#sleepy sophie hours

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

Woo snowstorm!! I got cut from my shift so I get a fucking snow day and I can spend the day snuggled in bed with a book, and I feel like I'm in middle school again and its the best!!!!!!!

[captainsophiestark]

Unexpected Guest

Dick Grayson x Reader

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Written for my personal fic writing challenge for 2024, Sophie's Year of Fic! Featuring a new fic being posted every Friday, all year long :)

Fandom: DC

Summary: Dating a vigilante sometimes leads to a few false alarm scares, but Dick Grayson couldn't be happier with how well his partner rolls with his crazy family.

Word Count: 1,410

Category: Fluff

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

Crash!

My eyes shot open at the sound of a noise from the living room of the apartment I shared with my boyfriend, Dick Grayson. The man in question still snored peacefully next to me, annoyingly, but a quick glance at the clock told me why. It wasn't quite 5am, and Dick had been out patrolling until one in the morning. I listened carefully for any other noises in the apartment. I didn't want to wake my poor boyfriend up unless I absolutely had to.

After a few minutes of nothing, I heard another crash followed by a tense voice and what sounded like hushed swearing. This time, I didn't hesitate to roll over and whack Dick on the chest, hard.

His eyes shot open and he was half sitting up when I managed to throw a hand over his mouth to keep him from giving away that we were awake. My wide eyes must've tipped him off to something being wrong, because I immediately saw him shift from sleepy to ready for action.

Slowly, I dropped my hand from his mouth and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"There's someone in our living room. I heard two crashes and someone swearing."

Dick nodded once, then motioned with his hands while mouthing 'stay here'. He hopped off the bed, grabbing his escrima sticks from where he'd thrown them onto the dresser, then stalked towards the door with catlike grace and stealth. After a minute, I decided I couldn't just let him go alone, superhero or no, so I grabbed the bat I kept by my side of the bed and followed after him.

Dick popped out the door, and after a moment without hearing anything, I followed, bat at the ready. I found my boyfriend with one hand on his hip, weapons down, staring into the kitchen. I followed his gaze to find none other than Jason Todd in our kitchen, a mixing bowl and some eggs in front of him and a look with a significant lack of guilt on his face.

"What? I was after somebody and it dragged me all the way to Bludhaven. I needed a place to crash that was closer than Gotham."

Dick and I both shook our heads. As the oldest of a very high number of siblings, his apartment had become a second home base for every single other batkid. When we'd finally moved in together last month, he'd warned me I needed to be prepared for things like this.

"Glad you know to help yourself, Little Wing," said Dick with a sigh, waving one tired hand to Jason before turning and heading back to bed. I squeezed his shoulder and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as he passed me, then headed into the kitchen with a smile.

"My tax for you making me think I'd have to fight off an assailant with a bat at five in the morning is my own serving of whatever you're making," I said, taking a seat on one of the kitchen island stools. Jason raised an eyebrow at me.

"You're not going back to bed?"

"Nah. Unlike Dick, I got to bed at a somewhat reasonable hour last night, so the adrenaline dump isn't threatening to put me to sleep. I'd rather hang out with you, especially since you're a better cook than Dick and I combined. I'm not missing out on that."

Jason snorted, cracking an egg and resuming his cooking all the same.

"Dick contributes nothing to your combined cooking score," he said. "I'm pretty sure he's burned cereal before."

I laughed. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're right. He's gotten better though. We watch the Food Network and look up recipes to make together, and I can trust him with way more than I used to be able to."

"If you could teach him anything it'd be a miracle," said Jason with a snort. I just hummed, trying to pick up some new skills of my own as I watched Jason cook.

"To be totally fair to him, I once forgot what I was doing and strained soup because I was on autopilot for pasta."

Jason barked a laugh, unable to hold himself back, and looked at me with a grin and a raised eyebrow.

"Really?" I nodded. "That's pathetic."

I just shrugged. "Yeah. But at least there's not a lot of places to go but up, after that."

"I guess so."

Jason and I chatted as he cooked and I watched, keeping our voices low so Dick could sleep—although, after the night he'd had, he'd probably sleep through a train in our living room. After breakfast, Jason decided to go down for a nap on the couch, passing out almost as soon as we'd put the last few dishes in the sink. I just smiled, threw a blanket over him, and wandered back into the bedroom to find Dick.

It was late enough in the morning now that my boyfriend was officially up and about, stretching by the bed with his hair still a little messed up from sleeping. I grinned and flopped down against the headboard as he crossed the room to the dresser to pull out clothes.

"How's Jaybird?" he asked. "Still a good cook?"

"Still a great cook. And he's good. He seems a little wiped out from patrols and stuff, though. He's taking a nap on the couch right now."

Dick smiled and shook his head. "I get up and he goes to sleep. Typical."

"Clearly he's avoiding you."

"Clearly."

Dick and I shared a smile, and then he sighed.

"I'm going to take a shower. Hopefully Jason will be up by the time I'm out, because I actually have things to do today."

I smiled, shifting on the bed to pull the covers over myself. "I'm sure you can be quiet if he's not. Wake me up when you're out of the shower, okay? A post-breakfast nap sounds too good to resist right now."

My boyfriend laughed. "Alright, will do. I'll wake you and Jason up when I'm out."

"Mhm. Good luck with him."

"Thanks, I'm gonna need it."

I closed my eyes, getting comfortable and ready for my nap, but before I drifted off I heard Dick's shuffling footsteps crossing the room to stand by my side of the bed. A second later, he sat down next to me, the bed dipping under his weight. I cracked an eye open to squint at him.

"What do you want?"

He grinned at me and chuckled.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to interfere with your nap. I just... I wanted to say how much I appreciate you, and how good you are with my family. They mean the world to me, but I know having vigilantes dropping in at all hours of the day and night can be a little much to deal with. So thank you for being so wonderful about it, and about them."

I sighed, sitting all the way up and propping myself up on my hands to look Dick in the eye.

"Dick, I love you. And I love your family. Sure, it took a little getting used to some of the vigilante stuff, but the longer I know them the more I love them. You don't have to thank me for anything. They're my family too."

Dick absolutely beamed at me, wrapping one arm around my back and pulling me in for a kiss. I immediately reciprocated, tangling one hand in the hair at the nape of his neck. I smiled into the kiss and a moment later, Dick deepened it. We were right on the edge of escalating into something more, but both thought better of it at the last moment.

"I should take a shower," he said, still looking a little reluctant as he pulled away.

"Yeah, and you should stop interrupting my nap."

Dick snorted, rolling his eyes as he finally stood and headed for the bathroom. I grinned after him as he went, flopping back down onto my pillow only as Dick closed the bathroom door.

I took a deep breath and sighed, a smile on my face, as I closed my eyes for the second time. I heard the water start in the bathroom, and a faint smell of breakfast still hung in the air. I was surrounded by people I loved dearly, and who loved me right back. No matter the scare Jason had given me when he'd shown up, I couldn't ask for a better start to my morning than this.

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

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989

DC Taglist: @luv-ghostie

[svt-rizz]

Mr. Gentleman (18+)

[This is pure fiction.]

pairing: Joshua x reader description: office romance, smut..

I had passed the interview a few months ago and started working as an employee at a big company. Finally, I was financially independent, and I'd bought my big girl apartment recently.

Someone at the office had caught me eye the past month, one of my colleagues told me his name was Joshua and he was the "gentleman" of the office. He was extremely attractive, with a smile always on his face, interacting with everyone as he wished each person a "good morning" before he sat down at his desk.

By the afternoon, he had his sleeves rolled up and working non-stop. He looked confident yet he was so polite and kind to everyone unlike me. I was someone with anger issues and if people were rude to me I'd most likely return that attitude.

He even helped other colleagues do their work when they asked him. I wondered if he was ever tired of working and helping others at the same time.

Luckily, I never had to ask him for help. I could finish my work by the end of the day and then go home. I had barely interacted with him even though he was my crush for a while.

Today, my colleague Sophie had invited all the colleagues out for dinner. It was around 7pm, we all were sitting down at a table in an expensive restaurant which Sophie had chosen.

Everyone had a glass of soju in their hands, except me. "Why aren't you drinking Y/n?" Sophie asks.

"Oh it's ok, I get drunk easily." I say.

"Come on, we don't do this often. Have a drink, we can call a taxi later. Don't worry." She says.

She hands me a drink and I think about it for a while before finally taking a sip of soju. Today was Friday and I didn't have to get up early for work tommorow. So I guess it'd be alright to drink.

"Let's play a game." One of the colleagues suggested.

They decide to play spin the bottle and whoever it lands on has to give a truth or dare to the other person.

The bottle spins, this time being Sophie's turn, it lands on Hoshi another colleague. Sophie asks truth or dare and Hoshi chooses dare. Sophie says, "I dare you to kiss the person you're most attracted to in this room."

Hoshi gets up from his seat, his cheeks were pink clearly indicating that he was drunk. He starts walking towards our side of the table and sits down right next to me. His face slowly comes closer to mine and he asks, "May I kiss you?"

"What?" I ask. Hoshi wasn't a close friend and I didn't have much interaction with him at the office. I only greeted him everyday as far as I can remember.

His face starts coming closer as a hand stops him from reaching my lips. I look up to see Joshua holding out his hand between our faces.

"I'm sorry, he's drunk. Come on get up Hoshi." Joshua says as he picks up by his arm and walks him back to his seat.

Soon, the game continues for a while after the awkward silence ends. It was like everyone had started acting like they were sober after Joshua had stopped Hoshi from kissing me. Hoshi was sleeping at his table next to Joshua who was looking straight at me.

I tried to ignore his gaze as I engaged myself in conversing with Sophie. We were talking about our love lives which was non-existent for me. But Sophie had an ex-boyfriend who she kept talking about for the next hour.

{...}

The dinner was over and so were the games. Everyone was sleepy and ready to go home. Sophie had her phone in her hand as she booked a taxi. We waited outside the restaurant for the taxi to arrive, but when it came they were already people inside the car.

"Oh shit. I booked a shared taxi by mistake." She says.

The driver opens his window, "Miss, you won't get many taxis at this time. It's already late."

"That's ok. You can go Sophie, I'll book one for myself." I say.

"Really? Are you sure, Y/n?" She asks. I nod and ask her to get in the taxi. After we say bye, I sit at the taxi stand searching on my phone. The driver was right, I'd have to wait for a while to find another taxi.

The app was showing finding driver for the past few minutes. How much longer would I have to wait?

"Are you waiting for a taxi?" I hear a familiar voice. Joshua's voice.

I nod, "Yes, but it's gonna take a while before I find one."

"If you want, I can drop you off. I brought my car here." He says.

I take some time to think before I reply. Would I be fine with being in the same car as my crush? But its better than waiting here for an hour.

"That'd helpful, thank you so much." I say.

"Let me bring it out of the parking. I'll be back in a minute." He says.

As he leaves to get his car, I look at his outfit. The black shirt looked especially hot on him. But, thinking about a colleague like this was probably wrong. I only see him at the office and he might have a girlfriend already.

I was lost in my thoughts when I heard Joshua's car horn. He got out of his car and opened the door. Even though he drank a lot he seemed like he knew what he was doing. I got in his car and soon we were on our way.

{…}

I wake up to Joshua's voice, "Y/n we're here." I had slept in his car, the result of drinking too much.

"Thank you so much, Joshua." I say as I remove my seat-belt.

I open the door and try to get up, but suddenly I feel dizzy. I place my hand on the door handle trying to see where I'm going but the headache doesn't let me get up.

Joshua comes out of the car and runs to my side. "Are you ok?" He asks.

"It's fine, I just feel a little dizzy." I say.

Suddenly, two arms are lifting me up. I'm being carried. With me in his arms Joshua starts walking to the lobby. He asks me for my unit number and we enter the lift. Waiting for the lift to reach my floor, I close my eyes. I embarrassed myself in front of him.

We reach my apartment and Joshua helps me take the key out of my bag. He gently places me on the sofa and sits down next to me. His hand reaches out to touch my forehead.

"You've a slight fever." He says. He looks around the open kitchen to find a towel and places it under the sink.

He puts the wet towel on my forehead. I slowly open my eyes trying to adjust to the light. My head is still spinning, but looking at Joshua's face makes me calm down. My hands go up to his face and I touch his cheek. His hand comes to rest on my hand, "How're you feeling?" He asks.

"You're so kind, always helping everyone." I say. He smiles.

But, his smile soon fades away as my face comes closer to his. My lips are about to reach his, "Y/n, what're you doing?" He asks.

"I like you. Like a lot. I've liked you since I joined the company. Seeing you everyday makes me happy." I say. Even I don't know where that confession suddenly came from, I guess it's the alcohol allowing me to speak so openly.

There is silence between us. His brain trying to process what I just said. I wait for him to maybe leave or disapprove.

Instead, I feel his lips against mine as he places his hand on my cheek. The kiss doesn't last long and I open my eyes to see him so close. I could see his pretty face so close.

"I like you too, Y/n. You may not have realised, but you're the only one who's attention I want. Even at work, I catch myself always looking at you." He says.

We stare at each other for a while. He liked me? What was there to like about me?

His lips are suddenly on mine again, this time more needy. He deepens the kiss as he comes up on the sofa, on top of me. His hand comes and holds my wrists together on top of my head as our tongues are battling for dominance.

“Can I take you to the bedroom?” He asks. I nod and I’m being carried again in his arms as puts me on the bed and crawls on top of me.

Our lips chase each other as I wrap my arms around his neck pulling him even closer. His hand rests on my neck and he starts placing wet kisses on my jaw down to my collarbones.

He helps me unzip the dress I was wearing for the office dinner. He puts it on the mini sofa next to my bed, knowing it must be expensive.

He lets me take off his shirt and I can't help but stare at his muscles and defined abs. I want to kiss them.

I push him down on the bed, him being under me was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. His messy hair, swollen lips and his powerful gaze. He had me under a spell.

I start placing kisses from his neck down to his abs. My lips slowly trail down his chest to his crotch where I come face to face with the evident boner.

He nods, "Help me unzip it, baby." He sounds needy. When I unzip them his hands reach down to grip the sheets.

I take his pants off along with his underwear. It was too big, would it fit inside me?

"Fuck." He curses as I take him in my mouth. This is first time I heard him swear and gosh he sounds so hot.

I lick the tip and move my hand along the base, was I doing it right? I take him deep in my mouth as he moans at the pleasure. “Is this your first time doing this baby?” He asks.

I nod my head as I’m unable to say anything. His head his thrown back and I could see his Adam’s apple moving looking up. His hand comes down to hold my jaw and he makes eye contact with me as my mouth is stuffed with his cock.

Suddenly, I'm being pushed down on the bed. "Can I touch you?" He asks, his eyes full of desire.

His hands reaches the waistband of my panties and pulls them off. As I nod, his fingers find my clit and he draws slow circles. His fingers speed up and my eyes close on their own.

His fingers slowly enter me and all of a sudden I feel his wet tongue on my clit. He draws circles from his tongue, sending pleasure through my whole body. He switches to flicking his tongue and then drawing circles again and again until I see stars.

I pull him towards me for a kiss as he comes up from between my legs. His hands on my thigh as kisses me back, I could taste me on his mouth.

He looks at his cock rubbing against my clit and he slowly enters me making us both moan. I hold onto the bed frame as he goes deeper inside me. His hips snap forward and he speeds up as we both go into a different world.

His lips chant my name and soon we both are undone and lying on the bed, cuddling.

[thelightsandtheroses]

3. we can get away, palm trees, beach views ...

Let's Get Lost Chapter 3 | Frankie Morales x female reader

Summary: You and Frankie aren’t together anymore but you’re in a good place. However, spending a week together for your mutual friends’ wedding on a luxury resort might challenge that slightly and realising you’re still in love with your ex is a sure-fire recipe for disaster … Tropes: it was always you, getting back with the ex, beach!Frankie (you know *that* photoshoot) miscommunication, only one bed, good parent Frankie Chapter Warnings: 18+ MDNI, references to past drug addiction, references to food and alcohol, discusison of TF canon events, Frankie and the reader are parents to a toddler, past break-ups. Word Count: 2500 Notes: Thank you for the lovely feedback so far - it's meant so much to me and I hope you enjoy this update. I have a lot planned for this fic. The chapter title is from I Want You Around by Snoh Aalegra.

Previous | Series | Next

You can hear the birds outside when you wake up. Soft, lyrical songs coax you awake and you hear yourself groan slightly.

There are thin lines of light streaming through the gaps in the shutters and you’re surprised you can’t hear your daughter. She’s usually awake by now.

“Clara’s still asleep,” he says in a low voice.

“That’s got to be a record,” you whisper back drowsily, quietly shifting yourself so you’re propped up by your pillows.

Frankie is bolt upright in bed, a book loosely clasped in his hands and you can see that the reading lamp by his side of the bed is turned on. Despite the dim yellow light you can still take in every detail of his face, the freckles adorning his neck, the laughter lines, his stubble.

“Mornin’” he says, meeting your sleepy gaze.

“Hi, what time is it?”

“About six?” Frankie stifles a yawn.

“Why aren’t you asleep still?”

“Just woke up early. Couldn’t - y’know …”

You look at the book in his hands, he’s a lot further ahead now than you remember him being when he placed the bookmark in last night.  You notice his worn eyes, the way he looks like he’s been awake for a while.

“How’s it shaping up?” you ask, indicating the book and leaning slightly over your pillow barrier.

For a second you’re not here, you’re back in Florida a few years ago and this is your usual morning routine. All sepia lighting, soft kisses, lingering touches and hot skin against you.

You remember awkward giggles about morning breath, the way he’d kiss you like he’d been waiting for years when it had only been a matter of hours. 

You return to reality with the sound of Clara’s soft snores.

