#to be fair monkey brain also wants them to care for each other | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

its-kall-the-clown · 3 years

Note

14 Fluff for Red Son realizing he's nursing a crush on MK

As some context this is post redemption for the demon bull family. So Mei, MK, and Red hang out a lot together now. Red Son is also an idiot. XD

Also this isn’t my most polished work so sorry if it feels rushed.

prompt list

Stop that!! (Don't stop)

Rating: PG-13 for implied sexual interactions

"I think I'm sick"

Red Son admits to the ceiling of Mei's room. They were hanging out like they normally did on days MK was training with monkey king. She was playing some sort of retro video game and he was watching till he got bored and lay on her bed thinking.

"You got a tummy ache?" Mei teased, pausing her game and he huffs rolling his eyes, and sits up.

"Don't be ridiculous" he huffs out and crosses his arms over his chest.

"Okayyyy so what're the symptoms." Mei crawls from her spot on the floor and joins him in bed, sitting crisscrossed with her hand in her lap, and leaning forward eagerly.

"It's hard to explain… sometimes when MK is gone my chest hurts " he places a hand over his heart that was beating normally at the moment.

"And sometimes, when he's around, my hands get sweaty and it feels like I'm gonna throw up and…." He watches a wide unlearning Cheshire grin grow across his friend's face. He continues on, albeit, a bit more hesitantly.

"And….sometimes I can't talk right, and sometimes when he IS around my chest hurts also?" Mei was grinning so wide she was more teeth than she was girl.

"Why are you smiling…."

"OMFG!!?? You have a crush on Mk?!!!" She squeaks excitedly and rolls around in her back as she descends into what Red can only describe as absolute madness.

"What are you talking about??!" He sputters, Mei giggles a bit longer before finally pulling together and greeting him with a wide grin.

"Dude. Your like SO gay for him. 'My HeARt hUrTs WhEn hE’s not arOuNdddd~ " she mocks him in a fake tone and he growls hitting her with a pillow..

"Stop that!" He growls.

"SToP ThAt~" she mocks back and they devolve into a pillow fight on her bed. He girns when he hits her smug face squarely with a dragon stuffie.

Soon they lay panting on her bed and the dragon girl rolls onto her stomach poking him in the face.

"So. Crushing in MK huh?"

He grows beat red again and pulls a pillow into his face and groans.

"You should tell him."

Red son sits up with a smile.

"I should!"

"Yes!!"

"So I can tell him to stop making me sick!"

"Say what now?"

He turns to Mei with a feral smile. This 'crush' or whatever she called it could be fixed. If MK was the one giving it to him. He just needed MK to stop doing...whatever he was doing to make him feel like this.

"Hold on I think you are conf-"

"Thanks Mei!" He gets up and is off to confront the noodle boy as he hears Mei shout at him from her room.

"You're a fucking idiot!!!"

-----------

He storms forward like a typhoon. Red son is a force of nature that can not be stopped, nothing could yield him in his goal or hinder him in his path. Wild horses pulling chariots could not stop him, celestials in heaven would not dare stand in his way, and even his parents (by far the scariest force of all) could not persuade him to rethink what he was doing.

He pushes past the doors to Pigsy's noodles, shoves past patrons and ignores the warning shouts from the pigman.

he had one goal on mind

"Nyyyooodle boy!!!!!!" He bellows grabbing the attention to his problem. Those perfect expression color eyes meet him and the disease in his chest grows. He's in his training clothes, clearly on his way up to his apartment over the shop so he can shower.

Why did the idea of MK showering make his heartbeat erratically? Soft shoulders and cascading water off them…

She shakes his head back and forth now back on track.

"Stop. That." He growls out grinding his teeth together as steam leaves his ears. MK tilts his head slightly. The disease grows more in his chest and he hates it.

"Stop that!!!!" He points directly at MK feeling his hair sputter and spark as his temperature rises. He thinks his face is growing red.

"I'm….not doing anything?" MK gives him a sheepish smile, the kind that quirks up on one side and absolutely obliterates Red Son on the spot.

Like a crunchy fall leaf under the heel of a boot he's crushed.

Whatever motivation he had before it evaporates quicker than a drop of water in the Sahara desert.

"Y-your haven't heard the last of me!!" He makes a quick retreat, stumbling over his own feet and taking out one of Pigsy's tables in the process.

He exits the shop faster than he entered. He needed to regroup and strategize.

-----------

"SoooOOOOOo How'd it go?" Mei asked her eyes not leaving the screen, she's playing a different video game now, and she didn't even spare him a glance when he came back as if she predicted he would fail.

"Horrible!!! All it did was make this sickness worse." He throws his arms up and paces back and forth biting his lip. Mei doesn't pause her game this time, only continuing to mash buttons as he grumbles under his breath.

She lets out A long-suffering sigh and finally pauses her game.

"Dude. I know you're behind on the lingo and stuff but a 'crush' isn't a sickness. It means you like MK. As in you want to kiss him and stuff." she explains with a shrug unpausing her game and the sound of power-ups and pixelated men punching each other continues.

Red Son halts in his tracks

He pictures kissing MK. pressing his lips to the boy's soft adorable lips. He can practically feel the warmth it would produce. He pictures MK smiling into the kiss as they awkwardly bump noses. He pictures holding MK’s hand, squeezing it gently as they walk hand and hand. He imagines the feeling of MK’s hair between his fingers as he runs his hands through it.

He sucks in a gasp, his heart beating out of time.

Of fuck.

“I’m so screwed…..”

He feels Mei patting his shoulder, she paused her game again when he was fantasizing

“Yeah, you are. But at least now you can DO something about it.” she nudges his side and he blushes a bright red and he can hear her chuckling at him

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

“Can we talk?”

MK blinks back at him looking back and forth for a moment as if he was confused by his precence. Which to be fair he DID just enter through MK’s window while he was showering and was now waiting for him on his bed.

“Uhhhhh sure?” they rub the last remaining moisture from his hair with a towel before tossing it to the floor to be added to piles of laundry they had yet to do. Red Son didn't even curl his lip up at the slob-like behavior because HOLY SHIT MK IS SHIRTLESS!!!

Of course, MK didn't even seem to care that he was only wearing grey sweatpants in his presence. Red Son guilty looked MK’s chest up and down while they searched for a sleep shirt. Working out with Monkey King has been paying off because MK was sporting some muscle. He also had a few scars from battles that only added to how attractive he was, and of course, there were the two faint top surgery scars under his pecks.

“Is this about your weird episode in the shop today?” they asked pulling him from his guilt ogling and MK pulled a shirt over his body. Damn what a shame.

“Mei says I have something called a ‘crush’ and I should ‘tell them how I feel’ in order to make the pain in my chest go away,” he explained using quotation marks with his fingers to punctuate himself. MK’s eyes widen slightly and then it's schooled quickly. They join Red Son on the bed.

“O-oh? Have you told them?” MK squirms in place and keeps his gaze cast down. He looks uncomfortable, no. he looks upset? Why would MK be upset? Was it because he broke into his room again without permission?

No not that. Although he will have to apologize later

“I’m working on that part,” he explains scooting closer to MK and he grabs one of their hands gently. This felt stupid, and he thinks his sickness will kill him with how quickly his heart is beating. He was terrified and all his symptoms were amplified by ten.

He looks into MK’s espresso-colored eyes looking for something. He loved those eyes. They showed so much in them and he SWORE they could change the whole lighting of a room.

He opens and closes his mouth like a fish out of water with his false starts. Eventually, he clears his throat and releases his confession.

“Umm well...MK. I h-have a crush on you.”

he shuts his eyes and waits for the rejection, waits to hear MK laugh with their head back and shove him away.

None of that comes.

He peaks an eye open to find MK’s face a bright scarlet red. Was that a good sign? Or was MK so angry at him that he was just building up anger inside of him like a volcano ready to blow.

“ I w-will leave now.” he pulls away ready to retreat with at least his dignity still in tack. He's pulled back violently and soft lips are smashed to his. He lets out a surprised whimper and absolutely melts into the feeling. His brain is electrified and static all at once.

He kisses back hungrily grabbing MK by the waist and pulls him closer. When they are running out of air only does MK pull away with a little breathless gasp.

“Stay the night?” They requested, placing a soft kiss to the juncture of his neck and he can’t find a single cell in his body that would possibly say no. He nods numbly and MK kisses him again a smile on his lips that he could taste.

----------

“MK GET UP! YOU ARE LATE AGAIN!!”

Pigsy burst down the door jolting the demon awake from his peaceful slumber, his arms that were previously wrapped around MK pull away quickly in the process. He thinks he could stick to the ceiling with his claws like a cat in a cartoon if he jolted just a little higher.

The covers are yanked off them both before Red Son even has time to protest. Thank gods they both put underwear back on when they finished satisfying each other. Red Son is completely and thoroughly exposed to MK’s boss, bitemarks, and hickes across his chest snitching on him.

Red Son and Pigsy meet eyes and he feels a sweat break out across his neck. Pigsy sighs and pinches his snout. He sucks in a deep breath and lets it out through his nose.

“I don't know what happened here... And I don't WANT to know. Tell MK he’s got ten minutes to get downstairs.” Pigsy turns on his heel and leaves slamming the door behind him. Red Son looks over to his now-boyfriend who’s mouth hangs open with drool dripping down his face.

MK slept through all of it.

He can’t help but chuckle and kiss their forehead gently.

#lego monkie kid #monkie kid #MK #Red Son #spicynoodleshipping #Red Son may not be the sharpest cookie in the box #thats it. thats the sentance #wrtting prompts #prompt ask

112 notes · View notes

waitimcomingtoo · 4 years

Text

Where We Start Again 2

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

Synopsis: how do you fake date someone you have real feelings for?

Series Masterlist and Regular Masterlist

Playlist by @tiny-friggin-human

“This is my room.” Peter weakly gestured to his bedroom as you walked through his door. His eyes were immediately drawn to everything he needed to hide as you began to look around. He kicked a pair of boxers into the closet and threw a hoodie over the vials of web fluid on his desk. When he looked up at you, a smile dawned on his lips. You stood out in your mini skirt among his nerdy ambiance, but you didn’t look out of place. You noticed him staring and tucked your hair behind your ear nervously.

“What?” You asked, feeling a little self conscious under his gaze.

“Nothing. I just like looking at you.” His lips moved faster than his brain and he was defenseless to stop the words from coming out. Luckily, you found it sweet and gave him a small smile.

“Star Wars bedsheets?” You nodded towards his unmade bed where tiny green Yoda heads dotted his sheets.

“Those aren’t mine.” He scoffed playfully, watching as you took a seat on his bed. His throat tightened at the thought of your bare legs on his sheets. The skirt he’d fawned over so many times was on his bed right now, and he was beginning to panic.

“Uh huh.” You humored him and ran a hand over his pillow. “They’re very soft. You should thank whoever they belong to for taking care of them.”

“I have your laundry- oh! A female.” May was startled by your presence when she came to Peters open door. Peters eyes widened when he noticed she was holding a few pairs of his boxers in her hands and prayed you didn’t notice too. Unfortunate for Peter, you had manners and got up off his bed to shake Mays hand. You shoot Peter a look when your eyes fell on the pile.

“Hi Mrs. Parker. I’m Y/n.” You said politely as you shook her hand. May looked between you and Peter with a surprised expression.

“Y/n L/n?” She asked and you nodded.

“Yeah, that me.” You told her. Peter looked up at the ceiling, silently cursing God for what was happening in front of him.

“It’s nice to finally meet you. Peters been telling me about you since freshman year. You’re the one with the skirt, right? Oh, you’re wearing it now.” She laughed spritely and handed Peter his boxers. “You were right, Peter. It is a nice skirt. And please, call me May.”

Peter knew a nail in the coffin when he saw one. There was no coming back from what May just said. You were gonna think he was a creep and your fake relationship would end before it began.

At least you sat on his bed, though.

“Thank you, May. It’s from H&M and I hear there’s a sale right now. It kinda matches your nails. They’re so pretty.” You told her and she looked down at her nail color. Peter did a double take between you and May. For some reason, you weren’t running out of his apartment in fear.

You were giving his Aunt shopping tips and nail compliments.

“Oh, wow. It does. And thank you. I just got them done but of course this one didn’t notice.” She gave Peter a pointed look before returning her attention to you. “I think I’ll go check it out. I’ll leave you kids to it.” She winked at Peter before closing the door.

Peter braced himself for an abrupt end to your newfound relationship as you turned around. Instead, you had your arms folded and a surprised smile on your face.

“Have you been talking to your aunt about me?” You put yourself hand over your heart like you couldn’t believe it. Peter opened his mouth to apologize, but decided against it when you didn’t show any signs of disdain.

“However did you know?” He replied sarcastically and got a laugh out of you. So you didn’t want apologies, he thought. You wanted humor. “I hope you know, you just witnessed the most embarrassing moment of my life.”

“Well if I know anything about women, she’s gonna be at H&M for a while. You don’t have to worry about her coming in here to embarrass you and drop off your Scooby Doo boxers.” You picked up a pair from the pile he was holding and dangled it in front of his face. He snatched them away from you and quickly stuffed them in his drawer.

“Give me those. They also aren’t mine.” He lied and you held up your hands in defense.

“I believe you.” You insisted and walked over to his LEGO Ferris Wheel. He joined you, standing next to you in silence for a moment as you admired it.

“Ruh roh.” You muttered and his head snapped to you.

“Hey.” He whined. You leaned into him as you laughed, making his breath hitched in his chest when you touched him

“I’m sorry. How does this thing work?” You returned your attention to the Ferris wheel. Peter took a moment to admire the wonder in your eyes as they trailed over the bricks. He pushed a button on the side and it began to move.

“Effervescent.” You said flatly at the anticlimactic way it worked. Peter watched you fondly as your eyes followed the LEGO man and woman in one of the carts.

“What made you want to come over?” He asked suddenly. “Do you have to do community service or something?”

“No.” You said like it was a crazy thought. “I wanted to hang out with you.”

Peter was taken aback by this answer and thought for sure you were lying. He looked at you skeptically as you watched the Ferris wheel.

“Why?” He asked. “And how has nothing you’ve seen so far made you want to stop hanging out with me? You know, the boxers, the bedsheets, the aunt.”

You leaned against his book self and looked down at your boots as you shrugged.

“The boys in our school show up hung over, smelling like mango juul pods and hotdog water. They sleep through class and pelt spit balls at each other at lunch. And I’m pretty sure half the football team hasn’t made the full transition from monkey to human yet.” You said as you kept your eyes down.

“These are all things I already know.” Peter said when you didn’t answer his question. You looked up at him and shrugged slightly.

“You show up in button downs and cute sweaters, smelling like apple shampoo. The one that can get in your eyes and won’t sting. You pay attention in class and build LEGO desk lamps for the science fair. And you give people your gogurt.” You said timidly. The corners of Peters mouth turned down as he fought a smile, as well as the urge to scream into a pillow.

“Well she packed me an extra one.” He reminded you and you rolled your eyes. You walked away from his bookshelf and over to where he had set the LEGO lamp down.

“Can I help you glue the legos down?” You changed the topic. “It’ll go faster with two people.”

“Sure.” He nodded and joined you at his desk. He took a vial of web fluid from under the hoodie and handed it to you. “Here.”

“What kind of glue is this?” You asked as you examined the vial.

“Oh, uh, I made it myself.” Peter stammered as he pulled up a chair for you. You gave him a grateful smile and took a seat.

“You made your own glue?” You asked him once he sat down next to you at the desk.

“Yes?”

“You’re incredible, Peter.” You shook your head and started glueing pieces down. “Out here making your own glue. Elmer’s is quaking.”

Peter took a moment to collect himself before he started glueing the pieces together. Everytime he thought he did something lame, you liked it. And not only that, you praised him for it. All the things that made him unpopular were the things you seemed to enjoy. He was curious about your intentions and could only hope they were good.

“The fair is this Friday, right?” You peered at him through your lashes as you focused on sticking a piece to the base.

“Yeah, right after school.” He replied, freezing momentarily when your pinky touched his.

“I’ll be there.” You said definitively. He stopped what he was doing and looked at you to see if you were joking, but you looked completely serious.

“You don’t have to. It’ll be really boring.” He said softly but you dismissed him.

“Then I’ll hang out by you the whole time.” YIU said simply. “What kind of fake girlfriend would I be if I wasn’t there to watch my boyfriend win the science fair?”

The tips of Peters ears turned pink when you called him your boyfriend. As much as he’d love to have you cheering him on at the science fair, he didn’t want to make you do something you didn’t want to do. He was about to insist that you didn’t have to go when he stopped himself. Something about all the impossible things that had happened today made him want to go against his normal behavior.

“It’s every boys dream to have his fake girlfriend watching him awkwardly tell judges about his science fair project.” He said instead of telling you you didn’t have to come. You seemed like you wanted to, and he’d love to have you there. Why not let it happen?

“I know, right? How’d you get so lucky?” You tossed your hair off your shoulder and winked at him. Peter has gone from never speaking to you to you winking at him three times in one day. You were right. How did he get so lucky?

“Are you sure about committing to this whole fake dating thing? If you’re at the science fair with me, more people are gonna know. It won’t just be between you and me and Flash anymore.” Peter warned you. You stopped glueing legos and looked at him.

“I am sure. I want to do this. It’s just until the dance right? I can dedicate two weeks of my life to mess with Flash.” You insisted as you put your hand on top of his. He tensed up so you quickly drew it away and cleared your throat. “We should probably come up with nicknames for each other to really sell it. What do you want to be called?”

Still recovering from the hand holding incident, his mind was blank.

“You pick.” He said blankly.

“Thank God. I thought you were gonna say “my lord” or some shit.” You laughed and went back to glueing. “How about baby? Nice and simple.”

“Sounds good.” He smiled shyly. He wasn’t even on your radar this morning and now you were calling him baby.

“What do you want to call me?” You asked. The hope in your eyes made Peter determined not to disappoint you.

“Daisy.” He said confidently. You raised your eyebrows at his quick response.

“You had that prepared.” You remarked and he rubbed the back of his neck.

“I see you drawing daisies on your notes all the time.” He admitted. “And then you color the center with yellow highlighter. It’s cute.”

“Good eye, baby.” You emphasized the pet name for effect.

“I just have a good view, daisy.” He did the same. You pulled your tongue between your teeth and giggled. The sight of it made Peters knees weaken as he glued on the final piece.

“You should give me one of your shirts or something so I can wear it to school.” You said as you got out of your chair. “Do you have anything that says your last name on the back?”

Peter got up from the desk and dug around in his closet for his decathlon hoodie. He made sure not to touch the area where his suit was hidden.

“Would this work?” He asked as he held it out to you. You traced your fingers over the bold white block letters and smiled.

“That’s perfect. And here.” You slipped your scrunchie off your wrist and gave it to him. “Wear this on your wrist. I wear it a lot so people will know it’s mine.”

Peter put it on his wrist and thought of all the times he’d seen you wearing it. He loved it when you wore your hair up. And down. He loved it all.

But so did the rest of his school.

Guilt bubbled in the pit of his tummy at the thought of what the fake relationship could do to your reputation.

“You really don’t have to do this, Y/n.” He said softly. “You’re committing social suicide.”

“That’s not a thing.” You stated as you tied his hoodie around your waist. “And I told you, I’m happy to do this. Flash needed to be put in his place. I always hear him picking on you over nothing.”

“Yeah. He’s a real piece of work.” Peter shoved his hands in his pockets and blew out a breath.

“You pronounce “dick head” funny.” You smirked. “Why do you let him get away with what he says to you? How do you resist the urge to punch him in the face?”

“He’s not worth.” Peter shrugged. “I want to get out of here and go to a good college. I’m kinda depending on scholarships and I hear schools prefer kids who don’t get into physical fights with other students.”

“Well you’re very patient.” You complimented him as you stepped closer. “I see him beating up on you all the time.”

“Are you stalking me?” He teased and you shoved his shoulder.

“Says the boy who tells his aunt about my mini skirts.” You shot back before pulling your bottom lip between your teeth.

“Touché.” He squinted at you. “You know, you could’ve just told him to back off. Now you’re stuck pretending to be my girlfriend.”

“Would you stop?” You pouted as you sat back down on his bed. “I don’t feel stuck. I think this is gonna be fun.”

“Not that I’m not enjoying looking at legos with you, but wouldn’t you rather be spending your time with your actual friends? Not your fake boyfriend?” He asked as he took a seat beside you. You took a rubix cube off his nightstand and toyed with it, solving it almost immediately.

“Wanna know a secret?” You asked him as you handed him the solved rubix cube.

“Tell me.” He urged.

“I hate those people.” You laughed sadly. “All of them. Everyone who cares more about what brand you’re wearing than how your day was. I don’t think I’ve ever had an intelligent conversation with any of my “friends”.”

“Then why do you hang out with them? And how was your day?” He added to make you laugh.

“It’s a lot better now.” You said as you drew your knees up to your chin. You had shed your boots at some point and Peter could see your mismatched socks. “And I hang out with them because they count on me to. I don’t know when I became the cult leader around here but now they don’t leave me alone. It’s like, you have to be at this party and you have to wear a dress by this brand unless you got it from this store because that’s cheap. And you must wear your hair this way and drink this alcohol and know this song. It’s exhausting. That glue smells like flint stones vitamins, by the way. It’s all over my hands.”

“I didn’t realize being popular was so trifling.” Peter replied as he reached for a bottle of web dissolver (disguised as hand sanitizer) on his desk and offered it to you. You held out your hands and he squirt some in.

“I know how it sounds.” You said lowly. “I know that people would kill to have my status. But no one in my circle is happy. They’re running on 10 shots of expresso and fake smiles.”

Peter took what you said into consideration as he watched the solemn expression on your face.

“Are you unhappy?” He realized. You had said no one in your circle was happy, and he worried that included you.

“Sometimes. A lot of the time, actually.” You admitted and his heart sank. “I know it looks like I have a lot of friends, but I don’t have a single one. Not one who cares about me or checks on how I’m doing, anyway. I would give up my dozens of fake friends for one real one.”

You kept your eyes down as you spoke to hide your emotions, but Peter couldn’t ignore it. He tried to redeem himself from earlier by putting his hand over yours.

“I care about you.” He promised. “And I may be your fake boyfriend, but I’m your real friend…friend.”

You gave Peter a half smile and flipped your hand so you were holding his instead of just under it.

