#the first one is when jesses almost at full hearts with lukas me likes to think

[enden-agolor]

here’s a bunch of jesskas stardew au doodle pages and unfinished pieces 🫶 i ermmmm uhhh errr gulp uhm i love them

[lunaraen]

A Jesse Surprise

Written for Spirit, who requested Aiden/Jesse/Lukas, as part of the 2020 mcsm discord secret santa

Some uncharitable mornings, when Aiden is deep within the warm and dark embrace of slumber, he thinks he preferred the early dawn stirrings in New Sky City (he also personally prefers its unofficial name, Ground City, but it’s not like he’s winning these battles).

Even though sleeping on his cot, and then later his bed, was like sleeping on gravel, even though the guards who woke him had no interest in letting him have a smidgen of comfort they could steal and were themselves likely culprits who chucked bricks through the windows of the Blaze Rods’ shack of a home, even though his waking mind and the crash of reality remind him of how grateful and lucky he is to have the love and comfort he does now, the security and safety he could never count on in a city full of people he’d almost killed.

After all, back there and back then, he didn’t have Jesse and Lukas coaxing him out of sleep, sweetly and gently tearing him from that slumber, with sweet kisses and soft prodding.

He loves them with all his heart, but he’s not a morning person and they make it hard to scurry back into the cover of unconsciousness the way he wants to.

(Living in the Order’s temple has its ups and downs, even if it’s mostly ups with few downs.

Sappy wakeup calls on his days off fit into both categories.)

So, eloquently, he tells them exactly what he thinks about their loving plotting.

“Mmf. Stoppit.”

And alright, maybe it’s halfway muffled by the pillow his cheek is currently smushed against, but it’s not a whine.

“Ooh, somebody’s grumpy.” And he can hear Jesse’s grin, feels it a second later when they kiss his not-smushed-into-a-pillow cheek while Lukas nudges at Aiden’s ribs again with his cold fingers. Jesse’s eyelashes flutter against his skin. “I thought you didn’t want to sleep until noon again.”

Winter days may be shorter and generally darker, thick cloud cover and snow more often than not working as a dense curtain to block out the sun, but there’s no way it’s noon.

A little past nine, maybe. Ten, tops.

“Changed- grhg, changed my mind.” His groggy, groggy mind, which is more than happy to latch onto the luxury of sleeping in as much as he wants on days like today, days when he isn’t working and gets to stay snuggled up inside as much as he wants. His prodded body, crying out for mercy, has other ideas, and Aiden slaps at Lukas’s wrist, only halfway missing as he bats Lukas’s hand away and twists himself upright. “Ghk- Lukas, if you poke me one more time, so help me-!”

(He’s generally much better with his temper now than he used to be, taking a number of cues from Lukas, but sleepy-Aiden still needs to work on it.)

“Oh, good, you’re up!” The dual smirks he’s getting are utterly shameless, and Aiden groans as he slumps against the headboard, bitter taste of defeat impossible to ignore.

How do they manage it?

He’s not sure, but they always do.

(Maybe he should’ve just crashed with Maya and Gill at their place.)

“Yeah, yeah- alright, I’m up, I’m up.” Despite himself, Aiden can’t hold back the beginnings of a toothy and tilted smile. “What is it?”

“Jesse’s got something to show us.”

Aiden snorts, elbowing Lukas’s side as he slips out of bed onto the regrettably chilly floor.

“Like you don’t already know what it is.”

“He doesn’t! I made sure of that- it wasn’t hard, when I just had to get him focused on messing with you.” Jesse, still sitting on the bed, kisses Lukas on the cheek and smiles so sweetly, like honey in tea and a field of flowers on a sunny day and the inviting glitter of an enormous rainbow, and Aiden’s grumpy heart melts just a bit more.

Oh, they’re not innocent- far from it.

Jesse’s crafty and sneaky and absolutely pleased with themselves for how snugly they’ve got Aiden wrapped around their finger, but it’s always hard to stay mad at Jesse even when he knows all of that so well.

“Thanks for that, by the way.” Aiden saves his toes from the frigid floor, putting on his slippers as he brushes his bedhead back with still-sleepy fingers. “You know, there have got to be better ways to wake somebody up- shove some snow down my back next time, maybe, or just get me with a bucket of water.”

“Aw, but then I don’t get to let you know how much I love you!” Jesse’s tone is outright teasing before it drops into something more mischievous, practically cheeky. “And besides, we already know you’re a total sap.”

“I am not-”

“Aiden, I’ve known you for just about forever.” Lukas plays with the silver comb from Aiden’s nightstand, touching up his already-perfect hair as he gives Aiden a far too knowing look and wry smile. The wind continues its steady beat against the window as flurries flutter past. “I’ve seen you at your best and at your worst. Yeah, you totally are.”

That’s a bit of an understatement, all things considered- Aiden’s willing to make the argument that Jesse and Lukas bring out the best in him, and his worst was pretty bad, given that in involved chucking them into the void.

They’re willing to make the argument that Aiden, far more humble and reasonable as well as just smarter now than he was back then, is even more of a sap than words can say.

“And you’re totally letting me fix my hair before you drag me to gods know where.” Aiden’s not giving up on the tatters of his thrashed dignity, though, and he’s not admitting it any time soon. He snatches the comb out of Lukas’s fingers, already aware that there’s no way they’re going to wait and let him gel his hair the way he likes to after already waiting for him to wake up and then deciding to do the job themselves.

Is he bitter Lukas has clearly had the time to go through his own hair care routine? Maybe, but it’s Aiden’s own fault for sleeping in.

(He’s grouchy and anything but happy to greet the morning, but he can recognize that.)

“Nope!”

“Yeah, definitely not happening.”

“I love you.” Aiden tosses the comb back onto the nightstand as he yanks his jacket off the bedpost he last threw it onto, rolling his eyes as he shoves his arms through and shrugs it up on his shoulders. His cozy sleepwear doesn’t quite match with his jacket the way his usual outfits do, but it’ll work for a Jesse-trip. “So much.”

“We know!”

“Cool.” His fingers are clumsy, from sleep and cold alike, as he attempts to yank up the zipper before deciding to forgo it altogether. He doesn’t need to hide his nightshirt. They’ve seen him in far worse conditions, far crueler and horrendous states, than in his sleepwear. “Can’t wait to bump into somebody in the hall and have an awkward conversation about how I look like I just rolled out of bed.”

(They’d be right.)

Lukas laughs, light and loud, and it captures Aiden’s attention instantly, enthralling as ever.

(What’d Petra say- stupid, perfect Lukas? Fitting.)

“Trust me, we’ve all seen worse- everybody’s bumped into Ivor in the middle of the night.” Aiden winces. The less said about his sleepwear and how it ‘breathes wonderfully’, the better.

Half the time, Ivor’s wearing his robes during those chance encounters.

The other half of the time, not so much.

“Yeah, okay, fair enough.” He adjusts his jacket, and not for the first time since moving in wishes it had a hood he could flip up to hide his not-yet-right hair. “Is it in the backyard, or are we going further than that? Because if I need to get my boots, they should just be by the door.”

His coat should too, and it would be plenty warmer than his jacket.

“If Petra hasn’t stolen them.” Aiden has, rather unfortunately, ended up on the wrong side of the latest prank war, something Jesse’s endlessly amused by. They’re kind enough to help him out when he begs- if Petra has taken his boots, he’ll just beg Jesse to have a talk with Petra about forgetting the chorus fruit incident.

“Oh, she definitely did.” Lukas waves off his look of alarm. “You’re good- apparently Jesse’s surprise isn’t even outside.”

Better Petra than Axel, anyway, and if she didn’t, he would’ve.

