#making absolutely no attempt to stop her unless he knows she's doing something that would make her sad later)

[soulsxng]

This absolute menace (endearing) of a genius...

And this absolute menace (terrified) of a genius...

Made this fucked up lil' cinnamon roll (equal parts endeared and terrified)!

tagged by: @soraeia tagging: steal it and tag me!

[rboooks]

Child Support Part 2

Tim watched the other young heroes as they tried to look around the watch tower without seeming like they were. He's been here plenty of times, but the rest of the Teen Titans and a few of the Young Justice hasn't.

Much was due to the older heroes leaving the younger ones alone. Some not taking them seriously enough to welcome them at the big HQ as much as that made his blood boil.

They were taking the same risks. They were fighting the same good fights. Why was their age the main reason they weren't treated equally?

Some teenage heroes weren't part of a team per see, but they always answered when a call was sent. For example, Cass and Steph were present, speaking softly to Static Shock. Damian was standing next to Jon and his little friend Colin who was just getting into the swing of the hero business.

Bruce almost bit through his tongue when Damian told him Abuse would be joining Robin on parol, and he could do nothing to stop them. (Tim felt like he was watching Damian tell Bruce a paraphrased version of "But Daddy, I love him!" and it kept him smiling for weeks)

It was wild to see almost every young hero in one place. He doesn't think this happened since the last time Justice Leauge got mind controlled and almost destroyed the whole world.

"Any idea why we're here?" Kon asks to his right, lowering his shade to stare at the Outlaws. Jason's team stood to the side chatting iddly while cleaning over thier weapons.

Kon's always like their punk point of view, and he knows his best friend wants to go over there to talk to them. If it wasn't for the issue of the clone still being mad about what Jason did at the Teen Titans tower. Almost murder was hard to forgive for people outside the Bats.

"None. All I know is that John Constantine sent out a message to every teenage superhero group calling for a meet-up," Tim responds.

Bart whistles with a grimace on his right. "Must be bad if that guy is asking."

"I heard Hawkwoman tell Superman that she was worried and wasn't sure she wanted anyone of us mixed up in Constantine's mistakes." Cassie chimes in from where she leans on the couch. The three turn to her as she lowers her voice, attempting to keep the others from hearing. "Batman told her off for it."

"Batman did?" Tim asks, surprised.

Cassie shrugs, throwing a bit of her blond hair over her shoulder. "As much Batman can emote anyway."

Yeah, that sounded about right. Though it must have been something Bruce found disrespectful. His dad usually never reprimanded strangers unless they were saying something or doing something that sounded far too much like bigotry to him.

But to apply that to Constantine? Someone, Bruce generally disliked communicating with because the man tended to backstab his contacts? Yes, Constantine wasn't evil, but he wasn't pleasant either.

If Bruce had magical issues, he tended to contact Zatanna first.

Just then, the watch tower's zeta beams activate. Everyone who gathered turns to the teleporting pads where Constantine appears looking, for lack of a better word, absolutely exhausted. Even Tim knows that his eye bags aren't that bad, and he's usually going hours without sleep.

"Oh good, you all made it," Constantine says, sipping from a mug and wearing nothing but sweatpants and what looks like a nightgown. His signature trench coat was nowhere in sight. "I'm going to be quick about this. I need a team of young heroes willing to accept my son into their fold."

The room is dead silent. Constantine sighs. "Look, I've tried everything, but it's like Danny is allergic to laying low. He fought with a demon the other day over a child's doll- which you all know happens. People get haunted! But Danny refused to do it the right way, and now I had to beat off the demon's marriage proposal at least ten times. Not to mention his lack of social skills! No matter which one I stick him in, he can't seem to make friends in school. He got shoved into a locker on his first day! I thought that was an American exaggeration of the telly!"

Constantine pauses and takes a large gulp of whatever he's drinking before continuing his rant. A hand runs through his already messy hair, leaving it in bigger disarray as he speaks. "He's behind in terms of trends and technology cause his other father raised him outside of the typical timelines, so sometimes it's like talking to someone from the early two thousand, and other times it's like he's a modern Victorian era lad. His powers are also all over the place because the ectoplasm in our world is thicker, so when he breathes it in, he losses his control. Just the other day he accidentally made himself fly through our ceiling and almost reach the atmosphere before I was able to bring him back down."

A few of the fliers in the room wince. Jon nods and whispers under his breath, though his voice carries in the silence. "Yeah, been there before. Flying can be scary if you don't know how to come down."

Johns glances around at all the young people, eyes showing a tad bit of desperation. "He's sad all the time now, and I don't know how to help. If working with you could help him make friends, I would be grateful. He's a great kid. He just needs to adjust."

Tim had no idea what to do with this information; how do you respond to arguably one of the strongest Justice League Darks' heroes asking for a play date for his son?

"How old is the child?" Damian's voice rings out. Colin's hand is attached to his sleeve, a slightly nervous smile on the boy's face as he attempts to hide from the staring heroes behind his brother. Tim bets that if he wasn't wearing the domino mask, they would be able to see slight tears in Colin's eyes.

Damian's other hand goes across his body to cover Colin's hand, and Tim fights a shit-eating grin. His eyes lock with Jason, and the two send each other knowing grins. Looks like Bruce did have to worry about Damian having a secret boyfriend.

He can't wait to tease Damian later.

"He's fourteen....or well, physically?" Constantine answers eagerly.

"What does that mean?" Kon asks this time.

"Okay, so he's half human, half ecto-being. He sired him with his other father, Clockwork, which was only four years ago in this dimension, but since he was raised in the Infinite Relemas, times move differently there? " The British man says, and Raven goes rigid.

"Clockwork, as in the most powerful Ancient?" She asks, looking horror-struck when Constantine nods.

Before anyone asked what that meant, the zeta tubes activated again without permission. Someone had hacked into their systems which were ten levels bad. Everyone naturally fell into a fighting stance, only to blink when a teenage boy stepped out with a loud excited screech.

"We're in space!" The teenager runs to one of the windows, pressing his hands and face up against the glass. "This is amazing!"

Tim only relaxes his muscles once Constantine clears his throat. "Chum...what are you doing here?"

"Oh. One of your curse rocks things started proposing to me again, so I ran out of the House of Mysteries. Thought I see what you were up to." The teenager says, turning around with a smile and utterly freezing at the sight of the gathered heroes.

He had dark hair, wide blue eyes, and the most adorable face Tim had ever seen. Not as sexy as Bernard, of course, but darn close. Judging by the looks of anyone attractive to males, most heroes thought the same.

"Um...hi?" He says, offering the Godsmack teenagers a helpless little shrug. "I'm Danny Constantine."

"It is a pleasure, Constantine." Damian marches over to him with all his little twelve-year-old authority. He barely reaches Danny's chest. "I shall look forward to working with you. Are you formally trained in combat or strictly magic?"

"Um...oh, I can throw a punch or two? I'm mostly self taught. I rely on my powers a lot?" Danny fumbles to answer throwing a desperate look at his presumed father.

"No matter. I shall have you begin training. My Beloved also needs to work on his form. There is no shame in this" Damian nods, and Constantine lets out a large sigh of relief. He jogs over to place a hand on his son's shoulder, giving him a one-sided hug

"Yes, Danny, you will join Robin, Superboy, and Abuse on missions. They agree to help you settle and get used to your ghost powers." Constantine smiles. "I'll give me time to discourage all those idiots from trying to trick you into marriage."

"Oh...okay. It's nice to meet you all. Please call me Phantom on the field. Um, are you the team leader?" He asks Damian as the three youngest boys lead him further into the watch tower.

Constantine watches them go with the brightest smile he's ever seen on the man's face. He looks back to the group, who were barely starting to pick their jaws off the floor and makes a shooing motion with his hand. "You lot are dismissed."

Then the man vanishes in a green portal.

There is a ringing silence until Barts blurts out. "I'm pretty sure this is where the Phantom Fan Club first formed. A historical moment."

Tim wants to take a nap.

( Part 1 )

[joelslastofus]

[SUMMARY: Joel sleeps with Marlene’s daughter and leaves without saying a word to her only for her to find out she’s pregnant a month later.]

You froze at the doorway as Joel looked in your direction and instantly noticed your visible baby bump. His jaw clenching as he thought about the last time he saw you..

Smut unprotected sex angst

Everyday felt like a strict rule book you had to follow. Chore after chore, rule after rule, your mother Marlene didn’t play any games and you sure as hell didn’t get a special pass just because you were her daughter.

If anything she expected the most from you.

You hated it.

Today was a little bit easier, she had left to do God knows what. All you cared about was that you finally had a break from her.

Sitting in a room by yourself organizing extra food that was found and placing them in boxes you were startled when Joel Miller practically ran into the room a sweaty mess.

“Where is she?!”

It wasn’t often when you would see Joel but you’d be lying if you didn’t enjoy the times you did.

“My mom? She’s not here, are you ok?” You walked around the table towards him to see there was blood on his shirt. Something was obviously wrong, Joel wasn’t expected back for another few days.

“I’m fine” he responded in frustration.

“You’re bleeding” he looked down at where you looked and noticed he had been cut down his forearm.

“It’s nothin-“

“Let me take a look” you insisted. He watched as you gently lifted up his arm taking a better look at his wound.

“Where’s your mother?”

“She should be back any minute” you reached over for the first aid kit.

“That ain’t gonna be necessary darlin’ I’m in a rush”

“It is absolutely necessary unless you want an infection” you proceeded to clean up his wound as your mother walked in.

“The hell are you doing back so soon?” She instantly raised a brow watching as you wrapped up his wrist.

“You, you sent me to the wrong place. Ain’t no damn car where I went to-“

“Can’t be” she responded confused pulling out a map she had in her back pocket to go over the route.

“Shit” she whispered realizing she indeed did send Joel the wrong route.

“Okay, all done” you pulled his sleeve back down as he looked down at you and gave you a nod.

“This has to be it” Marlene circled an area with a marker.

“Ya sure, I ain’t got time to be playin’ games. It’s either there or it ain’t” Joel responded clearly frustrated making you look down. Your mother never responded too well with someone speaking down to her. Marlene snatched the map off the table and turned to Joel slamming the paper to his chest.

“I’m sure” she spoke with a threatening tone.

“Mom-“ you whispered before she turned back to you with a threatening glare.

“Y/n don’t you have more things to do than to patch up a cut. Let’s go, things aren’t gonna get done themselves.” Joel watched as you silently nodded. Just as you attempted to walk past them your mother stopped you by your arm.

“You don’t stop working unless I say, you understand?”

“She was just helpin’ me” Joel attempted to defend you. No one had ever attempted to stand up against your mother.

“She is my daughter and she does as I say” she responded without bothering to look back at him. Silently you nodded and left the room.

You hated how controlling your mother could be, you hated what little freedom you had. She treated you like you were twelve although you were twenty-one. She never had respect for your ideas or opinions and simply looked at you as another worker.

Working in another room you carried heavy boxes to the top shelf, you hadn’t noticed Joel stood in the doorway. Making sure your mother was nowhere near he looked back before stepping inside.

“Thanks for before” you gasped at the sudden sound of his voice before turning to him.

“Oh. It was nothing” you smiled at him as you picked up another box from the floor, this one seemed much heavier. Tip toeing to place it on the shelf Joel unexpectedly grabbed the box standing behind you and put it on the shelf you were attempting to reach.

“Thank you” you turned back to see him grabbing the last two boxes making you quickly look to see if your mother was around.

“Um, it’s ok. I can get those” you assured him.

“What she gonna do? Stop me from helpin’ ya?” He placed each box in its place as you silently watched.

“Thank you, Joel” you smiled as he turned to you.

“Listen, I know it ain’t none of my business but I’ve seen you around long enough to see enough of it. She’s your mother but that don’t give her the right to down talk you like that, honey. It ain’t right” you nodded looking down.

“I know but I have no choice but to deal with it now” you shrugged.

“It’s fine, I’m used to it at this point”

Joel pressed his lips together before silently placing his hand on your shoulder and leaving the room. You watched as he walked out wondering if you’d ever see him again. You knew how much Joel couldn’t stand being there, only came by because he knew it was his only chance to getting a car that would lead him to his brother.

Going on about your regular routine as days went by you continued your work when you heard a man tell your mother Joel had returned and this time with his brother, Tommy.

You smiled with happiness for him, he must’ve been so relieved to find his brother, you wondered what made him come back.

A little while later your mother returned, she remained silent as she wrote something in a book. Curiosity killing you to know why Joel had returned, you hesitantly looked up at her before deciding to speak.

“Joel’s back?”

“Mhm” her tone had a hint of frustration.

“Did he leave already?”

“Unfortunately he won’t until tomorrow”

“But he found his brother, so that’s good news isn’t it?” She looked up at you with a raised brow.

“You know we don’t trust the Millers. Not here”

“Yes but-“

“But nothing- he’s staying until the morning and that’s it. As a matter of fact take them that small box of supplies. Leave it at there door, they are next to Leo’s room” she explained before looking back down at her book. Doing as she said you grabbed the box and made your way to their room.

The door was closed when you arrived, quietly you placed the box in front of their door when suddenly someone opened it. Looking up you looked directly at Joel unexpectedly.

“Hi” you quickly stood up.

“My mom wanted me to leave this for you”

“God that woman is such a bitch, I’d rather be without the damn car and out in the night if it meant I didn’t have to be stuck with her” you heard another man’s voice in the background as he appeared beside Joel.

“This is Tommy” he looked at his brother as he took a deep breath.

“Sorry” Tommy apologized not realizing anyone was around.

“It’s fine, I know how my mother is. Well, this is for the both of you. If you need anything, you know where to find me” you looked at Joel with a polite smile before walking off.

“Sheesh, maybe staying here won’t be too bad after all” Tommy whispered watching you walk as he stood beside Joel who quickly shut the door.

“Damn man, could’ve left it open a little bit longer-“

“Don’t” Joel narrowed his eyes on him.

“What?” Tommy asked before an expression of realization came to him.

“Oh you like her?” Joel quickly turned with irritation ignoring his brother’s question.

“You do, don’t you? Ohhh man and you say I’m always after the younger ones huh” Tommy laughed as Joel opened the box continuing to ignore him.

“Shut up and get some damn sleep” he mumbled under his breath.

After a few hours, Joel was laying down staring at the ceiling. His brother across from him asleep when he heard something just outside his door.

When Joel opened the door he was surprised to find you walking down the hall, he furrowed his brows realizing you were wiping away tears.

