#looking at it w fresh eyes i'd say it's fine

[slaybestieslay946]

Everything About You - Luke Castellan

Summary: You've been Luke Castellan's closest friend ever since he arrived at camp, but unbeknownst to you, he's been desperately crushing on you this whole time. And of course, the feelings are reciprocated. In hopes of getting over you, he agrees to give it a go with someone else. Will he realise how you feel before its too late?

Pairing: Luke Castellan x Ares!Reader

Warning: Swearing

Word Count: 4.9k

a/n: uh sorry for shitting on that demeter girl sm, there needed to be some conflict somewhere

also please forgive me for this fic being crazy self-indulgent and therefore not up to par with my usual writing, i needed to express the obsession i have w this man otherwise I'd go INSANE

MASTERLIST

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You thought you knew everything about Luke Castellan. 

After 5 years of being best friends, how could you not? You knew about the big things in his life, his damaged mother, the strained relationship with his father. You understood his anger towards the gods, the way it fuelled him to be better, work harder. 

You knew about the little things too. He liked green olives, not black ones. He always stuck his leg out from under the duvet when sleeping. He sucked at tightening his armour, always convincing you to do it for him.

You could recognise each and every one of his tells. He always cracked his knuckles before sparring. He scratched the back of his neck when he was nervous. 

But the one thing you didn’t know about him was the way he felt about you. You, who was normally so observant, was entirely oblivious to the gentle touches and soft looks he threw your way. And that, more than anything, was driving him crazy. 

“You gotta tell her how you feel man.” Chris said to him, noticing the way his gaze would constantly stray to the Ares table. Your table.

Luke scoffed, “Yeah, right. I’d rather die…” 

“Yeah, well it’s driving me nuts. All this pining. It’s-”

“Pathetic? Tell me about it.” He responded, not taking his eyes off you. 

“Well, yeah. It’s pathetic. At this point, either confess your undying love, or move on.”

Luke could safely say that neither of those options sounded particularly appealing. 

“There’s that new girl, y’know the one in Demeter?” Chris continued.

“What about her?”

“She’s pretty cute, don’t you think?” 

Luke tore his gaze away from you to look at the girl Chris was on about. She was pretty, sure, with pale blond hair and flushed cheeks. He recognised her as one of the girls that would always sit in the fields and entertain the kids with her flower magic. But still, she couldn’t hold a candle to you. 

“Yeah, she’s fine I guess.” Luke responded, noncommittal.

“See, told you so! Look, how about I set you guys up-”

“No thanks.” 

“Ugh, you're no fun. Fine, just talk to the Demeter girl at the campfire tomorrow.” 

Luke opened his mouth again to refuse, but Chris cut him off. 

“And if you do, I’ll stop bugging you about it. Promise.” 

Luke looked at his pleading face, and knew that there would be no shutting him up until he agreed. 

“Fine. I’ll talk to her.” 

*

The next morning, Luke woke up earlier than normal, so he figured he might as well get some extra training in before capture the flag in the afternoon. 

He climbed out of bed as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb his many, sleeping, half-siblings, and grabbed his sword, stepping out of the cabin into the fresh morning air. He jogged down towards the amphitheatre, and was confused for a moment when he could hear movement inside the small arena. 

Then, as he walked closer to the entrance, he realised it was you, slashing dummies left right and centre. And, gods, the sight took his breath away. 

The early morning sun shone on your face, highlighting your sharp features. You moved like a dancer, and the sword in your hand was merely an extension of your body. Yes, they called him the best swordsman in the last 300 years, but his technique couldn’t compare to the grace of the favourite daughter of Ares. 

He watched you for a few more minutes, standing just in the entrance to the amphitheatre, until he realised it might be a little creepy to stand there and watch you, so he decided to make himself known. 

“What are you doing up so early?” He called out, striding forwards towards you. 

You quickly spun around, a shocked expression on your face that softened into a fond smile when you realised it was just Luke who had snuck up on you. 

“Oh, y’know, just preparing to beat your ass later on.”

“Aw, really? Hate to break it to you, but you don’t stand a chance.” 

“Wanna test that, soldier?” You smirked, gesturing to the sword in this hand.

Luke laughed, stabbing the sword into the sandy floor and cracking his knuckles, meanwhile you took up an offensive stance. 

And, as soon as he picked up his sword, you were on him, ruthlessly slashing through the air, and he barely had enough time to block the blow before you sliced through his face. He returned your strikes with equal vigour, moving with the precision and technique that he was so famous for. 

With the way the pair of you fought, anyone would think you hated one another, trading blow for violent blow, both of you refusing to hold back. 

Of course, it was the complete opposite, but that had never stopped the pair of you from sparring so aggressively. 

The session went on for close to half an hour, neither of you wanting to surrender to the other. Eventually you were bested, as Luke sent your sword flying from your hand, holding his own up to your throat. 

You held your hands up in defeat, rolling your eyes at him, before moving to sit down at the edge of the arena. 

“I’m still gonna win in capture the flag today.” You remarked, your voice strained from physical exercise, but jovial nonetheless. 

“As talented as you are,” He responded, sitting down next to you, “You're not gonna be able to beat Annie’s new strategy.” 

“And what might that be?” You said, shuffling closer to the boy. 

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” He teased. 

You pretended to sulk at that, turning your body away from him in the process. Luke frowned, pulling your arm to turn you to face him again. 

“Don’t be sad. Even if I told you you still wouldn’t win.” 

“Whatever. Asshole.” You mumbled. 

“What did you call me?” He asked, accusatory, and you quickly made your escape, running out of the amphitheatre to avoid his wrath. 

But, of course, he managed to catch up with you easily, slinging an arm around your shoulders as you walked. 

Somehow, you both telepathically communicated a need for breakfast, and your feet naturally led you both to the pavilion. 

“I’ll see you later on, yeah?” You asked, detaching yourself from him to look him in the eyes. 

“Mhm. Can’t wait to kick your ass.”

You laughed, cocking your head at him, “Why are you thinking about my ass Castellan? Bit weird.” 

And then you were striding away towards Clarisse, leaving the Hermes cabin counsellor frozen, a faint blush covering his face. 

Maybe Chris was right. His addiction to you was getting slightly out of hand. 

*

“That boy is so obsessed with you.” Clarisse muttered, her voice derisive as you sat down opposite her. 

“Who? Luke?”

“Who else?” 

“Nah, no way.” You responded, chuckling as you grabbed a slice of toast from the centre of the table. 

Clarisse rolled her eyes. How oblivious could you be?

“Whatever. As long as your little romance doesn’t get in the way this afternoon.” 

“No chance. Besides, there is no romance. Gods, you’re just as bad as Silena!” You laughed, slightly sheepishly. 

“Rude. But still, she’s right about these things like 90% of the time.”

Silena had been trying to get you to admit that you liked Luke for months, but each time she brought it up you would staunchly deny it. Of course, you were lying through your teeth, but it’s not like you could just admit something like that. It would open up a whole can of worms that you didn’t need. 

“Yeah, well this is the 10% then.” You shrugged, taking another bite of your toast.

“You’re impossible.”

“Aw, don’t be like that. You know I’m your favourite sibling.” 

“You were my favourite. I don’t know anymore.” 

“Bitch.”  

*

When Ares and Hermes were on opposing teams, suddenly capture the flag became even more serious. 

Ares, of course, was the warrior cabin. Their father was the god of war, making them the most feared in combat. And, most of Camp half-blood was scared shitless of you and Clarisse.

Then there was Hermes, and their automatic alliance with Athena. That meant they had Luke, the camp's star swordsman, and Annabeth and her siblings, who always came up with the best strategies. 

It was safe to say that when they weren’t competing against each other, it was painfully boring. 

You only had about half an hour before the game started, so after you had secured your armour and recovered your sword from the amphitheatre, you decided to seek out Annabeth, both because you enjoyed her company, and because she may spill something about her new strategy. 

“Hey, Annabeth!” You called out, and the young girl spun around to give you a little smile. 

“Hey. What’s up?”

“Nothing. Just wanted to see how things are going over here, y’know, scope out the competition.”

“I’m not gonna tell you our strategy.” She deadpanned. 

“Damnit. Oh well. What’ve you been up to, I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages.” 

It was true, you hadn’t spoken to Annabeth for a few days, nor had you even seen her.

“She’s been too busy stalking the new kid.” Luke’s voice interjected and he stepped out of seemingly nowhere to pat the girl's head. 

“Shut up! No I haven’t.” She sulked, pushing him off of her. 

“Wait, which new kid is this? Percy?” You asked. 

You’d seen Luke show the boy around camp. You’d been briefly introduced, but you hadn’t spoken to him all that much. The only other thing you knew about him was that Clarisse had a bit of an issue with him. Well, she had an issue with a lot of people, so that wasn’t exactly new. 

“Yep. Can you believe it? My little sister has a crush!” Luke exclaimed, holding a hand to his chest. 

Annabeth then gave him a small shove, before something clearly occurred to her, and she gave him that look that meant she had something on him. And whatever the blackmail was, it worked as he immediately held his hands up in surrender. 

“Sorry, sorry! You could never like a boy, I know that!”

Annabeth didn’t respond, simply glaring at him whilst you laughed. Sometimes, she really was intimidating. Despite being only 12 years old, she had a stare harsher than medusa. 

“Anyway. You need to get going, otherwise you're definitely gonna lose.” Luke said, pushing you away by your breastplate. 

“Fine.” You said, and were about to walk away when you noticed his own armour, as usual, wasn't done up properly. 

You walked back towards him, sighing, and grabbed the straps on either side of his body, pulling them taut, doing the same for the guards on his forearms. 

“You seriously need to learn how to do these yourself, soldier. One day, I might not be here to do them for you.”

“That’s not true. You’ll always be with me.” He whispered, more hopeful than certain about his statement.

You just rolled your eyes, grabbing his helmet out of his hands to push it on his head. 

“There. Can’t have someone hurting your pretty face, can we?”

“Uh-”

“Bye, have fun losing!” You laughed, and then you were walking away, once again leaving a malfunctioning Luke in your wake. 

“And you say I have a crush.” Annabeth snorted. 

“Shut up.” 

*

Pretty much as soon as you made it back to your team, the conch sounded, and Clarisse shouted at you to ‘get your ass over here’. 

She then quickly outlined her plan to you as you both made your way deeper into the woods, the rest of your team splitting off at different points as you went. 

You two, as well as a few others, were to be on the offensive, searching for the flag, meanwhile the rest of your team were either guarding the flag, or serving as distractions. It was a pretty typical strategy, but it had every chance of working, as long as you two were able to work out roughly where the other team's flag was. 

“Well, I’m pretty sure it won’t be at Zeus’ fist this time, that’s where Annabeth put it last time, and apparently she has a new strategy.” 

“She could be lying to you?”

“Yeah, I guess. But it’s a place to start.” Clarisse reluctantly agreed, and the two of you moved further into the woods. 

Along the way you came across a few of the blue team on border patrol, and the pair of you quickly disarmed them, you with your sword, and Clarisse with her electric staff. 

You made your way down to the south edge of the woods, and it appeared that the number of blue troops were decreasing. Normally you would take that as meaning the flag wasn’t this way, but knowing Annabeth that could be some kind of purposeful bluff, so you kept going, until eventually you reached a dead end and had to choose a different direction. 

“Ugh, the others better be closer than us I swear. I’m not losing again.” Your sibling said, batting aside a tree branch with her crackling staff. 

“Yeah. I’m sick of having to listen to Castellan gloat.” You sighed, although the noise was more fond than anything else. 

Clarisse rolled her eyes at your inability to keep him out of a conversation. 

Then, there was a sudden noise of people crashing through the trees. You both raised your weapons, ready to defend yourselves, when you realised that they wore red helmets and were in fact, your siblings. 

“Oi, Clarisse, we heard some of them talking that they’ve got the flag down at the creek! And that brat Jackson’s guarding it!”

You noticed the way Clarisse’s eyes filled with anger (and a little bloodlust). 

“You keep going,” She said, “I’ll check it out with them.” She then patted you on the back and spun around, sprinting off into the woods. 

“DUMBASS! IT’S PROBABLY A TRAP!” You yelled, cupping your free hand to your mouth, but either she didn’t hear you, or she didn’t care, because she gave no response. 

You sighed, unable to believe how gullible your sister could be sometimes. But, you had nothing better to do than keep searching for the flag, so you kept walking, slashing through the undergrowth with your sword as you went.  

Eventually you felt like you had covered the entire forest, and at a certain point you weren’t entirely sure if you were still in enemy territory or not. 

That was until Luke Castellan burst into the clearing holding your flag. 

“Fancy seeing you here.” He smirked. 

“Asshole.” You snapped, immediately leaping at him, sword in hand, just as you had during sparring that morning. God he loved your temper. 

You then began to battle one another with even more zeal than earlier, your slashes quicker and your blows harder as you moved. It was strange the way you two sparred, it was like as soon as you were in combat you forgot that he was your closest friend and that you would die for him in a heartbeat. Instead all you could think about was winning. 

He was so annoyingly graceful as he moved, each swish of his sword perfectly calculated to hit at a certain spot, each block and parry almost perfectly executed. 

Of course, your anger at his flawless technique was only further intensified when you realised that one: he didn’t have a shield, and two: he was holding his sword in his non-dominant hand, with the flag in his dominant one. 

You ground your teeth at that. How could you expect to ever beat him if he held his own so easily? Whenever you watched Luke Castellan fight, you couldn’t help but wonder how he was a son of Hermes, and not a son of Athena or Ares.

And, as always, he defeated you eventually. 

He threw a blow at you that you couldn’t quite block, and the force of it sent you toppling backwards, and landing on your ass. He quickly lunged down too, pinning you to the floor and holding his sword to your throat, so close that it almost broke skin. 

“Do you surrender?” He asked, grinning smugly down at you, and you couldn’t help but notice just how close his face was to yours. 

“Never.” You spat, furrowing your eyebrows at him. 

He sighed fondly, before moving upwards to press a quick kiss to your forehead and saying, “You’re so cute, y’know that?” 

Now it was your turn to be left malfunctioning, your face bright red with astonishment as he leapt off of you, and ran away into the forest, leaving you behind, on the floor, and completely and utterly frozen. 

And then you came back to your senses, pushing yourself off the floor and chasing after him. 

“LUKE CASTELLAN, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!” You screamed, sprinting through the woods as fast as you could, but you knew there was nothing you could do to catch up, and you could faintly hear him laughing as those stupid long legs carried him over into friendly territory. 

*

It appeared that a lot had happened during that game of capture the flag. 

Luke had gotten your flag, and was about to go over and taunt Clarisse about it, but he immediately saw that she was even angrier than usual, and seemed genuinely upset. 

He quickly went over to ask Annabeth what was going on, watching as you ran over to console her. 

“Percy broke her staff.” She said, pointing to the shattered piece of wood in Clarisse’s right hand. 

Luke winced. He knew how precious the girl was about that staff; it was the only token she had from her father. He was surprised Percy was even still breathing right now. 

“Wait, where is Percy?” Luke asked.

“With Chiron. He got claimed.”

“What? By who-?”

“Posiedon.”

The boy’s jaw dropped. 

“You’re joking. No fucking way.”

“Tell me about it. He could be the one, Luke.” The younger girl said, her voice quiet and hopeful. 

“Hm. He could be. Don’t get your hopes up too high though, yeah?” 

Annabeth sighed, but nodded nonetheless. 

Luke then gave her a quick pat on the shoulder, before beginning to walk away, intending to get a shower in before dinner, but Annabeth quickly stopped him in his tracks. 

“Where are you going? It’s dinner, silly!” 

“What, no it’s not-” 

“Yes, it is. Campfire tonight, remember? Early dinner? C’mon, you’ve only been here for what, five years?” 

Luke groaned, and suddenly all the adrenaline from Percy being claimed, and from winning capture the flag melted away, as he remembered the deal he had made with Chris the night before. 

He traipsed behind the daughter of Athena on the way to the dining pavilion, suddenly dreading the rest of the evening. 

As the pair entered the building, a cheer went up from the Hermes and Athena table, a few of their respective siblings rushing over to give them pats on the back and congratulations for their efforts. 

Luke laughed along with them, eventually being dragged away from his sister to his own table. 

Then dinner began, and it was as loud and raucous as usual, maybe even more so coming off the back of a capture the flag victory. But Luke was unusually quiet, pushing his food around his plate and taking the odd sullen bite. He could feel Chris’ eyes on him, probably pissed off he was sulking again, but he didn’t really care. 

He could also feel another gaze on him, and he looked up, expecting it to be you, giving him a feeble glare or mouthing some stupid insult. But instead it was the girl from the Demeter table, twisting a lock of hair around her finger and smiling sweetly at him. 

The boy felt slightly disappointed, but masked it with a grin of his own, winking at the girl before returning to his food. 

He felt that strange sinking feeling in his stomach as he continued to eat, but decided to push it away. What choice did he have? It’s not like you’d ever reciprocate his feelings, so maybe Chris was right and he should give someone else a chance. Besides, how bad could it be?

*

As it turned out, it could be really bad. 

Ok, maybe that was an overstatement. Really boring was probably more accurate. 

As soon as they got to the campfire, Chris disappeared, but not before practically shoving Luke down beside the girl from Demeter, who let out a high-pitched giggle as he fell into her slightly. 

And gods he wished he hadn’t agreed to his friends stupid plan. Because he then had to spend the rest of the evening being obnoxiously flirted with. And sure, she was nice, and quite pretty, but not in the way that mattered. 

She didn’t take his breath away like you did. He couldn’t imagine searching for her face in a crowd. The whole thing was just dull. 

And her laughter was grating. Really grating. There was no way she thought he was that funny, especially when he was giving mostly one word responses. 

They had nothing in common. She liked lounging about in fields, playing games and making flower crowns, whereas Luke couldn’t think of anything worse. He’d much rather spend an afternoon sparring, or at archery, or even swimming in the lake. 

All the things you liked to do. 

He tried to push the thought to the back of his mind. He shouldn’t be thinking about you, not whilst another girl was clamouring for his attention. It was cruel. But he couldn’t help himself. 

And eventually he gave in, switching off from the conversation and settling for observing you through the flames. 

Your hair was down right now, like it only ever was at dinners and in the early morning. You lounged back comfortably on the benches, smiling lazily and joking around with Clarisse and Silena. Your face was lit up by the flickering flames, complimenting you so well, like they just wanted to be near you, close to you. He couldn’t blame them. 

And then your eyes met his across the fire, and he thought his heart was about to combust with the way you smiled at him. He recognised that smile. It was the one you reserved just for him. 

At that moment he steeled his resolve to reject this Demeter girl, grab on to you and never let go. 

But as he was about to do just that, he felt a slender hand wrap around his bicep, and he turned to the blonde girl next to him. And without any warning, she reached up and kissed him, snaking her arms up and around his neck. 

He pulled away after a second, shock written all over his face. He quickly whipped around, looking to see if you saw that, praying that you hadn’t. 

But you had. And you seemed just as shocked as he was, except there was something else in your eyes. Hurt.

Why were you hurt?

*

As you walked away from the campfire, you couldn’t help but ask yourself the same question. Why were you so hurt?

You had known for years that your pathetic crush on Luke would never amount to anything. He was just way out of your league. Perfect in every way. 

He was so smart, and kind, and funny, and well-liked, and you just couldn’t compete with that. You were rough, and mean, and cruel, and angry. Why would he love someone like you? 

 Of course, you hadn’t seen the daughter of Demeter coming. But maybe you should’ve. She was everything Luke should want in a girl, gentle, sweet, feminine. Someone fit to be a girlfriend. 

And let's face it. You were much more skilled in matters of the sword than matters of the heart. 

You had always known this day would come. Eventually you’d have to let go of your best friend and come to terms with the fact that you weren’t the most important person in his life anymore (besides Annabeth). 

So why were you so devastated?

You reasoned that it had to be the shock. Yes, it was surprising, that’s why you were reacting like this, running away from the campfire like a child, foolishly hoping that he would come running after him, when of course he wouldn’t. He’d stay with his new girlfriend. 

“Hey!” 

You whipped around, shocked to see the very boy you were just pining after running up to you. 

“What?” You asked, snapping at him slightly, and immediately regretting it as he took on the look of a kicked puppy. 

“Why’d you run away from the campfire?” 

“Just needed some air.” 

“You sure? I mean you look kinda-”

“I’m fine! Just fine! Now you can go back to your little girlfriend and leave me alone!” You burst out, waving your hands around manically. 

