#im growing my hair out like Luis

[thatone-artsytkid]

Since im trans, I also headcannon Luis as trans and noone can stop me >:333

[multi-fandom-imagine]

Hi. If I may ask for Luis Serra and 🥰 (Post-nightmare cuddles)?

Given his background, he just can't be completely free from some bad dreams 😢

A/n: IM SO SORRY I MISSED THIS! I had a bad night at work so I just watched stupid videos on break.

Prompt:

🥰 - Post-nightmare cuddles

More prompts here || Send them here

You knew Luis suffered a lot, you could see it in his eyes sometimes. A look of regret, a sadness and with a blink it would be gone and he would have that charming smile back on his face.

You never asked about his past, never thought you had the need to do so. The man spike little, brief mentions of his mother. The woman he never got to meet, his grandfather, the man the raised him, the man that he looked up to, the one he had hoped to grow up to be.

That had caught your attention, you didn’t quite understand what he meant by that.

‘It’s nothing Mi Amore, just that I am a coward…k could never be like him.’

Now you knew that was a lie, if he was such a coward then why would he risk his life for yours. You were just a tourist, your friend planed a surprise trip and one wrong turn had completely turned your life around.

You a friend on that island but gained a soulmate. Luis held you every night as you sobbed, held you through your nightmares that had you screaming out your friends name.

While you knew little of his past, that didn’t matter to you. You loved Luis and with time he’ll you what caused his nightmares, the things that made him cry out only to hide it so he wouldn’t wake you but you knew.

Know matter how much he tried to hide it you always knew and this particular night was rough. The man was tossing and turning in his sleep, pleading, whimpers escaping his lips. Sweat beading his brow, your hand reaching out to touch him and then he jolted awake.

Chest heaving to catch a breath, eyes darting around the room. For a moment he felt like a boy again, that he was watching his home burn to the ground. He could almost taste the air of burning flesh until he felt your hand on his shoulder, your fingers weaving through his hair.

“Shh it’s alright Luis, I’m here.” Drawing him to your chest, you placed a kiss to the top of his head. “You don’t need to be strong all the time, you can let yourself cry every once and a while.”

Feeling tears pool in the corner of his eyes, it did not take long for the man to break down in your arms. Suddenly he was hit with all the memories, of the death of his grandfather, the death of his friends he desperately tried to protect, the loss of innocents because of his research.

He told you though muffled sobs, he expected you to turn away with disgust. But you didn’t, you just held him, placing a kiss to his head.

“You should hate me.”

“How could I hate the man that saved my life. You may had made some wrong turns in life Luis but it’s thanks to you that I’m alive, that Leon and Ashley are alive…please never think that again.” Giving him a weak smile you brushed his tears away. “I love you.”

Doing his best to return your smile, Luis let his arms wrap around your waist as he buries his face into his chest, his body curling into yours. It was then he knew he was going to spend the rest of his life with you. “I love you too Mi Amore, and..thank you. For chasing my nightmare away.”

“I always will Luis, I promise you that I always will.”

[trans-luis-serra-navarro]

OH I LOVE YOUR CONTENT BUT I'M SHY SO ANONYMOUS IS THE ONLY WAY

Okay okay so Serennedy!! Do you prefer their 2005 dynamic or the remake dynamic?? Also what do you think of Leon teaching Luis how to fight hand-to-hand?? Luis with long hair? Sorry for the long ask but AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

SHWBEGEBDYDJDUCHCUJSAJ OMG HI HELLO HIIIII!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU GOT THE ASK AND DONT FEEL SHY IM LITERALLY JUST A FELLER AHABHDBDHDJS but!!! More importantly!!!!! Your questions!!!!!!!! I’ll keep them under the cut so I don’t clog up anyone’s dash!!!

Do I prefer OG Serennedy or Re- REMAKE!!!!!!! REMAKE INFINITELY SO OH MY GOD ARE YOU KIDDING ME. THE PARALELLS BETWEEN THEM AND SANCHO PANZA AND DON QUIXOTE. THE ACTING. THE LIL MOMENTS OF GENUINE JOY BETWEEN THEM ARE YOU KIDDING ME (also like the obvious. Luis is a MASSIVE step up from his OG counterpart in terms of like. Not being a very creepy misogynist BDNEHENJDD)

What do I think about Leon teaching Luis hand-to-hand combat???? OH MY G O D ?????????? HOW HAVE I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE THATS LITERALLY THE BEST IDEA E V E R ?????? We all know Luis CLEARLY isn’t a fighter like Leon- the only weapon we see him reliably use is a gun manufactured in WWII and. A metal pole which like. Y’know what that works too BCNEHENEJSJS and ESPECIALLY after such a close call with Krauser who is- notoriously- more of a close-up fighter I can only imagine Leon would be REEEEEEAL keen to teach Luis some general self defence skills

In my head it’d probably be in the same wheelhouse as other small things Luis does to slowly heal after living in Valdelobos for so long- gain some weight/muscle, get a fresh change of clothes, go to therapy etc etc BCNEHENEJ now I’m having BRAINROT over the idea of Leon teaching Luis how to use a proper army knife or something with just full consideration and caution and they have the time of their lives doing it too ((I’m so sorry that turned into such a ramble but like. Hello who do you think you’re talking to BCNEHENDJDN))

What do I think of Luis with long hair????? WELL BOY HOWDY NOT TO PLUG MY OWN ART BUT I DREW THE GODDAMN IDEA!!!!!!! Again, similar to my last point, I can imagine little changes in appearance like him growing his hair out to be small signs of healing from that past trauma so I hold the idea of him growing out his hair very near and dear to my heart <<<<33

ANYWAYS THANK YOU OH SOSOSOSOSOSO MUCH FOR SENDING IN AN ASK I SINCERELY HOPE YOU DIDNT MIND THE ABSOLUTE RAMBLE I WENT ON AGSBEHDJSJDNCJ

[clementinecyrilla]

Eddie munson fic, chapter 2

What was that all about?

He thought.

She'd better be okay. Cause if anybody hurt her I swear to god-

Shes probably fine, maybe it just got broken into overnight. When she wasn’t here.

Or maybe she saw a wild animal, or had a power outage, or something.

“Henderson!” eddie shouted to his friend from across the courtyard. Dustin turned his head to see him, waved his hands to him, and they started to come get eachother.

“Hey, Dusty, do um-“. He started, almost embarrassed to be asking about a girl, who, he thought probably doesn’t like him in that way-

“Do you know if anything happened at the library?”

Dustin was perplexed by the question, confusion growing in his eyebrows.

“Um, I um, I have no idea. Why? What, did something happen to it?”

“I- I don’t know, dude. I just saw a bunch of police cars outside of it this morning. “

“Huh… that’s, weird.” Dustin replied, confused.

“Well, hopefully everything is okay.” He said, putting his hands together, as he turned the way he'd been before a d walked off.

My ears were ringing.

I couldn’t hear anything, I couldn’t focus on anything, and kept getting lost in my own thoughts for the rest of the day. Luckily it’s a Friday, which surprisingly doesn’t get very busy at all. It actually gets the opposite.

Nearly empty all day long, just me and my coworkers.

“Hello?” a muffled voice spoke.

Suddenly hands were waving in front of me, breaking me out of my trance.

“Earth to Audrey, are you there?” My coworker Luis spoke to me, smiling softly at me.

“Hi, hey um, Luis .”

I smiled politely at him, putting my hands in my lap. My hands were clenched tightly together.

You know, my mom used to tell me to be polite to everyone, because backstories and stuff. But goodness gracious I do not like this man and I wished he didn’t work here.

“Hey there, just ah, just checking on you.” He said awkwardly, hands in his pockets.

“Yes, yes I’m fine, Luis. Thank you for asking.”

I was short with him, I tried to use closed body language as I tried to get him to leave me alone.

