#this wouldn’t have bothered me so much if this was done while I wasn’t bedridden with covid and actually had some say. but no

[existentialcrisis-24-7]

Pro tip: do not reorganise someone’s setup ever unless you’ve asked first. You’re not doing them a favour

[messymindofmine]

I find it kind of strange how this fandom often deifies Gabriel and Andrea but vilifies Owen. I get that we don’t see as much of Gabriel and Andrea as we do of Owen and Owen as a character is very flawed but still. I get being frustrated with the amount of screentime Owen gets but I still think that a lot of what we see of Owen is interesting. Particularly in s3. That said, we know from Carlos himself that his parents are not perfect. While they obviously do love and accept him, Gabriel is shown as being very hard on Carlos about him being too soft. This has clearly left a mark on Carlos especially since his parents never bothered to have a conversation about him being gay the way Carlos wanted too. The way Gabriel went after Carlos in 2x08 was actually very revealing. He didn’t even really listen to Carlos’s side of things and just put the blame on him. Then when Carlos was proven right, he didn’t even acknowledge it. When Carlos brought it up (something I suspect he wouldn’t have done before he met TK), Gabriel brushed him off. Even the hug between them didn’t really feel affectionate at all. Andrea isn’t innocent either. She may not have been as harsh but she clearly didn’t stand up for Carlos either. It rubs me the wrong way when people say that they wanted to see Andrea give TK a shovel talk in s3. First off, Carlos is an adult. Second, TK had his reasons that were completely understandable and it’s unfair to minimize them like that. Third, if I were Andrea and I wanted to earn my son’s trust, I wouldn’t be concerned about giving his bedridden boyfriend a shovel talk. I would focus more on working on myself so that my son feels comfortable telling me things. There is a reason Carlos didn’t tell his parents. I know they had a nice talk in the hospital but one talk isn’t going to erase a lifetime’s worth of trauma. and we have yet to see them really acknowledge their mistakes. In fact, Gabriel even casually gaslit Carlos by saying he should have corrected Andrea about getting TK’s name wrong. I’m sure it wasn’t intentional but unintentional gaslighting is a thing and that comment was definitely it. He clearly never stopped to think about how his own behavior might have led to Carlos not feeling comfortable enough to make the correction. It’s clear that even after 2x08, Gabriel still didn’t recognize how his behavior affected Carlos. The fact that he knew TK was Carlos’s boyfriend and didn’t say anything also shows that, Sure he said he was sure he’s like TK bc his son has great instincts but given how deep Carlos’s trauma goes, that alone isn’t enough. 

 Even if we see them mend things in s4, it’s unrealistic that Carlos will ever get to have the same type of relationship that TK does (or did) with his parents. Neither Gabriel or Andrea are those types of people and at this point it’s unrealistic to expect such a big change from them. The best Carlos can hope for is that his parents at least check themselves before making hurtful remarks, acknowledge their mistakes and make the effort to do better. I’m not saying that Gabriel and Andrea are bad people or that they don’t love Carlos but they have hurt Carlos in very big ways that they have yet to acknowledge. I hope they do so in s4.

By contrast, Owen (and Gwyn for that matter) are by no means perfect and have made mistakes that have affected TK a lot but TK also obviously has a far better relationship with both his parents than Carlos does with his. Even though Owen wasn’t around much after 9/11 (and you know what? I’m willing to go easy on him given the fact we’re talking about one of the most horrific events in modern history), him and TK have such a loving, affectionate relationship. How many adult sons do you see resting their head on their father’s shoulder especially in a public place?  That doesn’t just happen.

Gwyn is also not perfect. The turbulent relationship she had with Owen for so long clearly affected TK deeply. She also clearly had a habit of blaming Owen for things that she shouldn’t be blaming him for. Then there’s the fact that she apparently shacked up with Enzo three weeks after divorcing Owen. That could not have been easy for TK to deal with either. But she also walked into a drug den by herself, took her son onto a plane all the way to California to get him into rehab. She flew in from New York and stayed in Texas for months after TK was shot. Sure, her and Owen started up their messed up relationship again while she was there but she obviously didn’t come all the way to Texas for that. She did it for her son. There is a reason TK saw her in his dream in 3x04.

Owen is far from perfect himself but he actually does acknowledge his mistakes. Yeah, he didn’t react well in 1x09 when TK brought up how Owen not being their when he was a kid affected him but he also made sure TK knew that no matter what he did, Owen would always support him. Yeah, that comment about being a father sucked but he does acknowledge it was wrong and he regrets it. He also acknowledges his shortcoming in 3x16. He calls TK to tell him how much he loves him and that he’s proud of him and apologizes for being so distant. He also expresses the desire to be better. And let’s not forget that this man decided to uproot his whole life so that his son could have a fresh start. Seriously, he found his son almost dead after relapsing and OD’ing on the same day he found out he had lung cancer (as a result of being the sole survivor on an event that literally altered the course of history). Owen had no desire to move to leave the city he clearly loved and move to Texas. In fact, he turned the offer down at first. But then he chose to do so so that his son could get better in a new place. He didn’t keep his cancer secret bc he didn’t believe TK wasn’t strong. He did it bc he couldn’t handle the pain of TK knowing. Owen has always acknowledged how strong TK is. There has never been any doubt that he loves and supports TK. Let’s not forget that it was Owen who told Carlos that his softness was a good thing. There is a reason TK asked for his dad before he even opened his eyes in 1x09. No matter what, TK has never had a problem reaching out to his dad for comfort.

I’m not trying to pick sides here. I’m just saying that with all the “Bad Parent Owen Strand” fics out their that act like what they’re describing is canon all the while putting the Reyes’ on a pedestal, I would like people to remember that while Carlos is so afraid to let his parents down that he doesn’t even share his life with them, TK adores both his parents and has no problem teasing them about things. I’ll be honest, TK and Owen’s relationship is what drew me to the show to begin with. Their relationship is imperfect but the love they have for each other has never been in question. It bothers me when I see so many fics labeling Owen a bad parent and yet putting the Reyes’ on such a high pedestal when I would make the argument that TK (for all his trauma) has been far less traumatized by anything Owen has ever done than Carlos has been by his parents.

[silvia7272]

ML Salt ~ The Cardigan Story

This is based on a true story.

Honestly, I always remembered this story because it constantly made my Sister and Mum laugh when I told them I outed a liar at school by wearing a cardigan, they were so proud of me because what I did wasn’t mean and I wasn’t even doing it out maliciousness so I thought, hey why not put it in the ML universe?

This isn’t canon to my main series so no Rosina since there isn’t any need for her, sorry sweetie.

And since I doubt Mlle Bustier would never out Lila, I’m changing the teacher to someone who actually has a backbone.

Word Count: 2303

Tags: @queenmj10, @fangirl39, @animegirlweeb, @northernbluetongue, @maribat-is-lifeblood, @raisuke06, @indecisive-mess-named-me, @luleck, @themotherofhogwarts, @more-or-less-human-i-guess, if you wish to be tagged all you have to do is say. Also, if you change your name please tell me, I don’t want to leave you out since you’ve asked to be tagged.

I know you may not wish to be tagged for one-shots, but I thought you might enjoy some salt I was able to come up with.

Also, I wrote this in one day so I’m extremely proud of myself.

***

If you told Marinette that Lila’s reign over the school would end over a cardigan, she would tell you you’re as crazy as she was about Adrien.

A lot.

But, she did just that.

She had to thank Adrien really, the ‘advice’ he gave her was what really pushed her.

She wouldn’t outright expose her, no, she had tried that before and look where that got her, near expulsion that’s what. And not one of her friends tried to stick up for her. She always remembered that glare Alix gave her, and since then she had been ignored, turned away by them.

Even after Lila came out with ‘the truth’ she was still seen as an overly jealous girl.

“Lila’s promised she hasn’t lied about anything else she’s said to us, it only acts up around people she doesn’t know as well, maybe next time, instead of being jealous you should give her a chance and stop being a baby. Girl this all could’ve easily been avoided if you weren’t so Adrien crazy”

Really? They actually believed that load of crap?

Whatever, Marinette was done, done with everyone.

If they wanted to show her how wrong she was then she’d let them wait until hell would frost over, because fat chance that would ever happen.

If Marinette was proud of one thing about her then it would have to be her stubbornness to get to the truth.

And she could be extremely patient.

***

It was just an average day at Collège Françoise Dupont. There weren’t any Akuma’s caused by anyone the previous day so Marinette was finally able to have a good night’s rest, something the exhausted teenager really missed.

She felt so re-energised she danced in the kitchen as she made breakfast without a care in the world.

.

Before she fell over that was.

“…Owww”

“Careful dear, you wouldn’t want to be hurt before school hours, now just sit tight and I’ll get you something to eat,” Her Maman said. Marinette felt grateful. After breakfast, she gave her Parents a kiss before leaving.

She had loving parents that supported her every beck and call.

…Well most of the time, but that didn’t matter, she would never let Lila manipulate them ever, her Parents were off-limits.

By the time she arrived at school she was one of the first ones there, Nathaniel in the back drawing his comics, texting Marc as well, it seemed like he was in his own ‘do not disturb’ bubble. Max was talking to Markov about some new type of game, and Rose and Juleka were just cuddling.

She made her way to the back feeling a positive emotion before exhaling.

Because it was about to be ruined.

Lila walked in with Alya, Nino and Adrien by her side.

She was telling a story about her ‘one of a kind cardigan-

Wait-

“My Grandmother made this cardigan especially for me carving her signature on as well, it’s the only one in existence because shortly after she made this, she ended up being in a terrible accident that left her bedridden.” They pandered to her of course. But for once she wasn’t focusing on the lie but the cardigan.

Oh, Lila’s only gone and done it now.

“I’ve always wanted to wear it, but I didn’t want it to end up ruined by someone” Her gaze casually went up to a lone bluenette, but she really wasn’t bothered.

“Don’t worry girl, I’ll keep a watchful eye on your cardigan for you. Ain't nothing gonna come between me and my besties property” They hugged before sitting down in their spaces.

‘Oh my god, I have a plan’ Marinette had that thought circled around her head until break. It was all she thought of.

Mind you, she wasn’t trying to expose everything she’d done, just that one lie. And that would be enough.

As soon as the bell rang, she was ready, she gathered her stuff and rushed home.

And thank god as well, Lila would not shut up about that cardigan, through Literature, Science and PE, it was constantly my Grandmother made it for me this, it’s the only one of its kind that.

Ugh, she wanted to rip her ears out at some point but had to endure it. No one else was bothered since they all believed her, even the teachers!

Yeah, you don’t really need any proof if it was handmade, some of Marinette’s earlier stuff didn’t have her signature on, but still, it was the principle of the matter!

And she could right that wrong.

In her room she was frantically searching for that item as Tikki dodged different articles of clothing, one hit her as she wasn’t looking, and she was down for the count.

“Marinette what are you looking for?” Marinette paused to look back at Tikki before continuing a bit calmer.

“Lila’s been lying about that cardigan and this time I can prove it.” Her eyes lit up as she lifted a cardigan up from her cupboard.

“One of Maman’s friends gave this to me a few years back, it was one of the reasons I got into fashion because of how soft it is and I wanted to replicate that. Don’t you think it looks familiar?” As Tikki looked over it her eyes widened, she knew Lila was lying anyway but she had no idea Marinette had definitive proof of it.

“That’s the same cardigan Lila has!” Marinette nodded before wearing it.

At least it still fit.

“But Marinette I thought we were gonna take the high ground?”

“Tikki it's tiring having to listen to them being lied too. I may not want them to be my friends anymore, but I just want the lying to stop. If I go and tell them that she’s lying with this as evidence they’ll clearly see she’s lying”

“But outing her like that won’t make it better!” Marinette wished she could respond with ‘are you sure’ but didn’t want to piss the mini-god off.

“Fine, what if I just wear it until someone notices, that way I’m not actively looking to publicly shame her? Better?” Tikki gave a reluctant nod, she knew her chosen wouldn’t let up about the situation, besides this whole thing was really just pettiness, nothing too serious. If no one noticed nothing bad would happen.

“Bye Maman, bye Papa” As she began walking back, she grew a bit nervous with her plan.

What if Lila made a whole other lie about her cardigan? What if she lied that Marinette had stolen it out of jealousy and everyone would try to take hers? She’d have to run away and live with a secret identity, all before getting caught and going to prison, and she’d never have her three kids and her hamster named-

“Ahem Marinette, is thou there?” A hand brought her out of her trance

“Ahhh!” She waved her arms before composing herself and seeing D’Argencourt in front of her.

“Ah, yes Monsieur?” How long had he been standing there? How long had she been rambling in her head?

“As I was saying, these new garments of yours, where did they originate from?” It took her a while before realising he was talking about her cardigan, she was so used to wearing her jacket it felt strange she had changed.

“Ohh this, well it was a present from Maman’s friend. They were on sale a few years back, so I thought I’d wear it again” He furrowed his brow before telling her to carry on with whatever she was doing.

“Well, that was weird. Do you think he liked the jacket?” Tikki ponded as her head ever so slightly popped out the small handbag.

“He’s always been weird Tikki. But whatever, let's just get back to the classroom.” All she had to do was wait.

***

‘How the hell hasn’t anyone noticed yet?’ Marinette was secretly fuming in her mind right now. None of her classmates noticed the change in her outfit.

Not one.

Bustier did however, the bluenette was sure because she’d see her teacher quickly glance from Marinette to Lila but never said a word. Probably thinking of that whole, ‘be the bigger person’ crap.

And not even the excuse of maybe Bustier didn’t know, bs. By the time break happened everyone in the school knew about that damn cardigan so don’t get her started.

‘Oh well, looks like that’s it. My petty revenge came flat… At least Lila didn’t pull a Marinette ruined my belongings stunt’ That would’ve been the last thing she needed.

Knock Knock Knock

The door opened before Bustier could reply, a teacher would reprimand a student for this type of rudeness, but it wasn’t a student.

It was a teacher.

And it was Monsieur D’Argencourt.

‘What the-’ Marinette didn’t remember this part of the plan.

“Excuse me Caline, but I need to interrupt the class for an announcement.” Bustier was about to deny but D’Argencourt the stubborn teacher as he was, walked straight on through ignoring whatever Bustier would’ve said.

“Lila Rossi, may you please step in front of the classroom?” Lila looking completely confused let go off Adrien, much to the relief of the boy, and walked in front of her desk.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng?” He didn’t need to repeat the command.

Yes, command not a request.

“Can I ask you where you got your cardigans from?”

“Armand, I don’t think this is appropriate-” He shot a glare back at the teacher.

“I can assure you this won’t take long if I’m not interrupted”

Lila looked over to Marinette and realised with a sinking feeling what was happening. But she would win this time. Just like all the others.

“My Grandmother made this specifically, you see-”

He held a hand up to silence her.

“Yes, that’s quite alright, and Marinette would you like to repeat what you said before?” As Marinette did just that Lila was seething, he cut her off. How dare that simpleton cut off Lila Rossi!

He would pay.

“Well, it appears one of you is lying, and I expect that person to own up to it now” The class gasped as they all looked expectedly at Marinette, they knew she was petty but to do this was so low.

Lila looked at her smugly, she had tried to play with fire but got burned in the process. How could she even think she’d get away with this?

“I was talking about you, Lila Rossi”

“Eh, what?” The class gasped as they tried to say of course Lila was innocent, Marinette was the one lying. Or that Marinette must’ve tricked him.

He shot a glare towards all the class members as they instantly shut up.

“I don’t remember this being a class discussion, if I want your opinion, I will ask for it. Understood?” They nodded before giving sympathetic glances towards the brunette, D’Argencourt almost had the urge to shout at their incompetence but alas they were kids.

“I can tell you why you are lying Lila, with a photo. But as I’m feeling generous, I will give you one more chance to reveal yourself.” The class was silent as they all looked on in anticipation.

But Lila stood her ground defiantly, as if he actually had proof-

Oh…

Oh no she’s doomed…

“Then I don’t suppose this looks familiar? Hmm?” On his phone was a picture. Lila immediately lowered her head, too ashamed to look him in the eye.

3 guesses of what it is?

No.

.

.

No one?

.

.

Too easy?

.

.

Ok, it was the cardigan.

And at a fairly cheap price. No wonder she had it in brand new condition.

“I first knew you were lying once I saw Marinette wear the exact same one, however, hers was clearly worn out, evidently she has worn it for several amount of years. You had already messed up when you said it was the only one made. So please…” Lila looked up to see D’Argencourt giving one of the most frightening glares of the century.

“Don’t ever lie about anything to my face or anyone ever again, you will be court out and I will be keeping an eye on you. Is that final?” She meekly nodded her head, trying to give a frightened appearance to make him have sympathy but he was immune.

“That will be all. I hope your class has learned a valuable lesson of not taking things at face value” And with that, he left. Leaving Marinette with a different impression of her PE teacher, it seemed he didn’t like liars all that much.

Marinette smiled, her plan worked, and she didn’t even out her herself. Tikki surely can’t be mad at her now.

Bustier tried to get the class to go back to normal but she couldn’t. The class erupted into a screaming fit, asking how Lila could lie about that sort of thing?

It wasn’t until someone unexpected said the next few words she wondered if this was a dream.

“Hey if Lila lied about this what else did she lie about? She even said herself she doesn’t lie to her friends but that was a lie” That made the class tick as they soon realised and soon torn into her about it.

Leaving Lila, a ‘sobbing mess’ on the floor. All before she stopped that fake display and arguing back.

But the one who said that…

Was Adrien.

He was able to slip by the crowd and stand next to Marinette.

No words were said, she knew what he would’ve said even without the noise.

‘I’m sorry’

It was a start, and maybe through time, she could start trusting again.

But for now, she just wanted to enjoy this chaos…

.

.

Before there was an Akuma alert.

***

I want more D’Argencourt I want more D’Argencourt I want more D’Argencourt. I probably screwed his speech but oh well this is salt, doesn’t have to be accurate.

Phew, hope you enjoyed it, sorry its shorter than the others but this happened when I was in Year 5 and I was 9/10 years old. Woo 10 years ago, god that makes me feel old. Also, not everything was exactly this way, the teacher did out the person in front of the whole class, but she admitted it and went back to her class, we had two classes for maths. Anyway, I actually have to give Lila credit compared to the liar we had at our school, this person actually knew I had that cardigan and actually complimented me on it like months earlier and still had the audacity to say that. I think that’s the reason why I think if I was in their world I wouldn’t believe Lila because I already had a Lila at my school who would always say they’ve done the exact same thing as we had (They even said they had the same Aunt as me living on the same street, crazy right). Mind you they never said anything to me, I think they were too embarrassed plus, I was a goody little two-shoes there.

Anyway I really hope you enjoy it and if you like real-life stories so much I can always try to ask my friends for more ideas, I did have like some slightly toxic friends there that I may be able to tell you about but I’ll try to think how later.

Cya next time.

[polar534]

Hockey Injury Pt 3

So Amity has a scar from the surgery. It's a messy diagonal raised mark that runs from her left collarbone to the center of her chest.

I headcannon that Amity already has body image issues. She can't really see her body as her own. Since her mother forced her to dye her hair for so long, she just grew up never allowing herself to maintain an image SHE wanted.

I imagine she loves her scar.

It's something that didn't come from her parents. Something that she gained by making her own decisions. Something that couldn't just and wouldn't be taken away from her either.

Luz doesn't like the scar.

It makes her uncomfortable. Not because it looks bad, heck, I imagine Luz would kill to have a badass mark like that. But it's more the memory. The idea that Amity was hurt... and is now permanently going to be hurt. It was a time Luz almost lost her, and it's always going to be there.

She wanted to keep Amity safe and that scar is a reminder of her failure. But of course it's Luz so she can't really express why it makes her uncomfortable nor would she air that out loud and risk upsetting Amity.

Amity knows her girlfriend though.

She can tell something is wrong. The way Luz's eyes linger just a little longer on her chest before she turns away in a panic and immediately tries to change the subject of whatever they had been discussing.