He looked shocked by your sudden shouting, probably because you had only genuinely been angry with him about three times in your whole friendship. 

“Sorry. Just give me a minute, ok?” You said, your voice shuddering slightly. God it was pathetic, getting so worked up over a boy? You wanted to crawl into a hole and die. You then turned around and began to walk away, but didn’t get far before a hand grabbed yours pulling you back. 

“She’s not my girlfriend.” He said firmly.

“What?”

“She’s not my girlfriend. I don’t even really know her name.” 

He then apparently realised how that sounded, because he quickly amended his statement. 

“Not like that. What I’m trying to say is that I don’t like her like that. She just kinda grabbed me.” 

You stammered slightly, trying to regain composure. Right now you looked like a jealous loser, and while that is what you were, you didn’t want him to see you like that. 

“Ok cool. I don’t care, y’know. Kiss whoever you want, man, not my problem!” You laughed although it was painfully strained. 

“Again, not what I’m trying to say.” He said, scratching the back of his neck. Nervous. 

“So what are you-”

“I’m trying to say I’m in love with you!” He rushed out, holding you by the shoulders and staring directly into your eyes to try and get his point across. 

“What?” You whispered, once again not able to believe your ears.

“I said I’m in love with you,” He repeated, slower this time, his voice more even, “I’ve been in love with you for so long, you have no idea. I was only talking to that girl ‘cause I thought I’d never have a chance with you. But then I realised that I don’t want some other girl. I only want you.” 

You took in a sharp intake of breath, scanning his face for any sign of insincerity. 

“You’re being serious?” You asked.

“Deadly serious.” He responded immediately, smiling sheepishly. 

You paused for a minute, before whispering, “I love you too.”

Only then did he finally make his move, holding you gently by the face and bending down to kiss you. 

And it was like a piece of the puzzle finally clicked into place. It was painfully cliche, and it felt like you were in some dumb rom com, but kissing him really was like fireworks going off all over your body. 

He clearly felt the same way, holding you by the back of the head and pulling you in further, closer, like he didn’t want to be apart from him ever again. 

Eventually you both pulled away for air, and he looked at you with a smile of pure joy, until the shock of the whole situation hit him. 

“Wait, so you really mean it?”

“I mean, I did just let you kiss me, didn’t I?”

“Good point. Sorry, I’m just a little surprised.”

“Fair enough. I mean, I had no idea you felt the same way.” You laughed, all the previous tension ebbing from your body. 

“What, really?” He asked, seeming genuinely surprised. 

“Yes, really! How was I supposed to know? Besides, I didn’t think I was really your type.” 

At that his eyes practically bulged out of his head in shock, more so than any other time that night.

“Not my type? You’re entirely my type! Not like it matters anyway when you're the most perfect girl I’ve ever met in my life.” 

You frowned, “Now you're just lying to me, Luke.” 

“No I’m not. You're everything I’ve ever wanted. The only girl I’ve ever wanted.” He said firmly.

You looked at him, still slightly doubtful, but he was determined to fix that. 

So he kissed you again, and suddenly all your doubts were swept away in his strong embrace as he kissed you like it was the last thing he ever wanted to do. 

“Believe me now?”

“Yeah. And, I guess you’re pretty great too.” 

He looked at you teasingly, daring you to elaborate, and for once you decided to stroke his ego. 

“Fine. You're the most handsome, funny, charming man I’ve ever met in my life.” 

That clearly satisfied him, because a wide grin wriggled its way across his face that you couldn’t help but mirror, because you both knew you meant every word.

“So does this mean you’ll give me a chance?” 

“Yes. I’d give you a hundred chances.” 

[https-milo]

the baker's daughter - a wild todoroki!

synopsis

Y/n L/n works at a small bakery owned by her parents. One day, a pro hero in training shows up asking for 400 cupcakes

Chapter 2 - a wild todoroki!

prev. / m. list / next

TAG LIST..!

@aejabba

Three days have passed since Todoroki came into the shop. Right now I am currently on an afternoon mission. A mission to get all the ingredients needed for 400 cupcakes by the U.A School Festival. The wind felt therapeutic as it brushed past me, I smiled warmly at the feeling. I walk to the closest store, enter it, and greet the workers with a wave. I grab a basket and walk over to the baking aisle.

"Cocoa power... Vanilla extract... Sugar... Flour... Don't we already have most of this stuff?" I groan in annoyance. I scoop everything I need into my basket. I walk to the noodle aisle and see soba - my favorite. There was only one left, so I quickly grab it. I hear a sigh from beside me and turn around. It was Shoto Todoroki.

"Oh! Hello, Todoroki," I greet. "I hope you weren't trying to get the soba..."

"I was actually, but it's fine. I can just go out to eat somewhere," Todoroki explains.

"I'm sorry, if you want it, you can have it?"

"No, it's fine. Thank you."

"Okayyyy, well I've gotta get to the bakery... It was nice seeing you!" I say. Being close to him made me flustered, and I did not like that. I rush away from Todoroki, barreling towards the cashier.

"L/N, hold on," He said.

I was halfway to the register, almost free from embarrassment. "Uh yes?"

"Would you like to join me in getting soba? I figure you'd prefer it fresh and not prepackaged," Todoroki asked.

"Uhm, me? Like me-me?" I look around, trying to find anyone else he could be talking to.

"Yes, you. You don't have to, of course. Just thought I'd offer."

My eyes widen, "Yeah! Of course, I wanna go with you, but I kinda have to run these to the bakery first and change -" I look down ashamed at my 'no-one-will-see-me' outfit. "I'm sure you don't wanna be seen with someone who looks like this," I vaguely gesture to my outfit.

"I don't care what you're wearing. But if you want to change, I'll wait for you."

"Come with me in line?" I ask. He nods and catches up to me, from there we walk to the register. I place the ingredients on the conveyor belt. The worker scans my items.

"That'll be 10,000 yen," the worker explains. I wince.

"Mom is so going to kill me," I joke. "My budget was 8,000..."

Before I can say anything else, Todoroki takes out his father's credit card and pays for the ingredients. "To-Todoroki!" I stutter. He looks at me confused as he enters the PIN number.

"What? I don't want you getting in trouble."

"It was a joke, Todo. My mom wasn't actually going to kill me," I sigh as the worker bags my items.

"Oh."

"Thank you though, I really appreciate it. But now I feel bad!" I pout.

"Don't feel bad, my father has enough money," Todoroki replies. "Let me help you." I nod and he takes a few bags out of my arms. We walk out of the store.

"What're you doing out here anyway? I thought you'd be in school?" I ask.

"We had the day off today. I thought it would be nice to head into town, and I was right because I ran into you," he said this so easily I thought he was joking.

"W-what?!"

"I enjoy your company," he shrugged.

"We just met... like literally the other day."

"I know, but I was never allowed around other kids when I was younger. I didn't have a single friend before I started attending U.A., so I don't really know what it's like to have one. But after we met, I couldn't stop thinking about you. So I figured I just had to meet you again, and I was right. I think that's what happens when you want someone to be your friend."

I didn't think I could get any more flustered. But, of course, a quirk user just had to prove me wrong. "I enjoy your company too. We should talk more! You know, outside of the cupcakes," I smile at him - trying to ignore the bubbly feeling in my chest.

We walk in silence for the rest of the way to my bakery. It wasn't uncomfortable, I honestly enjoyed it. "I'm home!" I shout as we enter the bakery.

"Welcome back, Y/n," my dad says. He's rubbing his face with a rag as he enters the front of the store. Once his eyes open, they narrow in on Todoroki. I wince and look between the two.

"Dad, this is Todoroki Shoto, he's the customer who requested the large order. Todo, this is my dad," I introduce. That doesn't help the one-sided tension. Todoroki looked confused as he looked between me and my dad. I gestured for him to speak.

"Good afternoon, sir. I came across L/N-chan in the store, I offered to take her out for lunch... if that's ok with you?" Todoroki greeted with a bow. My father grumbled.

"Come with me while Y/N changes, bring the groceries," Dad instructed.

"Is that really necessary?" I groan.

"Yes," Dad firmly said. I roll my eyes.

"Don't worry, L/N. I will be fine," Todoroki replied.

I look between the two and hesitantly make my way upstairs after handing Todoroki the remaining bags. I head to my room and hastily throw on a pair of jeans and a band shirt. It had been 7 minutes since I left the storefront, and if I'm being honest; I was scared of what I was going to walk in on. Pushing my fear aside for the sake of Todoroki, I walk downstairs. Surprisingly, I see my dad engaged in a friendly conversation. I quirk an eyebrow at this. With just as much prejudice quirk havers give us for being quirkless, my dad gives the hatred tenfold toward quirk users. So imagine my shock when I see him shaking Todoroki's hand and thanking him.

"Soooo can I go with him?" I ask.

"Yes. Take care of my daughter, Todoroki," my dad says.

"Of course, L/N-sama," Todoroki replied. He nodded toward me and we made our way out of the bakery. "Did you know my favorite soba place is only a few blocks away?"

"I know of a soba place a few blocks away, but obviously I didn't know it was your favorite," I tease. I swear I see a faint smile on his face. "What did my dad say to you?"

"He started asking about my intentions for hanging out with you. I told him you were good company. Then he started saying how you three were quirkless, but that wouldn't stop him from hurting me if I offended you in any way. I told him that wouldn't be a problem because we were just getting Soba," Todoroki explained. I could tell he was either keeping something from me or some part of what he said was a lie. "I didn't know you were quirkless."

"It's not something we go around telling everyone. There's really no pride in being 'normal'," I shrug. This was the conversation I was dreading.

"Well, I think being quirkless can be just as great as having a quirk," Todoroki calmly said. I look at him ridiculously, not believing what he said.

"How so?" I asked. I figured he was just trying to be nice to me, he didn't actually believe that. I mean, who would?

"Well, if the majority of the world relies on quirks and quirk users, the fact that quirkless people can get through the day without using a power is remarkable. Your parents built that bakery themselves, right? They didn't need quirks to do that and the business they built is incredible. I guess quirkless people just don't get enough credit, I think we forget there was a time we didn't use quirks," Todoroki explained.

"And you mean that? Like you're not just trying to be nice or whatever?"

"Yes, I mean it. Why wouldn't I?"

"Not many people share the same sentiment. I'm used to being thrown into lockers and bullied, not appreciated," I chuckle.

"My friend Midoriya helped me see quirkless people how I currently view them. My father told me they were defenseless and weak. I let this sentiment slip during a hangout once while we were watching a movie, Midoriya paused it and went on a whole rant. I hate my father for the way he made me see people, quirklessness is not a disability as everyone makes it seem."

"Well, tell Midoriya I appreciate him showing you the light," I joke. Todoroki smiled faintly.

"Well, we're here," Todoroki said.

© https-milo. please do not repost, steal, copy, or modify my works!

Thank you so much for reading <3

[sukunasdirtylaugh]

tags: yakuza!kento x f!reader, money problems with family on the reader's side, reader's employer is a major w here, she works as a nanny, mentions of arranged marriage, mentions jokingly of 'losing a few pounds' by walking, and a hopeful ending

arranged marriage au with yakuza!boss kento. your former employer, a contact of kento's had referred you to him as a sweet, kind, and fitting candidate for the yakuza boss to marry. working as a nanny for the associate, you were already someone your employer knew his colleague could benefit from.

but you didn't want anything to do with this lifestyle.

"it's your uncle again," the worry and embarrassment of your mother's tone sank to the bottom of your stomach, followed by a heaviness. "I... I feel terrible for asking you, you know this, but you're the one-"

"-with a high paying job," you bite the inside of your cheek and sigh, "I know. what does he want now?"

"he..." your mother sighs, "he needs $1,200 within three days." you bite the inside of your cheek again. it always worked this way. it started with him and worked its way up towards your mother and now you, but what could you do? leave your mother to stress?

"okay," you exhale, looking at the fresh check your boss had given you this week: $1,250. you could definitely survive off of $50, right? it was just another week. you had some savings, but then you thought about rent, thought about other factors that let you consider your words for a minute. it was just a week, so you could do this, right?

"I'll send the money tomorrow. don't worry mom."

$50. you needed to survive your week with $50. perhaps, you thought, maybe you could sell that old coffee table in your apartment? if you tidy it up, you might get $60 for it, maybe $80. you also made some accommodations such as not using the bus. it was only an hour and twenty seven minutes to your employer's mansion, what could go wrong?

a sprained ankle.

luckily, you don't really feel pain until after your shift. your right ankle throbs, and you're forced to clutch onto it, keeping any noise from escaping your lips as you're leaving the children's rooms after putting them to sleep. "what... happened to your ankle?" your boss asks.

"I just hurt a ligament," you nerviusly chuckle, "I'll be fine-"

"-do you normally take the bus?" he asks, making you shake your head. "I..." embarrased, you say, "I thought I'd take up walking instead. loose a few pounds, heh-"

"let me take you in my car. I can't have the nanny to my children struggle like that." and who were you to protest? as you're being helped inside his black mercedes, your employer drives you to your home. taking note of several things he's seen throughout the week.

"so..." he says, "I might have a question that you may find alarming but... do I pay you well?" he asks, worry laced towards the end of his tone. "if so-"

"-yes," you answer, flushed and embarrassed, "I-I'm okay, the p-pay is okay sir, I just... I had some surprise payments to take care of." as he drives, he raises a brow.

"would you care to share that with me?"

"i-it's my family," you say, fidgeting with your hands as if you're a child. truth was, you didn't know why you were saying so much. whether it was the stress from these past few days, or the accumulation of stress solely from today had your eyes teary eyed as you looked away, wiping your tears hoping he wouldn't notice.

but he did.

that night, your boss drops you off your apartment. "take the week off," he suggests, voice softer. "there's been a sudden change to my plans so... my kids, I need to have them visit some family members for a bit. and..." he trails, voice careful, "I wouldn't want to throw away the food we already have, so... can I have it dropped off to you tomorrow morning?" he asks.

"I know this is very sudden, but I plan to compensate you for the last minute changes," he says, pulling out a checkbook, "will $3,000 be okay?"

"s-sir," you say, flushed and embarrsed. it's as if you've been granted another opportunity by an angel, "that's... more than enough-"

"-then please accept it," he says, handing you the check before you can even register what just happened. "I'll send the remaining food tomorrow, and in the meantime, you can rest for the week. maybe two. I need you to be in your best health beccause in 16 days, I need you to come with me and the children to visit an old friend, okay?"

you nod your head gratefully, "yes sir."

he smiles.

[bump1nthen1ght]

To Be Cherished (Dragon x GN!Reader)

Pairing: Male!Dragon x Gender Neutral!Reader

Warnings: Kidnapping, Slight infantilization (of the reader)

Word Count: 2255 words

Summary: You'd never thought of yourself as the "darling" type; That seemed more fitting for demure nobility, fawned over by their one true love. Usually a knight, or a duke, or someone else.

But dragons were never ones to play by the rules.

Request: heyo, if it’s okay, could i have a male dragon taking a transmasc (or just gn) human to be their pet? kind of just petting and praising the reader, saying things like “good boy/pet” to them? thank you!

A/N: Another dragon! Feels like I haven't written a proper dragon fic in forever, glad to be back.

I wasn't sure if this request wanted NSFW, so I decided to play it safe and do SFW. But if people want a NSFW second part (or another part in general!), I'd be glad to continue this!

When you started this day, you had expected mundanity. Thats what your whole life up to this point had been, a slightly-changing list of chores on the same land your family has worked on for generations. It may have been boring to some, knowing that some towns folk would refer to your family as ‘simple people’, but you always brushed it off. You loved your life! You loved the ever present routines and the beautiful rolling hills, even the gray-blue mountains that seemed to loom over like a fog. It was nice, your life was nice!

Now, looking down the muzzle of a dragon, you think you may have benefitted from exploring a bit more. Maybe if you had gone into town more, talked to more adventuring parties, you’d have the proper response ready when you found a Dragon sitting in your pumpkin patch.

“Hello?”

You mutter, which has the dragon cocking its head. It’s eyes are frighteningly large, giant pools of yellow with a menacing black slit at the center. they sit several feet above you, even with its head tilted low to look at you. A wave of its hot breath rolls over you like a summer breeze, it’s nostrils right by your face.

“H-how can I help you?”

The dragon doesn’t move, just letting it’s third eyelid flit between, only adding to its uncaring (?) gaze,

“Uhmm…” You mutter, looking at your basket. “I have some cucumber, some eggplant, some tomato-” You hold up a fresh, fat red tomato to the dragon's nose, “-if you want some?”

You know dragons prefer more luxurious gifts, but maybe it's hungry? Whatever it wants, it can have, you’re just hoping it doesn’t sees you as the meal.

Another wave of breath is snorted over you, ruffling your overalls and the straw hat on your head. Your hands shake, still tired from harvesting all your vegetables this morning, your nails caked in dirt. You’re sure you look a mess right now, especially in front of something as regal as a dragon, you hope the smell of sweat and soil is enough to deter it from eating you.

The dragon eyes the tomato, but does nothing to eat it. You slowly put it back into your basket.

“Sorry, that’s all I’ve got it. Just a farmer, as you can tell.” You rub the back of your neck, mayb you could appease to it’s sense of humor? Dragons love wiley adventurers, don’t they? “I’ve been told I can make a mean brisket, though. W-would you like some of that?”

The dragon blinks again, but this time you see the sides of its mouth begin to curl up, it’s tail flitting behind it. Is it…smiling?

“Yes.” The dragon’s booming voice nealry rocks you backwards, just as noble and threatening sounding as you thought it would be. “I think you will do, just fine.”

Before you can even stutter out a “What?” the dragon's claw descends upon you, gingerly wrapping around your torso as its wings extend. The ground rumbled as it flaps the giant wings, pushing it’s massive body off the ground with you still in it’s paw. You’re gobsmacked, no words and breath left to exclaim as it begins to take off into the air. A million and one thoughts and panics run through your mind, but as quickly as you realize you are being kidnapped, you black out.

—--

You’ve never actually swam in a lake, but if it was anything like this 30 foot cavern-bath you were taking, you were clearly missing out.

You had woken up in a dark cave, so far underground that the only light source were the various braziers and bioluminescent mushrooms decorating the walls. Laying on top a pile of furs, you noticed how surprisingly intact your body still was before noticing the dragon sitting nearby. It’s only when the dragon huffs that you jerk upward and look at the beast.

“Oh….hello again.” You say, trying not to freak the fuck out. The beast is just a mere 20 feet away from you, the tip of his (at least you think its a he) tail just close enough to tilt up your chin. The dragon hums, appraising you, its lips curling into that same intimidating smile.

“You look so cute when you sleep, pet. I was wondering if you would ever wake up.”

Your jaw would’ve dropped if not for the sharp scales pointing it upwards. This is really not what you were expecting.

The tail moves to your cheek and coerces to tilt your head to one side, then the other. The dragon hums again.

“What nice features. I feel awfully lucky to have found you dear, before you had to suffer any more hard labor.”

Hey, it wasn’t that hard.

You rebut in your thoughts, not daring to speak out of turn. The dragon doesn’t seem to be dangerous…not yet.

The tail moves down your chest and to your hands, lifting them up by the wrists but not pulling you uncomfortably. The dragon leans its head closer, its black scales shining like mother-of-pearl in the mushrooms glow. It tsks. “Workers hands, I loathe the fool who callused these hands. Who has you breaking your back, picking those fruits.” The tail reaches up, and pats you on the head, almost like a dog. “But you mustn’t worry, my pet, you won’t have to do that anymore.”

“I-I think there may be a misunderstanding.” You meekly say, almost a whisper. The dragon tilts its head, still amused. “I appreciate your kindness, dragon, but I wasn’t an indentured servant. Those fields were my own, I chose to work in them, and wasn't forced to do anything.” Your shoulders shrug up, trying to appear grateful but embarrassed at the mix up. “So you can take me back, I promise I wasn’t being hurt.”

The dragon looks at you, not saying anything and still having the amused look on his face. You feel sweat bead on the back of your neck, trying to avoid losing eye contact, showing disrespect or weakness. But the tail simply tips up your chin again, the dragon chuckling.

“Oh no my dear pet, I’m afraid you have misunderstood.” The dragon stands up on its paws, circling around the piles of furs yet keeping his tail under your chin. “ I know you weren’t imprisoned, you just didn’t know any better.”

You furrow your brow. That literally explained nothing.

