#the week before last my mom and i decided to spend more time in nature since we've been cooped up inside since like 2020

[sherlock-is-ace]

.

[collecting-stories]

Strawberry Gazpacho - Carmen Berzatto

A/N: Some people asked for a part 2 of Blueberry BBQ, so I decided to stay on the fruit trend!

Summary: Reader and Carmy continue to bond over food.

The Bear Masterlist

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

"What is this?" You asked, staring down at the bowl Carmy had placed on top of your papers. You were in the back office, trying to work on the week's payroll when he'd come in, told you that you needed a lunch break, and placed a plate down in front of you. 

"Try it," he urged, wringing his hands in his apron and looking like an eager little kid. 

"Carm-"

"Try it," he repeated and you obliged. Regardless of what it was you knew you would like it. Carmy made it, which immediately meant it couldn't be bad, but also, Carmy made it. For you, more specifically. You took the proffered spoon and dipped it into the bowl, surprised when you pressed it to your lips and found that it was, in fact, cold.

"Gazpacho?" You asked, after a second bite.

You had told him last night, while watching TV and letting him finish the tupperware of tofu feta that's you'd made the day before, that you hated gazpacho. You loved soup and tomato was your favorite; a nice, roasted red-pepper tomato, heavy on the garlic, that you'd perfected over the years. But no gazpacho. You couldn't get used to the fact that it was cold. 

"You like it?" He asked in a way that suggested he might genuinely be worried that you would tell him it was horrible.

"I mean, it's the best gazpacho I've ever had," you took another bite as proof, "it's spicy."

"But?"

You weren't sure if he was fishing for a compliment or trying to convert you onto a food you held in disdain but you assumed that if he wanted someone to tell him that he was a skilled chef he would've gone to Syd or Marcus with his cold soup.

"It's cold soup Carmy, I just can't fuck with cold soup." You replied, "it's good though."

He reached for the spoon in your hand and dipped it into the bowl, trying some of the gazpacho that he had made. He nodded his head, as if to confirm that it was good, as if he didn't already know it would be.

"Should I like, fall over at your feet and tell you that you've converted me to gazpacho and it's the only thing I'll ever order for the rest of my life?" You teased, leaning an elbow on the desk. It felt completely natural to be this relaxed with him and yet, just weeks earlier, you'd been fretting over the idea of having him come over for Sunday dinner. 

He handed the spoon back and you took another experimental taste.

"I mean, you're still eating it," he pointed out, grinning. 

In no world would Carmy say that he was 'good with people'. If he wasn't saying the wrong thing then he was saying nothing at all (and that was also wrong). He wanted to spend more time with you, the most time he could afford outside of The Beef but the only way he really knew how to spend time with anyone was cooking. So he kept cooking for you, things you liked, things you hated but liked when he made them. He kept trying to find the perfect thing to say and the perfect recipe to go along with it, as if that would remedy his inability to tell you that he wanted more from whatever this situation currently was. You weren't dating but he wanted to be dating but he wasn't exactly the dating type (as far as having an actual open schedule went). 

"Touche," you replied, taking another bite. "I can't decide if I'll regret telling you this or not but my mom has a recipe for strawberry gazpacho that apparently my grandma used to make every summer."

"Strawberry?"

"I can already see the gears turning in your head Carmy," you laughed. 

He looked down at you, piercing blue eyes taking your measure, "can you get me the recipe?"

"Are you gonna make me eat it?" You practically pouted. 

He nodded, "yes."

You groaned and leaned back in the office chair, "god, the things I do for you Carmy." You sighed. "I'll text my mom for the recipe...I can pick stuff up on my way home, if you want. Or if you're all gazpacho'ed out-"

"No, tonight works." He agreed.

Before you could say anything else Marcus was calling Carmy back to the kitchen. He wiped his hands on his apron once more and push himself off the desk. Before he could pick up the bowl you put your hand over his, "I might try another bite." 

There were other things that Carmy could probably be doing with his evening. Catching up on sleep, working on the recipes that he and Syd had been spitballing for the updated menu, mending whatever semblance of a relationship he still had with Sugar. Instead he was looking forward to going to your apartment (which was leagues nicer than his shitty place) and cooking. He'd lived so long on white bread and peanut butter and chips and soft drinks and anything quick that he'd forgotten what it was like to cook just because he enjoyed cooking. Hell, he'd forgotten that he enjoyed it. The only thing, lately, that really felt like it brought that enjoyment back was standing in your kitchen.

"Rigoletto has taken up residence on the island and he refuses to move so...we're down some counter space," you said as soon as you opened the door to Carmy, moving aside to let him into your apartment. 

He stopped at the island, leaning over to pet Rigoletto, who half-heartedly rolled onto his side to give Carmy better access to his stomach. "Hey chef," he teased. He turned to look at you, still stroking the cat as he did, "strawberry gazpacho?" 

"I would just like to disclaimer that I don't think strawberries are going to improve my deep-seated hatred of gazpacho but-"

"I mean, you did eat most of the one I made earlier," Carmy pointed out as your mouth fell open in surprise. 

"Angel! What a snitch!" You laughed, "I can't believe he told you."

"Hey, it's my kitchen, I've gotta know what's going on." He followed you around the other side of the island, grabbing the notebook you had sitting on the counter and scanning over the recipe. You'd called your mom on the way home and asked for a copy of the recipe, which she'd gladly texted ("does this have something to do with that cute chef where you work?"). You'd picked up whatever ingredients you didn't already have at your house and set everything out for Carmy before he'd even gotten there. You felt a little silly, being so excited just to have him come over and cook with you (for you) when there was no real definition to what your relationship was. 

"Did you cook growing up? Like with your mom and stuff?" You asked, stealing a strawberry out of the plastic container. 

"No," Carmy shook his head, then amended his answer, "not really. My ma always told us to help but if we did she yelled at us for doing something the wrong way...it was better to just stay outta her way when she was in the kitchen. You?"

"Oh yeah, my mom's not like...the best chef in the world or anything but she loved trying new stuff. Anything we wanted we could ask for and she'd try to make it. And then as we got older we would have like, nights where one of us got to cook." You replied, "I like it but...I don't think I'm good at it."

"You are...I mean....not like, you've got potential." Carmy explained, blue eyes glancing up to meet you across the island and you smiled. 

"Thank you chef."

You left Carmy to the strawberry gazpacho and the chicken he'd brought over to make some dish you'd never heard of before while you got Rigoletto's dinner out. The cat had finally moved off the island and you sprayed it down with cleaner to at least give yourself a better chance of not picking white cat hair off your dinner plate. 

Carmy fit right into your kitchen, probably the whole apartment for that matter. It was something both of you had thought, more than once, but neither of you said anything about. He felt like he was waiting for something bad to come from all the good you had been supplying in his life recently. Bad news always felt like it was lurking around the corner for him, especially these days, and he didn't want to put everything in one basket. But being in your kitchen, in your space, felt good. It felt like he was supposed to be there. 

"Did you know," you were saying as you came back into the kitchen, leaning near him to look at the chicken he was searing on the stovetop, "that I didn't know what mortadella was before I started working at the Beef?" 

Carmy turned his head to watch you fish a piece of garlic out of the skillet and eat it whole, "Did you just?"

"It was cooked."

"It was a whole clove of garlic."

"I love garlic," you shrugged, dropping the fork in the sink, "but seriously, I had to google it cause I didn't know what Richie was talking about when he was trying to explain it."

"It's very Italian." Carmy replied. 

"You're very Italian." You grinned and he rolled his eyes.

"I am, yeah." And then, "I still can't believe you ate that."

"You act like you've never eaten garlic before."

"Not just shoved a whole clove in my mouth." He replied. 

"It tasted good." You shrugged, "I always use too much garlic. Like if a recipe says three cloves I use six."

"Yeah that's why I said you had potential." 

"Well now I just feel like that's your 'I don't wanna hurt your feelings' way of saying I'm actually shit at cooking." You replied. 

"Nah, if you were shit I'd tell you."

"Yeah but then who'd balance the books for you?" You teased, searching in the cabinet under the island for wine, "red or white?"

"Uh...white for this." Carmy replied.

You pushed the bottle of red you were holding back into the cabinet and went to the fridge, pulling out the Chardonnay you'd bought last week. You grabbed two glasses from the cabinet, handing him one once it was poured. 

"Is this the 'only white you'll drink' wine?" He asked, taking a sip. 

The last time he had come over to cook with you (for you) there had been a long discussion about different wines in which you'd explained that there was only one type of white that you liked. More accurately, one brand that made a chardonnay you didn't completely hate. 

"Yeah...they finally restocked!" You exclaimed, leaning against the counter, "the woman at the Wine and Spirits definitely thinks I'm an alcoholic though...I bought like, four bottles." 

Carmy shook his head, reaching a hand out for the bottle and splashing a little into the pan when you handed it to him. Kitchens were crowded and Carmy was more than used to working in an environment where people were constantly at each other's side or back or space but something about having you leaning there against the counter beside him was both extremely nerve-wracking and extremely comforting. 

He didn't say anything about it though, at least not until after you'd eaten dinner and were sitting on the couch avoiding the dishes. Then he blurted it out while you watched reruns of Murder, She Wrote with Rigoletto. "I always thought I would do stuff like this when I was younger."

"Watch 80's tv shows on a Tuesday night?" You asked.

"No," he laughed, "Just like...I don't know....you know, make dinner with someone. Or, I guess, not feel like my entire life was in a restaurant all the time."

"Well I'll always be happy to make dinner with you...or at least supply the wine while you make dinner." You replied, grinning at him.

"Yeah," he nodded his head slowly, as if convincing himself that what you were saying was true. 

"Yeah," you agreed.

[equallyshaw]

ᴅᴀʏ ᴛᴡᴇʟᴠᴇ: ɴᴇᴡ ʏᴇᴀʀꜱ ꜱᴜʀᴘʀɪꜱᴇ - Qᴜɪɴɴ ʜᴜɢʜᴇꜱ

and just like that, we are on the last day of holidays with equallyshaw

for those that have been here from the first to this one...ily guys

without further ado, happy holidays- i hope you all have a wonderful day with loved ones. and i also send extra love to those who could not spend christmas with loved ones for any reason. i see you and am going through the same thing🫶🏻🎄

word count: 1.3K

warnings: none!

ᴏʀɪɢɪɴᴀʟʟʏ, ᴅᴀɪꜱʏ ᴀɴᴅ Qᴜɪɴɴ were not meant to spend new years together. the two had decided for daisy to stay in boston where she is from, and spend time with her family. daisy though, didn't want to spend it without. it would have been their first new years out of the three previous ones that they'd spend not together. quinn seemed content the last time they finalized their plans for the holidays, but daisy was not content with them.

❅

daisy had been a ball of nerves all day. from the moment she woke up, the moment she got through tsa, the moment she picked up a coffee from the airport cafe and the minute she sat down in her airplane seat. she had turned off her location so quinn couldn't see where she was. they were texting back and forth after she boarded and then she heard the worst news possible, they were being delayed an hour. which meant by the looks of it- she would not be getting there until 9 pm. she texted bella brock's gf, letting her know her arrival time might be pushed back. and bella being the best, had no issue with that. she would make it work. she put her phone on silent, and pulled out her book to read.

she was in for a travel day.

❅

it was 9:15 pm when bella hugged her good friend, daisy. "oh my god i thought i was never getting out of there!" she exasperated as she flung her carry on suitcase and bag in the back, and hopped in the front. "i was worried you weren't." bella said putting her car in drive. "all that matters is that you got here safe and sound." she hummed pulling out of the airport pickup area. daisy nodded, "are we heading to your apartment?" she asked to confirm and bella nodded. "yeah, brock just left for dinner with the boys. i said that i would meet him there later since he knows about you already. but im so excited for q!" she said clapping her hands together. daisy blushed, "me too." she hummed responding to a picture quinn sent of his outfit to confirm that it looked good.

"quinn was being super mopey knowing that you weren't gonna be here this year.." bella let out, as they stopped at a light. daisy frowned, "well its a good thing im here." she hummed locking her phone. "he really said that he was fine with you not being here?" she questioned, as she began to drive again. daisy nodded, "yeah, he said that he was fine with it. he knows how much I've missed my family with starting work here in vancouver, and because of that i haven't been able to travel this season so far. i had a feeling he was putting on a front when we spoke about the plans a few weeks back." she explained and bella nodded. "yeah, im glad you're here. he was sad last night when brock asked about you. it was even more harder i assume because his parents went to jersey." bella concluded. "oh yeah, that was not a fun conversation to listen to when his mom said they'd be going to jersey again.." daisy sighed. "he puts on a brave face but when he could he definitely spoke his mind. i felt bad already leaving and then ellen told him last minute they weren't coming up and had me searching for new years flights day and night." daisy explained. "that's makes me so sad." bella frowned, to which daisy echoed.

❅

it was around 11 by the time daisy had finished her hair and makeup, which was simple and natural looking. just the way quinn adored it. she felt tingly with butterflies fluttering within her, as she smoothed down her pink strapless dress. "listen girlfriend...damn you look hot!" bella said knocking on the door before walking into he guest bathroom. daisy blushed, "he's not gonna be able to let go of you tonight. trust." bella said making daisy do a twirl for her. "lets get going but first we need to do a shot!" bella exclaimed, pulling her downstairs and into the kitchen of the townhouse. "alright alright." daisy smiled taking the shot of tequila and throwing it down. "damn never gets easier." she said after chewing the lime. "oo." bella echoed that sentiment, as she saw the uber notification go off. "brock sent us an uber, lets get going!" bella said throwing on her jacket with daisy throwing on her's as well.

the two hopped into the uber, and they were on there way to the private and upscale bar the boys had rented a private room in. daisy's leg bounced up and down, and bella took a quick snapchat for brock tagging it with "cargo has been secured". "im so nervous." daisy said and bella smiled, "my mom always says that if you still get butterflies or nerves before seeing the person you love no matter how long you've been apart, that that is something to hold on too. its a good thing. quinn is going to just about die." bella smiled trying to comfort her good friend. daisy nodded, and soon enough they were pulling up to the bar.

❅

the two gave their coats to the hostess who then took the two over to the private group. daisy walked behind bella who was texting brock that they were about to walk in. he texted back saying that quinn was in the corner with a few of the single guys. brock greeted them at the door, and daisy gave him a big hug. "thankyou for keeping him company." she hummed and brock smiled, "ofcourse!" he beamed. elias saw daisy from across the room and grinned and threw two thumbs up to her, which she mimicked. she waved to some of the wags who caught on to what was happening and they all smiled widely.

a zach bryan song was playing on the stereo, and once she caught sight of quinn in the corner, her heart just burst. he looked to be having a good time but seemed quite reserved. brock pushed daisy in front of him, and gave her a bit of a push to get going. she gave him a fake glare, before walking the rest of the way. the guys next to quinn face's lit up once they saw daisy, and then smiled and grinned toward quinn.

quinn was confused when the three guys he was with were grinning or smiling at him, like they knew something he didn't. he looked towards his left, and just stared at the girl who was supposed to be in Boston. his mouth was agape trying to process the situation, and she could only giggle in response.

"wait what?" he asked looking around and seeing the team watching him, before he stood up and wrapped his arms around daisy. daisy felt a sense of relief once his arms wrapped around her.

she'd caught him off guard, she'd gotten him good.

"oh my god - youre here?" he asked pulling away a bit to embrace her, and she only nodded in response. "couldn't ring in the new year without q!" she smiled before he pulled her in for a kiss. which made the guys and wags erupt with cheers. they pulled away, as somebody pushed a drink into daisys hand. "how'd you get here?" he asked, and she pointed to brock and bella. quinn smiled at brock who smiled back, and then he looked back down at daisy.

he wrapped his arms around her again, not believing that she was here.

"youre never letting me leave again, i assume? heard you've been miserable without me." she teased, and he shook his head. "never again. not a chance." he mused before pulling her in for another kiss. he pulled away after a few seconds, "wait! who said i was miserable?" causing daisy to giggle loudly.

and there you go folks!! hope you guys enjoyed this series (:

tags: @cuttergauthier @jackhues @toasttt11 @jayda12 @dancerbailey3

[dvrk-moon]

POPULATION 300 - JAKE SIM

TEASER 1

synopsis : it was some bullshit that jake had to stay in a city barely on the map called elmbridge rather than going to italy with his best friend. being forced to spend a whole summer there, all jake expected to be there was old people, not a girl who hasn’t left his mind since that one night at the gas station.

word count : .9k

genre : summer love, jake x fem!reader

warnings : mentions of suicide

playlist : tba

expected release date : next month lol

i. SUMMER TRIP TO NOWHERE

There were two things that Jake hated most in the world. Heights, and going away from home.

When Jake was five, before going on a trip to an amusement park with his mother, he was fine with heights. 

But when his mom and him had reached the top of the mock Eiffel tower during their day out, and Jake had managed to watch someone’s last moments on the tower as they decided to take their own life, it was a different story.

The header: “24 Year Old Man Takes His Life After Plummet From Mock Eiffel Tower at Ark Island Amusement Park”. Forever engraved in Jake’s mind, he swore to himself to never intentionally put himself in a situation where he would be so high in the air that anything remotely similar could happen to him, someone he loved, or even a stranger. 

On the other hand, the idea of going away from home just irked Jake in such uncomfortable ways that he grew to resent it. The resentment eventually turned into hatred. 

So, when it was revealed to him that he’d have to spend his whole summer in some nameless town in the middle of the U.S. with his aunt rather than spend his summer in Italy with his parents and best friend, Sunghoon, naturally he declined. In what right mind would anyone choose an unknown town over Italy?

Clearly his aunt would. 

No matter how much he tried to persuade his parents out of it, no matter how much he attempted to convince his aunt that taking him and his younger cousin, Huiyeon, on this trip was a bad idea, and no matter how much he struggled to make Sunghoon talk to his parents about taking him to Italy anyways — because they clearly loved Jake enough to at least try and do so — instead of ‘Middle-of-Nowhere-Ville’, all his trials ended fruitlessly.

Because two weeks after receiving the proposal of the trip, here Jake was, sitting in the passenger seat of his aunt’s half-working 1998 Ford Escort, trying to drown out Billy Joel by using his hand-me-down cassette player from his dad. 

Seated behind him was assorted bags that each person inside the car had chosen as essentials to bring, Huiyeon: some old dolls she’d bought with her mom at an antique store during a trip to a small town in Oregon, her quilt since birth, dress up clothes, and of course clothes suited for a seven year old such as herself; Jake: about 20 different flannels, about 20 different cassettes, an ugly doll that he originally was going to leave at home, but since his mom considered it ‘necessary’, he packed it in his suitcase to appease her, and his polaroid; and his aunt, Seulyi: clothes you could typically find any 31 year old wearing, a picture book, a couple cassettes she had found for Jake, and some jewelry.