“You know, this is the first time I’ve done something after school that I actually enjoyed.” You told him.

“We could hang out more, if you want.” He suggested, not thinking you’d actually say yes.

“Yeah, totally.” You agreed, much to his surprise. Your smile seemed different to him, more genuine.

“To convince Flash, I mean.” He added quickly. Your face faltered a little and you took your hand away from his.

“Right.” You gave him a tight smile. “Flash.”

“I need to talk to you.” Peter whispered harshly the next morning when he found Ned at his locker.

“Is this about you walking home with Y/n? Everyone’s talking about it. People are saying you took her to an alley and killed her.” Ned recanted the rumors he heard with excitement.

“What? I didn’t kill her.” Peter defended. “She wanted to come over to see my legos.”

“Oh wow. And I had Tia and Tamera over to bake me a loaf of bread.” Ned said seriously.

“I’m being serious, Ned.” Peter sighed. “Flash was making fun of me and she just-“

“Peter!”

As soon as Peter turned around, you jumped into his arms and wrapped your legs around his waist. He quickly wrapped an arm around you to keep you from falling as you hugged him tightly. When you let go, he could see you were wearing his hoodie over a jean skirt. It reminded of of his sleepless night as he couldn’t get over the fact that his bedsheets now smelled like you. He tossed and turned all night with a smile on his face, too giddy to go to sleep. He didn’t even care when he heard the birds chirping, signaling that he had never fallen asleep. Nothing could break his smile.

“Good morning, baby.” You cooed as you kept your arms around his neck.

“Baby?” Ned sputtered. “Big confused.”

“Haven’t you heard? Peter and I are dating.” You smiled brightly as you linked your arm through Peters. A huge grin broke out on his face at your display of affection as Ned’s eyes bulged out of his head.

“Fake dating.” He said to calm his friend down.

“Semantics.” You replied quickly. “If anyone asks, we’re together.”

“That’s what I was trying to tell you.” Peter explained when Ned still looked shocked.

“Look! I’m wearing your hoodie.” You pulled the hoodie forward so Peter could see.

“And I have your small headband.” Peter held up his wrist to show you where the scrunchie was.

“It’s called a scrunchie.” You giggled. You took his hand and held it to your chest. “We look so convincing. Ned, don’t we look like a couple?”

“I’m having network connectivity problems.” Ned mumbled as he struggled to understand what was going on.

“Wait. I forgot I have to talk to the student council about the dance decorations.” You remembered. “See you at lunch?”

“Have a good day, s-sweetheart.” He stuttered out a new nickname he had always wanted to call you.

“Sweetheart? I like it.” You twirled yourself under his arm before walking away. “Shaking things up.”

Peter and Ned watched you walk away, Ned with his jaw slacked and Peter with his eyes soft.

“Dude.” Ned breathed.

“I know.”

“You have a fake girlfriend.” Ned said in disbelief. “And it’s Y/n.”

“I know.”

“You’ve been in love with her for years.” He whispered.

“I know.”

“She is way out of your league.” He looked at his friend.

“I know!” Peter exclaimed. “Do you think people are gonna buy it?”

“I don’t know.” Ned answered honestly. “Why did she agree to this? You didn’t try to kill her in an alley did you?”

“No, Ned. This was all her idea. She asked for my hoodie and gave me this little skirt for your hair.” Peter held up with wrist with the scrunchie again.

“It’s called a munchie, Peter.” Ned rolled his eyes.

“Well she gave me hers so people would know she’s my girlfriend. Or fake girlfriend. I don’t really know the details.” He sighed but broke into another smile. “She came over yesterday and God, she’s so much better than we thought. She’s funny and a good listener and everytime I thought I did something lame, she liked it. She liked me! This might be the greatest thing that ever happened to me, Ned.”

“But is this really what you want? You’ve liked her since the first day of school when her dad almost hit you with her car and she started crying.” Ned reminded him. “Do you really want your first relationship with a girl, especially this girl, to be fake?”

“MJ was right, Ned. A girl like that will never be interested in someone like me. This is the only chance I’m gonna have with her. And yeah, it’s a fake relationship. But it’s a real friendship. I’ll take what I can get if it means I can be close to her.” Peter decided.

“I don’t want you getting hurt, Peter. If this ends badly, it’ll crush you.” Ned said sincerely.

“I know what this. I know she’ll never actually like me. As long as I keep reminding myself that, I’ll be fine.” Peter insisted.

“Okay.” Ned patted his back. “If you say so.”

“Don’t-“

“Didn’t even notice. No punches there to roll with.” Ned began to sing as he walked down the hall. Peter kept his distance as he followed him to class, already thinking about the next time he’d get to see you.

Peter waited a lifetime for the lunch bell to ring. The best parts of his day were when he got to see you. Those parts were the morning if he got to his locker on time, lunch, 7th period, and after school when you had Volunteer Club. They met right across the hall from the Decathlon team and of Peter angled his chair correctly, he could catch a glimpse of you.

He kept his head up as he headed to his table, always on the lookout for you. He spotted his hoodie a few seconds before you made eye contact.

“There you are, baby.” Your eyes lit up as you made your way over to him. “Come on. Let’s eat together.”

Peters heartbeat quickened as you lead him towards your usual lunch table. It was already full of popular kids, the very popular kids that Peter feared.

“Your friends won’t like me.” Peter protested to save himself from 40 minutes of torture.

“No one at that table likes each other, Peter.” You laughed but he sensed a sadness in your voice. “Let’s sit with your friends then.”

You pivoted away from the cool kids table, earning yourself a glare from every inhabitant. It struck fear in Peters heart, but it didn’t phase you. You linked your arm through his again and led him towards Ned and MJ’s table.

“Are you sure?” Peter asked nervously as he made eye contact with an angry quarterback.

“Yes. Come on.” You tugged him harder until you got to the table.

“Hey guys.” You greeted Ned and MJ as you sat down. Ned looked up in shock and the water he was drinking fell out of his mouth.

“Girl?” He asked Peter, reverting to his inability to speak around you.

“Yes, girl.” You chuckled. “Come sit with us, Michelle.”

“Fine, but only because this cannot end well.” MJ picked you her stuff and slid next to you. You handed her her daily granola bar and she took it with a sly smirk.

“Flash is coming.” Ned whispered and you quickly took Peters hand. You leaned your head on your other hand and stared at him with a dreamy smile as Flash walked by. He shot you guys a look and pretended to gag before walking away.

“He totally bought it.” You squealed as you watched him sit down. “We are so good together.”

Peter nodded stiffly, his full attention on the fact that you were still holding his hand.

“Are you in the science fair too, Ned?” You changed the subject but began to trace patterns on Peters palm. It took him a moment to realize you were drawing daisies.

“No. I’m not.” Ned replied and everyone perked up.

“He just said a full sentence.” MJ realized.

“Yay!” You released Peters hand to clap softly. His hand felt cold without yours holding it and he felt disappointment sink in. He thought he’d be okay as long as he reminded himself that the relationship was fake, but he wasn’t. He wanted to hold your hand all the time, not just when Flash was around.

“Why not?” You asked as you opened up your lunch bag.

“I usually just hang out by the snack table until Peter wins. Then we go to Delmars and order a sandwich with every single ingredient on it.” He explained. “It wasn’t that bad until they added tuna to the menu. Tuna really doesn’t go with peanut butter and hot sauce.”

“Haha, he’s kidding.” Peter lies and shot Ned a look. “We don’t do that. That would be absurd.”

“I have this really strong feeling that you do do that-“

“Do do.” Ned chuckled.

“-and it sounds fun. Is it cool if I tag along this year?” You asked Peter, slipping your hand back into his. Peter looked at your intertwined hands before looking to Ned for approval.

“Girl welcome.” He nodded until he realized he was doing it again. “Damn it.”

“Of course you can come.” Peter made the decision when Ned was no help. “But I have to win first.”

“I’ve seen your picture in the display case the last three years. Come on, you had the robotics arm, the homemade spinneret, and the thing with the flies.” You surprised Peter by listing his lady entries. “This solar powered LEGO lamp is gonna blow the judges away. You’re gonna win. My boyfriend is the smartest guy in school.” You gloated as you moved some hair off Peters forehead.

“You know your don’t have to call him your boyfriend around us, right? We’re not the ones you’re trying to fool.” MJ cut in. Peters has tightened at MJ’s interruption.

“I know.” You said timidly and took your hand away from Peter again. He huffed out an angry breath but kept his mouth shut. If you could take his hand, he could take yours.

“She can do what she wants.” Peter said decidedly and laced his fingers through yours. You smiled proudly at him and squeezed his hand.

“Thank you, baby.” You said, happy he was taking initiative. “What are you doing after school today?”

“You’re in luck, Y/n. You chose the best possible boy to fake date. His schedule has been open for the last 18 years.” MJ jeered.

“Haha. Don’t you have a chicken to ritualistically sacrifice or something?” Peter shot back.

“Ooo. Witch joke. Original.” She whispered and twiddled her fingers like she was casting a spell.

“I’m not busy, daisy.” He ignored MJ and kept his eyes on you. “What did you have in mind?”

“I’ve been so busy planning the dance that I never got a dress.” You told him. “Would you come with me to pick one out?”

“Do I want to spend my afternoon watching you try on dresses?” He repeated your question back to you and you realized how boring it sounded.

“You don’t have to-“ You began.

“Hell yeah I do.” He cut you off and you smiled. “Where do you want to meet?”

“If you walk me home after school we can go from there.” You suggested. Peters mouth dried out at the thought of going to your house but he forced himself to nod.

“Okay.” He squealed.

“Shoot, I almost forgot. I have to meet with Mrs. Carlisle about the DJ.” You packed up your lunch and cupped Peters chin. “I’ll see you later?”

“I’ll be at your locker.” He nodded as your thumb slid off his chin.

“Good boy.” You smirked. “Bye Ned. Bye Michelle.”

Ned waited until you were out of sight until he freaked out.

“Dude! She invited you to her house! She totally wants to jump your bones.” He whispered loudly.

“Why would she jump on my bones? Like my skeleton?” Peter asked innocently. “You think she want to kill me?”

“How is the hottest girl in school interested in you?” MJ shook her head. “Especially when you ask questions like that.”

“Shes not into me. We’re fake dating.” Peter reminded them.

“And who’s idea was it to do that?” MJ cocked her head. “Because she called me yesterday to tell me all about your little plan.”

“Yesterday you were saying I’d never have a chance, and today you’re insisting that she’s into me?” Peter asked in confusion. “Wait, she called you? About me?”

“I hadn’t seen you interact before yesterday. She was doing girlfriend shit when no one was watching. Not even you! Check your notebook.” MJ grumbled and angrily took a bite out of her granola bar. Peter curiously opened his notebook and found a pink slip of paper inside. He opened it up and read it out loud.

“This is my favorite color on you. Have some sweet tarts, for my sweetheart. See you after school.” He read the note and held up a fun sized packet of Sweet Tarts.

“She put that in there when you were too busy staring at the jocks.” MJ told them. “Now tell me, why would she sneak candy into your notebook entirely out of Flash’s view? Who does that convince?”

“I love sweet tarts.” Peter muttered as he stared at the note. Even your handwriting was pretty.

“Everyone knows that. Remember when you had to go to the nurse freshman year on Valentine’s Day because you ate 18 packets?” Ned brought up.

“I don’t remember that.” Peter mumbled, trying to think of what Ned was talking about.

“Because you were sent home for going into a sugar coma.” MJ snorted.

“Wow.” Peter raised his eyebrows. “I never knew that.”

“Well she did. And now she’s sneaking you candy.” MJ said and laughed in disbelief.

“What’s so funny?” Peter laughed defensively.

“I think Y/n actually likes you. And I think that hilariously paradoxical.” She laughed again.

“What? No.” Peter didn’t allow himself to have hope, even for a minute. “She doesn’t like me. She’s just faking.”

“You’re going to her house today right?” MJ raised a single eyebrow. “See how she behaves. If you acts like your girlfriend when no one is around, you’ll know she isn’t faking.”

“Okay.” Peter decided, figuring he had nothing to lose. “Okay. I’ll do that.”

Peter stationed himself at your locker directly after school. He kept MJ’s advice at the front of his mind as he waited for you to arrive. All he had to do was observe you. He did that all the time anyway. Only this time, it counted. He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans and let out a breath.

“Baby.” He heard your sweet voice from behind him. He turned around and saw your equally sweet smile.

“Ready?” He asked as he took the books from your hands. You gave him a puzzled look and he explained. “I’m carrying your books for you. My uncle told me to do this when I got a girlfriend. I figured he’d still appreciate it, even if our relationship is fake.”

“He sounds like a smart man.” You said kindly and Peter nodded.

“He was. I’ll tell you more about him on the walk.” He offered and you smiled like you liked the idea. “Lead the way.”

Tag List 🏷

@a-villain-vying-for-attention @wendaiix3-blog @dorbiksbitch @t-monosapiens-h @badhollandfluff @silteplaittais-toi @thisisthebiplace @seasidecrowbar @spideygirl2003 @5-seconds-of-mendes @bitchylittleredhead @oh-whatabeautiful-parker @everydaymj @write-from-the-heart @blackpetalsmeandeath @electraheart-3174 @shawni-h @peterparkoure

#peter parker x reader #peter parker x y/n #peter parker x you #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker imagine #peter parker x popular!reader #peter parker fake dating #tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #iron man #tom holland fluff #tom holland fanfiction

1K notes · View notes

ashintheairlikesnow · 4 years

Text

Fish

For @whump-advent-calendar‘s day 4-6, Burn/Candles

CW: Referenced medical whump and dehumanization, light burn (accidental), captivity, muzzling, drugging reference, reluctant whumper turned caretaker

---

BAHRAM’S NOTES NOTE TO SELF - SAVE IN EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE. DO NOT LET DR. L SEE.

October 22nd, 20XX 3:45 am Mer in Residence: 19 Days

It’s time to admit I’m more or less keeping a diary at this point as I get to understanding him. So far I’ve written separate notes to myself… for ten or so straight days of the nineteen we’ve had him here, and it’s getting harder to write the official transcriptions the way Dr. L wants me to.

Dr. Lachlan insists I call the mer ‘it’, that it’s to help me distance myself emotionally since it’s such a good mimic of humanity, but I don’t think it’s a damn mimic, I think it’s just… human.

I mean, obviously it’s not HUMAN, but… Miah spelled it out for me, we had an argument about this when he first got here. She gets so angry that he’s getting hurt and you know, I guess I believed Dr. L - mer aren’t my specialty field, I’m a snake man really, I don’t know the first bloody thing about fucking cetaceans.

Anyway, I said to her at the time, “It’s not human.”

She told me, “Maybe not H-U-M-A-N, but P-E-R-S-O-N,” just like jabbing me in the chest afterward. Also, Miah can fingerspell in a way that really makes you feel like a six year old getting yelled at by your mother, for the record. I can’t describe it any other way. I was ready to just melt away from personal embarrassment before she even finished signing “person.”

That’s not the point of this.

I didn’t start a diary just to tell myself how right Miah is about all of this, but hey, here we are.

I need some days off so badly.

Miah wasn’t around today, it’s really just been me and the mer - I’m off for four days coming up here, after 20 days of work, and she’s going to come in and do 24-hour watch until I’m back. It’s not so bad - I don’t really know anyone here, and the bed’s comfortable enough. Dr. L’s paying rent on my apartment so I won’t lose it while I’m working, anyway.

I still feel like some low-level henchman, though. Like any moment some asshole in a tank top is going to show up with guns and I’ll just be a faceless evil stepping stone before the boss fight with Dr. L.

I mean, we all know that Dr. L’s going to be the boss fight, right? Anders would just like lay down or throw Miah in front of himself or something.

No, that’s not fair, he really does love her.

Bahram this is all hypotheticals about a video game. Get back on track, man.

So Miah must have gone shopping or something. She came back with a bag full of these candles from this bookstore she really likes. I mean she came back with an insane amount of books, too, but she had this candle she pulled out and put down on my desk.

She set down the candle - it’s this really nice deep blue and has some kind of like ocean scene painted on the label, like, isn’t that thematic - and smiled at me. “This one reminded me of what we’re doing,” She told me, and her signs were… softer. Her expressions were softer alongside them.

Does that mean… anything? I don’t know. She just put it on my desk and then wandered off. I thanked her but I had to take her shoulder and get her to look at me, first. Maybe her face was a little red.

Maybe not.

We keep the tank room pretty warm, I’m sort of cold-natured and the mer seems more active when we keep the lights really warm, so…

I don’t get why she bought me a candle and why she looked away before I could thank her for it. I don’t get it, and I feel like I should, but I don’t. Is she not looking because it wasn’t a big deal, or because it was a big deal, or… what?

I really WOULD sink into the floor if Dr. L or Miah ever saw that I wrote this. Get it together, Bahram. You are not writing a diary about Miah fucking Kirsse.

It’s been just me and the mer, all day. Dr. L was gone, too, meeting with whoever’s funding this whole thing. She’ll be gone until next week, so there’s no real work getting done, for now. Just blood draws.

She’s showing them its claws she took off. I don’t know why. Honestly, I have such a bad feeling about this, but I needed the cash and nowhere else was hiring for a job that would give me room and board and still time to work on my own research. Not that I’ve done a bit of THAT in a week.

I get too distracted by the mer.

He swims in circles. He stares at nothing, or pokes the plastic coral and ferns we got him, or hides in his cave. I can switch the screens over to watch the camera feed from inside the cave, but he doesn’t do much in there, either. I caught him picking at his scales, and I need to ask Dr. L about that. She took three scales off his tail, which for the record I had nothing to do with (whose record? I’m writing this to myself, and what the fuck does it matter about scales when I’m the one sticking the damn needle in his elbow twice a week), and I caught him sort of whistling sadly and picking at the empty spaces.

They’ll grow back, Dr. L says. She’s not worried.

I am.

A little.

I’m starting to think Dr. L is lying about a lot of things, and I’m not sure what to do about that. If anything. This is a job, and I get paid better than I’ve ever been paid in my life. So… what do I do?

I could call the hotline and report him. It’s anonymous.

She’d know I did it.

I don’t know why, but… I don’t want her to know it was me. Cowardice, I guess. Pure bloody cowardice.

But Miah hasn’t emailed the hotline, either. We can’t both be cowards, right?

Anyway.

Tonight was tank cleaning, which is a bloody fucking chore. Anders was around long enough to help me get the mer tranq’d and into the lift and then the rolling tank where he can just sit until I get my work done. Poor thing just lolls around when he’s tranq’d up. Barely blinks.

Doesn’t stop its fucking crying, though.

We took a lot of blood from him today, too, so he was very weak. Barely moved, just curled himself up small so he was totally in the water and watched me work after Anders left. We’ve got a scrubber machine that does the hard work, I just have to hose some things down and then make sure its filter is still operating correctly. Watch the scrubber. Whole process takes about three hours from start to tank totally refilled, as long as I do it weekly. It’ll take much longer if I let it slide.

Double-checked the camera in the cave, and when I walked out of it I saw the mer’s head was up, watching everything I was doing. He dropped right back down under the water when he saw me looking at him. The muzzle looks so monstrous on him, but more than that, it makes him look like a monster.

Maybe Dr. L doesn’t muzzle him to keep us safe, but to keep me from seeing his expressions while I’m here with him all day.

No, that’s stupid. She doesn’t even think he’s sentient, right?

I finished up, and when I came to roll him back to the lift, I saw he’d popped his head up out of the rolling tank and was looking around the room itself. He hasn’t really looked around at all before this, and he was still tranq’d but maybe I fucked up the dosage? Because he was pretty alert, kind of whistling to himself and giving little chirps and clicks. He sounds like some weird mix of killer whale and fucking otters or something. When he saw me, he flinched back down under the water, but I had this idea.

Dr. L took his claws, and he’s still muzzled except when he’s on the table or when he eats, so like, it’s not like he can hurt me, right?

His eyes had gone to my desk, looking at… I guess all my books and papers and my laptop and everything. Maybe the candle. I waved my hand around until I saw that he was watching me again. With those big eyes it’s hard to tell exactly what he’s looking at, but when I clapped my hands he blinked at me, so I know he can hear it, can see me.

Then - and I swear I’m not lying - he moved himself up out of the water, and put his palms together. His earfins twitched out and back against his scalp, and his white hair dripped water all down his shoulders.

He cocked his head at me. Then he put his hands together, harder this time. He clapped, and then… he clicked.

I KNEW it. I KNEW clicks were questions. Dr. L said their brains don’t work that way, but I bet they do. Who’s even considered how their brains work? Maybe they’re just like us. All the studying I’ve been doing shows that the scans we’ve done of dead ones are pretty similar in overall size and placement of their center of language. They’ve shown that mer populations have their own dialects if they don’t interact with each other, like the Atlantic transients sound totally different than the Pacific transients, which sound different than the residents that stick close to the coastlines up by Alaska...

Making my own head hurt. I don’t even care about fucking mammals, but I guess I do now.

“That’s right,” I said when he clapped, not like he can understand but still. I said it, and I clapped again, and he clapped back. “Can you give me your head? I’ll take your muzzle off, yeah? If you don’t bite.”

Dumbest fucking idea ever, but hey.

I think maybe he knows the word muzzle, because he whistled and shrunk down again, lowering his hands. His ear flaps flattened again. I saw the deep red marks around his neck, from how we have to use the catch-pole to get him out, and I just. I just felt like shit, you know?

I’m shit, that’s what I am, we’re torturing a child, more or less, who hasn’t done a thing to anyone but be by himself because he lost his bloody fucking family. I can’t keep telling myself I’m not the bad guy, you know?

I’m going to jail if I report him, aren’t I? I helped bring him in, after all. There’s my whole career down the drain.

Is this how it felt when everyone was being shit to monkeys in the 70′s and calling it psychology? Did some of them just go along with it because they thought they had to?

This is not helpful, Bahram.

I sat down at my desk and tried to figure it out. His eyes were on me the whole time. I looked over at Miah’s candle, and looked at the label. Like I said, ocean scene. Fronds and ferns and…

I turned the label to face the mer, and tapped on the image with my finger. “Fish,” I said, feeling dumb as hell. I told myself, it’s a bloody animal, Dr. L would roll around laughing at you for this.

