#it kept me up for three days straight at home for six months and I was blamed for that instead of his incompetence

[bibiana112]

I too wish that the medical hack that made me grow up in a purgatory like state of existence would rot in prison Akane was so real for this

[chrisstvrns]

𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐦𝐞: 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 | 𝐜.𝐬.

warnings: REUNION REUNION REUNION! kinda angsty but calm reunion, accepting parenthood/coparenting, one mention of pregnancy stretch marks, please let me know if i missed anything! 

word count: 4,198

part one | part two | part three | part four | part five | part six

it had been six months since you last saw chris. you hadnt seen him since the day he broke up with you. that night, when you got home, you tried calling him, but it went straight to voicemail. he blocked you. 

eventually, you got yourself together again. you scheduled a doctors appointment to further confirm your pregnancy, you got a nursery set up, and started telling your family and close friends. now? you were sitting up in your bedroom of your childhood home, your living room filled with your family and your mothers friends, all there to see your child. 

two weeks ago, you gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, with big, blue eyes that looked identical to her fathers. everytime you looked down at the little bundle in your arms, all you saw was chris looking back at you. 

there were little things in your pregnancy that constantly reminded you of chris. you were emotional, and you brushed it off as hormones, but everywhere you went, you saw him. the biggest thing being that one of the most obvious stretch marks on your stomach was in the shape of the letter ‘c’. 

the biggest help in your pregnancy, besides your parents, was nick and matt. at least once a week, anytime they were in boston, they came to your house to check up on you, and they kept their promise to not tell chris. 

it hadn’t been easy, but nick and matt had stepped up in ways you never expected. despite their complicated feelings about keeping the truth from chris, they’d thrown themselves into being there for you and the baby. they showed up with groceries, helped you assemble furniture for the nursery, and even accompanied you to a few doctor’s appointments when your mom or dad couldn’t.  

it was almost surreal having them around so much- two pieces of chris in your life, while the biggest piece stayed missing. sometimes, when nick made a certain joke or matt gave you one of his signature serious-but-caring looks, it felt like chris was in the room, just out of reach. and every time, it brought that familiar ache back to your chest.  

but now, as you sat in your childhood bedroom, rocking your baby girl in your arms, the ache was dulled by the overwhelming love you felt for her. her soft coos and the way her tiny fingers wrapped around yours were enough to make the world feel okay again, even if just for a moment.  

there was a knock at your door, pulling you from your thoughts. “hey, can i come in?” nick’s voice was quiet, careful not to wake the baby.  

“yeah,” you said softly, adjusting your grip on her as the door opened. nick stepped inside, holding a cup of tea in one hand and a soft blanket in the other.  

“thought you might need this,” he said, placing the tea on your bedside table before draping the blanket over your lap.  

“thanks,” you murmured, smiling up at him. nick sat down on the edge of your bed, his eyes immediately falling to the baby in your arms.  

“she’s so perfect,” he said, his voice full of awe. “looks just like...” he trailed off, and you both knew what he was going to say.  

“just like chris,” you finished for him, your voice barely above a whisper. nick nodded, his jaw tightening.  

“yeah,” he said. “but she’s got your nose.”  

you let out a soft laugh, the sound surprising even yourself. “maybe a little,” you admitted, brushing a finger gently across her tiny button nose.  

nick hesitated for a moment before speaking again. “matt and i were talking earlier,” he began, his tone careful. “and... we just want to make sure you’re okay. really okay.”  

you looked up at him, your smile fading slightly. “i’m managing,” you said honestly. “some days are harder than others, but... madi makes it worth it.”  

he nodded, but there was something else in his eyes—something he wasn’t saying. “you know,” he started, “you don’t have to do this alone forever. when you’re ready… if you’re ever ready… we could talk to chris. you don’t have to, but-”  

“nick,” you interrupted gently, shaking your head. “we’ve been through this. i don’t want him to know. not now. maybe not ever. he made it clear where we stand, and i’m not going to force him into something he doesn’t want. if he finds out, sure. he deserves to know about his daughter. but i dont know if im ready for him to know.”  

nick sighed, running a hand through his hair. “i know. i just… i see the way she looks at you, and i can’t help but think about how much he’s missing out on. but it’s your call. it always has been.”  

“and it always will be,” you said firmly, though your voice softened as you glanced back down at your daughter. “she’s my priority now. no one else.”  

nick reached over, resting a hand on your shoulder. “we’re here for you. whatever you need, whenever you need it.”  

“i know,” you said, your voice thick with emotion. “and i’m so grateful for you and matt. i don’t know what i would’ve done without you both.”  

nick gave you a small smile before leaning down to brush a finger gently against the baby’s cheek. “she’s gonna grow up surrounded by so much love, you know that? even if chris isn’t in the picture, she’s got you, your parents, and me and matt. and that’s more than enough.”  

you nodded, tears welling up in your eyes. “yeah,” you whispered, holding your baby a little closer. “it’s more than enough.”  

“is he.. is he here?” you mutter, your heart clenching. 

nick lets out a deep breath, about to speak when theres another knock on the door. matt pokes his head in, looking at you and nick as he gently speak. “can i come in?” 

you nod, shifting on the bed. he takes a seat next to you, eyes locked on your baby as he smiles, gently whispering 

“gimme my niece” he jokingly mutters, reaching for her

you pass her to him with ease, her little, soft coos filling the room. 

nick looks at you sympathetically, like he knew something you didnt. 

“hes downstairs” nick mutters, awkwardly fiddling with his thumbs 

you take a deep breath, your heart about to jump out of your chest as you nod. “okay.. does he know about her? like, this is a party for her, so how much does he know?” 

“i dont think he knows. theres nothing down there that indicates that theres a baby, unless someone says something.” 

nick and matt exchange a quick, meaningful glance before nick finally says, “we didn’t tell him. he thinks this is just some get together, barbecue thing your parents are throwing. theres so many other people down there, and your parents technically invited our parents, we just tagged along. and, we figured it wasn’t our place to say anything... but he’s bound to find out now that he’s here.”  

your heart pounds harder at his words. chris is downstairs. chris, who you haven’t seen in six months. chris, who left without looking back. chris, who slammed the door in your face. chris, who doesn’t know he has a daughter upstairs.  

you glance at your daughter in matt’s arms, her little hands waving in the air as she coos softly. she has no idea what’s happening, no idea that her father is in the same house.  

nick leans forward, his voice quiet but firm. “we can handle this however you want. if you don’t want to see him, matt and i can say we need to refilm something for the channel to get him to leave. but if you’re ready to talk to him… we’ll be right here.”  

you take a deep, shaky breath, trying to steady yourself. part of you wants to hide, to keep the walls you’ve built around yourself firmly in place. but another part of you knows this moment was inevitable.  

“he deserves to know,” you whisper, your voice barely audible.  

nick raises an eyebrow. “you sure?”  

you nod, even though you’re not sure at all. “yeah. i think so. but, i need a minute. can you keep him down there for now?”  

matt stands up, cradling madison gently in his arms. “we’ve got you,” he says, his voice steady and reassuring. “take as long as you need.”  

nick gets up as well, giving your shoulder a comforting squeeze before the two of them leave the room.  

as soon as the door clicks shut, you let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding. you stand up and pace the room, your thoughts racing. how are you supposed to face him? what are you supposed to say?  

a few moments later, a knock at the door startles you, but it’s just matt again. “she’s asleep,” he says softly, holding up the baby monitor. “we put her in the crib in your moms office downstairs, away from everyone. nick’s keeping an eye on chris.”  

you nod, your chest tightening. “thanks.”  

“you okay?” he asks, leaning against the doorframe.  

“no,” you admit, your voice cracking. “but i don’t think i ever will be.”  

matt gives you a small, sad smile. “you don’t have to do this alone, you know. you’ve got us.”  

“i know,” you whisper. “but this? this is something i have to do on my own.”  

matt hesitates but nods, stepping aside as you make your way to the door. you pause for a moment, your hand on the doorknob, before opening it and stepping into the hallway.  

the sound of voices and laughter drifts up from downstairs, but all you can focus on is the fact that chris is down there. you walk slowly, your heart pounding with every step, until you reach the top of the stairs.  

there he is. standing by the kitchen, a drink in his hand, looking as effortlessly handsome as ever. your breath catches in your throat. he hasn’t seen you yet, but the sight of him brings back a flood of memories- both good and bad.  

nick spots you first, his eyes widening slightly as he gives you a subtle nod. matt, standing nearby, follows nick’s gaze and tenses slightly, as if preparing for the worst.  

and then chris looks up. his eyes meet yours, and for a moment, everything else fades away.  

the room goes silent, or at least it feels that way. chris sets his drink down, his expression shifting from confusion to something unreadable. he takes a few steps toward the stairs, and suddenly, you’re face-to-face with the man who broke your heart.  

“hey,” he says softly, his voice carrying that familiar warmth that once felt like home.  

you swallow hard, your fingers gripping the railing of the staircase. “hey.”  

for a moment, neither of you says anything. then chris glances around, his brow furrowing slightly. “what’s going on? nick and matt wouldn’t really tell me. is this some kind of surprise party?”  

you take a deep breath, your heart pounding in your chest. “not exactly,” you say, your voice trembling.  

chris looks at you, his blue eyes searching yours. “then what is it?”  

before you can answer, a soft cry comes from the monitor in matt’s hand, who was standing a few feet away. chris glances at it, then back at you, his confusion deepening.  

“whose baby is that?” he asks, his voice cautious.  

you take another deep breath, summoning every ounce of courage you have. “she’s mine,” you say quietly.  

chris stares at you, his jaw tightening. “yours?”  

you nod, your throat tightening. “and... yours.”  

you refuse to look up at him, as his breath hitches, and for a moment, he just stands there, frozen, as if trying to process what you just said. his face pales, and his hand grips the back of a nearby chair as if he needs something to hold onto.  

“wait... are you saying...?” he trails off, his voice wavering, eyes flickering between you and the baby monitor.  

you nod, barely able to meet his gaze. “yes. she’s yours.”  

the silence between you both stretches, thick and suffocating. chris’s face changes from shock to disbelief, his lips parting as if he’s trying to find the right words but nothing comes out.  

finally, he finds his voice, though it’s barely above a whisper. “why didn’t you tell me?”  

the question feels like a punch to the gut, and you instinctively glance at the room where your baby is, with nick. you want to say something, anything, to make this feel less like a bombshell, but all that comes out is a shaky breath.  

“can we go somewhere else? theres alot of people here..” you mutter, glancing around at your parents friends 

he nods, motioning for you to lead the way to wherever. the only place you can think to go is your moms office, not feeling comfortable enough to give him the privilege of being in your bedroom again. not yet, anyways. 

you creak open the office door, your eyes landing on nick watching your daughter in her bassinet. you hear his breath hitch in his throat at the sight, and you sit in a chair next to chris as nick takes it as a sign to leave the two of you alone, going out in the hallway with matt. 

you see him wipe his face, taking a seat on the couch. 

“so.. why didnt you-” he starts

“you left,” you say softly, your voice cracking. “you made it clear you didn’t want anything to do with me. you slammed the door in my face.”  

chris’s face softens, his brow furrowing in regret. “i never wanted that. i didn’t mean to hurt you... i thought i was doing the right thing. i didn’t want to see you continuously getting hurt because of my fans.”  

you take a deep breath, finally looking him in the eyes, the weight of the months of silence between you both heavy in the air. “you didn’t know because you didn’t want to know. i tried to reach out, chris. but you cut me off. you blocked my phone number, and on social media. you left me with no choice.”  

chris’s face falls, and he runs a hand through his hair, his shoulders slumping. "i... i messed up, didn’t i?" his voice is shaky, the anger and frustration that used to define him replaced with a quiet vulnerability that you hadn’t expected. "i never wanted to hurt you. i just... i didn’t know how to deal with everything. i thought i was protecting you by walking away, but now... now i see how much i fucked up."

you stare at him, the pain in your chest still raw, but there’s something else there too—a flicker of relief. you were angry. you were hurt. but hearing him admit his mistakes, finally, felt like a sliver of justice, even if it couldn’t undo the past.

"i never wanted you to walk away," you whisper, your voice trembling. "i never wanted to go through this alone. you didn’t have to protect me from your fans or from anything. we could’ve figured it out together. but you left. and now, we’re here. and you missed so much."

chris swallows hard, his eyes darting to the baby in the bassinet, his brother still sitting next to it as he takes in the weight of your words. "i... i didn’t think you’d ever forgive me," he admits, looking down at his hands, as if he couldn’t bear to look at you. "i didn’t think i deserved it."

you shake your head slowly, the tears still stinging your eyes. "it’s not about forgiveness right now," you whisper. "it’s about her. she deserves to know her father, whether you think you deserve it or not."

he looks up at you, his eyes brimming with emotion. "i don’t even know where to start. i’m so sorry. i... i can’t believe this is real. i can’t believe i have a daughter."

you nod slowly, fighting the urge to cry. "i didn’t want this for her," you say, your voice small. "i didn’t want her to grow up with one parent and never knowing the other. i wanted to protect her from the pain of not having you in her life. but i can't do that anymore. she deserves better."

chris stands up abruptly, pacing across the room, his hand gripping the back of a chair. "im so sorry.. i.. shouldve let you explain, but i just shut you out. i just left you, i slammed the door in your face. god, im so sorry.. she’s... she’s my daughter."

you watch him, your heart heavy with the weight of the past few months. it’s hard to accept that the man who walked away so easily is the same person standing here now, remorse in his eyes.

"but it’s not just about you anymore, chris," you say, your voice gaining strength. "it’s about her. and i need to know you’re ready for that responsibility. i need to know you’re ready to be her father, whether that means stepping up now or stepping aside. but if you’re going to be a part of her life, you can’t just show up when it’s convenient for you."

his face tightens, and he turns to face you, his eyes serious. "i don’t want to step aside. i want to be there for her, for you. i want to be the man i should’ve been six months ago. i know i don’t deserve your trust, but i’ll spend the rest of my life earning it, if that’s what it takes."

you nod slowly, your breath catching as the reality of the situation settles in. "we’ll see. one step at a time, okay?"

he gives a small, shaky nod in response. and as you both stand there, the tension between you is palpable, but there’s also a flicker of hope—however small it may be—that maybe, just maybe, things can start to heal. for you, for chris, and most of all, for your daughter.

after a moment of silence, he speaks up again, his voice soft and caring. “whats her name?” 

“madison. madison nicolette sturniolo.” you mutter, glancing at your sleeping baby in the bassinet 

“madison...” he repeats to himself, staring at the baby ““can i hold her?” chris asks hesitantly, his voice barely above a whisper.

you pause, your protective instincts kicking in. it feels monumental—this moment where he meets his daughter for the first time. but you nod, your voice steady despite the nerves swirling in your chest. "yeah. just be gentle."

matt stands, giving you a supportive nod as he steps aside, watching as you lift her from the bassinet, cradling the baby carefully before transferring her into chris’s waiting arms. chris’s hands tremble slightly as he holds his daughter for the first time.

his breath catches as he looks down at her peaceful face, her tiny features soft and perfect. "she’s beautiful," he murmurs, awe and disbelief coating his voice.