There were also more bags in the trunk, loaded with clothes. Due to the trunk space being so unexpectedly small, each person only got to pack two bags of clothes. The remaining things that needed to be packed were left in the bags in the backseat row, or left at home, due to lack of room.

A newly awakened Huiyeon interrupted the comfortable silence — aside from the Billy Joel songs from the radio — in the car.

“Are we there yet?” she yawned, stretching herself over as far as she could in the row without touching the bags that occupied the spot next to hers. One hand rubbed her left eye while the other one was shaken. “My whole body feels fuzzy.”

“Like TV static?” Jake questioned. He figured she was trying to wake her body up from falling asleep.

“Yeah. I feel fuzzy.” She responded, yawning a second time.

“We’re almost there,” Seulyi reassured from the drivers seat. Huiyeon and her met eyes from the rear view mirror, “give it about 20 more minutes, Hui.”

As Seulyi focused her attention back on the road, Jake took this time to fully take off his headset and pause his cassette. 

“Hey, Aunt Seulyi?” 

Seulyi hummed a half response.

“What’s the name of this town again? I forgot to look it up when I still had my phone…” Jake semi laughed. His phone was probably on his dresser at his house, or maybe in his parents room. Two days before the trip, they’d confiscated it in hopes that ‘he’d learn to keep away from it for a while’ and ‘he’d actually have to connect with people his age in real life’. Apparently, according to both them and Seulyi, the service there was horrible anyways.

What a load of bullshit. If Jake had to guess, the town would most likely be filled with old people, not anyone his age he could connect with. 

“The town is called Elmbridge. The population is only around three hundred people, so it’s more than likely you’ll see the same people more than once while you’re down there.” Seulyi informed. “That means don’t pull anything dumb, Jake.” 

Seulyi glanced in his direction, not in a way to berate him, but more in a warning way. Jake half assed a laugh as he turned out to face the window to watch trees as the car flew on the highway.

“Also, just to let you both know, we’re about forty five minutes away from actual human civilization,” she joked, “so this experience will be something interesting for us all.”

a/n : ive been formulating this story since 2020 LMFAO originally i wrote it with nct’s renjun in mind but i felt bad for emu having a sad ending for jake so here is his redemption arc

[libraford]

While I'm bitching.

I dont mean to make this a bitching blog, but with them leaving on monday I have time to reconfigure my brain about all of it.

We live in a suburb that butts up to a nature preserve. So we see all kinds of wildlife from coyotes to deer. Most of the wildlife pics from my photo blog are from a nearby park.

There are mice in the garage.

It's a garage. It's an unsealed part of the house that's safe from predators and snow. It's going to get mice.

She wants to live on a farm some day. But she sees a mouse in the garage and suddenly has to rearrange the entire space because the way 'we' store things is attracting rodents. But not the way she just leaves piles and piles of cardboard from chewy or her amazon purchases (seriously a $300 inversion table that she used once and used her partner's credit card to get).

And I dont have much choice in how i store my stuff because the day we moved in they had already decided there was no room for my craft storage (its ugly, basically.) And it all got shoved in the garage.

Where the mice are.

So she sees a mouse and spends the whole day freaking out and moving our stuff around because we're slobs who dont know how to organize our stuff.

And now we cant find anything.

About a year ago, she got on an exercise kick and demanded that I clear my stuff from the garage so they could have an exercise room for themselves. Me and pock are still sharing a small nook that serves as our craft room, and the is no space to really spread out. But she gets an exercise room.

She never exercises. She has a back injury that makes it difficult for her to sit up for long periods of time.

Like... I tried to clear the garage, but I got 4 bins in before I ran out of room in the craft room, and now there's no way for me to access the things in there, either.

So sorry she didnt get her exercise room. We have a porch. We have a living room where you can move the couch. You can go to the park. You have a rec center membership. Sorry you didnt get a poorly ventilated exercise room full of mice.

If I can do yoga three times a week in this house, you can figure it out.

Later, I overhear her talking to her mom on the phone about why she wants to move to North Carolina and she says it's because theres no nature here. Its barren. Nothing will grow in ohio because of the chemicals they use on the farms. Theres no wildlife.

I'm assuming the mice dont count. But our town literally calls itself 'the city of parks.' Theres over 5000 acres of green spaces including a waterfowl preserve and more than one refuge. My boss at parks and rec is a conservationist. My job is to water all the fucking trees we planted last year.

Youd see all kinds of nature if you'd get outside the house, but you never fucking leave.

Which is kind of a minor point in the scheme of things. But it really pisses me off like 'oh poor me I'm a fucking liar.'

I'm so lazy, I wont repurpose an entire room for her benefit while shoving all my shit in a 5×10 space. I'm so awful.

[theunstuffedpepper]

Finally finding time for a little update here. It’s been 2.5 months since we lost our little man and we’re hanging in there. B and I are leaning on each other and focusing on taking care of Pep, trying not to let the grief swallow us whole. We’re trying to focus on what’s in the future for our family which has been helpful and healthy for us both. B made our sweet boy’s urn, which is beautiful, and was a sort of therapy for him.

As summer gave way to fall, we enjoyed the last warm days of the season outside, taking trips to the park, zoo, and local farms as much as possible. We’ve had family and friends visiting and making plans with us consistently; it’s been great having that support and keeping involved socially. We went to our first trunk-or-treat and my little Incredible was too adorable in his costume. He had so much fun and big surprise: turns out, he loves candy.

One big decision we were faced with after losing Pip was whether we were going to move forward with buying the new house and moving. The day we lost him, our offer was accepted. It was hard to even think about and in the moment it was a decision I truly didn’t even care about, but we ultimately decided that we would keep pushing forward. To back out of the deal and stay living in our current house wouldn’t have done anyone any good. I felt an overwhelming need to get out of that house and out of that town. Being surrounded by things that bring heartbreaking memories to mind a thousand times a day leaves very little room for healing.

I’m happy to say we closed on our new home a little over a week ago and just moved in a few days ago. We’re currently still half in the old house, half in the new house, but it’s nice being able to take our time with moving everything over. Once we’re fully out of the old house, it’ll be time to clean it up, take photos, and put it on the market.

Moving to the new town in PA has been so incredibly positive for us all. For me, very healing. In a lot of ways, the area seems opposite to where we’ve been living in NY. I didn’t know how much I needed that until I experienced it. Our new town is slower paced, the people are so friendly, and the new house, despite only being 15 minutes outside of town, feels so quiet and secluded, in the middle of nature. We have dozens of deer on our property every day. Pep loves to watch them from his bedroom window and chase them in the yard, squealing happily and exclaiming, “deeeer!!” The center of town is very historic and charming, a very Hallmark movie kind of quaint town. Love that journey for me.

Pep, now 22 months old, is absolutely blossoming. His language and communication has exploded over the past month or two. He has so, so many words and can now tell us what he wants, what he doesn’t want, and it’s so heart warming and wonderful. He truly is the apple of my eye and he keeps both me and B going every single day.

This weekend, B and I reluctantly left Pep in the care of my parents at our new home and we made the 9-hour drive to Michigan for a close friend’s wedding. I was so nervous to leave Pep for a whole weekend — longer than we’ve ever been away before — but he’s doing awesome with my parents. After the most stressful few months of my life, I needed this rest and break more than I realized. It’s been fantastic reconnecting with B, spending time with our cherished college friends, sleeping in, eating meals as two adults rather than mom and dad, and recharging.

I’ve been half heartedly keeping up with you all and need to check in on so many of you for the latest updates. I’m missing this community, so I’ll try to check in more often. I hope you’re all well!

[hobicuffed]

Out of Place - JHS

Husband!Dad!Hoseok x Wife!Stay-At-Home-Mom!Reader

Genre: hoseok x reader, established relationship au, married au, domestic au, husband hoseok, dad hoseok, angst, ends in fluff, slice of life au, oc son and daughter

Word Count: 2.2k

Summary: When you fell in love with Hoseok, you knew he was the man you’d spend the rest of your life with, even if it meant leaving your home country to live with him in Korea. But when the homesickness starts to settle in again and you decide to pay your country a visit, your husband doesn’t really take your absence as well as he lets on, and your daughter knows it.

A/N: Hi! I was on such a steady roll for a while that it feels like this is my first time uploading in ages even though it’s only been about a week I think. Finally finished my exams last week so moving home and out of my apartment for the summer has changed up my schedule. Anyway, just to note, you and Hoseok have been together for years before this so of course you’ve been to your home country now and again despite living in Korea with him. It’s not like you just completely up and ditched your family, lol. But remember that for the majority of your dating years, Hoseok was busy on tour and in the studio. I imagine you’d visit home a few times but Hoseok wasn’t able to accompany you for most of it, being as busy at he was. He mostly connected with your family through phone calls and texts. Once you got married and he slowed down his career, he could visit your family alongside you more often, but this is his first time being present (not on tour/busy) when you visit home on your own, hence his unfamiliarity with you being away from him in this au. Hopefully, that provides some context. If anyone’s interested, I’d love to do an au on how you and Hoseok met/what life was like when you were dating/in college and living through his superstar days. As always, please let me know if you enjoy! Thank you for reading. :)

...

Fresh-picked flowers lined the kitchen as per usual, in vases on counters, as centerpieces on tables, and on the floor in tall marble pots. One of your many candles rested above the living room's coffee table, filling the air with a calming scent. All throughout the home's bottom floor, floor-to-ceiling windows rest uncovered, allowing the gentle rays of the sun to light the space naturally. 

Nothing was out of place in the beautiful dwelling you got to call home. Except for the smile on your husband's face. 

Your home has grown familiar with Hoseok's sighs ever since you rolled your suitcase out the door the day before. It was usually Hoseok who was out and about, flying across the world, and moving from one place to the other. In the mornings, when he woke up, you were next to him with your smiling face. In the evenings, when he came home, you were there to greet him with a hug and kiss. And on the days where he was able to spend afternoons at home, you were more than willing to spend it cuddled up in your abode with him. 

Since his debut, you'd been the one constantly waiting on him. Late nights on the couch, fighting to stay awake to see him come home. Or late nights beside him in the studio, yawning as you listened to track after track because Hoseok wasn't ready to give up. Or afternoons you spent lounging in bed, already missing the man who'd once again had to run off to dance practice after dance practice. Not to forget, all the months you'd spent wishing he'd finally walk through the door, knowing he was on stage across the world.

Hoseok wasn't used to things being the other way around. In his world that moved so fast, you were one of the only constants in his life. Every time he looked for you, you were just about always there. Maybe had he still been in his younger years, running in between studios and practice rooms and tour buses and photoshoots, he wouldn't have felt your absence as much. But now that the two of you had finally settled down, bought a home, and started your family, the newfound slowness to his life meant he was spoiled with time to spend with you. Hoseok had almost forgotten what it was like to be away from you for more than a couple of hours. 

Which is why, now, with you deciding to return to your home country for some time, everything in your perfect home suddenly felt so out of place for your gloomy husband.

His shoulders hung as he swung open the refrigerator door, grabbing a cold bottle of lemonade from inside. He took a swig before making his way up the stairs and to the office, deciding to work on some lyrics to pass the time. He twirls a pen between his fingers, leaning back in his seat as he stares at the ceiling. He doesn't remember being so dejected about your departure when you'd left. In fact, anyone looking in from the outside would see that he was encouraging you to go. He knew how homesick you'd been for the past month. Your playlist of songs that reminded you of home seemed to frequent your search history more than others and you were unknowingly talking about your family more than usual. While Hoseok of course loved having you with him, he always felt slightly guilty that you'd basically uprooted your entire life when you decided to stay with him in Korea, especially knowing that it meant you'd be apart from your parents and siblings. Being as close as he was to his, he couldn't imagine how it must feel.

So he smiled as you threw your duffle bag over your shoulder and grabbed the handle to your suitcase. It wasn't until the door shut behind you that he realized he may have been slightly faking it all along.

You huffed, finally allowing yourself to believe you hadn't forgotten anything, as you scanned your bags one last time. Hoseok walks up to stand before you, followed by your two little duckling-like children. "Just go!" Hoseok laughs as Sage and Hui plop down at his feet. "You've checked your bags like five times now. And yes, I've been counting." You groan, laughing at yourself as well when you realize how silly you're being. "I just want to make sure I have everything!" Deep down, you know that maybe you're actually just not ready to leave the three of them yet. 

You give up on checking your bags, knowing Hoseok will scold you if you open up another one to sift through. But as always, your brain runs a mile a minute and you're quick to find something else to busy your brain that stops you from leaving the house once again. "There's still salad in the fridge! Make sure to use it up before it goes bad okay?" you remind your husband to which he nods. "Okay, and um... Oh!  I did laundry last night but it's still in the dryer so remember to bring it out please." Hoseok nods again as a smile creeps onto his face. He already knows this is just the start of a ramble session he'd have to cut you off from, lest you miss your flight. You did this every time the two of you were about to part for an extended period of time. "Okay, and what else?.. Oh, formula's in the cabinet, diapers are in the closet-" "Yes, yes, I have also been feeding and changing diapers for the past four years," Hoseok says, pointing to the two toddlers curled around his legs. You mentally smack yourself. "Right, right.." you huff, unable to think of anything more to add to your procrastination. 

"You're going to miss your flight," your husband warns, pulling you into a last goodbye hug. You sigh wrapping your arms around him. "I know," you whine sadly. "I'll see you when I get back." "Mhm, bye baby," he says. "Even though we already said goodbye ten minutes ago," he snarkily adds and you laugh at your failed previous attempt to leave each other.

"Bye, mommy!" Your two-year-old, Hui, calls from his spot on the floor. "Bye sweetie!" you grin, leaning down to reach his eye level. "Are you sure you guys will be okay?" you pout at your husband. "Of course we will!" He cheers, reaching down to scoop the boy into his arms. "We're going to have so much fun, aren't we, son?" Hoseok reaches up to tickle his stomach, causing an eruption of laughter. "See?" Hoseok smiles at you, watching as the worry falls from your shoulders.

His pen clattering against the table as it slips from his fingers wakes Hoseok from his thoughts. His feigned coolness about your solo vacation was likely also to do with the two of you's kids, asleep a few rooms down. If there was anyone who should have such an adverse reaction to your leaving, it should be the toddlers. Hoseok knew the best way to keep them from trying to dissuade you with tantrums and tears was to be positive himself. And as hoped, his desire for you to fill the growing hole in your heart rubbed off on your children. Sage and Hui's combined maturity and big heart despite their young age helped them to understand the situation. Hoseok smiled at the thought of his smart kids. They were being raised well.

The rest of the day without you after you'd left had gone rather smoothly. Hoseok spent it having playtime, cooking dinner, and watching movies with the two as night fell. It wasn't until he'd stepped into his empty bed and felt the quiet chill of the house that the longing feeling began to sink in. And waking up to the empty bed once again was no better. Sage and Hui were his only distractions, but now, with the two of them tucked into bed for their regular afternoon naps, he found himself thinking of you once more.

Usually, the kids' nap times were you and Hoseok's holy grails. The two of you would synchronously plop onto the couch with a sigh after finally getting them down. It was one of the only chances the two of you had for alone time. Hoseok finds it funny that he's now wishing the kids would wake up sooner.

"Focus, Hoseok," he mutters to himself, directing back to the journal in front of him. He's finally able to start scribbling down some ideas when a small voice perks up beside him. 

"Daddy?"

Hoseok nearly jumps from his chair, clutching his chest to stop the shriek that threatens to leave him as he looks down at the small body that's crept next to him. "Sage, sweetie, you scared me," he gulps. "Sorry!" she shrieks. He chuckles. "It's okay. You're up already?" he asks with a ruffle to her hair. The little girl furrows her brows up at him. "It's been an hour," she says, pointing to the clock above his desk. Hoseok looks up to see the time. Sure enough, she's correct. "Oh, I guess it has," he laughs. There's no one more punctual than a kid who hates nap time.

"But Hui is still sleeping," she adds. Hoseok lifts beneath her arms and sits her on his lap. "That's okay. We'll let him sleep for a bit more then," he says, kissing her cheek. Sage nods before twisting in his lap to face him. She stares up at him intently without saying anything, and Hoseok quirks an eyebrow at her. "What is it?" he asks. 

"You've been sad since mommy left," she pouts.

Hoseok stares down at the little girl, wondering when she was able to draw that conclusion in between his happy smiles and giggles. He can't help but notice that she stares at him with the same studious expression that you often wear when you know something is wrong. He was never able to fake his emotions around you, which is why you were one of the few people he could be honest with. It seems as though your ability to understand him has been passed down to his little one as well.

She lifts the pen from his fingers and reaches down to his journal, scribbling down an image that he can only guess might be a bunny. 

"When me and Hui miss you, mommy tells us to draw you a picture!" she smiles, scribbling away happily. Her cute voice warms Hoseok's heart. When she passes the pen back to him, two bunnies are doodled upon a bed of grass under a smiling sun in the corner. Sage looks up to smile cutely at him and all he can do is pull her into his chest and hug her tight.

He thought to all the pages of drawings he'd collected over the years that lay safely in his studio where he could look at them when he, too, missed his little babies. "You should try drawing a picture for mommy," Sage suggests with her soft voice. "It might make you feel better."

Hoseok smiles. "Yeah, I agree."

He brings the pen to the paper once again, adding two more bunnies, larger than the first two, and some flowers growing behind them. "That looks really good, daddy!" Sage encourages, clapping her hands together. "Mommy will love it!"

He laughs. "Thank you, baby," he lands another sweet kiss to the crown of her head. "But you're so good at this, I think your drawings might be a bit better than mine," he adds. She giggles making him smile wider. "Help me out?" he asks, passing the pen back to her. She nods happily, adding more doodles around the page before passing it back to Hoseok who does the same. The two continue on like that for quite a while, the room filling with laughter, smiles, and the sound of the pen dragging against the paper. In the midst of their doodle fiasco, Hoseok's phone rings, the screen lighting up with your image, signaling a video call from you.

"It's mommy!" Sage squeals, leaping forward to grab the phone and accept your call.

"Hi, guys!" you smile, happy to see two of the faces you've already missed so much. "I just landed in the airport. How are you, my loves?" "We're good, mommy!" Sage is quick to answer, too excited to see you. She lifts the page that she and Hoseok have been working on until it fills the camera. "Look, daddy and I drew you a picture!" You coo happily, the sight bringing a happy pout to your face. "Did you now?" Hoseok grins at your reaction. "Yes, we did," he says.

"It's beautiful you guys, wow. Thank you so much!" you beam. "I can't wait to see it up close when I get back."

"Me too," Sage responds with a jut of her bottom lip. "We miss you." "So much," Hoseok agrees. "I miss you all, too," you sympathize, adding with a reassuring smile, "But I'll be back soon!" Hoseok nods, giving a squeeze to the girl on his lap. You smile seeing the affection. "I love you guys."

"We love you too, mommy."

