#if my future kids aren’t as cute as this little green creature

[dustbunsinspace]

Got an anon ask ‘who my least fav turtle is if Leo is my favourite’ and it made me realise I don’t draw my ACTUAL favourite turtle enough, so it might really look like that 😤

I wanted to doodles just the three recent ones but my brain went brrr, and my hand slipped and kept slipping until I got the whole orange fam (could probably still add a few more, maybe later). Anyway, MIKEY SUPREMACY ✨🧡🍊💪 (I love them all but he has a very special place in my heart).

( you can find it on Redbubble ⭐️ )

EDIT; Someone asked me who some of them are so;

[vateacancameos]

How To Move to Night Vale: Step 1, Arrive in Town; Step 2, Automatically Become a Resident

Fandom: Welcome to Night Vale Characters: You, Minor Cecil Palmer, Other characters Words: 1476

Summary: How does Night Vale get new residents? Given the high death count, either all the citizens have a TON of kids, or Night Vale simply ... acquires new people. I imagine the town is sentient enough to pull in people it likes. Here's a story of how that might happen.

***

You don’t intend to move to Night Vale. It just sort of … happens? You have a good job and a good home, and you are perfectly satisfied—no, not satisfied … content—with your life. But Night Vale happens, and you just go with it, like you always do. Your friends have always told you its your best trait.

You’re traveling to visit your sister, and on the drive across the desert that takes you to her, you stop overnight at a motel on the edge of the town you hit around supper time. You think it’s a little odd that you have to sign the register in blood—you have a perfectly nice working pen in your bag—but hey, if they want to conserve ink, who are you to tell them otherwise? You’re just passing through.

The next morning, after one of the best sleeps you’d had in years—you aren’t sure if it was the mournful moaning three doors down or the sickly sweet aroma bubbling out of the misting machine by the bed, but whatever it is worked like a charm—you find an orange envelope slipped under your door. In semaphore drawings, it tells you that you have been assigned as the new English teacher. Your semaphore knowledge is weak, so you’re not sure if the previous teacher quit or was swallowed by a black hole, but it doesn’t really matter.

read the rest under the cut

You shrug. You majored in psychology and have been working in the field as such for the last five years, but you did have a lot of writing to do in school, so you think you can handle this. English is mostly about reading books and talking about them, right? You can manage that. You like to read. You call your sister to let her know you won’t be visiting this week after all, but your phone starts smoking and sparking as soon as she answers. You’ll have to remember to hunt down a computer and try emailing her later.

You arrive at Night Vale High School and are directed to the vice principal’s office. She’s very excited you showed up already in uniform. You look down at your grey t-shirt, jean capris, and orange Chuck Taylors and ask about the color of the shoes. Everyone else’s seem to be a rust color. She waves you off and says that will be taken care of at the morning sacrificial ceremony. You nod. It’s always nice to not have to change your look just to go to work.

You are given attendance sheets, scrolls, and a watercolor set and directed to your room. When you arrive, the class is already full. It’s always nice to come into a new job where everything is already in place. You take attendance, which takes a good forty minutes, since everyone must perform their own interpretive dance routine to announce their presence, then you open up the scroll to see what the students are working on.

The scroll is filled with numbers and letters. Algebra? Geometry? You barely past stats in college and have tried to forget as much math as possible. You ask one of the students. They look at you funny and say “It’s English! What kind of English teacher are you?”

Now, you’ve been pretty roll-with-the-punches so far, because it’s in your nature to be so, but this is definitely not English. A tiny elfin-looking creature at the back of the room stands up and sighs. “Come on, Mike, give the new teacher a break. The administration only switched English and algebra a week ago. Maybe she wasn’t around to hear that announcement.” It’s nice being in a place that gets your gender right on the first try.

Your shoulders drop in relief. You say that you only arrived in Night Vale the night before and had indeed missed the announcement that English and algebra had been switched. You make a mental note to talk to the vice principal, but figure you can handle one day of teaching. Maybe it’ll turn out that you’re really good at it. You won’t know until you try.

Unfortunately, you’re pants at algebra, both in learning and teaching it. The morning drags on forever, but lunchtime eventually comes. The sentient patch of blue fog that teaches theater (“I’m Misty. Yeah, my parents have terrible taste in names, laugh it up.”) invites you to eat lunch with her. You’d rather eat alone, but you’re polite and accept. Perhaps you can learn more about the school and town.

You’re warned not to ever go to the library (“Not that an English teacher ever needs to go to the library”) but told that the Moonlite All-Nite Diner has the best invisible pie in town. Misty gives you a spare coupon for a free slice of pizza from Big Rico’s. When you say you’re gluten intolerant, Misty laughs and says, “Aren’t we all?” She’s cute when she laughs. You wonder if she’d go get a slice with you some evening.

The afternoon goes faster after you decide to forgo teaching algebra and just talk about your favorite movies instead. You applaud the school system on molding such polite, intelligent children. They all do exactly as asked, and the one time a student speaks out of turn, he looks completely terrified, which concerns you just a bit, but you let it go. It’s your first day after all. They’ll get used to you.

You try to talk the vice principal into switching you to … would it be called algebra? ... class, or really anything else but math, but she shrugs and said it’s already been carved into the bloodstones. When you say you’re terrible at math, she asks if you can count to eight. When you affirm, she says you’ll be fine. You sigh and nod.

You ask her where the closest real estate office is, so you can look into getting an apartment—the motel is great and all, but the orange buzzing lights are really annoying after a while. The vice principal’s eyes go wide and her face pales to an olive green, she stutters a bit before the administrative assistant pokes his head through the door and reminds her that you can just take the old English teacher’s home, since they no longer need it, being an Erika now. The vice principal looks relieved.

You raise your eyebrows but follow their directions to your new home—a cute tri-level with a yellow door, the bloodstone circle that you’d learned earlier that day was required in all Night Vale homes, a cheerful kitchen, six bedrooms, and no bathroom.

A smooth voice whispers that the last occupant converted the bathrooms to bedrooms, since they had no use for them, and gives you the number of a reliable plumber. You wonder if your neighbors are nice enough to let you use theirs until you can get one installed. One waved to you as you arrived earlier. He had a very furry face, but there seemed to be a smile hidden under the hair.

Your neighbors are indeed very nice. They are a fairly young couple with two children. The man who waved at you says you’re welcome to use their bathroom whenever. The other man, the one who answered the door, gives you a key to their home, plus the appropriate runes to keep the door from eating you. You make a note to bake them a pie in thanks. You talk about the weather, as good neighbors do, along with the chances of Night Vale’s football team this year (a topic kindly suggested by the woman in a balaclava and cape hiding in the verge) before heading back to your new home to unpack your one bag. You’ll have to go shopping soon. Your Chucks won’t last long if they get covered in blood every day, and you’re about out of deodorant.

That night, you lay in your bed, listening to the screeching of the setting sun—it seems a bit late, almost eleven, but time has never meant that much to you anyway—and think about your first day as a Night Vale citizen. This place is like no other place you’ve ever lived. It’s strange, you won’t deny it, but you like it. It’s comfortable. Even while your brain is telling you it’s wrong in so many ways, your body is saying it’s perfectly natural.

Your mind finally calms when your radio turns itself on for the government-mandated community radio show, and you consider your future. The radio host gushes about the town’s resident scientist, and you smile sleepily when you hear that they just got married. You make a note to sit with Misty at lunch tomorrow. You really should ask her out.

You look forward to tomorrow for the first time in years. You think you’re finally home.

[ascottywrites]

The Steter List --Tails

  After I realized that the last post was getting pretty long (what does that say about me?) I decided to split it up into two parts Sterek and Steter, so that it’s easier to deal with and not as possibly overwhelming...here’s that Steter half! 

         --Steter a.k.a Stiles Stilinski/ Peter Hale--

  *a.k.a. The ship that makes me rethink life

Something Powerful Between Your Thighs by Bunnywest (Complete: 4/4| 18,595) --Steter/ --Biker!Peter

Someone’s actually replied.Fuck.

I’ll give you what you need, pretty boy. And you can call me Sir.

The hairs on the back of Stiles’s neck prickle at that, and his dick throbs. He clicks on the profile and the picture that pops up is UN-FUCKING-FAIR. Jesus Christ on a bicycle, nobody should look like that. The man’s staring into the camera, a smile that’s almost a sneer on his face. And what a face it is. Intense blue eyes, cheekbones like cut glass, and a strong jawline covered in the perfect amount of stubble. His neck, what Stiles can see of it, is thickly muscled, and Stiles can see the beginnings of a tattoo that travels down. There’s the tiniest scattering of grey at his temples, and Stiles breathes out, “Oh yes, Sir,” as he drinks in the details on the profile.

Sacrificial Lamb by Bunnywest (Complete: 21/21| 54,900) --Steter

The Alpha has a scruffy beard, unkempt hair and dazzling blue eyes. The scar on his face is raised, running down his cheek like a twisting, gnarled rope. Stiles knows that it came from the blade of Kate Argent herself, and that the Alpha got it fighting in the battle where Kate killed his lover, cutting his head clean from his neck, if the stories are to be believed.

The Alpha lets Stiles look his fill, before indicating that Stiles should take the other couch, and Stiles does so, his father’s words echoing in his ears. He can do this, can be pleasant and amenable. The lives of his people may depend on it. The Alpha spends long moments surveying him, before saying, “I like you, Stiles.”

You don’t know me, Stiles wants to blurt out, but he bites his tongue.

The Wild Card by Bunnywest for Rainy182 (Complete: 1/1| 10,799) --Steter

It's courting season, and for Omega Stiles, that means he has a month to choose who he's going to spend his heat with. He didn't think he'd have many suitors to choose from, but apparently he was wrong. It's a good thing he has Derek's uncle Peter to guide him.

Ink Blossoms by Triangulum (Complete: 1/1| 24,501) --Steter/ Tattooed!Peter 

"So, you're going to ruin your niece's baby shower with flowers in the wrong color?" the florist, Stiles, asks when they reach the counter. He pulls out a binder and starts flipping through it.

"Not ruin. Mildly inconvenience," Peter says.

"Right, messing with a hormonal pregnant woman seems like a great plan."

"To be fair, her fiance and the father of her baby is my ex-boyfriend," Peter says. "And we weren't broken up when they started 'dating'."

Stiles looks up at him in surprise. "And you're still getting her flowers?" he asks.

"It's under duress, I assure you," Peter says. He absolutely wouldn't be here if his alpha hadn't ordered it.

"Well, shit, yeah, let's get you some purple revenge flowers," Stiles says.

smoke & bone (mistletoe & fang) by rightsidethru (Complete: 1/1|  3,075) --Steter 

Deaton once told Stiles to be that spark. He never fully explained what that meant, however. (It was intentional.)

Lie to me (I like them pretty and white) by orphan_account (Complete: 8/8| 12,577) --Steter 

Fact number one: Only true mates can have kids together.Fact number two: Peter had a mate, who was pregnant with twins when he died in the fire.

When Stiles tells him he’s pregnant, he... well, it doesn't really go according to plan.

Stiles wakes up in the hospital. He’s alone, a packed overnight bag beside him brought by his dad probably... and he doesn’t really have a reason to stay, so he grabs it and runs.

/look at end notes for TWs/

*I still think this one is a cute little ditty. 

Til Death by Bunnywest (Complete: 10/10| 50,770) --Steter 

"How long do we have to find him someone?” Stiles asks.

“Two weeks,” says Derek, eyebrows pulling down even further. The fierceness of his expression tells Stiles just how concerned he is.

“He marries, or he goes to the camps. And you know what your father told us,” Scott reminds her.

The camps……aren’t camps.

Peter either finds a wife, or he dies.

*I'm not really a fan of female!Stiles, no particular reason, just not my cuppa. But this one I enjoyed all the way to the end! Intro to Ethics by thegirlnamedcove (Complete: 8/8| 18,061) --Steter 

"The universe isn’t wrong about this stuff, the soulmate spell is ironclad, and that means you know this is going to work out. That’s something people don’t get with friends, or dating around.”

“Sure, people say that,” Stiles gestured at the mark where his arm was now stretched out along the back of the couch, “but we don’t actually have any way of knowing. None of us signed up for this. The Ancestors just decided to bestow it upon us and we all have to live with it. Maybe it’s not magic compatibility after all, maybe people just learn to live with one another because everyone around them is telling them to.”

In Sickness and in Fire by wynnebat for Green (Complete: 1/1| 7,320) --Steter 

After a fight with an alpha from a rival pack, Stiles begins to turn. It doesn't go as expected.

*Despite the villan-esque portrayal and the Satan in a V-neck tag, there is a large part of me that believes that if Resurrected!Peter got the opportunity he would be that guy you want to have your back. Puppies and Programming by Bunnywest (Complete: 12/12| 17,012) --Steter 

Stiles is rich, successful, and lonely.

Buying a Halebot Personal Support Bot seems like a great idea. A human-like robot that can read and respond to his desires and is perfectly sexually compatible, and doubles as a bodyguard? Sign him the fuck up. And it's perfect, at first. But then the P3Tr develops a glitch. Feelings.

Gentleman 'verse by Bunnywest (on-going series) --Steter 

Stiles is an omega who just wants to be courted properly, and needs someone to help him though his upcoming heat.

Peter's the alpha who thinks he'd quite like to help out.

Things don't quite go as planned, but they still work out exactly as they should.

*Is it obvious that I have a special appreciation for Bunnywest?... Like is it too noticeable? Ha! 

Worn Out Shoes by moonstalker24 (Complete: 28/28| 96,763) --Steter 

When the dead rise, and the world comes to an end, the McCall Pack must learn to live in this new world, or die in the attempt. This is the story of the end, and of the year that follows.

*I found this origionally for the Accidental Baby Aquisition tag. ...I love that tag.

Falling In, Not Through by Julibean19 for Mysenia (Complete: 10/10| 49,898) --Steter 

“You need to help me,” Stiles says eventually. He’s still in too much pain to move off the floor, but he’s picked up a stray feather, twirling it between two fingers with a look of pure terror on his face. Peter nods immediately, eager and willing to be involved in whatever this is.

Peter’s eyes flick between the feather spinning between Stiles’ fingers and the harsh angle of the bend of his wings above his shoulders. He doesn’t look like any picture of an angel Peter has ever seen. There should be an elegant swooping curve there, neat little rows of white or gold or silver, pointed tips flung far out from Stiles’ body and a halo above his head. If Stiles is an angel, the myths are all wrong.

In which Stiles finds that he has wings and Peter finds that a pack doesn't always need to be made up of wolves.

Wild Creatures by neglectedtuesday (Complete: 1/1| 13,000) --Steter 

The treaty is signed while Stiles is being laced into his wedding corset. Ink splatters parchment as a maid pulls the ribbons, tighter and tighter. Stiles’ breath and future are taken away, all to save a village. He is a sacrifice more than a bride. The maid assists in fixing a choker around Stiles throat. Her hands are cold despite the roaring fire in the grate. The choker is a string of blood red rubies, they reflect the firelight with a wet shine like an open wound.