“You alright?”

Joel’s voice startling you, you quickly stood up straight and wiped away any other evidence of tears.

“Yes, I’m sorry if I woke you-“

“Ya didn’t” he began to walk towards you.

“Everything ok?” He asked once more.

“Yeah-“ you chuckled slightly embarrassed.

“It’s just, your brother is right, my mother really can be such a bitch-“

“Somethin’ happen?”

“No, just every day usual things.” You sighed.

“I never get a chance to just let it out and I didn’t want her to find me in my room like this so-“ you waved your hands up as you looked up at him. That’s when you noticed the way he was looking at you, intrigued by the way you moved your lips. The look he had making you feel butterflies in your stomach. Why the hell did you have to find Joel attractive of all men?

“For what’s it worth, you’re doin’ a great job here” his response only pulling you to like him more. Maybe it was you being caught up in your emotions, maybe it was your loneliness, but suddenly you did the unthinkable. Grabbing Joel by his shirt you pulled him towards you, you tip toed and planted your lips delicately on his.

Caught off guard, his hands still immediately took hold of your waist before you quickly pulled away.

“I’m sorry-“ you whispered as he looked at your lips in a daze. Too distracted by your embarrassment you brushed your hand through your hair as you took a step back.

“I shouldn’t have done that” you whispered, the man was old enough to be your father, what the hell were you thinking? He didn’t hear your apology, it was as if you had awoken an animal in him and he abruptly pulled you back against him. His tongue pushing through your lips and moving along with yours, you moaned softly against him when you heard a door open. Quickly he pulled you into his room and closed the door. Joel continued kissing you until you felt yourself run into his bed.

It was dark in the room but you knew his brother was there, the thought making you nervous as you pulled your lips away.

“What’s wrong?” he whispered.

“Your brother”

“He’s a heavy sleeper” he kissed your cheek softly, kisses leading down to your neck quickly distracting any thoughts you had. Rolling your eyes back you brushed your fingers through his thick hair feeling him push your pants down. Unbuttoning his shirt you threw his flannel to the side as he quickly pulled his under shirt over his head. Taking your hand he placed it on his bare chest. The tingly sensation you felt in your stomach traveling down to your womanhood was something you had never felt before…not this way at least.

Joel kissed you as he lifted you up on to the bed. Laying yourself back you felt him crawl over you and gently kiss you over your shirt till he reached your collar bone.

“What if-“

“Shh” he whispered as you heard the sound of him unzipping his pants before he placed himself between your legs and pressed himself against your opening. Your lips parting as your hand found his face and brushed along his facial hair. This was the same man you had seen come by for the past two years, the same man who would steal subtle glances at you whenever he could without you realizing. And now he was on top of you, feeling how ready you were for him. Joel eased his way inside you slowly as you felt his body press against yours.

“Oh my god” you whispered.

Never had you had sex with a man without a condom before. The feel of his bare cock thrusting inside you was something new and you didn’t want it to stop. The silhouette of his body above you as he took your legs and placed them on his shoulders. His arms holding him up as he slammed himself into you, grunting loud enough for you to hear. You moaned grabbing onto whatever part of him you could hold as he pushed deeper making sure you felt every inch.

“Joel-“ you whimpered

“Get on top of me” he whispered against your ear. Without giving you a chance to respond Joel let your legs loose and flipped you over. You gasped, your hands falling onto his chest as you felt him prop his legs up. Slowly you began to ride him, his breathing was heavy and deep as you found your rhythm.

“Atta girl” he whispered out of breath. You bounced on him as a moan escaped your lips louder than you meant it to. The sound you made making him grab your hips and ride him harder. The bed squeaking as you both moved as one when he cursed at himself and held himself still.

“Get up-get up-“ his body tensed up as you felt him quickly pull you up with one arm while relieving himself with his free hand.

“Ahh-“ his cum poured out of him by your thighs as he struggled to remain as quiet as he could. Your hand brushing up his chest only sent more shock waves through his body. Joel fell flat back on the bed as you slowly lay beside him. He lay with his eyes closed when he felt you get up from the bed.

“Where ya goin’?” He sat up facing you.

“I can’t stay here” you whispered as you quickly looked for your clothes.

“I’ll see you tomorrow” you assured him as you dressed yourself when Tommy began to groan in his sleep, you quickly kissed Joel and ran out of the room.

Your heart pounding hard in your chest as you tried to look as normal as you could walking down the hall. You couldn’t believe what had just happened. Sleeping with Joel Miller wasn’t something you ever thought would actually happen. Lost in your thoughts you hadn’t noticed your mother walking in your direction down the hall, until she stopped you.

“Where have you been at this time of the night?” She placed her hands on her hips looking down at you.

“I um- I was just making sure all exits were covered. Couldn’t sleep” she looked at you strangely noticing how sweaty you were but didn’t say a word. Silently she nodded her head and walked past you.

Joel sat at the edge of his bed half dressed. Leaning forward he brushed his hand over his face thinking about what he had just done. He knew it wasn’t a smart move, he knew it was best for him to leave in the morning without seeing you, without speaking a word of it although he knew damn well he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

He couldn’t stop thinking about you.

The next morning you woke up eager to see Joel. You knew he was leaving but still you wanted to see him before he left.

Early in the day your mother caught you walking down the hall and stopped you as she usually did to go over the days work.

“I need you to count how many antibiotics we have and organize them.”

“Ok, no problem” you nodded.

“Oh and make sure the Millers didn’t leave anything behind-“ her words making your heart drop.

“What do you mean?” You asked with a puzzled expression.

“Check the room they stayed in, make sure it’s clear”

“They left?” You asked with a little more emotion in your tone than you meant to.

“Mhm, earlier than I expected them to. Get to work, I have a few things to take care of” your mother walked off as you stood there with an ache in your chest you weren’t familiar with.

You felt gutted.

Sure, you knew nothing would come from what happened, yet still you didn’t expect him to take off the way he did.

Organizing the room as your mother asked, you looked at the bed Joel and you had sex on.

You found yourself feeling angry at his sudden absence. Anger that he never said a word.

“Are you finished?” Victor, your mother’s current boy toy stood at the door distracting you from your thoughts.

“Uh yes, I’ll be right there.”

Days turned to weeks and Joel had never returned, not that you really expected him to. He only came by when he and your mother needed to work together on something that would work for them equally.

It had been four days now and you found yourself still with a horrible stomach virus. Throwing up at the most random times of the day, you could barely keep anything down.

All you could do was stay in bed.

“Get up” your mother abruptly walked in pulling the covers off you.

“Mom, I really can’t. I know I’ve been in bed for a few days but I’m so dizzy and-“

“Have you gotten your period?” She asked with a raised brow.

“What? Of course I have-“

“When?”

“It was um- a little over 3 weeks ago” you sat up realizing you couldn’t really remember.

“Get up. Now”

“What are we doing?” You asked as you slowly stood up.

“You’re going to take a pregnancy test”

You sighed rubbing your forehead.

“I really don’t think that’s necessary-“

“Let’s go” she responded in a threatening tone.

Standing in the bathroom with your mother you stood anxiously waiting to look at the stick.

“Ok, times up” your mother crossed her arms patting her elbow nervously as she leaned forward and saw the clear positive sign.

“God dammit!” She yelled making you jump.

“It can’t be” you whispered.

“Who was it? Who the hell did you sleep with?!” Your mother cornered you as you panicked backing into the wall.

“How could you be so stupid?!”

“Mom I-“

“I don’t want to hear it.” She walked out slamming the door shut, leaving you in tears.

Feeling completely alone and terrified you sat on the floor and cried..

Laying in bed you stared at the wall, here you were pregnant with Joel Millers child and you couldn’t even tell him. It was his fault you couldn’t tell him, never appearing again after he slept with you. How convenient that he suddenly no longer needed your mother. This only made you more angry, and ashamed. You regretted so deeply sleeping with him that night…

Five long, lonely months went by as your belly began to show. Your mother as cold as she could be towards you while she made you continue to work around the area. A young girl named Ellie had now joined where you lived, you didn’t know much about her other than the fact that your mother seemed very occupied with her. Your mother never knew this child belonged to Joel Miller and you didn’t want her to know.

Today was like any other day, you went over supplies, writing down inventory and what was needed. Finishing up writing in the book you finally closed it with a deep breath and went off to leave it with your mother.

“Mom, I finished writing the-“ just as you walked in you were met with the last thing you ever expected to see.

Joel Miller speaking with your mother.

You froze at the doorway as Joel looked in your direction and instantly noticed your visible baby bump. His jaw clenching as he thought about the last time he saw you.

“The what?” Your mother caught your attention making you look up at her.

“I finished writing all of our inventory…..may I lay down. I don’t feel too well” you asked your mother without looking at Joel yet you could feel his eyes burning into you.

“Go ahead” she responded as she took the book from you. Quickly you walked out as you felt your heart racing practically beating out of your chest.

Joel didn’t take his eyes off the doorway as you walked out. Your mother distracted going over the information you wrote in the book until she looked up and noticed Joel’s expression.

“I know, shocking isn’t it? Damn girl got pregnant and she doesn’t tell me who the hell knocked her up” Joel quickly turned to her as she laughed sarcastically.

“How far long is she?”

“About six months” Marlene sighed.

Joel gulped looking away, just around the

time he was last here.

“Marlene, they need you down the hall” Victor suddenly appeared at the door making Joel and her look up.

“What is it now?” Marlene walked out leaving Joel to himself. For a moment he stood wondering what his next move should be before he stepped out and looked behind him to see Marlene disappearing into the distance. Slowly he began to walk down the hall, checking each door as he passed when you unexpectedly walked out almost running into him. Softly you gasped before quickly walking away from him as he followed.

“Hey!” He called out to you as you walked faster, opening the door to your room you attempted to let yourself in and close the door shut but before you could, Joel blocked it with his boot.

“What do you want?” You whispered in clear frustration. Joel narrowed his eyes down to your belly then back to your eyes, he knew you were pissed that he left without saying a word.

He knew you were pissed that he suddenly wasn’t coming around as often as he used to.

“Im sorry that I left the way I did”

“You can keep your stupid apology” you snapped.

“Look I know you’re pissed” he leaned in towards you.

“And I know you’re scared, shit ya must’ve been terrified when you first found out and I’m sorry I wasn’t there-“ you chuckled sarcastically looking away.

“I didn’t need you there” you lied through your teeth. Joel tightened his lips together as he took a deep breath, he knew it wasn’t going to be easy trying to get through to you.

“Look, I’m gonna stay here now-“

“Oh no you’re not!”

“Oh yes I am” he took another step towards you.

“No,for what? To make my mother suspicious-“

“I won’t go near you, I’ll just make sure you’re alright. I ain’t leaving knowing you’re pregnant.” Hearing him say it only made it more real for you. You hated how persistent he was, the last thing you needed was your mother wondering why Joel was suddenly so concerned about you. How was he supposed to hide it? Would your mother even allow him to stay?

“My mother might not even want you here”

“Let me worry about that.” He seemed to always have an answer for something.

“How do you even know it’s yours?” Of course you knew it was his, he knew it was his. Yet, you tried to say anything to piss him off enough to leave. Joel stood silent, clearly he didn’t like even the thought of it.

“Why do you have to make this harder than it has to be-“

“Because I don’t need you here, I’ve gone six months perfectly fine without you knowing anything. Leave me alone” you slammed the door in his face holding in your tears. You were angry at him but part of you still wanted him to stay, you needed him to.

Joel walked out angrily towards Tommy who waited for him by the car.

“Change of plans” his words making Tommy raise a brow.

“What cha mean”

“I’m gonna stay here, you go back to Jackson and-“

“Stayin’ here? Why?” Tommy didn’t like the sound of it.

“I got some things I need to take care of-“ just as he spoke Marlene appeared behind him with her arms crossed.

“Where exactly are you staying?” She asked curiously.

“I want to stay here, I can help with whatever it is you need me to do. I won’t be trouble” Marlene squinted her eyes at him as she thought over his offer.

“You know, it might be good having a Miller here. Help keep these boys on track” Joel showed relief that she didn’t give him a problem to stay. Tommy couldn’t help but wonder what the hell would make his brother want to stay here.

A few hours later you came out to see Joel helping some of the guys move boxes from the truck. Your mother coming up beside you as you watched.

“Joel will be here for now, I don’t know what the hell made him want to stay but we could use his skill”

“I thought you didn’t trust him.” You responded softly.

“I don’t. I will keep a close eye on him” your mother walked off as you stood silently thinking how any of this would play out until Joel looked up directly at you. Quickly you turned away as he watched you walk inside.

Sitting in the room alone you could feel your baby kicking, tears rolling down your cheek as you thought about the reality of your situation. You had no idea the kind of man you were dealing with, Joel was going to make sure you and the baby would be taken care of properly even if it meant risking his life.

[yuyuzi-ling]

First post here, and I have read multiple platonic yandere batfam with a neglected reader fanfics so I decided to come up with my own plan.

I did not read any of the DC comics and have only relied on batfam fics, so don't have high expectations because this may not follow the canon plot. Characters may be OOC.

Relationships & Some Plot

I decided to make the reader the child of Selina and Bruce. Their ages are complicated so I just made Bruce's age 26 and Selina's 25 when they had their child. Dick was nine at the time that reader was born.

At first, Bruce was excited having a child he can finally raise and watch their firsts. So he tried his best to be there for her. But as time passed, he realized that raising a child from birth is difficult because of his duties. He was scared of what kind of person reader will become if they're raised by him. Especially with how interested reader was with heroes and vigilantes as they grew up. So he began to distance himself from reader until he finally became cold to them.

Just like his adoptive father, Dick was ecstatic to have a little sibling. He doted on them for their early years but eventually got busy. The two had nothing to share with their interests and hobbies. He's a vigilante, reader was a civilian. He may never say it, but he got bored and so tried to make up excuses to leave the reader in order to do something he likes with someone he likes.

Selina absolutely adored their child. She always supported them and might have spoiled them when they were a baby. Unlike the other two, she didn't change her views. She was even disappointed at the two for ever letting her child down. Unluckily, she wasn't able to take her child with her because she knows how safe the Manor is and doesn't want her child to become fatherless.

9 years passed and Bruce brought Jason to the Manor.

Being alone most of the time aside from when Selina visits and when Alfred wasn't busy taking care of everyone, reader expected Jason to end up like their brother and father.

