Aizawa needed to help her since he didn’t want her to stand on a chair and lose her balance but it was easy enough to lift her up. She wasn’t that big yet. 

He had already told Mic he was dreading the day when she would grow up and have to leave home to start her own life and his husband patted him on the back sympathetically, reassuring him that it wouldn’t be the end of the world. 

They loved their children and their children absolutely adored them. 

You had told them as such on more than one occasion since they got insecure that they weren’t adequate parents but you reassured them that they were perfectly imperfect.

They put their kids’ health, safety and happiness before everything else and did everything they could for them. 

You wished your own parents had done that for you. 

As soon as you set down the place settings for everyone and called everyone in for dinner, they flooded the huge dining table that overflowed into the living area to accommodate everyone. 

Bakugou had left for a second to grab something from his old bedroom, promising to be back right away and you reassured him that you would be fine. 

You were barely into helping Mic convince a stubborn Kota to take a spoonful of green beans onto his plate, Shinsou helping Aizawa with Mahoro’s vegetable serving, when a throat cleared itself loudly.

The lively chatter died all around the table died down as grey eyes pierced your own and you stiffened but held your ground. 

You knew that look, you had seen it too many times. 

The older woman opened her mouth and spoke.

“So, you’re my grandson’s girlfriend?” She enunciated, looking you up and down from where she was sitting at the head of the table, her hands setting down her knitting project to glare at you. “I don’t see why he’s dating you.”

The expressions of shock at her vulgar words made several of your friends angry in your defense, Iida and Todoroki trembling in anger and Mina’s eyes narrowed as she dropped her happy-go-lucky personality in favor of ripping her a new one. 

But before any of them could act, she was continuing evenly.

“For someone who doesn’t know how to dress properly and looks like that, I mean, it’s already bad enough that your skin is that color, my dear, and you’ve ruined it even further with those ugly things.” She spat, unaware of the wrath she was evoking from every single person in the room. 

Kaminari’s electric eyes glowed as he saw red. “Bad enough?” 

“Excuse me?” Shoji seethed with unparalleled anger rising up in his chest, a rare sight for the normally calm and collected man.

Jirou, Ochako and Momo were furious at the way she was talking down to you and they shared a look amongst themselves, communicating wordlessly that this wasn’t going to be allowed to get out of hand any longer.

Kirishima was visibly shaking and even the normally shy Koda was fuming in his seat, openly glaring at the elderly woman who spewed insults at you. 

A chair scraped back as Midoriya shot up but you shook your head, holding your finger up to your lips as you subtly gestured for everyone to hold back. 

Aizawa’s nostrils flared from where he was covering Eri’s ears while several of his former students took care of the rest of the kids to make sure they wouldn’t hear this.

To their horror, the grandmother wasn’t even close to being done as she pointed a gnarly finger at you.

“Your job as a girl is to stay in the kitchen and attend to your husband. To even think you’re worth anything if you weren’t involved with my grandson is absurd.” She hissed at you venously, her skewed ideals rooted deeply in her beliefs and how she was raised. “You are a disgrace to even breathe the same air as someone like me.”

“Mother!!”

Bakugou’s father frantically tried to amend what had been done and Mitsuki was about to yell at her but you stopped her. 

Everyone’s eyes turned on you as you took a deep breath. 

“I’m sorry you feel that way, but I won’t apologize for being who I am.” You said quietly but firmly, failing to notice someone coming down the stairs and overhearing your steady words as they flowed from your lips like honey. 

Not tricks. Just genuine sympathy, like you didn’t even hear her say all those horrible things to you. 

It was supposed to be your boyfriend’s day and you weren’t going to ruin it for him in the same manner that she had just done. 

“I understand what you’re saying, but don’t you think that we should be allowed to love who we love?” 

You inclined your head slightly, allowing a sliver of the emotion you felt to slip onto your face as you glanced pointedly as Aizawa and Mic.

After you noticed her staring so openly at you, you also noticed that she would scowl whenever the two men would walk in the room and play with their kids and while you would take whatever she was going to throw at you, you weren’t going to tolerate the same for them.

They didn’t deserve that.

Holding up your arm, you inspected the ink running up and down the length of it. “As for my appearance, my style is my own. I don’t recall asking for your opinion.”

There were a couple of snickers from Jirou, Kaminari, Sero and Mineta as you put her in his place and Todoroki leaned back in his seat, gazing up at you proudly as you stood your ground without firing any hate back at the old woman. 

Hagakure clapped her hands jubilantly as a few cheers of agreement sounded around from the table but you had one more thing to say. 

Your eyes softened. “I understand how you may feel about me, but I don’t need your acceptance. I love myself just as I am and if Katsuki ever feels differently about me and we split, then we’ll split. But please do not judge my love for him based on how you believe I should be. I am who I am and I won’t ever apologize for that.”

“And you never fucking have to.”

Bakugou strolled into the dining area, smirking at the old hag who had the nerve to look shocked at his appearance. Of course she would be so fucking disgusting to say something this horrible to you when he wasn’t within earshot. 

Bitch. 

Blood relations didn’t excuse behavior. 

Narrowing his vermilion eyes at his grandmother, he faced her head on as he took your hand into his. 

“She’s my fucking girlfriend.” He declared, tenacity and stubbornness dripping off of his tone as he snarled at his grandmother. “And if you ever speak to her like that again—”

He nodded in time to Mic and Aizawa, the men who had mentored him and taught him almost everything he knew. 

“Or either of them, including the rest of these shitheads, I’ll fucking kill you.”

The veiled threat hung in the air and you squeaked as Bakugou abruptly dragged you to the front door.

“Where are you going?!” Mitsuki cried out, worried that you both were going to leave without eating anything and she was sad to think that her mother-in-law had driven you away.

Bakugou gnashed his teeth at the confused clamour that arose from his classmates. “Out!! We’ll be back later!!”

You could hardly get a word in edgewise as he dragged you all the way out to the car after barely giving you enough time to put on your shoes.

“Katsuki!! What—”

Your bewildered protests were interrupted as he whirled around and kissed you hard. You melted into his touch as his hot palms settled on your hips, pulling you flush against him. Whining softly when he pulled away, you panted as he breathed hard against you, his exhales fanning out over your face.

You were in a daze as he led you to the car, buckling you in before he got in the driver’s seat. 

And he drove, taking a detour that would take him towards the countryside where there were no people, no places, just you and him. 

Just how he liked it. 

The painted lavenders and pale pinks of the setting sun faded to midnight black with stars twinkling high above you as you cruised around for hours before he finally spoke. 

“I’m sorry.” He apologized quietly and you immediately grabbed his hand that wasn’t currently occupied with steering.

“No!! You don’t have anything to apologize for—”

“Yes I do.”

His grip tightened on the steering wheel a fraction as he slowly explained that if he had told you earlier about what she was capable of instead of ranting to his best friend like an idiot, maybe he could’ve—

“Katuski.”

Your soft murmur brought him back down to planet Earth and you shook your head firmly. 

“It’s not your fault.” You told him without wavering once as he brought the car to a stop just at the edge of the trail. “I don’t blame you at all.”

Bakugou slammed his hand against the steering wheel angrily. “Yes it fucking is!!!”

He ranted and he ranted about how he had come downstairs only to hear his own flesh and blood spitting those vile insults that you didn’t deserve at all. 

You didn’t deserve it at all.

You were quiet when he finished and when his chest was heaving with the spent rage he had aired out, you asked, “Feel better?”

“Like hell I do!!!” He snapped at you, about to go off again when he noticed the bemused expression on your face. “What the fuck, dumbass?”

You tilted your head in confusion. “Huh?”

“Why the hell aren’t you bothered at all?” He questioned, genuinely flabbergasted. 

Eyes clearing in understanding, you traced the back of his hand with your fingers. “Because it doesn’t bother me.”

At the sight of Bakugou opening his mouth, you hurried out, “I mean, do you really think someone like that gets to cut me down? Her words don’t mean anything to me.”

You hesitated and opened yourself a little bit, trusting him not to take advantage of your weakness because while her words stung in the moment, it was nothing your heart couldn’t come back from. But…

“If you were to say them, it would hurt a lot more, but I don’t think you would— eep!!”

You yelped as he dragged you over to his seat, yanking at the seatbelt that got in the way, but pulled you to his chest once he released the safety clip.

“Never.” He breathed against your hair, pressing a kiss to the crown of your head. “I would fucking never.”

You closed your eyes. “I know.”

There, in his car, you two stayed in a tight embrace under the stars until you it got late enough that you insisted you should go back and at least spend the rest of the time with your friends, which, if their sleeping schedules hadn’t changed since college, there was a good chance almost all of them would still be up.

So Bakugou drove you both back, his heart a little more at ease after he got to hold you close and be alone with you. 

That was all he wanted.

Well… He thought to himself as he unconsciously brushed his left hand over the small velvet box that had been hastily stuffed in his pocket the second he grabbed it from his room.

That and one other thing.

[angry-geese]

Lemon Boy

Risotto Nero x Reader

Warnings: sfw. a little angsty but not really, lots of fluff. Kinda suggestive (if you squint???) Fem!reader

Notes: this is a sequel to two previous posts of mine. This is just a fluff drabble where the reader gets pregnant with Risotto's child

part one- nsfw, part two- sfw

It would take him another year to admit he wanted a second one.

By then he had adjusted to your normal. You got a raise at work, allowing him to stay home. Civilian life wasn't for him. Becoming a stay-at-home dad was much easier than trying to blend in with society, he found. While he felt guilty for leaving you to deal with all the bills, you told him not to worry about it. He kept the house tidy, made sure everyone was fed, and took Maria to school and her sports practices. She was turning out to be quite the little athlete. She almost had too much energy for him. He often found it hard to keep up. You weren't *not* trying for another. You weren't going out of your way for it, but if it happened; it happened.

The other stay-at-home mothers and housewives in your neighborhood would practically adopt Risotto. He was accepted into their groups- and subsequently their gossip- with open arms. They would protect him if police ever bothered him, and in return he became the neighborhood's handyman. Strangely enough, this was where he fit in best.

He couldn't keep his hands off of you.

It wasn't in a sexual way- though that was certainly the case too- Risotto always had to have an arm around you. He constantly needed his hands laced over your stomach, or his body pressing into yours from behind. At times his presence was suffocating, but you knew this was coming from a good place. It was force of habit. You getting pregnant only made him look over his shoulder more. Not many people would touch you before- at times you were frightening- but Risotto only added to that. Nobody in the PTA wanted to fuck with either of you. If he wasn't protective enough of you before, he certainly was now. Anyone who so much as looked at you the wrong way got a death stare. He'd wrap you up in his arms when people would try to touch your belly in public, not letting them near you. Sometimes he found himself spiraling into his old habits as he plotted the death of people who pissed you off. You wouldn't notice that creepy customer at your job going missing, would you?

You would go on maternity leave about a month or so before your due date. Being on your feet all day was getting nearly impossible as your walk became more of a waddle. Pregnancy to you wasn't some magical thing everyone your mother's age chalked it up to be. You were nauseous 90% of the time. You were constantly bloated and sick feeling, with spider veins popping up on your legs. If your second pregnancy had been your first, Maria would be an only child. Risotto never minded. He still found it hard to believe that there was something in there. And it was his. He looked at you like you were the most precious thing in the world. Because to him you were.

Maria would curl up next to you and not quite understand why your stomach would sometimes kick her. The other one wasn't even born yet and they're already fighting. You know you won't have a nice, quiet house for much longer. And the two of you are fine with that. If your youngest is anything like their sister, you'll have your hands full. Risotto's headstrong nature with your stubbornness is a deadly combination.

But he wants a big family and the loud house that comes with it.

Every night he has to have his arms around you or else he can't sleep; even as the summer months arrive, and it becomes far too hot to cuddle. You've learned to stop scooting away since he'll always pull you back to him. Every night he would pull you into his arms, running his hands over the growing bump of your stomach.

One night he pulls you extra close. The nightmares haven't stopped, he's only quit reacting to them. Waking up next to you grounds him in reality. He distracts himself with housework, or decorating the nursery. You settled on a shade of lilac for the walls. In the crib- which was painted a pale blue- was filled with strange stuffed toys. There was a cat, a fish, an ice gremlin, and some purple monster with a lot of eyes. "I'm only giving them options" you'd say. An old, ornate mirror pulled from your old home was hung up. It was a wedding gift from Prosciutto, and likely the most expensive thing you owned at the time. "They'd need one when they're older" you'd reason.

You can't seem to sleep either. Risotto rolls over in bed to face you. Instinctively you brush the stray hairs out of his face.

"Have any names picked out?" He asks.

Though you had planned this long before he even agreed to it, names weren't something you'd given much thought.

"I do. I know it's really strange to name them after food but," you don't even have to finish the sentence for him to know where you're going with this, "how about Prosciutto, or Pesci? Or Ghiacco, Melone..."

Formaggio, Illuso, Sorbet, Gelato...

He only nods. He'd never admit it, but your old squad was his family. Back then, neither of you would dare to say such a thing. At the time they were only strangers forced into the same fate. Your teammates were never meant to be family. Losing them sent him spiraling into a pit he's still recovering from. You go on in their memory because they would bully the hell out of you for stopping to feel sorry for yourself. If they were still alive, your children would be the two most well protected kids on earth. They'd have eight uncles all willing to kill for them.

"What if they're a girl?" He asks.

"It's a boy."

The way you say it with such certainty makes him laugh, the noise coming from deep in his chest. He nuzzles into the crook of your neck.

While you were waiting until they were born to find out the gender, you had the sneaking suspicion they were going to be a boy. Maybe your mother pointed out that one of your breasts hung lower than the other- while absolutely uncalled for- meant they were a boy.

Eventually you would settle on what Risotto's name was before he joined Passione: Dante. Nobody called him that- not even you. Just as he rarely called you by your birth name. He wouldn't even speak it, writing it down for you when asked. That was not who either of you were anymore. The old versions of you died when you were assigned to the hitman team.

You would go into labor a week early. To no one's surprise, you would have a son. A healthy- albeit small- boy with a tuft of silver hair. The moment you're allowed to, you pass him off to his father. It's clear Risotto has no clue what he's doing, but he looks at your son like he's the most precious thing in the world. He's so tiny compared to him. He kind of looks like an old man... But Risotto won't tell you that.

You'd be released from the hospital a few days later.

Sometimes you wonder if your children will grow up to be stand users. They have to be- both their parents are. You had little understanding of how- or why- you had a stand, only gaining yours after being shot with a bow of all things. It was sort of a promise you made to yourself to never use yours. You were keeping yourself out of trouble, as tempting as it was to start it.

You hadn't seen Metallica in years. You missed the days when you could embarrass Risotto by calling them cute.

Dante wasn't a quiet child. For seemingly no reason, he would scream until he exhausted himself. Only then would he sleep. Lucky for you, Maria could sleep through anything, so she wasn't bothered by him. You brought him to doctors but they would all tell you this was normal. He was eating, gaining weight, and growing as a child should. There was nothing they could do for you.

Most nights Risotto would get up for the baby. He told you it was so you'd heal faster, and that if Dante needed to eat he'd bring him to you. But you didn't buy it. Risotto was still over the moon that something so little was his. Speaking from experience, he wouldn't be tiny for very long. Maria was nearly able to look you in the eye and that is far too much power for a six-year-old to have. You weren't even that short, she was tall; it didn't help that your husband was nearly a foot taller than you.

There's enough light in the room to make out Risotto's large figure and the bundle of blankets in his arms. Metallica's writhing form is visible in the reflection of Dante's eyes. His pudgy hand outstretched, grabbing onto the Metallica beans, trying to catch them.

Not only was your child loud, but he was a stand user too. And you had the sneaking suspicion he wasn't the only one.

Good luck. You're going to have your hands full.

[hellisoursalvation]

LOST TO THE THUNDER:

— Hours have the habit of dragging into days, which drag into months. Dirt roads begin to look the same after a while, as does the motels. The caves to camp in become home away from home, but his true home is with her. Thunder cracked across the sky once more, shaking the ground beneath the man and his companion. It was their 5th month in their year long training journey. Lately, they didn’t know where they were going, only that they were still walking.

— “Natsu?” The Exceed spoke up, his voice soft from the sling his adoptive father had made out of his scarf. “I don’t see anywhere to camp out for the night, so where are we going?”

— The Dragon Slayer had been asking himself that question for a while now. He vaguely remembered how he ended up in the countryside, with a storm so chaotic it reminded him of the guild. Natsu clicked his tongue. He couldn’t worry Happy, not when he was cold and miserable. His eyes strained through the rain, pushing his hair back with his hand. They’d seen nothing for a while, only fields. All corn, from what Natsu could gather from the smells. As much as he hated to admit it, but he should’ve come up with a plan first.

— “Hey! Boy!”

— He spun on his heel, his arm holding Happy tighter to his chest as he did. His free arm sparked, readying itself, but it died as his sights were set on the keeper of the voice - an old woman. “Oh, hello ma’am,” Natsu greeted, scratching his neck. “I thought you were an enemy, sorry.”

— The woman hummed, nodding. Her gray hairs shook at her action. “My husband was the same way, though he was not a wizard.” She stepped forward and stuck her umbrella out so they both stood under, “I am Marcella, pleasure to meet you.” Marcella bumped his shoulder with a wrinkly smile.

— “I’m Natsu and this-“ he motioned to the sneezing cat. “Is Happy.”

— Marcella frowned as Happy sneezed once more, “You boys need a good meal, come along.” She linked her arm around his free one and began her walk home, never easing up her pace for him.

— He wondered if this was how Lucy felt when he did such things.

— Marcella’s home was nothing of what you expected of someone her age. The walls were painted painted bright, lime green with pictures and paintings hanging down them. Her kitchen cabinets was painted pink and she dished out soup in bowls that were shaped like animal faces. Utensils were rainbow colored, with stars on the darkest part. It was odd, but it seemed right.

— “Thank you, Marcella!” Happy crowed as he sat in a high chair, a bowl of hot soup in front of him. She pulled it out before either of the boys could protest, saying that such a little thing deserved a nice seat. So Marcella fluffed a daisy shaped pillow and set in in the seat, than Happy, than a cow patterned blanket. He was quite a sight to see.

— Lucy’s laughter filled his mind as he poked around at his soup, picking up some before letting it spill back into the bowl. He should’ve brought her with, but she has the guild, she’d be okay. Natsu would come home soon, and she’d tell him all about her adventures with the others. He just had to remember why he was doing this - to protect the ones he loved, and that included her. “Something wrong with my soup, son?” Marcella’s voice cut through, sitting beside him. Her hair was wrapped into curlers and she wore teddy bear patterned PJs.

