#luke reiter

[bloatedandalone04]

Right Back to the Start

➪the one where luke wakes up to the abandoned city of detroit and doesn’t think twice about looking for the one person that always meant the most to him.

Warnings: spoilers for Vanishing on 7th Street, swearing, mentions of death ig, angst, fluff, smut, soft smut, sad events all around, loosely follows the plot of the film, mentions of injuries, unprotected sex heha, hair pulling, marking, pet names, semi-public sex (?)

Word Count: 4.3k

Do not repost this anywhere, reblogs are fine ♡ | HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE, BAES MWAH

The second Luke woke up he knew something was wrong. 

He wouldn’t say he felt it, per se, but he knew something was off. 

He had overslept and would probably be late for his segment on channel seven if he didn’t get up right now. Paige had kept him up for most of the night and seemed to have fled much earlier in the morning, leaving him to blow out the candles he so carelessly left lit during the night. 

Groaning quietly, Luke got up and stumbled his way into the bathroom of his new apartment. His hand quickly finds the lightswitch but when he tries to turn it on, nothing happens. The bathroom remained dark as he reached for his toothbrush and began brushing his teeth, making a mental note to ask Jesus, the front desk guy, about the lack of lighting. 

Using his freehand, he tried turning the TV on and found that it wasn’t working either. He scoffs around the toothbrush as he tosses the remote aside and barely avoids the puddle that had formed in the kitchen from the fridge being shut off. “What the fuck,” he muttered, grabbing the towel from off the stove handle and dropping it onto the puddle. “Seriously.”

After having to walk down twenty three flights of stairs, Luke was a bit more than annoyed as he tried to get his phone to work. 

“Piece of junk,” he concluded as he opened the stairwell door and stepped out into the lobby. “Yo, Jesus, what’s up with the-” he promptly stopped talking when he realized that Jesus was not sitting at the desk. The chair held his usual clothing, that being a suit, but there was no sign of the man.

Actually, Luke noticed that there was no sign of anyone in the lobby as he grabbed the newspaper from off the top of the desk. It only got worse when he went outside and saw various cars had crashed into curbs and stopped in the middle of the street, and the hundreds of clothing that were scattered around had him immediately on alert. 

When he saw that even his workplace was empty and came to the realization that Paige was among the sudden disappearances, he went back home and sprung into action. After nearly being taken over by darkness, Luke grabbed every flashlight he could find and his wedding band then left his apartment as his search began.

He spent three whole days trying to find any sign of life other than himself, and a car that actually worked. He took note of a truck that still had some battery life in it before he found a bar that was lit up as if it was still in business. 

Inside it he found a kid no older than twelve and soon the duo became a trio, and then a fourth person joined. It was almost overwhelming how many people Luke ended up running into after being completely on his own for seventy two hours straight. 

Luke also discovered that his patience was nowhere near as thick as it used to be as James, Rosemary and Paul were all getting on his last nerve. He had found Paul in a bus shelter barely conscious and he had to carry him all the way back to the bar, fucking up his ankle in the process. 

They both almost didn’t make it before Rosemary finally opened the door and let them inside. 

Now, as Paul was being nursed by her, Luke was left to tend to his sore ankle. “Am I in heaven?” The concussed man asked as he stared up at Rosemary. 

“Better,” Luke answered as he wrapped duct tape around his ankle. “A bar.”

A few hours passed and Paul was not getting any better, further delaying Luke’s plan of getting the fuck out of this part of the city and making him feel even more frustrated. “So, you’re all looking for someone, huh?” He asked as he leaned against the pool table, his words slurred and drawn out. 

James was the first to answer, “My momma,”

“My son,” Rosemary followed.

All three of them looked over at Luke and he knew he had to answer them without his usual level of sarcasm. He reached his hand in his pocket and pulled out his wedding band he regretfully took off a few months ago and held it in his palm. “I’m looking for my wife,” he said and they all looked at him as if they were surprised that a cocky, rude and selfish guy like himself could actually have a wife. So he added, “We’re separated, but it’s only recently. I fucked things up with her….and now I might never get the chance to make up for it.”

Rosemary took a step forward and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, a sad smile on her lips as he looked up at her. “You’ll see her again,” she promised and it brought the smallest bit of hope to him as he slipped the band onto his finger, where it should’ve stayed. 

Then the pathetic excuse of a generator began sputtering from its place in the basement, and luckily Paul knew what they needed to do before they were left in complete darkness. “Lessen the load,” he stated as he watched the lights flicker. “The powerload on the genny, we gotta lessen it. Turn off any light we don’t need.”

And Luke did just that, turning off everything except for the lights in the main area of the bar. They continue to flicker on and off for a few more seconds before staying on, making everyone let out a sigh of relief as the shadows fade away. “Good call,” he mumbled to Paul, who just waved him off and moved to lay down on the pool table. 

Then there were a few quiet knocks on the door, and everyone was immediately on high alert again. 

“Don’t answer it,” Luke said, ignoring the glare Rosemary gave him. Really, there wasn’t anyone on the other side of the door that could be more dangerous than the shadows, but he already had three people he had to deal with before he was able to return back to his original plan, and he didn’t need another person added to the list. But James didn’t care, and Luke was quickly beginning to notice that the kid does whatever he wants as he ran around the table and towards the door. “James, don’t.”

“It could be my mom,” he replied and didn’t wait for another word to be spoken before he pulled the door open. 

Luke rounded the table as well and was about to tug James away when he caught sight of who was on the other side of the door. His grip on the kids jacket loosened as his eyes landed on you, and he stumbled a few feet away. 

How was it possible that he had spent nearly seventy two hours looking for you, just to have you stumble upon the very bar he was seeking temporary shelter in? You looked scared and nervous and anxious, and Luke wanted to take you into his arms immediately. He was always good at providing you with comfort before, and he knew he could still do it now, he was just in shock.

“I-I’m sorry,” and there was your sweet voice that Luke hadn’t heard in months. “I saw the lights, and…”

Then you met his eyes, and Luke felt his eyes burn a bit. “Y/n,” he barely managed to say before your single flashlight fell from your grasp and hit the ground, breaking on impact. The darkness began to take over the doorway and before Luke could stop himself, he was moving forward and pulling you inside the bar. You stumble along with him and he steadies you by placing his hands on your waist. “Baby.” The name slipped from his lips before he could stop himself, but he didn’t care, and you didn’t either. 

As you braced yourself against his body, Luke caught sight of your left hand against his chest, and his eyes burned a bit more at the sight of your engagement ring and wedding band wrapped securely around your finger. “Luke,” you said his name in a breathless tone and he was powerless to stop himself from leaning in and pressing his lips to yours. 

You kiss him back instantly and grab either side of his face as you press your body right up against his. “I thought I lost you,” he rasped in between kisses, his hands bunching up your shirt that looked an awful lot like one of the few he left with you back at the old house. 

You shake your head and lean into his touch when he brings a hand up to wipe away the tears you began to shed. “I thought I lost you,” 

Then you were kissing him again and pressing him against the edge of the pool table. Luke’s arms wrap tightly and protectively around you, and he pulls you flush up against his front, his mouth pressing desperate kisses to yours. “I’m so sorry,” he murmured, paying no attention to the other three people in the bar. “I’m so fucking sorry.” 

You shake your head again and wrap your arms around his shoulders. “Luke,” you weakly say his name as you slide your hand up and tangle it in his messy hair. 

He turns his head and kisses your wrist, his eyes narrowing on your left ring finger. “You still wear them,” he stated under his breath as he gently wrapped his hand around your wrist so he could examine the very ring and band he picked out for you.   

You tearfully laugh, using your free hand to push his hair away from his forehead. “So do you,” you observe his left hand, and the band you had picked out for him. “I never took mine off.”

Luke gives you a look of agony before he is kissing your temple and caressing the back of your head as if you were the most fragile thing he’s ever held in his arms. He supposed you were at this point since you could literally disappear at any given moment. “I should’ve never taken it off,” he regretfully informed you of his inability to cope without having you around. 

He resorted to distracting himself with his coworker in the new bed he didn’t share with you, and he wished he could take it all back. He wished he could go back to the time he left you behind and do it all again, but this time he’d do it right. He wouldn’t leave you, he would stay with you until you got sick of him and even then he wouldn’t leave. 

If he knew just how short his life with you would end up being, he would’ve never let you go. 

“What happened to your head?” You asked as you traced your thumb along the small cut on his forehead, but he just took your hand in his again and kissed along your neck.

“So….you’re his wife,” Rosemary stated what had to be obvious at this point, her hands placed on James’ shoulders as the three of them looked over at you and Luke. He kept you close to him by placing his hands on your lower back as he looked over at her. “I told you that you’d see her again.”

Yeah, a mere five minutes ago, he wanted to say but was too caught up in the feeling of having you in his arms again. “Sorry, this is probably quite the introduction,” you shyly say and Luke wondered how he went so long without hearing your sweet voice when it was all he wanted to hear right now. “I’m Y/n.”

“Rosemary,” she smiled at you, and everyone could tell how sad the atmosphere had gotten since Luke actually did end up finding you after all. Well, technically, you had found him, but the point still stands. 

He had you back, but James didn’t have his mom, and Rosemary didn’t have her son. 

You smiled your kind and genuine smile at her as you looked around the place, your body nuzzled against Luke’s. “So, what’s the plan?” 

After a bit more smalltalk, everyone came to the agreement that they would wait until morning - even with how quick the daylight seemed to come and go nowadays - before moving on, and keep an eye on the generator in the meantime. Luke gently took your hand in his as he guided you down the stairs, a flashlight in his freehand. “C’mon, baby,” he mumbled and you followed behind him, closing the door afterwards.

You and him were on first watch, and Luke was desperate to be alone with you at this point. “What are you wearing?” You ask with a quiet laugh as he leans against a beam and pulls your body closer to his. Your hands play with the abundance of flashlights that were attached to the strap on his chest before moving to tug on his jacket. “This is how you’ve been surviving?”

Luke shook his head and tore off the strap, tossing it aside without a care for its well-being. “I haven’t been surviving, baby,” he said as he gripped the sides of your face. “I’ve been looking for you. I spent the last three days looking for you.”

You bite down on your lip as tears gather in your eyes again. “Luke,” you trail off as he pulls your body right up against his own. 

