#she waits until she's an adult and finally gets their own *real* motorcycle and treats it like GOLD

[chipistrate]

Cassie and Elizabeth are roller blade gals, Michael is a skateboard dude, CC is a scooter kid, and Gregory and Cassidy both ride those small motorcycles made for kids

[ibis-gt]

*slides you 37 pennies* how would luther handle trying to go on a public date with cam (movie, restaurant, etc.) with the whole… affection turns height to no.

had two requests for this one so here u go! luther does his best to keep it together for date night. 2750 words, warning for brief mention of violence in a movie and some hanky panky between consenting adults. not explicit, just a little spicy.

~~~

Four months into their relationship, and Luther has more of a handle on things now.

He’s got the size thing totally under control. He hardly ever shrinks just because Cam looked at him anymore. He can take a compliment like a champion. Those soft, sweet, gentle smiles that spread across Cam’s face like molasses? Barely make him lose an inch. Physical contact? He’s… still working on that one.

But at the very least they can have date nights in public now, as long as Cam behaves himself, and Cam is quite willing to behave himself. Most of the time.

It’s a snowy Saturday night in December, and they’ve got a date planned. Cam will pick Luther up at eight, they’ll go have dinner at a local sushi place, watch a late night special feature from the 80s, and then come back home for some wine and light snuggling before bed. An absolutely perfect night, if Luther can make it through enough of it full-size.

He’s still debating his outfit when a gentle knock at his front door heralds his beloved’s arrival. Five minutes early as usual.

“It’s open!” Luther calls. “C’mon in and help me choose, will you?” He’s standing in his bedroom in a pair of black slacks with the horrid green jumpsuit undone and tied around his waist, staring critically at his two choices of top. A lovely turquoise turtleneck, or a stylish electric blue button-up. The floor creaks behind him as Cam ambles in. “Which one do you think is better? I guess it depends on what you’re wear - eep!”

Luther squeaks and jumps as Cam presses his lips to Luther’s neck, big warm hands sliding up his arms to rest on his bare shoulders, sending an involuntary shiver down his spine.

“Both look nice,” Cam murmurs in his ear. “But I think I like the blue one better.”

“C-cam,” Luther whines, his face going pink. “If you keep this up we’re not even going to get out the door.” The hands remove themselves, and Cam pulls back, chuckling.

“Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. All that exposed real estate, you know.” He lets out a perfect wolf whistle. God damn him. Luther glares over his shoulder and folds his arms, letting annoyance take over.

“We’ve been planning this for weeks, and you’re going to ruin it,” he pouts. “Go on, out. Wait in the living room if you’re going to be like this.” Cam puts his hands up in a placating gesture and retreats, but that damn smile doesn’t leave his face. Luther tosses his hair and huffs, secretly proud of himself. He didn’t even lose a half inch. He turns back to consider his options.

Well, if Cam is so focused on his neck tonight, that sweater might be the better option to afford him some protection. But he said he liked the button-up better… It’s lighter than the sweater so it won’t keep him as warm, but that means he can steal Cam’s big coat later on. The turtleneck would completely cover the green jumpsuit, but the blue of the button-up actually compliments it nicely. Luther nods decisively. The button-up will be perfect.

He dresses quickly, gives himself a final once-over in the mirror, unbuttons his top button, and heads out to see Cam. His boyfriend - his boyfriend! The thought still sends a thrill through him - has picked up the cat, Scrunge, and is stroking her head, making little baby noises at her. She purrs in her usual way, fast and loud, like a revving motorcycle. Cam sets her down when he sees Luther and sighs happily.

“You look fantastic,” he says.

“You clean up pretty nice yourself.” Luther crosses the room and fondly brushes a loose strand of hair behind Cam’s ear. Cam’s in a dark grey v-neck shirt and black suit jacket, slightly tarnished silver cufflinks adorning the sleeves. He’s got his big heavy winter coat draped over one arm so he doesn’t overheat in the relative warmth of the apartment. Luther sneaks a covetous little glance at it before grabbing his own shabby coat off a hook near the door.

He bends down to give Scrunge a goodbye scritch behind the ears. “Behave yourself while I’m out,” he tells her. “No tearing around the place and knocking things over.” She meows plaintively. Luther retrieves her bag of treats and gives her two as a bribe, which she accepts happily.

“Okay,” Luther says, straightening and shrugging on his coat. “Ready?”

“Ready,” Cam says, and takes his hand.

They walk to the restaurant. No point in searching for parking, it’d take longer than just hoofing it anyway. It’s been snowing on and off throughout the week and piles of dirty slush cover the sidewalk. It’s cold, but Luther’s coat is keeping him warm enough for now. He and Cam hold hands as they walk to the restaurant, and Luther doesn’t even shrink a little bit. His chest swells with so much pride he thinks his feet might leave the ground.

The place is only a little busy, so they have a short wait before they’re shown to their table. They get their usual orders. Luther prefers simple rolls and nigiri so the taste of the fish is front and center, while Cam likes to get the complicated, loaded rolls for the variety of texture and flavor. While they wait for their food to arrive, Luther fills Cam in on Scrunge’s latest reign of terror in his apartment, and how much it’ll cost to fix the cracked frame of the painting she’d somehow managed to knock off the wall in her frenzy to catch the fabled red laser dot.

The food arrives. Cam offers Luther a taste of his rolls - he’s gotten something deep fried with cream cheese, cucumber, and crab, and another loaded high with four kinds of fish, topped with roe. Luther tries the one with all the fish, but passes on the deep fried one. He trades Cam a piece of mackerel nigiri. Then he continues on talking, telling Cam about his week, how work’s been, the new guy they hired, and the annoying new habit his coworker’s formed of singing along with the music on the jukebox, regardless of whether she knows the lyrics or not.

Luther suddenly catches the look in Cam’s eyes. There’s something… hungry in them. It’s the only way he can describe it. It’s not regular hungry, because he’s practically ignoring his food in favor of listening intently to Luther’s rambling story. He’s leaning forward, arms folded on the table in front of him, drinking in every word Luther has to say. He’s hungry for him. The realization hits Luther like a truck and he stops mid-sentence, jaw dropping, a blush starting to spread across his face.

“What’s wrong?” Cam asks, innocent as ever. How could he even know the effect he has on Luther? How could Luther ever explain?

“N-nothing, um, I… I’ve been talking a lot, why don’t you take over for a bit? What’s keeping you busy at work?” It was delightful to listen to Cam ramble on about his job. Luther barely understood a word of it, but his enthusiasm was adorable and, importantly, not about Luther. He could keep it together and breathe a bit, work on calming down the scramble of emotion in his gut.

Sure enough, he wins himself a good fifteen minutes of calm while Cam talks on about carburetors and mufflers and manifolds. He could be making it up for all Luther knows. It’s not until Cam realizes his deep fried roll has gone cold that he breaks off to eat. They finish their food, decide to pass on dessert, pay, and head for the theater.

It’s only a few blocks away, a fifteen minute walk at most. The night has gotten a little colder and darker, and now stray snowflakes drift and spin through the air, catching the streetlights and twinkling like stars. Cam has a lot of fun pretending he’s a dragon, his warm breath turning to steaming clouds in the freezing air. Luther’s shivering now, his old secondhand coat doing little to protect him from the chill. Cam notices, of course, and whips his own coat off in an instant.

“Oh, please,” Luther demurs, “You’re so chivalrous, but really, I’m fine.”

“You’re shaking like a weathervane in a hurricane, sweetheart. I’ll be fine, I’m my own space heater.” Cam arranges the coat over Luther’s shoulders neatly and slips his arm around Luther’s waist, pulling him in close. It’s so warm and so nice, and so very, very close. Luther’s shivers slacken and cease, and then one more shakes him, different from the rest.

“Oh no,” Luther whispers, “I was doing so well, please…”

Luckily, he only loses about three inches. His clothes are a little looser, and he’s engulfed a little more by Cam’s huge coat, but he’s still a perfectly normal height. He sighs in relief.

“So what’s this movie we’re seeing?” Luther asks, trying to take his mind off of things.

“Oh, so it’s this old sci fi cult classic based on a book no one’s ever read. I saw it the first time when I was like… eight? And it scarred me for life, really, and now I’m obsessed with this shit. The special effects are super gnarly, and they hold up okay, even though you can totally see the tube for the fake blood in the decapitation scene. Don’t worry too much about following the plot, it’s not really the point of the movie, but what you should know ahead of time is…”

Cam rambles on like that, filling the night with fog. Luther snuggles in closer and listens happily, totally at ease. He made it through the most important part of the night, and once they get in the theater, he can relax. It doesn’t matter if he shrinks in the theater - from what Cam’s said, the only people watching this late-night special feature will be die-hard fans who’ll be glued to the screen, and in the darkness they won’t have to worry about anyone catching sight of them.

That also means, of course, that Cam might get a little handsy once the lights dim. If he’s being honest, Luther would be disappointed if he didn’t.

They get a seat in the back row. As the previews start up, Cam reaches over and takes Luther’s chin in his hand, turning it gently so they face each other. For a moment, he just holds them there, staring into Luther’s eyes with an adoring softness that makes Luther’s heart sing. Then he leans in and kisses him, just once, softly on the mouth. Luther shivers and loses another few inches. Cam lets him go, but Luther’s not satisfied. He grabs Cam’s collar and pulls him down for another kiss, this one deeper and hungrier. Cam chuckles against his mouth and nips at his bottom lip, catching it between his teeth for just a moment. Luther sits back heavily in his seat, breath coming in shallow gasps. He grips his armrests tight, trying to pay attention to the trailer for the newest slasher flick as it blares out through the theater. No dice. He’s losing height fast now, shrinking down to four feet tall, his normal clothes hanging off his frame.

They stay apart for all of a minute before Cam’s hand sneaks across the seat and slides into place on Luther’s thigh. He strokes his thumb back and forth in a slow rhythm, humming happily. Luther gasps and shrinks more, staring wide-eyed as Cam’s hand covers more and more of him, soon easily encompassing his entire thigh.

He’s maybe two feet tall now and he can’t see the screen over the seat in front of him. Cam glances down, catching the pouting, grumpy look on Luther’s face, and presses a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter.

“Here, sweetheart,” Cam murmurs, and picks Luther up with one hand. With the other, he frees him from his clothing so that he’s only clad in the jumpsuit. Cam settles Luther gently on his lap. This has fixed the problem of not being able to see the screen, but only momentarily. Luther goes bright red and dwindles down even further. By the time the previews have finished, he’s only eight inches tall.

As the opening theme blares with discordant trumpets, Cam pinches the back of Luther’s jumpsuit between thumb and forefinger and lifts him up. He dangles Luther in front of his face for a moment, expression torn between adoring and apologetic, then brings him in close for a gentle kiss. He sets Luther on his shoulder and hands him a piece of popcorn.

Luther hides his burning face behind the buttery morsel. He’d been expecting a little hanky panky, but nothing so direct. Stolen kisses, maybe a fake yawn that disguised Cam putting his arm around Luther, a little playing with his hair. Going for the thigh like that… that was entirely unexpected. He’s beginning to suspect Cam was trying to get him tiny.

The movie is just as gory and weird as promised. Luther isn’t super squeamish, but more than once he turns and ducks his face into Cam’s neck, squealing in disgust, his voice quiet enough at this size that he doesn’t have to worry about disturbing anyone else. Every time, he feels Cam shake under him with silent laughter, enjoying Luther’s reactions.

The movie ends before too long, and the other theatergoers file out, chatting animatedly with one another about the flick. Cam holds his hand up to his chest, and Luther pushes himself off Cam’s shoulder, landing gracefully in his palm. Cam sets him down on the armrest while he folds up Luther’s discarded clothing and tucks it in an inner pocket of his big coat. He looks down at Luther and tilts his head to one side, lips pursed in a calculating expression.

“You’re just a little too big to hide comfortably… here, let’s fix that.” Cam puts his elbows on either side of Luther on the armrest and looms over him, completely blocking the dim theater lights overhead. Luther takes a few involuntary steps back and bumps up against Cam’s hands, linked together behind him to form a ring penning him in. “You’re all mine now,” Cam breathes, quiet as a whisper. “So tiny and cute. I’m going to put you in my pocket and carry you home, and then… well, then we’ll see what I’ll do with you, hm?” A crooked, meaningful grin spreads across Cam’s face, and that hungry look comes back into his eyes.

It works like a charm. Luther’s legs shake, his heart pounds, and he shivers. He dwindles down to half his height, a mere four inches.

“There we go,” Cam croons, and scoops him up in one hand. Cam stows him safely in his coat pocket, held in a loose fist to keep him safe from jostling and the cold. He exits the theater and moves through the crowds easily. People tend to make way when they see a man his size coming towards them.

Luther curls up against Cam’s fingers and sighs happily. Cam’s hand is warm, calloused in places but soft in others, and the pocket sways gently with his gait. It’s so safe and cozy, combined with the late hour and the exhaustion of the day, it’s the perfect recipe to knock him out. He fights the heaviness of his eyelids as long as he can, but only makes it a few blocks before he’s fast asleep.

