#they really be giving me the toughest challenges huh?

[paradisecitizens]

I have the cutest valentines day outfits and nowhere to wear them.

[aranarumei]

hi kiri is it cheating to give you both 15 and 19 for all works you feel you could answer this about . for the ask game

ask me questions from this list about my writing!

“all works” i have an insane amount of wips I could probably “feel” I could answer this about. will restrict myself to three main ones on account of choosing deliberate and practiced restraint. that’s still an Amount tho so under the cut as usual

15. in what ways are you challenging yourself with [project], and is there anything specific you want to come out of the work having improved skills in? on the other hand, which aspects are fully in your comfort zone?

projects, huh… let’s start with the sickfic I’m working on, because that’s the easiest. when I wrote the anomalous agate, that was a challenge in many ways: I hadn’t seriously written first person in years, and I was also trying to find a bridge between my style of writing, while also trying to emulate the general feeling of how the case files of jeweler richard is narrated. these days, I feel pretty satisfied with whatever kind of middle ground I achieved… I only regret that seigi doesn’t call richard some version of beautiful with nearly enough frequency as he does in canon.

this time around, the first person of it all is pretty comfortable for me, and I feel like I’m more comfortable with the fact that my narration doesn’t sound exactly like the novels. what I’m challenging myself with is… I’m pretty good at bashing out a solitary scene, but my completion rate for fics, and writing in general, is like… distressing. You don’t realize how untrained you are in terms of actually chaining together events and concluding things, until you realize that you’ve finished your first multichaptered fic in 2024. to be clear, I would say I’ve been writing seriously as a hobby for a bit over 10 years at this point. I also have not really written a sickfic before. so, even though this fic is shorter than the other two projects, it’s still a bit of a challenge for me to string together a chain of events that will lead into a satisfying conclusion. I also find that sickness is a thing that’s hard to describe in a way that doesn’t get stale.

nonetheless, I’m comfortable with a lot of this—I feel like I get both seigi and richard well enough to execute this, I actually did outline a chain of events, so I know where it starts and where it ends. I know the kind of themes I’m working with, and what I want to say within this fic. and I think I’m pretty damn good at creating an aura of tenderness and intimacy, which feels like a big sickfic thing. worst comes to worst, the first scene can stand on it’s own, so I’ll just post that if I really can’t write the rest.

outcome-wise, I'd like to just get this fic to a state where I can publish it and reread it happily. then I can finally read the next volume of the case files of jeweler richard lol

for cross-examination, my challenge is finishing the damn thing. that’ll be a theme for literally everything. I’m so bad at it, it’s catastrophic. I have an outline for the third chapter. I’ve had that outline for a year. I just can’t write it, somehow. it’s also written in present tense… I used to write in past tense, and then did present tense for a long time, and then I switched back into past tense, and this now means that I can have trouble sticking to a specific tense sometimes. so an issue is whenever I return to this fic, I have to try to get myself back into the swing of writing present tense.

other challenges… I kind of feel like I wrote this fic without really investigating the characters? like, I know them well enough, and I don’t think anything is necessarily wrong about my characterization, but I wasn’t building in-depth profiles about them in the way that I do with some characters now. really the toughest part of this fic is returning to something I feel like should have been completed a long time ago… I still have affection towards the concept, and the fact that there’s a full 3k written of the final chapter means I am dedicated to finishing it.

this comes up with the last fic, too, but this fic also has me have to outline progression in a relationship, from like… apollo and klavier at the end of aa4, into a place where they can actually be dating, and that took a bit of planning at first. it’s hard to find the line of how to pace things in a way where the growth feels real, and it feels like they get together naturally. there’s kind of two definitions of slow burn to me: one where they want each other desperately and the fic is just kind of edging that tension until it breaks, and one where it’s a gradual development and build up of feelings. I’m good with the first one, where there’s already a level of importance each person affords the other, and just no confession, but the latter is a bit harder. this fic acts as a kind of bridge between both, to me—apollo and klavier find each other quite meaningful, even at the start, but they aren’t really friends, and that’s what has to change.

as for what’s in my comfort zone… it’s a very peaceful and kind of gentle tone that the whole fic takes. I’ve been told I’m quite good at maintaining that kind of feeling, where it’s not like it’s saccharinely sweet, but nothing is particularly full of melodrama.

outcome-wise, I want to have it published and done so it doesn't haunt me. there's wips i feel more comfortable leaving behind (i'm just not that person anymore, it feels too flawed to fix) but this is not one of them. and I get out of it another longfic completed, which hopefully trains my skills of like... progression and development.

now, for my jiang cheng fic project (wip title is just aromanticism bc it makes me smile), which I talk about and have complained about for forever… I’ve been working on this fic for so long it’s like… what am I not doing with this fic? seriously, this idea originated in 2021, and like… I work on it on and off, sure, so it’s not like continuous work, but at the very least it’s occupied a good deal of my mind for the last year. I’ve had to rewrite so damn much of it, too…

like cross-examination, this fic tests my ability to write and complete longfic—that meaning, can I string together coherent themes across a large number of scenes? can relationships develop and progress naturally? it centers on jiang cheng and hua cheng, and I’ve tasked myself with taking two strangers into the realm of deep, important friendship. and I want to do all of that while addressing a lot of different resentments that I think jiang cheng feels, and addressing the idea of resentment in general… the value I see in it, and the things I feel that aren’t so great.

It’s very tough because I also haven’t written a fic for the mdzs fandom, well… ever, and I read it the one time like, back in early 2019, and I’ve seen maybe 10 episodes of the show. I think a lot of times, I get too in my head about how my fic interacts with or differs from common sentiments about the characters I’m writing, which is why I don’t read fic for this fandom or interact with that much content nowadays. It’s a really tough fic because I want to do a lot with it, and despite the fact that I’ve had to rewrite a bunch of scenes and scrap some of them entirely (like, at least a good 10k of it’s been deleted… I couldn’t give an exact count as I don’t save that stuff), I can feel myself improving.

The narration for this fic is markedly different—there’s a certain amount of formality/poise I try to imbue the writing with. and I’m trying to see if I can associate certain vibes/descriptors with specific characters, though I haven’t quite worked on that yet. I also push myself into leaving things to be more ambiguous… to let characters be awkward and uncomfortable, and in this case, to write outright conflict. I rarely do this—my fics usually work on tension, but don’t escalate into actual fights. this does. there’s also a lot of worldbuilding involved… I’ve made 4 OCs just for this fic, and not all of them are that important, but there’s just… so much backstory and stuff that I’ve developed and don’t know if it will actually make it into the fic. But it makes everything feel richer, and I’m glad for it.

so, if i had to sum up my challenges, it's probably that it takes quite a bit of detailing and hard work, and I'm not used to sticking through a project so demanding. I think because the fic requires so much, it's also something that needs me to be fully and totally confident in what I'm presenting, and that's something I'm struggling with.

as for what is in my comfort zone, I suppose that even though the description style I’m going with is new, it’s not too demanding, and I always feel comfortable when I write hua cheng. Unlike jiang cheng, who I constantly am debating with myself about (is he canon-accurate? am I projecting too hard? am I representing him as too much of a good guy? does that matter?), hua cheng is a character where I’m like, “nah, I like my interpretation of him fine,” and I just have such a blast writing his dialogue.

outcome-wise, when this fic is published, I want to be proud of the work i did on, again, the progression and development of the themes and character relationships, and I also want to publish it with the intent of kind of never writing an mdzs fic again. I'll get out most, if not all of my feelings about this guy, and then i can just have that to point to.

19. what text/message have you sent about [project] which is most unhinged or incomprehensible out of context?

genuinely i dont send that many unhinged messages. like... i feel like i tend to explain my irritations pretty dryly, and also some of these projects are over years so i dont really have like. a collection of texts. the ones i have saved are usually a long series of texts where i hash out developments, because i need those for reference. so, nothing unhinged, but i thought this one was fun:

and here's a good display of what my texts actually look like:

it's very... rubber duck debugging? that's usually what i do when texting about my writing. i complain a lot and then have to explain what's so hard for me to do and i figure it out that way. that usually helps with outlining. with actual writing though.... thats a motivation / time management problem. i suck at those

edit: literally day i post this ask i get this text exchange:

[smolwritingchick]

Forced To Believe 68- They Can't Control Me

Summary: Morgan tries to make history. Seth continues his mind games.

Words: 9,000+

-----

Stephanie, Seth, and Triple H were chatting in their office and Morgan walked into a huge pop.

"Well, you got some nerve to come in here after how you disrespected my husband and myself last week." Stephanie glared at her. "What are you doing here?"

Morgan ignored her and turned her attention to Triple H. "I want to be in the Money in the bank briefcase match." She spoke up with seriousness as the crowd cheered for the idea.

"What!?" King shouted in a high pitched voice.

The Authority was taken aback at her seriousness about the match as they glanced at each other. Stephanie started to laugh, while Seth smirked.

"You? A diva? In the Money in The Bank match? That's a nice joke,"

"Does it look like I'm joking?" Morgan instantly asked.

"W­—what!? You can't just barge in here and drop a bombshell like that! Are you crazy!? Hunter we are not having a Diva be the WWE World Heavyweight champion if she is a part of this match. Having a WWE diva like her represent this company! It will be embarrassing!"

"Steph, I got this." Triple H reassured. "So Morgan...you're one of our toughest divas and you want, out of all things, is a spot in the Money in The Bank briefcase match?"

"Yes," The Outspoken Diva replied.

"She lost a screw..." JBL stated. "Is she crazy?"

"Why not a title shot?" Triple H suggested.

"No."

"Why are you so determined to be in this match?"

"To make history."

"And you expect me to give you that opportunity after what you said to me, last week?"

"No...I don't...but I'll earn it."

Triple H began to ponder. "Earn it, huh...?"

"Let her have a match," Seth suggested, making Morgan look his way. "I'd like to see the look on your face when you lose tonight."

"Hmph...So what are you gonna do? Have me in a handicap match against all the divas in the locker room, to be in the match?" The Outspoken Diva asked.

"That would be nice," Stephanie said, admiring the idea.

"Make me have one hand tied behind my back?"

"That's even better." Stephanie pointed out.

Triple H snapped his fingers. "I got it. Tonight, in the main event...you will have a match against Randy Orton. And if you win, you'll get a spot in the match. You will be the first WWE Diva in history to be a part of the Money in The Bank Ladder match,"

"Actually make it a no disqualification match," Seth suggested.

"I don't care what match you do. As long as I'm in that's all that matters," Morgan replied, not liking the mischievous look on Seth's face.

"All right, a no disqualification match against Randy Orton." Triple H stated.

Although she was surprised at the match and how it wasn't a handicap match, she accepted the offer.

She nodded twice. "Good."

She went to leave but stopped as soon as Stephanie spoke up. "But...Seth, Rosa, Kane, my husband and I will be at ringside."

"Ah...I see where this is going..." Morgan retorted. "Is that why you said no disqualification?"

"You're correct. And Morgan...if you lose this match...let's just say you're not going to have a job, anymore." Stephanie laughed as the crowd booed.

"Are you kidding me?" She stepped up to her.

The Billion Dollar Princess looked down at her, in her heels. "It's okay to back out now. Would you actually risk your career to try to be in this match?" She asked as Triple H looked amused. "You really think you can beat Randy Orton? But like you said, you'll get through anything against all odds. Let's see how you do in this match. I can't wait for this. I can't wait to get a front row seat, because I want to personally wish you luck in your future when I say the words... you're...FIRED!"

Morgan narrowed her eyes at her, before looking at Seth and then Triple H.

"You see how harder things get when you decide not to join me?" Seth recalled.

"Unlike you, I like a challenge," Morgan smirked. "I'll do it. Orton and I tonight. It's on," she left the room to loud cheers.

"What!? Morgan, it's not too late to reconsider!" King warned.

-----

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Morgan Lopez." Renee smiled as the camera revealed Morgan. "Morgan, tonight may be your last match, what is going through your mind? Why are you risking your career to be in this match?"

"Nervous. But sometimes you gotta take risks. I don't regret what I've done. I made history before, and I want to continue making history. I came into the WWE with a few goals in mind. And one of them is what I'm trying to do now. Right now, I'm on my toes because I got a strong feeling The Authority is going to try something, tonight. But whatever they do, I'll cut right through."

After her interview and saying her goodbyes to Vickie Guerrero after Stephanie got humiliated by getting thrown into the pool of whatever that stuff was, it had given her some hope, that there was a chance that she could get through this. Vickie went out with a bang even though she lost her match against Stephanie. She wasn't going to allow Stephanie to push her around any longer.

She put on her fingerless gloves and sighed while sitting on a bench. All of a sudden, the crowd laughed once she saw Bo Dallas sitting next to her, looking ahead with a silly grin.

"Uh...can I help you?" She asked, looking confused.

Bo turned his head and patted her back. "Morgan, turn that frown upside down. Keep your chin up. Everything is gonna be okay! Just hang in there."

"Right..."

"You want to be in the Money in The Bank briefcase match? Then take the chance. Chase that opportunity down because it won't wait for you, to catch up. You can do it, Morgan. All you gotta do is BO­lieve!" He gave her a big grin and jogged away, to do a victory lap.

"Okay..." Morgan chuckled as the crowd laughed. "That was random."

------

Triple H and Seth talk about Money in The Bank in his office as the audience booed them.

"There's no other way, you heard what he said out there. I don't wanna be this close from grabbing that contract and have him come out of nowhere, and ruin it for me. If he's gonna screw me over, every single chance that he gets...you gotta put Dean Ambrose in this match." Seth demanded. "You gotta put Dean Ambrose in this contract ladder match, with me, please. You got to."

"You want him when you can control him?" Triple H asked.

"I know it sounds crazy. I've controlled Dean Ambrose for two years, in The Shield. I need him where I can see him. I need to have eyes on Dean Ambrose at all times."

"Actually, wasn't his Harley the one who controlled him? And speaking of his Harley, what are you gonna do if she gets in this match, as well? Two targets on your back. Then what?"

Seth chuckled. "Morgan? Don't worry about her...I got her. It's her last match in the WWE, against Randy Orton. And we're all gonna be at ringside. She's not gonna win when I'm around. I know all of her moves and I know her tricks. I know her better than anyone. She will not be in this match. All I gotta focus on is Ambrose. Please. And besides I want to see the look on Dean Ambrose's face when I'm the one standin' on that ladder, with the contract in my hands. Crushing his dreams..."

"If this all blows up in your face...Dean making you lose...and Morgan winning tonight...it's going to be on you. You wanted the no DQ, and you wanted Ambrose in the match. You never know what's gonna happen, now. I hope you know what you're in for."

"I got this."

Triple H chuckled and patted his back. "Love your confidence man...you got him. Dean's in."

With Morgan, Nikki was chatting with her backstage but left once Seth walked over to them.

"What the hell do you want?" Morgan retorted and chose to keep talking instead of listening to what he had to say. "I'm in no mood for games when I got a big match coming up. And when I win tonight, I'm coming to Boston, and when I do, I'm gonna make sure you feel every ounce of pain that you put me through. You shouldn't have made an enemy out of me, Seth. Biggest mistake,"

"I tried to warn you, Morgan. I tried to warn you to stay away from this. From my business. Now you've gotten yourself in a bad situation. You don't have to do this. You could forget the match,"

"And waste an opportunity throwing you off a ladder? That's my dream!" She said with an ambitious look.

He chuckled and nodded, while the crowd cheered at her comment.

"Suit yourself. Did you pack your bags, yet? Keep in mind this is a no disqualification match. I wouldn't be so enthusiastic about that. Considering that I'm gonna be at ringside. I'm looking forward to my boot going down on the back of your head, and your face laid down on the mat. I just wish it didn't have to be this way. Goodbye Morgan. I enjoyed the time I spent with you. If only you would turn to the dark side with me. We'd be unstoppable," He smirked at her and walked away.

She shook her head and continued stretching. But Seth's words started to get to her. Anything could happen tonight. The Authority could all just jump her, and it wouldn't even be a match. They could hold her legs down while Randy goes for the pin. They could hold her down while she got hit with a weapon. Anything was possible and she was not looking forward to it.

------

Randy Orton was pacing around with an amused look on his face. He was glad The Authority picked him to personally make Morgan leave the company. He still held a grudge against her and was going to make sure she paid. At ringside, The Authority were already plotting their plan for the match, awaiting her arrival.

"You think Morgan has a game plan for tonight?" King asked, sounding concerned. "I don't want her to leave..."

"She brought this on herself." JBL bluntly replied. "Why risk your career for Money in The Bank? It's the dumbest move."

Backstage, Morgan was listening to the doubts and looking at the tweets fans were saying. She cracked a smile. Her real fans never forget to realize that she has the unpredictable gene just like Dean. She was going to prove that in a couple of seconds. She wasn't going to go down without a fight. And if she had to leave with a bang, she will. But if she stays, she'll make sure to represent all the women at Money in The Bank. The first beats for her theme blared around the arena as the crowd started whooping and giving her a loud pop.

"Introducing the challenger, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Morgan!" Justin announced as she walked out with a huge smile and taunted the crowd.

"This may be the last time we hear Morgan's name get announced here in the WWE!" King exclaimed. "I got goosebumps. I'm scared guys."

"Stop whining!" JBL scolded.

"I have now been informed that if anyone interferes in this match, they will be fired on the spot," Cole informed.

"Looks like she is all alone," King whined.

"But Morgan still has her head up high. She said she's not scared to do things alone now. She doesn't want her former teammates to help her, through this. She wants to deal with this mess herself." Cole quoted.

As soon as Morgan finishes tagging some hands, she gets on the apron. She steps in between the ropes but stops herself. Orton raises a brow, while she begins to chuckle. This might be her last match, so why make it memorable by doing something she has wanted to do for a while? The crowd begins to explode into loud cheers as soon as she clotheslines Triple H and Stephanie down.

"What the hell!?" JBL shouted.

"Morgan! Morgan just clotheslined The Authority!" Cole shouted as she started pummeling down Stephanie.

Rosa, Seth, and Kane were still in shock as they continued to see what she was doing.

"Has she lost her mind!? She can't do that! Arrest her! Fire her! Do something! That is assault! Stephanie isn't even in the match! Get off of her!" JBL shouted, not liking what was transpiring in front of him.

The crowd begins to chant 'This Is Awesome' as the bell still did not ring, yet. Rosa quickly grabs Morgan off of Stephanie.

"Hit her! Hit her!" She commanded Kane, who fixed his black glove.

"And now the numbers game comes into play," Cole observed as Stephanie and Triple H were still down.

Morgan continues struggling to get out of Rosa's strong grip while Kane goes for an uppercut. The Outspoken Diva quickly escapes the hold, just in time, making Rosa eat the uppercut, as the crowd 'Ohs'.

"Oh my gosh! Is Rosa okay!?" King exclaimed as she fell down, knocked out.

Kane, not caring about her well being, turns his attention back to Morgan. The Philly Diva connects with a low blow, making him fall down to his knees.

"This cannot be happening!" JBL rubbed his temples.

Orton continues to look on, his facial expression unreadable as he continues to observe his opponent. She quickly starts speed walking after Rollins, who starts walking back.

"Oh great...I think Miss Lopez wants some closure before she leaves. How dare she attack Stephanie McMahon? That's a ticket to unemployment city!" JBL complained.

"Back up." Morgan demanded in a harsh tone as Seth started backing up, faster, putting his hands up in defense.

Seth sees Orton slithering out of the ring, behind her. Orton dashes towards her, aiming for a clothesline but she ducks, watching him clothesline Seth, instead. Orton's eyes widen and turns around to be jumped on by the spitfire diva as she starts giving him frenzied punches.

"Morgan's out of control! Somebody stop her! Thank you!" JBL shouted as Seth grabbed her off of Orton.

"You need to calm down," Seth exclaimed and rolled her in the ring.

"The hell was that!?" Triple H shouted as he got up and held the side of his neck. "Are you kidding me!? Are you kidding me!?"

He starts pacing around, taking off his jacket, and tie, unbuttoning the first three buttons on his shirt. He was vexed with Morgan's actions, so far and didn't like that his plan wasn't doing so good. His face showing an angry expression, red with frustration, as he continues to yell and scream.

"This was not supposed to happen!"

"Haha! This is great!" Cole laughed as the crowd laughed at Triple H.

The crowd was still getting a kick out at how he got clotheslined by Morgan, so easily. Morgan took off her hoodie, with her gloved hands, leaving her in a Morgan themed cut off shirt that stopped just above her belly button.

Stephanie finally got up and scowled at the diva. "You are going to regret this!" She screamed and got on the apron with her husband.

Kane, Seth and Randy get on the other sides while Rosa was still knocked out.

"Now the numbers game is really coming into play," Cole said as Morgan got held down by Orton and Kane, while the ref tried to restore order.

"The match didn't even start yet. Come on! This isn't fair!" King exclaimed while Stephanie gave Morgan a stinging slap in the face.

"Do you know who I am!? I made you into this company! My husband and I made you into the wrestler you are, today! You do not disrespect me! Do you hear me!?" She yelled in her face, as she continued to give her slaps.

Morgan was released as she stood on her hands and knees.

"No...No not like this! Not this way!" Cole shouted as the crowd cheered with anticipation, seeing Triple H bending Morgan forward and placing her head in between his legs, setting up for the pedigree.

"Pedigree!" He called out as Morgan landed down on her face, on the mat, motionless.

"Finish her." Triple H ordered as he got out of the ring with the others, leaving Orton to stalk his prey.

The ref reluctantly rings for the bell as the crowd boos. Orton shows a serpent smile and goes for the pin.

"1!"

"2!"

"And kick out by Morgan! How did she kick out of that!?" Cole exclaimed as the crowd cheered, loudly.

Triple H narrows his eyes, while Stephanie does not look happy.

"Don't worry. I got this." Seth reassured The Authority.

Orton begins to stalk Morgan, waiting for her to get up. He decides to walk back to a corner and rocks back and forth while holding the ropes on each side. The crowd begins to cheer with anticipation again while Morgan begins to get on her hands and knees.

"Oh no. No. Orton don't do this!" Cole begged.

"This is going to be over quick," JBL called out while Orton runs up to Morgan.

She quickly evades his punt kick and rolls him up for a pin, making the crowd go wild.

"1!"

"2!"

"Oh, and Orton kicked out at two! So close! That would have been an upset." Cole called out.

Morgan starts fighting back with clotheslines and runs to the ropes, only to get her ankles grabbed by Seth as she falls down, face first. The crowd boos while Seth taunts the crowd.

