#it's so hard to actually wake up now since i have no obligations too

[duoduotian]

it's so frustrating living with misophonia especially when the person that is causing the sound you hate, is aware you don't like hearing it and still do it. :) for me, i immensely dislike tv volume higher than usual range when no one is watching the tv. just turn it off it's not that hard lmaooo

[joonieskinks]

au where you were married to Cpt John MacTavish, but wake up to find yourself married to Sergeant Johnny MacTavish (original vs remake Soap)

“No,” you state coldly. The shock was still sinking in.

“No, Price. That’s not my husband.”

Price’s gaze puzzles. “You asked for Johnny MacTavish, this is Johnny. Our Johnny.” He gestures to your supposed husband, who is taking this all in himself, but he sits just staring at you.

Johnny, who couldn’t stop admiring your face, your body, your ring on your fourth finger. He gave you that. Well, sort of.

Johnny, who was your husband. You, his wife. He had a wife in another life. Gods, what a catch you are, how did he manage to bag you? he thinks.

Wait. Gods, does that mean he gets you too?

“I asked for my John, my John MacTavish, my husband. He-“ You state and finally look, really look at the man before you, this Johnny.

“He’s too young, it’s not the same. It’s- it’s off.” You look back down to the floor, you’re utterly confused. One moment you’re in bed at home, the next you’re on base in a room that’s designated for “MacTavish”. At first you thought it was a dream, so of course you went asking for your husband just to see his face again.

You didn’t expect to actually see him, well- a younger version of your husband, much less an alive one. You had to pinch yourself, you really were here. This was real.

Maybe it was a second chance, maybe it was a cruel trick of fate. You couldn’t tell just yet. You were hesitant, scared.

But Johnny on the other hand, he was having a hard time keeping still and his hands to himself with the likes of you in front of him.

“Cap’, can ye give us a moment?” Johnny asked his superior, who happily obliged. Price eyed you as if to warn you not to do anything stupid, but still be backed out of the room.

You could still barely look at Johnny. He’s your husband, but so much younger, he’s still just as handsome, he’s technically yours but- it was all too weird. Would he even want you? What if he had someone else already?

“Bonnie? Will ya look at me?” Johnny comes straight up to you, holding your hands in his. His fingers playing with your wedding ring, he already loves the idea of it, of you as his. That ring to call you his and his alone. Never did he think he’d have anything remotely close to this, so he considers you a blessing if anything.

You reluctantly keep your head down so Johnny brings one hand to cup your chin, forcing your gaze up to his face.

The sight of his concerned face nearly breaks your heart. It hurts to see him yet it’s everything you’ve ever dreamed of since his passing. To have him before you again. It’s all so overwhelming you can’t help but tear up.

“No need for that, bonnie.” He smiles as he cups your cheeks. It feels so good to have his skin on yours again, you close your eyes at the feeling.

“If you’ll have me, I’ll certainly have you. Even if ye are a cougar now.” He jokes and your eyes shoot open at his words. You hit him lightly out of annoyance, but he just smiles. You can’t help but begrudgingly smile back, rolling your eyes.

Same sense of humour. Maybe he is your husband after all.

“I missed you so much, Johnny.” You admit, bringing your fingers to graze across his face. To actually feel him again, it really feels like you’re getting your second chance at love.

“‘Ts nice to finally meet my missus.” He says softly as he brings his forehead to rest against yours, but it’s you who brings your lips to meet his, losing yourself in his touch after all these years alone…

Then it hits you that this younger version of your husband might have even more stamina and strength- so naturally you waste no time getting him back into his quarters and testing that theory.

At first you feel a little nervous that Johnny might not like what he sees. After all, you are a couple years older than he is now, but he’s utterly entranced as you stand bare before him. His hands all over your body, exploring every crevice, kissing you up and down. He can’t get enough.

“My wife’s so beautiful”, “my wife’s all mine”, “gonna make ya feel so good, show ya what a good husband I’ll make for ya.”

[jadoue1999]

The monsters in the shadows

Part 1 Part 2

Note: Hey guys!! Here is the first part of my fae!Steve and Vampire Eddie story! I had to split it in two parts because of how long the story is but the next part should be posted on Tuesday. I hope you enjoy it!

Summary:

“Hey there, big boy,” he says, trying to coax a reaction out of his prisoner.

“Hi,” simply answers Harrington. There’s something weird with the teen. His voice sounds different from what he remembers it to be; less pitchy, more authoritative. Kas feels obligated to listen. Moreover, Harrington looks… Different, taller, his features are sharper than usual. His eyes feel like they're piercing whatever soul he has left. He doesn’t focus on that, charting the changes to his recent transformation.

Somewhere far within himself, he notices Harrington’s neck, it’s smooth and unblemished, and yet something tells him that the strangulation scar should still be there.

Or: Eddie wakes up as a monster, but it seems like he may not be the only one.

Words: 3635

Part 1

The day Eddie Munson dies, it’s not the end. Well, it is for Eddie, but not for what now resides in his body.

He calls himself Kas.

Kas is Creel’s loyal soldier. He starts out without a name, and one cause: killing anyone that ventures too close to the gates. This task is easily completed, thanks to his now increased strength, speed, and agility. He does so well in fact that he is promoted in no time to be Creel’s right-hand man, and in the process, a deep part of him whispers his new name: Kas. He gains new abilities with his new rank, namely the ability to control the vines, the bats, and all the creatures connected to the hive mind.

The first time he sees someone from the gang Eddie used to consider his friend, he freezes. It’s Robin, the clumsy one, and she freezes too when they lock eyes. She eyes him up and down and notices his scarlet red eyes and his darkened fingers. There’s no mirror in the Upside Down, but Kas knows he looks like a corpse. 

“Eddie?” Breathes out the girl. “Is that really you?”

He grins, showing his fangs and delights when she steps back in fear. “It’s Kas now, actually.”

Buckley takes a moment to gather her thoughts, but then, it’s all spilling out. “Oh my God, I can’t believe you survived! You have no idea how everyone’s been since you died. Dustin is a mess; he barely leaves his house and doesn’t talk to anyone. And Steve! He's bad too but you know him, he doesn’t show it. But not being able to save you, or Max is really taking a toll on him. I can see it in his eyes. And—”

“Buckley,” he interrupts, he’s heard enough. “Let me make something clear.”

He slams her against the tree, and she gasps out his name, his old name, like a plea. 

“I told you, it’s Kas now, sweetheart.” He clasps a cold hand around her neck and squeezes slightly.  Instead, he glares at her. “And I’m not coming back. I’m loyal to Lord Creel now. Loyal,” he insists, his voice surprisingly bitter. “As in: I would never abandon him to a painful and lonely death.”

He stares into her eyes and revels in the pain. It’s only now that he’s actually paying attention to her that he notices that there’s something strange about Robin. But no matter how hard he looks, he can’t quite put his finger on it. It’s like a form of energy, something far more dangerous than Creel, but he doesn’t know what it could be.

 He’s still lost in his contemplations when she whispers. “We didn’t have a choice.”

“There’s always a choice,” he counters, his voice dripping with venom. His own anger surprises him but he’s quick to brush it off. “I’m letting you go, but I want you to give a message to Supergirl. Creel is giving her three days to surrender. If she doesn’t, he will make sure she watches as everyone she loves dies, starting with that boy she considers her brother.”

Robin is terrified, so terrified in fact that it takes her a few seconds for her to realize that he is not choking her anymore. Then, she wordlessly leaves, never taking her eyes off of him until she’s out of sight. 

***

Nothing happens on the first day which infuriates Creel. You’d think that a guy in his late 30s, monstrous or not, would be able to control his temper, but he’s practically boiling with anger, which puts the whole hive mind into a snappy mood, Kas included. He patrols the gates to pass the time and kills a person or two who are stupid enough to get close. Nothing really happens on the first day; the second day though it’s different. On the second day, the vines alert him of a trespasser. Kas heads there, without hesitation, Creel’s anger still lingers in his mind and he’s looking forward to sinking his claws into something. 

This “something” turns out to be none other than Steve Harrington himself. 

He’s trapped in the vines; they have been pinned against a tree and Kas takes a moment to drink in the sight in front of him. Eddie Munson once had… maybe ‘crush’ is too strong of a word, but he certainly had a fascination for the young man. A little flame that could have become more had they given it the time and attention. Eddie Munson had trusted that Steve Harrington was good, but Kas knew better. Creel had shown him how many of his fellow soldiers had died by Harrington’s hands, showed him the murderous glint in his eyes whenever he threw himself in the line of fire to protect his kids, Kas had felt the swings of the nail bat, the hit of the fireworks, and the oar, and the way the Molotov cocktail had burned Creel’s flesh. Steve Harrington was not to be underestimated. 

But right now, weaponless and restrained, the teen isn’t dangerous.

For the entire time, Kas has been staring. Harrington has stared right back. He seems… Curiously nonchalant about his situation. Even now that he stands in front of him, a predator, looking at its prey, Harrington isn’t even struggling. How peculiar.

“Hey there, big boy,” he says, trying to coax a reaction out of his prisoner.

“Hi,” simply answers Harrington. There’s something weird with the teen. His voice sounds different from what he remembers it to be; less pitchy, more authoritative. Kas feels obligated to listen. Moreover, Harrington looks… Different, taller, his features are sharper than usual. His eyes feel like they're piercing whatever soul he has left. He doesn’t focus on that, charting the changes to his recent transformation.

Somewhere far within himself, he notices Harrington’s neck, it’s smooth and unblemished, and yet something tells him that the strangulation scar should still be there.

“You’re not the one that's supposed to surrender,” he grins, making sure to flash his fangs. Maybe he’d get to see Harrington scared.

The young man stares at him unimpressed. “I’m not surrendering, I want to make a deal with Creel.”

A deal? How interesting. “And what could you possibly offer that’s worth more than what Lord Creel has wanted for years?”

Despite the tightness of the vines, Harrington manages to straighten up. “That’s between Creel and I.”

Anger boils in his veins, more than just his master’s. “Whatever you want to tell him, you can tell me.”

“I need his word.”

“I am Creel’s right-hand man,” he spits out. “Speaking to me is like speaking to him.”

Harrington narrows his eyes at him and Kas can feel the sudden tension. “Is that so?”

Something about his demeanor screams ‘trap’ but it’s impossible, he’s the prisoner here, not him. “It is.”

“Give me your name,” orders the teen in a tone he’s never heard coming from him before. “Robin said you didn’t use Eddie anymore, so give me your true name.”

The air around them is vibrating with an indescribable intensity, similar to the energy before a particularly powerful storm. Every instinct in his body is screaming at him to be careful, but he doesn’t care. “Kas.”

Harrington grins, and his pupils shrink to slits. For less than a second, his whole face shifts. His mouth is filled with pointy teeth, his eyes are bigger, and his ears are pointier. Kas blinks, and Steve is back to normal, leaving him to wonder if he hallucinated the whole thing.

“Then you can accept a deal on Creel’s behalf, and it being as valid as if he made it himself?”

“Yes,” he answers sharply.

The teen looks satisfied. “Good,” he grins. “I want to settle this petty fight once and for all. So, here’s my deal: I fight against Creel’s champion, no weapons. A fight until someone bleeds. One drop, no need for more bloodshed.”

Kas considers the deal before pouting. “And what does the winner get?”

“If I win, Creel has to leave Hawkins, the world, and, most importantly, Eleven alone. He cannot send any of his monsters in his place to do his bidding either. And I want him to free Maxine Mayfield’s mind. If Creel wins, he gets Hawkins, but the children, namely, Maxine Mayfield, Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, Erica Sinclair, Will Byers, Mike Wheeler, and Eleven are under my protection.”

Kas scoffs. “And what makes you think you could protect them? You couldn’t protect poor little Eddie.”

He sees the dark glint in Harrington’s eyes, warning him to back off. “I’m not worried about appearances anymore.”

There’s a weight attached to these words. Kas can’t shake the feeling that the game has shifted. He knows that should make him at least fearful, but he can’t figure out why.

“Do we have a deal?” Asks Harrington. He looks smug and Kas wants nothing more than to wipe his smirk off his face. He decides to humor him, for old time's sake. Harrington probably doesn’t know that he’s Creel’s champion and even if he did, the guy couldn’t put up a decent fight against the bats, he’s not going to last against the newly improved him.

“Sure,” he grins, showing his fangs for good measure. “You have a deal.”

Harrington’s face cracks into that uncanny smile again, and Kas has trouble connecting this face with the worry-filled teenager dotting over the children that had charmed Eddie a lifetime ago.

“Good. Take me to Creel.”

It sounds a hell of a lot like an order, so he decides to be petty. He orders the vines to retreat, and he barely gives the teen enough time to take a few steps on his own before he orders a smaller vine to coil around his wrists. The plant is small enough that Kas can cut it off, and the hive mind feels no pain. Even dead, though, it’s still wrapped tight enough to keep the teen moderately restrained.

Harrington raises an unimpressed eyebrow at his predicament. “Seriously?”

Now, it’s his turn to smile smugly. “Prisoners don't get a choice on how we get there.” Then he invades his space, like Eddie had in the stolen RV, and says in the same tone. “Plus, bondage looks good on you, big boy.”

As expected, Harrington flushes red, but there’s also anger in his eyes. “You don’t get to call me that. Only he could.”

“Aw,” he pouts mockingly. “Did I hit a sensitive subject?”

The brunette doesn’t meet his eyes, and it’s all he needs to realize something else. He lets out a dramatic gasp. “Don’t tell me that King Steve actually had a crush on Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson?” Steve is fuming, but Kas sees right through it. “You did!”

“Doesn’t matter,” grumbles the teen. Kas delights in the frustration he feels coming off of him in waves.

“If it makes it any better, he did too,” he adds, knowing I'll only add fuel to the fire. He sighs exaggeratingly. “Then again, he didn’t think he could be loved. And it never would’ve worked out between the two of you. Especially since the… You know the ‘leaving him for dead’ part.”

“Back off,” snaps Harrington, and strangely enough, he doesn’t mind changing the subject. 

Instead, he grabs the brunette by his shoulder and shoves him forward. “Walk.”

They walk in silence for a while, neither of them wants to be the one to break the peace. If he used his powers, they’d be there in less than five minutes, but he wants Steve to imagine what’s going to happen, he wants him to simmer in his own fears until they get there. He doesn’t seem very scared, though. In fact, he even looks annoyed. They pass through a clearing full of Demobats, some snarl at the trapped teen, but most either stay back or plainly fly away.

“They remember you,” he realizes, as he feels the anger and fear of the flock.

“Ozzy, right?” answers Harrington, with no amusement in his voice. There’s a few seconds of tension before he speaks again. “We came back for you. Just three days later, you weren’t there.”

Some deep part of him melts at the confession, overjoyed to know that he hadn’t been forgotten about. His friends had come back for him. But Kas quickly shoves that feeling as far as he can, instead, choosing to turn the knife in the wound. “You were too late, again.”

Harrington quickly shoots him a dirty look. “When did you get so mean? Dustin would be really sad to see you like this.”

He doesn’t like how guilty that remark makes him feel. An echo of Eddie and Dustin’s last conversation echoes through his mind.

“I love you, man,” Eddie chokes through blood and tears.

Dustin’s voice trembles. “I love you too.”

Kas snarls as he chases the memory away. He’s tired of the mind games Harrington is trying to pull on him. “That little shit abandoned me just like the rest of you did.” He shoves his prisoner forward, delighting in the way that he stumbles, even if it looks forced. “Keep annoying me like that, and I’m gagging you.”

“Geez, sensitive much?” counters the teen, but there’s a noticeable triumph in his voice.

They keep walking, in silence this time, and Kas can’t help the feeling that he’s playing right into Harrington’s hand.

***

Harrington still isn’t scared when the imposing house gradually appears on the horizon. He keeps his cool and walks straight ahead. It almost feels like the teen is leading Kas to the house. Suddenly overcome with anger, he grabs the brunette’s shoulder, keeping a tight hold on his shirt.

“I lead the way,” he hisses.

Harrington doesn’t answer, but he does roll his eyes. They walk up the stairs that lead to the attic, and he can see the teen trying to avoid the vines that slowly extend towards him, curious at the new visitor. His helplessness gives him great satisfaction. When they finally reach Lord Creel, the creature is already waiting for him.

And he’s angry.

“Kas,” he says, his voice dripping with venom. “Why did you bring that thing here?”

Creel’s disgust toward humans is something he’s well aware of, but never had he referred to them as ‘things’ before. As he approaches his master, he knows he’s done something wrong. In a last ditch effort to save himself, he kicks Harrington behind the knees to make him kneel. The impact of his bone on wood resonates loudly around them, and Kas is relieved when the brunette doesn’t try to get up. An unruly prisoner is the last thing he needs right now.

“I found him close to the East gate.”

“Your orders were clear,” growls Creel. “So why is he not dead?

That’s a good question actually. He should’ve gotten rid of the team's protector. So why didn’t he? “I… I thought he’d make a good hostage.”

“I do not need a hostage; I need Eleven’s head on a stick.”

Kas’ stomach drops when Harrington speaks up, a chuckle in his voice. “You’ll never have her.”

Creel's head snaps down, his face slowly turning into an expression of annoyance. “Oh? And why is that?”

“Because we made a deal,” smugly answers the teen. He quickly explains the terms they’ve agreed to, and Creel’s face darkens.

“I did not agree to this deal, it is not valid.”