— “No, nothing is the matter with it, I’m just lost in thought. Sorry.” Natsu shrugged, running his tongue over his teeth.

— Marcella hummed, “No, you miss somebody.” His eyebrows furrowed as he glanced at her. How did she know that? She leaned on her palm as she continued, “I had that same look after my husband died, never could wipe it off my face. So who is it that you miss?”

— He glanced towards Happy - who paid no mind. The Exceed was flying over to the pot, spooning himself more food. Natsu sighed, turning back, “It’s my dad. I found him after all these years when he just, dies. I had so many questions, but I can’t ask them now.” He sniffed, water filling his eyes. “Jeez, I don’t even know why I’m telling you this.”

— “You’re probably just tired, sugar,” her thumb wiped at his tears. “How about you boys get some sleep?” Marcella asked, looking between Happy and him. Happy slurped his last noodle up before flying off into the living room. Natsu stood, but Marcella caught his wrist, “who’s the girl?”

— Natsu scoffed, “What?” Was she a mind reader? Did he need a tin hat? Is he safe here? Is she reading his mind right now? Oh lord, what if she was-

— “I know what it looks like when men think about their girls,” she exclaimed, dropping his hand and collecting the bowls. “I grew up with three sons, each of them held the same expression as their friends when they missed their girls.” clink. The bowls sat in the sink as she spun back around, leaning against the island. “So, who is she?”

— “She’s not mine. She’s my friend, not an object.”

— A belly laugh fell from her lips as she smiled. “My husband used to tell his friends the same thing before he asked me out. God rest his soul,” she made a cross. “She have a name?”

— “Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia.” He began, the corner of his lips tugging up as he said her name. The only time it fell from his lips was in the name as he called out to her after a nightmare, but now, her name sat in sugar on his lips. “We met in Hargeon and she told me how she always wanted to go to Fairy Tail,” he shrugged his jacket down to show his mark. “It’s my guild, my home. So, after I helped her save these girls, I took her home with me.” Marcella’s eyes never trained off his eyes as he spoke. The irises dilated as soon as he said her name, and she had her answer.

— “Where is she?”

— “At home,” he sighed. “I left to get stronger, to protect the ones I love.”

— She spoke with a laugh, “To protect her?”

— He just nodded. “I haven’t seen her in 5 months and all I want to do is talk to her. I want to tell her about my days, my training, the things I have seen, everything - but I can’t.” He dropped back down in the chair. Why is he telling her all of this? Natsu rubbed at his tired eyes. “I can’t go home yet.”

— A drawer opened and closed quickly before Marcella made her way to the table. A notebook landed in front of him. “Write to her,” he just stared at she spoke. “I do it for my husband. I go to his grave sometimes and read it to him. Maybe it will bring you some peace.”

— He reached for it with his signature grin, “Thank you, Marcella.”

AHHH. FIRST THING I WROTE POSTED ON TUMBLR. I wrote this in like, 20 minutes so bare with me here guys. Hope you like it though! 💜

[peterxwade24]

"Little brother?"

For Maribat March 2021 day 17 Prompt Court of Owls.

For Maribat March 2021 day 18 Prompt Protect.

I hope you all like this monstrosity of a fic.

Ever since their parents died, Morjianna knew the Court of Owls would be after her little brother, because he is who they call the Gray Son. So, what does she do? Obviously she, with the help of Alfred Pennyworth and a street kid (that she ended up bringing back to Bruce's with her) named Jason Todd, faked not only her own death but also her little brother's in order to keep him safe. While she had been her father’s only daughter, Dick was her parents’ only child together and as such meant more to the Court of Owls and she had promised her Tata and her Ama that she would keep him safe even if it meant her own life was forfeited in the process.

Alfred Pennyworth had had new identities drawn up for them both, making sure to keep their relationship as siblings intact. Jason Todd supplied the names of a dead couple, Omar and Nadia Bitar, who were about the right age to have two children and had no living relations in the states. The two had lived a quiet life and had kept out of the public eye, meaning no one knew anything about them.

Morjianna and Richard became Harriet Marie and Dexter John Bitar, with their dark complexions and dark hair they could pass as Egyptian. She began wearing her hair in very tight braids to achieve whimsically wavy hair to help her fit into the role she was playing now. She spent the night researching all she could in Mr. Wayne’s library, enlisting the help of Jason Todd while her baby brother was preoccupied with helping Alfred Pennyworth in the kitchen.

Morjianna had taken to calling her baby brother Dex, while he called her Marie, and had asked Jason to call her Harriet or Harri. Richard had taken to being called Dexter like a fish to water, and had taken to calling his big sister Marie because Harriet was just too weird for him to call her. The siblings had quickly accepted Jason into their circle, knowing that they owed him more than they could ever repay him.

Alfred had taken to helping the three, giving them advice when they needed it. He had adopted the role of guardian and grandfather in a single breath when he saw the three looking at him with love in their eyes.

---

Harriet Marie, which is how she signed all of her assignments, sat in the Bat Cave idly watching the cameras when a flash of yellow eyes appeared in one of the cameras between Robinson Park and the Iceberg Lounge.

“Little Blue, Little Red. Parliament incoming. Between Toxicodendron and the Polar Ice Caps. You’re located closer to Toxicodendron than the Polar Ice Caps, please get there and alert me when you’ve arrived.”

Harriet Marie pulled on her domino mask before standing up. She pressed a kiss to Alfred’s cheek before going over to her locker and pulling out her suit. She muted her comm to let Alfred know what she was planning. “I’ve got to go and intercept some owls. Keep an eye on Dad, Dex and Jay for me.”

Harriet Marie pulled on her suit, a black suit with a blue bird across her chest with red finger stripes on either arm and a purple section where the blue and red mixed, before grabbing a pair of escrima sticks and their sheath. She slid the sheath on and shimmied until it was comfortable before sliding the escrima sticks into place. She quickly braided her hair back to keep it out of her face before unmuting her comm. “Kingfisher is heading out for the night.”

“Be careful.” The Bat’s tone was gruff but full of concern.

“Always.” Kingfisher chirped back with a smile on her face. She walked over to the rest of the vehicles stored in the Cave and threw her leg over a blacked out Dodge Tomahawk affectionately named Black Beauty. She threw a smile at Agent A before turning on the bike and zipping out of the Cave.

---

Marnie Kanté woke up one day and knew only that she had a little brother. She had woken up in a hospital in Nice, France with no memories of her life before that moment but she had a hand held in her hand. The hand was rough in the way that a programmer’s is but still soft in all of the ways that mattered, and it reminded her so much of her little brother’s (or was it brothers’) that those were the first words she spoke in that hospital room. “Little brother?”

She heard a gasp before a voice shouted for someone, she wasn’t sure who, and suddenly there was a swarm of people around her.

Marnie was grateful for the boy who held her hand, and for the boy’s parents. They had taken her in after she’d been released from the hospital with no memories of before she woke up. The Kantés had given her a family when she couldn’t remember her own and had treated her like their own. However, shortly after Marnie had officially been welcomed into the family, Mr. and Mrs. Kanté started fighting every night, and not too long after that they got a divorce and their family of four was a family of three again.

Marnie currently attended a middle school, they called it collège in France, in the same class as her little brother Max. Their main teacher was kind but she looked down on Marnie because Marnie wouldn’t bow down to the resident Queen Bee.

Marnie and Max were so focused on their work that they barely noticed when Mlle. Bustier handed out permission slips. The siblings exchanged a look before Max leaned over their desk to nudge Kim to ask him what it was about. “Hey, Kim, what’s this about?”

“We need parental permission to go on a field trip. Chloé’s Dad’s footing the bill because Chloé wants to go so we’re going.” Kim responded while stuffing the sheet into his bag.

“Where are we going?” Max asked, confused as to why they needed permission to go on a fieldtrip. All of their previous field trips they’d just stuck around France.

“Somewhere in America. I think it’s on the East Coast.” Kim shrugged dismissively and looked back to the front of the room, signalling the end of the conversation.

---

Marnie clutched Max’s hand tightly in her own, her bag in her other hand, as they followed the rest of their class to the hotel they’d be staying in while they were in Gotham. Marnie was glancing around anxiously, although some part of her deep inside was vibrating with happiness, as they walked across the parking lot.

“We’re okay Mar.” Max whispered as he squeezed her hand. “I’m right here next to you.”

Marnie nodded and let out a deep breath. “Thanks, Little Brother.”

The two walked into the hotel lobby and saw missing child posters. Plastered on the wall behind the reception desk were missing child posters, some new and some old although there was one that drew their attention. It was of a girl, named Harriet Marie Bitar, and the photo looked like it could be of Marnie, but the Kanté siblings knew that there were seven other people walking around with their faces at any given moment in time. Besides, Marnie had three horizontal scars across her throat and three nearly identical scars hiding within her mess of hair and the girl in the picture didn’t have them.

It totally didn’t mean anything, did it?

---

The Kanté siblings were standing in the middle of their class in the lobby of Wayne Enterprises when their tour guides appeared out of seemingly nowhere. Their tour guides were a pair of boys who couldn’t have been any older than thirteen and eleven with black hair and blue eyes. However, the older boy had darker tan skin and something in Marnie longed to wrap her arms around the boy.

While Marnie was looking at the boys and taking them in, they were taking her in in return. She just looked so similar to their big sister but they knew that the chances that she was Harriet Marie were slim.

Max could tell something was going to happen in Gotham but he wasn’t sure he wanted it to happen.

---

The tour guides had just led the class into the cafeteria and they had all just sat down to lunch when Marnie was suddenly back on her feet. She put herself between her little brother and the danger. Without Marnie knowing how, she caught a bolt which had shattered a nearby window and had alerted the rest of the staff to the danger. Her brown eyes hardened into an expression that Marnie had never worn before.

Their tour guides, brothers named Dexter and Jason, had disappeared the instant the bolt shattered the window, presumably to go and alert Mr. Wayne.

Masked vigilantes crashed through the window moments after two individuals with yellow eyes crashed through.

Marnie dropped the bolt she was still holding and fell to her knees at the sight of them although all she could say was “those dumb owls.” Marnie turned to look at Max, at her Little Brother, and smiled. “You wanna do me a favour and not tell Mom what I’m about to do?”

“Anything for you Mar.” Max had always looked up to his big sister and knew that what she was about to do was important.

Marnie nodded and turned back to the quartet fighting. She grinned a steely grin and let out a whistle. “Little Blue. Little Red. Go get the Bat. Those two are mine.” Marnie seemed to shake out of her skin and the two masked vigilantes knew they were looking at their big sister as she stood up. The two vigilantes nodded and distracted the Owls long enough for their big sister, their Marie, to sneak up behind them and take over.

Bluebird sent Robin to fetch the Bat, his eyes stuck on his sister. He had never stopped searching for her, not since she hadn’t responded after he’d gotten Jason and himself safely into the park. Bluebird kept his eyes on the fight, watching his big sister as she efficiently knocked out the Owls. He could barely stop the snarl from appearing on his face as he watched another boy wrap his big sister in his arms.

---

Harriet Marie looked up at the man who’d taken her in after her parents were killed, at the man who was her dad, and felt the tears well up in her eyes. “Dad.”

“Harri.” Bruce looked at his daughter and opened his arms.

Harriet Marie rushed into his arms and wrapped her arms around him. “I’m so sorry that I didn’t listen to you.”

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t protect you.” Bruce whispered it into his daughter’s hair.

Max looked at his big sister and was happy that she had found her family but was also sad because now she wouldn’t need him any more.

“Dad,” Harriet Marie pulled away from his chest and smiled at him, “you need to meet someone.” Harriet Marie looked at Max and motioned him over. “Dad. You need to marry his, our Mom, so that I don’t lose another little brother.”

Bruce laughed and shook his head. “You won’t lose him. I promise.”

---

Harriet Marnie, Dexter John, Jason, and Max watched as their parents got married. Harriet Marnie and Max stood in as their mom’s Maids of Honour while Dexter John and Jason stood in as their dad’s Best Men. They were overjoyed because instead of destroying one family to build another back up, they were creating something entirely new.

Harriet Marnie would always be thankful for her training coming in to protect her little brothers, but she would never forgive the Court of Owls for what they did, and the moment Max had the proper training under his belt she would do what had to be done to protect not only her little brothers but also her family.

[snowe-zolynn-rogers]

Pairings: None

Word Count: 1,702 Words

Summary: Training and Todoroki siblings.

Warnings: Abuse Mention, Death Mention, let me know if I should tag anything else.

Notes: Touya’s clothes include links to what they look like.

Hair Dye Buddies: Chapter 5

"Where are we headed? The teacher dorms?" Touya asked.

"They're right over there." Shoto told him, showing him the building inside the gates. "But we're not going there. Mr. Yamada is over in the 1-C dorms right now, talking to Shinsou, another friend of mine through Midoriya, I guess. We're gonna go bother him and ask if you can train."

Shoto led Touya along after him into the 1-C dorms and was instantly greeted with exclamations of a new student from about half the populous. Touya was happy he still had a mask on his wrist because he heard someone coughing. He quickly put it on his face as he hid behind Shoto.

"No, this is my brother. Where's Present Mic? Still in Shinsou's room or down here?" Shoto asked the tall one with the big chin.

"Mr. Yamada is up in that weirdo's room. Is your brother even allowed on campus?"

Shoto brushed past him, taking Touya's wrist in hand and pulling him along to stay closeby so he wouldn't get bothered by the Gen Ed students who had bombarded them at the door. Touya got led up to the fifth floor and the fourth room on the boy's side before Shoto knocked on the door.

"S'up, little listeners?" Present Mic asked as he opened the door to reveal who Touya was assuming was Shinsou sitting on the bed looking rather tired.

"Is this a bad time?" Shoto asked.

"Not at all, me and Shinsou here were just talking about something but we were just finishing up since Shinsou needs to get his sleep in." Mr. Yamada told them. He was loud and energetic and bubbly, Touya was reminded of Fuyumi.

"Mr. Aizawa said we'd need someone to watch over Touya if he were to train his quirk. and Mr. Aizawa feel asleep in the 1-A commons. I'm sure that Sero's put whipped cream in his hand by now. But Touya needs a teacher to watch him and you're the only one who I knew where you were." Shoto told him.

"Alright, I'll be there just gimme a few minutes, little listeners!" Present Mic beamed and closed the door over. The pseudo-twins stood down the hall by the stairs and waited about ten minutes for Shinsou and him to finish up and hopefully Shinsou was falling or already asleep. He'd looked like he'd need it.

Shoto led Touya back through the students downstairs but this time, Mr. Yamada was leading them through. They began the twenty minute trek to Gym Gamma and they began there.

"Alright, kid, show us what you've got." The teacher told him and he unleashed a blizzard in the building they were in, icing the walls and floor with its intensity before he stopped it of his own will, something he'd never have achieved with his old fire. "That's a mighty strong blizzard you got there, kiddo." Yamada told him.

"Thanks." Touya mumbled.

"Do you have any special moves yet? Yamada asked.

"No, but I guess I could work on it?" And thus began trying for hours until he came up with a concentrated stream of snow flurries being like a firework, his snow acting as a smokescreen, and he learned how to create instant-made snowballs.

"You did great, little listener! I'm proud of you!" Yamada exclaimed.

"Thank you." He mumbled as Shoto and him went back to the dorms and Mr. Yamada

"Do you wanna take a shower, Touya?" Shoto asked.

"Sure."

"If you didn't pick up anything for yourself, I have some soaps in there. Most are for dry skin, but that's probably a plus with how much your fire used to give you burns. The whole towel closet is communal so you don't need to worry about grabbing the wrong one." Shoto told him as they got into the dorms.

"Yeah, thanks, Sho." Touya smiled.

"The twins are bonding!" Yaoyorozu looked pleased.

"Hi, Momo." Shoto greeted them.

"Hi, Momo." Touya parroted.

"Did you have fun training, Touya?" She asked.

"Yeah, I came up with a few things I can do besides just making a blizzard. It feels like this quirk was actually made for me." He proudly announced.

"That's great, Touya. I'm happy you're advancing quickly!" Momo bubbled with energy and smiles. Touya smiled back a bit, her energy was unmatchable, though.

"Hey there, Touya." Came Aizawa from the living room.

"Hi, Mr. Aizawa." He muttered.

"Us teachers had a meeting about the permanence of your deaging and Nezu has your adoption papers going through tonight on a UA direct order. All you need to do is sign them since you're technically a legal age and you'll legally be my son come tomorrow morning." Aizawa handed him a paper on a board.

"Okay." Touya read it over briefly before he signed on the line for his name to be.

"Congratulations, you're my son as of dawn tomorrow. Welcome to the family, we have more cats than humans." Aizawa told him, patting his head and Touya thought he'd get hit for a split second and jolted a the touch.

"Sorry." He muttered. "Didn't mean to react like that."

"You can't help engrained habits and I don't get offended by old habits. They die hard, I get it." Aizawa told him. "Alright, get a shower, you trained with Hizashi, I heard."

Flopping on his bed after his shower felt like heaven. Touya wasn't sure that wasn't what this was, actually. No Endeavor, no abuse, he had his brother, friends, a new parent even. He felt like he was home as he fell asleep in the cloud of a bed, cuddling a pillow close.

He heard but didn't react when Midoriya and Bakugou had their inevitable argument or Aizawa screaming at them to both shut up. He was actually kind of happy to have been deaged. Whatever life he had, he didn't care what it was, couldn't have been better than this new second chance at life.

The next morning was a weekend. Naturally, Aizawa invited Fuyumi and Natsuo over to speak on the matter of Touya's deaging. As soon as Natsuo walked into the meeting room and saw Touya, he was bawling and Fuyumi gasped and stood still. Shoto had to lead her in all the way to close the door.

"Touya, you're alive." Fuyumi whispered.

"Hi, guys." He awkwardly greeted them.

"As you can see we have some serious business to discuss. Please, sit." Aizawa told them. Both older siblings sat down in the chairs around the table.

"How is he alive!?" Natsuo asked loudly, causing the other three siblings to jump.

"Touya was found by Kirishima here the night before last." Aizawa gestured to Kirishima sitting next to him. "Touya has been permanently deaged five years for the last month. And his quirk was changed by the man Kirishima found harassing him outside a convenience store." Aizawa told them.