“I can try something snow-related next time.” Jesse’s eyes just about sparkle as they toy with one of Aiden’s errant bangs, calloused fingers brushing against his skin as their other hand cups his cheek. “Remember that deal I struck? For that room in the basement?”

“Barely.” He leans into Jesse’s touch before leaning back, not deterring Jesse or their mischief in the slightest. His bangs don’t usually get the chance to be in the way like this, rather than neatly slicked back, and Jesse’s milking it for all its worth. “It wasn’t like you let us know a whole lot about it, other than that Cassie’s good at negotiating.”

Cassie Rose, a different sort of enemy Jesse and the others have helped and taken in even when most people would never consider it, spends much of her time in the sprawling and labyrinthine basement.

“Shrewd. I believe I said shrewd.” Jesse gives the bang one last flick before their expression softens. Aiden doesn’t know exactly what they traded or had to promise Cassie, but Jesse’s more than decent at negotiating themselves. “But yeah, she’s pretty good. Anyway, she’s been letting me mess around in that part of her domain, and that’s what I want to show you guys. After you have some breakfast, of course- Axel made the best pancakes.”

Axel makes good breakfasts the way Jesse worries about everyone not eating enough- as surely as the sun sets and rises.

“Jesse, it can wait.” Aiden holds up his hands, palms facing outward and fingers slightly curled, when Jesse narrows their eyes. “I promise I’ll have a good breakfast and enjoy those pancakes after you show us what you’ve been up to.”

That placates them, Jesse beaming as they grab his hand.

If Aiden remembers correctly, Cassie’s not the only one Jesse’s been working with on this, terrifying a thought as that already is.

He’s pretty sure their alchemist got roped into things.

It’s an interesting thought, if not a necessarily pleasant one, to be entertained by as they make their way through the temple, weaving through hallways and past busy rooms to the basement stairs.

Cassie and Ivor may be the ones directly involved, but the knowing looks and waves they get suggest that Lukas and Aiden are the only ones in the dark.

Harper’s grin at her workshop table is as impish as it is (probably) accidentally intimidating, thanks to the dark and glinting lenses of her goggles hiding her eyes entirely while reflecting sparks from the iron she’s cutting into.

Aiden’s always been a sucker for mysteries.

It’s not until they start descending, shoes and slippers silent against carpet before clacking against cold stone as the stairway becomes less and less like the hallways they were just in, that he nudges Lukas, slipping his free hand into Lukas’s to hold it loosely.

“So, what can we expect from Ivor and Cassie that’s not an inventive death trap?”

Lukas chuckles, lightly pressing his shoulder against Aiden’s own.

“Ivor’s not that bad.” Not to Lukas, maybe, but Aiden got a number of intimidating talks from the other Order members when he first moved back to this world. Ivor’s was the most… creative. “And Jesse’s involved too- it could be anything.”

They take a turn, moving away from the more used areas of the basement to the series of corridors and rooms Cassie’s claimed as her own.

“Pet witherstorms?” A year ago, when they were figuring this and so many other things out, Aiden wouldn’t even think of joking about the behemoth that hurt them and their world in so many ways, his spiraling scars aching even now under his jacket at the mention and Jesse’s less physical scars making it so that thunderstorms more often than not lead to panic attacks. They’ve healed in a lot of ways, though, all of them, and monsters of the past are more and more easily used for lighthearted jokes.

He himself is something of a monster of the past, and they’ve done an incredible job of letting him back into their lives and then some.

“Enchanted endermites.”

Another turn, this time to the right, the yellow-orange glow of regular torches switched with the gentler light of redstone ones.

“Talking cats.”

The back-and-forth reminds him of guessing games he and Lukas would play to pass the time, before, ages ago, back when it was easy to be bored and when having the most outlandish guess was as good as anything else.

“A tap-dancing-”

“Alright, alright, you can stop guessing.” Jesse pauses at a dark oak door, fingers resting on a handle that’s a lighter color than any of the ones they’ve already passed, and gives them a look that’s trying very hard to be exasperated and failing. Jesse loves with all their heart; it’s hard for them to not look adoring. “If you want to just go in and find out for yourselves, that is.”

First, he asks the question that’s been on his mind since they brought up the surprise.

“What’s the occasion?”

Aiden’s been keeping a close eye on every important event and celebration he can think of; all he knows about today is that it’s supposed to be an average Saturday.

“I just wanted to surprise you guys.” The door creaks as Jesse nudges it open, just as likely in genuine need of oiling as it is intended to make sounds for dramatic effect (Cassie has a penchant for the theatrical), and Jesse’s given up on hiding that small smile when they look back to him and Lukas. “With something we didn’t have to leave the temple for, or risk our lives over- we have plenty of adventures and things to do normally. This is just… something for us.”

Inside the room, likewise dimly lit with redstone torches, three plants Aiden has never seen before are growing from decent sized pots up and along the dark walls towards the even darker ceiling. They’re almost vine-like, with ruffled leaves that actually glow along the edges and symbols along the dark stems that look natural to the plant rather than carved or printed- looking again, Aiden can see that the symbols glow too, different colors.

Symbols that are more than interesting lines and curves, actual letters tilted this way and that as they spell out each of their names.

The one that reads Jesse has a red sword symbol at the base of its stem, while Lukas’s has a teal book and quill.

It takes him a third look to make sense of the image on the one spelling his name.

Instead of a book and quill, it’s a green book and sword, with the book placed over the sword- even if Aiden wasn’t a writer, he thinks he’d see the meaning pretty clearly, the focus on peace and positive changes.

He’s long since given up waving swords around recklessly, though he trains with Jesse and Lukas. He’s capable, but it’s not his first instinct when his temper flares anymore.

Aiden glances at Jesse, whose smile has somehow gotten even softer.

He’s a sap and he’s not crying about it.

(A quick glance at Lukas proves he’s in a similar boat, eyes shining with unshed tears and his hand over his mouth as he crouches in front of the plant spelling his name out in blue and purple characters.

If Jesse can give a bad gift, Aiden has yet to see it.

Lukas is more used to seeing the odd assortment of plants in Ivor’s lab than Aiden is, on account of having been there more, and even then he doesn’t seem any less surprised than Aiden feels.

Jesse’s ideas are often like that, born from looking at the same thing in a slightly different way.)

He clears his throat and brushes away the welling tears that aren’t there.

“Jesse, this is amazing.” Despite having cleared his throat, his voice wobbles just a bit, and Jesse open arms are too inviting to ignore. Even with as silly as he probably sounds and looks right now, their gaze stays warm. Aiden hugs them, tight grip only relaxing briefly when Lukas joins the hug in order to wrap an arm around him too. “Thanks. Looks like we’ll just have to find our own ways to surprise you.”

“Oh, you don’t need to do that.” Jesse squeezes them, feeling every bit the strong hero that they are, and gives a contented hum. “Just being able to do these things with you is more than enough.”

“I don’t think we could ever give you enough, Jesse.” Lukas presses a kiss into Jesse’s hair before doing the same to Aiden, his voice doing a slightly better job of staying strong despite the tear tracks shining on his cheeks. Aiden gives him a kiss in return, the quick peck on the lips making Lukas’s smile widen.

A fourth voice, one that perhaps shouldn’t be so unexpected, interrupts before they can get too cuddly.

“If you’re going to be sappy, take it anywhere upstairs.”

Cassie Rose leans against the doorway, her partner in crime meowing from where he winds between her legs, purring as he rubs against her pants.

Though not quite the senseless killer she once was, she’s certainly an efficient mood killer.

Winslow, not so much, even if there’s a playful glint of his own in his eyes.