As expected, Jason was delighted upon meeting reader and even joined in their games. Unexpectedly though, he continued to stay with reader. Jason, who after quite some time, finally earned reader's trust and found out why Bruce and Dick was acting indifferent towards reader.

He was pissed. But reader told him not to do anything. Reader at that time, believed that they were only doing it to protect her and that city. After some convincing, Jason finally stopped his plan to ruin their lives. But he still held annoyance.

They got even closer to the point that Alfred noted that the two acted more like siblings than anyone in the Manor does. Selina was also thankful to Jason for being there for her child.

Years later, when reader was 9 and Jason was 15, Jason died. No one bothered telling reader about it. Bruce didn't because he was too busy mourning. Dick didn't because he was away. Alfred couldn't because he didn't want to see reader in their father's mourning state. Reader only found out when Selina arrived. Selina was enraged about it and fought with Bruce for an entire day. Reader stayed up in their room crying while it happened with only Alfred to comfort them.

Cass arrived. Reader felt like it was a fresh start. Out of everyone in the manor including Alfred, Reader only talked to Cass. They liked her silent company. Cass who understood the tension from both sides( reader & batfam ), didn't know how to approach the situation and so decided to give silent comfort to Reader.

And then Tim arrived. He arrived under the disguise of being a close relative of Alfred who was a victim from a villain attack and so had to stay in the manor. Reader expected nothing. Reader never made the attempt to talk to him or notice him unless he reached out first. Tim would make attempts to talk to reader and started to genuinely care for them. Reader was also slowly starting to care for him. But it was all ruined when reader saw him using Jason's vigilante identity.

Reader got furious, and saw it as Tim stealing Jason's place. They stayed in their room for days and refused to come out. They yelled at anyone who tried to talk to them aside from their mother. But even then, they still refused to come out.

It eventually got to the point where Dick had to come in through the window and half-drag Reader out of the room with Tim. Reader argued with Dick and Bruce with Selina backing Reader up. Cass silently and solemnly watched everything unfold, not having the courage to do anything. Reader told them how shameless they were for replacing their deceased brother, for Bruce not being content of having two Robins and instead got another one, and how Tim will also die using that suit.

Loosing his patience, Bruce yelled back at reader, telling them he's going to send them away to a boarding school for their behavior. Everyone was stunned. Selina started yelling at him while Tim and Dick looked at each other uncertainly. Reader glared at everyone before storming back to their room.

Bruce and Selina continued to argue. With Bruce defending his statement, saying how Reader will be safe away from them and will also heal reader's attitude. Selina thought otherwise and called him heartless for even daring to come up with such an idea. Bruce stood by his word and refused to listen to Selina so she stormed to her child's room. She told reader to pack their stuffs so they could leave the manor, telling them that they'll live with her from now on.

Surprisingly though, Reader disagreed. Reader told her that they'll attend the boarding school because they need time away from everyone. Selina was shocked and a bit hurt but agreed to their decision.

When the day arrived that it was time for Reader to leave, Bruce offered to personally take them to the boarding school. Reader ignored him like how they've been ignoring everyone ever since the fight. At the private airport, while Bruce was handling security affairs, Reader; who was left alone at the waiting area got kidnapped by three airport staffs who were actually people of Lexcorp in disguise.

Aaaand that's where I stop it. I might end up spoiling the whole plot. I don't know if I'll turn this into a real fanfiction. I have a plan on doing that but not at the moment because I'm currently busy. What do you think?

[femd-archive]

hiiii!! omg i love ur work sm it just scratches an itch i’ve had forever, i’ve always loved the dom reader + sub male character relationship and ur work is perfect! if it’s okay could i be 🌺 anon if you use the emoji system for that?

i have a request if ur taking them atm, i saw ur sub kenji oneshots and i was wondering if you’d be interested in writing a subby kenji x reader w a lot of miscommunication or general angst bc that’s my absolute fave!! w all the smut you want ofc!

and if you don’t want to take the request that’s totally cool! i really just wanted to tell you ur writing is amazing and ily!

— 🌺

hello! thanks for ur request :] and of course u can be 🌺 anon! i also love angst, more so the hurt/comfort trope, but i'm really bad at writting it (╥‸╥) so this was my attempt to write a hurt/comfort fic for the first time. hope u like it! i'll practice to make it better next time (ᵕ—ᴗ—)

p.s.: i didn't add much smut, mostly because my brain is fried :p

NOT ALONE

pairing: ultraman: rising — ken sato x fem!reader

word counting: 2.7k

content warning: arguing | kenji is so stressed :( | riding | unprotected sex | masturbation (female)

side note: english is not my first lenguage, so i apologize in advance for any grammar mistakes

You notice, of course you notice.

You love and care for Kenji too much to not notice the dark circles under his eyes because of the lack of sleep; the way he's been more sensitive, even over the most little things; how he overworks himself in his baseball practices and won't stop unless Mina turns the stadium hologram off.

You knew how his relationship with his father was, but you have seen the way he declines his calls without a second thought now, knowing the guilt trip he had to overcome before he even hit the decline button on his watch before.

You notice, and of course you're worried about it. You didn't have to be his girlfriend to be worried. Hell, you would even be worried by just seeing him walk like a zombie in the streets as a stranger! And all that worry is what brings you in front of his mansion door at midnight.

He hasn't been answering your messages nor calls. You get it, he's a busy baseball player, but he always made at least a few minutes to reply to your messages, mostly saying sorry for not picking up your calls and that he'll call you back after he's done with an interview, telling you that he loves you.

After ringing his doorbell, you only had to wait for a few minutes before you could hear the hurried footsteps coming to the door. Opening it, there he was. With his adorable bed head, he looked up at you, tired eyes wide with surprise.

"Baby" his voice cracked, making him clear his throat before he talks again. "Hey baby, uhm...I didn't know that you were coming!" he laughs nervously.

"Well...I did text you" you shake your phone, and Kenji gulps.

"I..." he sighs, "I'm sorry baby. I just been...so busy later" he groans, rubbing a hand over his face with fatigue.

"I understand, Kenji. May I come in? I just wanna talk with you. It's been a while"

Kenji looks at you through his sleepy eyes, and even in that state, you were able to see the way his eyes softened at the sight of you. It really has been a while. He reaches a hand to your face, caressing your cheek with his thumb.

"Of course" he mumbles, low but loud enough for you to hear him. He moves his hand from your face to your hand, taking it and pulling you softly inside, closing the door behind him.

You guys walk over the kitchen. Kenji lets go of your hand to walk over the fridge. "Do you want anything?" he asks, referring to the fridge's content.

[Name] sucks in a breath, gathering courage to speak. "Yeah, I'd like for us to talk" she finally said, noticing how Kenji's shoulder tense as he close the door's fridge, staying there with a can of soda in his head, not facing her. "For you to talk to me, Kenji. I believe you when you say you're busy with baseball, I really do! But I thrust my gut to know that there's something else going on"

She walks closer to him, staring at his broad back. How she wishes she could just hug him from behind and erase all his problems. But the world is more complicated than that, and she knows it.

"You can't always rely on your gut to make conclusions" opening the can soda, Kenji spit those words with a gruff tone, making [Name] surprised over his mood change.

Of course she wasn't off limits of seeing him mad only because she was his girlfriend, but she didn't expect for him to talk to her like that over a simple request.

"Then talk to me, Kenji. I don't wanna be like this either" she starts talking, following Kenji as he walks away while drinking from the can. "You don't have to tell me everything, but at least admit that you're having a hard time so I can at least hold you"

Kenji lets out a chuckle, incredulous. "Hard time? Baby, I'm Ken Sato! I don't have hard times, I only have good times" he spread his arms beside him, trying to appear as flawless as ever, obtaining a deadpan face from you.

"Kenji, you look like shit" you simply say. "You can barely walk with your eyes open. I don't know about anyone else, but I can see the lack of sleep in your eyes, I can see how your shoulder has been bothering you more each day that passes. I know that you always work hard to be on a good shape for the games, but you go to an extent that is not healthy"

"What? Did you became a physician now?" he asks after finishing rubbing his eyes, a mocking tone on his words.

"What? No" you needed to take a breath to not break. "I'm just concerned about your well being"

"I am okay" he affirms, eyebrows furrowed. "You're the that's being like 'Ohh Kenji ~ you're so tired. You should rest up'" with a high pitched tone, he mimicks you in a mocking way while pouting exaggeratedly.

You feel your heart beating fast on your chest, your cheeks hot with embarrassement. Why was he behaving like that? You just want to help. Were you being too overboard? You give him his space, you have gave it to him for weeks. And that you finally thought it was a good time to adress his lack of selfcare and how sad he looks, he talks to you like this...

"I know that you're having a hard time, Kenji. Everyone that cares about you can notice that. I just...I just want to help in what I can" you say with a weak tone now. You had shrunk in your spot, suddenly feeling sorry for even going to his house in the first place.

"Well guess what? You can't help me"

In a desperate attempt to push you away —because if you kept looking at him with those pretty eyes, he'll spill everything— he's mean to you. Not the smartest choice to treat your lover, but that's the only response that he could muster at the moment.

He was flustered at the confrontation. Of course you will notice about his poor state. You love him and care too much for him to not notice that he's going insane little by little, but he doesn't want to share that burden with you. In his mind, he just can't.

You look up at him, big sad eyes that just make him want to hug you until you both forget this stupid moment.

Holding back your tears, the only thing you could do was sigh. Your heart feels heavy on your chest, wunded by his words and harsh tone. You're not the savior of the word, you're not Ultraman either, you just wanted to help your boyfriend...

"Yeah, I already knew that" you mumble. Taking a deep breath, you look up at him with a weak smile. "Alright, you might not want to talk right now, but if you need anything...I'm always gonna be there" you remind him, giving him one last look before starting to walk off to the front door.

Kenji looks at you go. You seemed little with the way your shoulders shrunk and you walked slowly, like an injured animal. His heart also feels heavy on his chest, a pang of guilt striking over all his body as his eyes are already watering with tears.

He hated that his stupid pride wouldn't let him as for help, for it to hurt you when the only thing you wanted to do was help him in whatever way you could.

He knew you weren't weak, he knew that you could be able to handle all the secrets that he's harboring on his chest, but he doesn't want to share the burden, he doesn't want anything bad to happen to you only because you know he's Ultraman.

What would he do if he lost you? He's sure that he was gonna lose his mind. Just the same way he'll lose his mind if he let you walk away through that door.

"Mina, lock the door" he commanded, and in a split of a second, the computer did so.

You didn't even try to open it after you've heard his command. Confused, you look back at Kenji, who's already walking towards you like a kicked puppy.

"Forgot to say something?" you ask, bitterness on your tone that made Kenji cringe.

He sighs, a guilty expression on his face. "Yes...I'm sorry baby" he begins. "I...I promise that I want to tell you, I want to tell you everything! But— it's...it's too dangerous"

And finally, after months of bottling all this emotions, Kenji finally breaks into loud sobs, fat tears running down his cheeks. Startled, [Name] didn't have any other reflections than hug him, even though she was still mad at his earlier attitude.

"Hey, hey" she whispered, running a hand up and down his back. "It's okay, it's okay"

Kenji wraps his arms around her shoulders, hiding his face on her neck. "I don't—" he chokes, "I don't want anything to happen to you" he cries, almost incomprehensible.

"Nothing is gonna happen to me, baby" she reassures, feeling his tears run down her neck and wetting her shirt, but she doesn't care about it. Kenji finally is being open with her, and that's all that matter.

Kenji sniffs a few times before talking with a weak voice. "Promise?" he asks.

She squeezes him a little bit more in her arms. "I promise"

Still sniffing, Kenji slowly pulls away from the hug, looking at his girlfriend with his big eyes full of tears, a cute pout in his lips. [Name] reaches her hands to run her thumbs under his eyes, drying his tears away. He nuzzles into her, a shaky breath exhaling out of him as he calms down.

"There you go" she whispers softly, caressing his cheeks with her thumbs now. "Come on, let's sit on the couch. I'll get you some water"

After a lot of reassurance that nothing was gonna happen and lots of cuddles, Kenji had finally told her everything. That his dad was Ultraman; that he took his legacy and he now serves as the new Ultraman to the city of Tokyo, and how he knows he's not doing a good job; that he has a 6 feet tall baby Kaiju that think he's her mother trapped in a container, and he clearly don't know how to take care of her; how much he misses his mother everyday...

[Name] listened to him attentively, her heart swelling at how much pain Kenji had to endure on his own and feeling guilty about not noticing sooner. Why she couldn't have been there for him? Right now, everything seemed so obvious, all of it happen in front of her, and she couldn't do nothing.

Her caresses on the back of his hand never stopped for even one second, even caressing his back when he needed to make a pause to cry.

Now they were cuddled up in the couch under a blanket. After spilling everthing out, Kenji just let himself fall into her arms and bask into her warmth.

"Thank you for telling me, Kenji. I really didn't wanna pressure you into talking, but you looked so sick...I was just so worried" she blinked back the tears, she needed to be strong for him now. "And yeah, it's a lot to take in. Like damn...I'm dating Ultraman" her comment makes Kenji giggle, his body trembling with laughter in her arms, "but it's nothing that we can't overcome, together" she remarks the last word. "And it's not something that it's gonna make me love you any less"

Kenji pulls away from her arms to make eye contact, his puffy eyes still able to show how soft they become when he looks at her. "I'm sorry I didn't reach out for you to talk. I just— I don't know how to ask for help" he admits, feeling a weight that he didn't know he had on his chest being gone.

"Well, admiting that is a big first step, so I'm really proud of you for that" she kisses his forehead, making him smile. "And we can work on that. We can search for professional service, that wpuld help out a lot. And, I'm always gonna be there for you" she reminds him, running her fingers through his hair.

She cups his cheeks, making him look at her in the eyes. "You're not a burden, Kenji. Your problems are valid and I'm always gonna be up to hearing them and help you in what I can and I can't do. We're in this together, alright? You're not alone anymore"

[Name] saw the way that Kenji's eyes swell with this again, a small pout on his lips as he gulps softly. He nods, slowly, letting her words sink in. He was not alone...he had her. It was not something that it would easily stick in his mind, but he'll try to remind himelf everyday. He was not alone anymore.

She leaned in, going for a kiss, and Kanji meet her midway, kissing her with yearn after all those weeks that they couldn't be together, that they couldn't touch each other. He could've barely see her with his busy schedule, and that also added to all his stress, all this mess. All he needed was to be in her arms.