“You will find your accomadations much more suitable for you now, my dear. Now, lets get you cleaned.”

The dragon’s tail nudges you backwards, turning you to see the large cavernous pool of water behind you.

Huh, that's why it’s so humid in here.

The dragons tail moves down to your shoulder, moving with enough finesse to pull down a single strap of your overalls. Your eyes go wide and you find yourself stumbling away.

“I c-can undress myself!” You squeal, before catching the way the dragon’s brow furrows. “I-uhm- thank you. But I can manage.”

The dragon chuckles, retracting his tail.

“Of course dear, I forgot how important clothing was for human propriety. Here,” The dragon sits up again, sitting around the rim of the bath, though facing away. That long tail flops over the side and stirs the bath water, the fragrant steams of lavender and bergamot bath salts wafting across, “I won’t even look.”

You shrug. You think thats about as much privacy as you’re going to get.

—--

To his credit, that bath was amazing. You don’t think you’ve ever been this clean in your entire life, having grown comfortable with a base level of sweat and grime.

Still, did he have to get rid of my clothes?

You’re not sure how he did it, but when you stepped out of the bath all that remained as a silk robe and fluffy slipper for your to wear. No sign of those well-worn overalls. He even had you do a spin as you got out, cooing at the outfit.

“My, my, now don’t you look handsome?”

You rub the back of your neck, not quite sure how to feel. Embarrassed, flattered? The growl from your stomach does the hard part of filling the silence for you.

“Lets get you some food, huh?”

The dragon leads to a different part of the cave, an outcropping with a gigantic dining room table, several blankets and quilts, and a circular bed in the center. Theres a stack of books, paper and pencils by the bed, but what draws your attention is the platter of delicious food on the table. You walk a little too eagerly to the table, the site of a freshly roasted chicken and potatoes tempting you in. When you sit down, you try not to lunge for it. This is the most luxurious food you’ve ever seen, plates of figs and rinds of cheese for you to snack on, alongside various other fruits. You give the dragon a side eye, wondering if you could start.

The dragon nudges your chair, effectively pushing you in, and gestures with its head for you to eat. Trying to keep some sense of propriety, you use the fancy silverware to your right instead of just digging in with bare hands. You even try to take a delicate bite of one of the chicken wings, but find yourself quickly melting under the flavor.

You were right, this is the best food you have ever eaten.

“Do you like it?”

You nod, taking another large bite. The dragon chuckles, laying down its head and just watching you. You swallow and give it a smile. A real one.

“Yes, thank you. I…don’t know what to say.” You take another quick bite of a nearby fig, almost moaning at the sweet taste. “How’d you get all this?”

“I have my ways, sweetling.” The dragon winks.

“Well, good job because this is incredible.”

You eat until your belly’s full, the lingering heat from the bath weighing down your muscles and making you feel drowsy. Sitting back in your chair you hum in content, before looking at the dragon. He still watches you, that pleased smile on his face.

“Uhm, could I ask you your name?” You set aside your plate, brushing imaginary crumbs off your robe. “I feel like I don’t know anything about you.”

“My name is Nyryym, dear.”

“Na-rim?” You enunciate, smiling when the dragon nods. “Nice to meet you, my name is ____.”

Nyryym nods, sitting upward so his head lies above the table, looking down at you. “A fitting name for my adorable pet.” He uses his tail to tilt your chin, admiring the way you fluster and blush. Your body responds almost naturally, that drowsiness from before weakening your resolve.

“Yeah, about that-” You swallow, a shaky smile on your face, “What’s the plan? Like, do you want me to do something or…” you gesticulate randomly. You’ve heard of dragons enjoying human talents before, like taking dancers or musicians, artists and poets to keep them entertained. But those were usually carefully curated picks, often from a big city or a royal court. You were just a farmer and while you’d like to think you're witty and charming, you didn’t have any extraordinary talents. “I c-can clean, or cook, maybe-” You look at the big pile of books near your bed, “Read to you?” You’d sometimes read to the children next door, putting on funny voices and such.

Nyryym chuckles again, patting you on the head with his tail.

“That is very sweet of you to offer, pet. You are such a dutiful sweetling. But I do not require you to do anything.” He sweeps his tail around your waist, nudging you to stand up and walk towards him. “Your company shall be delight enough, pet.”

“O-okay.” You nod, eyeing the large bed nearby. Surely he didn’t mean..

Well, you’re not gonna even broach that topic.

“I’m happy to help, Nyryym.”

His smile is less disconcerting than you thought it would be, especially with a mouth full of teeth that could grind your bones into dust. Nyrymm draws you even closer to him, his tail now fully wrapped around your waist. His head leans down dangerously close, enough that you yave to coach yourself not flinch away. Another hot breath of air blows through your hair, when you realize he’s smelling you.

Nyryym lets out a content sigh, rubbing your stomach with the tip of his tail. It almost tickles. After another sniff, he opens his eyes and stares you down.

“That’s a good pet. How about we retire for the night?”

You both look toward the bed, luxuriously plush and practically begging to be slept in. The combination of shock, the bath, the food and a morning full of work beforehand urges you to lie down. Now knowing that Nyryym doesn’t plan to eat you, that urge is even more compelling. So you nod, letting him guide you to the bed.

Laying down in the cotton sheets confirms your suspicions; You’re fucking exhausted. Your body sinks into the cushions, immediately pulling up the blankets to tuck yourself in. Nyrymm curls around the bed, lying his head so it's parallel to yours.

“Good night, my sweet pet.” He says, rubbing your face with his tail one last time.

“Good night, Nyryym.”

The hum of the cave and Nyryym’s heavy breathing, alongside everything else, quickly lulls you to sleep. It might be the best sleep you’ve ever had.

You guess things could be worse.

[so-sangthearcher]

GVF and crying!reader

warnings: just a touch of angst

Josh

You've had a terrible day.

From people pissing you off at work, to spilling your lunch on the floor, to the grocery store being out of the one thing you needed, the only thing you stopped for.

So when Josh called and said he'd be home late from the studio, you broke.

"That's fine, see you in a little bit baby," you said, willing your voice not to crack, wiping at your eyes. "Are you okay?" You heard Josh's voice crackled through the speaker, "Yeah," you sighed, not wanting to keep him any longer, "'M okay. I- uh. I'm gonna get started on dinner, Love you." your voice cracked on those last two words, and you hung up before he could say anything else.

You dropped your phone onto the couch cushion next to you, curling in on yourself, and allowing the tears to flow freely down your face. You let out a short sob, wanting nothing more than to be held by Josh, but he was working late, and you felt awful bothering him over something so trivial. So, you sat for what felt like years, hoping you'd be calm by the time Josh did get home.

Through your tears, you didn't hear the front door open, Josh's sudden presence going unnoticed until he spoke. "Baby, what's wrong?"

You jumped at his voice. "Josh?" you croaked, sniffling and wiping your face, "W- I thought you had to stay late?"

"You sounded so upset on the phone, I thought being here with you was more important."

You cracked at this confession, a fresh wave of tears pouring from your eyes. "I just had such an awful day, I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel like you needed to come home," you stuttered out, burying your face in your hands.

You felt Josh's palms against your cheeks, "You are the love of my life, I want to be here when you have awful days, to hold you and make you feel better. I came home because I wanted to, because you're worth it." He said gently, eyes shining. You sniffled again, leaning into his touch, letting him hold you like you so desperately needed.

After you calmed down, tears finally stopping, you told Josh about your day, apologizing once more before he stopped you. "Babe, you are allowed to have bad days, do you know how many times you've made me feel better have a shitty day? So many times I've lost count! If me being here to hold you is what makes you feel better, then there's no where I'd rather be. Plus, Sam was getting on my damn nerves. So you really saved me," he teased, making you giggle. "There's that smile," he sighed, before moving to press a sweet kiss to your lips.

"Now, let's order thai food from that place down the street." he said, making you laugh and roll your eyes. How'd you ever get so lucky?

Jake

Jake wasn't one to have over the top emotions, he was a level headed man (most of the time). You were the polar opposite, you suppose that's what made you two perfect for each other. Balance was the thing of like, you know.

Though, you couldn't help but look back on the first time Jake saw you cry.

It was about 3 months after you had officially started dating, putting a label on it, you were his and he was yours. And with comfortability, came arguments. No one said love was easy.

Jake had been coming home late, coming home reeking of alcohol, not bothering to say hello, or even acknowledge your presence. It was a trend you were getting tired of, but when you brought it up to him, it was the same response. "I'm fine babe, you know how you get. Emotions are a little dramatic," He'd say, brushing you off, reacting only in the slightest.

And you'll admit, you were quick to anger, quick to react, really. But for the second week in a row of this behavior, it was really grating on you. You missed the man you met.

So one morning after he came home, smelling like the bar, you struck up a conversation.

"Jake, babe. I- I have to be honest, I'm a little worried about you," you started, voice soft. "Don't be," He said flippantly, not bothering to even glance at you. "Jake, please." You urged, finally catching his attention.

"Are you really that bothered about me going out, y/n? It's not that serious," he scoffed, running a hand through his hair. "Look, I don't want to start an argument-" you started.

"Fine, then let's just stop here."

"I just-"

"I said, stop."

"Jake-"

"Y/n, ENOUGH."

You gasped at his tone, tears making their way to your eyes. You willed them not to fall, worried at the reaction they'd get from your boyfriend. "I just... I miss you Jake. I-if there's anything I can do..." you trailed, voice wobbling.

He finally looked at you, noticing the way your eyes shined, tears threatening to spill. You blinked, allowing them to stream down your face, looking anywhere but his face.

"Y/n..." His voice was soft.

"I'm sorry. I'm just so. I try so hard to be good to you, and I'm fucking it up. I love you, so much. I- I was scared. I've never-" He paused, voice getting caught in his throat. He sniffled before continuing, "I've never felt this way for anyone before. I don't know... How to do this..." He shook his head, his own tears falling from his eyes.

"I want to be in this with you, Jake. I want all of you, not just what you pretend to be. I love you," you breathed, pulling his body into yours, feeling the way his tears wet the fabric of your shirt.

In that moment, your emotions were equal to each others, and you felt stronger in your relationship ever since that moment.

And you know, that when you cry, so does he. Because even though he doesn't show it, he feels just as deeply as you do. And that's why you two are meant for each other.

Daniel

Danny tended to be an emotional man despite his outward appearance.

He wasn't afraid to laugh or cry in front of you. He only really hid his emotions when he was infront of the crowd. Willing the tears of overwhelming pride not to fall.

You loved this about him, you loved the way he wore his heart on his sleeve, it made you feel like you could too. Still, you seldom cried, and even less so in front of others.

Watching him on stage always made you feel some type of way. But tonight, the first show of the tour, you were beside yourself. The way they all lit up, their smiles enough to light the stage by themselves.

It was a truly beautiful experience.

They went through the show with no mishaps, watching the boys pass out the roses, watching Danny toss his sticks into the crowd. The way the fans rallied around them was heart warming, and you were honored to be a part of it.

For some reason, as Danny exited the stage, you were overcome with the emotion of the show, all the joy, and excitement crashing down on you, tears springing up to your eyes. Danny rushed towards you, pulling you into his sweaty embrace. You couldn't even bring yourself to care about the sweat that dripped off his curls.

He pulled away to smack a kiss on your lips, "did you like the show?" he breathed, that toothy smile gracing his features. You took a deep breath, and gave him a watery smile.

"Babe what's wrong?" worry seeping into his tone, eyes searching yours for an answer.

"I'm just so proud of you," you whispered, voice cracking, "I- I don't know. I just- I love seeing you do what you love, it makes me happy."

He smiled at you, "So... Happy tears?" he asked.

You let out a watery laugh, and nodded, "Yeah, happy tears." You sniffled.

"Good, for a second I was worried I was gonna have to start groveling or something." He teased, making you scoff. "I'm glad you liked the show, babe." He said finally, leaning down to give you another soft kiss, and wiping the stray tears from your face.

Sam

Being clumsy and liking to hike wasn't a great combination. You've tripped over air before, and willingly going to a place full of rocks and holes isn't the best idea.

But you loved to hike! So you and Sam packed Rosie in the car and headed off.

The day started off fine, you taking Rosie and trucking ahead while Sam stayed back a few feet, he'd brought his film camera and wanted to get some photos of the day. So far, you'd made it through with nothing but a stumble, and you got a little too comfortable, a little too confident in your balancing abilities.

You handed Roses leash to Sam and jumped up onto a rock, "Careful, babe!" Sam warned, aiming his camera at you as you posed, capturing a few moments.

You clambered of the rock with no issues, throwing Sam a confident "I'm doing great." But that notion was short lived as you stepped in a slick spot of mud, and promptly met the ground. "Fuck!" you said out of surprise as you fell, the rocky ground cutting into your knees, stinging tears rising to your eyes.

Your ankle twinged as you shifted, "Ah shit, y/n. Don't move, babe," Sam fretted, not noticing your tears. You sniffled as you shifted, tears from pain and embarrassment finally falling, "Y/n? Are you crying? What hurts?" Sam said, kneeling in front of you, Rose rounding to lick you in the face. You sniffled and pushed her away gently. "I'm fine," you muttered, cheeks burning red. You don't know why you were embarrassed, this was a common occurrence, but combined with the pain and the distress of ruining the day.

Sam brushed the stray hairs from your face, "will you tell me why you're crying?" Sam asked, worry etched onto his features. You turned away from his gaze, tears still streaming. "Well. I guess I'll just have to cheer you up," He sighed, standing straight.

You arched your brow at him, "knock knock" he started, and you sighed. "Y/n. Knock. Knock." He insisted. You rolled your eyes, "Who's there?" you croaked. "Babe will ya get the door!" he called, grinning stupidly. You couldn't help but giggle, "That was so stupid, Sam."

"Ah but it made you smile, didn't it?" he sang, thrusting a hand towards you to help you up. You groaned as you stood, rolling your ankle a few times as you did so. "You sure you aren't hurt?" Sam asked, softness seeping into his tone.

You smiled at him, "Yeah, just a couple of scratches, my ankle hurts a bit too but I'll be okay. I was mostly embarrassed." You said with a blush.

"Oh well now that just won't do! We both know I'm the embarrassing one!" he scoffed, looking around. He spotted another hiker down the path a little ways, "Hold on." He said, mischievous glint in his eye.

You watched as he walked up to the hiker "'Scuse me, sir. I really had to go but I'm not sure if I did it quite right... Can you see if there are any stains on my shorts?" He said loudly, causing you to stifle a laugh as the fellow hiker grimaced and sped around him.

"Sam, you are ridiculous." you laughed, smile unwavering. "Well, yeah. I had to get even." He said seriously.

You rolled your eyes fondly, but you knew he'd do anything for you, and you'd do the same in return.

[astaraels]

so I know I'm in the no galladads side of the fandom but hear me out on this one—

so it's maybe five years after the end of the show, Ian and Mickey are still going with their security business, maybe they've even branched out and hired some extra help, making good money, swapped out the stolen ambulance for actual SUVs that Debbie has fixed up for them, and they've maybe even bought a house back on the South Side with a dog and a cat and they're close to all of Ian's siblings (Debbie and Carl and Liam all still live in the old Gallagher house, Lip and Tammi are a few blocks over)

and one day they're on a lunch break together, leaving some diner when some rando kid bumps into Ian, turns out it was a pickpocket, and Mickey takes off after the jerk who tried to steal from his husband (he may not be a South Side thug anymore but like hell is he gonna let that shit slide)

he knocks the pickpocket over and it's some kid, like thirteen or fourteen with bright pink streaks in her dark hair and fierce brown eyes, and Mickey is like wtf kid do you wanna die

and the kid is like oh fuck you, very much an angry kitten type because she's definitely a scrawny thing—by this time Ian's caught up to them and his bleeding heart is like look if you give me my wallet back I'll buy you lunch (Mickey complains that "we just ate, Gallagher" but Ian insists)

so they either go back to the diner or find some McDonald's and this kid practically inhales some burgers and fries, and both Mickey and Ian know the look of a kid on the streets, but she's giving off those vibes that say don't touch me don't talk to me don't fucking perceive me

but Ian probably sees something like Mickey, and Mandy, in this girl and we all know he wants to help people, so he asks her if she's okay or if she needs anything, and even though he can feel Mickey starting to grumble next to him Ian still offers her their couch to crash on after she mentions getting kicked out of a salvation army shelter because they found out she was trans

and after some very intense eye to eye communication between the husband Mickey's like okay yeah fine but if one thing is outta place in the house then we're gonna have words

and the girl—they find out her name is Starr, or something like that—is like wtf why are you people being nice (they understand the suspicion, obvs, they aren't stupid), and Ian's like uhhhh we're gay and we've gone through some shit of our own so maybe we just wanna help?? (although he does notice she relaxes a little bit when he tells her that they're gay)

so they drive back home and Starr is absolutely enamored by the gallapets (a beautiful fluffy black cat and a big pittie mix, both of these animals are Ian and Mickey's baby girls), while Ian fixes up the spare bedroom with fresh sheets—usually it's where Franny or Fred stay when they come for weekend visits

and at first Starr is like okay yeah I'll stay one night but then I gotta go, and somehow it ends up that one night turns into two, then Ian and Mickey come home one afternoon and the house looks amazing because Starr is like "yeah your place was a fucking mess so I figured I'd clean" because she's not a freeloader gdi

and before they know it she's been there for a few weeks and Ian's trying to help get her back in school, because one night they were sitting around and talking and she offhandedly said that she does kinda miss school but the last place she went they were assholes about her transition, and Mickey is like just do that homeschooling course thing that maybe Tammi talked about one of her bougie friends doing for their kids

and then it's been a month or two and they bring Starr to a Gallagher family get together—Debbie hosts the family at the house at least twice a month, but everyone's been super busy lately so it's been a while since the last family dinner—and Debs gives Starr a hug and is like "oh so you're the kid my brothers adopted" (she and Sandy worked things out btw and have been back together for a while now, they've even maybe talked about getting married)

and Starr is like oh no I'm just crashing for a bit but by this point Ian has already got her the homeschooling correspondence courses, and Mickey's taken her to find a doctor who can prescribe her HRT ("it was on our route anyway, fuck off, Gallagher") and their pets adore her—Ian jokes that their cat is the one who actually adopted Starr, they just went along with it

and basically I just love the idea of them taking care of a young queer girl, and being like the cool gay uncles, and yeah :')

[darkbluekies]

Toxic spring breeze

Yandere!doctor OC x reader (y/n)

Summary: you ask the doctor to go outside for a little while. He grants you the wish, but quickly realizes that it was a bad idea.

Warnings: yandere themes, manipulation, poisoning, slight hint at suggestive stuff(?), jealousy

Word count: 1.9k

The sun shines through the curtains. You're shoving spoonful after spoonful of Mac N cheese into your mouth with your gaze fixed on the treetop outside.

"Good morning, Y/N-", Dr Kry says as he enters.

You cut him off. "Can I go out today?"

The doctor halts in his steps with a surprised yet confused frown on his face.

"Why would you want that?" he asks. "What made you think of that?"

"It's so nice outside!" you say and point at the window. "It looks really nice."

"Y/N …"

"Please, doctor. Just for a few minutes. Maybe the fresh air will make me feel better."

That's what he's scared of. If you ever found out about your poisoned air purifier, you'd never be able to love him.

"Can't we just open the window?" Dr Kry asks.

"It's not the same", you pout. "I want to move my body."

"I can book out the hospital gym-"

"Doctor!"

"Yes, Y/N?"

"I want to go out!"

He sighs and runs his hand through his blonde hair. For a few seconds, he thinks about what to do, contemplating the outcomes.

You get out of your bed and walk over to him. Your doe eyes that he finds irresistible meet his.

"Please", you plead. "I'd really appreciate it. I won't ask for anything else for the rest of the week. I'll stay in my room at all times."

Dr Kry sighs and nods. "Alright, fine. I'll let you out in the hospital's yard."

"Thank you so much!"

You're about to hug him, but back away at the last moment. He is not your friend, although he's been nice. He's your … caretaker. There should be some professionalism between the two of you.

"You can't walk outside in that hospital dress", Dr Kry says.

"But I don’t have any other clothes …"

Dr Kry smiles. Perfect.

"Don't worry", he says. "I have some for you. Wait here, okay?"

You nod. He disappears only to return with a black, sophisticated coat.

"Arms out", he orders.

You listen. He places the coat over your body and fixes the buttons for you. With a satisfied smile he nods for you to walk over to the door. He thinks you look oh so adorable in his clothes. So little and helpless.