“Alright cause uh, you know-“ he said, pointing finger guns at me.

“You can always talk to old Luis.”

“Yes, that’s-that's very nice of you.”

“Right so ah-“ he interupted, clicking his teeth together like a horse.

“ Got to get back to work now, so ah-“ he turned to walk away, pointing more hand guns at me.

“Catch ya later, Auds.”

I waved silently to him as he walked away from me.

I looked over at the clock on the wall.

11 am, it read.

I groaned internally, at the idea of there being so much day left in today. Clutching onto the small care bear doll sitting in my lap, I gave it a small squeeze for some comfort.

4 o’clock, the clock finally read.

It was 4, finally. So now any moment, my little group of boys will be here. A sigh of relief swept across my entire body as I felt the calming presence of the friendly, long haired man step through the doors, as if on queue.

He stepped through the doors, quickly finding me as I waved to him. His eyes lit up when he did, and he shyly, but still clearly very happily walked over to me.

“Audrey, Audrey, Audrey.” He mused, quickly placing his elbows atop my desk as I looked down at my lap to hide my now bright pink blush.

“Edward Munson, is there something I can help you with?” I spoke, my voice was more quiet than usual. I hadnt really spoken to anybody today, lost in my own head all day today after last night and then this morning, too.

“Young lady, there are no books on the floor where you said. Are you sure this happened?”

“Im positive! I was alone, back there, and out of nowhere the books just started flying off of the shelves and flying everywhere.”

“Miss, I’m sorry but there’s simply no evidence that that happened. Were you, maybe, having some kind of hallucinations?”

“I wasn’t freaking hallucinating!” I nearly shouted at the police officer in front of me.

“Look, look- right here.” I pulled down the shoulder of my jacket to expose the tiny sliver of flesh that had gotten sliced by the corner of a hardback book.

“Look, one of the books, it, it, it got my shoulder. Right here.” I tried to explain to him.

“Ma’am, I’m not sure how you got that, but please. We have actual, real crimes to tend to right now.”

And they left. They all left, all 3 cars left the parking lot with not so much as a single report written down. Do they not care? Do they not understand how scary and, well, frankly weird that was? How will I be able to work here now?

My absentmindedness was interrupted by a hand waving in front of my face with the startling sound of someone saying my name.

“Audrey? Hellooooooo earth to Audrey, this is your dear friend Eddie speaking.”

I covered my face with both hands and let out a deep, exasperated sigh. Eddie had perched his head to the side as his face still sat in the palm of his hand, as his eyes showed a look of confusion mixed with sadness.

He gently took one of my hands and slowly pulled it off of my face, my eyes were still closed as I nearly broke down in front of this poor confused man.

“Hey,” he spoke, his voice was soft and comforting to me.

“Hey, is everything alright, princess?”

His hand still holding onto mine, his fingers squeezed mine softly as I managed to look at him in his eyes.

I lifted my face up to look at him, and his eyes were filled with pure, genuine concern as he watched me. And it made me want to cry all over again.

He must have noticed because before I could open my mouth to speak, he quickly scooted over to stand next to where I sat, pulling a chair from behind him and sitting right down next to me, immediately filling my stomach with butterflies.

His arm reached across the back of my chair, as he looked straight across to the desk, and whispered to me

“I saw the cop cars this morning.” He spoke lowly to me. He was staring at the desk, instead of at me this time.

“On the way to school, I saw the cops here.” His voice was lower now, almost as if he was ready to fight whatever this imaginary, or not, thing that had scared me senseless last night.

But he doesn’t even know what it was, and I don’t either, frankly.

I looked over at him, our faces just inches apart as I smiled softly at him, and reassured him.

“Yeah, um- that.” I scrambled to reply. Should I tell him what happened? Will he think I’m crazy too?

“Audrey! No flirting on the job.” My coworker quipped at me, jolting me back into reality.

“We weren’t flirting, sir!” I defended myself, but I could hear Eddie stifling a laughter next to me.

I covered my now bright red face with one hand as the other stayed firmly in my lap.

I looked apologetically at Eddie as he smiled sympathetically at me. His arm that was behind my back had squeezed around my shoulders as his other arm snaked around my front. I wrapped my arms around his own in front of me, and let out a deep and tired sigh.

“What time do you get off tonight, Ms. Lady?”

I had to think for a second. Remember the day of the week, what the schedule was, if anybody had called in sick, when my heart skipped and fluttered as I actually remembered

“I get off early tonight, actually!” I told him.

His eyes immediately perked up as I said this.

“What time?”

“6 o’clock tonight, dear Edward.” I said, my smile become electric and contagious as I saw a creeping, growing grin spread across his lips.

He stood up from his seat, twirling a little piece of hair that was dangling down from his head, and biting down on his bottom lip at me. But he was smiling, he had bright pink cheeks that were barely visible from his mane of wild hair, but, I could see it.

“Do you… um, like, after this. After your work, do you, uh,” he stuttered, his eyes were looking at the floor as he fidgeted where he stood.

But I just looked at him, waiting to see what hes asking.

Does he want to… No. No, no way he does. No way in the world. No, nope. No way.

“Y-yes, Eddie?”

He gulped at the sound of my voice, I was frankly just as nervous as he was, probably. But that’s beside the point.

He licked his lips, taking in a quick breath, before basically mumbling through his fingers

“Do you- do you want to do something, when you get off work?”

My heart stopped, my breathing had stopped and my voice felt like it was stuck in my throat. There was a knot there where my voice should be making sounds now.

“You don’t have to!” he quickly blurted, throwing his hands to his face.

“If-if you don’t want to, of course. You- you don’t have to if you don’t want to, you know?”

“I, I, I want to, Eddie.” I spoke quietly to him.

But he heard me. He heard that.

With an abrupt expression of what I can only imagine was shock, he stood, taken aback for a moment, before holding his right hand out for me to take.

I I took his hand, delicately shaking it, as he looked down at me, in a loss for words.

He looked awfully happy, though. Not that he wasn’t normally, he basically always was. But he seemed a little… giddy, and chipper. He was messing with his strand of hair again and could not stop smiling at me, making me smile and blush in return.

His hand stayed placed in mine, his fingers dancing and tapping so softly against mine, making my insides melt.

“If you will excuse me then, my lady, I have to depart. To gather some, um, some,” he fidgeted nervously, accidentally tipping over a jar of pens that had been sitting by his elbow.

“Shit, im so so sorry.” He fumbled, trying to frantically pick up my pens and markers for me.

“Oh no, its ok Eddie!” I said, quickly pulling them all together.

“No, no, its ok. Seriously, its ok. I do that a lot, too. Its just, uh, not a very good place for that, I suppose.” I giggled nervously, trying my absolute hardest not to freak out.

Im going to go out with Eddie Munson. Tonight.

I mean, not like a date, or anything. Just, like, hanging out, I suppose.

He handed me my last pen, and took a tiny, quick glance at my side of the desk, as an absolutely wholesome grin began to grow across his lips.

“Hey, Audrey?” he asked.

“Yes, Eddie?”

“Is that a care bear on the other side of your desk?” his smile felt teasing, and my eyes grew wide and my cheeks grew bright red and hot, hot, hot.

This poor man, I have a little stuffed animal at my desk and now he probably thinks im weird. Or childish. Immature.

Ugh.

I sighed at him, stroking the little puff of hair on the care bears head and explaining

“Yes, this is my little sunshine bear.”

I picked it up and held it in my hands.

“My mom got it for me for a birthday present like, forever ago. When I was super small.” I ran my thumb across its little head and smiled softly at the memory behind it.

“She got this one specifically because she used to tell me that I reminded her of a little sunshine.”

I looked back up at him, and his eyes were looking at me in a way id never seen someone look at somebody before. The first word I thought of was love, he was looking at me with lots of love.

But that couldn’t be right, right?

I mean, that’s not even what I feel, is it?