You looked so pretty. Worn out and tired beyond belief, but still so achingly pretty. He wanted you, all of you, in all the ways he’s missed out on during your time apart, but he also knew you must be exhausted. 

He is, too, but he also couldn’t stand the thought of wasting his time sleeping when he could be spending the rest of his possibly short life with you, awake and conscious. “You should get some sleep, baby, you’re probably tired-”

But you just shook your head and leaned up to kiss him. He returned your kiss as soon as your lips met his, and his hands moved back to tangle in your hair. You were quite literally on borrowed time, and you both knew this, so when you jumped up and wrapped your legs around his waist, Luke caught you instantly.

He gripped the backs of your thighs as he slowly lowered his body to the floor. His knees hit the tough concrete a bit hard, but he could handle the pain if it meant he got to have you like this again. 

You straddled his lap as your hands tangled in his hair, tugging on it in the way you used to - the way that never failed to drive him crazy. His fingers play with the zipper of your jacket for a few seconds before he finally pulls the fabric from your body, followed quickly by your (his) long sleeved shirt. 

Luke’s hands ran up your nearly bare back, and he was beginning to crave the feeling of your skin on his. You quickly make work of his jacket, and then his zip-up hoodie. “Jesus, Luke, you’re dressed for the winter,” you point out as your shaky fingers unbutton his dress shirt. 

He laughed, a genuine laugh, for the first time in months as you pushed the shirt from his body and dropped it onto the growing pile of clothes on the floor. His lips press to yours again, his hands running up and down your thighs and making goosebumps rise against the fabric of your jeans. “I missed you,” he confessed as he kissed along your jaw. 

You wrap your arms around his shoulders and tangle your fingers in his hair again as he lifts you up and lays you down on his shirt and hoodie. It wasn’t much, but it was more comfortable than the hard floor on its own. Really, comfort was the last thing on either of your minds. “Luke, please,” you begged as he sucked the skin of your neck, his fingers tugging at the zipper of your jeans. 

His bare and toned chest presses against yours as he kisses you deeply, his tongue exploring your mouth before tangling with your own. “Missed you so fucking much,” he continued as he shoved your jeans down a bit and slipped his hand into the thin material of your panties.

Your body shudders a bit as his middle and index fingers swiped along your wet folds, and you moan quietly against his mouth. “Luke,” you whine, bucking up against his hand. “It’s been so long.”

Luke hummed, kissing you once more before he pulled away. “I know,” he rasped, slowly fucking his fingers into you. “I know, baby, and it’s all my fucking fault. I should’ve been there for you, for us. I promise, I’m never leaving your side, even if we don’t have a lot of time left together.”

Your eyes burned a bit as you lifted your hips in time with his hand. “I want you, Luke,” you gasp. “For months - I’ve wanted you for months.”

Luke blinked away a few tears of his own. “I’m not leaving you, Y/n,” he promised. “Never again. I love you, baby, I always will. No matter what happens.”

You moan as his thumb brushes against your clit, and you knew he was the only one who could make you feel like this; so good, loved and cherished all at once. “I love you,” you whisper back, tugging his mouth back to yours by grabbing onto his hair. “Please, Luke, I want you. I need you, I need to feel you.”

Keeping his mouth connected to yours, Luke pushes your jeans down the rest of the way, leaving you to kick them off along with your boots, as he unzips his own. “I need you, too,” he said under his breath, reaching down to run his tip up your seam. You both moan at the same time when he enters you, filling you up in one movement and fitting perfectly. 

“Oh, God,” you whimper as his hips hit yours. “Fuck, Luke.” 

“I love you,” he says, pressing his forehead against yours as your legs wrap around his waist. “I love you, I love you so fucking much.” He couldn’t stop telling you that he loved you if he tried. He went so long without you, wasted so much time trying to get Paige to make him feel the way only you could. 

You kissed him deeply as he began to thrust into you, slow and hard, the way he knew you liked. “I love you,” you say back, laughing quietly at the way his nose brushed yours every time he slipped back inside you. 

You wrapped your legs tighter around his waist and he leaned down to kiss along the tops of your breasts. If he had his way, your bra would be discarded along with the other clothing, but to save the twelve year olds remaining innocence if he were to come down here and see you like this, he would have to deal with you keeping it on. 

“As soon as I realized what was happening, I started looking for you. I had to see you again, had to tell you that I was sorry and that I regretted not coming back to you,” he rambled, shutting his eyes tightly when he felt your walls squeeze him. “I couldn’t give up without knowing you were safe, without seeing you again.”

You moan quietly as you grip his shoulders. “Luke…”

“You’re everything to me, baby,” he swore, burying face against the side of your neck. “Everything.”

“Luke,” you whine as you kiss along his jaw before brushing your lips against the shell of his ear. “Please, fuck me. Make me forget. We can forget about everything, even if just for a while.”

His hips begin to hit yours harder after that, and you press his face close to your own by caressing the back of his head. You glance up at the ceiling lights and see them flicker a bit, almost taunting you with the fact that they could shut off completely at any given moment. 

Even the shadows around you were taunting as Luke pressed your body against the cold floor, but you didn’t care. 

In this moment you weren’t scared. 

You had managed to do the impossible; you had found your husband in a city that had been wiped out of any sign of life. You found each other, and you knew that if you were to be taken by the shadows, you wouldn’t be alone anymore. Luke would be with you. He is with you. And he wasn’t going anywhere this time.

“You feel so good, baby,” he brought you back to him with the single praise, and your face flushed a bit as you cling onto him. “So good.”

“Luke,” you moaned, tugging on his hair as you looked over at the shadows. “Harder. Please.”

Luke placed one hand on your hip and braced himself above you with the other one, his forearm pressing against the ground beside your head. “Look at me,” he murmured when he noticed that your head was turned and your eyes were fixated on the dark corner of the basement. When you glanced up at him, Luke pressed his forehead to yours. “Keep looking at me, baby. Not at them, at me. It’s you and me, Y/n. It’s us.” 

He successfully got your full attention back as you wrapped your arms around his shoulders and pressed open mouthed kisses to the skin of his shoulder. “Make me come, Luke,” you requested breathlessly, your brows scrunching together when he reached that sweet spot deep within you. “Fuck.”

Luke groaned deeply, rocking his hips into yours quicker. “Like this?” He asked, moving his body so his pelvis brushed against your clit with every thrust. 

You squeeze your eyes shut as you nod, clinging onto him with the energy you had left. “Yes,” you whispered.

He pulled back to get a good look at your face, his fucked out expression matching yours. “Get loud for me,” he softly demanded as he listened to your quiet moans. 

“I can’t,” you mumbled, gently digging your nails into his shoulders. “The others-”

“Can’t hear us,” he cut you off, pressing kiss after kiss to the side of your head. He could still faintly smell your sweet, wildflower conditioner you favorited when you and he were together, and the scent had his head feeling fuzzy. “They can’t hear us, sweet girl. That fucking generator drowns out any noise. They have no idea what we’re doing right now, so be loud for me, baby. Scream for me.”

You bite down harshly on your lip, but then moan loudly once he begins rubbing quick circles onto your clit. “Oh, my God,” you gasp, much louder than before. 

Luke smirked down at you, his tired features making your heart swell. “There’s my girl,” he mumbled, kissing you afterwards. “My good girl.” 

His words had your eyes rolling back and your body arching as you moaned his name loudly. 

As he watched your face scrunch up in pleasure, Luke felt the possessiveness he felt over you since the day he met you come back to him in full swing. “Tell me you’re mine,” he demanded, well aware that there weren’t many options left for guys that could steal you from him. Still, he hadn’t seen you in months, and he wanted to know that he is still it for you. That he always will be. “Tell me you’re still mine.”

You grin up at him, softly running your fingers through his hair that had become even more messy since you and he reunited. “I’m yours, Luke,” you say. “I always was.”

He grunted as you clenched tightly around him. “You’re close,” he commented, knowing your body and its signs like the back of his hand. You were his wife of four years, after all. You technically still are as neither of you could go through with the divorce process. 

“I’m close,” you confirmed what he already knew. “I’m gonna come.”

You squeezed him impossibly tighter and Luke circled your clit faster, desperate to get you there before he got off himself. “Come, baby,” he nearly begged, hiking your leg up higher around his waist. 

With a final cry of his name, you were coming around him and sucking him in deeper with each thrust. “Fuck, fuck,”

Luke felt your warmth surround him and knew he wouldn’t last much longer. Not with the way you were squeezing him or the way you were writhing under him. “Good girl,” he praised, kissing you quickly when he felt his own high take over his body. 

Your heel presses against his back, ensuring that a single drop of his release didn’t go to waste. He pulls away from your mouth and places small kisses to the slightly sweaty skin of your neck and shoulder, eliciting more quiet, broken moans from your swollen lips. 

When your tired gaze met his, Luke gave you a small, barely-there grin. “I love you,”

You smooth out his hair as you brush your lips against his. “I love you,” you say back then ask, “What is going to happen next?”

The fear and harsh reality came spiraling back, and Luke wrapped you up in his arms. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly, holding you close to his chest. “But I’m not leaving your side, okay? I mean it, it’s you and me.”

What the world will be like after this, or how long you have with him are questions no one could answer, simply because there was no telling what becomes of you after being consumed by the darkness. Your soul gets taken, leaving behind only the clothes on your back, and it’s scary. 

But you weren’t alone anymore, and neither was he. Luke was okay now that he had you back where you always belonged, and he would be fine.

You smile up at him, glancing over at the still flickering lights as you nuzzle against his side. “Yeah,” you agree in a whisper. “You and me.”

[daydadahlias]

good morning !! r u seeing luke this tour ?

good morning tootsie roll !! and no I’m not bc I don’t want to 💙

lol fr tho I am still a college student who doesn’t have the money or means to travel / go to concerts even if I did want to

but I just don’t like concerts to begin w/ bc they’re very overstimulating for me. I’ve been to five concerts in my life and even the one 5sos show I went to last year - which was an incredible experience bc yayy Ashton irl - took me out of commission for the next few days so I wouldn’t do it again tbh

so yeah the blanket answer for any future shows (5sos or otherwise) is going to be no shawty

[rosenbergi]

I've always interpreted the references Gonta made during his FTEs as being from the media he was exposed to soon after re-entering human society.

