#si no offense but I’m sick of looking at your face

[anothercrisis]

The Big Boy with the Skull Face

1 hour vs 11 hours

[island-babys-blog]

🏵🥥Sunbathing thoughts pt 2 🥥🏵

Sunbathing thoughts part two of The palulukan’s daughter

Author’s note: finally made part two of The Palulukans’ Daughter!, was kind of rushed because I'm sick, so I will probably get back and edit it when I'm feeling better. But I hope you enjoy it!!

Your time in Awa’atlu was peaceful and soothing, to say the least, minus Ao’nung and his goons harassing you and your siblings. But thanks to a gentle giant by the name of Tonta to help you. Especially riding a ilu.

Being in the waters of Awa’atlu was a beautiful sight, As you dip your fingers in, the water feels cool and soothing, with a slight, gentle current that caresses your skin.

The air is refreshingly clean, with a subtle hint of salt carried on a gentle breeze. It's fragrant with the scent of seaweed and flowers from nearby coastal plants. The air has a calming, almost sweet quality, mingling with the warmth of the sun and the occasional burst of a seabird's call.

When you extend your fingers into the water, you can feel tiny, curious fish brushing against them. Their nibbling is light and ticklish, like delicate, playful whispers against your skin. It's a gentle, almost intimate sensation as if you're part of their world and they're intrigued by your presence. The overall feeling is one of a serene connection with Ewya, a moment of peaceful harmony between you and the vibrant life beneath the surface.

Until you hear Ao’nung clicks and chirps calling the fellow ilus to come forth, making them produce noise of their own to come and greet you and your siblings

“ These a ilus, if you want to live here, you have to ride” he explains to you and your siblings as you scoff earning a look from Tonta and the rest of the group

“ no offense but they look weak, not ready for battle” your harsh accent spoke through “They not meant for battle or war, we use these as beginners for children to mount,” Tonta said with a chuckle petting his ilu while looking in your eyes with caution.

“ But I’m not a child” You look at him with small anger “Yeah sis rode a palulukan once and so did our mom I’m sure she can rid a much dangerous animal” lo’ak said with a smirk while looking at Ao’nung.

“ fine if she can ride an ilu, then I’m sure she can join Father with the Skimwings,” Ao’nung says with a smirk looking a you and Lo’ak as Neteyam holds Tuk rolling his eyes at what lo’ak started

You smack your teeth and roll your eyes, Tonta ears flickering to the sound made by your teeth.

As Lo’ak got on the ilu taking a deep breath, Tsireya looked up at Lo’ak giving him her full attention while softy talking “ Make the bond gently” holding the ilus queue as Lo’ak dose with his as he forms Tsaheylu with the ilu

Feeling the bond, the ilu eyes dilate at Lo’ak’s eagerness feeling too much emotion from the boy making it slightly shake the boy off to lessen the feeling

“ feel his breath…feel his strength” she whispered as Lo’ak took a deep breath eyes becoming hazy from hearing her voice and the connection then closing his eyes.

“ hold here,” Tsireya says patting the ilu’s harness while maintaining eye contact with him.

“ look at his legs” one pipe “Hold on” other pipes seeing Lo’ak ready to take off.

Dashing towards the open sea, you pray to Ewya that he doesn't hurt himself. Dumping your head underwater you look at Lo’ak speed fast, barely clinging on to his ilu. Then you see him float aimlessly in the water as his ilu takes off with him.

Seeing him float like a fish out of water made you chuckle as bubbles came from out your mouth and laughing even more you came up a bit shaking your head. Not noticing Tonta looks at you with a small smile.

Ao’ung laughs along with his goons and even Tsireya chuckles while trying to hide her smile with her hand. As Lo’ak came up to breathing heavily, his ilu also came up and splashed water on his face as it sassily went away.

“ Your turn forest girl…remember ilu first then maybe skimwing,” Tonta says lifting you by the waist as some of your beaded hair lightly slapped against his face, you muttered a small ‘sorry’

Grasping your Queue with a mixture of excitement and nervous energy, you move towards the ilu, its sleek form gliding gracefully through the water. As you make Tsaheylu, the initial connection feels electric, but the bond takes a moment to stabilize.

There’s a brief, exhilarating struggle as you and the ilu adjust to each other's rhythm, but then a deep, satisfying click signifies the successful melding of minds.

“ We got this, we got this” you whisper to yourself and the ilu, taking a deep breath you speed into the water, feeling the adrenaline of moving rapid paces, you notice that this is way different than flying.

Twisting and turning you felt alive, seeing the beauty in the sea, you taped the ilu signaling ‘up’. You feel a rush of triumph and joy as the ilu responds to your commands with fluid grace. Preparing yourself to burst from the underwater. The ilu speeds up shooting from the water as you can see your siblings, you being Neytiri’s daughter let out a loud war cry, Your siblings erupt into cheers, their voices mingling in a chorus of support and celebration, their faces beaming with pride. As they respond with their war cry.

Amidst the jubilant atmosphere, Tonta, with a keen eye and a gentle smile, watches with increasing admiration. As he witnesses your success and the seamless connection with the ilu, his feelings shift, blossoming into an unexpected crush that brings a soft, flushed glow to their cheeks. The moment is made even more poignant as Ao’nung stands to the side, his brows raised in surprise. Not only is he taken aback by your impressive display, but he also notices Tonta’s affectionate gaze, adding an intriguing layer to the lively scene.

“ he can’t be serious,” Ao’nung thought another one of his siblings falling in love with the forest family.

“ How was that fish lips, is that enough for you to get me on a skimwing next” you smirk feeling confident as you leave the ilu making eye contact with Ao’nung who rolls his eyes at you

“ You were amazing Y/n,” Tonta says filling you with pride and he glazes into your eyes holding your hand. Feeling a blush appear on your face you snatch your hands away from his and cross them under your arms.

“ Whatever ocean boy, take me to your father so I can ride the skimwing” you barked sassily as Tonta laughed grabbing your hand once more, softly this time hopping on his ilu

‘ so feisty’ Tonta smirks feeling your body heat as he grabs your hips to put you on his ilu, you grab his hips to keep yourself steady as you both make way to your fathers.

“who knew the palulukan gave birth to such a woman,” Tonta thinks before heading over to his father to see Jake Sully fall off the skimwing.

[sisterspooky1013]

Only One Choice, Part 2, Chapter 10

Read it here on AO3 / Tagging @today-in-fic

From: dscully@fbi.gov

Sent: April 28, 1997 10:46am

To: mreyes@fbi.gov

Subject: Coffee?

Hi Monica,

It’s Dana, from pathology. I was wondering if you’d like to get coffee tomorrow around lunchtime? I have a break in classes from 11-2, so anywhere in there would be fine.

I hope things are going well with VICAP.

-Dana

From: dscully@fbi.gov

Sent: April 28, 1997 10:48am

To: fmulder@fbi.gov

Subject: Wednesday/Thursday

Hi,

I’m mildly shocked that you hadn’t already emailed me before I got in today. Are you alive?

If you’d like to meet up for lunch or coffee this week, I can do Wednesday or Thursday, sometime in the 11-3 timeframe. Let me know which works for you and I’ll block the time out so nothing else ends up on my schedule.

From: mreyes@fbi.gov

Sent: April 28, 1997 11:12am

To: dscully@fbi.gov

Subject: RE:Coffee?

Hi Dana,

I’m so glad you reached out. I’d love to get coffee tomorrow; I can meet you just outside the autopsy bay at 1pm, if that works?

I look forward to it.

-Monica

From: fmulder@fbi.gov

Sent: April 28th, 1997 12:16pm

To: dscully@fbi.gov

Subject: RE:Wednesday/Thursday

Hi Scully,

I see that my exceptional self control has paid off in spades. I am alive, and have resisted emailing you this morning through a combination of sheer will and a two-hour budget meeting.

Wednesday sounds perfect, I’ll be there at noon. Don’t ask me how many hours that is from now because I haven’t calculated it and I have no idea.

———

About an hour after returning from her coffee date with Monica, which was very pleasant and is something she hopes to repeat, she starts to feel just a little bit achy. She pushes through the rest of her work for the day and by the time she slumps through her apartment door at six, there’s no denying that she’s sick. She takes some Tylenol and goes to bed, hoping it will have passed in the morning, but when she wakes up it’s even worse. She calls in sick to work and goes back to sleep.

When she wakes again, the phone is ringing. She ignores it, only for it to start ringing again the moment the machine picks up. Dragging herself out of bed with a pained moan, she trudges to the hallway, retrieving the cordless phone and walking back to her bedroom as she answers.

“Hello?”

“Scully! Are you okay?”

“What? Yes. Mulder?” She burrows herself back under the covers with the phone tucked against her ear.

“Yes, it’s me, you didn’t answer my emails all morning and never showed up for our coffee date. I was worried.”

“Shit, Mulder, I’m sorry. I came down with something yesterday and called out sick. I totally forgot we were having coffee today.”

“You’re sick?” he asks, clear concern in his voice.

“Yes, just a virus or something, I’ll be fine.”

“Can I bring you something? Soup? Juice? Bad movies?”

She chuckles a little. “No, you don’t need to do that.”

“Who's gonna take care of you?”

“Mulder, I’m a grown adult with a cold, I can take care of myself.”

“Are you sure?” She can tell by his tone that he wants to do this more for himself than for her.

“Yes, I’m sure. I don’t want you to see me all sick and disgusting, Mulder. It’s too soon to ruin your image of me,” she says somewhat sarcastically.

“Seeing you sick is not going to change how I feel about you, Scully,” he says very tenderly, and she knows he means it. Still, she doesn’t like the idea.

“I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? Sorry to make you drive an hour for nothing. Rain check?”

He sighs noisily. “Okay, fine. I think you inadvertently left ‘stubborn’ off your list of flaws, though.”

“Well, I didn’t want to ruin all the surprises,” she replies with a smile.

He reluctantly says goodbye, and as soon as he hangs up, she calls the first number on her speed dial.

“Hello,” calls Missy in her typical singsong greeting.

“Missy, can you come over?” she whines, little sister mode in full effect, “I’m sick.”

Missy arrives forty five minutes later and fusses around, gathering a glass of water, Tylenol, and the thermometer that is buried in the bottom of a bathroom drawer. Dana has relocated to the couch, and makes a face around the thermometer propped under her tongue when Missy sets four crystals of different shapes and colors on the coffee table, along with two herb-filled capsules. The thermometer beeps angrily and Missy plucks it out of her mouth, shaking her head.

“One hundred and two,” she says with a frown, “here, take these,” she holds out two Tylenol and two of the herb capsules with a glass of water.

Dana takes the Tylenol and leaves the others.

“Whatever those are, I’m not taking them. And you can pack up your crystals,” she says to Missy as she pops the Tylenol and chases them with a big gulp of water.

“They’re just echinacea, Sis, they won't kill you. And neither will the crystals.”

“But they also won’t help,” Dana says dryly, setting her water on the coffee table and burrowing back under her blanket.

“Well, I’ll just leave them right here,” Missy says, standing and going to the kitchen. “Why’d you call me, anyway? Shouldn’t playing sick maid be Mulder’s job now?” She’s looking through cupboards, pulling out a pot and a can of soup.

“It’s too soon for him to see me all congested and disgusting,” Dana replies, stifling a shiver. “He wanted to come over, but I told him not to.”

There’s a knock at the door. Dana sits up, exchanging confused looks with Missy.

“Did you order food?” Dana asks, and Missy shakes her head, moving to the door.

Dana watches from the couch as Missy opens the door to find no one on the other side. She looks at the floor, then down the hall one direction and the other. She stoops down and picks something up, then walks back to the couch with a paper bag.

“What is that?” Dana asks, and Missy shrugs, setting it on the coffee table and sitting at Dana’s feet. There’s a sheet of paper stapled to the bag, and Missy plucks it off, opening it while Dana explores the contents; a carton of tom kah gai soup.

Missy’s face is a mask of confusion as she reads whatever is written on the paper.

“What does it say?” Dana asks, and Missy hands it to her.

Every atom of your flesh is as dear to me as my own: in pain and sickness it would still be dear. Your mind is my treasure, and if it were broken, it would be my treasure still.

Dana’s chin puckers as her bottom lip sticks out in a pout. “Oh my god,” she gushes, “it’s Mulder.”

“What the hell does this mean?” Missy asks, taking the paper back and reading it again. “Does he write poetry or something?”

“No,” Dana answers, pulling the lid off the container and breathing in the spicy coconut smell, “it’s a quote from Jane Eyre.”

“Oh my god,” Missy says with a disgusted look, “you two really are meant for each other. This is sickening, Dana, you realize that, right?”

Dana is smiling, taking sips of the hot Thai chicken soup that he somehow knew she needed. “Yes, he’s also a giant nerd, if that’s what you’re saying. But beyond that, I don’t think we have much of anything in common, actually.”

“You both work for the FBI,” Missy offers.

“Yes, but in totally different areas. And he’s an atheist, and believes in unverifiable phenomena like aliens and spontaneous human combustion. And he’s impulsive and easy going, and he makes decisions with his gut,” Dana lists off Mulder’s attributes like she’s describing the trim level on a car. He’s cute, and he has a leather interior.

“Well, I certainly wouldn’t use any of those words to describe you,” Missy says pointedly, setting the note on the table, where Dana plucks it back up and reads it again. “But there’s something to be said for being with someone who’s different from you.”

“I don’t really buy into the idea of ‘opposites attract,’” Dana says flatly. “I think that’s just a lie people tell themselves to justify horribly mismatched partnerships.”

“I think ‘opposites attract’ implies that your qualities clash, like the odd couple. One is messy and the other is clean,” Missy replies, propping her elbow on the back of the couch. “But I heard about this idea of ‘perfect opposites’ which is more like someone who complements you, or helps kind of level you out. So perhaps you lean to the extreme in some areas where Mulder leans to the other extreme, and you learn to meet somewhere in the middle.”

Dana gives her a doubtful look. “What is the middle between believing wholeheartedly that Bigfoot exists, and knowing that he doesn’t?”

Missy takes this under serious consideration. “I think,” she says without a hint of sarcasm, “that the medium would be accepting that it’s possible that he exists, and possible he doesn’t, but there's no way to know for sure.”

“So a Bigfoot agnostic?” Dana asks, and Missy nods in confirmation.

Dana shakes her head. “Maybe you should have gone out with him, I think you two might be better suited.”

“Don’t give me any ideas,” Missy says with a coy smile. “Speaking of which, does he have any single friends?”

Dana shrugs around a gulp of soup. “I don’t know, I haven’t met any of his friends.”

“Well, when you do, keep an eye out would ya? Now that I’ve lost my single buddy, I may as well get back out there. God knows it’s torture enough hearing your lurid tales from the bedroom.”

“Missy, I haven’t told you a single lurid tale,” Dana chastises.

“I know, what’s up with that?” Missy retorts in mock offense, “speaking of, what happened when he took you out to dinner Sunday night?”

Dana shakes her head.

“Oh come on, Dana. I have no life, let me live vicariously,” Missy whines.

Dana shakes her head again. “The only thing I’ll say is; maybe don’t eat off the kitchen counter,” she says before giving Missy a guilty look.

Missy’s mouth drops open.

“Wow, I’m not sure if I’m more grossed out or jealous,” she says as she stands, “I’m gonna get out of here, if you’re good. I think I need to go pick up a guy at a bar for some meaningless sex.”

“Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks for coming by. If you need a condom there are some in the bathroom,” she adds with a sarcastic smile, and Missy sneers at her.

“Ha, ha,” Missy replies as she slips on her shoes and opens the door, “last time I checked, you can’t get pregnant from a vibrator.”

Dana gives her a sympathetic pout and Missy pulls the door closed behind her.

———

It’s a quarter past eight when the phone rings, and he pushes Priscilla onto the floor to retrieve it from his desk.

“Hello?”

“I can’t find it,” says a garbled voice.

“Hello?” he asks again, “who is this?”

“It’s really cold. It’s also too hot,” the voice says around a sound like fabric moving over the mouthpiece.

“Scully?”

“Yes?”

“Are you okay?”

There’s a pause. “Mulder?”

“Yeah, I’m here. Are you okay?”

“Mulder, where are you?”

“I’m at home. You called me at home. Is Missy there?”

“No, she had to take her vibrator to a bar,” she answers, and it’s clear that she’s completely delirious.

“Scully, I’m coming over,” he says, standing up to find his shoes and wallet. “Hey, Scully, I need you to do something for me, okay?”

“Hmmm?”

“Can you stand up, and walk to your front door?”

She sighs. “That’s very far.”

“I know it is, but I need you to unlock the door so I can get in. I don’t think your super would be very happy if I broke it down.”

He hears her groan and her voice becomes quieter, then disappears. He waits, and just when he thinks she may have hung up, she picks the phone back up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, did you unlock the door?”

“Mulder?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“Mulder, where are you?”

He snickers a little. “I’m on my way over, did you unlock the door?”

“I...I don’t remember,” she says, and she sounds exhausted.

“That’s okay, go back to bed. I’ll figure it out. See you soon, okay?”

“Okay, bye, Mulder.”

He waits but the line doesn’t go dead. He hears her shuffle around a bit and then it’s quiet for a long time. Setting the phone on its cradle, he drives over to her apartment.

The door is, thankfully, unlocked, and all the lights are off.

“Scully?” he calls out, not wanting to scare her. “Scully, are you awake?”

When he gets no response, he slips off his shoes and makes his way to her bedroom, calling out her name intermittently. He finds her twisted up in her sheets, and one touch to her forehead has him jerk his hand away with how hot she is. He strips the blankets off of her, finding her in only a T-shirt and panties underneath. Next he finds a washcloth in the bathroom and soaks it with cold water, then grabs two Tylenol and a glass of water. When he returns to the bedroom and drapes the cloth over her forehead, she starts and opens her eyes momentarily, but then closes them again.

“Scully,” he says softly, shaking her shoulder, “I need you to wake up, honey. I need you to take these.”

Her eyes open slowly and she blinks at him with heavy lids.

“Mulder?” she asks groggily, and he gives her a sympathetic smile.

“I’m here. Can you sit up and take these?”

He helps her prop herself up just enough to swallow the Tylenol and a sip of water before she collapses back against the pillows.

“I feel like shit,” she complains, but her eyes are already closed and she’s on her way back to sleep.

“I know. Get some rest. I’ll be here.”

———

She wakes up to harsh beams of sun pouring directly through her eyelids. Her first thought is that Ethan forgot to close the blinds again, but then she remembers that she and Ethan aren't together anymore and he doesn’t live here, so she must have forgotten to close them. She moves to roll out of bed and is met with the shock of aching muscles, and remembers that she had been raging with fever last night. She probably shouldn’t have let Missy leave, but thankfully the fever seems to have broken during the night. She rolls away from the window, no longer motivated to get up and close the blinds, and finds herself nose to nose with a sleeping Mulder.

“What the hell?” she says out loud, and he opens his eyes and smiles at her.

“Hi,” he says softly, “how do you feel?”

She gives him a perplexed expression. “Confused. How long have you been here?”

He chuckles “I knew you were out of it, but I didn’t think you were that far gone. You don’t remember?”

She shakes her head ruefully.

Mulder rolls to his back and stretches, then turns back to face her. “You called me last night, totally out of it, and I came over to make sure you were okay.”

“How did you get in?” she asks skeptically.

“You let me in.”

Her eyes widen.

“You were burning up, I just force fed you some Tylenol and kept an eye on you. Around 3am you started shivering, so I think that’s when the fever broke.”

She is quiet for a moment, taking in her surroundings. “Mulder...am I not wearing pants?”

He holds up his hands in self defense. “That’s how I found you, Scully, Scout’s honor.”

“What time is it?” she asks, feeling disoriented.

He peeks at his watch. “A little after nine.”

She sits up too quickly and gets dizzy. “I’m late for work,” she says, one hand to her head.

“Scully you were delirious with fever six hours ago, you’re not going to work. I called for you,” he says, sitting up too.

She gives him an incredulous look. “You called out sick to work for me?”

He nods.

She sighs and looks away from him. “I got the soup, and the note,” she says, “thank you.”

“Of course,” he answers, rubbing a palm over her back.

She looks back at him, taking in his sleep rumpled hair and second day stubble. She furrows her brow, a slight scowl on her mouth.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

“You’re my boyfriend, aren’t you?” she says with a defeated tone, and he laughs.

“I’d sure like to be, if you’ll have me.”

She groans and slumps against him, sighing as he wraps his arms around her, petting her hair.