Maybe?

He interrupted our mini staring contest by leaning his face close to mine, and saying very gently

“Well, I think your mom was right.”

I quickly covered my mouth with my hand to conceal my uncontrollable smile, as his eyes glistened at me, as he confirmed with me

“So, can I pick you up here at 6?”

“Oh, um, actually id like to go home after and change, if that’s alright with you?”

“Oh! Oh, for sure, can I pick you up at your place, then?”

I swear I must have blacked out when he said that.

My place

My

Place

My house

Where I live

He… is going to come there.

To my house

I gulped, my mouth hanging open slightly as I squeaked out

“We can do that.”

“Ok, ok sick. Awesome,” he said, his breathing becoming audibly shorter.

“Great, awesome, ok just um, just, can you, um,” he stammered, wide eyed as he stood there.

“Could you just, um, write your address down for me, dear?”

I quickly scribbled it down on a pink post it note for him, handing it to him as he studied it in his hands.

He was quiet for a bit, longer than id ever seen him be this quiet for, and he didn’t take his eyes off of the note.

He studied it, looking at it over and over again and gently holding it in his palm.

He gulped, before looking back up at me, and asking

“So about 6:30 then?”

I hung to every word that came out of his mouth, shaking my head to confirm my “Yes.”.

“That sounds great, Eddie.”

“Well then, my lady, I will see you then.” He said, with a small bow to me that made me chortle.

He started his way to the door, looming back over at me with every other step.

And once he got to the door, he turned, and waved to me.

“See you tonight, Auds!”

“Ill see you tonight, Eddie!” I whisper shouted back to him, waving back at him.

And with that, he left, through the door, out to the sidewalk, and back to his van.

I watched him through the window in the library, watching him head back to his van.

He was throwing his fist around, whipping his hair around and pumping his fist. I saw him smack the side of his van, dance all the way to the front seat, until he climbed into the driver seat.

Then, he looked at the baby pink post it note with your pretty handwriting on it, he stuck it on the dashboard, and drove away. Jamming away to whatever was playing.

I watched his van until he pulled out of the parking lot, and immediately began to daydream about him, again.

[cottoncandyjester]

Now Im curious what happened with Carlos??

I see y’all are curious as hell

Warning this contains: death

Joining Ernesto’s group was like having a little family, fritz and Luis made Antonio feel like he was going to be okay. He found himself slowly growing comfortable with those two and it wasn’t long til he found his own skill to help the gang.

Carlos and Ernesto were married, the thought of marrying a man made Antonio feel strange. When they were together it was truly like a family but when Carlos was alone with them he was worst than a military sergeant.

Carlos was Antonio’s personal trainer, teaching him mixed martial arts and forcing him on a high protein diet to bulk him up. Carlos wasn’t like Ernesto, he wasn’t nurturing or kind or even loving, he was hard and cold. “Crying again Toni?” Carlos sneers out as he knelled down grabbing the boy by his hair looking at his bleeding face.

“It hurts..” Antonio hissed out in pain as he held his bleeding nose with tears rolling down his face. “If I catch you crying again I’ll punch you harder. We don’t cry here. Turn your emotions off when you fight it’s a weakness. ” Carlos hissed out lowly. “Now get up you still can’t fully dodge my punches so we are gonna keep going til you do”

Antonio worked harder than the others, he was supposed to be their tank..whatever that meant. As he grew older, he got stronger and stronger.

They all remembered when Ernesto became boss, the old boss died but before he did he deemed Ernesto the new boss, the celebration party was huge. Countless men congratulating him and offering him a drink, Ernesto was grinning and laughing so much Antonio thought he would pass out.

“You should lighten up, you are staring hard” luis told Antonio as he handed him a cup of horchata. “I don’t feel good about everyone being so close around Ernesto” Antonio mumbled out as he took a sip of the drink, spitting it out when fritz came and slapped his back harshly.

“You jealous of people around papa Ernesto? Papa’s boy Eh?” Fritz chimed out with a grin swiping the drink from Antonio and chugging it down, nearly throwing up when Antonio elbowed his stomach hard. The two started to rough house just a bit, stopping when Ernesto called them.

“Boys! Play nice” Ernesto chimed out as he watched Antonio put fritz in a headlock. “He hit me!” Fritz huffed out “snitch.” Antonio sneers out glancing away at Ernesto’s stern stare “tonio..” he said in a scolding tone making toni let go.

Throughout the celebration fritz and Luis would drink, Antonio was still on high alert. He had a horrible feeling that wouldn’t leave. He watched Carlos and Ernesto slip Away presumably to get intimate. Antonio glanced over at the table where luis and fritz were passed out from drinking to much.

“You idiots” Antonio mumbled out before he reached out taking luis’ glasses off and ruffling Fritz’s hair softly before moving to where Ernesto and Carlos vanished to.

He expected to hear certain sounds but the sound of Carlos talking made him stay outside the door.

“Will killing me make you feel better? Stabbing me and leaving me to die..” Ernesto’s voice had defeat in it, the utter sorrow made Antonio’s chest hurt.

“It isn’t fair. I’m better than you, I should be boss. So yeah killing you will make me feel better, after all you’re cursed if I stay with you long enough I’ll die.” Carlos sneers out, Antonio peeked into the room seeing Carlos pressing the blade against Ernesto’s throat with his back turned to the door.

Antonio didn’t want to lose Ernesto, he didn’t want to lose another father figure. The thought of losing someone important made Antonio move without thinking, he grabbed Carlos the two of them scuffling.

“W-when did you, get so strong?” Carlos wheezed out as Antonio put him in a chokehold. “Probably the day you beat me to a pulp for having feelings” Antonio said calmly, hissing in pain when Carlos stabbed him but Antonio’s grip tightened until he heard a loud crack feeling Carlos limp in his arms.

Antonio let him go, panting softly before feeling Ernesto rush to his side. Antonio had a massive feeling of guilt, he killed Ernesto’s husband..he was going to be thrown out now wasn’t he?

“Ernesto, I’m sorry I know you loved him but he was going to kill you and I just-”

“Toni..”

“ you probably hate me but o couldn’t lose you. Are you hurt? Did he stab you?” Antonio ranted out flinching when Ernesto yelled his name.

“Your eye Toni! How are you still standing without being in pain?” Ernesto snapped as he cupped Antonio’s face. Antonio reached up, feeling the blade handle sticking out from his eye…oh.

In that very moment all the pain came rushing at him, causing him to lean forward resting his body against Ernesto’s as he hugged him close. “I’m sorry, about Carlos” he whispers out making Ernesto simply hug him tighter as he gazed at the body on the floor. “It’s okay, let’s get you medical aid,okay?” Ernesto said softly making Antonio tense up

“But are you okay?”

“Toni…you have a knife sticking out of your face, let me help you.”

A huge silence fell over the two as Antonio got his eye bandaged, his eyesight in that eye was faint but thankfully there was no damage to his brain. “You’ll have a scar..” Ernesto cooed out softly making Antonio smile “I’ll grow my hair out..” he said softly as he reached up and touched the bandages.

“Do you hate me for killing Carlos?” Antonio asked softly with a worried gaze. Ernesto gave a long sigh moving to sit at his side “I have a curse on me Toni, any love I get is destined to die..you didn’t do anything wrong. You saved me, my boy” Ernesto said softly before leaning against Antonio. “So I’m your favorite?” Antonio asked making Ernesto laugh as he stood up

“I love all my sons equally, but..you’re up there. Now come on, we have a party to get to” he cheered out watching Antonio lead the way. Ernesto made sure to have grunts dealing with the body claiming that he killed him himself. He didn’t want Antonio to worry about anything else that night

[littlx-songbxrd]

50, 43, 29, 25, 23 for the ask game

Thank youuuuuu <3

50. Give me the good ol' OC talk here. Talk to me about whatever you want

Ok so I'm not sure what exactly I should talk about so I'll talk about somethings thats been consuming my thoughts. You know what im gonna be talking

Integenerational guitar

It baffles me how Callie tried to deny her fathers family ever loved her yet the guitar she treasures so much is a physical manifestation of it

God that guitar was her great great grandfathers. From the center region of the island up in the mountains old Don Jesus who everyone called Chu' played. Then he passed it down to her son when he died, and his son to his son. They both new basic rythims Chu had passed on, and played it on festive occations but nothing more. Years passed and Chu's grandson died, and Eugenia, the grandsons daughter was left with the guitar.

