#since we all know he's a mama's boy and that plays a role in how he acts in this au

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

Whenever I think about your lights out au. I sometimes feel like somewhere, deep in the building. There is Mrs. Beagle and the Joyful sibling just trapped. They are stuck in a storage room without a key. They have been screaming to be let out for months. No one can hear them, the rest are too far away. (Man I love having silly thoughts) (this is also if they even have puppets lol)

oh actually this is an opportunity about a Theory / Speculative Thing ive been thinking about for months - ive applied it to the au but until proven otherwise im highly suspecting this to be true for The Source

im of the "the joyfuls / ms. beagle / the pillar family / any supplemental characters did not have physical puppets, and only existed in the storybooks, records, animated segments, and other non-physical media" crowd. it makes sense to me for several reasons.

but at least for Lights Out, im making it au-canon that theyre... yeah, not real. they're false memories. just like how none of the neighbors had an actual childhood, they don't have actual family. there is only the nine.

[anadiasmount]

tropical rains - jude bellingham x reader.

quick sum: when the tropical rain hits in the morning of your first day of vacation, that won’t let jude and your baby boy stop them from ruining their morning.

wc: 3k | masterlist | jude’s masterlist

psa 🗣️: tysm for the anon who sent this request! i love this so so much! and ik we know that jude is a girl dad but boy dad jude just makes me feel so soft 🥹❣️ also not proofread so i’m sorry! but i do appreciate feedback if you’d like ❣️🗣️

“ms. y/n! you have a meeting in 10!” your PA said over the phone. you quickly grabbed your laptop and sat on the couch with a sleepy 9 month old cairo, who kept drifting off to sleep but also fighting it too watch the movie. “you okay sweetie? want mama to hold you?” you say in a tiny baby voice to which he quickly gets up and lays in your embrace.

you quickly open the campaign presentation, and split your screen to have the notes on the other side. you kiss cairo’s head, brushing his curls back as he stares into your eyes, “mama is gonna be on a call, dada should be home soon okay?” although he was nine months, he understood everything you and jude told him.

“now you go to sleep child, you’ve been awake all day” you playfully scold and tickle his side, to which he giggles, snuggling into your neck further and falling asleep in an instant. you press join and talk quietly not wanting to wake cairo up. as expected this brand-ad person wanted it his way but you wouldn’t allow that, negotiating a better contract and prices, and if they didn’t want to comply, they could look for a different company.

you weren’t here to waste time, those who knew you, knew that you weren’t playing games. you worked too hard to get where you’re at. that’s why the company you worked for always succeeded. along that way people would dislike you, since the people above them always appreciated you. if they couldn’t hustle like you, then they shouldn’t talk. it’s one thing jude always loved about you.

but jude and you went way back…

you and jude absolutely despised each other from the start. you couldn’t stand being around him, and when you did see him, you’d tolerate it. the two of you always kept a ‘happy friendship’ since your families were close, but jude and you had much love for his little brother jobe. jobe saw you as an older sister role model and confided in you always, which always warmed your heart since jobe was a sweetheart.

those times you hung out with your families it put an awkward vibe because they didn’t have a single clue of you and jude hating each other. they on the other hand expected something more romantic to appear, but. they never forced upon you two because they wanted to see the two of you happy. it’s all what mattered to them. after a drunken kiss shared between you and jude, it’s where it changed everything.

but, there’s always a but. you had known jude being a playboy throughout his whole life, passed around like some may say, and you’d expected him to embarrass you or worse regret it if he did remember. but all you could feel when you suddenly moved out of england, was the softness of his lips and the fancy scent of his.

when your best friend announced her engagement, she made the decision where you were her maid of honour, and jude was the best man from the groom's side. arriving back to england you avoided jude as much as possible, not wanting to even bump into him. but the two of you were set to be the most important people for the wedding.

after argument and argument, the two of you settled with a treaty, being at peace where the two of you laid. planning the wedding with him was where you learned jude wasn’t bad as you thought, jude thinking the same of you. when meeting you’d go out together for dinner, sit on your porch where you had late night talks about your life’s, and even going together to pick out your bridesmaid dress and his tux, you realised how madly in love you were with him this whole time.

it scared you. because you’ve never felt the way you did. it was a deep connection to him, a meaning of feeling loved and safe in his embrace. adoring the way his nose crinkled when he smiled, or him always tucking your hair back, making sure you always carry some ibuprofen since you can get headaches frequently, the fact no matter where you were, he always checked up on you.

when you accidentally revealed how you felt to him, it wasn’t a shock to him. he sensed it too. promising he never meant to hurt you the way he did, and that this whole time you were apart it made him realize how badly he needed you. he made you his girlfriend the day before the wedding. and then 3 months later you revealed to jobe first, who jumped up in down in excitement, the. your families who were relieved and thrilled.

jude was your first everything. your first kiss, your first boyfriend, your first time, your first love. and you wouldn’t have had it any other way. fast forward years later you were blessed with a healthy but chunky baby boy. and it brought the two of you closer than ever. as a first time mom, you just wanted to keep your baby safe and private, as selfish it may sound it was a bundle of joy you and jude always came home too.

after his approval to real madrid, it opened a new chapter. and it’s starting off bigger and greater than you imagined. you felt at home, and nonetheless jude too. his team welcomed him with open arms and he quickly became one of the best players of the start of the season. jude earned it, he deserved all of it.

after your zoom call you set cairo on the couch, putting pillows around him since he had a habit of rolling and turning in his sleep, just like jude. after setting your laptop in your office you quickly ran into jude’s open arms waiting for you at the door. he picked you up swiftly, your legs wrapping around him, while snuggling closer to him. all he could do was laugh and kiss your collarbone.

jude set you down and grabbed your cheeks, quickly pulling you into a heated kiss. “missed you so much. i hate when you have away games,” you pouted and kissed the small scar on his temple, pulling back. “i know baby, but i'm back now. and after today i’m all yours and cairo’s for the week,” jude said setting down his bag and taking his shoes off, slipping into those slippers.

“but then you go away again longer for the england camp… sorry if i sound so clingy or needy. i just feel like we haven’t spent as much time together you know?” you said, pulling your hair into a messy bun. “don’t apologise for that. i love you’re communicating this with me about this, and believe me i feel the same way. but that’s why we’re having this small holiday okay. and you’re all to me, just like right now.”

jude went up and hugged you, making you smile and lean in for a kiss. “thank you for all this. i truly can't thank you enough for what you do for me and cairo, we love you so much you know? even if you hate my fall candles…” you tease to which he groans and scoffs.

“listen, i have a point when it comes to smelling the same-”

“dada!” cairo bursts out, hair messy and face slightly puffy from his nap. jude quickly strides over and picks him up, kissing his head and cheeks, the sound of your sons giggles filling the room making you smile harder “hi my little man! i missed you so much little one! are you ready to go to the beach, yeah? mama showed me your new toys too!” jude said in a full baby voice, not hiding his adoration for his son at all.

since this would be his second time on a plane, you wanted to keep him distracted while he travelled. already filling up his snacks, his favourite teddy and toys in his small carry on bag. “oh you’re still sleepy, my poor baby, let’s go set you down for your nap. to give mama some time to finish work,” jude said placing cairo on his hip and walking up the stairs, not before sending you a wink and mouthing an ‘i love you! be right back.’

after spending the evening finishing cleaning the house, making some dinner, prepping last minute diapers and baby wipes, and watching a movie, the three of you headed upstairs to sleep. jude had already fallen asleep on top of your left side, his head on resting on you chest one arm draped around your middle. cairo slept peacefully on your right side, hugging your arms as his breaths got deeper and deeper.

the next day was spent mostly travelling. from madrid to costa rica was about a 13 hour flight, so you had to get to the airport early, go through security and then walk to jude’s private jet he insisted on taking, and then the long drive down to the beach. during that time, you fed and changed cairo, making sure the heat wasn’t bothering him.

jude was over the moon when you arrived at your destination, kissing you over and over as you saw your view. after taking a nap, you decided to eat at the hotel’s restaurant not wanting to travel after the day you had. you settled with something simple and easy, not wanting your stomach to react differently. “ew,” you say scrunching your face when you saw jude had ordered a seafood plate.

“it’s so delicious, watch!” jude bit into the shrimp and took a bit out of the lobster, which made you internally gag. “dada is nasty right?” you asked cairo who looked at the two of you confused before clapping his hands on the table. you kissed his head and dove back into the plate attempting not to get grossed out by the smell of seafood.

later at night you made it to the beach, where jude carried cairo on his shoulders, showing and pointing around at the different palm trees and decorations outside. you walked closely behind them, taking small pictures of the view and items you liked to save the memories. “it smells like it might rain,” you tell jude to which he playfully rolls his eyes and slightly smirks at you.

“okay ms. weather reporter. whatever you say,” jude teased.

but you weren’t wrong. the next morning jude stood by the balcony watching as it poured down, the palm trees swaying side to side, as the rain and lightning came down harder. jude scoffed and quietly told himself ‘she was right. it did rain’ but would never admit it. he looked over at you sound asleep on your side, one hand resting on your check while the other one rested around your rib cage.

cairo was about to squeal but jude quickly shushed him. putting the baby on his hip and walking into the bathroom where he brushed his teeth and did some skin care. he changed cairo out his pj’s and into a new diaper, slipping him into a cars ‘lighting mcqueen’ shirt.

jude understood how much stress you were in the past few days, how tired and exhausted you were from working and being a mom at the same time. he truly valued what you did, because it wasn’t easy, yet you managed to make it seem like it was. jude wanted to spoil you, so he quickly went down quietly with cairo and grabbed your favourite coffee, some eggs and pancakes to share between the three of you.

jude also knew how you loved to take pictures of anything, so he made sure to decorate the plate with some fruit as well. jude managed to carry cairo on his hip and the tray of breakfast all the way back to your room. it still continued to rain though, which slightly irked him since all he wanted was the head down to the beach or pool and began his vacation.

jude walked back in quietly yet slight panting, and set the food down on the desk. he kissed cairo’s cheek over and over, making the baby laugh and squirm around. “let’s wake up mama. i miss her and i know you’re hungry too,” jude said, brushing his sons curls back and picking him back up.

you could feel soft kisses being placed all over your hair, face and even arms as you woke up. you tried to adjust to the brightness of the room but that’s when you heard the thunder and rain come down. “good morning beautiful. how’s your sleep?” jude asked, his voice still deep and groggy to which you smiled and hugged him as he towered you on the bed. “so good. haven’t sleep like that in so long, i needed it,” you say, covering your mouth.

“gimme a kiss,” jude whines, but you kept swerving his pouty lips, insisting on brushing your teeth first, which you ended up doing. as you walked back in, cairo crawled over to you, you picked him up, grabbed his head and placed small kisses on his temple, but his hand was tugging on your neckline of the black night goen you were, wanting to be fed. you sit on the bed with cairo who’s feeding, and watch as jude placed the tray of food.

jude leans down and kisses you softly, your hand coming up to his cheek and thumb running softly along his skin. “i got us some breakfast so you wouldn’t have to go down. i also picked some fruit for him but it seems like he’s already busy,” jude says pointing to cairo on your chest. jude brought up the glass of coffee and you took a sip as he held it for you, you thanked him and grabbed his hand, kissing his knuckles.

jude settled next to you and quietly ate the croissant and sunny side up eggs. while you dug into the pancakes and hash browns. after you fed cairo, you offered him some juice and fruits so he did have some sort of solids in him. “did i not tell you it would rain,” you say, grinning at jude to which he narrows his eyes at you.

“you jinxed it!”

“yeha whatever you say. deny deny deny, that i was right,” you begin to joke to which he gasp and stutters but he knows you were right all along. “let’s dance in the rain,” jude randomly says, you stare at him confused but when he suddenly urges you to get out of bed, you knew he wasn’t joking. “jude wait- what do you mean? what if we get sick?” you say.

“then we get sick. we have natural remedies surrounding us, we’ll be fine. this rain isn’t gonna stop me or us from our first day here. just take my hand and i’ll guide us okay?” jude’s voice turned soft, bringing you outside. it only took a minute and then you were completely soaked, you laughed and spun around, enjoying what mother nature brought in first things first in the morning.

jude brought his hands and gripping your waist as you danced, swaying side to side, your foreheads resting with each others, smiling like idiots at what you were doing. but in all honesty, it felt nice, a relief, you let the rain carry away the built up stress and frustration you held from work, slowly letting loose into the movements.

jude kisses your temple and spun you in a circle, and due to the height difference, you were dancing on your tippy toes, giggling as he told stories of how and when he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with you. he praised you for being a hard worker and an amazing mom to cairo, protecting him at all cost. he kept pecking your lips and whispering ‘i love you… i love y/n’.

jude continued to guide you as your danced, his hand resting low on you back, as your rested around his neck. when lighting struck nearby, the two of you took it as a sign to go inside where cairo continued to watch his cartoons on the tv. when the small brown eyes stared at the two of you drenched he squealed, signalling grabbing hands. jude picked him up and held him close to him.

“i wouldn’t have it another way. we’ve been through our ups and downs but if it meant doing it all over again to be here like this with our little family, i would do it without hesitation…” jude says. you smiled with teary eyes, a tear slowly falling on your cheek where you leaned into jude’s touch as he brushed it away. “give mama a kiss! but not too many because she’s still mine,” he tells cairo.

“if you haven’t noticed jude. this, us and our little family, means the world to me. i can’t wait for more that's yet to come in the future, especially now that i'm expecting our second baby…” you say, a hand coming down and running along the small bump. jude steps back, his eyes roaming down at your figure before setting cairo on the bed and kissing you passionately. “you serious? we’re having another baby?” he asked with tears running down his face.

“yes jude! im 13 weeks… found out last week when i went for my yearly check up. baby is doing well and healthy…” jude gets on his knees and hugs your waist, his head resting right on your bump then kissing the wet material still. he glances up at you, and whispers a small thank you. jude stands back up and holds your bump with his hand.

“you hear that cairo? you’re gonna be a big brother!”

[justmeinadaze]

We're A Family Part 17 (Steddie X You)

A/N: Thank you for your patience with me. I'm still moving a bit slow but I've been living in my comfort fics while writing a new comfort fic so yeah <3

Warnings: Dads Steddie and Mama Fem Reader, SMUT, mostly near the end with a lot of passion between da boys. FLUFF , we have an adorable addition to the Munson-Harrington crew <3 as well as Ro's birthday. ANGST because I'm me, Steve does something stupid with the best intentions, Him and Eddie get into a fight, Eddie's dad makes a cameo, Eddie talks about first moving in with Wayne, Dylan talks about divorce (dont panic! Its fine. We're all fine. Im not that angsty.) and I think that's it.

Word Count: 5369

“Ok, ladies and gentlemen, what are the bets this time around?” The doctor grins as he looks at your little family. 

“We’re at 3 to 2 with girl being in the lead.”, Steve beams.

“I love it. Let’s take a look.”

It had been about four months since you found out you were pregnant again and this time around was rough. The first few months were spent throwing up pretty much everything you ate and your cravings had been stronger than they had been before. You found yourself getting grumpier and more irritable which the boys didn’t seem to mind, doing everything they could to make things easier. 

You got the house by the lake and everyone (especially Wayne) was excited for the move. Aurora’s birthday was coming up soon which, while still happy, always made you and Eddie nervous. That first year his mom showed up at your door and the two birthdays after she called his phone begging him to come speak at his father’s appeal. 

Steve finally told his mom that you were pregnant with his biological child and she was over the moon. He begged her not to tell his dad and so far she seemed to honor his request. 

“Alright, Munson-Harrington gang. Congratulations, it looks like we have a healthy baby boy!”

***

“Ok, we have to think of a name.”, Eddie mused as he took a bite from the burger on his plate. “What do you think, kid?” Dylan shrugs causing the metalhead to playfully role his eyes. “You’re no help. What about you, my angel?”

“Han.”, Aurora smiles as she chews on her fries.

“I wouldn’t hate that. Harrison Ford in those earlier movies was so sexy.”

Your son makes a face as both men laugh. “You don’t have any special memories with a name? Like I did with Ro?”

Eddie thought for a moment before a smirk crept across his lips. “James.”, he nods, shifting his gaze towards you two. “When my mother left me with Wayne, I was confused. I genuinely thought she would be coming back so I sat on his couch by the door and just waited. Every now and then he would ask if I was ok or if I needed something and I always told him no. Right before dinner that night, he sat at his little table in the trailer with this rickety, old acoustic guitar and started playing Dio’s Rock n’ Roll Children.”, he chuckles. 

Dylan leaned against his side and Eddie lifts his arm to wrap around his shoulders. 

“Now my uncle is a god-awful singer but man could he play. I was so fascinated by how his fingers moved that I got up to sit with him. He smiled, placing a sandwich in front of me and I ate as I watch him. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to play the guitar. It took me a few days to realize Lynn wasn’t back but Wayne was always there with a new song. Anyway…”, he sighs as his voice becomes lighter. “The lead singers name is Ronnie James.”

You and Steve smile at him as you caress his leg under the table with your foot. 

“I like James.”

“Me to.”, the other man agrees. “James Wayne Munson-Harrington.”

#########

 “Oh, Y/N, you guys don’t have to do that.”, Wayne bashfully grins. 

“We know but we’re going to because we want to.” Winking at him, you stick your fork into the cake on the counter. 

“Honey, we have plates.”

“Yes, baby, we do. It’s this thing UNDER the cake.” Steve playfully narrows his eyes in your direction. “Look everyone else said they were full and I’m eating cake for two!”

He holds up his hands defensively as Eddie rounds the corner with Ro who reaches for her grandpa, demanding he hold her. 

“Listen here you. No more birthdays. We’re stopping today at four, understand?”

“No, granpa! I…be…a big girl.”, she declares tossing her hands in the air. 

The phone rings and Steve chuckles as he reaches over to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hello. This is a collect call from Hawkins Penitentiary from inmate: Al Munson. Will you accept the call and charges?”

The man glances at Eddie who now has a big smile on his face as he tickles Aurora who in turn hides in Wayne’s neck hoping her father can’t reach her. After a few seconds, he hangs up.

“Who was it, baby?”, you ask.

“Wrong number.”

****

Steve’s foot bounces as he waits behind the glass, eyes constantly searching his surroundings. A guard on the other side, opens a door and brings over the prisoner placing him front of the awaiting man. He had never met Eddie’s dad but he had seen a few pictures. The inmate looking at him now was much older and worn by prison life. He did have a lot of his husband’s features especially in the face but his eyes weren’t as soft as Eddies. 

“You’re not my son.”

“No…no I’m not and neither is Eddie.” Allen squinted at his guest in confusion. “Look, I just came down here to tell you and Lynn to leave him alone. Every time we change our number, you guys always find it again and bother him on what is supposed to be a day about his daughter, not you. He spent so much time worried about you both and paying for the sins of everything you guys did to him. It’s time for him to be happy.”

“I see. And what are you going to do if I don’t, Mr. Harrington? Call the cops?”, he snickered. “I have done more than enough time to pay for my own sins. Edward could really help me out here and as my son he should want to.”

“What he wanted was a father and he found that in Wayne when your wife abandoned him. He gave up on you a long time ago.”

“Why are YOU here? Do you speak for him now since you fuck him?” Steve’s eyes narrowed in annoyance at the man’s comment. “Oh yeah. I know about you, him, and that girl…what’s her name. Honestly, I don’t give a shit about any of that. If my son wants to bend over and—”

“Don’t. Don’t fucking finish that sentence, Allen, or I swear God.”, he growled. “Listen, leave him alone and I can help you in here.”

“How can you help me?”

“I have some money set aside. I can give you some to make things a bit easier.”

Eddie’s dad’s jaw clenches as he weighs his options. “$500 a month and we have a deal.”

###########

A few months had passed and your little family had moved into your new home. Right on time to because about a month after James decided he was ready to join the Munson-Harrington clan. 

Aurora was completely fascinated by the new baby. 

“Dada, bra-der tiny.”

“He’s going to be tiny right now, honey. You have to be very careful with him.”

Her eyes widen as she gently pets the top of his head before leaning down to kiss his nose.

One night while he was crying, she watched as Eddie heated up a bottle and rocked him in his arms as he fed him. 

“Daddy, what’s wrong wit James?”

“He’s just hungry, princess. Babies eat EVERYTHING.” He widened his eyes making her laugh. “Do you want to help me?”

She nods, following him to the couch and takes a seat in his lap. Placing her little hand on the bottle, he allows her to hold it up as the baby continues to suck at its contents eagerly. 

Where Ro was a daddy’s girl, James was a mama’s boy. He loved being in your arms the most and the first time he smiled it was because you were kissing his chubby cheeks. 

Dylan, as always, was a wonderful big brother. He helped out where he could and even offered to babysit his siblings every now and then so you and the guys could spend some time alone. 

“Hey mom. I need some money for baseball. They said that we need $100 for boosters and some equipment.”

“Geez, isn’t that what boosters is for? To raise money for you people?” Dylan beams at you as he gives you a hug making you smile. “Steve? Little man needs $100 of baseball.”

“Jesus, why so much?”

You glanced in his direction taken a bit off guard. Usually when it came to the kids, if they needed anything financially, he didn’t think twice. Between the three of you, money wasn’t as tight but with the new baby and house things weren’t as easy as before so you let it go. Dylan answered his question and he dug in his wallet to give his son what he needed.

“Everything alright, babe?”

“Huh? Yeah, you know me. I just want to make sure we have everything, you know?”

Your head tilted to the side as your wife and mother senses started tingling again. He was hiding something but what could it be? If it was something involving a surprise for you or the kids his face and body language would normally radiate excitement. Something was wrong. 

“Hey, Dylan, do you mind keeping an eye on the other weirdos while I talk to Steve for a minute?”

He nods as you grab the man’s hand and tug him out towards the back porch. 

############

When Eddie got home from work, he found you sitting on the couch gnawing on your thumb as Steve paced in the living room. His eyes found yours as you motioned for him to come sit beside you. 

“Is everything ok? Where are the kids?”

