#so in the end i did see a new dentist and i was like it doesn't hurt that much it's probably not that bad

[lala-blahblah]

I absolutely cannot sit down and write a nice version of this bc my brain says no, but i would like to let you all know I'm thinking of a fanfic where older Edgeworth is moving back to the US (or japan, whichever universe you subscribe to) and runs into Nick in the store while buying mass produced art to hang on the walls of his new house.

And Nick is like "dear god do you want your house to look like a dentist's office. Please do better" (in a friendly way, they are too old for rivalry at this point) and so Nick invites Edgeworth to come over and take any of his old artwork from college, since it is just sitting in a portfolio in a closet somewhere. And Edgeworth agrees to come over and look through Nick's old stuff together. There are themes of 1) growing older and like reflecting on the past and 2) Nick's character trait of finding meaning in challenges vs Edgeworth's tendency to stick with what he does well. In my head I imagine that Nick was good at art and it came somewhat easily to him and that bored him, and he was drawn to law in part because it was hard and it excited him and made him want to try harder. And i think tying that in with fatherhood, like it being unexpected and hard but something he thrives at because he feels good when there's a challenge. Potentially also touching on how like, when he lost his badge he felt very listless and depressed because he wasn't being challenged anymore, there wasn't anything to drive him and motivate him. And I think Edgeworth would be impressed by seeing Nick's old pieces (I assume he hasn't seen much of his art before) and wondering why he didn't choose to pursue art further. He also thinks about how art had always put him off personally because he couldn't get it "right" right away, and on the other hand how the structure and logic of law came easily to him, which led him to become a lawyer. I think he measures his self worth by his success in his field because he never had the support to believe he had intrinsic value as a person and maybe wasn't so good at making emotional connections with people. So that big contrast between them is so interesting... I think Edgeworth would be jealous of Nick's bravery in pursuing something he was bad at without giving up and Nick would be jealous of Edgeworth's success in law, but in a subdued way as they've grown older.

A far as actual scenes in the fic, I think I would use Nick's art as a conduit for my own agenda to have them talk about topics that are of interest to me... I would like Edgeworth to feel out of his depth for once and for nick to be the confident one as he talks about something he is well versed in, and for edgeworth to have to face that discomfort and also be a little impressed intellectually with Nick. I think I would do that by having them look through some abstract art Nick did (my intro painting classes were all abstract so we could focus on color mixing and getting comfortable with the medium). Edgeworth compliments Nick on a painting with a bunch of colored squares in gradient clusters and then gets embarrassed when Nick tells him those were just color mixing swatches. Alternatively, in my mind they are both asexual and I think even though this feels like a hallmark cliche I would have Edgeworth flounder and be very embarrassed over Nick's old figure drawing piece. I feel like Nick would be like "no you don't understand it's all very professional and normal when we draw them, like it's just about learning the shape language" and Edgeworth would be like "this is very improper and I don't know how to react can we please not look at naked people!". I don't think i would do both, but something to upset the power dynamic for a moment would be interesting! Nick is always the awkward one I want to see him shine for just a moment enough for edgeworth to go "wait what... i've known him for so long but perhaps i don't really know him at all..."

I would want Edgeworth to end up taking a series of 3 canvases Nick did in an oil painting class that were still lifes of objects the teacher had set up around the classroom. I headcanon that Nick actually far preferred drawing people to objects and rebelled against the assignment by hiding his reflection in one of the objects in each drawing- the top of his head is hidden in an ornament on a christmas tree, his eye is reflected in the shine of a china vase, etc. So it's a little secret, and Edgeworth kind of likes that... it is sweet in a way to see a much younger Phoenix captured in time like that. Something Edgeworth will be reminded of when he sees the paintings but nobody else will catch onto

I would want to layer this with a fatherhood storyline... I think i would frame it as nick inviting edgeworth over to dinner with him and Trucy and Edgeworth stepping into this domestic family life as a visitor and witnessing how its transformed Nick, like seeing him from a different lens. I think after they pick out paintings and have dinner they sit around talking. Trucy had been sitting with them, earlier she showed off some magic tricks and gave Edgeworth a picture of hers from the fridge to add to his new art collection (it's a rainbow dolphin and a sea turtle wearing top hats. Nick says she's in her Lisa Frank era). But she's been quiet for awhile and Nick realizes she's fallen asleep and it's like 11. He's like, crap, i screwed up i should've paid attention and gotten her put to bed, I'm a bad father and I have an audience for this failure. And on top of that, I already failed at being a lawyer, no matter what I try I always disappoint everyone. It's an unexpected moment of vulnerability there... like he's seemed so put together and grown up to Edgeworth this whole time like a whole different person, but he's not a different person he just has different sides to him. And this moment is one where edgeworth can be like hey, no, you're a great dad, and I'm impressed by you and everything you achieved. And I think that could lead into vulnerability from Edgeworth about his relationship with his dad and how he misses him/how he feels like he hasn't really been loved by anyone since his dad died, and how Trucy is lucky to have someone like Nick in her life.

Nick excuses himself to carry Trucy to bed and Miles starts cleaning up the kitchen. I would give a moments pause here to talk about the strange intimacy of going through someone else's kitchen cabinets and drawers, you feel like a stranger there trying to put yourself into someone else's shoes to understand how they live in this space. Maybe he guesses the right drawer for the silverware first try and he feels a little spark of connection. like "we are different in many ways but we are alike enough that we look in the same place for our spoons". Details on the kitchen too about the kid safe plastic bowls and knives that indicate a child is part of the household, that the household has been built around the child, in fact. Edgeworth lives alone and I imagine things are kind of fancy for him (he's a man who wears a cravat so he probably has fine china right). It's completely different from this shabby mismatched cutlery that Nick has, but this kitchen has personality. Maybe he wouldn't mind having a kitchen like this so much. This is a hint at him being lonely, being included in this family unit just for a day has given him this curious sense of longing, for what he isn't sure... does he want kids? Does he want Nick? Does he just want to be part of a family? These are confusing questions and he would much rather not feel anything at all, but unfortunately it is late and he did have a glass of wine with dinner so emotions are Happening.

He hears Nick sigh tiredly as he comes into the kitchen, and Edgeworth starts to ask him where his tupperware is when suddenly Nick is wrapping his arms around him and Edgeworth is Very Tense because he's never good at knowing how to act in situations like this and he and Nick have never been on a hugging level before and he's not sure what this is even for. Then Nick is like "I keep thinking about what you said earlier, about feeling alone ever since your dad passed away. I didn't know, that's such a long time to feel alone. I don't want you to think you're on your own". Edgeworth relaxes a little bit because now he knows what the hug is for and what he's supposed to feel from it. Its very kind of Nick to worry but its unnecessary and he says so. He has colleagues he's friendly with and people from law school he keeps in touch with, he's alright. And Nick says he knows but he also knows it's difficult living the way they do, and what he means is single and in your thirties. Because everyone else is getting married or living with a long term partner or at the very least dating and their lives are focused on that relationship as the center of their being. And when you don't have that, not only is it harder to relate to the people around you but it is harder to feel like you matter in people's lives, because they all prioritize their partner before their friends. And maybe their situations aren't exactly the same (Nick has a daughter while Edgeworth lives alone) and maybe their choices were made for different reasons (Nick used to date and didn't mind it but didn't see a need to prioritize it. Edgeworth found himself unable to distinguish with certainty whether or not he was actually romantically interested in people, and rather than make the wrong choice he decided he would rule out error by choosing no one at all). But regardless, they both know first hand the isolation that comes with trying to carve a path for themselves that does not include a life partner in a world where everyone else comes in pairs. And Nick is reaching out across that emptiness saying hey, we might both be building different lives, but there's room for you to be a part of mine if you want.

Outloud, Nick says "Really, Miles. You aren't alone in this." and Edgeworth says "Well, Phoenix, neither are you". And he stands there and lets his friend hug him, and it doesn't feel like butterflies but it does feel solid and warm and good. And he doesn't even worry about whether he's supposed to let go by now or not, because it's nice, not being alone.

They stand there in comfortable silence for a long moment before Nick speaks again. "hey, remember when you used to hate me? And look at us now." Edgeworth turns his head sharply. "I never HATED you, Wright. I simply thought you were foolish and a waste of my time." He realizes a little too late that this is probably a rude thing to say to the person that just gave you a pep talk, but Nick just laughs, his head still resting on Edgeworth's shoulder. Looking at him from this angle, face almost fully hidden, Nick could be any age at all. It's easy to imagine for a moment that he's the same nervous version of himself that stood across from him in the courtroom for the first time all those years ago. The only thing breaking the illusion is the subtle streaks of silver that cross his temples. Not entirely sure why he does it, Edgeworth kisses the top of Nick's head. He feels odd about it the moment he does so, realizing it comes across not as a platonic or romantic action but as a gesture suited for a dog or pet of some kind. Nick looks up, looking confused but not displeased. "What was that for?" "It was a thank you I suppose". Miles steps away now, still uncomfortable with perceived failures even if those failures are just in social interactions, and begins to gather his things while Nick gets down a tupperware from a cabinet. "Thank you, for the dinner and for the paintings." Edgeworth continues. "I'd like to repay the favor once I get settled into the new house. Trucy's invited too, of course". As he says it, he realizes he genuinely is looking forward to seeing them again. Nick walks him to the apartment door and they say their goodbyes while Edgeworth tucks the paintings (and Trucy's dolphin drawing) under his arm.

He gets halfway down the hallway when he hears Nick calling after him. "Hey! Miles! Take an art class with me sometime" Newfound friendship or not, Edgeworth just looks at him in disdain. "what, so you can show off your superior art skills? No thank you, Wright" "No, for fun. You can make things of your own to hang on your walls. We can do something I've never done before so we're evenly matched. Like printmaking? Origami? Um, pottery?" Edgeworth bristles at the suggestions but takes a moment to acknowledge why he's feeling that way; again, it's that fear of failure. But he's enjoyed himself today and deep down he thinks it could be fun to try something new, not with the goal of being perfect at it but with the goal of spending time together. Nick surprised him today. Maybe he can surprise himself. "... I would consider pottery" Edgeworth admits. And Nick looks really happy about it. "Great. I'll book us a session then. It'll be fun, you'll see. Edgeworth shakes his head, but there's no malice behind it. "Have a good night, Phoenix" "You too. Get home safe Miles".

Edgeworth gets home a little before midnight and props the three canvases against the moving boxes still stacked up in the foyer. Tomorrow, he'll figure out where he wants to hang them. Right now though, he walks over to the bare fridge and carefully pins up Tracy's dolphin drawing. There's a lot more work to do, but it's already starting to feel like home.

[seraphonfire]

i should probably get that checked

[this-doesnt-endd]

I feel like my crown just shifted up oh my god

[beeseverywhen]

Still makes me so mad that the hospital stole my teeth when I was too out of it from the anesthesia to fight them on it. I grew those! Just because they turned on me and I needed them out of my body, doesn't mean I didn't want to keep them.

[fingertipsmp3]

Another thing that’s happening is I keep getting really bad pain and sensitivity in my tooth where I just recently got a filling and I know the dentist will fix it for free (they pretty much fucked it up after all) but I so badly don’t want to go back there again

[endivinity]

Hey yall!

it's been one of those weeks. a very, very expensive week. my savings will be completely wiped, but I can't open commissions, so it's not looking too hot for me right now. I'm not in any danger of eviction or other major consequences, but I can't front the costs by myself.

If you'd like to help out by chipping in a little bit, I've got the tl;dr over here! https://ko-fi.com/endivinity There's a pack of every public deathclaw artwork available through that as well, if you'd like a bonus incentive.

Long version and plan of attack under the cut!

I've been medically unemployed for a couple of years now. I've also been recently diagnosed with ADHD - inattentive. I was given an initial trial course of meds for them, which so far aren't working in any helpful ways. NZ has free prescriptions... but it does not have free mental health diagnoses, and especially not for adults. The initial diagnosis appointments cost me $1100, and there are at-cost followup appointments and other medical related costs that are chipping away at it. My medication will need reviewing and possibly switching, which requires more at-cost appointments. This was fine for me to pay! But. Miraculously, I barely self-medicated prior to diagnosis but when I did.... it was with sugary foods. I'm sure you can see where this ends up :'D

The other day I got hit with a dental bill that was not only staggering, but the treatment itself was a gutpunch. I'm not quite at root canal level but two of my teeth are tending towards it, even as the dentist commended my brushing and flossing. The quote is between $3200-4000 (give or take a couple non-priority preventative treatments). I can get government funding assistance up to $1000, and anything beyond that is a loan.

And unrelated I NEED new glasses, because the vision in my left eye from uveitis has deteriorated significantly. this costs less at i think $200-300, but the government does NOT assist with this for... some reason??

The plan of attack:

I'd - hoped, that the meds would let me focus more on owed work. I'd hoped I'd be able to clear the board. That's not the case right now. I'll keep trying, but for now I have to focus on the present.

So, the Ko-fi page is open! There's PWYW files of every deathclaw art I have, so if you'd like to help me out and get convenient lizards instead of browsing my posts, that's the option for you. I will also be making deathclaw designs to auction. I'd like to do customs in future because there's a hungry hungry market out there, waiting for me to do so, but that'd be a commission and I wouldn't complete it. So, premades it will be. My Inprnt store is currently barren; I will see about getting it filled. That'll be linked later. I can't mail out my print stock I use for cons, because I don't have a car or easy access to shipping packaging for larger prints. (And shipping would be immense because, NZ)

So far those are my only attainable options. If you have other suggestions though, please let me know! <3

[emelinstriker]

Predaking ♡ Fetch

First TFP X Reader one-shot of the few I've saved up since like 2021. Will be posting the others later, but I gotta go to the dentist in a bit. So have your big mecha dragon boi. c:

[TL;DR] Predaking acts like a wholesome, oversized puppy towards you. And only you.

♡ ~ Fluff ~ ♡

"Alright, go fetch!" You yelled up at him before throwing a softball across the flight deck. You specifically chose this type of ball due to how easily the predacon could see its bright red color, and because it's big enough for the two of you, as well as soft and squishy. It was also cheap, so you could just buy a new one if Predaking ended up destroying it on accident. But he was still using the first ball you gave him, so that in of itself was impressive.

The giant mech dragon wagged his tail a bit with some small side to side jumps, before happily zooming after the ball. Due to your size and lack of strength, the ball didn't land too far, but it began to bounce and roll away really quickly due to the wind. Yet another reason that ball was a good choice.