~~~

“Whew, cold one out tonight,” Cam says as he unlocks the door to Luther’s apartment. He can already hear Scrunge wailing on the other side. “I hope you weren’t too frozen in there.” He pushes the door open and addresses the cat. “Yes, we’re home, hello darling, we missed you too.” She winds around his legs and purr-meows at top volume. “Okay, okay, other people are trying to sleep,” Cam hisses. “You’re gonna wake up the whole floor, shitty kitty.” She mrrps in disapproval.

He pulls Luther out of his pocket. “So, babe, do you wanna - oh.” The little dear is asleep, snoring softly. Cam smiles and presses a kiss to his chest. He takes a seat on the couch, sighing as he plops himself down. Scrunge leaps up into his lap immediately and puts her front legs up on his chest, sniffing at Luther in his hand.

“Poor dear’s all tuckered out,” Cam murmurs, giving her a scritch. “Let’s let him rest.”

[crewhonk]

Bet (2/4)

Warnings: so fluffy youre going to drown

Summary: A first bet leads to a night with the staff of midtown and one Bucky and Charlie Barnes. Another bet is made.

Words: 2.2K

PART ONE

__________________________

YN pulled up to Natasha and Sams house with a stomach filled to the brim with bright orange butterflies. The house was quant— a small porch and a small garden with a soft yellow door and both American and Russian flags hanging from the porch supports. There was a swinging chair that took up the majority of space on the porch, and the driveway was already filled with cars of every sort. A minivan, a jeep, three SUV’s and a flashy red car. 

YN made her way up to the front door and knocked, waiting ten seconds before knocking again when there was no answer. There was a resounding rumble of an engine and YN turned just in time to see someone pull up beside the red car in an equally flashy motorcycle. YN didn’t need to wait long to find out who it was, as when the man took off his helmet, a head of flowing, shiny brown hair exploded out of it, framing Bucky Barnes face perfectly and effortlessly. 

“They’ll be out back!” He said without greeting her, and she skipped off of the steps towards him. He nodded towards the Tupperware tucked under her arm and shook his head. 

“Two things— they’re going to kill you for bringing food, they like to take care of us— and why are you trying to make everyone else look bad, huh?” He grinned and nodded for her to lead the way. He allowed a single glance to YN’s ass, hugged tight by the denim of her overalls. The printed shirt moved with her and it hadn’t been until today, but Bucky was sure he had never seen YN’s hair down in the two weeks she had worked at Midtown. He quite liked the look. 