Frankie smirks at you. “She gets that from -”

“Do not finish that sentence, Francisco.”

He raises his hands with an easy grin. “Full name, huh? So, do you want to try her for a bit at the kids’ club this afternoon? Get her used to it more before we’re deep in all the wedding events?”

“She’s been really excited about that and meeting the other kids,” you say. You often wonder how two introverted people produced such a gregarious child. You imagine maybe Frankie was that confident as a little boy; you can see it - all round cheeks, mischievous grin and open eyes.

“She just takes everything in her stride,” Frankie whispers.

“She’s strong.”

“Like you.”

“I meant, like you,” you say.

Frankie shakes his head but there’s the slightest hint of a twitch on his lips.

You could reach over and touch him - it feels natural.

You can remember what his lips felt like on yours - the way his hand would so carefully and lightly move down your waist in a movement so delicate you used to think of it as his fingers dancing down your body.

It’s just proximity, it’s just the proximity.

You need more pillows for the barrier.

You lean back against your chair, listening to the steady sound of the ocean in the distance.

You spent the morning exploring in the local town with Lia and Sophie. At first you felt slightly guilty to not be spending time with Clara, but she was excited about a morning with her tios before heading to the kid’s club. It is Lia’s wedding break after all and you want to celebrate with her.

It had been a really good morning; you’d found a great cafe, wandered around tourist destinations and most importantly had enjoyed your time with Lia and Sophia. The three of you kept laughing and joking and any doubt you had that you would feel out of sorts for being the only one of them who was an ex swiftly vanished. In fact, you hadn’t discussed men once. It had been great.

All of you have now met up for a late lunch back at the hotel before you drop Clara off at the kid’s club. You’re sitting opposite Frankie who today has bought out one of what you used to semi-affectionally dub his ‘loud shirts’. Frankie’s style has always ranged from simple, casual basics to the occasional louder shirt that you feel would be associated more with a PI than an ex-army pilot. It’s Frankie though. You seem to remember those shirts were pretty soft too.

You take a sip of your drink, enjoying the sweet and refreshing taste of the coconut flavoured cocktail.

Frankie catches your eye and smiles briefly.

You’re finally starting to feel a little relaxed; that nagging anxiety to check your emails or to just be ‘on’ all of the time is starting to abate.

Santi stands up and raises his glass. “Okay, I wanted to call out that we’ve got the team back together and it only took Benny here getting married for that,” Santi says cheerfully, “and it’s a double celebration today because we need to mark that Frankie got the official confirmation yesterday he’s getting his licence back.”

You watch Frankie’s face colour up with the attention.

“No fucking way,” Benny exclaims, “finally, Frankie! I’m so fucking pleased for you.”

He’s got his licence back? you think immediately, proud that he’s achieved this goal he was working towards. It’s another sign of his sobriety, of his recovery.

It stings though. He didn’t tell you. He couldn’t do this while you were together either.

He didn’t tell you. He could have told you this morning - did he not want to? Or is it just that in your new co-parenting role you don’t get to know these things immediately anymore. You’re not his girlfriend or fiancée, you’re not one of his best friends, you’re not sure where you stand anymore.

He meets your gaze and nervously nods at you, wringing his hands slightly as Benny swallows him into a one-armed hug, delicately balancing his drink with the other hand.

“That’s great news, Frankie, well done,” you say, your voice sounding clipped and cold even to you.

Will frowns at you and you feel your palms growing sweaty with embarrassment as you notice Santi shaking his head. You tighten your grasp around your oblivious daughter who immediately fidgets on your lap.

You’re doing this all wrong.

You shouldn’t be here anyway.

“I - it’s time I need to drop Clara off. I’ll uh - I’ll, um, see you all later.”

You feel Frankie’s eyes on you the whole time you’re walking away.

“Fucking really, Santi?” you hear Frankie say as you walk away.

You're not hiding. Not officially. You watch the waves ebb and flow in the near distance, scrunching your toes on the sand just past the terrace from your room. There's the faintest sound of laughter, of people enjoying their time on the beach.

You shut your eyes. How did you get the lunch so wrong?

The door closes behind you and you turn around instantly, caught in the headlights as you see Frankie standing there.

“Are you okay?” Frankie asks, hesitance clear in his voice. “You just walked off? I thought we’d take Clara to the club together.”

Another failing. Why do you keep getting this so wrong? "I - I just - crap."

He pulls the terrace door to and sits on the sand next to you, hugging his knees. "It's not a big deal, sw- it's not a big deal. Just - what's wrong?"

“You didn’t tell me,” you finally say, trying so hard to hide the hurt in your voice. Frankie doesn’t have to tell you things anymore, you know that. You just thought that maybe he’d want to.

You’re friends again, right?

Frankie looks down at the sand and exhales a heavy, poignant sigh. He seems to be stopping himself from saying something, probably that it is none of your business. You watch him open his mouth then close it a couple of times and wait patiently.

“I know.”

“Do you not want to tell me things anymore? I mean, I guess you don’t have to but I thought -”

“I didn’t tell you because I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he confides.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve spent the past few years with this single mission. Get sober, get my licence again, get my life, or at least something like it, back.“ He pauses, looking at you and then away from you quickly. A question pops into your head and immediately dissipates - no, you can’t go there.

“Well, you’ve done it,” you say gently, placing a hand on his sandy bicep. He’s all sun warmed skin and you can smell the hint of sunscreen as you sit next to him too.

“I never thought about - about what would happen once I got those things,” he admits. “I guess, I didn’t want to jinx it, I didn’t think I’d even get it back.”

“You don’t know if you want to fly anymore?”

Frankie lives for flying. The passion you remember in his voice, the way his eyes light up when he talks about the technicalities, the detail of the science and data behind flying. He used to read flight manuals to Clara when she was sobbing with colic through the night, right before the relapse and Colombia. Every time you see a helicopter or a plane, you think of him.

Can you remember him talking about flying recently though? Can you remember that passionate, bright look in his eyes at any time recently other than when he’s with your daughter?

“The last time I was flying - I crashed it. Tom ended up dead,” he says, barely above a whisper and once again looking away from you. “It’s all on me.”

Automatically you squeeze his arm in sympathy, in the only consolation you can give right now. “Not in the crash though, you said -”

“If I hadn’t crashed it, if I had just said no to the extra weight, if I -”

“Stop, stop, Frankie.”

He looks over at you, finally meeting your gaze with wide, brown eyes. His eyes are a swirl of emotion; pain, achievement, memories you can never know, regret. There’s so much regret in his eyes now.

It’s funny, you stood in an airport baggage hall just days ago thinking he’d entirely glowed up since the break-up, but his eyes are telling you wildly different stories now.

“You can’t change the past; you can’t go over what ifs. It was - it was a tragedy but it wasn’t your tragedy, it wasn’t your fault.”

“What if it was?” he asks plaintively, “And I robbed a kid of their father, of my friend, if that’s true. Do you realise that? Can you even imagine that weight?”

“You were all grown-ups, all making your own choices that led to that exact moment. I know, I know there’s a lot about that time I don’t know, probably never will, and I don’t - I don’t want you to tell me if you don’t want to, or can’t, but know this, Frankie, you are a good man.”

“Am I?”

“Yes. For what it’s worth, I’d feel safe in any aircraft if you were flying it.  ”

He swallows, looking away from you for just a moment.

“You mean that?”

“Of course.”

He nods.

Your hand has slipped into his and he squeezes. It feels so familiar, so right at this moment.

“If you don’t want to fly,” you add, “that’s okay too.”

“I don’t want Clara to have a deadbeat dad.”

“She won’t. She doesn’t.”

“I don’t want know what I’m supposed to do other than fly.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

“Okay.”

It’s only later as you return to your hotel room that you realise you said we, that you made you and Frankie a unit again.

You still mean it too.

You feel awkward about what’s going to happen at dinner. Even though you’re walking in alongside Frankie, even though you know he’s going to demonstrate that the two of you are just fine, all you think about are the disappointed looks at lunch.

To your surprise, it hurts worse than leaving your daughter with a sitter.

You can only imagine what they must think of you right now.

They must think you’re becoming that stereotype of an ex - resentful and bitter and you don’t know how to say it’s not that at all. It’s that for some reason the confirmation you weren’t the first person he’d want to tell anymore cut a deep hole in your heart.

It’s hypocritical and stupid and risks ruining everything.

There’s a revelation low in your stomach you cannot let rise yet, you cannot voice because it really will ruin everything and you’re not ready for that. You’re not ready for this - things have just started to stabilise again.

You’ve prepared for dinner though. You chose one of your favourite outfits, doused yourself in your favourite perfume and spent time on your appearance for dinner. It’s armour.

Lia smiles when she sees you. “You look gorgeous,” she says in greeting, rising up and hugging you as you join them at the large table you’ve all now mentally claimed as your own throughout your stay.

She draws you in next to her. “How’s Clara? Did she like the kid’s club?”

“She did and she likes the sitter too.” You feel terrible about having a sitter on holiday but it’s novel to have a dinner with all of your friends in the evening. Besides, between you and Frankie, you’d both extensively researched and interviewed the hotel sitter so you felt as at ease as you could under the circumstances. It’s a family holiday yes, but two hours at the club and a sitter for a dinner hardly makes you and Frankie bad parents.

“That’s so good. It’s great having you and Clara both here, you know. I know work’s been a lot recently but I’ve missed you. I’m just - I’m pleased you made it.”

“Like I’d be anywhere else,” you say candidly. “You’re my best friend, Lia.”

“Ditto, just like, don’t tell my sister that?”

“Guide’s honour,” you say with a wink.

You’re grateful for Lia, she’s one of your closest friends and somehow she knows just what you needed to hear. You vow to be there more for her this week - it’s her wedding after all!

It doesn’t escape you that Frankie’s been sat with Santi and some distance from you and you are next to Lia. You wonder whose idea this seating arrangement was - Will’s perhaps, or maybe it was Sophia. You know they must be worried about a repeat of their wedding.

You take a long sip of your drink.  On the other end of the table, you can hear Frankie’s soft laughter. You can’t help thinking about your conversation with him earlier, the slight tingle in your stomach when you spoke this morning.

You broke up for a reason. You know that.

It was the right thing at the right time and it hurt that all that love you had for him, that you think he had for you, was changed by everything that had gone on them.

It has to go somewhere though, doesn’t it? It can’t just stay stagnant; you’re supposed to move on.

It’s just, you think that maybe you still love Frankie a bit. Maybe you never stopped.

This is a hideously unwelcome revelation, it’s inappropriate, it’s clearly unreciprocated. You’re supposed to just be co-parents.

There’s no just with Frankie though, there never has been.

You feel nauseas. It’s starting to look like once again you and Frankie are going to end up ruining another friend’s wedding. Your best friend’s wedding to make it worse.

Only this time, it will be entirely your fault.

Tag List

If you would like to be added to to the taglist please let me know. As a reminder this blog is 18+ - minors do not interact and I block blank/ageless blogs.

LGL tag-list: @morallyinept @la-vie-est-une-fleur29 @beboldbebravethings @spishsstuff @bitchesuntitled @redcake333 @missladym1981 @kungfucapslock @dinoflower-reads @kirsteng42 @angelofsmalldeath-codeine @casssiopeia @beboldbebravethings @devotedlyshybarbarian @emilyfarias16 @sageispunk @amyispxnk @lola8888673 @maryfanson @lu62 @ilovepedro @katw474 @softstarlite @titlee78 @aquanatalie @girlofchaos

Everything Pedro tag-list: @harriedandharassed @pedrostories @hiroikegawa @pedrosaidsheispunk @pastelnap

[ilikebookssomuch]

here goes nothing

I wrote--and am still writing, by the way, this is NOT finished yet--some angsty au thing where Dex and Sophie don't get rescued in book 1. They just...disappear. Anyway, here is a little bit.

Edaline’s POV:

Edaline saw Sophie, her foster daughter, ignore her husband Grady’s calls and race towards the cliffside. Edaline knew the caves were down there, so she conjured up Iggy’s cage and ran after her. “Sophie, wait!” She said, grabbing Sophie’s arm. She placed the tiny imp on Sophie’s shoulder. “In case you need a friend.”

“Thanks,” Sophie said, wiping away a tear.

“Be careful down there. Looks like a storm’s coming.” 

Sophie nodded and climbed down to the caves, her blond hair whipping wildly in the wind behind her. As Sophie vanished into the gaping mouth of the cave, Edaline turned away and walked over to Grady, who had picked up the satchel Sophie had thrown on the grassy pasture ground. 

“She’ll be back soon,” she reassured him, taking the satchel and snapping it into the void. Grady sighed. 

“I don’t know, Eda. What if this time. . . it’s too much?”

“If what’s too much?” a familiar voice interjected from behind them.

“Dex!” Edaline said, hugging her nephew. “Sophie is in the caves, if that was why you came.”

“She seemed really upset when I saw her in the halls today.” Dex kicked the ground and looked away. “Did I do something?”

“No,” said Grady. “It’s our fault she's upset.”

“Oh.” He seemed relieved. “Well, Fitz told me I should stop by, so. . . .” Dex’s voice trailed off. “I’m going to go check on her.” He ran to the caves without saying goodbye.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine. Let’s just go inside and wait it out.” Grady said, pulling Edaline close and hugging her. They walked to Havenfield, passing Verdi on the way. She looked out towards the ocean, letting out a nervous ROOOAR. 

Grady and Edaline sat on their giant, squishy couch for a few hours. They both drifted off when the sun started to set, but were awakened by a loud squeak and the sound of ripping fabric. “Iggy!” Grady yelled. Instantly, the imp stopped tearing apart their pillows and darted over to Edaline’s face, flapping his wings and squeaking. 

“Gah–what do you want?” She yelled, shielding herself. Iggy might be a ball of fluff, but his claws were sharp. Iggy flew over to the window, pounding himself against the glass a few times before repeating his squeaking-flapping-pounding pattern. 

“You want us to go outside?” Grady asked, getting up and heading to the enormous front door. Edaline followed, quickly running down the steps and into the pastures. Iggy followed, leading them towards the dilophosaurus pasture near the cliffs. 

The dinosaurs all looked fine, but Edaline still scanned over their tall, thin bodies for any injury. Aside from a scratch in one’s neck frill, they were fine. Iggy seemed insistent that they still follow him, so she hurried on. That’s when she realized: “Grady! Sophie and Dex are still in the caves!” 

Grady started sprinting down the uneven path to the caves, rocks and loose sand crumbling out behind him. Edaline lifted her gown and caught up with her husband in a few moments, but when they reached the cave, it was empty. 

“SOPHIE? DEX?” They called, looking into the darkest crannies of the cave. When it was clear they weren’t there and the moon had risen to the top of the sky, Edaline decided to hail her brother-in-law, Kesler. After a few tries, he answered the Imparter, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 

“Are Dex and Sophie over there?” She asked, her heart racing with fear for her daughter and nephew. 

“No, I haven’t seen them,” Kesler said, his eyes widening with worry.

“Well, please hail me if you hear from them.”

“Will do,” he said, all of the sleepiness gone from his voice.

After that, they tried hailing Alden, Della, and even Lord Cassius. No one had seen them. 

Grady eventually convinced that they were fine, probably just mad and hiding somewhere to cool down.

 “But where are they ‘hiding,’ Grady?”

He couldn’t answer that. 

They both crawled into bed, but Edaline knew neither of them got a wink of sleep that night.

TO BE CONTINUED, please let me know what you thought of this

figured I'd tag some people too so @myfairkatiecat @lisalovesapplesauce @kale-of-the-forbidden-cities @stunning-mess @doodle-do-wop @sophiejacksonchase @ilov3b00kss0much @riordanverseaddict

[justatypicalwizard]

Wants Within | S. Shinazugawa | Chapter 4

✦ Sanemi Shinazugawa x femReader!, college au, reader is adult

✦ Synopsis: You're a college student taking classes with a very strict lecturer- professor Shinazugawa. Because of an unfortunate even you got on his bad side so now you're trying everything to regain in his eyes. Well, you most certainely didn't expect that kind of attention.

✦ Word count: 1,9k

18+, minors do not interact

After a week or so, you got your assignment back. You happily jumped in your bed, seeing an A. Not only did you get a great score, Professor Shinazugawa pointed out some minor mistakes, but apart from that, he sent you a lengthy email about your additional work. He was impressed that you went through with it and was overall pleased with the effects. He also wrote that he will remember about that while giving you the final pass.

Fall was hitting hard. The days became shorter and shorter, rain and wind attacking your window. The seasonal depression also dropped on your shoulders, as you felt kinda sleepy and out of energy all the time. You liked to stay in your room, relax and do things that you only do by yourself, but you also missed the opportunity of going out.

Well, it was about to change.

Next Monday you learned that you may attend a research field trip. It sounded really fun! Anna and her major were also going. You were honestly grateful about that, she was a social butterfly and would never leave you alone in such a situation. Feeling a tingling sensation in your back you smiled to yourself. You felt like you were back in highschool, about to go on a trip with your class.

✦

Two weeks passed by and you found yourself in front of your wardrobe, packing your large, hiking backpack. No, you were not stupid enough to take a suitcase with you, in the mountains. You already pictured all the shocked people, about to carry the fifty kilo plastic boxes up that mountain. There was always someone like that.

Your first enthusiasm faded away, when you realised, it will be freaking cold. Longing to all your crop tops, strapless dresses and swimming suits, you grabbed the long, warm trousers, waterproof jacket and a winter hat. You didn't know if there was ever a trend for sexy hikers, but you would definitely never be one of them in your warm, baggy clothes. Well, nevermind, it was meant to keep you warm and healthy during the trip.

You had to reach the town where the trip was about to start on your own, so you were about to go with Anna and two other people by car.