"And Seth Rollins...Morgan needs to keep an eye out for The Authority. Just as she was gaining momentum, it gets taken away from her, by The Authority. Things aren't looking good." Cole continued as Orton hit her with a swinging neckbreaker and got a two count.

The Viper starts stomping all over her body as she lays down on her back, while Stephanie claps.

"That's what I'm talking about. Make her suffer!" She ordered.

Orton stomps hard on her left arm, making her yell out in pain. Randy was starting to enjoy himself, inflicting pain on his opponent. He slides out of the ring and grabs a chair, from the time keepers area.

"Well, this is a no disqualification match. Anything goes." JBL said.

"No. The Authority just wants to finish Morgan off, for good." King grumbled.

"Well, maybe Morgan deserves to be finished off, for good for the lack of respect, she's giving The Authority."

"She doesn't deserve this. She just wants to make history. But she has to go through all this, to do it? It's not fair."

"Well, she said she'll earn a spot. And that's what she's trying to do."

Randy gets back in the ring while Morgan is back up to her feet. He lunges at her with the chair but she ducks. As soon as he turns around, she dropkicks the chair, to his face as the crowd erupts into cheers.

"And Morgan countered!" Cole shouted.

She makes Randy stand up and Irish whips him to a corner as she hits him with a handspring back elbow. Orton drops down and rolls over to the middle of the ring, while she gets on the top rope. Rosa, who finally manages to get back up, gets on the apron. She tries to distract The Outspoken diva but fails once she gets kicked off. She goes for a crossbody but the crowd 'Ohs' as soon as Randy gives her an RKO in midair while she rolls out of the ring.

"RKO!" JBL shouted.

"That has to be the best thing to happen to Morgan. It would have been over, there." Cole called out, as she remained motionless.

"Morgan is going through a rough time, trying to focus on the match, with all these distractions," King said while Randy hit her with a belly to back suplex on the barricade.

"This is what happens!" Orton shouted before throwing her into the steel steps.

"Good grief!" JBL exclaimed while Triple H patted Orton's back.

Orton takes off the top step and sets it down. He places Morgan's head on top of it, patiently waiting for her to stand up.

"I'm afraid of what he's going to do next," King said with concern while she began to stagger up on her hands and knees.

He decides to make her stand up, slowly and lifts up her chin, gazing at her groggy state. He tilts his head to the side, before hitting her with an RKO on the steel steps.

"RKO on the steel steps! Morgan is out." Cole observed. "W—wait what is he doing, now?" He asked while Orton slowly made her stand up, again.

"Not again!" King shouted as he gave her another RKO, while the crowd booed.

Stephanie starts mocking the yes chant while chanting 'Yes!' with a smug look.

"This wouldn't have happened if Morgan had just stayed in the diva's division and stopped getting into men's matches," JBL stated.

"Well, I think it's awesome that a WWE Diva wants to be in matches with male superstars," King replied.

"Of course you do..." JBL bluntly replied back.

"Morgan has not gotten much offense with The Authority on her back," Cole observed while Orton rolled her back in the ring.

He slides in the ring and goes for a pin but Morgan kicks out at two.

"What!?" Stephanie shouted as the crowd erupts into loud cheers. "No! Count again!"

The ref obeys as soon as Randy goes for the pin again but gets the same result.

"Don't worry. There's more punishment where that came from." Orton made her stand up again.

He tries to go for another RKO but she manages to push him again, to try to go for the Morganizer. Orton manages to evade it and tries to go for another RKO. She evades it again and hits him with a backfire, out of nowhere.

"Backfire! Backfire! Come on, Morgan! You can do it!" King cheered as she slowly went for the pin, but Orton kicked out at two.

The Philly Diva continues the offense by striking him with a couple of kicks before dropping him back down with a roundhouse kick. She turns around and quickly drops Kane, Rosa, & Triple H down with a suicide dive as the crowd gets hyped again.

"Morgan! Morgan again attacking The Authority!" Cole shouted while Stephanie's jaw dropped.

"She should be focusing on the match! She was in control Stupid!" JBL exclaimed.

"How is she stupid? She's trying to make sure the numbers game is in her favor!" King exclaimed.

She slides back in the ring before Seth can grab her, and swiftly hits Orton with a shining wizard. She slides back out of the ring and runs after Stephanie.

"Run Stephanie! Run!" JBL warned.

She manages to slide under Seth's legs and continues running after Stephanie. Unfortunately, she gets clotheslined down by Triple H, from behind as the crowd boos. He roughly rolls her back in the ring.

"Finish her! Now!" The COO ordered.

Orton drops Morgan down with a sick clothesline and drags her to the apron. He hits her with his signature rope hung DDT to continue the damage.

Morgan was in a lot of pain. The beating from Orton was one thing, but the constant cheap shots from The Authority were making her madder, and madder. Randy starts to do his signature taunt to the crowd, making the crowd boo loudly. He smirks while Morgan crawls over to his feet. She manages to give him a low blow.

"Morgan with that sneaky low blow! Smart move, can she capitalize?" Cole asked as she slowly started to get up, along with Orton.

She runs to the ropes but Randy manages to counter her upcoming attack with a scoop powerslam.

"1!"

"2!"

"Oh!"

"WHAT!? WHAT!? NO! NO!" Randy started banging on the mat and yelled at the ref, while the crowd erupted into loud cheers.

"Morgan kicked out! It was two!" King cheered.

"Barely..." JBL replied while Triple H face palmed.

"What a near fall! What heart!" Cole exclaimed while Orton continued arguing with the ref.

Morgan takes advantage by grabbing a chair and whacking his back with it.

"And now Morgan with the chair!" King shouted as she continued to unmercifully hit him with the chair.

After she was done, she positioned him for the Morganizer hold on the top rope.

"We've seen this before!" Cole reminded.

"But not on the chair!" King shouted as soon as Morgan hit Randy with her finisher, on the chair.

"1!"

"2!"

"Oh!" The crowd shouted as soon as Stephanie slid in the ring, to break up the pin.

"Oh, come on! Morgan had that won and you know it!" King shouted as the crowd booed loudly.

Stephanie started to taunt the crowd. "You should have stayed in the Diva's Division, Morgan. We didn't have to do this, but you left us no choice."

She pretends to act sorry while Morgan gets on her hands and knees and starts to seethe. Stephanie stops her taunting as she watches in shock at Morgan banging on the mat and screaming.

"Uh oh. This isn't good. You do not want to encounter this episode." Cole warned.

Stephanie takes a step back but then Morgan launches herself at her, unloading on her as the crowd chants 'Yes!'. But then Stephanie manages to escape. Seth slides into the ring to help Stephanie. Morgan tries to go for a kick but Seth effortlessly catches it and drops her down with a kick to the back of the head.

"Yeah! Get her! Get her!" Stephanie pointed out while Seth awaited her to get on her hands and knees.

As soon as she does, Seth goes for the curb stomp but The Outspoken diva outsmarts him by evading the stomp. She plants him down with a spinning heel kick to the face, making him fall out the ring.

"Morgan just dropped Seth Rollins!" Cole shouted as the crowd erupted into more cheers.

Stephanie's jaw drops again and tries to escape but gets grabbed by the crazed diva.

"Come on Morgan, she's a mother! She's a wife! You're not one of those things! How do you expect to be one of those things, if you're gonna be acting crazy!?" JBL exclaimed.

"If you don't shut up!" King scolded him.

Stephanie starts calling out to her husband while getting lifted up for the reverse GTS. The crowd starts chanting 'CM Punk!' before Morgan delivers the move.

"Are you kidding me?" JBL shouted as Stephanie rolled out the ring.

Rosa slides back in the ring but gets caught with the Morganzier before she rolls out of the ring. The crowd begins to chant 'This Is Awesome' while Morgan dropkicks Triple H off the apron, and onto Seth & Kane.

"And now the rest of The Authority is taken out!" Cole shouted while Morgan ducked Orton's big boot.

She quickly kicks him in the stomach and goes for a Chyna DDT on the chair.

"DDT! DDT! DDT! Can Morgan do it!? Can Morgan accomplish one of her goals in the WWE!?" Cole yelled in anticipation.

"1!"

"2!"

"3!"

"Oh my God!" Morgan screamed and quickly moved away from Orton's body, with her eyes widening.

The crowd gives her a big pop as her theme comes on. She puts her hands on her head, looking on with astonishment, that she just won the match, and won a spot in the MITB briefcase match.

"She did it!" Cole shouted.

"Yes! She did it!" King cheered.

"Here is your winner! And will be in the Money in The Bank briefcase match, Morgan Lopez!" Justin announced as the crowd cheered louder.

She gets her hand raised as her eyes start to water, with tears of joy.

"Let's go! Hell yeah!" The Outspoken Diva jumped up and down.

"No way! No way! This cannot be happening! I demand a rematch!" JBL shouted.

"Morgan did it! She did it! Yes!" King cheered happily, ignoring JBL's protests.

"Morgan has accomplished one of her dreams, here in the WWE," Cole announced. "This has to be very emotional for Morgan. This win means so much for her. She overcame all odds,"

Suddenly, she quickly flees the ring, as soon as The Authority tries to get her.

"NO! No~!" Stephanie screamed. "Why!? Why1? How did this happen!?"

Morgan runs up to the stage and taunts the crowd, while having a hand over her mouth, still in shock.

"You are gonna regret this, Morgan! This isn't the end!" Triple H shouted and started pacing around.

"You had one job! One friggin' job!" Seth complained to Kane, Rosa, and Randy.

"Didn't you say you got her!? Didn't you say you would handle her!? It's your frickin' fault I lost the damn match! Now look what happened!" Orton fired back while Triple H tried to separate them, getting in each other's faces, as the crowd looked amused.

"We are NOT havin' this right now!" Triple H shouted.

Everyone in The Authority was livid. First Ambrose, now Morgan? This was not good. This was bad. Not one but two crazed wrestlers in the ring? All hell was going to break loose.

"I knew this might have blown up in your face." Triple H said to Seth.

"I got this. Don't worry. Let her have her fun." Seth replied.

"This is going to be an interesting match, this Sunday. Morgan has made history. She is now the first WWE Diva to be a part of the Money in The Bank briefcase match," Cole informed.

"Congratulations! She deserves it, after what she's been through." King grinned.

"I told you! I told you!" Morgan shouted at The Authority, with tears of joy streaming down her face. "I told you I'd cut right through!" She taunts them again, as the crowd cheers.

She continues jumping up and down & twirling around the stage, pissing The Authority off even more.

"I love it when she's so happy!" King admired.

-----

'Post Show'

"Dean," Tom called out, jogging up to him as he turned around, near the doors, backstage. "The news just came from Triple H. Seth Rollins vouched for you to be in the Money in The Bank ladder match, you're in the Money in The Bank, this Sunday."

"Hahaha." Dean laughed out loud and slapped the door, showing a huge grin on his face. "I knew it. I knew he would. He really didn't have a choice because I was gonna show up in Boston, anyway. Y'know I already uh, kind of made that clear."

He put his hand on the wall while putting the other hand on his hip. "Uh, I would just go ahead and walk up that ladder, after pummeling Seth Rollins, half to death. Grab that briefcase, take it to downtown Boston, sell it at a pawn shop, if they didn't go ahead and put me in that match, so that's what's best for business. Smart decision by Triple H. You know what was a bad decision, by Triple H? Getting on my bad side, and making an enemy for life, of Dean Ambrose. I've never liked Triple H. I've always had respect for him as a competitor but I never really liked him. He was in Evolution, I was in The Shield, y'know but now he's got an enemy for life. Seth Rollins has an enemy for life. And that's bad. Your life changes when I am your enemy. And it's just gonna keep gettin' worse, for them."

He put his hands on Tom's shoulders. "I'M GOIN' TO MONEY IN THE BANK, TOM!" He shouted and slapped on his cheek a couple of times, before resting a hand on his shoulder.

"How's Triple H gonna explain this? How's Triple H gonna explain to the WWE Universe, to his investors, how's Triple H gonna explain to his wife that scumbag Dean Ambrose, is holding a contract for a World Heavyweight championship shot? God that really looks bad for the company, doesn't it? I'm sure he'll figure it out. Cause he's our boss." Ambrose smiled. "And he knows what's best for business!"

He walked through the door, walking backstage, shouting, "Hey! I'm goin' to Money In The Bank!"

He saw Morgan's back a few feet in front of him as she was talking to Renee, getting interviewed. He decided to slap her ass while walking by her. The Outspoken Diva jumped and put her hands on her behind as she saw Dean walking past her, with a smirk on his face. Renee giggled at what just transpired and Morgan's shocked face reaction as the camera continued to be on them. The Philly Diva shook her head and smiled, before wiping the tears of joy in her eyes after winning her match.

"Morgan, you won!" She smiled while she grinned and sniffed. "Congratulations! You are the first WWE Diva to be apart of the Money in The Bank briefcase match. How are you feeling?"

She cleared her throat and exhaled. "I uh...I'm sorry..."

"No, no, this is your moment. You've made history. What you did out there was awesome!"

"Thank you. I um...I'm trying to prove that women can do anything. It doesn't matter if you win or lose. What matters is that you're in the match and you're a woman making history. And it feels good...It feels so good!" She laughed while wiping more tears from her eyes. "The Authority needs to remember that they can't control me, and I just proved that, tonight. I'm going to Money in The Bank, and I'm pretty damn proud of it. Sunday is going to be awesome. I told them I was going to cut right through them,"

-------

On Smackdown, for the opening segment, Seth Rollins, Randy Orton and Triple H were in the ring.

"Welcome to Smackdown!" Triple H greeted, earning a small reaction from the Pittsburgh crowd. "You know in this business people sometimes refer to things in eras. There's a Golden era...the Rock and wrestling era...the Attitude era...the Ruthless Aggression era...today I heard it called the Reality era. But I think more accurately, it would be called...The Authority era. Because The Authority is constantly making history. Take this Sunday for example, at the Money in the bank Pay Per View, history will be made, for when the first time ever, 8 men will compete in a ladder match. And I guarantee you at the end of that match...we will crown a brand new WWE World Heavyweight champion. And that man will be the brand new face of the WWE." Triple H smiled at Orton. "But that's not all...at the Money in The Bank Pay Per View, you don't only get that, no, no, no, no, there's much, much, more! You also get a traditional Money in The Bank contract ladder match. In which one man—" he stopped as the crowd started chanting loudly for Morgan.

"And one woman," Cole added as the chants got louder.

Triple H looked around with a scowl on his face after hearing Morgan's name around the arena.

"...And one...woman..." He grumbled. "One woman who should not even be in this match...who doesn't deserve it...and only won by a fluke."

His statement earned loud boos from the audience. The crowd started to add insult to injury by chanting 'You Got Clotheslined!' to him, reminding him of how he got dropped so easily while Morgan was about to get in the ring, during her entrance, back on Raw. Orton started to get annoyed because the crowd was continuing to remind him that Morgan pinned him, but Seth remained calm, smirking to himself.

"...One man because Morgan will not be climbing up that ladder...will retrieve a contract that allows him to create his own opportunities." Triple H began to smile at Seth, who returned the smile while the COO put a hand on his shoulder. "Now if I was a gamblin' man, I'd say that when Sunday is over...you're lookin' at a pretty solid group, right here. I would be willing to say that the brand new WWE World Heavyweight champion and brand new face of the WWE, will be none other than Randy Orton. And standing by his side, with a briefcase and contract in hand, allowing him a chance, at a championship match, anywhere, anyplace, anytime, will be Seth Rollins. And whenever you like it or not, ladies and gentlemen, that is what's best for business."

"Hunter you're exactly right," Orton spoke up. "That is what's best for business. This Sunday at the Money in The Bank, Pay Per View, I will ascend that ladder." He pointed up to the two titles hanging up on the ceiling. "And not only be the Viper, not only be the Apex Predator, I will be the WWE World Heavyweight champion. And once again the face of the WWE,"

"That's right," Seth mentioned, taking a few steps forward to where Orton was standing. "Also on Sunday at the Money in The Bank Pay Per View I will climb the ladder, I will beat seven other superstars, including Dean Ambrose & Morgan. And I will forge my own destiny, when I secure a contract that guarantees me, a WWE World Heavyweight championship match, anytime, anywhere. And in case...things don't work out, like Hunter said. We always got a Plan B,"

"Now, wait a minute, wait a minute." Orton interrupted. "Mister Plan B, please tell me what exactly do you think is gonna go wrong?"

"Take it easy, Randy. It's not unthinkable that you might not get the job done again, y'know. I mean, you didn't get the job done on Monday when you lost to Morgan. Making her in my match, thank you very much. Now I got two crazy people to deal with,"

"Seth, it's not unthinkable that Morgan is gonna throw you off that ladder and possibly even win your match, this Sunday, making you lose to a woman as well. What's not unthinkable is that without your Shield guys, standing by your side, that I don't whip your ass,"

"All right, all right." Triple H got in between them. "Hey, all right. Okay, you're gonna do this in front of everybody, all right I understand that sometimes there might be some trust issues. Randy, do you know why you should trust, Seth? Seth, you know why you should trust, Randy? Because I do. That's why. Because I trust him and that's why you should trust him. And you wanna know the reality of it? For both of you? Whether you like it or not, there's one constant that isn't gonna change. And that is The Authority. That is not going to change. So, here's the thing, you can either survive against The Authority or you can thrive with The Authority. So, while trust might be a little bit of a bitter taste in your mouths...adapt or perish. This is the future. This is the present."

He touched Orton's shoulder and pointed over to Seth. "This is the future. This is the plan and like I said...this is best for business. All right? Now...we'll move on because where you see Seth Rollins lately, you see one man. Dean Ambrose."

Once the crowd heard Dean's name, they gave him a big pop. It was no surprise that Ambrose was very over with the crowd these past few weeks.

"And you can be excited all you want, because in just a moment you're gonna see Dean Ambrose. That's the good news. But unfortunately for all of you, and I just gotta say that I love doin' this. I've got some bad news for ya." Triple H said in a British accent.

----------

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome The Outspoken Diva, Morgan Lopez!" Lilian announced as the crowd gave her a loud pop.

She walks out in leather shorts, a white crop top that stops just before her pierced naval and black ankle boots. Her black hair was straightened with bangs, having a huge smile on her face. She tags some hands and grabs the microphone on the top steel step before getting in the ring.

"Morgan is in such a good mood, tonight. And can you blame her? Let's take you back to Monday night." Cole said as they showed the highlights of her match against Orton. "Do you believe in miracles, John?"

"She just got lucky. I have to admit, what she did was clever..." JBL grumbled.

"This was a huge upset,"

Morgan stands in the middle of the ring, embracing the warm reception from the Pittsburgh crowd.

"Wow, it's very active here in Pittsburgh!" She chuckled. "You guys show me a lot of love, every time I come out here. And I'm grateful for that. It's all of you who keep me going. I've met some awesome fans, crazy fans, haha, and even met some inspirational fans, telling me I saved them. That I motivate them. I'm grateful for that, too, but the thing is, all of you motivate and inspire me. Your passion for the WWE and wrestling makes me elated to come out here and perform for you. You guys saved me. There were so many times that I wanted to give up. Even on Monday but as I heard you guys cheering for me, I just had to keep going. And I thank all of you for supporting me because on Monday, I made history and this Sunday I'm going to Money in The Bank!" She grinned as the crowd applauded.

A 'You deserve it!' chant breaks out, making her pause and look around with gratitude.

"I didn't just win for myself. Everything I did on Monday was for a certain Straight Edge friend." She said as the crowd chanted 'CM Punk' loudly. "My cousin Chyna, The divas, past, future and present...and for all of you guys. I proved that being a female wrestler doesn't mean being eye candy or anything cliché of that sorts. I wanted to do stuff with the guys and here I am about to accomplish one of my goals, this Sunday. Man...I grew so much over the years. Being that nobody. That regular new diva, trying to make a name for herself back in 2012. Getting into trouble and losing a few screws by going after one of the most dangerous groups in Sports entertainment, The Shield. Then little ol' me gets forced into the group. Became The Shield's girl. Hated The Authority's orders and became the Outspoken Diva. And look at me now. On my own, continuing to kick ass and being your favorite diva. Your Heroine. Trying to save the diva's division with some of the most awesome female wrestlers on this roster. I'm the former Shield's girl. And now The Morganation is on full throttle. It's my time, now. And I want you guys to believe in me. Believe in Morgan Lopez. I promise I will not let you down win or lose. I promise to never go to the dark side. I'm your diva,"

Seth's theme blares out as the crowd heavily boos. He walks out in his black shirt and black pants without his black jacket. With a smirk on his face, he watches her look annoyed as he makes his way into the ring.

"What is he doing out here?" Cole asked.

"Intimidation? That's one of her opponents, this Sunday." JBL reminded over the 'you sold out!' chants.

After a few moments, Morgan began to speak. "I don't appreciate you coming out here, trying to ruin my one on one time with the fans. So, whatever the heck you have to say, make it quick. And if this is about you bragging about how you're going to win with whatever Plan A, B, C, D, whatever the hell type of plan you're doing, get the hell out of my ring," The Outspoken Diva pointed to the stage as the crowd cheered.

Seth chuckled. "I love that about you. You're so courageous. Even when you're all alone. Grapes, I came out here—"

"Don't ever call me that again," she narrowed her eyes as it struck a nerve and past memories that made her heart ache.

Watching how she reacted to the nickname, Rollins grinned. "What? Grapes?"

"I said don't call me that!"

"Why not? You always used to love it when I call you that, Grapes,"

"Mind games by Rollins?" Cole asked.

"Don't you remember all the times I would toss grapes at you, and you would catch them with your mouth? Remember all the times you would hug me after I would buy you a bag of grapes? Our funny prank wars, against each other? You remember that? You remember those good times?"

"That was past..."

"And it can be our future. We can still enjoy those good times."

"Well it could..." she shrugged. "But you gotta remember that you were the one who whacked my back, with the chair. You were the one who chose to stab me in the back. You were the one who hit my head, so hard, with that chair, that blood was coming out, the side of my head. You were the one who chose this path. I'm not going to follow in your footsteps. So, what do you want?"

"All right. All right. Since you want to pretend that you don't miss me, I'll just cut right to the chase. You've had your little moment on Monday. But if you come to Boston on Sunday...I'm not gonna like what I'm going to do to you. I came out here because I care about you. I don't want you to get hurt, on Sunday. Please, just forget about the match. Don't come to Boston on Sunday. For your own safety,"

"Let me think..." She paused for a moment. "No."