“Mom always taught me it was rude to not bring food to someone's house the first time you went there, and I’m sure they won’t mind. It’s my great nan's recipe— tradition for a reason.” YN turned back and smiled, and he grinned back adoringly as he walked around and opened the gate for her. 

“Wait, where’s Charlie? You promised.” YN teased as she walked passed him and her question was almost immediately answered by a mass of back fur running past her and launching itself at Bucky, who crowed with laughter. Charlie was the largest dog, YN had ever seen— no less that one hundred and twenty pounds and rising to Bucky’s hip. 

“Come on, Bud, not in front of the pretty new girl.” He cooed at the dog and shoved him off of him, looking up at a flustered YN and winking playfully. “I’m trying to be cool and you jumpin’ up on me and makin’ me look like a softie ain’t what I was planning.”

YN waited for him to look at her before shrugging and raising an eyebrow. “Dog’s are smarter than us a lot of the time— he makes you look pretty good.” She looked fondly down at the large dog who was currently looking at Bucky like he had hung the sky and stars. She placed her free hand on the dogs head, and he wagged his tail at the new attention he was being given. 

“You look like your papa takes real good care of you, honey. He’s almost just as cute as you are.” She cooed, looking up at Bucky as she spoke the last half and letting a wave of giddiness wash over her at the way he shook his hair into his face to hide the red of his cheeks. Their moment was interrupted by a head of red hair and a glaring Natasha. 

“Is that food? What is wrong with you. Give it to me.” She snatched the Tupperware from YN’s hands and lead her deeper into the yard and placed it in the middle of the extra-long picnic table. There were even more dogs around the corner, and Charlie loped ahead and pushed a small Pomeranian over on its side, launching immediately into a gentle wrestle session. There was a swing by the yard (‘We have everyone over so much, we just decided to invest. I think the adults have more fun on it than the kids to, honestly,’ Natasha explained later over the beer in her hand, watching Sam and Bucky using the two-sided swing and wincing as the swing sets legs lifted from the ground) which held three toddlers being pushed by two teens— Cassandra Lang and a kid who YN had yet to meet, despite him looking around Cassandra’s age. 

“Guys! YN brought food!” Natasha’s exclamation was met with noises of interested protest and YN raised her hands in surrender. She could hear Bucky chuckling fondly beside her. 

“I won’t do it again, I promise!” 

_________________________

It was hours after YN arrived, and only one hour after the group had all had their fair share of food. They were all sitting around a fire, now, drinks of choice cradled in hands and thighs pressed against thighs. YN sat, staring into the fire happily when Natasha sat on the stone bench next to her. 

“You having a good night so far, Kid?” She asked, and offered YN a beer, which she declined politely. 

“I am— way better than grading, I have to admit.” She confessed and Natasha let out a sound of triumph. There was a cheer from the table behind them and YN watched, smiling as Sam ran around the yard, arms spread out by his sides as he did a victory lap and declaring himself ‘2019 School Year Beer Pong Champion’, much to Bucky’s annoyance. Cassandra and the boy she was pushing the kids with— Harley, ignored Sam, heads craned closely together and having a low conversation. Harley had been Tony’s kid from his previous marriage, and when the marriage hadn’t worked out, Tony won majority custody and fell in love with Steve as easy as breathing. Steve and Harley had taken to each other easily, and it was obvious they cared deeply for each other. Steve and Tony sat beside Harley, Tony’s pomeranian, Friday (nicknamed ‘Dummy’) snored loudly in his lap as his parents shared quick kisses with the other. 

“See? I knew you were more than some twenty-four year old stuck in an 80-year-olds body.” Natasha teased and guffawed as her drunk boyfriend face planted into their neat lawn. 

“Hey, I’m fun and hip, I promise.” She bit back and ignored Natasha’s playful scoff. 

“Yeah, you’re a real Donna Sheridan.”

“Thank you.”

_______________________

It was another two hours later before families made their way home. A sleepy Morgan with her nose buried in Steve’s neck and an equally sleepy Tony were shepherded out of the yard by Harley and Steve first. Then, Thor and his professor wife, Jane Foster left, having church to attend the following morning. The crowd of twenty dwindled down to fifteen, and when Scott and his wife Hope decided it was about time to leave, YN stretched her arms over her head and stood. 

“Well, I think I’m almost ready to head out.” She sighed and Bucky shot up quickly. Everyone looked to him sharply and he shifted his weight. 

“I— um— I think I’m going to head out too.” He said, patting his pockets to make sure his wallet and keys were in his pockets. Natasha only looked at him with her trademark smirk and watched as he lingered by the gate, messing with his helmet as she said goodbye to YN. 

“I think you have a fan,” She whispered into YN’s ear as they hugged and YN’s eyes found themselves resting on Bucky who was adjusting and readjusting the straps of his helmet, still. 

“I don’t think I mind all that much, honestly.” She replied and Natasha pulled back delighted. 

“I like you, Kid. Treat him right.”

“Oh my God.”

___________________

With a handful of final goodbyes to see if Bucky was, in fact, stalling to wait for her, YN waved one more and relieved him of his awful acting. He looked up when her feet touched the stone patio, and couldn’t fight the smile that found its way on his face, not that he would want to, anyway. 

“You waited for me?” YN asked as if she hadn’t already realized that seven minutes ago. He shook his head and held his helmet in the crook of his elbow. Charlie had gone home with the Stark-Rogers, as Bucky liked to ride his bike, and Charlie was particularly fond of their kids and of Friday.

“As if you didn’t already know.” YN giggled at his words and nodded her head. 

“Well, you did adjust your straps for a full seven minutes, so it wasn’t hard to guess what you were doing,” YN said, pulling her keys from her own pocket and swinging them on her finger. He walked past his bike and leaned against her car, folding his arms after depositing the helmet on his bike seat. 

“I was going to start spit-shining it if you didn’t hurry up, honestly.” He joked and huffed a laugh when YN wrinkled her nose in playful disgust. 

“Gross,” She commented and leaned against the door, facing Bucky and resting her cheek against her palm. “Why did you wait— not that I don’t appreciate it, but a girl has to know why a guy as smart and as handsome as you would wait around for her.” YN saw no need in beating around the bush— from small exchanges over the week in the break room and in the hallways to students approaching her and telling her random facts about Mr. Barnes, it was no secret how the two adults were attracted to each other. 

“I wanted to make sure you got safe in your car.” He stated simply, and her heart deflated just slightly. 

“Is that it?” She asked, and he turned his body towards hers, letting the back of his fingertips ghost over the exposed skin of her forearm. YN ignored the way it seemed to become much harder to breathe in order to properly hear his response. 

“I also wanted to see if you wanted to do something with me— without all these chumps, anyway.” He nodded towards the house where Bruce and wife Betty rolled the stroller holding his three-month-old daughter Lyra to their minivan. 

YN’s eyelids fluttered, as she looked up at him through her lashes and he felt all of the air in his lungs expel from his body. He wanted closer— needed closer, so he pulled her free hand from its place fiddling in her pocket and intertwined their fingers slowly, gauging for a reaction other than the soft one he was currently getting. 

“You wanna go on a date? With me?” She asked breathlessly, squeezing his hand with her own. He squeezed back twice and stepped closer. 

“If you want to, anyway.” He whispered, ignoring the bright shine of headlights from the minivan, taking this time to see YN’s expression in full light. God, he wanted to memorize every detail of her in every expression as soon as possible— he hadn’t felt like this since Dorothy, and the thought sent a thrill through him. How had she gotten him so wrapped around her finger in the two weeks she had known him was beyond him. 

