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moon-sang · 2 years

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ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪʟᴀᴄ ᴡɪᴛᴄʜ

Masterlist

PART 1 / PART 3

SUMMARY: You live with Din on the Razor Crest. You babysit the kid and he gives you shelter and food… It was a good deal. Little did Din or the other Mandalorian’s know what you truly were, and just how dangerous you could be.

WARNINGS: Angst, nightmares, Soft!Din, fluff, reader is a little insecure in this chapter, a little bit of wounded reader, mature language, pls tell me if I miss anything.

~ Heavily inspired by Marvel - the scarlet witch in particular.

WORD COUNT: 3K - I apologise

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Chapter 2: Pushing Limits

You cradle Grogu in your arms.

Gentle cooes filled the Crest’s air. Eventually you put him in the small cot (which was really just a blanket hung like a mini hammock) and play with him a little, making booping noises when you ‘stole his nose’.

Din can’t help but have a silly little smile graced upon his lips, the kid loved you so much... he loved y- no. He wouldn’t allow himself to even think that... people he loves always seem to get hurt... it’d be best to let his feelings die straight off the vine... for your own safety.

The child slowly dozed off in the cot, and a heartwarming smile pulled at your lips. “little cutie.” you chuckle. You turn your attention to the Mandalorian who stood behind you, watching contently. “Hey.” You whisper. Din chuckles slightly. “Hi” he replies. “I need to give you something.” You whisper shout, trying your best to keep your voice down. Din cocks his head in confusion. Give him something? You scavenged through a small bag you liked to keep with you until you found what you were looking for. You fished it out and closed your palm. “Close your eyes under there... No PEAKING!” you tease. “Ok?” he breathes out. You take one of Din’s hands into yours, uncurl his fingers and place a small charm in his hand. Slowly you curled his fingers over again covering the piece of jeweriy. “aaand open.” you guide. Din’s eyes open under the helmet and he opens his hand at the same time. Some sort of rare silver metal that seemed to circle around a huge gem stone. The gem stone was an ivory yellow.. much like your top. Through the silver metal was carvings you seen the armourer engrave into Din’s armour. A mudhorn, some Mando’a words, it truly was a great gift. “If it works properly.. it should change colour everytime your favoured colour changes” you whisper, barely able to contain your own excitement. “Where did yo- you..... h-how did.... when?” he stutters. You suppress a grin, he was baffled. Just the reaction you wanted. “I made it.” you admit. “H-How? This would’ve taken.. months.” He exclaims. “Well it took less than an hour to make.” you honestly and confidently reply. He cocks his head, waiting for you to expand. “... I created it with my magic.” you admit. Din smiles. “Then you’re getting better at controlling your powers.” he proudly says. “I have no one to thank.. other than you.” you instantly reply, knowing he would blush. You allow yourself to yawn, covering half of it with your hand. “Hey Din... I think i’m gonna get some shut-eye.” you whisper, stretching out your back. He nods, still shocked and starring at your gift to him. You smile as you climb into your shared cot. “I’m glad you like it.” With a small hiss the hatch door closes and you allow your heavy eyes to slide closed, a comfortable darkness engulfing your body.

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You awake to screaming.

Your body jolts up automatically. You pant in shock. You’re not in the Crest anymore. You don’t know where you are. It’s still extremely dark and your eyes were still trying to adjust. The ground beneath you is almost sandy... but... you’re definitely not in Tatooine. You strain your eyes, trying to find the source of screaming. Still there is nothing. Absent-mindedly you begin to stand up. It is as if you can’t control your muscles, much like a newborn baby. Your blood simmers for no reason. You just felt... angry. Finally light appears, the light is orange and it seemed that there was smoke looming over the black sky. There’s fire, houses on fire, Mandalorian’s burning with the houses. But there was one building that stood out. The covert. You try to maintain some control over your body, to go to the covert and find out what was happening, but it was like you were watching a movie... of you... hurting people. “Y/n!” you gasp. You knew that voice. That honey-like voice. Turning around you see Din. But something’s wrong. His blaster.... it’s.. aimed at... you. He’s holding the child.. in almost a protective manner... you would never hurt him.. or the child. What was going on? “How could you do this to us?!” He screams over the chaos behind you. “I didn’t do that! I swear!” You yell... but nothing comes out of your mouth. Slowly your hand arises. You look down at it in confusion. A lilac energy circulates your hand as your fingers move in an uneasy pattern. “What?! N-No, o-oh no!” you cry, but again nothing comes out. You can hear as Din cocks his blaster at you. A tear rolls down your face. Just as you blast a huge amount of lavender coloured energy straight at Din your eyes snap open... truly, this time. You could feel the soft cushion of Din’s cot under your back and you let a heavy sob leave your system. “Cyare?!” Din screams, holding up. You were coated in a thick layer of sweat, your whole body trembling. “Cyar’ika are you ok? What the kriff happened?!” Just seeing Din caused you to burst out into tears. Heavy sobs wracked your body. “Y-you… I was…n-no, l-l-lilac.. wi-wi-witch” You sob. Your lungs burned with every struggled breath. Din rubbed your back and shushed you gently every few minutes. “It’s ok.. It was just a nightmare mesh’la.” He reassures. You snuggle up closer to Din, trying to get impossibly closer to him. The tip of his helmet rested gently on your head as you cradled your head in the crook of his neck. Eventually you fell asleep again, being held in his arms was like being wrapped in a protective blanket, knowing you were safe where you were and having that warm feeling blossom in your chest as you doze off. This time you awake to sunlight. Warm air spilled into the Crest as Din opened the hatch. “Where are we?” You mumble out, sleep coaxing your voice. “Mos Eisly.” came his short reply. Your eyebrows furrow. “Mos Eisly?” You repeat baffled. “I need some work… Karga won’t accept me in the guild anymore so I need to find some other work here.” He explains. “Ok.” you yawn, getting up. “You’re staying.. I need someone to watch the kid. Plus the ship could use a few repairs.” he admits. You frown. “Okay.” As soon as Din takes his first steps off the hatch his blaster is out of the holster and a plasma bullet is shot. “What was that?!” You shout, jumping. “Droids.” he mutters loud enough for you to hear. “Hey!” comes a raspy voice. “Hey!” a woman shouts again. Both you and Din turn your attention to the woman approaching you. “You damage my droids, you'll pay for it!” she shouts. You scan the lady up and down. She had coffee brown bristly hair, fair skin and honey brown eyes. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her forehead was creased. “Just keep them away from my ship.” Din states blankly. “Yeah.” the woman scoffs. “You think that’s a good idea do ya?!” She taunts. “Let’s take a look at your ship.” She says. She begins circling the Crest, inspecting it carefully. “Look at that.” she starts. “Oh you got a lot of carbon scoring building up top” she points out. “If I didn’t know better I think you were in a shootout.” She comments. She begins inspecting other parts of the ship again. “Oh yeah, I’m going to rotate that, you got a fuel leak” she says pointing at a certain part of the ship. She continues to walk. “Look at this! This is a mess, how did you even land?” she practically yells. “That’s gonna set you back” She murmurs. Din sighs. “I’ve got 500 imperial credits.” he offers. “That’s all you got?” She questions, walking back over to him. Din remains silent. “What do you guys think?” She asks her droids.The droids grunt and make whirring noises. “That should at least cover the hangar.” She says, pursing her lips. Din was going to pay for her to fix the ship? Wasn’t that your job though? “I’ll get you your money.” Din promises. “Hmm.. heard that before” She retorts. “Just remember-” Din starts. “No droids.” The woman finishes off for him. “I heard you, you don’t have to say it twice.” Din nods then looks at you. “You’re relieved of your mechanical duties, watch the kid.” He says before walking away. Once Din is out of sight the woman turns to you. “The names Peli… what’s yours?” The woman confidently asks. “Uh… Y/n… Y/n L/n” She nods. “Nice to meet cha.” She says before getting to work on the ship. You decided you should probably tend to Grogu, and so you go to look after the green bean. Hours of playing with Grogu seemed to go by like minutes. You didn’t even realise it was night until you took your first steps out of the Crest. A dark shade of blue, black and purple painted the night sky. The moons loomed large, surrounded by an ethereal glow. Thousands of stars were sprinkled around it, and you couldn’t peel your eyes off them. “Do ya need something?” Peli asks from where she was seated. “Um… are you… are you done with the ship?” You stutter. “Yup.” She replies. “Could… you do me a favour…. I can pay!” She smirks. “Say no more, what is the favour my friend?” Peli questions. “I need a little bit of privacy.. Could you babysit the kid for a few minutes, he’s asleep, so he shouldn’t be too much of a menace” You chuckle. “Okay.” she enthusiastically agrees. “Thank you.” You reply, handing her the sleeping child. “Hello you little womp rat.” She cheerfully, but quietly greets. You offer her a quick smile before quickly making your way back into the Crest. Now was your time to practice with your powers. You remember what Din said a few days ago. “Just don’t push yourself too hard, we don’t know what could happen if you did.” It wasn’t like you were going to push yourself that hard. Just a little harder than you usually would. You brought your hands up and around them a violet energy formed. It travelled in between your fingers and formed at your palm. You stared at it for a second, mezmorised. You knew nothing about your power, you don’t think your parents had a power like this. You were used to manipulating enemies' minds and giving them nightmares, but you knew… you could feel your powers had so much more potential than that… you just weren’t pushing yourself hard enough to learn anything new. So you would take the time to learn more about yourself now, whilst Din is looking for work. Now…let’s try changing that crate into a…. Meiloorun. Conjuring up as much of your magic as you could, you place your hand on the crate. Your eyes slide closed and you focus. You think of the fruit you want to turn it into. The texture of it, the juicy taste of it, the sunset-like colour that coated the skin of the fruit. When you open your eyes you no longer touched the surface of a crate… but the smooth surface of a meiloorun. “It worked!” you whisper yell. Now the question was… is it edible? Or was that still something you needed to work on? You slice up the fruit and giddily opened it. An orange-yellow sweet looking fruit made an appearance. You take in a breath and take a bite out of it. You could definitely feel the texture of the fruit… but there was no taste… you needed to improve on that. “Let’s try something more difficult.” You whisper to yourself. You thought for a while before your eyes lit up like a city. A portal. You could try and make a portal to… Naboo… your home. Or was that pushing your powers too far? There was only one way to find out. You push your hand out in front of you once again. You think of how a portal may look like… looking like a mirror at first, then showing Naboo as you walk closer, with a purple energy surging around it. You take a focused breath as you think as hard as you can. You can hear small sparks of your magic creating the portal. You smile. It was working. All so suddenly your hands began to shake violently. A burning sensation jolted your body and a huge migraine formed in your head. Your eyes widen in pain and you yelp, your head meeting the Crest’s floor. Black dots swam through your vision until you could no longer see anything but the darkness that now engulfed you.

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“Y/n?”.... “Y/n?!”.....”Can you hear me?”....”Hey! Get me some bacta!” Your heavy eyes slowly opened. You were lying on something warm… sand. You groan in pain, propping yourself up. “Hey, hey, relax… lay down.. you’re bleeding.” Came an all too familiar voice. Peli. “What happened there? First thing you know you give me the kid to look after then you pass out, bleeding in the Crest!” Peli exclaims. You pushed yourself too hard, and you bled out on the Crest from using too much magic.… Din was going to kill you! “Bacta is working wonders on your skin so you’ll be fin-” You cut her off. “You have to promise me you won’t tell Di-Mando.” you practically scream. “What why-” “Promise me you won’t” you cut her off again. She sighs loudly. “Ok. I won’t”.. “Thank you.” you sigh out. “What….happened?” The curly haired woman asks, curiosity getting the best of her. “I uh.. Cut myself on one of Mando’s weapons and… um.. I just.. fell.” You lie. “Mhm.” Peli cautiously replies. Suddenly a hand wraps around you, and another wraps around Peli. You yelp in surprise. Your hands were wrapped around your back, along with Peli’s. “Who are you and what the kriffing hell do you want?!” Yelled Peli. “I wanted the child at first.. And I still do… but…. You.” He whispers in your ear. “I saw you in the ship’s window as I came back.. You’d have value in the empire or the guild.” came the males voice again. Your breath hitches. He saw you using magic. “I-it was a trick” you stutter, not able to think of any more believable lie. “You’re a horrible liar.” The man hums. Your breathing picks up. The empire can’t know about your power… they already know about Grogu’s! You can hear the man’s blaster cock. The cold circular front of the blaster pushed up against your h/c hair. “Give me the kid” he growls. Before you can do anything, Grogu was given to the man. “Peli!” You yell. “We can get him back later… this guy’s just a rookie! Your man will kill im” she whispers. The blaster is pulled away from you, and the familiar feeling of handcuffs are wrapped around your wrists. “And now we wait.” The young man whispers to the both of you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soon enough Din came. The moonlight bounced off of his beskar as he stood confidently in front of this strange man. “Mando” the man yells, holding you, Peli, and Grogu firmly. “Looks like I'm calling the shots now, partner!” he yells, once again. Was this who he was working with? “You have one opportunity to let. Them. Go.” Mando growls, voice deep. The man scoffs. “You know these two.. They may just get me into the guild… but not only that, I could be a legend if I hand them both in.” He exclaims. Din sighs. A bright light is blasted towards you. Your eyes immediately shut in pain. Blaster shots rung through the night sky. Then a loud thump of someone's body hitting the ground. “Mando?!” You cry. “I’m here, we need to find the kid.” he replies instantly. You nod.. But find that you can’t see anything. You blink your eyes a few times. It does little to help but your vision cleared up a little. After being uncuffed you assist in the search for Grogu. When the man who threatened you didn’t have Grogu in his arms, panic rises in you. “Where is he!” Peli shouts. Then you see two pale green ears stick out from behind a crate. With a quick sigh of relief you grab him gently and cradle him in your arms. “You ok, buddy?” You ask. You get a bunch of unsatisfied babbles in return. “There you are you little womprat!” Peli shouts cheerfully. “Y/n.” Din calls. “Yeah” you reply, turning to face the metal man. In his hand he held a transmission, it seemed to be activated. “Where did you find that?” You ask curiously. “Tucked in Toro’s belt.” He quietly says, cocking his head to the stranger that held you captive earlier. Your body stiffened. He didn’t have time to make contact with anyone about you… did he? Breathing seemed near impossible, you felt like fainting from how nervous you were. What if he managed to make contact with the empire about you? You would be screwed. Absent-mindedly you yank the transmission and smash it on the ground, making sure to stomp on it. “Hey! Why’d you do that?!” Din yells. “Don’t get your feathers all rustled Mando…. I can fix it and see who it was sent to.” Peli cheerfully volunteers. You gulp, this is it. You were fucked.

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let-them-read-fics · 4 years

Text

I’ve Got You

Requested by Anon: “Could I request a jennie scenario where her girlfriend is scared of water / swimming and jen calms her down like reader did in your ‘safe with me’ work?”

Pairing: Jennie x Fem!Reader

Word Count: ~ 3,626

Warnings / Misc. -- Some Angst, PTSD / Flashbacks, Anxiety, Crying, Fluff, Happy Ending

Disclaimer: This writing is a work of fiction, and no disrespect is meant for those mentioned herein.

A/N: To the anon who requested this: thank you so much! I wrote it all in one go (at like 3am, mind you), and I had a blast with it. I took it a little more on the angsty side, but I really hope you guys enjoy it. Happy reading, let me know what you think!

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

Waking up in Jennie’s arms has always been a lovely thing, but something about this time seemed even more perfect than usual. Early morning sunlight glittered into the room, creating an almost dream-like haze, and some of the rays landed on her skin. She looked like an angel -- features slightly puffy with sleep, a small pout on her lips. Her head was against your shoulder, and her arms snaked around your waist, anchoring you close to her body. You always loved cuddling in close with her, the two of you keeping each other warm throughout the night.

Stealing a glance at the clock, you realize that the two of you almost overslept; the girls want to meet downstairs at the hotel’s restaurant in an hour. With that notion in mind, you know what you have to do; reluctantly, you gently shake Jennie to wake her up.

“Jennie, baby, we’ve gotta hurry or else we’ll be late.”

She lets out a groan, her voice a bit gravelly, and ignores your words, opting to pull you in closer instead.

“5 more minutes.” The words come out as a mumble, barely intelligible, but you grin. Jennie’s always been the type to sleep in when she can, and you can’t blame her; with as hard as she works, it’s completely understandable.

“Alright, but that’s it! We seriously have to get up after that.”

With a gentle nod, she snuggles into your side again, bringing a hand up to rest against your neck.

As your eyes rake over her delicate features, you start to recall the plan that all of you had decided on for the day. With the girls taking a break from practices and rehearsals to shoot a new show for their Youtube channel, you have plenty to do -- today’s agenda called for ziplining and mini golf, to be precise. Given how close you are with all of the girls, it’s no wonder that they were able to sweet talk their managers into letting you tag along for the ride. Of course, you’ll have to wait until they get all of the filming done to join in on their escapades, but regardless, you’re beyond excited to see them having fun.

With the 5 minutes officially over, you hatch a plan on the best way to wake Jennie up again. You start by gently rolling her onto her back, and proceed to pepper feather-light kisses all across her face. Soon, you feel her stir underneath you, her eyes fluttering open in the cutest way possible. Perhaps in an alternate universe, she worked as a Disney princess instead of an idol; she’s definitely qualified to be one.

“Hey cutie,” she says, voice laced with remnants of sleep, and pulls you in for a quick kiss. One of your arms is around her waist, with the other one propping you up so that you can look down into her eyes.

“C’mon beautiful, let’s go.”

Once she’s had a chance to rub her eyes and get adjusted to the light, you scoop her up in your arms and carry her to the bathroom.

“Oh no, looks like we’ll have to shower together if we wanna make it on time…” Her eyes exude mischief as the words fall from her lips, and you play along.

“What a shame.”

She kisses you again, smiling widely against your lips, and the two of you start getting ready.

~~~~~~~

“There you guys are! It sure took you long enough.”

Both Jennie and yourself have to bite back your smiles. After a quick apology, the girls are already busy talking about what the day has in store.

“I know we’ll probably be tired after filming, but maybe once we get back here we can go down to the pool to unwind? I saw the spa, too; it looked really nice.” At Rosé’s innocent suggestion, you soon find your heart beginning to palpitate. Anything but that, you think to yourself, your mind already beginning to betray you with intrusive thoughts.

You can’t blame her for proposing the idea -- after all, it’s a beautiful day outside, and the weather is perfect for swimming. But the problem lies deeper: you’ve never told any of them -- including Jennie -- about your fear of the water (swimming, to be exact). Even thinking of it makes you sick to your stomach, and you suddenly feel a bit overwhelmed.

“I’m gonna run to the restroom, okay? Be right back.”

As you stand, Jennie asks if you want her to tag along -- had she noticed your uneasiness? With a quick squeeze to her hand, you assure her that you’ll be fine, and you begin your walk.

Once in the safety of the bathroom, you take a deep breath to steady yourself as your hands grip the marble surface of the countertop. Memories of that fateful summer day come flooding in, and you’re unable to push them away any longer.

It was a gorgeous day, the sun high up in the sky, shedding its heat down on everything below. Your family had decided to spend the day outside, grilling and swimming, the usual summer traditions that you held every year.

Delicious smells carried over from the food being cooked by your father, and you shouted praise to him from across the yard.

“Smells good, pops!”

He yelled a thank you back, and your brother got your attention from his place beside you.

“Wanna race in the pool?”

“You’re on, loser, but don’t cry when I beat you!” You throw him a smug look, and laugh when he shoves you.

“Yeah yeah, you’re going down!” He exclaims as he darts past you, getting a head start to the pool.

“Not fair!” You run after him and jump in, ready to wrestle him and make things even.

The water is cool against your skin, working in perfect contrast with the beams of sun shining down. You’re faced with a rude awakening, however, as you come back up to the surface: your brother is waiting on you, and he pounces.

In the beginning, the wrestling match is quite fun; the two of you can’t contain your laughter as you push each other around, splashing water at one another. In no time, though, things take a tragic turn; with one particularly hard shove, you’re sent under, falling down the slope of the pool and towards the deep end. The slippery surface of the liner underneath your feet offers no grip, and soon you find yourself struggling for even a breath of air.

Panic begins to spread throughout your body as you feel yourself losing control; oblivious to the gravity of the situation, your brother is still giggling -- he has no idea what’s actually happening. With each urgent thrash, you’re sent a little further away, out of reach of your brother.

Shortly after he realizes you aren’t messing around, he attempts to help you. Seeing as how he’s only a couple years older and just a few inches taller than you, he’d also be struggling in the deep end. He soon discovers this fact as he reaches for you, only to almost go under himself. He knows he has to think fast and reassess his plan of action, so he jumps out of the pool and runs further down, closer to where you are.

“Mom! Dad! Help,” he yells out, searching for something to throw to you. He spots a floatie nearby, and tosses it into the water near you. Unsure of if you can even really make out what he’s saying, he still tells you to grab it.

In a flash, your mother and father are next to him, terrified of the sight before them. Without hesitation, your father jumps in, successfully managing to grab your now limp body and pull you out of the water.

Your breathing is shallow, and your family begins to fear the worst. They shake your limbs in an attempt to wake you, but it doesn’t help. Your mother begins compressions, suddenly very thankful that she took those classes in the past, and your brother and father rush inside to call for help.

Despite it taking a few minutes, her actions are successful, and you come to. With a sputtering heave, you lean to side and cough up all of the water that had made its way into your lungs. Your mother pats your back and huddles next to you, tears streaming down her face. When the others return, they hurry to wrap you in their arms and embrace you. A few minutes pass as you all sit together, everyone happy that you’re alright.

Being the person that you are, you decide to use humor to deflect and cope with the insanity that just went down. “Welp… that was something. Let’s pretend I won that match, okay?” You suggest, looking at your brother with a trace of a smile playing on your lips. He shakes his head at you, confused at how you’re already joking about it, but he laughs nonetheless. “No way!”

As the memories begin to leave your mind, you attempt to get a grip on yourself; surely you had been away for a bit, and Jennie would likely be coming by to check on you any second now. Grabbing a paper towel from the dispenser, you wet the edge of it, and wipe the sweat that’s formed on your forehead and neck.

After drying yourself off and calming down, you exit the restroom and make your way back to the table. Jennie sends you a relieved look, as if to say, Thank God, I was worried. You manage to send her a fairly convincing smile, and she seems to accept it. Once seated again, she takes your hand into her own, rubbing her thumb in random patterns over your skin. You relax at the contact, and soon join back in with the conversation.

~~~~~~~

“Today was so much fun! Remember when they dropped Jisoo in super fast? That was hilarious!” Lisa and Rosé cackle at the thought, whooping loudly with laughter. Jisoo proceeds to smack them on the arm in response, saying, “Oh yeah? Well at least I could actually get a hole-in-one when we golfed; Lisa missed the ball completely!” The maknae glares at the other girl for flaming her like that, but soon they’re all trading playful insults and goofing around.

You hung back a few paces, allowing them to have their fun while your mind drifted back to what would surely happen later that evening. As much as you hated keeping something as big as that from them, you were a bit embarrassed. Out of everything there is to fear in the world, yours is water? On top of that, you didn’t want to let them down or spoil their fun; they’d been looking forward to this little trip for awhile, and you didn’t want to keep them from swimming and having a good time. Completely lost in all of the negative thoughts vying for your attention, you failed to notice Jennie approach you. She had picked up on the scowl that fell across your features, your brows furrowed and lips drawn tight in a line. It was clear that something was troubling you, so she went to investigate.

“What’s wrong, Y/N?” Her words come out softly, a gentle request for you to share what’s troubling you. When you stay silent for a bit longer than she likes, she stops walking, and you subconsciously do the same.

Releasing a sigh, your eyes cast away from hers, you respond, “It’s nothing, baby. I promise.”

For a moment, it seems like she’ll give in and accept your answer -- which, of course, is the one thing you desperately want. Knowing you better than that, though, she can see right through you; still, she decides to spare you this time. “I don’t believe that, jagi, but I’ll wait for you to tell me about it whenever you’re comfortable.”