I'm Only Heard During the Silence Between My Screams by Irukashi_Narukib (wip: 39/?| 47,481) --Steter 

Stiles thinks no one is listening, so he just... stops talking. It's just like that asshole Peter to refuse to take the hint.

Rewriting the future by Synesthetic (Complete: 28/28| 106,631) --Steter 

Two days before their planned bonding, alpha Derek Hale runs away with his secret beta girlfriend, leaving Stiles heartbroken. With the demands of his omega physiology forcing him to bond with someone before his first heat, Derek's uncle Peter steps in and offers a solution.

A Darkness Follows by havok2cat (Complete: 9/9| 41,994) --Steter 

Stiles serves his community service at Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital. He's assigned to a mysterious patient and finds himself quickly becoming obsessed.

Reluctant Allies With Benefits by veterization (Complete: 8/8| 93,217) --Steter

Peter suggests he and Stiles start having no strings attached sex. It's that simple. No, really, it totally is. Stiles will make sure of it.

as you are by veterization (Complete: 1/1| 34,093) --Steter 

Stiles runs straight into a tree and suddenly, things are... different. Namely, he's in a world where Peter Hale is his boyfriend.

Took the Words Right Out of my Mouth (Must've Been When You Where Kissing Me) by stellewrites (Complete: 1/1| 6,008) --Steter

"Maybe he’s genuinely flirting, but he’s just pretty bad at it. Like, pulling your pigtails kind of thing?”

Stiles rolled his eyes, “Look, if you’re not going to help, I’m going to hang up, ok?”

“You asked for my opinion!” Scott laughed.

“Yeah, yeah…” AKA, Stiles works at a diner and has a love/hate relationship with the flirty Alpha that comes in almost daily with his pack.

Winding Roads to Flowering Fields by Tahlruil (ongoing series) --Steter

[erinevrly]

father’s day drabble. childhood verse ( 1986. )

        chocolate waves settle around her sun-kissed cheeks, ocean hues impossibly bright and crinkled at the very corners by the force of one of the most dazzling grins this world has ever seen. especially so early in the morning. propped up on her elbow, erin feels her chest expanding with an immeasurable amount of LOVE. her whole being fills with a nearly overwhelming sense of warmth. the look of utter adoration hasn’t left her sleepy features ever since she opened her eyes and laid them on her daughter. their daughter. their ray of sunshine. their HOPE. the tiniest, most precious gift sent to her and her childhood best friend ( the man she gets to call her husband now ) straight from the heavens above is lying right beside her. little toes peeking from a soft blanket, petal-colored lips adorned with a smile as sweet as sugar and these eyes — a deep shade of green, two sparkling emeralds just like her father’s, shot through with tiny specks of gold and silver, gentle and endearing and oh so mesmerizing. her skin feels so delicate beneath her mother’s loving palm as she affectionately begins to stroke her beautiful strawberry locks, smoothing out any invisible tangles. and she smells so divine that it’s intoxicating. erin finds herself breathing the scent of her favorite little human in as she leans closer to plant a tender kiss on her dimpled, drool-covered cheek. her pink pacifier must have fallen out in the middle of the night, now tangled somewhere in the sheets but it apparently doesn’t matter — hope is the happiest baby on the planet.

         “hello, little lion cub. hi. did you sleep well? looks like you did, huh? almost all night without waking up. mommy’s so proud of you. you’re getting so big. good morning, sweet princess,” the brunette coos quietly, pecking the sensitive spot right beneath her baby’s chin while rubbing her belly and making her giggle in a way that’s so impossibly charming. the sound so beautiful that it puts all the love songs to shame. ( it’s one of many things hope and her dada have in common — axl too responds with laughter every time he gets showered with kisses ). tiny hands rising above her head, fingers grabbing erin’s long curls, lithe body squirming as it’s being attacked with endless affection. the sounds of utter happiness exploding from both of their chests, bouncing around the bedroom walls. the way the little girl is beaming at her mother makes erin feel like the luckiest person on earth. she has no idea how someone so tiny, someone who came into her life way too early and rather unexpectedly, can so effortlessly rock her whole world, turn it upside down without even intending to do so. hope has been absently doing it for seven months now, making her mother’s heart flutter. ever since erin first heard this weak, heart-wrenching cry in the delivery room, she’s been wrapped around her daughter’s small finger.

         “you’re so pretty. how did you get this pretty, huh? the prettiest girl i’ve ever seen. are you an ANGEL? you are, aren’t you? where are your wings then? where are you hiding them, my little rose petal?” giggling, she carefully pulls the blanket down as if to search for those missing wings. with a pearly white grin embellishing her features, erin nuzzles into hope’s belly before blowing a raspberry against her skin. kissing her thighs and feet next, the brunette could spend hours just loving on and marveling at their perfect miracle. tiny fists pulling at her curls, legs kicking in anticipation — hope’s definitely enjoying being the center of attention. she is her father’s daughter in every way. it’s something that never fails to amuse erin. how alike they are. “you look just like your daddy, you know that? you even have his cute nose,” erin muses happily, pressing her lips to the beautifully-curved slope of her daughter’s nose, planting a kiss there. “and his chubby cheeksies and these adorable dimples. they’re called heart-thieves, you know?” gently pinching one of them before squishing them together and making the baby giggle wildly. “his hair and chin and eyes and… you’re just a mini axy, aren’t you? my perfect little simba. baby simba.” the curly-haired girl can’t help but drink this moment in, let her heart continue to swell, listening to their daughter’s adorable babbling as her fingers absently tickle her sides. she still can’t believe that this awe-inspiring creature is really theirs. her and axl’s. how is it possible? how can two flawed human beings bring to life someone so absolutely perfect in every way? it seems impossible and yet somehow it did happen. they’ve been blessed.  

         hearing her baby coo happily and seeing her wiggle her arms in excitement, the young model can’t imagine a more perfect way to start the day. at least not until she looks around and realizes that there’s one very important person missing — the most important man in her life. she immediately changes her mind. she CAN definitely imagine a more perfect morning… one where he’s right by her side, where it’s not just her melting every time their daughter lets out a joyous squeak or blesses her with a smile. a morning where they’re both spoiling her with their attention and LOVE. unfortunately, right now only an old teddy bear and a couple of pillows occupy axl’s side of the bed ( making sure that even if hope does roll over during the night, she at least won’t fall off the mattress and hurt herself ) and it feels extremely cold and empty without the redhead there.  

         physically, he might not be that far away. her husband is sleeping on the couch in the living room, just a few feet away — erin knows for certain because she heard him when he came back to their apartment mere minutes before dawn, he’d probably tried his best to be quiet but still managed to knock something over and made a lot of noise. but it’s not the physical aspect of separation that bothers her. when it comes to the emotional part of their relationship not just the literal distance separating them, it seems to erin that they’re not even just miles but galaxies and light years apart at this point. there’s an enormous gap between them and they only let it expand as days go by. somehow they’ve lost themselves somewhere along the way, went from being best friends and soulmates to complete STRANGERS in a matter of just few months. it’s terrifying but this is what’s been happening to them.

         axl has been working his butt off to make sure that his family is not starving, that they have everything they might need, that they have enough money to pay the bills so that they won’t end up on the streets with a baby. he’s holding onto any part-time job he can find for dear life and it’s still not enough. then every night he’s out, chasing what’s left of his dreams, screaming his lungs out on the sunset strip while erin’s stuck home with their daughter. it seems to the young girl that he’s hardly ever there with them ( or for them ) and when he finally does come back to his wife and child, he’s too exhausted to play with hope or have long, meaningful conversations with the person he swore to LOVE for the rest of his days. which is more than just understandable but still makes the curly-haired brunette feel alone — almost as if there was a giant hole in her heart, a huge void of nothingness consuming her from the inside. she wonders if he too feels this way sometimes or if he’s already learned how to live without any kind of closeness or intimacy. without kisses and hugs and sweet words. he eats, showers and sleeps as much as he can so that he can get up and go to work again the next day. erin feels extremely guilty for wanting his attention, for feeling like he’s forgotten about her and their daughter ( when in reality he’s basically sacrificing his dreams and his future for them ) and for not being able to help him support their family financially.

         their differences create a lot of tension and misunderstandings between them. they barely even talk these days and all they do when they finally do get to have a conversation is argue. sometimes, it feels like they’re just trying to survive from one argument to another, make it out alive so they can try and rip each other’s throats out the next morning.

         when a few days ago, erin got a call from her agent, telling her that they wanted her in new york, they wanted her to model for them — axl flipped even though she hadn’t made up her mind yet. he told her that he didn’t want her to live on the other coast, to abandon him and their daughter when they most needed her, accused her of being money-hungry and doing everything to run away from her family because she’s just an immature kid herself. he said she let him down, called her a bad mother and then they both ended up sobbing in separate rooms, feeling like their world was falling to pieces. it felt like the ground was shrinking beneath their feet and they could only watch, helpless and hurt.

         they break up at least once a month and they accuse each other of all sorts of unspeakable crimes, from lying to cheating and everything in between. curses and horrible names echoing throughout their apartment. frustrations brimming in both of their hearts, anger boiling in their bodies. there are nights when nothing within their reach is safe, flowers and vases flying around, shattering as soon as they meet the nearest hard surface, picture frames breaking, window panes rattling. it usually ends when they get greeted by the sound of the most pitiful wailing coming from their bedroom and a red-faced, terrified baby with tears running down her porcelain cheeks waiting for them to come back to their senses. to stop breaking her only home up. but there are moments when not even hope is enough to pacify them, when one of them has to walk out and slam the door before something horrendous happens.

         they’re young. too young. barely even in their twenties. and there’s too much on their plate. it’s something that erin desperately doesn’t want to admit ( not even just to herself because it makes her feel awful, as if she was the worst person on this planet ), but ever since their daughter was born, neither she nor axl have been the same. that’s when their priorities changed drastically, when most of their dreams went out the window.

         ever since they were little children, ever since the day when the bashful, strawberry-haired boy in adorable glasses offered his awkward, chicken-legged friend with rosy cheeks a cherry-flavored ring pop and promised to marry her for real ( not under another oak tree ) one day, erin and axl have both known that being a mother and a father is their biggest dream. they’ve always valued the same things — not money, not fame but family because at the end of the day, having someone to rely on is the only thing that truly matters. they’ve always wanted to stick together and build a happy, loving home for themselves and their future children. when they ran away from lafayette, made it all the way across the country from indiana to california without anyone’s help, they had one of many serious conversations about their plans for the next few years. it all seemed rather simple and didn’t involve barely making ends meet or raising a child while living in a one bedroom apartment in a rather rowdy, dangerous neighborhood. they’ve learned the hard way that nothing in life goes as planned, that fate always laughs when it hears people talking about the days that are about to come as if they had any control over those when the truth is… they don’t have much to say in that matter, they have no idea what’s waiting for them around the corner.

         when on a cold, autumn evening their newborn baby’s cries filled the room, erin knew their lives would never be the same again but she had no idea just how different everything was going to be. she remembers axl bursting into tears of nothing but relief and joy, squeezing her hand harder than ever to keep himself from bouncing up and down or perhaps even fainting. the second he turned his glossy emeralds to her, kissed her forehead and in a voice that she’d never heard before assured her that their daughter was just PERFECT, so beautiful and most importantly healthy, she knew that he was going to be the most caring and loving father. her worries about him running away from responsibility, choosing something else over her and their baby melted away that day. despite her own tears and exhaustion, she graced him with a warm smile and a look that said we’ll make it, we’ll survive every storm, not just you and i, but us as a family. she let her tired eyes flicker away from his handsome face and glance down at the most precious gift she’d ever received. trying to take in their daughter’s beauty, erin thought that someone must have taken her back in time because she was holding a miniature version of her own husband in her arms. shedding the sweetest tears she’d ever known, all the pain of moments before fading away.

         with all the vivid memories from that special day coming back to life, flooding her brain with short videos, different voices and the words of the promises they made then, erin is reminded of just how important axl is. how important he’s ALWAYS been to her and much she LOVES him. their daughter will never have a better father and she will never be able to find herself a better husband. not that she even wants to. he’s the only one for them, the only man erin wants to share the rest of her life with, build a better future with. he’s her soulmate and despite the awful things they’ve said and done recently, she’s determined to fight for their marriage.

         fortunately for erin, she can save it all today. because today is a very important day and she can easily make it mean even more to her husband — the day every man wants to celebrate but not everyone gets lucky enough to do so. father’s day. the very first one for axl. erin wants to make it count. when she puts her pride and ridiculous anger aside, when she locks all the jealousy and worries out, she can see clearly just how much he deserves it. he deserves to be appreciated for everything he’s done for their little girl — for the countless hours he’s spent worrying and praying for her health and safety, for the nights he’s stayed by her crib just making sure she’s breathing right, for the days he’s held her in his arms to make her feel wanted and loved.

         being a dad to a little human is always a huge responsibility, especially being a young dad when all your friends are out partying and you have to put your fun aside and come back home because there’s someone waiting for you, someone who’s dependent entirely on you and just won’t survive without your help, someone so fragile and innocent, someone who needs nothing but your love to be content. it sometimes seems as difficult as rocket science, or maybe even harder than that and yet axl’s been doing so well. he’s never had a good example of how to be a dad. his father was a monster and his stepfather wasn’t much better, perhaps he was even worse with his wicked games and cruel ways. axl has never experienced an ounce of fatherly love in his life but somehow he’s managed to figure everything out on his own. he’s great with hope. PERFECT. he knows exactly what she needs even before she has the chance to cry for it. one look and he just knows. his heart is so full of love for her that it’s indescribable and immeasurable. he would reach out and steal all the stars from the sky just to make their daughter happy. he would do anything for her. and of course, some days are absolutely terrible and axl must feel like giving up. sometimes it’s all just too much for a young man who’s barely even out of diapers himself. sometimes, hope cries for what seems like an eternity, neither her mom or her dad getting much sleep but erin knows that her husband would never trade those exhausting hours for all the peace and quiet in the world ( peace and quiet seem strange and boring after knowing what their baby’s laughter sounds like ).

         the all-consuming love axl has for their daughter, how gentle he is with her, how patient and caring, how he smiles when he looks at her and how softly he sings all kinds of precious lullabies to her every night — erin knows that even though he works a lot, he doesn’t want to miss a second of these babyhood days, wants to make the best of them. he wants to be there for hope and for her. he just can’t sometimes. he’s doing something they both previously thought would be impossible. when their daughter grows up and learns about all the things her dada has done, she will see him as a superhero. superman is just a dumb guy with boring superpowers and ugly tights compared to axl.

         that’s why it’s so important to erin to make him feel special today, to thank him for being her rock, for being the best dad out there even when she’s failing as a wife and mother.