He may be kneeling, but Steve speaks with the confidence of someone who’s already won. “No, but your right-hand man did. And he, like everything else linked through the hive mind, is an extension of you. Therefore, the deal is valid.”

Creel’s burning rage is suddenly on him, and his dead heart jumps in his chest. “M— Master, it’s just a deal, why is it so important?” he continues to try to justify himself, barely registering when Harrington slowly gets to his feet. Kas does notice how quickly Creel is losing whatever cool he has left.

“It matters because he’s a fae!” His master explodes. 

A deep part of him demands attention at the mention of fae. It whispers of how dangerous they are, that he needs to be careful with his words because faes are tricksters. But most importantly, it warns him to never make a deal with them because the price will always be higher than expected. And Kas just made a deal with Harrington. He looks at the teen, he’s staring right back at him. He’s got that twisted face again, except it’s so much worse than before because now he knows that he’s not hallucinating. His teeth look even pointier, and his eyes glint with what seems to be malice. One of his long nails slices right through the vines keeping his wrists bound and he exaggeratingly rolls his shoulders. 

“Cat’s out of the bag.” His face morphs back to the more human-looking one, but Kas can still see the small details that don’t quite add up. “Let’s get this over with. The kids are waiting for me.” Steve turns to him and winks, but all Kas can see are the not-quite-round pupils. “Ready, champion?”

Uh. So, Harrington knew about him. No big deal he’s still stronger than him… Right?

Creel doesn’t say anything, but Kas can still feel his threat linger in the air. Win, or die. He swipes first, trying to catch the teen off guard, but he simply moves out of the way. Kas tries again, and again, but Harrington dodges him every time. It looks all too easy for him, almost like he’s playing a game. It’s at that moment that he remembers his earlier words.

“I’m not worried about appearances anymore.”

Was this what he meant? Was this the shift he felt?

Suddenly a long nail slices his cheek open, making thick, black blood drip down his face. Kas looks at Harrington, whose face hides in no way his satisfaction at his victory. “I win.”

The house shakes with Creel's anger. He towers over Harrington, who doesn’t even seem worried. “You may have won this fight, but who says I’ll let you leave? Maybe the deal is broken if you die.”

Anger flashes across Steve’s features and the illusion of humanity breaks for a split second. “Would you really risk breaking a deal with a fae? He spits out his tone firm and unwavering. “Not even you would be that stupid.”

Kas is surprised to see actual fear in Creel's eyes. It lasts barely a second, but it’s enough to know that everyone has seen it. His master tries to hold onto his powerful façade and stares down Harrington in an attempt to intimidate him. But if Kas remembered one thing from when he was alive, it’s that Steve Harrington doesn’t get intimidated easily.

As expected, Creel loses the battle and lets out a deep sigh. “Go,” he orders.

Steve smiles and starts to head out, Kas following behind him. He’s not sure why he’s doing it, it’s just something he feels like he’s supposed to do.

“Not you, Kas,” Creel sneers, and he knows he’s fucked. Because he didn’t just lose a fight, he’d also inadvertently foiled all of his master’s plans for revenge. And now he’s going to pay for his mistake. Kas is sure that he’s not going to kill him, but he’s going to make him wish he did. He walks to his master with his head down, he’s terrified, but he knows there’s nothing he can do.

“Kas will be coming with me,” interrupts Harrington. He places himself between him and Creel and the creature stares at him with eyes full of fury.

“And why would he do that? I made him who he is, he belongs to me.”

The teen is not deterred. “Does he?” He challenges. “Reach into the hive mind, he may be a part of you, but is he still yours?”

Lord Creel doesn’t say anything and Kas fears that he might call Harrington’s bluff. He has to be bluffing, right? His master eventually closes his eyes and concentrates. It takes barely 10 seconds before he reopens them with burning anger.

“What did you do?”

“Me? Nothing,” dismisses the brunette before gesturing towards Kas. “But your loyal soldier gave me his name. Willingly. That means you no longer have any claims to him.”

Creel roars in anger and lunges at Harrington. Vines goes to grab at him, but Steve doesn’t even flinch. However, his face darkens, and the temperature around them drops colder than Kas has ever felt it to be in this place.

“Attack me and see what happens,” hisses Harrington, his voice sharp and cutting. “This place has existed longer than you have, and it will exist long after you’re gone. Don’t make me speed up the process.”

Everything stills around them, and Creel seems to ponder on the words. He’s never seen him this powerless before. He’s not sure he likes it.

“You wouldn’t dare,” taunts Creel.

“Try me.” Harrington doesn’t move. “You have hurt people I love; you have killed innocents by the dozen. I am giving you the chance to walk away and leave us alone. Do not waste it.”

“I will spend the rest of my life, trying to find loopholes,” threatens the creature, his former master.

Steve simply smiles at him but there’s no amusement in his face. “I’ll be waiting.” He then turns to him and nods his head to the side. “Come on, time to go home.”

Harrington starts walking and that familiar feeling, that one that made him follow in the first place is back, except this time he knows what it is: ownership. He is not Creel’s anymore, but he is not free, because he gave his name to Harrington. 

And Harrington kills monsters.

[katsu28]

☕️ bradley ‘rooster’ bradshaw and "you know we need to talk." "about?" "i don't know...last night, maybe?"

bradley "rooster" bradshaw x mitchell!reader, mentions of vomiting, mentions of pregnancy, 1.9k

You shouldn’t have been here at Rooster’s place at this time of night. You should’ve been asleep, in bed, but instead you were here, knocking on his door in the middle of the night, all because you’d just discovered something not even two hours ago that would change the trajectory of not only your life, but probably Rooster’s too. 

It took a while, but he finally pulled open the door after your incessant knocking, rubbing his eye furiously as he peered out at who the hell was knocking on his door at three in the morning.

His hair was a riot, brown curls sticking out every which way, eyes bleary. He’d been asleep—of course he was. Anyone in their right mind would be. Except you weren’t really in your right mind right now. You were damn near close to losing it, trying your hardest not to spiral. 

“Y/N? What are you—why are you awake? What’re you doing here?” He yawned, scratching his chest groggily. When you didn’t answer, just stared at him like something was wrong, he gave his head a quick shake to wake himself up a bit. “Are you okay? What—come in, come inside, please.” 

You obliged, stepping past him and over the threshold into his apartment wordlessly. 

“Can I make you some coffee—no, coffee would probably be bad right now. Tea? Water?” He offered, gesturing you towards the kitchen. You settled at one of the barstools in front of the counter, leaning on your elbows, folding your hands. “Not really sure what this situation calls for. Seriously, are you okay? You look…not okay.” 

“I’m pregnant.” You blurted. Well, there went easing into the conversation. Bradley’s eyebrows flew sky high. But wait, there was more! “And I’m pretty sure you’re the father.” 

He blinked at you owlishly, utterly and completely dumbfounded. “Pretty sure? How sure is pretty sure?” 

“Entirely sure, actually. You’re the only guy I’ve been with in a really long time, so either it was a ghost, or it was you.” 

That was something you’d been wracking your brain for since the second you saw the three lines on the test. One night, four or five weeks ago, after some sort of celebration at the Hard Deck that you couldn’t even remember now. 

You remembered leaving the bar with Rooster, taking him home with you, kissing him a lot. It was entirely consensual, that much you could recall. But anything after that up until when you’d first started to feel icky was a blank.

You honestly didn’t even consider the possibility that you were in fact pregnant until your friend suggested it yesterday. Which is why you took the test. Never did you once think it would turn out positive.

It wasn’t that you didn’t think Rooster would be a good father. In fact, out of everyone you’d hooked up with over the years, he was probably the best option. Not that you really had any option, at this point. It was simple, plain as day. You were pregnant, and Rooster was the father. 

Rooster made a face. “Okay, gross. But you took a test? And it was positive?” 

“No, it came to me in a dream.” You snapped, glaring at him. “Yes, I took a test! I took three—all positive!” 

“Alright! Okay, that’s—wow, okay. That’s definitely…something to take in.” 

“I don’t know what to do.” You said quietly, staring hard at the marble countertop.

“Look, it’s late, we’re both tired. We don’t have to do anything right now, we don’t need to make any decisions right now. We have time.” He replied, shaking his head. We. He kept saying we, like he was planning on sticking around. You weren’t sure how to feel about it. “Why don’t you stay the night here and we can talk about this more in the morning?” 

You shook your head quickly. “No, I can’t, I have to be home to set up for the party—oh my god, the party! My dad.” 

“Your dad? What—Y/N, I’m pretty sure he’ll understand. Mav’s more modern than you give him credit for.” 

“Understand? Understand what?” You asked incredulously. Then you got what he was trying to say, and you let out a humorless laugh. “Rooster, we’re not telling him. We can’t tell him!” 

Your dad’s birthday party was tomorrow, and there were so many things you had to set up and do, this was probably the worst time for you to deal with everything going on right now. It wasn’t every day Pete “Maverick” Mitchell turned sixty. You needed everything to be perfect, and this brand new unexpected news was definitely not that. 

Rooster could tell you were starting to panic a little from the weight of everything, so he just went along with what you said, reaching over the counter to cover your hand with his. “Everything is gonna be fine, okay? Just get some rest. Please. Tomorrow’s gonna be a busy day, and you need to sleep.” 

You nodded distractedly, barely registering him guiding you towards the guest bedroom and settling you into bed. And maybe you were more tired than you thought, because your eyes fell shut on their own accord, and you were out like a light before Rooster even had the chance to close the door behind him. 

-------

The party was going great so far. There was food, music, all your dad’s Navy buddies. Everything was running smoothly, and you definitely weren’t thinking about your conversation with Rooster last night, or the fact that you left his house before the sun even rose to avoid talking about the situation even more. 

That was a lie. You couldn’t stop thinking of it, even as you smiled at every one of your dad’s friends jostling him about how old he’d gotten to be completely unaware of the surprise party his daughter planned for him. 

With every conversation about what you’d been up to in life lately, you thought about Rooster. The look on his face when you broke the news to him. The way he must’ve felt when he woke up and you were gone. He was probably mad at you, and you honestly couldn’t blame him. 

Like he knew it was him on your mind, Rooster materialized next to you, busying himself with browsing the drinks in the cooler to make it look like everything was normal. “Y/N.” 

“Enjoying the party?” You asked casually, crossing your arms over your chest. Rooster scoffed softly. 

“You know we need to talk.” 

Your smile wavered for a split second before returning in full force. You glanced over at him briefly, flicking from his very serious face then back to the party. “About?” 

“I don’t know…last night, maybe? You left before I woke up.”  

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

“Bullshit.” 

“Nothing happened last night, Rooster.” 

“So you’re telling me you’re not pregnant right now.” 

“Keep your voice down.” You hissed. Rooster shot a pointed look at you and you caved, grabbing him by the arm and yanking him towards a more secluded area of the backyard. “You wanna talk? Fine. Talk.” 

“You said the baby was mine. That’s not just something I can forget, Y/N.” 

“And I’m not asking you to forget, I’m asking you to leave it alone for now. It’s my dad’s birthday, Bradshaw. Can’t we just let him have the day before we blow up his entire world?” 

“Okay. Yeah, that’s fine. Dropping it for now.” Rooster conceded, holding his hands up in surrender. In reality, all he wanted to do was figure things out, but he could admit that this wasn’t quite the best place nor time to do it. “What can I do to help you right now?” 

“I think I’m gonna be sick.” 

“Whoa, hey, I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to stress you out any more, I just—” 

“No, Rooster, I’m—” You felt the bile rising in your throat alarmingly quick, and before you could even your sentence, you scrambled for the nearest bush to throw up. 

“Oh shit!” Rooster lunged forward, gathering your hair out of your face back towards the nape of your neck as you let it all out. You felt the warmth of his hand on your back, rubbing smooth circles along your spine. 

“Fuck.” You groaned, bracing your hands on your knees. “Please tell me no one saw that.” 

“Uh…” Rooster’s voice was hesitant and you turned your head, only to be met with the one person you didn’t want seeing you like this. Just your luck that even up there in age, that Navy instilled situational awareness never faded. 

“Honey? You alright?” Your dad looked beyond worried, and before you knew it, you were sat down on the living room couch with your father fussing over you, fluffing your pillows, covering you with a blanket, the works. Rooster was hovering over in the corner. 

“Dad, I’m fine! I probably had some bad oysters or something at girls’ night yesterday.” You sighed, ducking away from his attempt at feeling your forehead. As much as you didn’t enjoy lying straight to his face, telling him it was most likely a pregnancy symptom was definitely out of the question. “Go back, enjoy your party, please.”

“I should really stay, what if—” 

“I’m in good hands, Dad. Rooster’s got me covered.” 

“I’ll take the best care of her, Mav, don’t you worry.” 

“No doubt in my mind you will.” He clapped Rooster on the shoulder, giving him a sharp nod. He turned to you. “Drink something. Eat something. I’ll check back in later. Love you, sweetheart.” 

“Love you too, Dad.”

After waving everybody back to the festivities with assurances that you just needed to lay down for a bit and would be just fine, Rooster reappeared in the doorway a little while later, this time bearing gifts. 

“Crackers and ginger ale. Eat them, they’ll help.” He insisted, letting you take the plastic cup from him. “Stole them from the cooler and snack table. Who knew an old man’s birthday party would have just what I was looking for?” 

You managed a meager smile, but when you took a tiny sip of the soda, you found that it actually did help a bit. “How’d you know what I needed?” 

Rooster rubbed the back of his neck, pressing his lips together with a haphazard shrug. “My mom. When she got sick, they always seemed to help with the nausea. Made sure we were always stocked and ready for whenever she needed it.” 

“I wanna keep the baby, Rooster.” You blurted. Rooster nearly choked on his own saliva in surprise. 

“You—you do?” 

“And I want you to be there every step of the way.” You continued, fidgeting with the stray thread at the edge of your blanket. He took a seat next to you on the couch, rubbing his hands over his legs nervously. “Only if that’s what you want, though. I’m not trying to force your hand or baby trap or anything like that. It’s your choice, completely. But…I’d like it if our kid knew their father. In whatever capacity you’re comfortable with.” 

“So, like co-parents? Or…more?” Rooster said slowly, gauging your reaction with wide, almost nervous eyes. 

“I’m open to more.” You replied. Maybe you were reading too much into it, but he seemed to look very pleased with that. “I don’t know what this is gonna be like, for either of us, but I like to think we’ll get through it all. Together.”

He nodded, sliding his hand into yours and squeezing. “Together.”  What that together entailed, you weren’t all too sure. And although you were nervous as hell about what laid ahead, you were looking forward to finding out.

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[cozage]

The Daughter's Return: Part 5

Parting Ways

Part 1 | Part 6 | Table of Contents | Read this on A03

Characters: Ace x reader WordCount: 3.1k CW: alcohol, drunk reader, one quick drunken kiss

Whitey’s arm around you made it a little difficult to start the day. You had been awake for thirty minutes now, but you couldn’t bring yourself to move in fear of waking her up. She had been kind enough to let you sleep with her last night, the last thing you wanted to do was interrupt her rest even more. 

“Y/N?” Whitey’s groggy voice broke through the silence, and you felt her shift.

“Morning,” you replied. “Sleep well?”

“Surprisingly, yes.” Whitey laughed. “You’d think two people in this tiny bed would make it hard to sleep. But it wasn’t bad. But why’d you end up here anyway?”

“I spilled beer all over my bed.” You had been thinking of a lie since you woke up, and it came effortlessly now. 

Whitey gave a laugh at that and sat up in the bed. “Believe it or not, I’m actually really glad that happened.”

“Oh yeah?” you gave her a perplexed look. “Why’s that?”

She gave a nervous laugh and rubbed at her face. It was clear she had something to tell you, but she seemed to be working up the courage to do so. 

You sat up, concerned at alert. “Whitey? Everything okay?”

“I was going to tell you,” Whitey said. Her voice was thick, like she might start crying. “I swear I meant to tell you the moment you got back, but things started happening so fast.”

“Whitey, tell me,” you insisted. “What’s wrong?”

“Look, don’t be mad, okay?”

“Whitey. Tell me.”

“I’m getting my own ship,” she said. “Becoming a Subordinate Captain. A few of us are getting our own crews. I’ve got a group of about 20 people.”

Your mouth fell open in shock. You weren’t sure what you expected Whitey to tell you, but you it wasn’t this. The two of you had dreams when you were younger about having your own pirate crew, but you had grown out of those dreams. You had just assumed she had as well.

“When are you leaving?” you asked, your voice barely above a whisper. 

Tears welled in her eyes. “Three days. We’re supposed to land on an island with a shipyard, and pops is giving us ships to send us on our way.”

Three days. That was all you had left with her. Your chest ached at the thought of not seeing her every day again. You had missed her the most while you had been in Wano. 

“I really want this,” she said. “Need this, even. I’ve been talking with pops about it for a month or two, but I told him I wanted to wait until you got back before I left.”

“Where will you go?” you asked. You could feel a lump rising in your throat. 

“Pops assigned me to protect a few islands back in Paradise with Brew and Epoida, so we’ll-”

“Brew and Epoida are leaving too?” you asked. You couldn’t help it now, your eyes started to water. 

Whitey’s eyes got wide as she realized what she had just done. 

“So everyone is just leaving?” you asked, tears starting to spill out now. You wiped them away, angry at yourself for getting so emotional. 

“A lot has changed since you left,” Whitey said softly. Her hand reached out to comfort you, but you smacked it away. 

“But we swore to stick together!” you said. You could feel your face growing hot, the magma churning beneath your skin. 