“Thank you, Jennie. I will.” You wrap an arm around her, and she settles against your side as the two of you make your way through the hotel lobby.

~~~~~~~

This was a mistake in every sense of the word. Why didn’t you just stay in the room and let Jennie come down with the girls? They all wanted you there, but surely you could’ve at least tried to talk your way out of it.

The 5 of you scour the area surrounding the large pool, searching for a table and some chairs to recline in. Eventually, you see one in the distance, and lead the way there. With each new step towards your destination, the fear within you grows a little larger, and you wonder how hard it’ll be to keep pretending like you’re fine.

Once everyone has set their things down, they take their shoes off and begin to pull their hair up. You opt to sit down on one of the chairs and lay back, attempting to calm your nerves.

“You’re not coming in, Y/N?” Jisoo asks, her head tilted to the side.

You retrieve a book from the bag you brought down and hold it up, saying, “I’ll just hang here and get caught up with some reading. You guys go ahead.”

Jennie looks to you, but you simply open the book and pretend to be invested in the pages. Telling her about your fear is definitely not an option, especially at the current moment; if you do, you run the risk of throwing yourself into a panic attack. It’s all you can do to seem calm and collected right now, and you can’t afford to blow your cover like that.

She trails after the girls, albeit a bit dejectedly, and you release a breath you didn’t realize you had been holding. Now able to take a moment for yourself, you look around: the evening is just as spectacular as the day had been before it, the deep colors of the imminent sunset lighting up the sky with their gorgeous patterns. Sunsets have always been one of your favorite things, so you take some time to enjoy the sight.

Jennie steals glances at you from her spot in the pool, making sure to keep an eye on you. It isn’t hard to see that something’s bugging you, but she knows not to push you to open up; she’s always willing to wait for you. A smile tugs on her lips when she sees your face brighten as you look at the sky, and she wishes whatever’s plaguing your mind would just go away. You deserve to be happy like this, a smile on your sweet face, right where it belongs. She wishes she could take away all of your struggles.

After a while, you’re now -- ironically -- invested in your book. The sound of Rosé calling for you draws your attention to the pool again, and you meet her eyes. “Y/N, my hair tie snapped. Do you mind bringing me one from my bag?”

Your breath hitches; you weren’t prepared for that one. With a gulp, you nod to her and attempt to send her a smile. It’s not like you could just say no. Your fingers shake slightly as you rummage through her bag in search of one of the bands, and you work to center yourself again. You can do this.

As you near the edge of the pool, your legs feel heavy, every step seemingly harder than the last. A strange sensation of numbness takes over your fingers -- something that almost always happens when you get this nervous -- and you subtly shake them to gain feeling again. “Here you go.” You manage to make the words sound cheery despite the inner battle you’re fighting.

“Thank you, love.” At her reply, you return from the crouched position you had been in when reaching it to her, and you think you’re home-free. About three steps later, as you’re walking back to your seat, everything changes.

“Go long!” Another hotel guest shouts from your left.

Before you can realize what’s happening and get out of the way, a body collides with yours, sending you into the pool. It all happens within an instant, and you don’t even have time to hold your breath for the impact. You hit the water with a splash, liquid already shooting up your nostrils.

Your mind is reeling with memories of that day, sending you into a series of flashbacks as you scramble to get to the surface. Strangely, you feel just like you had that day: the panicky feeling seeping in with no signs of stopping, your lungs burning as they plead for air, the feeling of your limbs thrashing hopelessly at the water.

Before long, two arms wrap around your waist, pulling you towards the surface and side of the pool. You’d know those arms anywhere: they’re Jennie’s. She pats your back -- just as your mom had all those years ago -- and helps you cough out the water. Thankfully you hadn’t been under long, but it was still terrifying either way. The girls all trade scared looks as they do their best to comfort you and make you feel safe. Jennie can sense that you’re majorly overwhelmed, so she decides to take you somewhere that you can be alone and recover.

Once out of the pool, she quickly wraps a towel around your trembling body and leads you into the hotel lobby, sitting you down on a secluded couch that’s tucked away from everyone’s view. You eek out a quiet thank you, even in the state you’re in, needing to let her know how much you appreciate her help. She sits down beside you, settling into the comforter, and pulls you up against her chest. Soft, soothing circles are rubbed against your back, her other arm keeping your body snug against hers.

“It’s all gonna be okay, jagi. I’m here, you’re safe. I’ve got you, I promise.” Her lips are beside your ear -- she knows how distant things can sound to you when you’re having an attack. The hand on your back stops its motions; she brings it up your cheek, rubbing the skin there as you lay your head on her shoulder. Her lips press sweet, gentle kisses against your shoulder, and she thanks the universe when she feels you relax some. “I love you, Y/N. I’m not going anywhere.” Those words bring tears to your eyes, and some of them spill onto her arm; as she feels them, she almost starts crying with you. Seeing you upset like this always makes her emotional, but she does her best to stay strong for you.

“I’m sorry, Jennie.” Sobs rack your body, causing parts of the sentence to come out louder than others.

“For what, baby?” She pulls back enough to look into your eyes, her hand still on your cheek, moving slowly.

“That I didn’t tell you about what’s bothering me. I’m afraid of swimming; I had a traumatic experience with it in the past.”

“Oh, baby. It’s okay, you don’t have to be sorry. Do you want to tell me about it now?” Her words are so understanding and kind that you curse yourself for not telling her sooner. You simply nod in affirmation, and begin to relay the story. The entire time, her eyes never leave you, and she holds you close. Anytime a particularly hard detail for you to describe comes up, she strokes your hair and tells you to take as much time as you need. There’s no rush, and she makes sure you understand that.

Eventually, once you’re feeling loads better and are fully calmed down, you meet her gaze again. “Thank you for everything. I love you so much; I seriously don’t know what I’d do without you. You knew just what to do.” She smiles that earth-shattering smile of hers again, and if your heart wasn’t so tired from the time it just had, you know it would’ve skipped a beat. “That’s my job, baby.” Her eyes fall to your lips, in her unspoken request to kiss you. You grin, pulling her in closer, and connect your lips. She tastes like cherries and everything else that’s good in this world, and you revel in the fact that you’ll be the one kissing those lips for the rest of your life. The two of you part, both a little breathless as always, and you rest your foreheads together. “Let’s go see the girls.”

~~~~~~~

After many hugs, tears, and one long story later, all of you are in Lisa’s hotel room. The girls understood your fear and didn’t think any less of you at all; they wished, though, that you had told them sooner. They all want the best for you, and to see you happy, no matter what. Everyone is glad to see you doing better, and the mood is substantially brighter than it had been before.

“Did Lisa tell you that she beat that guy up for bumping into you?” Rosé asks, a smile on her face.

Lisa’s expression shifts into anger at the mere thought of him, and she says, “He deserved it, I’m not gonna let anyone get away with that.” She shrugs her shoulders, and all of you laugh at the fact that she actually roughed him up a bit.

“Can’t argue with that,” Jisoo says patting your back tenderly and sending you a smile.

“And she’ll do it again, BOP BOP!” Lisa says, causing everyone to burst out laughing. Jennie rolls her eyes at the other girl and buries her face in your shoulder, seeking shelter from the cringe.

“I love you guys.”

“We love you, too, Y/N.” They all say in unison… at least, as close as they can get to it.

Thanks for reading!!!

#jennie kim #jennie #jennie kim x reader #jennie x fem reader #blackpink #kpop blackpink #blackpink one shots #blackpink scenarios #blackpink imagines #jennie kim imagine #kpop scenarios #let-them-read-fics

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blackacre13 · 3 years

Note

Hi, thank you for feeding us with your wonderful writing. Can you write something about debbie being the strict planning mom and lou well the cool carefree mom and their kids prefer lou more then debbie and debbie being jealous bout it.

Aw you are so welcome! Here you go!

Debbie checked her watch for the third time, tapping her stiletto against the ground as she waited.

Lou was almost an hour late without a word and Debbie was getting more anxious by the minute.

Suddenly, she heard the lock turning, whipping around as two girls ran into the loft screaming and laughing, one blonde and one brunette, Lou close on their tails, her face flushed but grinning from ear to ear catching both of them by the shirts and pulling them in for a tight hug.

“Go say hi to mom and then wash up,” Lou instructed. She checked her watch. “Dinner should be ready in about half an hour.”

“Hey cuties,” Debbie smiled, kneeling down to ruffle their hair and kiss their foreheads as they babbled to her for a moment and exchanged “I love you”s before the scurried off up the stairs.

The brunette stood slowly as Lou came closer, wrapping her arms around her wife before kissing her deeply.

“Hey honey,” Lou whispered before kissing Debbie again. She could feel Debbie still slightly under her grip. “What’s wrong? You okay?”

“I’m alright,” Debbie sighed. “Just was worried.”

Lou’s eyebrow furrowed as she checked her phone and let out a grunt of frustration.

“Shit,” Lou sighed, leaning back against the counter. “Text never went through. Took the girls for ice cream after school because they got their report cards back.”

“Oh,” Debbie nodded. That explained the energy level.

“All good marks,” Lou added.

“Of course,” Debbie smiled, but Lou knew it wasn’t a genuine smile.

“You were worried, but you’re also mad,” Lou guessed.

“Not mad,” the brunette sighed, opening the fridge, taking out a pack of chicken. “Just…maybe we should have done that together?”

“It was just a spur of the moment thing, Deb. Promise,” Lou murmured, caressing her cheek before she turned to the cabinet to find the pasta. “Plus, I thought you were meeting with Tammy.”

“She canceled,” Debbie exhaled, exasperated. “Something about the kids I guess.”

“Like we haven’t done that to her,” Lou teased. “Where’s that knife I like, sweetheart?”

“Here,” Debbie smiled, still looking sad as she passed the blade to the blonde.

“We’ll do something special the four of us to celebrate,” Lou whispered. “I’m sorry we went without you.”

Debbie smiled softly, nodding her head.

“They’re really excited to tell you, Deb,” Lou grinned. “The whole way here they were trying to hatch a plan to show you their grades. They both love you so much.”

“It’s not their love I doubt,” Debbie grumbled as she palmed through the spice cabinet.

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

The two women lay in bed side by side as Debbie stared blankly at the pages of her book, pretending to flip through it as she thought while Lou was working off the iPad probably balancing checks for the club.

“I can hear you thinking,” Lou chuckled, putting down the iPad.

“Just reading,” Debbie lied, letting out a small sigh.

“Your book is upside down,” Lou smirked, sitting up and rolling to face Debbie.

“The girls like you better,” Debbie mumbled and Lou couldn’t help laughing out loud.

“That so?” The blonde asked, propping her head up with her hand.

“I don’t know,” the brunette sighed, putting the book down. “You’re so much more fun than I am and all I do with them is scheduled shit.”

“Scheduled planned stuff doesn’t mean it’s not fun,” Lou pointed out. “And no one said you couldn’t be fun. Or spontaneous.” She shrugged. “Besides, I think we balance each other well. And they owe you a lot of credit. I mean, you literally gave them life.”

“Details,” Debbie rolled her eyes.

“What?” Lou laughed. “You telling me you want to swap for a day? Want me to be the rule stickler and you’re free bird?”

“That sounds like a bad sitcom waiting to happen,” Debbie muttered before shooting up suddenly.

“Oh no,” Lou chuckled, looking at her wife in disbelief. “Deb, no.”

“I’m just gonna teach them so tricks of the trade, Lou.”

“No way,” the Australian chuckled. “Come on.”

“Well, now who’s being the stickler, baby?” Debbie smirked. “I’ll be right back. I need my notebook.”

“Don’t go too Debbie Ocean on this, love.”

“Oh, I am goin full Debbie Ocean on this, baby. Just you wait.”

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thelastspeecher · 3 years

Text

Egg Stan Origins

In my notes earlier today, I saw that someone had liked one of my Egg Stan ficlets, and I decided to reread said ficlet. And then before I knew it, I was writing stuff for the Egg Stan AU, because I can’t control myself. So here, have...whatever this is.

——————————————————————————————

Ford slowly drifted back to wakefulness. As he opened his eyes, a fish darted across his field of vision.

Shit! I’m underwater! Panicking, Ford began to swim for the surface, before realizing that he wasn’t drowning. He let himself sink back to the ocean floor. Why can I breathe underwater? He held out his hands to inspect them. His mouth went dry. Thin, red webbing stretched between his twelve fingers. He looked down at his legs. Or rather, where his legs used to be. In their place was a large, extravagant tail with golden scales and red fins.

“Fuck,” he whispered. He ran a hand through his hair.

I’m- I’m a merman? How did that happen? He racked his brain, desperate for answers. The creature! The last thing he remembered was being on the ship, with a massive sea serpent bearing down upon them. When the serpent opened its mouth to spray venom at him, Stan had jumped in front of him to act as a shield. Stanley!

“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” Ford muttered, frantically looking around for his twin. There weren’t any other mermen in the vicinity.

Maybe he avoided this fate? Doubtful. Ford’s eyes landed on what looked like a large fish egg, partially buried in the sand. He swam over, rendered clumsy by his new tail, and gently lifted the egg from the sand. The egg was red but transparent, allowing him to see the very young mer curled up within. Is this- is this Stan?

“No. That’s not possible.” Ford spoke aloud in an attempt to convince himself. The mer in the egg suddenly twisted around, revealing its face. Ford’s heart plummeted. The mer had a face he recognized well. No one outside their family had that large, ruddy nose. “Stanley…” Ford held the egg close to his chest, panic rising.

Stan’s been turned into a mer child still in utero. I’m fully grown, but a merman. What am I supposed to do? Suddenly, his ears picked up the sound of voices in the distance. He swallowed nervously. I’m not one to typically ask for help, but I don’t really have a choice, do I? Ford swam towards the voices. As he got closer, he saw the source – a young merman and mermaid, probably related, judging by their similar features.

“Excuse me,” Ford called. The merman and mermaid changed course, swimming over to him. “I- I need some help.”

“Why aren’t ya speakin’ Mermish?” the merman asked in thickly accented English. His tail was a burnt orange, contrasting with his dark hair.

“I wasn’t aware that merfolk had their own language,” Ford said. The merman and mermaid looked doubtfully at each other. “I- I’m human, you see, and-”

“Uh, if you were a former human, you’d have a belly button,” said the merman, sounding suspicious. Ford looked down. His jaw dropped.

“What the-” He stared at the completely smooth skin where his belly button had previously been located. “I don’t- I don’t know how that happened.”

“Who’s this lil feller?” the mermaid cooed, peering at the egg Stan was in. Her accent was just as thick as the merman’s. She and the merman had the same large nose, but her hair was caramel-colored, matching her pale yellow tail.

“My twin brother. What happened to make me like this, it- somehow it affected him more severely and-”

“What’s a twin?” the merman asked.

“A sibling born at the same time as you.”

“Yer claimin’ this cutie is from the same clutch you hatched from?” the mermaid asked.

“Yes? No? Look, I don’t understand your mer terminology, I’m human!” Ford burst out. The merman and mermaid exchanged a concerned look.

“It’s okay,” the mermaid said soothingly. She held out her hands. “I can take yer brother so’s ya can swim better.”

“No!” Ford held Stan’s egg even tighter. Stan swirled around in the egg. Alarm flashed in the mermaid’s eyes.

“Okay, okay,” she said. “I won’t take ‘im. But I think that it might be best if ya come with us to our house, at least fer the night. It’ll get dark soon. The guppy eels come out when the light fades.”

“G-guppy eels?” Ford stammered.

“They eat eggs ‘n guppies,” the merman said. Ford’s heart leapt into his throat. “Are ya goin’ to come with us, stranger?” Ford swallowed.

“I don’t really have any other choice,” he mumbled. The merman patted him on the back.

“That’s the spirit. Don’t worry, we’ve got plenty of room fer the both of ya.”

-----

By the time Ford and the merfolk arrived at their destination, a large underwater cliff face, he was exhausted. Not just physically, though the swim had been more taxing than he expected. He was also mentally weary from the immense amount of information he’d learned from the merfolk. Apparently, humans did turn into mers on rare occasions, but when they did, they kept their belly buttons. In addition, mer eggs were laid in massive clutches and kept in something called a “guppy basket”. His hosts had assured him that they had a guppy basket where Stan could go.

But he’s not leaving my sight. The merman, whose name was Lute, looked at Ford with some amusement.

“Yer a bit out of shape, ain’t ya?” he asked. The mermaid, who was named Angie, punched him.

“Be nice,” she chided. Ford’s initial assessment of the two being related was correct; they were siblings.

Not just siblings. Clutch-mates. From what Lute and Angie had told him, clutch-mate seemed to be the closest mer analog to a twin. Clutch-mates were siblings that hatched from the same clutch of eggs, though they sometimes hatched days apart.

“I’ll go alert the folks we’ve got a guest,” Lute said. He opened a door into the cliff that Ford hadn’t seen and ducked inside. Ford looked askance at Angie.

“It’s an optical illusion thing,” she said with a shrug. “Unless ya know where the entrance is, ya can’t find it.” Of the two siblings, she seemed the kinder and gentler, taking what Ford said at face value. Unlike her brother.

Though she could just be humoring me. I’m fairly certain they think I’m having some sort of nervous breakdown. Angie smiled at Ford, then opened the door. I’ll take humoring me over mocking me.

“C’mon on in,” she said. Ford reluctantly swam inside. He was in a pleasantly homey living room that, if it weren’t underwater, could be mistaken for belonging to a human family. Potted plants lazily swayed from small currents. A middle-aged merman and mermaid sat on a couch, speaking with Lute.

Presumably, these are Angie and Lute’s parents. One of the many things he’d been told during the swim was that merfolk lived with their parents until they had a mate, after which they would find their own place to live. As unmated merfolk, Angie and Lute had yet to move out. Lute was a carbon copy of his father, with the exception of his tail color; his father’s tail was blue. Angie looked exactly like her mother, down to her tail color, but had her father’s large nose.

“This must be the poor young man you found,” said their mother, catching sight of Ford. She got up from the couch and swam over to him. “Hmm…” She looked him up and down. “What’s your name, son?”

“S-Stanford Pines.”

“That’s not a mer surname,” the mother commented idly, still looking at Ford with a thoughtful gaze. “But it is a human one.” She smiled. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Sally MerGucket, but if ya like, ya can call me Mrs. MerGucket.”

“Mrs. MerGucket,” Ford mumbled. Mrs. MerGucket nodded.

“My mate Mearl is on the couch.” Mr. MerGucket smiled warmly at Ford. “It looks like you could use a guppy basket fer that egg.”

“No, he’s going to stay with me,” Ford said firmly.

“Of course he will,” Mrs. MerGucket said, sounding surprised. “The basket will go in the same room ya sleep in.”

“…Oh.”

“Come with me, dear. I’ll show you to yer room fer the night.” Mrs. MerGucket took Ford’s hand and led him out of the living room, down a hall, and into what was clearly a guest bedroom of sorts. Under normal circumstances, Ford would ask a million questions about the furniture in the room, particularly the bed, with a frame made of what appeared to be living coral.

I don’t feel much like asking questions right now, though. Ford looked down at Stan’s egg. Through the membrane, he could see Stan sucking his thumb. Mom always hated when he did that.

“Stanford.” Ford looked up. Mrs. MerGucket sat on the edge of the bed. She patted the bed. “Sit with me.” Reluctantly, Ford swam over and sat next to her. “May I?” Mrs. MerGucket held out her hands. Ford shook his head, keeping Stan close. “That’s quite all right.”

“You don’t believe me, do you?” Ford asked quietly. “That I used to be human. Your children certainly don’t.”

“Yes, they’re convinced that ya hit yer head,” Mrs. MerGucket said. “They were worried fer yer health, as well as the health of the egg, since a confused guardian ain’t a safe one.”

“You’re dodging the question.”

“I didn’t mean to.” Mrs. MerGucket sighed. “Stanford, I believe ya.” Ford’s head whipped up. He stared at her. “I suspect my children would, too, if they weren’t used to human behaviors.” Ford frowned.

“What do you mean?” he asked. Mrs. MerGucket gestured to her torso. Ford’s eyes widened. Unlike her mate and children, Mrs. MerGucket had a belly button. “You’re…”

“Yes. I used to be human. Since I helped to raise my children, they don’t realize yer behaviors ‘n tendencies ‘re human through ‘n through. But I’ve spent enough time among merfolk to tell ya used to be human, too.” Mrs. MerGucket looked at Ford thoughtfully. “Well. Either that, or ya were raised by humans. But I suspect you’d be a tad more traumatized, were that the case.”

��I’m feeling fairly traumatized at the moment,” Ford mumbled. Mrs. MerGucket put her hand on his shoulder.

“Son, you can stay here as long as ya like, okay?”

“I just want things to be the way they were yesterday,” Ford whispered.

“I understand. Unfortunately, I ain’t sure whether there’s a way to do that. But we’ll do our best to help. Once we hear yer story from ya, rather than from Lute, we’ll have a better idea of what happened to ya. But that can wait until you’ve had some rest. You ‘n that lil egg have been through a lot today.”

“Yes,” Ford said, his voice breaking. “We have.”

“I’ll bring ya the guppy basket to put the egg in, okay? And once that’s done, ya can get some sleep.” Ford nodded woodenly. Mrs. MerGucket left the room.

“Stanley,” Ford whispered helplessly to the egg that had been his brother. “What- what are we going to do?” Stan offered no answers, merely curling up tightly within his egg.

-----

Stan’s egg rocked back and forth within the guppy basket.

“Be patient,” Ford chided as he combed his hair. He’d learned the hard way that if he didn’t comb regularly, small crustaceans would take up residence in his thick curls. After spending a few months with the MerGuckets, he felt more or less settled as a merman.

At the very least, I feel less like a fish out of water. Ford managed a small smile at the almost pun. Every day, he learned more about merfolk and mer society from the MerGuckets. They had yet to determine what sea creature had transformed him and Stan, however, and as a result, were no closer to reversing the process. I suspect Mrs. MerGucket was right. What happened to us can’t be remedied. His good mood evaporated. Stanley and I are stuck. Said stuck egg abruptly rolled in the basket.

“I told you to calm down,” Ford said, swimming over. He wasn’t sure how much Stan was aware of in the egg, nor how much he would recall when hatched, but couldn’t shake the habit of talking to the egg like nothing had changed. Like Stan was still his stubborn, adult self. “I’ll put you in the sling in a moment.” The egg rolled again. “Fine!” Ford grabbed the egg sling off his dresser and put it on. While it was impossible to carry an entire clutch in an egg sling, merfolk used them to keep close eggs they were concerned about.

Luckily, I only have one egg, so transporting the full clutch isn’t an issue. Ford froze. No. Did I just- did I just think of Stan as being my child?

“Everything all right in here?” a voice asked. Ford looked over his shoulder. Fiddleford treaded water in the doorway, smiling at him. A few days after Ford came to the MerGucket home, Fiddleford, Angie and Lute’s older brother, had returned home from an internship. Very quickly, Fiddleford had become Ford’s favorite of the MerGucket children. Angie was kind and quite brilliant, but rambunctious in a way that reminded Ford of Stan and was thus painful to be around for long. Lute was abrasive and curt, and still didn’t seem convinced Ford was telling the truth.

Fiddleford, however, was gentle and warm, with an intellect to rival Ford’s. The fact that Fiddleford was obsessed with human culture, and thus fascinated by Ford’s stories, only served to deepen their connection.

“Yes, everything’s quite all right,” Ford said. He carefully placed Stan’s egg in the sling. “Stan’s just being difficult this morning.” Fiddleford swam over, frowning.

“He’s just an egg. How could he be difficult?”

“Oh, he’s been moving around a lot.”

“He…” Fiddleford’s eyes widened. “How long has this been goin’ on?”

“A couple of days. Why?”

“Stanford, eggs start movin’ when they’re gettin’ ready to hatch,” Fiddleford said gently. Ford’s mouth dropped open. “I reckon ya might want to put the egg back in the basket.” Numb, Ford did as he was told, removing Stan’s egg from the sling and gently setting it inside the guppy basket. The egg began to rock and roll in earnest. Finally, a tiny hand punched through the egg’s membrane.

“He’s…” Ford whispered. His voice failed him as he watched a newborn mer crawl through the hole. “He’s…”

“Quite the looker,” Fiddleford said quietly. The newborn mer, with fins and scales a drab green color, scrunched up his face and began to cry.

“What- what do I-” Ford asked desperately. Fiddleford scooped up the newborn mer and gently placed him in the egg sling Ford still wore.

“Newborn guppies like to be held,” Fiddleford said.

Right. Mer children are referred to as guppies. And they don’t get their mature scale and fin colors until adolescence. Ford stared down at the guppy curled up in the sling. He was the spitting image of old family pictures of Stan. Which makes sense, given that he is Stan. Ford hesitantly stroked the guppy’s cheek. The guppy leaned into the movement with a soft crooning sound. …Is he?

“Is somethin’ wrong?” Fiddleford asked hesitantly.

“I…” Ford swam over to his bed and sat down. Fiddleford followed, sitting next to him. “I think that some part of me expected the Stan I knew to hatch from the egg. That he would be himself, with all his memories and quirks, but…a child.” His voice began to quiver. “That obviously isn’t the case. He’s my brother, but not- not really. Despite my best attempts, I’ve lost him.”

“Don’t think of it that way,” Fiddleford said. He placed his hand on Ford’s shoulder. “Think of it as him gettin’ a fresh start. Ya told me how yer pa wasn’t kind.”

“No, he wasn’t.”

“Well then, this is a chance fer him to get the kind of father he didn’t get the first time,” Fiddleford said gently. Ford swallowed.

“…Yes. I- I suppose you’re right.” He removed the guppy from the sling to nestle in his arms. The guppy looked up at him with curious brown eyes. Ford carefully removed stray bits of egg from the guppy’s thick, brown curls. “Hello.” The guppy cocked his head, interested. Ford held him close. “It’s good-” he started. His voice gave out. He took a deep breath and tried again. “It’s good to see you again, Stanley.”

#I haven't written MerGucket content in a hot minute! it's nice to write it again lol #even if it is for this unnecessarily complicated variation lmaoooo #but at least this is the intro for the AU so I don't have to explain it lol #Egg Stan AU #MerGucket AU #Stanford Pines #Lute McGucket #Angie McGucket #Ma McGucket #Fiddleford McGucket #McGucket Family #ficlet #my writing #my stuff #speecher speaks

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razzle-zazzle · 3 years

Text

1178 Words; Gamzee Lalonde AU; 13 years pre-SGRUB

Ariane looked at the egg she was in charge of as the incubator housing it beeped.