✦

The day came and it started with rain. The weather was awful, cold and windy. You were glad that you didn't have to take the public transport and spend several hours in trains and buses, just to get to the town that was forgotten by civilization.

Packing yourself into Anna's car, you realised, it was already full. The trunk nearly didn't close and there were three girls in the back. Your friend saved you the front seat. With that, all of you took off.

''That's going to be an interesting trip.'' One of the backseaters started, a pale and ginger girl.

''Do you plan something?'' Ann snickered, knowing well her gossiping friends.

''We don't even have to.'' A different one, with chocolate skin and long curly hair added.

''By the way, the gossips at the back are, Veronica, Janet and Sophie.'' Anna outshouted them and all of them darted their eyes your way.

Veronica was sitting right behind you, you saw her giving you a small wave in the mirror. She had medium length black hair, bangs cut right before her eyes, cat like glasses and a small frown on her pinkish lips. She was dressed in grunge, her band t-shirt and chequered trousers framing nicely her plus size form.

Janet was in the middle, her long legs squeezed between the other girls. You must admit, her hair was a game changer, long and perfectly curly. The girl wore a comfortable dress set.

Sophie looked a bit like a squirrel, she was very ginger, pale and kinda small. On the other hand, she definitely didn't act like a squirrel, she was loud and full of life, not looking like someone scared and anxious.

Looking at Ann, her short, business sharp, sunny blonde hair and a gym body, you felt like Gollum. Well, shit, not everyone has the same mindset as you- comfortable first.

''Hi, I'm Y/N.'' You waved at them and they greeted you with enthusiasm. ''What do you mean by interesting trip?''

''Didn't you hear what Professors were going with us?'' Sophie asked in a sneaky manner.

''I did hear some names, but I don't recognize them.'' You answered.

''Ooookay, then hear that!'' The ginger one bursted out.

''Better get some popcorn.'' Ann laughed.

''Shut up, okay. There is Professor Rengoku going, he is very fun aaaaand good looking. Then there is Shinazugawa, the next hottie, and the Kocho sisters.'' She said it like the names only were news.

''I don't know them beside Professor Shinazugawa.'' You said.

''Okay, listen to this. Professor Rengoku is not important in this story, it's more about the rest. Miss Kanae and Shinobu Kocho are both Professors, they are like tied to each other. Shinazugawa and the older Kocho, Kanae, were once engaged! Then, out of the blue, he broke off the engagement and they say that Miss Kanae had a really hard time because of that. I've also heard that something was happening between the three of them later and the university administration had to interfere due to work etique. I've heard that Miss Shinobu Kocho got involved with Shinazugawa in something more serious, like they were in an argument. Miss Kanae is supposed to give him a cold shoulder, but I've also heard that she is not so innocent. And that Shinazugawa guy, they say he is kinda nasty and left her because he is not a relationship one.''

That sounded like... a melodrama.

''Half of that must be bullshit Sophie.'' Anna laughed out loud.

''That's what I've heard.'' Sophie shrugged her shoulders.

''I only believe in that part about the engagement and the end of it.'' You also laughed at the highschool love drama.

''Okay okay, maybe some of it may be made up, but I can certainly say, that they are not fond of each other and they will have to talk with each other a lot on that trip.'' The ginger said.

✦

The story that you heard during your car ride made you think a bit more about Shianzugawa. It crossed your mind that he also has a life of his own, and hearing this news it may not be perfect. If he reale was the one breaking the engagement, he must have had a reason to do that. On the other hand he may simply be a cold-hearted bitch for everyone.

Well, you could only wonder. It was none of your business.

It came out that the four of you would also share a room. While unpacking, you heard Anna talk with someone on the phone. She soon came to the rest of you and explained in an excited manner, that there will be a small party. Her major was throwing something in their rooms.

''I will come but I will definitely not drink anything.'' You gave your friend a raised eye look.

You were not getting a hangover barely the first day. It was a research trip, not a vacation in Dubai. Also, you didn't want to get on any professor's bad side. That Rengoku guy may be chill, but your Shianzugawa was not.

''Pooper.'' She turned her butt your way and started to change.

''Yeah, yeah.'' You laughed her fake tantrum off.

You, Ann, Veronica, Janet and Sophie found the party room later in the evening. Entering the party zone you found out that not many students gave a damn about the research part of this trip.

''Do you have a plan for tomorrow?'' Veronica asked, sitting next to you on a bed.

''Not yet, they will post it anytime now.'' You answered.

That was also why you didn't want to party too much. You may have some morning lessons and you didn't want to miss them. The scholarship wont earn itself.

''Same here.'' She sighed, dragging her hand through her hair. ''I'm surprised so many people don't give a shit about it.''

The party was going on for some time but you felt more and more tired. The packing, the ride, it wore you off enough. Skipping to Ann, you told her that you're going to bed.

''I'm coming with you.'' Veronica also had enough.

While on your trip back, you found out that the plan was ready. Opening it on your phone you saw that your first hike would start at 6 am. Holly shit, that was early.

The two of you went back to your room and straight to bed.

✦

In the morning, you found yourself sitting in the nearly empty dining hall. The Professors were already there, apart from a small bunch of students. They didn't look pleased with the attendance. After twenty minutes of sitting and nearly falling asleep, you heard one of them speak.

''Okay, we will start the lecture like this.'' A tall, black haired woman stood in the middle of the hall. ''I would like the groups to find their leading Professors. Group one will start with me, please gather around one table.'' A bunch of people shifted their seats. ''Group two with Professor Shinobu Kocho.'' The other black haired woman gave the speaking one a smile, before taking off to her students. ''Group three with Professor Rengoku.'' There were only three people present, one of them was Veronica, who gave you a nod.''And finally group four with Professor... Shinazugawa.''

The speaking woman gave Shinazugawa a weird look. She seemed to be uneasy with the fact that she placed her eyes on him. On the other hand the white haired man didn't even face her. He was looking around the room, trying to spott the supposed forming group.

That must be the Kocho.

Everyone started to gather around their leading ones and you made your way near Professor Shinazugawa, as you were group four. Standing in front of him, you looked around but no one else was coming your way. Every minute was more and more awkward because the two of you stood in silence, you looking around the corners, he looking straight at you, both in silence.

''Is that the... whole group?'' The whiyte haired man grumbled.

''I guess so.'' You sighed, wishing that you would also stay at the party and sleep with a gigantic hangover right now. ''What are we doing now?''

''And what are we supposed to do?'' He gave you a raised brow look and you felt stupid. ''We are going on the hike, it's their fault they can't drink. You shouldn't be punished for their absence.''

So not going on the hike was supposed to mean a punishment for you?

You do you, Professor.

Somehow, you felt scared and excited at the same moment. Scared because you will have to talk to him, excited, because you will have the opportunity to talk to him. Maybe you will get to know something interesting on your one on one, several hours long trip with Professor Shinazugawa.

Wait, you are going on a one on one, several hours long hike with Professor Shianzugawa. Why were you thinking about... oh my god, get a hold of yourself girl!

SERIES MASTERLIST

[perfectpaperbluebirds]

Sicktember #23

Prompt: Coughing Fit

Fandom/OCs: Howl’s Moving Castle (Howl and Sophie)