"Come here, Y/N", he says, showing you to the elevators. "Let's not take the stairs. You're not that strong."

"That's mean …"

He presses the ground floor button. "I don't mean it in a hurtful way, dear. I just don't want you to hurt yourself."

"I want to start working out so I can get stronger. I want to go home."

Dr Kry gulps. Not those thoughts again. He'll have to make your air worse to make you weaker. Hopefully, it won't affect you too much.

"Yeah … maybe we can … arrange that", he mumbles and clears his throat.

You look at yourself in the elevator mirror.

"Oh …", you say sadly, fingers touching your cheek. "I look horrible …"

"What?" Dr Kry says in shock. How could you ever say that about yourself? "No, you don't!"

"Ever since I got into the hospital my skin has been dull and gotten a weird dead hue."

"I think you look good."

"My eyes … they look so different. Why do they look dead too?"

"Y/N, it's all in your head. You look perfect, I promise."

You give him the most beautiful doe eyes that makes him melt. He wants to take you in his arms and show you how beautiful you are to him … but that isn’t deemed professional. He has to restrain himself.

You step out of the elevator when you reach the ground floor. Dr Kry puts his hand on your back and directs you out through the main entrance without anyone disturbing you. He takes you out to the hospital's garden — a place where patients can relax with a bit of fresh air. You shiver at the fresh air and Dr Kry contemplates bringing you inside again. The very thought of having you outside in the while terrifies him.

“You’ve gotten some fresh air now, let's go inside again”, Dr Kry says.

“No!” you whine and point at a green wooden bench. “I want to sit on that bench for a while.”

“Fine.”

He brings you over to the bench and you sink down on the cold surface. You breathe in and out with a small smile on your face while the doctor besides you looks around. He notices how people's gazes are sticking onto you. Clueless patients who might find you interesting and nurses who wonder why they’re not allowed to see you anymore. Everyone’s eyes are enemies, threats.

“I feel better”, you say. “Maybe I should go out more often?”

Dr Kry curses under his breath. This was a stupid decision, he shouldn’t have brought you out here. Your coughing brings his attention back to you. The change in air must have made your throat drier than a dessert.

“Are you okay, Y/N?” Dr Kry asks worriedly. “Should we go inside?”

You shake your head. “I need … I need water.”

“Let’s go inside and get you a glass.”

You shake your head. He never lets you go out. You’re scared that if you go inside with him again, you won’t go out for another six months. Dr Kry sighs and decides to run inside and get you a water bottle from the cafeteria.

“Stay here, okay?” Dr Kry says. “You have to stay here, do you understand me?”

“Yes, yes, I get it”, you answer and curl up in his coat. “I’ll stay here.”

“Good …”

He sets off, heart burning in his chest. You cough again, your head starts feeling light and you lie down on the bench to rest. Everything's spinning.

"Oh miss, are you alright?" a nurse asks and walks over to you. She lifts up your head gently to get a good view of you. "What happened?"

"My head …", you mumble.

"You had a doctor with you, where'd he go?"

"He went to get some water for me … he'll be back soon."

"I'll supervise you until he comes back."

She lets you rest your head in her lap for some support. You're waiting for whatever’s going on to end. Minute by minute, the ability to breathe starts slipping out of your hands. Why can't you breathe?

"What the fuck is going on?" you hear a strained voice ask through gritted teeth.

You freeze and lift up your heavy head to see Dr Kry stand over you and the nurse. Without thinking, you reach for the water bottle. Instead, Dr Kry pulls you up by the limb with such force that you're up and flying. He catches you with one arm and holds you secure to his chest. You lean your heavy heart on him and hear how his hammering heart beats across his ribs.

"Don't touch my patient without my consent", Dr Kry hisses. "Mind your own fucking patients."

Before the woman can answer, Dr Kry has set off. You're pulled along like a rag doll in his possession. This reminds you of that boy that escaped his therapist …

"Doctor", you cough. "Water."

He stops abruptly and looks at you with blank eyes. The clear air is drying up the poison that has created a layer over your throat. He contemplates giving the bottle to you. As angry as he is, he can't be mad at you. You haven't done anything wrong. You can never do anything wrong. He sighs and places you down on a bench near the hospital's entrance.

"How are you feeling, pretty?" Dr Kry asks softly. "You don't look too well. We should go back to your room where you're safe."

Your shaky hands reach for the water bottle. His heart bubbles at the sight of you in his big coat, weakly reaching for him. He smiles darkly and opens the water bottle.

"Open your mouth, pretty", he says smugly.

You obey. He holds one hand softly on your jaw to make sure you won't turn your head and spill water all over yourself. Carefully and with precision, he pours a stream of water into your mouth. The plastic touches your lips.

"Better?" he asks.

You nod. "A little. What happened?"

Dr Kry sits down next to you, his eyes wandering over the parking lot.

"I think you're allergic to fresh air", he says.

"How can someone be like that?" you ask in disbelief.

He fights the urge to grimace and roll his eyes. "Okay, not fresh air particularly because that'd be insane … but something in the air. Your air in your room is made perfectly for you, you've gotten used to it. Now that you breathe air that contains all kinds of pollution and pollen and what not, your lungs can't take it."

You curl up inside his coat in fear. If you can't breathe fresh air, how will you ever leave the hospital? And this moment with the nurse reminds you so much of that situation with that boy. You remember what Dr Kry told you happened to him afterwards. Desperate for something to hold, to feel something, you take his big hand. He flinches and looks down at your smaller hand trying to take a grip on his bigger one.

"I'm scared", you admit.

Dr Kry strokes the back of your hand with his thumb.

"You don't need to be afraid, darling", he murmurs. "You don't need to do anything, don't even need to fill your pretty little head with thoughts. I'll think for you. All you need to think about is to rest, okay?"

You nod. He holds the water bottle to your lips again and you gulp it down. The doctor moves his eyes to your throat, watching it move with every gulp. Mesmerized, he doesn't realize that you're done. You push his hand away and he flinches, coming back to reality. His coat,your chin and a bit of your hair is drenched in water.

"Are you trying to drown me?" you cough.

"Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry!" Dr Kry apologizes and closes the bottle. "Let me help you back in."

He pulls you up and places his arm around your shoulder as he leads you into the hospital again. The twenty minutes outside has drained your body of the little energy you have nowadays.

"Doctor", you say quietly as you enter the elevator.

"Yes?" he answers.

"I'm tired."

"I know, sweetheart. You'll get to sleep soon."

Dr Kry helps you back into your room and tucks you in. He closes the curtains and makes sure the poisoned air purifier is turned on.

"I'll see you in an hour", he smiles. "By then I'll have some snacks for you."

"Chocolate?"

"Your favorites."

You smile weakly. Dr Kry smiles and leaves the room. As you fall asleep, he makes his way through the corridors. The very same bottle you drank from now grace his lips as he tries to get any taste from you. He thinks back of that nurse. He knows exactly where she works and who her patients are. Dr Kry smiles for himself. She won't have any patients for long. And when the boss notices … she will no longer have a job. That's what she gets for touching his darling.

[riordanness]

delicate - [l.valdez]

1.6K wordcount

warnings: mentions of nightmares,, super old writing so proceed with cringe warning

requested: no

a/n: i wrote this in quarantine, early 2021. i lowkey predicted the future w this fic bc i was obsessed w the colour maroon at the time and made y/n wear a maroon coloured taylor swift shirt… never guessing that she would release a song called maroon?? so yeah, fun fact <3

I sat bolt upright in bed, my head pounding. It took me what seemed like forever to calm down, even thought it was likely to have only been a handful of moments. I forced myself to steady my breath, and realise I was safe. My hands were tightly clutched around my sheets, and that helped to ground my thoughts a little.

I looked around my familiar cabin and took a deep breath. My fairy lights shined softly on the walls, making me feel cozy and warm. I had specifically requested fairy lights. They'd always been so reassuring and calming to me, what for I had no clue. But Leo had been all to ready to equip me with fairy lights in my cabin, so I was glad I had asked him for them. They always helped with the nightmares.

I carefully slipped out from under the covers and put on my sneakers. I fumbled through my chest drawer and pulled out a black zip-up jacket I had stolen from Leo, and yanked that on too. I had black leggings and a maroon Taylor Swift T-shirt on, so I felt warm enough to go outside, where the freezing Greek air would surely be uncomfortable.

I needed to clear my head, and get some fresh air, and talk to someone. All that would happen on deck, where there was bound to be at least one crew member on duty. Besides, Leo never went to bed, it seemed. He would most certainly be up there, and I needed to see my best friend right now.

I tiptoed past the other demigods' cabin doors, trying not to wake anyone up. I had no wish to anger anybody who slept with a sword constantly by their side.

I crept upstairs and came out onto the deck, the moon covering the world with a ghostly layer of magical light. I loved the moon. If Artemis, the moon goddess, wasn't a maiden goddess and actually had demigod kids, I'd've given anything to be her daughter. She was definitely one of the best Greek goddesses.

As I'd suspected, Leo was still awake, even though it was probably at least three in the morning by now. He stood with his back to me, tinkering with something on the ships' control board. I stood there for a few seconds, biting my lip and staring at his figure in the dim light, debating whether to bother him or not. In the end, I decided to walk over.

"Hey," I said quietly over Leo's shoulder.

He flinched, looking up at me with startled dark eyes. "Jeez, carinó, don't scare a man like that!”

My eyes widened in sudden alarm. "I'm sorry!"

Leo managed to crack a smile for me. "No, it's fine. Hey."

He turned back to the controls. "I'm just turning off the sonar and switching to radar. We're going airborne soon. Percy's gone downstairs, and it's Jason's turn to watch."

I nodded. "Okay." I knew what he was doing. I didn't dare one but for that kind of information, it was useless to me and I usually forgot it in about four seconds. Leo did it because he knew I adored listening to his voice. His accent was so calming to me, just like fairy lights and Taylor Swift songs were.

I loved him so much for doing that for me. I was so lucky to have this boy in my life.

There was silence for a few minutes. That was the way it usually was with Leo and I. We were comfortable with whatever. If we wanted to talk, we did talk, about everything and anything. But if one of us felt like being quiet, that worked too. It was just nice to be with each other, together.

We didn't have to be talking to enjoy each other's company, and I loved that about him too.

"I had a nightmare..." I said at last, drawing out the words, as if me saying them slower would make it harder for Leo to understand them.

Leo's eyes immediately snapped to meet mine. "You did?" His voice flooded with concern. "Are you okay? Was it that same one, or different? Was it a vision, or —?"

I laughed lightly. "Calm down... I..." My smile dropped as I reflected on my nightmare. "It was..."

I shuddered. "Um, it was bad. I just... I just wanted to be around someone. I didn't want to be alone in my cabin."

Leo nodded. He reached for my hand and squeezed it gently. His touch sent a tingle up my spine. Leo didn't really do touching; I think he was wary around it with his fire powers, so it was nice, but a little strange, to hold his hand.

"Come on," Leo said. "I'm done here. Festus will guard until Jason gets his lazy butt out of bed. I want to show you something."

I managed a smile. "Okay, Repair Boy."

"Hey, don't call me that!"

"Why not?" I reasoned. "You call me carinó, and I don't even know what that means."

Leo's eyes glittered with mirth, as if he was sharing an inside joke with himself. "Well... fine then."

He led me by the hand downstairs. We passed a bleary-eyed Jason on the steps, who nodded mutely at us and kept going. Hopefully he wakes up enough to fight off any monsters who decides our ship looked tasty.

Leo led me past the cabin doors, careful to walk quietly. When he started down the second level of steps, I raised my eyebrows.

"I've never been down here," I whispered.

"I know," he whispered back. A nervous, but excited shiver ran down my back.

Leo pushed open the first door on the left. Inside, an intricate engine (at least I think it was an engine) took up most of the room. Pipes and cords ran absolutely everywhere, winding around and around each other.

Random work tools rolled along the floor every time the ship listed sideways, spanners and hammers and screws going everywhere. The engine hummed softly, filling the air with a pleasant kind of feeling. I instantly understood why Leo liked this place. I know he often spent a lot of time in here, and I could now see why. It was exactly his sort of room.

"Wow, Leo," I said. "You built all this? You're amazing."

Leo blushed. "Thanks, carinó."

I glanced at him with a smile, and he looked confused. "What?"

"Nothing," I said slowly. "I'm just really glad you're my best friend." I gave his hand a squeeze.

Leo looked away. "Uh, great, well..."

"You wanted to show me something?" I prompted.

"Oh yeah!" He pulled me along as he walked to a cabinet against one wall. He opened one of the drawers, dug through it, closes it, opened another one, and smiled triumphantly.

"Close your eyes, carinó," he told me.

I did so immediately. After all, I trusted Leo completely. Okay, maybe not with shaving foam or my wallet, but for anything else? Of course.

Leo suddenly laced his fingers through mine. "Open them," he said, his voice low and kinda gravelly.

I slowly opened my eyes. Leo held out his palm.

On it, a beautiful necklace lay. A beautiful, incredibly intricate flower was made out of see-through gold, hung on a thin gold chain.

I gasped softly. "Oh, Leo..." I didn't know what to say. "It's... it's beautiful. Oh, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"It's not the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Leo muttered. "I mean, uh, thanks. I made it for you."

I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him. "It's amazing. You're amazing. Thank you."

Leo pulled away, laughing a little. "Okay, okay. Here. Want me to put it on for you?"

I nodded. He carefully stepped behind me and fastened the clasp around my neck. The necklace laid on my chest, and I gazed at it for a moment, before smiling up at Leo.

"Thank you so much, Leo," I said. "It's the best thing I've ever received in my life."

"Really?" Leo seemed surprised. "Well, let's see how many times I can break that record."

Before I knew what was happening, Leo stepped forward, cupped his hand around my cheek and gently pressed his mouth to mine. He only kissed me for a second, moved backwards, red as a beet, and opened his mouth, stammering, "Oh, I just... did that. I— I'm sorry —"

I smiled dryly. "Don't you dare be sorry." I stood on tiptoe and kissed him again, longer this time.

I felt like I was on fire. I wasn't, and neither was Leo (thankfully), but my entire body was hot all over. I don't know how long we would've stayed there, but someone decided enough was enough.

"Hey, Leo, are you — holy Hera!" Jason stumbled into the doorframe. "Uh..."

Leo and I broke apart. His face was a red as mine felt. "Oh! Hi Jason." Leo grinned. "What's up?"

Jason pursed his lips. "I... uh, I forgot. What the Hades are you two doing?"

"Making out," Leo replied.

"Leo!" I exclaimed. "I wouldn’t put it that way! That’s so… crude sounding.”

"Oh. Okay. We weren’t doing that then," Leo agreed. "What's wrong, J-man?"

Jason looked confused. "Um, well... we're nearly to Athens. None of us can work out your controls, Leo, so you need to come and uh, work your magic."

Leo nodded. "We'll be right there."

Jason disappeared up the hall. Leo and I glanced at each other.

"So?" Leo asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"So... what?" I asked back.

"Did I break my record?" He grinned cheekily. "Of the best things you've ever received?"

I blushed. "I guess so. Yeah. Yeah you did, Repair Boy."

"Good," Leo said, grabbing my hand again and pulling me towards the deck. "Now, let's go save the world, together."

[pregnant-cockroach-xoxo]

Sanji x G/N!Reader Fluff

W/C: 465

They took a long deep breath preparing to open the door. They slowly opened the door to see Sanji sitting quietly upright on his bed drinking a fresh cup of his favorite tea. Sanji looked up and saw them in his doorway, "Yes?" he says, curious as to why they were in his room at this hour.

"Hey, uh I need to talk to you about something.." They say, a bit nervous but ready to get this off their chest. They were ready to finally confess their feelings to Sanji after some convincing from Nami. "Come on in, sit down." Sanji says softly, not wanting to be too loud. They walk in and sit on his bed next to him and let out a nervous sigh.

"Okay, so.. I've been wanting to tell you this for a while now, longer than I'd like to admit...." They say, balling their fists at their side, their nervousness eating away at them as they chew on the inside of their cheek. "I have feelings for you and I have for a long time. It's totally fine if you don't reciprocate but I just wanted to get this off my chest, sooner rather than later, y'know?" They say nervously, looking down at their lap waiting for Sanji's response.

"Look at me." Sanji says, taking their hands in his. When they look up at him, he's sat his tea down on his nightstand, his face flushed, pupils dilated widely. "I have feelings for you as well, Y/N. I have for a while." He says to them, blushing and looking away, his beautiful blue-grey eyes staring towards the ground as he keeps their hands in his.

"Really?" They say, blushing and smiling softly. "Yes.." He says, his blush becoming a deeper shade of fuschia. They sharply inhale before speaking, "Sanji... Will you be my boyfriend?" they quickly let out, blushing more. "Of course! Can I.. Can I kiss you?" Sanji says in response, leaning in slightly, his gaze still fixed on the floor in embarrassment. They lean in and place a sweet kiss on Sanji's soft lips. Sanji pauses for a moment before kissing them back, wrapping his arms around their waist. Once the kiss breaks Sanji smiles softly at them.

"Would it be weird to say I love you so soon?" They say, still flustered. "Not at all, I love you too." Sanji says smiling at them.

a/n: requests are open :)

[cantstoplovingjude]

To Steal You Away: Alfons Sylvatica Bitter

This is from Ikemen Villains EN, Cybird owns everything.

Alfons: "Since Liam's away, this is the perfect opportunity to do all sorts of shameless and indecent things to you."

Alfons: "Now that our mission is done, we can extend our date. The excitement's only just begun."

Alfons smiled and took me somewhere I never would've guessed.

==========

Kate: "Is this a night market?"

Alfons: "Yes. They hold it a few times a month and sell everything front fresh fruit to strange and exotic animals."

Alfons: "I heard they even secretly sell people's... company for the night, if you get my drift."

(Wow, that's pretty scandalous...)

Kate: "Oh, Alfons! Look at that pretty candy over there!"

Alfons: "You're really bad at changing the subject, did you know that? Well, I suppose that's how you managed to survive so far."

Regardless, just as Alfons said, the night market was filled with all sorts of things.

And many of them were things I'd never seen before. Just walking around looking at everything was exciting.

But for some reason, the fear and anxiety that lingered in my heart was holding me back from truly enjoying myself.

(It's frustrating that I can't enjoy myself here.)

(I wish I were better at just shrugging things off and forgetting about them...)

Alfons walked ahead at me and pointed at something.

Alfons: "Look, Kate. There's some kind of crowd gathering over there."

I followed his gaze and saw a crowd of people next to a signboard.

Kate: "...'Bring Your Beau! Chow Down Challenge'...?

Organizer: "Well, aren't you two easy on the eyes! You interested in the contest?"

Kate: "Um, no... We were just looking."

Mean Man: "Oh, please! They both look so frail, a stiff gust of wind could snap 'em in half! They could never beat us. Right, honey?"

Mean Woman: "That's right, darling. You two should go home before you embarrass yourselves."

A nearby couple that seemed to have entered the contest suddenly accosted us.

(Uh-oh. I have a bad feeling about this...)

Kate: "Alfons, let's just go."

Alfons: "Brilliant idea, Miss Kate."

Alfons: "Can we participate in this contest?"

Kate: "What?! I didn't mean go THAT way!"

Organizer: "Yes, of course! The more the merrier. Come on!"

Kate: "W-wait, Alfons. Are you even listening to me?!"

Kate: "Are we seriously going to participate?!"

Alfons: "Luckily, they're flexible and allow last-minute entrants!"

The couple who tried to pick a fight with us were now sneering.

(Oh, no... Can't I just forfeit?)

Alfons's smile only deepened when he saw my nerves.

Alfons: "You know how much I love having fun."

(...I really wish I didn't.)

Meanwhile, we were instructed to sit down at the table.

There was a bunch of tomatoes piled up in front of us.

Kate: "We have to eat all of those?!"

Alfons: "Seems like it. Ooh, they're fresh off the vine. Look how juicy and red they are."

Alfons: "Ahha, as red as your face when you get angry."

Kate: "Listen, this is no time for jokes! It says over there the losers have to pay a fine!"

Organizer: "Behold, the Great Tomato Eating Contest begins now! Winner takes home a fabulous prize! Loser pays the price... literally!"

Organizer: "One match, fair and square. Three, two, one, go!"

At the signal, the participants all started chowing down on the tomatoes.

They ate with such fervent gusto I could only stare in amazement.

(...Whoa.)