“Okay, fine,” she says flatly.

“Well don’t sound so excited about it,” he teases, and she pulls back and smiles at him.

“Thanks for taking care of me,” she says softly.

“Thanks for letting me,” he replies.

[kitkat1003]

Tower Tales

4: Turns out, they can get sick of each other

AO3 Link

@asilcorner YEET

Time passes and it’s maddening.  Yakko keeps a calendar, but there’s no point in trying to know how long they’ve been trapped in here when they can’t even tell if they’re sleeping at night or day.  They don’t know how long an hour is, a minute, month, a week, a day.  Not by heart.  So, for a while, they have to guess.

Yakko eventually makes a clock, sets a time, makes their day as normal as he can, starting the hour at a random time and suddenly dinnertime is 5:30pm instead of just sometime before bed, even though they can’t tell if it’s even close to 5:30pm outside.  It doesn’t matter if it turns out they aren’t following the sun, the sun has never followed them, so fair’s fair.  Besides, why stick with the world’s set of rules when those rules act like this is fine, that them being trapped is fine?

And hey, what’s a little madness?  Who cares, right?

The tower becomes a lived-in space.  The first two floors become living room areas, bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom.  They never can be certain on the decor, and it changes daily, weekly, hourly, but that’s fine, because the idea of everything repeating, like the days have no difference between them makes Yakko want to curl into a ball and never straighten out.

The third floor is left mostly barren, because that’s where they practice their toon powers.  Wakko has a penchant for bombs and offensive weapons, Yakko finds he can pull a pen out of anywhere and anything, and Dot has an affinity for her mallet, as well as fashion.

She likes to tailor, on occasion, and bribes Wakko to be her model for it by letting him perform songs via burping after dinner—she doesn’t mind the sound, it’s really the smell that makes her hate the whole thing—and Yakko starts being able to pull out random books from his hammerspace.  They’re typically books he likes, thank god, but sometimes they’re just confusing.  He likes Dr. Dolittle, though it is a bit silly, and the idea of talking animals being strange doesn’t make sense to him, being animal-like himself, but at the least it’s an interesting series with many books to go through.  He likes Winnie the Pooh, too, and the Velveteen Rabbit is surprisingly sad, but at least it’s a change of pace in comparison to the happier children’s books he reads.

He ventures to more adult focused books, like The Great Gatsby, which is depressing but also an interesting commentary of the time, and the Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie.  He actually reads through that one a couple times, to go back and find the clues Miss Christie left for the reader, and he finds it utterly fascinating.  Who knew that someone could write like that?  Leaving little pieces that only come together to make something when the last piece is found.  It’s like a blank puzzle that turns on when you finish it.

Dot likes to read with him, pulling out a magazine about the daily fashion news or parties.  He doesn’t know what Playboy is, but the moment it appears in her hands he rips it away and throws it in the fire.  She evidently sees enough just from the cover, because she doesn’t argue.

He occasionally reads to Wakko and Dot.  Typically before bed—he regrets ever reading the Velveteen Rabbit to them, because Wakko didn’t sleep for a few days after.   He tries to get Wakko to read with him, but Wakko seems to find learning anything in a standardized way quite difficult, and all it took was one semi pointed comment from Dot about it to keep the boy from even trying, shame painting his cheeks the red of their nose.  Yakko considers talking to Dot about it, but he doesn’t want to further embarrass Wakko by bringing it up, and it’s hard to be secretive in a small space.

So he lets it go, because they have plenty of time—too much, too much to ever fill, and sometimes all they can do is sit and hope for it to move faster because boredom makes them dull and he hears Dot cry into her pillow some nights because she’s not as quiet as she thinks she is and he sleeps so lightly he can barely call it rest—and continues to play and have fun and learn new things.  He gets an atlas, one day, and memorizes the names of all the countries, hums out a melody, learns rhyme schemes.

And when he starts up a tune, they all fall in line.  That’s the thing—while he and Dot learn the normal way, Wakko seems to be able to do just about anything when he stays out of his own head.  Which is odd, because Wakko doesn’t talk too much, so he must be in his head plenty.  Perhaps, then, the line between thinking and doing is so wide that when he tries to both everything gets jumbled.  Because when they burst into song, Wakko dances and prances and creates lyrics like a pro, whether they’re singing about nothing at all to complex philosophical concepts, with a plethora of large words that if Wakko tried to read he would trip and stumble as they were slanted stairs.  Occasionally, Yakko will ask if Wakko even knows what they’re singing about, only ever curious, and Wakko can talk his ear off about it all.  Yet, when Yakko brings him into a classroom setting, Wakko’s face goes blank, and no comprehension of anything Yakko says ever shows.

Clearly he has a grasp on the English language, clearly he’s smart—Yakko could never think his brother stupid, because no stupid person could build a second floor without any plans, could follow jokes and make his own quips on occasion that send him and Dot into laughing fits, could pick the perfect moment for a physical joke in the middle of a conversation; no way that Wakko is anything close to stupid—but the moment it’s a classroom type setting all of that goes out the window.  Is it the motivation?  Is it the material?  Is it him?

Yakko has to figure this out, but at least he doesn’t have to figure it out soon.  He has time.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They aren’t perfect, despite the look of them, despite how they’re drawn to be.  They can’t be expected, forced together 24/7, to not get into petty squabbles.  And they are petty.  Dot hates sharing the bathroom with ‘gross boys,’ hates it when they play during dinner, Yakko hates it when they’re making too much noise during his reading times, when they complain too much, Wakko grumps about when they eat something he was supposedly saving, or throw something away he thinks he could eat (a.e. a banana peel, a watermelon rind, moldy bread, etc), or when they talk too softly or too fast, as if they don’t want him to be able to listen.  It’s never anything too bad, and they get over it within the next few hours, but sometimes it builds.

For instance, Wakko is going stir crazy.

Dot and Yakko can tell.  They don’t mind sitting still on occasion, given the right persuasion, but Wakko is a mile a minute of movement, everything twitching and tapping, tail swishing back and forth and wagging when he’s excited.

There’s only so many times one can run around a small space before they get bored.  Only so many months one can spend exploring and doing the same things with little variation 

“Ugh, there’s nothing to dooooooo,” Wakko whines, flopping onto the armrest of Dot’s chair.  She and Yakko are reading the same book, they’re going to discuss it when they’re done.  It’s a fun blend of their skills and likes-talking about reading.

“There’s plenty of things to do!  Why don’t you read a book with us?” Dot suggests, and maybe it’s a little mean, but it’s more out of ignorance than cruelty.  It’s been what feels like a few months since she saw Wakko struggle, how could she have known that he’d written off reading entirely.

“You could read to me,” Wakko actually perks up at his own suggestion, like a lightswitch flipping on.  Yakko doesn’t mind it at all, and is about to volunteer when Dot raises a brow.

“Can’t you read yourself?” She shoots back, and Wakko deflates, before he crosses his arms, on the defensive.

“I don’t need to,” He says, and Doll rolls her eyes.

“If that was true, you wouldn’t want someone to read to you,” Like usual, her words are sharper than his, but she makes one mistake.  “You can’t just refuse to learn forever.  What are you going to do when you get into the real world?”

Dot is trying to hope.  She trusts that, someday, they’ll escape.  Doesn’t matter how long it takes, they’ll still escape, because she trusts their family, and she trusts their growing abilities.

But Wakko...well, he isn’t quite so positive, at the moment.

“We’re never going to the real world!” He shouts.  “I know what forever means, I’m not that dumb, and that’s how long they’re keeping us here,” Dot is taken aback, but Wakko is a roll, frustrated and ashamed and angry, and Yakko is cut off by his next spitting sentence.  “And the worst part of it is that I’m stuck here with a stuck-up jerk like you!”

“Wakko Warner!” Yakko stands, and he doesn’t typically raise his voice like this, not angry, but that was uncalled for, and Wakko—

Wakko flinches.

Yakko falters, Dot’s eyes are already teary, and Wakko dashes off, vanishes up to the second floor before anyone can stop him.

Yakko attends to the sibling that is close by, because Dot is upset and angry and hurt, so he soothes her tears.

“Why would he say that?” She asks, confused.  “Did he mean it?”

“Of course not—he’s just not handling this as well as you are.  You picked reading up way faster than he did.  He’s been struggling with it, and with all...this,” he gestures to the tower.  Dot sniffles.  “You do have a habit of saying things that make you sound high and mighty, your majesty,” He adds, with a grin, and Dot giggles a little, wiping her eyes.

“Sorry,” She says, and he shrugs.

“Not me who needs an apology, sis, but I appreciate it anyway.  Let’s give Wakko some time to calm down, kay?” He picks her up and smiles.  “I don’t know what chapter you got to, but I have some thoughts on the 5th one.”

She grins back at him.

One down, one to go.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They find Wakko curled up in a ball on the couch upstairs, face hidden from the world and back facing the outside.  Dot comes over quietly, soft steps toward the tense coiled spring that is her brother.

“Didn’t mean it,” He sounds very...defeated.  “I’m sorry, Dot,” He sniffles, and she still can’t see his face.

“It’s okay,” she responds, because staying mad never helped anyone anyway.  “I shouldn’t have been so mean about it.  I’m sorry.  I didn’t know it was so hard.”

“It is,” Wakko finally turns to face her, and his face is stained with tears.  “I can’t get it to make sense in my head—and you got it easy.  Maybe I am stupid,” He turns to face her, sitting up and curling his knees to his chest, and the last phrase is muffled by his knees.

“You’re not!  You’re better at building things than I could ever be!  Words can be hard, though.  It took me a bit to get it.” 

He looks over at her, shyly, as if searching her face for any sign of a joke.  She remains resolute, and sincere. “Really?” 

“Yeah!  Hey, maybe I could try and teach you.  Yakko’s a real lazy teacher,” She jokes, and Yakko takes that as his cue to walk over.

“I take offense to that,” He responds without heat, before looking over to Wakko, who shrinks under his gaze.  The action makes Yakko want to disappear—how could he make his own brother scared of him?

“Sorry for scaring you, Wakko,” He tells him, hoping Wakko accepts the apology.  

“It wasn’t you-it was just,” Wakko is quick to reassure Yakko that he wasn’t scared of him, because he wasn’t, and knows that Yakko would never act in a way that should make Wakko afraid of him, he just was scared because “You’re tall,” He finally finds the words, and Yakko blinks.  “The execs who didn’t like us, they were tall, and they shouted a lot, and I was thinking about when we were out and I was already upset and it just happened, but you’re not scary,” He gives Yakko a shaky grin.  “How could someone even be scared of you?”

“Hey,” Yakko takes mock offense, but a weight lifts off of his shoulders.

He shuffles over, and takes the hat off of Wakko’s head to ruffle his hair.  Wakko reaches for it with sweater paws, standing on the couch to grab his hat back, and the tense air starts to dissipate.

Wakko yawns.

“I’m tired,” he mumbles, rubbing at his eyes.  Yakko settles down on the couch, between him and Dot, and lifts Wakko into his lap.

“Guess it’s naptime, then,” He leans back, hands behind his head.  “Dot?”

She’s already curling up against him.

Eventually, Yakko manages to get horizontal, Wakko and Dot curled up together on top of him. Slowly, he lets out a sigh of relief and sleeps.

The next day, he finds Dot and Wakko at a new dining room table, both hunched over a piece of paper.  Wakko looks very confused, and a little frustrated, but Dot goes over the same letter sounds over and over as if it were the first time, and that type of relentless explanation manages to get through the mental blocks Wakko sometimes has.

“So, the ‘c’ makes a cuh sound, ‘a’ makes an aay sound, so what’s that word?” She points.

“Ca-Catch?” Wakko tries, and Dot cheers, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

“You did it!” She says, and Wakko brightens like the sun.

“Faboo!” He responds, and the exclamation is so startling that Dot starts laughing.  Wakko joins in, and Yakko is chuckling to himself all the way to the kitchen.

Within two months, Wakko joins their book club.  They make matching t-shirts.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yakko loves his sibs, he really does.  They’re basically the only reason he stuck around for so long. They need him.

But sometimes, he doesn’t want them.

Little siblings bicker and it gets real grating.  He just wants one day, one, where he doesn’t have to deal with a stupid argument!  Is that so much to ask

He feels like he never gets this petty over the small stuff.  Aren’t there more pressing things to be upset about?  He doesn’t expect his siblings to be friendly to each other all the time, but would it kill them to resolve their own issues?  Especially when they’re as small as whose mallet is whose(they’re identical) or where a furniture piece should go(when it’s going to be moved within a week anyway, because they’re always changing the format of the tower).  If Wakko’s hat is better than Dot’s flower.  How the kitchen silverware should be organized, even.  Yakko can’t see why it matters

He can’t even get peace now, trying to get through the book they’re in the middle of in their book club.  Wakko and Dot had sped ahead one day when Yakko was making dinner, and now he’s trying to catch up, but he can’t because they’re having another shouting match.  They’re hunched over a fashion magazine, trying to figure out what?  What dress looks cuter?  Wakko, apparently, picked the wrong one, and now Dot is upset, and now he’s upset because she’s upset at him, and it’s just so much.

Eventually he snaps.

“Alright, that’s it!” He shouts, and Wakko and Dot look up from their squabble-about what dress looks cuter, off all things. “I’m going upstairs, and you two deal with each other for a few hours, because I can’t.” He runs a hand down his face and sighs, grabbing his book and disappearing to the second floor, not even bothering to see their reaction.

And you see, you’d think he’d like the peace and quiet, but two hours in and his ears keep twitching, aching for the sound of silly conversation and laughter and pattering feet.  Sure, they’re annoying, and they squabble over silly things, but Yakko is paranoid at heart because the background sounds of them messing around is somehow relaxing, because then at least he knows that they’re there, that they’re safe.  Silence is uncertainty, silence means he’s alone, and he keeps subconsciously searching for their noise, to know that they are, and in turn he is, safe and there.  He thinks he might be a little too used to them, because without the ambient noise he can’t focus.  

Four hours later, and he comes back down, and is greeted to an armful of new books he definitely didn't make, and they don’t look published.  They look more like...picture books?

“We made them for you!” Dot says.

“I did the pictures, and Dot wrote the stories,” Wakko adds.

Yakko’s heart is so full it feels like his ribs are cracking.

“What a couple of authors you are!” he laughs, and they follow him all the way back to his chair.  He sets the books in a stack on his lap, picking up the first one and opening his mouth to read aloud as Dot and Wakko sit on the armrests of the couch, eagerly awaiting his narration and reaction.

Yakko thinks he got pretty lucky with his sibs, even with their petty arguments, smiling down at the pages and reading the books through.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dot loves her brothers.  She does.

But they’re gross.

Well, not gross, but certainly not clean.  They make messes and forget to clean them up.  And it’s not that bad, Dot doesn’t mind cleaning.  Wakko builds them things, Yakko takes care of the meals, cleaning is just part of her chores in this whole situation.

It reaches a limit, and she hits it when she watches Yakko spill marinara sauce all over the ground and then do nothing about it.  Wakko slips in it and the two just laugh it off, but the sauce splatters everywhere, and she has to clean that, and—

“Ugh!” She stomps her foot in frustration, and Yakko and Wakko turn to her, confused.  “You two are disgusting!  I have to clean this all up later, and-ugh!” She turns on her heel and heads upstairs.  She slams the hatch door to the second floor shut, and Wakko and Yakko wince at the sound.

“Is the second floor specifically for upset people now, or is it just a really lazy plot device?” Yakko snarks, and Wakko blinks.

“Should we clean this up?”

“Yeah, probably.”

She comes down an hour later, because she skipped dinner and though she doesn’t have a food issue she’s used to eating with her siblings, and she walks into a sparkling clean kitchen.

“This is a once a year affair,” Yakko says, as she stands there shocked.  “Maybe thrice if you pay us.”

“I ate a bar of soap,” Wakko says, and bubbles come out of his mouth.

“You two are ridiculous,” Dot says, and she can’t help the grin on her face.

She hugs them till she hears something crack.  Probably Yakko’s back, with how tense her eldest brother is.

It’s halfway to filthy by the end of the week, but she can tell they’re trying, and that’s enough.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

So yeah, they get sick of each other.  They have petty and not so petty squabbles, but no matter what they end up in the same place.

Curled up near each other, blankets pulled close so that the edges of the bed are barren.  Yakko always talks in sleep, Wakko drools and kicks, Dot will shift from time to time and grab at air, or anything in grasping range, but they won’t wake up, because despite those annoyances, together they feel safe.

And that’s what family is for, isn’t it?

[julessworldd]

I love them Poly!Guns x reader

I seen where someone wanted more Poly!Guns, so you asked so you shall recieve. Who doesn’t love Poly!guns anyways.

Summary: The reader’s mom and sister show up unannounced, planning on taking the reader back home. Tabloids showed up her in her hometown, the family was worried about her in LA. I always wondered how Poly realtionships work when telling the parents, so here’s my take on it. 

Warnings: The boys being protective, silly with the reader. Cussing, arguing, implied smut. Think that’s all, sorry if I missed any

I moved to L.A. the day after graduation from high school, and had been saving money since I was 13. Living in a small town Colorado, where you’ve gone to school with the same kids since Elementary school, becoming a townie scared me. Since then, I’ve not talked to my family that much.  I met the boys one night after a show, Izzy bumped into me while walking down the strip. We all became friends and then our little thing started, we dated each other. It had been a thing for two almost three years now, I loved every minute of it, and loved my boys as well. 

Duff and I were making breakfast as slowly each boy came down, pissed that they had to start their day. “Did you open that one envelope? Looked like it was from home”, Duff asked. “I’m not sure how they found me. I’ve not gave them my new address”, I laid eggs on a plate. “Why don’t you talk to them anymore?”, Duff asked again. “Just don’t. I’m the black sheep of the family, babe. I never wanted to stay in Colorado,work on the family ranch or get pregnant with a shitty high school football player. They didn’t like it so I left after graduating.”, I said. “I’m glad you left”, Izzy passed by us. “I’m not saying I’m not glad she left, but it’s weird that the envelope has stayed on the counter, unopened”, Duff said. “Fine, I’ll open it after I eat and shower”, I groaned. I know Duff was only being nice, but I didn’t like hearing from my family.  There was knock on the door, “Come in”, I said, sliding into some black skinny jeans. “Hey”, Duff said, shutting the door behind him. “You’re really determined to have me open that aren’t you, baby”, I smirked. “Yes. It could be a death in the family and you wouldn't know it”, Duff stubbed up.  “Alright”, I slides my finger under the seal and opened the envelope. 

 Jacqueline Bennett

It was my mom’s name and my childhood home’s address. “What the hell do you want?”, I groaned.  The doorbell rung, “You expecting anyone?”, I asked Duff. He shook his head no. “Y/nn!”, Slash yelled. I dropped the letter on the dresser and headed downstairs. “Think it’s you with the visitor babe”, Duff said, following suit. “Who knows”, I said. I made it downstairs, in the living. I looked up, it was my mom and older sister, Kelly standing in front of the door. “Mom. Kelly. What are you doing here?”, I swallowed. “We came to bring you home”, My mom said. “No, you’re not. I have a life here and did you forget I’m 24”, I said, crossing my arms across my chest. 

The boys stayed silent, watching me and my mom go back and forth. Kelly was checking Izzy out. “I left for fucking reason and swore I would never move back. Leave mother!”, I ran upstairs, slamming my door. 

Izzy’s pov-

 Y/n’s mom and sister stood there in shock, tension was tight. I stood up from the couch, “I’ll go check on her” I reached her door, heard crying. “Y/n. It’s me, Iz”, I said. A little ‘come in’ was said, she was crying her eyes out before I walked in. “Hey baby. Wanna talk about it?”, I said, shutting the door, her back was turned to me. Y/n jerked up, “Why does she think I need to come back home? It’s hell there, Izzy. I’m overlooked there, they forget my name, if I’m sick or not. My siblings have families and have good careers, I have five siblings, I’m just the second middle kid. Please don’t let her take me back”, She cried. “We’re not gonna let her. You’re 24, you have your own life. Screw what your siblings have, you have us, friends, free travel when we’re on tour. They’re stuck in some hick town while you get to see the world, don’t worry about them. I’m not being mean, but they really don’t care. Just worried that you’re with five guys instead of one. It’s not their business how many people you date or have kids with, you’re an adult”, I said. Here lately every magazine has been exposing our relationship with each other. Y/n has been called a groupie, whore that can’t be satisfied by one guy. Guess it made it to Colorado.