“We’re pretty busy this week, so how about this weekend?” She whispered and her breath ghosted over his chin and throat, making him hold back a rumble of appreciation. Spirit week was this week, and he was overjoyed to find out that he had his favourite class with him— his honours senior physics class. 

“This weekend sounds great. Do you want my number so we can figure out more details?” She asked, barely able to tear her eyes away from his lips that were suddenly really, really close to her own. He nodded, and YN watched as a devious smile spread over his face. 

“I’ll take your number, but how about we make this more fun?” YN blinked at his proposition and stepped back, looking up at him with a bewildered expression. Bucky didn’t mourn the loss of her, knowing that they would be seeing each other very soon. 

“What?”

“It’s spirit week, right? Whoever wins between our two classes gets to pick the date. From top to bottom, everything.” He smiled and she matched it.

“You know I’m a little bit of a control freak, right?” She hummed, grabbing his other hand and holding it as well. She could see his pulse dilate with happiness and she leaned in closer to him, relishing in the way his tongue flicked out to moisten his lips. 

“Mmhm,” he couldn’t even form words, feeling just how the playing field had levelled. 

“It means I’m going to win.” She whispered, lips barely touching his own before she pulled away and opened her car door, climbing in and rolling down the window. 

“I’ll be sure to make you eat your words and take you out on the best damn date you’ve ever been on, YLN.” He grumbled, stepping away and watching as she shifted the car into gear— she knew how to drive a standard— that was hot. 

“I’m sure you will, Barnes.” She quipped, handing him a slip of paper she had written on quickly and pulling off of the curb, turning around and heading in the other direction. He watched as she stuck a hand out of her sunroof to wave goodbye and he did the same, unfolding the paper in his hand and almost jumping up and down like a teenage boy when he saw the ten digits of YN YLN’s phone number scrawled messily over it. 

[aion-rsa]

Psych 2: Lassie Come Home Easter Egg and Reference Guide

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The following contains spoilers for Psych 2: Lassie Come Home.

As fun as 2017’s Psych: The Movie was, its 2020 sequel Psych 2: Lassie Come Home will likely supplant it in Psych-Os’ hearts, because it’s got 500% more Carlton Lassiter (Timothy Omundson). But how does it stack up to its predecessor in terms of Psych callbacks and pop culture homages? Using our Spencer powers of observation, we’ve tried to catch every recurring inside joke between Shawn (James Roday Rodriguez) and Gus (Dulé Hill), plus all the episodic-specific bits. It’s a feature-length Hitchcock homage, but it’s also the toughest Easter egg hunt of your life. C’mon, son!

Psych 2: Lassie Come Home Easter Eggs and References

The title is a reference to Lassie Come Home, the 1943 Lassie movie about the beloved dog making her way home from Scotland. A German-language remake came out early in 2020.

It’s always a treat to hear the Psych theme song “I Know, You Know,” performed by creator Steve Franks and his band The Friendly Indians.

Lassiter wakes up to Shawn and Gus hovering above him at the recovery clinic is a throwback to when they kidnapped him for his bachelor party in “Deez Nups” and he came to with them screaming “Surpriiise!”

Morrissey the rescue dog reprises his role from Psych: The Movie in being adorable, incredibly nosy, and oblivious to Shawn’s hissing commands.

Sarah Chalke’s nurse character Dolores is most likely a nod to San Francisco’s Mission Dolores church and cemetery, the location for Carlotta Valdes’ grave in Vertigo.

Right out the gate, Dolores is treated to the requisite Gus nickname: “My name is Shawn Spencer, and this is my partner Bill Poopingtons.” However, Shawn and Gus take a sidebar for a very meta argument about their ongoing bit (while fitting in another bit):

“Gus, don’t be the night your dad fell asleep inside your mom. We can’t just stop doing bits we’ve been doing for ten years. We have fans, they have expectations, there’ll be a huge backlash.”

“Shawn, we are two dumbasses, we do not have fans.”

Compromise: Gus gets right of refusal until they land on a nickname he prefers. And so:

Bill Poopingtons > All the Pips in One

Ding-Dong Ditch > Claude O’Dern > Big Poppa Pump > Lemon-a Lemon-a Lemon-a Liiime

Leggo My Eggo > Norman Brown Butter > Dijon Hounsou

Gus also calls himself Jermajesty, channeling some Jackson Five energy.

“Black Jello” was Gus’ nickname in their adult dodgeball league.

The Herschel House is likely a nod to Herschel Daugherty, who directed over two dozen episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents…

Gus and Shawn are still bickering over driving the drivers ed car, even if we don’t see it in the movie. They do manage to be just as bad at turning the right direction when riding a motorcycle together.

“Now I know this ‘goofy little white guy/sexy black dude’ routine the two of you have going like the back of my scrubs.” Sarah Chalke played Elliot on Scrubs, whose JD/Turk bromance walked so that Shawn/Gus could run.

Shawn calls Dolores “the nurse from Color of Night,” the 1994 Bruce Willis erotic mystery thriller that won a Golden Raspberry for Worst Picture.

The boys get Jamba Juice because you never turn down an opportunity for a Jamba.

Shawn likens Gus’ pubic hair to Eddie Murphy’s mustache in his 1987 stand-up film Raw.

Shawn offers the dismembered hand to Gus to “knuck it up softly,” per their penchant for fist-bumping. 

They later do fist-bump outside the old Psych offices, but not before channeling Han Solo and Chewbacca in Star Wars: The Force Awakens: “Gus, we’re home.” “[Wookiee sound]”

Psych has become a French-themed cat café… for now, at least. It’s not an alternative universe from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, but the current subletter’s pop-up business. The proprietor (not the girl from Orphan) is played by Allison Miller, James Roday Rodriguez’s co-star in A Million Little Things.

“I am a psychic. He is a sympathetic pooper.” Poor Gus’ intestinal system gets called out again.

Henry’s (Corbin Bernsen) put-on voice gets compared to Tom Waits, Kathleen Turner, Harvey Fierstein, and Diedrich Bader.

Shawn neglected to tell his landlord that he’d moved, which tracks with his behavior in the series finale “The Break-Up.”

Henry reveals that in addition to telenovelas, he enjoys zeitgeist-y sobfests: “You left behind a slow cooker with a three-pound roast in it. You nearly This Is Us-ed the entire block.”

“This Is Us—Dad, why are you watching that show? They have the same show on ABC but newer”: Shawn’s shoutout to A Million Little Things.

Lassiter mistakes Reese Kessler, his supposed shooter, for country music singer Conway Twitty.

Lassiter’s to-do list includes “tape Galavant,” the short-lived musical comedy fantasy series created by Dan Fogelman (This Is Us), in which Timothy Omundson played King Richard. It also includes items poking fun at Lassiter’s crankiness (“yell at nature,” “chirping bird d-day plan”) and tenacity (“solve black dahlia”), and heartstring-tugging items (“pre-register for ironman” as in the triathlon). He also has written down Shawn’s S.E.I.Z.E. mantra from his short-lived career as Lassiter’s life coach in “S.E.I.Z.E. the Day”: Seize Eggs I don’t know Zebra Eighties.

Juliet (Maggie Lawson) lying to Shawn sounds strange, though not as strange as Lupita Nyong’o—the Tethered Lupita—in Jordan Peele’s Us.

Shawn’s “romantic dinner” for Jules is the menu from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (jelly beans, pretzels, buttered toast, popcorn, and ice cream sundaes) because it’s all they had at the gas station on the way home.

That prompts an iconic “C’mon, son!” from Gus.

Gus’ ringtone is “I’m Mr. Bootyman,” which is both Henry’s ringtone and the song featured in Buzz McNab’s bachelorette party stripper routine in “Deez Nups.”

Gus’ (technically Jules’) green snuggie bears a striking resemblance to official Psych contest merch.

Lassiter spotting mysterious bleeding figures out his window is an homage to Rear Window.