The hug breaks, though no more than necessary, the three of them still standing close together even as Aiden shoves his hands in his pockets.

“Thanks, we’ll keep that in mind.”

“I’ve got a strict no-PDA policy.” She smirks, gaze shifting to Jesse as she points a thumb towards the nearest plant- Lukas’s. “Remember, the deal’s off once you take these upstairs and do whatever you’re going to do with them.”

“Got it.” Jesse’s thumbs-up placates Cassie enough to get a short hum out of her, and their smile stays bright as they turn their attention back to Aiden and Lukas. “Ivor said they should be fine as long as they’re kept out of direct sunlight. Even then, they’ll be alright for a while, but you won’t be able to see the glow very well.”

While Jesse explains and they nod, Aiden keeps an eye on Cassie out of the corner of his eye.

In spite of that close watch, even though he glances away for barely a moment, as soon as he opens his mouth to thank her, he finds she’s already vanished, her feline friend likewise missing.

Huh.

Oh well.

He’ll thank her and Ivor for their part in this later.

“Well, if we’re taking things back upstairs anyway, I guess we could head back to your room and cuddle properly.” It wouldn’t be hard for Lukas’s voice to be mocking, but it does a good job of riding the line between joking and being genuine, and it oozes affection regardless as he wraps an arm around Aiden’s shoulders. Aiden takes a second to appreciate how lucky he is to be here, to be with them, while his heart soars. “You know, let you get some more sleep.”

“Maybe do breakfast in bed.” Jesse’s voice is just as affectionate, and the idea of getting something to eat as well as some more rest doesn’t sound half bad.

Of course…

Aiden lets his head rest against Lukas’s shoulder, huff somewhere between a fresh groan of defeat and a laugh.

“Could’ve started with that.”

Jesse, in flagrant violation of Cassie’s policy, squeezes his side and kisses his nose, startling a lopsided smile out of Aiden.

“Less exciting that way.”

If there’s something he can count on here, with them, it’s always excitement, one way or another.

[minecraftoworymode]

picked a whole bouquet of whoopsie-daisies the other day reading some Very badfeel content so to cheer myself up here’s some super self-indulgent ramblings about romeo recovery post-s2

“YOU CAN DANCE IF YOU WANT TO YOU CAN LEAVE YOUR INTERNALIZED MISOGYNY BEHIND” or how romeo learned to stop worrying and indulge in the ““feminine”“ shit in life

when romeo transitioned he scrubbed everything that could be potentially viewed as feminine from his appearance and behaviour. while he did everything he could about the former (hairstyle, clothing, body language, voice), it didn’t feel like enough bc he couldn’t change some things that ppl used to be jerks- his frame (short and lithe), his family, his being trans- so he made up for it by trying to “act” like a “real man”. this unfortunately meant he was super vulnerable to manipulative alt-right indoctrination tactics (”we will validate you as a man as long as you endorse our assholery and share our shitty beliefs about what it means to be a man”) and he was on the verge of getting sucked into gamergate ideology when [THIS LORE IS ANOTHER POST] and hey, now the world is minecraft. u dont gotta perform gender roles for villagers they dont care. xara will not only actually eat ur liver for pulling The Bullshit but when you are kind she smiles, so bright and warm, and it is very very nice so maybe you should keep on doing that. n fred? fred is chill with their Everything in a way uve only ever Dreamed of. romeo marinates in this sauce for a couple centuries and comes the closest to being comfortable in his own skin he’s ever been.

however,

after the Incident he slam-dunked himself back into the hypermasculinity juice bc it was a mindset “safe” from feeling pain, whether his or others’. n since the worlds the admins created dont have the same ideas of gender as the world they came from, once he’s been dethroned romeo has a particularly hard time adjusting wrt That on top of all the other 2750347502730 issues he has to face

anyway flash forward a couple months of being incredibly volatile bc he now has to confront all the terrible things he did and how Dare u make him do that and maybe if hes nasty enough he can provoke someone into killing him and saving him from having to unpack All Of That- (note from @simple-mooshroom-herder​: Xara and Jesse at least grasp that Romeo will probably burn himself out on this bullshit eventually and the best thing to do is interact with him with a certain level of healthy detachment. Eventually he'll see that theres no "getting out of this" and he'll start to do the Work but until then its very frustrating to see that tactic take him nowhere.)

- one day petra notices how he’s constantly staring at all the ppl wearing cute dresses in beacontown and at first she thinks he's being creepy but then realizes that he's not being creepy and actually she knows exactly how he feels bc she also used to look at ppl wearing clothes super not suited for combat like that, like she wished she could wear them too, like if she just didnt have to keep up this image of the Warrior who is Not Soft Ever-

n ok. listen. these worlds have been specifically engineered to be better and kinder than the one the admins came from, and when people mess up- even REALLY mess up- people are generally not only willing to forgive you but support you as you try and get better. it’s instinctual for communities to respond to misdeeds with rehabilitation and reconciliation, rather than retaliation and renunciation (tho its not an overnight thing and it generally takes 1-3 people to spearhead the process, esp if the actions have affected a large group of people). like. ivor created something that almost destroyed the entire world, not just beacontown, yet by the end of season one he’s grown to be a part of the team- n its not just jesse & co being forgiving here, bc when ivor made his s1 build with 3 lava source blocks people objected to it, but by s2 he not only has lava in his build but a giant lake of it. (im assuming the fences around said lake are coming eventually, bc safety is still important, but the implications im choosing to take from this are a) despite almost ending the world people let him into their lives anyway and b) the community not only grew to accept but encourage his self-expression.)

BUT ANYWAY before i go off on that even more one day petra and romeo basically put on an impromptu fashion show in jesse’s house (bc their house is huge and, kind of perfect for a fashion show, and also right next to the order hall’s armory whence they stole a bunch of fancy swords to match the outfits) n theyre having a blast until the hero in residence , returns to their residence (and with COMPANY) n romeo is absolutely Mortified- caught red-handed showing feelings of an almost human nature, oh my god, this will NOT do- n this whole grand soliluquy of shame and excuses and apologies grabs the steering wheel of his tongue but he cant even spit a single syllable out bc jesse and lukas almost immediately dip leaving romeo panicking for a second before they come back with their inventories FULL of cute outfits, including a billion skirts and dresses, some of them are even enchanted so theyre like. super shiny or constantly flowing or things like that.

this actually ends up spiralling into a town-wide... not quite fashion show bc there's no runway or anything, everyone just shows up in their cutest/coolest outfits .. fashion convention?? Anyway several people come up to him and compliment him on his outfit casually before continuing along, not recognizing him not only bc of how hes done his hair and makeup n what hes wearing but he just seems... so happy (he might be wearing something on his head? like a headpiece or hat or something? but also maybe not hmm)- whoever this is, he's not hunched over like he's got several centuries' worth of sins crawling on his back he’s not trying to shrink and make small a human-shaped apology for the simple fact of his existence not dragging his feet like hes ready for, dreading, a hundred mile trek through the desert repenting hes just. hes literally just Vibing

anyway he's mostly been silent or just providing very quiet "thank you"s but when it turns out that some people showed up ready to play music and there's a song that he knows he literally cant help but start jamming out its the GOod Stim everyones a-dancing and a-jiving and some people start to sing and so of course he does too (the healing power of dancing and singing in cute outfits.... unfathomable) but. ppl recognize his voice

and after a few seconds he notices how quiet it's gotten all of a sudden n everyones looking at him like "oh shit thats the admin" and honestly his heart breaks. visibly

but

then someone starts singing, so quiet it takes a moment for him to hear over the sound of an encroaching panic attack (oh god he has airpods in), but when he looks over theyre smiling - theyre smiling at hiM???? AND IT DOESNT EVEN LOOK MEAN??- and doing this very simple step, that he catches onto just as easily as he matches their singing (its a fairly common little tune n dance)

theyre like standing like a good few meters away but as they take turns with lines in the song they slowly inch closer

and he thinks hes starting to recognize the dance that the steps theyre doing is from but at the part in the song thats coming up ur supposed to allemande left and even tho theyre like, less than a meter away now literally no one has really wanted to get close to him, let alone actually touch him, so hes totally expecting them to be like 'psych' and humiliate him in front of the entire crowd-

BUT THEN THEY ACTUALLY GO FOR IT???

he completes the step without even thinking about it n continues onto the next in this state of dull bewilderment where there is but one braincell active in his head and it is just going, in a very tiny voice, "danser?"