Y/n calmed down and was sitting on my lap, brading a strand of my hair. “Think I’m gonna take them on the patio, I hate that you guys were stuck between it.”, Y/n said. “Okay, I’ll have Duff take them out. Give you a little more time”, I said, walking to the door. “Thanks. Hey Izzy?”, Y/n asked. “Yeah?”, I turned back at her. “I love you”, She smiled. “I love you too, princess”, I smirked. “Hey Duff”, I said, locking eyes with the tall blonde. “She okay?”, Duff started to worry. “Y/n asked if we could take her mom and sister to the patio. She wants to talk to them in private. Can you take them out there please?”, I asked. “Of course”, Duff said. I watched as Duff brought them through the kitchen and out to the patio. Y/n’s mom gave me the stank eye.  “Izzy, are they out there?”, Y/n asked. “Yeah. You gonna be okay?”, Duff answered. “I think so. I love you, Duffy”, She kissed his cheek. “I love you too, Princess”, Duff kissed her lips. We both watched her go out there. “We’re not letting them take her back”, Duff said. “Oh hell no!” Axl and I said at the same time. “She won’t go down without a fight”, Slash said. “Okay, lets quit being peeping toms”, Duff said. We all went downstairs.  

Y/n’s Pov

“Okay tell me how wrong I am being with them?, I sat down at the table. “Why are you with them? Do they pay you?”, My mom asked. “Because I love them very much, I feel safe and loved by my boys. No, I don’t get paid to have sex or whatever crazy ass thing you’re thinking”, I giggled. “Are you together or it’s a groupie thing?”, Kelly asked. “What’s a groupie?”, my mom asked. “Someone who has sex with a couple members of a band or the whole band. No strings attached, some have girlfriends or are even married. But when on the road, they get lonely and their girl isn’t there to you know?”, I said. “And Kelly, we’re together”, I said. “Okay, huh. What made you get into a relationship with them?”, Mom asked. “I don’t know, it just kinda happened. Nobody hasn’t spoken up and said they wanted out and to be with another person.”, I said, looking at her face. Confusion and disgust was all over her face. Kelly was from my time, understood what groupies were and sure she’s married but she was passed around the offensive line and the quarterback in high school. 

“What it is called? When you go out with multiple people, honey?”, My mom asked. “Polyamorous”, I sighed. “Poly what?” “Poly means multiple”, Kelly said.  “Right. Mom, I know this isn’t something you wanted to hear that your daughter is in love with five guys. I didn’t think I would either but life put it that way. I’m happy with them, they all make me smile in their own way. I get something different from each other. You don’t have to worry, this might to be anything any longer, but let me enjoy it while it’s still a thing”, I said holding her hand. “Guess, we didn’t see that way. You do glow more, I’m sorry for never realizing how unhappy you were back home. I love you so much, Y/n. Please keep in contact with us okay?”She smiled. “Okay, you two want to stay for lunch?”, I asked. “No, thank you sweetie. We’ve been here a week trying to find you. Our plane leaves in a few hours”, My mom stood up. “Sorry, you didn’t find me sooner”, I sighed. 

“Can you at least meet them? I’ve met half of their parents”, I smiled. “After our tiny argument?”, Mom asked. “They don’t care, come on”, I giggled. They were just spooked that their girlfriend was yelling at a random lady in the living room. I would be too, if their mom came in guns blazing.

“Boys. I want you to meet my mom, Jacqueline and my sister, Kelly. Sorry about earlier”, I said. They were at the table, Duff was digging something out of the fridge.  “This is Izzy, Slash, Axl, Steven, and who is gonna hit his head is Duff”, I pointed at each of them. “I am not! Son of a-”, Duff groaned, after hitting his head on the edge of the counter. Kelly giggled. “You didn’t bust it open this time, bonehead”, I rubbed his head, for any nics or blood. “I hated having staples in my head”, Duff raised up, rubbing his head. “I know you did, I hated them too”, I giggled. Duff had pulled me into his side and brushed a piece of hair out of my face. I caught my mom smiling at us. “Honey, I hate to leave but we have a plane to catch”, My mom said, tearing Duff and I apart. “Right. I’ll walk you out”, I said. “Axl, what are you doing?”, I asked as the red head followed us. “I have to get something out of my car, babe”, Axl smiled, grabbing my hips. “Not now”, I whispered, feeling his bulge poke my ass. “Not my fault you and your sister have ass”, Axl smirked, passing me to go to his car. “I’ll kill you”, I mouthed as I approached their rental car.  “It was nice seeing you, sis”, Kelly smiled. “You too. How are the kids?”, I asked. “Good, growing like a weed. Conor almost passes me”, Kelly said. “Wow, that means he towers me”, I giggled, thinking of my nephew. Kelly was 5’8, means Conor is at least 5’10, and I’m still 5’3. “Yeah. Annie starts 3rd grade next year, they miss their Auntie Y/n a lot”, Kelly gave a small smile. “Next time, if we’re close to home I’ll see what I can do to come see everyone. Tell everyone I love them.”, I said, pulling Kelly into a hug. “I love you, Kelly”, I whispered.  “Love you too, kid”, She tightened the hug. “Okay, my turn”, My mom whined.  “You’ve changed into a beautiful woman, Y/n. Your Dad would be so proud of how you’ve grown, he misses his buttercup a lot. Call him when you can, okay?”, My mom said. “I will, Momma. I love you and Dad”, I smiled. 

I watched them as they drove down to the neighbor, going to the airport. “You okay, Y/n?”, Steven asked. “Mhm, oh yeah. I’m good, Stevie”, I smiled. I walked over to Steven and smiled. “You forgot something?”, Steven smirked. “My good morning kiss”, Steven pouted. “Nobody got theirs, Stevie”,I giggled, leaning up to kiss his lips. Steven opened the door, there stood Izzy with his arms crossed,pout on his face. I pulled him down to kiss him, “There you, big baby. That better?” “Very much so”, Izzy grinned. I laughed, walking upstairs. Slash pulled me to his lips, “You’re off your routine girl” “Sorry Slashy”, I rubbed his cheek.  “Are you still gonna kill me?”, Axl asked, smirking. “No”, I kissed him. “Good girl”, Axl smirked, smacking my ass. Duff’s back was turned, I wrapped my arms from behind. “Hey Baby”, He said. “Hi. You wanna a kiss?”, I asked. “Mhm, I’ll take a makeout session instead”, I knew he was smirking.  “Put me on the counter and I’ll deliver”, I smirked as he picked me up. I kissed him. “Hey Y/n, is it weird I find your mom sorta hot?”, Axl yelled from upstairs. “Very! She’s bitcher than I am”, I yelled back, rolling my eyes. “I like your bitchyness, it’s hot”, Duff pulled me into  him more. “You’re fucking crazy”, I said. “That song is about you, you know?”, Izzy smirked. “Fuck you, Izzy”, I flipped him off before hopping down from Duff’s arms. “You did last night, hot lips”, Izzy said as he disappeared upstairs. 

[anotherspnfanfic]

Nobody Fights Alone - Part 2

Pairing: Eddie x reader

Word count: 1850

Warnings: Mentions of cancer, language

A/N: Here is part 2 of our angsty co-written series! Links to the series masterlist and part 1 are below! Make sure you follow @spnirwin as well!! We hope you enjoy!

Series Masterlist

Part 1

Your phone rang, startling you out of your reverie. You were laying on the couch with Eddie, watching a movie on his day off. A quick glance down at your phone confirmed what you both hoped and feared; it was the doctor.

“I’ll be right back,” you said as you untangled yourself from Eddie and stood up. You walked quickly down the hall, noticing Christopher still coloring in his room. You walked into your bedroom, closing the door softly behind you.

“Hello?”

“Is this Y/N?” they asked.

“Yes,” you confirmed.

“This is Dr. Alexander. Your biopsy results have just come back from the lab. Do you have time today to come in and go over the results?”

“Yes, of course! If you give me about twenty minutes I can be right over.” Your heart was racing as you hung up the phone.

You stepped out of the bedroom and found Eddie sitting up on the couch. He was looking at you, clearly concerned. “Everything okay?” he asked.

“Yep!” you said, slightly overenthusiastically. “That was Evan, he needs my help real quick. Shouldn’t take more than an hour.”

Eddie stood up suddenly, walking quickly towards you. His alarm bells were ringing. You never left the room when Buck called.

“What does he need? Can I help? Make it go faster?”

“He needs help with this recipe he’s trying to make. No offense, but I don’t think you’ll be a very big help. You aren’t exactly great in the kitchen.” You laughed, trying desperately to keep your voice even.

You could see the hurt that your words caused. You tried to soften the blow by giving him a quick kiss. Without saying anything more, you walked over to the table by the door, grabbed your keys, and left.

—

You were once again sitting in the doctor’s office, staring Dr. Alexander down as she delivered the news you had been hoping and praying you would never hear. They had detected malicious cells in your biopsy. You were officially being diagnosed with breast cancer.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Y/N, have you told anyone about this?” Dr. Alexander was looking at you intently. You knew honesty was your only option.

“No, I haven’t,” you answered.

“You really should.” Dr. Alexander’s voice was gentle. She leaned forward before continuing. “The road ahead of you is about to be very tough. You can use all the support you can get.”

“I know,” you sighed. “I just didn’t want to worry anyone until I had some answers.”

“I understand that. But it really is time now.” She gave you a smile as she began describing your treatment plan.

She wanted to start with an MRI to get a clearer picture and make sure there were no other tumors. Then, you would need multiple rounds of chemo spanning the course of several weeks. Afterwards, they would do another MRI to see if the cancer had shrunk. Dr. Alexander was hopeful that it would be that simple. So were you.

—

Meanwhile, back at your apartment Eddie was pacing. He was trying to figure out what to do about your odd behavior and obvious secret keeping. Giving up on your relationship wasn’t something he was interested in but it also didn’t seem like you were going to allow him the chance to fight for it.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a knock on the door. Confused, he walked over to answer it. He wasn’t expecting anyone and you hadn’t said anything about anyone stopping by. His confusion turned to dismay when he opened the door and Buck was standing in front of him.

“Hey, sorry to bother you,” Buck said immediately upon the door opening. “I was just bored and wanted to see what you guys were up to. Neither of you answered your phones so I just…” His words trailed off as he noticed the look on Eddie’s face.

“She isn’t with you?” Eddie asked, voice strained.

“Y/N? No… what’s going on? Is everything okay?”

Eddie grew agitated, stalking away from the door and tugging at his hair. “This is funny, because about an hour ago your sister left to go see you. She said you called and needed help with some recipe.”

“Uh, no. I mean I’m sure you’ve figured this out by now, but I didn’t call her. I actually haven’t talked to her at all today.” Buck’s level of concern was rising with Eddie’s agitation.

Eddie spun around to face Buck, a desperate look on his face. “She’s lying to me, man. She’s keeping secrets and I...I think she might be leaving me. Has she said anything to you? Please, I need to know.”

“Eddie, you’re my best friend, but even if she had said anything to me,” Buck shook his head, “you know I couldn’t tell you anything. That being said, she hasn’t said a word. I’ve noticed her acting off lately, too, but trying to pretend she’s fine. I really couldn’t tell you what’s going on.”

“I just don’t know what to do.” Eddie’s voice broke and he dropped his head into his hands.

“Let me try calling her again,” Buck said, pulling out his phone.

You were driving home when he called, and you answered on the second ring. Before he spoke he put the phone on speaker so Eddie could listen.

“Hey, what are you up to?” Buck asked, voice light.

“Not much, just getting ready to make dinner. Why, what’s up?” You sounded upbeat, happy even. If he hadn’t already known you were lying he never would’ve been able to guess.

“I was just checking in, seeing how you and Eddie were doing.” He shot Eddie a glance, shrugging his shoulders. “But it seems like you’re busy, so I’ll let you go.”

“Okay,” you replied. “Talk later?”

“Of course. Love you, sis.” If you had been paying better attention you would’ve noticed the sad note in his tone.

“Love you, too, Ev.” You hung the phone up quickly, giving him no chance to respond even if he had wanted to.

Buck lowered the phone, shooting Eddie a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry. She’s clearly lying to me, too, for some reason. I’m going to go ahead and head out so you two can work this out when she gets home.”

Eddie nodded slightly. “Would you mind taking Christopher with you? He doesn’t need to be here for that conversation.”

“Yeah, of course,” Buck agreed. “I’ll go get him.” He walked down to Christopher’s room and returned a couple minutes later with Christopher and his backpack.

“Thanks, man,” Eddie said, giving Christopher a quick hug.

Buck took in the devastation on Eddie’s face and clapped him on the shoulder before continuing. “Look, if there’s one thing I know, it’s that she has a reason for whatever she’s doing.”

Buck turned and led Christopher out of the apartment, leaving Eddie alone with his thoughts again.

—

You stopped outside your apartment door and took a deep breath. You were dreading having to tell Eddie. Right now, it still felt like this could be some awful nightmare you were about to wake up from. Telling him would change that.

You finally pushed the door open and found Eddie sitting on the couch. “So, where were you?” he asked before you even had the door closed.

“I told you, I went to see Evan,” you lied, again.

He glared at you for a moment. “You did tell me that.” He nodded. “But, I know that’s not where you were. He was just here and he said he never called you today. So, where were you really?”

Looking down at the floor, you considered how to respond. “You keep telling me to take time for myself. So I took some. What’s the big deal?”

“What’s the big deal?” He mimicked in disbelief. “The big deal is that you felt the need to lie to me, again.”

You knew he was right, but you couldn’t bring yourself to tell him yet. “Can we talk about this later?” You turned to walk down towards the bathroom before he could respond.

“Do not walk away from me!” Eddie yelled as he stood. “You have been doing it for weeks. You can barely even make eye contact with me.” He sighed and ran his hand across his face before continuing more calmly, “If you’re planning to break up with me, then, please, stop dragging it out.”

You turned to face him, silent as you processed his words. You opened and closed your mouth a couple times trying to find the right words. “No. No way. I love you and I’m not planning on going anywhere.”

Relief flashed across his face. “Then what is going on? I need you to talk to me.”

“Yeah, I guess I can’t avoid it much longer anyway.” As you moved to sit on the couch, you took his hand to pull him down beside you. You took a deep breath. “I’m sick,” you blurted out.

He furrowed his brows, “What do you mean? You seem fine.”

You shook your head and a tear rolled down your cheek. “When I had my annual physical a few weeks ago, the doctor found a lump… it’s cancer.”

“No. You don’t know that. They need to run more tests. It could be something else.” He wiped away your tear with his thumb only for more to follow.

You sniffled. “They did them. That’s where I was. The doctor called to have me go in for the biopsy results.” With that, the dam broke and you erupted into a sobbing mess.

Eddie was quick to pull you into a crushing hug. He held you tightly as you cried, as if you might vanish if he let go.

You started to hyperventilate from crying so hard. Eddie pulled away just enough to look into your eyes. “Okay, you have to breathe. Just take a deep breath.” You managed one big gasp with a shaky exhale. “Good, that’s really good,” he said, pulling you back in to rest your head on his chest.

You lost track of how long he sat there just holding you. Neither of you said anything.

Eventually, he decided to break the silence. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? You didn’t need to go through all those tests and appointments alone. Does anyone else know?”

“No, I haven’t told anyone.” You sniffled, glancing up to look at him. You saw tears welled up in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to have to worry if it turned out to be nothing.”

“I knew something was wrong. I shouldn’t have let you slide with those terrible excuses.” He started in a spiral of blaming himself.

“Don’t do that. I wasn’t ready to talk about it,” you said, trying to alleviate his guilt. A fresh wave of panic ran through you. “I’m scared, Eddie.”

He pressed a kiss to your forehead. “Me, too. But it’s going to be okay. You’ll beat this.”

“Oh, god. I have to tell Ev.”

Part 3

—

Tags: @beth-winchester21​ @lovinnholland​

[pokedash55]

Acronix X Coffee Robot Crack AU

SUGGEST READING MY ECHO MEETS ACRONIX FIC BEFORE THIS

IT BUILDS ON THIS WACKY WORLD OF MINE

Click for Echo Meets Acronix Fic

To summarize//TL;DR: Acronix falls out of the time vortex at the light house a befriends Echo Zane, learns empathy and put Echo on Social media so everyone knows he exists now. 

-After he leaves echo zane with a borg watch he finds himself back in Ninjago

-Stalks borg and his fam like a creep

-Jay introduces Echo to the dyer family

-Echo and unagami are siblings now

-Acronix is kinda like Echos big brother

-But no one else accepts this

-Zane and Pix give skeptical and menacing, “if you touch him” glares

-Unagami is confused babi and likes their new brother echo

-So Like One day it’s Borg, Pix, Zane, Jay, Unagami, Echo, and Milton dyer, and Acronix in a room together  (Fic on that later :3 )

-The whole fam

-Nixie just lingers around borg tower saying random junk sometimes

-Acronix : “You either die a villian or live long enough to see yourself become…”

-Pix: “A very annoying customer who is about to be escorted out of the building?”

-“UH NO. Wrong answer Pix (“dont call me pix”). REDEEMED. Cause I’m like… totally redeemed now”

-Just holds up a high five for the room and left hanging by everyone

-Jay’s like :Yeeeoree not part of our group”

-So like Acronix and Echo Zane are bro’s now cause I said so??

-Everyone: Nix is part of the Borg Family

-Me: Well YES, but actually no

-This isn't really a Future thing

-In this they're mostly frenemies kinda??

-But Acronix does really like him and borg tower and Borg is too nice to throw him out XD

-Acronix has zip money and doesn’t FEEL like looking for Krux rn

-Gets his morning coffee everyday bro

-Starts crushin on the Coffee manager (naming her shannon after the voice actor)

-His routine is basically wake up, coffee, Shannon, stalk borg, watch memes, think about looking for kux than fall asleep on phone

-Posts bout his lil bro alot (echo)

-Posts about Shannon ALOT

-Many many selfies of him an his coffee

-Realizes he may need to get someplace to live since he had yet to venture for krux

-Shoot money is a thing he doesn’t have

-Borg be super kind like, “You can stay at my Newly renovated highly advanced Borg Hotel but you must get a job.”

-Acronix gestures at being one of those technology intern clerks at borg industries. “Is for me?”

-”Must get a job AND leave my family alone…. For now… please?”

-Borg is too nice to the guy who kidnapped him and is infatuated with living at borg tower

-Does borg live in borg tower?

-Gunna say he does

-Cause Acronix just LOITERS in borg tower 24/7

-Like its like hours after closing of the downstairs shop and Pix is like getting her suit on and forcefully escorting Nixie out of the premises

-So anyway Nix has to get a job

-Ugh entry level Jobs are SO beneath him.

-Pouts uwu

-Gets a job as a barista to at least have fun with someone cool

-Ronin notices that sales have gone up in the coffee shop since Acronix has started hanging around there, because the girls think he’s pretty and he posts a lot on social media.

-Ronin wants this, but doesn’t want to have to actually pay Acronix for being a faceman.

-Hires him “as a barista”. Basically he hires Acronix to sit at the counter and look pretty, while giving the joint free advertising.

-Acronix totally doesn’t notice this and is fine with being completely exploited and underpaid.)

-Acronix X Coffee Bot! (In this she’s named Shannon)

-Shannon is like… chill and rude, but never offensive

-Cheats in chess

-Smug about it too like deamn she mean

-Epic moves (Both spinny sign and juggling. And makes epic coffee)

-Unflinching at a fire

-Complete apathy

-Throws "Floyds"  teapot plan away immediately cause she doesn’t get paid enough for this sh*t

-Says she doesn’t drink coffee but than is seen drinking coffee that lier

-Bad habit of Ignoring stufft. Ignores the upgrade, ignores her lie detector, ignores the fact the -machine is literally ice frozen

-She wears a miniskirt and a crop top/bra thingy to WORK. On the clock! savage

-Nixie is confirmed to get crushes easily and like powerful/ mean woman (Machia)

-Also he has no shame in liking nonhumans

-Love technology so would totally vibe with her

-Robotsexual for sure

-Powercouple

-Since she is still A.I, so Nix’s outgoing and I don’t care i'm great loud personality would really surprise her and she’d be inspired/impressed by his lack of chill and lack of care

-She has a bit of sass and goth hot topic to her but also still has that robot innocence that would blend nicely with Acronix since he is also Abrasive and rude on the outside, but is a tad of a softy coward (He hugs his bro and cowers behind him and gets adorably defensive when he snarks at him)

-He’d teach her so much about being more alive… maybe a bad influence but she’d dig it

-He calls her Shay almost constantly

-He hates being called Nix

-Like he is a prideful warrior who expects people to use his full name in respect

-But Shannon is too cool for that

-Calls him Nix sometimes anyway

-Respects her boldness

-The audacity to do so without permission!