Amity starts questioning the new confidence she found in her scar. Maybe it's something too ugly that Luz wouldn't want on her.

She approaches Luz about it one night, after yet another time she sees Luz stiffen as she catches a glimpse of the mark on her chest.

They end up talking through their opposing views. Luz was absolutely horrified that Amity would be so concerned with how Luz wanted her to look. It hurt even more thinking she made Amity feel guilty about finally liking something about her appearance.

She rushes to correct Amity, that it was never how the scar looked, it was... it was why there was a mark to begin with. It was the memory behind it. Luz can't separate it from a time where Amity got really hurt.

And she couldn't do anything about it.

Couldn't protect Amity.

I imagine it leads to a nice healing conversation for the both of them. Luz loves the idea that the scar gives Amity confidence and security in her body and Amity convincing Luz that it wasn't Luz doing nothing. She's done everything. Got her into a much healthier home environment, found and encouraged her to try hockey, everything that makes Amity so happy right now is because of Luz. If it comes with a scar, so what? Azura had scars. She wore them proud.

This of course leads to adorable baggy shirt cuddles in which Luz just runs her finger up and down the scar while occasionally looking up at Amity and grinning, telling her it looks extremely badass.

***

Some general post surgery care stuff:

Amity really only let Luz dote on her after the surgery. Not because she needed or wanted it, but because she saw how broken Luz had been immediately following and knows it made Luz feel better to do something.

I also imagine it does start to get to Amity after awhile though. Amity is a jock at heart, she needs and wants to be doing something at all times and Luz... SPOILS her. She's never mad at Luz or even really frustrated. Just overwhelmed. She much prefers it when Luz calms down and stops offering her everything and just snuggles with her and they watch some TV show together.

And she has no problems just stoping Luz mid-spoil-buzz to calmly say:

"Luz?"

"Yes?"

"Get over here."

Before immediately pulling her girlfriend down into her arms for a cuddle and for some quiet.

She's much more frustrated and stubborn about the babying the first few days for sure because she was BOMBARDED with people visiting her. She nearly got up *despite being almost completely bedridden*  and THREW her siblings out the room one day when they just wouldn't leave her alone. Luz had to step in and drag them out before Amity made a knife out of her pen to stab them both.

That's why she really appreciates King staying with her during the day when everyone is at work or school. He doesn't constantly ask her if she needs anything or how she's feeling. Instead they both just chill out and read/watch videos on YouTube. And complain. They love to have their little bitch-fests about things that are bothering them. Amity may be a little softer around the edges now, but she still gets very frustrated. So she really values the safe space she has in King to vent because he, being the little guy he is, also has alot of frustration that builds up that no one takes him seriously on. They bounce back and forth off of each other until they both feel better.

But in essence all of that ordeal with Amity's healing is really what helps Luz flip from the negative: "This scar is a reminder of a time I *couldn't* be there for her." to, "This scar is the reason I got to fully take care of Amity for weeks without her getting to complain or fight me on it. Also... all the snuggles and time I got to spend with her."

[makkoskafanfic]

For the wip thing: Berserk 😉

Thank you for asking for this one! 🥰

I started to write this when I was re-reading the Golden Age arc for about the 100th time and I really wanted Guts and Griffith to just get on with it.

I dropped it when I realised no matter what I wrote, canon had it a hundred times better. You can't write fanfic for perfect stories.

Griffith didn’t consider the world to be a complicated place. To the contrary, he thought matters of life were rather straightforward, simple even. He had a dream – or rather an aim, as he knew he was going to achieve it, and everything and everyone was a tool to help achieving that. He didn’t consider himself evil for it, simply pragmatic. He was, in a way, even doing good, providing his men with a reason, a goal to live for.

With steady steps he was advancing up the marble road leading up to the castle. Why would he be satisfied with anything less than the top? His comrades – his underlings - knew they were expendable. They didn’t seem to mind. They had their own aims in life, incomparably smaller they were than Griffith’s though, and they were all moving towards those. It was a dangerous world, where the strongest ruled, and they all knew and accepted that.

And there was Guts.

His skills, his power, his determination was unequalled by anyone but Griffith himself. Yet, he didn’t seem to have a dream of his own. For all intents and purposes, he was the perfect tool. He was not simply willing to do what Griffith commanded – he appeared to yearn for the White Hawk to direct him, to give him a purpose, a task he could live for while it lasted. He seemed the most content when Griffith used him as an extension of his will. Despite his usual gloomy attitude, he was clearly joyful when he could swing his ridiculously oversized sword on a battlefield for the glory of the Bank of the Hawk. For the glory of Griffith.

Problem was, he couldn’t think of Guts as a tool only.

Griffith sighed in annoyance. Being bedridden was a real nuisance. When the sycophants of the court didn’t try to lick his feet in hopes of some gain, he had nothing better to do than to stare at the white ceiling and let his mind wander on all kinds of things. Like Guts, their last fight with that monster Zodd, the castle, the path to the throne, Guts, the Band Of Hawk, Princess Charlotte. Guts. Guts, Guts, Guts.

“What an annoying man,” he muttered.

“Did you say something, sir?” a maid appeared out of thin air, looming above his bed in concern. She was the one who seemed to jump on every opportunity to treat his wounds or give him a bath, letting her hand linger just longer than it was necessary. Griffith smiled at her faintly. Maybe when he got his strength back, he could entertain her.

“Thank you, I’m quite alright,” he waved her away, and with obvious hesitance, she went.

He had to come to a decision on what to do with this growing obsession with his Raiders Captain. It was starting to overshine much more important things and that wouldn’t do.

Should he try to bury these feelings, this yearning? They provided no contribution to the great scheme of his plans, so why harbour them? Problem was, he wasn’t sure at all he was able to do that. Pragmatic he was above anything else, he wasn’t heartless, wasn’t above having emotions.

He could get rid of Guts. The man would take on any task he bestowed upon him, and he could find him a quest dangerous enough not even he would survive. However, just the thought of Guts dying filled him with unbearable pain. When they faced Zodd, he had two things on his mind. One was that he couldn’t let anything, not even a demon with superhuman power stand in his way and prevent him from advancing forward. The other was the burning need to keep Guts alive. The two of them together, they could do anything. The warrior was his, and he would die when Griffith deemed it his time to die. But that time wasn’t now.

The third option was to act on his obsession. Burn it out of his system, so to say. Take Guts as his lover, to make him his, completely.

His heart beat faster at the thought. Young he was, he had several lovers of both genders. He always engaged them for some gain and never for pleasure alone. Sleeping with Guts would be quite different. He yearned to feel those muscles under his touch, he wanted to subdue that brutal physical power, to hear that gruff voice groan and beg for pleasure…

He was going to have it. Guts was his and he could do whatever he pleased with him. And his Captain was going to enjoy it. He felt thrilled by the prospect, uncharastically excited. There was this man he couldn’t keep his usual cynicality around but with his decision made, he was no longer frustrated about that. Why be torn over it, when he could just enjoy it? Decision made, he closed his eyes and sank into a deep, healing sleep.

*/*/*

The hard tiles of the rooftop dig into the muscles on his back, but Guts didn’t let himself be bothered by it. He wasn’t sure how long he was lying there, staring at his sword, at the full moon, pondering, pondering, pondering over the conversation he had today with Griffith.

“There’s no reason,” he said. “Do I need a reason for that? A reason for risking my life to save you.”

He was recalling these quiet, matter of fact words for the millionth time, wanting them to be true, yet scared that they were. Regretting they were interrupted before he gained their meaning on the spot. There was that look in Griffith’s blue eyes - what did it mean? It made Guts' heart race not unlike battle did, although there was no hostility in them. His leader was a very rational man, and it was unlike him to risk his life without a clear gain. Useful as Guts was to him, it made no sense to endanger himself in a fight like that. When he said that, asked if he needed to have a reason to risk his own life to save Gut’s, he appeared as if he didn’t know the drive for his own self-dangerous actions. Yet, the glance he cast at him spoke of something different. Griffith always did everything with a very good reason, even if that reason wasn’t obvious at first to simple men like him. That look though - he would have said more, some kind of an explanation, that would have made the whole situation clear, Guts was sure, if they weren’t interrupted.

But they were, and that made Griffith enter his politics-in-the-court mode, which was so alien Guts. He hated to watch how his leader bowed his head, uttered humble words, even if he understood why he did it.

Well, the King and his companions did cut their talk short. Even if Guts felt resentful and curious about what Griffith would have said, what was done was done.

He did it for me, he thought. He risked his life for no higher reason than to keep Guts alive. He turned this around his mind. It seemed unlikely and yet, maybe it was true.

The moon above him seemed as unreachable, as far above him as Griffith is. A magical, mythical creature. He adjusted the hold of his sword in his hands. The blade was reality, the only thing he knew. He was but a mere swordsman, even if he was a talented one. Yet Griffith deemed him worthy…

He knew only one thing. From now on, he would wield his sword for him. Griffith very much had his dreams, he knew what he wanted and was doing everything he could to achieve them. The least Guts could do was to help him.

[dumbkiri]

My Universe

Part Three Time Flies

Summary: Jason is struggling to have a starting point in finding the truth. When Clark gives him the chance to figure things out, Damian and [Name] go visit the Kent Farm for two weeks. Within days, the trio (Damian, Jon and [Name]) find trouble when [Name] accidentally teleports them to a random location due to her growing power. Jon and [Name] are tasked with finding Damian.

Pairing: Damian Wayne x HoH! Female! Reader, Jon Kent x HoH!Female!Reader (platonic)

Word Count: 4.1K (you guys deserve a long chapter)

Time was all Jason really wanted in life. He wanted to spend time with Aurora and to grow old with her while raising their only child. He wanted time to slow down and also keep up with him; his own agenda. It was really valuable to him. 

“[Name], no,” Jason softly scolded the girl and gave her a disapproving look. She was currently in a [f.color] dress with black flats on. Her hands reached for a frog that was sitting in a pile of mud. She didn’t allow her shoes to go in the mud because she despised getting dirty. But the frog! It needed to go away! And Jason knew that she would eventually fall into the mud if he didn’t stop her. 

He began by standing on the opposite side of the puddle and held his hands out to her. Jason caught her attention and he frowned, signing, “You’re going to get your dress dirty.” 

[Name] only shook her head and brought her hand down, responding to her father, “No.”

She stood on the tips of her toes and reached for the frog again. The amphibian made a disapproving noise and jumped away from her incoming hand. 

This made the five year old girl sigh, but that didn’t stop her from chasing after the frog. Her careless actions gave Jason a heart attack and he chased after her. He never knew how fast a five year old could be. He watched her jump then run with her little legs carrying her closer to the frog. He cursed Wayne Manor for having such a big backyard. 

“Todd, what do you think you’re doing!” Damian yelled from the backyard door. 

Jason stopped in his tracks and glared at the boy, “Don’t you have eyes, dumbass?” Jason was grateful that [Name] couldn’t hear his obscene vocabulary or his dead jokes. Jason would have continued to glare at Damian, but then he heard a loud cry coming from his daughter. He snapped his neck at the sound and watched [Name] run at him with open arms.

She ran into his legs, her head bumping into his hip. Her face was buried in his clothes and she whined. Then she pointed to the entrance of the maze. 

Jason rubbed [Name]'s back and laughed. He kneeled down and signed, “Hey, princess, the maze isn’t scary at all. “

[Name] pouted and looked over at Damian. The green eyed boy was still standing by the door watching them communicate. [Name] then turned to her father and pouted. Her hands moved, “But Damian told me that if I ever go in there I could get lost.”

Jason resisted to throw a hateful glare at Damian. Instead, the older male nodded in understanding, “Right, you can get lost. But I’ll always find you and if not me,” Jason turned his head and gestured to Damian, "then he will." 

Damian looked away from their prying gazes although the boy already knew what was said. The green eyed boy was surprised to say the least that Jason admitted he could be one of [Name]'s saviors. To keep her from harm. He wouldn't have argued, Damian knew he could protect her. He knew that he was capable of shielding her.

Damian will always be there for her that much he knew.

…..

 Two weeks later and [Name] has aged up 7 years. It was a long process that kept her bedridden for a whole week. Damian was upstairs with Alfred watching over the girl while the other males were down in the cave. 

Jason held his head in his hands babying the headache he had for hours. He had his eyes closed and he listened intently to the voices of his family. Their words are filled with questions and doubts. 

"If what Jason said is true then we have to make sure Damian doesn't confess to [Name] on her 17th birthday," Tim said with actuality and an unsure tone. The words were an unlikely pair. 

Dick nodded his head casting a worried glance at the slumped form in the corner of the Batcave. "Yeah, I'm sure we can handle that," His sarcasm was showing, "but we can't forget that they are soulmates! Meaning that it isn't possible to separate them!"

“We need to figure out how much time we have left because at the rate she is aging up, we don’t have much,” Tim put a hand under his chin in thought.

“We have ten years, right?” Dick looked around for confirmation. 

Bruce walked in and shot Dick’s answer down, “No. Damian is 13 years old and looking at the timeline we only have four years left.” 

Jason opened his eyes finally getting rid of the visions he's been seeing. The images of Damian's body and the destroyed Justice League. His mind was being plagued with real nightmares. His mind was broken as is, he didn’t need more weight added on.  

“The thing is I still need to figure out the Inklopiatian Legend. I have to go back and visit Aurora’s mother,” Jason said and lifted his head up to catch the attention of the family. “Nadia must know what [Name] is because she got a vision from the Elders about her future.” 

Tim looked at his computer and it was loading files from the Justice League’s database on alien life. Bruce had contacted Clark about their situation and the Kryptonian said he would come to Gotham today to investigate the young girl. But before Tim could dwell more on Clark and [Name] meeting, Jason’s words caught Tim’s interest. 

“Aurora’s mother got a vision about [Name]’s future?”

“Yeah and it isn’t flowers and rainbows, Tim.” Jason didn’t bother using his nicknames for the younger male. 

Dick nervously chuckled and pressed Jason for more information, “Is it more like puppies and unicorns?”

Jason exhaled from his nose, “[Name] is going to wipe out the Justice League and Damian is the reason why she does.”

…...

[Name] stared at the big man standing in front of her. He wore one of the nicest smiles she ever saw. Although the unknown man’s smile wasn’t close to being compared to her father’s. The big man knelt down in front of her and [Name] stayed hidden behind Damian’s body. 

Clark Kent looked up at Damian and asked the boy if he could get [Name] to introduce herself to him. Damian nodded his head and signed to the younger girl, "This man is Superman. He's kind of like you and he wants to get to know you better. He wants to be your friend." 

[Name] let go of Damian's shirt and moved around him. 'He's kind of like me? What does Damian mean by that?' She asked herself and she stood in front of Superman and shyly waved at him. 

Clark smiled and waved back then he crouched down to her height. Granted he was still taller than her. He noticed how her aura shined brighter than anyone he has ever met. He knew that she belonged with the night sky glittering along with the other stars.

"My name is Clark Kent. My home is sort of close to your own home. My people got along really well with your people and I believe we can be friends," Clark signed. 

[Name] gave him a quizzical look, "My people? Are you talking about my mother's people; the Inklopiatians?" 

"Yes, I am. I never met an Inklopiatian before, you would be the first one I've encountered." 

"That makes you the first Kryptonian and the last one," [Name] sighed with a frown. 

Clark had tensed up at her words. He didn't know she was capable of knowing his situation. Was her powers advancing already? 

"[Name], have you noticed anything different about yourself? Any sudden changes?"  Clark questioned her. He had to know if anything besides her aging up was different. 

[Name] looked at Damian and felt her heart race when he looked down at her with his emerald eyes. She quickly looked away and shook her head furiously with a blush adorned on her cheeks. Clark had chuckled while the remaining boys stared not completely getting why he was laughing. Although Jason knew exactly why Superman was. [Name] has recognized her feelings for Damian. 

“No need to feel embarrassed about liking so-”

[Name] pounced on Clark’s hands shielding it with her tiny hands. She slapped his hands and pushed them away from each other. Then she gave Clark a look that said ‘secrets STAY secrets’. Clark understood and patted her head. He looked at Jason and smiled, “I would like for her to stay at the farm for awhile. I can’t really say her powers are advancing without actually seeing what she is capable of.”

Jason ruffled his hair and was very hesitant to say yes. He wanted to spend more time with his daughter yet he needed more time to figure out the truth. Clark was here to give him that opportunity. “Y-Yeah- No. I mean,” Jason groaned and restarted his sentence, “Yes she can go, but with one exception.”

“I get to go as well,” Damian stepped up, bringing the attention to himself. 

“What he said,” Jason agreed. 

Clark shrugged his shoulders, “That’s fine by me. I’m sure Jon would love to have Damian over.” The Kyrptonian had spoken further with Jason and the other Batboys with the exception of Damian. The boy was helping [Name] pack her clothes reassuring her that they were going to stay with Clark at his farm with his family. 

[Name] was excited to go outside of Wayne Manor and meet more nice people. When Damian told her about another boy around their age, she couldn’t help feeling ecstatic. So much so that she accidentally burned a t-shirt of hers. She hid the ashes in her dresser and closed it with a loud shut. Damian looked around and scrunched his nose, ‘Do you smell smoke?’ 

[Name] looked around and sniffed the air. She definitely smelled the ashes of her tee, but she wasn’t going to tell Damian it was because of her. She was scared of what he might think of her. ‘I don’t smell anything. I’m done packing by the way.’

……

The arrival to Kent Farm was uneventful considering that Damian fell asleep on the ride and [Name] kept busy watching her surroundings. It wasn’t odd that she remembered how to get home just by memorizing how the soil changed or where the stars aligned. She took notice how the scenery changed to city life to absolute nothing besides land untouched. 

The sun was beginning to set, changing the sky from blue to orange then to a calming pink. She loved how the sky offered unlimited visions. It may be the changes Mr. Kent explained to her about. Although he said it was very rare for an Inklopiatian to have visions of the past or future. [Name] was getting both vision types. 

When she saw the past, it came with colors and pictures. It was different with the future. When she saw the future it was blurry and colorless. She thought it was because the future wasn’t set until someone made an impactful decision. 

A tug at a strand of her hair brought her out of her trance. She turned her head away from the window and saw Damian with his eyebrows furrowed, “What were you thinking about?” 

[Name] smiled and waved her hand, “I just like looking at the sky.”

Damian unbuckled himself and scooted closer to [Name] then he leaned himself over to see what she was looking at. His hand bumped into hers and he pulled away to sign, “You like looking at the sky too?” 

“Yeah, it reminds me of you,” [Name] unconsciously replied and noticed how Damian’s body turned stiff with her response. She panicked and her hands moved to explain further “I mean that the sky is pretty.”

“You’re calling me pretty?” Damian gave her a weird look.

[Name] wanted to jump out of the car, but she knew Mr. Kent would freak out if she did that. “No! Not pretty, but fascinating. I don’t know how to explain it correctly, but whenever I look at the sky it suddenly reminds me of you.”

Damian nodded his head and went back to his seat and buckled himself up. Before [Name] could ask why he likes looking at the sky, he turned his head away from her and looked out his window. [Name] imagined herself facepalming into a million trees. She shouldn't have told him the real reason. 

……

“This will be the room you sleep in,” Clark signed and carried [Name]’s belongings in the guest room. She turned around and thanked him for helping her out. “But what about Damian? Where is he staying?” [Name] showed concern for her friend and Clark pointed to his left. 

“Damian will be staying in the same room as Jon. Hopefully we all can survive the next day with them sharing a room together,” Clark joked and [Name] tilted her head for more clarification. Clark smiled, “The boys have hit many rough patches along the way, but they finally accepted their differences much like Bruce and I.” 

[Name] was even more confused by now, “But you and grandfather don’t like each other that much. You guys still banter and try to one up each other, isn’t that right?”

Clark sweatdropped and knew immediately that [Name] had acquired vision which allowed her to see the past and future. “I like to believe we have gotten better with handling our differences,” Clark set her suitcase down. "Anyways, I believe it's time for you to meet my son." 