Words: 980

Sicknario inspo: Getting kicked out of bed due to coughing from this post

Author’s comments/background: Yet another excellent prompt that just needed a little context and the right characters. This can either be the book or movie characters. I think it’s generic enough either way. Howl and Sophie were some of my first fictional “couple goals” and it gives me no end of pleasure to write silly domestic things for thim. As I proofread this, I realized I didn’t give Howl any dialogue though. I decided to leave it, especially since I think I matched the original author’s tone pretty well overall and didn’t want to ruin it. 

~~~***~~~

Howl had been sick for a week. In truth, that should be all the explanation that is necessary for those who know about Howl and Sophie and the moving castle, but this particular story was one Sophie would never forget. It began with Sophie, for her part, being heartily sick (no pun intended) of the wizard and his horrid cold. 

This cold of Howl’s had started with lots of sneezing, as his colds always did, because sneezing allowed him to act as dramatic and victimized as he liked while garnering plenty of sympathy in the meantime. Sophie was practiced at ignoring this part of his colds. Of course she made him soup and ensured he dressed warmly to ward off fever and kept him well supplied with the floppy white paper handkerchiefs he favored, but his dramatics didn't disturb her, and usually his sneezy colds were short-lived.

 Once in a while, though, these colds devolved, usually into miserable, achy, feverishness that compelled him to stay in bed for another week or more. This, too, Sophie could manage. Howl was an easy patient when he was actually sick, subdued and sleepy, though with no small amount of self-pity and attention seeking, and Sophie was overall happy to oblige, if for no other reason than to remind him that he wasn't dying and all would be well. 

In this memorable instance though, after a night spent by the seashore working on a delicate, powerful spell, Howl's sneezing became chesty, persistent coughing. Soon the cough was accompanied by a low-grade fever that came and went, leaving him restless and lethargic and shaky in turns. 

Howl wasn't robust at the best of times and tended toward the pale, slight side, so the frequent, wracking coughs drained him quickly. He walked around in a light-headed daze most of the day, but lying down only made him cough more unless he was propped up by an exact configuration of pillows that Sophie could never quite manage to replicate. He spent much of the day wandering around listlessly, clutching a mug of tea, the only thing that seemed to ease the spasms. 

Nighttime was the worst. Sophie usually loved sharing a bedroom with her whimsical, magical partner, but this cough had both of them at their wit's end. Once Howl was properly propped up, he fussed and moaned for a long time until he fell asleep, always either too hot or too cold (since his fever seemed to spike just as he was going to bed each night) and clearing his throat every moment. Finally he would fall asleep, and then Sophie could follow, but it seemed the moment she would shut her eyes, he would burst out into one of his nasty, hacking fits, waking them both so that they'd have to start the whole process over again. 

By the fourth night of this, Sophie had all but had it. When a coughing fit woke her yet again hardly an hour after she'd dropped off, Sophie sat up out of bed in a towering rage. "Why can't you just be quiet?! You're supposed to be this great wizard, yet you can't stop coughing for five minutes so I can sleep?! Go find some tea or tonic or a bag for your head for all I care, only be quiet and let me sleep!!"

Howl gave her a mournful, injured look. Without a word he slid out of bed (Was he wobbling from a fever or just playing it up?), pulled the coverlet off to trail it behind him, and made his sluggish way out of the bedroom and down the stairs. 

Sophie lay fuming for a few more minutes, but slowly her frustration began to leak away. With guilt she realized she'd been horribly unfair to Howl. He couldn't help being ghastly ill, even if he did play it up a bit. After a moment's pondering, she hopped up and quickly remade the bed with the soft blankets Howl favored, then scurried down the stairs after him. 

Howl was propped up in the chair beside the fire, the coverlet wrapped around him haphazardly. His eyes were closed but his mouth had a pinched look that told her he wasn't asleep. She moved to his side and caressed his cheek. His eyes flickered open to regard her warily. She was struck by how unwell he looked in the dancing firelight, pale and hollow-eyed, and she felt the heat of a fever under her hand. His chest and collar bones twitched with his silent, constant coughs. 

"Forgive me. I'm tired, but I can't imagine how you feel, since you're the one doing the coughing in the first place. Let's get you back to bed. You'll really catch your death if you try to sleep down here."

She grabbed him by the arm and hoisted him up, resting his arm across her shoulders. He let himself be led to bed silently, and she sensed his deep weariness (along with a good measure of pouting) as he half-sagged against her as they mounted the stairs. She tenderly helped him back into bed, propping him up and tucking him in with a pan of coals for his chills. 

Once he was settled and nearly asleep, she made her way back down the stairs, her own deep fatigue slowing her steps and making her clumsy. Shoving things aside willy-nilly, she revealed the cubby under the stairs where she'd slept for the first months she'd spent in Howl's castle, and her little bed with the straw mattress was just as she'd left it, no worse for wear other than the dust. She fell into its welcoming embrace as if it were made of the softest down. In the blessed silence, she was deeply asleep in moments as the crackling fire sang her a lullaby. 

[mcalhenwrites]

Season kids when they were ages 0-3

I definitely wanted to type up a post about the Seasons characters during their earliest years (approximately ages 0-3), covering infancy and those toddler years. There are some spoilers all the way to the end of Seasons, so it’s up to you if you want to read further. I’ll put everything behind a cut so you can decide how much you want to know!

I am going from oldest to youngest.

Shannon

After the initial scare that he wouldn’t survive and the discovery that nectar is required for Cosmos/Seasons babies to survive, he went from a squalling infant to a very quiet one. A few soft whimpers let his parents know if he needed food or changed.

He learned to crawl and walk fairly early, but he liked being held. He was a clingy kiddo and during those days, liked to be close to Vivian. (Imagine that and let it break your heart. He loved his papa so much…)

He did a lot of private babbling, but he’d quiet if he had an audience. Once he started being able to hold conversations, though, he opened up a bit more.

Like a lot of children, he wanted to be a lot like his parents. He’d emulate them as a toddler, from the way they ate or gestured. He could be somewhat fussy to put down for naps and bedtimes, because he slept better when one of his parents was nearby. This is especially true as a summer child who needed to be warm at all times.

He enjoyed being outside in the sunlight and playing for hours on end, and most of his toddler fussing was related to being brought inside against his will.

Sophie

As with most of Sophie’s childhood, she has no trouble expressing her emotions strongly. If she was uncomfortable as a baby, she let her parents know quite loudly that she needed changed or fed. When she was feeling unwell (Seasons can’t get super sick, but they can deal with stuff like indigestion and weather changes), she was extremely fussy. No one else in the house could rest for days.

Aside from these inconveniences, however, she was a pretty happy baby! Lots of giggling and bonding time with her fathers and big brother.

She liked to roll around as a baby and did minimal crawling. Then she learned to walk, and soon was dashing around everywhere. She amused herself indoors as easily as she did when outdoors. She was an incredibly independent small child in all the ways Vivian approved: she was sharp and loved learning, she liked to clean, and she picked up easily on rules and followed them. (Often without needing to be told.)

She was also opinionated and even a little bossy, but this often led to amusing conversations with her. She learned to talk earlier than Shannon, and she could keep going for a while.

She did not like peppers of any kind, and Vivian tailored meals around her tastes and didn’t force her to eat any spicy foods.

El

El was not quite as quiet as Shannon, but he was an “easy” baby to care for. He was a rather sleepy baby who used his cries sparingly but still could be loud when the moment arrived. He was frequently happy and could easily amuse himself with the toys provided to him. He delighed in Sophie’s company most of all. She fostered his strong love of reading from an early age by acting out the scenes with different voices and displays of magic.

He kind of skipped over the crawling period and was on the slower side of child development for walking. He didn’t enjoy being outside much, although he did enjoy romping in the snow when it was available.

Like Shannon, he privately babbled. He also privately practiced words. He didn’t talk much, and his parents were actually concerned about his development in general.

As a toddler, even his infrequent tantrums were quiet. He would flare nostrils and cross his arms, sometimes holding his breath or trying to go dead weight. The most common situations for him to throw tantrums were over foods he didn’t like or leaving the house for family errands and outings. Putting shoes on him could be a challenge for that last part.

Howie Howie took after his big sister in many ways by being loud when something was wrong and expressing his joy with lots of giggling when he was happy. He also had a lot of quiet moments, because something would capture his attention, and he would be fascinated. This started even as a small baby.

He liked being held for short periods, but he often wanted to be left to his own devices. But he’s still a child who needs physical affection, so sitting in laps watching people and playing with toys was perfect for him as an infant.

He was an absolute clown as he grew up. He climbed before he crawled much, and he was very eager to get on his little legs and start running. Once he got to his feet, he made Sophie look lethargic in comparison. He would tumble around on the rug or pull Vivian or Graham by the hand to show them something he found–he really liked discovering new things and did this often.

Like Sophie, he was eager to start talking, and once he started learning, didn’t easily shut up.

He could play outside for hours in a variety of weather. Romping in the snow with El, dashing through mud puddles in the spring, flinging himself into piles of leaves in autumn.

He was probably the most expressedly happiest child out of any of them, but his energy levels were high enough to leave his parents pretty exhausted. He also did have tons of determination, and when something didn’t go as he planned, he would have a tantrum. Vivian and Graham had it far too easy with the three other kids as babies/toddlers, so Howie was a new challenge.

Then came…

Bee No one could prepare this family for this little spring bee. He had colic for a good couple of months. He was also demanding while being indecisive, and when he did know what he wanted, his parents had no clue. What a fickle infant he could be. He’d change his mind within minutes, too.

He did not like being alone. He required lots of attention. No, not El’s, not Daddy’s, he has to have Papa. No, he wants El now. No, Howie–who, by the way, did not care for Bee at first and complained about having him around.

When it came to crawling and walking, he learned at an average pace. Wasn’t in a hurry, but he didn’t delay like El. It was convenient, though. Now he could go after what he wanted himself. Or so he thought. If it didn’t work out, he was back to screaming and crying.

He learned names and important words. He didn’t care about speaking all the time, but he learned to shout out what or who he wanted. If he didn’t know how to express himself, he’d fling down on the floor and go red in the face from crying and screaming.

He could shriek if he was particularly upset.

The toddlers who want something and cry when they get it because they didn’t actually want it or something was ever slightly off for them? Yeah, that was Bee.

Not to say he was unhappy. He definitely giggled and laughed and played hard. He would even shriek joyously when being chased around the yard. (Actually, that’s not something he ever grew out of…)

I think Graham and Vivian were both like, “Thank goodness this one is our last.”

Oops.

Jacy This one slept hard for her first few weeks. Being a sudden live person is hard work, and this one decided to just sleep a lot. She certainly fussed if she needed something, but she mostly just wanted to rest.

Vivian suspected she would be easy, like El.

Jacy ended up being the second fussiest infant, but she was never anywhere near Bee’s levels with crying and tantrums. She was a very clingy child, though, and seldom tolerated anyone else holding her other than Vivian for the first year of her life. The exception? Phineas.

Even Shannon would hold her, and no, just because he looks like Papa? Definitely not, she knew the difference. Knew the smell. (And I think Seasons and Cosmos babies can sense something “off” about signatures, even if they’re far too young to read them.)

She crawled a lot. Absolute speed demon on all fours. Then she somehow slowed down when walking, just as Vivian expected her to be more like Howie and Bee when she got on two legs.

She loved being held often. Once she stopped insisting only Papa (and Phineas) could hold her, she let Howie and Shannon and everyone else cart her around. Bee let her ride on his back like he was a horse. One of her favorite games as a toddler.

She picked up on speech and using it pretty fluidly. I think part of this is due to her being around Jasper all the time, who didn’t talk at all for the first four or five years of his life. She filled the quiet for them. Suited him just fine to let her do all the work. He’d later only talk when he felt it “necessary” to do so, and luckily she often did all the asking for treats and favors for both of them. Nice of her, isn’t it?

She would be very playful and energetic into her toddler years. A mellowed version of Howie, really. She needed more “downtime” than her fellow autumn sibling.

Very much the “sleep hard, play hard” kiddo of the bunch.

[goldilocks-pony]

hi :) please 🍞 with sodapop x reader? the reader has been working for hours on her art class project and is trying to pull an all-nighter to finish it but she's exhausted? a fluffy one, please! thank you so much, i hope you're doing fine. have a nice day/afternoon/evening/night

Sleepy and Sassy

Sorry if this isnt very great, I havent written character × reader in a year

Warnings: n/a

Ships/characters: sodapop/reader

Tagging: @butchisopods @papa-no-cheese @sophie-i-guess13 @mx-misty-eyed @k0smik0phobia @footnotesnake @sarcasticpenguini @cha0s-incarnated

---

You lean back in your chair, staring at the piece of paper in front of you. How could it not be close to finished when you've been working on it since 7pm? You take a deep breath before picking up a charcoal pencil once again and starting to shade.

A loud crash was heard, you sat back up trying to figure out who would slam a door shut at 11pm. You sigh, Sodapop has never been the quietest. His footsteps invade your focus, but you try to block out the noises.

That was, until he made his way to where you were working. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Working on a project, it'd be lovely if you left me alone."

"Sassy."

You rolled your eyes before finally setting down the pencil. "Seriously, Soda, I'm trying to focus."

"It's too late for focusing, come watch tv with me."

"No."

"Fine, I'll do this the hard way."

Before you even get time to process his words he walks towards you and picks you up out of the chair. "Soda! What are you doing?"

"We are gonna have a movie night weather you like it or not."

You give up trying to fight back, you weren't enjoying drawing anyways and was looking for an excuse to stop.

[angelofrainfrogs]

Spend the Night: Ch. 22

~Coauthored by @zeitghest~

Fandom(s): Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach

Description: The familiar melody of Grandfather’s Clock chimes through the echoing halls of the Pizzaplex…

Charlie wakes up in her Puppet’s vessel yet again with one goal in mind: to stop William Afton’s reign of terror for good. She enlists the help of Glamrock Freddy, the emphatic leader of the newest iteration of the Fazbear Band. But there seems to be more to this bear than meets the eye—and the same goes for the mysteriously familiar kid the duo find tinkering with animatronics down in Parts & Service.

With some help from friends new and old, Charlie’s journey into the bowels of the Pizzaplex will unravel mysteries none of them ever expected. 

Rating: T

Read on Ao3

Aren't we having lots of fun Whoa oh oh Live the nightmare again Aren't we having lots of fun Whoa oh oh We will sleep when we're dead Aren't we having lots of fun

~Lots of Fun by Tryhardninja~

The bear kept a steadfast watch while the others slept, and they got a solid few hours of rest before the commotion outside began. Originally, it seemed like the dayshift staff was slow to arrive—in reality, they were simply looking elsewhere in the Pizzaplex as it was immediately clear that Chica and Roxy weren't in their rooms. Freddy peered out the window just in time to see Sophie's familiar face marching towards his door.

“Everyone, wake up!” Freddy exclaimed in a whisper, rushing over to lightly nudge the group awake. “Dayshift staff is coming to check on me—hide in the back until they are gone!”

The day guard didn’t seem as easygoing as she was yesterday. This was bad. Really bad. Half their robots were missing. Someone had swiped the refurbished Foxy animatronic before they had a chance to announce his grand revival—a fact few staff even knew about. Roxy Raceway was smoldering when Sophie arrived at the Pizzaplex.

Mr. Emily couldn't come into work and see this. Despite his kind heart, Sophie had a feeling the high-strung man wouldn't hesitate to fire all of them for such a fiasco.

“Freddy!” She knocked, unaware of the issue that the team was having waking up Gregory.

The kid was out cold. It hadn't taken Charlie or Michael much time to get up, but because of how sleepy Gregory had been, he was waving them off and rolling over to ignore their pleas to wake. The kid mumbled something about feeling too sick for school before Charlie went to pull the blankets off of him—

Then, the door unlocked with a master key and security guard Sophie let herself in past the threshold, only to blink at the oddball group.

Right. That was another thing: the Fazbear Entertainment heirs had stopped by for a check-in.

“Uh... Pardon me. Mr. Afton, Ms. Emily—” she acknowledged, rightfully assuming their identities based on rumors she’d heard about special visitors.

Don't ask the snooty rich people why they were sleeping in Freddy's room, Sophie thought, slowly making her way inside. That’ll just be awkward...

“—Freddy! What the heck happened last night?!” Sophie interrogated, mindful of the sleepy child in the room by directing her anger into a rough whisper-shout.

“Ah, I... do not know, Officer Sophie; I am afraid my memory banks are still on the fritz,” Freddy said, stalling for a moment as he processed that the others were not about to be taken into custody.

It seemed Vanessa had regained consciousness in time to inform dayshift that the Afton and Emily heirs were currently visiting for an extended period. Staff were instructed to be as cordial as possible and listen to any request they had, lest they feel the wrath of the CEO bearing down upon them with swift consequences.

Michael had frozen along with Charlie as the door was wrenched open, staring wide-eyed at the intruding woman. He recognized her from yesterday, though she sounded in a much fouler mood than before—rightly so, he had to concede, for the stress of losing three of the main animatronics in a giant Megamall would certainly make anyone a little snippy. Upon realizing their ruse from last night still held up, Michael allowed the tension in his shoulders to relax, shifting his face into the more serious imitation of his father. He acknowledged Sophie with a light nod, then went back to trying to gently wake up Gregory, though not nearly in as much of a panic.

Gregory gently batted Mike's hand as it nudged him. He was determined to sleep, and hugged his Freddy plushie accordingly.

“Freddy... Are you lying to me? I know you’d been escorting our uh... friends around.” Sophie said, with lack of a better way to describe the surprise guests. The two other people in the room were dressed like they’d grabbed stuff off the racks in a dark room, all things she recognized as merch from their stores. Though referring mentioning such a thing with or without provocation would certainly end in Sophie’s termination.

Charlie finally managed to get Gregory to wake up by sliding his plushie from under his arms and earning a frustrated simmer of words.

“Why is everyone being annoying?!” Gregory moaned, stopping Sophie in her accusations while she watched the tiny, presumed Afton complain.

“Shush, Gregory,” Michael said tartly, though he made sure to run a hand over the boy's hair to show his tone was just for show. “We've got a visitor.”

“I am not programmed to lie,” Freddy responded to Sophie, his face a mask of innocent confusion. “As you said, I have been escorting the Afton and Emily heirs around all night... I did not notice anything amiss.”

The bear glanced towards the trio questioningly, head tilted in detached deference. He was a machine with selective memory loss at this moment, and that's all that he was.

“I didn't, either,” Michael said with a shake of his head. His eyes narrowed at the guard, his tone ice-cold. “Why? Is there a problem...?”

Oh fuck, Sophie was in trouble now. When she looked to Michael her face burned, a flustered red stripe glowed over her nose and onto the apples of her cheeks. Obviously he would rat her out to his father—wherever the hell he’d been all this time—about the current and ongoing issue.

Though if Mr. Afton was here, along with Mr. Emily's daughter, then surely they were here as employees? Despite the man's cold, blue stare, perhaps he was here to help...

“...Yes. Every day I've been coming in to do my security rounds, animatronics have gone missing. They've all been experiencing a personality glitch, too. We can't even find where the robots are going on the security feeds, because they stopped recording weeks ago,” Sophie admitted. After all, she wasn't the one supposed to be watching them at night!

Sophie managed to stand tall, hoping not to appear meek or inexperienced. She watched as Gregory quickly assumed a position behind Michael, gazing at her with judging, suspicious eyes. “It just doesn't make sense, sir.”

Charlie feigned a wide-eyed glance, as if surprised at this discovery. “Did you speak with the night guard?”

“Hardly. She told me the issue, that her wrist had gotten worse, that you three were visiting. Then, poof; she probably clocked out...,” Sophie explained further, acting as if she were talking before administration. Though one of the people who outranked her here was 12 years old. 