But he came back up out of the water. There was a long moment, and I heard him click, and then a soft, “Sssshhhhhh,” sound came from behind his muzzle. They have lips like ours, although their way of communicating is basically whalesong and relies heavily on underwater acoustics. He’s louder in the tank than out of it, although I guess fear might make him quiet, too.

The recordings I found on youtube they get in the ocean are deafening loud. Their voices travel so well underwater, it’s amazing. People sell fucking CDs with mersong over piano to fall asleep to.

I poked at the ocean scene on the label again. “Fish,” I said firmly. “Do you want fish?”

He knows fish.

I KNOW he knows fish because he sat up, held out his right arm, and tapped his elbow with a blunt-edged, broken-off claw before he looked back at me, trembling with fear. He clicked again, twice.

I can’t even tell you how shit I feel, realizing he was asking if I was going to take his blood first. That’s what he meant, it has to be. He poked at the exact spot where he’s bruised up from the needle.

But it makes sense, right?

He’s been here twenty days, more or less. Every couple of days, when he’s hungry enough, we bribe him with fish to get the pole on him, take blood or whatever else, and then he eats.

No, WE don’t take his blood. I take his blood.

He thinks - and he’s fucking thinking, I know he is - that he only eats if we stick a needle in him.

I’m hurting a child.

I’m teaching a child to be hurt.

I’m not religious but this feels like the sort of thing you ask for forgiveness for, doesn’t it? I should call Maman and ask her who I could talk to. I’m going to call Maman or Baba tomorrow.

No I’m not.

What would I tell them I need to speak to someone about?

What if whoever I speak to calls and reports him, and Dr. L knows it was because of me?

I need to stop thinking about this.

“No, NOT draw blood,” I said, and he whimpered again, held out his arm further, closer to me, tapped his elbow again. I knew he could still hurt me - their strength is prodigious, the first time we got him out of the tank he nearly pulled Dr. L down into the water with him - but I decided it was worth the risk.

I kept thinking, he’s more scared of me than I am of him, but you know, of course he is. He’s the one with bruises.

I stretched my own arm out and showed it to him. He flinched back a little, and then leaned forward again, sitting in the little rolling tank that’s barely big enough to hold him. His blunt claws touched my arm, delicate as a feather, clicking as he poked at the sleeve of my sweater.

“No draw blood,” I said. “Just fish. Eat.” I mimed chewing.

He looked at me and clicked twice, cocking his head, then looked at my candle from Miah, pointing at the ocean scene. “Ffff-sshhhh,” he said, muffled.

“No, that’s a candle, it just has fish painted on it. Candle. Fire. Yes?”

Blank stare.

Then, repeated, “Ffff-sssshhh.”

I sighed and pulled out my little lighter. I don’t smoke or anything, but I hate the way matches smell, so I have a lighter on me basically all the time. Plus, having lighters was a pretty good way to make friends back in undergrad when I gave a fuck about that.

I flicked on the lighter, and the mer chirped, curiously.

Has it never seen fire before?

Why would it, it lives in the ocean. Don’t be a dumbshit, Bahram.

“Fire,” I said, and held it out a little for a closer look. “Fire.” I tilted it and lit the candle, and the mer leaned forward, rapt, as the wick sparked up to flame and I blew the smaller flame on the lighter out.

“FFfffff,” The mer said, barely audible. It clicked and held out its hand, and I wasn’t fast enough.

“No, wait stop-”

The mer’s fingertips touched the flame and it let out a deafening loud cry of pain and jerked its hand back down into the water, whimpering at the new kind of hurt, looking at me like it was MY fault, and maybe it was. Eyebrows furrowed, little crease in its forehead, big sad eyes.

The big sad eyes are wrecking me.

“Well, don’t touch fire and you won’t burn,” I said, shaking my head. “No touch fire. Fire bad. Fire burn.”

He held out his hand to show me. “Ffff-rrrrr.” It was a plaintive little breath of air, not quite a real sound.

The ends of two fingers were a little dark, that’s all. I could explain that by saying he’d hurt himself in the tank, maybe. I shook my head and pointed at the water, and it put its hand back in there, huffing a little breath of relief, I think. The water probably helped with the sting.

“Right. Fire bad. No fire.”

“Ffff-rrr... buh-ddd.”

“Right. Fire bad.” I stood up and walked over behind him, and he tried to turn and watch me but I shook my head and pointed back at the candle and he sort of huffed again and looked away. I felt him tense when my fingers touched the back of his head, but he sat still.

Probably because if he struggles when she goes to take the muzzle off or gets her fingers near his mouth, Dr. L has this electricity stick thing…

I’m not supposed to mention that in the transcripts.

I’m not supposed to mention how he screams, and he doesn’t sound like a whale or an otter, then. He doesn’t sound like an animal.

He sounds like a child.

He IS a child

He’s just

I’m a fucking

No. I need to focus. This is stuff I can’t tell Dr. L, I need to write it down here where it’s safe.

The muzzle is easy to get off, you just need to be looking right at it, and I unbuckled and pulled it free, feeling a little resistance from how well it stuck to his face. Without it on, there are deep red lines along his cheeks and jaw, not open or bleeding, just irritated.

He didn't grab at me, or bite. Just watched me with his big eyes as I laid it down on my desk. For a second we were both just quiet, looking at each other.

Then he pointed at the candle again. “Ffff-sssshh.”

“No,” I said. “Candle. Fire.”

The mer’s eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head, echoing what I did earlier. His hair slapped around. His teeth look like shark’s teeth up close, only there’s a lot less of them. “Nnnn-nnnuh,” He tried, shaking his head again.” Nnn-uh. Ffff-sssshhh.” Then he pointed at his mouth, opening wide, showing me the tongue behind his teeth. “Fffff-sssshhh. Ffff-ssshhh.”

I laughed, covering my mouth - he seems to be scared when we show too much teeth, probably in the ocean it’s a threat and they don’t smile like we do. Which, why would they?

But, see, I realized that he wasn’t pointing at the candle at all, but at the fish painted on it. Then he moved to look at the bucket of fish he gets as a reward for obedience, and pointed at that, then looked back at me to see if I was paying attention.

Of course I was. I was barely fucking breathing. This is signs of abstract thought process, recognizing that the image of a thing isn’t the thing itself. That he can point at it to represent what he wants. “You want fish? Is that it? You’re hungry? Want to eat some fish?”

The mer blinked and made a sound like a chirp, clapped his hands together. “Rrrrr. Fff-sssshhh.” He pointed at his mouth again. “Ffff-ssshhh. Buh-rrrrmm. Ffffsshh.”

“What did you say?” I whispered. My heart went cold. I can’t describe it any other way.

“Buh-rrrrmmmm. Ffff-sssshh, Buh-rrrmm.”

The bloody thing knows my fucking name.

He knows we have names and he knows mine and that means-... that means he has one, doesn’t it? If he has a name, if he has

I’m his fucking nightmare aren’t I

I’m the worst fucking thing that could happen to him, me and Miah and Dr. L and Anders and this is a job but it’s the worst thing that’s happened to him and it’s only

It’s going to get worse for him.

He’s going to die here and he’ll know all our names when he does.

Anyway, so... you know... I brought him a bucket of fish.

What else was I supposed to do?

He knows my name!

He let me put the muzzle on him again without fighting after he finished, and I got him back in the tank once the water was refreshed, and he’s sleeping off his meal now. I can see him on the feed, curled up inside the cave.

But I’m wide awake, so I thought I’d write this, because…

Because what the hell do I do now?

I can’t tell Miah.

Can I?

---

@astrobly @burtlederp @finder-of-rings @slaintetowhump @moose-teeth @misspelledwitch @whumpfigure @whumptywhumpdump @boxboysandotherwhump @whumpywhumper

#whump #mer whump #nonhuman whumpee #wac2020 #fire #burns tw #burn #mer whumpee #reluctant whumper #caretaker and whumpee #reluctant caretaker #caretaker whumper #referenced torture #tail whump #referenced #captivity #muzzled #muzzle #forced drugging reference

160 notes · View notes

random-bi-writer · 2 years

Note

loving those little found family headcanons you're making with Monkie Kid. I want to see the list.

Sure! Fair warning, some of these are jokes that I took seriously later on.

Okay! Here it is. I might make an au of this.

Wukong and Macaque are brothers who the LBD married at the same time. They're cool with it.

Ne Zha is also their brother.

LBD gave birth to two children, Mk and Bai He. Mk is Wukong's kid while Bai He is Macaque's. They still treat the other as their own.

They have a messy divorce. LBD got Mk and Bai He missing.

Wukong pretends he doesn't care about the kids missing, but secretly looks for them.

Macaque is bitter and spents his life trying to piss Wukong and looking for his children.

Pigsy founds Mk all alone and adopts him. Later on, he meets Tang and his daughter, Mei. The two adults got marries, making Mk and Mei step siblings.

Sandy is Pigsy's older adoptive brother.

Red Son is Mk's boyfriend. Their parents don't like the other at all.

Mk managed to reunite with Wukong and Macaque. The two monkeys end up competing with each other for Mk's affection.

LBD founds Bai He and she ends up having married for tax benefits with the Spider Queen.

LBD being part of this found family mess is supposed to be a joke that my brain won't stop taking it seriously. So please don't do the same as well.

#monkie kid

2 notes · View notes

dancingthesambaa · 3 years

Text

The Smell of Plum Blossom Tea Ch 8

Summary: Just like a butterfly wing, a single act of kindness can change the course of the future, it certainly did for MK as a black-furred monkey put out a hand towards him

Rating: Teen and up

Chapter 8: One By One

It’s been over a few weeks since the whole Bull King invasion and things have been pretty peaceful. The city has slowly begun to rebuild itself and people have steadily begun to go back to their day to day lives.

If there's one thing he can appreciate about society is that they always will keep going even when everything around them has been destroyed.

Macaque's own workload has finally eased up, the hospital didn’t anticipate that many wounded in that short span and wasn’t able to gather the materials. So, he has gotten calls from both Yanyu and some of the higher ups in the field for his assistance.

“This has been a pain in the ass,” he grumbled as he sat down on the couch with his cup of tea. “I really shouldn’t have let them off so easily for the fuckton of work they put on me.” His was then twitched as he heard a familiar/strange set of feet dashing their way towards him.

“Dad!” He sees his son, who had his jacket tied around his waist and staff nowhere in sight, smiles widely as he leaps to him and gives him a big hug, “it’s been so long!”

“Hey kiddo,” he was taken momentarily off guard by the hug, but smiled down at him as he petted his hair. “How was work?”

“Oh I didn’t go, someone is taking care of that,” he happily stated as he still held on tight.

Macaque blinked for a moment before he gave a small chuckle, “oh, is that so, well I was about to read and relax, you want to join?”

“Can you read out loud?” He cheerfully asked as he got himself comfortable on the couch as he laid down.

“Of course.”

“Yay!”

So Macaque began to tell the story of a blind girl and how she stood strong in the face of adversity and ridicule. He was in the middle of the part where the girl denies the deity gift of giving her sight when he heard the door slam open wide.

“Stay away from my Dad!/Don't worry old man, we're here!” MK and Mei respectively shouted out as they both held staff and sword out to fight the battle ahead, only to falter as they took in the scene of Mac sitting quite comfortably on the couch, while another MK laid on his lap with a content smile. “Uhhhh.”

“Took you long enough,” he said with amusement, “I was almost about to send a clone out to you myself.”

“Huh?”

“What? You don’t think I can’t tell a clone apart from my son?” He smirked as he patted the clone ahead, the only response was cuddling closer to him.

“You know?!” MK yelled out as he walked forward, still a bit cautious after his encounters with the rest of his clones.

He only raised an eyebrow as he showed off his shadow clone.

“Oooh, yeah that makes sense.”

“How come he didn’t attack you!” Mei threw her hands up in frustration. “I mean, come on! I had to deal with Portay MK and you have Mr. Cuddle Bug?!”

“Attack, Pfft yeah that's what usually happens during the first duplicate trials,” he said as he laid his book down.

“I’m sorry what?” MK has put away the staff at this point as he tried to sit next to his Dad, only to forget that the space was currently occupied by another him. He stared down at the clone laying in his spot then the clone looked up at him and just turned around and faced away from him.

“No,” was all he said as the next moment the clone disappeared and there sat the real MK with a wide grin, “so what was that about the trials?”

The six eared monkey raised an eyebrow at his son's actions as Mei wheezed in the background, “well usually when someone is learning the clone technique most of the time the clones would try to attack the user to prove their authority or their sense of identity.”

“That is actually terrifying,” he deadpanned.

“I thought you already knew this?” He questioned his son, who suddenly blushed.

“Well I may have accidentally learned I can do this,” he scratched the back of his neck as he laid on his Dad's lap.

“And you decided to test it out despite not knowing the consequences,” he sighed as he examined his son hair which was now sporting some very uneven ends and patches, “you even messed up your hair cause of this, I thought I taught you to not mess with magic unless you have me or someone competent in the arts.”

“I know, I know, but I just wanted some sleep and quiet!” He moaned out as he let the furry hands caress the knots and tangles in his hair, “I didn’t think it would lead up to this.”

“That’s how they all start,” he snorted as he felt Mei sit on his other side and lay on his shoulder, “so why don’t you tell me how this all began and tell me a bit more about your training with Wukong. I haven’t heard back on how that’s been going.”

“Training with the Monkey King is amazing!” He lit up as he talked all about his sessions.

Macaque silently listened to his son ramble on about his training sessions with Wukong and boy did that still send him reeling.

He still can’t believe that this is happening, that in all of these strange currents of events, Wukong actually made his son his successor. He still doesn't know how to feel about that cause, on one hand, damn straight his child can lift the staff no one has ever been able to before, he is so proud that he accomplished the impossible that mere words still can’t explain it. But on the other hand, Wukong recklessly decided to choose his son to be his successor despite his many enemies, does that idiot not comprehend the target he just placed on his back.

‘I swear I have half the mind to go up there and knock him silly for his complete ignorance…though how everything goes after that is the only thing that’s stopping me,’ Mac internally thought. ‘Who knows how he would react if I show up unannounced…probably would be just the sequel of our last fight,’ he bitterly thought. He has long accepted that his former friend probably wanted nothing to do with him anymore if they ever saw each other again.

“And then he goes on about how one must never- are you even paying attention?!” MK's voice broke out of his thoughts.

“Yeah I am, you were just talking about how your swings are easily blockable.”

“They are not that bad,” he huffed.

“You swing too wide comet/You hit like it’s a baseball bat,” both demon and teenager said.

“Okay, I may have a small issue.”

“And that’s why you're training,” he said as he took his hands out of his hair when he began to yawn.

“Yeah I know,” he sleepily said as he closed his eyes.

‘At least he is enjoying himself,’ he then focused his attention on Mei, who was also dozing off and began to groom her hair as well.

“Is that the best you got flame brain,” Daiyu cackled out as she flew higher in the air and dodged the fireball, “I met imps who were stronger than that-shit!” She felt a sharp pain explode from her back.

“Don’t you dare think you can outmatch me, little bird!” Red Son cockily stated as he twisted one of her wings and the two began to a downward spiral. “I have fought monsters thrice the size of you and remained victorious!”

“Not today's string bean!” She squawked out as she flips on her back as the two were falling so that the fire demon could break her fall.

It was a tense stand off as neither side gave in even when they were free falling, it was only when they were ten feet away from the ground did he jump off her. He hoped that this would have worked and broken a few of her bones, but alas it didn’t as she caught herself just before and stopped herself.

“Tch,” he clicked his tongue in agitation as he went in for another strike for her wings, only to get batted off.

“Ha, ain’t fooling me again Flicker! Or maybe that candle on your head is finally reaching its end!” She went for his neck only to get buffed by his hand grabbing her beak.

“I’ll show you who's reaching their end once I burn you into a fiery crisp that not even your brethren would want to feast upon!” He tried to keep her in his hold as he lit up, but she managed to kick free of his grasp.

“Ha! I like to see you try! My shithead brothers and sisters would eat everything and I’m not even counting the chicks that just hatched!” She flew up high and prepared for a dive bomb.

“Let’s find out!” His entire body began to lit up in flames as his eyes bore into her.

“They seem to be having fun,” Bohai said as he lazily watched them.

“Two people who like the thrill of the battle going at it, of course, they like this shit,” Minsheng scoffed as they laid down, “at least they're not doing battles to the death anymore, that usually gets bloody way too fast.”

“And leaves me having to deal with their injured asses,” Macaque grumbled as he petted the infant monkey's head.

“Your friends,” the jellyfish pointed out.

“I was forced into this,” he stated.

“And we’re still here,” the rabbit demon grinned.

“Unfortunately.”

MK and Mei, on the other hand, still couldn’t believe their eyes as they continued to see the arrogant demon that was trying to kill them happily fighting. Well the fight part not really, but the happy thing was a bit out of left field. They had walked into the sounds of fighting and, while still being very cautious as they remembered Mac and Ahmed's last fight, quietly tried to investigate what was happening. So to see this scene was a little jarring once they realized that the two were simply sparring with each other.

“Huh, I have to say this is the quickest redemption arc I have ever seen,” Mei mused, “not even a month ago he was trying to kill us and now he is all buddy buddy with Dad and his friends.”

“To be fair, I think they mentioned him before,” MK said.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” the said monkey popped in, “I have. I actually have known him longer than the both of you. His family sometimes would stop by for some items from time to time.”

“Huh, well that’s honestly not that big of a shock,” Mei pouted as they watched Red Son finally pin the vulture demon down.

“I told you, you can’t beat me! For I am Red Son, prince to the esteemed Demon Bull King and the mighty Princess Iron Fan!” He maniacally laughed.

“You're a prince!” He was startled out of it when two voices reached over to him.

“Indeed I am! Who dares step forward and-,” he stops himself mid sentence when he sees noodle boy and biker girl familiar faces. His face drops, “oh it’s you two.”

“Like I knew DBK was your dad and all, but it never occurred to me that you would be a prince with, well you know,” Mei hummed out.

“With what?” He growled the last bit out.

“With you being a reckless, two-bit side character that likes to leap before they walk,” she bluntly said.

“I am no mere Side Character!” He bowled out as his hair flame intensified.

“Aren’t you though?”

“I’m not”

“But you can be, like how I can totally be one as well.”

“I am no mere side character,” he spat out, “I am the antagonist that stands against the hero path! I am the flame of destruction that threatens to consume all! I am the prince of the feared and mighty who takes pride in oneself and all that they do!”

“…okay but aren’t some villains side characters?” She couldn’t help it, she was having way too much fun at this point.

“I AM NOT A SIDE CHARACTER!”

“I feel like we have gotten meta somewhere,” MK muttered out and then walked forward before Mei could say anything that would trigger the raging flame demon anymore. “Hi! I know we didn’t really introduce ourselves after…that, but I’m MK and she's Mei.”

“…Red Son,” he eyed the smiling boy in front of him, “and I already knew who you are, your father talks much about the two of you.”

“Awwww, fluffy head does,” Mei cooed as she turned to face Macaque, who was resolutely not looking in their direction.

“Wait, if you knew who we were, why did you attack?” The Monkie Kid couldn’t help but ask.

Surprising the both of them, the prince blushed a bit out of embarrassment as he muttered out, “I didn’t know it was the two of you in the first place.”

“How?!” Mei sputtered out. “Like we were probably screaming each other's names so many times?!”

“No! You peasants were just screaming! Nothing short of a name has ever come up in the middle of it all!”

“Wait-so that’s why you called me Noodle boy?”

“Noodle boy?” She snorted.

“Your biker girl,” he hissed out.

“Biker girl…hmm not that bad actually,” she put her hand under her chin, “though did you seriously just come up with that because of what we were doing?”

“Yes,” the demon unashamedly said.

Both humans looked at one another before they both laughed wildly.

“Hahaha! Holy shit, you are such a dork,” the dragon girl clutched her stomach.

“By the Gods, that is kinda adorable,” the monkey's successor was pounding his fist on the ground.

“I am neither a dork nor adorable!” The Bull prince roared out as he marched over to them in fury. “Take that back!”

“NEVER!”

“And thus the start of a beautiful friendship,” Macaque couldn’t help but say as the demon began to chase the two around.

“Yeah, I worked my back off for it,” Daiyu grumbled as she finally got off the ground from where Red Son was pinning her down. “That whole time I just wanted to throttle him at them just so I could feel my wings again.”

“Don’t worry, your wings have some use finally,” Minsheng couldn’t help but say.

Daiyu promptly smacked her wings against their head.

“What do you mean disappeared?” Mei asked MK when he rushed inside their super secret base.

“All I know is that they were shopping and now I can’t contact nor find either one of them!” MK freaked out as he gripped his staff. “What if they're in trouble?”

“Take a deep breath MK,” Sandy rubbed the human back, “we don’t know that, their phones could simply be out of batteries or they got lost talking to each other.”

“Even though they’ll never admit it,” he said.

“Exactly, but the shop isn’t open!”

That drew out sharp gasps as now they began to panic.

“He has never not opened his store before!” Sandy shouted as he gripped his hair.

“I think he’s been kidnapped!” MK screamed in agreement.

“I immediately fear the worst!”

Mei rushed over to one of the screens and began to type in a few things and up on the screen appeared both people talking to a lady.

“They haven’t been carted away to treacherous territories,” the giant sighed in relief.

“Oh thank god they're still shopping,” MK sagged in relief as he saw this, “wait Mei what is this?”

“I had cameras placed on all of you and you said this was creepy,” she has already lost her brother once, that was not about to happen again.

“That still is.”

“Oh look now they're following that nice lady, see they're just fine,” Sandy inputted as they watched the two slowly follow the woman shrouded in black when suddenly there was a trap that opened underneath them, “AH! I was wrong! I was wrong! This is bad! This is very bad!”

“Nightmare hole!” The twenty year old screamed out as Mei's eyes widened in shock, “what happened?”

“It looks like?” She began to enhance and zoom into the blurred picture and when it became clear it showed an eight legged spider lady standing above them all.

“A spider demon! Come on! No! Ew! Yuck! I do not want to mess with spiders of any kind! I hate spiders! Hate, hate, hate spiders! With their beady eyes and their creepy wiggly legs and their gross butt!”

“MK, right now that spider demon has our friends so you know what that means,” Sandy pumped them up. “It’s Operation save Pigsy and Tang from the Nightmare Hole!”

“Yeah!” Both teens pumped their fists in the air along with the cat.

“Should we call Macaque for backup,” Sandy asked as he started up the engine.