-Shannon owns a motorcycle because come on

-Ridin home on a sick bike together

-Stealin stuff when people aren’t looking

-Banned from Ronin thrift shop for sure (they're lucky they weren't fired after that night. But he literally can't fire shannon)

-Chill on friday nights at Laughys karaoke.

-Not singing, just laughing at how stupid other people look singing drunk kareoke

-So a jock dork egotist and a apathetic punk bot walk into a bar

-Dareth honestly doesn’t know this guy was the one sending snakes after his trophies so he just treats him like a normal costumer

-Neither of them care about Dareth’s attempts at small talk.

-Too busy loving themselves like idiots

-She kicks his ass in strategy video games and he destroys her in battle royal stuff

-Both are equally bored by like Animal crossing and other fake life games YAWN so much work

-Shannon enjoys the thrill of racing games

-Nixie plays em but it’s not his best game

-Both GEAMMERS (but in a frighteningly cool way. They somehow both avoid nerd status… nixie still a dork tho. Jock dork)

-She makes coffee art of her hubbies face.

-He gives her so much social media attention

-Acronix gives her coffee shop media rep and he loves the petty feeling of beating Wu at something

-She doesn’t quite get his excitement in it (cause she’s on neutral terms with Wu) but loves the media attention

-She doesn’t get his phrases and he finds that both aggravating and endearing

-“Um I’m Aconic”

-Shannon: “So you’ve been lying about your name this whole time?

-Acronix: “...?”

-“That's honestly sick”

-Acronix “… “

-One day they joy ride on a motorcycle

-End up loitering around borg tower

-Borg officially meets Shannon and is interested in her origin

-Her design is not like he has seen but it also seems familiar

-She says she doesn't remember much other than working for ronin

-"Ronin" borg mutters spitefully

-He has a history of y'know.. Messing with his tech (dismantling pixal and selling zane hmmm)

-Does a diagnostic code scan

-Acronix worried bout his bae and hyped he was actually invited in for once.

-Progress on that "friendship"

-He discovers her model and general code is similar if not almost exactly the same as pixal’s code

-Ronin scrapped together with some mechanical help from his friends the walkers to make a functioning robot manager with borg tech he scrounged up and a stolen copy of pixal’s blueprints ( maybe he took pictures of them when he sold her to chen) and specs so he wouldn't have to pay for multiple employees. Just having the one really efficient one would save him thousands

-So shannon is pixals sister

-And her parents are The walkers, Ronin, and borg

-The family tree only grows people

-So Acronix is apart of the ninja family now if he marries Shannon

-Here's a chart if you're as confused as I am here:

-Anyway Shay doesn't really care much

- Her expression doesn't change

-She had never really gone out of her way to worry where she was from so it wasn't a huge revelation

-It was to nixie tho

-As the extravert he was (and has extensive experience of being a sibling) he had to make sure she got to know her new family NOW

-Like in the middle of the night now

-He never waits for things to happen

-Pix is first and she is about to power down for the night when...

-DOOR SLAMS OPEN

-"Hi SIS!!" Acronix just screams

-"hey. I'm like your sister now." Obvi shannon is more lowkey about it

-Shannon and pixal mildly get along

-Questions her taste in men alot

-Acronix chills in the back already bored and ready to move on.

-Although he's annoyed by them, the ninja were next up

-Zane and Jay are both family now

-Shannon starting to think he's using all this to fill the void of his brother being gone.

-Cause she has no interest for or against meeting these people but Nix sees it as urgent

-But he seems happier than usual so she'll let him throw her name around for a while. She did mooch off his social media so it was only fair

-Anyway eventually Acronix does find his brother, and tries to explain this whole mess to his less-than-thrilled twin

-God once Krux gets back tho

-“Hey bro! I married a robot she’s amazing!”

-He’s just taking selfies with her in hot topic outfits both of them

-“God no my brothers Robotsexual. My worst nightmares have been realized”

-Krux can only stare in horror at the people his brother now considers “family”

-Wu’s students?!, Robots!?, what EVEN IS AI?!?!?

-He eventually gets over it

-eventually maybe

-At least he can admire her attitude

-Will still mess with his bro tho.

-This is the worst timeline imaginable.

-But I can't apologize for art

[mileycfan4eva33]

Fandom: One Chicago and SVU

Title: Silence Equals Death

Chapter 1: Dear Diary

P O V: Sylvie Brett

A/N: Boy, I am getting sick of these things. But, I'm too paranoid not to write it down. Here are the usual disclaimers, I do not own any of the One Chicago/Or SVU characters that glory goes to Dick Wolf and NBC. Trigger warning for a sexual assault/ rape towards the end. Whose Point of View would you like chapter two to be in; Kelly's, Matt's, Stella's or Kat's, Or Hailey's? This fic will be told through multiple views and be a joint between PD/ Fire and SVU. Reviews are fires to my soul; please leave one. Thank You.

Gaffney Chicago Medical Center

Dear Diary, today is January 31, 2021; it is 12:56 am; I am in Chicago Med. I have to write this all down before it becomes a twisted blur of fragmented memories. Tonight was a nightmare, and a dream all rolled into one. Sitting here now on this cold steel trap of a bed, I am in disbelief that any of this happened, but it did, and it shouldn't have; if I had been smarter, more robust, less drunk, none of this would have happened. I only have myself to blame. It all started so innocently.

Now everything is such a mess; how did this happen? I am not a lovesick teenager, and I shouldn't be making these types of mistakes. If only I could turn back time and not get so damn drunk, but I can't, so here it is, the sick truth of what will surely end my career. The authentic story as only someone who lived it can ever tell it. No Disney fair-tales here, just honest raw truths, every word you will read is what happened to the best of my recollection someday I will gone, and I want my truth out there, so no woman ever has to bear witness to the pain of being raped, and thrown away as if she is the villain.

I am not the villain, but can I say I was a victim?

Sofitel Chicago Magnificent Mile

20 E Chestnut St, Chicago, IL 60611

January 30th 2021 9:35 pm

"My money's on you finding exactly what you want."

Matthew Casey's rugged, sexy voice purrs in my ear. I can't remember when he said that or why the hell he said it; my mind is toasted with the large amount of alcohol I have poured into my body. I can remember what he said after, though, because it's what I deserve. Matt had no idea back then that all I wanted was for him to say he loved me, to tell me I am beautiful. To reassure me that these butterflies I have been feeling forever are not just in my stomach, not only carrying my heart away, but they are in his as well.

He didn't, not then and never since it's been at least two years since he said those words to me. Two years since I felt a brief flutter inside my heart telling me that my feelings for Matt had changed from friendship to something a little less platonic. "God, there ain't enough alcohol inside this damn hotel to take my memory away from this pain."

"I hear ya' sis." Stella Kidd motions for the bartender to bring us two more rounds as she settles against the counter inches away from me, her elbows propping her up. "You look flushed, Brett. Are you feeling okay?" Stella's gorgeous brown eyes are wide in concern as she glances at my body my cheeks are burning, I can feel the heat descending from my head to my face making me sway in dizziness a little as I try to remember how to breathe. Funny how a normal body function can sometimes take so much damn effort it hurts. I need a minute to do nothing, not to feel, think, talk, react or breathe, but of course, I can't have that minute, not with Stella on the case. "Yeah, girl, why wouldn't I be okay?" I fake a laugh, which I don't think fools her even for a second.

"Uh, I am so over these damn things Sylvie, I thought with COVID we would escape this bullshit this year." Stella slides down my shot glass to me as she tilts her head back and chugs her shot of whiskey with one gulp. "Yeah, I would have thought so too; nothing I hate more than a bunch of grown-ass corporate men in suits pretending to give two craps about us little people."

"Amen, sister." Stella clicks her empty glass against mine before I tilt my head back and swallow the rush of warmth that leaves me dizzier; maybe I shouldn't have skipped two meals today before coming here after having no food yesterday. "So what's up with you and Kelly?" I turn my head to my right to catch Stella's eyes, glued to her boyfriend Kelly Severide, chatting with District Chief Steve Walker. Fire Commissioner Carl Grissom and the Deputy Director of Finance Gail McLeod. "Kelly's looking dapper Stella; I think someone is going to get lucky tonight." I hold my hand up to signal the bartender for another round; he fills our glasses quickly, much to my pleasure. "Yeah, from your lips to Kelly's ears, please, he's barely touched me ever since he found out that some people may take offense to me being promoted because we're together."

"Aw, man, I'm sorry he's probably just worried Stella, he loves you Kelly doesn't want to be the reason you fail because we all know you deserve this promotion. At least he cares enough to say the words out loud." I swallow the shot feeling my eyes burn badly as tears filter out. "Aw man, this shit is strong. Phew!" shaking my body out, I signal for another, hearing Stella laugh. "Still regretting telling Matt how you feel?"

I pause for a moment before I answer; how should I respond? Do I regret telling Matt how I feel? "Hey bitches." I'm saved from answering as Leslie Shay comes stumbling over, wrapping her arm over my shoulder and squeezing between us, holding her phone up with her left hand. "Smile bitches." Stella and I hold our full shot glasses up. I love this bartender; he is on his game tonight; we smile and lean into Shay, who is reeking of Tequila. "Give me some love, sugar babes." Yeah, she is drunk, sugar babes? Where did she even come up with that one? We smile brighter even though neither one of us feel happy at this moment; her eyes are on Kelly, who isn't even looking our way, and I lock my eyes on Matt, who is dancing with some woman I have never seen in my life.

The woman is drop-dead gorgeous though five-foot-nine inches is my guess she appears to be Lebanese or Latino with long caramel hair flowing down her back past her waist the silk wrap dress she is wearing clings to every unique curve on her flawless body. Matt's arms are wrapped around her waist he's dancing close with her, my heart races so fast I feel the room sway. "Love is a journey, Sylvie, don't give up yet. I know this moment sucks. I get it hurts worse than anything you've ever experienced. When it gets too heavy, when it feels like the weight of this pain is crushing you, remember the pleasant moments, the breathless enthusiastic moments. Matt's alive, and so are you as long as you live, there is hope."

I wish I could smile at Shay as a thank you, but I can't muster the strength even to attempt a smile. Seeing Matt dancing with this woman is killing me slowly; who is she? Where did they meet? Why did he choose tonight to bring her on a date? Knowing I would be at this stupid First Responders training shit, is he trying to make me jealous?

"Your Casey is out there, Sylvie, but you don't have to change who you are to find him." Gabby's words from five years ago come back to me; she did not know just how right she was when she said them to me; hell, I didn't even know back then that the man who I would want to be by my side forever, the man who I would spend countless sleepless nights crying my heart out over was her Casey. Talk to God, Sylvie, get your head straight; this is crazy pinning over a man you pushed away yourself.

Sometimes I feel so cold the way steel must feel left outside to fend for itself against the weather elements. Some days I feel broken, I forget what living is for, I forget how to breathe or even why I should keep living. Today is one of those nights; seeing Matt with this woman is breaking me; I can feel every string of my heart aching, pulling, and twisting as it stretches my entire inside into a giant trampoline my stomach turns and painfully contracts reminding me.

I am alive

Every ache and every pain reminds me I am breathing, but why I can't seem to grasp it. I'm not suicidal, but I'm finding it hard to find a reason to keep my head up when my brain is screaming at me to run away, to bury myself in Tequila and cuddle under the covers till all of the daylight fades away into a blur of a drunken haze.

"Another shot, bartender."

"Name is Josh." I turn away, not caring, seeing only Matt as he lifts his finger to wipe out a stray hair off the woman's face. I can barely breathe every effort is a raspy painful burn that leaves me gasping, trying to fight off this fresh wave of tears. "Close your eyes, Sylvie, and fucking hold it together for a few more minutes; for God's sake, don't let the man see you cry."

Shay slips her arm around my back under my armpits, quickly leading me out of the ballroom where the music is playing louder than what you would expect at a training seminar. "Remember what I said to picture the pleasant moments." "I can't, Shay..I... can't breathe." "Shh, hey, it's okay. I got you." Shay gently settles me onto a couch inside the ladies' room, handing me a cold bottle of water, which she's already taken a few sips out. Still, she lifts to my lips before I can stop her; the cool liquid splashes over my chin, dripping down what gets inside my mouth is refreshing and helps cool me off, allowing me to breathe easier. Leaning back against the wall, I close my eyes, trying to regain some gravity; my knees are trembling, leaving me feeling as if I will collapse if I try to stand.

I want to kick myself for falling so hard for a damn guy who I knew would never love me back. I knew I shouldn't have pushed Matt, yet I ignored every one of my instincts and went full sped ahead. God, I will remember that day forever- I had been avoiding Matt for days ever since the accident. Mainly because I had my suspicions that Matt hadn't just been lucky in getting to me so quickly, part of me hoped and yes, as vain as it sounds prayed that Matt had raced to me, that the thought of me being in peril had somehow overcome Matt's heart running his blood in fear.

I told myself I was crazy even to think such stupid school girl thoughts. Matt is our captain; it made perfect sense he would be worried about Gianna and me; we're part of his team, nothing more. The job of the captain is to make sure all of his team comes home safe at the end of every shift; Matt's lost too many people in his days, he fears losing anyone, so of course, the entire team raced to us when they heard 61 was in an accident.

I had myself convinced Matt came to me out of loyalty out of duty, not because he was in love with me, I am stupid for even thinking for one mil-la-second that Matthew Casey would ever love me as anything except a friend. I was doing so damn well, too, until Blake Gallo blew up all my rationalization with his account of how Matt jumped out of a moving truck to get to me. Me, not myself and Gianna but only me. Brett, I have to get to Brett, that's what Gallo recalled Matt saying.

Shattered

Read more and please leave a review at https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13807832/1/Silence-Equals-Death

[zuffer-weird-girl]

I gotta know what Kai meeting his SO's family would be like. How would he react if one of his SO's family tried to get her to break up with him, ditch their wedding, or try to get them divorced.

I hope you guys don't get bothered with this type... sorry, if anything I will make one different or headcanons if its more complicated

It has been a year and eight months already that he was dating you, and things were only getting more... intimate.

He even let you meet Pops. POPS out of all people... he didn't liked to remind that day but at least the elder liked you... a lot actually, for even telling embarrassing stories about a very young Chisaki...

He never felt his face burning with such passion after that day...

So he knew that he was taking seriously this relationship... although, there was your family as well, which he never saw once.

You did mentioned about them from time to time but actually saw or in person or in video calls? Nope. Never.

You lived alone but your parents still lived on the same country, but yet, really far away from you. But every once in a while you would visit them or for the holidays or some urgency that ghey would call you.

He tried mentioning them on the topic once in a conversation, but you merely responded with a laugh and 'they are loud and sometimes a bit too much excited with things, you wouldn't atture them for too long trust me.'

He was... slightest offended at that one. He convived with Mimic, so what is loud in comparation with that man?

Conveniently, one time where he proposed the idea of a date night you sadly had to decline, saying that you needed to go to a family gathering.

Perfect. He thought.

"Need company?" He asked while you were still tidying up your bag.

"Kai, love, I know you worry a lot about me, buy no way in hell Kurono will come with me in my family reunion. They might think he is my boyfriend instead." His eye twitched at the disgusting mention before he sighed to regain his calm.

"Stupid, I'm talking about me accompanying you." He growled while looking for his dress shirt.

You looked at him with wide eyes before smirking, lifting one of your eyebrows up.

"You? My family? Together? On a family gathering no less?" He nodded numbly, sighing in relief of seing his shirt neatly clean and ironed.

"You have the courage?" He sended you a hot glare after he put on his shirt.

"What do you mean with this? Its just a bunch of people, not some... whatever it makes someone be afraid of."

You giggled before successfully forcing your bag to close.

"Just asking, just asking." You smiled up at him, feeling that bit of anxiousness and excitement at the same time. "Only if you want to."

"If I offered is because I want to. Is simple." He went to pick his tie but you had placed your hand in front of it, preventing him to take it.

He arched an eyebrow in irritation before you explained.

"Is a barbecue... not a extremely expensive event..."

"I see. Can I at least grab my jacket if you wouldn't mind oh angel of my?" He asked sarcastically, deadpanning at your 'sure' and ignoring the blush om his cheeks when you kissed his covered nose.

~

"Look at who is!" Your sister yelled from the door, caming to give you a hug before looking up and down at yourself wjth a teasing smile.

"Didn't change the slightest!"

"Neither you sis." You sighed before Chisaki got up from his seat and closed the door of the car, looking around numbly.

Your sister gasped before pushi g you close to her to whispwr in your ear.

"Who is that?!"

"My boyfriend. Keep your eyes to your husband will you?" You said, hidding the hint of jealousy on your teasing tone of voice.

Chisaki aproached you and nodded silently at your sister who was elbowing your arm a bit too much.

Is she sick? Stop elbowing my angel.

"Uh.. this is my older sister, (S/N)." Before you could even introduce your boyfriend properly a pair of huge arms enveloped in your waist and lifted you up from behind making you yelp.

"Hey shorty! So long that you didn't appeared!" The man laughed along with you.

Chisaki's hands immediately turned to fists as his eyes went murderous looking at scene in front of him.

Who was this filth who even dared to rouch his angel in front of him in such a way? Didn't he liked living?

"Oi! You're going to break her!" The woman yelled before the man smiled teasingly at her and putted you down.

"I swear to God you're almost broked my ribcage at that hug...ouch." you whined placing a hand on your side while the man finally noticed Chisaki's presence, he also didn't miss the murderous look on his eyes.

"Yo! Taking by seing the situacion here you are her boyfriend right? Nice meeting ya!" The man went to shook hands with Chisaki before you grabbed and placed back down, noticing how your boyfriend's gloves weren't in his hands anymore.

He spoke coudly "And who are you supposed to be?"

The man laughed, ignoring Chisaki's comments, while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Older brother. (B/N) (L/N) to be more specific about it." He turned to you with a apologetic smile before pointing to one car "Sorry sis but I have to get back home."

"It's alright. I bet both of you are busy, but thanks for showing it." You smiled at both of them before they sayed their goodbyes.

Chisaki stared before looking at you in question.

"These were only my older siblings, there's one more inside... if she even came in the first place."

"They are usually this... touchy?"

You nodded before laughing at the irritated and rather regretful expression of his.

"Relax Kai." You offered your hand which he surprisingly grabbed. "They are not going to touch you if you or me say to not do it... I hope."

"You hope? How comforting. If it happens a murder here is not my fault."

"You're not killing anyone of my family!"

"It was a joke." He said monoustly before daring to step closer to that house.

It wasn't. It wasn't a joke. He was serious.

~

"Your family is the reason why the population is overloading..." he growled in disgust close to you in pure annoyance and evidently very uncomfortable about what happened.

How the fuck could so many people fit in one place and be so LOUD? LOUDER THAN MIMIC?!

He never so desperately wanted to hold hands with you in all his life because dear god if someone touched him and you weren't close...

First he met, ironically, was your father... the man first commented was about his fucking jacket. Out of all things. Not even 'who is the man?' or 'good afternoon. Who are you?; no, the bastard just preferred to say

"Honey what the hell is this friend of yours wearing it? And why the fuck this mask dude? You're part of a gang or something?"

"Yaku-" he went to correct whole trying to hold back his anger before you slapped your dad's arm.

"Dad." you growled threateningly at your father which he only asked why the irritation.

Then after he met your grandparents... your grandfather seemed... to catch pretty quick aho was your boyfriend.

"Hey aren't ya that leader from the mafia or something?" He whispered to not catch much attention. You mentally faced palmed while Chisaki nodded.

"Ah I see. So you guys still rob a lot of mon-"

"That is business talk which I guess it wouldn't be on your interest neither it is my obligation to tell you something."

Your grandma snorted at that while the old man scoffed in offense.

"I like this one dear." He heard her whisper in your ear.

...this one? Excuse him old lady he had a fucking name.

Then your mother... which had to ask his name and try to hug him as a greeting.

"Woah woah! Mom you can't just hug a person without knowing them!" You exclaimed as you luckily prevented a catastrophe.

"Well of course I don't know him since you mever actually brought him here once. So-" she returned her attention at Chisaki with a huge smile "What's your name sweety? She never spoke your name, only 'my boyfriend this' 'my boyfriend that'..."