The egg had pipped, a long cut in the shell allowing the grub inside to stick its nose out and breathe lest it drown in its own embryonic fluid. Trolls were like reptiles in that way.

And indeed, a small gray nose was already poking out, snot bubbles forming as it took its first breaths.

It was a shame Ms. Lalonde couldn't be here—the egg was technically placed under her care, but she was off on maternity leave with her two month old daughter. As a result, Ariane and Serril had been trading off watch duty.

The egg shuddered, the tear widening further. Unlike most reptiles, who might not come out for a full twenty-four hours after pipping, trolls were much faster in hatching. And indeed, right before Ariane's eyes, a small grey head was forcing its way out, chirring and honking softly as it went.

Ariane sent out an alert to Ms. Lalonde and the other personnel in charge of this egg. Within moments, the room was abuzz with activity as researchers took readings and prepared equipment for the new hatchling. Normally, who—or what—ever delivered the eggs delivered them in batches; not only was this egg the first to arrive in years but it was delivered alone, with only a name, a sign, and a honk horn.

Ariane didn’t ponder on the mysterious benefactor for long—it was much better to let such a detail go unquestioned, so long as eggs kept being delivered and none of the trolls were taken away. But she did glance over the file for the critter, taking note of its name and sign: Gamzee Makara, Capricorn.

Ariane only stuck around long enough to watch the little creature wriggle out of its shell, leaving once the nurses moved in to clean the grub and give it a physical—it wasn’t Ariane’s job to supervise, and she didn’t particularly care for grubs.

Out in the hallway, away from all the noise, Ariane leaned against the wall and took a breath. Her hands were still shaking, though, and Ariane fumbled through her sylladex for a stress ball.

Fuck, she needed her moirail.

That was about the moment that Serril—perfect, pitiable Serril—showed up, likely eager to see the newly-hatched grub.

“Ariane!” Serril immediately took in the situation and came to a stop in front of their moirail, one hand already gently papping between the bases of Ariane’s horns. “Too many people, huh?”

Jade eyes met cerulean. Ariane smiled, cupping Serril’s cheek in one hand. “I’d say I held out pretty well, this time.” She leaned forward, touching her forehead to Serril��s, which had the wonderful benefit of touching their horns together.

Serril chuckled. “Wanna jam?”

“You should go see the grub first.” Ariane said. “I’ll be fine out here for a few moments.”

“You sure?” Serril leaned back, taking Ariane’s hands in their own. “I can always go back to look at it later.”

Ariane shook her head. “You came all this way to see it, and you didn’t even get to watch it hatch.” She nodded towards the door. “Go on. I’ll be fine.”

“Alright,” Serril giggled, “But if you’re not fine when I come back out then I’ll have to pap you out of existence for lying to me, okay?”

Ariane snorted. “Just go!”

<+><+><+><+><+>

“Serril Roscor, reporting for duty!” Serril grinned brightly, standing at attention.

Roxanne Lalonde giggled, passing off her infant daughter for Serril to hold. They immediately started cooing at Rose, eyes alight with delight and adoration.

Roxanne nodded, and began walking down the halls, Serril close on her heels.

“It’s a shame you couldn’t be there for the hatching, Ariane told me that Gamzee was quick to crawl out. And he’s a real cutie, too!” Serril rambled, “You really lucked out, getting chosen as his primary caretaker. Especially since his egg was the only one we’ve gotten in years.”

Roxanne nodded, taking note of one of the groups they passed in the hall—Diantha Watterson and Silika Lillit, with the six youngest wrigglers following after them. Daycare service. Serril gave the group of four year olds an adoring glance, but remained at Roxanne’s side.

One of the children toddled up to Roxanne anyway, and she paused to smile at him. Arkhal Poiple grinned up at her, fins fluttering. “Is it true that there’s a new grub?”

“Yes, dear.”

“And you’re gonna be its foster momma?”

Roxanne nodded.

“Arkhal,” Diantha called out, “Let’s not distract Ms. Lalonde from her job, okay sweetie?”

Arkhal nodded and returned to the group of wrigglers. Roxanne and Serril continued along their way.

“God, wrigglers are always so cute,” Serril gushed, “And don’t get me wrong, I love working at the lab full time, but oh do I wish I could be stationed at Site B and work with all the little ones in the community sometimes, they’re all so cute~.”

They came to a stop in front of door C491, and Roxanne fished out her keycard to unlock it.

Serril shifted Rose in their arms to hold her better as they entered the room. “Aw, but you already know all of this, don’t you? Because you’re an A-Class researcher and all. And it's not like I haven't rambled about children before.”

Roxanne nodded, and they were approached by two of the nurses: Vera and Dreska.

“Ms. Lalonde.” Dreska greeted, nodding his head slightly. Roxanne returned the greeting with a nod of her own.

“May I see him?” Roxanne asked. Vera nodded, leading her over to the bassinet.

Inside, curled up and asleep, was a small indigo grub. Roxanne lifted Gamzee gently, smiling warmly.

“Hello, little one,” She cooed, recalling the data she’d been given upon arrival. A fully healthy grub, from the indigo caste; thirteen inches and nine pounds; no outstanding or more subtle health conditions; and, most peculiarly, this egg had been delivered alone, with no eggs in the months between arrival and hatching.

Gamzee yawned, shifting slightly in Roxanne’s arms. The little grub—and oh, he was so tiny, were all newly hatched grubs this small?—blinked open violet eyes, honked—

And bit Roxanne’s finger, drawing a few tiny beads of blood.

Roxanne snorted. “Oh, so that’s how you’re going to be.” She teased, carefully prying her finger free from Gamzee’s mouth. Dreska took Gamzee from Roxanne while Vera grabbed a bandage.

“Here,” Vera said, “Let’s take care of that.” Roxanne waited patiently as Vera disinfected and bandaged the cut.

Roxanne looked towards Gamzee, who had been placed back in the bassinet and was honking his protest. Serril had moved to stand over the bassinet, and grinned. “Sorry buddy, but if you do the crime then you gotta do the time.”

Roxanne chuckled, looking down at her new charge. Gamzee wouldn’t actually be leaving the labs for the first six months of his life, so daily visits would be required to familiarize him with her and Rose.

Roxanne could tell that she would enjoy caring for them both quite a lot.

#homestuck #gamzee lalonde au #ariane circel #serril roscor #zaz writes #this isn't really gamzee-centric but like #i'd say it introduces the au well enough #decided to cut the mega-post into parts and queue them #mom lalonde #silika lillit #diantha watterson #arkhal poiple #vera achilles #dreska kamone

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pillow-anime-talk · 4 years

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my anime crush.

synopsis: As an anime fan, you have your favorite 2D boy. At the same time, your own boyfriend is jealous of him. LMAO.

# tags: scenarios; current relationships; romance; comedy; fluff; boys as attention whores; maybe spoilers??; sfw

includes: female reader ft. shoto todoroki, izuku midoriya, katsuki bakugo, denki kaminari & eijirou kirishima {bnha}

— SHOTO (ft. Roy Mustang)

shobby; Hello, Y/N. Would you like to come on a date with me?

You looked at the phone and the message from your boyfriend, then at your laptop screen and sighed.

you; I’m sorry, love. I have a date with Mustang today. We can go tomorrow <3 Love u.

You answered quickly, then turned off the phone and resumed watching the next episode of ‘Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood’. There was a lot of your favorite character at this arc, so unfortunately you couldn’t stop watching it right now! ‘Sorry, baby!’

Todoroki, on the other hand, had been staring at his smartphone’s screen for two or three... or maybe four minutes, probably not catching your joke about your alleged date with a non-existent 2D character. Only after long thought he decide to go to your room in the dorm.

Shoto expected everything; that you will be getting ready for a mentioned date, that you’re drunk or something, that you will cry while devising a plan to break up with him... but he certainly didn’t expect that you will lie on the bed hugging a large and fluffy dakimakura with the anime character’s face and body.

“Y/N?”

You glanced to the side, pausing the anime episode, and raised an eyebrow. “Oh. Hi?”

“What are you doing?”

“I have a date. I wrote it, remember?” You laughed softly as you sat on the bed. “You want to join?” You asked, but seeing his surprised expression, you decided to explain it. “I just watch anime, Sho. It’s a inside joke that you ‘go on a date’ with your favorite character when you just watch your favorite title. And my favorite character is Roy Mustang! Come here, please and watch it with me.”

After a short while, you played a few seconds of the anime for your boyfriend, and he raised his left eyebrow.

“Why you like this ‘Roy Mustang’ if you have me? Plus, my power is much better and I don’t need gloves to activate my quirk.”

You looking in shock at the boy, then blushed hardly. A moment later you grabbed his hand and pulled him to you, hugging him.

‘I guess, I just like hot guys Shoto-kun.’ You thought, still hugging Todoroki.

— IZUKU (ft. Genos)

“Y/N why do you like this Robot-Man more than me?” Izuku pouted so you looked at him in big surprise. For a moment you didn’t know what the young High School student was talking about, but after the next few seconds you realized he meant your favorite 2D boy – Genos.

“I never said I liked him more than you, baby.” You laughed softly as you looked again at the black and white page of the manga, which showed the changing pictures and the fight of your favorite hero with the huge scolopendre-like monster.

“B-But... You keep reading about him, you have him on your wallpaper, you have his photos on wall, and you even cry to him while watching anime. Not to mention that you’ve watched this title about eighteen times already...! You love him more than me! I’m so sad, Y/N-chan!”

You raised your left eyebrow, laughing softly, looking at the book again and then closing it with a little, colorful bookmark. Of course, the bookmark with the image of Genos. Lmao.

“Izu-kun... No offence, but you know that well – all your room is in All Might’s things; bedding, mugs, pens, carpet and posters. When we kiss there, I can feel his smile and eyes on me. All. The. Time.” You said honestly, causing his pouty cheeks to flush after a short while, like two huge red ripe apples from an orchard.

“Yeah... B-But...”

“Anyway, I like this manga also because the main character looks like you. He also beats the villains with one punch! You should read this with me... I think you will like it, baby.”

This one, simple sentence was enough to interest Midoriya, who was (yeah, let’s face it) obsessed with physically strong characters/heroes/people.

Unfortunately, after a short time you turned your boyfriend into a monster who started buying various ‘One Punch Man’ stuff... Mr. Yagi Toshinori had a competition from now. Lol.

— KATSUKI (ft. Tobio Kageyama)

“Stop watching this shit and go out on a date with me.”

“Leave me alone! They’re playing an important game with Shiratorizawa Academy right now! I can’t, I just can’t! I have to support my favorite team!” You squeaked as your boyfriend pulls your leg and tries to pull you out of the safe ‘nest’ on the bed. “Katsuki! LEAVE ME ALONE, YOU BASTARD.”

“Shitty woman, let’s go on a date.”

“Piss off, let me spend time with my beautiful volleyball players! I missed them.” You almost cry holding onto the wooden bed frame while kicking your boyfriend in the face. “Let me finish watching the game and we’ll go on that date. I promise. I PROMISE.” You add quietly, looking at the screen again.

Bakugo snorted loudly, finally sitting down on your white carpet and leaning back against the bed. Then he took out his phone to browse his social media, but shortly afterwards he speaks back again. His raspy voice was irritated.

“I just don’t understand why you like that anime and that black-haired idiot so much... Like, I’m better in every fucking way.”

“Don’t offend Kageyama, you stupid ass.” You growled, poking him with your foot. “I like him because he’s so handsome and cute. He’s tall, he can play volleyball, he has beautiful, blue eyes...” You started exchanging softly, blushing, which made your boyfriend mad.

After a moment was heard a sound of a laptop hatch closing loudly in the room.

“KATSUKI, YOU SON OF A BITCH. I HATE YOU.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway. We’re going on a date. Now.”

— DENKI (ft. Takumi Usui)

“CJSDDKJDKVIDOLVDFK!”

The blonde boy looked at you with a very scared expression on his face. When he saw the tears in your shiny eyes and the blush on your both cheeks, he approached you, asking if you were all right.

“Nothing’s alright, Denki!” You screamed out, stopping the episode of ‘Kaichou wa Maid-sama!’ and then looking back at your still worried boyfriend. “Usui kissed Misaki. I don’t know what to do with myself. I’M SO JEALOUS!” You squealed as you grabbed your warm forehead. “I’d like to kiss him too!” You added, causing the fear on his face to turn into surprise and confusion.

“Baby, I... Huh?”

“I would like to be a character in this anime. Life is hard, Denki. Life is painful.” You sighed, glancing at the colorful screen again.

After a while, however, you felt a warm touch on your hand, and then a gentle tug of your body towards the blonde’s chest. You looked at him questioningly, but before you could ask what he was doing, your man pulled you even closer, finally kissing your sweet lips. The kiss was gentle, slow and sweet; it was that kind you liked mostly and personally.

When you pulled away from Kaminari, he smiled at you, tucking unruly strands from your head behind one of your reddy ears.

“You may not live in the same anime as Usui, but at least you live next to me. It’s nice, isn’t it, Y/N?”

Your cheeks flushed even more than a few minutes ago, when you watched the last episode of your favorite title with interest. So you nodded gently. “That’s very nice, thank you, cutie.”

— EIJIROU (ft. Light Yagami)

“Y/N, why do you like this bad and nasty man so much?” Kirishima looked at you, and you paused the third episode, looking at him with amusement in your both, bright eyes.

“He’s not bad at all. He does justice as he sees fit.” You ate some popcorn and the boy pouted. “Hm? What’s wrong, baby?”

“I just don’t understand why you like this anime so much... There are much more enjoyable series! Honey, please, let’s watch ‘Pokémon’ or something where good and love wins. Pretty please.”

“But, you know that I don’t like this kind of anime or manga. I prefer what I’m watching now, Eiji-kun.”

“Yes, but you know it by heart!” He said reproachfully, and you shrugged your shoulders again. Kirishima gave up for a few more moments, watching your cute face, which with each second of the episode turned to an expression of admiration and big as heck stress. It was kind of cute in his own eyes, but still... Why did you like someone who killed others so much! After all, you were supposed to be a pro-hero, not someone who kills people for your own judgment and fun.

Out of the corner of your eye, of course, you could see your red-haired boy’s wrinkled face, so you tapped his warm hand and smiled softly as you looked at him.

“Umm... If you want you can hug me, baby. It’ll definitely be nicer to watch all these murders. I guess.” You whispered, to which the High School student laughed out loud and immediately executed your soft words.

Eijiro cuddled up against your thighs, and your hand automatically combed his soft, red hair, which weren’t now styled with a hair gel or gum.

‘Well.’ If, while watching the actions of the evil-like Light, Kirishima could hug you and kiss your hands, he may turn a blind eye to Kira’s awful behavior.

#— 🍁#boku no hero academia #my hero academia imagines #my hero academia x reader #boku no hero imagines #boku no hero x reader #bnha imagines #bnha #bnha x reader #bnha x you #todoroki shoto x reader #izuku midoria x reader #bakugou x reader #denki kaminari x reader #kirishima eijiro x reader

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rpausandwhatifs · 4 years

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Is This What You Call...Safety?|| Hush Hush

A/N: This is for my friend Jayde for her belated birthday! Enjoy bb!

@ledabunnie-rp @nevergoodenoughforthetruth

Vincent had came to work, but he had gone through his load entirely too fast. He was mostly at the hands of one guy- and he was the host. However, it was too late to really think about it before the drugs had set in, causing the man to stumble and fumble as the pills he took before the party mixed with the lean in the cup he finished while making sales. He was a blurry mess and somehow guided his way to the closest bathroom he found in a part of this rented house where most of the goers in this area were having sex or chatting it up so they could hear. He pushed past them, going into the first open door and falling into it. “Oh..fuck..” he muttered as he almost collided with the wall, feeling the tile and touching the wall as the spinning continued and he found his way into the toilet, vomiting immediately before finding the flush lever.

Leda forgot that she didn’t lock the door, so the really cute boy in the skin tight chinos and boots with the long hair barged in it scared her half to death. She put her 3DS down and slid her headphones off, about to bang on the glass chamber that was the stand alone shower until something stopped her and it just made her watch the man try to recover as he lit a cigarette.

The man propped himself up and crawled to the top of the toilet and threw the lid down as he took another drag, trying to see where the light switch was even though there was a hue of red and purple from the string lights. Quickly giving up on his adventure he threw up one more time into the bowl and sat up on the closed toilet, dragging his cigarette while he let the cool porcelain calm him down. He heard the distant movements in the shower and pryed one eye open to barely see a girl with turquoise hair in a rave outfit with a backpack or something staring at him in a clear box. "Who's in the shower?" He calls out, rocking his head back and forth fighting the nausea.

"I'm here in spirit..I don't exist," Leda said back, weary at how he was able to spot her.

"That's the most human thing I've ever heard from a spiritual entity," he laughs and scoffs, "That's a cute voice you got, you have a name oh spirit?"

"I'm... not telling you that.." she said, "And you die from a heart attack in here im not saving you."

"Are...you... you're in here.. you're human- fuck i can't see- are you in the shower? Is that why you sound like that?" He asked with a small joke, "Wanna cigarette?"

"Maybe.. if you can't see then how are you smoking and offering me one?" She challenged him.

"Muscle memory. You'd be surprised how many things you can do automatically.. Just with your arms and hands..." he trailed off, "Also you didnt drink out of the cup when you got here? You sound like... crazy sober."

"No..I didn't, Felix told me about it before the party and I just-"

"Wanted to keep your clout you came to this party even though you didn't want to, but you didn't wanna let your friends down, but you didnt wanna just sit at home on a Friday night again..I heard something close, did you bring a video game?" He said.

"Shut the fuck up, Vincen-"

"Ohhh you do know me... interesting. It must be because of Felix... speaking of, wonder who he's got down his throat...Ah, I'll worry about it later...I thought I knew his friends.." he muses, I would remember an ethereal voice like yours.."

"I...I..." she was stuck, she shouldn't have said his name, "Thanks for the compliment, can you go back to quietly being too fucked up on drugs to acknowledge me now?"

"Actually...I've overstayed my welcome at this place anyway.. there's a guy in here and he's... less than thrilled his house got rented out for the debauchery that is horny college students," he mentioned, slowly lowering himself on the floor and crawling to Leda, placing himself against the wall, facing straight ahead with the girl in what would be his peripheral.

Leda's ears perked up, he knows there's a spirit in here? Was he just pulling her leg or what? His eyes were still closed but his voice sounded way better up closer than across the large bathroom. The crackles and creaks of it made her nervous. "There isn't anyone in here," she claims supposedly.

"No... he's dead. The house was sold to a PM that rents houses out for events and vacations..he likes the renovation though...He showed me he carried you in here," Vincent said, "You woke up and immediately tried to protect yourself in the shower."

"Now you're making shit up," she called out wrapping on the glass box.

"If I'm making shit up then how'd you get in here?" He asked and was met with silence, "You don't remember... do you?..He told me you just kinda walked out your house with the lights on.. guess he didn't want you to get hurt- but seriously, how did you not drink the syrup at the door?"

"I poured it out when no one was looking and washed out the cup with vodka and hoped an appletini would calm me down.. cus I got really anxious being around everybody pushing everyone and the music is too loud..." she started, drawing her knees to her chest, "He scared the shit out of me."

Vincent laughed, "Yeah that's how i was when i saw him standing in the middle of the room... Did you want the cigarette? Also i have a valium if you want one.."

Leda smiled when he laughed, feeling way better that someone other than her could see spirits and understood possession. She knew what valium was, and just one couldn't hurt with a cigarette cutting it up, "He tell you how he died?"

"Wife poisoned him.. then shot him.. didn't take the divorce very well... sounds like a gold-digging bitch anyway," Vincent said as he used his to light another for her.

"Wow... you don't wanna share?" She gasped quietly as she slid her hand out of a crack in the door to take the cig.

"That.. would mean I get closer... didn't think you'd want that.. you know who I am..I'm the drug dealer on this campus... You don't know what I'm capable of.." he warns her, finally looking into the glass at the door, "I sold all the things I have so anything at this point is personal stock.. but..I couldn't keep a freebie from a cutie like you holy shit...If I could see you like he showed me, I dunno if I could contain myself.. What color is your hair?" He leans into the glass as his head starts spinning again almost muttering his words. He gets up and takes out a Tic-Tac, fumbling his way to the sink and crunching on it as he washed his mouth out on the faucet, wetting his face and wiping it on a towel before bringing the damp cloth to the floor. He stumbled back to the huge glass chamber on his hands and knees, opening the door and crawling over her and excusing himself before settling next to her.

Leda was shaken to her core at his words, and forgot that he was probably on a few different drugs and high on something else. She couldn't get her mouth to open to create the words. She quickly forgot the question and watched with wide eyes as she no longer was terrified of opening the door when Vincent pushed it back and crawled to her. She was almost shaking as he excused himself. "Purple a-and pink," she stammered, "I have to dye it again..I'm doing black with tips.."

"Hm..i see," Vincent said with a weak nod, pushing his wet hair back again as he exhaled, "I'm sorry I'm trying to come down and this shit is coming in like... waves and.. fuck~"

"What is it specifically?" She asked, taking him in, he looks so interesting yet her eyes darted back to the toilet across the room, "And don't worry I don't need the valium right away..”

"Ah shit right.. the valium.. doing what weed has done for years since the 70s," he chided as he fished a pill bottle out of his pocket, then handing her two pills of different shape and color.

"What's that?" She quickly asked.

"Muscle relaxant..that's for you too..helps the valuim, no psychoactive side effects to speak of...reduces lactic acid," he mentioned, relighting her cig, "I have friends in pharmaceutical chemistry.. they really hook me up and in return they get paid in weed.. down the hatch."

Leda's heart was racing at how he sounded so close to her, lighting her up like a gentleman even as a slumped mess. She smoked quietly as he had fallen into another unconscious stupor while the drugs were doing their job. They were working faster than she expected. "Vincent..." she called to the ceiling, "I'm tired.."

"I thought you would be..i forgot to tell you it acts fast.. but you're fine I promise," he mentioned.

"No I feel amazing, I just...I need something soft to lay on," she sighed.

"How about we go to one of the suites?" He offered, "I can see now if my legs will work."

They get up, getting out of the bathroom in search for unoccupied rooms. Settling on the empty pool house, where they found an open skylight in the bathroom since the doors were locked. They bust in and find the bedroom, resuming their conversation in this California simple and dainty king bed.

"Why'd you lock the bathroom door?" She asked as she lit her own cig even though she just begged him for it.

"You always do that at college parties if you create another entrance to the bathroom.." he said simply laying back on the end of the bed with his legs planted to the floor, bending his head up to see the girl snuggled in his jacket, twisting his body to lay on his stomach, "uhhmm yeah, you lock the door behind you at any party because frat boys with give you a swirly or worse..or someone who's eager to use the bathroom and they're too fucked up to be aware so they do it on you-"

"Ugh that's gross!" She exclaimed, laughing lightly, really allowing herself to enjoy this guy that she barely knew and at most should have hated. He just was so sweet and up her alley for her to ever admit but he undoubtedly made an effort to come to this party for her. She hadn't realized until she looked down and saw him looking up at her again from her feet. She could kill for his eyes and the way he collapsed on her legs to just touch them, it was sending electricity as dull needy aches through her body. "Vincent~... what are you doing?"

"Admiring your body... listening to you talk.. thinking about how i can get my jacket back," he croaks stretching a little, lightly throwing his head back on the bed, "What you thinking?"

"Have you come down yet?" She asked cutely, and instantly panicked at her casual feelings of interaction with him.

"Not all the way, I'd have to sleep it off mostly or something...sex also resets the clock, but...we're not doing that," he mentions while he rubs his eyes, checking his phone.

Her chest caved when he mentioned sex, and even though he wasn't offering it up, she just wondered what it would feel like to be that close with a guy like him. If this is all he usually did, outside of being a homewrecker as she's heard, then maybe he's not a creep. Girls do lie in college for any reason, but always putting themselves at an advantage. "Uhh.." seeped out of her mouth before she bit her lip and tried to disguise that.

"You know I'm looking right at you, right?" He says to her, giggling at her embarrassment, "Don't feel like you have to...I know you've got a problem with peer pressure-"

"I don't!...I don't have a problem with peer pressure..shut up!" She bit at him.

"Rawr...calm down kitty cat, put the claws away..Im just saying. Me mentioning sex kinda made you think," Vincent said, "When's the last time you got some..if you have gotten any- cus I have came across a few virgins..."

"Were they virgins when you were done with them?" She asked tongue in cheek.

"Mostly. I respeected that they didn't want sex...and they're firm in their beliefs that they're still a virgin if thou therein whereto receive or produce cunnilingus... they just want neverending head. It's heroine to them," he explains gesticulating to make it interesting and twisting his voice.

"Isn't that a good thing?" She asked, loosening her grip on the pillow she was holding.

"I don't mind it... but sometimes they're horrible at head and that's all they can do. Girls at this school count the ass too, so even face-fucking is a far cry."

"Oh..okay...Uhhh..I haven't thought about it, honestly.. been kinda dealing with my issues over having sex. The stories I hear about hooking up really have weirded me out.." she's admitted.

"Are you a virgin?" He asked, exaggerating his inflection.

"Unfortunately no.. well, I consider myself a born-again...I don't really remember a lot of the sex I used to have, and since it was... traumatic, to say the least, I'd rather act like it didn’t happen and get more memorable experiences, cus...I heard it's fun if done right," she explained.