He grinned and nodded a few times. "Okay. I warned you. Do you want to know what I'm gonna do to you?"

"I don't know...but I know what I'm going to do to you. I'm gonna make sure I throw you off the ladder." She guaranteed.

"Did you see what I did to Ambrose?" He chuckled as the titantron showed him beating him up and curb stomping him. "I could do the same to you...but I don't want to. This doesn't have to be this way. Don't be the heroine. Just come with me. Be more successful with me. What do you say?"

The crowd started chanting 'No!' while Morgan looked around at the crowd.

She tries to kick him but he swiftly grabs her leg.

"Uh oh," Cole called out.

Seth grinned and shook his head. "Bad move, sweetheart. Bad move." He released her and kicked her, hard in the stomach, making her yell out in pain.

She clenches her stomach with her right arm and falls down to her knees. She was glad she didn't eat a heavy meal because she would have thrown up. The impact of his kick made her cough a couple of times. As she tried to recover from the pain, Triple H, Rosa, Kane, and Orton walk down the ramp as the crowd boos. Morgan grits her teeth and looks up at Seth, & The Authority with a glare.

"Oh no Morgan get out of there!" Cole shouted.

"Too late," JBL said while the guys got in the ring.

She manages to get back to her feet, with the help of the ropes, continuing to hold her stomach.

"This is how it's gonna go down," Seth spoke. "You are either going to come with me and join me to become the power couple of the future. The best wrestlers of the future and help me win at Money in The Bank or...you can drop out of the match on Sunday for your well being. Go back to wrestling divas. Staying out of my business, and shutting your mouth."

"Neither!" she shouted, earning loud cheers.

"You are so difficult! You are so stubborn! Why won't you just stop being the heroine? I know all of your moves, Morgan! I know you better than you know yourself! Take my hand and we'll be unstoppable. No speed bumps to go by. You'll be so much more successful. You are the only Shield member that I wanted along with me. The only Shield member I knew would be successful with me. But you said no. And I had to do what I had to do. I hit you with that chair not because I wanted to sever our bond. I may have said that, but the truth is...I did it because I wanted that to be a wake up call, for you. You're weak being a good person. You can be so much stronger. I know you can. I want the real Morgan back. This is not you,"

"You want me to join you, after all that crap you said about me? How I'm nothing without you? I'm everything without you! I'm better without you. This is the real me. I'm the Outspoken Diva and I'm pretty damn proud of what I've accomplished so far, without the likes of you, Reigns, or Ambrose and everything I've done so far has felt so good. I'm more focused than ever and I showed that on Monday night! And unlike you, I like to earn things and not sell out. I don't care if I have to start back at the bottom, I will not go to the dark side and I won't take the easy road. Give me all the curb stomps you want. But at least I'm not a bitch to run away from their battles." She snapped as the crowd cheered.

She is then held back and forced down on her knees by Orton and Kane.

"This is not good. Someone needs to stop this." Cole said.

"Morgan, make the smart move now and drop out of the match. We can forget about what happened, on Monday. It will be best for business for you to drop out." Triple H spoke. "You are so pathetic...how you just keep coming and coming after The Authority...and for what? Every time you come at the Authority, you always get punched down. Just give up."

"Pathetic huh?" she spoke up. "Hey, hey, how does it feel? How does it feel that you got a woman in a men's match? A Money in the bank match? Will you be able to swallow your pride and watch as I climb up that ladder and take that briefcase? Will you be able to swallow the fact that a WWE Diva, a woman, a female wrestler might become the WWE World Heavyweight champion?"

"There is no way that any of these people want to see a pathetic, worthless, piece of trash like you be in the Money in The Bank match, this Sunday. A C-plus player. You are a disgrace to this company and you are a disgrace to women's wrestling,"

"Oh, bite me..." She retorted

"Kane, she's all yours." Triple H ordered while the crowd began to boo once Kane positioned her for the chokeslam.

"Wait a minute! Look who's here!" Cole shouted as the crowd screamed and cheered.

Ambrose dashes down the ramp and slides in the ring. He quickly jumps on top of Rollins, while Kane releases Morgan.

"Dean Ambrose! Going after Rollins!" He exclaimed while Morgan rested near a corner, leaning on the bottom turnbuckle.

Triple H and Rosa quickly escape the ring, leaving Orton, and Kane to help out Seth. Seth finally manages to escape Dean's crazed punches and runs out of the ring. Orton kicks Ambrose in the midsection, making him rebound the ropes and return with a clothesline. Rosa slides into the ring and grabs Dean's left leg so Kane can drop him down with a big boot.

"Oh! And a big boot by Kane." Cole winced.

The Philly Diva stands up and tackles Rosa down, before pummeling her with punches. Rosa rolls out the ring, while Morgan stands up, unaware of Orton waiting for her to turn around.

"Don't turn around, Morgan!" JBL warned.

As soon as she does, she manages to push Orton away from doing the RKO and drops him down with the backfire as the crowd cheers. She throws him out of the ring, at the end of the ramp, while Ambrose dropkicks Kane off the apron, behind her.

"Ambrose and Morgan standing tall," Cole said.

The two back up and look up at the ceiling at the Money in The Bank briefcase.

"Um...are those two aware that they'll be competing against each other for that briefcase, up there?" JBL asked as the two turned around and looked at each other.

Morgan smirks and pushes past him, to get out of the ring. Ambrose who was still panting from the brawl he had, raises a brow, while looking amused as he turns around to watch her grab a ladder. She gets back in the ring and sets it in the middle of the ring.

"What is she planning on doing, now?" Cole asked as Ambrose nodded and got a ladder to set it next to hers. "And it looks like Ambrose is going to do the same. What are they doing?"

They both climb their ladders, facing the stage. The Authority looks on with angry looks as the crazed duo looks up at the briefcase, inches away from them. They both grab it and take it off the hook together as the crowd cheers.

"This is something else," JBL said as Morgan held the briefcase in her hands and looked at it, with admiration.

She hands the briefcase over to Ambrose and he checks it out as his theme comes on.

"Ambrose and Morgan standing tall," Cole said as they held the briefcase together and slowly raised it up in the air. They look at it, and then back at The Authority. "But the questions that remain are, will they work together? Or go against each other, at Money in The Bank?"

"I don't know but things are going to get real interesting, this Sunday," JBL said as The Authority regrouped on the stage.

Ambrose gets down from the ladder and sets the briefcase down. He starts yelling at Seth, saying that he's gonna make sure to get even with him, this Sunday. Morgan rests her elbows on top of the ladder, looking amused.

"You are not gonna ruin this for me! You are going to regret this!" Seth shouted.

"We cannot let Morgan win that briefcase! We cannot let Morgan win that briefcase, Hunter!" Orton exclaimed to Triple H.

"And Ambrose! Do you know what type of chaos that would be? Having Ambrose or a diva represent this company as WWE World Heavyweight champion?! You just don't do that crap! That just can't happen!" Seth exclaimed.

Morgan jumps off the ladder, and the crowd erupts into louder cheers once she jumps on Ambrose, hugging him. He wraps his arms around her waist, while she wraps her arms and legs around him. Showing off that they are still going strong, they give The Authority a show, by kissing passionately in the ring.

"And they're still together even if they're doing their own thing. You know John, I honestly think it doesn't matter which one of them will win. As long as either Ambrose or Morgan grabs that briefcase and shatters Seth's dreams, that's all that matters." Cole said.

"Hm...I don't know..." JBL replied, skeptical. "Every person for themselves. This can break friendships. And relationships. You've seen what happened with Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow, last year,"

Triple H scowled at the couple in the ring, grinning at The Authority, and taunting them. "Let them have their fun. They aren't going to be winning on Sunday. I guarantee it. If Plan A doesn't work...then Plan B will."

[sukipershipper]

Are you doing just Bear and Hondo ones?

If not could I maybe. *Taps fingers together sheepishly*

Get the boxers freaking out over fem mac’s first date? [You totally don’t have to! Just have that Fem mac brain rot rn lol plus I’d love to see more content on her heheh]

Ofc! I can try and make some up with the others.

Also, I feel that, we love some good Ole vBrain Rot. Fem little Mac is so based. The AI gave ne a really cute interaction and omg I melted reading this. Not exactly what I know you wanted but I think it's still really cute.

Enjoy!

Once upon a time in the colorful world of Punch Out, a young and determined female boxer named Little Mac had been training day and night to become the best in the ring. Her unwavering dedication and fierce punches had earned her the respect and admiration of her fellow male boxers. One sunny afternoon, as the boxing gym echoed with the rhythmic sound of punches hitting punching bags, Little Mac received an unexpected message on her phone. It was an invitation for a date from a charming young man named Jake. Little Mac couldn't believe her eyes. She had never been on a date before, and the idea both thrilled and intimidated her. With a mix of excitement and nerves, she approached her trainer, Doc Louis, to share the news. Little Mac: "Hey, Doc! You won't believe it. I've been asked on a date by Jake!" Doc Louis turned around, a twinkle in his eyes, and his trademark smile stretched across his face. Doc Louis: "Well, Little Mac, that's fantastic news! Looks like you've knocked out more than just your opponents in the ring. How do you feel about it?" Little Mac: "Honestly, Doc, I'm excited, but also nervous. I've never been on a date before. What if I mess it up?" Doc Louis chuckled, his deep voice resonating through the gym. Doc Louis: "Listen, Little Mac, just remember what you've learned in the ring. Stay focused, be yourself, and give it your all. Dates are just like fights. You gotta find the rhythm and dodge those awkward moments." As word of Little Mac's upcoming date spread through the gym, her boxing buddies couldn't help but chime in. Bald Bull, the boisterous Turkish boxer, raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. Bald Bull: "Well, well, well, Little Miss Mac finally has a date! I guess there's more to you than just punches, huh? Make sure to show Jake how strong you are!" King Hippo, his towering figure overshadowing the others, grinned widely. King Hippo: "Good for you, Little Mac! But remember, no matter how the date goes, you're always a champion in the ring. Just like me!" Piston Hondo, the honorable Japanese warrior, nodded in agreement. Piston Hondo: "Little Mac-san, a date is like a spar. You approach it with discipline and respect. Trust yourself, and it will all work out." Von Kaiser, the proud German boxer, stepped forward, adjusting his mustache with a mischievous smile. Von Kaiser: "A date? Ach, Little Mac, you're making us all proud! Show zem zat you can fight in ze ring and win ze heart!" With the encouragement and playful banter of her boxing comrades, Little Mac felt a surge of confidence. She prepared herself mentally and physically for the date with Jake, realizing that her journey to become a champion had given her the strength to conquer any challenge, even matters of the heart. And so, on the night of the date, Little Mac put on her finest attire, stood tall, and made her way to meet Jake. As she walked away, the boxers exchanged knowing glances and shared a mixture of excitement and pride for their friend. In the end, Little Mac's first date turned out to be a success. Just like in the ring, she showed determination, resilience, and her true spirit. And though her fellow boxers continued their intense training, they knew that sometimes, even the toughest fighters needed a moment to find love outside the ring.

[thiswasinevitableid]

52 or 41 for the meet ugly? sternclay, nsfw if thats chill

Here it is!

52. you think I’m leering at you in the gym but really I’m studying your form and trying to learn how to make mine better Sternclay NSFW

This is the toughest part of Joseph’s workout, so he could do without the audience.

He first noticed the guy during his turn at the squat rack; taller than him, in a grey t-shirt and black shorts that show he has muscle to spare, with brown eyes that were on Joseph’s ass whenever he looked away. Were Joseph not in the middle of the kettlebell burpees sequence, he might even spare a glance of his own to see how he fills out the front of his shorts, but he’s tired and he’s been dealing with behind the back stares all day.

When he’s done, he takes a final look over his shoulder to see the guy still staring at him. Joseph locks eyes, watches his face flood with guilt as he becomes very focused on his shoes. He continues studying them, as if holding still might keep Joseph from coming closer.

“Okay, I sense you’re new here, so I’ll be polite: everyone checks people out at the gym now and then. But the rule is you don’t do it so fucking brazenly the other person notices.”

“I, uh, I wasn’t-”

“I counted you staring ten separate times, even when your workout had you facing away from me.” He crosses his arms, annoyed that the man has the gall to deny his blatant ogling.

“I, uh, I was studying your form” the newcomer rubs his wrist, sheepish, “I’m kinda new to, like, formal workout stuff, and you clearly know your shit, so I was trying to use you to figure out how to do my circuit without fucking up my spine.”

Joseph rolls his eyes; that’s the first lie anyone tells when they get called out for staring.

“I’m serious!” The man has the audacity to look perturbed. Joseph has zero interest in an argument but every desire to call his bluff.

“Well, if that’s the case, if we cross paths again you’re welcome to join me and I can give you pointers.”

With that, he heads towards the locker rooms. He doesn’t feel eyes on him once the whole walk there.

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

“Hey.”

Joseph looks up from setting his fitbit to see his not-so-subtle admirer beside him. The taller man smirks, “you didn’t think I’d take you up on it, did you?”

“No. But I’m not about to go back on my offer. Or modify my work out if you join me. Make your choice accordingly.”

“Okay. What’s first?” His smile is friendly, but there’s a challenge in it. Joseph, who's been bored the entire day, is more than ready to rise to it.

“Jump rope. Nine minutes total.”

They find a spare rope for the other man, but he keeps getting his right foot caught.

“Drop your elbows some, when they’re too high it’s easier for the rope to catch.”

“Oh, thanks.”

His new gym buddy is winded when they’re done, but follows him eagerly over to the mats for his core workout. He’s better at that, though Joseph still has to correct the position of his back the first time. They move through cardio, weights, and cool down with no conversation that isn’t directly related to body position or technique. By the end, the newcomer is soaked with sweat. And..smiling?

“That was fucking brutal. Can we do it again some time?”

If you, um, really want to?”

“Fuck yeah.”

Joseph smiles back, “I’m here every day after work. So you can come find me…”

“Barclay” the taller man fills in his unasked question.

“Joseph. Oh, and try to get some shoes with better traction soon. You’ll have an easier time.”

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

“You okay there?” Barclay looks at Joseph from the treadmill on his left, “you seem kinda low energy today.”

“I ate too small a lunch.” He hits the stop button, walks as the belt slows, “I’ll be fine once I fish my power bar out of my glovebox on the way home.”

“Or you could, uh, you could come get dinner with me? There’s a great spot two blocks from here; it’s my favorite stop after you put me through my paces.”

Joseph thinks about downing a protein shake while wandering his empty apartment.

“That sounds great.”

Barclay leads him to a diner, all yellow lights and red pleather. His friend orders a stack of waffles and fried eggs (“I’m not a big fan of syrup”) while he opts for a french dip and, on Barclay’s recommendation, a chocolate malt. When the server asks if it’s one bill or two, Barclay pays for both of them.

“Least I can do in exchange for the free personal training you’re giving me.”

“It’s not like I mind” Joseph offers him access to his french fries, “I like working out with you. I’ve, um, never had a gym buddy before. UP agents are considered weirdos at work, I’m considered odd for one of them, and, well, you’ve done my workout; it intimidates some people.”

Barclay looks at him across the formica, beard still a bit mussed from drying it after his shower, “Yo--uh, I mean, it is pretty intimidating. But like, in a good way. The kind that makes you wanna push yourself.”

Joseph allows himself a flirtatious smile, “I’m glad you appreciate it.”

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

Barclay: gonna miss workout tomorrow. Got a date. Promise I’ll let you work me twice as hard on Friday.

J.S: Have fun. And you know I will, big guy.

Joseph slips his earbuds in; he’s gotten so used to their easy conversation that his best of the ‘00s playlist is jarring in it’s place. But he falls into his rhythm, is halfway through his workout when a tall, familiar shape in grey shorts hurries through the door and drops it’s water bottle next to his.

“Is everything okay?” He pops his headphones out as Barclay shakes his head.

“Date was a bust; guy was so pushy I bailed after one drink. Figured if I caught up with you the night wouldn’t totally suck.”

Joseph grabs a second mat, lays it out, “I can’t do dinner tonight; since I thought you were busy, tonight is for running errands.”

“No big.” Barclay lays next to him, their fingers brushing for a moment before Joseph counts them down.

As the evening ticks away in sets and reps, he gets increasingly worried about Barclay; his friend begs off both squats and rowing, and doesn’t join him for the ten minute cool-down jog on the treadmill. He hopes it’s just a side effect of having a beer before working out and not something more dire.

The locker room is empty on their side, and he finds Barclay leaning his forehead on the wall outside one of the shower cubicles, taking long, deliberate breaths. His shirt is off, but he’s still in his shorts. When he turns, startled by Joseph asking if he’s okay, it’s immediately obvious why.

“Sorry” Barclay is doing his best to conceal his hard-on, “this is hella embarrassing.”

“It happens” Joseph aims for a pleasant shrug even as his own cock starts acting up, “lots of friction and, um, and all that.”

“It’d be less humiliating if it was that. I, uh,” Barclay is redder than Joseph’s ever seen him, “I put a plug in before my date and, uh, I was in such a hurry to come find you once it ended that I, I didn’t take time to pull it out.”

He forces his voice to stay gentle, to not reveal the heat burbling up from his stomach, “You could have just asked me to wait a second once you got here.”

“Didn’t think of it until I sat down on the mat and realized how much I could feel the fucking thing. Like I, uh, I said, I kinda had a one track mind when I got here. I” his brown eyes are Bambi-wide when they skitter from Joseph’s gaze, “I wanted to see you.”

Shoes squeaking on the wet tile, Joseph nudges him into the stall, “Is that really it, big guy? You went through all that discomfort just for a few more seconds of being near me?”

“Uh huh” Barclay whimpers, his big, broad frame shaking when Joseph presses him against the wall.

“That’s sweet. Do you know what happens to sweet boys when they’re good?”

His friend shakes his head, hair catching across his eyes. Joseph tips his chin up, lips slightly parted in invitation. Barclay groans and drops his head down to meet him. It is, without a doubt, the messiest kiss of Joseph’s life, all sweat and odd angles like his first time in his boyfriend’s den in the July heat. The parallel is heightened by Barclay instantly grabbing his hips and humping him through his shorts.

“Joseph, babe, please, please say this is okay.” His hands tighten their hold when Joseph licks a stripe up his neck; it’s sweaty, sticky, the kind of thing he hates in porn but damn him if the doesn’t want to lick and suck Barclay until he can taste him in his sleep.

“No, it’s not.” Joseph cups his face to keep the panic he sees there at bay, “because if you cum like that, I won’t get to show you the rest of your reward.”

“Re-reward?” Barclay actually squeaks, and what can Joseph do at such a sound but kiss him once more.

“Shorts off, water on. I’ll be right back.”

Water obediently patters on the tiles as he shoves his hand deep into his gym bag; god bless emergency laundry quarters and bathroom vending machines.

He strips, joins Barclay in the shower and discovers his cock is even more pleasing than it’s outline suggested.

“Lord almighty, you’re gorgeous.” He lowers to his knees, traces the path of droplets through the hair on Barclays stomach and chest. Then he removes the first condom from its pack, rolls it down the thick cock that’s just tempting him to abandon his plan, then slips the second one on his finger.

“Fuck, this has gotta be a dream, right? Because it’s the same one I’ve jerked off to for fucking weeks.”

“No, big guy, it’s not.” Joseph reaches between Barclay legs, “oh shit, you’ve been wearing this all night?”

“AHnnnuhhuh” Barclay moans as Joseph toys with the base of the plug.

“And you still did a huge chunk of our workout. I’m impressed, big guy, impressed and very, very, very pleased.” He kisses his cock on each very, Barclay letting out an “uhn” at each one. As he slides the plug free he continues, “To think, your date was so unpleasant he missed out on not only your charm and your handsome face, but the fact you were prepared enough to prep for him.”

“His loss is my gain ohfuck, Joseph, baby, please-” Barclays cock bobs in the air as Joseph teases his ass. When he presses in Barclay gasps, Joseph praying the droplets hitting the walls lend any escaping sounds an air of plausible deniability.

“Nice and open. Good boy.” Joseph slowly works his finger in and out, building up to two almost immediately. He nuzzles Barclays cock, “do you always bottom?”

“M-most of the timeOH, god” His head lolls back when Joseph takes his cock into his mouth, sucking lazily as he fucks him open, “I like it, makes me feel taken care of.”

Joseph eases in a third finger, let’s his cock fall from his mouth as water collects in his eyelashes. Barclay is staring down at him, hair several shades darker as it plasters to his face and eyes hopeful.

“In that case” Joseph times his upstrokes to his thrusts, “how about you come to my place on Sunday? I’ve got a whole box of cocks to choose from; we could work our way through them.”

“Yes, ohfuckyesplease.”

“We could play around with positions too” He can see Barclay’s muscles flexing in new ways as he begins bucking his hips, chasing the tender pressure of Joseph’s fist, “I bet you look great on all fours, and I know what you look like with your ass in the air already. You in my lap, that could be fun--oh, ohshit” he laughs as Barclay nearly fucks himself off his fingers, “you like that, like the idea of sitting in my lap like the big, sweet boy you are while I fuck you, like the thought of cumming on my cock and then going to fetch the next one, of me not letting you stop until we’ve been thorough and found your favorite because that’s what you deserve-”

“Fuck!” Barclay moans, hands slipping on the tile as he floods the tip of the condom. Joseph adds “get tested” to his mental to-do list while the other man slides down the wall like a slasher victim until they’re face to face on the floor.

“You okay, big guy?”

“Can’t feel my legs.”

“That’s just the lunges talking.”

“Please” Barclay kisses his shoulder, “please let me suck your dick.”

Joseph smacks the handle until the water turns off, scrambles to his feet and clings to the “no-slip” bar as Barclay shoves his face between his legs. He sucks his cock, occasionally opening his mouth enough to licks his folds. He’s so eager, even tries fucking into him with his tongue, big hands groping his ass while Joseph stifles his moans in his forearm. He’s going to cum in the gym shower, he’s going to cum from his first blowjob in years, he’s coming to cum from the astounding, impossibly hot man below him who he intends to dom into next fucking week-

He cums hard, the hand not bracing him on the wall dropping down to stroke Barclays hair. After a moment, he tries to grab his towel from where he tossed it, Barclay smiling up at him.

“Hey, Joseph?”

“Yes? Hah, got you” He pulls the towel in.

“I was staring at your ass that first day. I mean, I was mostly looking at your form but there was for sure some ass appreciation.”