It was old and uncared for and she considered throwing it away.

Then her son, Luis, begged his to uncle to fix it. Luis uncle, José, was a wood carver. A very good one. Luis took the guitar from his mothers things qnd begged his uncle to fix it because

Out of love for his nephew José did, he brought the old guitar back to life.Luis made it his mission to learn to play, and was the first to play as diligently as Chu did. Eugenia always thought hearing Luis play was like having a piece of her late family back in her walls.

Luis plan had always been to teach his daughter the moment her fingers were long enough to reach the strings. And even when they werent you could still see him discretly making his daughter laugh by putting her hands on the strings and shaking them around. The sounds were loud and oyt of tune but thatd only make her smile, which in turn made him smile

She would still grow up to play like Luis had wanted her too, only he wouldnt be the one to teach her. When she was taken away the last heirloom Eugenia left behind to Callie was her fathers guitar.

Callie may resent her family, bit she ñoves her guitar

Little does she know in it lies the old memories passed down through generations.

IT MAKES ME CRY OK-

43. Do you have any certain types when making ocs? Do you tend to favor some certain traits or looks?

Ok so the first thing that came to mind is that I do favor curly hairtypes a lot. Most my Oc's have curly hair, raging from 3a all the way to 4c. Personally, I think this stem from the fact my mom despised her curly hair and she'd always straighten it, saying it looked prettier that way while i loved her hair and wanted mine to look like hers. So I kinda made most my characters have hair that resembled hers and just went ahead to describe them as gorgeus because i still want her to love her hair. Now will my mom be reading my stories rn? Absolutely not she once found a page of drafting thrown around my room and when i saw her reading it I had a panic attack

But some day when I get over it I'll show it and I hope she finds it nice.

When i make characters more often than not I just go for whatever the story needs or what the other characters need in their lifes, but I do abuse the self projection and I do notice a lot of ocs are artistically inclined. Not all, but most of their hobbies are either hobbies i have or want irl.

29. Which of your Oc's would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone theyre going?

I love getting to reafirm the chaotic energy she has because i feel thats something that will be misunderstood about her. But oh my god Eliza

Avid myth believer? Truly confident enough to believe she will not get murdered. Would go and fully believing she'd survive and find paranormal activity. Wouldnt really consider telling anyone till she found what she wanted. Actually this is what that convo would look like (for context ruby is her sister

Eliza: So I found these markings yesterday at this old house down the street and I need your opinion

Ruby: Wait what house

Eliza: The old one?

Ruby: Care to be even the smallest bit more specific

Eliza: Old house, a few streets away, seems abandoned

Eliza: Anyways, Like I was saying in what I assume was a nursery, Im not sure it was kind of dark, i found these markings now the picture is blurry but you can-

Ruby: Youre meaning to tell me you thought it was a good idea to go an abandoned house, alone, without telling anyone?

Eliza: We'll im telling you now

25. The Oc that resembles you the most? (Same hobie/ height/shared interest)

I've always read making an oc is dividing your soul into pieces and giving one to each character. So everyone has a lil bit of me sewed in their outlines, but I've always said if I had to describe my personality its just Calisto and Emmanuel.

Callie resembles me the most physically, has a good part of my musical hobbies (plays guitar, does percussion, sings ) and just other things i enjoy. Has the same "flight" instinct I've been known to struggle with, emotional inteligence, and is useless saphic which same. Humor as a coping mechanism, hates having to confront bad feelings, mild obsession with stickers.

She's also has adhd and I sometimes use her as a way to process my own undiagnoaed fustration because my culture not believing in mental health is not fun

But Emmanuel, Emmanuel is like "What if i just layed everything i've struggled with and personify it"

We have the same enneagram personality type, 2w1 so that should tell you enough. I dont wanna go into a full rant about how much he means to me how much his arc means to me because, I still have some decency but

"I just want to build you up till youre good as new, and maybe one day I'll get around to fixing myself too" is a line i used to build his character that describes me a bit too much for my liking so i hope this makes sense.

Aside from that, I gave him the most fundamental part of me which is my love for Puerto Rico. Hes what youd call "boricua de pura sepa". He has my love for my island, my love for its history, love for my culture. And also the yearning to see it free. He dances bomba (like i did when i wss younger) and also other folkloric dances. Also a theater kid cause yeah id be dammed if he wasnt.

Hes a caretaker, likes taking care of people to a fault. Besides his extroverted personality he just really wants to be assured hes loved and tries to make himself useful in peoples life to gain that.

Anyways

Ill stop he means a lot to me and so does Callie. Callie has most my hobbies and personality, Manuel got most the trauma thats how id sum it up.

23. Introduce an OC of yours that changed from first idea of what the character would be

This is hard because theres SO MANY

I dont think any of my characters have not changed, my story use to be something else entirely and now....

Manuel was supposed to have been d e a d before the story started. He was white and his name wss Marcus and he had just been a human that died, another victim that kinda set up for the plot. He had like a sentence in the original story, he was just a classmate of this other charscter that died

Now hes a main character, and related to one of the most important families plotwise

Dont get me started on Nairnes personality. It was literally not there, like she had none. ONCE AGAIN SHE WAS WHITE AND ALSO NEUROTYPICAL IDK WHAT I WAS ON. She started as a typical ya ptotagonist who had her home destroyed and had a hero complex "i need to save my family" with no real heart to it since i didnt put in any work to give her actual motivations and her own arc. She was there to be "cool" and have a tragic backstory that was that

When I switched Nairne Adriat to Nairne Ayala Maldonado, she had a 180 personality change and i could not be more thrilled.

Sergio... im not gonna talk about sergio wed be here all day but he started as a super minor character who just vaguely existed. Now...

[moonlit-imagines]

A Bug’s Life

Peter Parker x Lang!reader

warnings:

a/n: i love this concept and also anon u r sweet and i just found out theres a marvel supervillainess named dragonfly but since i havent heard of her until today im using that name!

prompt: anonymous: “Can you please write a Tom Holland!Peter Parker x Female!Reader where the reader is the older sister of Cassie Lang (Antman’s daughter) and her and Peter fall in love with each other. ✨ Thanks so much! 😘”

Okay, so when you were a kid, you had always dreamed of being a superhero. You never thought you’d know your idols personally, though. You see, when your dad, Scott Lang, came back from prison, a lot changed. Suddenly, he was a superhero and no matter how much he didn’t like it, you wanted to be apart of it.

“Y/N, no, please. You’re just a kid!” You dad argued with you in the presence of your “uncles.”

“Scotty, I think it’d be good for her, you know? Like, she’s so smart and she’s got a lot of talent! I think she could learn a thing or two from Hope and Dr. Pym, right?” Uncle Luis egged on.

“Yeah, dad! Me and Hope have already been experimenting with some stuff and, I mean, Mom’s been bugging me over getting into some extracurriculars...” You reasoned with him.

“Yeah, y/n, like photography club or soccer, not being a crime-fighting bug!” Scott pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, but when he looked back up, you were giving him puppy eyes. “Don’t...don’t do that.”

“Please, dad? I just wanna follow in your footsteps. You’re my hero.” You pouted your lip and didn’t break eye contact with him until he let out a load groan.

“Your mom is going to kill me.” He mumbled while you celebrated with Luis.