He gently picked up the ball before practically bouncing back over to you. You beckoned for him to lower his helm. He did as you commanded and you proceeded to take the ball and pet his helm before leaning your upper body against him in an attempted hug. "Good boy! Great job, Predaking! Who's a good boy! Yes you are!" You cooed, gently stroking one of his mandibles while nuzzling his helm with your forehead.

He purred loudly at your praise. His mood would instantly change whenever you were with him. Your mere presence alone made his spark throb with love and joy. Honestly, he didn't mind being treated like a lesser being, even a pet. But only if it was you. He would not allow this sort of belittlement from anyone else. Not from Shockwave, not even from Megatron. And especially not from a piece of scrap like Starscream.

Speaking of the devil, Predaking spotted him behind you near the entrance. He released a dangerously low growl to warn the seeker to stay away. Especially from you, knowing Starscream's distaste towards humans. You thought the growl was aimed towards you, so you backed away from him with an apologetic look, believing you weren't supposed to hug him like that. "Oh- Sorry..."

However, Predaking felt your warmth leave him, and he didn't like it. His aggressively stiff posture turned calm again. He then nudged his helm back towards you with a purr, rubbing his rather flat snout against your tummy, begging you to hang onto him once more.

Your smile returned as you plopped your weight against him once more. Just to make the moment funnier, you even said a little "Boop!" as you landed on him. His tail wagged a little, happy to make you smile. Yet he still kept an optic on the seeker, just in case he tried anything.

Meanwhile, the seeker was not amused as he was on the flight deck for a reason.

"Human! Megatron and Shockwave are awaiting the predacon! Megatron commands you to go back to your habsuite until further notice!" Starscream's voice startled you as you didn't notice him before. So you got off Predaking's maw and looked at the other mech. But one hand was still on the giant predacon as a form of comfort for both of you.

You slightly looked downwards in disappointment. "Oh... Okay then..." You turned back towards the mech dragon giving him a sad smile before leaning down to put a light kiss on his snoot, rubbing the side of it.

"We'll play more later, okay? Be a good boy when you leave. Love you, King!" You said before starting to walk towards the entrance, turning one last time to give him a little wave.

You didn't notice it this time, but the mech dragon's tail swooshed from side to side faster than before. If you had listened closely, you could've also heard his cooling fans turn on when you gave him a kiss. His optics also turned from giving the seeker half the attention to putting his whole attention onto you as your tiny frame walked away.

His gaze on you was soft. There could have possibly been hearts floating around his helm if this were a cartoon. He could've even had hearts in his optics, that's how far gone he was. That's when he heard the seeker approach him with his usual unnerving voice. The predacon's mood instantly changed. His loving gaze towards your direction halted as he turned to face Starscream with a look of pure hatred.

"Well, well, well... You appear to be having fun, being treated like a servant animal by a tiny rat. Doing everything they want. Why can't you simply follow my orders then!?" He yelled out in anger. If he hadn't known about the predacon's transformation, he would've hit the dragon.

Predaking let out a loud screech before standing up and spreading his wings- Towering over the shorter mech. Having his pride take a hit was one thing, having to listen to the SIC call you 'rat' was another. You were so much more than a rat. You were a divine soul. And your tiny frame only made his primal instincts want to protect and love you even more.

"Whatever your relationship with the fleshy may be, it doesn't matter. Now, move to Shockwave's lab." Starscream scoffed. If looks could kill, the seeker may have already died back in the pits of Kaon. It felt like Predaking's hatred for him could time travel.

Suddenly, the mech dragon transformed into his bi-pedal cybertronian form.

"I'll be there for the meeting. However..." The taller mech stomped over to the now intimidated seeker. His shadow was now looming over the SIC. "If you call them a 'rat' one more time, I'll make sure to rip your spark out the 'primal beast way'."

Starscream trembled beneath the predacon's fierce gaze, then the king made his way past the seeker and towards the lab.

The meeting itself was quite uneventful. It was simply seen as a progress report. Predaking was just there for show, in a way. It was mostly Shockwave who talked to Megatron.

After the meeting, the predacon was dismissed. And the first thing he did was visit your bedroom.

Due to your relationship with Predaking, and you being basically the only one able to tame the beast with questionable ease, Megatron assigned Shockwave to be your guardian and for you to stay in a smaller room connected to the lab. However, with how much disinterest the scientist had in you, he basically abandoned you just for you to be taken care of by Predaking. So technically speaking, Predaking was your guardian and you were his charge. The only thing Shockwave did to take care of you was to get Knockout to get you stuff you needed. Because it seemed illogical for him to go get necessities for you himself.

The predacon slowly approached your little home, transforming into the beast on the way. You knew about his bi-pedal form, but you didn't treat him with as much affection as you did when he approached you as a mech dragon. He enjoyed your company regardless, but it was more enjoyable for him personally to see you laugh and smile a lot more when you were simply allowed to pet his helm.

You had fallen asleep in your bed, assuming the meeting would take a while. So when Predaking gazed upon your sleeping body, he couldn't help but purr. And of course, his purring didn't go unnoticed by you as you slowly woke up from your nap. And the first thing you saw right in front of your face was a pair of yellow glowing optics staring right at you in admiration. You weren't startled or anything as this wasn't the first time the predacon (unintentionally) woke you up like this. You yawned as you sat up to look at him with a little smile.

"Hey, King... How did the meeting go?" You asked, still tired. The predacon closed his optics and tilted his head towards the side, ex-venting some warm air like a heater. This movement roughly translated to either "Boring" or "Meh", and it never failed to make you laugh. It simply looked ridiculous to see a giant beast do such a motion.

The predacon then suddenly got an idea. He gently picked you up by the back of your shirt like a kitten and walked off. You two bypassed Shockwave as he just stared at you helplessly dangling from the giant beast's maw.

You didn't say anything, waving at the purple mech. This wasn't the first time Shockwave's creation did this, so neither of you were concerned about being in danger around him. However, you were a little curious as to where he was taking you.

Turns out he was taking you back to his kennel. You still didn't understand why, however. Maybe he wanted to play more?

Your questions quickly were answered however, when he gently lowered you into the middle of his nest and started to circle around you before eventually dropping down, having you sitting against his body. One wing was spread out a bit to give you a roof and contain more of the warmth Predaking's frame produced.

He let out a whirring noise that seemed to resemble a yawn as he tried to comfortably cuddle up closer against you. He curled his body around you more and you couldn't help but coo at how adorable he was acting. Like an overgrown puppy wanting love and attention. And if you couldn't give it to him all the time, he would simply not let you leave. But to be honest, you didn't want to leave him at the moment anyway.

So you simply let yourself fall back asleep, this time in your king's embrace.

[ Masterlist ]

[natailiatulls07]

The golden trio Pt 2

Lando Norris x female!reader

Carlos Sainz x female!reader

Max Verstappen & Female!reader & Charles Leclerc

Summary - Being bestfriends with two famous formula one drivers is never easy, but what will happen when you get involved with yet another formula one driver??

Warning - offensive names hate comments swearing

The golden trio

-

Twitter

username Charles and Max haven’t posted anything any where since the other day when we saw Y/n walking out, she must of hurt them hard 😟

username Ikr, I feel so bad for them right now 😞

username And Lando posting a instagram story of her at a party 🙄 We knew she never liked them

f1gossip

Spotted: Y/n L/n was seen hanging out with Lando Norris and the quadrant group the night after she was seen leaving her shared apartment seemingly annoyed. She’s probably moving onto the Lando and the quadrant now that her lestappen trust fund has ended

Liked username and 2,193 others

username This bitch really is the ultimate gold digger

username I don’t get how some people like her, she’s a walking red flag 🚩

y/nismywife07 Have you ever considered that you don’t know her story or what goes on behind the scenes?! 😑

username Max and Charles will be much better without her stg

username I’m sick of her shit like omg go away hoe

Text (Red: Charles) (Orange: Lando)

Hey mate, I just want to check in on Y/n. She hasn’t really been texting me or Max, we understand why. We just want to make sure she okay

Yeah, she’s alright. I had to force her off social media after she saw that one gossip instagram account

I know, Max showed them to me and we’re both very annoyed how they portrayed her even though they don’t know what happened really

Can I ask a question?

Of course, go on

Why? Why did you say those things to her and make her believe those things they say about her?

Me and Max were upset that she was felt ashamed to be in the paddock, I guess we just switched off and we just said those things

Okay, I won’t say that she’ll be back with you guys soon that’s not my place to say

I understand, just look after her for us

Will do

charles_leclerc

Me, Max and Y/n have been friends for years now. She was this shy girl whose father was working at karting, that’s how we met her. Y/n has never asked us for money, so I don’t understand how you can comment those things about her.

Y/n is the sweetest girl ever, like that one time me and Danny FaceTimed her and she showed us her new stuffy.

So please, listen to what we say for once and stop hating her, she never deserved it or never will deserve it.

Liked by arthur_leclerc and 69,283 others

Comments are disabled

maxverstappen1

This is the girl who brightens mine and Charles’ day, always have since our younger days. However those fake and disgusting comments have ruined that, they have taken that sunshine from us. So please quit it, you don’t know what goes on and that means you don’t have the right to have an opinion.

She is a girl who doesn’t like dentists, loves rainy days and cries at those animal charity videos. And we love her for that.

Y/n has never ever been a gold digger, never slept with either of us or asked for anything off us.

Liked by danielricciardo and 72,274 others

Comments are disabled

Twitter

username Anyone else see Max and Charles’ instagram posts

username Yeah, maybe we were wrong about her

username See this is karma, you guys were hating on this poor girl when she didn’t deserve any of it

~~ Liked by Max33Verstappen and Charles_Leclerc

landonorris posted to his story

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Tag list: @eviethetheatrefreak @janeholt3 @raizelchrysanderoctavius

[sebscore]

Hello! Same anon from the charles x sister ask (not the dentist one). I love the recent fic! I cant think of anything specific that I would love to read, maybe just some cute sibling fluff between charles and reader, if not all the siblings? Thanks, you’re doing great!!

A SILVERSTONE WEEKEND | LECLERC BROTHERS

pairings: charles leclerc x sister!reader / lorenzo leclerc x sister!reader / arthur leclerc x sister!reader / pierre gasly x leclerc!reader / ollie bearman x leclerc!reader / isa hernáez x leclerc!reader

warnings: reader is a teenager. mention of flying. swearing.

author's note: thanks for the leclerc!sister resurrection on my blog! I hope you enjoy this fic and let me know what you think of it!

• • • • • • •

Silverstone was the first race of the new racing season the youngest Leclerc sibling attended. Her summer break had just started and a small trip to England seemed the right way to celebrate the end of the school year.

Since her brothers were already in England, she had to travel on her own as her mother had to stay in Monaco for work. It had been an anxious experience, but Lorenzo would pick her up at the airport and right away they would drive to the circuit to watch Arthur's sprint race and Charles' qualifying.

''Did they take care of you on the plane?'' The eldest brother hadn't been too keen on his little sister traveling alone without any kind of chaperone to accompany her.

Y/N nodded her head, handing her suitcase to her brother. ''Yeah, they were very nice to me,'' she eased his worries, ''but can you tell Charles that I'm fine with flying coach? I was the only person sitting in first class, it was embarrassing sitting there all alone.'' She was grateful her brother had gotten her a great seat on the plane, but she found all the luxuries a bit unnecessary.

Lorenzo laughed at words, imagining his sister sitting all alone while stewardesses attend to her every need. ''He wanted to be sure you had people there to help you in case you needed it,'' his hand moved to hold his sister's, ''by the way, at first he wanted to put you on a private plane, so be grateful you got to fly commercial.''

They made their way out of the airport and into his car, on their way to Silverstone. It would take them about an hour to get there, maybe with some extra traffic. ''How did Arthur's qualifying go yesterday? I didn't check it.'' She asked him, after sending their mother a message that she had arrived safely.

''P2, so today he starts P11 and tomorrow he's on the front row.'' Lorenzo answered her, explaining Arthur's starting positions. ''That's great.''

''Have you eaten anything?''

Y/N shook her head. ''No, I woke up too late and didn't have time to eat breakfast, and I didn't eat anything on the plane, because I was scared everything would, uh, come back up again.''

''You still get sick on planes? How many times have you flown now.'' Lorenzo chuckled, surprised his sister still got motion sickness while on planes.

She shrugged her shoulders. ''It's not like I have control over it, Enzo.''

''We'll eat at the track then, they have a lot of good stuff there.''

Eventually, they arrived at the circuit and walked to the Ferrari hospitality. It was Y/N's first time at the British Grand Prix, so she attentively observed the F1 paddock. The oldest and youngest sibling ran into an old family friend, Pierre Gasly. ''Enzo and Little Leclerc.'' He greeted them, hugging Lorenzo and giving Y/N a peck on the cheek.

''It's been a while since I last saw you, Y/N!'' Pierre said, not even being able to recall when he last saw the young girl. ''I know, it's good to see you.''

She was quite close with the Frenchman as their families were. They had been on vacations together and of course she would see him when she came to support Charles. Her brother and the Alpha Tauri driver even used to be in charge of babysitting her when she was still a toddler, although that didn't always go as planned.

''She finally has a break from school.'' Lorenzo explained to him, his arm going around her shoulder. Pierre nodded, forgetting sometimes that the girl still went to school.

He ruffled her hair. ''I have to go, but root for me, alright? I'm still your favorite driver, I hope?'' Pierre joked, referring to the time Y/N had teased Charles by saying that Pierre was her favorite Formula 1 driver.

''Yeah, of course,'' she jokingly rolled her eyes, ''bye, Pierre!'' They bid him goodbye and wished him luck in the qualifying later.

After a few more minutes of walking, they made it to the Ferrari hospitality where they could already see Arthur, Joris, Andrea and Charles waiting for them at one of the tables. As soon as the latter saw his younger sister, he stood up and embraced her in a hug. ''You're finally here.'' Charles sighed.

She smiled up at him and walked around the table greeting everyone else. ''I for sure thought you would step on the wrong plane and get lost.'' Arthur teased her, ruffling her hair like Pierre did earlier.

Y/N took the seat in-between Charles and Arthur, wanting to sit near her brothers as the new environment and people made her a bit uneasy. ''Yeah, you wish I got lost.''