(There's no way Alfons and I can eat like that.)

I let out a sigh of resignation and turned to look at the tomatoes.

Kate: "H-huh? Half the tomatoes are already gone! Where did they go?"

Alfons: "In here, of course."

Alfons pointed to his stomach and grinned.

Alfons: "Didn't I tell you? Not only did I have a very refined upbringing, but I have a very robust stomach."

Mean Man: "...That stringbean is gaining on us! Hurry up and eat!"

(...Maybe we can actually win this!)

Kate: "Okay, I'm gonna dig in, too!"

Alfons: "Ahha. Be careful not to go too crazy."

Both of us frantically stuffed the tomatoes into our mouths.

Organizer: "And the winners are... our last-minute entrants!"

I looked up in surprise and heard the cheers from the audience.

(We did it... We won!)

Kate: "Alfons, we won... Pfft!"

Alfons: "What?"

Kate: "Ahaha, do you have any idea what your face looks like right now?"

Alfons: "Go look at your own face in a mirror and then see what you have to say, my dear."

Alfons: "You're just as much of a mess as I am."

Kate: "Am I really?"

I hesitantly wiped my mouth and looked down to see my hand covered in red tomato juice.

(Well, I guess I did get a little carried away...)

Alfons: "You look terrible."

Kate: "Well, that makes two of us!"

Organizer: "And the prize for our winning couple is... a year's worth of tomatoes!"

Kate: "...You've got to be kidding me!"

Alfons: "Oh my, how in the world will we bring that home?"

Kate: "Hahaha, right?"

(Oh...)

(I'm smiling and laughing...)

All of a sudden, I realized the fear and anxiety that had been weighing down my heart had disappeared.

==========

We boarded a carriage filled with tomatoes and headed home toward Crown Castle.

As I gazed at the scenery that passed by, I couldn't stop thinking about something.

(Maybe the real reason he took me out was to cheer me up?)

(He's so elusive. I can never tell what he's really feeling.)

-Flashback-

Alfons: "Liam needs to forget about reality sometimes."

Alfons: "You're starting to pick up on that fact, aren't you?"

-Flashback Ends-

(I don't think he's the kind of person who would neglect someone else's feelings...)

Maybe it was my own misunderstanding, or maybe I was just trying to attach meaning to things.

But I felt like I would regret it if I didn't say something.

Kate: "Thank you for taking me out tonight."

Alfons: "Oh, goodness me."

Alfons: "I'm not sure if you've misunderstood, but I was just having fun."

Alfons: "Well, no matter. You're free to think as you please."

Kate: "...I will, then."

He raised an eyebrow as he gazed back at me.

Kate: "So please... Tell me more about yourself. I want to get to know you better."

Kate: "Deeper."

Alfons: "You want to get to know me more deeply, do you?"

Alfons: "Oh dear, have you fallen for me that quickly?"

Kate: "What?!"

Alfons: "Because that's what your eyes are saying."

Alfons: "Poor, sweet Liam, having to be dragged into this tangle of lust."

Alfons: "I am a pacifist, you know."

Kate: "Oh, give me a break, Alfons."

Alfons: "Heheh. I have a feeling we're going to have even more fun together from now on."

The more I reached out to him, the more elusive he became, like shadows slipping through my fingers.

The closer I got to him, the more it felt like he was pushing me away.

(...So why can't I stop thinking about him so much?)

End Bitter.

[zaceouiswriting]

Fairy Prince - Hearts of Leviathans - Ch.24

Character: Sky x male reader, Riven x male reader, Brandon x male reader

Universe: Somewhere in Winx Club/Saga

Warnings: None

As I watch them fight, a sudden rumble runs through me as I hear the training rods colliding, almost like metal clashing against metal. I get excited, although I'm not sure why that is. Maybe they're reinforced, but for training? Far too many injuries occur as a result of such ill-considered training sessions. While wood hurts a little, metal can ruin a soldier's entire career, and specialists are soldiers, so why would they possibly sacrifice them like that?

I half-heartedly want to go over to the older guy, muscular, with big arms and medium-length hair parted in the middle; he looks a bit like a player. Fine stubble adorns his face; he has a well-groomed but rough appearance. A crooked grin is on his lips as he tells his students how they should train.

But as I get closer to him, his eyes catch me. I want to sink into the ground, but before I can do anything, he's already coming towards me, forcing me to interact, so I do the same, and we quickly meet. He holds his hand out, and I take it without thinking, only to feel immense pressure. For a moment, I don't understand what's happening—until I look at our hands and see mine helplessly crushed by his. Annoyed, I channel my fairy magic into my right hand and strengthen it with a spell. "Body of stone," I mutter quietly. Immediately, I give him back what he had given me before. He apologizes with an embarrassed smile and pulls his hand back. Before he can see my little trick, however, I pull my magic out of my hand, making it look normal again.

I don't like this guy. He's loud and obnoxious, two things I can't stand, apart from the fact that he calls perfectly average and good-looking guys "girls," which makes me even angrier. Guys don't need that crap; most of them already have shattered self-esteem.

Even though I know that he doesn't mean it in a directly derogatory way, it still makes me angry for him to tell them that they don't have the form to become soldiers. After all, only one in a hundred million girls and women can become fighting soldiers, and that's why this seems particularly degrading to me.

When his specialists fight against the fairies, he realizes that being a soldier is not the only option, even if they have great power.

"I'd rather not. I'm not fully there yet; I've only woken up and desperately need some fresh air."

“Then there’s nothing better than a mock fight!” He laughs unbearably loudly again. Only this time he also slaps me on the back with his big hand.

Everything goes black for a moment as a wave of pain shoots through my body. When I can see again, however, I am above the tall man, now lying on his back, holding his head up by his shirt. A little blood flows from the corner of his mouth and from his neck, where a sword made of stone, sharper than any metal I have ever seen, cuts lightly into his skin.

I feel a strange anger boiling over, and my face is twisting with rage. But even though I sense it, I can't understand why it's there. I only remember the pain. But I can't push it away or let go of the big man.

"How about next time you challenge someone who's your own size?" I ask him in a furious, mocking tone. Even though I know deep down that I felt this way and needed to say it, I'm desperately trying to figure out where this anger comes from.

But the more time passes, the less I understand my anger. Just as I accept it, I feel myself regaining control. Suddenly, I sense my features relaxing a little, just enough to make me appear weak.

I feel the man beneath me shift, and I reflexively bend backward, just in time for his leg to sweep over me. As he turns, he tries to grab my arm, which he succeeds in doing, and the next moment he grabs my sword, which disappears into thin air. But he doesn't let that stop him. With his next move, he spins me around and hurls me to the ground. With my arm still in his tight grip, I can only half-roll out of the way. But with his strength, I get back on my feet, kick him in the side with my knee, slam my head into his, and finally put my free hand on the back of his neck, sending him tumbling to the ground. I hear a sickening crack, but I don't feel satisfied yet.

"Thousand swords!" I roar. Hundreds and hundreds of swords appear from the ground and in the sky. I can see the fear in the teacher's eyes glistening like stars as the summoned thousands of swords come dangerously close to him. "Next time, think twice before you get aggressive towards me," I whisper in his ear, only to raise my hand and close it firmly. Suddenly, all the swords disappear. Although the fear in the man's eyes has disappeared, it hasn't really helped get his ego back.

I stomp him into the ground and kick him in the side one last time as I stand up. But when I turn around, I see many shocked faces, which I completely ignore. What could I have said to them? Instead, I wander deep into the forest. Hidden between the trees, I can finally drop my mask. Almost immediately, I fall against a tree as my breath catches in my throat, and breathing becomes difficult. My heart is pounding so hard that it makes my whole body shake. What just happened to me? Where does this unimaginable anger come from? I have no idea and no one to ask my questions to, so how can I calm down?

I slide down the tree until my legs are almost at a 90-degree angle, hoping that it will help me somehow. But it is actually the gentle songs of the forest that help me. Especially the song of the few songbirds in the area, and among them in particular the black Barabella songbirds, so called because they sing the Barabella song, a famous song from my home world about love. And a species of bird that becomes aggressive if you don't pet it, if it flies close to you, or if it lands directly on your arms, has, contrary to what its behavior suggests, a relatively gentle song.

There are about a dozen songs that blend into a gentle symphony. It's so calming that it only takes a few minutes for my heart to calm down, and the rising panic is slowly disappearing.

As soon as I can breathe freely again, I head deeper into the forest. I'm glad the wall is so high because it's impossible to miss.

Before I got to the specialists, I wanted to take a side path to the wall, but after the argument with the teacher, I decided to take the path through the middle of the forest. I was hoping that I wouldn't be disturbed along the way because I believe the specialists have had enough of me. But, of course, nothing goes as planned.

The closer I get to the wall, the more astonished I am because of its height and sheer beauty. That I really have made something like this stuns me. I always imagined the spell got its name from my ancestor being eccentric, but no, this wall is beautifully made, and worse, it must have been built before. I don't even want to know where this monstrosity has gone.

I touch the wall with my palm and close my eyes. I feel the throbbing of magic in it, like veins through a body, and smile softly. Taking a deep breath, the wall suddenly disappears into the ground—slowly at first, but it gets there quickly. Now that I have more control over my fairy magic, I don't have to pull rocks out of the ground like I used to. Until getting the other cores out, I thought that was how fairy magic worked, but now I realize it doesn't have to be that way, only when there isn't enough magic. I've never come into a world where there is so little magic that I would need it to change the world itself.

I watch the wall disappear as I play with a summoned stone, letting it float in my hand, fly around, and change its shape. As soon as the wall is gone, I want to turn away to explore the forest and the surrounding area, but I can't take a step because two big eyes are staring at me in horror from the ground. Lying on the floor is a small, plump girl with a beautiful, round face, warm brown eyes, and wavy brown hair tied in a ponytail. She would look gorgeous if she lost a few pounds, but she is pretty enough as it is.

"Can I help you?" I ask this mysterious girl, smiling at her as I go into a squat. Her cheeks flush, surely from embarrassment. "Do you need help getting up, or can you do it yourself?"

Though she hesitates, she closes her eyes. With a warm breath that seems filled with even greater embarrassment, she whispers, "I could use some help," she tells me, her cheeks even redder. "I'm stuck."

I stare at her in confusion, having no idea how she could be stuck, until I look around and, to my great embarrassment, suddenly see that her ponytail is stuck in the ground. I didn't even see it! I have never apologized to anyone so quickly in my life. As fast as I can, I open the floor just enough to help her, pull out her ponytail, and help her back to her feet.

"I'm so sorry; I didn't think anyone would be here considering how far you have to walk to get to the other side of these walls."

She looks away shyly and shows me a broken root. "The plants were crying; I had to help them," she tells me quietly.

“Can you heal them?“

She shakes her head. I see a sad look in her eyes. "I'm not strong enough," she confesses with a heavy sigh. "Many trees have been ripped out of the ground; they're all slowly dying."

It forced me to look around for the first time. And to my horror, she is right. Wherever I look, I see large gaps in the forest: fallen trees, uprooted roots, broken branches, flattened bushes, berries, and vegetables scattered everywhere, and occasionally I can even find a lifeless animal. I didn't notice it at first, but my hand went to my mouth in shock.

I have never had such problems since my home world is almost desolate and only a few settlements outside the capital are inhabited.

I can't let go of it, and I walk almost as if someone else were moving my body towards one of those poor trees that fell victim to my carelessness. As I place my hand on it, I feel a faint magical pulse coursing through the plant, growing weaker by the second.

If I do nothing, these trees will surely die, weakening the entire ecosystem until new trees grow. I can't help but look back at the way I came. Seeing the building in the background, I realize that not only is there this ecosystem here but also this house, built by one of my ancestors with long-forgotten magic; it must have lived off the magic of the land for the last hundreds of years. I couldn't risk the ecosystem collapsing.

"Terraforming!" I have barely uttered these words when the ground beneath me shakes, the once hard ground softens, and from the other side of the tree, a small wave of dirt rises into the air and envelops the tree in its cold embrace. The dirt easily pushes the tree back into place, covers the trunk, and hardens again—not as hard as before, but enough that the tree would not fall over.

Immediately, the magical pulse within the tree increases, but the end of its life seems even closer than before. The trees here can live forever, as they are beacons of magic, which they produce without pause or end. Some even believe that all the dimension's magic is created on this planet, but that is only wishful thinking, as all worlds produce their own magic. But the mere thought of it brought about many positive changes for this planet, which is now revered as a holy place. Even if it all started with a lie, the people responsible and their entire bloodline are long dead—a well-deserved end, in my opinion.

I pour as much of my magical power as possible into the tree, hoping to save it, but since I don't have nature's magic, nothing happens. I must look worried because the girl not far from me asks if she can help.

Focusing my attention on her, I see at a glance that her magic is rather weak; it's barely enough to call her a fairy. But I can still sense something familiar within her. A song, no a humming, that vibrates with another hum within my head. As a child, this humming was much louder; I hadn’t heard it in so many years. Though the hum coming from her is quiet, I can tell what it is from a single note. While she is not the bearer of the song, she must still be part of this bloodline, as only the blood of the ancient Leviathans can hear or omit their part of this song.

"Who are you?" My question seemed to have surprised the girl because she took a trembling step back as if I threatened to kill her entire family. I don't know where this comparison comes from because, to my knowledge, I have never taken anyone's life. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you; I promise I don't bite!"

This seems to calm her down enough to give me a shy smile. But she doesn't just take a step forward; she walks straight towards the tree, but on the other side, which is fine with me.

As she places her hands on the tree, I can feel its pulse drawn to her. Honestly, it hurts to see nature approach another person so easily when I have the ability to literally change worlds. But for now, I should probably just swallow my pride.

I honestly have no idea what she's doing. It almost looks like she's talking to the tree, which isn't impossible but still looks ridiculous. But suddenly, her face twists in pain. Realizing she's lost control due to her low mana, I quickly run around the tree to catch her just in time, supporting her by propping her up against me, taking her hand in mine, and half-clasping them. Since I'm much taller than her, I can see her cheeks blush, giving me a much-needed boost.

I bend my head down and tell her to focus on the magic in the tree and not just mindlessly pour all her magic into it, but to control it too. I hope she listens to me and not to her wildly beating heart.

After a few seconds of nothing happening, I'm already considering giving her more specific instructions when, out of nowhere, I feel the tree's magical lifeline—the last root that connects it to the ground—twitch. Although still alive, it will take a lot of time for the tree to heal, but it will at least give most of the tree enough magic to live on for a while longer.

I can finally breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that the worst is over. Carefully, I release our hands and step back, but I make sure she doesn't fall.

While she stands there quietly, hopefully not feeling pressured by me, I look at the rest of the damage, take another deep breath, and use the spell again, only on a larger scale. A wave of dirt sweeps through the forest, pulling trees back into their holes and devouring already-dead bushes to become part of the system again.

“Can I place the healing of the rest of the forest in your hands?” I even lace a slightly teasing undertone into my voice, but it doesn't seem to come across because her mouth is wide open in shock. I chuckle softly at her reaction and shake my head. "Don't worry, I'll help you. Your magic is far too unstable for you to do this alone."

Her shocked expression turns almost instantly back to embarrassment, even though I didn't mean it that way, although I can understand why she might feel hurt.

The sun is already setting, which draws her attention to the time. She looks over to me and nods silently. Just as quietly, we walk back together, past the specialists just now finishing their training in the orange evening sun. We did get a few looks, but I didn't let that deter me. As we approach the building, we part ways without saying another word. I like her, and hopefully we can be friends one day when I have cleared my name.

[Masterlist]

[strangerstilinski]

𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐕𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐌𝐄 𝐈𝐈 ✶ Teen Wolf Rewrite

Stiles Stilinksi/Original Female Character

TW | S2

chapter two

summary; as if the last month and a half hadn't been stressful enough — now there were a few more werewolves, a kanima, and a seriously disturbed old man added into the mix. but amber, stiles, and scott could totally handle this. it would be fine. everything was great.

word count; 7,965

chapter notes; pack recruitment doesn’t go quite as smoothly as derek had hoped. the whole gang tries to help when isaac finds himself in a tight spot on the night of his first full moon.

masterlist

c h a p t e r   t w o

shape shifted

"Are you sure you guys have to lock me up? I mean, I feel like things are gonna be a lot easier tonight." Scott repeated optimistically for the third time.

Stiles rolled his eyes as the two of them headed down the hallway toward the locker room to get ready for their morning practice, tugging the strap of his backpack more firmly over his shoulder.

"Yeah.. I, uh- I'd love to believe you, Scott. But-"

"I'm serious." Scott insisted, "It's not like the last full moon. I don't feel the same."

"Oh? No wolfy urges?" Stiles started, "You're not feeling any urges to kiss your unbelievably attractive and now, might I remind you, ridiculously unavailable best friends?" He asked pointedly, wincing at the mere thought of the way Scott had made a move on Amber the month before. Flashes of pink lipgloss smeared over Scott’s lips, Amber’s wide hazel eyes and bruised knuckles, the angry words that had been shouted back and forth between Scott and himself, all still fresh in his mind.

"Are you describing Amber or yourself?" Scott asked with a grin, amused with his own joke.

"I'm not going to respond to that. Because it wasn't funny." Stiles stated before continuing, "How about the urge to maim and kill people? Like us? Your best friends?"

"I swear I don't have the urge to kiss and/or kill either of you." Scott promised as they walked through the door into the locker room.

"Y'know, you say that now-" Stiles disagreed quietly, "But then the full moon goes up and out come the fangs and the claws and there's a lot of howling and screaming and running everywhere, okay?" He rambled off quickly, gesturing emphatically with his hands as they approached his locker, "And it's very stressful on me. So, yes. We're still going to be locking you up."

"Okay, fine," Scott conceded, leaning against the end of the lockers, "But I do think I'm more in control now. Especially since things are so good with Allison-"

Stiles' face pinched up in annoyance, "Yeah, I'm aware of how good things are with Allison."

"They're really good." Scott repeated suggestively.

"I- Thank you. I know." Stiles muttered.

Scott grinned and raised his eyebrows in insinuation, "I mean like.. Really good.."

"Alright! I get it!" Stiles snapped, "Just, please. Shut the hell up before I get the urge to maim and kill myself."

Scott looked at his best friend in amusement, "Why're you so bitter, anyway? I texted Amber last night. So I know you were planning on sleeping at her place. Alone.." He hinted, "I mean, didn't you guys-"

"No, we didn't." Stiles told him, readjusting his backpack over his shoulder again agitatedly, "I- Which is fine. I've been in love with this girl for nine years. Waiting a little bit longer isn't gonna kill me, I just. It doesn't mean I don't want to. Really bad."

He sighed as his mind unhelpfully supplied him with the same image he'd thought back to a million times in the last 12 hours — Amber, in nothing but the thin lace of her underwear, shivering, smooth skin pebbled with goosebumps, the muscles in her stomach clenched from the cold-

"-Like, all I think about doing every second of every day, bad." He rambled on, huffing angrily when his eyes caught on Scott's smug face again, "And it would just be a whole lot easier if I weren't listening to you brag about your incredible sex life, alright?"

"Okay, okay." Scott raised his hands in surrender and changed the topic, "Do you guys at least have a better plan than handcuffing me in my bedroom this time?"

Stiles nodded and moved to pull his locker open, "Yeah, much better-"

As the door to his lacrosse locker swung open, the sturdy metal chains that he'd stuffed in there haphazardly in preparation for the full moon slipped from the top shelf. They slowly and forcefully slid out to the tile floor of the locker room, clinking loudly as the long link of chains began to coil in a pile at their feet. Stiles made a few aborted motions to catch the mess but they were made in vain, the chains slipping through his hands as they fell until he simply dropped his arms to his sides with a wince.

Coach Finstock stepped up beside him and smacked his gum loudly in Stiles' ear, peering over his shoulder as the chains slowly fell and gathered in a heap. Stiles risked a glance back at the man and then around the locker room, shrinking back awkwardly under the judgemental gazes of the guys around them as the chains continued to fall, seconds stretching painfully slowly to prolong the embarrassment.

When the long chain finally finished piling up on the floor, the changing room was thrust into a stunned silence.

"Part of me wants to ask," Coach Finstock told him, eyes glued to the large pile of chains on the floor at his feet, "But the other part says that knowing will be more disturbing than anything I could ever imagine." He confessed, taking a few steps and backing up slowly, "So, I'm gonna walk away."

"That's good," Stiles choked out, a pink flush on his cheeks, "That's a wise choice, Coach."