You became known as Dragonfly, Ant-Man and Wasp’s sidekick partner. It wasn’t long before you were affiliated with the Avengers and other heroes from across the galaxy.

The first time you stepped foot into the Avengers Compound was unbelievable.

“If only I could tell eight-year-old me how cool she’d grow up to be...” You whispered as your dad led you through the place. You were specifically requested for recruitment following a backround check that proved that you were qualified to train as a junior scientist! The program had just been started thanks to the young Spider-Man, one of the many heroes you had met before and would actually get to know after today.

“Alright, kiddo, it’s not too late to back out.” Your dad told you.

“It’s gonna be fine, dad! You know you can visit me anytime and I’ll come to see you and Cassie every chance I can get.” You gave him a warm smile to let him know it’s alright.

“I know...I’m just gonna miss you, you know?” He shrugged, but before the conversation could continue, you were greeted by Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk.

“Welcome! Nice to see you again, Scott.” Bruce shook your dad’s hand, then turned to you. “And it’s wonderful to finally meet the girl behind the mask.” He shook your hand.

“Nice to meet you, too, Doctor Banner.” You fit your small hand into his abnormally large (and green) hand.

“I’ve heard great things about you, Y/N. I’m excited to see your talent up close.” Dr. Banner chuckled. “I told Peter to meet us here, he probably forgot.” He walked to the wall and pressed the speaker button to the intercom. “Peter, can you meet us at the South Entrance?”

Moments later, a teenage boy came barrelling towards the three of you.

“Sorry! Sorry I’m late.” He apologized profusely. You giggled at the disheveled appearance of him. His hair was sticking up in the back and his flannel was half-tucked into his pants. “I’m Peter!” He stuck his hand out for you to shake. “Peter Parker. Spider-Man.” You took his hand gladly and shook it.

“Y/N Lang. Dragonfly.” You introduced yourself. “It’s been a while since we’ve fought together.” You pointed out. “Maybe that’s a good thing.” Peter’s eyes furrowed at that comment. “You know, not fighting.” You added.

“Oh, yeah, definitely!” Peter agreed.

“So, let me guess: you overslept?” You referenced Peter’s bold look and he quickly fixed anything noticeably wrong to him. Bruce and your dad were just observing the chemistry between you and Peter, exchanging entertained glances.

“Hi! I’m y/n’s dad, Scott. Ant-Man.” Scott interrupted as he waved to Peter.

“Oh! I remember you. You got really big in Germany and I had to web your knees until you fell down.” Peter brought up old memories and you covered your mouth to stop from laughing.

“Yep! That’s me.” Scott eyes got slightly wider. “So, I really wish I could stay, but I have a meeting with a client tomorrow morning that I can’t miss. Alarm company doesn’t run itself, you know?” Silence. “Anyways, uh, y/n.” He motioned you a bit closer so you could say goodbye. He crouched down and grabbed both your shoulders. “I love you so much and I am super proud of you. This is an awesome opportunity, kiddo!”

“Yeah, I know.” You said in a sort of disappointed tone.

“What’s wrong?” Scott asked.

“I’m just gonna miss you.” You frowned.

“Come here.” Your dad pulled you into a tight hug. “I’m gonna miss you, too.” The hug lasted at least sixty seconds before he pulled away and kissed your forehead. “Okay, now here’s your bag, go do some science!” He gave you your suitcase. “I love you, Pumkin.”

“Love you, too, dad.” You smiled, almost holding back tears. You really didn’t want to say goodbye to him, but it’s apart of life. Scott watched as you, Peter, and Banner walked down the halls of the Compound. Bruce and Peter were showing you your new room!

“What’s crime like on the West Coast?” Peter asked you. “I’ve only fought crime on the East Coast. And Europe. And Space.”

“Crime is the same coast to coast. It’s crime.” You shrugged.

“Well, that’s cool. Sorry, I’m not good at small talk.” He chuckled.

“Peter, you’ll be able to show y/n her room and give her a little tour, right?” Bruce asked as he slowed down.

“Yeah, no problem.” Peter nodded.

“Alright, great. I’ll be in the lab if anyone needs me.” Bruce walked away and left the two of you to it.

“Okie doke.” Peter clapped his hands together. “Well, this is the hallway.” Is exactly how he just began the tour. The Compound was actually, surprisingly, bigger than you expected. “And that’s the training room, there’s the kitchen, your room has it’s own bathroom, but there are other bathrooms all over the place. There’s a shopping list on the fridge if you ever have any requests, but fruit snacks are banned since I ate two full boxes in one day and threw up.” Peter gave that wonderful anecdote.

“Wow, that’s...impressive?” You tried to come up with something.

“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘disgusting.’” Peter and you shared a laugh as you approached your new room. He opened the door up and you stepped into the biggest bedroom you’d ever seen. “It’s taken some getting used to, you know, the big room, the big bed, the huge bathroom, all of it.”

“This is amazing.” You mumbled.

“Yeah! And Bruce said we can go shopping and decorate the room any way you’d like. I just got my license, so I’d be cool with driving.” Peter proposed.

“Yeah, I think that’d be pretty cool.” You agreed as you threw your suitcase onto the bed and started unpacking. “Uh, I’m kind of hungry...know any places to eat around here?” You started putting shirts on hangers and filling up your huge closet. You noticed Peter hadn’t answered your question yet, so you turned around to see what he was stalling for. He was just watching you. “Am I really that interesting?” You joked.

“What?” Peter blinked. “Oh! Yeah, sorry, yeah, there’s a few places around that we can go to. Assuming you’d want my company, of course. It’s your choice, really.” Peter rambled and you approached him.

“Duh, I gotta get to know my housemate better!” You pulled Peter out of the room and in a random direction. “Am I going the right way to the garage?”

“No.” He answered and you quickly changed directions. You were oddly comfortable with Peter already, and he wasn’t exactly against it. You were super sweet to him and you two have a lot of shared experience. Teen heroes trying to make a difference. And bug-themed.

Peter drove you to his favorite (and closest) restaurant for dinner, and on the way, he played his music on the playlist. Left Hand Free by Alt-J played through the speakers as you sang along.

“You like this song?” He asked and you nodded without a pause in singing. “Good, so do I. You have a really good voice.” He complimented, which definitely made you blush.

“Thanks, now sing with me!” You nudged his arm leaning on the console and resumed your singing.

“I don’t really sing.” Peter chuckled and saw you roll your eyes, then sighed. “Fine. You win.” He began to join you in song.

Well your left hand’s free, and your right’s in grip. With another left hand watch his right hand slip towards his gun, woah woah woah...

“You’re not too bad, yourself, Peter.” You told him as he pulled into a parking spot at the restaurant. The two of you walked in together and the waitress immediately recognized Peter.

“Hey there, Peter! Good to see you!” She greeted and grabbed two menus. “I see you’ve brought a date.” She raised her eyebrows and smirked.

“Oh, uh, she’s not—” Peter stuttered before you took over.

“Yep, it’s our first date! I’m y/n.” You introduced yourself.

“Well, it’s nice to see him with someone. Follow me, you two.” She let you over to a table and told you she’d be back for drinks in a minute. As soon as she left, Peter turned to you.

“When were you going to tell me this was a date?” Peter cocked an eyebrow with a crooked smile to match it.

“I’m sorry! I hope it’s okay I told her that.” You innocently replied.

“It’s more than okay.” Peter leaned forward. “I’m happy to be your date. We are moving a bit fast, though.”

“Are you sure? This is actually pretty slow for people our age. By now, they’d probably be confessing their love for one another.” You joked and he rolled his eyes.

“You are so right!” He snorted. “Jeez, it’s been so long since I’ve talked to someone my own age!” He sighed. “What about you?”

“I hang out with adults all day long. The only kid I hang out with is my little sister. Do you have any siblings?” You asked him.