Richard Schiff (as Dr. Herschel) was Dulé Hill’s co-star in The West Wing.

Potterhead Gus wants to know if there are any people hiding in the pipes of the Herschel House, “speaking in their own tongue, perhaps Parsel.”

The Psych boys’ map of suspects briefly includes the Hell Hag from Gus’ dreams in “A Nightmare on State Street.”

Shawn has only been to Norway once with his brother-in-law Ewan O’Hara (John Cena), but they don’t talk about that… Maybe that’s where Psych: The Movie went after its cliffhanger ending?

Ova’s Norwegian song/chant toast at the Viking’s Ice Den is very similar to the Swedish toast in “Right Turn or Left for Dead.”

Ova’s violent son Per is first described as “the bearded Daryl Hannah.”

Shawn’s excuse to Detective Buzz McNab (Sage Brocklebank) for being in Santa Barbara is that he forgot a frisbee signed by German writer/director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.

Shawn’s first reaction to Jules potentially being pregnant: “You know the windows in the loft don’t even fully close, right? I’m gonna have to replace them, otherwise this is Baby’s Day Out all over again.” As Gus reassures him, he always did get worked up over John Hughes’ worst idea.

At the old Psych offices, Shawn pulls out the jousting lance from “100 Clues”—as well as a pineapple! He looks about to ask, “Should we cut this up for the road?” (his question during the pineapple’s first appearance in the pilot, plus at the end of Psych: The Movie) but stops himself.

When Lassie believes that fellow patient Mr. Wilkerson (Kadeem Hardison) has been walking around, Shawn and Gus have to go “full Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” to interrogate the supposedly catatonic patient.

Shoutout to Jessie Spano’s infamous “I’m so excited, I’m so excited, I’m so scared!” speed speech from Saved by the Bell.

If it’s not Scrubs, the boys are getting compared to Ren and Stimpy.

Mary Lightly (Jimmi Simpson) returns in another incredible, extra-hallucinatory look into Shawn’s brain… this time as a baby, since Shawn’s got fatherhood on the brain.

“We got jackaled!” Gus shouts upon learning that Wilkerson can walk—a reference to “hitting the jackal switch,” or going into stealth mode.

Shawn has always had a thing for singer Jewel, even after the Civil War movie (1999’s Ride with the Devil) and the Bollywood song.

Of course there’s a nasty dance when Shawn and Gus figure out who they think is behind everything.

Gus declares that “I am not going to let you shoot Shules’ baby!” only for the Chief (Kirsten Nelson) to ask, “What’s a Shules?” That’s the fans’ name for Shawn/Jules, a cute nod to a series OTP.

And of course, we can’t forget the fact that Jazmyn Simon, who plays Selene, is Dulé Hill’s real-life wife.

More than once, Shawn quotes The Handmaid’s Tale in reference to Gus and Selene’s baby: “Praise be” and “Blessed is the fruit.”

Dolores compliments Lassiter’s “chest of hair plentiful enough to wake all of Destiny’s Child.”

Shawn comes up with possible names for Gus’ child: Shaft, Shaftie, or D’Shaft—just like Gus’ nickname Sh’Dynasty (with a “God’s comma,” or apostrophe) from “Santabarbaratown.”

They also both coo “c’mon son” to Selene’s womb.

Selene’s proposal to Gus includes his negotiation that he and Shawn have adjacent homes with connecting pools, a callback to Shawn and Gus talking about their dream setup in “The Break-Up”; as well as Pluto! She asks, “Will you make me the happiest woman on this planet, on Eres, and Pluto?”

Shawn tells Juliet that “you’re my person,” the iconic Grey’s Anatomy line (though one would argue that Gus more accurately is his person).

When Lassiter stands (shut up, you’re crying) to meet Marlowe (Kristy Swanson), they place their palms together—like they did when he would visit her in jail, like they did at their wedding. My heart.

Join us on the Easter egg hunt—let us know what references we missed!

The post Psych 2: Lassie Come Home Easter Egg and Reference Guide appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[fallen029]

Parenthood: Beach Retreat.10

"What," Evergreen hissed as she walked down the sand covered path and down to the beach, "are you idiots doing?"

"Oy, Ever!" An extremely drunk (if not a bit of something else) Bickslow waved at her from over by the tide which was coming in. "Check it out! We found fireworks."

"It's five in the morning," the woman complained. "You woke up everyone in the house! Pike's crying, the dog's going crazy, Laxus is threatening to come out here and-"

"He should," Lisanna giggled as she stared up at the sky, waiting for Bickslow to light another. "These are great."

"Yeah, boss should definitely see this," Bickslow agreed, moving down to light another one without a care. "They're awesome!"

"Awesome!" his babies cheered as they flew around, shooting off their green beams in pure glee. "Awesome!"

"You don't get it, do you?" Ever shook her head. "Laxus is going to come down here and-"

"And have a great time? Yeah, we know." Bickslow snickered. "Go get him. Go get everyone!" Turning back towards the house, Bickslow cupped his hand around his mouth before screaming, "Hey! Everyone come check this out! We found fireworks! Oy! Some of the lights turned on in the house. And someone's coming out! I bet it's boss! Hey, boss, you see my fireworks? Pretty cool, right? Gee, he's runnin' awful fast. Uh, Lissy, maybe- Boss, leave me alone!"

Hell no. He'd been woken up by the bangs from the fireworks, the sound of Pike crying, and the demon complaining. He was getting some damn retribution.

"Laxus, leave him alone," Lisanna complained, leaving the fireworks behind to join in the chase, though she was after Laxus, hoping to somehow stop him. "He didn't do anything!"

"Enough, guys," Ever complained, though she only took a step back. Whether or not Laxus beat the crap out of Bickslow was rather moot to her. She was already up and out there. Might as well watch the action. "Seriously, knock it off. I mean it. And here comes Freed."

Of course. Knowing that his idol was out there, on his own, well that just wasn't acceptable. He had to come to his rescue. He had to.

And of course that got Elfman up, though he was far more concerned with protecting Lisanna which was just bizarre because no one was bothering Lisanna, she was more the bother-er, but whatever. Next came Nate and Mace, running out there to see what was going on. They thought it was funny and were giggling through their yawns, cheering on their respective fathers because, yeah, they loved Bickslow, he was great, but over their own fathers? No way.

Makarov didn't make an appearance, but that was only because before she finally came out there, Mirajane went into his room, told him she'd take care of things, that he didn't need to worry. So he didn't.

That was how Mirajane appeared too, as the boss, with Pike still sobbing softly from her arms, a glare poised on her face for all of them. The dog had escaped with her and took to rushing to Nate and Mace's sides, howling slightly just from excitement. Laxus and the others were still running around and it was all just so much fun.

Not for Pike though, but he rarely had fun in such situations. Too much excitement just made him completely shut down.

Mirajane, however, only watched for a moment in complete distaste. Laxus had caught Bickslow, but Lisanna had caught him when he stopped to pummle the man and Elfman was trying to pull his sister off Laxus, though that was because he wanted to punch the slayer and Freed had his sword drawn, ready to skewer Elfman, but Laxus knew, he fucking knew, if he laid a hand on either one of Mirajane's dorky siblings that he'd be in the dog house so he was trying to just focus on getting back at Bickslow, but that wasn't going so great and-

"Enough!"

And then the voice of Satan Soul was yelling at them and even though she was still just standing there as Mirajane, there was a purple aura about her that more than gave off her demonic vibe.

They all froze too, just from the sound of Mirajane's voice, staring over at her in the darkness of the early morning, Pike being the only one to speak then.

"Mommy," he whined, rubbing his head into her neck. "Go back sleep."

Bouncing him slightly, she continued to glare at the others. Voice slightly less dark then, she said, "You all have five minutes to clean up the trash fro the fireworks and go get back in your beds and go to sleep."