- when they linked arms the person briefly seemed surprised that he didn't like, chew their arm off or anything (he had. kind of snapped at people a few times during the past few weeks), but then their shock turned into a wide smile and they sort of- nodded? at someone over his shoulder like 'come and join us, it doesn't look like he's going to kill me after all you guys can put the eulogy writing on hold'

what rly makes his heart do the confused and hopeful conga is that this isnt even anyone romeo knows, its a total stranger. or- like- he saw them while he was pretending to be jesse he just didnt care to get to know them beyond ‘name and gimmick’- its not even someone who has any reason to think he'd be cool to befriend its literally jsut someone taking a chance on him (tkae a chance take a chance take a chance take a cha)

afterwards hes like "i should thank jesse for putting you up to that, it was fun" and theyre like "what? jesse didn't "put me up to" anything, dude, you just looked super choked. * something something surfer lingo who would i be if i just left someone to feel bad when they could be having fun dancing you know?*"

he H

[ask-secretagentsquad]

Apache Failure

It had calmed down a lot in the Vault. Jesse was sitting with Lukas, leaning against him and half asleep. Lukas was running his fingers through Jesse’s hair and keeping it out of his face, helping his always exhausted husband fall asleep. Olivia was still at the monitors, watching the radar and the cameras for anything. Radar was beside her, doing the same and double checking everything. Romeo had shown Gil and Axel to the gym, where they’ve spent the last hour together challenging each other to different competitions and seeing who could do the most heavy lifting. Yellow and Riot hadn’t been seen for a while now, as they’d been outside wandering and exploring the island forests together without a care in the world. They remained with each other and wanted to stay in this newfound bliss for as long as they could. Ivor was with Petra, stuck in a friendly argument per usual over their own beliefs.

Romeo was on his own, back off in the hangar and letting everyone tend to their own business. He was working on the chopper again, his prized piece. He’d fixed a few of the rotors, piecing together all of the wires and shutting up the panels. He’d set them aside, starting to work on the chopper itself now.

Half of the chopper was propped up, tilting it slightly diagonal. It didn’t have any landing gear on one side, and was being propped up so Romeo could crawl underneath and work on one of the fuel lines.

He worked for around another hour just under the chopper, blocking sparks from the wires every so often. He'd occasionally let out low mumbles to himself as he wiped at the grease smeared all over his face. He enjoyed working on the chopper, he was just so easily annoyed by light inconveniences. As he rubbed at his face, he smeared grease up and across his eyes. It didn’t register as quickly as he would’ve hoped, and soon enough he’d been lightly blinded by the sudden blurriness and burning.

Of course, he tried to blink it off, ignoring the stinging and continuing to work. It was only a matter of time before he slipped up. As he trusted his instinct, he didn’t register that that probably wouldn’t work. He twisted the wrong two wires together, receiving a strong shock and a puff of smoke from the inside of the heli. It coughed and shuddered before suddenly, the engine coughed to life. The rotors started to spin for a moment, rocking the tilted heli, and giving Romeo a heart attack. He tried to get out from under the chopper before it rocked again, but only kicked out the prop holding it up from falling. It dropped, its rotors chopping into the ground and snapping.

Romeo ducked and covered from the rotors, blocking his eyes and face from debris, only for the rest of the chopper to collapse down onto his lower half. A rotor had impaled itself through the metal ground right in front of his head, and the crushing pain from the choppers weight was such a sudden surprise that Romeo didn’t even register it at first. When he did, however, the cry to come from him echoed down the halls and caught the attention of everyone nearby.

Even Jesse, who was mostly asleep against Lukas, in bliss, noticed and jumped to his feet immediately. He startled Lukas, who nearly fell from the seat. Jesse said nothing before running off down the hallway, leaving everyone else in confusion before Lukas stumbled to his feet and ran after.

Romeo didn’t expect anyone to come, and if it was anyone it would be a Collosus. He tried to fight past the pain and crawl out, but he’d been caught by the open panels, and he only made it worse. He’d gotten dizzy, he’d gone numb, he was left under there for around ten minutes and he thought no one had heard him. However, soon enough, the crushing weight was lifted from his legs.

Romeo expected to see a Collosus, but instead to his surprise, it was the concerned face of Jesse that he saw. It was Jesse that held up the chopper and pulled Romeo out. Out of all of the agents, Romeo least expected Jesse to help him. It was Jesse’s voice he heard first besides his own.

“Romeo! Romeo can you hear me?” Jesse tapped at Romeo’s face to try and wake him up a bit, and Romeo groaned in response.

“I can I can... Don’t worry,” he replied with only a light shudder in his voice. His vision began to focus again, and he caught an orange glow coming from the chopper. He didn’t even wait for a logical answer: He already knew. Before Jesse could say anything else, he grabbed him by the arms and forced himself to his feet, trying to ignore the immense pain in his entire lower half.

“Fire, Jesse! Fire! Move!!”

Jesse didn’t even turn to look back. He didn't need to. He grabbed onto Romeo the same way, and they both ran off to cover, Romeo dropping to the ground nearly the second they reached a light barrier. Lukas came into the room at the wrong time, and Jesse waved his arms to get his attention. Lukas didn’t understand, until the chopper let out a terrible snapping sound, seeming to combust, and exploded into an inferno of fire and smoke. The shockwave blasted all three of them back, Jesse landing on top of Romeo and Lukas smacking into the wall behind him and falling to the floor. Bits and pieces of shrapnel from the obliterated chopper landed all around them, and Jesse had to drag Romeo out of the way of falling debris. Eventually they were safe enough away, and Jesse started looking over Romeo again, checking for any more damage. There wasn't any, he seemed alright, to Jesse's relief.

They couldn’t hear anything from the explosion, however Jesse was recovering much faster. And above it all, muffled but surely, he could point out Lukas, his nearby coughing and what sounded like strangled hacking. Jesse leaned Romeo up against a nearby wall and ran to search for him, stepping through debris thrown about and looking through the smoke in the room for his husband. Eventually, Jesse found him. He was slouched over the ground and looked to be convulsing, struggling to even stay on his hands and knees. Jesse slid beside him and immediately took him up in his arms. He didn't look physically hurt, and Jesse knew he was only having another attack. However, this one felt worse than the others.

Lukas couldn't seem to function. He stayed gasping and choking, curled in on himself as he instinctively gripped onto any part of Jesse he could. He went from grasping Jesse's shirt and sleeves to clutching his own chest, no sound coming out of him as he trembled and continuously convulsed. Jesse held him tightly, knowing he could do nothing besides try to help him calm down. He ran his fingers through Lukas's hair, combing over his head in the gentlest way he could. He held him tight, close, but gently, in a soft hug. He whispered reassuringly, telling him it would be okay, that he was safe. For a while, it didn't seem to work, and it grew more difficult for Jesse to hide his worry.