Lorenzo offered to get himself and his sister some food, to which she protested saying that she should at least help him with it. ''No, no! You catch up with everyone, it's no big deal.'' She hesitated, but ultimately gave up and let him go alone.

''Maman send us your grades, they were really good!'' Charles spoke up, the picture of her school results popping into his mind. Y/N nodded, proud of herself for the great results. ''Thank you.''

''She send them to everyone in her contact book.'' Arthur commented, getting a laugh out of everyone. ''I even got a message saying how you had the best results in your class.'' Andrea added, the youngest Leclerc's grades had been the topic of the week.

Charles sat up straight, suddenly remembering something. ''Oh, yeah! We got you something, to congratulate you!'' He rummaged through his bag, pulling out a crumpled white envelope.

He handed it over to his sister, letting his arm hang around the back of her chair. ''It's from your lovely brothers.'' The grins on Arthur and Charles' faces gave her some trust issues about this ''gift''.

''If it's another signed picture of Arthur, I don't want it.'' She pretended to hand the envelope over again. The brothers laughed but shook their heads, that joke had become outdated after the countless times the youngest brother had pulled it. ''It's not that! It's actually something serious this time.'' Arthur assured her, coming across as genuine.

Y/N hesitantly opened the envelope, revealing multiple gift cards for several luxury fashion brands like Chanel, Dior and Versace. She observed the cards with wide eyes, in disbelief her brothers would actually get her a useful gift.

''Oh, thank you so much!'' Her arms first went around Charles, giving him a kiss on the cheek and afterwards doing the same with Arthur.

Bright smiles appeared on the brother's faces, delighted that their baby sister liked their gift. ''You can go shopping with Maman or Charlotte when you're back home.'' Charles suggested. ''Or Carla?'' Arthur added, including his girlfriend.

Lorenzo made it back to their table, holding a plate of pasta for the young girl. ''Oh, you already got your gift! You like it, Chérie?'' It had been a last-minute kind of situation to get her the cards, having to wait whether her grades were good or not.

''Yeah, thank you so much, Enzo!'' Just like before with Charles and Arthur, she gave her oldest brother a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

''Eat up now!''

''Arthur Leclerc crossed the line to take the win!''

Y/N proudly watched her brother take the checkered flag, already making her way to the barricades with her siblings to congratulate him on the victory. Much to her surprise, the first person Arthur ran up to was his sister instead of his engineer or other two brothers.

Normally she would push his sweaty form away, but this time she reciprocated the firm grip he had on her. ''You looked so cool, Thur! It was awesome!'' She practically yelled, not sure how much he could actually hear of it.

Arthur was semi-relieved he had his helmet on, knowing his sister would have teased him for a long time if she had seen the big smile that appeared on his face. He felt a hint of pride in himself as it was the first time Arthur was called ''cool'' by his younger sibling, at least the first time he had heard the words come out of her own mouth.

''Can we get a picture with the four Leclercs?'' One of the photographers asked them, holding his camera up. The three brothers glanced at their sister, knowing she isn't used to getting her picture taken like the rest of them. Y/N slowly nods her head, putting her arm around Charles' waist.

Arthur took a step back, taking off his helmet and balaclava for the photo. ''Do I look fine?'' He asked no one in particular.

''No, but it will do.'' She teased him, resulting in a slap on the arm from him.

The Formula 3 champion of the day wiped some sweat from his face before reaching his arm over his sister's shoulder. The four of them smile for the camera and wait until the photographer gives them a thumbs up.

''Arthur, you stink.'' Y/N tried to take a step away from him, but he pulled her back into him and rubbed his sweaty face all over the top of her hair. ''Ew! Get away from me!'' She pushed him off of her, her disgusted expression amusing her brothers very much.

''Leclerc, get on the podium!''

Y/N couldn't help but take out her phone and film as her brother took the top step, proudly lifting his trophy in the air and spraying the champagne around. She sent the video to their mom, who couldn't have been more delighted for her son's first F3 win of the season.

''Oh, this bitch.'' Y/N mumbled to herself as Arthur was nowhere in sight.

Not too long after his podium ceremony, she had to use the bathroom. Arthur had suggested she used the one at the Prema hospitality as it was the closest one to them. Charles had to go get ready for his own race and Lorenzo joined him, telling the two youngest to meet them at his Ferrari garage.

Arthur said he would wait for her outside the bathroom and that they would go together, since the youngest Leclerc was unfamiliar with the space and their mother would kill the three brothers if they lost her. Yet, no Arthur in sight.

Y/N stood frozen in her place, not wanting to snoop around looking for her brother and potentially walk into the wrong room.

''You okay there?'' A thick British accent interrupted her internal panic, slightly flinching at the sudden appearance of someone.

She turned around and was met with a guy she guessed was around her age, and towered a bit over her. He looked familiar, she just couldn't seem to place him. ''Uh, yeah, uh, my brother- he was supposed to wait for me here and now he's gone…'' She managed to stutter out, feeling nervous under the young man's gaze.

''Arthur was called down by one of the team members to discuss the race, that can take while actually.'' He explained his absence, pointing at one of the rooms where Arthur seemed to be.

Y/N nodded, understanding. ''Ah, wait- you know my brother?'' She frowned, she didn't even tell him it was Arthur she was looking for.

The guy nervously chuckled, realizing she had no idea who he was. ''Yeah, we're teammates! I'm Ollie, Ollie Bearman.''

''Oh my god, of course! You were on the podium as well, congrats.'' Maybe she should start to pay more attention to the jobs of her brothers. ''Sorry, it's the first time I've been to a Grand Prix this year.'' She apologized.

''It's okay, really,'' Ollie brushed it off, ''you need to get somewhere or?''

She nodded her head. ''My brother is racing and I need to get to the Ferrari garage, but I have no idea how I'm supposed to get there.''

''Well if you want I can get you to the F1 paddock? I don't have a special pass, so I can't show you where the garage is, unfortunately.'' He suggested, a soft smile settled on his face.

His offer to help her brought a red blush to her cheeks. ''That would be really sweet, thank you so much.''

''Don't worry about it.'' The walk to the entrance of the F1 paddock hadn't been too long, but long enough so the young pair could get to know each other more.

In the beginning it was a little hard to get the conversation going as this was the first time the two ever met, but soon enough Ollie was sharing stories about his young karting days and his little sister's show jumping. ''My mum didn't want her to do karting.''

Y/N chuckled. ''Mine was the same! My dad always tried to persuade her, but it never worked.'' Pascale had seen the bruises her son's would come home with, there was no way she would let her daughter have the same.

''You've never karted then?''

''I've done it a few times with my brothers, but they always make it into a competition and it's not fun that way.'' She explained, recalling the few times she did go karting and ended up almost being pushed off the track by Charles and Arthur.

''I get that- oh, here we are.'' They had arrived at the entrance, both of them a bit disappointed that they had to part ways already. ''I don't think it should be too hard to find out where the garage is once you're inside.'' He assured her.

''Thanks, Ollie,'' she smiled at him, ''I really appreciate it.''

His face mirrored hers. ''No problem, uh, I'll see you around then?'' He hoped to see more of the Leclerc girl, she was very charming and unlike Arthur had claimed to him and Jak, she seemed greatly intelligent.

''Yes, I'll see you, bye!'' Y/N offered a small wave and turned around to make her way into the paddock, hoping that one way or another she would find her brother's garage.

Ollie's assurance that it wouldn't be too hard to find was the biggest lie she had heard all day. She already doesn't have the best sense of orientation and the large amount of people roaming the paddock, weren't making it any easier.

An idea popped into her head, one that she should have come up with from the beginning.

Phoning up her brothers.

Charles wasn't going to pick up, that was a given. So then she tried Lorenzo whose phone must have either died or put on silent since it didn't even go through. The last option was Arthur and like she thought, that man was never going to answer one of her calls ever. At least they couldn't say that she didn't try.

But someone must have listened to her prayers. ''Y/N?'' A voice next to her pulled her out of her thoughts, a hand laid on her shoulder. ''You okay?''

Y/N glimpsed to her side and saw Isa, Carlos' girlfriend, looking at her with concern in her eyes. ''Oh, I- I can't find my brothers.''

Isa's concerned expression changed to a relieved one, glad nothing too bad had happened to the young girl. ''I know where they are, come on.'' The older woman held out her hand, which Y/N immediately took.

''I haven't seen you since last year! How have you been?'' Her and Isa had met on a few other occasions ever since Carlos became Charles' teammate. She was very fond of her and the Spanish woman always complimented the girl.

''School just ended, so I'm doing really well.'' She nervously grinned, flustered about holding hands with her.

Isa laughed at her words. ''Oh, yeah! Charlotte said something about it, smartest girl of the class?'' She teased, quoting the words her friend had told her.

Turns out that the Ferrari garages hadn't been too far and she had been going the entirely wrong way as she and Isa were already making their way through the halls that would lead to Charles'.

''There you are!'' Lorenzo exclaimed upon noticing his sister walking in with Isa, running up to her and taking her into his arms. ''Thank you so much!'' He told Isa, who brushed it off and bid them goodbye to go support her boyfriend.

A guilty-looking Arthur appeared from behind Lorenzo. ''I'm so sorry! I wasn't away for that long, but when I got back you were already gone.'' He apologized, genuine regret audible in his voice.

''It's fine, Ollie helped me and I ran into Isa as well.'' She wasn't too mad about it, this was one of those things that she could blackmail him with for a long time.

''Ollie? My teammate? He helped you?'' The puzzled expression on Arthur's face caused a chuckle to escape.

Y/N nodded. ''Yeah, he brought me to the paddock! Very nice guy.'' The shy smile that played on her lips wasn't amusing to the youngest Leclerc brother.

''You made sure to thank him, right?'' Lorenzo didn't seem to mind that a young man her age had spent time with her, he was just relieved she had somehow found her way to them. ''Of course, Enzo.''

''What did you even talk about with him?'' Arthur continued asking, confused as to why his teammate wanted to help his sister in the first place.

His sister gave him a glare. ''One more question and I'm telling Maman you left me all alone, alright?'' The protective older brother act didn't suit Arthur at all.

''Let's focus on Charles now, okay? You two have had your moment to shine.'' Lorenzo interrupted.

''Hey! I could have been kidnapped or something!''

''Too bad you weren't- Auw! Enzo, she hit my arm!''

''You deserved it, Arthur.''

[ckret2]

Chapter 34 of human Bill Cipher not making friends with Stan during his imprisonment in the Mystery Shack, featuring: the tooth fairy and her dentist attempting to steal Bill's teeth in the middle of the night. Stan would care a lot less if he weren't still handcuffed to Bill. And also: Stan and Bill have a friendly chat. As you can see.

####

Even though Bill and Stan were trying to watch the same TV as they had dinner, Bill refused to sit in the living room with Stan; so he sat on the bottom step of the stairs in the entryway, Stan perched on the end of the couch, and they strung the handcuffs around the doorway with their little plastic microwave dinner trays balanced on their knees.

Both of their dinners had come out undercooked. Both of them were too proud to complain.

After picking through maybe a third of his meal, Bill decided he'd rather go to bed hungry than eat something he didn't enjoy, dropped his tray on the floor, and kicked it into the kitchen. "Hey Stanley, still glad you went with the cuffs instead of the bracelets?"

"Shut up."

Bill smirked victoriously, and looked back to the TV. "No mayonnaise in Ireland."

"What?"

Bill pointed at the screen and the rows of blank letters waiting for contestants to fill them in. "The round that just started. That's the solution."

"Oh." Stan counted out all the blank letters, frowned, and said unconfidently, "It can't be that. It doesn't make any sense."

"You're wrong," Bill said lightly; and then fell silent, running the tip of his tongue over the new gold spots on his teeth. 

When the contestants had guessed enough letters that one could hesitantly offer, "Is it... 'no mayonnaise in Ireland'?" Bill smirked triumphantly at the sound of Stan's silence. He just barely waited until the next board of blank letters flashed on the screen, and then announced, "Tip your waiter."

Stan counted the letters under his breath. "Man. I thought I was good at this, but we'd clean up if we put you on this show. No one would ever figure out how you're cheating."

Bill laughed. "Listen to you! If you were Ford, you'd just be mad that I'm giving away all the answers before you can guess. That's the great thing about you, Stanley: you don't get irritated at me for stupid little reasons. You're more fun." He took a deep breath and shouted, "Hey Ford, did you hear that?! Stan's the fun twin—!"

"Keep it down, you idiot. Ford's in the basement, he can't hear you." Stan had thought Bill was finally sobering up from the sedative; maybe not. (Then again, maybe this was just what he was like sober.) "And what are you talking about? You irritate me all the time!"

"Oh, well, I guess I just don't care when you're irritated." Bill laughed.

Stan grumbled, planted his chin in his hand, and tried to focus on Cash Wheel. It was difficult when he already knew the solution.

He tolerated the silence for less than a minute before sighing, looking toward the doorway, and demanding, "What's with you, anyway? Why are you so obsessed with my brother?"

Bill spluttered in disbelief. Stan could feel his handcuff chain jerk over. Voice even shriller than usual, Bill said, "Excuse m—Excuse me?! Obsessed? Moi?! I don't know what you're talking about!" He forced a loud laugh.

"If Ford's in the room, he's the only one you talk to, and when he isn't here you're yelling across the house for him—"

"Is it obsession to sometimes pay a little more attention to the human here I happen to know best and to whom I happen to be a teacher, muse, and friend—"

"Oh that's a load of bull," Stan snapped, "you're not any of those things! Friend? Friend? He wants you dead, you crazy—"

"Well if he does," Bill said, louder still, "then wouldn't it make perfect sense to keep my eye on the guy who killed me? There's no big mystery—"

"That's it! That's just it!" Stan tossed down his TV dinner and stood so he could face Bill properly. "He didn't kill you alone, remember? That was a two-man con you fell for! But you keep talking like Ford was the only one there!"

Without bothering to stand, Bill looked up at Stan and said, quite confidently, "Only one person killed me. You're just the place where I was killed."

"I wh...?" Stan fell silent, blinking at Bill in disbelief.

"Do you even remember what happened inside your brain? After you took my hand?" Bill asked. "You don't, do you?"

Stan glowered at Bill, but he shut his mouth and said nothing.