“You can come with us,” Whitey offered. “You can join my crew.”

“I can’t,” you squeaked out. Even if your best friends were leaving, your family was still aboard the Moby Dick. You couldn’t abandon them. 

“Look, Y/N, I know you feel like you have an obligation to your dad, but loyalty-”

“You don’t know anything about loyalty, Whitey,” you hissed, jumping up from the bed and storming out of the room. 

You weren’t sure where your feet were taking you until you were at his door. Your fist slammed against the wooden door as tears fell from your eyes. The door opened a few moments later, and you didn’t even try to make yourself look presentable. 

What a poor sight you must’ve been to Portgas D. Ace. You were standing there, sniffling and sobbing. You were still in your pajamas and hadn’t even bothered to brush your hair. Tears were running down your cheeks, and your eyes had to be red and puffy at this point. 

And yet, when Ace saw you, he only looked at you with concern. He quickly scanned your body, looking for any signs of injury. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, scanning your face. “Did someone hurt you?”

“Did you know?” you choked out, wiping the tears from your cheeks. 

“Know about what?” he asked. 

“Whitey,” you sobbed.

Ace sighed, running his hand through his hair, and he shut the door behind you so you could cry in public. 

“The division commanders voted on the subordinate captains about a month ago. I knew her name was on the list.”

 “You knew she was leaving and you didn’t tell me.”

Ace’s face was full of pain. “It wasn’t my news to share.”

You punched his chest. You heard him gasp in surprise, but you didn’t care. You punched him again. You wanted him to fight back, to yell at you, to do something. But he just stood there and took it. So you punched him harder. 

“Stop it.” Ace flinched as your punches grew hotter. But you were so angry, you couldn’t stop. You punched him again. 

Ace grabbed your wrist. “Y/N, stop,” he said more firmly. 

You used your free hand and kept punching his chest until he grabbed that one too. You started squirming, trying to fight him, until he pulled you into his chest and wrapped his arms around you tightly, holding you in an embrace. 

You stopped fighting then, and he held you as you cried into his chest. His hand rubbed your back, trying to soothe you. 

“It’s not fair,” you cried.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “It’ll be okay, I promise.”

You weren’t sure how long you stayed there, but you didn’t pull away until you had stopped crying and your breath had steadied.

You wiped any remnants of tears from your cheeks. “That was embarrassing,” you sniffled, your voice still thick. 

“You’re allowed to be upset,” Ace said. He grabbed a tissue and held it out for you. 

“I just don’t want her to go.” Your vision started to blur again, and you blinked a few times to clear your eyes. 

“It’s been her dream for a long time.”

You sniffed and wiped your eyes with the tissue. Ace was right. Whitey had always wanted to be a captain, ever since she joined the Whitebeard Pirates 7 years ago. 

“It’s not like you’ll never see her again,” Ace continued. “Pops has always worked closely with his subordinate captains. I’m sure she’ll still be around. And you can still talk to her on the transponder snail.”

“We should have a going away party,” you said softly.

“Try to say that with a little more enthusiasm, maybe?”

His comment made you laugh, and he smiled in return. 

You sighed. “I need to apologize to her.”

“Probably.”

You turned to go find Whitey, already trying to think of what you’d say to her. As you opened the door, you realized you should say something else to Ace before you left. 

“Ace?” You turned back to him as you walked out. “Thanks for letting me beat you up.”

Ace gave a cheeky smile. “Anytime, love.”

Love. That’s what he had called you. Love. You had left before he had a chance to see your reaction, but you could feel your body steaming, and the air smelled of burnt hair. Your burnt hair. He was a smooth bastard, and you hated that you loved it. But now wasn’t the time to focus on your stupid commander. You had to apologize to Whitey. 

You found Whitey in your bunkhouse, packing up her things. When she realized it was you, she froze, trying to decide what she should say or do. 

You decided for her. You rushed to her, wrapping her in a hug. “I’m sorry,” you said, blinking away fresh tears. “I’m so happy that you get to live your dream.”

“No, I’m sorry!” Whitey cried. “That was a really shitty way to tell you.”

“It’s okay, I promise.” you pulled away from her and wiped at your eyes. “I was just being selfish. God, I’m going to miss you, Whitey.”

“I’m going to miss you!” She was wiping tears from her own face as well. “I wish this was easier.”

“We’re going to have a goodbye party,” you said. “For you and all the other new subordinate captains.”

Whitey laughed and returned to packing her suitcase. “One of your parties is the last thing we need,” she said.

“I have two days to plan it.” You smiled mischievously. “Prepare yourself.”

“Y/N!” Whitey called after you as you bolted out the room. “Don’t go over the top!”

The next two days went by in a whirlwind. You spent your days begging and bargaining crew members for booze, ordering the chefs to make the most decadent meals, and hanging decorations you had made. 

When a strategist plans a party, they think of everything. Which is why your parties were always so notorious for getting out of hand. You thought of drinking games, picked out the perfect musicians, and always had a backstock of alcohol. You hadn’t planned a party in years, but it’s clear that it’s reputation had lived on while you were gone. 

As the sun was setting, the deck was so crowded with people that it was hard to move around. You were always touching someone, and it became almost claustrophobic to stand. You chose to leave the main deck area and headed towards the bow of the ship, trying desperately to escape the crowds. You found a spot where you could stand without touching someone else, and leaned against the railing to watch the sunset, enjoying your drinking. 

“Hey!” Whitey called, stumbling over to you. She was already drunk, though that was partially your fault. One tankard of ale did a lot more to her than it did to you. “Come back to the party!”

“I will. Just enjoying the sunset for a moment.”

Whitey pouted. “You plan this whole big party and you’re not even enjoying yourself.”

You smirked, staring at the sea. If you looked at Whitey, you were fairly certian you would break out into tears. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

“Of course! But you should have fun too!”

It was kind of hard to enjoy yourself when your best friend was leaving. You had been diligent in pushing that fact out of your brain, but now as you watched the sunset, you realized this would be the last one you’d share with Whitey for a long time. 

“Can we just be sad while we watch the sunset?” you asked, tears starting to rise.

Whitey wrapped her arm around you and leaned her head on your shoulder. “I’m kind of scared to be a captain,” she admitted, her eyes watching the sun slowly sink behind the water. 

“New people, new horizons,” she said. “What if I make the wrong call? I won’t have Pops to back me up. It’s scary to think that I’m going to be alone.”

“You won’t be alone, though. You’ve got a lot of good, trustworthy people to back you up.”

“Yeah.” Whitey didn’t say anything more until the sun was almost gone from view. “You’ve got good people here too. Make sure you don’t isolate yourself. Do stuff with them. Have fun. Okay?”

“Alright.” You wiped the tears from your cheeks and finished off the rest of the ale in your tankard. “Let’s party.”

“Yeah!” Whitey cheered. She grabbed your hand and pulled you back to the party. People had seemed to spread out a bit more now, and it was easier to breathe and move around. 

Shots of liquor were your least favorite way to get drunk, but it was the fastest. Still, you found yourself questioning the choices that led you to this moment, where you were lined up facing five large shot glasses of rum. You had already won the game once, and you could feel the alcohol starting to flow through your veins.

“Whitey, are you trying to make me puke?”

Whitey stuck her tongue out at you. “Did your time abroad soften you?” she taunted. 

“Whitey-”

“Who will challenge her?!?” Whitey declared, holding up your arm as if you had just won a boxing match. 

You looked around the crowd and found Ace and Marco, watching your predicament with smirks. You shook your head and mouthed “Save me” to them, but they only laughed at your misfortune. 

“I’ll do it!” a voice called out, someone shuffling through the crowd. 

“A challenger has appeared!” Whitey yelled, dropping your arm and allowing your to return to your station. 

A young man appeared, one you didn’t recognize. If you had to guess, he was about your age, maybe a little older. He had red hair and piercing blue eyes that were full of rebellion and spunk. He was cocky too, because he looked at you and winked, and you almost looked away from him in embarrassment. 

He was handsome, you had to admit. You weren’t sure how you had missed his presence since you had gotten back. He seemed a bit too over the top for your liking, but he was the kind of guy who would make a good drinking buddy. 

“Uzzo,” he said, holding out his hand. 

You took it, giving it a firm shake. You opened your mouth to introduce yourself, but he cut you off. 

“Don’t worry, darling.” He brought your hand up to his lips and kissed your skin, shocking you into silence. “I know who you are.”

You quickly yanked your hand away, trying to push down the bubbling feeling you were getting in your stomach. 

“You know the rules folks, first to finish all five shots wins!”

“What do I get if I win?” Uzzo asked, looking at you mischievously. 

You rolled your eyes, tired of this long introduction. You wanted to get drunk already. “Bragging rights. Now get ready.”

Uzzo frowned, humming in disappointment. “How about a kiss instead?”

You laughed in his face. “Ask me again if you win.”

He smirked, satisfied with your response. You both readied yourself, and then looked to Whitey.

“Ready, Set, Go!” she cried, throwing her hand up in the air to start the race.

You were winning until the fourth cup. You heard Ace laugh from the crowd, and your concentration broke as your eyes searched for him. He was there, laughing with Marco. His arm was wrapped around a girl’s shoulder, and you could feel your stomach churning with envy at him being so close to someone else. 

You barely started your fifth cup by the time Uzzo finished. He watched you down the fifth cup as the crowd cheered for his victory. 

“So,” he said, watching you place down your last cup. “How about that-”

You didn’t wait for him to finish. You grabbed his shirt and pulled him across the table, your lips smashing into his. You could hear the crowd freeze mid applause, everyone surprised by your actions. But you made out with this stranger in front of a crowd, not caring who saw. A piece of you even hoped certain people would see you. 

Blame it on alcohol, blame it on jealousy, blame it on wanting to wipe that smug look off his face. It didn’t matter why you did it. You didn’t even like it all that much. You had kissed several boys before this one. He wasn’t anything special. 

You finally pulled away, and saw you had succeeded in your goal. His cocky grin was replaced with shocked, widened eyes. You could see the crowd watching you, and you resisted the urge to look over at Marco and Ace. 

“Congrats on your win,” you said. You gave him a quick wink and turned and walked away without another word.

“Holy shit,” Uzzo murmured behind you, and the entire crowd erupted into cheers once more. At least you looked confident, even if you didn’t feel that way.

You went to find a keg of beer, needing to wash down all the rum you had just consumed. The ten double-shots you had just taken were starting to catch up. Fast. 

“You are quite the graceful loser,” Marco said, taking your cup from your hand and filling it up at the keg. 

“Marco! I haven’t seen you in forever!”

“It’s only been two days.”

You clutched your chest overdramatically. “So long. It’s been so painful.”

Marco chuckled. “You’re very drunk.”

You took your drink back from him, nodding enthusiastically. “Blame Whitey.”

“Looks like she’s having a good time at least,” Marco said, his eyes watching your friend. “You threw a good party.”

“Hey Marco, I couldn’t find-” Ace stopped talking when he realized you were standing with his fellow commander. 

“Ace,” you said, your lip pouting out at his name. 

“You take over keg duty, I’ll go look,” Marco said, quickly passing the spout to Ace and bolting away. 

“Hey! Marco!” Ace called after him, but Marco was already gone. 

There was an awkward silence that hung in the air. If you were sober, you would’ve let it hang there. But drunk you was a lot more chatty.

“Are you enjoying the party?” you asked, looking at Ace. 

“It’s fine.”

“Just fine?! Rude!” you scoffed. “I worked hard on this party!”

“Then you should go enjoy it,” Ace snapped. “Don’t you have a boyfriend to entertain?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend.” You rubbed your tankard against your cheek, giggling. “Just booze.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Ace mumbled, grabbing a guy's drink and refilling it for him. 

Your eye twitched. “What’s your problem?” 

“Nothing.” He was managing to look everywhere else on the ship but at you.

You scowled and stepped in front of him to block his view. You could feel your skin growing hot with your anger. “If you have a problem with-”

“Hey!” Marco cheered, and you turned to see him. “Come on! We're playing Commanders and Strategists up on the roof of the Captain’s Quarters!”

You squealed in excitement, already forgetting your squabble with Ace. Whitey’s reminder rang in your ears. You refused to isolate yourself. You had always loved Commanders and Strategists, so you took off towards the roof of the Captain’s Quarters, eager to see what kind of trouble you could get into next. 

tags! @taeyoge @teiza @tojislawyer @trafalgardnami @bloopbopsblog @dancingnewcat @dxestyi @flooofity (if you'd like to be included in the tag list, just comment or send me a message!)

[666writingcafe]

A Reward: Solomon/Asmo

Part Three of Special Bonus Content

Asmo grabs Solomon's hand and practically drags him onto the bed, looking so excited that he might just start bouncing off the walls at any moment.

"I can't believe you did that," I tell Solomon, referring to him timing me just a few moments ago. He shrugs, trying and failing to hide his smirk.

"I was simply curious, that's all." Asmo snorts, shaking his head.

"Oh, please," he retorts. "You're not fooling anyone. You timed MC so that you could come up with a plan to make them scream quicker." Solomon leans in and whispers something in his ear. Whatever it is makes Asmo's eyes light up, and the two of them look at me devilishly.

I should be worried, given that both the Avatar of Lust and one of the most powerful sorcerers in the human world are practically fucking me with their eyes, but instead I'm somehow eager for whatever they have planned.

"Solomon has a theory," Asmo tells me. "If you don't mind, we'd like to test it and see if it's true."

"What's the theory?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Solomon replies. "All you have to do for right now is watch." The next thing I know, the two of them are passionately making out right in front of me. I've heard rumors that they've hooked up multiple times before, but to actually see it happen...

I'm not gonna lie; it's incredibly hot.

And yet I can't help but feel excluded. They're doing it on purpose, aren't they?

They want to see how long it will take for me to beg for their attention. My pride doesn't want to give them the satisfaction. My lust, on the other hand...

"Aww, you poor thing!" Asmo coos at me, his voice laced with sarcasm. "Are you feeling left out?"

"I don't know, Asmo," Solomon responds with a smirk. "They haven't said anything yet, so maybe they're content with merely watching." I bite the inside of my cheek in order to keep my composure. I don't know whether I want to yell at them for being mean or start whining for them to pay attention to me.

"They look awfully flustered, Solomon. They might be too nervous to tell us what they want."

"Then perhaps we should try harder to encourage them." With that, the two of them resume their make out session, except this time they make sure I'm able to hear every single lewd noise that comes out of their mouths.

I can't take it anymore.

"Please!" I know I sound pathetic, but I at least got their attention.

"Please what, MC?" Solomon asks. "We can't read your mind."

"Please..." Their intense gazes are making it incredibly hard for me to think straight.

"It's okay," Asmo tells me. "Take a deep breath." Once I do, I find it a bit easier to collect my thoughts.

"I'd like it if you'd touch me. Please." The words come out in a near whisper. The two men exchange brief looks before Solomon replies,

"Well, since my apprentice asked so nicely, I suppose we could oblige." The next thing I know, the two of them are all over me, touching and kissing every inch of my body. It's quite pleasant.

At first. After a while, I end up wanting more than just their hands and mouths. As if sensing this desire, Solomon and Asmo soon stop their movements and look at me expectantly.

"I..." Why are the two of them so intimidating together?

"Yes, MC?" Asmo asks. I swallow nervously. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to respond to his question.

"Do you want me and Asmo to be inside you?" Solomon whispers in my ear. I hum affirmatively, unable to do anything else.

"Use your words, then. Tell us that you want us to fuck you." Asmo's fingers ghost over my sides, making me shiver.

"Yeah, MC," he murmurs. "Use that pretty mouth of yours."

"I..." I close my eyes to center myself. "Please help me feel full."

"Good MC."

I can see why the dream realm can be dangerous, because right now, I don't think I want to wake up.

Taglist: @lost-in-time-wanderer, @fuzztacular, @dianedancer18, @sweetbrier2908, @flare-love, @completelyshatteredbrokenmschf, @thunderlightning351, @l3v1chan, @anxious-chick

[noellefan101]

Helloo!!

I would to send in a request, could you do a soft/fluff day with Mister Neuvillette? With a Female Raeder as well please :)

If your uncomfortable with this request you are welcome to ignore it, thank you very much! :3

(Sending headpats!)

(thank u for the headpats!)

Characters: Neuvillette x Female reader

Summary: a sweet day off, with Neuvi

[edit: i forgot to tag u so here, @ayoharuko]

i only use they/them pronounce for the melusines bc they are in a group(and im a coward)

Note: i tired to finish this as quickly as possible, bc i havent really written anything for neuvi(other than my kissing them series). but i really liked writing this, though it was a little hard to come up with something(my brain is becoming mush), love you

It was really sunny when you woke up, the light shining through the half-open curtains, giving your skin a beautiful glow as well. you sat up in your bed, looking around tiredly. and you were surprised to see Neuvillette still in bed, since he would normally be out of the house by now. but it's not like you were complaining, especially not on his day off. so you quietly snuck out of bed to not wake him, quickly put on a decent outfit and started making breakfast for him.

He eventually did wake up, despite you trying to be quiet, and walked around the house to find you since you weren´t in bed.

He found you in the kitchen, happily dancing around as you made breakfast for you both. the sight made his heart beat in so many ways he couldn´t understand, but he felt warm whenever it happened, so he didn´t give it much thought. although Sigewinne once told him its a sign that he loves you, and so she had to explain to him how that works(she wanted to give up inside a little(poor Sigewinne)).

"Neuvi? Are you ok? you´ve been staring at me for a while now y'know"

"..."