……

"Oh my god," Jon stared at the girl with long [h.color] hair and [e.color] eyes with amazement. "She's so pretty." 

Damian looked away from the sunset sky and glared at Jon, "Don't even try, Kent." Damian warned the young boy and pointed at [Name] who helped Clark tend to the horses. "She is not gonna be interested in the likes of you."

Jon turned around and felt offended, "Okay, wow, I wasn't going to try anything. I was only complimenting her." 

"Keep your lame compliments to yourself," Damian muttered and crossed his arms. He didn't have to explain why he felt so protective of [Name]. He knew that she was important and that she needed to be protected which was why Jason wanted him to go on this trip too. 

"Hello, my name is Jon," Jon ran up to [Name] with a big smile on his face and his hand out for a shake. 

[Name] shook his hand happily and pulled back to sign, "I can read your lips, but I'm not sure if you can understand sign language?" 

Clark rested his hand on Jon's shoulder and laughed, "Oh, he learned sign language when he heard about you. I made sure we all took lessons on it." 

"That is very kind of you to do that," [Name] smiled and looked over at Damian. He had his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes were hardened, glaring at the back of Jon's head. This brought attention to the ten year old boy. 

"I can feel you burning holes at the back of my head, Damian," Jon turned around and put his hands on his hips, "if you keep up with your...silly...ways I'll- I'll take [Name] flying." 

Damian growled as he uncrossed his arms, "You wouldn't dare." 

Jon smirked, "Try me." 

"Alright that's enough of you two," Clark stepped in and made sure the boys were a safe distance from each other. "I don't want [Name] caught in between your fights. As of right now, she can hardly protect herself." 

After establishing rules, Jon was tasked with showing [Name] around the farm. Damian had tagged along making sure he put himself between the Kryptonian and the Inklopiatian. Jon looked around Damian's body to address [Name], "We have a lot of land and it's usually good for us to train and dad helps me with flight training. Which I forgot to mention!" 

Damian backed away from his loud voice. 

"Dad says that Inklopiatians can fly! Hey, [Name] can you fly?" 

The trio stopped in an area of fertilized soil. [Name] looked at Damian then back to Jon. "No, I can't. I don't know how to do that. My mother passed away before she can teach me anything and my grandparents live on Inklopiat which is too far from Earth. As far as I know, I'm the only Inklopiatian on Earth." 

Jon noticed her crestfallen expression and moved around Damian. Jon grabbed her left hand and started floating in the air slowly bringing [Name] with him. This in turn caused her to freak out and grab onto Damian's hand with her right. 

"She doesn't trust you," Damian said and held his ground not letting go of [Name]. 

Jon smiled and brought her [e.color] eyes to his blue ones, "I promise I won't let you go. I'm letting you get the feeling of flying around. You can trust me, scouts honor." 

[Name] looked back at Damian and he reluctantly agreed, "Jon will catch you if you do fall." Gradually they both released their hold and Damian felt something strike his heart when he let her go into someone else's hold. He knew that Jon would keep her safe, but the happy look in her eyes- it didn't sit well with him. 

Jon carried [Name] higher in the air and helped her do flips and turns. Both the half aliens were enjoying their little flight. It made Damian curse because he wanted to be up there with them; with her. 

Hearing her laughter slip past her lips all because she was flying with his friend made him extremely jealous. Yes, Damian has admitted to feeling jealous of his friend getting closer to his...what was [Name] to him? 

He won't think about it anymore. It only caused a bigger headache for him if he called her his friend. He knew that she wasn't a friend. She was something more and it bothers Damian that he couldn't figure it out. 

……

After four days, Clark has figured out that [Name] has the ability to fly (with the help of Jon's fun training), has pyrokinesis and has attained vision. Now all he had to do was wait for two out of five other abilities.

Psi, strength, speed, magic and Clark had forgotten what the last one was. He was more focused on the kids practicing hand to hand combat. Damian was the one in charge of the sessions Jon and [Name] received. 

"Hey! That attack was totally not cool, Damian! I thought we were supposed to be moving slow to show [Name] how to fight!" Jon yelled as he rolled onto his stomach to stand up from his fallen position. 

Damian scoffed, "What? Can't handle a punch?" He knew that what he did was uncalled for, although he couldn't fight like this. [Name] needed to see an actual fight that flowed with attacks. 

"Maybe I can fight one of you?" [Name] suggested making sure she did what Clark always did which was to step in between them. 

"No!" Both the boys yelled and ignored her presence. 

Jon started flying a few feet in the air, "I'll give you a real fight if that's what you want. But don’t think I’ll hold back." 

"Finally stepping up for yourself, Kent?" Damian smirked and pushed [Name] aside grabbing his batarangs in his hands. 

[Name] wasn’t going to stand by and let them fight. This was supposed to be training for her, not for these boys to prove who was strongest. Although, [Name] knew that Jon had the upper hand considering that he was Superman’s son. She had to do something, these boys could cause a world of hurt especially with Jon’s unkempt emotions. 

Her hands began to sparkle and her body started twinkling unbeknownst to the kids. She was activating a new ability that allowed for her and the others around her to teleport. Meanwhile her transformation, Jon launched himself at Damian and Damian readied himself for the impact, but they were shocked to see [Name] in between them with her eyes glowing [f.color]. 

Jon ran into her which triggered them to run into Damian. Then the trio started rolling down a hill of rocky edges and loose branches. While rolling downhill, Damian slowed himself down by using his arm to grab anything and when his hand came into contact with a stump, he gripped it tightly. Then in a flash of blue and red, Jon rolled by Damian’s still form down the hill unconscious. 

Damian reacted quickly by getting his grappler out and sending the grappler to wrap around Jon’s leg. The young kryptonian stopped rolling down the hill and Damian didn’t notice that if he didn’t get Jon in time, the boy would have rolled off a cliff. 

[Name].

His green eyes frantically looked for the girl and he saw her at the edge of the cliff, ten feet to the right of him. Her right hand was holding onto an unsteady log and her left arm was bloody, severely cut. “[Name]!” Damian yelled knowing full well she couldn’t hear him, but she looked up and caught his eyes. 

“Stop moving!” Damian shouted at her and saw her body remain still. The log was gradually slipping from its grounded spot. He had to find a way to get her before the log gives up and [Name] ends up falling. He looked down at Jon and pressed a button on the grappler which sent a strong voltage to the unconscious boy.

…...

Jon woke up with a start and he groaned while hanging upside down. “W-What the?” Jon muttered and looked up to see Damian’s mouth moving. His domino mask crinkled at his nose. Jon didn’t know what Damian was saying or why he was hanging upside down. 

“Jon, get [Name]!” 

Jon felt his body shake and he looked to his left to see [Name] giving him wide doe eyes. It was like she was screaming help at him with her scared expression. His vision was lacking, but that didn’t stop Damian from sending another shock in his system. 

“I swear I’ll kill you if you don’t start moving!”

Jon heard Damian’s threat and he was finally coming to his senses. [Name] was in immediate danger. He felt the grappler lose its hold on his leg and Jon flipped himself around to jump at [Name]’s falling body. How did he not notice she fell already? Did Damian let him go to save her? 

Jon reached out for [Name]’s glowing body. And within seconds, he wrapped his arms around her torso to stop her falling. He tumbled to the ground and his back met a large boulder where a huge crack was made from the impact. “Ow, ow, ow,” Jon cried dramatically and looked down to see [Name] curled up in his arms. She looked up at him and signed with a weak smile, “Damian was right. He said you would catch me if I would fall.”

Jon blushed and stood up wiping her hair that had twigs and pebbles in it. “Oh man, Damian is going to kill me,” Jon said and gingerly touched her wounded arm. It was covered in her blood and dirt. He brought her over to a creek and wiped her arm carefully with the cool water. He was astounded to see that there was no wound. [Name] pulled away from him shyly and signed, “It healed while my body started glowing, but-”

“That’s amazing! We gotta get Damian, he’s up there!” Jon looked up and noticed tall trees providing shade from the sun. He looked around to see that they were surrounded by trees. There was no cliff which meant no Damian.

“Oh this is bad,” Jon panicked while pulling at his hair, “Damian is going to kill me for real this time! We have to find him now and show him that you’re okay and-”

[Name] covered Jon’s mouth to stop his rumbling. “Damian knows I’m okay.”

Jon stared at her and removed her hand, “H-How? All he saw was you falling and me going down the cliff to save you. In his eyes, he saw you fall to your death and he’s probably hoping I died if you did. Wait, he wants to kill me himself so that’s an obvious no.”

“In his heart, Damian knows we both survived the fall. Now we need to go and find him before he gets into trouble. This place gives me the creeps.” [Name] began walking in one direction and Jon followed, not sure what to do at this point.   

[brokutosan]

Title. Oikawa Toruu Is Not A Genius, But He Is A Jackass

Pairings. Oikawa Toruu x Fem!Reader

Summary. In which Oikawa doesn’t always tell his girlfriend things. She finds out anyways.

Warnings. Contains manga spoliers! Oikawa’s inferiority complex is mentioned a lot, as well as his anxieties over it. The title and the summary are misleading, sorry. This is a fluffy imagine (sort of).

“Honey, I’m home!” Oikawa Toruu calls out to a silent apartment. Also, it’s three in the morning, but he’s Oikawa Toruu and Oikawa Toruu could care less if he’s bothering the whole building, so long as he could finally take her in his embrace again (he’s up for a treat when she does wake up though, and not the one he’s expecting).

Oikawa takes note of the subtle changes from when he was last here. For instance, the old hand-me-down couch they got from his mom is replaced by a new, clean, and sleek black couch. There’s also some new additions of little knick knacks here and there, but it still felt like home to him. Kicking off his worn out sneakers by the door, not even bothering to check if it knocked over some of her things, Oikawa heads straight to the bedroom, where he’s welcomed by her sleeping form.

She’s dressed in one of his old Seijoh shirt along with white shorts and her arms are clinging onto a pillow. Oikawa gushes at the sight before snapping a quick picture and taking slow, careful, steps towards the bed.

“If you were gonna sneak around you shouldn’t have announced to the whole fucking neighborhood you were home.” She snorts with her eyes still closed. Oikawa stops dead in his tracks like a deer caught in headlights and remains frozen as if not moving would erase his presence all together.

“Hmph!” Oikawa lets out as his face catches a pillow that was chucked at him by his still sleeping girlfriend. “Nice throw babe. Ever thought of a career switch? I can see you making it big in softball.”

“Stop dicking around and just come here.” She mumbles. Oikawa smiles at the adorable sound of her sleep-induced voice. “As you wish my darling.” He says before throwing all his weight onto her sleeping form.

“Toruu, you jackass!” Oikawa lets out a boisterous laugh at her feeble attempts of freeing herself from his arms. The more she wiggles the tighter his hold gets, before she gives in to his embrace.

“I missed you so much.” Oikawa mumbles into her hair once they’ve settled in. He flips them over so they’re now laying side by side, with one arm slung over her form rubbing soothing circles on her back and the other placed under her head.

“Sorry I couldn’t pick you up from the airport. My boss wouldn’t push back the deadline.” Oikawa shakes his head ‘no’ and mumbles out, “It’s fine. This makes up for it.”

“Good, cus you’ll feel my wrath tomorrow morning.” Oikawa gulps down, knowing she’s totally serious.

-

Oikawa wakes up after the first good night’s sleep he’s had in a few months to an empty bed. He catches a whiff of miso soup which leads him into the kitchen, to a sight he’s been missing after all those years in Argentina.

Hunched over the stove is his girlfriend, clad in an oversized t-shirt while mixing something in the pot. The sight makes him smile, before her voice snaps him out of his daydream. “Oi, don’t just stand there, go set the table.” He salutes and scoops up two bowls of rice and places them down on the table alongside various side dishes.

Y/N sets down the pot she was stirring on the stove, letting Oikawa catch another whiff of her familiar cooking. “Thank you for the meal.” He says with a huge smile on his face. Y/N sits down across from him on table, where she then proceeds to stare him down.

The sight reminds Oikawa of his mom, who’s an expert at chastising him with looks alone. She bites down on a spoonful of rice, not once breaking eye contact with him. Oikawa racks his head for anything that he could’ve done wrong to deserve this mental beating. Their anniversary? No, it’s coming up in two months. Her birthday? Like Oikawa could ever forget. Then -

“Mind telling me why exactly you’re here on a vacation?” Oikawa feels the hairs at the back of his neck shoot up. Of course he couldn’t. If she found out he got sent home from over exerting himself again, she’ll rip his head off.

“I mean, there’s no anniversaries coming up, no birthday, and I doubt you’re here willingly where your team ain’t.” She lists off the facts with her fingers. Oikawa can feel the storm coming, this was only the calm before it.

“If you wanted to hide the fact that you’ve gone and practiced yourself ‘til you collapsed, maybe don’t have me listed as your emergency contact!” There it is. The ‘wrath’ she had mentioned the night before. “I mean seriously, Toruu! Did Hajime not tear your ass apart in highschool enough for practicing too hard?! You want me to do it too?! I’m scarier than that beefy bastard!” Yes, yes she is. Oikawa silently tells himself.

He clears the table of anything she could use against him as a weapon. Her chopsticks, fork, and empty mug, to name a few things.

“Oops?” Oikawa flinches as her palms make contact with the table. “Oops?!” She screeches. Oikawa gulps down a spoonful of miso soup, trying his best to avoid her gaze. He’s expecting more yelling, but is met with a soft look and a teary girlfriend over miso soup and rice. Fuck. He’d prefer the yelling girlfriend.

“Did you know how useless I felt when your coach called me saying you were bedridden for a week because you just didn’t know when to stop?” She lets out a deep breathe and continues, “Like what the fuck was I supposed to do from across the world? Fucking pray you weren’t out there dying? You didn’t even have the decency to call and let me know!”

Despite her larger than life personality that Oikawa has grown to love over the years, the sight of his girlfriend looking so small makes his heart burst from guilt. He fucked up. That much he could admit. His tendency to push higher and relentlessly practice until he felt his lungs begging for a break was always something that worried her, especially now that she’s not exactly within reach to stop him from pushing himself too hard.

“Toruu, I support your dream one hundred percent, even if it’s taking you thousands of miles away from me, but please,” The anger laced in her voice is replaced with desperation, making Oikawa want to reach out and hold her close, “take care of yourself too. If not for yourself, then do it for me.”

He doesn’t know whether it’s the fact that someone cares about him so much to the point it brings her to tears, or the fact that she is in tears, but he feels himself trembling from the burst of affection. Oikawa doesn’t have the best track record of handling his insecurities well, but knowing that that makes her sad makes him want to do better.

Oikawa crosses over the table and gently places her head on his chest, rubbing soothing circles on her back. Though she’s still a bit shaky from yelling and crying, Y/N eventually calms herself down to sniffles and tiny whimpers.

“I’m sorry.” Oikawa decides to speak first.

“I wasn’t looking for an apology.”

“But I’m sorry either way.” He lets his body fall into her embrace, noting this as another thing he’s missed since moving to Argentina. “For not taking care of myself. For not letting you know I collapsed. For always worrying you, but never stopping to check in on you.”

“And I’m sure this’ll happen again in the future,” he earns a light smack on his chest for that, “but I’ll just say sorry for that too.”

“And,” Oikawa mumbles, his face burrowed deep into the crook of her heck, “thank you, for looking out for me even though I don’t deserve it. You can’t understand how much I appreciate knowing you’re there for me, even if it’s not always physical.”

Y/N feels herself relaxing in his embrace, arms finally wrapping themselves around his waist. Her eyes are slightly watery as she looks up and says, “Promise you won’t hide these kinds of things from me anymore?”

Oikawa opens his mouth to respond, but is interrupted,

“And I don’t just mean when you pass out. I mean like if it ever gets hard living alone in Argentina. If you miss home, if you think you’re working too hard and need a break, I want to know everything, Toruu.”

Oikawa simply hums in response, placing a kiss on her forehead. “I promise.”

-

A little while later, after they’ve both calmed down and are cuddling on the couch watching some old movie, Oikawa perks up, suddenly remembering something.

“I brought you a gift, by the way.” He skips off into the bedroom, unzipping one of his many suitcases. (He packed four, plus his carry ons. He’s only staying for two weeks). Y/N is visibly nervous at the fact that this ‘gift’ has a whole suitcase designated for it. Turns out she had a good reason to be.

“What the fuck am I looking at.”

“It’s me!” Oikawa exlaims, one hand forming a peace sign brought up to his face, and the other holding up a horrendous life sized body pillow complete with his face and team uniform. Y/N could only blink, wishing to Christen her eyes from the terrible sight. Or maybe turn back time to before she even saw it. After a long moment of silence, in which Oikawa did not move an inch from his previous position, Y/N finally gathers enough sanity to say,

“Alright, get the fuck out of my house.”

Oikawa decides to dig his own grave by cheekily calling out, “Oh come on babe! Think of it as a coping mechanism for when you’re missing your totally awesome boyfriend-”

A throw pillow makes it’s way to Oikawa’s face. They’re called throw pillows for a reason, because now Oikawa’s forehead is red, tears brimming in his eyes from the loud smack! that met his face hard. But apparently not hard enough seeing as how he still manages to let out a, “nice throw,” over teary eyes and two thumbs up. Y/N thinks her boyfriend might be an idiot.

A/N. Very very very short, I know. I haven’t been writing as much bc I don’t have inspiration for anything??? But I’ll get back into it soon. For now, thank you for reading!! I AM working on the two requests I got, but those might take some time!! Sorry for the wait lol. - chuu

[justjessame]

Sins of the Father: Chapter 12

Breakfast was quieter than dinner had been and for that I had more gratitude in my heart than I could articulate.  Even Danny was less rambunctious - his nose buried in a book that I reached across to tilt up so I could read the cover of - earning me a look of extreme patience.  

“Sorry,” I offered, releasing my hold and holding up my hands in a mockery of surrender.  “I only wanted to see what was so engrossing.” 

He rolled his eyes at me, but a small grin peaked out as well, so I knew I was mostly forgiven my tresspasses.  “You’re not the only one who likes to read, Esme.”  He murmured, gaze returning to the page.  

“Point made, Master Roper.”  I agreed, picking up my own book and fighting a grin.  

“Esme,” Dad walked in as I was finishing up and I felt a sigh building.  “Once the doctor comes to check on our Mr. Quince, I think you should be there to let him know how you’ve helped with his recovery.”  Screaming would be more satisfying than sighing, I knew, but I did neither.  

“Of course,” I smiled and asked Danny if he’d like to try to teach me how to play the video game he’d shown me before - “Just have someone come let me know when I’m needed,” was my parting shot as I followed my little brother’s enthusiastic progress from the room.  

I was no better at the videogame the second round than I was at the first, but Danny liked having me try.  He was laughingly trying to explain what I was doing wrong while trouncing me soundly when Sandy came in and took a few beats to watch the spectacle.  His deep chuckle alerted me to the new witness to my shame, and I asked the victor to press pause.  

“Doc is here, Esme,” nodding my assent to what I understood was my father’s insistence that I come along, I promised Danny that I’d come find him once I was finished.  

“Do you think he’ll be able to come out of his room now?”  Staring down at eyes that were so alike my own while being so very different as well, I sighed.  “He must be tired of being cooped up, Esme.”  

“I’ve no doubt you’re right,” kissing his forehead, I made no promises one way or the other.  “The sooner I go -”

“I know,” he muttered, flopping back onto the sofa and picking up the controller again.  

Sandy had gone ahead, or perhaps he’d gone off to tell Dad I was on my way to fulfill my duties - it was hard to say since he hadn’t felt the need to tell me.  I took my time walking to Tom’s room, getting my mask in place after our last meeting - still uncertain about what I’d said or done that had caused the curtain to fall between us.  Either way, I had to be in the room again, at least to act as a buffer between the doctor and Dad, since I had a feeling that was my role today.  

“Ah, Esmeralda.”  The smile that curled on my lips was genuine as the doctor greeted me.  He was a familiar face among this lot and I felt comfortable as his warm, dry hands enveloped my own far clammier one.  “Are you not well?”  His eyes were searching my face, and I felt the urge to confess all my ills, one by one.  