"I knew it." Bill laughed nastily. "We were both trapped in there when Fordsy fired the gun. Completely powerless. You were weeping and begging for a way out when the flames got too close, but there was nothing I could do by then—"

"All right," Stan took a threatening step closer, "I know that that didn't happen! I would never—"

Bill leaned back, hands raised palm out in appeasement, "Okay okay okay! All right, you got me—just embellishing the story a little—we actually had a big psychic laser battle. Imagined up all kinds of futuristic weapons. It was very 90's action movie. You did... fine, you were fine."

Stan considered that. "Ehh... sure, that sounds more like me."

"But it was all imaginary," Bill snapped. "It was a vast illusion! At that point there was nothing either of us could do to the other. We were just two victims locked inside a burning house as it came down around us. You didn't kill me, you never even had the power to kill me."

"Huh." That was all Stan said. But he kept looking at Bill, frowning distrustfully, studying him.

Bill's shoulders slowly went up under the pressure of Stan's gaze. "Oh—oh wow, okay, I see what's going on!" He gave Stan a crooked, mean smile. "You're jealous, aren't you? You thought offering up your body to be the scene of a murder finally made you a co-star instead of a sidekick! All your lives, Stanford got more attention from daddy, more attention from the teachers, more attention from the whole world... and you thought you'd finally get at least a little attention from the big bad living nightmare. Just because you let your brother shoot you in the head!" Bill laughed. "You weren't special enough for anyone else—why do you think you're special enough for me?"

Stan jerked Bill to his feet by the handcuff's chain. "I bet I'm special enough to break your face!" He dragged him into the living room, fist raised. "Let's see if you stay down this time—"

Bill scrambled back as far as the chain allowed him. "NO!" Horror filled the one ragged syllable. His free arm was raised to shield his terrified eye.

They froze, staring at each other.

Bill straightened up, forcing a nervous, rattled laugh. "Come on, I just got all this dental work done. At least give me a couple days to enjoy it before you pound it in!" He was talking fast to fill the silence. "Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind having a flatter face, all these bones and cartilage jutting out never did feel right—"

Stan feigned a punch.

Bill flinched.

Stan laughed at him, slapping his knee. "You big chicken! Look at you! Baw-baaawk-bgawk! HA!"

Bill tried, very hard, to explode Stan with his brain. This usually worked on people who dared try to insult Bill Cipher. "If I had one billionth of a billionth of my power, I'd have already destroyed you—!"

"But you don't, sucker!" Stan laughed louder.

Bill screamed in frustration, turned his back on Stan, and stomped upstairs to sulk.

Or, he would have, if he hadn't gotten one step up the stairs before the handcuffs yanked tight. He stumbled back, landed on his butt, and inadvertently jerked Stan down on one knee with a yelp.

Bill cast a resentful look at Stan—who was rubbing his shoulder and finally looking as irritated as Bill felt—and then he lay down and deliberately stared straight at the ceiling. "Whatever. I don't even care about your pointless mammal posturing. It's fine. It doesn't bother me. I'm calm. You're just making yourself look stupid." Bill shut his eyes. "I wanna go to bed."

####

"Bill," Ford said.

Bill cracked open an eye and peered up at the form looming over his makeshift cushion bed. "Mrm?"

In a very calm voice that suggested he was not calm at all, Ford asked, "Why are you sleeping on the floor in front of my bedroom door."

"Oh. Right, you missed it." Bill yawned and sat up. "Well, you see, Stanley got us handcuffed together until tomorrow morning," he pointed at his cuffed wrist and rattled the chain, "and I tried to be accommodating, but he doesn't want to sleep in the attic and won't let me sleep in the guest room—"

Stan yelled through the door, "And Mr. Accommodating here still refuses to sleep on the sofa bed."

"—so the best compromise we've got is sleeping on the floor with the chain under the door. Not my idea of a fun evening, but." Bill shrugged ruefully, like an adult resigned to indulging the whims of a petulant child. "Do you want in? It'll take us a little coordination to get the door open, but we've already done this once, so—"

"I'm not messing with this," Ford said. "I'm sleeping in the basement. Good night, Stanley."

"Night, Ford."

Trying not to sound miffed at being snubbed, Bill said, "Hey, do you still keep your cot on that rug you used to channel me better?" He laughed.

"Nope. I burned that rug." Ford turned the corner and left.

Bill stuck his tongue out at his back. He didn't actually know whether Ford was lying. He wished he'd thought to check out Ford's study before heading down to the portal back when he'd had his time tape.

"Hey." He rapped on the bedroom door. "I thought we weren't asking Sixer for help so he wouldn't find out about the handcuffs." They hadn't actually discussed it, but he'd taken it for granted. "Now that he knows, why aren't we getting his help?"

"What, you think I need his help to solve all my problems? Ha!"

"Okay, fine. Doesn't matter to me, I'm used to sleeping on the floor." Bill lay back down and sighed.

He shut his eyes and tried to go back to sleep.

####

Bill wasn't quite dreaming, but for a few seconds it was something very close to a dream. He saw points of light in darkness. One of his earliest, oldest memories. He'd memorized the constellations outside of his plain when his starblind species didn't even have a word for "constellations."

But these weren't those points of light in darkness. Some nearer, some farther—he could sense their distance—and all of the lights were calling to him. All of his eyes. He could see so many more than he had last night.

One was just a few inches away. He could almost reach out and grab it. 

But those few seconds of light-in-darkness were in the gray twilight between the dreamscape and the physical world, and Bill only fleetingly glimpsed them as he passed from sleep back to wakefulness. He opened his eyes.

To see a person looming over him.

And the taste of thick metal tools in his mouth.

"Hi," Bill said, for lack of anything better to say under these circumstances.

It was enough to make Dr. Illing gasp and stumble back from Bill. "Jeez." He clapped a hand over his heart. "I'm sorry— I-I didn't want to—"

"Uh-huh." Bill sat up and took the abandoned tool out of his mouth—pliers. They'd been gently clamped around one of his canine teeth. "Not the most unpleasant thing I've had aimed at my face in the middle of the night," Bill mused, "but it's pretty high on the list." He tried to lift his other hand to feel his face for damage—and only remembered the handcuff when the rattling chain caught his wrist in place.

They both looked at the cuff. As Dr. Illing realized Bill was trapped, a change came over his face—a desperate, crazed fury.

Bill shook his head. "Ohhh, no no no—"

"Give me that!" Dr. Illing lunged for Bill, one hand reaching toward the pliers and the other toward his throat, trying to pin him against the door.

Bill shoved his feet in Dr. Illing's chest, trying to hold him back. "Stanley!" He pounded on the door with the pliers. "We have visitors, wake up!"

"It'll only take a second," Dr. Illing insisted. "You were going to give me one anyway! And that tooth is already loose! You can handle the pain! Just—hold still, I can't damage it!" He managed to get his thumb in Bill's mouth—he cringed when Bill bit down, but didn't back off—and pulled a fresh set of pliers out of his tool bag.

Bill parried the pliers with his own pair. "STAAAN—"

The door unlatched and Bill tumbled backward into the room. He twisted out of the dentist's way, slid the handcuff chain out from under the door, and skittered behind Stan.

"Wha—what's—?" Stan squinted into the dark hallway. "The heck's going on?"

Bill stretched to Stan's nightstand and grabbed up his glasses and hearing aids. "Put your face on!" He shoved them in Stan's hands, then reached back for his dentures.

Stan put his glasses on first. "What the— Illing? What are you doing here?"

Dr. Illing stood forlorn in the hallway, trembling all over, eyeing Stan nervously. "Uhhh," he said eloquently. "I just..." He gestured around Stan's shoulder toward Bill, "wanted to check her fillings. I thought one of them might be a little loose—"

Bill's cackle cut through his excuses. "Oh, come on! I know your boss put you up to this! What does the little lady want with my mouth?"

Dr. Illing's eyes widened. All he managed to produce was a squeak.

Stan said, "What 'little lady,' this guy's self-employed. What are you talking about—"

"The tooth fairy, genius!" Bill flung his free hand in the air. "Why did you think your dentist pays you to pull your teeth! He lives in a van, who'd you think was funding him?!"

"Uh," Stan said. "You know, I sort of just took his whole 'creepy sadist who bribes people to let him pull their teeth' shtick at face value." (Dr. Illing's shoulders slumped.) "But—I know things are weird around here, but the tooth fairy's gotta be fake, right? That's the stupidest..."

A fairy popped out of Dr. Illing's bag—just large enough to use an adult man's hand like a chair, with a bob cut so white it almost shone, giving off a glowing toothpaste-blue aura, wearing a necklace of baby teeth like a hunter who'd taken trophies from the bones of her kills.

"Oh," Stan said. "Well. Never mind. Just one more crazy thing in this town."

Bill's back went stiff, his eyes widened, and he curled his fists into the fabric of Stan's tank top like he was holding his shield in place. "Oh, she's here." He lisped an inhuman swear under his breath.

Ignoring them, the tooth fairy glowered up at Dr. Illing. "How did they know? What did you tell them!"

"Nothing!" he protested. "I swear! I'd never!"

"Well, you must have let something slip—"

Bill swallowed hard; but then he straightened up, let go, and stepped into the open. "Why, if it isn't Miss Pearl E. White, in the fae flesh! To what do I owe such an honor?"

Dr. Illing and the fairy both flinched. She asked, "How do you know my...?"

"Oh, Pearl. I know things you couldn't even dream of." Bill favored her with his best, widest, most unnerving grin.

And got the creeping sense that she'd stopped looking at his face, and started staring at his teeth. He pressed his lips together. "And here's just one thing I know: lady, if you were toeing the line of your treaty any harder, you'd be tripping across it. So tell me what you're doing here and what you want."

She huffed defensively, wings buzzing as they lifted her several inches in the air. "I'm well within the terms of the treaty! I haven't laid a hand on you and I'm not about to start, and I've been offering more than adequate financial compensation—"

"Oh, right," Bill laughed, "I'm sure the queen of your court would be thrilled to hear you ordered your legally-dubious helper to rip out someone's teeth in the dead of night—"

"Hi," Stan said, "question. What the hey are you guys talking about. Treaties? Queens?"

"Oh, this is all going over your head, isn't it! I'll catch you up." He turned to the side to point accusingly at Pearl, "Little miss enamel-happy here has a thing for teeth. To the extent that she started stealing them straight out of humans' mouths. She went so crazy that the local human settlements actually declared war on her court over her dental kleptomania—and the fairies she dragged into the conflict weren't any happier about it than the humans were. So now, under the conditions of a human-fairy peace treaty, she's only allowed to acquire already freed teeth that are voluntarily offered to her by their owners—which is why she started bribing children."

Pearl crossed her arms, fuming. "That's a very biased version of events. You're just trying to paint me in the worst possible—"

"Save it, sparkles! I woke up with your minion's pliers in my mouth, I'll be as biased as I want!" He shifted his attention to Dr. Illing—who seemed to wilt under the force of Bill's glare. "But she's getting deep in a gray area working with this guy. Once a tooth is handed to a dentist, he's its 'owner,' and can freely give that tooth to the tooth fairy—but him extracting the tooth puts the whole operation on shaky legal ground. Really, I think the only reason you've gotten away with this racket so long is because nobody's filed a legal challenge with the fairy court yet."

"Nobody's complained about it," Pearl said hotly.

"None of your victims know about it," Bill countered. "Hey Fisherman," he jabbed Stan's arm, "how do you feel knowing your teeth were sacrificed to the tooth fairy?"

He considered that. "Well—it was free."

Pearl crowed, "Ha!"

Ignoring Stan's reply, Bill blithely moved on: "But by any reading of the treaty, hiring a human to steal teeth straight out of someone's mouth is beyond the pale. So you'd better have a good explanation for this!"

"Yeah. I do have a good explanation." She sucked in a deep breath. "I want your teeth!" She launched herself toward Bill; Dr. Illing had to grab her around the waist to hold her back. "I'd do anything for those teeth! They're the most amazing teeth I've ever seen!" She clawed at the air, hissing and straining as she tried to reach Bill.

"My lady, please," Dr. Illing said pathetically. "The treaty—"

She aimed a swipe at his face. "I know about the stupid treaty!"

Bill stared at her, baffled. His perfectly normal human teeth? But he shook his head, smiled, and said, "Well okay, fantastic! It's been a while since I've bargained with the fae, but I'm not too attached to this body—so how much gold do you have on you, kid?"

"We're not bargaining. You already know too much," Pearl snapped. "I'm not about to get blackmailed by a human, and I'm not going back to fairy jail. So here's what's happening." She jerked a thumb over her shoulder toward Dr. Illing. "I'm gonna have my guy rip out every one of your teeth, and then rip your head apart so you can't talk, and the only negotiating you get to do is whether or not my guy uses the local anesthetic before he starts. So what's it gonna be?"

Dr. Illing went deathly pale and his knees shook as he verged on fainting.

"Hey," Stan waved at the fairy, "listen, I'd love to see this guy's head get ripped apart, but—crazy thing, long story—it turns out there's fifty-fifty odds that killing him could end the world. So, maybe let's talk this out—?"

Pearl gestured dismissively at Stan. "His mouth has nothing left of interest to me. He's a witness. Kill him, too."

Dr. Illing swallowed hard; but, with trembling hand, he reached into his tool bag and slowly pulled out a large power drill that definitely wasn't designed for teeth.

"Right," Bill said. "Okay. This'll be fun." If he said it convincingly enough, maybe it would be true. "Hey, Fisher—you know that spell Sixer's got on me? If I cast it on Frankie here, can you..."

"Yeah, I see where you're going."

Pearl's eyes narrowed. She pounded her tiny fist on Dr. Illing's finger. "Hurry up, before they—"

Before she could issue a warning, Stan charged at them, fist raised. Dr. Illing flinched, shielding his face with the drill; but Stan dodged around him, heading for the hall. Bill seized Dr. Illing's upper arm as he passed—"Amnesia Limina, Stupidi Digiti, Occultus Locus!"—and then Stan yanked Bill out into the hall by their chain and slammed the bedroom door.

Dr. Illing gasped. "What?"

Blue light radiated through the cracks around the door as Pearl darted around, shrieking, "Open the door, you idiot!"

There was a moment of futile scrabbling. "How?!"

Bill and Stan retreated to the entryway. Bill said, "If we get outside, we can lose 'em."

"Or get the car and run them over," Stan said.