“I fucking knew it.” Joseph begins drying him off, “just for that you owe me dinner again.”

“Thought you had errands.”

“Shit. How do you feel about a romantic, pre-dinner Target run?”

“I’d love it.”

[gladerscake]

YOU’VE GOT THIS

(TMR: Gally, Chuck)

I’ve decided to repost my long-lost oneshot about Gally teaching Chuck to carve, because it’s one of my favorite glade HCs.

The Glade was an intimidating place to find yourself in. Surrounded by giant impenetrable concrete walls covered in ivy, doors that boomed to a close every night to shield their living space from the monsters that lurked in the Maze. Grievers, they called them. Of course, nobody but the Runners knew what was really out there. Maybe it was for the best - most of the boys seemed comfortable adopting the “know less - sleep better” policy. The Builders, the Track-Hoes, the Medjacks, the Cooks - ever single person did their part to make it a livable place to be, to build a community. And it worked - life inside the walls was a relatively peaceful one. But with no memories of who you were, where you came from, or why any of this was happening, one couldn’t help but feel frightened and anxious. Even more so when you’re the Greenie. Even more so when you’re the youngest one yet.

Chuck aimlessly wandered around the Glade, hands stuffed into his pockets as he tried incessantly to find himself something to do. He’s only been there a couple of days, still not knowing what his place would be, not knowing half the boys’ names or who they were.

Some were harder to miss than others, though.

Gally was a good example of that.

Keeper of the Builders. At over 6 feet tall, broad shoulders, an imposing, dominating presence - it was impossible not to notice him. Despite his intimidating appearance, he wasn’t a bad guy. He just liked things to be in order and got frustrated with people shucking up the simplest of tasks. Not a bad quality for a guy in charge, Chuck thought to himself. He was strong as hell, too. Chuck got to witness Gally wrestle in the Circle on his first bonfire night. Wipe the ground with every poor shank who dared challenge him. It was impressive. Maybe one day he could be strong like that too…

“Can I help you?”

Chuck was efficiently snapped out of his musings as his head turned in the direction of the voice.

Gally was seated on a log, looking up at him, one of his uniquely-shaped eyebrows arched in slight amusement as a knife danced in between his nimble fingers.

The younger boy awkwardly shifted his weight between his feet. Deep in his thoughts, he must’ve lost all sense of direction if he’s wound up near Gally’s work station.

“Lost, Greenie?”

Chuck shrugged, eyes timidly glued to the ground

“No, I’m just…” he paused, gesturing vaguely “Walking around.”

Gally gave a short nod, not bothering to ask any more questions as he returned to his work.

Chuck watched as he proceeded to carve something out of a piece of wood in his hands. He couldn’t help but stare at the way his knife worked so effortlessly against the rough texture as it gradually gained form and turned into something useful.

“What are you doing?”

Gally glanced up at him “Making a handle.”

“A handle for what?”

The builder huffed to himself “For a thing that needs a handle, I don’t know, Fry asked me to make one.”

Chuck fidgeted for a moment, gathering up the courage before asking

“Can I… Can I try making something too?”

The older boy looked up once again, more intently this time, his piercing green gaze tinging with slight skepticism

“You wanna learn to carve wood? Why? No offense Greenie, but I don’t think the Builders are the place for you.”

Chuck knew, of course. The job required a certain amount of physical strength that he simply didn’t have.

“No, it’s not that, I just… I don’t know, forget it, I’m sorry.”

Gally watched as Chuck turned to leave. A part of him couldn’t help but feel bad for the kid. He didn’t know why the Creators kept sending up people every month. He didn’t know what the selection process was, if such a thing even existed. But to send up a child? That was cruel, even for them. Every Greenie was a confused frightened mess, every month, it was a pattern everyone had gotten used to by now. But none of them were ever this young and innocent and…

“Hey.”

Chuck stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of Gally’s deep voice behind him. He slowly turned back around.

“Yeah?”

Gally gestured for him to come closer, taking a second knife out of his tool belt and nodding towards the spot next to him.

A relieved smile lit up the younger boy’s face as he scurried over and settled down on the log.

Gally reached somewhere behind him and handed over a smaller piece of wood before passing the knife as well.

“Here. You have the tool, you have the time. Knock yourself out.”

Chuck scratched the back of his neck, fumbling the piece of wood in his hand in confusion

“…What do I make?”

Gally let out a light-hearted sigh, looking over to him

“A spoon. Make a spoon.”

“But we have spoons…”

Gally’s unfaltering gaze effectively stopped him from questioning it any further.

For a few minutes Chuck fiddled with the knife as he attempted to mimic earlier movements of the Keeper’s skilled hands, clumsily carving some bits off of the wooden piece. Gally wasn’t making it obvious that he was watching his struggle. He kept glancing at the boy every now and then until he couldn’t take it anymore.

“Do you wanna go to sleep with those fingers?”

“Huh?” Chuck looked up in alarm, halting all action.

“Never cut towards yourself and get a better grip on the knife. Like this.” He reached over, adjusting the boy’s smaller fingers around the handle.

They spent the next half hour like this. Chuck doing everything wrong, Gally fixing his mistakes while doing his best to teach him without getting agitated. He was pleasantly surprised to find that Chuck was a relatively fast learner. He listened to his instructions and his movements were getting steadier, more confident. At the end of it all, Chuck was holding a roughly-carved, but very passable wooden spoon.

“Well look at that. That’s not half bad, Greenie.” A light half-smile crossed the Keeper’s features as he looked over the handy work.

Chuck’s smile was brighter than he could remember it being. Granted, he’d only been there a couple of days, but even so. It was genuine. It was pure. He made something! It wasn’t easy, but he did it, and he enjoyed it, too! It wasn’t much, but it was a start. With time, with practice, he was sure he could get better. Maybe even make something of his own…

“Thanks, Gally.”

He reached over to return the knife but Gally shook his head, holding a hand up.

“Nah, keep it. You just might have a knack for this.”

Chuck paused for a moment, unsure of whether or not he should really keep it. But after a subtle nod from the Keeper he smiled once again, quickly hiding the knife in his pocket.

He was grateful. He wasn’t expecting the toughest guy in the Glade to spend a half hour teaching him to carve wood. But for the first time since his arrival, he felt weirdly peaceful. He felt… good.

Chuck sprang up from the log, twirling the spoon between his fingers, already eager to show it to someone.

“Awesome! Really… Thank you.”

Gally merely chuckled at the boy’s excited state.

“No problem.”

He paused, eyeing the smallest glader with what could only be described as reassurance “You’ll be okay, newbie. You’ve got this.”

Chuck beamed, giving a firm nod before hurrying away to show his creation to Alby. Or Newt, or anyone!

Gally watched him run off in the direction of the Homestead, a small sympathetic smile etching the corner of his mouth.

“You’ll be okay…”

Thank you for reading!

[gallavictorious]

11x03 Fill-In Ficlet: Use Your Words (Or Don’t)

How do they go from sniping at each other in the kitchen to enthusiastically banging it out just a little while later? And why on Earth is horrible, horrible dirty talk suddenly a thing?

Well, they have this whole conversation where they basically talk things through but, you know, in their Ian and Mickey way of not talking things through but totally talking things through. You know? Also, there are kisses.

Warnings for some truly atrocious attempts at dirty talk but no actual smut. Also vague displays of a fucked-up relationship with violence, and clueless dumbasses trying, and only halfway succeeding, to chill with the misogyny and toxic masculinity. For all that this is mostly ridiculous and self-indulgent fluff.

Read below or on AO3.

---

They walk home from the Alibi together, but six feet apart and in silence.

Dinner is mostly silence, too, the celebration of Carl's first arrest dampened by Lip's outburst and Debbie storming off. Lip and Tami soon excuse themselves; Liam has homework; it's Carl's turn to do the dishes. (That mostly means they won't get done, but at least they'll know whom to blame when there's no clean plates or knives in the morning.)

Mickey's pours himself another glass of Jameson, but pauses when Ian abruptly rises from the table. His husband doesn't spare him a second glance though, but merely puts the half-thawed vegetables back in the freezer and walks off with a half-hearted “night” to his two younger brothers.

Well, fuck you too.

Mickey can feel Liam's eyes on him, but for once the kid keeps his mouth shut.

Smart kid.

Mickey takes his time emptying the glass. Takes the time to fill it up again and empty it once more too, while pointedly not listening to a single word Carl is saying about the fucking arrest he made.

Then it's getting late and there's nothing for it and he's sick and tired of them not being fine anyway, so fuck it.

He leaves the glass on the table for Carl to tidy away.

In their room Ian's sitting on the bed with his back towards the wall and a book in his lap. He looks up when Mickey enters, but doesn't say anything and promptly turns his attention back to his paperback. His jaw is set, but his shoulders slumped. Angry still, then - but tired even more than angry. Defeated, maybe.

Mickey fucking hates to see it.

He busies himself by the drawers, aimlessly rifling through the socks for something to do with his hands. “So. Quit your job?”

There's a brief pause, as if Ian's trying to determine whether Mickey's trying to start something again, and whether or not to strike first with a snarky reply. In the end he settles for a soft exhalation and,  “Yep. Tried to make me to work for free through my lunch break.”

He'd told Mickey as much already, at the Alibi. Hadn't gone so good, so this time Mickey tries for a different response: “Fuck 'em. We'll be fine 'til you find something else. Too good for that fucking place anyway.”

Another pause, long enough that Mickey turns from his fumbling with the socks to look at his husband. Ian's staring down at his book, mouth opening and closing a few times, like he's on the edge of saying something but then thinks better of it.

“Yeah,” he mutters at long last. “Don't know that I am anymore. Bipolar ex-convict in the worst economy in fucking lifetime? Not seeing a lot of options for me here.” Before Mickey has time to think of an appropriate response to that Ian's eyes darts to his face; darts away just as quickly. “Manager called me a little bitch.”

Oh. Okay. Yeah. Fuck.

Moving over to the bed, Mickey sits down on the edge of it. “That manager's a fucking idiot. The hell does he know? That's bullshit.”

Ian lifts his head at that, looking at Mickey with something that might be hope tempered with wary skepticism, and a hint of challenge. “Really?”

Mickey meets his gaze without flinching; holds it for a moment. “Yeah, man. Bet that asshole knew you could break him in half without breaking a sweat, that's why he's spouting stupid fucking stupid shit like that.”

A beat, to let that sink in, and then Mickey allows his lips curl into a grin, pulling his legs up on the bed to crawl over to Ian and crowd him: “'Cause you know you're the toughest motherfucker on the South Side, so big and so strong and so manly.” He reaches out to squeeze Ian's left bicep for emphasis.

“You're a dick.” But Ian doesn't pull away and he's starting to smile, as Mickey hoped he would; it's in his eyes first, softening and a glimmer, and then it's on his lips, growing wider.

Mickey feels his own grin grow wider too, as something in his chest loosens and lets up.

“Yeah?” he asks, eyebrows suggestively raised as he, ignoring the dull protest of his aching ribs, leans in to let his lips brush over Ian's in a not-quite-a-kiss. “Whatcha gonna do about it, huh? Gonna bend me over and pound me so hard I fucking scream? Gonna make me beg for your... your big, fat cock?”

Ian tilts his head to the side, brow furrowed in faux affront. “You calling my dick fat?”

“Think I've got the right to, Tim Kruger, I've choked on it enough times.”

A snort of surprised laughter and then Ian's hand is on the back of his head, pulling him in for a kiss that is hard and hungry and coming home. Mickey shifts to straddle his thighs, their lips never parting, and fuck, it's just been a few days but it's been too fucking long.

It goes on for some time; Ian's arms around him, fingers scratching against his scalp; Mickey's hands running up and down Ian's sides, as they kiss and they kiss and they kiss.

At long last, with a long sigh, Ian pulls back a little, his eyes searching Mickey's as he runs a thumb over his cheek.

“You want me to do that?” he asks after a moment, and there's just the faintest note of uncertainty in his voice.

Mickey doesn't like it. He doesn't want Ian to be uncertain about him, about them, ever. But he bites down on the urge to bristle. Takes a deep breath. “Do what?”

“Bend you over.” A tentative, lopsided smile. “Make you beg”

Ah. “Ain't never said no to that shit before, Gallagher.” How the hell is that even a question?  Okay, there'd been this morning, kind of, and maybe a few times when they just started fucking and he had issues and things got a little too intense or whatever, and he's not so much for the actual begging, but in general, Mickey's never been opposed to Ian getting a little – or a lot – decisive with him.

Least not as long as he doesn't make him feel lesser than for liking it that way.

“Mm.” Ian nods, but he doesn't lean back in to resume the kiss. Instead he reaches out to run his hand over Mickey's thigh, idly, and with a pensive look on his face.

Mickey very, very badly wants to tell him that now that that's cleared up maybe you could get on with it but he's determined not to be (too much of) an asshole tonight; to be patient. He waits, and eventually Ian looks up. The uncertainty has seemingly fled; the look in his green eyes is calm once more, and direct:

“So just to be clear: you're not exclusively a top now?”

“What? Hell no.” Mickey makes a face, genuinely taken aback by the notion, but then he shrugs. “Doesn't mean I'd mind switching it up once in a while, though. We've tried all kinds of new shit after we got married, figured it might be fun to try that too.” He pauses, chewing his lip. “Thought you'd be cool with it.”

Ian smiles, reaching out to give a playful little tug to Mickey's hair. “Give me some warning next time and I will be.” Abruptly, his smile turns devilish. “After all, how could I resist such a stunning embodiment of pure masculine prowess?”

Mickey's eyes widen. Oh. Uh-huh. All right then.

“I dunno,” he says, pushing hard for feigned thoughfulness even as he pushes his ass down on Ian's groin, wiggling just a little. “Seems like six pack-packing, strong-willed, stoic soldier boy like you could resist just about anything.”

Ian's quiet laugher is cut short by a sharp intake of breath as Mickey leans in to nip at his ear. “Even a – ah – man-swole hardass?”

“Yeah, 'cause you're such a top dog alpha male.“

“Ultra super power bottom.“

“Fierce and ruthless devastator of assholes.”

“Yeah, asshole is right... Ow! Okay, you're going down … you big manly boss man.“

---

If there is a moment, quite some time later, when they're both happy and spent and relaxing in each other's arms –

If there is a moment, when Ian's eyes stray to the bruises on on Mickey's side, and if he reaches out to let his fingers brush over them in the whisper of a touch, if a shadow passes over his face –

Mickey will catch his hand and bring it up to his lips to press a quick kiss to it.

“Looks worse than it is,” he will say and Ian's lips will twist, in rueful smile or grimace or both:

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Bastard who jumped me hits like a fucking - “ Mickey will break off and make a disgusted face. “Hits like a... a... a fucking weak person. Jesus Christ. Fucking V.”

Ian will chuckle. A bit weakly, perhaps, still a little lost to the lingering memories of the afternoon, but he will chuckle. Will pull Mickey closer to him, carefully; push his nose to his hair and breathe him in. “I love you.”

And Mickey will smile. “Mm. I know. Love you, too.”

---

A/N: Listen, I don't begrudge anyone engaging in bad dirty talk if that's what gets them going, but I didn't really expect it for Ian and Mickey. I guess this is my attempt to wed what we saw in mid-credits scene to my already established perception of the characters. Oh, and I have a kink for understated reconciliation so there was no way in hell I wouldn't jump on this. XD That also means I want to read ALL THE FIC written on this topic, so if you write/see any, please let me know?

Tim Kruger is a gay porn star with a huge dick, btw. I know this because I googled "gay porn star huge dick". I have some regrets.

[night-raven-roses]

A Beast’s Tea (Savanaclaw x Reader)

If you asked anyone what they thought of when they heard Savanaclaw, any student would say they are the beasts of the school. The most eager to get in a fight, the quickest to knock you down to size, the roughest and toughest of all of Night Raven College. They were the animals of the student body, not helped by the fact that most of them resembled one in some shape or form.

The last type to be seen in a boba cafe.

You hadn’t known a solitary thing about Magical Shift, but a certain freshman, along with his dorm leader and underling, had been willing to let you join in during morning practice on more than one occasion (said dorm leader not really understanding why). So, in order to thank them for letting you learn, you wanted to show them one of your favorite treats that was surprisingly both in your world and theirs.

“Didn’t know there was a place like this off-campus,” Jack mused, taking in the atmosphere as the four of you walked into the small building.

“Didn’t know, didn’t care,” came from the 20-year-old grumbling under his breath. Leona was all prepared for his mid-morning nap after practice, but instead he was forced to spend time in a place only people like Schoenheit would find appealing. And by this little herbivore, of all creatures...

You and Ruggie were the only two of the group who wore smiles. You because the three actually agreed to let you treat them to this kind of thing. And Ruggie…

“You need to do something on the weekends besides SLEEP!” he chided to his superior, still forcing the grin on his face. “I’m sick of doing allllll the chores while you’re there just-”

The low resonance of a lion’s growl shut the hyena up almost instantly.

As the four of you waited in line to order, the comments from each of them increased.

“100%, 50%, 25...I thought you got drinks here, not math assignments,” came from Leona, getting more annoyed by the minute.

“Two extra madol for a TOPPING?!” came from a bewildered Ruggie, gladly doing the number work.

“Stop, people are looking at us…” came from Jack, trying to keep his composure intact.

It felt like ages before you all got to the front of the line.

“Remember,” you piped in before anyone started ordering. “Get whatever drink you want, it’s my treat.”

This statement made Ruggie’s ears perk up in concern. “Wait, what’s the ca-”

“MY TREAT,” you repeated. You knew the 2nd year’s relationship with money, almost as warped as the dorm leader from under the sea: would do anything to get it, frugal with giving it up, skeptical at the word “free”.

Even so, he still ordered the cheapest thing he could find, a small milk tea with basic boba. You sighed under your breath, but you knew it was in his nature.

Leona wasn’t much better. “Get me whatever you’ve got, doesn’t matter to me.” All he wanted was to get in and out so he could salvage any bits of a nap he could get.

The poor cashier had no clue what to punch in. “Um, we have a special for popping bo-”

“Yeah, sure, put it in, just get the order in.”

You were thankful Jack was still deciding as you apologized profusely to the employee. You had finished when he finally thought of his order.

“Alright, and what flavor would you like your tea, sir?” The cashier gestured to the list of possibilities, ranging from fruity to bitter to none at all.

You watched as he scanned the options, but soon could’ve sworn you seen his eyes stop dead. You bit your lip as you almost saw his eyes sparkle at an option, his pointed ears flattening slightly.

“Um...pear, please,” he uttered out, slightly embarrassed with his decision. You had turned your head before he noticed, but you almost wanted to squeal with how the gruff wolf-teen that towered over most almost appeared like a kid choosing a sweet in the candy store.

You gestured for the three of them to find a spot to sit while you made your own order. After the obligatory “is that all for you today?” from the cashier, you paused. Your eyes glanced up at the menu board once more, then to a case of other goods they sold.

“Actually, no…”

~*~*~*~*~*~

“DID YOU DO THIS?!” Ruggie almost shrieked out. Once all the drinks had been brought out, the hyena sophomore saw that the small drink he had ordered was the LARGEST size available. And to add on to it, they somehow sold donuts in the place?!

“Yeah,” you beamed. “They get stock from the coffee shop across the street.”

“But this is definitely mo-”

His eyes widened as you put a finger to his lips, shushing his almost panicked demeanor.

“I said to get whatever you want. I know you’d want a lot more than that tiny thing.”

The two pairs of eyes didn’t part...until you felt a sharpness on the same finger. Being the sly one he is, Ruggie decided to get back at your surprise, nibbling on your finger with his sharp canines.

“You’d better know I’m not giving you any favors for that,” he grinned once he let go, sinking his teeth into the small fried ring instead. “That’s allll you.”

You smiled at the sight in front of you before you heard a resounding call from Jack. “L...L-Look everyone!”

You turned to look beside you...and couldn’t believe what you saw.

You had seen the challenge before: people balancing drinks like this on their chest and drinking them with no hands. Well, there 1st year Jack Howl was, balancing the pear-flavored milk tea on his pronounced chest muscles, and shakily sipping the drink with a smile on his face.

“Some of my classmates...talked about this...who knows when this...kind of challenge will...come up again?”

You and Ruggie cheered and laughed at your friend for achieving this task mainly accomplished by women, but the latter’s chatter died when he noticed how the one beside him was. Leona had finished his drink and proceeded to fall asleep, curling up and laying in the booth.

“He’ll sleep anywhere, the lazy cat…” the 2nd year grumbled in a similar vein to the one above him. “He can drink something he’s never heard of before touching a piece of salad?”

Hearing that, a smile grew on your face. “Well, actually…” you leaned over the table, whispering in his ear. Within moments of realizing, a devious grin grew on his own.

“Shishishi...well, looks like we’ll need to have these “after-practice drinks” more often, huh?” Ruggie was already plotting in his head. Who knew those little bubbles Leona liked were made from seaweed?

[msmarvelouswinchester]

What The Heart Wants

Summary - Dean thinks his heart's deepest desire is to cast Michael out of his head but is that really his heart's deepest desire?

Pairing - Dean x Reader

Warning - Angst, Swearing TW : Character Death

A/N - This is written for @katymacsupernatural Make Me Feel Challenge (I hope you cry a little lol)

My prompt was "I don't want an apology"

Spn divider by @talesmaniac89

Beta'd by the lovely @deanwanddamons

"I don’t know. I-I guess you – you hold the pearl and – and concentrate on what your heart desires," Sam said and gave Dean the pearl

"You think it will work?" Dean said looking at the pearl in his hand.

"I guess so," Sam frowned.

"Michael outta my head. Got it,” Dean said and balled up his fist.

"See, it didn't work’” Dean scoffed, "I can still feel Michael in my head banging those doors.”

"Dean?" Dean turned around and his breathing hitched at the sight of you. He couldn't believe his eyes. You looked the same as the last time he saw you.

"Y/N?" Dean said and walked towards you. He stretched out his hands, tangling his fingers with yours. You weren't an image his mind was conjuring up. You were real.

"De, wh-what is this place? Who-are you Sam? Shouldn't you be in college?"

"College? No,” Sam narrowed his eyes at the unknown girl in front of them.

"Dean, what's happening? Why are we here? Shouldn't we be in Omaha?" You looked around the place with confusion in your eyes.

"Omaha? What year is this?" Dean asked.

"2004.” You said.

"No. It's 2020. I think-I think we summoned you.”Dean's voice cracked at the end.