I assume the characters in them would've been role models he latched onto, and I doubt his parents would've spent enough time around him to take that on themselves.

With that framework in mind, I think it's very impressive how well Gonta reintegrated into human society when one of his influences was JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood-

[braininatankwithalaptop]

I just bought Potion Permit 2 days ago and I feel like I'm almost out of content already. I've got quite a few npc relationships maxed out and got the third unlockable area already unlocked.

I'm addicted and I don't know what I'll do when I'm done with the game. Someone help.

[actualbird]

omg i haven’t read your analysis yet because i have the card but i haven’t read the story (lack of time) but i just wanted to tell you I’m equally excited for both!!

Can’t wait for the story to emotionally ruin me and then come here to read your analysis for things i may have missed for the finishing blow <3

I love your writing and I’m getting inspired to make some of my own (in the very late future)(even of it may not be as good or long!)

Have a nice day!!

hi anon! ooOOOHH ur in for a real treat when u read luke's anniv card, i swear. and when i mean treat, i mean Story That Will Kick Ur Heart Around.

oh i just got to reading the second paragraph, yeah yep yep, it'll emotionally ruin you JVKSJFVDKJF. i hope my deranged luke adoration analysis can help make the emotional ruin better(or...worse? or maybe the intensifier im looking for here is just. More, HAHA)

thank you so much for your sweet words :(((( and yES YESSSS GO WRITE!!! if it makes you happy, go for it!! no matter what, doing stuff that brings joy is always gonna be a good choice to make :'D

hope u have a nice day too ^w^

[fawnindawn]

even at our worst, we know we'll still be okay (luke castellan x apollo fem! reader)

summary: Where Percy's insistent pestering forces Luke to rethink on his possibly not platonic feelings for you, his best friend, and Percy's questions are answered for him with Luke's reaction to you being heavily injured on your return from your quest.

pairing: luke castellan x apollo fem! reader

a/n: i'm actually in love with this, maybe it's just the friends-to-lovers in me (where a love confession happens because one of them was near death's door-) but man.. also, i love including percy so much he's such a kid.

masterlist for this series next

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

"Face it, man. You're whipped."

Percy watched Luke choke on his water, coughing as he tried to swallow past the sudden accusation. Wiping at the excess that dripped past his chin, Luke raised a brow at Percy.

"Whipped? For who?" Luke questioned, eyes averting and staring straight ahead, beyond the training grounds towards the meadows in the distance, seemingly searching for something or just doing a poor job at avoiding Percy’s unimpressed stare.

“I’m not blind, as much as Annabeth claims, to this...love stuff.” Percy huffed, half in exasperation and half in exhaustion as he leaned forward using his sword to balance himself. “You’ve been depressed ever since she left for her quest.”

Luke doesn’t need to hear your name to know who Percy was referring to. It’s been weeks since you were chosen by your father, Apollo, to descend on some mighty quest to fetch back his lyre that had been stolen. It wasn’t supposed to be a dangerous quest, but Luke had felt his gut sinking when he first heard the news from you.

“Why does he need to send you out there, where you could possibly be tracked down by monsters to get back a musical instrument of all things?” Luke snapped, exasperated as he runs his fingers through his curls, pacing back and forth in the Hermes Cabin, while you laid on his mattress looking undeniably calmer than he was.

“Luke, my dad won’t purposely send me on some death trap. I'll be fine.” You tried to reassure him, waiting for him to calm down in his pacing before you extended your hands in his direction right as he turned to make another round through the cabin for the seventh time. “Hey, come here.” You gestured. “Sit with me.”

He hesitated, stopping in his tracks as he finally took the time to look at you, noting your concerned expression at him. As if you weren’t about to descend on some ridiculous quest to god knows where all because your father couldn’t pluck up the effort to collect the instrument himself.

The longer your hands stayed outstretched for him, the more his anger and frustration dissolved into the overwhelming need to be near you. One second, he’s standing and the next, he’s laying in bed with you, your arms wrapped around him to stabilise him even though he should be the stronger one. The one to look out for you.

Laying his head on your shoulder as he wrapped one of his fingers around your hair, curling it in his palms, he spoke again in a soft whisper only for you to hear. “I’m worried.”

“I know.” You responded, your hands tracing at the curve of his shoulder, stopping at his collarbone, before your finger moved to tilt his face by the chin to look at you. “You trust me, right?” You ask, knowing his answer but wanting to hear the reassurance all the same.

“Course' I do.” He replied immediately, his eyes intense as he made eye contact with you. That was without question. You could ask him to walk into blazing flames, and he'd trust you would ask for good reason.

“Then you can trust that I’ll make it back alive.”

“Alive can mean lots of things.” He muttered, his eyes growing distant, the ghost of blood and a stinging burn running down the half of his face appearing uninvited in his mind.

“I’ll make it back alive and unharmed.” You reiterated, a knowing look in your eyes as you unconsciously traced at his scar, leaving warmth where it resides, making him shiver instinctively. “It’s a promise, Luke.”

He stayed silent, before slowly moving his hand to cup yours that rested over his scar. “I’m counting on it, sunshine.”

That promise rested over Luke’s conscience, gnawing at the back of his heels, chasing him daily from the early hours as he forced himself not to break over the stress and anxiety before putting on his golden boy facade, to pretend that he wasn't constantly distracted and nauseous over the thought of something happening to you without him being there to protect you.

He would've snuck out of camp if he could, just to find you, but Chiron had been tight-lipped on your destination, his all-knowing gaze piercing right through Luke when he had tried to nonchalantly ask about your whereabouts.

"I wish I could help you, Luke." Chiron had told Luke a few days after you had gone. "However, Apollo's request was clear. Only she shall take on this quest. No one else." The pin-point gaze Chiron had locked onto Luke made it clear he was talking about him.

"I am not whipped." Luke denied. "She's my friend. Like how you're my friend."

"I don't think your friendship with her is normal though." Percy fired back quickly, sipping on his own water as if he didn't casually demolish the older boy. "I swear I caught you bringing her back after curfew to your cabin, a few times in fact."

Luke felt his cheeks flush at Percy's sudden interrogation, smashing facts after facts on an early Tuesday morning. "I've been having.. nightmares lately. She's the only one who keeps them away." He didn't know why he felt like he had to explain himself to the kid, but the longer his friendship with you went under fire, the faster he wanted to get out of this conversation.

"You don't think that's something you should think deeper about?" Percy muttered with a shrug.

Luke is left speechless, his mind short-cutting at the sudden implication of.. him feeling something more for you? His most recent memories flashed through his mind. You tucked under his blanket as you laid beside him for the last night before your quest, a sleepy smile etched on your lips before you whispered him goodnight and he pulled you into his chest so he could feel your heart beating against his to push away any tricks currently playing on his mind, bringing light to how you're the only person he believes could calm him down and bring him peace-

"She's my best friend." Luke replied, more to himself than to Percy. "I'm just worried for her. A quest like that shouldn't take so long, and I keep imagining-"

He stopped in his tracks, not wanting to say his fears out in the open in fear that his words would jinx it, but Percy knew where he was getting at. Percy inched closer to Luke, moving to pat him awkwardly on the back in an effort to comfort him. "It's normal to be worried. From what I heard from Annabeth, you two are really close. I didn't have much conversations with her before she left, but she seems brave, and smart too. I have no doubts she'll make it back. If she's half as good as you, there's no way she wouldn't."

Luke felt a real smile crossing his face, the corners of his lips quirked up at Percy's words. "She's not half as good- she is better than me." He turned to look at Percy, that shine in his eyes noticeable as he talked about you. "Don't let her hear that when she gets back though, she'll talk my ear off for ages."

Percy returned his own smile, elated to see Luke have some improvement in his mood, proof being the first genuine smile Percy's seen in weeks coming from him.

"So.. do you want to stop for today?" Percy attempted with a casual tone.

"Why? Backing out already?" Luke teased, a smirk playing on his lips as he inched towards the kid jokingly with his sword raised.

"No!" Percy denied frantically. "I swear I'm not using the sympathy card as an excuse to get out of training-"

The sounds of a horn cut off his words, groaning across the camp, reaching the training grounds in record time. Luke felt his heart palpitate, nearly crashing into his rib cage.

He barely had time to think, yelling to Percy with urgency flying off his tongue. "Catch you later, Perce!" Then, he was off, his legs carrying him up the hills and back towards the camp entrance.

He heard Percy yell his name in confusion, but he could apologise later for his sudden departure.

You had come back to him.

The journey seemed too long, his shoes scrambling for ground, barely scraping the dirt as he ran towards the front of camp. He didn't know what to expect, a celebration with cheers from the other campers on your arrival, a glimpse of your face with that smile he loves. What he didn't expect was the silence as he came towards a slow jog before ultimately stopping at what seemed to be a crowd gathering around something- or someone.

He pushed his way through, barely making the effort to apologise over the thought of seeing you. His eyes finally caught onto what the onlookers were staring at, and his heart dropped.

You laid on the ground, passed out with what seemed to be dark, angry coils covering your skin, ranging from your neck to the outstretch of your back that was exposed from the gash in your shirt. That stupid lyre laid not too far from you, its golden strings ripped apart.

The sound that tore from his throat barely sounded like his voice, yelling out your name as he pushed through the final barrier in the crowd before reaching for you. He nearly made it before someone dragged him back, grabbing him by the shoulders and pushing him away.

The curses that left Luke's mouth would make anyone wince, and he had to resist the urge to punch whoever was holding him back as he twisted his head to face his repressor. "Chris! Get out of my way." Luke hissed, still trying to make his way to you, fury twisting in his gut as he couldn't fathom why no one's helped you yet.

"Calm down, Luke!" Chris pleaded, desperation in his eyes forcing Luke to falter. "I know you want to help her but you have to listen to me. Whatever attacked her left something contagious on her body. Someone already tried helping her but it spread to their skin too!"

Wait? While whatever was attacking your body seemed to grow more intense by the minute, as Luke's gaze locked onto your form and watched the sickening, black coils spread further and further up your neck.

"Rodriguez, does it look like I care if it spreads to me?" Luke spat out, giving his friend a final push. "If she dies, I won't ever forgive myself for standing on the sidelines. Let me go now."