"You don't wanna be the guy who kills the tooth fairy! She might be in the doghouse, but she's still old fae nobility. Her court would—"

Bill cut off as Stan opened the door. Instead of leading to the porch and the forest beyond, it now opened into a bone-colored cathedral, the arches and vaulted ceilings constructed out of what looked like small irregular pebbles: teeth.

Stan gaped at the vast chamber. "Where the heck...?"

Bill looked at what had once been the outside of the door; the numbers "13 / 32" were carved into the wood. "Nowhere we want to go! Shut it!"

Stan slammed the door.

"That explains how she got in," Bill muttered. "There's no time to un-enchant this exit, we'll need another one."

Stan pointed toward the living room. "We can go out the—"

"The floor room exit." Bill dragged Stan back toward the hallway they'd just left.

"What?! That's the other end of the house, you idiot, the gift shop's right through here!"

"But it's a straight shot down the hall—" Bill stumbled to a stop.

The tooth fairy was clawing her way out from under the bedroom door. She caught sight of Bill, and her wings raised in a sharp V like a wasp preparing to attack. "You!"

"Never mind."

Stan dragged Bill back toward the living room. "Now can we go—"

Bill saw the living room—that familiar dark room, the familiar walls and carpet, the familiar armchair facing the doorway as though welcoming him back, the pale blue light from the fish tank climbing the walls like flames—and Stanley Pines, dragging Bill by a chain toward this tomb—and he grabbed on to the staircase railing. "Up."

Stan jerked to a stop. "That's a dead end!" He tried again to pull Bill toward the living room. "Are you insane?!"

"Yes." Bill locked his hand around the railing like a corpse in rigor mortis. He'd break his fingers before he let go. "We're going up."

"We are not—"

The tooth fairy shot past them like a glowing blue bullet, streaking into the kitchen. Stan started, and Bill took the opportunity to drag them up the stairs. Stan finally followed.

"You're not getting out of here with my teeth!" Pearl screamed after them.

"Ignore her," Bill muttered, "she can't risk touching us and she knows it. She's powerless without her minion." He stumbled on a step and just kept climbing on all fours.

"I wouldn't bet on her self control!" Stan struggled to keep up, his cuffed wrist in the lead. "Why are we going this way? How do you expect to get out from the attic?!"

"I don't know! It just seemed like a better idea! Do I have to think of everything?!"

"This was your plan!"

"There's got to be a ladder in the storage over the kids' room, we can get down out a window."

"I don't keep ladders—!"

"Well maybe Jesús does, do you know everything in the attic?! Come on!"

Bill kicked the door to the kids' room until Stan opened it. After a short argument about who should climb to the storage loft ("I have to look, you can't see in the dark!" "And you can?! Since when!" "Since always! You didn't need to know!"), Bill scrambled up the makeshift rungs nailed to the wall while Stan climbed halfway up to give the handcuffs a little slack.

As Bill started searching for anything useful, Pearl's ranting filled the shack: "Those teeth are too good for you!"

"I think she's getting closer," Stan said. "Find anything?"

"Not yet." Bill pulled out a broken umbrella with a hooked handle. He clung to it like it was his only defense as he scanned the loft for any signs of a ladder.

Pearl went on, "They're the most beautiful, pristine, unblemished, perfect teeth I've ever seen in my life!"

Bill asked, "Are they really that great?" He'd never paid that close attention.

"Eh..." Stan shrugged and made a so-so gesture with one hand. "A little weird-looking, honestly. They've got those jagged bits in the front that make 'em look like kids' teeth?"

"Huh."

"They're pure," Pearl snarled. "I've never seen adult teeth so pure! And you're ruining them by drilling out chunks of perfect enamel for unnecessary fillings! You don't have the right to those teeth! I deserve them!"

"Hey Bill," Stan said. "So you knew my dentist works for the tooth fairy, right?"

Bill was dragging aside a large box to see if anything ladder-like was hiding behind it. "Yes."

"And you knew she goes crazy for nice teeth."

"Yes." No ladder; he moved to another stack of boxes.

"And it didn't occur to you that she'd be furious that you carved up your new teeth."

"It's in the past, Stanley! Focus on the present!"

"—and I don't even know how you got magic teeth," Pearl continued. "Fully adult teeth in a fully adult mouth, but somehow they're barely a month old! It's impossible! I could barely believe it myself until I saw your mouth with my own two eyes! I must have those teeth, as soon as possible, so I can preserve them exactly like this, who knows if I'll ever find such a novelty again—"

"Ahh, so that's it," Bill said. "Welp, nope, didn't see that one coming at all."

"She's been shouting a while without actually coming after us," Stan pointed out. "What's she up to?"

Bill paused. "Check." He lay down and stretched his cuffed arm down from the loft to give Stan enough slack to peer out the bedroom door.

Stan frowned. "Huh. Weird."

"She's upstairs?"

"Yeah. But she's just flying in a circle. With... I think a veggie container from the fridge?"

Bill sucked in a breath. "Do we have mushrooms?"

"Wh—yeah? How'd you..."

"What!" Bill half-climbed half-fell to the attic floor. "That little cheater's making a fairy ring! That's not fair!" He leaned out the door with Stan. "She's probably already made the matching ring downstairs. We have to destroy it before—"

The circle of chopped portobello mushrooms glowed white; and with a glittery puff, Dr. Illing appeared in the ring.  He coughed out a lungful of fairy dust.

Pearl pointed at Stan and Bill and screamed, "Get them!" With a murderous scowl and terrified eyes, Dr. Illing stared them down and revved his drill.

Stan yanked Bill back into the bedroom and slammed the door.

Dr. Illing whined. "Aw, f—again?!"

"Just break through it!" Pearl commanded. "It's just wood! You have power tools!"

"He can't do that," Bill said confidently. "Doors don't work like that."

Stan said, "He can do that." A power tool whine announced Dr. Illing beginning his assault on the door.

"Oh." Bill considered that, eyes scanning the bedroom from one side to the other, mouth set in a grim line. "I have an idea." He pointed toward the window with his umbrella. "Stan, open the window." He hooked the umbrella over his elbow as he ripped the bedsheets off Dipper's bed and started tying the corners together.

Stan shook his head in disbelief. "You don't really expect us to climb out that window on bedsheets, do you?"

Bill dragged Stan closer and murmured in his ear, just quiet enough that their assailants wouldn't hear him over the power drill, "No, I expect them to think we climbed out the window, while we hide in the closet in the alcove. Once they're past us to check the window, we can sneak out and run downstairs."

"I don't like hiding like cowards instead of fighting. Illing's rickety, we can take him."

Bill kept tying bedsheets. He picked up Dipper's zodiac blanket, flinched, and tossed it to the floor on the other side of Dipper's bed rather than add it to his chain. "Funny—you didn't seem to have any problem hiding for a week while I had your brother prisoner."

Stan grabbed Bill by the shirt, dragging him closer. "You wanna say that again?"

Bill's hands shot up next to his face in surrender. "Sorry, sorry, sorry—"

"There were people in this shack I wanted to keep safe," Stan growled. "I'm not half as fond of you."

"Got it," Bill squeaked. He pointed toward Mabel's bed. "But I can see a dozen futures that end with our brains splattered across Mabel's dolls. I do not want to fight power tools."

There was a crack as the drill flung the first few splinters of wood free from the door. Stan's scowl deepened, but he let go of Bill and nodded.

They tied the bedsheet rope to a table leg, opened the window, and flung the rope out the window; then retreated into the alcove at the other end of the room, pulled shut the ragged curtain that hid it, and closed themselves in the closet to wait for the tooth fairy and Dr. Illing to break in.

####

(Thanks for reading!! If y'all enjoyed, I'd love to hear what y'all think! Next week we conclude both with the tooth fairy and with whatever the heck is going on between Stan & Bill.)

[hopelesslonelyghost]

kyle “gaz” garrick x DA!fem!reader

i know i promised more angst but i simply can’t get the right words. so here! have this cute lil gaz whip i wrote today 🫶🏻 again, not beta read, sorry for any typos!

this is completely self indulgent because i wish i had gaz as my patient. i also wish i could have my fingers in his mouth

kyle hates the dentist. ever since he was little he hated going. but what child likes going, right? he thought by now he’d grow out of his dental phobia.

but it’s that time of year again and his file needs to be updated and well… he needs to see a dentist.

his previous dentist retired and in his stead, a new doctor took over.

new doctor and new assistants by the looks of it. kyle sat in the lobby, waiting to be called. his leg bounced.

“kyle garrick?”

his head snapped up and now his stomach was fluttering for a different reason. the assistant was pretty.

her eyes crinkled as she smiled at him. pearly whites flashing him. kyle quickly stood up, subtlety trying to gulp without her seeing.

‘damnit, don’t make a fool out of yourself’

you introduced yourself, led him down a short halfway and then stood by a door to the left, motioning with your hand to step inside.

“have a seat kyle, we’ll be getting started shortly.”

after taking a seat and answering a few questions in regards to his health, you tore open a bag with yellow, blue, and red hooks, a gray circle, and two metal arms, one angled at a sharp 90 degree angle. both had two tiny metal tips at the very end.

you giggled.

“don’t worry, i’m just updating your x-rays today. after this, the doctor will come and do your exam. that okay with you?”

you must’ve caught him staring pretty hard at the instruments. kyle nodded at you and gave you a sweet smile.

“perfectly fine wit’ me, love.”

you clicked a few things in the computer behind him and then stood up, grabbing a blue lead apron and coming to stand beside him.

“gonna be a little heavy, okay?” you placed it down gently, “now i’m going to strap this around your neck. lean forward a bit for me…good thank you.” you whispered, right into his ear.

he couldn’t help the goosebumps that littered his arms. pretty and whispering into his ear? yeah, he’ll be thinking about today all night. maybe even all week.

quickly getting to work, you begun his x-rays. quietly asking him to open and close. gently angling his head in whichever way you needed him to. while the instruments and sensor in his mouth felt a little uncomfortable, it all felt worth it when you kept praising him after each beep! of the x-ray machine.

“open….good job… okay, now close. perfect. don’t move.”

he wouldn’t dream of it. he’d get on his knees right now if you asked him to. you already had your fingers in his mouth, might as well, right?

once you were done, you made quick work to get the apron off kyle.

“wow, that was fast.”

you smiled at him, “i try to be a fast as i can. i know getting your x-rays taken isn’t the most comfortable experience.”

you leaned over him for a split second, tying a bib around his neck. kyle was breathing in as you did, catching a whiff of your perfume. you smelled divine. sweetly floral, but not overwhelming.

fuck. you were pretty, empathetic, AND smelled good? yep. suddenly coming to the dentist’s office wasn’t that bad.

soon after, the doctor came in and checked out his teeth. humming and calling out notes which you were rapidly typing into the computer.

“well kyle! everything looks great! not seeing anything wrong in the x-rays or visually. you’re doing a great job. you’ll only have to come back for a cleaning! my assistant here can help you set up an appointment for that.”

the doctor thank you as they walked out. true to their word, you helped him set up at appointment for next week.

“you’re all set for today, any questions before I let you go?”

kyle stood up, “no doll, thank you. you’ve been wonderful.”

you gaped lightly at him, but quickly recovered. you flashed him a bashful smile.

you were so goddamn cute.

you led him out back towards the front and held the door open for him. you waved at him from the doorway as kyle made his way across the lobby and back outside, “have a good week! see you soon.”

kyle chuckled and gave you a two finger salute, “see you soon sweetheart.”

•••

n/a: just a lil disclaimer, not every dental office works the same. every place is different. this is just the way the office i work at does things. obviously i didn’t go into too much detail in regards to treatments bc i would be insufferable and i truly believe from the bottom of my heart that gaz flosses and brushes twice a day religiously. for the sake of fanfics being fanfics, reader isn’t wearing a face mask. realistically she should be wearing one.

DA= dental assistant <3

okay i’m done rambling!

thanks for reading!

[radioisntdead]

You know that trope of “I know a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy-” so on and so forth? Well, that, but it’s actually true because reader wants to help his best and closest friends at the hotel. It can be a bit of found family fluff, and include whoever you want, you got free reign here toots.

Some examples are Angel getting more time off work because reader ‘knows a guy’, Husk getting more premium alcohol because reader ‘knows a another guy’, Nifty getting better and higher grade cleaning equipment, Charlie and Vaggie getting better advertisements, Alastor getting fresh boars and Pentious getting new parts.

When directly confronted about it, reader just gets all coy and says, “I know a guy, who knows a guy, who knows another guy, who knows a guys cousin, who knows a girls aunt, who knows-”

Good evening my dear! I had so much fun writing this! Lowkey based the reader off of Todd from Bojack horseman also my apologies for this being a little short.

Oh, I know a guy!

Hazbin hotel x reader,

Warnings: shenanigans! Mild ooc Also the ending is a little muddled because my brain stopped working because it's 3 am and I'm hungry.

In hell, pure unbridled and unchained loyalty was hard to gain, and genuine friendship was harder to find.

And someone like you, someone filled with simple kindness, someone who just did things for others expecting nothing in return was nearly impossible to find.

You accidentally befriended Sinners and hellborn alike, and that granted you with connections a ordinary sinner wouldn't have!

You found the Hazbin hotel after an incident where you were shot out of a circus canon and crashed through one of the walls, and you decided to stick around!

You get a free hotel room and there's a chance of redemption and to seeing the pearly gates of heaven? That's a pretty good deal in your book!

You gave no warning for when you'd use for connections to improve the hotel or to just make things better for your fellow hotel residents!

Husk complained about the horrible quality of alcohol?

The next day a shipment of high quality luxury alcohol came in, at first they thought it was a mistake but were assured that it wasn't, The imp who delivered it greeted you with joy as you addressed him by name and began to ask how he was, how his wife and kids were, etc etc.

You accidentally ran into Charlie and Vaggie during date night? You call up a guy and get them VIP seats for a sold out show they wanted to see.

One of Alastor's old radios break? And he's about to murder someone? You know a guy who can fix it right up, make it good as new!

Niffty's cleaning supplies are beginning to break? you make a phone call and suddenly industrial grade cleaning supplies are delivered to the hotel, She's filled with pure unbridled glee!

Angel dust is complaining about Valentino overworking him? No worries you know a guy! Valentino is shot dead the next day.

Sir Pentious needs a very specific, very outdated and extremely hard to find part for something? You know a guy who can get you one for dirt cheap!

Eventually after you had gotten the hotel a whole build board advertisment the residents came together to discuss what exactly you did to get them what you did, because as far as they knew you weren't an overlord or even threatening for that matter! Angel dust swears he saw you cry over accidentally killing a bug once!