"It is...I'll keep it in mind.." he nodded with a smirk, sighing as a weak wave passed thru him.

"Yeah.. but.. you've peaked my curiosity, honestly," she jumped up to say, causing Vincent to turn his head and raise an eyebrow.

"I hardly think that's fair," he said with a giggle, "You took a valium and a muscle relaxant..you'll never cum or cum too much. Im fucked up, and not exactly of consenting or open to communicating during sex like you might need me to..."

"That's... true.. then why touch my legs if you weren't going to?" She asked, a little frustrated, kicking her legs a little.

"See? That's what I'm talking about!... Acting like a brat when you haven't asked for anything," he said, giggling.

"But...I..." she started, realizing herself that he was right.

"You didn't straight up ask for sex.. you implied that it interests you..I can't start anything off implications," he explained, sitting up.

"I know how consent works, don't fucking patronize me!" She snapped shoving his chest with her foot. He falls back and rolls his eyes, which makes her more riled up, throwing his jacket on the floor.

"Leda.. what the fuck?" He asked sitting up on his knees to look at his jacket, "What the hell is your problem?"

"Don't act all fucking innocent! I know you.. you're a damn dog and you would've had me 5 ways to Sunday by now! Rosanna told me how creepy and controlling you are-"

"Thaaaaat's who it is... see i knew it sounded familiar.. You're her rogue drone! I just didn't realize... are you spying on me? Did she send you?" He jumped up once he realized why she knew him, her name would come up with he spoke to Rosanna, possibly whenever they were speaking again.

"Wh-No! She's not even at this party! She's with Mark!" She fussed, "It doesn't mean she's wrong..."

"Uh that's exactly what the fuck it means-"

"Why should I listen to you?" She prodded, folding her arms.

"You've got this fucking far! Wouldn't you want to at least understand my side? Ms. Confectionery Prodigy got some skeletons of her own," he was quick to explain how they had a fleeting relationship that was mostly roleplay meetings and oral and heavy petting. Leda wasn't entirely convinced and he made her promise not to tell anyone before he showed their messages leading up until the first 3 months she was dating Mark. It was Ro no doubt. Her fantastical language and promptness in response, pastry emojis as her signature. Cookie's toys in her explicit pictures.

"That's ridiculous..so she just left you for dead?" Leda asked, knowing she just swore never to speak of this, but she had some questions because he'd seen a side of her not even Mark has seen. And probably never will. "Why?" She asked simply.

"Said I reminded her of her ex. She was in deep with the guy.. he was older so she felt like her freedom in her youth had kinda been held back, so she went after me and Mark because she just... found herself in the middle of being young at heart but feeling grown and confident...I guess.. but she's always worried about her lies being found out and she loves a secret if she can help it," he said with a shrug, "They way she spoke about him, I'd love to drink with him, but, she's just happy where she is and who was I to stop her? If she hadn't made me a villain then she would have lost everything- from her confidence to her credibility."

"So you just... leave her alone? That's..that's," Leda was almost at a loss, but it was both the most mature and childish and high school thing she had ever heard. This felt like the heaviest thing she's encountered in a while.

"Not for you to think about," Vincent said, quickly and low as he had inched closer to brush her hair behind her ear, "Humans are complex creatures.. weaving these dangerous webs of lies and history.. you should always worry about your own but don't ever give anyone the benefit of the doubt.."

Leda couldn't handle his gentle touch or his words, she wanted to still be mad and hate him for it but she didn't know how. She wanted to be mad at Ro for being such a hypocrite but most of that was pushed back when she felt his lips on her jawline. It made her shudder and lean into him, submitting herself into the kiss that could replace her first kiss. She wanted more, she wanted him. Her mouth pushed out little sounds against him, whining quietly when he pulled back and breathed with a smile. "Vincent~" she breathed, her head in a tizzy.

"You want it don't you?" He asked, his lower voice sending shivers through her body.

"Can I have more, though, ..of what you gave me?" She asked, "I-"

"Later, okay?.. You'll be fine without it," he interrupted her with a soft smile and backing up to give her space to breathe and rubbing her back.

“Uhm...I feel like-”

“You’re overwhelmed...it’s okay. You seem confused, and it scares you a little...”

“I wouldn’t say it scares me..I just have never related to someone I now wish I hadn’t met..so much so..Because..Rosanna...Rosanna would-” the girl gasped and controlled her hollow breathing, definitely happy she had his hand on her back to focus on.

“You don’t know what Rosanna would do..and you really thought you’d known her..is that it?” he asked.

“Y-Yes!..N-No~! I-I mean...I don’t know how I feel~ I’m really into you, but...but why me?!” she asked looking at him with slight exasperation.

“You look like you deserve not to be living in someone’s shadow just because you don’t see yourself that way,” he answered.

“Is that what you said to Rosanna?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

“No..what I said to Rosanna to start our whole fling is..vastly different from just us talking about a mutual friend-”

“What about my current state makes you think I’m gonna be friends with her-”

“You wouldn’t throw her away for me..”

Leda leered at the Vincent and clenched her jaw, knowing that this whole night was something she’d throw her whole life away just so she’d know where in the world he’d whisk her away to and for how long. “And what if I did?” she asked at a low whisper.

“What do you think you’d deserve for doing that? Because I definitely didn’t ask you to renounce your gods and join my great legion of the undead...”

“This would totally work if I was a Virgo or a Taurus, but I’m a Leo, so you must not understand-”

“I’m a Sagittarius, and I’m attempting to be very patient but since I know I don’t have to I’ll call you stupid to your face. That would be one of the dumbest decisions you could make but the fact that I make you feel like you’d rather make that decision than live with the ‘what-ifs’ or knowing that you could never look at Rosanna the same way again because I arouse you intellectually and emotionally-”

“Don’t forget sexually-”

“And sexual- Really?” Vincent looked over at her.

“You talk a lot, I see why she liked you...”

“You hate talking about yourself-”

“I can talk about myself-”

“You can’t even tell me you want to have sex with me let alone that you like me..also, I feel like that should be thought about after tonight...given the circumstances,” Vincent sitting up, backing away from her more. It causes the girl to stare at him at the loss of touch completely, pushing out a frustrated sigh. The air was tight to her, but Vincent rolled his eyes and pulled the glass rod from his jacket pocket in front of her and smoked out of it.

“So...could you maybe stop being an aloof prick and explain to me how to get laid?” she said while pulling the ponytail out of her hair and taking the rod from his fingers and smoking out of it.

“You want to fuck me specifically or you want some faceless hookup?” he asked giggling.

“What exactly is a faceless hookup, Vincent?” she asked, her eyes meeting his again for the first time in a while and still couldn’t keep herself together. His hand was gently over hers and she deciding on playing with his fingers, biting her lip.

“Well, first off, you’d have to take off your clothes...then I’d suggest a brief makeout session before first or second base- given that my way of doing these things is slow mostly-”

“I dunno if I have the patience for slow,” Leda said quickly as she slid off the side of the bed and stood up, pulling her pants down and deciding to undo the knot that kept her shirt up, hiding her midriff. Then got back to Vincent as he tried to watch, but his mind flowed with ideas. He pushed himself forward, planting his feet on the floor and taking off his boots. He looked up at Leda, who was waiting for him patiently, which made him smirk as he stood up and gave way to his jeans.

“You don’t have the patience for slow?” he echoed.

“Nah, never did. Guys usually don’t take their time with me or they had made up their minds already and I hadn’t gotten a choice,” she explained, hoping her shirt hid her thighs rubbing together at the crooner in front of her. She could feel her anxiety rise in an interesting way as Vincent saw right through her. “Vincent-” she didn’t mean to breathe.

He raised his eyebrows as he heard the wind whisper his name, and he quickly moved around her to make the back of her more aligned to the back of the bed. She gasped a little as she heard his phone and wallet hit the nightstand and did a magician’s gesture to make a condom appear between his fingers, “Not yet, though.”

“Why?” she asked.

“You tell me,” he said, gently taking her waist into his hands and Leda could barely hold in her exhale and moan as it felt so slight as her body moved into it. All of the thoughts started flooding and so did the memories. She felt like he could be there at any second, but there was Vincent blocking him. Her body ached a bit at how he just froze. “Your lips look so soft and plush..and I like your hair down like this.”

The girl tried to hide, but it was met with another squeeze, “V-Vincent~” she sputtered as he kept yanking her out of her head, feeling the muscle relaxants and the weed mix.

“You alright, babe?” he asked softly in her ear, being sure to not touch her elsewhere. Leda didn’t understand why she felt this way.

“No..” her voice shook as she gulped, “My head’s going crazy but my body’s not..and I want to be terrified, but that’s..just..not what I’m feeling...What was in that tube thing?..” She finally asked.

“Weed obviously...not even the stuff I sold tonight. It’s a preview from the guy I buy off of-”

“I don’t really smoke grass-”

“Is it because THC can be a psychostimulant?”

“Ye-yes!..I feel like-” she cut herself off and took in his cologne instead. She couldn’t let him know what all she was thinking. It wouldn’t make sense. She would look more certifiably crazy then. Her mouth pushed out half of moan as she exhaled his scent where she tasted the cigarette and the fact they had been at a college house party.

“I was gonna tell you to take a deep breath but you did it already-”

“Are you...Are you gonna fuck me or not?” she balled up her fists.

“If you would let me fucking finish and stop interrupting me solely to say something that would piss me off then yes!” Vincent said as he let her sides go and folded his arms.

“Not my fault you drugged me and are taking your time..” she folded hers and looked away from him, not wanted to meet his eyes.

“So what, I was supposed to brazenly assau- Ooooohhhhhh....You’re not mad at me..And...I just became mad at myself for realizing it-”

“What?” she asked, whipping her head towards his.

“You don’t know how to enjoy it, because you’ve never been given the option..nor the opportunity,” he mentioned, returning his hands to her sides quickly.

“What?!” Leda asked, more surprised and now sent back through those thoughts of him touching her again, “You do-don’t know if I-”

“You told me you did..I dunno if it changed..did it?” putting slightly more pressure to allow her to embrace him.

“Ugh~..no..” she once again cursed herself on the inside from only getting a hug from being revved up by his hands lingering on her waist and lower back. Part of her just wanted to let go, or at least tell him to- since part of her completely trusted him. He passed the tests. He was so close to figuring her out and it angered her how clandestine he could carry himself through it all. Her body relaxed into the long hug and waited for this to not be real. For Vincent to pop a hard-on or something so that she knew he was doing all of this because he was still plastered and wanted to bed her. It was hard to expect him to do that when he would talk and his hands wouldn’t really move. And when he moved he tried to stay quiet. Leda’s arms started to move once again, snaking her arms up and crossed them behind his neck, “B-be...be gentle, alright?” she pulled back slightly to meet his eyes- gods those eyes- and his hair in his face before kissing him.

Leda was at Vincent’s again, no longer afraid of him or his touch, if anything, he’s the only one whom she trusted. Before she would be ready to fight if anyone tried to touch her, and obviously Vincent was given exclusive access. However, Vincent had to always do something to salvage their experiences, and there were times where he didn’t have it in him.

The fresh couple lived through such a visceral honeymoon stage that Leda couldn’t think that a guy could have loved her more than the one who was after Cameron. She tried so hard not to think about it. One evening Leda was excitedly waiting for Vincent in the car while he made a sale. This is how they started dating and it just became something she found herself doing before she stopped staying in her dorm and sleeping at Vincent’s apartment. He came back and put everything in the trunk before getting in the car and only resting his head in his arms over the steering wheel with a huge sigh.

“Baby..you ok?” she asked as she sat up and rubbed his back.

“No..” he said quietly, desperately trying to keep himself together.

“Well..we..we gotta go..or..are we going somewhere?” Leda said, looking up and looking around.

“I have to go back in there...It’s not like..I mean you don’t care right?” he finally says when he sits up and pushes his hair back.

“How can you even ask me that question?” Leda looked at him, coming off louder than she expected, “What do you mean?”

“We’re not...This isn’t..Look it’s a party in there and...I wanna be single tonight. Like my boss, he’s- fucking treating me to the party in there and I can’t tell him you’re in here and you don’t do parties so-”

“I never said I don’t do parties. I don’t do party drugs and uncomfortable situations-”

“Your whole life is an uncomfortable situation, Leeds,” Vincent chuckles lightly, reaching in a pocket for his cig he started before he went in the first time, “It’s not gonna take me that long, babe..”

“Wait! You’re actually going back to the party?” she pushed her hand on his chest, then shook her head slowly, “What the fuck?”

“I’m going back in, yes. To enjoy the party? No...To probably get my dick sucked by a drunk Sean McLoughlin cus he’s been walled up and he said he would?..Yea-” he gave her some theatrics before turning away.

“NOO!” she snatched his shoulder, “Are you fucking kidding me?!”

“What? You’re not going to do anything about it. And it’s not gonna change anything with..us..per say...it’s just I’m having sex with Sean tonight,” he tried to explain.

“I’m not fucking stupid! That’s if I allowed you to! Who put you at the head of this relationship?” she looked at him, perplexed and angry.

“Who put you at the head of this relationship? Listen, half of this problem is the fact that I fuck other people. The other half would be the disrespect of dishonesty and I’m not giving you that!” he said trying to deescalate the situation.

Leda was so upset and couldn’t believe that he was just trying to brush off cheating in her face. He had brought up a few good points, so maybe he doesn’t understand how this hurts her, “Ok but you’re not respecting my additional choices, the fact that I may feel some type of way about it- You just came in here and told me you’re gonna fuck Sean!”

“Is it because it’s Sean specifically?” he asked, pulling back a little.

“Urgh! No! Well-..no, because...I should call Mark because he should be home right now,” Leda tried to say, feeling caught up by his question and now enraged that she felt anything because he was still in the wrong.

“We can drop him off,” he shrugged and chuckled before looking over to her, “Oh come on! I wouldn’t not stop the car or anything like that. I’d make sure he’s sober or at least hydrated...but he looks like he could blow off some steam and he gets a safe ride home. You can bring him in his dorm, tuck him in, let Mark know he got back in one piece- fuck! Knowing Musclebound Buffpants he’s probably on his way because Sean probably called him accidentally on purpose.”

“He’s with Ro tonight..she told me he’s being held hostage for the night,” she interjected with not as much energy, “Why won’t you take him in? You’re the guy!”

“I’m in the running to apply for Alpha president..I don’t have good luck with being seen in a good light..You know that, you came from the factory,” Vincent scoffed, before finishing the cig and flicking the butt out of the window and blowing the smoke with it, “And so because Ro is with her future husband, you have to play pretend with me?”

“No! Can’t we just...like hang out?! What the fuck is your problem?” Leda snapped at him, throwing her hands up.

“This! This moment right now and everything about it is my problem, Leda!” Vincent snapped back, “Answer me this, am I your boyfriend?”

“No, I-”

“Right. Not your boyfriend. And you’re not my girlfriend. You won’t let us call us an us...and why is that again?”

“Because you’re a fucking prick.”

“Ah no..sorry, we were looking for you care too much about Ro’s opinion and your social status with her friendship.”

“No I fucking don’t! I don’t need to be with her like that!” she defended weakly.

“Listen, if you don’t like what I’m doing then take my car and do whatever the fuck you want and I’ll call you in an hour. Go back to my place, go fuck someone else, go have a some weird lesbian fantasy about your best friends and deny it in an attempt to keep them because you know you don’t have a chance. Go hang with someone else, actually fucking take your meds and do your homework for once-”

“Shut up, Vincent!” she yelled as she shoved him, causing him to abruptly get up, slamming the door shut and wrangling his car key off his ring and tossing it in the car. Leda had screamed when he shut the door, holding her arms up defensively as she heard the keys fly into the car through the driver’s window and hit the dashboard.. the girl cried for several minutes and contemplated going into the party, but it was too dangerous. She realized she shouldn’t have come with him. She takes his car and has a night out of her own, knowing Charlie was probably aching for some human contact.

Vincent couldn’t believe he actually was able to move in. He was already so excited to be the Alpha house president, even if not everyone agreed with him. Rosanna dutifully worked under him and kept herself busy, vowing to herself and to Mark that they almost never see one another unless it concerns the house. Vincent could still see every moment they had together. He doesn’t ignore her lingering looks and touches while they tried to quickly check and proof records and evaluations and documents for the house. She didn’t regret no looking back when she could still steal glances from the very corners of her eyelids and faintly think of Mark for a second. Allowing their imagery, their voices, their strength to overtake her for a fleeting moment before she was brought back and remembered the business at hand.

Since Leda disappeared with his car a few weeks back, Vincent hadn’t a clue what came over her after one fight on one night. She hadn’t known where she’d gone, but didn’t know what Cyr had done with the things of hers that she left. She went up to the registry and seen that Cyr lived in Alpha now. She had remembered him very vaguely discussing running for Alpha president, but hadn’t really cared about it at the time- she thought he wouldn’t get it. Vincent was going over the printout of the proposal for an event that Rosanna had suggested to boost revenue and new pledge turnout when he got a shiver, and it made him play it off by rolling his neck. “You ok?” Ro cooed, rubbing his shoulders, Vincent sinking in.

The girl had found out that he had done away with his off-campus apartment for Greek Row, so she took the long walk going up from the office. Ro hadn’t been this sweet on him, and she didn’t know what came over her in this moment to try her luck- to see if it still pulled the same, to see if it was still like lighting a fuse, to see if he remembered her. She couldn’t help herself taking in his relaxation into her hands and watching him push his glasses off, “Ah..yeah uh...You’re just gonna have to come back for the second..revision...tomorrow- I..I don’t think I’m gonna get this done,” he said, rubbing his face and taking a few more breaths before taking both her hands in his swiftly and gently, bringing them on top of one another, and closing them in his as he directed her to come from behind him. He locked eyes with her as he slowly stood up, towering over her as he let her hands fall, hearing the light gasp as her hands fell. The lanky man turned back around, having already excusing himself past her to start gathering the papers on the table, at her noise, “You alright, doll?” he asked plainly and still killed her.

Leda knew somewhere that maybe if she could admit her side of the story, things would be smoother. She could definitely talk to Ro about Cyr than to Cyr about Ro, and since no one can know, it felt even more important. She admired all the people around and the new faces for a mundane weekday on campus as she strolled onto Greek Row, seeing the lights on and the Congratulations banner still up from his apparent celebration. Vincent felt the shiver again as he put his shirt back on and played it off by adjusting it. Ro was long gone, but it was another isolated moment of quick stimulation. All she ever wants is to be touched, and he knew all the right spots and loved the noises she made when he did get them just the right way. It didn’t worry Leda much that Ro wasn’t answering her phone at this time of day, she probably fell asleep after a brisk walk with Cookie. Joey sang her praises for her return and spoke of the boy who’s car she’d stolen and no longer had. “Leda~..wow...I wasn’t sure what happened, but you can come get all your stuff- uh...I dunno if you wanna talk or anything-”

“Who is she?” Leda asked, pushing past him and wiped her finger across his lips then showing him, “Whoever it is, it’s a cute color..”

“Leda, I think you owe me an explanation-” he said flatly, pulling off his shirt entirely and wiping his face.

“Is my room in here still good?” she asked as she immediately started picking out and finding clothes. She was safe here again, she didn’t need to hide.

“I let them give it up for more room, we had an influx of- Stop that...Leda, talk to me-” he said, strolling over before getting a hand to the chest.

“Congrats on becoming President, baby~! How about..we celebrate?..Just you and me! Just like before! Hm? I wanna take a shower first, though, cus I’ve been...traveling all day,” she led him into the bathroom as she turned the shower on.

“Can we talk while you shower?” he asked, standing and filling the doorway, “You know this whole suite is mine. So it really is just us.”

“Nah..you, me, the spirits I brought with me and that are on these grounds, the gods and goddesses, and Rosanna’s lace dainties?” she said as she picked the light lace cheeky underwear on the bathroom floor, “Let me take my shower alone, please.”

Vincent sat out and cleaned up his room a little bit, chain-smoking as he wasn’t sure what was going to happen when the girl got out of the bathroom. Leda didn’t really understand how she felt the way she did, and why she wasn’t angry at Ro. Why was it a little more interesting to know she was still going to Cyr to get her rocks off? She opened the door to Vincent’s surprise, not wearing anything else but her t-shirt bra and a dainty lace thong. Her hair falling over her curves just right, and he couldn’t help but follow her with his eyes. She had grown up into her shape more, maybe not as much colour on her still plush soft skin, but there’s now tattoos and her hair is as vibrant a colour can be when he met her. She smiled at him, even though she wasn’t smiling on the inside, and she straddled his waist on his bed. She lured him into a kiss and an energy boost he’d missed from her- the world felt more at balance and it made sense with their lips pushed together. “I missed you..so much..” he breathed, unable to hold back his overwhelming comfort.

“Your car broke down and I left it on the side of the road in Oregon..I sold the drugs out the trunk and ran into some ex...problems,” Leda started, “Did some cat and mouse and travelling and yeah..I..I missed you, too Vincent~”

“That’s fine...but..why’d you leave in the first place?” Vincent asked laying back as she worked on kissing his neck and grinding. The girl stopped and avoided his eyes, “Leda...Leda baby you can tell me..I’ve been waiting about a year to know...” he reassured her as he leaned up to embrace her and kiss her shoulder.

“I-....I..He said he was gonna find me, and the stick had a plus on it and I was gonna show you when we got home, but even I didn’t wanna go home so...” she stiffened as she explained, moving her fringe out of her face, shrugging.

“You were pregnant?” he asked, eyes immediately darting down, “Did you lose it?”

“I...I just didn’t want you to get upset and I didn’t want him to find me if I-”

“Ok Ok...I don’t care about that..What happened to the baby, Leda?” he asked her pulling her in and rubbing her back.

“I lost her...” her voice broke, “I can’t have kids...he’ll find me. He did this to me...”

“Hey, hey, hey...Hey, look at me, Leeds. Alright?..I’m not mad about the car..I’m not mad that you had to handle things with your ex..and I’m not mad about the baby...” Vincent said, “I just wanted to know if you were ok..And that I wasn’t holding your stuff and you didn’t need it anymore..”

Leda couldn’t help her tears and was so glad she had a fresh naked face to let herself cry in. “I-I-It’s not that I didn’t want her, I just..she didn- I dunno what happened...” she tried to say while she cried.

“It’s alright, babe..Don’t worry. She’ll come when she’s ready, okay? And when she does I have no doubt she’ll be as beautiful, smart, and creative as her wonderful mother,” Vincent said, rubbing her back some more, “Listen, next time you get knocked up, I’ll take care of you...I’ll make sure nothing happens to you...I’ll keep you safe.”

“Vincent~ you can’t..no one can..he’s always gonna find me,” Leda whined, shaking her head quickly, “He’ll kill you.”

“Not if I kill him first and even then, I’m giving all of this to you. You deserve not to worry. You deserve safety, babe,” he said, “Is that why you were at my apartment?’

“Yes, but you don’t live there anymore-”

“I’m subleasing until I graduate from here...or I get tired of these people finally,” he chided.

“And how long do you think that’s going to last?..Especially if it’s you and Ro..” she started chuckling lightly.

“I don’t think it’s gonna be me and Ro for much longer, anyway,” he sighs, letting the girl off his lap and onto his bed as he got up to start turning the lights down and closing off his room from his office, “Don’t get me wrong- it’s exciting! It really is, but she shouldn’t be doing that. She’s...gonna need that wakeup call.”

Leda sat and waited for him and lit one of his cigs from the box on the nightstand even though he opted for the little glass tube, “What do you mean?”

“She’s still careless, she’s playing with fire...She didn’t want everybody to know but she’s had-like- two scares...She’s gonna tell you when she finds out that you’re back,” he said, hushing his voice like she was in his office. Leda was shocked to say the least, but she liked Vincent for that: he held onto the only side of her she was never proud of.

“Like...pregnancy scares-”

“No STI- yes pregnancy scares! Told me that she didn’t want to get rid of the kid but didn’t want to think of losing the life she was building with Mark and wanted all of the kids she had to be in their happily ever after or whatever shit...you know Rosie..” Vincent snapped, clearly still emotional and indignant, smoking more frequently as he stress-cleaned his room. Leda was stunned. It wasn’t exactly something she expected from someone who craved so much stability and control- safety.

“How...”

“She disappeared. Like three times, She told everyone she went to visit family. I saw her and she stayed with me for like..a few days..and we just hung out how she wanted us to. She never left because nobody could know that she was back yet. So when she did return it was like she picked up Cookie from the sitter on her way home from the airport...I liked it, but..when she told me all of that over those days and she told me about being President and how she would eventually hate me enough to overthrow me and then she’ll have her life with Mark and I’ll leave the Youni...”

“So then...when’s the last time you saw Ro?” Leda asked, frightened slightly by what she heard. And part of her wanted to fight her. It wasn’t much of her business but as a friend and as a human that’s not something she should get away with.

“You didn’t see her going to the Vice President’s suite?..Or the girls’ side? Kitchen?...Cus she literally just left when you had knocked on my door,” Vincent paused and stared at her with a squint.

“Nope,” Leda admitted shaking her head and threw her hands up, “Honestly I didn’t really get here until I told you I lost the baby and by then I kinda knew that I could let it go I guess..because now I feel fine..”

“Weird...I had a weird feeling the whole time she was here that someone was coming..I didn’t think they were alive so I didn’t think anything of it...This is all..you know, Indigenous grounds, not necessarily burial, but sacred space tends to pop up when they’re talking...”