...

masterlist

A/N: Last note! I don’t know if anyone’s interested enough in these stories to do this lol, but if so I would like to open up a drabble or request list maybe. It could give me more ideas to write. Or also provide clarity for any parts of the storyline that might be confusing? I try to keep the storyline as concise as possible but with so many ideas in my head, I might jumble things up or forget to give context that readers might need and I haven’t provided yet. But, I don’t know! Just an idea :) If there's anyone who'd like to, just feel free to send them in!

...

[charliedawn]

Peter Hannibal's story :

(It's out ! It's finally out ! Yes ! It was hella long to write, but it was definitely worth it. Hope you'll enjoy.)

The very thing that Peter hated more than anything was false sympathy. He could deal with anything, every reaction known to human kind, as long as it didn't involve pity. Unfortunately, it was the very sentiment he seemed to get from everyone around him. It was usually because of his absent father, but sometimes it was about his constantly sick mother and the fact she mostly stayed in bed, or simply because he had never had a lot of ambition in life..

He hated it. All this pity..It unnerved him. But, he had kept his smile through and through.

He always had this innate talent to perceive the very nature of the human beings surrounding him, which could have been considered an advantage if Peter's instinct wasn't to love the very people who could hurt him. He was pulled in by danger, and even though he was perfectly aware of it, he couldn't help it.

"You know...I didn't want to be here.", he started. "I don't understand why the school thought it would be a good idea for me to consult. I'm fine. Really.", Peter tried to convince Hannibal for the third time that week and the other man—being used to it—only nodded once before glancing up knowingly at Peter.

So, when he first met Hannibal Sr., all of his senses screamed at him to stay away—but he didn't. It forced him to get up early in the morning to go to his sessions. They didn't help him with his problems, but it allowed him to spend time with the only being in his life he ever felt could understand..

"The school payed for our sessions. There must be a reason behind it ? I am here to help you, Peter. Not judge you.", Hannibal Sr. reminded the young man and Peter started fidgeting nervously—trying his best to remain as composed as possible in front of him. He had no intention to let him know about his feelings. He wouldn't understand them anyway..Who ever could ? He didn't understand them himself. However, it was true he wanted to open up to someone—anyone..So, he decided to let a tiny crack spread in his defenses. Just a tiny one. He had already talked to many shrinks before, some had even refused to meet him again after the second session.

Peter looked like your typical average teenager from a distance, but it was only when people started digging too closely into his mind that they started realizing that something was wrong with him..His shrinks were no different. If anything, they all realized sooner than most because of it.

But, they couldn't do anything about it.

He wasn't sick. Not in the medical sense of the term anyhow..The true genius behind Peter was he had the gift to look normal and the most inconspicuous person in the room to others. But, inside ? He was a terrible mess.

Hannibal Sr. was the first to last more than a year as his psy..And he had stopped counting his predecessors.

"My mom...She's sick. And she says that my girlfriend is a bad influence on me. Ava knows, and she thinks I'm avoiding her because of that. But, I'm not. I just..I want them both to be happy.", he begrudgingly admitted and Hannibal Sr. held back a smile at his small victory.

Peter was one of his only teenage patients, and even though they had been meeting for quite a while now, he hadn't really been exactly the most talkative. So far, Hannibal Sr. had gathered that he was a rather lonely boy with no real attachment—unless you would count his mother and that mysterious girlfriend of his. He had tried to make him open up and trust him, but Peter was a rather suspicious and fleeting boy who also happened to be keen on approval and—let that be acknowledged—right down a people pleaser. But, there was something about the boy that made Hannibal Sr. consider that his inner character may not be in complete accord with the image he portrayed on the outside.

He decided to indulge in his personal curiosity and dig deeper—as to discover exactly what the boy was hiding exactly.

"Tell me more about her then. Who is...Ava ?", he inquired with a slight tilt of his head, scrutinizing Peter with those very keen observing eyes of his that made Peter squirm in his seat.

Peter had asked Hannibal multiple times not to discuss on the subject or he would end their sessions, but his warning had fallen into deaf ears it seemed. Anyway, not like his threat would have been very efficient. Hannibal Sr. was a dear friend of his school's headmaster and for some reason, he always seemed to hold all the right cards in hand at the right moment..He was only 16 when the sessions had started, but he could already tell that something wasn't right about that doctor. He was fundamentally unsettling and Peter couldn't help but feel extremely nervous under his perceptive gaze—as if he could read into him as in an open book. He knew he shouldn't give in and talk. But—as always when it came to Ava—Peter couldn't stay quiet. He was so infatuated with her, he could find all the reasons and use all the words in the world to describe her that he still would feel that they wouldn't give her justice. He had to tell the world just how much he loved her.

"Ava is the love of my life. We met at some party two years back. We made eye contact and in a matter of seconds, she stole my heart. She's sweet, and even though we've had a few complicated issues, she's the reason I wake up every morning..", he stared up at the ceiling with a dreamy smile—forgetting as to the doctor's very presence..His thoughts focusing on Ava's smile and twinkling eyes. He almost didn't hear Hannibal Sr.'s next question.

"And...why does your mother not approve of your relationship ?"

Peter's smile faltered and he sighed. He then groaned before covering his face with his hands. He didn't want to share his feelings, or open up more than he should..But, he still had to go through the sessions and as he had nobody else to talk to, he secretly found in Hannibal Sr. a valuable confident. He finally confessed half-heartedly.

"Because since summer break ended, Alice's personality kinda changed."

He stayed vague and his eyes seemed to avoid Hannibal Sr' as he raised a quizzical eyebrow at him.

"..Changed ?", he engaged.

Peter closed his eyes and sighed. He could still see sweet Ava smiling at him and feel his heart racing at the way her bright eyes lit up the room as she noticed his presence. They had agreed upon staying together until the end of time. He lived for that smile. He would die for those eyes..

However, his dream was shattered by a dark scowl and cold indifferent eyes.

Beginning of flashback :

He had texted her multiple times during the summer —but she had suddenly decided to ignore him. He didn't know why and had fought the urge to go see her himself, but had decided to wait instead.

When they had returned to school—things had changed. His sweet Ava had turned into this dark creature with soulless eyes and all traces of a smile had vanished into nothingness. She did not even greet him.

She seemed to be a complete different person, and it didn't take long for Peter to realize why..

It was at that moment he first met Steve—the very reason for the sudden change in his sweet Ava..A boy. A boy with dark hair and who he knew to be a couple years older than the both of them. Peter immediately grew an intense dislike for him. He stared at his hand on Alice's shoulder and his whole body lit with a fire he didn't know was possible..To everyone else, Peter looked perfect—hence his popular nickname "the angel of McKinnon High." But, if people could see how he was holding back and the dark thoughts plaguing his mind, they wouldn't move out of his way out of respect or admiration..but, fear.

And, even though he was smiling, there was no warmth behind it. Peter stood before Ava whose smile suddenly fell upon his arrival and she casted her eyes downwards—as if ashamed.

"Hey Ava..Who's your new friend ?", he asked—pretending not to recognize the very boy who some had claimed being the very talented new basketball player..He certainly had the muscles for it. Was it the reason Ava was now standing next to this guy instead of him ?

"Oh. Peter. Hey. Sorry. Here. This is Steve. Steve Moclay.", Ava still didn't meet his gaze, she flee his accusative stare. She knew Peter would be angry. They weren't exactly official, but Peter had always held power over her. He had claimed they were meant to be, and she had been too young to differentiate love from sympathy..But now, she was starting to understand things—things she had failed to notice before. For example, how she had made her whole life revolve around Peter.

But, no more.

She had had no choice but to find a way to keep him away by using Steve. Steve was the only one who seemed unaffected by Peter's natural charm and she hoped it would be enough. Said Steve was at least a head taller than Peter and there was something about his smile that made Peter shiver in disgust. Who was this guy ?

"Hey, dude. Nice to meet you.", Steve took a step forward to shake Peter's hand and the only thing Peter could think about afterwards was how to get the dirt out of his hand..

End of flashback :

He finally confessed.

"Alice used to be sweet. Kind. Beautiful. The one who returned on the other hand...She's difficult. I don't understand her. She isn't a bad person but, she's just different. She changed her look, her friends, even her personality..I don't know how to talk to her. And I don't want to lose her. I don't know what to do..", he uttered that last part with such exasperation and Hannibal Sr. could see the young man was on the verge of tears..He sighed before setting his notes aside to lean forward to pat his shoulder sympathetically.

"Courage, my boy. Try to talk to the young lady. Maybe, does she feel the same way about you ?", he hypothesized and Peter seemed uncertain, but nodded nonetheless.

"I'll...try.", he finally muttered in faint agreement—lost in thought—and Hannibal Sr. smiled satisfactorily at the young boy's agreement.

"Good. Now, I'm afraid I have another appointment. We'll see each other next week." Peter stood up to leave, unaware of the trap he had just fallen into. The moment he was gone, Hannibal Sr. wordlessly took off his watch and put it aside. He had no more use for it now..He only had one patient scheduled today.

---------------------------------------------------

As soon as Peter stood out of the office, he noticed his mother standing next to the door, leaning against the wall and waiting for him. She took a puff of her cigarette and tilted her head back slightly before blowing the smoke out. She didn't say anything. Neither did he.

Kathleen Michaels wasn't one to ask questions, but she did make the effort for him.

"Is he any good ?", she finally asked, eyeing him briefly before staring back at the opposite wall. It wasn't a genuine question. She knew that if he didn't enjoy it, she wouldn't have to drive him almost every morning to his office. But, Peter still answered.

"Yeah..He is."

He saw a flicker of doubt in his mother's eyes, but it quickly vanished and she sighed before putting out her cigarette in a nearby house plant. She never liked shrinks..

"Come on. Let's go."

He didn't need to be told twice. He followed Kathleen outside and as his gaze wandered to a nearby swing, he smiled at the memories of when he was a child and his mother would bring him here. Inseparable..Or, so they used to be. But, things had deteriorated between them since his father's death. His father was a good man. No doubt about it. But, he left too soon and as he looked a lot like him, his mother saw Peter as a reincarnation of him and had fought hard for Peter to follow in his footsteps.

He was top of his class.

He had been elected "most eligible prom king of the year".

He had applied to Yale and Harvard.

He was most likely going to be accepted.

He had done everything to make her proud.

But...

"I saw Ava today. She really changed..I wonder how her parents must feel ?"

Peter remained silent. He knew where the conversation was going..Ava was the only choice he ever made. He chose her because she was kind, kinder than most. And she never seemed to judge. She was perfect.

And he knew his mother would approve.

However, now..Ava was different, and his mother was trying to convince him to stop seeing her..But, he wouldn't.

He refused to.

Kathleen's expression finally softened as she pulled front of the school and she sighed before turning towards Peter. She squeezed his leg and smiled.

"Hey..You know I love you, right ?"

Peter stared at his feet for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah..I love you too, mom."

He then opened the door and got out.

In school :

Peter had P.E with Ava and sought to talk to her then, but when he tried to approach her—he noticed the same boy from before. He was training with Ava and Peter felt his jealousy flare.

He then looked back at Ava who seemed oblivious to the amount of discomfort Peter was in.

He wanted to talk to her alone, but when he tried to reach for her—Steve stepped in. He stood in front of him and addressed him another one of his fake smiles.

"Sorry. Ava promised to train with me today. Hope you don't mind ?"

There was a silent warning to his words. Peter looked at Ava who addressed him an apologetic smile.

"See you at lunch ?"

Peter didn't answer. He only frowned a little before walking away. He didn't know what had happened during the summer, but one thing was for sure..

That Steve guy had to step out of their life.

At lunch break :

Peter finally got the chance to speak to Alice, but it didn't go the way he thought it would..

"I'm breaking up with you."

It was so sudden, it took him a minute to process.

"W..What ?"

Ava didn't dare meet his gaze, she knew what we would find in there. She knew Peter to be sensible to betrayal and that he would see it as one, but she just couldn't keep it in any longer..She couldn't lie to him.

She loved Peter. But, she also knew that something wasn't right about him. She had always felt uneasy around him, as if she was trapped and needed to be let out..

He would choose her make-up.

He would pick her outfit for the day.

He would even choose her food for her.

He talked of marriage and children when they weren't even out of high school yet.

It felt wrong..And she was tired of pretending it wasn't.

"I'm...breaking up with you, Peter. I'm sorry."

She then left before he could even think of a reply, try to convince her not to do this. He wanted to grab her arm, make her stay, crumble at her feet and beg her to stay..but, he was frozen in place. He felt tears in his eyes and his heart drop to his feet. He couldn't believe it..

Steve must have brainwashed her or something..

It couldn't be happening. Not to him..

He started walking aimlessly from class to class—his head empty and body numb. He couldn't concentrate on anything. Finally, the bell rang for the end of his last class of the day and Peter started gathering his things—even though his eyes were staring at Alice at the front row. She could feel his staring of course, but decided to ignore it.

Then, someone opened the door and Peter was surprised to see Steve enter with a wide grin and flyers in his hands.

"Yo, people ! Party at my house this weekend ! Don't be late !"

He started distributing the flyers and Peter was surprised to even receive one.

However, he then looked up to find that Ava was already excitingly and actively discussing the outfit she would wear for the party with her friends.

His dark thoughts returned to him and he crumbled the flyer in his hand because of the jealousy he felt weaving itself into his heart.

There was a party organized—one where he knew he would find Ava. And he would convince her. He would convince her that he was the best.

He gathered the last of his things and scurried out the room—failing to notice how Steve had not only given flyers to the students, but had also placated it everywhere for anyone to see.

Hannibal Sr. smiled when he took one of the flyers.

It promised to be interesting..

At the party :

Peter had chosen his best suit to wear for the party. He wanted to impress Ava, he had even practiced dance moves in case he would get the chance to invite her for a dance. He slicked his hair back with some gel and when he got out of the bathroom, his mother was waiting for him with a proud smile on her face and tears in her eyes.

"My goodness Pete..You look so handsome."

She then cupped his cheeks and kissed his forehead lovingly.

"My perfect little boy. You are the most amazing thing that could have ever happened to me.."

There was such tenderness in his mother's eyes and Peter's heart squeezed a little at the word..Perfect..If she only knew how his whole life was falling apart, she would be so disappointed..

He kissed her cheek and mumbled a goodnight before walking out. He didn't want her to see his tears..

He was going to get Ava back. He was going to be perfect again. He just needed her. And he would have her. He just needed the gun he had hid in his coat to stay hidden a little longer..Just a little longer..

At Steve's party :

Peter gulped at the impressive size of the Moclay's estate and it took a while for him to even find the place. But once he found it, he let the bright red balloons and the music lead him to the ball room. It was lit and people were already dancing when he entered.

He sought Ava with his eyes among the crowd and finally spotted her next to the bowl of punch.

However, Peter felt like he had swallowed a whole lump of butter when he saw that Ava wasn't alone. Steve was standing right beside her, and she was smiling. There was something different about that smile..It wasn't a fake or one designed to make him miserable, it was far worse. It was one of truthful enjoyment. She was enjoying Steve's company, and it made Peter's heart squeeze.

He didn't like that smile.

He marched towards the two of them and Alice's eyes widened as she noticed him.

"Peter..What are you..?"

"Please.", he interrupted her and held out his hand to her, "Could you please give me this dance ?"

Steve scoffed mockingly, as if he was already certain of her answer. But, she surprised them both when she slid her hand in his.

"Sure. One dance."

She still felt attached to Peter and even though she had made it clear it was over between them, she didn't see the harm in them remaining good friends. They started waltzing around and Peter could feel they were being stared at and lowered his head slightly in embarrassment. It made Ava chuckle a little.

"That look..You had the exact same when we first met. You seemed so lost. I smiled at you and I saw you smile back..My heart literally skipped a beat.", she admitted and Peter's eyes widened a little. He had always thought she had chosen him because of his popularity and good looks, he had tried to hide his struggles from her and every time he wanted to break down and cry..He had kept a smile on his face, because he thought she would love him better this way. But, he now understood his mistake. He should have been truthful with her.

He smiled back and at the end of the song, he kissed her hand like a gentleman. Ava smiled sadly at him before hugging him. She still held some affection for him and Peter was happy...until he saw Steve at the corner of his eye. He was flirting with some girl and showing his abs, like the first-class moron that he was. He accepted that Ava didn't want him now, but he wouldn't let the jerk hurt her. He then heard Steve sat he was going to the toilet and walk out of the ballroom.

It was his time to strike.

He bowed slightly in front of Alice before taking his leave, unaware that she would follow him a few minutes later..

In the toilet :

Steve was washing his hands when he heard the door open. He didn't take notice of the blond boy until he was right behind him. He looked up and sneered when he recognized him.

"Hey there, Pete. Enjoying the party ?"

Peter didn't answer, he only asked with his voice shaking.

"Say..Do you even like her ?" Steve stopped dead in his tracks—the sound of running water the only thing that could be heard as silence settled between them.

"Like who ?", he finally asked with a slight frown and a chill ran down Peter's spine at Steve's emotionless tone as he uttered in a helpless whimper.

"Ava..Do you even like her ?"

Steve let out a small huff—as if the answer was self-evident.

"No. But, you do." He turned around and Peter could have sworn to see a small victorious smirk on his face.

"You got everything, Peter. Good grades. Hot chick. Hell, hot mom even..It was time I got something too, don't you think ?"

He then left the bathroom and Peter's eyes widened significantly at the realization..Steve did not even care about Ava—it had all only ever been a game to him. He then clutched the fabric over his chest tightly and realized he had trouble breathing. He didn't understand..What had he done wrong for Ava to choose this guy over him ?..Peter had always been perfect.

So perfect.

And just like that, that asshole had made everything crash down for his own sadistic pleasure.

Suddenly, all of Peter's sanity broke and he let out a terrible scream of frustration. Why didn't they like him ? What had he ever done to deserve this ? He pulled out his gun and in a moment of pure unrestrained insanity, he ran after Steve.

Hadn't he followed the rules ? Hadn't he always been there for her ?

Once he was at aim's reach, he shot the guy's legs. The sound of gun fire was covered by the music and even though Steve was writhing in pain on the floor and screaming his lungs out—the others were too far to hear him.

He couldn't breathe. He couldn't hear.

"WHY DO THIS TO ME, HUH ?! WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU ?! WHY TAKE HER ?! WHY NOT EVERYTHING ELSE ?! COME ON, YOU COWARD ! WHY STOP THERE, HUH ?! WHY NOT TAKE EVERYTHING ELSE, NOW THAT YOU TOOK THE MOST ESSENTIAL !", Peter was in such a state, he almost didn't hear Steve when he answered.

"Because she wanted it too ! She was fucking tired of you and your good boy act ! She's the one who asked me out, you idiot !", Steve screamed with tears flowing down his face as Peter sat on him and prevented him from crawling forward.

"YOU ARE LYING ! AVA WOULD NEVER DO THAT TO ME !", he cried out in desperation—but was interrupted by a loud gasp. He turned around and found her standing there.

Ava looked shocked and he quickly pulled away from Steve. But, it was too late.