"she is," you agree softly, watching his expression shift as the weight of it all sinks in.

chris’s lips part as he whispers, "hi, madison," his voice cracking. "i’m your.. im your dad."

your throat tightens at the tenderness in his tone. the man who had once shut you out now stood before you, humbled by the reality of what he’d lost and what he now had the chance to gain.

madison stirs slightly in his arms, letting out a soft coo, and chris lets out a breathless laugh, blinking back tears. "she looks so much like you," he says hoarsely, though his eyes flicker back to hers. "but those eyes... god, they’re mine."

you let out a faint laugh despite yourself. "yeah. she makes it hard to forget." there’s a long, quiet pause before chris speaks again. "thank you... for keeping her safe. for doing everything i should’ve been there to help with."

"you weren’t there," you admit honestly, but your voice is softer now. "but nick and matt were. they stepped up when i needed someone."

chris flinches at the truth but nods. "i’m glad they did." he looks at you, sincerity etched across his face. "but i’m here now. and i want to be here- for you and her. no more running. i promise."

there’s doubt lingering in your chest, but for the first time in months, there’s also the faintest glimmer of hope.

"one step at a time," you remind him firmly, needing to protect not just yourself, but madison too. "we’ll figure it out."

chris nods, holding madison a little closer as if silently vowing never to let go again. "yeah," he agrees. "we will." 

in that small, cluttered office, surrounded by lingering pain and tentative hope, the first step toward healing is taken. for madison. for you. and maybe, just maybe, for chris too.

“chris?” you whisper, a tear spilling from your eye

without taking his eyes off of madi, he hums in response. 

“we need to talk. about.. us..” 

before you can get another word out, he cuts you off as he mutters, yet its clear enough for you to hear “i still love you.” 

your breath hitches in your throat, staring at him. 

“and i know, before you say anything, i know i left you. but i thought that would be best. i couldnt stand watching you get hurt by the fans everyday. i wanted to call you, and i wanted to explain. i just couldnt. i didnt know if youd believe me, if youd want to talk to me.. nick and matt told me to just keep giving you space.. and now i know why..” he glances up at you, a tear falling from his eyes as you stare at him, your lips slightly parted, your eyes watering with tears 

“i wanted you to come back.” you whisper, honestly. “i wouldve taken nick or matts phone and called you and begged you to come back. i just.. i didnt want you know about madi. i didnt want to force you to stick around if you didnt want to. i didnt.. i didnt want trap you.” 

“god, baby dont say that. dont say you didnt want to trap me. you wouldnt have. i wouldve- i shouldve- never broken up with you. i wouldve stayed, been there through the pregnancy, been there to hold your hand when you were giving birth, i..” he trails off, tears falling from his eyes. “i love you. i always have. and i always will. nothing is ever going to change that.” 

you clench your jaw as tears fall from your eyes, chris gently taking a few steps closer to you. he carefully holds madi in one arm, his other reaching down to cup your cheek. 

“come back to me. please. let me be a dad to madi. let me.. let me be your boyfriend again. and maybe.. maybe eventually youll let me be your husband. we can raise madi. together. be our own little family. because i love you, and now i love madi. please, baby.” 

you nearly sob at his words as he wipes tears from your face, eyes locked on yours. 

“let me come back.” he whispers yet again, followed by you gently nodding, a soft smile appearing on your face

“i love you.” you whisper

“i love you too.” he responds, his eyes locked on yours 

“always have...” you trail off, waiting for him to finish the promise you made to each other when you were younger

“always will.” he finishes, resting his forehead against yours as the both of you close your eyes, finally okay again. 

you let out a soft laugh, placing a hand on his neck, opening your eyes to see your daughter, being held in her fathers arms for the first time. he softly pulls away, carefully placing madison in the bassinet, his arms immediately wrapping around your waist. you stare up at him, smiling. you wrap your arms around his neck, looking into the eyes of the love of your life. 

he gently tilts his head down, tilting it as he connects his lips to yours, passionately kissing you for the first time in six months. 

you melt into the kiss, tightening your grip around his neck as tears stream down your face. after a few more seconds, you pull away from the kiss as the two of you tightly hug each other. 

“i love you. so much. and im not going anywhere. i promise you that.” you mutters, placing a kiss to your temple. 

“i love you too, chris. i know youll be a great dad to madi.” you whisper, burying your face in the crook of his neck 

he places one final kiss to your temple, taking your hand in his, glancing down at your sleeping daughter. 

“come on,” he whispers, reaching down to lift madison. “lets go back out to the party.” 

and you knew that this was it. chris was back. for you, and for madi. you were going to be a family. 

────────────୨ৎ────────────

a/n: IM GONNA CRY i had so much fun writing this series there MIGHT be a part 5 but idk yet???

- aurora ᯓ✮⋆˙

find other parts of this series here

likes and reblogs are always greatly appreciated! ੈ✩‧₊˚

to be added to my taglist, comment on this post!

⋆˙⟡ tags: @lvrsturniolo @marrykisskilled @mattscoquette @emely9274 @wh0remikasas @mattsstarlet @pvssychicken @sofia-is-a-sturniolo-triplet-fan @jvngle18 @sturns-mermaid @mattslolita @lolastrniolo @55sturn @oliviasthatgirl @hannahsturns @dykes4chris @y3sterdaysproblem @bernardsbendystraws @courta13  @colorthecosmos444 @delilahsturniolo  @colorthecosmos444  @chriss-slutt  @cvnntagious  @conspiracy-ash  @bluetalia  @chris-hallelujah @15vogue  @chrispleasure  @idkwhatthisis2009  @sturniologirlzz  @sturniolo101  @leeeeree  @nicksorange @tylerstacobell  @simpforeveryman @sofieeeeex  @espressqe  @yesterdaysproblemm  @skye-44  @kikirasweatsweathoho @shadowthesim @chrepsi @st4rcs @mattswifeyx @sturnslux3 @iheartmattsbeard @sophiaxsblog @slutforchrissturniolo2 @pair-of-pantaloons

[wynnyfryd]

Trailer park Steve AU part 33

part 1 | part 32 | ao3

Chapter 8

cw: period-typical attitudes/language

"Steve," Robin hisses through the phone, and he can practically hear her nostrils flaring. "I have been trapped at Uncle Bobby and Aunt Deb's house for six. days." She drops her voice to a harsh whisper, the tone somehow even more disapproving at a lower volume. "HOW have you not kissed him yet??"

"It's not like I didn't try!" Steve throws his hands up; nearly knocks his broom to the floor. He's finally sweeping up the shards of glass in the living room, because he's tired of wearing shoes in his own house (and because at some point he's going to have to have the kids over whether he wants to or not. He's kind of surprised Erica hasn't shown up demanding to hang Christmas lights yet; that girl is aggressively festive.) "He was all 'ask me in the morning,' so I was gonna ask him in the morning! Not my fault it was Monday morning and his stupid uncle barged in yelling about how he was going to be late for school."

"You really shouldn't call him stupid," she interrupts, "that man is a saint."

"No, you’re right. Wayne's awesome."

It’s true. Wayne walked in on them that morning, like, fully spooning in their sleep — Eddie pressed all along Steve's back with an arm over his waist, their ankles intertwined — and rather than beat Steve's ass and ban him from their house like Steve expected him to, he just awkwardly grunted 'breakfast is ready' and shut the door.

"I'm always right," Robin gloats in his ear.

"You're always the worst."

"You love me." Steve hears shuffling as she adjusts the cord — probably wiggling around to lie on her stomach on the bed and kick her feet up in the air the way she likes — and then she says, "I'm still not seeing how this explains the other five whole days, though."

Jesus. Five whole days. Like she's his unimpressed boss and he’s late with the quarterly reports. "Our schedules kept not lining up! And then he went out of town with Jeff's family for the holiday."

"And you haven't called him?"

Steve glares flatly at the phone; hopes she can feel it through the line. "Literally how would I do that, Robin?"

"Well— I don't know! Maybe..." She hums in thought then snaps her fingers, talking fast. "Ooh! You could ask Wayne for the number? I mean, he'd have to know it in case he needed to reach Eddie, right?"

"Uh huh." Steve loves her solution-oriented brain, he really does, but that's one of the worst ideas he's heard in a while. (And he's including Mike and Dustin's attempted kidnapping last month.) "Yeah, let me get right on that," he snarks, switching the phone to his other ear. "I’ll just call them up and say, 'Hey, Mr. or Mrs. Jeff's Grandparents! This is Steve Harrington, may I—? Oh. Who's Steve Harrington, you ask? Nobody, sir or ma’am, just the kid who stood by and watched while his teammates gave your grandson a swirlie two years ago, so I'm sure he fucking hates me still for that! Anyway, can I please flirt with your house guest now?'"

Robin's whinnying into the receiver by the time Steve finishes his rant, and he begrudgingly laughs along with her, shaking his head as he stoops to pick up the dust pan.

"Okay," she concedes. "You may have a point."

"Thank you."

"But you still have to do something to make up for this when he gets home! Otherwise, he's going to think you're, like, having a straight boy crisis or something and get all weird."

"I'm not having a 'straight boy crisis,'" Steve rolls his eyes. He's having a bisexual boy crisis — at least, according to the three hour phone call he had with Robin the other night (which was humiliating, by the way; he never thought he'd be quietly crying tears of total confusion while saying the words 'I still likes boobies, though' out loud. Jesus Christ. Sexuality is embarrassing.) "And I already have a grand gesture in mind, anyway."

"Oh?" Robin perks up. "Do tell."

"I was thinking we could, like..." Hmm. It's sounding less grand when he goes to say it out loud. "Well, shit, I don't know. I thought we could go to one of his shows together when you get back, but now that sounds kind of lame?"

“No, that's good! That's perfect, actually. We can get a whole group together to go support him, then he'll see that you're not embarrassed to be seen around him with your friends."

"Wait, was that a concern?" Oh, god. He dumps more glass into the trash can; hisses when a little shard gets his fingertip; sucks the wound into his mouth. "Are you sure it’s not-? I mean, I want him to know I mean it in a romantic way, not just a friendly gesture."

"Well, yeah, obviously. But you can't just go by yourself; his bandmates hate you."

Oh, right. “Yeah.” That would be pretty awkward to loiter in a booth by himself all night while Jeff and Gareth and the other kid glare daggers at him. "Do you think you could get a group together? If I do it…"

"…We'll be hanging out with a group of dorky freshman all night?”

"Rude."

"Accurate."

"You know what? Tell Deb and Bobby they can keep you."

"Ah!" Robin gasps. "You would turn to stone like a troll in the sun without me, and you know it!"

Man, he misses her. "Yeah, I know it." He puts the broom back up on the hook. "When ya comin' home?"

"Soon, I hope. I swear to god if I have to hear Deb and Patty fight over the leftovers one more time—!" She cuts herself off with a strangled noise, and Steve laughs at her plight. "Anyway, yes. I'll ask some friends at school—"

"—Is one of those friends Vickie?"

“I can multi-task; shut up."

"I love you," he smiles.

"Love you, too, dingus.” Her voice dips soft and sincere for just a second; there and gone. “Hey, I have to go, Carrie wants the phone.”

“You have too many relatives.”

“Ugh, I know. Okay. Leaving for real now; can't wait to see you for Operation Woo Your Man!”

"Robin, no-!”

“Got to go byeeeee.”

“We’re not calling it that!” He holds the phone out with both hands so he can yell into the receiver. “Robin? Robin!"

The line's already dead.

—

part 34

tag list in separate reblogs under '#trailer park steve au taglist' if you'd like to filter that content. if you want to be added tomorrow please comment and let me know (must be over 21; please either verify in the comment or have your age visible on your blog)

[izzyssurfcheese]

how did cassandra clare's books save your life 🎤🎤🎤🎤

Sorry I’ve been on vacation with spotty internet connection.

So basically. It went like this:

Several years ago, I was in a relationship with an avoidantly attached person (pro-tip: don’t) and this person would do this really mean thing where they starved me of affection for weeks at a time, until I was ready to end things. Then they would flood me with attention and convince me to stay.

Fun fact: this technique is called “hot and cold” and it’s been used in war as a torture method. If you do this to someone, you are being mean, bordering on torture.

This person watched me, over the course of two years, go from a securely attached partner, to remarkably anxious one, as a result of the constant emotional roller coaster, and never having support when I needed it, and constantly giving to the other person.

I became severely depressed. I felt that I couldn’t leave - and in that headspace, I really couldn’t.

This person often insinuated that there was something wrong with me,

ie: you are depressed, therefore something is wrong with you, not the situation;

and because they were the person I trusted most I believed them.

So I went to my doctor, and he prescribed me antidepressants.

The antidepressant, “worked”(?) for me, by stopping me from being able to feel anything at all. No emotions whatsoever.

Which actually felt, really amazing at first. (I know how that sounds, just hear me out.)

In six months, I went from being so depressed I wouldn’t eat for days at a time, spent days in bed, and showering very sporadically, to being able to make and keep appointments.

Often pre-antidepressant - I would be driving somewhere, and feel so depressed that I couldn’t find a reason to actually get where I was needed to, and I would just pull over, turn off my car, and stare straight ahead, at nothing, for hours. (I had never done that prior to meeting this partner)

No motivation to go home, no motivation to go anywhere.

Needless to say, I felt absolutely awful at all times, like the world was this brown mud, and I was drowning in it, and there was no escape.

And then when I started the antidepressant, most of that started actually going away.

I didn’t notice at first that I was also unable to feel compassion, or joy, or happiness.

The medicine worked as a sort of gradient, it wasn’t like I woke up completely emotionless one day, it was more like after three months I noticed.

By the time I noticed that I didn’t have emotions at all anymore, I just didn’t care. I didn’t feel shocked, or scared or worried, because all of those are emotions that I didn’t have.

I knew what happened to me, and I knew that the old-me would have been upset, but mostly, I just kept on with life. I ran the numbers and I was more productive without emotions, and as a bonus, I didn’t feel awful anymore. In my (new) book, that was a win.

There was one, huge benefit to not having emotions though that I am still grateful for:

I was finally able to dump that awful boyfriend.

When he tried to manipulate me into staying with his normal dance - [redacted because who needs to be bummed out?]

I just did not care.

I ran the numbers on how much good he was bringing to my life, and how much bad, and he came up staggeringly negative, so I dumped him.

These days, I feel 7% bad about it. While he was profoundly avoidantly attached - and an awful partner - I can see post breakup that he did love me in his own way, and I’ve genuinely never seen another human being break, the way he broke for me once he realized he couldn’t win me back.

