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madllamamomma · 3 years

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The Visitor~ Part 6

Muriel x Rhemi (OC) fanfic

[WARNING: Some topics can be triggering to some readers including, mention of violence, blood/gore, mental health issues, abuse, etc.]

Part 6~

Ghosts~

In the palace, Sir Martin sits quietly in the green chair next to the fire. His daughter should be here any moment. The cracking of the burning wood alway relaxed him, eventually making his eyes heavy… Soon he drifts to sleep.

As he opens his eyes, he finds himself sitting on an old rickety chair that looks like it's about to break at any moment. With an annoyed scoff, his eyes look around, he is in a terribly drabby house, full of holes in the straw roof where the sunlight shines through and mice hide in the walls. He always hated this place--Despised is more like it. He absolutely hated when his dreams would drift him back here to this often empty house. But then, she walks into the room, her hands full with the heavy laundry basket… His hatred drifted away.

She was a beautiful young woman, no older than eighteen, her hair s burgundy brown and curly, pulled back into a handkerchief and her gorgeous teal blue eyes and wearing commoner’s clothes with a dingy apron around her waist. Just like always, she acted like it was just another ordinary day and as cheery as ever.

“Well! Good morning, my little rabbit.” She says with a smile as she sits and folds the laundry.

“..... Morning.” Martin gently replies, unable to keep his eyes off of her.

“Beautiful day, isn’t it?”

He swallows hard and shakes his head. He knows this is just a dream. “Why… Why does this keep happening?”

For a moment she stops folding, and looks up at him with such gleaming and loving eyes, tilting her head and looking at Martin with such concern.

“Why here?.... Why this moment?” He frustratedly mutters. “And not any other moment. Just…. This. One?”

The young woman sighs and lightly shrugs, shaking her head. “... You tell me, little rabbit.”

Martin tries to stand up from his chair, but like always, he is stuck in one place. Angry, he tries and tries but something is keeping him here in this one spot.

“You know that doesn’t help any.” She says sadly. “It never has…”

A deep sigh expels from his lungs again as he finally accepts his situation and his eyes peer back to the young woman, pain in his cold teal eyes. “..... Why didn’t you just stay home that day?” He asks with gritted teeth and folded hands. “I... I told you not to go.”

Tears start to well in her eyes as she looks at him silently, slowly standing to her feet. The house just evaporates, replaying it with a foggy gray atmosphere. “Why didn’t you come with me?” She whispers as her feet lift off the ground.

An eerie high pitch ringing overwhelming his ears as she keeps staring at him as she stops levitating about three feet from the ground. A terrifying crack emanates from her neck as it snaps quickly to the right.

Martin shutters stifling his tears, shutting his eyes tightly and turning his head away from the horror. But suddenly feels himself waking up from the warm licks from Beatrix’s tongue.

------

Fluttering his eyes open, he finds Beatrix in his lap, looking at him slightly concerned. “Little Piegon’s here, Master.” Her scratchy voice mutters in his head.

Martin rubs his tired eyes, and smoothing back his plum and gray hair. “Thank you, Bea.”

Waiting patiently, Martin stares into the fire, in deep thought, wondering why his dreams keep taking him to that dreadful day. If it wasn’t that dream, it was always about Florence and Rhemielia. The night that she and their child were whisked away. All the while he was trapped underneath a pile of fiery debris, and his skin burning his right arm.

---------- Later that day-----

As Rhemi steadily makes her way back to the shop, taking three times as long. Her lack of oxygen is taking its toll on her. “This….. fucking thing!….” She huffs to herself, gasping for air in between her thoughts as she takes a seat on a nearby barrel. “...*huff* Fuck….*huff*.... This…*huff*...*huff*..... Corset!”

After getting adequate rest, she stands to her feet and clasps the small part of her waist feeling the corset digging into the tops of her hip bones.

“... Fuck this dress. Fuck that Oliver guy. Fuck this day...” She grumbles to herself under her breath, attempting to ignore all the wide eyed stares from the citizens she passes, hoping that no one would recognize her. “Fuckthisfuckthisfuckthisfuckthisfuckthisfuckthis….” She grumbles to herself, face beat red. “Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.”

Finally, the shop was within her sight as the sun was setting over the city. It took so long to get here! Rhemi thinks to herself, realizing that the lamplighters are hard at work lighting the dark streets. She left the palace around three o’clock, it's probably almost five or so now. If anything came out of this, it’s respect for the poor aristocrats in Charlès who actually wore this stuff on the regular bases! Why would anyone want to wear this stuff everyday? Did Mum really wear this crap? This is awful!

Opening the door to the shop never felt so good. God, I can’t wait to get inside! I am so happy to be home. She rejoiced in her head. Finally home! Three different voices muffled on the other side of the door. Rhemi knew right away who they all belonged to. Then, a horrible thought comes to mind as she turns the key in the lock after taking down the protection spell. ….Oh no….. Oh god!.... What the hell are they gonna say about this abomination??

Then again…. she was so tired at this point, she didn’t really care. The pain of the corset outweighed the pain of her friend's judgement. With as much air as she could fill in her restricted lungs, she bravely opens the door, all three pairs of eyes immediately falling on her.

Asra excitedly starts to greet his friend with a brilliant smile. “Hey! There she is! Welcome…” But then stops as he sees her, his eyes wide, his smile crumples into a shocked snicker.

The lively chattering that filled the room suddenly ceases, the only thing that can be heard is the creaking of the rusty hinges of the shop door as it shuts behind her.

Awkwardly, Rhemi just stands in the doorway as Asra, Faust, Muriel, and Julian just stare at her. None of them could help but stifle their laughs at the overly fluffy dress that she’s wearing.

Julian opens and closes his mouth attempting to formulate a sentence.“That's… errr….. It’s… Ummm-aahhhhh..” He stammers as he rubs his face, searching for a compliment. But of course, Asra stands next to him, covering his smile with his clasped hands and eyes wide, his thoughts very apparent.

Looking silently between them all, realizing that they were trying to be as kind about it as possible. “.... It’s fucking atrocious, isn’t it?” Rhemi finally verbally admits with a half straight face.

“It’s a goddamn travesty is what it is.” Asra spits out as soon as she completes her sentence. All four of them stand there silently all waiting how’d be the first to crack.

Suddenly, all of them sputter into hard laughter at the same time, breaking the terrible silence.

“My god!.... What the hell is this thing anyways??” Julian adds overdramatically gesturing to the hips. “Rhemi-dear, are you wearing ….crinoline??”

“... Crino-What??” Muriel mumbles as he squints his eyes.

“It’s a type of tortuous device placed under dresses that a deranged idiot designed to make your hips look inhumanly large.” She replies nonchalantly as attempts to reach back for the buttons, trying to contort herself to do so. But, try as she might, the poor apprentice couldn’t reach without completely tearing the sleeves. However, as stubborn as she is, she continues to try to reach in hope to get out of this over-tightened corset. All at the same time, Muriel, Asra, and Julian try to figure out the reason why she’s wearing the damn overly extravagant monstrosity.

“....There are… So… many bows….” Muriel mutters as tugs at one to study it, seemingly not liking the texture and his face hilariously cringing hard.

“Oh… I know!….. It’s bad, huh, Muri?”

“Reallllllly bad.”

“Did you lose a bet, Rem?” Asra teases, still laughing his ass off.

“Nooooooo,” A whine emanates from her mouth and her bottom lip pops out. Despite her cute pout, the corner of the lips still twist up into a grin making her slightly look like a duck. Slightly frustrated, but also entertained by her stupid situation, she sighs deeply and slouches as much as she could (given her restrictive outfit).

About having enough of trying, she huffs feeling rather defeated, but still smiles at her friends. “If you three are gonna keep dishing out colorful insults, you might as well help me out of it... I can’t freakin’ breathe!”

“... Yo-... You can’t get out by yourself, Rem??” Muriel snorts, forcefully hiding a very amused smile, trying to politely withhold a bellowing laugh at her situation. “Sorry… It’s not funny.” He mumbles as he presses his lips together even tighter.

“Do you really think I would have come home with this... thing if I could take it off myself?? It took… like…. Five people to get me in this abomination!”

“Are you.... Errr…. Decent underneath all of it?” Julian warily asks, his eye quickly glancing towards Muriel while he wasn’t looking.

“Don’t worry Ilya, you’ve seen more at the beach. I have a shift or… or slip…? -Whatever it’s called under the corset.” Say says lifting up the dreaded skirt showing the many layers of cloth on her body. “Pft! This bitch has so many layers, it puts our wedding cake to shame.”

“Oh god.” Muriel chuckles, his laughter making his broad shoulder shake, not doing a very good job to keep it in.

“Ohhh! Shut your face!” Rhemi playfully smacks her finacè’s stomach. “Now, please! Get me out of this damn thing! I feel like my boobs are suffocating me! Do you guys want me to die from titty asphyxiation?!”

“I’d argue that it wouldn't be a bad demise!” The doctor chuckles with his dubious smile of his.

“Shuddup Ilya!” Rhemi playfully elbows her friend, slightly knocking the wind out of him.

But he continues to laugh and laugh,as he holds his stomach nearly hyperventilating. “..We-.... We’ll write on your tombstone, ...‘Here lies Rhemi… Escaped death once from the plague to die from a common corset.’..”

Asra chortles, nearly crying now as Faust happily hisses, “Rhemi a tent!”

Out of the sea of laughter, Rhemi finds herself feeling more light headed, unable to contain her giggles either. “Hey! Less talkie, more unbutton-ie! I am literally dying over here! I am not joking when I said that I nearly passed out a few times over here. I left around three!”

The mountain man’s face suddenly becomes more serious as she says that, his laughter completely silenced “Wait…. Really?? Are… you ok?”

“I mean… I made it here, didn’t I?” She says with a shrug and a half grin.

A warm grumble rumbles from his lips as he mutters, “That’s not…”

“—Alright, alright, alright! Turn around, ya big baby.” Asra teases her, finally feeling pity for her. “Let’s get you out of this thing… Then we’ll have a bonfire. Haha!”

It took some time, but after some troubleshooting and a bit of magic, the three managed to peel the dress, the extra layers, and the crinoline off, leaving only her tight overbust, and a shift underneath. With surgical hands, Julian and Asra loosened the loops.

Finally, the corset was loosened, Rhemi took in a large breath of fresh air as if she had just made love. “Ahhhhhhhh~ Sooooo much better.”

“Better wait a few minutes before loosening it again.” Julian adds with a serious doctor face. “Don’t want you actually passing out.”

“Tha-that's a thing that can happen??” A very wary Muriels asks.

“Why, yes! If you let it out too quickly, you can pass out… Your blood pressure can drop and leave a person unconscious. Happened a few times to the actors at the theater.”

“That's….. Worrisome.” Muriel says as his eyes fall on his fiancée again, and pointing to the corset. “You never told me these things were hazardous.”

Unable to contain herself, Rhemi takes her lover’s large hand and holds it with both of hers with an empathetic expression. He’s so cute. “Aww! I never wear them this tight, honey! I like the way my corsets look and feel on my body. But this one is garbage!”

“Actually it’s not that bad.” Julian says peeling away the cloth and exposing the boning structure underneath. “.....It’s made out of whale bone! It’s expensive and very strong. It’s just not your size.”

“Oh! Speaking of expensive, that reminds me.” Julian takes out Rhemi’s coin purse and hands it back to her, only a few coins used. “I believe this belongs to you.”

It takes a few moments before she realizes that the doctor never used her money last night, she instantly pouts. “Ilya!! You’re drinks were supposed to be on me you dork!”

“Rhemi-dear, what happened at tea the other day was not your fault!”

You mean ‘what my father said’. She thinks to herself. “But— My father— it wasn’t right what he—”

“—You can’t control what that basta—.. dahhhhhhh errrrrr... I mean…. What he says.”

“... Nice save.” Asra whispers to his lover.

“I never got the chance to tell you how sorry I am. I… I kinda regret inviting him. Tea was just so awkward. It should have been just us, like Nadia planned it.”

Julian wraps his long arms around Rhemi’s shoulders for a friendly hug. “Please don’t apologize. I’ve honestly heard worse.”

“I’m still sorry it happened.”

“Hey, don't worry about it. It’s not worth it.” He then moves his arm and takes a seat in the velvet couch never to Asra, causing them to lazily lean on his shoulder. Slowly, Faust slithers over to Julian and he tries his best not to get chills. “So…. Ahhhh… Ya gonna tell us why you are wearing this….. Errr…. getup?”

“... My father apparently brought his own tailor on board with him… Names Oliver… real piece of freakin’ work!... My father wanted him to give the dress as a present to me. It’s apparently the latest fashion from Charlès… All the noble women wear something like it.”

“..... Sooooo… I assume that he didn’t take it too well that you two aren’t moving to Charlès.” Asra asks, handing her own clothes to her so she could get comfortable.

“Wait, he wanted you both to move??” Julian cluelessly interjects with his left eye wide.

An intense pressure suddenly overtakes Rhemi’s stomach as if gravity doubled on her intestines. How the hell is she supposed to explain what happened today? Not only did her father still want her to leave Vesuvia, but he wants her alone to move and marry someone of nobility in Charlès!

“....Actually, he was very understanding.” She flat out lies before she could stop herself.

Rhemi, what are you doing?? She screams internally. Why are you lying again?!

“... He was of course disappointed, but he was very respectful about it!” She continues as if her mouth had a mind of its own, her body posture scarily calm and believable. “... But it’s best not to mention it to him… He’s still very disappointed. Might spark a nerve with him. Ya know?”

Asra and Julian exchange a surprised look as they hear this. Julian rubs the back of his hand and sighs, “He doesn’t seem to be the understanding type--”

“—Well, he might surprise you.” Rhemi defensively interrupts. “He might be very posh and rigid on the outside…. But I know, deep down he just cares about me.”

Muriel stares down at her with his knowing emerald eyes completely unconvinced as she walks past him to head upstairs to get changed. She dared not look at him for too long. He had a way of making her break. But how could she explain this to him? To…. well, anyone?? Her father didn’t even acknowledge that she was getting married.

No. She just…. Has to fix this before anyone knows. She had to.

———————

After Rhemi got dressed, the four of them all had a nice dinner that Muriel and Asra whipped up. It was chicken souvlaki wrapped in a pita and other greens.

After that, the two couples went their separate ways for the night. Asra and Julian stayed at the shop, while Rhemi and Muriel went back home to the hut.

She feared that he might bring up what she said before dinner, about her father accepting thor decision not to leave. He always knows when she’s bullshitting. That's the problem when you get to know someone so well. It's a sixth sense, knowing something is wrong.

But to her surprise, he stayed quiet. She reads a book on the bed as he whittles next to Inanna by the fire. Eventually, her eye starts to become heavy and she shuts her books and gets into her nightgown. Muriel follows her lead. Soon, all three get comfortable in the bed, taking their normal positions. Rhemi on the left side of the bed, Muriel at the right, and Inanna at the foot. The apprentice always laid on his bare chest snuggling up and getting warm.

“I love you, Muriel.” She whispers.

Muriel yawns, “... I love you too, Rhemi…” Thinking he's drifting off to sleep, she starts to close her eyes as well and feel herself falling asleep. “.... Was he really okay with us not moving?” He finally whispers.

Rhemi's heart drops, but she just stays there silent and still, pretending to be asleep.

The hermit lets out a frustrated sigh, before placing a feather light kiss on her forehead. “.... Please just don’t forget I want you to talk to me.”

….. I know…. She thinks to herself. I want to tell you. But… I’m scared that might make things worse. I’m sorry, Muri. I don’t want to lie to you… But I have to fix this by myself before you know the truth.

Finally, all of them start to drift to sleep, Muriel finds himself in the realm of dreams, his father waiting for him yet again, waiting to show him what he was capable of in the realm of dreams.

All the while Rhemi stays put, in a dreamless state, but finds herself waking up almost every hour from a twinging pain in her temples. She could swear she was hearing distant voices.

———The next morning———

A very groggy Rhemi finally wakes up from the sun peering into the window. Sitting up, in the bed, she realized that Muriel and Inanna were already up and started the day. Glancing over to the table, some fresh flowers and herbs were waiting for her and a note that read, "Get some rest." She couldn’t help but smile despite feeling so terrible. The headaches are getting worse and worse lately. Even when she wakes up, it's like a hammer is knocking on the side of her temples. Luckily, it would dissipate as the day went on, but it was such a nuisance to start off the day like this. At least she didn’t have any dreams last night…

Slowly, she gets up and walks over to the washing washing bowl, trying to get more energized for the day. This was one of her installations when she moved into the hut. It was a little table (taller than most for her sweet Muriel) with a washing bowl, a pitcher and a mirror from the shop. It must have been her mother’s. It was the one thing that didn’t necessarily match the other decor from the shop. Pouring a liberal amount of freshwater, she starts washing her face. The cool water felt nice on her temples. As she glances back up to the mirror to make herself look more alive, she notices someone behind her.

Summoning her magic quickly into her hands, she conjures a defensive spell as she whips around silently. But as soon as she turns around, no one is there. The door is locked, and she can still hear Muriel cutting wood. “.... Must have been my imagination.”

Turning back to the mirror yet again to look at her reflection. But instead of her own face, she sees her eyes bloodshot red and short hair, her expression bleak and sad.

“.... Headache again?” A voice mumbles to her sadistically from the reflection.

“AHHHHH!!!” Shocked, Rhemi yelps a terrified scream, punching the mirror out of instinct. The vision and the pieces of glass shatter into pieces. Immediately, she regretted her reaction. She tucks her hand into her chest in pain, her knuckles bloody, and the mirror is broken. Looking at the shards on the ground, all she can see is her own reflection in the small fragments. What… what the fuck was that?

“RHEMI?!” Muriel cries out from behind the hut.

“.... Shit….” Quickly Rhemi jumps up and carefully takes the mirror off the wall and places it on the floor to make it look like it just fell down. The last thing she wanted was to think that she was losing her mind. Besides, people see things all the time, it doesn’t mean you're crazy… right??

“RHEMI !” Muriel shouts as he bursts in the hut, his large ax still in hand. As soon as he sees the blood, his eyes get even wider and swirling with fear. “Y-... You’re bleeding!”

“Ahhh!” She shouts, waving her hand to keep him away. “Don’t let Nana in here! T-There's glass everywhere!”

Examining the damage, Muriel shakes his head bewildered. “Rem... What happened?”

“... Ohhmygosh!! HaHa! So dumb!... Completely my fault! I was trying to straighten the stupid mirror and I apparently…. It fell off the nail! I… I didn’t catch it in time and it broke, and I screamed.”

He starts to slightly relax, but still looks pretty anxious. “.... You okay?”

“Yeah! I just cut myself a little on the glass is all! Just a little scratch, nothing I can’t fix~!”

Taking a single step inside he sets the ax down outside and reaches his hand for her. “.... Let me at least help—”

“It’s fine, Love!” She says as she conjures her magic to clean the pieces up and place them back into the mirror. “See? No problem!”