"He was on the streets two weeks and that man, Matsuda Ryuu, housed him for two weeks after." Aizawa told them. "Touya was temporarily enrolled into UA's hero course so I could keep an eye on him, however his enrollment will be come permanent if that's what he wants. I've legally adopted him since he's stated, at this age, your father threw him out onto the streets to begin with."

"Touya is staying in the 1-A dorms and I trust neither of you will have trouble not telling your father of this development until we figure out how to handle the situation of your father possibly trying to take custody back." Aizawa looked at Natsuo and Fuyumi expectantly.

"Of course not!" Fuyumi exclaimed.

"I don't speak to that piece of shit." Natsuo told him.

"I'll likely tell him once I establish full custody and fully move him into both my house and the dorms. Get him set up, establish communication lines to me and my partner, Hizashi." Aizawa told them.

"You'll keep him safe?" Was all Fuyumi asked.

"Of course. I'm his new parent and guardian, of course I'll keep him safe."

"Alright. Then, I don't see a problem." Natsuo told Aizawa and he looked over Shoto and Touya. "You know, I always thought you two looked like twins." Natsuo told them abruptly.

"Alright, if everyone's good with this, you two have full admission to the campus for the day so you can spend time with Touya and Shoto. Touya has yet to set up anything in his room, so hopefully you two can help him with that." Aizawa told them.

And, with that, the four siblings were off to the dorms and ended up in Touya's room, Natsuo laughing when he saw the clothing Touya had.

"You're still our emo brother, Touya, good to know." Natsuo smiled brightly.

"Yeah. Kirishima's friends took me out for that." Kirishima slung his arm around Touya's shoulders.

"Yeah, his style's a lot like Bakugou so a lot of that stuff is things we picked out for him." Kirishima told them. "This shirt is actually one Kaminari, our local pikachu, picked out for him. Speaking of, I should probably stop him from trying to get his toast out with a fork for the fifth time this week." Touya let them look at the black shirt with chains he was wearing as Kirishima saw himself out.

"I'm glad to see you never changed." Fuyumi beamed.

"I never aged, guys, of course I didn't change. I'm an angsty teenager in the prime of my quarter-life crisis." Touya reminded them.

"You know what I mean." Fuyumi smiled brightly as she hugged him close, she was sniffling? Was she crying? Touya tried to look up but his head was buried in her neck in a way he could barely move it. "I missed you so much." She whispered.

"I mean, I missed you guys too, for the month I remember at least." Touya admitted.

"We thought you died, Touya." Natsuo joined Fuyumi. Shoto awkwardly hugged him as well.

"You three will make me cry and then Mina will be mad about my makeup getting messed up again." Touya let his siblings tackle him into a cuddle pile on the bed. He felt safe having people, his siblings no less, holding him so close.

Taglist: @lgbtforeverything @rin-tanaka @everythingisstardust

[ofstarsandfireflies]

This one hit a little too close to home for me.

It’s such an enchanting and beautiful story, one I haven’t been able to get out of my head these past few months.

It’s helped me a lot.

He’d been too young when he’d lost his parents, and had barely known nor remembered the carers who had taken him in before they had passed on too.

Now he had been living with his Aunt for eleven years of his life, and had known she had only done so because she was getting paid to keep him for three.

She didn’t really want him.

And how could he blame her?

Everyone who had ever wanted him had died.

Aunt May was kind, energetic, the kind of person he would usually get along great with, had gotten along great with her until he’d found that letter and cheque.

And his mood had changed.

His personality.

She just thought it was a teenage thing.

But when Peter became far too quiet to the point he wouldn’t even talk to her, she decided to take action, and sent Peter to live with her friend, Virginia Potts, thinking a change of scenery was just the thing to perk her nephew back up again.

Peter was very formal when speaking with Miss Potts, but she insisted he call her Pepper, like all of her friends used to.

Peter just nodded, feeling a little awkward and wanting to get away and explore his environment.

Pepper didn’t mind his awkwardness at all, and thought it was a good idea for him to get used to the country.

It was while he was exploring, he came across a beautifully built mansion.

He could have sworn he’d seen this place before, it looked so familiar to him.

But when he went to see if anyone lived there at all, he found the rooms empty, and what little remained in the place covered by sheets and dust.

By the time he had given up trying to find a way into the home, the day had become night and he had to find his way back to Pepper’s house.

He tried asking her about the mansion, but she just got a sad look on her face and told him she didn’t want to talk about it, which just made him all the more curious.

His curiosity must have carried over in his sleep because his dreams were haunted by that place, and by a boy who apparently lived there.

It was weirder still when Peter went to check on the mansion again a few nights later and found the boy he had dreamed of was now living in it.

Peter couldn’t believe it. It was almost like magic.

He’d never seen this boy in his life, yet he’d somehow conjured him into existence.

And when the boy introduced himself as Stephen, Peter couldn’t explain how he’d known that to be his name before he’d even spoken it.

They became fast friends, a friend unlike anyone Peter had ever known, and they met every night to talk and and play together.

And then one night, there was a party at the house.

Peter felt out of place amongst the glamorous guests.

But they all paled in comparison when a young man asked Stephen to dance.

They looked happy together, Stephen’s smile as wide as he’d ever seen it.

That’s when Stephen introduced Tony Stark to him as his friend, and Peter could tell Tony meant a great deal more to him than just a friend.

Peter was just a friend.

There was something between those two that he caught a glimpse of whenever Tony would look at Stephen when he wasn’t watching, or in the way Stephen’s voice became that much softer around him.

He knew Stephen had a special place in Tony’s heart, and Tony in Stephen’s.

And Peter felt privileged just to see it.

But it was the day after the party when Peter ran back to the house to see his friend that he found it exactly as the first time he had come across it.

Empty and dusty, as if no living soul had disturbed it for years.

He tried again everyday and night for a week, but he was greeted every time with nothing.

Had he imagined it all?

Was he so desperate for company he’d created these characters who loved one another so wholly, as he had never been?

No one cared about him, or loved him enough to stay with him.

His parents hadn’t stayed, his first carers hadn’t stayed, and now May had sent him away because she didn’t want to stay either.

That’s why he was here.

He’d live with Pepper until she grew sick of him and passed him off to the next unlucky soul who wouldn’t want him.

And then, almost a month from the night of the party, he finally saw Stephen and Tony again.

Although, this time, Stephen seemed a little confused as to who Peter was.

He kept calling him Tony, and while Peter did think they looked somewhat alike and would have brushed it off as a compliment, he had to keep reminding Stephen that he was Peter.

Stephen would look at him and either keep calling him Tony or snap out of it only to forget all over again.

He never called Tony by any other name than his own, which Peter found rather odd.

But worst of all was when Stephen and Tony wandered together and they both refused to answer Peter’s calls to them.

Anything could happen to them, but the more he ran about looking for them, calling for them only to be met with silence...it was like he’d been abandoned all over again.

He was hurt, angry and upset with himself for letting someone close enough to hurt him again.

He’d thought they were friends.

He’d thought they wouldn’t abandon him like everyone else.

He wouldn’t forgive them, no matter what.

It was that night he dreamed of that mansion again, Stephen at the window calling out to him to hear his words and forgive him for leaving him.

How he hadn’t wanted to leave him.

But now he had to say goodbye.

And all he wanted from Peter was his forgiveness before he was pulled away again.

And Peter forgave him.

He forgave them both.

Because he loved them.

The next day, as Peter was packing his bags, Pepper called him down to the living room.

She asked him why she had heard him calling out the names of Tony and Stephen last night as if expecting them to answer.

Peter didn’t know how to explain he’d befriended two people who didn’t exist, but before he could come up with an excuse, he noticed how Pepper was trying to hold back her tears as she handed him a photograph, and finally told him about the mansion and it’s previous occupants.

Two men, a happy couple and dear friends of hers.

She told him how Tony had bought the house Stephen had been raised in.

She told him how they had decided to adopt a young boy and raise him together.

And she told him how happy they had all been right up until Tony’s passing, and how Stephen hadn’t been able to cope without him.

Stephen had tried to raise the boy on his own, but he later died of a broken heart, leaving the young child to be taken in by May.

Pepper looked over at Peter, who didn’t seem upset at all.

He looked calm, happy, as he gazed down at the photograph of the two men and his toddler self.

He’d forgotten all about them and the small amount of time they’d all had together.

They had taken him in.

They hadn’t meant to leave him, they had loved him.

He asked Pepper if he could have the photo and she obliged.

He’d frame it when he got back home to remind himself that he wasn’t as unwanted as he’d thought he was.

Quotes-

“Are you okay?”

“Um, yeah...good...are you...Are you real?”

“Wait! Shh! Let’s not have anyone hear us.”

“In my dreams, I saw a girl just like you.”

“Dreams? Hm.”

Peter meeting Stephen for the first time.

“And who was he?”

“Who was who?”

“The one I saw you dancing with.”

“Ah! Kazuhiko? He’s an old friend of mine.”

Peter knows better than that.

“Are you okay, Marnie?”

“Yes, I’m okay. I’ll be fine as long as I’m with you. Kazuhiko.”

“Huh? I...um...”

Stephen starting to fade.

“Oh, Anna, forgive me. Anna, I cannot stay here any longer. I have to say goodbye to you. So please, Anna, I need to hear that you forgive me. Please forgive me....Please Anna..”

“Of course I forgive you Marnie! I love you. I love you! And I won’t ever forget you!”

Stephen’s farewell.

What We Leave Behind

Peter befriends two boys the same age as him, only to discover they are far more important to him than he realises.

January, February

Missed a Day? Catch up here!

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5

Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10

Day 11 Day 12 Day 13 Day 14

[possiblypeachy]

Helloo, so i loooved your last sam drake fic. & I wanted to ask you if you could write a really angsty fanfic about sam with a younger female reader, like 20 years younger (she would be 23) ? I know its a huge age gap so if that makes you uncomfortable you can leave it out but make it hella angsty still (with a fluffy ending) ? thanks in advance ❤

btw im an infp too ;)

infps rise up!! 

thank you muchly for the request! i had to make some interesting google searches for this and i always count that as a win in my book!

y’know when your brain feel like a static TV? yeah, that happened to mine while writing this so i apologise in advance if this is in no way what you asked for :( HOWEVER i do hope you enjoy nonetheless! i do love sam; he’s just a little bastard :,)

warning: this details a heavy injury + a hospital trip so please don’t read on it that makes you feel horrible or anything! also, the reader is younger than same (as requested) but it’s not a like huge aspect of the plot.

if others like this too, feel free to request something from me! 

― ❊ ―

You had always been interested in the hidden corners of the world. For a species that boasted about being the most intelligent, humans knew so achingly little about the world in which they lived. So, when you decided adventure called to you more than any kind of degree could, you put out a few ads in a couple of places and a certain Drake wrote back, enlisting your help with… artefact recovery. You hadn’t expected so many gunfights or bruises or those dreaded mosquitos but you certainly didn’t regret the job, coming away with a few pirate-branded gold coins and a 40-something-year-old partner-in-crime.

You probably could’ve set up for life with those coins alone-- lived a quiet life in a suburb somewhere, joined a dating app and found the love of your life, adopted a puppy, maybe-- but when Sam had called you a month or so after your Madagascan escapade, that same excitement in his voice that you’d become so accustomed to, you didn’t even need a few days to consider before asking him when the next flight was.

Now, to say that going on this rodeo was a good idea could’ve been a lie; you were still young and sprightly, and many would beg (if they even got the chance) for you to reconsider-- oh, but you have such a long life ahead of you, why are you taking it for granted?

Screw them. You’d seen more beautiful things in the past year than they would in their entire lives. So what if you had a couple of scars and scrapes to prove it; it simply adds character.

Well… perhaps this particular scrape would change your perspective on that.

You and Sam had encountered one of those forsaken puzzle things; a series of statues and corresponding paintings behind them. Each held a dagger and held their hand out to shake, a conniving little smirk etched into the grey stone. You had been so achingly confident of the answer-- nothing had gone wrong so far and you were feeling chipper. So, when you called out to Sam that you’d solved it before him, that cocky little quirk to your lips that made him huff out a laugh and shake his head, you didn’t expect his face to drop so quickly, eyes darting from your smile to your abdomen.

There was a sudden, burning pain, and you lurched forwards toward the statue, placing one hand on its shoulder to keep yourself upright. Everything seemed to blur when you looked down, the jewelled dagger now withdrawing from your gut covered in blood. The statue looked as if it had never moved, if you discounted the bloodied weapon it held and the small pool that had accumulated at the base of it. Your free hand, shaking, came down to try to stop yourself from bleeding, fingers almost immediately red and warm. “Sam--” His name was coughed out, the tension it caused making you cry out in pain.

He had seen your smile drop, your eyes widen, the blood bloom across your shirt. He had watched the statue withdraw, that grin it held now dangerous. Oh, fuck. This couldn’t be happening. Sam had promised everyone-- he had promised you that nothing like this would happen. Of course he had fucked it. 

He was already there. He had been there immediately but, beyond the pain and shock, you hadn’t realised. “Holy shit! (Name)?” His hand came to your shoulder and, at the contact, you nearly crumpled, as if his touch had brought you back to reality. Unfortunately, along with that came the more acute realisation of how much fucking pain you were in.

“Oh, fuck! God--” You curled over and vomited. Fuck, it hurt. The movement made you grab at your wound more, muscles trying to tense but just searing with pain instead. Lifting your arm to wipe your mouth felt so much more difficult, lethargy already settling in it seemed.

Sam muttered something to himself, tucking his shoulder under yours and using his arm to help keep you propped up. “We’ll be alright-- you’ll be alright. We just have to get back to the car and--” he cut off, swearing, at least you thought; everything sounded like it was underwater-- muffled and slowed. 

You let your head drop a little, face contorted in pain with each step you took. This wasn’t supposed to happen-- this was never supposed to happen. These trips were meant to be all beautiful vistas and treasure. You didn’t mind the occasional gunfight and, while being punched square in the nose didn’t feel great, you’d let it happen more if only to walk into more of these preserved pieces of history all over the globe. But, this? Fuck this. You should’ve been more prepared.

“Everyone said--” you groaned again and, when you were finally able to muster the strength to look at Sam, he glanced down at you with such panic in his eyes that it almost made your chest churn more than your stomach, “They said this shit would be bad for me.” The laugh you gave was painful and you regretted it immediately, stumbling over your own feet when you tried to hold your abdomen-- as if that would provide some kind of relief. It did not. 

Sam furrowed his brows, moving you slightly to make sure you didn’t slip from his grip. “No, no-- it’s alright! You still got life in you.” He tried to laugh but it didn’t sound like him and that just made you spiral a little faster. “There are still places that are out there waiting for you, okay?” Sam’s voice was rushed, like he was torn between trying to comfort you and just trying to get you both the fuck out of here. 

The light of the outside was blinding, the sun bright and unyielding overhead. Sam fumbled with the keys in his back pocket and then there were the telltale beeps of a car being unlocked. The sound made him flinch but you were beyond that, wanting more than anything to just sleep. It was hard to focus on anything else, actually.

Sam bundled you into the back seat and you groaned at the way your body had to twist and curve into the backseat. Every breath hurt; it was like reliving the injury each time you inhaled. Your hand was blood-covered now but your shaking had died down. It took too much energy to shake-- Hell, it took way too much to even lift your eyelids again after each blink. 

When the driver’s door slammed, you jolted slightly-- like someone had dragged you out of the very early stages of sleep. “Sam,” you began, voice quiet; it was as though you were in another universe entirely, “are we gonna…” you trailed off, forgetting where you were. It was strange: you felt like the pain was subsiding. It was almost… peaceful. 

The car lurched into motion and you saw him glance at you through the rearview mirror. You thought he might’ve been saying something to you, his free hand reaching back to get your attention. Black encroached on your vision and your head lolled backwards briefly but you pulled it forward again soon after as though it were attached to some kind of bungee rope. Is this what dying felt like? 

Maybe you were okay with this. It was calm-- quiet, even. It was almost like the pain had become an afterthought-- a dull thrum in your abdomen. You would miss this, though: the adventures. You would miss the fact that everything seemed more colourful in other countries. You would miss the sweet tang of sea air and how free you felt on the open sea. Despite the blur in your vision, you tried to focus on Sam and his helpless mumbling. Tears welled in your eyes. God, you would miss him too. 

The next time you blinked, your eyes stayed closed.

---

A steady beeping woke you up. That and a horrible white light beating against your eyelids. You tried to groan but even that was difficult with how… disused your voice felt. A chair creaked to your right and then--

“(Name)?” 

It was him.

“Sam…” Trying to sit up was like an instinct but a hand came to your shoulder to keep you down. It was then that you finally opened your eyes, pupils struggling against the light. “Did you find the treasure?”

He breathed out a laugh-- almost like relief. “If you count shitty hospital coffee and the most uncomfortable chair ever as treasure, then yes.”

Your brows furrowed. “Hospital?” The strain on your voice made you cough. This was a bad reflex on your part. An ache flared up again in your lower stomach, and your arm flew there to support the injury. Now, everything was starting to come back. “Ah, shit. I remember. God.”

Beside you, his lips pursed. “Yeah. Almost got bested by a statue, honey.”

You gave him a look and he smiled. Despite his words, the normalcy of it all was comforting. “I may be bed-ridden but I’ll still hit you, old man.” There it was: that smile of yours. He struggled to even feign offence with how relieved he felt at seeing it. In fact, if your eyes weren’t deceiving you, he might’ve welled up a little. “Sam?”

“No, it’s fine. I’m fine.” He rubbed his face before leaning onto your bed. “I was just worried, is all.”

He looked like he had done more than worried; the dark around his eyes told you of that. Quiet fell over you for a few moments and Sam took to rubbing your leg over the array of hospital blankets piled atop you. It was nice, comforting, and for a time you just allowed yourself to be. 

That was until he swallowed loudly-- nervously-- and withdrew his hand. “(Name), I, uh--” he cleared his throat-- not because he needed to but just so he could have a couple more seconds to think about what he was going to say, “I’ve been thinking about what happened, and I know that you’d disagree, but I’m not sure you should--”

You groaned as you shifted yourself up the bed, cutting him off. You knew what he was going to say: that you shouldn’t come on the next trip with him. That would turn into only the occasional call between the two of you, asking about his most recent escapades-- if had any spots open on the crew next time, to which he would decline. Then, there would only be texts-- a barren waste of white space between messages and timestamps that began to highlight the weeks and months between each text. “Don’t, Sam.” His brows furrowed and you pointed a finger at him, accusing. “I know what you’re going to say and I’m not going to listen to you.”