Ava looked at him with pure unadulterated fear in her eyes, but she didn't plan on Peter to be armed..He had already shot Steve and instinctively pointed his gun at Ava. But, immediately changed the aim to his own temple.

"Ava..He doesn't deserve you. Please. Tell me not to do this."

He just wanted a no. Anything that would show she cared for him.

He would find out where her loyalty truly lied.

Ava's eyes widened as she looked between Peter and Steve successively. She tried not to make any sudden movement, in case Peter would take it the wrong way. He thought about the years shared with her, the years he had spent trying to make her happy—all shattered in an instant as he saw the horror in her eyes.

"Pete..What are you doing ?", she finally asked with tears in her eyes and Peter trembled as he pondered on her question. What was he doing ? He was trying to get the love of his life back..What was so wrong with that ?

"Ava ! Get out of here ! He's a fucking psycho !", Steve yelled—breaking Peter out of his thoughts. He turned towards Steve with a mean scowl and spat out.

"Shut up !"

Peter then turned back towards Ava with tearful eyes, "I tried...so hard. I love you. I wanted you to choose me. And yet, it wasn't enough, was it ? Tell me...What is so exceptional about him, huh ?"

Ava bit her lower lip hesitantly before finally confessing.

"It is is not about what he has, Pete. It is about who I am. When I am with Steve, I can be myself around him. I can be genuine. He sees me. Whereas you ? You don't see me. You see someone else. I don't even know you, Pete. And after what you did, I don't think I even want to."

Peter gritted his teeth and his hands shook as he gripped the fabric of his suit over his heart—tight enough to tear the fabric. He failed to notice how Ava had seemed to get closer and closer, until it was too late. She lunged forward to reach for the gun. They fought for it and Peter didn't want to hurt her, he really didn't mean to...but, he pulled the trigger nonetheless.

When he realized what he had done, his eyes widened in shock.

Ava's knees buckled and he quickly held her before her head could hit the floor. He cupped her cheeks and wiped the tears there—muttering a series of unintelligible apologies as he kissed her forehead.

"All I ever wanted..it was to make you smile.", he told her and Ava blinked a few of her tears away as she felt blood fill her mouth.

"I'm sorry...I couldn't be as perfect as you wanted me to be.", she uttered and fell limp into his arms. He blinked several times and couldn't believe that she was gone. He threw the gun away. People would come running he guessed..The second gun shot couldn't have been missed.

Steve stayed stunned beside him, his eyes brimmed with tears as he kept staring at Ava's body—as if waiting for her to stand back up. When he realized it was real and she wouldn't wake up, Steve gritted his teeth and yelled.

"MURDERER !"

Peter looked at him with glassy eyes and shook his head, opening his mouth to deny. He wasn't a murderer. It was an accident. He lifted his blood-covered hands and blinked twice before opening his mouth to scream—but no sound left his mouth. His hands were soiled with Ava's blood and the pain he felt was excruciating. He finally stepped up and felt as if his whole body was numb and acting on its own as it stepped forward. He picked up the gun and pointed it at himself.

He had killed Ava. It was only normal he would join her..However, before he could, he heard a noise behind him. He turned around to see Hannibal Sr. standing there, his eyes staring at him with a small smile.

"Hello, Peter."

Peter suddenly remembered the reason for his current situation—the fact that Hannibal Sr. had told him to talk to her—and stood up on wobbly legs before pointing his gun at Hannibal Sr.

"You...IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT ! YOU TRICKED ME !", he cried out and Hannibal Sr. tilted his head to the side. Peter's vision became blurry because of the tears gathering in his eyes, but even then, he didn't fail to notice the knowing smirk the old man addressed him next.

"My poor boy. I did no such thing..I just opened your eyes." Peter clenched his teeth, but before he could reply—Steve shouted.

"Thank god ! Call the police ! He just fucking killed my girlfriend !"

Hannibal Sr. looked down at Steve and frowned a little. This was bad. Too much attention. And the boy was loud.

Hannibal Sr.' eyes then landed on the mess on the floor and he tsskd. Really..What a waste of good meat..Peter wondered if he should shoot him, but Hannibal Sr. took the gun from his hands before he could. He was about to protest, but words stayed stuck in his throat when he saw the old man shoot Steve in the head mercilessly instead. He then made sure to leave his fingertips on the gun and Peter asked confused.

"W..What are you..?"

Hannibal Sr. offered him a small comforting smiled before giving him a piece of paper.

"When I am arrested, give this to my oldest son. He'll know what to do with you.."

Peter's eyes widened in shock and he shook his head.

"What do you mean when you get arrested ? I don't understand.."

Hannibal Sr. opened his mouth to reply, but the sounds of voices and numerous footsteps grew louder and louder. They didn't have the time.

"Go. Go, my boy..", Hannibal Sr. whispered urgently and eyes the exit to the woods significantly. There wasn't any time to waste. They would soon find them and Hannibal Sr. knew that they needn't find Peter in his company for his plan to work.

Peter hesitated.

He wanted to know why he was doing this, but Hannibal Sr. raised his index to his lips and smeared blood on his lips, his eyes still staring at Peter. He was going to take the fall, but it would be to build a legacy far greater than himself.

"You are...a brilliant young man, Peter.", was the last thing Hannibal Sr. said to him—the corners of his lips spreading into a bloody grin. He then cupped Peter's cheeks and held him there for a moment, observing him—as if making a mental map of his face in his brain. He didn't want to forget..

This moment would haunt Peter for months to come, as it was the only time he felt such pride in a compliment.

People had called him brilliant before, but never like Hannibal Sr. There was something different about being called that from a man who would spend years—most likely decades—in prison for him. He was offering Peter a second chance and even though Peter's face was now covered with blood—his own lips parted into a large grin.

"Thank you..", he murmured before running away. Hannibal Sr. followed him with his eyes until he was completely out of sight and sighed before closing his eyes—the sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance.

"...Curse my weakness for broken puppies."

At Peter's house :

Kathleen could tell something wrong had happened the moment Peter entered the house. He had his eyes empty of all light and she immediately reached for him—as he seemed on the verge of collapsing.

"Pete. My goodness..You're so cold. What happened ?"

She waited for an answer, but the young boy remained silent and when he eyes finally settled on her, his smile seemed as empty as his eyes.

"Nothing, mom..I'm fine."

Suddenly, Kathleen felt this odd sense of dread wash over her as her son's whole demeanor seemed so distant from the one she was used to.

"What did you do, Peter ?", she asked tearfully, frightened as she saw the blood on his shirt and Peter let out a dark chuckle.

"...She said I wasn't good enough. But, I am good enough for you, right mom ?"

Kathleen had never been afraid of Peter before, she always saw him as a sweet boy who would never end up like her good-for-nothing husband. She had spared his feelings by telling him he was a good man, but the reality was far different. She thought they could escape. Peter would be raised to be everything his father had failed to be...But, the man standing before her wasn't her son. She didn't recognize him when her eyes were staring deep into those two holes shrewd in darkness..All she saw there was the very thing she had sought to escape.

"I..I don't understand..", she mumbled with tears falling down her cheeks. She didn't understand..How could it be ? How had she failed to notice ?

She took a step back from Peter whose expression hardened at the action. He then let his bag slide down his shoulder and fall to the floor. He almost seemed dead.

"First in my class. School king. Good kid. Always the good kid..", he took a step forward, "I aced my final terms and everything was going smoothly..I would go to a good college. Marry her. Have children..Everything was going to be perfect mom. Perfect..But, she..she messed it all up."

Kathleen's eyes widened as Peter went on about the plans she had hoped his future would hold. She had ever only wanted his happiness, but she now could see her mistake. She had created a monster.

"What did you do, Peter ?", she asked again, but more firmly this time.

Peter cocked his head to the side and smiled at the blood on his shirt. Her eyes followed his and she gasped, her hand flying to her mouth in horror.

"No..Peter..", she muttered—horrified by her son's action—and slowly stepped back from him. "She was just a child.."

"SO AM I !", he shouted back—his eyes glaring daggers at her—and his mother closed her eyes, unable to look at him anymore.

Peter's features softened and he opened his mouth to apologize, he even took a step forward to embrace her. But, Kathleen wouldn't let him. She felt sick and the smell of blood didn't help.

"Don't. Don't come near me..Just, get out.", she commanded and Peter stopped dead in his tracks.

"W..What ?"

He couldn't believe she would ask that..Where was he supposed to go ?

"I SAID GET OUT, YOU MONSTER !", she finally yelled and shoved him away. Peter was shocked at first, but it quickly turned into anger. Peter gritted his teeth and in a moment of terrible rage—pushed his mother down the stairs. He still remembered the discussion she had had with the postman about the busted stair—but it only dawned on him when his mother let out a terrible scream of pain. She had landed on the damaged one and had probably twisted her ankle.

He ran his fingers through his golden locks and felt trapped. He was about to dial the emergencies when he stopped. He looked down at her and knew if he was to call anyone, she would surely give him up. He hesitated before finally pick up his bag and shoving random things he found important to keep before throwing a phone at his mother.

"I love you, mom..and I'm sorry. For every thing.", he said with a small apologetic smile—but didn't wait for her answer before running out of the house.

Kathleen gave him five minutes before shakingly dialing 911 and she waited. When they finally picked up, she felt her throat dry..

"Police ? I..I'm calling about my.." Her words stayed struck in her throat and she immediately hung up. No matter how much of a monster he was, she couldn't hand him over. She raised her eyes to the ceiling and whispered apologetically.

"God..Forgive me."

She then dialed the emergencies instead.

At the Hannibal mansion :

Peter still had Hannibal Sr' note clutched tightly in his hand and in a panic—he knocked at the door.

"PLEASE ! LET ME IN !"

Hannibal Jr. opened the door and was surprised to find Peter standing there. He was about to ask what was going on when Peter handed him the note Hannibal Sr. had given him before his arrest.

Hannibal Jr. closed his mouth and took the piece of paper. He then read it and frowned a little. But, it was enough for him to let Peter in as he opened the door wordlessly.

Peter scrurried inside and he glanced around nervously—his bag clutched tightly against his chest. Hannibal Jr. followed him with his eyes and noticed Morgan—observing from the shadows. Morgan knew how to welcome unexpected visitors and hid a syringe behind his back with enough sleeping juice to knock out a bull. Before Peter could as much as say a word, Morgan stepped behind him and injected him with the strange concoction.

In a matter of seconds, he collapsed.

Hannibal Jr. let the note fall to the floor and sighed before picking up the boy in his arms and carrying him to his bedroom.

Take care of that one for me. See you soon, son.

A few hours later :

Peter woke up on a bed and was momentarily dazed by the blinding light and the strange drug that was surely still circulating in his veins..

He blinked several times before his vision became less blurry and he could finally see clearly the face of an older boy—staring at him right above his head.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty. How was the nap ?", Kevin asked with a large grin and a playful wink. He had waited all night for the newbie to wake up before his curiosity had gotten the best of him and he had decided to wake him up himself.

He had been so excited to meet him and see his reaction upon awakening.

He wasn't disappointed.

Peter screamed and in his rush to sit up, bumped their foreheads together. Peter whined in pain and held his forehead with both hands before leaning back down—the world swirling abnormally around him—but Kevin only smiled wider.

A feisty one ! Good.

He was afraid he might end up with another Morgan..As if summoned by the thought alone, Morgan appeared at the door and addressed Kevin a disapproving glare.

"Kevin. I told you he needed rest.", he admonished the younger man who only stuck out his tongue at him. "Whatever, kill joy ! I just wanted to take a peek ! I had no idea he was gonna wake up !"

However, Peter only froze at the other unfamiliar face and suddenly, memories of last night seemed to hit him and his eyes widened before he started crying.

Kevin's smile faltered slightly upon the sight and he looked up at the other young man who had his brow furrowed slightly at the odd overemotional display..

"Hey, Morgan ! We got a cry baby emergency over here.", he called out to the other stranger who sighed loudly in annoyance before standing right next to Peter. He then leaned forward and started examining him. Peter tried to speak, but couldn't—an invisible force forbidding his lips from parting and words to fall down..He was utterly lost and confused.

"Relax. Your lips should start functioning again in a few minutes.", the older one instructed him in a low and ushered voice. He then took his hand and placed it just above his own chest, breathing deeply so Peter may follow his breathing pattern.

Peter understood the boy was trying to soothe him as he started taking big breaths and beckoned Peter to follow the rhythm of his own breathing. Peter indulged and followed the movement of his chest, finding comfort in the rather cool and collected man.

"Unfortunately, our uncle couldn't stay and asked me to look out for you while he is away. But, rest assured that you are now safe and we will be looking out for each other from now on."

He then gently traced the side of Peter's face with a tenderness he wasn't accustomed to and that clashed with the coldness in his eyes. It was like his touch was made of ice.

"Sorry for earlier, junior. Didn't mean to scare you or anything..I'm Kevin and this is Morgan ! Your awesome new brothers !", Kevin introduced them and gave the young man a broad smile. Peter froze on the spot...Brothers ? Morgan seemed to understand his confusion as he took a short step forward and extended his hand towards him in a gesture he hoped appeared amical.

"Morgan. Morgan Hannibal. But, you can call me big brother if you wish."

Peter stared at the outstretched hand for a couple of seconds, pondering on his options and what being an Hannibal would entail.

He would have to leave everything behind..He would have to say goodbye to his mother and forget about his life to devote himself to a family he didn't even know anything about..Finally, he tentatively reached out and shook Morgan's hand.

"I'm..Thank you."

Morgan smiled and shortly.

"Welcome to the family, Peter Hannibal !", Kevin greeted excitedly—grinning widely and restraining himself from taking his new little brother into his arms.

Peter...Hannibal ? Peter pondered on that name and finally, he smiled. It felt right. But, the true meaning behind those words only truly settled in when Morgan added.

"No attachment. No history. I have the feeling that you will be a great fit, Peter Hannibal."

Peter gulped and even though he was still terrified, he nodded in agreement. He had to admit he didn't have much choice in the matter. He was now a Hannibal. Besides, Morgan was right. Peter had nowhere else to go, no one to turn to..

"I'm a vegetarian.", he felt was necessary to inform the man whose smile didn't leave his face as he walked past him and didn't seem even surprised by the news.

"I know..", he enigmatically replied and Peter wondered if they had actually been waiting for him. Did they already know he would accept ?

Both older boys smiled, as if they knew something he didn't..And for some reason, Peter was fine with it.

A few weeks later :

The absence of both Hannibal elders was beginning to gain on the three boys. Tension finally broke loose when Morgan received a letter from Hannibal Jr. explaining how Hannibal Sr. had decided to forbid them to witness his trial in person.

Truth be told, the two oldest sons hadn't really asked Peter anything about his past and he doubted they even knew he was the reason behind Hannibal Sr.' imprisonment. They all thought Hannibal Sr. would have some kind of plan to get out of there—as he always seemed to have. But, they weren't aware of the extent to which Hannibal Sr. was willing to go to protect his family—nor did they expect what happened during the trial until it was broadcast on news TV.

"How do you plead, Hannibal Sr. Lecter..?"

The three boys held their breath, waiting as Hannibal Sr. was about to speak up. He finally stood up and didn't hesitate before declaring.

"Guilty to a fault, your honor.."

All Hell broke loose in the Courtroom as Hannibal Sr. turned towards the crowd and offered them his best smile.

"Cry and hurl all you want, dear members of the jury. You sheep will always bellow, but wolves will always exist. So, you would better get used to looking at one."

He then mockingly bowed before being dragged away under a shower of curses and boos..But, Hannibal Sr. didn't care. He was a proud wolf and had lived a long and fruitful life..Peter was but a young wolfling—and Hannibal Sr. couldn't wait to see who he would turn out to be..

Back in the Hannibal household :

At the moment of the verdict, a tension was created between the brothers that left Peter guilty for having caused so much trouble. He still thought he could get away with the blame though, since they didn't know Hannibal Sr. would be serving time because of him. But then, Morgan had a phone call.

And that phone call was the beginning of trouble for Peter.

Because that phone call came from Hannibal Jr. and it involved keeping a close eye on Peter, because Hannibal Jr. suspected the sudden add not to only be coincidental with Hannibal Sr. arrest.

It made their relationship all the more difficult after that—especially between Peter and the eldest Hannibal son. He had tried his best to regain his approval afterwards, but to no avail.

Peter waited until the end of dinner one night and it was time to clean the dishes to go see Morgan. He pretended not to see Peter at first, his eyes and hands fully focused of the dirty dishes in the sink..

"Morgan..I'm sorry. It's my fault. I..I should have been the one to end up in prison. I'm the one who killed Ava. I also shot Steve. I'm sorry..", he finally confessed and Morgan didn't even flinch or spare him a glance at the news.

"Do you think me stupid ?"

The question took Peter aback as he tried to find an answer to give the other boy.

"I..No. I don't think..", he stammered and Morgan finally told him—still not willing to look at him.

"I knew. We both did. Hannibal Sr. disappears and you show up ? It didn't take a genius to put one and one together. I'm just disappointed you didn't come clean earlier.."

Peter felt a knot in his throat and tears in his eyes. He sounded worse than just disappointed, he sounded hurt..

"Brother..Please..", Peter tried to touch him, but didn't expect it when Morgan suddenly turned around with fire in his eyes.

"Do. Not. Call me that."

Peter felt tears in his eyes..He had already been rejected twice, he couldn't handle a third time. When Morgan tried to walk past him, Peter grabbed his arm and forced him to stay put. Morgan seemed surprised at first, but it quickly turned into anger when Peter mumbled pathetically.

"Please, Morgan..Don't hate me.."

It seemed to snap the last thread of patience Morgan had for him.

"WHAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND ?!", Morgan suddenly burst. "WE WILL NEVER BE BROTHERS ! OUR FATHER ! THE MAN WHO GAVE US A HOME ! HE IS IN PRISON BECAUSE OF YOU ! YOU ARE A PLAGUE ! A PARASITE !"

Morgan pulled away from his grip and Peter raised his arms to cover his face instinctively. He waited for Morgan to hit him—he deserved it. But, when no blow came, he tentatively opened his eyes and found Morgan looking at him with an unreadable expression..

Kevin—shocked at his brother's loss of countenance himself—hadn't tried to intervene. He had never seen Morgan so angry. He was usually the most composed one, the one you turned to when things went wrong..But, the rage on his face was enough to make Kevin understand Peter was in deep trouble and he was most likely to get killed if he didn't step up for the brat...if he cared enough to act that is.

But, he only watched as Morgan's hands closed into fists and his eyes ran wild as he tried not to punch Peter's face until nothing remained but red..Morgan was holding onto his last thread of patience and even though Kevin didn't necessarily want to step in, he had to do something before Hannibal Jr. came back to a bloodbath.

He sighed loudly and stepped between the both of them.

"That's enough. We both know Peter has nothing to do with it. Dad decided to plead guilty. It's his own fault he is in this mess.."

