#sighs. im gonna be insufferable about that worm

[baalzebufo]

watched the funny turtle show and my tastes are, as always, predictable

[askanxioussquip]

Mer was packing up the last few things in Jean's classroom while he got everything in the car. This was it! They wouldnt be back here any time soon. She was going to miss this place. She used to help Jean make sure his students were paying attention, and got to learn more about humans in the process. Mer thought they were pretty interesting. She started packing up and putting his things into a box with a sigh. The door opened a moment later, making her look up from the desk.

"Jean, I thought you were-" She froze as soon as she saw who was there, her grip on the box tightening.

Varion stood in the doorway, looking extremely confused.

"...What the fuck? I-..I got rid of you. Why are you...?"

When It finally clicked, he was furious.

"He kept you."

The warning in his voice sent shivers down her spine. She nodded, slowly putting down the box in her hands.

"He gave you a body." Varion began walking towards her.

Meredith pressed herself against the desk, unable to move. She was still frozen in fear when he was just a few inches away from her. Varion looked her up and down, only getting more angry.

"Now, why would he do that? He knows you're worthless, doesn't he?"

He was met with silence.

"No? You've got him fooled!"

Varion grabbed the front of her shirt, pulling her forward. She gasped and squirmed in his grip, grasping at his hand.

"Let go of me! I-..I'm not afraid of you anymore!! Im not-!"

He promptly pinned her to the desk and she yelped, tears immediately rolling down her cheeks.

"Lets fix that then, shall we? ...oh? Tears? Jean added those? Its like he wanted to see you suffer."

"N- no, he-!"

"SHUT UP! God, you're STILL insufferable."

Varion stared down at the trembling android, nearly smirking. She had a lot of value now that she had a body. A very appealing body.

"Alright, listen. We're gonna walk out that door quietly and you're going to act like nothing is wrong. got it? and for gods sake, stop crying!"

The pressure of Varion's hand on her chest made burning anger bubble to the surface. The smirk on his stupid face was the last straw.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Meredith dug her nails into his hand and kicked him in the stomach, sending him stumbling backwards. She quickly stood, glaring daggers at him. Varion was out of breath. He hadnt thought about the fact that she was made of metal now.

"You bitch..how-!"

"Oh, shove it! You may have made me but you do NOT own me, you dense fuck! Stay back!"

Varion didnt even listen, striding towards her. It all happened in a blur to Meredith. One minute Varion was reaching for her, and the next he was on the floor, electrocuted. Her clenched fists were still sparking. She barely had control of herself.

"Shit.."

Unconscious was a good look on Varion, she thought. But she didnt really think that, did she? The thought wormed its way into her mind and she almost didn't notice.

A wave of dread washed over her when a voice whispered in the back of her head.

{Why not finish him off? He's just laying there. He deserves it.}

[I...could. but-...no! Thats wrong!]

{Then run. They'll find you. Jean will hate you when he finds out you hurt someone. What would Liven think?}

[They..they'd-]

{RUN!}

Meredith barely had time to nod, rushing out the door and pulling her hood up to hide her face. Then she ran. Out the main door, onto the sidewalk, and past groups of people and shops.

She ran till she found herself completely lost, her vision blurred by tears. It was like a maze out there. The city of Eden was a large one, and she had no chance navigating it with the state she was in.

[loftyexecutor]

clean slate (10/?)

Pairing: (eventual) addcest [LPDE] & elsain [LKATh] WC this chapter: 2600 Rating: T+ TWs: (past) abuse, talking about it, ptsd flashbacks, anxiety attacks AU: modern/single parent Lusa (with his tiny son Arc) + runaway Esper (hah) Notes: shoutout to @bitgaram-mu for flinging themself out of a window after the last chapter rip

ao3 link

“I’m sorry, but it seems you should come back to meet Esper some other time,” Lusa says, holding a hand over the phone so Arc wouldn’t hear him. His adrenaline is spiked so high he feels his arteries will pop one by one.

Asker stands up from the armchair, having not budged at all until now. “Unfortunately, that is not possible. After all, I won’t be returning here, and neither will Esper. That insufferable child needs to be put back in his place.”

Lusa frowns, staring the man down with a mixture of shock and nausea brimming in his stomach. “You should go,” he says, unnaturally level, “Now.”