“I’m fine,” assuring him came as easily as giving my name at the host stand at any restaurant in the world.  Simple as breathing.  “Playing videogames with a younger brother can be a touch -” He chuckled and nodded his head in understanding.  “You haven’t gone in?” I gestured toward the still closed door, guarded by both Frisky AND Corky, looking a mixture of bored and somehow alert - nosy, more like it.  

“I was waiting for you,” he held out his arm and I slipped my hand through it.  “After all, I’m told you acted as a nurse in my stead.”  I snorted and he patted my hand.  “You give yourself so little credit, Esmeralda.”  No, but you give me far too much.  “Tell me what you’ve done for him -”

I explained changing the bandage when it needed it, only three or four days worth of care, honestly.  And I also told him about the salve I’d found, and how I used it along with an elastic bandage to give him some comfort for his battered chest and ribs.  

“I wouldn’t have bothered, but he seemed to be in more pain when I would help him sit up -” I felt uncomfortable pointing out the physician’s shortcomings, not that he really had done anything horribly wrong.  The IV drip had done what it was meant to do, after all.  

“I’d considered the ribs,” he sighed, “but the patient wasn’t very forthcoming with telling me what precisely ailed him during the examination.”  I would have snorted again, but we were closing in on going inside.  “Let us go see how well he’s looking, shall we?”  I wanted to beg off, but with Corky standing just there, looking for all the world like he could care less - I knew he’d rush right for Dad and spill the news that I’d made excuses to NOT enter the room.  

“Let’s.”  The door was opened for us, the doctor released me so we could enter comfortably, but he stood back to allow me to go first - a gentleman.  Tom was sitting up and I knew that he could see me just as clearly as I could him - I saw the twitch of his fist on the top of the blanket.  “Mr. Quince, I’ve come with the doctor -”  Stepping to the side, the doctor came in and approached the bed while I stood back slightly.  

I listened as the doctor asked all the regular questions.  As Tom and he discussed the hows and whys, the what would come next and where it would happen.  I stayed out of the way, a witness, but not a participant.  

“Well, I think that you owe Miss Roper a bit of gratitude,” the doctor was saying and it drew me away from my daydreaming out of the window.  “If she hadn’t forced that salve and bandage upon you -” Turning around, I realized he’d been examining Tom’s upper body.  “You were worse off than you let on.”  He shook his head and stepped back.  The bridge holding Tom’s face together was gone and while there was still redness and bruising, I could see him - all of him.  

My God.  I wasn’t quite expecting him to look like this.  His gaze found me, and then my own eyes and - 

“Yes, well, I’ve found that I’m thankful to Miss Roper for a great deal.”  I wanted so badly to leave or look away, but I couldn’t.  “I think I’ve been a terrible patient.  She deserves better.”  

The doctor was still fussing with Tom’s injuries, making sure that the IV was removed, that any and all parts were functionable, so he wasn’t picking up on any strangeness in his tone.  No undercurrent could be heard by the good man as he did his rounds.  

“I’m not sure any patient is ever all that gracious,” the doctor soothed, he was still checking over Tom’s injuries.  “And Esmeralda is more than used to them.”  He smiled at me over his shoulder and I must have managed to keep my mask up enough to appease him.  He stood up and gave Tom the good news.  “You’ve healed up quite a bit more than I expected,” he patted him on his shoulder and told him that while he was looking better and probably feeling the same, he didn’t want him rushing out and getting back in the saddle.  “Take it easy, while you may want to go full force back into your old patterns and routines, you are still dealing with the battering you took.”  Sighing he shook his head.  “You did a heroic thing, Mr. Quince, but your body is paying a high toll for it.  

“I’m no longer bedridden?”  The doctor chuckled and shook his head.  “At least I have that.”  

“Oh, I think you have more than that,” he winked at me and I bit my lip. Damn it, did everyone see everything in this house?  “Now, I’m sure that Esmeralda might be talked into giving you a tour of your lodgings if you ask her very politely, Mr. Quince.”  And with a few more reminders to take things slowly and waving off my offer to take him to Dad, I was left alone with Tom.  

“I should -” he stopped me by standing up, and I was struck by how tall he was, as tall as Dad.  

“Please, Esme?” He didn’t rush forward, giving me the option to leave if I truly wanted to, but I felt rooted to the spot.  “I know I haven’t the right to ask, but -”

The door opened and Corky came in. “Ah, so the invalid isn’t as broken and battered.”  Glancing between us, his grin grew.  “Not interrupting anything am I?”  

“Of course not,” my answer came easily.  “Mr. Quince was just showing me how well he’s improved.”  I smiled at Tom and took a deep breath.  “I should be off, Danny is no doubt ready to beat me in whatever that horrible game is he insists on my playing with him.”  A small nod of goodbye to the two of them and I was out the door, cowardly though it might be.  

I did go find Danny and he did beat me a few more rounds of the terrible video game.  Then we went to the pool where I knew even playing in the water with his rambunctious little body would be more relaxing than the start of my day.  I was lying by the water, Danny had gone in to fetch us something to snack on, when a dark shadow fell over the bright sun that was warming me.  

“You make a better door than you do a window,” I muttered, opening my eyes with the expectation of seeing Danny or even Dad - but certainly not HIM.  “Oh.”  

He was wearing a blue t-shirt and a pair of shorts and he was alone.  “You left before I could ask politely for the tour,” his face was still discolored, but that did nothing to disarm his smile.  “Doctor’s orders, Miss Roper.”  

Another deep breath for me and I gestured to the lounge beside mine.  “Perhaps after Danny brings out something to eat,” I saw him in the distance with someone trailing behind carrying a tray.  “He must have known we’d have company.”  

A sheepish look crossed his face, as my companion lowered his eyes to his lap.  “I might have come across your brother when I left my room.”  Biting my lip, I had to fight the laughter at the two of them conspiring.  “He told me where to find you.”  

“He did, did he?”  Danny’s grin was wide and I shook my head as he helped the housekeeper set up our lunch. 

[jazy3]

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 17X6

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Wow this was a tense episode! I liked this episode when I watched it, but then I went back and re-watched it and started thinking about it more deeply when my friend and I recorded our podcast and the more I thought about it the more glaring issues and omissions I caught which made me feel frustrated. Especially because I was expecting to see a bunch of things in this episode, the Mid-Season Finale, that it looks like we’ll have to wait to the Mid-Season Premiere to see and seeing as the show won’t be back for quite a while and we’ve got a long wait ahead of us is rather disappointing.

I think this episode had a great set up, but I feel like they only delivered on about half of what they promised. I think they focused a lot of screen time on scenes that could have been shortened or omitted in favour of more important or interesting scenes that I felt should have been there and were missing and they focused a lot on characters that I don’t particularly care for while at the same time shafting characters that I would have loved to have seen more of or learned more about.

I was so happy that Meredith woke up and was improving! I love the beach motif, but that storyline was starting to drag for me so I was excited to see her back in the game and being her usual self again. I loved her scenes with Tom, but I spent the whole episode expecting someone to say something to Hayes about her being awake and for Hayes to come and visit her and then the episode ended and that didn’t happen and I was so confused. I was sure we were going to get a scene with the two of them in the last ten minutes of the episode, but instead we saw her collapse and they put her on a ventilator without Jackson or Hayes ever discussing the matter or coming to visit her.

And now they can’t talk! They missed their window and I’m so pissed! The show spent ¾ of last season building up a slow burn between Meredith and Hayes which they continued in episodes two and three of Season 17. Hayes asked her out for drinks at the end of last season. They’ve established that they’re close friends. Hayes’ text in the Premiere implies that they’ve had drinks before in his office in between seasons. Hayes is the one that found her in the parking lot. He asked Maggie about her and came to talk to her when he heard she was looking for a new POA. Hayes was the one that Meredith shared her fears of dying with.

And then Meredith becomes unconscious and we don’t see Hayes for two whole episodes and then when he comes back Meredith wakes up and no one bothers to tell him and we don’t see him and Jackson or any of the other characters talk to him about? We don’t see him visit her? This makes no sense! It’s out of character and ridiculous. And here’s my question: Do Hayes and Jackson even know that Meredith woke up? They don’t seem to in this episode and yet characters like Levi know and Maggie, whose a notorious blabbermouth knows and is shouting about on a video call with Winston so presumably the whole hospital would know.

Also is Hayes heard that Meredith was looking for a POA he definitely would have heard that she was awake. They’re close friends and her sisters know that. Plus he’s the one that found her! Jackson and Meredith have been friends for years! Are you seriously telling me that no one told him? That’s ridiculous which makes me wonder if they did in fact know and they did talk about it or go visit her and we just didn’t get to see it on screen. Like there’s a deleted scene that we didn’t get to see.

Which is dumb especially when you consider what they did show us. For example, they had an entire several minute scene where Amelia and Owen operated on the kidnapper in which we learn no new information whatsoever and it does absolutely nothing to advance the personal storylines of either character. On top of that, the scenes that Owen and Amelia have preceding and following the surgery with other characters are so powerful and well done that they could have shorten the surgery scene to a few minutes or made it a montage over music and wouldn’t have changed a thing.

Amelia and Owen are clearly not getting back together at this point even though he’s on the outs with Teddy because Amelia and Link have a child together and Owen for all his faults is not going to take a father away from Scout having lost his own Dad at a young age. So the scene doesn’t do anything to advance their personal storylines other than to establish that they miss their kids, hate kidnappers, and that the world sucks. All things we already knew. 

And then there’s that end scene where Carina and Andrew DeLuca, two side characters they have spent absolutely no time developing, decide to chase after a human trafficker like a couple of vigilante crime fighters on a show that’s supposed to be about surgeons. What?!?!? They could have cut or significantly shortened both those scenes and it would have given them time to show Jackson and Hayes finding out that Meredith was awake and talking about it and then Hayes going to visit her. Which would have made a lot more sense than some of the stuff that they did show us, fit with the set up we were provided, and oh hey given us actually new information and character development that was about a medical case!

I was also hoping that Meredith and Hayes were going to talk this episode because I thought there was a good set up there for them to chat, banter, discuss their feelings, and for Meredith to ask Hayes about the idea of them quarantining together at a hotel. They established in this episode that if her stats held she would need to stay in the hospital for another week before they could discharge her so it’s still possible for this to happen when the show returns I just would have liked to have seen them address it this episode and provide that set up.

So to be honest I have mixed feelings about Meredith waking up and starting to feel better only to get worse and have to be placed on a ventilator by the end of the episode. On the one hand, I read an interview saying that they chose to do this storyline to give Ellen Pompeo the opportunity to act without a mask on the beach because of some health concerns that she has with regards to asthma and so I understand why they keep having to go that route. The actor's safety must come first.

This episode was the Mid-Season Finale and it felt tense the whole way through so I expected something bad to happen at the end, but I wasn't sure what it would be. I am sad that we didn't get any new beach scenes or see Derek on the beach like I'd hoped or see Meredith chat with Hayes the way she did with other characters. I'm also discouraged by the fact that she may spend the second half of the season bedridden because that really limits the storylines they can do about her personal life.

Which may in fact be the biggest critique I have of this episode. The Mid-Season Finale and the Mid-Season Premiere are usually pretty important with regards to Meredith’s personal life and her love life in particular. By this point in the season I expected Meredith and Hayes to have confessed their feelings for one another. I was hoping to see them make plans to quarantine at a hotel together. I was expecting to see her on the beach talking to Derek and getting closer.

But no. Instead we got no Meredith and Derek scene on the beach and no Meredith and Hayes at the hospital and I am mad. I mean if you only watched this episode you would have no idea that Meredith was ever married or that her and Hayes are involved at all. We’ve gotten absolutely no movement on Meredith’s personal life in the last three episodes. None. The people that love her and are taking care of her are worried about her and want her to get better. That’s it. There’s no new information here.

Which brings me back to another issue I had with this episode which is that Hayes finally reappeared only to spend most of the episode in the background and he didn't have meaningful conversations with anyone which I felt was a waste. I was so excited to see him back on screen and then I was disappointed when he didn’t really get to do much. Meredith woke up this episode and was well enough to laugh with her sisters and have a full on gab fest with Tom, but her and Hayes didn't have a scene together. Which felt odd and out of character considering that they’ve established. It was also weird that he didn't have any kind of meaningful conversation with Jackson despite working on a case with him that was racially charged and where black girls and woman were the ones affected.

Hayes is an amazing character so for him to be MIA for two episodes and then show back up only for the show not to use his character to his full potential bothered me so much. The fact that the victims and their mothers were black factored heavily into what happened and yet Hayes, who was married to a black woman and has two biracial kids, did not have any kind of meaningful conversation about the circumstances with Jackson, a black man who used his own money to help that girl's mother.

Also can we talk about the fact that Jo tells Richard that she wants to talk about a career change that she’s considering without ever talking to Carina who is an OBGYN and Hayes whose the head of pediatric surgery? WTF? This makes literally no sense and it’s kind of making me hate Jo because it’s so dumb. Also if Levi and Jo know that Meredith is awake Jackson and Hayes must have which makes no sense because they didn’t talk about it or go see her and I am an angry ball of rage!

On top of that, Jo and Levi have had two separate conversations in which Jo has confirmed that she wants to quit surgery altogether 100% to become an OBGYN on a show that is about surgeons to the exclusion of all others. This makes no sense. There just isn’t enough story here so unless Jo is leaving at some point I don’t understand how this is going to work. The show literally wrote off a plethora of characters in the first few seasons in order to focus almost exclusively on surgeons. It was a conscious choice that the showrunners made.

Several of the show’s current showrunners and writers were a part of the show when that decision was made so it's not like they don’t know why and how that happened. Which makes this storyline all the more bonkers to me. Also, who cares? Watching Jo perform surgery is interesting. Watching her catch babies is not. Also they’ve established that Jo and Hayes are friends and that she’s rooting for him and Meredith so why is she talking to Levi, who is a surgical resident, about this instead of her friend Hayes?

I’m also not as certain that Tom is going to die as I was before. At first I thought him getting better might be a surge, but now his improvement seems more like a for sure thing. And they did the whole storyline about his roommate dying so it would be a bit anti-climactic and predictable to me to have him suddenly die. On the other hand, Meredith is the star of the show and so if she lives it's likely someone else on the show will die of this disease and Tom seems the most likely candidate right now. I think Tom will be upset, panicked, and distraught when he finds out that Meredith had to be put on a vent. I think Teddy and Maggie will have to work very hard to calm him down which gives potential for some good Teddy and Tom scenes.

My heart broke for Bailey this episode like it did last week and while I think she should have taken some time off to grieve I understand why she didn't. Bailey is a work horse, a workaholic, and she always has been. That hasn't changed and as she says if she goes home she risks infecting Tuck and Joey with COVID. She could stay in a hotel, but it would be pretty hard for her to sit around and grieve when she knows patients are dying at Grey Sloan and she can help them. I hope she finds time to grieve and process the loss properly in the second half of the season once Meredith improves and gets better.

I loved Richard’s speech to Teddy. I think he told her exactly what she needed to hear. He told her what everyone else was too afraid to tell her or didn't want to because they were mad at her for what she did. Richard speaks from experience as a recovering alcoholic whose screwed up royally in his life so I think that gave his advice weight and gravitas. Richard is right. Teddy needs to name her demons, deal with her issues, come clean, and stop feeling sorry for herself. While I'm happy that Teddy finally told Owen the truth about who Allison was to her, she neglected to mention that her and Allison were having an affair.

Which is highly relevant seeing as she starts the conversation off by telling him that she doesn't know why she cheated on him with Tom. She tells some of the truth, but not the whole truth. She needs to come all the way clean. I don't think Owen will ever look at Teddy the same way again and I honestly don't see any hope for them at this point. Hopefully they can co-parent together peacefully. Also do we really need more scenes of Owen and Teddy fighting? Come on?

The one big bright spot in this episode for me was the scenes between Maggie and Winston! I love them! They are so cute together! And since it appears that Winston has now moved to Seattle I hope to see a lot more of them going forward. I love that he brought her flowers and was exactly what she needed in that moment. Now if only we could get that kind of movement on the Meredith and Hayes front that would be great.

I was surprised to see Opal, the fake aunt from last season who turned out to be a human trafficker, return. And I'm a bit surprised that they chose to bring the human trafficking storyline back and make it a reoccurring plot. I felt that they wrapped that storyline up pretty neatly and I didn't have any real desire for it to make a comeback. Plus, that storyline centered on DeLuca as a character and since I'm not a fan the storyline didn’t really do much for me. It's sad and scary, but it doesn't leave me excited to find out what happens next.

My favourite scene and quote from this episode was when Owen finished telling the kidnapper that he was the devil's barbeque and what a complete scumbag he was only for the guy's face to droop and for him to pass out causing Owen to remark, "Bold move Bob," and for him to realize he'd now need to resuscitate and save the guy's life from a possible stroke. That made me crack up laughing! I'm not an Owen fan most of the time, but I must say he's had some great one liners the last few seasons.

As for what’s to come when the show returns in 2021, the Season 17 Premiere blew all of my past predictions out of the water so I'm fully expecting to be wrong about several things going into the second half of the season. That being said, I think Meredith will pull through. I think Tom or one of the other characters will die. I think Winston will join Grey Sloan Memorial and start working there. I hope that both Hayes and Winston get the full screen time that they deserve and that they stop focusing on characters we don’t give a damn about because they’ve spent no time developing them.

I think we'll finally get to see the Meredith and Derek embrace that we've been hoping for and I think we'll see Jackson and Jo's relationship develop more. I hope that we see Hayes come and visit Meredith while she's out and that when she gets better we see them talk. I really felt like that was missing these last three episodes. I'd also love for them to quarantine at the hotel together after she's discharged!

Until next time!

[icycream-catqueen]

Kindling (When You’re Burning Low)

Cinder would rather burn herself out than risk a low grade; fortunately, Neo knows how to make her relax.

Rating: T

Tone: Some angst, lots of supportiveness, and a fluffy ending

Word Count: ~5,000

Important Tags: College AU, Established Relationship

I was gonna post this before now but I had problems with writing it and I was nervous about participating in a ship week especially when I only have something written for one prompt, and also my cat was sleeping on me for five whole hours earlier tonight while I was trying to finish up and as everyone knows it is a crime to disturb a snoozing kitty cat. I hope it still counts. ^_^;

Considering it’s pretty long, I only have an excerpt (the first scene I wrote for this fic, actually) on this post; the whole thing is, of course, over on AO3!

On this fine Saturday afternoon, Cinder was taking advantage of the lounge in the dorm suite. The coffee table was half-claimed by various books and notes while Cinder herself was settled at the same end of the couch, her laptop perched on the arm of it and her right side pressed closely against the suede upholstery as she struggled with the perfect phrasing for her essay. Failure was never an option for her, and even the slightest error would lead to it when it came to this class. She was running on pure caffeine by now, from a supposedly unhealthy amount of coffee. This was her third or fourth solid day of being awake. After the first night, she’d moved her setup from her room to the lounge to help her stay more alert. Winter and Emerald had both tried to tell her what was best for her wellbeing, but she’d firmly shut down their arrogance; she knew her own limits, and she needed to get this stupid project done. Neo, thankfully, had been out of town from Thursday morning to last night, and when she’d come back to the suite, she’d trudged straight to her room and shut the door. Cinder had only seen a couple brief glimpses of her since. Just as well, considering Cinder couldn’t intimidate her into letting her be like she could to Emerald and Winter.

At the moment, Emerald and Winter were both out of the building. They’d each probably told her what they were doing, but she hadn’t bothered to remember it. Neo was apparently still asleep, which was a bit odd but not enough so to risk seeing the pitiful kicked-puppy expression that appeared when her sleep was disturbed. Still, if she wasn’t up and about in two hours, it would be worth it to check on her mental and physical health.