The cold venom in his tone made his friend loosen his hold just enough for Luke to rip himself out of his arms to drop his knees beside you. He grabbed hold of your shoulder, which still had shreds of your shirt to prevent him from being stung by whatever was infecting you, but his other hand which grabbed hold of your back did not face the same fate. The coils snaked onto his palm, and he gritted his teeth at the burning sensation.

Just as he turned you around so he could lift you up, he heard the familiar sound of hooves stamping against the soil and he looked up to see Chiron approaching with a grim expression. No words needed to be said as Luke met eyes with the centaur, a mutual understanding as Luke wrapped his arms around your torso and legs.

He pushed through to help carry you up, barking orders for the crowd to part way as he made his way to the infirmary. The longer he held onto you, the more every bone in his body seemed to scream to let you go, but he only focused on every step it took to get you closer to help, his eyes unable to look away from the paleness of your skin, the blue to your lips.

It seemed unfit for a child of Apollo, a child of the sun, to be dull and lifeless. You looked dead, and if it wasn't for the faint drumming of your pulse he could sense from your wrist, he would've struck the name of your father with such unbridled hatred, Apollo himself would descend from the heavens to condemn him.

"Please." He begged, holding onto you tighter despite his body's cries not to. Begging to who, he did not know, but if any being could save you from the fate you did not deserve, and pass it to him instead, he would gladly offer his prayers and worship. If it meant saving you, he would take your pain and suffer it tenfold just to see you open your eyes again.

It took you five days to recover. The infirmary had been quarantined and no one save for Chiron and Will, the main healer from the Apollo cabin, was allowed in. In those five days, no one dared approach Luke, who seemed near death's door despite having received his own small dosage of ambrosia to heal the coils that had managed to sink into his skin. He had begged Chiron to let him visit you, but Chiron deemed him too unstable to be near you, your recovery process a fragile thing that required tentative hands and patience.

Waiting to see you was a torture not even he could have envisioned for himself. He had been torn apart at the seams, of his belief in the gods and the scars that were immortalized onto his body. He had lived through days of water and nothing but false hope, hiding from monsters and other horrors before he made it to camp, arriving as a scrawny boy with eyes having witnessed events no kid his age should have to go through. Yet, no pain he had experienced could compare to his fears of losing you. If he-

He couldn't think of it without wanting to puke, but if he lost you somehow, he would lose his faith in this world. There would be no one to hold him back, no you, to stop him from letting go of the world that failed him and tearing it down.

It didn't help that in those five days, he had dreams. Of a different world, of salvation. A dark, ancient voice called to him, older than time, with whispers of promised glory and revenge. There was no you, none of your soothing touches or voice to wake him. In those five days, his strength faltered and he made a deal.

On the sixth day, he was woken frantically by a shake on the shoulder from his sleep. He roused awake, dizzy and still-half asleep to see Chris talking to him in rushed incoherent words.

"Awake- She's awake, sleepy-head!"

Luke was half-dressed, still fighting off sleep with aggressive rubbing to his eyes as he tugged on his t-shirt, rushing towards the infirmary with Chris hot on his heels.

He burst through the front door, holding his breath when he finally saw you, propped up on two pillows talking to Will. Tears pricked in the corners of his eyes, blurring his vision as he rushed over to you.

You turned to him then, just in time to see him blink his tears away. "Luke." You called to him softly, and time seemed to stop just for the two of you, and he could only see you in his vision.

"Can you guys give us some privacy?" You asked politely, eyeing Will and Chris, but your eyes never drifted far before moving back to him.

"Of course." Will responded, quickly getting up from his chair towards the exit, dragging a confounded Chris with him with a tug on the back of his shirt. "Hey! I wanted to see her too-" "Give the two lovebirds some time alone, you idiot."

Luke inched closer to you, his heart beating so loudly in his eardrums he swears you could hear it too. You lifted your arms to him and he didn't waste time, taking you in his arms and embracing you so tight, and yet he felt he couldn't be close enough.

"You were dying. In my arms. I felt it when I carried you in here." He muttered into your shoulder, shaking as he finally let out the exhaustion and pain he had been feeling since the day you left.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." You apologised, rocking him back and forth as your voice croaked up. "All I thought of was you. When I fought against that beast, I kept repeating my promise to you. That I would come back to you. You saved me."

He shook his head, feeling his tears wet his cheeks as he pulled back to grab you by the chin, a gentle touch like he was afraid you would disappear if he couldn't see you talking to him, that your voice would be a hallucination he concocted. "I should've stopped you from going. I had a bad feeling since I heard about it. I should've protected you- prevented you from getting hurt in the first place-"

You stopped him with a kiss, desperate yet shy, before pulling away and pressing your forehead to his. "I love you, Luke. I was so scared I would never get to tell you and it would've been my biggest regret. I love you so much, Luke, and I'm sorry if this ruins anything between us but I can't hide it anymore-"

Luke cut you off the very same way you did, but with such intense hunger you gasped when he kissed you, sloppy and with even more desperation, tugging at your bottom lip and pulling you closer with his hand at nape of your neck. "I love you." He muttered through quick breaths. "I love you, it actually hurts because of how much I do." He admitted, grabbing your hand to place right above his heart, which is owned completely and only by you.

He leaned in once more, addicted to the taste of you, kissing you with one hand holding yours to his heart, the other pulling you close so that there was no space between the two of you. When he had to stop so you both could gasp for air, he pressed his forehead back to yours, the first smile stretching at his lips in days. "I never want to be apart from you ever again, you hear me, sunshine?"

You giggled at his words, nodding slightly. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Extra: Luke reappears with you the next day when you insisted on wanting to get out of the infirmary after being cooped up away from the sun for so long. ("You're such an Apollo kid." Luke teases, which you ignore with a roll of your eyes.) He's with you every step of the way, and now that your feelings are out for each other in the open, he doesn't hesitate to kiss you on the cheek or fawn over you without hiding his intensity.

When he makes eye contact with Percy over the room, the damn kid gives him a wink and a thumbs-up.

a/n: i want to expand so much more on this, with kronos taking advantage of luke's weak mind during your recovery and more, OMGGGGGGG. tell me if you guys want more pls and i'll make more parts. thank you for reading if you made it this far <3

update: I am officially making this into a series called ‘everything in between’. To those who want to follow more on their story, you can comment on whether you want to be added to the tag list for this series or check the masterlist!

[murdrdocs]

oral (f receiving); one for exam season; MDNI 18+ w/ LUKE CASTELLAN

"i'm only giving myself a half hour break."

you don't know if luke's listening to you, but you're talking to him either way. he has his lips pressed into the skin of your neck, pressing kiss after kiss along your jugular as he continues his journey further down. he doesn't respond until he has your sweatshirt lifted over your head and his lips reaching for your sternum. and even then, he just hums with halfhearted affirmation.

"and ten of those minutes i need to get back to the library," you continue. this time he doesn't answer until he has your sweatpants pulled down and tossed off to the side.

"alright," he says. it's likely he doesn't even know what he's agreeing to, too focused on getting the one thing he's practically been begging for since classes ended and exams began.

he has tunnel vision aimed at the visible wet patch in the center of your panties and eager hands pushing your legs further apart. he hooks his fingertips into the waistband of your panties and delivers the same fate as the rest of your clothing onto them. and then he ogles. he swipes a finger through your slit, separating your lips and gathering your arousal in one motion, and then he slowly brings the essence to his lips.

you're about to reiterate the fact that you and luke have only 20 minutes whenever luke throws your legs over his shoulders and places his mouth over your cunt. when he'd texted about desperately needing some sort of stress relief, you assumed he meant you giving him head, or burying his cock as far into you as he could. instead, he eats you out for the entirety of the allotted time. it's not that you're complaining, but you do briefly worry about paying him back. that is until luke finally lifts his head after your second orgasm and stares at you with dopey eyes and a smile to match.

"come over tonight?" is all he says to you. you nod, trying to regain your breath while you let luke pull your panties back over your bottom.

"yeah. but i'll be at the library until late."

[primrose-priss]

bad idea! luke castellan x afab!reader, MDNI

“do you trust me?” he said, his head tilting. he didn’t mean to intimidate, his question was genuine.

of course you trusted luke castellan. he was your best friend.

but this… this was different.

you don’t remember exactly how you got here. all you do remember is the nightmare you had which led to luke’s arrival. but you did not intend for it to end like this, with his lips grazing yours.

“luke…” you let out warily.

luke let out a soft, “what…” his brown eyes pulled away from your lips for the first time that night, and reconnected with your eyes. gods, he’s the only one that could see right through you and your stoic front.

“this is a bad idea,” you say, looking down in your lap. the weight of his gaze on you becoming too much.

his hand stayed rested on your jaw, lifting you to reach his eyes.

“do you trust me?” he reiterated. his thumb brushed against your lower lip, pulling it slightly.

you let out a shaky breath.

luke’s hands slipped beneath the hem of your shirt, his fingertips softly gliding over your rib cage, landing just under your bra. his head in your neck, leaving tender kisses followed with soft nips at your skin.

your head rested back against your pillow, eyes lightly closed and releasing soft breaths from your lips. you wanted to bask in this moment truly, but your mind was going a million miles a minute.

initially, it was overanalyzing every bit of the nightmare you had. now, it was the overwhelming feeling of luke all over you. his hands touching places only you have graced. his lips melting into spots no ones ever kissed before. it was all too much and never enough all at once.

you took in a sharp gasp when his hands began to dip below your waistline. luke’s hands immediately stopped and his head bobbed up from your neck, looking up at you, “are you okay?”

gods, he looked so pretty like this. lips swollen from kissing so much, hair all disarray from your hands brushing through it, his big brown eyes staring deeply into yours. you had to pause for a moment to take in this sight.

“do you want me to stop?” he pushed again.

your eyes lifted from his pretty pink lips, to his endearing eyes. the lust that previously clouded them had been replaced with sincere concern.

“no,” you whispered. “please. touch me, luke, i want you to touch me.”

luke took in a deep breath at your words, rendering speechless. if he could picture and frame this moment, your lips gaping and your cheeks flushed, he would.