“I asked my sister to watch them so the three of us could talk.” You softly smile as you kiss his cheek. “Steve has something he needs to tell you.”

“Okay? What’s going on, Stevie?”

The way Eddie looked up at him with concerned eyes made him feel so much worse at what he was about to tell him. 

“Um, so, remember how on Aurora’s birthday, you were ecstatic because your mom hadn’t called? Well, uh, your father actually called from prison that day. I answered and hung up on him.”

As the man spoke, you kept your eyes on the metalhead’s face as it slowly fell.

“I-I-I went down there to see him, Ed, and I warned him to leave you alone. He said he needed you and was tired of being in jail, that he and Lynn wouldn’t stop until you showed up at an appeal. So…” Steve’s panicked gaze shifted your way before he looked directly at the man he loved. “For the past few months, I’ve been paying Allen $500 to leave you alone.”

Eddie’s jaw tightened as he tilted his head subtly towards you. 

“Did you know about this?”, he whispered.

“No. I just found out everything today.”

He nodded as he rose to his feet, placing himself in front of Steve. 

“Eddie, I swear, I was trying to make things easier for you. I hated—”

The metalhead’s fist flew knocking the man backwards before climbing on top of him and swinging his arms. 

“Eddie, baby! Stop!” You tried to break them apart but he was too strong. Quickly, prepared for anything, you pushed a few buttons on your phone, sending a text to the one person you knew could get through to him. Three minutes later, Wayne flew in and pried his nephew off the man beneath him. 

“Hey! That is enough! I need you calm down, son.”

“How dare you fucking go behind my back like that, Steven! I told you both NOT to go down there!”

“I was trying to help!”

“By giving him money that can be used for our family, you fucking asshole! You think this is going to stop him?!” He tried to charge at the man again but his uncle held him back. “You have no idea what he’s like. I do!”

“Steve, maybe, you should go for a drive or something. Let him cool down.” He glanced your way and you softly nodded in agreement causing the man to hang his head as he quietly left the house. “Now you look at me, Ed.” Wayne grabbed the metalhead’s face forcing him to focus as he murmured low enough so only he could hear. 

“Eddie, I know you’re angry. I completely understand that but I need you breathe, ok? Your kids may not be here but Y/N is and she’s worried.” His chocolate eyes glanced at your concerned face as you hugged your arms around your body. “There you go. Can you sit on the couch calmly?”

He nods as he moves to take a seat. Without looking your way, his ringed fingers gesture for you to come closer and he pulls you onto his lap, hugging you to his chest. 

“I’m sorry if I scared you.”

“You didn’t. When he told me what he did, I was angry to. Not just because of what he did but because I knew it would hurt you. Eddie, you know how Steve is. He genuinely thought he was protecting you.”

“No. No, Y/N. This is serious. This isn’t like when you went to his mom for money so he could go to school. My father isn’t someone who can be trusted. So many things can go wrong that can get Steve in real trouble. I…”, he shakes his head as he feels his anger rise again. 

“Baby, I’m not excusing what he did but, maybe, if you explain to him more about your father and how this could backfire—”

“Which I could have done if he came to me first.”

“I know, honey. I know.”, you coo as you rub his chest. “Wayne, would you like to stay here? You’re more than welcome. Plus, I’m sure the kids would love to see you when they come back tomorrow.”

***

Eddie’s uncle did spend the night while Steve ended up sleeping a hotel. He texted you letting you know where he was and that he thought it was best to give his husband some space. 

The two youngest kids were excited to see their grandpa when they got home but Dylan sensed something was wrong especially when he walked in and noticed his dad wasn’t there. 

“Is it because I asked for money?”

“No, baby. No.”, you whispered as you kissed his forehead. “He’ll be home later.”

Your answer didn’t seem to sooth him as he sat next to Wayne and watched him try to make James smile. 

“Sir, you have the fattest little belly I have ever seen. I could just…”, he made munching noises in his stomach making the baby giggle as he scrunched his head into his shoulders. 

“Beep beep.”, Aurora parroted as the front door opened and Steve cautiously entered the home. “Dada!” She ran to his arms and he scooped her up giving her a big hug. “Dada, you have an ouch.” When she pointed to the light swelling where Eddie had hit him, he flinched slightly. 

“Yeah, dada is dumb.”

“No.”, she giggled before pointing at Wayne. “Granpa is here. He…he’s making…bra-der happy.”

Dylan’s eyes scanned Steve carefully as he sat across from him in one of the chairs. “You alright, dad?”

“I’m fine, dude. I just missed you guys.”, he smiles. 

You come around the corner and playfully swat at Ro’s curls before tickling her neck with your finger. “You. Scoot so I can say hi to dada.”

“Mama! Stop.”, she laughs as she slides down and sticks her tongue out at you. “You’re mean!”

You laugh along with her as you climb onto Steve’s lap and wrap your arms around his neck. 

“Are you okay?”

“No. I hurt someone I love. He should have hit me harder.”

“Baby…”, you sigh as you press your forehead to his cheek. “We’re going to talk again later after the kids go to bed especially since he’s had time to calm down and process everything.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys. I know I should have—” You fingers cut him off as you place them on his lips. 

“We have eyes on us. Later, ok?”

Steve’s own orbs scan the room finding Dylan watching you both as well as Aurora before she smiles and waves in your direction.

###########

One benefit of having three parents in the house is everyone can focus on one of the kids at any given time. After coming in to check on Ro and kiss her, Eddie stayed behind to tuck her in. As you passed Dylan on the couch downstairs, you poked your head into James’s room to find Steve with a sleeping infant in his arms.

“Alright, my love.”, you exhaled as you dramatically plopped your body down next to your son. “Time for you to go upstairs and get ready for bed.” Silently, he turns off the tv and begins to stand but you tug on the back of his shirt, bringing him down into your arms. “I know you and I know your big, beautiful brain. You’re a worrier like me. You didn’t do anything wrong, ok? You know we don’t mind giving you money for something you enjoy.”

“Everything got weird after I asked.”

“And that has nothing to do with you. Believe it or not, adults have issues sometimes that don’t involve their kids.” Dylan chuckled at your sarcasm as you kissed his cheek.

“I just don’t want to be the reason you guys get divorced or something.” 

As he began to stand, you quickly yank him back again. “Baby, they aren’t Charlie. Just because Steve wasn’t here this morning doesn’t mean that we’re going to break up. The three of us have been together too long and been through too much. And…”, you sigh hating the thoughts that fill your mind as you continue. “Playing the devil’s advocate here, if for some reason we ever did break up, I assure you no matter what, that reason would never be because of you guys or anything you did.”

Dylan smiles as he hugs you before getting to his feet and pulling you up with him. As Eddie comes down the stairs, he meets him half and tugs him into a hug.

“I love you, kid.”

“I love you to.” 

The moment he hears his footsteps bang up to his room, Steve appears and softly smiles in your direction. 

“Counseling degree at work again?”

“No, that would be my mom degree. I saw it on his face when you came home. Even though he knows you guys aren’t like Charlie, I think there’s still a part of him that feels like he could lose you at if one thing goes wrong.”

“I know the feeling.”, Eddie mumbles as he shuffles his feet. “Sometimes I was afraid Wayne would give up on me to. Obviously, that never happened.”

Your hand gently rubs his back and you gesture with your head for you three to head for the bedroom. 

***

The silence was deafening as you sat on the bed near the headboard as Eddie placed himself on the edge with his chin near his chest. Steve pulled one of the chairs from the living room so he could sit in front of you both, fidgeting with his fingers as he waited for someone to speak. 

“Did he ask you for money or did you offer?”, the metalhead asked. 

“I offered. He came up with the amount.”

“Steven, what do you know about prison? In general, I mean.”

“Uh…”

“Did you know that things are snuck in all the time? Drugs, weapons, food, etc.” Steve shook his head. “Did you know he can use your money to get shit like that or give to other inmates to do that? Did you know that people could find out where he’s getting so much money from and send people to harass you for the same treatment?”

When the man shook his head again, his eyes downcast towards the floor in shame. 

“Do you know how I know that? The first time my father went in Wayne tried to help him by sending him $100 a month. A couple months later he asked for more and my uncle told him no. The next day someone broke into his trailer and stole half his shit. We learned later Allen owed some people inside money and when they found out he would be getting out soon they wanted it all upfront. When Wayne told him no, my dad told them where he had been getting the cash from so they sent people to get the rest however they could. Thankfully, he was at work that night.”

“Eddie, I…”

“You’d think prison would reform him but it doesn’t. That’s why he’s there, Steve. He does the same shit in there that he did when he was out. He cons people or steals from them and every time he always loses.”, he sighs angerly. “And that’s just one of the many reasons I’m pissed. We just had a fucking baby, Steven! $500 barely covers half of what he needs, plus Aurora and Dylan’s essentials. That’s for the kids. The three of us need things to including this house!”

You scoot closer and wrap your arms around him as you lean against his shoulder. You had never seen him like this. When he had gotten angry with his mom at Ro’s first birthday that was one thing. Right now, this was fury out of fear for you five and something that could have been avoided if—

“But I think what pisses me off the most is you didn’t fucking talk to me. I have always been up front with you when it came to your parents and especially your dad. Your dad isn’t like mine Steve. He could get someone fucking killed and I’ll be damned if it’s someone in my family. I don’t just ignore him and Lynn for me. I do it to protect you guys. It’s a simple thing and you made it way more complicated.”

A tear escaped down Steve’s cheek that he quickly wiped away as he sat up straighter and cleared his throat.

“I’m, um…I’m sorry, Eddie. You’re right. I should have talked to you, both of you. No matter what my intentions were. I—”

“Don’t do that.”, you cut him off. “Don’t do that authoritative, businessman style voice and dialogue you do because you think it’s what people want to hear.” His eyes roll as his leans forward and his leg bounces. “Be honest, Steve. Be yourself.”

“When he called you were making Aurora laugh, Ed, while Wayne was holding her. Y/N, you were eating cake out of the pan with a fork because you were pregnant and you and Dylan were leaning against each other smiling…it was perfect. A perfect fucking day without Charlie causing problems or Lynn calling to trigger his pain. My dad wasn’t appearing out of nowhere to fuck shit up or you mom to remind you that you’re still the town whore!” Steve’s beautiful brown irises looked at anything but you two as he tried to control his emotions. 

“For this one moment, everything was exactly as it should be. Then your dad called, Eddie, reminding me something was always waiting…looming in the background to fuck everything up. So, yeah, I went down there to protect us; to protect you. Motherfucker is lucky there was glass between us.”, he growled. “With Lynn and Allen, I don’t know how you turned out so fucking amazing. I can understand why you would want them out of your life for good.” Steve shrugs as he leans back again. “Since I couldn’t hit him and I couldn’t convince him, I did the only other thing I could think of.”

“Well thank God you didn’t become a businessman like your dad wanted or he would have lost a ton of money.” Their eyes meet for the first time since they entered the room as they both let a breathy chuckle. “Steve, when will you realize that you don’t have to protect us and be the hero alone?”

The baby monitor starts to light up and you hastily get up before they can to check on James. 

“I’m sorry I hit you.”

Steve got up from his chair to sit beside Eddie and wrapped his arms around him like you had. 

“It’s okay. I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m so fucking sorry, babe.”

The metalhead sighs using his fingers to lift his chin and bring his lips to his. 

“Even though I’m mad at you, I still love you. I hope you know that.”

The boy nods as he kisses his lips again before trailing them down his cheek to his shoulder. 

##############

Allen glances at the three Munson-Harrington adults, sitting on the other side of the glass before really taking in his son in front of him.

Eddie knew he’d have to go down to the prison to fix what Steve had done but you were surprised when he asked you two to join him. On the drive there, he inhaled one cigarette after the other until you reached over and stole his pack so he wouldn’t overdo it. While you waited, his eyes darted around as he occasionally babbled to block out his internal panic. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve been here. The last time was when I was 10, I think. My mom brought me and I remember them arguing about him being stuck in here. She said she couldn’t handle me alone.”, he shakily laughed. “Actually, it was more ‘what am I supposed to do with him.’”

“Eddie…”  Turning his head, you kiss his lips as you caress his cheek with your thumb. “Everything is going to be ok. We’re right here with you.”

He nodded before gazing at Steve who was glaring into the void as Eddie reached to hold his hand before leaning to whisper in his ear. “Come back to me, sweetheart. I need you.”

“Well shit.”, Allen sarcastically smiled. “To what do I owe the pleasure? Your boyfriend and I already came up with an arrangement so you didn’t need to come down here.”

“Husband. Not boyfriend. Always glad to know you’re just happy to see me, Allen.”

“Allen? Really? You call Wayne daddy now?”

“More or less for the last about 18 years.” They glare at each other before Eddie snickers. “You’re not even going to pretend to be nice to win me over, are you? I have no idea why you or Lynn would ask me to lie for you if you can’t even say something civil like ‘Hey Ed. Nice to see you.’”

You intertwine your fingers with his as your heart breaks. This was probably just a taste of what little Edward Munson experienced and it killed you. 

“Look, we weren’t planning on staying for long. I just wanted to tell you the money Steve has been sending stops now and if you tell anyone that my family gave you that, I swear to God, I will make it my personal mission to make your life a living hell in here. You think things are bad now…”

You’d be lying if you didn’t say his dominance turned you on. There was nothing sexier to you than seeing them both be protective over you and the kids. Usually, it was Steve acting as protector and when he did it with Mr. Osbourne it drove you crazy. Hearing Eddie do it now was not only making you proud of him but excited to jump him later. 

“Fine but in return I want you to go the appeal for me.”

“No, that won’t be happening either and let me tell you why. If you keep calling me, sending letters, or any other bullshit like that, I will come to your appeal but it won’t be on your behalf. I’ll remind the judge that you’re a scam artist and a fucking car thief but I’ll also enlighten them on what a great father you were to me between the black eyes and verbal assaults.”

Eddie leans closer to the glass as his eyes burn into the man on the other side. 

“I am not a kid anymore. You two think you can still bully me but you’re wrong. You both need me way more than I need you.”

With that, he rises from the chair to leave before pausing and gesturing towards his father to wait with his index finger. Abruptly, he grabs Steve’s collar and tugs his lips to his for a passionate kiss. When he finally lets him go, the other man smirks, drunk off Eddie’s taste alone as the metalhead flips off his dad and turns to leave him behind. 

****

About a mile down the road from the prison, Eddie swerved his van into an empty area, hurling off his seatbelt and shoving Steve into the back where you had been sitting. You stayed out of the way, allowing the metalhead to take control. There was a sense of urgency in their kisses, both needing each other in that moment. Eddie needed to convey to him that he could take care of him to and Steve showing him that he could willing give up that urge to control for his husband to take be there for him.  

As they shoved down their pants, you slid your fingers down your own, rubbing your clit as you watched Eddie spit in his hand and stroke his cock before breaching Steve’s entrance. 

“Fuck, yes. I love you so much, baby. Let-Let me take care of you.”

All Steve could do was nod as he wrapped his arms around him and clung to him as Eddie pumped into him harder. His ring lined hand reached out into the air and it took you a moment to realize he was trying to find you. As you leaned into his touch he yanked the back of your neck, bringing your lips to his.

When he dipped his fingers into your jeans and between your legs, he couldn’t help but smile against your lips. 

“You’re so wet, princess. You like watching us together?”

Your own palm held the back of his from the outside of your pants as you rested your forehead on his. 

“I like watching you—mmm—take care of us. I love you, Eddie. I’m so proud of you.”

He heavily sighed as he thrust into you both faster. Hearing Steve loudly grunt, you two watch him as his face scrunches and he releases his spend near the bottom of his tummy. Eddie grins as you push against his hand, guiding his pace until he feels you shutter and cum on his fingers.  As you collapse next to Steve, he leans over the boy’s face as he chases his high. 

“You’re both so—f-fuck—fucking pretty when you cum.”

Watching with half lidded eyes, you softly smile as Steve reaches up to caress his face, listening as he whispers sweetly to him. 

“I love you to, honey. So fucking much. Cum, Eddie, please. We want to see it. I want to feel you fill me up. You…you deserve to…fuck…” He struggled to get the last few words out as the metalhead pumped into him so hard you imagined the van was shaking from the outside. They both grunted at the feeling as the boy came inside of him and like you collapsed on his other side.

The three of you panted as you starred at the ceiling. 

“I am sorry I put you in this position, Munson.”

“I mean… I put you in this position but you know me…I’m open to any and all positions as long as it feels good for everyone.”

They smile when you giggle as Steve shakes his head playfully. “You’re so stupid.”

“You don’t have to keep apologizing. I forgive you, Harrington.” He leans up on his elbow to kiss him before dramatically leaning across him to do the same with you. “Alright, you two recharge and I’ll drive us home.”

@dad-steddie @manda-panda-monium @alligator-person

#############

@adequate-superstar @kalinaselennespeaks @strangerfreak

@decadentwombatmiracle @katie-tibo @marsupiooo

@local-stoner-bitch @steamystrangerfics @lunatictardis

@adaydreamaway08 @hazydespair @actuallyspencerreid

@moviefreak1205 @waylandmorgernsternherondal-blog

@kik51199 @strngrlytn @idkidknemore @damon-loves-pie

@k-k0129 @micheledawn1975 @eddie86baby

@justmeandmymeanderingthoughts @3rriberri

@sashaphantomhive @chelebelletx @big-ope-vibes

@munsonzzgf @munsonmoonshine86

[natrogersfics]

nat comes home to steve solving a really big problem. bonus points if he ain't doing too well.

Steve Rogers is highly intelligent.

This is a fact Natasha holds as gospel. And no, it’s not just because she’s married to the man. But even if that were the case, she knows that somewhere deep in the servers of one Nicholas J. Fury, she could find droves of IQ tests and reports that would only fortify the claim. She’s seen it in action, too – how quickly he had learned to pilot a modern jet just weeks out of the ice and how adept he had become at utilizing gear that Tony had just spun up in his workshop.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise then how naturally he’s taken to being a father. While it’s only been half a year since she and Sarah had come home, with how instantly he could alleviate whatever thought was burdening their daughter with his words or a single touch, one would never guess that this experience is still novel to him.

Of course, their little girl played a big role in that as well. Sarah is everything any parent could have hoped for in a child and more. Sweet, exceptionally smart, and above all else, caring. From experience, she knows that loving Sarah is as easy as breathing, and based on the way Steve’s eyes sparkle with adoration every single time he looks at her, she knows that he shares the sentiment.

Nevertheless, their daughter is still only three, and while her legion of aunts and uncles will swear up and down that she’s the most behaved child in the history of children, she also knows that Sarah can be just as curious and determined as three-year-olds come – something her father is just now becoming privy to. The hard way.

“Daddy,” Sarah whines from where she’s perched on their bathroom counter. “Can we go now?”

“Not yet, Princess,” Steve says, using that patient yet still gentle tone of his that he only ever uses with their daughter. “Daddy needs a little more time to wash off this…” – he takes the tube from Sarah’s grasp, reading the label – “full-coverage concealer.”

Steve’s voice falters with what can only be described as dread before he subsequently mutters a Christ under his breath, his hands coming to rest on his hips as he takes in the disaster zone that is their bathroom counter with the same intensity he would a schematic for their next mission. And as she leans against the doorframe watching all of this unfold, she has to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from chuckling.

Formulate a new plan on the fly while they were on the battlefield and had bullets raining down on them? He wasn’t coined the Man With a Plan for nothing. Take on multiple hostiles coming at him all by himself? He could do that all day. But knowing what to do when their daughter gets her hands on a stash of heavy-duty makeup? That, apparently, is the one time where Captain America, master tactician, finds himself completely out of his depth.

And boy, does their daughter sense it as she lets out an exasperated sigh. “Daddy-”

“Just a minute, love,” he says, scratching the back of his neck. “Daddy’s thinking…”

“But Daddy,” Sarah says, exaggerating every syllable. “Me and Uncle Bruce are having a tea party-”

“Oil,” Steve says, really more to himself than anyone else as he ignores Sarah’s plea. “Oil’s gotta get this off.” He turns to Sarah. “Stay here. I just have to grab something from the kitchen.”

She’s not sure if Sarah even truly understands the implication of her father’s words, but she certainly catches the uncertainty in them, and that’s enough to make the little girl’s eyes grow wide as saucers. “No!”

“But-”

“There’s a cleansing balm under the sink,” she interjects, finally making her presence known and causing both Steve and Sarah to look her way, and she certainly doesn’t miss the way relief washes over the pair of them.

“Mama, you’re home!” Sarah greets happily at the same time Steve makes a comment about her being back early.

“Mission wrapped up faster than expected,” she tells Steve as she pushes off the frame. He steps aside as she nears, letting her take his place in front of Sarah, only for her brows to lift in amusement when she finally sees the full extent of their daughter’s handiwork. Not only did Sarah smother her complexion in concealer, but she also decided that she needed to use what she’s sure is her liquid lipstick as blush and her mascara to do her brows while she was at it. She laughs softly. “Hi, sweetheart.”

“I put makeup on, mama,” Sarah announces proudly. “All by myself!”

“And it won’t come off,” Steve adds.

“I can see that,” she says, stealing a glance at Steve and smirking when his expression clearly shows he does not buy that she’s only just arrived. She attempts to appear more serious as she turns back to Sarah. “What did I say about playing with my makeup, Little Miss?”

“Not to do it,” Sarah mumbles, eyes downturned. “But I wanted to be pretty like you, mama.”

“Oh, Sarah,” she sighs, tucking a finger under the girl’s chin and lifting it gently so her eyes can meet hers. “You don’t need any of this stuff to be pretty.”

“Daddy always says you’re beautiful when you wear makeup,” Sarah explains, pouting.

“I think mama’s beautiful all the time,” Steve clarifies, stepping closer to them and crouching down until he’s eye-level with Sarah so she can see him smile. “I think both my girls are.”

Sarah’s lips lift in a smile that mirrors Steve’s before she lets her big, blue eyes flicker between her parents. “I’m sorry.”