Begrudgingly he huffs, and starts to step out of the doorway before pausing. “.... Get dressed. I’ll make breakfast. You just …. sit…. alright?.... Don’t go near anything breakable…. Or sharp.” He grumpily instructs.

She snickers and nods her head. “Okay.”

As soon as the door shuts, her smile falls and she stares at her knuckle so she could heal it. Luckily, it wasn’t very deep, however it was a little long. She sits down at the table, taking a little piece of herb and summoning her magic, she starts mending her skin together. After it was all healed up a very small scar was left. It should dissipate after a while. But she just stares at it for a moment.

“Get it together, Rhemi.” She mumbles to herself as she stands to her feet to get dressed.

There's too much going on today for this bullshit. She had a plan for her father to get on board with her getting married.

--------

After a delicious breakfast, and a few sweet kisses, Muriel and Rhemi part for the day. Making her way to the shop, she concocks the perfect plan.

As expected, the shop was open and ready for business, usually Asra at the counter with a book or a potion, but today the white haired gender bastard was nowhere in sight, and the shop appeared empty.

“Hello??” She calls out. “Asra?? Faust?? You home?”

“Oh! Morning, Rhemi.” He greets from the back next to the stairs.

Realizing his location she strolls to where he was sitting on the ground and she takes off her bag. “.... Good morning. What the heck are you doing back there, ya weirdo?”

“Refusing to accept defeat.” He chuckles, wiping a little bit of sweat on his forehead. In front of him was a large chest oozing with magic and locked up tight. It read, ‘Fragile: Please handle with care’ in a familiar handwriting. In his right hand was the bundle of rusty old keys.

Curious, Rhemi tilts her head and folds her arms. “What is this?”

“Found this…” He grunts as he attempts to force another key into the lock. “... Chest… under the stairs the other day…. And…. I think it belonged to Athena…. *grunt* but no matter what I doooo…” With a heavy sigh, he gives up on that key, pulls it out of the lock and nearly collapses on his elbows. “... The damn thing won’t open. I have tried opening it with magic, I have tried every key in the shop--twice now--Hell! I even tried using a crowbar! But... nothing.”

“Huh….” She mutters. Rhemi kneels down next to her friend and the chest. Both of them stared at it for a moment. “... Well… Obviously it’s got a powerful spell on it. Athena didn’t want anyone in it.”

“Yeah… Even in death, that woman had out magic us.” The two of them giggle together on the floor. Asra draps his arms over his knees and he smiles, his mind wondering into nostalgically territory. “... I miss her.” He mumbles under his breath.

“.... I do too.” The apprentice says with a heavy heart, resting her head on his shoulder. “I…. I wish she could be here… See how much we both grew up…”

"Me too..."

The two stay there for a moment, taking it all in. The sound of the bedroom door closing at the top of the stairs brings them back to reality and Julian’s long legs descend the stairs.

“Oh! Morning, Rhemi-dear!” He says with a chipper tone.

She rolls her eyes at that name, but at this point, she just learned to accept it. “Well good morning to you too…. Someone slept in late…It’s nearly ten o’clock.” She teases.

“HA. Well…. Something kept me up all night..” The doctor glances at Asra with pink staining his cheeks and a cute smirk.

Asra smiles wide, proudly he glances back over to his friend, cheekily placing his finger to his chest. “Tee-hee…. I’m ‘something’.”

Jokingly disgusted, she pushes Asra making him nearly fall over. “EWWW! Grosssssss! You two are terrible!” She laughs.

“Oh… like you and Muriel aren’t disgusting too??”

“I am not responding to that!” She loudly announces as she walks up the stairs, her face turning slightly pink herself. “I’m making some tea, don’t leave just yet Ilya!”

“Ohhhh, well ahhh.. alrighty then! If I… ahh….. If I must.” Julian happily replies as he helps Asra back to his feet. Promptly the white-haired magician presses his lips on his collar bone.

While the teapot starts to heat up, Rhemi realizes that she really didn’t have time to go to the palace or have someone deliver a message for her father. Staring at the spigot and it gives her an idea and is a good reason to flex her magical muscles. Grabbing a large bowl, she fills it with water and closes her eyes. Using all her concentration, she reaches out, searching for her father’s magic. Finally, she feels that strange metallic aura and she opens she can see her reflection being replaced with her father’s.

“Père!” She calls out.

Confused, Martin looks away towards what she could only assume was the door. “..... Miela?” He mutters.

“Good morning, Père~” She sweetly giggles. Something about surprising another magician always made her a little giddy.

Her father turns his head once again, his eyes scanning the room. “I… I hear you Pigeon, but…. Where are you??”

“Down here!” She instructs. “In the water!”

Turning desperately left and right, he shakes his head. “The… water?” Finally he locates her and he stares in astonishment. “Ahhhhh…?”

Beatrix’s hissing and Bartholomew’s voice could be heard in the background. “.... Monsieur, vous allez bien?”

“Oh… yes. Um…. Why don’t you be a good lad and step outside, Bartholmew.”

“....Ahhh…. Oui, Monsieur.” His butler replies soundly utterly confused. "I will leave you alone with your...ah.... tea... then."

Calmly, Martin looks into his tea cup. “... Rhemielia, my child. What are you doing in my tea?”

“Kinda neat isn’t it? Asra taught me this one a while back.”

With a straight face, he slowly blinks, seemingly unimpressed. “.... Hmmmm…. Very… Charming, I suppose… I won’t recommend it in Charlès though. This is how you’d get a bad reputation for being a witch.”

“Oh….” The excitement and glee once again stomped out. But… I kinda am a witch. Awkwardly, she clears her throat, brushing off his words. “Well, ah….anyways, I contacted you this way to ask you something.”

“Oh?”

“I have to do something today next to the palace. Are you busy this afternoon around three o’clock?”

“Hmm… No… I don’t believe I am.” He says while pondering hard and tapping the tea cup.

“Well, how about you meet me there. I think you’d really enjoy it.”

A genuine soft smile takes over the Archimagister’s lips and he takes a seat on a chair. “... I always enjoy being with you, my little pigeon.”

Rhemi grins happily when he says that. He had a habit of making her feel bad sometimes, but he also could make her feel glad that he’s in her life again. Her heart flutters with excitement. She quickly gives him the address, before she could make a little small talk, the tea kettle starts to whistle and the two say their goodbyes for now.

The day went on like it did every Monday. The shop was pretty busy in the late morning and the afternoon. Mostly it was regulars getting their positions, and other things they needed before the rest of the week went on. But for Rhemi the day just dragged on. Today was the last fitting of her wedding dress. Surely, he wouldn’t be so set on her going to Charlès if he saw her in it. The dress was beautiful a-line with a button-up bodice in the back, with illusion sleeves covered in beautiful lace and organza material.

After what felt like an eternity, the time came for her fitting. Before she leaves, she pops her head into the reading room where Asra was looking at his cards by himself. It’s odd, it felt like she could hear the King of Pentacles whispering to him.

As she went for the door, she ran her fingers over the chest feeling Athena’s magic somehow felt so comforting to her. She always had a strong aura. A strange clunk comes from behind her. She glances back to inspect what had made the noise, but the chiming of the clock deters her. Whatever it is, it can wait.

_______________________________

As she reaches the tailor’s shop, she notices her father making his way down the street. His nose was buried into the piece of paper with the address on. Again, no Beatrix. It’s old how empty his shoulders looked without her.

“Père!” Rhemi calls out, waving to him.

Ungluing his eyes from his paper as she calls his name, he grins and waves back.

“How are you today?” His daughter asks sweetly.

“Very good thank you.” He replies looking at his pocket watch. As soon as he picks up his head, he reads the sign, Seamless: Pierre’s Clothing. “Oh…. You do realize I have a tailor already, correct?”

She can't help but chuckle at his unamusement as she opens the door. “I know that. This one is mine... Well, actually it's Nadia's, I'm just borrowing him.”

Martin’s eyes narrow as he enters the shop. The windows are full of outlandish and extravagant dresses and suits, but in the Vesuvian style. The old magician just sneers in revolt. “Ohhh?... Pardon me, my sweet, but I am confused...”

“I’m about to try my wedding dress on.” Martin’s body stiffens like a board and he flutters his eyes in disbelief. Rhemi could feel her cheeks heating up and feeling pressure on her chest. “And….. I uh… I wanted you to be here for my final fitting… Get you more involved… I want you to be apart of my life and--”

“—Sorry." He interrupts placing both of his hands on his cane, sticking his nose up in revolt. "Please don't tell me you were serious when you said you are going to marry that seven foot tall brute—?”

“—Muriel, Père…” Rhemi quickly interjects in disbelief. She could feel her left eyelid twitch from the stress. She just couldn’t believe him. This shit again?? Right here?? RIGHT NOW? Calmly, she folds her hands together trying to keep her patients. “.... My fiance's name is Muriel. It means 'bright' in Rune…. And yes. I am marrying him. He’s kind and genuine and trustworthy and gentle and makes me feel safe and…. And I love him.... He's my soul mate.”

Martin’s icy glare somehow gets colder and she shakes his head and scoffs. “... Hmmmm… love... What good has it ever done...”

“... What do you mean by that?... You said you fell in love with Mum.”

His nostrils flare in frustration. “.... Rhemielia. My child. All I’m trying to say is that you barely know this man. How long have you met him? A year or so ago?”

“Well…. yes… but how long did you know Mum before you married her?”

As soon as he opens his mouth wider about to argue back, Pierre walks in with a cheerful smile. “Ah! Rhemi! So good to see you!! Are you ready to see your lovely gown?”

Martin pats Rhemi’s head and she cringes to herself yet again. “We’ll speak of this later—no need to make a scene, do we now?” He says leaning into her ear and whispering. “In the meantime, go ahead. Go on and play dress up like you used to when you were a child.”

Her eyelid twitches even more as she strains to keep a fake smile on her lips. “I not playing dress—”

“Rhemi!!!!” Suddenly Agrippa and Portia burst through the door with happy smiles, excited for the final fitting. As soon as they both notice Sir Martin, their smiles dwindle slightly, but they still keep their cheery demeanor for the occasion.

For once, Rhemi was happy to change the subject, pretending that her father didn’t say what he did. “Ippa! Pasha!”

“I am sooooo excited!!!”

“Me too! Pierre is ready and— Wait… Where’s Julian?”

“Oh! I’m sorry, Rem. He had an emergency at the clinic…” Portia says finally letting her smile fall.

“That kid from the orphanage….. What's his naaaammmme—?”

“Zachary?”

Agrippa snaps their fingers agreeing with their partner. “Yeah! He broke his arm today.”

“Holy crap!! Not Zack! Is he okay??”

“Oh yeah! He’s getting loads of attention and is making jokes as we speak! Those kids are resilient, he’ll be just fine!”

“As long as he stops climbing tall shit that is.”

“….Well that stinks that Julian can’t be here, but he can help that!... I’m happy you both could make it though!”

Suddenly, Sir Martin clears his throat to interrupt their conversation looking at his pocket watch and tapping it. “Excuse me ladies and….. Sir???”

Agrippa blankly stares at him with a small growing smile. “.... Which one do you think it is?”

Martin stares back trying not look so confused as he really was. But instead of answering, he just clears his throat once more, tucking his pocket watch back into his vest and looking the other way. “... Not all of us have all day to dawdle.”

Taking the hint, the four of them follow Pierre to the back and make their way to the back. Excited, Portia and Rhemi head to the back changing room. Pierre gives them the gown in order for the maid of honor to know how to help with the dress the day of the wedding (bustles and all).

It fits like a glove. Ecstatic and hopelessly excited, Rhemi nearly skips out of the back to show off her beloved dress.

Portia and Agrippa both hold back their tears as she twirls around happily. “Oh, little bean!!” Agrippa mutters sniffling hard.

Rhemi spins around, clapping her face and her eyes start to water up as well and she smiles stupidly. “Ohhhhhh, you two stop!!! You both said you wouldn’t cry!”

“I know, I know! But you are just so….. So—” Portia says, whipping a tear away.

“—Tch. Please…. don’t lie to her.” Martin grumbles his left hand pitching the bridge of his nose.

Portia and Agrippa stare at the Archmagister in utter shock. “Umm... Excuse me?” Portia asks with her brow furrowed. “What exactly do you mean?”

“Well, that dress is all wrong, of course.” He huffs irritatedly, uncrossing his legs and standing to his feet.

Rhemi’s heart starts to sink into her chest. “What’s…. what’s wrong with it?” She asks, looking down and lifting up some of the skirt with her hands, unable to see the defects.

“That dress makes you look like a dirty commoner, Pigeon…. It looks more like a used napkin than a gown, don't you think? And what a dreadful color.”

“But… But I…. I am a commoner. A-and… I don’t like whi-…..” The words die in her throat as her attention diverts to the back of the room.

Somehow a person who came out of nowhere is standing directly behind her father in the back—But it isn’t a customer…. Her sick crimson eyes staring at her with a desperate looking expression. Why is she here?? Am… Am I going insane? As soon as Rhemi closes her eyes again, she vanishes, but it still frightens her.

“...Wh-white..” She finally finishes muttering, still staring in the back where the figure once stood.

It was…. Herself. The ghost of her former self that keeps popping up in her dreams. The same person in her reflection the other day. Her sick bloodshot eyes, yellow tainted skin and the stench of cremated ashes. Clearly, no one else can see her, or smell the terrible scent of death.

Quickly, she’s snapped back to reality as soon as her fathers speaks again and she looks back down at her gown. “....Please…” He scoffs, pitching the bridge of his nose. “...It looks like a rag—and for gods’ sake—Why is it blush?? Virgins are supposed to wear white—“

“——Okaaaaaay! Rhemi let's get you out of your beautiful dress so the poor tailor can finish the hem, okay?” Portia quickly and skillfully interrupts, smacking her hands together with a large fake grin. She nearly pushes Rhemi to the back room to change out of it.

Portia grumbles under head breath, helping her get back into the changing room. “What the fuck is that guy’s—” Words fail her as soon as she notices her friend’s tears in her eyes and the sorrow filled look in her face. “Oh… no, Rem!” Hastily, she hands her a tissue before her makeup runs.

“It just…. So much is happening….. And…. He- ...He thinks it ….lo- looks bad….” Rhemi sniffles, trying to keep the tears from falling, her nose and lips starting to crinkle back. “Is-is it really that bad??”

Portia is quick to embrace her upset friend and hug her tightly. “No, no, no…. He’s wrong, Rem. You look gorgeous! He doesn’t know the hell he’s talking about! I mean, the guy wears an ugly ass cape for god sakes! If anything he’s a walking fashion nightmare! All he’s missing is the stupid puffy pants and a fourteen foot stick up is ass!” Slowly, she pulls away and wipes the tears from her friend's eyes comfortingly. “Please don’t cry, Rhemi. You really do look amazing. Agrippa, Pierre, Nadia, and I would have told you if it didn’t!... Please, don’t let this jerk make you think otherwise.”

“I don’t think he was trying to be a jerk… he was just telling me how he felt… I mean… I asked him what he thought after all…. and….. h-his opinion is v-valid.”

Portia flutters her eyes and shakes her head baffled. Rhemi is usually a pretty good judge of character, yet anytime anyone says anything bad about the Archmagister, she denies it, or makes excuses. “Rhemi….. Why do you keep defending this guy?! All he’s done is been rude and disregards everyone’s feelings.”

Rhemi stifles and quickly wipes her nose with a handkerchief, refusing to look Portia in the eye. “.... H-... He’s my father.”

“Yeah! One that you just mee—” Portia suddenly stops herself, pressing her lips tightly together and slightly shakes her head. Perhaps now isn’t the time. Rhemi isn’t seeing this man for what he is. Thoughtfully she starts to speak again. “...Look… all I’m saying is that no matter who this person is to you, no one should make you cry and make you feel like shit in your wedding dress.”

Rhemi fiddles with her fingers, not very convinced. “B… But what if he’s right?”

The Devorak sister takes a large breath, pushing down the urge to go back and knock the wind out of that plum haired asshole. But as calmly as she could she takes both of her friend’s hands and asks, “Rem. Sweetie. Do you love this dress?”

Sheepishly her friend replies, “... Y-... yes….”

“Does it make you feel all happy and warm inside when you put it on?”

“Uh- huh….”

“Do you feel amazing when you’re in it??”

“Y-... yeah…I do....”

“Then forget what he said! It makes you feel amazing… You cried your beautiful eyes out when you first got into it because you said you felt so amazing. You loved it! You still love it! This is your dress. Please don’t let that man take that away from you.”

Silence takes over the room as Rhemi ponders her friend’s words for a moment and she sniffles. The most concerning thing was seeing her sick past self staring at her from across the room. She’s never seen her outside of the dream realm till now… Perhaps it was her that Rhemi heard the other day in the palace and who she saw in the mirror this morning. Who else could it be??

Portia sighs and loops her arm through Rhemi’s. “Come on. Let’s get ya out so Pierre can finish up, ok?” Rhemi follows her, but doesn’t pick up her eyes, still totally lost in thoughts. In a last attempt, Portia leans her head on her shoulder. “... You really look amazing, Rem.”

Silently Rhemi nods with a fake half grin, finally picking up her gaze to meet her friend. “Thanks, Portia… I’m really glad you are here.” She says placing her head on top of her’s.

“...Haha.. You’re lucky my brother wasn’t here—”

“—Oh gods yeah! He probably would have decked him in the face.”

“Hell! You’re lucky I didn’t!”

“Thank you, Pasha.” Rhemi mutters as stops in her tracks so she could embrace her friend.

“What are maids of honor for?” Portia whispers back, kindly embracing her back.

“Please don’t tell Muri about this….”

“.... I… I promise.”

Eventually, the two get the dress off without disturbing any of the pins on the bottom. The apprentice makes sure her eyes aren’t red in the dressing room before she walks out to meet her father again. The tension in the room was so tangible, so intoxicating.

Portia and Agrippa watched from the tailor door as Rhemi and her father walked towards the palace.

The silence was absolutely dreadful on the way to the palace. Luckily, it was within a short distance and this night would be over with. Rhemi never felt so conflicted before. Everything was so overwhelming lately. All she wanted was for her father to be happy for her. But everything she did seemed to blow up in her face.

As they reach the palace, her father finally realizes that she wasn’t walking towards the shop. “Well…. This is you.” She announces, rather happy to be done with him for the day.

“Oh…” He says a bit bewildered. “.... But I thought I was walking you home.”

“No no no. The palace is right around the corner from Pierre’s. It doesn’t make any sense going all the way across town.”

“Please. I don’t mind.”

“No, Père. It’s fine. I’ll be fine. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay??” Turning away from him never felt better. She hated to admit it, but he was just exhausting to be around. And after today, she had just enough of it all. “Good night.” She says just turning her so he could hear her.