“you’re beautiful,” a mumble in which he intended for himself, but you heard it. he knew you heard it.

his lips danced along your jawline as his hands slipped beneath your pajama shorts. the line between “best friends” and whatever this was becoming far more blurred that originally intended.

granted, best friends was ditched the moment you allowed him to set foot in your cabin after hours.

best friends was ditched the moment luke offered to help take your mind off things.

best friends was ditched the moment he asked if you trusted him.

best friends was ditched the moment you allowed him to lay his lips against yours.

“luke,” you whined, gripping at his shirt. “i want to see you.”

his head pulled away from your neck, bringing his gaze to meet yours. you didn’t say anything to each other for a moment, only watching each others faces as he continued to pleasure you with his hand.

his eyes, his lips, his hands, they were all becoming too much.

your hands ran along his clothed torso, gripping at the tee he had on.

“off, take it off” you mumbled, beginning to pull his shirt overhead.

he giggled, moving away from you to remove his tee. your eyes lit up as they moved from his abs up to his face. hesitantly, your hands began to reach out.

“gods, you’re so nervous,” he teased with a smile, before taking your hand in his and pressing it to his chest.

“touch me, y/n, i want you to touch me.”

[corroded-hellfire]

Scout's Honor - Eddie Munson x Reader

Collaboration with my dearest @munson-blurbs

An As You Wish story

Summary: The annual Father-Daughter Girl Scout Square Dance comes around but Eddie and Steve are saddled with some car trouble.

Note: Everyone needs to go thank Bug for this incredibly adorable idea!

Words: 2.1k

[As You Wish masterlist]

Men. 

Can’t live with them, can’t…convince them not to go fishing on the day of their daughters’ Girl Scouts events. 

Eddie and Steve had promised you and Nancy that they would be home in time to take Eliza and Mia to the annual square dance. 

“We’ll get an early start,” they’d said, ignoring Eliza’s insistence that she won’t go with her father if he reeks of fish. He’d just laughed, kissed her cheek, and reiterated that he would shower before the dance. 

Maybe you’re naive for believing him. And yet, when the phone rang and Eddie’s sheepish voice explains that Steve’s car broke down—codeword for ‘we ran out of gas’—you’re wholly unsurprised. 

“I always made fun of Wayne for fishing.” Eddie muses, the payphone crackling as he exhales. “Called it an old man activity. This is what I get.”

You grit your teeth, hand clenched in a fist. “Just…get home,” you hiss, hanging up the receiver and massaging your temples. 

Who could have ever foreseen such an outcome?

While you’re stewing over the men’s incompetence, Mia remains levelheaded—just like her mother—and proposes a solution. “What if Luke and Ryan take us?”

Her suggestion is almost certainly rooted in her crush on your younger son, but it proves to be a worthwhile idea, nonetheless. Eliza’s face lights up, and before you know it, your five-year-old is dragging her brothers from their room. 

“Please?” She pouts sweetly, batting her doe eyes up at them. “Daddy and Uncle Steve can’t make it, and we can’t go all alone.” She lays it on thick, knowing full well she doesn’t have to—the boys would do just about anything for her. 

Ryan and Luke raid Eddie’s dresser drawers for flannels, finding the ones that he had nabbed from Wayne’s trailer. The girls don cowgirl hats, excitedly giggling as they climb into the back of the minivan. It’s still strange for you to see Ryan behind the wheel, but your heart swells with pride as you watch him double-check Eliza’s booster seat before pulling out of the driveway. 

At seventeen years old, Eddie Munson spent his Saturday nights selling cheap weed at high school parties—many of them, ironically, thrown by “King” Steve Harrington. 

At seventeen years old, Ryan Munson is spending his Saturday night taking his little sister and her best friend to the Girl Scouts square dance. 

“Everyone buckled?” He calls back, already knowing that they are. Still, he waits until he receives a chorus of yeses before he drives off. 

Luke turns around from the passenger seat. “Now, do we have to make a perfect square?” He keeps a serious expression, much to Ryan’s amusement. “Like, what if it’s a bit oval-y? Do we get kicked out? Do you two get banished from the Girl Scouts?”

Eliza and Mia are both used to his nonsense, and they burst into a fit of giggles. Ryan cracks a smile of his own, eyes trained on the road. 

Precious cargo and all that. 

When they arrive at the old VFW hall, the girls immediately pull them over to their group of friends. It’s a sea of young girls and their dads—and some moms—but nary a big brother in sight except for the two Munson boys. 

Ryan barely has time to feel out of place. The emcee, a middle-aged woman with bright pink lipstick and a too-wide smile, grabs the mic. 

“Welcome to our Father-Daughter Square Dance!” The room erupts into applause, quieting down only to hear about how this fundraiser supports the Girl Scouts of Indiana. The scouts repeat their pledge, which is met with more cheers, and then a western tune bleats over the old sound system. 

Eliza grabs Ryan’s hand as the emcee calls out instructions. Mia is a bit shyer with Luke, but they still manage all of the steps without stomping on the other’s toes. 

“Liza, I’m sorry Dad couldn’t make it,” Ryan says between songs. 

Eliza gives him a small smile. “That’s okay. It’s kinda cooler to bring my big brother.”

He grins. Just wait until his dad hears that. 

As everyone is getting into position for the next dance, a new song comes on that has more banjo than Luke has ever heard in his life. 

“Oh, yeah. We’re definitely in Indiana,” he says.

Mia chuckles as she peeks up at Luke from beneath the brim of her straw cowgirl hat. A blue ribbon on one of her red pigtail braids is loose so Luke reaches down to fix it for the little girl. Mia’s freckled face blooms as red as her hair. Luke pretends not to notice, not wanting to embarrass her. The big crush on Luke became obvious when she was three, and now at ten, it’s still hanging around. The fifteen-year-old Munson boy thinks it’s flattering and only ever teases her if she starts it first. 

“Ready?” Luke asks, offering Mia his hand.

“Ready!”

“But I didn't realize any of this until I was standing alone. In a barn... wife-less. Now, you can imagine my disappointment when it suddenly dawned on me that the woman I love is about to be kicked out of the country. So, Margaret. Marry me. Because I'd like to date you.”

Both you and Nancy hold your wine glasses, neither moving a muscle as you watch Ryan Reynolds catch up to Sandra Bullock in a New York City office building. An empty pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream sits between you on the couch, two green-smudged silver spoons resting inside. 

With the men out fishing, Ryan and Luke out with the two girls, and Natalie watching the rest of the kids over at the Harrington house, your place became the ultimate Mom’s Night In for you and Nancy. A chance to drink a little, gossip a little, have some snacks and watch some romcoms. 

Your peace has finally come to an end, however, when the front door bursts open and two men who reek of murky water, bug spray, and gasoline come barging in. 

“Jesus, Steve,” Nancy says, face pinching up at the foul odor wafting from your husbands. 

You wave a hand in front of your face as if that will make the smell dissipate any faster. 

“How were the fish?” you ask, turning your head away to give your nostrils a fighting chance.

“We caught a grand total of zero,” Steve says with a sigh, his black fishing boots looking comically misplaced on him. Neither of the men look natural in fishing gear. But when a guy from work offered Eddie the use of his boat for the day, he found he couldn’t turn it down. 

“Did you bring the fishing poles?” Nancy asks, sarcasm lining the amusement on her face.

Both men give her an annoyed side eye before Eddie looks around and takes a step towards you.

“Where are the girls?” he asks. 

“Ryan and Luke took them to the dance,” you tell him. “They should be back soon.”

Steve grimaces and claps a heavy hand down on Eddie’s shoulder.

“Eliza’s gonna kill you.”

Eddie raises his eyebrows and spins to meet his friend’s eye.

“And Mia won’t kill you?”

Steve grins. “Not if she got to dance with Luke.” This is the only time the man has ever been thankful for Mia’s crush on the Munson teen. 

Front door still open from when the men barged in, Ryan, Luke, Eliza, and Mia walk inside, laughing and talking over one another. Ryan is giving Eliza a piggyback ride and Luke has Mia’s too-small cowgirl hat perched on top of his head. The moment Eliza’s wide brown eyes spot her father, she demands answers. 

“Daddy, where were you?”

Ryan gently lets her down and she stomps over in her beige cowgirl boots, stopping right in front of Eddie. 

“Liza, I’m so sorry,” Eddie pleads. “Our car broke down. We tried everything we could to get back in time—”

Tears build up in Eliza’s eyes and Eddie feels his heart constrict in his chest. It might as well be Eliza’s little fist squeezing it.

“You were s’post to go with me!”

Eddie sighs and runs a ringed, smelly hand over his face. “I know. And I promise I’ll go next time. But I’m glad you got to bring your brothers. 

“Did you have fun at least?” Steve asks from behind him. 

Mia nods emphatically and both you and Nancy have to bite your lips to keep from smiling. 

Eliza nods in agreement, although not as enthusiastically as her friend. “Yeah. And Ryan is a good dancer.”

Luke smirks, and if Eddie were looking at him, he’d see the devious glint in his eye. “Not as good as Dad, I’m sure.”

Loud snickers come from you, Nancy, and Steve. Eddie’s jaw drops open as he looks around the room. 

“I can dance!”

“Yeah, Dad?” Ryan asks.

“Yeah!”

“Lucky for you, we’re all right here to witness it,” Luke says with a shrug. 

Eddie scoffs and shakes his head. “There’s no music. And I don’t really think my Metallica is easy to groove to.”

“We’ve got my Billy Joel—” you start.

“Or my *NSYNC!” Mia adds. 

“No,” Eddie says. “Thank you girls, but no.”

Smirk only growing larger, Luke pats his father on the shoulder. “Lucky for you, we’ve got just what you need.”

Eddie raises an eyebrow as he watches his son take a CD out of a Target bag he was conveniently hiding behind his back. 

“How was fishing, by the way?” Luke asks as he wrestles with the plastic engulfing the case.

“Pointless,” Steve says.

“Your uncle didn’t bring enough bait,” Eddie added. Steve is about to refute but Luke speaks before he gets the chance.

“But you would have, Dad? Does that make you a master baiter?” 

Ryan is the only one who is unable to contain his laughter. The joke goes over the girls’ heads, but you give your son a soft glare anyway. Never mind that you found it hilarious, just as you know the other adults did as well, but sometimes you’ve got to be the parent. 