She and Steve share a quick glance, silently affirming how hard, if not outright impossible, it is to be mad at their daughter. “It’s okay, baby,” she says, running a hand through Sarah’s curls. “Makeup’s not bad, it’s just not for you yet. When you’re a little older, okay?” Sarah nods in agreement, and she leans down to dust a kiss to the crown of her head. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

It takes a quarter of a bottle of Micellar water, a few heaping scoops of cleansing balm, and many gripes from Sarah about her shirt getting wet, but eventually, they successfully get every trace of makeup off her face. “All right,” she says, lifting Sarah off the counter and setting her on her feet. “Why don’t you go pick out some clothes so I can drop you off at Uncle Bruce’s floor for your tea party?”

Sarah takes off with a squeal at her question, prompting her to shake her head at her daughter’s retreating figure.

“You know, I would’ve figured it out.”

She turns just as Steve throws another bunch of cotton pads into the trash. “Oh yeah,” she says, moving to rest her hip against the counter. “And would that have been before or after you doused our daughter in olive oil?”

“Hey, in my defense, none of it was coming off!”

“So your solution was to marinade her?” she challenges, unable to keep from chuckling when he glares at her. “Oh, come on. I’m kidding!” She hooks her fingers into his belt loops, playfully pulling him towards her so she can wrap her arms around his neck. “She’s been trying to get her fingers on that kit for days. She was bound to get it at some point.”

His hands find her waist as he lets out a sigh. “I’m sorry she ruined all your makeup,” he says. “I only looked away for a second to load the dishwasher, I swear.”

“She’s the daughter of two former SHIELD agents, what did you expect?” she says, laughing when he only shakes his head in concession. “Honestly, I’m just glad that I got here when I did.” He lifts his brow up in question, and she points towards the lip gloss stain on his collar. “Saves me from asking you where this came from. Because if I found this in the laundry? Believe me, you’d be prone on the ground right now.”

He scoffs as though the thought of him stepping out on her is the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard, eliciting a laugh out of her. “Your mission go okay?”

“As okay as missions involving kids as hostages can go,�� she says, shrugging. “We got them out and that’s all that matters.”

“And you kicked the crap out of the people who took them hostage, right?”

She rolls her eyes. “Naturally.”

He grins, and she swears she catches the pride that flashes in his eyes. “Well, we’re glad you’re home,” he says, pulling her in for a kiss. “Missed you.”

“Did you now?”

He hums in confirmation, and she can only grin as he leans down to capture her lips in his again before kissing a path down the side of her jaw. “I could tell you how much,” he says, his grip on her waist tightening as he pulls her even closer to whisper in her ear, “but I think you’d much prefer that I show you.”

“Actually…” she says, pulling away to show him the smirk that’s formed on her lips. “I’d much prefer to have a bathroom that’s not covered in makeup.” He throws his head back in a groan, and she chuckles as she pats his shoulder. “Get cleaning, soldier.”

He shakes his head as he watches her make her way out, a smug look practically plastered on her face. “Tease!”

Masterlist

[fowltempered]

Okay so I just woke up and have yet to have breakfast but I wanted to touch on the post I saw from @orangerosebush (sorry for the @ I just thought you might want to see this) regarding the thinly veiled tension between Angeline and Butler because boy do I have thoughts on that particular relationship in the series.

I think it’s worth noting that neither of these characters are wholly bad or wholly good. They’re both flawed people and that nuance is what makes them interesting.

For all of the protection and place to confide that Butler offers Artemis he is probably the boy’s number one enabler. He lets Artemis galivant across the world in search of creatures he’s not even sure exist, repeatedly put himself and others in danger -even going so far as to getting people killed because Butler does not feel like he is allowed to step in and put his foot down.

Even when he does put his foot down on something or offer up his opinion (something he rarely does) it’s framed in this weird sort of pleading manner: “Yes, Artemis. All is forgiven. Just one thing…”  “Yes?”  “Never again. Fairies are too…human.” Artemis Fowl, pg. 390

The fact of the matter is that no matter how he may feel about his charge, Artemis is his employer and that weird sort of dissonance is probably the only thing keeping Butler from plucking Artemis up like a kitten and placing him in a little box where he’d be easier to keep an eye on and protect. I think that he lets Artemis do these things partially because he wants Artemis to process his grief, but also because he just? Doesn’t feel like he can stop the boy despite being the adult in the situation. He’s been trained to protect in any situation, not to intervene when things get out of hand.

And then on the other side of this little coin you have Angeline. Sweet, ferocious mama bear Angline who has been more or less absent from Artemis’ life since the disappearance of his father. Arguably you could say she was absent from his life before then but we don’t really get a lot of exposition on Angeline as a mother before the absence of Fowl Sr. (Something I would kill for, Eoin, give me more Angeline content.) as I personally can’t imagine her to be particularly involved in Artemis’ life before she recovered from her…illness. She strikes me as one of those mothers who simply does not know how to handle a child like Artemis.

She is so ready to believe him when he lies to her because she wants to believe that her son is an upstanding young man who is not following in his father’s old footsteps as seen in TOD. Is she suspicious of him? Yes but she doesn’t do anything about it until TTP where the truth is fully revealed to her and she has no choice but to accept it. Then after that, she decides to take up more responsibility as his mother and try to put her foot down. Artemis listens, kind of, because he’s a mama’s boy wracked with the guilt of lying to her for so long but there’s still a weird sort of distance there.

It’s almost as if Artemis doesn’t really see her as his mother because of how little she’s been involved in his life. She doesn’t know  him, she hasn’t seen him grow up. She just sort of vaguely knows what’s happened to him over the course of the last four-ish (seven-ish? I have a hard time with the limbo bit) years thanks to Opal. (This isn’t to say he doesn’t love her, he obviously does, I just don’t think he sees her as the involved mother she wants to be seen as)

But Butler has been there. He’s been watching Artemis grow and develop into a much more selfless, honorable young man, and Angeline knows that Butler has been there and I think it’s safe to say that she…resents him? For that. This man, this employee has played a stronger role in her son’s development than she has and I think she feels guilty for that. I think she wants to step in and reclaim what she thinks is hers, and I think Butler is resistant to that because…well, I think he may feel she doesn’t have the right due to her absence. He more or less raised Artemis, despite that not being in his job description, He died for Artemis on multiple occasions, and still Artemis defers to his mother rather than to the man that’s been present. (Artemis does defer to Butler as well, just…not as immediately as he does to Angeline.)

And Angeline still only views him as an employee. In TAC we see how she refers to Artemis as Her boy, and that “Family is everything” without explicitly including Butler in that sentiment despite everything that he’s done for Artemis because Artemis is the closest thing he has to family outside of Juliet. Artemis is very much his impudent little brother that he’s been shoehorned into the position of caring for.

I think that the tension between them is very warranted and I wish we’d gotten a little more of it during the series because I think at the very least Butler deserves a chance to sit down and go “Hey, I’m part of this family whether you like it or not.” I think Artemis should step in and remind his mother that Butler is part of the family now -and sort of always has been.

I don’t really know how to end this or if my thoughts on it are even complete, there may be an addition to this later.

TL;DR: Butler and Angeline are the Eldest Child “Parent” / Actual Parent dynamic and it keeps me up at night.

[inklore]

this season is by far my favourite, the chemistry between nic and luke is INSANE

i was so pissed off at colin at first cause dude was flirting with every girl he saw, but then he started finally coming to sense of his feelings for pen and i couldn’t be happier

i truly adored every second of this season

can’t wait to see what they’ll do with the mondrichs, cressida and eloise, or even violet’s garden

do you have any theories for part 2 from what we saw on the trailer? do you think they’ll reveal lady whisledown at the end of the season just like in the book? what do you think the queen’s reaction will be and how will discovering lady whisledown affect benedict’s storyline?

i love how the boy had a cloak (very badly placed 🙄) over his head and acting like king shit and then he kissed pen and he turned into a love sick puppy who just stands in the corner and broods and wants. it’s literally what he deserves! what pen deserves!

i literally loved what we got so far and will not be listening to anyone’s complaints because they’re simply just miserable. what we got so far is amazing!

VIOLETS GARDEN LOL. i hope mama violet can be taken care of, like she takes care of everyone and her kids literally are so hard headed. she needs a break and someone to take care of her. i personally think maybe, possibly, they won’t reveal LW to everyone. i think it’ll be a select few since she plays a big role in the series and i doubt they’re just going to get rid of her since it would kinda mess up the whole ‘story telling’ aspect of it all. but i definitely think the bridgertons and the queen will find out, that makes the most sense to me. but whoooo knows

[deepvelvet]

Astro story time!!

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"My ex can't stop thinking about me and is madly in love, but we broke up one year ago."

We started our relationship online, and we instantly get well and fell in love. We assume the relationship a couple of months later and we didn't met in person. So he came to where i live and stayed a week. A month later i went to his home and stayed a month. We had this type of thing going on for some months and then we decided to live together, since he would come to my city. The last visit before he move in, he started to dictate how things would be with us living together. I didn't like It at all, told him that, he Said he would change. He didn't. Só i broke up with him one year ago and he still try to contact me saying he is madly in love with me and i am ALL he thinks about. I was pretty clear i do not want this relationship anymore, since everything he did i can't erase, and the spark is gone. He is so spoiled and mamas boy. He wanted me to mother him sometimes. i think he says he is Sorry about things i told him because he knows i think its wrong. Not because he sees that. Why is he so obsessed over us?

Analysis: "a neptune illusion"

Well, you two have the same ASC so It can explain why you two get well so fast. His lillith is in your stellium. She makes tight contacts with your moon and venus. You are the embodiment of his lillith. Plus, his Juno ia opposing your stellium, touching It either. He feels Juno within you, even If you know at heart you are not. His pluto opposite your mars+Mercury indicating that his obsession with you talks about your witty, intelligence, knowledge. And your rawr nature. You are probably the best sex of his life. His Mars tho, do not touch your chart the way It supposed to be to do that. Since the two Mars are Air Mars, you do have similar tastes but something is missing for you. I can say, putting the house your Mars is in (4th) on the equation, that you miss making love. He likes rawr sex. BDSM vibes and lillith in Gemini is so role playing! You hook this one for good. His Sun and venus are in your 7th, you thought It could work. But his neptune is in your 12th, and your neptune in his!!! So lots of projections. When he showed what he was really about your 12th came clear as water (because your neptune is naturally there you are use to the energy to the point It can shift and shine back thru your higher (12th) understanding (conjunct Uranus). But he, on the other half, are in neptunes illusions. He still see you as this whole thing, but he can't see thru himself and make the actions that are needed to really be a different person at things he have to grow. He want you back. He says he is going to change. But he doesnt know where he is doing wrong because is something he have to understand, not thru what you say, but thru himself.

An important point here is that his neptune touches every corner of his chart.

His pisces Saturn opposing his virgo Mercury shows that he is naturally inclined to have these conscious oppeness later in life. (Saturn opp Mercury touches uranus). And since his jupiter is in 10th sagittarius he will probably get his Focus on "growing up" by taking responsabilities thru his career.

Well, i Hope i could help you understand a little more about this.

Send your astro story and let's see thru the lens of the stars!!

[mlwritersguild]

Fireflies in a September Sky, by @chai-ki

AO3 link; No powers AU, Not set in Paris, Childhood friends, Adrien and Felix are siblings, Marinette and Chloe are best friends, enemies to friends, minor bullying, 6 year-old angst

Summary:

It's the first day of first grade and Adrien is super excited. This year he gets to be the 'big' buddy for the incoming kindergarten class, and he can't wait to find out who he's going to be paired with. Maybe it will be his brother or perhaps a new kid. He's determined not to let anything, or anyone ruin this day. Not even silly little Marinette.

But maybe, Marinette isn't as annoying as she seems?

—

There was no one who drove Adrien crazier than Marinette Dupain-Cheng did. Marinette, with her silly pigtails all wrapped up in large, pale-pink bows and matching sparkly cowboy boots that he swore she lived in. The girl was tiny and never could keep up. Being the oldest, he was always the one stuck helping her instead of keeping pace with his brother and Chloe.

By the time he’d be finished helping her climb some tree, or cross a creek, Felix had snagged the best role in whatever game they were playing. This of course left Adrien to be something he thought dumb. One time they’d made him be the dog of all things! He liked cats way more than he liked dogs, and they knew that. Marinette had only giggled and offered to be the cat herself, as if she’d orchestrated the entire thing. On top of all that, she was always around. Everywhere he looked she was right beside him, like a second shadow.

Marinette was never mean, and she hardly spoke, but he wanted to be able to have choices in the games his brother and Chloe played, and he couldn’t with the bug around. On the lucky chance she wasn’t around, he was getting scolded by his mom about leaving her behind and excluding her. Which he didn’t of course!

Sometimes he just got so involved in a game they were playing that he lost track of her. She was so impossibly small! Felix was almost a year younger than Marinette and he was already taller.  

The one thing Adrien had been looking forward to all summer was the first day of school. Sure, he loved summertime as much as any kid, swimming, exploring and riding horses was something he would never ever be tired of doing. But when school started, he would be free of the clingy bug, and he couldn’t wait. He just had to get through the rest of this morning, then he’d meet his buddy for the year and be blissfully Marinette-free. First grade was going to be awesome!

“Adrien! Felix! We need to head to the bus stop now, get your shoes on please.”

“Okay mama!” Adrien gleefully skipped into the mud room and slid on his brand-new light up shoes – complete with laces since he knew how to tie them now.

Felix burst into the room huffing. “I’m. Here. Ready. Mama.”

“Sweetheart, your shirt is on backwards. Here, let me help.”

Adrien giggled at his brother, always so chaotic. Felix stuck his tongue out at him in response.

“Now you two, be nice. Adrien, it’s your brother's first year at school and I need you to be your wonderful self and look out for him, okay?”

“I will!” He wrapped his arms around Felix, causing the younger boy to groan and stick out his tongue again in contempt. “We always got each other!”

“Mamaaaaa. I don’t need Adrien to watch me. Chloe will watch me just fine, she promised!”

Adrien watched as his mother shook her head with a smile on her face. Clearly knowing something he didn’t. “Of course, she will dear.”

“Plus, Adrien has to help Nette!”

“Moommm, do I have to?”

“Adrien, she’s your friend, isn’t she? It would be the kind thing to do.”

He simply huffed in response. Marinette, his friend? His mom had clearly gone crazy. But she expected him to be kind, so, as annoying as it was, he would help Marinette… a little. Once he was in his class with his friends though, she was on her own. She would have Felix anyways since they were in the same kindergarten class.

“Well, shall we? Sabine will be meeting us at the end of the driveway with the girls.”

They wasted no time bursting through the door and down the porch steps. Though it was nearly September, summer was trying to hang on and the morning was already heavy with heat. Their mother followed them both into the yard and the three began strolling up their long driveway that led to a dirt road which began at the end of a paved cul-de-sac. About halfway down the driveway, they could see Sabine, Chloe and Marinette. Felix took off running to meet them while Adrien remained behind to enjoy the peace with his mom. Moments like this were rare and he thoroughly enjoyed them.

“Good morning, Sabine, girls! Are you excited for your first day, Marinette?”

“Yes, m-iss Em-ile.”

Oh. He’d forgotten about that. Her stutter. She always stuttered and it drove him crazy!

“It’s going to be so fun! I’m happy you and Felix are in the same class this year.”

“M-me too. A-a-drien, a-are you exci-t-ted?”

“Mmhmm.”

He watched as she smiled, clearly pleased with his wordless answer.

“Alright kids, let's head on up to the mailboxes.” Sabine addressed them all before turning to Marinette. “That’s where the bus will pick you up and drop you off, remember Marinette?”

“Yes, m-ama.”

“Miss Sabine, will you pretty please remind my mama to meet me at the bus after school?” The hopeful look in Chloe’s eyes made Adrien sad. “She said she would try to leave work on time.”

“I absolutely will, sweetheart.”

The group began the rest of their walk towards the mailboxes. Felix and Chloe walked, hand in hand ahead of the group while he and Marinette remained next to their mothers who were happily chatting about something to do with the ranch and their dads.

Adrien was curious to find out who would be in his class this year. Last year he had made friends with a couple of the boys, Ivan and Nino, but he had hardly seen them over the summer. Nino’s family owned a large ranch on the other side of the county and while Ivan lived in-town, his family liked to travel during the summer. They were the three musketeers though and he really, really hoped at least one of them would be with him.

As they waited for the bus to arrive, Adrien watched a few birds hop around in the grass on the other side of the road, searching for a morning snack.

“I l-like you-r back-kk-pack.” Of course, she did. It looked like a cat, with ears and everything.

“Thank you.”

He took a moment to look at her for the first time that morning and was not at all surprised to see the light-pink, sparkly cowboy boots on her feet. How she wasn’t dying from being hot he had no idea. He supposed it was because she was wearing a dress. Her backpack was a ladybug and like his had cat ears, hers had antennae. Her whole getup was so her that he momentarily forgot she was super irritating, and he smiled in her direction. The moment she returned it he snapped back and looked away.

“Mooommmmm! Chloe said she isn’t sitting with me on the bus!”

“Felix, Chloe can sit wherever she likes. You aren’t her only friend.”

“But mommmm! Marinette can sit with Adrien!”

“Mari is my bestest friend, I’m sitting with her Felix!”

“But you promised me.” Tears began to pool in his brother’s eyes and Adrien had to hold back a giggle. He always did this when Chloe chose Marinette over him.

“I promised I was gonna play with you at recess! I promised Mari I was gonna sit with her on the bus, so she wasn’t scared.”

Felix sniffled and squeaked out a small “oh.”

Marinette for her part looked shaken. Neither she nor Adrien were strangers to the other two’s shenanigans, but this seemed to really bother her.

“I-I w-wil-l b-be ok-kay.” Marinette’s voice was a small whisper.

Both his mother and Sabine looked at a loss for words, unsure of how to handle the situation. Adrien wasn’t all too sure what to do either. The bus ride was supposed to be the beginning of his Marinette-free day! Still, he was a big kid now and big kids sometimes did what they didn’t want to do because it was the right thing, so he spoke up.

“I’ll sit with you Mar.”

“R-real-ly?”

He nodded.

“T-thank y-ou A-drien!” She came up and wrapped him in a hug, making him stiffen. He saw his mom smile and knew he had done a good thing even if it was annoying.

“Yay! Chloe, you can sit with me now!”

“Felix, you were mean. But I’m nice so I’ll forgive you. Plus, we’re birthday buddies so I don’t like to be mad at you.”

Felix beamed. Adrien rolled his big green eyes like he’d seen his mom do to his dad before. Marinette, thankfully, let go of him and went back to holding her mom’s hand. The bus arrived a few moments later and they were off.

Adrien decided to let Marinette have the window seat so she could wave goodbye to Sabine, and he sat near the edge, so he didn’t accidentally bump her. He tried to ignore her for most of the ride but found it hard to do as she kept fidgeting with the tabs on her backpack and it was driving him crazy.

“You don’t have to be scared. School is fun.”

She nodded.

“Kindergarten is really, really fun too. You have Mrs. Caline, right?”

Another nod.

“Chloe and I had her last year. She’s really nice. And you’re going to get a buddy from first grade who will help you. My buddy last year was named Max. He was really cool.”

“Max?”

“Yep! He is super smart. He sat with me at lunch and played with me at recess sometimes. He knew where everything was, so he showed me. Your buddy will do that with you too.”

She stopped fidgeting. Yay!

“T-thank you.”

“You're welcome, Mar.”

🖍️🖌️🖍️

Adrien couldn’t remember a time when his brother had ever been timid but when they arrived at the school the boy withdrew and for once, chose him over Chloe. Since Felix and Marinette had the same class, the older two led the younger pair to Mrs. Caline’s classroom.

“Okay Felix, here you are! You get to meet your buddy today, remember?”

“I remember, Adrien. But what if my buddy is mean?”

“Then they’ll have to deal with me!” Chloe stood tall, her fisted hands on her hips like a superhero. This seemed to pull Felix out of whatever funk he had been in.

“And me!” He hugged his brother. “We have to go to our class now. Stay by Marinette!”

“Okay. I will. By Adrien, bye Chloe!” Felix waved excitedly.

Marinette simply stood there, wide eyed and watching him retreat. She would be fine though, she had Felix and she’d get her buddy today too. Adrien was finally free to not worry about her and he was so excited that he practically skipped down the hall to his classroom. Chloe rushed up to him, having fallen behind from hugging Marinette.

“I’m worried about Mari. She’s so small. What if she has mean kids that pick on her like that stupid stinky Sharon from last year?”

Adrien was tired of hearing how Marinette might not do well. He wasn’t supposed to have to worry about her while at school!

“She will be fine.”

“But how do you know?”

“I just do Chloe. I can’t always be the one to help her, okay?!” Chloe froze and just stared at him for a moment.

“What?”

“You’re mean.”

“Am not.”

“Are too!” She stuck her tongue out for good measure.

He didn’t get to retort as they each reached their classes. This year they were separated and for once, he was happy about that. He didn’t spare her a second glance as he headed into the room.

“Adrien! Guess what!”

“IVAN!” Adrien practically ran through the classroom in excitement over seeing his friend in the same class.

“I went to a different country this summer!”

“Woah. That’s so cool!”

“I know! Look, I got you and Nino matching bracelets with this cool leaf on them!”

Ivan dug through his Batman themed backpack before procuring something. He then handed Adrien a squishy, flat bracelet that was mostly red with a small white square. Inside the white square was a red leaf.

“This is awesome! Thank you!”

“Buds! YES!”

Ivan and Adrien both whipped their heads towards the door to see Nino walking in their direction.

“Nino!” “I got you something!” Both Adrien and Ivan said in unison.

“The three musketeers together again!”

“Yeah!”

“Ninoooo! Look what I got us!” Ivan shoved the matching bracelet in Nino’s direction.

“This is awesome!” He slipped it on.

The three of them did their secret handshake before surveying the rest of the classroom. It seemed meanie Sharon wasn’t in his class so that was awesome. The teacher, Mr. Armand, had even placed him, Ivan and Nino at the same table. Adrien just knew that this was the start of what would be the best year ever!