He pursed his lips briefly then pinched the bridge of his nose with a thumb and forefinger. “You could’ve died. You can’t just fuckin’ die--” he leant forward so his ranting wouldn’t disturb any other hospital dwellers, “You can’t die yet; you’re-- what?-- twenty-three?”

“Oh, fuck off, Sam! I’m not a child; I can handle myself!”

In one gesture towards your injury, he had messed up. “Obviously fuckin’ not!”

Silence. Your mouth was agape and he flinched back immediately. For how many times people told Sam to think before he spoke, he hadn’t seemed to have learnt. When the words settled in, you leant away from him, back into the cushions behind you. “I think you should go.”

He blinked once. And, then again. “What?”

You couldn’t even look at him. “Get out. I’ll call a nurse if i need help since I obviously can’t look after myself--”

“You know I didn’t mean it like that, (Name)--”

“How did you fucking mean it then, Sam?” He stood from the chair and it creaked-- the only noise in the room. You didn’t even want to give him the chance to give an excuse. “Or, am I too much of a child to understand what you mean?” In the middle of his pacing, he turned to face you, simply staring despite your ceaseless ranting. “Sorry that I’m such a huge fucking inconvenience to you! It’s not like the same kind of shit has ever happened to you or anything, huh?” He watched as your eyes began to well, face etched with frustration and betrayal, words spat out of your mouth like they put a bad taste there.

He had to cut you off or else you would carry on; you shouldn’t feel like this right after… everything that happened. God, he was such a dick. He shouldn’t have brought this up-- not now at least-- and now look at you: almost crying because of him in a hospital bed thank to stab wound that you got because of him and-- “I don’t want you to get hurt again because I fuckin’ care about you, (Name), okay?” It was his turn to rant now and your turn to stare at him. “And-- and, I have no idea what I would do with myself if you-- if you had fuckin’--” the noise he made was a mix between a sigh and growl, like he was annoyed at himself, then he leant against the end of your bed. A few moments passed; you didn’t know if you were supposed to say something to him during this or not but all you could fathom doing was to just stare at him, dumbfounded. Then, he breathed out a simple: “I’m sorry. For being a dick.”

You swallowed, gaze flickering away from him briefly. Then, you huffed out a laugh-- a terrible mix of amusement and disbelief. “Glad you can recognise it, Sam.” He blinked at you, then shook his head; that certainly wasn’t the response he expected. Something more biting-- venomous--perhaps, but not that. You gestured back to the seat that he had pulled up beside you and, with some degree of caution, he sat down again. You held out a hand and he took it, rubbing a thumb over the underside of it, touch light on your skin. “You can’t prove that this isn’t the painkillers speaking but,” it hurt to lean closer to him but you thought he was worth it-- even with the deer-in-headlights look he had, “I care about you too.”

It was then that he smiled-- grinned, even-- and you finally heard him laugh again. “Oh, I’m definitely holding that against you, (Name).”

“Will you hold this against me, too?” You pulled your hand away from his, only to place it on his face instead, thumb tracing a line over his cheek. His eyes flickered down to your lips, obviously unsure on if he should close the gap, that worry still bubbling in his lower stomach that he was daydreaming again. So, you did instead, the ache in your gut less pressing than your want to kiss him. It was short but to say it didn’t make your heart soar and a faint colour flush Sam’s ears would be a lie. You hand stayed there after, fingers reluctant to move away-- to lose him; the thought scratched at the back of your mind.

He let out a sigh of relief-- a little ‘hoo’ noise coming with it. “You have no idea how much I’ve wanted that.”

[supernaturalwritingbunker]

Apple Pie Life-Dean Winchester

Summary: Dean is finally living the life he’s always dreamed of. He has a wonderful wife, a baby and a great job...But was that the truth?

Warnings: Fluff, Slight Angst, Paranormal Influence, Language, Daddy!Dean.

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Words: 2370

Tag List: @elskinner45​ @you-a-southpaw-doll​ 

A/N: First Story on This Blog! I hope you all enjoy! To be tagged in Dean One shots, Message me, comment or submit an ask!

Dean’s P.O.V. ~ 2010, Lawrence, Kansas

Humming the words to Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd, I slowly climb out of Baby, my 1967 Chevy Impala, passed down to me from my dad when I got married to Y/N four years ago, after we’d been dating and engaged for a little over a year. Mom and dad were so happy when I finally settled down. Sammy had been off at Stanford for a couple years, and getting close with his own girl, Jess, when I met Y/N.

She and I had hit it off the moment she walked into my mechanic shop, trying her best not to freak out about the fact that her car had pretty much just died on her. Since it was a newer car, a 2003 Honda Civic, I wasn’t entirely sure I’d know what to do to fix it. My specialty lies in fixing up classic cars, always has been, ever since I was old enough to help my dad work on Baby.

At the time Y/N walked into my shop, I’d only recently been learning how to work on the newer style cars. Despite my hesitancy at being able to fix her car, the look on her face, the distraught, the panic...it just tugged at something inside me, and I knew I’d do whatever it took to fix her car for her. 

Only, I wasn’t able to. The car was beyond repair. Even my adopted Uncle Bobby couldn’t fix it, and he can fix almost anything. So, after he and I towed Y/N’s car to his salvage yard, and I made it back to my shop, I offered Y/N a ride to wherever it was she needed to go in town. It was a quick trip to the diner to get her some to-go food before I dropped her off at one of the town’s motels.

That was when I learned she was new in town. That she had just moved here from a small town in the New England area. Just before she got out of the Impala, since Dad let me drive it today, I gave Y/N my number and told her to give me a call tomorrow, and I’d take her up to Uncle Bobby’s salvage yard and see if we could find her a new car that would actually work. 

It didn’t take long after finding her a new car, a 69 Dodge Charger, that Uncle Bobby had on the back part of his lot, that Y/N and I started dating. Six months after we got together, I popped the question, to which she said yes, and not even six months after that, a year to the day we met, Y/N and got married in a small, intimate ceremony. 

She and I moved into this cute little, 4 bedroom, 2 bath farmhouse with a yard big enough for our two Golden Retrievers, Zep and Cash, and our bluetick hound, Lenny. We wanted a place big enough for if our family, well mom, dad, Sammy and Jess, came over and stayed the night or something. And, we also wanted it to be big enough for when we started to grow our own family.

When we first moved in, there wasn’t a fence around our yard, but after a weekend and some help from dad and Uncle Bobby, I had one up, and could let the dogs run around freely. As I close the driver’s door, and step away from Baby, Lenny comes running over from his spot on the porch, and jumps up, putting his front paws against my chest.

I laugh as I pet him. “Hi, boy! I missed you too!”

He barks happily, his tail wagging. I chuckle and gently push him off me and keep walking to the porch. Lenny bounds along behind me, happy that I’m home. I pet his head again before opening the front door, kicking my boots off, and stepping inside.

“Honey? I’m home!” I call, setting my keys on the hook by the door.

“In the kitchen!” I hear my wife call out.

I smile to myself. My wife. After four years of being married, the thought of being married to Y/N still has me grinning like a fool. I pad across the hardwood floor in my grey socks, making my way to the kitchen. Pausing in the doorway, and leaning against the frame, I tuck my hands in my pockets and smile even more at the sight in front of me.

Y/N dances in the kitchen, our little girl, MaryJo in her arms, as she sings our song and bakes something. My stomach growls as the smell of an apple pie in the oven wafts across the room to me. I smile and push myself up off the door frame before walking over to my little family. I place a kiss on Y/N’s cheek, making her jump a little but giggle as she smiles up at me. 

“How was work, sweetie?” She asks, moving MaryJo slightly.

I smile as I lean down to kiss our four month old daughter’s head, earning a giggle in response. I lean against the counter, and look at my beautiful wife, taking in the sight of her in my shirt. 

“It was good. Extra slow so I was just fixing a car from Bobby’s salvage yard.” I say, grinning.

She giggles. “Is that why you look like you went four rounds with an oil bucket and it won?”

I laugh and look down at my oil stained t-shirt. “I suppose so, baby. You know those old things are covered in so much dirt, grime, and Chuck knows what else.”

She giggles. “That’s fair. Mine definitely was.”

“Mmm. She was. But she’s all clean, and running smoothly now!”

“Thanks to my amazing husband.” She whispers, leaning up to kiss me softly.

I grin as she pulls away. “Mm. Your amazing husband? Hmm. He sounds like a pretty cool dude.”

“Oh, he is! And he’s a sweetheart and an even better father.”

I smile. “Yeah?”

“Oh yeah! See, our daughter, she just loves him to pieces, and has him wrapped around her finger.”

Chuckling, I sneak a glance down at MaryJo, and wink when I see her staring up at me with an adorable, gum-filled smile. She squeals and wiggles in her mama’s arms, making her laugh softly and rub her cheek with my thumb.

“Well, it’s a good thing her daddy loves her to pieces too.” I say, looking back at my wife.

Y/N giggles and nods. I smile and watch her cook. 

“How was your day? You girls do anything fun?” I ask.

“Oh, definitely! Let’s see...we napped...mommy did some work while MaryJo napped again after lunch. Um...oh, she got a bath. Then we snuggled and watched Ice Age. After another nap for Princess, and more work for mommy, we decided to bake a pie for when daddy got home.”

I smile. “Sounds like an amazing day! Work’s still letting you work from home? Not still pressuring you to get back to the office?”

Y/N smiles and shakes her head. “Nope! Luckily I can still do whatever I need to from the house. Although, I have to go in one day next week, to turn in the case files I have here and pick up some new ones.”

“Sounds like a plan, baby. Let me know, and I’ll take the day off from the shop, and stay home with our Princess here.”

She smiles up at me. “Maybe Wednesday?”

“Sounds good to me, baby.” I smile, leaning down to kiss her head. “I’m gonna go get cleaned up and come help you finish cooking, yeah?”

“Go get cleaned up, but don’t worry about helping. Dinner’s almost done. And it’s a surprise.”

I chuckle. “Yes, ma’am!”

I give her another gentle kiss before bending down and kissing my little girl’s head, getting another giggle as I do. I smile and make my way out of the kitchen as the front door opens, causing me to look up. 

“Sammy? What are you doing here, brother? I thought you weren’t due to come into town for another couple weeks.” I say, confused, as my younger brother steps inside, looking a little panicked.

“Dean!” He exclaims, rushing over to me, and pulling me into his arms. “C’mon, man. We gotta get you outta here!”

I push him back a little, even more confused. “What do you mean, Sam? I just got home? And Y/N’s cooking dinner.”

“Y/N’s here? Dean! It’s a trap. It’s not real!”

I glare at my brother. “My wife and daughter are real, Sam! They’re just as real as you and I! And so is mom, dad, and Jess!”

Sam sighs. “Dean. Mom died when you were 4. Jess died while I was still at Stanford, right after dad went missing. That’s why I got back into hunting. And, dad...Dean, sold his soul to Yellow Eyes to save you after the car wreck. You know this. Now, c’mon. We gotta get you outta here before the Djinn comes back.”

I stare at my brother like he’s grown a second head.

Suddenly, everything goes black for a second as I blink and when I open my eyes again, I’m no longer in the farmhouse with Y/N and my daughter. Instead, I’m in an old warehouse, leaning against Sam.

“Sam?” I croak out, my throat dry.

“I’ve got you, Dean. Don’t worry. We’re gonna get you outta here. We gotta hurry. The Djinn’s gonna come back soon though.” My brother replies, holding me up.

At the sound of a growl, he and I both look. A Djinn comes running at us. I pull away from Sam, knowing that neither of us will be able to properly fight with my leaning against him. It doesn’t take long for us to destroy the Djinn, even with my weakened, still slightly drugged state. Sam helps me back to the Impala.

For once, I don’t oppose and argue as Sam holds his hand out for the keys. I toss them to him and slide into the passenger side of Baby. Sam gets in and cranks the engine.

“Burgers before we go back to the hotel?” Sam asks.

“No.” I mumble.

“No? Dean? Are you okay? Passing up a burger.”

“No. I need to see Y/N first. I have to tell her something.”

Sam nods. “Alright. Well, she’s at the motel room, waiting. So, we’ll get burgers and go back there.”

I nod and look out the window. Everything that happened while I was in the dream state from the Djinn’s poison floats through my head. And, I want something that every Hunter wants but rarely gets. A family. A shot at a normal life. And, I want it with Y/N. Even though I’ve been denying myself that for the last first years since I came across her on a hunt, I still want it.

And after that dream, the one that felt like reality, I want it even more. There’s no more denying, no more hiding, no more lying about the way I feel about Y/N. And I have to tell her. By the time Sam makes it back to the motel room, I’ve scarfed down one of the four burgers he got for me, and start feeling like myself again.

The moment he parks Baby, I’m out of the car and rushing into the motel. I bust into the room so quickly that Y/N nearly falls off the bed from jumping sky high. Hurrying over to her, I help her get steady on the bed again as I kneel in front of her. Taking her hands in mine, I look up at her.

“I’ve tried denying it. Tried hiding it. Tried lying about it. But I can’t do it anymore.” I start.

She looks at me confused. “Dean? What’s going on? Are you ok?”

I nod. “I will be. I just gotta tell you something.”

“Okay?”

I take a deep breath. “I love you, Y/N. And, I know this life, being a Hunter, ain’t exactly the easiest one to live when you love something. But, something happened and I realized I couldn’t fight it anymore. I had to tell you. Had to at least try. I love you. And, I want a shot at normal, or at least as normal as we can get. You. Me. A kid. Or four. I don’t care. I just want you. By my side. I got a brief taste of it, even if it wasn’t real and I crave it.”

Y/N’s eyes go wide and she opens and closes her mouth a few times. “You...you love me? THE Dean Winchester loves me?”

I nod, not taking my eyes off her as I swallow deeply. “I do. And I want the Apple Pie Life with you, Y/N.”

 Before I can get another word out, to tell her that it’s okay if she doesn’t want to say it now, or ever, she pulls her hands from mine and cups my cheeks and leans forward, pressing her lips to mine. I smile into the kiss and lean up towards her a little more, deepening it just a little, putting all of  my no longer hidden or denied love into it. 

As we kiss, something I’ve never felt before, a shock of purely happy energy courses through my body. When we slowly pull back, she rests her forehead against mine, keeping her hands on my cheeks.

“It’s ‘bout damn time you said that, Winchester. Only took you four years.” She whispers. “I was beginning to give up on ever hearing you say that, and the chance for me to say it back.”

“Say it back?” I whisper.

She giggles. “Such a bull-headed man sometimes, Winchester. Yes. Say it back. I love you too.”

I grin from ear to ear and kiss her again. Pie has always been my favorite thing in life, and I want the Apple Pie Life. I need it. And, I need the Apple Pie Life with Y/N.

[seaofthemind-art]

The “Abuse” Trope in MCU Spider-Man Fan Fiction: Part 1

[Edit Note: This first post completely missed my point, and as such is now being continued in "Part 2". I have made several edits and additions to this post for coherence between the two.]

I became interested in these tropes partly due to what seemed to be its abundance within the fandom. Re-reading several stories recently led me to consider how this trope has been handled in the fandom, its variations and ways that it has been turned on its head, as well as stories ideas that have not been explored yet to my knowledge.

Within the "Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)" category on AO3 there are several overarching areas that would come under the trope of abuse.

To put it in context, on the 26th October 2020 there was 28,637 works in the category; this included 626 stories tagged as "child abuse", a total of more than 2% of the stories. Of course, as we well know, tagging on AO3 is not consistent: there will be "abuse" stories which do not use this tag, whilst the tag may also be referring to a range of characters' situations (ie: Tony's childhood, Flash's backstory, OC characters). However, for these posts I'm going to look at stories related to Peter's experiences.

For all the "popularity" of these stories in the fandom, it is just an example of what are wide spread tropes across media. TV Tropes lists several related tropes including Abusive Parents and Foster Kid, showing that it is not only this fandom in which it is common.TV Tropes also makes a good point in its Sliding Scale of Parent-Shaming in Fiction, in that: what one person classes as abusive behavior may be perfectly acceptable to another.

Major Plot Categories

One of the common targets for this trope is "May's Abusive Boyfriend", which seems to have grown in popularity in the last year as Endgame has provided a convenient set-up for this trope:

the second law of thermodynamics by extraordinarythings

"It happens the same way it always does. (It's just discipline. It's not that bad. It's fine, Peter is fine, he'll be fine--). Except he really isn't fine, and Tony knows something's up, and Peter's house of cards is falling apart, and so the story goes."

Who Saves The Hero by CamelotQueen

“May brings home her new boyfriend. Something about him makes Peter feel nervous, but he makes May happy. And if May's happy, then Peter is happy. Then it escalates.”

Fear all else but never me. Please. by Webtrinsic

“May's new boyfriend proves himself to be a grade A-asshole when he decides to abuse Peter. And that doesn't sit well with Tony at all.”

i get by (but it’s eating me alive) by Livinei

““Do you not want to be home?” Tony starts. “No.” Tony considers for a moment. Peter’s never not wanted to be home. Not before… Now that he thinks about it, he doesn’t know a lot about David. Peter doesn’t bring him up a lot, and when he does then he’s not very eager to discuss it for long. Tony hasn’t gotten an impression that Peter’s particularly fond of the guy, though.”

The Homes We Make by iamq

“Peter Parker isn't the type of boy to run crying to Tony Stark because he can't handle a punch. Michelle Jones and Ned Leeds aren't the type of friends to ignore Peter's rapidly declining health. Eugene "Flash" Thompson isn't an idiot.”

to this day by hopeless_hope

“It's months before anyone realizes May's boyfriend abuses Peter. The effects are lasting.”

Promotions Aren’t Always A Good Thing by Agib

“When May gets a new boyfriend, Peter's okay. When Carter moves in, he can deal. When May gets a promotion so she works days and Carter works nights, Peter finds it harder to deal. When Carter starts abusing him, he begins to feel crushed by the weight of it all.”

The Black And The Blue (All That It Takes Out of You) by Buckets_of_Stars

“David wasn't a person Peter would ever want to be around, but with him being May's new boyfriend and all, it makes it harder and harder to avoid him. But it was fine, May was happy and of course, Peter still has Tony. But that was before the hitting started. Before David spit neglectful words in his face and the spiderling begins to question his very worth.Tony, on the other hand, is not having it.”