With a knowing sigh, he places his cane hard into the cobblestone with a clank. “...Is it what I said about the dress.. Isn’t it?” She stops in her tracks but doesn’t look behind her… Maybe he’s going to apologize? “... Rhemielia, dear. Believe me when I say that you are making a huge mistake.” Her fists clenched so hard it almost hurts, her hopes crushed once again. Nope. Of course he wasn’t going to apologize. “... I am telling you that there are better men in Charlès that would put you into the finest of wedding gow—”

“—Have a nice night, Père…” Rhemi mutters trying to hold back the tears. “I’ll... I’ll see you later.”

As Rhemi makes her way down the street and disappears into the crowd. Martin can’t help but remember that night when he lost her. All he could do was just sit there and watch as she was swept away by that dreadful witch. Just like his other dream with the young woman whose neck was snapped. He felt so powerless of movement in these moments.

As he stood there, for one of the first times in years, Martin felt a pull on his chest. A feeling like he might have done something wrong tonight. He hadn’t felt like this since… Well… Since Rhemi’s birthday nearly fifteen years ago now.

He never meant to hurt her. She just… needed to learn a lesson…

“She’ll be fine.” He mutters to himself, shaking off this feeling of regret. “... One day she’ll thank me.”

On the way home, Rhemi made sure she got rid of all her tears before she came back home with Muriel for the night. It's a good thing people usually leave you alone when you're crying. If Muriel notices, she’ll just say that they were good tears from the fitting. All happy tears. Nothing bad happened. It’s all good!… But he knows they’re not.

————Rowdy Raven————

SKKKKIIIIIRRRRT!!!!

“—THAT BASTARD SAID WHAT ABOUT HER DRESS??” Julian shouts standing up from the table in dismay.

The tavern is busy like it usually is. Agrippa, Portia, Julian, and Asra decided to have a drink after today. It was only Monday, but it felt like everyday was an eternity since Sir Martin came into port. Portia had just finished telling her brother and his partner about what had happened at the tailors, and of course they were enraged.

Asra just yanks him back down to his chair. “Shhhh!! Ilya! Would you please calm down! Believe me, I’m just as pissed as you are!”

“If I only had my cricket bat….” Agrippa says, fantasizing while staring at the wall, sipping on their ale. “Fucking asshole…” They say as Portia holds their hand with a sweet reassuring smile.

“Did he really make her cry??” Asra asks soberly.

Portia nods sadly. “It was absolutely heartbreaking. I’ve never seen her look so frustrated and hurt before! But don’t tell Muriel! I promised her I wouldn’t.”

“Why did you tell us then?”

“She only said, Muriel.” She shrugs. “...It’ll just make the poor guy more stressed out anyways. He’s under a lot of pressure as well. This is his wedding too.”

Asra's stomach tied in knots at the thought of his best friend crying. “What the hell is this guy’s problem???”

“You should have heard what he said before she tried on the dress.” Agrippa mumbles before taking a large swing of their ale again.

“What did he say??” Julian and Asra ask at the same time, leaning closer into the table.

“It was something along the lines that he ‘couldn’t believe that she was serious about marrying that ‘seven foot tall brute’... I heard them talking before we opened the door.”

Asra's nose crinkles in and his top half of his lip curls into a snarl. “And what did she say??”

“Oh! She was quick to defend him, and she almost looked angry. But at the same time…. afraid? I dunno—but it's like her father doesn’t realize that Rhemi is her own person now…. She’s not that child that was taken from him years ago.”

“.... Do you think he still sees her as a little kid?”

Portia shrugs, staring at a stain on the wooden table. “.... Maybe?... I feel like he sees her more of something that was his property… Not really another person with feelings.”

Julian slams his fists on the table, “THAT’S. IT!” making everything rattle and clank, nearly spilling a few drinks. He snaches his goblet, jumping to a stand and chugging down the last of his Salty bitters, then throws his glass down to the ground, smashing it into a hundred pieces. “—IMMA KILL ‘EM!”

“Ilya! Sit your drunk ass down and shut up!! You’re not killing anyone!” Portia scolds. “WE four, collectively…. however might just—”

“Pasha!” Asra laughs, tugging his drunken partner back down to his chair again. “That’s a bit extreme don’t you think?? How about we just talk to Rhemi about it.”

“That man is completely toxic.” Julian mumbles, taking Asra’s drink from his hands. “... *Hiccup*....Have you…. Have you noticed that Rhemi isn’t as bright as she normally is?” Julian mutters, sipping the last bit of Asra’s salty bitters since he threw down his own cup.

“.... I have…. and something about all of this bothers me.” Asra says leaning into the table with his arms folded. “....I feel like her father is killing her spirit…. I wonder if he’s always been like this….. And if that's true… it makes me wonder…” he pauses for a movement then shakes his head. “N… Nevermind.”

“What?” Agrippa, Portia, and Julian ask in unison.

“.... *Sigh*.... I might be going too far if I say this.”

“Well now you have to tell us.” Agrippa says with a straight face about to knock back the last bit of ale.

“.... I don’t know…… Sometimes I wonder if she and her mother were really….. ‘Kidnapped’.”

The table suddenly became so eerily quiet, as if they all were thinking the same thing.

✨To be continued…

Sorry for the long wait my trash pandas. But I really needed this break from writing. And I'm really glad I took it. I am so happy with myself right now. I know its still not by best work, but I at least don't hate it. This chapter was supposed a bit longer, but I decided not to shoot myself in the foot this time and just split it.

Thank you for the babies who have been support and encouraging to me when I was at a really low point. I was really sad that last chapter didn't do as well as I was hoped. But I realized that a lot of people are still reading and I need to be humble and be grateful for what I have. Anyways--chapter 7, The King of Pentacles~ should be up soonish. That may be another shorter chapter, but it gonna be a big angsty one. *wink wink*. As always, thanks for reading my hot garbage! <3

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nebraska-is-a-myth · 4 years

Text

Drown your sorrows - part 7

Grab your tissues dude, this one is not a happy one at all. I'm sorry in advanced

special shout out to my pal @hufflepuffkilljoy for helping me with some details for this chapter. I also feel like they’re going to kill me after reading this so wish me luck.

Masterlist

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Tommy is fortunate enough to stay conscious this time.

It's a lot warmer than the warehouse was and he's still just as afraid.

But he feels more prepared for the heat now.

Tubbo was so close to the first explosion, too close. Tommy watches the blast separate them and he can hear his friends desperate coughs from across the burning room. He can't get up, his wrist is hurt and his injured leg burns every time he tries to put pressure on it. He calls for Tubbo but he doesn't think his friend can hear him between his endless coughing and the roaring flames.

He's so thankful Tubbo isn't alone when Eret finally shows, the older man slips masks on both of them and they huddle together for a moment before Tommy hears something explode below them. He tries to cling to Eret as he reaches for Tubbo and they all plummet down into freezing water.

He and Eret sink into the water and the harshness of it makes Tommy gasp.

Water seeps in through his mask and the tightness of it makes him panic

He attempts to take the mask off, as if that might make him less disorientated.

It's doesn't

He takes a big gulp of water into his mouth and suddenly he can't stop.

He's drowning.

His limbs flail about and he cant help but scream into the water as pain ruptures through him. He keeps taking in more and more water and his lungs spasm as they fill with murky liquid. Tommy doesn't know where he is, it's dark and cold and he doesn't know which way is up and if his body wasn't already submerged in water he thinks he might cry.

Tommy doesn't want to die

There are so many things he hasn't done yet, so many things he hasn't said.

He wanted to take Tubbo to his favorite place in the city and go adventuring through the abandoned buildings Dream used to let him demolish when he was angry or upset. He wanted to tell his best friend in the whole word that he loved him, that they were brothers until the end. He never really had the courage to say it before now, thought it would make him sound childish and weird. ( Really he was just afraid that Tubbo wouldn't feel the same, and he wasn't ready to let his best friend go just yet. )

He wanted to thank Wilbur for taking him into l’manburg, for trusting him and becoming the older brother figure he never thought he needed ( or wanted ). For teaching him how to properly aim a gun and negotiate something without shouting, for letting him become the heir to the empire they built.

He thinks about all the movie nights with fundy and Eret, remembers popcorn fights and sleepovers, baking competitions and playing video games till early dawn. He remembers waking up from nightmares and talking to Eret about his scars, sharing the good and the bad with each and every one of them.

As the seconds roll past, Tommy can feel himself suffocating. His lungs fill with more and more water and his body starts to shut down, the pain is everywhere and nowhere and slowly he becomes blissfully aware that he is going to die here.

In the back of his mind he hopes that dream knows he’s forgiven. If he’s going to die he might as well forgive the man, he knows deep down that dream never wanted any of this and he hopes that his death will spark something in the man, and prevent the bloodshed of his friends.

The last thing on Tommys mind before the darkness swallows him is Technoblade, and he wonders if he’ll finally see him again when he goes to sleep.

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“How old were you when you first killed someone?”

“Jeezus Tubbo what the hell dude.”

Tommy swats at his best friend who's laying next to him on the wooden floor. They're all laying on piles and blankets and duvets and tucked up in sleeping bags like campers. Popcorn crumbs litter the floor and Tubbo has kernels stuck in his hair after he used the bowl as protection from Tommy throwing pillows at him.

The group decided to have a sleepover to commemorate Wilbur's birthday, all of them laid in a circle around the couches in wilburs living room and Wilbur almost regrets letting them into his house.

Tommy and Tubbo are layed on the floor, heads close to each other facing opposite directions. Tommy is smiling as he flails his arms at the other boy and has his feet resting in Erets lap. Fundy is on Erets left, curled up in 3 blankets like a burrito, a clear sign of Wilburs handiwork after someone made a joke about fundy being wilburs child.

Wilbur himself is half paying attention to the movie they all put on as background noise as he tries not to look like he’s actually enjoying the night his boys had planned.

Nobody spoke at first, no one was really quite sure what to say. Eventually, Wilbur took a breath and spoke in a slight monotone. “fifteen.”

Even though they may have been concerned, nobody was quite as surprised as maybe they should have been. It was a rough line of work, it wasn't really a shock to anyone that their leader had started so young.

“Robbery gone wrong, cops came earlier than expected. Shot one to save myself, nothing more to it.”

Fundy pokes his head out of his blanket burrito a little more and rests his head on his knees. “Got in a fight back in the Netherlands when I was eighteen, ended badly for the other guy.”

Eret is a bit more hesitant to respond but with a reassuring nudge from Tommy, he gives the teen a small smile and takes a breath. “Got involved with a super serious gang back in England when I was sixteen.”

He doesn't say anything more but nobody really blames him. Eret never really talks about his time back in England much, but the team sees the way he gets nervous around cameras and always makes sure he can never be traced wherever he goes. Everyone is running from something, it's why most of them came to America after all.

Tommy doesn't realize it's his turn until he’s noticed everyone's looking at him.

He laughs and swats at Tubbo for a second time. “It's your question you go first.”

Tubbo looks at his friend strangely but shakes it off and reaches to grab a handful of crisps. “Ummm, technically I haven't.”

Tommy listens to his best friend shove a handful of crisps in his mouth and his throat goes dry, he only distantly hears Fundy ask Tubbo a question but his thoughts seem to drown everyone out.

He knows he has two options here. He knows that lying is the safest one for him, that he could just follow along with what Tubbo said and just get it over with. But he feels compelled to let the truth just spill out of his mouth and let everything into the world. He can't help it when the words start falling from his lips, he so desperately wants to shove everything back into the box he’s kept everything in for years and go back to the fun loving, annoying Tommy everyone knows.

But instead he just had to open his stupid mouth like he always does.

“I uhh, I killed mum.”

Shit

“She uhh, bled out, when I was born.”

Shut up

“So yeah uhh, I guess I win.”

The room is silent, and he’s brought out of his head by Eret rubbing small comforting circles into the bottom of his leg.

“Tommy.”

He really wishes he hadn't spoke

“You know that couldn't have possibly been your doing.”

Wow the ceiling is really interesting

“Tommy.”

He can't speak. If he speaks he’s going to cry and he can't cry.

Tommyinnit doesn't cry.

He feels Tubbo moving to wrap and arm around him and he really wants to just not be here.

He’s lying on the floor of his bosses friends house, crying in front of the people he cares about most about because he couldn't keep his fucking mouth shut.

Tommy feels himself moving and slowly more and more arms are around him. He feels a blanket being draped over him and suddenly he finds himself sobbing into someone's chest.

Someone is running their hand through his hair and he wonders if that's something his mother would have done for him.

Sometimes he wishes life was different, that maybe he might have had a better childhood if his mother had been in his life for longer than three seconds.

But as he feels his own tears soak into one of his friends' shirts, he thinks that maybe his life ain't so bad.

And later in the night when he's stood on Wilbur's kitchen counter with Erets glasses hanging off his face singing loudly to random Hamilton songs with his friends, he knows he wouldn't change it for the world.

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Tommy wakes up confused and coughing.

He can feel the water spluttering out of his mouth and he feels like he's throwing up his organs.

He’s vividly aware that something doesn't feel right

He feels wrong and disorientated and,,,

He’s underwater?

Tommy flails his limbs about and in a matter of seconds he surfaces into darkness

He coughs up all of the water that's been sloshing about in his lungs and his throat stings as fresh air floods into his body.

Through all the coughing and the sound of water in his ears, he hears a voice calling him.

“Tommy!”

He turns his head to find Eret also treading water on the other side of a mountain of rubble, he has a large gash on the side of his head that looks like it would have dried by now if not for the water continuously splashing against it. His glasses are nowhere to be seen and Erets looking at him like he knows something Tommy doesn't.

“Tommy thank god you're okay.”

Tommy swims over to where Eret is still floating and takes a moment to examine the rubble surrounding his friend.

Most of it seems to be concrete and rocks piled up around him, but the two big metal pipes separating him and Eret are what concern him. And the fact that Eret hasn't made an attempt to move past them.

"Where's tubbo?"

"He swam over that direction, tried to find a way out I think."

"Why didn't you follow him."

"Tommy."

"Come on we can't just leave him to look on his own. He'd get lost in a bloody parking lot."

Tommy wraps his hands around one of the pipes and attempts to push it out of the way.

Eret doesn't move.

"Tommy I,"

"Waters rising, gotta move this thing before Tubbo ends up swimming into someone's toilet."

The younger boy changed angles and tried to pull the other pipe towards him.

"Tommy."

He feels Eret place his hand on top of his own but the younger boy swats it away and keeps trying to force the pipes out of the way.

“Come on man, just, just try.”

Eret grabs his hand again.

“Just help me okay!”

Water splashes up Tommys nose and he feels tears pricking at his eyes

“Just, Just do something! Please! please”

Eret grabs a hold of both of tommys hands and holds him as close as the barrier of rubble will let him.

“Please. I can't lose you too.”

Erets voice is soft and calming. Tommy wants him to laugh and point at him and tell him how this is all just a big joke and they can all go home together and watch movies on Wilburs couch.

But he doesn't

“Hey it's okay, you're not gonna lose me alright. I will always, always be with you, no matter what.”

“Don't give me that bullshit. I don't want you in my heart or looking down on me, I want you to stay here, alive.”

“I want that too Tommy, more than anything. But life doesn't always go the way we want it to.”

Eret coughs and shivers in the water, he looks up and realizes that neither of them have a lot of time left before the water fills the room. They both know Tommy can't stay here any longer, and it's only a matter of time before the coldness of the water gives him hypothermia.

“You need to go.”

“No.”

“Tommy.”

“No I am not leaving you here!”

“You don't have a choice Tommy!”

“Yes I do! Now help me move these goddamn pipes”

“For fuck sake Tommy! I am stuck down here! Those pipes aren't going to move and I'm not leaving this fucking basement. You need to go, now!”

“I-”

“Tommy you are my brother and I will always love you but you need to get the fuck out of here right now.”

“Tommy, Eret!”

“Down here.”

Eret hears Wilbur jump down into the freezing water and he can faintly see him swimming towards him and Tommy.

“You guys okay?”

“Yes now get him out of here.”

“I said no!”

“What about you.”

“I'll be fine just go.”

Wilbur takes a moment, a moment of weakness, a moment of emotion and sadness and he looks at Eret, his friend. He feels the water clog his nostrils and nods, with his heart heavy and his mind full, he drags a tired and freezing Tommy away.

“Wilbur let me go!”

“We can't leave him!”

“we have to help him!”

“Wilbur!”

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Later on when everyone's safe and dry and the adrenaline and panic has left his system, Wilbur finds himself gazing up at his reflection in his bathroom mirror. Every time he looks at himself all he can see is the look in his friends eyes before he left him to drown, he remembers the hurt in his face and his willingness to die just to see Tommy safe. Every time he closes his eyes it's all he sees.

Wilbur stands up tall and strong in front of himself and plasters on the face of a warrior, a face that dream and George and sapnap will forever fear. He vows on this day that he will teach them what true fear feels like, no more kind words or friendly disputes.

He doesn't care about making allies or keeping peace.

His city is in danger

His mind is broken

His friends are traumatized

Eret is dead

And Wilbur wants vengeance.

If dream wants war, he’ll give him war.

#wilbur soot #tommyinnit #tubbo #the eret #fundy #technoblade #is mentioned #dream smp war #dream smp #mcyt #crime au #im so sorry about this #this wasnt fun to write #just wait till i get to the part where jshlatt comes to town

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couldyouspeakmyname · 3 years

Note

OK I HAVE A BEASTARS OC AND I AM GOING TO TELL YOU ABOUT IT: (you don’t have to answer if you don’t feel like it, kind of just dumping information for myself and maybe you to share with other people /gen )

(Template made by Mandy on Amino, go check them out :) )

Also, I tried to make this so that there was other canon character, but I realized that I had so many oc’s I might as well make a new kind of universe following the beastars world-building stuff

So basically a fancy furry world but the world-building is based on Beastars

I apologize in advance for the spelling (I didn’t check/edit this :p) and also the long form (I like details lol)

BASIC INFORMATION

Full name: Cecelia Aksha Brown

Pronunciation: Cecelia (s-E-s-e-l-E-a) Aksha (pronounced how it’s spelled) Brown (B-r-ow-n)

Nickname(s) or Alias: Blind One (Given by Doctor Cato, her doctor), Lead vocalist of Athaza (Given by fans), Cece (Given by Naomi, a friend), Dead Legs (Given by Emily, the lead vocalist in the rival band)

Band Name: Athaza

Reason for band name: Cece originally wanted to name her band based off of a phobia she had, so she searched up her greatest fear (the fear of being forgetting, being forgotten, ignored, and/or replaced) and found out that the world was Athazagoraphobia. And that was like a really, really long word (both for her and me, the author, to write down) so she chose to shorten it to Athaza.

Gender: female

Species: Black Tiger

Age: 28

Birthday: September 1st

Sexuality: pansexual, poly, asexual

Religion: Atheist

City or town of birth: Belgum

Currently lives: Belgum (although she hardly even goes home, with her work being on the move and all, it is hard for her to get a break and relax in her own home.)