         “come on, little bird. it’s time to wake up. there’s a busy day ahead of us. we have to get ready. yes, we do,” she chirps, planting one last kiss on the baby’s forehead before she’ll climb out of bed. she opens the curtains and lets the morning light fill the room. a bright patch creeping across the pillows, warming up hope’s porcelain skin and encouraging her to babble a bit louder and more cheerfully. “what is it? the sun’s giving you kisses, too? everyone always wants to kiss my little rosie.” chuckling, erin turns to the strawberry-haired angel and carefully scoops her up. doing what axl always does to hype their baby up, she throws her into the air, up above her own head and lets her fall back right into her open arms. hope laughs and shrieks with delight. she doesn’t just look like her dad, she also has his positive, bubbly personality which isn’t something erin’s willing to complain about — it’s what makes her even more adorable. the brunette cradles her daughter to her chest, hand stroking her back and her lips attacking her sweet cheeks again. she’s irresistible.

         “what’s that smell? are you a stinky girl? are you my stinky scoob? you really are your father’s daughter, aren’t you? not happy unless you’ve made a mess that i have to clean up.” laughing quietly at her own joke, trying not to wake axl up, erin’s not really affected by the smell of baby poop after seven months of changing diapers and dealing with all kinds of dreadful explosions. she lets the baby sit on her hip while she’s spreading a clean towel on the bed. she’s learned that it’s the easiest way to avoid disgusting smears and accidents, and their mattress happens to be the perfect changing table. laying her daughter down with utmost delicacy, she already feels bad because it’s the part of their morning routine that hope absolutely hates. erin can’t really blame her — she can’t imagine just lying on her back with her butt exposed to the cool air and some nasty sticky stuff all over it. “mommy loves you. it’s no big deal. here, mister bunny wants to give you hugs.” reaching a hand out while keeping her other one on hope’s side to make sure she won’t try to roll away, erin grabs axl’s old stuffed rabbit and offers it to their daughter. the little girl’s features light up all at one, emerald eyes shining with happiness. she clumsily grabs the toy with both of her hands and brings one of its ears to her mouth. hopefully, it’s enough to occupy her for a few more minutes.

         never the one to waste time, the curly-haired brunette unclasps the white, short-sleeved onesie before entirely removing it. gently pulling one tiny arm through the hole, then another and finally tugging it over hope’s head, she takes it off rather smoothly and manages to avoid a meltdown. mister bunny really does work wonders. “naked strawberry. naked strawberry.” goofily chanting, she kisses her cute belly button and quickly gets rid of the dirty diaper. “you love your bunny, don’t you? show mommy how you give him hugs. give him a big hug, hope.” content with just sucking on his huge ear, the little girl squeezes the stuffed animal to her chest and gurgles happily. cleaning her backside with wet wipes before putting a fresh diaper on her and using more wipes to clean the rest of her body, erin considers this morning a huge success.

         “we’re going to surprise daddy with something awesome because today is daddy’s day, you know? we’ll show daddy how much we love him, okay? we’ll give him kisses and hugs and we’ll try to avoid spitting up milk on his clothes, alrighty-o? does it sound like a plan to you, little missy?” cooing to keep the baby entertained as she opens the bottom drawer and pulls out a soft, yellow romper with a smiley lion’s face printed on the front. it’s the same one that axl’s sister sent to them just a week ago, a lovely gift from hope’s godmother — something erin couldn’t thank her enough for. she knows that amy doesn’t have much herself and yet she chooses to randomly spoil her niece ( axl’s sister, mom and even his grandma have all been extremely sweet and supportive ever since they learned about their baby ). complimenting her adorable look with a headband with a big bow on it, erin decides against socks and shoes since it’s way too hot outside and hope is still too small to toddle around on her own. the brunette helps her roll onto her tummy and lets her play with her toy for a moment while she’s stuffing the diaper bag with all the essentials for their secret trip — two diapers, wipes, butt cream, a pacifier, a baby bottle filled with water, a clean onesie just in case, a burp cloth, sunscreen, her wallet. “stay here, lion girl. mommy will be right back.” once again barricading her daughter with pillows and rolled up blankets before trailing to the kitchen.

         passing by the couch, she can’t help but smile softly at the sight of peacefully sleeping axl. her first love. her husband. her favorite boy with a heart of pure gold. her chest expands, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. she’s been so mean to him lately, so unforgiving and demanding. but those days are over. he’s her whole world and she has to fight for him. “i love you so much,” she whispers while untying his heavy boots and sliding them off his feet, letting them sit on the carpet by the coffee table. it makes her feel horrible when she realizes that he must have been extremely uncomfortable with them on ( but it only shows just how exhausted he was when he came back ). carefully unbuckling his belt, she pulls down his jeans and leaves him in just his socks, boxers and black t-shirt. picking up the blanket that must have fallen when he rolled onto his back, erin affectionately tucks him in and leans in to kiss his smooth cheek. he doesn’t even smell like beer — he definitely wasn’t drinking or hanging out with other girls all night long. erin feels awful for always accusing him of such actions, of choosing someone over the two of them when it’s never true. he’s too tired to wake up but she sees the way his lips twitch, curving up into a dreamy smile and it’s enough of a reward to her. she brushes his flaming locks out of his face and softly murmurs, “you’re the best husband and daddy ever. hope and i love you. we really do.” it’s something she hasn’t said to him in a long, long time. something he’s been definitely needing to hear.

         once in the kitchen, erin finds their daughter’s bottle on the dish rack and gets her milk ready. she sprinkles a few drops on the inside of her wrist to make sure it is not too hot before grabbing a small jar of baby food ( banana and apple puree because it’s one of hope’s favorites ) and a spoon for later. she returns to the bedroom just a few seconds later. “hello, precious cupcake. did you miss me? because i missed you like cwazy! mommy’s got something yummy for you.” picking her giggly baby up, erin adjusts her headband so that it’s not sliding all the way down to her nose and places her in her car seat on the floor. little arms extending, emerald eyes alight with excitement upon seeing the familiar bottle. a small laugh emits from the brunette as she lets her have her breakfast. pink lips wrapping around the nipple, fingers gripping the bottle, hope even closes her eyes in pure contentment. it doesn’t take much to make her happy — she’s naturally a sweet, joyous baby. erin and axl have truly been blessed with such a good child. “dada would be so proud of you if he could see you now.” holding her own bottle like a pro, eating without spitting up all over herself. it’s a huge achievement for such a tiny human, erin thinks to herself, completely enamored and filled with pride. it’s only as she’s putting the baby food and the pink spoon in the diaper bag, getting ready to leave that the brunette realizes she’s still in her panties and axl’s old t-shirt. “wow, mommy has really lost her mind. she wanted to go out dressed like this. your mommy is so silly.” speaking in a sweet, soft voice, erin takes off her clothes and leaves them lying on the bed.

         she doesn’t want to wake axl up and ruin everything she’s planned for today, she takes hope with her car seat to the bathroom. “pretty poopy place to have breakfast at. i’m sorry, little bug but it’s the only way.” placing the car seat on the floor, she steps into the tub and takes a quick shower. leaving the curtain open, she just wants to keep an eye on her little one. especially while she’s eating. even though the doctor says she’s old enough and doesn’t need to be burped afterwards, the mere thought of her choking still has the tiny hairs on the back of erin’s neck rising. thanks to her daughter, the model has learned how to make her own morning routine last five minutes. drying her body with a towel, she puts on her favorite yellow sundress and fluffs up her curls. adorning her look with a dainty bracelet and a heart locket ( a valentine gift from axl ), she’s almost good to go. she puts a more or less decent makeup on and dolls herself up just as hope’s finishing her bottle. “good job, baby. we’re the best team. mommy and baby rock. we are awesome!” chuckling, she can’t believe that everything’s going so smoothly this morning — god is definitely helping her out.

         she picks the car seat with her baby up and slips her sandals on, grabbing the diaper bag, the bunny and the keys to axl’s car on her way to the front door. the redhead wouldn’t be very delighted to know that she’s left without having breakfast herself — it’s a good thing he’s still asleep. glancing down to make sure that hope isn’t squished and feeling uncomfortable, erin gently strokes her tiny feet. toes curling, a radiant grin graces her angelic features. it’s surreal to think that she and her childhood best friend really do have a baby together. a perfect baby. the most perfect baby in the world. she can’t help but marvel at their daughter some more, make goofy faces just to hear her giggle as she’s carrying her toward the staircase to take her outside of their apartment building. it makes her wonder how they could ever be so ungrateful and selfish to turn their backs on god, complain and feel like her pregnancy was a curse not a blessing, makes her want to slap her younger self now. god is the only reason they are a family. she can’t imagine her life without hope, just like she can’t imagine it without axl. today would be a sad day if she wasn’t here with them. she is the only reason why they’re celebrating after all.

         pushing the heavy door open, she’s greeted by a wave of heat and an oddly pleasant breeze that blows through her curls and smacks her cheeks. the world around her is so beautiful — the sky painted the deepest shade of blue, tiny clouds sailing across it, all the trees and flowers and butterflies are enough to turn her smile into a pearly white grin. opening the backseat to axl’s car, erin makes sure to secure the car seat in place and buckle her baby up. “will you be a sweet angel and play with mister bunny while mommy drives? please, be a good baby today. for daddy, okay?” she puts the diaper bag on the floor and gives hope her dad’s old toy to hold onto before placing a kiss on her forehead. she wonders whether she should cover her bare leggies with a blanket but decides against it. she definitely doesn’t want to overheat her baby. it’s hot enough in this car. taking her pacifier out, erin slips it in between her daughter’s plump lips to distract her in case they get stuck in morning traffic. she doesn’t forget to roll the window down just a bit because there’s no ac and they will just fry otherwise. she closes the door and circles around the car to climb into the driver’s seat. starting the car, she pulls her seat belt on as well and makes sure hope’s doing okay before backing out of the parking space. turning the radio on as for some reason music always soothes their baby, erin isn’t even surprised to find out that axl’s favorite u2 cassette is still in. the unforgettable fire album might not be very suitable for a not even one year old yet but it’s still better than anything led zeppelin. she has no doubts — their daughter will love rock n’ roll just as much as her dada does.

         making it to the mall after a very peaceful ride, erin smoothly parks the car and climbs out to get hope. usually being on the road, the gentle rocking back and forth, the hum of the engine are enough to lull her baby to sleep but not this time. this time, she’s still wide awake and contently squishing her bunny’s legs with her chubby hands. “we’ve made it and you’ve been such a sweet little angel. mommy’s so proud of you.” rubbing her belly, erin picks up the car seat and throws the diaper bag over her shoulder before shutting the door with her foot. the little girl is squealing, clapping her hands and babbling around her paci as she’s being carried inside. hypnotized by all the lights and strange faces, she’s not fussing around and rather taking everything in. with brilliant grins on their faces, they walk into axl’s favorite record store first. it really must be erin’s lucky day because it turns out that one of their old friends, john, is working today. he’s sweet enough to have a small conversation with her and even compliment her looks and hope’s outfit, ask about their lives and axl’s band. erin eagerly answers all of his questions, asks some of her own, happy to learn that their mutual friend has been doing great. he helps her pick two vinyls ( one of elton’s and van halen’s newest album ) that aren’t in her husband’s collection yet, a few band pins that he can put on his denim jacket and an ac/dc t-shirt that will look beautiful on him.

         “your daddy’s going to love all these things. you have such a great taste, little lady,” john muses, fascinated by this tiny creature and how her features resemble his friend’s. even when she laughs, her cheeks dimple just like his. it’s wild. he doesn’t want to take any money from erin but after her endless pleading and nagging, he has no other choice. he makes her pay only half of the price and accepts the invitation to dinner next sunday. collecting the bag, the brunette gives their friend a smile and thanks him for helping her out, and entertaining hope.

         the list of the places they have to visit isn’t short but as long as hope’s content, erin doesn’t mind carrying her around. even though she regrets not taking the stroller. her skinny arms are definitely going to ache by the time they make it back home.

         after the record store, they head towards the one with all kinds of home goods. she finds a beautiful album ( where she’ll later put pictures with axl and hope, add cute captions ) and decides to buy it. picking a few cards, she lets her daughter grab the one she likes best — which turns out to be the heart-shaped one. “good job. it’s my favorite, too. daddy will love it so much. he’s going to give you a big kiss.” definitely more than one big kiss. erin’s heart begins to race at the mere thought of axl’s reaction when he sees these things. he probably doesn’t expect anything. there’s even a corner in this store where people can decorate the cards as they please, with colorful markers and glitter and stickers and the curly-haired girl doesn’t hesitate to go there. sitting down on a chair, she unbuckles her daughter and puts her on her lap. she can’t hold a crayon yet but with a little help from her mom, they create a beautiful drawing of their little family — they even include mister bunny as he is without a doubt a very important member. taking a purple sharpie, erin carefully writes in beautiful cursive:

                           happy first father’s day, dada!!           i can’t speak yet and mommy has to help me pour my thoughts onto paper so it’s a good thing that we both agree — you are the best daddy ever!!! and we LOVE you so so so much!!! thank you for singing me my favorite songs even when you’re tired and for telling me all these awesome stories about princesses and lions and puppies before bed. thank you for changing my stinky diapers without puking and never complaining even when you sometimes struggle. thank you for letting me sleep on your chest ( as we all know that it’s my favorite pillow ) and for always rubbing and kissing my belly when it hurts. i know that you sometimes doubt yourself and think you’re failing me but mom and i STRONGLY disagree — you’ll always be the best in our eyes. i’ll one day tell you just how much i love you but for now you have to trust mom and the sloppy kisses i shower you with on that! i don’t drool on just anybody, okay?           LOVE YOU,         HOPE aka your little rose petal.

         bouncing the baby on her knee, erin puts the sharpie down and kisses her daughter’s cheek. she wraps her arms around her and gives her little body a gentle squeeze. “do you like it? what do you think about it? i love it, you know? i think it’s perfect. we did a great job on that.” chuckling, erin carefully lowers her daughter into her car seat and straps her in. picking up all the bags and making sure nothing gets left behind, she pays for the card and the album and leaves the store. they go to the donut shop next. she gets him a dozen of them, knowing how much he loves them and how rarely he spoils himself with something sweet. the strawberry iced with sprinkles, the glazed chocolate filled, the glazed blueberry, the chocolate iced raspberry filled — she makes sure to get a few of each of the ones her husband likes best. and finally last but not least, they find their way to target. they get him a bunch of chocolates, a pack of gummy bears and a mug with BEST DADDY written across it in bold letters ( only because as they’re passing by, their daughter reaches her little hand out and it seemes to erin that she’s pointing at this one mug, as if she knew ). it might be cheesy but she hopes that he’s going to like it.

         by the time they make it back home, it’s already noon and erin’s delighted to find out that axl’s slowly beginning to wake up. she quickly puts the box with donuts on the coffee table and packs all the gifts into one decorative bag that she then places beside the couch. scooping hope up into her arms, she makes sure her outfit isn’t stained and she doesn’t need her diaper changed before approaching the redhead. grinning from ear to ear, she kneels to be on the same level with his cheek before kissing it. “wakey, wakey, axy baxxy. do you know what day it is? because hope does and she has something very, very important to say to you.” chirping cheerfully, erin places their daughter on top of his chest and lets her happily clasp his cheeks in her small hands. she’s so delighted to be reunited with her dad that she starts babbling and giggling at the same time. the pink pacifier falling out of her mouth, accidentally smacking axl’s chin. “happy daddy’s day! happy dada’s day!” since he’s definitely more than just a father, he’s a DADA. “you’re the best daddy in the world.” erin can’t imagine raising a child with anyone else. only axl. it’s always been axl and it will always be axl. he’s the only person she’s ever loved and who’s ever loved her unconditionally. she will fight for him and for their family because even though it’s not always easy — it’s worth it. “and i’ve finally made up my mind. i’m not going to new york. not without you and hope. i’ll find something in los angeles. i don’t want to leave you and our baby. i love you.”