Eventually, however, the attack did subside. Lukas slowly but surely began to relax, still shaking quite violently but able to get in a few desperate gasps. His hands fell from his chest as he went limp in Jesse's arms, shuddering and twitching every few seconds. Jesse still held him close, he didn't let him go. He ran his thumb over Lukas's cheek, still whispering light assurances as he set his forehead against his husband's. Soon enough, Lukas regained full control and his gasps turned to sighs, relieved sighs as he was able to take full breaths again.

The attack went on for about 7 minutes, and Romeo had gotten up in that time, finding that surprisingly, he could still walk. Nothing was broken. Tremendously sore, no question, but not broken to his relief. He waved away smoke from his face and looked over to where Jesse was still cradling Lukas. The smoke was beginning to fill most of the room, but luckily the fire couldn't spread across the metal floors. Romeo went to every wire connected or nearby and put them all out. Every fuel pipe close was shut down and drained at the first detection of smoke. All he needed to do was seal off the room and get himself and the agents out of there.

He moved himself over to them, putting a hand on Jesse's shoulder to get his attention. Jesse almost looked surprised to see Romeo standing on his own.

"We need to go-- The room will be closed off and taken care of- but we don't want to get locked in here as it drains itself of all oxygen, do we?"

Jesse nodded and stood, Lukas still in his arms. Romeo led him out of the room and slammed his hand over the large red button just outside the door. The door slid shut with a snap and the entire hangar was filled with a chorus of locks and shutters clanging shut. Then the hangar went dark, besides the orange glow of the fire, and a light hissing came from inside.

Romeo left the hangar alone, and Jesse took him and Lukas back to the main central control. Lukas was once again tired out from the attack, and had fallen asleep against Jesse's chest. Nobody said anything during the walk. Romeo didn't mention it, but Jesse could tell he was stuck in his own bit of mourning. That helicopter meant a lot to him, even if it was stolen and he'd only had it for about a week.

Once Jesse had laid Lukas down to rest for a while in control, he stepped aside to talk with Romeo alone. He didn't answer any questions asked from the other agents before speaking with Romeo alone first. He found him sitting by the hangar door, the room inside still dark, but the fire gone. Jesse sat beside him.

There was an awkward silence between the two before either decided to speak. Jesse spoke up first.

"So... Are you alright?"

"Yes... No severe injuries, and-"

"I meant, emotionally, are you alright?" Jesse interrupted him.

Romeo went quiet for a moment before responding.

"I know it seems odd but-- not necessarily. It may seem a bit weird to mourn over a machine, a vehicle, but..."

"No, don't worry, you're allowed.."

"Hm. Doesn't seem as dire as-- well- the danger both you and Lukas were put in. It feels dumb to feel upset over something... Replaceable. Human lives are not replaceable..."

Jesse was caught off guard for a moment. He wasn't expecting Romeo to worry this much.

"No man--" he tried to play it off, "You're entirely allowed, it's fine.. We came to your rescue, it wasn't your fault--"

"No no, I was being a fool. I sparked the wrong wires- I kicked out the prop.. I got myself into that situation."

"Romeo, stop it. It was an accident. Accidents happen. I'm just glad you're alright, man. Lukas is just fine, too. We all got out alright, and the chopper-?..." Jesse hesitated before cracking a lighthearted grin, "Well, I'm sure we can get you another sometime."

Just then, an echo of a new voice cut through the halls. Olivia, calling for Jesse, clearly distressed. Jesse got to his feet quickly.

"That sounds important, Romeo--"

Romeo was already getting up before Jesse had spoken. He started dashing down the hall, a light limp in his step Jesse noticed, and called back to him.

"Hurry then! The Witherstorm may have just been found!"

Jesse chased after him, no questions asked. Only excitement in his step and a smile on his face that probably shouldn't have been there.

"We've got our chance!"

[camkablam]

Day One - Modern AU

So I’m arriving, like, nine days late? Hadn’t really planned on doing this because I doubt I’ll actually be able to stick to it, so... guess I’m doing it at my own pace? Eh, ah well. Would really like to stretch my writing muscles, I guess. Enjoy.

Hiding a pig in a foster home, as Jesse was rather quick to find out, was really, really hard.

Of course, this didn’t stop them. Reuben had been with them since before the accident, and they were damn well going to keep it that way afterwards. Even if they had to stuff him into a backpack and sneak him carrots to keep him quiet from where they were seated in the back of a particularly chatty social workers’ car.

“Oh, you’ll be very happy in this home, Jesse,” they’d assured them for the fourth time, “You’ll be going to a nice school in a wonderful neighbourhood. Your new foster mother is very excited to meet you.”

She hadn’t been excited, exactly; not that Jesse could really blame her. When the social worker had led them inside (and he’d hastily covered Reuben’s snuffling with a cough), she’d had her arms full with young children. She’d only had enough time to greet him with a smile and direct him to his room upstairs before she was pulled away to deal with a screaming toddler.

The social worker didn’t leave until they’d found their room. They wished them good luck, and then Jesse was left sitting alone on their new bed, at a complete loss as to what to do with themselves. There was a second bed across from them, the blankets rumpled and unkempt; obviously slept in. That meant they had a roommate.

Jesse seriously hoped they liked pigs. And could keep a secret. And weren’t a jerk.

They really hoped they weren’t a jerk.

Their backpack jerked, falling over next to them. Reuben tumbled out in a heap of pink, nose twitching as he took in his new surroundings. Jesse smiled at him, but it came off weak; they weren’t sure if they could hide him. It all depended on their roommate, when it came down to it (immediately, at least), and that terrified them a lot more than they’d like to admit.

This all terrified them.

The door opened. Jesse leapt to their feet, heart lodging itself into their throat, blocking Reuben from sight. The girl’s eyes were glued to her phone- she seemed to be in the middle of a game- but paused in the doorway when she realised the room wasn’t empty.

Her phone sang a remorseful tune, signifying her digital death. Jesse stared, shocked. Because they knew this girl. Because this was the girl who was constantly challenging them to a race. Because this was the girl who hung out with them even though they were sure she could find someone better.

In their new foster home. In their new bedroom.

Most probably their new roommate.

“Petra?” Jesse said, finally. Petra blinked at them slowly, game completely forgotten.

“Jesse?” she frowned, “What are you doing here?”

They opened their mouth, but an answer didn’t come. Thankfully, Petra seemed to realise that the question wasn’t a particularly smart one, for she winced and slipped her phone into her one of the pockets stitched into her shorts.

“Sorry. Dumb questions.”

“It’s fine,” Jesse murmured automatically. This was Petra, after all. Simply talking to losers like them and their friends was an amazement that still had them gaping at her.

Reuben sneezed. Loudly.

The two not-quite-friends stared at each other. Petra raised an eyebrow. Jesse’s cheeks dusted pink. Hesitantly (because maybe Petra was fine with them having a pig, but if this was her room than there was a likely chance she wouldn’t be all that happy about it, and dammit Jesse had no idea where they were meant to keep him if not here), Jesse stepped aside, their little pig cocking his head as he finally registered Petra’s presence.

The redhead stared a moment longer. She glanced over her shoulder, out into the hall, as though to make sure no one was there. Then she slid further into the room and quietly closed the door behind her.

“Jenny doesn’t like pets,” she informed them, as though they weren’t already aware of this, “Hope you can keep him quiet.”

“He’ll be quiet,” Jesse hastily assured, slumping in relief when she didn’t go running to their foster mother (their as in both of their foster mother; that was a strange thought).

An awkward silence came upon them. Petra frowned at the far wall, as though there was something particularly worrying about it. Jesse nervously shuffled their feet, before deciding sitting back down on the bed was the best idea. Reuben was in the current process of inspecting their pillow.