“Nope!” MK quickly said before Mei could, “we can do this on our own!”

MK slowly began to back away as the Spider demon loomed over him menacingly. She had managed to capture Sandy and Mei as well and only he was the last one standing. “I regret everything I said.”

“Aww, don’t tell me you're scared of spiders!” She said as she stepped into the light then that faint tickling in the back of his head finally eased up at the full reveal.

“Wait? I know you!” His jaw dropped as he saw just exactly who was standing in front of him.

“What?” They all shouted even Spider Queen who was stunned out of sheer confusion.

“No wonder you look familiar! Daiyu talks about you all the time,” MK stated as he lost some of his fear at the relief of finally knowing why she seemed so familiar.

Though as his fear was momentarily suppressed the Spider Queen was not as she blanched at the name, “you know Daiyu!”

“Oh yeah, she has a bone to pick with you after you ripped her off, she said something about wanting to pluck the meat off of your corpse after she gets done beating you to a pulp or something like that.”

“I am now concerned by that statement,” Pigsy said.

“Oh don’t worry, she’s a vulture demon,” Mei happily responded.

“That does not make it better.”

“Does for me sweetheart,” Tang smiled, “it makes sense for a vulture to go for a corpse because they are cartoons. It’s actually quite fascinating-,”

“Tang I love you, but please don’t say that as we’re currently being tied up like a lamb ready for the slaughter,” Pigsy begged.

“…what?”

The pig and human eyes widened at what both said, but luckily they didn’t have to say anything as the Spider Queen roared in rage.

“I may be a slicker, but I ain’t no sham when it comes to my silk! Tell that chicken legged, deep fried coward that I will personally send her down under if she even instigates that I would do that!” She roared in rage as she stood tall in MK, who promptly got scared once more as he realized what he just said.

“MK run!” Pigsy yelled out.

“Don’t need to tell me twice!” MK slid between the Spider Queen legs and he began to book it.

“Get back here little monkey boy!”

“I feel like I should tell Daiyu where Spider Queen has been hiding,” MK mused as they floated along the ocean.

“As long as I’m there, I really want to see her explode in fury before the bloodbath happens,” Mei snorted as she laid across the top.

“You know, I sometimes worry about you,” Pigsy looked at the young lady at that statement.

“Fuzz butt says that too.”

“Shouldn’t you listen to your doctor?”

“Shouldn’t you listen to what you said back at the cave, don’t you think just because we were tied up doesn’t mean I don’t have ears,” she teased as Sandy nodded.

“Wait, what happened?” MK looked at both of them in confusion.

Sandy leaned over and whispered what happened and the boy's eyes widened and sparkled with glee. “Ohohoho!”

“It was the slip of a tongue,” Tang said as he pushed up his glasses in nervousness. “Nothing more.”

“Yeah, what he said, just a slip of the tongue,” Pigsy twisted his hands.

“Some slip, some would say that it almost sounded like,” the twenty year old girl leaned in with a mischievous glint in her eyes, “an old married couple would say to one another.”

“WE ARE NOT A COUPLE!” They both shouted and they shared glances at each other only to catch a view of their red faces and promptly turn to face away from them.

“If you say so,” she backed off with her hands up.

“And we say so,” the pig crossed his arms.

“Very much so,” Tang copied.

Both Sandy and MK were in the background holding back their laughs as they could barely keep it together.

MK woke up to the shake of an earthquake and his whole world feeling off balance.

At first, he wrote this off as the aftermath of the earthquake as he quickly got ready for work as he prayed Pigsy doesn’t fire him. But as he walked down the street with his drink in hand he still couldn't help, but felt his whole world was just off balance, like everything was just missing a beat or so, it was the weirdest feeling.

“Maybe I just banged my head too hard, should probably ask Dad to check in case,” he muttered in his straw as he was about to yell out when he saw Mei standing in the middle of the road. “Mei, I’m glad you’re here!”

“Yes I am right here,” she grinned widely, “and what’s this about calling your Dad?”

“I don’t know if I have a concussion or something else, but something seems really off and I can’t put my finger on what,” he groaned.

“It’s nothing, just relax. Today is all about you.”

“Aren’t you usually the one who usually tells me to call him if things are getting too sticky to handle?” MK questioned as that off balance feeling was coming in full force.

“I am?” He could almost see her face contort for a brief moment before going back to her previous creepy grin, “I mean I am! But he’s probably busy doing stuff sweetie.”

“Sweetie,” he looked at her in pure disgust.

“I mean dear friend,” he never thought someone could grin that wide.

“Even when he’s in the middle of making medicine he always answers,” at this point he has begun to back up from Mei. He did not like just how off this whole thing was and it wasn’t helping that the crowd was just watching them.

“Don’t worry,” she ominously said, “I’m sure…”

“Macaque,” he supplied as he quickly got into position to bolt out of there as soon as he had the chance. This was definitely not Mei!

“Right Macaque will be just-!” Not just Mei, but the entire crowd of people's heads snapped towards MK.

“Did you just say Macaque!” They all yelled out.

“Yeah?!?” He was now more than freaking out as he looked for possible exits, he was not about to stay here a moment longer if he could. But then his whole world began to fade away as he saw the people just shake their heads and arms as they seem to glitch out.

“Nope, nuh uh, F this! Plan is officially done! Do not collect after Go! Finish!” He blinked his eyes as he saw that he was now in a shack and standing in front of him was a blue and orange demon. The blue one was just holding a jar of some kind, while the orange one was speaking.

“Done! Capital D.O.N.E! Done!”

“I think he gets it Jin,” the blue demon said.

“Well excuse me for being freaked out about this! Why aren’t you freaking out about this?!”

“Oh I am, one moment,” he said as he carefully put down the jar, “there we go….We freaking messed up so bad!” The demon began to panic, “like this is going to the top thirty bad.”

“Fucckkk!” Jin said as he gripped his hair.

“What is going on?!” MK yelled out his frustration as he collected the staff and kept a tight grip on it. “Who are you?!”

The two demons paused their freak out as they both dramatically posed.

“I am Jin!” The orange demon jumped up.

“And I am Yin!” The blue demon bowed low.

“And together,” they both said in sync as Jin landed on top of Yin back, “we are the Gold/Silver and Silver/Gold demons!”

There was a silence as both parties looked at each other before both brothers then began to fight over the name.

“It’s Gold and Silver nitwit!”

“No, it's Silver and Gold half bake!”

“Seriously, what is going on and why am I here?” He reiterated his point as that got the two to stop fighting.

“We heard about the great Monkie kid and knew he would be a worthy adversary,” Yin stated as he crossed his arms.

“Yes, so after our cunning plan we called out to you and you foolishly,” they both pointed to him, “answered.”

“…I was delivering noodles of course I was gonna answer,” his eyes twitched at the sheer ridiculousness of this.

“But you still answered and fell right into our plan to use you for our nefarious purposes!” Gin dramatically laughed.

“Until we knew that you were the Six Eared Macaque kid,” Yin added.

“Yeah before that,” he stopped his laughter, “we know we’re certifiably insane, but we ain’t stupid.”

“Yeah, we know better than to try to mess with what’s Macaque, I heard the last demon who tried that was tormented by him for a hundred days,” the blue demon shivered.

“I heard he once pulled the inside out of another demon just because he was having a bad day.”

“Well I heard he took on and defeated an entire army so that he could pass by.”

“I heard that he can suck some demon body and soul into a cursed item and make them fight for him.”

“Oh that one’s true,” MK butted in as at this point he sat down as he realized that they were not even a threat, just very amusing.

Both of them shivered as they looked at him in horror, “wait really!?”

“Yep!”

“Check that rumor off as being real,” Jin groaned as Yin held out a rather large book.

“Already on it.”

“What’s that?” MK asked.

“Oh it’s just a book with basically any rumors we happen to come across,” Yin proudly showed off, “most of them are probably not true, but it is amusing to hear. Like this one, it’s rumored that the Demon Bull King lost his horn after he insulted a deity and it broke off from sheer embarrassment after she had slapped him silly for a couple of hours.”

“Snrk!” He let out a sputter at the sheer ridiculousness.

“The Celestial Heavens is actually a conspiracy used to hide the good alcohol, cause if that shit was freely given the whole world would be gone.”

“Pffffft!”

“That we are actually all standing on a hand right now, but we just can’t see it.”

“Hahahaha!” MK let it out as he clutched his stomach. “These sound so stupid!”

“I know right!” Jin grinned, “that’s why we record them, cause they sound just so dumb!”

“They really do,” the Monkie kid said as he got his laughter back in control and sat back up, “so you're not gonna try to capture me again?”

“Like we said before, Monkey King is one thing, but we ain’t messing with Macaque. If you think Monkey King has a grudge, you should see that trickster when he really has time to think and plan on revenge,” the orange demon said.

“Ain’t nobody gonna get in his way,” the blue demon finished.

“Good!” He should probably ask about all his Dad’s revenge stories sometimes, he knows they would be good ones then a thought occurred to him as he scrunched up his nose. “So, why did you have Mei call me sweetie?”

“Ask Jin,” he pointed to his brother.

“Well, I thought since you guys are childhood friends and all you have feelings for one another, you know, like in the books and all that,” he shrugged his shoulders.

“Crush?! On Mei?! Grosss!” He yelled out as he can almost feel himself puke at the thought, “Yuck! No! God no! She is basically my sister!”

“I told ya.”

“You didn’t tell me shit.”

“Don’t fucking cuss around kids,” Yin hissed out.

“Well you should shut your damn trap!” Jin snarled back.

“Least threatening villains ever,” MK muttered to himself, “Wait? Did you seriously try to invoke the childhood friends trope? Like in romance novels?”

“Yeah!” Jin proudly stated.

“You read romance books?”

“You don’t? They are the best kinds of books with all the drama that surrounds them, the clashing of emotions, the tightly packed metaphors that can be placed in one paragraph to describe someone’s eyes. It's simply awesome! Have you read them?”

“Not really,” he admitted.

“I can give you some recommendations! Then we can-”

“Nope,” Yin drew his brother back, “we are not about to have a repeat of last time. Remember how you burned down the bookstore?”

“They deserve it for saying Ballad of the Desert was overrated,” he growled out.

“True, but we were supposed to be on the down low after nicking off with some bastard goods, I did not like having to run around with the gang on our asses, so we are leaving,” he deadpanned.

“Fineee!” He groaned out as the two suddenly stood upright and raised their hands. “We will meet again one day, Monkie Kid!” Then they threw down what was in their hands and a plume of smoke appeared in their spots.

“Bleh,” he waved the air around him as he heard a laugh and turned around to see them in the street.

“Hahaha! We’re the greatest tricksters!” Gin said with his arms crossed once more.

“Ever! Also please don’t tell Macaque about us trying to capture you! Thank you, bye!” Yin finished as the two disappeared in a flash of smoke for the final time.

MK could only stare at the empty space in pure shock as he tried to process just what happened.

“…I’m just gonna go back to the shop,” he gave up as he begrudgingly walked back to his car.

#lego monkie kid #monkie kid #mk #macaque #six eared macaque #mei #monkey king #PlumTeaAU

16 notes · View notes

vegalocity · 3 years

Note

Since you requested peachpig from me. How about peachpig with hugs 29, kisses 15 and 29?

Affection meme

29. hugging while slow dancing

15. soothing kisses

29. hushed conversation in-between kisses

Ngl @tigerseye46 I REALLY like your Dark Peachpig stuff so i hope you don't mind terribly that I’m using that as a basis. Its a diverging 'what if' so that should help lol

It was... kind of embarrassing that he hadn't figured it out on his own.

Though to be fair, It wasn't like he had ‘magic truth seeing eyes’ like His part-... His ex-...His hus-... Like Sun Wukong did. And this world was kind of… made to throw him off balance, and with that everything else followed.

Waking up in the middle of the night to a knocking on his door wasn’t...something he was particularly used to of course, But it wasn’t wholly unfamiliar. Of course with the rain pounding down in sheets (Did the weather machine break again? That thing was so damn buggy what was the point in having it?) he couldn’t hear any telltale noises from the other side of the door other than the insistent knocking itself.

He was expecting Xiaotian, maybe Xiaojiao. At Most Strange, Red Son. Mystic Monkey Business, Panic attacks, ‘I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go’ He’d seen a fair amount of the kids on his doorstep before with a fair amount of reasons for their presence. And you know… he figured it would probably be easier to take care of one of the kids right now than to deal with his own emotional garbage anyway.

And then he opened the door and his entire thought process derailed with Sun Wukong standing there, in his true form (the same as his casual form but at least a head shorter than him) fur soaked and heavy from the rainfall, and very visibly choking back tears.

“Wukong…” he’d curse the tremble in his voice but his brain wasn’t quite working right now, so consumed with shock he couldn’t do much else but stand there. Wukong was trembling, from emotion (As surely he’d handled far colder weather) and as the Monkey King took a deep breath as if to steady himself, Pigsy wanted nothing more than to kiss the misery right off of him.

But that wouldn’t be welcome right now, would it?

“Pigsy… Can we talk?” His voice cracked with emotion and Pigsy felt he was helpless to do anything but stand aside and let the Monkey in.

“Are you alright?” what a stupid question. Wukong laughed bitterly in response.

“Not really…” He sniffed and Pigsy wanted again to comfort him, but, again, confronted that he’d probably make it worse. “Look, all of this stuff… it’s been a lot and my head’s been all over the place this whole time but I can’t play the denial game anymore just because I want to be miserable.” Wukong scrubbed at his eyes. “And we need to talk, like WOW do we need to talk. But honestly?” He shrugged, helplessly. “I just miss you.”

And.. this honestly felt like some moment at the end of a cheesy romance movie, and yeah they really did need to talk about everything. But in that moment, now that he knew he could, All Pigsy was interested in, was giving in to the urge and kissing the misery right off of Wukong’s face.

And after that they did talk, extensively, the fact that a fair bit of it involved the two of them clinging to each other and sharing far softer kisses on the couch as the rain continued to pelt against the windows was beside the point. Wukong stayed in his smaller form, Pigsy only asked about it briefly and Wukong only responded that he’d just really prefer to be held over doing the holding right now.

It was… odd at first, Wukong seemed to be under the impression that he needed to make the majority of the apologies, that somehow the whole ‘Being Zhu Baije’ Stuff was more important than Wukong knowing the initial purpouse of their relationship (before Pigsy had realized, before he’d known better) and playing along anyway; but he also seemed to easily accept it when Pigsy began to trade his own apologies.

They both had stuff to apologize for, and he was just glad he was finally given a chance to.

Then for a time they’d simply cuddled, allowed the wounds to heal in eachother’s presence. Pigsy had nodded off again at some point, but by the time he woke up it was still dark out, the rain still pelting the windows. He was alone on the couch but he could hear a familiar rummaging coming from the kitchen. Though it was probably late enough that there was no point in trying to sleep again, he figured he should just start the day properly by now.

It seemed like Wukong was of a similar mind because just as he’d properly sat up and stretched the monkey returned from the kitchen with a few cut up peaches, the bowl sat between the two of them as a simple breakfast.

“What time is it?”

“Early.”

They ate in silence, sweet, blessed, comfortable silence. He hadn’t wanted to fantasize about it from how much he’d been afraid it would never happen again but now that it was back, he found himself positively basking in it. When Wukong leaned to the side just enough to rest his head on Pigsy’s shoulder it was more than he’d expected would ever happen again.

This whole thing must have started earlier than he thought because just as he was starting to get restless the sun was no closer to creeping over the horizon. And it seemed like Wukong was getting restless at about the same time too.

“Okay I’m getting bored of being tired and sad.” He finally stated, standing up and stretching. “Lets do something nice, we haven’t done something nice since any of this started.”

“What do you have in mind?” Wukong thought for a second before grinning at Pigsy, a proper, happy grin that, after so much sad had just transpired, made his gut flip in and his face feel hot. He rushed over to Pigsy’s media setup and fiddled with things there until soft music began to play.

Wukong shook his head twice and with a puff of golden smoke went back to his preferred taller size, most likely so while Pigsy was still sat on the couch he could look suave as he offered a hand and grinned down at him. “Dance with me?”

And you know, maybe if they hadn’t just gotten back together he would deny how well that actually worked, tease him for being a cheesy dork. But as it was he just accepted.

The rain had made Wukong smell a little different, not by much but… different. And he wasn’t necessarily sure if it was a good change or not, but he felt the same, the soft caramel fur had long since dried and was gentle against his skin, he felt his tail coil its way around his hips and had practically encircled Pigsy in his warmth.

It was sad that things had to go over the way they did, but he supposed if they hadn’t then this wouldn’t feel quite as good. The ache had finally given way, Zhu Baije was quieting down in his head now that things were as they were supposed to be again.

It was, for lack of a better word,

a perfect morning.

And then there was a shake, a crack like a splinter of wood a blinding light-

"Dadsy! Are you alright? I'm gonna KILL those two idiots..."

-and it was gone.

Send me stuff

#Peachpigshipping #Peachpig #tigerseye46 #lmk Pigsy #Lmk Sun Wukong #letters to Vega #Vega writes stories too #affection meme #turned angsty lol #Edit: HEY TUMBLR FUCKED UP MY INTRO PARAGRAPH AGAIN

14 notes · View notes

yea-no-thank-you-nope · 3 years

Text

The Philosophy of Dr. Stone

My intentions for this essay are not to try and persuade you into thinking Senku is an awful person and whoever thinks like this is selfish and childish. I’m very sorry if I did come across as that. I do believe Senku is right in some aspects like the whole “leveling the playing field” thing and the curiosity humans naturally have towards science. I just think that everyone should not be unpetrified, that there should be laws in place on science to make sure it’s not unnecessarily cruel or harmful, and that in this situation it would be better to try and rebuild humanity better than in the past. Both Senku and Tukasa are flawed in their way of thinking. Humanity cannot survive with only one in power, shaping the world to what they want.

Now I wanted to say this at the start but I absolutely love Dr. Stone, this essay is not a barrage of the story and how it’s garbage or anything or that anyone is. This is not an attack but an invitation to a discussion. I’m making this essay because I appreciate the story and think it is so incredibly interesting. This essay is constructive criticism so the story can be better and so people can discuss the topics and the opinions they have of them, basically just an excuse to make people talk about this awesome story. I also have not read the manga, I’ve only watched the anime so if you decide to respond please do it very vaguely. I’m fine if you talk about the new arguments brought up but not ok if you spoil the show so please be careful.

I’m going to begin with psychology because that’s my jam and I obsess over psychological topics and discussions. I am by no means a professional but I haven’t heard anyone point out or talk about the ideas and opinions I have, so I’ll just do it. The psychology in Dr. Stone is incredibly thought provoking and makes the audience take a close look at their society and the people around them. What would you do if all of humanity was turned to stone and when you wake up all evidence of humans has corroded away except for the statues of said people scattered everywhere? What would you do if the world was basically reset, including humanity? What would you do?

That in-and-of itself is exiting. It's fun to think of what you would do in such an radial situation. With that the audience can automatically empathies with the cast of characters and their versions of how they decide to handle the situation. Senku’s choice is to unpetrify everyone and bring humanity back to the modern age. This may be what most people would do, I don’t know for sure but I haven't heard a lot of people who actually disagree with his point of view so I’m just assuming. This is like the textbook, basic ideology a human could have. All humans have that basic instinct to save as many people as possible, it just makes sense. This and the fact that Senku is google reincarnated makes him the perfect protagonist for this story. People may not be able to empathies with a scheming scientific genius but they can empathies with his desire to save everyone just like in any other Shonen anime. It’s easy to think this way and it's understandable, but that doesn't mean it’s right.

On the other hand we have Tsukasa. He is, to put it simply, the complete opposite to Senku. He is still smart but is not a walking talking Alexa and is incredibly strong. He believes that they shouldn't bring back everyone and instead pick and choose who to unpetrify. He thinks that bringing back humanity to the way it was will only cause destruction, war, power imbalances, and greed. Now you may call this a “hot take” but I came across some misunderstandings on Tsukasa’s stand. He does not disagree with science, he disagrees with Senku. He does not think that science itself is the root of all human evil, he thinks humans are. Now you may be asking “How do you know that for sure?”, well, why would he compliment Senku on his knowledge of science if he hates it? The only time I can remember him saying anything bad about science is when he was talking about guns, bombs, and other weapons of mass destruction. But it’s clear that he only brought that up to persuade Senku in not reviving the greedy and the ones who will use them to oppress and kill others. Again, just like with Senku, the audience can sympathize and understand this character and their actions. No one wants to see another in pain and surely does want anyone to die, they want to save everyone.

Senku and Tsukasa are on the absolute opposite side of each other but are still on the same coin. They both want the best for humanity but have 2 conflicting viewpoints. Now it would be incredibly easy to just pick a side and argue for that side and why it’s right but I don’t think people see that both of those are very flawed ideals and although in theory they could work, in practice both of them fall apart. If Senku gets his way and everyone is revived and basically back to the way the world was, humanity will get right back on track to the destruction of the world. We were already on that track before the petrification. Scientists predict that 2050 is basically the doomsday year. In 2050 there will not be enough food to feed us all due to overpopulation and global warming is getting worse and worse by the second. If we don’t take drastic steps to stop it then the world is on track towards an early ice age and even the destruction of the entire planet. But in this universe that exact thing happened (the drastic steps not the destruction of the world). With all of humanity frozen in an instant all pollution creation stopped, the furnaces burning coal died out, and over hunting/ over deforestation ceased in an instant. I’m not a professional scientist so I don’t know if 3,000 years is actually enough time for the world to completely reset but I do know that with the sudden halt on human activity could allow the earth to completely heal.

So the issue with Senku’s viewpoint seems to be that he viewed the modern age as a utopia of sorts which makes sense, it’s the peak of science and he loves science. Senku was born physically weak and preferred to use his brain over his muscles. He viewed science as a way to “level the playing field”, and he’s not wrong. It definitely levels the playing field but that’s only if they have access to it, it does not work if the people who don’t need it are the only ones who can have it. In primitive society (I’m mainly going to focus on Native American culture and history because that’s the one I know the most) many people were born with deformities or any other phenomenon that now-a-days is seen as a disability, but they were just as important as anyone else in the group. Back then it didn’t matter. Yes you were more likely to be killed or die by natural occurrences but not by other people. By eliminating the dangers of nature, people shift their hatred onto other people. This is exactly the reason that in so many stories 2 opposing groups come together to defeat a common enemy. That's where the phrase “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Now to be fair the show never really touches on the topic of nature being dangerous, it always seems to just be humans. It only ever sturs away from this in situations like the acid lake that gives off toxic fumes, but the show doesn't really want to focus on that aspect, which is fine, if they want to tell a story about the people then they can, I mean that's what I’m writing about now.