Vertigo by GalaxyThreads

“Coming back from the dead wasn't nearly as awesome as TV made it out to be. Peter's learning this on the go. And it really doesn't help that May's new husband absolutely hates him. And that May is pretty ignorant of that and him now. But it's all fine. Really.”

Your Heart Changed (mine stayed the same) by @loboselinaistrash​ [WIP]

"Peter Parker is back but 5 years into the future and the world has changed. Peter goes home with May only to find she had moved on, with a husband and two kids. Peter struggles to find his place in this new family with a strict step uncle, the longer he's there the harder he finds it to stay on his good side, uncertain if May will believe him."

A Peter Parker Problem by @spagbol99​ [WIP]

"Peter comes back to find May has a husband and a kid. A new family he has to fit into. But he has done it before, he can do it again. The only thing that feels solid is Tony: the Blip and fatherhood have mellowed him and Peter loves the bond they have now. He knows Tony would be there for him through anything. But Tony needs to focus on his own recovery - not small time Peter Parker problems. When things at home take a turn for the worse, Peter decides that he'll handle it himself. He is Spider-man. He's been to space and fought aliens. He can get through anything. After all, if May is happy, he is happy, right? Right?"

--

This premise has been turned on it's head by a couple of authors with the straight opposite of this trope in "May has a new boyfriend who is decent (and confused)":

The Secrets We Keep by @euphoric-melancholyy​

"May has a really awesome, loving boyfriend who's just a little confused as to why she lets her teenage son stay out til 1 every night and sleep somewhere else every weekend. Also, he’s friends with Tony Stark? Chris - May’s new boyfriend - feels like he’s missing something here."

A Good Kid  by kuragay

"Ricky thinks that May's an exceptional woman, and he thinks that Peter's an exceptional kid. But there's no denying that the Parker household is full of mysteries, and most of them are centered around Peter and his supposed internship with Tony Stark."

--

Then there has also been several stories changing the abuser, such as in the concept of "What if May (or Ben) is the abusive carer?":

Brooklyn by @hailing-stars​ [part of a longer series]

"After leaving Peter with Tony and months of no contact, May shows up in Peter's life again, interrupting Tony's plans to adopt him. Peter has to decide who he wants to live with, but soon learns the decision may really not be his."

Parker Luck by CreepyLittleLullaby

"He never met one, he got left behind by the other, the next one died, and the only one he had left was pushing him away. And he doesn't know what to do. Peter really has rotten luck when it comes to parental figures. No matter how hard he tries. Parker luck will always prevail."

Please, Understand by jipseebree

"When Aunt May discovers that he's Spider-Man, something inside her snaps. She starts to abuse him and he deserves it, doesn't he? After all, people have died because of him. People who wouldn't have died if he was a better hero."

Spiders hunt alone, anyway by karma_is_a_turtle [WIP]

"Ben’s death hits the Parker family hard, May worst of all. May Parker struggles to cope with her husband’s death and her nine-year-old nephew grows up learning how to pick up her slack."

Always Silent, Peter Darling by LlibLo

“After a traumatic experience at age 6, Peter Parker hasn't spoken a word. Most blame it on the fact that he witnessed his Uncle die in a horrible fire, this is only partly true. Now, almost 10 years later Peter is given the chance to finally speak, but will he take it? Or is the fear of his Aunt to much for him to take that chance? Either way, Tony Stark can tell something's not quite right about the kind hearted May Parker.“

It’s All Just Static In My Head by Blue__Dreams

“And then May was shot. Foolishly, childishly, Peter hoped Iron Man would swoop in and save the day again. He hoped and hoped and hoped. And Ben drank and drank and drank. As Ben grew worse, and their fridge grew empty, as Peter’s face became more bruised, and his powers grew, Peter realized, you can’t depend on superheroes. So Peter created his own hero - Spiderman.“

 I told you I had issues by Bergen            

“Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, and right now, a little exasperated. Because some guy is swinging around New York, shooting webs and making trouble, Fury is breathing down his neck, and his latest intern took off with his coupon for a free coffee.“

--

Another focus for the abuse trope are the "Skip Wescott" stories, which take their concept and the character from a one-shot from the comics. @irondadfics​ has a good rec list for this. Many of the stories take it further than the comic that inspired them, and within the fandom it has also become common to see it re-mixed in variations of “Abused by Other Person of Authority” AKA: Babysitter/Teacher/Foster Carer/etc.

Although Skip is a common character for authors to use when they need a character as the abuser who isn't a complete original character, both original characters do appear as well as other characters from within the MCU.

The Third Option by Uncertainty_Principle

“Ben and May divorced before Peter’s parents died, so when Ben is murdered Peter goes into foster care. It takes just a tiny taste of superpowers for Peter to decide he doesn’t want to put up with his horrible foster father anymore—the streets are infinitely more appealing. All he wants is to be Spider-Man anyway.“

take a look at me now, there's just an empty space by @lyssismagical

“As much as Peter does want to disappear to his bedroom and avoid the awkward attempts at a one-sided conversation or inquiries about the life Tony’s read about, he craves the closeness to another person. The last time he felt properly close to someone was May. Every home in between had people who tried or people who didn’t, either way, it never felt the same. He was just another mouth to feed, another set of house visits and questionnaires from Elaine, another troubled kid under their roof. He was never treated like a human being, like a kid.“

Like A Flame That Flickered Out Too Soon... by @mysterycheerio

““He did this to you?”. Peter nodded. “And this is why you haven’t been talking?”. Another nod. Tony left the room in a hurry. Peter didn’t know where he went. Pepper knew. Rhodey knew. The whole damn neighbourhood around Stark Mansion knew, his yells were so loud.”

The Education Complication by Buckets_Of_Stars

“When young Peter Stark was diagnosed with Asthma, he was given two very important rules to always follow: 1. No long distance running. 2. Always have your inhaler with you. But when a new Gym Teacher with a hatred toward Iron Man gets hired, the 13 year old is going to find that following these two simple steps has never been more difficult.”

--

This is just a selection of the stories which can be found on AO3, from which it should be already clear that these cover a wide range of treatments of the subject.

Across all the categories, the reactions of characters to the abuse is varied; as well as some notable omissions in the range of stories. 

This we will look at in Part 2.

[dragon-swords-prophecies]

Sacrifice Chapter 1

So I'm trying to edit chapter 1 of Sacrifice because I really don't like it and even I can tell how much my writing style has changed in three ish months but I can't figure out exactly whats wrong with it and since I've never shared anything on here ever thats this long and also I need want someone's opinion on this (Please & thank you very much), here's the first chapter of Sacrifice. I already know a bunch of stuff I'm cutting out the awkward romance part specifically i really should not even attempt to write stuff like that its just awkward but I can't figure out exactly what else is wrong with it so this is my solution instead. You sincerely truly don't have to read it if you don't want to I just thought this might be a good idea. And also its something to do if you're bored.

It's below the cut.

Taglist: @golden-eyed-writer

I grinned. Anne and Enna were arguing over the rules of Gin, while Anne, she was Enna’s twin, anyway, while Anne’s kids played tag with my nephew, Zane. Jen and Zebra collided in the middle of the room, and Zane didn’t stop in time, so they ended up in a pile of tangled limbs. My sister emerged from the other room and sighed, then burst into laughter, her wavy, silver tipped, black hair bouncing up and down. We were nearly identical, same silver blue eyes, silver tipped black hair, and dark skin. Our scales were different though. Ana’s smooth, tear drop shaped, silver scales covered her collarbone and wound down one arm; mine encircled my torso. Mine were easier to hide, but more people knew about them. I cast a lot of wind spells.

Ana only showed her scales to people she trusted, so walking in the room in a black tank top was a statement. Anne and Enna were identical, and their names mirrored each other. Blue black hair, Anne’s in twin buns and Enna’s in a half ponytail. Alabaster skin tinged with blue, and blue eyes. They had wings, but Enna was grounded. There was a knock on the door of Lei’s apartment. Lei, a blond Demonsblood, was standing closest to the door and pulled it open, sticking her head out. Two seconds later a boy dressed in the Barony’s colors entered.

“Uh, is there any person named,” He checked the sheet of paper clutched in his hands, “Anne Jones & Enna Helder-Kromlin here?” The twins stood up from the corner and scowled briefly, then Enna darted across the room, grabbed the paper, read it, and swore in Dragon.

“You can go now.” Said Faith, Lei’s redheaded younger cousin.

“Yes, ma’am.” He mumbled, then scampered away. “What is it? Dennis explode something again?” Asked Anne, striding over.

“There’s a gnome, blond, asking to see us. The note says she’s carrying the seal of the last baron.” Her twin answered in a shocked voice.

“Mae?”

“Maybe.” While they conversed, and Ana shrugged her jacket off after yanking it on when the door was opened, there was a second knock. Emily, a gnome alchemist and a friend of ours, answered this time, and her lavender eyes stared unseeing into the face of a second messenger. This one had a message for Ana. After reading it, my twin turned to me and grinned. Ana’s smile sometimes scared people. We both had pointed, sharp canine teeth, courtesy of our draconic ancestry. And that had the side effect of looking like you were about to murder someone when you smiled.

“Cerea’s alive. She’s here, with the gnome En mentioned. Joshua recognized the name.” A rush of emotions went through me. Two hundred and seventy four years ago mine and Ana’s home had been burned to the ground by Dizerdrat, an ancient red dragon. Cerea had been the name of a half elf with impressive innate primal magic, who had left when she was twenty, three months befor A'sshyse burned, leaving us the only survivors. The name was a bit ironic actually, A'sshyse sounded like Ashes if pronounced correctly, and that’s all it was now. Ashes and memories.

We didn’t bother to say anything, no one did. Two sets of twins walked out the door, leaving confusion, five friends, and three ten year olds behind. Enna twisted around before leaving, threatening, “If anyone touches those cards I will kill you.” Then she ran, and the second she and Anne were outside they broke out into a full out sprint, matching each other pace for pace. When we got to the main hall area, which had a bunch of alcoves off it that served as slightly more private spaces for meetings and the like, Anne and Enna had already tackle hugged a gnome with curly blond hair, and a black haired half elf stood nearby, awkwardly. Enna was whispering,

"Thirty five years Mae. Thirty five goddamn years. Where were you?"

“I was- Thirty five years?!”

“Yes.” Answered Anne. Mae rounded on the half elf, who put her hands up in a sign of surrender. Before the gnome could get a word out Cerea spoke.

“I didn’t know alright? I’m bad with time.”

“Still. You should have told me!”

“I know. I should have done a lot of things.” It was at that moment she looked in our direction, and saw us. Ana didn’t hesitate, rushing in to embrace a woman she hadn’t seen in nearly three hundred years. I hung back a bit. Not because of my sister, but because me and Cerea hadn’t exactly parted on… civil terms. Half a minute later Ana grabbed my arm, muttering Draconic into my ear.

“I don’t care what happened last time. You never got over it, I doubt she did.”

“Erm, okay-”

Cerea interrupted. “You survived?! What in the nine hells happened to A’sshyse?!”

“Dragonfire.” Ana answered. Then I blurted out, in Dragon, before I had to wait another three centuries to apologize.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I yelled at you. I was stupid, and, and an idiot-” Cerea intterupted in the same language.

“Yes, you were sometimes. But I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have said what I said. We were both wrong about the other.” She hugged me tightly, but quickly. As Cerea stepped away I noticed how much toll the last three hundred years had taken on her. She still had raven hair and coffee colored skin, but the freckles that once covered her face were gone. Her eyes still had the same twinkle, but the green was darker, closer to emerald than I’d ever seen them and older than they should be.

“So where were you?” Asked Enna, directing the question at Mae.

“I was petrified. I left right after you guys killed Shallodet, and then it’s a blur until waking up to find my very surprised teacher.”

Enna shuddered at the mention of the name. Shallodet was not a pleasant memory for her.

“Teacher?”

“Yeah. Anne & Enna, this is Cerea Roven. Cerea, these are my sisters. Anne and Enna Helder.”

“Helder-Kromlin. Claimed Mom’s name properly. But I’m not forgetting Helder. It’s hyphenated now. Drove the official crazy.” Corrected Enna. Anne followed with,

“Erm, it’s actually Anne Jones. I might have gotten married.”

“Sorry, what?!”

“I’ll explain later.”

“Hi?” Cerea grinned awkwardly, raising one hand in a half wave for a brief second. “Who’s the Gnome?” Asked Ana.

“I’m Mae Helder. Who are you?”

“Anastasia. Call me Ana. He’s Dash.”

“Hey. So you’re their sister?” I asked, changing the subject as quickly as possible.

“Uh huh. How’d you meet these two?”

“The War.” Answered Ana.

“War? What War?”

“Little sister, you’ve missed a lot. About a decade ago there was a War. Norfolk is gone.”

“Wow. Anything else I need to know?”

“Well, here’s the slight matter of there being a different Baron.”

“What?!”

“His name is Fredrick Falk.”

“Wait. Does that mean?”

“Yeah. He’s gone. Died about two years after you left.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I know how much he meant to you.”

“It’s okay.” The previous Baron had been the first person who had believed in Enna for a long time. When he died she had taken it hard. He had been the latest in a long line of parental figures; and each one had died.

Pike, her adopted mother, had died when she was 10. Her older brother, Zibra, had died when she was nineteen, and everyone thought it was her fault. Everyone except Anne. Her mentor, a half-dragon named Sasha, had died when she was twenty eight. When she was 40 she came back to the capital, only to find Anne missing. She thought it was her fault. Anne had nearly died. Then her Uncle, her mother’s twin, had turned out be her mother’s murder, confessed to killing Zibra and framing her, then he tried to kill both the twins, leaving Enna with thin scars that covered her arms, shoulders, back & torso.

“Anyway, why are you here?”

“Well,” Said Cerea nervously, fidgeting with the hem of her tunic. “Gray has heard some things, concerning things. They’re actually what led to me finding Mae.”

“What things?” I asked.

“The forges, the ones under the mountain, are waking up again.”

“I still don’t understand why he would put forges there, of all locations.” Muttered Anne.

“You need to tell someone.”

“That’s why we came here. Under the Code, you need two high ranking Druids to request a meeting with a ruler.”

“That’s surprisingly smart for a twenty five year old.” Said Enna, perhaps the third time in her life she had judged someone because of their apparent age. Cerea, unsurprisingly, burst out laughing.

“I’m two hundred and ninety ish. Can’t remember the exact number. Not 25.”

“Two hundred and ninety four.” I muttered quietly.

“Two hundred and ninety four, then. Either way, I’m not twenty five.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Twenty five is the oldest anyone’s ever thought I looked. I had a couple friends, a few years ago, they thought I was nineteen. Never got around to correcting them.”

“Uh-huh.” I muttered. Cerea had always looked young for her age, and it, plus her innate and extremely powerful primordial magic and wildshaping powers, had allowed her to get away with more things than the average kid would. Most of these exploits were related to stealing jelly tarts, which Ana stole from her and I then stole some of them from Ana. Yeah, fourteen year old me probably had better things to do than steal pastries from a 7 year old prankster, but it was either that or get possessed again, which is not an experience I’d recommend to anyone.

Yes, you read that correctly. Possessed. It’s a very long story that will probably come to light in time. Probably. Either way, we were interrupted by Joshua, the Baron’s 19 year old half-dragon grandson materializing from out of nowhere. His brown curls were more rumpled than usual, and his blue eyes shown with exhaustion. Joshua’s robes, the outfit commonly worn by wizards-in-training, were rumpled, like he had slept in them. He wasn’t strictly half dragon, closer to a quarter dragon. His dad’s dad had been a black dragon. His Mum, the Baron’s youngest daughter, had eloped with his dad and Joshua had only been raised in the court after his parents died in an Orc raid when he was seven. Before you ask, yes most of us had/have sob stories for backgrounds. Happy people who are mentaly stable don’t go out and hunt literal dragons.

Either way, the top half of his face, on a diagonal from right to left, was covered in smooth, black scales. They continued down his neck, and onto one arm. Joshua asked, “So you guys do know each other. I mean, I didn’t think there were a lot of black haired and crazy powerful half elven druids, but hey. There could’ve been more than one. Anyway, Grandpa’s ready to talk to you two. You know how to get there?”

“Yep.” Confirmed Mae, leading Cerea down the hallway. Joshua stayed, leaning against the stone wall.

“Hey.” Anne raised one hand half heartedly, in a sort of wave.

“Hi.”

“So I know how Ana & Dash know the mildly terrifying druid lady, but how do you two know the Gnome?”

“She’s our sister.”

“But neither of you are two Gnomes in a trench coat. So how?”

“I don’t even own a trenchcoat.” Muttered Enna.

“Exactly.”

“She’s our adopted sister, our foster mother fostered her too, though we didn’t know that then.”

“You had a foster mother?”

Anne sighed. “Yes. Pike Helder. Why do you think we speak Gnome?”

“I don’t know. Figured you just knew a lot of Gnomes.”

“I mean, we do, but that’s not the point.”

“Also, I think we would know if you guys were just Gnomes in trenchcoats.” I remarked.

“Yeah, I think you would.” Said Anne.

“You okay?” Ana asked Joshua, probably in response to his disheveled appearance.

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.”

“I’m fine. Just stressed.” Ana scoffed, but didn’t say anything more. Enna turned to me. Her arms were crossed.

“Spill.”

“What?” I asked cluelessly. Anne added, “You and Cerea have history. What is it?,” she asked, her body language the same as her twin.

“Nothing, we just knew each other as kids.” “Uh huh.” “So that’s all?” “Yes,” I lied. Anne laughed.

“It’s almost like he thinks we don’t know that he’s lying.” “Yeah.” I looked anywhere except at the twins.

“It wasn’t anything!” I said, coming way closer to yelling than I should.

“You apologized to each other in Dragon when you saw each other.” I swore under my breath. I had forgotten Enna knew Dragon. I tended to forget she knew a lot of languages, Elven not among them in spite of her heritage.

“That was nothing.” I mumbled.

“It was not nothing. I saw Ana’s expression when she saw Cerea. She looked like her best friend had just come back to life.”

“She has.”

“Please. We all know you’re Ana’s best friend. If it’s not you, it’s Zane. Anyway, Ana looked like her best friend had just come back to life. But you, you looked like, I don’t even know how to describe it. You looked a lot like Anne when she got married to Jones. You looked like you were in love.”