"Summoned me?" You frowned at his words.

"Yeah. Dean, can I talk to you for a second?" Sam asked Dean with his brows raised.

"S-sure", Dean said, his eyes still focused on you, "stay here.” Dean reluctantly let go of your hand. He thought that you would disappear into thin air once he lets you out of your eyesight. He followed his brother to another section of the bunker. Sam started to speak when he realised you were out of their earshot.

"Who is she?" Sam asked.

"Her name is Y/N. She's a hunter. I met her during a ghost hunt after you went off to college. I was hunting alone - Dad was god knows where. She's the toughest hunter I know. She had saved my ass on that ghost hunt,” Dean smiled softly at the memory.

"Then why haven't I met her? How did you summon her?" Sam started firing various questions at his brother.

"You don't know her 'cause she died,” Sam looked up at Dean in surprise, "And I don't know why I summoned her.”

"You had the pearl. It definitely has something to do with you Dean.” Sam frowned at the older Winchester.

"I don't kn-" Dean started to say, but stopped when he noticed Sam frowning at him, "I summoned her maybe because I wanted some more time with her. I loved her Sammy.”

Sam saw something in Dean's eyes he never thought he would see. A small smile was playing on Dean's lips and his eyes shone with a sliver of happiness in them. Sam understood in that moment how important you were to his brother.

"Come on, let's go and properly meet Y/N", Sam said and went back to the library of the bunker,Dean following him.

"It's so nice to meet you Y/N!" Sam pulled you into a bone crushing hug suddenly.

"Can't breathe,”you gasped.

"Sorry,”Sam released you from his hug.

"It's nice to meet you too Sam.”

"I'll leave you two alone. Give you both some space.”

Sam left the room but not before your eyes met with him. His eyes were clouded with various emotions. You couldn't quite place a finger on them, but there was a sense of vulnerability in the way the boys spoke to you. You still hadn't met the 2020 version of yourself and you were dreading meeting her. She was you, but judging by Dean's looks, something bad had happened to you.

"Did I die?" You asked the obvious question. You always knew that your end was going to be bloody - that's what happened to most hunters, but asking about your death still made a shiver run down your spine.

Dean nodded slowly. You squeezed your eyes shut.

"Yes. You die, in front of me,” Dean said and hung his head in shame, "I couldn't save you. I broke the promise. I watched as the werewolf ripped your heart out. I couldn't"- Dean choked on his words.

"When do I-" you lips quivered at the thought of the inevitable.

"Sixteen years ago. On August 25th, 2004,”As Dean said those words, his voice was overwhelmed with sadness.

"So I died two months later and all this time you had to live without me", you said, gasping lightly at the thought. You got up from your seat and walked up to Dean.

"I couldn't do anything. I-I promised to keep you safe,” Dean looked up at you, your own eyes meeting the beautiful green eyes that you loved so much.

"'I'm sorry.” Dean pulled you towards him, pressing his face into your chest. You threaded your fingers lightly through his hair.

"'M sorry,” Dean said again, his voice muffled.

"I don't want an apology, Dean,” you said. Dean let go of you, a single tear rolled down his cheek. You went down on your knees, your face now directly in front of his.

"I know", Dean said, his voice strained, "I know you can never forgive me. It's all my fault. I-I should have protected you. I-" you cut off his words by pressing your lips onto his. You felt Dean kissing you back and you melted into the kiss. You finally broke the kiss when you felt your lungs screaming for air.

"Dean, I don't want an apology, because you have nothing to apologise for. My death was inevitable. Baby, we are hunters, that's the only way we will go out,”you cleared your throat, tears were streaming down your face too, "You need to understand it's not your fault. You need to stop blaming yourself. You need to forgive yourself.”

"I never forgave myself Y/N/N. I loved you so much. I still do. I still think about you every night. I-I still think how everything would have turned out if you didn't-" Dean said. Your heart broke for the man in front of you. He was Dean Winchester, he was your Dean but something was so different about him. He didn't seem as carefree as he was in 2004.

"What happened to you?" you asked the man in front of you. He looked like the shell of the man he once was. His eyes were now almost emotionless. Something terrible had happened to him. "What happened to you, Dean?"

"Heaven, hell, purgatory - everything.” Dean scoffed.

"Hey Y/N? I hope you like pizza because we don't have anything else in here,” Sam chuckled while coming back to the library with a big box of pizza and three bottles of beer.

You nodded, glad that Sam came by to interrupt your conversation with Dean.

"So how did this whole summoning thing happen?" You asked, biting into a slice of pizza.

"The archangel Michael is riding shotgun in my head. We got hold of a pearl which fulfills your heart's deepest desire. I was using it to cast Michael out of my head which resulted in summoning you,”Dean said and shrugged at you.

"Archangel Michael? What happened in these last sixteen years, boys?"

"So you boys saved the world, huh?" You couldn't help but feel proud for the boys. You were also feeling a little sad, knowing that you wouldn't be with the boys throughout their adventures.

"More than twice.” Sam said excusing himself when his phone rang.

"So what do you think?" you asked the man who was stuffing his face with pizza. You giggled at his childish behaviour. All these years, and he hadn’tchanged at all.

"Thinb abaf whap?" Dean asked with his mouth full.

"This. What if this is a second chance?" You asked.

Dean swallowed down his food.

“Second chance for a Winchester, that's rare,”Dean scoffed.

“What if this is the second chance? You deserve it, Dean. You both deserve some happiness in your life,”you told him

“Uh-guys, I think we have a problem. See this”, Sam came back to the library and showed the video that was playing on his phone to you and Dean who gave you a ‘I told you so’ look and turned to his brother.

“What? I always knew you were a nerd but this is- what is this? Welcome to Sam Winchester’s TED talk?” Dean scrunched up his face in disgust when he heard Sam talk about the benefits of eating Kale, “Dude, this is weird - even for us! But you are here with us, then who is that Kale loving weirdo?”

“I think it's a temporal paradox,”Sam said.

“A temporal what?” Dean asked.

“Y/N from 2004 is zapped to 2020 so the timeline is correcting itself. If Y/N doesn't die, I never went back to hunting life because you both searched for Dad and killed the yellow eyed Demon and that means”-

“That means Mom doesn't come back and you become this Sam ‘I love Kale’ Winchester,”Dean cut off Sam’s words and completed the sentence himself.

“So how do we get this back to normal?” You asked the brothers.

“No, you are not serious about going back...I don't wanna lose you again, sweetheart,”Dean croaked out.

"I know. But if I don't go back, you will never get Sam back or your mom. It's me against your mother and brother.” You cracked a smile at Dean.

“I guess destroying the pearl will send you back,” Sam said.

“Let's do it then.”You swallowed thickly. You didn't want to leave Dean but it was wrong. This wasn't your life. You should be dead.

“No please, let's think this through. There has to be another way. We can make this work.” Dean pleaded.

“De, I know how you're feeling. It's honestly killing me to say goodbye to you, but you gotta understand, you have lived sixteen years without me - that's your life. This isn't your life. You gotta let me go,”you said.

Dean pulled you into a tight embrace. He clinged onto you as if his life depended on it. You pressed your lips on Dean's head.

“Dean look at me.” You cradled his face in your hands, making him look up. His eyes were starting to tear up. You had never seen Dean Winchester like this, and it shattered your heart.

“I know even if I say it, it won't make things better but it will be okay.” you softly said. Dean let go of you but pulled you into a bruising kiss.

“Do it Sammy.”Dean said after breaking the kiss.

Sam took the pearl and placed it on the table. He got a bowl to smash the pearl.

“It's okay. I love you.” you said, pecking Dean's lips one more time.

“I love you too.” Dean said and Sam smashed the pearl.

Dean continued to hold onto you until you disappeared into thin air and his hands were only holding onto air.

“I am sorry Dean,” Sam said, “you were truly happy for once.”

“I was because she was the best thing that had ever happened to me.” Dean said.

.

.

Forever taglist - @donnaintx @devil-in-my-boots @amandamdiehl @miss-nerd95

Dean/Jensen Taglist - @akshi8278 @mrsjenniferwinchester @jensengirl83

[jubans]

title: chance encounter pairing: settsu banri/fem!reader rating: g (general) premise: on a perfectly normal morning, at the perfectly flourished breakfast table, taichi asks banri a perfectly off-putting question.

"ban-chan, how the heck is your hair so silky?!"

Banri usually starts up his day skirting everyone else in the lounge to be the first one in the showers. Unlike most of the men that reside in the Mankai dorms, he actually takes the time to scrub down every niche in his body until it's squeaky clean. But, oh, don't even get him started with the intricacies that came with taking care of his hair. That conversation is something none of the members of the troupe (except, maybe, Azuma) are ready for, and he likes to keep it that way.

But on a perfectly normal morning, at the perfectly flourished breakfast table, Taichi asks Banri a perfectly off-putting question.

"Ban-chan, how the heck is your hair so silky?!"

The neo gangster, as Yuki typically calls him, just finished shrugging on his school blazer when he casts Taichi a bizarre look. He has a notepad and a textbook in front of him, balancing a pen in his fingers as he stares back at Banri expectantly. The little brat is in the middle of cramming his homework, and he has the audacity to distract himself like that?

"Conditioner," is all he says in return, grabbing one of the toast slices Omi left for them.

Juza scoffs from where he's stuffing his face with pancakes on the other end. "That ain't very helpful." 

"I wasn't fucking talking to you, Hyodo," Banri grates at him dismissively. 

"Banri-kun," he hears Sakuya calling out from the lounge, where he and Masumi are already slinging their schoolbags across their shoulders. "You ready to go?"

He spares Taichi a minute nod of the head, telling him to stop doing his homework the day it's due before picking up his own bag. Then, he gives Juza the finger, earning a momentary scolding from Sakyo, who just happens to pass by when he does it. Then, after a few words in farewell bid to those who don't work nor study—Citron delaying their departure a little because he'd wanted to show how to make a blade (braid)—the Hanasaki High boys were on their way. 

"So noisy," Masumi mutters as he pulls the door behind him. "But if it was the Director, I wouldn't mind." 

Sakuya laughs, leading the way for the three of them. "There's never a dull moment in the dorms, huh?" 

As they traverse the short distance to school, Banri hangs back a little when Sakuya asks Masumi about the younger boy's literature class. Their conversation fades into background noise in his ears as he let his eyes wander around the neighborhood. But when they pass by a familiar intersection, Banri instinctively flickers his gaze at the tall, white house in the corner lot—a girl in a dark green uniform closing the gate behind her. 

You're preoccupied with something on your phone, oblivious to the three boys that are walking past your house—him included. But given that Ouka High is the opposite way from where they're headed, he doesn't even get the chance to slip in a quick hello. 

Well, it's not like you'd remember someone like him, right?

"Ugh, this sucks!"

A week after Banri moved into the Mankai dorms, he found himself facing a rather pressing dilemma: the shampoo provided for the troupe members made his hair disgustingly greasy.  

And that was how he wound up at the nearby grocery store, grumbling about how cheap that yakuza, Sakyo, was being with their commodities. If you want something else, buy it yourself, he told him. Giving the old man the last word might have let his pride take a hard blow, but it was a small price to pay for comfort. He'd rather kiss ass to the cheapskate than live another day with greasy hair.

But when he reached the toiletries section, he realized another thing. 

The brand he used at home was something his sister imported from another country. 

"Having trouble picking something out?"

Banri cast a withering glare at the girl who dared to point out his predicament, but his irritation morphed into curiosity when he noticed that you donned the familiar green of the Ouka High uniform. The next thing he noticed was the way your shiny, luscious hair cascaded down your shoulders, as smooth as a waterfall. He retracted his hostility for a minute, wondering if you could be his saving grace. Banri was good at a lot of things, but he didn't want to make any gambles with his current conundrum. 

"Yeah," he answered hesitantly. "Uh, do you know which brand doesn't make your hair oily? Shampoo brand, I mean." 

You blinked up at him for a second, confused, before your eyes lit up with realization. "Ah, O'Real is a really nice brand. Makes my hair really bouncy." To demonstrate, you swished your head around, making your long tresses sway with the movement in a dazzling fashion. "But you can't just settle with the shampoo. It's better to buy the value pack with conditioner over...here." 

Plucking one of the aforementioned value packs, you handed it to Banri without much preamble. He glanced at the price tag stuck to the bottom, and he had to force himself not to wince with how much it'll cost him. 

He was momentarily spared from his monetary concerns when he noticed you struggling to carry the basket you held in both hands. It was filled with an assortment of products ranging from laundry detergent to cold cuts. While he usually didn't offer girls his help lest they asked for it, Banri decided to make an exception.

"You need a hand with that?" He flicked his gaze downwards. 

You flushed at his offer, shaking your head (his eyes staring a bit too long at the way your hair moved once again). "Oh, no, no! I couldn't possibly bother you with—"

"Come on," he said, clicking his tongue as he plucked the basket from your grasp. "I ain't taking no for an answer. Consider this as...payback. For helpin' me out."

Relenting, you folded your arms across your chest, smiling up at him cheekily. "Would you at least tell me your name, then?" 

"Settsu Banri," he replied coolly. "You still headed to the other aisles?"

"Nope. I remembered last minute that I still have an unopened bottle of conditioner at home," you sigh, giggling at him. "You're not very delicate with girls, are you?"

He stiffened for a moment. Well, you weren't wrong. His sister was one of the toughest women he'd ever seen, and even though he didn't expect every woman to turn out the same way, Banri never once treated girls like fragile glass. His raucous behavior around them prompted most of his female classmates to steer clear of him—not that he'd minded, but this was the first time someone had spoken the words to his face.

"What about you?" he wondered gruffly in hopes of switching up the conversation. "What's your name?" 

"(Surname) (Name)," you told him with a cheeky grin. "Shall we go, Settsu-kun? I mean, you'd want to wash your greasy hair as soon as possible, right?"

His mouth hung agape with disbelief as you happily pranced out of the toiletries section—leaving him with the realization that there were people aside from Juza that could pick a fight with him. 

And, surprisingly, he'd let this one slide.

"You know (Name)?" 

Okay, he didn't expect Juza to react like that when Banri decided to ask him about you when his roommate arrived at home. 

"Yeah, I ran into her at the grocery store a few months back," he says, ticked off. "What's it to ya?"

"Stay away from her," Juza tells him off sharply as he swings his school bag up to his bed. "I mean it, Settsu. Fuck around with me, I don't care. But I swear to god, if you touch my cousin—"

Banri does a double-take on that one. "Cousin? How much fuckin' family do you have, Hyodo?" 

"A lot," he replies like he doesn't want to talk about it, but Juza's glare doesn't ease up and for a minute, Banri feels a genuine spite emitting from his roommate. The neo gangster sighs, twirling his phone in his fingers. He sort of knew that asking Juza about you would be a stretch even if you both went to the same school, but how the hell was he supposed to know that you were his goddamn cousin?

After you checked out your groceries that day, you managed to scam him into carrying them for you to your house as well. You were quite the charmer, he had to admit. You'd smooth-talked him into doing your bidding so easily that it was hard to imagine you being related to the mumbling nervous wreck of an actor that was Juza. 

It was a chance encounter, he thinks. He could have gone to a different grocery store at a different time at a different date, yet he was there specifically when you found him glaring at the shampoo and conditioner on the shelves. Banri doesn't believe in shit like fate or destiny, but it was a little freaky when he'd seen you again this morning after Taichi asked about his hair—months since he'd last seen you. 

"If it means anything, she's always been going to our shows, though," Juza mumbles a few minutes later, catching Banri by surprise. "She's been curious about the guy that's been pickin' fights with me all this time, and I told her it was the one who played Luciano in Picaresque."

"O-Oi!" he yells out. "Don't sully my name before she can even properly meet me!"

"Why do you care?" Juza challenges, brows raised with curiosity. "I thought you didn't give two shits about girls."

For the first time, he can't offer up a single retort. In a battle of wits, he thought he'd win against Juza in every instance, but now...

"Fuck off!" Banri shouted at him, storming out of their room as he hid the blush creeping up his neck from his roommate's view.

[kstewdeux]

InuKag Week 2020: June 11th (Desire)

@inukag-week​

Posting a day early is a thing I’m just doing now I guess.

Born to Run

Desire is the starting point of all achievement. It’s not a hope, not a wish but a driving force that overrides all obstacles. And one little girl desired one thing above all others. 

“Where we going?” a tiny little girl in a bright green kimono asked a little too innocently as she trailed behind one of her favorite people in the world. The man in question sighed heavily as he stopped mid-stride and glanced over his shoulder with affection clear in his amber eyes. It was an expression few had witnessed and even fewer were the recipients of. Maybe, just maybe, the bitter half-demon had a favorite niece. Which was probably bad and which would probably bite him in the ass one day but it was what it was. Minato was bookish and quiet and while more than willing to go along with her sister’s rough housing would much prefer painting to play fighting. Kasumi, on the other hand, was all action and energy and go go go all the time. She had no fear and it was endlessly endearing. Terrible for her parents but fantastic for him. The little one was truly a girl after his own heart.

“What’s all this about ‘we’, huh?,” Inuyasha laughed as he arched a single brow.  It was purely rhetorical, of course. The little one had accompanied him on his daily runs for the last three months at least. It started as an attempt to calm her down and give her parents a break but now it was routine. A much appreciated routine. It had been getting harder this past year. Almost three years had now passed and the well still wouldn’t let him go through. Which meant Kagome couldn’t get through either. And with his friends’ happiness only growing while he stood still, it was nice to know that out of that happiness came a little being who thought her uncle was the best thing ever. 

And truth be told, Inuyasha hadn’t given up hope that he’d have his own happy ending quite yet and he considered his interactions with the twins as practice for...for when Kagome did come back and...and he had a little girl of his own. Or a boy but preferably a girl. Babies probably weren’t all that different when they were small but hell, they might and he would much rather stick with what he knew.

Grinning sheepishly at his question, Kasumi toddled up to him and extended her arms.

“Up.”

“Just a perimeter run, okay?” Inuyasha informed her as he plucked up the little girl, planted her firmly atop his shoulders and tilted his head slightly to loosen his hair, “You remember the drill?”

“Stay quiet. Stay still,” Kasumi whispered excitedly as she wiggled her butt and wrapped her tiny arms around his forehead, “No ears.”

“If there’s a bad guy?”

“Roly poly,” she swore softly as she leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “Go real fast.”

“Always do kid,” Inuyasha chuckled before launching forward at full speed. It’d probably make Sango and Miroku angry as hell but yeah, he’d fought and killed a few demons while in the custody of their child. But come on! It wasn’t like he went looking for fights and if they encountered a demon what else was he supposed to do? Run? 

It had taken a few times to figure out the best way to protect a tiny wiggle worm. Thus the ‘roly poly’ technique was born. Let go. Curl up. Get tucked inside the shirt. Stay that way until it’s safe.

Wasn’t like it bothered the kid. She was probably the toughest two almost three year old he’d ever had the pleasure of encountering. Besides her mom killed demons. Her dad killed demons. Her uncles both killed demons. She was gunna kill demons and be damn good at it. She had to learn what that entailed at some point.

“Stop. Stop,” Kasumi whispered urgently and Inuyasha instantly came to a full halt as his ears twitched madly.

“Do you sense something?” he asked barely above a whisper as amber eyes scanned the foliage. It was usually around this age spiritual powers first started appearing so Miroku had told him. The monk’s eyes had been pretty much glued on Minato for months now because he had hedged his bets that the calmer twin would have spiritual powers but Inuyasha....

Inuyasha knew that calmness had nothing to do with spiritual powers. Kagome had been feisty and strong and fearless and one of the most powerful priestesses ever born. How quickly Miroku appeared to have forgotten...

Must be nice.

“No, I have a question,” Kasumi humphed as she unhooked one leg and began awkwardly sliding down his arm, “How did you get so fast?”

“I, uh, I’m just built that way I guess,” Inuyasha laughed softly, “You know demon blood?”

“No,” Kasumi challenged as her tiny feet landed on the wooden bark, “Because Shippo would be fast then.”

Barely repressing a snort, Inuyasha adjusted himself so he was partially reclining against the tree trunk - one knee bent and one leg outstretched as he pulled the tiny girl into his lap.

“Everyone’s different,” Inuyasha reassured the upset little girl, “That doesn’t mean they’re better or worse. There’s all sorts of things that you will be able to do that I can’t do.”

Her little brown eyes widened as she breathed like the world made sense again, “Like eat curry and not turn red.”

God dammit did she have to be so fucking cute?

“Exactly,” Inuyasha snickered, “You’ll be fast one day but not as fast as me and that’s okay. You’ll do all sorts of things that’ll make you special.”

“Well I’m gunna be fast,” Kasumi huffed as she gave him a suspicious glare, “What did you do to go faster?”

“I...I, uh, actually thought I just explained that? You know...half-demon...” Inuyasha replied uneasily as he mentally played back his little speech before making a small noise of understanding, “Do you mean how I train? Guess I just run a lot. Strech and stuff.”

This seemed to appease her. 

For exactly five seconds.

“The tree thing,” she continued as she gave him an adorable once over, “How did you learned to climb trees?”

Inuyasha had to bite his lip to keep from grinning.

“That I can teach you,” he offered affectionately, “But you’ll have to start with little trees because you’re little.”

“No I mean jumping,” she huffed in cute baby exasperation, “You jump really high.”

“Well you’re human so you can’t jump like I can,” Inuyasha replied as his grin faded. He had a feeling answering this particular question wrong would have him answering later for a broken leg, “You, um....so demons are built to do that and humans aren’t.”

“So your babies would be able to jump,” Kasumi concluded bitterly and Inuyasha’s heart constricted. First of all, how had she made that connection and second, just because hope was there didn’t mean...didn’t make it as strong as it once had been. Sighing heavily, his eyes clouded over for a minute as he allowed himself to remember full force Kagome in all her glory before locking that image away where it couldn’t hurt him anymore.

“I’m not...” he tried shakily before he shook his head and forced a smile back onto his face, “Yeah, if I have babies one day, they might be able to run fast like me.”

A piece of his heart cracked at the realization that there would most likely be no babies. She hadn’t come back and she would have by now if it was possible. Inuyasha knew she would have. And it wasn’t like...like he wanted her to spend the rest of her life alone waiting for him. He wouldn’t hold it against her if she moved on to better things. He didn’t want Kagome to suffer like he was.  If Kagome didn’t come back, it would take him forever to move on and...and well frankly, he would never really be able to let go of the woman who literally traveled through time. She’d been born to meet him and he’d been born to meet her and....and that had been accomplished. Early on, he’d thought she was born to be with him but...but the longer time passed the more he believed he’d been misreading the signs. They’d met for a purpose and that purpose had been fulfilled. Anything more than that was asking too much. The delusional concoction of a lonely mind.