Senku wants to bring back everyone because he knows that that is the fastest way to create all the technology. If you remember from before I touched briefly on how the world was going to shit was in part due to overpopulation. I think you know where I’m going with this. Even with the earth reset and nature covering all, that is still not going to be enough food for all of them. It has already been proven that there is no way to sustain this large of a human population. The reason we are not all dying of starvation right now is because most of the food produced can barley be considered food at all, the other food is genetically altered, and it all goes to only one group of people. You see, when I asked “why are we not starving to death” I was technically lying, we are. Not counting the small percentage of the population that can afford all the food, we are starving to death, and it is by our own hands. The world we live in today is not a utopia. Yes we have science that can save lives but those are made by the countless deaths of rats, monkeys, and so many other animals we use as “lab rats”.

I’m not saying all this to make you feel bad, I’m bringing it up to try and explain why what Senku is doing terrifies me. I couldn’t imagine how it would feel to wake up to a fresh new start on life only to find out someone wants to rebuild it all again. He is not learning from history, he is repeating it. That is why Senku’s idea of what he wants the world to be is great on paper but crumbles apart when put into practice.

I have also heard that the reason Senku wants to bring back the modern age is because he just wants to go to space, making it a selfish act on his part. I thought this was incredibly interesting and relatable and really made me look at his character differently. This would be another way of thinking about the petrifying if humanity, some would see it as this horrible event that ruined their lives and again, this makes sense. All Senku ever wanted to do was go to space. That’s why he learned science in the first place. He spent his entire life working towards that goal and right when he could have had it, it disappeared. I don't blame him for wanting everything to go back to where it was and now I really want to see if this is addressed or challenged in the story. I want to see Senku come to terms with this and finally get closure, not only on the situation but also his dad. Basically I just want him to cry god dammit! Let him cry! Let him be healthy and accept his emotions!

Speaking of emotions, it’s well known that he hides his and if you have been screaming at me about that fact, I know. I understand that until this point I may have been portraying Senku as this selfish greedy and mean person who doesn't care about humanity at all and I’m sorry if it did. That description does not fit him at all. It’s subtle but when you see it you can’t unsee it. As mentioned before he was born very weak and so couldn’t really protect himself from others, this is by no means a disability but close enough to where he can understand the pain and struggles that people who are disabled face. When he made glasses for the 2 villagers he stated that science levels the playing field. That little interaction reveals that he does care about helping other people and hoping to fix their problems with science. He also further elaborated on his idea with Magma when they were mining. He stated that everyone has a job to do and neither job is better than the other. This shows his understanding of everyone's roles and how, as a species, to thrive we must all work together. This further drills home the point to me that it’s not that Senku is stupid or that he doesn’t care about humanity but that his still a little kid who never really had to go through or see the awful and corrupt side of the world. I hate using this word because I feel like it’s used too much but by all intents and purposes, Senku is privileged. He only seems to know the science of today as this life saving, world altering and fundamentally good concept, not the steps in which it took to get there, how many lives and dead ecosystems it took to get where we are today, and what we are still doing. Don’t forget about the whole global warming thing, mass deforestation, and pollution.

I am going to give 2 examples of how science can be cruel and how it doesn't need to be. I’m going to get into deep stuff here so it’s ok if you skip it. I’m talking about slavery and the experimentation of animals. Do you remember when the U.S.A was tearing down statues? One of them (I don’t know if it was torn down. I just know that it’s in front of a university and people wanted it gone) was a statue of a man who progressed the field of medicine and healthcare immensely, but did so at the expense of specifically black women. He believed that they were incapable of feeling pain and so performed many horrific surgeries and tests on them with no pain killer. Yes he greatly furthered the field of healthcare, but that doesn't make it right and especially not humane. He should not and did not need to do that. We would figure it out on our own. Sure it would probably take a lot more time but that doesn't justify the actions of that man. The other example is an ongoing process that is still in practice today, the experimentation of animals. If you don’t know, before a beauty product or medicine of some sort can enter the market it needs to be checked by the government to see if it is safe for us to use. So companies use monkeys and other animals to test their product on. It is horrific. The scientists treat those animals with no respect or care for the lives of them. It is unnecessary and cruel. We would figure it out on our own. Sure, it probably would take longer, but that doesn't make it right. It’s an excuse.

Senku doesn't seem to know this seeing as how he basically learned everything from scratch with experiments. That’s why I’m saying Senku is naïve and not a cruel monster who doesn't care who gets hurt, as long as it satisfies his curiosity and expands the field of science. I do hope that later down the line the story confronts that fact and we see first hand that he is not willing to do whatever it takes to go back to modern civilization as much he wants us to believe. I want to see him come to terms with this and decide that, with everything, there are rules and boundaries. This is also why I keep harping back to how I want to see this explored in the story. Senku clearly wants to help humanity and cares for others. He has morals and so has boundaries. I want to see him pushed to the edge, to see just how far he will go in the name of science and for the bettering of humanity. At the end of the day he is still human, everyone is.

Tukasa’s turn! The issue with Tukasa’s view point is simply because he thinks all young people are good people. This is not true. Old people can be good and bad. Adults can be good and bad. Children can be good and bad. It all depends on the person. This is not even mentioning the fact that children can not raise other children. No matter how wise Tukasa is for his age, he can not raise children (and yes teenagers count as children). There's a reason why in every culture all 3 stages of life serve a purpose and depend on each other, one cannot live without the other. He needs good people, not young people to restart humanity.

At first I saw it unfair and one sided how the story constantly depicted Tukasa as an evil person and that he is a tyrant. This was until it was pointed out to me that the reason for that is because Senku is the main character so the audience sees through his perspective, so if he sees Tukasa as evil, the audience will too. Even with that I understand why people will not like Tukasa and so in extension not listen to his argument. I want to give him a chance because he, and by extension the people like him, deserve it. I understand why people don’t though. He smashes the statues of people because he genuinely believes that all are bad and so takes action to protect others, just like Senku who seemed ready to kill Tukasa with the crossbow he made and the gun he was going to use on him, they both thought what they were doing was right. This does not excuse either of their actions, no one to be clear can use this as an excuse, I still want to bring up a fact that I personally think people forget (including myself). The show is set in a post-apocalyptic world. Yes, characters can unpetrify other characters but some are too far gone. In the background we see statues missing limbs and body parts. I was actually surprised and skeptical when it was shown that there were so many perfectly intaced statues Tukasa was able to find. They must be made out of harder rock than I thought. Either way, I know people can survive without certain body parts and I’m not saying they can't. It's just as far as we know, if they attempt to unpetrify someone missing a body part (especially if it’s a leg) they might bleed out instantly and without all the proper equipment needed. Or will the stone heal the stump? If so what if they find the missing part later? Can they reattach it? Can they attach body parts from other people and unpetrify them? What would happen? Would the stone merge the parts together or reject it? The stone is explicitly stated to have healing properties so what would happen? It’s still too early to know and with knowing that information comes from human experimentation and could lead to many lives lost. It was ok with the birds because they were small and still intaced so there was no danger. The point that I’m getting to is that the line is incredibly blurred and the drastic life-and-death situation everyone is in, I wouldn't jump to say Tukasa is a monster. He may be killing people or they could have been dead in the first place, not to mention like I said before it would be impractical and deadly to revive every human being on planet Earth.

This is why I think Tukasa’s plan is flawed. He is only one person and so is limited in his ideas. He thinks that only the young are good people and if only the characters would actually TALK to each other then both of them could see the flaws and work together instead of jumping to conclusions. I hope now that Senku and Tukasa are friends of sorts that they finally get to do that but again, I don’t know I have not read the manga.

I have also heard (mainly from video essays on YouTube) that, uncoincidentally, people think that Tukasa’s ideals are naïve when I think Senku’s is. I find it amazing that both of us thought the same thing but of the opposite philosophy. The opinions they expressed made me realize something. Because humanity discovered science, it will do so again and again. While I thought it was naïve to simply return to the way things were and not carry any of the emotional baggage needed to at least try and better humanity and learn from the past, someone else thought that it was futile to hinder the scientific process of humanity and go back to hunter-and-gatherers. I did disagree with some things they said, that is to be expected, but I also realized that that is what we have been doing since as far back as the history books go. It was called different names but the idea is still the same. We try to make sense of the world around us. In cultures across the world gods represented the natural world and phenomenon that occurred, it was just by a different name. Those religions and science try to explain the world around them. Why does corn grow? Quetzalcoatl makes them grow. Chlorophyll provides the nutrients necessary to sustain the plant and make it grow by Photosynthesis. Why does it snow? Frau Hole shakes her sheets and some feathers fall out, causing snow. With the evaporation of water leaves the gaseous form in the sky and if it gets cold enough will freeze and fall. It’s all the same thing. Humans are curious by nature and will always be.

The things that I disagreed with was that they didn’t really seem to think that science can coexist with nature, like it’s either one or the other. They explain that Tukasa believes humanity should be more naturalistic but also calls him stupid. I understand his side in thinking there is no way to revert back to being hunter-gatherers and that no matter what, over time people will rediscover science so the effort is futile. What I don’t seem to understand is why we can’t have both? It might seem naïve at first considering everyone only knows a society of science that destroys the world for progress but with a world altering event like the one in the story and a good leader to boot, it is absolutely possible. The world has already changed so much so I don’t see why people wouldn't (not talking about those greedy people and politicians, I’m talking about the average human being). It just seems so cynical of humanity as a whole to give up before even trying. I understand we are all depressed but still. It’s no excuse not to try.

My ideas for what they can do is to live both with nature and science. First set up rules and laws. Everyone can pitch in to create them and vote on which ones should be reinforced so that not one person has too much power and so the people collectively can understand the importance of those laws. Everyone can choose their job to do like black smithing, building, hunting, sewing and other jobs that are needed. With that they can either choose to have a form of currency or not but under no circumstances is anyone allowed to own land. The land is for everyone and the resources are to be shared accordingly. With the issue of the statues, it could be voted on who can be unpetrified. This way we don’t raise the issue with Tukasa and Senku. One thought too narrow minded and the other was too broad. With the voting system everyone gets to assess the needs of the society as a whole and if the person unpetrified turns out to be bad, the blame would not fall on one person but everyone. This eliminates one person having too much power and subsequently the people would not revolt and kick them out of power, putting another in their place and the cycle starts anew. There can still be science, there will just be restrictions on what is acceptable to do or not.

I understand the flaws in my ideas. I know that making everyone agree to certain things is incredibly hard especially when there's no way anyone can really stop people from doing what they want. There is no government already put in place. They need to build one from scratch and make it so that everyone is down with it and will follow it. I also understand that people can be lazy and not know what they want. Some people will choose to be lazy and either not do their job or choose a job that is specifically lazy in nature. People also probably don’t know what job they want to perform, this is especially prevalent in the young. People could also fight over who will be revived. I know many people, including myself, who have people in their life that they love but are not good people or who will probably not survive in the new world. I mean who’s going to tell Becky that we all know she loves her grandfather but he’s racist, a known sex offender, and already has a diet of 20 hamburgers and 50 Gatorades, there is no way we can provide that much food, we don’t even know if he’ll eat it considering he’s use to junk food and we just reinvented bread a week ago. It tastes awful and the bakers are trying their best but no one can make 50 Gatorades . No one sure as hell wants a sex offender or racist around either.

If you want to use my essay in a video or something you are welcome to as long as you credit me. If you want to respond or just talk about this topic feel free to, this is a discussion, not an argument.

#Dr. Stone #drst #dr stone #drs #essay #philosophy #tukasa #senku #senku ishigami

14 notes · View notes

thewritingstar · 4 years

Note

Prompt list 5: some greens for the soft tender kissing please? 🥺 maybe they just finished fighting an awful monster or just got out of a rough sparring session and needed some affection to help ground each other again. Pretty please and thank you!! You’re the best!!

This is cute! Hope you enjoy :)

Pairing: Greens (Butch x Buttercup)

----

No matter how old she was fighting monsters never got easier. Maybe the planning and how to fight them did. Blossoms leadership had grown over time and everyone’s skill had too. What didn’t change was the feeling of pain that rapidly spread through her body everyone she got hit or smacked down.

The feeling of her head rushing with to much blood and white noise playing had never ceased to get easier. You can prepare and say it will be a bloody battle, but the bone crushing blows and the scraping of the knees always caught her off guard.

The chemical X that jolted through her system and sent a rush through her was also unprepared. The sensation of a cool liquid almost exploding in her veins and organs felt weird as if she was feeling death being sucked out of her. Yeah, it never got easier.

The only thing that helped over time was the turning of age RowdyRuff Boys. During their middle school years, the boys, mostly Brick, had enough of dear old dads. Being bossed around and left for the aftermath of the puff fights had gotten old, especially when they began to realize that none of what they stole for their fathers ever showed up for keeping.

They rebelled in an odd way. Coming to the good side and practically fighting against their creators. It was weird when Brick had approached Blossom during the beginning of high school and nearly demanded that she allow them to join the team cause he was fed up with monkey brains. Princess cried saying she was never allowed to join and Blossom only rolled her eyes and agreed for the safety of the city and not because they were secretly making out behind closed doors and Brick wanted to impress his “flower”.

So they joined forces in high school, big deal. They grew as a team and possibly closer. It wasn’t long before the notorious leaders of both groups had hooked up and apparently Bubbles and Boomer had secretly been together since middle school, but for the green duo, it was another story.

They were both alike, naturally as counterparts. Always picking fights and holding stupid grudges against each other. Even with two years of high school down and their teamwork with the city, they still never moved past the frenemies tier.

And maybe it was because they were both afraid. Sure they teased each other and everyone was dying to see them get together but those strange warm feelings that kept them both up at night were shut down as the sun rose in the sky. It was easier to be friends, maybe they had become best friends at the start of junior year, sue them.

And maybe, just maybe after a brutal fight on the battle field where they had flown to hid from the monster, Butch had wiped the dirt off her face. And maybe that sent a jolt of electricity to powerful to contain through them both as they began to lean forward. And maybe, maybe, they had kissed.

And maybe that kiss broke through that barrier of fear she was holding onto. The tears she shed as she faced death one too many times had slipped away as his lips fell to hers. They should be focused on the wounds they had received from the wonderful monster fight but her mind was only on him. She never thought that he could be so delicate and tender as he careful cupped her cheek. The way his body pressed against hers felt so right and she swore that this explosion of fireworks was due to her hitting her head hard, not the breathtaking kiss she was currently involved in. No, the monster was at fault, but god his lips were so soft.

By the end of winter break junior year, the green duo had completed the dating between the puffs and ruffs.

So no, monster fights didn’t get easier, but the people you fought along side made it better.

And now here she was at age twenty two. In the middle of her college studies looking towards a degree in sports medicine and a teaching credential, she didn’t know either, don’t ask. But instead of her studying for her exam on Friday, she was up in the sky blasting laser beams and sending punches that could easily kill a person towards a giant ass monster.

It was all yellow and fuzzy and Bubbles thought it looked like a baby duck, yeah know, before it spit poisonous acid out of its mouth and melted half a skyscraper. Gross.

She kept hitting harder and harder, letting her muscles tense to the extreme as she fought alongside the others. She had lost sight of her boyfriend a while go, Brick had yelled at him to create a barrier of some sort and she was only focused on beating the living shit outta this thing.

Its roar was loud as the sound rumbled the town but Bubbles sonic scream nearly caused an earthquake from the high pitch shatter of her vocal cords, p.s. you will never win a fight with her, she learned that the hard way when she was seven. She can still feel her eardrums ringing.

As her fist collided again and again, she felt the dripping and burning sensation on her forearm as the acid fell from its mouth, Blossom sending the monster tumbling towards the ground. It stung like hell as the thick goop made her skin bubble and her eyes welded into tears because it was literal fucking acid.

There was nothing she could do as it rushed through her skin. The chemical X fighting back as quickly but the pain was harsh.

The whimper of her voice caught the attention of her leader and soon a nice layer of ice had coated the burns but left her skin bubbly and puffy as Blossom worked quickly.

“Not suppose to put ice on burns.” Buttercup muttered but it was better than letting the acid reach her bones and take her whole arm off. Her sister smiled lightly and just patted her head.

All she wanted to do was fly back to her dorm and study.

“Wicked burn babe.” Butch flew up next to her and her eyes widened as she saw that half of his shirt had melted off and his chest showed the same sickly bubbling that her arm did.

She just stared at the scars and even though the chemical x would cover it, it somehow made her feel worried. She had seen him in a worse state. Broken ribs, hips, arms, you name it and hes broken it. But in a matter of days, hes brand new. Still sucked.

“Hey, hey.” He brought her into a hug. “Come on babe.” His voice was low and soothing. Buttercup only hugged him tight as she buried her face into his chest, avoiding the burned area.

Her body felt heavy and her eyes even heavier and she assumed he had talked to their red leaders because the next time she opened her eyes they were in his own apartment. She was being carried bridal style. Usually she would complain about being treated like this but she had a massive headache and snuggled closer to her carrier.

“Damn Butters I haven’t seen you like this since we got totally shitfaced during freshman spring break.” She felt the vibration of the laugh against her head and soon

She picked her head up and looked at him through her lashes. “I want kisses.” She muttered and she felt his hold tighten on her as he brought her into his room.

He let out a low laugh before setting her on the bed and patting her head. “Easy Babe. Let me just wipe the dirt off and you can have me.” She mentally pouted as he went into the bathroom and she heard the faucet turn on.

She kicked off her shoes and peeled off her shirt that had become ruined but thankfully her tank top didn’t take as much damage.

He came back with a clean face and a wet rag before sitting on his knees and gently wiping it around her face to reveal the fair skin that was caked under dirt and dust.

Her head pressed into his palm and he swiped the rag around her mouth, purposefully making some of it go into her mouth which she scowled out.

“Maybe I don’t want those kisses any more.” She began to say but he only laughed before scooping her up so that he could lay on his bed with her against his chest.

“Fine.” Butch smirked but she rolled her eyes and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

His hands traveled to the back of her thighs as he began to rub her skin that was most likely sore. She made a small noise against his lips as she rocked her hips and took his face in her hands, her thumb gliding gently along his jaw.

“You should shave.” She kisses his lips again.

“I know.” He mumbled as one of his hands came to rest on her behind. “Kinda annoying right?” He laughed lightly and he loved the feeling of her kissing his cheek.

“Mmmm” she hummed with another peak to his face. “You just look better with a clean face. And maybe a few cuts and bruises.” She kissed the dark circle that was forming under his eye from when he got hit today.

Some people might think it’s weird but she really liked watching the skin expand and turn to deep shades of blue and purple before it quickly fades from chemical x taking care of it.

He leaned up causing her to lightly gasp before holding her against his chest and kissing her neck.

“But for me babe. I prefer to see you crystal clean. Don’t get me wrong you look hot as fuck with scratches and burns but I like to see you in prestige condition.” Butch bit her neck gently drawing out another noise from her lips.

“But you know what I like best?” He asked. And she shook her head as he kissed the bite mark. “I like the feeling of you after a battle. Scars or no scars. This soft feeling of your lips on mine and the way that you act so shy, really gets me going love.” She silenced him with another tender kiss.

She longed for these soft and quiet moments. The world would crumble around them and her focus would be on him as they laid peacefully.

“I love you.” She said to him and she loved the way his expression soften and the ends of his lips turned up into a smile.

“I love you too.” He kissed her temple before she felt her eyes flutter close and they fell asleep in a calm bliss.

just something cute. Hope you enjoyed :)

#greens #butchercup #butch x buttercup #buttercup x butch #ppg x rrb

108 notes · View notes

justjessame · 4 years

Text

The Deal Chapter 72

If we still had film or that damn Polaroid camera, I thought, from my perch in the tree above the beach, watching as our group trained below me. I was watching, my quiver on my back, bow hung over my shoulder, and pad to scribble notes on in my hand. This was my new reality. With Lydia’s mother throwing down a gauntlet that warned us just what the Whisperers were truly capable of, the loss, the cruelty, we trained regularly now. And with training came new duties. With new duties came new bullshit. One such thing was my current predicament.

Not only had I learned to climb a fucking tree better than a spider monkey with more shit packed on me than I cared to think about, but I was being given more responsibilities. There were, pardon the fucking pun, whispers about giving me one of our communities to lead, but I put my foot, leg, entire fucking being down on that one. I didn’t care what my last name was, I was NOT going to suddenly be the fucking leader. Nope. Not gonna happen. No matter how much often Negan brought it up with a twinkle in his fucking eye. Weirdos, every single one of them.

Where was I? Right, sitting alone in a tree, watching my baby sister attack a fucking undead beast while our mom proudly waited to see if she needed backup. What do you do on an average day? I jotted notes, where I saw weaknesses. What I thought could use some improvement, how I thought we could close ranks better. My gaze didn’t linger on anyone too long, not Judith, not Mom, not Daryl. This was training, there wasn’t time to worry or fret. I had to treat it like a battle, and in battle every second counts. Kissing a boo boo or hugs and loving can come after the danger is neutralized, first things first.

Once the last of the dead was truly dead, I lowered myself to the ground, raking my eyes down the list, reading through my notes to make sure they made sense. Daryl and Mom join me, each one hovering over one of my shoulders, to read over what I noted.

“I noticed that that flank seemed weak-” Mom pointed out, and I heard Daryl give a small grunt of agreement. “If we move-” and on and on.

“Tara woulda been proud of what we’ve done here,” Daryl said, drawing me out of a daydream I didn’t realize I’d fallen into. I blinked away from the mesmerizing sound of the waves crashing and noticed that the two of them were watching me and not the sea. I had to fight against the urge to roll my eyes OR jump in the fucking ocean.

“She told me-” I sighed, I knew exactly what Tara had told her, them. What I’d told HER. Fuck. “You’re right, Jessi, you KNOW that.” Sure, but it doesn’t mean I WANT it. “Ezekiel needs a break. It’s time.”