I was done sacrificing my whole life for an ounce of affection from him.

But once I dumped him, my life still didn’t really change, because I still couldn’t feel anything.

Fun fact: without emotions, the entire world, just becomes one, big, math problem.

After about a year of being single and emotionless, the sheer boredom of life had really set in. I started thinking about my past, and what I used to like, and I remembered Cassandra Clare’s books.

So I opened my library app, and started re-listening to the audiobooks.

Although I couldn’t feel emotions anymore, I could remember what it was like.

Since that was the closest thing I had, I used it.

Re-listening to Clary and Jace fall in love reminded me of everything I used to be excited about. What I felt in middle school at the time I read them, what I thought romance could feel like, etc.

But most importantly, her books reminded me:

That caring about something isn’t supposed to make you feel worthless.

That you should feel confident that your partner wants to be around you, and that a good partner will listen to you, respect you, and stop when the vibes say stop.

But the book that saved my life, was QoAaD.

When Julian removes his emotions to furlough the effects of the parabati curse, I immediately recognized myself.

P.S. Cassandra Clare nailed the experience of not having emotions.

The book explained to me, in a way that I could understand at the time, why it’s important to have emotions, and all that we lose without them.

When the Seeliee queen says to Julian “you are in the cage” I started to genuinely consider life without the antidepressants.

I knew that I didn’t feel anything because of the medicine, but the idea of going back to being that level of depressed, was daunting. I didn’t know what I would face on the other side.

But seeing Julian have the courage to get his back and that it was worth the struggle, even when the emotions were unpleasant, gave me the courage to try.

So for the first time in two years, I went back to my doctor, and told him I wanted to look at stepping down the medication.

We came up with a plan to do so, and it took about a year 6-7 months to step down safely.

I didn’t notice any change whatsoever, until the final step down, from a teeny tiny dose, to zero.

And about two weeks after my last dose, it was like a dam broke.

What I thought has been an absence of emotions, turned out to be just a wall. Everything from the last two years came flooding at me, and it stayed like that for about two weeks.

After a very rough re-entry, I felt, like myself again, like I hadn’t in years.

Things like hugging my mom had meaning again.

I would walk outside and see butterflies and it actually felt nice.

I cared about people, and myself, and sunlight, and summer, and winter, and swimming.

And it wasn’t perfect, or all nice, but it was remarkably, my life.

And I felt grateful to have it, after losing it for so long.

Ever since then I have felt profoundly fond of her books, for giving me back what I had lost.

[bunny-1111]

Theo Nott x Reader Series, Dark Marks and Forbidden Hearts, Chapter Five.

Work count: 2.7k words

Warnings: mild swearing, family of death eaters, wizard war, physical pain

Reblogs, comments, and likes are extremely appreciated. <3

...

Chapter 5

When Theodore Nott was just six years old, he fell off his broom. It had been a birthday gift, and in the moment, all he wanted was to impress his parents. But he lost control, lost balance, and when his body hit the concrete, the broom snapped in two. His mother had run to him. His arm was grazed, so before bed, she brewed a healing tea and kissed it better. Tears welled in his eyes over the broken broom.

“My sweet Theodore,” she hushed him, “a broom, dear boy, can be fixed. With patience and ambition, we will get that broom together again.” She smiled, and he returned it.

“Remember what I told you—everyone faces hardship, even little boys and their broomsticks. But my little snake, this is just a layer of skin to be shed.” He giggled at her lovely words and fell asleep.

He woke the next morning to the news of her sudden death. In a daze, he grabbed the broken broom and ran. He hid for thirteen hours—away from his grandparents, away from his father. During that time, he tried to fix the broom like she’d promised they would do together. For three weeks, he kept at it. Determined, but lacking the patience she once encouraged. One morning, he recalled her voice. The words. The promise. How pathetic, he thought. Nearly a month had passed and the broom still lay in pieces.

He hated patience. But for her, he decided to slow down.

That day, he took the time. By evening, the broom was whole again. Just as she said it would be.

He flew it straight to her grave. Extending his arm, he presented it to her headstone.

“You were right, Mummy. I did it… maybe I can brew you some healing tea too,” he whispered, beginning to cry. “So you can come back and watch me fly without falling.” He sat at the tombstone, voice shaking, “Where did you hurt? I can kiss it better like you did my arm…”

He cried and cried, kissing the cold grey stone with true hope it might heal her—bring her back—until his father found him.

“Kissing the concrete won’t do you any good!” his father snapped, dragging him by the arm.

“Hey! Mother just fixed that arm—let go!” he cried, running back to the grave.

“What are you doing, Theodore?” his father barked.

“I’m waiting for her to come back so I can fix her!” he screamed.

His father picked him up then and muttered, “You’ll be waiting a lifetime of death, Theodore.” He patted his son’s shaking back.

That night, Theodore knew she wasn’t coming back. That patience had gotten him nowhere. From that moment on, he chose ambition. Over and over again. At least that never failed him.

Waking up wasn’t the usual comfort. He stirred first and watched you. Took in the rise and fall of your chest, the slight puffiness in your face. He noticed the angry red scratches running over your dark mark—fresh and jagged. He compared them to the dried ones on his own. It reminded him of the broomstick fall all those years ago—how it hurt to scrape the same spot.

It hurt even more now. To realise he still couldn’t steal either of you away from the nightmare you were both trapped in. So, when he slept, he dreamed of waking somewhere far away. A home. A future. Friends. A family. A world without reminders of now.

But that future felt impossibly far.

He didn’t want to wake you—you needed rest after last night. Still, he reached over, brushing a hand gently against your cheek. You shifted, eyelashes fluttering open. He met your eyes and pressed his forehead to yours, placing a soft kiss on your lips.

When the two of you finally went downstairs, arms carefully covered, you both made sure not to reveal anything. Not today. Not to them. Disobedience wouldn’t be tolerated.

You hadn’t slept well—anyone could see that. Your head throbbed, and people stared. Your unbrushed hair, your hunched posture, the shadow of pain beneath your eyes. Theo caught their looks and returned them with daggers.

At the table, the others were already there.

“Well, that’s the lot of us done, then,” Mattheo muttered, spoon pointed toward your covered arm.

“Yeah,” you said, managing a faint smirk. “Just when I thought we couldn’t get more alike, Teo.”

“My father says it’s just us. We’re the only ones marked in this war,” Draco scoffed.

“Officially the Lord’s bitches,” Enzo added with a sarcastic smile.

Pansy rolled her eyes. “Come on, let’s get some coffee,” she said, and you followed her.

“How you holding up?” Blaise asked Theo once you’d gone.

He only shrugged.

“I know, man. When Pans got hers, it hurt more watching her suffer than getting my own,” Blaise admitted quietly.

Theo only nodded, still haunted by your screams.

“At least we get out of this house today,” said Mattheo.

“Yeah, like Hogwarts is any better,” Draco muttered. “Wish Mother and Father had sent me to Durmstrang.”

“You’d die without us, Draco,” you said lightly, ruffling his hair as you returned.

Soon, Lucius and your father stood before you all.

“The elves are preparing your bags. It’s almost nine. Be ready to leave in forty-five minutes,” your father stated. Lucius simply nodded and moved on with him.

At the station, house-elves trailed behind, carrying trunks. It had been your parents’ idea—to uphold tradition, to display control. You hated it. All of you did. But when the elves admitted they wanted out of the house too, you didn’t argue.

The train was crowded. First-years scurried, third-years strutted. You passed the carriage of the Golden Trio. Harry met your gaze, and you quickly looked away, pushing inside to sit with the others.

Everyone was quiet. Tired. Emotionally worn thin. The silence between you all said more than words ever could.

You leaned your head on Theo’s shoulder, drifting in and out of the conversation. Then black smoke clouded the window.

“What was that, Blaise?” Pansy asked.

“Probably just first-years messing around,” Enzo said, unconcerned.

“This school’s a mess,” Draco muttered.

“Someone’s gotta teach them discipline,” added Mattheo.

Comments like that made you remember the houses they came from.

By nightfall, the train pulled in.

“Let’s go before some scrawny second-years steal the good seats,” Theo urged.

“Go ahead. I’ve got something to check,” Draco said.

“Hurry up, Malfoy,” Enzo called.

“He’s staying. Let him,” Pansy replied, stepping off.

“Whatever,” Theo mumbled, glancing back at Draco, confused.

The sorting felt endless. Enzo pulled you all closer during the last names.

“Any first-year recruits for our eager Lord?” he joked.

You all laughed—dark humour for a darker time.

“That one with the pointy ears,” Blaise chuckled, pointing to a kid down the Slytherin table.

“No, I’ll tell Daddy about four-eyes,” Matteo added.

“Come on, it’s obviously him,” Theo grinned, pointing to a long-haired boy.

“Merlin, he’s a mini Snape!” Enzo howled.

“Alright, alright, let’s hear what Dumbledick has to say,” Draco said with a smirk.

They laughed, but Theo’s expression changed when Dumbledore’s voice shifted:

“Once there was a young man who, like you, sat in this very Hall. Walked these corridors. Slept beneath this roof. His name? Tom Riddle.”

You reached for Mattheo’s hand under the table, and the others did the same.

“Today, the world knows him by another name. Which is why, as I stand looking at you tonight, I’m reminded of a sobering fact. Every day, every hour, this very minute perhaps, dark forces attempt to penetrate this castle’s walls. But in the end, their greatest weapon... is you.”

It was as though the breath had been stolen from the Hall.

You didn’t know whether to look up or down—but instinct made you glance up.

Harry Potter stared at your group. Blood on his nose. Fury in his eyes.

“To bed, pip pip,” Dumbledore said at last.

You inhaled deeply, pushed yourself to your feet, and followed the others out.

But they were already ahead. You’d stayed still for too long—too lost in your mind.

Too aware of what you’d just heard.

[filth-burps-writing]

Dating as a secret man

Lily got home from their date. An ever immaculate queen always in heavy makeup and heels. Their newest boyfriend Evan was an absolute gentleman. As they closed their bedroom door and his car left the driveway they thought about their magical night. But amongst the feelings of being in love and pampered were feelings of shame, disgust, fatigue and fear. Because Lily wasn’t real. The guy who pretended to be them, was starting become frustrated.

The first thing Will did was fart. Evan fed him like a prize pig and his dress was incredibly tight. He pulled off said dress and pointed up his head as he replaced the lacy bra with a binder. Wills sweatiest hoodie and shorts combo was calling his name. Three things always helped him take his mind off things; getting drunk, getting high and playing video games. He popped a gummy and cracked open a beer as he logged in. Apparently they adding a new player to the team named Ev07. The team was mostly queer people so he hoped that this wasn’t just another meathead who looked at their stats. As he settled into his stained gaming chair Will belched repeatedly.

The team all warmly greeted each other and talked strategy until Ev07 logged on. He had a pretty average avatar with no visible mods and his stats weren’t great. As he introduced himself to the team he let out a loud belch making the whole team laugh. “ Hey maybe you should have a burping contest with Will later that was almost as gnarly as one of his” “Hey Will dude, if you can even match my burping volume I buy you a health pack ok”. Will felt his competitive side bubble up but he also got Deja vu. Where had he heard that voice before?

Evan woke up in a cold sweat. It was admittedly a little stressful dating a woman while having a crush on a guy. He’d been playing on the team for two months and playing solo with WhereTheresAWill for six weeks. He sat through stiff dinners with Lily, who was classy and beautiful then sped home to run through game scenarios and have burping contests with Will who … wasn’t. The day Will sent a blurry pic in a hoodie and shorts was his best in a while. He looked at his phone and saw his notifications.

Gamehub WhereTheresAWill sent you 500 credits!

Daterz Evan your so sweet

Daterz It’s Lily! Let’s talk on chatline

Chatline Lily sent you a video request

Chatline Lily sent you a message

Chatline Lily sent you a message

He felt guilty but he was a gentleman and knew the right thing to do. He put on a clean t-shirt and sat up in bed then accepted Lily’s video request.

“Hi Lily sorry I look a bit scruffy I was sleeping. Why are you up it’s the middle of the night?”

“ I was at work and I got kept late to keep a guy company on his birthday.”

Lily was a home health aid and super passionate about her work.

“ Anyway I know you usually wake up at this time with your night stuff and I’m gonna be sleeping all day so I figured we could talk now instead of going on that date.”

“Aww that’s kinda sweet. I didn’t make a reservation this time so it should be alright.”

“You know me. Anyway.”

They engaged in stiff formal chatting for hours. Evan had just never clicked with Lily but he didn’t break up with her because it kinda felt … wrong. She was conventionally attractive, sweet, kind even fun sometimes. But he never really felt anything for her. The whole time he was thinking about Will and the 500 credits. Will and his easy laughter filling the audio chat. Will who got him to upgrade his avatar. Will and how gross habits mysteriously stirred him in the crotch. But he was straight and being attracted to burping was just too weird.

Later that day he was talking to Will of all people while practicing his triple shots.

“Hey Evan you all there?”

“ Can I ask you for some dating advice?”

“Dude I’m a massive *burp* nerd. The only hookups I get are at comic con.”

“Will no. I don’t have the patience for your self deprecation today.”

“Alright try me.”

“I’m dating this girl but I don’t … like her. She’s everything I want in a girl but I feel nothing when we’re around each other. What should I do.”

“ Wait is this the girl you bought a Persephone necklace for?”

“ I like spoiling women. Even if I don’t nessesarily have super strong feelings for them.”

“ You gotta cut her off before she gets the wrong idea. She might think that your generosity means you wanna go long term. She might be expecting commitment while you’re stringing her along.”

“Woah that’s really wise. Thanks bro. Why did you send me 500 credits?”

“I was returning the credits you sent me I’m not one of your girlfriends.”

“That was for your birthday!”

“And?”

“You’re a dick.”

“Aww are you not gonna come to my sleepover party.”

“ No i’m having one at your dad’s.”

They continued like that all day. With Will it was easy. They joked around constantly and went with each other’s bits.

Will breathed a huge sigh of relief. Keeping his cover as a lady was difficult. His pink collar job was doing a lot of heavy lifting. But resisting the urge to belch after the meals Evan gave him or sass him on a date the way he did in chat was get harder and harder. It seemed like Evan was purposely testing him. He knew it wasn’t true because of the Persephone necklace glittering in the tub of femme items he kept in the bottom of his closet. Fuck he was generous. And handsome. even his new avatar in the game was hot. Will thought about what it would be like if he could date Evan as himself, as Will. He thought about trips to the arcade, cuddling together in his unmade bed, Evan kissing him…

Now Will was even crustier than usual. He’d been masturbating for hours just thinking up scenarios about Evan. He got up to look at himself. He had been wearing the same black hoodie and shorts without washing them for a month. His hair was an ocean of grease with messily dyed waves cascading across his forehead. His now fat belly stuck out the bottom of his hoodie after weeks of Evan’s clueless ministrations. The weight gain kinda made him look… manlier. He reached up and uncovered his belly. He squished the hair covered flesh between his fingers. It certainly added something to his appearance. He farted and felt himself squirming. He was attracted to himself! He stared into mirror enraptured. This was the first time he’d actually felt sexy. Suddenly he heard a familiar voice yell out “babe I let myself in we need to talk I’m coming upstairs”. He didn’t have time to change. He was gonna have to tell him.