Finally, Petra seemed to snap out of whatever state she’d fallen into, tearing her eyes from the wall. She glanced at them, before making her way over to her own bed, shoving the sheets aside to collapse on top of it. She glanced at Jesse again.

“So,” she said, slowly, “Guess we’re roommates.”

Jesse shrugged, attempting to appear nonchalant; it came off as nervous and awkward instead, “Looks like it. Does… Does that… bother you?”

Petra snorted, lips twitching, “Of course it doesn’t, Jesse. I’d rather have you than some stranger, anyway,” her eyes darted over to Reuben; he’d decided the pillow was now his and had curled up on top of it, “Besides, he’s bound to make things a bit more interesting around here.”

They shot her a smile; the first honestly genuine one they’d been able to muster in a long time, “Thanks, Petra.”

“Anytime, Jesse.”

They glanced away, fiddling nervously with their sleeve. The terror that had come with them smuggling in Reuben had been stifled, at least; having Petra as a roommate had not been something they’d been expecting, but it was most certainly welcome. A familiar face in a strange place and all that. Someone they could rely on. It was comforting.

“Does… this mean I’ll still be going to school with Axel and Olivia?”

Petra paused. She raised her eyebrows. “They tell you otherwise?”

“Social worker mentioned a nice school.”

“Huh,” she seemed to think for a moment; shrugged, “Well, I go there, so I don’t really see any reason as to why you wouldn’t, especially if you’re already enrolled,” her face softened, “We’ve been worried about you. Haven’t heard from you all weekend.”

Jesse winced, “Oh. Uh… my- my phone was broken.”

“Ah,” a brief silence. As though she were debating whether or not she should ask. “How’d it break?”

Screaming, screaming, glass shattering, the device flying from his hand and disappearing in the chaos, his whole word tumbling and tumbling and tumbling-

“Accident.”

“Oh.”

The awkward silence returned with a vengeance. Jesse shifted on the bed, then swallowed, taking a few moments to work up the courage to break it.

“You… You won’t tell anyone about Reuben, will you?”

Petra turned to look at them again; shot them a reassuring smile that didn’t reach her eyes, “Of course not. It’s Reuben.”

Jesse’s cheeks flushed slightly, a guilty pang hitting their chest for doubting her. This was Petra, dammit. They could trust Petra.

Suddenly, the girl snorted.

“To be honest,” she said, “If you are, for some reason, going to a different school, I think we’d all drag you back to our one. I mean, do you realise how lost Radar would be? He’d have no one to follow around like a love-struck puppy.”

Jesse snorted as well, “Yeah, he’s… eccentric.”

“In a good way.”

Jesse’s lips twitched upwards, “In a good way.”

“Then there’s Romeo,” Petra continued, ignoring their wince at the mention of him, “Guy gives me the creeps, but he wouldn’t let you go to a different school than him, that’s for sure. He’s hellbent on either being your bestie or your mortal enemy.”

“So, what do you think he’d do?” Jesse asked, a tad hesitantly (a part of him didn’t really want to know), “Drag me back to the old one or force himself into the student body of the new one?”

Petra chuckled, “Both are equally terrifying.”

“I’ll say.”

“And I don’t think Cassie would be able to go a day without glaring at you from across the room,” the redhead declared, “She’s planning your murder, I swear.”

“Can we please not talk about Cassie?”

Petra’s grin widened, “Why? She scare you?”

“Incredibly.”

The redhead laughed; Jesse wasn’t sure whether or not they should be insulted, “Okay, fair enough. She is pretty creepy. What about Lukas, Axel and Olivia?”

Jesse hummed, “They’d still visit me outside of school. Or kidnap me. Whichever comes first. Lukas would protest, but he’d go through with it anyway.”

Petra chuckled, “Think Jack and Nurm would help?”

“Maybe?”

“Oh, please. Pretty sure Jack’s proclaimed himself as your big brother.”

Jesse blinked, cheeks colouring, “I don’t- He wouldn’t-”

“Yeah,” Petra chuckled, obviously taking pleasure in their embarrassment (curse her), “He’d probably be the one to suggest kidnapping. Hey, do you think Ivor’s gonna adopt you?”

Jesse gaped, brain spinning at the sudden change of topic. Their cheeks reddened further. “Why- I- I don’t think he’d-”

“Probably only a matter of time,” Petra shrugged, tucking her arms behind her head as a makeshift pillow; her real one was somewhere in the tangle of blankets, somehow, “We should all just buy a big house and live there together.”

She sounded almost… wistful. Her smile slipped from amused to something a bit more heart-tugging. As though the lot of them just piling together into a big house was something she wished would actually happen. With Ivor and, heck, the rest of the teachers (who were always there, who they’d playfully dubbed the Order of the Stone, who’d declared them the next generation of it) acting as parents, with Axel and Olivia and Lukas and Petra as their siblings, and Jack and Nurm as their big brothers and Radar, running around with that beaming smile and his notebook, their little brother. And maybe Stella would be there, a cousin they didn’t like until they looked just a little deeper, and Cassie would probably be dragged in by Soren because he’d claimed both her and Lukas, and Harper would be there too, wearing that little smile she always wore whenever Ivor was spluttering and stumbling over his words simply due to her presence. And there’d be smiles and laughter and stupid fights they’d forget about the next day and silly problems that would always end alright because, in the end, they would have each other.

Like one big, mismatched family.

Jesse’s chest hurt. They looked away, blinking away the tears that had sprung to their eyes. Petra didn’t seem to notice; she was still lost in that wistful little fantasy.

But that was all it was. A fantasy. A stupid little fantasy that would never come true.

Because nothing ever really went right when it came to Jesse.

They had the accident to prove it.

[mcsmxreadercollection]

For the Dialogue prompt: 6 with Petra and Werewolf Reader? Reader has enough control to not hurt anyone accidentally but kept it a secret due to not being sure how Petra will react to knowing about their curse.

Petra X Werewolf!Reader: Protect

Prompt 6:“You say hulking monstrosity I say large bear-dog with questionable morals”

—————–

No, this couldn’t be happening.

You had always prided yourself on your control over youraccursed ‘gift’, shielding it from the world around you content with theknowledge that so long they didn’t know it would be fine, for both those inyour life and yourself.  And yet withthis perpetual secret came the fear of being found out; it was painful to keepit a secret from everyone you cared about, much less for the very person youloved the most but it was a precaution you had to take – you weren’t preparedto see anyone hurt at your hands simply for letting your secret slip and as faras you were concerned your control was enough to keep it at bay, to ensure thateveryone was safe and ever oblivious to the curse which plagued you.

With the Admin’s sudden meddling however, it seemed as thatcontrol was no longer enough to last as you unfortunately came to find out.

You knew that clock of his was going to cause trouble themoment it switched the world around you from day to night, basking everythingaround you in a darkness only the moon was able to permeate, however it wasn’tuntil a wave of mobs made their appearances known that the seriousness of thesituation truly sunk in.

Beacontown residents zipped past you in panic as mobs tookadvantage of the towns now non-existent security, flooding past the damagedexterior and lumbering after the terrified people; you cursed yourself for nothaving your sword with you as you attempted to direct everyone to safety, gazescanning past each building in the hopes that you’d be able to spot yourfriends to make sure that everyone was okay as you tried to keep a fairdistance away from the growing number of hostile enemies. You could make outJesse clambering through the fray of zombies, sword making quick work ofeliminating each wave that pushed forward, and not too far from him you couldspot the older Jesse twin, working in tandem with Lukas to take down thestraying mobs with bows and arrows attempting to stop as many from getting inas they were able to.