"Mira-" Laxus tried, but she shook her head.

"No. It is the middle of the night. You upset Pike, you woke up Nate and Mace, and you also bothered Master. Grow up. All of you."

Ever, who was still standing off by herself with her arms crossed, took to nodding. Stepping towards them, she said, "Really, you guys should apologize to me for- Oh!"

It was so sudden too. Ever took one misstep and, just like that, she fell into what they thought at first was a pitfall, though Bickslow and Freed knew almost immediately.

"Mommy!" Mace rushed forward, nearly falling into the pit as well. Nate was quickly at his side.

"Wow!" the blond haired boy exclaimed. "Look, Mace! Aunt Ever found the treasure!"

Well, more like she'd fallen on the treasure. The treasure chest, as it were, and it was less than fun. Nate and Mace, ever the adventurous boys, jumped right down into the hole as well, the former landing on his aunt who none too nicely shoved him right off.

"Damn it, Freed," she screamed as he and Elfman moved to help lift her back out of the hole. "I'm going to kill you guys!"

"Maybe we should just leave her down there," Bickslow mused to his girlfriend who kinda still had one hand on Laxus' arm, though she was no longer gripping it tightly. "All in favor-"

"Shut up, idiot," Laxus complained, shaking his sister-in-law off before heading over to his wife. She was standing over the hole, with Pike in her arms, and he didn't want the two of them to slip and fall. "Demon, be careful. Sand isn't exactly the most stable stuff in the world you know."

She let Laxus drag her back away from the hole, though that was more because Pike had gotten upset by Ever falling and she figured it was about time to take him back inside.

"It," she told Laxus with a frown, "is late. Make them all go to bed."

"Of course, demon."

"And no more getting them all riled up."

He thought about arguing that he was attempting to do the exact opposite, but figured that it wouldn't have mattered much to the woman what he said.

"Yes, demon." He pressed a kiss to her head before saying, "You heard her, guys. Go back to bed. Now. You-"

"Daddy, we found the treasure," they heard for the hole where Nate and Pike were attempting to pop the pesky lid on that chest. "Or Aunt Ever did."

"I know," Laxus congratulated. Glancing at Mirajane, he said, "But, uh, Mommy wants us to go back in. Right, Mirajane?"

Rolling her eyes heavily, she moved to gently set Pike down on the ground, though he only moved to cling to Laxus., before walking over to the hole and glance down in it.

"You guys want to play pirates?" she asked, tone a lot softer when speaking to the children than the adults. "Huh?"

"Yes," Mace said, looking up at her. "Please, Aunt Mira?"

With a sigh, she said, "Well, I guess we'd have gotten up in two hours or so anyways."

"Alright!" It was Bickslow that exclaimed that, punching at the air before rushing back over to where he'd left his discarded fireworks. "Hey, boys, you think those are cool, check these out! Err, uh, if it's okay with you, boss."

Laxus looked to Mirajane (the boss's boss as it were), waiting for her to nod before he gave his okay. They were pretty isolated on the beach and he figured that if they'd disturbed anyone before, they'd have come to complain already.

Pike, however, did not like that idea at all. The second the first one exploded in the sky, he started crying again, rubbing his face into his father's leg.

"Oh, buddy," Laxus sighed, reaching down to gently pat him on the head. "You're just a little baby, aren't you?"

Uh, yeah. And he never tried to pretend otherwise. Why they were so insistent to prove him wrong on that was beyond him.

Elfman and Lisanna helped the boys get their treasure chest out of the hole, pretending to be just as enthused with it as they were. Well, Lisanna was pretending, as Bickslow had long told her about it. Elfman, however, had no idea that there was one and was kinda still in shock.

Until, that is, they popped open the top and saw the plastic gold in there. Then he pretty much caught on.

"You look disappointed," Ever remarked dryly as he scratch at his head.

"A bit."

"You're such an idiot."

"Well sorry, Ever, that not all of us can be so intelligent," he grumbled. "At least I didn't fall into a pit-"

"It had an enchantment on it!"

Nate and Mace, however, were very taken by the ruse and took to digging through the chest, looking at the plastic gold, jewels, and pieces of wrapped candy that Freed and Bickslow had filled it with. Retrieving a plastic beaded necklace, Nate immediately took it over to the sobbing Pike who had been transferred to Laxus' arms by then.

"Here, bubba." Nathan held it up and Laxus leaned down so that he could put it around his still whining brother's neck. "See? We got treasure. Like real pirates! Now we can buy a ship and a house and a parrot and a motorcycle-"

"Maybe," Laxus cut him off, "we start with lunch, huh? You boys can treat us to lunch. How's that?"

"I'm not wastin' my treasure on you," Nathan told him with a frown. "Mommy maybe, but not you."

"I'll buy lunch." Mace looked over from the chest, which he was still digging through. "Uncle Laxus. I- Oh, wow!"

From the bottom of the chest, the younger boy had fished out a golden crown which he held up in the brisk predawn hours, staring at it victoriously. Nate, of course, saw this and headed over to rightfully claim what was clearly his. Birthright and all. He was not only the oldest, but also a Dreyar. According to his daddy, that pretty much made him a prince and he deserved everything he ever wanted (except when his daddy wanted it instead). And at the moment, Nate wanted that dang crown.

Only Mace, somehow, hadn't gotten the message. Which was weird, after all those years, not to pick up on something like that, but what could you do?

"That's mine," Nate complained as his cousin put the crown on his own head. "Mace. Give it. Now."

And even Bickslow and Lisanna, who'd focused in on their fireworks and, fine, were more than a bit out of it, knew that there was a problem brewing and fast.

"No." For once, Mace wasn't willing to just give into the other boy. "I found it. It's mine."

"No, it's not. I'm older. It's my treasure. So give it."

"You guys didn't," Ever groaned loudly, even enough so the boys' could hear, had they been paying attention, "buy two crowns?"

"There was a time crunch, okay?" Freed was exasperated by that point. No one had thanked him. Said good job, Freed. You're a really good surrogate uncle. Especially considering you have no blood relation to any of us. "And only Bickslow and I carrying things."

Pike was doing better then, as he'd gotten the necklace, and Laxus was able to gently set him down in the sand. Walking over to the boys then, Laxus looked down at the arguing cousins before saying, "Nate, sometimes Mace gets stuff too. It sucks, but it's life."

"No! It's my crown! I found the treasure."

"Na-ah." Mace looked over at Evergreen then. "My mommy did. So it's mine!"

"Well, mine," Ever grumbled, rubbing at her no doubt bruised back, "but sure. And it's Mace's, Nathan, so-"

"No!" And then he did it. He reached out to snatch it from the younger boy and shove him down as well. Unfortunately for him, Mirajane was more than done with all of them that morning and, for once, didn't leave the punishment to Laxus. She didn't even say anything either. Just moved faster than any of them, snatched her son up, and drug him off to the house, leaving his precious crown behind.

Mace was crying too, because he was so upset, which usually would have upset poor Pike, but he was still pretty happy with the necklace his bubba had given him and went to go make Mace feel better. Sometimes he could be a big boy. Sometimes.

"Here, Mace." Pike picked the crown up from where it'd fallen before going to put it on atop his cousin's head, taking the time out to pat his brown hair first. He liked Mace's haircut. A lot. "You king."

Mace was still sitting there in the sand, with Laxus and Freed standing over him, trying to comfort him (which was awkward because, well, they weren't much for crying kids to begin with but both felt slightly at fault) and felt a little silly that little baby Pike was trying to make him feel better. It made him feel like the baby. And even though it was hard to stop crying on a dime, he did take a big sniffle before saying, "Thank you, Pike."

Yeah, whatever. Pike was back to looking down at his necklace then and wondering when his mommy was coming back to take him to Gramps once more, so he could get back to bed.