They stared at each other. And stared at each other. Then Will broke the silence. “ *sigh* look I’m a trans dude it’s super hard to date, plus I don’t exactly look traditionally sexy as myself. So I go on dates as my old self, as Lily. I lied to you and you can get as mad you want just don’t leave the team. We really need your averages for the competition next week.” Evan was just sat there with a furrowed brow. “ If it helps I do have feelings for you. You’re a genuinely sweet person and very handsome.” Evan looked at Will like he was trying to assess him. “ I’m sorry I lied.” Evan stood up and looked at his face. Will thought for a second he was about to get punched. But then Evan kissed him. He leaned into the kiss. Evan pushed him against the bed. “ oh fuck Will! I had a crush on you for months while I was dating … you. I was so scared but now” Evan let out a huge belch in Will’s face “ I don’t have to worry about it”. He pressed a kiss on Wills forehead. Will grinned and burped himself which turned to the boys pressing burps against each other’s necks.

[lutethebodies]

More Zafraia Lore Galore

Humor me with a follow-up to the original ask from earlier today by @maud-lin, in which I went a bit long about Zaf's relationships to the BG3 companions. I'm gonna answer the second part here, about her relationship with two of my Tavs, and a bit about two more folks from my 5e game who've only ever been hirelings (and now, thanks to Custom Companions Lite, can sort of join Zaf in her canon playthrough). As always, lore galore below the cut.

The Redstone Incidents (Zafraia vs. Cannor)

Since I've posted before about this rivalry, I won't rehash all that, but one of these days I'm gonna compile a definitive timeline/tale of why my swords bard and swashbuckler rogue are bitter enemies and always will be. For now, please enjoy the fiery fotos (and collected lore links) in this post depicting their final duel before expulsion from the Naransi city of Caranacia (City of Fortune), a handy homebrew stand-in for Baldur's Gate.

The Eastern Voyages (Zafraia & Ruy)

My swords bard Cannor and knowledge cleric Ruy didn't spend much time together—about a month as best bros on the cleric's home turf (Nevela, the City of Knowledge, perhaps a stand-in for Waterdeep). Ruy studied at the Escolamuqa (Frontier Academy) here, under his mentor Genna de Tereiva—the celebrated Erudísima (High Scholar).

This was just after Cannor was banished from Caranacia. That short span was significant, though; they kept up a transnational correspondence and even co-created an atlas together, and Ruy eventually curated a collection of Cannor's best songs.

Between those in-person happy hours and long-distance collaborations, however, Ruy finally broke out of his academic cocoon for an offer he couldn't refuse: cartographic exploration on two sailing voyages into the Unknown East. The sponsor? Cannor and Zaf's erstwhile mentor, Doña Regina de Atraveisa, the Invidísima (High Ambassador) of Caranacia's Equiposium (Academy of Balance). The captain? None other than Zafraia Zital herself.

Post-banishment, Zaf went straight to lie low, becoming a freelance navigator in Naran's eastern harbor of Orangeport and striking deals with local merchants as an envoy to all points futher East: towns, tribes, and trading posts along the arid Marakeen shore. Zaf made three voyages in six years, two of which were accompanied by Ruy. 

On the first, he famously developed the novel idea of longitude before they turned back. On the second, they sailed much further but were battered badly by storms on their return. Ruy left for home after that, and a third voyage by Zaf yielded mediocre results. She's currently recruiting a new crew for a fourth voyage, but is kept in port by lack of supplies and sponsors. Her aim remains to seek great riches beyond Marakeen and the southeastern horizon, dangers be damned.

Suvarro Egir, the Iron Horse

The muscle of Zaf's 5e homebrew party is this barbarian battle master, who is also a roundabout connection to Cannor. Let's go back in time a bit for his story. I’m running long again so I’ll yada yada things substantially, but the TL;DR is this: A big boy from the southern sticks, Suvarro was trained to fight in nearby Sanduzca (City of Balance) one of three sister cities of Saván. He got tired of his benefactors’ rigid religious dualism, met a weird imprisoned bard from the north named Cannor, sprung that bard from jail, and trekked north upriver and over the mountains to get the guy home.

There in the City of Fortune, Suvarro (then 19) and Cannor (23) joined the Equiposium about when Zafraia (then 14) did the same. We'll skip ahead about another eight years, after which the aforementioned Redstone Incidents happen. Cannor and Zaf are both gone, but Suvarro remains in the City of Fortune at the Equiposium, covertly connected to both exiles. Zaf calls in her favors first, so Suvarro becomes her hired bodyguard on all three voyages east.

Ivrah Tab'Yalim, the Sand Sailor

I confess I don't have much on this character, because I can't yet play her in BG3 as she truly appears, and in 5e she’s still an NPC—albeit a critically important one. Ivrah is a desert Land Druid and Zafraia’s guide for all three voyages. As a native Keenaat based in the Naransi outpost of Harapuela (Ragtown), she not only knows the Marakeen lands well, but also holds a secret remit from her own people.

Ivrah is tasked with studying the culture, motives, and (most importantly) weaknesses of the three Naransi cities that keep sending the clever sea captain to their desert shores year after year. The Keenaat aim to check any Naransi colonial ambitions, so Ivrah has gleaned all she can from Zaf—who has no such intentions herself (at least in the desert) but who can’t promise that her patrons would say the same.

Okay, that’s all I’ve got for now. Please believe me when I say I tried to keep it short, but I failed yet again. Thanks again to my asker and thanks for reading to the end!

[sihtricfedaraaahvicius]

Note: request by @willowbrookesblog! also at some point I'll have a fic for every uniform, I swear.

Warnings: fluff! mention of period, cramps, blood, ptsd. also suggestive.

pairing: Modern!Sihtric x you (f)

Summary: You hadn't seen Sihtric in a while, and your period was about to start just when you got reunited.

Word count: 3,5k 

Masterlist

'Why on earth are you crying?'

***************** 'It can start any time really.'

'What?'

'I mean… look,' you said. Sihtric glanced quickly at your phone, frowned, and brought his eyes back on the road again.

'I don't know what I just looked at, honey.'

'It's my period tracker. The app says my period should start in three days. But it's a little unpredictable, it can happen a few days early or a few days later.'

'Babe,' Sihtric whined, 'are you kidding me? You stopped taking birth control when I was away?'

'No, but I didn't order a new pack in time. I'm sorry, baby, it slipped my mind. I thought I still had a pack when I took the last pill, but it turned out I didn't. And the pharmacy didn't have mine in stock due to some delivery issue, so I was forced to have the seven day break, which happens to be now.'

'Babe,' Sihtric whined again.

'It's not all my fault,' you huffed.

You really thought that having a whole grown man for a boyfriend, who was about 5 years older than you, would not whine like a teenage boy when he heard you were about to have your period.

'No, I know,' Sihtric said, 'I'm not saying that…'

'But…' you frowned.

Sihtric sighed, 'Oh, come on. I haven't seen you in six months, I missed you, baby. I've missed your body and I just really want to have sex with you, okay? It's been a long time and I'm really fucking horny.'

You were both not into having sex while you had your period. And, unfortunately, your period was about to start around the same time that Sihtric, your boyfriend of several years, returned from a six month army training abroad, and you had picked him up just minutes ago. You've been crying so hard ever since you had jumped in his arms, you couldn't possibly drive back home safely, as your eyes kept tearing up every time you looked at him. You had missed him so much and wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the day in bed with him, but you grimaced at the idea of your period starting while you had sex.

'My pictures weren't satisfying enough these past months?' you frowned.

'Baby, your pictures worked wonders, multiple times a day sometimes, but you know what I mean. Don't tell me you've been completely satisfied by just looking at my pictures or those few rare times we had phone sex.'

'Well, no… I want to have sex with you too, obviously.'

'So you admit you have used my pictures?' Sihtric grinned.

'Really?' you snorted, 'you thought I didn't get off to your risky selfies?'

'I like to believe you are an innocent girl,' Sihtric smiled and slapped your thigh.

'Ouch!' you slapped his arm, 'and, yeah, sure. Because what we did right before you left was so innocent?'

Sihtric bit on his lower lip to suppress a smile when he recalled his last time with you. You already had sex twice the night before his departure, and the following morning once more too, before you accompanied him at the military base to see him off. Once there, you found out you had about half an hour to kill before he had to get ready. So Sihtric had pulled you into his office, closed the blinds, and managed to make you cum three times within that half hour; with his hands, with his tongue and with his cock. You could hardly walk or think straight when he was done with you, and you barely remember seeing him off that day, because all you could think about was the way he had absolutely ravaged you on his desk while he was in uniform. And before he was able to communicate with you and send you some pictures, the memory of that morning had been rather sufficient.

'That's our little secret, lady,' he winked. 

Sihtric absolutely loved having a girl who was a few years younger. He found women of his own age, or a few years older, were often too serious and not risky or adventurous enough for him. He truly felt he had hit the jackpot with you when he met you, years ago, and he was desperate to spend time with you again after being apart.

'Well, regardless, I'm sorry, babe, but I can't control it. All I know is that it didn't start yet.'

'But it can happen anytime?'

'Well, yeah.'

'I've been hard ever since you jumped in my arms, love,' Sihtric groaned, 'what are the odds that it starts today? Like… if I pull over now and take you in the backseat real quick, would we still be ahead of it then?'

'Sihtric, I don't know. It doesn't work like that, it's unpredictable. It's not scheduled like a train arrival or something,' you rolled your eyes.

'At least with trains you know they always arrive late,' Sihtric muttered under his breath.

'What?'

'Nothing, baby.'

You stared at him.

'Well are you going to pull over or what?'

'What?' Sihtric looked back and forth between you and the road, 'you really want me to-', before he finished his sentence, he braked abruptly as he passed an empty parking lot next to a gas station, and he pulled over immediately. You both looked at each other with a cheeky grin after he had shut off the car engine.

'Backseat,' Sihtric said sternly. You loved it when he barked around orders, but only during sexy time. Otherwise you just ignored him, because he'd be in a mood.

You both removed your seatbelt as fast as possible, got out of the car and jumped into the backseat, of which the windows were just dark enough to not see anything through it from the outside at first glance.

You had barely laid down or Sihtric already climbed on top of you, unbuttoning your jeans as you worked his camo jacket.

'Show me those abs, sir, that's an order,' you smiled and bit down on your lip as you ripped his jacket off and pulled his shirt over his head. Sihtric chuckled and pulled down your jeans, and underwear, before he leaned back in. You looked at his muscular body and moved your hands up his torso.

'Hm,' you hummed with a sly smile, 'I've missed that sexy body of yours.'

'Show me how much you've missed it, lady,' Sihtric grinned and pulled you up to him, 'I've been hard at work, training soldiers to protect the country for you, little miss,' he teased, 'so you better give your man a nice ride now.'

'Oh, I'll thank you for your service, big boy,' you chuckled and pulled his cargo pants and boxers down. 

You were to give him one hell of a ride, and luck was on your side it seemed, because when you were done, you still didn't start your period. You continued the road home, which was about an hour long, and as time passed you felt slight stomach cramps, knowing you had just finished in time.

You still couldn't keep your hands, or eyes, off your dark haired man, with his braids on top and curls in the back, so you kissed his lips and his neck at every traffic light. Which made Sihtric so horny again, while still being twenty minutes away from your house, that you had to give him a blowjob while he was driving, because you didn't want to risk having sex again as you felt your period approaching, and he desperately needed to be relieved.

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

'Hurry, baby!' Sihtric said and sprinted to the front door, 'I want to see Thor. I need to know if he still recognises me.'

'Wait, I want to film this. It's the first time you've been away for so long since we got him!'

You took out your phone, and your keys, ready to film the moment of Sihtric being reunited with your 1 year old Bernese Mountain dog, named Thor.

You opened the door and Thor came storming out right away. Barking, tail wagging, full on dog zoomies as he ran circles around Sihtric, before he jumped up to his chest, taking Sihtric by surprise and causing him to stumble backwards onto the grass. Thor made use of the moment and jumped on Sihtric's chest again, to which he groaned while the dog was licking his face. You were simply crying your eyes out as you filmed the entire moment, and you're not even sure if you had pressed record to be honest. Sihtric eventually fought the dog off and you all managed to get inside the house. 

You made dinner as Sihtric kept Thor entertained. At one point you looked over your shoulder and found Sihtric, shirtless, standing up straight while holding Thor's front paws as he was dancing with the dog to the radio. You cried again and you blamed it on your approaching period. You were so happy to have Sihtric home again, but you couldn't deny you were a little irritated when, later that evening, Thor had jumped into Sihtric's arms and they had been riling each other up; howling like wolves together for 5 minutes straight. You blamed that moodswing on your period as well, but also melted at the sight of your oversized puppy dog in Sihtric's arms as he sat on the couch.

'Excuse me?' you crossed your arms. Sihtric and Thor looked up at you. 

'When is it my turn?' you asked impatiently, looking at the dog in his lap.

Sihtric sighed and looked at Thor. 'It's not my fault, buddy. Mom wants your spot and she needs some loving right now.'

'Yes. And daddy will take you out for a walk later,' you said as you hissed the dog away.

'Babe, don't call me daddy, please,' Sihtric grimaced before he pulled you in his lap, 'here, boy!' Sihtric whistled, and Thor jumped back on the couch, where he tried to shove you away from your man, but you would not let that dog win, because you knew he was cuter than you.

Eventually, you and Sihtric cuddled and talked for hours, catching up on everything that happened the past half year, and you went to bed around midnight, shortly before Sihtric walked the dog.

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

'It hurts so bad,' you groaned as you laid in the fetal position. Your period had started shortly after you had gone to bed and the cramps were horrible. You also learned you had run out of the medication you took to help with the pain, so the entire situation just sucked.

Sihtric had found you in bed as you were in pain, and he came up to lay behind you, his arms around your waist and his body fully pressed against yours. 

'Sihtric?' you asked after a few minutes when you heard him sniffle.

'Hm?' he hummed, followed by another sniffle.

'Sihtric,' you glanced over your shoulder, 'are you crying?'

'No,' he lied.

You turned around to face him and you couldn't help but chuckle.

'Why on earth are you crying?'

'I don't like it when you're in pain. I feel so useless. Is there anything I can do right now?'

'Honey,' you clicked your tongue, 'well, I guess you can make me some tea.'

You didn't have to ask twice, Sihtric was already on his way to the kitchen. Not much later he came back with tea, and a heating pad he had found in the cupboard, which he had filled with hot water.