---

The first part of the morning had been so much fun already. They had done letter tracing worksheets, a refresher from the year before, and then had gotten to draw a picture about their summer. Adrien had gotten better at writing short sentences over the summer, he had practiced of course, and he was really happy that he was able to tell the story of his summer in two or three of them. (Drawing was secretly his favorite part.) He had been so busy that the morning flew by, he and his best friends chatting about their summers while doing their work.

“Alright class, we will be going to meet your buddies just before recess, which is in about fifteen minutes. As first-graders I expect you to be good friends to your buddies, just like your buddies from last year were to you.”

Adrien was incredibly excited to meet his buddy. He just knew they were going to become the best of friends. Maybe Adrien could even teach him to use the monkey bars if he didn’t know how, just like Max had taught him last year.

“I am going to come by and give you a name tag with a color on it. Your buddy is going to be wearing the same color tag so that you will be able to find them when we head over to Mrs. Caline’s class.”

Mrs. Caline? Marinette’s class. Adrien had a hard time repressing a groan but he could be paired with anyone, she was just one person anyways! A very small, small person.

“Nino, your color is lime green.” Mr. Armand handed Nino a sticky name tag that had a big bright green circle colored on it.

“Cool!” Nino immediately peeled off the backing and slapped it to the center of his chest.

“Ivan, your color is gray.”

“Borringgg.” He copied Nino’s movements, though much less enthusiastically.

“And Adrien, your color is sky blue.”

Like Marinette’s eyes.

The thought momentarily stunned him, and he could only nod in response as he placed the tag on his shirt, just over his heart.

“I hope my buddy likes music!” Ivan mimicked drumming on his desk with his index fingers and rocked his head up and down.

“I hope mine likes to climb really high!”

“I hope mine likes to do the monkey bars so I can teach him like Max taught me!”

The three of them were definitely hyped.

“I hope our buddies like each other!”

“Me too.” And Adrien really hoped they did.

“Of course, they will! And if they don’t, then we can teach them how to be friends. We got our big buddies to be friends last year, remember?”

“You’re right, Nino!” Ivan stopped his drumming for a second to fist-bump Nino.

“Alright class, time to head out. Please line up at the door.”

Adrien and his friends stood next to each other in line, with himself standing last. This was something they started last year to be silly. Mrs. Caline liked to have her students stand in alphabetical order by last name, aside from the line leader, of course. So, the three of them would stand backwards just for fun whenever there wasn’t a rule about it.

While the rest of the class was excitedly chattering about their buddies and what they might be like, Adrien thought back to last year and how nervous he had been as a kindergartener. At least he’d had Chloe, who was equally terrified. He was for once thankful for Marinette because that meant that Felix wasn’t alone.

Everyone quickly quieted down as they made their way through the hall so as not to disturb the other classes. He saw Chloe’s class lined up outside of Ms. Olga’s room, a letter each written on the sticker they wore on their chests. Chloe saw him and waved. At least she didn’t seem to be mad at him anymore.

“Alright, let's head on in. Line up in the front of the classroom and Mrs. Caline and I will introduce you to your buddies for the year.”

This was it!

🖍️🖌️🖍️

Walking into the room, Adrien could see how nervous the younger kids were. He saw Felix sitting near the door and waved. Felix held out his shirt and pointed to the big gray circle on his tag. Adrien was super excited that he and Ivan would be paired together, now he really didn’t have to worry about his brother!

The kindergarten room had tables that were set up in a ‘U’ shape with kindergarteners themselves seated along the outside edges. Inside of the ‘U’ there were chairs that had been brought in especially for today (Adrien remembered from last year) where the older kids would sit opposite their buddy after being introduced.

He scanned the room a little more as he took his place in the front with his class attempting to try and find the student with the match to his tag. Unfortunately, he was only able to see a handful of them and none matched his. During his observation he noticed a lanky looking boy with dark hair and light eyes along with a girl who could rival Marinette in height or lack thereof. She had light yellow, very curly hair and dark eyes. Next to the small girl was Marinette. She kept her head down and hardly acknowledged his class though she stole a peek at him. He turned his head immediately when she caught his eye.

“Is everyone ready? Okay!” Mrs. Caline clapped her hands together. “First up, Felix! You will be buddies with Ivan, can you please stand-up Felix?”

Adrien watched as his brother stood with a huge grin on his face and waved at Ivan. Ivan returned the wave as he walked over to the empty chair in front of Felix. They both sat down and instantly began a quiet conversation.  

Mrs. Caline worked her way around the tables and as more and more of his classmates went to sit down without his name being called, Adrien began to worry. There were only four kids left. ‘Dark-haired boy’, ‘Light-haired curly girl’, another small-ish girl who sat on the other side of Marinette, and Marinette herself.

“Kim, please stand-up. Your buddy is going to be Nino.”

Nino was paired with ‘dark-haired boy’. Adrien wasn’t upset that he was going to be paired with a girl, he was friends with Chloe after all! He just wanted anyone but Marinette. Dejectedly, he watched as the last girl of his class was paired off with ‘light-haired curly girl’. As Marinette stood up, his heart began to thump harder in his chest. It was just him and a boy named Nathaniel left.

Adrien looked everywhere but at her, willing Mrs. Caline to call Nathaniel’s name. He couldn’t hear anything over the roar of his heartbeat and thus he didn’t hear his name being repeatedly called. It took a gentle tap on the shoulder from Nathaniel for him to come to his senses.

“Adrien, you are buddied up with Marinette, please come take your seat.”

🖍️🖌️🖍️

So much for the best year ever. How could he have gotten saddled with her again? Wasn’t it bad enough he babysat her when they were at home? Maybe he could request a change, though he didn’t know if he’d be allowed.

Marinette sat across from him and fiddled with the un-tied ribbon on her dress. She wouldn’t look up, as though she was nervous. They’d be leaving to go outside shortly and a small part of him actually felt bad for her. She was a quiet kid, he knew, but this seemed different.

“Mari?”

No reply.

“Why aren’t you talking?”

She shrugged her shoulders, eyes still downcast. He huffed.

Mr. Armand announced it was time for recess, effectively ending their conversation. They both stood and lined up next to each other to head out the door and he noticed she stood a little ways away from him which was even more strange because usually it was him that had to move. Marinette had never been scared of him before and the thought made him worry because his mom would surely be mad if she found out he had upset her somehow.

Adrien’s worries were quickly washed away as they all rushed onto the playground. Nino and Kim met right up with them along with Ivan and Felix. ‘Light-haired curly girl’ came up with his classmate Lucy to join their group and introduced herself as Mylène. The eight of them walked over to the jungle gym, Marinette trailing behind slightly.

“What should we play?” Ivan asked as he stared intently at Mylène with wide eyes.

“Nothing scary please. I don’t like scary.” Her voice was soft and hard to hear.

“I’m gonna climb higher than all of you, watch!” Kim immediately began climbing up the side of the gym.

“No way you can beat me!” Nino followed suit.

“Where’s Chloe? She promised to meet me!”

“She’s probably with her buddy, Felix.”

Adrien felt an incredibly soft tap on his arm.

“A-adr-rien-n. C-can you p-please t-teac-h me t-to do the mon-nkey bar-rs?”

He really didn’t want to but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings either and relented with a nod before following her over to them. Ivan, Felix, Mylène and Lucy began playing a game of some sort, one he wished he could have been included in, while Nino and Kim raced all over the play structure. Marinette stumbled up onto the platform and reached for the first bar. Her fingertips barely brushed the first one but she managed to catch it and grasped it with both hands. Adrien remained on the ground and slightly behind where she hung so he could watch her from below and help steady her if needed, at least he hoped he could, her legs were all he could reach. Marinette looked back to him for guidance.

“Okay, reach one hand forward and grab on, then bring your other hand to the same bar!”

She did as instructed and her arms were stretched as far as they’d go before she brought the second to meet the first. She repeated the process again and again squealing with glee as she made her way nearly to the middle. Adrien couldn’t help but smile up at her because she was doing something on her own without him!

“I see London! You see France! Adrien see’s Mari’s underpants!” A kid he knew as Tucker chanted. He was in Marinette’s class and must have remembered Adrien’s name from introductions.

Marinette lost her grip then and slammed into him, knocking them both onto the ground in a heap. Tucker ran off laughing with some other boys. Adrien pulled himself out from underneath Marinette and helped her stand up.

“S-sor-ry.” She looked like she might cry.

“I’m okay. Did you get hurt?”

She just shook her head to say no.

“Good. You can try again if you want?”

“N-no t-thank-k you-u.”

“Oh. Okay. Well what do you want to pla…” He was cut off by Felix’s voice.

“CHLOE! YOU’RE FINALLY HERE! Look! Adrien’s best friend is my buddy!” Said best friend was standing next to Felix along with the other two girls from earlier at the top-most part of the playground.

“Hi Felix! This is Sabrina, she’s my buddy for the year!” Chloe gestured to a red-headed girl with glasses who timidly waved.

“HI SABRINA!” Felix was really into yelling today.

Forgetting about Marinette for a moment, completely by accident, Adrien went over to introduce himself.

“Hi, I’m Adrien. My brother, Felix, is the loud one.”

“Nice to meet you, Adrien. Felix is funny. Chloe talks a lot about him.”

“Of course I do! He’s my birthday buddy. I’m going to marry him some day.”

Ivan, Mylène, Lucy and Sabrina all stilled at the comment, looking at Chloe like she was crazy.

“Yepp! And we’re gonna have five hundred cats and two-hundred dogs and a thousand horses!” All eyes snapped up to Felix who was now perched at the top of a slide getting ready to come down.

“That’s right!”

“You guys are crazy.” Mylène spoke up, louder than he’d heard her since meeting her.

“Right?” Ivan suggested. “They should have two-thousand horses!”

“He’s right Felix. We’re going to have two-thousand!”

“Okay!”

“Adrien, where is Marinette? Is she with her buddy?”

Oh no, Marinette! He quickly scanned the area and didn’t see her.

“Adrien is her buddy!” Felix, who had made his way down the slide, leapt off of it and landed next to Chloe.

Chloe narrowed her eyes at him and Adrien felt a chill run down his back. “Where is she?”

“I, uh… I don’t know? We were by the monkey bars and she disappeared when I came to say hi.”

“Ugh! I have to do everything for you!” Chloe threw her hands up in the air before stomping off, Sabrina hot on her tail.

All but his brother simply looked confused and went back to playing. Felix shrugged and joined Ivan leaving Adrien to follow Chloe. So much for having each other’s backs!

They searched the entire structure and didn’t see her.

“You lost her! She’s been scared about school and you lost her!”

“I didn’t lose her! If she had just…”

“W-what are y-ou guys-s yel-lin’ about-t?”

Adrien stilled.

“We were just worried about you Mari! I want you to meet Sabrina!”

“Hi.” Marinette gave a small wave.

“Hi Marinette!” Sabrina hugged her and Adrien watched Marinette stiffen.

“Where did you go Mari?”

“T-to look-k at t-the flowers-s.” She pointed to the field beyond the playground that was decorated in an array of white clover flowers.

“Those are pretty! Sabrina, we should make wildflower crowns next recess!”

“Yeah!”

Adrien groaned and thankfully the bell rang to go back inside. He and Marinette walked silently back to her classroom though she hung behind him just a bit. He found it odd but didn’t say anything about it. Soon enough it would be lunchtime and he’d have to do everything all over again and he was already exhausted from this first recess.

🖍️🖌️🖍️

The room was abuzz with the chatter of small yet impeccably loud voices. Everyone seemed to have a story to tell about who they’d been partnered with and no one wanted to wait their turn. Adrien was the only one who remained silent. There wasn’t anything to tell about Marinette that his friends didn’t already know.

“Get this! Kim climbed all the way over the top of the rail next to the tall slide and onto the other side!”

“Woah.” Ivan’s eyes were as big as saucers.

“He said he’s already broken his arm once!”

“That’s crazy!”

“He’s gonna break his leg soon I bet. He’s so much fun!”

“Who would want to break their leg?” Adrien was genuinely confused. Pain wasn’t exactly fun.

“KIM would! He isn’t afraid of anything. Plus then everyone gets to sign his cast. They all did that at his preschool last year.”

Seemed sketchy but who was Adrien to judge?

“Adrien, your brother is a lot of fun!”

“I wouldn’t know.” He grumbled mostly to himself.

“What do you mean? You’re brothers.” Nino apparently heard him.

“It’s nothing.”

Adrien folded his arms across his chest and slumped in his chair, a scowl on his face.

“You look mad.”

“Yeah.” Nino agreed. “Is it because you got paired with Marinette?”

He didn’t know if he should tell them how upset he was. They wouldn’t understand.

“She’s so super nice though! I bet she would go along with whatever we wanted to play!”

“Nino is right! Felix said she is really super fun.”

“Super fun? Marinette? No way.”

“But Felix said…”

“Felix gets to play with Chloe all the time. I’m the one who has to play with Marinette. She can’t keep up with them so she can’t keep up with us. It’s hopeless.” His shoulders sagged in defeat. He didn’t truly want to leave her out, he just wanted to not have to follow her everywhere or have her follow him.

Both Nino and Ivan pondered Adrien’s words for a bit as the three of them continued working on some addition problems together. Finally Nino spoke up.

“Why don’t you trade buddies or something for next recess?”

“Trade buddies?”

“Oh I think I know what he means! I’ll hang out with Marinette and you hang out with Felix.”

“Really?” He couldn’t help the hopefulness that entered his mind.

“Yeah! One sec, I wanna go ask Lucy something.”

Ivan got up and walked over to Lucy’s table, looking like he was asking for help on the worksheet.

“That’s a good idea, thank you, Nino.”

“Michelangelo, at your service!” He whipped his hands around pretending to swing a nunchaku, making Adrien laugh a little too loud. Mr. Armand gave them both a look before turning his attention back to the student he was currently helping.

“This is gonna be such a good plan!”

Ivan once again joined them.

“It is! Freedom will be so nice!”

“Yeah, that too.”

“Ivan, your cheeks are pink. Do you…” Nino gasped. “Do you like…” his voice dropped to a whisper “Lucy?”

“Nope! But she said she and Mylène would play with Marinette and I at recess.” His cheeks got pinker, and his smile got wider.

“Ooohhh.”

“I like her curly hair. It’s like my mommas.”

“Thank you, Ivan.”

“You’re welcome, Adrien! I’m excited and Marinette seems really nice. Plus I’m even taller than you so I can help her if she needs it.”

Adrien smiled in response. His only worry was that Marinette might be upset over the switch but then it occurred to him that she had been hanging back earlier. Maybe she would be happy to be away from him too? He supposed only time would tell.

🖍️🖌️🖍️

Lunch had come and gone in a flash, Adrien sat across from Marinette at the table and on either side of him were Nino and Ivan. She was sandwiched between Kim and Felix. They had explained the switch for recess to her and she had seemed excited. By the time recess had arrived, she was talking about the flower crowns Chloe was going to teach them to make. To his surprise, Felix had chosen to play a game with him instead of trying to hang around with Chloe.

They’d played pirates along with Nino, Kim, Nathaniel and the other small girl who he had learned was named Alix. The rest of the day was a lot of fun. They’d gone to the library as a group of two classes and Marinette had kept mostly to herself, not even asking for help reaching a book on the top shelf. She’d asked Ivan instead. Strangely, Adrien felt a little lost not helping her and he couldn’t make sense of it.

After the library, his class had an introduction party where they shared their pictures from the morning and told about their favorite part of the summer that year. Adrien’s had of course been riding the horses with his papa on the ranch. Nino’s had been going fishing with his brother and dad, and Ivan’s had been going to the cool country with the red leaf.

Finally it was time for their final recess and Adrien wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. On one hand, he wasn’t super upset that he had to go back to being Marinette’s buddy because he was grown up now and it was the grown-up thing to do. But on the other hand, he still wanted to play with the other kids and not have to worry about her being left behind because she couldn’t keep up. Maybe she would look to Ivan again for help now though?

They made their way to her class once more for the day before lining up to go outside. Marinette had taken her place right up next to him again and he grumbled internally. So much for Ivan then. When the doors opened the rest of the kids rushed outside while he hung behind just a bit. No need to rush when they weren’t going anywhere fast.

“So… what do you want to do?”

She shrugged before pointing to the flowers in the field.

“Flower crowns?”

“Y-yes p-please. Chloe sh-owed m-me.”

He sighed. “Okay.”

“You-u don’t-t have t-to.”

“You want to go make them by yourself? Are you sure?”

She smiled at him and nodded.

“But you’ll be alone.”

“T-that-ts ok-kay! G-go play w-with F-felix.” She hugged him quickly before running off to the field.

Adrien waited a moment, curious to see if she’d change her mind. When she didn’t he turned and ran off towards his brother who was already playing a game with the same group as last recess with the addition of Ivan and Mylène.

“What are you guys playing? Can I join?”

“Yeah!” Felix looked overjoyed to see him.

“We’re playing animal superheroes! I’m a bull!” Fitting for Ivan considering he was already tall and muscular at the young age of 6.

“I’m a goat. Because no one pushes them around, they do the pushing!”

“I’m a bunny because I’m cute!”

“Nino, you’re a turtle, aren’t you.”

“MICHELANGELO!!!!” He shouted. “Kim is a monkey!”

“What are you, Felix?” Adrien wasn’t sure what animal his brother wanted to be, though he had taken a liking to the wild turkeys that often frequented the ranch in the fall.

“Peacock. Because they have cooler colors than turkeys. How about you Adrien?”

“Cat, of course!”

Mylène squeaked. “But I’m a mouse, and cats chase mousies!”

“Not this one, I’m nice!”

She visibly relaxed and they all began playing. They had fun figuring out what powers they would have and showing them off. Nino of course was like a ninja, and Kim could climb anywhere. Mylène was super small and could get into any place by shrinking down. Ivan was strong, Nathaniel never lost a fight and Alix had super speed. For a girl with such tiny legs, she really was impressively fast. Adrien decided that his power would be destroying or breaking things since the cat that Marinette’s family owned seemed to like knocking things over to break them all the time.

They were just beginning to go on their first ‘mission’ when Chloe’s voice screeched behind him.

“Adrien! Where is Mari? Did you leave her?”

Uh o. He hadn’t thought about how angry Chloe would be for his not staying by Marinette.

“She wanted to go make flower crowns by herself.”

“But you promised to stay by her! I would have gone to be with her if I knew you would leave her alone!”

Chloe grabbed him by the arm and drug him away from the group who looked at him sadly before going back to their game. Sabrina came along with the two of them and Adrien was struck with a sense of deja-vu.

 “I didn’t leave her. She said she wanted to go alone Chloe.”

“You always do this Adrien! Say you will help Marinette and then go away. You’re so mean!”

“I didn’t go away Chloe! And I am not mean! Stop saying that! She wanted to be alone and I let her because I am always helping her and I wanted to play instead!”

“See, mean!”

“If anyone is mean it’s you and her and Felix! You guys always run away and leave me behind and she takes all of the fun parts to play.”

“We do not!”

“Yes you do!” Adrien was full blown yelling now.

“Nuh-uh!” Chloe was yelling right back.

“Yeah huh! Marinette always takes the cat and you guys let her. You know cats are my favorite. Marinette likes ladybugs because she is one! A small annoying bug!”

“You’re being mean Adrien!”

“Uh guys?”

“No I’m not!!”

“Guys?”

“Yes you are! She is our friend and you need to be nicer!”

“She’s your friend, not mine. I just get stuck with her all the time.”

“GUYS!” Sabrina finally shouted.

“WHAT?” He and Chloe yelled at the same time, still staring daggers at each other.

Sabrina pointed to where Marinette was standing about a few feet away from them, a woven clover bracelet in her hand and tears silently running down her face. The bracelet fell to the ground and she turned around and ran.

“I’m so mad at you!” Chloe shouted before booking it after her.

Sabrina spared him a small glance before following them. Adrien stood helpless and wondering what had just happened.

🖍️🖌️🖍️

Guilt ate him up inside. He hadn’t meant for Marinette to hear what he’d said, and he really didn’t mean it. Not completely anyways. He was tired of being the only one stuck helping her but when he really did think about it, he cared about her. Seeing her hurt was something he had never wanted, and being the one who caused it made the feeling a million times worse.

Absent-mindedly he twisted the clover flower bracelet on his wrist. He had picked it up after the girls had run off and eventually put it on the same arm as the bracelet from Ivan. The bell had rung not long after and not knowing where Marinette had gone, Adrien made his way over to her classroom to wait for her.

It didn’t take long for her to join him in the lineup that was forming but she kept her distance and wouldn’t look at him. He had heard her hiccuping the entire time they stood there and even as they made their way inside. Before his class was ushered back to their own classroom, Adrien took one last look at her and something about her tear-soaked eyes that briefly met his had broken him.

He didn’t know how to make it right and he wanted to. He’d help her climb as many trees as she wanted if she never looked like that again. His mama would know, she knew everything. And she was going to be so disappointed in him for how he had acted.

The day had started out with so much anticipation and now all he wanted to do was go home.

---

Waiting for the day to end was agony. Ivan and Nino had tried to help him and had even come up with ways he could make the situation better but nothing felt right. They were great friends though and he was so happy to have them, especially because they weren’t mad at him like Chloe was. Hopefully she would forgive him too though he doubted it. She had always been incredibly protective when it came to Marinette.

Finally, the bell rang, and he and his friends said goodbye before leaving the building. Ivan’s dad picked him up on the other side of the school and Nino’s bus was on the other end of the long pull off.

He made his way towards his bus, looking at his feet while he walked. He wondered if he should try and save Marinette a seat or if he should just let her be. Maybe Chloe wanted to sit by her and he would sit with Felix. Maybe Felix was mad at him now too. Suddenly Adrien felt a shove to his shoulder and he fell forward towards the concrete, catching himself with his palms.

The impact stung and he winced at the pain.

“Whoops! Didn’t see you there.”

Adrien remained still for a moment, confused as to what had happened.