Languages spoken: Japanese

Native language: English

Relationship Status: single and happy about it (she doesn’t have time for a relationship when she is always on the move, and with her job, she just won’t have time to take care of someone else when she can barely take care of herself)

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Height: body length is 4’5, shoulder height is 31 inches, tail length is 24 inches

Weight: 220

Figure/build: she is very small and tiny for a tiger (being the smallest measurements that a tiger can be at). Her eyes tend to be more rounded and bigger then most tiger’s.

Hair color: she dyed her hair a split dye, half a dark and almost dusty blue and the other half black (left half dusty blue and right half black)

Hairstyle: ummm, idk how to describe it but like the Levi styled hair

Facial Hairstyle: N/A

Eye color: electric blue

Skin/fur/etc color: she has a white base color with black stripes, ears, shape on chest that looks like a broken heart, and tail-tip

Tattoos: she has the words “heaven“ written on her knee, and a tongue piercing of a pentagram

Piercings: double piercings and a tongue piecing in the middle of the pentagram

Scars/distinguishing marks: she has a long light pink scar running up the left side of her leg (and she still can’t walk that good on her last leg, causing her to limp), and her right eye has a long scar running down it and she is blinded on that side

Preferred style of clothing: alternative

Frequently worn jewellery/accessories: lots of silver rings

HEALTH

Smoker?Drinker?Recreational Drug User? Which?Addictions: N/A (she doesn’t have any addictions, although she might drink from time-to-time. She doesn’t mind other people doing those things around her)

Allergies: pollen

Any physical ailments/illnesses/disabilities: she can never walk on her left leg again and she is half blind in her right eye

Any medication regularly taken: N/A

PERSONALITY

Personality: funny, smart, protective, loyal, patient, clumsy, fearful, childish, disorganized, and forgetful

Likes: flowers, bee’s, singing, and playing Instruments

Dislikes: arguments, spoiled brats, discrimination (as she should), and sour foods (she has a sweet tooth)

Fears/phobias: Athazagoraphobia

Favorite color: gray, black, dark purple, brown

Hobbies: singing to music, listening to music, picking flowers

Taste in music: she is the lead vocalist to a scream rock band, however, she likes listening folk music more

SKILLS

Talents/skills: she can sing well and learn instruments quickly

Ability to drive a car? Operate any other vehicles?: she can drive a care and that is pretty much it (although she doesn’t usually need to drive a car since her band is on tour 99% of the time and they have a driver to take them places)

EATING HABITS

Omnivore/Carnivore/Herbivore (Vegetarian): carnivore

Favourite food(s): steak

Favorite drink(s): Monster Energy and coffee

Disliked food(s): insects

Disliked drink(s): tea

HOUSE AND HOME

Describe the character's house/home: she has a pretty large home, the house is hidden deep in the forest and is mostly covered by the tree’s.

Do they share their home with anyone? Who?: She shares the house with he rest of her band

Significant/special belongings: a picture of her parents

CAREER

Level of education: high

Qualifications: singer

Current job title and description: lead vocalist in band

COMBAT

Peaceful or aggressive attitude?: peaceful, she hates getting into fights with people

Fighting skills/techniques: she has her claws and her teeth (also carries a taser, just in case,)

Special skills/magical powers/etc: N/A

Weapon of choice (if any): taser

Weaknesses in combat: she is very slow and not skilled in combat

Strengths in combat: she is impulsive and that usually benefits her

FAMILY, FRIENDS AND FOES

Parents names: Chanda (Mother), Sarendar (Father)

Are parents alive or dead?: dead (died by some unknown prisoners killing them in jail)

Partner/Spouse: N/A

Children: she can barely take care of herself, what makes you think she can take care of a living, breathing, child that does nothing but cry?

Best Friend: Galen (best friend, convinced her to start the band, drum player in band), Naomi (enemies turned friends, joined the band shortly after it formed, lead guitarist)

Other Important Friends: Khalo (band member, back up vocalist), Futun (band member, second drum player), Bilwa (band member, any other position that needs to be filled in),

Acquaintances: Davi (driver for the band), Doctor Cato (his doctor for years)

Pets: Root (a yellow tabby cat)

Enemies?: Emily

Why are they enemies?: they are in rival band‘s, and also Emily makes fun of Cece for being half blind and having a limp

BACKSTORY

Describe their childhood (newborn - age 10):

She had a normal childhood (as normal as a main character’s childhood can get that is). Her parents nearly forced her to join their religion but Cece refused. Soon they argued almost every day, some days is was about grades, some days it was about religion, while others it was about her sexuality.

Describe their teenage years (11 - 19):

The arguments got so bad that she couldn’t bare it any longer, the moment she turned eighteen she ran away from her parents house and went to her friends house (Galen). Soon the two of them formed a band.

Describe their adult:

Once the band got kind of popular, she was living her best life. So she chose to forgive her parents for what they did to her. She went over to their house for Thanksgiving, her parents asked if she could spend the night. Cede was happy to (seeing how she didn’t see her parents in so many years). While Cece was sleeping her Mother got some water and boiled it, adding some sugar and waitI got 15 minutes for it to cook. Once it was done, her Mother poured the boiling water on her own daughter. Cece screamed from the pain, once her Father heard her screams he rushed into her room and called 911. Cece was admitted into the hospital with burns across her legs, arms, and face. The sugar made the burns extra hard to get off and Cece spent multiple weeks in the hospital. Her Father was found guilty of letting her Mother attempt to murder Cece and Cece’s Mother was found guilty of attempting to kill her own daughter. They both got time in jail together, in the jail cell every prison found out what they did and some unknown prisoners beat up Cece’s mother and Father. Cece was left with a blinded eyes and a leg that was doomed to never work the rest of her life

That sounds fun!! I'm assuming it's kind of an AU then?

Also, it's a real shame more characters in Beastars don't dye their fur. It could be fun, but then again...it'd be difficult?

-Maeve

#long post #sorry I can't put this under cut #I love ocs though #this could be fun to do but it's not exactly the kind of format I personally like for my ocs #but it's a nice general one!!#tongue piercing's are fun #I want one...and a lip piercing...#I also want more in my ears #I just want to be a metal detectors worst nightmare tbh

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fizzyxcustard · 4 years

Text

Not So Nice

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Fandom: seaQuest DSV

Summary: Just after the episode ‘And Everything Nice’ from season 2. Lucas has just had his heart broken when a woman named Sandra has pretended to want a relationship with him, only to then be ‘kidnapped’ by the people she is working with, and pull Lucas into a game she is part of, wanting to get access to seaQuest’s emergency codes.

Lucas has been quiet and distant for three days after his brief relationship and heartbreak with Sandra. You try and cheer him up, but instead you wind up being the one who opens up old wounds, and feelings are shared.

Pairings: Lucas Wolenczak x fem!LieutenantReader (friendship mainly)

Warnings: Angst, sadness, break up, heartbreak, age difference, admission of feelings.

Comments: If you wish to be added to my seaQuest tag list, which will be separate from all my other tags, let me know, and I will only tag you in these if you specifically request to be tagged. This is practically a dead fandom now, but I would still like to share my writings with you. If you would like to ask any questions, then by all means just ask! People are probably wondering why I’m still continuing this fic when it gets so little feedback, but it’s purely because I enjoy writing it. It’d a pleasure to be reminiscing in old times.

This has no link really to Fear and Loathing, only that the characters are the same.

Lucas had been quiet and distant for the last three days, only answering when was absolutely necessary. It was only natural that he would react in such a way, but it hurt you when he pushed you away. All you wanted to do was help, try and ease some of his pain and take the weight on your own shoulders. Betrayal always cut deep. You knew of betrayal quite well. Lucas was still only eighteen, barely a man. This was his first instance of betrayal, when he’d given his heart to a girl so quickly in sheer innocence. And now you wanted to take the burn and ease the pain.

After your shift on the third day after Lucas had ripped up his resignation letter, you went to the mess hall and made two mugs of hot coffee. Tony Piccolo, Lucas’ bunkmate, had been making himself scarce most evenings to play Poker with O’Neill, Brody and Ortiz, so this would be the perfect opportunity to try and show Lucas that you truly did care.

Lucas was lying on his bunk, staring at the metal pipes which ran above his bed. He had his arms behind his head, and still, all he could see was Sandra. It had all been too good to be true; a beautiful woman like her had wanted him. Of course she had ulterior motives. Not many men would ever be good enough for her.

A sudden tap to Lucas’ door pulled him out of his reverie. “Yeah?” he asked.

“Can you open the door, Lucas? I’ve got my hands full,” you called, your voice muffled.

Lucas sighed and jumped down from his bunk, letting you in to the room. There, on a tray, were two large steaming coffees, surrounded by an assortment of sweets and candies. “Thought you might want a bit of company,” you said, offering a smile. “And some sugar. It always helps cheer me up.”

“Ummm, yeah….” Lucas replied, his voice sounding unsure and sceptical.

You could see from the set of his face that he was going to be a little awkward, but you would do your best to help his sadness. “I’ll put these down on the table,” you said. “I brought extra milk and sugar…”

“Look, thanks and everything, but I’m kinda not in the mood,” Lucas said. His blue eyes met your gaze, and in that moment he saw the flash of upset. A tiny jolt of something hit him in the chest and he moved forward. “I’m…sorry. Please, I shouldn’t have said that. Thank you.” As he focused on you, Sandra seemed to slip away briefly. And those buried feelings stirred. You may not have been outwardly stunning in your appearance with full pouting lips, a model figure and high cheekbones, but your beauty shone through your smile and sparkled in your eyes. It slipped off your tongue when you spoke words of kindness, and it left a sweet scent on the air when you showed a gesture of friendship and compassion. Lucas swallowed hard. You were far more beautiful than Sandra could have ever hoped to be.

To your surprise, Lucas stepped to you and put his arms around you, pulling you into a tight embrace.

You held him and felt him sink into you, his despair finally being let loose. He wept on your shoulder and you couldn’t help but feel yourself begin to fill with tears also, your heart breaking for him.

“I just want one person to not walk away from me,” he sobbed. “I want someone to put me first and love me.”

“You are so special,” you told him as you both parted. Lucas sniffed, his eyes red and sore.

“I want to be special to one person, you know?” he asked. “To be wanted and needed, and not just needed for when a computer needs to be fixed.”

“I need you,” you said softly. “You make me smile, help me laugh. You’re one of my closest friends, and I honestly cherish you more than you know.”

“No one truly needs me though, do they? I’m just a kid to everyone,” Lucas countered. “If you and Miguel hooked up tomorrow then you’d be all him and you wouldn’t need me.”

You took a step back and widened your eyes in shock at Lucas’ words. “I’m assuming you mentioned Miguel purely as a way to make your point and not to actually insinuate that something is going on between us. Being in a relationship isn’t the only way you can need someone, Lucas. It doesn’t somehow magically make your life complete. Trust me, it doesn’t.”

Lucas remained quiet and brushed his hand through his hair, and began to put sugar into his coffee.

“You’re eighteen, and you’ll have plenty of time to meet lots of new people,” you said softly. “I know it doesn’t take away what happened between you and Sandra, but the right people will come into your life. Maybe you just haven’t found the right people yet.”

Lucas looked at you for a second and felt a very weak smile erupt. You were definitely one of the right people in his life. He felt that. He’d always felt it. On the day you first met, when crew were being brought on board after the re-building of the infamous sub, Lucas had been checking on Darwin and you and a few other crew members had been escorted into the Moon Pool on a short tour of the vessel. Immediately you had been overcome with excitement upon seeing the dolphin. Lucas couldn’t help but laugh at your enthusiasm that day and it was here, somehow, something was born. All of the crew on the small tour were dressed in their civilian clothing; mostly the norm, T-shirts, jeans. But you were wearing a bright, colourful T-shirt with a Looney Tunes character on the front and a cardigan that way way too big for you, covered in purple stars. Your shoes were bright red Converse.

“Can you remember the day we first met?” Lucas asked suddenly, sitting down on Tony’s bunk.

You smiled, reminiscing in your first day aboard seaQuest. “Yeah, I do. It was one of the most exciting days of my life.”

“I think you got a bit more than you bargained for, huh?”

“No, I got everything I was expecting and more. I’ve made some amazing friends, had wonderful experiences, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything. I can honestly say that I’m happy for the first time in years,” you replied, sipping your hot coffee. “Anyway, enough of me. I came to see how you’re doing.”

Lucas chuckled.

“That’s better,” you giggled. “Smiles suit you.” You watched Lucas hang his head and blush, a broad smile still beaming from his face.

“You’re the first person who has made me smile,” Lucas said softly. “Thank you.”

“I do have my uses. They’re few, but I do have some,” you laughed.

You sat down in the seat opposite where Lucas was perched, and you gripped the warm coffee in your hand. The smile began to dissipate from Lucas’ face and his eyes wondered towards a space behind you. What was he thinking? You wanted to take all the hurt and worry from him, throw it away, and then hold him tight. He deserved so much better than the hand he had been dealt.

“Has anyone ever broke your heart?” Lucas asked absently.

“I’ve had my heart broken many times, Lucas,” you replied. “It comes with the territory of being human, I’m afraid. Friends, family, lovers…” Well, lover. The word wasn’t plural in your case; you had only ever been in one relationship. It was a secret that you kept close to your scarred heart. At your age and point in your life, you should have had many lovers and now been preparing to settle down with one, to buy your own home, get married and have a handful of kids. But, no, you had decided to join the Navy, see the world, and forfeit that life because you felt you would never have it.

As Lucas looked up at you, he reminded you of the type of teenage boy you would have had a crush on when you were that age. Fair-haired, blue-eyed, cute. However, when you were eighteen, you were chubby, and no doubt he wouldn’t have looked at you twice. You had always been invisible to the good looking boys when you were growing up. Everyone only saw your dependable and loner nature, asking for help when they needed it, but remaining scarce any other time.

The sadness of your past began to rise in your chest and you batted away a tear, which Lucas noticed.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, moving toward you. His hand reached out to you, quivering a little as he felt unsure of what to do.

“I’m fine,” you said, faking a smile. “Your question just brought back some memories. Look at me. I come to see if you’re okay, and I’m the one who winds up crying. How stupid.”

Lucas was lost for words in those moments and just looked at you trying to push your tears away with another fake smile. Would you ever have any idea how beautiful you were? Losing Sandra had hurt, but from the betrayal itself, not losing her. And now that Sandra was no longer in his life, Lucas knew that he couldn’t stop feeling for you what he did. The time with Sandra had only been a temporary relief of the unrequited feelings that he had for you. Was she a rebound for you? Lucas had had many crushes in the last couple of years, many of them being on female crew, but with you, it was more than just a crush. He lay awake at night thinking of you, often dreamed of you and then became very embarrassed when he saw you the day after.

Sandra had seemed like a natural choice for Lucas to make. Clever, beautiful. The female equivalent of him. He’d gravitated towards that, being able to shut off his feelings for you in order to pursue a life with a girl he’d only known one night. But your differences to Lucas were what made you special. They were new, unique and a novelty to him. Sitting with a girlfriend, discussing quantum theories and computer algorithms would have been the norm and to be expected. But talking about rock concerts you attended in your youth, fantasy books you loved, and watching you laugh over the thought of Tony Piccolo getting locked outside his quarters, stark naked, was what Lucas wanted. It was what he was thriving on. You unlocked a whole new world to him, offering it. It was a world of vibrancy, humour and creativity.

“I wish I could hunt down all those people who have hurt you,” Lucas whispered.

You saw the anger in his eyes at the very thought of someone upsetting you, and you curled your hand around his. “I need you in my life more than you know,” you told him. “You keep me upright.”

“You’re good at doing that for everyone else,” Lucas said, a hint of frustration in his tone.

“It’s who I am, Lucas. I’ve always been a helper and a giver. But you’ve got to guard yourself and not give yourself over so willingly. I’ve seen you do it so much since I first met you. You pour your heart and soul into everything you do, and that can mean you lose yourself. In time, through experience, you learn who to trust and who not to. You begin to develop an anti-bullshit radar.”

“Like Tony?” Lucas laughed. Most of what that man spouted really was bullshit.

“He covers up his feelings of inadequacy,” you replied. “I tend to be able to sum people up pretty quickly.”

“How about…say, Brody?”

“Ahh, the ladies man,” you mused. “He’s confident, good-looking, but there’s a lot of hurt in him, probably around his upbringing and his mother. He likes the ladies, but deep down he’s looking for a mother figure.”

“How about Ortiz?”

“He’s pretty much an open book. Honest, practical. I’ve always liked Miguel’s straight talking nature.”

“And me?”

“Oh, come on. Have I got to go through and analyse every crew member? I’ve noticed it’s all the younger men you’re asking me about.” You nudged Lucas with your elbow. “Is there a point to this exercise? I’m guessing you want to see if I have a crush on any of these men?”

“Well, do you?”

You laughed loud. “You cheeky little shit! You had to put yourself in there, I noticed.”

“I’ll tell you if you tell me.”

“What, if you have a crush on any of the guys?” you teased, sticking your tongue out for emphasis. “Okay….I did have a bit of a crush on Miguel when I first came aboard. And Brody’s kinda cute, but that’s about it. Your turn!”

Lucas swallowed hard and then looked at you. “You.”

“What about me?” you asked, your expression turning very straight from your previous amusement.

“I’ve liked you since we first met.”

“What about Lonnie?” you asked, feeling yourself begin to shake. How had you become cornered like this?

“No, you,” Lucas replied simply.

You got up from your seat and sighed. “I’ve got to go. I need to press my uniform for in the morning…”

Lucas looked on, watching you grow flustered in your attempt to escape the conversation and the room. “Sandra has made me realise even more how deep my feelings for you are.”

“Lucas, stop it,” you said, turning on your heel. “I’m not even going to entertain such an idea of anything happening. I’m too old for you.”

Then you disappeared out of the door, slamming it behind you.

***

seaQuest tag list: @shrimpsthings @lathalea

#seaquest #seaquest dsv #seaquest fanfic #fizzyxcustard #Lucas wolenczak #Jonathan brandis #Lucas wolenczak x you #Lucas wolenczak x reader #angst #heartbreak #fic

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psychospeak-blog · 5 years

Text

Won’t Go Slowly // 67

A/N: I’m so sorry once again that this took so long! I so appreciate you guys being so patient and kind with me - you’re the best :)

One // Two // Three // Four // Five // Six // Seven // Eight // Nine // Ten // Eleven // Twelve // Thirteen // Fourteen // Fifteen // Sixteen // Seventeen // Eighteen // Nineteen// Twenty // Twenty One // Twenty Two // Twenty Three // Twenty Four// Twenty Five // Twenty Six // Twenty Seven // Twenty Eight // Twenty Nine // Thirty // Thirty One // Thirty Two // Thirty Three // Thirty Four// Thirty Five // Thirty Six // Thirty Seven // Thirty Eight // Thirty Nine // Forty // Forty One // Forty Two // Forty Three // Forty Four // Forty Five // Forty Six // Forty Seven // Forty Eight // Forty Nine // Fifty // Fifty One // Fifty Two // Fifty Three // Fifty Four // Fifty Five // Fifty Six // Fifty Seven // Fifty Eight // Fifty Nine // Sixty// Sixty One // Sixty // Sixty One // Sixty Two // Sixty Three// Sixty Four// Sixty Five // Sixty Six

It was almost perfect.