First he had cringed at that cursed nickname, them he looked at you silently requesting your help.

"Call me Overhaul." You almost snorted at that one and at the face of your mother.

"That's... not a actual na-"

"Anyway! Come on lets see more of the house shall we?" You thankfully had dragged him out of there.

So there you both were now after MANY INTRODUTIONS, hidded in one room while he tried to ragain his calm and relaxed posture.

"You know we can get out of here, right? I know you aren't confortable with this."

"...Honestly I don't see what's the matter with my jacket for the first place and what if Overhaul was actually my name?" He mumbled more to himself than to you before breathing in and out slowly and getting up from the couch.

"I had worse than this." He commented before he standed his hand for you to get up "But I have to admit it that having you by my side is much... comforting."

"Same my devil." You smiled affectionately at him before nuzzling on his neck as he carresed your hair lovingly.

"You call him your devil?" A child's voice manifested, making you yelp and Chisaki to glare daggers at the kid.

"So that means he is evil, so you can't date my cousin." The boy pointed ul at Chisaki whose merely lifted one of his eyebrows.

"Like you have the power to decided what either me or my partner do with our lifes, midget." You frowned up at him receiving a scoff and his hold on you getting tighter.

He didn't like kids very much... never felt much comfortable about it.

"Uh... What's a midget?" He deadoanned at the kid.

Were they supposed to be this dumb or was this only one?

~

You had to go to the bathroom. You had to leave him standing awkwardly on a wall, begging silently for you to come back before someone cane over to try to have a shitty talk or even worse... a kid asking for him to play with them.

No way in hell.

The unfortunate happenrd when that father of yours approached him and sigh while holding a beer besides him, thankfully not touching.

"So... what are your intentions with my doll?" He choked on his own saliva at that.

What type of question was that?! And so out of no where no less?!

"Did you already... touch them or something?" He lowered his tone of voice while Chisaki merely lifted his eyebrow up.

Was... Was this... supposed to scare him? This?

Seriously?

"For your knowledge, this information is extremely personal and I guess you're not exactly on the right on trying to get this out of me at this failed attempt of intimidation. And just to be clear, I am only aturing this hell hole because of my angel so I would actually appreciate if you don't have those types of comments around me. That is disgusting." He said calmly yet coldly, like he was speaking in a meeting, not with the father of his partner.

Your father oppened his mouth for a moment in surprise before closing it again and repeating his actions for a while. Before laughing. ..

Was this guy sick inthe head or something?

"You have guts. I like that. Especially when my quirkless daughter need someone to protect and care for her." His eye twitched in irritation before he spotted you.

"Angel thank god you're back." He thanked the heavens at seing you again and getting out of that conversation as soon as possible.

"Huh?"

"Remember when you offered to go away? I will take that. Now." He grabbed your hand and dragved you to the door while you giggled at the wide stares.

"Bye everyone! See you soon!"

"We're not coming back for Thanksgiving." He growled to you in disgust while you whispered back, still trying to contain your laugh.

"Definitely not. It's a mess."

[faefictions]

Lonely People | Ch 5

Pairing: Harrison Osterfield x Reader

Word Count: 1,904

 Y/n spent the entire weekend dreading Monday morning. Class already wasn’t an event to look forward to, but after her conversation with Jace, she didn’t want to have to look Harrison in the eye. Of course, if things went down with him like they had with Jace, it wouldn’t have been that bad. She had only known him for a couple weeks, and they weren’t that close anyway. But they were going to be forced together for this project so she had to find some way to avoid the situation altogether. And that was how she came up with the worst plan she had ever made. She decided to just make him not like her. 

In hindsight, she should have known that that wasn’t going to work how she wanted it. You can’t force someone to not have feelings, just like you can’t force those feelings into existence. But that wouldn’t have stopped her from trying anyway. Her goal was to make him hate her just enough that he wouldn’t have a crush on her, but not so much that he couldn’t stand working with her. Her grade still mattered to her, whether she wanted to admit it or not. 

When she got into the building on Monday morning, she took a deep breath and braced herself. She knew it wasn’t like he was about to make a move on her, but she had to be proactive. When she walked into the class, just one minute before the bell, she glanced up to see Harrison already at the desk, two coffees sitting in front of him. 

He smiled up at her and offered her one of the coffees when she approached him. She kindly took it from the desk and took a sip. 

“There a reason for this?” she asked, gesturing towards the cup. 

“Didn’t want you to be late again,” he chuckled, trying to lighten her seemingly dim mood. 

“Oh, uh, thanks, I guess,” she replied trying her best to not show her appreciation. 

“Wait, what if I had stopped for coffee anyway?”

“Well I guess I didn’t think that far ahead,” he replied, the small smile almost disappearing from his face. She decided to take that as a win for now. 

Mr. Sullivan dismissed both the classes early so they could either prepare for their shoots, head into the studio, or take their shoots elsewhere. 

Y/n and Harrison made their way back to her apartment to get the clothes they had left there from the previous class. The walk was filled with an awkward silence, one that neither of them had the guts to break. Jace had gotten into both of their heads, so any hope for a normal conversation was out the door. 

When they reached the apartment, Harrison didn’t light up like he usually did when he saw Jace. He gave him a begrudged smile and followed y/n into her room to help her gather whatever she needed for their photoshoot. She noticed his awkward shift of character around Jace, but didn’t say anything. She knew exactly why he was acting that way. She wasn’t initially sure if Jace had confronted Harrison too, but she had her suspicions. She tried to not be upset about it, but it irked her beyond belief. Jace had no right to interfere with her love life, or lack thereof. That was her decision. 

“You ok?” Harrison asked, snapping y/n out of her little trance. She realized that she had been standing in the middle of the room, blankly staring at the closet for a few seconds too long. 

“Oh, yeah, sorry,” she muttered, her cheeks turning red with embarrassment. 

She reached into her closet and pulled out two of the outfits that they had chosen the week before. She let Harrison decide which one they would focus on for the day. She was happy with his choice: a deep blue sweater and some white pants. He had also picked out a watch and simple gold chain to go with the outfit as well. 

They had mutually agreed to spend as little time in the studio as possible. Everyone seemed to be centering their projects on artificial lighting and indoor set-ups. Y/n, of course, had to think outside of the box. So she decided to have only one photo in the studio, and the rest would use as much natural light as possible and be taken in an urban setting. Harrison loved the idea, and the examples she was showing him were amazing enough to seal the deal officially. 

Y/n left Harrison in her bedroom to change while she grabbed some more of her personal equipment from the main room. There was a corner next to the television that she had convinced Sierra and Jace to let her store some of her excess stands and bags in. It wasn’t too much, she just didn’t want it cluttering her room. 

By the time she was all packed up and ready to go, Harrison was coming out of her room to show her the outfit. She mentally noted all the minor adjustments she wanted to make before she started taking photos, and headed out the door. 

She had to admit that the walk to their first location was excruciatingly awkward. The silence between them felt heavy, but neither of them wanted to comment on it. Being around Harrison was proving to be more difficult than she thought it would be. 

As they reached their destination, the silence was only filled by her occasional instructions for him. She had to admit, he was good at what he did. She barely had to fix each pose that he would do. It was a relief to know that her professor truly had paired her with someone who knew what they were doing. 

“So, do you have any plans for Autumn break?” Harrison eventually asked as y/n was checking the shots on her camera. He was getting sick of the silence. He couldn’t figure out why it was happening in the first place. Had he said something, done something? 

“You mean Thanksgiving break?”

“What’s the difference?”

“Fall break was in October,” she tried to hide her giggle. 

“You know what I meant.”

“Can’t pass up the opportunity to make fun of you,” she tried to keep a straight face. This was a little easier than she thought. 

“Are you going to answer the question, or are you too busy poking fun?” he tried not to smile. 

“I don’t know. Sierra and Jace usually make me trade off going home with them for holidays, but I’m not really enjoying that.”

“And why don’t you just go home?”

“This is home.”

Her demeanor completely changed with the answer, Harrison could tell he had struck a chord within her and asking anything further would be a bad idea. 

“So, uhm, do you have any plans?”

“No, I don’t thinking flying back to England for a week is worth the money. And I’m pretty sure Sierra is making Tom come home with her for the holiday.”

“Wait really?”

“Yeah, I think it’s a bit much, but they’re in puppy love, he’s really excited.”

That was great news for y/n. It was Sierra’s turn to take her back home, and if she was taking Tom with her instead, she had an excuse to get out of it. 

The conversation ended when y/n stated that she had gotten the shots she was looking for. The walk back to her apartment was almost as awkward as the walk there. The silence was still thick between them, but it didn’t feel as dreadful as before. 

___

That night, as y/n was beginning to chose and edit some of the photos from the day, she heard Sierra and Jace quietly arguing in the kitchen. It wasn’t a rare occasion to hear any of the 3 roommates arguing with another, especially in the last few months. Ever since the incident with Jace, their relationships had all been tested, but as far as y/n knew that was all over. So out of pure curiosity, she came out of her room and silently approached the kitchen, hoping to eavesdrop before they spotted her. 

That hope went out the door when she heard Jace sigh and ask her to come around the corner. She never got the whole sneaky thing down.

“What’s going on?” she asked, looking between her roommates to their frustrated expressions. 

Neither of them wanted to tell her, which was made obvious when they both hit the other’s arm, trying to pass the responsibility over. 

“Is this about Thanksgiving?” y/n asked, slightly amused at their childlike avoidance. 

“How’d you know?” Jace asked. 

Y/n ignored the question and instead turned to Sierra. “Heard you’re taking Tom home with you this year.”

Sierra seemed ashamed to have been caught, but y/n just laughed at her. 

“No worries, I can stay home for break. Really give you some alone time,” she gave her an over-exaggerated wink, but neither of her roommates found it amusing. 

“Don’t be an idiot, y/n, you can come to my place,” Jace said, furrowing his brow. 

“As sweet as the offer is, I really must insist that I stay home,” she stated, a slight sarcastic lift in her tone. “I appreciate the thought of you guys letting me come home with you, but you both must know how much I hate it by now.”

“Since when do you hate it?” Sierra asked, the offense more present in her voice than she was hoping. 

“Si, your parents ask way too many questions. They’re sweet and all, but I don’t think I can sit through another speed round of personal questions.”

“And what about Jace’s family?”

“I think we all know how adamant Jace’s mom is about me just marrying her son already. Holidays with either of you just mean a week of avoiding your parents, it’s exhausting.”

Jace chuckled at her, but Sierra wasn’t so amused. “You can’t just stay here on your own,” she fought, crossing her arms. 

“Actually, Si, believe it or not, I’m a big girl. I think I can handle a week on my own,” she said in a mocking tone as she made her way around the counter to grab a glass from a cabinet. 

“See, I told you,” Jace teased Sierra, making her turn red. 

“But, y/n..”

“I know, I said I hated being here alone, but that was like a month after we moved in. I’m fine with it now, I promise,” she reassured her friend. She rested her hands on Sierra’s shoulders and gave her a reassuring look, which just caused her to roll her eyes with a smile. 

“Fine, but I’m telling Tom to make Harrison come check on you.”

“Or you could not do that,” y/n replied, sudden annoyance present in her tone. 

“Just so I know you’re not dead. We both know you’re terrible at replying to texts… and calls… and literally any other form of communication.”

“I promise I’ll reply to anything you send, just don’t make your boyfriend’s little friend babysit me.”

“I thought we liked Harrison.”

“And I thought I was old enough to not need a babysitter.”

“Ok, fine, but if you ghost me, I’m making Tom call him.”

“Ok, deal,” y/n rolled her eyes and turned so she could fill her glass with water and return to her room to edit her photos in peace. 

Tags: 

@embrace-themagic @fanficparker @baconlover001 @chloe-geoghegan1 @chonisberonica @heartbeats-wildly @saturn-aka-six  @ghostofdrfluke @calum-hoodwinked-me @peterplanet @mischiefmanaged49 @bucky-newtlock @johnsambrosemcclaren @r3ader @lizzyosterfield​ @nicotine-sunshine820​ @hrryhllnd​ @itsjusttor​ @ciannemar83​ @emistrash​ @happyharrison​ @hiding-behindmy-glasses​ @thenoddingbunny-blog​ @wolvesofthewinter​ @ccchloeee-666​ @softholand​ @cosmic-mint-tea​ @suemesabby @wholeheartedlymendes​

[syms-things-5]

Clear The Area - Chapter Eight

Previous Chapter Here

Warning: Language. NSFW. Unprotected sex (be careful guys)

Notes: Apologies this is a little (a lot) longer than planned, but hope you enjoy it!

CHAPTER EIGHT

Chris knew this would more than likely be the last time he would see his friends for a while. The reshoots loomed ever closer, the knot in his stomach was getting tighter, and he was growing more and more unnerved at the prospect of what was lying ahead of him. He was determined to make the most of this night as much as he physically could.

He showered and made himself vaguely presentable, ignoring the navy Chanel sweater and trousers that had arrived earlier that morning and opting instead for a plain white tee and jeans. His favourite red belt made a special appearance. He began regretting his decision to allow his management team to redecorate his pad in order to make it “friendlier on the eye” as soon as he took stock of his open lounge. They’d shifted some of the furniture around, added some fresh flowers and balloons here and there, and taken down the photograph of a family trip to Disney that used to be hanging in the entrance hallway. There was also a distinctly sweet and fragrant smell of freesias wafting through the air. It smelled like Springtime and positivity. He hated it.

Just a few “unfiltered” photographs, they said. Nothing too intrusive of stressful. Now, however, they were looking to cover up the potential fall-out from his fling with Jenny after she’d helpfully announced the day before that she was starting divorce proceedings. Matt had taken to messaging him at half-hour intervals to remind him his house needed to be bustling with as many people as possible even if he didn’t know them all personally. He needed to look carefree, he was instructed, and unbothered by whatever may be going on in somebody else’s private life because it had nothing to do with him, right? Maybe flirt a little bit. Bring out the “big guns” and the Boston “bro” personality his fans loved to see. For God’s sake, just try to look as single as possible.

People weren’t due to start arriving until 7 but it didn’t stop Chris from drinking almost as soon as he had woken up, calling on Scott and a couple of his oldest pals to come and join him for some pre-party beers. 

“Woah.” said Gary, walking in closely behind Scott, carrying a crate of Budweiser. He rook one exaggerated sniff of the perfumed air surrounding him. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say we’d come to the wrong place!”

“Are we allowed to touch anything?” joked Scott, mocking him by tip-toeing in past the guys.

“Don’t ask. Just do whatever you like, please. I need it to at least feel like it’s still my home.” Chris scratched his head in disbelief. It looked more like something featured on the ‘gram of a would-be influencer than the home of a 30-something bachelor who had no time for soft furnishings and Feng Shui.

“Bro, it’s your birthday! You could at least look happy about it.”

Chris wasn’t drunk enough to muster much more than a half-smile at his brother at that point but figured a few more beers might encourage him to lighten up. He must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed. He was about to follow the lads into his kitchen when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. If it was Matt bugging him one more time, he swore he’d throw the phone out of the window.

     Unknown 1.09pm

     Happy birthday sweetie. Can’t wait to see you again x

“Who’s that?” said Scott as he emerged from the kitchen, beer in hand.

Chris just shook his head. “I have absolutely no idea.”

Gradually as the hours passed by, a steady stream of people started making their presence known. Most parties Chris threw rarely went off as originally organised but he didn’t much care. It was always implied that his downtown apartment had an open-door policy when it came to friends and family turning up unannounced. Hell, many would stay for days at a time and he wouldn’t care. If he was holding a party or a game night, people could just show up whenever they felt like it even if Chris himself wasn’t awake or ready to greet them in person. 

The vibe soon started picking up and the music was louder now. Scott had made various playlists and was doing the duty of hosting people better than Chris, who had been glued to his phone on and off for most of the afternoon. More and more of his friends arrived with their partners and Chris would give them a bro-shake but pretty much leave them to it. It was...odd. He wasn’t sure what was going on but he was growing concerned that his brother wasn’t much enjoying his birthday celebrations. The table in the hallway was rife with gifts and cards, and the beer and alcohol levels were not in danger of diminishing any time soon. Chris had gone overboard on catered food but he himself had yet to touch anything. That was a danger sign, Scott thought. Last thing he needed was a drunk and melancholy actor on his hands this earlier in the evening. Thankfully, Chris perked up as soon as he saw his mom and Shanna arrive, and Scott breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hello darling. Happy birthday!” Lisa called out to him and embraced him in a typical motherly hug, all stretched arms and smiles, running her hand under his chin as he pulled away. “How is everything?”

“Yeh, all good. Thanks mom. You look great!” Chris moved in to kiss her on the cheek again before pulling back to allow Scott his turn. “Wow, Shan, I really didn’t think you could make that shade of yellow look even more grotesque but you did it!”

When she was sure Lisa couldn’t see her, Shanna flipped him the bird. Chris feigned offense before wrapping his arm tightly around her shoulders and walking her towards the lounge. “Baby sis, you can’t be mean to me on my birthday.”

“Ugh...I really can’t handle you when I don’t have a drink in my hand.”

“Then let’s fix that!”

Chris shifted past a few friends, all greeting him and patting him on the back as he and his sister moved by. Several faces he didn’t recognise so Matt would be proud of him, he thought. “So, is Sarah travelling separate to you guys?” Chris asked, finally taking one of the wrapped boxed out of his mom’s hands.

“I think so. Do you want these in the fridge or in the pantry for later?” Lisa asked indicating the cupcakes she’d been asked to pick up on the way over.

“Um, just leave them there for now, it’s fine.”

Before he got a chance to speak to his mother again, it was too late. He watched as she was grabbed by Josh and his new girlfriend and started to make her way around her son’s oldest friends, greeting them all as though she hadn’t seen them in years. Shanna reappeared next to him, rifling through the bottles of vodka until she landed on her favourite. 

“Is Sarah not coming then?” Chris asked, more concerned this time than no one seemed to know exactly where she was.

“Not if you’re going to continue being a dick to her, she’s not.” Shanna turned around to Chris’s fridge and began perusing the selection of mixers. “Where’s the cranberry juice?”

“It’s inside the door.” He responded. Shanna couldn’t see for looking but finally located the carton of juice and poured a fraction of what she needed into the glass before topping it up with a very generous amount of vodka. “I was kind hoping to apologise to her in person actually. Is she still really upset? She hasn’t answered my texts.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well, you were out of like, Chris. But yes, she’ll be here, I’m sure. I think she just had something to do first.”

Chris knew Shanna was hiding something from him. She was a terrible liar.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He grabbed the glass from her hands. “I am not looking after you tonight.”

“Don’t worry, Grandpa. I’ll make sure she gets home safe.” Scott reappeared alongside them, merrier than before and holding a small plate of food for Chris. “Why don’t you ‘mingle’ mingle? Your audience awaits, kind Sir.”

Just as Chris was about to protest, his phone vibrated again in his pocket.

Unknown 9.22pm

I hope you’re having a great time tonight. The party looks amazing! Can’t wait to catch up with you properly x

*

At some point around 10pm, Chris escaped. He retreated to his little hideout behind a tree that gave him a clear view of his property without the pressure of being spotted by anyone inside. His phone had buzzed a couple more times and he was now sure if was Jenny reaching out to him. She’d been leaving little heart emojis on some photographs that had already appeared online. He felt a little sick and just needed to get away from the crowds, now tipsier than he was, annoyingly. He took the cigarette he’d bunged from a friend and lit it, savouring the feeling. In that moment was possibly the calmest he’d felt all day.

“Who are you hiding from, birthday boy?” Chris knew it would be Scott who would find him eventually.

Chris shrugged. “No one. Just needed the air.”

“Yeh right. Mom knows you smoke by the way. No point hiding it now.” Scott took the cigarette and took a slow drag before handing it back to him. “Zach hates me smoking inside.”

“Is that why you started running?” Chris smirked.

“Running’s healthy. It’s all about balance.” Scott observed his brother for a moment. “What’s going on? You’ve been quiet all day. You’ve only had, what, three beers? That’s not like you.”

Chris shrugged unconvincingly, avoiding eye contact before his phone buzzed again. He quickly dove into his pocket to grab it but shifted uncomfortably when he saw who it was.

“Somebody’s keen.” Scott didn’t need to ask to know who it was. He could read his brother like a book. “Can’t believe she hasn’t got the message by now.” Scott continued to eye him, unsure of what was going through his head. “That’s not what’s got you down, is it? There’s nothing going on, is there?”