Then that tricky Bickslow had to go and set off another firework, sending the boy running first to Laxus and then even further away, which was hard in the sand, trying to make it back to the house. He needed his mother. Stat.

"Pike, buddy, hold on." And Laxus took off after him. "Daddy'll take you inside. Don't you run from me."

Then Mace was by himself with the other adults, just sitting there in the sand. Being the pirate king and having a treasure, shockingly, wasn't nearly as fun without someone to share it with.

Huh.

His father came over them to lift him up and set him on his shoulders.

"Here, Mace," Elfman said with a grin. "You wanna watch the fireworks?"

"You should, kid," Bickslow insisted. "I scoured the land for these, you know."

And he was all jittery, the seith was, for some reason, making Mace dizzy when he stared at him too long. Yawning, the pirate king only rested his head atop his father's before saying, "I wanna go back to sleep, daddy. And play pirates tomorrow."

"It is tomorrow," Ever said, though she was only walking over to gently take him from Elfman's shoulders and drop him on the ground. "But I know what you mean. Come on then."

Being sure to take his crown with him, Mace wouldn't go until his Aunt Lissy and Freed promised they would watch over the treasure for him and until he and the other boys got a chance to divvy up. Once that was all cleared up, he let his mother take him back inside to make up with Nate, who was sitting on his sleeping bag crying, before going back to bed.

After getting Pike situated with his grandfather once more, Mirajane and Laxus went back to their bedroom, vainly attempting to get some sleep over the sound of the fireworks outside.

"We really gotta get away, just once, with only me and you," Laxus grumbled as Mirajane only snuggled up to him. "Seriously."

"Mmmm."

"And you? Punishing Nate?" Laxus whistled lowly. "I think I kinda like this dynamic."

"I punish him."

"Not like that."

"When he deserves it."

Laxus only grinned at her. "What'd you do to him anyhow?"

"I just took him inside and told him that I was very disappointed in him. That he was the older boy and that it was his job to take care of the other two. Then I wagged my finger and him and warned him that if he got off his sleeping bag, for any reason, I wouldn't even let him play with any of the treasure at all."

"And that worked?"

"That worked."

Laxus snorted. "I'dda spanked him."

"Yeah and we see where that gets us all the time."

Grunt. Then, glancing over at their window, he said, "We're not getting any sleep, are we?"

"Not with your stupid bodyguard out there playing with fireworks."

"My stupid bodyguard?"

"The very same."

"How about your stupid sister- Ow! Don't pinch me!"

"She's your sister too."

"Yeah? And he's practically your bodyguard-"

"In what way?"

"In the way that if I tell him to, he will be. And I do tell him to sometimes, so-"

"You do not."

"I do too. I tell him to watch over my family if I'm gone," he grumbled. "I tell them all to! And you're my family, aren't you?"

Huffing, Mirajane just went back to laying there for a moment. Then she whispered, "Bickslow's still stupider than Lisanna."

"That was never called into question."

With a hum then, she held back a yawn before saying, "Let's just sleep for a bit more, huh? Enjoy it before it's over."

Laxus leaned down to nuzzle his head against hers. "Before it's over."

It wasn't very many hours before they were back up, however, as the still hyped up Lisanna and Bickslow filtered back into the house where they basically just talked loudly, ran around, and bothered the hell out of everyone in their boredom and bouts of anger. Laxus could tell that they were on something, but honestly, at that point, he was too tired to lecture or sigh or even really pay them any mind.

He'd never wanted a vacation to be more over.

It only got worse when, after breakfast, Mirajane sprung it on him that it was finally time to talk to his grandfather about the ever lingering question of if he'd move in with them or not. Which really wasn't a question at all, or at least not the one being poised. It was more of an inquiry of whether or not force would be involved in it than anything else.

So after setting the boys up down at the beach, to play with their treasure (they were taking turns wearing the crown and even let Pike wear it for a bit) while Freed helped them divide it mostly between the older two, though they gave Pike the rare thing he demanded. Honestly, Pike was more concerned with continually glancing back over at the deck where his mother and father were, speaking with his grandfather. They'd told him that they'd be done soon and then he could come be up there with him and, well, he couldn't wait until then.

The beach may have started to become more familiar, but it was far from being safe.

"So what was it that you kids wanted to talk to me about?" Makarov asked as he sat up at the table on the deck with his grandson and Mirajane. "Hmmm?"

Laxus was seated on the other side of the table, with his wife, and glanced at her to see if he was supposed to take the lead. When he got that idea, he cleared his throat.

"Well, Gramps," he said slowly. "Uh…Mirajane and I have been thinking a lot about, you know, getting a house. I mean, we're all cramped over there, in that apartment, and we kinda want another baby pretty soon, but-"

"If this is about a loan," the older man cut him off his grandson, "you know that I would love to help you two and I will in any way I can, but right now my funds aren't exactly-"

"Master, we'd never ask you for jewels," Mirajane was quick to interject. "You know that."

"It's quite alright," he assured her. "Getting a loan on a house isn't easy and-"

"Gramps, that ain't it," Laxus said with a shake of his head. Looking the man in his eyes, Laxus said, "It's actually got a bit to do with your low funds though."

"I said I don't have money to just be handing out to the two of you," Makarov snapped with a frown, thinking Laxus was preparing to slight him in some way. "Not that I don't have-"

"Didn't mean it that way," Laxus said. "Just let me get this out, alright?"

Now more than a tad bit grumpy, Makarov asked, "What is it?"

Mira read the tension between the two men as easily as she always did and took over.

"Well, it's just that when we get the new house," she began, "we don't really know where it'll be. In Magnolia, of course, but maybe not as close to you as we are right now. And it would just be easier, I think, for all of us if when we moved, you considered moving in with us."

That sat there for a moment or two as they just all stared at one another. Then Makarov frowned.

"I do not," he grumbled, "think I'll be taking you up on that offer, kids."

"Gramps-"

"What good would it do me, Laxus? To be with the two of you? Hmmm?"

"A lot," Laxus said. "And it would take a lot of stress of Mirajane if you were in our home with us so she doesn't constantly have to stop by your place to-"

"Dragon," Mira complained, shooting him a look. Makarov only stifled at the comment.

"I have never asked you to come over, Mira," he said simply. "And if it's some sort of bother to you-"

"Master, that's not it. Laxus is just-"

"You're the one that just barges your way in and insists on making me food and cleaning. I never requested-"

"I know, Master, and it has nothing to do with anything. Laxus is just-"

"Right," the slayer grumbled. Because he was always right. It was just a rule. "And you're doing it, Gramps."

"I am not. I'm more than happy at my home-"

"And you'll be just as happy with us," his grandson told him. "It'll be better for us all."

"How? Hwo would it be better for me to give up all my freedom-"

"No one wants to take that away from you, Master," Mirajane told him. "I only want what's best for you. And right now, staying in your home on your own isn't..."

"You caught the mattress on fire last month," Laxus told him dryly.

"On accident! I fell asleep and-"

"Then you flooded the house just about when your toilet got backed up and you couldn't cut off the water-"

"The handle was stuck," Makarov said as his grandson only shook his head and went on.

"And, of course, there was the week before vacation when you were rooting around in your closet and that stack of boxes fell on you-"

"I could have got up," the elderly man complained. "On my own. Mirajane just happened to be over and it was easier for her to help me than-"

"Gramps, face it," Laxus said with a sigh. "You can't take care of yourself anymore. You'll die in that home on your own."

His grandfather looked ready to jump across the table. "Why you-"

"Laxus," Mira hissed with a frown. They'd agreed to keep it light and loving. Not demeaning and embarrassing. "You shouldn't-"

"You need to come stay with us," the man simply went on. Then, clearing his throat, he looked off slightly. "And we want you. You think this is easy for me? Huh? I don't let no one in my home. But I want you there. You took care of me when everyone else was gone; now let me return the favor."