You breathed a relieved sigh at the sight of the trio andcalled out to them, watching them spin to face you in the midst of fighting. “(Y/N)!You’re okay!” Jess cried, drawing out another arrow to take down the zombiegetting too close for comfort as you yelled back to them.

“Yeah, I’m fine! But where are the others?!”  it was hard to make them out over the roar ofthe mobs but you were fortunately able to hear Jesse as he responded, soundingutterly breathless from the exertion.

“They’re okay! Radar, Jack and the others are guidingeveryone back to safety!” whilst you were relieved to hear that the rest ofthem were okay you felt unease well up in you as you looked around, becomingincreasingly aware of one particular person missing from the fight as youcalled out again.

“What about Petra?” Jesse opened his mouth to yell back to you, sword braced to push backanother zombie and yet before the words could even escape him a familiar cry ofalarm pierced the air, sounding off from your left as your heart dropped. Yourfriends seemed equally distraught at the noise as your head snapped in thedirection of the voice

Before you knew it your legs were moving of their ownaccord, desperately seeking purchase in the ground beneath you as you scrambledtowards the source of the noise, brain flooding with all kinds of unpleasantthoughts about the sight you might be walking in on. Fortunately it didn’t takeyou long to find who you were looking for and you all but yelled as you roundeda corner. Petra had been cornered off by mobs, three skeletons and a spider allbut closing in on her as she stumbled back attempting to put distance betweenher and the creatures; she was never one to back down from a fight so seeingher appearing so panicked alarmed you, and with her sword nowhere to be seenyou knew she was defenceless.

“Petra!”

Her eyes flickered over to meet with your own, alarm rife onher features although she seemed relieved to finally catch sight of you, youcould almost say the same if you weren’t on alert about the monsters separatingthe two of you. She was worried, you couldn’t blame her, and you called out toher again. “Don’t worry Petra I’m here!” you flashed her a reassuring smile andturned your attention to looking around for a weapon of some kind, cursingyourself when your search came up empty; however the weapon search was all butforgotten as you turned back from Petra at the sound of her voice.

“(Y/N)-!” She didn’t even have the chance to finish hersentence until a harsh shove sent her toppling backwards off of her feet andyou gasped as she disappeared out of your sight, no longer visible beyond themobs.

The moment she disappeared out of view, panic was settingin, mind running rife with what could be happening to your partner as they beganclosing in; this was too much, if you weren’t careful your emotions were goingto get the better of you and there was no telling what you would do, but as themoments passed and Petra still hadn’t gotten back on her feet you just knewthere wasn’t another option.

Your nerves were on fire with a feeling all too familiar asyou began to change, coursing through you as your body shifted and altered tomatch your new form; hair, claws and teeth made themselves known and youwhimpered at the suddenness of it all, knowing there was little point in fightingthe calling of your curse, and knowing this you finally gave up your resistance.

The transformation was never aneasy process, with energy rippling through your muscles and pain coursingthrough your veins, and yet all you could think about was Petra as your sightlocked onto that accursed scene; her voice calling your name was all that youneeded to here before you were throwing yourself into the fray, breakingthrough the wall of creatures tearing them to pieces within moments. You madequick work of the skeletons, throwing them aside as you ploughed your body intothem in a way that sent them all ricocheting against the nearby wall and yougrowled at the chorus of cracks you heard them make upon impact. It was safe tosay they wouldn’t be getting up as you slowly rounded back towards the spider,claws grating against the ground beneath you and teeth bared in a threateningsnarl as you watched the mob scramble in an attempt to get away. It didn’t evenget far from its spot before you were on it, making quick work of the littlecreature with a triumphant titter, pleased to finally be rid of it as youfinally relented.

You stepped back, slinking awayfrom the fallen mobs as you reared back into a more relaxed pose, shouldersslumping with relief; with the threat now gone the haze clouding you seemed todisperse and your chest heaved as you released a shuddering huff, your new formstill running on the adrenaline of the fight; and yet with your now clear headbeing the voice of reason you remembered the very person you were trying toprotect and your gaze trailed back to where Petra had once been.

During the scuffle she’d managedto get back onto her feet, and whilst you were relieved that she wasn’t harmedlike you had thought you could feel her eyes burning into you, wide and at aloss for words at the situation. “(Y/N)?” her voice was calm yet brimmed withconfliction and you tensed seeing the apprehension in her posture, backtracking in an attempt to make distance between the two of you.

For a moment you consideredbolting – you couldn’t be sure how much she saw so perhaps you could feignignorance and have pretended to have gone for help and somehow convince herthat the werewolf stood before her wasn’t her partner; the thought was ridiculousin itself, but you almost wanted to believe that you could keep the secret justa little longer to keep everyone safe from knowing. Clearly it wasn’t going tohappen and you watched with cautious eyes as Petra began to approach you,eyeing you up in confusion and…awe?

By this point she was rightbefore you and you made no attempts to move, waiting patiently as her hand roseup and reached out to you, now assured that you weren’t going to bolt themoment she touched you, but she paused. Petra was understandably hesitant atfirst, hand just barely ghosting over your head silently asking for permissionand with some effort you eventually closed the remaining distance, eyesfluttering to a close with a content grumble as her hand ran through your fur;her other hand soon followed suit, softly petting the side of your head. By thetime she pulled away you could see the disbelief in her eyes, but no fear – shewasn’t scared of you in the slightest, and the knowledge made you snort insurprise as she flashed you a baffled but somewhat reassuring grin. “(Y/N) thisis…whoa” you would have teased her for her reaction if you could but remainedsilent as she gave you a once over, taking in your form before speaking again.

“This is huge – why didn’t youtell me you could do all of this?” the question wasn’t scolding in any way,holding more curiosity than anything else but the question made you whimper solemnlyunable to explain yourself.

You’d always been scared aboutwhat would happen if you’d ever breathed a word of your curse to anyone else,knowing full well what people could be capable of when they were in fear andsure that if they saw what you could become it would never end well for anyoneinvolved. Bowing your head you keened, the solemnness in your voice apparentlyconveying all you wanted to say as she spoke for you.

“You were…worried?”

You didn’t need to speak toconfirm her suspicions and she sighed. “(Y/N) you…I can get why you didn’t tellus, tell me, but I don’t want you tofeel like you have to keep things like this a secret – you just saved me backthere when you could have done nothing; I’m sure that deserves some credit” aftera few moments of pause she once again brought a hand to rest against the sideof your head, thumb brushing along the outline of your ears. “It’s okay” younever coined Petra as the soothing type, but the slow brush of her fingersrelaxed you, and although it took some getting used to the touch in such anunfamiliar form you gradually leaned more ardently into her hand, ears droopingback and tail idly strumming behind you with a somewhat pleased and contentrumble.

For a few moments you stayedlike that, comforted by her reassurance but eventually you knew you had tomove, so with a gently nudge of your head she let her hands slip away, andwhilst you already missed the comfort of her touch you took a step back and preparedyourself for the change back.

The shift back was significantlyeasier, far less painful compared to the initial transformation as you feltyourself grow small, growing back into your original body and you stretchedyour aching joints with a whine; your clothes were frayed and now hung loosefrom being stretched and you were sure that they wouldn’t be worn any time inthe future however you paid no mind to it in favour of finally being able toreply. “So…you’re not scared that I can turn into some hulking monstrosity?”

“You say hulking monstrosity Isay large bear-dog with questionable morals” you barked out a laugh at that,muffling it with one hand at the phrasing.

“That, uh, that’s a new one; butstill, I’m glad” you chuckled, relief flooding through you as she clapped ahand onto your back, pulling you against her side.