Michael’s face relaxed slightly as the poor day guard tried her best to explain the issue. He felt bad for stressing her out, but he needed to play the cool, commanding roll of authority. While he took ironic inspiration from his father, it didn’t mean he had to be exactly like William—especially in terms of compassion.

“…I see,” Mike said after a moment, his tone less sharply angry and more just annoyed. He let out a small sigh, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he looked at Sophie, who was clearly trying not to directly meet his intimidating stare.

“Well, this is certainly a major issue… but it seems like blame for lack of surveillance falls under jurisdiction of the night guard, doesn’t it?” He rolled his eyes with a click of his tongue. “Honestly, it’s insane that they only have one person to patrol this entire building after hours…”

“I am sorry I cannot be of more help,” Freddy said, looking as genuinely apologetic as a robot could. “As I have explained to you all separately, my connection to our internal network has been severed since the other night, so I have been unable to contact the other animatronics.”

“You’re not the security guard, Freddy,” Michael pointed out dryly. “It’s not your job to keep tabs on everyone…” He gave another sigh, then looked to Sophie again. “We can at least confirm that Freddy's functioning properly in Safe Mode, as he gave us a tour last night and didn’t show any issues.”

Sophie let out a breath she hadn't realized that she was holding. Michael may have intimidated her at first, though at his reassurance she allowed herself to stop fretting over whether or not she’d be blamed for the current state of the Mega Pizzaplex.

“Best case scenario, they're broken down without power, which is why they aren’t responding to the manual call-back buttons inside their rooms,” Sophie explained, looking to Freddy with an exhausted smile. “At least you're still kicking it, right, superstar? Heh…”

The bear seemed to be in better shape than the state she found him in last night anyway. Sophie’s attention was pulled back to Michael, the most adept liar of the group for answers. “And you guys didn't notice anything out of place last night then, I take it.”

“Not at all,” Mike replied easily, shifting his weight so he leaned against the couch with arms still crossed. “Well, we noticed the other animatronics weren't in their rooms—although they've always tended to wander.”

A faint, strained smile crossed his lips for just a second as his eyes flitted to Freddy. There was a slight, awkward lull in the conversation, before Michael decided to ask: “Do you need Freddy for anything today?”

Hopefully she'd say no and he could remain by their side. Although, even if the techs did want to check him out just to be safe, at least Michael was no longer afraid of being discovered and having police called on them for trespassing.

“I need Freddy to stay in his room,” Sophie replied much to the dismay of Gregory, who desperately required a proper breakfast in his stomach asap. Sophie seemed set on this, hands on her hips as she made it clear: “While dayshift’s out looking for the rest of the band, no other animatronics are to leave their rooms. Obviously we’re on temporary shut-down from customers while we find the Glamrocks. Not to mention how messy all the attractions have gotten...” She sighed, shifting into a more demure stance. “You’ve probably heard all this from the big boss already, though.”

Charlie wanted to protest Freddy’s jail time, though any excuse she had lined up wouldn't have made sense with their current situation. There technically wasn’t a need for Freddy to be outside of his room, since there was no one to entertain today. The Mall would stand empty this weekend—a rarity for the money-making pit. Luckily, Gregory spoke up in their bear friend’s defense.

“But—” he interjected, peeking from behind Michael. “—he's my friend. Mike said he gets to play with me as much as I want!”

“There's other great animatronics, too,” Sophie reminded gently, firm in her conviction on this point. “There's the Sun character from the Daycare, the DJ...”

While it wasn’t an outward no, she’d essentially told Gregory to go kick rocks.

“It is alright, Gregory,” Freddy reassured, smiling brightly. He knew it would be even stranger if the others stayed in his room all day, and he could tell that Gregory was getting hungry. Still, he hated the thought of just being stuck in his room while the other three wandered the Pizzaplex...

Although, he reasoned that they wouldn't be alone, as the entire stock of dayshift staff were around—and Freddy also hadn't forgotten about that animatronic presumably still lurking in the vents. Despite Michael's obvious hatred of the thing, Ennard had saved him and Gregory, so Freddy presumed they'd offer the same protection if circumstances became dire.

Michael had a similar thought process to Charlie—he could probably get them to let Freddy wander around by throwing the Afton name around a little harder, but it would only cause unnecessary questions. It was all well and good for a 12 year old to be attached to the bear, but his two adult caretakers should agree with the other adult in this circumstance... At least for right now.

“Hey, we can still visit Freddy anytime we want—plus, it'll be easier to find him now that we know he's staying in one spot!” Michael pointed out, looking down at Gregory and pleading with his eyes not to fight the issue. His plan was to go along with Sophie's wishes for a little bit, and then swing back and pick up Freddy after they got Gregory some food. If they were questioned about the bear, they could deal with it then.

There it was, rearing its ugly head again: Gregory was beginning to develop separation anxiety. Though clearly it would be easier to go along with their wishes, Gregory could only cross his arms and pout. There was no way to protest this without feeling like he was jeopardizing the mission. So, silently, he glared at Sophie who took this in stride.

Charlie ruffled his hair in response, doting on him while excusing his behavior. “Sorry, Ms...?”

“—Walten,” Sophie filled her in, introducing herself fully to them. “Sophie Walten.”

Charlie smiled kindly at her, holding Gregory's shoulders as she felt the boy seethe with silent anger. “You'll have to excuse him; the kid didn't sleep enough.”

“And he gets grumpy when he's hungry,” Michael added, flashing Gregory a grin much closer to his normal demeanor. Settling his face back into cool detachment, Mike looked back to Sophie. “Do you happen to know if there's any dining location in this place that sells breakfast food? We’re not quite familiar with everything yet.”

Michael hoped it would cheer Gregory up from having to part with Freddy if he could get something other than pizza, since he still seemed a little queasy from inhaling an entire one last night. Besides, who knew when the last time the kid had a proper breakfast was...

As Mike posed his question, Freddy moved closer to Gregory so the boy could stay by his side a little longer. He even patted his back gently, as that wasn't out of the realm of what Freddy might do to comfort a random, upset child. Hoisting Gregory into his arms would probably cause some questions though, so the bear avoided that for now.

Sophie softened more when Michael relented to smiling at the child. Maybe he wasn't the hard-ass she presumed him to be.

“El Chip technically sells lunches. But I get their 'Not breakfast' Burritos when I get here early enough,” Sophie offered as their solution. It was one of her favorites, the pork burrito drawing a fine line between breakfast and lunch but remaining mild enough to eat first thing in the morning.

“That sounds tasty—right?” Charlie asked, nudging Gregory some until she saw a faint smile on his face.

“Can I have two burritos?” Gregory asked, feeling his stomach quietly rumble at the mention of food.

“I suppose that’s fine,” Michael said with another faint smile. He patted Gregory's shoulder as he addressed Sophie, telling her: “Well, we need to get this one some breakfast. We appreciate the update on the situation, though—please let us know if anything else comes up.”

His tone indicated this wasn't a request, but a command. Mike wanted to be the first one to hear any news—they never knew what might help their situation down the line. Besides, to his knowledge there still hadn't been any update regarding Monty's missing half—a fact that Michael easily forgot about over the course of the stressful night, but was concerning nonetheless. There were only two things that could've happened: either Monty crawled away on his own, or someone took him... and Michael wasn't sure which was worse.

“Uh right—I can give you both updates, sir,” Sophie assured, nerves making her play with the hem of her shirt sleeve. “In fact, if you happen to swing by any of the security offices, you can grab some walkie-talkies stored in the desks. That way you both can stay in the know a little easier.”

She made sure to smile at both of them. Her job was on the line at this point, and as Sophie began to egress, she waved.

“I should check on the others. Stay safe, you two.” Sophie tried to sound optimistic despite the dire circumstances. Upon her departure, Charlie nudged Michael in the shoulder.

“Dude, you were going to make her pee herself.” She was barely holding back a snicker at the way Michael's acting had the security guard wracked with nerves.

“Ugh, in a way I wish I wasn't so good...,” Mike replied with a dramatic shiver, then nudged Charlie in the arm. “But look at you, playing the sweet, innocent one; you almost had me fooled for a moment there!”

Michael tried to play this comment off with a straight face, but that only lasted about three seconds before he burst out laughing at his own lame joke. Now that the coast was clear, Freddy crouched in front of Gregory and began fixing up his sleep-mussed hair, wanting him to appear as presentable as possible for the dozens of staff who'd inevitably see him. The less questions they had about the random appearance of the founders' grandchildren, the better.

It seemed Charlie could only remained straight-faced as long as Mike did. Once his dam of giggles burst, Charlie was barely holding back her own laughter. Was it lame? Yes; it was still funny to her regardless.

Gregory may have done well with a comb, though the naturally wavy hair hid how under-groomed he was. This kid probably needed a shower more than anything, still hiding the sweat and blood by simply changing his clothes whenever possible. Gregory closed his eyes as Freddy swept a claw along his bangs, trying his best to clear the boy's face of his messy hair. The cut on his cheek had faded into a thin, pink line. Bruises that were already yellow when they first saw him had disappeared into obscurity on his face.

“I'll see you soon, Dad,” Gregory said, making sure his Fazwatch was turned on with its sound on the louder side. It wouldn't hurt him to make sure they could reach Freddy whenever possible.

“Yeah, don't worry—we'll get Gregory some food and head right back to bust you out of here, alright?” Michael added, filling the others in on his plan. He stood straight-backed and, in the poshest British accent he could manage, proclaimed: “Let's see what they'll do if Michael Afton Jr. insists on keeping the robot around, hmm?”

Freddy chuckled at this display, glad to see Mike in good spirits.  Still crouched, Freddy pulled Gregory into a quick hug before letting the boy go to join his siblings. “I will see you shortly, superstar; enjoy your breakfast!”

“Eugh, dude—the voice,” Charlie griped dramatically. She pantomimed a look of nausea as Gregory gently slapped her arm while laughing at Michael's over-pronunciation.

To strangers, Mike came off as aloof and threatening with this impression. To Gregory, he sounded like Mary Poppins. It was all an act anyway, and sure, it was fun to pretend to be someone else for a while. After Gregory gave his dad a farewell hug, he parted to run between Michael and Charlie.

“If anyone asks, Gregory, who are you again?” Charlie drilled quickly, holding his hand as she quizzed him to see if he remembered what they told Vanessa yesterday.

“I'm Michael's cousin!” he replied quickly, hoping the distance in relation would excuse his lack of emotion. Surely no one would be so interested in them or their family lineage to ask such invasive questions, though it was good to have a little background.

“Perfect.” Charlie gave his hand a squeeze for luck. Soon, they were freely roaming Rockstar Row, no worries now that the sun had risen.

It was strange to see the Pizzaplex bustling with life. Though Michael and Charlie's souls had technically been around since its inception, they'd only woken up once the terrible threat of William Afton reared his ugly rabbit head yet again. Even though no guests roamed the floors, the flurry of staff running to and fro gave a hint as to what life might be like when things were normal around here.

Mike felt a pang of wistfulness as he watched a group of younger staff members chatting and laughing together. He'd given the dayshift a shot during his early years, but he had a nasty habit of getting attached to people that inevitably met an unfortunate end, so he tried to stay friendly but aloof enough that it was easy to cut ties when the time came. Despite the terror of his nightshift duties, he appreciated its solitude for similar reasons. Even so... sometimes he wondered what it would've been like if things had been different.

But he didn't need to dwell on those thoughts now—he had a family that would stick by his side through thick and thin now, and for once he dared to feel a little bit happy.

The walk to El Chips was surprisingly short, since the trio were distracted by all the bright colors of the Pizzaplex in the daylight. They also got some stares as well, but no one dared come up and speak to them. Sophie's warning that it would be in everyone's best interest not to bother them, especially the Afton boys, certainly did the trick.

The group of young adults had seen the trio coming, and after one elbowed and sharply whispered to the others, they grabbed for the nearest task to look busy. One swept over a clearly clean spot with a broom, another began wiping down a help desk, while the third pretended to answer a call.

Watching them made Charlie wistful, too. It may have seemed that she and Mike were judging the workers, but really their glares were only filled with envy. Charlie had never gotten a chance to form solidarity in a group like that when she was alive. Thankfully, she’d been given a second chance to try it with her new family.

Inside the restaurant the S.T.A.F.F. bots were busy cleaning, though one rolled behind the counter once recognizing customers coming in.

“Two burritos, please!” Gregory shouted, running up to the counter;

“That will be eight dollars and twenty six cents,” the bot replied in a scripted form.

Gregory narrowed his eyes, on his toes to be able to send a dangerous glare over the counter. “I don't have any stinking money! Just put it on Mr. Afton's tab or something!”

When the robot repeated the question, Gregory felt his bottom lip wobble. He was exhausted and hungry, and this might just be the final straw to send him over the edge. Why did all the robots around here want him to starve?

“No worries—I've got this. Gregory, keep a lookout,” Michael instructed, taking a furtive look around before hopping over the counter. When assured no human staff were wandering by, he opened a back panel in the S.T.A.F.F. bot that gave the techs quick access to its computer system. Being such a rudimentary design compared to the likes of the Glamrocks, it took Mike less than a minute to finagle some base coding around to turn off the bot's insistence on monetary compensation.

Michael closed up the back panel and returned to the correct side of the counter, waiting intently to see if his little trick worked. The robot was still for a moment as it reset, before suddenly perking up and responding:

“Thank you for your patronage. You are order number...” It paused, accessing data from the last time someone had bought food. “...87. Please listen for your number at the window. Have a Faz-tastic day.”

“Yesss!” Michael cheered quietly, pumping a subdued fist at his side when the robot wandered off to the kitchen to start preparing the food. He then glanced down at Gregory, trying to be serious despite the grin twitching up the corners of his mouth. “It's not good to tamper with company property like that, okay? If you're with anyone but us, you could get in biiiig trouble.”

Gregory felt his own smile grow as he witnessed the blatant vandalism of the robots. With both him and Charlie watching for any signs of human intervention, Gregory was excited to finally hear the order number after one grueling minute.

“Of course, Mr. Afton.” Gregory snickered, happily confident that they had the whole facility tricked into thinking they were allowed to be here.

“With Michael hacking the server bots and that fake coin of yours, we could have a fun day today,” Charlie pointed out. It would be good for them to try and unwind before what was sure to be another night of insanity.

“Oh, yeah!” Mike perked up at the mention of Gregory's handy coin on a string. He glanced to their right, where if they listened closely the faint sounds of beeping and electronic music could be heard. “You know, we're right next to the arcade... One of them, at least. If you want, we could play a few games before picking up Freddy?”

He glanced down at Gregory, wondering if the boy's desire to be a kid or his newly-formed separation anxiety from his animatronic dad would win out.

Gregory took a moment to toss the idea around in his head. It seemed as though every time they strayed from Freddy for too long, something got in the way. There was always some mishap or disaster that required immediate action. Charlie bent at the waist, shaking Gregory by the shoulders to encourage the boy’s more explorative side.

“Gregory—think of the prizes we could get,” she teased. Charlie wanted him to forget his worries for a little while, and video games were the perfect distraction.

“Alright—after I get my burritos, we should hit up the Arcade!” Gregory finally relented, conceding to the impromptu plan of relaxing with some video games. Anything to remove the lingering fear this place still held over him. Then, they would return right back to Freddy. No harm, no foul.

“Order number 87—your food is ready at the window.”

As if on cue, the S.T.A.F.F. bot's voice called to them from a little window off to the side. A bright orange tray with Freddy's face on it was set down, though the image was mostly obscured by the plate on top of it that contained two piping hot burritos. Michael grabbed the food before Gregory could crawl up on the counter and attack it in a frenzy, walking the group over to one of the little tables in the back. He set the tray down and slipped into a seat on the opposite side, patting the spot next to him for Charlie to join.

Gregory had thrown himself into the tan plastic chair. Surrounded by orange, green, and bright glowing cacti he practically vibrated under the neon lights for the burritos he’d been promised. He wasted no time as Charlie squeezed in besides Michael, mindful not to sit on his hand before looking at the food Gregory opened with envy. Sugar was one thing, but she wasn't exactly sure if they were made to withstand eating normal meals.

“How're the burritos?” Charlie asked, watching as Gregory took a bite and swallowed a portion, yet didn't seem fully satisfied until he reached for a bottle of Tabasco. He quickly poured a good fraction of sauce into the burrito before taking another critical munch.

“Tangy,” Gregory replied, trying not to spit his food everywhere as he spoke with a full mouth.

“What a rousing review,” Michael snickered.

Tentatively, more afraid of Gregory trying to bite his hand off than the consequences of what he was about to do, Mike reached for a small piece of extra pork left on the plate next to the untouched burrito. He held it up to the light, suspicious as always of Fazbear Entertainment food. Then with a shrug he put the pork into his mouth, chewing experimentally before swallowing it down with shining eyes.

“Okay, we'll see what this does to my systems in a few hours, but I sure hope we can actually eat—I missed horrible, cheap food like this,” Michael admitted, watching as Gregory inhaled the rest of his first burrito and moved onto the next one. Whereas the sugar had been sweet, the pork was even better than Mike remembered. Maybe his pure desire to taste food again was clouding his taste buds, but he didn't really care.

“Are you kidding me?” Charlie asked, wide-eyed as if the Fazbear food hadn't been everything when they were younger. Being raised on a steady diet of processed, cheesy pizza, made it Charlie's comfort food. Or, perhaps the idea of it was. “The sawdust they probably packed that burrito with is flavor country.”

As the pair spoke, Gregory was currently trying to beat the world record for most El Chip meals eaten in 30 seconds or less. That didn't even count the time he took to inject a heavy dose of Tabasco into this tortilla as well. He couldn't make for conversation, as he was busy devouring his breakfast like it was his last meal.

Mike relented with a laugh, raising his palms up in a gesture of peace. The food might be horrible in an objective sense, but he had to admit he couldn't get enough of it, either. He turned to check on Gregory, eyes widening as he saw the plate completely empty and the boy licking his fingers clean.

“Wow... I suppose we're done with breakfast then!” Michael pushed a stack of napkins towards Gregory. In his frenzy, the boy had gotten Tabasco all over his face, and Mike watched Charlie out of the corner of his eye to see if her sisterly instincts kicked in enough to try and wipe off his face again like at the diner.

No, it wasn't Charlie licking her thumb this time. She thought smarter and licked a napkin first as she leaned over the table. As Gregory attempted to escape her reach, Charlie's reflexes were superior to his. The back of his head was held in place as she dabbed the orange vinegar and spice solution from around his mouth and cheeks.

“Bluh! Pfftt—” Gregory raspberried the air, trying to get Charlie to cease her sisterly actions. This had only spurred her on out of spite.

“Oh stop! There's no one even here; are you embarrassed because I love you?” she remarked, feigning offense to his refusal in allowing her to clean him.

“No! It's because you put cooties on that napkin!” Gregory griped, entirely serious, which only made Charlie laugh harder.

“No, wait, Charlie—he's right!” Michael exclaimed, eyes wide and serious. His words caused her to pause and stare at him with a raised eyebrow. “You do have cooties...”

He shook his head with a dramatic sigh, then flashed a wicked grin. “But I don't—c’mere!”

Faster than lightening, Michael had licked his own napkin and took over Charlie's attempt to wipe the remaining half of the stubborn orange stain from Gregory's face. His shrieks of protest only made Mike laugh and work harder until, finally, Gregory was sufficiently clean enough to let go. Mike sat back in his chair with a satisfied nod, discarding the crumpled napkin on the table and smiling brightly. “See—that was much better, wasn't it?”

Oh how badly Gregory wanted to frown. As he flopped his backside back into the plastic seat Gregory tried so hard to pout. Yet a smile twitched back in at the last second.