Speak of the devil, Cinder heard a door open behind her. She didn't bother to look, though, until she realized the shuffling footsteps were approaching the couch instead of the kitchen, bathroom, or shower. She took a brief glance, then did an immediate double take because Neo looked absolutely miserable. Her hair was unbrushed and her eyes were dull. The oversized black sweatshirt (which Cinder recognized by the fiery orange phoenix on the front as one of her own that had mysteriously vanished a few weeks ago) and the brown and pink plaid pajama pants were probably what she'd worn to bed the night before, and she hadn't even bothered to put on socks. It was worrying to see her in such a state.

"You certainly look worse for wear," Cinder commented. Neo pouted at her as she slowly made her way to the couch and sank to the cushions. Before Cinder could react, Neo flopped down, squirmed to lay her head in her lap, and rolled onto her back. "I'm busy," Cinder told her sternly.

Neo's response was a soft and pitiful keening sound. She fumbled to grab Cinder's left wrist, staring up at her with pleading doe eyes.

"Neo. I'm busy," Cinder repeated. Neo whined and tugged on her wrist, so Cinder rolled her eyes and stopped resisting, curious about what she wanted. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but she was definitely taken by surprise when Neo gently guided her hand under the hem of her sweatshirt and pressed it against her lower stomach.

What is she trying to accomplish here? Cinder raised an eyebrow at the woman in her lap. Neo let go of her wrist to sign something at her. The odd angle made it hard to translate, so it took a few seconds for Cinder to understand what she was asking for and why.

"I suppose I can take a short break, if you're really in that much pain," she relented. "You're lucky you're cute," she added as she carefully activated her Semblance.

The reaction was instant. Neo sighed with relief at the warmth, eyes full of soft gratitude and affection. Cinder rubbed slow, small circles over her stomach, feeling the smaller woman go languid under her touch. After a few more seconds, Neo's eyes fluttered closed.

"Is this warm enough?" Cinder asked. Neo nodded, a content smile playing across her lips. "Just ten minutes."

Neo opened her eyes and pouted at her.

"There is a reason I've been awake for," Cinder checked the time on her laptop, "about eighty hours now." Neo looked positively outraged.

"You need to sleep," she signed—easily decipherable now that Cinder had gotten a little more time to adjust to her current perspective. Not that the message was very appreciated.

"No, what I need is to finish this ridiculous project so I can move on to my two remaining essays, do all the work for a 'group project' because the rest of my assigned group are immature and unmotivated idiots, and study for my three exams this week," Cinder retorted.

"When are your essays due?"

Cinder elected not to answer, since admitting the due dates were two and three weeks away respectively wouldn't help her against Neo's accusatory glare.

"Your group project?"

Okay, so maybe it hadn't technically been assigned yet and was scheduled to be due in a month and a half, but all the information was in the syllabus. Cinder's class was full of imbeciles, and somehow she always got stuck in a group with some idiot or another who didn't understand what a lesbian was, so she was getting it out of the way to avoid interacting with anyone.

"Are all three of your exams actually this week?"

Two of them, and one of those barely counted more towards the final grade in the class than a small quiz. Her continued silence was answer enough; Neo knew her too well.

"You're going to burn yourself out again." Neo's eyes were unbearably sad, so Cinder looked away.

"I'm fine," she dismissed the concern. A hand grabbed her chin and yanked her head down so her eyes met Neo's again.

"I watched you collapse in the middle of campus last year, and I almost got in trouble for pulling a knife on the paramedics to make them let me stay with you. I got a scared video call from Winter four months ago because you fainted in her fancy rich-person hot tub and nearly drowned," Neo reminded her. “Do I need to go on?”

"I can handle it this time," Cinder insisted, growing agitated. Neo took a calming breath before responding.

"No you can't. You always say it but you never can. You end up in an exhausted daze. You work yourself into a frenzy. You get into fits of rage...which honestly scare me."

"I would never lay a hand on—!" Cinder was cut off when Neo pressed a finger to her lips.

"Not for myself. I'm scared you'll lose control and take it out on yourself again," Neo corrected her. "You haven't in a while, but..." Neo trailed a hand down Cinder's left arm, tracing her scars.

"I just...I need to...I have to keep working. I can't let myself fall behind. I can't..." Cinder faltered. Neo sighed.

"I know," she acknowledged. She knew about the past, knew why Cinder relapsed into these desperate attempts to excel, to stay ahead. "But it's pointless if you destroy yourself trying."

"I've only ended up being sent to the hospital three times since I started college," Cinder argued. Neo was unimpressed.

"Congratulations! And you've managed to barely avoid hospitalization how many times now?"

"I—that isn't relevant!" Cinder hissed. Neo scowled.

"Really? It's not? How many times have you ended up so exhausted that you were bedridden for days? How many times have you gone into a mental decline because you were incapacitated? And how many more times are you going to make me watch you suffer like that?"

"If you want to leave me, just get it over with!" Cinder spat bitterly. Neo's eyes widened, hurt and shocked. Cinder flinched, realizing she'd crossed a very important line. "I didn't mean...I don't know why I said that."

"An abandonment complex, emotional instability, a mess of insecurities you mask with your ego, previous girlfriends who couldn't handle you or only wanted your body...and like I've been saying, you need sleep,” Neo replied, recovering. "Also, my cramps?"

"What?" Cinder realized she'd subconsciously deactivated her Semblance at some point and quickly remedied that. "Oh. Sorry."

"I'm going to make a deal with you," Neo informed her abruptly. Cinder raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"What kind of deal?"

"The 'ridiculous project' you're trying to finish. Tell me about it, and I'll explain," Neo replied. Cinder clenched her teeth at the mere mention of it.

"It's an assigned experiment, a five to ten-page report on it, and an oral presentation. And the professor hates me. He goes out of his way to make every class, every test, and every assignment hell for me. I have to work harder than anyone so he can't get away with failing me out of spite. If I make even one mistake..." she growled.

"When is it due?"

"The day after tomorrow. It was assigned two weeks ago, but three days ago he realized he 'accidentally' gave me the wrong experiment. In other words, he's making me do a two-week project within five days—after I'd already finished the one he previously assigned me."

"Watts," Neo guessed. Cinder had come back from his class angry enough times that it wasn't even a question.

"Yeah," she confirmed anyway. Neo wrinkled her nose.

"I already hated that guy, and I hated him more and more every time you came back from his class in a bad mood, but this shit he's pulling now is the final straw, so I'm going to get him fired," she declared. Cinder let out an amused huff.

"And how will you do that?" she asked. She didn’t expect an actual answer but Neo didn't even hesitate.

"It may include breaking and entering, small and well-placed incidents, a flat tire, some bottles of the expensive alcohol he isn't supposed to have on campus, a sedative, and if we're lucky, a little inadvertent assistance from gravity and Ironwood."

"Just how long have you been planning this?" Cinder was taken aback at the immediate response. Neo considered.

"The time you locked me out of your dorm after his class because you were so furious you wanted to hit something, and you were worried you'd see so much red you might accidentally hit me in blackout rage. You've never told me what happens in his class to make you so angry, or even if it's actually him or just another student—though I was pretty sure it was him—so I planned for both situations."

"I'm impressed," Cinder commented. Neo smirked. “Now what was that ‘deal’ you mentioned?”

"You finish the report for your project, then eat something more substantial than coffee and whatever quick snacks you've been living off of for the past few days. And then we go to my dorm and you get some damn sleep."

"How did you know I'm working on the report right now?" Cinder was taken aback. "And how do you know I haven't been eating?"

"Because I can see it on your computer. And once again, you've done this before, so I know you don't take the time for more than the minimum amount of food to keep hunger from 'distracting' you," Neo pointed out, almost accusingly.

"I haven't even started working on the oral presentation. I'll do all that after I'm completely finished."

"Nope. You can start that part when you're well-rested. If you make me physically drag you to bed while I'm on my period, I'll make damn sure you regret it," Neo threatened with a scowl.

“Fine,” Cinder gave in reluctantly. Neo smiled brightly, and dammit, it was nigh impossible for Cinder to stay bitter in the face of such genuine fondness, joy, and relief. She wondered when she’d gotten so soft—even if only a select few people got to see that soft part of her—and realized she didn’t even mind anymore.

[honestlyfrance]

hug infinitely

pairing: sam/bucky

square filled: eyelid kissing/big protective hug ( for the kisses bingo held by @bingokisses​ !)

warnings: angst (kinda), swearing from narrator

summary: Bucky is a caring person who wants to keep a reckless man named Sam in his arms forever. 

a/n: or just me being poetic about one hug in 1.5k words :) it’s the first fic i’ve done in a long time so yay for writing this all less than 24 hours! enjoy and leave some feedback <3

my masterlist | find this on AO3

It’s only a fact that you can’t protect who you love from every little inconvenient thing. You can’t fix every crack in the world just so you could breathe easy thinking your love wouldn’t trip. You also can’t make the sun go away so your love can’t get a sunburn on your nice little beach date. It’s miserable thinking that the world just has it’s ways to hurt your love, but that’s reality, and to have it bother you so much, it’s only a tragedy in three acts.

Bucky Barnes was a protective person at heart, it’s just in his nature to be so. He cared about a lot of things too, and it ranges from friends to family, even pets to strangers. There’s one person though that sends his heart racing every time, but not out of love, but rather out of worry, yet it would be a lie if Bucky says he doesn’t love him.

Enter Sam Wilson, the one person Bucky thought could match Steve Rogers’s reckless behavior and constant belief that his body is immortal and is probably Superman. What irks Bucky though was that, unlike Steve who is probably immortal due to the serum, Sam was human to the bone. The man’s veins pump with unaltered blood and his hair grows at a normal rate. His metabolism isn’t fucked up and his teeth grind in a nervous tick. Sam Wilson is so human that he does backflips off of balconies just because someone bet him to do so. He’s fucking unhinged at some points and he’s immobile late at night and God, Bucky just fucking adores this human so much despite his blood pressure going through the roof.

Bucky Barnes worries for this man so much that he would publicly punch the hospital wall and set his forehead against it like some widow in a Noir film who just found out her husband died. He will not even look at anyone’s eyes as long as they were Sam’s open and lively ones, no! It’s only when another team member pokes at his reaction will he try to regain his demeanor.

Sam Wilson just makes Bucky Barnes weak.

It’s just their normal.

There are days where Sam Wilson gets called for a last-minute mission, one that is only more dangerous than the last one, and he has to personally ring up Bucky saying, “No, no, I’m fine. I don’t need you to come with me. Just get yourself comfy in bed and wait for me. We’ll go to the movies and see what’s new once I’m done.” and that’s the only thing that could keep the man sane for a while.

It’s not that Bucky was helpless when Sam wasn’t around — he’s completely fine even! he has his agendas outside of the man, too! — it’s just that the mere idea of Sam Wilson being bedridden due to broken bones, internal bleeding, a coma, or anything of the sorts just scares him… the mere idea that Sam Wilson is easily broken, fragile even, a kind of fragile Bucky isn’t familiar with anymore… It hurts Bucky to even think that they’re two different kinds of glass.

Oh, but his heart yearns so much for the time when he could scrape his knee and feel so bad for it. When was the last time Bucky was worried that he could get killed by the wrong rusty nail? Humans are too fragile, he thinks, and they only get more fragile as they grow old.

Bucky yearns for the time when he too was human to the bone.

And that’s why Bucky holds Sam a little longer than the last time.

This was why Bucky runs his fingers through Sam’s hair slower than usual, cascading his hand up and down the nape of his neck just so Sam could feel warm somehow. This was why Bucky sets his chin on Sam’s shoulder and inhales the scent of burnt fabric and gunfire, wanting to breathe it all away so Sam could feel clean of war. This was why Bucky grabs Sam by the waist first when hugging because he didn’t want to let go of what makes Sam his lover, forever wanting their atoms to intertwine with each other and become everlasting, even if it was just for a little while.

All of these little things make Sam Wilson feel like the only person left in the world, and it’s not a lonely kind of feeling. Being held in Bucky’s arms like this after months of feeling rough hands and doubt in his body and head, it felt like being a bird perched on a telephone wire, looking over the empty road and just feeling the nip of the breeze swift past you. Bucky’s arms around Sam felt like sunshine after stormy seas, and he loves it, drowns in it, feeling his knees grow weak whenever Bucky even moves his hands the slightest to bring him closer. It pains Sam to even feel so warm and calm and just so full of life in such arms.

The little things like Bucky whispering “I miss you” or “I love you, I love you, I missed you so badly” into his ear was enough to make Sam sob, because he truly couldn’t have known anything less before this. It was such a soft epilogue to his melancholic novel that he could practically see it as a best seller, and Bucky didn’t even write it, he was just right there cheering him on and giving him a nice little place to write all of the things Sam’s seen and done in peace that it’s almost impossible to imagine. Bucky has this feeling of home in his arms that when Sam falls into them he just knows that there’s no turning back now — Sam has never felt so small in Bucky’s arms, he never felt the whole world engulf him in such warmth and softness and ugh this hug was just too good to be real.

It’s all Sam ever knows as he buries his head even deeper into the crook of Bucky’s shoulder, feeling light as a feather as the man lifts him, as if his entire body wasn’t enough to hold, Bucky seemed to want Sam’s entire soul in his hands, Sam’s entire breath, Sam’s entire stars, Sam’s entire life, Sam’s entire existence in his hands. Bucky seemed to want Sam Wilson so much as Sam Wilson wanted him and it’s just a perfect scenario, it’s probably just a dream.

And this was why Bucky holds Sam in his arms a little longer than the last time. He wanted Sam to feel what it’s like having the world wrapped around his finger and by God, this amazing man will have that kindness.

Sam felt safe being small and engulfed in Bucky’s hugs. It’s like nothing outside matters and all that ever did matter was the fireplace brewing in their chests, breathing out smoke like chimneys in December, feeding each other warmth until the coals of their houses ran out. Sam felt so fucking safe like this, his mind is all but a grassy field on a plateau overlooking a vast ocean that had waves lapping against the cliff-like touch starved lovers reaching for the sun. Sam felt like he never was that touch starved teen back in his high school years, wanting to succumb to someone’s touch when he’s lost all sense beforehand because Bucky’s breathing into his neck “You’re home. God, you’re home now.” and to think that this isn’t loving is just the coward’s way out of this hug. Damn right Sam is gonna sleep in Bucky’s arms tonight because tonight, Sam is so full of love he forgot what it was like to be empty.

Bucky tries so hard to admit to himself that he does love Sam and his broken bones and whatnot, the only thing stopping him is the heartbreak he’ll receive when one day Sam will be gone, finally realizing that he’s not the Superman everyone thought out to be — not the infinite river of hope and bravery he was meant to be. It sickens Bucky to even think that this Captain America, the Falcon, Samuel Wilson, isn’t infinite. To even think so is the cowardice’s way out of this chokehold.

Maybe if he held Sam long enough, the love that just exudes out of him will heal whatever malice tried to break this incredible man. If Bucky could kiss all of Sam’s worries away, then peace could be a fiery red sunset over the sea. If Bucky loved then Sam could feel loved.

It’s crazy, Bucky knows. Love doesn’t work that way. Love doesn’t heal, it breaks. This is why we have broken hearts in the first place, but oh with the way Sam wraps his arms around Bucky’s neck and mumble sweet nothings into his shirt Bucky could now believe that this moment will be the single greatest thing that has ever happened to him.

The only time Bucky felt the need to let go of Sam is when he needs to set a gentle kiss on the man, one on the forehead, one on the nose, and each on the eyelid. He wanted Sam to close his eyes and just feel the softest thing he could offer. Bucky wanted Sam to fall asleep in a nice bed with nice thoughts, perhaps even with a smile that he couldn’t wipe off.

Bucky wants to heal every wound Sam has and kiss the pain goodnight after every mission.

Bucky wants to have Sam in this hug infinitely.

Bucky wants as much as Sam wants him.

And yeah, they’ll have this as long as they could.

[siren1song]

I wrote a fic in response to art again. This time it’s this really cool piece done by @strawberryjellystuff

I’m ngl I’m like crazy proud of this one.

Taglist: @acanvasofabillionsuns, @emo-disaster, @greenninjagal-blog, @jungle321jungle, @demidork84, @sleepy-sides, @gattonero17

Got a Darkside

The moon shined behind him, illuminating the path he had taken up to this point. But where Roman had to go, no natural light would reach. The trees looked black, the moonlight not daring to touch within ten feet of the forest.

Roman swallowed hard, adjusting his grip on the torch he had just lit so he could make his way to where he wanted- needed to go. And then he stepped out of the light and into the eclipsing darkness, chills shooting down his spine at the choice he had just made.

He was no coward, he needed to make this journey, overwhelming evil aura or not.

With a deep breath Roman adjusted the strap of his shoulder bag, the weight of the importance it carried making his chest feel like stone. He could do this, just one step in front of the other and he’d be back home with the things he needed to save-

“You can do this,” he whispered to himself, continuing to walk through the trees, the mushrooms practically glowing against the light of his torch.

The forest was filled with magic, and even someone with about as much magic as a cog like Roman could feel it. He couldn’t tell if it was as dark as mages made it out to be though, he had no magic to speak of, no way to tell the difference between light and dark magic.

There was no way to tell if the decision he was making was the right one, but he had no money for a trustworthy healing mage, nothing of note that a lord may want to help him save his best friend from the magical illness.

And he knew it was magical in nature. There was no mundane illness that he could find that caused the inky black veins running under Virgil’s skin. No matter how many times he bothered the village clinician, Doctor Logan Ackroyd, there just wasn’t an answer caused by non magical means.

So into the forest Roman was going, in search of the supposed dark mage that lived there. Hoping beyond hope he might be able to convince a man rumored to be as dark as they came to help him where money greedy mages of the kingdom wouldn’t.

Snap!

Roman whipped around, extending his torch so the flames would light any potential danger. He had to protect his handbag, it carried the only bargaining chip he had.

He had to protect himself as well, seeing as he was Virgil’s only hope of survival right now.

Nothing stepped into the light of fire, but Roman’s heart didn’t settle from his throat. He felt eyes on him, and the feeling made his skin crawl as if there roaches making their home underneath it.

“Keep going, Roman, you need to get to the center of the forest,” he mumbled to himself, his eyes constantly flicking about the trees, every movement and sound catching his attention.

Roman walked for twenty more minutes before he realized with an abrupt chilling terror that the sounds had stopped and the forest had somehow grown darker while he wasn’t paying attention.

He stopped, his grip on the strap of his shoulder bag tightening as he tilted his head this way and that, listening for signs of life.

Total silence and fear spilling down his spine, spreading to his ribs, constricting his chest until his breaths were quick and uneven.

No, he couldn’t panic right now, not when Virgil needed him.

But he didn’t have a weapon. Not even the sword he’d forged himself under his apprenticeship with the blacksmith. All he had was his fists and the knowledge of fighting he’d gained from his days on the streets when he was young, roughhousing with a brother he barely remembered.

Suddenly there was sound again, but only one. It slid in the grass and leaves, sending a sound not unlike a hiss to Roman’s ears. He tensed, looking around frantically as he struggled to pinpoint where it was coming from.

The feeling of eyes on his back intensified, and Roman whirled around.

Paralyzing fear locked up his limbs as snake eyes filled his vision, poison yellow and bright with power.

And yet it wasn’t a colossal snake in front of him but a man. A man with scales decorating half his face and powerful magic seeming to emanate off of his skin, almost as if he was feeding the forest around him. Which should be impossible, it was the magic in nature itself that gave mages their power, their connection and respect of the earth and sea and sky giving them abilities the mundane could never hope to have.

“You’re in my forest,” the mage said, stating a fact as if he was trying to figure out a puzzle and Roman was a piece.

Roman nodded, struggling to keep his breathing even in the face of the fear squeezing his lungs. Was this the mage of the forest he’d heard whispers of? The man no one seemed to have any information on beyond he was powerful and he preferred to be left alone?

“Why?”

The mage narrowed his eyes at Roman, suspicious of his intentions if he had a guess. Roman didn’t blame him, he’d be suspicious too if people spoke of him this way and suddenly a stranger appeared in his home.