"..."

He didn´t hear you, too lost in your beauty to comprehend that you were talking to him. you were a little annoyed at being ignored, but quickly brushed it off and tried calling him again, this time with a hand on his cheek,

"Neuvillette love, you there?"

He snapped out of his line of thought the second you touched his cheek, now looking into your eyes. placing his own hand over yours.

"Sorry darling, i was just a little too lost in your beauty for a moment. was there anything you needed?"

You looked into his eyes, thinking for a bit, was there anything you needed right now, you guessed he could help you get the flour from the top capinet.

"yes actually, could you be so kind as to hand me the flour, its for the cake i said i wanted to bake"

You looked at him with the pretties eyes you could manage.

"Sure lovely, I´ll get you anything you need"

You removed your hand from his face and walked over to the bowl of sugar and eggs, to mix them together, before the dry ingredients were put in.

You had been baking all morning, what had Neuvillette been doing you ask, well... you actually don't know. either he was in the kitchen helping(looking at) you or he was out of your line of sight(prob with a melusine).

But now you´re kind of missing his presence, and you were done with most of the pastries you wanted him and the melusines to try(your excuse to see him being cute with them).

So you of course wanted to find him.

But you still needed time to set up what you had planned for his day off, and you asked some melusines to help you carry the lighter things, like a blanket or spoons(not knives or forks, they could hurt themselves). and when they then offered to get him for you, you protested, but they just continued on with "you should relax too you´know, not just him. now sit down and we´ll get him over here." so you obliged.

The main reason you had decided that today would be a great time to have a picnic out on a field of flowers, was because it didn´t seem like there were going to be many, if any, clouds today, so it would be perfect for a picnic(hence why you spent your morning in the kitchen).

When they (totally not forcefully) dragged him over to your prepared date, they could see the visible change it his eyes (though it was already softer than normal, bc melusines) when he looked at you sitting among the flowers. he eventually sat down beside you, kissing your cheek softly and thanking you for doing this just for him.

Eventually, the melusines that helped you set up and stuff left (smiling sweetly at their monsuir [i think i spelled it wrong, im sry] Neuvillette´s sweet interaction with you).

The both of you didn´t even notice and you just continued on with your picnic. you offered him a piece of the cake you baked in the morning, and he happily took it, enjoying the taste of your baking.

(as he should)

He had also looked at you with heart in his eyes(more than he normally did) as you ate your piece of cake, he couldn´t help himself you were too beautiful not to look at too long. It´s not the first time he has looked(stared) at you today either, and it certainly won´t be the last time today. Safe to say he liked having this day with you, a day containing only you (and the occasional Melusine), instead of all the paperwork being the only thing he normally looks at all-day.

He liked anything you did together, it doesn´t matter if it was his or your idea, neither if he liked the thing or not, the thing that mattered was that you wanted to, that you were there with him, and he loves you even more for that.

He loves you more than a diver loves the sea, more than a florist loves flowers, more than anything.

Thank u for reading, hope its ok(ik its late asf), luv ya-Masterlist

You are welcome to reblog and like any of my posts, but you CAN NOT translate, copy or hate on anybody for liking my posts

[comingyourlugubriousness]

Happy Birthday Yume Ume: Personal Story (Part 3/3)

Part: 1 / 2 / 3

Leona: Finally, the last question is “If you were to join any dorm other than the Ramshackle or Ignihyde, which dorm would you choose?”

Yume: *quickly, and matter of factly* Scarabia.

Leona: *smirk* Oh? Two in a row? Don’t let Radish sprout hear that.

Yume: *pouting* Shut up, it's not like that! It’s just…ALL THE OTHER CHOICES ARE SO MUCH WORSE!

Leona: *eyes widen at sudden outburst, before lowering again*

Yume: *ranting* You think I wanna deal with the Queen of Hearts dumb rules, or wake up at 6AM for spell drive drills?! 

Leona: It’s 6:30.

Yume: *ignoring his interruption* Honestly I don’t mind the Octavinelle dorm vibes itself; but I would rather DIE than live with Azul as a dorm leader; or have Vil breathing down my back 24/7 about my diet and health, uh- yeah-no thanks-!

Yume: *sighs, mumbling* And no offense to Diasomnia but their weird vibes make me feel like an outsider…

Leona: *Makes a vague noise of approval* 

Yume: Ignihyde would definitely be ideal, but since I can’t pick them Scarabia seems like the best choice. *shrug* I get along well with almost everyone and the dorm's mindset is something I agree with.

Leona: Mindfulness, careful deliberation, planning, considering all your options.*hums* Yeah that’s you to a fault. *crosses his arms, smugly* Maybe you should be there instead of Ignihyde?

Yume: *Immediately shutting it down.* No thanks, I can only take so many banquets and parties before I become exhausted.

-

Bonus question!

Yume: C’mon that last one was too easy, give me another one!

Leona: I’m only contractually obligated to ask two questions.

Yume: Boo~! *whining* C’monnnnn~!

Leona: Augh! Fine, *muttering* snot nosed brat…

Leona: If you could pick any student from Night Raven College to be your sibling, who would you choose? Other than your own siblings.

Yume: *surprised at the question* Huh…oh! Well that’s easy there's already a couple people here besides my brothers, that I consider siblings. *smiles* Like Ortho of course and- *they stop suddenly, seeming to have realized something.*

Leona:...And? 

Yume: A-ah, nevermind, just Ortho. *they seem slightly embarrassed suddenly*

Leona: *raises eyebrow* You're the one who wanted to be asked this question and now you're being secretive?

Yume: Oh well… *they purse their lips and cross their arms in though* *They laugh.* To be honest I’m not sure how this person would react to the idea and…it’s something I never really thought of until now. So, for now, I think I better just keep it to myself.

Leona: *slowly* How they would react…?

Yume: …

Leona: **realizes, his ears stick up** 

Leona: Hmph… *his tail flicks behind him. He looks away.* Well I’m sure they probably would care…but whatever let's move on. *He seems slightly stunned, but not unhappy.*

Yume: Oh man, wait I forgot. This part’s gonna suck isn’t it? *sigh.* Is it at least gonna be tasty?

Leona: *smirk* Guess you’ll find out. *winding up his arm* Are you gonna take your glasses off?

Yume: *dramatically, with grin* No, I’ll take it like a man.

Leona: Heh, suit yourself. *grins back. Leona pulls back his arm and throws. A breaking noise follows.*

The end! It was fun to write this but it took me a while! I find it hard to write dialogue without much description because I feel like so many things get said through actions and body language! Yume and Leona's relationship is fun and complex to write. In my mind, they both feel a sibling bond, but neither of them are really willing to admit it out loud. So it becomes this unspoken understanding over time. I think its a complicated feeling for both of them in different ways. In particular for Leona because in his life he hasn't had a good relationship with his actual sibling.

I hope you guys enjoy it. I'm working creatively on a couple different things but I also have a lot of big complicated events going on in my life right now. So sorry for the slow posts. I appreciate everyone who comments or leaves tags <333!

[starsstuddedsky]

Tip the Glass, Pour Me Out

reader x jun

summary: drunk confessions, one sided love, and late realizations

genre: fluff, pure fluff

warnings: food, alcohol, lmk if i missed any

wc: 2.4k

a/n: hello <3 i love this silly little story pls enjoy

Your head falls onto Jun’s shoulder. “Too heavy,” you mumble. He sighs, shifting your weight on his back so that you don’t fall off. How many times has he done this now? 

Your arms tighten around his neck, loose enough so that he can still breathe, though it puts a strain on his throat. 

“What happened to no more drinking?” He asks, pulling your arm down by your hand. You catch his hand before he can hook it back under your leg. 

“Alcohol is my friend,” you say. 

Jun laughs. “Somehow I don’t think you’ll be saying that in the morning.” He doesn’t have to turn his head to know that you are pouting. He knows it won’t last, and sure enough, in a couple minutes you’re mumbling the melody to a song he doesn’t recognize. 

“Six, seven, eight, triple nine, eight, two, one, two, baby, you know that I miss you, I wanna get with you, tonight but I cannot, babygirl, and that’s the issue,” you sing, nodding your head back and forth, accidentally bumping what feels like your forehead into the back of his head. It doesn’t hurt, but you finally let go of his hand to rub the spot, mumbling apologies. He sets his arm back around your leg where it’s wrapped around his waist. 

“I’m sorry,” you say, and he feels you press a kiss to the back of his head. When he turns his head to face you, he has to fight not to smile, turning back to stare at the street because he can’t help himself. 

“Is this the part where you tell me you like me or are we still too far away from your place?” He asks. 

You slap his shoulder, though it isn’t hard. “What are you talking about?” 

“Come on, yn,” he says. “The last three parties you went to that you got drunk, I carried you home, and you told me something along the lines of ‘I’m desperately in love with you and can never tell you because I know you don’t feel the same way, so keep this secret for me and don’t break my heart,’ and then you wake up and don’t remember a thing. I figured the song was a part of it, but now I’m thinking Vernon played too much 2000s music tonight.” 

“There’s no such thing as too much 2000s throwback,” you say, indignant. 

“Very crafty way of avoiding my actual question,” Jun says. “But I’m holding you to it.” Because tonight, unlike those other nights, Jun has come to expect it. He’s waiting for it, though he can’t quite figure out why. He’s hoping when you confess (again), he’ll have a lightbulb moment that will give him a reason for the way his heart is pounding and why he can’t stop thinking about you. 

You hum against his shoulder, finally tapping him and saying, “Down please.” 

He obliges, crouching so that your feet touch the pavement and letting his arms go. He waits until you’re standing on your own before he straightens. You stumble a few steps before he catches you, linking your arms together so that you have something steady to hold on to. The orange streetlights make your eyes glow, and Jun is frozen for a moment staring at them, trying to think of a word to describe them. Ethereal doesn’t even come close. You don’t seem to notice, turning and walking down the street, pulling him along with you. 

“I do like you,” you finally say. “You are… a dream, to me.” Jun waits, watching the way you pout your lower lip just a tiny bit farther than your top lip as you think. “But I don’t want to like a dream. I want to like something real. I want to be with someone real. And I’m really not drunk enough for this conversation.” 

Jun doesn’t know why his heart sinks at the thought of you not liking him anymore. The first time you confessed he had been confused; you were an expert at hiding your feelings and he didn’t expect it at all until that night. Ever since then, he’s been hyper aware of you, trying to see if you treat him any differently than your shared friends, if you are looking at him when he isn’t watching, if what you said was real or just words spoken while drunk. You were so good at hiding it, he thought you might have been joking. Until the second confession. 

“It’s a secret, but I think I’m in love,” you said. He can still hear your whisper. 

By the third time, he knew it was coming. It didn’t scare him like the first two, and he even hugged you a little bit longer than usual when he dropped you off because he thought it might make you happy (and maybe because he wanted to imagine what it would be like if he wasn’t just a friend). 

Tonight he looks at you and he doesn’t want to imagine. He wants to see you smile and say that you are still in love. In love with him. But instead you say that you are tired of this unrequited love. 

He doesn’t say much else for the rest of the walk, wrestling with a traitorous heart that aches every time he looks at you. The walk seemed to sober you up as well; you’re able to find your key on your own for once. 

“Thank you for taking me home,” you say. “Again.” Maybe it’s his imagination, but your smile doesn’t seem to reach your eyes. 

“Always,” Jun says, and he means it. He waits until you wave from the window before he begins the lonely walk home. He barely notices the chill of the night air, so distracted by thoughts of you that he’s home before he realizes it. 

He’s alone, the rest of his roommates apparently crashing with Vernon. It gives him the privacy he needs to collapse onto bed and stare at the ceiling, the sleep that he suddenly desperately wants eluding him. 

He can’t stop thinking about your sad smile, how you said you wanted someone real. Is he not real? Why are you giving up on him so suddenly? 

Jun stares at the ceiling and can’t understand his own heart. What he wants more than anything is to see you smile, a real smile, like when he makes a joke and you’re the first to get it. 

That’s when he finally understands, and Jun realizes what an absolute idiot he is. He shoots up in bed, throwing his blankets off. He’s tempted to go to you now, heart so full of energy that he thinks it might burst if he doesn’t talk to you. But it’s so late the sun is about to come up, and while you weren’t as drunk as you have been, Jun would rather not tell you this while you’re hungover, so he forces himself to lay back in bed and wait, and somewhere along the way he drifts off into sleep. 

.

.

You walk slower than usual, enjoying the warmth of the sun on your shoulders. It’s the first truly warm day of spring, though the forecast had predicted there would be a chill this weekend. You’re glad for that, because the park isn’t nearly as crowded as it would have been. As it is, children and dogs are all over the place, and you’ve seen more than a few couples walking around, hand in hand and probably ridiculously in love. 

You push away the bitterness, trying to pretend like you are happy for them. You have to focus on the possibility of happiness instead of this ugly jealousy that has grown from your own unrequited love. It’s part of why you are finally giving up on it, what started as a silly crush turning into something you don’t recognize any more. 

Your head is still filled with what-ifs as you walk across the park, searching for the very person that has twisted your heart. Maybe it’s stupid of you to agree to a picnic with him, but you want to put this past you. The first step to that is letting go, and to do that, you have to tell him how you feel, for real. No more drunken confessions that you only half remember. 

He’s sitting near the path on a checkered blanket. He’s hardly the only one to have a picnic blanket spread out, but he’s still the only one you can see, your heart jumping at the sight of him. You wonder if you can train yourself out of it. 

He breaks out into a grin when he sees you, waving so aggressively that his whole body sways. You smile despite the swarm of angry butterflies in your stomach, walking a little bit faster to get to him quicker. 

“Hey, I’m glad you came,” he says, patting the space next to him. There’s no basket but you can see Tupperware containers stacked neatly in his bag. Jun had insisted that he bring all the food, telling you that “you just need to show up.” It was sort of strange, but you rarely truly understand Jun. It’s part of why you like him so much. 

“Well, you promise homemade food,” you say. “I’ve never had Jun-food, but Seungkwan promised me it was worth it. I think he was jealous he wasn’t invited.” You laugh, hoping your nerves don’t show. Truth be told, you weren’t sure why he invited you alone. Sure you were friends, but the only time you had ever been alone together was when he took you home while you were drunk (and one very awkward car ride when he brought you back from the beach trip because his cat was sick and you had an allergic reaction to the air freshener in the beach house and were covered in bright red hives). 

Jun has always been a friend of a friend that you fell in love with. Now you have to figure out how to drag yourself out of love, but Jun is making that impossible, just by existing. He seems more restless than usual, turning to pull the food out, then putting it back and turning back to face you as you cross your legs and sit next to him. 

“I have something to tell you,” he blurts out. He stares at his feet, the edge of the blanket, the dogs chasing each other, everything but you. 

“Yeah?” You ask when he doesn’t say anything else, eyes turning to his hands in his lap. 

“Okay, so, I’ve been thinking,” he says, looking up at the people spread across the open space. You can’t take your eyes off him, the way he seems to glow in the sunlight. “And I think I’m really dumb. It’s harsh, but it’s true, because I had these feelings and I didn’t like that you don’t like me anymore and I’m sorry that this is so late, and if you don’t feel the same way anymore, I don’t blame you, I mean, it took me too long to realize this and I’m terrible at saying stuff like this but you should know because it’s all that I think about and I just want you to know how I feel.” 

You frown, trying to understand. You think you know what he’s trying to say but you can’t let your heart go wild without hearing him say it for real. “What are you saying, Jun?” 

He blinks. “I like you.” 

You shake your head. “Don’t tease me.” 

“I wouldn’t,” he says, frowning. “Never. I’m so sorry that it took me so long to realize it, and I don’t want to hurt you anymore, so if you want, we can pretend like this never happened and I will shut up about this and nothing has to change.” 

Nothing has to change. You laugh, bitter at first, then devolving into uncontrollable giggles. 

“Are you okay?” Jun asks, worry seeping into his voice. “I didn’t mean to insult you, or— or—” 

“No, it’s not that,” you say, gasping for breath. “I— I just came here ready to finally tell you how I felt. Feel.” You take another deep breath, wiping a few tears from your eyes. “I was ready to give up loving you.” You sit up straight, meeting his gaze. “And then you say you like me.” 

“I do,” Jun says, the corners of his lips turning up into a hopeful smile. “A lot. I really like you.” And you think maybe you can believe him. He slides a little closer to you, though he stops before his leg presses against yours. He leans closer, and for a second you think he’s going to kiss you. 

“I made really good noodles,” he whispers. 

You laugh, pushing him gently away. He digs through his bag to pull out the dish. 

“Was this your back up plan?” You ask, accepting the chopsticks. “Seduce me with food?” 

He shrugs. “They’re really good.” 

More than anything you want to sit with Jun and eat his noodles, but you have to ask. “Jun?” 

He’s still digging through the food, pulling out fruits and side dishes. He stops when you rest your hand on his, turning to face you and tilting his head in question. 

“You said you like me.” He nods. “And I really like you.” 

“I hope so, or this is going to get really awkward.” 

You smile, but it fades quickly. “So where do we go from here?” 

“Like for dessert? Because I brought cake.” He isn’t even joking, pointing to an adorable little cake adorned with strawberries. 

“No,” you say. “I mean, me and you.” What are we? You can’t quite bring yourself to ask. 

“Oh, right,” he says, dropping his head. “I guess if you don’t want to date, that’s okay.” 