He quickly knelt down onto the ground to attempt to collect the mess so that he could stuff it back into his locker and Scott squatted down beside him.

Stiles' hands fumbled with the chains for a moment, his gaze drifting up toward his friend and pausing when he noticed Scott looking around the room distractedly. His friend's eyes raked over their teammates in a slow trail as he searched for something.

"You okay?" Stiles questioned after a few moments, watching his friend continue his survey of the room, "Scott?"

Scott's attention finally snapped over to Stiles with a frown, "There's another," He said vaguely, "In here. Right now."

Stiles blinked in confusion, "Another what?"

"Another werewolf."

Even though they'd skipped both first and second period to get coffee in an attempt to settle some of Lydia's nerves, the redhead still hesitated nervously outside the school building, both Amber and Allison watching her apprehensively out of the corners of their eyes.

"You okay, Lyds?" Amber asked softly, "If you don't wanna do this today, I'll take you home right now. I can just borrow Stiles' Chemistry notes and I'll go to classes after lunch-"

"I'm fine. I can do this." Lydia assured her, "I am not some emotionally scarred little girl who got lost on a hike, okay? I’m better than that. And I don't even remember it, so."

"You seriously don't remember anything?" Allison asked from the redhead's other side.

Lydia looked between her two friends with a sigh before delving back into the explanation she'd already given Amber that morning when she'd first picked her up and asked about her visit to the hospital the night before.

"They called it a 'Fugue State'. Which is basically their way of saying 'we have no idea why you can't remember running around the woods naked for two days.'" Lydia shrugged, "But personally, I don't care. I lost nine pounds."

Amber's hand went to Lydia's shoulder protectively, "Oh, cut it out, will you? You're gorgeous. Always."

Lydia rolled her eyes but didn't deem the compliment worthy of a response, hesitation seemingly gone as she reached out to wrap a hand around the door handle.

"Are you ready for this?" Allison checked again.

"Please," Lydia scoffed, "It's not like my aunt's a serial killer."

Without waiting for a response, Lydia pulled the door open and stepped into the building. Amber shot Allison a small grimace of sympathy and the other girl smiled weakly in response as they followed Lydia inside.

The hallways were crowded at the tail end of the fifteen minute morning break and it seemed as if every one of the students froze in their movements, all of the eyes in the busy hallway suddenly drawn to the reappearance of the girl they'd all been gossiping about since Winter Formal.

The heavy weight of the stares of their classmates had Lydia faltering in her steps once again and Amber stepped up beside her, hand settling on her friend’s back reassuringly.

"Maybe it's the nine pounds." Allison suggested slyly from Lydia's other side.

The comment seemed to jolt Lydia back into action and she tilted her head thoughtfully before stepping away from Amber's outstretched hand and strutting confidently down the hallway toward her locker. Amber scrambled to follow behind her, tugging her backpack straps tighter over her shoulders as she regained her footing and matched her friend's steps.

"Hey, I'm gonna head to Chem, but I'll talk to you later, okay?" Amber checked in quickly, watching as Lydia waved her hand dismissively and hummed, "Text me if you need anything, Lyds. I mean it."

"Honestly. You're worse than my mother, Amber." Lydia commented, flipping her hair over her shoulder as the three split apart at the intersection of the hallways, "If I suddenly have some life threatening emergency, you'll be my first call!" The redhead promised over her shoulder, waving her arm above her head without turning around and disappearing down the hall.

When she could no longer see her head of strawberry blonde hair amidst the throng of students, Amber finally turned only to flinch embarrassingly in surprise when she spun directly into Allison.

"Sorry!" Allison apologized quickly, "I thought you knew I was right behind you."

Amber's heart rate slowed after the sudden spike and she shook her head with an uneasy laugh, "It's fine, no worries."

They looked at one another in uncomfortable silence for a few seconds before Amber took a small step to go, Allison's hand snapping out quickly to wrap around her wrist in a gentle grip.

"Wait!" Allison pleaded, "I just- I wanted to talk to you for a minute. Y'know, without Lydia."

"Oh. Yeah, sure," Amber agreed easily, assuming the other girl wanted to talk to her about their red headed friend, "What's up?"

Allison released her wrist to rub her hand along her own arm uncomfortably, "I just- I know there's no real way to apologize for everything that happened.." She started slowly, "But, I still wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. Like, so unbelievably, ridiculously, and absurdly sorry. For everything."

Amber sighed, pulling at her backpack straps awkwardly, "Thanks, Allison." She said honestly, "I- That- It means a lot."

Allison's stiff posture slumped in what looked like relief, "Does that mean I'm kinda, sorta, a little bit forgiven?" She questioned hopefully with a dazzling smile.

"Kinda, sorta." Amber laughed quietly despite herself, holding up her hand to pinch her thumb and forefinger together and showing her the small gap of space between them, "A little."

Allison's smile widened, "I'll take it!" She laughed excitedly, bouncing on her toes and throwing her arms around the other girl in a hug. Amber laughed and hugged her back for a moment before Allison stepped back with a wide smile. "I'll let you get to class, now." Allison told her, smiling and giving her a wave before darting down the hallway toward her locker.

With an amused shake of her head, Amber turned back to head to the west stairwell and made her way toward Mr. Harris' room on the second floor.

The Chemistry classroom was nearly empty, so she settled in at one of the slightly larger tables near the back of the room and took the center stool out of the three that were squeezed in at the table, dropping her backpack to the ground at her feet. She hummed a tune under her breath and began to bounce her leg absentmindedly, her foot propped up on the lower rung of her seat as she waited for her best friends to join her.

When Scott and Stiles walked through the doorway together, they both seemed to stumble over their own feet at the mere sight of her and they picked up their pace as they rushed toward the table she'd claimed at the back of the room.

"Dude! Where have you been?" Scott asked immediately, settling into the stool on her left.

Her eyebrows furrowed at the tinge of anxiety in her friend's voice and she turned her head toward Stiles when he came around the table on her other side. He hugged her head to his chest in greeting and she reached a hand up to pat his back, nuzzling her nose into his shirt for only a second before she turned her head to speak.

"Allison and I took Lydia out for coffee before we came in-" She explained slowly, cheek still pressed against the soft material of Stiles' shirt. As he released her and sat down, she looked between the two boys on either side of her curiously, "Why, what's going on? Did something-"

"There's another werewolf." Scott told her in a harsh whisper.

"Isaac Lahey." Stiles cut in quickly.

Amber's foot slipped from the rung on her stool and she managed to catch herself with her hands, slapping them down on the tabletop loudly as he continued.

"And it gets better. He was pulled out of practice this morning and is gonna be taken in for questioning because, drumroll please-" Stiles tapped his fingertips on the surface of the table dramatically, "His dad's dead. They're thinking it might be murder and if Isaac's a suspect, we're all seriously screwed because somehow, I doubt the cells at the station are up to code for holding the supernatural."

Her eyes were wide. Derek had assured her everything would be fine. This was decidedly not fine.

"His dad's dead?" She squeaked.

"That's the part that got you?" Stiles asked in disbelief, "Not the sudden appearance of another teenage werewolf?"

"Wh- I.." She stuttered with a wince, pulling her pencil from the spiral of her notebook, desperate to have something between her fingers to fidget with, "I mean, it's just-"

"You knew didn't you?" Stiles interrupted, narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously.

"You knew Derek turned someone?" Scott whispered frantically.

She made a face, tapping her pencil eraser in a fast rhythm against the tabletop, "Technically, I knew he was planning to turn someone-"

"What!" Scott said a touch too loudly, looking around them sheepishly before training a harsh glare on Amber.

Stiles reached out to wrap his fingers around hers, pinning her fidgeting hand down against the table, "Amber. What the hell?" He said seriously.

"I'm sorry!" She apologized in distress, looking over at Stiles with wide eyes, "Derek promised everything would be fine because he was sure that Isaac-"

"If you three are finished, I'm going to start class now." Mr. Harris' voice cut out sharply.

Their attention snapped to the front of the classroom where their teacher was standing at the blackboard, a loathing look of annoyance on his face as he scowled at the three teens through his glasses.

Amber blinked in surprise and looked around the now full classroom. She hadn't even noticed the final bell ring.

"Sorry, sir." She apologized quietly as she felt Stiles' fingers retreat from where they'd been wrapped around her hand.

Mr. Harris glared for another few seconds in silence before he turned to the blackboard, grabbing a piece of chalk and beginning to write, the loud clacking filling the room every time the chalk tapped back down against the board.

"Why would Derek choose Isaac?" Scott asked in a hushed whisper, turning back to look down the table at his friends.

Amber bit down on her lower lip, eyebrows drawing together, hesitant to tell her best friends about herself being Derek's first choice, but equally reluctant to broadcast Isaac's abusive home situation.

Stiles watched her hesitation and he sighed quietly, leaning forward on the table to peer around her toward Scott as he spoke softly, "Peter told me that if the bite doesn't turn you, it could kill you," He said quietly, "Maybe teenagers have a better chance of surviving."

Amber reached out under the table to squeeze his knee in silent thanks for covering for her and he gave her a small, tight smile in response.

"Well, he is a teenager. So, your dad can't hold him, right?" She asked Stiles quietly, smoothing her thumb along the outside of his knee.

He frowned in thought for only a fraction of a second, "Well, not unless they have solid evidence," He whispered in response, "Or a witness.. Wait-" His eyes narrowed and he whipped around, scanning the classroom for a moment before turning to the table beside them, "Danny." He hissed at the boy sitting a few feet away, "Where's Jackson."

Amber's eyes locked on the empty stool beside Danny that was usually occupied by the boy in question, her eyebrows furrowing.

"In the principal's office," Danny told Stiles, the look of confusion on his face revealing that he was surprised the three of them didn't already know, "Talking to your dad."

"What?" Amber whispered frantically at Danny.

"Why?" Stiles asked immediately after.

Danny shrugged, "Maybe because he lives across the street from Isaac."

Stiles turned slowly on his stool, looking at Amber and Scott, jaw agape.

"Witness." Scott supplied quietly.

"Shit, fuck." Amber hissed under her breath, her hand abandoning Stiles' knee so that she could tangle her fingers agitatedly in her hair, elbows on the table in front of her.

"We gotta get to the principal's office." Stiles said quietly.

Amber looked up again with a frown, "How?" She and Scott questioned at the same time.

"Everyone please turn to page seventy-three." Mr. Harris announced as he finished up writing his notes on the board.

Stiles was quick to reach out for Amber's notebook and rip out a blank page, tongue pinched between his lips in concentration as he rolled it into a tight ball. She frowned at the messily torn paper in the notebook in front of her and was about to question him when her eyes were drawn to the small white bundle soaring through the air toward the front of the room. She watched with wide fearful eyes as the ball of paper bounced against the back of their teacher's head with a quiet smack before dropping softly to the ground.

Mr. Harris turned around sharply, furious eyes raking over the students behind him, "Who in the hell did that?" He asked angrily.

A few student's laughed and Amber balked, heart pounding with nerves in her chest. Her accusing finger came up to sell out Stiles in a flash, hyper-aware of the haphazardly torn notebook page sitting in front of her. Stiles pointed his own index finger over her head toward Scott, and the third boy gestured vaguely to his right in the direction of both of his friends.

Mr. Harris took an enraged breath, his jaw clenching as he gestured toward the classroom door, "Principal's office. All three of you. Now."

Amber swallowed nervously and nodded, attempting to quickly collect her books into a pile in her arms with fumbling hands and tripping over her stool as she stood to leave. Stiles reached out to steady her with a hand on her waist as she stumbled and the three of them rushed out of the classroom hurriedly.

When they stepped into the hallway, Amber reached up with her free hand to smack Stiles in the chest.

"Are you out of your mind?" She hissed as they fast walked toward the office.

"Sorry." He apologized weakly, tightening his hand around her waist and squeezing her hip in a way that brought infuriating tingles to her stomach, "Desperate times and all that."

Her face scrunched up and she huffed a sigh, knowing that he was right and they'd needed some way to know what Jackson was telling his dad. But it didn't mean she had to like it.

When they got to the hallway just outside of the principal's office, the boys quickly settled into the two chairs outside of the open door, all three of the teens dropping their books to the ground beneath them.

The secretary narrowed her eyes disapprovingly at the trio as they settled in, clearly having already gotten a call from Mr. Harris while they'd made their way to the office. Amber gave the woman a sheepish smile as she sat back against the armrests between the two seats, tilting her head as the three of them listened in on the voices coming from the office behind them.

"Listen to me," Sheriff Stilinski's voice said from the other side of the wall, "You're telling me you knew Isaac's father was hitting him?"

"Hitting him?" Jackson scoffed, "He was kicking the crap out of him."

Amber frowned at his words, finding herself angry on Isaac Lahey's behalf despite barely knowing him. As if he could sense the moral need for justice flaring up inside of her, Stiles reached up to rest a hand on her thigh where she was propped on the arm of the chair.

"Did- did you ever say anything to anyone?" The Sheriff asked, "A uh, a teacher? Parents? Anyone?"

"Nope." Jackson said easily, "It's not my problem."

"No, no. Of course not." The Sheriff agreed quietly, "Y'know. It's funny. That the kids getting beaten up are never the ones that deserve it."

"Yeah." Jackson agreed immediately, "Wait, what?"

Amber snorted a laugh.

"I think we're done here." Sheriff Stilinski announced.

The sound of footsteps approaching against the tile floor alerted them as the Sheriff and a deputy moved to exit the office and Amber was yanked roughly from her perch between the two chairs. She yelped quietly in surprise as Stiles hauled her down onto his lap and wrenched a magazine open in front of her face. Her hands reflexively came up to hold the edges of the glossy booklet and she raised it up to cover their faces just as his father stepped out into the hallway.

"Hi, Scott." Mr. Stilinski greeted slowly, his eyes flicking over to the seat beside the boy with an unimpressed look, "Amber." He added pointedly.

She peered around the side of the magazine, resolutely keeping it held up in front of Stiles over her shoulder, "Good morning, Mr. Stilinski." She greeted with a nervous smile, keeping her body determinedly still as she acted as a wall between Stiles and his father.

The man continued to look at her in disbelief for a few seconds before shaking his head and disappearing down the hallway without another word.

"Dude. You know he definitely saw you, right?" Scott asked Stiles quietly after a moment.

"Boys. Young lady." A voice addressed them from the door of the office, causing Amber to flinch from her perch on Stiles' lap as they all looked up at the old man who was decidedly not thirty year old Principal Thomas whom they'd been expecting, "Come on in." The old man summoned.

Amber scrambled to her feet and the boys followed suit, the three of them looking between one another in confusion as they followed behind the man and stepped into the principal's office.

There were three chairs waiting for them in the small room and Amber settled into the center seat with a nervous breath, looking around the office and frowning at the absence of their usual principal's things.

The older man settled into the seat behind the desk and picked up a small folder, peering inside for a moment before his gaze rose to examine Scott.

"Scott McCall," He drawled in a slow rasp, "Academically not the most accomplished.. But I see you have become quite the star athlete." He said, soundly mildly impressed.

Amber peeked over at her friend and watched Scott nod just before the old man picked up a new folder and spoke again, addressing her this time.

"Amber Callisto," He read off the top of the page, eyes lifting up to look at her with an indiscernible expression, "A 4.0 GPA and first line on the girl's soccer team." He commended in approval.

She nodded nervously at his assessment, picking anxiously at her thumbnail in her lap. She slumped in relief when he dropped her folder atop Scott's and moved on to another. She watched the old man squint at the page silently for a few seconds, undoubtedly trying to figure out how to pronounce the name at the top of the page.

"Mieczysław." She supplied quietly after a moment, unaware of the way Stiles' eyes snapped over to her in awe at the easy way the pronunciation slipped past her lips.

The old man behind the principal's desk looked between the girl and the folder in his hands for only a second before he turned his attention toward Stiles.

"Mr. Stilinski," The man addressed him finally, eyes dropping to look down the page, "Oh. Perfect grades," He assessed with an impressed eyebrow raise, "But little to no extracurriculars.. Maybe you should try lacrosse."

Stiles leaned forward in his chair, "Oh, um. Actually, I'm alr-"

"Hold on-" The older man interrupted, turning his attention back toward Scott, "McCall.. You're the Scott that was dating my granddaughter."

"Granddaughter?" Amber repeated quietly, sitting up straighter in her seat as she looked between her two best friends in surprise.

"We were dating," Scott told Allison's grandfather quickly, "But not anymore. Not dating. Not seeing any of each other, or doing anything with each other.. At all." He rambled nervously.

"Relax, Scott. You look like you're about to crack a cyanide pill with your teeth." The older Argent observed amusedly.

Scott took a nervous breath, "Just, a hard breakup."

"Oh, that's too bad. You seem like a pretty nice kid to me." The old man commented, pausing for a moment before turning his head to look between the three teens, "Now, listen guys. Yes, I am the principal. But I don't really want you to think of me as the enemy."

"Heh," Stiles huffed sarcastically, "Is that so?"

Amber reached across the small gap between them to smack his arm anxiously, glaring at his lack of verbal self-control.

The old man raised his eyebrows before continuing on as if nothing had happened, "However, this being my first day, I do need to support my teachers, so.. Unfortunately, someone will have to take the fall and stay behind today for detention." Principal Argent looked between them slowly, pursing his lips as he waited for someone to speak up.

Amber turned her head between her two friends slowly. Scott was giving her a look in silent objection to doing it himself, which she supposed made sense since he was the werewolf of the three of them and thus slightly better equipped to deal with the Isaac situation. Her gaze drifted to her other side and she watched Stiles distractedly picking at a hangnail on his thumb and making no move to speak up himself.

His attention snapped up, however, when she finally sighed and turned to face the principal in slow reluctance.

"I-" She started.

"It was me." Stiles announced quickly, "Yeah, I'll stay for detention."

At the end of the school day, Amber ran down the hall when she saw Scott take off down the stairs.

"No, no," She muttered to herself, pushing past a few students with mumbled apologies as she ran after her best friend, "Scott, wait up!" She yelled with the hope he'd be paying enough attention to hear her.

She stumbled down the staircase near the school's side entrance, nearly losing her footing a couple of times. When she got to the end of the hallway, she pushed through the metal doors and toppled outside, running straight into Scott's back and catching herself with her hands on his shoulders.

She spotted the Sheriff's cruiser finally pulling away from the school, Isaac Lahey looking out the back window at them worriedly.

"Oh, shit." She muttered, "I guess they think he might've done it?" She questioned, not really expecting an answer.

Scott looked down at her with wide eyes and she grimaced, unsure what to do next.

There was a sudden squeal of tires against the pavement as a familiar black Camaro skidded to a stop in front of the building.

Derek leaned toward the open passenger window and called out to them, "Get in. Both of you."

"Funny. I could've sworn you didn't need my help." Amber reminded him snarkily.

"This is your fault!" Scott snapped at Derek from beside her, pointing at the police cruiser that was pulling out onto the main road, "You did that."

"I know." Derek said generically to the both of them, "Now get in the car and help me."

"No, I've got a better idea," Scott said as the two of them walked closer to the idling car, "I'm gonna call a lawyer, because a lawyer might actually have a chance of getting him out before the full moon."

Amber raised her eyebrows at the decent suggestion from her best friend, lifting a thumb to point at Scott while sending Derek a nod of agreement.

Derek shook his head, "Not once they do real search of the house."

"What d'you mean?" Amber questioned.

He sighed, "Whatever Jackson said to the cops, what's in the house is worse. A lot worse."

Her stomach turned uncomfortably, mind racing as Derek threw the passenger door open and looked at them expectantly. She met Scott's gaze and he sighed with a frown, dropping a hand between her shoulder blades to guide her into the backseat of the car.

It didn't take long for nightfall to set in beneath the early winter sunset once they pulled up to the Lahey house. Under the cover of the darkness, they crept into the house, their path dimly lit by the flashlight Derek had handed off to Scott.

"I thought Isaac was supposed to be a safe bet?" Amber asked Derek quietly as they moved through the dark front hallway, "What happened to that, huh? He's a werewolf for less than a day and he kills his dad?"

"Isaac didn't kill him. He told me he didn't." Derek said assuredly.

"Well if he didn't, then who did?" Scott asked, turning back toward them in the dark as he walked.

Derek frowned, eyebrows furrowing in frustration, "I don't know yet."

"Well then how d'you know he's telling the truth?" Scott questioned disbelievingly.