// @thornrosed

[ebhenah]

Klancemas December 18: Snowed In

@monthlyklance 

Klancemas 2018

"Jigsaw"

Dec 18: Snowed In

(A future Klance-Family Fic)

Keith woke to the smell of food. Something vaguely reminiscent of bacon and eggs, but not… quite. There was a very strange quiet stillness to the air that he wasn’t a huge fan of, too. And he wasn’t the only one who felt it- Kosmo was pacing. Weird. There was something weird going on.

He was just about to call out to Lance when the bedroom door swung open and Lance appeared before him, dressed in pj bottoms and an apron, carrying a tray, and holding a neon green alien flower between his teeth, tango-style. “Ayyy-baape,” he said around the stem, the flower making his pronunciations strange, and set the tray over Keith’s lap. He pulled the flower out of his mouth and bowed dramatically, offering up the pleasant smelling plant with an over the top flourish. “Breakfast in bed for Mr. Kogane, prepared especially for you BY Mr. Kogane.”

“Lance, the wedding was six months ago,” he laughed, accepting the flower, “when are you going to get sick of that joke?”

“Ummm… never!” He looked scandalized, “you, sweetums, did not get to see the look on your face when you found out I was taking your name. If you had, you’d know, I am never going to get sick of reminding you that I am Mr. Kogane. Ever.”

“Dork,” he muttered, letting his hair fall into his face to hide his blush… because, despite his protests, he loved it. He loved that Lance took his name. Loved Lance’s reasons for it “your Dad was a hero, and he had one son… who is also a hero… I am VERY proud to be a Kogane”. Loved that Lance made a point of reminding him of it, or correcting people who called him McClain. Loved that even now, half a year after the wedding, he’d still find ‘Mr. & Mr. Kogane’ doodled on scrap paper and napkins and the margins of paperwork that had been within reach when Lance was trying to pay attention to something that bored him. It was something he hadn’t thought mattered to him until the instant that it happened.

Lance had a knack for knowing what would make him happy, or upset. It sometimes felt like Lance knew him better than he knew himself. When he’d mentioned it, Lance had waved him off saying that Keith knew- he’d just spent so long convincing himself not to care so he didn’t get disappointed when it didn’t happen, that he just ignored it. Lance didn’t ignore it.

Lance’s long fingers cupped his chin and tipped his face back up, “but I’m YOUR dork, so… what does that say about you, Mullet?”

“That I am incredibly lucky?” he guessed, smiling tenderly at Lance.

“Nice save,” Lance laughed, “you’re learning.”

“Maybe marriage just agrees with me,” he countered, closing the distance between them to give his husband a kiss. “Is this all for me, or are we sharing?”

“We are sharing,” Lance crawled into the bed beside him, “it’s more romantic…. And there are fewer dishes that way.”

“Alright, but we shouldn’t get distracted,” Keith said, trying for a serious tone, despite the huge smile on his face. “It feels really late. We need to get going.”

“Yeahhhh,” he drawled, “about that… we aren’t going anywhere.”

“What do you mean?” Keith froze, his fork mid-air. “We finished up the mission YESTERDAY. We need to get back.”

“Soooo, while we were sleeping, it snowed,” Lance offered him a wan smile.

“Okay- snow isn’t a big deal.”

“On thiiiiiiis planet, it kinda is, though,” Lance said, “because the entire cabin is buried. I was talking to Rigrill on the intercom- remember Rigrill? He was the check-in guy at that weird pool-slash-gym-slash-bouncey-house- building? Anyway, he said that this happens all the time and that we should be able to leave by the end of the night.”

“The end of the NIGHT?” Keith echoed.

“Yeah…” he looked sheepish, “by the time we get out of here, get to the Lions, and make our way home…”

“It will be lunchtime, at the earliest,” he sighed.

“Yeah.” His shoulders sagged, “I’m sorry. I know you promised my parents we’d be there for Noche Buena celebrations tonight, and your mother and Shiro were going to join us for Christmas brunch in the morning. I shouldn’t have pushed to spend the night here. I messed up our first Christmas as a married couple.”

“You didn’t mess anything up, Lance,” Keith sighed, “you had no way of knowing that we’d get stuck here.”

“I just thought it was so pretty with all the ice walls and the rainbow lights and stuff.”

“I know,” he smiled at Lance, “and it was. We had a really great night. Stop being so hard on yourself. I can think of worse things than being stuck in a luxury cabin with you for a day.”

That seemed to cheer Lance up a bit, he peeked up at Keith, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips, “you’re sure?”

Keith laughed, “yes, Lance. I’m sure. Now, eat… before the breakfast you made us gets cold.”

Lance picked the flower up from where Keith had set it on the tray and tucked it behind his ear, the bright green standing out against Keith’s black hair. “Love you, Mullet.”

“I can’t believe you STILL call me that,” Keith sighed, “my hair was never a mullet. It’s just long.”

Lance paused in his eating long enough to snicker at him, “mullet… mulllllllll-et…”

“You realize that your mother loves me and has offered to show me allllll the photo albums, right? I heard rumors from your brother about some kind of mishap with beard trimmers?”

Lance gasped, clutching his chest dramatically, “you wouldn’t! You PROMISED!”

He took a bite of the not-bacon and quirked one eyebrow in a clearly challenging expression.

“Keith!” Lance squawked, “I’m serious! No looking at childhood pictures with my Mom! I almost put it in the VOWS!”

He washed the bite down with some water- which tasted oddly perfumey. Not BAD, just weird. “You realize that’s VERY strange, right?” he laughed, “almost concerningly so. Silvio looks almost exactly like you and he’s a cute kid- what on EARTH could be so awful in those pictures.”

“Nope! Not telling! And you are going to KEEP that promise. Right?”

Keith narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but relented. “Fine. I promised. I keep my promises.” He leaned over to kiss Lance’s jaw softly, “just… remember that I ALSO promised to love you no matter what the universe throws at us. I think some bad photographs and embarrassing home videos falls into that category… don’t you, Tumbleweed?”

“Yeahhhh,” Lance drawled, “I don’t want to risk it.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Keith muttered, shaking his head.

“Hey! You knew that when you married me!”

“I wasn’t claiming it was a NEW development, Lance!”

The conversation devolved into their unique brand of flirting- half good natured ribbing, part challenging each other, and part genuine affection. Most people didn’t quite get it, but it worked for them. By the time the food was gone, they were both well-fed, as was Kosmo, who was routinely snuck morsels from each of them as they both pretended not to notice the other breaking the ‘no table scraps for the space wolf’ rule.

Keith insisted on clearing the tray away, since Lance had cooked. The cabin had started to get chilly, so after he loaded the dishes into the cleaning machine, he built up the fire. The alien wood burned blue and purple and green, but he’d been assured that it was absolutely safe. It was pretty, actually. Once the fireplace was pumping heat out again he wandered over to the funky windows. They looked like the rest of the wall, but you could trigger a panel and they turned completely transparent. He and Lance had spent a good few hours taking in the breathtaking views from their windows of the ice walls- huge cliffs of what looked like icicles, that caught the light and glowed in rainbow hues. There had been some absolutely gorgeous pale blue and lilac swan-like creatures that Lance had fallen in love with, too. As the sun set, the entire place lit up, and the birds took to the sky once full dark hit, luminescent against a starless sky. It had been well worth getting stuck here an extra day.

He wanted to get an idea of how the snow clearing was coming along, so he triggered the windows. At first he thought it hadn’t worked- there’d been so little change in the greyish blue wall. It took him a moment to realize that the light was different in the window sections. The walls were the same color as a drift of snow. Lance hadn’t been kidding when he’d said the cabin was buried! Yikes!

“Cool! I found some… umm… I think that’s a board game, but I don’t know the alphabet, so probably not gonna be able to figure out the rules… Oh! This is a jigsaw puzzle! No language barrier to a jigsaw puzzle, right?”

Keith looked over to see his husband, barefoot and bare chested, but wrapped in a blanket he’d stolen from the bed, holding up a wide, shallow box triumphantly. His heart skipped a beat, just at the sight. They’d been married for 6 months, engaged for a year and a half before that, dating for almost a year before THAT… and before they’d started officially dating… well, things had been complicated and confusing and intense. But he could barely remember what life was like without Lance by his side. He SHOULD be accustomed to it by now… but no. A few times a day.  Everyday. Every SINGLE day. Without fail. A few times a day, Lance would say something, or he’d catch a glimpse of him doing something totally normal and unremarkable, or he’d catch a whiff of Lance’s scent lingering on his skin, or the pillow, or his collar and he’d fall, all over again. His breath would catch, just like it was doing right now. He’d get butterflies, just like he had right now. His heart would skip a beat, just like it just had… and his blood would sing,  drowning out everything but Lance. “No, I guess there isn’t,” he answered with a smile.

“Spiked hot chocolate and puzzles in front of the fire?” Lance suggested, “I’ll share my blanket…”

“I think that’s OUR blanket, babe.”

“Possession is nine tenths of the law, love. I know you know that.” Lance tsked, “but my offer to share still stands…” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, making Keith laugh.

“Alright,” he agreed, “you get set up with the puzzle, I’ll make us some spiked cocoa.”

“Yes! Best hubby ever!”

“Are you talking about me? Or patting yourself on the back?” he teased.

“A little of column a, little of column b,” Lance shot back.

It took four rounds of spiked hot chocolate, and a fair bit of good natured squabbling to complete the puzzle. When they’d pressed the final piece into place, the image on the puzzle changed. What had been a simple geometric pattern of softly shifting colors morphed into a holographic image of the ice cliffs, a flock of those swans taking flight and dissipating into twinkling lights that lingered in the air for a moment.

“Wow,” Lance breathed, his face flushed, eyes bright, features soft and relaxed from the buzz they’d gotten from the hot chocolate, flickering light from the fire dancing over his face and hair. “Soooo beautiful…”

“Yeah,” Keith agreed, heat coiling in his gut, skin crackling from being so close to Lance, curled into the same blanket, brushing and bumping against each other for the last couple of hours. “Gorgeous…”

Lance turned his face, it looked like he’d been about to say something, when he’d caught the expression on Keith’s face. Keith could watch the realization that he hadn’t been looking anywhere near the hologram when he’d agreed wash over Lance’s face in a sweep of color. The flush from the alcohol deepened into a true blush, those blue eyes darting away and then back again, “did you even see what the puzzle did?”

“Mmhmm,” he nodded, “kinda… corner of my eye…” He reached out to trace his fingers along Lance’s jawline, smiling when Lance let his eyes drift shut in a very long blink and sighed.

“You know,” Lance whispered, wrapping his arms around Keith under the blanket, “technically, we are still newlyweds…”

“Mmmm?” He tipped his face up to Lance’s.

“Mmmhmmm… and newlyweds are kind of notorious for not being able to keep their hands off each other…”

“Ahhh… yeah… that… is a thing that is true…”

“And it’s not like we can really GO anywhere…” Lance’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“Not safely, anyway,” Keith agreed, inching closer, “and we have a limited supply of firewood…”

“Very true… we should,” his gaze settled on Keith’s mouth, his own tongue peeking out to lick his lips, “do all we can to… conserve heat…”

Keith nodded slowly, completely mesmerized by Lance’s face, “keep each other warm…”

“Yeah. That.” And then Lance was kissing him and they were falling back onto the plush rug in in front of the fire all hungry kisses and lazy caresses… and by the time either of them was ready to pay any attention to anything but each other, the snow had been cleared- much earlier than expected.

If they rushed, they might just be able to get to Cuba before midnight. Maybe. Keith slid into the pilot seat in Black’s cockpit and rolled his eyes at Black’s almost teasing reaction to his emotional state. “Stuff it, Kitty. I’m a newlywed. I’m supposed to be lovestruck,” he muttered, getting situated.

“Keith?” Lance’s face popped up on the display in front of him. “There was a gift on my seat when I got here. Is this from you? Or did someone find some way into Red?”

“It’s from me,” Keith answered, smiling, “Kosmo played Santa for me.”

“You want me to open it now?” Lance asked, beaming.

“Up to you,” Keith answered, “it’s nothing that NEEDS to be private, if that’s what you are wondering.”

“Then I think I’ll wait,” he answered, chewing at his lip as if he was second guessing himself. “Let’s get home.”

About halfway back to Earth, Lance popped up on Keith’s display again, “when did you find the time to get this!?!”

Keith laughed, “I thought you said you were going to wait?”

“I DID wait,” Lance huffed, “we are halfway home! Now, answer me!”

“I asked Rigrill about it when we were leaving. He said the gift shop had a bunch. I bought one, the shop wrapped it, Kosmo dropped it off- all while we were walking back to the Lions. You like it?”

“Babe! I love it. That was the coolest puzzle I ever saw,” Lance gushed, “and I like… having… a reminder…” Lance flushed adorably.

Keith smiled, “good. Me, too. I really liked our first Christmas Eve as a married couple.”

“Aww, you’re being all romantic on me and I can’t even kiss you right now. Evil, wonderful man.”

“I feel so loved,” Keith teased.

“You should,” Lance replied, his voice soft and loaded with emotion, “because you are. So loved.”

“I know,” he answered, softly, “I DO know, I never doubt it… and so are you.”

“I never doubt it, either.”

[lovelylunarwriting]

Wonwoo Soulmate!AU

For a school assignment, you have to write a five page paper on a mythical creature of your choosing.

And of course, you decide to choose mermaids as your topic.

To you, mermaids are a kind of special omen. A “good luck charm”, if you will. Your soulmate tattoo mentions mermaids, so you’ve adopted the concept of them as a good thing.