“That’s weird...but highly likely..Western U.S. does have some crazy energy pockets,” Leda said, blushing a little that he knew she was coming, “Are they leftover or residual? The panties, I mean..” She giggled.

“I couldn’t tell ya, but I’d have to guess that she left those in my bathroom because it was very apparent she wasn’t wearing any, but I thought she had come over commando..Didn’t think she committed to the idea while she was in the bathroom. I guess that’s what she’s gonna wait for me to say something about. Can’t lie, I’m gonna miss how smart she is,” he said with a smile and waves of realization of what he liked about the girl after not knowing for so long.

“Clearly not smart enough,” Leda scoffed, “If she’s pulling the ‘I had to go to my mother’s for a summer so I can have an abortion and therapy’ this early in the relationship and they’re still going strong, maybe it’s that you’re not gonna judge her and she can kinda reward herself with you and vice versa- definitely a karmic soulmate...” She smiled again as she realized that they might be a particular soulmate or at least spiritual partner. “Vincent, sit down, please,” she asked sweetly. He sat back down and she rubbed his shoulders, sighing, “I’m sorry, Vince...Like that’s really shitty and I’m..so..sorry, babe..but like that’s what happens when you gamble.”

“It would help if you’d taken responsibility for running out on me fucking months ago,” Vincent bit at her, “Maybe I wouldn’t have leaned on her so much...chasing fucking waterfalls,” he scoffed.

“Wow you’re really gonna sit here and blame me?” she backed up, raising her voice.

“No! I said take some fucking responsibility! Like do you understand how you’re no better sometimes?” he said.

“Oh my- FUCK YOU! Who the fuck are you?!” Leda snapped, shoving his shoulder and getting up.

“Will you keep your voice down?!” he whispered quickly standing up and taking her arm in his hand gently.

“Don’t fucking touch me!-”

“Or what?! You’ll scream? Ro’s gonna come rushing back in here to check on me to find what? Us fucking fighting about her and as far as she knows you dropped out of school,” Vincent breathed, “No one..and I mean no one..knows about any of that.-”

“WHy are you still trying to defend her?!” she growled as she fights him.

“Same reason I defend you, but not the same because you’re not about to marry some meathead to forget your slutty phase,” he mentioned and the girl released her grip, “Also again with the dick jealousy and arousal over your friend and you screwing me.”

“Stop saying that! It’s not fucking true!” she snapped at him.

“I’ve been talking to college girls for a long time. This is the most bisexual thing two straight girls can do is fuck the same guy and give the guy shit for getting off on the fact that at least one of you wants to fuck their lunchbox friend...and right now, you’re the mad at the Snowflake Queen, Needy.”

Leda stopped and looked at him, “Did you really just use that reference?”

“It’s true. No matter the reference. I’ve told you that before-”

“You didn’t-”

“Yes I did, you just forgot because we were having fun...you know..dating,” Vincent lit his cig, handing it to her, “My whole thing is I wanted you to have fun without living in Rosie’s shadow.”

“Don’t do that,” she said, smoking quickly going back to the bed before he takes her hand and twirls her and dips her.

“What?” he said.

“Don’t call her Rosie,” she said, blushing hard.

“Why? Cus you’d call her Rosie?” he asked, shotgunning a hit with her.

“Stop saying I wanna fuck Ro, cus I don’t,” she giggled.

“You’d watch me fuck her though,” he inserted, putting the butt in the ashtray as he pulled her in, “Or vice versa.”

“She said she would?” she asked, furrowing her brows.

“Needy, when I say she’s never been worried about you when she’s with me, she’s not. I don’t push her, either. Like I think about you if she says or does something that reminds me of you but other than that she’s in her own little world with me,” Vincent said, caressing the girl, looking away to think.

“Stop calling me Needy, I clearly look like Megan Fox,” she said, meaning to put herself down.

“No, you’re Needy at the end of the movie after she’s been affected by Jennifer,” he explained, “You were simping and running and screaming while getting teased the whole movie then at the end, even though you kinda lost your guy, you’ll get more..and it’s kinda because she took what was meant for you..even if it killed her..”

“Wow..Vincent..did you just say you loved me even if it kills Ro?” Leda asked, smirking wildly.

“Yeah I guess so.”

#vincent cyr #leda muir #au #ro

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bwemph · 4 years

Text

The Measure of Things | Chapter 1 | The Arrival

Pairing: Din Djarin x Reader

Summary: For living in hiding, you can’t complain about your life on Rabadus, a nowhere planet on the Outer Rim. You’ve got a roof over your head, a decent job, and the man you love all in one place. But one day the Mandalorian, an old flame, shows up out of the blue, leaving you questioning if this is really the life for you.

Word Count: 3.2k

Warnings: Light swearing, toxic relationship, nonconsensual touch, making out on the job

You checked your watch, anxiety piling up in your chest as you scrambled through the shipyard. There was no way you were going to make it to work on time this morning. You jogged a little, stumbling on a scattered pile of miscellaneous ship parts on the outskirts of the shipyard.

You cursed under your breath as you fumbled through your pockets in search of your ID.

Already flustered from the shootout downtown, being late to work was only one more thing weighing on your shoulders.

Two Nedhads, a race of orange humanoids who were quite crabby in looks and in personality, got into a scuffle and decided to see who was better with a blaster, ultimately resulting in a duel between the crustacean-like creatures. Somehow, seven others got caught up in the chaos and raised all hell in the town square.

To avoid getting yourself shot, you took a detour to the quieter edge of town and found yourself now fifteen minutes late for work.

You stifled a yawn as you pressed the buzzer at the door of the hangar. You got no response your first two or three tries, but finally, on the fourth, a befuddled droid poked a long eyestalk out of a hole next to the door.

Damn, I need to fix that thing again, you thought.

You showed the droid your ID, and there was a few seconds’ hesitation before the door unlocked.

The sleepless night previous was like a ball and chain on your ankle, making you drag your feet and rub your eyes. Any minute now, you would get your second wind.

That’s what you hoped anyway.

You strode across the empty ship bay with a sigh and went to the small control room, which was dark.

Flipping on the light switch, you settled at the panel and opened your communication channels. It was just static right now. No voices called across the channels for your attention, so you slouched in your chair and kicked your feet up onto the panel for a few moments of peace.

Next to you, a small metal ball with a shabby two-shade paint job whirred to life. It split in half, the two hemispheres separating, but remaining connected by the mechanics inside. It focused its single eye and spun a few more times, chirping excitedly when it saw you sitting at the control panel. If it had a mouth, it would have grinned.

“Hey, buddy!” You crouched on the floor to greet the hovering red droid. You gave it a pat.

You considered HE-27 to be your favorite coworker. It was always excited to see you, and it was far more efficient with its small, precise claws than any human’s hands when it came to repairing machinery, making it a valuable tool and amiable companion.

It buzzed off to attend to some task, and you settled again at the panel, watching the radar for any incoming ships.

You found yourself relieved that your boss, Carduel Stantin, wasn’t on site yet, and likely hadn’t noticed your tardy arrival. The wrinkled, red-faced man was anything but forgiving when it came to punctuality. He didn’t shy away from long-winded lectures, if they could even be called lectures. Sometimes his words were unintelligible when he got onto his half-shouted monologues, telling off whichever unlucky employee was getting the brunt of his unrelenting anger issues.

Again, you looked to the radar. Still no sign of a ship in need of landing.

Unusual, but not concerning.

Your job was to monitor the radar for incoming ships and perform maintenance on them as needed, which was almost any time a ship needed to land in your bay. Oftentimes ships would be damaged upon reentry into your planet Rabadus’s atmosphere, given the constant and unpredictable meteor field that loomed above the clouds. If the sky was clear, the screen of space rocks could clearly be seen from the ground.

The Field made for consistent work on the cargo ships, though. If you weren't in the rotation to be watching comms, you would have plenty of bent panels and damaged engines to fix in other ship bays. You much preferred working on the ships over waiting for one to show up, but you would always tell yourself good things come to those who wait.

“Knock knock,” a familiar velvety voice said, snapping you from your thoughts.

You looked up to see the one and only Max Melau leaning in the doorway with his signature lopsided smile and mussed golden hair.

You stood. “Hey.”

“Hey, cutie.” He crossed the small control room and snaked his arm around your waist, pulling you close to brush his lips against yours.

You squirmed away after a short moment, laughing a little. “C’mon, you know what I said before. Not on the job, please.” You pecked a kiss to his cheek and turned back to the panel. You checked the readings on the radar.

“I know, I know. I just can’t help myself sometimes.” He followed you over to the panel. “Not when you’ve got this cute little ass right here.” He gave your backside a quick squeeze.

“Max, please.” Another small laugh squeezed from your throat as you settled on the torn up seat. “What’s gotten into you?”

“You don’t expect me to just keep my hands off you all day, do you?” He followed your line of sight to the blank radar. “Can’t a guy just appreciate his girl every once in a while?”

“You can appreciate me on your own time.”

He recoiled at that, then he grew very silent.

You didn’t worry about it at first, but he continued hovering around you, but avoided eye contact. He knew you hated that.

You turned to him, softening a little bit. You stood and cupped his cheek. “Hey.” You kissed his nose. “I’m sorry. It’s just been a crazy morning.”

He didn’t answer.

“Can I make it up to you?” you pressed, eyebrows knitting together with concern. You felt that same nervousness from earlier creeping back up into your chest, then your throat, and abruptly falling deep into the pit of your stomach.

He lifted your chin with a finger. “I think so,” he said finally, his voice low and husky as he eyed you intensely.

You cast another glance at the radar, but Max turned your head so he filled your field of vision. Your eyes fell shut as he pressed his lips to yours and ran his hands down your body, resting them at the small of your back.

He pulled you close, holding you close to his chest.

Before you knew it, you were sitting on the control panel with your legs wrapped around his waist.

His hands roamed your body, groping at your chest and hindquarters. You reasoned with yourself to let him get it out of his system so you could both focus on your work.

Steadily, his kisses grew hungrier and sloppier and rougher. You could hardly keep up with him as he clawed at your waist and forced his tongue between your lips.

“Wait.” You pulled away to catch your breath.

“What?” Max said.

You delicately brushed a few hairs away from his eyes. “I would just hate for Stantin to see us like this,” you said, breathing a laugh.

“Ah, let him. What’s he gonna do?”

You couldn’t answer before your mouth was smothered with his lips again. He moved on to your neck, planting several kisses, and sucking long enough that you wondered if he might be leaving behind a trail of bruises.

Knowing Max, he probably was.

You tilted your head back, letting yourself succumb to the sensation of his lips on your neck.

A soft beeping caught your attention. “Wait,” you said again as you pushed him back.

You hopped down from the dashboard and looked at the radar. A ship appeared from the corner of the screen, approaching rapidly.

“All this waiting!” he quipped. “I’m an impatient man, y/n.”

“Rabadus base, do you read me?” a voice spoke urgently over the comms.

You were quick to answer, “Rabadus Base. We hear you loud and clear.”

“I’m going to need to make an emergency landing. Ah!” The transmission cut off partway through the pilot swearing in some tongue that was foreign to you.

“We can take you here in bay two as soon as you’re ready.”

“Copy that.”

Before the pilot’s voice cut out, you heard much rattling and ruckus from the other side of the comms, making you wonder just how much of an emergency this was.

Something in the pilot’s voice was familiar, but you couldn’t entirely make it out between the rattling on his end, the static over the radio, and whatever was muffling his voice.

You looked to Max before a sputtering engine buzzed into the bay.

Through the window, you saw a large silver ship, once glorious and shiny, was now sparking from its rudders as it landed in the hangar and powered off.

You recognized this ship, too. Not that that meant anything; gunships like that were mass produced back in the day.

Still, you couldn’t help but wonder.

Pushing the thought aside, you stepped out into the bay with max trailing you as the hatch began to lower. Out stepped a Mandalorian.

You weren't sure if it was his walk, or simply just the air he brought with him, but it would be one hell of a coincidence if that weren’t the Mandalorian that you knew.

Something over the hatch spat sparks, which bounced harmlessly off his silver helmet.

“Mando!” you greeted, beaming.

He paused and took in the sight of you and Max before him. “Y/n?”

“You two know each other?” Max interjected.

You laughed, reaching out to firmly shake the Mandalorian’s hand. “We’ve crossed paths a few times,” you said, sharing a knowing glance with him.

“What are you doing here?” Mando asked, looking between you and Max.

You shrugged. “Fate, I guess.”

“It would seem so,” the Mandalorian replied.

“It’s good to see you again, Mando.”

“Likewise.” He offered a nod and a soft laugh that just barely crackled through his vocoder.

You tugged on Max’s hand, bringing him forward a step or two. “This is my coworker Max.”

Max held his silence, seemingly mimicking your old friend’s stillness. He nodded once to the Mandalorian and kept a stone cold eye on him.

“Coworker, huh?” Mando said.

You couldn’t tell for certain if he was looking, but you remembered the darkening blotches on your neck and suddenly became very conscious of them. You pulled your open vest around yourself in hopes that the collar might cover the hickeys up.

“Well, something like that.” You cleared your throat and excused yourself to inspect the ship. “Let’s have a look at what’s going on here.”

You should have known it was Mando’s ride from the get go. The familiar stripes painted on the side would have been the first clue. They were far more chipped than the last time you had seen them. There was a small dent by the right engine that he never seemed to fix, regardless of how often you pointed it out.

The ship had certainly seen better days, and needed a lot of work from what you could tell by just looking, but you still felt the same sentimental attachment to it from the day you and Mando crossed paths for the first time.

Upon closer inspection, it was evident he had been in some kind of shootout.

“The fuel tank is leaking,” the Mandalorian said as you made note of the smaller things that needed fixing. “One of the engines blew out, too.”

You looked at him, your reflection peering back at you from his visor. “Wow, I’m surprised you even landed. Anything else?”

“I’m not sure.”

You pulled a tool from your belt and scanned the ship for any obscure heat signatures. Judging by the readings, you would have a few things to fix on the underside, too. “Well, I’ll get to work on it and let you know.” You hooked the tool back on your belt and gave a small smile to your old friend.

“Thank you.”

You couldn’t help but notice Max still hovering nearby. “Love, if Stantin catches you in here making eyes at me again we’ll both be in trouble.” You laughed softly, reaching out and caressing his cheek.

Max nodded and spoke as though he were holding his breath. “You’re right. I’ll see you later, y/n.”

“Love you,” you called after him.

No reply.

****

“Looks like you’ve gotten yourself into plenty of trouble without me,” you said as you changed out a few screws and other miscellaneous parts that you could manage without doing too much digging through the yard for replacement parts. You glanced from behind an open panel. “You’re shinier than last we met. Been successful lately?”

Mando replied, “I earned a handful of Beskar on a job.” He also worked on mending some wiring while he spoke.

You considered prodding him for more information, but you knew he was never one to discuss his work in depth.

“This is a lot of damage,” you said, gesturing to the Crest, “but it’s not like it’s anything someone on Nevarro couldn’t fix, right? What brings you here?”

He sighed. “Work,” was all he said. Something about it seemed a little strained. “What about you? How did you end up on this side of the galaxy? Last I heard you were on Alderaan doing business with some of the higher ups.”

“Well, the higher ups didn’t exactly appreciate my affiliation with the Guild,” you explained.

“But you left the Guild.”

You shrugged, moving on to see if you could close up whatever piping was emitting a sour smell. Now you were a little closer to him. “Didn’t make a difference to them. I was still a liability,” you closed the panel, leaning against the ship and facing him, “so I ran. Took one of their fastest ships and came out here. I knew they wouldn’t follow me this far out to a speck of dirt in the Outer Rim.”

The Mandalorian nodded once and took a moment to consider that, turning his attention back to the wiring that sparked a bit as he fiddled with it. “And where does Max fit into all this?”

You couldn’t quite read the tone of his voice. Had it really been so long that you couldn’t read his subtle signals anymore? Or was he just trying to fluster you? You pushed the thought aside and squirmed a little, letting out a long sigh as you busied yourself tinkering with a few loose screws. “We met here on the job. He’s really sweet once he warms up to you.”

“Something tells me he might not do that for me.”

“Just give him some time. I’m sure he’ll loosen up.”

You glanced at the sun starting to sink below the horizon, swallowing hard. “My shift’s about to end. I wouldn’t recommend sleeping in there tonight with the fuel leak.” You gestured vaguely. “Fumes, you know.”

He looked up at the ship and then back to you. “That’s alright. I’ll find an inn in town. Any recommendations?”

You inhaled slowly, fidgeting with your fingers a little. “Well,” you shrugged one shoulder, “I have an open couch you could stay on if you would like. Much cheaper and fewer bugs than any of the inns in town.”

“Cheaper? What’ll it cost me?” Mando asked. You sensed a playful edge to his tone.

A coy smile worked its way onto your features. “A drink?”

“Yeah, I think I can manage that.”

Your grin grew. “Great. I just have to run in and shut off a few things, and then we can head to my place so you can get settled in.”

Mando closed his panel. “I’ve got to get something from the Crest before we go.”

“Take your time. I’ll need a minute anyway.” You half jogged back to the control room to turn off the lights and comms and bid HE-27 goodnight.

The droid was waiting on your seat at the panel, keeping watch on the radar for you.

You affectionately touched its little red dome. “I’m headed home, H. See you tomorrow.”

It beeped a response, spinning its bottom hemisphere as a farewell.

You heard footsteps approaching and then the door open. You looked up and met Max’s stony eyes.

“Coworker?” he said, again lingering in the door. “What kind of bullshit is that?”

You closed your eyes to gather yourself before turning to face him. “I was just being professional, Max. Please don’t read too much into it.”

Max sighed, waving away the matter. “Still talking to that tin can?” he goaded, nodding to the droid. “Speaking of tin cans, where’s the Mandalorian?”

HE-27 hummed quietly, unsure if it should be hurt by Max’s words.

“Don’t listen to him, H. Max is just kidding.” you ran your fingers over the droid’s chipping paint again and looked back to Max. “He’s in the Crest.”

Max crossed the room and his hands went around your waist again, pulling your body close to him and swaying slowly. “Well, what do you say you and me split and get something for dinner? Maybe a drink too, then we can go back to my place for a little while?”

“Actually...” Your heart jumped to your throat momentarily. You hadn’t considered what he would think of you going out with Mando, much less what Max would think of him crashing at your place indefinitely. “I told Mando he could stay on my couch until the ship is fixed, so I need to get home to get him settled.”

“You told him what?”

“Max, if he spends too long on that ship the fumes will kill him.”

“Then make him stay in town! It’s not like he won’t be able to find anywhere to stay.”

“What’s your problem?” You pushed Max’s hands off your waist and took a step back. “He’s my friend. My home is always open to my friends, and you know that.”

“But--” he searched for an answer, “but he’s a Mandalorian, and you know they’re dangerous.”

“Babe, he’s a friend from the Guild. We’re all dangerous.”

Max’s lips pressed together so they made a straight line. You could see his jaw clenching.

You ran a hand up and down his muscular arm. “Please, trust me.”

When he didn’t answer, you followed Max’s gaze out the window to the Mandalorian exiting the ship followed by a small silver pram. Something was sleeping in it, wrapped up in a handful of brown pieces of cloth.

You furrowed your brow at the sight, but turned your attention back to the matter at hand.

“Fine,” was all Max said before turning and striding from the room. The door slammed behind him, leaving you alone with your eyes downcast.

Despite the unsavory interaction, you gathered yourself, drying a few rogue tears before you went back out to the hangar to investigate what the Mandalorian could possibly be doing with a pram.

*****

A/N: I’m excited for how this is coming together! This is the first fic in a while that I’ve been legitimately excited to write. I’ll take any feedback you have! Love you guys <3

#din djarin x reader #the mandalorian x reader #mandalorian x reader #din djarin #the mandalorian #pedro pascal #reader insert

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dessarious · 4 years

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Misconceptions, Miscommunication, and Misinformation Pt67

Inspired by @ozmav Maribat AU

AO3 Beginning Previous Next

“How many times?” Ladybug could see the strain on Viperion’s face and guilt ate at her. This was a big part of why she’d stopped using him unless absolutely necessary. The mental toll it had to take on him to see them all injured or dead and be the only one to remember was a heavy burden and she didn’t like that it fell to Luka of all people. He gave her a reassuring smile.

“Twelve so far, but I think we’re close. He’s only got so many tricks and we’re weeding them out quickly.” For all he sounded positive and upbeat she could still hear a rawness under the words. Anyone else would miss it, though given the way Damian was side eyeing him, he heard it too. Given the way the snake holder was looking at Discorde she could guess which of the four of them had taken the brunt of the damage.

“Your plan is obviously not working. We should retreat and come up with something better now that we have more data.” She managed to keep from rolling her eyes at Damian, but only barely. Leaving now was one of the worst things they could do.

“We have data about the here and now but that will be worse than useless if we leave now Raphael.” He frowned at the name but she just grinned at him. He’d point blank refused to pick a name so she’d gone with the surliest of the turtles she knew. He didn’t understand the reference and that just made it funnier. “If we stop learning new things and still can’t find a way to defeat him then, and only then, will we leave. The man is too desperate for us to give him time to act without terrible consequences.” He didn’t look happy but he did stay silent. They didn’t have much time to plan before they had to go back in. Luka’s timer currently gave them about half an hour for each attempt and they couldn’t afford to waste too much time arguing.

Damian’s transformation was interesting to say the least. His suit was a dark forest green with overlapping armored plates. His shield was larger than Carapace’s had been and had far more utility. The top was more squared off and the rim could detach into two boomerangs allowing him to fight in a ranged capacity while still defending. The rest of the shield could also be split down the middle so he could block attacks from two different directions at once as well as use them to ram enemies. She wasn’t surprised that his transformation was so much more combat oriented than Wayzz normally did.

“Red Robin, plan sea green with rooftop access.” Viperion went straight into reporting mode and she heard Tim muttering while trying to pull up one of his many contingencies.

“Are you sure? If I don’t that you won’t be able to see.” Given that He was the one that had to give Luka the name it was a less than intelligent question, but he answered anyway.

“Discorde will be able to and that’s the most important thing to begin with.We’ll go in through that hatch and drop on him. Discorde, you need to Cataclysm his cane immediately and then tell Red Robin to turn on low lighting so the rest of us can help.” Ladybug shared a frown with Damian.

“Why is the cane so important?” Viperion actually shuddered before responding.

“It houses a sword that can pierce our suits and your cure won’t fix the damage if he’s still wielding his Miraculous. I don’t know why.” She heard Discorde suck in a breath but all she felt was tired and sad.

“Nooroo’s been used improperly for too long, his will is starting to yield to Gabriel’s. If he gives up entirely there’s not telling how powerful Gabriel will become. The cane is the only weapon you’re aware of?” He just nodded and she knew that there hadn’t been time for her to give him a more detailed plan. “Okay, so Discorde goes in and disarms him and we drop in once there’s enough light that we won’t trip over each other. Raphael will put up a shield around the three of us and Gabriel with Viperion on the other side so that we have better odds taking him down.”

She could tell no one was happy with the plan. Viperion understood the necessity of keeping him out of danger, but he hated watching from the sidelines and she knew it. Damian and his brother couldn’t stand the uncertainty of it all. Discorde was close to just Cataclysming Gabriel to put an end to things, or maybe come up with something like what she did to Superman. The second might become necessary if they didn’t end this soon. Actually…

“Discorde, do you think you can come up with something for Gabriel like you did Superman? Something that will make him too weak physically to actually fight us.” She frowned and cocked her head as though listening to something.

“I can try but I’m not sure if it will work the same on another holder. Plagg gave me specific instructions on what to do for the Super Pain but I can try.” Ladybug hummed in thought before turning to Viperion.

“We’ll go in full force this time but if things go south and you have to reset again tell us to have Discorde try from inside the vent before we go after him next time.” He gave a single nod before leading them to the roof access for the vent. She took a calming breath before pulling off the cover. Time for lucky number thirteen.

AO3 Beginning Previous Next

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#maribat #marinette dupen chang #Damian Wayne #bffmaridami

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pan-cakez · 5 years

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A Strange Meeting

This story was inspired by @virgil-is-a-cutie‘s post about an AU where Dr. Hugo Strange is Marinette’s father. I haven’t written in years, so it’s pretty shit, but I definitely enjoyed writing it. It’s almost 3000 words and I’m proud! :) Here we go!

One last romp. This was supposed to be the end, but it sparked a new beginning. Sabine knew that Hugo loved his work. Maybe too much. There was no space in his heart for her, and she grew weary of missed dates, and so many rain checks. She still loved, him, but just couldn’t take it anymore. He did a lot of good work, she just felt like she was just a side fling, whereas science was his wife. She said her goodbyes, but they had one last go before she left, and that changed both of their lives.

~ 14 years later ~

Marinette was way too excited to go to Gotham. There was the chance for her to meet her biological father. Don’t get her wrong, she still loves Tom, and she wears the Cheng Dupain-Strange name with pride since she sees Tom as her primary father figure, she just wants to know more about her history. Her mom told her all about Hugo, and how she keeps in touch with him. Marinette thinks it’s sweet that he’s invested in her, and is encouraging her love for science. Sabine finds it endearing he’s warmer to Marinette than he ever was to her. When Sabine found out that Marinette’s class was going to Gotham, she told Hugo immediately, and the letter read as if he was excited, but Sabine could tell that he was nervous. She wasn’t worried about that, because she knew that once he met Marinette, his worries would be at ease.