You had a perfectly poured ice coffee, a muffin that you hadn't yet bitten into yet, the sun shining on your legs while you watched Gerry play in the water at the shoreline, while Marshall had found himself a spot in the sun, the sleeping baby on the baby monitor.

Really the only thing that would make it better would be if Tyler was home to share that muffin with you.

"Hi Sweetheart," your mom answered the phone, and you could instantly picture her curled up on the couch in her front room, likely a cup of tea next to her. "Is Bentley sleeping?"

"Yes, he's napping," you said gratefully because you were at Tyler's house and a little worried about messing up Bentley's routine with having to sleep in the playpen that you had stashed in Tyler's bedroom, but he didn't seem to notice any difference. "How are you?"

"Good, I'm good," she said, "Tell me about your trip."

"It was great, it was really relaxing," you said, telling her about all the hikes you'd gone on, and the cute little stores and incredible wine.

"You'd almost wished you'd never left," she joked, and you smiled, using your bare foot to rub Marshall, who was never too far from your side.

"Almost," you said, "Although it is kinda nice to get back into a routine, you know?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," she said, and then paused a moment. "Are you at home?"

"No, we're at Tyler's," you said, breaking into a smile, because you loved being here when he got home and having something ready for him to eat more than you'd ever thought you would, suddenly loving the whole domestic thing. "He's at the gym."

"Are you out back?"

"Yeah, we are, I just made muffins," you said, smiling because it was just easy to move between your and Tyler's house, and it just further solidified how well your two lives fit together, even with the baby now, and that only just reaffirmed your decision that you could step away from this place you'd always called home, that you'd been certain Bentley would call home, knowing that you'd get to come back. "So....ummm...Tyler asked us to move in with him, Mom."

You ran your hand through the hair hanging out of your pony tail, hearing nothing but the blood circulating through your ears. "In Dallas."

And now your Mom's laughter filled your ear. "Yes, I know you meant in Dallas," she said, "I thought he might."

"You did?" you asked, with such shock that Marshall raised his head to look at you.

"You didn't?"

"Well, I didn't -" you said, trying to put the swirling in your brain into words. "I don't know, I guess I just didn't want to think about what was going to happen when summer was over."

But now you'd be leaving her, rather than him leaving you.

"I said yes," you said, simply, tentatively, like when you'd told her you'd been accepted in University, and that you'd be moving out.

"I know you did," she said, and you couldn't get a sense of her emotion through her voice. You really should have waited to be in person to tell her, but you didn't want to go to long without her hearing. "It's just going to be for the season though, and I'll be keeping my house, for now anyways, so I'll be flying back with Bentley to visit, and you can totally come down, too, if you wanted."

"Well, yeah," your mom said, like you didn't have to explain any of this to her. "That's great, sweetheart, I'm so happy for you."

"Yeah?" you asked, your voice lifting up now.

"Of course I am," she said, her voice steady like she would be anything but. "It'll be great for all of you. You, and Tyler, and the dogs. And Bentley..."

"Yeah," you smiled, your chest constricting because you truly didn't know how you'd ever had been able to have him be apart from Tyler now.

And he wouldn't have to be.

"I know he won't really know that he's apart from him yet, but they change so much during the first year, and I think it's really..." your mom said, "I just think it's really important that Bentley is with his --- "

You let out a laugh at her speechlessness, and yet you smiled looking at Tyler's backyard, one of Bentley's blankets hung up over the railing of the deck, his stroller parked at the side of the house, knowing there were toys for him just inside the door. "His Dad-to-be?" You asked.

"Yeah, that," she said, and now you could hear the smile in her voice.

"It's important to me that he knows his Grandma though," you said, your voice kind of breaking a bit because you wouldn't just be able to drop him off or pop by for a couple of hours on the weekend.

"Oh, he will," she said reassuringly. "It might just mean that I get to spend a few days with him at a time rather than a couple of hours, and I'm totally okay with that."

"Yeah," you said, smiling, and thinking that maybe he'd learn to get so excited to come home and spend the summer with Grandma.

You'd still have the summers.

And you could work on little art projects to send back home, to get him to start practicing his letters when he got older.

It was just this year, for now, though.

You jumped a little when Bentley's cries came through the monitor, the soundbar moving wildly, and now you shifted, listening to see if he was going to put himself back to sleep.

"Do you need to go?" your mom asked.

"Umm.." you said, your eye still on the monitor, and you could see Gerry eyeing you like he didn't believe the sound coming out of it.

"What's up, bud?" you heard Tyler's voice come through the monitor, even over Bentley's cries. "Are you done with your nap? Or are we going to get in trouble if we get you up now?"

"No," you smiled, even though your mom couldn't see you. "Tyler's got him, he must have just gotten home."

"Did I wake you up?" you heard Tyler ask in a soft voice, followed by a shuffling of fabric that made you think he was picking Bentley up. "Oh, you stink. Where'd Mommy go, huh?"

You didn't even realize that you were leaning forward like you were about to stand up until you heard Tyler's voice through the monitor, loud like he thought he had to be right up against it to be heard. "I got him, babe."

You laughed, despite the fact that he hadn't heard you, using your one hand to pull on Gerry's toy, which he was nudging into your lap, finally getting it free so you could throw it for him.

"So - "

"Okay," you heard Tyler huff, sounds like he was dragging the diaper bag across the floor, all the while making soothing noises to try and shush Bentley, and you couldn't help but think it was adorable, even though Bentley was crying through it all.

"He sounds really confident," your mom laughed.

"He knows what he's doing," you said. Although truth be told, you'd never actually watched him change a diaper, only because you didn't want him to think you weren't confident in his abilities or make him second guess his instincts. But you'd never had any problems, so you knew he could handle it.

"Oh, I know," your mom said, "he just doesn't sound like he knows he knows."

"Yeah, he's...still a little bit intimidated sometimes," you said, "he's way better,

now though, like he was too nervous to even pick him up before, now he's just..natural."

That was the word for it, really, the change from the awkward way that he held Bentley before like he needed to cater to the way the baby was laying, like it was the only way that the little bundle would stay calm, to now where it was like Bentley's body molded to his like he needed him for comfort.

"A lot of men are kinda like that in the beginning, though, I think just because they're bigger they just....need time to grow into each other or something," your Mom said. "But any guy who talks to a baby like he's an actual little person is gonna be hands on."

"Yeah,' you smiled, thinking back to when you got to bring him home together when the first thing Tyler had wanted to do was to make sure that Bentley got to see his room, like he wasn't in that sleepy newborn stage or like his eyes could actually focus on the pictures hung on the wall across from him.

"That's why I think it's going to be really good for you to be together and for Tyler to get that time with him," your mom said, and you laughed under your breath as a wail broke through the monitor again.

"Cash, you gotta move bud, I gotta get in there," you heard Tyler said, and you smiled, leaning forward to turn the volume up, leaning forward. You knew he could change a diaper, obviously, but you'd never actually watched him doing it because you didn't want him to second-guess himself or have you hovering over him, but just the thought of him caring for Bentley made your heart swell.

You bit your lip harder, trying hard not to laugh, like Tyler could actually hear you, your mom's snickers coming through the phone.

"Bentley, you gotta work with me, bud," Tyler said, "I'm trying to help you out, c'mon."

"Just wait 'till he can crawl and get away," your mom laughed.

"He can't even roll over yet," you said, laughing at Tyler mumbling under his breath.

"Shh...shh...sh..." Tyler whispered, "K, all done, all better, let's get your clothes back on, hang on, bud. Why does Mommy always put you in these things with the really little zippers? What other outfits did you pack?"

Bentley's cries grew louder, and you could almost picture his little fists waving in the air, his pissed-off, scrunched up face, clearly unhappy with being half undressed for so long.

"Hey, hey, Bentley, Bentley Bear," Tyler said, half-singing, and you smiled, "Awe, look at this, you're stylin'. You want to go find, Mom? Do you miss her?"

You had your mom off speaker, phone back to your ear by the time that Tyler pulled open the back door, Bentley snuggled up in his arms, a few tears still settled on his cheeks, Cash trailing after them.. "Hey," you said brightly. "Is he okay?

"Yeah, he's great, he just didn't like the outfit you put him in," Tyler said, smirking as he leaned down to shut the monitor off, leaning in to kiss you on the cheek. "Who are you talking to?"

"My mom," you said.

"Hi Mom!" Tyler said loudly, and then in an impossibly high-pitched voice, "Hi Grandma, I miss you!"

"Oh, I miss you too," your mom said, like it was actually Bentley speaking to her, and you smiled, eyeing Tyler.

"He was actually hoping that you would be able to babysit on Friday or Saturday," you asked, hopeful.

"I will babysit him anytime," she answered, and your body relaxed at the excitement in her words. "What are your plans?"

"We're planning a double date with Danielle and Jeremy," you said, smiling at Tyler, half excited and half nervous for going out for so long without Bentley.

"That sounds fun," she said, "Not as fun much fun as Bentley and I will be having, but, still fun."

"Yeah," you grinned big, unable to resist the urge to tickle Bentley's toes. "We'll drop him at your house so you can have lots of time to play."

"You can bring the dogs, too," she said, adding, "if you don't want to leave them alone for too long..."

"Do we need someone to watch the dogs?" you repeated, looking up at Tyler, who just kind of shrugged.

"Cash, definitely," Tyler said, loud enough for your Mom to hear, "He will judge all your baby watching skills."

"I'll look forward to it," your mom said, and you laughed at Gerry jumping up on Tyler, Bentley still whimpering a little, Tyler trying to fend the excited dog off, your arm instinctively reaching towards Bentley.

"You want to go see Mama for a bit?" Tyler asked, shifting with him as if he was waiting for a response, planting a kiss on his cheek and then shifting to settle him in your arms, and then immediately bending over to give Gerry some attention, ruffling his ears until he darted off to grab his ball. Tyler stuttered his step to try and get Gerry even more excited, pausing only to reach and pick off a piece of your muffin, his eyes sparkling towards you as he chewed.

"Hey!" You said, using your foot to playfully sway at him since your hands were full, Tyler laughing as he grabbed your ankle and held it, getting himself another bite.

"Good muffin," he said, settling your foot back down only so he could teach for Gerry's toy as he circled back around, wrestling it free and then tossing it towards the lake, running after him and trying to get Marshall and Cash to come to play, too.

You ended up Facetiming your mom now that Bentley was up and Tyler was keeping Gerry busy so she could see the baby, no longer really talking, but enjoying the way that Cash and Marshall kept nosing at Bentley, finally getting some soft smiles out of him when you ran your fingers over his belly. When Gerry finally came back, panting and laying down to stretch out on the deck you had your eyes trained on your screen, looking away long enough to pat him on the side. "You need a drink, Ger?" You asked, laughing at the way he was almost looked like he was smiling. "Did you check your dish?"

"I think he drank enough lake water to keep him going for a bit," Tyler said, and you instinctively turned your phone away from him and he frowned, leaning towards you. Your hand tilting your phone up.

"What are you doing?" He asked, laughing awkwardly.

"Nothing," you said, moving to set your phone down beside you and interact with Bentley like Tyler would just forget all about it, but he stood there, looking at you with an amused grin on his face, moving to cross his arms casually.

,"You know, I'm not going to be mad at you for looking at porn."

"I am not looking at porn!" You reacted in shock, Tyler's giggles making it clear that was the reaction you wanted. You sighed, picking up your phone and turning it over and the screen illuminating with what you'd been looking at before, Tyler's eyes widening, taking a step back and then forward again.

"You want to get a puppy?"

"No, I don't want to get a puppy," you said, your arms already full with a baby and the full-grown puppies that had become your own, even more over the last year, as you and Tyler had become each others.

"Then why are you hiding from me that you're looking at puppies?"

"Because..." you said, and then you shook your head, realizing you didn't actually need to, but it seemed like it should be a secret. "I don't know, I was looking for my mom."

"You were looking for your mom?" Tyler asked, now, sitting down next to you.

"Yeah," you said, looking away from your phone now. "I'm moving. And I'm taking her grandson with me."

"Yeah, but you're going to come back though. And she can come down. We're gonna be here all summer, too."

"No, I know," you said because the last thing you wanted to do was make him feel like you were second-guessing your decision. "She's happy that we're gonna be living with you. But she just lives alone, and she loves having something to take care of, and I want her to have company. And having these guys visit me made it so much easier for me to be away from you."

Tyler gave you a sweet look and then moved his head to rest on your shoulder, reaching for your phone to scroll through the website you were looking at.

"Well, we should get her a puppy then."

"I'm not trying to get her a puppy, I'm just thinking about how I can try and suggest to her that she get a puppy," you said, "Like maybe if we take the boys over there with Bentley and they all have a good time, I can just casually mention to her this breeder that I saw."

"Why don't we just buy her a puppy though?" Tyler asked, his finger running over the screen. "That one's super cute. Do you think she wants a girl or a boy?"

"You can't just buy someone a puppy, Tyler."

"Why not?"

"Because it's a big responsibility, it's not just something you throw on someone," you said. "Like there's dog food, and toys, and vet bills, and like actually needing to take care of it."

"Which is why we'd get all the dog stuff for her when we surprise her with the puppy," Tyler said like it was that simple, and you gave him a look, to which he just laughed, kissing you on the nose.

"Tyler," you repeated, "You can't just -"

"You can't just give people your sperm, Tyler," he imitated, leaning over to kiss Bentley and then you once more, somehow managing to rub Marshall's ears at the same time. "Jesus."

******

"Are you ready yet, babe?" Tyler asked, stepping into your bedroom and pretty much immediately going to sit down on the bed next to Bentley, who was stretched out on your bed, just waiting to go.

"I thought we were going to leave at 3:30?" you asked, stepping out from the bathroom to double-checking the time on your clock to make sure you weren't running late.

"We did, but I really, really want to get going," he said with a sigh.

"Why?" You asked.

"Because my sisters are trying to tell me about this guy they think you'd really like and they want to set you up with, and they want me to offer to babysit when they bring him up to encourage you to have a night out."

Between that information and the dejected look on Tyler's face, you burst out laughing.

"It's not funny," he said, clearly over the whole thing.

"It's pretty funny," you said.

"I thought you were supposed to be on my side," he said, pouting his bottom lip out like he wanted a kiss, which you gave him, but you still pulled back with a grin on your face.

"You're the one who wanted to wait to tell him," you said, your hand slowly moving away from his face.

"Because the look on their faces is gonna be the best," Tyler said, "and you didn't get to see their reactions when I got to tell them you were having a baby."

"Are you saying that because you mean it, or because you just want me to agree with you that they're being annoying and try to get them to stop?"

"Both?" Tyler asked, a half-sheepish grin on his face, and you gave him a look to let him know that you may be in love with him, but that didn't mean that you were going to take his side on everything, and he sighed, rolling onto his side to look at Bentley. "That's what you're for, huh? You're so cute you'll distract your aunties and they'll forget to bother me, right?"

"Well, your back-up is ready to go, I'll just be like two minutes."

"Is his stuff ready?" Tyler asked, eyeing the diaper bag on the floor.

"Yeah, I packed his stuff already," you said, thinking it over. "Actually, can you double-check he's got a pacifier in there?"

"Mhmm.." Tyler said, gingerly crawling off the bed, while you went back into the bathroom to finish putting your hair up.

"What is this?" Tyler asked, holding the offending item in front of the ensuite door.

"What do you mean what is that? It's his swimsuit."

"This isn't his swimsuit," Tyler said.

"I'm pretty sure it is," you laughed, the little blue wetsuit covered with sharks that you kind of couldn't wait to see Bentley's chubby little legs sticking out of.

"No, he has swim trunks," Tyler said, and now you remembered the little shorts he was talking about.

"I think he's too little for those, Tyler," you said, and you could have laughed at the way his bottom lip pouted out, and you could only imagine Bentley pulling the same thing in a few years.

"But they have a tie and you always say how big he's getting."

"I know, but this one will protect him from the sun."

"It's gonna be in the shade, babe."

"I know, but he's too little to wear sunscreen though, I don't want him to get burnt, the sun can still peek through."

And now Tyler gave you a dejected look, a small smile creeping across his face and he stepped towards you, moving to wrap his arms around you and placing his chin on your shoulder. "How about if we bring a shirt for him and then he can wear a shirt with his shorts if he needs to," Tyler said, like he was trying to entice you to do something for him other than negotiating your son's clothes, "And I'm sure you packed a ridiculous hat for him."

You didn't even have time to answer before Tyler continued. "And I'm gonna wear mine and I'm gonna look really stupid if he's not matching me."

"Okay," you said, laughing at Tyler's triumphant "yes!" , "but he's wearing a shirt if there's too much sun."

"Deal," Tyler said like that wasn't something he cared about anyway, "not that this other thing isn't cute, but he doesn't want to wear it right now. He can wear it in Dallas when his other suit is in the wash."

"Mmm.." you smiled, looking at Bentley who was still stretched out on the bed. "What do you think, Bentley? Are you gonna like swimming so much?"

"Yeah, it's like the bath but way more fun because there are more people," Tyler said, and then looked at you with a smirk, "Well, sometimes you can have guests in the bath with you."

You shook your head and tried hard not to smile, Bentley's gurgling in response to the conversation.

"Yeah, I know, I like taking baths with your mom, too," Tyler said, laughing at your reaction and the way Bentley seemed to get more excited.

"You already got the kicking part down for swimming, don't you?" you smiled, Bentley's legs kicking out from under him, content as could be. "Kick, kick, kick. Don't kick Cash though."

"You need to go like this," Tyler said, going back over to the bed and taking Bentley's hands in his, moving them in the air, which only made Bentley more excited.

"Are you practicing your doggy paddle?" You asked, giving Bentley and Tyler a smile before going about getting dressed, Marshall circling your legs as he already sensed you were getting ready to go somewhere.

Tyler had picked Bentley up when you came back out of the bathroom, giving you an interesting look when you bent down to add Bentley's towel to the diaper bag, seeing that Tyler had already thrown in the pacifier along with the swim trunks and an extra shirt.

"What?" You asked, trying to decipher the look on his face.

"That's short," he said simply.

"Well, it's a cover-up, I have a bathing suit on underneath."

"Well, it's not covering much up," he said, stepping closer now, using one hand to flip the bottom up and down.

"Stop," you laughed, pushing his hand away as it came to playfully cup your ass, half glad Bentley was too young to know any different, but also kind of anticipating the way you'd laughed together when Bentley was old enough to be grossed out by the fact that his mom and dad couldn't stop kissing each other. "Are you gonna be like this around your mom?"