'Here, I found this,' Sihtric said and handed you the heating pad, which you quickly shoved behind your lower back as you sat up in bed.

'I made you chamomile tea with some lavender. I read it's good for period cramps.'

'It is,' you smiled and took the cup, 'thank you, baby.'

You kissed his cheek and started sobbing again.

'What's wrong, my love?'

You gave him a long inaudible answer, due to the ugly crying, but Sihtric figured you said something about strong emotions, your period and something about the full Moon. He wiped your tears away and put his arm around your shoulder while you sipped your tea. When you laid down, Sihtric softly planted kisses on your tummy, and you nearly dozed off already.

'Will you wake me up at seven, sweetie?' you whispered in the dark, 'I have to go to the pharmacy and get those meds.'

'I will,' Sihtric said and kissed your lips before you both fell asleep.

But Sihtric didn't wake you up in the morning. Instead he snuck out of bed, got dressed, had breakfast and came back in the bedroom to kiss your cheek. He waited a short moment to see if you woke up, but you were simply knocked out and didn't even notice he had kissed your cheek.

'I love you, baby,' he whispered in your ear regardless, and gave you another peck on your cheek. Then he quietly walked out of the bedroom and took Thor with him as he walked to the pharmacy on a quiet foggy morning.

Almost an hour later they got back home again, and Sihtric was happy to see you were still asleep when he switched on the lamp on his nightstand. He carefully lifted the blanket up to sneak in bed again but then saw you were laying dead still, in a pool of red. His heart skipped about five beats at the sight. You always had a heavy flow the first two days, but as you often skipped your period, Sihtric didn't know about it. And even if he somehow knew it was probably nothing to be alarmed about, it still triggered his PTSD, bless his job, and he started nudging you awake as fast as he could.

'Baby, wake up. Baby, please,' Sihtric's voice trembled as he tried to wake you up, but it took a moment, as you were sleeping like a rock.

'Wake up! Wake up! Please! Baby!' Sihtric raised his voice as his panic took over, and you finally startled awake.

'Huh? Wh-what?' you blinked rapidly and confused, and before you could even adjust to being awake again, Sihtric had pulled you in his arms, squeezing you so tightly against his chest, you could barely breathe.

You quickly realised what had happened as you felt the wet puddle of blood underneath you and you didn't know if you felt more embarrassed about him seeing you like this, or upset that you had triggered him with a heavy emotion. You managed to calm him down, and he told you there was nothing to be ashamed of.

'It just spooked me because I simply didn't expect it, I'm sorry,' he said.

'No, I should've told you this could happen but I really didn't think about it. I didn't realise it would… I feel so bad. I thought you were more or less okay after all the therapy you had.'

'No, don't feel bad, please. And I am more or less okay, but there will always be this… this part of the trauma that can't be fully erased. And every now and then it comes out when I see a lot of blood out of nowhere. I mean, there's a reason I quit going on missions and switched to giving training. No chances of you know… seeing loads of blood again.'

You both apologised for another 5 minutes while telling each other there was nothing to be sorry for. You quickly went to the bathroom to fix yourself up while Sihtric changed the bed. When done, he pulled you back in his arms again and you fell asleep together until noon. 

When you woke up you realised Sihtric never woke you up in the morning to go to the pharmacy. You groaned and rubbed your eyes, got dressed, and decided to best get going to stop this stupid pain.

You found Sihtric downstairs in the kitchen, shirtless, while Thor was circling around his legs and begging for food. You smiled at the sight of your man in his desert camo sweatpants while his army dog tags and hammer pendant dangled against his muscular chest.

'I made you pancakes,' Sihtric smiled when he saw you. He knew you loved it when he walked around the house without a shirt, so he would always do it when you weren't feeling your best. He also knew you loved pancakes and were in need of comfort food.

'Oh, I also picked up your meds earlier,' he pointed to the table, 'and I bought you ice cream and some chocolate,' he continued as he handed you a plate, 'you can add that to your pancakes. The ice cream and chocolate I mean, not your meds.'

You chuckled and were a little speechless. You figured you should definitely take that 7 day stop more often if this was how he would treat you each time. You grinned and walked up to him.

'Thank you, love,' you said and ran your hands up his torso as you pecked his cheek.

'You're welcome, princess,' Sihtric smiled and pulled you against his warm chest, 'want to watch The Office all day?'

'Yeah,' you chuckled. That show always made you laugh. You walked over to the couch with the pancakes, ice cream and chocolate while Thor followed with begging eyes.

'No,' Sihtric said firmly to the dog when you looked at him. But when you hopped back to the kitchen, to get your painkillers and a drink, Sihtric quickly threw Thor a piece of his pancake. And they looked at each other with a mutual agreement they would not rat each other out. You frowned when you saw the two of them giving you overly innocent looks and rolled your eyes. You weren't a fool. You knew Sihtric was Thor's favourite and Thor was Sihtric's favourite. You had accepted you were second place in both their hearts shortly after you had adopted Thor. They were lucky they were both so damn cute.

'Come here, babe,' Sihtric pulled you in his arms as you hit play on Netflix. Thor gave Sihtric puppy dog eyes for not being in his lap, and Sihtric winked, to which the dog started to wag his tail and stuck his tongue out as he panted, knowing he'd get some cuddles too later.

You watched tv all day and simply cuddled on the couch, doing nothing more than enjoying each other and the fact you were reunited again. You dozed off just before dinner time when Sihtric took the dog for a quick walk, and he ordered a few pizzas for you both to enjoy later. He carried you up to the bedroom, ran downstairs quickly to take the pizzas and called Thor over to come upstairs too. 

Once in bed, you ate pizza, cuddled, and made out, which was rather risky but you both more or less kept your self control. After that, Sihtric massaged your shoulders softly, until you fell asleep in his arms while watching your favourite movie, with Sihtric on your left side and Thor on your right. And despite the cramps, bloodshed and the lack of sex, this was the best reunion you had with Sihtric in all those years. But you were both glad when the week had passed and you could start making up for all that lost time.

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

taglist: @clairacassidy @finanmoghra @uunotheangel @hb8301 @bathedinheat @neonhairspray @anaeve @bubblyabs @travelingmypassion @sylas-the-grim @heimtathurs @bubbles-for-all-of-us @andakth @chompchompluke @willowbrookesblog @lady-targaryens-world

[DM to be added to/removed from taglist! & don’t be shy to like, reblog & comment!🖤]

[shyvioletcat]

ROWAELIN MONTH: DAY EIGHT

~ Single Parent ~ Ah yes, this is always one of my favourite days. This is part two to my Fish are Friends fic, so please enjoy. @rowaelinscourt

~~~~~

“This guy is loaded.”

Aelin snorted at her friend's awed exclamation as she eased off on the accelerator coming up the long, paved driveway. The house wasn’t obnoxiously large, but it was well beyond decent with a pretty facade and well kept gardens. And if the price he had offered initially for her services today was anything to go by, yes Rowan did have money to burn. 

She had waited until she got home to text him back and to say yes to the offer of Ivy’s birthday party, claiming that now she had turned back into a mermaid she could talk mermaid business. With how the girl was so enamoured by the whole mermaid performance Aelin couldn’t even think of saying no. Rowan had immediately come back with a price just under what her gig at the aquarium paid in a fortnight and she stared at it wide eyed for a full minute. She knocked it back, then there was a mildly heated discussion over what the price should be. Rowan was overly generous, and Aelin helped equate the cost by saying she needed to bring a friend along to help her with her costume and they would split it. That had been fine, of course, and why Lysandra was sitting in the passenger seat. 

The car stopped and Lysandra was still peering out the windows trying to get a better look. “His wife, slash girlfriend, slash whatever must be living the life.”

“He’s divorced,” Aelin said, pushing the gear stick into park. 

“That’s an awfully weird thing to find out in a conversation that went for two minutes,” Lysandra added.

Aelin shrugged, seatbelt clicking as it undid. “Well his daughter did demand he kiss me.”

Lysandra paused from where she was checking over her make-up in the sun visor mirror, head turning sharply. “She what?”

“I had to keep the magic alive and I may have told her that I needed a kiss from my true love to stay a mermaid. There was something about a sea witch curse in there too.”

The mirror closed with a snap. “That’s real dedication.”

“Yes it is and that’s why I need you to go knock on the door and suss out where I need to go so Ivy doesn’t know I’m here until I’m dressed. I’m only human between three and six to her knowledge,” Aelin explained, gesturing to the dark wood door.

“I feel like there was an easier way to do this,” Lysandra said.

Aelin shooed her with a gesture of her hand. “I was under pressure, now go.”

Lysandra didn’t answer, just did what she was asked, hopping out of the car and making a show of knocking on the front door. Aelin sunk in her chair a little, ready to hide completely if anyone little appeared at the door. She managed to see an older woman with greying auburn hair look her way as Lysandra pointed to the car. There was some more conversing and then some nodding, and then Lysandra was coming back over to the car. 

She opened the car door and lent in. “So, that lady was Iris and she’s the grandmother. She said all the littlies are inside making bracelets or something so you are all clear to sneak in using the side gate and use the pool house to get ready.” 

“Fantastic,” Aelin replied and didn’t waste any time. Children were unpredictable, who knows when they might choose to stampede outside. “Let’s go.”

The two of them unloaded the gear, managing to get it all gathered together in one load. Tail and accessories in hand, the side gate was easy enough to spot. Aelin led the way, listening out for an excitable little girl who’s birthday she did not want to ruin. Sounds of laughter and music came from inside the house, but Aelin ignored it all and headed straight to the pool house. Luckily, the blinds were down on the floor to ceiling windows saving them the trouble. It was a tidy space, besides the child’s toys stacked in a corner. There were a few lounges, a small kitchenette and a door Aelin assumed led to a bathroom. 

The gear was dumped on one of the lounges and Aelin started to strip off. “Alright. Let’s do this.”

~~~~~

Rowan tried to keep his hand steady even as the little girl in front of him was determined not to stay still. Ivy had begged him to do face painting at her party, and of course he was going to say yes. He had spent the last month practising on paper, his daughter and even his friends when they let him. Rowan had been good to start with, and now he was considering making it a weekend job. Not really, being a deputy principal during the week and being a full time dad was more than enough work for him. But at least it was therapeutic. 

“Hold still for just one more second,” Rowan told the brown haired girl sitting in front of him. She huffed, but listened, the lure of a unicorn horn and ears overriding the need to see what was going on. Adding a few last details on the horn to really give it some sparkle and then he was done. “There.”

Rowan didn’t need to say more than that and the girl was off. He wiped his hands on an old tea towel and was about to refill some of the snack bowls when his mother approached him looking like she was holding in a secret. 

She sidled up close, beckoning him a little closer so Rowan had to lean in as she whispered. “Your mermaid is here.”

“Oh,” Rowan said, taking a look around. “Where?”

“I sent her and her friend to the pool house,” Iris said. “After Ivy’s rave reviews I’m excited to see her myself.”

Because Aelin was all Ivy could talk about and she already fawned over her to anyone who would listen in her select circle of people she chose to talk to. Rowan had kept the mermaid appearance under wraps and he was glad to see his surprise hadn’t been ruined. His daughter was going to lose her mind. 

“Pool time!” Rowan announced to the room, excited squeals drowning out his chance to say anything else. 

Ivy was by his side in a second, pulling at her dress so she could get to the swimsuit she had insisted on wearing underneath. Rowan helped her before he could do some damage, revealing the mermaid scale patterned one piece with a frilly little tutu skirt around her waist.  

“Come on, Dad!” Ivy said, pulling on his hand  and trying to drag him towards the pool.

Rowan smiled at her eagerness. “Hold up, we gotta wait for everyone else to be ready.”

That didn’t take long at all and it was only about 10 minutes later that everyone was crowded around the new location for gathering. To help ease the minds of the parents he’d paid a couple of his friends to be honorary lifeguards. In the end he had chosen Connall and Vaughan, and it had taken some heavy consideration. Lorcan was out because his lack of care and observation might just end in disaster. Fenrys’ sole purpose would be showing off shirtless in front of the mums and anyone else who found themselves interested, and Rowan needed the children in the water to be the priority. And even though Vaughan had similar motives, he would at least include the supervision of the children in his displays. Connall was the easy decision because, besides Rowan himself, he was the most level headed and had more than an ounce of common sense. 

“Excuse me.”

Rowan turned at the unfamiliar voice behind him. A stunning brunette who he did not recognise stood there. She didn’t have the look of one of the parents and she wasn’t a caterer—she was dressed too casually for that. It had him wondering who she was.

“Hi, I’m sorry but…”

“Oh, Lysandra,” she said, a hand on her chest. “Friend of Aelin.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Rowan extended his hand for a handshake which was returned. 

“Likewise,” Lysandra said. “Aelin is ready but we’ve hit a bit of a snag.”

“How so?” Trying not to sound too panicked at the potential flow in his party plans.

“Um, she can’t exactly walk out of there.”

Rowan felt the confusion on his face as he tried to figure it out. 

Lysandra smiled. “She doesn’t have legs.”

“Oh, right,” Rowan said, laughing a little. “What do you need me to do?”

“It’s a good thing you at least look strong,” Lysandra said, beckoning Rowan to follow. 

“Mam, can you watch Ivy and the pool,” Rowan threw over his shoulder—her affirmative answer sounding as he headed towards the pool house. 

The blinds were closed and Rowan did one last check of the pool before he ducked into the building right behind Lysandra. Aelin sat on one of the lounges in her full get-up, tail and seashells and the make-up that had her face sparkling. Once again, he was struck by how beautiful this woman was, it was an impossible thing not to notice.

“Nice to see you again,” she said with a little wave. 

“You too,” Rowan said, then hastily added. “And thank you. For doing this.”

“Anything for the kids, right?” Aelin said. 

“Speaking of, should we get to it?” Rowan asked.

Aelin gave a flourish of her hands down the length of her body. “By all means.”

Rowan tried not to be awkward as he bent down and scooped Aelin up bridal style, she even draped her arms around his neck. The tail made her stiffer than other women he’d carried like this, but he managed. 

“If you could get the door?” Rowan asked Lysandra. 

“Of course.”

Rowan was concentrating so hard as he stepped through the doorway, trying his best not to knock Aelin’s head or tail. She must have been concerned as well because her grip tightened and she hugged herself closer to him. He managed it all without incident and brought them safely into the sun. 

“Look who I found in the bathtub!” Rowan announced, drawing the attention of the party. Ivy’s exclamation of Aelin rang out over all of it. He lowered his voice so only Aelin could hear. “Where do you want me to set you down?”

“Shallow end, by the steps,” Aelin replied quietly before turning her attention to the party. “I heard it was someone’s birthday.”

Rowan set Aelin down and Ivy was there a heartbeat later. 

“It’s me, Aelin. It’s my birthday,” Ivy said nearly climbing onto the mermaid. 