Chris glanced at his brother and shook his head. He knew he’d been caught out and at this point he was too tired to deny it. “I still haven’t heard from Sarah. I’ve tried apologising and it’s like she’s just ghosting me or something.”

“Stop being melodramatic. She lives with your sister. She’s not “ghosting” you, you dick.” His attempt to lighten the mood between them fell flat and he realised humour was going to be wasted on Chris this evening. “She’s got a lot on her plate right now, what with Charlotte and work and everything. Just give her a break, OK? It’s a tricky think she’s trying to navigate here.”

“I don’t know about that.” He shook his head slowly, crushing the cigarette under his shoe. “I said she was being ungrateful.”

Scott sighed. “Well, that’ll explain it. Hey, remember when Shan was a teenager and she got all those letters out of the blue?” Chris nodded at the distant memory. “I think the one thing we need to keep in mind here, with Sarah, is that she chose to reach back. She’s doing things her way and no one is forcing her. That’s gotta be a positive, right?”

*

Sarah felt like an idiot. She had no one to blame but herself. She couldn’t even lean on Shanna for support right now and she didn’t want to disturb Audrey at this hour if she was mid-celebration with Michael. She threw her coat on the stand and stood in the hallway of her apartment, bag swinging low. She kicked off her shoes and took off her tights to feel the coolness of the floor on the soles of her feet. It was a small comfort. The text message was still showing on her phone that was grasped in her hand as if she hadn’t been staring at it for the past three hours.

Charlotte 7.52pm

I’m so sorry. I thought I could do this. Please forgive me.

Sarah had decided to arrive at the venue a little earlier than they’d agreed to meet. She didn’t know what she was planning on doing by deciding that but she just knew she couldn’t sit around the flat any longer, her stomach was tied in knots. She hadn’t eaten much of anything that day but claimed she was saving herself for the extensive catering Chris would no doubt have laid on now that his guest list had multiplied.

She had spent some time getting ready with Shanna and Lisa but left her hair and make-up quite simple figuring she could add to it on the way to the party later on. She didn’t want to make an unfair first impression on Charlotte. She knew she didn’t want to look like she was a party girl but equally so, she didn’t want to appear to have given too much thought to what she was wearing to meet her in the first place. She wanted to remain as casual as possible which was some kind of weird irony given what was taking place.

She managed to make a relatively quiet exit as Lisa was helping zip up the back of Shanna’s jumpsuit telling them she’d be there as soon as she could. They didn’t ask her any questions. She just left and got into the cab that was waiting for her around the corner. A little under fifteen minutes later, she was outside the bar, trying to regulate her breathing. Maybe Charlotte was already inside? Maybe she had had the exact same thought and was having one for courage before they met? That thought made her laugh a little. She opened the door and gave her name to the rep who proceeded to show her to a nice booth in the far corner. Charlotte hadn’t arrived after all but Sarah had a clear eye on the door, as much good as it did her.

She poured herself another glass and wiped at the tears in her eyes. She couldn’t believe she had been reduced to crying over someone she had never met. She couldn’t believe she had allowed herself to assume everything would work out despite evidence to the contrary.

Everyone was right. She was a fool.

She heard the door go but couldn’t face seeing Shanna. She swiped at her face as much as she could, trying to remove any and all hints of her crying. Shanna told her once she was jealous of how she could cry without her skin getting all red and blotchy.

She clocked the time and realised it was perhaps a little too early for her to be coming home unless Scott had shoved her into a taxi, which wouldn’t have surprised her. Loud music and a free bar were Shan’s undoing. She composed herself and waiting for Shanna to appear in the doorway, worse for wear, but everything had gone silent. Sarah got up and walked out of the kitchen, not sure what to expect but certainly not expecting to find Chris stood with his back against the foot, keys dangling between his fingers. He seemed smaller somehow.

His expression briefly turned towards guilt when he noticed she had been crying. He made a move towards her before ultimately deciding against it, preferring to remain still in her hallway. He looked awkward which was a feat in itself for someone who always seemed so...cool, she thought. It didn’t last long, though, a steeliness soon returning to his eyes.

“Hey,” said Sarah diffusing the silence. She suddenly became hyper-aware she was in the Chanel dress he’d given her to wear for his birthday party, the party she should have been at hours ago but instead chose to blow off carelessly in favour of meeting somebody who really shouldn’t have mattered. Shit, she thought. She was a terrible friend. “I’m so sorry, Chris. I really don’t know wh-”

“-You know, I could have done with seeing you there, Sarah. It’s been a fucking terrible day, I’ve had my team hounding me over this Jenny bullshit and having my friends around me would have made all the difference.”

“I just,” she wasn’t sure where to go from here. He’d become so cold in the last few moments. She wasn’t really expecting it but knew she’d pushed her luck a little too much this evening. “I had something I needed to do first, and-”

“I don’t ask for much from my family but the one thing I do expect is that they turn up when they say they’re gonna turn up. You understand me? It’s my fuckin’ birthday after all and you couldn’t even manage that.” He moved past her, ignoring the tears now burning at the corners of her eyes.

“Alright Chris, you’ve made your point.” she whispered. The room felt too small and Chris looked like he’d grown a foot out of pure frustration. She just wanted to go to bed and forget this day ever happened or at least get Chris to leave so she could feel pathetic in peace.

She could detect a faint small of tobacco coming from his breath now he was standing closer to her. “What was so important that you couldn’t make it? Must have been amazing to blow us off like that and please don’t tell me it was Greg. I didn’t think you of all people would sack family off for some fuck you’re ambivalent about at best.”

She felt like a scolded child. Actually, no, it felt worse than that. It felt like he was picking at her, trying to get some kind of reaction out of her but what that reaction was, she didn’t know. She took a breath and calmed herself. Her hands were shaking. She was pretty sure he noticed now.

“It wasn’t like that,” she said, as calmly as possible. “I’ve said I’m sorry, Chris. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, OK? Your family and friends were there and I was planning on dropping by.” She pleaded, her tone striving to be a little more even. She figured if she tried reasoning with him instead of pushing back it might allow them both to get out of this unscathed but he just scoffed.

“Dropping by? Well, gee, thank you for making me an afterthought, Sarah. I really appreciate that.”

“It’s not just you that’s had a crap night, OK?” She shouted before reigning herself in. She really didn’t want to fall out with him on top of everything else. “We all have shit to deal with. At least people turned up to see you. They care about you. They didn’t just leave you hanging around, wondering what you’d done wrong.”

Chris looked confused. He signed and placed his hands on his hips, unsure of what his next move would be. “What’s going on?”

She could feel herself tearing up again, her face getting hotter by the second. She hated crying in front of people and it invariably gave her a headache, one she’d most likely fail to overcome before bedtime. “I arranged to meet her this evening. I didn’t want to say anything to anyone until I’d seen her at least once but, um, she didn’t show.”

For once, Chris didn’t have any answers. If he had been thoughtful instead of the selfish asshole he recognised himself to be, he would have known to have shut his goddamn mouth. “Fuck, Sarah. I...I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry.” He took another step closer to her but she made no effort to react towards him. “You don’t deserve this.”

Sarah audibly scoffed. “Well, that’s a maybe. But hey, look, happy birthday! Looks like you were right all along! I’ll make sure to wrap it next time.”

“If I’d have known what you’ve been through today, I would have shut my mouth. You’re one of my best friends and I was just thinking of myself, like always.” He leaned against the doorframe and Sarah recognised how pathetic they both looked in that second.

“What kind of person do you have to be to reject someone twice?” Sarah whispered to herself more than anything. She gently banged her head against the doorframe in thought. She wasn’t looking for a response.

Silence passed between them for what felt like hours. They were good at being quiet around each other, neither feeling the need to dispel energy and not caring what the other was doing but this didn’t feel like those times before. She glanced across the doorway at him but didn’t recognise what was looking back at her so intently. He looked like he’d been suspended in motion and if it wasn’t for her tapping her foot on the wall behind her, she would have thought she had, too. Everything just seemed a little fuzzy now and there was a headache threatening her from behind her eyes.

Before she could move again, Chris had crossed what little space there was between them and went for her, his hands grabbing her face and pulling her into him. It was messy at first, their lips slightly out of line with each other and she couldn’t think, she couldn’t breathe. He’d taken the breath straight from her, it felt like. The only thing she could do in that moment was to grab back at his hands that were holding her face but she didn’t feel like pulling them away. Not just yet. For the first time, she had some power over what was happening to her. She was tired of being a good person, being vulnerable for others to use whenever they felt like.

She felt his lips slowly move across hers, calmer now, while she stayed almost still in his grasp. She felt one hand leave her face and reappear on her lower back and he pulled her in to bring her closer. They must have occupied less than a square foot of space stood like this. Everything was silent apart from what Sarah assumed was her heart beating or perhaps that was his? She couldn’t separate them at this point, a perfect fit soon only disturbed by the shrill buzz from someone’s phone in their nearby vicinity.

“Fuck!” Chris whisper-shouted pulling away from her, biting his bottom lip. Sarah scrabbled around to find her bag in the hallway before signing when she saw who it was. She took a breath so as not to give the game away.

“Shan? No, it’s fine, honestly.” Chris could only hear one side of the conversation as she spoke on the phone but could instantly tell from Sarah’s inability to get a sentence out that Shanna was drunk and giving her the third degree. He wanted to grab the phone and smash it against the wall. “No, it’s no problem. Don’t worry, OK? Yes. Yes, I’ll see you in a bit. Alright. Bye, lovely.”

Sarah had turned away from Chris at this point and looked down at the phone in front of her. She pursed her lips, embarrassed that she could still feel him on her. She thought she might have been imagining things but that was definitely his hand gently touching her on her hip where he’d held her just moments ago. She turned around to face him but one look into his blue eyes and she felt like she was going to collapse on the floor. She was pretty sure he could feel her shaking but he kept his grip on her, trying to work out what she was thinking. She just shook her head slowly and in confusion at what transpired and walked out of the kitchen, down the hall to the bathroom hoping to get some privacy and some cold water on her face.

She didn’t get very far. Chris followed her and grabbed her wrist, swinging her back towards him until she crashed against him again, unsteady on her feet. There was no time to think before his lips were on hers again, harder than they were before. He had his arms around her waist and started walking her backwards towards...something, she couldn’t register what. 

She briefly resisted his movements but after a few steps or so he made do with the wall next to her bedroom doorway. He pressed her hards against it, his hands now back cupping her face. She could feel how hard he had become with the way he pushed his crotch into her in an attempt to keep her still against him. She knew she didn’t want to break away again, she was tired of fighting and was ready to let it just wash over her. She grabbed at his sweater with both fists and moaned into his kiss.

She shoved him until he felt his back meet the opposite wall. The groan that left him was nothing short of filthy and something inside her snapped when she felt his hands fist in her hair while the other slipped down to grip her ass. She felt him pull up the hem of her dress, his fingers gently skimming the back of her thighs. He grabbed at her just underneath her ass and pulled her against him harder than before until they lost their balance and she ended up on top of him as he slid down the wall and hit the hard wood floor beneath them. They’d have bruises tomorrow but they didn’t care.

He desperately grabbed at the hem of her dress again, this time to feel her soft skin between her thighs. Her skin was so smooth and not to the touch, he couldn’t bear it. She felt like she was on fire. He managed to pull her panties to one side but she felt them rip as she furiously gripped at the belt on his trousers. He worked out pretty quickly what she was trying to do and took over for them both to release himself as quickly as possible. In one move he placed her where he wanted her. He heard her sharp intake of breath and looked up just in time to see the look of pleasure on her face as he entered her, perhaps harder than he had intended to but she didn’t seem to mind.

Her eyes closed. He could see the blush covering her skin and her neck and he reached out to pull her face back to him as he motioned for her to move on top of him. He filled her, thrusting into her as much as he could from this angle and briefly regretted not keeping them up against the wall. He knew it would be over in a matter of seconds at this rate. They were both struggling to feel something. Make something of this godawful day.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the way she was moving. He felt her wavering slightly as he quickly approached his own release, her eyes open now and looking down at him. Their staggered breaths were the only sound filling the space. He was so close and he knew she would be too but he couldn’t ignore the look of fear growing apparent on her face. The glazed look in his eyes felt like electricity coursing through her veins. She didn’t know it could feel as exciting as it did to be encouraged along by him like this, his hands firm on her hips, gliding her up and down, keeping him firmly inside her. She had to look away and she began to move faster, slightly out of rhythm now, scraping her knees against the floor on either side of him, pain that only served to heighten the pleasure.

She could feel him throbbing inside her as his legs began to shake and his breathing quickened. The sound of them both hitting the floor over and over again only served to push her on even more against her better judgement. It was too late to stop now. They would just have to deal with the consequences another time.

He tried to hold off from his own orgasm for as long as possible. He wanted more than anything to see her hit her peak as he held her hips tighter and moved her so she could take him harder. One of her hands pushed back against the wall behind him in order to find purchase and it was this move that ultimately caused them both to hit the point of no return.

He didn’t know who came first but it didn’t matter. After a few moments, their breathing started to even out, their skin showing that unmistakable sheen of sweat that only sex could give. Without thinking, he wrapped one arm around her waist and stroked the strands of hair out of her face. He wanted her to look at him as she continued to get her breathing under control but her eyes were too tightly shut. He look scuffed up from their actions and his pupils were blown wide open. She couldn’t even imagine the state she was in. If he could have found a little strength to speak in that moment, he would have told her she was more beautiful than he’d ever seen her look before. Perhaps wisely, he decided to save that for another time.

Oh fuck.

Sarah’s brain went into overdrive as she gradually came back to reality. Chris was trying to figure out what was going through her mind as he felt her slip off him and shuffle herself to the side, pulling the hem of her dress down in a rather redundant effort to protect her modesty. Her underwear was left wrapped around one ankle as she tried to move onto her knees to stand up. She wiped at her mouth with the side of her hand and in that moment, he thought she might start crying again.

“Fuck.” She rubbed her face with her hands. He didn’t think she meant for him to hear that. It was the last thing he thought he would hear her say. He made a grab for her hand but she avoided his grasp as she stood and, on shaky legs, walked back into the kitchen leaving him ruined on the floor against the wall, shaken in more ways than one.

She couldn’t register her surrounding. She felt like she was about to throw up. How could this have happened? How could she be so stupid?

She held herself as she contemplated all the things she would need to say to him to try and make this better. No words made sense in her mind and those that did, she could barely string together to form coherent sentences. She heard Chris enter the room behind her but he stopped just inside of the doorway seemingly as unable to speak as much as she was. This was bad, she thought. So fucking bad. She felt embarrassed when she eventually clocked his messed-up hair. He looked dazed by the whole thing. No doubt his back would be bearing the brunt of their heavy mistake.

she finally reached his eyes and was met with a shy smile and a look she didn’t quite recognise. Was it pity? Concern? Regret? All of the above most probably, she couldn’t quite tell.

“Sarah,” he whispered, swallowing. “I’m....” He took a couple of steps forwards, holding his hand out to reach her, offering what he thought would be some kind of solace.

“I think you need to get back to your party,” She said calmly, deflecting the situation, tears forming in her eyes.

“Sarah, please, I don’t want...”

“People are going to be wondered where you are, Chris. You should go.”

Chris tried to focus on her face in an attempt to find something there other than the shame she was failing to hide. He wished he could get to her but the space she was putting between them felt wider than the kitchen they were stuck in. Resigned, he bowed his head slowly and turned to leave half expecting, or possibly wanting, her to stop him.

*

[josiebelladonna]

i don’t know what i did in a past life to warrant my fellow woman utterly despising me for no reason.

first of all... you’ve got the whole thing with daveigh and then temple. two women who have it out for me but never came right out and said it, and then accused me of being a bully when the former was the one who shut me out for no reason and the latter lied right to my face and stabbed me in the back. i literally did nothing to warrant their horrible attitudes. daveigh didn’t like me from the beginning for absolutely no reason but she never came right out and said it.. i’m guessing for fear of reprisal.

there are women on instagram right now who are giving me shit because i wrote an innocuous comment on chris’ ig: a few of them even went onto my account to trash my art a couple of weeks ago (and yes, they were women, i checked).

speaking of women on instagram, i got kind of a rude message from someone of that same collective calling me a slut for drawing boys and that i should get off of joey’s dick.

allthingssoundgarden on instagram (oh my GOD, allthingssoundgarden). matt’s an idiot for following her. she’s another one who inexplicably didn’t like me because i wanted to be her friend back in 2016. she treated me like i was beneath her, like i had no right to be chatty and friendly with her.

back in 2018, literally right after when i came off my hiatus, i don’t remember specifically what i said but i said something to vicky cornell, like “stop trying to find conflict where there is none” or something like that (it was when the wheels were starting to fall off, and when logic was being seen as a threat) and she messaged me this huge lecture about staying out of shit and being quiet, just totally catty towards me when i was trying to be reasonable. look, you raise your voice in a public place you make it other people’s business whether you want to or not. i don’t make the rules.

i got kicked out of a women’s group last week because someone in there wanted to get to know me better, and so i started talking about my interests and things i like... and then i came back online literally the next day to find i had been kicked out. no explanation, no reasoning, nothing, and it wasn’t like i listed off totally offensive things, either. apparently you can get kicked out of facebook groups for being a cartoonist.

speaking of facebook groups, i left a jack white group of all places back around election day because a blonde trumpette got on my case because i said i was sick of people coming into groups and making everything political or saying things that have nothing to do with it. no joke: this chick was literally screaming at me because someone made a joke or something, i seriously have no idea. i even told her to calm down.

in 2015, i got kicked out of a type o negative group for posting a drawing of peter. and yes, the admin of that group was a woman. why? i still don’t know.

back in 2014, i’ve had two women suggest (behind my back to someone i thought was a friend, mind you) that i should be in an asylum for my obsession with music and my history of depression and anorexia: one of them called me “unstable” when she’s never met me and probably wouldn’t know instability if it hit her in the head with an ax.

in high school: my worst bullies? the ones who made me feel ugly and awful for myself because i was a scrawny field hockey player with a potty mouth and a love for art and science? aside from the psycho in fifth grade who wanted to sexually assault me, girls.

my worst teacher? aside from the dick who taught honors biology in sophomore year, a woman thrown in at the last minute to teach calculus. went way too fast and just assumed way too much. i’ll also mention my chemistry teacher in junior year of high school who had the same problem: too much assumption, especially for a class that started first thing in the morning.

my first sis-in-law hated me, such that she had the nerve to ask me if i had sex yet at the age of 18 and also judged me for having split ends (my hair is naturally coarse, of course it has split ends). meanwhile, my current sis-in-law doesn’t know what to do with me.

the most vile, utterly despicable messages i’ve gotten on here came from female users.

the users who have blocked me following the whole daveigh/temple bullshit are all girls.

the users who have made me feel ugly and horrible about myself were all girls.

there’s a reason i don’t show my face too much: a couple of reasons actually. the first is i want you all to focus on my work, my art and my writing. i’ll share what i look like every now and again, but it’s more to document how i feel about myself, not so much “hey, look at me.” the second is i’ve had women come up to me and tell me what i should be doing to my face (like wear make up). i don’t wear make up out of both choice and it irritates my skin; even the organic stuff makes me itchy. it’s out of disillusionment: the feeling that my artistry, as much as it makes everything worthwhile, distances me from my gender, like there’s this assumption that “oh. you’re a female artist. i guess you want to be all pretentious with us” which isn’t even remotely true. it’s kind of like how sia hides her face out of disillusionment with fame, except you won’t be seeing me with a big fat bow on my head or being ableist any time soon.

i don’t know if you guys have seen it or not, but there’s this meme going around right now taken from the show good omens that talks about loving one another in response to a tweet talking about how jesus was vilified for telling everyone to love one another. not saying i feel like jesus, because i’ve never actually come out and said “love one another”, but i’ve simultaneously never torn down someone. sure, i’ve definitely ranted about things, but when you’ve been through a lot and you feel like no one’s listening, you’re going to have a bit of a bite to your words. and it’s all for the best, too: it’s never mean-spirited with me. i’ve never hurt a living soul, especially one that identified as female.

i’ll just come out and say it: i have a masculine personality. i’m a woman with a jock personality. i’m mouthy and i’m a tomboy. but i won’t say those things at the expense of my own gender, though. i know i can exist without feeling the need to tear down more feminine women because goddammit, i need you. i won’t be like daveigh and say “real women build each other up” (because she’s one to talk about building each other up), but i will be like the butcher babies and say “real women support each other because a real woman knows that we’re all we’ve got.”

we’re all that we’ve got, so stop trying to find conflict where there is none especially when you haven’t met me and you only know the bare minimum about me. and no amount of politics, rushed education, or gender stereotypes is going to make you more right. nor is it going to make you more wrong about me. whatever your opinion is about me, i’ll take it into account.