“Only child.” Peter answered. “What’s your sister’s name?”

“Cassie. She’s sweet but it’s kind of weird coming back after the Blip and seeing her all big and everything.” You made random hand gestures to demonstrate that she was bigger.

“I know, right! I have classmates that I saw as infants that are now bigger than me!” He explained. The waitress came back and got you your drinks and took each of your orders. Back to the chit-chat. “Okay, now tell me, what got you into the hero-game?”

“Okay, well, my dad had just gotten out of prison, right?” That sentence itself made Peter choke on his drink. “Oh, calm down, it was a non-violent offense. He actually exposed corruption, that’s why I look up to him.” You explained.

“That’s good, that’s good. I’m glad. Go on.” He took another sip from his drink.

“Yeah, so then he robbed Hank Pym, who actually wanted my dad to rob him, then a bunch of ants broke my dad out of jail after he got arrested again for stealing from Dr. Pym, then my dad became the new Ant-Man and took down some bad guys, his new girlfriend, Hope, who is Dr. Pym’s daughter, took a liking to me and started showing me the ropes, so me and my Uncle Luis convinced my dad to let me make my own suit. Then Dragonfly was born.” You explained in full detail. “What about you?”

“Oh, yeah. Well, I got bit by a radioactive spider that was being experimented on in a lab, then I had a short-lived wrestling career, then my uncle who raised me died and I became Spider-Man.” He smiled and your jaw dropped.

“Holy shit, are you okay?” You asked.

“Oh, yeah, I’m good.” He admitted as you guys recieved your food. “So, anything else I should know about you?”

“I dunno.” You shrugged. “I like Star Wars.” You told him.

“Me too!” Peter exclaimed.

“No, you don’t. My dad told me Spider-Man called AT-AT’s ‘walking-thingies.’” You shook your head and laughed at the thought of that.

“Okay, so I’m not a huge fan, but our next date can be a Star Wars marathon?” Peter proposed.

“Yes!” You agreed a bit too enthusiastically. Peter smiled and the waitress brought an ice cream sundae with two spoons to the table.

“It’s on the house.” She told you two with a wink.

“Looks like we’re sharing.” You grabbed a spoon and got to work. Peter got chocolate all over his chin. He was kind of a messy eater. “You’ve got a little something...” You grabbed a napkin and wiped his chin clean.

“Thanks.” Peter picked his spoon up and moved it towards you. “Have you tried any of the brownie yet?” You took a bite of what he offered.

“Wow, that’s amazing.” You spoke through your mouthful.

“I hate to brag, but I make a pretty mean batch of brownies.” Peter bragged.

“You’re gonna have to prove it, Pete.” You wiped your face off and cleaned up your spot a bit. “You ready to get back to the Compound?”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s get going.” Peter left some cash on the table to pay the bill and walked you out to the car. The car ride back was filled with jokes and even more stories about your super-adventures. “So, you’re telling me that the first time you shrank, you cried?”

“Yes! Dude, it was an emotional experience. I’m telling you, I was not prepared for something so cool.” You defended yourself. “Now tell me something embarrassing about your powers.”

“I got stuck to a bathroom stall at school and they thought I was skipping class so they sent an aide and I was crying out of fear.” He admitted with pity in his voice.

“Oh, my god. That’s awful.” You giggled and grabbed his hand. “Have you recovered yet?”

“No, unfortunately not, but the handholding sure does help.” Peter squeezed your hand tighter.

“I’m glad.” You smugly replied and closed your eyes to listen to the music. You were kind of exhausted from traveling, so you knew you’d pass out the moment you hit your bed. Soon, you arrived at the Compound and Peter kissed your cheek to get you up.

“We’re hoooome.” He said in a singsong voice as your eyes fluttered open. “Sorry, that was weird.” He apologized, but you grabbed his face and pulled him in for a long kiss. More like a brief makeout, but potato, poe-tah-toe.

“You’re really cute, you know?”

[littlesugarwords]

Hey, what if the Ericson Crew was really determined to get Clem a prosthetic foot/leg and somehow all of them ended up in Richmond and Clem’s just like “hey I know this place and these people” and everyone just explores Richmond looking for a prosphetic foot/leg and it draws enough attention as to where Javier is called to deal with/help them? I think it’s a cool idea but I know that you may not agree with that.

IM DOWN AHHHH my heart this is so fluffy and sweet

Clementine was struggling.

She’d never admit it.

But everyone could see it.

She kept trying to do things she couldn’t do with one leg.

Hauling wood.

Hunting.

Fishing.

The crew continued to try and find tasks that would be easier on her.

She refused.

She wanted things to go back to normal.

Even if she knew they never would.

“We need to do something.”

Violet initiated the emergency secret meeting between Ericson members.

To make a plan.

To help her.

“I don’t know what we can do,” Louis said.

“She’s stubborn. She won’t accept any form of help.” Ruby added.

Stubbornness was in Clementine’s nature.

They’d all known it since day one.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be helping her adapt,” Violet began.

All eyes were locked on her.

“Maybe we should be helping her get back to what she knows.”

They cleaned up the wheelbarrow.

Filled bags with food and water.

And organized their search team.

Tomorrow, the search for a leg for Clementine began.

A makeshift one, at least.

Clem woke up the next morning to goodbyes.

To being eased into a wheelbarrow.

To Louis hauling her out the front gates.

She was teary eyed.

Staring back at the few they’d left behind.

They always went so far out of their way for her.

This was yet another one.

Their group consisted of a handful of people.

Louis and Violet.

Clementine and AJ.

And Tenn.

They walked for days and nights.

The group took shifts pulling the wheelbarrow.

And Clem took some shifts walking.

She always got mad at herself, though.

For how slow she was.

For how quickly she got tired.

For how much of a threat she was.

“I don’t know why you guys bother with me,”

They’d taken a pit stop.

AJ and Tenn were leaning against each other, sleeping.

Louis, Violet and Clem were up.

Around their fire.

Violet and Louis’ chests heaved.

“We care about you, Clem.” Louis said.

“We love you.” Vi reached out. “We only want to help.”

Clementine, teary eyed, nodded.

Then broke down.

And sobbed.

They didn’t talk about it the next day.

They didn’t want to worry AJ or Tenn.

They stumbled across a set of gates.

A giant set.

With a cement runway.

With guards patrolling a watch tower.

Clem squinted.

She recognized this place.

And she recognized it even more when the guards let them inside.

When she caught a glimpse of the streets.

All they needed was something to operate as a peg leg.

According to the guards, they could loot through old supplies.

Practically garbage.

But they needed a supervisor.

To make sure they didn’t steal anything.

Louis helped Clem to her feet.

Out of the wheelbarrow.

And AJ passed her the crutches.

A handful of people around the corner.

Clementine could hear them filling someone in.

“A leg?”

“Yes, a leg.”

Clementine recognized that voice.

The one being filled in.

Clearly one of the makeshift town’s higher ups.

“I’ll supervise them,” the voice said.

All nodded and vanished.

Then, Clementine could see him.

Him.

Javier Garcia.

Her eyes widened and lips parted.

And his his eyes settled on her, he did the same.

It took time.

A moment to look past the ways time had weathered them.

But it was him.

And it was her.

“Clem?”

“Javi?”

Louis’ jaw dropped.

Violet and Tenn remained still and waited.

AJ scrunched his nose, confused.

Javi lunged forward, accepting her elbows into his hands.

She abandoned her crutches to let him.

“Oh my God,” he said.

He brushed a hand against her cheek.

And squeezed her arm and shoulder.

“It’s you,” he managed.

Clementine smiled tearfully.

And let out a laugh.

Underlying a sob.

“It’s you,” she said back.

And clung to him.

“Clementine knows Javier Garcia.” Luis gawked.

“Who’s that?” Violet asked.

“An amazingly famous baseball player.”

Violet raised a brow.