Aelin graciously took it all in her stride, wrapping her arm around the girl. “I couldn’t miss that.”

Within moments Aelin had control of the party, all the kids flocking to her and her magnetic energy. Rowan left her to it, heading outside the pool fence to grab himself a drink. He grabbed a beer from the cooler in the kitchen before returning to the back patio to watch the show. There was no doubt in his mind that Aelin would be putting on a performance if her work at the aquarium was anything to go by. 

“Dude, you got a mermaid?” That overly question came from Fenrys, who had appeared next to Rowan, face still decorated with a large rainbow and a collection of stars. Ivy had insisted her uncle get his face painted and like everyone else in her life, he hadn’t refused. “She looks legit. Where’d you find her?”

“The aquarium,” Rowan answered before taking a sip from the beer bottle in his hand. 

“I don’t know if you’re kidding or not,” Fenrys said. 

That made Rowan laugh. “I’m being serious. She works at the aquarium, and Ivy fell in love with her the other day. I asked her if she did private functions and she said yes.”

“Private functions? That sounds shifty as hell,” Fenrys added. 

Rowan thought for a moment, recalling how Aelin had stalled and the awkwardness had skyrocketed. It was nearly enough to make him flush with embarrassment again. 

“Yeah, I realised my error in wording pretty quickly,” Rowan admitted. 

“How much did she cost?”

That voice was female and accusatory, it made Fenrys grimace sympathetically before he left Rowan to deal with answering. He turned around, finding his ex-wife just behind him, glaring in the direction of the pool before her eyes darted back to him. Waiting. 

Strained was an apt description to describe the relationship between him and Lyria. They had been high school sweethearts that decided to get married before they knew anything of the world. They’d stuck it out years longer than they should have, divorce had been up for discussion when they’d found out Lyria was pregnant. It hadn’t helped the already precarious relationship and by the time Ivy was two Rowan found himself a first year teacher and a single father with majority custody. He had been ready to fight for Ivy but it was an obvious choice considering the stability and flexibility of his job. Rowan was guaranteed a job with manageable hours, he’d have school breaks off, and with the money he made plus what he had from his family to back him, allocating him as primary carer was an easy choice. It just left him open to continual criticism over the choices he made about raising his daughter, especially when it came to money. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Rowan said. “She’s made Ivy’s day, what’s more important than that?”

Lyria hummed her objection, her gaze darting over to their daughter again at a bright burst of laughter. “You need to stop throwing money at things just to make her happy. She’ll grow up with a skewed view of the world, not knowing what the real world is like.”

Rowan resisted rolling his eyes. They’d had this discussion before, and they’d have it again. She always accused him of spoiling their daughter in the worst way. And maybe he did, to an extent, but Rowan was also sensible to a fault as his friend’s like to point out. 

“We figured it out, and so will she,” Rowan said. “Hopefully sooner than we did, hmm?”

He left Lyria to muse over that, not wanting to have this fight and potentially ruin the party. Rowan decided his time was better spent refilling the snack bowls and checking the cake hadn’t been damaged in the fridge. Once those menial tasks were done and his beer finished, Rowan wandered to the poolside again. 

Aelin was in the water now, showing the kids how she swam from one end to the other with her tail. It wasn’t just the kids watching either, like at the aquarium she had the whole crowd entranced. Rowan took up a spot on the transparent fence waiting to see what Aelin might be up to next. She’d stopped swimming and sat on one of the pool steps, from her hips down in the water. Bubble bottles had been conjured from somewhere and all the kids sat in a row having a competition to see who could blow the biggest one. Aelin pursed her lips, bubble wand poised in her hands. He was again struck by how beautiful she was, and just as he had been that day at the aquarium Rowan found it hard to look away. 

The makeup she wore still remained intact depite he time in the water, the gold shimmer around her eyes highlighting their unusual colour. What had him damn near entranced was her smile, it seemed to brighten her entire being. Rowan felt like he was getting dangerously close to leering—respectfully—when he was interrupted.

“Not, bad Ro. Not bad at all,” Fenrys said, his only reply was an eye roll. “You don’t have to dent it, mermaids are hot.”

“I didn’t know you had that much experience,” Rowan quipped back. 

“I’ve been chatting to her friend. Did you know she’s a mermaid too?” Fenrys asked.

“I did not,” Rowan replied flatly. 

“Well, she is. And just like your friend here, she’s smoking. You did me a solid favour,” Fenrys went on to say. 

Rowan sent his friend a questioning look. “What does that mean?”

Fenrys backed away, shrugging his shoulders and giving Rowan a conspiratorial wink to an unknown conspiracy.    

Ivy saved him from being made to suffer through more idiocy, her damp hand patting his forearm where it rested on the top of the fence. “Daddy, I need to ask you something.”

Rowan stepped back so that he could lean down a little closer. “What is it, love?”

“Um, can I… wait. No, can you—“

Ivy’s rambling had him confused but half a second later it was all made clear. A wave of water hit him, drenching his head and arms, the rest of him saved by the protection of the fence. Ivy was caught in it too, but she just cheered and laughed, trying to clap but the floaties on her arms stopped her hands from meeting fully. Rowan wiped the water from his face and saw Aelin swimming away, smiling and sending him a wink. Rowan let out a chuckle at the antics, grinning broadly at the uncontrollable giggles bubbling out of Ivy. 

“We got him!” Ivy squealed and then launched herself back in the pool. 

He saw on Aelin’s face the mirror of his own lurching gut as Ivy hit the water. She knew how to swim of course, he wasn’t stupid enough to throw her a pool party if she didn’t, but most confidently with assistance. The concern for her safety was hard to shake, and luckily Aelin was right there, arms out to keep the girl’s head well and truly above water. 

Rowan had no idea how Aelin was able to do everything she did without sinking to the bottom of the pool. If he had his legs bound together he would not be doing so well. His shirt was clinging to him uncomfortably and decided to change. So he left his daughter to the mermaid, knowing that she was in safe hands. Or maybe that was fins.

~~~~~

Aelin hadn’t expected to have this much fun at a kids birthday party. It might have been because Ivy was just so stinking cute and enthralled by the whole mermaid thing that it was hard not to be infected by it as well. Or it might have been because the pay was just that good it was an immediate mood booster. Aelin had expected it to be the latter, when in fact it was the former. 

She had been in the pool for a good two hours, playing around and telling stories. When the kids started to shiver the parents had dutifully begun to dry them off. With the afternoon sun fading behind the clouds it was hard to keep warm, and that included Aelin. Her tail offered no insulation and just made the situation worse. Even though the kids begged for more entertainment while drying off or returning to the poolside, Aelin could feel the goosebumps on her skin even when she tried to ignore them. Soon she would start shivering and she was sure her lips would start turning blue. There was a lull in the activity around her and Aelin looked around for Lysandra or at least Rowan, hoping to flag either one of them down to get some help getting out of the pool. 

Neither was within Aelin’s sight, and a shudder went from head to hip, everything lower down completely immobile. She needed to get out of her tail, and fast. Looking around again Aelin spied Ivy talking to a woman sitting on one of the pool chairs. Her brown hair was wavy and her gentle face seemed to hang on every work Ivy said. If Aelin were to hazard a guess, she would say that woman was the girl’s mother. 

“Ivy,” Aelin called, her voice catching because she was just that cold. “Hey, Ivy.”

That time Ivy heard her, quickly walking over because she had announced more than once that her father said there was no running around the pool. “Hi, Aelin.”

“Sweetie, I wonder if you could find your dad for me,” Aelin said. 

“Yeah, I can.” The little girl was excited and easy to please. 

But on the way past the woman stopped Ivy, catching her by the hand. “We should get you dried off for cake.”

Aelin nearly groaned, because that was enough to divert Ivy attention completely. Watching Ivy being led away Aelin started cursing her friend who had somehow entirely disappeared without a trace. She kept looking over the various adults milling around and moving into the semi alfresco dining area readying for cake. Never spotting Lysandra, Aelin eyed the cement around the pool and contemplated the damage to her skin and tail if she had to crawl her way back to the pool house. The children might just die from shock if she stripped off her tail here. 

The chorus of ‘happy birthday’ sang out from the house and Aelin peered through the crowd to see Ivy beaming at her expertly mermaid themed decorated cake. This was now ridiculous. Lysandra knew the kid even less than Aelin did, if she was in there singing along and hoping for a slice of cake while she was freezing her tits off out here.

“Where is she?” Aelin muttered as she wrapped her arm around herself. 

This silicone tail might be the death of her. All she could do was be resigned to her fate. Aelin zoned out, keeping her body distracted and warm as she could by flicking her tail through the water. The sound of the pool gate creaking had her looking over and found Rowan approaching, a plate in hand. 

“I brought you some cake,” he said.

“Thanks,” Aelin replied, voice unsteady. 

That was enough to stop Rowan in his tracks, and Aelin watched his eyes dart over her. “You’re blue.”

“It’s turquoise, actually,” Aelin said, pushing a lock of damp hair out of the way. 

Rowan put the cake on one of the pool chairs. “That’s not what I meant and you know it. What didn’t you tell me?”

“I tried to send Ivy to you but she got distracted,” she nodded over at the cake. “By cake.”

Rowan just shook his head, motioning for her to get ready to be picked up. Aelin bent her knees the best she could now that her legs were stiff and cold, and let herself be scooped up. He carried her back to the pool house, Aelin holding on tight while there was some awkward manoeuvring around the door handle. 

“Where’s best?” Her saviour asked. 

Aelin couldn’t stop the whole body shiver. “Uhh, here. I just need to get this tail off.”

Rowan obliged, easing her down onto the couch. It was difficult and awkward but Aelin rolled to the side and started battling with her zipper. Her cold and numb fingers were completely useless, all they did was slip and fumble. When she swore viciously she heard Rowan halt in his exit. 

“Are you okay?” He asked. 

Aelin gave up and flopped onto her stomach, she had never felt more like a fish in her whole career as a mermaid. “I can’t get out of my godsdamned tail.”

“Oh. Should I go see if I can find your friend?”

“No.” Aelin blurted out, quite loudly and on the wrong side of desperation. She was ready to start begging. “I need it off, now. Can you help me?”

~~~~~

Rowan just stood there, blinking down at the mermaid sprawled out on his couch. He could see goosebumps raised on her exposed skin, she was obviously freezing. The smartest option was to go and find her friend because he had never once in his life removed anything close to this tail. He didn’t know how, didn’t know where to begin. 

“I feel like this isn’t a job for me,” Rowan said. 

“I feel like a literal popsicle, and I’m not beyond begging right now,” Aelin said, and he swore that her teeth were chattering. 

“If you insist,” Rowan said, leaning down and finding the top of the zipper. 

It might have been the most impressive zipper he had ever seen, sturdy and strong, it had to be to hold the silicone together. Awkwardly unfortunate for him, it sat tight over her ass and it was hard not to touch it in the process. At least the materials were thick and Rowan told himself that was the firmness he was feeling. He tugged the tail down, but everything came to a rushing stop when he caught sight of what Aelin wore underneath. Peeking through the gap between the zipper sides near the top of her hips was a dark blue thong.

“Is it stuck?” Aelin asked with a glance over her shoulder.

Rowan felt his face flush, only deepening his embarrassment. “Ah, no.”

She laughed, maybe at him, maybe it was the situation. “I’m not shy.”

And by the gods did he believe that. Rowan ignored the flaming in his cheeks and the hint of a broad grin on Aelin’s face as she turned back around. “I’ll, uh… close my eyes then.”

Like he said he would, Rowan kept his eyes closed and let the zipper run its natural course. And then he didn’t know where else he was supposed to try and extract it. 

“You have to pull at the hips and then work your way down, then do it all again until it comes all the way off,” she explained. 

“Right,” Rowan said. That would be mighty hard to do with his eyes closed. 

But Rowan gave it his best effort, fumbling between closed eyes and squinting. When there was a tug that gave way more than he was expecting on instinct his eyes opened, a hand flying out to stop himself from falling right on top of Aelin. His hand was lucky, his eyes not so much. He copped an eyeful. 

Just as quickly he shut them, but the damage was done. He wouldn’t be forgetting that sight any time soon. Rowan went back to his task and in the end when she was free enough Aelin ended up kicking the tail off herself. Respectfully he kept his eyes down, rubbing at the back of his neck. 

“There’s a shower you can use, it’ll get you warmed up,” he offered. “There’s clean towels and everything in there.”

“Thank you,” Aelin said. 

Rowan left her to it, and even though she’d undoubtedly take a shower he was still concerned. Back inside the party had died down, mainly just family remaining, so he went to the kitchen and turned the kettle on. While that boiled he went upstairs and retrieved a hoodie. The day had started out fairly warm but without the sun the atmosphere had begun to chill. If she didn’t bring anything with her she’d just catch te cold again. 

By the time he got back down to the kitchen the kettle was done and he filled a mug with water, along with grabbing a few selections of teas. No one noticed him leave and head back to the pool house. Most thankfully Ivy remained oblivious. She was better off not knowing Aelin was out there un-mermaidified and the magic be ruined at the end of such a perfect day. 

Rowan knocked and heard a faint Come in. Aelin was sitting on the couch, dressed in leggings and a loose shirt. She was drying her hair with a towel, looking much better than she had a few minutes before. 

“I brought you some tea,” Rowan said, gesturing to the mug. “And a jumper if you needed it.”

“Thank you.” Aelin took both and slipped the hoodie right over her head. The hood caught on her head and the rest of the fabric drowned her. But she at least looked warm and content. 

Rowan offered the teabags and Aelin took a few moments to decide. She picked and dropped the bag into the awaiting water. 

“You did a great job today,” Rowan offered. “Although you didn’t have to go as one as you did.” 

Aelin picked up the string and bobbed the tea bag up and down. “How could I not? Ivy was having such a good time.”

“Still, it wasn’t something to risk your health over.”

“Not the worst situation I’ve been in,’ Aelin said, taking a sip of her tea and sighed. 

The door opened suddenly and for one sickening moment Rwan thought Ivy might have tracked him down. But instead it was Lysandra, turning up from who knew where to finally help out her friend. 

“Where have you been?” Aelin demanded, putting down her tea. 

Lysandra gave a noncommittal twist of her shoulders. “Here and there.”

“I nearly died,” Aelin said drastically. 

Lysandra actually shot Rowan before looking back at Aelin. “I am sure that’s not what happened.”

“You know what?” Rowan said, cutting through the building tension. “Why don’t I keep an eye out and you guys can head off?”

“Great idea,” Aelin said, putting her mug on the low table and pointing a damning finger at her friend. “If you think you’re getting a cut of the money you’re severely mistaken. You did nothing for me today.”

Lysandra actually laughed at her friend’s theatrics and Rowan decided this would be the best time to leave. He went and stood by the corner of the pool fence where he had a good view of anyone who might be coming outside. It wasn’t long before Aelin and Lysandra left the pool house, a hissed conversation passing between them as they headed for the side gate. Just before disappearing around the side of the house aelin stopped, giving him a broad smile and a wave. Waving back, he had to admit that he was sorry they hadn;t had more time to chat. 