“Could Kagome jump?” Kasumi asked skeptically and Inuyasha’s strained, vacant smile faltered. He had thought....they’d discussed not telling the little ones about Kagome until they were older. He told them not to tell the twins until they were old enough to understand but they apparently did it anyway. But they’d promised him...

“How do you know about her?” he asked wearily as his stomach churned.

“Shippo told me who the lady in the picture was,” Kasumi replied evasively and some of the uneasiness in her uncle’s stomach faded, “Could you...”

“What picture?” Inuyasha asked with a hint of desperation and Kasumi fidgeted nervously, “Kasumi, what picture?”

“I didn’t steal it. I found it,” she mumbled miserably - obviously thinking he was upset at her and assuming the worst, “I did. I was digging and...

“No, no I’m not mad,” he reassured her, “You said you found ‘it’. What is ‘it’?”

“A necklace,” she whispered as she looked down at her hands and began wringing them, “It had pictures of you and a lady so I asked Shippo and...”

Inuyasha’s nostrils flared as he realized. The locket. Way back when, he’d lost it pretty much immediately because he’d been careless and not paying attention and it’d been raining and...and he just assumed he’d lost it during a battle or something and only noticed later on. He’d written it off when he couldn’t track the scent despite a lot of sleepless nights and then Kagome seemed to forget about the damn thing so he just....never mentioned it again for fear of upsetting her.

“Can I have it?” he asked softly and Kasumi glanced at him with a small pout, “I lost it a long time ago. I’d really like it back.

He could see her mind trying to figure out a way to keep the pretty thing she’d found.

“Just the pictures. That’s all,” he amended, “You can keep the necklace part.”

“Just the pictures?” Kasumi breathed and he nodded. Giving her Uncle an appraising look, the little girl finally countered, “You can have the picture of her.”

Inuyasha wanted to laugh at how begrudgingly she said that. And his heart warmed a little that his niece wanted to keep the picture of him. Weird but cute.

“Deal,” he promised as he fluidly got to his feet and scooped her onto his hip, “Now let’s finish the run, okay?”

“You’ll see. I’m gunna be faster than you one day,” Kasumi informed him, “I’m gunna.”

“I bet you will,” Inuyasha snickered as he placed her back into his shoulders, “Hang tight.”

It was a few months of ridiculously adorable training sessions and one new brother later that Inuyasha was stuck babysitting while Sango and Miroku did laundry. Kasumi was normally excellent at following the no ear rule but her sister never seemed to get that memo and because of that Kasumi thought if Minato was touching the ears they were fair game.

“Can you do something about the twins?” Inuyasha hissed angrily before flinching slightly when they pulled a little too hard.

“Sorry Inuyasha. Girls leave him alone,” the slayer sighed like that would actually make a difference which it didn’t! Sango probably knew it didn’t too and just thought...

Inhaling sharply, Inuyasha’s heart pounded in his chest as he deposited the slay happy twins on Shippo and took off without another word.

“Do you think...”

“Couldn’t be...”

“He wouldn’t run like if...”

As her parents continued shuffling about and discussing what Inuyasha running off meant, Kasumi slowly got to her feet as she stared off into the distance with a very deep pout. So Uncle’s lady friend had come back, huh? Which meant she’d soon have cousins. Uncle loved this Kagome lady and Kasumi knew when you love someone babies happened. Or something. The details were a little unclear but however it happened Uncle’s babies meant trouble. Her little eyes narrowed as her pout deepened into a scowl.

“They better not be faster than me.”

Moments later, Kasumi found herself plucked up and heading to size up the model for her future competition. If this woman was strong and fast like Uncle, that would be a big problem.

“I hope she’s fat.”

“Kasumi!”

[pixelfun20]

Flower Fields: Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Notes: Again, all credit to @give-grian-rights (hope you don’t mind the tag!) for the concept! Thank you so much! Also almost forgot to post this on Tumblr rip.

No fighting wars, no ringing chimes

We're just feeling fine

Tubbo started out by building his starter base.

It was a concept he’d learned about while living with Xisuma, and it was quite a good one, too. After all, megabases worthy of Hermitcraft’s admittedly lofty standards often took months to build, and he’d need somewhere to live in the meantime. In Season 6, he’d neglected that fact, and had suffered his fair share of mob deaths before he put up four walls and a ceiling to protect himself, back when he’d left to live on his own. And that was with a small, quickly-thrown together base, not the project he was currently planning.

Still, even setting up the basics of his starter base took a few nearly sleepless days. Finally, the framework for the build, a treehouse spanning more than a few trees at the edge of the forest, was up, and Tubbo was finally able to place a bed down in safety and sleep for a solid fourteen hours straight.

Xisuma dropped by, quite literally, a day or so later.

Tubbo had been sitting in his quickly-expanding living room, sorting through the loot he’d gotten from yesterday’s day-long mining session when he swooped down through the half-finished roof. While he was still wearing his bee-themed armor, now there were two glider-like wings, shimmering purple, strapped to his back.

“Heya, X,” Tubbo greeted the admin with a wave, closing one of his chests. “You got elytra already?”

“Tango and I defeated the Ender Dragon yesterday,” Xisuma replied, touching down softly. Tubbo made an ‘ah’ sound, recalling the achievement he’d seen out of the corner of his eye the other day. Right; he’d forgotten about that. Trust X to be as efficient as possible and defeat one of the toughest monsters in the world just for the ease of travel.

“I’ll have to go endbusting soon, then,” he said, more to himself than X. Before the elder man could protest (ah, he was getting good at noticing when he was going to), he added: “Stress and xB have already asked me to go with them, so don’t worry , alright?”

“Good,” Xisuma sighed. “It’s never a good idea to go out on your own, especially since this’ll be your first time seriously exploring the End.”

Tubbo rolled his eyes good naturedly. To be fair, he hadn’t gone out to the End before it had been conquered before. He’d had a fair few trips last Season, mostly with X, but it was generally for the XP farm once it’d been set up. He’d never left the main island before. Now that he had considerably more freedom at the beginning of the Season, he was excited to go exploring.

“Anything bring you over?” He asked, changing the subject.

Xisuma nodded. “Yeah. A bunch of the others are getting together for some sort of wrestling tournament this weekend.”

“And I’ve been invited?!” He grinned, clapping his hands together.

“As the referee.”

“Ah,” he pouted. “Darn.”

“Don’t worry,” Xisuma chuckled, setting down a shulker box. “It can be a lot funner to watch sometimes; I’m just going to be part of the audience, too. I think Doc wanted you because he thinks he can bribe you.”

“He can not !”

Xisuma raised an eyebrow. “Area 77.”

“Oh, that’s not fair. I am completely unbiased!”

“And that was why you became their lawyer and not for all the cool experiments they had. I don’t think Cleo has forgiven you for defeating her in court.”

“No one can defeat Big Law,” Tubbo sniffed, faux-offended, and Xisuma laughed. “Well, I’ll show him!” He declared, crossing his arms. “I’ll just have to make sure he loses, then!” Xisuma blinked, and he laughed. “Kidding! Kidding!” Mostly .

“So you’re going?”

“Sure! It’s nice to see the Hermits all in one place, anyways. What’s in the shulker?”

Xisuma tilted his head teasingly. “What do you think? Someone had to get the supplies for our honey farm.”

Tubbo gaped. “You’re ready to build farms already?! Man, and I thought I was ahead of the game with just having my base halfway done.”

The armored man shrugged, looking about the partially completed build. “Well, you’ve certainly put more effort into this than me. Truly, your building skills are already improving. I love how you’re styling the roof with peaks like you are; it looks like it took a while.”

“My last house had a roof like that, too,” Tubbo reminded him, glancing up as well. It had become a tradition, of sorts, to build curved, peaked roofs onto his builds. Last season it had been one of the few things he’d built slowly to make look as good as possible. In all honesty, it was his own way of honoring the person who’d made it possible for him to come here, to have a life worth living once again. Rushing through the technique just felt disrespectful.

“Yes, but you’ve definitely gotten better.” Xisuma bent down over the shulker box, checking its contents. “Do you have any good ideas for where to make the bee farm? I’ll admit, I’ve been a bit too busy to scout out a good area.”

“Really? Then where’d you get these guys?”

“Tree farming in the desert.”

Tubbo snorted into his hand, and he could practically feel Xisuma’s embarrassment. “Well, you did say you hadn’t scouted out a good spot.”

“Indeed I did.”

“I can take a look around here and see what I can find. Meadows are supposed to be excellent places for farming bees, right?”

“Indeed it is,” Xisuma agreed. “Do you have plans for your megabase, yet?”

Tubbo nodded, grinning. “And trust me, it’s going to be awesome .”

............

Two days later, a chicken appeared in his base. Tubbo found it laying an egg in what was starting to become the base’s storage area, with one of his shirts nearly ripped to shreds in what appeared to be a makeshift nest.

There was a nametag wrapped around its leg. After some chicken wrangling and a few feathers to the face, he got a good look at it and realized there wasn’t a name written there, but a set of coordinates.

A set of coordinates rather far away, but who was he to turn down such an intriguing mystery?

With the chicken now renamed Wilbur and placed in a pen (he’d needed a chicken farm anyways), Tubbo set out that morning with a few supplies to find the spot he was looking for. After crossing a fair bit of forest and ocean, by the next day he’d found himself cutting his way through the underbrush of an overgrown jungle and wondering why in the world Stress had wanted to wait a week before going to get their elytra.

He pushed a few low-hanging vines out of the way, checking his communicator for the upteenth time. He was getting closer, now. This better be worth going out a few hundred chunks in the middle of nowhere—hey, wait a minute!

There was smoke in the distance. He could just make it out through the leaves, and now that he concentrated, he could smell it, too. Tubbo rushed forwards, pushing through the brush to see several man-made wooden pillars sticking out. As he pressed forwards, he made out a semi-stone floor, several chests, and a small fire in the middle, explaining the smoke.

“What is this?” He asked himself, looking around the place. The coordinates were right, and yet no one was here. Just this outpost in the middle of the jungle.

Tubbo walked around. There were some papers pinned to the wall, and a few dispensers lying around. Idly he pressed the buttons on them, already starting to form a plan to enact revenge on whoever made him travel over a day to get this place.

He pressed the button on the dispenser in the middle of the build and nearly got an arrow to the face.

Tubbo yelped, his reflexes, honed from a half year of training, the only thing saving him from a sudden death. A bell rang behind him, but it took him a few more moments to calm his racing heart.

“Not funny! You nearly took my head off!” He shouted to the jungle. Still, he didn’t leave, instead turning to the bell the arrow had his, examining it. Huh.

There were some cookies in one of the chests, probably left behind by whoever had actually built the place. He nibbled on it, only half hungry, as he tried to examine the place better.

“HERMIT CHALLENGES!”

Tubbo shrieked , dropping the remains of his cookie as the voice rang through the forest air. He looked around, trying to find the source, but found that he couldn’t.

“INITIATION!”

A diamond-clad figure dropped out of the vines above, landing with a firm thud on one of the ground dispensers. He nearly lost his balance before righting himself with a huff.

“Mumbo!” Tubbo exclaimed, a little annoyed but mostly impressed.

“INITIATION!” He shouted at the top of his lungs. “HERMIT CHALLENGES! YOU ARE BEING INDUCTED.”

“How long have you been up there?! It took me over a day to get here.”

“No matter, Mr. Tubbo! Congratulations! You’re in!”

“...Thanks?”

“Of course, my friend! You have been inducted into Hermit Challenges! Of course, you could have eaten the entire cookie—” he glanced down at the crumbs at Tubbo’s feet. “But besides that you have acted perfectly.”

“Wait, what is Hermit Challenges?” Tubbo asked, blinking. What? This version of Mumbo was almost nothing like the Mumbo he’d seen at Spawn a mere week and a half ago. Who used chickens to deliver messages? Or perch in a tree for supposed hours on end?

Okay, he had to admit, that last one was pretty funny.

“Oh, it’s a game I’ve made up,” Mumbo continued. “Iskall and I have already had a go at it, and I figured I’d invite you next.”

“...Alright, then. How do I play?”

“It’s simple! Write down three challenges and put them in the dispenser. Then we’ll pick one at random from each other.”

Mumbo reached into one of the chests on the ground, taking out a sheath of paper and passing three to him with a pen. Tubbo looked at him, and Mumbo grinned.

“Go on! I’m sure you’ll have something fun in that head of yours.”

Ah, he was right. Tubbo gave in with a smile, leaning back and thinking briefly about what he wanted to challenge Mumbo. A few ideas came to mind, and he quickly scribbled them down, pushing them into one of the two dispensers on the side of the small build, Mumbo doing the same.

“Alright, then!” Mumbo announced with a smile. “You go first.”

Tubbo stepped towards Mumbo’s dispenser and clicked the button, causing a slip of paper to slide out. He unrolled it, then read it out loud.

“‘Steal everyone’s front doors for the rest of the season.’ What? The whole season?!”

Mumbo laughed. “Oh, that one! Man, you got the hardest one from me!”

“Well, I’m sure it’s nothing compared to what you’ll get from me.”

“We’ll see,” Mumbo said with a chuckle.  He moved across the platform, and pressed the button the dispenser Tubbo had put his challenges in. The dispenser whirred, and then another slip of paper popped out. Mambo picked it up and read off of it, face contorting as he did so. “...‘Act like you don’t believe in the moon for the next two weeks, and claim the sky is a hologram put up by the SCA (Secret Chickens Agency) to keep us from seeing the real overlords- the sky chickens.’ What?”

Tubbo snickered at that, covering his mouth with one hand. Oh, he was proud of that one.

“No, seriously, this is awfully specific.”

“What? It’s funny!”

“Funny for you!” But Mumbo was smiling, and Tubbo grinned back at him.

“I’m going to be having a fun few weeks,” he giggled.

“So am I,” Mumbo agreed with a raised eyebrow, tucking the slip of paper away. He clapped Tubbo’s shoulder. “I suppose I’ll have to make up a good story to go with this prompt.”

“And I have some doors to steal!” Tubbo laughed.

“Whoever gets the first complaint in chat wins?”

“You’re on!”

[cpd5021]

Unexpected Chapter 5

I still suck at descriptions. This chapter has toast....if you know, you know 😂.  Thanks to @darkdisrepair for the inspiration on some of this dialogue. 

    Hailey entered the locker room, eyes instantly landing on Jay. It had been a rocky few days since they had found the baby in the suspects house. Jay had been keeping his distance, trying to give her the space to sort out her emotions. It had been a while since they had talked outside of work, a fact that Vanessa had pointed out earlier and spurring Hailey to brave this conversation with him now. She glanced around the room, assuring they were alone before moving to stand next to his locker. 

“I uh, I have an appointment tomorrow morning.” Her voice came out barely above a whisper. Jay raised an eyebrow, silently asking what type of appointment, not able to ask it out loud. “A check up..” She continued, answering his unasked question. She watched him breath a sigh of relief and it broke her a little. “I was wondering....I thought you’d want to come.” Her throat felt thick as she steeled herself for the rejection she was about to receive. 

“Of course. I’d love too.” He smiled up at her and she could breath again. She was afraid she had pushed him too far away and that she was going to lose him because of it. He saw the look on her face, quickly standing and pulling her into his arms. He held her tightly for a moment, not caring that they were at work and someone could walk in at any minute. 

“Hailey,” He pulled away, keeping a grip on her shoulders to hold her close. “I love you. And I’ll support you, with whatever you need. I want this, with you. All of it. And I know we can do it.” His gentle words brought tears to her eyes and she tucked her head into his chest, seeking the comfort his embrace always gave her.

     They left work, grabbing some take out and heading back to his apartment. It felt like it had been an eternity since she had been here, when in reality it was only a few days. They ate in a comfortable silence and then laid back on the couch, Hailey tucked under Jay’s arm as they relaxed. Hailey’s hands rested on her stomach, a habit she noticed herself forming ever since she had found out she was pregnant. She could hear Jay’s heart thumping in his chest and the sound brought her comfort. Hailey snuggled in closer before reaching for Jay’s hand and placing it between hers on her stomach. 

“You really think we can do this?” She whispered, feeling her emotions already spiking. 

“I do.” He gently tapped on her stomach, bringing a smile to her face. “I know that it’s not something you or I planned and it’s probably the last thing you wanted to happen....but I really do believe that we can make this work. I’ll be with you every step of the way.” His kind words brought tears to her eyes and she let them fall freely, dripping down onto his t-shirt underneath her.  

“I’m scared.” Hailey knew that it wasn’t really a secret, Jay knew her well enough to have figured that out already. But it was the first time she had said it out loud. 

“I know.” He admitted, proving her point. 

“What if...what if I’m not good enough? Or I screw something up? Or the kid hates me?” Jay brought a finger up, placing it over her lips and silencing her. He shifted under her and moved them into a sitting position so he could face her. 

“Hailey, you are the strongest woman I know, the bravest, the toughest, the most caring. If you love someone, you defend them to the hilt and everyone knows that about you. This baby, our baby, is going to love you so much and you’re going to be amazing. I know it’s scary and we’re way out of our league here...but it will be okay.” Jay leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to her wet lips, tears trailing down her face. His thumbs softly scooped them away as he leaned back to look her in the eyes. She didn’t know if he was right, if this would be okay, or if this was something they could..or even should do, but when she looked at him she felt all her worries fading away. Like she had told him all those years ago, He looked at her and she got it. She would follow him blindly, wherever that may be. And even though she had never imagined they’d find themselves in this position, her words rang truer now than perhaps they ever had. She moved forward, bringing her lips to his, and started a lazy kiss against his mouth. He pulled her closer, shifting her body so she was curled up on his lap. His arms wrapped around her body and she felt safe in his embrace. 

“I should probably go, I know Vanessa’s been worried about me. I still haven’t told her so she’s probably assuming the worst.” Hailey chuckled slightly at the thought of her room mates imagination running wild. 

“True..” Jay said, holding her tighter. “Or you could stay here. We can ride to your appointment together and then into work. I’ll even make you breakfast.” He grinned down at her, selling his plan.

“Jay Halstead a chef?” She raised her eyebrows at him before laughing. 

“I am a man of many talents.” He scoffed slightly but she knew he was teasing. 

“Any other talents you’d like to show me?” Hailey slid her fingers under the collar of his t-shirt, trailing along the warm skin as her darkening eyes met his. 

“I can think of a few..” He trailed off, immediately catching on to what she was suggesting. With no effort at all, Jay stood with Hailey in his arms, and walked them towards the bedroom. Her lips found his neck and drove him wild until he gently tossed her on the bed. His body crawled up the bed, hovering over hers as all thoughts of her room mate or worries from the day instantly faded from her mind. 

********

   Hailey woke up, once again curled in a tangle of sheets, her limbs wrapped around Jay’s body. He stirred underneath her, already sensing she was awake. Hailey peaked her head up, blinking in the bright sun light shining through his window, and smiled at his puffy, sleepy face. 

“Good morning.” She grinned, loving waking up to him.

“Good morning beautiful.” He returning her smile and rolling his eyes when she scoffed at his compliment. “How are you feeling?”

“Okay...but I haven’t actually moved yet and that’s when things tend to go down hill.” She tucked her head back against his chest. 

“Well we don’t have to leave for a while now so feel free to lay away, I make a pretty good pillow.” Jay gently trailed his fingers up and down her arm. 

“You do....” Hailey scrunched her face up when she looked back up at him. “But...”

“I knew there would be a ‘but’“ Jay laughed, flinching when she smacked his chest. 

“Shut up.” She laughed with him. “I believe I was promised a home made breakfast.”

“You remember that huh?” He feigned disappointment, earning another laugh from her. “What are you in the mood for?” 

“What are my options?” She knew he didn’t keep much in his cupboards so the choices would be limited. 

“Hmm, pancakes?” He suggested, sighing when she shook her head. 

“You’ll never top Vanessa’s.” Hailey teased, grinning when he rolled his eyes again. 

“Waffles? An omelette? Chocolate covered strawberries?” Jay rattled off some more options. 

“Wait what?” She laughed at the last item on the menu, feeling confident he didn’t actually have any strawberries stashed away in his barren fridge. 

“Yea, that’s not actually an option.” He shrugged, feigning embarrassment. “Just trying to think of some romantic ideas.” That earned him another laugh and he smiled because he loved the sound.

“Romantic?” Hailey scoffed in her laughter. “Since when is breakfast romantic?”

“You’ve clearly never been hand fed chocolate covered strawberries while lying in the comfort of your own bed.” He shook his head as if that was the most normal suggestion in the world. 

“And you have?” Hailey challenged, raising her eyebrow in question.

“Well....no. But it sounds nice.” He replied and she laughed hysterically at his response. 

“Okay Hallmark, whatever you say.” She gently pushed herself up into a sitting position, grinning down at him. 

“Hallmark?” He asked, looking confused. 

“That is totally something fresh out of one of those corny Hallmark channel movies.” Her shoulders shook with laughter.

“I didn’t take you for a corny movie kinda gal.” He said, shifting to sit up beside her. 

“I’m not!” She balked, knowing she had been busted. If she was being honest, she did enjoy a good corny movie marathon every now and then, but no one else knew that. 

“Mhmm...” He smirked, seeing right through her. “So what’ll it be?” He asked, getting them back on track for breakfast. 

“Umm....” Hailey’s stomach churned at the mention of food again. She had been fine until she sat up, immediately feeling her stomach start to swirl. “How about...I’ll be right back.” She jumped out of the bed, darting to the bathroom. Jay was right behind her, of course he was. As much as she hated him seeing her like this, she was thankful for his support and comforting touch. Once she was finished, Jay moved her back to the bedroom, situating her back into the bed and telling her to stay put while her brought her something to eat. Hailey couldn’t help but laugh when he walked back through the door a few minutes later with a few pieces of toast on a plate and two cups of coffee.

“I know it’s not that great of a breakfast-” His cheeks turning slightly pink as he recalled their discussion of romantic meal ideas, but she raised a hand, cutting him off. 

“It’s perfect Jay.” Hailey smiled, taking a cup from him so he could get onto the bed. She picked up a piece of the toast and was thankful for the bland taste, knowing her stomach probably wasn’t ready for anything heavier just yet. 