“No-o. Not in love with her. Dated her once, sure, maybe we kissed a couple times, but I’m not in love with her,” I protested, turning redder than Faith’s hair, which was very, very red. “Dash, either I tell them or you do.” Threatened Ana, switching into rapid Demonic. Demonic was the one language we both knew that the twins didn’t speak.

“Can we not do this now?!” I replied, in the same language.

“What, you don’t want all our friends to know that you and Cerea were etinye aka?” She asked, using an Elven word.

“No, I would prefer not. And I really think that Cerea wouldn’t either.” “You’d be surprised. She’s changed a lot in 300 years.”

“And how would you know? You’ve seen her about as much as I have.”

She hesitated, chewing on her bottom lip and thinking. “I knew she was alive.”

--------End Chapter 1---------

If you've read this far THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[the-homicidediaries]

Chris Benoit

Guys.

I am so excited to talk about this.

Not because of the context, but because this is one of the reasons I love wrestling so much; there’s so much that goes on behind the scenes that people have NO CLUE about.

There have been several professional wrestlers who have killed people or been killed themselves and the rabbit hole goes deep.

(Rey Mysterio accidentally killed a man on live tv and they still have the video up on YouTube.)

(Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka murdered his girlfriend in May of 1983. Who is Jimmy Snuka? Jimmy Snuka was related to The Rock, Rikishi, and The Uso’s.)

THERE ARE SO MANY MORE THO.

But today, I want to talk about the Daddy of them all, Chris Benoit.

Chris Benoit’s crimes are so heinous and unforgivable Vince McMahon has swept his name under the rug and removed him from The Hall of Fame.

Benoit’s crimes also changed the dynamic of professional wrestling forever.

Chris Benoit was born in Montreal, Quebec to Michael and Margaret Benoit on May 21, 1967. He and his family resided in Edmonton, Alberta, however.

During Benoit’s childhood, he idolized Tom “Dynamite Kid” Billington (a British wrestler who competed in the 1980’s and had ongoing feuds with Hart) and Bret “Hitman” Hart (a Canadian-American wrestler and a member of the notorious Hart Family. He is a personal fave of mine as well).

When Benoit was 12 years old, he attended a local wrestling event where both Dynamite Kid and Hart were competing and he knew right then and there that he was destined to become a wrestler.

He trained in The Hart Family “dungeon” and was coached by none other than Stu Hart (Bret and Owen Hart’s father. If you don’t know Owen Hart, you should google him as well because he died under bizarre circumstances on live tv as well.)

When Benoit fought in the ring, he channeled both Dynamite Kid and Hart, even adopting Hart’s signature move, “Sharpshooter” as his finishing move.

Chris began wrestling in 1985 in Stu Hart’s Stampede Wrestling promotion. He was quickly recognized as a force to be reckoned with and received his first title, the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship, on March 18, 1988.

(This dude has a very extensive history or wrestling in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, World Champion Wrestling, Extreme Champion Wrestling, and World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment, but I just.. I cain’t get into all that, please forgive me. Haha! We are talking 22 years here! So I am humbly skipping to his family life.)

-Okay, so. I would love for this to be a romantic love story for the ages and the deaths resulted in crimes of passion, but that didn’t happen. At. All. Not at all.

You’ll see soon why this was all brushed under the rug.-

Benoit was married twice.

His first wife, Martina, and he had two children David (who is a wrestler as well) and Megan. By 1997, their marriage had broken down and Benoit and Martina decided it was best to end it.

Benoit began living with his girlfriend, Nancy Sullivan, who was the girlfriend of Benoit’s frequent opponent, Kevin Sullivan.

(It started off as an on-screen relationship for views and it led to a real-life affair. Many people joke that Kevin Sullivan booked his own divorce.)

On February 25, 2000, Benoit and Nancy’s son, Daniel, was born.

On November 23, 2000, Benoit and Nancy were married.

This 👏🏼 was 👏🏼 not 👏🏼 a 👏🏼 good 👏🏼 marriage.

In 2003, Nancy filed for divorce from Benoit, saying he would break and throw furniture and was cruel to her. She later dropped the suit as well as the restraining order she had set against him.

Benoit became good friends with fellow wrestler Eddie Guerrero, (a beloved and incredible wrestler, one of my dad’s faves), following a match in Japan, when Benoit kicked Guerrero in the head and knocked him out cold. This started a friendship that lasted even after Guerrero's death in late 2005, in which Benoit had written diary entries to him just ten days after his passing.

(I’m only mentioning this because Guerrero’s death has been rumored to be one of the reasons Benoit did what he did.)

Here’s where it gets gory.

So we know Benoit and Nancy did not have a good marriage, but things seemed to be okay because she dropped all the charges against him.

Benoit and Nancy were living in Fayetteville, GA, with 7 year old Daniel.

On June 25, 2007, police entered the Benoit home after Benoit’s WWE employers requested a welfare check after Benoit missed weekend events without notice.

(Benoit was actually scheduled to win another title during these weekend events.)

Upon arriving at his Georgia home, authorities found Nancy wrapped in a towel. She had died from asphyxiation.

Their son was also found, also dead, apparently strangled. Benoit placed a Bible next to each of their bodies.

Benoit’s body was the most disturbing to be found. The wrestler was hanged on a lat pulldown machine, with a Bible lying on the weight machine beside him. There were also allegedly 10 empty beer cans and an empty bottle of wine.

Autopsies concluded the murders and suicide took place over the course of three days.

On Friday, June 22, Chris Benoit killed his wife Nancy in an upstairs bedroom. Her limbs were bound, and her body was wrapped in a towel. A copy of the bible was left by her body. Injuries indicated that Benoit had pressed a knee into her back while pulling on a cord around her neck, causing strangulation. Officials said that there were no signs of immediate struggle. Toxicologists did find alcohol in her system, but they were unable to determine if she had been drinking prior to her death or if it was a product of decomposition.

Daniel was suffocated and killed in his bedroom, and a copy of the bible was left by his body. Daniel had internal injuries to the throat area, showing no bruises. Daniel's exact time of death is unknown. The reports determined Daniel was sedated with Xanax and likely unconscious when he was killed. Daniel's body had also just started to show signs of decomposition but was not as far along as his mother's body, so they were able to determine he was murdered after his mother.

(It was later alleged that Daniel had Fragile X syndrome, a genetic disorder that is characterized by mild to moderate intellectual disability. Physical features may include a long and narrow face, large ears, flexible fingers, and large testicles. About a third of those affected have features of autism such as problems with social interactions and delayed speech. Males are affected more than females. Daniel also had needle marks in his arm and it’s alleged that these were the result of growth hormones given to him because Benoit and his family considered him to be undersized.)

Chris Benoit committed suicide by hanging. Benoit used a weight machine cord to hang himself by creating a noose from the end of the cord on a pull-down machine from which the bar had been removed. Benoit released the weights, causing his strangulation. Benoit was found hanging from the pulley cable.

(On a podcast called The Talk is Jericho in 2016, Nancy’s sister Sandra Toffoloni divulged some more information. She said Benoit’s internet search history showed he had searched “the quickest and easiest way to break a neck”. Benoit had a towel wrapped around his neck when he committed suicide and his neck was broken instantly.)

A suicide note was not discovered, but a note written in one of the bibles Benoit had said, “I’m preparing to leave this Earth.”

A few possible motives I’ve seen people mention have included:

•CTE - Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated head injuries. Symptoms do not typically begin until years after the injuries and can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. During his autopsy, it was concluded that Benoit did suffer from CTE after wrestling for so many years. (Back when they threw people from tops of cages, hit each other over the head with chairs and ladders, etc.) Autopsy experts say Benoit’s brain was so severely damaged that it resembled a 85 year old Alzheimer’s patient.

•Nancy’s abuse and filing for divorce - In February 2008, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Benoit was having an affair with a female WWE wrestler and Nancy found out. It was also speculated they argued over life insurance policies.

•Benoit’s alcohol abuse - Benoit abused steroids, but many people believe it was his alcohol abuse that led to these horrific murders. Many of Benoit’s colleagues attested he would drink more when problems with Nancy occurred.

•Eddie Guerrero’s death - Benoit and Guerrero and Benoit were very close. When it came out that Guerrero has died in his hotel room in November of 2005, Benoit was devastated. WWE held a televised memorial for Guerrero and when Benoit was giving his testimony, he broke down in front of the camera. Some of Benoit’s colleagues say, “he was never the same” after Guerrero’s death.

But at the expense of sounding completely heartless, (mind you, I’ve been suicidal myself), why didn’t he just commit suicide?

Why did he have to murder his wife and seven year old son? If we go with the CTE theory, it makes sense because he was not thinking rationally.

I wish Nancy had had the strength to leave him when she tried.

The night after Benoit’s body was found, WWE Raw had a televised memorial for him and his family with Vince McMahon standing in the middle of the ring breaking the news and a video montage.

No one knew he was the one who had killed his family.

When it was later revealed that Benoit had committed these crimes the episode was removed and WWE made the decision to remove nearly all mention of Benoit from their website, future publications, video games, merchandise, DVD/Blu-Rays, and future events.

Like I said.. swept him under the rug.

Benoit is now the “He Who Shall Not Be Named” of professional wrestling.

In ending this, I’d like to quote Stone Cold Steve Austin now.

“Well first and foremost, what I think about Chris Benoit is that guy was one of the most nicest guys I ever met in my life. He’s one of the most talented, hard working cats I’d ever seen in the squared circle. Anybody who knew Chris would tell you those exact two things. That guy loved the damn wrestling business, he was born to be a wrestler and was absolutely phenomenal. Drawing a lot of his influence from The Dynamite Kid, he blazed a path as the Pegasus Kid and his legacy as The Crippler Chris Benoit was just one hellacious career.

“One night, Chris ended up killing his wife and his kid. That is an act so terrible and horrible I can’t even comprehend or guess as to what happened in that house. That will always overshadow any accomplishment Chris had in the ring. He’ll never be in the Hall of Fame, it will just never happen. His career will speak for itself but his record as a human being, his first and foremost, and those actions will never be forgotten. That’s my feelings on that, we don’t even need to talk about the Hall of Fame. Speaking for myself, Chris Benoit as the person I knew, loved him. Chris Benoit as a wrestler, loved him. Chris Benoit as the person who did what he did, unforgivable. Bottom line.” – via NoDQ.com.

Pictured below are Chris and Nancy Benoit, their son Daniel, and their home in Fayetteville, Georgia.

[i-dream-of-twilight-sparkle]

Chapter 30: A Pear-fect Reunion

After the deeply bittersweet, but ultimately happy reunion between Starlight and her mother, as well as Sunburst’s father returning to Sire’s Hollow for good. The Elements of Harmony and the Cutie Mark Crusaders go back to Sweet Apple Acres to see how Big Mac, Sugar Belle, and Granny Smith are doing with with Pear Butter & Bright Mac. Twilight actually gives Celestia her own pack of gum so perhaps she can get back to Saddle Arabia herself as she still plans on attending the wedding. Trixie went back to her wagon to rest for a while.

Some of the group heading back to the farm is still reeling from the emotional scenes of the family reunion in Sire’s Hollow.

Rarity: *sniff* That reunion Starlight and Sunburst had was so beautiful, yet so sad, but also satisfying, and yet also so heartbreaking…

Twilight: That was certainly a mix of emotions wasn’t it? But I think ultimately we can be very happy for Starlight to have gotten to see her mother again.

Applejack: Yeah, Starlight’s past regarding her mother is more tragic than fo’ mah own parents. But now at least we both get t’ see them every now and then thanks t’ Spike’s Dragon Tear. This thing is certainly going t’ be ah life changer fo’ ah lot o’ ponies

Apple Bloom: Sure is! But let’s go see how Granny’s doin’!

Once they all get to the house they actually see Sugar Belle, Big Mac, Granny Smith are outside with Pear Butter and Bright Mac’s spirit while the Cake family seems to have probably returned home since then. Sugar Belle is the first to notice the return of the Elements and the CMC.

Sugar Belle: Welcome back! How did things turn out with Starlight and her mother?

Twilight: It’d be a looooooong story trying to explain everything that went on… we can get to that soon. But how have all of you been?

Granny Smith: Oooooooh! One o’ the best days o’ mah long life fo’ certain! Why didn’t ya’ll wake me up t’ see Pear Butter and Bright Mac come down in the first place?

Twilight: I guess it slipped my mind, sorry Granny Smith.

Granny: Heh, it’s ok. Admittedly, when ah was first woken up the first thing ah saw was Pear Butter and Bright Mac’s ghosts. Ah initially freaked, cause ah thought ah had kicked the bucket myself in mah sleep! Ah’m at that age after all!

Big Mac: Heh heh, it did take ah little while fo’ us t’ convince Granny that she wasn’t dead nor was this ah dream!

Granny: But once ah calmed down, it was sooooo good t’ see mah big son and his lovely wife again!

Sugar Belle: Me and Pear Butter talked a good while being the non-Apples that married into the family.

Pear Butter: Being a pear farmer as opposed to a pastry-baker is a bit different. But we nonetheless both fell in love with two large apple farming stallions. That alone is enough to make a nice bond with my new daughter-in-law. But she’s also as sweet personality-wise as the sugar in the pastries she must make. It’s just too bad we spirits can’t eat, mostly because we don’t need to any more. But at least we’re in a state where we always feel contently full, otherwise it’d be kind of unbearable.

Pinkie: Spirits no longer get to eat?! That sounds awful!

Pear Butter: It is odd at first to no longer need food, and indeed kinda a trade-off that we’ll never get to taste food again. But it takes some time to get used to, on the bright side though… We no longer need emergency bathroom breaks, ahahaha.

Granny: So… Ah heard all o’ ya went t’ help Starlight find her mother?

Applejack: Yeah, hope ya’ll not too upset ah chose t’ go see her instead o’ being there, when ya’ll was reunited with Ma and Pa.

Granny: Nah, ah gotcha. Sugar Belle told me ya mentioned having felt an obligation t’ help her out after ah conversation ya’ll had with her at the ball. Helping Starlight find ah mother she never got t’ know sounds pretty noble o’ ya’ll

Apple Bloom: It certainly was, Granny! We did kind o’ find Starlight’s mother!

Granny: Well, ain’t that nice! Where was she?

Apple Bloom: Well… maybe us finding her isn’t the exact word… ya see… just like our parents… Starlight’s mother was dead. So we got Spike t’ summon her t’ us.

Granny: Oh mah… that must o’ been one bittersweet reunion. A mother she didn’t know... that’s been dead the whole time…

Applejack: Believe it or not, Granny… that ain’t even the saddest part o’ Starlight’s story...

Applejack and the others take some time to recap everything that happened and/or they learned about Starlight’s Mother. Granny Smith going through just about the same mix of emotions they went through hearing everything. Big Mac and Sugar Belle with some shocked reactions themselves too.

Granny: Dang… what ah mare Sunset must o’ been… Ah do feel like ah heard the name Sunset Shimmer around 30 or so years ago, but she was likely still mainly in Canterlot. So wasn’t often mentioned too often in our humble little town. There’s no way ah could o’ known she’d be Starlight’s mother. Still, it’s ah good feeling Starlight got to meet her and Sunburst has his father back home too now!

Pear Butter: I think I’ve seen Sunset before up in the soul shield, though I never talked to her. It definitely makes me want to meet her now though!

Twilight: Well, you can… if you’re willing to go to a wedding between two of my friends in Saddle Arabia in just two days. We actually asked Sunset if she’d like to be summoned back down for it. And she agreed, you won’t know who the couple are. But it’d certainly be a good opportunity for you to either reunite with some more ponies or meet for the first time!

Bright Mac: That sounds like a good time!

Applejack: Say Twi, what if we got both mah mother and Sunset t’ meet that club o’ mothers we saw at the ball!

Twilight: Oh yeah, that would be kind of neat.

Pear Butter: What’s this about a club of mothers?

Twilight: You see Pear Butter, each of the mothers of the Elements of Harmony formed a club together. They also brought in Sunburst’s mother as well as Mrs. Cake AKA your friend Chiffon Swirl. I also kind of joined myself since Spike’s my adopted son!

Pear Butter: That sounds lovely! I’d love to meet all the other moms. I guess I’m the only one of the Element of Harmony’s mothers that have been missing from that club for... obvious reasons...

Granny: Ah can’t wait until the next annual Apple Family Reunion! Ought to be the best one yet when we can get Bright Mac and Pear Butter back!

Applejack: True t’ that! Heck, why stop there? There’s plenty of other deceased Apple family members we can see again. Like your own parents for example, Granny!

Granny: That’s true too! Haha! Though one o’ these days soon, ah myself am going t’ need t’ be summoned!

Apple Bloom: Awwww Granny, don’t just say that so casually…

Granny: Ah wouldn’t usually, buuuut this spirit summoning thing kinda makes death only an inconvenience fo’ us old folk now. Not any less sad, but it’s just naturally not as upsetting when ah know ah’ll still be able t’ nag at ya’ll even from beyond the grave! Ehehehehe! Of course that could also just somewhat be an opinion on this as somepony who’s lived long enough. I understand it’s probably still tragic for Bright Mac and his wife since they died way too early...

Bright Mac: Yeah… We had so much we wanted t’ do still when we passed, some o’ which we still can’t do as Spirits. But, we’d gladly trade in some o’ those just fo’ the chance t’ see our family every now and then. So fo’ us, this thing is still ultimately a plus.

Pear Butter: One downside to being a spirit is I won’t be able to use my guitar anymore. I can only somewhat touch the ground as well as family members and/or close friends.

Sweetie Belle: But you can still sing! Applejack’s always told me you had a beautiful singing voice

Applejack: Oh yeah! Ya’ll can sing fo’ us again sometime! And don’t worry about ya guitar, ah can play the instrumentals!

Pear Butter: Ok, then yeah. That can work certainly!

Applejack: Oh and ah didn’t meet her until sometime after ya passed. But ya’ll have t’ see ah friend o’ mine in Manehattan. She’s known as Coloratura, but ah call her Rara. She’s ah famous musician. Ya’ll would make fo’ an excellent duet, ah’d be willing t’ bet!

Pear Butter: It’d be great to meet all the friends you’ve met since I passed, AJ.

Scootaloo: Heh, you know what’s funny about spirit summoning? We could potentially have famous singers who have passed away brought back to make new records!

Apple Bloom: If their fans won’t mind the slight echo that spirits have in their voice

Sweetie Belle: Eh, if autotune spells can be relatively popular. I doubt a spirit’s echo would ruin it for most too bad. Heck, you know how I’m into metal? There’s plenty of songs in that genre that include an echo that gives you the best chills of the song!