"Depends what bathing suit you have on underneath," he said with a quirk of his lips like he had that line prepared.

"It's my "Mom taking her baby swimming for the first time" swimsuit."

"Makes sense, I guess," Tyler said, "But do you also have "Hot girlfriend who happens to be a mom" swimsuit."

You shook your head vehemently. "I threw it out as soon as you got me pregnant."

"I don't know, that little bikini you were wearing in Dallas was, like pretty much nothing. You should definitely pull that out again sometime and show your boyfriend how hot you are," Tyler said, and you gave him a look, "What? When you wearing it before you were supposed to be my friend and I wasn't supposed to be checking you out. Now I can look. And touch."

"Are you sure your sisters' comments aren't getting to you?" You laughed, your hand moving over his.

"Other than the fact that they're being annoying as hell? No."

"You seem a little possessive," you said because he was somehow managing to touch you while also holding onto Bentley.

"Babe, I've always been protective of you, you know that."

"So you're not jealous?" you asked, leaning in to kiss him because you could.

"Am I jealous of a fake guy that my sisters made up to piss me off?" Tyler asked. "Babe, I'm the idiot that set up on numerous dates, and like met all the guys and actually liked them. I was actually friends with your boyfriend, for god's sake."

You started laughing because the past year had been such a whirlwind that you had almost forgot how deadset he'd been on trying to find you, someone.

"I guess you did find me a boyfriend," you said, quirking your lips.

"Yeah, if only I'd known how easy it would have been, then I probably wouldn't have made myself look so dumb," he said, opening his mouth like he was going to say something else and then laughing under his breath.

"What?" you asked.

"I was just gonna say that would be a really funny story to tell our kids one day, but..." Tyler nodded towards Bentley, lifting him up in his arms.

"Yeah," you smiled, your finger coming out to brush Bentley's cheek, "we can't get anything by him, you've been here the whole time, huh?"

"Good thing he was," Tyler said, turning his head to kiss Bentley's cheek.

"Oh, you're so smiley today," you cooed, and Tyler grinned, tilting his head against Bentley like he was the one you were talking to.

"He says, "I'm gonna pick up so many babes by the pool today, Mom.'" Tyler said.

"I know you are," you said, and then to Tyler, "Can you put him in his car seat and I'll grab the bags and the dogs?"

"Oh sure, make me the bad guy," Tyler said but did it anyway.

But you were pretty sure that you were the bad guy because it was you who was trying to keep Bentley content while Tyler was driving, your hand quite often in the backseat holding pacifiers or toys, both you and Tyler singing in a way that would likely have everyone judging you had they not known that you had a baby in the backseat.

Both Bentley and the dogs were whimpering by the time you pulled up on the street that Tyler had grown up on, although the dogs' noises were clearly from excitement, Bentley's noises only signaling that he wanted to be anywhere other than buckled into his car seat.

You weren't really surprised to see the front door open before Tyler had even shut the car off, dropping his hand to run over yours and raising his eyebrows like you were sharing a secret, his hand moving away when his sisters came close to the car, both of you reaching for your respective door handles.

"Is that Bentley?"

"Mhmm," Tyler answered, opening the back door and you leaning in, quickly unbuckling him and avoiding his errant fists, pulling him into your eyes and standing back up, Tyler's eyes softening, simultaneously trying to sway back and forth with the baby and offer him his pacifier.

"Awe, he's so sad."

"He'll be okay in a second, he just really hates his car seat," you said, your eyes catching Tyler's, your faces both leaning into towards Bentley, singing animatedly. "He only loves his crib and his mom, he's sorry."

When you pulled away from pressing a kiss to Bentley's forehead you noticed Tyler's sisters sga4inf a glance and then giving you an interesting look from behind their mom, and you advertised your eyes quickly, knowing if you made eye contact you wouldn't be able to keep it a secret anymore.

"Did you give your aunties a smile?" You asked Bentley. "And Grandma Jackie? Are you telling them you missed them?"

"We missed you, we haven't seen you in so long," Jackie said, and handing Bentley over to her, smiling at the way that she so easily pulled him into her arms. "You're getting so big."

"I know," you said, "We would have seen you sooner but we weren't doing too much when he wasn't feeling well."

And while you and Tyler were discovering this new part of your relationship.

"And he has no ill effects?" Jackie asked.

"No, he's all back to his normal self. Well, his new normal self, he's even more awake and engaging with stuff now," you said, "But he's perfectly healthy. Those antibiotics work miracles."

"And he had the best mom taking care of him," Tyler said, stepping around from where he'd been letting the dogs out, and then looked at his mom, rethinking himself, "I mean, she's his best mom, you're still my best mom."

Jackie just laughed, and Tyler grinned at Bentley, moving away from where he was giving his mom a half hug, his hand brushing against yours like he was reaching out to hold it, but then he thought better of it, taking the diaper bag from you like that was what he was planning to do the whole time.

"We were really lucky that we had Tyler to help, though, I was losing my mind," you said, looking at him rather than who you were talking to, "And with his shots, too..."

"Yeah, how come you never told me how horrible it is to make a baby get shots?" Tyler asked his mom.

"Well, you didn't ask," she shrugged, with a smile.

"You told me it wasn't that bad!" you guffawed at Tyler, following the group back into the house.

"Oh, no, it was horrible," he said seriously, smiling slightly, "I only said it wasn't that bad because you were freaking out."

"He's gonna have to get more shots, Tyler."

Tyler looked at you for a moment. "He'll be fine," he said, giving you a squeeze on the shoulder, an incongruous look on his face, and you inhaled, yet knowing it would probably be okay if he came with you again.

"You went with them to the doctor?" Candace asked.

"Mhmm, Y/N needed help because Bentley was just getting over being sick," Tyler said, "And you know how she hates needles."

"That was nice of you," Cassidy said, and Tyler smiled.

"You just seem to be spending a lot of time together this summer," Candace said, words which might seem judgemental had it not been for the look in her eye, the subtle uplift of her lips.

"Well, of course we're spending a lot of time together, she's my best friend," Tyler said, "I'm not gonna ditch her because she has a kid."

"Well, no, I didn't mean.."

Jackie looked over wearily like she might have to intervene in a disagreement between her adult children.

"I just like hanging out with her and stuff..." Tyler said dryly, his hands suck in his pockets, which meant you weren't prepared for it at all when he spun around and pressed his lips hard to yours, your hand moving to his bicep to regain your balance, trying to contend with the fact that he had somehow wrapped his leg around yours, making a show of it, and yet you could feel his lips turning up against yours. You squealed as you were knocked off balance, Tyler laughing as his arms came back around you, his feet walking back against yours, planting one last kiss on your lips.

"I knew that was your hand!"

You laughed, your and Tyler's arms moving around you, looking at the combination of shock and excitement on Tyler's sister's faces, Tyler's mom smiling steadily, even though your face was heating up at the thought of Tyler's attention-grabbing display of affection.

"Yeah, so I hope you're okay if she's spending a lot of time around here," Tyler said coyly, met with just an eye roll from Candace, and then you were meant with open arm hugs, your arm momentarily breaking away FL Tyler to hug his sisters again, even though you just had moments before, but the hugs were even tighter this time.

"This is so great," Candace said, and Tyler cleared his throat loudly, garnering attention.

"Oh, of course, it's great for you, too," she said, going to hug him, "Actually probably

better for you than her."

"I mean, I'd argue with you, but you're not wrong," Tyler said, smiling at you over top of his sister's head.

"Awe," his sisters said in unison, Tyler tilting his head like he knew just how adorable he was, lips turned up in a smile until the moment was interrupted by the sounds that Bentley made when he started to cry.

"Oh, what?" Jackie asked him softly, swaying back and forth with him.

"You fed him before we left, right, babe?" Tyler asked, walking towards the source of the cries as you were, arms instinctively opening up as if to cradle him.

'Yeah, he shouldn't be hungry yet," you confirmed, your eyes on that scrunched up sad little face. "He might just want his pacie."

"It's in the side," Tyler said, nodding towards the diaper bag in his hands still, and you took the whole thing from him, wanting to pull out a toy or two as well for something to entertain Bentley with.

You smiled at Tyler and his mom talking to Bentley while you searched through the bag, not really rushing because you knew he was getting attention and Charley was realizing that company had arrived. You were just about to stand up with the items you'd grabbed when the abruptly cut off with a couple of shuddery breaths, Tyler still taking Bentley from his mom, Bentley settling like he'd been content the whole time.

Tyler frowned, looking back between the baby and his mom. "What was that about, dude?" He asked, moving Bentley make towards his mom again until he started to cry again, and then Tyler shifted him so he could look at Bentley. "You like Grandma. Well, I think you do, she gives you lots of presents. You should like her."

"He's probably just not used to me holding him, Tyler," Jackie said.

"She's held you before, bud," Tyler asked in a soft voice, "Did you forget?"

"It's been a while, he probably just needs time to warm up, it's okay."

And even though you obviously wanted Bentley to be happy with Jackie, you kind of couldn't help but love the way that Bentley was finding comfort and familiarity in Tyler.

"Usually he's just a Mama's boy," Tyler said, and you weren't sure if he actually believed that or if he was trying to make his mom feel better like she didn't understand just how temperamental babies could be.

"He looks pretty happy to me," you said, running your hand through Bentley's hair, handing a couple of his toys to Jackie so she could play with him until he got a little more settled in this new environment. She suggested going into the living room to have some lemonade and let Bentley calm down from his car ride before you introduced him to the new experience of the pool and, although the girls were distracted by the baby, you could tell that Tyler was itching to tell them the other bit of the news.

"So...." he said, a means to attract everyone's attention, "there's kind of something else that we wanted to tell you guys, too."

You shared a knowing glance with Tyler's mom, Candace and Cassidy now transfixed on Tyler.

"Do you want to tell them babe, or should I?"

"Awe 'babe'," Cassidy echoed.

"I've been calling her 'babe' for forever, that's not new," Tyler snickered. "Only difference is she calls me 'babe' now. It's super cute."

And honestly, the way he was looking at you only made you want to say it more.

"You can tell them, babe," you said exaggeratedly. "You're the one who asked me."

"Yeah, but you're the one who said 'yes'," he teased.

"Wait, what did you-" Candace started, only to be interrupted by Cassidy finishing by blurting out, "You proposed?"

Yeah, you were pretty sure your heart just stopped and then restarted all in the same second.

"What? No, no," Tyler said, his voice surprisingly even, "We've only been a thing for like a month, just, like, chill out a bit."

"Sorry, it's just you said you asked a question..."

"Yeah, I should have said it differently," Tyler said, "you guys would know about that though. I would need so much help."

You looked at Tyler, somewhat surprised at how he was handling this because it had always just been a common belief that you'd get married before he did.

And now...

"I asked her to move to Dallas with me," Tyler said, "and Bentley, obviously "

"And you said yes?'" Cassidy asked.

"Oh, yeah, sure, now you ask before you get all excited," Tyler said, with a roll of his eyes, but you caught the smile on his face.

"Yeah, I said 'yes'," you said, your smile mirroring Tyler's, your shoulder's raising in a combination of giddiness and a little bit of feeling shy because you weren't used to having the attention on you quite like this in this house.

"That's so great, you guys," Cassidy said.

"I'm so happy for you guys," Candace added, "And only a little bit mad that you're taking them away from us."

"Well, you guys can come to visit whenever you want," Tyler said, "Whenever I'm not there."

He started laughing even before he finished talking, earning him a head shake from you and a kick from his sisters.

"Ow, ow," he said, like it was actually hurting him, "I'm just kidding. Although you can overlap it so you can hang out with Y/N too, so she has company. Well, company that isn't a baby or dogs."

"I would," you said because it was kind of awesome to already be friends with your boyfriend's sisters and feel like you were a part of the family, and any sense of familiarity in a place that you were used to visiting but that you would hope would come to feel like home would be welcome.

You couldn't really talk to them like you usually did though, not until Tyler offered to take Bentley upstairs to get the both of them changed into their swimsuits, and you could see his sisters just pleading with you to try and get him to leave so they could actually find out what happened, even though, of course, he just laughed at gave you a "babe, I know."

It was just as soon as he was out of earshot that Candace leaned in, "So, like, he finally said something to you?"

"Yeah," you said, smiling at just the thought of it, "it was when Bentley was sick."

"Really?"

,"Yeah, I was... it was a lot, and I was really starting to just lose like he wouldn't stop crying and I was just exhausted and couldn't even think about what to do," you said, your body shifting like you wanted to pull Bentley to your body, but instead just settling for pulling your legs up. "The only thing I could think to do was call Tyler."

And, honestly, the way they were looking at you was enough to make you want to cry, just like you'd been on the urge of doing all of that night.

"He was so good, though, like he calmed me down, which helped me calm the baby down, and he just....stayed," you said because that was the easiest way to put it, that he'd been in it with you, fresher that you were, of course, but in a way that just made you feel like you were in it together.

And he'd really never left.

"You think Bentley being sick made him say it?"

You thought about it for a second and then shook your head no. He would have told you eventually, you thought, but the catalyst seemed to be more being cooped up inside with each other and realizing that not only were you able to make each other laugh while you were going through it all, but that also you really worked well together.

"Bentley was starting to feel better when he told me," you said, which really should have been a clue because there wasn't really a need for him to stay after the first night, not when he had his own responsibilities and Bentley was at least able to get some rest. "It wasn't even like anything happened. I put Bentley to bed, Tyler ordered us pizza, and then I went out there and he'd lit candles and dimmed the lights and poured us wine..."

"Awe...."

'And then we just sat there for 45 minutes and watched TV before he said anything," you continued with a laugh, because he'd had to have at least figured he wanted to say something with the way he'd tried to set the mood, and now you were wondering if he'd even watched the show, or if he'd just been running through the words in his mind.

Or maybe he'd just been getting comfortable and enjoying spending time with you. "I don't know, he did stuff like that a lot?" You said, answering the unasked question. "Like, when I went to go visit him in Dallas he planned this whole picnic thing, and took me to the aquarium-"

"He took you to the aquarium?" Cassidy asked, "He always says that's the lamest date ever."

"Yeah, well," you shrugged, blushing just at thought of the way he'd held your hand like that was something you did every weekend, the way he'd talked about wanting to bring the baby there.

"You guys are actually so cute," Cassidy said, and you felt your smile grow even bigger because you couldn't even remember Tyler ever being like this with anyone either.

"How about you, though? How's Brian?" you asked because you could honestly foresee yourself gushing about your relationship the whole time you were there, and you wanted to get the details while Tyler was gone.

"Oh, yeah, he's fine," Cass said, stumbling her words and you frowned.

C"What do you mean he's fine?" You laughed, watching her eyes until you heard Tyler clear his throat, realizing that she must have heard him coming before you did.

"Oh my God," you heard Jackie say, but it was all you could do to take in Bentley and Tyler in their matching pineapple print swim trucks, both of them wearing nothing else, although you noticed he had Bentley’s shirt tucked under the arm he was holding Bentley in.

"Super cute, right?" Tyler asked.

"The cutest," you agreed, Tyler catches your eye, even as his fingers tickled along Bentley's belly.

It was almost as cute when Gerry started jumping up at Tyler like he knew it was time to go swimming, making your way outback.

"So whose Brian?" Tyler asked, feigning simple curiosity.

"Nobody," Cassidy said.

"Yeah, he just helped me the last time I went into Cassidy's work, I was just telling her about it," you said casually, easily putting an end to the conversation.

"No, he's like actually nobody," Cassidy said, "he doesn't exist."

"What do you mean he doesn't exist?" You asked, watching her eyes dart towards Candace.

"We...made him up," Candace answered.

"What do you mean, you made him up?" you laughed, both of them looking half guilty towards you.

"We just thought that if you... thought about being into someone and not telling them, it might give you a nudge in the right direction."

You barely even had the chance to process that when Tyler burst out laughing.

"It's not funny," you said, even though you were laughing.

"Oh, it's funny," Tyler confirmed, "Especially when you were making fun of be before- wait, you guys knew that she liked me?"

He addressed the last part to his sisters, and now was your time to laugh.

"You guys are supposed to tell me stuff like that , Jesus," Tyler said, his head only turning to acknowledge all of Bentley's baby sounds. "Yeah, bud, you tell them."

"We tried to tell you, but you wouldn't answer us when we asked if you liked her."

"Because I'm not gonna say that and then make you guys get all emotional and crazy, " Tyler said, "You could have just given me the head's up, at least."

"We're not telling you that if you didn't feel the same way," Candace said, like that was obvious.

"You guys are supposed to help me out," Tyler said, half-whining, and you laughed, causing him to look at you, his lips curling up in a smirk. "And you and I need to talk about the fact that you're supposed to be on my side even more now, and tell me all these Brian's or Ryan's or whatever."

You scrunched your nose up, shaking your head as you smiled.

"Can one of you guys take the baby?" Tyler asked, arms already coming out.

"Tyler," you warned, trying to push his hands away but he out-muscled you , working your straps down your shoulders, while you repeatedly tried to place them. "Well, don't take my dress off."

"You've got a bathing suit on underneath, it's fine, " he insisted, "you've got your boobs out all the time anyway, like, we go to the movies, boobs out."

"I was feeding the baby," you clarified, cheeks heating up because you knew he remembered what else you'd done in the movie theater and if he made some type of comment about that, you were going to turn into a babbling mess.

Which kind of worked in his favor, because then your mind was distracted momentarily, meaning that you weren't quick enough in fighting him off when his arm wrapped around your legs, shifting your body off the ground.

"Tyler," you laughed, but he just ignored you.

"Can someone get the door?" he asked, nodding towards the sliding door, open other than the screen,

"You're on your own there, honey," Jackie said, and Tyler huffed, using his foot to try and push open the screen.

"Stop," you said, trying to wiggle free but Tyler had somehow managed to get door open, Gerry running through and then jumping right into the pool like he thought this was all part of some game.

"Why?" Tyler asked into your neck, your body getting closer and closer to the ground, his body bent over.

"Because I don't want to be wet when I get in with Bentley to get him used to the water."

"Fine," Tyler said, his arms letting your body move so your feet hit the floor, yet his arms remained around you. "But don't think I'll forget this."

"Neither will I," you said, looking over Tyler's shoulder to where Candace was holding Bentley, propped up so he could look around., your eyes moving back to connect with Tyler's, dark chocolate pools of playfulness, "Just wait till I teach Bentley to splash you."

"Oh, you don't play fair," Tyler laughed, his arm coming around you and planting a kiss on your cheek, Tyler looking at Bentley now too. "Are you watching Gerry swimming? Are you gonna try it?"

You watched Bentley's lips turn up, a silent form of communication.

"I think that's a 'yes'," you said softly, your fingers reaching out to tickle his toes, letting Candace hand him back to you, because although you were psyched for them to play with Bentley in the water, too, you wanted to be as close to him as possible when he experienced the pool for the first time.