“What are you talking about?” You feel daring enough to catch his chin, lifting his head to look him in the eyes. “Jun, I’m trying to tell you that I want to date you.” 

“Oh.” He smiles. “Good. Me too.” 

Hearing the words out loud makes your head spin. You are about to let go of his chin but he leans closer, breath kissing your lips. 

“Is it noodle time?” You ask.

“Actually I’d like to try kissing you,” he says. You don’t trust yourself to answer so you nod. He lingers for a moment longer, flickering between your eyes and your lips before leaning closer, and you close your own eyes. He kisses you. 

And he is right: the noodles are really good. 

[star-going-supernova]

What if Vanessa is helping Gregory, after possessing Roxy, instead of being helped by Freddy. If you’re interested, this is the prompt:

Vanessa wakes feeling disoriented and light. She recalls Glitchtrap possessing her, but that’s it. Walking around to get a good idea of where she is, the sound of metal against glass stops her, eyes adjusting to the dark, she ceases movement after seeing what’s wrong.

We’re kicking off this new round of tumblr generated prompts with number 33! What a fun AU concept! 

Possession

Possessing a sentient, intelligent animatronic wasn’t so bad. Of course, Vanessa wouldn’t have thought that in the beginning—hell no. But it’d been… a while now, nearly a year, and she liked to think she’d grown a lot as a disembodied ghostly person. 

It helped that Roxy made for good company. She couldn’t imagine being trapped in Monty’s head with him. Yikes. 

She wasn’t positive on exactly how she came to be in this situation—a topic she spent a fair bit of free time mulling over. Other than some vague memories of a raspy, labored voice and a sense of slow-onset dissociation that took a month to wrench her from her own body, there was nothing. 

Her life before was perfectly clear: her childhood, school, her family. And everything since she first “woke up” in Roxy’s head was fine too.

It was just that last month that evaded her. Those weeks were faded, distant. Like they had happened to somebody else. 

“Good show,” she said to Roxy once the band finished up for the night and were heading back to their rooms. 

Roxy flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Of course it was!” But once they were alone and the programming that forced her to remain in character while in public spaces deactivated, Roxy stretched her arms and said, much softer and more genuine, “Thanks, Ness. Good to know you’re not bored of it yet.” 

She laughed. “You could never bore me, Roxy. And it’s always fun to see the audience from your eyes.” 

“Flatterer.” Roxy sprawled back on the couch with a purr better suited to a cat, arms laying along the top. “Tell me more.” 

Feeling indulgent in her good mood, Vanessa obliged. “I always like when you do that one move, where you sorta swing your keytar and your whole body follows. It’s very smooth.” 

“Aww, Vanessa, I—” Her whole body locked up for a second, like she’d received a tremendous shock. Tension immediately fell over both of them. 

Roxy sat up with a cross between a growl and a sigh. “It’s gonna be a rough night,” she muttered. “Sorry.” 

“You don’t ever have to apologize to me. Not about that,” Vanessa replied fiercely. “It’s not your choice, Roxy. It’s not your fault.” 

“Yeah, well. It’s hard to really believe that when I can feel it coming but can’t do a single thing about it.” 

Vanessa sagged in her digital, intangible confines. “I’ll keep trying,” she promised, ignoring how weak she sounded. 

“I’d rather you just retreat altogether and spare yourself,” Roxy snapped. She immediately sighed and shook her head. “No, sorry. I—I appreciate that you haven’t given up.” Her eyes began to flicker. 

“And I never will,” Vanessa swore in a rush. 

Roxy didn’t respond, but Vanessa hoped she’d heard her. When Roxy’s body stood up and marched toward the room’s exit, it was not under the power of Roxy herself or Vanessa. 

Another night with the virus. Another night where a child would meet a gruesome end at whatever animatronic got to them first. Another night for Vanessa to futilely try to take control of Roxy—to end the cycle of guilt her closest friend suffered from. 

Another night to fail. 

• • •

Vanessa had been in Roxy’s head for over a year when she finally managed the impossible. The virus slithered in, and Vanessa body-slammed it out the door. 

Roxy didn’t come back online, though. She stood there, blank. 

Tentatively, Vanessa tried to move. That was the hard part, actually, remembering how it felt to control a body. She stumbled along for a few minutes before getting the hang of it. Mostly. 

By then, the others had all already taken off to hunt down their newest prey. Except for Freddy, who’d still be locked in his room after his malfunction earlier. 

Which was why it was a huge surprise to Vanessa an hour later, when she ran into Freddy himself outside the bowling alley. He froze when he spotted her, eyes wide and unblinking. And that—that wasn’t normal behavior for an animatronic with the virus running rampant through them. That was just typical Freddy behavior when he got caught doing something he shouldn’t be. 

“Freddy?” she said incredulous. It would be obvious to him that it was her. When Vanessa borrowed Roxy’s voice box, it always sounded a little bit off. 

Sure enough, Freddy tilted his head, going from spooked to curious. “Vanessa?” His ears wiggled. “Oh! You have succeeded, then, in interrupting the virus’s signal! Is Roxy…?” 

“Out cold,” she said, actually apologetic. “But yeah, I’m in the driver’s seat tonight.” 

Mm, shame Roxy hadn’t heard that little pun. She’d have liked it. 

“I am myself as well,” Freddy said, as though it wasn’t perfectly obvious. “Ah—perhaps you could provide some assistance?” 

“With what? We’ve kinda got a kid to find and stop from getting ripped apart.” 

“About that…” Freddy’s stomach hatch hissed open, and a little boy glared out at her from the shadows of Freddy’s innards. Creepy. 

“That can’t be safe,” Vanessa blurted out. She was well familiar with the rules and regulations the animatronics had been programed with. 

“It is not technically allowed,” Freddy agreed, or perhaps admitted. She hadn’t taken him for a rule breaker. “But as I am disconnected from the server, many aspects of my programming are offline.” 

“And I’ll take my chances,” the kid growled, “if it’s this or getting ripped apart.” 

All right, so he had some bite to him. That gave him a better chance at surviving than most of his predecessors, who had been prone to freezing in fear and sobbing and definitely not taking the risk to climb into an animatronic’s chest cavity. Vanessa could see herself getting attached. Roxy too, and Freddy most certainly already was. 

“This is Gregory,” Freddy said. He reached down, allowing Gregory to take hold of his finger in a move that read as an offer of comfort. He was clearly well past fondness. “Superstar, this is Vanessa, who is a human—spirit, I suppose—possessing Roxy’s body. She can be trusted.” 

“That’s not gonna happen to me, right?” Gregory asked, wiggling Freddy’s hand. 

“No,” Vanessa nearly snarled. The mere thought of a child being subjected to this odd limbo made fury rise up in her, so much so that a warning flashed that Roxy’s body was in danger of overheating. “We’re not going to let that happen, all right? And if anyone tries, they’ll have to go through me.” 

Gregory nodded slowly, looking like he had a tiny bit more respect for her. 

This, this was what Vanessa had been hoping for from the very first time she tried to overpower the virus. The chance to get a kid out of the ’plex, alive. The chance to save even just one person from a terrible fate. The chance to give Roxy at least a little peace of mind with the promise that tonight, even if only on this one night, she had no blood on her hands. 

And for that to happen, they had work to do.

[adwox]

i dont really care for human AUs of mega man characters but a zerox-centric college AU is actually so funny to me

-X graduates at the top of his class is therefore able to shave one year off at college, so hes put in the sophomore year dorms and his roommate is zero

-zero only went to college cause his stupid dad WAS a professor at university, but he got shitcanned halfway through his first term cause wily publicly cursed zero out for not paying attention in class

-light ended up being wilys replacement, to which neither X nor zero knew about until one day during parents weekend they both arrive to their boys dorm room at the same time. and yes they are bitter exs just like in the real games

-zero is a trustfund baby i said what i said. he kind of does not gaf about college at all but he is a dedicated D1 athlete and does work on the campus coffee shop (its the only place he will actually end up doing his homework because he functions best in a loud environment)

-X is duel-majoring because light has subconsciously put a lot of pressure on him especially after his oldest sibling blues dropped out very early on. rock never went to college because seeing what blues went through kind of freaked him out. roll plans on attending one day but is currently working to save up money first and also she just kind of doesnt feel like it yet. X is the worlds first youngest sibling to have eldest daughter syndrome

-despite being in the same graduating class, zero is still technically older, so X looks up to him as an upperclassmen. zero does feel an obligation to show him the ropes so he does look after him for a good while during X's first semester but he soon realizes firsthand just how capable he is

(non-hard drug talk below)

-neither of them ironically share vices, since they both make the respective other anxious. X is a wake and bake kind of guy, zero is a Drinks black coffee an hour before midnight person

-X only recently tried coffee again because zero made him a lavender latte specifically for him. even tho it was decaf, X still felt like his heart was about to jump out of his throat which he felt SO bad about since he knew zero specifically made it for him. and this happened within the first week of the term so they hadnt known each other that well, so X was very very embarrassed knowing zero was just watching him shake like a little leaf. though zero found it all rather amusing

-zero never smoked before because bass was a chronic smoker and it kind of turned him off since they didnt really get along for a while (theyre on much better terms now, they soulbond over wily causing them grief these days). X offers to roll for zero on the very first weekend cause in his mind X is like: college sophomore, how to get on good terms? offer free weed. Unfortunately a few hits in zero is white-knuckling his kneecaps and doing everything in his power not to throw up. he learned the hard way then and there that he is too paranoid for that shit, and while X felt so incredibly guilty for a while, he did feel it let them both become closer faster since zero did need to let his guard down to let X take care of him that evening

(end drug talk)

-X goes to every game zero is in (i really like the idea of the sport zero plays being hockey but idk if theres D1 hockey teams in college Lol) despite knowing nothing about the sport rules

-X finds out vile is actually on the same sports team as zero which is SO awkward for him since they had VERY briefly dated before X realized just how incompatible they were. whenever vile puts two and two together about who X's roommate is, let it be known he will be scheming........

-X joins the improv club because he feels he struggles a lot with making decisions on the fly, but to his surprise hes very great at adapting to other people! zero, who kind of used to think it was a rather silly club, ends up sitting in on some of their performances and finds it quite endearing

-also the first bonding moment X and zero have is when zero notices X hang up a photo of rush on their corkboard and is like: "oh shit i like your dog. i have one too. (shows photo of treble) i mean technically hes my older brothers but hes the only one that cares to make that distinction." X responds immediately full of newfound excitement: "no way, i have an older brother too! well, two of them. and an older sister.... but since i was the last one to leave the house, i always felt like i was taking care of them whenever theyd come back." IMMEDIATE soul bonding over family dynamics ensue

[qqueenofhades]

as a young person who is also very fed up with online leftists, it’s so frustrating because i do understand where a lot of my peers are coming from. i was born in 99 and i feel like american politics has just been nightmare after nightmare throughout my life. we weren’t quite old enough to understand what obama was up against during his presidency, and when we did finally start tuning into politics, it was during the trump era of clownery and everything has just felt so much more panicked and urgent (a lot of which is manufactured, i’m aware) since. i understand people being sick of things taking so long to change, i am too, i just don’t know how they think not voting or claiming both sides suck (which diminishes how dangerous the gop is) is going to put us in a better position. they may think it sucks right now under biden but it sucked a lot more under trump and would suck even worse if the gop took the presidency in 2024

Like... yes, to an extent, I understand. You guys came of age right when things really went off the rails with Obama Derangement Syndrome, everything got a lot worse and a lot scarier overnight, and it felt like the current system was so laughably inadequate for the problems at hand that of course it needed huge and immediate changes. Which, like! I'm not disagreeing! I wake up every day and I see something else terrible and/or stupid has happened and I occasionally just wish for the meteor too! But I am also a grownup who recognizes that that's not going to actually fix anything, and that life beyond echo-chamber leftist Twitter exists. So yes, we all have the "just give in and blow it up" moments. But that's... not actually a political strategy, certainly not a humane one, and it continues to baffle and infuriate me that that's just Online Leftist staple rhetoric.

I know that it can be difficult for people of any age, but particularly young people, to conceptualize anything outside of their own lived experiences/personal memories, and yes, you have the misfortune of coming of age in a particularly bad political moment. Again, nobody's denying this! But if someone's response to that is to insist that only they know anything "true," history and/or culture and/or the besetting problems of America for its entire 250-year existence either aren't real or could have been solved by the Democrats already if they just Tried Hard Enough, then those of us who know better are under no obligation to take this BS seriously. It gets even worse when these people start acting like they're the only authority to ever be trusted, everyone else is wrong and/or evil, and their twisted immature ideal of "revolution!" is the only way forward.

Humans, and human society, politics, culture, history, etc., are complicated. The world does not exist in a neat black-and-white, zero-sum moral vacuum where one choice is totally right and the other is totally wrong. Attempts to impose the Most Correct Ideology, of whatever stripe, have always ended terribly and done a lot of avoidable damage. But "things got really bad in four years and Biden hasn't fixed that + every other problem in America since its founding, therefore he and the Democrats are actually worse than Trump!" is just straight-up clown magical thinking, and it offers absolutely nothing useful for anyone, especially those who sanctimoniously claim to want to fix it. So, yeah.

[vizthedatum]

I’m fatigued but keep waking up.

My mind is swirling with thoughts of all my creative projects. Projects that make life worthwhile.

And of visions of my children - I want a family so badly.

But also? Ever since I’ve been intentionally thinking about partnering myself and what it’s like to partner me… I think about the person I’m dating and the person I would also love to date in addition to her. (I’m poly)

I am not partners with my girlfriend. But I love her. We are dating. I’m so thankful for our friendship, of our slow burn relationship, of her sweetness, of her brilliance, of her process of finding her way. I absolutely love the pace we are taking things. I have much to learn about her, and I know that I want to be friends no matter what.

I’m so grateful I’m friends with my two ex-gfs from last year - it feels so much more aligned that way. I love them a great deal.

And if that other person ever was interested? I’d want to date them and understand if we are truly compatible. I’d want a slow pace for that relationship too. At least, before diving into partnership.

Sigh. What DOES partnership mean to me? Beyond dating??

I’m admittedly afraid of how little I have to give. I’m worn out from my past - I gave too much or I wasn’t valued for who I am. I know this is just a feeling - I know that I’m human and that my love is everything. And from others? I think I want alignment, intention, and emotional availability more than anything.

Since I’m only partners with myself now, these are my current thoughts:

I think it means, looking at myself, accepting the person for where they’re at… and figuring out how lives can interact without suffocating the other. Actually collaborating and setting aside the time to figure it out.

Being okay with respective capacities.

It means, having long-term plans of living together or at least some of the time… regular visits at the bare minimum. Knowing that my home is theirs, and their home is mine.

Combined community building. I wanna meet their family and friends.

Knowing that someone has your back. And I have theirs.

Knowing that if you needed me, I’d be there. And vice versa.

Supporting you and your dreams.

Accepting disabilities and limitations. Knowing that life is chaotic. Knowing that life is hard to plan but there is a higher plan (I’d want my partner to be spiritual in some way).

Emotionally safe and regulated.

Not defensive, doesn’t lash out against me when triggered. Can share feelings respectfully even if hurt by my actions.

Peace when we are together. Repair if there is conflict.

Not forcing things - I want them to WANT to do this with me. (Not for me out of obligation that they later feel resentful about)

Matching compatible sexual companions along with intentional romance. So much travel. So much food. So much rest.

Having a joy for wanting to explore life on this planet - a streak for hedonism coupled with practical responsibility.

[sickfics-for-days]

Oversleeping (And other cardinal sins)

They’d been caught out in the open, the storm rolling in suddenly without warning. Grog, bless him, had tried to shield them from the worst of the wind, but there was nothing to be done about the driving rain. In no time, everyone was soaked through. By the time they stumbled into the next town, their feet were covered in mud, all their supplies were swimming in their packs, and the only thing anyone could think of was getting warm and dry.

Understandably, the small roadside inn was packed with other travelers in a similar position, so they had to share two rooms among themselves. Pike and Scanlan chose to room with Grog, leaving Percy with the three half-elves. Each room only had two beds, so naturally the twins agreed to share theirs, while Percy allowed Keyleth the remaining bed and laid his bedroll by the fireplace in an attempt to dry it while they got food.

The food was warm, and while that was about all that could be said about it, the group was too tired to really care. Their spare clothes had been laid out to dry, but for now they were stuck being wet and muddy. Before long, they began trickling back up to their rooms, with Keyleth and Percy leaving first. Neither said much, and soon both were fast asleep. Neither so much as stirred when the twins came in, completely dead to the world.

The next morning, everyone was slow to get moving. The sky outside their windows was still gray and overcast, humidity hanging thick in the air. The clothes by the glowing coals seemed to be dray at least, so getting dressed wasn’t wholly depressing. However, as everyone gathered for breakfast, they realized that they were missing one person.

“Where’s Percy?” Pike asked.

“Still asleep,” Vas shrugged. “Didn’t care to deal with a ruffled noble if I tried to wake him.”

“He’d better wake up soon.” Vex commented. “I, for one, would like to get out of here and to someplace where we can actually dry out. I feel like a wet cat.”

Once everyone had finished and there was still no sign of Percy, Vax stood up. “Enough is enough. I’m going to get him.”

Ten minutes later, Vax strode back into the dining area, half-dragging a stumbling Percy, who was still trying to button his shirt.

“Found him,” he said curtly. “And,” he glanced over, “since Percy here found sleeping to be so much more important than the rest of us, he can settle up.”