The family and friends keep on talking for a little more while when suddenly a knock is heard from the other side of the house.

Applejack: Oh looks like we have ah visitor! Ah’ll go see who it is!

((Story continues after the break))

Applejack heads back inside the house and opens the door for the visitor. It just so happens to be Grand Pear.

Grand Pear: Hey there, AJ

Applejack: Oh mah stars! Grand Pear, so nice t’ see ya’ll!

Grand Pear: Nice to see you, too. I’ve been hearing quite a ruckus even from my house, I think my hearing’s weakening, but I almost swear there’s been quite some noise coming from the Apple farm today. Was kinda curious what exactly is happening, and if everypony’s ok.

Applejack: Oh we’re more then ok, Grand Pear. In fact, ya’ll should absolutely join us. Trust me, ya’ll don’t want t’ miss it.

Grand Pear: Do tell…

Applejack: Just follow me, ya’ll quickly see it soon enough.

As Grand Pear and Applejack head back out the other side, Apple Bloom is the first to greet them at the back door

Apple Bloom: Grand Pear! Ya’ll must come out here quick t’ see who’s here! Ya’ll gonna love it!

Grand Pear: Your sister said something similar, though I have no idea what you could possibly mean.

Grand Pear is now back outside as he looks around the group noticing all the Elements of Harmony and Apple Bloom’s friends.

Grand Pear: Don’t you see these ponies all the time? I don’t know why they’d be so great for me to see them, It’s not like you got Pear Bu-

Grand Pear finally notices two ponies with a white glow and somewhat transparent look. Grand Pear just stands there mouth agape but silent before he just becomes a stuttering mess.

Grand Pear:  P-p-p-p-pe-pe-pe-pea-Pear… b-b-b-b-bu-bu-bu-bu-butter?

Grand Pear wipes his eyes in case this was some sudden hallucination he was having. But even given a through wiping, Pear Butter and Bright Mac’s glowing spirits are still there. He walks just a bit closer, but quite slowly. Making sure it wasn’t a cruel mirage either. Pear Butter and Bright Mac themselves look towards Grand Pear. 

At first they look at eachother, though both don’t exactly have happy faces seeing him. Bright Mac giving him a rather mean stare, whilst Pear Butter angles her eyes similarly, but also makes an extra step at turning her back to her father. This distraughts Apple Bloom a bit who doesn’t understand why this isn’t an instant happy reunion.

Apple Bloom: Wh-wh-what’s goin’ on? Why aren’t our parents happy t’ see Grand Pear?

It’s Big Mac who answers his littlest sister

Big Mac: Grand Pear never apologized t’ either Ma or Pa before they passed. All o’ his apologies came t’ their graves, where it looks like the spirits don’t hear us. He was still in Vanhoover at the time.

Apple Bloom frowns

Apple Bloom: Oh no...

The whole group remains quiet as the tension between the spirits and Grand Pear who never managed to get a real contact for reconcilation for how Grand Pear treated them before their wedding.

Grand Pear: I… don’t know how you two are here… but… looks like all my apologies I said to your graves never reached you… did they.

Pear Butter’s ears perk up and she turns back around to look at her father, though she still looks at him with a displeased face. Although it disappoints Grand Pear that everything he’s ever said at Pear Butter’s grave was never heard. It at least assures him that this is actually them, and not some kind of dream.

Grand Pear: Well then… *sigh* I guess this is a good time to finally get to apologize to both of you for real… Pear Butter… Bright Mac… I am so so so so sorry for leaving you the way I did, before I went to Vanhoover… The feud I had with the apple family was the stupidest thing ever and I cringe whenever I’m reminded of those days…

I should have never let a petty competition between me and Granny Smith get so out of hoof that I’d refuse to let my daughter to see somepony she loved just because they happen to be in the apple family.... I’ve… met all your children. They’re all great ponies. Big Macintosh is such a gentle giant, Applejack knows how to keep things honest and is one heck of a hard worker, and lil’ Apple Bloom is just a bundle of joy and youthful optimism that I can’t help but cherish. 

Apple Bloom in particular reminds me a lot of what you were like when you were a filly, Pear Butter…

Grand Pear starts tearing up heavily. Voice occasionally cracking into a weepy tone.

Grand Pear: You were my little girl, I loved you very much. I’ll never forgive myself for prioritizing the pear business over my daughter’s happiness. I never should’ve left! *sniff*

The day I learned of your passing just a little over a decade ago… it was the most heartbreaking day of my life. You died way too soon… and even at the time, I was considering returning to apologize to you… 

But… I was just too late… and that’s what made that day worse… just when I was close to taking a chance at reconnecting with you and finally show I have accepted your love for Bright Mac… and reconciling with the apple family as a whole… fate was cruel… and I had thought I’d never get… *sniff* the opportunity to say sorry for all I’ve done while you were dating Bright Mac…

It hurt me so much it delayed me further from returning to Ponyville, I didn’t even attend your funeral in Ponyville because I thought that was only going to get me cursed out by the entire Apple Family if I attended… but I held my own sigil back in Vanhoover for you… and then I think I cried that whole night… my pillow and the top of my bed was soaked with my tears the next morning… *sniff*

Both Pear Butter and Bright Mac’s expressions have changed. They’re still staring him down, but instead of angry ones, their eyes are tilted in the opposite directions with sad looks on their faces as Grand Pear continues his apology.

Grand Pear: I frankly have no idea how you’re here right now, but I can tell that you are actually here… but the how doesn’t matter as long as I get this chance to apologize to you. You don’t have to accept my apology, I’m sure me being far away when you died probably only made yourself more bitter towards me wherever you spirits go… and I understand that I didn’t treat your love for Bright Mac with the respect that it deserved.

I was a bad father and terrible pony all those years ago, I’ll admit that. But I’m a repentant, changed old pony now… I’ll understand if you still want nothing to do with me after what I did. But I still at least want you to know… that I love you Pear Butter… and as for Bright Mac… I would be more then happy to accept you as a son-in-law now. Pear Butter loved you, and that’s what should of mattered more then anything else… I will forever be sorry… we’re all ponies… we’re all farmers… Pears and Apples are both fruit, and quite frankly both delicious… and your love was valid… but my stupid younger self chose to ignore all of those for some foolish sense of pride…

That’s most of all I’ve wanted to say… I can start heading back home... if I’m still not quite welcome…

Everyone there just stands quiet for a long while as the weight of Grand Pear’s apology falls on the emotions. Pear Butter lowering her head, turning away from her father, for a little bit. Grand Pear frowning, seeing that as a sign that she’s still not ready to accept apologies yet. Just lowers his head as he starts walking back to the Pear farm. He gets about to the other side of the house before… Pear Butter starts calling for him.

Pear Butter: Father… wait…

Grand Pear: Huh?

Pear Butter slowly walks up to her old father and starts to speak to him for the first time since he had rudely made her choose between remaining a Pear, or being an Apple family member at her privately held marriage.

Pear Butter: You were still a stubborn father when we last talked… and my resentment only got deeper when you refused to even so much as reply to our letters when I was raising a family with Bright Mac. The years of raising Big Mac and Applejack when they were little were some of the best years of my life, but if there was one thing that disappointed me was the lack of support I had from you... It’s going to take more then one conversation to fully forgive you for the years of giving me and my husband the cold shoulder…

But… I can still get a sense of the sincerity in your apology. And while I’m not sure I’m quite ready to say that I accept your apology…

Pear Butter sits down and outstretches her hooves.

Pear Butter: Come here, father. I’d be at least willing to hug you for the first time in a while.

Grand Pear gasps, though at first he questions if he even can

Grand Pear: But… aren’t you a…

Pear Butter: Do you want a hug from me or not?!

Grand Pear stands silent for a short moment, nothing would make him happier than getting to hug his daughter again. And if she’s offering, then somehow it must mean it’s possible despite her being a ghost of some sort. He approaches closer, and then Pear Butter wraps her forehooves behind her father’s back. Grand Pear wrapping his own hooves around his daughter as well. He’s surprised at just how warm Pear Butter felt, if he was blind he would of thought Pear Butter had actually never been dead at all.

Grand Pear: This… this is amazing… I thought I’d only just go through you… Don’t suppose I should also give your husband a hug?

Pear Butter: Sorry Father, you likely won’t be able to. We can only touch those who are alive if they’re blood related, or had been friends with us spirits while we were alive.

Grand Pear: Oh… ok then… I guess I have a lot of newfound lore to catch up on then, but that’s good to know… though still a darn shame.

After they release each other from the embrace. They rejoin the group, as Twilight and Applejack recap everything they’ve learned to Grand Pear about spirit summoning, where Pear Butter and Bright Mac went when they died, and what exactly they do up there.

Grand Pear: So… Dragons if they have some special sort of gemstone they can cry out can summon down spirits of the deceased? I guess I have to thank this little feller for allowing me to see my daughter again. I don’t think I’ve actually met you for very long, what’s your name?

Spike: My name is Spike, I’m Princess Twilight’s adopted dragon son.

Grand Pear: Princess Twilight’s son, ay? Well ain’t that adorable. Thank you so much for summoning Pear Butter and Bright Mac down so I could say my apologies. This… isn’t a one time thing, is it?

Spike: No, as long as somepony related to and/or were friends with either Bright Mac and/or Pear Butter goes to see me... I can summon them back down anywhere at any time after they’ve returned to the soul shield.

Grand Pear eyes shine as he hears that

Grand Pear: Why… that’s the best thing ever… so many ponies could see dead friends and family they miss so much again…. It’s incredible. And even when I eventually pass, the Apple siblings can bring me back down on occasion.

But on another note, so my daughter has been circling the planet as one of among trillions of protectors huh. I guess that’s a pretty comforting thought. Most who have ever died in all of history has been keeping us safe the whole time from all the unknowns of space. Makes death all the more less scary too, if we’re greeted by many of our closest relatives and friends before ultimately joining in the noble mission to protect the planet. I just hope I can in time get my apology fully accepted before I’m up there with Pear Butter.

Granny Smith: Until then, you can join in on some bingo with me and the other ol’ gals!

Grand Pear: Ahehheh, perhaps I should.

Apple Bloom approaches her mother

Apple Bloom: So uh.. how ‘bout singing ah song now?

Pear Butter: Oh! Yeah, certainly. I think AJ just needs to get out the guitar and then I can sing.

Applejack: Ah’ll be right back with that, Ma!

Applejack heads back inside the house and brings out her mother’s guitar from it’s case. Heading back outside to sit next to her mother as she gets ready to sing.

Grand Pear: Now this will be good, what song are you going to sing?

Pear Butter: Well… it’s a song that you wouldn’t have approved of in the old days. But I guess thankfully you’ll appreciate it now. It’s a little… love song I had for Bright Mac while we were still dating. It’s called “You’re In My Head Like A Catchy Song”

Grand Pear just smiles

Grand Pear: Let’s hear it.

Meanwhile, Sugar Belle and Big Mac whisper to eachother a little before Pear Butter starts singing. Applejack strums the opening notes

((You’re In My Head LIke A Catchy Song))

Pear Butter: We’re far apart in every way

But you’re the best part, of my day

And sure as I, breathe the air

I know we are the perfect pair!

(Bright Mac starts singing along with his wife)

Pear Butter & Bright Mac: On a prickly path, that goooees on for miiiiiiiillleeeeeeeees

But it’s worth it juuuuussst to see you smiiiiiiiiiiilllleeeeeeee

And I cannot, be pulled apart

From the hold you have, on my heart

And even if, the world tells us it’s wrong

You’re in my head like a catchy song!

(Sugar Belle and Big Macintosh join in to sing for the rest of the song)

Pear Butter, Bright Mac, Sugar Belle, Big Mac: The seasons change, and leaves may fall

But I’lll be with you, through them all

And rain or shine, you’ll always be miiiiiiiinnnneeeeeee

On a prickly path, that goooees on for miiiiiiiillleeeeeeeees

You’re the only one, who makes it all worth whillllllleeeeeeeeeee

And you should not, blame me too

If I can’t help, fallin’ in love with you…

Once the song ends. Both Pear Butter & Bright Mac, as well as Sugar Belle & Big Mac give a good long kiss. The rest of the group at the farm clap, cheer, and/or wipe joyful tears at the beautiful sight of two generations of Apple family couples singing together.

Sweetie: You were right Apple Bloom… your mother has a beautiful singing voice!

Pear Butter: I see that my oldest recalls my lyrics? I guess I did share it to you and AJ back in the day.

Big Mac: Eyyyyyuuuppppp

Sugar Belle: It’s a beautiful song. Big Mac shared the song when we were dating and we practiced singing it ourselves. We thought it’d be nice to sing along.

Pear Butter: I appreciate that, quite a bit.

Grand Pear: Absolutely heartwarming song, Pear Butter. I admit I probably would of tried to rip apart the lyric sheet had I found it was for Bright Mac long ago. But that’s not me anymore. It’s wonderful to get to hear you sing again.

Pear Butter: Thank you, Father.

Twilight: Wonderful singing from both couples! Though if I may, I thought it’d be important to mention something we took an educated guess about with Sunset. We don’t have to send you back ourselves, when Pear Butter and/or Bright Mac fall asleep thy will return to a comet-like form themselves and go back to the soul shield. So they’re free to stay the rest of the day, and then maybe we’ll summon them back down in time for the wedding in two days.

For now, we can hang out some more time here at the farm. But once it gets late at night, we’ll have to get back to sleep whether we’re sleeping back at home or going back to our rooms in Saddle Arabia. Once again, I’ll have the castle protected just like last night.

Bright Mac: Yeah, I think we’ll stay for the night and go back up ourselves once everypony’s asleep.

Pear Butter nods her agreement. As for much of the rest of the day, Pear Butter & Bright Mac spend quality time with family & friends until nighttime. Where most of the Elements and CMC use the portal gum to head back to their rooms in the Saddle Arabian palace. While Twilight and Spike once again put up their protective measures from last night over at the castle.

Meanwhile, in Sire’s Hollow it is also nighttime. Sunburst, Stellar Flare, and for the first time in a long while Sunspot are all in their beds in their own home. Starlight is sleeping in her old room, and Sunset’s spirit is laying (Though perhaps, more like just floating on the bed) next to Firelight. He tries to get some blankets over Sunset but they only go through. Though the try at it certainly makes Sunset giggle.

Firelight: Oops… I guess with the fact I’ve been able to hug and kiss you again briefly made me forget that you weren’t... alive… heh…

Sunset: *giggle* Yeah, you get the blankets all to yourself now. Don’t worry about me, we spirits feel like we’re at normal room temperature at all times. We’ll never be too hot, or too cold.

Firelight: Are you sure? Because with your fiery colors, you’ve always been plenty hot~

Sunset: Hehe, I’m glad you still haven’t outgrown your cheesy flirtations. Always found it rather charming. I guess maybe your much cooler colors may also have brought us to a comfortable level~

The reunited couple hug each other in bed before also kissing.

Firelight: Look.. I know you’ll be gone by the morning, but if you can… hold on tight to me, it’d be nice… to have some more body… or rather spirit warmth as I go to sleep.

Sunset: No problem, Fi-Fi. One perk of being a spirit is I can’t exactly get tired. As long as I don’t close my eyes for too long and/or start drifting off and/or focus.on heading back up. I’ll be here with you. I’ll wait till’ you’re sound asleep and I’ll have my hooves around you the whole time before I leave. I still remember your distinctive snoring, so I’ll know when you’re deep asleep.

Firelight just smiles, and kisses Sunset again.

Firelight: It’s good to have you back, even if repeat visits aren’t going to be quite easy without an easy ride to Ponyville or Canterlot within a year.

Sunset: I’m glad I’ll be able to come back occasionally too, best day of my li- or I guess I should say… afterlife… to see you again, and see the kind of pony my daughter has become. I’m glad I’ll still be able to watch her future unfold from time-to-time.

Firelight: I guess I’ll see you at the wedding in Saddle Arabia next, huh?

Sunset: Yep, should be fun.

Firelight: Goodnight, Shimmy

Sunset: Good night, my darling Fi-Fi.

Sunset and Firelight proceed to hold onto each other for the night. Hours later when Firelight has been snoring for a good while. Sunset closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, before focusing on heading back up. Her comet form leaving the house, back up to the soul shield. Until the next time she gets summoned again.

UP NEXT: Chapter 31: The Sands Of Time & Family

[youngblizzardglitter]

Outed

The sun was bright so bright it woke up Terry in a few moments. He hated it with passion and turned over only for it to still be in his eyes.

Terry sighed getting up from his bed his back ached and his head pounded. He had spent the night packing their stuff to move back to their home town. And like usual his younger brother forgot to pack and he had to do it.

He's gonna miss me when am dead. He thinks moving past his boxes to close his window. His boxes wide open go see his stuff he had stopped halfway too tired to continue.

"Your up?" He asks seeing the younger boy putting on his shoes. He was never up this early and usually woke up at ten or eleven.

"Your not." He laughs mentioning his hair wrapped and tired face. Terry rolled his eyes. "I am meeting with Valerie remember?"

"Your girlfriend?" Terry jokes leaning on the stairwell smirking at his pink face.

"No!" He says looking back at his shoes. "She invited me to a party and her friends couldn't come. And I want to be ready."

"What kind of party is so early?" He looks over to the clock that read 7:50.

"It's a long drive from here. The family is rich or something." He shrugs that's what Valerie had told him he didn't know the family either.

"What me to make you something?" He says walking down stretching. "Or do you want to wait for the drive?"

"I don't know may-Hey!" He says as Terry ruined his hair. "I worked hard on this!"

"Okay." He pulls out some milk and cereal. "You want some eggs or?"

"Naw I'll take a sandwich." He says looking for his coat. "Where's my-"

"Upstairs to the left of your bed." He finished knowing he never remembered where it was.

"Thanks." He said running up the stairs to get them.

"Where's my-"

"Up." He says remembering he put his sunglasses there. He really is going to miss me when I die.

"Thanks." He said looking out the window. "There he is!"

"You forgot something!" He says taking his headwrap out. He promptly came back and kissed Terry's cheek.

"Your sandwich you idiotic freckle!" He says as the girl in the car laughed at the nickname Ace stuck his tongue out embarrassed and the older Tornado happily returned the gesture.

But he did take his sandwich ad he would consider it a win.

He quickly needed to get a shower and put on some old clothes he needs to pack he couldn't believe how long this summer had felt.