"Do you have your phone, babe?" you asked Tyler, "Can you take some pictures or a video or him?"

"I can do it," Cassidy offered, "then you can both go in with him."

"Thank you," you said gratefully, Tyler already dipping his toe in the water. "Is it cold you asked?"

Tyler should his head, "I think he'll be okay."

"Wait, wait, I got some pool toys for him," Jackie said.

"Awe, really?" you asked, "I brought a couple of his bath toys, but all of his pool toys are in Dallas."

"Well, you can leave these here and then he can play with them when he comes to visit Grandma's pool," Jackie said.

"See, I told you Grandma would buy you lots of presents," Tyler said to Bentley, running his finger along Bentley's cheek.

"Woah," you said to Bentley, smiling excitedly as she showed him the little boat and all the fishes. "Can you say 'thank you'"?

Bentley cooed, his lips turning up in a smile, right on cue. "Oh, you are so welcome," she said, leaning over to kiss him on the top of the head. "We'll have to keep them away from the dogs, won't we?"

"And Tyler," Candace said, and you realized that Tyler had already taken the toys from his mom.

"He's too little to know how to play with them, I'm just helping," Tyler defended, laughing at himself, getting Bentley's attention as he walked into the water.,Gerry circling around him.

"Gerry, c'mhere," Cassidy called, and it wasn't long before he was running around with Charley, your eyes moving between Tyler and Bentley, slowly walking into the water until your legs were covered, running your free hand back and forth through the water, crouching so Bentley's toes were near the water.

"You've got paparazzi," Tyler said, nodding towards Candace and Cassidy crouched down by the side of the pool, phones extended in front of him, tickling Bentley's toes and then slowly scooping water over them to get him used to the water.

"Whatcha think?" You asked him, lowering your body further into the water, watching Bentley's curious expression, his eyes wide, starting to fuss just a little bit and you started to sway back and forth with him. "Baby beluga in the deep blue sea, you swim so wild and you swim so free."

"He's doing well," Jackie said from the edge of the pool.

"Yeah, he's pretty easy-going," you said, looking at exactly where he'd gotten that disposition from.

"And he loves the water," Tyler added, and you took the few steps to close the gap between the two of you.

"You want to take him?" You asked, Tyler making a noise of agreement, cradling his arms underneath yours, pulling Bentley to his hip, settling him.

"Are you swimming?" Tyler asked him, taking the boat and making noises as he drove it through the water in front of him. "It's pretty cool, huh?"

You smiled, eyes still on Bentley's and just a smidge of Tyler watching him, only to be distracted by Gerry, who was running around the edge of the pool, crouching down like he wanted to jump in, and then jumping down the line.

"You can come in , Ger, come here," you said, calling him over to the stairs, searching for one of the dogs' toys so you could tempt him away from getting his nails too close to Tyler and Bentley. "Did you want to come play with Daddy, too? Were you getting jealous?"

"Jealous he didn't get a new toy," Tyler said, taking the fish toy and filling it with water, squeezing it so it sent an arc of water into the air, Gerry's tail wagging in the water.

"Careful," Jackie said, the water getting too close to outside of the pool, which really was the wrong reaction because Tyler just grinned, squirting more water in their direction, Bentley letting out a pleased squeal.

"See, it's funny," Tyler said, planting a kiss against Bentley's cheek, and you laughed at how skeptical Marshall looked at the whole situation, saying over to give him a pet.

"Well, you're getting me all wet."

"He wants you to come in," Tyler said, changing the way he was holding Bentley so his hands were under his arms, the baby facing forward, stepping through the water. "Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo, baby shark doo doo doo doo doo doo doo."

Your eyes were on Bentley's face as he "swam" towards you.

"Is he smiling?" Tyler asked, and you nodded. "Mommy shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo

Mommy shark. Where's Gerry Shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo, Gerry Shark? Oh there's Grandma Shark, hi Grandma shark."

Tyler carefully passed Bentley over to Jackie, who swayed back in the water with him, clearly transfixed, the rest of the family joining in not long after. You quickly discovered that while Bentley didn't mind being in the pool, he was not a fan of his little floatie even though Tyler had spent awhile blowing it u for him, much preferring to be in someone's arms, although he was also quite content on someone's lap outside of the pool to warm up a bit, and you were quite happy that Cassidy managed to get a picture of Tyler and Bentley lounging together in their matching swimsuits on one of the lounge chairs before you took Bentley inside to change him so he wouldn't get too cold. When you came back, everyone was clearly looking at something on Tyler's phone, although he looked up at you when you came back outside, tilting his head.

"Someone looks sleepy."

"Yeah, I thought he was gonna fall asleep while I was getting him dressed, he's tuckered out," you said, turning him in your arms so he was laying down, starting to rock him as you stepped closer, although you were getting an odd look from Tyler. "What are you guys doing?" You asked.

"Looking at stuff for Bentley's room," Tyler answered, which wasn't surprising because you knew that it had been something that him and his mom were working on, but it usually wasn't happening right in front of you.

"Oh?" You asked casually, "so you decided on a theme then?" and Tyler only nodded.

"It's so cute" Candace added, to which Tyler smiled quickly and the shushed her.

"Babe," Tyler pleaded, and you frowned, continuing to shift Bentley.

"What? I didn't ask."

"Yeah, but you're giving me that look," he said, " and if you keep giving me that look then I'm gonna give in and tell you and I really wanted this to be a surprise. "

"Okay," you answered, because you could see that this was something that he was really excited about, but it was also becoming more and more real that you were going to be moving to another with a 4 month old, and you were almost getting that same feeling about needing to have everything ready and I'm place like you had before you gave birth. "I just want to make sure that we have all the stuff we need for him."

"We will, you just tell me the big things we need, and I'll make sure it's all ready," Tyler said, because you'd already talked about how he'd go down before you to not only deal with what he had to do before the rest of the guys arrived for training camp, which would give him the chance to take the dogs down and decorate Bentley's room, and then he'd come back to help you travel with the baby. "I already picked out a crib and a chair for his room, I just need to find something for him to sleep in our room."

"You don't want him to sleep in his own room?" you asked because while he was still in your room, Bentley would be older by then, and while you pictured him staying in your room with you for more of his first year, that was when it was just the two of you, when adult activities were the furthest thing from your mind. And now, of course, your eyes were wandering over Tyler's bare torso, your free hand quickly making like you were brushing your hair back from your eyes, trying to focus back on the present moment.

"I mean, eventually, yeah, because his room's gonna be awesome," Tyler said, grinning at you, "But, I don't know, we don't have to decide now. I just thought you'd at least want him in there with you when I'm gone. Or if he's having a rough night or not feeling well or whatever, then we have somewhere for him to sleep."

Maybe Tyler wasn't that anxious to get Bentley out of your room, either.

"Yeah, okay," you agreed, because that was at least one transition that you could ease into.

"And obviously we need a stroller for down there," Tyler said, you noticing the way the corner if his lips turned up and his eyebrows raised, your mind flashing back to the pre-baby shopping you'd done with him and the way he'd gravitated to all the high-end stuff and the way he shopped for toys like he was shopping for himself.

"Maybe we should set a budget," you said, and Tyler's expression uplifted even more, laughing as he shook his head.

"No, we're not setting a budget, this is my thing," Tyler said, his eyes flashing with the realization that he had support for his argument. "We agreed that I would take care of this."

"Yeah, but," you said lamely, trying to figure out the words, but you were distracted by squirming and whining in your arms, the rocking clearly not enough as Bentley let out an annoyed cry, and you turned your attention to talking to him, only looking up at Tyler briefly. "Do you know where his pacifier is, babe? He had it when he came in."

"I think it's on the dining room table," Tyler said, already moving to sit up. "You want me to grab it?"

"No, I'm good," you said honestly.

"I'll help her," Jackie said, her hand already moving around you to open the door, and you hung back around the entrance moving back and forth with Bentley as she went to go grab it, shifting him in your arms so she could give it to him.

"Is that better? You're so tired, huh? Did you stay in the pool a bit too long? Or are you getting hungry?" you said, running your thumb over Bentley's cheek.

"He'll probably nap really well," Jackie said, "That was my secret weapon, take the kids to swim lessons and they're out for the afternoon."

"Yeah?" you smiled, "I might look into that when we're in Dallas for something to do with him."

"You should, he seems to like the water," Jackie nodded, "and it'd give you a chance to meet some other families."

"Yeah," you said softly, running your hand through Bentley's hair, still trying to get him off to sleep.

"I think he's just excited," Jackie said.

"Hmm?" You asked, looking up at her and thinking she was talking about Bentley, who was really anything but excited right now, hos body still half fighting rest, but started to suck on his pacifier., but Jackie was nodding towards the door.

"Tyler?" you asked.

"Yeah, about having Bentley coming to live with him. And, you too, obviously," she said, meeting your eyes and then looking behind you, like she was trying to think of just how to say this. " I know he helped you get the nursery set up and get ready for the baby, but it wasn't his decision, really, you know? I think he's just having fun looking at all the baby stuff and thinking about what Bentley might like when he gets older.."

You thought about what she was saying, remembering that feeling you had when you went shopping for everything, and the hours that you'd spent imagining this life scrolling through nursery ideas on your phone, and the way now that Tyler was now, giving you a sly smile even as he shielded his phone away from you.

It was about more than just things.

"Do you want to take him for a bit?" You asked, noticing the way that Jackie was reaching her arm out towards Bentley every time he made a noise like she could help him in that way.

"I can give your arms a break for a minute," she said, and you smiled at the way she downplayed that she was dying to hold him,moving him so his head was resting against Jackie's shoulder, running your hand over his back, his breathing growing slower and deeper.

"Are you comfy cuddling with Grandma?" You asked him, satisfied that he was settling, "I think you're right. He just.. always wants to buy him stuff."

Which you did too, really, just not on quite the same scale.

"Yeah, he can go a little overboard sometimes."

"Who?" You asked, feigning surprise, "Tyler?"

"Yes, Tyler," she laughed, leaning towards you, her hand steady on Bentley's back, "I'll reel him in though once we start making decisions. Remind him that he doesn't need to get all the toys right now and to save some stuff for birthdays and Christmases and that he's going to be just as happy if you spend five minutes talking to him than getting him a cool new toy. Or that he can really only sit in one stroller at a time."

"Yeah," you laughed under your breath, looking at her eyes. "Thank you."

"Of course, honey," Jackie said, "he's so happy to have you about having you go with him, I think he just wants everything to be perfect for you."

"Yeah, me too," you said, "really all I need is my five boys though and I'm good."

"Five boys," she repeated, "That sounds like a lot when you put it like that."

"I know, but I love it though," you said, laughing at the way that Cash was standing at the door, his tail wagging while looking up like he was curious about what was going on.

"Oh, are you checking on the baby?" Jackie asked, walking over to open the door and stepping outside, Cash already sniffing up at her, "I think he's sleeping right now."

You leaned over, checking to see if Bentley's eyes were closed, his cheek pressed up where he was rested his head. "Yeah, he's sleeping."

"Awe," Tyler said sweetly, from where he was still sitting, Jackie crossing the deck, and every so gently sitting down with Bentley, and you took the opportunity to tuck his blanket under his chin.

"Ty, can you pull one of those other chairs over for Y/N?" Jackie asked.

"Mmmmnope," Tyler said, a smile sneaking onto his face, moving his legs to create room, "we can share."

"Do you actually have to sit in the same chair now?" Cassidy asked while you were just frozen there, trying to not make anyone uncomfortable with this new dynamic.

"Yeah, we do have to," Tyler laughed, reaching for your hand, Cassidy rolling her eyes at his comment but smiling, and you let yourself sit down on the lounge chair, shifting until you got comfortable, Tyler's head curving around yours, lips brushing your neck and then stopping just breaths from yours. "Hi," he said, soft enough like he only wanted you to hear.

"Hi," you answered, pressing your lips to his, like he'd just gotten home, not like you'd seen him just minutes before.

"Why are you guys actually so cute though?"

Tyler just shrugged, laughing against you. "I don't know, we're just adorable."

"Seriously, I can't believe that you actually made her a picnic."

You could feel Tyler under his breath from behind you. "That's like the move, huh? She tells everyone about that."

"Because it's sweet."

"And yet she still didn't realize I wanted to date her," Tyler said, "Like I kissed her and she was still clueless."

"What, he kissed you?" Candace asked, leaning forward in shock, "like before we talked on Mother's Day?"

"Oh yeah," Tyler answered, his voice half cocky.

"Tyler," you said, your face already heating up when you turned to look at him.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know it was a secret," he said, his thumb running over your arm like he was trying to be reassuring. "Especially since you let me kiss you at the airport in front of everybody."

"Stop," you laughed.

"Okay, okay," Tyler said, leaning around to kiss your cheek.

"Can you do that one more time?" Cassidy asked, her phone raised to take a picture.

"Mmm.. I can do it as many times as you want," Tyler said, planting a series of playful kisses to your cheek, and it was one of those pictures that you just knew was going to turn out good with the way you were laughing, relaxing with your fingers intertwined with him, the sound of Tyler's phone repeatedly pinging with notifications the only thing interrupting the comfortable silence.

"How many times did you send me that picture?" Tyler laughed, asking Cassidy.

"I haven't sent it yet," she answered, and you felt Tyler shift behind you, reaching for his phone.

"Well, everyone I care about is here so," he said, a pause as he scrolled through his phone. "Awe, you let her post that picture of us," he said to you, and you didn't know what he was talking about until he shifted to bring his phone in front of you, that Cassidy had taken earlier of Tyler and Bentley filling the screen.

"Oh my god, I didn't even ask, I just thought, I can take it down," Cassidy said, stumbling over her words, already reaching for her phone.

"No, it's fine," you reassured her. "You can leave it up."

"She just doesn't always want pictures with his face in it on Instagram," Tyler said, and you watched Cassidy's face get even more concerned.

"No, I just worry about you posting pictures with him on Instagram," you said to Tyler.

"What? Why me?" Tyler asked innocently, like you hadn't already discussed this.

"Because you've got so many followers and her account is private," you said, looking back at Cassidy, "I don't mind if you post Bentley at all. We're just trying to keep Tyler and I being together on the down-low. For now."

"And you don't think the kid and me wearing matching swimsuits is a giveaway?" Tyler asked, laughing.

"No," you laughed, shaking your head, "You had those before we were even a thing, we're all friends, I'd be here anyway."

Really, you weren't sure if you were trying to convince her or yourself.

"Tyler's just annoyed because I don't let him post the baby as much as he wants to," you said.

"Well, can you blame me?" Tyler asked, "It's not my fault he's so adorable."

"A little bit your fault," you clarified, "I love that picture though, you should leave it up."

"I haven't even seen this picture yet," Candace said, looking at her phone with an "awe", and then frowning, looking back and forth between Tyler and the picture. "Did you get a new tattoo?"

"You guys," Tyler said with exasperation, laughing. "Yes, I got a new tattoo, I told you guys I was getting one for Bentley before even Y/N noticed."

"No, not that one," Candace said, waving him away and moving her fingers like she was zooming in on the picture before remembering the real thing was right in front of her, "The one on your shoulder. What does it say?"

"Oh," Tyler said, a smile in his voice, his hand squeezing yours. "It says 100%."

"What-"

"It's for Y/N," Tyler said, his lips pressed into your hair. "It's like our thing: before we decided to... do this whole baby thing, when we made all the decisions like telling you guys, when she was having the baby, and then when we decided to do the being together thing, we both agreed we had to be in 100% or we wouldn't do it."

"Oh my god, that's so cute."

"And here you said you would never get a tattoo for a girl."

"It's not for a girl," Tyler said, "It's a friendship tattoo, I got it before we were a thing. So it's not gonna be bad luck."

"He got it on my necklace, too," you said, your hand playing with the charm that was pretty much always pressed against your chest.

"Awe."

"Yeah, it's just because we've been friends forever. I think it's pretty fitting, too, she's probably the only reason I ever got 100% on a test in school. Now I just need to get a heart with 'Mom' in and I'll have all my favourite women," Tyler said, laughing at himself, ""What are you frowning over there for, Mom? I did graduate, remember? Or you don't want me to get a tattoo of your name?"

"No that's not what I'm thinking," she said, and then smiled, shaking her head, "Well, no I don't want you to get a tattoo with my name on it."

Tyler laughed, "Why are you making that face then? Does the baby need his diaper changed? Because you know where we left the diaper bag."

"Ty," you said, which only made him laugh harder, his arm locking you in even as you tried to turn to see if she needed help.

"No, he's fine," she said, running her hand over his back and kissing him on the head as if to illustrate that point, "I just don't think I bought corn."

Now Tyler gasped. "How can we have dinner without corn?"

Jackie laughed. "Someone started talking to me, I got distracted."

"I'm sure it'll be fine without," you said.

"I know, I just had this recipe for Mexican street corn I wanted you guys to try," she said, "I got everything but the corn."

"Well, I can go grab some," Tyler said easily.

"Well, you don't have to..."

"It's fine, Y/N forgets stuff all the time, I'm used to it. Must be a mom thing," Tyler said, tapping at your thigh. "Come with me? Make sure I don't get lost."

"And leave Bentley here?"

"Mhmm.." Tyler said, "Actually, you got any references, Mom? Before we leave the baby with you?"

"Yeah," she said, laughing, pointing at her children, "They're called you three."

"I don't know," Tyler teased, "You think that's gonna be okay, babe?"

You ignored his comments, looking at Jackie and then the girls. "Are you okay with him?"

"Oh yeah," Jackie said reassuringly, waving you off like it was really no trouble at all, and you tilted your head, looking at Bentley's sleeping face.

"I think I'll just pump some milk for him really quick before we go; he hasn't eaten for a while and he might wake up staving," you said, sliding forward, and you felt two large hands across your chest.

"Yeah, you need to, these things are really full," Tyler said, your face turning red as you pushed his hands away.

"Okay," you said, "So I'll just --"

"There's a good chair in Tyler's old room," Jackie said, "But wherever you're comfortable."

"Yeah, I'll come to keep you company," Tyler said,

"Keep the door open when you have a girl in there," Candace said.

"Haha," Tyler said dryly. "She's taking care of her kid, it's not that exciting. Do we need anything else at the store?"

"Marshmallows," Cassidy said, "For s'mores."

"Oooh, we should get dark chocolate," you said, leaning into him.

"And Reese's," Candace added, and Tyler made a face.

"Bentley, these girls are crazy," he whispered, and you shook your head with a smile.

"Can you want to grab the Dockatot from the car?" You asked Tyler once you got inside, "So they have somewhere to put him down if they want?"

"Babe, there's three of them, there's no way he's not being held the entire time," Tyler said, before stretching out in the bed, head propped up in his hand, watching you dig through the diaper bag for what you needed. "Never did I think you'd be pumping milk in my old room."