Percy straightened, looking around to see if anyone disagreed with Vax’s statement. Seeing nothing but annoyance on everyone’s faces, he sighed, hiked his clumsily packed bag higher, and went to settle the tab.

Percy was not having a good day. He’d spent the night sleeping fitfully, the hard floor leaving his muscles aching, and alternating between overheating too close to the fire and freezing once he rolled away. It was no surprise he’d overslept, waking to a foot pushing firmly into the aching muscles between his shoulder blades, and an annoyed, “Time to get up, your highness. We don’t all have the day to sleep away.”

He'd packed quickly, still half asleep. As he’d stumbled on button his shirt, Vax had reached the end of his patience. He’d shoved the packed bag at him before abruptly pulling him downstairs where the others had been waiting. Their displeasure had been apparent, and he quickly paid for their stay in order to not delay their departure any longer.

Now it was midmorning, and part of his brain still felt asleep, wrapped in an exhausted fog. It hadn’t taken long for him to fall to the back of the group, though he was doing his best not to fall far enough behind that the others would feel obliged to stop and wait for him to catch up. However, even that pace had his heart racing, legs uncharacteristically uncoordinated. It felt like he had tripped over every dip in the road, and he could only be grateful they were on an open stretch of road. Walking through the forest, he surely would’ve fallen many times by now.

A few more hours passed in a haze of watching the path, the reacting too slowly and tripping over the obstacle anyway. Once he had actually fallen, hitting his knees hard and barely catching himself with his hands. For a long minute he had debated whether getting up was worth the effort. His heart was pounding, underlying the ringing in his ears as his vision grayed at the edges. After several deep breaths, he finally mustered both the strength and the will to get up and continue on. The others were far ahead at this point, so no one had noticed the mishap.

As the sun reached its peak, Percy found himself sweating under his still-damp shirt and overcoat. He tugged at his collar, trying to relieve the oppressive heat, but with little success. Surely they would stop soon for a meal? Though, it was possible with their late start that they would simply press on until nightfall. It was just as well, just the thought of trying to choke down their trail rations made his stomach roll. Where were they even headed? He had a vague notion of taking some kind of job, perhaps bounty hunting? But, for the life of him he could not remember if they were heading out or had already completed the task and were returning home. He hoped they were going home. His legs ached from the repeated stumbles and trips he had caught himself on, and the oppressive heat made his lungs feel as if they couldn’t quite get enough air. Perhaps, if he could catch up to the others, they might agree to a short break.

We don’t all have the day to sleep away.

Vax’s voice echoed in his mind. Right, of course. They all had things to do, responsibilities to attend to. No need to delay any further on his account. Looking up, he could just see Grog’s head disappearing behind the next hill. Immediately, his distraction was punished as he tripped over his own feet, barely keeping himself upright.

The sun was low in the sky, and Percy had long since lost track of time. Now when he tripped, he almost always ended up on the ground. Each time it became increasingly harder to convince himself to get back up, but Vax’s mocking annoyance had always spurred him on. His world was now just one foot in front of the other. Grass, stone, dirt, and pain. His muscles had only locked up more with each progressive fall, and the sweat that had drenched him all day now made him shiver in the cool of the evening. As his foot caught once more on seemingly nothing, he braced himself for the now-familiar impact. This time though, his arms buckled under his weight, and he collapsed into the dirt. The ground rocked slightly underneath him, and the relief of the weight being taken off his aching legs made the hard ground feel better than the softest mattress the realm had to offer. Without meaning to, he closed his eyes and drifted into welcoming darkness.

He woke to someone shaking his shoulder, but what he first noticed was the bone-chilling cold. His body shook, hard and painful on his abused muscles, but it didn’t change the feeling of ice forming inside him. Desperately, he curled tighter, grasping at the lapels of his jacket to try and pull it closer. Someone shook his shoulder again, making as if to pull him upright.

“…got to get up.” He heard from far away.

Images flashed through his mind of Vax’s annoyance, hurried packing, and being pulled… The hand grabbed his arm, and he shot up, scrambling backward even as the unfolded position caused him to shiver harder.

“I’m up, I’m coming!” He tried to reassure Vax. “No need to pull me around, I’m on my way.”

His arms gave out from under him as he tried to stand, but after a few tries he managed to gain his feet. Immediately, he looked around for his pack, but it was difficult to see through the black spots covering his vision. He found himself back on the ground, palms and wrists aching from an impact he did not remember. Hands were back on his shoulders, and he weakly tried to dislodge them, shivers making coordination difficult. “No, no pulling. I’m coming, I swear.”

“…easy darling…want to help.” The voice the he could barely make out over the heartbeat thudding in his ears was gentler than Vax’s had been. And, it didn’t sound angry? Blinking hard, Percy looked up, eyes catching on a familiar blue feather.

“…Vex?” he asked weakly.

Then from behind her he saw Vax, face angry, reaching for him. Flinching, he tried to scramble backwards again, only for his wrists to give out, landing him flat on his back. The world spun nauseatingly around him, making it difficult to tell which way was up.

“Please,” he whimpered. “I-I’m coming, I just… just need…”

The darkness took him before he could figure out what it was exactly that he needed.

He woke in his own bed, shoving the blankets to try and escape the sweltering heat. In doing so, a wet cloth fell off his forehead, landing on the floor. It was then that he noticed the others, all asleep in various places around the room or in the doorway. Directly in front of him, face lined with exhaustion, was Vax, head resting in his hand as he balanced precariously on a stool.

“Vax?” Percy rasped, surprised to find his voice mostly gone.

“It’s alright,” Vax recited, exhaustion lacing his words. “We’re not going anywhere, you can rest.”

“What? What’s going on? How did I get here?” Percy moved to sit up, biting back a hiss of pain when his shoulders and wrists protested.

At that, Vax sat up, looking him over. “Percy?” he asked cautiously. “Are you with me now?”

“Err, yes? At least, it seems that way.” Percy replied, more confused than ever.

Vax slumped forward in relief, laying his head on the mattress. “Thank the heavens. Weren’t sure for a while there is you were gonna make it.”

A few minutes passed, and Percy wasn’t sure that Vax hadn’t just fallen asleep on the spot, but then he straightened back up. Resting the back of his hand briefly against Percy’s cheek, he stood up. “Here, let me get you some water. Your fever still hasn’t broken yet.”

On his way out of the room, he tapped Keyleth lightly on the shoulder. “He’s awake. Can you sit with him while I get a glass of water?”

Keyleth sat up quickly, instantly alert. “He’s awake?” She picked her way over to the bed, careful not to step on Scanlan sleeping on the floor, and plopped down on the recently vacated stool.

“Percy! It’s nice to see you awake. Well, you’ve been awake before, but nice that you recognize us now,” she babbled.

Percy winced as the words tumbling over themselves fuled a headache he hadn’t fully registered that he had. “Easy, slow down,” he croaked.

“Right, sorry.” Keyleth took a deep breath, visibly calming herself down.

As a comfortable silence settled between them, Percy shifted to lay back down. Even sitting up was exhausting. “What happened?” he asked, closing his eyes.

“Well, what do you remember?” He felt the mattress dip as Keyleth leaned on it.

Percy tried to think. “I remember oversleeping. We all set out, and I fell behind. I think..” he wrinkled his forehead, chasing foggy memories. “I… fell?”

“Yeah,” she confirmed, voice suddenly hesitant in a way that made him open his eyes again. She fiddled nervously with her hair as she continued. “We did let you fall behind. I swear I didn’t think you were that far! We were annoyed that you slept in at the beginning, and then the sun came out and it was such a nice day, and Vex really wanted to get back and dry our stuff…” She paused, looking down at the floor. “By the time we got to the city gates, we realized no one had seen you all afternoon. Vex took Trinket to go see where you were. She found you curled up next to the road, burning up with a fever. You didn’t recognize her or anything. Trinket carried you home, and we’ve all been taking turns trying to bring your fever down.”

Percy wanted to reach out, to comfort his obviously distraught friend, but all he could manage was to rest his hand over hers. Blinking heavily through the exhaustion that was quickly pulling him under, he managed to slur, “I’m sure…you did…your best.”

The next time he woke, things were difficult to make sense of. One minute he swore he was back on the ground, desperately trying to summon the strength to get back up. The next, someone was shaking his shoulders, Vax’s voice telling him to stop being so lazy, it was time to go. He tried to get up, he really did, but each movement made all his muscles thrum in agony, arms and wrists refusing to take his weight. The sun beat down, burning him from the inside out. He didn’t want to be left out here for the scavengers to find and tear at his flesh. He felt helpless, unable to stop himself from calling out to his friends, begging them not to leave him behind. However, there was nothing he could do as they disappeared into the darkness without so much as looking back.

Something cold and wet on his face woke him. Every muscles ached, and the idea of moving was daunting as exhaustion threatened to pull him back into sleep. Then he felt a drop of water run down the side of his face and into his ear. He tried to ignore it, but as another two drops followed the same path, beginning a puddle, he was forced to roll over, dislodging  the cloth, to rub the water away.

“Percy?” Grog’s voice rumbled, soft as Percy had ever heard it. “You awake?”

Still not wanting to open his eyes, Percy hummed non-committally.

“Well if you are,” Grog continued. “I’ve got some water here you’re supposed to drink.”

Thinking about it, Percy realized that his throat was painfully dry. It took a minute, but he summoned the energy to both open his eyes and attempt to sit up. His arms failed him pretty quickly, but Grog’s strong hand slipped behind him, helping support him. Before Percy knew it, he had been propped up on several pillows and was being handed a glass of water. His hand shook, but he managed several small sips, relishing the coolness against his throat. After a few more, the water began sitting heavily on his stomach, so he handed it back to Grog.

“Do you need anything?” he asked, setting it down on the ground.

“Not right now.” Percy’s eyes slid closed. “I didn’t know you had a bedside manner.”

“Well yeah,” Grog adjusted the pillows back down, carefully lowering Percy with them. “Pop Pop and Pikey would sick sometimes, and I helped out until they got better.”

With that mental image, Percy slipped into a rest that was finally peaceful and dreamless.

Next time he woke, Vax was back on the stool. There were still deep shadows under his eyes, but overall he looked better than the last time Percy had seen him. Eventually he looked up, meeting Percy’s sleepy gaze.

“You’re awake,” he stated, sounding almost resigned.

“Somewhat,” Percy agreed, too comfortable to want to move.

“Look,” Vax began, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m sorry about how I treated you, back at the inn. It’s not like you to oversleep, and I should’ve checked on you.”

More awake now, Percy pushed himself upright, noting that his muscles didn’t ache the way they had been. “It’s quite alright. Everyone was in poor spirits that morning. I can’t say that in your position I wouldn’t have done the same.”

“No hard feelings then?” Vax asked, surprised.

“Not from me,” Percy confirmed. “Though, if you really wanted to do something to make up for it, I could do with a sandwich.”

As if to punctuate the statement, he stomach growled loudly, causing Vax to crack a tired smile.

“Well, your fever’s broken, so I’d say some food is well past due. Hold tight, and I’ll be back with that sandwich.”

[toomanyplotbunnies-sendhelp]

Hello and welcome to Day 7 of "Let's Explore My Plot Bunnies"

Sorry for posting this a bit late today, I was busy, and the idea was a bit complicated to put in words. (Don't you love when your brain gives you only vivid images but abandons you when you need to describe them? Yeah, me too)

The fic idea I wanna explore today is actually a collab fanfic between me and my friend @yokomisaki.

This is a Canon Divergence AU for Naruto that both of us came up with around *checks notes* July 13th, 2023. It actually started with me saying that "Shiranui Genma is definitely a motherhen to anybody that he deems in need of motherhening" and that evolved into "Shiranui Genma would make a great Jounin Sensei" before it settled into "Make Shiranui Genma a Jonin Sensei and then throw Naruto at him cause god, does the kid need someone like him in his life".

I came up with a title for this fic, and we already started writing it. I have done a small part of the prologue so far, but we have chapters planned out (just not written out yet).

Title of the fic:

"The late dog always barks at the closed door"

(Yes, it is a jab at Kakashi's habit of being late. Is it mean of me to do this? Yes. Do I care? Not really. I feel he needs a bit of a reality check for that; like, you can be late for your own personal meetings but NOT FOR A FREAKING OFFICIAL MEETING)

Synopsis/Description:

Shiranui Genma is many things, but he is not a teacher. At least not until the Hokage decides that, in the wake of one Jounin Sensei's death, he is to take a team of 3 freshly graduated children under his wing. The good news is that he is not obligated to pass them. The bad news is that he actually likes the brats - despite the fact that he knows only headaches will follow him now.

In the one year he had the brats for a lot changed, including what one of his students wanted to do with her life as a shinobi. Now, Genma is required to get a new Gennin to make up for the student (and she is still his student dammit; no official paper will ever change that) that decided to pursue the career of "not-battle active medic-nin".

When it was time for him to choose, he recognized a certain hyperactive blonde as part of the rooster he could choose from - which is weird since Hatake seems to want him. So then why was not the kid already spoken for?

After some consideration, Genma came up with his answer.

"Hokage-sama, I want to take Uzumaki Naruto as the new member for Team 3."

Some details:

I know Team 3 is supposed to be Might Guy, Neji Hyuuga, Tenten, and Rock Lee; however, I have always believed them to be team 9, so it is really hard for me to correct that belief. Thus, just for the sake of my brain, Genma's team is Team 3, while Guy's team is team 9.

This fic will have (so far) 4 OCs: Kawamura Chizuru (Part of Team 3 - retires from active duty but is still considered part of the team by Genma); Nomura Akira (Part of Team 3); Higashi Kyoka (Part of Team 3); Sakaki Ichirou (the boy that takes Naruto's place in team 7)

Yes, at Naruto's graduation team, because he also got to graduate, there was one person that would have to be put in another team as the numbers wouldn't add up (think instead of 21 kids aka 7 teams of 3, there are 22 kids that graduated)

We have most of the plot for the OG series already thought out; the Shippuden part is more complicated (because of what we do with the pervious part)

Naruto is getting the darn support system that he is in need of in this AU

And I am not overlooking Sasuke either. Without Naruto around to push him, Sasuke will realize that he is pretty much isolated (thank you Konoha Elders and Teacher from the Akademy (Not Iruka), you did a fantastic job *note the sarcasm*). Cause really, the main reason why it didn't look like Sasuke was isolated by others (and instead it showed he chose isolation) is because Naruto is like 10 people in one presence-wise. And because I am taking Naruto away from the picture, I raise you this idea: Get Raidou (or any competent adult) to interact with Sasuke. Sasuke needs more competent adults in his life at this point

Everyone - and I mean EVERYONE - is getting character development. Even just some characters that appear for a few times. And I am dragging Kakashi from his brooding corner, kicking and screaming if I have to. (And yes, that includes villains, too. *looks at my brain planned storyline* And summons get the same treatment as well)

Another thing: Political Sub-plot. Ya think that with all the importance they put on, not only rank but missions that get you in different countries, this show would have more political talk; but no. So we are bringing Naruto into politics. Inter-village Politics, to be precise. Naruto, prepare your Talk no Jutsu.

Also, Fuuinjutsu Made-Up Theory Stuff. Just because I can and I will (I am in charge of Fuuinjitsu stuff). Genma is making Naruto learn them from scratch.

We are addressing the fact that the Shinobi Academy of Konoha was turned into a "civilian playground" because of the Konoha Elders. (It's way worse than you can think if Genma makes Naruto re-learn stuff from zero) - there is no way any fight will have some bullshit pop-quiz about History or Chakra Theory. How in the world are those kids alive?

We also have Orochimaru Plot™️. A whole ton of it too.

We also get into the "Preparation to Take a Life on the Battlefield" thing. Because people there seem to not do it anymore. Like, get the kids to kill animals in the wild after catching them. Is it hard? Yes. But THEY NEED THE DAMN EXPERIENCE SO THEY DON'T FREEZE UP AS BADLY IN COMBAT.

Get Naruto into the Tactical Thinking. Not because he is Shikamaru Level at it; but because he is good at surprising the enemy. So Naruto's shenanigans + some tactician lessons = Perfect Combo for Ambush.

Naruto and Kurama interact earlier. And, while it won't be that much better than the beginning of their friendship in the anime, we are getting the friendship a lot faster this time.

Finally, Team 3, being trained by Genma, starts to pick up having Senbons on them. It's like their "mark" as Genma's kids. (Genma is so proud)

This is all I have currently (mostly because it's late at night here, and I am losing my thought process). I will also post what I have written from the Prologue after this is posted, so look forward to that.

So, what do you think? Good? Bad?

I will see you guys later. Take care and have a great day/night!

- TooManyPlotBunnies-Send Help

[thesugarclubs-blog]

The Family Dinner - AU Bucky Barnes x OC

warnings: family drama, manipulative mother, protective Bucky Barnes

word count: 7.5k

WP: https://www.wattpad.com/1287697212-the-family-dinner-hazel

Masterlist

Leaves fell onto the windshield of Hazel's car as she stared up the driveway to her parent's house, the heat filtering through the vents trying its best to provide comfort. The November air was biting, almost as frigid as some of the family she was going to encounter inside the brick two-story house ahead. She laid her head on the steering wheel and took several deep breaths to hopefully alleviate her rising anxiety. 

Every year it was the same routine: eat dinner with her family, withstand hours of passive-aggressive comments on everything from her love life to her hair, drink way too much cheap wine from the local grocery store, and pass out in her childhood bedroom on the verge of tears. It frustrated her endlessly, but it was her family and the obligation to see them this time of year was ingrained in her from the moment she moved away for college. 