“I-” he stopped, the fear in his lungs constricting tighter, halting his words.

With an irritated hiss, the mage glanced to the side. His eyes never locked on anything, almost as if he was looking at the forest itself.

The fear eased, and Roman could finally breathe.

What the hell? Did this mage just look to the forest itself and make it ease on the paranoia it was causing him?

Just how powerful was he?

“I need help,” Roman said, his voice hoarse and weak as it left him.

The mage looked at him again, tilting his head to the side as he searched Roman’s face like he was looking for something.

“I had assumed you wanted something, tell me what it is. I’ll decide if it was a fruitless endeavor on your part.”

Roman swallowed, glancing at the trees around him as the darkness seemed to grow even darker, the shadows reaching for his form, held at bay by the glow of his torch and the command of the mage.

“My best friend is sick, something is draining his life and I have found no non magic illness to cause the blackness filling his veins.”

The mage sneered, his fingers twitching at his side and the shadows lurching just a few feet closer. Roman’s fear returned, this time all his own.

“You couldn’t go to the light mages for help? I’m sure this type of heroism is exactly what they get off on.”

Roman grit his jaw, anger flaring at the memory of his meeting with the cheapest mage he could find.

“I’m poor, barely above a street rat as a blacksmith’s apprentice. They wouldn’t help me unless I gave them my life, and even then they wouldn’t do everything in their power to save the life of my friend.”

The mage paused at the rage in Roman’s voice, his face smoothing back into curiosity as he looked at him.

“And what makes you think I’ll do what you need for free?”

Roman took a deep breath. This was the one question he had been prepared for. He opened his shoulder bag, pulling out the only thing he had to offer a mage who had been cut off from society, and as far as Roman knew, contact.

A blanket. An afghan to be more specific. It was the only thing he had managed to keep from his mother before she passed and he was left on the streets. The only thing he and his brother had shared without a fight before he had been taken by guards for showing signs of magic.

The mage inhaled sharply, his eyes widening as they locked on the wool in Roman’s hands.

“I… hope it’s not insulting. I’ve heard sentimental magic can be powerful, and I know the weight of this blanket has gotten me through some very lonely years. It’s yours, if you will help me.”

Snake eyes snapped up to look at Roman’s face, making him flinch away, scared he may have insulted the most powerful man he had ever met.

“...Alright. Bring him here, and I will see what I can do. You leave the blanket with me, though.”

Roman’s grip on the afghan tightened, closing his eyes as he struggled to come to terms with the fact he’d have to part with it sooner than he anticipated.

“Do you have a way that would make it easier to bring him? He’s been bedridden for weeks, and my village is a week’s travel by foot,” he said, finally opening his eyes to be met with a surprised look from the mage.

It was almost as if he hadn’t expected Roman to agree so easily.

Roman was too desperate to save his friend to argue. If this mage could help, if Roman could get him to help Virgil, he would do anything short of taking his own life or the lives of innocents.

“I may have a way to help, if you promise me one more thing,” the mage said, confusing Roman.

“What may that be?”

The mage hesitated, eyes going from Roman’s face to the shadows around them that had slinked back during their conversation, to the blanket in his hands, and finally back to his face.

“Your name, and… continued companionship, once your friend is healthy.”

Roman blinked, staring at the mage in surprise. Of all the things he had been expecting to have to give up, his time had not been one of them. At least, not in the way the mage was asking.

Then he grinned, charming smile naturally slipping into place and confident squaring of his shoulders making the remaining fear he felt melt from his muscles.

“You may call me Roman. And I’d be happy to return for more leisurely activities once my friend is saved.”

The mage seemed taken off guard once again, though his own inviting smile graced his features. He took a few steps forward, gently tugging the afghan from Roman’s arms and into his own.

“And I am known as Deceit, but I suppose I’ll allow you to call me Dee.”

[13-reasons-ideas]

Can’t Go Back Part 9

A/N: *sneaks onto your dash with this chapter and runs away quickly* I’m sorry for the delay. Addy’s mum’s birthday dinner will be in the next next chapter. I felt this one was long enough. Feedback is appreciated. Much love as always- Em

During our wind down time in the evening, I decided to bring up the idea of my friends coming over for dinner. He was done working on an assignment, reading over some sports book on the sectional. I was curled up on the other end of the couch, typing a for fun idea I had. “Can you pass the almonds, please?” I asked him. He passed the bowl over to me without looking up and I took a handful. After he put the bowl down, I asked him, “hey so, how would you feel about my friends coming for dinner on Saturday?” He laughed, assuming it was a joke. When I didn’t laugh, he looked up and looked at me funny.

“Oh. You were serious.”

“Yes.”

“Why would we have people who don’t like me over for dinner?”

“Because they’re my friends? Scott and Charlie come over for dinner. So does Justin.” I set my laptop aside on the coffee table.

“Addison, the difference between them and your friends is that they like me. And are supportive of our relationship.”

“Well this morning you talked to Clay and you weren’t horrible to him and he wasn’t horrible to you.”

“Being nice in a coffee shop in public is very different than having them over to our home in our private space. For all I know, it will be ‘why you’re terrible for our friend’ to me or ‘why did you make such an awful choice’ to you. I’m not going to sit here and let them do that to you. I really couldn’t give a shit what they say about me.” He had gotten up for a drink about halfway through his response.

“I wouldn’t let them do that to you. In fact, I was planning to tell them if they said anything like that, they would be asked to leave. Also, you need to stop moving around so much. The doctor said to rest.”

“That’s fair. But still. I don’t think it’s a good idea. I am not bedridden Addy. I can get myself a bottle of water.”

“I would do it for you.”

“Babe. My friends like you. Hell, I think Bryce likes you.”

“Happy joy. Bryce Walker likes me.” I muttered under my breath. “If you give them a chance, they might like you.”

“If I give them a chance? Addy, I don’t think I’m the half of this equation who needs to give someone a chance.”

“Okay, you’re right. I just don’t want them think this was some spur of the moment, ‘let’s go to Vegas’ thing. And I don’t want to have to choose between my friends and my husband. Because we all know that I would choose you.”

“I get it. You don’t want to lose your friends.”

“Exactly. I feel like maybe if they saw us together outside of school, they might realize that you aren’t as bad as they think you are. That they might see that I made the right choice.”

“I don’t know Addy. I don’t like it. We don’t like each other. I don’t see it going well.”

“I would do it for you.” I gave him my very best puppy dog eyes.

“That’s not fair. This isn’t you trying to get me to go to the store for ice cream. This is dinner with your friends who don’t like me.”

“Would you do it if I said we can play hooky to have sex when you get cleared?”

He was quiet for a while, contemplating my offer. “Would the sex start when we get home from the doctor?”

“Depending what time it was, yes.”

“If they say anything out of line can I kick them out immediately?”

“Maybe give them a warning first. If they say anything else, then you can.” He was quiet again. I watched him take a sip of water, crossing my fingers for a yes. After many minutes, he sighed and reluctantly agreed, “fine. They can come over. They better behave.”

“I’ll tell them to be on good behaviour.”

“Good.” Monty checked the clock on the wall and yawned. “It’s getting late baby. We should probably head to bed soon.” He placed his hand on my ankle and rubbed it up and down.

I nodded and grabbed my laptop to save my work. I got up and smirked playfully, rubbing his hair. “Addy.” he exclaimed as he laughed. I smiled prettily at him. “No touchy.” I shook my head in response and headed to our room for the night, where he joined me a few moments later.

The next morning, I left Monty at the car and went in search of my friends.

“Nice shirt.” Jess laughed when I approached them. I couldn’t tell if she was serious or being a bitch.

“I was tired this morning. Ripped jeans and Monty’s baseball shirt were in easy reach.”

“Late night?” Justin asked.

“I fucking wish.” I muttered quietly. I cleared my throat before answering normally, “not really. Just one of those mornings where the bed is so much more comfortable than it was when I was going to bed. I think going to bed at three thirty the other day messed with my internal clock. Anyway, I talked to Monty last night. He agreed to have you guys over on Saturday. You need to behave because it’s our house. It is our private space. We can and will ask you to leave if you don’t keep it together. No questions about his family. Not negotiable.”

“And if we don’t behave?” Zach asked.

I tried to keep from rolling my eyes. “You will be asked to leave.”

“That’s it?”

“It depends on what you say or do.”

“That sounds fair.” He replied. The first warning bell rang, and my friends left Justin and I to talk for a bit and walk to class.

“So, what did you have to promise him to agree to that? Or rather, how much did you have to promise him?”

“Hooky once he is medically cleared. And I might need to take the next day off too.”

“Damn. Sounds like a fun time.”

“It’s only been like four days and I already have an itch. That clearance can’t come fast enough Justin.”

“I believe it. Why do you think I hardly ever go to your place?”

“We aren’t that bad.” I rolled my eyes at him.

** **

Friday night was usually reserved for football and a movie or possibly Monty going to Bryce’s for a party. One nice thing about people not knowing about us, was that I wasn’t subjected to the parties. I was concerned that I would have to go with him now that people know about us, but he chose to stay home tonight. I was silently thankful for that as he had a tendency to… overindulge and come home late sometimes after spending time with Bryce. It wasn’t a very frequent thing, but it had been the cause of some discussions and arguments both before and after we got married.

I decided to stay home from the game since Monty wouldn’t be playing and my lack of sleep recently had begun catching up with me. For dinner, I had decided to make stuffed shell pasta. Half of them had spinach and the other half only had cheese. We watched Oliver & Company while we ate and cuddled on the couch. When that movie ended, we watched this week’s episode of FBI before calling it a night. I’m so tired. Climbing into bed in one of Monty’s t-shirts and a clean pair of underwear, I snuggled up under the blankets. He got in bed beside me and I cuddled closer. It was just passed two o’clock.

I was almost asleep when I heard him speak up. “Addy?”

“Hmmm?” I mumbled.

“I’m uh… I’m kind of horny.”

“That’s nice dear.” I mumbled patting his chest gently.

“Did you hear what I said?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

I could tell he was expecting a legitimate answer now, so I sat up some. “That’s unfortunate for you then.”

“Come on babe. Please?” He asked, gesturing to his growing hard on. You have no idea how much I want to say yes. But sleep. Sleep is good. I decided to have a little fun with this before going to sleep. I’ll pay for this when he gets cleared, but I’m not going to complain.

“I mean… there are other things we could do….” I said, seductively.

He smirked, playing innocent. “Like what?” I have him exactly where I want him.

“Like going the fuck to sleep.” I told him, promptly rolling over as I laid back down. He made the cutest, most disappointed sound I had ever heard, and I had to fight to hold back an ‘awe’.

On Saturday mornings we usually had Scott and Charlie over for coffee and breakfast. This morning, Charlie had a little too late of a night, so it was just Scott. I was up early-too early for how late we went to bed-to get a start on making breakfast. I had decided to make coffee Belgian waffles and buttermilk biscuits since it was just the three of us this morning. I would go back to making my more traditional breakfast meals next week. Or if Monty’s friends really do like me, possibly scale the meals up a little in the future. I didn’t bother to throw any pants on, since it was so early.

Monty and I had a rule about him sleeping in on Saturdays unless there was an imminent event happening that he had to be awake for. We did not deem groceries or awkward dinners with my friends, imminent issues. I swayed around the kitchen, humming to myself while I cooked. “If I knew this would be my view as often as it is on Saturdays, I would never have made the sleeping in rule a thing.”

I jumped slightly, not expecting Monty to be up yet. I had a spoon in my mouth, tasting the espresso and buttermilk mixture to see if the ratio was right. “Morning.” I greeted. “Needs a little more espresso.” I muttered to myself, using a teaspoon to sprinkle more in.

“Need any help?” he offered, making his way over to me. The crutches were easy for him to use at this point. He grabbed his favourite mug and poured a cup of coffee.

“Sure. Can you grab me the ricotta from the fridge? And put the mixing bowl and whisk in the freezer?” He nodded and went about the tasks.

“Anything else?”

“Do you want fruit? I’m also making biscuits.”

“Fruit sounds good. What do we have?”

“There are some berries in the fridge that have to be eaten. If you use apples-.”

“Wait until closer to breakfast, I know.” I laughed at him.

“Anything else you want to add, go ahead.” He nodded and got to work at the table, mixing the salad.

While the waffle batter hydrated, I went to get changed and get ready. I settled on a purple long sleeve dress and a pair of leggings so I wouldn’t have to change when we went to the store. I curled my hair and pulled it into a ponytail and did some quick makeup, so I looked a little more presentable. By the time I was ready, Monty had started mixing the biscuits together at the table. I watched him for a few minutes, as he poured the buttermilk in the bowl and used the back of a wooden spoon to mix it together into a shaggy mass. “There’s something very attractive about a man who can cook.”

He chuckled, rolling the dough out. “Come help me cut them out? Round or square?”

“You choose.” I watched as he decided what to do. First, he grabbed the circle cutter and used the back side of it to see how much dough he would have to reshape after. Then he used the back of a knife to measure how many squares he could get out of the dough. He nodded to himself, focusing on his task.

“Square. Re-rolled biscuits are gross.” I walked over to the island and grabbed the spatula and a cookie sheet. After transferring them to the sheet, I set them in the oven he had preheated.

Ten minutes later, Scott knocked on the door. I answered it and Monty manned the waffle iron. “Hey Scott.” I greeted as he pulled me into a hug.

“Hey Addy. How are you?”

“I’m good, you? I heard you guys had a pretty late night last night.”

“Well you know how it is.” He replied, brushing it off as though it was no big deal.

“I know. Biscuits are about to come out of the oven and waffles are on.”

We walked into the kitchen, where Monty was cutting up an apple into chunks. “Hey Scott.” He greeted his friend, not looking up.

“Hey Monty.” He could immediately tell there was something off about him. “What’s up with him?”

“He’s cranky that we can’t have sex.” I half muttered back.

“I can hear you guys, you know.”

“I know. But I’m not wrong.”

“I’m not cranky.” He replied, petulantly.

“Mhmm. Sure thing sweetie.” I poured more batter in the waffle iron as the timer went off on the oven before setting to work on espresso whipped cream.

“I’ll get it.” Scott offered.

“Great.”

“Is the fruit supposed to make us feel better about the carbs?”

“Yes. Carbs are more to make you feel better about drinking last night.”

“How do you know I was drinking, hmmm Addison?” I gave him a come on look and he conceded. “Fine. Maybe I had a couple of beers.”

Our conversation flowed easily over breakfast. “Her friends are really coming over for dinner tonight? Here?”

“Yes.” I responded before Monty could.

“And this is something you agreed to?”

“Reluctantly, yes. I reserve the right to tell them to get the hell out of my house though.” Monty replied, motioning to the door.

“Whose bright idea was this exactly?”

“Justin’s. He thinks it would be ‘beneficial’ for her friends to get to know me outside of school.”

“Ohhh. Okay. Are we placing bets on how awfully this will go?”

“No.” I said, firmly.

“Addy, no offence but this is going to be a disaster.” Scott told me.

“Maybe. But if it is, do I really need to consider them my friends?”

“No, you don’t. I just don’t understand why you want to have them over for dinner.”

“Because I like to cook and if we did coffee, they wouldn’t stay long enough to listen.” Scott ruminated on that for a while and shrugged.

“These waffles are amazing by the way. What’s in them?”

“Coffee.”

“Because just coffee isn’t enough caffeine for you?”

“Not really, no.”

“What are you going to do when you get pregnant and can’t have caffeine?” My eyes widened and Monty choked on his food. We exchanged a panicked look with each other. “Oh shit. You’re not… are you?” Scott asked, thinking our exchange was something that it wasn’t.

“No!” I replied quickly. “No tiny humans. Not that we wouldn’t have them, but not for a long time.”

“Okay good. I would have needed to go talk to Zach about how to remove my foot from my mouth then.” Monty laughed at Scott’s comment and I couldn’t help but laugh a little along with him.

“Can I keep a tally of how many times he puts his foot in his mouth tonight? Please?”

“Yes. But only so you can tell Scott about it.”

“Can I get out of grocery shopping this week?” Monty asked.

“Why?”

“Because I’m injured. I’m supposed to rest Addy.”

“You just want to stay home and watch the game before my friends get here. But I suppose since you’re supposed to sit with it elevated, you can stay home. I’ll need help when I get home though.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t make a mess.” Mhmm.

Scott left shortly after breakfast and I got my things together to go to the store. “List, keys, wallet, dad’s cash for tomorrow’s dinner, phone, re-useable bags. What am I forgetting?” I mumbled to myself.

“Shoes?”

“No, I have sh-. That’s it. Shoes. Thanks love.” I threw on a pair of black Converse and kissed Monty goodbye. “I’ll be back in a while. Call if you need anything.”

“I will. I love you.”

“I love you too.” With that, I ran out the door on my way to Kroger.

The store wasn’t super busy for just after noon on a Saturday. I texted Justin while I checked my list. Hey, I was thinking chicken stuffed peppers tonight? I’m at the store now. “On to the list.” I muttered quietly. I made my way around to the deli and bakery section of the store to grab bread and prosciutto for the wellington tomorrow night. Justin’s ringtone interrupted my audiobook. I answered the FaceTime quickly. Thank God I’m wearing headphones. “Hey Justin. What’s up?”

“You know, the usual. How’s the store?” He was sitting on the counter in their room.

“It’s okay.”

“I asked Clay and he said stuffed peppers is fine.” He replied, popping a piece of popcorn in his mouth.

“Okay. I’ll grab some ground chicken while I’m here.” I grabbed some milk and puff pastry from the frozen section, because we didn’t have enough of the batch I made.

“Clay also asked if we should bring anything? I told him no.”

“No, but you can tell everyone to leave their attitudes at home.” He laughed.

“Don’t worry Addy. I did. Clay knows he doesn’t want to be in the doghouse with you.”

“What about Zach? What’s gotten into him by the way?”

“Well Zach might be a little harder to control. I think he’s upset he missed that you guys were together. I don’t know. He’s my friend but sometimes he’s hard to read.” I nodded, before directing my attention to the butcher counter.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“Hello, how may I help you Miss?”

“I was wondering if I could get a one-kilogram beef fillet please?”

“Sure thing Miss.” I watched as he went through the case to find the right size one and get it prepared for me.

“Thank you.” I said as I took it. He nodded in acknowledgement.

“Mom wanted beef wellington for dinner tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Dad gave me the money for it.”

As I made my way through the aisles while we talked, I grabbed the few things we needed for day to day eating until I got to the produce. There, I grabbed cremini mushrooms and some other vegetables. “These peppers look okay?” I asked Justin, holding up a bag of assorted peppers.

“Yeah. That looks fine.” I was about to head to the till when I got another call.

“Hang on, Monty is calling me.” I placed my call on hold and answered my husband. “Hey honey. Everything okay?”

“It’s good here. You’re still at the store?”

“Yeah, why? Did we need something?”

“Can you grab me some more fruit snacks please?”

“Or and hear me out for a minute. I could get you some real fruit.”

I could practically hear the face he made. “No thanks. I was hungry but didn’t know what to have, so I finished the last pack.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you your precious sugar shapes.” I laughed and we hung up. “Sorry. We had a fruit snack emergency.”

“He ran out again?”

“Yup. I’m going to run and grab some before heading home. See you tonight. Love you.”

“See you with friends in tow. Love you too Addy.”

Thankfully, checkout was quick, and I was able to get home by one. Monty helped me carry the light bags in the house and I put the groceries away. From the corner of my eye, I saw him going to grab another bag of fruit snacks. “No. Put it back. We have real food, you know.” I heard him sigh and skulk over to the fridge, which he opened for two seconds before closing again.

“I see no real food here. And fruit snacks are real food.”

“I mean food that isn’t just sugar with the word fruit written on it, so people think they are being healthy. And yes, we do. I know because I was just at the store.”

“I don’t want that food.”

“Have a bowl of cereal then.” I heard him grab the container and turned around from getting the beef tenderloin wrapped, to watch him stick his hand in it and eat straight from the bin. “Monty.”

He gulped his bite down. “Addy.”

“Did all of our bowls go missing while I was out?”