Kenji takes one of [Name]'s hands that cupped his cheek and slide it down his shirt at the same time he traced her bottom lip with his tongue.

[Name] pulls away from the kiss, almost smiling when she hears Kenji whine and chase after her lips, desperate. "Hey, you really wanna do this? You're still tired, Kenji" she reproached.

"Please baby" he whines, looking at her eyes and then her lips, intensely. "I need you"

Kenji straddles his girlfriend's lap completely, letting her feel his hard cock against her stomach. [Name] gasps softly, looking up at Kenji's cute needy face as he starts rocking his hips softly.

She bits down her bottom lip before pulling him into another kiss where he moans.

They didn't even realize when did Mina lowered the lights. How could they? When they were so engrossed in each other's touch. The room was filled with the couple's moans and their skin hitting against each other.

Kenji was laying down on the couch, [Name] on top of him, as they hugged each other thightly while she moved her hips up and down, Kenji's dick hitting the right spot with every thrust.

Kenji's grip on [Name]'s waist just get tighter as he hide his moans in her neck. "Baby...baby" he calls for her, feeling his orgasm coming.

"I know baby, I know" she kisses his shoulder. "Go ahead, you can cum" she reassures, speeding the pace of her thrusts.

Kenji meets his girlfriend's hips midway, bucking his own as he hits the last thrusts before sliding out of her, ropes of cum shooting out of his tip, dirtying [Name]'s back, his thighs and the expensive couch under them. But who cared? He could buy another one.

[Name] brings her hand to her clit, making circle motions on it with her fingers as she grins on Kenji's abs. He manages to look up at her with cloudy eyes, brain still fuzzy with the euphoria of his recent climax. Still, his hands come up to caress her thighs, encouraging her to keep using him to get off.

"S' pretty" he slurs, running his thumbs on her skin.

"Fuck...Kenji" with his name on her lips, she ends up cumming with a few more motions of her fingers before collapsing on top of her boyfriend's chest.

They stayed there, in each other's embrace as they calmed down. Kenji's finger run softly down [Name]'s arm, his free arm wrapped around her waist.

"I'm sorry I didn't help you get off" he whispers suddenly, making [Name] chuckle.

"It's okay. To be fair, you're about to pass out now" she props her chin on his chest, looking at him with dreamy eyes. Kenji chuckles as well, not denying it. "Come on, let's take a bath and then you can finally have some good night sleep" patting his chest softly, she starts getting up and helps him as well.

"Are you gonna introduce me to the baby Kaiju tomorrow?" she asks as they walk together to the bathroom.

"Oh yeah, and she's gonna love ~ you. Just like I do ~" he litters her cheek with kisses, making her giggle.

"Come on, Romeo. Let's take a bath"

[taglist] @vinegarjello

[poetskings]

@jegulus-microfic | May 3: rush | 1.8k

James is in a rush to get to work, until he meets someone that makes London public transport less awful.

James is running late.

It had been a morning of little catastrophes; James slept through his alarm, his clothes were still damp from where he’d done laundry a little bit too late the day before, and Remus had drunk the last of the coffee so naturally James had to call in at the local coffee shop rather than getting it at home.

All of this to say he’s spectacularly late.

He’s got a meeting at eleven and unless some minor miracles occur and public transport actually functions for a change, he’s going to be fifteen minutes late.

He fires an email off to Lily all but begging her to cover until he gets there (she says yes, because she’s an actual literal angel and James would drop dead if he had to function a day without her) and power walks to Camden Town station, because even as late as he is, full on running is a bit too undignified.

The one small mercy of him running hideously late is that the tube station is pretty quiet – there’s only a handful of people waiting on the platform. James puts his headphones on and takes out his book, zoning out as he waits for the train to arrive.

It doesn’t take long; the Northern line is generally reliable outside of rush hour, so James finds his way into a carriage and sits down, preparing to read for the rest of his commute.

That is, until he glances around the carriage and his vision catches on the person sat opposite him.

He’s quite possibly the most attractive person James has ever laid eyes on; all dark hair and thunderstorm eyes and oh, his hands. They’re delicate and decorated in rings and gripping onto a pencil as he sketches.

James has always been a hopeless romantic; ask any one of his friends and they’ll tell you that he falls fast and hard. He’s attracted to shiny things; to pretty things, and this boy sat across from him is all of that and more.

It takes everything in him to not go and sit next to the stranger, but even he can acknowledge that it’d be a bit weird. So he completely forgets that he should be paying attention to his book and instead opts for glancing up at him every minute or so after making some vague and half-hearted attempt at reading his page for the fifth time in as many minutes.

And then James’ world shifts on its axis.

He glances at the pretty stranger to find him already looking. James offers a small smile, aborting an attempt at a wave when he’s already halfway through the motion.

The stranger laughs and it’s possibly the most gorgeous sound James has ever heard in his life. He wants to hear that sound forever. He watches as this divine creature raises his hand before mimicking his aborted move, and James is gone.

He wants to sit on this train forever and make eye contact with this angel who’s decided to grace the Northern line at eleven o’clock on a Tuesday.

The stranger breaks eye contact first, going back to whatever he’s sketching, and James wants to see those storm cloud eyes again but is equally enthralled by the graceful movements of his hand as it drags a pencil over paper.

James has always liked hands, sue him.

A few more minutes pass before James summons the courage to say something. He doesn’t know how much longer the stranger is going to be on the tube, and for all that today has been absolutely awful, he thinks, if he believed in a god, that he would believe that this was divine intervention.

He takes his headphones off, ready to give the stranger his full attention, only to realise that he’s humming under his breath. It’s liquor-smooth and James wants to drink it in forever. He doesn’t recognise the song but he doesn’t want it to end. It’s his new favourite song, he thinks.

He clears his throat and the stranger stops humming, blinking up at him. James offers a small grin again, walking over familiar ground with him. This is what strangers on the tube do; this is normal. Then he veers off course.

“What’re you humming?” he asks. The angel across the carriage raises an eyebrow, shutting his sketchbook before standing up. He steps closer, closer, and James thinks he’s stopped breathing.

He pointedly looks at James’ bag, which is on the seat next to him, and James is suddenly all limbs and no grace as he moves it as quickly as possible, drawing that laugh out once again. James wants to wake up to that sound; it’s a shot of espresso to his soul.

He offers James an earphone, and James is helpless. He takes it as the angel speaks to him for the first time.

“It’s Dreams by Hana Vu. She released an album today and I’ve fallen in love.” He tilts his head back as the song washes over him and James is only half listening, instead focused on the long line of his neck. James has fallen in love too, he thinks, but with a man, and not with a song.

James lets the song play as he continues to stare. It’s only when the stranger turns to look at him that he realises that the track has come to an end and he’s expected to say something.

“My name’s James,” he offers, and he’s sure it’s not what the stranger wanted, but it’s all he has. He is hollowed out of everything and anything that isn’t the man on the train with him.

The man raises an eyebrow but nonetheless offers his own in return. Regulus.

After that it’s like the floodgates open. This stranger has offered James his headphone and his name and James would be a fool to not make the most of this opportunity.

He’s only half paying attention to the stops as they fly past, the eleven o’clock meeting barely even registering as a thought. He hears the call for Tottenham Court Road but Regulus is talking about his course at UCL, about how he wants to be an artist but he’s promised his parents he’ll at least try to stick out the law degree before blowing his future chance at earning money to smithereens.

James quickly glances down, firing off another email to Lily and apologising profusely but something important has come up that he simply cannot miss.

He talks about how he never really knew what he wanted to do until Lily mentioned journalism. The two have set up a small independent media organisation that he loves and can’t wait to build up. Regulus looks genuinely interested, and James has waited for what feels like forever for someone to look at him like that.

James loves his friends, he does, but when he was younger he established himself as a class clown, and his wants very rarely get taken seriously. It’s nice to have someone take him seriously, to care about his hopes and dreams and to ask intelligent questions about his plans for Sectastra Media. He knows that Lily is the real brains of the business, but he’s not completely ignorant, and Regulus seems to get that.

Tottenham Court is a distant thought, and he knows it runs contradictory to the passion he’s had for it when talking to Regulus, but this man sat beside him is magical and James doesn’t want to miss this.

Their conversation winds through countless topics and James cannot remember the last time it felt this easy for him to exist in his own skin. It’s only when he starts to get a slew of messages that he realises that they’ve been on the tube for nearly forty minutes. He glances apologetically at Regulus and calls Lily back, fully prepared for a thorough bollocking, which even he can admit he deserves.

He glances at the boy next to him and prepares himself to admit that he should’ve gotten off the tube three stops ago when he sees Regulus frantically firing off a text about how he’s not going to make the contracts lecture and can someone please send him the notes.

James doesn’t even try to hide his smile as he nudges Regulus. “Running late too, huh?”

Regulus startles slightly, a rosy flush creeping up his neck, and it’s the most gorgeous thing James has ever seen.

“I was meant to get off at Warren Street.”

James stops breathing. He stops existing. His entire world has narrowed down to the contours of Regulus’ body.

Warren Street was two stops before Tottenham Court.

The words are out before James has fully processed them.

“Go on a date with me?”

Regulus looks startled, like he can’t quite believe this is real. Silence starts to stretch.

“I was meant to get off at Tottenham Court. Go on a date with me?”

Regulus starts breathing again and James’ world starts turning again.

“Alright,” he says, and it is soft and tentative and oh so fragile and James wants to frame this moment.

The pair get off the tube, waiting for a new train to take them in the opposite direction. Something has shifted between them, and James lets his fingers brush against the back of Regulus’ hand, feeling the cool bite of his rings.

Regulus doesn’t move away.

The second train comes and they don’t even consider sitting anywhere other than next to each other. James and Regulus has become JamesAndRegulus, and the conversation flows and something rare and precious has been created.

Tottenham Court approaches, and Regulus breaks conversation, turning so that James can no longer see his sketchbook as he writes frantically across the page.

He tears out the page, offering it to James. It’s a sketch of him; rough around the edges but James knows what it means. In the top right hand corner, a number is written in delicate cursive.

James looks away from the drawing, finding Regulus biting his lip, that beautiful rose blush drawn across his cheeks.

James is helpless; so far gone and without any desire to find his way back to the person he was before he stepped on the train this morning.

“Thank you,” he says, throwing his bag over his shoulder. He pulls his phone out, immediately plugging Regulus’ number in and sending a text to the angel on the tube.

Regulus nods and says, “you’re welcome.”

The tube doors open on Tottenham Court and James makes his way to his office, feeling lighter than he has in months.

Lily will rightfully be fuming, and James knows that it’s nearly midday, but he thinks that perhaps he wasn’t late after all.

He was right where he needed to be, right on time.

[yois2aki]

੭୧ chishiya realizing he's in love with reader... . ۫

chishiya shuntaro x gn!reader (requested)

— warnings: fluff, ooc chishiya, maybe a rough talk at the start, chishiya is just shy and in denial...

— summary: chishiya doesn't like being in love after experiencing it for the first time.

— word count: 1.3k

it's irrational. it's irrational and a waste of time.

chishiya believed he had long ago lost all his will to live. he was barely capable of feeling simple human emotions after viewing firsthand how ruthless those same human beings can be to each other.

children die everyday due to the crazy prices of medicine their parents can't afford. women are abused and sexualized and after speaking up somehow it is their fault. lives are taken away only for the fact that others seem more valuable to the society. people choose money over their own loved ones. he's seen it all throughout his course of life, his job as a future doctor not helping the attempts he would make to distract himself from this reality. this is what made him so emotionally distant.

chishiya couldn't comprehend why people took their lives so seriously, trying their best to make it out alive of the deathly games they were condoned with. anyone could die at any given moment, doesn't matter if they are in the borderlands or not. after all, unless you have money and power, in a few years no one will remember who you were.

he considered altruism useless, prioritizing his own life instead of others. if he could help someone who was at the doors of death with no negative outcome, he'd choose not to interfere, knowing that same person would die sooner or later.

and in truth, you were the complete opposite of him. if he had to define altruism in a word, he would say your name.

you made no absolute sense in his mind. so why did he feel so attracted to your mindset? why did he want to constantly learn more about what you believed in? and why did he feel so different around you?

chishiya had never felt this way about anything. so when he realized how his heart fluttered when you looked his way, or how his smart head unlearned how to properly think when you both had a deep talk, he was nothing more and nothing less than afraid. afraid that what he was feeling for another human being was love, a big flaw in the borderlands.

sometimes at night he'd ponder about how things would have turned out if he had met you in the real world. if things would have been easier there, and if he wouldn't be as afraid.

"do you like them?" kuina asked, straightforward as usual, as he stared endlessly at your back from the other side of the main division of the beach. "if you like them, you should date."

"i don't like them." he replied sourly, not bothering to bat an eye towards kuina, knowing well she'd have an eyebrow raised to show her uncertainty to what he just affirmed. "i just think they're smart, is all."

chishiya knew deep down he was lying, but he couldn't get his mind wrapped around the fact he might be falling for someone, his only visible option at the moment being denial, denial and denial.

"they could die at any moment," kuina said, a hand moving to her dummy cigarette as she kept chewing on it, now her eyes were also on you. "you should tell them about your feelings already."

"i already told you i don't have feelings for them." chishiya rolled his eyes. kuina had always spoke what comes to mind and it wasn't something chishiya liked about her, especially when it was directed towards him.

but he couldn't help but stop for a while, as his mind betrayed him and let his heart take over. was it that obvious? he definitely didn't like you, he just resonated with your standards, that's it. or maybe it was a small crush, and something he didn't want to ponder a lot. he would get over it in about two weeks.

which obviously wasn't true. actually, his admiration grew stronger, but now not only honing on your mental capability, but also your physical features. you were exactly his type, he had to admit.

he could be planning something devious inside his mind, or imagining ways he could make the stupid militants shut up for once. but all it would take was a glance at those sweet eyes of yours, staring deeply right onto his, and that damned cute smile — which he learned to love hate — you give him when you both walk past each other in the halls, that his mind would completely fly elsewhere. all his deceitful schemes he spent so much time and effort coming up with late at night, now long forgotten. everything that occupied his mind being you.

before he could realize it, he was standing awkwardly on one of the halls for the hotel rooms. he was probably going to his own, until you showed up and flashed him a quick smile of sympathy, moving the opposite way from his and paying not too much mind.

it was such a simple activity, something he used to do with his colleagues on the real world, or even with strangers that were having a very nice day. yet his face felt like it was on fire, his heart about to leave his own body, and his legs couldn't work anymore. suddenly your voice was heard from behind, and he could only freeze completely.