As Rowan watched her disappear from sight he was disappointed that he didn’t have another excuse to see Aelin again. Maybe he would have to take another trip to the aquarium just to see what might happen next if he by pure chance she was there too. 

~~~~~

I’m currently in a quirky hotel room and posting from my iPad so I’m not even going to attempt the disaster that is tagging at the moment.

[soranihimawari]

Cats & Sweet Starts

Kuroo Tetsurō has been nominated for many things: most likely to succeed, most likely to be chemistry quiz bowl champion, most likely to date a supermodel… but when he stands in front of you at your first JVA-interns reunion, he’s sopping wet from the beer a horrid ex-boyfriend of yours throws at your face. Or at least tried to.

“You always protected ‘em huh Kuroo? Just like helped cover her mistakes when the boss was around,” the jerk scoffs.

“I just did it because you kept putting ‘em down at the board meetings, asshole,” Kuroo says before wiping his face. He turns to you asking if you’re ok, you nods. However, before your old fling at the office leaves, you put your glass down and march right up and sock the idiot who ruined your friend’s suit with your fist.

Kuroo laughs a bit stunned you could hit that hard. Jerk of an ex-fling looks at you and rubs his cheek.

“Pop quiz dickweed,” you square your shoulders in your bar attire. “Before volleyball what was the the one sport I was the captain for?”

The rag doll of a guy who probably has an STD now for being a player looks at you says you probably broke his cheek and you shake your head.

“Does it look like I care? You ruined our reunion. Get out of here,” turns to look at Kuroo with an apologetic smile. “Your suit’s ruined. I really liked that one too….”

An hour or so later, the pub is lively again and you walk together with your current department neighbor at the JVA. He talks about how badass you were after he took the whiskey sour hit on your behalf.

“… but you kicked Kuwabara’s ass. Have you always been that strong?”

You’re at the lobby of Kuroo’s apartment complex about to leave after saying your goodnights.

“Hmm… you didn’t know me in high school, but i guess I still am, haha. Don’t forget I’m paying for your dry cleaning. Just send me in the invoice, ok Kuroo-kun?”

He nods and waves as you head to your home via hailing a cab.

You’re about to be dropped off in your drive way when you piece some things together and tell the driver you’d pay him double to take you back to the apartment complex he picked you up in.

The ride back to Kuroo’s complex was an entertaining one. You tell the driver all about how Kuroo introduced himself in the first day; you were cubicle buddies for the next six to eight months during your internship five years ago; now you’ve officially signed on with him your department and his work on promotional athletes from the national team…

“I’m in merchandise development and he’s in sports contracts,” you say proudly at the light right before the complex.

“And falling in like, happened when?” The driver asks bemused.

“Three years ago when we had to fake a relationship so his family would stop worrying about him too much,” you smile.

“And falling in love…?”

“Two hours ago when my ex splashed a cocktail all over his face…thanks mister.”

You hand the driver some cash and run straight to the elevators.

Meanwhile, Kuroo is on the phone with his team trying to sort out his emotions that are tied to you until one of them turns into all of them saying what he’s known since you bought him that little cactus for his big boy promotion desk. It stares at him everyday and he watered it for a year then on the eve of your friendship anniversary (his idea you went along with), you tell him it’s a fake plant. You and him laughed together over tea time. Kuroo’s friends agree saying he’s just got to for it and see what works.

“I gotta go fellas, thanks,” Kuroo hangs up and though he is in his tank top under shirt and old college sweatpants, his finger hovers over your name on his phone. Sighing he’s about to call you when he hears a knock and goes to open the door after seeing who it was.

“YN?”

You smile brightly apologizing for the late house call after you saw each other not that long ago:

“Excuse me,” you say sternly, standing on your toes to kiss him.

Kuroo’s golden eyes seem matte and warm when you pull away. Your cheek is stroked gently by his curled forefinger and his other hand holds you steady when you return to the ground shoes and all.

“Wh-when?” He lingers near you before you push him inside to close the door behind you. His smile is Cheshire like and cheeks are a soft plum pink under the fluorescent lighting of his living room. He holds your hand and realizes you haven’t answered just yet, but he sees your blush spread.

“Pub,” you laugh and he cups your face to kiss you again. “You?”

“When you reminded me you did judo,” Kuroo laughs too, letting you kiss him for as long as you’re able to. He returns them with as much vitality as he deems worthy.

[ms-camucia]

School rant, sorry its kinda rambly. TW for school shootings, bomb threats, the whole Apalachee High situation.

Nothing like last week's news to make me so, so glad I’m not in a classroom anymore.

I taught in Georgia and South Carolina for 13 years. Even did an observation at Apalachee during grad school, since it was a relatively quick drive from Athens/UGA - you know, back in the distant past of 15 years ago when teacher training had actual rigor and requirements in this part of the country. I even taught at the psychoeducational alternative school that Barrow county bussed their most extreme EBD kids to. So yeah, this hit close to home for me.

My financial situation basically changed overnight last year, when Dr. Mr. Camucia finally finished his fellowship and became a full-fledged attending. This let me quit my job right in time for South Carolina to implement its policy where teachers would have to submit every. single. thing. that would be used throughout the year. Every book, website, lesson plan, PowerPoint - all would have to be submitted within the first two weeks for administration to approve, and parents would have the right to veto or challenge anything they want. You know, in addition to the million other things teachers already do, and crap I had to do handling the yearbook.

(You can only imagine what a policy like this would be like for me, teaching a class called Media Art where both teaching Photoshop and media literacy/criticism were in my standards 🙃)

But things, particularly where I was teaching, were already Bad. And, in fact, getting Worse. This was a school where we already had an entire year of bomb threats well before Covid (including one with an actual failed bomb! My fanfic Footnotes was borne of the insanity of that year!) - that basically showed the exact protocol of what happens when something like this happens at a school. We did all the things everyone claims would stop this sort of thing -

-They added metal detectors (which basically flagged almost everyone, causing 1st period to basically lose 20 minutes a day since so many kids had to get wanded down every morning). They gave up on those after about a week.

-They added more cops, more cameras, sealed off more doors, did all the things, but the bomb threats, kids bringing in weapons, etc. just kept happening.

-They even (years later) added a security system very similar to the one at Apalachee - except, oh, wait - my classroom, and like six others were just… not hooked up to the system. They took my old school panic button, said they’d fix it "later" and give me one of them fancy lanyards with the panic switch, and that just never happened. Three of the classrooms didn’t even have the fire alarm work for their room! They straight up missed fire drills!

My last year there, there was a huge fight in the cafeteria. Like the kind that makes the news, not the kind that happen almost every day that just get posted to tiktok or whatever (I was on bus line afternoon duty, and frequently had kids compliment me on how bored I’d look breaking up those kinds of fights).

But this was a 10 or so person brawl that ended up with multiple student injuries, blood all over the floor, a whole school lockdown, and a teacher breaking their leg trying to hold back the crowd watching/recording/cheering it on. I taught two of the main participants - they were suspended, then "expelled," then mysteriously just showed back up a month later after some sort of appeal to the board of ed. I was told to let them make up any work they missed during their month off, which they both referred to like it was a vacation (would it surprise anyone to know these were football players?).

This isn’t isolated. Ask almost any teacher and they’ll have multiple accounts of kids just… not facing consequences when they get written up, or not caring about parent calls (because the parent doesn’t care either), or seeing ISS and OSS as vacations since they just get to sleep and play with their phones. I don’t think people who haven’t been in a school realize just what it’s like now. And I don’t know what the environment was like at Apalachee, but I know that the facility where the most troubled kids for that specific part of Georgia was shut down last year - I know this because I worked there.

Apparently all of the GNETS (Georgia Network of Educational and Therapeutic and Support) schools in Georgia were shut down last year for having these kids not mainstreamed enough. I can say from having worked there as an art teacher that the system was not perfect, but that these kids did not belong in a mainstream classroom. I was stabbed, kicked, spat on, had literal shit thrown at me - and I was one of the better liked teachers! But at least there were smaller class sizes and much better ratios of social workers and psychologists working with the kids and their families. We had access to resources that regular public schools are just stretched too thin to pursue, things like getting families off the street, clothes and food for students' whole families, etc. So these kids were just sent back to their home schools for their presumably already overwhelmed regular Special Ed departments to deal with.

Apparently in Barrow County, where Apalachee is, all of the kids who were at the alternative school are sent to just one school per level, plus taking on additional kids from other, smaller counties in the area. I’m sure caseload numbers went way up, and the behaviors being dealt with got a whole lot more extreme in just one semester.

This kid should have had so many red flags. There already were, according to the FBI! But as far as schools, there should have been a dozen counselors, administrators, etc. who had worked on a fat ol BIP (behavior intervention plan) about this kid that every teacher got before he even stepped foot into their classroom. It’s not uncommon to get kids where you know for a damn fact you’re not supposed to let them go to the bathroom unaccompanied, or have to check in with guidance every morning, or who have to get their backpack searched every morning (or aren’t allowed to have a backpack at all! I had a few of those!). But that apparently just… didn’t happen.

So, yeah. Every part of this whole situation has just made my skin crawl. Those kids and those teachers should be alive. Those kids who got shot and will be traumatized for life should have never had that happen to them. The cult of gun worship in this country is sickening, and the more we gut public education, the more teachers will just throw their hands up and give up like I did - this isn’t going to get better without drastic, dramatic change. And I really just don’t see it happening in this country.

I miss teaching. I miss my kids. I was, by all accounts, pretty damn good at it. But with things the way they are, and the sheer insane number of things we expect teachers to be able to do while also blaming them for everything, I'm not going back.

[talanashta]

A "Quiet" Night

For this prompt ("sleeping arrangments") and this prompt ("family bonding time") for the Four or More Fic-a-thon @fourormore

Rating: T | No CWs | Word Count: 1,224 | Pairings: Spicy Six Plus Chrissy Polycule

Continuation of the "my lonely days are gone" series. Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Steve was so glad the kids were out of the house for the night. Sure, only Max actually lived here, but the others were over so often that there was never any quiet. Don’t get him wrong, he loved having the kids here. He had even made sure when redoing the house that there were enough spots to sleep so all the kids could fit. It was just that, once in a while, it was nice to have them off being noisy in someone else’s home. 

Tonight, Max was sleeping over at El’s to celebrate them finally getting their ramp repaired – it had been broken for almost two months now, but until just last weekend, the ground was too frozen to repair the bad support – which meant just the younger adults were around.

He’d taken the time earlier to cook something special for the seven of them to celebrate, and now, after they’d eaten, they were settling in around the living room to watch a movie.

“Why did we agree to this one again?” Robin groaned from where she was sprawled across the couch with her head in his lap.

“Because it was my turn, therefore,” Eddie responded, poking Robin in the side, “you don’t really get to argue.” He was settled on the floor in between Steve and Chrissy’s legs. Some nights he’d sit between them on the couch with Robin lying across the three of them, but other nights, like tonight, he felt “too squirmy,” in his words.

Robin slapped at his hand. “It was Nancy’s turn!”

“No, it wasn’t!” Eddie argued, starting a slap-fight with Robin.

Steve didn’t bother to interrupt. Honestly, they’d get it out of their systems eventually. In the meantime, he just leaned back and away so he could be out of reach of their blows. Even without the children here, the house was still just as loud.

“Yes, it was!”

“No, Nancy’s turn is next week! You just went last week, dummy. Why would it skip me?” Eddie nearly shouted at her.

“Argh!” Robin screamed and rolled off the couch onto them.

They were so lucky Nancy was downstairs changing into her PJs. She would’ve pulled them off each other by their ears already.

He looked away from their fighting to take in the other three in the room. Chrissy was just smiling at them; he could tell she was trying not to laugh by the way her mouth kept twitching. When she caught him looking, she smiled brighter and leaned in to say, “They’re so silly, aren’t they?”

“I know. I don’t know why I put up with them,” Steve said, jokingly.

Chrissy lightly slapped his arm. “You know you would be lost without them.”

Steve chuckled a little. “You’re right, Chris.” He leaned in the rest of the way and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, feeling her smile on his.

As they were pulling apart, he felt the two tussling on the floor bump up against his shins, so he pushed them away with his foot.

“Want to cuddle?” he asked Chrissy, lifting his arm up for her to slide under.

“Sure!” She slid over on the couch to be pressed up against him and leaned her head onto his chest, going back to watching Eddie and Robin now full-on wrestle – Robin straight-up had her legs wrapped around Eddie’s waist from behind while holding him in a head-lock.

When he looked over to where Jonathan and Argyle were lounging on the couch, he saw them gesturing at the two on the floor and strained his hearing to try and make out what they were saying. Something about a bet? Odds? Wouldn’t be the first time they’d put money on Eddie and Robin.

Faintly, he could hear Nancy coming up the stairs from the basement, but it didn’t seem like anyone else had – especially Eddie and Robin.

When the basement door shut, those two froze in place where they were then started scrambling apart as quickly as possible. No one wanted to get on Nancy’s bad side. Before she’d fully come around the corner into the living room, Eddie and Robin were pushing their way onto the couch with Chrissy and Steve, trying to cram four people onto a three-seater, and by the time she was finally there, they were trying to look as innocent as possible. Eddie had even pulled the bowl of popcorn onto his lap and was pretending that he’d been eating it.

Nancy walked by them to head to the recliner, and Steve could see Eddie and Robin about to let out a sigh of relief, just before Nancy swatted them both on the back of the head, saying, “You think you’re so clever, but I could hear you messing around even from downstairs.”

“Ow!” both of them cried when she hit them.

“You don’t have any proof it was us!” Eddie argued.

Nancy had come around to the front of the couch by that point and just looked Eddie dead in the eyes with the most withering gaze. “Eddie, it is always you two on movie nights. Especially, when it’s one of your guys’ turn to pick.” Then she primly settled onto the recliner.

“But-” Robin tried.

Nancy didn’t even look away from where she had her gaze fixed on the TV, which was showing the title-card for the movie. “Zip it!” she commanded and held up her hand in the shape of a mouth then snapped it shut.

“Is everyone else ready to start the movie?” Nancy asked the rest of them sweetly.

With nods from the four of them – and under-their-breath grumbles from Eddie and Robin – she leaned forward in her chair to press play on the VCR. (The kids lost the remote ages ago, and Steve keeps meaning to go to Radio Shack and buy a replacement, but he keeps forgetting. He’ll have to put it on his calendar.)

The intro credits rolled, and everyone settled in.