“No. I just don’t feel like dirtying a dish.”

“But that is shared food.”

“It’s not like we haven’t shared anything worse.” He retorted, that sexy little smirk spreading across his features.

“That’s different. Also, don’t start you.” I pointed at him.

“You love me.”

“I know. Can you set the table please? And stop eating out of the box.”

“Why? It’s only like one thirty.”

“Because this way we don’t have to do it later.” I shrugged.

He sighed again and set to work. “The good tablecloth and dishes?”

“No, just the regular ones are fine. We will use the good stuff tomorrow for an actually special occasion.”

My friends arrived around four thirty. I was putting the peppers in the oven, so Monty answered the door. I held my breath waiting for someone to say something. Nothing was said. Not a word. He merely led them into the kitchen and looked to me, expectantly. I gave him my best say something look. Justin cleared his throat awkwardly. My friends, Monty, and I all just stared at each other as though we were waiting to see who would crack and speak first.

“I know you said not to bring anything, but Mom made me bring something because it’s polite or something like that. So, she sent me with a loaf of fresh bread.” Alex offered, awkwardly handing the loaf to Monty. He doesn’t bite. Or at least, he doesn’t bite people who aren’t me.

“Um, thanks Alex. That’s….” He looked at me, begging for help. I nodded at him encouragingly. “nice of you.” His smile was very obviously forced.

“Thank you, Alex. Tell Carolyn we appreciate it.”

“I will. It’s still weird you call her by her first name even when she isn’t around.” He laughed. I joined him and it seemed to break the tension.

“Need any help Addy?” Justin asked, not noticing Monty shaking his head frantically at him. Zach, who still hadn’t said anything, looked at him strangely. I don’t know if the fact that he hasn’t said anything is good or bad.

“No. In fact, out of the kitchen. You know the rules.”

“I know, I know. Just thought I would offer.” I didn’t miss the look he and Monty shared.

“Rules?” Clay asked.

“Yes. Cooking for people is generally my thing. If I need help, I’ll ask for it. If one of you had offered, I would have been more polite, but since Justin spends about as much time here as he does at home, he knows better.”

“Scott already helped this morning. I’m surprised she didn’t have an aneurysm or something.” Monty added.

“We were both busy and all he did was take stuff out of the oven. I have everything under control. Go play nice boys.”

I heard Zach mutter to Clay and Alex as Monty and Justin led them back to the living room, “notice Monty isn’t doing anything to help her.” The boys nodded.

I looked to see if Monty heard him. He didn’t appear to as he sat and elevated his leg. Good. No fights before dinner. Yet anyway. I cleared my throat, catching their attention. “Two things. One, he helped me all morning and is under doctor’s orders to rest. And two, keep your comments in check. I wasn’t kidding about you being asked to leave if you can’t be nice.”

“Sorry.” Zach muttered. Clay and Alex nodded and at least looked a little guilty.

I went about my business in the kitchen while the boys spent time in the living room. Jessica had a family thing tonight, or at least, she said she did, so she wasn’t joining us. Glancing over at the group of men in my living room, I noted the clear division between them. Monty and Justin were seated in the accent chairs, while Clay, Alex, and Zach were seated on the sectional. Their conversation seemed stilted, though that was unsurprising. They don’t really have a lot in common. And also, don’t really like each other all that much. At some point, Zach, Monty, and Justin must have started talking about football because Clay and Alex came wandering back into the kitchen. I chopped some romaine for salad as they pulled up the bar stools at the island.

“Drove you away already?” I asked, smirking.

“They’re talking sports.” Clay said.

“Ah yes. At least it’s a safe topic I guess.”

“That’s true. How’s he doing, by the way? I don’t know if it would be weird for me to ask him, since you know. We don’t like each other.” Alex asked.

“He’s doing okay. I think it’s starting to get to him a bit, especially since he has to go to practice and games, but the pain and swelling have decreased. I don’t think it would be weird. Awkward maybe.”

“Should I even bother asking you to explain what actually happened?”

“Something about falling and bending and extending. I’m not really sure to be honest. I spent most of that night and the next day in varying degrees of shock.”

“That really sucks. I’m sorry Addy.” Clay smiled, sadly.

“It’s okay Clay. It could have been a lot worse, so he got pretty lucky.” Raising my voice slightly, I asked the whole group. “Does anyone want anything to drink?”

I was met with a chorus of water, no thanks, and whatever is in the fridge from my friends. “Well Justin, there are multiple things in the fridge, so what would you like?”

“I don’t know. Is there any of that passionfruit something something juice left?”

I opened the fridge to check, even though I knew there was. Neither Monty nor I liked it very much. “Yes. Since you’re the only one who drinks it, do you want to take it home?” While he thought about it, I went about getting drinks together.

“Nah. You guys can keep it here.” He responded after a couple of minutes. I rolled my eyes.

Back in the kitchen, I muttered to Clay, “I’ll send it home with you.” He nodded. I took the peppers out of the oven and let them rest on the stove for a couple of minutes. “Hey Zach, can I borrow you for a minute?”

“Sure, why?” He replied, getting up and walking over to me.

“While I’m thinking about it and have you here, can you grab the food processor from the cupboard up there?” I asked, pointing to the corner cabinet. He nodded and placed it on the counter for me. “Thanks. I need it tomorrow morning and I don’t feel like waking Monty up because I fell off the counter.”

“Again.” I heard him say as he came up behind me and placed a soft kiss on my head. We could both feel my friend’s eyes on us.

“I did not fall off the counter.” I complained.

“You would have if I hadn’t caught you.”

“Well if you didn’t put everything up on the shelves I can’t reach, we wouldn’t have this problem.” I argued playfully.

“But then I wouldn’t get to enjoy watching you struggle.” He teased.

“Enjoy watching her struggle…?” Clay asked, quietly. Monty turned to my friends.

“She makes these little grunts and her face does this frowning, determined, narrowing thing. It’s funny.” My friends shared looks with each other. Justin laughed at them. They have no idea what to make of this. Monty is actually a normal human being? I slipped my hand under his elbow and noticed he wasn’t using his crutches.

“Babe.”

“What?”

“Your crutches are… where exactly?”

“Over there.” he replied, pointing to the living room, where they were propped up against the back of the chair.

“And they aren’t here, with you because?”

“I’m not in pain or anything Addy. It’s fine.” I gave him my best wife isn’t impressed look.

“Mhmm. Just don’t complain to me when you’re in pain later.” I patted his arm and kissed his cheek, once again leaning against the counter and his arm.

“They do this. Everything is fine.” Justin told our now highly perplexed friends.

“Are you in shit?” Clay asked Monty, skeptically. He chuckled.

“Nah. She says I can’t complain about it, but as soon as you guys leave, she will be ushering me to the couch and pestering me with pillows and ice.”

Clay nodded as though he understood, but he was obviously still confused. This might be a little too much humanization a little too quickly. I transferred the peppers onto a serving plate and set them on the table. “Dinner is ready.” I offered, cheerily. The awkward tension that had returned during our exchange was beginning to get to me. The boys all smiled at the mention of food. “Sit anywhere except there and there.” I told them, pointing out Justin and Monty’s usual seats. I knew the seat next to Monty would be left empty for me.

Zach had stayed fairly quiet before we sat down. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before he started back on his new talking without thinking thing.

“Seems a little soon to be needing a two-bedroom house, don’t you think Addy?” I looked up from my salad at him, my eyes darting back and forth trying to make sense of him seemingly random comment.

“Um, no?” I asked. It was my turn to be confused.

“So there won’t be any… additions… to your little family any time soon?”

Once again today, I turned to Monty in shock. He was staring at Zach with wide eyes. “Uh. No. No tiny humans. Not for a very long time.” I turned my attention to Justin, “do I look pregnant or something?” “No. You look perfectly normal.”

“Thank you.” I looked at Zach again. He seemed to be itching to ask a follow up question. “Yes, Zach? Go ahead.” I clutched Monty’s hand under the table.

“I’m just going to assume I’m not the only one wondering how you guys afford to live here. I mean, you’re seniors in high school.”

I sighed, knowing this question would be coming sooner or later. “It’s my parent’s rental house. This was their wedding gift to us.”

“Okay?” He asked, gesturing for me to continue.

“They felt like since we will be going off to college next year, they would rather have us focus on school instead of how we were going to pay rent and stuff. That we should worry about that when we have to, and not when we live in town.”

“And they didn’t think living with the in-laws was a very good idea as newlyweds.” Monty added.

“So, as a gift to us, they let us live here rent and utilities free. Obviously, our personal expenses are our own to deal with, but as far as living expenses go, they are covered until we move to wherever we end up going next year.”

“Interesting.” Zach muttered.

“It’s not like they kicked their old tenants out. Their lease was up a few weeks before we got married and they were moving away. They just decided not to relist it.” Monty explained.

“Plus, both houses are paid for and it’s not like they need the money.”

Justin laughed. “You’re not wrong.”

“I know. Gran has started checking in now that I’m married. Wants to know if she needs to update the will.”

“Why?” Clay asked, seeming genuinely interested.

“Seems Zach isn’t the only one wondering if there will be any kids soon. She wants to know if she has to split my alleged trust fund.”

“She still ranting about how you guys didn’t ask her to come?”

Monty shot him a look. “Justin. It’s her grandmother. She’s old and rich. What do you think?”

“I don’t know, maybe she forgot?” he replied, shrugging.

“She’s cranky, not senile. How well do you think it would have gone if she was here?” I questioned.

He contemplated his answer for a moment. The colour and smile slowly slipped from his face. “No. That would have been bad.”

“Exactly.”

“Why would it have been bad?” Zach asked, but I assumed he could guess why. The guy drives a sixty-thousand-dollar car for Christ’s sake.

“Because he isn’t an obscenely rich white dude who wears suits to school every day. She would have probably stopped the whole thing and brought in some son of an Earl or something.”

“Kind of figured. Son of an Earl you say? Which one?”

“I don’t know. Maybe Sandwich? If not an Earl, some other rich British guy who would be boring as hell.”

“Are you saying I’m not boring?” Monty gasped.

“Well… you’re kind of broken right now so if I was your wife I would say yes.” Alex replied, quietly. I turned to Monty, trying to gauge his reaction. He looked… amused. And then he burst out laughing. Clay turned to me, with his brows raised high.

“I would argue it makes me more exciting.”

“How?”

“I get to come up with all new ways to annoy her.”

“Like what?”

“Making me pick up more fruit snacks at the store because he couldn’t eat the food we had here for some reason.” I interjected, smirking slightly.

“That isn’t food.” Clay said.

“See! I told you.”

“Yes honey.” Monty muttered, patting me on the head. I turned and pouted at him. He raised his brow challengingly and I could feel my pupils begin to dilate slightly. Justin cleared his throat quietly and when I turned back to the table, thankfully it didn’t seem as though anyone else noticed our exchange. How am I going to make it until he gets cleared for sex when he looks at me like that? Why was I so worried about him? I’m the one who is struggling.

“Oh and Zach?” I asked.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t act like you didn’t have the silver spoon shoved in your mouth as soon as you were born.”

“What’s that supposed to mean Addy?”

“It means you don’t get to comment on the fact that my parents let us live here for free. Your first car was a freaking brand new Audi.”

He shrugged, almost admitting I was right. There was a somewhat awkward silence while we ate, which I wasn’t sure was good or bad. On the one hand, no talking while eating mean’s the food is good. On the other hand, it’s dinner with my friends and my husband. Alex broke the silence, asking, “how did her parents react to her bringing you home? No offence but you’re… you. And she’s… her. Or more specifically, Mr. Hawthorne is him.”

“Better than I expected and definitely better than Addison expected. She sat in the car for close to fifteen minutes, just staring at the house.”

“He wasn’t a total dick to you?” Alex’s brow raised.

“Not really. Asked me a couple of questions and that was it. It struck me as kind of odd, but I wasn’t going to say anything. I thought he would be more interested since I was dating his daughter and like you said, I’m probably not what he expected.”

“You mean, you didn’t say anything yet.” Justin added, pointing his empty fork.

“Right. But that isn’t a talk for today. That will require more time and possibly popcorn.”

“Popcorn? Couldn’t have been that exciting.” Zach said.

“It was. Also, can it Dempsey. I didn’t suggest this so you could be an ass all night.” Justin told him. “I’ve had far more experience with her dad than any of you. He knows what he’s talking about.”

“Okay, sorry.” Zach raised his hands in surrender.

With that sorted for now, the rest of dinner was mostly quiet. It was still awkward and there was some stilted small talk, but I think I had begun the process of humanizing Monty to my people. Hopefully in the future, they could all become something akin to friends. Or maybe polite acquaintances.  “Do you want us to stay and help clean up?” Clay asked, after a not so discreet elbow in the ribs from Justin.

“No, it’s okay. Thank you for the offer though.” I told him as we ushered my friends to the door. Monty stood behind me with his hand on the door, ready to close it the second they left.

“Dinner was good by the way.” Zach told me.

“Thank you, Zach.” I nodded. Everyone needs to leave. Get out. I want to be alone with my husband. I smiled politely and Justin seemed to realize what I was doing.

“This was fun. See you Monday guys. Tell Margot I said happy birthday tomorrow Addy.” He gave me a quick hug.

“It was and I will.” They left moments later and Monty closed the door firmly.

“Fun? He called that fun?”

“I guess so. I mean, it went better than I expected.” I shrugged, walking back to the kitchen to put the dishes in the dishwasher.

“I expected to kick them all out before we sat down. I would most definitely not call it fun though.”

“Go sit. I’ll have a bag of ice for you in a minute.” I ordered, pointing

towards the couch. He sighed and I heard him limp over and sit.

After the dishes were loaded and leftovers were put in the fridge, I went to

change into some fuzzy pj pants so I could be comfortable while I started

getting the beef ready for tomorrow. I grabbed the fillet out of the fridge and

got the plastic wrap out to wrap it tightly. Dinner prep was done for the

night moments later and I was able to go sit with Monty on the couch for a

while.

[lady-griffin]

Prince Geordo looked at Katarina as she stopped to smell some Ice Roses, smiling softly to herself.

It was just the two of them walking through the palace gardens and Geordo couldn’t have been more pleased.

Keith had to meet some daughters of several noble families, Alan and Mary were whisked away by Marquess Hunt, and Prime Minister Ascart had taken his family for a trip down south. Oh and of course Maria had gone home to her small village.

It was perfection.

Geordo smiled smugly to himself. The Ascart family’s vacation and Maria staying home were just good fortune on his part, but the other two. Well he was quite proud of himself to say the least.

A few mild comments about Keith’s lack of engagement had been enough to send Duchess Claes into action. As for his own brother and Lady Mary, well it was fortunate he had run into Marquess Hunt and expressed his sincerest disbelief that his own bother hadn’t performed for his fiancé’s family. 

“Why are you smiling like that, Prince Geordo?” 

“Are you saying there is something wrong with my smile?” He responded with his best charming smile. 

But Katarina wasn’t thrown by his act. In fact, her eyes narrowed and he felt goosebumps gather on the back of his neck. 

For as oblivious as his beloved fiancé could be, she seemed to have the uncanny ability to see right through him. 

“I get to spend a lovely afternoon with my beautiful fiancé picking flowers, of course I’m smiling.” He said, feeling a bit sheepish for his half-lie. It wasn’t like he was unhappy to be spending the afternoon with her. 

Katarina looked at him like she didn’t quite trust his answer, but nonetheless she returned back to the flowers. 

“Do you like these ones?” He asked, pointing to the Ice Roses, hoping to move the conversation along. 

Katarina nodded enthusiastically at him and Geordo held up the basket filled with flowers that he’d been holding for her. She carefully placed the newly cut roses among the others. 

Katarina was planning on making several bouquets. She’d told him all about how she wanted to give one to Keith’s fiancée when she returned back to Claes Manor.

Geordo doubted that even the fearsome Duchess could get Keith to pick a girl to be his bride, but he didn’t tell Katarina that. He was glad that Katarina had cheered up and he didn’t want to ruin her good mood. 

She’d been slightly put out when she’d been told it would be better for her to not be at the tea party. 

While he was always going to suggest that to Duchess Claes, before he could even say anything, Katarina had already been told to stay away. 

Geordo wasn’t sure if the Duke and Duchess were aware that Keith’s fondness for Katarina went beyond sibling affection. Though, at least, the two were aware enough to know that Keith would never give his full attention to other noble ladies if Katarina was around. 

For that, Geordo could not fault the younger Claes sibling. All noble ladies fell to the background for him when Katarina was around. In fact, everyone did. How could they not? 

“Are you sure it’s alright for me to take these?” Katarina asked unsure, carefully admiring some more flowers. Katarina’s questioning of her position in society was still something that fascinated him. It was endearing, but odd. 

“Of course.” He answered simply.

She beamed at him and his heart stuttered. Katarina bent down, softly touching the petals of some Sword Lilies before cutting a few to add to her growing collection. Katarina moved forward. 

“What flower do you like best, Prince Geordo?” 

What kind of flowers do you like Miss Katarina?

Geordo blinked at the memory he had nearly forgotten.

It was from the day when he had first met Katarina.

He hadn’t actually forgotten about that day. How could he? The memory of Katarina falling and him being unable to do anything as the blood gushed out dominated his memories of that fateful day.

Though, the rest of his memories of that day had faded over the years. Geordo barely remembered the madness of servants and doctors rushing to Katarina’s aid, but the fear on their faces and his own feeling of uselessness had made their marks. He didn’t even recall who finally pulled him away from the bloody scene and walked him back to the palace.

It was no wonder he had forgotten the first part of the day, before Katarina fell. Or as it seemed, he had nearly forgotten.

Now those memories were rushing back to him.

Geordo remembered his selfish fears the following week, when Katarina was bedridden with a raging fever.

He was so concerned of what going to happen to him if Katarina didn’t recover. It wasn’t like he could explain to his parents that Katarina was to blame, not him. Because what would they even say to that? What would society say about the Third Prince refusing to take responsibility?

All of that fuss for some dull, spoiled, and vapid little girl.

“I don’t think I have a favorite flower.” He answered, trying to keep his smile as his stomach twisted in on itself. “I’m haven’t really given it much thought before. Do you think a certain flower would suit me best?”

Katarina turned away for him, listing off all kinds of different flowers that she could think of.

He had once thought Katarina was colorless and boring, that she was just like everyone else.

No.

He had once thought she was worse than everyone else. Even more boring than all other noble girls he’d been force to meet.

Panic seized Geordo as he watched Katarina walk further and further away for him as he stood there motionless, stuck in the garden of their childhood. The colors slowly fading away as she left him behind.

It was almost funny how he had forgotten what the first hour of their first meeting had actually been like. Almost, being the word.

Geordo had been so annoyed at being force to give her a tour. No one had bothered to even ask him if he wanted to do it. It was just presumed he would. But of course, they presumed that.

Geordo had been going along with the meetings and making pleasantries and smiling as every stupid girl he’d been force to meet. The idea that one of them would be his future wife hovered above all their interactions. A depressing cloud to remind him of all the boring years he had to look forward to.

It didn’t matter if it was Lady Catley, Lady Thorne, Lady Bennet or any of the others, because there weren’t any real differences between them. They were all as boring and uninteresting as the last one.

In an odd way, Katarina had stood out amongst the others. It had only been a few minutes of meeting her that he knew he absolutely did not want her to be his wife. Ever.

During their first walk through the gardens, Katarina had clung to his arm. Her fingernails felt like claws digging into his skin, trapping him in place.

All he could do was smile and be the charming prince they all thought he was as he suppressed the urge to push her away. He had wanted her to leave him alone, he didn’t want to spend another second with Katarina Claes.

How blind was he as a kid?

How stuck in his own spoiled thoughts that he had mischaracterized his beautiful Katarina to such a degree that all he saw was some stupid, vain girl with nothing of note about her?

A week after Katarina had fell, young Geordo was told about the scar that marred her once beautiful face. Though according to others, the scar was a few centimeters at most, if even that.