"chishiya?" you sounded honest, a bit of worry present on your tone. "are you alright?"

shivers went down his spine as he, for once, didn't know what to say. typically, when someone has a crush, all they want to do is to spend time with them. but for some reason, all chishiya wanted you to do was get out of his way. perhaps it was due to the lack of care he received throughout his entire childhood, but he didn't like this feeling. being in love was terrifying.

but he guessed it had to happen someday. everyone falls in love, and it ended up being his turn. it wasn't something he was used to. love wasn't an exact thing, like maths or biology, that's based off of facts. it all depended. he couldn't predict the outcome by reading your body language or solving equations with an abacus. everything was subjective.

he took a deep breath and didn't move from his position, instead focusing on letting his voice come out as nonchalant as possible.

"mhm." he mumbled, immediately wanting to punch himself in the face.

he bit his lip in embarrassment. no one would ever answer someone with "mhm" after being asked about their doings, especially not him.

"are you sure?" you asked again, moving closer to him to check on his face.

as soon as he heard your steps, he started moving himself, his body betraying his heart. he tried hiding his face with the hood, as he walked slightly faster than you.

it didn't take long for you to notice he probably didn't want to talk, so instead you just stopped and watched his back move further and further from you.

"i'm..." he started, his face turning to the side to let you know he was speaking to you, his feet not stopping. "i'm getting something from my room. goodbye."

and with that you were left alone and confused on that same hall, after he made a turn at a corner and went who knows where. you had never seen chishiya this nervous, but didn't fret too much about it, instead planning on asking kuina what was going on later.

in truth, chishiya had rushed to his bedroom and closed himself inside with the key he created since locking doors wasn't allowed at the beach. his back stuck to the door, as he breathed in and out frantically. he had looked like an idiot and knowing he did it in front of you didn't help.

this was chishiya's first time being in love and according to his analysis, he hated it.

— a/n: CHISHISYSTATYAAAAA </3 the day i write something not cute about chishiya help me because i might not be myself... i love him i need to see him pathetic rn..... hope u guys liked it!

[diagonal-queen]

Your blog is very safe, me thinks. Very comfort, if that makes sense lol. I have a request, feel free to ignore this but I can't help but to wonder what a few BSD men would be like with a very mature/maternal and responsible s/o who tends to put themsleves last and burn themselves out (preferably fem, as I am an older sister who has taken on the role of caregiver and project HEAVILY) I'd like to see Fyodor, Poe, Ranpo and Jouno. (You can throw in anyone else if you want)

BSD boys with a self-sacrificing girlfriend

♡ pairing: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Edgar Allan Poe, Ranpo Edogawa, Saigiku Jouno x fem!Reader

♡ synopsis: How are they with a caring and self-sacrificing girlfriend?

♡ cw: Swearing, use of fem titles, she/her pronouns, mentions of stress and burnout.

note: Thank you for the sweet message anon <3 it's truly a shame that you and i are the exact same person who have experienced the exact same burden of raising children we didn't choose to have. but i've moved out now so i'm free!! come live with me queen tf we're besties now. apologies for errors and I hope you enjoy x

Fyodor:

Fyodor is a trad man. I'm sure he has some weird beliefs about how women are supposed to have some normalised feminine traits, but this is too much even for him.

It really pains him to see you be so selfless, truly. Though he admires your kindness and patience, he just wants you to be content. He wants you to be comfortable.

Does he enjoy having what is basically a personal maid around? Yes, yes he does. Does he feel guilty for feeling that? No. But does he recognise that your current self-sacrificing routine is unhealthy? YES HE DOES.

So...he simply does not make you do anything at all. If you want to do something for him that's on you.

If you want to do something for someone *else*, he probably won't really let you. Unless it's like family or something, then he understands, but no, you're not helping that random child get their kite unstuck from that tree no matter how much you want to, myshka.

Fyodor absolutely doesn't involve you in his work. He knows that'll only stress you out more, and that's the last thing you need. As such he keeps you away from his coworkers (especially Mykola. Sorry Mykola lovers)

He comes to value his time spent relaxing with you, because he also acknowledges that he could use a break every now and then as well. There's nothing quite as comforting to him as lounging around alongside you- you don't have to be talking or even doing the same thing, as long as you're there together.

Listen, Fyodor does care about you, and he values your health and wants you to be relaxed and uncaring as much as is possible. But if you, his sweet woman, wants to make him a cup of tea, who is he to turn you down?

Poe:

I don't know exactly how to explain Poe here. Just hear me out

He is genuinely so like stressed and anguished about your lack of self-preservation in favour of caring about others. He constantly thinks about it and writes tragic poems about it and shit

Like he's like 'my love......she does not see herself as i do, as a beautiful star....with every act of kindness her light dims ever so slightly...until she's reduced to nothing.........the irony of the good deeds of man..............;-;'

HE'S SO SAD OKAY HE LOVES YOU SO MUCH AND WANTS TO SEE YOU RELAX FOR ONCE

He will go all out in his attempts to make you feel calm and comfortable and happy. Oh he will buy you SO many presents it's disgusting. He will rent out whole restaurants and like even theme parks and shit if that's your thing. He'll stop at no lengths to give you some respite, and it's honestly quite sweet

All that being said, he does love that you're so attentive and caring about Karl. He's definitely watched you play with him and then started blushing super hard because the word 'parents' suddenly crossed his mind and now he's thinking about children and aaaaaa

ABSOLUTELY writes a scenario in which you can relax. Whatever you want- an empty beach, a forest, a liminal space, he'll write it all for you, and gift you the book so you can go there whenever you want :>

He's basically a sugar daddy, except you're in an actual relationship and it's not all about the money. Your boyfriend just happens to be loaded as fuck

At the end of the day, Poe is such a hypocrite because he himself is such a workaholic that he practically lets it consume him, too!

You're both absolute messes. Drink some water and sleep for god's sake. And for the love of all things good take care of each other.

Ranpo:

Bro knows exactly what's up. Sorry, he's got you all figured out fr

That doesn't mean he won't let you baby him though. At first. He'll just let you, along with everyone else, clean up after him and buy him shit

BUT soon, soon he realises that this behaviour is rather detrimental to your health. He sees the circles under your eyes, he notices these things. And he's like '...oh shit'

Ranpo doesn't have any shame or reservations. He straight up confronts you about it. 'Why don't you ever take care of yourself?' And he's not playing around this time

And no matter what your excuse is, he's like 'not good enough. We're going to get ice cream RIGHT NOW and you're going to talk to me about this. Now lead me to the ice cream parlour immediately'

(I may or may not be paraphrasing this particular quote)

The point is that he presents you an avenue to open up about your struggles, stress and psyche. And he really does want to help- the fact that he gets ice cream out of this is just a bonus

From here on out he'll keep an eye out for you. Every time you find yourself getting overworked or burning out he'll make you take a break. This could be a nap or sending you home or a surprise outing- anything to get your mind off work and people.

Ranpo is a stickler for the rules, sure, but he's also lazy as shit. Any time he doesn't feel like working, you're now not allowed to work either. You have to hang out with him or else (he'll be a little sad)

He doesn't necessarily introduce any...permanent solutions to your predicament, but he does have you looking forward to your couples-down time each day, and that's something!

Over time, you do learn to balance yourself and external responsibilities. And he will absolutely be taking credit for it lmao

Jouno:

Jouno is very...self-important, we'll say. Not like, completely selfish or anything, but very much tends to prioritise his own opinions and time and such.

You make him do a complete reassessment and breakdown of all of his thoughts and beliefs he's built up over the course of his lifetime

/j but really, you're unbelievably different from him. You're both willing to put yourself in danger or wear yourselves down, but *you* don't have anatomical medical adjustments that practically make you invincible.

Jouno wants to protect you- and he's not willing to negotiate. He's not letting anyone hurt you, even if on accident. He's especially not willing to let anybody take advantage of your generous nature, which is probably more likely anyway.

He's such a scary dog actually (lol get it?? get it cause he's one of the Hunting Dogs? DO YOU GET IT-) he'll accompany you anywhere if you ask him to.

When he wants to do something for you, he will do it. You're not lifting a finger miss girl

Like he really will take care of you! When he's off work, of course. His job is kind of important, but you best believe you're getting pampered when Jouno is off the clock.

My mans is romantic as FUCK: cooking you nice dinners, reading to you before bed, massages, cuddles- as well as engaging in your interests alongside you of course

He just thinks it's so cute to see you engrossed in something that YOU enjoy, and will encourage your down time

Jouno is gonna make sure that you take care of yourself too, because when he's not around, who better to look after anybody than you? That's the most important thing to him.

taglist~ ♡ @gettinshiggywithit, @fyodorhatr, @flower-of-darkness, @bejeweledgirl, @kokoenjiandco, @pinkiipeachiikeen

[blegh-110]

okay i need a part two where she gets her own group and kinda starts acting like sam and she starts partying and hanging out with older boys to cope and sam gets all mad and jealous

unless you already have an idea either way i love ur fic 🙏🙏

fyi, anon is referring to "im not a princess, this aint a fairytale" part of older brother's best friend!sam. Honestly I was going to write this after I was finished with the whole series, but I'm kinda in a little writing rut right now and I've been wanting to write this since I got it so hopefully this will help with it. Anywaysss…

Let's say this happens, and Sam is at one of his high school parties where kids are drinking and doing drugs and all that kinda stuff, and he sees reader there across the room. That boy is beyond shocked!!

 He thinks it makes sense for him to be there, he's been making not so great decisions and hanging out with the wrong people lately. But you? He knows how much you hate big, loud crowds like this, as well as the smell of weed and smoke from cigarettes. He knows because the last time he saw you you had given you a quick side hug after convincing his teacher to let him out of detention, you quite literally scrunched your nose and turned your head when your nose made contact with his shirt. He and his friends had smoked a bit in the parking lot right before. 

So right when he sees you he’s wondering what the fuck are you doing here? And why? Do you have a ride home? Who did you come with?

Then he goes from concerned and confused to really fucking concerned and confused when he sees a boy handing you a drink and putting your hair behind your ears. He’s heard about this other guy and he’s a total asshole. He knows because he sits right next to a group of girls in his math class who absolutely hate him, apparently he cheated on one of them and just treated her horribly. As soon as he sees him touch you he’s storming towards you two, not caring who he shouldered and bumped into. 

“Alright, get the fuck away,” Sam pushed the other boy’s shoulder roughly, then grabbed your bicep and began pulling you with him, “lets go.”

“Sam, what are you doing?” You attempted to free yourself from his grip but he was just going through the crowd of people so fast that your feet couldn’t stop moving with him. Soon enough he had gotten you outside to his car. 

“C’mon.” He looked back at you expecting you to get in but you continued to stand in your place, the very last thing you wanted was to be near him.

“Does your brother know you’re here?” That was what broke you, if he found out he’d blow up on you. With defeated and frustrated tears in your eyes you got in the passenger seat, letting out an annoyed sigh when Sam closed the door for you. 

“I don’t know who you’ve been hanging out with, but you need to be careful around people like him.” You didn’t say anything in response, only staring out the window watching the cars go by and the silence killed Sam. He didn’t like that there was no confusion or worry at his words, so he continued talking, just so he could hopefully get something from you.

“I’ve heard some awful stuff about him, he probably looks like a nice guy but he’s not.” He looked at you, maybe he just didn’t see your reaction.

Nothing. 

“Guys like him, (Y/N), they’re gonna treat you like shit if you’re not careful.” He spit out, thinking if he was aggressive with his word then you would understand what you were getting yourself into. 

“That’s hard to imagine.” Is all you say and Sam is fully ready to stop the car, reevaluate everything he’s done and apologize but he keeps driving. This was not how he wanted it to happen. Not when you were already angry and not when he didn't have his thoughts all together. So he gripped the steering wheel tightly and sighed, trying to let out his growing frustration in silence. 

And when he was back home, he was up for another hour going insane wondering if that wasn’t your first party you’ve been to, and that maybe that wasn’t the first time you were out with the other guy (it wasn’t your first party and it wasn’t your first time with him lol).

[erikatsu]

SHELTER — WRIOTHESLEY

ᥫ᭡ SUMMARY: Wriothesley finally makes a decision on what the two of you lightly discussed by the Fountain of Leucine on your last trip to the Overworld.

ᥫ᭡ PAIRING: Wriothesley x Fem!Reader

ᥫ᭡ WARNINGS: 4.2 Masquerade of the Guilty spoilers. Fluff. A continuation of talking about having kids. Talks of murder (I promise it’s fluff). Sfw but a bit suggestive at the end. Minors DNI. A bit dialogue heavy. Selfship.

ᥫ᭡ NOTE: This was only supposed to be a drabble :,) also I don’t think I’ll ever give them a kid. But, this idea put me in a chokehold at the ungodly hour of 3 am and inspired a wedding comm so there’s that.

ᥫ᭡ WC: 2.5k

❥ SERIES MASTERLIST.

In the calm after the storm, Wriothesley could not help but let his mind wander to the conversation the two of you had the other day at the Fountain of Luciene. Lighthearted talks of the future– marriage… kids. Things that he wasn’t sure he wanted especially with the prophecy looming overhead. But now? The prophecy had come and passed, the original sin of Fontaine being swept away as the water receded. It was safe now, and he couldn’t stop the thoughts once they crossed his mind.

Suddenly, the childish antics of the Melusines were even more endearing. Perhaps one day a child of his own would place stickers on his boxing gloves or clothes when he wasn’t looking. They would make messes and get into trouble, but they would laugh and have fun while doing so. He couldn’t fully picture it, at least not yet. In an attempt to, he found himself wondering would they have his hair and your eyes? Your nose and his smile? Maybe a little bit of everything, perfectly blending the chaotic relationship he shared with you. Would they have your personality, or his? He wasn’t sure which one would be worse. Though, when the time came he was certain it wouldn’t matter to him.

He shook his head, going back to pulling off the stickers Sigewinne had placed on his gloves while he had been taking a small nap in his office. It was what made him think of your words in the first place, and ultimately led to the decision he wanted to give you. He knew better than to wait for you to bring it up again– you didn’t like to repeat yourself, and he knew you weren’t one to push unless you were up to something mischievous. However, before he could truly be comfortable and confident in his choice he needed you to know the truth. While you had come clean about your past, he still kept his close to his heart.