The death of their uncle had taken a bit of a toll on the both of them he was always busy but he did make efforts whether or not they were needed. He left Terry everything in his estate. So he decided maybe a change of paste and place would help him.

He didn't have such luck. He had to be ready for a call every day about something. He had to do a funeral, a will reading, getting custody of Ace and on top take care of him.

It wasn't like he didn't already he practically raised Ace after their mom died. He still missed her despite not knowing her much.

And hate the bastard that killed her. He thinks closing a box angrily. He had his face burned in memory.

And if I ever have to-

The doorbell rang knocking him out of his daze he didn't even shower yet and someone was at the door. Geez, why is the world so up?

"Terrac-" a big man started. He wore a black suit and had glasses like any businessman. This should have been sign one it was bad along with his government name.

"Terry." He corrects instantly leaning by the door. Everyone always knew after a bit not to call him that.

"I have a letter for you and it's urgent matters we need to discuss." He started to be cut off.

"You have a warrant?" He asks quickly he was smarter than that.

"Am not coming in I just need to make sure this was delivered."

"And read." He hands him a card. "Call me when you do it seems like you have a lot to do." He was judging the state of the house.

Bitch. Terry slammed the door close.

Is it a government letter? No, it's never this serious. Is it the court telling me that I can't adopt Ace? No am almost 18 it's cool.

Then who the fuck was that? Is this blackmail?! What the fuck have I done now?!

Terry breathe and open the letter it can't be that bad, can it?

"Where the fuck is he?!" A voice screamed through the house. Everyone paused hearing it they knew who that was they didn't know why he was here.

Steve's head snapped away from Cree towards an angry Terrence Tornado who had papers in his head. His eyes were dangerous as they glowed purple and that was a bad sign. It meant he was pissed.

"Where the fuck is your father?!" He screams marching towards him.

"Outback why do you-" He couldn't even finish his sentence when the hardest slap he ever got in his life it threw him into the wall. "Ow!" He screams dropping his punch to hold his face as it burned as Tifa asked him if he was okay. His teens and their parents stood in shock knowing the uninvited teen came to start something.

But what?

"Terry what the-" He looked around not finding him.

"Fernando you little bitch!" He screams walking down the staircase that lead to the party for said, man. "What the fuck?!"

Steve quickly went to the balcony to watch as did his teens. His father stood shocked holding his mother's hand who eyes broadened at the sight of purple eyes. So did a few others knowing what they meant.

"Terrance?" He asks as his guests looked at the scene playing before them. Their eyes fixated on how angry Terry was. The way his eyes light up and his face of pure rage.

"What are you doing?"

"I could ask you the same thing!" He pulls the letter open and unfolds it."What the fuck is this?!"

"Paper?" A glass got thrown at his head for that perfect aim. A few gasped when Terry threw it as it nearly hit Rose.

"No a court order for custody of your son." He says looking back on it. "You never claimed him when he was born what's your motive now?!"

"What-"

"How are you pull up to me?!? Tell me " Oh I wanna see my kid so bad am taking you to court for it" like you dont owe him fucking thousands of dollars of child support?!"

He screams walking close to them as they walked back people wondering if they should call the cops.

"I swear on your life if you don't get your head out of your ass and cancel this court date I'll sue you right for negligence and abandonment!"

The air got silent quickly at that. Terry's face didn't look like he was messing around. Mr.Fizz took a sip of the champagne they were serving at his party.

"Terrance-"

"Don't you fucking dare." He snaps knowing he was egging him on. He of all people should know he hated that name.

"Fine Terry. How about we go inside and-"

"And what? Lie to me? Blackmail me? Like you did my mom?" He says not letting him finish people began to whisper.

"I never-"

"Yeah, you did you piece of shit." He says nonchalantly. He wasn't even mad very at that just disappointed.

"Why I never!" Mrs.Dickson announced holding Rose's hand. "What a rude ill-mannered boy. Whatever this is is being blown out of proportion. Did you really need to come today and ruin it?"

Macy Dickson always was a hard-spoken woman she always said what was on her mind. She wouldn't allow her best friends twenty-five marriage be tainted.

Terry looked back at her ready to curse her out and then saw a banner reading: "Happy Anniversary Fernando and Rosetta Fizz."

He didn't have the reaction you'd expect he didn't become sheepish or have a moment of realization he smirked with malice intent.

"Oh, so you didn't tell Rose this party is basically a lie?" He laughs like he was told a joke.

"Terrance-"

"Because you fucked my mom a decade ago? And hid your affair child?" He laughs shaking his head. "She could do better."

"Wait what?!" Steve said from the balcony everyone glanced to see his shocked face as if he been slapped. As his cheek was redder than his shirt. "Dad what's he's talking about?!" The realization of something hitting him hard.

"You a bastard! Your so lucky people are here so I can't kill you!" He stepped forward. "Kinda the way you killed my mom!"

"I-"

"Yeah, you fucking did! I heard that phone call!" He stepped closer again as his wife removed herself from this display completely distraught.

"Was she not enough?! You wanna take Ace from me too?!"

"I swear to God every time our families meet someone from mines dies! What do you want this time?!"

"I don't want-"

"Speak for fucks sake-!"

"Then let me!" He screamed back. He coughs quickly realizing he too now was causing a scene.

"I don't know much about this just yet this was sprung on me a few days ago. Whatever this is can be over promptly."

They stood there looking at each other unfazed waiting for the other to make their move everyone knew the air was tense and that they shouldn't butt in. Two minutes passed before Terrence moved.

"Dear Terrace Max Tornado, We hope that this letter finds you in good health as we recently became aware of you taking custody of your younger brother Alejandro Ace Tornado after the recent death of your uncle Ice Tornado."

Mr.Fizz gapped knowing he was backed into a corner everyone became speechless as they heard intensely Steve leaned in hearing from far.

"But we the court of Virginia state are sorry to inform you that you cannot as his biological father Fernando Burno Fizz wishes to also get that right and demand custody of Alejandro the least fifty percent."

Terry looked back at him testing him.

Say something I dare you. His eyes yelled smirking. 

"Your court date is the first Tuesday of next month. Please being a lawyer and any paperwork that helps with your case as we cannot continue with your demand for custody of your younger brother. While it is unusual to allow it to you at the recent age of sixteen."

"Please contact us or your lawyer for any questions."

He stopped reading looking back on him testing him. His eyes no longer glowing but we're deep purple signaling he was still angry. Mr.Fizz looked down at his glass knowing he was deep in a hole now.

"I haven't even opened the second one you bitch." He snaps putting the letter back. Everyone mouth was open even Macy's

"Terence is it?" His wife asks getting close to him. "Terry." He corrected taking his eyes off him he could sense she wasn't mad.

"What don't you go inside? I want to have a few words with you about your brother." She asked placing her empty wine glass and coming towards.

"Rose this isn't -" Her husband tried he was then giving a hard slap to the face knocking him in the pool people gasping when she poured her champagne on him. Terry put a hand over his mouth as she screamed obscenities in Spanish his way.

"Come on honey." She says quickly shooing him into her kitchen away from the eyes and talk. "You don't have to worry about him anymore."

"Now can you tell me about Ace?" She asks closing the windows

"Don't you want to deal with that?" He asks hearing commotion and Mr.Fizz's voice.

"He made his bed." She says taking off her fancy clothes and heels. Terry looked away for a moment and she looked completely different when out of fancy clothes she still had her makeup.

"Am beautiful I know." She makes a gesture and smirks as Terry softly laughs. They stared at the table not knowing where to start.

"Can I see the letter?" She asks reaching for it."If you will let me?"

"Go for it. I haven't read the other one." He says handing both over. He had been so pissed he flew over with his powers knocking over some cars and mailboxes he hoped no one saw it.

He looked intensely at her as her face went through so much yet not one tear. She then looked back at him and the letter he suddenly felt awkward.

Did she not know? Did I miss read her? Oh God, she didn't know any of this, did she?

Mrs. Dickson was right I just ruined her whole marriage. But I am right she could do way better.

Maybe I shouldn't have barged in and embarrassed her.

"Here." She says dropping a glass of juice. "It's early and you looked like you haven't eaten yet."

"Am good." He says not wanting to overstay his welcome she nods and drinks it.

"So want to discuss?"

"Sure."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steve winced again when a new layer of ice was put on his face. Chad raised an eyebrow at him annoyed.

"Sorry but this hurts." He says remembering how he got the wound. Terry was stronger than he remembered.

"I still say you fight him or something," Cree said disapproving of him. "He just slapped you like it's nothing important he can't get away from that he assaulted you!"

"I'll talk to my mom about it." He said remembering his mom taking the angry teen to her personal kitchen even he wasn't in. They had been there for hours.

"Is what he saying about your dad true?" Jushtin asked confused. "Or is not?"

Steve thought back to something that happened a few months ago.

"I'll do my best Estaban." Those words echoed in his head as he thought for a second.

"Hold the fuck up." He says getting up and running the stairs. "Hold the fuck up?"

"What's this about?"

"Does mom know?"

"Who is that?"

"Terry?!"

"Dad!" He says coming into the room only to see his dad on the phone.

"Remember a few months ago?"

[whatzaoverwatch]

The Reaper of the Opera Chapter 3: Angel of Music

Oh lawd he coming, just you wait

First Prev Next

 Backstage/Night

You had made your way back to the dressing room, filled with upmost praise and excitement. It took longer than you imagined to pull away from the managers pleas to get pictures for the press. As much as the thrill was tempting, you felt the need to take a breather. Overwhelmed by such compliments you never thought would be heard. Beaming from your cheeks as you are suddenly greeted by an embrace from Lena.

“[Name], you were amazing!” She chirped with delight, leaving you flustered in her hold.

“Thank you, Lena. I should especially thank you in return; It was you who volunteered me in the first place afterall. I never thought I would be able to perform like that to anyone.” You confessed with a meek smile.

“Don’t be so down on yourself, I have heard you sing. You were made to be center stage for the world to hear!” She chimed holding your hands with hers, “You could be the very next Hana Song for all we know.”

“That is until she has recovered Lena,” Reminding her of the harsh reality, “Once Hana is up on her feet, it’s back to dancing for me. I can’t imagine how frustrated she is, but I am sure we will suffer greatly for it. I don’t mind really, at least I’ll have one moment to hold in my dreams.”

“Don’t think like that. Maybe you will get your chance sooner than you think,” She hummed seeing you look down for a moment, “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but when did you learn to sing like this?”

You perked up at the answer, never been asked such a thing before. Looking around both of your surroundings until you pulled her into your dressing room. The room covered in red curtains and various wardrobes. Red velvet wallpaper to compliment the golden tassels. A vanity to rest yourself upon along with an enormous mirror to gaze upon your reflection. She tiled her head curiously as you spoke.

“When my father died, I thought I had no one left in this world. No one to share our music with. But I remember him saying that he will always be by my side no matter what happened,” Biting you lower lips, brushing your thumb against her knuckles before whispering, “I didn’t believe him at first, until I started hearing a voice.”

“A voice?” Lena looked puzzled.

“A voice teaching me to sing. Instructing me with my voice. Like, some kind of angel,” You nodded with certainty at those words, “An Angel of Music, one my father had sent for me. It is truly a gift Lena.”

“But, is it truly what you th-“Before she could ask, a suddenly thump of a familiar cane alerted the young dancer. Springing up to greet Ana, who stood by the doorway, “Good evening Madame Amari.”

“Lena, shouldn’t you be resting before your practice?” Ana questioned with a curious eyebrow raise. Leaving the young one to let go of your hands with a nod.

“Right away Madame, see you tomorrow [Name].” She spoke with a smile. The sweetness halted upon hearing Ana clear her throat.

Hurrying out of the dressing room, Ana watched over where the young dancer went off to before looking back at you. Your shyness returning as Ana reached for the door handle. Recalling when she first took you in back when your father was still alive. Befriending her daughter Fareeha, then Lena, and finally a reluctant Amelie. Practically adopting you when your father passed away. She always kept her eye on you, like the mother you never had. Much to the years that you had known the dance instructor, she still had this sternness in her presence that left you nervous.

“You rest too [Name]. Your performance was exceptional this evening. Your father would be proud.” She stated before closing the door behind her. Leaving you in your solitude as you took a seat by your vanity. Gazing upon your makeup, taking in your moments of glory with a smile. The thoughts lingering into your head until you heard a familiar whisper in the room.

“Brava my dear, Brava…”

The whispers being hushed by a sudden knock and opening. Figuring it was one of the managers, you continued to discard of your costume.

“If you desire more pictures with the press, I am afraid you will have to come back tomorrow.” Your words were responded with a familiar chuckle.

“A picture? No, I was hoping to find my missing scarf.”

Eyes wide at the voice, you felt a suddenly flow of memories flooding back to you. Of a young boy that you had taken an orange scarf from. A fit of giggles that you could never forget. Spinning around, you were greeted by a smiling Genji, leaning against the door frame with a cherry blossom in his hand. Face lighting up with joy, you rose from your seat in excitement.

“Genji Shimada? Is that you??” You gasped while he entered your room casually. Taking a look at an old friend as you found him completely different than before. More metal than skin, but that smile you could never forget. Covering your mouth in awe to see him, “Look at you! You’ve grown so much.”

“As have you, you look absolutely radiant [Name].” He stated, his voice gentle and sweet towards you.

“How long has it been? What are you doing here?” You wondered bewildered by this reunion.

“Quite a long time, [Name],” Presenting you with the sakura, letting you take it with a blush on your cheeks, “I had returned back with my brother to partake in a walk down memory lane. Colour me surprised when I had discovered that my troublemaker partner was the star of the show.”

“If I recall correctly it was you who caused the trouble. Even being called a Sparrow from your father,” Watching him snicker at that old name, you fiddled with the rose in your hand, “I never thought you would return here again after his passing.”

“I thought that myself at one time. I was also informed of your father passing away long ago as well, forgive me for not being there to pay my condolences,” Rubbing the back of his neck nervously, he watched you take your place back at the vanity, “Your father and mine were close friends. I would’ve desired to have come back, if it hadn’t been for…”

Turning back to face him, you watched the unease in his brown eyes. It was clear something went wrong during your time apart, but you were just glad he could remember someone like you. Reaching a hand over to take his, you grabbed his attention with your smile.

“Genji, that is all in the past. I am sure you had your reasons, that doesn’t make me think any different of you.”

Seeing his eyes look into yours, a sense of ease seeing your childhood friend before you once more. A sense of comfort residing between the both of you. He grinned as an idea formed into his mind.

“Come, you must join my brother and I for dinner. We must catch up after all these years!” He claims, proceeding to take you out the door. Suddenly alert on his idea, you release his hand to stay within the room. He look at you in confusion from your resistance.

“I appreciate the gesture Genji and I am so glad to see you again. But I cannot leave tonight, I have my singing lessons.” Gently declining him, he is left puzzled by your words.

“Lessons? But you have already finished your performance. We must celebrate your achievement. This is your moment [Name].” He implores, taking your hands into his. Pressing your lips into a thin line, you shook your head, despite how much your heart wanted to go.

“I am very sorry Genji, but he is very strict. If I do not follow his instructions-” Trying to explain as you felt uneasy at the idea of abandoning your teacher.

“I am sure he is alright with you sparring one night. He would want you to celebrate as well. Oh! I must inform Hanzo of your accompaniment,” He heads for the door, stopping his tracks to look back at you, “I will return shortly [Name], be ready when I return. No ifs ands or buts!”

“Genji wait!” You called to him, only for him to already be gone. The door closed behind him as you are left in your thoughts

Unable to help but sigh, you turned to face the dressing room with concern. Proceeding to undress into your attire, your thoughts lingered on the thought of joining. He is your childhood friend and you hadn’t seen him in ages. It’d be pleasant to catch up after all of these years. Wondering how his brother looked after so long. Recalling how grumpy he was every time the two of you pulled various pranks upon him. Being scolded by your parents as you two shared a few laughs. Genji had grown up, but he still carried that sweet tender smile as he did back then. He was just as handsome as his father. You were heart broken when he had left, especially before your fathers passing.

It was no lie that you had a crush on him, but you never thought he would admire you in return. Blushing over at the sakura you were given, you couldn’t turn away such an offer to rekindle a flame. One night wouldn’t hurt, would it? Tying up your black silk robe, covering the delicate matching corset and stockings beneath, you proceeded to look for your best dress In the middle of your thoughts. Wondering if you still had your green dress laying about. Before you could find it, the lights began to flicker within your room. A sinking feeling befell you as you felt the air grow cold. Darkness taking over the room giving one certain sign of what that meant. In a panic, you began to stride for the door, only to be halted by a familiar voice.

“Insolent boy! This knave of fashion, basking in your glory. Ignorant fool! This brave young suitor, sharing in my triumph!” The whisper now booming around the room, displeased at what had happened.

You knew never to turn away from the voice. You knew your fate was sealed as you looked around, trying to calm the voice with your own.

“Angel, I hear you. Speak, I listen. Stay by my side, guide me. Angel my soul was weak, forgive me. Enter at last, Master.” The darkness in the room growing stronger as nothing but the voice could give you comfort.

“Flattering child, you shall know me. See why in shadow I hide. Look at your face in the mirror,” Turning you gaze to the mirror, finding a shadow forming from the reflection. Mesmerized as the voice spoke once more, “I am there inside!”

Approaching the mirror every so slowly, guided by your Angel of Music. One you had always turned to for your teachings. A voice and a presence you knew in your mind. For the first time, you could feel the presence of your angel. Left in a trance as you approach the mirror with no fear or hesitation.

“My Angel of Music...” You whispered while you walked before the shadow. The figure within the mirror, wearing a bone like mask, watching you approach the reflection. Unaware of the mirror opening to reveal a man before you.

“Yes, I am your Angel of Music…come to me Angel of Music.” The figure beckoned you, raising a gloved hand to your direction. His voice whispered in a hush, but deep with a growl. Leaving you hypnotized to his words as you take his hand ever so slowly. Being pulled into the mirror by the mysterious man, you step into the darkness with the mirror closing right behind you.

The lights flickering once more as Genji returns into your room. A face full of excitement only to drop by your absence. Not a trace of the events prior to be seen. Looking around the room in desperation, he searched all over until he spots the very cherry blossom he gifted you on the floor. Picking it up, he looks around having an uncertain feeling in his stomach.

“[Name]? [Name]!” He called to the open air, in hopes for a response. But to no prevail you were taken, by the Reaper of the Opera.

To be continued