     They finished eating and then jumped in the shower together, getting mildly distracted there when hands started to wander and causing them to have to rush out the door a short while later. Hailey was glad for the quick pace of the morning, knowing it was giving her less time to dwell on what they were about to do. Luckily, they made it to the hospital on time and Jay gave her hand a gentle squeeze before they got out of the truck. They squeezed themselves into the crowded elevator, both noting the close proximity of their bodies, before stepping out onto the floor with her doctors office. Hailey reached for his hand, her nerves starting to get the better of her. She held it tightly, feeling pretty confident that no one they knew was going to be on the obstetrics floor but moments later Jay quickly released her hand when he saw Will walking down hallway towards them. If he had noticed their intimacy, he didn’t mention it. Instead looking confused as to why they would be here on this particular floor. 

“Hey!” Jay exclaimed, his voice an octave higher then it should have been. 

“Hey Jay...Hailey.” Will nodded, giving them each a confused look. 

“We were just..” Hailey scrambled for an excuse because obviously Jay wasn’t going to be of any use. “Following up on a case..with one of the doctors. He might know our victim..” Hailey nodded her head, hoping she was coming across convincing. She didn’t know Will well enough to know if he was buying her story or not but thankfully his pager went off at that moment and he was forced to excuse himself. They both let out a breath of relief as they watched him walk away. 

“What was that?” Hailey exclaimed in an exasperated tone, shoving his shoulder gently as they started down the hall. 

“What?” Jay shrugged, playing mock clueless. 

“You were oh so helpful back there.” She raised her eyebrows at him, not really irradiated but more so amused.

“I...he...it’s Will. I panicked!” Jay rubbed at his neck, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. Hailey laughed at that and then her smile dropped when she realized they had arrived at their destination.  

“Hey,” Jay stepped closer to her, sensing her nerves skyrocketing. “It’ll be okay.”

“It just....feels more real now.” Hailey swallowed hard.

“Yea.” Jay agreed, feeling the same way now that they were actually here. “Together.” He told her, taking her hand and pushing through the door. 

[wordynerdygurl]

Who's Sorry Now?

Summary: You and Loki have a disagreement, but it's nothing an apology can't fix.

Loki x Reader

Warnings: Cursing, a little size play, and dom/sub noncon

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"No, Loki. Not happening." Crossing your arms over your chest, you glared at The God of Mischief.

Plastering on his best salesman grin, Loki answered, "Darling! I think it's a very reasonable request. Won't you even consider it? For me?"

You lowered your arms and worried your bottom lip as you considered his words. Locking your eyes on his, you nod yes as you move towards him. When he wraps his arm around you, confident in his powers of persuasion, you rise up on your tip toes and huskily purr, "No fucking way, darlin'!" And you punctuate your displeasure with a hard shove against his ribs before storming out of the room.

That was three days ago and in front of half of The Avengers. Since then you'd done your best to keep clear of Loki and, really, anyone else. It wasn't your best moment since joining the team but you also knew that you weren't in the wrong, not about this.

Your rightness wasn't keeping your bed warm at night, however. You had the whole mattress to yourself and for the first time cursed it's king size. It was too big without a long, lean son of Odin under the covers. You didn't even want to sleep here without him.

Growling with frustration, you snatched up your pillow. With that and the throw blanket with Loki's face on it, a birthday gift from the Trickster himself, you resigned yourself to a night on the couch. At least those cushions would cuddle up to you. You could snuggle into thier softness and pretend it was the warm body of Loki.

To the living room, you thought glumly. Your hand was on the bedroom door's knob when it turned on its own. "What the..." you started but then Loki pushed passed you, "We have to talk."

No knock, no permission granted. Just strolling into your room like it was his, like you were his, a thing under his control. But he was nice to look at, you had to admit that.

Damn him. He was too handsome to be walking around here with barefeet. The grey sweat pants barely holding onto to his trim hips, a black tank top doing nothing to hide his wide shoulders, and that hair cascading down his back made your throat go bone dry.

"Talk?" You squeaked. After days of missing his physical presence, Loki was making up for lost time. He seemed to fill your room, sucking up all the air, making it hard for your lungs to work correctly.

Turning to face you, Loki repeated, "Yes, we have to talk."

His gaze flayed you raw. You had on one of his t-shirt, the hem dragging across your upper thighs, barely covering your boy short panties. And you were wearing those fluffy bunny slippers with the sagging ears, you were so adult and so childish all at once. Loki felt a familiar stirring low in his belly but forced himself to ignore it and you until he had his say.

Turning his back on you, Loki began, "About your tantrum..."

You were blinded by a flash of red hot anger. Your tantrum? "No. Nope. No fucking way. You aren't coming in here, uninvited by the way, and lecturing me about anything." Standing toe to toe with Loki, you weren't going to hold back.

Annoyance flashed through Loki's blue eyes, "I will lecture you and I will advise you and you would do well to listen."

Glaring at Loki with a growl you continue, "Ya know what your problem is? You always get what you want. It's bullshit and you know it."

Loki lifted his eyebrow, it was his only discernible movement. "Bullshit? Really? And your behavior? What is the word for that, darling?"

You didn't have a ready answer for that. Loki knew it too.

"Uh huh. I thought so." Taking a deep breath Loki forged on, "Look, I know you think my asking Thor to keep an eye on you when I'm away is... degrading? But I need to know that you're safe and honestly I don't trust anyone on this planet except for you. However, Thor is my brother... and his feelings about my past aside, he would never allow harm to come to you."

You twisted out of Loki's space wanting to put some distance between you two so that you could think straight. You realized why you were so pissed in a burst of clarity and felt your shoulders sag. Loki thought you weren't capable of handling yourself.

Turning your back to him, your voice low, you say, "I can take care of myself, Loki. I've been doing it for years. Since before I ever met you, I somehow managed to keep myself alive."

Reaching for you, Loki captured your wrist and held you firm. "I know, you foolish, head strong woman. Can't you see that's why I want someone looking after you if I am not able to?"

When you turn, facing him fully, Loki can see the shine of unshed tears in your eyes. Shifting his tone, he chides you, "Darling, you are no longer on your own. People around here rely you. They need you! I need you!"

"Ha!" It's a mirthless sound and you hear Loki sigh. After years on your own being with The Avengers was welcome but you had found it hard to shake your lone wolf mentality. The idea of leaning on someone instead of yourself was the scariest thing you could think of, and entirely out of the question.

"What will it take for you to believe me? How can I make you see just how much I worry when I can't touch you, or hold you? And what would I do if something happened to you? Have you ever considered that, my darling? Did you ever think of me when you were pouting and pushing, angry that I offered you my love and protection?"

Advancing on you like a hungry wolf during your dressing down, Loki had cornered you and you were normally smarter than that. You were trapped against the wall by Loki's smoldering anger and his imposing presence. And still you wanted to push back. Your hands balled into fists, ready to fight Loki if you had to, refusing to back down from his challenge, unwilling to give in to The God of Mischief.

Your wide legged stance and squared shoulders gave you away. Loki wasn't expecting you to submit, not without some sort of explanation, but he hadn't considered how hard you'd hold out. And here you were waiting to strike, ready to battle him if it meant you didn't have to bend to his one request.

"Loki... don't." Like a rattlesnake vibrating, you warned him that you were ready to strike.

"ENOUGH!" Slamming his hand into the wall beside you, Loki bellowed his frustration and you flinched at the ferocity of it. You thought you were battling smarmy Loki, sweet talker, silver tongued persuasion master. Furious Loki was another animal all together and truthfully, it shook you. Loki took advantage of your moment of doubt and grabbed your hands, forcing them over your head.

You snapped and squirmed like a fox in a snare. "Let go, Loki!!! Let me fucking go!!"

"Not a chance, love." Loki's strength was more than you were used to, him being a God and all, but this wasn't fair. You were rarely at a disadvantage with an opponent, much less one who'd seen you naked so many times, and you found it infuriating.

"God dammit, Loki! What do you want from me? What?" Loki was so close now that shouting wasn't necessary, but you did it anyway. Even as you jerked and twisted in his solid grip, you knew the only way out was through, but you weren't ready to concede just now. All your struggling had managed to do, beyond provoke Loki, was cause your shirt to ride up, exposing your soft belly. Loki longed to stroke that silky skin once more but not when you were gnashing your teeth like a shark on a hook.

"What I want, dear one, is to be with you forever. And I won't be able to do that if you're dead." Pausing dramatically to press his hips into yours, Loki observed, "Since I have certain responsibilities on planets other than this, I simply want you to allow any other person you know to check in on you until I can get back to you. Back to the toughest, angriest, meanest Midgardian woman I happen to love."

"What?" You froze in place, physically stunned by Loki's words. Then Loki crushed his lips to yours, sealing your squeals between your mouths. He licked your lips, eager to slide his tongue down your throat, but you refused his entry. So Loki did what any mischievous man might, he pulled your earlobe with his teeth and whispered in your ear, "Open up to me, little one. Please just let me love you the way I know you need me to."

His free hand brushed up your bare tummy not stopping until it cupped around your breast. Under your night shirt Loki rolled your hardening nipple, pinching it tighter and tighter while pulling it away from your body. The stretching burn you felt made your knees buckle and you were almost glad that Loki was holding you up because otherwise you'd be on the floor.

Your body flushed with heat, lower lips flooded with arousal, slick with your desire. It had been three days without Loki and your libido was making up for lost time. When Loki nipped at that spot where your collar bone dipped you couldn't help the sigh that escaped you.

Ever watchful, your God seized the moment. He pushed into your mouth with his tongue at the same time his hand began rubbing your mound over your panties. Head spinning, moans bubbling out of you like water out of a fountain, your body responded to every stroke of Loki's. In a part of your mind that was getting harder to hear you knew you should be mad but Loki had just tugged down the waistband of your boy shorts and oh my God! His deft fingers were ghosting over your clit.

Loki traced the line of your slit with his slim digits breaking your kiss to tease, "My, my... did my pet miss me?" You answered, "yes..." so softly that Loki almost didn't believe you had said it.

He released your hands in that second. One arm behind your neck, the other under your knees, Loki swept you off the floor and swung you towards your waiting bed. Laying you down easy, Loki wasn't too far behind, and you felt the mattress dip under his weight.

Dragging your shirt up by the hem, Loki pulled it off you with little effort. You felt the chill night air on your soaked skin and knew your panties were gone. Loki even ripped your bunny slippers off, and finally having you bare before him, smiled down at you. "My fierce warrior queen. So beautiful, so angry, so mine."

His kiss was hungry and you arched into it, meeting his need with your own. Your hands yanked his tank top over his head, ruffling his hair, as your desperate mouth took more and more from him. Rising off the bed, your hips sought out his stiffening steel, anxious to have Loki inside you.

Wasting no time, Loki shimmied out of his sweats, and you gulped at the sight of him hard and unyielding in front of you. "Loki... I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry." A sob hitched in your throat. You didn't want to ruin the moment but you also wouldn't be able to enjoy Loki's attention without making amends.

"I know you are, dove. Now, on your knees, and count."

Loki's open palm connected with your naked rump in a loud smack! "One!" Your eyes burned with hot tears and your core contracted. Two and three were close together, the sting making you moan out thier numbers. By seven your ass was hot to the touch, your voice raw and your pussy was aching with emptiness. Loki swiped his hand across your drenched folds causing you to jump. "You are so wet. I think you like it when I spank your bottom. Do you?"

"Uhh... yes... Yes!" Loki plunged two fingers inside of your tight canal, coaxing you closer to your orgasm. You shuddered when Loki curled his fingers against your sensitive walls. You groaned when he removed them from you entirely, leaving you empty and wanting.

"Not so fast, dearest. Open." Loki pushed those same fingers over your parted lips. "Taste yourself, taste just how much you want me. Aren't you delicious? Do you see why you're precious to me?"

Between Loki's wicked words and the flavor of your nectar filling your mouth, you were starting to feel the building charge of electricity in your core. That humming of power which signaled your climax was slowly growing in volume.

"You cum when I tell you, is that understood, little one?" Loki always seemed to know when your body was sending out sexy signals but you are disappointed. You huff around his fingers, cross at his denial but you understand that playing this game will pay off in the end.

"Understood?" Loki's free hand grips your chin and forces your head up.

"Yes." You drool. His fingers now free of your juices, Loki holds your head still, his thumb pressing your tongue down. Flashing your wide eyes up to his as he brushes your full bottom lip with his heavy thumb, you hear Loki's silken murmur, "You look unbelievably sexy, kitten." And you practically purr like one at his praise.

Loki presents his hardened cock for you to enjoy and you mewl with pleasure. He's thick and long, already beaded with precum. You reach forward tongue first, licking the sweet release from his sensitive head before swirling your tongue around him. Loki bucks his hips forward and suddenly you're taking him deeper, hollowing your cheeks to accommodate his size and using your fist to keep up the friction where your mouth can't reach.

Loki controls his pleasure by wrapping his hands in your hair. A tug this way, a tug back, holding you still as he pumps into you, not settling on any rhythm, just using you as he sees fit.

"On your back." Growling Loki pulls out of your mouth with a pop and shoves hard on your shoulder. He's between your legs, his quick hands coasting over your milky thighs, his thumbs spreading your lips, exposing your secret skin to the cool air.

"You cum when I tell you." Loki reconfirms your directive as he positions himself at your tight cunt. You're so wet and waiting that he enters you further and faster than he'd intended.

"Loki!" You almost shout at the fullness of him inside of you. He laughs roughly, "I know, you're such a slut for me. It's one of the things I love about you!" Without wasting any time Loki is slamming himself hard into your molten center. You realize this fuck is about his pleasure first, yours second. The pace he sets is fast and firm, your breasts bouncing with each inward drive, wetness running between your ass cheeks with every withdrawal.

"Say it again!" Loki commands. "Wha... what? Say what?" You're confused and fuzzy brained from lust.

"Tell me how sorry you are... make me believe you!" Loki never lets up even as he's giving you orders.

Pitifully you whimper, "Loki! I'm so sorry baby! I was wrong! I... I know you're trying to keep me safe... I'm sorry, so so sorry!"

"You are? You seemed pretty angry earlier." His hips stutter, changing his angle just enough to draw a squeak from you. "I was... but I apologize. I'm sorry baby, so sorry that I messed up."

"Cum for me. Do it! Right now kitten, cum on my cock!" Your body clenches tight around Loki who is buried to the hilt inside of you. Spasms of satisfaction shake you both as you come apart around each other.

You pull Loki down for a kiss, fucking his mouth with your tongue, as you both ride out your climaxes. Flopping down next to you, Loki pulls you into his chest. Pressing a chaste kiss to your forehead, his breathing heavy still, Loki says, "I do love you, you little brat.", a smirk playing over his lips.

"I know. I love you, you big bully." You pant against his ribs, "Just make sure Thor knows that I can handle myself. I don't need him to babysit me."

"Babysit you? Of course not. I want him to make sure you have those little cookies you like so much and that you're not watching Stranger Things without me." You realize then just how off the mark you've been about this Thor situation.

Loki laughs, "Babysit you... Ha! You could take him in a fair fight, no question... But if trouble does come, he'll have your back." Searching your eyes with his blue ones, Loki adds, somber now, "That's all the comfort I'm taking with me on this mission, you know. The idea that you'll be safe and warm and waiting for me here when I get back. Without that... well, I don't know why I'd even bother."

You pull him into your arms, eager to ease his worries. "I'll be here. I'll be waiting." You tuck a strand of black hair behind his ear and kiss his cheek.

"Next time, let's try using our words first." Loki teases you sweetly.

"Maybe next time explain yourself instead of ordering me around?" You counter.

"Ok. I can try that." Nodding Loki agrees.

"Ok. Me too." You mirror his movement, a shy smile playing over your lips. Sitting up with a grunt, you add, "But if you think I'm not watching Stranger Things while you're gone, you're crazy."

"Do it, darling, and you'll be sorry."

[chasseurdeloup-retired]

If It Wasn't for the Nights || Alain and Kaden

TIMING: Not long after Knowing Me, Knowing You LOCTION: Cemetery PARTIES: @carbrakes-and-stakes and @chasseurdeloup SUMMARY: Alain and Kaden meet up for some slay therapy

Alain was not ready to be alone with his thoughts right now, or be caught staring blankly into the distance as he tried to make sense of his life, and so, on this lovely summer night, the slayer was not waiting for spawns to show, but actively looking for them, trusting his hunter senses to lead the way. There were not many ways to find flederprey, but so far, only stray spawns were to be found. Not exactly the toughest opponents, but they managed to keep him busy, and that was enough. Still, as the feeling of having undead around him dimmed out, he found himself once again alone with his thoughts, hearing the things she said to him. He also remembered Kaden’s warnings, and how he had ignored those. Minutes passed, and Alain was starting to regret accepting to see his friend.

Hunting vampires was far from Kaden’s specialty, but he was certainly not inept. And if a fellow hunter asked for help, he’d never say no. Especially not a friend. “Hey,” he called out to the slayer who was sitting there, sullen and sulking. Kaden went to make a quip, tease or jostle him, but something felt off. Something. Right. He knew damn well what was off. What he didn’t know was how to deal with it. Feelings weren’t his forte. “Didn’t know what we were looking for so I brought just about everything.” He had his shotgun on his back, as always, even if it wasn’t the most useful for the undead, it made him feel better, there was holy water in flasks with him, a few stakes, his usual roster of knives. “You want to talk about it or you want to start slaying?”

His regret dissipated as he watched Kaden approach. It had been a while, and he was probably to blame for that. Working on making relationships work was obviously not his strongest suit. Alain couldn’t help his smile as his friend explained that he came prepared. This was no surprise. The beast hunter was not one to fuck around, and it must have been why they got along. Their argument hadn’t been really pretty, but Kaden’s opinion mattered, which was why he had not told him yet to fuck off, no matter how much he wanted to sometimes. Still he wondered if he should have told him about Evelyn. She was the kind of person Kaden hunted after all. One could hope that with time, worry would fade, and that so would feelings. “Mmh?” Lost in his thoughts, he only realized Kaden was speaking to him as he heard his last word. “I don’t know if this is the right place for a conversation,” rubbing at the back of his neck, he stood still for a moment before he nodded. “Let’s do… that.” He sighed, still feeling heavy, “Flederprey is what we are looking for. They usually can be found near spawns, but so far, I haven’t found anything but the latter,” which was not exactly hard, in this town. “I’ve already tried this area,” he motioned to the tombstones dressed on the left, behind him. Clearly, they still had a good portion to scan. “They’re pretty easy to kill,” he explained, “not technically undead, but if there’s a lot of them, I should be able to tell they’re here before we see them.”

Kaden was far from a relationship expert and honestly, still a little shocked by how long his current one had lasted. So getting straight to the slaying was probably a better idea. Even if he was pretty sure he’d have to pry it out of Alain eventually. As much as he didn’t do feelings, if being friends with Bea and Morgan had taught him anything it was that sometimes that talking crap helped a little. But first, “flederprey, huh?” He took his shotgun off his back and got it loaded and ready to go. “Sounds like it’s time for target practice.” The smile he offered Alain felt like a shit attempt at acting like everything was alright. “Lead the way,” he said, gesturing for Alain to start tracking using his slayer senses. For a bit, he followed along in a spot of silence. Should he say something about Evelyn? No, probably not. Let him know that he supported his friend? Nah, he was showing that, didn’t need to say it. Maybe he should mention the shit that went down at the cabin? Maybe. Could be a decent distraction. “So. Fun story. Nadia tried to kill us at that lakehouse the other weekend.”

Well, this was a relief. Alain was concerned for a second that this was going to turn into a therapy session. He did not need it. He did not want to talk about it. If he had not needed to drown his sorrow in alcohol, then it probably meant that he was okay, right? Sure, he still felt like he had a ball in his chest when he thought of Evelyn, but that was only natural. It would pass, he was sure of that. Those things just took time. Besides, it only had been a couple weeks. His radar went on and off as they wandered through the lanes. It would take a bit of roaming around to actually find the nest, but he had good hopes that they would find it, and help save a lot of people tonight. Of course, much like usual, people would never know, but that was fine. Being useful was enough reward. Lost in his thoughts, what Kaden said didn’t immediately bring a reaction from the slayer. Frowning, he looked as if he was solving a complicated equation for a second. “Wait what? She tried to kill who? You and Regan? Is Regan okay?” His brows furrowed and he turned around, a baffled expression on his face. “What happened? Is she… was she possessed?” Again? If Alain had noticed a change in Nadia’s behavior, he wouldn’t have guessed that this had happened to her again, assuming that this was what happened.

“Oh I’m fine. No complications with my stab wound, thanks for checking,” Kaden said, sarcastic edge to his voice. “Yeah she’s fine. Physically at least. Clearly I survived. But it was bad.” He sighed remembering that night. The rain, the confusion, that basement, the betrayal. And his confessions afterwards. Probably not a good time to tell his friend his confession of hunting went a bit better than his. “Nadia’s possessed, yeah. Very. Same bitch from six years ago. And it’s--” The words caught in his throat. There wasn’t a lot of hope for her right now. That didn’t matter. “It’ll be alright. We’re going to fix it. I’ll make sure. I mean, I know Regan would too. If she, uh, you know.” Understood what was really going on. “I mean, I don’t know how yet, there’s apparently no fuckin exorcists in to--” His paused to listen. There was something in the distance. Sounds. Screeching. Flapping of wings. Kaden held his hand up to pause them both so he could find the direction of the sound. He was about to point when the sounds got louder. Much louder. And then it hit him. Literally. Talons swooped by his head and Kaden ducked. A few  of them must have broken away from the pack. “Putain!” he shouted and started firing his gun at the fuckers, hoping to get a piece of either Shit they were small. This was going to be a challenge. “Rest must be nearby!”

“You’re standing in front of me, come on.” Alain held out his hand, palm up, obviously not having any of the attitude Kaden was giving him. “I’m glad you both are okay,” he smiled apologetically. Whatever had happened must have been terrible, because hunters were not the kind to complain for nothing. “I’m…” Well, he certainly had no word to describe how this felt like. Nadia was one of the kindest people he knew, and he wondered for how long this had been going on. He spoke to her a lot after all. “How is that possible? I thought they got that ghost out of her,” he didn’t know enough about ghosts to understand everything, and so there were things that flew over his head. “There’s not one exorcist in town? Really?” The last part dropped into a whisper. As per usual, the sound of the gun made him flinch. He was not used to working with those, and there was a chance he would never get used to those. “Rest most definitely is not far,” he confirmed, and they seemed to have been drawn by the noise, a few spawns following behind. “Et bien, mon salaud,” his brows furrowed. The weight of his sword adjusted in his hand as he gripped firmly on the handle. The swarm of flederpreys flew around the two hunters, claws and fangs out. It was unlikely that they would walk out without scratches on their face and arms. The good thing was, unorganized creatures like those that just ran headfirst into you were easier to kill as they didn’t know better than to stay away from his arm reach.