“Heard you made a girl cry today. That’s not very nice.”

He turned his head to look up and saw a bigger kid, probably in third grade, towering over him. Next to the large kid was Tucker, who had teased him and Marinette that morning. He went to stand up only to be shoved back down again by the large kid's foot.

“What do you think, Tuck? Should we make him cry too?”

“Yes!”

Adrien felt himself being raised by the back part of his shirt that was visible above his backpack and scrambled to break free, though his efforts proved futile. Just as he was about halfway up a figure came into view. The first thing he noticed were sparkly pink boots.

“Leave him alone!”

“And what are you going to do about it, pip-squeak?”

“Put him down or else I’m gonna make you regret it.”

Adrien was stunned. He had NEVER heard Marinette talk without her stutter.

“Johhnnnnn!” Tucker whined at the bigger kid. “That’s the girl he made cry!”

Adrien felt himself drop, this time his elbows and forearms caught the fall.

“She’s the one you like?”

“Johnny! Be quiet!”

“Haha, my little brothers got a cruuu-uushhh!”

Adrien decided he would stay down just to play it safe, though he stole a look at Marinette and what he saw made his jaw drop slightly.

She stood with her hands on her hips looking completely confident. There was a fire in her eyes that he had never seen before, and boy was it an incredible sight. He truly didn’t know how he should feel in that moment because he had just seriously hurt her feelings and she still stood up for him, the feeling that Marinette’s friendship was not deserved washed over him in waves.

“You two should g-go.”

He didn’t hear them respond but the fading laughter of ‘Johnny’ let him know it was safe to try and get up. Marinette held out her hand for him to grab which he accepted gratefully. The sudden shift in their dynamic felt odd but welcome.

“Y-you okay?”

“Yeah. Thank you.”

“A-are y-your hands hurt-t?”

“I’ll be okay Mari. Let’s just head for the bus.” In truth, his hands and elbows stung quite painfully.

She turned and walked ahead of him, only glancing back to make sure he was still following her once. They boarded the bus and she took a seat next to Chloe. Adrien sat next to his brother who looked irritated.

“I don’t get to sit by Chloe because of you.” He grumbled towards the window.

“I’m sorry.”

Felix looked at him, a small amount of understanding in his enormous gray eyes. The rest of the ride home was silent, at least between them.

---

As promised, their mothers were waiting at the Mailbox for them, including Chloe’s mom, though she looked bored.

“Welcome home! How was your first day?”

“Momma, it was awesome! One of Adrien’s best friends is my buddy!”

“That’s wonderful, sweetheart.”

“Mother, I made a new friend today, her name is Sabrina!”

A small hum of acknowledgement was all Audrey offered in response and Adrien watched intently as Chloe visibly deflated in her excitement. Adrien really did not like Audrey.

“How was your first day, my little ladybug?”

“It was g-good momma!” Sabine looked temporarily shocked at Marinette’s lack of stutter.

“I’m so glad to hear it!”

“Chloe t-taught me how t-to make f-flower crowns-s.” Marinette grabbed Chloe's arm and looped it with hers, brightening the blonde girl's features a bit.

“That’s wonderful. You two are so sweet. I can’t wait to hear about this Sabrina!”

Adrien hoped they would skip over his day. He really didn’t want to talk about it. Thankfully his mom must have seen something in his eyes because she invited the group to start making their way towards his house since their three families were having a back-to-school barbeque.

Audrey hopped in her expensive-looking SUV and drove up while the rest of them walked down the driveway much in the same way they had that morning, with Chloe and Felix holding hands in front and Marinette by Sabine’s side. His mother slowed down bit by bit so that soon they were far enough away from everyone else to not be heard.

“What’s bothering you bub?”

“Nothing…”

“Hmm. Are you sure? You seem rather gloomy this afternoon.”

He didn’t want to tell her; she’d be so disappointed in him.

“Adrien.” He turned when he realized her voice was further away than expected and saw that she had stopped, crouching down to his height. “Come here love.”

He ran to her arms and the instant hers wrapped around him the tears he had been fighting spilled freely. His mom held him as he let it out, never once letting go until he pulled away from the hug himself, still she held his arms in her hands to keep him steady.

“I wasn’t a good friend. I’m sorry momma.”

“Oh baby. Tell me what happened.”

“I got paired with Mari and I was just upset because I always have to help her at home and I wasn’t supposed to have to at school. Then we got teased and she seemed fine but then she walked off when I went to say hi to Chloe and Chloe got mad.”

His mom listened intently, never interrupting.

“Then Nino and Ivan had a good idea to trade buddies for lunch and I got to play with Felix and it was so fun! But then Mari was back to being my buddy for last recess and she wanted to go make flower crowns and said she’d be okay by herself! I made sure to ask Momma, I did!”

She nodded in understanding.

“So I went to play with Felix and my friends because Mari said she was happy to be by herself and Chloe came and got really, really mad at me because I left Mari alone. I got mad back at Chloe and we yelled. A lot. I said not nice things about Mari and even said she wasn’t my friend. But that’s not true! She is my friend but I was mad and sad that I didn’t get to play how I wanted because I have to watch out for her. I hurt her feelings, Momma. I feel really bad.”

“I see. Have you talked to her?”

“No… I didn’t know how to. And there were some mean kids who pushed me down because I made her cry. But she came and stood up for me. You should have heard her, she didn’t even stutter!”

“I think you should find time to talk to her when we get home. Apologize and tell her how you really feel.”

“But what if she doesn’t want to be my friend anymore?”

“She might be upset for a while, hon. Her feelings were hurt and she’s allowed to feel that way. Marinette is a very kind and smart girl; I am certain she will listen to you if you ask her to talk. And you need to listen to her too.”

“Okay. I’ll try to.”

And try he did but Chloe was glued to Marinette’s hip the entire evening. Anytime he would approach Marinette, Chloe would stare daggers in his direction and drag her away. Felix largely remained with them but every now and again would check in on Adrien, who had finally decided to busy himself with a puzzle at the table out on the back porch.

The sun had finally dipped behind the mountains leaving everything bathed in a light purple glow. He only had a few pieces left of the puzzle to do when the back door opened and Marinette stepped out, alone. She briefly glanced at him before hopping down the stairs and walking over to the large cottonwood tree at the far side of the yard, sitting down at the base.

Her movements stirred up a few rare fireflies in the yard and he watched as they danced around each other, slowly moving through the air. Fireflies were always a treat to see in Wyoming, especially this late in the summer. Their lights eventually stopped flickering and he brought his attention back to Marinette, who hadn’t moved but had been watching the lightning bugs as intently as he had.

It was now or never, so Adrien abandoned the almost-finished puzzle and walked over to her. No more fireflies emerged.

“Hey, Mari. Can I sit with you for a moment?”

She nodded and he sat next to her, up against the wide trunk of the tree.

“I’m sorry for earlier. I said stuff I didn’t mean.”

“I k-know.”

“You… know?”

“Mmhmm. You w-wouldn’t-t help m-me s-so much if I w-wasn’t y-your friend.”

“Oh.”

“It st-till made m-me sad t-though.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I f-forgive y-you.”

“Really? Just like that?”

She looked over her shoulder at him. “Yep!”

“But why? I was mean.”

“B-because you aren’t-t always m-mean. I knew y-you didn’t-t want-t t-to watch m-me at-t school and I want-ted t-to b-be a b-b-big kid t-too.”

“I just… it's hard sometimes I guess. I wanna play with Chloe and Felix too but sometimes we can’t because…” He didn’t want to insult her again so he cut his sentence short.

“B-because I am small.”

“Yeah… because of that.”

“I’m s-sorry. I don’t-t t-try t-to make us s-slow.”

“I know you don’t.”

“I only p-play the k-kitty b-because you love our k-kitty s-so much. He m-makes you happy a-and I w-want t-to m-make you happy t-to say t-thank you f-for al-ways-s helping m-me.”

He had never even thought that she would have done that to make him happy but knowing Marinette, it made sense.

“I didn’t know that. I thought you were trying to take it from me.” He chuckled a little, now the idea seemed so silly.

“Nope. I w-would rather be a ladyb-bug or h-orsey.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t a good friend to you Mari. Can we maybe start over?”

“I’d l-like t-that.”

She leaned her head on his shoulder, relaxing against him and he rested his head against the tree. The fireflies from before began blinking and twirling around the yard again and he and Marinette remained there, enjoying the companionship and serenity that came with a true friendship.

There was no one who made Adrien happier than Marinette Dupain-Cheng, with her sparkly pink cowboy boots and pigtails adorned in matching bows. She was kind and smart and the best friend he could have ever asked for. He couldn’t wait to spend this year being her friend too.

[user-needs-new-hyperfixation]

Another post that doesn’t know whether it wants to be a headcanon or a fic.

My perception based on the tiny fragments we know (and on my own memory because I did not go back to fact check any of this) is that:

The Holmes family has been working for the English government since the French Revolution, implying a certain degree of status, though likely no titles since their work is largely secretive and functions as a form of atonement. I've seen some translations refer to Mycroft as Sir Holmes, so if that's correct then he at least may have been knighted. It seems reasonable to assume some amount of wealth in the family, and Mycroft and Sherlock were likely born at a familial country estate analogous to the Moriartys' Durham manor.

Since Sherlock keeps his Cockney accent as a tribute to his roots on his mother's side, it would seem that she was from London, and from the working class.

And here's where I'm going to spin those fragments into an elaborate headcanon/ficlet kind of thingy:

I tend to perceive Mycroft as following closely in his father's footsteps, and Sherlock as Mama's boy. But that implies a certain distance between the parents, that Sherlock had reason to consider Mycroft's path a betrayal of their roots.

I think what I'm getting at is that the mysterious Holmes parents could be a realistic, bummer ending to a Cinderella story. A lower class girl marries up the ladder on an infatuation, only to find that she's dismissed and snubbed and overlooked at every turn not only by the social circle she's married into, but also more and more by her husband himself.

But she's headstrong and sharp and she teaches her boys her heritage and her slang and her street-smarts. She's where they get their cleverness, both inherent and learned. And when her husband dies and her eldest decides to pursue a course of duty and play by the rules that come with it, she sends him off with a wink and a smile and her blessing. But the youngest is too young, still, to understand. He is convinced it's a betrayal, that his brother has mimicked their father in dismissing their mother over her roots. He doesn't realize that what Mycroft has done is his own form of tribute: that the brilliance and practicality his mother gave him is now at the helm of the nation. He may not look or sound it, but a Cockney boy is running the show.

And then their mother dies, when Sherlock is just at the cusp of adulthood. And Sherlock, in his grief and his long-held anger over how she'd been treated, doubles down, refuses to adapt, refuses to change. She was the only person he really respected and would listen to, and without her he drifts. Becomes listless, starts doing drugs, smokes like a chimney. And his mother would have ached to see it, because it was never her intent that her boys make life harder for themselves, only that they know how to survive whatever hardships life gave them.

Miss Hudson is the turning point, when Sherlock moves to Baker St. She's not identical, not a replacement, but her scolding and her common sense and her affection are familiar enough to start to break through the fog. She steps naturally into the role of big sister, and it's her constant exasperated prodding and warm encouragement that coax him to start putting his interests and his skills to some use. So he builds a small reputation for himself, writing treatises on niche subjects he has mastered, solving people's little mysteries and lending the Yard an extra eye now and again.

One day, he boards a ship in pursuit of one of those little puzzles: nothing criminal, just some oddity. He finds himself mingling with the upper crust he still so loathes, increasingly irritated by a slew of rich girls who so clearly consider him some novel toy, the clever man with the commoner accent and the worn out shoes.

And he eyes the mathematician gazing at the stairs like they're stars, and thinks perhaps there's a bit of fun to be had here after all. The rich boys are the same, after all, keen for a tumble with the lower classes: so exotic, and so unlikely to be believed should they try to tell tales. Sherlock hates them all, but pleasure is pleasure, and he gets a mean little thrill from knowing he's being looked down on, when they don't know that he could easily see them ruined with the right combination of words and tone directed towards The Government.

So he pushes his hair back and bares his throat and flirts, sees his hook latch. Got 'im.

And then...the whole goddamn world turns upside down, because this rich boy sees him. Sees all the things he has chosen to be and to do. Makes no assumption that any part of his presentation is accidental or involuntary. Sees all the things that would normally earn him compliments, and all the things that would normally earn him scorn, and offers neither. Offers only the understanding that who he is, for better or worse, is who he has chosen to be.

And then, on the heels of that miracle, there emerges a puzzle so much better than the one he came for. And behind it, the glinting strands of a web, and the shadow of the clever weaver at the center.

It's too extraordinary, that such a man and such a puzzle could rock the foundations of Sherlock’s world in such short order, unless...unless the spider behind the puzzle and the mathematician who sees him are one and the same.

And so, Sherlock Holmes falls in love.

[vashhanamichi]

If you're still doing the ask game, I would love more about Albus Novinha, Enfia que cabe and Grande Familia. I hope that 2024 has been kind to you so far and if not, I am sorry to hear that and I wish you better days ahead

Once more I apologise for taking so long to answer! Thank you both for asking and for your patient. I hope this answer will be entertaining. So: Albus Novinha is a first pov story about a sixteen year old Albus whose handsome and charming new transfiguration teacher is a certain time-travelling Dark Lord. The idea of a young, malleable and sweet Albus is simply too much for Voldemort to resist. Here it is:

Now I’m an adult – I like to think so – and what I came to know tints the memories I have, sharpens the details of certain dates. I can recall the pattern of Ariana’s braids the day she was attacked, the dirt on her scrapped knee, the torn sock, the torn dress. I knew that day would change me, and it did, as it changed her; I knew memory would be merciless. I didn’t know so with Tom – what was that first meeting after all but a handsome man, some flirting, the general effects one should expect, later that night, on a teenage boy teeming with hormones? But perhaps I had a hunch. You see, I had never met one of his kind, I was not inoculated against his effects. Say, a wild fox that knows not her hunter. And yet, didn’t he, or the stamp of his power, kindle some unease in me? Something I buried and would continue to bury the following months as I grew more and more enthralled by him.

No, I’m lying. The unease itself appealed to me. He didn’t come to me, crossed oceans of time to find me, as I would later learn, by ship, by consuming its crew, with soil from his home carried in coffins. His soil was the same as my own and I meet him by daylight. But his teeth were sharp and I devised a hunger in him as he looked at me that day, as he held my hair, my wrist, and it thrilled me, as it thrilled me to be called pretty. What excuse can I offer? I--

I was sixteen and liked men. Is that enough? I know I wasn’t a child. But at the age, having been earning some money for a while now, hailed as gifted by all my teachers and fellow students, I thought by my brilliance and power I’d go to the world unharmed.

He would teach me things I did not yet know.

Grande Família is a Grindeldore raises Tom story, and it's been nagging me for a almost a decade now. It's in its early stages:

Grindelwald, an only child, knew very little of it, so he entrusted Dumbledore with the minutiae around acquiring das Kind; it was Al, whose arms were accustomed to holding babies, he being an older brother of two, that chose the furniture for the room, the toys, the books (including muggle fairy tales, mobile airplanes, teddy bears, a train set) and the clothes their little antichrist would come to use. Wife chores, he’d teased, taking between his fingers one of Dumbledore’s strings of hair, kissing it. Albus had smiled, used to it. There was some truth to the joke: Albus, having insisted they expanded their family, was to play the role of mama since he was so keen on adopting the brat; Gellert was happy to be the husband coming home late, whose parenting consisted of less bureaucratic endeavours. And that was generous of him, really, because his first impulse, upon seeing Tom’s future and tasting his power with his seer’s eyes, was to kill the boy.

He had told Dumbledore of what he’d seen, whilst playing with his lover’s hair as he laid over Gellert’s chest. They weren’t in England then but in the Soviet Union, trying to make sense of how much the new state had been accepted by Russian wizards. How much Stalin knew, and thought to share with his comrades, about the existence of magic. How many had died.

“This child will grow up to be more powerful than me and you. I’ve never seen anything like it. A born Parselsprache too – though we believed they were extinct.”

The languid sinew of his lover, the fall of his hair over his shoulders, the lightness of that spindly body that turned over his to fix on him a blue-eyed stare.

“An obscurus?”

“No. Just raw, absurd power.”

“Where is he now?”

“Some muggle hovel in London.”

Finally, Enfia que cabe is a shameless omegaverse in which Tom, in the year 1943, realizes that Dumbledore is an omega and his obsession with his teacher grows exponentially.

Almost five years of virtue had not been enough to erase that first sin. Tom had pictured many revenges for Dumbledore’s crime of disapproval. But these were childish fancies. Wasn’t he shedding this skin? And yet, when the talk grew of Dumbledore facing Grindelwald, Tom felt a prick of annoyance, that his professor should be distracted by other Dark Lords. Indeed, Dumbledore had been more preoccupied lately, thinner, paler, often looking out of the window when there was still light. The furrow between his eyebrows wasn’t fear but some odd sadness, and he seemed unaffected by the cheerful holiday mood. He’d gaze at Tom sometimes, at a chance meeting on a hallway, as if through a veil. Tom didn’t dare try to [] on these moments, but he didn’t need it to guess that his teacher had slipped somewhere in his mind from which he returned, a few seconds later, putting on the [] smile, exchanging some pleasantry with Tom and then moving on. Being a creature of boundless greed, Tom wanted to follow his teacher there, to the marrow of his mystery. Many times he had felt, though his occlumency was almost as good as his [], that Dumbledore could see everything within him. And what he saw he didn’t like.

I hope you liked it!

[thegh50stthatroams]

What would you guys think if they made a gender-bend version of Phantom of the Opera? Like how would it work? Would the story progress differently because the roles are switched? Would the time period their in play any factors? ( Mainly because it took place in the late 1800's , and y'know... sexism) Would the ending be different???

But most importantly; would the songs and the lyrics change? ( Most obvious yes because the pronouns would be switched )

Allow me to give my version of what would most likely happen

- Christine Daae as a male would be Christopher Daae or Christoph Daae for short. What was once a deceased father is now a deceased mother and since Christine was a low-key daddy's girl, it's obvious that the guy version would be a mama's boy. Christopher would still retain the same kind, gentle, shy and compassionate demeanor as Christine but gets teased for being too shy for a guy. Let's just say he's considered quite effeminate by the standards of the late 1800's. His story would progress similarly as Christine's, going from a ballet dancer to a lead singer that's stalked to having to choose between two choices of lovers that could result in life or death, the usual. When it comes to the musical moments, i think Christop would either be a countertenor or a baritone hypothetically speaking.

- Raoul de Chagy would be known as Rochelle de Chagy, a Viscount now a Viscountess. Like Raoul, she would probably have suppressed feelings for her childhood friend and became a patron to the theatre that Christoph was in just so she could watch him perform. (Here's where I'll change the plot a tiny bit) Rochelle will try to use money and her status to solve everything and even tries to get Christop to quit the theatre and come live with her, she even tries to pay the phantom large amounts of money to leave her and Christop alone (suprise, phantom doesn't want the money, only Christoph). We all know that Raoul kinda gaslit Christine into thinking that the phantom was just in her head, so Rochelle would likely do the same thing but instead of gaslighting Christop, she would just disregard Christop's fear and calls him a coward, even telling him to 'man up'. During the scene where Raoul had to venture down to the phantom's lair and almost gets hanged, Rochelle wouldn't be in the same exact situation but will face the same difficulties (ex: instead of getting tied up and hanged, the phantom would likely threaten Rochelle with a rifle)

Madame Giry's only change to her name is from a Madame to a Monsieur. Monsieur Giry would still be a strict ballet instructor. He would have a son and be the adoptive father of Christoph. The only difference is that Monsieur Giry has a limp in his leg, that's why he walks with a cane. Monsieur Giry would still be the phantom's messenger and have history with the phantom. He rescued the phantom when he was still a young ballet dancer

Meg Giry would be, i guess Montaigne Giry ( I have no idea what's the male counterpart for the name Meg so Montaigne will do). He would be the best friend to Christoph. Unlike most people in Christoph's life, he doesn't make fun of Christoph's soft demeanor. I think that Montaigne would find the phantom's lair at one point and the phantom catches him and could possibly use him as leverage against Christoph. There was one scene where the phantom hanged a backstage crew member during a performance. In this version, the female phantom would drug Montaigne and hand him instead. This results in isolating Christopher as his best friend is now dead.

Last but not least is the phantom himself, or should I say herself. Eric the phantom will now be known as Erica. She has the same backstory as her male counterpart and with younger Monsieur Giry rescuing her. Since her only connection to the outside world is through Monsieur Giry, a guy. Erica was mostly provided with male clothing and she wore pants as it was easier to traverse the theatre and the sewers much quieter. Eventually she would watch the female performers sing and teach herself the craft as well. Not only did opera come to her naturally, but she was a master at writing plays and songs, producing many plays that would earn the theatre fame and fortune. She had the voice of a siren, able to hypnotise

[teabreakpancakes]

Dearest Friend Of Mine Axe Boy x Orphan! Male Reader

Genre: Fluff

they are both kids in this

Robbie could vividly remember one of his friend's from the orphanage. He was the one who welcomed him and Dolores—an energetic boy around his age with a memorable smile that he could never forget.

He was a kid that was all over the place, never staying in one spot for too long. Weirdly enough, he'd stick to Robbie like glue which at first, annoyed the boy but eventually, he warmed up to him.

He was confused on why he still stayed despite him being a cry baby though.

Before the church took over, (Name) would help him do work, assisting him even though he himself was struggling—though, most of the time, Dolores had to intervene so they wouldn't get hurt.

(Name) tried assisting him with chopping wood once. Let's just say that they were both scolded by Dolores.

When the church took over, it was good for a while. Me and (Name) would occasionally work on the garden as a hobby but then the weird people came and started giving us this yucky violet medicine.

They kept telling us that we were sick—(Name) in particular didn't take it too well, a week after he started refusing the medicine, they decided to inject the medicine into him instead.