"You know, we don't have to do this," a husky voice said from the passenger seat. 

Hazel opened one eye and peeked at her best friend through a curtain of wavy dark hair. 

"Easy for you to say, Buck. You aren't gonna be the one who gets forty phone calls asking how I could be so inconsiderate for not showing up," Hazel mumbled. "This is going to suck so hard." 

Bucky reached over and squeezed her knee, waking up the butterflies in Hazel's stomach. She first met him moving into her first apartment, the quiet neighbor who had overflowing bookshelves and the sweetest cat she'd ever met. Alpine was actually the reason they became friends at all. Hazel spent weeks thinking she was leaving food out for a stray when in reality the snowy fluffball was hustling the new girl. Bucky thought it was hilarious, invited her in for coffee, and they had been inseparable ever since. 

"Well, lucky for you, your incredibly real boyfriend is coming with you to help dodge any unwanted questions or comments," he replied with a smirk, blue eyes more mischievous than she was used to.  "So, shall we, sweetheart?" 

Hazel couldn't help but give him a small smile. It was impossible not to like Bucky. He radiated something warm and comforting, something that she found herself daydreaming about more and more often. It's how she came up with their scheme to begin with. Her family can't harass her about being single if she has the perfect boyfriend at her side. It's selfish and indulgent, but she needed something to get her through. Fake dating your handsome best friend is definitely something she planned to leave out of her next therapy appointment.

"Okay, fine," she replied with a sigh, unbuckling her seatbelt. "But if anyone says I need to lose a little weight, I will throw that turkey in the fucking yard."

Bucky threw his head back against the headrest with a laugh. Her smile grew as she admired the scrunch of his nose and the crinkle around his eyes. 

“I’ll be right there to hike the turkey to ya on your mark.” he voiced softly, a soft reassuring smile now on his face. 

Hazel let out a chuckle and whispered a *thank you* before she watched him slip out of the passenger seat and round the car to her side. He opened the door for her and reached his hand out for hers, giving it a soft squeeze when their fingers locked together.

She touched his hand a few times but today when his skin touched hers it felt different.

Like a spark that ran through her body. 

Bucky is your best friend

Hazel shook her thought as she climbed out of the car, her hand never leaving his grip until they stood on the stoop of the stairs of the house Hazel grew up in.

Hazel’s gaze fell on the autumnal wreath hanging on the door, a DIY project no doubt. Twinkling lights, snaking through orange leaves and pine cones, blurring in her vision. 

“Are you gonna ring the doorbell?” Bucky’s rumbling voice sounded out beside her, laced with a hint of amusement. Hazel felt his fingers link with hers again, the cool vibranium soothing her clammy palms as he squeezed gently. 

“I was getting to it,” she replied, looking up at him with a playful scowl.

"They can't be that bad, darlin'," Bucky whispered.

"They are, Buck. They're--"

Suddenly, the door opened and the high-pitched grating voice of her mother rang through the quiet neighborhood like a car alarm. Hazel was hit with the unmistakable smell of turkey and spices. It should have triggered a smile, but instead, all she felt was anxiety.

"You finally decided to turn up! Why were you just standing there?! You know the doorbell works, right?" She barked.

Hazel and Bucky exchanged a look and Bucky drew in a deep breath before sticking out his hand with a big, beaming smile. Ever the gentleman to save her from this absolute hell she was about to endure.

"James Barnes,"  he said softly, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Hazel's told me so much about you."

Her mother's eyes widened before she slowly shook his hand. 

“That’s funny. Hazel told me almost nothing about you. Five days ago I didn’t even know she had a boyfriend-“

“Mom. Please.” Hazel knew her mom was a nice person, but around Thanksgiving, she was stressed and her mouth had no filter. 

Her mother took a deep breath, followed by a kind smile. “James…what a lovely name. I’m Mrs. Davis, Hazel's mother. Why don’t you come in?”

She took a step aside to let them into Hazel's childhood home.

“Thank you,” Bucky rasped with a smirk, taking a step forward. 

Hazel hesitated for a moment, forcing the growing weighted ball in her stomach back out of her throat. Bucky stepped ahead of her, his hand giving a light squeeze as he gently tugged her inside. 

She could feel her mother's gaze boring into them as they removed their coats, watching even the slightest of moves as Bucky helped peel the wool from her shoulders. When she turned back to her mother, a firm thin smile plastered over her face. 

“You two are… cute.” She forced. 

Hazel felt the weight of Bucky’s metal arm slide around her shoulders as he pulled her close, “We try to be.” He mused, pressing a kiss into the side of her hair, making a show of it. A small tiny wave of relief washed over her that he was here as a buffer but something else flooded her system feeling his this close. 

Her mother narrowed her eyes for just a moment before stepping past them and down the main hallway.

“Well come on you two, everyone has been waiting on you," she said, the last words pointed towards Hazel. 

Bucky leaned in, the warmth of his breath heating the chill she felt from this house. 

"She seems lovely.” 

Hazel scoffed a laugh as they made their way toward the voices and laughter.

The kitchen in Hazel's mother's house was spacious and well-kept. It had a modern feel to it, despite the vintage look of the rest of the house, yet still felt very homely.

Hazel glanced around at the faces around the table, nodding and smiling at everybody as her mother ushered her and Bucky into the room. Her breath caught as her gaze landed on one person - her mother's creepy older brother.

"Hazel, you remember your Uncle Donald, don't you dear?"

Donald stood up from the table to give Hazel a hug that lingered far too long for her liking, his hands resting dangerously close to the bottom of her waist. He smelled of stale cigars and she was glad when he finally pulled away to shake Bucky's hand.

Donald's voice boomed and his stocky build rumbled as he spoke.

"Nice to meet you, James. My friends call me Donny."

He winked not-so-subtly at Hazel and she felt bile rise in the back of her throat.

Bucky put a protective arm around Hazel's shoulder as he released Donald's hand.

"Bucky," he responded simply, his lips set in a firm line.

Hazel and Bucky took their seats at the table and Bucky gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Turning her head to face him she caught his eye and he gave her a pointed look. She understood exactly what he was saying, they’d been best friends long enough for that.

With a raise of her eyebrow and a subtle tilt of her head she let him know that she was alright, annoyed, but alright. She saw Bucky’s jaw clench as he turned back to his dinner and something fluttered in her chest. 

“So Hazel,” her Mother’s acerbic voice cut across the table, “please remind me about how you met your…boyfriend."

Hazel took a deep breath and ran her hand into her dark hair, plastering on her best fake smile as she turned towards her mother. 

"Bucky lives in my building. We had seen each other here and there in the elevator but hadn't really spoken until his little cat brought us together. I thought I was being nice and feeding a stray, turns out she was vetting the new girl on the floor." 

She let out a small genuine laugh when she turned to see a smile on Bucky's lips. "I tracked Alpine down to this man's apartment and we've kind of.. been inseparable ever since" 

It was nice not having to lie about something. She loved the story of their friendship, and Alpine still came by her place for food now and then. 

Anne clicked her tongue and shook her head.

"I guess that's what happens when you feed strays...they never leave," she mumbled, pulling some snickers from the aunts standing next to her. 

Hazel clenched her knuckles, just as about she was about to open her mouth Bucky grabbed her thigh, giving it a soft, reassuring squeeze. 

“I think what your mother meant to say was,” her father Ted said, staring the woman down. "That's a nice story, Hazel,” he added. 

Her mothers scoffed before dramatically rolling her eyes. “And what is it you do for a living, Jason?” 

“James. My name’s James” he replied bluntly.

"Bucky works for...the government," Hazel squeaked out, trying her best to not reveal too much about her friend too soon without his consent. It wasn't her story to tell. 

"Holy shit, I thought I recognized you!" her father exclaimed, admiration painted all over his face. "I saw you on the news a while back, with the new Captain America. Sam Wilson, right? Very impressive, what you two did in New York." 

Hazel watched a crimson tinge spread across Bucky’s neck and ears as he huffed out a laugh. 

"It's nothin', but thank you, sir," he replied bashfully and Hazel felt like her heart was going to burst. 

"All those types of people do is damage property and never take responsibility," Hazel's aunt scoffed as she took a large gulp of wine. 

Hazel leaned over to Bucky as the rest of the table chattered incessantly, agreeing with her ignorant aunt while her father looked on in embarrassment.

"Sorry, they are the worst," she murmured sadly, feeling a lump forming in her throat.

His fingers tangled in hers under the table as he gave her a soft smile. Pulling her hand up, Bucky kissed the back of it, his slightly chapped lips raising goosebumps on her skin. 

"But you're not and that's what matters," Bucky whispered gratefully.

Hazel swallowed heavily, a swirl of emotions in her and she squeezed Bucky’s hand. He squeezed back and she took a deep breath, turning back to the table as her mother spoke. 

“Absolutely ridiculous how they take all the credit and none of the blame! I suppose you’re different though?” 

Bucky’s hand clenched, still held in Hazel’s and she opened her mouth but he beat her to it. 

“Credit and blame are two sides of the same coin I flip daily.“

She turned to look at him and his eyes were downcast, fixated on their locked hands sitting on his lap. Hazel felt terrible, he shouldn't have to endure this or have to defend himself just because she couldn’t handle her family alone. Before she could even say something to him she heard her father clear his throat. 

"You're a good man, James. And you're doing good things." 

Hazel met her father's gaze with teary eyes and mouthed a thank you. 

"Oh Ted, enough, for the love of Christ." her mother groaned from the other end of the table. Rolling her eyes before looking straight at Hazel. 

"Hazel, honey, have you looked over those job listings I've sent you?" 

Hazel took a deep breath focusing on the way Bucky's thumb grazed the top of her hand softly. Their holds grew tighter, with no plans of letting go of the other's hand in sight.

"Thank you, Mr. Davis," Bucky said, his eyes snapping to her father's kind face. 

"Please, call me Ted,"  the man retorted as his eyes flashed to Hazel and then to his wife, a stern look etched on his face. "Anne, stop. Just let us enjoy this dinner with our daughter and her boyfriend." 

As soon as those words left Ted's mouth, Anne countered with a venomous stare.

“Boyfriend,” Anne scoffed, rolling her eyes. “The girl can barely commit to a magazine subscription.” 

Hazel dropped her head, picking up her fork to stab at a carrot as a deathly silence fell across the table. Bucky’s hand moved to the back of her neck, delicate fingers tickling over her skin. Her cheeks flushed warm at the intimate touch and she chanced a glance at him, heart rate spiking when he whispered a soft “I’ve got you, sweetheart” to her.

“Dig in, everyone,” Ted beamed, a soft smile sent to his daughter. “Before it gets any colder in here.”

Hazel's eyes brimmed with tears as her dad offered a sympathetic look. He never stood up to Anne, at least not in "public." 

"It looks great, Mrs. Davis," Bucky said as they began to dish up their food. 

Anne merely gave a small "hmph" in response. Hazel caught Bucky's jaw ticking the same way it did when Sam would start ribbing him about something. Hazel scooped extra mashed potatoes onto her plate and her mother gave her the side eye. She dropped her fork and glared at her mother, who raised her hands.

"I didn't say anything... I just didn't expect you to take so much," Anne remarked with a venom that made Hazel briefly consider grabbing her fork and jamming it through her mother's hand as she passed out the rolls. 

Bucky leaned over, stopping Hazel from scooping some of the potatoes back into the serving bowl.

"I think she took as much as she needed," Bucky offered. "Besides, I can help her finish those potatoes."

"Oh, good," Anne replied. "Just like the dog used to do for her."

Bucky let out a loud, fake laugh that bordered on psychotic, and then leaned over to Hazel, whispering in her ear. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as he stroked her skin gently.

"She knows I killed people, right?"

Hazel couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle, knowing full well what Bucky *could* be capable of; yet she knew he was a good man and his remark was just that of playfulness. 

“So, Hazel, honey. What is it that you and James do for fun in your downtime?” Donny asked.  His words made Hazel’s skin crawl as the last few words rolled off his lips slowly. 

She shuttered as she squeezed Bucky’s hand; she was almost at a loss for words as she watched the man eye up the couple.

“I don’t think that’s really important right now.” She smiled politely at her uncle, though he made it hard for her to express any kind of happy feeling toward him. 

“Dad? How’s work going?” She turned her head to her dad, trying to change the topic. Bucky’s thumb brushed over her knuckles in tiny circles to let her know he was there.

“Work’s good so far. I got promoted last week.” 

“That’s great!” Hazel smiled. This time it was genuine. She loved her dad and felt nothing but happiness for him.

Anne took a sip of her wine. “At least he has a serious job,” she muttered quietly, but still loud enough for Hazel to hear.

“Anne.” Ted warned, his voice dropping just an octave. 

Hazel froze, she had only heard that tone a few times in her life but never directed at her mother. *Until now.* Time felt like it slowed as her mother's fork clanged against her plate. 

“What?” She hissed, “It’s true.” 

Her father’s gaze drifted to Hazel. They shared a look, Hazel’s silent pleas to just get dinner over with. She’d go back to town with Bucky, they wouldn’t have to do this again for another year. If she could even convince him to come back. Her heart ached with the idea of whatever fake breakup they’d have to come up with. 

Bucky sat up a little straighter in his seat, pointing the end of his fork over to the turkey with a gentle clear of his throat, “So, Ted, do you have some sort of special blend you used on this? It’s really good.” 

Hazel watched as her mother's eyes rolled. She smiled to herself, her head dipping back down as she pushed mashed potatoes across her plate, appreciating his attempt to chill the table.

Ted sat up proudly. "It's a family secret recipe, but I'll be glad to share it with you." he smiled.

Anne rolled her eyes again. "It's just some herbs, Ted. No need to make yourself sound like Colonel Sanders or anything."

Hazel dropped her fork to the table dramatically and buried her head in her hands, breathing deeply to try to stay calm. Tears pricked at her eyes and she could feel Uncle Donny's eyes burning into her from the other side of the table. Bucky pulled her in close and pressed a small kiss to the side of her temple. 

There were those tingles again.

"Yeah, I'd love the recipe, Ted. Thanks!" Bucky replied, shooting Donald, and then Anne a look which he hoped they'd interpret as a warning.

Hazel cast her gaze down to her plate, cutting a piece of turkey whilst trying to hide the smile she felt brewing at the interaction between Bucky and her Dad.  She’d known it all along, that her two favourite men would get along so well.

“What’re your plans for Christmas, my darling?” Ted asked, looking over at Hazel with warmth in his eyes.

“I…”

“I think we’re gonna have a nice dinner.  I’ll probably make seafood spaghetti because that’s your favourite, right Sweetheart? And then we’ll probably eat our own body weight in cookie dough ice cream watching movies on the couch.” Bucky cut in.

Hazel had never had to concentrate as hard as she did right then to stop her jaw from landing on the floor, and when she felt Bucky’s hand squeeze her thigh she nearly choked on her turkey.

She swiped her tongue across her bottom lip and drew in a sharp breath, as she turned her head to look at Bucky. Hazel knew he was just trying to be helpful but having grown up with a mother who always spoke for her, that was a line she wasn't willing to have crossed. 

"Thanks *honey*, but I could've answered my dad's question myself" She pressed her lips into a thin line, before turning back to her dad. "Just a cozy day at home with Buck and Alpine, dad. Nothing exciting" 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bucky's eyes cast down to his hand on her thigh, his shoulders sinking a little. Hazel placed her hand atop his and rubbed the back of his hand gently to tell him it was okay. 

"I -... Sorry, I didn't mean to.." He whispered to her. 

She shook her head once and smiled softly, "It's fine" She whispered back. 

There were certain aspects of their lives where she and Bucky were still getting to know each other. Boundaries they had that were still being discovered. Hazel knew some of the reasons why Bucky was the way he was. Why he always knew she was coming down the hall by the sound of her footsteps, or how many people were home in the apartments below them. Hazel knew in her heart that he didn't mean anything by answering the question for her, but having that happen still brought out an old sense of frustration from deep down.

The room fell silent, everyone could sense the current tension in the room. 

 

Anne took a deep breath. “You know who I miss? That lovely young man you brought over that one thanksgiving, what was his name again?” 

Hazel shook her head, she was about to hit her breaking point “please mother”

“Kyle… what a lovely guy he was. You should bring him over again sometime” Anne added, as though she didn’t even hear her daughter's plea to stop. 

“Mom” she hissed. 

“I always pictured you with someone like him” she continued. If Hazel wasn’t so mortified with the words coming from her mother's mouth, she would’ve noticed Bucky’s clenched jaw.

Her mother kept going on and on while her aunts agreed, nodding their overly hairsprayed bob haircuts along with whatever she was saying. Hazel felt spots coming into her vision and heat burning into her chest, white knuckles gripping the fork as her hand started to shake. 

She pushed away from the table, rattling the glasses and the serving dishes. 

"You know what, Mom?" Hazel growled. "All you have done today is made me feel completely fucking stupid."

"Watch your mouth, young lady," Anne gritted out and Hazel felt tears prickle her eyes.

"Haze, don't..." Bucky said softly, trying to grab her hand but she wrenched it from him, his eyes fluttering closed as he breathed deeply. 

"And to top it off," she exclaimed, her voice growing higher in pitch with each word. "You've spent the entire time we've been here insulting someone that I care about, someone that I actually love!"

Throwing her napkin onto the table, Hazel turned to her dad, tears overflowing down her face. 

"Sorry, Dad. Thank you for dinner. I think I'm done eating." 