“Very well, looks like my unchecked tongue resulted in me overstaying my welcome. It’s not like Esper is here anymore, anyway. Now where could that brat have hidden? Surely yours has an idea?”

The phone screen crackles under the force of Lusa’s grip. It’s only one, two steps before he’s close enough to the man to wind his arm back. There’s a sickening crunch as his fist makes contact with the man’s jaw and sends him backwards with sheer power.

“I will not repeat myself,” Lusa mutters, all too ready to send another punch. “Leave.” His breathing is shallow; he sees red when he stares at the primly dressed man, now bleeding from his probably broken nose.This man is the reason why Esper ran away, why Arc is crying into the phone. Esper had call him his father, so that means…

His heart beats frantically, and the more pieces his brain puts together, the less he can think about, save for ‘this man deserves to die’.

“I won’t let you lay a hand on Es ever again,” he hisses. The reason for Esper’s fear is right there before him; Lusa isn’t about to pass up an opportunity to break more than just his nose, especially since best case scenario, it’s never presented to him again.

“Now, now, let’s not get hasty here—”

Too little, too late. Lusa is throwing another punch already, enjoying the pained noise that leaves Asker a little too much. It’s all too easy to yank that crisp collar up and drag the man out of the house.

Arc’s sniffles are still audible through the phone. Lusa needs to get to them yesterday.

He throws Asker to the ground without a shred of mercy. The blood splatter on the cobblestone path is like a trophy. Lusa shouldn’t feel accomplished seeing it there, but to hell with it now, he does.

“If you ever show your face here again… You’ll end up with more than a few punches. Trust me when I say I have no qualms about taking a pathetic life like yours.”

Asker coughs, picking himself up with obvious difficulty. Duly noted, he groans “Don’t know what you see in that stupid child anyhow. He’s about as useless as a broken TV.”

Lusa is kicking out before he can stop himself. Right in the stomach, heel driving into the soft meat there. “Not another word, you asshole!”

Asker is writhing on the ground like the worm he is and Lusa would love to keep watching him, add a few more kicks to the tally, but he’d already wasted more time than he should have.

“I’m coming, Arc, hang in there, okay?” he tells Arc, “I’ll fix everything.”

Maybe he shouldn't’ drive in a state like this, but he doesn’t care much, already peeling off and heading into the town. He’s lucky no police cars patrol that day, because he breaks no less than five traffic rules within the four minutes it takes to get to the correct shop. He even leaves the engine running while scavenging the alleys.

Arc provides half-helpful, half-choked tips that lead Lusa into the correct place.

“Dad!” Arc cries as soon as Lusa rounds the corner, out of breath.

“Oh, thank god,” Lusa sighs, dropping to his knees in front of his family, ignoring the sting of concrete. His heart aches at the sight; Esper is curled up in a corner of the dirty spot, staring down and holding Arc close to his chest like his life depended on it.

Lusa reaches out slowly, so as not to startle Esper, but he doesn’t seem to even notice him.

“Es, c’mon, it’s me,” he cooes, but still nothing. “Gimme Arc, we can’t stay here. Let’s go home.”

He tries to pull Esper’s arms away from Arc and pull them up, and that's when Esper finally reacts, snapping back to himself, though Lusa isn’t sure he’s happy about it now.

Esper jumps up, hugging Arc so he doesn’t fall. “No!” he cries, voice breaking painfully, “I won’t let you hurt Arc!”

“Es, that’s dad!” Arc tells him, but Esper is acting more like a startled rabbit than anything. He even backs up until his back hits the wall, effective trapping himself further in the corner.

“Esper…” Lusa grits his teeth, fighting back tears that threaten to fall from his overflowing eyes. “It’s me, c’mon… I won’t hurt you, I’d never…  I’d never hurt you or Arc… Please, let’s go home now…”

“Home…” Esper echoes, shoulders slumping from their tense position. His eyes gain a panicked glint, brows arching up and scrunching together. “It’s not cleaned… Father will come home, he’ll see… Hurts… Stop it, Im— I’m sorry… Please, I’ll clean it—”

Against better judgement, Lusa listens to his instinct and wraps his arms around both Esper and Arc, holding the shaking man while he bawls, muttering apologies and incoherent descriptions that only further break Lusa’s heart, or what’s left of it right now.

Oh, how he regrets not breaking more than Askers nose!