While you were absolutely darling about not getting it out of him, he needed to learn to fully trust someone else again. It was unfair to you, as you’d remained by his side for quite sometime now. You had dropped your guard and he had yet to give you the same in return. It didn’t settle well with him, and your reaction to his crimes was not a concern of his. But the potential of what could happen if the two of you brought a child into this world was.

“I see Sigewinne has once again gotten the jump on you.”

The sound of your voice startled him, breaking him from his thoughts and concentration. He looked up, watching as you walked over to him. You couldn’t help but to giggle, lightly covering your mouth with your hand as you approached.

“Oh dear, she really got you good this time,” you commented, lightly reaching out to pull stickers off his cheek and his forehead. “Go easy on her. She may be older than us both but Melusines are kids at heart.”

He tilted his head up, his hands moving from the gloves to your waist and pulling you in by your skirt. You leaned down, placing a small kiss against his lips before he was pulling you into his lap, “Don’t worry, I’m giving her a pass this time. I do believe patience is needed when it comes to children is it not?”

“What?” Your expression quickly shifted from amused to serious at the drop of a hat, and you stood up before giving him an apprehensive look. “Please don’t play games with me, Wriothesley. It’s one thing to spare my feelings but to–”

He grabbed your hands, giving them a light yet reassuring squeeze, “The prophecy has passed, and everyone is safe now. But, if we do this there are things you must know. I will let you be the judge and make the final call.”

You nodded, giving him the floor so he could speak. While you expected him to voice his concerns, you did not expect him to bear his soul to you about his past. Hearing about the people that took him in had some missing pieces fall into place. His foster family who once seemed to be so kind and loving were in all reality, truly monsters. You remembered a time when “Father” had launched an investigation into them. Fontaine was her home after all, and she did not like people that reminded her of the “Father” that came before her. If children were to be pawns in a bigger scheme, they should be privy to that knowledge to begin with.

You recalled one of your very first missions, one that tested your finesse and ability to get close to others. The final test before she sent you out as a full fledged operative. For weeks you made friends with the children, nearly all of them except for one. None of them had the slightest clue, but a lone boy kept a watchful eye on you since you first started to come around. As soon as you discovered him, you had made it more than a mission. You had made it a goal to discover what he knew. While some may say the art of espionage is not blowing your cover, you decided to take the chance and be honest with him.

You couldn’t recall his name, but you could recall his eyes and that wild hair and you would be damned if the same boy was not in front of you now, spilling his sins and his misdeeds of the past and his worries about the future. You frowned, listening to his story– the one he had told the entire court of Fontaine about before never speaking of it again. You remembered being at the trial with “Father” and how angry she was at Furina’s dismissal of him.

Wriothesley’s lack of trust in others was one reason he was hesitant. If something were to happen to either of you, who could your child rely on to not hurt them? The other reason was much more grim. What if he could not break the cycle he had been subjected to as a child? His worries were not invalid, and you didn’t want him to feel that they were. But… you knew.

You frowned once he finished speaking, “I hear your concerns, but I am afraid I’m already well informed of your crimes. It seems that fate of others really can intertwine.”

He was confused, unsure of what you meant. You already knew? But if so, why hadn’t you said anything before now? Perhaps you were merely waiting for him to spill– or maybe you just didn’t connect the dots on who he was until he had told you. What you had to say next should not have come as a surprise to him, but it did.

“Once upon a time I was assigned a mission,” you began, finally moving closer to him and sitting back down in his lap. “I got to make friends and experience a glimpse of an actual childhood. But, I was harboring a secret from them– one that would ruin the image of their lives as they knew it. The only one I had ever told the truth to, was a boy who already knew it himself and he became a willing pawn in the investigation. I remember now that the details have been refreshed for me. He told me that justice for his brothers and sisters would come even if he had to pay the price for it.

“He was stubborn,” you recalled, a small and genuine smile tugging at the corners of your mouth. “Refused my help and claimed that it was a family issue– and who better than I to know that disputes between family are no meddlesome matter? But, that only made me want to help him even more. Unfortunately, when I had gone back to speak with him the next day he was already gone and my mission was a failure. I was later on forced to watch your trial, and to watch you admit to crimes that I could have prevented. My next mission was to find the center of the ring and to infiltrate it from the inside out.”

He couldn’t believe what you were telling him. You were the girl he thought was simply his mind playing tricks on him– a break in his fragile psyche that produced you in the process as a way to cope with what he had learned. He should’ve known better. In fact he should’ve known the moment you told your story to him. He was stunned, unable to speak which left you being the one to do the talking.

“I wasn’t fully honest with you, my love,” you brought a hand up to cup his cheek. “The circus I had come to own was an organized crime ring but not one that smuggled contraband– at least not at first. When ‘Father’ had located who was pulling the strings behind closed doors, I had a shot at redemption. We both knew the archon had no interest in uncovering the truth and therefore it was up to us to do so. I joined the circus, I dissolved their leader, and I discovered that The Knave’s findings were true. The Goldstein Montrer was the cover for the human trafficking ring your foster parents were part of and I was the one who brought it down. The proper authorities dealt with them accordingly. That concern of yours can be laid to rest. Any child of ours would have people who would take care of them and protect them in our stead if something were to happen.”

Wriothesley was not sure how well he liked the idea of his child possibly being under Arlecchino’s care. But, he supposed maybe that wasn’t exactly what you meant. There was always Thalie or the Spina di Rosula. But that still left him with one last trouble he couldn’t quite bring himself to repeat. He was thankful for once, that your knack for talking had beaten him to it.

“Even from a young age you knew what was right and what was wrong. The sins you committed were just, and for the betterment of not just your siblings but other children who could potentially become victims. Any time a child is involved with a case, you see to it yourself that their safety and care is prioritized. You have already broken the cycle. We know who raised us, and we know to do better. It is precisely because we have faced abandonment and mistreatment from those who were supposed to love us, that we can give our child everything we never felt before. The unconditional love of a parent.”

You brought your hand up, cupping his cheek and running your thumb along his stubble. Wriothesley thought he’d never seen you more serious than in this moment. He could feel your sincerity, and he was so calm it nearly scared him. He was positive nobody would ever be able to soothe his unease, yet here you were doing exactly that. If there was only one person he could trust, it would be you.

“You always seem to know just what to say,” he commented, pressing his mouth to yours for a brief moment. His eyes searched yours afterwards, “I love you.”

You let out a small laugh, “I remember the first time you said that to me as if it were yesterday. Now look at us. Soon we could be discussing baby names or planning a wedding–”

“A wedding?” He was surprised, especially after you had brought up not seeing yourself as the marriage type. Had you also been thinking about things you were unsure of, just like he was?

You quickly deflected, “I like the name Cordelia– Cora for short.”

His eyes narrowed, but he couldn’t bite back a smile no matter how hard he tried, “If I agree to that name, will you acknowledge what you just said?”

You scoffed before going quiet. It was a subject you thought you had been firm on, and admitting you had changed your mind on something was not one of your strong suits. You didn’t think he would be so quick to catch the words that left you, even though you should have known better. Unfortunately for you, he wouldn’t let it go.

“A normal life, right?” You spoke after a moment. “Even just if it’s just in the Palais with Neuvillette and a witness.”

Wriothesley had to question if he had heard you correctly, wondering if you were thinking he wouldn’t want something extravagant or if you really didn’t care. A small and quaint celebration was not like you. In fact, he’d rather believe you had to be held at gun point to make a decision like that. He pressed his hand against your forehead, earning him a confused look from you.

“Just making sure you’re not feeling ill,” he commented before letting his hand fall to your waist. “I never thought you would turn down the opportunity for a show. You know, everything exactly as you plan it, all eyes on you.”

He watched as your eyes lit up at the suggestion, but he still saw hesitation. It was then he had realized it was because you thought he wouldn’t want that. In all reality, he’d be over the moon that you even accept his future proposal. He wouldn’t be too picky about any details. Instead of simply reassuring you, he decided to feed you ideas– knowing it would probably come back to bite him.

“I’m sure Monsieur Neuvillette could book the Opera Epiclese– ordain it himself. We could invite the entire nation, and all the friends you’ve made across Teyvat. The entirety of Fontaine coming to see you. Anything you want when that day comes, you’ll have,” he trailed off, his thumb digging into your hip and his voice lowering. “Not to mention how good you’ll look, and how eager I’ll be to have you before the party really begins.”

You laughed, the musical sound pleasing to his ears. He knew he had you now, just by the way you leaned in to kiss him again. Of course, you still had your doubts but it had nothing to do with him. You weren’t certain you even deserved it– you didn’t think you did. A life of lies and deceit shouldn’t be rewarded with what you wanted. But moments like these, when you were your most vulnerable, he always found a way to tell you that you did even if he didn’t say it out loud.

While marriage was something you never really considered for yourself, kids weren’t either. People could have one without the other and still be happy, but once it was put into the perspective of a show you realized that it would be the one performance you did not have to act for. You could be you, he could be himself, and it would be a thrilling tale of two lovers celebrating and bringing together what they shared. Him allowing you to have that despite how he felt about being in the spotlight only proved to you how much he did love you. It proved he would never allow you to dull your sparkle, and only allow you to shine. It was a feeling so overwhelming that you could only think of one response.

“I love you.”

[syrstab]

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ SUNSET SPOTTING!

a/n : hi so this isnt my best piece of work, i js felt like i needed 2 post :P (also, im REALLY shit at writing furina + neuvillette, i js wanted to try writing them, sorry if its inaccurate :( +THE BEGINNING IS HARD TO READ LIKE I HATE IT SM ARRRGHHH - i reread this and i found it MAD cringey sooo..

SUMMARY - basically you and furina suggested to neuvillette to go out in public. of course neuvillette was a busy man, but he just has to make time for you. ( also watching the sunset :> )

you and furina were catching up over some tea, as you two rarely saw each other as you were both so busy with work.

“hey furina..”

“yes y/n?” furina looked up, her bright blue eyes meeting yours, taking a sip of her tea

“you, me and my darling neuvillette should go out today.” you say proudly, as if all three of you would go out together. it’s always just been you and furina.

furina giggled when you called neuvillette your 'darling' and took another sip of her tea whilst looking around. “your absolutely obsessed with neuvillette, y/n. I personally find it adorable how you gush over him twenty-four seven , but, i highly doubt all three of us would go out. neuvillette is practically drowning in work…”

you pursed your lips, as if you really thought about it

“just you watch furina, all three of us WILL go out together!” you say with a smug smirk, getting out of your chair.

“y/n, y/n, y/n…” furina sighed putting her tea down and following you.

you proudly walked to neuvillettes office, where of course, he’s doing boring documents and signing papers.

“how’s my gorgeous, cunning, sexy, handsome, beautiful, iconic, courageous boyfriend THE neuvillette doing?” you beam whilst opening the door, furina trailing behind you

“well, hello to you too, y/n.” neuvillette smiles. he knew you were going to ask him for something, as you don’t usually call him those lovey-dovey names. at least, not all together.

“i have a teeny, tiny itzy bitzy request for you.” you grin, furina facepalming knowing damn well this whole 'going out together' thing isn’t going to happen and it’s just going to be you and furina, again.

“go on, my love.” neuvillette stops writing and places his quill down, then interlocking his fingers together like some sort of ceo, i mean he is chief justice of fontaine..

“sooo… i was wondering if you could stop working for an hour or two, to go out in public to clear our minds? we both know how stressed out you’ve been recently.” you furrowed your brows at that last comment, attempting to persuade him to stop working

he purses his lips, glancing at the window in his office “mmm… as much as i want too, i simply cannot. i’m sure furina told you about how much work i’m doing.”

“pretty pleaaaaseeeeee neuuuuuvi?” neuvillette knew you were the type to try to get anyone do anything for you, and the fact you added his adorable nickname you made for him, he REALLY thought about it.

“come on y/n, maybe just us TWO should go out together. let’s LEAVE this poor man alone.” furina says, adjusting her little top hat on her head, attempting to egg you on with the comment she just made

“you’re SO right furina!! we should DEFINITELY go out together, WITHOUT the chief justice of Fontaine!!” you and furina turned around, backs facing neuvillette, arm in arm, smiling at eachother

“have fun, you two. don’t get into too much trouble.” neuvillette waved you and furina off, your mouth agape as neuvi said this. was this man REALLY being serious?

“uggghhhhhhh please neuvi? just for an hour! pretty please with a cherry on top?” you turned around, and at this point you were properly begging for this man, and neuvi took notice of your whiny voice

furina chuckled at how desperate you were for him to go out. neuvillette usually kept himself out of the public eye, unless you dragged him outside.

you grasped neuvillette’s hand, pulling him outside his office. “you can do those shitty documents later, the suns about to set.. and there’s nothing like watching the sunset with my lovely boyfriend!” you gleamed at neuvi, furina leading you outside to the nearest aquabus station she could find.

you found yourself on the aquabus which Aeval was always on, and you, furina and neuvillette stroke up a conversation with her. you weren’t talking about anything specific, just whatever came to mind.

after a while, you came to romaritime harbor. there weren’t many people there, as it was getting late.

“you don’t have to act all tough and regal, neuvi.” you nudged him lightly, as it seemed he was holding a lot of weight on his shoulders, after all, he is a very important man.

“i suppose so. there isn’t many civilians around today..” neuvillette huffed, dropping his shoulders ever so slightly

“awwh, what cuties you two are…” furina giggled to herself as the three of you walked towards the edge of the balcony

the sun was setting behind sumeru’s desert mountains, and everything felt perfect.

you stood in between furina and neuvillette, staring out whilst your head rested on neuvillette’s shoulder. there was a comfortable silence in the air.

“i love you, neuvillette.”

“i love you too, y/n.”

“...aaaaaaand BOOM! you get married to eachother, have kids and live happily ever after.” furina smirked, knowing you’d blush at the thought of getting married to the iudex himself,  neuvillette.

“oh shush, furina.” you waved her off, one hand covering your cheeks as they were painted a rosy pink

“…i would like that.” neuvillette says, looking at the painted sky

“...like what?” you asked, looking up at him

“i would like to get married to you, and have children with you.” neuvi looked down at you, making eye contact

“i would like that, too.” you smiled at him.

“ooooooooooooooh~” furina says in a high pitched voice, leaning forwards

“oh shut up, furina!” you and neuvillette groaned in unison, and once you both realised you said that at the exact same time, you all started laughing together.