She hurried down the hall to the bathroom, ignoring the scraping of Bucky's chair on the hardwood floor and the sound of his boots close behind her. She slammed the door on him as she entered, slumping down onto the bathroom floor as sobs wracked her chest.

Half expecting the door to burst open, Hazel was surprised when a quiet knock came instead. 

“Hazel? Please, let me in?” Bucky’s soft voice floated through the door, and Hazel pressed herself up onto her hands, leaning back against the bathtub. 

“Yeah, alright,” she croaked, burying her face in her arms, propped up on her knees. The door creaked open, and Bucky slid inside, shutting it quickly, eyes and mouth turning down at the sight of Hazel on the floor. He sat down across from her, leaning against the door, one leg bent as he stared at her. 

“Bucky…I don’t know what to say,” Hazel whispered, chest feeling tight again as she tried to meet Bucky’s eyes but failed, looking at the floor. “Other than I’m sorry for dragging you to this tonight.”

She heard him shift against the door and seconds later felt his hands cover hers. He took her hands in his, thumbs brushing her knuckles tenderly. 

"Sweetheart, can you look at me, please?" 

Hazel lifted her gaze to meet his with a sniffle. Bucky smiled softly at her, reaching his flesh hand out to wipe the tears from her cheek. 

"You didn't 'drag me' anywhere, Hazel. I wanted to be here for you," a light chuckle slipped from his lips before he continued, "Hell, I'd go to the ends of the earth for you if you asked me."

"Buck...I.." Hazel started, her eyes still wet from tears.

"Shh... S'okay. You are my world. Nothing is more important than you right now." Bucky pressed his thumb against her bottom lip, tracing the contour softly. 

A silent question formed in his piercing blue eyes. Her stomach bubbled with anticipation.

Hazel watched as Bucky seemed to be contemplating his next move. His thumb lingered on her lip and she tried to steady her breaths, not wanting to give away how he was making her feel. 

She took the moment of silence to study him. The man she looked at on a daily basis, had grown so used to having around. She noted the soft lines around his eyes, the ones she knew were more prominent when he smiled, and the fluffiness of his hair. He usually styled it more, she realised, even though she liked it just as it is, easy to run her fingers through when they were lounging around on her couch. 

And then it hit her all at once. 

“You’re not pretending anymore, are you?” She whispered.

"Neither are you," he breathed, keeping his voice soft and low as though he were telling her a secret. Hazel's heart pounded.

"I asked you first."

Bucky breathed deeply, his large hands cupping her face. She could feel his cool metal thumb gliding across her cheekbone and her eyes closed.

"I didn't come with you just to be a buffer between you and your shitty family. I came here with you because I lo..." He trailed off and her eyes fluttered open. Their lips were just a few inches apart and she sucked in a slow, shaky breath as her eyes began to mist. Bucky's did too. He smiled, tears clinging to his dark lashes. He cleared his throat gently. "You're the warmest, most beautiful thing in my life." 

She held back a sob, her chin quivering as her fingers played nervously with a stray thread on the hem of his Henley. She always teased him about not cutting them off with scissors, but now she knew why he didn't do it. Hazel looked down, twisting the thread between her thumb and forefinger.

"I feel the same way," she whispered. 

Bucky tilted her head up with one delicate finger. The look in his eyes made her melt.

"I've been dying to kiss you for months, plum."

“Then why don’t you?” She whispered, a shy smile spreading across her lips as Bucky let out a low hum.  

The seconds seemed to drag on as she continued to play with the stray strands of his Henley. His cool metal arm continued to chill her skin as his lips met hers. 

Fireworks shot through her body. She had dreamed about this moment for months, daydreaming about how his lips would feel against hers as his kiss was quick to become desperate. 

And she didn’t protest. She wanted- no needed- him more than she needed oxygen. Her nervous twisting was quick to become grabbing as she needed him close to her.  

Her heart was pounding as their lips moved together as if they had done this a million times before. 

Pulling away slightly, their rapid breaths were the only thing that filled the small bathroom. Their foreheads rested against each other as she looked into his deep blue eyes. 

The same eyes she had looked at hundreds of times, but she never noticed how they sparkled with adoration, or how they reminded her of the deep waters on a beautiful sunny day. 

“I-“ he began, before hurried knocks interrupted him.

Hazel sighed, looking to the door. Bucky followed her gaze. 

“Buck…I- I don’t want to go out there anymore.” She swallowed, in the hopes that the person at the door would just disappear, along with her anxiety. 

“I’ll tell whoever that is to go away, okay?” He looked into her eyes and she nodded. 

He stood up and opened the door, seeing that Anne was about to knock again. She didn’t seem to be amused by this whole holiday. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. 

Bucky was so tall compared to Hazel's mother. Him standing in the doorway didn’t make it possible for her to just see a glimpse of what was going on behind him. 

“I need to talk to my daughter.”

His jaw clenched but he turned his head to look at Hazel and check in. She gave her head a small shake, causing Bucky to turn his gaze back to the woman on the other side of the door, “No” He stated. There wasn’t a chance he would let this woman get close to his girl.

Hazel heard her mother's famous, I don't know who you think you are speaking to scoff which only made her bury her face into her hands. It was no use trying to reason with her, everything she'd ever done was always second-guessed by her mother. Her job, her love life, her diet. Everything. 

"What do you mean, no?" Anne asked through her teeth. 

"No." Bucky said plainly, his frame stilled in the doorway and Hazel realized he was squaring his shoulders back. "I'm not going to let you through this door to torment your daughter. She's had enough." 

She'd never heard his tone that firm before. His voice lowered and she felt the vibration of it in her chest only adding fuel to the slowly lit ember already burning in her stomach. 

"Frankly, I've had enough of listening to you tear down everything she has said since we stepped foot on that doorstep." He huffed a laugh, "Ma'am, respectfully I've met war criminals nicer than you've been this evening."

Anne spluttered incoherently, her breathing quickening.

Hazel could feel the tension building in her mother, even from her position on the bathroom floor. Bucky must have also felt it too as his demeanour shifted quickly.

"Look, Hazel doesn't want to speak to you and it would make things a whole lot easier if you left us to it."

Anne scoffed one last time and turned on her heel, storming away from the bathroom.

As she reached the doorway at the end of the hall, Bucky spotted Ted peering through at them and gave him a knowing nod and a salute. Ted smiled, acknowledging Bucky and closed the door.

"C'mon sweetheart," Bucky said, turning and smiling down at Hazel. "Let's get out of here."

Hazel’s breath caught in her throat as she looked up at Bucky. No one had ever stood up for her in that way before, especially to her mother. She had grown up with friends who always thought her mom was the sweetest, and all of her exes had a habit of agreeing when she commented on things like how much food was on her plate. But Bucky. It was like he could read her mind the whole night, knowing when he give a comforting squeeze of her hand or just a brush of his fingertips to let her know that he was right there. 

Practically leaping off the floor, she swung her arms around Bucky’s neck and pulled him into a hug. She felt his arms wrap instinctively around her waist as his face buried itself in her hair. 

“Thank you” She whispered. 

Bucky pulled back and brushed a strand of hair away from her face as he sharply nodded toward the door. 

A soft smile graced her lips for the first time that night as their hands slide into each other, intertwining their fingers and the two of them walked down the hall to grab their coats. 

“Bucky…” They heard Ted’s voice from behind them causing him to turn. Hazel’s father outstretched his hand and smiled at the two of them. “It was a pleasure to meet you, son. I really do hope we get to see you two again.” 

Bucky grasped the man’s hand, “It was great to meet you too, Ted” 

“I’m glad to know my daughter has someone who will take care of her, you’re a good man James” he added with a proud smile. 

“Yeah well” he looked down at Hazel’s glassy eyes “it’s what she deserves”. 

Bucky places a soft kiss on the girls forehead.

“Ready sweetheart?”

Hazel nodded, a soft smile spreading across her face. She grabbed their coats and they slid them on quickly unable to hide the grins on their faces. She felt like she was burning from the inside out, all that anger and frustration melting away into adoration and happiness. Bucky opened the door for her, his hand coming to the small of her back as they stepped across the threshold into the chilly night air. The glow of the porch light spread across their skin, casting sharp shadows on Bucky's face that made Hazel's breath catch. 

"Hold on, can we just-" She breathed, turning to grip his coat. 

With a small yelp from Bucky, Hazel crashed her lips to his, feeling his smile spread as her tongue teased his bottom lip. She moaned softly as Bucky's hand wrapped around the back of her neck, pressing her body close to him and pushing him against the side of their porch. She knew she couldn't make him budge an inch if he didn't want to and by the heavy breathing that fanned Hazel's cheeks, Bucky definitely was more than willing to make out like teenagers on her front porch. 

A few more moments of kissing went by before they separated slightly, lips swollen and spit-shiny. Bucky pressed his forehead to hers and grinned as her thumbs rubbed across the stubble on his cheeks. 

"What was that for?" he breathed, puffs of steam rising in the cold air. 

Hazel looked over her shoulder at the curtained living room window, where her loudmouthed aunt peeked out. The nosy woman jumped as Bucky laughed and let the thick fabric fall back quickly. He kissed her cheeks as she giggled, rubbing his nose against hers. 

"That's my girl."

Once they were inside the car, Hazel turned to look at Bucky and smiled when she found him already staring fondly at her. 

"Stop that, you're making me blush." she voiced, narrowing her eyes playfully. 

He chuckled and reached his hand out, tracing her jaw slowly with his vibranium index finger, "But you look so damn pretty when you do." 

She leaned into his touch as he cupped her cheek, she bit the inside of her cheek in a futile effort to hide her growing smile. She closed her fingers around his wrist and turned her head to place a kiss to the palm of his hand. 

"Can I show you something before we head back home?"

"Now you got me hooked, plum. What do you have in mind?" 

His smile grew wider and the skin around his eyes crinkled softly and his eyes shone. 

"There's this spot I know that I really wanna show you. I spent a lot of my teenage years there," Hazel admitted, a tinge of sadness swayed in her voice.

"Hey, princess. I wanna see that spot." 

Bucky lightly touched his finger under her chin so she was looking at him.

"Lead the way, I will follow you to the end of the world."

It wasn’t far, somewhere she could run away to when she needed to get away. It was her own little hideout that technically others knew about but for some reason, it was always empty when she needed it.  

“Don’t need to close my eyes or anythin’ do I, sweetheart?” Bucky asked as they climbed out of the car. Hazel glanced over at him, shaking her head as his lips tugged into the lazy smile he so often wore. 

“Come on, it’s this way.” 

Her feet carried her along the familiar path, one she’d usually take alone except this time the warm hand of her favourite man kept her grounded across the uneven stones and wonky paving slabs. And instead of tear tracks staining her cheeks, they ached from the smile she’d been wearing since they left her parents’ house. 

She heard Bucky gasp beside her as they took the last step down and she pushed open the creaky iron gate to reveal her safe haven, the hidden garden, still in bloom despite the colder weather.

"Wow," he breathed. "This is your spot?"

"Sort of, yeah. It's technically just a quiet little spot for everyone, but nobody really comes out here. I used to read out here when I was a kid." Her hand was still in his. Their fingers linked, and Bucky glanced around.

"It's beautiful." He looked down at her. "Almost as beautiful as you, darlin'."

Hazel let out a breath laugh as she looked over her spot. All the memories from years past coming to her at once; the time her mother threw her favorite book the in the trash, claiming it was the from the devil himself. She had yelled at Hazel for over an hour- over what? 

“Hey now,plum. What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” Bucky’s playful tone broke her out of her trance. Wiping the stray tear that had falling, she looked to the man she admired. 

“There’s so many…memories here,” her voice was quiet, the lump in her throat preventing her from saying anything else. 

Turning her towards him, Bucky took her other hand in his and leaned his forehead against hers. 

“Why don’t we make some new memories here?”

"Bucky I'm not going to defile this place." She teased, nudging his nose softly with her own. 

His laugh echoed through the garden bringing life to the foliage around them, "I'm hurt you'd think that," he goaded softly his lips hovering over her own, the corners of his mouth curled upward indicating to her that he wasn't actually hurt. 

The warmth of his breath fanned across her cheeks, sending goosebumps up her spine, "When did you know?" She asked her mind blurting out her deeper thoughts. 

"Know what?" he asked, his right hand sliding to her waist, just under the hem of her shirt. The movement lighting a fire on her skin. 

"When did you realize I was more than a friend?"

"Bucky I'm not going to defile this place." She teased, nudging his nose softly with her own. 

His laugh echoed through the garden bringing life to the foliage around them, "I'm hurt you'd think that," he goaded softly his lips hovering over her own, the corners of his mouth curled upward indicating to her that he wasn't actually hurt. 

The warmth of his breath fanned across her cheeks, sending goosebumps up her spine, "When did you know?" She asked her mind blurting out her deeper thoughts. 

"Know what?" he asked, his right hand sliding to her waist, just under the hem of her shirt. The movement lighting a fire on her skin. 

"When did you realize I was more than a friend?"

Bucky tiled his head back, looking up at the cloudy night sky. Hazel studied the pink in his cheeks and the straight line of his nose and felt her heart skip a beat. All those times she sat stealing glances at him when they watched movies or ate takeout, now she was going to have a chance to look at him every moment of the day. 

"I think...it was that first time you took care of Alpine while I was gone." 

Hazel leans back, eyes wide with shock as Bucky grins. 

"Oh my god, WHAT? You mean when he got out of the apartment onto the fire escape and I was out there for *hours*?" 

"Yeah," he chuckles. "That mission had been really shitty. I was exhausted and sore and there you were, standing in the pouring rain on my balcony with that scraggly little asshole in your arms. I thought you were crying, but you were laughing instead. Just...looking like you belonged there." 

Hazel buried her head in his neck to hide her blush, listening to the soft rumble of his voice as he continued. 

"That's when I knew that I wanted to come home to you every day," he said softly, lips brushing her cheek and up to her temple. "If you want to, that is."

"Oh, Buck. Yes." Hazel felt her eyes sting and another bout of tears was brimming her eyes. This time they were happy tears.

She couldn't believe she got so lucky. 

Her Bucky. Her beautiful broken man.

“There’s a bench, just a little further in… can we go sit?” Hazel asked, fingers absentmindedly toying with the hair behind Bucky’s ear like it was the most natural thing in the world. 

“Whatever you want, plum. It’ll always be whatever you want.” 

Bucky approached the rickety wooden bench first and Hazel observed as he read the plaque before he sat down. With soft fingers curled around her wrist, he pulled her into his lap and his nose brushed along her neck, cold from the chilly evening air but then warmed by his lips with a soft kiss. 

“I’m so in love with you, Hazel.” 

The words were whispered against her skin, barely audible but as sincere as the smile he flashed her when he bashfully met her gaze.

Her breath hitched in her chest and he swallowed thickly. 

"Sorry," he choked. "I can take it back."

Hazel put her hand on his chest, feeling his heart jackhammering beneath her touch. He was trembling. He meant it, this is how she knew. Her eyes studied his and she felt something click. Something she had been looking for for a long time - through bad Tinder dates that she complained about. Bucky listened and offered his input, calling the guys scum and being the supportive best friend. But she sensed that he didn't want her to talk about it for *too* long. She never really knew why, until this very moment. Hazel realized that during her long diatribes about shitty dates and shitty men over cookies and glasses of wine, she missed the pain in Bucky's eyes. She missed the fact that he wished it was *him* taking her out to dinner.

"Don't you *dare* take that back, James Barnes." She sniffled. "Because if you take it back and I tell you I'm in love with you, I'm gonna look like an idiot."

He laughed, tears rushing down his face. Hazel could only smile, knowing full well that her expression couldn't match the fire and joy that was burning in her heart. She's loved him all this time.

"Good, I was afraid I was going to be the idiot today."

“Never. You never will be an idiot,” she teased, her palm flattening against his chest. His heart rate slowing down as she gazed into his eyes. 

Kissing the tip of his nose, she turned her head to continue to look at her secret place; the flowers continued to bloom even through the later days of November. The pinks and purples and yellows contrasting with the beautiful  green foliage. 

Her eyes scanned the secluded park as she took in the moon shining off the pond; her eyes finally landing on a weeping willow tree in the other side of the pond.

"I was an idiot for waiting so long to tell you how I felt." He murmured, pressing his lips to her temple. 

Hazel gnawed on the inside of her lip, her eyes turning towards him, "No, you weren't. I'm just sorry it took my insufferable mother to be the one to get us here." 

"Oh god," A laugh bubbled in her throat as her face crumpled slightly, "She's going to take credit for this." She whined softly, burying her face into her hands. 

Bucky shook his head with a smile, leaning down and tugging her hands away from her face, "Sweetheart, she already think's we're together. The only one taking the credit here is us."

She hummed in agreement as she stood on her tiptoes to meet his lips once more, only pulling away when she needed a breath, even if she'd happily drown in him anytime. 

"Besides," Bucky continued as her head tilted down to his shoulder, his chin coming up to rest on her head. "If they ever get to be too much, you always have me and Alpine. And your dad, because he seemed pretty cool." 

Hazel snorted out a laugh as she wrapped her hands around his waist and breathed in deeply, attempting to clear her mind of the negativity of the day. All that mattered was the fact that despite all this insanity, Bucky was still here. He had always been here. A part of her wondered why this was so easy for her to accept. There was no questioning why he loved her, why they fit so perfectly together. It occurred to her as she listened to the steady drumming song in his chest. 

He was all the family she needed.