That time the silence that settled down around them wasn't as thick. Not able to meet the man's eyes either, Makarov only coughed before saying slowly, "I don't wan to be a both-"

"You're not," Mira said with a slight smile. "We love you. And the boys love you."

"And you can help us pick out the house," Laxus went on. "We'll get you set up in your own corner of the house, away from the boys. Your own bathroom, even, if we can find a place like that."

"I won't be living there for free," the Master was quick to add. "I'll pay my own way. I-"

"No, Master," Mira said, shaking her own head then. "You know we won't let you."

"You can watch the boys. Sometimes," Laxus added. "That'll be payment enough. Really. And give Mira a break."

Her grin grew. "The boys will really like the idea, I think. You know that they love you too. Although Pike's probably going to hate the new house at first-"

"That boy don't like anything," Laxus grumbled, glancing down at the beach where Pike was busy chewing on some plastic gold. "At all."

"Mmmm." Mira couldn't help, but to lean against Laxus' arm a bit. "When he learns that you'll be moving in with us though, Master, I'm sure he'll fall in love with the house."

Laxus could tell though that his grandfather was still slightly upset and only slowly got to his feet. He needed to give the old man time to think. Looking down at his wife, Laxus said, "Let's go rescue him then, huh? Because he throws a fit?"

She was glanced at Makarov then before nodding slightly. "We can talk about it more at home, huh, Master? We're only begun to look at properties, so who knows when this'll all start?"

But the man didn't even glance at her and she knew, like Laxus, that he needed some time and only got to her feet as well. Laxus nodded at his grandfather before wrapping an arm around Mirajane's shoulders and moving to lead her down to the beach.

Her head got a kiss on the way, making the woman giggle.

"I love you," he told her. "You know that?"

"I think I might have picked up on that a few times, sure." Grinning up at him, she whispered, "I don't think Master was too happy."

Laxus sighed slightly before saying, "Honestly, demon, I think he'll enjoy it. But he's like Pike; he likes to do things his way. The same way. Forever. But he needs someone to stay with him and that's not an option right now. The only one is for him to come stay with someone. To come stay with me. I'm his grandson. He belongs with me until…"

"Us," she was quick to correct. "He belongs with us."

And he did.

Pike was more than glad to have his parents down there on the beach and it wasn't much later that something magical happened. Well, not magical, but rather exciting for Mirajane and Laxus. The others too. It was while Mirajane was playing where the water was coming in, helping Mace look for seashells, while Freed and Laxus talked softly and sorta kinda watched Pike and Nate play with the treasure. They missed, however, the way that Nate was totally hogging the candy pieces and was just being super mean and...and…

Pike just wanted Mirajane!

So he jumped up, tears already prepped, headed straight for his mother, ocean be damned. He kinda started stumbling, before he made it to her, and fell into her legs when he got there.

"Mommy!"

"Oh, Pike," she said as Mace only moved to hold out the seashells he'd gathered. "What's wrong?"

Life. Life was what was wrong.

Then it happened. The water was rolling back in and the foamy waves scared the little boy as always and he clung to Mirajane. That time, however, she didn't lift him up. Only made him stay there, holding onto her leg, gently stroking his white locks as Mace looked on in concern.

"Demon," Laxus called from further up on the beach, Freed and Nate watching as well. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine, Lax." Mirajane hummed slightly as Pike only nuzzled harder into her leg. "Aren't you, baby?"

No! Err… No! Still no. The water was going back out then though and he was only a little wet, but still no.

Letting go of Mirajane's leg, he stared up at her with hurt eyes, she she hadn't rescued him in the way he'd wanted. His mother only continued to stare down at him though. The whole vacation was starting to get to her a bit, perhaps.

Or more like she was far more concerned with the fact that the Master was still up on the deck, alone, thinking, and it had her so worried about him that there wasn't much room left over for Pike and his usual phobias.

But the water was coming back in again and Pike could only cling to her once more, Mira's eyes still up on the deck, as her youngest prayed for a miracle. And he got it. Sorta.

The water… It didn't hurt him. It wasn't hurting him at all. It actually sorta...tickled his feet and felt funny. He still didn't like it, but…

And there. It was going right back out. And Mommy was still there and Mace was going back to seashell hunting and, well, Pike didn't run back for Daddy and bubba. Keeping his arms wrapped around his mother, when the water came back in, he stood as still as possible, letting it gently wash over his feet before back out.

That time Mirajane glanced down at him at the exact right moment and happened to catch it.

"Why Pike," she giggled. "You're not smiling, are you?"

No, but he definitely wasn't frowning. Or crying. Or being a complete and utter baby.

That next wave of water that flowed in was actually rather...nice. His arms were slowly clinging less and less tightly around his mother and, well, he was fine. Pike was fine.

Huh.

He didn't fall in love with the water or anything. And he definitely wouldn't go out any further than that (Laxus would try later that night and it would not go over well), but he could stand there with his mother and not sob. That was definitely something.

And that afternoon, the boys totally bought lunch. Totally. Before leaving the house with everyone in tow (even the extremely downcast Bickslow and Lisanna who were, apparently, coming down off their high) other than the dog, they cashed in a good chunk of their gold (Freed explained to them that exchange rates would be much harsher on them in the real world and to just let them deal with that; they'd give them a fair deal) to their fathers before using the jewels they got to take everyone out to get burgers. They let Pike wear the crown down there, for being such a big boy about the water, but Nate was sure to let him know that he in no way was the pirate king.

No way.

Makarov seemed out of it and all the boys took notice, even Mace, because he didn't wanna play with the or make silly faces to keep them entertained. Pike took this especially hard because, well, he need his Gramps to pay attention to him. They were best friends.

"G'amps," he complained on the walk back home.

Most everyone was splintering off, as it was going to be their last night in town. Lisanna and Bickslow were headed straight back to the house (they needed more sleep), Mace and Nate had snagged the crown and were going with Evergreen and Freed to shop (more look scope out what sorts of things they could buy with the rest of their gold), and Elfman was going off on his own for awhile. Pike didn't catch why, but he didn't care. Because his three favorite people, his mother, father, and Gramps were all going walk about town one last time and, well, it wasn't hard for him to make the choice to go with them.

"What is it, boy?" Pike was walking along beside him and, when he glanced down, Makarov faked a grin for him. "Hmmm?"

"I ride?" He stared up at him. "P'ease?"

It probably been better for Pike to ride on his father's shoulders, if anyone's, but Makarov was never one to turn down his grandsons. Or anyone hardly. And Pike felt best up there, anyways, on his great-grandfather's shoulders. He and the man were close. And besides, Mirajane and Laxus were kinda caught up in themselves in the moment, as they were speaking of their trip back home in the coming hours and what they'd do when they got there. Now that they had sprung the concept of moving in with them on Makarov, they'd have to hurry it along. Laxus needed to take some big jobs and Mira needed to start seriously considering homes. It would be no easy feat. Even the conversation was tedious.

Which was just as well for Pike, as it gave him some more time with his grandfather. He didn't know yet, of course, that by the end of the year he and his grandfather would spend everyday together. Not that it would have made difference. He'd have appreciated the time they had then just as much, he was sure.

"Take nap?" he asked his grandfather as they trudged along behind his parents. One of the best things about his grandfather was that he didn't try to make him talk like a big boy. Bleh. "G'amps?"

"When we get back to the house?"

"Yes! Take nap? 'gether?"

Makarov only sighed, gently squeezing the boy's feet which he was holding tight to. It was easy to lose, of course, in the midst of running a guild hall and all the troubles that Fairy Tail brought upon him what really mattered to him those days. Far, far too easy.

"Of course, Pike," he agreed. "Together."

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