Several theories were made, Niffty and some of the egg Bois stalked followed you for a time!

And you didn't even notice! Honestly they were concerned about that because the egg Bois weren't exactly... Discreet, several of them died.

Eventually they just decided to rip the bandaid off.

"Okay guys so, hear me out on clown dentists, I know some clowns that could be great dentists!" You said waltzing on into the hotel, to be greeted with the people you have begun to regard as your friends, and dare you say, family, circled around the lobby couch like they were preparing for an intervention.

You tilted your head confused and before you could open your mouth to say anything you were grabbed like you were being kidnapped by a slasher killer and thrown onto the couch.

"That's an idea but let's put a pin in that for now because we have a couple concerns about how exactly you get some stuff, like that build board for the hotel!" Charlie started up carefully before Vaggie continued,

"And the time you got us free tickets for that show, thanks again for that but those tickets are expensive."

You shrugged, "I know a guy who's sister's boyfriend's cousin's aunt's poodle is in the build board business, and it's no problem, if you wanna see another show just let me know and I can get you two more tickets! It's no biggie! I know a guy!"

An eyebrow was raised "For completely free? No tricks?"

"Or at a huge discount! And no tricks!" You innocently grinned,

"What about the luxury alcohol you got the bar?" A glance was given to the cat that ran said bar, who was drinking a bottle of said luxury alcohol,

"I know a guy who's married to a Alcohol maker's daughter's daughter in wrath! They have loads of extra alcohol just laying around!"

"What about the parts you got for Pentious?"

"I know a guy who's married to his brother's girlfriend's twice removed cousin's poodle's dog Walker's mother's-" "This is getting ridiculous," "gREAT GREAT GRAND MOTHER'S Chewbacca's queer icon nephew's unicorn who owns a shop."

Were you joking? Or were you complete serious? They genuinely couldn't tell.

"Ya' got the purple pimp killed, I owe ya' one and I don't care whatcha' do in your free time but it is a concerning because ya' know the other two Vees?'' Angel popped in.

"I know a guy who knows a girl who knows a Chicago deep dish pizza who knows a new York style pizza guy who knows a cannibal in cannibal town who knows Rosie's hat gremlin who knows another hat gremlin who knows about hat creature that had a vendetta against pimp grimace!"

"What the fuck."

"Don't question it! I don't mind using my connections for you guys! Your practically my family anywho!" You get up from the couch, "I'm gonna go put together a sinterest board for my dentist clown idea, bye!" You said before booking it up the stairs and into your room, leaving confusion, a very touched Charlie from being called family, questions technically answered and concern for what the fuck clown dentists were.

Good evening folks! I hope you enjoyed this! It became a little funky with the dialogue but that's alright, Either Mob Alastor headcanons or an angst fic is coming up next so tune on in for that! As always thank you for tuning in and goodnight!

Pssssst, you should totally join our discord server

[stardust-sunset]

Fluffy holiday headcanons? Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, any holiday you’d like ❤️🎞️

Oh I got you! I’ll do as many holidays as I can think of (including birthdays-this is gonna be an uber long post but i’ll organize it by months

January

Darry’s birthday

Those two will wake Darry up by jumping on his bed because there just SO damn excited (they used to do this as kids more so than now because they realize Darry needs to sleep-

They convinced Dally and Two Bit to dig up info on Darry’s boss so they could blackmail him into giving Darry the day off with pay 💀

They purposefully turn his alarm off in the middle of the night and then he freaks out because he overslept and Pony/Soda has to calm him down by telling him what they did (he was a mix of concerned, a bit angry and lowkey impressed

They don’t let Darry do anything on his birthday like the will straight up shove him into his chair and push a newspaper at him while they do all the chores that day

They deep cleaned the house while he was sleeping (they even snuck into his room and dusted everything and polished all his trophies (They were so super careful with those)

Speaking of trophies, side headcanon that Darry pawned away his football trophies and uniform to make more money because money was uber tight around this time and Soda/Pony made Dally break in and get (steal) them back (Dally went to jail and he was very mad)

Darry bawled and didn’t even care at that point he was so grateful

Soda and Pony have to buy a cake because they almost burned the house down trying to make one (Soda got distracted and left the cake in the oven for so long it caught fire and Pony forgot about it-

They don’t let Darry leave the house tho (they also don’t tell him Soda got a speeding ticket)

They literally tried to make like a five course meal but at that point they just ended up making a bunch of random appetizers and some tacos or something-Darry didn’t care tho he was honored

Pony in the future takes up two jobs (he waits tables with Johnny and works at the library) and him and Soda save up to buy him whatever they can that they think he’d like

Its mostly a bunch of stuff from his favorite football team and they buy him new work boots

They also bought him a chinchilla once (Darry loves chinchillas tell me otherwise) and Darry was just so happy

They insist on cuddling with him that night and at that point he feels so spoiled but he can’t even say no 😭

They all end up snuggled in his bed with Darry in the middle-he’s genuinely so happy and it’s one of the only days he looks forward to

February

Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s day is not just for romance! It’s about spreading love to everyone you love including friends and family

The three Curtises definitely leave little things in each others rooms like they’ll scatter those chocolate hearts in each others rooms-Pony does it when Darry and Soda are at work, Soda does it at night when Darry and Pony are sleeping and Darry does it right before he leaves in the morning for work

They all end up buying one gift for each other-it’s never really a “big” gift but it’s something to show they love each other

Soda and Darry both get Pony books-Darry even saved up to buy Pony a little polaroid camera and Pony’s side of the room is littered with pictures of him and Johnny and him with the gang and just sunset pictures. It makes Soda and Darry so happy to see

Pony and Darry get Soda those giant chocolate things 😭 They know bro is absolutely food motivated but then he ends up eating the whole thing in one sitting and getting sick-they also get him stupid little toys they find. Soda would love those stretchy guys the dentist gives you as a kid He also likes fidgeting so they get him little fidget toys (him and Steve goof off at work with them and have gotten them confiscated 😔)They get him a lot of horse themed things too!

Pony and Soda get Darry little football figurines and stuff-one time they actually managed to scrape together the cash to get him tickets to go see a game-they could only buy one tho but Darry had the time of his life and actually looked his age for once when he came back.

Soda makes cringy little “roses are red violets are blue i think you’re great and I love you” type poems and writes them on hearts and hides them around the house for his brothers

Pony writes both of his brothers a very personalized poem-it’s so complex and honestly Soda and Darry are both uber impressed with his writing skills

Darry leaves little doodles around the house of things he laments on them doing as kids-he sketches one picture before bed every night (not even just on Valentine’s Day but as a coping mechanism as well) and the whole month of February he straight up draws the most beautiful pictures of them hugging and them as kids-Soda and Pony keep them in a drawer. Darry found said drawer and almost cried because he didn’t think anyone saw them or kept them

Every year they do a little tribute to their parents because they loved them-they’ll put a heart shaped piece of paper on their bed and a few roses and daffodils in their bedroom

They all eat little candy hearts in Darry’s bed before falling asleep

March

St. Patrick’s Day

Okay so this is more so when they were younger because I feel like St. Patrick’s Day is more so a holiday for kids but still-

Soda makes green pancakes. He makes a bunch of green food and even dyes their milk green (he also dyes the toilet water green)

Dont let him have any food dye

I feel like the three boys used to set up Leprechaun traps a lot and Mr/Mrs Curtis would buy those little gold chocolate coins and scatter them around to make it look like a Leprechaun was actually in the house lol-they also wrote some note like “better luck next year!” In shitty green marker and Pony used to get so mad-he literally guarded the traps all night because he was determined to catch one but he fell asleep and had to be carried to bed 😭

Even when Darry grew out of believing in Leprechauns he never told Soda and Pony and always helped them make traps

I feel like the first one after their parents death was really sad so Darry just coerced Pony into making more Leprechauns traps (which he begrudgingly does because “I’m thirteen now I know it was just mom and dad” but Darry spent all night doing what his parents did just to make Pony smile. He never tells Pony (Pony probably knows it’s Darry but it still made him cry)

I feel like Soda helped out but he insisted on making it ‘more mischievous’ so he put green handprints and footprints on the ground and Darry FREAKED OUT when he saw 😭 literally took Soda outside and was like “ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS” (he didn’t care much he just didn’t want the floors and sinks to be ruined 💀)

They definitely but those little chocolate coins and just spend the whole day eating them. Soda and Darry sneak some into Pony’s lunch and Soda and Pony do the same with Darry and Pony and Darry do the same with Soda <3

I don’t have much since St. Patrick’s day isn’t very like….popular? But I feel like Soda would wear a Leprechaun hat (he pulls it off somehow. Fuck him fr)

Darry lets Soda dye the food green but half the time it just turns the food diarrhea colored because he tried to dye meat

April

Easter

similarly to St. Patrick’s Day I feel like this is also a holiday more for kids (I mean without the religious aspect of course) but the Curtis boys (Soda mainly) LOVE dyeing and decorating eggs

Pony cannot stand the smell of vinegar tho so it’s hard for him (he uses a clothespin to keep his nose shut, dumbass) but he loves doing it too

I feel like Darry would be super simplistic. He dyes his eggs one or two colors and lets it dry before doing the most articulate sharpie art on the eggs. Like it’s this mosaic type shit in Sharpie and Pony and Soda are so impressed

Soda’s are always like-every color they can be and then some because he uses colorful markers on them. If a rainbow threw up on an egg that’s what Soda’s would look like. He also loves putting googly eyes on them and he even makes little paper hats for his and uses pipe cleaners to make arms and legs 😭

Pony’s actually look so beautiful. He loves the warm colors and likes to make his look like scenery. Like he’ll dye his eggs sunset colors and then use markers to paint mountains and trees and whatever else. Darry and Pony are super artistic-Soda just likes making his look like what he enjoys and his brothers have no problem with it

They line the eggs up around the house so that it feels more holiday like

All three Curtis brothers are suckers for candy and chocolate (obviously) so they spend their grocery budget that week on chocolate bunnies and peeps (Soda is the only one who likes them but they buy them for him)

Pony and Soda have both given themselves stomachaches and Darry has to take care of them 😭

I feel like the Curtis parents used to buy like fake bunny feet prints and would put them around the house when they were kids

They definitely have Easter egg hunts. They do these with the whole gang (Dally never finds any, he just sneaks behind people and takes theirs from their baskets)

Theres never a prize or anything because Darry’s the one who hides them so he doesn’t really participate but they combine all the candy from the eggs and they just sit on the floor and devour the candy

Darry buys a ham. All three Curtises LOVE ham but they never really have enough money to buy one often so you better believe these three boys are eating the whole entire thing and not leaving leftovers

Darry makes mac and cheese too (someone said he was a mac and cheese guy. I love that) and it’s a fun night for all of them

Theyre all like way too full in the end but nobody really minds much. They enjoy nights where they can pig out a bit lol

July

July 4th

ohhhhh boy

These boys LOVE July 4th (Especially Soda)

The whole gang goes down to a lake for the day to just chill out for a bit

Darry brings hot dogs and hamburgers and the gang fucks with them so hard, they all love barbecue

They also love Sparklers (especially Pony because Ponyboy is a wee bit of a pyromaniac

Soda always gets scared by them when they light up because it takes a minute and he always throws it right over Darry’s head. He almost made him catch fire like more than once

“Sorry Dar I got scared 😨” “It’s fine” he says while patting the small fire out of his hair

Pony likes writing on trees with the burnt ends of the sparkler. He thinks it makes him tuff (loser)

I feel like they either bring down hot dogs and hamburgers or they just buy like five pounds of steak

Likley the latter because they are pure carnivores

Dally buys illegal fireworks but Darry actually does have a license so he shoots them off by the lake (they all go diving for the pieces of the fireworks after-they make it a game)

I feel like Soda would buy those obnoxious Uncle Sam hats but I’m not sure if he’d pull that one off (sorry Soda)

They spend most of the day in the lake-all three brothers love swimming. Soda loves doing those weird dolphin dives into the water but whenever he comes up from the water he’s like…glistening. Darry likes anything that can show off his strength so he loves to swim. Pony gets tired kinda easily in the water because he goes HARD in the water and then like fifteem minutes later he’s clinging to Darry’s back

Swimming definitely makes them all hungry as fuck too so they end up somehow devouring all five pounds of steak

Soda goes into the water again but ends up crawling back because he got cramps

The lake is also right by the west side so they like to just sit back with each other and watch the fireworks from the lake

They throw the scraps back on the west side tho because they hate that they just leave their litter there

One of them definitely gets bit by like a snapping turtle or something

I feel like 4th of July isn’t really a holiday to them, more so a day they can go to the lake and pig out on steaks lol

Pony’s birthday

I feel like Pony doesn’t really like his birthday because his fourteenth and fifteenth birthdays must have been super hard for him (plus it’s around the time the book events happen and it just makes him depressed)

But Darry and Soda do anything they can to make him happy-Darry skips work for the day and Soda does too

Darry lets him sleep in (usually he has Pint wake up at 8 or 9 on weekends so he’s on some sort of sleep schedule but he’ll cut him slack on his birthday)

I feel like the two of them stay up super late decorating the house for him too-they tie balloons to his seat and they have little homemade banners (they do this for all the Curtises birthdays) and Pony gets so surprised every time because he thinks he’s too old for it-

Soda even made cupcakes (i headcanon Soda as a good baker-I know in the book Pony said he liked Darry’s cakes better because Soda puts too much sugar in the icing but I feel like that’s just because Soda likes it super sweet) but he knows Pony doesn’t like it too sweet so he’s careful with how much sugar he puts in

Darry brings Pony a cupcake when he wakes up (after Soda starts calling for Darry like “can you get him a cupcake I don’t wanna get up :(“ but they both sit with him as he sleepily eats the cupcake and is like “thanks guys” while snuggling into them as a thank you 😭 they better not say anything tho because if they do he stops immediately and is like “I ain’t a baby quit babying me i’m fifteen now not four 😡😡”

They seriously just let him do what he wants all day-if he wants to read with them they do that. If he wants to show them a movie or go to the drive in, they do that (and if he wants to bring Johnny or Two Bit they pick them up if they’re up for going. If he wants to just lay down for a bit they’re snuggling him together

Darry definitely brings them all to Dairy Queen for lunch and spoils the hell out of Pony-he gets him one of those ice cream things (Blizzards? Is that what they’re called?) and makes sure he gets the biggest one there and he lets Pony get jowever much food he wants-Pony has eyes bigger than his stomach tho and ends up needing to lay down for a bit lmao

But in the end they take him to the pool at the Y to help work his appetite back because Darry always makes Pony’s favorite meal for dinner (he had a feeling Ponybwould end up feeling like shit so they take him out early in the morning so he has time to digest it all lmao) but anyway, he loves swimming SO much and gets so excited whenever they go to the pool

He likes laying on his back and just floating for a bit until he bumps into Darry who just stares down at him and laughs-Soda also pushes on his stomach/chest and shoves him under and Pony’s just like “hey 😡😡” he doesn’t actually care though he just jumps on Soda’s back and they start wrestling while Darry just watches

They’re there for basically the whole day and they’re all hungry in the end so while Pony and Soda are washing off Darry is making steaks for Pony’s birthday (Pony LOVES barbecue)

After dinner they let him open his gifts and he’s so grateful for all of them-he actually gets really nice gifts-he got a bunch of camera film for his polaroid (polaroids were invented in 1948 so i’m safe), they get him a bunch of books from his favorite authors (which Pony stays up all night reading) and they get him some art supplies because it’s a healthy way he copes with his trauma and they’re more than happy to support him!