Luke shrugs it off and pops the finally-freed CD into the stereo and the sound of a bow sawing over fiddle strings fills the room. Your second-oldest nods his head to Eliza.

“Go ahead, Lize. Show the old man how it’s done.”

“There’s not enough room to square dance in here,” Eddie says.

Without even so much as glancing at one another, you and Nancy get off of the couch and push it back, making plenty more space in the living room. The two of you smirk at one another and Nancy crosses her arms over her chest.

“Y’know, I don’t think it’s fair that you guys get to reap the benefits of your daughters being Girl Scouts without putting in the work.”

A grin grows on your face as you see where Nancy is going with this. 

“Yeah,” you agree, “maybe you don’t need more Samoas this year.”

Eddie’s face falls, and he looks at Steve, who shrugs in defeat. Gotta hit the guys where it hurts: food. 

“All right, show us the moves,” Steve says.

Mia grins, a bounce in her step as she takes Eliza’s smaller hand and walks to the middle of the floor. “Okay, me and Liza will be partners. Just watch us.”

Steve furrows his eyebrows and looks between the two girls, one with now-messy twin red braids, and the other with a light brown cowgirl hat atop two curly pigtails. 

“Wait, if you two are dancing together, who are Eddie and I dancing with?” he asks. 

Eliza giggles. “Each other.”

“Nope,” Eddie replies. “No way.”

With an over dramatic sigh, you shrug your shoulders at your husband. “No dancing, no Samoas.”

“Damn those little coconut fuckers,” Eddie mumbles under his breath. “All right, big boy. But I get to be the guy.”

“Sure, we’ll play pretend,” Steve quips back. It’ll be a miracle if they both make it through the first dance alive.

Eliza and Mia begin to go through the motions, showing their fathers what to do. Everyone is laughing as they do-si-do and hook arms to swing each other around. 

“Did I earn my cookies yet?” Eddie asks once the next song ends.

“That’s up to your daughter,” you tell him with a shrug. 

Eddie looks at Eliza expectantly, the big puppy dog eyes that he passed down to her working their magic. 

“Almost, Daddy. You gotta dance with me first.”

“Now that, I can do.”

[nicohischierz]

reunion for the books: john marino

tagging: @ivy-34, @francesfarhadi, @hzstry8, @cixrosie, @itsnotgray, @estapa94, @trevs-swiftie, @heartz4hischif you want to join the taglist let me know!!

“johnny, i can’t just stay with you,” you reiterated

your boyfriend grumbled on the phone and pouted. you chuckled at his expression and answered your brothers text.

“it’s not like you live in a different apartment building johnny. you guys live on the same floor for goodness sake,” you teased him.

john grumbled a bit more before being called by your youngest brother.

you arrived to new jersey the morning of the devils game against the rangers. jack and luke had driven you from the airport and you caught up with them before they went to the rink.

john saw you as you bid goodbye to your brothers. he smiled and waved, a light blush coating his cheeks as you blew him a kiss.

you too made your way to madison square garden for the game. you adorned a hughes jersey accompanied with a necklace from your boyfriend.

john had thrown you a puck during warm ups under the pretence that you were a fan. your brothers waved and luke continued stick handling beside your boyfriend.

the game hadn’t even lasted a minute before the first fight broke out.

john wasn’t much of a fighter.

and this was proven when he went to fight the rangers player. sure, john held his own for a bit but he went down easily.

your spot next to the penalty box proved useful as you looked at john unimpressed. johnny smiled at you before conversing with his teammates.

they didn’t stay long in the box before they were ejected from the game.

you enjoyed the rest of the game despite the devils loss.

jack had texted you earlier to meet him and luke at the away changing rooms so you walked around like a headless chicken trying to find your way.

you’d finally found the changing room and waited off to a side when john walked out. he grinned and ran over to you, picking you up from the ground.

“oh i’ve missed you so much,” he murmured in your ear.

the second he put you back down, you brought him in for a kiss. however, it was short lived as you heard chatter coming your way.

instead you opted to change your position to a hug. “leave your door open and i’ll be there as soon as my brothers are asleep,” you whispered pulled away.

john gulped hard before turning to his teammates that filled the hallway. jack and luke had trailed behind and hadn’t spotted the two friends reuniting.

that was until dawson opened his mouth “hey, you’re hughesy’s sister!” he pointed out.

luke then pushed past his teammates towards his sister but stopped in front of her and john.

“you two know each other?” he questioned.

you nodded and moved away from john to your younger brother. “oh lukey, you need to stop growing up!” you exclaimed.

jack came up behind the two of you and hugged you in greeting. “how do you know john?” he asked.

“well we went to harvard together and we happened to be in the same class. also because i did some work with the team,” you explained.

the boys let it slide and informed you that john, nico and dawson were coming to their apartment to hang out a bit.

you smiled and nodded along.

the rest of the evening was spent with you sending longing looks to john and excusing yourselves to the kitchen whilst trying to remain under the radar.

“baby, i think we should tell them,” john announced.

you stopped pouring your glass and turned to your boyfriend. “you want to tell my brothers right now?” you asked.

john nodded. “we’ve been dating for three years, i want to be able to take you out on dates and not worry about your brothers finding us sneaking around,” he confessed.

you were about to agree with him when jack barged into the kitchen. “you’ve been saying for three years!”

luke and the rest of the guys followed after. dawson handing the captain some money as he grumbled about his luck.

“i thought quinn was crazy when he said he thought you had a boyfriend!” jack rambled.

“but then when you kept going for our games in boston and penguins games we thought it was cause of your crush on crosby,”

john laughed at the last part, watching as your cheeks turned red. you promptly elbowed your boyfriend “i was like eight,”

john kissed the top of your head and smiled at your brothers.

luke narrowed his eyes at you and john before widening them.

“wait a minute. when duker and i called you last year and he saw someone’s head was that john?” he asked.

the two of you looked at each other and blushed.

“eww,” the two hughes brothers gagged.

john wrapped his arm around your waist and kissed your cheek. “now if you’ll excuse me, my girlfriend and i haven’t seen each other in months,” john excused.

[luvhughes43]

set up | luke hughes x zegras!sister

zegras!sister masterlist

request: for luke and zegras sister what if when they don’t officially tell everyone there together yet but somehow they find out so to get them to tell they set up zegras sister on a fake date and luke gets all jealous and spills that there together 

word count: 0.7k

in the first fic everyone found out they were dating through insta but ! this is a cuter idea

“okay so what about dylan!” alex spoke enthusiastically to a group of your brothers friends. they didn't know you could hear them, but they were talking about setting you up with one of lukes friend. luke … your secret boyfriend. this was a mess ! all summer the guys were pestering you about a secret boyfriend and it was starting to annoy you.

“what are you guys talking about?” you rolled your eyes as you walked into the living room. all of the guys' heads snapped to you, clearly unaware that you had been listening in to their conversation. 

“they’re trying to set you up with someone” trevor sighed. to be honest, he didn't want you to date anyone. especially not one of luke's friends. 

you perched yourself on the edge of the couch and pretended to think about your action plan. you could go on a date with someone just so they’d leave you alone. 

before you had time to really delve into your thoughts though, luke walked into the room. 

“what are you guys doing?” luke asked as sat near you. 

“ohh just setting little z here on a date!” jack teased with a knowing look in his eyes. he couldn't wait to see lukes reaction. he had a feeling that luke and you were secretly hooking up for a while now but he wanted to see how serious it really was !

luke frowned as he turned to look at you.

“for the record, i'm fine with being single” you said and luke turned his head away from you. 

“dylan will be here at 6,” alex spoke as he looked up from his phone.

“dylan?” luke practically yelled as he turned to face you again. “there's no way!” 

“alex, I'm not going out with dylan!” your words were rushed as you attempted to get luke to stop talking. he was going to expose you guys to your brothers and everyone else if he didn't stop talking soon.

“well, if there’s someone else you’d rather go out with…” jack trailed off, watching his brothers reactions with anticipation.

“you can't go out with him!” luke started up again, his brows furrowed and his voice exasperated. 

“Luke, i’m not going out with dylan!” 

“why would that be such a problem luke? how about you go out with ethan instead y/n? I mean he's an attractive looking dude!” jack chuckles as he works his brother get worked up. 

“jack why don’t you just shut up and-”

“okay! guys, I'm not dating anybody!” your loud voice momentarily cuts through all of the boys' voices. 

“yeah she's not dating anybody!” trevor reiterated your words. 

“okay but what about-” jack started but luke cut him off. 

“Y/N AND I ARE DATING SO SHUT UP!” luke shouted and the room fell silent. 

“oh i knew it!” jack screamed as he jumped up from the couch. 

you looked around the room and caught your brothers eye. trevor looked confused, but he didn’t exactly look angry?

you closed your eyes and rested your head in your hands. 

“y/n… im so sorry,” your boyfriend quietly apologized to you. you waved him off. “It’s okay luke. now we don't have to hide?” 

you chanced another glance towards your brother who was still staring back at you. 

Im sorry, you mouthed to trevor. you weren’t really sure what you were apologizing for. maybe it was the fact that you hadn't told him, or the fact that you were dating his best friends brother. 

It’s okay, trevor mouthed back before he was pulled into a long winded conversation with jack. 

“this is great! and if they get married then we’ll be brothers and-” 

you turned towards luke, “do you want to go on a date?” 

luke looked around the room, everyone was still talking about them. “uh, yeah sounds good. I’ll go get my keys” 

you and luke tried to quietly sneak out of the house before anybody noticed. 

“HEY!” trevor shouted, “just because i know about you guys doesnt mean i like it!” 

“yeah sure!” you called back, dismissing trevor with the wave of your hand. “you love us and you know it!”

“nope!” 

“yes!”

“no way!”

“okay, we're leaving!” luke cut both of you off as he grabbed your hand and led you towards his car. now that everybody knew about the two of you, you couldn't wait to go on “official” dates.

[bloatedandalone04]

‘Til Morning Comes

➪the one where luke is late for work after spending the night in the sheets with you, but quickly discovers that his attendance is the least of his worries.

Warnings: age gap - luke is 30, you are 24, swearing, spoilers for vanishing on 7th street, mentions of smut

Word Count: 2k

Do not repost this anywhere, reblogs are fine ♡ | Happy Valentines Day, loves x

Luke didn’t usually need to set an alarm for himself to be able to make it to work on time, but you had kept him up for most of the previous night. 