[redhairedwolfwitch]

Shocking Confessions - In a Flash of Electrcity Part 2 - Titans x Fem!West!Reader x Donna Troy - SPOILERS 2x13 - FIX-IT FIC

Omg can you do a continuation of this?! Like the reader colapses suddenly bc her power overwelmed her and donna being super worried sick about her and when the reader wakes up everybody is revield but donna fights with her about why she did it and then the reader confesses her feelings?! 

The bolded prompts are from @creativepromptsforwriting​

“Wally?” The words barely left your mouth as you tried to stand up, wobbling like a newborn fawn before your eyes slammed shut as they rolled back into your head, body collapsing into your brother’s arms as lightning ran through your veins. “Seems like all she needed was a jump start.” Wally mumbled to himself before looking up into the eyes of his best friend, Dick Grayson.

“I’ll meet you guys at Titans Tower.” Wally announced, standing up with you in his arms.

“Kid Flash! Wally, wait-” Dick began to call but Wally had already zipped away.

“What just happened?” Kori asked causing everyone to look at each other, Dick helping Donna up as she stirred.

“I could ask the same thing...”

///

“What happened exactly?” Hank asked as everyone returned to the tower, you were lying in your bed, hooked up to machines that were watching your heartrate blip out but Wally wasn’t worried by this.

“I’m guessing a jump-start of her powers by getting electrocuted...that plus the electricity was conducted to her through Donna... electricity plus Themysciran DNA may have altered her genetically...” Wally began but a whoosh cut him off.

“That plus her DNA was already altered the night you two replicated how I got my powers...” Barry finished causing Wally to sigh.

“You’re still mad about that?” “I’m mad at myself for leaving the notes where the two of you could find them.” 

“Can we please focus? Is Y/n going to be okay?” Dawn asked causing Wally and Barry to stop their talk to the past.

“Her body is just adjusting to the speed-force, it took me months to wake up, so I don’t know when-” Barry began but your eyes opening with lightning vaguely crackling around your eyes gain everyone’s attention.

“That was quick... didn’t even get the chance to play Poker Face...” Barry mumbled to himself, stepping forward to check your vitals.

“You could say she woke up in a flash.” Wally joked before getting serious and helping. 

At this point Donna had only just managed to stop pacing up and down, Dawn giving her a worried look as Dick raised an eyebrow.

“Y/n? Sis?” Wally whispered, noticing how you were rubbing your eyes before your hand began to vibrate. “That’s new... how am I alive right now?” You asked causing Dick to answer.

“The experiment that gave Wally his powers plus the electricity mixed with Donna’s Themysciran DNA.”

“Huh... wait... Donna! Is she, are you okay?” You panicked causing Donna to glare.

“Am I okay? You’re the one who grabbed onto me and almost died, why would you do that!” Donna exclaimed causing you to give her a look of sadness and offense at the same time.

“I couldn’t watch you die.” You admitted causing Donna to grit her teeth

“You should have closed your eyes.” Donna retorted causing the rest of the titans to give her a wtf look.

“if you think closing my eyes would have stopped feeling the pain and grief of losing someone I care about then you are hugely mistaken!” You growled, flinching as your voice vibrated slightly at super-speed making it warp.

“I’m mistaken? You were mistaken in thinking that electricity wouldn’t have killed you!” Donna retorted causing Dawn to open her mouth to tell you two to stop but that didn’t happen as Rachel began to lead people out of the room so it would just be you and Donna. It was like Rachel knew what was going to happen.

“Did you think for one moment that it wouldn’t have killed you too? I can’t lose you Donna... I love you... I’ve been in love with you since we met... back when Wally just got his powers and I was being taught hand to hand combat by Black Canary... Dinah knew from our first interaction...��� You admitted, fingers playing with the fraying hem of your t-shirt.

Donna’s eyes widened before they softened in realisation, a sigh escaped her lips before she replied. “Diana noticed my behaviour changed around you, it was different to Garth... apparently I was softer with you, more human. She liked that about you. It’s why she convinced the others to let you stay even when you didn’t develop super-speed like Wally...”

You were quiet throughout this, tears prickling at your eyes in fear before the bed sank down slightly as Donna sat on the edge of it, fingers going under your chin to gently nudge your head up so you’d look her in the eye.

“I love you too.” Donna whispered before she leaned in to kiss you. Your lips met hers with a smile before a gentle electric shock ran through the two of you, like the two of you were meant to be.

“But don’t you dare do anything that stupid ever again, okay?” Donna stated, tears gently dripping down her cheeks as her hands cupped yours.

“Only if you don’t either.” You replied, reaching up to wipe away her tears as yours began to fall.

///

“Finally... I thought they’d never get together...” Wally mumbled under his breath causing Dawn to tut.

“They’re a cute couple.”

“I think we all agree on that...” Rachel stated with a smile.

[jeontaeh]

TWENTY ONE²¹

✫  ✬  ✭  ✬  ✫

"Hey Jimin." Namjoon said, entering the dining room. "Guess what?"

"Ooh-" Jimin started, and then closed his eyes, deep in thought. "Umm... let's see... you-"

"No I'm not actually asking you to guess, Jimin." Namjoon snapped, and Jimin sighed to himself.

"Ugh, my mind... Intellectuals only." Jimin said, and Namjoon gave him a confused look.

"Where's everyone else? I wanna say something to everyone." Namjoon said, and then Jin walked into the room, along with Yoongi.

"All I'm saying is, if god didn't want us to eat meat, then why'd he make it taste so fucking good?"

"Jin that's the most controversial thing I've ever heard anyone say." Yoongi scoffed, and Jin rolled his eyes. "Stay hungry vegan bitch."

"I'm not even vegan!" Yoongi snapped, and then Hoseok walked into the room.

"Guys it smells like a hat in here."

"What the fuck does a hat smell like?"

"A hat."

"And that's why I think-" Jungkook started, walking into the dining room with Taehyung. "-that being a furry is not only sustainable for the environment but also the economy."

There was a silence, and Jungkook turned and looked at the others. "Oh hey guys what's up?"

Namjoon just shock his head. "I hate all of you."

"Wig." Jimin said, propping his feet onto the table in front of him.

"Jimin stop talking like that please."

"Sister snapped!"

"Jimin stop! You're being annoying."

"That's the tea sis!"

"Shut up!" Namjoon snapped, and then everyone looked at him. "There's something serious going on, I need all of you to use the 12 collective brain cells you all have and listen to me for once."

"That would mean all six of us have.." Jungkook started, and then looked away, mumbling something to himself, doing the math in his head- "2 brain cells."

"The intelligence jumped out." Jimin said, and Jungkook pouted. Taehyung sat down beside Jungkook and pinched his waist.

"What's wrong Joonie?" Jin asked, and Namjoon gulped. "Okay, you know the small black cameras all around the ship? Well the one in the engineering room fell out so I was looking into it because I was bored-"

"You were bored so you decided to look at machines? Fuckin' nerd."

"Shut up Yoongi at least he doesn't perform foreplay in his Hello Kitty fursuit in his free time." Jin snapped, and Yoongi scoffed in offense, Hoseok letting out a laugh.

"Anyways so I looked into it- and there was a chip in it. There's this machine in the engineering room I put the chip into, and it generated the code. If I'm not wrong.. the code had the first two numericals the same as the one in our planet. And I know every planet has different codes.. now these chips- they're like trackers. The cameras are connected to other devices in other plan-"

"Literally have no clue what you're talking about." Taehyung said, and Namjoon groaned.

"Someone's watching us!" Namjoon snapped, and everyone's eyes widened. "The people from our university, they can see us through the cameras."

"Wait a minute- so this whole time they could see us and know where we are- but never tried to contact us or help us??" Hoseok said, and Namjoon nodded.

"Yes. This literally proves my theory. They put us here on purpose and want us to die. How do we know if the map they gave us in the beginning was even correct?" Namjoon said, and Jimin bit his lip.

"Shit, Joon. Didn't you say we were running out of fuel too?" Jimin asked, and Namjoon nodded, looking down.

"What are we going to do? If we run out of fuel.. we'll get stranded on some planet in the middle of nowhere." Taehyung said, and Jungkook stood up, looking angrily at the camera on the wall.

"Help us you fucking assholes!" Jungkook snapped, and Taehyung instantly grabbed Jungkook and pulled him down.

"Kook, don't! They don't want us to become self aware! If we do, then they might do something. You don't know what they're capable of." Taehyung said, and Jungkook's eyes grew big in worry.

"Sorry." Jungkook said softly, and Namjoon put his hands up. "Don't worry too much, guys. I found something. There's this kind of liquidated metal in a planet closeby. That one's practically identical to the type of fuel this ship requires. We can use that! It doesn't last very long.. but it'll make do for a while."

"Namjoon you are so smart! We would literally die without you." Jin said, rushing forward and giving Namjoon a kiss on the cheek.

"Honestly, thouh." Yoongi said, seeing Namjoon blush. "We'd have to make Jimin the leader or some shit."

Jimin stuck his tongue out at Yoongi, and then Namjoon spoke up. "Jungkook, Taehyung, did you guys learn about Requiry Embezzling Missions?"

Jungkook nodded, and Taehyung scoffed. "Yes. We all know it's fancy for 'stealing something from another planet that doesn't belong to us'."

"Yeah, basically. You guys will have to steal this metal liquid. It's kind of important to the aliens there, so don't take too much of it." Namjoon said, and Jungkook and Taehyung nodded.

Everyone got up and walked out of the room, talking within themselves, and Jungkook looked at Taehyung, eyes shining.

"This is exciting." Jungkook said, and Taehyung smiled as well. "It is." Taehyung said, but then his smile faltered a bit.

"You.. should let me take the lead for this one. I've learned more about it." Taehyung said, and Jungkook nodded. "Okay."

"Let's get out of here." Taehyung said, and they both got up and walked out of the dining room.

✭

"Namjoon.." Taehyung said, seeing the older purple haired boy standing in the control room, looking outside.

"Hey Tae. What's up?" Namjoon said, giving him a warm smile, beckoning him to come stand with him.

Taehyung walked up to him, rubbing his hands together in a somewhat nervous and hesitant manner. "A-are you sure me and Jungkook should be doing this?"

"Do you mean the stealing thing? I know it's bad- but as far as I've checked, it seems as if they have loads and loads of it, so-"

"No no, not that." Taehyung said, and then looked at Namjoon wearily. "I mean.. the whole mission thing. You know about the whole stupid chocolate death thing." Taehyung said, and Namjoon frowned in realization. "I don't want to hurt him."

"I know you don't. I'm sure nothing will happen, Tae. I'm certain what you looked into was past history, possibly a myth conjured to fool hopeless people. It's been done in the past." Namjoon chuckled, and Taehyung sighed.

"I-I hope so." Taehyung mumbled, and Namjoon gave him a small smile.

"Tae!" Jungkook called, and Taehyung turned around and smiled a little. "I'm gonna go." Taehyung said, and Namjoon waved him off, and Taehyung walked out of the room.

Namjoon continued looking outside into space, and heard a voice. "You busy?"

Namjoon turned and saw Jin. "Ah, Jin! Come. I'm not busy." Namjoon said, and Jin walked up to him.

Jin looked at the miles and miles of the black void outside, twinkling stars and vibrant planets in the distance. "It's truly so beautiful. I could never get sick of it."

"Me too. Having been here so long, the fear of being in complete isolation is slowly wearing away." Namjoon said, and Jin looked at him.

"Do you think that's because you've been here so long, or because you have us with you?" Jin asked, and Namjoon smiled, looking at him.

"Both, I think." Namjoon said, and Jin walked behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist.

"You take up too much responsibility, Joon. You're the smartest here, but don't think you have to miraculously save all of us from this. It's a group effort, okay? You're not alone here." Jin said, and Namjoon sighed.

"I know. I tend to get a little overbearing on others and myself sometimes."

"I think you forget that you're also still a baby." Jin said, placing his chin on Namjoon's shoulder. Namjoon laughed.

"I'm only 2 years younger than you, Jin." Namjoon said, and Jin spun him around, looking at him closely.

"Still very young. I hope you're keeping your own wellbeing in consideration." Jin said softly, and Namjoon smiled.

"I am. Thank you." Namjoon said, and Jin hummed.

Jin leaned in a bit, and Namjoon did as well, and then they both heard a loud crash.

Both pulled away, and in worry, rushed out of the control room and saw Jungkook lying on the floor face first, groaning, while Jimin stood beside him, along with Taehyung.

"God, Jungkook- I told you you couldn't carry 5 chairs at once!" Jimin snapped, and Taehyung walked over to Jungkook and helped pick him up.

Jin burst out laughing and so did Namjoon, and they both walked up to Jimin and help him pick up five chairs.

Taehyung picked Jungkook up, and the boy groaned in pain, and Taehyung chuckled. "You're adorable."

"I'm not... I'm strong." Jungkook mumbled in a pout, and Taehyung looked at him with a smile.

"You are! You're strong and have many muscles, Cherry, but you're still adorable." Taehyung said, and Jungkook hit him on the chest.

Taehyung whacked him on the chest back, and Jungkook fell back, falling on the floor again, wincing. "Ow! W-why'd you hit me so hard?" Jungkook squeaked, and Taehyung's eyes widened.

"O-oh- shit- sorry Kook, I didn't mean to-" Taehyung said, and the other three boys, Jin Jimin Namjoon, turned and looked at them, looking worried.

Taehyung reached down and helped Jungkook to stand up again, and Jungkook rubbed at his chest where Taehyung hit him, and looked at Taehyung with angered eyes and a pout.

"Meanie." Jungkook said, and Taehyung sighed. "Sorry.. Jupiter males are just naturally stronger."

Jungkook nodded, and then leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Doesn't matter. I'm gonna go suit up." Jungkook said with a small smile, and then rushed off to his room.

"Is that true?" Jimin asked, and Taehyung turned around to look at them.

"No! We're not naturally stronger!" Taehyung said nervously, and then walked over to Jin and punched him.

"What the hell!" Jin snapped, and Taehyung looked at him. "Did that hurt badly?"

"Not really.." Jin said, and Taehyung sighed. "See! That's the amount of pressure I put on Jungkook, and he went flying back!" Taehyung said, and then looked at Namjoon.

"Joon, this can't be a coincidence. Why is it when I touch him with a little pressure he gets hurt?" Taehyung said weakly, and Namjoon gulped.

"Don't- don't worry, Tae! It'll be fine. I'm sure he's just weaker right now because of the whole medicine and brownie and ass fucking thing." Namjoon blabbered, and then Taehyung sighed to himself, rubbing his face.

"I hope so."

✭

Jungkook and Taehyung stood behind a large tree with red leaves, standing on black sand, big birds flying overhead. The sky was reddish, and they were in another planet. The planet with the metal liquid they needed. They were in a forest.

"Where is it located?" Jungkook asked, and Taehyung gestured ahead. "Where that alien guy is sitting. Behind him lies a stream of the metal liquid. We need to get enough of it in this barrel." Taehyung said, pointing to the barrel Jungkook was holding.

A little far away, past many trees, was a slap of cobblestone, where there was a man sitting in yellow clothes, sitting criss cross with his eyes closed.

"He's meditating, Tae." Jungkook said.

"He's died."

"Jimin shut up." Taehyung whisper-snapped, both boys touching their earpiece. Jimin was back on the ship, monitoring the two.

"Okay c'mon, we just need to go forward and get it while he can't hear us-" Jungkook started, and Taehyung gripped his arm.

"No, you stay here. I'll go get it." Taehyung said, and Jungkook frowned.

"What? No- Tae, c'mon. I'm going too." Jungkook said, and Taehyung looked at him.

"Kook, I want you to stay here and be on the lookout."

"Isn't that what I'm here for?" Jimin said in their earpieces, and Jungkook snickered. "Exactly. Stop worrying, Tae. Let's do this."

Taehyung sighed. "Fine, whatever. Let's see if anything wakes him up." Taehyung said, and then picked up a few stones in his hand. "Let's fling a couple of rocks at him-"

Jungkook picked up a boulder and threw it at the guy.

"Jungkook!" Taehyung snapped, and both saw the rock go past him, not hitting him, but not waking him either. "Not that big a rock, you dumbass!"

"Sorry." Jungkook giggled, and then grabbed pebbles. Taehyung and him began flicking them at the guy, and one of them went and landed on his bald head.

Both started giggling when he didn't wake up, and Jungkook threw another rock, and it landed perfectly on his head again. They started giggling again. Taehyung threw a rock far and it landed on his head again, and now they both started wheezing, having to cover their mouths because they couldn't be loud.

"J-Jimin you see this?"

"Y'all are on crack. Stop fucking around, c'mon. Get this done." Jimin snapped through the earpiece, and then Taehyung cleared his throat and stopped laughing.

"I think we can go." Taehyung said, and Jungkook nodded. They both ran forward, not making any sound, and then reached in front of the meditating guy.

He was sitting in criss cross position, his skin white like chalk. Jungkook and Taehyung tiptoed past him, and then saw the metal liquid stream, colored in blue.

"Quick!" Jungkook said in a hushed voice, and they both reached the barrel down into the stream and let the blue liquid fill up the empty barrel.

"This reminds me of my ass that day."

"Jesus fucking Christ Jungkook, I'm right here." Jimin snapped, and Jungkook started laughing, and Taehyung glared at him to shut up.

They waited until the big barrel overflowed with the liquid, and then Taehyung put the lid on it, and they both tit toed out.

Taehyung rushed onto the black sand, and Jungkook jumped down too, and Taehyung reached his hand out. "Let's go." Taehyung said, grabbing Jungkook's hand.

Taehyung squeezed his hand tightly, so Jungkook winced and let out a loud sound of pain, pulling his hand back. "Ow!" Jungkook cried, and then they both heard a rustle.

Both turned around, and saw the white man's eyes open, fully black eyes.

"Fuck." Both boys said.

The man looked enraged, and then banged his fist on the ground beside him, and started shouting in some language.

"Dammit- let's r-" Taehyung started, and then they heard the trees rustling, and a bunch of these aliens started jumping out from the trees, looking angered, all chanting foreign words.

"Fuck!" Jungkook yelled, and they both started running.

"You idiots! Get to the position beside the yellow tree so Hoseok can beam you up!" Jimin snapped, and both kept running really fast.

Taehyung turned and saw at least 20 of these aliens chasing them, and him and Jungkook started yelling in fear, and felt their feet going immensely fast on the black sand, crunching on red leaves and feeling the aliens reach closer.

"Fuck fuck fuck- run faster!" Jungkook shouted, and Taehyung groaned, holding the barrel.

"I'm trying!" Taehyung snapped back, and they started running faster past the trees and forest, hearing the footsteps trampling behind them.

They saw the yellow tree and reached it, but then groaned when they saw more aliens coming from the other side, charging at them while holding spears. Fuck.

"Fucking- fuck! Jimin, hurry up!" Taehyung snapped, and Jungkook looked at him wearily, both stopping, both parties of running aliens catching up.

"I'm trying! It's taking some time!"

"Use your super strength, Tae!" Jungkook said fearfully, and Taehyung looked at him nervously. "I-I can't!"

Jungkook frowned, and then they saw the running people getting closer and closer.

"Jimin!" Taehyung yelled, and both heard Jimin groan in their earpiece. "It's done just 10 seconds-"

The spears started getting thrown at them, and Jungkook and Taehyung started dodging them like crazy. "Faster!" Jungkook snapped, and they could hear the panic in Jimin's voice.

"5.. 4... 3... 2... 1-"

One of the aliens threw a spear right at Jungkook.

And then they got teleported onto the ship.

Both panted heavily, on their hands and knees on the floor of the control room. Taehyung was sweating like mad, and dropped the barrel on the side, wiping his forehead. He turned to the side, and heard a gasp.

Jungkook got a spear stabbed in him.

✫  ✬  ✭  ✬  ✫

https://jeontaeh.tumblr.com/post/647228447446466560/twenty-two%C2%B2%C2%B2

[godofsunandselfies]

Kyrie considered herself a pacifist; or, at least, as close as a pacifist a demigod can be. If she could manage it, she would rather tackle confrontations with words and reason rather than bronze and violence. Papa called her a "sweetheart" because of this. Connor would often declare her to have "the patience of a saint". She supposed that they were correct. She was willing to play the long game; give more than enough chances and wait for her "opponent" to see the error of their ways and do the right thing.