They then go in Darry’s pickup truck and Dary lets Soda/Pong sit in the back (like in th cart the truck drags along) and he just goes for a long drive while the sun sets and Ponybid SO happy-he gets happier when Darry tells him he looks tuff with his wind blown hair too

They end the night with chocolate cake with sprinkles inside and by cuddling, Pony in the middle and Soda/Darry just holding him 💜

October

Soda’s birthday

Soda LOVES his birthday because he loves the attention 😭 He’s so happy when he realizes the day is all about him-

Pony and Darry go CRAZY decorating because Soda literally walks downstairs and acts like he’s witnessing the greatest thing ever-he looks like a kid in a candy shop and he literally puts his brothers in a BONE crushing hug and he flat out starts crying 😭😭

Steve takes Soda’s shift for him because he’s nice like that on occasion (but Soda you owe me in April when it’s my birthday 😡😡”) so Soda can just stay home all day

Darry stays home from work too and depending on what Pony is doing in school he’ll let him kiss the day if he doesn’t have tests or anything (Pony lies a lot unless it’s a class he doesn’t wanna make the test up for)

Soda is just so happy and he makes Pony cuddle him for a few extra moments and Pony doesn’t mind until he’s like “Soda I need to pee” “Just go here I don’t wanna let go :(“ “NO”

Pony goes back because Soda starts fake crying lmao

They get him out of bed and they prepare themselves to match Soda’s energy for the day because he just really loves that his birthday is in fall and he loves doing all the fall things on his birthday (apple/pumpkin picking, playing around in the leaves, that sort of thing

Soda loves apple picking evacuee he can climb up the trees and just get the apples from the top-plus they’re his favorite fruit but Darry has to keep being like “Soda save room for dinner” but Soda doesn’t care lol

He loves going on hay rides at the pumpkin patches, he doesn’t care he’s turning 17 or 18, he’ll be giggling like a kid and like “LOOK AT THE HORSES!” (the horses wee pulling the hay barrel)

They take him to the petting zoo too but it backfires when he got emotionally attached to one of the lambs :(

They let him stay however long he wants and he’s just so happy because one of the lambs curled on his lap and fell asleep and he was just like “😮🥹” like bro was so close to crying-

He got a bit distracted by the horses too and Darry bought food for him to feed them-Soda has a way with animals and probably accidentally made several kids cry because they wouldn’t leave Soda alone and kept ignoring the kids/Darry didn’t have the heart to pull him away tho

When they get home Darry makes beef stew because Soda LOVES beef stew-Soda loves hearty fall foods.

He’s learned to make two pots because Soda straight up will eat all of it and leave nothing for anyone else lol

After they eat they give Soda gifts-he insists he doesn’t want anything but he also doesn’t protest being spoiled a bit lol

They get him a bunch of things he can build-he’s super good at what he does with cars and he really loves building things and taking things apart, so they get him like…3d puzzles and figurines he can build and he absolutely loves it and is so so happy <3

They know Soda loves his snuggles so Ponyboy will lay on top of him and Darry just envelopes him in this tight bone crushing hug-many happy tears are shed

Halloween

The Curtises honestly don’t do much for Halloween (except Soda, Soda LOVES Halloween and dressing up

Him and Steve dress up to go to work-Soda usually goes fully dressed as a zombie and Steve a werewolf (he even has a mask and a tail)-Soda’s able to charm his bosses into not being mad though and they actually manage to pull it off and they have good sales because people think it’s funny

I feel like Pony and Darry aren’t as into it-Pony doesn’t go trick or treating because “it’s for kids” so he usually hangs out with Dally and Johnny for the night and dresses like Paul Newman (of course he does-he actually pulls it off tho) Johnny probably just wears all black and Dally buys a scream mask and waits in bushes for kids to come out and they just steal the kids candy after they drop it because Dally is a dick and scares them 😭

Darry hands out candy and actually kinda gets into it because he’s super good with kids-he puts on a flannel and is just like “fine I’m Paul Bunyan”-he loves handing out candy tho and he’ll be super swwwgblike “oh wow that’s a scary ghost costume, you almost scared the life outta me!” like he just plays into it and he really does enjoy

Steve, Soda and Two Bit go trick or treating and of course Soda has his natural charm and girls bring him candy at work that day lol-Darry deals with similar stuff but he roofs this super sweet old lady’s home and she’s like “oh we don’t get kids often…do you want some candy young man?” and he’s like…trying to refuse but she keeps insisting and he eventually gives in 😭

So that night Darry comes home from work with a bag of candy and the leftover candy from handing it out, Pony comes beck with candy Dally gave him after he jumped kids for it and Soda brings back the mother load of candy

The three of them just eat candy together and watch scary movies (not really scary-think like Lifetime horror movies)

Pony likes chocolates, Sosa loves sour stuff and Darey enjoys just about anything, but he’s a sucker for chocolates with stuff inside (like Reese’s cups/Milky Ways)

One of them (all three of them) end up with stomachaches but it’s all good and they have a good night

November

Thanksgiving

The whole gang LOVES Thanksgiving

They used to do things before the holiday-every day in November they have the whole gang write something they’re thankful for and they put it in a jar to read at the table

Pony makes it heartfelt like “I’m grateful for my brothers and all they do for me”-Darry is the same way but after the book he gets really specific like “I’m thankful that Ponyboy is here with me and supports me after work” “I’m thankful for Sodapop and his endless snuggles even if it seems like I don’t want it”-Soda is kinda hit or miss, sometimes he’ll put something in but sometimes it’ll be like “I’m thankful for cheese puffs” and they’re like “Soda really 😒”

Everyone thinks Darry would cook everything by himself but I think that only happens after Pony insists on making the turkey and Darry’s like “Okay but you have to gut it” and Pony’s like “fine” but he takes one look inside and throws up and Soda kept sneaking food and then got sick because he ate raw turkey

Soda got banned and Pony refused to go back in

They all make the stuffing together tho and it turns into a bit of a food fight lol-they’re all laughing and having fun

They invite the gang over and Dally gets so mad that Darry makes them do the whole “what are you thankful for” ritual and eventually just literally reaches over the table and grabs a drumstick and eats it and Darry’s so done

They have to kinda coax Johnny into eating sometimes because he doesn’t wanna be seen as greedy but a few bites later and it’s so good he can’t resist anymore and just devours half a turkey by himself

Pony stocks up on rolls and mashed potatoes-he loves turkey too but he will eat an entire pound of mashed potatoes by himself and he has

They’re all lowkey gross at the table like Dally literally just burps so fucking loud because he has to announce to everyone that he’s finished and Darry is just so done with him lmao

In the end they all just drag themselves to the couch-there’s literally no leftovers either that’s how much they eat. They’re seven teenage boys lol

Darry likes watching football but even then he’s so sluggish and full he can’t even focus on it lol

They all have a gigantic cuddle pile and they’re all whining about how full they are, it’s so sad

Johnny is not used to being full at all and he’s so embarrassed because he ate SO much and everyone is teasing him and Pony specifically because they’re so small but they packed away the most and Johnny ends up with super bad hiccups and that just leads to more teasing and he’s just like “shut up guys”

Theyre gross so they probably end up having annual burping contests. Johnny is of course undefeated and Dally storms off to god knows where after

When everyone leaves the Curtises are so full they can’t even go upstairs so they just lay on the couch and it’s so bad that it takes the next day to fully digest it all too 😭

This is probably their favorite or second favorite holiday.

December

Christmas

Their favorite holiday is Christmas honestly

They absolutely LOVE the preparation beforehand of baking Christmas cookies and putting up a little tree with decorations

They can’t really buy a tree but they have this fake tree that they have put up every year since Darry was a baby-it’s still somehow in tact

Mr. and Mrs. Curtis didn’t have a lot of money so they made a star out of cinnamon sticks that they used instead

The Curtises cherish that star and put two angels right next to it too to symbolize they haven’t forgotten their parents or their traditions

Additionally I feel like Mr. Curtis was the one who made the cookies with the boys while Mrs. Curtis would decorate

As kids they would take turns making a cookie, like Darry would help make oatmeal raisin or something, Soda would make snickerdoodles and Pony would make sugar cookies, they would just alternate like that

But now that their parent are dead they all just do it together

Soda gets banned because he keeps stealing dough (They’re all guilty of this tho, even Darry)

They all end up eating too much and Pony and Soda are SO whiny- “Darryyyyy why did you let us eat that much..?” “You’re the one who kept sneaking it!”

They actually end up pretty good in the end and give them out to the gang

Darry’s an oatmeal raisin kind of guy-Soda likes snickerdoodles, Pony likes sugar cookies, Johnny likes chocolate chip, Dally likes those cookies with jelly in the middle, Teo Bit is the kind of menace to love those frosted ones and Steve likes those half chocolate half vanilla ones with the hershey kiss in the middle so they make a lot of those and the whole gang is there on Christmas day just eating the cookies and watching shitty movies 💜

Christmas Eve the Curtises don’t really like meeting up with the gang because they feel it’s a day for them and them alone-it’s the only day Darry actually makes them go to church and Soda HATES it-he just cannot sit still that long, and he gets bored during prayer sermons-Darry actually enjoys going but he usually doesn’t like-seek out going and Pony finds it serene and it gives him closure honestly

They also do that thing where they open one gift the night before-I feel like the year their parents died and money was super tight it ended up being like the Gift of the Magi-they all bought each other something but Darry sold his football uniform to get Soda and Pony something, Pony sold an exclusive book collection his parents bought him and Soda sold the horse saddle he used to ride Mickey Mouse-Darry bought Pony a little bookshelf, Soda bought Pony some pretty fancy figurines of the book characters, Darry bought Soda a mantle to put the saddle on and Pony bought him a horse statue to build and put the saddle on, Pony bought Darry some cleats and Soda bought him a helmet embroidered with his father’s words to him and all three of them sold their most valuable things to buy those for each other and they just cry for a bit

On a lighter note they all but each other joke gifts-at Pony’s school they have a sale where they just sell old junk nobody wants and Pony gathers the most random shit. Darry has a tiki statue in his room and Soda got a lamp with a mysterious brown stain on it (based off actual events)

They have turkey and ham because the gang comes over on Christmas and all of them are actually like-very food invested lmao

athey all cuddle by the fireplace and pass around secret santa gifts (they do Secret Santa Im calling it)

New Year’s Eve

They have their own little traditions! Darry makes appetizers (like jalapeño poppers and nachos) and they make 24, every hour they eat one together as a way to count down

I feel like they don’t do much during the day besides just go about their normal activities. Darry and Soda both get off early (Pong brings them bits of appetizers each hour to keep the tradition going because they did this with the Curtis parents and little bro hates change-

Darry and Soda get off at like…2 or 3 and that’s when things get fun

Theybhave game nights! Game nights usually don’t end well and this is no exception-

Teh first game they try to play is monopoly but Soda gets impulsive and that makes it easy to swindle him out of stuff so he’s the first one to go bankrupt and lose-it’s Pony and Darry that butt heads lmao

Darry is really good at swindling Ponyboy out of money and whatnot and Pony gets SO pissed- “Darry I want a refund 😡” like I know someone (Pony) walks away crying-

Pony has learned Darry’s tactics over the year and is VERY good at lying so he manages to swindle Darry this time and Darry is actually proud until he realizes he lost and then he flips the board lmao

They have other games they love to play too-they play cards as well but Soda is banned from playing War because he always peeks at his cards

Theh stop playing games after a while to watch the ball drop

They do a little reflection thing yearly-like “my name is ____ I’m ____ years old, I’m in the _____ grade, my favorite color is ____ my favorite food is _____ my favorite toy/game is _____ my favorite color is _____”-Mrs. Curtis made them do this but they agreed to keep the tradition going evacsue they thought it was cool to look back at their younger selves and see how they’ve changed

They read out past ones to each other and they get to the ones like “My favorite memory is _____, the funniest thing that’s happened this year was _____, I love _____ about my brothers” and the three of them are HOWLING because reading back on them they just love remembering and such-it’s bittersweet.

New Year’s eve is the one night Soda can stay up later than like-9:30 (Bro has a bed time-it’s not Darry that gave it to him, Soda just appointed himself a bed time and if he isn’t in bed by then he becomes a bitch) but New Years Eve is the one time a year he’s okay with staying up

Darry lets Pony and Soda have a champagne glass too and they all hug when the ball drops and then they just pas sour on the couch lol

Hope these are good!! I did a lot-

[miniwheat77]

High School Sweetheart. (Ghost x Reader.)

!CW! Make a dentist appointment, this shit is so sweet you’ll get a cavity.

Summary: Ghost and reader are high school sweethearts who cross paths again.

This was a request, you can find the ask here.

Every day it felt like he was just going through the motions.

Wake up, do what Captain Price asks him to do, go to bed. Sometimes there’s an occasional mission in there. Other than that, that’s all he does. Ghost wonders how the hell he ended up here sometimes. It doesn’t take long for him to remember. He’s lived a shitty life up to this point, and if he’s not killing terrorists, he feels worthless. “We’re welcoming a new recruit, meet outside.” He hears everyone announcing it to each other, everyone filing out the metal exit door. He creeps up behind everyone else, standing in the back.