It was your two year anniversary, after all. 

The sun seeped through the tall windows since he had failed to close the curtains before fucking you into the mattress for hours on end. You and he lived on the twenty third floor, so there was no need to be worried about someone peeking into your room. Unless they had a telescope, no one would be able to see the way you two got each other off all night long.

You were younger than him by six years, but had pretty much the same sex drive as him, leaving him to wonder why he had wasted three years of his life with Anna when he could’ve been with you the whole time. 

After he got divorced, he had shamelessly moved onto you a mere few months after being labeled a single man, and he wouldn’t change a single thing. Even if you did make him late for work sometimes. 

He threw the covers off of him before sitting up and glancing over at you, seeing that you were still sound asleep. He quietly made his way to the bathroom and brushed his teeth, noticing that the lights seem to have been turned off as the apartment remained dark with the exception of the sun shining through the windows. He looked at the ‘I LOVE U’ you had written on the mirror yesterday before he got home from work, a dumb grin on his lips at the display of affection.

Luke quickly got dressed before walking around to your side of the bed and kneeling down. He trailed his knuckles along your cheek as he leaned in and blew out the candles you lit last night, the soft caress not being enough to wake you up. “Baby,” he called out, smiling when he saw you slowly open your eyes and grin shyly up at him. 

“Hey,” you whispered as you stretched a bit and squinted at the brightness that came from the windows behind him.

“Hi,” he said back. “I’m going to work now.”

You smile again and push yourself up on your elbow to press a deep kiss to his mouth. “Okay,” you murmur, biting your lip once you pull away. Luke groaned at that, making you laugh softly as you arch your back. The shirt you wore, one that was his, lifted and exposed your stomach to him, and if he looked further down he would be able to see the love bites he had left on your inner thighs the night prior. “Have a good day, babe.”

Luke leaned in and gave you another noisy kiss before he stood up. “You too,” he said as he looked over at the windows. “Want me to close the curtains?”

You tug your pillow closer to you as you shake your head. “No, it’s alright,” you answer and pull the sheet up again. “I love you.”

He grabbed his phone and wallet from off his nightstand before smiling down at you. “I love you, too,” he said back. “I’ll see you later.”

Later came sooner than either of you expected as when he entered the lobby and saw that any trace of life had been wiped away, he checked outside before promptly making his way back up to you. 

You had just fallen back asleep when he entered the room again and gently shook you awake. “What?” You ask tiredly, blinking up at him as he sat down next to you. “Your segments done already? I thought you just left.”

“I did,” he said, making you give him a confused look. “Something’s wrong.”

That had you sitting up, a bit more alert now. “What?” You ask as you crawl over to him and brace your hands on his shoulders. “What’s wrong?” 

He shook his head, his face sporting a conflicted look as he kept eye contact with you. “I don’t know,” he rasped, taking your hands in his. “Something happened, I don’t know what. None of the lights are working, everything in the kitchen is turned off and I haven’t seen a single person today other than you….it’s just…I don’t know how to explain it.”

That had you getting out of bed quickly and throwing on a pair of black leggings before you were following Luke down the stairwell. You were a bit out of breath by the time you reached the ground floor, and when he led you outside, your eyes widened in disbelief. 

Cars were abandoned along the streets, and there was no sign of life on the sidewalks, with the exception of random articles of clothing scattered around. You blindly reached for his hand as you began to understand why he was having such a hard time trying to explain what was happening to you. “I don’t get it,” you whisper, looking over at him as if you were trying to make sure that he was really there. “Luke, what’s going on?” 

He wore an unreadable expression as his hand tightened around yours. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. He looked just as unnerved as you did, and it was quite the sight to see. Luke was a calm, cool and collected guy most of the time. To see him be so on edge had your whole body on high alert.

“What…” you trial off as your eyes burn with tears. “What are we going to do? Luke, where is everyone? What’s happening? What are we supposed to do-”

He quickly wraps his arms around you and pulls you against his chest. “It’s okay,” he caresses the back of your head and holds your body against his, trying to provide you with a least a little bit of comfort right now, even though he was terrified and had no answers to your questions. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not, I- Luke,” you cry and bury your face against his chest. 

Luke shakes his head and softly hushes you, hoping that you couldn’t hear or feel the way his heart was beating wildly right now. “It’s okay, baby, we’re okay,” he promised, kissing the top of your head as he looked over and saw jeans and a shirt that would fit a child no older than five. The harsh and scary reality quickly sets in and he holds you a bit tighter. “We’re gonna be fine, baby, I promise. We just need to stay together.”

You nod and bunch up his shirt in your fist as he guides you back into the apartment building to grab the bare necessities. After being chased by literal shadows, Luke figured out that the darkness is what causes people to disappear, and that as long as you had a light source on you, you’d be fine. 

Three days had passed and you hadn’t run into anyone. You were still so on edge while Luke remained the calmer one as he tried to grasp what he was supposed to do to protect you against something he still didn’t fully understand. 

His fingers were loosely tangled with yours as he guided you through the empty street, the pair of you trying to start any of the many abandoned cars. Any and all power had been shut off with the exception of a bar, and Luke quickly pulled you with him after finding a still working truck. 

You were running on a couple hours of sleep at this point, and your exhaustion definitely didn’t help you tune out the taunting shadows that followed you everywhere you went. 

Having Luke with you helped. You got to see a whole new side to him, one where he was on edge constantly and put your safety over his own. He was so protective over you, it probably would’ve turned you on if you weren’t so scared all the time. 

An hour or so passes since you entered the bar, and your duo became a group of five people, with one of them being a literal child. Rosemary was going to go help the man that was yelling from somewhere down the dark street, but Luke, the gentleman he usually never is, pushed you all back inside and went after the guy himself.

You tried to talk him out of it, tried to get him to stay with you, but he just kissed you quickly then took off. He brought the man back with him, and you saw that he was severely concussed while Luke was grunting in pain.

Rosemary tended to the new guy, Paul, while you wrapped Luke’s ankle in a scrap piece of fabric you found. “I need something to hold it in place,” you mumble, putting a small amount of pressure onto his ankle. 

“It’s fine, baby,” he grunted, straightening up as his ankle pulsed. “It’ll be fine.”

You went to protest when James walked over with a roll of duct tape. “Will this help?” He asked, looking between you and Luke.

“Perfect,” you say and take it from him with a grateful smile. “It’ll work perfectly.”

You tape the fabric while Luke gives James a quick nod as a way of saying thanks. James quickly walks away and helps Rosemary with Paul, and you pull down the leg of Luke’s jeans once you have the fabric in place. 

You avoid his eyes as you stare at the floor from your knelt position in front of him. Tears burned your waterline as the fear began to creep back into you, and Luke noticed it instantly. “Hey,” he called out to you, but you just shake your head and move away from him. “Hey, c’mere.”

He reaches out to you and takes your hand in his, pulling you up and tugging you towards him. He gently guides you to sit next to him on the bench, his arm wrapping around your shoulders once you are settled next to him. 

“Talk to me, baby,” he softly demanded, making you squeeze your eyes shut as you bunch up his jacket in your hand. “What’s wrong?” 

You look up at him through teary eyes and shrug, “I’m so scared, Luke,” you confess. “What’s going to happen to us? Are we just going to spend the rest of our lives hiding from the shadows? Will the days become shorter than they already are?”

Tired eyes met your own and Luke sighs as he kisses the top of your head. “I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said, using his free hand to brush your messy hair away from your forehead. “I wish I did, but I just don’t. I can promise you that as long as I’m here, you’ll be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“But what if something happens to you? I can’t do this without you, Luke,” you cry, burying your face against the side of his neck. “I can’t.”

“Hey,” he says again, cradling the back of your head and holding you against him as if you were the most fragile thing he’s ever touched. “Don’t think like that, okay? You’re just scaring yourself even more.”

“I can’t help it,” you mumble. “I want to be strong for you, Luke, but I don’t know if I can.”

Luke shakes his head and pulls you closer. “You are strong, baby,” he promised. “But you don’t need to be for me. You and I are going to be fine, I’ll make sure of it.”

You pull away from him and meet his eyes as you try to even out your breaths. You glance over at the other three with a weary expression. “But-”

“Nothing else matters,” he rasped. “It’s just you and me. It’s just us. You’re the most important person to me, and you always have been. You’re going to be okay, I promise.” 

You bite down on your lip to stop it from quivering as you nod. “Just us,” 

“Just us,” Luke confirmed, pressing a chaste kiss to your lips before allowing you to rest your head on his shoulder again. 

Truthfully, he was terrified and he had no fucking clue what to do or where to go next, but he did know that he would do whatever it takes to make sure that you’re safe, no matter the cost.

[richardgrimes]

HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN as Luke Reiter in Vanishing on 7th Street (2010)

[once-upon-an-animation]

Some thoughts on Annabeth’s Character Arc

Before I begin, just want to say sorry about not being online much. I’m in a very busy period of my life and haven’t had the mental capacity to address all the responses I’ve gotten on posts and such. Will do that in the future.

That being said, I still enjoy writing, so today, I’m going to write a post sharing my thoughts on Annabeth’s character arc in the original PJO series.

For context, someone posted on Reddit that TTC was their favourite book in the original series because of Annabeth’s absence. The comment resulted in a discussion about why people didn’t like Annabeth’s character. I shared the extremely unpopular opinion that Annabeth’s character peaked in Sea of Monsters for me, and I didn’t really love what was done with her character from TTC onwards. Here’s why:

In general:

• ⁠I feel like her perspective towards Luke lacked a lot of nuance. I’m fine with her not thinking he’s completely evil, but it would have been nice to see her also consider all the harmful things Luke had done before the incident with Silena in TLO. It just felt like her POV was sweeping a lot of those things under the rug even though I know that wasn’t necessarily the intent.

• ⁠The Perachel thing would have been fine if there was an on-page apology. But the fact that there is none and it seemingly took Rachel becoming the Oracle and not being allowed to date Percy for Annabeth to finally stop hating her seems like a missed opportunity to have Annabeth address her pride and the way she acts towards others.