“Esper, it’s fine… He’s not here anymore. He can’t hurt you, I won’t let him. C’mon now, let’s go back to our home, not his. No cleaning, we’ll order take out and watch a ninja movie, how’s about it?”

Esper sniffles. “Lusa,” he mutters, stopping his rambles as if he just notices who he is with, who is holding him.

“Yeah, it’s me. Let’s get out of here, put Arc down, I’ll hold you.”

Reluctantly, Esper puts Arc down, and the kid runs up to Lusa to hug him, hiding his face in Lusa’s thigh. “Dad, what’s going on?” he asks, clinging to his pant leg. Lusa leans down and scoops him up, perching the kid on his hip as he wraps an arm around Esper’s shoulders.

“That man who was at our house was very, very bad. He hurt Es before,” he tries explaining, watching as Esper stares at him with a pained expression. “Don’t be mad at Esper, Arc, okay? He wanted to keep you safe from that man.”

“Uh-uh… Is the bad man gone now”?

“Yeah, your dad beat him in a fight. He was gonna hurt us all, but I kicked him out!” He looks straight at Esper as he says that, trying to smile reassuringly.

“Is he really gone?” Esper asks, quiet, raspy. All the crying had taken a toll on his voice. “What if he comes back? He knows where you live—”

“Where we live, Es,” Lusa corrects him. He rubs Esper’s upper arm through his shirt. “I won’t let him hurt you again. That’s a promise. A swear.”

Esper nods numbly, leaning into the touch with only slight reluctance. Lusa leads him back to the car and seats Arcin his seat. Esper clambers into the passenger seat in silence. In fact, the whole ride back is silent, not even Arc piping up with the usual banter. The radio is still off from when Lusa turned it down to hear Arc more properly when searching for them.

It’s Asker’s grace that the Sedan is no longer sitting in their driveway when they get home. It’s nowhere to be seen, actually.

Lusa parks and gets up, but when Esper doesn’t move, he circles the car and opens the passenger door for him. “C’mon, Es,” he prompts.

Esper looks up at him, as if snapping out of deep thoughts. He nods, very stiffly, and slowly gets out. His eyes flick back and forth, obviously ready to bolt again. With how he’s acting, Lusa is surprised (though not unpleasantly) he even agreed to that the car ride.

Arc runs inside as soon as Lusa opens the door, rushing down the hall and picking up a plushie from the ground. It’s a dark cat , one that Lusa doesn’t recognize. “Hey, who’s that?” he asks, making sure Esper actually comes inside before he heads to the kitchen with Arc.

“Um, this is Miss Meow,” Arc says, dusting said Miss until she’s clean enough for his standards. “Esper got me her um… earlier.”

“Oh, did he?” Lusa motions for Esper to join them at the dining table. “You should show me all you got at the store!”

Arc wastes no time to launch into a tirade about his new backpack — which he’d been wearing this whole time and would probably need a quick wash, not just dusting — and the super cool blow pens that everyone is gonna be jealous of’. Lusa had thought it’d help take his mind off of what happened, so he didn’t even comment that he said ‘no’ to those same pens a few days prior.

Esper, though… still looks out of it, glancing out of the window every few minutes to check the driveway. Okay, Lusa is being generous, Esper is actually snapping his head around all the time, to the point where Lusa is worried he’ll tear something in his neck or something.

He wants to talk to him about what ha happened, apologize for not knowing — not recognizing the man. He wants to fic today, restart it and prevent it from ever happened. But he doesn’t possess time powers and Esper still looks lost in his own kitchen.

Plus Lusa wants to give him his all when they actually tackle this issue. For now he gives his  all to his son,holding back every single comment about Esper soiling Arc too much r buying him too many things. He’s glad Arc can still be positive, at least.

Wishes Esper would too, but he knows it’s too soon.

—

They order takeout as per Lusa’s suggestion — they being Lusa, if we’re being honest — but when the delivery boy comes, Lusa can see the fatal flaw in his idea.

The doorbell ringing makes Esper almost jump out of his skin. He hides in the kitchen, pressing himself against the wall by the door, hidden from sight. Lusa’s heart aches at the sight and he rushes to answer the door.

The poor guy is so confused when Lusa just hands him thirty bucks and yells to keep the change.

“It’s okay, Es, just the food,” he says, setting the warm containers onto the counter. Esper is still pressed into the wall, dangerously close to tears.