Charlie nodded in agreement. “Much better, we can see your cute face without all that grease.”

Gregory's was red with embarrassment as he wiped away the synthetic spit. Though everything had been carefully removed by Michael, he still felt as if it was there just clinging to him.

“I'm not cute!” he protested further, then felt the need to get up and throw away his trash to escape the attention. The kid’s reaction had only made Charlie excited for the future.

How could they collectively embarrass Gregory with their familial affection in public spaces?

It reminded her of when she’d tried to be more independent, but her parents refused to let her feel like anything except their baby. Gregory may have acted mad, but Charlie could spot the hidden smile from miles away.

Surreptitiously, Mike held out a hand underneath the table for Charlie to high-five, murmuring too quietly for Gregory to hear from across the room. “Good one, sis.”

And it was true—he and Charlie were best friends to the end, but sometimes it was hard to tell where that line of friendship ended and family began. Besides, thinking logically as Freddy would, if Charlie and Michael were both Gregory’s siblings, then it stood to reason they were each other’s as well.

Charlie would try to sneak him a high-five, finding herself smiling at Michael’s little nickname for her.

“Careful,” she reminded him “That hand’s covered in cooties.”

“Who wants to get their asses kicked at Faz-Fighters?” Gregory asked upon regaining his composure. He already knew the answer though. His siblings were practically begging for one after rubbing spit all over him. Charlie stood up to let Mike have space to leave, shooting Gregory a mock glare as she rose from the chair.

“Those are strong words for someone within noogie distance,” Charlie warned him fair and square, causing Gregory to laugh and hide away by Michael’s side. The kid seemed to be in better spirits with some more food in his stomach.

“Oh, you’re on, Gregory,” Michael said, eagerly leading the way to the arcade with Gregory tagging along close to his side. “Little did you know that I was the master at arcade games back when I was your age!”

Michael’s chest puffed up a bit. He hadn’t been able to gloat like that in forever! Sure, he might be competing with a twelve year old, but he had a feeling this kid had more skills than Mike’s other siblings and the Emily’s combined. With the confidence of someone who thinks they’re unbeatable, Michael grinned down at Gregory with a raised eyebrow. “Want to make it a real competition and add a bet to this thing? I’ll even let you set the conditions.”

Charlie knew if they had any of the older games like Fruity Maze or Midnight Motorist, Gregory would be toast. However, the kid seemed to have an overabundance of confidence when it came to arcade cabinets.

“Bet? I thought we didn’t have any money!” Gregory replied with a smirk. Though that wasn’t him dismissing the idea outright. In fact, Gregory looked curious. “Alright—if I win, you gotta carry me on your shoulders and introduce me as Champion of the World.”

Charlie rolled her eyes. For a tiny kid, Gregory had a big ego. Luckily, Michael could relate at times.

“High stakes,” Charlie replied with a laugh. Gregory seemed as if he knew what he was doing. Hell, the kid risked his life to play video games, so he must love them.

Michael didn’t seem perturbed in the slightest, merely sticking out a hand for Gregory to shake on and still wearing that overconfident smirk. “Deal.”

He didn’t bother setting victory conditions for himself. The chance to take a mental and physical break from the horrors his life had become was enough of a prize. Besides, though he was loathe to admit it, watching Gregory attach himself to the Faz-Fighters game console like it was molded to his hands did give Michael pause—

But only for a second. He was the reigning champion of high scores back in the original diner, after all. Surely this would be a piece of cake.

***

It was a piece of cake… just not for Michael. In a shockingly short span of time, the kid had wiped the floor with him, leaving Mike to stare open-mouthed at the flashing screen proclaiming Gregory the victor.

“No way…,” he muttered as the disbelief stared to wear off. In a slightly whining tone not unlike when he lost as a kid, Michael corrected: “I mean, no fair! This competition was rigged from the start! I demand a rematch.”

“Someone's a sore loser,” Gregory mentioned, perhaps trying to irk him intentionally as little brothers were want to do. He wore an impish grin, and pointed over to Charlie who’d been racking up tickets from one of her own games. Surely that was cheating; of course she'd be able to play the Puppet's Gift Giver like nobody’s business.

“We could play again,” Gregory said, swinging the drilled coin in his hand. “You're still gonna lose though.” He leaned against the machine, realistically thinking Michael may just be severely under practiced, hence his good luck this round. “I'll even be balloon boy this time! You'll totally win...”

The kid was a hustler and a con artist, that much was evident. As Charlie played her rather relaxed game of giving presents, she’d been laughing at the boys for the past five and a half minutes.

“No, I’m not falling for that—we’re playing Fruity Maze this time,” Michael said, crossing his arms resolutely so there was no room for argument. Gregory had picked one of his games, so now it was Michael’s turn. He shot Charlie a glare for her continuous snickering, though it was playful enough not to actually seem threatening—and Michael’s grumpiness only seemed to make her laugh harder. With bright eyes ready for revenge, Mike led Gregory over to one of the Fruity Maze consoles and gestured for him to slip his handy-dandy coin in the slot.

“You can go first,” he said with a wolfish grin. Surely the kid didn’t stand a chance on one of Michael’s old favorites.

Fruity Maze? Gregory scoffed and went towards the isometric, table shaped game. After quickly examining the controls, Gregory replied with a scoff. “Too easy. Just a maze...”

The clueless boy let his coin fall into the slot before pulling it out swiftly. As the game activated, Gregory realized that it was a timed challenge, every round started with so many seconds and although he did manage to earn some, the maze was nearly impossible being mostly dead-ends.

Who makes a game like that? Just to torture people?

The anxiety of wasting time on the clock eventually caught up with Gregory. On the third round, he met his fate in yet another dead end and let out a groan. “This game cheats; it's busted— there’s too many corners to get trapped in!”

“—Games are supposed to be fun, boys,” Charlie remarked with another laugh, her current pile of tickets stacking up heavily. What she was saving up for was unknown.

“Let me show you how a pro does it,” Michael said, stepping up to the console as Gregory faked the machine out with his coin again. He’d spent hours and hours of his life learning how to avoid every dead end and get all the power-ups he possibly could. His concentration narrowed into the small square window of the display, and soon he'd well-surpassed Gregory’s score. He could’ve played for much longer, but decided not to torture the kid too much and allowed his character to lose all his lives shortly thereafter.

“I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve,” Mike commented, trying to sound nonchalant despite the twinkling of mirth in his eyes.

A prompt was even displayed, telling Michael that he could input his initials to be immortalized in the High Score Roster. The roster itself wasn't very full, people not willing to go through the learning curve of a 40 year old game. Hell, Gregory would bet the machine itself was a salvage and wondered idly whose initials of SUZ still stood the top of the chart. It’d nearly been knocked off by Michael's score, just thirty points away.

“That's amazing!” Gregory replied with a hearty laugh. “There's only like six people on this chart and you got second place!”

Gregory would have to come back and learn the machine, just to get first place and rub it in Michael's face later.

“Thanks, kid,” Michael replied, taking his compliment as genuine and not realizing Gregory’s secret plans to dethrone him on the leaderboard. He typed in his initials and turned back to Gregory with a smile no longer wicked with fierce competitiveness.

“Even though we’re tied, you technically won the original game we made the bet on… so I’ll give you the win this time.” Michael held out his hand to shake on again, but as Gregory took it his grip tightened and he playfully threatened. “But next time, you’re going down!”

Gregory opened his mouth to disagree, his hand grip strength trying to match his brother, but when an alarm blared from Charlie's game in the corner his vision snapped to her. A robotic voice sounded from the speaker system, over the synth music they played on repeat inside the arcade.

“NEW HIGHSCORE!” it shouted, highlighting whenever someone topped the leader boards for any of the games. Tickets flew from its metal-box dispenser. Charlie knelt on the ground and just barely able to fit the roll she was collecting in her arms.

“I lived inside of an Arcade for like 30 years! I had a lot of time to get good at this game!” Charlie said, humbly averting her gaze before gathering her winnings together. She used to be sort of a newbie when it came to games and remembered having either Sammy or Michael beating levels for her that she just couldn't figure out. Now, she could operate one with her eyes closed.

Michael slowly shifted his gaze from Charlie to Gregory, murmuring to the boy: “Alright, good to know: never challenge Charlie to a high-score competition…”

After laughing at his jibe, Gregory rushed over to Charlie’s side and helped her pick up a ream of tickets that fluttered to the floor before his eyes. “What exactly are you gonna use those for, anyway?”

Charlie looked like she’d been waiting for someone to ask. Pointing back to the prize counter, Charlie diverted the boy's attention to the top shelf. On it was a 'deluxe' Fazbear vintage backpack. She spied it the last time they'd come to the Arcade. It came with a sticker sheet, a themed notebook, plus a Fazbear crayon pack. The backpack was familiar, and reminded her of the one a certain dead-beat Uncle had gifted to her long ago. She wanted it for the nostalgia factor mostly, but it wouldn't hurt to have a backpack to carry about things for both themselves and Gregory.

“Feast your eyes,” Charlie remarked, pointing to the saturated canvas bag. It appeared to be based off of Freddy's color scheme, the red's, tans and browns allowing a singular blue lightning bolt on the front to pop. “Two thousand more tickets, and it'll be mine.”

Michael let out a low whistle. “Wow, I didn’t notice that before…”

Likely because the last time he’d been here, he was still stuck in Freddy’s head. Plus, they’d either been running from Roxy or trying to find where Gregory wandered off to on the way to the security office. Speaking of which—

“Hey, Gregory—what was that game you found the other day? Princess-something?” Michael asked, eyebrows furrowing inquisitively. He hadn’t gotten a good look at the machine for obvious reasons, but the brief flash of images he’d seen intrigued him. He glanced to Charlie again, gesturing to her ticket pile. “You won, right? Maybe we can check it out again and help Charlie get some tickets!”

Never mind the fact that they didn’t need tickets to get whatever merchandise they wanted. They were already wearing half the gift shop’s supply of clothes, but because of their Afton and Emily status, no one would dare question them even if they took the most expensive prizes in the whole mall. Still, though Michael’s instinct was to simply snatch the backpack off the shelf, he could appreciate Charlie’s want to do things the right way.

It was an endearing trait that Michael had really only seen in one other person—a good, good... friend and coworker from before he’d been scooped. The guy once recounted a story of how he racked up tickets for months to get a silly little prize he could’ve easily encouraged the mangers to gift him for overtime compensation… Michael rolled his eyes at the good memories, refusing to think of the bad ones that came afterwards.

“What do you think?” he prompted, nudging Gregory’s shoulder with his elbow and using the physical touch to ground himself. “Want to help your sis kick ass at video games?”

“Princess Quest?” Gregory asked, though really he knew which one his brother was talking about. The ticket payout was decent if you beat the game after unlocking everything. He could probably beat it again, faster now that he knew the paths and secrets.

“Yeah! It's in the corner; be back with a butt-ton of tickets!” he reassured, happy to show off in front of his siblings.

“Oooh! Thank you so much, Gregory!” Charlie made sure to tell him. After all, they could pool whatever was left over and get Gregory and Michael a prize, too. They could hone their skills for a bit and collect their tickets to get any number of things—or, if that didn’t work by the end of the day, go with Michael's plan to steal anything they wanted.

Charging towards the back, Gregory retraced his steps from two nights ago, his memory leading him correctly now to the dusty old game. Charlie did her best to roll up the absurd amount of tickets and fit them into her pockets.

“Here, let me take some,” Michael offered, holding out a hand when he saw Charlie struggle. When she hesitated, he rolled his eyes with a laugh. “I promise I won’t steal them… this time.”

He flashed her a grin, all teeth and unconvincing innocence, though he got Charlie to relent and hand over a small stack of tickets that Michael folded up and shoved into his pockets. While it wasn't entirely Michael's fault for having such an untrustworthy face, that devilish and toothy grin did not do well to convince her.

“I will destroy you if you use them to buy those cheap sunglasses again,” Charlie warned. She would never forget that time she'd gone to use the bathroom, coming back to find Michael with the brand new Fazbear aviators on his face. He wore them inside the whole day while Charlie struggled to earn back the ticket loss.

They followed Gregory’s path to the Princess Quest console. Michael frowned as he examined the area and the machine itself, both of which looked like they hadn’t been touched in a long time.

“Weird,” he murmured, running a fingertip over the console and coming away with a fine coating of dust. “It’s like no one’s played this for months…”

“It must have a reputation. I know when I played it, the game was glitchy as hell,” Gregory admitted, lining up with coin with the slot hole again before pressing start.

“No wonder no one wants to touch it,” Michael commented, watching the screen light up. He frowned, staring at the little yellow player character as she ran around per Gregory’s direction.

Something about this game was… not right. Michael couldn’t place why, though. It just left him with a queasy feeling in his stomach the more he watched the princess fend off the glitching purple creatures. Although, maybe the queasiness was just from the meat he’d stupidly consumed earlier.

“Looks like it’s part of a series,” Michael pointed out, speaking more to Charlie since Gregory was clearly in the zone. He gestured to the logo at the top of the console, which had a big Roman numeral “one” next to the Princess Quest name.

“Huh...” Gregory paused, hesitating on pressing on. If there were more, he would rather find a newer version to play. “Let's find the sequel! Maybe they fixed some of the glitches...”

There was something awful about those bunny creatures. They just reminded Gregory a little too much of William. Then again, the likelihood of him having some part in this games creation was high. After all, the other games had at least one of the co-owners names as credits for the IP.

“Isn’t there another arcade?” Michael asked, trying to recall his mental map of the Pizzaplex. They were in the East Arcade, so it stood to reason there was a West as well. “Maybe if we can’t find part two in here, it’ll be in the other one!” He paused with a slight tilt of his head. “…We should probably pick up Freddy first, though. And maybe get a walkie from the security office nearby.”

“Oh good idea! I can go grab the walkie-talkie,” Charlie offered, unafraid to go alone with all the employees freely meandering about.

As Gregory finished the level, this game left him with an odd headache. It was very easy to get distracted by the hypnotic sounds and atmosphere of it all. For it being a simple 8 bit game, its magnetism almost had Gregory asking Charlie what she said before he was able to pull his attention back.

“Oh yeah! We'll see you in a minute,” Gregory replied, figuring it best to pull away and try to contact his dad. Both to let him know where they were, and that they’d be swinging by, Gregory raised the themed watch to his face and began to phone him. “Freddy? Come in, Papa Bear...”

“HELLO, SUPERSTAR!” Freddy’s voice blasted out of the tiny speaker. Michael flinched back as Gregory frantically readjusted the volume while Freddy continued with his parental questioning. “How are you feeling? Did you have breakfast yet? If so, did you get enough to eat? Have you had water as well? It is very important to keep hydrated, you know! Are you having fun with Michael and Charlie?”

“Give the kid a chance to answer you, Freddy!” Michael chimed in with a laugh, leaning over so his voice could be caught by the Fazwatch microphone.

Gregory had sputtered a moment before the bear finished his barrage of questions. Gosh, he must be bored without them!

“We had breakfast burritos! I can pick some water up before we come back to get you,” Gregory assured, beginning to head out of the Arcade to wait for Charlie in the hall. “We're having a lot of fun! Right now we're trying to play the rest of Princess Quest so we can win Charlie this backpack she wants.”

“That sounds wonderful!” Freddy replied, the smile obvious in his voice. He was glad to hear that no strange instances had occurred during his absence, and that the trio seemed to be getting along just fine.

“Like Gregory said, we're coming to get you in a few minutes,” Michael added, following Gregory out into the hallway and parking them both against the wall just outside the arcade entrance. He took stock of the various staff members wandering around, though as before no one actually tried to talk to them.

“Alright; I will see you all soon!” Freddy responded, unable to hide his eagerness to get out of his room and spend some quality time with his family.

It seemed a number of staff were gathering near a large vent in the wall, shinning lights inside. As Charlie came back with one large walkie-talkie clipped to her belt buckle, she craned her head in curiosity at the spectacle.

“Something wrong, fellas?” she asked, standing behind the group. They must not have noticed her at first, the gaggle of young adults nearly jumping from their skin.

“Ms. Emily! Sorry—Uh... We... Think there might be a... A small rat problem?” a nervous boy forced out. Charlie raised an eyebrow, silently waiting for him to elaborate further “We... Uhm... We keep hearing scratching? And uh... Honking. That might just be Music Man though. He loves the vents...”

Charlie's first thought trailed to Ennard, and she instantly averted to soothing mode. “Oh! Don't you guys worry about rats. I'll tell management to schedule an exterminator on Monday.”

The staff thanked her as she headed back to her group with a wave, seemingly relieved not to go back to their investigation in the central airway vents.

“We should get back; Ennard is freaking the staff out...” Charlie jabbed a thumb over her shoulder, pointing out the pack of scared college graduates.

“Oh, for fu—” For the sake of Gregory and the sanity of the staff who flinched when Michael’s face twisted into an expression of what they presumed to be rage at their incompetence, Mike managed to reign in his curse. Pinching the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut, he heaved a sigh. Once composed, he offered the group a dead-eyed Afton stare, though it was really focused on the vent cover beyond them.

“Yes, it’s nothing to concern yourselves with,” he said to the huddled staff members. Michael clenched his teeth in a sharp smile. “I’ll see to this problem personally.”

With that proclamation, Michael turned on his heel and started the trek back to Freddy’s room, making sure to grab Gregory’s hand along the way. He wished there was a chemical he could just spray in the vents to flush Ennard out, but in reality Mike just needed to have a little chat. He’d almost gotten used to the fact that Ennard was following him around, but he couldn’t have the thing freaking out staff—the last thing they needed was for someone to come across the amalgamation on accident and get traumatized.

If Ennard didn't scare them, Michael's stern attitude sure had. Gregory made sure to hold onto to Mike's hand as his brisk pace was simply too fast for the boy. He made no complaints, despite the distance they crossed in such a short amount of time. It seemed the staff were more aware of them, either making sure to stay clear, or attempting to schmooze with the group by wishing them a 'good morning' in passing.

“Are you mad, Michael?” Gregory asked, hoping the mood Ennard put him in would pass.

“Hmm?” Mike glanced down at Gregory, having been lost in thought. When he saw the boy's face, his expression immediately softened into a much more easy-going smile. “No, I'm not mad—just annoyed. I don't want Ennard to get spotted; the last thing we need on top of everything else is people questioning what the hell they are.”

Which was true... although he really wanted the thing to just go away and never come back. However, Michael had a sinking feeling that Ennard had already grown a fondness for Gregory, too—certainly not to the extent they obsessed over Michael, but Ennard had saved both of them. He doubted they were going to leave them alone anytime soon.

Charlie tapped Michael's shoulder, garnering his attention. “They seem to not want anyone to find them, at least. Maybe we should tell everyone not to snoop around the vents?” She unclipped the walkie-talkie from her belt loop with one fluid motion and held it up.

“Oooh! Good thinking, Charlie!” Gregory said. Everyone listened to them as if they were from Administration regardless. Emboldened, Charlie pressed the speaker button and relayed the message.

“Hey, Staff, this is Ms. Emily—” She spoke professionally into the receiver, finding it weird to refer to herself in such a manner as she talked. “— Any and all maintenance on the air ducts are postponed until further notice. If you have any concerns, find myself or Mr. Afton.”

“Thanks—that should help a lot,” Michael agreed, flashing Charlie a grateful smile. After a short pause, they rounded around to Rockstar Row, hearing the various staff copy her well-put message.

Nearing Freddy's room, they could see that he'd opened the curtain for the first time since the other night. It allowed the glowing, fluorescent lighting of Rockstar Row to filter into the room, which was noticeably cleaner than when they'd left. Apparently, this is how Freddy had been entertaining himself in their absence. When he caught sight of them, Freddy waved enthusiastically and moved to open his door.

“Hello, you three!” he greeted with a smile, ushering them inside. “Gregory says you have been enjoying your time together!”

“Yeah, he's a great kid,” Michael said, a bit absently. He was looking around Freddy's room, clearly searching for something, and upon Freddy's question of what that might be the android responded: “I'm looking for a vent big enough to fit a certain someone...”