You doubt your soulmate thinks they’re a good thing though, seeing as your tattoo is about mermaids not being real.

Whatever. You’ll deal with the nonbeliever whenever he or she chooses to stumble into your life.

Your logic has always been that if you do enough stuff revolving around mermaids, they’ll eventually show up for one of them, right?

Well so far you’ve been wrong, because your soulmate hasn’t magically appeared. Not yet at least, and you’re not about to give up anytime soon.

So that’s how you’ve found yourself at the library, researching away everything there is to know about mermaids.

Even with your lifelong obsession with the creatures, you aren’t too familiar with their history, so it's not surprising that you spend hours at your local library taking in all the knowledge you can about them.

Engrossed in your computer screen, you almost don’t notice when someone stops behind your chair to make a snide comment.

“Mermaids aren’t even real, you know”

“Neither are your dreams, punk, but you don't see me calling you out on that”, you clap back.

Snapping out of your research trance, you whip your head around to see your one and only soulmate standing behind you.

He was pretty, even with his jaw dropping like that.

“You’re my- oh my god I need to sit down”, he says in a frantic tone.

You just pat the seat next to you, which he gladly takes.

“I’m Wonwoo, by the way”

“Hi Wonwoo By The Way”, you tease, picking fun at him.

He shoots you a glare.

This is going well.

Wonwoo: “Of course the universe gave me someone sarcastic”

You: “Ah, so you like my wittiness?”

Wonwoo: “I like your wit better than the mermaid thing”

You: “Hey, it’s for a project. And mermaids are cool”

Wonwoo: “They are cool, I’ll give you that. I’ve read some good mermaid stories before”

You: “Oh thank goodness. Based off of my tattoo, I thought you’d hate mermaids”

Wonwoo: “Off of my tattoo, I thought you’d hate me”

You: “No no, so far you’re quite lovely! Sorry, it’s just late in the day and I’ve been having to do school work for hours”

Wonwoo: “Do you want to take a break then?”

You: “Hmm… that’s a tough choice. Assignments or my soulmate?? I guess I can go take a break”

Wonwoo: “Alright then, let’s go!”

You gather up your scattered papers, pencils, and books and toss them haphazardly into your bag, swinging it over one shoulder.

Standing up, you immediately wrap your arms around Wonwoo’s torso and squeeze him tight. At first he tenses up, and then relaxes and reciprocates the embrace. You can feel his chest rise and fall as he laughs at your sudden advance.

You: “Sorry, I’m just really glad that I found you”

Wonwoo: “Don’t apologize, I feel the same way, I’m just not as…”

You: “Finish that sentence carefully”

Wonwoo: “...not as forward as you?”

You: “...I’ll accept that”

Wonwoo: “......”

You: “Something wrong?”

Wonwoo: “No it’s just- if you want us to go… then you kind of have to let me go”

You: “...I will compromise for hand holding”

Wonwoo: “Deal”

So that’s how you end up abandoning your school responsibilities to go for a stroll around town with your soulmate.

Not really what you thought you’d be doing today when you woke up this morning.

Hand in hand, the two of you wander down the street, peering into shops as you pass them by.

Glittering green leaves shine in the sunlight, the light breeze ruffles your hair, and everything just feels so right.

Normally you’d be lost in your own thoughts or worrying about your assignment, but being with Wonwoo allows you to take a step back and just enjoy your surroundings.

Being with him is just so relaxing and comforting, which you figure is odd due to only knowing him for a day, but also not so odd since he’s meant for you and you’re meant for him.

After a little while, he asks you a question that makes you physically cringe.

Wonwoo: “So do you want to get back to that essay now?”

You: “Absolutely not”

Wonwoo: “...tomorrow then. I can even help you with it”

You: “Really? I thought you didn’t like mermaids, you big nonbeliever~”

Wonwoo: “Well- I’ll like them for you. Since you like them so much. Plus, it is what brought us together”

Just as Wonwoo finishes his sentence, you stop abruptly, yanking him him around to face you.

Wonwoo: “What is it? Are you alright?”

You: “Yeah I’m great, look! There’s a tattoo place right here!”, you say pointing into the shop.

Wonwoo: “...you’re kidding”

You: “I am so not kidding. C’mon, lets get matching mermaid tattoos next to our written ones! To commemorate us meeting”

Wonwoo: “I don’t know, doesn’t it feel like we’re rushing into-”

You: “Rushing into it? We’re going to spend the rest of our lives together. It’s fate that we’re meant for each other, it’s fate that we met today, and it’s fate that we happened to pass this very building”

Wonwoo: “You are right about all that…”

You: “I’m right about most things”

Wonwoo: “Okay I’m game, but I have one request”

You: “Sure, hit me”

Wonwoo: “I get to pick the colors”

You: “Fair enough. But not orange”

Wonwoo: “What, you don’t want your mermaid to be a scaly creamsicle?”

You: “No, she’ll look like a goldfish!”

Wonwoo: “Don’t worry, I’ve got the perfect colors in mind”

Deciding that this conversation would be better to have inside the shop instead of in the middle of the sidewalk with people awkwardly having to step around you, you both make your way in.

You flip through a design booklet while Wonwoo explains the situation and what kind of tattoo you guys want done to the very polite and tatted up woman at the front desk.

After going through three different books, you still can’t find quite what you’re looking for, when a paper gets shoved right into your line of sight.

“I hope you don’t mind, but your boyfriend told me about the whole soulmate thing and mermaids and essays, so I did a quick sketch to see if this might suit your fancy?”, the lady says, her giddiness very apparent in her rushed speech patterns and occasional girlish squealing.

Taking the piece of paper and holding it a little further away, you fall in love with the design almost as quickly as you fell for Wonwoo.

Wonwoo: “It’s perfect, isn’t it?”, he says softly. You nod in agreement.

He’s right, it is perfect.

And that’s how you both walk out a couple hours later with matching tattoos of a mermaid on your wrists. The mermaid is reaching out, holding out an open clam on his wrist, and a shiny pearl on yours.

Wonwoo ended up choosing an array of gold for the scales of your mermaid and shades of deep blue for his because ���You light up my life like the golden sun adds shine to all things, and our future is as unknown and exciting as the deep depths of the sea”

You: “You’re so cheesy”

Wonwoo: “Hey I’m not the one who wanted to get couples tattoos immediately upon meeting”

When you two walk out of the store hand in hand, your wrists brush against each other, the clam and pearl meeting together in the middle.

…

(under the bandages b/c sanitation protocol for fresh wounds but. Ya know what I mean- y’all got the rest of your lives for that cute shit)

[behindheremeraldeyes]

SasuSaku Month 2016 Day 25- Do You Believe in Magic . Title: Wicked . Summary: He’s waiting for her to finish her shift at the hospital, when a very intriguing patient of hers catches his attention. Kids are certainly weird creatures. . A/N: AHH! Another theme I had to struggle to write! All the ideas were AUs and then I kept thinking about that quotation, and then there was Moana and then I cracked XD Just kidding, guys… I’ve tried something different with this one, and I wanted it to be shorter, too, but in the end I guess I couldn’t really write less than 2,5K words XD Still, I loved the way it turned out! Hope you enjoy it, and please, tell me your opinion!! . . . The hospital cafeteria is by far the best place where those destined to wait can literally sit and relax. The chairs are comfortable, the disinfectant smell gives the feeling of a safe atmosphere and the large variety of food certainly helps those who must spend hours confined in those white walls. It’s the perfect place for those who want to take a break from all that stress caused by all kinds of illness and procedures; and certainly the one place where those who can’t allow themselves to sleep go to remain awake for the following hours. The demand for coffee is abnormal, but thanks to her, the Uchiha understands the importance behind that beverage.

For the Konoha Hospital is never quiet or empty not even during peaceful times, the medics aren’t allowed to be sleepy or tired at all. They have to be alert at all times whether they like it or not, and of course the pink haired woman- aka the head medic of the hospital, is one of those whose vital functions are fueled by caffeine. If she has coffee, he’s seen, then she can go on for days without anything else in her stomach. That woman is certainly neglecting when it comes to her own health, therefore his presence there is more than just necessary, as he waits for her shift to end so they can go grab something decent to eat.

What an annoying woman, he thinks. Making him wait like that almost every week after her night shifts. She should feel guilty for making him go through those silent, lonely hours just so that he could make sure she would take care of herself.

Annoying, indeed.

Luckily, waiting was never a problem for Sasuke. As long as there’s nothing bothering him, the raven haired man can be alone with his thoughts for hours. Time is precious, and thanks to his grumpy reputation, no one in the hospital dared bother him.

No one who actually knew him.

“ Hey, ojji-san… Do you believe in magic?”

The low, childish voice sounded too close for his own liking, and for there are only women standing in the cafeteria, he knew immediately that that annoying voice was talking to him. His eyes, which were previously closed, remain like that in one last attempt to shove away that unwanted brat, as he tries his best to convince himself that he’s just having a nightmare and that it will soon come to an end.

Sasuke doesn’t move and he's barely breathing right now in order to send that bad dream away.

But of course, he doesn’t succeed in waking up from that living nightmare that is a talkative child.

“Oi!” Tiny hands pull his armless sleeve, making dark orbs finally shoot open in pure annoyance. “ I’m talking to you! You’re not that old to be deaf, ojji-san.”

When he looks below, he’s not surprised to see a small girl, not older than 7, with two brown eyes that match perfectly with the pigtails hanging over her head and a demanding expression ruling her infant features. There is a tooth missing in the front row of her smile, and she’s wearing that typical, lime-green dress offered by the hospital to the patients.

People would definitely call her cute.

But not him, for sure.

“ Tch, go away.” He ignores her, looking away and through the glass widow where he can now see Sakura. Apparently, her shift is already over, which means that torture will end even before it starts.

“Eh!? But I need your help! You’re a shinobi, right?”

“ Aah.”

“Then will you help me?”

“No.”

“ B-But…” Tears start forming around her eyes, and the Uchiha isn’t moved by that at all. However, when the sobbing start, he realizes that he will be in big trouble if that brat starts crying out loud. The ladies enjoying their break will definitely think he was the one who made her cry, and his peaceful waiting will never be the same with all those future stares.

She will definitely ruin his moments, and never again will the people of the hospital allow him to wait for the pink haired medic in that more private area. The comfortable chairs will be gone along with the food and the hot coffee he has found himself to appreciate very dearly.

He certainly can let her destroy it all. And that’s when he realizes that he will actually have to talk to her in order to preserve his current condition.

Defeatedly, he sighs. Kids these days. “ Tch, what do you want?”

“ What happened to your arm?” She asks, her eyes now entirely dry after the tragic expression she had worn minutes before- such thing certainly annoying him more than it should.

“ None of your business.”

“ Does it hurt?”

“ No.”

“ Not even if I touch it?” She lifts her index finger, slowly moving it towards his missing member.

“ Kid… If that’s all you have to ask me, then leave me alone.”

A deadly glare finally appears to stop her, and she feels as if her entire body burning. Her brown eyes watch as the man in front of her closes his eyes, massaging his temples with his free hand. Apparently, he’s having a headache just like her mama every time she makes the same gesture.

Adults and their heads, she thinks, still looking at him without saying a single word. Her head is falling to the right, as confusion takes over her round, chubby face.

“ Oi!” His strong, imposing voice brings her back from her trance and it’s as if she snaps back to reality. “ Are you going to ask me what you have to ask or not?”

“… Ojji-san, is your head okay?”

“ Tch, I’m leaving.You’re just like that idiot.”

“ No!!” She moves her small hands in front of her face, as if telling him not to go. The little one, then, holds onto the hem of his shirt when he finally stands up from his sitting position. “ Please, ojji-san! Don’t go! I need your help.”

“ Let go off my shirt! I don’t want to hear another childish question.”

“ B-But it’s important!!!”

“ I doubt it!”

“ I promise it is!! Please, listen to me!! Please, please, please!!!”

What he didn’t want is finally happening right in front of his eyes. While the little one pulls his shirt down with all her childish strength, all the eyes of the cafeteria are set on him and there are two ladies already whispering something to one another.

That brat had really done it, after all.

The Uchiha bites his lower lip in pure annoyance as he tries to think of a way out of this situation. He knows he can’t cause a commotion in the hospital, for the pinkette will definitely kill him if he does so. It stresses out the patients, she says and he has been listening to these words for longer than he would’ve liked to. It’s true that he and Naruto were always the ones to be blamed for every time a wall was destroyed, but now these days are long gone. He’s a grown man now, who doesn’t pick a fight against his best friend in the hallways anymore and who certainly won’t create any problems in the girl's workspace.

Uchiha Sasuke is a mature man now, who certainly knows how to perform a silent kill without any of those people noticing.

He’s certainly a new, improved man.

“ Tch, spill it out already!”

After the tall man’s approval, the little girl quickly let go off his shirt, smiling from ear to ear and blinking rapidly those brown eyes of hers. “ Thank you, ojji-san!”

“ Hn.”

“ Back to my first question, then… Do you believe in magic?”

Sasuke lifts one eyebrow in response to her weird question, sighing once more. That girl was really abusing his good will. “ Kid, I’m not in the mood for these games. Go bug someone else, will you?”

“ It’s not a game, I promise!! Do you or not?”

The determination in her eyes certainly caught his attention as he continued looking at her. Her hands are turned into fists, there’s a pout decorating her lips, and for a moment, he swears he could see the pinkette’s own green eyes glaring at him.

Apparently, the toddler doesn’t seem to be joking this time, and so, he finally decides to take it seriously.

Magic, uh?

Of all the things he believes, magic is certainly not one of them. He believes in a goddess from the moon, reincarnation, life after death (in more ways than normal people would interpret this sentence), different dimensions, spirits and even in the possibility of Naruto being a good Hokage for the village. All of those things have something to do with chakra, so none of them actually seem that impossible, let alone for the last one.

There’s logic behind all of those things, and so it isn’t hard for him to actually accept them.

But magic? There’s no such thing as that, for sure.

“ No, I don’t.”

“ I didn’t either when I first came in here… But you see, ojji-san… It’s real.”

He rolls his eyes at the dramatic tone in her voice, not wanting to continue that talk anymore. Still, when he sees the evident yearning spread around her face, Sasuke changes his mind. That girl will definitely not leave him alone until he asks that question she’s dying to hear. That previous mystery in her voice is nowhere to be found anymore, and instead, an exciting feeling can be seen creeping behind every unsaid word.

What an annoying child.

And to make matters worse, he can see the pinkette looking at him from the corner of his eyes. There’s a silly smile on her lips, and he knows how funny that view probably is.

What an annoying woman, he thinks before sighing.

“…. Tch, and how do you know that, kid?”

“ You see… The doctors around here… They are witches!! A green light comes out of their hands and when they touch people with it, weird things happen… People touched by that change! Even the Hokage changed after it!”