[namisweatheria]

I'm sure people have talked about this before BUT I AM thinking about an au where Rouge had a terrifying Devil Fruit power and ridiculously strong Haki (like Boa but... you know. not like that at all thank you.) and managed to have HER OWN ISLAND that The Navy refuses to touch. (Like Boa! Without the Warlord part.)

What if Ace got his good navigational instincts from her, and the island was somewhere basically impossible to get to. (Unless you're a navigational genius.) Which immediately connects it in my mind to a Bell-mere lives au.

Things I'm imagining happening:

-Rouge raising Ace herself on that island

-Garp finding her as he promised he would, and seeing a good opportunity, promptly dropping Luffy off forever

-Sabo sneaking on Garp's ship to get away from his parents, and managing to make it there as it happens to be where Garp is heading next for another quick visit to try to indoctrinate Luffy (and Ace) into The Marines

-ASL brothers again<3

-kid Ace being fucking crazy in an entirely DIFFERENT way. He didn't suffer from living under Roger's shadow (Rouge never even mentions that deadbeat) but he and his mom are very much alone on this island so he goes Insane

-Luffy and Sabo are still the best things to happen to him and slowly make him calm down a lot

-Rouge DOES want to bring more people to the island because obviously she does not want her son to be deranged but it's difficult to trust people when The World Government wants her son dead so badly. Also a nearly-impossible-to-reach incredibly dangerous jungle island is a hard sell. lol

-She is going insane in her own way but she throws herself into raising them well and training them and herself to be as strong as possible, so they can protect each other if the government comes for them

-She definitely knows about Dragon being Luffy's dad, tricking that out of Garp was Not Hard. lmao

-Sabo opens up about his backstory to her eventually too. Someone protect these kids from the damn government!!!!!!!

-In this au, Bell-mere is strong enough to get Nami, Nojiko, and herself out of Coco Village when Arlong takes over, but not strong enough to defeat them and free the village

-She tries to get Navy assistance but is met with bald-faced corruption. Extreme disillusionment follows

-They travel for a few years, Bell-mere always trying to get stronger so they can return and save the village one day.

-Nami studies hard and has plenty of opportunities on the sea to polish her skills as a navigator.

-Nojiko remains deeply hurt and outraged by The Navy's betrayal. Since she was older she had been told many more stories from her mom's time with them, and thus had a much stronger attachment to the idea of them. Being left by The Marines, with her whole community, to suffer and die, shook her entire world. She seeks out people who don't look kindly on The World Government everywhere they go, collecting stories. She has hopes of joining The Revolutionary Army one day

-This is also a Sora lives au. (@ Oda Stop killing all the moms! Let them unionize!) One day on their travels they come across a sickly woman and her two kids, Reiju and Sanji, who are on the run from a mysterious (in the East Blue) Mercenary Army.

-It goes like this: the two groups are in the same diner. Soldiers of Germa 66 bust in and try to grab Sora and her kids. They scream and cry for help. Nearby Marines intervene. This obviously doesn't look good for the Germa soldiers, attempting to kidnap a sickly woman and two young kids in broad daylight. They try to pay off the highest ranking Marine there to look the other way, with an absolutely outrageous sum. It works.

-Nojiko charges. Bell-mere didn't expect her usually cool-headed daughter to do something so reckless, and doesn't realize she'd gotten up until she heard the crash of Nojiko kicking the top Marine in the head. Nami had been paying more attention, and is already primed to hit the same Marine in the back with a diner chair before he can retaliate on Nojiko.

-Despite their training, they're kids, and these are Marines. If Bell-mere wasn't there, it would've been a world of hurt. But Bell-mere of course is right there, and takes down all three Marines before they know what hit them. In the chaos, Reiju takes down both Germa Soldiers with her superior strength.

-Now they're a group, standing in a public place, with a pile of Marines (and Mercenaries) at their feet. Yikes.

-They run together.

-Reiju and Nojiko, both being oldest girls about the same age, recognize each other and bond instantly. They convince their mothers' they'll be stronger together.

-Bell-mere was easy to convince, suffering from survivor's guilt from the occupation of Coco Village, she's very quick to take on other's burdens. Sora, despite feeling an instinctual trust for and deep attraction to this tough butch who saved her life, is much more hesitant. Putting her life and resources in the hands of one very powerful person was what got her into this mess.

-But it's not easy to make Reiju happy, a girl who takes responsibility for both her mother and younger brother, who orchestrated their escape, who defends them physically, who has a childhood of training to repress herself to unlearn. Sora saw Reiju actually laugh with someone other than herself and Sanji, and she can't take this new comrade away from her. Not to mention having another protector in Bell-mere could ease Reiju's burdens. She has to say yes.

-And it's a good thing she does, because the top Marine they knocked out kicks up an absolutely ginormous fuss. Suddenly Bell-mere, Sora, and the kids are wanted criminals with posters strewn everywhere. It takes all their wits and strength combined to survive.

-They're on the run together for years before they make it to Rouge's Island.

-Nami is younger than Sanji, but at this age she's bigger than him, and he's a huge crybaby while she keeps a very brave face. She's utterly delighted to treat him like a little brother, much to his annoyance. "I'm not the youngest anymore!" "Yes you are! Stop it!" "You can't be bigger than me when you're such a baby." "I'm a baby?! I saw you get scared too!" "No you didn't! Shut up!" They get very competitive.

-Reiju and Nojiko have the kind of weird little girl best friendship that has the intensity and power to destroy worlds. They are on levels of telepathic connection previously unheard of. And they are so serious about it and so fucking goofy. The SCHEMES they get up to.... And of course constantly being made to drag their little siblings along for the ride

-Picture this. They've been docked at the same island for a couple weeks. They're having an easy time, they've just gotten comfortable with a good doctor for Sora and a nice place to stay for a bit. The kids see a Marine Ship out sailing nearby while they're playing on the beach. If they tell their moms, they're sure to pack up and leave immediately. Of course the answer is to scare off the Navy ship themselves with a fake sea monster.

-Yes it's the end of the world if this mission fails. They'll have failed their families, and the concepts of bravery and justice, and they'll all die and get killed and never join the resistance or anything ever. Yes this fake sea monster needs to have extra whiskers.

-So serious. SO GOOFY.

-Meanwhile their moms are having the most repressed intense butch-femme erotic slow-burn romance of all time in the background.

-Bell-mere, in her head: How much of this is coming from my fucked-up desire to save people? Am I fetishizing her weakness? What's wrong with me? If I have to see the glow of her soft skin, shiny with the sweat of illness, peeking out from beneath her long dress one more time I am going to faint and die.

-Sora, in her head: How much of this is coming from my fucked-up desire to be saved? Am I fetishizing her strength? Do I just want to give up responsibility so badly? Am I appreciating her as a person or do I just want what she can give me? If I hear her loud laugh of victory after buying food for what barely counts as a bargain one more time I'm simply going to explode with love and desire.

None of the kids notice this at all even a little bit.

-Of course with Nojiko's story-gathering and Nami's navigational genius, and the Marines still hot on their tail, and Sora and Bell-mere's desire to find a place to finally stop for the sake of their kids, they do eventually make their way to Rouge's island.

-Rouge, at this point deeply deranged with isolation, fear for her sons, and suspicion, does not greet them well.

-Bell-mere does not take no for an answer.

-Their fight leaves a giant crater in the side of the island. It lasts for days, and only ends because while they were distracted all their kids did an enemies-to-best friends speedrun.

-Lead of course by Luffy, who despite loyalty to Rouge and natural suspicion of her apparent enemies, has little willpower against the smell of Sanji's cooking. His completely earnest undignified begging by the campfire endears him to the others, as well as his heartfelt thanks, and their kind and patient treatment of him endears them to his older brothers.

-Also they're all lonely as hell so it truly does not take much. They're running around the jungle, being given a tour of the best spots on the island by the ASL brothers FOR LITERALLY HOURS before at the same exact moment Reiju, Nojiko, and Sabo all go Oh Shit We Should Probably Stop Our Moms From Killing Each Other.

-Lol.

-I have other ideas involving Robin, and I want to save Banchina (Usopp's mom) as well. I think what this au needs is a doctor character. Someone Rouge trusts to help her give birth, who is also an enemy of the world government, who can stay on the island with them. Who can treat Sora when they arrive. (Treat not heal, her being chronically ill and disabled is important to me.) But I can't think of anyone who isn't needed elsewhere.... I guess I have to make them up....

[boltupbitches]

Enemies to Lovers - Joe Burrow

Angst -> to fluff

Joe couldn’t put into words precisely why he felt the need to say something every time she entered the room. The new physical therapy assistant was the sweetest person - at least according to several guys on the team who joked with her and would talk endlessly during their sessions.

Joe? Well, he shot himself in the foot the first day they met when she had bumped into him coming out of the exam room he was walking past. He was having a bad day, his calf was still sore and acting up, and on top of that, he had just had a heated conversation with his parents over his ex-girlfriend.

He remembered snapping at the new girl, “Can you watch where the fuck you’re walking?” 

He hadn’t stuck around to hear her response, but after that, she went out of her way to avoid him or just outright ignore his presence unless absolutely required to talk with him. If she did have to, it was short, monotone sentences with a blank expression.

It pissed Joe off to no end. What pissed him off worse though was that HE caused this odd tension between them with his outburst that day. He had attempted to track her down a few times afterward to apologize but each time he had approached she’d take off the other way.

Now, every time he saw her, he felt his face twist into a scowl and frustration take over. It pissed him off and he wasn’t sure why his face flushed and his heart rate sped up at the sight of her. He knew his attitude made her uncomfortable but he couldn’t figure out why he was feeling the way he was.

It was Sam of all people who brought it up one day during a post-workout. “I just think it’s odd how mad you get when you see her. I mean, what is the problem?”

“I don’t know..” Joe muttered as he took a swig of his water. “She just always acts like she’d rather be somewhere else than near me. It’s like I’m dirt beneath her shoes.”

“I think she probably looks at it in reverse,” Sam said after a moment.

Joe looked at him questioningly.

Sam raised his brows at him before smirking. “It was you after all who said you yelled at her the first day you met her. And I’ve seen how you act towards her when she’s in the same room as you. The girl thinks you hate her guts. It’s likely why she’s always trying to get away from you. You’ve been a dickhead to her, Joe.” Sam said, straight to the point.

Joe mulled over what Sam said after he bit down the immediate urge to debunk his words. He couldn’t deny it - it was true. He had been awful to her and he needed to make it right. In the few interactions they had, either direct or indirect, he had been the unpleasant asshole. This all stemmed from a misunderstanding on his part. Now she thought he hated her.

He knew he didn’t hate her. How could he? He barely knew her. Yet, his ire with her made no sense to him.

“Yeah.. you’re right.” He finally admitted. He looked over to an amused Sam, “What should I do to make this right?”

“Well,” Sam scratched his chin as he thought, “You could corner her and apologize. Explain that you’re not normally like that, but still, it was no excuse for being a dickhead to her. Don’t ask for forgiveness because that’s corny - she’ll decide when she forgives and it’s ok.” Sam went silent again before grinning suddenly to himself, “And stop glaring at every man who approaches her and talks with her. You’re way too obvious, dude.”

“What do you mean by ‘obvious’?” Joe demanded.

“You like her,” Sam answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You act all pissy when a guy talks to her, then you follow her around the room with your eyes, and I’m pretty sure you are one step away from marking her like a damn dog marks his spot. It is so obvious that you have a crush on her.”

“That’s - that’s… not true,” Joe sputtered out. 

“It is,” Sam said.

The two sat quietly once more, one of them completely lost in thought over his feelings, and the other one amused that his good friend was so intelligent but couldn’t read the situation at hand to save his life.

“Fuck,” Joe groaned, putting his head in his hands. “I do.”

“What?” Sam goaded.

“I do like her. Fucking hell, man. Fuck, fuck, fuck. She thinks I’m an absolute asshole now though,” Joe mumbled with his face still in his hands. 

Sam thankfully had some information to make his day, “I have an appointment with her at 2 pm. I’m going to show up late. You can go in and talk to her. She doesn’t have any clients from 1-2 pm and will likely be on desk duty for the head PT. Go get cleaned up and you’ll have time to catch her.” Sam nudged his shoulder roughly with his hand.

Joe didn’t think twice, nor did he need any convincing as he got off the weight bench he sat at and took off to the shower rooms. 

He didn’t want to waste this opportunity.

—------------

Joe breathed deeply as he stood outside the room she was working in. 205. He had double-checked twice to make sure it was the one Sam said she’d be working in.

He lifted his hand and knocked firmly. 

A few moments passed and he heard footsteps approach from the other side of the door. The door opened and she appeared on the other side with a startled look on her face once she registered who was knocking.

She stared quietly for a moment and then cleared her voice, “umm… hi, Joe - er Mr. Burrow. How can I help you?” 

Joe felt his heart skip a beat at the sound of her voice before responding, “Joe’s fine… um... do you have a few minutes? I was hoping we could talk really quick.” He smiled nervously.

She stared once more, visibly put off by the friendliness he was exuding. She glanced down the hallway and back, looking for some sign that he was playing a prank before coming to the conclusion that he was serious. “Uh - sure. Come on in.” She opened the door and moved out of the way so his large frame could pass through.

Joe shuffled awkwardly for a minute before taking a seat in front of the small desk in the corner of the room.

She came around to the other side where her laptop was facing and quietly shut it as she sat down.

It was awkwardly silent.

Joe cleared his voice and spoke up, “Listen... Rachel, I’m sorry for how much of an asshole I have been. Not just the first day we met, but also every time after that. I was going through a rough time when we collided that day but that was no excuse for how I spoke to you. I hope we can work together and that you’ll consider giving me a chance.” He smiled nervously.

Rachel nodded at him and remained quiet for a moment. “I appreciate the apology, Joe. I won’t lie - I’ve been really put off and uncomfortable with how you treated me. I don’t understand why you continued to be so unwelcoming to me after one instance in time.” She looked at him curiously.

Joe nodded with a serious expression on his face as he listened. “I was mostly mad at myself for feeling like I made things bad between us - and I did. It snowballed and I just kept feeling more frustrated - not at you but with myself and how I messed up that day. The truth is,” his cheeks flushed red, “I was jealous of how naturally you got along with others on the team but I somehow messed up any friendship we could have had from the get go. It was never you. It was all me and being in my head. I’m very sorry, Rachel, for making you feel unwelcome. It is not an excuse -”

“Just an explanation?” She finished for him.

He nodded.