“Ah, check the back storage room,” Freddy replied, inclining his head to the door. With a thankful nod, Michael followed his instructions and went into the back room, soon locating a large vent near the top of a shelving unit.

“Hey!” Michael hissed, looking into the darkness. “I know you're in there—come here for a second, will you?”

And oh, how Ennard wasted no time rushing to Michael's beck and call. The way Ennard moved sounded like a rain-stick made of aluminum. When their form finally passed half the threshold of the air duct, Ennard let out a frighteningly loud, “MIKEY!” in greeting.

“WE HAVE MISSED YOU... HOW IS CHILD-MICHAEL?” Ennard asked, apparently not quite catching Gregory's name, but associating him with Mike nevertheless. They tilted their head, sporadic and unpredictable with their movements. It seemed almost painful to move in such a way as they fitted their parts in the right place, slowly morphing their shape back into that of a crude person.

“Ugh...” Michael grimaced, hating how Ennard moved on principle. “Gregory is fine; you don't need to pay him any mind.”

As little contact as those two had, the better in Michael's eyes.

“I'm not sure how much you heard over all your scuttling, but you're freaking people out,” Michael informed the amalgamation, crossing his arms over his chest. He was less wary of Ennard than he'd been before, although despite what Ennard might want they'd certainly never be best friends—or friends at all, if Mike had any real say in the matter. “We've told staff to leave the vents alone for now, but can you... tone it down at all? The scraping can be chalked up to something else, but the honking is suspicious as hell.”

Michael gave up the idea of telling Ennard to be silent long ago. Without a plush suit to cushion the wires scraping the metal vents, they'd make noise no matter where they went. Even with Charlie's instructions people were still going to notice strange sounds, so hopefully Michael's request to not give the impression of a clown in the ventilation system would help ease the staff's nerves in the long run.

Ennard looked away in a bashful motion, their eye's twitching in place, seemingly thinking over Michael's words.

“WE SEE YOU... HAVING FUN. IT MAKES US HAPPY. WE WISH WE COULD...” Ennard trailed off, avoiding the topic of their own happiness before trying to listen to the request. It would be hard, keeping track of the group and also staying silent while moving. The excited honking happened when they felt secondhand joy while watching the three siblings play together.

“THE GIRL... CASSIDY... WANTS TO MAKE SURE... FAMILY IS SAFE.” Ennard explained further why their presence was so intrusive. It may be true, though even as Ennard's tendrils slithered around Michael's legs it was hardly convincing.

“...Ah.” That added a little more explanation as to why Ennard wanted to stick around so often. It was hard for Michael to think of them as anything but the creature that destroyed his life, but Ennard was just a collection of robotic parts and their AIs who wanted to be free and apparently make some friends.

That was the whole point of taking over Michael's body, after all—a twisted attempt to escape from the place they were literally being tortured, and Mike had seemed like the perfect candidate. Disguising as a human was a good way to talk to other people, but... obviously that didn't quite work out as expected. Feeling the cold wires against his legs, Michael quickly dislodged himself, though he resisted the urge to stomp on them as he did before.

Okay, he stomped once, but he missed the mark by such a wide margin it was questionable whether he actually meant to cause damage.

“Alright, well... you can tell Cassidy that we appreciate the lookout—we're okay for now,” he said eventually, trying not to dwell on Ennard's earlier comment. He shoved his hands in his pockets, huffing a sigh. “Just stay out of sight like you have been, alright? That's all I want.”

Ennard seemed to visibly deflate at his disconnection. They shuffled in place a bit, wringing their hands a little as they hunched their shoulders. They would have to find some way to make themselves quiet.

Ennard looked down at their body. Were they really that frightening to the others? They were made of such beloved characters! With the charm of Funtime Foxy, Funtime Freddy’s friendly attitude, Bon-Bon's optimism, and Ballora’s beauty and grace… Who could ask for a more well-rounded friend?

Sadly, all of their personalities conflicted. That was why they came off as unstable—because by nature, they were. Even if the things they had done made sense in their head, it was like four people trying to brush their hair at once with the same comb. Everyone had the right idea, yet the execution would always be impossible.

“WE WILL FIX OURSELVES…,” Ennard offered slowly. Hoping maybe changing despite the pain it put them through would help alleviate the issue. “ENNARD WILL BECOME QUIETER. THANK YOU… MIKE…”

Michael watched them go with a frown, wondering exactly what “fixing themselves” entailed. Then, he realized that he didn't care enough to know, so he turned on his heel and headed back to the warm comfort of Freddy's room. Gregory was sitting on the couch, in the middle of regaling Freddy with the tale of how he'd been viciously attacked by his siblings at the breakfast table. The bear sat next to Gregory and listened with rapt interest, a smile brightening up his face as Charlie laughed at Gregory's version of events from her spot on the floor.

“Have you gotten to the part where Charlie has a horrible case of cooties yet?” Michael asked, perching on the couch. As he waited for an answer, he proceeded to slide the boy over with his hip and a few gentle shoves to make room, thus essentially sandwiching Gregory between himself and Freddy. This made Gregory gasp in realization.

“RIGHT—that wasn’t even the worst part! You need to medical scan me, Freddy!” Gregory said with a concerning whine. Before Freddy could actually have time to react, Gregory added as if embarrassed to admit: “Charlie gave me cooties… I think I might’ve given them to Michael—”

Charlie had to intervene. She leaned over the back of the couch and turned that little face towards her, gaining the boy’s full attention.

“Gregory… Cooties aren’t real. You know that, right?” she asked, hoping that Gregory had been joking. Was that the real reason he’d been afraid of Cassidy? Because of a made up girl-disease? Gregory didn’t answer, just waved Charlie off.

“She’s gonna do it again!” he shouted, falling over to escape Charlie’s touch and subsequently falling with his back impacting Michael’s lap.

“Charlie is correct,” Freddy felt the need to add, also unsure if Gregory truly believed in the made up virus. He focused on Gregory, conducting a quick health scan anyway for good measure. With a smile, Freddy assured: “And even if it was, real, my sensors do not indicate the presence of any virus within your body.” His gaze shifted to Mike and he performed the same scan. “…Nor on Michael; you are both safe.”

“Thanks for the reassurance,” Michael replied with a snicker, unable to stop himself. Maybe he shouldn’t be encouraging his little brother’s fear of harmless fake diseases, but he had to admit Gregory’s faces were priceless.

“You lied to me…” Gregory hissed, feigning hurt and betrayal as he glared up at Michael. Charlie laughed at the boys, the doofuses they were, and leaned on Freddy’s shoulder. She'd also seemed to miss the bear and decided to give him a hug.

“Gregory, despite his grotesque cootie infection, volunteered to help me win some tickets!” she explained with an excited outlook, then looked sweetly to the bear. “Want to come with us to the Arcade?”

“I simply encouraged your delusion, Gregory,” Michael responded matter-of-factly. He ruffled the boy’s hair, completely unfazed by his glare as he looked to Freddy with a raised eyebrow. “So? Want to get out of here and have some fun for a bit?”

“I would love that,” Freddy said, gently letting his head fall against Charlie’s as she hugged him around the neck. “But I was told to stay in my room all day… you do not think my absence would cause problems?”

“Not with us by your side it won’t.” Michael chuckled, the force of it slightly bouncing Gregory who still laid in his lap. “Most of the staff is afraid to even look at me—I doubt anyone’s going to ask me why I’ve decided to take an animatronic out for a stroll with the family.”

Gregory’s frown slowly faded when he remembered how much more frightened of Michael’s potential wrath than that of the mysterious noises in the vents. He would silently snicker to himself. During the daytime, they owned this whole place. It’s a shame it all changed at night. They’d be kids in a candy shop to have this while place unsupervised. That was the goal when Gregory snuck inside… How was he to know what to expect next?

“Yeah! If we run into Sophie, we’ll tell her we’re running uh… Routine customer interactivity tests. And Gregory’s our test subject!” Charlie assured.

“Well, I certainly cannot argue with that plan,” Freddy said with laughter in his eyes. It was strange how his physical features hadn’t changed over the past few days, yet Freddy seemed so much more expressive now. He gave Charlie’s head a light pat and she released her hug, after which Freddy stood. “Which arcade are we going to? There are multiple locations throughout the Pizzaplex.”

“We want to visit the West Arcade; we haven’t been there yet,” Michael replied as he gripped Gregory under the shoulders and hoisted the boy off his lap, letting his legs dangle in the air for a moment before setting him down on the floor with a grin.

Freddy perked up at Michael’s words, his face brightening even more than before. Now that they were in the relative safety of daytime, perhaps they could meet an animatronic that wasn’t immediately hell-bent on killing them on sight. “Oh, you all will love the West Arcade! We can visit DJ Music Man while we are there!”

Michael frowned at this, recalling the nervous staff’s comment from earlier. “Yeah, we heard he likes to go in the vents…?”

“Ah, that is Music Man—related, but not quite the same.” Freddy chuckled, making his way for the door. “The DJ is different—and such a nice fellow!”

Charlie perked up at the promise of a DJ. She’d always been a music lover, and the chance to kick back with some familiar tunes they grew up with would just make her day. Well, other than acquiring the highly sought after Deluxe Fazbag. Rounding around the couch to Charlie’s side, Gregory found and matched her energy.

“Alright, bet!” he replied. The idea of meeting another friendlier animatronic wouldn’t hurt the day. Besides, Freddy was in desperate need of seeing one (even temporarily) non-infected friend, too.

“Well? What are we waiting for! Let’s go get us some tickets and watch the DJ play!” Charlie urged.

Today felt dreamier. Everything so vividly sweet and going their way. Charlie wouldn’t dare jinx it by dwelling on her happiness in the moment. So she’d keep her mouth shut and head for the door, giddy with anticipation.

***

Previous Chapter ~~ Next Chapter

Looking for more? Check out the Chapter Masterlist on Tumblr!

Or check out the entire Wires that Bind Us Series on ao3!

[lulubelle814]

Just Dizziness - Chapter 26

I woke up in the middle of the night again, gripped with fear, unsure of where I was or might be. Bolting upright, I looked around the room, seeing flowers all around before I felt a hand on my arm.  It took me a moment to realize someone was talking as they turned me.

"Hey, it's ok. It's okay." I fell into his arms, crying. "It's alright, my love. I'm right here."

Looking up, there was Tom. "I'm sorry. I didn't know…."

"It's okay. You don't have to explain."  He pulled me close, holding and reassuring me until I finally fell asleep, waking a few hours later in the same comfortable position, him snoring lightly. I couldn't help but lightly brush my fingers through his hair, moving a few stands out of his face. His hair was getting long, not that I cared. When my hand landed on his cheek, his sleepy face leaned into it, still snoring. I couldn't help but smile a bit at this incredible man.

Rather than risk waking him up, I laid my head back down on his chest, listening to the soothing rhythm of his heart.  After a while, he began to stir.  "Good morning, my beautiful wife." He brought a hand to smooth down my hair and stroke my cheek which I couldn’t help but lean into.

After giving a soft kiss, we untangled so that we could relieve our respective bladders.  It's not long after we get comfortable back in bed that Dr. Shepherd made an appearance. 

"Good morning! And how are we doing today?"

"Ok, I guess.  About the same?"  I'm not sure how to answer, but Tom elaborates for me. "She seems good for the most part. Another friend came by yesterday.  She didn't remember her but knew she was familiar.  It was the same in the hospital garden.  Said it felt familiar which is when I realized it looked a bit like mum's garden.  In fact, we're going to take a drive there when we're back home and settled."

"I would say that's a good sign, a step in the right direction."

Tom continued. "She had another incident last night though, not quite the same but like she wasn't sure where she was for a moment."

"That's ok. Like we talked about yesterday, that may happen for a while due to the nature of her case.  The good news is the MRI scans look good. That along with how well you’ve done the past couple days, we can get you discharged this afternoon."

Sure enough, I was discharged a few hours later.  Tom already had everything packed up, and the hospital was kind enough to let us borrow a cart to get everything easily moved to the car to get it loaded up.  Ben and Sophie had Bobby at the moment but offered to bring him over tomorrow to give us a chance to settle in first which was very kind of them.

Settling back in at home had some comforts but also felt like a chore.  There were familiarities in a number of pictures and some of the furniture, but it was also not the same home I remembered, and I wasn’t sure why.  We had agreed on the drive home to be open and honest about how we both felt, and I told him I would let him know when it felt like I was missing something or maybe not remembering something.  Although I did not remember the house in general, it felt bizarre having him give me a tour of the place we had been living in for the past few months.  

I was excited to see the couch in the living room.  “This I definitely remember.”

He raised an eyebrow.  “Yeah?”

“Oh yes.  I remember we had an impromptu date that ended up lasting an entire day.  Luke dropped off a picnic at the park, and it started to rain.  We ended up back at your place cuddling each other on this couch under blankets for warmth and falling asleep.”

“That’s one of my favorite memories of us.  That was a fantastic day.”

“It sure was.”  It felt nice to have some concrete things to hold on to.  With all the excitement, we were both tired and ordered pizza, cuddling up on the couch and watching random TV.  Glancing around the room, it felt somewhat like home, and I hoped that would change sooner rather than later; however, when we retired to bed, that felt somewhat strange, but I was able to relax and fall asleep in Tom’s arms.

Chapter 27

[drunkonimagination]

I’ll head to the chat later, but Thomastair for the ask thing 💖

oh look who's heree, hellooo 💘

first, thank you so much for the ask !! you know how much i love talking about them, this was just the perfect excuse 😔✨

also forgive me if it took me so long, i just had the busiest day! anyway, hope i'll make it up to you with these <3

who said “i love you” first

thomas <3 he blurts out the most beautiful and heartbreaking love confession you can dream of, voice quiet but firm, burning cheeks and trembling hands. alastair 100% cries like a baby (also tom says "i love you" in farsi because i say so).

who would have the other’s picture as their phone background

i feel they both would have the other's picture as their phone background, but if i must choose...then i'd say alastair. he's gonna show off thomas's pictures to every single human being he encounters like "look at my thomas!! he's so cute!! so beautiful!! so perfect 😩" god he would be SO annoying

who leaves notes written in fog on the bathroom mirror

thomas!!!! i feel he would write the cheesiest things just to annoy alastair and because he can't help it (alastair secretly melts inside every time he finds one of those notes and then proceeds to curse himself for being the most foolish lovesick man to ever set foot on earth).

who buys the other cheesy gifts

both of them?? probably thomas is the one who starts it (buying cheesy gifts for alastair quickly becomes his new favourite activity) but imagine alastair witnessing thomas's reaction at one of those cheesy gifts for the first time. he gets him something very little and silly and is not even sure thomas could like it but the moment he gives it to him the other boy gets so flattered, like so flattered. his face immediately lits up, his cheeks colour a deep cheery red and he can't stop smiling, eventually blurting out a faint and soft 'thank you'. he's so fucking adorable. to the point that alastair becomes addicted to it and starts buying thomas little gifts at every possible opportunity, even if it means spending hours in a shop just to find the perfect gift.

who initiated the first kiss

uh, thomas of course, this is also pretty canon hehe

who kisses the other awake in the morning

oh boy, i have read too many godly fics to not say thomas (also because i feel he's an early riser?) the way he would whisper alastair's name in the morning, slowly kissing every inch of his face till the man doesn't wake up with the biggest smile on his face....y e s. but im pretty sure alastair won't hesitate to kiss thomas awake when he has the chance (also thomas's sleepy face is the most adorable thing in the world and alastair can't help but kiss every part of it with such adoration and devotion it makes thomas's heart melt a little every time).

who starts tickle fights

jwkdjsj this is the easiest one: 100% thomas. oh, the way alastair would swear his terrible revenge while thomas can't stop laughing because that man is absolutely ridiculous

who asks who if they can join the other in the shower

yep, that's alastair (and after weeks of internal debating whether asking or not thomas wouldn't even answer, he would just drag alastair inside).

who surprises the other in the middle of the day at work with lunch

my boy thomass of course. also im sorry but thomas can cook....c'mon, he has been coached by the queen sophie herself. he certainly knows how to cook, and he's quite keen on baking if you ask me <3

he bakes alastair the best scones following step by step his mother's recipe (and will take revenge at his father for regularly embarrassing him in front of his boyfriend by telling gideon how much alastair liked his scones and never hid any of them under their bed. sophie will just laugh while gideon will shoot thomas dirty looks all the way through).

who was nervous and shy on the first date

BOTH!! they were both so nervous and excited. tom was panicking like 'omg omg i'm having a date with my life-long crush, and he's so beautiful and perfect and omg i think he likes me too...?? what if i ruin it?? HELP" alastair instead tried to calm himself down multiple times like it's no big deal alastair. everything is gonna be fine, breathe alastair, breathe. but as much as he wanted to cool off, his heart wouldn't stop racing and deep down he was so afraid to say the wrong thing and ruin everything

but when they both noticed how much the other was nervous (because of course they did, they understand each other perfectly) they started feeling more and more relaxed. anyway, they ended up having the best date ever and didn't stop smiling for weeks (of course cordelia and eugenia noticed and teased them for it <3)

who kills/takes out the spiders

mmm. i feel none of them is particularly afraid of spiders and they would easily take them out if they need to. and you know what? i think alastair is the one who deals with the hard work. it's not that thomas is afraid, he just finds insects gross and doesn't like to get too close and risk touching them in the process. alastair doesn't notice at first, but at the latest broken promise to take out the spider on the kitchen shelf, he just gets it and handles it by himself (thomas will swear he would have done it eventually and alastair will kiss his cheek like 'sure tom, sure, next time i'll leave it to you').

who loudly proclaims their love when they’re drunk

it's tooom. alastair doesn't ever get drunk (for obvious reasons), thomas instead does, but very rarely because he hardly ever drink (for both alastair and matthew's sake and also because he's never been that keen on drinking). however, on those rare occasions he drinks he easily gets drunk (not *wasted* levels but more *im gonna say the cheesiest stuff and be so clingy* levels). thomas is a very reserved and quiet person who keeps his sweetest thoughts and deepest feelings for alastair and alastair only, so when he's drunk he just says things he would normally say to alastair... in front of an audience. he's just more uninhibited... probably a little too much.

he pulls the first person he finds aside and starts a five-hour monologue about how much he loves alastair carstairs and can't imagine a life without him. he hugs and kisses alastair all the time, no matter if he's busy chatting with someone or doing literally anything else. thomas doesn't even interrupt him, he just gets closer, as if he can't manage to stay away from the other boy more than two minutes straight. sometimes he runs a hand through alastair's hair and starts giggling for no apparent reason. alastair is a blushing mess and struggles to stay focus all the way through.

once he turns to matthew and goes "math, remember when you said alastair's eyebrows are nice? well, i think he has beautiful hair too, it's just so soft. and his eyes are so pretty, like sooo prettyyyy. and oh my god his lips-" and he caresses every inch of alastair's blushing face while talking.

matthew wants to puke the entire time while alastair is still stuck at matthew's opinion regarding his eyebrows.

[linn-94]

Chapter 14: The morning after

The next morning I woke up to no Aaron in my bed. Did I dream it all? But then the smell of fresh brewed coffee came my way. I got out of bed to find Aaron in my kitchen.. singing, dancing and making breakfast.

"Goodmorning sunshine." He said when I walked into the kitchen.

"Goodmorning." I responded still a little sleepy.

I walked to Aaron and gave him a hug, he responded with a kiss on my forehead.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked him.

"I slept amazing! Your bed is really comfy." He said. "How did you sleep?"

"Great! But that was only because you were there with me." I said.

There was a silence after that. The only thing Aaron did was blush. I did the same and didn't know what to say anymore.

Then Aaron decided to talk about something else, ignoring the fact that we had said we liked each other and slept in the same bed.

"I made eggs because that was all I could find in your kitchen." He said.

"That's fine, I love eggs in the morning!"

He put the eggs on a plate and gave them to me. He did the same for himself and we ate breakfast together at my kitchenbar.

"Do you have any plans for today?" Aaron asked.