As his dark eyes are still watching the drama queen of 7 years old, the Uchiha can’t help but feel little amused by what she considers to be magic. Her childish imagination certainly shows how naive and manipulable children can be at such age. She seems to be so excited and happy about the whole magic thing that it would really be a shame if anyone actually explained her that the green light is nothing more than chakra itself.

She would be devastated, for sure.

A smirk grows on his face as he imagines that little girl crying after learning the truth. She looks like the crybaby type, and if she were to release her tears far away from him, then that would be simply perfect.

She would definitely learn not to mess with him.

And that sounds simply amazing.

Unfortunately, he won’t be able to destroy the dreams of the new generation tonight.

“ Look, kid… Is this what you wanted to tell me?”

“ Yeh… Don’t you think it’s important? I mean, they can be planning to take over the village with an army of brainwashed ninjas!”

“ Tch You do have a weird imagination.”

“ What!?"

"That’s not magic. It’s simply one of the many ways to transform chakra. It’s possible to manipulate their natures and-“

“ Are you seriously going to explain a 7 year old girl about the change of chakra’s nature, Sasuke-kun?”

That soft, teasing voice came from behind and as soon as it entered his ears, the Uchiha knew his diabolical plan would go to waste. He tch-ed before lifting his head just to find his eyes aiming for the entrance of the cafeteria, where the pink haired doctor has her arms crossed over her chest. Her eyes are playfully judging him, as a smile can be found on her lips.

Sakura does look beautiful even after a night shift, he thinks, as he finally stands up and straightens himself. He places his hand inside his pocket, and offers the woman one of his calm, stoic expressions. His dark orbs are perfectly connected to her emerald ones, and in the silence of their gaze, both of them know it’s time for them to leave.

But there’s still one small problem for them to solve.

“ Witch!!!”

A small, sharp voice finally breaks the silence of the room, as the annoying pest is pointing her index at Sakura. It’s possible to see how her arm is shaking, and it’s not until the Uchiha connects the dots that he finally understands that accusation. He can see an annoyance wrinkle forming on the pinkette’s forehead, and he understands that if that little girl was a little older, she would be in huge trouble for calling the strongest woman in the world a witch.

Perhaps having her dreams crushed wouldn’t have been that bad.

Finally, a sigh escapes Sakura’s lips. It’s been a long day, for sure. “ Chie-chan, are you still going on about the whole witch thing?”

“You won’t fool me! I’ve seen it!”

“ Tch, what an imaginative kid- shannarou…” Sakura mutters to herself, causing the Uchiha to smirk in pure contentment. Now that he's not the one being targeted by Chie, things do seem funny. “Look, your mother is looking for you.”

“ Mama? D-Did you do something to her!?”

“What? No, of course not! Come on, you should be in your room, resting so you can go home tomorrow. Be a good girl and come with me, will you?”

“ Never! You’re not using your powers on me!”

By the look in her eyes, Sasuke can easily tell Sakura is about to explode. She’s tired and hungry; and she’s definitely not in the mood to deal with that kid. As she looks at him, he can see how she’s practically begging for his help so they can both get out of there at once.

Sakura needs his help. And as the caring husband he is, he will help his wife so they can finally go home. Sarada is probably tired of waiting already.

“ Chie.” He finally speaks, catching the attention of both girls. He looks at the child, offering her a serene expression. “ You should listen to her. Your mother is probably waiting.”

“ Eh!? You’re with her!? How could you, you traitor!?”

“ Hn.” His attention drifts towards his wife, and right now, he can list endless reasons why he would betray the entire village to stay by her side. A sly smile takes over his lips, as he watches the cheeks of his silly wife blushing a little. “ Let’s just say she bewitched me.”

“ Y-You two are… Tch, I give up. Take me to my mom, witch.”

The pink haired Uchiha sighs in relief, looking at her husband in a thankful way. He has just saved their dinner, and he certainly deserves a nice reward after that. A chuckle escapes her lips, and as soon as she’s holding Chie’s small hand in hers, Sakura doesn’t waste a single minute before taking the little girl back to her worried mother.

She’s a pest, but she’s that mother’s precious pest.

And for having that curious daughter of hers waiting at home, Sakura knows exactly how that mother is feeling.

While the pinkette takes the little one down the hospital’s hallway, Sasuke watches with a certain pride in his eyes. Decorating the back of that red shirt of hers, there is nothing more than the beautiful Uchiha crest, and it’s at times like this that he realizes he could stare at that forever.

He, who is no longer the last survivor of his clan.

He, who is no longer alone.

He, who has a perfect family always waiting for him.

And it’s all thanks to that pink haired woman that is now coming towards him with a soft smile on her face. He doesn’t believe in magic, but he certainly feels something different every time he looks into those stunning eyes of his wife.  

[sagefiredaggers]

alt!

Send me “alt!” and I’ll introduce you to a character I’ve rped in the past, want to play in the future or are currently playing somewhere else! || Accepting!@chocobutthair

Out in the wild woods, there was a rumor of the fae and creatures only seen in the dawning and setting light of the sun. Not daemons, but benevolent spirits who protected the wood and its inhabitants. No one had seen any of these creatures up close, and fewer believe they were really there to begin with.

Tall tales meant to scare people from cutting trees or hunting for sport.

That was–until a particular happenstance occurred. 

Prompto was on the hunt for the perfect photograph of a chocobo. There were some in that wood still, he’d heard the rumors, that were very well hidden within the depths of that wood. It took him all day–the sun was beginning to lower in the sky on the other side of the sky. He’d caught only the flash of tail feathers. Everytime he’d made to chase, they were gone as quick as they’d been seen! The frustration and disappointment were weighing on the blond. It’d been over an hour since the last hint of a sighting had been spotted.

Prompto finally dropped into the cradle of roots at the base of a large tree and gave off a long, frustrated sound. “I was so clooooose!” he huffed out, disappointment making his shoulders sag. He had several quick snap shots, all blurry, and all only of the flash of tail feathers.

He flipped over to the photos he had of the domesticated chocobos with another puff of sound. “They’re so cute,” he gushed, fidgeting. “I just want a picture of them free~”

There was a childlike giggle out in the wood. The sun was setting. Prompto froze, camera in his hands, and looked around. The giggle sounded again, and there was the soft chirr of what could only be a chocobo.

With a burst of adrenaline that sent his heart racing, Prompto lept up and tried to find where the sounds were coming from. He thought he had it–jumped through the brush after it. In a flurry of feathers, the chocobo was gone through another set of bushes. Prompto cried out in dismay.

The laughter came again, and Prompto was knocked from his dismay with surprise. Peeking around the trunk of a tree was a bright purple eye under a vibrant red fringe of hair. Childlike and very small, the form looked Prompto up and down.

“They’re shy,” the youth whispered, very serious and yet bursting with vitality.

Prompto jumped back, finger pointing. “Who are you?!” He looked around, wondering where the hell the kid came from. “Where’d you come from?”

“I live here,” he gestured to the woods around them. “They are my friends.”

“Th-The chocobos?” Prompto lit up again. The redhead nodded vigorously and stepped a little further out from the tree. He wore a rough cloth tunic with no sleeves. Streaked with dirt and as freckled as Prompto, maybe even more so.

What was startling to the blond was the scarring on the side of the boy’s face. A cloth covered his left eye and the scarring, mostly, but it didn’t cover the entirety of it. A nervous hand covered the bit that showed, the boy could tell Prompto was looking at it.

“They are my friends. I watch out for them.” The purple eye darted over Prompto’s form. “You aren’t going to hurt them, are you?”

“H-Hurt them? Me?! No, no, no!” Prompto knelt and held the camera. “I just want pictures of them! I love chocobos! They’re cute! See?” 

Prompto quickly flipped through his pictures until he found one of him and his favorite chocobo companion. It was a self pic of him and the chocobo, Prompto grinning with the chocobo’s wings fluttered out in excitement. He turned the camera around to show. The kid squinted, moving forward to see, but cautiously. 

“He looks like he likes you a lot,” the kid said softly, and smiled. Prompto smiled back and nods. 

“Yeah. He’s my friend, too. But I wanted some pictures of the wild ones. Because they’re so cute.”

The single purple eye stared at Prompto for a long moment. Fingers fidgeted over the opposite arm, rubbing at the heavily freckled skin. The boy bit his lip.

“What? What’s wrong?” Prompto’s brows raised, concerned by the look. 

“Well…” The boy shifted on his bare feet and twisted a little on the spot. “I could take you. If I show them you’re okay.. They might let you close enough.”

Prompto gasped softly and grinned, hunching his shoulders in his excitement. “I-I mean! I’d really like to see them!”

“What’s your name?”

Prompto blinked at the boy, but tilted his head and responded, “Prompto.”

“I’m Morgan.” The boy offered a tiny pale hand to Prompto, which the blond took gingerly and smiled wide. Morgan tugged on the hand, and made a shushing sound.

“Come on, and be quiet.”

He lead the way into the brush and stopped. Morgan pushed at Prompto to stay where he stood, and proceeded forward. Prompto was watching the sky darken for a long moment. When the boy returned, he was smiling and waved him to follow.

When Prompto followed, he found himself on a small footpath, down into a secluded green alcove, surrounded by rock and ivy and trees. There were several nests, but only a few of them had occupants. Morgan stood in the middle of the area, talking quietly at the chocobos. Whether or not they understood him, the photographer had no idea.

“Prompto wants to say hi,” Morgan was saying, as Prompto crept closer. A black chocobo with impressive plumage stood up and made her way over.

Prompto startled back, but Morgan grabbed his hand and tugged him forward. “Don’t be scared! Mother won’t hurt you!”

“Mother” was older and scarred, a place where feathers didn’t grow over neatly on her breastbone. Her head turned this way and that at Prompto, who stood rooted in place. He was in awe of her, and was shaking in the sheer excitement and a little fear he felt. She bent forward and her aged beak was inches away from the blond’s head when she trilled softly at him. The young man jumped, and Morgan giggled. She preened at Prompto’s hair with her beak and bumped him with the top her head.

“I think she knows you,” Morgan took the hand he held and put it on her breast feathers. Prompto stroked the soft black feathers and gently touched the scar.

“Oh… You’re the chocobo who’s egg we saved!” She cawed loudly in response. “I’m so happy you’re alive! Your egg hatched! The chick is healthy and doing okay!”

Prompto found the picture he’d taken of the black chick and showed the boy and Mother. 

“I think she’s happy to know that,” Morgan translated as the black feathers fluffed around her body. She looked please, somehow.

“Thank you for letting me come here,” Prompto barely knew what to say, he was so happy to be here. He turned to the boy and grinned. “Really! I’m so glad I could see them. I– Its getting dark I should leave soon…”

“The daemons will come soon,” Morgan protested, and lead Prompto further into the little area. “It’s safe here. Stay, they don’t mind. Right, Mother? He can stay?”

The black chocobo returned to her settle and mantled her feathers like a stately queen in a fine dress. “Stay here and you can have picture tomorrow before you leave.”

Prompto still hesitated. “But…”

Morgan didn’t seemed to be likely to take no. So he stayed.

And when Prompto woke at the beginnings of dawn, the chocobos allowed him to take photos, as long as they didn’t get too close to the nests. Morgan lead him out to the wood again, and they parted at the edge of the deep wood. 

“Thank you again, you know, I got some really good shots–!” Prompto stopped when he turned to look at the boy. He was gone. “What the…!”

Dawning passed, and the spirit had gone, and Prompto had no idea where he’d gone. But he’d gotten to see the chocobos, and the boy that protected them seemed to like him so. He’d call it a win from all angles. 

Lil’Morgan is the muse I introduced to Prompto. He’s a boy who is not quite human, but is as pure as fresh snow and as gentle as a lamb. He’s been mistreated in his life, but he hasn’t lost that vitality that makes him so special. He can be found over at my OC blog @semitas-mens 

[dailyokes4u]

93 Funny Times The Background Of Photos Was Better Than The Foreground

93 Funny Times The Background Of Photos Was Better Than The Foreground

The Academy Awards present Oscars to the best supporting actors for a reason. A lot of important things happen in the background! To highlight this, Bored Panda has compiled a list of pictures where the foreground isn’t supposed to be the main focus, and they will definitely make you look twice. From savage photobombs to things that were probably supposed to stay out of the frame and more, most of these surprising images are a once-in-a-lifetime type of shots their photographers will be telling their grandchildren about. Scroll down to check them out and upvote your favorites! And while you’re at it, fire up these 10+ Of The Worst Selfie Fails By People Who Forgot To Check The Background.

(h/t brightside)

#1 Hollywood Smile

Image credits: OceanGoingSoul

#2 Queen Elizabeth Deciding To Join In On Australian Field Hockey Player Jayde Taylor’s Selfie

Image credits: jaydetaylor

#3 It’s Behind Me… Isn’t It?

Image credits: ngshay

#4 Kid In Background Of News Report Gets Stuck In His Lifejacket

#5 Noooo!

Image credits: sloppyFarts

#6 The Old Lady Is A Slash Fan, But She Doesn’t Know Slash Is Standing Behind Her

Image credits: meeganhodges

#7 Best Accidental Photobomb Ever

Image credits: SarkyTyke

#8 Well That’s An Impressive Photobomb

Image credits: vanillapopcorn

#9 Took A Picture Of A Man And Daughter At A Coffee Shop To Show Them What They Would Look Like In 10 Years

Image credits: Philchil23

#10 Not Everyone Had A Greatest Night…

Image credits: RemoteControlArtist

#11 Got A Picture With Woody In Times Square…

Image credits: kazaamx

#12 We’re So Happy Fiona Could Be There On Our Special Day

Image credits: hayley_roll

#13 Took A Picture With My Friends, Later Noticed The Cops In The Background

Image credits: reddit.com

#14 He Looks Stunning

Image credits: drocks27

#15 My Sister Was Taking Pictures Of My Nephew At School And The Little Guy In The Back Looks Miserable

Image credits: Htxbia

#16 Selfie Photo Bomb… Nailed It

Image credits: SerialPest

#17 My Daughter Thought This Was Her. Bonus: My Son In The Background

Image credits: Trampolice

#18 Cheerleading Practice

Image credits: Get_Stamosed

#19 Tim Duncan’s Accidental Photobomb

Image credits: jaycrew

#20 Cute Couple Picture

#21 I’m Pretty Sure They Don’t Even Know Each Other

Image credits: gracefuego

#22 Leaning Tower Of Pisa

Image credits: Jkoos

#23 Unicorns Aren’t The Only Things That Poop Rainbows…

Image credits: danorm

#24 Photo Bombed By Batman

Image credits: MeatheadMilitia

#25 On Vacation In California With My Best Friend And Took A Picture With Perfect Timing

Image credits: Noobytoe

#26 Horses, Such Elegant Creatures

Image credits: A_fish_called_tiger

#27 The Best Picture I Have Ever Taken

Image credits: heyitslolo

#28 Largest Photobomb Ever?