“Everyone, this is Y/N.” Captain Price announces. He freezes up upon hearing your name. You give a small wave and he recognizes you immediately. What were you doing here? You greet everyone, talking and joking with them. Soap is making small talk with Ghost until you approach. “Hi, I’m Johnny but you can call me Soap.” He reaches his hand out. “This is Ghost.” He nods to Simon. You give him a look of confusion. “What is your first name?” You ask. “Simon. Simon Riley. Long time no see.” He puts his hand out, and you smile. Pulling him into a hug instead. This takes Johnny off guard. He knows Ghost isn’t a hugger. “How d’ya know each other?” Soap asks. “We went to high school together. Used to date.” You laugh. “High school sweethearts ah? Small world.” Soap laughs.

—

Ghost wasn’t sure how you ended up here. Last time he checked, you were off to work in the medical field and he joined the military. Ghost is the one who broke things off, he knew he couldn’t keep you happy and stay in the military. He never thought he’d ever see you again, especially not like this. “Why don’t you talk to her? I see you staring at her all the time.” Gaz nudges him. Ghost shakes his head. “Not my girl anymore.” Soap chuckles. “That’s gotta sting right? She’s smokin hot.”

“Depends on who broke up with who.” Gaz laughs. Ghost rolls his eyes. “You two are annoying.” Standing up and getting rid of his unfinished meal. He was growing more annoyed by the day. He wishes you hadn’t said anything.

He had to admit, you were pretty skilled. Something he didn’t expect. He wanted to talk to you, he did. But he didn’t know what terms you stood on exactly, so he left it alone. He makes his way into the gym, finding you. You’re taking deep breaths, lifting up the weight you’re holding on the bench press. Ghost decides there’s no better time to approach. “Shouldn’t do it without a spotter.” He mumbles, standing behind you. “Yeah? Maybe I wanted to go out on my own terms.” You smirk, taking another deep breath, arms beginning to shake slightly. He rolls his arms. Crossing his arms. “You know you’re a lot- different than you used to be.” You groan. “Yeah, happens when you get old. You’re different too.” He laughs. “How did you end up in the military anyways?” He asks. “I was a paramedic for a while, switched to an ER Medical Assistant.” You put the weight back up on the rack, taking in a deep breath and sitting up. “Seen a lot of traumatic shit, couldn’t handle it.” He looks at you, confused. “So the military sounded like a better choice?” He asks. “No, I tried to switch to normal jobs. Tried being a cashier, receptionist, vet tech. Hated it all. I had a lot of pent up anger, had no outlet. Talked to a counselor, tried doing other jobs. So I started doing medical in the military. Hated that too, so I just switched to infantry. I see a lot of traumatic shit, but at the end of the night I don’t go home alone. It gives me an outlet.” You shrug. He nods his head. “What did you see that fucked you up so bad?” He asks, following you around through your work out. “There was a few things.” You shrug. “My first day, I had to do an STD draw on a 5 year old girl. Her mom left her in a crack house for a few days, had no idea what happened to her.”

“Maybe she got a hold of a dirty needle.” You shook your head. “No. I tried to explain it away, but you would’ve had to see the way she screamed when the male doctors got too close. I wanted to rip her moms fucking head off when I seen her.” You breathe. He nods his head. “I understand. What else?” He asks. You swallow hard. “Little girl was brought in. Had a brain aneurysm.” You breathe. Your voice was getting unsteady. “She was dead before she got there, but the doctor wanted us to do CPR for the moms sake. I did CPR on her until my whole body hurt, until I couldn’t handle anymore, and than some. That’s not what bothered me though.” He looks at you, look of confusion again. “It’s the way her mom screamed when the doctor told her she didn’t make it. Still haunts me to this day.” Ghost sighs. “Jesus Christ.” He mumbles. “I’m sorry.” You nod your head. “I’m fine. I mean I’m not but I have to be. Life is short, I just like to stay busy.” He nods his head. “What about you LT?” You smile, standing up. “What made you stay?” You ask. He shrugs. “I guess I like to stay busy too.” He shrugs.

—

“She likes to stay busy? She’s flirting with you, you idiot.” Gaz rolls his eyes. “What? No she wasn’t. She had just got done telling me some really traumatic shit. The hell is wrong with you.” Ghost rolls his eyes. “I’m telling you, if you’re as smart as I pray to god you are, you will get her back, and put that tight ass on lockdown before I do.” Gaz raises his eyebrows. Ghost rolls his eyes once again. “Another meal ruined again.” Ghost rolls his eyes. He decides to go off and find you, not finding you in the gym like he usually would, so he assumes you’re on watch. He’s correct. He makes his way up the watch tower, seeing you sitting at the top inside. “Hey.” He walks in. “Hey. Johnny is supposed to take over for me but not for another hour or so. What’s going on?” You ask. He shrugs, sitting down next to you. “Staying busy.” He’s short. “Ghost huh?” You smile. He nods his head. “You tell them how you got that nickname yet?” You smirk. Even behind the mask you can tell that he’s smiling. “Nah. Not yet. I won’t hear the end of it.” Simon hates this. You knew Simon. You always brought Simon out. Made him smile, made his stomach swirl. “Why’s that?” You ask. “They keep teasing me about letting a girl like you get away.” He laughs. “Ah, everybody makes mistakes. It’s fine that yours was me.” You smirk. He rolls his eyes. “Don’t get too big of a head over there.” You laugh, just like he remembers.

“You’re huge now.” You smile. “Huh?” He laughs. “You were built in high school, sure. But nothing like you are now.” You laugh. “Is… that a good thing?” He asks. “Yeah it’s pretty hot.” He looks up at you, eyebrows raised. “Thanks I guess.”

“Even tough women like to be manhandled, Ghost.” You chuckle. “Remember that for your next girlfriend.” He can sense the jealously in your voice. He slides his phone from his pocket, opening up his text messages. He opens his text chat with Soap, writing out a text.

“Don’t worry about taking over watch, I’m taking over for Y/N.”

“ ;) ”

“Fuck off, MacTavish.”

“ ;))))) ”

He rolls his eyes, sliding his phone in his pocket. “Sound a little jealous to me.” He smirks. You roll your eyes. “Me? Jealous? Really?” You smirk. He nods his head. “Yeah.” You laugh. “You’re ridiculous.” You laugh. “And you’re a liar.” He chuckles.

When the silence takes over once again, he thinks about it for a minute. “I’m sorry.” He mumbles. “For what?” You ask, looking up at him. “For leaving you alone. Making you go through all of that shit alone.” He sighs. You laugh. “I went a little crazy. If we were together you would’ve hated me.” You laugh. “Still, I feel bad.” You smile. “Well. We can always be friends. No sense in regretting something you can’t change.” You shrug. He nods. “Yeah. You know I think you’re a strong girl right?” He laughs. “I think you’re a strong guy too Simon. You don’t give yourself enough credit.” He rolls his eyes, thankful for the balaclava covering his face. His cheeks are too pink to look natural without it. “I’m serious. You did the best you could with the shitty hand you were dealt, and the fact that you’re still doing so good makes me so fucking proud of you.”

Somewhere deep down, passed the barrier he’d put up, those words sting him right to his core. Reopening old wounds he didn’t know he had. “Thank you. I’m proud of you too.” You smile. He can see the pain in your eyes. He knows he’s hurt you. He just hopes somewhere deep down, you’ll be able to forgive him.

—

Ghost doesn’t always take the time to realize exactly how lucky he is. His eyes scan the table, his captain, Gaz, Soap. They’re all sitting around him laughing at something Soap has said, eating their dinner. It’s the closest thing Simon has ever had to a family, and with you back. You flipped his world upside down. He’s in his head too much anymore, thinking. He’s so guarded, but somehow these kind people gravitate toward him. He just hopes if anyone has to die, he does first. He doesn’t want to suffer anymore.

He’s staring off into space, thinking about you. How you were together when you were younger. He thinks about the first time you had together. First kiss, first time. How nervous he was hovering above you, trying to keep you calm and reassure you. How much you trusted him. He always thinks about how calm he was when you were around. After fighting with his asshole dad, anytime he was stressed out and ready to give up, you were always there. Helping him back onto his feet. The times he couldn’t, you’d sit there. Right at rock bottom with him until he was ready to climb his way back out. You helped him every step of the way, and he left you alone. You did everything. Put your heart into his hands. And he shattered it. Stomped on it until it was nothing but fine grained glass. A powder. And you still picked it up. And placed it right back into his cold hands. Just so that he could throw it in your face and walk away.

He needs to stop before he gets upset. Instead, choosing to think about how beautiful you are. Back then, so carefree. He thinks about those summers you spent together, sun beating down on each other. Swimming together, being in love. Your smile. Your giggle when he said something dumb. He remembers how pretty you were, looking up at the moonlight with tears in your eyes because of something so dumb. A fight, a disagreement. He misses how simple everything was. He thinks about holding your hand, walking up and down the street before either of you could drive. He thinks about the stray kitten you had found and how much he tried to convince you not to take it home, but you did anyways. And he remembered how hard you cried when the cat got too sick to bring home from the vet. He held you close as you said your goodbyes.

He thinks about the time he first put on a skull balaclava and how you gave him the funniest look, narrowed eyes and a smile playing at your lips. “So mysterious. Your new nickname is Ghost.” You smile. And how he pounced you, pushing your back into the silk sheets, tickling you until you nearly cried, laughing so hard. How you pulled his mask up to kiss him, just like Mary Jane and Peter Parker.

He’s walking away from the table before he realizes his feet are taking him to your room. Carrying him even though his brain is somewhere else completely. He doesn’t even knock on your door, barges right in. Thankful you’re half dressed. He closes the door behind him, you look up at him in complete confusion as he closes the distance between the both of you. He’s pulling his mask off and ditching it somewhere in the room. “Simon? What are you do-“ his lips are on yours before you can even finish your sentence, holding onto the nape of your neck with both of his hands as he forces you back into the wall behind you. You melt right into him, and he’s so thankful you don’t push him away. You let him kiss you, body relaxing into his. When he finally pulls away, resting his forehead on yours, you’re panting. Taken off guard by him. “I love you. And I’ll understand if you don’t want to give me another chance. But I won’t fuck up again. I let you get away once, and I won’t again.” He breathes. A laugh leaves your lips, “Simon, I knew I was going to give you another chance the moment I see that fucking mask.” You giggle.

Maybe that stupid metaphor is right.

‘If you love something, let it go. If it comes back, it was meant to be.’

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

tsumsted wonderland part 3 SR groovies~

(Side notes: No new artwork for Ace or Jamil, as those are this installment’s R cards!

The SSR groovies are still locked and will be revealed at a later time.)

***Spoilers below the cut!!***

WHY DID THEY POP OFF SO HARD WITH THESE GROOVIES 😭 The other Tsumsted Wonderland SR groovies were distanced much farther away and these are way closer so we get a nice eyeful of all the details. I guess they’re going off with a bang…

LikE,WHAT THE FUVk IS THiS???????? WhY’S TREEY mAkING YHE PIXAR DAd FCE WhILE HIS YSUM LOOMS THreaTENInGLY WITH A TOOTHBRUSH An D TOOTHPASTE OF ALL THINgS?????

Is this real life??? Is this a robbery????? Is this an assault where Trey straps you down while the unlicensed plushie of a dentist scrubs at your molars???????????? OTL THIS ISN’T THE REALITY I WANNA EXIST IN

cbsksnwjwfiwk ThIS ONE’s SO SILLY TOO??? The initial artwork was already goofy with Tsum!Ruggie snatching a coin but now it looks like Ruggie learned his lesson from that incident and is keeping cash out of the Tsum’s weird flabby arms.

Y’all really shouldn’t be counting your cash in a public space (it looks like the Savanaclaw lounge) though 💀 Anyone could slink in and make off with those coins you have displayed…

Aw, Silver… He’s so eepy… (You can see that he’s napping on one of Diasomnia’s lounge room sofas!!)

There’s a lot of subtle things to appreciate about this illustration. Silver has one hand on the Tsum even while they’re both dozing off ;!:?&2!.9:$2veuwva It’s a small but protective gesture! I also like that when you zoom in, you can see strands of silver threading his lashes. I’m not usually one to comment on Silver’s looks (I find him pretty mid appearance-wise) but I adore how peaceful he is here. Sleepy Silver artworks are definitely a weakness 💦 Oh no… I feel my heart growing three sizes bigger from looking at this image…

Like I said earlier, the SSR groovies will be out towards the end of the event. I’ll share those and give my thoughts when they’re out too 🫶

[brandogenius]

omg maybe you could write like naomi x shy!resder?? like naomi introducing reader to the squad??

love your work pom!! 🩷🩷

hi my love!!! OFC!!!

‼️RPF‼️

BLURB - naomi x shy!reader (short)

- it honestly took a little while for naomi to convince you to meet everyone. you were worried and shy, overthinking everything.

- coming to the point where you’d delay it ‘i gotta help my mom :( ‘ ‘i have a dentist appointment’

- talking with naomi about it, you let them know your fears. just shy and worried, worried they’d judge you and worried you’d embarrass yourself. naomi is quick to reassure you that they are not the type of people to do that

- “honestly i think if you did something embarrassing, they’d try to embarrass themselves more so you’re not in the spotlight” that made you feel a little better but still you were worried.

- naomi ends up deciding to book a big table for lunch at a cafe tomorrow, phoebe, jo, lucy, julien and katie all being free. part of you was excited, the other part was just anxious. you tried not to let it bother you as much, wanting the best for naomi

- meeting with everyone went better than you expected. you were shy at first, quietly introducing yourself and shaking hands with everyone at the table

- naomi kept their hand over yours on the table, a comforting manner, letting you know they are there. jo started talking about a new tv show they are really interested in which had you snapping your head to look at them.

- naomi knew exactly what was gonna happen and they were excited. you loved that tv show and could talk about it all day, (you have with naomi) maybe this was a good opportunity for you to open up a bit more

- everyone just watching as you started babbling about the show, the characters; the plot line with josette. the two of you giggling excitedly as you debate between which two characters is the best overall

- talking with josette made you relax more, opting into conversations with the boys and katie, discussing makeup, music, books and more. naomi hasent seen you that out of your comfort zone in ages. it made them proud

- “i really like your friends baby” “see! i thought you they’d be nice. you had nothing to worry about!!”