But this time? With this asshole of a demigod (Could he even be considered as a demigod? Likely not, considering how watered down his blood ties to Papa were.), she had no patience. There were no chances. This time she wanted this boy to hurt.

"You alright there, Kyrie?"

She blinked. Drawn out from her cloud of violence, she turned to face one of her younger brothers - Michael. He looked at her expectantly. Oh dear, had he been talking to her the entire time? She didn't hear a thing.

She gave him a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry, did you say something? I didn't quite catch it."

Thankfully he didn't seem upset. Rather he looked amused. Michael looked so much like Dad, dark hair and all - especially when he smiled. She, on the other hand, looked more like Papa; inheriting his golden hair and bright brown eyes. The only physical connection she had with their dad were her heightened senses and her fangs... and her unfortunate diet.

"You didn't miss much. I was just going on and on about how much of a brat that Octavian kid's been since Dad managed to get those Roman kids to stand down."

At the mention of Camp Jupiter's auger (A title he clearly did not deserve.), a scowl marred her otherwise perpetually serene expression. The sight of it triggered a particularly loud guffaw from her brother.

"I knew it!" He chortled. "I knew I wasn't seeing things. You" - pointed a finger inches away from her slowly reddening face - "Miss 'I-Don't-Get-Angry-At-All', were practically burning Octavian alive with your glare."

"Oh shush," she gently swatted at his finger. "Don't be so loud. Someone could hear you!"

In between chuckles, Michael gestured around them with wide arms. "Who? There's no one in the infirmary, Kyrie. It's just us."

Indeed, Camp Half-Blood's infirmary was devoid of its usual hustle and bustle of injured demigods and rushing healers. A rarity - a miracle, really. But it was to be expected. Ever since that heart thumping-ly tense standoff between Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood about few days ago, no one had the stomach to hold any war games. Not with that tension - this precarious peace between the camps - near smothering the air. As Head Healer, Kyrie should be relishing this rare moment of peace. But she couldn't. Not when the events of last night played back in her head like a movie of spite. Her hands itched for action - and it was not a nice action she wished to commit. (Idly she wondered if this was how Connor often felt. This restlessness... This urge to lash out. It was terrible. How on Olympus does he manage?)

"So what did Octavian do that's got you so riled up, sis? " Michael leaned back against his chair, pushing so far that the rickety piece of furniture balanced precariously at an angle as he stretched himself out to his full height. He was always so lazy, she thought. So very much like a tomcat, sunning the hours away every day.

She huffed and shot him a look. "Why are you even asking? You clearly know."

He did - she could see it in how he wrinkled his nose as his mind played back the same anger-kindling film of last night. It had been dinner and, as always, everyone in camp had gathered at the Dining Pavilion to eat and socialize and just enjoy the last hours of a day before having to tuck in and begin anew. Only this time, an invitation had been extended to the Roman demigods to join them, rather than eat separately as they often did since the "peace" between them was made. A chance to bond and encourage peaceful relations. It was an idea that she wholeheartedly encouraged.

But of course Octavian had to ruin it for her and her family.

That boy, he was - for a lack of better term, and to borrow some language from Kayla's book (Oh how she missed her and Austin, and Dantes, and most especially Damien. She hoped they were alright back on Olympus. And that Papa was alright too. Hopefully the peace they now had with Camp Jupiter, as shaky as it still was, eased up whatever that split was doing to him. Hopefully it enough for him to come home soon.) - a great big pile of dicks. Nothing but a scheming little weasel - but that comparison would be an offense to all weasels - who only wanted to start a war; who sought out violence that seemed more fitting in Ares himself than someone who had blood ties (Very, very weak blood ties.) to Papa. It was obvious that he was vexed that Camp Half-Blood was still standing; that Reyna had taken the diplomatic option rather than diving head first into carnage. He was petty - and he wanted that peace, this alliance, to crumble. So he sought out for any weaknesses - any chinks in the armor - in the person responsible.

Kyrie knew that the foundation of the alliance between the camps was partially marred by a trick... or at least a misunderstanding. Everyone in Camp Half-Blood knew that Dad, while married to a god and having been so for... well... forever, was not a god. That he wasn't entirely human either, and that was the reason for his immortality. But nobody else outside of camp knew that. Not even all of the Olympians knew that. Thus those of Camp Jupiter believed her Dad, and by association, herself and her siblings, were gods. And that belief played a great deal in getting them to stop and listen; it was what discouraged them from toeing the line that was drawn in her Dad and Reyna's agreement.

But last night, it was like Octavian knew. (Which should be impossible. How could he have known? No one in camp would let it slip But she supposed it could've happened. An accident.) He kept needling Dad with questions and thinly veiled accusations. Dad not eating was a reoccurring point. It reached a point where he forced her dad to actually eat the food that had been prepared for everyone.

Dad couldn't eat real food. Couldn't taste a thing. And when he did, it would just make him sick. He knew this. She and her siblings all knee this. But he did it anyway - just to prove Octavian wrong; to throw him off.

It worked. Clearly. But now Dad was at home, sick to his stomach. And it was all Octavian's fault.

It fucking pissed her off.

Kyrie preferred the peaceful way of handling confrontations. But no one messed with her family. No one. And she wanted Octavian to pay.

"Now there's a look that I've only ever seen once before," drawled Michael as he watched her quietly seeth in her seat; glaring down Octavian's thin figure in the distance.

She frowned. She knew what he meant. She was a pacifist, fairly docile, up until her family came in harms way. The last she'd felt like this - this itch in her skin to curl her fingers around Octavian's neck; this licking fire in her gut that boiled and boiled until she was practically shaking with furious heat - was during the last prophecy; during the Battle at Manhattan. When they lost Kori and Bennett... She didn't remember much of what happened during those battles. Only that she was angry. So so very angry. And that she made Kronos and his army pay for stealing away her siblings. She made them pay with blood.

"Thinking of getting some payback?"

She furrowed her brow. "It will damage the peace Dad made for everyone."

Disappointment huffed from her brother.

"But I do have an idea. Nothing too drastic."

A wide grin split across his face.

~~~~~~~

Kyrie knew she was different. Not just because of her nonviolent preferences, but of what she was capable of. When her abilities manifested, she had inherited a power that was... rare from her Papa's side. Much rarer than his future sight, and more deadly.

While few, there were plenty of horror stories of children of Apollo who inherited his powers over sickness. The children her Papa fathered way before he had met Dad and who possessed those abilities were seen as bad omens, and often were at the epicenter of sudden plagues and pandemics. Considered to be terrible people...

So when she had manifested that "gift", frankly she was terrified; she feared that her parents would shun her - maybe even run her out of camp entirely. It was a silly thing to think of, but she'd been seven and her imagination ran wild.

Papa put her fears to rest; told her that she was not a bad omen, and that he and Dad had a child before who also inherited the plague aspect, a son, and he had turned out fine. Since then, he made sure to train her how to properly control her powers - because that was what had went wrong with the plague children before; no control had doomed them and thousands of people.

But it was still a well guarded secret. No one outside of their family knew what she was capable of. She did not mind. She understood. Not everyone would be as accepting or kind to a person who could inflict the most terrible illnesses imaginable to them with but a single touch.

And she scarcely used her powers to begin with. Violence was not her thing after all. She only wanted to heal people; not will them to rot away. (And the irony of her position was not lost to her, or her family.)

But there are some exceptions that she was willing to make. Octavian was certainly one of them.

Kyrie waited by the side of her home - right in the space between home and Aunt Artemis's honorary cabin. Peeking out the corner, she saw Michael doing what they had planned. He walked alongside Octavian, subtly leading him to where she stood, keeping the "legacy"'s attention with questions about camp and withstanding whatever anti-Greek drivel the pale wraith of a boy spat out. (She would need to reward Michael well for putting himself through that. Even though he was the one who came up with it - no one deserves to withstand Octavian's presence any longer than they need to.)

As they drew closer, Michael eventually took his leave of Octavian, giving a well-acted wave before scampering off in the direction of the nearby archery field, leaving Octavian alone. When he finally drew close enough, Kyrie put her own acting chops through the test and stepped out in a faux hurried pace - looking all to the world like she had come rushing out of the house, head in the clouds about some errand.

She collided with Octavian; shoulder crashing against shoulder with a force that would've sent him to the floor had she not whipped her hands out and caught him by his arms.

The second her skin touched his, she sent out a pulse of power into him, inflicting illness upon his body.

"Nothing too terrible," she had told Michael as they schemed (What a word.) in the infirmary. "I want him to suffer in the same way he made Dad did. Not kill him, Mikey."

Her brother had scoffed. "I'm just saying, no one would be broken up about it if he did croak from some disease."

A part of her - the bit of her that was all fire and fury when her family came into harm - agreed with Michael, but she had her principles. She wanted to get even. That was all.

"Oh dear! I'm so sorry, Octavian," she cooed with false concern. "Are you alright?"

She made to fret over him, as she tended to do whenever her siblings and fellow campers were injured, but Octavian slapped her hand away.

"I am fine! No thanks to you," he sneered at her; gaze filled only with poison disdain. (How on earth this boy claimed relation to her family, she did not know. Perhaps another sick trick of the Fates.) "You should watch where you're going, you insipid little---"

He never got to finish as a blur of orange and black sped from his side and shoved him firmly to the ground.

Connor bore down; a look of honest to gods murder on his face. "Finish that sentence. I dare you."

Octavian went pale. (Quite the feat considering how pale he already was.) He scrambled to his feet and took off with a slight shriek. Anger at her having bumped into him long forgotten.

Connor relaxed and face her. His expression easing to open concern. "Are you okay, Kyrie?"

She beamed. "I am perfectly fine. Actually, I'm in a wonderful mood."

His lips twitched upwards - almost into a smile. "Something good happen today? "

"Mmhmm. And I just know that tomorrow will be even better!"

~~~~~~

The next day proved to be another lazy day in the infirmary, so she took the opportunity to lounge on the front porch of the Big House, just enjoying the chilled weather. Eventually the front door opened and the cabin councilors and the leaders of Camp Jupiter's - what did they call it? "Cohorts"? - spilled out; some still muttering amongst their fellows regarding whatever it was they had to discuss at their meeting.

Vergil stepped out as well, as he was often the representative for their family (and Dad and Papa would be in attendance, being co-directors of the camp alongside Chiron) for these things. Upon seeing her though, he came to a stop and approached, settling down right beside her on a nearby chair. It was quite the comical picture - a man as big and intimidating as him precariously seated on a rickety rocking chair. (Though she and all of camp knew that Vergil was anything but intimidating.)

Silence was all there was between them as they both watched the others file on out and disappear into the camp grounds. It was only until everyone was certainly gone that Vergil spoke.

"So the meeting went a lot more smoothly this time around," he said, staring idly at the planks of the floor.

She smiled. "Is that so? "

He nodded. "Yes. Octavian was absent, you see. Apparently he caught a nasty stomach flu. It came to him so suddenly. Reyna said that it's likely that he'll be bedridden for a week. Maybe even two." The corners of his mouth rose several centimeters as he caught her gaze - blue meeting brown; both amused. "Would you happen to have a hand in this sudden turn of events?"

She said nothing, only smiled at her older brother.

With a laugh and a slight shake of his head, Vergil rose from the chair and ruffled her hair. "You did good, little sister. I'll see you back at home, yeah? " Then he too disappeared into the camp grounds.

Pleased, Kyrie reclined in her seat and relished her little moment.

It truly was a good day. And clearly it will be a good week or two ahead.

[peculiaridealist]

Truth or Dare

"We're playing charades!" Winn announced cheerily. It was game night again and everyone was gathered in Kara's apartment.

"Again?" James asked. "Aren't you getting tired of it, yet?"

Winn shook his head. "Nope. You just say that because you always lose."

"Oh, yeah? Are you sure about that, Schott? Wanna bet on it?" James challenged.

"Bring it on, Olsen. Think you have what it takes?" Winn challenges James back.

Kara was looking happily at her friends' playful banter towards each other. 'Game night wouldn't really be complete without these two competing.'She thought to herself.

"Seriously, you guys." Maggie butted in. "Both of you are acting like babies again."

"How about we play a game of Monopoly?" Lena suggested. This caught her attention. Lena isn't really good at playing Monopoly and she knows that the young CEO knows this.

"No offense, Little Luthor, but for a CEO of an extremely successful multi-billionaire corporation, you play like shit at that game." Maggie quipped.

Lena raised her brow and was about to rebut when she chimed in. "Hey! Lena could kick your ass anytime, Maggie. She's just going easy on us. That's all."

Lena looked at her with amusement. "Ever the hero. A lie but nevertheless, thank you, Kara."

Maggie rolled her eyes. "Of course, you're gonna side with her, Little Danvers."

"You should know better, Mags." Alex chuckled, slinging her arm across her girlfriend's shoulder.

Maggie made weird faces as she snuggled closer to her girlfriend. "Yeah, yeah. I know." Kara just laughed at Maggie's antics, but even though she was finding it cute, she can't help but to feel envious. 'If only Lena and I are also like that.' She sighed internally.

"Oh, oh. How about we play a game of truth or dare?" Winn excitedly asked.

Maggie's eyes lit up. "Now we're talking."

"We'll do it counter-clockwise. Any objections?" Winn asked again and when no one objected, he whoops. "Yes!"

"Since this was your idea..." Alex trailed off.

Winn stopped whooping. "Oh, no."

Kara snorted and laughed at Winn's look. It was like all the excitement that was emanating from him disappeared.

"You know the rules, Winn." James grinned. "Truth or dare?"

"Can I pick or?"

"Just choose between the two, Schott." James said. "Unless you're scared, that is."

Winn glared at James. "Am not. Hit me with your best shot, Olsen, 'cause I choose dare."

James grinned wickedly. "Alright, then. I dare you-"

"Nothing explicit, okay?" Kara interjected.

"Yes, Kara. Nothing explicit. Don't worry." James reassured her. "Now, Winn. I dare you to eat Kara's stocked potstickers. Failing to do so will result to a wedgie."

"What?!" Both Kara and Winn asked incredulously.

"You heard me, Schott." James crosses his arms and gave Winn a smug look.

"Don't you dare." Kara narrowed her eyes at Winn.

"But Kara-"

"No!" Kara shook her head violently. "Don't touch my potstickers!"

Winn looked defeated and he looked at the others pleadingly, obviously asking for help, then his gaze landed on Lena. Lena was torn between not helping him and convincing Kara to let him do the dare. She felt sorry for him and whispered to Kara. "Let him do it, Kar."

"What?!" Kara whispered back as she looked at Lena in utter disbelief.

"Let him eat your potstickers and I'll buy a replacement for it." Lena tried to negotiate. "I'll even double or triple what he consumes."

"You're one heck of a negotiator, Miss Luthor." Kara mumbled and looked at Winn. "Fine, but you definitely owe me potstickers."

"No problemo." Winn dashed to Kara's fridge as James looked at Kara in pure disbelief. Not just James but everyone in the room, actually.

"You serious, Little Danvers? You're letting him eat your most prized possession?" Maggie asked.

Alex placed a hand on her forehead. "I know it's impossible but, are you sick, Kara?"

Kara swatted Alex's hand playfully and laughs. "I'm not. It's just that there was an opportunity that I just couldn't pass up in exchange of my potstickers." She then stared at Lena and caught the beautiful green eyes of the young CEO staring back at her blue ones.

"Can I just say that you have the most extraordinary eyes, Lee?" She blurted out before she could even stop herself. A blush crept on Lena's cheeks and on Kara's, as well.

Maggie whistled. "Damn straight, Little Danvers."

Kara's eyes widened in panic. "I-I mean, your eyes are beautiful and I'm only saying this in a platonic way, not that I don't like you, no. I like you, actually. As a friend, I mean. It's just that, they are really pretty and it's not just your eyes but also-" The more Kara rambled, the more compliments were being fired at Lena and the young CEO's blush was getting darker.

"I get it, Kara. It's okay." Lena said, cutting the blonde's rambling.

Seeing this interaction between the blonde and the brunette, Maggie and Alex shared a knowing look.

"Hey, Little Luthor. Can you accompany me outside for a bit?" Maggie asked. "I forgot something in my car."

Kara's brows were furrowed. "Can't you just take Alex?"

"And pass up the chance to give you a dare?" Alex shook her head. "Nope. Not gonna happen, sis."

"But it's cold outside!" Kara whined.

Alex's brow shot up. "So, it's okay for you that I freeze my butt outside as long as Lena is warm?"

Kara tilted her head like a puppy and answers. "Yes?"

"Wow..." The older Danvers said, disbelief lacing her voice as she claps slowly. "I'm feeling the love, sis. Really feeling it."

Kara just stuck her tongue out and laughs.

Lena finds a whining and childish Kara very adorable and she can't help but to smile. "It's fine, darling. It's not like we're staying outside for too long."

"Are you sure?" Kara pouted. "James can accompany Maggie instead."

"No, not the pout. Drop the pout! That's just not fair." Alex complained.

Lena stood up. "We'll be back before you know it, darling." She said then dragged Maggie out of her apartment.

Alex was amazed to see that Lena was able to resist Kara's pout. Little did she know that Lena almost gave in and was really close to giving in.

"I can't believe it didn't work on her." Kara uttered, staring at the door Lena and Maggie just closed.

Alex just nodded in agreement and when Winn got back from eating all Kara's potstickers (which were really a lot), they continued the round of their truth or dare where Winn dared Kara to drink a glass of kale smoothie that was much to Kara's disgust, Kara squeezing some dirty truth out of Alex, and Alex daring James to God knows what.

They were on their last round and Maggie and Lena weren't back yet. Kara was starting to get squirmy on her seat that she had to ask Winn and James to check on them and so they did.

"Okay, for the last round. Kara..." Alex faced her sister. "I dare you to kiss the first person who walks into this room."

"What? Is the game still on?" Kara asked in confusion. "Why? There's only the two of us left here."

Alex shrugged. "Doesn't stop me from having this last round. Come on. Be fair. You're the only one who haven't done this round."

"But you can't just dare me like that. What if I picked truth?" Kara argued.

"I can though and you know you can't say no." Alex gave her a shit-eating grin. "James dared you to always pick dare awhile ago, right?"

Kara huffed. "Alex, I'm not kissing anyone. What if the first person who walked in was Maggie? I just can't-"

"Hey, sorry if it took us a bit long. Maggie insisted to buy something to eat." Lena said, cutting Kara off and making the blonde's heart pound wildly, as she entered the door followed by Maggie, Winn, and James and placed the takeouts that they bought on Kara's counter.

"You were saying, Kara?" Alex asked smugly.

"Okay, fine! I'll do it." Kara threw her hands up in exasperation and stood from her seat. "But only because you dared me to." She added and walked towards Lena.

Lena heard the sisters' bickering and she was clearly intrigued about Kara's dare. "Dared what, exactly?"

The blonde took a deep breath before looking at Lena. "I just wanna say sorry in advance, Lee, and all of this is on Alex and not on me." Kara shot a glare to her sister, who was grinning from ear to ear, before averting her attention back to the young CEO.

"Can I kiss you?" Kara asked almost silently that if Lena wasn't paying attention, she could have missed what Kara just asked. Lena was clearly shocked for awhile but when Kara saw her nodding at the slightest bit, she gave Lena a warm smile. She cupped Lena's face and leaned in, capturing the brunette's lips with hers.

Right then and there, Kara felt like she was on cloud nine. Everything that was around her faded and all she could ever think about was Lena and how impossibly soft Lena's lips were against hers. Her heart was like racing a mile per second and she could feel butterflies spreading on her stomach and it didn't help when she felt Lena kissing her back with much gusto. It was the best feeling that she had ever felt and it wasn't something that she had felt with anyone before.

"Whoo! You go, Little Danvers!" Maggie hollered followed by the cheering of the rest of their friends, pulling them away from what seemed like their own little dimension.

"Of course, it had to be Maggie to ruin the moment." Lena said as soon as their lips parted, a small smile was playing on her lips.

"Motion to continue this when we're alone?" Kara playfully asked.

"Motion granted and seconded." Lena giggled and, goodness, it was the most melodic tone Kara has ever heard.

"About time, Kara." Alex said, still with a grin.

Kara just rolled her eyes at her sister but she can't actually stop herself from smiling. She leaned on Lena's ear and whispered. "Will you go out on a date with me?"

Lena looked at her, smiling brightly. "Darling, I thought you'd never ask."