Image credits: jpawli

#29 Halloween 1989. That’s Me On The Right. My Sister Is Behind Me And About To Have A Really Bad Day

Image credits: BryanwithaY

#30 That’s A Cemetery In The Background

Image credits: Bombingofdresden

#31 My Friend Caught The Bouquet. That Is Her Boyfriend In The Background

Image credits: FellSamurai

#32 I Was Trying To Take A Nice Photo Of My Cat When I Noticed The Neighbours Cat In The Background

Image credits: BeardLover69

#33 A Lady’s Hairdo In The Background Makes It Look Like Chewbacca Is Lurking

Image credits: lolarsystem

#34 My Son Has Conquered The Photobomb

Image credits: WatermelonPOWAH

#35 Some Friends Took A Picture And Later Realized That The People In The Background Were Stuffing A Baby In A Cannon

Image credits: 99LS1SS

#36 Just Found This Cute Picture Of Me And My Cousin, And My Psycho Brother In The Background

Image credits: leahkray

#37 Monopoly Man In Background During Equifax Senate Hearing

Image credits: ImNotLeet

#38 Baby Photobomb

#39 Groom’s Sister Passed Out At The Exact Moment The Judge Said “You May Kiss The Bride”

Image credits: GallowBoob

#40 I Took This Picture Trying To Get A Fun Candid Of The Bride And Groom. Best Choice Ever

Image credits: phillyd

#41 Thought I Took A Great Picture Of My Dog Then I Noticed The K9 Centipede In The Background

Image credits: Zalithelia

#42 My Friends Dog In The Background And Her Sons T-Shirt Match Perfectly

Image credits: GummieLindsays

#43 Duck With Burning Background

Image credits: GallowBoob

#44 My Brother Posted A Picture On His Birthday. Upon Seeing It I Immediately Started Laughing At Who He Captured In The Background

Image credits: holycrapidonteven

#45 Attack Of The Butterfly

Image credits: Bigforsumthin

#46 Perfect Timing Selfie

Image credits: ppswwe

#47 It Was That Moment, He Knew He Wanted More

Image credits: mrmemefirst

#48 The Look Of A Man Who Spend $1000+ On A Seat To Try And Watch A Game Behind Hodor

Image credits: Intolight

#49 A Friend Of Mine Posted A Baby Pic Of Her At Disney… Everyone Was Wayy More Intrigued By What Was Happening In The Background

Image credits: sasquatchh

#50 Got A New Tux Today And Decided To Get A Picture. I Accidentally Sent This To My Girlfriend

Image credits: reddit.com

#51 When You Get The Prime Spot So The Guy At The Back Has To Propose By A Bench

Image credits: asjonesy99

#52 Accidental Photo Bomb

Image credits: ohsureyoudo

#53 I Took This Selfie Of Me And My Friend In Nyc And Only Realized The Strategically Placed Person In The Background When I Got Back (Brandon & Jac)

Image credits: AtoJFuzz

#54 Oh No

#55 My Mother Sent Me This Picture, Saying “Look At The Cool New Door I Just Got For The Garden!”… No Mention Of Why There Was A Ravaging Prairie Fire In The Background…

Image credits: FUCKtheGRANNYS

#56 Girlfriend Caught A Pickpocket In Action

Image credits: Paperted

#57 Went To A Petting Zoo. Friend Got Stepped On By A Pig. I Couldn’t Have Planned These Pictures If I’d Tried!

Image credits: Rach0s

#58 Had A Caption Until The Lady In The Background Nailed It For Me

Image credits: SomeChefGuy

#59 I Sent This Picture To Most Of My Family. I Just Now Noticed What My Dad Did To My Fridge In The Background… (Me And My Brother’s Names Are Nick And Nate)

Image credits: UPVOTE_IF_POOPING

#60 Happy Birthday Kelley

#61 Look At How Long This Gummy Worm I Found Is!

Image credits: elWeeg

#62 Senior Picture Background Fail

Image credits: logantroxell

#63 The Art In The Background Makes Appear Like My 1-Year-Old Daughter Is Holding Some Kind Of Melee Weapon

Image credits: mybrainisfull

#64 Tried To Look Talented In The Background Of A Family Portrait. Failed

Image credits: GaryGronk

#65 I Took A Selfie And Saw Myself 20 Years In The Future (I’m Wearing Khakis Too)

Image credits: Naptownfellow

#66 He Seams To Really Dislike Her Bag

#67 Canopy In The Background Makes It Look Like Dj Khaled Just Graduated

Image credits: Scaulbylausis

#68 Her Friend To The Left Doesn’t Look Fine

Image credits: GallowBoob

#69 My Facebook Friend Met Ed O’Neill And The Guy Behind Her Can’t F**king Believe It

Image credits: super_medium_sized

#70 Just Hanging Out… Kids Playing In The Leaves, Smoking Some Chicken On The Green Egg, Oh And Our Dog…

Image credits: bannedforlife

#71 When You See It…

Image credits: KosherKittens

#72 A Car Like Mine Parked Next To Me So I Snapped A Photo. I Noticed Weeks Later That A 3rd Mountaineer Was Driving By At The Exact Moment I Took The Photo

Image credits: cs502

#73 He Probably Regrets Choosing A Medical School

#74 Just Got Back From Iceland- Was Going Through My Pictures And Found The Best Photobomb Of All Time

Image credits: thirdtimesacharm_

#75 A Few Days Ago I Had A Frankenshake, Didn’t Realise The Hidden Gem As The Wife Took My Pic

Image credits: woody1130

#76 Took A Picture Of My Parents On A Boat With A Rope Swing. Attempted Back Flip Gone Wrong

Image credits: triankletattoo

#77 Took A Pic Of My Kid On Her New Pimped Up Bike… Didn’t Pay Attention To The Graffiti In The Background

Image credits: SiPee

#78 So I Went To México Over The Summer. Going Through My Pictures, I Just Noticed This Guy In The Background

Image credits: apersello34

#79 Pretty Much Sums It All Up

Image credits: lorrainefurmakeup

#80 Sleepy Head

#81 My Friend’s Photobomb

Image credits: moombaht

#82 Drunk Guy Peeing Behind Tent At Wedding Reception

Image credits: RedJackson

#83 A Photo Of My Mother And Grandmother With My Dog Doing Her Own Business In The Background

Image credits: smunken

#84 When People Do Not Approve Your New Hairstyle

Image credits: milano_alyssa

#85 Caught My Brother Falling Skim Boarding While Taking A Picture Of My Wife And Daughter

Image credits: FalseEstimate

#86 Took This Picture Of My Kid While At A Restaurant, I Can’t Stop Laughing At The Guy In The Back

Image credits: mango2407

#87 When Waitress Brings Someone Else Their Food When You Ordered First

Image credits: javi_1999_

#88 Never Know What Strangers May Be Doing In The Background When You’re Taking A Picture

Image credits: Ailurophilia4l

#89 That Awkward Moment When You’re Trying To Take A Selfie And A Mother Decides To Beat Her Child With Her Sandal

Image credits: Speciman

#90 Every Mom Is On The Phone Here In The Background

Image credits: nannymomrhonda

#91 Boy In The Back Is Probably Going Through Existential Crisis

Image credits: alcorta_robert

#92 Took A Picture Of A Friend And Capture Something In The Background

Image credits: Jerahmy___

from https://dailyjokes4u.com/93-funny-times-the-background-of-photos-was-better-than-the-foreground/

[stcrytcllerxinspo]

When you let those blue eyes turn grey I took it personal When you took my hero away I took it personal Now you're not here when I say I took it personal I took it personal Now every night

I scream at your ghost When I miss you the most I'll lace up my armour and fight for us both Finish what you started and crown your stone (I'll crown your stone) Maybe I could let go, let go, let go (maybe) Maybe I could let go, let go, let go (Never let go)

TRIGGER WARNINGS: VIOLENCE, MURDER, DEATH, GRIEF

With pale blue eyes focused on the large animal in front of him, Devon reached out with a weak hand and let his fingers brush over the back and white fur on Sunny’s neck. In the two weeks since Jade’s funeral, Devon had gone to visit the horse on almost a daily basis, usually late at night, when Alyssa was asleep along with his mum and sister, who had been staying with him ever since. Visits with his wife’s giant, furry friend had been serving as a source of comfort in a time during which he often found even waking up to be difficult.

“Hey, Sunny girl.” He murmured softly, kissing her nose. Sunny made a soft noise and nudged him, to which he responded with a weak smile as he unlocked her stall door and walked in, shutting it behind him. “Miss me since last night?”

Sunny made her noise again as she carefully watched him, stepping a little closer and nudging his back. Something told him that she was just as heartbroken as he was, as if she somehow knew that Jade was gone forever. He’d always believed that animals could sense these things.

“I cleaned your stall yesterday.” He turned to her. “I guess I don’t need to do it again, yeah?”

She nickered at him and let him gently rub her neck, and she continued to watch him even as he sat down on a bale of hay. He was so weighed down with emotion these days that it physically tired him out.  He couldn’t rest during the day, however, as he had a daughter to care for and he also had work six days out of the week. There was no time for resting.

“Remember when you and Jade took me for a ride for the first time?” He reached into a plastic bag and  took out a handful of oats, holding his open hand to Sunny. “I was a bit scared of you, wasn’t I?”

“This is 1,000 pounds of death and destruction!”

“You’re being dramatic.” Jade said with a playful roll of her eyes, taking notice of the death grip that Devon had on the reigns. For years, he had steered clear of getting on a horse, but when Christmas rolled around, he decided to surprise his wife and attempt to get over his fear by joining her for a ride. Now, though, he was wondering if he should be regretting the decision.

“Dramatic? Babe, what if she gets spooked and takes off running?! And you had a baby last month, so should you even be—”

“Dev, calm down!” Jade giggled as she leaned back against him, sliding her hands up the reigns until they were resting over his. The action did bring him some comfort, but he was still afraid of being thrown off. It wasn’t like that had never happened before. “Look, she’s harmless. Aren’t you, Snugglebutt?”

Devon’s nervous look became incredulous because did his wife seriously just call her horse Snugglebutt? That was a nickname one might give to a dog or cat, not a freakin’ horse? Could you even snuggle a horse? Wouldn’t anyone get crushed if they tried that? He knew that Sunny was her second baby, next to Alyssa, but honestly, what the hell.

“Love, no offense, but this is not a Snugglebutt!”

“I beg to differ.” Jade retorted as she rubbed his hands. Devon pressed his face against her shoulder and let out a soft groan. “What? She lays down and I snuggle her! It’s easy, babe.”

“Yeah right.”

“Well? It’s true!” “Whatever you say.”

“Yep.” There was amusement in Jade’s voice as she pulled on the reigns, bringing Sunny to a stop in front of the lake. She leaned back so she could look at her husband, one hand going from the reigns to his knee. Devon wrapped his arms around her, only to frantically grab the reigns again when Sunny moved. It was only a small movement, but still enough to startle him, and for whatever reason, it made Jade laugh. “You’re still scared, huh?”

“Yeah, a lil bit.” He gulped.

“Okay, let’s take a break.” She giggled as they got off the horse, patting the creature’s neck. Sunny neighed at the young couple and Jade kissed her nose before leading her over to the fence and tying her halter safely but comfortably. Then Jade was back at Devon’s side, her arms around his waist as she looked up at him. “What do you wanna do now?”

“This.” Devon answered simply before lifting her into his arms and kissing her with loving passion, her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. She squealed as he spun her around, holding on tight. He laughed at her cute reactions, planting kisses all over her face.

“Dev!” She squeaked. She clung to him as tightly as she could, crinkling her nose as she looked away from her and within seconds, he sat her back down, chuckling. Sunny sounded off in the background, almost as if expressing approval of them. Jade looked up at her husband with a big smile, standing on her tip-toes to give him a soft and loving kiss.

“I thought you were gonna flip out and throw me off.” Devon chuckled softly, with tears already welling up in his eyes, which had heavy bags underneath from lack of sleep. Sunny seemed to notice that something was wrong with him, once again nudging him. He tried to choke back the tears, because he truly was tired of crying all the time. He’d cried himself to sleep every night since Jade’s death. He honestly didn’t know how he was gonna live without her. He didn’t want to live without her.

“Um…” He cleared his throat. “I don’t want to imagine a world without her. We had so many plans, y’know? We eventually wanted to buy some land and build a home of our own. We wanted to try for another baby. I eventually wanted to take her on a trip to London. She’d never been there, but she wanted to change that soon.” He wiped away the tears that had begun to fall. “Shit, we were gonna grow old together.”

He stood up and touched the horse once more before stepping out of the stall and locking it back up. Then he stepped outside and headed for the walking trail, as he attempted (and failed) to keep his emotions under control.

“Do you ever think about the future? I don’t mean like…college plans or your dream wedding, but like…how short life is?”

The question came out of nowhere as they walked down the trail, having ditched their wedding reception to have some alone time on their first night as a married couple. Jade was walking hand-in-hand with her new husband, her green eyes focused on the starry night sky, the light breeze brushing over her face. She seemed to be deep in thought, her mind anywhere but in the moment.

Devon frowned, giving her hand a squeeze. “Why?”

In response, Jade shrugged, looking up at him with a tiny smile. “I don’t know. We think we have all the time in the world, but then I see all the tragedy out there. Sometimes we may think we have plenty of time to live, but we don’t really know when our time is up. I just…I don’t want to miss out on anything.” She placed a hand lovingly on her small but noticeable baby bump, letting her head rest against Devon’s bicep as they walked together.

“Yeah, I get that.” He admitted, giving a kiss to her head. “I try not to think about it, though. Like you said, life is short. So I try not to focus much on when I’m going to die. Living’s so much better, yeah?”

“Much better.” Jade grinned. Together they approached the pier overlooking the lake, with Devon placing his hands protectively on her sides to keep her from falling, then moved them until they were cupping her bump. “And I want our baby to see that too.”

“Is that a yes to me taking the kid skydiving?”

“No.” Jade answered before turning around and hugging his waist. With one hand on her back, he used his other hand to push a strand of hair from her face before he kissed her forehead. She stood on her tip-toes and pressed her lips to his, giggling softly. “I love you.”

“I love you more.” Devon grinned against her lips, kissing her once more.

“No way.”

“Yep.”

“Dev!”

“It’s true and you know it!”

And so their laughter filled the air. In that moment, there was nothing that could take their happiness away.

Before Devon knew it, he was standing on that pier, staring out into the water, the moon illuminating it. He could see his reflection and just how tired and weak he truly looked. But nothing mattered to him right now, especially not his appearance. For a moment, he actually contemplated jumping into the water and drowning.