"No not really. I'm gonna call Melissa today, because I haven't spoke with her since we went to the musical. Well we texted but not really spoke. So I think I'm gonna catch up with her."

"That sounds great! So just a chill day for you then?"

"Yes nothing much, do you have something special planned?" I asked.

"I'm going to take Miles on a walk today and then I will go to the gym I think. I have another show tonight ofcourse."

"Sounds like a fun but active day." I laughed.

"Some of us are not that lucky." He joked.

I looked at him and he smirked back.

Both of us finished our breakfasts and Aaron took the plates to wash them.

"You don't have to do that, I can do it later today, I have the time." I said.

"It's no problem, I made breakfast so I will clean too."

"That's sweet of you." I said.

When Aaron finished cleaning up he decided to go home.

"Sophie, I have to get going, but thank you for everything!" He said.

"No thank you Aaron, for staying with me. I really needed it yesterday. And thank you for making me breakfast."

"For you I will do this everytime! Anything to keep you safe and happy." He said.

I blushed at what he said.

We gave each other a hug and then we said our goodbyes.

When Aaron I left I felt alone again. It felt so good having him with me yesterday and through the night. We said that we liked each other and I really meant it. He said it too, but maybe it was just to keep me happy.

AARON POV:

I walked out of Sophie's apartment and felt sad immediately. Yesterday was an amazing day and staying over was more than amazing. When Sophie was around me I felt like I could be myself. She made me happy and feel loved. She was the sweetest girl I had ever met.

And today I had to do stuff without her. It was really weird thinking that a few days ago we didn't know each other. Life really changed quick.

All the way home she was the only thing I could think of. I had it bad for her, but she didn't know. I admitted I liked her and she said she liked me. But oh boy if she knew how I really felt about her.

Did she have the same feelings for me? Should I tell her? And if she felt the same way, should we try being together? Or was it way too early.

I could already feel this was gonna be a hard day for me.

SOPHIE POV:

30 minutes after Aaron was gone I decided to call Melissa. I texted her last night, but we didn't really talk since the night of the musical. I had a lot to tell her. And I already knew she was going to freak out.

"Hey girl finally!" Melissa said.

"Hey Lis! I responded.

"So tell me Soph, what happened? Why did he invite you? What did I miss?"

"We had breakfast together yesterday morning, we talked for hours and then we decided to take a walk in the city. We went to Times Square and took some pictures. He secretly put his number in my phone and I found out when I was home. Oh and after Times Square walked to the theatre and took pictures there. And that 's where he asked me to come to the show that night and told me to come early because he had a surprise." I rambled to Melissa.

"Omg Sophie, what???" Melissa said.

"I know." Was the only thing I could say.

"But Soph, what was the surprise?"

I was quiet at the other end of the line, thinking about what happend.

"Soph are you still there? Melissa asked.

"Yes I'm still here. The surprise was a tour backstage at the theatre and.."

"And what Soph?"

"He gave me a mic and himself too. Then he took me into the decor of the show and we sang 'Come what may' together. And at the end we kissed." I said quick.

"You guys did what?"

"We kissed, but I don't know if it was a stage kiss or a real one. It felt real."

"You didn't talk about it?" She asked.

"No we didn't. And after the show I was backstage again and he walked me home. Then I asked him if he would stay to drink something. He did. And then I felt sad and we decided that he would stay the night, but on the couch. And then...."

"What what what Sophie?"

"We both couldn't sleep, so after texting he knocked on my bedroom door. We cuddled in bed and then fell asleep."

"Sophie!!!!!" Was the only thing Melissa could say.

"And then this morning we didn't talk about it again.. he made me breakfast and after breakfast he left." Sophie said.

"Well girl, you had a hell of day! Sounds like you two like each other very much!"

"Lis, I'm head over heals."

Melissa and I talked for another 30 minutes about everything and anything.

After we hung up I thought about everything that had happened yesterday.

While I was in my thoughts I got a text on my phone.

I checked my phone and it was a text from Aaron.

[a-sexy-asexual-658]

The Twin Sister (Part 17)

I was awoken from my slumber, which mind you is never a good idea to anyone, by a lot of squealing noises. Whatever animal is making that noise is going to regret it, well not really I'm just going to be really cranky that it scares every living being within a hundred-mile radius, trust me it's happened before.

I rolled out of bed stomping down the stairs ignoring the sleepy Sophie following. As I slammed the door open creating a loud BOOM noise I crossed my arms.

"WHAT THE FUCKING HELL, BITCHES!! WHO HAD THE FUCKING NERVE TO WAKE ME UP AT THIS HOUR!?!?" I yelled and everything froze. Like I said I'm scary when I'm cranky.

Suddenly a golden feathered bird flew at me and landed on my shoulder, its talons kept moving from shoulder to shoulder. It kept rubbing its face against my cheeks and my neck, so freaking CUTE! I softly grabbed it and tucked her into my chest and she seemed happy with that position. What I didn't notice was the small tiny little flames almost unnoticeable dancing along my hands keeping the small bird warm. Sophie noticed though and blocked it from the sight of Grady and Edaline before they noticed. I then saw the leash wrapped around her and scowled, I took it off and the eagle-sized bird looked even happier.

Grady and Edaline soon came over to us. "You girls should be in bed resting." Was the first thing Grady had said when they arrived. Edaline reached out to take the bird but it just snapped at her causing her to quickly retract her hands.

"Guys she's mine now-!"

"No."

"What? What do you mean no?"

"You guys already have Stinky and Iggy your not getting another pet."

"Please!"

"No."

"Please!"

"No."

"Yes."

"Excuse me, young lady?" Grady said in a threatening tone.

"Come on! Clearly, she won't let you touch her and she likes me!" I said and after a little more arguing the bird, my guess is she noticed my arguing with Grady, flew out of my hands' bit Grady's ear and scratched his cheek, and proceeded to chase him around the pastures for five minutes while we laughed then flew back to me and cuddled up to my chest again. I gave her head pats in reward.

"Fine, you can keep her," Grady grumbled as he walked back, the beautiful bird did nothing to hide her glare at him. Ha she's already attached to me and seems to be protective too!

"Well, what are you going to name her?" Edaline asked as she walked over.

"Hmm, don't know what do you think?"

"How about Gildie?"

"That's perfect! Welcome to the family Gildie." I said and Gildie did a bird's version of a purr in satisfaction.

~The Next Day~

Well, long story short Grady and Edaline don't want us near the pastures anymore, boring. Nothing really to get into just them being protective or something. They then sent me and Sophie to study, being more firm on my part. And by firm I mean they threatened me so I actually did study. Although it didn't work, I was just helping Sophie memorize things by holding up flashcards or was napping. Mostly napping though.

The next few days were boring so let's skip to the time Grady showed us how angry he could get.

It was the middle of the night and Alden had suddenly come over, the fucking asswhole has the nerve to come here and wake me up of all things, I am going to kill him one of these days, seriously! He went on to argue with Grady and when he was about to leave Sophie felt the need to make our presence known.

"Wait." Sophie cleared her throat as Alden faced us. "What's going on?"

Alden opened his mouth, but Grady cut him off.

"Go to bed, girls!"

"But—"

"Go to bed now!"

"As I was about to say. " I said pointedly glaring at Grady who glared right back, clearly not in the mood. "You don't have to tell me twice. Oh, and asswhole? Watch your dick the next time I see you, no one wakes me up, no one." I said giggling on the way up the stairs, even though I wasn't looking I could tell Alden shivered. Heheheh, fear is a good look on him.

The next day Grady and Edaline weren't home and even when it turned dark they still weren't home. The gnomes shared some of their dinner with us and Sophie wanted to stay up but I was still mad at Grady for yelling at us yesterday so I went to bed although I forced Sophie to fill me in on why she was worrying and pacing the next day.

Now it's school again, yay. Note the sarcasm. Sophie ran off with Fitz and me and Keefe skipped lunch to set up a prank.

More boring stuff except Sophie wanting me to tell her about anything suspicious I see or report to Alden, which I will do neither. But not like I see anything anyway so, whatever.

Let's skip to the world-shattering truth! Well for Sophie at least. I don't really care kinda saw it coming honestly. . . . . . I'M NOT CRYING YOU ARE!!!

We were home alone again when the doorbell rang and Sophie opened it while I sat on the couch scrolling on my iPod. She walked back in with a scroll.

"Oooooh, what's that!" I said and she blocked it from me. Sophie left it on the table and I jammed to some music as Sophie studied. Oh and Iggy took the scroll and ripped it apart. As Sophie screamed and tried to get it back I laughed and cheered Iggy on. When Sophie finally got it back she froze reading what was on the paper.

I walked over to her and also froze seeing it.

"In accordance with your request, adoption proceedings for Sophie Foster and (Y/N) Foster have been canceled."

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

1039 words

Well the chapter is finally out, hope you liked it! Yes finally a cliffhanger! The torture is back!

Eat real food, drink real water and get some real sleep or else Sophie will turn into a total bitch and take (Y/N) for granted and more!  

Good bye! 

~Sahiko

[wakeup-awg]

Reunited | Mid March

[Sophie | Alex]

It had been a month since they had married and now they were going to be reunited since she had stayed behind in Paris for Paris fashion week with Delphine and Alex had gone on with the boys to do some shows with Willa and Noah. It had been hard, being apart the first few weeks of their marriage if she was being honest but they made it work with lots of facetime calls and things of that nature. Finally though, they were headed back to Baltimore on a flight from Paris, Delphine incredibly tired and curled up on her mother’s lap. Once they landed in Baltimore a cab drove them to the farm and she wasn’t sure if Alex was already home as she got there and carried the sleeping child in her arms and yawned herself. “Babe?” she called out seeing, if anyone was home.

After a couple days in post-married bliss, it was a rough cut being off on tour without Sophie and Noah and Willa tagging along with him and the boys. Alex longed for any day off, just to get in some nap time while the little ones napped so he was awake and energized enough to do the shows. He loved being on tour and doing the shows, but this time he was really happy at the prospect of getting home and being reunited with the rest of the family. He'd gotten back to their Baltimore home a few hours prior, had taken Noah and Willa to check on the animals before they had dinner and he put them to bed early. Thankfully, they were really sleepy. He was just relaxing on the couch with a random movie on when he heard the door and moments later Sophie was greeted by their dogs. He got up and moved through the living room, towards the hall where Sophie still was. "Hi, baby," he greeted her, a bright smile on his lips. He caught Delphine sleeping in her arms and held his hands out. "I can take her, so you can take shoes and coat off," he offered.

When the dogs greeted her, she pet them as best as she could without waking up Delphine who was exhausted from traveling. Plus, she knew she had been missing her siblings and her father tons since they had been doing separate things. Then Alex came around the corner and she smiled seeing her husband in person, she had missed him far more than she wanted to admit out loud, but she was sure he knew that without her even saying it. “Hi babe.” she said softly, not wanting to wake the almost two-year-old in her arms. When he offered to take her, she shifted the sleeping girl into his arms. “She’s exhausted fell asleep towards the end of the flight and woke up when we landed and fell back to sleep so I think if she wakes again she’ll be incredibly cranky.” Which she knew would be the case in a lot of ways as she started shrugging off her coat and shoes. “I’m so tired too if I’m honest. These last few weeks,” she sighed out. “Good time but.. I missed just us all being together.”

Sophie looked tired and Alex was just happy to have her home. They'd get some time for just them as a family now and it was a really nice change from being on tour and, well, separated. He carefully took their youngest into his arms and for a moment she looked like she was gonna stir and wake up, but then she settled into his embrace and dozed back off. Alex smiled at her, he had missed her terribly, only having two of their kids was the most logical thing but it also always felt like something (or someone) was missing. He leaned in to peck Sophie's lips with a grin on his own before pulling back and nodding towards the stairs. "I'll put her down in her room, I'll be right back." It really didn't take long to put the little girl down and as he emerged from the room, he almost expected Sophie to have made her way to their bed to get comfortable.

She was exhausted if she was honest, traveling with kids, even just one being the youngest was tiring, even if Alex had both of their oldest kids who could be a handful. Easily their youngest settled into Alex’s arms and he pecked her lips and smiled at him that he was so helpful with getting their daughter to bed. As she got comfy, she pet the dogs again wanting to give them some attention before she started up the stairs and meeting him as he was coming out of Delphine’s room. “I was just heading up to our room.” she said softly. “Did you want to join me or were you going to go back downstairs and I can meet you downstairs?” she asked figuring whatever would be best but she wanted to spend some time with him after weeks apart.

"Hi," Alex chuckled softly when they met just outside of Delphi's room in the hallway. "Depends, you look tired, so do you want to just lay down in bed and rest some?" he questioned. "I have to turn the tv off, grab some water but then we can meet up her." They could also watch what he had been watching downstairs, but Sophie looked so tired, he figured their bed would be the better option.

“Hi baby.” She smiled. “I am tired.” Admitting before glancing at him. “But I honestly wanted to spend time with my husband after not seeing you for weeks.” She said. “Being apart sucks.” She admitted out loud because it did, so much. “So if you want to grab two waters I’ll get the bed set up and we can hang out in bed and be comfy.” Given how big and spacious their bed was.

A soft chuckle left Alex's lips. "I wasn't gonna go back downstairs if you weren't gonna come join me," he told her. She was right, being apart sucked but he was gonna focus on the weeks of being together they had in front of them. "I'll be back in a minute," Alex hummed and once again leaning in with the intention to peck her lips but he got a little bit distracted when he realized how much he'd missed her lips on his, so he let the kiss linger a little longer.

She was looking forward to being back together for the next few weeks as a family, wanting that time together. “Okay.” she said as he leaned in and the kiss turned a little longer than she was expecting and giggled into the kiss after a few seconds and finally broke away. “I’ll see you in a few minutes I’m not going anywhere.” she said as she headed into their bedroom. She changed into comfortable pajamas and pulled back the blankets before grabbing the remote and hopping into bed and getting herself comfortable and leaning into the thick row of pillows waiting for Alex.

He smiled when the kiss eventually broke again. "You better not," he murmured with a chuckle before heading downstairs. He turned off the tv first, made sure the lights were off before heading into the kitchen. Penny and Percy were following him and he raised his brows as he grabbed two bottles of water and found the dogs sitting in front of him looking expectingly. "You want some treats? It's not time for your dinner yet," he told them before finding the dog treats to give them, and the rest of the pack some of them until he eventually headed back upstairs where he found Sophie getting comfortable in their bed. "The dogs thought me coming in the kitchen meant it's time for their dinner," Alex chuckled as he put one of the bottles beside Sophie and then moved around to slip into bed with her.

“What am I going to do sneak out a window?” she teased with a laugh shaking her head. Once she was comfortable in bed she was just waiting for Alex as she flipped through the different streaming channels they had looking for something to watch. When he finally got upstairs she laughed, “The dogs always think it’s time to eat, they’re dogs they’re hungry even when they just ate.” she pointed out. “Thank you.” she said about her bottle of water and he slipped into bed. “Did you eat?” she asked now that he mentioned food even if it was for the dogs eating.

"I don't know, just saying I'm glad you're here now I don't want you to go again," he said before heading off downstairs. The dogs followed when he returned to the bedroom. "I mean, I can't blame them for always being hungry," Alex chuckled as he crawled into bed. "I had a little bit when Willa and Noah had dinner. They were very determined on me having dinner with them. How about you, have you eaten?"

She laughed, “If I didn’t want to be here, I would have stayed you realize and that’s crazy given we just got married and I want to be here with my /husband/.” she pointed out. “No, I didn’t eat, I was more worried about flying with Delphine by myself and anyone seeing us and taking photos and my anxiety and making sure if she got hungry.” she admitted so she hadn’t really worried about food or anything other than the soda she had gotten on the plane. “Oh, and the snack pack they passed out on the plane but not like dinner.”

Once he was in bed, Alex shifted to lay on his side close to Sophie and he raised his eyebrows a little. "You're gonna need dinner," he told her. "Should've said that before I got into bed." A chuckle left his lips as he reached over to drape his arm over her and bring his hand up to her cheek. "You made it alright, yes? I knew you'd get here safe and sound."

“I know I’ll get something once I unwind a bit.” she said because she knew she wouldn’t pass up something to eat and that they would have something in the fridge. “I know but you know how I am always anxious when traveling with the kids, it was easier with just one by myself I’ll admit but I’m always worried if someone gets too close or in our faces with a camera. Delphine was a sweetie so calm.” she pointed out because she had been amazing and made it a lot easier. “Slept so much of it think the time change and getting her up extra early wiped her out.”

"I can cook you something," he offered. But he was very happy to just lay with her for a little bit. "Well then she was much better than our other two," Alex chuckled. "Noah was waving at everyone and saying hi and I think Willa was trying to tell everyone about our trip on the boat. She wouldn't stop talking." Which was adorable, but also kind of exhausting, and Alex wasn't sure how much he wanted her to share about their whole time off. "Thankfully she ended up talking to Jack the whole flight."

“If you want but if not I can get myself something in a little bit.” She said because she didn’t mind honestly she didn’t want him to feel like he had to. A laugh left her lips. “Noah is just a confident little king that wants to be friends with everyone which maybe we should teach him safety things.” She admitted. “Oh I’m sure jack loved that when I know he loves to sleep a ton he didn’t end up telling her to just shut up because like that wouldn’t surprise me if I’m honest.” She admitted though she knew he also wouldn’t want to piss Alex off either.

"You know I don't mind cooking for you," Alex offered. He shifted to settled down more comfortably and lean against a propped-up pillow. "He was trying to be very polite. And Jack did look at me like he wanted me to safe him, which I didn't," he told her with a grin. "But he didn't tell her to shut up either. I did hear him tell her he was there though," he laughed and shook his head. "So how was fashion week?"

“I know but I don’t want you to think you /have/ to you had a long day too.” she pointed out. “Glad that he was being polite but was in distress from having Willa talking to him the whole flight.” she laughed. “Kids don’t care if you were there they want you to know how they thought of it.” she laughed softly shaking her head. “I can imagine if he told her to shut up you would have punched him.” she said. “Fashion week was amazing, so so amazing.” she admitted.

A grin spread on Alex's lips and he tried to stay serious as he shook his head. "I wouldn't have punched him. He was doing better to let her tell him all about it though." He liked to deny it, but Willa was so much like him in a lot of ways and he didn't exactly like telling a story and realizing the other person isn't interested in hearing it, either. "Yeah? So you had a good time? I did see a few pictures. You looked stunning."

“You’re telling me if he turned around and told Willa to shut up and she got all pucker lipped and cried you wouldn’t punch him?” she raised a brow at him? Not that she thought Jack could actually be that cruel to their kids because he was a big kid himself, he might if he got drunk to an older person who pissed him off or something but not their kids. “I had so much fun, sat near Anna Wintour which was both amazing and scary as fuck.” she admitted, “She’s so intimidating… but I felt so hot in that outfit but powerful. I actually asked Louis Vuitton to keep it because I loved that outfit.” she said. “No clue when I could wear it again but I don’t care.”

"I mean I'd be tempted to, but..." he trailed off and chuckled at the thought, because of course he'd end up punching him if he had so deliberately upset his daughter. He arched a brow when she said she asked to keep the outfit and for a moment he bit his lower lip before shrugging his shoulders and offering, "next time we go on a date night you could wear it." If she did, he'd be like putty in her hands probably, but he'd take that to see her face to face in it.

[onlyseokmins]

Aww no 😭 you need to get some rest 🥺 luca is a little bit spoiled tbh but as long as he is happy! I hope the same and you too, always 🥺 i made hard/soft hours and my ask is full of Jun 🥲 also i forgot today is a holiday over here which means a boring day

i am thinking the sleepiness shall never be defeated :') aww he's spoiled but that's okay haha he's treated like he should be!! sophie is definitely spoiled as well hahah but that's bc we just love them so much, right? ooh how fun! everyone is in junhui feels haha i don't blame them. that's super nice, i hope you're enjoying the well-deserved rest tho even if today's boring hahah