Still, the question of who would want to marry her now had been whispered throughout the palace halls.

At the time, Geordo thought it was ridiculous and beyond infuriating.

But it had given him an idea.

Maybe being engaged to Katarina could help him out in the following years to come. A shield to all the so-called important Lords and Ladies who shoved their daughters at him. If he was engaged, he wouldn’t have to deal with them anymore.

And if the reason for his engagement was just the matter of a silly scar, well surely, he could break it off for another silly matter. It wouldn’t be difficult to manipulate someone like Katarina.

True he would be stuck with an insufferable girl for the years to come, but it also meant freedom from the countless others.

With his plan set to go, Geordo arrived at the Claes Manor to officially check on Katarina’s progress.

Visiting her was the first step into his new future. He wasn’t going to propose to her right then and there, no that would be improper and unseemly for the Third Prince. Still he had to visit her once, so he could propose to her during his second visit. There couldn’t be a second visit, without a first. 

But he had been wrong. That Geordo remembered clearly.

He had never really been wrong before and it almost seemed impossible, but yet…

Katarina had apologized to him of all things. She too thought all the fuss around her had been ridiculous and…and he was confused.

Smiling brightly at Geordo, Katarina showed him the scar on her forehead, assuring him that she was just fine. That she could just cover it up with her bangs and that there was no need for him to feel bad.

His eight-year-old self couldn’t even begin to wrap his small mind around Katarina throwing his carefully laid out plan out the window, like it was nothing. So, he quickly proposed to her right then and there.

Formality and properness followed his plan out the very same window. 

At the time he hadn’t realize why he had even done that. Why he hadn’t stop to think of another plan, why he had been so impulsive.

But now Geordo did. It was clear that his younger self, with his set plan, had been desperate to enforce it. To ensure to all, no to himself, that he’d been right. That he couldn’t have been wrong about Katarina.

Geordo wanted to laugh at his younger self, but couldn’t find it in himself.

He remembered being confused when he returned to his room after visiting Katarina. Geordo had been able to see through almost everybody his entire life and even with the people he couldn’t, at least he knew he couldn’t.

But Katarina…

He had been so sure of exactly what kind of person she was.

Young Geordo shook his head. It didn’t matter that he was slightly off about Katarina. He had been right in the end, in a way…if one thought about it long enough.

He was still going to properly propose to her the second time he visited. 

Everything was still going according to his plan. It had to.

Though it wouldn’t hurt to reconsider what he knew about one Katarina Claes, just so he’d be prepare for their next meeting.

And yet, even with his expectations of Katarina carefully modified for when he returned to properly propose to her, she had thrown him off once more.

Katarina smiled brightly without a care as she stood in the early beginnings of a field in dirty work-clothes, hoe in hand.

Creating a vegetable field to improve her earth magic was one of the most ridiculous and nonsensical things he had ever heard. He almost broke right there as he tried to contain his laughter.

But it was creative and wonderfully Katarina, to think of something no one else had and to go at it with so much determination and enthusiasm. Not caring if she was wrong or right. It was so different from how he approached everything. So wonderfully different.

That day Geordo remembered clearly.

Years of reflecting back on that day had solidify it in his memory. The dull, colorless world he had lived in for so long was marred by the bright and colorful Katarina in the most beautiful way.

That day was when he finally admitted to himself that he’d been wrong; he didn’t know the answer to the confusing puzzle that was Katarina.

That day spurred on Geordo’s countless efforts to figure Katarina out and understand everything about her. Because for the first time in his long eight years of life, he was finally interested in something, no, someone else.

That’s the day he met Katarina Claes.

The days and years that followed had led to him falling hard for her. His beautiful, lovely, and odd fiancé.

That’s what mattered. Who cares if he had misjudged Katarina in the beginning? It didn’t matter. Not now.

So why was he still standing frozen to the ground? Why couldn’t he let go of what he had first thought of Katarina? He was wrong and he had misjudged her, there was nothing more to it. Why couldn’t he let it go?

“Prince Geordo!” Katarina shouted, rushing back to his side and relief filled his body as he finally breathed out. “I’m so sorry. I got lost in talking about Mary’s lesson in proper flower arranging that I didn’t even realize that I had…”

Her face was flushed with a beautiful red and her bright aqua-blue eyes looked wild. His heart pounded at the sight, at the idea of her rushing back to him.

“Geordo?” Katarina asked. His eyes widened as he realized he hadn’t heard anything else she had said. “Are you feeling alright?”

Before he could respond, a cool hand was on his forehead, while the other held his cheek. He was so overwhelmed, that instead of doing the sane thing of assuring Katarina that he was fine, he hugged her tightly.

Because what if Katarina hadn’t hit her head? What if there had been no scar? What if…what if she had never been part of his life at all?

Geordo held Katarina tighter. Afraid that if he let her go, she would be gone.

At eight-years-old he was already bored and annoyed with everything. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what eight more years of that would’ve been like.

Katarina pulled away and he just stood there, embarrassed by his sudden rush of emotions and losing control like that. He tried not to blush as she stared back at him, her mouth agape.

She shook herself out of her daze and then quickly and very loudly began to call for one of the servants to take a look at him.

She grabbed his arm tightly and began dragging him back the palace. She was determined to have someone take a proper look at him, since clearly the sun had gotten to him.

Geordo went along happily, with no desire to escape the forceful grip on his arm.

As the two got closer to the palace, neither one took notice to a certain spot where a young nobly lady had hit her head all those years ago. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Archive of Our Own 

I’m intrigued by the fact that Geordo is the only one of the main characters who met Katarina before she hit her head. He’s the only one who knew her before, even if very briefly.

So, I got to wondering if he thought Katarina had a major shift in personality or would he just presume the more logical (but not true) answer, that his opinion of Katarina before she hit her head was wrong.

And then my mind took off with that idea.

[monomonomagines]

Drp3 boys when there S/o is sick or hurt there leg si badly, also i love You blog x9 OxOx 🧁

Thanks so much for enjoying our blog anon! I’m always happy to hear that you guys are getting as much satisfaction as I am making content. 

Since you requested for either the boys to react to S/o being sick or having a hurt leg I thought that I'd have it vary depending on the boy. That way four deal with a sick S/o and the rest deal with a hurt S/o. If that isn't to your liking feel free to tell me though! Thanks so much for requesting, I hope you enjoy this!

Rantaro

It had been when the two of you went on a hike that you ended up hurting your leg.

You didn't know what had happened at first but the reality that stepping on a rock the wrong way caused you to twist your ankle would soon set in for the both of you.

You were bested by a stone and now your boyfriend needed to help carry you home.

He would gladly of course, but he isn't like Gonta who'd have an easy time with this.

By the time you're both back in his house though he's pretty sweaty and tired but none to worry! He's more worried about you than anything else and will make sure that he can get you into a bed comfortably before leaving to get some medical supplies.

He isn't the best at dressing injuries but he's got enough experience and enough effort to make up for it.

Now he'll wait on you as though he's a worried parent watching over a sick child.

He'll get you anything you want and anything you could need at the drop of a hat.

He wants you to recover as soon as possible and is willing to do whatever it takes to help you out.

Ryoma

Ryoma's always been an anxious person underneath his icy exterior. That much was obvious to you once you were dating.

You had grown to read him pretty well and normally he could do the same with you which is why he gets pretty upset when he doesn't realize you're sick until you end up leaning on him after complaining all day about having a stomach ache.

No wonder you didn't feel good. You were burning up!

As soon as he's able to he'll slip away from your spot in bed or on the coach to get quickly go grab some sick people stuff like a thermometer, medicine, and lots of food that's easy on the tummy.

He'd immediately need to make sure you weren't dying or anything with his nerves so he quickly forces you to let him take your temperature and give you some medicine.

And he'd be willing to do whatever you want to get you to listen. If you want him to do that thing where someone gives you medicine in a kiss, he wouldn't even care as long as he could make sure you're not going anywhere.

Then like with Rantaro he's just waiting on you, making sure you're not doing too badly.

In the end, he might get sick as well though.

Korekiyo

Korekiyo was always particular about practicing some new ritual or seance with you but he never expected one to go so awry.

One moment everything was perfect, you were set up balancing on a small set up he had set down when he turned away and soon heard you come crashing down.

Immediately he whips around and tries to catch you, but he's just too late.

Now not only is his seance ruined but he also hurt you too.

He'll be super bummed out about his seance all day but don't worry! He'll focus on you first. You're his priority in this situation since it was his structure that was unstable.

For now, he was going to help you to a nearby bed to rest before he'd leave to come back with medical supplies and lots of books to read you.

There are a few questionable items he brings that are supposed to help injuries like this according to certain lore but he means well and will spend time with you as though you're holed up in the hospital and not his house.

He does have some experience though, as sad as it is.

Gonta

This sweet baby boy tries his best with being a gentleman but he just couldn't believe he didn't put it together that you were sick until you ended up having a fainting spell.

Gonta knew you felt pretty bad all day and thought that maybe if he took you with him to go bug hunting it'd cheer you.

Only, you can't cheer someone up to get rid of their cold.

He knew that so he felt so guilty and would want to make it up to you.

He'd carry you home, forgetting about meeting any new bug friends, and sets you down in a bed once you're back to his place.

Then he'd ask for advice from his friends before acting. Once he knows what to do he does a great job thanks to all the effort he puts into it.

He's surprisingly more attentive to you than even Ryoma as he never leaves your side other than to get you something.

He'd even sleep next to you just to make sure you don't need him in the night.

Unlike Ryoma though, he somehow by some miracle doesn't get sick from helping out.

Kokichi

It isn't unlikely that dating Kokichi would possibly get you hurt but he never expected it to be from something as simple as missing a step.

Now he's stuck helping you. Tsk tsk, look what you went and did.

As much as he'd love teasing you immediately he isn't that cruel. He couldn't carry you but he's got plenty of people he can contact that can so expect to be carried off back to your place.

Then once you're situated in bed he'd go to tend to your injuries and would be surprisingly good at it.

As soon as he's sure you're all good and patched up though let the teasing commence.

He'd care for you as much as anyone else would but as usual with him, everything would be equally as endearing as annoying.

Maybe try to not get hurt with this one, or else you'll just subject yourself to his ridicule again.

Kaito

To say Kaito is loud is an understatement. Kaito can get so passionate and loud that he can give anyone a headache after enough time.

Normally that didn't bother you in the slightest. You were used to your boyfriend and his loud mouth but today was just not tolerable.

Your head was pounding and by the time you had complained he could tell something was up.

He immediately placed a hand to your head as though to mend your headache when he realized you had an entirely different issue.

Then Kaito's going to tote you off and complain all the way about how you're not taking care of yourself.

He'll plop you down on the couch or bed at your whoever's place is closer and then go to grab some stuff for you from the store.

He wasn't prepared for this at all but he doesn't do half bad attending to you when he's back.

He'll stay by your side as much as Ryoma would out of worry and probably would fall asleep with you without realizing.

Eventually, you'd be better Kaito wouldn't be lucky, coming down with the same sickness himself.

Now it's time for him to act like he's a big baby or he's dying.

At least you can tell him that he didn't take care of himself now.

Kiibo

Kiibo would never intentionally hurt you. He's way too sweet and too weak to possibly pose that much of a threat in the first place but he would blame himself so much just for you tripping over his foot and hurting your leg.

How could he do such a thing!?

He'd try his hardest to guide you to the nearest place to sit while researching the best course of action for your injuries.

Once he's decided on what is the best for you that's when he's frantically leaving to get all the required materials and as equally franticly coming back to start to attend to your injuries.

As soon as he's done with that, then he'll remain by your side as closely as Ryoma and Kaito just not sleeping with you.

He doesn't want to possibly hurt you anymore and would be prepared to do anything to help you feel better.

Shuichi

A lot of the time Shuichi tries to ignore his better intuition due to self-doubt so it's not surprising that he pushed the possibility of you being sick to the back of his mind even after you told him you were having stomach pains.

He just thought maybe it was something way more minor than what he suspected and didn't want to alarm you.

However, as soon as you proceeded to get sick that same day he soon regretted that decision.

He'd be the most distant physically speaking but that doesn't mean he's less attentive than Rantaro or Kiibo.

He's just trying not to catch it so that he doesn't give it back to you. He'd owe you that at least after flubbing things up earlier.

He'd be very attentive the whole time you're bedridden, bringing you whatever you need whenever you need it and offering to go to the store whenever you need more and it'd be pretty effective.

He might not believe in himself but he does know what he's doing would work well for the two of you. You're feeling better and he's not sick either. It’s a win-win situation.

[cerezsis]

The Missing Link

Chapter Five: Kirima

Summary: In the midst of one of the words chapters of her life, Korra gets some advice from an old family friend.

WARNING: This chapter contains mentions of gore and thoughts of suicide. Tread cautiously if you are bothered by either of these topics.

--

           The cold arctic wind was sharp against Korra’s skin, but she found herself unable to care. Having only just arrived at the compound, all she could think about was how little progress she’s made over the last few months. All she wanted was to be free of the chair, free of the nightmares that plagued her all these months, and, most of all, free of feeling like a failure. It seemed like no matter how hard she tried, though, the universe was determined to keep her stuck.

           She only vaguely processed her parents saying goodbye as they dropped her and Naga at the healing hut. Opening the door, she was surprised to not immediately see Katara. Hearing the waterbending master’s voice, she wheeled herself into the next room, Naga following her. She quickly found Katara, along with another woman whom she immediately recognized.

           The other woman happened to glance up, her light blue eyes landing on both Korra and Naga. Her face fell and brown skin paled upon seeing the polar bear dog; Korra half expected to see her dark brown hair to turn completely gray right then and there. Seeing her expression, Katara turned around just as Korra started to speak.

           “Chief Kirima,” the Avatar’s voice was tinted with guilt as she spoke to the local chieftain, “Sorry, I didn’t know you were here.”

           Kirima managed a nervous smile, trying her best not to focus too much on Naga. “No, don’t be sorry. I didn’t realize how late it’d gotten.”

           Katara stood up. “I’ll take Naga into the other room. I need to get a few things ready before we can start, Korra.”

           Korra nodded, and just like that, she and Kirima were alone. The older woman’s body immediately relaxed, returning to her usual stern yet approachable demeanor. She began to stand up, and Korra noticed something new in her hand.

           “You’re using a cane now?” she asked, noting its bright blue color, and running wolf for a handle.

           Kirima shrugged. “I don’t really need it, but Buniq’s been insisting on it,” she explained, “Ever since I fell ill around the Glacial Spirits festival… she worries a lot, and it puts her mind at ease, so–” She tossed the cane in the air, letting it spin before catching it again. “– I figure it’s worth it.”

           Korra nodded, a slight hint of a smile crossing her face. “So, you’re doing better now?”

           “Much. It wasn’t too serious, just age and old injuries catching up to me.” She walked closer to Korra, stopping only when she was a few feet away from her. Kirima had always been a towering woman, but in her chair, Korra felt especially small compared to her.

           “Speaking of which, I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” Kirima said, her hands folded on top of her cane, “How are you doing?”

           Korra didn’t answer right away, unsure if she could even answer at all. As the silence dragged on, Kirima nodded, her eyes falling in sympathy.

           “I see.” She grabbed a chair and sat down, now on a more equal level with Korra. “I understand what you’re going through, believe me. I was in a similar situation when I wasn’t much older than you.”

           Korra didn’t reply, but looked to her with intrigue. She knew what story Kirima was about to tell – she’d heard the summarized version more than once – but had never heard it from Kirima herself.

           “Fire Lord Zuko and his daughter, Izumi, had come to the South on a diplomatic mission. My family had been living here for a couple years at that point, so they were staying with us. I had plans to go hunting, so I asked Izumi if she’d like to come with.” She smirked. “I honestly didn’t expect her to say yes. Didn’t think the Fire Princess would be up for something like that, but it was the polite thing to do. Surprise, surprise, she was all for it. Said something about it being a “cultural experience,” or something like that.

           “Anyway, we set out the next morning. I was an avid hunter at the time, so I expected it would take half a day at most. Get in, get the meat, and get out.” Once the words left her mouth, her face began to fall. “My memory gets fuzzy at this point. I remember spotting footprints and telling Izumi to stay put while I check them out. I’d just realized what they belonged to when…” She paused. “The next thing I knew, I was pinned down. She roared in my face, the polar bear dog, and I could feel her claws dig into my ribs. I remember feeling my blood soak through my coat, but strangely, I don’t remember pain. I must’ve been trying to shield my face because the next thing I knew…” She rolled up her left sleeve and pulled down her armband, revealing the still very visible scars. “…my arm was nearly bit clean through. I still don’t have much feeling in certain areas…”

           She paused to fix her sleeve and armband. “I think I blacked out at that point. Just for a moment, but enough time for Izumi to scare it off with firebending. I remember her standing over me and talking to me, but apart from trying to keep me conscious, I can’t for the life of me remember the specifics. Strangely, I also… don’t remember being scared. I knew I was bleeding out; I knew I was dying, but I wasn’t scared. It was more… of a peaceful feeling. Like, “this is it, I guess.” It’s strange. I’d always thought I’d fight at the end, but in the moment, it was just… acceptance.” She paused again, closing her eyes and letting out a breath. “I’ll always be in debt to Izumi for what she did that day. I was out at this point, but I was told later that she took off her own cloak, wrapped it around my torso, and sprinted with me back to town. I still don’t know how she got me back so fast. Adrenalin, I suppose. The healers said if she got me there even five minutes later, I would’ve died…” Her eyes opened, focused on the running wolf on her cane. “The next few weeks, I was randomly slipping in and out of consciousness. My parents and sisters said I’d talk to them sometimes, but I don’t remember any of it. Once I was aware enough, I was told the extent of my injuries; the polar bear dog had punctured one of my lungs, my liver, gallbladder, intestines, and completely destroyed one of my kidneys. To this day, I still only have the one functioning kidney. I’d also broken most of my ribs and damaged my spine. Aunt Katara ended up coming down to treat me herself, but even then, I was bedridden for months, and it was two years before I could walk again.”

           It was at that point that Korra’s stomach dropped. Two years? Was that how long it would take for her too?

           Before she could dwell on it for too long, Kirima spoke again. “You remind me much of myself, Korra. You always have,” she smiled as she said this, “And I know how easy it is to give into despair; to think you’ll never get better. That life will never get better. There were long stretches during my recovery when I wished the attack had killed me. I even considered taking my own life a couple of times. In the moment, I was so sure I was broken forever… but I wasn’t.” She stood up, once again towering over Korra. “I pushed through the pain – both physical and mental. I put in the effort. I recovered, however slowly it happened. And I can’t tell you how happy I am to still be here. Had I died, I wouldn’t have married my wife, adopted my son, become my town’s first openly gay chieftain… I’m glad I stuck around. I’m glad I survived.” She bent down, taking hold of Korra’s hands, and looking her in the eye. “You’re a survivor, Korra, just like me. I promise you that one day, you’ll wear that title like a badge of honor. The scars of what happened may always be with you, but they don’t have to rule over you. Even if it doesn’t feel like it now, you will heal one day. I promise you that.”

           Korra took a moment to process Kirima’s words. Healing… it seemed so out of reach. But… Kirima had done it. It was hard to imagine such a remarkable woman to have ever been broken, but perhaps… one day, that’s how others would view her too.

           Before Korra could even utter a thanks, Katara walked into the room.

           “Sorry for keeping you waiting,” she said, “We can get started now.”

           Kirima let go of Korra’s hands and stood up straight. “I better get going, then.” She touched Korra’s shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze. “If you ever need to talk, you know where to find me.” She then walked over to Katara and gave her a quick hug. “I’ll talk to you later, Auntie.”

           Katara grinned. “Give Buniq and Little Sokka a hug for me.”

           Kirima grinned back and nodded before leaving. As she left the compound, she once again tossed her cane in the air and let it spin a few times before catching it. Her thoughts still lingered on the young Avatar as she got into her car and started the drive home. Korra was only a few years younger than her son. So young, and already she’s been through so much. More than anything, she hoped she’d take her advice to heart.