Morgan stayed still for a while before he huffed and turned away—leaving Kevin and Peter alone. Peter didn't dare make eye contact. He knew what the young man thought of him. But, he was surprised when Kevin finally sighed and squeezed his shoulder.

"Don't worry. It'll pass. He just needs...time."

He seemed hesitant, but Peter was more surprised by the fact that Kevin wasn't angry at him than worried.

"Aren't you...angry at me ?", he asked hesitatingly and Kevin huffed a laugh.

"Me ? Nah. I know the only reason Hannibal Sr. got caught was because he wanted to..Besides, he really wanted you. I may not see why yet, but I'm sure I will eventually.."

Peter finally smiled, a little hope lifting his spirits at Kevin's words. At least, he didn't hate him. That was already good. He didn't think the one to comfort him would be Kevin—but then—his grip on him tightened perceptibly and his smile became a little too fake as he leaned forward so Peter may hear him very carefully.

"But, try to hurt me, or anyone else in this family ? And you're dead, got it newbie ?", he whispered threateningly in his ear and Peter knew better than to disagree. Hs smile dropped instantly and he nodded. Kevin's smile returned to his face and he loosened his grip on him.

"Good. Glad we could clear that out. Goodnight, newbie."

Peter returned to his bedroom and balled himself into a fœtus position on his bed. He then started sobbing uncontrollably and numbed himself into into an uneasy sleep.

A few minutes later :

When Morgan entered Peter's room with a knife in hand, he had every intention to get rid of Peter..He didn't care about what Hannibal Sr.' wished. He was convinced the boy was going to be the downfall of the Hannibals and he would be caught dead before letting that happen.

He approached the bed and let the bladed dance lazily on the bedsheets before reaching Peter's face. He let the sharp edge dig into his skin without breaking skin.

One movement.

One slash.

One tinny accident, and he would be gone.

But then, Peter stirred in his sleep and suddenly grabbed Morgan's hand. Morgan looked down as the fingers clutching desperately around his..He retrieved his knife.

He hated Peter, he was the reason behind Hannibal Sr.' imprisonment and he would never be a Hannibal in his eyes, but Morgan still hesitated. Peter held his hand tightly and Morgan took the new proximity to observe his sleeping form more closely.

"NO ! PLEASE ! MOM ! COME BACK ! I'M SORRY !"

He cried for his mom, a mother Morgan hadn't been so lucky to be given at birth. Peter had killed someone, and it had suddenly been decided that he would join the family just like that. It irked Morgan who fought every day to be worthy of the name.

He appeared so soft. He looked like an angel.

He didn't act, look, or even sound like a Hannibal.

And maybe was it the reason Morgan was so set on refusing him ? Kevin and himself held no more innocence in them, they had given it all to be spared the pain. But, this one. This one was not born out of deceit and cruelty. He had left a loving mother and a good life behind to join them..The thought alone made him a fool in Morgan's eyes—him who had only ever wanted a life such as his.

He couldn't restrain himself as he bent over to seethe lowly in Peter's ear.

"...I hope you die."

It made him want to consume him and take that small part of happiness. He leaned forward and wondered for a moment if he should start with his cheeks or nose ? He traced the side of his face with the back of his index finger and imagined all of the incisions it would take for the angelic face to be replaced by a faceless and nameless red mess..Yes. He hated him. He loathed him even.

The whole house could have fallen to his charms, but he wouldn't. He could see who he truly was and even though, when Peter clutched to him even tighter—he didn't pull away.

How dared he abandon everything Morgan had ever wished for, and pretend to be one of them ?

But, when Peter unconsciously reached for him in his sleep, he let his knife clatter to the floor to hold him.

Peter's POV :

Peter's saliva felt like burning hot lava in his mouth and even though the urge to scream came again—it died in his throat because of the constant tears. He wished he could be like Kevin and feel nothing. Absolutely nothing. But, he did. He heard Ava calling him—blaming him for everything and it hurt.

He knew he wouldn't find any comfort from anyone. He had sent Hannibal Sr. to prison and his own mother hated him..He was a monster. However, he did feel arms wrap around him from behind and a soft voice shush soothingly in his ear.

"Ssh..You are alright. Everything will be alright..Just breathe."

He didn't recognize the voice at first, he just instinctively followed its directive and started taking deep breathes. His eyelids fluttered open and he blinked several times before recognizing Morgan's face. He knew he should be worried and move away from him, but he couldn't help reeling in the comfort he was getting. He hid his own in the soft fabric of Morgan's coat and cried. He knew he shouldn't—he didn't deserve such kindness from the oldest Hannibal son..But, it didn't stop him from taking every ounce of compassion thrown his way. He was just so very tired..

"Don't..leave me.", Peter whimpered pathetically with his eyes closed and Morgan's jaw twitched. He hesitated before resting his arm on his shivering form. No matter how much he loathed him, he had to admit the parasite was convincing.

"I won't. Now, go back to sleep, parasite."

Peter smiled at the nickname. He didn't pity him. He was glad. He didn't want pity. Morgan saw more than just a boy, and Peter thrived under this unwholesome attention. Some would call him insane, but he found comfort in this lack of pretense. He was free. Free to be whoever he wanted. Free from Perfect Peter.

He was Peter Hannibal now..

And he would prove them. He would prove them all. He was going to best them all.

A few minutes later :

Kevin was surprised when he walked past Peter's bedroom to find the door wide open. He peaked inside and smiled when he saw Morgan holding the young boy's sleeping form.

"Soooo...You and Princess finally getting along, huh ?"

Morgan sent him such a dark glare, Kevin knew better than to insist and let out a small chuckle before waving them goodnight.

"Fine. See ya in the morning, grumpy pants."

[stayandot8]

Tracks Three & Four: Mixtape: OH & Your Eyes

Genre: Toothache Fluff

Relationship type: established boyfriend/girlfriend

Important Contents: Part 4 of Playlist. If you read, thank you. Please tell me what you thought. <3

WC: 2.8k

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3. Mixtape: OH

4. Your Eyes

Things with Chan were going as well as could be expected. We had been spending time together for a couple months, knowing that we were exclusive to each other but not yet officially together. We had already discussed what kind of relationship we were looking for and we were narrowly approaching the level of comfort we both desired. I missed him while he was away, but that made our time together that much more special. At this time I was really only spending time with him and getting to know him, seeing the small things about each other was coming easier to him than it was to me. Chan was just so detail-oriented that I was jealous of him. He objected to this compliment, saying that his job forced him to be so meticulous but I knew better. It was just who he was. I was not such a person. But the one thing I knew he loved more than anything else in the world wasn’t that hard to figure out: his members. 

My few interactions with the members so far had all been positive, but I had decided that in order to get to know Chan, I had to get to know those that were the most important to him. If I wanted to start to invest in our budding relationship, what and who was important to him should become important to me too. I figured the best way was to catch them in their natural habitat and observe. Like at the zoo. 

Felix was the one I had gotten closest to first. I had just planned on stopping by to surprise Chan until I was greeted by all seven members when I opened the door. None but Felix knew I was coming so the surprise on my face was matched by six faces. Felix just smiled and came to hug me at the door. 

“Hey! We were just about to start a movie, come sit!” He led me to the couch where Hyunjin was waiting, smiling politely at me and moving to make room for me.  The others were scattered around the room

“Actually, I was just going to peek in on Chan for a second but I’ll be right back, I promise.” I smiled to the room as I turned down the hall. The hallway itself was dark, all the bedroom doors closed except for one. I could see the pink LED shadows through the cracks and I knew who was behind the door. I nudged it open just enough to poke my head in. Chan was frowning from his chair at his computer, his headphones on both ears so he couldn’t hear the noise from the living room. He was focused, elbow on the desk and head resting on his fist. His concentration was really something. 

“Han, I said I was busy.” He mumbled.

“Guess again.” I retorted, leaning against the door frame.

His head snapped towards the door, taking off his headphones and his face lighting up when he saw who exactly was bothering him. 

“Hey, how did you get in here?” Ah, that smile was contagious. His genuine smiles were my favorite, always appearing when I came into his view. 

“How else? Felix let me in. I thought I would come bother you for a little bit while you’re still on this continent.” I plopped on his bed across from him, noting how his face fell into a sad smile.

“Ah, I see. I wish you would’ve texted me. I have to get this done before we leave next week and it’s nowhere near as finished as I would want it to be right now.”

“Oh that’s okay. It was a spur of the moment thing anyways, no big deal. In fact, I think I’ll go make some trouble with the calvary out there.” I snatched the hat he was wearing and placed it on my own head, a smirk making its way onto my face as I stood to leave his room.

His face fell into a small pout. He paused for a moment, just blinking at me. 

“Without me?” God, that face could make me do just about anything. His bottom lip jutted out just a bit and his eyes wide and rounded made him look like a kid who was begging his mom to let him play outside. It took everything in me not to cave.

“Christopher.” I chuckled out. “You have work to do. We’ll be out here when you’re done, okay? Put your headphones back on and get to work. The sooner you get to where you want to be, the sooner you can come out there.” I felt like a mother, forcing her son to do his homework. 

His mouth wrinkled in impatience, his disgruntled moaning making him more into the child he was pretending to be. “Fine.” He heaved a sigh as he threw his headphones back on, my cue to start heading back for my spot on the couch in the living room. “But you better still be here when I’m done!” He called to me as I walked back down the hall into the living room, awaiting the teasing I would undoubtedly get from his chosen family.

Coming out of the hall, Han, Changin, and Felix were standing around some bottles, making themselves drinks for the impending activities. Felix waved me over to make a drink for myself. I figured alcohol was the way to get rid of my nerves of hanging out with them without Chan so what was the worst that could happen? 

"So how is our Channie-hyung? I'll bet he kicked you out too. We tried to get him to come out so he could see you when you walked in but he wouldn't budge." Felix explained while pouring himself a drink. I gave a shrug in response.

“What’s your poison, gorgeous? We’ve got just about everything so take your pick.” Han earned a smirk with that as I eyed all of the bottles they had. 

“I don’t think I can choose. Can I just have what you’re having?” Han nodded and poured half of an empty cup full of the green bottle and filled the rest with a clear carbonated liquid. He finished it off with a lime slice on the edge and handed it to me. 

“Gin and Tonic. Goes down easier than anything that these fools are drinking.” He gestures to the couch, leading the way back to the couch. Felix patted the spot next to him and I sat, nestled in between him and Hyunjin. The movie was playing but no one seemed to be paying much attention to it. I wondered why it was on in the first place. After a while, Felix was the first to speak.

“Sorry, I have to take this and it's loud in here. I’ll be right back.” Felix rose from his spot and ran to the door, shutting it behind him as he brought his phone to his ear.

“What are we even watching?” I asked the room, hoping someone would hear me among the commotion going around. Lee Know, Seungmin and Changbin were looking at Changbin’s phone, scrolling through something and deep in discussion to the left of the coffee table in front of the couch. I.N. was leaning away from Han, trying to run away from his physical advances while Han laughed maniacally. He got away while Han gave chase, running around the kitchen island and eventually catching him. Jeongin was feigning his disgust, evident by his huge grin while trapped in Han's arms.

Hyunjin was the only one who heard me it seemed as he was the only one to answer me. “I think it's just some random movie that Han put on for us. I haven’t seen it before but it looked interesting.” He raised his cup to his lips, taking a swig from the dark mixture and turning to look at me head on. “But I wanted to know more about you.” His stare was fixated on Chan’s hat on my head. He narrowed his eyes as a small smile creeped its way onto his face. He glanced back down into my eyes and cocked his head. “So what do you think about our Channie-hyung, hm?” 

I was taken aback, my mind coming up short. “Uhm…” I shook my head, blinking a few times to set my brain back straight. “Well…” I say to my drink, still not able to look him in the eyes. “He’s sweet. Adorable, of course. I could stare at him all day long.” Hyunjin scrunched up his nose at that, making me laugh at him. “I don’t know, he’s got this way of making me feel… at ease around him. He makes it so easy to talk to him about everything. I find myself seeing or hearing things that I would want to show him or tell him and he never makes me feel weird about it because he does the same thing. I feel like I can be myself around him in ways I couldn’t be before. It’s refreshing.” My stomach tightened just thinking about all of the things I liked about this boy. I closed my eyes as my head fell back onto the couch and sighed. “He makes me feel wanted. Like we could simply be in a room together and be happy. Which we have and it was so simple and normal but comfortable too. I just hate being away from him. I feel safe with him. Like a kid with a blanket. Nothing could get to me as long as I was with him. He feels like…home. He feels like home.” Nodding to confirm that I was using the correct word, I am finally able to look Hyunjin in the eye, who isn’t looking at me anymore. No, he was looking just past me. I turned around to see what he was staring at to find Chan leaning against the wall, beaming at me with rosy cheeks. 

I snapped back to Hyunjin, jaw clenched and wide eyes. He simply shrugged and the smug smile only grew as he got up from his place on the couch and patted Chan’s shoulder as he passed him to join the others. That little…  I narrowed my eyes at the back of his head, hoping he could feel the mental daggers I was throwing at him. 

Chan took Hyunjin’s place on the sofa, grabbing my drink on his way down. My breathing was only picking up the pace as he put his other arm on the back to enclose me in the space. That shit-eating grin wasn’t going to leave anytime soon. 

“That was mean.” I said, my narrowed eyes still shooting invisible daggers at Hyunjin.

“It wasn’t planned, I promise. I just have impeccable timing.” Chan said as he gulped down the rest of my drink. 

“I’ll say,” I responded. “Because now you have to make me another one.” My eyes flipped between my now empty glass and his smug face. God he was hot when he was cocky. 

He leaned in close to me, his lips parted slightly. “That was the plan all along.” He smirks at me. “Meet me back in my room. It’s my turn.” He got up from his seat to take his place at the drinks table.

My heart had not stopped its racing. His turn? For wha- Oh. Maybe something good can come out of this after all. Depending on how these next few minutes went, I either had to send Hyunjin flowers or a glitter bomb. I was okay with either. 

I quietly ran back to Chan’s room and sat on my hands on his bed. My foot started shaking with nervous energy as I stared at the floor. The door creaked open as Chan came back in with two glasses, shutting the door with his foot behind him. The music from the other room being muted did nothing for my nervous energy. I was thankful that Chan handed me my glass so I could do literally anything with my hands but pick at my cuticles. I downed the glass quickly and set it on the floor. He sat on the floor in front of the bed, in front of me. He wasn’t looking at me either. Oh god. He’s breaking up with me. We aren’t even together and we’re done before we can even- Him clearing his throat broke me of my racing thoughts. But then he started to speak, an added quiver to his voice. 

“I’ve never done this before so you’ll have to be patient with me.” I nodded even though he wasn’t looking at me. I let my eyes roam along his stressed face, wishing I could kiss it all away. He swallowed hard then continued on, his voice slightly stronger. 

“When I got to know those idiots out there, I thought I knew what love was supposed to feel like. You have shown me a different kind of love and how it was supposed to feel. I thought it was supposed to be complicated and hard and messy. You showed me that it doesn’t have to be. We have our moments. But what I’ve come to realize is that in order for it to feel right, it has to be right. That probably makes no sense.” He laughs to himself, my eyes on the dangerous verge of spilling tears. The alcohol and his avoidance of my gaze was not helping.

 “I never know what to do when you’re around. I have all of these big plans and gestures that come to mind when I’m alone but when you’re around, they just fall away. I can’t think of anything else but you. All the time. I can’t sleep if I haven’t heard your voice that day. That’s why I call you at odd hours, sorry about that.” I shake my head, about to explain that I felt the same way about his voice but then he looked up. He bore into my eyes, very serious. I stopped breathing. I could feel the air shift around us, crackling with electricity. 

“I want to do everything I can to make you smile or laugh or look at me with those eyes. I could drown in them all day if you would let me. You’ve been looking at me differently lately and now I think I know why. Because I feel the same way. I want to explore our relationship further. Officially. As my girlfriend.” It took a second for his words to sink in. My mouth fell slightly open as it dawned on me. There goes my heart rate again. 

“Yes.”

His hope-filled eyes searched my face for a sign of sincerity. When he was satisfied that I was indeed serious, he leapt from his place on the floor to tackle me onto his bed in a fit of giggles from us both. 

“I thought you’d never ask.” I lifted my head to kiss him. He returned it, deeply and without hesitation. 

I heard yells of delight as the door swung open and bodies began to pile on top of me as the yelling and laughter grew louder.

“Have you been listening the whole time??” I shouted at the seven other bodies on top of us that hadn’t been there before. A chorus of ‘no’s and other shouts of protest followed, making Chan roll his eyes to me. 

“Everyone who is not in this relationship, get out!” He shouted. The boys begrudgingly obeyed, all mumbling and grumbling to each other, Han being the loudest with shouts of ‘ well sorry we’re happy for you’ and Seungmin’s ‘stop being such a grandpa’ coming to a close second. Changbin, who grumbled the most, closed the door on his way out. Chan still did not move from his place on top of me. He looked at me with that spark in his eye. 

“Now where were we?” 

“Chan!” I rolled my eyes at that mischievous grin and wiggled until he moved off me to stand. “We should probably get back.” I held my hand out for him to take, which he did and interlocked our fingers. He brought them both to his lips before he opened the door. 

The yelling was back as we emerged from the hallway, hands intertwined and grins plastered on. We took our places back on the couch, his arm around me this time as he reached for my hand again. I tilted my head to look at him again to find that he was already doing the same to me. I finally let myself stare for as long as I wanted, no longer holding myself back. 

Hyunjin had a nice bouquet coming for him tomorrow. 

[ecargmura]

Pokemon Horizons Episode 14 Review: Helping Wattrel Fly

Wow, this episode caught me off guard. I was assuming this would be the case like that one Advanced Generation episode where May took care of Swablu and was about to catch it before its flock arrived and cucked her out of an amazing party Pokemon. The writers didn’t cuck anyone this time! They actually allowed Roy to catch the Wattrel he befriended!

It turns out that Wattrel’s inability to fly was due to its fear of heights, which is a bit ironic given it’s a bird. It’s like Ash’s Oshawott being afraid to swim as it closes its eyes every time it’s submerged in water. Roy encouraging Wattrel to fly and then succeeding made me feel good. He’s such a good boy.

Roy reminded me a lot of Ash in terms of his way of caring for Pokemon. Roy is in tune with nature due to his upbringing on the island, so he seems to be more in tune with Pokemons’ feelings, just like how he could tell Wattrel was troubled and wanted to help it. The fact that he’s a quick thinker made his personality shine. The way he saw Ludlow’s fishing rod and decided to make a wooden Wattrel to help demonstrate how to fly.

Wattrel was adorable! I didn’t really care much for it in the game, but the anime made it so adorable. It has so much personality. The way it gained confidence after it flew and then the way it wanted to come with Roy moved my heart. They’re going to be a good team. It’s also been a long time since I last saw someone catch the regional bird. I wonder what Liko’s first catch is going to be. I kind of want her to catch a Galarian Ponyta since the RVTs are going to Galar.