Javier had an arm wrapped around her back.

The other wrapped around the back of her head.

Stroking her hair.

And looked up at study those she came with.

Her new team.

Her new family.

Gingerly, he pulled away.

His grip tight on her arms.

Holding her steady.

“What happened?”

Clementine’s eyes wavered harder.

“A walker.” She hushed.

Just barely above a whisper.

He choked.

The tears welling leaping forward.

“Clem…”

“I’m okay,” she said, nodding.

Her own tears leaping forward.

“I’m okay. I made it.”

Javier squeezed her shoulders.

Reassuring her.

He had her.

She had been so close to giving up.

To letting the feeling that she was a waste of space get the best of her.

She felt like a chore.

She knew she was a chore.

And she was so close to letting it control her.

Then, there came Javi.

At the perfect time.

Right when she needed him.

“We’re gonna get you something better.” He said.

His voice wavering.

He waved his colleagues over.

His arm hugging Clem’s shoulders to keep her steady.

“Let’s go get you a leg.”

They didn’t just get her a leg.

They crafted her one.

All thanks to Javi’s command.

They managed to find a large plank of discarded wood.

One they’d used when redoing the watchtower.

Javi got the woodworker to work on it.

As well as with some tools from Richmond’s blacksmith.

“We’re gonna make it the best it can be.” Javi said.

Smiling and beaming.

So excited he could do something for Clementine again.

They stayed the night.

Javi brought them to the dining hall.

And sat with them to eat.

Kate popped in to join them.

From the other end of the room, Clementine spotted Gabe.

Who froze.

Locking his gaze with hers.

He practically dropped his food.

Instead, he ran to their table.

Collapsed as he hugged her.

And they both cried.

He sat beside her.

And kept on her leg all of dinner.

Just above the stump.

They stayed in huddles of makeshift tents.

Louis, AJ, and Tenn in one.

Violet and Clem in the other.

The boys were having a ‘boys night.’

Louis started it.

Tenn and AJ loved the idea.

He did it to keep their hopes high.

Clem appreciated it.

Even it they were giggling and chatting until late.

“Good night, Clem.” Violet said.

Softly chuckling at their neighbours.

“You’re gonna leave here tomorrow with a new leg.”

And Clementine smiled.

Her cheeks pushing out her tears.

Silently crying.

The next morning, Javi and Kate went to fetch them.

Beaming.

“Good news,” he’d said.

Kate helped Violet lead Clementine.

The boys trotted after Javi.

Louis fawning over him the whole way.

There, at their breakfast table, was a leg.

Partially wood, partially metal.

Pristine as could be.

Everything in place.

The metal parts were for sturdier support.

For movement around the ankle.

The rest was wood.

It looked fantastic.

And fit like a charm.

Even though Clementine would need to learn how to walk again.

All day, she fumbled with it. She took lots of breaks.

And the group would take turns holding her hands.

Helping her up.

Guiding her as she attempted to learn to walk again.

They stayed for a second day.

While Clementine fumbled to get accustomed.

While her and Javi teased each other like old times.

While her and Gabe caught up.

While her and Kate gossiped.

They stayed while Louis and Gabe bonded.

While AJ and Tenn met up with Richmond kids.

While Violet and Kate bonded.

While Javier tried to teach Louis how to play baseball.

And later, AJ and Tenn too.

While Violet found a role model in Kate.

The next day, they all woke up knowing.

They needed to leave.

They had a family elsewhere.

Ericson.

They couldn’t leave them behind.

Louis asked for an autograph before they left the next day.

“I’m never taking off this shirt,” he said.

“You haven’t in like 5 years.” Violet countered.

But as they were packing up to go.

Examining their now-empty wheelbarrow.

Clementine and Javier gave each other a look.

That look.

The look of new beginnings.

Clem and Javi cracked a deal.

Richmond and Ericson would share food and supplies.

Richmond’s young would migrate to Ericson.

Where they could train, grow, and learn in peace.

Without risk of an attack.

Ericson was less known that Richmond, and far more secluded.

Safer.

Richmond provided more security.

Ensuring the school stayed protected.

Then, when older and trained enough, all went back to help Richmond.

The bigger, overarching group.

That way, they could stay family.

They could stay connected and supported.

This way, they could stay alive.

Together.

Then, with her new leg, they started off.

Holding onto Louis and Gabe.

With Violet keeping a hand on her back.

With AJ and Tenn leading the way.

Hauling a wheelbarrow full of supplies.

The first of many Ericson would receive from Richmond.

They were on their way home.

The first of many groups of young people heading to Ericson.

Together.

Feeling whole and complete.

The way it should’ve been.

The way it would now always be.

[justheretobreakthings]

Welcome to the Family - Chapter 3

(Previous Chapter) (Next Chapter)

Word Count: 2,151 (Total Word Count: 6,340) Read on AO3

Story Summary: Lance had been excited about his family taking in a foster kid, eager to get to meet his brand new little brother or sister, who would surely adore and idolize their super cool Big Brother Lance. What he got instead was a sullen, quiet, temperamental teenage housemate with a criminal record and a disastrous haircut.

Lance: hes here. car just pulled into the street

Pidge: Tell him hi from us.

Lance: he doesnt know u

Pidge: So that means we can’t be friendly?

Hunk: what’s he like?

Lance: idk hes not even thru the door yet. text u back soon

Lance shut off the screen of his phone and shoved it into his pocket as he got up to bound down the staircase where he’d been perched on the top step. “Rachel!” he called as he descended. “Keith’s here!”

“You don’t need to yell,” Rachel spoke up from where she’d been lounging across the couch in the front room. She sat up, closing her laptop and setting it aside before she stretched and looked over to where Lance had landed and was now trying to peer into the driveway through the frosted-glass window of the front door. “You spotted him?”

“Yeah, he’s getting out of the car now,” Lance answered, face still pressed to the glass.

“What does he look like?”

“Blurry.”

“Should have guessed. Step back from the door, would you, Lance? You’re gonna freak him out.”

Right as she said it the doorknob began turning, and Lance jumped back, narrowly avoiding being hit in the face by the door as it swung inward to usher in his broadly smiling mother. “Lance, Rach- oh, good, you’re both here,” she said. “You two ready to say hi to your new brother? Come on in, Keith, come meet the family. Well, two of the family.”

She stepped aside to make room for the other figure walking up the front steps, and Lance got his first good look at his new brother.

The first descriptor that crossed Lance’s mind at the sight of Keith was ‘emo’, but that wasn’t quite the right fit. The pale skin and black hair looked to be their natural tones, not makeup or hair dye, and he also didn’t have any jewelry or nail polish or decals on his clothes to indicate that he may have been going for that sort of aesthetic. He just had the colors right, what with the black of his tee shirt and scuffed shoes and jeans that looked to be growing too small on him, and the red of the red zip-up sweatshirt he wore over it even in the middle of August in Arizona.

He did, though, do a great job of pulling off that distinctly emo ‘don’t talk to me, don’t look at me, don’t look in my direction, life is pain’ scowl that he wore across his face - a face which, with its smooth features and bold indigo eyes, could have been good-looking if it weren’t for the thick brown-pink mark slicing through one of his cheeks and the surrounding mane of hair that was so uneven it looked as if it had been cut with gardening shears.

Still, Lance had seen worse, and appearances could be deceiving; this could still be a great, fun guy to have around. So he kept up his smile as he said, “I’m Lance, nice to meetcha.”

Keith nodded silently in greeting, and did the same to Rachel when she introduced herself as well, but didn’t offer his own name in return. “So, uh,” Lance said, “Mamá said that you’re going into sophomore year too, yeah? So the two of us, we’re gonna be classmates as well as brothers. That’ll - that’ll be fun.”

Again Keith was silent, just shrugging in reply, and Lance frowned and turned to his mother. “¿Puede él hablar?” he asked her. Can he talk?