"Because I trust my senses," Derek said easily, "It's a combination of them, not just your.. Sense of smell." He emphasized with a knowing look.

"Huh?" Amber asked in confusion, looking between Derek's raised eyebrows and Scott's ashamed grimace, "What did you do? What'd I miss?"

"You.. Saw the lacrosse thing today." Scott realized quietly, focused on Derek.

"What lacrosse thing?"

"Yeah." Derek told Scott, unimpressed.

"Did it look that bad?" Scott questioned.

"Yeah." Derek repeated.

"Wh- What lacrosse thing?" Amber asked again desperately.

Scott winced, "Stiles got me in goal, so I could sniff some of the guys on the team, so that I could-" He caught her incredulous look and continued dejectedly, "So I could figure out who the new werewolf was. By scent."

"Dear God, Scott." She breathed, patting his shoulder.

"I was surprised you didn't tell them about Isaac." Derek commented to the girl as they approached a closed door off of the kitchen and slowed to a stop.

"Yeah, well. I trusted that you knew what you were doing," She scowled at him in the dark, "Evidently that was a mistake." She said pointedly.

Derek shook his head, resting on hand on her shoulder as he pulled open the door in front of them, revealing a dark stairwell that led down into the basement. He turned his attention toward Scott, grabbing the flashlight and nodding toward the open doorway.

"You wanna learn?" Derek prompted, "Let's start now."

"What's down there?" Amber asked nervously, following behind Scott as he began to descend the stairs.

"Motive." Derek said simply.

"And what am I looking for?" Scott asked as he got to the bottom of the stairs and looked around.

"Follow your senses." Derek told him.

Amber examined the dark cellar with slow steps, squinting at the mess of old furniture and stored junk. She fought the urge to run her finger through the dust on the worktop along the wall, turning in a slow spin as she looked around. Her eyes caught on a large chest freezer that was unplugged from the wall and she frowned at it in confusion.

"What happened down here?" Scott asked.

"The kind of thing that leaves an impression." Derek answered ominously.

Amber felt the warmth of Scott's body when he came to stand beside her in the cool basement. He too frowned as he looked down at the freezer in front of them. Her hand trailed over the top of it, fingers toying gently at the open padlock secured to the front. Scott pulled the lock into his own hand and he let out a shaky breath as his fingers came into contact with the metal.

Just as she was about to question his reaction, Derek shined the flashlight in their direction and spoke up from behind them.

"Open it."

Scott unhooked the padlock from the staple and flipped the hatch before slowly lifting the lid to the freezer. Derek helpfully shined the flashlight around the inside of the chest and Amber gasped, her stomach twisting sickeningly as her eyes took in the sight in front of them.

The inside of the freezer was covered in small, shallow, very human, claw marks. Someone had raked their fingernails along the walls and the top of the freezer in deep scratches. There was red caked into some of the gouges where fingertips had bled as they'd scratched painfully against the hard plastic.

"God." Amber whispered, reaching out to touch one of the marks gently, her fingertip running over the indents on the inside of the lid. She turned to Derek with a horrified look, "Isaac's dad locked him in here?"

Derek nodded, "Among other things."

"This is why he said yes to you." Scott stated, turning to look at Derek.

"Everyone wants power." Derek told him.

"If- If we help you, then you have to stop," Scott demanded, "You can't just go around turning people into werewolves."

Derek looked at him incredulously, "I can if they're willing."

"Did you tell Isaac about the Argents? About being hunted?" Scott questioned.

"Yes," Derek replied, "And he still asked."

"Then he's an idiot!" Scott snapped.

"And you're the idiot dating Argent's daughter." Derek raised his eyebrows when Scott looked at him in surprise, "Yeah. I know your little secret. And if I know, how long do you think it's gonna take for them to find out?" He asked, "You saw what happens to an Omega."

"Wait, what Omega?" Amber interjected, "There was an Omega? What happened to them?"

"The Argents cut him in half." Derek explained quickly. He moved to speak again and Amber gaped, looking between the two werewolves.

"What!" She squeaked, "Th- They.. When- Who-"

"The Omega was the one stealing and eating the organs. At the graveyard, the ambulance-"

"We- We desperately need to work on your information redistribution skills." Amber told Scott in disbelief.

"Enough." Derek interrupted before focusing on Scott, "With me, you learn how to use all your senses. With me, you learn control." He stepped closer to them and grabbed Scott's hand, lifting it as the boy's claws emerged with his budding anger, "Even on a full moon."

Scott pulled his hand from Derek's grip, "If I'm with you, I lose Allison."

"You're gonna lose her anyway." Derek told him, "You know that."

A moment of silence passed before Scott spoke, "I'm not part of your pack. But I want Isaac out. He's my responsibility too."

"Why?" Derek questioned, "Because he's one of us?"

Scott shook his head, "No. Because he's innocent."

"So, what do we do?" Amber asked after another few moments of silence between the two boys.

"We need to break Isaac out." Derek said simply.

"But Stiles and I were gonna lock Scott up at the school." She stated, looking over at her best friend worriedly, "How are we gonna get Isaac out of a cell and get you taken care of?"

"I'll have Alison lock me up." Scott told her easily. She frowned and he continued, "It'll be fine, I promise. I can have her lock me up down here."

Her eyes drifted back down to the freezer and her stomach churned nauseatingly at the thought of her best friend locked inside, "I don't know, Scott-"

"Look, there's no time to come up with anything else. We have to do this." Scott reached out to squeeze her shoulder reassuringly, "You and Stiles help Derek get Isaac out. I'll be here. And when the moon goes back down, Allison will let me out."

She frowned but nodded at him, even as her eyes drifted back down to the freezer, "Okay."

She reached into her pocket to pull out her phone, sending a few texts to Stiles to explain the plan and telling him to meet them at the Sheriff's Station. When she was finished, Derek gestured for her to follow him back upstairs and she looked between the two boys hesitantly before throwing her arms around her best friend in a quick hug.

"I love you." She told Scott softly, hand ruffling the fluffy hair on the back of his head, "I'm sorry we can't be here with you."

She pulled back and Scott released her with a small reassuring smile, "Dude, I'll be fine." He promised, "It's just one full moon."

She frowned as she recalled the last two full moons they'd experienced and Scott grimaced.

"This time will be different. I'm sure of it." He said.

Derek reached out to grab her shoulder and she let out a long-suffering sigh, "Alright, yes. I'm coming." She said, taking a step back toward the stairs with the older werewolf.

"Good luck." Scott called out in a hopeful tone.

"You too." She replied, shooting him one last look before she climbed the stairs back up to the main floor.

Stiles threw the Jeep into park outside the Sheriff's Station and Amber climbed into the vehicle quickly, Derek following close behind. As soon as she was settled into the center seat, Stiles reached out to take her hand in his, already angled toward them in his own seat with an elbow propped up on the steering wheel.

"What's the plan?" She asked him automatically.

"Okay, well. The keys to every cell are in a password protected lock box in my father's office," He explained, looking between Derek and the girl sitting between them, "The problem is getting past the front desk."

They all turned to peer out the passenger window at the young female deputy behind the desk who was typing away at a computer.

Amber chewed on her lip in thought, "Well, I could-"

"I'll distract her." Derek said easily, already reaching for the door handle.

"Woah, woah, woah! You?" Stiles asked incredulously, reaching across the cab of the vehicle to pull Derek back, "You're not going in there-"

Derek scowled at the hand Stiles still had stretched across Amber's chest to hold the werewolf's shoulder.

"I'm taking my hand off-" Stiles conceded quickly, dropping it to land in Amber's lap.

She let Stiles rest his hand palm down over her denim-clad thigh and rubbed her own hand over the backs of his fingers soothingly as Derek continued to glare at the boy. The werewolf's narrowed eyes dropped to where Stiles' hand was now draped over the girl's leg before he looked back up to address them.

"I was exonerated." He reminded them.

"You're still technically a person of interest." Amber shrugged with a wince.

"An innocent person." Derek reiterated.

"An inno- You?" Stiles scoffed, laughing sarcastically, "Yeah, right!"

Derek's jaw clenched as he looked between them, thoroughly unimpressed.

"Okay, fine," Stiles sighed, "What's your plan?"

Derek looked genuinely stunned at the question, "To distract her." He said slowly.

Amber snorted, "Okay, but how?"

Stiles looked at Derek in disbelief, "Uh huh. How?" He questioned, "By.. Punching her in the face?"

"Ha." Derek said sarcastically, "By talking to her."

"Oh! Gimme a sample." Amber suggested excitedly, turning toward Derek, "Pretend I'm her. What're you gonna say?"

Derek tightened his jaw silently and looked between them with his eyebrows raised and a long moment passed before Stiles spoke.

"Dead silence.. That should work beautifully." He observed sarcastically, "Any other ideas?"

Derek looked up at the roof of the Jeep and tilted his head in thought with a small shrug, "I'm thinking about punching you in the face." He admitted.

"Okay, alright. No one is punching anyone in the face." Amber interrupted, turning and pushing her hands up against Stiles' chest to urge him out the driver's side door, "Let's just.. Get inside. I'm sure Derek will figure something out."

"Yeah, we better hope so." Stiles muttered under his breath as he opened the door of the Jeep.

The three of them snuck in quietly through the front entrance and while Derek went through the main doors and up to the front desk, Amber and Stiles peered around the doorway to wait for an opportunity to pass through the without being seen.

"Hi, how can I help-" The deputy looked up from the folder in her hands and caught sight of where Derek was leaning up against the desk with a charming smile, "-You?" She finished weakly.

"Hi." Derek smiled, teeth on display and pulling his handsome features into an open, friendly expression.

"Hi." The woman breathed, stunned.

Stiles rolled his eyes in annoyance at how easily Derek's plan seemed to be working due to his good looks alone, and Amber reached up to pat him on the back consolingly.

"Um. I had a question," Derek said in feigned distraction, "Uh, sorry. I'm a little- A little thrown."

Amber urged Stiles forward with her hand on his back and they took slow, careful steps through the main entrance toward the back hall as Derek continued.

"I wasn't really expecting someone-"

"Like me?" The deputy asked softly.

"Well, I was gonna say, 'someone so incredibly beautiful' but I guess that'd mean the same thing." Derek flirted just as Amber and Stiles disappeared down the hall.

Stiles took her hand and led her down the hall toward his father's office, leaving the lights off as they crept into the room. When they got to a small lockbox hanging on the wall behind his dad's desk, Stiles dropped her hand to flip the cover up and reveal the keypad, his thumb quickly moving to type in the code, a quiet clicking filling the room with the press of each button.

2 - 6 - 1 - 9 - 9 - 1

The tiny door on the box opened with the release of the lock, but the space inside was decidedly empty.

"Isn't there supposed to be a set of keys in there?" Amber questioned obviously.

"Yeah." Stiles murmured, looking at the empty box in disbelief, "Oh, no. Allison was supposed to- Oh, no."

Amber dashed back toward the door and Stiles followed only half a second behind her. They stumbled out into the hallway and moved in the direction of the holding cells at the back of the building.

When they rounded one of the final turns, Amber tripped over her own feet in surprise and froze as they came face to face with another uniformed deputy. Stiles nearly rammed into her back when he stopped abruptly behind her and she took another cautious step forward, laughing awkwardly and feigning innocence.

"Uh, we were just looking for, uh-" Stiles trailed off.

Amber followed his eyeline down to the small syringe in the man's hand and their eyes widened in realization.

Not a deputy. A hunter.

Upon further inspection, the man was also bleeding badly from a small arrow wound in his upper thigh.

"Oh, shit." Amber and Stiles both muttered, the latter pulling on her shoulder as he started to step away.

As they spun the hunter managed to grab Stiles around his chest, knocking the boy from his feet so that he dragged along the ground backwards. In the same quick moment, the man caught a handful of Amber's hair and yanked her back with them.

Still on her feet, she yelped and stumbled backwards as she followed the painful tugging of the hunter's fist in her hair and she could hear Stiles struggling against the man's tight, one armed grip around his chest as he tried in vain to get his own feet back underneath him.

Amber whined quietly as they were dragged around a corner and her eyes caught on the fire alarm on the wall. They moved further down the hall and she flailed her arms, her fingers managing to catch on the small red lever and pulling on it roughly just as she was yanked away.

A shrill alarm sounded out through the building as the hunter threw them into the back room of holding cells and he released them carelessly. Amber gasped as her hair was finally freed and she instinctively reached up toward the sore spot on her scalp as Stiles fell to the ground.

The hunter fiddled with the syringe of wolfsbane in his hand and Amber caught the moment that the man's eyes drifted up to where the holding cell's door was already broken and swung open.

"Shit-" She exclaimed just as Isaac growled loudly and tackled the hunter beside her down against the desk at the front of the room.

She stumbled back a step where she tripped over Stiles' feet and tumbled to the ground beside him, landing painfully on her backside. He grabbed onto her arm and pulled her back along the floor as Isaac threw the hunter against a wall.

The hunter went to thrust the syringe into Isaac's shoulder but his arm was caught by the werewolf with another angry growl.

As soon as she was close enough, Stiles wrapped an arm around her stomach from behind, pulling her between his legs as he continued to scramble backwards. She fell back against his chest and they finally came to a stop when they thumped against the wall on the opposite side of the room.

They watched with wide eyes as Isaac gripped the hunter's head in his hand, slamming it back with a loud crack and dropping the hunter in a heap onto the ground.

Derek finally ran into the back room and stopped in the center of the space, stomping down on the forgotten vial of poison on the ground and causing it to shatter loudly beneath his foot. At the sound, the younger werewolf turned suddenly and Isaac's attention was drawn to the two teens on the floor as he growled again.

Amber pressed herself back against Stiles more firmly and her heart raced violently in her chest in fear. Isaac's clawed hands twitched at his sides and he stepped toward them with a low rumbling sound in his throat, eyes still glowing bright gold.

Derek side-stepped in a quick movement to block the path to them and he growled loudly in Isaac's direction, the sound rumbling and furious. The younger werewolf whined, falling to the ground on the other side of the room as his arms came up above his head to protect himself from an anticipated blow. After a second, Isaac looked back up from behind his shaking arms to he peek out at them, his face distinctly human once again.

Stiles was breathing heavily against the back of Amber's neck, arm still wrapped tightly around her stomach as he held her against his chest.

"H- How did you do that?" He asked Derek.

The older werewolf turned slowly to look down at them, "I'm the Alpha." He supplied as explanation.

Isaac flinched when Derek went over and held out a hand in offering to help him to his feet. Without a word of goodbye, Derek led Isaac out of the back room and the two were gone.

Amber scrambled to get to her feet in their absence, pulling Stiles up with her before spinning around to face him.

"Are you okay?" They asked each other at the same time with worried expressions.

She laughed quietly and Stiles brought a hand up to the back of her head, gently smoothing down the mess where the hunter's hand had been fisted in her hair.

She placed a hand on his cheek and stroked her thumb over his mouth softly, "How exactly are we gonna explain this?" She asked suddenly.

He dropped his hand from the back of her head and tangled their fingers together with a frown, "Shit. I actually hadn't thought that far ahead yet."

"That's okay. We'll uh, we'll just say that we came to see your dad.. And we'll explain that, y'know.." Her eyes drifted over to the hunter, "That guy must've broken in disguised as a deputy, attacked us, and let Isaac out." She said quickly, "I mean.. That- That's somewhat believable, right?"

She looked up at Stiles with wide eyes and he made a face as he very clearly tried to think of something better. His fingers tightened around hers and suddenly the fire alarm cut off, plunging the building into a silence that left their ears ringing.

Stiles opened his mouth to say something but didn't get a chance to speak before his father stepped into the back room. The Sheriff looked between them, the uniformed man sprawled beside the wall, and the empty holding cell at the back of the room. His eyes narrowed in an angry glare of disbelief as he took in the scene in front of him.

"Uh," Stiles swallowed heavily, pointing toward the unconscious hunter in a deputies uniform, "He did it."

[himejoblr]

i haven't posted oc's in a while LOL,,,, sorry for that hahwjdawndfd

anyweyzzzzzzzzzzzzz,, meet ryuuzaki mato (竜崎 マト) and uruwashi hazuki (雲類鷲 晴月) !! (he/she for mato, any prns for hazuki)

“these two never go a day without plotting something together, but no one in seishou's soccer club can deny that their presence somehow keeps the entire team sane.”

rambling under the cut!! if ure in the inablr disc server then uve probably seen some of this

first of all, i'd like to say that i used picrews as references for them, but i only made slight changes for mato (the og skin color was too dull.... </3)

okay so. mato. he's genderfluid, bisexual, and uses he/she pronouns (already stated that on the top of the post)! she prefers being called by her given name rather than her surname (take into account the name order in japan)

and yes, they're both managers! i figured i wanted to make male manager ocs, and these two were the result,, i KNOW mato looks like a girl but let him (and ME) be plz :3c

((also also they R dating. but they do not know that yet))

she isn't usually seen wearing the prescribed blazer for seishou, but i like to think that they (seishou) aren't too strict with the school dress code. although that was the case, mato still promised she'd (mostly) wear vests or cardigans that had similar colors to the blazer. at first, she was a bit nervous about going to school with a yellow cardigan, but seishou allowed it, so she's safe!!! wow!!!!!!!! also whether he wears a skirt or pants to school depends on his mood

my guy is obsessed with vests and cardigans so everyone just kinda immediately associates those clothes to him whenever they come across them. some examples of how his casual outfits usually look like: these pins. might have slight modifications depending on how diligent i am

now, about his past, why he wears an eyepatch, and how his sister died........

a random fact about her is that she owns a toy piano from her unfortunately deceased older sister, and has a youtube channel dedicated to making covers with it, occasionally accompanying them with a xylophone and/or her voice. figure one: final duet.

ah wait. before i talk abt his past, i wanna talk abt etymologies!!!!!

first of all, the ryuu in her surname 竜崎 (first kanji/character) is from 竜座 (ryuuza), which means draco constellation! this is supposed to be in line w how they name seishou characters (aka they name them after constellations). as for mato, i just took that from the first two syllables of matoro juka's surname and wrote it in katakana LMAO

his sister, ryuuzaki yostuha (name not final), died at 15 years old, which is basically fresh outta junior high (bc she was turning 16 that year). apparently, she had a stalker who had been planning to kill her since 2 years ago, and they murdered her on her birthday. mato was 9 at the time.

mato's initial reaction was shock and denial, since yknow. yotsuha's his sister. and she's one of his closest... friends? relatives? ever.

it's been 3 years since yotsuha's death, and mato's now in junior high. he noticed how his parents' attention suddenly turned to him, and how they started giving him so much affection the same way they did to yotsuha, and it kinda irked him a bit. she knew? she should be grateful since her parents actually "care" about her now, but on second thought, it's probably because they're coping with losing their eldest daughter.

okay NOW on why she's wearing an eyepatch. in her last few days of being a first year in seishou, same stalker who killed yotsuha suddenly showed up on her way home and attempted murdering her too, but only ended up stabbing her right eye. stalker ended up retreating but got arrested later lolz

and Finally. the general gist of his past as of now is that he grew up being neglected by his parents until his sister died and all the attention and affection they gave to her suddenly turned to him. then on one fine day, stalker who murdered older sister pulled a funny and stabbed his eye. okay that's it

next up, uruwashi hazuki! they're also genderfluid, unlabeled sexuality (still not sure about this) and they use any prns (stated already at the top of the post but yk)!

she basically wears the girls' seishou uniform Except:

she wears those tight shorts or whatever theyre called (whatever terumi wears in her og zeus uniform)

her blazer is unbuttoned and the polo? shirt is untucked on one side (usually the left)

as for his casual outfit.... well, the picrew i used just clearly depicts his usual casual outfit lol

a random fact about him is that he tends to collect a lot of space-related stuff, especially if it's something connected to constellations, stars, and the moon. i mean. moon is literally in his name (月(tsuki/zuki) = moon)

for etymologies, the washi in her surname 雲類鷲 (third kanji/character) comes from 鷲座/わし座 (washiza), which means aquila/eagle constellation!!! same thing as a while ago, and also i wanted to give her a moon typa motif so i put 月 in her name HAKALSJAH (also fyi i took her surname from uruwashi karuta ayakashi akashi 😭😭😭😭😭)

as for their past, i'm still thinking about it. for now, it's just something along the lines of being raised by a seemingly ordinary family in a broken village.

i plan to expand that idea maybe by around the end of the week since moratorium is this week which means i'll get really busy... 💔

anyways, i'm glad i still had the time to write this! i'd like to remind you again that half (if not more or less) of the info i jotted down in this post aren't completely finalized yet, and are therefore subject to change in the not-so distant future!

if you reached this part of the post, then thanks for reading, and i hope you enjoyed me rambling about my sillies!! cya!!!