Another important plot point in this episode is Friede and Liko’s dealing with Spinel, albeit separately. Friede noticed Spinel’s Magnetons that he eventually follows into Levincia City. Friede deals with Spinel’s Pokemon who was leading him to an ambush. Spinel commands one of his Magneton and Beheeyem via headset to attack Friede and his Charizard. While Friede was at a disadvantage, he pulls out his secret weapon: Tera Orb! He terastalized his Charizard into a Dark-type in order to resist Beheeyem’s Psychic. After he wins, the foe’s Pokemon retreats, causing Spinel to gather enough data for his next plan.

While Friede is cool and can terastalize, I dislike the fact that his major flaw is not being specific about his actions. He didn’t tell Liko about the RVTs being her bodyguards hired by her mom until a few episodes later. He’s being vague in this episode. Orla asks what he was doing, and he just said “Stuff” in a way. It’s because of this flaw that causes Liko to run off on her own and get her pendant stolen; he didn’t warn her or any of the other RVTs about the potential danger they’re facing and how the system shut down was related to it. It’s frustrating and I hope this aspect of his character gets fixed when he gets spotlight.

Liko spends the episode happy. Murdock thanks her for being a friend to Dot and she tags along Roy’s plans with Wattrel. It’s when she gets fooled by a fake advertisement that she runs off on her own, not knowing the dangers she’s approaching (Thanks, Friede) and then gets hypnotized by Beheeyem after encountering a disguised Spinel. He steals her pendant very easily because of this.

Spinel easily overtakes Amethio as a villain. Not that Amethio is bad, but Spinel is much more calculating. He’s intelligent and uses crafty tactics to get the upper hand. He’s a very tough villain and it makes me wonder how the RVTs are going to catch him.

It seems that in the next episode preview, Liko seems to have lost her memories as well as Sprigatito because Sprigatito would never scratch Liko if she was closing in for a hug. The only time the cat had scratched her was during their first meeting when they didn’t know each other very well. I do wonder how she’s going to regain her memories and how she’s going to get the pendant back. I can’t wait for next week!

Speaking of which, San Diego Comic Con announced that there will be a Horizons dub! There will be a lot of returning and newcomers to the Pokemon scene. There’s a ten minute preview on Youtube!

[justabooknerdposts]

Anyway. I saw that you put the order list so I have some: howI saw that you put the order list so I have some ideas: how grover, chiron, Sally, and the like discovered romance; the first time they makeout, no sex! just teenage fire. the three going to new rome; a day as a camp counselor and I love stories that take place well before TLO!!!

*Okay, I decided to go with a little bit of a day as a camp counselor, set post-BotL, pre-TLO (and there’s a bonus scene at the end regarding Sally, post-TLO 😊)*

I couldn’t find Annabeth.  True, things had been weird between the two of us ever since the Battle of the Labyrinth and the end of our quest a couple weeks ago, so we’d both been kind of avoiding each other.  But I figured that today was the one day she’d be way more mad if I didn’t find her than if I did.

I’d spent the morning doing my regular camp counselor duties.  Unfortunately, that had included kitchen patrol because the Poseidon cabin had scored last in inspections.  I said Silena was too picky at inspections, wanting everything to be pretty.  No one had agreed with me.  So, I was stuck cleaning up after breakfast, which extra sucked since I was currently the only one in the Poseidon cabin; Tyson was back in the undersea forges for the week.  The lava spray guns the harpies used made me extra nervous now, after my experience in Mt. St. Helens. 

Luckily, I managed to escape with only a very minor burn on my finger.  Then I grabbed the package I’d set carefully by the door, far away from the water and lava, and headed out the kitchen door.  Morning activities were in full swing.  The Hephaestus cabin had arts and crafts time, so they were making their usual elaborately designed machines.  The Aphrodite cabin was down at the lake, doing canoe races, although some of them, like Drew Tanaka, appeared to just be tanning.  Hermes cabin was running relay races on the climbing wall; as I passed, I saw Connor Stoll rolling on the ground, trying to put out his burning shirt.  I thought about dousing him, but his shirt had already stopped burning and was now simply smoldering, so I figured he’d be okay.  Over on the archery range, the Athena and Apollo cabins were competing.  That should have been super unfair to the Athena cabin, but some of their campers were almost as good with calculating velocity and angles as the Apollo campers were with their natural talent.  However, I didn’t see Annabeth.  And, despite my lucky shot against Geryon earlier this summer, I had no desire to go near the archery range.  Although, I probably needed to burn a thank you offering to Artemis and Apollo for that shot.

I finally found Annabeth in the empty dining pavilion, still seated at the Athena table, absorbed in Daedalus’s laptop.  Its screen gave her face a faintly blue tint. 

Interrupting her was risky, so I kind of stood there awkwardly until she said, “Hey, Percy,” without looking up.

“Hey.”  I shifted from foot to foot.  “Are you busy?”

She pursed her lips, then shook her head.  “I could take a break,” she admitted, scooting her laptop back.  She gave me a small smile, which I figured was a big win, and said, “What’s up, Seaweed Brain?”

Remembering what Athena had told me back in December on Olympus, I was a little hesitant to sit at the goddess’s table, but I decided to take the risk.  I perched myself on the very edge of the bench beside Annabeth—but not, you know, too close.  When no thunder rumbled and I wasn’t immediately incinerated, I figured Annabeth’s mom was giving me a pass.  For now.

“How’s it going with that thing?” I asked, nodding at Daedalus’s laptop.

Her eyes lit up.  “It’s amazing.  There are so many different designs and inventions—I could probably spend the next hundred years, literally, going through them.”

“That sounds…fun.  For you, anyway.”

“I told Beckendorf about some of the designs.  We might try to collaborate on making some of Daedalus’s inventions for real.  Like there’s this shield—”

Thunder rumbled overhead.  I leapt up from the Athena table like my butt was on fire.  Because I really didn’t want it to end up that way.

“Uh, sorry.  I don’t think your mom likes me sitting at her table.”

Annabeth looked like she was fighting back a smirk.  “Want to walk down to the dock instead?”

“That would be great.”  I tucked the wrapped package I’d brought under my arm.

We sat at the end of the dock on the canoe lake, dangling our feet in the water.  Farther out, the Aphrodite kids were squabbling.  Someone had flipped Drew Tanaka’s canoe, dunking her, which was apparently a huge ordeal because it had gotten her hair wet.  Drew clearly was not happy about it.  Silena was trying to mediate, but looked a little stressed.

“Should we help?” Annabeth asked, looking out at the lake.

“I don’t think they’ll listen to us,” I said.  “But I can always try to separate them with a wave or something if it gets really ugly.”

“That works,” Annabeth said.  “So, did you have a reason for coming to find me, Seaweed Brain?”

“Maybe.”  My neck felt hot, but I handed over my clumsily wrapped present that I was suddenly wishing I’d taken more care with wrapping.  “This is for you.  Happy birthday, Annabeth.”

She took the present, looking surprised, then said quietly, “Thanks, Percy.”

I waited nervously while she unwrapped it.  It was a book about Frank Lloyd Wright, who was a famous architect.  Annabeth had mentioned him a few times, so I hoped I wasn’t too far off track.  I’d asked my mom to order the book, then she’d mailed it to camp for me.  I’d been a little worried it wasn’t going to show up on time; it had only arrived yesterday.  I’d had to ask Silena for wrapping paper.  Her knowing look when I said it was for Annabeth made me feel embarrassed and I’d hurried to get out of the Aphrodite cabin as quickly as possible.

Annabeth’s face when she unwrapped the book made it all worth it, though.  “Oh my gods, Percy!  This is so cool.”  She looked up at me then, her smile as bright as the summer sky.  “How did you know I like Frank Lloyd Wright?”

I shrugged.  “You’ve mentioned him a few times.  Didn’t you say the house at the Triple G Ranch looked like a Frank Lloyd Wright?”

“Yeah, I did.”  Annabeth studied me for a moment, then she leaned over and kissed my cheek.  “Thank you.”

I tried not to look too pleased.  “You’re welcome.”

We sat there quietly for a minute while Annabeth flipped through her book, pausing on different pages like she was reading a couple of lines. 

Finally, I asked, “So, how’s your birthday going so far?”

“Pretty good.  My siblings woke me up by singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to me this morning.”

“That sounds like a terrifying way to wake up.”

Annabeth laughed, which was good to hear.  “It kind of was.  But they meant well.”

We talked for a few minutes about nothing important.  Definitely nothing quest or war related.  It felt nice to just hang out, like we used to before things got weird this summer.

“I finally got to lead a quest,” Annabeth said after talking about how it had been a crazy year, between going to school with Thalia in Brooklyn, then getting kidnapped by Atlas, then the quest this summer.  “I just wish I’d done a better job with it.  I always…” her voice trailed off as she bit her lip, then she said in a rush, “I always thought I’d be better at it.  More of a natural.”

“I thought you did great,” I said truthfully.  “This was a tough quest.  Like you said, some of our other ones have been more logical.  This one was all over the place.  Literally.  I mean, we walked from Long Island to San Francisco in a day.  And then ended up in Texas a couple hours later.  Who could plan for that?”

“But I should have been able to.”  Annabeth gripped her book more tightly, her knuckles turning white.  “If I don’t have a clear plan, who’s ever going to follow me on…anything?”

“I’d still follow you.”

Annabeth looked taken aback.  Then, in a small voice, she said, “You would?”

“Definitely.  I’d follow you anywhere.”

The words were out of my mouth before I could think about them.  I felt the back of my neck heat up again.  But it was true.  I trusted Annabeth more than I trusted anyone else.  Even if she didn’t know all the details, I knew she’d always come up with some kind of a plan.

Annabeth’s ears were red.  But instead of saying anything, she laid her book gently down beside her on the dock.  Then she reached over and took my hand.  I summoned my courage and lightly squeezed her fingers.  She returned the pressure.

We sat there for a while, holding hands at the end of the dock, watching the Aphrodite kids use their paddles to fling water at each other, not saying much.  But I was reminded of the time we’d shared a dance on Mount Olympus, the music a little sad, but a little hopeful, too. 

*

Okay, and then for fun, another part of the request was about first make out session and also Sally finding out—so I decided to combine the two lol This is set post-TLO

Sally was pleasantly surprised when Percy asked if he could invite Annabeth over for dinner.  He had only been home from camp for a few days, and Sally knew Annabeth had flown back to the city to move into her dorm room, after going home to San Francisco for a couple of days to pack her things.  Sally hadn’t seen her since the kids had come out of the elevator in the Empire State Building at the end of the war, so she was looking forward to catching up.  Especially since she hadn’t seen a lot of Annabeth this summer, with Percy spending a lot of time hanging out with Rachel.  Not that that was a problem.  Sally liked Rachel, too.  But she had to admit that she’d missed seeing Annabeth around.

Paul would be home in an hour.  He was currently at Goode High School, getting his classroom ready for school to start next week.  Percy was in the living room, playing a video game.  Sally knew she needed to start dinner soon, but she was currently back sitting at the desk in her bedroom, jotting down a few quick ideas she’d had about the next chapter in her novel.  She wanted to get them down on paper before she forgot about them.  So she heard the knock on the apartment door, but didn’t think too much about it, since she was still absorbed in her book.  Which meant that it was a huge surprise for her, when she headed back out into the living room, to find Annabeth now sitting on the couch with Percy. 

Actually, Annabeth sitting on the couch wasn’t the surprise. 

The surprise was finding the two of them sitting on the couch making out.

“Oh,” Sally said, her initial reaction to stumbling on this scene.

Percy and Annabeth broke apart like they’d been shocked with Zeus’s lightning bolt.

“Oh shi—um, sorry, Mom,” Percy said, his face bright red.

Annabeth looked mortified.  “Oh my gods.  Sorry, Ms. Jackson!”

Sally just stood for a moment, processing.  Then, she exhaled and said, “Finally.”

Leaving the two teenagers gaping at her, she headed into the kitchen to start dinner, a slight smile on her face.

*Because Sally was totally one of the first Percabeth fans.*

[wraenata]

i was tagged by fellow raven enthusiast @redstringraven, thank you! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Oops I trauma dumped in some of these what a surprise

share your wallpaper:

My phone lock screen is a alternating picture of my cat Sally, or her sister Jenny who passed two years ago. In both photos they look like super models <3

My computer wallpaper is a alternating slideshow of like over 100 landscape and animal photos. Idk I got them from the microsoft store free at one point. They change every 30 minutes. I like the variety.

last song you listened to:

For some reason when I got home today I decided to watch the amazing Reverse animatic and then since I am finally using a new browser Firefox it started auto playing and went to the Roaring 20s animatic, and my brain decided to listen to that on repeat the entire night. I do not know why.

currently reading:

SO MANY FANFIC and I'm behind on all of them

On my immediate list to catch up right now are

We'll Meet Again Soon by chiangyorange

all the ashes in my wake by paperxcrowns

Change of Perspective by characcoon

last movie you watched:

Honestly have no idea. Probably the Rise movie. In two weeks it will be Spider-Verse and I will not be normal about it.

craving:

Energy to be alive

what are you wearing right now:

Yeah I get home from work at 3:30, finish dinner before 4:30, shower and in my jammies by 5 pm. This is how I live my life haha. It is a bit cool today so I opted for my big pink sweatshirt from a campground.

how tall are you:

5 foot 4 inches just barely, which is 162.56 cm according to an online converter. I'm short.

piercings:

So my ears were actually pierced when I was like 3 or something by my parents' friend. No I don't think she asked permission haha. Anyway I had to have an x-ray done not a year later so the earings came out and never went back in. My parents religion we converted into though actually did not allow piercings, so I never got them repierced. No jewelry was allowed. Some of the more strict southern churches didn't allow even wedding bands.

tattoos:

None. Tattoos were literally the reason my mom made us leave the normal church and go to the cult one. Tattoos were not allowed. Maybe I'll get one some day but it's not something I really think I need. But nothing is stopping me anymore if I wanted to.

glasses? contacts?:

4 eyes that's me :) Got glasses in 6th grade yay. I'm not super blind but unless I'm pretty close I'm losing out on a lot of details. Had to buy special prescription safety glasses for my lab job. When I'm at home I don't wear them. Details not important.

last drink:

I literally only drink water. And I drink a lot of it. Gave up soda when I was like 8 because I was afraid of wasps getting in the can. I don't drink alcohol or juice. Maybe a hot cocoa or tea but that is very rare.

last thing i ate:

Sugar snap peas! I love them <3

last show:

Lets be honest it was rise.

favorite color:

I like a forest green. But also I love pastels. I do not like red. You can thank my mom for that.

current obsession:

Rise of the TMNT. Also Spider-Verse.

unrelated obsession:

Nature related strategy board games. My favorites are Wingspan and Everdell but I have so.many.board.games. I got into the hobby because it was the only thing I could tolerate spending time with my mom with but now I don't want to do that anymore, so the games have gone unplayed since Christmas.

any pets:

My 19 year old tortie Sally! She is deaf and a box of rocks and so expensive with her health problems but I love her to bits. She's my baby and has been with me through everything.

do you have a crush on anyone:

I mean I had crushes in school but, oh shocker I was never allowed by my parents to date. And even then it had to be a fellow pentecostal and I sure as hell wasn't going to do that. I was too bogged down with family issues to ever consider it even after I left. I don't know if I'm capable of loving someone? Idk I have always had a huge identity crisis of who I am and what I want. But I also don't want to be alone forever. It's complicated.

favorite fictional characters:

Ninja turtles, Rise Casey Jones, Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner), Peter Parker, Miles Morales, Spider Gwen, Snoopy, Cinderpelt.

the last place you traveled to:

Ugh, the bachelorette party of my nightmares this past weekend. It was in a tourist town a few hours away. Unless work counts cause I went to work this morning.

tagging I'm not going to tag anyone because this is a lot, but if you would like to do it I encourage you to!

[katealot]

Like the Back of My Hand

Chapter 13 of Solangelo Soulmate AU

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Read on Ao3

Word count: 4473

Previously: "B-but one thing... I can say for certain," Will said, sensing the miscommunication, "is that..." he looked him right in the eye, "I love you."

Nico's heart leapt into his throat. He stared at Will who stared back at him, letting his words land before continuing on.

"And you don't have to say it back, because I know that saying that kind of thing isn't something you might want take lightly, which is also why it... took me so long to say it to you. But I do, love you. A-and I've known... for a while."

Of course, after such declarations, it seems only fitting that they didn't see each other for the next three days. Not that they were avoiding each other... intentionally. Their schedules just kept clashing in ways that seemed like more effort than not to work around. Work, unavoidable holiday traditions,

And besides, Nico thought after one of their failed attempts to see each other, Will loved him.

He tried not to think about it, to fight the urge to smile when he remembers how the words sounded coming out of his mouth, to suppress the residual fluttering in his stomach. For as uncharacteristically giddy being explicitly loved by someone made him feel, there was an equally as terrifying fear that if he acknowledged it, Will would change his mind, deciding he actually didn't want to stick around, and leave Nico's life as quickly as he'd entered it. And although that stifling fear kept him from living in that moment when Will finally confessed his intentions... he felt safe in acknowledging their mutual desire to keep trying to find time for each other.

So finally, as the last week of December sauntered on, Nico found himself sketching in his living room, Will's legs resting across his lap as he lay across the couch, reading and ignoring the carbon copy holiday romcom that was on in the background.

"I'm kind of surprised you had today off," Nico said. "I thought I read somewhere that most attempted murders happen on Christmas by someone you know... figured you guys would be slammed."

Will chuckled and lowered his book so he could smirk over the top of it.

"It is so creepy that you know that. Where could you possibly have read that?"

Nico shrugged.

"Internet," he said, deadpanned.

"Ahh," Will suppressed his smile, nodding sagely, "well then, it has to be true."

Nico nodded back. Will snickered again.

"It's definitely a busy time of year," Will answered, "but something in the schedule managed to get me off today."

Miraculously, Will seemed completely oblivious to the double entendre he had just made. So, naturally, Nico took the opportunity to embarrass him.

"You're telling me you didn't imagine anything getting you off today?" He pretended not to watch as Will's grip on his book went slack, gears turning, until he flushed a bright red. Quickly, Nico continued on as if equally oblivious, "So where's your mom today? I figured you'd be with her if you weren't at work."

Will, who was still blinking dubiously from the first question, answered,

"U-uh, she's," he shook his head to clear his thoughts, "I told her I had work today."

Nico stopped drawing. He put down his tablet and looked at Will,

"You..."  he quirked his eyebrow, a small smile ghosting his lips, " you lied to her? For what? So you could spend all day on my couch with me?"

Will smiled back at him.

"Is it so hard to believe that I'd rather do nothing with you than hang out with my mom again?" He rolled his eyes, but smiled all the while, continuing, "I love my mother, don't get me wrong..." he paused, meeting Nico's eye, "but I also love you."