“No it’s not.” I pushed away from the two of them. My FAMILY for fuck’s sake. “I’m going to go find Rick Grimes’ OTHER offspring. Do me a favor and don’t divvy up the other communities until I get back? I’d hate for Judith to end up with Oceanside and RJ to get, shit, what’s left?” With that parting shot, I finally rolled my eyes, my shoulders, and my neck and left in search of the two members of my family that didn’t ruin my day for shits and giggles.

Unless of course, I was staring down at the mask that was looking up at me with a mocking stare, my baby brother happens to fish out a fucking Whisperer mask during playtime on the fucking beach. Jesus, Mary, Joseph and all the fucking saints. Seriously?!

As though regular training sessions as friendly communal communities wasn’t enough? Now we’re talking lockdowns and people are elevating issues faster than we did after 9/11. Yes, I recall the olden days when things like terror attacks were big news rather than you know, people eating and killing one another was what happened on any day that ended in ‘y’. I was arguing with Mom, knowing that Judith wanted to argue beside me, but this time I actually had a leg to stand on, and Daryl shocked everyone by siding WITH me.

“She’s right.” He muttered, eyes locking on Mom’s. “Jessi’s the only one that stands up for her,” Lydia, he meant, since I was the only other person beside him that was openly supportive of him as an unbiased backer. Mom’s voice was as the leader, and she stayed out of the votes in Council, the others were openly disdainful and THIS? This fucking mask was going to fuck things up for that poor girl in ways that I didn’t even want to think about. “She’s got to go back, soon.”

Judith wanted to come with me, but I shot that down. Her and RJ, they had to wait and come back with Mom and Daryl. Safer with larger numbers, with stronger soldiers, with more eyes and more weapons, I knew she wanted to argue. Luckily she didn’t.

I’m nearly within the site of the wall of Alexandria when the explosion rings out. And trust me when I say that the worst place you could ever fucking want to be during an explosion like that is on a fucking HORSE. I was pretty sure that I had bruises in spots that even Negan wouldn’t find.

By the time it’s all said and done, I’m in pain, I’m exhausted, and it seems never ending. And I’m right on all counts. I’m back home, but I haven’t a clue what’s going on, because it’s mass chaos. Just constant motion, no sleep and go go go.

Lydia is beside me, promising me that she hasn’t given up, but also that her mother isn’t behind what’s going on. Which I try to focus on, but then Negan is near me and he’s asking me if something hurts and then there’s nothing BUT pain. FUCK. Pain and bright burning light.

“Did you fall?” Why is his voice so fucking echoy? He’s right in front of me, but his voice is so far away? I’m trying to make sense of it, of any of it, but then the dizziness hits. “Jessica Grimes, don’t you fucking dare shut your goddamn eyes you hear me?” My eyes snap open. “That’s right, sweetheart, look right at me.” And then Daryl is beside him and his lips are moving but I don’t have a clue what he’s saying. “She’s got a goose egg, see?” Negan’s hand is covered in blood, where the fuck did he get all that blood? “Yeah, she’s not going to be our little soldier today.” And then nothing.

When I wake up completely and truly, I’m in my bed in my little house, with Negan holding me cradled to his chest. My first thought, not going to lie, was that I’d died. That I had finally died and was completely and totally dead and gone and we were both in heaven. That’s the only way that he was in my house, without being cuffed, holding me like he wasn’t a lifelong prisoner of my father and family.

“How are you feeling, Jessi?” His voice was rough and deep, from sleep, worry, and from being Negan. I sighed at the very sound of it, and from the way it vibrated through me.

“My head hurts,” understatement of the decade. My head felt like I’d been using it as a battering ram on the world’s heaviest door or wall. “What did I miss?”

Negan’s sign felt heavier than my head. “A lot, but then again, not much.” He snuggled further into me and I let myself return the favor. “That fucking mask has everyone acting like they all have needles up their assholes. Lydia’s taking the brunt of it, of fucking course. Between that and some satellite that has Dr. Smartypants up in arms, the constant undead fucks showing up from the fucking noise, and you, Jessi Grimes, practically crawling up covered in blood and looking for all the fucking world like death-” he groaned, clutching me to him and rolling me onto my back so he could hover over me and drink me in. Making sure that I was really alright, in one piece, and he took time to check every single inch of me. And he wasn’t just using his hands.

I was arching up into his very talented mouth, pleading with him to stop or to give me more, or possibly for him to just fucking smother me when I heard it. A tiny little sort of noise. And maybe, possibly, just MAYBE if I hadn’t heard the noise in a past life I wouldn’t have heard it this particular time, but I had and I did. “Daryl?” It came out louder than I meant it to, and it had an effect that NONE of us expected- or alright ALL of us did.

“NOT my name, Jessi,” Negan’s voice was muffled, and oddly amused, and he seemed intent to keep his mouth thoroughly occupied. His tongue flicked me THERE and I gasped, right when Daryl’s head cleared the doorway. Fuck.

“Damn it,” Daryl growled, even though Negan was UNDER the blanket and ALL of my pertinent bits were modestly covered and to be fair Daryl was PRIVY to ALL those bits. “Why’d ya go and holler for me?”

“Wasn’t actually a ‘holler’,” Negan offered, still sounding mumbled, still NOT helping. “And it’s your own damn fault, you made a noise.”

“She made one first,” Daryl accused, and I felt like I had to be hallucinating. Clearly I was experiencing traumatic brain injury, right? I’d wake up and NONE of this would be real. RIGHT?!

#The Walking Dead #negan x ofc #daryl dixon x ofc #OriginalGrimesDaughter #rick grimes daughter #slight smut #humor

18 notes · View notes

irisbleufic · 4 years

Audio

(via https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7kdwvJGR8gr1f6PESZr9h6?si=DbQYunR4TeWwf95bQi_T2g)

Hey, Gotham anon: instead of answering your ask about what Ecco, Ivy, Jerome, and Five were listening to on the radio or on mixtapes in “Dog Days” at the end of Come As You Are, I’ve built a playlist of what I was listening to while I was working on the fic. I feel like it plays even better than the other J5 and/or Wayleska mixtapes I’ve made (there are two previous ones, also on my Spotify, accessible above).

Here are snippets of lyrics from each of the songs, in case you’re curious...

“Pretty Little Head” - Eliza Rickman

Hook, line, and sinker, drop it down to the bottom Butterfly, float, flicker, soar to the top Kill for the thrill, cut it, stick it where you got him Circle rollin' under, runnin' red to the stop

Where's your mother? Fall down dead Dirty mind, dirty mouth, pretty little head I wish you were here, I wish you'd make my bed Dirty mind, dirty mouth, pretty little head

“Revolution Lover” - Left at London

You know, I know that your hope's been missin' I know we both coulda almost died I know it's harder everyday to provide But it's gonna change, I can feel it comin' And when it's here, we’ll be side-by-side I know we'll make it out of this one alive

And we'll be alright Revolution lover And we'll be alright Revolution lover

“Astronaut” - Amanda Palmer

And is it getting harder to pretend That life goes on without you in the wake And can you see the means without the end In the random frantic action that we take

And is it getting easy not to care Despite the many rings around your name It isn't funny and it isn't fair You've traveled all this way and it's the same

But you are, my love, the astronaut Flying in the face of science I will gladly stay an afterthought Just bring back some nice reminders

“Great Vacation” - Dirt Poor Robins

We are all guilty of importance (Playing life is hard) Borrow money and a Porsche (Stealing poorly from afar) But we want it We need attention here Or else we're just like everybody else Is that wrong?

Romans and countrymen, please lend me your ears There's some late-breaking news I know you'd like to hear But the papers won't print it And the TVs just won't air Nobody gets the word 'Cause there's nobody there (There's no one)

“Icarus” - Jason Webley

I wake up every morning To the sound of motors roaring They are drowning out the voices in my head At night while I am sleeping I can hear the angels speaking But I can't recall a single thing they said

I see their lips move clearly I feel their presence near me But each word they try to tell me just slips through the cracks I push, I strain, I wrestle with my brain And then a voice from somewhere whispers to relax

“Beneath the Brine” - The Family Crest

Oh, young love of mine She sleeps beneath the brine And oh the sound, the tick The weighty click of her heart against my spine

Now the dark is nigh And she lays here at my side But like a steady squall Her arms they fall and her legs, they grasp me tight

“Your Best American Girl” - Mitski

Your mother wouldn't approve of how my mother raised me But I do, I think I do And you're an all-American boy I guess I couldn't help trying to be your best American girl

You're the one You're all I ever wanted I think I'll regret this

“Ghosting” - Mother Mother

I've been ghosting, I've been ghosting along Ghost in your house, ghost in your arms When you're tossing, when you turn in your sleep It's because I'm ghosting your dreams

And this is why I have decided To pull these old white sheets from my head I'll leave them folded neat and tidy So that you'll know I'm out of hiding

“This Too Shall Pass” - Danny Schmidt

We think too big We think our self is one whole thing And we claim that this collection Has a name and is a being But deep inside When every cell divides Well, it sets upon the rule that states Self-interest is divine

“Starchild” - Ghost Quartet

I will light myself on fire It's time to get out of bed And be the starchild I can be

A billion light years away Someone's thinking the same thing But he's already turned to dust And the starlight I see Is a billion light years old A ghost just like the rest of us

“Heaven or Las Vegas” - Cocteau Twins

Singing of a famous street I want to love, I've all the wrong glory But is it Heaven or Las Vegas? But you're much more brighter than the sun is to me

Reaching this itch in my soul Is like any good playing card Must be why I'm thinking of Las Vegas Why it's more brighter than the sun is to me

Carnivals are bluster loud I'm dizzy so I go under the 'Big Dipper' Cum fantasy for a carnival How fitting before a wedding

“Under the Rainbow” - The Jane Austen Argument

My brain is made of straw And my heart was forged from tin My courage, although fierce, it is endangered My sunflowers still grow Though my monkeys have no wings My path is paved in gold and filled with strangers And the city made of green Was a mirage filled with diversions You notice when the smoke has cleared away That that wizard was a hoax And this old witch is scared of water And home is always just three clicks away

#jerome valeska #514a #wayleska #ivy x ecco #gotham

10 notes · View notes

bigfan-fanfic · 5 years

Text

Darkside Bakes 7 (with Batdad Reader!)

Tagging @galaxis-pixi

Sorry for such a long wait in between chapters! This one is gonna be special, involving not just the Baker, but Batdad as well! *gasp* And check out the OC List if you need a refresher for who these people at Darkside Bakes are!

The Baker (written as Gender Neutral!Reader)

“Holy cow! You guys have to see this!” Nate shouts from the front, startling you nearly to death and making you drop the little chocolate monkey you were making for a jungle-themed cake for Gorilla Grodd (in Gotham aligning with Cheetah and Killer Croc for Animal-Kingdom-themed crime)

Thankfully, Alma dives for it and catches it before it hits the floor, nearly getting run over by Anji, who went speeding to find out what was happening.

“Amateurs. Go ahead. I’ll take care of the fillings. Each chocolate animal in this edible diorama is supposed to be filled with a vanilla bean cream mixture.

You nod and head out front. At the storefront, there is a limo, and two well-dressed men are getting out.. Bruce Wayne and his husband.

Anji and Nate are starstruck as the two men enter Darkside Bakes.

“Hello there.” Bruce Wayne grins. “Our sons happen to have mentioned your bakery in passing.”

His husband smiles kindly at you. “And we were wondering if you would be available to cater a holiday event at Wayne Manor in the next few weeks.”

Anji looks at you with her now-familiar excited face, practically jumping up and down with joy.

“Yes, of course. I’d... yes.”

“Wonderful. We’ll have our son Dick coordinate with you for the event, if you don’t mind.”

So over the next few days, you all work overtime. You, Marcia, Nate, and Ike focus on the Wayne function, while Alma, Priya, Ryan, and Anji work on the day-to-day, although you and Marcia often duck in to help them.

Dick Grayson shows up every day to talk with you and Ike about the ever-changing seating arrangements, decor themes, and flavor profiles needed for the gala and completely distracting most of your younger employees. Priya once barked at Anji and Ike because they had frozen to watch Dick walk around and eat a brownie, and you nearly had to drag Nate back to work.

Occasionally, Mr. Wayne also comes in, apologizing for the difficulty, as he isn’t planning the gala on his own. He assures you that there’ll be extra in the final bill as an apology.

Slowly it comes together. Each table has its own entremet tower covered in pastel-colored glazes as an edible centerpiece. There’s a banquet table dedicated to your desserts, with an oversized Swiss roll filled with strawberry jelly and made with a banana sponge (poor Ryan nearly passed out when he accidentally got some strawberry on him). There’s a little tea service made to look like white porcelain, but is really made out of tempered white chocolate. And there’s a beautiful tower of thin cinnamon tuiles and a gingerbread replica of Wayne Manor.

Though there’s been a different business hired for dinner, you get to serve the appetizers, a massive batch of cunapes that Ike made all on his own and is exceptionally proud of. Nate also made the little mini baguettes served at each table.

And serving as the dessert course is Alma’s piece de resistance: an option of either creme brulee or chocolate souffle, both made perfectly.

You’re so proud of the hard work you all put into it. Dick Grayson comes up to congratulate each one of you by name (which makes Anji and Nate swoon a little)

However, something feels off when you see little Damian Wayne and Bruce Wayne together.

Something about it just... clicks. This father and son pair...is just the same as another - Matches and Danny Malone. So your delivery boy is Damian Wayne, and that means that Bruce Wayne moonlights as a mobster?

And then the Penguin crashes the party, getting window glass all up in what’s left of the Swiss roll.

He comes to find you. “So, the big Baker, all high and mighty, working for the Waynes now, huh? And giving information to the Bat!”

Marcia stands in front of you, and the Penguin recoils. “Waddle off, Penguin. We don’t know what you’re talking about.”

You should have known. Cobblepot gave you your big break, and he hates the Waynes. He probably came up with whatever other excuse he could to attack.

“Get away from them, Oswald.” Mr. Wayne says firmly, stepping forward.

But you notice that neither Bruce nor Damian are to be found. Neither are any of the Wayne sons, even though Dick had just pulled Ike out of the way of Cobblepot’s entrance.

And then the Bat and his sidekicks show up. You and the others go to find Ike, because seeing the Bat tends to trigger him, and besides, you want to get out before you get attacked by Cobblepot again.

No.. Bruce Wayne doesn’t moonlight as a Gotham mobster, but a Gotham vigilante!

Bruce Wayne... is Batman!

Batdad (written as Male!Reader)

“We need to find out more about this Baker.” Bruce says firmly in the Batcave.

“Really? Are you sure? What can a baker do, really?” Dick says skeptically. He’s been in love with this Darkside Bakes ever since he ate one of their chocolate cakes.

Damian growled. “Nearly every villain in Gotham went to rescue them. They receive messages from the villains. Whatever is happening, the Baker is in the thick of it.”

“Not necessarily.” Bruce says thoughtfully. “We might be able to use Darkside Bakes as a source of intel. But we’ll need to learn more about their operation.”

“I thought that was why you had the little demon working there.” Jason mutters.

“They’re secretive.” Tim points out. “And the cover story sucks. I wouldn’t want to let the kid of a Gotham mobster in on my business, would you?”

You look at them incredulously. “So why not just hire them?”

They’re momentarily stunned. “Yeah, hire them for a gala or something, and have either me or Dick go look at their operation on the inside - gala problems or whatever.”

“Why you two?” Jason asked.

“Because we have people skills, bud.”

“...fair point.”

So you send Dick, because he’ll be better at placing the hidden microphones while talking to the Baker.

The bakers don’t talk much about villainy, but occasionally you pick up a tidbit here and there, like Cheetah working with Grodd and Killer Croc, or that Calendar Man will probably come in on Daylight Savings Time. One time, Penguin comes in and you get tipped off to something he’s planning for the night before the gala. Bruce stops him, but Oswald gets away.

Penguin crashes the gala and seems to be about to attack the bakers when you step in, distracting the crowd so Bruce and the others can change.

Afterwards - the Baker and their crew have left, so you figure you’ll present a check in person tomorrow - you glare at Bruce. “What did you say to him?”

“What are you talking about, Y/N?”

“He must have figured that the Baker is working with Batman, not that we’ve been spying on them! What if they’re in terrible danger now?”

“We’ll save them. It’s clear that they aren’t a villain.”

“Now.” you say darkly.

Dick looks at you curiously. “What do you mean?”

Jason scoffs. “It’s possible that the villains might get suspicious. To protect themself and the others, the Baker might get pushed into doing something criminal.”

“But... every criminal in Gotham seems to go to Darkside Bakes. Even the non-crazy ones.” Tim shudders. “And if the Baker has the allegiance of every single villain in Gotham, then that would mean...”

Bruce finishes the thought. “If the Baker becomes a villain, they might just be able to become the most effective criminal Gotham City has ever seen.”

You sigh. “We messed up, didn’t we?”

Dick nods. “We overwhipped the meringue, and now all the air is out of it. Now it’s just curdled...what? I’ve been in a bakery for two weeks, I’ve got it on the brain!”

#darkside bakes #featuring #batdad reader #batman headcanons #dc headcanons #headcanons

144 notes · View notes

thedreamsmith · 4 years

Text

Strip

@arrowsandmixtapes @atc74 @alleiradayne @captain-s-rogers for #OCAppreciationDay

Warnings: Explicit smut, swearing, canon typical violence

Word count: 6272

Summary: A succubus is killing off clients at a high-end strip club. Dean comes up with an unusual cover story to get them inside.

Rhea idly tapped her foot against the back of the front bench of the Impala in time to the music blaring from the stereo. Sam was dozing in the front seat, lulled into unconsciousness by the scorching Kanas sun - if his snores were anything to go by.

Dean was in a rare, happy mood; humming along to the music and drumming his hands on the wheel.

As lovely as the vintage Chevvy looked, it had to have the shittiest air conditioning that she had ever seen – though Dean would give her hell if she dared bring it up.

Tipping her head back, Rhea resigned herself to a slow, sweaty death.She was just considering poking Sam awake for some kind of entertainment when she felt the car slow down, Dean slapping the back of his brother’s head as they parked up outside a surprisingly classy-looking building.

‘Are you sure this is it?’ Rhea sat up with a yawn, eyeing the gleaming windows and tidy flower planters beneath them. ‘Thought this place was supposed to be a strip joint?’

‘You clearly haven’t been to the right kind of strip clubs.’ Dean twisted in his seat to grin at her, the sunlight illuminating the flecks of hazel in his eyes. Rolling her eyes, she sat forward, resting her chin on the back of the front bench.

Classy or not, this club had had four of its clientele turn up dead just hours after leaving the place and after some research, it hadn’t been difficult to work out that a succubus was masquerading as one of the dancers.

‘Well how are we gonna do this then? We can’t just walk in and start chanting Latin at the strippers.’

‘FBI?’ Sam flicked through a sheaf of fake IDs.

‘I’m not wearin’ a monkey suit in this weather.’ Dean flicked his hand at the sign taped to the inside of the club’s central window. ‘Besides, I have a better idea.’

Sam and Rhea squinted against the light in an attempt to make out the words.

‘Not a fucking chance.’

****

As it turned out, there had been a chance, and Rhea tried to wipe the scowl from her features as she pushed through the club’s heavy double doors with the Winchesters in tow. Once her eyes had adjusted to the change in ambience, she cast her gaze around the spacious interior, taking in the bar along one wall and the stage and runway dominating the central space. Private booths along the wall adjacent to the bar, a door that must lead backstage in the far corner.

They were greeted by a slight man in his early forties, wearing a suit that probably cost more than she could get from hustling poker in a whole month. A diamond stud glimmered in his right ear as he rose from one of the plush velvet chairs facing the stage. Behind him, a mountain of a man eyed the three of them stonily.

‘Hi.’ Pasting on what she hoped was a friendly smile, Rhea stopped short of who she presumed was the owner of the establishment. ‘I’ve come to audition for the job opening. My friends here are looking to start as bouncers.’

The man’s eyes flicked to the brothers behind her before sweeping over her in a manner that seemed more like professional appraisal than a lecherous once-over.

‘Wonderful.’ His smile reached his eyes - so blue they almost glowed. ‘I’m Liam Hanover, the proprietor of the Blue Iris. Why don’t you speak to our DJ? He can get your song choice set up and then once you’ve performed, I can give you a tour. Mark will interview the boys while I’m showing you around.’

Fantastic. She’d at least counted on Sam and Dean being otherwise occupied while she had to do this. So instead of shooting the elder Winchester in the kneecaps like she was desperate to, Rhea grinned winningly back at Liam.

‘Sounds good.’

*****

The opening chords to the Def Leppard song she’d chosen blared from the club’s hidden sound system as she stepped onto the runway. She hadn’t been particularly creative with her music choice; ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ was a pretty stereotypical stripper song, but at least it had an easy beat to follow.

Liam had lent her a pair of stilettos to dance in, she just prayed she wouldn’t break her ankle in them. It had been years since she’d danced, and even then it had been ballet, not pole dancing 101.

Sam and Dean were sat with Liam and the huge bouncer at the front of the stage, drinks in hand.

Bastards.

But even as she cursed them, she couldn’t stop the heat from pooling in her core as the elder Winchester’s gaze bored into her. The room seemed too warm and suddenly taking her clothes off didn’t seem like such a bad idea.

With a slow breath, Rhea gripped the pole and began to dance, letting the music and Dean’s almost-burning attention lead her through the steps. She dropped and lifted with the beat, letting each roll of her hips become a seduction, each arch of her back an invitation.

Even if she didn’t have a hope in hell with Dean, she may as well pretend while she could. Her tank top already on the stage behind her, she made a show of peeling off her denim shorts to reveal the lacy blank panties that matched her bra. There was no way that she was taking off more than that – this whole thing was bad enough – so she tried to make up for it with her body. As she parted her lips and rose from a particularly flexible move that had the insides of her thighs stinging, Rhea let herself fix her gaze on Dean. It wasn’t hard to tell what was going though his brain, but how many other women had he thought about like this?

It was all or nothing. That’s what she told herself at least; she didn’t want to end up as just another notch on his bedpost. But what were the chances that the infamous womanizer, Dean fucking Winchester, would want her for more than a night? He’d had plenty of opportunities to make a move in the two years that they’d been hunting together. Enough nights of just the two of them playing poker and drinking the Men of Letters’ expensive liquor together.

She sank to her knees as the final chords faded out, arching her back so that the ends of her hair pooled on the stage like fresh blood, her chest heaving from the dance and the gaze that she could still feel tracing her figure.