“Sí,” she answered. “Y él no habla español, así que no seas grosero.” Yes, and he doesn’t speak Spanish, so don’t be rude. A glance back toward Keith confirmed this, as his eyes were narrowed and darting back and forth between the two of them, brows bunched in confusion. Lance simply clicked his tongue, settling back with hands on his hips. There was nothing rude about speaking his own language in his own home.

“Now, Keith,” his mother continued, “Do you want me to give you a tour of the house first, or do you want to start unpacking your things?”

“Um, tour’s fine,” Keith mumbled, faint but still loudly enough for Lance to finally get to hear his voice. It was low and just a little raspy, although the rasp may just have been from the low volume.

“Excellent!” his mother said. “I could have Lance or Rachel drop you duffel into your room so you - ”

“No,” Keith said sharply, pulling his bag back and moving to grip the shoulder strap with both hands.

“Suit yourself,” she said with an easy shrug, as if there was nothing even remotely unusual or suspicious about that sort of response. “We’ve got the family room here, and you’re free to use the family Netflix account on the TV as much as you want, and there’s a Nintendo Playstation hooked up to the - ”

“Those are two different things, Mamá,” Rachel interrupted. “And we have an Xbox, which is neither of those.”

“Oh, well, whatever it is, if you want to play video games, you can use that. The dining room’s this way - mind that coat rack, dear, it tips easily, I keep saying that we need to get a new one, maybe hooks on the wall instead or something, just never do get around to it - and through here is the kitchen, I’ll show you where everything goes - ”

She guided Keith through the dining room, initially trying to put a hand on his shoulder to steer him, but simply leading the way touch-free after he grimaced and shrugged the hand off of him. Lance followed, idly pulling his phone from his pocket to see a handful of new texts from Pidge and Hunk asking for more details about Keith. He shot them a quick response.

Lance: hes quiet

He watched as his mother opened and closed drawers and cupboards one after another, showing Keith where they kept the cutlery, bowls, plates, canned goods, cereal, pots and pans, instructing him on what goes where in the fridge and demonstrating which burner on the stove didn’t work, all while Keith maintained that perpetual scowl, answering only with soft grunts, before adding:

Lance: and kinda grouchy

He shut his phone’s screen off and tagged along as his mother and Keith moved on to the home office and bathroom and then downstairs to the basement, waiting until the tour had made its way to the laundry room and his mother began explaining how their washer and dryer worked before looking at Pidge and Hunk’s two very different replies.

Pidge: Of course he’s grouchy, he just discovered he’s going to be living with YOU.

Hunk: He’s probably just nervous.

Lance made a face and texted back.

Lance: im a DELIGHT to live with jsyk. & hes def giving off sort of an emo vibe

Pidge: How emo?

Lance: what do u mean

Pidge: On a scale of 1-10.

Lance: u cant quantify emo

He nearly didn’t notice the laundry crash course wrapping up and his mother and Keith heading out the door of the laundry room, so he saved the texting for later and hastened to follow as they started upstairs toward the bedroom.

His mother didn’t give a thorough tour of the rooms, to Lance’s relief, just quick peeks inside and naming which room belonged to whom. “Excuse the mess,” she said when she opened Lance’s door. “I swear, mijo, you have more clothes on your floor than you wear in a year.”

“Oh, it’s not that bad,” Lance said, rolling his eyes. Honestly, his mother had once seen Pidge’s room when the Holts had had the McClains over for dinner; she should have forfeited all rights to complain about messes on that fateful night.

“And here’s your bedroom, Keith,” his mother said, reaching the door at the end of the hall and opening it to reveal the skeleton of Luis and Marco’s former room, now empty with bare surfaces on the dresser and desk and bookshelf from their long lack of occupancy. “Once you’re settled in we can do a bit of decorating to help it feel more homey, if you’d like. I mentioned that shopping trip we could take sometime soon, get some new things for you?” She glanced toward Keith’s duffel bag before asking, “Does this room work all right for you? You need anything?”

“I’m fine,” Keith said softly.

“That’s good, that’s good. Well, now that you’ve got the lay of the land, I’m going to get dinner started up. Veronica should be coming home any minute, and Manuel will definitely be home for dinner, so I’ll make sure they stop and stay hello when they show up. Lance, be a lamb and help Keith get his stuff unpacked and in their places, would you?”

“Sure, Mamá,” Lance replied as his mother sidled out the room. “There more bags in the car for me to bring in, or - ?”

“No, just the one.” Lance raised a brow, about to ask why Keith would need help unpacking just one bag, but his mother leaned in to whisper, “Talk to him, okay? Just make him feel welcome.”

That made more sense. Lance eased his way into the room as his mother left. Keith had already set his bag onto the bed and was removing a little stack of shirts from it. “You, uh, need any help with that?” Lance asked.

Keith scowled over at him. Which was fair; that stack of shirts probably weighed two pounds at most. “Ah, I just meant, you know where that stuff goes?”

“... The dresser?”

“Yeah. You - you got this, sorry.” Lance rocked on his heels as Keith moved toward the dresser, the latter still eyeing him cautiously. “So, uh,” Lance tried again, “Where you from?”

“Around,” Keith answered with a shrug.

Right. Foster kid. Probably moved around a lot. He was on a roll with stupid questions. “Well, uh, where are you from, like, most recently? Before here?”

Keith paused, frozen halfway through setting his clothes down in a dresser drawer, and it was several seconds before he quietly answered, “Holbrook.”

“Don’t think I’ve heard of it,” Lance said. “You like it there?”

This time Keith didn’t answer at all, instead simply slamming the dresser drawer shut and moving back to his bag. He fished into it and pulled out a toothbrush and comb. “Where’s the bathroom again?” he asked.

“Second door on the left,” Lance answered, and Keith turned to leave the room without so much as glancing at Lance.

Lance simply rolled his eyes and strolled over to the bed, where he sat and glance into the open duffle bag. He nudged a gray sweatshirt aside to see a number of balled-up pairs of socks and boxers, a faded stuffed hippopotamus, and a few CDs in cases scattered across the bottom of the bag. He tilted his head to look at the titles. John Mellencamp, The Clash, Blue Cheer, a Chuck Barry CD with a spiderweb of cracks across the plastic case. Lance picked up ‘Janis Joplin’s Greatest Hits’, examining the remains of the garage sale sticker still covering the singer’s face. “So you’re into the old-timey, rock, huh? Funny, I would have pegged you more for MCR or Linkin Park or - ”

He hadn’t noticed Keith’s footsteps thundering down the hall until the other boy was already in the room, practically shoving Lance off the bed and yanking the bag back toward him. “Hey!” Lance yelped, grabbing onto the bedpost to keep from slipping onto the floor.

“Why were you going through my stuff?” Keith snarled, pulling the bag back further.

“Wha- I dunno, I was just, you know, seeing if you had, like - like, any interests or anything, that’s all. Calm down, man.”

That was probably the wrong thing to say, because Keith’s glare just darkened further. “Don’t touch my stuff,” he growled.

“I’m sorry. Is it, uh, is it because of the hippo? You don’t have to be embarrassed, I sleep with a stuffed animal too, lots of people do.”

Keith huffed and turned away from him. “I can unpack by myself. You can leave.”

“Are you… are you sure you don’t wanna, like, hang out, chat a bit?”

The scowl that Keith leveled in his direction was as firm a ‘no’ as humanly possible. So Lance sheepishly straightened up and headed out of the room, Keith shutting the door firmly behind him.

With a sigh, Lance pulled his phone back out, turning the screen on to see that Pidge had proposed an essay’s worth of criteria to quantify emo onto a ten-point scale. Ignoring that for now, Lance started to text.

Lance: hey hunk remember when u said keith was gonna be a cool friendly guy who will love hanging out with me?

Hunk: yeah? why?

Lance: guess what, im starting to think u were wrong