There it was again. That funny feeling. That rushing sense like flying... or falling. He swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Sneaking around behind you parent's back," he said quietly, teasing, "I didn't know you were such a bad boy, Solace..."

Will smiled wickedly at him, setting aside his book, and moving his legs from Nico's lap. The memory of being pinned to this very couch not long ago flashed across his mind, but then Will got off the couch and walked toward the balcony, and Nico let out an involuntarily sigh. Will stopped by the flower box to pay his favorite occupant a kiss on the petal, before doubling back  behind the couch and toward the kitchen.

Nico heard the sound of the faucet turning on and the clinking of Will tidying some of the morning's dishes. He huffed, only a little disappointed, and picked up his stylus, but froze when a pair of fingertips slid over his shoulders and across his chest until he was pressed to the back of the couch in a hug from behind. Will sighed against him, the places where their skin met radiated a comforting heat, and Nico almost instinctively relaxed. They stayed like that for a few seconds more, and then Nico felt the rumble of the voice of his voice almost before he heard the words, soft and low:

"Are you into bad boys, di Angelo?" Nico couldn't help it. His face flushed furiously with color, so quickly that he had to lift his tablet to hide his red face, and more importantly, his slowly blossoming grin.

After regaining his composure, he huffed stubbornly and turned so that his cheek was basically resting against Will's lips. Ever determined to get the last word, he quipped back,

"Wouldn't you like to know."

Will took this in stride, placing a soft, lingering kiss on Nico's cheek, before slinking off of him again to stand in the solitary sunbeam that manged to break into his apartment. Nico watched as Will leaned casually out the window, turning toward the sun and closing his eyes, letting the warm rays wash over him. Nico couldn't help but conjure the image of a sunflower, facing away from every other flower in an entire flourishing field, to turn it's face toward the sun. And, as was the routine, when Nico had filled his head with artistic symbolism, Will embellished it with his own thoughts.

"We should go out today," he said, not opening his eyes, "the sun is out. We could go for a walk, or maybe take one of the carriages around the park. Oh," he exclaimed, opening his eyes to look at Nico at last, "how do you feel about ice skating?"

Nico shook his head, a lazy smile on his face,

"I'll get dressed and go outside if you promise not to take me ice skating."

Will chuckled,

"Deal."

----

"So my sister's party is in three days," Will said as they leaned against the railing at the Highline. They had decided on a walk and Will picked the place, one 'with a view' he'd said, "I figured since you have class and I have work, I could pick you up on my way there?"

"I don't know-" Nico answered before he really had a reason, but continued nonetheless, "I wasn't really sure if I would go or not."

"What, really? Kayla has been talking about seeing you again all week, and I told her I'd bring you. I mean was that... like, presumptuous or..." he bumped his shoulder, "did something come up?"

"It..." Nico thought for a moment about what he was doing, yet found that this old routine of avoiding people was missing the it's main appeal: the desire to be alone, "no, it wasn't presumptuous. Sorry, I-" he shook his head, cracking a smile, "forget why I hesitated, of course I'm going. I'll see you at 9ish?"

The time passed. Will indeed rolled up in a ride-share right around 9:30pm. 

Nico climbed in the back where Will was already seated. The blond smiled at him.

"Hey," he said, reaching out to take Nico's hand reflexively.

"Hey," the other boy returned, squeezing his fingers in genuine happiness,"how was work?"

"Oh, you know," Will said with a sad smile, "they can't all be winners."

Nico wanted to ask him what he meant, but the way Will turned to look out the window but squeezed back even tighter made him think twice.

He works in a hospital, he thought to himself, he's surrounded by sickness and death every day...

He gazed at the blond with a sad sort of understanding and then made a decision. He was making it his personal mission to make sure Will had a good time tonight.

Pulling up outside a nice looking apartment complex, Will navigated them inside and into the elevator, pulling Nico by the hand along with him the whole way.

Just before the doors opened, Nico nudged Will's shoulder.

"Hey," he said, to which the taller boy quirked his eyebrow, "you look nice tonight."

Will smiled at him. 

"Thanks, he said before winking, "you don't look too bad yourself."

Nico chuckled and rolled his eyes which made Will smile even more.

Then the door opened and they were greeted by a tall, muscular gentleman who was neither Kayla nor Oasis.

"Charlie! What are you doing here, it's so good to see you man!"

Will stepped forward into an embrace the behemoth of a man who hugged him back, and responded in an appropriately deep voice,

"Will, how have you been man! I was in town and thought I'd drop in."

"That's great to hear, dude, we should grab lunch if you're still around tomorrow," Will turned and re-took Nico's hand is his. Nico stood a little straighter as Will introduced him.

"This is Nico, by the way," he said.

"Hey." Nico nodded awkwardly. Charlie looked at him, giving him a once over, then looked at their intertwined hands, then back at Will, then shrugged.

"Pleasure to meet you," he said and stepped aside, ushering them inside where the party was already in full swing.

There weren't a lot of people there, but the music was loud enough that the people who were there were talking loudly to be heard over it. They shuffled in and toward the heart of the apartment,  but a bathroom door opened just as Nico was passing it and he had to let go of Will's hand to catch it.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Said the woman who was stepping out from behind it.

"It's fine-" Nico started to say, and then he met her eye.

"Annabeth?"

"Oh wow, Nico? Hi! I... wow, I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah, same... how do you-"

"I went to camp with a Kayla and a lot of our friends here," she answered before he could finish, "I was just leaving, but it's good to see you; how are you? What are you doing here?"

"I'm," he cleared his throat, "you know, I'm making it through alright. I know, or- I'm-I'm seeing Kayla's brother so..."

She raised her eyebrows and a smirk ghosted her usual rsf (resting scowl face).

"You don't say..." was all she said, amused.

"Yeah, I should actually probably go find him, so-" he shifted uncomfortably between his feet.

"Of course," she said, letting him off the hook, "well it was good to see you. Percy's been talking about getting dinner with everyone again soon."

"Oh yeah, sure, that would be fun," he said, "well I'll see you around Annabeth."

"Yeah, see you," she said, unmoving.

He cleared his throat again and continued moving further into the house, searching for that familiar mop of blond hair. He was scanning the living room, where the bass of the Dua Lippa song was thrumming beneath his sneakers, when he felt a warm touch on his wrist.

"Hey, I thought I'd lost you back there," Will said.

Nico opened his mouth to respond but he was interrupted by a gentleman in a beanie who put an arm around both of the boy's shoulders.

"Enjoying the party over here?"

"Oh, hey Connor," Will said, "we actually just got here, this is my partner, Nico."

Connor nodded at Nico.

"Sup," he said, "well I'm just letting people know about the activities that are happening on the porch..." he held up a lighter and wiggled his eyebrows, "If either of you wanted to join us?"

"I'll pass, but thank you," Will said.

"Not a smoker?" Nico asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Will tried to hide his grimace, and then answered,

"Yeah when you've worked in a hospital for a while..." he trailed off. After a moment, though, he continued, "And, you know, I just don't love the way it makes me feel. But if you want to...you know... feel free"

Nico nodded and turned to the other guy, Connor,

"After you," he said.

Stepping out onto the small balcony, Nico nervously scanned the three other faces and was relieved to find two he recognized. Austin and Oasis sat on the ground with their backs against the railing, chatting and passing a roll-up between them.

"Ayye, he made it!" Austin said, standing up to give Nico a side-hug.

"We were wondering when you two would show up," Oasis followed-up, putting her fist out for him to bump, which he promptly did.

"Call it being fashionably late?" Nico attempted. Austin laughed and Oasis smiled, so he marked that one up as a success. He sat down against the sliding door as the bud was passed quietly around.

"Concerts," Austin said to the sky, blowing out a cloud of smoke before actually addressing the group, "Nico, what's the best concert you've ever been to?"

Nico gaped at being called out for only a moment before he collected himself and answered.

"Oh, man um... Elton John, probably?"

The balcony exclaimed in surprise.

"When did you get to see Elton John?" asked Connor.

Nico shrugged,

"Like 2 years ago I think? He was in town and so my sister flew in and we saw him together."

Austin whistled.,

"I hear he's a great performer."

Nico nodded, sighing wistfully,

"He certainly knows how to put on a show."

“So,” Oasis said through a cloudy exhale, “If you could go back in time and tell yourself from a year ago about how life is today... do you think your younger self would be proud of you?”

The half of the balcony groaned and half hummed thoughtfully. 

“Naw, I’d be on my own ass to get my shit together,” Connor said, passing the blunt to the strawberry-blonde girl next to him.

“Yeah,” she added, passing it in turn to Nico, “I mean I think she’d be happy I left my stupid ex, finally... That's been a long time coming… I guess she’d be proud of that.”

“Hell yeah I’d be happy,” Austin said, producing a small kalimba from out of seemingly nowhere and gently plucking away at it as he elaborated, “I’m not making too much money, and my emotional support grown-up did just leave me with our overworking-ass-punk-ass brother, but we’ll manage! We always do."

Oasis and the blonde girl snapped in agreement, saying things like "yes ma'am," and "I'll drink to that."

"Plus,” he said, nudging Nico’s foot as Nico handed him the blunt, “I got new friends, now.”

“Blegh-” Oasis mimed throwing up, but pulled Austin in around the shoulder for a hug. They all had a chuckle.

“What about you, Nico," Oasis finally said, "What would you a year ago think of you right now?”

Nico tensed as all eyes turned to face him. He laughed uncomfortably under their gaze, but when no one stepped in to fill the silence, he took another hit and answered.

“Oh, I- I don’t really know,” he said genuinely, “what have I done in a year?"

He considered for a moment everything that has happened since last winter,

"I finished my core curriculum classes, so I’m pretty much set to graduate in May… I helped my friends move across the country-” He thinks about the grueling road trip he, Jason, and Piper took from New York to California and practically shudders at the memory of those long days in a U-haul with a broken AC. That had only been a few weeks before...

“And then I met-” my soulmate, he stopped himself from confessing, “I met… the weirdest doctor in New York,” he cracked a smile and his friends giggled knowingly, “and he kind of hasn't left me alone since, so now I'm here."

He thought about who he was before that day in the park. What kind of person he had wanted to be back then. He thought about how it felt, so sure that he would be the last person left; that everything and everyone would slowly drift away until at last there would be nothing left but him.

And then the feeling of someone finally looking at him, taking his hand, and inviting him to step into the sunlight.

“I think I’d be pretty pleased,” he concluded finally. 

A second roll-up was passed around, the conversation turned to favorite road trip snacks, which turned to what podcasts everyone was listening to these days, which turned to the new law that passed in the house for federally mandated renewable energy.

----

Eventually, Nico excused himself and popped back through the sliding glass door into the living room. There weren’t that many people in here but what mattered was that none of them were anyone he knew. Which didn’t narrow it down, necessarily, but the point stood. 

He carefully peaked around corners, his antsy-ness increasing with every passing second of solitude, until he found what he was looking for: the teal themed kitchen where a brilliantly smiling Will was laughing at something Kayla was saying. Nico slunk in, trying to be discreet, but the second Will saw him, he perked up. Kayla turned and he was met with two equally enthusiastic gazes. 

“Nico! I have been looking for you, I’m so glad you’re here!” Kayla practically sung as she pulled him into a bear hug. 

She’s a little tipsy, Will mouthed to him and he stifled a chuckle.

“I’m glad to be here,” he answered instead, “you look amazing, this place looks amazing.” 

“Oh this ol’ thing? Pshshbt-” she blew a raspberry, gesturing vaguely to the decorated room, “Oasis picked most of it out. I’m just happy to be unpacked.”

“Get any hot goss out of the balcony bunch?” Will asked, resting his arm casually across Nico’s shoulder and pulling him close.

“Only that Austin misses Kayla and thinks Will works too much, but nothing that wasn’t obvious.”

Kayla and Will both blinked at him and then they looked at each other and started snickering, which Nico joined in on. 

“What about you? Did you miss me while I was gone?” Nico teased. 

"With every second you were away," Will said, without missing a beat.

Nico wanted to say something snarky, but he got distracted by the flecks of glitter falling off Will's new years headband and onto his face. They mingled with his freckles until it looked like his cheeks were adorned with stars.

"What are you smiling at?" Will said suddenly, and only just then did Nico realize he was unabashedly staring at him.

"Sorry," Nico said, a smile creeping across his face, "the view is pretty,"

Will raised an eyebrow. Nico laughed.

“Ugh, get a room you two,” came Oasis’ voice as she strode in and wrapped her arms around Kayla’s waist from behind, “If you don’t mind, actually, I need to steal miss Knowles here away for a bit. There’s something I urgently need her to make-out with in the bathroom.” 

“Oof,” Kayla nodded, “you heard the lady. Duty calls, boys,” she saluted them and they saluted her back, then they all four broke out into a fit of laughter as Oasis led Kayla out. 

Their laughter died down and they lapsed into the closest thing to silence either of them have had all night. They sat comfortably in it, each basking in the comfort of being alone... together. Will's head rested atop Nico's, and Nico traced thoughtful patterns across Will's knuckles.

"So,” Will said once they were alone, “I take it the smoke was good?"

"Yeah. Really good, actually. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this relaxed," Nico said genuinely.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Will asked him, "Beer? Water?"

"Water would actually be really nice right now.”

Will nodded and shifted away from him, preparing and then delivering the drink to Nico. 

“Can I ask you a question?” Nico asked Will as he handed him the solo cup. 

“Always.”

“What do you... like to do, when we are together?” 

Will laughed, stopped when he realized Nico was actually waiting for an answer, and then cleared his throat.

“Is this a trick question?” He asked.

“No, it’s not a trick question! I just want to know-” he sighed, trying to put a finger on what he was trying to get at.

Will stared at him, a perplexed but infatuated look on his face. Nico, growing frustrated at not being able to put his question into words, defaulted to the question he was asked earlier.

"If you could go back in time and tell your past self how you were doing now, do you think you'd be happy?"

"Huh..." Will said, thoughtfully, "that is... a good question."

Nico nodded.

"I'm full of good questions," he said sagely.

"So you are," Will mused, continuing after a moment of thought, "I think I'd be surprised. That things are working out so well with," he paused, looking at Nico, "...with work and with my siblings and with... you know... you. If that's what you meant..."

"...Are you okay?" Nico asked at last, no longer able to bear his quiet suffering.

Will exhaled. As much as he had not wanted it to be, it had just been one of those days. His mother was still staying with him and was really taking it hard that he wasn't spending New Years with her. One of his... favorite patients (he knows you aren't supposed to pick favorites but) had succumbed to her illness today, and his attending had flipped out on him, taking it even harder than he had. His social battery was circling the drain. But as was usually the case when he was around Nico... none of that seemed to matter anymore. He could let down his guard and catch his breath for a minute.

He took another deep breath, and then finally answered with a nod, "I will be," he looked up to meet his eye, "I am now."

Nico looked at him over the rim of his cup for a minute before setting it down and digging out the pen he always carried in his front pocket. He clicked it and wrote something short on his palm.

Will felt the tell-tale chill of a tingling, like an icicle tracing along his skin, and lifted it to read the word fading in:

Promise?

Nico picked up his cup and used it to hide from Will's gaze. He peaked at him over the rim of his cup. Will looked back, a question he was too afraid to know the answer to on his mind. Instead of asking it, though, he got out his own pen, uncapped it and wrote his response.

Swear <3

They both looked at each other at the same time and Nico stepped forward and wrapped his soulmate in a truly constricting hug.

Will, not yet used to this type of physical touch from him, closed his arms around Nico's shoulders, sighing into the touch and resting his head once again atop Nico's

Nico listened to the Will's heart beating in his chest, counting as silence once again enveloped their little bubble.

"Hey, the Ball drops in 2 minutes!"

Someone had popped their head in to inform them, dashing off just as quickly.

"Shall we?" Will asked with a sigh, smiling down at his partner.

"After you," Nico answered, taking his hand in his.

The living room was packed; not because the party was raging, but because it just wasn't very big. People who were scattered about where now all trying to find a space to occupy to watch the 20" image of the New Years ball drop. At one point, Nico and Will were each pressed up against someone else's back, with 30 seconds left until midnight, Nico glanced around and got an idea.

"Follow me," he said to Will and with zero hesitation started hauling ass toward the balcony, dragging Will behind him.

After several chaotic moments of trying to shove people out of the way politely, Will was stepping through the doorway onto the balcony.

Wow, he thought, looking out over the evening city lights, I didn't realize their view was this good.

Nico pulled him over to the corner, opposite the two other strangers who had managed to escape out here. Luckily, they all seemed to share a mutual agreement to mind their own business.

"9!"

"You're a genius," Will smiled down at Nico, pulling him close for warmth.

"Finally, he admits it," Nico teases back.

"6!

5!

4!"

They gazed into each other's eyes as they stood, chest to chest, arms wrapped securely around the other. 

"3!

2!"

"Happy New Year, Neeks," Will said, almost in a whisper. They were nose to nose now, foreheads resting together.

"Happy New Year, Will," Nico said, smile on his lips. He closed the distance between them and reached up to hold Will's face in his hands as he kissed him long and sweetly. Will jumped and laughed into the touch, covering Nico's freezing hands with his own warm ones.

Fireworks exploded across the city and there sounds of a million people celebrating together filled the air.

And all the while, Nico and Will held each other, stealing kisses between giggles and glances.

---

It was nearing 2:00am when the boys returned to Nico's flat, both shrugging off their jackets and shoes in a sleep-drunk haze.

Will was absentmindedly recounting the tale of when he and Austin first moved in with Kayla,

"It was kind of a wild thing for either of us to do, just pick up shop and move to New York? Like, it worked out but... insane decision."

Nico hummed in agreement as he trudged toward his bedroom, the chatting blond following closely behind.

"I can't believe it's been 3 years though... man..."

Nico stripped himself of his jeans and crawled beneath his covers, nuzzling in like a hibernating bear cub. At the same time, Will absentmindedly took off his nice pants and shirt and crawled in next to him, curling around the smaller boy in true big spoon fashion.

The room lapsed into quiet as the night wound down, nothing but two sets of breaths, almost perfectly in sync. Just as Will was finally drifting off, he heard his name spoken quietly into the room.

"Will?"

"Mhm?"

"...I had fun tonight..."

"Yeah," Will smiled, "I did too," he paused, considering leaving it at that, but continued, "Nico?"

"Hmm?"

He spoke almost without thinking,

"I love you."

Again there was silence, but this time charged with expectation as Will waited for a reciprocating word. As he was getting ready to concede for the night, he was just kidding himself, Nico was asleep, and even if he wasn't he didn't owe Will-

"Yeah..." Nico murmured, barely intelligibly, "I do too."