• ⁠On that same note, I have mixed feelings about Annabeth’s overall character arc in PJO. While I feel like her relationships with other characters in the story changed over time, I don’t always feel like she truly changed as a person. I mean, she ended up being right about Luke in the end, so it’s not like she had any major motivation to shift her perspective of the world, change her way of thinking, or work on her personality flaws. Given that her fatal flaw is hubris, I would have loved to see a character arc where her pride gets her in deep trouble and she has to confront it head-on by actively learning humility in different ways. She did that well in the first two books, which is why she peaked for me as a character in SoM, but it feels like TTC lost the rhythm and never picked it back up. I would have liked to see her acknowledge being wrong about the way she treated Rachel, and walking away from the war with a different perspective on Luke other than just “I was right all along”. It would have also been nice to see more people actually call Annabeth out on her BS. Someone other than Percy should have said something to her about her behavior. I feel like Chiron could have done it in a “loving dad who wants the best for you” kind of way. Thalia could have also done it.

Or maybe Annabeth gets a visit from Athena after BoTL, where they talk about the quest, the battle, and the stuff on Daedalus’ laptop, but Athena also expresses disappointment in Annabeth for acting petty and not recognizing Rachel as a useful addition to the quest. Maybe Athena reiterates that she doesn’t approve of Percabeth’s friendship, especially because it seems like Annabeth is letting her feelings cloud her judgement. Annabeth’s arc could have been about learning what true wisdom is. Wisdom and knowledge aren’t the same thing, and wisdom is so much more than just knowing facts and battle plans. Wisdom is about maturity, exercising well-informed judgement, and recognizing the truth about things, including yourself. Humility is a huge aspect of gaining wisdom and I think it could have been a great arc for Annabeth, given her fatal flaw. Her overall arc in HoO could have been a continuation of this, especially with what happens in BoO with Piper in that temple.

• ⁠I don’t really like the way her arc with her dad was resolved. The way the story is written in TTC, it seems to imply that Annabeth was to blame for assuming the worst of her dad/stepmom (which I know was probably not the intent, but it has that vibe). I think there was a better way to acknowledge that Annabeth’s parents do in fact care about her, but didn’t do the best job of showing it when she really needed it and made her feel like she needed to run away.

• ⁠There are tiny things that Rick adds into the way he writes Annabeth that make Annabeth seem kind of inconsiderate, like all the little moments of aggression , the fact that she keeps teasing Percy about Rachel even after everyone else has moved on, or in Crown of Ptolemy where Percy said that he “has a healthy fear of Annabeth because she’s kicked his butt plenty of times” and doesn’t feel like he’s allowed to disagree with her. I know it’s mostly supposed to be amusing, but it’s a little uncomfortable to read at times. It sucks because Annabeth is obviously supposed to be a kind person and in many ways, she is, but these moments don’t always make her look nice.

Whew. Sorry that this was long.

I chalk much of my complaints with Annabeth up to not having much of her POV in the original series. Then again, even if Rick decides to delve deeper into Annabeth’s story in the Disney series, I feel like he’s just generally not that great at writing female characters, so I don’t know how much he’ll be able to improve this. In addition, it feels like Rick has generally been losing sight of his characters and they feel less and less like themselves with every addition to his franchise. I’m genuinely nervous for Chalice of the Gods because I don’t know what he’s going to do with Annabeth’s character and I don’t know how much I trust him, lol.

[ukelele-boy]

I was talking in discord about Hermes and Artemis and wanted to share it here as well.

I headcanon that Hermes at the end of toa is going into denial because he always believed gods do not change, as a sort of comfort to him failing to save Luke and the other mistakes he made. Seeing apollo be openly changed is making him doubt himself and he lashes out due to this. He doesn't want to believe apollo has changed, because that means gods were always capable of change and he no longer has his biggest defense for his actions.

he needs more character development and is a very interesting character to explore. Given how he contrasts apollo in many ways.

Mythologically he and apollo are close and I tend to borrow that as backstory when I think about them. I think between him and apollo there's a lot of stuff they haven't worked out. For two who claim to be best friends on paper, they haven't acted like it in a while.

There's probably a lot of unaddressed grudges (May castellan comes to mind immediately and that's only one from recent decades. There could be more going centuries back.)

On Artemis:

In TOA, its clear that Artemis still hasn't gotten over her delusions of Zeus and her own image of Apollo being a dramatic airhead (that apollo encouraged to protect her and himself..)

Apollo cannot be open with her because she would rebut him if he ever brings up this vulnerable topic and it would really hurt him. He just newly finally accepted the truth and her rebuttal or reiteration of past beliefs would be a terrible hit. But making her understand puts artemis in the same horrible shock apollo went through.

Hence they cannot bond properly because they always have to keep up walls around each other to sort of protect each other, in a messed up way.

Chronic: what do you think Artemis would think of Apollo's change post toa? I can't imagine her not being weirded out by it, since Apollo being loud and an idiot seems pretty baked into her perception of him

but toa altered his personality (the way she knew it at least) pretty fundamentally.

Me: I think this could work pretty well. To do initial bonding over this and then work out their misunderstandings about each other once they've gotten a degree of closeness back.

I have hope that this will encourage artemis to look at apollo through a new lense and be more open. Which is why I feel at the end of toa, they have more hope than ever before of actually understanding each other. They need to put in some work first though.

Someone once said artemis fatal flaw is righteousness and I've agreed ever since. ❤️‍🔥It also lines up nicely with mythology.

You can see her thinking her leaving Olympus and their fakeness for the hunt is her version of righteousness and she feels that she's on the right, hence she doesn't pause to examine things closely anymore. She's come to decisions about Apollo and the others. But this leaves nuances out and ended up hurting her and Apollo's relationship.

[hockybish]

a couple of more things about Lola and her injury and that night...

Jim and Ellen are in Vancouver for the game. They were not about to miss their eldest and youngest first head to head match in the big leagues.

So they were there to see their baby not bounce back like she normally does. They watched as the trainer crouched down to assess the damage done. And they definitely panicked when trainer's gloved fist shot up in the air indicating they were in need of more help and an ambulance.

"Jim" Ellen mumbled, eyes glued on her baby. She would have been frozen in her seat if it hadn't been for her husband practically pushing her out of it.

"Ellen go. She's going to need her mom." Jim Hughes instructed his wife. He gave her a quick squeeze, trying to let her know that it will be okay. "I'll be there when I can"

Ellen ran to entrance where the ambulance was as fast as she could hoping to make it before it left. The sight of Lola strapped to the back board, unable to move, her eyes bouncing from person to person nearly broke her heart.

"Mommy my head hurts." Lola incoherently slurred her words when her eyes landed on her mother.

"I know baby, I know" The mother held her daughter's hand momentarily while she was being loaded into the emergency vehicle.

The crowd roared, chanting her name in support for the injured Duck as she was being taken off. At some point Quinn found his legs, making his way to Lola. He tapped her boot with his gloved handed and followed behind them.

Mason wouldn't stop, his fingers had to be pried off the guy's black jersey. By the time he was stopped he had managed to break the guy's nose. He was being ejected from the game for the fight and his behavior.

"Did you accomplish what you wanted to?" another one of the Duck's medical staff, who wasn't attending to Lola, asked him while she was bandaging his bruised and cracked knuckles.

"No" His head twitched again. His anger was making the tics worse, but the were nothing he could do about that.

"They'll fine you, or worse suspend you for a couple of games" the staff member pinned the end of the wrap, finishing his care.

"I don't care"

Luke and Jack had won their game hours earlier and were out celebrating with teammates, they didn't see any part of the game at all. It wasn't until someone mentioned hearing about Lola that Jack had the thought to check the score.

By that time the game was over and the Canucks had won 3 to 1. Smugly Jack sent some text teasing Lola about the Ducks' loss. The message went unread by everyone aside from Luke who responded with a haha.

Jack was woken up sometime in the wee hours of the morning by a phone call from Quinn.

"She'll, she'll be fine, Jack. The doctors said she'll be fine. It's just a concussion." The oldest Hughes child started rattling off other things the doctors at the hospital had told them.

"What are you talking about Q?" Jack groggily said. He pulled his phone away from his ear taking not of time as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Clem, the hit."

"The what now?" Jack was now scrambling to get out of his bed. He burst into Luke's room not caring about his little brother's privacy for one second.

Luke hadn't been able to sleep since they got home. He didn't know if was the few beers he had that he wasn't supposed to or if it was the adrenaline from the win, but he found himself on his phone scrolling through highlights when he stumbled on Lola's hit.

"Oh my god" Luke showed Jack the video while he put Quinn on speaker. The oldest brother reiterated what he had said before. It was just a concussion, a bad one.

"I'm gonna kill him"

"Pretty sure McTavish already did"

"I'll do it again"

"No you wont"

"Try me"

"I want to see Bah." Luke insisted over one of the many video calls he had with his parents. He felt like a little kid when they couldn't get the one thing they wanted.

"Luke, she's resting. We need to let her be for now."

Out of the two middle kids, Luke was the more concern and scared one. Not to say that Jack wasn't disturbed by what happened. It's just Bah is his little sister, his best friend, his baby.

The last time he was this worried about Bah was when he was fifteen and she had run away because of Jack, but it wasn't Jack's fault this time. So he had to wait until December 5th before he could really do anything about it.

The Ducks were slated to return to Anaheim later that night, but Lola stayed in Vancouver. The doctors wanted to observe her for a couple of days before letting her go, making sure she didn't have a brain bleed or anything that would have presented itself later.

Thankfully nothing else happened and she returned to California a couple of days later.

"Mrs. Hughes, I can take care of her." Mason insisted.

"Mason please call me Ellen. Lola is my daughter, I have no problem doing this stuff." She had taken care of a whiny Quinn earlier in the year when he got his tonsils out, this was going to be nothing. "Plus who's gonna be with her when you leave for a trip?"

"Trevor and Jamie?"

"Do you really trust them to do that?"

"Honestly? No." The two laughed in mutual agreement. Ellen liked this kid, she could see why Lola did too.

Jamie and Trevor ended up staying with Lola for a couple of days when the Ducks have a small two game road trip and Ellen went back to Vancouver for the Devils/Canucks game.

Also Robbie did try and see her when she got back to Cali, but Mason was always there to deter him from actually seeing her. Until one road trip and Ellen let him in.