Poor Sam was probably just as uncomfortable as she was – the man thought of her as a sister. His little Magpie.

Rhea got to her feet to see Liam rise from his chair, grinning from ear to ear.‘That was fantastic, darling.’ He clasped his hands together. ‘You’re a natural. Why don’t you get dressed and I’ll show you around?’

She nodded mutely as she tugged her shorts and vest top back on, suddenly unable to even look at Dean now that the show was over. Stilettos dangling from her fingers, she padded bare-foot off the stage, stepping into her converse she’d left near the hidden steps at the back of the room.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Mark the Mountain gesture for the boys to follow him. Liam held the door for her, leading her down a short corridor to a brightly lit changing room lined with mirrors and vanity tables. Racks upon racks of sparkling costumes lined the back wall.

‘This is the girls’ dressing room. There’s plenty of make-up and hair products, but you’re more than welcome to use your own.’

Rhea let her eyes drift around the space; nothing immediately screaming ‘a demon was here!’

Except…

‘What’s that smell?’ She wrinkled her nose slightly, for all the world looking like a potentially put-off new employee.

‘Ah, yes, that.’ A crease appeared between the shorter man’s eyebrows. ‘We’re not quite sure where it’s coming from – the dancers started talking about a faint smell of rotten eggs about a month ago. We’ve got plumbers coming out to check the drains next week, but honestly, once everyone is in here with their perfume and whatnot, you don’t even notice it.’

Right when the murders started.

Since none of the dancers were actually here at the moment, she was going to have to go further with this half-baked plan.

‘Fair enough. When can I start?’ Liam beamed, the worry melting from his face almost immediately.

‘How about a trial shift tomorrow night? If you get here about eleven, that gives you time to get your makeup and costume sorted.’ He shifted on his feet. ‘A few house rules though; twenty percent of your tips go to the house, but you won’t need to bribe anyone for perks. If any of the customers give you trouble, just alert one of the bouncers and they’ll take care of it. One of them will even walk you to your car if you need them to.

Also, whether you sleep with any of the clientele – for financial gain or not – is your business, but just don’t get frisky on the premises – I’m not running a brothel. And if you’re not on stage, you’ll either be giving private dances or serving drinks. You got all that?’

Rhea blinked, taken aback at the sincerity in his voice.

‘I…uh…yeah sounds good.’ She released a breath. ‘Don’t take this the wrong way – but you seem to have a lot more…morals than the average strip club owner.’

Liam glanced at the floor, a smile lifting one corner of his mouth.

‘I grew up in…unfavourable circumstances and had to do some fairly distasteful things to get by. When I became the proprietor of this place, I figured that there would always be people who would need this kind of work, so I may as well create a safe place for them to do it. Besides,’ He shrugged. ‘The girls don’t exactly do it for me. My husband is a doctor, if you’d believe it. He runs a free monthly health clinic for all my employees.’

‘Seems fair.’ She nodded, ‘I guess I’ll see you tomorrow night then?’‘See you then.’

***

Rhea collapsed into the backseat of the Impala with an exaggerated groan.

‘I hate you both.’ ‘What did I do?’ Sam’s voice climbed a few notes as he turned in his seat, a disbelieving expression on his face.

‘You went along with it. I don’t know.’ Rhea flapped one hand non-committally, her other arm flung over her eyes. ‘I’d say I’m never doing that again, but apparently I have a trial shift tomorrow night. We’re a go for demon activity – the back rooms stink of sulphur. I’ll let you know if I get a bead on the succubus - try and get the other dancers out of the way before we start exorcizing.’

‘Well only Sammy got the bouncer job, so it looks like I’ll just be there to enjoy the show.’ Dean caught her gaze in the rear-view mirror and smirked.

‘I didn’t manage to find any employee records for the dancers; it seems like Liam takes his girls on as independent contractors and doesn’t keep any of their information.’ Sam tapped his long fingers on the windowsill as Dean pulled away from the curb, seemingly oblivious to the syrup-thick sexual tension that had filled the Impala as entirely as the Kanas heat.

‘It shouldn’t be too difficult to work out which one is killing off their clients. I could always lace my perfume with holy water and spray it about; see whose sexy devil costume goes a bit deeper than the little horns and nipple tassels.’

‘I think Cas would have a holy heart attack if you got dressed up as an angel.’ Dean snickered. ‘Although we do know that Clarence has a thing for sexy devils.’

‘He’s not the only one.’ Sam muttered, earning a glare from his brother. ‘Dude, you have no leg to stand on here! I’m not the one who…’

Rhea tuned out the brothers’ bickering as she watched the sun-bleached storefronts pass by. As ironic as it would be, she sincerely hoped that Liam wouldn’t ask her to wear the devil costume that she’d seen hanging in the dressing room. At least, she consoled herself, it couldn’t be much worse than that.

*****

As it turned out, it could be much worse. Rhea stared mutely at her reflection as one of the other dancers, a lithe blonde with the stage name Rosie, applied the last of the emerald glitter to her cleavage.

Apparently, one of the other girls was off sick and Liam had needed her to fill in for her duet with Rosie.

And because the universe and Chuck and whoever else was in control of her shitty luck, hated her with a passion, the theme was DC villainesses.

Rosie’s blue-and-pink-dipped pigtails bounced as she looked over her handiwork. Whorls of green glitter snaked up her arms and legs, dipping into her cleavage and circling her waist, perfectly matching the bra and thong that she had been given to wear. With her (sort of) natural hair colour, she hadn’t needed the wig that the other girl usually wore, so her blood-red locks were teased and curled into the siren-perfect waves of Poison Ivy.

When she’d arrived, she hadn’t even had time to test for demonic activity before she was bundled into the dressing room and fussed over by her partner for the night. Rosie was a sweet girl, and eager to help. Rhea had checked her off the ‘possible minion of hell’ list within five minutes.

The dressing room was such a flurry of glitter and activity that she hadn’t managed to get a good look at most of the other girls as they went about getting ready for their shifts. Dean was going to have a field day. The man loved Batman way more than was normal for anyone, let alone a dude in his thirties.

Despite her misgivings, Rhea flashed Rosie a genuine smile which she returned.

‘I think we’re on in a few minutes.’ The younger girl was as much of a Georgia peach as any she’d ever met, and she’d initially found it hard to catch much what she was saying. Even after being in the States for almost a decade, she was only used to the Winchester’s relatively neutral accents. She still held onto enough of her Scottish accent to be marked as a non-native.

Rosie’s costume had required far less effort than her own – fishnets, smudged red lipstick and a few fake tattoos turned her into Gotham’s own Harley Quinn.

Luckily, the duet was relatively simple, with no choreographed dance to follow; just a typical bump ‘n’ grind routine with a little girl-on-girl action set to ‘Sweet but Psycho.’

Rhea almost jumped when the tannoy called them to the stage. Really professional. But then she was up and moving, keeping her focus on Rosie’s bouncing pigtails in front of her as she tried not to break her ankle.

Showtime.

Dean’s POV

Dean was halfway through his third Jack and coke when the DJ announced Rhea, although tonight she was going by the stage name Lisandra. She had vetoed most of Sam’s suggestions and all of his last night back at the motel, when the oppressive heat had made it almost impossible for them to get any sleep.

Not one, but two figures stepped out onto the stage as the track started up with a high-pitched scream and his jaw almost dropped as he pieced together the theme of this routine.

Rhea’s long legs were covered in glitter – all the way up to the thong that left very little to the imagination.

The pair were greeted with whoops and hollers from other patrons of the club and Dean took a deep swig of his drink to douse the burning in his stomach that felt uncomfortably like jealously. He had no claim on the red-headed huntress, no reason to want to snarl at the other men in the crowd that they didn’t deserve to see her half-naked and sparkling, no right to see her move like liquid silk as her hands roved over the Harley Quinn she was performing with.

Dean swallowed thickly as he watched the women on stage, acutely aware of the way his cock was pressing against his jeans. His chest tightened as Rhea dropped low, still impossibly dexterous even in those ridiculous heels. Harley’s crimson lips traced the ivory column of her neck, hands trailing up the back of her thighs as she rose, moving like she had been made to dance like this – like her hands were calloused from gripping a metal pole and not a sawn-off shotgun.

He couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. He wanted, no he needed…

Rhea’s cornflower-blue gaze met his and he shot up from his seat like he’d been tazed. He needed to find Sam. Dean knew he’d lose his seat almost immediately – he’d staked out a spot right at the front of the stage as soon as he’d arrived.

His brother was stood near the bar, dressed in a tight black t-shirt that had already attracted the attention of one of the waitresses. The petite brunette barely came up to his shoulder in her heels but was making a show of batting her eyelashes at a clearly-uncomfortable Sam. An almost-comical look of relief crossed his face as he spotted Dean moving towards him and he managed to extract himself from the conversation to meet him halfway.

‘Sammy, it’s Rhea. The succubus must’ve ambushed her backstage and taken her appearance.’

‘Whoa, whoa. Slow down.’ Sam gripped him by the shoulders, concern creasing his brow. ‘How do you know? Did you test her?’

‘No, but I could feel her hoodoo demon magic on me. Look at me, Sammy!’ His brother raised his brows as he took him in, the rising panic in his chest masking any embarrassment he should feel about standing in front of his little brother with a boner. Rhea was a capable hunter but if the succubus had gotten the drop on her… He was already fumbling for his flask of holy water when a snort from Sam made him pause.

‘What the hell are you laughing at man? Rhea’s in danger!’ He set his jaw, getting more pissed by the second as the taller man continued to laugh.

‘That’s Rhea on stage, Dean. You’ve got it bad for her, dude.’ Sam managed between breaths. ‘None of the performers so far have been demons.’

‘I…’ He started, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he glanced back at the stage. Rhea’s performance was ending, the two women collecting their tips as they headed backstage. ‘Shut the hell up.’ Dean finally snapped, both unwilling and unable to give voice to the cocktail of emotions that was swirling around in his chest.

Without a backwards glance at his brother, Dean stalked back to the bar for another drink. Hopefully the succubus showed her face before he got completely plastered.

Rhea’s POV

The backstage air was cool against her skin as she pushed through the doors hidden behind the stage. Emerald glitter trailed in her wake she headed back to the dressing room, Rosie hot on her stiletto heels.

They had scooped up the bills from the stage without counting, trusting enough of one another to wait until they got backstage to split the tips between them.

It wasn’t long before they each had an even stack of bills on their dressers. She had made decent money from just one performance, maybe being a stripper wasn’t so bad after all.

The chatter of the other girls was background noise as she bent to check that her supplies were still in her rucksack. Holy water, salt and several knives were all nestled under the clothes she had worn to the club earlier that night.

‘I love your tattoo.’ The voice behind her was low and smooth and when she straightened up, she saw that it belonged to a dark-haired woman in a revealing police officer’s uniform. The smile on her full lips was genuine enough but it didn’t quite reach the eyes that were fixed to the anti-possession tattoo on her shoulder blade.

She hadn’t even thought to cover it up before coming to the club – she’d been more worried about accidentally flashing her tits than her ink. Shit.

Rhea didn’t have time to grab the flask of holy water before the succubus flung out a hand, sending her crashing into a rack of costumes along the opposite wall. There were screams from the other dancers as they scrambled to the exit, abandoning any pretence at solidarity as they shoved through the doorway.

Even though they were a lower class of demon, succubi still packed one hell of a punch. Though because of their lesser status and the fact that they possessed their own corporeal bodies, rather than possessing humans, exorcising them had the rather spectacular effect of burning them to ashes rather than the usual outpouring of black smoke.

Eyeing the distance between herself and her bag, Rhea adjusted her plan and lunged for the fire alarm on the wall above her. The piercing sound immediately clanged through the building. Hopefully that would alert Sam and Dean to the situation and give the civilians a chance to get clear.

‘Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus-‘

She was cut off with a gasp as the demon tossed her back towards the dressing table, the mirror shattering on impact. Glittering shards scattered everywhere as she pushed herself up with a groan, reaching through the wreckage for her bag.

Her hand closed around the silver flask just as the succubus approached her, seemingly content to toy with her prey before she dispatched her. That was fine by her.

With a flick of her wrist, she let the water arc from the flask, hitting the demon with a hiss and the stench of burning flesh. The brunette screeched, clawing at her face as she tried to rub the caustic substance out of her eyes. With an inhuman shriek, the demon took off down the corridor, clearly deciding that this was a fight she wasn’t going to win.

‘For fuck sake.’ Rhea tugged at the straps of her heels for a second before resigning to the fact that they weren’t coming off quickly. With another muttered string of curses, she gave chase, pausing only to grab a pair of knives from her bag. She could give Crowley some new torture ideas involving impractical footwear.

The succubus burst through the doors into the main part of the club with Rhea several paces behind and struggling to gain ground. With a grunt, she lunged forward, slashing down with her knives as she fell. The blades caught the demon in the backs of her thighs, cutting a jagged path through her hamstrings.

Blood gushed crimson from the wound, making her hands slippery as she scrambled to pin the felled demon. Her ankle twisted and she snarled, but finally managed to straddle the succubus, knees pinning her arms to the floor until she could hear bone grinding against bone. In rapid succession, Rhea landed a series of solid blows to her jaw, hard enough to draw blood. The demon only laughed, the sound obscene and crackling from the blood trickling from her mouth.

‘I smelled your desire as soon as you walked in. I could almost taste it - taste the way you lusted after-‘

Rhea let out a half-strangled scream as she wrapped her hands around the succubus’s slender throat before slamming her head against the floor. And then there was no longer ivory skin beneath her fingers – the demon’s glamour rippled away to reveal her true form; indigo skin and eyes like swirling galaxies, furred legs that ended in razor sharp hooves and twisting black horns.

‘A little help here?’ Rhea raised her gaze to glare at the brothers who were stood over her and her prey, staring wide eyed at what had probably started as every guy’s hottest fantasy.

Finally, they leapt into action; Sam chanting in Latin as Dean poured his flask of holy water over the writhing demon beneath her.The demon screeched, thrashing against her as her skin sizzled.

‘Wait! Wait! I can make you a deal, anything you want! It won’t even cost you your soul, just a year off the end of your life. I could make you irresistible – wanted by everyone, even-‘

Rhea slammed her head into the ground again and there was a sharp crack as her head snapped back and the tip of her horn broke off, skittering away under one of the empty tables.

‘Enough.’ She barely recognised her own voice; almost feral in her fury. She registered that Sam was coming to the end of the incantation and leapt up just in time to avoid being singed as the succubus burst into flames, burning so hot that her body was ashes within seconds.

‘Well…’ Sam glanced from her to the smoking pile of ashes. ‘Lets never do that again.’

Her skin was a disgusting mess of drying blood and clumped glitter, and she wanted nothing more than a hot shower and possibly a fifth of tequila to wash away the memory of tonight.

‘I quite enjoyed the first half of the night.’ Dean scratched the back of his head with the handle of his blade, but his trademark smirk didn’t quite reach his eyes. Something was bothering him. ‘But I can tell you one thing – you’re not getting into Baby like that.’

She was just about to give a rather colourful retort about where he could stick his Baby when a movement by the front doors made her turn. Liam Hanover was picking his way through the wreckage of several shattered glasses and scattered dollar bills towards the trio.

‘I trust you had a good reason for assaulting one of my girls and setting off the fire alarm on one of our busiest nights of the week?’ The older man’s expression showed only mild displeasure as he took in the scene that the three of them presented.

Shit.

*****

It had taken some time, and several runs through the security footage, but they’d finally managed to convince Liam that he didn’t need to call the cops on them.

He even let Rhea clean up in the showers through the back, though a good amount of glitter had refused to budge even with soap and water.

Dean had still given her a sideways look as she’d slid into the backseat of the Impala; to which her only reply had been a vulgar gesture that heavily relied on her middle finger.

Rhea had dozed off on the short ride back to the Bunker, head resting against the window frame as the warm night air tugged at her damp hair. When they’d arrived home, she’d quickly said her goodnights to the boys before hauling ass to her room.

Cas and Jack had given her odd looks as she’d swept past them in the library, still trailing glitter, but she couldn’t be sure how much Dean had pieced together from the mouthy succubus and hadn’t wanted to hang around to find out.

Sleep didn’t come easily, despite her exhaustion, but when it did it was fitful, filled with a mind-addling mix of lust and fear and moss-green eyes that glimmered like the ocean.

********

The next day had brought no new cases, so Rhea had woken late and used the rare downtime to restock the kitchen and catch up on laundry.

The bunker was quiet now, despite it only being early evening. Jack and Cas were out at a movie; the angel eager to educate his young ward on pop culture in a more traditional way than Metatron had shown him, and Sam had retreated to his room with a headache some time ago.

Dean was seated on the armchair opposite her, a glass of whiskey in one hand the TV remote held loosely in the other. He had been flicking through channels for the last ten minutes.

Nearly a year ago, the occupants of the bunker had collectively decided that the library needed comfier seating than the Men of Letter’s had originally intended, so there had been a mass trip to the nearest furniture store to purchase a couple of armchairs and a long, deep sofa. Dean had also insisted on buying a forty-eight-inch HD LED TV and the whole setup had been tucked into a corner of the library, surrounded on two sides by bookshelves.

Rhea glanced up as the hunter cleared his throat, her gaze meeting his as he stared at her with an unsettling intensity. A flush crept her face as she fiddled with the pages of her book.

‘Can I help you?’ Pleased that her voice remained even, she titled her head, waiting for him to either speak or break his stare.

‘Was just wondering where’d you gotten the tat from. Don’t think I’ve seen that one before.’ This time his gaze was accompanied by a slight smirk, his eyes drifting down to her abdomen where the silver edilith encircled her navel. ‘Kinda’ hard not to notice it in your getup last night.’

Now it was her turn to clear her throat. ‘It’s not new, an ex-girlfriend of mine gave me it when I was nineteen. She’s a rather powerful witch - still lives up in the Scottish Highlands.’ And dammit this was the second time in as many days that her ink had gotten her into uncomfortable situations, because the next part…

‘It’s a bastardisation of an ancient Gaelic fertility ritual. Magical contraception, essentially. Protects me from everything a condom would.’

‘Awesome.’ His brows rose, his smirk taking on a distinctly naughty cast. ‘She the one who taught you to dance like that?’ Her breath hitched as she processed his words, weighing the possible meanings and the innuendo, trying to determine…

Fuck it. If that wasn’t an invitation…

She closed her book with a snap before rolling to her feet, never once letting her gaze drop from his, not giving her mind any room for doubt. Never mind that she was only wearing a ratty old t-shirt and a pair of boxers. Never mind that she was far more sober than she’d ever imagined herself to be while actually attempting this.

‘No, she wasn’t.’ She padded across the space between them, using her foot to nudge his knees further apart. She dropped her voice as she leaned down, hands on the armrests, caging him in. ‘You see, Dean, that I’ve learned to watch people in this life; learned what makes them tick. And I’ve learned who they remember. They remember the woman who made every roll of her hips an invitation, every movement a seduction.’

Dean’s face had gone slack, and she could see the dark lust in his eyes warring with his doubts. It felt good to not be the one second-guessing for once.

‘And just who were you seducing?’ His voice was hoarse and almost breathy as his tongue flicked out to wet his lips. ‘Mark the bouncer?’ He raised his jaw slightly. ‘Sammy?’

‘Am I in Sam’s room right now?’ Rhea let her eyes flutter as Dean reached out to cup the backs of her thighs, his fingers feather-light as they trailed up towards her ass. ‘But this is all or nothing, Dean. I won’t just be another notch in your belt.’ Her breath was coming faster now, but she tried to keep her voice even, tried to keep that resolve even as her heartbeat thundered in her ears.

‘Sweetheart, you’ve been driving me crazy for months.’ The green-eyed hunter surged up, catching her mouth with his as he tightened his grip on her ass. His breath was hot against her lips as he drew back enough to meet her gaze; crushing blue to blazing emerald. ‘I don’t think I could let you go after just one night, even if I wanted to.’

Rhea released her grip on the chair to thread her hands through his tousled hair, finding the longer strands at the back that were just enough to get a good grip and pull. The groan that escaped him was guttural, reverberating through her chest and sending waves of heat straight to her core. His fingers hooked in the waistband of her boxers, and he released her mouth to press butterfly kisses down her body, following the path of her underwear as he dragged them over her hips and off until they were puddled on the floor around her ankles.

Rhea moaned quietly, dragging her t-shirt up and off as Dean lifted one knee over his shoulder, dipping his head to trail his lips up the inside of her thigh.

‘So wet already…’ His voice was an exquisite agony as his breath brushed against the apex of her thighs. With a low snarl, she gripped his hair tighter, almost pushing his face closer to where she needed him. With a dark chuckle at her urgency, he began to feast on her; his lips closing around her clit, alternating between sucking and circling the sensitive bud with his tongue in a way that had her seeing stars within minutes.

Her legs trembled and Dean tightened his grip on her thigh where it was pressed against the side of his head. Meanwhile, he trailed his other hand up, up, up her leg until he was pressing against her soaked folds, matching the rhythm of his tongue with the steady thrust of his fingers.

‘Fuck…Dean.’ She was moaning in earnest now, biting down hard on her bottom lip to stop from alerting the rest of the bunker. Cas and Jack could come back at any time… ‘God I’m close…’

And damn him she could feel that cocky smirk against her as he increased his pace. Faster and faster until – Her legs shook and locked as her release barrelled through her, the man kneeling before her the only thing keeping her upright as she came down from the high.

‘Fuck – that was…’ Rhea licked her lips as she glanced down at Dean, his own mouth swollen and glistening as he tilted his head back to meet her gaze.

‘Oh, we’re not done yet, darlin’.’ She barely had time to unhook her leg from his should before he was surging up, wrapping his arms under her thighs to grip her ass as he backed her towards the nearest bookshelf; hard enough to knock several of the no-doubt ancient volumes to the floor.

And she met his passion blow-for-blow, her hands frantic as she ripped his t-shirt up and over his head, tightening her legs around his waist to let him undo his belt and slide his jeans down far enough to free his cock.

He was hot and heavy against her, far bigger than she’d had in a long time. Dean didn’t waste any time as he pressed against her, the head of his cock stretching her out as he rolled his hips into her, letting her adjust to the size until he bottomed out. In the low light of the lamps, he was impossibly beautiful – all lean muscle and freckled skin criss-crossed by silvery scars from countless past fights.