The day of the trip, Marinette brought four dozen macarons. Three dozen was vanilla and for the staff so she could impress them, and one dozen was matcha for Hugo since Sabine told her that it was his favorite flavor since she made it for him all the time. She also designed a couple ties for him. She just really wanted to impress him. She knows that her mom told her that it would be fine, and that he would adore her anyway, but she wanted to be sure.

When she got to the school, Adrien was waiting there alongside Juleka, Nino, Max, Ivan, Kim and Nathaniel. Everyone had their luggage in tow, and the air felt charged with energy. Marinette was just full of excitement to see her friend group. Lila’s lies destroyed some of Marinette’s friendships, but these people stood by her throughout the situation, and still do. They’re the ones who are getting her through the whole situation and are her rocks. Juleka actually didn’t believe her at first, but Luka called her out, and made her realize her mistakes. When she apologized, Marinette took it step by step with her, and they managed to get their friendship back to where it used to be. Juleka ran up to Marinette and threw her hand around her shoulder. “I’m excited that we’re roommates!” Marinette giggled and the both of them walking to the boys. Adrien smiled and her and waved. “Marinette! I’m so glad to see you! I’m excited that you’re coming.” Once Madame Bustier called them to the bus, they all started buzzing with excited for the trip.

For the majority for her travels, Marinette sat with Adrien. With the whole Lila situation, she just needed as many friends as she can get. She also knew that Lila was careful around Adrien to protect everything she has with his father. That didn’t stop her from tripping Marinette when they were boarding the plane. Adrien knew it was Lila, but Marinette told him that it was just her own clumsiness just to avoid with issues with Lila and their classmates. Adrien made sure that Marinette sat with him, and they were far away from Lila. He also made sure that she had the window seat and he was on the isle so Marinette doesn’t have to deal with Lila doing anything while she’s walking past their seat.

When they arrived at the hotel, Lila tried to claim one of the luxe suites that was booked for the trip. She claimed some kind of chronic back issues and needed the softer bed. Chloe scoffed and stood in front of Lila. “My dad specifically paid for those rooms for my friends and I. You aren’t my friend and never will be, so. Back. Off.” Lila rolled her eyes and looked to Mme Bustier. “Mme. Bustier, could you please ask Chloe to accommodate me? I don’t think it’s fair that her and her friends get special treatment in the first place, but at least they can give me a space for my health issues.” Chloe scoffed again, but Mme Bustier looked at Chloe made a disappointed face. “Lila’s right you know.” Chloe put her hands on her hips, and hissed at Mme Bustier stating, “My father paid extra for these rooms. Unless either of you are willing to pay him back for a room, I don’t want to hear it. Now suffer Lie-la.” Chloe grabbed Marinette and stormed to the concierge desk with the rest of the friend group followed her.

When they checked in, Chloe made that Marinette’s room was right next to hers. When Marinette got into the room, she laid on the bed and sighed, with Juleka sitting down on the bed. “Hey, thanks for everything. I know things have been hard, but you still managed to be kind to me despite how I treated you.” Marinette sat up and looked at Juleka. Despite them being across the room from each other, Juleka can still feel the emotions in Marinette’s eyes. “You changed your mind and believed me. Even if it cost you your relationship with Rose, you still decided to do the right thing, and I think that’s amazing.” Juleka moved to lay down, and they both laid there silently, thinking about lost friends before going to bed.

When they woke up, it was to someone banging on their door. Marinette looked through the peephole and saw an annoyed Chloe at the door. Marinette opened the door and Chloe stormed in. “Get ready Cheng, we’re going to breakfast. And it’s important to look nice because I’m meeting a family friend. I was supposed to meet Sabrina, but she disgusts me, as well as everyone who believes that idiot, so that’s why you’re coming instead. If you embarrass me, I will never let you live it down. Meet me in the lobby.” Chloe stormed off, and left Marinette looking astounded before quickly running to get ready.

Marinette waited in the lobby, looking around before she saw Chloe stepping out of the hallway. When she saw Marinette, she huffed and checked her phone impatiently. Suddenly Adrien came running towards them. Chloe huffed at him and started walking out to the waiting car. Adrien and Marinette followed Chloe and Adrien chuckled softly. When they were in the car and on their way, Adrien apologized for his lateness. “Dad wouldn’t let me leave until he made sure that my outfit was impeccable. I don’t know why I called him in the first place.” Chloe rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. Adrien and Marinette giggled at her behavior, and they talked the entire way while Chloe interjected from time to time.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Marinette was surprised. It was extremely upscale, and intimidating. Chloe dragged her in, and scanned the place until her eyes landed on a boy that looked about their age. “Bruce!” The boy looked up when he heard Chloe and smiled. Chloe pulled Marinette over to the table and sat down. Marinette sat down next to her, and Adrien joined Bruce in sitting across from the girls. Bruce extended his hand to Marinette. “Hi, I’m Bruce Wayne.” Marinette smiled and took his hand. “I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” “Marinette,” Bruce whispered, as if he was trying her name out, and he smiled softly. Chloe poked Marinette and said “Stop flirting, the both of you.” Marinette blushed and Bruce laughed.

Breakfast went way less embarrassingly for Marinette after that point. She tried to order smaller food items since the restaurant was higher scale, but everyone talked her out of it. She insisted that she wasn’t that hungry, but Chloe and Adrien knew she was lying. Bruce offered to pay for her food, and she didn’t have to have to pay him back, which eased her. She ended up ordering enough to make her full, and Bruce ended paying for everyone since he believed they were his guests in his hometown, so it’s the least he can do to welcome them. Goodbyes were said and Marinette was pleasantly surprised that Bruce hugged her. She felt like he opened up to her, and that maybe he could be a new friend. One that was removed from Lila and was basically a blank slate for friendship. They could be friends without the trauma. Although she was worried that this was a front, and that he was really hurting, but didn’t tell anyone after the death of his parents. She really hopes that he gets all the help needs, and is surrounded by people that care.

When they got back, Marinette went straight to her room and dressed a little more casually for the asylum tour. She grabbed the purse that she packed the macarons in, and ran to the lobby. When she got back there and saw Adrien, it looked like he had the same idea. Adrien saw her and laughed. “Your clothes were a little too stuffy too?” Marinette smiled and walked over to him. The rest of her friends made their way over, and Lila looked at them from across the lobby in disgust. She wanted to get at Marinette, but how can she do it in a way that still makes her look innocent? A plan was hatched, and Lila was almost too excited to put it into action.

When they boarded the bus, Adrien asked if Marinette was excited, and she blushed, and nodded. Everyone took their seats and they were on their way. The bus ride was uneventful, which should have relieved Marinette, but it instead worried her. What was Lila planning, and when was she going to do it? Would it embarrass her in front of her biological father? Will it make him hate her? All these questions raced in her mind and her unease radiated off of her for the entirety of the ride.

When they got into the asylum, Marinette was quite fidgety. She usually learned to internalize these feelings, but it was too much for her. She held her purse close to her, feeling some comfort in the baked goods. A lot of staff members sent soft smiles her, which made her much more nervous and she felt sick, but she ended up pulling herself together. When they got into the staff office, she placed the vanilla macarons a desk. She looked around, and saw him talking to one of her coworkers. She felt as if her heart was ready to beat out of her chest. Her throat felt dry and she felt rooted in her spot. What does she say to Hugo? ‘Hey, I’m the kid you didn’t want, but here I am to meet you, like some kind of haunting ghost?’ There’s really nothing she could say. She was wearing gold and red hair ties since she wrote him that it’s how he can pick her out from the class. He could tell her apart anyway, but she didn’t know that. He was actually quite terrified to meet her, because he didn’t want to disappoint her. But when he turned and saw her class, he knew it was time to face his fear.

Lila looked around, and saw the boxes with the logo of Marinette’s bakery and sneered at her. “Why’d you bring these?” Marinette stepped up and put her hand in front of the macarons. “They’re not for you. Or anyone else from our class for that matter.” Lila laughed loudly to grab everyone’s attention. “You brought them for the inmates, didn’t you? You’re probably related to one of them! It explains your issues.” Marinette stood in front of Lila and placed her hands on her hips. The class hushed, and watched in silence. “I’m not related to one of the inmates.” “She’s related to me.” Marinette turned around to see Hugo in the entry way, and she smiled softly. Everyone looked shocked, while Marinette walked up to Hugo. “It’s nice to finally meet you.” She hugged Hugo immediately after speaking and he was shocked for a second before hugging her back. When they pulled away, he smiled softly. “Your mom has been sending me photos of you since you were born. You look more and more like her every time.” Marinette blushed and pulled the matcha macarons out of her purse. “Mom told me you would like these.” Hugo smiled and took them. “I’m sure I’d enjoy anything you make.” Marinette twiddled her fingers before Hugo cleared his throat and spoke to the class. “Hello everyone. I am Doctor Hugo Strange, and I will be taking you on a tour of the facility. Everyone, follow Marinette.” He started making his way out of the office with the class in tow.

In-between stops on the tour, Dr. Strange made an effort to talk to Marinette. He could feel her happiness radiate through him. The more they talked, the more he regretted leaving her and her mother. He wishes he could take it all back and be able to experience everything, but he can’t. All he can do is focus on being more active in her life from this point on. He was so nervous she would hold some kind of sentiment against him, but she clearly doesn’t, and it made him so happy. All his nerves just melted away. The same went for Marinette. She knew that Lila couldn’t try anything because Hugo would see and punish the class in some way, and Lila would be blamed for ruining the tour. She genuinely had fun.

At the end of the tour, Hugo said there was a special place that he could only take several students to, and that Marinette got to pick. There were enough spots for Marinette’s friends, which she thought was a coincidence, but Hugo knows it wasn’t. He knew of all the issues Marinette was facing with Lila, and thought that it would be great for Marinette to have her friends experience something great for staying with her. He took them into a room in the back, where bunch of people were waiting. They weren’t scientists, nor inmates judging by their clothes, so who were they? One of the people waiting there saw Doctor Strange and smiled. “Ey Doc! Gotta say your daughter is super adorable!” Hugo chuckled and Marinette blushed. “Students, I would like you all to meet ex-patients of mine.” One of the women walked up to Marinette and shook her hand. “Fish Mooney. Nice to meet you sweetheart.” Marinette smiled at Fish. The other ex-patients didn’t really introduce themselves, but engaged with the students nonetheless.

After talking with the ex-patients and learning about their experiences, the group went back to meet their classmates, who looked bitter, especially Lila. Marinette looked at her smugly before hugging Hugo. “Thanks for everything!” Hugo smiled and kissed her forehead softly. The class started to head out, and Hugo looked sadly at Marinette. He sincerely wants to be in her life, but the work he does, is unethical to say the least. He’s putting her at risk to pay for his sins, and she’s too good for that. Her and her mother are both too good for that. He needs to change, here and now. He can’t undo all the damage he’s done, but at least he can prevent a lot more.

When it came to stopping his backdoor dealings, it was a lot easier than expected. When he explained about his kid, no one really gave him retaliation. He reached out to Bruce to start funding the program that Hugo and Bruce’s father started decades ago. He willingly did so, and as per Hugo’s request, split the ownership between Bruce and Marinette. Hugo started pushing boundaries, but in a much more humane and legal way. He’s been sending letters to Marinette explaining his discoveries, and making sure that Marinette knows that should she need an internship, the company doors are always open. The demons from Hugo’s demons haunt him from time to time, but the strength that Marinette gives him, allows him to defeat those demons, and keep making those discoveries that make a positive difference in the world. Hugo knew the saying that having a kid changes you for the better, but he never imagined it being to this extent. You know what though? He’s definitely glad that she’s made him a better man.

#bio!dad au #bio!dad #bio!dad hugo strange #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug au #miraculous ladybug x gotham #gotham

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orange-waterfalls · 5 years

Text

Company Could Be Nice

The Mandalorian x gender neutral!reader

@myself ty for the request

A/N: now listen,,, I was about to write a fic about Eric Derikson,,,, but then I watched the Mandalorian and five hours later this happened. I'm sorry but I am gay and I needed to write this ok. this is the result of lack of sleep and a slice of pie at 1:00 a.m.

Word Count: 2.6k

You sped down the sidewalk, breathing heavily.

"Gonna be late, gonna be late…" you mumbled under your fleeting breath. You were in charge of repairing droids and ships, and your boss said he'd fire you if you were late again. It wasn't your fault you kept seeing broken droids on your way to work! You couldn't just leave them! But anytime you brought a droid and weren't going to get paid fixing it, he docked your paycheck to make up for it. You figured that was fair enough.

Today, you stopped and picked up only one droid. It was small, so you probably wouldn't lose that much money…

You were now speedwalking to work, since your bike had also decided to break. You had put the droid in your bag with all the rest of your tools, and you asked for the occasional trill to make sure it was okay. You saw the building in the distance and sighed. Knowing you'd get there on time, you stopped and took your bag off. You took the tiny spherical droid out of your bag and smiled.

"You're a cutie, aren't you?" You smiled. It let out a high, happy trill. You chuckled and put your bag back on, holding the small droid in your arms and continuing on.

You entered the building, facing away from your boss so he wouldn't see the droid.

"How many droids this time, trooper?" He asked, exasperated. You were quiet.

"... Only one…" you said in a small voice.

"Size?"

"Small…"

"What kind of small?"

"Um… baby-sized."

"Shape?"

"Spherical."

"Type?"

"Simple?"

"Alright… I'll only dock a little bit this time. But stop picking up droids!" He demanded. You nodded and shuffled over to your workstation. The man acted like he was sick and tired of you, but you knew he admired your need to help. He was like… a mentoring uncle to you. Not exactly a father figure, but not just a boss.

You sat in your chair and placed the small droid on your counter. You opened it up at the back.

"Alright… let's see your problem, bud…"

The Mandalorian snapped his head up at the sound of The Child cooing from its spot behind him. He turned back to see what was wrong and found it attempting to eat one of the levers on his control panel.

"Hungry?" He asked it. It let out a squeal and a cry. He sighed and looked on his map for a nearby planet that most likely wouldn't have bounty hunters. He found a small, secluded one nearby. He figured that would be a good place and headed towards it.

The planet was actually larger than he thought it would be. It looked small compared to others. He landed in a port and opened the hatch. He began to leave The Child wobbled after him. He sighed at the sight and slowed down so it could catch up. He walked towards the ground and an older man greeted him.

"Need a checkup?" The man asked.

"Yes." Mando answered. "How much will it cost?"

"How much do you got?"

"Tell me how much it is." The man squinted at the Mandalorian before handing him a small piece of paper. Mando looked at it before shaking his head.

"I don't have that much." He explained, annoyed.

"Then get it," the man scowled, "You're a Mandalorian, right? You can take a job, can't you?" Mando was silent for a moment before sighing and walking into the town. The Child giggled and followed him. He froze. He picked up The Child and walked back in front of the man.

"Can you watch it?" He asked.

"What do you think we are, some kind of daycare?" He man scoffed.

"Boss!" You yelled from a room. Both Mando and the man turned towards the voice. "he doesn't like the yellow ribbon, can you get me my blue one?"

Mando looked back at the man, who sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"We… can watch it…" he grumbled. Mando nodded and gently handed the child over to him. He took it, looking at its ears weirdly.

"Be careful with it," Mando warned and walked into the town.

The man watched the Mando walk and sighed. He held the child up in front of him. It watched him with it's big eyes. He frowned.

"You're a weird one, ain't ya?" He asked. It cooed. He walked into the next room, where you were at your station.

"Hey, boss, did you get me the-" you cut yourself off when you saw the Child. "What is that?"

"A Mandalorian's child, I suppose…" he answered.

"Why do we have it?"

"The Mandalorian went into town."

"The ship that just landed belonged to a Mandalorian?"

"Yep. And since you have to check his ship…" He plopped the child onto your counter. "... You get to watch the child, trooper." Before you could argue, he was already gone. You huffed and looked at the small being in front of you.

"Well… you're pretty cute. I guess it's no problem…" you shrugged. You held out your hand out to the Child, who then began playing with your fingers. You smiled as he began to giggle. The droid you had fixed earlier was bumping your arm, wanting the attention you were giving the Child. You rolled your eyes and picked up the droid, setting it in your lap.

"I’ve been demoted to babysitter now… great…" you mumbled. "I hope that Mandalorian gets back soon…"

The Mandalorian hadn't been back and you were getting scared. He wouldn't just… abandon this child… would he? He'd also have to abandon his ship too. That didn't seem very smart. You sighed and looked up at the dark sky. You boss walked up to your desk and tapped it.

"Alright, trooper. You gotta move." He said, "take the Child somewhere else."

"What if the Mandalorian comes back?" You asked.

"That's his problem."

"I can't just take a random child home with me…"

"Why not?"

You opened your mouth, not having anything to respond with. He scoffed.

"Look, I'll wait 10 more minutes. But after that, I'm locking up and you're going home." He explained. You nodded and he walked back into his office.

You sighed and poked at the small child's cheeks. It cooed and grabbed one of your fingers. You snickered before hearing a loud noise. You stood up, hiding the droid and the child from view of anyone. Your boss went out to see what happened, and you saw a bounty hunter walk up to him. Your heart sped up as you took the two and sat them in your bag. The child began whining.

“Shshshsh, you’re okay, you’re okay…” you tried to calm it. You looked over your desk at the men talking. Your boss seemed to be explaining something, and the hunter looked aggravated. You figured it’d be fine, until your boss shot the hunter.

“Oh, gods!” You yelled. He ran over to you and lifted you from the ground.

“Hide in my office,” He commanded. You tried to protest. “Now!” You closed your mouth and nodded, heading to the back where his office was. You kept the child and the droid safe in your bag, and went to his desk. You slid it to the side, revealing a safe. You had to input a code. You sat down, sighing.

“Oh, come on…” you grumbled. You heard fighting outside and began to panic. What was the code? What was it? You glanced at his desk and saw a picture of you and him. You turned back to the safe and typed in his nickname for you. Trooper.

The safe opened.

“Yes!” you cheered. You took the extra blaster from the safe and stood up. You spun around and saw another hunter at the door. The small object in his hand was beeping rapidly. You held the gun in front of you and shot blindly. Luckily, you hit him right in the chest. You heard more people running towards you.

“This might as well happen, sure,” you chuckled nervously. The beeping object was at your feet so, naturally, you picked it up. It beeped even faster. You put your bag down and removed the child from it. Beeping sped up. You sighed and just sat him back in your bag. You held the blaster in front of you as hunters saw you. You held your breath, trying not to think about what might have happened to your boss, and started blasting.

The Mandalorian ran towards the noise of blasters. He shouldn’t have left the child. He knew he shouldn’t have, but everything was going so smoothly and the planet was so small. He didn’t think there would be any hunters. He ran to his, in case you had decided to just leave the child there. He didn’t find it. On the ground, he saw the man who had agreed to take care of the child. There was smoke coming from his chest, most likely from a blaster wound. The Mando walked over to him and knelt down. He gently touched the man’s arm and sighed, lowering his head.

“I’m sorry,” He whispered.

He went into the building nearby. He slowly walked, being sure not to make noise. He looked at your office. Upon seeing you were gone, he took out his blaster. He heard the sound of a blaster and someone yelling, so he ran into one of the back rooms. He held the blaster in front of him, expecting to see a hunter. Instead, he saw you standing there, clutching your bleeding side. There were a couple hunters on the ground. He heard a noise and looked at your feet, seeing the Child waddle out of your bag, followed by a small droid. He looked back at you. Your eyes were glazed over and you looked like you were going to pass out.

“‘Bout time you showed up,” You slurred. You collapsed immediately after.

The Mando ran over to you, sheathing his blaster. He flipped you onto your back to see the issue. There was a large gash in from the side of your torso to the center of your chest. He gently touched it, but pulled away when he felt blood. It wasn’t cauterized, so it was caused by a normal blade. He stood up, thinking you were a goner, and began walking away. The child cried, so he turned around. It was sitting there, resting its little hands on your body, its eyes squeezed shut. A droid was curled up into your side. The Mando ran over and picked the child up. It looked at him with its big, wet eyes and he sighed.

"Alright. Fine," he sat the child back down and walked over to your unmoving body. He gently lifted you up bridal-style and began carrying you into town, the child and droid following.

You awoke feeling absolutely terrible. Your body ached all over and you could barely move. Your heart sped up due to you being in a foreign environment. You wanted to leave as soon as possible, so you tried to get up.

You slowly sat up, despite your body screaming at you to lie back down. You slowly moved your legs over the side of whatever you were laying on, and tried to stand up. Your legs refused to support you, and you fell with a thump. You lied on the floor for a minute, not wanting to hurt yourself further. The small droid you had picked up earlier rolled to you and kept bumping your head, urging you to stand. Eventually, you decided to suck it up and get on your feet. Your side burned and your eyes were stinging from tears, but you forced yourself to stand. You kept your hand on the wall in case you couldn’t walk anymore. You dragged yourself through what looked to be a ship, and eventually ended up at a door. It opened to reveal the Child you were watching in a small seat, and someone else piloting the ship. The child cooed at you. You smiled and waved at it in response.

“Good, you’re awake,” The pilot monotoned. You recognized the voice as the Mandalorian. You figured he must have seen you protecting the Child and took you with him.

“What…” you began.

“You got hurt pretty badly. I took you to a doctor who stitched you up, but they wouldn’t let you stay.” He interrupted. You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion. “News of someone killing several bounty hunters spreads pretty quickly, I suppose.” You sighed and leaned in the doorway, your head pounding. You whined a bit and he turned to you.

“You should lay back down if it hurts,” He suggested. You shook your head.

“No, no… I’m fine…” You mumbled, feeling not fine.

“In that case, where are you from?” He asked.

“Huh?”

“Where are you from?” He repeated, sounding frustrated. You squeezed your eyes shut, trying to remember.

“Uh… I don’t know…” You answered after a minute.

“What?”

“I don’t know!”

“Why don’t you know?”

“My parents abandoned me, some… guy found me and then I somehow ended up there!” You explained. He sighed and shook his head, turning back to the controls.

“Do you know anybody? Anywhere?”

“Uh… no. My boss was the only one who let me stick around or come back…” You mumbled. Mando grunted.

“Well, what am I supposed to do with you?” He grumbled. You looked down at the child, who was now at your feet. It smiled at you, and you returned the gesture. You raised your eyebrows as an idea popped into your head.

“I could stay with you!” You said happily. The Mando turned to you again. Even though he was wearing a helmet, you could tell he had a disbelieving expression.

“What?” He asked blandly.

“I could stay with you and…” You looked at the child, wondering what to call it. “...this… thing…”

“No.” Mando stated. You pulled yourself to your feet and stumbled next to him. He jolted and tried to move away.

“Come on! Please? You’ve seen me protect it! I can be useful!”

“No.”

“What reason do you have not to?” He squeezed the controls tightly and growled. You kept staring at him.

What reason did he have not to? You could end up betraying him, but what would you have to gain from that? You weren’t a hunter, you didn’t know about how much the child would be. You had no vendetta against him. You seemed to genuinely care about the child. He looked at your pouting face and sighed.

“...Fine…” He groaned. You cheered and plopped down in a chair, pulling the child into your lap. Mando looked at you and shook his head. “You really should go lie down.” You scoffed.

“I’ll be fi--” You stopped as you saw black dots clouding your vision. “--iiiiactually, y’know what? I’m gonna lie down.” You sat the child in his seat and stumbled to your own, heading back to the room you came from. The Mando watched you, making sure you didn’t faint on your way back. When you seemed to make it back to the room, he turned back to his control panel.

He didn’t need help raising the Child, he knew that. It still wouldn’t hurt to have a little help. Besides, he hadn’t had company in a while. It might be nice to have someone to talk to.

He smiled under the helmet, before The Child was standing on some controls next to him. It looked up at him, smiling. He raised his hands defensively. It giggled in response. He took that as some sort of tease or insult and scoffed.

“Oh, shut up.”

#the mandalorian #the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian x gender neutral!reader #the mandalorian x male!reader #the mandalorian x female!reader #the mandalorian x you #x male reader #x female reader #x gender neutral reader #x reader #x reader fanfiction #x you

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searchingwardrobes · 4 years

Text

Self Promo Sunday: Hope for the Orphans

This was my very first fic, and it’s really hard for me to believe that it’s almost four years old! It’s never been posted on tumblr before, nor have I ever made art for it. So here it is: my way of bringing little!Killian and little!Emma together - in canon. I hope these two cuties bring a smile to your face (even in the midst of their canon-compliant troubles.)

I also wrote this for @whimsicallyenchantedrose whose writing I have always admired. Little did I know back then that she would become a wonderful friend! Love ya, Jen!

Summary: One night, while remembering his mother, nine year old Killian Jones asks the man in the moon a question. The next thing he knows, he’s in a strange realm meeting a seven year old Emma Swan at a Valentine’s Day party. Could she be the answer to his question?