(Name) doesn't like the medicine, he says that it killed his mother. Seeing the medicine would make him freak out, he ran out of his room and went for me and Dolores when they tried forcing him to drink it.

He cried a lot that day, I've never seen him cry so much, It hurt to see him cry like that. I like it when he has that giddy and bright smile on his face whenever he sees a friend of his.

"Don't leave me like mama did when she drank the weird medicine" He pleaded, pulling on the fabric of our clothes while we had him in our arms.

My shirt became damp because of how much he cried, it seemed like our roles were reversed but if it meant that he'd be the one sobbing pathetically then i'd rather be the one who cries.

While Dolores was away, I gave him the lollipop I had in my mouth, it seemed to work since his sobs turned into sniffles instead. He was already asleep by the time Dolores came back with one of the weird people.

They took (Name) to his room even though I secretly wished that they didn't.

A month passed, many things had changed. Dolores was acting a bit weird, she said that she wouldn't let me take the medicine.

Whenever i'd come over to her room, she'd take my medicine and throw it out the window. I assumed that she did the same with hers.

Within that month, (Name) started getting weaker. They also started giving us these really painful treatments that we couldn't avoid, the only good thing was that I started crying less.

A month later and my sister was even more weird, she seemed.. out of it. One time, she couldn't even recognize me.

(Name) was bedridden, the weird people told us that we weren't allowed to see him anymore.

Two weeks later, we see the nun and the priest carrying white flowers into his room, does he like white flowers? maybe I should get him some when I see him again.

Robbie stood up from his bed, he was gonna go to see Dolores again.

Little did he know that it would be the last time he’d ever see her again.

Robbie sat in the garden, bathing in the sun after working on the vegetable garden with Bane.

There was apparently going to be a new hunter, another child like him.

He was curious on whether or not they'd get along since other than memory, there was no other kid at the manor. He was glad to have the adults to hang around with but he wants to play with other kids too.

Memory was just that, a memory, so he couldn't play much with her. Occasionally, Victor, Andrew, Servais, Fiona, Anne and Fiona would play with him but he still wanted to be able to play with someone his age.

Robbie carefully raised his head, ensuring that it wouldn't fall off again—he was glad to have his head again but naturally, it wasn't kept in place like how a human would normally have their head attached so he had to be a lot more careful.

Standing up, he pushed his hand into one of the pockets of his pants, taking out a pink lollipop and putting it into his mouth.

Robbie didn't like having his head covered all the time, he usually only had it covered during games but other than that, his head often laid bare.

The boy walked into the manor, ignoring Kreacher as he passed through the hallway leading to the kitchen. Walking into the kitchen, he's met with the sight of Guard 26 taking out a tray of cookies from the oven, Philippe decorating a cake on the kitchen island with Edgar—they seemed to be having a pleasant conversation so he didn't disturb them.

Walking deeper into the kitchen, Luca, occasionally twitching as he stirred some batter in a large bowl. The inventor saw Robbie through all the ingredients that laid on top of the table, "Hello kiddo, the others are in the garden, setting up for a welcoming party for the new hunter".

Robbie thanked him, handing him a red candy before heading out to the garden, wanting to help set up.

Mary greeted the child with a small smile before heading into the manor to get more decorations, giving him a soft pat before leaving.

Robbie helped the other survivors and the hunters decorate the garden till noon, knowing that the new hunter would arrive at 6pm sharp.

They all changed into presentable clothing, waiting for the new hunter to arrive as the clock rang, signaling that it was 6pm already.

Naiad, Bi'an, Eli and Margaretha went to the gate to fetch them beforehand, not wanting them to get lost after getting dropped in front of the gate.

Everyone on the garden looked to where the sound of footsteps came, eagerly looking for the new hunter only to not see anyone—that is, until B'ian gently coaxed someone from behind him to step out.

A sickly looking white haired kid stepped out from behind him, bandages covering his neck, from under his sleeves and everywhere else that wasn't covered by his clothes.

His eyes were violet, and weird black crack-like veins could be seen where the bandages weren't covering. He would spasm as if getting electrocuted occasionally and chainless shackles were around his ankles.

He was dressed in a large white coat that reached his knees, a black band around one of his arms, he was barefoot but it seemed that he didn't need any shoes since he was floating above the ground.

His pale lips trembled as his eyes shifted from everyone in the garden. He stopped when his eyes landed on Robbie, his mouth going slack.

"R-Robbie?" his voice cracked as he ran towards the other boy. Robbie's eyes widened in recognition, his friend was still around?!

Robbie ran towards his friend, not caring if his head fell off while he ran. They hugged each other tightly, holding on for dear life.

"Wait, HOW'RE YOU HERE?!" Robbie exclaimed, pulling away in order to question the white haired boy. (Name) blinked rapidly before going "ohh".

"Well, there was an invitation in front of me when randomly woke up, I was dead so I don't know how I woke up but here I am—" the boy was cut off by Robbie asking him about how he died.

(Name) gave a lopsided smile, "Remember how they did tests on us? I died because they went too far" he explained how his eyes had turned violet from how much "medicine" they gave him.

The smiles on everyone's faces dropped when they heard about how cruel they were to literal kids.

But moving on from the discussion, they all celebrated the arrival of the new hunter. Robbie introduced (Name) to everyone except Kreacher and Freddy, wanting to stay away from them.

Joseph took many pictures that day, wanting to preserve the smiles they all had that day. Demi had made drinks for everyone—all non-alcoholic because she didn't want anyone to be drunk.

(Name) stared at Luchino, in awe of the fact that there was a huge reptile in front of him that could talk. "Can it speak?" he asked, leaving Robbie on the brink of tears as he and the others laughed, Luchino uncharacteristically chuckling as he explained to the curious child.

(Name) chased Hastur around while Yidhra and some of the others cheered him on as he tried getting the Eldritch god to lift him up using his tentacles.

Mike and Servais performed tricks for the kids, leaving them in awe. They even went to the rollercoaster in one of the maps, riding it till it was time to watch the fireworks prepared by the two inventors and Joker.

(Name) and Robbie were carried by Wujiu and Michiko, the others sighing in defeat because they weren't the ones near the two kids when they fell asleep.

psh, sober? me? yeah, no

[lady-of-the-spirit]

🍉🍈🍋🍌🍍

🍉 Do you prefer to write short fics or long fics? Multichaptered works or single ones? Why?

Short fics and oneshots. I will write longer oneshots, but mostly what I publish are short and single chaptered. Writing multichaptered fics is harder for me because I get bogged down and overthink when it comes to longer plots, and/or real life distracts me from writing as much as I want so I don’t update as frequently, and it stresses me out. I can write multichaptered fics, but they’re not my preferred type of story to write.

🍈 Who’s your blorbo and what are some of your favorite headcanons/ideas about them that repeatedly show up in your fics? Free pass to rant about blorbo opinions.

Honestly I do NOT write about some of my blorbos nearly enough but you’ve given me the freedom to run wild and I thank you. Some of these headcanons/ideas might have popped up in fics, some have not.

Tara WicDiv is a lesbian I will NOT give up on this.

Related, she also had a small following of dedicated fans who were fighting for her rights left and right before and after everything that happens in canon, but they were drowned out by all the hate she got. :(

Trevor Belmon was a mama’s boy, the youngest child and only boy of his family, and looked the most like his mom out of all his siblings.

Yataka and Yorunami would have been really good friends if given the chance because they would tolerate each other more than they would any of the other five sho.

Almost all of the Eternals had crushes on Sersi at some point. The only ones who didn’t were Ajak, Sprite, and Phastos. She is everyone’s favourite amongst their family.

War Good Omens is a lesbian.

Famine Good Omens and Franny are both besties and also in love with each other. everyone knows.

not a headcanon but I REALLY like the idea of Sersi/Thena/Gilgamesh as a poly trio. I don’t know where this idea came from but it latched onto me and won’t let go.

Yataka has trauma from his past (beyond the tragic romance with the princess and the thing with his parents) that he will never talk about. I headcanon both parental abuse and sexual trauma, and both lead to his aversion of touch and his germophobia.

🍋 What’s your favorite spicier trope to write?

Not gonna lie I don’t really write spicy stuff. I’ll write kissing but it doesn’t go very far. I have written one heavy makeout scene that I can remember that did result in smut that was short and not offscreen but also not described in depth and it was very embarrassing to write it took me a while to get through it.

🍌 In your opinion, what’s the funniest joke/reference/pun you’ve made in a fic?

This was a hard one but I’m gonna say my XMen First Class fic, this scene, when Marianne is talking to Erik about her “childhood friends to lovers” arc with her husband and the father of her child:

Marianne: We started dating when we were about seventeen years old, although hardly anything changed between us besides kissing and being more affectionate.

Erik: And I assume other things as well since Henry exists.

🍍 What kind of AUs do you like? Are there any AUs you hate or just generally have beef with?

I don’t have a ‘role swap aus are the best aus’ tag for nothing! (see also, my doctor-companion swap au and my prince mononoke au.) I love seeing what is changed, what stays the same, all of that, and how the creator works with or against canon. I’m also a fan of actor aus, specifically ones where canon is just a tv show or movie and canon characters are actors playing their roles, because I like the idea of evil villains just being fun chill people offscreen.

AUs I hate: alpha/beta/omega aus. I’m okay with some of them, ones that are well written, but on a principle I hate them simply because of how the world and society works in these universes.

fruit ask list

[ahundredtimesover]

Inevitable (01) | JJK

Pairing: Jungkook x (f.) Reader (ft. ot6)

Genre/Tags: exes au, parents au, baseball player!JK; angst, fluff, smut (18+)

Series Warnings: foul language, alcohol consumption, minor character death, explicit sexual content in future chapters (oral, unprotected sex but be safe please!)

Chapter Word count: 6.9k

Summary: You convinced Jungkook to break up years ago so he could pursue his lifelong baseball dream. Now he’s back home, staring at you, and the little boy next to you who looks unmistakably like him.

A/N: Couldn’t stop thinking about how Yang Jungwon’s role model is Jungkook and they have similar features (especially as kids) and the sweetest smiles! Hence, the little angel we have here. I hope you enjoy this first chapter! Also, you can message me if you want to be part of the taglist!

Series Masterlist || Previous || Next

##

You stare at the grocery list, eyes squinting to try to read the words you’d half-mindedly written down this morning. 

Your boss convinced you to take Friday off when it slipped that Jungwon has been having separation anxiety lately, as he hasn’t spent time with his mother this whole winter break. 

You’d been doing overtime - on weekdays and weekends - and your boss, a mother herself, knows that overworking would take its toll on you and your son, especially as a single parent. It’s why you’re here now, grocery shopping with the little one, something he enjoys doing with you, too.

Still, it’s just one day and it’s not really enough to compensate for all the other days you work your ass off at the company, but the pay is good and the people are kind; those have been enough for you to stay the past two years. 

A smile forms on your face once you decipher the crooked words on the piece of paper you’re holding up. You can make out the word ‘banana’ right before ‘milk,’ ‘choc’ somewhere near ‘ice cream,’ and ‘bron’ just next to ‘cereal.’ Brown cereal? Did he mean cocoa pops?

Jungwon has improved his writing and vocabulary and you pat yourself on the back for the times you’d forced yourself awake during your Sunday rest time just so you could guide him on his workbook. You congratulate yourself for thinking of showing him flash cards while he scrubs himself in the makeshift tub during bath time. And you thank the heavens for your best friend Taehyung’s bright idea of setting up a blackboard on the wall on Jungwon’s side of the bed so he can doodle until he falls asleep. 

“Am I not the best uncle, muffin?” Taehyung had asked the little one then, who always knew what to answer. 

“You and uncle Joonie are the best,” Jungwon had said. 

Your kid is a ball of fluff, you’d almost think it’s genetic because you definitely are not one, but the other half of him is. 

You brush away that thought before your chest begins to tighten. You choose to think that Tae and your older brother Namjoon, whom Jungwon spends the most time with apart from you, are true softies and he’d definitely gotten it from them. 

You’re still smiling, insides warming enough to brave through the January cold until you realize that you’re no longer hearing your son’s buzzing sound that he does when he plays with his airplane. For all his softness, he does give you a heart attack every once in a while because of his tendency to scurry somewhere that piques his interest. It was probably the aisle that had those chocolates he wanted so you pick up your basket and rush to the one right next to where you are.

Your heart drops to the floor at the sight of your son standing in front of a man who’s crouching down, tinkering with the toy. It probably disassembled again and this does not earn you a pat on the back this time for forgetting to buy Jungwon a new one that’s more age-appropriate, and for not paying enough attention. 

You’re partly shocked and partly curious - he’s a shy kid, tends to run back to you at the sight of an unfamiliar person, wide eyes usually on full display when someone tries to get his attention.

But not right now. He’s still wide-eyed but he’s sporting a shy smile, one he tries to suppress by biting his lower lip. Wonder where he got that from. Such mannerisms aren’t genetic too, right?

The mystery man hands him the toy airplane, which Jungown clutches to his chest. He bows at the man and whispers a ‘thank you.’ If that man wanted to do something bad, he would’ve taken Jungwon already but he hasn’t. You’re glad that at least a kind man has found your son. 

“Jungwon, sweetie. Come here, please,” you call out, moving a bit to try to get the man’s attention to express your thanks but he’s sporting a hoodie that’s engulfing his face. Maybe you should’ve been more scared. 

The stranger shakily stands up and turns as Jungown runs to you with his eyes not leaving his little toy. 

Your eyes, on the other hand, can’t leave the figure standing just a few feet away from you, like a bad dream but that isn’t exactly a nightmare. 

He’s here. He’s home. And he looks just as gorgeous as you remember - expressive onyx eyes, pretty thin lips, defined jawline, muscular build...

His own eyes move from you to the kid next to you, trying to come up with explanations, mind reeling at what this could mean. You sounded so tender, so loving, so… motherly.

“Jung—”

“Your—”

You both say at the same time. His eyes are fixated on Jungwon, probably trying to figure out who the child is to you.

“I’m babysitting,” you panic. 

Jungkook’s eyebrows furrow and just as he’s about to open his mouth to say something, Jungwon decides to not be shy in front of a supposed stranger.

“Mama, that man fixed my plane!” He excitedly says, and you hate to crush his little moment of joy. 

Jungkook’s eyes are now saucer-like, not at all minding that you were caught in a lie but that you, the woman who’d broken his heart all those years ago, have a child. A child whose eyes uncannily and painfully resemble his. 

You and Jungkook both seem to be in a daze, your own thoughts swirling in your heads at the situation that neither expected would happen. 

You stopped watching his baseball games about two years ago and had avoided whatever news about him would come up. Except recently when you’d heard about him possibly signing with a South Korean baseball team. Looks like did because he’s here, and he hasn’t been in years. 

You’d heard from your brother that Jungkook had been doing well with the LA Dodgers and you hadn’t expected that he’d up and leave what had been his home the past four or so years to, well, come home. You’re glad he is but you also aren’t prepared for this.

Jungkook, on the other hand, had tried his best to forget about you soon after you walked out on him that December evening, almost succeeding multiple times until he gave up altogether. He came home last week, earlier than what he’d told the media, since he knew they’d be hampering him about his homecoming, given his recent signing with the Doosan Bears, one of Seoul’s professional baseball teams. 

He’d spent the past few days in Busan to visit his mother and arrived from his 4-hour drive just an hour ago. He’d hoped to reach out or run into you but didn’t expect it to actually happen today. He definitely didn’t expect you’d have a son, too.

“Mama, did you get my banana milk?” Jungwon asks, breaking the bubble of confusion and shock between you and Jungkook, both unbelieving at the reality of you finally being in the same space, breathing the same air after so long. 

“Yeah, I—” you start, placing the basket down and picking up your son, suddenly feeling nauseous. 

Your mind is a puddle of thoughts and you just know that incoherent words will escape your mouth if you don’t leave right now so you make a run for it, or at least try. You walk briskly, clutching Jungwon tightly with his arms wrapped around your neck, so you don’t see him smiling at the man following both of you. 

Jungkook calls out your name, prompting Jungwon to state that the man who’d fixed his plane knows his mother. 

There are more people with their pushcarts near the exit, making it hard for your quick escape. Jungkook is catching up and upon realizing you won’t turn back to acknowledge him, he talks to Jungwon instead.

“How old are you, buddy?” Jungkook asks, legs clearly made for this. He’s panting though, you can hear it in his voice. 

You can’t make a scene so you just try to walk faster.

You feel Jungwon release an arm and you know he’s putting out the ‘four’ sign, something he likes to do. 

“When is your birthday?” Jungkook asks shortly after.

Oh god, you think. Jungwon loves this question. “July 6!” He exclaims. 

The footsteps become faint and you’re brave enough to turn back as you near the exit doors. Jungkook stands there, dots connecting, mouth agape at what this means. 

You leave the supermarket and run to your car, hurriedly placing Jungwon on the car seat and driving away, willing the tears not to fall. 

“Who was that, Mama?” He innocently asks. 

You admit that you’d thought about the day you’d see Jungkook and let him know about the little one too many times, but this isn’t how you planned it to happen - in public, when you’re incredibly tired, and when you haven’t thought about what you’d say. 

This isn’t how you planned on telling Jungwon, too, so you tell a half-truth, like what you’d done a few times before.

“He’s a friend, sweetcheeks. He’s just a friend.”

**

The tears eventually fall about 5 hours later. 

You got home from the grocery - without your groceries, watched cartoons with Jungwon, had food delivered, then prepared him for bed. 

You’re now sat on your couch, wine glass in hand, as you try to make sense of the overwhelming emotions of seeing the man that was once your world. Technically, Jungkook still is, considering that your son is half of him. 

But it’s different now. Too much has changed since you broke up with him, since he left 5 years ago to chase his dreams of playing for the Major League Baseball in the US, the dream he’d shared with his father, the dream he’d spent his whole life chasing.

Baseball had always been Jungkook’s world; a given, you always thought, since his own father was a baseball star himself, whose dream of playing for the MLB materialized during a trip to Boston as a teenager, the blinding lights and massiveness of Fenway Park and the roars of the crowd cheering for the Red Sox so alluring that he’d made it a point to watch a live game at least once a year. 

His own career as a professional player for the South Korean league had been commendable, leading his teams to championships and even playing for the 1996 Olympics. That had been the second best experience of his life, the first being Jungkook’s birth two years prior. Marrying his wife was a close third, and it was something the pair always laughed about. You know this because Jungkook raved about his parents a lot, used to talk about them like he just lived next door to his mother - whom he called everyday, like his father was still alive.

His father didn’t have the luxury of getting scouted by American teams because baseball wasn’t as big then, but his dream of playing for the MLB never faded. Just like what his own father had done, he’d taken Jungkook to a live game every year since Jungkook was six, and tried to watch in every baseball park of every major league team. 

They’d only make it to seven though. By that time, the cancer had been debilitating and he had to give up that annual date with his only child. Watching the Lotte Giants in their hometown of Busan had been enough for 13-year old Jungkook, who’d likewise been fascinated by the game, so was waking up in the wee hours of the morning to still catch MLB games on TV. 

Jungkook was 14 when his old man passed. 

He rarely talked about his father’s death. He also rarely talked about his father outside of baseball. He was a father-coach, Jungkook used to say, not the scary, stage father type who pressured him but the incredibly supportive, only slightly critical one. He’d made Jungkook fall in love with baseball, made him have a reason to wake up everyday, made him have something work hard for, fight for. 

After he passed, baseball became something Jungkook hung onto, something he used to remind him of the man that made him who he is today. It became the most sacred part of himself, not for the popularity it gained him nor the praises he received, but because it showed the best parts of him, which were also the best parts of his father - his self-confidence, his tenacity, his grit, and his resolve, his passion for his craft.

Baseball taught Jungkook the value of hard work, of commitment, of focus, while at the same time reminding him of his physical capabilities and limitations. 

It’s why he took his Sports Science course seriously, knowing that until his last breath, he would live for the sport. He’d play until he’s physically able, and do everything else when he can’t. 

Jungkook had always been a good leader - another trait he got from his father, served as the pillar of strength of every team he’d been a part of because of his vulnerability that allowed others to trust him, to believe him.

His self-confidence may border on arrogance, his forcefulness and intensity may be perceived as aggression, but behind his intimidating aura on the field - partly personality, partly physical prowess - is a tender human being who gets excited over sweets, gushes over Ironman merchandise, likes making blanket forts, squeals over baby animals, enjoys bear hugs, and who just loves to love. 

Those were what made you fall for him in the first place. They were what made your naturally cold exterior dissolve until your heart had become bare for him, until your insecurities had become insignificant, until you’d exuded almost the same joy that he had. 

Seeing him today just brought the memories back, as if nothing has changed with what you felt for him, as if the pain you felt when you told him it was over, when you walked out and he let you, was just a breath away. 

You didn’t realize just how much you missed him until you saw him again, until his proximity reminded you how his laugh used to sound, how his wide eyes and sweet smile looked like, how his sensual touches used to feel.

The tears fall again. That pain, that love - it’s like they never went away. 

**

“Uncle Tete!” Jungwon squeals as your best friend picks up your son from the floor, swinging him around in a circle, soft laughter reverberating through the walls of your cozy apartment. It only takes a few rounds before Taehyung puts him down and complains that his arms already hurt. 

“What happened to working on arm exercises?” You chuckle.

“Don’t remind me, you know I hate lifting weights. Plus, like that would make much of a difference,” he exclaims, slim arms out, being swallowed by his sweater. “I’m not an athlete, you know?”

You flinch at the comment and so does he.

“Sorry, too soon?”

“Yes,” you say, rolling your eyes and settling in the kitchen, a bit farther away from Jungwon, whose eyes are now fixated on the TV.

“Hey, I wouldn’t have known Jungkook was back if he hadn’t decided to revive our group chat yesterday after 2 years to ask everyone if they’ve seen you recently because you apparently have a kid and he believes he’s the father.”

“Pretty straightforward, huh?”

“He didn’t wanna waste time. Didn’t even care that your brother is in the same group,” Taehyung shrugs. 

“Probably knows Namjoon won’t check.”

“True. But still, how bold of your ex.”