They were quiet once more before she spoke once more. “Well, since we’ll be working together a lot,” She stuck her hand out to him, “My name is Rachel and I am one of the physical therapist assistants. It’s nice to be working with you, Joe.”

Joe grinned and shook her hand, “It’s nice to be working with you too, Rachel.” It took him a minute to realize he held her hand a little long before he quickly let go, his cheeks still flushed from earlier. “Sam said he was going to be late in getting here today - he needed to talk to the DC really quick. Did you want to get coffee together afterward at the cantina?” He asked nervously.

Rachel smiled and nodded, her own cheeks now flushed, “Sure. I would love to. It won’t be until 3 pm though.”

Joe nodded, “That’s fine. I need to go talk to Zac anyways. I’ll swing back around then.” He got up and stretched before heading for the door.

Joe paused and turned back to Rachel, a small smile on his face, “Thanks, Rachel… for giving me a chance.”

Rachel returned the smile, “Of course. We all have our days. Just don’t make a habit of it, Burrow.” She warned playfully.

He nodded and chuckled, “Right, right.” He looked back at her once more and said, “see you later.” And shut the door behind him.

He paused and released a heavy sigh of relief before fisting pumping and turning down the hallway only to encounter a grinning Sam.

“Went good, Shiesty? You look pretty stoked.”

Joe nodded a smile once more on his face, “She agreed to have coffee with me at 3 pm. So, don’t keep her waiting too long and holding it up, Hubbard.” He smacked his larger friend on the shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah. For that, you’ll have to wait for 3:30 pm.” Sam winced and pretended to limp towards the door.

“Dude,” Joe called, “Don’t you dare!”

Sam turned and winked at him, “She’ll be done by 3 pm, lover boy,” before knocking and walking on into the room.

Joe stood there in the hallway alone for a moment, staring at the door. He couldn’t wait to go back there at 3 pm.

[lingeringmirth]

don't talk me out of this

Stranger Things | Platonic Stobin | Rating: T | Words: 674 | Angst, Omegaverse, Self-sacrifice, Emotional hurt.

Written for @whumpril day 5. reckless | Also here on AO3.

Steve’s movements were jerky, his voice clipped as he spoke. ‘You can’t talk me out of it, Robbie, so don’t even bother trying.’ He flung his backpack over his back, his trusty nail bat sticking out of it, visible over his back.

Robin hated seeing him like this, shut off and determined to just push on because he thought no-one else couldn’t possibly achieve what he was setting out to do. He often acted almost like he was expendable, taking the beating (and worse) from the Russians so she didn’t need to, always protecting everyone at his own expense.

Why he wasn’t doing it now frightened her, because it meant that he was lost to his instincts, that his need to go back and find Eddie was clouding his judgment. Because right now Steve’s instincts should have been screaming at him to keep himself safe, to keep them safe.

She’d heard what he’d said loud and clear, but she couldn’t not say something, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself afterwards if something did happen, and something likely would, because she had lost her belief in happy endings. Nothing good could come from going back to the Upside Down, they should leave well enough alone unless something came out of there. But she had to try and make Steve see sense first, no matter what he’d said. So she faced him, hands crossed and face serious.

‘Would Eddie want you to risk yourself like this?’

Steve snarled at her, more than half feral, his scent so mixed her nose couldn’t make heads nor tails out of it, it had been like that ever since...

‘He’s my mate and he’s alive down there!’ Steve’s scent spiked acrid with distress, through everything else. ‘We--- I left him there. He was alive and I left him there, Robs.’ His hand settled on his midsection, rubbing over the roundness there restlessly.

Robin didn’t think he’d ever heard him sound so broken. She knew that what he was saying was the absolute truth, Eddie’s mating mark was still clearly visible on Steve’s neck as the day he’d put it there and she knew he’d sense if he was gone. But he was also pregnant and more than a little bit hormonal, with the anxiety of Eddie being lost somewhere in the Upside Down it wasn’t a good combination.

‘But you can’t, you’re…’ she gestured her hand over all of him. She didn’t say that it was because of it all that Eddie had gotten left behind, because they’d needed to get Steve away, injured as he’d been, that Eddie had screamed at them to go, that he’d hold the demobats off. Steve had screamed harder as they’d dragged him away from his alpha, had snarled and raved and fought to get back to him… had needed to be sedated for his stay at the hospital just so they didn’t need to physically restrain him.

‘I know I am and it doesn’t…’ Steve looked away from her face and down, rubbed at his pregnant stomach, the contrast of it and the nailbat at his back was stark. He looked back up and at her, his face set, she knew there was no convincing him otherwise. ‘I’d rather we all die in the attempt than having to live without him knowing that I might have been able to save him.’

She swallowed, hoping her face didn’t give anything away. It was last resort time. ‘Alright. I don’t agree with you, but I guess I can’t stop you.’ She was pressing down the talk-button on the walkie in her hands, hoping that this worked. ‘I’m coming with you and we can try and get him.’

Steve didn’t notice her deception, just fussed with the rest of his preparations as she hoped it worked and that Steve would forgive her, eventually.

His eyes as he turned to look at her when Dustin jabbed the sedative into his neck once they were walking out the door would haunt Robin for years to come.

[carboardserpent]

Next gen headcanons? 🤔

Like, Jackson, Cruz, Tim, Danny, Chase, and Ryan?

Oh boy, that's a few characters. Alright, strap in then. Probably also gonna throw in Bubba because he's my favourite non-main next gen <3

(Humanised, as always)

(Quick disclaimer for this one, none of these are supposed to reflect on the irl racers that gave their names and voices to them - I'm treating these characters as though they're entirely fictional and not based on/inspired by real people. I make my HCs literally just based on Vibes (and RPs))

Jackson Storm:

6'1 and fit AF. Clearly spends a lot of time in the gym toning his body and muscles. He is male model levels of gorgeous. Physically flawless black man <3

Short black dreadlocks dyed blue at the ends.

Aromantic (female-leaning)bisexual.

Autistic.

Ray knew he was autistic before Jackson even knew himself, and is the reason he even got diagnosed in the first place.

One of his most common complaints is still about the reflections of the sun glinting in his eyes. The loud noise of the track still gets to him occasionally, but he has special earplugs to help him deal with it.

Can usually be seen drinking a can of IGNTR's flagship energy drink before a race. It helps him calm down and focus in. His sponsors love it, for obvious reasons.

Any time he's on camera, he acts calm and cool but internally he's freaking out. If they ask something he doesn't expect, he visibly tenses up and flounders for a second as he tries to figure out what to say, even if it was a simple question.

Doesn't do fan meets or signings unless he absolutely has to. Even then he tries everything he can to get out of them.

His physical attractiveness makes his already poor attitude even worse. Doesn't know how to talk to people, but gets all the praise and attention he could ever want online.

Yes, he posts photos of himself on various social media. He wasn't sure at first, but Ray convinced him to start shortly after his debut race, hoping that it would help reassure him and give him a bit of a confidence boost. Naturally, it went a little TOO well...

He's a gamer through and through. In any downtime he gets, he's still topping the leaderboards on just about every popular racing game you can play online. He also enjoys the occasional game of CoD and will verbally rip anyone to shreds if they try to come at him.

DUBSTEP. He loves it. If his skull isn't rattling from absolutely filthy, grimy bass, he's not interested.

So, of course, he has to have an incredible sound system that's probably worth more than the average person's car.

He doesn't watch anime. (Stop asking him if he does) Most of his entertainment comes from Twitch streams.

He streams himself playing Super Corsa 4 any chance he gets. Which isn't often with the packed NASCAR schedule, but he tries his best. His user is UrStormChasing

Still doesn't get along with Tim after their rivalry in training and isn't very good at pretending he does either. Their crew chiefs have to make deliberate efforts to stop them from running into each other before they get into their cars.

Cruz Ramirez:

5'5 with an athletic build. She is a Latina woman with visible abs and she deserves them gdi.

Side-parted brown hair a little shorter than jaw length, perpetually kinda wild looking.

Chaotic lesbian hours!

ADHD

Literally cannot sleep at night without a big, milky mug of coffee.

It's not normal to wake up and go for a run before even having breakfast?

She's teaching Lightning to use social media more regularly (for better or for worse). His homework is to send her a funny meme or video that he found that week.

The result of this can sometimes be catastrophic. She'll never be able to unhear him uncertainly attempting to use outdated slang.

Almost every race, there's someone complaining about how she doesn't weigh enough and it's unfair to the rest of them. So she forces them to watch as race officials put extra weights in her car.

Has cussed Danny out in Spanish across Pit Road and will do it again if he carries on-

Is probably the only person on Team Dinoco that is actually nice to Cal and doesn't try to tease him. They get along well.

Tim Treadless:

6'0 with a broad frame and light muscle tone.

Tanned skin and tousled brown hair.

Straight ally.

Just call him Mr. Charismatic, everyone loves him.

Everyone except Jackson, that is. Jackson is the only person who brings out his anger to the point of wanting to throw hands.

Has a wife and a baby, bc of course he does.

One of those guys some people hate for being irritatingly perfect. Usually people that don't actually know him.

Has type 1 diabetes and a bad nut allergy.

Was pulled out of a race at the last minute when he went into anaphylactic shock - the entire race was almost stopped when people started to whisper that it was foul play. The race went on, but the only reason for Treadless' absence was that he had to be pulled for "unforseen medical issues".

Some of the other racers still blame Jackson, who actually had nothing to do with it.

Danny Swervez:

5'10 and fairly slender. Not a lot of bulk to him.

Tanned skin (he's Latino) and short black hair.

Cishet male.

This man is FULL of himself. What an attitude.

Genuinely a good racer, but not many people like him.

He's not a good guy. He's given Cruz some trouble for being a woman, though after she embarrassed him by publicly cussing him out in Spanish, he's learned to keep his unpopular opinions on her to himself.

Isn't exactly what we would call "faithful".

But hey, at least he doesn't cheat on the track (smh)

Has just as little respect for the older racers as Jackson, but is less vocal about it.

Is very bitter about Jackson and Tim being more popular than him, yet still does nothing to change himself for the better.

Has at least attempted to physically fight with other drivers that messed with him on the track several times.

Chase Racelott:

5'9 with a build somewhere between Danny and Tim.

Pale skin and dirty-blonde hair.

Straight ally.

Generally a pretty likeable guy. Not as well-loved as Tim, but he has a good amount of pretty dedicated fans.

Makes jokes about being single/available.

Has pretty average performance on the track, not great, but not poor.

Fairly high energy, he gets along well with Cruz.

Probably one of the best with kids. Has a lot of younger fans because of how he interacts with them during meets and signings.

One of the few who will try not to leave until he's spoken to every fan who wanted to meet him, no matter how long it takes.

Often seen hanging around with Ryan - the two of them cause some pretty good natured trouble together, often involving pranks on the other racers.

Ryan "Inside" Laney:

5'11 with a broad build similar to Tim.

Mixed race (¾ Caucasian, ¼ African American), with short black hair.

Closeted bisexual.

Friendly, but not really a standout character as far as the fans are concerned.

Kind of cocky, but in a cool way.

Has a girlfriend who travels with him.

Agent of chaos when he spends too much time with Chase. Don't turn your back on him.

Bubba Wheelhouse

Absolutely massive 6'2 gentle giant

Another gorgeous black man (fight me), his skin tone isn't quite as dark as Jackson's

Closeted homosexual

Has a fake relationship with a lesbian woman who's actually just his best friend (the racing world is scary and the US South probably wouldn't love an openly gay driver)

Kids ADORE him. Him and Chase are the drivers with the most kid fans.

Throws a football around with fans over the catch fence during rain delays (this one is based on the real Bubba Wallace bc its wholesome af)

Gets asked all the weird gay questions by everyone in the friend group. (Ex. "Is it gay if...?" "What is X actually like?")

Legit just trying to mind his own business, he doesn't want any part of drama or rivalries.

Occasionally finds himself roped into girl talk if the guys have their S/Os around. They're very excited to include him. He's too polite to decline.

[verdemoun]

VERDEMOUN!!! GIVE ME MORE MACSUMMERS ANGST, AND MY LIFE IS YOURS!!!

(Love your headcanons and your AU ❤❤❤)

come off anon coward so i can claim your soul jk always here to provide macsummers have some general dot points instead of a fleshed out scene so hopefully you find something that tickles the flavor of angst you crave

due to being in a situationship in 1899 with all those ideas of masculinity, when they argued it would usually escalate to fistfights and brawls. it was something they both had to unlearn in modern era esp after learning like oh this would be considered domestic violence?? this is super unhealthy of us to do?? with very little support because the few dv services they tried talking to were very gendered and did not know how to cater to lgbtqia intersectionality and the fact neither one considered themselves a 'victim' and were pretty equally guilty of being the one to escalate

despite knowing sean is secretly pretty self conscious about his general intelligence lenny did snap once while particularly stressed about an essay in a 'well unless you understand the use of pharmacology in mitigating the effects of zero g-force on human physiology no i don't see how you can help me sean'. very much felt bad about how quiet sean went, esp when sean still did try to help by filling up his water bottle and bringing him snacks

y'all love daddy issues but let's unpack some mommy issues? lenny deciding one day to use his understanding of archives to find out what happened to his mom. finding out she lost the family house and did unpaid textiles work in an almshouse with her title being spinster on her death certificate? being called a horrible parent and jeered at for being the mother of the outlaw lenny summers who deserved what he got? lenny is the poster child of revenge. he in teenage stupidity chose to leave his illiterate mother in favor of killing his father's murders and live as an outlaw in the 1890s version of running away with the circus. he was distraught and absolutely broke down. sean absolutely held him and let him sob and wail as much as he needed to

sean never saying it but being really bitterly jealous and agreeing with lenny's hindsight he was an idiot. he has no memories or stories of his mammy because darragh never discussed her but he is certain he would've stayed with any parent he had left rather than experience reform school. even sean knew it was a fool's game trying to go after the people who murdered his da and not what he would've wanted. struggles to understand how someone as smart as lenny could make such a stupid decision

sean trying to quit drinking cold turkey and lenny only thinking he was prepared to see someone go through alcohol withdrawal. sean sweating, pasty, having thrown up what little water he managed to drink and experiencing tremors and lenny begging him to let him take him to hospital. sean ending up having to be the one comforting lenny and lenny feeling guilty for need it , for asking him to stop drinking and not actually knowing what to do because internet did not prepare him for how distressing it would be seeing sean like that. it did not end up being a successful attempt to quit.