[popculturebuffet]

Monthly Mupppets Madness: Seasame Street Presents: Follow That Bird Review!: A Film that Will DestroY you In A Good Way ( Brought To You By Emma Fici)

For Carroll

Hello all you happy muppets nad welcome back to Monthly Muppet Madness. Today's review is brought to you by the letters W and B as I finally got told how to get to Seasame Street! Yes after touching on them in Muppet Family Christmas it's time to give Kermit's other family a proper look with their feature debut FOLLOW. THAT. BIRD. This one.. has been delayed a bit, but we're finally here.

It also.. puts me out of my element as i'm way more familiar with the muppets as a troupe than I am with their public education forebearers, having only watched some as a kid too young to remember any of it (I scarely remember having a tickle me elmo), and as an adult watching his nicce and nephew, where it was very diffrent. I know the muppet side fine, but knew none of the adult performers as they were all gone by the time I was growing up and certainly by the time my niece and nephew came in.

For a brief history Seasame Street was created by producer Joan Ganz Cooney and LLoyd Morrisett , VP of the Carnigie Foundation, both things i only learned when looking this up on wikipedia but both vital. With crticism of tv at a high, the two decided to weaponize it's addictive qualities for good, to create educational programming to help kids in poorer areas who may not have access to as quality education, as well as promote diversity. The result was Seasame Street. Jim Henson was asked aboard as his muppets were incredibly popular and Cooney knew what she had. Jim didn't want to do it at first as he was worried it'd make it seem like the muppets were just "for children", a fear that sadly came true as it made getting the muppet show out there harder.. but he relented. It was a good cause and they inteded to make the show alla ges: mainly to edcuate small chidlren but entertaning enough their parents and older siblings wouldn't change the channel.

It goes without saying Henson was key to the shows success, with many of his performers joining the cast and while he had to wittle down to just performing his characters as the muppet show took off it's clear he loved these characters too.

Seasame Street naturally became the monster hit it is today, big with kids, loved by the kids who grew up with it and well loved, parodied with affectoina nd generally important. It's so relevant that last year it even got a newer parody survivial street about a ragtag group of public education performers fighting for seasame street in the post apocalypse. And if your wondering if that'll be covered her eventaully

(can confirm)

When I don't know the in pile is pretty big over here. At any rate as for how follow that bird happened

(daffy hands)

I tried my best but from my usual first choices (wikipedia and the muppets wiki to at least start) to combing I couldn't find anything behind the scnenes on why this film was made. I found out what I could but I can't tell you why the film came to be.

What I can is that it wasn't a huge success in theaters. It got slammed right up against films such as back to the future and pee wee's big adventure, and thus got utterly destroyed, not helped by WB barely promoting it and mostly saying "EH WE GOT BIG BIRD".

Thankfully like Muppet's Christmas Carol after it, Home Video and in this case HBO gave it a second life, so many an 80's and 90's kid saw the film and loved it young and slightly older, and the film became a bit of a cult classic. Yet despite having seen many a film from the Jim Henson era of muppets until sitting down for this review i'd never seen this one. So with fresh eyes join me under the cut as you, me, the seasame street players, a misguided racist social service bird, two shady canadian sketch comedy actors, and more FOLLOW. THAT. BIRD!

This is More Soul Destroying Than I Expected:

This film taught me NEVER to underestimate a muppet production. See I thought , much like it's succesor, this would be a light film , a road picture about finding big bird. Which it is.. what I didn't expect.. was for it to do THIS to me.

For those of you less familiar Follow That Bird is about the fedral council of birds deciding that Big Bird cann't POSSIBLY be happy without other birds around, so they send Mrs. Finch to go take him from his happy found family and stick him with a bird family. Yes today's show is brought to you by Bird Racisim.

HIs family reluctantly lets him go as he's curious to have a bird family, and is too innocent to relaize the system's broken. I didn't expect a muppet film to be an indictment of social services and unittional racisim and shame on me for not thinking they could do it. THey do it well too: Miss FInch isn't INTENTIONALLY racist, she's just so set in her ways she genuinely CAN'T see why Big Bird would be happy where he is and dosen't put any real thought into his placement, putting him with the dim witted dodos. The Dodo's themselves aren't BAD people, they just don't know how to take care of big bird like their own childrne, lack his imagination. Even Big Bird can't understand writing a letter asking "Why am I not happy?"

The only bad thing they genuinely do intetionally.. is tell Big BIrd he should have a bird friend instead, which gets him to run away. And what makes all this more painful is that Big Bird.. is a kind kid. He writes the dodo's a thank you note and simply wants to go home and being only 6, yes really, he dosen't get that he can't just walk home, how dangerous that is, and how CPS will be right after him. Carrol Spinney does a masterful job conveying Big Bird's innocnece and pain throughout the picture and part of why it hits so hard is his earnestness. It makes me miss the guy that much more seeing just HOW brilliant he was in the role. THe heart the emotion, he's a true master at Muppetry.

The film DOES ballance the melancholy at the center well: while it's got a downbeat tone in a lot of it for obvious reasons, it ballances it with heart: Big Bird is warmly naive and befriends anyone he meets wehter it's some small children or you'd expect or of all people country music legend I know nothing about whatsoever Waylon Jennings. Why is it the Seasame Street Movie iis one of the weirder ones i've seen. It's Big Bird's genuine kindness and childish innocence that keep the film from getting too dark. For instance with said kids we go form him sadly reflecting on being alone to spending a day with the kids goofing off while their parents are trapped in the negative zone, I guess.

Also helping are the rest of the main cast. Naturally while Big Bird's the titular bird to follow , our heroes are going to follow him. They see a news report about his running away lead by Chevy Chase, with of course Kermit showing up in his original role as newsman, something that's werid to me. This was also Jim's last film performance as Kermit, and it seems fitting that kermit end his film career with some old friends.

So the Seasame Street crew splits up into teams: America's faviorite power couple in a biplane,the count riding solo in his bat mobile ah ah ah, Maria (the big sister style oft voice of reason on the team) unfortunatley gets saddled with Oscar who in natural oscar fashion keeps derailing the quest, and Gordon, his sister olivia, and Cookie monster all pile into a car with Linda, a local deaf librarian. ALl the human actors are pretty good but me and @jess-the-vampire got a good chuckle out of the fact that they still act like their on a show for small children with all the overacting that implies. Having seen seasame street I spotted the style ofa cting at once and it still works fine here it's just weirder to see it when the stakes are far higher. Linda is the easy stand out, a deaf actress who not only revolutionzed portryals of deaf people on tv with her apperances on seasame street but is damn funny and energetic the whole film and is easily the standout of the huaman performers. And of course capping them all off is Grover on his own as SUPER GROVER!

Along the way the gang gets into various hyjinks: Bert and Ernie go upside down and sing an upside down song while chasing Big BIrd north by northwest style, something we'll get into more when we get to their song.

We also get one of my faviorite set pieces as Oscar forces his party to go to the goruch cafe, with only Linda going inside (Telly and some other guy are also along) with him: we get sandra berhanrd as a waitress, the food you'd imagine from a place like this and then throw up from thinking that, and salad served by catapult.

Finally we have one of my faviorite runners, the fact that Cookie monster spends the entire movie SLOWLY eating Gordon's car. By the end it's barely back and he owes them

I was also suprised he ate something besides a cookie. Granted unlike others I didn't get my hackles up when he switched to veggies, I got why, but I assumed those were the only two things he ate.. and was delighed when emma pointed me to THIS PAGE ON THE MUPPET WIKI.

Yes folks it's a list of EVERYTHING cookie monster has ate. My faviorites include:

An Aretha Franklin Record The Most Snowballs Two Safes Telephone 1973 Ford F-250 Pickup Truck Nearly All of Seasame Street Brick Wall Filmstrip and Rosebud A Baskedt Faith Hill and Tim MCGraw's Kaledioscope Ernie's Ukelele Smoking Pipes A Guitar (And never drew a dime) Ernie's Frying Pan Autumn Leaves NPR Microphone Stephen Colbert's Peabody Award Emmy A Sneaker Wooden Toy House TV Guide Logo Mattresses A Rock Two Hot Dogs and a Donut Bust Stop Sign Paper Clip, Egg Timer, and Microwave Cords Jack Black's Xbox 360 Half of Ernie's PIllow Bicycle Dr. Zhivagho John Oliver's Tie

And just for the anti vegtable eating idiots: An apple, bannaa, carrot, grapes, watermellon, yam, two apples ah ah ah, asaparagus, raisins, cucumber spears, carrot sticks, more apples, even more apples, and more bananas.

I also had no idea he and Ernie used to be friends.. though I can see why it's also in past tense. Where was I? Oh yes, these antics help ballance the deep sadness of the main plot making things work: we see plenty of misery from poor big bird, but the wacky hyjinks ballance it just so.

Speaking of which in addition to the muppets, what good would a muppet film be without a hammy villian who can match the muppets. And this one picked two excellent canditates, two people I never thoguht i'd see in a muppet film and who had I known were in this would've watched it long before I started this series: Dave Thomas and Joe Flahrety as Sam and Sid Sleaze!

Yeah for most of you they'd be before your generation.. or mine even. But thanks to binging SCTV dvd's in college I know these two as sketch performers supreme and with the film shot in canada, they were perfect. The two perfeclty play the sleazes as over the top villians with Sam as the slightly smater one asnd Sid as the goofy idiot, and both hamming it up as they tended to anyway. Their bits tend to read as an SCTV sketch that ocasionally guest stars muppets, and that is not ab ad thing> The bit with them extording a nickle from a kid to let him off a ferris wheel kill me and the two's comedic timing is great, with dave in paticular getting to ham it up about money. The two are just fantastic, while also being nicely cruel when needed whent hey imprisoin a 6 year old for thier own finacial gain. The shot of joe crying druing the most heartbreaking scene of the film, which we'll ocne again get to shortly, is something i'll be using for some time

The two are just great and as an added bonus I assumed, being a big star at this point, John Candy wouldn't share a scene with his two co stars… and I was wrong as John's one cameo is arresting the two fo them and i'ts glorious. I would like to see the rest of the sctv cast such as rick moaranis, eugene levy and cathrine o hara show up in a muppets production if they haven't yet as this showed me just how great it could be, and while they never got their co stars success, Dave and Joe REALLY are on the level of the others and this film shows it. Their easily top tier muppet villians and only charles grodin or tim curry may surpass them. Thankfully the Sleazes don't kidnap big bird long as some kids call seasaame street, they call our various heroes and they come resuce him. I also love how adorable the climactic chase is. They managed to get Big Bird's cage open before the sleazes took off with him, but Big Bird bein ga children is reluctant to jump and takes some gentle coaxing to jump.

Naturally they return home and while Mrs. Finch finds them she finally realizes family is not your species or race.. but who you love and who loves you and agrees to back the hell off. It's a happy ending and a truly great film. The film deftly ballances comedy and melacholy to create something truly special, that's just sappy enough without going too far and really touches the heart. It also has a great soundtrack and has been tradition lately, let's break it down:

Musical Muppetry:

We oepn with the Grouch Anthem, a gloriously batshit way to open the film as Oscar stands in front of a flag pattons tyle and goes on and on about his grouchy creed while other grouches back him up. Did I see this coming? No. Did I love every second of it? You better you bet.

Ain't No Road Too Long is our Waylon Jennings number and I loved it too, a nice jolly road song. The kind you need in this kind of film in the vein of movin right along or on the open road.

One LIttle Star is truly heartbrekaing as Big Bird and Snuffy sing to each other in absentia, as does Olivia because apparently she did this a lot. If a small child and his weird friend who everyone assumed wasn't real for several years , and his surrogate aunt singing about how much they miss each other dosne't break your heart you do not have one and I do not know why your here.

Easy Goin Day is a fun number with Kermit playing with some other kids. Simple, nice, and a nice break from the overwhelming misery before OH NO MISS FINCH IS BACK.

Upside Down World is probably my faviorite number, burt and ernie just singing upside down in a plane… and Jim Henson and Frank Oz really WERE upside down for this one, and sang it upside down as a result. The dedication these men have to a good muppet stunt is amazing and I love them for it.

I'm So Blue comes very close though and if you thought One LIttle Star was heartbreaking, this is heart atomizing as poor Kermit sings painted blue in a cage while Joe Flarhety rightfully sobs. one of the saddest, most emotoinal numbers in any muppet film and only not THE most emotoinal because When Love is Gone exists. True poetry

Rankings:

The sountrack as you can see lands in a solid fourth place, just inching out the muppets take manhattan. It's good but it's not the best.

Movie wise it also lands in fourth beating out Muppet Treasure Island, as I feel the character work is stronger here, and given how hard it's been to crack the top spots that's high praise but this film more than earns it. If you haven't seen it yet it's on HBO Max and I highly recommend it and i'm happy to own it. Check it out as soon as you can.

Next Month: Emma takes a break and it's Kev's turna s we enter one of the muppets few purely for adults experiments as live from new york IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT with the land of gorch. Thanks for reading…. this has been a great year of content and I can't wait to see what year 2 of monthly muppets brings.

[lacteawhy]

You wouldn't say John's class is your absolute favorite..you keep getting lost in your thoughts, listening to him. The only thing you love about his class is..well..him. You could listen to his voice for hours, but the material just flies over your head.

-..don't forget to leave your essays on my desk on the way out! See you next week.

Wait. What essay. Wait. Oh fuck. Your eyes widened. That essay that you told yourself you gonna start working on..and then you ended up watching 8 hours long vine compilation....shit. You panic. EVERYONE has it. They all did their essays...Means you gotta walk up to..John...and talk to him......one on one.....you and John....alone............as thoughts keep piling up inside your head, half of your classmates already handed in. The moment of doom is getting closer...your palms, oh no, sweating. Heartbeat rising. Okay. You can do it. Almost everyone is gone. Just tell him some excuse or whatever....

You get up from your seat and approach him. He looks at you with a little smile on his face, while you're looking at the pile of essays.

-essay?

-oh, right! Here it is!

You start searching in your bag and then..aha! You take nothing out of your bag and put it on top of the pile

-here!

John chuckles.

-well that's new! You don't have it, do you?

You sigh, looking down

-no, professor..

-did you forget to bring it?

-I...forgot...about it..completely.

-oh...

He looks a bit disappointed.

-I thought you were one of few people who actually listen to me..

Your heart drops a little.

-woah, no, of course I listen! I love listening to you!

-do you?

-professor, your lectures are my favorite.

Dirty liar. He gives you an awkward smile

-I..I always look at how carefully you listen..it gives me motivation.

You blush a little and notice how his eyes shift to the side.

-glad I could be helpful..

You say quietly.

-that essay..uhm..it's fine. You can have another week. I'll just pretend you handed it in with everyone else.

He keeps looking away, slightly biting his lip. You become excited and he instantly looks at you.

-thank you, John!

He grabs his tie, trying to loosen it up a bit. Your smile made him crave for some fresh air. Oh boy is it getting hot in here???

-yes! Sure! Uhm..I...I hope you have a good day..

-you too! I'll leave you be now. You're the best, professor.

-I am..?

He murmurs, watching you leave

-wait!

His face instantly changes, as he realizes he made a mistake. Wait for what?? What were you going to say, John???

-yeah?

You stop and look at him.

-w-would you..uhm...would you like me to help you..?

-help me..?

-with your essay!

His voice sounded enthusiastic for a second. Just a second, before it hit him, the words that just escaped his mouth.

-you want..to help me with the essay..for your lecture..?

You smile at him, a bit confused. The sheer panic in his eyes. He swallows. His hand stroking the back of his neck.

-yeah..?

-that sounds a bit unfair!

-y-you think? I'm just gonna..give you some directions..? Maybe...

He's losing hope. Definitely losing hope over here. A damn crazy idea appears in your head.

-John..?

-....yeah?

-would you like to meet up after work and just..you know..chill? No essay help needed, we can just chat..or something..I'd love to listen to you some more..

Wow! Well, someone had to take the initiative here and it surely wasn't going to be John. He's frozen by the way. Absolutely stunned. After saying those words outloud it's not like YOU look perfectly fine.

-yes. Let's meet. And chat. Or something.

He suddenly sounds very reserved.

-yeah?

-yes. Now, if you'll excuse me.

-ah, sure! Uhm, see you later then?

-later. Yes.

You're a bit confused..is he happy or what? Did you make the wrong move..? You leave the room, not sure how to feel... John knows how to feel, though. As soon as you close the door, he bursts out laughing. He's smiling, growling into his hands. Oh god! He's about to start dancing. The smile doesn't leave his face. Phew, what a day..and it's about to get so much better..

[galaxypaintersblog]

Day 16: Wounded

My little entry for the Octogoblinoctober

@octogoblinoctober

Norman could feel every muscle in his body when the Goblin stopped clouding his mind. He blinked absolutely confused and when he saw straight again, he say Peter. The other universe's Peter. "Peter...?" he asked and looked around himself. What happened? How did he end up here? In a very wide distance he saw Otto, who was busied with this Electro guy and a man, he didn't recognize. To Norman's left he finally saw the Peter from his own universe but he looked hurt. There was a stabbing wound. A stale taste was on the lost man's tongue.

Helplessly he looked up, in a pair of eyes that was full of hatred. "W-what have I done...?" he asked lost but never got an answer.

Golden light engulfed him and brought him back in his own universe.

Norman was actually surprised to wake up alive, in the old ruin he once died in. Weakly he tried to stand up. Everything hurt and felt sore. The poor man still wondered what had happened because as he tried to stand up, he broke down again. The pain had become stronger with his try and as he looked down he saw that some parts of the glider suit were broken down, sticking out of his flesh. Norman whimpered and sat down. Did he have internal bleedings? Would he die here again, alone, no one caring for him? The thought alone made him feel sick.

Most significantly one of the knifes of the glider suit stuck out of one wound. The former CEO played with the thought of pulling it out, ending his pathetic life but somehow he couldn't. What was going to happen with Otto then? Oh god, Otto.... Where was he? Norman whimpered again and tried to stand up. Otto had died at Hudson River, which wasn't far from that ruin.

Would Norman make the way? He had to try and so he did. One hand firmly holding his abdomen to force his body to move. It was excruciating, every step felt like stepping on knifes.

He didn't know how much he had walked, civilization of the town that never slept, ignoring him, as if he wasn't even there, walking through several side streets with serious wounds. Norman could already see the pier when his legs gave in. Without being able to control it, he fell to his knees, desperately crawling but it was to no avail. He pulled a serious blood trail after him when he stopped moving. His vision blurred harder and harder but before he passed out he believed to see some known boots in front of him.

When he woke up he laid on something like a bed. He blinked and took a deep, painful breath. "Hello...?" Someone entered the room. "It's fine, Norman. You are safe." a very calm, very known voice said. Norman was awake in no time and wanted to jump up but huge, comforting hands pushed him down. "You have to stay in bed. Your injuries are worse." the voice said and it's owner took one of his hands. "Otto..." "Yes. It's fine now... We are home." said man whispered calmly and carressed his wounded knuckles. "I-I never had the courage to tell you, Otto... and after our fight, I, I was afraid you would just hate me even more... I.. love you, Otto... Always did, since college..." The man moved his face in Norman's vision and smiled that beautiful, wholesome smile. "I know, Norman. I love you too. I guess we are just like Romeo and Juliet but now, finally without the parents who wouldn't accept our love." Otto answered poetically and kissed him on the forehead.

"But enough of the romance now, Dear, let me take care of your wounds now." he suddenly added with a bright smile. Norman almost had to laugh but thought twice and just grinned. "Thank you, Honey. Will I live?" Otto pulled the blanket back and revealed several bandaged. Few of them were stained. "Yes, I'm positive you will." he said matter-of-factly and changed the bandages, cleaning the bits of pus out of them and put ointment on the deep cuts.

Then he wrapped fresh gauze around his lover's body. "Thanks, Otto... Uhm... Could you... er... lay next to me... I'd like to... cuddle... I know that's nothing a CEO-" "Shush, Dear. It's fine, I'd love to cuddle with you, careful, though." Otto interrupted him and laid next to him, just to pull him in a very careful hug. Norman closed his eyes and nuzzled into the taller man's shoulder before slowly drifting off into a restful slumber.