“What did the guys say?” You ask, curious if they ever caught on. Your twice a year appearance since college graduation seemed to be enough for them.

“Yoongi cursed. Jin spammed with theories because he’s convinced you haven’t had a boyfriend in years. Hoseok sent a video message of his reaction, which was really just him freaking out. Jimin acted surprised.”

“And you?”

“I left the group chat.”

You smack his arm, earning you a scowl. “Real smooth, Kim Taehyung.”

“Well, what was I gonna say? ‘Yeah, Jungkook. Your ex-girlfriend was actually pregnant when she broke up with you and you’re totally the father?’”

“You could’ve feigned ignorance, you know, or like denied it until I figured out what to say.”

“___,” he deadpans. “One look at Jungwon and it screams Jungkook. His name isn’t actually subtle, okay? Look at your kid, he even dresses up and eats like the father he’s never met!” 

You motion for him to tone it down but Jungwon is busy watching the Avengers cartoons in his Ironman pajamas while sipping his banana milk. 

“I’m not projecting!” You say, defending yourself because you know that’s what Taehyung is gonna say. 

“It’s not my fault that my kid chose Ironman as his favorite Avenger no matter how many times I pushed Captain America to his face, okay? He didn’t even mind the shield I bought,” you pout. 

“And he won’t drink plain milk. If it’s not banana, it’s chocolate. And he loves sweets, loves to hug people, has the cutest laugh…” You sigh, still racking your brain on what parts of your son he got from you.

“Maybe the universe is the one projecting, you know? Like it just had to find a way for Jungwon to be connected to Jungkook, if not physically then by other ways.”

“Your theory is sweet but I doubt it, Tae.”

“My theory is backed by evidence. And a father’s instinct because that shit’s real. Jungkook was still around during those first two months, the bond probably developed then.”

“Jungwon was the size of a raspberry. It’s highly unlikely.”

“Can you just stop deflecting? The father of your son is here. What are you gonna do?”

“I don’t know! Get my shit together and figure out what to say? You know I’m not ready for this,” you exclaim.

“Funny that you knew exactly what to say when you broke up with him but now you don’t,” Taehyung cocks an eyebrow.

“Are you my best friend or are you out to get me?”

“I’m just saying. You made that decision all on your own. Didn’t even confide in me,” he pouts. “I could’ve thrown some other options that didn’t require you breaking his heart and yours too, and going through all this by yourself.”

“Except I didn’t go through all this by myself,” you pat his head. “I had you and Namjoon. You were all I needed. Still do.”

“We can never take the place of Jungwon’s father, you know that right?” 

“I know, I just… He’s not just my kid’s father, Tae. He’s my ex-boyfriend too. The man I loved.”

“You mean love. The man you still think about, and miss terribly.”

You squint at him as if in question. It’s been years since you and Taehyung had shared an apartment where he’d seen you cry almost everyday. It was something he wasn’t used to because you don’t cry, especially in front of others, not when you found out you were pregnant, not when you walked into Jungkook’s apartment only to walk out of his life. Not when Jungkook skipped graduation and left early for the US. 

Everything changed after Jungwon’s birth. It’s like all the tears you never cried decided it was time. And you had years’ worth of it.

“Your kid’s a lot more perceptive than you think. He tells me sometimes that he sees you cry when you’re in bed or when you’re watching TV with him, and why else would you be crying if it wasn’t for that man?”

Of course he does. Jungwon, again just like his father, is thoughtful and pays you a lot of attention. Seriously, what about you did this kid inherit?

“The dam breaks every once in a while, I can’t help it.”

“Now you can,” Taehyung says as he gives you a hug. “You should talk to him. And soon. You know he deserves it.”

**

Jungkook stares at the ceiling, unwilling to move from the comforts of his bed. Head throbbing from the bottles of SoJu he downed with his older cousin, Jin, last night, the events of the day before are mighty clear in his mind.

He’d really seen you, the woman who once laid residence in his mind and his heart that he could not get rid of no matter how hard he tried, because you’d broken every possible thing you could when you decided to break up all those years ago. 

He remembers that night so clearly, how he’d been excited to finally spend time with you so he could ask you to go with him to the US. You chose to break his heart instead, deciding by yourself that it wouldn’t work out. The only reason he agreed was because he’d been too hurt to even think of another way, but whether he agreed or not, he knew you would’ve walked out of his life regardless.

But there you were yesterday, dressed in your favorite-colored down jacket, hair longer than he remembers, little kid in tow calling you Mama.

Mama. 

He’d just gotten back in Seoul after a visit to his mother. He’d made sure to be sneaky, as he wanted some peace and quiet before all the interviews and events he’ll need to attend because of this “homecoming” that everybody seemed to be making a big deal out of. 

He was doing well with the LA Dodgers, even had meetings and possible offers with the Boston Red Sox, the team his father obsessed over. Jungkook was well on his way for bigger things in the largest baseball league in the world. 

He  decided to sign with the Doosan Bears instead, not even his hometown baseball team. He’ll chalk it up to missing home, maybe breaking ground so he can play in the Olympics, too, just like his father. 

He was gonna seek you out, that was definitely part of the plan. He still considers the breakup as partly one-sided and he wanted to know how you were doing. He also knew he was bound to run into you because there was no escaping your circle of friends, who apparently seemed clueless as well. 

Except for Taehyung, obviously, because he’s your best friend and he definitely would’ve known. But you’re here in Seoul, how did you dodge the rest of them? And Namjoon had really been able to keep everything a secret?

There were so many questions. Jin took it upon himself to be his confidante last night because surprisingly, Jimin, his best friend, had been mum about it. Jungkook and Jin spent the rest of last night scouring through social media for any trace of you and that kid but there had been none. 

Jungkook is desperate, not just because he wants to see you but the child… looked like him. 

The grocery was a few neighborhoods away from his,  but it was next to the bank he was in so he decided to just do his shopping then. He’d been going through the sweets aisle, ready to fill the pantry of his new apartment with his favorite snacks, then he heard a thump and a soft quivering voice. 

He turned to see a little boy looking sad over his toy airplane whose one wing had been clipped off. An adult didn’t seem to be around and he definitely trusts himself more than any other stranger so he’d approached the kid and asked if he needed help.

Curious doe-eyes met his questioning gaze, until the little kid took the airplane and its broken wing in his arms and cradled them. 

“It’s hurt,” the kid had said, and he felt his heart burst at the cuteness and softness of this child. Jungkook took the toy and easily fixed it, the sliding slot probably too hard for his little hands to maneuver. He was about to ask for the kid’s name when he heard a familiar voice call out, the kid looking up and scurrying away from him.

And then there was you. 

Everything felt hazy until the kid called you his Mama. You’d picked him up and started walking away before Jungkook could even greet you. He’d seen your abandoned grocery basket, which he could easily pass up as his own because of the same things he’d buy for himself. 

The wheels were turning in his head and it wasn’t until the kid, apparently named Jungwon, stated his age that Jungkook pieced everything together. Or at least the possibility.

Could Jungwon be his child?

At the thought of this, Jungkook froze, watched your figure disappear from his sight, the eyes of the child boring into him as you walked away again. The kid let out a small smile and Jungkook had seen enough pictures of himself as a little kid in the news the past few weeks to be reminded of how he looked like, and he looked like that. It was unmistakable. 

The scene plays in his head again and Jungkook feels the throbbing of his chest match the throbbing of his head, the need to confirm his suspicions and know the whole truth seeping through his veins. He tries to calm himself down, which is difficult, but he knows he needs a level-head if the truth is what he wants from you. 

It’s just past lunchtime and he calls Jimin for help. As he enters the passenger seat, Jimin asks his friend for the destination.

“Take me to Taehyung’s place.”

**

Jungkook is running on adrenaline. With a sober mind now and a still-aching chest, he’s willing his body to relax but he’s unable, focused only on finding the truth.

There’s concern and an air of acceptance in Taehyung’s face when he opens the door to Jungkook, the idea of him showing up here having something that Taehyung has considered. Jungkook has at least half a mind to reach out to someone else before going to you. 

Taehyung welcomes him in, knowing better not to argue or match the other man’s emotions. Jungkook doesn’t ask questions though and instead heads for the refrigerator, bites his lips at the sight of the same brand of banana milk he’d seen in your grocery basket. 

He walks around the apartment, not missing the small basket of toys by the window. He opens a room that’s actually Taehyung’s art room and sees a paint set for kids, a framed photo of him with Jungwon placed on a shelf and next to it is a painting, the words “Jeon Jungwon” written at the bottom. It’s all the confirmation that he needs.

“Find what you’re looking for?” Taehyung asks, arms on his waist now, a bit of annoyance seeping through at the disrespect being shown to him. He gets that Jungkook is upset, but Taehyung knows him, knows he’s probably coming up with his own conclusions in his mind. 

Before Jungkook could say anything, they hear the front door open, Namjoon’s deep voice calling out. 

“Tae, did you get to drop off the groceries at ___’s? Jungwon’s been asking for his milk since yesterday and—” Namjoon stops as he stands by the door, eyes wide at Jungkook standing there, no doubt trying to keep himself together.

“Are you Jungwon’s father now?” He directs the question to Taehyung, the bitterness in Jungkook’s voice not lost on all the men present, including Jimin who’d been having his own battle in his mind because pretty soon, the anger will be directed at him, too. 

Jungkook is the kid’s father, he’s sure of it now, yet the thought of another man taking that role causes an ache in his chest.

“Jungwon sleeps here? Does art with you? Does he call you—”

“He calls Tae ‘uncle,’ Jungkook. The same thing he calls me,” Jimin says, essentially coming out.

“You knew? This whole time?” Jungkook yells, fists clenched as the anger builds.

“Just a few years ago but—”

“And you said nothing to me?”

“It was just 2 years ago.”

“And you’ve visited me twice a year since then and you never thought to tell me that I have a son…” Jungkook flinches at the word, unbelieving that it’s something he’d even say. 

“Look, just calm down, okay?” Jimin tries, but he knows it won’t do much.

“Calm down? I’m fucking livid. I have a…” Jungkook stops himself, willing the tears not to fall. All this time, you had a child that you’d kept from him, without a care of how he would feel.

“Jungkook, just take a breath, yeah?” Namjoon says this time, walking towards the younger man and pulls him in for a hug. “It’s a lot, I know. But just breathe for a bit.”

Jungkook pulls away, a mix of anger and sadness in his eyes. “How could she keep this from me?���

“Only she can answer that,” Namjoon sighs. 

“I need to see her,” Jungkook states after a long pause.

“I can ask when she’s free—” Taehyung offers, ready to get his phone.

“I need to see her now.”

**

Jungkook finds himself in Jimin’s car, with Taehyung in the backseat talking to you over the phone, saying that he’ll take Jungwon for the rest of the afternoon and that they’re on their way. 

Jungkook listens to Taehyung talk to you with so much care, the way he always had all those years ago. Nothing has changed, really. 

Back in college, people tried to keep their distance from you, afraid of your resting bitch face and usually cold demeanor. Jungkook had heard about you from Jin, a good friend of your brother’s, and couldn’t quite reconcile the incredibly friendly and gentle Taehyung as your best friend. 

It was one of the things that intrigued Jungkook, and he’d find out later on, after pulling all the stops with his flirting and finally getting you to agree on a coffee date, that you really did have a bitch face and you were cold if you wanted to be. 

But you were so unapologetically you that it was refreshing. It wasn’t a defense mechanism or anything, it was just really who you were, but that wasn’t everything about you - you were also caring, protective, generous, extremely hardworking, and very confident. 

Jungkook had fallen in love faster than he could throw a baseball, and he knows he can throw past 90/mph. 

You complemented each other so beautifully that fights were easily resolved, if any, dates were always exciting, and moments together were never boring, even if it was just you quietly working on a paper and him noisily studying his games. 

Taehyung was relentless in befriending you and you caved in pretty easily. “Look at the smile,” you’d said once. “Who can resist that?” You always had a soft spot for your best friend and Jungkook never minded; he’d trusted your relationship and you when you said that he never had to worry about Taehyung.

Except now. Because Taehyung seems to be a father figure to his son, being what Jungwon had needed all these years, while Jungkook had been clueless about it. 

The night you broke up with him, you left him a weeping mess and begging behind closed doors to please don’t go. He felt he’d lost a big part of him, felt the soul-crushing feeling of losing someone again. 

The loss of you was something he couldn’t prepare for and he’d spent years trying to put the pieces again, all on his own, in a foreign country, while chasing his dream. It had been hard but after some time, he rationalized in his mind that maybe you were right, maybe it would’ve been very hard for the both of you given the distance, the time difference, the busy schedules. It wouldn’t have been fair; he’d accepted that.

But keeping his child from him like this? This is too much. This is ruthless. You made a decision again. All by yourself. And he’s angry.

**

Everyone is thankful that Jungwon is asleep, although it’s a chance for Jungkook to see the little one in slumber, looking like the most adorable boy in the world. 

Jimin and Taehyung agree to leave first, Jungkook not wanting them to wait, although he’s unsure how long this conversation with you is going to last. 

You’ve been pacing back and forth since Taehyung called, informing you of the impromptu visit and Jungkook being unrelenting in his decision to speak with you today. You would’ve wanted to wait, although you know that Tae is right - Jungkook needs to know as soon as possible; he deserves that much. 

In your more than 2 years together, you barely saw Jungkook angry - that was more of your thing because he enjoyed annoying the hell out of you every time and you always gave him shit for it. 

But you two barely fought - you understood his busy schedule and were never really the jealous type, despite the presence of his “fans” (except maybe around Sora who’d named herself as the president of Jungkook’s fan club like that shit still flies), while Jungkook always knew how to make it up to you. He rarely complained, too if you ditched him to work on your projects. 

But this Jungkook is different - his nostrils are flaring, brows are furrowed, jaws are clenched you’re afraid he’d break his teeth. 

You’re different, too. You’re nervous, more reserved, not with your usual crossed arms but with fingers fidgeting at the loss of control. 

You lead him in the living room and motion for him to sit down but he dismisses you. 

“Hi, Jung—”

“I need to hear it from you,” he breathes out. “I know, god, I fucking know but I need to hear it from you.”

You take a deep breath and you say the words you’ve practiced in your head. “Jungwon is our son.” 

You see him close his eyes, bite his lips, and tilt his head. It’s how you know he’s trying to control his emotions.

The silence is deafening but you give him time to process.

“How? I mean, you were on birth control and you said you never missed…” He stammers.

“Pills are not 100%, Jungkook. It just happened,” you explain, racking your brain for days right after you took the test over how it might’ve happened. At one point you stopped; it was no use.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” 

It’s the big question, the one he’s been losing his mind over. It doesn’t matter that it happened; he just doesn’t know how you could make that big of a decision all on your own when it concerned him, the other half of the child.

“You were on your way to the big leagues. I couldn’t take that away from you.”

“But you thought it was alright to take away years with my son?” He seethes. “Fuck, ___. That wasn’t your decision to make.”

It wasn’t, not fully at least, you knew it. But he wouldn’t make that decision, so you had to.

“I made it anyway,” you respond, tone more stern now. 

With all the pain and struggles it brought, it’s the one thing you stand by; it’s a decision you never regretted. Watching Jungkook play in the ballparks his dad never got to take him to, seeing him blow a kiss to the sky before and after every game, and catching him mouth the words ‘I love you, dad’ after his interviews have always been enough to trump everything else.

Jungkook had been living his and his father’s dream. It had always felt worth it.

“Why? I would’ve stayed,” Jungkook yells. 

“Exactly. You would’ve,” you yell back. “I was sure that the moment you knew, you would’ve passed up a dream you worked your whole life for. I couldn’t let you do that. I couldn’t let you make that decision.”

“So you made it for me, by giving me none at all?” He scoffs. “Real brave, ___. And real fucked up, too.”

“It was the only way for you to go!” You exclaim. “If you had known, you wouldn’t have left, you would’ve settled, stayed behind… You would’ve given everything up.”

“Because that’s our child, ___!”

“And we didn’t plan on having him!” You shout, tears prickling on the corners of your eyes now. 

“You’ve known baseball your whole life, Jungkook. Everything you’ve ever done was so you could play in the MLB and you did. You made it happen because you had the best opportunity and you took it, worked hard, got to where you wanted to be,” you rationalize.

He’s panting as he processes your words, mind going again to that night when you walked out on him, making sense of the reasons why, those you verbalized and those you didn’t. 

“I know you, Jungkook,” you sigh, your voice taking him back to the present. “You’d take responsibility because that’s the kind of man you are. You would’ve insisted on taking care of us, on letting go of everything else for us, for your son. And I couldn’t let you give up on your dream, the one thing left of your father…”

“Don’t you fucking dare bring up my father,” he snaps at you, eyes so cold and you feel so small.

“You wouldn’t have forgiven yourself if you let that dream go for us.”

“Then you don’t really know me, ___. Because the hell would I give us up just like that. The hell would I give up time away from my son.” 

He pulls his hair out of frustration, then lets go, tears now streaming down his face. 

“I was 14 when I lost my dad, ___.”

“I know, and I’m sorry—”

“No, you don’t know. And you aren’t sorry,” he retorts, his back facing you as he tries to get himself together. “I had to watch him wither away, had to stay by his bedside and watch him take his final breath because my mother couldn’t. I was 14 and I had to be strong for my parents. And I cried, every single night, for months,” he heaves. 

He turns to face you, wants you to know how much you’ve hurt him.

“I almost quit school because I wouldn’t get out of my bed, wouldn’t talk to anyone. I told you I suffered, that I lost my way,” he continues, weeping. 

But you didn’t know this, didn’t know he suffered like this, that he lost his way like this.

“But the dream kept you going, didn’t it?” You try. “It gave you purpose; you had something to live for, Jungkook,” you continue, reminding him of what the dream meant to him. 

He’d been young but he had so many memories with his father about baseball; it had been the core of their relationship, the thread that kept them connected years after his death. 

“In return for what?” He barks. “Fuck, I would’ve given anything to have my father again. And that includes that dream, ___.” 

You stare at him, his body now crouching down on the couch, unable to fully lift himself up. You’d never seen him like this. He was never afraid to cry but this is different.

Your own tears are relentless, as if telling you that this is all because of you and you deserve this pain. You had broken this man, and you’d done so without regret.

He looks up at you, wipes his tear-drenched face, illuminating the pain, the longing, the anger.

“You took four years of my life away from my son. You robbed me of that chance. You didn’t even give me a choice. How fucking selfish are you? You had no right, ___,” he huffs.

“I just… I know you, Jungkook. You would’ve stayed and then what?” You say, trying to stand your ground, but even you don’t believe your words, at least not anymore. 

“You’ll regret it down the road? Resent us because you had to stay? How would we feel? How would Jungwon feel, knowing that his father gave up his dream for him?”

“Really? You’re absolutely sure that’s what would happen? As if I’m not resenting you now?” Jungkook scoffs. 

“You don’t know what it’s like to have someone be taken from you, to not have enough time with them. But yeah, you need to have the last say always, right?” He says coldly, allowing the silence to let you take in his bitter words.

“You can’t ever feel like you don’t have control so you make all the decisions by yourself. Hurting those in your wake before they hurt you. But it’s all good right because you stand by it? As long as it’s enough to rid you of the guilt even if it hurts everyone else?”

This is how he hurts you - peeling away your layers and throwing them back at you, until there’s nothing left but all the parts you didn’t want anyone to see. But Jungkook had seen them, accepted them, loved you despite them. 

But he’s standing in front of you. And there’s no love in his eyes. You don’t think you deserve it anymore. 

You give him this, the last say. And he takes it. And he leaves. 

Like countless times before, you fall to the floor and cry. You cry until your sounds are loud enough, until you can no longer hear your own heart breaking.

##

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[kim-seung-mo]

New follower found you by accident and binge read Ur fics and wow I love them so much, I liked the 22 one where all of them were pregnant, cus it was new (I feel odd that I like it so much-)

Right I was gonna request something, can you do one after they give birth, like how it's like, them being dad's (I am so soft over men with kids-) if you can't do all then just seung cus I need more fics of this boy 😭

Can I be 🍒 anon?

Cus Ik I'm gonna be coming back for more hehe

𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕪 𝕂𝕚𝕕𝕤 𝔸𝕤 𝔽𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤

or...stray kids as dads, but there's a twist cuz they're taking the traditional mom role

♩ g/n!reader, omegaverse but it's barely there, pure fluff, just stray kids being cute with their children, though this can be read as its own, it is a direct continuation of this imagine so maybe read that one first?

♩♩ word count: 1.9k

♩♩♩ A/N: idk if ur even still here 🍒 this was from last year probably but here you go~

prompt list here (or you can request ur own)

Chan

Despite all the worries during his pregnancy, everything seemed to flow smoothly after the birth of your baby.

Chan seemed to have endless patience with the baby, whether it was feeding him, putting him to bed, or getting up in the middle of the night to change his nappy, he always had a smile on his face.

You were always afraid that he would get tired, after all, he already had to take care of his seven other children, and now with another one you were afraid that he might not really be able to handle it.

You were always proposing to him that you could take care of the children too, so that he could take a proper break.

But he would always say no, saying that it was his job to take care of the children and that he enjoyed it, and every time he would ask you not to worry about him.

Chan, a busy man, sometimes doesn't have time to breastfeed, so he brings the baby straight into the studio and takes care of it while he's making music.

Sometimes, after he finishes a song, he would ask the baby if it sounds good.

Your child who is less than a year old and couldn't even say "Mama" or "Papa" yet just looks at his father with his head sideways.

But he would always tell you that he was sure his children would grow up to love music as much as he does.

You don't doubt it for a second.

After all, Chan has been playing songs by Stray Kids for your baby ever since he got pregnant.

Minho

You had thought Minho wouldn't like children very much, and to be honest it's still a miracle that he would let you knock a baby into him.

But after the baby was born, all your worries seemed to disappear instantly.

Minho was simply adorable when he was with your baby.

There was a look in his eyes that you'd never seen before, one that was so tender and gentle.