“Well I’m glad that you’re glad –you don’t need to be afraid to tell me anything from now on, okay? I’ve gotyour back” your cheeks burned but you smiled nonetheless, a gesture which she returnedwith a charming smile of her own as you leaned into her touch.

The peace didn’t last for longbefore a chorus of voices broke you out of the moment and you both turned intothe direction of the noise, clearly making out the sound of your names beingcalled by Jesse and the rest of your friends and you tensed remembering thesituation everyone was wrapped up in. “Maybe we should get going; see if theyneed any more help” you muttered, reluctantly pulling away although you stillstuck close to her side as she sighed.

“Yeah we should” Petra pausedfor a moment before adding as an afterthought “But once this is all over I wantto know more – this is too cool not to have some questions”

You couldn’t blame her, had theroles been reversed you’re sure that you’d definitely have a few queries ofyour own. “That sounds like a deal” as you replied the pair of you turned backto the direction of the voices, catching sight of the Jesse twins as they cameinto view not too far from the direction you had come from, looking utterlyspent but relieved to spot you two as they eagerly waved you over.

With a deep breath it was yourturn to place a hand on Petra’s back, nodding assuredly up at her as you both movedto join the rest of the group, set to figure out where things were going to gofrom here.

[lunaraen]

"I took it seriously, because it meant something to you. It was important.” From either Maya or Gill to Aiden? If you don't want to, it's fine I should probably write myself

Maya’s tired.

She aches, inside and out, feelsstretched and pulled and twisted in every way imaginable.

She’s cold too, and she knowsfeeling like a block of ice would be better than the slow, seeping frostyfeeling that makes her insides feel colder than her toes. Anything would.

But things are looking up.

(It doesn’t feel real, but Mayaknows what she’s seen and what she’s heard.

Getting Milo and Isa to allowthem any leeway is incredible progress, but she couldn’t have ever imaginedgetting this far with it.

And she’s had enough ‘too good tobe true’ dreams to know this isn’t one of them. The stomach wrenching anxietynever goes on for this long in any of them, even the ones that turn intonightmares.)

It’s been getting harder to focuson much else beyond it and work, and while Maya’s come to appreciate a goodpause, awkward, anxiety ridden silences are not fun to sit through and theynever will be. Which means she has to remind Aiden that things actually arelooking up before he loses his mind and makes her lose hers.

For someone who’s got a lengthyhistory of thinking last and doing everything dangerous and reckless first,Aiden’s probably the most contemplative person Maya knows.

She can’t remember if it’s alwaysbeen that way, but it’s something she’s had plenty of time to take note ofwhile in Sky City’s world. And sure, they were all introspective during theirtime in prison, and they likely still are and a bit too much at times, butAiden’s always taken stuff to heart the fastest.

He might also get the grumpiestabout it, but that doesn’t change how much he lets this stuff eat at him.

It’s easy to see it’s what he’sdoing now, brow furrowed as he hunches over himself and keeps himself tucked toone corner of the couch, only now no longer biting his lip as he looks up ather, teeth lightly stained red and new beads of blood already welling up on hisabused lower lip.

Maya cuts off a sigh before itcan begin, giving a tired smile instead as she sits down next to him. Gill’s atthe market, meaning he’s getting the dinner they need but not here to deal withthe emotions, so she gets to try.

It’s a fair trade.

“Thinking about yourletter?”

“Yeah.” Aiden’s chuckleis short and awkward and above all weakas he brushes his hand through his hair, nearly dragging his fingers throughit. “I guess I… I don’t know. I can’t help but think about all the stuffI tried to do and nearly ended up doing. It was stupid and dumb and I almosthurt so many people.”

This isn’t a new realization.They’ve been dealing with this for years now, nearly a decade.

But the letter, as much as it’s agood sign of things to come just through them being able to send it, dragseverything right back up, still fresh and sharp and stinging.

It’s a letter to Jesse, so herreaction and her opinion matters as much as anything else, especially becausethey tried to kill her too after years of on and off torment, but even if it somehowgets through her without any issues and with her full support…

Lukas is going to have a say.

(Lukas, their best friend beforethey threw everything away and tried to killhim.

Also the guy who wanted them toburn slowly in lava.

Notch, if that still doesn’t feellike he yanked each of their hearts out all at once and ground them into dustlike nothing with the heel of his boot and less of a ‘how do you do’ and moreof a ‘go fuck yourself’.

Maya is willing to admit she mayresent it even more than Aiden does.)

She lets her smile soften as sheputs a hand on his shoulder, gently squeezing it.

“You were hurt. And itsounded like you believed in what you were doing.” Is it an excuse? No.But Aiden’s been beating himself up about this for nearly ten years and they’vepaid their due. They’ve done their time, they still get the looks, even ifthings are softening.

The limited meals and grueling daysof work even when they’re ‘free’ are worth it, aren’t they, if they managed tonet them enough pity for Reginald to actually work with them and help Aidenplead his case?

It may not even amount toanything on Jesse’s part.

They might never get a response.

It wouldn’t surprise Maya ifJesse wanted to talk to the others about it too, even if by some miracle sheand Lukas are cool with hearing them out about reforming, after everything theydid to Jesse’s best friends even when they were just the Ocelots.

They hadn’t exactly last seenPetra on the best terms either, or even Ivor.

(But if Jesse could forgive theguy who made the Witherstorm, who tore their world into so many broken pieces,who created an abomination that destroyed everything they knew and tried, andnearly managed, to suck the life out of everyone it touched, including some ofJesse’s close friends while giving them all nightmares and horrifying memories…

How much prison time did Ivor do?Maya doubts he was suddenly incarcerated after the Sky City mess, after helpingJesse even more, but she knows his punishment was helping rebuild and thenliving a happy life.

Oh, Maya is so bitter about somuch.

She does it well, clings to every detail she can and rips them to shreds, has ever since she started picking up on weaknesses and little things to tease people and chase them away. 

It’s so easy to be bitter, so easy to tear into the bigger things and hang onto them.)

They all know it.

“You mean I sounded like alunatic.” Aiden combs his hair back again, looking half ready to rip itout as one of his nails briefly snags on a newly tangled curl. “Why’d youguys ever follow me? I’m not blaming you; what happened was definitely myfault, but… why didn’t you just try to go with Lukas?”

It’s a conscious effort to not let her nails dig into Aiden’s shoulder, but he doesn’t deserve the anger.

“Lukas left all of us.” Sheresists the urge to pick at one of the loose fraying threads on the couch cushion.“Maybe we could’ve tried to go after him, maybe we should’ve, even if he wasn’treally with the Order at that point… but I took it seriously because it meantsomething to you. It was important.”

Hasn’t it always been that way?

It’s easy to have Aiden as aleader, to let him take that role and follow, not because she’s simple mindedor too dumb to think on her own.

(Maya has plenty of her ownthoughts, including an impossibly large number about throttling every singleperson who’s convinced she and Gill are mindless sheep. It’s far too manypeople, and she might as well try going against all the people angry at them,or everybody who happens to live in this world. It’s a waste of time.)

She cares about him, though.

He’s one of her best friends andhe always has been, just like he’s always been the one with the spark and passion.

Aiden doesn’t seem to have muchof a response or even a reaction to her answer, slumping into her as he letshis shoulders relax slightly. It’s not until she ruffles his hair that hesmiles, trying to duck his head enough to get it away from her hand.

“…thanks, Maya.” He’s stillleaning into her, so it’s not like she couldn’t just keep messing with his hair, but the way he’s brushing it back and straightening itout is probably the gentlest he has all day.

It’s not as if life is awful, butshe really hopes this works out for all of them.