[creampuffqueen]

incoherent amphibia headcanons

it's my interpretation about what happened after the time skip so i get to decide the headcanons! or something like that.

read my rambling thoughts under the cut

marcy's dad's new job is located in houston, texas (bc for real that's where all of elon musk's californian workers are going and i think it would be hilarious is marcy's dad worked for elon musk)

sasha has siblings. several. she gives me huge 'middle child of divorce' vibes. so, in order, the waybright siblings are as follows: clara, sasha's older bio sister, alexandra, younger half sister, greta, younger half sister, nadia, younger half sister, and max, younger half brother. the half siblings all have the same father

marcy's shitty parent is her dad. sasha's shitty parent is her mom. not to say the other parents are fantastic, but those two are... not great

sasha had a terrible relationship with her siblings before amphibia, and absolutely despised her step mom. after amphibia she makes a point of repairing those relationships, and becomes very close to her family

except for her mom, who is toxic af. their relationship only gets slightly better when she moves out. even still, sasha really can't stand her

in high school, anne became the popular one. she's so kind and likable, most people do. even though sasha is on the cheer team, she doesn't like to associate with them a ton

while sasha is still active in cheer, she ends up joining speech and debate and model UN, and that's where she makes all her good friends

what causes the drifting between sasha and anne is the fact they don't share any classes freshman or sophomore years of high school. not spending that much time together naturally leads to drifting apart. it's not a falling out or anything, as they are still great friends, they just don't really see each other much, which opens the door for more new friends

every summer during their high school years, marcy flies down to spend a week or so with the girls. at first she's able to go visit during breaks as well, but eventually it's just limited to the summer. when the girls go to college they don't visit in person at all until after they graduate

marcy joins a lot of different art and writing clubs in high school. her parents want her to join things like math and science clubs, but she resists

anne is able to take a marine biology elective her freshman year, as it sounded kind of interesting

that summer before sophomore year, anne discovers a herpetology camp put on by the university of san diego. it's an expensive sleep away camp, but as soon as she hears it's about frogs, she leaps on it (hehe)

unfortunately she found out to late to attend, so she makes a deal with her parents: if she raises half of the funds, she can go next summer

so she does

summer before her junior year, anne goes to herpetology camp and falls in love

sasha has her first serious boyfriend her sophomore year. his name is jackson, he plays football, and he's super chill

sasha discovers she's bisexual when she's a junior in high school. she is the last to know. so after finding out, she cuts her hair into the iconic bisexual bob

sasha's boyfriend is chill with her being bi, but unfortunately the relationship ends when they are both seniors. he's going to play football for yale, and sasha is staying in la. they part on very good terms and continue to be friends

summer before her senior year, anne gets the opportunity, having attended the herpetology camp previously, to go on a two week trip to costa rica to learn and study frogs. she manages to raise enough money to go, and it's one of the best experiences of her life

this solidifies her wanting to study herpetology in college

anne attends the university of san diego and gets a degree in herpetology

sasha attends the university of california los angeles to get a degree in physcology (sorry guys i can't spell lmao)

marcy attends st. edwards, a private college in austin, tx, and gets a degree in web design (though she major hops a lot and ends up with minors in art and video game development)

(tumblr is a bitch and won't let me tell y'all abt pets or their reunion or falling in love and shit. damn it)

[demonprincezeldris]

I have decided that I am changing the age gap between Kyduan and Zillah from 7 years to 4 years, as this is the age gap my younger brother and I share, so I'll have more of my own experiences to draw from, because I don't know the sibling dynamic for a 7 year gap.

When Kyduan is 15, and Celebrating Zillah's 11th birthday, he gifts her a bow and arrow. His parents question where the Hell he got one, and why he thought that was a good idea, but it's too late, because she LOVES it.

On the bright side, she takes to it very well. They're all honestly impressed by how natural she seems with it. By the time she's 14, she's sneaking off to partake in competitions under the name "Elaheh."

Kyduan is the first to catch her. He follows her, which is HARD when she can DISSOLVE INTO SHADOWS, but he did inherit some ability to warp reality from his dad, so he can sort of... see where she'll end up?

He sees her compete and WIN. She doesn't seem uncomfortable at all, and the other competitors seem to recognize her, calling her Elaheh. Elaheh? Interesting choice. She accepts the prize money and slips off to the market. He's not even surprised when she slips the coins in the pouches of parents who look a little too worn and tired, of the man down on his luck curled in an alleyway, purchasing something from a stand that hasn't seen a good sale in weeks, giving far too much, and leaving before change can be given.

She spends the last of her money on lunch for herself, and takes the food to a park to eat. She's about to take a bite when Kyduan pokes his head next to her face from beside her. "Hi-"

"GAH!"

He laughs a little as she jolts away, pushing his face away from hers. "Kyduan! What do you want??"

"Jeez, you're so moody!

She growled at him and he pushed her head down as she sat. "Oh, calm down." He steals one of her fries and honestly, her squawk of outrage brings him so much joy. "I just wanted to hang out with my precious baby sister-"

"I will GUT you-"

"And ask about her day! So, Elaheh, have you been enjoying yourself?"

She froze, then her eyes narrowed. "If you tell Mom, Dad, or Pops, I'll tell them about YOUR habit of endangering yourself by solo hunting criminals."

He put his hands up. "Easy, I wasn't gonna. We're both gonna be caught eventually..." He lowered a hand slowly in offering, and she eyed it, but took it and shook firmly. "But that day is not today."

"Awesome. I am curious though. Why Elaheh? Doesn't that name mean Like A Goddess? You are LITERALLY princess of the underworld."

"I thought it was ironic."

"Of course."

It became a thing. When one snuck out, the other would cover for them. This worked great, for almost 6 months. Then Meliodas caught them.

So now they were here, on their knees, BEGGING their Uncle not to tell. He had his arms crossed, and eyebrow raised. But then they looked up at him with puppy dog eyes, royal blue and crimson and pleading, and he wavered. "Ugh, fine, fine! But on one condition!"

They nodded eagerly.

"I won't tell, as long as you let me go with you from now on, so I can make sure you're safe."

"But Uncle-" Zillah started.

"Ahp! That's my condition. Take it or leave it."

The siblings looked at each other, before sighing and giving in, nodding.

So Meliodas began going with them, and honestly, it wasn't so bad. Since Zeldris had long since returned to his duties as Demon King (there was a portal set up that moved between the Demon castle, Camelot castle, and the Vampire's castle, so the three could come and go easily.) Meliodas had a LOT more free time. And it was nice getting to spend more time with their uncle and bond with him.

And then all three of them got caught, 4 months in. Meliodas couldn't even provide an alibi, because he got caught sneaking them out.

So now Zeldris, Arthur, and Gelda glaring down at them kneeling. Then the puppy eyes. Royal blue and crimson and emerald, and Zeldris wavered. He groaned and dug the heels of his hands into his eyes. "Ugh, I can't- stop it!"

"Zeldris, come on-"

"I'm sorry, Gelda, I've NEVER been able to stand up to their eyes, NEVER, you KNOW this, you REMEMBER me when Meliodas was little."

Let it be known that Zeldris is NOT the disciplining parent, and never has been.

She looked to Arthur to back her up, but he was also avoiding everyone's eyes, and he and Zeldris shuffled closer to each other. She growled quietly, and looked at Meliodas. "I want to know WHAT you were thinking, not coming to us immediately after you found out what they'd been up too."

"...They gave me the eyes..." He whispered, avoiding hers. She threw her hands up. "Men! You're all useless! What if they had gotten hurt??"

"That's why I started going with them, so I could make sure they were safe!"

"They'd be SAFE, if they didn't do it at all!"

"They're teenagers, they rebel, spread their wings, you should have seen Merlin‐"

"Hush! You're grounded, all three of you! And you two as well!" She snapped at her husband's. "All five of you are GROUNDED! Go to the communal room and DONT try and leave again, or I will hunt you down and TIE you in place! Do not speak, do not move, do not attempt to entertain yourselves, just SIT THERE, and think about what you've done!"

She stormed off, fuming enough to have smoke curling off of her, and they trudged off to do as they were told.

She came in half an hour later, having collected herself, and they looked at her nervously. "Starting tomorrow, I am giving every servant in the castle some paid vacation time. Zillah, Kyduan, you two will be cleaning the entire castle, including the stables, top to bottom, THOROUGHLY. Arthur and Zeldris, you two are in charge of the kitchen. Every meal, and every snack. When you are NOT in the kitchens, you will be attending to my every whim. Meliodas. You are to leave Camelot, and not return for a months time. In that time, you are not to reach out to your brother, your niece, your nephew, or Arthur. I contacted Merlin and Elizabeth, and they'll be keeping you properly occupied. Am I understood, all of you?"

"Yes Ma'am..."

"Good. Go to bed. No talking. You start in the morning. Meliodas, I want you gone after breakfast."

She whirled on her heel and left. Her husband's would not be joining her in their nest tonight, they got to sleep out here.

I always pictured Gelda as scary when she got mad at anyone. Take for example the movie, when Zel didn't want his brother to impede on his alone time with Gelda.

But holy fuck is she a force to be reckoned with! Nobody crosses Mama Gelda!

[casliveblog]

Custom Toonami Block Week 155 Rundown

Spy X Family: We’re still kinda doing the fallout of the Fiona arc where Yor’s insecure and Loid’s trying frantically to make sure his apprentice being horny doesn’t threaten world peace, you know, normal stuff. Scruffyhead is left to babysit Anya while Loid and Yor go out for drinks and it’s pretty fucking funny because you have Yor being drunk off her ass not making a god damn lick of sense and Loid being overly logical trying to map out exactly how her drunk train of logic works when said train flipped off the track like an hour ago. Loid’s flirting ends up getting him knocked the fuck out and he dreams about his mom and conflates her with Yor which I’m sure is healthy and not Freudian at all. But eventually for like the third time we get Loid’s speech of ‘Anya and I both love you and you’re a great mom so please stop being so fucking insecure about this’ which to be fair IS accurate to how insecurity works but I feel like we’re doing the Inuyasha/Kikyo thing all over again where whenever something daunting comes up we’re gonna spend an episode moping before deciding to stop moping for the same reason as last time. Either way the date itself is funny and it’s worth it to watch Anya be like ‘oh yeah they’re out there fucking’ without understanding what she’s saying. The second plot revolves around Becky which is nice because I really do like her as a character and we get some backstory on her aside from her being a badass and wanting to fuck Anya’s dad. But yeah Becky wants to be a matchmaker for Anya and Damian so they decide to go shopping and get her a cool outfit to impress him and hijinks ensue and lots of outfits for the fanartists to do art of are revealed (I think my favorite is Yor!Becky, that was fun). Becky apparently has your standard dot jpg rich girl backstory of not having any friends and being isolated but Anya’s brash nature kinda broke through a lot of that (they also show her beating up bullies and I’m just guessing when she saw Anya punch Damian she was like ‘oh yeah I can hang with her’). But yeah despite Anya not finding anything she does buy a souvenir keychain for herself and Becky to thank her for taking her out shopping and even though it’s not rich fancy people shit like she’s supposed to do, they both wear their keychains to school and laugh about how they match, which as a nice touch does catch Damian’s attention because the most stunning thing Anya could wear as a genuine smile.

Inuyasha: So as expected, now that all the real fighting is done, Naraku swoops in to be like ‘now this is a victory I have completely earned despite just arriving’. Inuyasha goes through his laundry list of attacks and Naraku’s able to just go ‘nope’ to all of them, even the ones that are specifically made to counter his no-selling which kinda makes the Red Tessaiga useless now. He impales Inuyasha on Hosenki and grabs the jewel shard to taunt everyone that they’ll be staying in Inuyasha’s dad’s grave forever while he’s gonna get the hell out of dodge by himself (a bitter bit of foreshadowing for Yashahime, yes I’m stil mad). Meanwhile Kagura shows Sesshomaru the other gate and once he shows off the Tenseiga the statues are like ‘oh shit bro he’s got the sword, guess we better roll over’ and even the Medusa Light doesn’t work on Sesshomaru for no adequately explained reason but Sesshomaru just kinda no-sells like 80% of things, he has high Mag Resist I guess. So yeah while Naraku’s gloating Sesshomaru swoops in and starts kicking his ass and even punches out Inuyasha for fucking up for this long. But while Naraku and Sesshomaru are having their smug-off to see who can no-sell more of the other person’s bullshit, Hosenki talks to Inuyasha and asks him to cut him open and take his power.  

Yu Yu Hakusho: Kurama continues his journey of being blackmailed into working for a Demon Dictatorship while everyone there hates his guts. Kurama’s plan is to beef up the guys they fought in the Dark Tournament with the promise of fighting Yusuke and give them to Yomi as a present, the old ‘throw everyone who died in the Saiyan Saga on King Kai’s planet for training’ deal so Chu, Yoyo kid, Shishi, Gin and the other ninja guy and clownface all get a training arc courtesy of Genkai just like the King Kai arc (though idk those guys never learned Kaioken or anything so I think they just got a numbers buff) speaking of numbers buffs, apparently Yomi’s kingdom has Scouter technology and that works about as well as Scouter tech always works and just throws random numbers out until they’re ready to show their real power. The red fish general guy wants to kill Kurama’s stepbrother we haven’t heard about till now but is apparently very important but Kurama reminds the parasite assassin of the whole Elder Toguro purgatory plant deal and he decides he’s better off not pissing this guy off. So when Kurama’s promoted and fish guy is mad, he has no leverage and Kurama can Yoko out and fucking murder him without consequence. Turns out Yomi planned all this out and is hoping Kurama will turn to the dark side and be Yoko forever and also having a new callback squad is pretty cool too, let’s hope they get to do some shit.

Jujutsu Kaisen: Yuji and Nobara continue their fight against the Jojo Cheap Trick guy from last time and his younger brother. They get hit with blood that basically acts like a slower version Soifon’s Shikai complete with the cool tattoo aesthetic. Luckily Nobara’s ability is basically ‘no u’ and she reflects it back on them and goes to kill the younger brother so Mr. Cheap Trick has to release it because these guys are one of the few cursed spirits that actually have familial loyalty to each other. Apparently their deal is they’re actually aborted fetuses of a woman that was able to have hybrid babies with cursed spirits and humans so they’re like half and half that were just fetuses until now and used as the new flunkies of Mahito’s group. Given they’re legit fetuses who have existed for hundreds of years without anything to rely on but each other their first thoughts one being born are ‘we look out for each other and nothing else’. So yeah this is basically a story of the heroes blackmailing and torturing babies to win a fight so that’s a bit fucked up. But yeah Nobara and Yuji BOTH use a Black Flash and cripple their respective brothers and Nobara uses Cursed Technique: Bigger Nail to finish off the baby one and it’s really cool. Meanwhile Cheap Trick takes some guys hostage and runs away which really is kind of a Jojo villain thing to do maybe this guy was just in the wrong anime and Yuji just runs after the car like Yusuke during Chapter Black but Nobara still has the guy’s arm from before so she just straight up kills him with her basic attack. So Nobara gets the kill on both of these guys so that’s pretty neat. Meanwhile Mahito, monk dude and the eldest brother are all fucking playing Life and eldest brother is like ‘oh geez my brothers just died, gimme a minute’ and Mahito’s like ‘is that really a reason to interrupt our board game geez’. Yuji asks Nobara about how she feels about killing dudes that were kinda technically part human since he’s already done it and still doesn’t feel great about it but Nobara’s a tiny bit of a sociopath so she doesn’t care but promises if they have to do dirty shit to get their job done at least they’re in it together. They get back to Megumi and Yuji’s hand vagina mouth accidentally eats the finger so yeah he’s got more fingers now. All three kids and Panda’s Squad are recommended for a promotion and Megumi tells Nobara not to tell Yuji about Sukuna’s awakening reviving the finger holding spirits because it’ll make him feel bad and Yuji tells Sukuna not to tell Megumi about his awakening reviving the finger holding spirits because it’ll make him feel bad. So yeah that’s the end of season one, I think the Zero Movie is next? Maybe I’ll do that next week since a handful of the season ones of these anime are ending this week.  

Ranking of Kings: Is this season all going to be filler? Like it’s really weird after last week had them continue the story despite having a great ending point and then just… tread water this season with filler like it’s not even a ‘filler to get you into the plot and ease the transition of progressing the story’ filler, it’s ‘here’s a thing that happened during one of our few time gaps’ filler. I mean the two stories they tell during Bojji’s training are cute enough, Kage goes searching for a mushroom and ends up helping an old lady who gives him a pie full of the mushrooms and Bojji and kage try odd jobs only to end up running a gambling game using Bojji’s speed and feel bad about ripping off a poor girl but Despa takes her in anyway. Like those are cute stories but if this is a season that’s just gonna be little ovas of stuff that was already in the story I don’t know if I really see the point in it. I mean I’m gonna keep watching and give it a chance but it’s gonna be weird if we’re just treading water for ten episodes.

Vinland Saga: So I kinda hit the nail on the head with my predictions last week huh? Like basically my whole scenario came to pass essentially word for word. Still I’ll go through it all here, Askeladd tries to talk King Sweyn down from attacking Wales and he humors the idea in public but privately tells him that the only way he’ll stop the attack on Wales is if Askeladd kills Canute for him since Wales is shitty and all his homies hate Wales and Askeladd’s mom sucks, which is really something you want to say to somebody you’re asking a favor from. Askeladd just goes nuts at this and points his sword at the King and fucking cuts his head right off going ‘Yeah bitch I’m King Arthur, Noble Phantasm Excalibur, British and all that innit?’. Thorfinn is with Leif but ditches him to go find Askeladd again while the dude is fucking cutting his way through the Danish Royal Guard and/or family. Canute sees this for what it is, a sacrifice play to keep both Canute and Wales safe while not drawing out the conflict between Canute and the king. Thorkell tells him for once that he doesn’t need a battle boner and that since Askeladd is his problem he should act like a king and take care of it. Thorfinn busts in at the last minute before Askeladd can kill Floki (couldn’t have just let him kill Floki? I fucking hate Floki) and Canute stabs Askeladd right in the heart on his first try, not bad for Mr. Love Thy Enemy. Thorfinn is here just in time to hold Askeladd in his arms as he dies and Askeladd laughs and asks what Thorfinn will do with his life now that he no longer has him as an excuse for his vengeance and Thorfinn’s just left with the empty rage and hollow emotions of wasting over a decade only to have it end the exact same way it would’ve if he’d just stabbed Askeladd in his bed the first night. So yeah Canute takes the throne and is like ‘okay the Enlgish are prolly gonna be pissy about all that shit that went down so all further wars are suspended until we get them under control’ and they literally have to drag Thorfinn out who’s still kind of deciding whether he’s mad his father figure died or mad he didn’t get to kill himself as we pan over people that have been relevant and will be relevant to the next season as Thorfinn’s left with nothing and has to decide what his life means to him now.  

So yeah, next week I'll probably watch the Jujutsu Kaisen movie to prepare for season two and the week after that I'll be ready to start new seasons in Vinland Saga and Jujutsu Kasien with Spy X Family's season 1 finale and maybe that new Scott Pilgrim show if I can swing it, looks like we're in the second half of what I called the 'fuck it' block about four months ago, so let's see what the new stuff holds.