The cats you owned seemed to know that there was a new baby in the house. They used to jump right on you or Minho, but now they were careful not to step on the baby.

The happiest moment for you is probably when you are all lying on the sofa together, Minho feeding the baby, you lying on his lap and the cat lying on top of you, sunbathing together as a family.

Although you were a little annoyed that Minho always focused on the baby and ignored you a little, it was your baby after all, so you didn't do much except ask him for more kisses at night.

Even when the child couldn't even stand on his own, Minho would still carry him by the hand and help him dance.

The smile on Minho's face when he did this was something you wanted to cherish for the rest of your life.

Changbin

"Changbin-ah, you know your son can't even speak yet, right?"

Changbin was trying to get his six-month-old son to sing his rap for the tenth time.

How could your son rap when he can't even say "dada" yet?

But Changbin just seemed so convinced that his son was "a genius like him".

Although you doubt that he could rap at six months, you did also believe that your son would grow up to be a genius.

After all, his father is Seo Changbin.

"Gee, if only we had a daughter......"

He grumbled to you as you both laid in bed after changing your son's nappy at 2am, holding your hand.

"Hey, he can't hear that. Besides, won't your daughter need her nappy changed too?"

Changbin grunts a little and wraps his arms around you.

"Daughters are so cute, sons are too naughty, I already see myself getting pissed off at him when he grows up......"

You kissed his forehead, "It's okay Binnie, you're going to be the best father ever. You already are."

Then you were silent for a moment and spoke again, "But...If you want to have another one...... I wouldn't say no."

And then... A year later, your daughter was born.

Hyunjin

Something went wrong the day Hyunjin gave birth and for a while things were a little dicey. You hovered in front of the operating room for hours in fear, your heart pounding.

At the time, you thought, "If something happened to Hyunjin or your two children, you would have hated yourself forever."

But in the end, everything went smoothly, Hyunjin's life was not in danger, and both children were healthy.

You were there that night... No, it was four or five in the morning, at Hyunjin's bedside, holding his hand and crying uncontrollably. Thanking God while hating yourself for not being able to help him bear the pain with him.

He had so many complaints under his breath, but when he saw how worried and scared you were because he was in danger, all his complaints disappeared instantly.

When you came home, you stayed with him for the whole day, not letting him go anywhere, except to look after the kids.

Although he said that you were a bit annoying, he knew that the fact that you were so worried about him was proof of his importance to you. So secretly he was a bit delighted.

There were two children, so it took double the effort. By the end of each day, Hyunjin was basically in a state where he couldn't keep his eyes open. It hurts your heart to see it and there was nothing you could do about it.

You could only do what you could to help him, whether it was looking after the children or taking care of him.

He always kissed you and told you he was fine. And said that this burden was a happy one.

You always reassured him too, saying that everything would be fine in the end and that there would only be happy days from now on.

Jisung

Although you have tried your best to reassure him that even after the baby is born, he would still be your first priority.

But after the baby was born, he still felt a little frustrated when you would always get up in the middle of the night to comfort the crying baby instead of staying with him in your warm bed.

Every time he feeds his baby, he has to sit in your arms while you help him pump out the rest of the milk the baby can't finish.

He still cries when his breasts hurt, just like he did when he was pregnant, and doesn't care if he wets your shirt.

You always felt like you were raising two children, even though there was only one real little baby.

He really does compete with the baby for favour and will get angry all day if you give the baby more kisses than you give him.

"Do you love me more or the baby more!"

Every time he asks this question, you facepalm yourself and give him a two-hour-long hugging session with your arms wide open.

But although he always pretended like he was at war with your child, he actually still loves him deeply in his heart.

As soon as the child starts crying, he gets upset too and even cries together.

Such scenes make you feel conflicted, not knowing if you should be crying or laughing. But at the same time, you would exclaim that Jisung really is the cutest person in the world.

Felix

"Y/N, can't an eight-month-old eat brownies?"

"Felix, he doesn't even have all his teeth yet..."

"Fine... I'll just go learn how to make baby food then."

Ever since the baby was born, Felix has been diving headfirst into the world of baby food preparation methods.

Every time you came back from outside you would smell a whiff of baby food in the house.

And Felix himself always smelled like milk.

He loved buying the baby nice clothes, cute little toys and the most versatile stroller.

When he pushes the baby out, he bounces around like a child with a toy car, which is probably the cutest thing ever.

The baby would always be in his arms if he wasn't in the stroller, and he even had to sleep with the baby in his arms at bedtime.

You always complained that the two of you couldn't get close like that, but when Felix looked at you with kittenish eyes and begged you if he could sleep with the baby in his arms, you couldn't refuse.

In the end, to keep you both happy, the three of you become a sort of chain of spoons.

You holding Felix from behind, Felix holding the baby from behind and the baby with his toys in his arms.

One more little thing...... That is, ever since your baby was born, the Stray Kids' Tik Tok account has been all about videos of your baby and nothing else.

Seungmin

Seungmin and the baby were like a big puppy and a little dog. Both were cute as hell.

He loved to let the baby sleep on top of him, just like he always used to love to sleep on top of you.

There was nothing about the baby from his clothes to his shoes to his toys that wasn't dog related.

You've seen a lot of pictures of Seungmin as a child. Your child arguably looked exactly like Seungmin when he was a baby.

You even start to wonder where your genes have gone.

"He has your eyes and your ears." That was Seungmin's reply.

But in your eyes, your child was practically a miniature version of Seungmin.

Your original nickname for Seungmin was puppy, but now you have a baby.

So it became big puppy and little puppy.

Seungmin's camera roll used to be filled with pictures of you and beautiful landscapes.

After the baby was born, it became you and the baby.

You didn't think it was wrong that everything was related to puppies.

It wasn't until when your child's first words were not "dada" or "mama" but "mongmong" that you realized the problem.

Jeongin

How was he going to take care of other babies when he was a baby himself?

That was your worry at first.

But it turns out that if Jeongin chose to do something, he would do it to the end, and he would do it better than anyone else.

You had all sorts of parenting books piling up in your house, and the YouTube recommendations page was filled with videos on how to take care of children.

You worried at first that he might be overwhelmed and panicky and frightened.

But he didn't at all, instead he seemed very proficient, as if he had done it many times before.

He was learning some new recipe or tip every time he had a spare moment.

Even when he was breastfeeding by himself, he was constantly flicking through them on his phone.

He really did try hard to be a good father, and it was all there for you to see.

He was obviously tired by the time he came home, but still insisted on cooking the baby's dinner, making milk powder, and singing a lullaby.

It wasn't just the child who loved to hear him sing lullabies, it was you too.

In his gentle voice, you too could sleep peacefully.

Your little fox has really grown up.

[uwusenpaiuwu]

Baji Being A Menace To Society (And Your Relationship) 2.0

Sequel to: Baji A.K.A. The Worst (Best) Matchmaker

Summary: Baji’s at it again, acting out-of-pocket and creating chaos for absolutely no reason, other than to see you suffer. In his own Baji-esque way, of course.

Pairing: Sano Manjiro | Mikey x Male Reader

Warning(s): Boku no Pico is mentioned, but there is absolutely nothing graphic; mentions of masturbation

Note(s): I am so sorry if it isn’t funny. Sadly, I am but an amateur writer, not a comedian. Still, I hope you all enjoy! ^^

"(Y/n), want some ice cream? My treat."

Usually, you'd be the first to jump at an offer for a sweet treat, especially when you don't have to pay. However, as of now, the word 'ice cream,' when said by Baji, instantly triggers your fight-or flight-response. Paired with the fact that he’s broke as hell, your suspicions only increase for the sudden indulgence.

Since you know you're no match for the long-haired menace, your body automatically prepares to flee, legs twitching to lurch into a sprint. Unfortunately for you, just before you can get the fuck out of there, your hand is being grabbed by Mikey, who leisurely begins to tug you along to claim your dessert.

“You like ice cream, right?” he turns to ask, eyes unbelievably soft when looking at you.

And because you’re weak for him, all you can do is nod stiffly, trading in your sanity for the pleased grin that spreads across his face, his confident strides thereafter likely a result of him successfully remembering another miscellaneous fact about you, as has been the case since you officially started dating him. From the most trivial of things, like which brand of pens and pencils you prefer, to the slightly more important stuff, like ice cream being one of your favorite desserts; he’s made the effort of remembering them all.

He really doesn’t need to do any of that, ‘cause you’ll love him either way, but the conscious decision to do so is what makes you love him even more.

Zoning back into reality, you shake your head to reorient yourself. It isn’t the time to be going over the reasons why you’re such a lovesick puppy.

No, there are other things to worry about, mainly Baji.

You squeeze Mikey’s hand as you’re led to the nearest ice cream parlor to try and calm yourself. It works for the most part, especially when you get a reassuring squeeze back.

‘Right,’ you tell yourself, ‘it’s going to be okay.’

After all, Baji wouldn’t do anything too drastic, right?

~~~

You were wrong. So, so wrong.

Despite nothing having transpired yet, every alarm in your head is going off, pounding at the door of reason to get you to wake up and realize that it’s Baji you’re talking about, the same person that sets cars on fire when hungry and punches the first unfortunate soul he passes by on the street when sleepy.

You really should’ve listened to your survival instincts and ran. Alas, it’s much too late to escape, leaving you to wallow in your anxiety, while you wait for misfortune to strike.

And strike it does.

“Please, don’t sit next to me. You make me nauseous.”

“That’s cruel. I bought you ice cream, and you treat me like this?”

Yeah, he may have bought it, but you refuse to eat it because of how intensely Baji is staring at you. Fucking weirdo.

"Oh, do you want some of mine instead, (Y/n)?" Baji accentuates his question with a sensual lick to his ice cream from the edge of the cone to the finessed peak, making you extremely uncomfortable as he stares you down with the full motion.

As slowly as he licks his frozen treat do you slowly raise your middle finger, eliciting chuckles from the other occupants of the table.

You think you won that mini battle, though?

Ha! Nope.

Baji mirrors the vulgar action, not once breaking eye contact as he dips the tip of his finger directly into his ice cream, pulls it out, and proceeds to lick that, too.

Disgusted, you promptly avert your attention elsewhere, praying that Baji won’t continue being, well, himself.

Your prayers fall on deaf ears.

"It's cold!" As soon as the exclamation leaves your mouth, your blood runs glacial, knowing that you've unintentionally played into Baji's trap. The appearance of a sly, almost feral, smirk when you whip your head around to glare confirms what you already know.

The curtain has risen, and you’re standing center stage in a performance you can’t break free from.

"Aw, can't let it go to waste,” Baji continues, reaching over to scoop the ice cream you’re 100% certain he purposely spilled on the front of your shirt, with his fingers.

Then, to your horror and everyone else’s shock, he asks, without an ounce of virtue to his name, "Want me to lick it off with my mouth?"

Chifuyu is seated on the other side of the table, hiding his face in his hands. “Baji-san...”

"It'll stain if it dries like that." Dear God, how you wish to un-see Baji batting his eyelashes at you.

“I don’t care!” At this point, you’ve resorted to clumsily scooting your chair as far away from him as possible, which isn’t actually as far as you’d like considering your surroundings. Hell, so long as you put some distance between yourself and the crazy bastard that wants to see you suffer, you don’t mind having to force yourself halfway onto Mikey’s lap. (The firm hand that keeps you steady by the waist proves that your presence isn’t unwanted either.)

"Geez, (Y/n), you're such a scatterbrain."

Seeing Baji sell the line with a slow tugging of his hair behind the ear has you torn between laughing and dying a little more. Truthfully, his acting is frighteningly impressive, and you would’ve applauded his performance, if not for the fact that the role he’s playing still haunts your dreams.

By this time, most of who accompanied you to the ice cream parlor have figured out what kind of drugs Baji is on this time, which also means that those fuckers have seen, or are at least aware of, the cursed trilogy of questionable porn that’s being reenacted before their eyes, with you as an unwilling co-star. Those that are puzzled as to why people are shoving their fists in their mouths to refrain from laughing are obviously God’s favorites.

“The fuck is going on? I wanna laugh at Baji’s dumbassery, too.”

“Pah-chin... I think it’s best you don’t know.”

Interestingly enough, the one you’re most concerned about hasn’t said anything yet, splitting his attention between observing the scene unfolding and eating his portion of a deluxe sundae.

Then, out of nowhere-

“I understand.”

You and Baji freeze where you are, each of you grasping the other’s collar, you to shove him away, and him to draw you closer.

“(Y/n),” Mikey says, your name rolling silkily off his tongue in a tone much too fond for his next words, “if you like roleplay, just tell me.”

...

“Huh?”

“I’m fine with pissing, remember? So, roleplay shouldn’t be a problem.”

Heat rises to your face at an alarming pace, and it continues to climb as Mikey takes your free hand in his, which serves not to comfort but to unintentionally remind you of the humiliating experience from a few months back. And just when you convinced him that you didn’t want anything to do with getting freaky with the body’s excreta, too.

“You’ve got it wrong! I don’t- arfghfgh?!”

Your prayer to help cool down your flushed cheeks must have been heard, but you’re pretty damn sure you didn’t ask for Baji to shove his ice cream in your mouth!

“Oh, yeah. (Y/n)’s a fuckin’ geek when it comes to roleplay,” the unhinged bastard speaks in your stead, indifferent to the nails clawing at his hand clamped over your mouth. “You should try it with him. We were doing a scene from his favorite anime.”

Mikey tilts his head, interest positively piqued. “Which one is that?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, leader?”

Mikey raises an eyebrow.

Baji opens his mouth.

You lunge.

It’s a series of events that happens in the blink of an eye and ends with loud crashing as you tackle Baji to the ground.

“Listen up, Baji Keisuke. We took an oath that day, and if you dare utter a word of what went down, I’ll consider that a breach of the code of secrecy and take you down, making sure you drown in a pit of your own shame and despair.”

Surprised to have been pinned down so quickly, it takes a while for Baji’s brain to catch up, but when it does, he’s frustratingly unfazed at the threat.

“Oho~ How scary. Too bad for you, I have no shame.”

“Not even if I tell Mama Baji where your porn stash is?”

That has the great Baji tensing up.

“You wouldn’t dare use an underhanded tactic like that.”

Your lips turn into a wicked grin. “Are you sure? I have as much dirt on you as you have on me, and like you, I won’t hesitate to use it to my advantage.”

If your grin is wicked, Baji’s is downright evil, showing off his sharp, gritted canines and all.

“You got balls, (Y/n),” he snarls, “but mine are bigger.”

The boy beneath you opens his mouth, and faster than you can stop him, he just...does it.

“(Y/n) (L/n) watched Boku no Pico and liked it!”

Silence.

Silence is all that’s heard for a good, long minute following the booming roar of the revelation.

You dare not look up to gauge everyone’s reactions, instead keeping your icy glare fixated on Baji, who looks smug as shit for having caused the glorious eruption of heat to spread like wildfire across your entire body, from the tips of your ears down to where your skin disappears under the collar of your jacket.

This...

This is war.

Taking in a deep breath, you answer his uncalled for declaration with your own thunderous shout of, “Baji watched Boku no Pico and jacked off to it! Twice!”

Baji laughs. “Oh, pray tell, saintly (Y/n), how many times did you jack off to it?”

“None of your fucking business, asshole.”

“Pretty fucking sure it is, since we were in the same room.”

Someone chokes, while you choke Baji.

“We. Swore. To. Secrecy. You. Asshole,” you practically growl, with each of your words accompanied by a ruthless back-and-forth shaking of the other boy’s person.

“Let up on the choking, dude. I’m not into that. You, however-”

Unable to take the ceaseless slander to your name anymore, you reel your fist back, but, upon seeing Baji’s cheek turned to you, jaw jutted out, as if inviting you to take your best shot, you hesitate. You know you wouldn’t be able to pack enough of a punch to actually leave an impact on him, which is terribly upsetting.

On the bright side, there’s still one tactic you can use that’ll be just as effective, a technique courtesy of your health teacher, who happily taught it to the class to use in case of an emergency.

Technically, it’s meant to be used to assess a person’s level of consciousness, but you suppose it can be used to get back at inconsiderate idiots, too.

“Ow! Ow! What the fuc-! Ow!”

You keep a straight face as you continue to rub your knuckles against his sternum, fully intent on delivering the worst possible pain to the current bane of your existence. It brings a sort of sadistic satisfaction to hear the ever prideful Baji’s screams of pain, and while it doesn’t completely undo the damage done, it does help soothe your wounded self-esteem.

“You want me stop? Beg for it.”

“Pissing, roleplay, choking, and begging? Goddam- OW!”

Your reign of terror comes to its untimely end when you’re lifted up into the air by the armpits, and through the haze of your power trip, you realize that Baji’s saving grace is Draken, who proceeds to carry you out of the parlor with ease.

“People are staring,” he coolly explains when you protest to having unfinished business.

Pouting, you cross your arms over your chest. “It’s his fault.”

Once outside, Draken doesn’t immediately put you back on your feet, until Mikey strolls out of the parlor. Only when the gang leader has his arms outstretched to you are you promptly deposited on the ground and taken into his embrace.

“Are you done letting off some steam?” is the first thing he asks you. Even though you can’t see his expression, the way he holds you and the way he cradles the back of your head, handling you with the utmost care, is indication enough that there will be no reprimand for, essentially, assaulting your division commander. (You would argue that it was an act of self defense against verbal harassment, but whatever.)

There’s just an overwhelming amount of love. So, so, so much love for each other.

“Yeah, I am,” you eventually answer, followed by a content sigh.

“Good.”

Naturally, that’s the perfect time for the tinkling of the bells above the parlor door to pilfer your attention. Baji’s appearance causes your face to morph into a scowl.

You cling tighter to Mikey, peeking over his shoulder to flip the ravenet off and mouth, ‘Go to Hell.’

As always, Baji answers your attempt to appear opposing with an obnoxious smirk.

‘See you there.’

~~~

“Boku no Pico, huh?”

“Draken, don’t laugh! Baji forced me to watch it!”

“All 3 episodes?”

“Twice.”

“...”

“...”

“Favorite scene...?”

“As if I’d have one.”

"Actually-"

“Ahh! Shut up! Why are you here, stupid Baji?! You live in the other direction!”

~~~

“Hey, (Y/n). Want to try doing the same thing with me?”

You look up, perplexed. Mikey literally just walked into the room, and that was the first thing he said to you.

“Do wha-?”

Your breath catches in your throat when you turn your head, only for you to come centimeters from bumping noses with him. And because he can, he lovingly knocks your foreheads together, too.

“It’s okay. I promise it’ll definitely be fun.”

You should feel ashamed for recognizing the same sequence of lines from Boku no Pico so quickly, though any coherent words are overtaken by an incomprehensible, high-pitched screech, a feat achieved solely by a teenage boy going through puberty.

A combination of shock and amusement crosses over Mikey’s features then. He’s never heard you make that sound before.

It’s cute. Strains the ears quite a bit, but cute.

While Draken lurks beside him, questioning Mikey’s standards of what constitutes as ‘cute,’ you’re sprinting across the room, red-faced, to Baji, who’s already grinning from ear-to-ear.

“Stop tainting my boyfriend, you piece of shit! Give him back his innocence!”

(Unbeknownst to you, whilst immersed in your fit of hysterics, your use of the word ‘boyfriend’ has a certain blond beaming.

“Did you hear that, Ken-chin? He called me his boyfriend.”

“Wow, congrats.”

Mikey either doesn’t give a shit or is simply too smitten to acknowledge Draken’s apathetic response.)

Baji blinks, unable to believe what you’re trying to insinuate. “Innocent? That little gremlin motherfucker?”

Both of you look in Mikey’s direction. When he sees you staring, he breaks out in a smile and throws a wave.

Your heart involuntarily skips a beat at the sight, and, okay, you’re convinced. Mikey deserves better than knowing of that cursed series’ existence.

Clearly, you’re down bad for Toman’s leader, and as such, Baji figures he can use that to quench his boredom for the day.

“Ooh, if only you knew what he gets off to.”

The tone in his voice instantly rouses suspicion. You narrow your eyes at him. “I don’t care what kind of porn he gets off to.”

“Porn? Nah, ya silly goose-”

“Don’t call me that.”

Baji ignores your comment as he moves to sling one arm around your shoulders, the other raising up to mimic an obscene tugging motion that no teenage boy is a stranger to.

“He jerks it to yo-”

BAM!

One second, Baji is lazily hanging off of your person, the next, he’s sprawled out on the floor, face down, and groaning in pain. You expect nothing less after witnessing him receive a rather impressive flying kick to the chest from Mikey.

Before you can assess the full damage, your view gets obscured by a pair of keys.

“Wanna take my bike out for a spin?”

Yes, you know Mikey is trying to divert your attention from whatever Baji was going to say, and, yes, you probably should check on the figure that has yet to get up.

But do you really care?

You take one glance at Baji’s concerningly unmoving body and quickly come to a conclusion.

You do not.

That being said, you quite literally drag Mikey and, by extension, Draken out of there, chanting an excited, “Let’s go!” on your way, abandoning Baji to wither on the ground.

Baji?

Baji feels betrayed.

~~~

"Chifuyu?”

“Hm?”

“Y’know, I was joking.” Baji flips onto his back with a grunt. “Man, who knew Mikey was all grown up?”

The vice captain of the first division hums, seemingly uninterested in his commander’s musings.

It goes quiet for a few minutes, the sole instigator of noise being Chifuyu flipping the pages of his manga.

Unpredictable is Baji, and the same goes for his train of thought.

“I should punch Mikey for kicking me.”

“No, you’d get beat up.”

“...”

“I should punch (Y/n) for Mikey kicking me.”

Truly, unpredictable and senseless.

“You’d still get beat up.”

Baji opens his mouth to argue.

“By Mikey.”

He promptly closes it.

“Fuck it. I’ll keep spicing up their relationship as payback.”

Sighing, Chifuyu closes his book to crouch down next to him. “Baji-san, with all due respect, you’re an asshole.”

Baji Keisuke has experienced betrayal twice today.

And he deserved it both times.