The flederprey were coming faster than Kaden could unload bullets. They were a swarm alright. And they brought friends. A few straggling spawn came with them. Good target practice as his dad used to say. And Oscar still did. It was still a bit surreal that Oscar was in White Crest. Not right now, Langley, concentrate. “I got the ground, you get the air,” he told Alain. His gun was going to be all but useless on the small bat like creatures. The spawn he stood a chance with. Before he could so much as reach for a stake, a flurry of talons flew down, dangerously close to his eye and he ducked and rolled out of the way, doing what he could to cover his head. As he lay on the ground, something bigger, much bigger swooped down and Kaden did what he could to swat it away with his gun, brandishing it like a melee weapon, when something sunk into his flesh and he felt his body leave the ground. Putain. Kaden cried out from the pain, as he looked into the eyes of a winged spawn, its hooked claws tearing into him and his face getting dangerously close to his neck. His shout morphed into something of a battle cry as he twisted around and clobbered the monster in the head with the butt of his gun. It screeched and he felt a release from the pain in his sides. Only to also feel the rush of wind fly past him as he fell towards the ground. Aw, fuck. This was going to hurt.

Neither the sword nor the bullets seemed to be ideal for beating the swarm of monsters, and much like Kaden, Alain feared for his eyes more than once. Shielding his face with his forearm, he didn’t immediately notice that his friend had decided to go on a vertical journey through the cemetery, and the slayer, who had forgotten to mention that this might happen, found himself cringing as he thought my fucking bad. This sounded like something that he should have told Kaden about, all things considered. Now the question was should he catch him ? He probably could have supported it, but the idea of getting his eyes away from the rest of these things was unbearable. What he could do however, was kick a spawn under the other hunter. Undead flesh had to be more comfortable than the ground and gravel, right? “You alright,” he didn’t have a hand to offer, as a few spawns were heading toward them. They weren’t done yet with the flederpreys. This was going to get out of hand if they did not move fast. Spawns, he could handle, he had done this hundreds, and hundreds of times, but those pesky little flying fuckers? They were a lot more annoying than in his memories. Or maybe he was just getting old.

“Putain!” Kaden felt his bones crashing into other bones and flesh. Better or worse than the ground? He didn’t know. “Thanks for the help,” he grumbled as he pushed himself up, wiping the dust off his hands as the spawn below him dissipated. He didn’t waste time reloading his gun and letting shots fire into the monsters above him. A good number started squealing and some started dropping. There had to be a better way to take down this hoard, more efficient than their sword and gun combo.Alain was having more luck but Kaden didn’t know what the fuck else to try. It’s not like he had a toothpick launcher to stake these fuckers. Fuck, if only he head a better idea. He pulled out a bottle of holy water and threw it at the monsters and… nothing. “Fucking hell!” Not vampires, not really. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He reloaded and let out more bullets to sink into the monsters’ flesh. The herd seemed to be thinning slowly but surely, not with a whole lot of help from him. He ducked to avoid more tiny talons and locked sight on the winged spawn still swooping around. He might not be able to hit the flederprey but he could sure hit that fucker. He let shots fly, a number of them riddling its wings with holes and the beast gave an ungodly screech as it plummeted to the ground. Kaden covered his head and ran through the field of flederprey towards where the span nose dived, stake in hand. He felt the pricking on his back of the small creatures as he drove the stake through the spawn’s heart, rendering it to dust. . A wing swooped down close to his eye Kaden dove and ducked out of the way, running into the other hunter as he tried to avoid it. Fuck. “Sorry, there’s-- How fucking many of these are there?!”

Kaden’s reaction drew a fit of laughter from the other hunter. As inappropriate and badly timed as it was -vampire dust turning laughter to coughing-, Alain simply could not help but react this way to Kaden’s surprise. Vampires had always, and always would be messy, and it was why he couldn’t consider ever quitting this gig. There were too many, and they could reproduce too easily, and so, it was essential that he did not quit. While the slayer knew that there were more vampire hunters out there that could replace him or do the job, he felt now, more than never, the need to keep going. After all, it was too late for him to start anything new. This had been his life, and this would be his life. Slowly, the cemetery became quieter, and soon enough the sound of weapons being drawn, fired and thrown was no longer heard. “Wasn’t so bad now was it?” With a sigh, he dropped his shoulders and had a look around. “Mmh, give me a second,” he could feel that there was still something close. It was faint, but it could only mean one thing. And so the hunter strode away from his friend. The place fell silent, and then there was a scream. His own. Hanging from the ceiling of a mausoleum was a silhouette, one that he mistook for her, just for a split second. The spawn (for it was one), startled by the sound, threw itself, all claws out toward Alain, who barely had time to protect his face. A gash on his forehead, he stumbled out of the mausoleum, one eye blinded by his own blood. “Bordel de conneries, de putain…” the rest of his curse was lost into the night and he looked around him, searching with one eye for the damn thing.

When the flock was finally picked off, Kaden leaned over, hands on his knees, trying to catch a breath. Still, even through his exhaustion, there was a hint of a smile on his face. He couldn’t help it, the adrenaline kick of a hunt was hard to fight off. “Yeah yeah, shut it. Next time remember to bring something for crowd control. I don’t like fighting swarms of anything for a rea--” He stopped mid sentence as his friend’s face fell. Kaden’s eyebrows knit together as he tried to stay still, listen. Alain decided to go ahead alone and so he simply nodded and let him. Kaden wasn’t going to argue with a moment to rest. But he knew better than to drop his guard completely. He made sure his gun was reloaded, stake easy to access. When he heard a scream, he was glad he did. “Hold on!” he shouted, barreling towards the mausoleum after him, weapons at hand. He saw the spawn sprint out before he caught sight of Alain. Without hesitation, he aimed and fired at the creature, riddling it with bullets until it squealed and dropped down. Not enough, not with vampires. He ran over and gave it a final stake through the heart. Kaden didn’t pause to watch it collapse into a pile of dust, he ran to check on his friend. The string of curse words was a relief, it meant he wasn’t dead. “What happened? You alright? Putain, it was just another one, what was that?” He searched for an answer in his friend’s face, but all he could see was Alain’s wide, frightened eyes, hear the pounding of his pulse. Shit, he didn’t know if he’d ever seen the slayer this spooked.

When would this end? The thought ran on loop in his head. His eyes were still staring directly at the mausoleum. He would not have been able to tell for how long he remained like this, looking into the distance. The feeling was familiar, but he had not grown accustomed to it. He however, was tired of it. Time passed, and it happened less and less often, but every once in a while, he still would get nightmares, or flashes of horror while he was awake. If he had mentioned to Kaden that he had been having nightmares due to a mara, he never mentioned the terrors he could get while he was out and about, or that sometimes they happened while he was busy hunting. He knew too well where this conversation would have gone, but now, he could not exactly escape from that. This whole situation made Alain furious. Part of him wanted to blame Evelyn. After all, he suspected one of her mara friends was responsible for this. Who else would have wanted to protect her like that? The thought that he had defended that woman made him feel gutted, but not as much as the way she had treated him. He still missed her, but in moments like those, he was just angry. He did not deserve this. No one did. “I thought I saw something else,” it might have taken him a few minutes to reply, or maybe seconds. Fright had a way to distort time and reality after all. “I’m okay,” he assured him. Well obviously no one would believe that.

Kaden’s brows furrowed as he tried to read whatever look was on Alain’s face, see if there was some answer to his questions there that weren’t in his friend’s words. “Well you did, you found another spawn. It’s dead though,” Kaden said, looking over to where the body should have been. Right. “Well, alright it was already dead, I mean dusted.” Yeah he wasn’t used to the easy cleanup that came with slaying. Really it was unfair that beat hunting didn’t have this sort of advantage. “Sure you are.” Kaden started to clean off his weapons, start putting them back where they belonged, pistol in its holster, stake in his pocket, knife in its sheath. “It’s fine, you know. To not be okay,” he told Alain, still not meeting his friend’s eyes, almost as if to give him some moment of privacy with his emotions. “You two seemed really--” Happy. He knew the word would cut like a knife, didn’t want to say it aloud. “So I’m sure it sucks. Finding out that you accepted her. And not the other way around.” It was the reason why Kaden had been too afraid to even try to tell Regan what he was or what he did. And part of him felt like he was still only halfway there. The fear of rejection ran deep and seeing it end like this? It didn’t exactly inspire him to delve deeper. “It’s okay if you’re not okay. I’ve got your back either way.”

Alain, who had yet to muster his feelings together, managed to finally glance away from the mausoleum, from the circle of turpitude he could have so easily thrown himself into. Getting lost in his thoughts had been his main problem lately, and so he tried to focus on what Kaden said to him, although he didn’t smile as the other hunter corrected himself. There was something endearing about it, but he did not budge. Not quite out of torpor yet. “Right,” of course he was full of shit, and Alain did not think for once that Kaden could have believed that. Even the slayer himself did not believe this bullshit. Pinching his nose, he held a hand against his mouth for a moment. Did he want to talk about Evelyn? Or about them? He focused on his breathing. The subject could easily draw him into a fit of anger, or sorrow. He did not want that. He could feel the air filling up his lungs. That was a soothing feeling. That helped. “I should have seen that coming. We live in a world full of hypocrites, don’t we. Look at us.” Hunters who claimed they had a sense of duty, except when they happened to like that one person or creature. Hypocrites, everywhere. Some paid for it, some did not. He happened to be on the wrong side of the coin. People liked to hate hunters, until they needed one. He knew that. He really should have known better. “I guess I’m not okay,” he admitted with a raise of his shoulders. This small shrug might have not been much, but it was not often that Alain confessed to being affected by things. Pride might have been the one thing he did inherit from his father. “I just need the nightmares to go away now,” every single one of those reminded him of her. Without those he could move on, right? “And well, whatever those hallucinations are,” he motioned toward the mausoleum, turning his back on it.

There were plenty of times Kaden wondered why people bothered with him. He didn’t always know what to do with emotions or how to be properly supportive. He wasn’t Morgan or Bea, he didn’t know how to have a conversation or how to force it. He didn’t know what Alain actually needed beyond staking a few vampires. Catharsis through anger and violence, that’s what he knew. That he understood and could facilitate. Anything else? He was lost. It didn’t help that his situation was in a different position. Their similarities were so palpable and differences so stark by comparison. Still his brow creased at the word hypocrite. Sure. That wasn’t wrong. But the word didn't settle. He couldn’t let it, couldn’t swallow it down. If he did, he’d have to live with that feeling of being wrong, feeling wrong. He’d prefer to stave that off a little longer, keep it at arm’s length, delay the inevitable. “Yeah, well, still sucks. I’m sorry. You can do better, anyway.” Kaden continued pacing up his gear, inspecting it, making sure nothing needed repairs or care later. He didn’t know if Alain believed him or wanted to hear it, but it was true. He could do better than a monster. He didn’t have to hang his hopes on someone who couldn’t accept him for what he was or what he did. He could have better than that. Maybe now wasn’t the time to bring it up, though. He sighed. “No shit you’re not okay. I can see you. I know.” He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, pushing it out of his way. He was no expert on how to avoid bad dreams. His plan was usually just not to sleep. “Well, you can always try that baku that Blanche has.” His blood curdled at the suggestion of a supernatural solution. It felt wholly wrong. The supernatural was the problem not the solution. Wasn’t it? He didn’t know anymore. “That or time, you know. It fades with time.” That’s what everyone said, anyway. The grief of loss faded with time. He supposed it was true. It did dull. He wasn’t sure it faded or just meant less. Guess the reason didn’t matter if the result was the same, right? “Well, looks like we cleared this place out. Want to head back?”

Kaden’s dismissal of the hypocrisy drew a grumbling sound from the other hunter. Alain didn’t make any comment but he looked a mix of disappointed and offended as he looked away from the other man. His brows furrowed and he shook his head. It was not so much being with someone that he missed. Being alone was fine, really. It was her that he missed, but that was something he had to work on. He couldn’t afford to dwell on that, he did not want to, and maybe Kaden was right when he said that he could do better, whatever that meant. Not Alain cared enough for relationships to find better. He had been content being by himself all those years, and he had to be realistic : he did not have many years left anyway. It was selfish to start something with anyone. Rubbing at his face, he nodded then shook his head at the next suggestion. As much as Alain wanted the mara’s after effects to fade away as soon as possible, he was not keen on the idea of letting a monster in his house again. He remembered what Evelyn had said about those too. Then, he really wanted those nightmares gone. They no longer happened every day, not even every week, but he still had some every fortnight, and they stuck. “I suppose time does that,” of course it would fade away, the memories, the meaning of things. “We can head back,” he agreed, kicking at the dusty remains of that mausoleum spawn. Fucker. “You wanna stop by the house for a drink or you’re good?”

“Yeah I think I can do that,” Kaden said with a smile. He gestured for Alain to lead the way. Truth was, he had almost intended to go back to Regan’s right after. It felt wrong, though, running back to her when his friend was hurting more than he was going to let on. It didn’t matter. She’d wait. Hell, she might not even be off of work for another hour or so. Either way, that didn’t matter. Whether she understood or not mattered little, too. The slayer needed some support, even if it was small and silent solidarity. That much Kaden could manage. “Let’s hope the way stays clear on the way back. Or not. If you think you still have it in you, old man,” he said with a joking elbow as they made their way out the cemetery back home.

[speeding-fox]

Acceptance (Bakugaiden fic)

Parenting a child on your own has been the toughest challenge Midori has ever took on, but he has to do it, this is his child, this is his responsibility, and if he has to do it alone and be the only one involved, then so be it, no matter how tiring it can be. He hasn't really spoke to his husband since their fight regarding their child. After processing for sometime (around a month), Midori came to terms that he was a dad now, and was ready to accept the baby as his own, however, his husband Mizuiro refused to accept the baby was his despite the tests stating otherwise. They argued, it got bad, and it ended with Mizuiro stating 'he will absolutely not take care of a mistake Shiro and Kiiro made' before Midori stormed out on him. 

Midori hasn't spoken to him since then. Whenever he tried to reach out, Midori will either leave him on read, or have someone else speak on his behalf, while Midori disliked leaving him hanging, and as much as he loved his husband, the sarge didn't want to talk to him until the childish scion gets his act together and step up to the plate.

Midori bounces the fussy infant on his lap in a vain effort to calm them down. Tiiru has been crying all morning, and no matter how many times Midori fed them, burped them, and changed their diapers, they wouldn't let up, he was exhausted, and he looked the part too, he hasn't gotten much sleep ever since he took on his parent role, guess that was one of the perks of being a dad. "C'mon, I fed you, burped you, and even changed you many times now. Why will you not stop crying..?"

The doorbell rang. A guest? He wasn't told there were going to be vistors. Good thing he wasn't the only one living in the base to answer the doors. "I'll get it!" Shiro shouts from the hallway. Whoever could that visitor be? As far as he knew, nobody was expecting guests, so Midori could only wonder who it could be, until Shiro came to the living room. "Midoribon, someone wants to see you."

Huh? Someone wishes to see him? Who could that be? He turned to glance at the doorway, and his tired eyes widen when he sees who it is: Mizuiro... Why is he here..? What's the reason..? 

"Hey, hun." Mizuiro greets sheepishly. Midori slightly scowls at him, turns away, and holds the infant close to his chest, Tiiru, however, stops crying upon seeing the new guest, and gazes at them with wonder.

Seeing his husband giving him the cold shoulder saddened Mizuiro, but he understood why he was acting that way. He ushers Shiro away so he and Midori could talk one-on-one. He then walks over to the couch, and seats himself to the spot nearest to the sarge, Tiiru's eyes followed him the whole time he does so.

It was awkwardly quiet for a bit, Mizuiro tried to come up with the right words to say to his husband. When he saw how unkempt he looked, he remarked: "My goodness Midoribon, you've seen better days."

"Gee, thanks." The sarge responded sarcastically whilst still looking away.

The scion held a hand over his mouth (where it would be anyway) and quietly cursed to himself. He didn't mean for that comment to be the ice-breaker. The tired sarge turned to him. "Are you here just to tell me how bad I look?" He asks with attitude.

Mizuiro didn't like his husband's attitude, and would say as much, but given how exhausted he appeared, he isn't surprised that Midori would be cranky. He sighs. "No, that's not why I'm here."

"Then why are you here?" Midori inquires. "It can't be just because you missed me."

The scion looks aside, thinking about how to properly word what he needs to say, he was going to begin with how much he missed his husband, but after that comment, he couldn't. He sighs again. "While that is true, that's not the only reason I'm here, it's regarding the child." He paused. "I've... took a lot of time to think this over-"

"About another month..." Midori interrupted snidely.

"Shush. I don't have time for your rude behavior, Midoribon." Mizuiro responded harshly, then his eyes slightly widen, before his expression softens. "Oh dear... I apologize, I didn't mean-"

Midori stopped him and professed. "No, I should be the one apologizing. Please, continue with whatever you need to say."

"Right..." The light-blue biidaman shifted his gaze to the floor. "I took more time to think over this whole "suddenly having a child" situation, and I realized some things." He shifts his gaze to Midori. "I realized I acted very childishly. As you already know, I have never cared for a baby before, and had fear, as this is such a life-changing thing that happened so suddenly, I didn't know how to take it." He looks aside, guilt written on his face. "Despite this reason, it does not excuse how I behaved, what I said, and how I initially wanted nothing to do with the child just because of how they were brought into our universe..." Pause. "I don't want to lose you for not accepting our child, so I'm... willing to try to be involved in our little one's life, with you."

Hearing that filled Midori with so much warmth and joy that his eyes begin to well up with tears, it could his tiredness making him more emotional, but he didn't care in that moment, he was just so happy that his husband finally came around, he wasn't the only one to notice his tears forming. "Honey, are you okay?" Mizuiro asks.

"I-I'm fine. I'm just... s-so..." Midori unleashes the waterworks, his tears coming out of his eyes as if they were water-spouts, and sobs. "HAPPYYYYY-YYY-YYYYY!"

Mizuiro chuckles. "I'll go get you a couple tissues." He gets up, goes and grabs about three tissues, then sits back down and hands them to his emotional husband. "Here."

Midori manages to stop sobbing, but he was now all sniffles, and accepts the tissues with his free arm. "*sniffle* Thank you." He takes one, and uses it to wipe off the tears. "Sorry about that." He chuckled. "I think the lack of sleep made me more emotional."

Mizuiro let out a chuckle as well. "I figured as much. There's a baby here, yet you're the one crying like one." He teased. 

"Hey!" Midori shouts playfully.

The scion lets out a laugh, before staring down at the tiny baby, whom seems like they haven't taken their attention off of him the whole time he's here. "What is the little one's name again?"

"Tiirubon." Answered Midori.

"Tiirubon..." Mizuiro repeated. "What a nice name. How suiting."

"Glad you think so, because Shirobon and Kiirobon kept calling him Shirobon Jr. and Kiirobon Jr.." Stated Midori.

Mizuiro snorts. "They can't be serious! Tiirubon barely has white and yellow on him!"

Midori laughed. "I know!"

They both begin laughing, their merriment soon died down when Tiiru began cooing, and their cooing was directed at Mizuiro. Midori smiled at the child and chuckled a little. "Heh, the little guy has been curious about you ever since you came in." 

"I can tell. He hasn't taken his gaze off me once." Mizuiro says.

"He even stopped fussing once you arrived." Midori turned to his husband. "Why don't you hold him?"

Mizuiro's eyes widen. "H-Hold him? I-I really mustn't. What if he doesn't like me?"

"Mizu, he's clearly fascinated by you. He wants to get to know you, and that first step is you holding him." Insisted Midori

"Bu-But what if I drop him..?" Mizuiro stammered.

"We're on a couch, Mizuiro, even if you do accidentally drop him, he will not get hurt." Midori carefully holds out the infant to Mizuiro. "Please, Mizuiro, reassure me that you've really accepted Tiirubon as your kid."

Mizuiro stares at Midori, then at the baby in his arms, and he slowly and hesitantly holds his arms out. "O-Okay." He flinches once the child was gently placed into his arms, and starts shaking. Oh gosh, he's really doing this, despite Midori's reassurance, he still feared he'll somehow mess this up and hurt the baby.

He stops trembling when he felt Midori's hand on his outter-most arm, and gazes up at him. "You need help holding him correctly? Here, let me show you how." His husband helped him carefully positions his arms so the baby can be comfortable. "And you prop his head up like this so the little one's nice and cozy, and there you go! You're holding him!"

"Ah..." Mizuiro's eyes shimmered as he stared at the infant in his arms. He's doing it, he's really doing it, and Tiiru hasn't began crying, this was already turning out well. Having a closer look at the small child, he took note of their features, they looked like the perfect mix of both their parents, but their eyes... they were a lighter blue than Midori's, they reminded Mizuiro of his mother-in-law's, they were so pretty.

"Are you going to keep staring?" Chuckled Midori. "Introduce yourself to him, Mizu."

His husband speaking up snapped him to attention, and he glanced up at him for a second, then back at the baby. "Oh, ah, right, uhh..." He pauses for moment before introducing himself to the infant, which he thought was silly, considering that Tiirubon is much too young to understand him, but if it would make his husband happy... "Hello, uh, Tiirubon, I'm Mizuirobon, I'm your-, erm, other father-, er, dad. It's nice to meet you."

The baby stares up at him silently, they tilt their head a bit to the side, then smile and let out a little coo. "Aww, he does like you, Mizu!" Cajoled Midori. The sarge then notices something in Mizuiro's eyes. "Mi amor, are you crying?"

"Ah!" Mizuiro quickly wipes the tears away. "No! I'm just... tired is all!"

"Heh, YOU'RE tired? Have you forgotten how I look? Maybe you need a tissue." Joked Midori as he held out an unused tissue, before he laughs, and Mizuiro begins to laugh shortly after.

The next few years for the pair was an adventure to say the least. Parenting was a handful, but they worked through the difficulties that was parenthood together (when the servants were mostly busy). For every milestone Tiiru reached, Midori and Mizuiro were glad to be there when they happen, and they were especially glad to have eachother there to see their child grow-up.