Rating: G

Trigger warnings: mentions of child abuse (very vague), and a very ill Killian as a child

Words: 6k and some change

Also on A03

Tagging my usuals: @snowbellewells @kmomof4 @xhookswenchx @let-it-raines @teamhook @bethacaciakay @tiganasummertree @welllpthisishappening @wellhellotragic @winterbaby89 @sherlockianwhovian @superchocovian @shireness-says @spartanguard @optomisticgirl @stahlop @resident-of-storybrooke @thislassishooked @ilovemesomekillianjones @lfh1226-linda @ultraluckycatnd @jennjenn615 @ekr032-blog-blog @nikkiemms @hollyethecurious @profdanglaisstuff @kday426 @distant-rose @carpedzem @ohmakemeahercules @branlovestowrite @delirious-latenight-laughs @scientificapricot @snidgetsafan @vvbooklady1256

When Killian Jones first saw Emma Swan, he had the strangest sensation that he had met her before. It was like a long-forgotten detail that niggled the back of his brain, and just as he began to grasp it, away it slipped like grains of sand. So he was delighted when it had been Emma Swan to volunteer to climb the beanstalk with him. “I was hoping it’d be you.” And as they climbed, he uncannily just knew things about her. That she was an orphan, for one. He wasn’t lying when he said she had the look of a lost boy in her eyes, but he noticed the look after the knowing. “Open book,” he had told her, but he hadn’t the slightest clue how or why.

The longer he knew her, the more he felt he had always known her. Of course, he never voiced this to Emma. He knew his Swan – he knew if he said such a thing it would terrify her. So it wasn’t until the night of their honeymoon, that he voiced it in the dark.

“From the moment we met, I have felt . . . like I’ve always known you.”

Emma surprised him with her response. “You too?” she asked, propping her chin on his chest. He could just make out the green of her eyes by the light from the bedside lamp. There was no fear there, not anymore.

Killian gazed down at her, confused. “You mean you’ve felt that way too?” At her answering nod, he asked, “How long?”

Emma snuggled into his side before answering. “Since the first day we met. I looked into your eyes and thought that I knew you from somewhere. I mean – I’m not saying it was love at first sight or anything-“ he could almost feel her roll her eyes at that notion – “it was more like a vague ‘I’ve seen this guy somewhere before,’ know what I mean?”

Killian chuckled, “Exactly.”

They both fell silent for a moment, contemplating what it might mean. Emma finally scooted herself up to nuzzle his neck. She murmured against his skin, “It’s probably just the whole true love thing.” How far his Swan had come to speak of it so matter-of- factly!

“Hmmm, “he sighed, as she lightly kissed his jaw. “And pray tell, love, exactly what does that mean?”

“You know,” she murmured as she lazily kissed a path across his face, “two souls destined to be together. Kindred spirits who recognized one another immediately, despite all reason. That sort of thing.”

And that was what they decided. The soul mates cliché. After all, what other explanation could there be?

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

Nine year old Killian Jones stuck his head slowly out of the hatch leading below decks, so only his eyes were visible through a narrow crack. He searched carefully to be sure no other sailors were above deck. He knew, of course, that there was a sailor on watch up in the crow’s nest. But he would be scanning the skies and sea, not looking down below at the deck. Seeing that the coast was clear, Killian quietly slipped out on deck, padding silently to the railing. The wood was cool beneath his bare feet. He leaned over the railing and down at the water below. It was a calm night. He could even see the moon and a few stars reflected in the almost glassy surface of the sea, the image broken only occasionally by the undulating waves. He looked up at the velvet sky and reveled at the sight of so many stars twinkling down at him. He breathed in deeply the familiar scents: salt, seaweed, and damp wood. He listened to the familiar sounds of the ocean and the creaking and rocking of the ship. He felt the cool night air gently fan his flushed cheeks. This was what he needed so desperately after being cooped up for three whole days below deck. Even if the slight saltiness of the air stung his right cheek just a bit.

“Killian Jones! What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing?”

Slowly and reluctantly, Killian turned to face his older brother. Liam stood there, his arms crossed in front of his chest, looking far older than his 13 years.

“I just needed some fresh air, brother!” Killian tried to explain. “I couldn’t stay down there in the hold one more minute.”

“Little brother,” Liam said on a sigh, putting his hand gently on Killian’s shoulder, “you had a raging fever for three full days. The last thing you need is to stand out here, breathing in the deadly night vapors. You must remain abed until you get your strength back.”

Liam tipped Killian’s head up, then turned it to the side to look at his cheek. The deep cut there was still a bright, angry red, but the wound was no longer weeping. Killian saw the regret and guilt in his brother’s eyes.

“It could be worse, I suppose,” Liam grumbled, dropping his hand from Killian’s face. “You’ll have a scar, though.”

Killian decided that the best course of action was to make light of it. “Well, every good sailor worth his salt needs a scar,” he said brightly. Then he poked Liam in the chest, “And what do you expect? I was stitched up by a 13 year old.”

Liam winced. Okay, maybe it was too soon for that joke. But according to Cook, Liam may have saved Killian’s life.

“Well,” Liam replied, poking his little brother in return, “you should have kept your mouth shut, as usual, and refrained from setting off the Captain.”

Now it was Killian’s turn to wince. Liam was constantly berating him for his sass. “Just keep your mouth shut, Killian, and do as your told,” was the seemingly endless refrain from his brother’s lips. And it was true, Killian’s mouth was constantly getting him into trouble. He just couldn’t seem to help himself. A few days ago, the Captain had sent his youngest cabin boy below decks for some more rum. Unbeknownst to Killian, the barrel he had filled the decanter from was not properly sealed. Salt water had seeped in and ruined the rum. The Captain had taken a large gulp and promptly spit it out across his desk. He had roared at Killian, blaming him. Killian should have taken the scolding meekly and gone to get rum from the second barrel, but instead, as usual, he had opened his mouth.

“As drunk as you are, I’m surprised you noticed.”

The Captain had roared even louder and would have knocked his desk over if it hadn’t been nailed down. Instead he threw the glass tumbler in his hand right at Killian, who had ducked just in time. The tumbler smashed into pieces against the wall directly behind his head (really, who uses glass tumblers on a ship? was Killian’s ridiculous thought). Ducking hadn’t prevented a shard of glass from slicing across his cheek. The Captain screamed at him to get out, face red and eyes bulging. Killian had stumbled out, putting a hand to his stinging cheek. When he pulled his hand away, it was covered in blood. He wiped his bloody hand on his tunic, and reached up to his cheek again. By the time he stumbled on deck to his brother, his face and cheek were slick with blood again.

“Liam,” was all he managed to say before he swayed on his feet.

The rest was a blur. Killian remembered opening his eyes to find himself laid out on the table in the galley, Liam and the bos’un, Starkey, arguing.

“Cook’s gone to shore for supplies.” Starkey hissed, “What’ll we do?”

“I don’t know,” Liam hissed back, as if he didn’t want his brother to hear him. “Go to shore and look for him, or a healer.”

“Captain was adamant that his slaves stay on board. He may do worse to me and to Killian if we disobey. Besides, Killian needs help NOW. Look at how much blood –“

“Then what’ll you do?”

“Get Cook’s kit. I’ve seen him do it before . . . “

“Have you lost your senses?” Starkey practically screeched. “You’re just a boy!”

“Exactly!” Liam shot back. “I need you to hold him down. I’m not strong enough.”

Then Killian saw Starkey and Liam bending over him. Starkey and the Cook had taken a liking to Liam and Killian a year ago when their father had left. The boys trusted both men with their lives.

Starkey took Killian by the shoulders. He thought he remembered tears in the man’s eyes, but surely he had imagined that. “I’m sorry son.” Then the pain. Killian writhed and screamed. Then everything went dark.

When Killian awoke, he was in his hammock in the hold. He was shivering all over, and no matter how tightly he wrapped his scant blanket around him, he felt chilled. For three days, he drifted in and out of consciousness. He heard snippets of conversation around him.

“The wound’s turned septic.”

“I was a fool thinking I could stitch him up!”

“You did what you had to, my boy.”

“The Captain is demanding to know where his second cabin boy is. He has work he needs him to do.”

“Then stall, damn it!”

Concerned faces floated in front of him. Someone made him lift his head to drink some water. Extra blankets were tucked around him. It wasn’t until later that he realized his brother, Starkey, and Cook and given him there’s. As the fever raged higher, he started to hallucinate. Calling out to his mother. To his father. And most frightening of all, was the hallucination he had of Liam. His brother was weeping, begging him not to leave him alone. It had to be a hallucination. Liam never cried.

But by some miracle, this morning Killian had awoke sweating and hot underneath the pile of blankets. When Cook had come down to check on him, Killian had asked for something to eat. Cook laid a gnarled hand against Killian’s forehead, and then whooped with joy. He had never seen the man do anything but scowl. He tried to get up, but Cook, and later Liam, insisted he was too weak. The two of them and Starkey were covering for him; the Captain had been too drunk to know his smallest sailor was missing.

And that was why, on this night, Killian had snuck out of his hammock as soon as the rest of the crew was asleep. Staying in bed all day when he had all his wits about him was about to drive him mad. It was dark, stuffy, and hot in the hold with absolutely nothing to do. And now he had no doubt Liam would send him right back down there.

So Killian couldn’t believe it when Liam said, “Ok little brother, we’ll stay up her for a bit.” When he saw Killian’s grin, he hastily added, “But not for long, and you’re sitting down.”

Killian couldn’t argue with that, he was swaying a bit where he stood. The two boys sat side by side with their backs to the railing and looked up at the night sky.

“There’s a man in the moon tonight,” Liam pointed out. Killian looked up. Sure enough, there was the outline of a man’s face. “Do you remember what mother used to say about the man in the moon?”

Killian shook his head and sighed, “No brother, I sometimes fear I am forgetting her completely.”

Liam gave him a small, reassuring smile, “It’s not surprising. You were only seven when she passed. But I can tell you stories. That way, you won’t forget her.”

“Ok,” Killian agreed with a smile.

Liam cleared his throat. “She always said to give your problems to the man in the moon. But you had to make sure to tell him everything, so he had all the pieces. Like a puzzle. Then, while you were sleeping, he would work out the problem for you.”

Killian tilted his head up to gaze at the moon. Then he closed his eyes and concentrated. He knew he could remember his mother if he thought hard enough. He had to. Slowly, an image came to his mind. A smile that would light up a room. A turned up nose with a dusting of freckles. He saw her face, still a little fuzzy, leaning over him and wiping his brow. He was four or five and was ill. He saw curls framing the pretty face. Light brown, like his brother. Her eyes? He concentrated harder. They seemed to change color. Crystal blue when she was laughing. A stormy gray when she was arguing with his father. Sea green as she sang him to sleep.

“She sang us to sleep!” Killian exclaimed triumphantly. “And told us bedtime stories!”

Liam laughed softly, “That’s right. She had a beautiful voice. Her favorite was –“ and Liam began to sing haltingly:

Lavender’s blue, dilly, dilly, Lavender’s green; When I am king, dilly, dilly, You shall be queen Roses are red, dilly, dilly, Lavender’s blue. If you will have me, dilly, dilly, I will have you.

The song came back to Killian and he joined in. “I’ll say, little brother!” Liam exclaimed. “It seems you’ve inherited her singing voice.”

The boys continued gazing at the sky silently, lost in their own thoughts of their mother.

“Do you remember what you always asked her at the end of every story she told?” Liam finally broke the silence.

Killian laughed, “Yes I do. No matter what it was about, giants, kracken, true love’s kiss, I would always ask her if she believed in it.”

“And she would always say, ‘I believe in everything.’”

“Aye,” Killian scoffed, “and you would always roll your eyes and say it was silly.”

“Not you,” Liam chuckled, poking his ribs, “you would always loudly proclaim, ‘Then I believe in everything too!’ Momma’s boy.”

“Hey!” Killian protested, but he didn’t really mind his brother’s ribbing too much. His mother used to always says she couldn’t believe two brothers could be so different. Now that his memory had been jogged, more flooded into his mind. The clearest memory was the day his mother died. His father was away, he couldn’t remember where or why, but Elizabeth Jones had insisted on her boys being allowed in the sick room. Their father was a respected merchant, able to afford a housekeeper for his modest home. Little did they know he had gambled it all away. Agnes, the housekeeper, had tried to argue with Elizabeth, but to no avail. She dutifully brought the boys to their mother.

Elizabeth spoke to Liam first, asking him to look after Killian. “You are all he has left,” she had said. He now realized his mother had known their father wouldn’t stick around. She gave Liam a ring with a garnet stone, hanging on a chain. She slipped it over Liam’s head, saying, “This ring will always bring you safely home.” Liam had nodded solemnly and vowed that Killian would always be safe.

“Killian,” Elizabeth had called, gesturing to her youngest son. Killian stepped to her bedside, unable to stop the tears that flowed down his cheeks. Liam was strong, but he was weak. “Killian, you have more love in your little finger than most people have in their whole bodies. When you love, you love fiercely, with all that you are. That is rare, my son. And it is strength. It will make you a hero some day.” At this, she took Killian’s freckled face in her hands. “No matter what happens, Killian Jones, no matter what mistakes you make – and we all make some – never forget that you are destined to do heroic things. Promise me you won’t forget.”

“I won’t mother,” Killian had sobbed. Then he had thrown his arms around her. Elizabeth had held him close, drawing Liam into the hug as well.

“Forgive me boys, for leaving you.” She wept. “I don’t want to.”

“Of course we forgive you, mother,” they had both declared. And the next morning, she was gone.

Killian looked up now at the man in the moon. He didn’t have a problem for him, not exactly. More a question. He realized he had broken his promise to his mother. He had already forgotten that he could be a hero. Because his mother was the only one who had ever seen that in him. So, with her gone, he had forgotten. Liam loved him, he knew without a doubt. But he always had the nagging feeling he was letting his brother down. “Why are you always getting into trouble, Killian?” “Can’t you keep your thoughts to yourself, Killian?” It was always something. So Killian Jones looked up at the moon and asked one single question as he closed his eyes.

“Will anyone ever see me the way my mother did?”

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

Killian’s eyes blinked open. He must have fallen asleep on deck. But – something wasn’t right. The surface against his cheek was smooth and cold, not rough and damply warm like the wood of the ship. Someone was saying something to him. . .

“Sweetie . . . come on, sweetie, you need to wake up and get off the bus.”

Wait . . . what? Everything was off. The woman’s strange accent, calling him sweetie, and . . . what the bloody hell was a bus?

Killian jolted up, looking frantically around him. In front of him was a plump woman, middle aged, holding what looked like a rectangle of smooth wood.

“Wh-where am I?” he stuttered. He looked around him – it was all so strange. Two rows of leather benches with an aisle down the middle. And the entire thing was encased in some kind of metal? What was this place?

The woman in front of him chuckled. “You’re at the Valentine’s Day party. All the other children are already inside. You must have fallen asleep.” She looked down at her piece of wood. “Now, what is your name? I thought we had counted everyone.”

“K-Killian J-Jones.”

The woman frowned. “I don’t see your name here.” She shrugged and looked at him with sympathy. Killian wasn’t sure, but it seemed like she was staring at the cut on his cheek. “You must be a brand new arrival. I’ll add your name – go on inside.”

Killian didn’t know what else to do but obey her. He walked down the aisle towards a door at the front of the vehicle he was in. He guessed it was a vehicle. The seat at the very front had a wheel in front of it. He walked down the steps and onto a smooth, black surface. It was all so strange. He looked behind him at the vehicle he had just exited. Large and bright yellow with four enormous wheels. Bizarre. There were words painted across the side in black. He was grateful that Liam had continued his reading instruction after his mother passed. “Baptist Children’s Home.” A children’s home. A nice way of saying orphanage. Great. He was apparently in a strange realm, separated from Liam, and in an orphanage.

“Better hurry up,” the woman behind him admonished. “The food will all be gone.”

Food! Well, at least he wouldn’t starve. He could certainly eat before trying to get back home. Even Liam couldn’t argue with that. He saw a strip of white through a small green lawn. A path. It lead up to two large doors. From the doors and windows of the strange looking building poured a bright, glaring light. What type of lanterns did they have in this realm to make light that blinding? As he walked nearer to the doors and the light, he could see the kind of clothes he was wearing. His trousers were made of a stiff, blue material. The shirt he was wearing was thin, but soft, with strange pictures. The pictures were like nothing he had ever seen, but he could read the words “Star Wars.” That was odd. Over the thin shirt, he wore a short coat made of similar fabric as the trousers. He shivered a little as the wind blew. Seems orphans wore coats too thin in any realm.

Walking into the bright room was overwhelming. At first Killian didn’t know where to look. Glittering, paper hearts of red and pink were hanging on almost every surface of the room. Children of various ages were all around the room. Some were talking, some were playing what looked like carnival games, and at one long table children sat with more paper hearts, rubbing them with colored sticks. But what finally arrested Killian’s attention was the table draped in pink and red tablecloths in the dead center of the room. Food! He tried to calm himself as he approached the table, but he had never seen so many confections in his life! His mother used to make them shortcake with strawberries for their birthdays, but this! The table was a rainbow of color he had never seen on food before. Cakes, pastries, cookies, and . . . was that chocolate?! Pirates would raid ships carrying chocolate, vanilla, or cinnamon, but in this realm such things must be as abundant as sea water. Why else would they serve such rich foods to mere orphans?

Killian almost couldn’t decide what to try first when his eyes landed on a large, heart shaped cookie. The last one on its tray. It wasn’t just the enormous size of the cookie; it was the fact that it was completely covered in pink frosting. Killian had never had frosting in his life. He had seen wealthy patrons buy cakes with frosting from bakeries, but had never tasted it. He picked up the large cookie almost reverently, his mouth watering.

“Hey, kid! You ain’t eatin’ that! It’s mine!”

Before Killian knew what was happening an older boy who towered over him had shoved Killian and snatched the cookie from him. Killian clenched his fists as he watched the boy cram the cookie in his mouth. The bully laughed, his gaping mouth filled with pink frosting and mashed cookie. Killian felt the anger rising, and all reason flee. The boy was huge, but so help him . . .

“I can split mine.”

The soft, kind voice stopped Killian in his tracks. Forgetting his rage, he turned around to see a girl, not much younger than him, standing there with a heart shaped cookie extended to him in her small hand. She was dressed in a similar manner to every other child in the room: the blue trousers, the cotton shirt (with a glittery pink heart), the thin jacket, but she may as well have been the only one in the room wearing a ball gown the way Killian’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. He had seen Liam get tongue tied over girls, but it had never happened to Killian. Until now.

The girl laughed – a wonderful sound. Then she rolled her green eyes and cocked her blonde head. “So ya want the cookie or what?”

Oh, she was a tough lass. He could tell already. Speak, you idiot! Killian thought to himself, but all he could do was nod.

The girl carefully broke the cookie in two, handing half to Killian. Killian ate his half slowly, relishing every sweet bite. It was almost sickening it was so sweet. Almost. Then he shyly licked his lips and his fingers, watching the little girl. She laughed again.

“Didn’t get many sweets at your last home, huh?” She said. “Same here. My last place it was nothing but bologna sandwiches. That I had to make myself, of course. Guy spent all the state’s money on beer. My name’s Emma Swan. What’s yours?”

He hadn’t understood half of what she said. But he had sense enough to remember what Liam had told him about ladies. Whether a duchess or a slave, you should always be a gentleman when greeting a lady. So Killian took Emma’s hand, bowed over it and said, “Killian Jones, m’lady.”

Emma giggled. “You talk funny!” Killian’s face fell until she said, huge smile on her face, “But I like it!” Then he was elated. This Swan girl would be the death of him.

“You must be new,” she continued. “Is the cut why you’re here?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand . . . “

“This home, you don’t stay long. It’s for emergencies. You don’t have to be embarrassed.” Emma rolled up her sleeve and showed Killian her wrist. On it was a scar, puckered and red. “Bologna and beer guy. From his cigarette.” She shrugged like it was no big deal, but he saw a little wetness in her eyes.

Killian gently patted his cheek. “Glass of rum,” he told Emma with a smile, “he threw it at my head.”

She smiled back and he just stood there stupidly. “I’m nine,” he finally said, “how old are you?”

“Seven,” she answered, then abruptly grabbed his hand. “Come on, let’s do something! The craft table is lame, totally for babies. But they’ve got some good games.”

Emma dragged him to a table with little darts laid across it. On the wall behind the table was a dartboard surrounded by shelves of stuffed toys. Emma picked up a dart and showed it to Killian.

“Suction cup darts. Don’t want to give the screwed up orphans real ones,” then she laughed. Seven and already cynical. Yeah, Killian could relate.

She leaned closer to him to whisper in his ear, and he thought his heart might pound right out of his chest. “I want the duck. Think I can do it?”

“I think you could do anything,” he whispered back. And he meant it.

He watched as Emma picked up a dart and concentrated on the board, her tongue sticking adorably out of the corner of her mouth. The first dart didn’t even make it to the board, and the second dart hit two circles from the edge. Emma blew out her breath and narrowed her eyes as she threw the third dart. Close, but no bullseye. Emma sighed.

“Sorry kid, you only get three tries,” said the volunteer.

“Figures,” Emma grumbled.

“I’ll give it a try,” Killian said. The volunteer gave him his three darts. Killian tried to ignore the fact that Emma was watching him, but it was bloody hard to ignore her. His first throw hit the edge of the board and bounced off crazily. He breathed in deeply on his second. He had to win that duck for Emma! His second dart hit on the very edge of the bullseye and he heard Emma cheer beside him. He narrowed his eyes and concentrated on the bullseye, tossed the dart and …

“We have a winner!” exclaimed the volunteer. “Now, what would you like, little boy?”

Killian didn’t hesitate. “The duck.”

Killian thought it was obvious that he had played for Emma, but when he turned to her and placed the duck in her hands, her mouth dropped open.

“You won this for me?” she whispered, hugging the duck to her chest.

“Of course I did,” Killian said with a shrug. Why wouldn’t he? He cleared his throat, suddenly self-conscious. He scratched behind his ear. “I mean, you did share your cookie.”

Suddenly Emma was grabbing his hand and dragging him along. Again. Not that he minded. He would follow this angel anywhere. The two of them slipped out of a side door and then down a dark hallway. Emma stopped in front of a heavy oak door.

“We’re not supposed to be here,” Emma whispered conspiratorially. “You just got here, so you haven’t come to the Bible lessons yet, huh.”

“Bible lessons?” Killian asked, once again confused.

“Yeah,” Emma whispered back. “They’re not so bad. They read you a story, you make a lame craft, play a game. There’s cookies and juice. That’s the best part.”

The only thing Killian really understood was the part about cookies and juice. Food was certainly easy to come by in this realm.

“I mean, it’s the deal with this place. Bible lessons every Wednesday afternoon. But they take us places. I’m hoping I’m still here next week. We’re going to the movies. I’ve never been.”

Once again, Killian had no idea what Emma was talking about. “So what’s behind the door?” Kilian asked.

“Oh, right,” Emma laughed. “The first Wednesday I came here, I had to go to the bathroom. And on my way back to class, I saw colored light shining through the little window here in this door. I was curious, so I snuck in. And . . . it’s sort of my special place. I wanted to show it to you.”

Emma was the one who seemed shy now, chewing on her bottom lip. Killian smiled at her,” I would be honored to see it, Swan.” Emma giggled, and somehow he knew he was “talking funny” again.

Emma pushed open the heavy door and looked around to make sure the coast was clear. Then she silently motioned for Killian to follow her. When he followed Emma into the room, he gasped. This must be a cathedral! he thought. Each side of the massive room was lined with exquisite stained glass windows. The room was dark, but the moonlight poured through the colorful windows, spilling colored light onto the carpeted floors. “I see why this is your special place,” he breathed.

“Yeah, it’s beautiful,” Emma agreed, “but I have a special spot. Come on.”

And she was pulling him along again. Did Emma Swan ever slow down? Killian didn’t think so. She stopped at the end of a pew and plopped down on the carpeted floor, her back against the wood. She yanked Killian’s hand to sit down next to her. Just a foot in front of them was a beautiful scene in stained glass. It was a man (the same man who seemed to be in a lot of the glass pictures) seated on a rock, surrounded by children. The man’s face seemed gentle and kind, and the children looked at him with smiles on their faces. One little boy sat on his lap, and he had placed his hand on a little girl’s head. At the bottom of the window, in the stained glass, were the words, “Let the little children come unto me.”

“Who is that man?” Killian asked.

“Jesus,” Emma answered. “You’ll hear a lot about him in this place, trust me.”

“Is he a god of this realm?”

More giggling from Emma. “Realm? Yeah, they say he’s god.”

“So you worship this god?” Killian asked, trying to understand fully why this was her special place.

“No,” Emma sighed, “I mean, I don’t really know what to think about him. But the first night I came in here, we had just heard this story. Jesus was really important, so they tried to send the kids away, they thought he was too busy. But Jesus said the kids could come and actually told the grown-ups they ought to be more like the kids.”

“Really?” Killian asked, surprised. Liam was always telling him to grow up.

“Yeah, I know. And then I saw this window, and I don’t know, it’s just – the Bible teacher said Jesus meant that kids believe stuff real easy.” Emma pulled her knees up to her chest. “But I’m only seven, and it’s getting harder and harder to believe in stuff, you know?”

Killian thought of his mother. I believe in everything. What had happened to the little boy who would echo those words back to her? Killian sighed, “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

“And in this home, they keep going on and on about how Jesus cares for the orphans. And I want to believe that someone cares – anyone – but it’s just so hard. So when I come in here and look at this window, I imagine those children are orphans. And for one moment, I don’t know. I feel . . . I feel . . .”