Lusa walks up to him and pauses. “Esper?”

“Yeah?” Esper’s voice wavers and Lusa feels helpless.

“Can I touch you?”

Esper nods, choppy and slow, so Lusa takes a hold of his hand and pulls him to the living room to sit on the couch. He sits close to him, but still far enough so it doesn’t feel claustrophobic.

“Es, I want to talk about what happened before,” he says, and doesn’t hesitate to continue even when Esper curls u. “I want to apologize. If I’d known that’s your father, I— wouldn’t’ve let him in. Hell, I’d punch him sooner.”

“You punched him?” Esper asks, wide eyes staring at Lusa like he’d just grown a second head.

Lusa’s chest fills with pride and he grins at Esper, mimicking punching the air with one hand. “Fuck yeah I did! Twice, and then kicked him some. Prolly broke his nose, too. I would’ve done more, but I wanted to get to you and Arc as soon as I could.”

Esper frowns, hiding a grimace behind a hand. “What did… he do?”

“Oh, he laid there and took it like the scum he is! I told him I’d have no problem getting bloody if he ever showed up again.”

“He’ll… he’ll be back… Even angrier, probably, he’ll… he’ll hurt you and Arc and— and he’ll… drag me back— home—” Esper babbles, tugging at the longer strands of his hair. His eyes stare at nothing and he almost rips the hair out, but Lusa wraps his fingers around his hands, gently pulling them away.

“Hey, I was serious when I told him I’d have no problem getting rid of him I won’t let you get hurt anymore, I swear. You hear? I swear, he’ll never get to you again.”

Esper hiccups a sob and leans onto Lusa (read: falls onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes), shoulders quaking. Lusa wraps an arm around him, enveloping him in a n embrace, holding him as close as humanly possible, warm and safe.

“He knows where I live,” Esper says, and though it’s muffled in the crook of his neck, Lusa has no trouble making it out. “Where you live.”

“And if he shows up again I have the police on speed dial,” Lusa coos back, stroking a hand through Espers hair, massaging the tender scalp.

“How long do you think he’s known…? He must’ve been stalking us! What if he hurts you or— or Arc!”

“I can take care of myself. And Arc is always around us or someone we know.”

Esper doesn’t have a retort to that one, but he can’t stop crying either. Lusa holds him as he wails, staining his shirt with tears. It's not like Lusa minds; it can just get thrown into the laundry later. Esper is more important than a piece of fabric. 

“I’m sorry,” Esper says, still half-muffled.

“Why’re you apologizing?” Lusa asks, also still playing with Esper’s hair in hopes of calming him.

“He could’ve hurt you,” the lankier man answers quietly. “He only wanted me…”

Lusa shushes him immediately. “But he didn’t. And he won’t get you.” He stops carding through Esper’s hair in favor of brushing the tear streaks etched into his cheeks off. “You feel up for some dinner? You’ll feel better with a full belly.”

“Dad? Es? Is everything okay?” Asks, peeking into the living room, small fingers gripping onto the doorframe, only his head visible behind the corner.

Esper pulls away, wiping at his face. He motions Arc over and helps him sit in his lap, trying his best to make a normal smile.

“Sometimes, when something bad happens,” he says, sniffling, “you can’t do anything. Crying helps you feel better, so I had to cry it out. Hugs also help,  and your dad was here to provide. Everything’s fine now, Arc. I’m sorry for scaring you.”

Arc nuzzles into Esper’s chest, squeezing him with all the power of his small five-year-old frame (which is not much). “I’ll hug you too, until you’re all better. Please don’t run away again.”

Esper chuckles, the sound hollow to his own ears. He chuckles, “Of course I won’t,” but his mind is running hundred miles an hour, as if to make up for the time he’d been out of it.

Maybe it’s a bad idea to stay here. Asker could come back at any time… Lusa doesn’t know what he’s capable of, how many shady connections he has. How he always gets what he wants, no matter what. It’s not fair to put Lusa and Arc in danger needlessly.

Esper grins, setting Arc down. “Now, how about that dinner? I don’t know about you, but I’m starving and the food is just sitting there getting cold.”

There’s already a plan in his mind as he plates the Chinese from its boxes. ‘Sorry, Arc,’ he thinks somberly, ‘but it looks like I’ll have to let you down this once.’