He kept the pace slow, pulling out almost completely before pressing back into her. She buried her face into his neck, trailing her lips along the tanned skin before biting down hard enough to make his hips jerk, rattling the shelf behind her. Rhea chuckled throatily at Dean’s frustrated growl, sucking a mark onto his neck. She was done being subtle and this was her claim.

‘Fuck me like you mean it, Winchester.’ Her voice was a purr in his ear, and he took her suggestion wholeheartedly. The bookshelf shook with each roll of his hips and she knew that she’d have a series of very odd bruises in the morning, but it was worth it for the way that Dean trembled as he tightened his arms around her, a jumble of words falling from lips as his rhythm began to falter.

‘I love you, I love you Iloveyouiloveyou.’ He squeezed his eyes closed as he fell over the edge, still and shuddering as he spilled inside her.

It was a while before he moved again; almost reverent as he slowly guided her back to her feet, still leaning against the shelf for support.

‘I love you too, even if you are a pain in my ass.’ Rhea smiled, dipping her head before glancing up at him from beneath her lashes, watching the lust in his eyes give way to something far softer than she’d ever seen in his expression.

‘If you wanted me to be a real pain in your ass, you only had to ask, sweetheart.’

But there was no heat behind the innuendo – only tenderness as he dipped his head to press a chaste kiss to her mouth, lingering sweetly.

‘We should get cleaned up before Cas gets home.’

‘What? Do you not want to invite the pizzaman to the party?’

Rhea shook her head as she moved past Dean to locate her clothes.

‘You’re unbelievable.’

‘I’m going to take that as a comment on my performance back there.’

She tipped her head back, a thoughtful expression on her face.

‘Accurate.’

#oc's are people too #oc appreciation day 2020 #supernatural #dean winchester #smut #writing #fanfic #castiel #sam winchester

6 notes · View notes

partyinthemysterymachine · 4 years

Note

Whats the "do not self diagnose" about?

self-diagnosing a mental illness or disorder is not only strongly discouraged, but harmful. it creates a new “understanding/look/expectation/” for each section. it encourages a “monkey see, monkey do” and a lot of information that’s out there that totes “these are signs of ADHD/autism/bipolar/etc” are simply.. what people do. not everything is a symptom or byproduct. somethings, things just are.

it further continues the spread of misinformation with coping, resources, and recovery. i think it’s gotten better around here, or maybe i’ve unfollowed those people, but there was an awful trend of anti-recovery nonsense for a hot few minutes there. self-diagnosing something so important as these disorders also brings up the problem of believing in it so much that it becomes real (to them), or wanting to be a part of the pack.

a lot of these “if you do this then you’re probably x” posts create a wealth of widespread ignorance and misconstrue the behaviors of, again, that are just human behaviors. there is no telling that you’re x without a formal diagnosis. a person does not get to wield the “i’m x so you can’t tell me otherwise” (which is abusive in its own right, but i digress) and shouldn’t at all, but they can’t use x as a way to excuse behaviors - and that includes things like time management and mood swings.

self-diagnosing makes it harder for people to separate what they’re experiencing from others. it makes it harder for people to then believe their doctors if and when they go to a formal diagnosis, because tumblr said that “actually, it looks like this, and your doctor is lying to you.” “doctors are scams. they have no idea what they’re talking about. if you think you’re x then you’re probably x.”

and the disclaimer: yes, there are doctors out there that aren’t doing their job. there are doctors out there that really need to go into retirement, and who are old fashioned, and dismissive, and sexist/ableist/racist/etc and won’t give a patient the proper care they need. they are out there - and there are good doctors who care out there too. second opinions are always encouraged.

a diagnosis for ADHD doesn’t come in 15 minutes. i had a full testing. it took more or less 5 days. i have the full report, something we didn’t receive until a week or so later after they’d compiled, reviewed, and written it.

my first psychiatrist diagnosed me with paranoid schizophrenia. my second psychiatrist said no, it’s bipolar 2. she was right, and he was wrong. paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar 2 get mixed up a lot; they share a bunch of the same symptoms. but my second psychiatrist was a much better doctor than psych 1. the differences of care.

and hold up - yes, times are hard, and resources to get diagnosed are varied, difficult to get, expensive, far away, etc. it sucks. i know for a fact that (a lot of) ADHD diagnosis waiting lists are a year long. i’ve been looking to get some new testing done, because it’s been ~17 years since i was diagnosed, and this ol’ grey matter’s been scrambled a lot since.

but you cannot expect a health professional to take your self diagnosis seriously; it’s not ableist for them to reject it. a person needs to get formally diagnosed, and it’s not fair to people who have to slapping the label down on their own accord. it’s also not fair to reject actual useful, common, encouraged coping skills/mechanisms/tricks by brushing them off as “neurotypical”.

it’s not fair. it’s unhealthy for the person and everyone around them. it’s selfish. point blank. relating to some symptoms? aye, if that holds you over. self-diagnosing an actual disorder and expecting everyone to adhere to that? no. no, no, no. that makes things so, so much worse, and though many may deny it, the beauty of the brain lies in suggestion, hard belief, influence, social preservation/engagement/acceptance/inclusion, and inability/unwillingness to look far beyond, and perhaps even admit that someone may be right about something one wishes they weren’t.

#ches writes #don't self diagnose #shakes stick at #stop it stop it stop it #Anonymous

7 notes · View notes

thevengeanceuniverse · 4 years

Text

Touch in the Dark 5.1 (Tony)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23556382/chapters/57728788

It’s a beautiful Tuesday. Unseasonably warm for a March day in the city, with a bright blue sky touched with the barest brush of wispy white clouds. And on this beautiful day, Tony was stuck up on a tree, dangling 10 feet off the ground with uncomfortable bark digging into sensitive areas. All because of one snarky little menace.

It had been a couple of months since he had waltzed into James Romanov’s office to make his deal and things were going okay so far. They had some bumps along the way since that first time, instances that forced Tony to come to terms with the reality that a lifetime of abuse wouldn’t be overcome with sheer stubbornness. Which didn’t mean he stopped trying.

But then memories of drunken footsteps would pound their way into his head, followed by the remembrance of split lips, bruised arms and welts on his back. Remembrances that felt so real, they had healed areas aching all over again. It was a hard lesson to learn, coming to terms with the vestiges of his trauma. Knowing that there was nothing he could do that would just put a stop to the phantom pains or the nightmares. He had a lifetime of learned behaviours from his abuse that wasn’t going anywhere soon and it would take time for his brain to recalibrate.

Even when he logically understood that, frustration welled bright and bitter every time he panicked, and he hated Howard anew for affecting him this deeply even after death.

Thankfully, James was good on his word.

He checked with Tony before every session, making sure he wasn’t going to flash into a panic attack the moment they started. If Tony was feeling even a little bit iffy, James ran him through breathing exercises, teaching Tony how to pack up his trauma and put it away for later. It wasn’t a cure—not even close—but it gave Tony the compartmentalization skills he needed to move forward. To get into a mental zone where he could focus on his body’s movement and countering attacks instead of being overwhelmed by fear. And every time he practiced, Tony could feel himself do it just a fraction of a second faster.

It was a similar kind of zone Tony felt when he was concentrating hard on complex equations. Like everything became quiet and his senses were more amplified, everything a little sharper. Tony couldn’t stay in the zone too deeply yet, snapping out of it too easily sometimes, but there was progress. He was getting faster, fighting better, hitting harder.

After the hours in the ring, Tony and James sat down for a light dinner, the one they had the first time acting as a precedent for their meetings together. They spent time discussing how training went, Tony asking questions and James giving critiques or advise as needed. It was nice. Things were civil between them, James keeping things casual the moment they stepped out of the ring and they never got more intimate than that.

They didn’t talk about the intimacy of that first session, but Tony wasn’t uncomfortable with that. Strange as it was, it felt like that moment had been more about reassurance rather than seduction. Like James had wanted to teach him a lesson and that was it.

Considering the lesson had been about the depth of feeling the heart could grant sex, as well as knowing the way James had felt about Steve, Tony was confident that James had no real desires for him. Honestly, after months of James treating him like he was infected with the plague, Tony was grateful things were working out as pleasantly as it was. If Tony had a panic attack, James never hesitated to offer comfort or help him get his breath back, but that was as intimate as it got. Both brunettes had reached a truce and slowly, but surely, becoming friends.

Which brought him back to today.

With Rhodey working for Steve, Tony got to see his platypus on a regular basis, a drastic change from when he was in the army. Even when he was being all gross and lovey-dovey with Sam, Tony delighted in seeing how openly happy Rhodey was.

The prominence of his honeybear time reminded Tony of the lack of Pepper in his life since he started training with James. They had still kept in contact, exchanging letters though they couldn’t meet in person. Tony was concerned, however, because Pepper was being suspiciously closemouthed about the new job that’s been keeping her so busy, not even sharing who she was working for. Naturally, he had written her again, asking to meet while also shamelessly bribing her with an opportunity to see Peter (who she doted on as much as her own siblings). Deciding on a place and time, he had announced to Steve that he was leaving early for the day and made his way to the park.

Tony and Peter got there first, picking out a place on the grass to spread their blanket and situate themselves. Quarter-hour later, Pepper was walking up to them in a light blue dress with a bow neckline, a golden-brown haired boy hanging onto her with a rather proprietorial hold on her hand.

Peter took off before Tony even got off the ground, jumping to hug Pepper as if they had been separated for decades rather than a few months.

Rolling his eyes, Tony followed at a more sedate pace, leaning in to hug one of his closest friends when Peter finally stopped hanging like a monkey. It probably wasn’t appropriate for them to be this affectionate in public, but Tony had long stopped caring about propriety so he savoured the moment of being close to one of the few people he trusted growing up. Steve was fantastic, but no one was ever going to know him the way that Pepper and Rhodey did, having been there to put him back together in the days after the beatings. Even if they couldn’t help in the moments when it happened.

Pulling away, Tony peeked at the little person next to Pepper, taken aback when he met dark blue eyes glaring holes into him. Turning around fully, he was met with a mild expression that looked practiced, but also vaguely familiar. There was no glare in sight as Pepper introduced Harley, her charge for the day. Tony held out his hand for a handshake, which the child returned with the utmost decorum as if he met with adults to discuss business on the regular.

Amused by the precocious child, Tony stepped aside for Peter to greet the other boy with a wide grin. “Hi, I’m Peter Stark. Do you wanna play a game?” In comparison to Peter’s open rambunctiousness, this child seemed downright solemn. But with a glance at Pepper for permission, he ran off agreeably enough.

Tony led the way to their blanket where he and Pepper made themselves comfortable on the cushions she had thought to bring. They covered the basics, isn’t it a great day, how was the family, blah blah blah before Tony couldn’t hold it anymore and blurted out, “What is this job that you keep hinting at but never talk about? Is it a factory job or secretary job or something?”

Pepper laughed. “Wow, Tony, you held out for a full three minutes.” She paused to take a deep breath. “Truthfully, I haven’t really told anyone about my new job because I didn’t want them to judge my decisions.” Tony raised his brows at her at this statement.

Pepper never did anything people would judge her negatively for, she knew exactly how to toe the line to get what she wanted without alienating herself. Seeing the way she pressed her fingers against each other in a clear sign of nerves, Tony felt worry spark in his gut, mixing sourly with guilt. He had been so caught up in his own major life changes that he hadn’t been attentive to much else outside of that.

“The reason I couldn’t see you a lot was because I’ve actually been working nights now.”

Tony pushed aside his worry and forced out a teasing grin. “Have you been selling your wares on the street corners, Miss Potts?”

“No!” Laughing at her exasperated expression, Tony choked on his spit when she followed that with, “I’ve been working at a brothel.”

“WHAT?” Eyes widening, Pepper slapped a hand over his mouth and shushed him.

“I was joking about you being a prostitute, Pepper, what the hell are you doing working in a brothel?” He lowered his volume, but his tone was still disbelieving, unable to fathom that lady-like Pepper Potts was working in a whorehouse.

Strangely blasé now that the truth was out, Pepper just rolled her eyes. “I’m not a prostitute, you dolt. I’m an assistant for a woman at the brothel, though sometimes it feels more like a babysitter.” She pointed to Harley, climbing the monkey bars with Peter in the distance. “That’s her son. Harley Romanov.”

Tony choked again. Pepper was really turning out to be a hazard to his health. “James Romanov has a son?” No wonder that mild expression was familiar.

Tony had never seen a sign of a child at the residence, never even heard James—or Steve for that matter—mention any children. But James was a notoriously secretive man, so how much could Tony really know after only two months of knowing each other?

Pepper’s eyes lit up with curiosity at the mention of Jame—she had neglected to tell her about his training, but she knew he was a part of Tony’s life through Steve—but she let it go for the moment. “I’m not really sure about the situation. He’s private so I’ve never been around when they interact.”

Something twisted his insides at the thought of James having a son with someone, but this wasn’t the time to delve into those feelings—never would be the right time—and Tony focused on what else Pepper had to share. “What’s she like?”

Unexpectedly, Pepper blushed. Which was immediately obvious with her fair skin tone, bringing her closer to her nickname namesake. Curiosity further piqued, he listened as Pepper stumbled through an explanation of this mysterious woman’s attributes. After the third mention of how intelligent she was, how graceful, how beautiful, Tony finally caught on to what Pepper wasn’t saying.

“You’re in love with her…” Voice sounding incredulous to his own ears, he watched as Pepper uncharacteristically fumbled for her words.

Giving up, she ran a hand through her long strawberry locks, momentarily looking lost. “I do love her,” she finally admitted. “I love the way she manipulates politicians to get what she needs to help the people around her. Prostitutes are so vulnerable yet everyone in that brothel feels safe and taken care of because of her actions. She’s vicious when it comes to protecting her own and I don’t even hate her when I know for a fact that some of the people who leave our brothel never actually make it home.”

She looked out at the grass, smiling at the way Peter and Harley had banded together with a group of kids to play some game that involved a lot of running, screaming and the names of different kinds of fruit. “I love the way she is with Harley, kind and attentive and always wanting the best for him. She’s a good mother. I know she would die before she let anything happen to him. She just wants him to be happy, to have a good childhood.” Pepper turned to face Tony, breath catching. “Gods, Tony, I feel so much for her and she doesn’t see me as anything other than the ‘best assistant’ she’s ever had.”

She took a deep, steadying breath, letting it out in a sigh.

“I’ve never felt anything like this before. I haven’t felt this way for anyone I’ve ever met before, not even Paul, and I was going to marry him. It makes me so scared sometimes, the depth of what I feel for her because people would hate me for feeling that way for her. You know, you’ve seen how they demonize anyone who feels for someone of the same sex the way that we do.” Tony put a comforting hand on her shoulder, understanding that she was thinking of the way her brother was treated. How he became a pariah almost overnight and had been kicked out of their home and neighbourhood, beaten bloody by the same people who had claimed to love him.

Tony reached out to pull her into a hug, letting her bury her face in his neck and not commenting on any wetness he might have felt there. He could empathize fully with her fear, knowing that people’s hatred was a fearsome thing that galvanized them to commit horrific acts. The kindest of neighbours could turn into the cruellest of tormentors, justifying their oppression and terrorism with nonsensical beliefs that villainized the victims of those hate crimes. It was horrible, feeling like everything you loved could be torn away in the blink of an eye by someone who didn’t even feel their actions were wrong. Knowing this was something that would take Pepper time to come to terms with, he just held her, letting her body tremble apart with her emotions and then build herself back up as she chose.

Over her shoulder, he saw Peter shouting something to Harley, who waved back and kept playing, before heading over with a grin on his face. His face became confused as he got closer, grin dropping.

“Is Pepper okay?” Tony heard Pepper’s breath hitch at the sound of Peter’s voice, knowing she wasn’t ready to be strong yet for the sake of the child.

Tony smiled softly at him, not wanting to worry Peter more than he was already. “Yea, cucciolo, she’s fine, just a little sad.”

“Oh, okay.” Peter nodded uncertainly before looking toward her. “Do you want to get some ice cream with me, Pepper? Auntie gave me some extra pocket change when she heard we were going to the park.”

Letting out an amused, and snotty, huff Pepper pulled away, taking the handkerchief Tony offered to dry any remaining wetness. Enough of her equilibrium restored, she rose and held out a hand for Peter to take. Which he did, gleefully.

Tossing a “Look after Harley for a bit,” over her shoulder, they were on their way to pick up some ice pops.

Reminded of the other boy, Tony scanned through the park, heart leaping to his throat when he couldn’t see Harley anywhere. Looking for one of the rugrats he saw playing with the 7-year old, Tony asked if she had seen Harley and then headed towards the big oak tree she pointed at. Not seeing him near the base, he looked in the branches and let out a loud “Shit” when he got pelted with acorns.

Stepping out of range quickly, Tony called out to the boy sequestered among the leaves.

“Harley, what are you doing? Stop that and come down here, please.” And there was the glare. Harley sat in the tree red-faced with tear streaks on his cheeks, his eyes trying to burn holes into Tony’s skull.

“No! I’m not going anywhere with you! What did you do with Pepper? I won’t let you hurt her!” More acorns rained down, Harley adjusting his aim to throw farther. When did he collect so many?

Putting up his arms to block the projectiles, Tony was thoroughly confused as to why the kid would hate him. They had barely talked, the Harley and Peter spending the majority of the last two hours running off to play games while he and Pepper talked on the grass.

Oh. Pepper. With whom Harley had been spending a lot of time with and had been holding tight to when they had arrived at the park.

Quickly piecing it together, Tony thought about what his interactions with Pepper would have looked like to the young boy. Hugging her in greeting, talking and laughing with her before then holding her close in what would have seemed like an intimate embrace. To the random passersby, they would have looked like a couple in love. To a young boy in love, Tony would’ve been seen as a rival.

Considering the fact that Tony—and Pepper apparently—was as gay as the day was long, Tony repressed his immediate urge to laugh hysterically. To add to that, Pepper was attracted to Harley’s mother.

Shaking his head at the irony, Tony wished Pepper all the best sorting out that debacle while thinking about how best to handle his jealous charge. Briefly, Tony entertained the thought of leaving Harley up in the tree and just waiting for Pepper to come back to soothe him. She was the key to this whole mess, it would be a 1000 times easier for her to come deal with it.

But knowing this was James’ son, and remembering the adept way that James had handled Peter, Tony felt guilty at the thought of just passing over the responsibility. He owed it to James to try.

Praying for no more acorns, Tony called out a truce.

“Harley, I’m not going to hurt Pepper, she’s my friend.” Just a friend, trust me. “She just went with Peter to get ice pops for you and Peter. You like Peter, don’t you?” Tony believed that was a fair enough assumption, everyone liked Peter. And if Harley had grown up the isolating life of the son of a mob lord and a prostitute, Peter was probably his first true friend his age.

Seeing the hesitation in the other boy’s face, Tony pressed his advantage. “My brother likes you a lot. I can tell that he was having a lot of fun today, and he will definitely want to play again. Would you like that?”

Harley looked torn before shaking his head fiercely. “I don’t want you to take Pepper away,” he said, voice wobbling. He looked afraid that that was exactly what Tony wanted to do, take away the person who had been taking care of him, a person who he had begun to trust to be there for him.

“Why do you think I would take Pepper away?” Tony asked in a gentle voice.

Harley’s face crumpled. “Be-c-cause t-that’s what ha-p-ppens!” He sobbed.

Tony quickly analysed the tree, looking for toe and footholds that would hold his weight. He hadn’t climbed a tree in a long time, but hopefully, it would be like riding a bike. Instinct after a certain point. Planning in his head, he started pulling himself up to sit near the crying boy. He pulled him gently into a hug the way he had with Pepper, resigned to what was shaping up to be a day covered in snot and emotions. Harley didn’t resist, grabbing onto him tightly and burying his face in Tony’s chest. No matter the fact that he might not like Tony, he was still a child who wanted comforting when he felt upset.

Used to the outburst of emotion from dealing with Peter, Tony just waited it out, letting Harley calm down before asking him more questions.

“What happens?” he asked, still holding the boy close.

Harley mumbled something unintelligibly into his chest and Tony chuckled.

“I’m sorry, I don’t speak gurgle. Could you repeat that?” He turned Harley’s face to the side, taking the boy’s handkerchief and dabbing at the tracks of tears and snot on his face. Most of it was on Tony’s vest, but at least this way he looked presentable.

“Mama says that when a girl wants to get married, a man comes to take her away from her family so she can make a new family. That’s how she ended up with Papa, though they’re not together anymore. And its why Mama works so hard, to make sure that the girls are ready for a family before she lets a man take them away. Mama says you have to be careful because some people make a family before they’re ready for one and that makes people unhappy. I don’t understand that part yet, but Mama says I will when I get older.” Harley looked up at Tony despondently. “Are you going to take Pepper away to get married? I don’t want to never see her again.” His eyes started watering again at the thought and Tony hurried spoke to reassure the boy.

“No, I love someone else, so I won’t be taking Pepper anywhere.” Tony tilted Harley’s chin up, meeting watery blue eyes. “Besides, Pepper’s stubborn and she really likes you. She won’t just leave you and never come back.”

“Really? Do you mean that?”

“Every word. I think Pepper’s a lot like your mom, actually. She protects the people she cares about, always have and always will. And now one of those people is you. So even if she did marry and leave, she would still come back to see you, okay?”

Harley sighed, knocking his head back into Tony’s chest, but allowed Tony to keep comforting him. Tony felt strangely fond for the temperamental kid despite his squirrel-inspired attacks. He knew about being afraid of getting abandoned by the people you love and rely on. Tony had felt that way when his mother died, and a part of him still felt that way, fearing that the people in his life would leave him.

Tony made a commitment at that moment to be one of the people Harley Romanov could rely on. He knew that Harley’s mom and Pepper would look out for him, and odds are so would Peter. Steve and James were probably supportive, but from a distance, since they led such busy lives. And there was Sarah who couldn’t resist a stray. All of them together should be able to help a little boy feel a little less alone in the world. He deserved the chance that Tony didn’t have growing up after Maria’s death, to feel secure in the love of those around him.

#Bucky and steve are mobsters #Tony killed Howard #harley keener #harley is the son of a brothel owner #past trauma #violence #abuse #peter parker #pepper potts #fanfic #stuckony #past stucky #established stony #developing winteriron #winterironshield #vengeanceworks #touchinthedark

1 note · View note