But he couldn’t do that to their daughter. Alyssa had already lost one parent and there was no way that Devon was going to allow her to lose him, even if he had lost himself.

He sat down on the pier as sobs threatened to escape, combing his fingers through his hair. He didn’t know how he was going to survive this. He wasn’t sure how he could handle the pain. It all seemed like so much more than he could handle.

“Okay, honey, just one more big push, okay?”

Cries filled the delivery room as Jade squeezed Devon’s hand, which he was sure she was going to end up breaking. But mostly, he just wanted to ease her pain. He couldn’t stand to see Jade hurting, even though the end result was going to be a good one.

“Dev, I can’t do it.” Jade cried as she collapsed against the pillows, her chest heaving as sweat dripped down her face. “I can’t—”

Immediately Devon cupped his hand over her cheek, forcing her to look at him.  “Love, look at me. You spent nine months growing this baby and now she wants to see you, and I know you want to see her and hold her. You have been so damn strong and you cannot give up now, okay?” He kissed her forehead. “So I need you to breathe and you need to push as hard as you can so we can hold our baby girl. Okay? Come on, love. You can do it.” He put his free arm behind her back and helped her sit up, nodding at the doctor. “Come on, beautiful. Just one more and you’ll be a mum.” Jade nodded and took a deep breath, then pushed while the doctor counted to ten.

“One, two, three, four…”

“You’re doing so well, babe.” Devon encouraged, rubbing her back.

“Five, six, seven, eight…”

“Almost there!” Devon grinned as he kissed her cheek.

“Nine, ten!”

A cry filled the room and Jade collapsed back against the pillows, breathing heavily and crying tears of joy this time. And once the umbilical cord had been cut, Alyssa Devonne Prescott was wrapped in a blanket and placed in her mother’s arms.  Jade’s fingers lightly brushed over the baby girl’s cheek, as if to check and see if she was real.

“There’s our princess.” Devon whispered, tears filling his own eyes as little Alyssa grabbed his finger. “We’re so happy to see you, baby girl.”

With his knees pulled to his chest, Devon no longer could keep the sobs in, finally allowing himself to break down for what seemed like the millionth time in the past two weeks. He just wanted to wake up from this nightmare. He wanted to wake up to Jade laying beside him or making him breakfast or playing with Alyssa. Her home was supposed to be with them, not a cemetery. He had been refusing to believe that this was real, but deep down, he knew that she was never coming back.

In the hours before it happened, they had been so damn oblivious. They dropped Alyssa off at his mum’s house, then they went to the library so Devon could work and Jade could browse through books and the internet. He could never forget sitting at the front desk and them exchanging flirtatious smiles. They had gone to their favorite Italian restaurant for his lunch break. In many ways, the day had been perfect. If only it hadn’t ended on such a horrific note….

It had happened in an instant. One minute every customer was on the ground, fearing for their lives. The next minute, a life was being taken. Devon had thought he and Jade could sneak out of their when the armed man in black wasn’t looking, but as soon as they started sneaking towards the back door, the bastard fired his weapon. A single bullet hit Jade, sending her to the ground.

“Jade, no!” Devon dropped to his knees beside his struggling wife, who was gasping for air as she laid bleeding on the ground. Crimson had begun to soak the back of her jacket and her skin was beginning to lose its color. “No, babe, no. You gotta hang on, okay?”

But she wasn’t. She wasn’t hanging on. She was beginning to lose her grip on life. As Devon felt her wrist for a pulse, he could feel it becoming weaker and weaker. In a panic, he pulled his hoodie off and pressed it to her back, trying to keep as calm as he could. But as she began to fade away, it became harder to stay calm.

The man in black had bolted out the door, but Devon’s focus was entirely on trying to keep Jade alive. “Love, I need you to stay with me. Please.” He cried as he pressed his jacket against her wound. His jeans and his long-sleeved white shirt were becoming soaked with blood: Jade’s blood.  When he saw that her eyes were almost completely closed, he frantically shook his head and placed his hand over her cheek. “Jade, open your eyes. Open your eyes, please!”

He could have sworn that he heard someone say that an ambulance was on its way. But what good would that ambulance do now? Because just as the person spoke, Devon felt Jade take her final breath, and he cried as he held her close, the bloodied jacket falling from his hand. Sure enough, he didn’t feel a single heartbeat in her chest. She was gone. He knew she was.

“No…God, please no…” He sobbed, pressing his face against her shoulder. And so his real nightmare began.

“Devon?”

The minute he heard his aunt’s voice behind him, he was quick to wipe his tears away. He could allow anyone to see him cry anymore. Jade had always talked about how strong he was, dealing with his dad leaving and helping his mum to raise his sister. So he had to be strong, right? He had to live up to what Jade saw in him. In his mind, that meant that he needed to stop crying and get on with life.

“Your mum called and said that she was worried about you. Apparently you’ve been out here for a while.” Marley said as she kneeled behind him, her hand on his shoulder. His uncle had already gone back to Boca Raton with his cousins, except for Alex, who had returned to college at NYU. But Marley chose to stay in Nashville for a while longer, at least a few more days. Devon supposed that she was worried about her sister caring for a newly motherless grandchild and a traumatized son.

“Yeah,” He cleared his throat as he started to stand up. “I lost track of time, but I was about to head home.”

“Devon,” Marley said as she moved her hand to his back. “You look exhausted. Have you been sleeping at all?”

He could tell the truth.

Or he could do the easier thing: lie.

“Yeah,” He finally said. “I’ve been sleeping pretty good. I’ll talk to ya tomorrow, yeah?”

Without another word, he took off back down the trail and past the stables until he reached his car, forcing back more tears. 

He was fine.

Or at least he could make everyone believe that he was.

[nuzblog]

Sunday, October 22nd, 2017

Hello there. My name is Sterling, which you may very well know already. I could bore you with details about me but I'd really prefer not to.

On this day (which is yesterday at the time of writing), I began my third consecutive attempt to do a Nuzlocke Run of Pokemon Blue. I intend to play through every generation of Pokemon in chronological order, using original versions (so no remakes; for the original two generations I will be using the virtual console, and for the latter five I will be playing the original cartridges.) I further intend to begin documenting this quest using this site as a sort of diary, which will be updated whenever the game I am nuzlocking is played, which will probably be daily for a while, but then I might get a Switch, or Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon might come out, and it might become less than daily.

To start out with, let's quickly go over a few things in terms of background.

The Pokemon series started with the release of Pokemon Red and Pokemon Green in Japan, on February 27, 1996, 19 months before I was born. The games were RPGs based on the childhood play of creator Satoshi Tajiri, who as a young boy in Machida, Japan, would collect beetles and have them fight other kids' captured insects. With 151 unique creatures to collect, trade, battle and love, from typical adorable cats and dogs to awe inspiring kaiju, to creepy-cute moths and bees and strange animated plant monsters, and things even weirder than that, the franchise had something for everyone. It made a huge splash in Japan, and when it was rereleased in the United States, it was accompanied by an animated show aimed at children and a trading card game, all of which connected like a plug into the outlets in the minds of children all over the world. It became a global phenomenon practically overnight, with scores of magical monsters becoming household names, and the concepts becoming core for game design. The series is still going, and while nothing since the first generation has become quite so culturally pervasive, the franchise is a well known and renowned one all the same. Every few years new games come along, with a new setting, a new story, and a set of new Pokemon hovering around 100. In seven "generations" (Red/Green/Blue/Yellow, Gold/Silver/Crystal, Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, Black/White/Black 2/White 2, X/Y, Sun/Moon/Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon), the number 151 has become 804 (and counting, since Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon aren't out yet and may very well have a few new Pokemon.)

You probably know most of that already, but it is important to lay this kind of groundwork so that nobody is confused.

A Nuzlocke Challenge is a specific sort of self-imposed challenge that some players of Pokemon games use to combat the game's otherwise relatively low difficulty outside of PvP. It gets its name from a webcomic that originally simply called the challenge "Pokemon Hard Mode", but featured a Nuzleaf who was named after John Locke from LOST, who became a memetic character inside and outside of the comic, and the challenge is now named for that Nuzleaf. (If you're unfamiliar, Nuzleaf is a grass type Pokemon from Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, that looks kind of like Pinocchio and evolves from an acorn and into a tengu. LOST was a bad show by the guy who for some reason got put in charge of both Star Trek AND Star Wars afterwards.)

The original Nuzlocke Challenge used the following rules:

1. You may only capture the first Pokemeon you see in each area. 2. Any Pokemon that faints is permanently dead, and can never be used again.

Later players of Nuzlockes have modified and expanded those rules, and today, many rulesets exist. Some mitigate the difficulty of these two rules, some make it harder, and some merely add a new spin to things. But in order to be a Nuzlocke Challenge, these two rules are the bare minimum.

Now that I've given you that background, I'd like to go ahead and list out my own ruleset, which I will be using not just for my playthrough of Blue, but also for all consecutive playthroughs, with the potential for minor tweaks and edits inbetween games and also early on into this first playthrough.

1. I may only capture the first Pokemon I see in each area. 1a. No Ball Clause - No wild encounters count until I have access to Pokeballs. 1b. Duplicate Clause - If the first encounter in an area is a Pokemon I have already caught, and they have not died (even if they have evolved), that encounter can be ignored in favor of the next one. This can be repeated until a unique Pokemon is found. 1c. Shiny Clause - A shiny Pokemon can be caught at any time, if one is encountered in the wild, unless the encounter is scripted. 2. A Pokemon that faints in battle is permanently dead, and can never be used again. A Pokemon that faints outside of battle, such as by poisoning, can be restored to life at a Pokemon Center. 2a. If I ever white out, and my whole team is fainted, it does not matter if I have living Pokemon in the box; my player character is considered dead, and the run has failed. 3. When an important trainer battle occurs, such as one with the rival, a gym leader battle, a battle against an admin of the villainous team, or another battle against an important NPC such as an elite four member or the champion, my party must have exactly as many Pokemon in it as theirs does. 3a. 6 Pokemon team for the Elite Four and Champion challenge at the end. 4. Each Pokemon Center provides only one opportunity for me to heal my Pokemon. When I finish an important battle, I have another chance to heal at the nearest Pokemon Center. I can hold onto this second heal, but I cannot accumulate a third. 4a. Healing outside of Pokemon Centers is infinite, including at home or in strangers' beds. 4b. Struggle Clause - If I run out of PP on all damaging attacks, I am allowed to heal at the nearest Pokemon Center if, and only if, all of my Pokemon are already at full HP.

Those are the major, overarching rules. Other notes include that I will be determining starter randomly when my character has the option unless I have tried and failed with two of them and have not yet tried the third, and that every Pokemon will be nicknamed. A Pokemon nickname cannot be reused for the same species if that Pokemon dies, and a trainer nickname cannot be reused if that trainer dies. (If, on the other hand, I complete Blue with a Pidgey on my team, and I am named John and my Pidgey is named Butts, I can use the name John for my player and the name Butts for a Pidgey I catch in future games, until they die.)

Got all that? Good. Now we can begin.

Well. Actually, first I'm gonna run through what happened on my first two attempts lightning fast.

First attempt - Player name was Red. Bulbasaur, named Metreedon, was my starter. Caught a Rattata, named it Mickey; it died. Caught a Nidoran (Female), named her Lexi. Caught a second Rattata, named it Minnie, it also died. Reached Level 8 with Metreedon and Lexi, and then fought the second rival battle. Was sorely beaten by Blue's Pidgey.

Second attempt - Player name was Satoshi. Charmander, named Sally, was my starter. Caught a Rattata, named it Remy. Caught a Pidgey, named it... I can't actually recall. Progressed all the way to Mt. Moon, beating Brock along the way. Was done in by the first encounter with a Team Rocket Grunt in Mt. Moon, and his illegally evolved Level 16 Raticate.

NOW we can begin!!

(A note: between that writing above and this writing below, I slept and then woke up and then went to work and then worked and then went home. I did not play any Pokemon Blue on the 23rd, but I will today, the 24th. Probably.)

I began my Pokemon journey, naming my character "Gary" and my rival "Ash", at the suggestion of the game. I can't help but feel as though Red being the far and above more popular version was an intentional move on Game Freak's part, given that these names are reversed both in Pokemon Red, and in the English translation of the anime. (I have not played the Japanese versions, but it is my understanding that a similar switch happens with the names Satoshi and Shigeru.) The Blue/Red suggestion switch is a little less notable, since that's a simple matter of the game you're playing. That said, while some of the names have turned out a little cringey ("Hilbert" and "Hilda" in particular), I think the "canon names" changing from depending on your game version to depending on your character's gender starting in the third generation was a good move.

Moving on, I go through the typical motions; I grab my Potion from the PC, I walk into the left-hand square of grass north of Pallet Town, get stopped by Oak and brought to the lab. There, I pick my starter, who, given that I've already rolled a Bulbasaur (using a random number generator) and a Charmander (using a physical six-sided die), I decide to be Squirtle. I name my Squirtle "Shelley", since gender doesn't exist yet and I can do whatever I like. (Not that gender ever really exists.) Squirtle is my favorite of the three starters in this generation, with Wartortle being my preference of the family, so I'm excited to use Shelley. This, of course, counts as my Pokemon for Pallet Town.

My rival battle in the lab is the most clutch it's been, for some reason, which is odd given that I'm now armed with the most useful statistic-affecting move alloted to the starting movesets of the three starters in this game, Tail Whip. I am reduced to one health, very nearly a game-ender, so I use my potion on the chance that my foe will use Tackle instead of Growl (Bulbasaur is faster than Squirtle here.) I win the battle with full health, but one less Potion, which are at a dreadful premium until Pewter City.

I journey north to Viridian, taking the opportunity to grind in the grass a bit. I get the potion from the advertiser, the parcel from the mart, and then head back south, delivering it to Oak. I now have a PokeDex, but more importantly, since I'm definitely not filling that out, the PokeMart in Viridian will now sell me some PokeBalls.  I head North yet again, purchase five, and head south, catching a Rattata in Route 1 along the way. I name my Rattata Lemmy. I could talk about what made me use that name, but I think I will leave that a mystery. The first person to correctly guess what my name scheme is for this run through (before it ends) will get... a Pokemon from the run traded to them in Sun or Moon? Hidden Abilities, yo.

I left off the game grinding back and forth in Route 1, taking maximum advantage of the unlimited healing that my mother provides. This is not a privilege I'll have forever (although I will probably have it back when I get Fly?), especially since, as I recall, there is a temporary point of no return on the other side of Mt. Moon, which, even if Mt. Moon weren't inhospitable to those who are already desperately in need of healing, would make it impossible to take advantage of my mother's generosity.

Current team is Shelley the Squirtle, Level 8, from Pallet Town; and Lemmy the Rattata, Level 6, from Route 1.

Riveting, I know.

See y'all for the next entry.