“Hope?” Killian supplied.

Emma looked at him and smiled. “Yeah.” Then she took Killian completely by surprise and rested her head on his shoulder. They both gazed up at the window for a while in silence, and then he heard Emma softly snoring. He rested his cheek against the top of her head, and suddenly felt very, very tired . . .

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

“Killian! Killian, wake up!”

Suddenly, Killian felt someone shaking him. He felt damp wood beneath him and smelled salty air. He groaned. His head felt full of cotton and his limbs felt heavy.

“Killian,” Liam spoke urgently, “we fell asleep, and now you’re burning up. I’ve got to get you back to bed.”

Liam began yanking Killian to his feet, and Killian didn’t like it. Not one bit. “Swan?” he asked. He was on his feet now. Liam tried to pick Killian up, but he wasn’t strong enough. Killian swayed and leaned into his brother.

“I don’t know what you’re babbling about, little brother, now walk.”

“The – the swan. With golden hair. She was a little angel.”

Liam chuckled. “You’re fever is definitely back. You’re hallucinating. Besides, you said girls were a nuisance.”

“Not this one,” Killian mumbled as Liam helped him below and then into his hammock. “Bloody brilliant she was. Amazing.”

But Liam was right, his fever was back. Killian spent two more days in a feverish fog, and when he woke up he assumed the blonde angel and her strange realm had all been a dream. And as hundreds of years ground away at his heart and mind, even the dream faded almost into oblivion.

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

Killian and Emma knew that the other parents of Storybrooke were probably rolling their eyes at the idea of taking an 8 month old to a Valentine’s Day party. Although none of them should have been surprised. As orphans, they had missed out on so much. They were determined to give their little girl everything they had missed out on. Children’s events at the public library were one of them.

Belle had always been a natural at running the library, but after becoming a mother she took it to a whole other level. She convinced Regina to approve the addition of a children’s wing, and she kept said wing abuzz with activity. Storytime, laptime, babytime, summer reading programs, and countless special events were a welcome improvement over research to defeat monsters and secret war councils. In the peace that had descended on Storybrooke, the Jones family were Belle’s number one customers. They brought baby Elsa to babytime every Wednesday morning, alternating weeks. Belle had tried not to chuckle the first time Killian brought her. Elsa couldn’t even hold her head up yet, so when they sang the song about riding a pony to town, Killian couldn’t bounce her on his knee like he was supposed to. So really, was a Valentine’s Day party that crazy of an idea?

Granted, Elsa drooled, babbled, and squealed her way through storytime about two rabbits who try to outdo each other with declarations of love. Emma had basically done the craft for her after Elsa tried to eat the glue stick. And now Killian was trying to figure out how to balance a plate of food with his good hand while holding Elsa in his other arm. He was trying to grab Emma’s attention across the room where she was talking to Snow, but with no luck. Suddenly, Elsa made a grab for Killian’s plate, taking a heart shaped frosted cookie into both her chubby hands. She squished the cooked delightedly and then tried to cram the confection into her mouth with both fists.

“Oy, little pirate lass!” Killian pouted. “That was your Papa’s cookie!”

Killian heard a chuckle behind him. He turned to see Emma, holding another cookie out to him.

“Wanna split mine?”

And suddenly, just like that, they both remembered. They both gasped.

“It was you!” Emma exclaimed first.

“I thought it was a dream.”

“I thought you were an imaginary friend,” Emma laughed. She stepped forward and drew her thumb across the scar on his cheek. “Rum, huh? Figures.”

Killian grinned. His hands were full, so he gestured with his head to her wrist. “So that’s why you got the tattoo?”

“Yeah,” Emma said while rubbing her wrist, “the scar never did go away.”

They just stood there staring into one another’s eyes, both their hearts breaking for the little lost girl and the little lost boy.

“But how?” Emma asked, shaking her head.

“I don’t know,” Killian shrugged. “All I know is, I fell asleep asking the man in the moon a question. And the next thing I knew . . .”

“Seriously?” Emma rolled her eyes. “The man in the moon? What did you ask him?”

“If anyone would ever see me the way my mother did.”

Emma cocked her head to one side. “Mmhm, and how did she see you?”

“A boy who could be a hero one day.” Killian’s smile lit up his face as he leaned down to kiss his Swan. But before the kiss could get really good, two chubby hands patted Killian’s cheek, covering him in pink frosting. Killian pulled back, both he and Emma laughing. Emma reached up with a napkin to wipe the frosting out of Killian’s scruff.

“What happened to the duck?” Killian asked. “It didn’t earn a place in your memory box?”

Emma laughed. “You’ll never believe this. Another kid stole it.”

“Stole it?”

"Yeah, the same kid who stole your cookie.”

Killian rolled his eyes. “Figures. We were truly made for each other Swan.” And he bent to kiss her againn.

#cs ff #self promo sunday #little!emma #little!killian #hope for the orphans #my first fic

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lupinlongbottom · 5 years

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Ordeals

Charlie Weasley x Legilimens!Reader

Summary: (Y/N) has a hard time sleeping after the war, good thing her husband is there when she wakes up.

Prompt: A lovely request from @cutie-bug (that took WAY too long to get out of my head, I’m so sorry!)

Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings: none

A/N: uh. hey. i’m back. whoops. sorry for the hiatus. i’m trying to get back into writing, but it’s been increasingly hard for me of late. in the meantime, however, enjoy a lovely fic with our fave dragon boi.

A sliver of light filtered through the moss colored curtains, shining directly onto the dark covers of the bed beneath. The sheets rose and fell with the deep slumber of the redheaded man resting under, gently lifting momentarily to fall back down. The morning had barely begun, the sun only recently rising, but that had left no impact on the other owner of the bed.

(Y/N) had been sitting upright, head in her hands, for at least an hour before the sun rose. The war may have ended nearly a year ago, but the nightmares never ceased to end. It was easy to rationalize that the fighting and bloodshed had ended when she had woken, but the sleepless slumbers left her no deliberate way to understand the reality. It had become a habit to live off three to four hour nights of interrupted sleep.

A sputtering cough came from (Y/N)’s left side, her head turning ever so slightly towards the sound. Charlie usually had woken up by now, but yesterday had been a long day at the dragon sanctuary, loads of new eggs had finally hatched and were in need of constant supervision. Voldemort and his Death Eaters had come into owning a few dragons, neglecting their basic needs as creatures and using them for their own selfish purposes. Charlie was chosen to lead the rehabilitation of the few dragons rescued, leading to late nights and early mornings.

“(Y/N)?” Charlie muttered, voice thick with sleep. A chunk of his red locks fell in front of his freckled face, forcing the half-asleep man to push them back into place.

What’s wrong?

“I’m fine,” (Y/N) responded curtly, as she had every morning.

Doesn’t seem like it.

“No, really. I’m really fine.” She rose her hand up in protest, glancing away. The small gemstone from her ring caught the ray of light, sending a glittering shimmer to her eye.

“Stop reading my mind, love,” Charlie yawned, pulling his arms above the sheets, stretching them out for the day. “And before you say anything, I know it’s stronger when you wake up, but you and I both know you’ve been awake longer than you’d care to admit.”

(Y/N) sat in a stunned silence. Of course her husband could see through her possible excuses, he had been doing so since the war ended. A soft echo of Charlie’s voice rang through her head.

How long?

“I’ve only been awake for an hour or so. I’ve tried to fall back asleep but nothing worked—not even counting dragons.” (Y/N) chuckled airily.

“What was it this time?” Charlie had fully sat up, parallel to his wife. His white pajama shirt was bunched and twisted up from his sleep.

“The usual,” (Y/N) groaned. “We were back at Hogwarts, fighting some Death Eaters,”

I bet I looked great.

“You did look pretty great, like usual,” (Y/N) responded, elbowing Charlie slightly. He smiled lightly. “But this time, you didn’t dodge. The spell… it hit you.” The sound barely leaving her lips.

“But I’m still here,” Charlie gently rested his hand under (Y/N)’s chin, cupping her cheek. “I’m always still here.”

“I know,” Her head softly pushed into his grip. “But if I lost you, I don’t know what I would’ve done. Merlin, what would I have told your mother? She would have lost two sons in one day and—”

“But she didn’t,” Charlie said, tone sharp. “Fred is gone, that can’t ever change,” A deep sigh. “But I’m still here, see?” His hand enveloped (Y/N)’s, circling the back of it with his thumb. “You still feel me, right?”

(Y/N) nodded. “I just wish they would stop.”

“I know.”

The two sat in silence, the familiar pacing of their breathing settling both of their worried hearts.

“Your hands are always so cold in the morning,” (Y/N) spoke up, slowly pulling her hand away from Charlie’s icy one. “I still think you should wear a pair of mittens while you sleep.”

“Once you learn to knit, then I’ll consider it,” Charlie laughed, his fingers tracing over his other knuckles, twisting his wedding band. “Besides, you’re always there in the morning to warm them up.” A peck landed squarely on (Y/N)’s temple, soft and wet.

“Gross.”

“Can’t a man appreciate his furnace of a wife?” Charlie asked, voice slightly hurt. (Y/N) rolled her eyes before kicking one leg off the side of the bed, her second soon to follow. “Wait, love—”

“I’m not in the mood, Charlie. Deal with it yourself, you have two—rather cold—hands. I put more tissues in your nightstand if you really need to—”

“Who’s the gross one now?” Charlie said, gripping onto (Y/N)’s sleep shirt, preventing her escape. “As much as I appreciate your extremely polite decline, that’s not why I was stopping you.”

“Wouldn’t have been the first time,” (Y/N) shrugged, kicking her leg back onto the bed. “Not that I usually complain.”

“Neither do I,” Charlie laughed, the sound bouncing off their small bedroom walls. “As much fun as that would be, that’s not what you need right now.”

“What I need?” (Y/N) questioned, resettling back into the nest that laid before her.

“What you need, indeed.” Charlie repeated. “Quite clearly you’re need of some good, old fashioned, Weasley cuddles.”

“Charlie, you know I want to—”

“Shush!” Charlie hissed, patting the sheets closer to his open arm. “Come on, in you go.”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes, a small smile breaking onto her lips. She nuzzled her way into her husbands side, fitting like a missing puzzle piece.

Smells good.

A wider smile tugged at the corners of (Y/N)’s mouth, hiding her happiness in her husband’s chest.

“You know,” Charlie hummed, fingers weaving through (Y/N)’s hair. “No matter where we are in the world, as long as I can have you in my arms like this—just like this—it feels like home.”

“There you go again,” (Y/N) sputtered, blush creeping up her neck. “Saying everything that’s on your mind like it’s nothing.”

Charlie chuckled. “A habit I picked up from courting you, love. You’d be able to read my mind anyway, might as well beat you to the punch, no?” He angled his head down, eyebrow teasing his hairline.

“It’s fun to read your mind,” (Y/N) spoke honestly, weaving her hand under the blanket to rest on Charlie’s thigh. “You know I try not to do it often, but it can’t be helped.” She shrugs, fully resting into Charlie’s side. “Besides, I like your honest reactions.”

“Reactions? To what—” It was in that moment that (Y/N)’s hand began gently moving up and down his thigh.

Merlin…

“To that, my dear husband.” (Y/N) chuckled, stopping all movements entirely. “Those are the reactions I live for.”

“I thought you weren’t in the mood?” Charlie mused, clearly enjoying the game his wife was playing.

“Oh, I’m not,” (Y/N) smiled, removing her hand to her side, leaving a small peck on Charlie’s jaw. “But it’s fun to tease. Your face—”

“—color matches my hair,” Charlie rolled his eyes. “Yeah. I think I’ve heard that one before.”

Only a thousand times

“A thousand and one, then.” (Y/N) laughed, peppering more kisses along her husband’s jaw. The soft smacking sounds echoed through the room, filling the empty space with love. With one swift motion, Charlie angled his head towards his wife’s attentive lips, capturing the delicate two between his own.

“You know,” Charlie began. Another kiss. “I have to be at work in an hour.”

(Y/N) groaned, running her hand down Charlie’s chest. “I know,” she breathed, patting his chest lightly. “Those dragons can’t do anything without their dad, huh?”

Charlie’s chest rose with laughter. “Yeah, except maybe burn down a village or two.” He snuggled closer to (Y/N), filling the empty spaces with blankets and comfort. The soft morning sun continued to filter through the curtains, cloaking the lovers in a ray of light and hope. (Y/N)’s features were practically glowing against the rays, illuminating the face Charlie loved so dearly.

“You know, I don’t have to read your mind to know what you’re thinking.” (Y/N) smiled, peering up towards her husband’s eyes. The brown irises were gleaming with life, stoked by the expression he had only ever fathomed emoting to her and only her.

“Oh yeah?” Charlie hinted, pressing a soft peck to (Y/N)’s forehead. “Then what’m I thinking?”

“That I should go put a pot of coffee on if you’re ever going to leave this bed.” (Y/N) yawned, retreating from their love nest, pulling the dark sheets to the side.

“Ah, exactly that,” Charlie said, watching (Y/N) swing her legs across their bed, moving to exit their bedroom. “See? You don’t need to read my mind to know what I’m thinking, love. It’s our special connection.”

(Y/N) smiled, turning towards their kitchen. The wooden floorboards creaked with every step, almost drowning out the sound of a faint thought, one of Charlie’s, one (Y/N) practically missed.

I love you. So much.

General Tag List: @maralisa124 , @leighxlover , @hey-its-me-rai , @missihart123 , @biatheintrovert , @luna-xxxxx , @chocolaterumble

Charlie Weasley Tag List: @sungoddessra , @crescent-ia , @phantom-pheonix , @dccomicnerd-world , @marveltrash99 , @graymountaingal, @storiesbycaroline, @mytinybaguette , @garbdump

want to be added to a tag list? hmu in the replies or ask box with what characters you’d like to be tagged with!

#charlie weasley #charlie weasley x reader #harry potter #harry potter x reader #Harry Potter Hogwarts mystery #charlie weasley imagine #charlie weasley imagines #dragon boi #hogwarts

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sephythespooky · 6 years

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Flower Child

(bringing valentine home from Goggle’s point of view)

Floret bitty from @gaiasteapot

Twister bitty from @selkiesbittybonanza

mythbitties from @mythical-adoptions

Chain lamia bitties from @vex-bittys

Puppy papri by @nyehtish

Sunlust lamia by @bitti-tarts

Moonjelly naga bitty from @dumplingsspookysweeties (aka me!) )

I liked the idea of being a helper. Not being able to see wasn’t fun, even if I only half know what that’s like. It let me bond a bit with Virgil, that first little while, both of us missing sockets.

But Valentine couldn’t see at all, so I could help them. I kept their bitty carrier secure in my coils all the way home.

“What sort of bitties are at home?” they asked as we got in the car. It took a lot of effort, at least it felt like it from the tone in their voice.

“Well, we have a lot of myth bitties at home, and quite a few snakes if you include Goggles. And then there are the puppies.” Sephy giggled about them. I knew she was in love with the big bones, and it made me happy to think about it. Made me feel more secure that our family wouldn’t fall apart.

“Puppies?” Val seemed to be confused.

“really tall skeletons with some dog features and tendencies,” I explain. the little rose leans against my scales and hums, acknowledging they heard me. “Sweet Bun is the housekeeper in the family. He’s the cook, the cleaner, and very nice. Then we have Goldie, who’s more of a lazybones, but he’s the protector kinda guy. And last is Gracey, who’s the newest pup. He’s shy and quiet, but he’s gentle to us and very enthusiastic about everybody being happy.”

Valentine seemed satisfied for a while, their fingers smoothing my scales with interest. But then they asked, “what about the myth bitties?”

“We have Dante, a Dietyrus who is very energetic but sweet,” Sephy lists off, counting on her fingers as we sit at a red light, “his Harbinger, Virgil, and their little brother, Orpheus, the Faerie. Then we have Adonis and Morpheus. Adonis is an Eastern Red, a dragon-”

“FIRE?!” Valentine yelped and crouched down in their box.

“hey, no, it’s okay,” I tried to purr to calm them. I could feel the little pings of panic from their soul, “donny never blows fire. even when he was super mad at dante once, he never used his fire. and even if he wanted to, he’d have to get through all of me first.” Poor little flower.

Sephy felt bad about it, too, I could see it in her face, “Oh, honey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Goggles is right, Donny’s just a lazy noodle, and he’s really sweet, especially to his brothers and mate....”

“Wh-what are they?” the stammer showed they were still scared, but Valentine at least peeked their petals over the edge of my coils again.

“Morpheus is his first brother, and he’s a Lucirazz. Then we have a Dealer, Jubilee. He’s one of the sweeter red suits, a diamond, so he’ll be nice if you ask him to. And Donny’s mate is Amethyst, a Sunlust lamia bitty.”

I purr. Amethyst has been really good for our household. He made Donny happy, he helps me and Gracey and Sephy with our anxiety, and he love love loves the fact that we all like to cuddle...except Virgil, but I’m pretty sure he’s what Sephy calls a ‘tsundere’, like those cute cactus pictures she puts on her phone.

Valentine nods, “Anybody else?”

“Mmhm,” She’s turning into our apartment complex now, “I have a Chain lamia named Georgio, and I just found out yesterday that he and Wagner, his Vampyrus mate, are going to have a clutch of eggs soon.”

A soft gasp made me look down. Valentine looked nervous, “Babies?”

“Yes, babies.” Sephy slowly pulled into our spot at the end of the line. “And last we have Denim. He’s a Moonjelly naga, a classic sans type snake. He likes to boop people on the nose, but we told him to leave you be until you say it’s okay.”

Valentine has popped back up to full height, and I hold them tight while Sephy picks us up from the passenger seat. “Are the babies here yet?”

“not yet, rosey,” I explain. “Georgio and Wagner just barely told Sephy about it, and Georgio’s got his soul bond with Sephy. He’ll be kind of protective for a while until the babies are hatched and kinda big. So there’s no need to fret”

They ease a bit, and nodded again. “Okay. And they know I can’t see?”

“yep,” We’re going up the stairs so Sephy’s concentrating. She’s scared of twisting her ankle again like a few months ago, so I don’t blame her for being quiet. “usually when we take someone in from a center, we’ve all agreed they’d fit in well with us. only gracey and denim were surprise members of the family.”

They seem to relax for the most part, and Sephy gets them out of their carrier and opens the door.

“WELCOME HOME!” Sweet Bun’s voice greets us as always, and I feel Valentine jump at the sudden sound.

“Sweet Bun, remember-”

“Oh!” His voice is much softer now as he comes out of the laundry area and gives Sephy a hug. “Sorry, I forgot for a moment. Hello, little flower friend. It’s nice to meet you.”

Valentine reached out, and Sweet Bun put his finger into their hands. The pups were all at full height now, so he was over half a foot taller than Sephy now. It made me feel good that we had three tall guys here to help if something ever happened to Sephy. I know I couldn’t lift a whole human in my tiny arms.

“I do have to go organize the others, little friend. I’ll be back in a moment.” When he was let go, Sweet Bun zipped from room to room, gathering people as Sephy sat on the sofa after closing the door.

“Okay, Valentine. That was Sweet Bun. Are you okay so far?”

They say slowly, “I think so? It will take a little bit to get used to his big voice, but his small voice is good for now. Does anyone else have a big voice like that?”

“nope.” I don’t think so, anyway. Sweet Bun is the loudest of all of us. “Orpheus, we call him Fi for short, is a little loud and so is Morpheus, but they’re all way softer than Sweet Bun’s normal voice.”

“um?” I look down and Denim is there. He’s quiet, mostly, but he’s talking right now. And he actually wears shirts now. Sometimes.

“Valentine, Denim is here.” Sephy says, and their vines reach out.

“Hi, Denim.” Valentine is happy, so I’m happy.

Denim slithers closer and lets Valentine feel his face, “hi. i won’t boop you. um...what’s your name?” His voice is very very soft and I’m kind of surprised to hear it. He’s barely said a word to anyone since he came here.

“I’m Valentine. Thank you for not booping me, and I appreciate you talking softly.” Yes good. Everybody’s doing well so far.

Denim hums and nuzzles into Valentine’s hands, then backs away, “talk to you later,” and he’s off to wherever he likes to hide.

Amethyst slides up next, and I greet him. “hey, mey. meet valentine.”

“Hello, sweetheart,” Mey purrs and leans his face against my coil so Val can feel him.

“Oh. You smell nice.” Val mentions, and Mey starts to purr.

“Thank you. You smell and look fantastic, darling. Welcome home.” I had a feeling Mey would probably try to help Valentine out, too, and I didn’t mind.

“Goggles said that...that the dragon is your mate. He won’t burn me, right?” Aww, they were still worried about Donny hurting them. Poor Val.

“Oh no, he would never.” Amethyst cooed and gently kissed some of Val’s petals, earning a shy squeak, “Adonis is a tender soul who loves peace and family. And you are our family now, Valentine.”

“O-okay,” Val was blushing. and I knew things would be good. Mey could keep anybody calm.

Fi and Morpheus zoomed in, “I’M COMING, GOGGLES!” called Morpheus and Val shifted to face them as the two landed.

Fi squeaked and held out his hand, “HI! YOU’RE THE NEW FRIEND, RIGHT?”

By now, Sweet Bun was back and sat on the far end of the sofa, clearing his throat to announce his presence. Val reached out and found Fi’s hand, “O-oh, hi. Um, what is your name?”

“HE’S FI AND I’M MORPHEUS THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE!” Oh dear, M is being....well, himself. The more he grows up, the more (falsely) cocky he gets. I worry about him.

“Oh. Why are you terrible? Morpheus?” Val reached out their other hand and Morpheus seemed to realize his posing was useless and calmed down.

“BECAUSE I’M ME. AND BECAUSE IF I’M GREAT AND TERRIBLE I CAN PROTECT YOU AND FI.”

“AND I’M NOT TERRIBLE BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO BE SCARY.” Fi answered a question no one asked. As usual for the cutie. “WE’LL HELP RAISE THE BLINDS FOR YOU TO GET SUNSHINE.”

Sephy chuckled, “That’s very kind of you, boys.”

Val hummed as he examined the two hands he was given. Fi’s wings were fluttering, and I said softly, “hey, fi, you’re awfully breezy today.”

He puffed up his cheeks and huffed, but Morpheus growled at me. Hah, cute. I love these two kids.

“Oh?” Val turned to me. “Was that a pun?”

“yeah,” I hum, “Fi was flapping his wings to make those little gusts.”

“Wings...” Val seems pleased with the idea.

“Um, if you’re ready for the others, Valentine,” Sweet Bun says gently, “they’re here. But at your pace, of course.”

Nodding, they let go of Fi and Morpheus, “it’s nice to meet both of you.”

They giggle and fly away, off to play more games.

Dante whines and puts his head on Sephy’s knee. I realize he can’t directly communicate with Val because he can’t speak. “virgil? would you mind translating for your bro?”

“It is my solemn duty and only joy,” Virgil huffs and appears on Dante’s head. “Valentine, you are in the presence of the great diety known as Dante, and I am Virgil, translator and brother of Orpheus.”

There are several groans and coos from Dante, and he signs while he makes them, for the benefit of the rest of the family (and so they can correct Virgil if he tries to twist the words).

“My god wishes you to know he is also blind, traditionally speaking, and can only sense the world through his amazing extra senses.” Val reached out their vines and was gently analyzing Dante’s face while Virgil talked. “Welcome to our divinely cultivated family.”

Val’s vines slip over Virgil, too, who is surprisingly patient with them. “Hello, Dante, Virgil. Thank you.” When the vines withdraw, so does Dante’s head.

Sephy says softly, “Are you doing okay, Valentine?”

“Um, yes? I could use some water, though.” She sets us on the cushions and goes to get some.

Sweet Bun pushes Goldie and Gracey forward, “Valentine, these two about to give you their fingers are Goldie and Gracey. Please present yourselves to our new tiny friend!”

Goldie’s soft, warm voice is always calming. If I had to pick someone to be in charge other than Sephy, Goldie wins. He loves us and is strong enough to protect us.

“hey, valentine. i’m goldie. it’s good to have you safe at home.”

Val shook his finger, then Gracey offered his whole hand to the searching vines.

“m’gracey...you’re a nice, soft little fella...that’s good.” This made Val hum happily. They liked being praised.

A soft purr reached Valentine’s attention, and they turned their head down to it.

“Georgio~” Sephy cooed as she picked up the mini chain. Here was our brave and gentle founder. I guessed Wagner and Starlight were back in the nest boxes.

“heya. felt how happy everybody was and thought i’d join for a minute.” He sounded sleepy. He probably was, if I had to guess.

“geo,” Goldie said softly, “check out our cute new pal.”

“ooh.” He turned and Val followed his movements with their head. “hey there, flower baby. i’m georgio, sephy’s chain. i’m a lamia, so snakey sounds are gonna happen. when they wake up tonight, you can meet starlight and my mate, wagner. they’re sleeping in the closet, but uh...don’t go there.”

“i...i don’t plan to.” Val answers shyly. Georgio purred some more and flopped on Sephy’s hand as it came closer.

“valentine, we’ll set you in the sun for a while now, okay?” I ask, figuring introductions were over.

“Oh. Okay.” they cuddle up to me as I set them against my back, heading to the windowsill. I figure I’ll let them sun and take a nap myself.

All in all, a good day.

#bittybones #mythbitties #chain bitty #floret bitty #puppypapri

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