By the time the end credits rolled, half the room was asleep. Jonathan and Argyle were leaned on each other and out cold. Steve had felt Chrissy doze off about halfway through and slide down his chest a little. When he looked over, Robin was folded over, sleeping face down in Eddie’s lap, snoring, while Eddie struggled to keep his eyes open, slowly sliding down the back of the couch to be folded over Robin with his head in Chrissy’s side.

Nancy was the only other one still fully awake, but he didn’t think it’d be for long. He watched as she slowly put the foot-rest up on the chair and reclined it as flat as it would go, pulling her blanket more firmly around her. When she met his eyes, she whispered, “Just go to sleep, Steve. There’s no way we’re getting all of them to bed.”

She had a point, so he slid his legs out as far as they would go in front of him and moved so he was sitting more in the corner of the couch with Chrissy lying half on him. He stretched his free arm out to reach the basket of blankets, barely snagging it. After he threw one over Robin and Eddie as best he could, he spread another over himself and Chrissy, closed his eyes, and let himself drift off.

Read the Next Part

[nicknackpattyjack]

Why am I all of a sudden remembering everything I buried deep down? Why am I remembering all the ways Ive been touched? All the ways I wasn’t? All the times I’ve been shut out? Home alone for 5 days straight when I was nine and a mason jar fell on my head and I couldn’t see for three hours, and I swear I cried the blood away. The doors locked, trapped in a hot car for 7 hours because my cousins didn’t care enough to check the back for a sleeping six year old. Every tube running across his body and in his mouth, and the heart monitor flatlining from behind a window with half closed blinds. A skinny brown lab—no, an old beagle—a chubby beagle—a wrinkly black lab—a mauled cat with three legs—a cat with socks—a cat with fat cheeks—a kitten—my cat—a dog with curly ears—all with popping veins and hefty sighs, some without final goodbyes. I saw the bone sticking out of your elbow, you thought I was too young to remember but the blood in the dirt and the pure white shining through your tan skin, it looked like it was going to fall out if you raised your arm over your head, that was enough. I had to learn how to throw up quietly because you hated it when I would cry in the middle of the night when my room was beside yours. You’d never check my temperature and I learned the layout of your medicine closet. I walked around in a tank top and hula skirt for the whole week with drunk, old men staring at me and trying to touch me, but they never even glanced at my brother’s pirate outfits, and you just drank one too many beers with them and kept insisting I dress up. I taught myself how to cook out of desperation and fed my older brothers. Mimi pinky promised me she would teach me how to bake and craft but three months later she started showing signs of Alzheimers and ALS and died two years later. I want to go back to Mimi’s church where she would invite the whole family and I’d hide behind the stage and watch everyone, and no one ever saw me, and my parents only searched for my brothers during dinner time. You didn’t check the weather and the strom ripped up our umbrella, and you were packing everything in the car, spam calling my brothers phone when he was on the dock two blocks away, and while I was running out of the salt water, I was pushed into a barrier of rocks, and the wind did nothing but try and bust my head against the earth as I held my breathe. The fishhook got stuck in my forehead that day, do you remember too? Do you remember when I almost drowned in the deep end of the pool? A crisp autumn day, the leaves were starting to fall and they covered the top of the water with a billion caterpillars and pollen spores, and you pushed me in with our dog beside you. I wore my heaviest coat because it was freezing, and he yelled at you, and you grabbed my hand before I sank even lower. I laid on the ground coughing up water and bugs for what felt like an eternity while you ran inside. I watched Spongebob and drank hot chocolate after, right beside you, like nothing happened, and I giggled and the tv screen. I was complicit, I always was—dehydrated and hungry, I would never say anything because I didn’t want you to yell at me, and I followed you anywhere like a dog. Im sorry I gave you a bloody nose. Do you remember when you would throw your cat on me because you liked it when she scratched me? Why did I ever go to your house? Why did you lock me in a crate in the basement? I sat in the wooden shower under the condo, pounding on the door for two hours, because my cousin locked me inside from the outside, and no one decided to check and I was naked when someone found me because she stole my towel. Do you remember when you tied me up in that hammock and flipped me upside down? Do you remember when you didn’t want to cook my burger and I ended up eating raw beef and was sick for three days? Where did my brothers go? Why didn’t they take me with them? Why do they get a whole family but Ive never had one? Why are these memories showing up in my dreams? How can I discern anything?

I REPRESSED THESE FOR A REASON. I DO NOT WANT TO REMEMBER THESE. I DONT WANT TO FEEL THIS AGAIN. I AM DOING SO GOOD. I AM DOING SO GOOD. I AM DOING SO GOOD. I WANT TO BE DOING SO GOOD. I WANT TO BE GOOD. I WANT TO BE GOOD. AM I GOOD?

[sonicasura]

The Malto home grew more chaotic with the addition of six new beings, but Dart was out of it for the initial adjustment period. Most of time actually lucid was taken up by an odd string of questions from both Nightshade and Ocellus. The nonbinary Terrans were certainly up to something especially when they found out the shapeshifter had experience constructing spaces that could withstand cybertronians.

Spitfire kept getting into impromptu contests with Twitch which ended with both nearly gliding straight into the barn. (Curiously, the top paneling of her protoform wings could separate into individual feathers. The Omnitrix made a small note to check for that in Jettison’s alt mode.) Jawbreaker and Aftermath were of similar broadframes yet near complete opposites in personality. The suggestion to take Aftermath to a scrapyard proved successful considering he came back with an alt mode.

Apparently a tow truck.

———————————

Days earlier, Megatron and Optimus had been scolded in a way that reminded him of his more risky decisions as a newspark. The shapeshifter’s words had sort of fallen through when they passed out moments later back in their human form. Still—it was abundantly clear Dart didn’t a damn about rank when it came to calling beings out on their own stupidity. One Optimus had shared as much back at the meetup about their strong words after he nearly sacrificed himself to reignite the Well.

The former Decepticon leader still felt phantom sensations from where the shapeshifter had patched up his arm. Part of his fusion canon which had been bothering for the longest time, had been fixed too. He kept finding himself distracted as he batted away Optimus axe.

Both larger mechs paused at a sudden communication.

[Incoming Message: Omnitrix, DART.]

[DART: Managed to contact the AllSpark. It’s functional despite falling into quite the vast underwater system. It and the Emberstone are still in tact.]

Megatron saw the relief in Optimus frame and imagine his own reflected as much.

[Megs: How soon can you retrieve it?]

[DART: A month, give or take.]

[OP: You have my sincerest gratitude for risking your own health when Mandroid all those days ago. I am sorry it came at the cost of your own health.]

It was to be expected given how tired they had been afterward. Though, Megatron found himself amused that the young human could jump back so quickly. Dorothy had required a lot of to recover from ailments after the Battle of the Bay.

[DART: You misunderstand.]

[Megs: ?]

[OP: Pardon?]

[DART: We will not take a month to recover. We will be too busy for a month at minimum to check up on the AllSpark and Emberstone. The new Terrans require most of our attention.]

The odd shift in self-addressing confused both cybertronians.

[Omnitrix: Dart is my user, I am the Omnitrix in case you both are confused. I’m the personality matrix of the device on their wrist.]

[OP: Apologies. We were not aware you were sapient.]

[Megs: You won’t retrieve the AllSpark?]

[Omnitrix: It is apparently comfortable in the water and has ample company in Quintus Prime. The submerged caves are also difficult for most Cybertronians to navigate. It will be safer there than within present company.]

Megatron’s expression turned into grimace as he couldn’t argue the logic even if leaving the AllSpark in a cave chaffed his Spark.

[Omnitrix: There is another matter that will take up most of our attention. You two. We have observed not one, not two—but three battles involving you two. We find your fighting capabilities… less than satisfactory.]

Okay, now Megatron felt the faintest churns of anger within him at being insulted—

[DART: When I’m well enough, you and Optimus vs me. A spar should prove my point. I am aware you two are thousand if millions of years old war veterans. But frankly, skill issue.]

—ROB’d Anon.

Sassy blunt Omnitrix, our beloved. I give both leaders the benefit of the doubt as they were originally miners. TFP Megs was a gladiator so that respective Optimus had to catch up real quick. Plus it's the first TF universe Dart has been too thus a very high standard.

[pureimaginefic]

Bradley's Beginnings Part II

Vicki sat in an antique white rocking chair on the balcony just outside her bedroom, her legs curled up underneath her. She sat in a trance like state, just staring blankly ahead. A cool summer wind blew softly across her face as voices resonated in her mind.

"I've missed you you know" Brian's voice echoed in her brain.

"Did I go somewhere?" she asked.

"You know what I mean" he said.

She sighed and rested her head in her hands, she then quickly covered her mouth and ran frantically back inside, slamming the bathroom door shut behind her. Sounds of retching and heaving came from the bathroom, she filled up a cup of water to flush her mouth out and spit it into the sink. Bits and pieces of that night kept coming to her, the passion, the kissing, the water raining over them in the shower, the steam rising up over the curtain, but one thing was always missing. She picked up the phone from its cradle and began to punch in a number.

"Em? Hey, I'm glad you're home, listen I really need someone to talk to and it's too personal to do over the phone, do you think you can come over?" she asked.

She sat on her bed in shock when she heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Hey" Emily said coming into Vicki's room.

"Hey, thanks for coming" Vicki said shutting the door.

"Yeah no problem, you okay?" Emily asked.

"Uh...I don't think so" Vicki said "I keep thinking back to the night of the Poison concert" she said.

"Well from what you told me it was pretty memorable" Emily said to her "Vicki, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Em...I think I might be pregnant" Vicki said nervously.

"Oh my god" Emily said "Okay let's sit" she said sitting on the bed with Vicki. "Now what makes you so sure you might be...you know?" Emily asked.

"I've been going through it over and over in my brain" Vicki said.

"Okay and?" Emily asked her.

"I don't remember using anything" Vicki said.

"Which time?" Emily asked.

"Any of them" Vicki said to her.

"Well did you feel anything?" Emily asked.

"No... I don't know" Vicki said "I've been throwing up for the past three days straight" she said.

"That could be anything, that doesn't mean you're pregnant” Emily said.

"Em I'm not stupid, I've just seen four of my friends go through this in the past six months" Vicki said to her. "That's why I asked you over here...I need you to do me a favor" she said.

"Well yeah sure, anything" Emily said to her.

"I need you to go and get me a home pregnancy test" Vicki said.

"Me?!" Emily asked.

"Em, please?" Vicki pleaded.

"You are the only person I would do this for" Emily said to her.

"Thank you so much" Vicki said hugging her.

"Course" Emily said to her "I'll be right back" she said leaving.

Vicki bit her nails as she paced her living room, waiting for Emily to come back "Oh thank god" she said relieved as the door opened and Emily came inside.

"You ready?" Emily asked handing over a plain paper bag.

Vicki sighed "I guess" she said taking the bag, they headed upstairs and went into her room. "You bought three?" Vicki asked pulling three boxes out of the bag.

"Well yeah, one test is not going to be accurate, you want to be sure don't you?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, I guess" Vicki said taking them all and going into the bathroom.

"Well?" Emily asked as the door opened and Vicki stepped out.

"It takes a couple minutes" Vicki said to her, she then sat next to Emily at the edge of her bed.

"You okay?" Emily asked putting her hand on Vicki's back.

"I'm petrified" Vicki said to her.

"If it does turn out to be positive...what are you going to do?" Emily asked concerned.

"I don't know, I don't know, I just can't believe this is happening" Vicki said hiding her face in her hands.

"It's going to be okay" Emily said wrapping her arm around Vicki's shoulders "You have options."

"I know" Vicki said to her.

"And whatever you decide I'll be here for you" Emily said reassuringly.

"Thanks Em" Vicki said smiling at her.

"Course" Emily said.

"I just wish I could say the same for my boyfriend and my mother" Vicki said to her "She's going to hate me" she said sadly.

"Of course she won't" Emily said.

"Em, my mother basically thinks I'm perfect, I mean what am I? I'm a straight A student, I make honor roll every semester, I don't get into trouble..." Vicki said to her.

"No one's perfect, she knows this and she knows you're human, you make mistakes like everyone else...trust me there's no such thing as a perfect human being" Emily said to her.

Vicki looked back at the clock on her nightstand "It's time" Vicki said standing up and going into the bathroom. They all lied on the sink counter lined up in a row, three small plus signs staring back at her. "Oh god" she said tearfully.

"It's okay" Emily said holding her tightly as she sobbed "You'll be okay" Emily said trying to soothe her.- Pomp & Circumstance; ch. 20 "Beach Baby"

[news365timesindia]

[ad_1] Kiran George at the India Open. (PC: BAI Media) After a disappointing Day 2 for the Indian contingent at India Open 2025, home team shuttlers turned it around for the fans, as Kiran George started the day with an upset win. PV Sindhu and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksai Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also advanced to the quarter-finals.  Kiran George scripts an upset The 24 year-old up and coming men’s singles player started the day with a bang as he defeated World No. 17 Alex Lanier to become the first Indian to make it to the quarter-finals this year. Kiran surprised everyone with his grit as he saved six game points in the opening game and won 22-20, 21-13. Kiran, surprisingly, was a last minute addition to the competition from the reserves list.  “I was taking it one point at a time and not thinking about the lead. That helped me secure the win. Fortune also favoured me. I was patient and not giving away easy points. It’s a huge confidence booster. I’m focused on the next match now,” said Kiran after the match.  PV Sindhu continues momentum  Another highlight of the day was Sindhu winning her second game of the tournament, against Japan’s Manami Suizu 21-15, 21-13. After being sidelined for six months, Sindhu emphasised her focus on recovery and added that she wants to finish all her matches in two games.  “My movements and attack was working out well. Going forward, I need to be prepared for everything,” stated Sindhu after her win. “I’m happy I could give my 100%. I want to recover and come back stronger tomorrow. I need to be prepared. I’m playing against Gregoria Mariska Tunjung. She will not give away easy points. It won’t be an easy match.”  Satwik & Chirag blitz into quarter-finals  The fan favourite duo of Sat-Chi brought their A-game to the fore as they secured a thrilling 20-22, 21-14, 21-16 victory against Japan’s Kenya Mitsuhashi and Hiroki Okamura. After losing the first game, the ‘brothers of destruction’ regrouped with composure and won consecutive games, sealing their place in the quarter-finals and delighting the home crowd with their resilient comeback.  “I was wondering when we lost ‘sh*t we now need to play two more sets to win, we could have won the first one’. It’s always challenging to play three sets. We were comfortable going into the game but they kept fighting. Lucky to be on the winning side,” reflected Satwik after the match. “Any player would want to win in straight sets, but a win is a win. We get on the court to win. No matter how scratchy, we’ll take it,” added Chirag.  On the flip side, several Indian players exited the tournament in the second round. The women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto lost 9-21, 21-23 against Japan’s Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto.  The results on Day 3 set up the tournament for an electrifying quarter-final draw. The crowd keeps building as the tournament progresses and the intensity of the competition continues to soar. The post Kiran George sets up good day for home shuttlers at India Open 2025 appeared first on Sports News Portal | Latest Sports Articles | Revsports. [ad_2] Source link