"I know, right?" You laughed, looking at Tyler laying on the bed like he had so many nights when you'd been watching movies, or doing homework, or talking like you had so many nights that summer after he'd won the Stanley Cup, you completed your first year of university paling in comparison.

"Hey, are you actually okay with my sister posting that picture?" Tyler asked, and you nodded. "Because I know she's private but...stuff still gets out."

You looked at the way he was looking at you and thought back to the number of notifications he'd gotten, which was a lot, even for him. "Has it?" You asked, to which Tyler simply nodded.

"I can talk to her about it if you're not okay though," Tyler said, his lips turning up in a slight smile. "Be the bad guy."

"No, it's okay, I would have said something before if I didn't want people taking pictures or sharing them," you said, your eyes still on Tyler, "Are you okay with it?"

"Me?" he asked, "Well, he's your kid..."

You didn't say anything but gave him a look.

"We talked about that already, didn't we?" Tyler said, "I said it didn't bother me if people see me with him and like, talk, or whatever..."

"No, I know," you said, "I meant how do you feel about having his picture out there on social media?"

"Oh," Tyler said quietly, his eyes bouncing back and forth like he was thinking, his hand running over his chin, "I mean.. I think what we've been doing has been good?"

You didn't respond, but waited, because you wanted to know just how he felt about it, too. You didn't want this to just be your decision anymore, not if this was going where you hoped it was.

"I just, I guess with you guys moving down with me, I want to share stuff of him because I want everybody to see how awesome he is? And I want people to see that and focus on who he is then like gossip about who his dad and how he got here and everything."

"Yeah," you said, and now he looked at you rather than off in the distance.

"Does that make sense?" Tyler asked, and you thought about it, and then nodded. "I think we should just kinda keep putting stuff out there gradually with him. 'Cause you know you guys are coming to everything with me in Dallas."

"Yeah," you smiled at the way he was looking at you like he had a lifelong date, and then you just had this vision of taking Bentley to one of Tyler's games, of being surrounded with your baby, with Tyler too far away on the ice.

"Why do you look so freaked out at that?" Tyler asked, and you bit back a laugh.

"Nothing," you reassured him. "It's just a lot, you know? I never thought I'd be dating a professional hockey player."

"Well," Tyler said, grinning. "I'm still the same guy you used to spend so much time hanging out with in this room, you know. Smarter, richer, better looking. But still the same guy."

You laughed at his expression, completely cocky but his eyes will soft for you. "We'll just take it slow and figure it out, babe," Tyler reassured you, propping himself up even more. "I think it'll be good for us, moving. Like I know we're together all the time here. But you and Bentley kinda already had a routine going. And now we'll get to make our own routines."

"Yeah?" you asked.

"Mhmmm.." Tyler answered, still looking at you like he has something on his mind. "You did it again, you know."

"I did what?"

"You called me 'Daddy'," he said, his eyebrows slightly raised.

"What? No, I didn't."

"Yeah, you did," he insisted.

"When?"

"In the pool," Tyler said, "You said 'go play with daddy' or something."

"Oh," you said, with recognition now. "I was talking to Gerry."

"Since when do you call me 'Daddy' for the dogs?" Tyler laughed.

"Since you've had dogs."

"No," Tyler said, his voice teasing, "That was always 'your dad'."

You laughed, your head moving back against the top of the chair, looking at Tyler's amused expression. "What? You can call me 'Mama' and 'Mommy', but I can't call you 'Daddy'?"

"No, I didn't say that," Tyler said, his voice still light, "It's just different, that's all."

"I guess I kind of say it more when you're not there," you said.

"What do you mean?" Tyler asked.

"Like when you're gone and I have the boys, I tell them when I'm talking to Daddy on the phone, or like ask them if they miss you because Daddy's gonna be coming home soon."

You half expected Tyler to make fun of you, but he didn't, his gaze soft towards you and you would have gone over to kiss him or run your hand through his hair had you not had bottles attached to your chest.

"Do you do that with Bentley?" he asked softly, and you smiled, nodding.

"Even more because he can understand more - or will be able to understand more -," you said, "Like when you went down to Dallas earlier this summer, we talked about how you were going golfing with Papa, and we looked at pictures of you playing hockey with the kids. And we counted down the days until you got home."

"I like that you do that," Tyler said simply.

"Well, I'll keep doing it," you said, looking at Tyler's eyes, which looked full of emotion, and you almost wanted to say you just hoped that you'd get to tell Bentley what Daddy was up to rather than Uncle Ty-Ty, until Tyler cleared his throat.

"You almost done?" Tyler asked, "We should go before the kid wakes up and realizes we left him."

You nodded, and now Tyler got up, coming over and pressing his lips to the top of your head. "Maybe we can even swing by the baby aisle," he said, his voice wavering with laughter, even as he raised his eyebrows up and down, "'Cause I think we're almost out of butt cream."

"So romantic," you laughed.

"Yeah, I know," Tyler said with satisfaction, laughing as he pressed his lips to yours.

#wont go slowly #tyler seguin imagines #Tyler Seguin #tyler seguin imagine #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #Hockey Fanfiction #hockey imagine #hockey imagines

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hateswifi · 5 years

Text

Rising from the Ashes: Of Nicknames and Luck

So this is Part Five here is to my Master List and Part Four. Enjoy!! I just felt like... hey why not post two today? So that’s what I did, I hope you enjoy these shenanigans.

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

Back with Marinette now in her hotel room, she decides to unpack a bit and look for an apartment offer online using the hand-me-down laptop Chloe had given her.

After about an hour, she decides to take a break from apartment hunting and go to the grocery store even though she couldn’t exactly cook anything from her hotel room. She could at least make some good sandwiches.

When she got to the grocery store and after she had collected everything she needed which included: bread, peanut butter, jelly, chicken, lettuce, tomato, and some chips she hadn’t heard of before. The cashier looked her up and down then asked. “Are you the Ice Prince's girlfriend?”

“I’m no one's girlfriend. You must be confusing me with someone else,” she said as she paid then left. On her walk home she heard a bing: someone said they would meet with her about renting an apartment. The person was the manager of a building owned by Wayne Enterprises. They said she would like to meet Marinette at one o'clock: two hours from now. She decided on a salad for lunch because she had something so sugary for breakfast. She still wanted to keep a somewhat healthy diet.

She sits down and decides to check out what Diana recommended last night. She Googles ‘Gotham's Heroes' results immediately came up with Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, and lastly a traffic light looking boy named, Robin. Seriously, who designed that outfit? If she ever met him she would have some words with him. She sighed while checking the time: twelve-thirty. She grabbed her stuff and left quickly.

“Hello my name is Marinette, I’m here to talk with,” she pauses, looking at her phone. “a Ms. Simms.”

“I’ll call her,” the receptionist said reaching then dialing on the phone. “Hello, Ms. Simms your one o’clock is here, Miss Marinette? Of course.” She hangs up then stands. “Please follow me.” They walk quietly into an office. She knocks on the door.

“Enter,” a voice says from inside. “Hello, Marinette. My name is Sarah Simms. Please come take a seat.”

“So I recently moved here and need an apartment. I already have a way to pay for it, I got a job on Monday,” Marinette said, sitting across from Sarah.

“Well want to visit the apartment?” Sarah asked, standing.

“That would be lovely,” Marinette says, following.

“So the last tenant left their stuff here which includes a fridge-freezer combo, a table, a couple of chairs, a couch, and two beds, one queen and one twin. They also left a smaller television,” she finishes, opening the door. The apartment was on the third floor with a decent view. “The rent would be six hundred a month and you would need to sign a year contract with a down payment of a hundred today.”

“This sounds almost too good to be true!” Marinette smiles after she finishes looking around the apartment she says. “Where can I sign?”

“Let’s head to my office and I’ll print the papers,” Sarah said, smiling as they left the apartment.

After the papers were signed and money was paid, Marinette left for the hotel grabbed her stuff and checked out. She smiles for the first time in quite a while she was happy and proud of herself.

She heard ringing as she dropped her stuff: it was Chloe. She immediately picked up. “Hey, Mar, how’s the second day of your new life,” Chloe asked, her voice crackling over the line a bit.

“It has been pretty good. I got up early and went to a park close to the hotel I was staying at. This dog tackled me and the dog’s owner felt bad, so he took me to breakfast. His name is Damian, I really hope to see him again… crap he ran off before I could get his number,” she pauses falling on the couch.

“Sounds like someone has a crush?” Chloe asks, Marinette can hear Chloe’s smirk through the phone.

“I only met him once. After that, I went grocery shopping. Also, I got an apartment! Most of it is already furnished all I have to buy some basic things like pots, pans, plates, utensils, towels, and you know little things like that,” Marinette explained.

“That’s great Mar. I’m so happy for you!” Chloe said.

“How was your day going?” Marinette asked.

“I miss you a lot and life is quite boring without you. Lila was talking crap about you again,” Chloe answered.

“I don’t even care at this point, as long as we know the truth. She doesn’t affect me anymore,” Marinette explained.

“I know it just makes me angry knowing that her lies are so terrible,” Chloe sighed.

“I know I’m sorry I’m not there, but I couldn’t stay in Paris. There is too much trauma and no family left for me,” Marinette explained.

“Marinette I’m family. Luka, Adrien, and Kagami. We’re all your family! We all love and miss you!” Chloe exclaimed angrily, then hung up.

Marinette sighed and plopped on the couch then turned on the small tv that was just across from her. It was some celebrity news so she changed it and watched an English cartoon instead as she checked her Twitter feed, which is still based on Paris. Chat had given the announcement of her leaving Paris, along with an announcement of no longer endorsing the Ladyblog after a post of Lila being love rivals with Ryuko for Viperon. Chat also announced that the rest of the team would continue with patrols.

She hung out for the rest of the day making a list of things she needs to get. She would go to buy things after work tomorrow. She made herself a chicken, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. She then went to bed early so she could be on time for work which starts at seven.

When she woke up to her blaring alarm at six-twenty she put on a pink long-sleeved sweater, which she tucked into a black high waisted shirt with a belt. She paired her outfit with kitty black heels. She also put her hair up in princess bun.

She rushed to work and arrived on time. She greets Diana and put her purse in the back.

“Marinette in a little bit there will higher class customers in need of suits. I would appreciate it if you would measure them. They are as I said celebrities and like their privacy, please respect that,” Diana explains. Not long after Diana finished speaking a group of people walked in four of them to be exact.

“Welcome, Bruce, Dick, Jason, and Tim. Damian is not with you?” Diana asks as they entered the store.

“No, he had a class this morning,” Bruce informed Diana of the changed plans.

“But it is to my understanding that he also needed a suit,” Daina states.

“That is true, I was wondering if I could call in a favor,” he asks.

“Well, I can’t because I’m leaving to visit my family, but I’m sure I could ask my new employee, Marinette, to go take his measurements,” Diana said, looking for Marinette.

“I’m right here, Diana,” she says, exiting the back room. “I was grabbing the measuring tape, a notebook, and a pencil.”

“Oh my god! You’re Demon Spawn’s girlfriend!” Dick yells, running up to her.

“I’m no one's girlfriend,” Marinette says back then mutters in Mandarin. “Why does everyone keep asking that.”

Jason hears what she says and responds in Mandarin. “Because people saw you out--”. Dick elbowed him before he could finish not wanting to blow Damian’s secret. “We mistook you for someone else.”

“What was that for!” Jason exclaims.

“I’ll tell you later,” Dick mutters.

“Ok so now that's over, please take the boys to the back to take their measurements,” Diana said, pointing the boys to follow her. In the back, Dick stood on a platform so Marinette could measure him.

“So Marinette,” Dick started being cut off.

“I am pretty sure Diana didn’t say my name. How do you know me?” Marinette paused her measuring of Dick. “Would you be able to step down? I have to measure your shoulder blades.”

“I heard Diana say it,” Dick says as he stepped down. He felt her feather-light touch dance across his back as she measured him. She then stepped in front of him measuring his chest then arms.

“How old are you and how long have you been working here?” Tim asks, staring at the petite girl while she works.

“Ummm… today is my first day working here, but I am experienced in the fashion world. I don't want to talk about my past work because this is my new beginning and I turned eighteen about two months ago,” Marinette said, measuring her legs.

“We’re all about new beginnings, that's why Bruce adopted us,” Jason chimed in.

“They’re not pretentious like how I thought Americans would act,” Marinette mutters in French.

“Thanks, but we’re not like most Americans,” Dick responds, looking down at the now flustered girl.

“I’m sorry to assume. In Paris, most Americans are shown as fools or snobs. I’ve only met a couple before today. How many languages do you all speak?” Marinette asked, working faster while keeping her head down.

“We all speak, English, French, Mandarin, Spanish, and Italian, but our youngest brother also speaks Slavonic and Arabic,” Tim explained.

“Ok, you’re all down Ummm… I’m sorry I never caught your names,” She speaks softly while backing up to give Dick room.

“You don't know us?” Dick asked shocked.

“Diana said you guys were celebrities, but I don’t pay attention to famous people unless they’re from the fashion industry and I haven’t exactly caught up on American celebrities yet,” Marinette explained.

“Well I’m Jason Todd-Wayne, this is my younger brother Tim Drake-Wayne, and my oldest brother Dick Grayson-Wayne,” Jason said, pointing at each of them as he talked.

“Ok, which one of you wants to go next,” Marinette asked, looking between the younger two of the trio.

“He’ll go next,” Jason said, pushing Tim forward.

“So you said you’ve only met a couple of people we know a bunch of people would you be able to tell us who you met?” Tim asked.

“The first person I met Diana she is quite nice, I don’t know much about her though. The second person I met was a guy named Damian. His dog, Titus, tackled me, so I guess he felt bad, we met at the park across from where I was staying. He wanted to make it up to me by breakfast, which was so delicious. I had waffles! I met my landlord, Sarah Simms, she seems a bit distant, but I barely know her. Then I met you guys, your dad seems cold, but you guys are quite nice,” Marinette explains as she finishes up with Tim.

“Are you and Damian friends now? You sound quite fond of him,” Jason asks as he takes Tim’s place.

“He ran off to take a call or something as I was going to ask for his number, it’s truly a shame he was nice,” Marinette says then blushes and looks down. “And he was handsome not going to lie.”

“Aww someone has a crush?” Dick asks.

“I’ve only met him once, but if I ever met him again I would ask him out, he was so nice, so kind,” Marinette sighs, looking lost in thought.

“Are we sure she’s talking about the same person?” Tim asks in Italian. “She looks smitten by him.”

“We have to get them together! She would be so good for him,” Dick answers in Italian.

“Guys I’m pretty sure Damian doesn’t want us to interfere,” Jason responds, holding out his arms for her to measure.

“I’m all done. I’ll go call Diana to see what she wants me to do with the measurements,” Marinette says as she gets up and leaves.

“She’s perfect for him. Think he hasn’t dated or been open with anyone before maybe she could be a first,” Tim says still in Italian. “Also she’s adorable!”

“You guys decided to talk in Italian while she was working? She thought that you guys don’t like her and we’re going to have her be fired, but she may have been overthinking,” Bruce said, entering the measuring room.

“Damian was nice to that girl. She likes him. He likes her!” Dick exclaims, standing up.

“Well it’s a good thing she’s coming over tomorrow to take Damian’s measurements,” Bruce smirked.

“She is, what time?” Jason asked.

“You’re not to disturb them. If there’s a girl out there he won’t send off or a girl who won’t run to the hills, we have to at least try to set them up,” Bruce said.

After Marinette left the boys she went to give the measurements to Diana.

“Here you go,” Marinette said, cheerfully.

“Thank you. Also tomorrow there’s one more boy’s measurement to do. Bruce said he would pay extra if you go to the manor after the boutique's closing. Would you be able to take the boy’s measurements?” Diana asks taking the notepad.

“That will be easy, but would you be able to tell me the address?” Marinette asked, pulling out her phone ready to type the address.

“Bruce said he would send a car,” Diana informed Marinette. “May I have your address to give to him for his driver?”

“Yes, I live in Wayne Apartments, which is ironic because you know they’re the Waynes,” Marinette said, laughing.

“That’s so funny!” Dick said, pointing at Bruce. “You’re friends with us, the Waynes, and you live in a building he owns.”

“To be fair I’ve only been in America for three days and I already have a job and an apartment. I think that’s pretty good,” Marinette says, crossing her arms.

“I would also say pretty lucky, Spot,” Diana says as Marinette blushes.

"Bye Sunshine!" Dick calls as he goes to open the door.

“Thank you, guys! I guess I’ll see you tomorrow!” She waves to them as they leave. The rest of the day went by pretty smoothly, she designed a bit while there weren't any customers in the store.

Diana closes her shop around seven o’clock, her business is thriving. She goes home eats some food then grabs her money to buy the stuff on the list she made earlier. She left quickly and went to the closest store. She finished shopping and when she got home put the stuff away. She then took a shower and went to bed.

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

Tag list (Open):

@northernbluetongue @melhuney @ladysblackcat @sturchling @otaku4312 @g-arya @smolplantmum @bluefyoto94 @echpr @moonlightstar64 @thesunanditsangel @cutechip @heaven428 @elmokingkong @kass-is-weird @niza13149 @urbanpineapplefarmer @ginamarie1512 @chocolatecatstheron @crazylittlemunchkin

#ml new life au #damianette #batfam #maribat #lila salt #ml salt fic #marinette x damian #ml x dc #wifiwrites #marinette x batfam #marinette dupain cheng #damian wayne

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candycanes19 · 4 years

Text

“Playing in the Dark with No Escape” **Non Con** Epilogue

Sadly this is the last chapter and it was a ride writing this one. Thanks for reading!!!!!!!!!!

Epilogue (Rhys is now 18 years old)

You were dreaded this day but it had to be done. Rhys was now eighteen years old and time to tell him the truth about his father. You were sitting in your den with your family, Charlie, Rhys, Riley and Henry.

Charlie had been so good about getting the family all together for a family meeting. You were so happy that Charlie was the best husband and had been so understanding throughout everything.

“We are all here today because first off Rhys congratulations on being eighteen. I can not believe you are an adult. I am in shock and remember the day I gave birth to you. You are my miracle baby and I love you so much. I love you too Riley and Henry, I have not forgotten you but your brother and I went through a lot. I have some news to tell you and I am not sure how you are going to take it.” You take a breath and Charlie takes your hand in his and kisses it.

“Sweetheart you got this and we are a family and love each other no matter what has happened to us in the past. I love you” Charlie reassures you with a quick kiss.

You turn back to Rhys, “So ummm Charlie is not your biological father. I was kidnapped and raped by your biological father. He kept me prisoner at his house in Washington DC. I was engaged to him briefly and he got me pregnant once before you and that baby did not make it but then you came along and had a stronger pregnancy for me. And I am so happy you are the amazing man you are and I love dearly. I was able to get Daniel, your father, to give up his rights and Charlie adopted you. I wanted to tell you all this because I signed a legal document that Daniel gave up his rights but only if I told you on your eighteenth birthday I tell you who your biological father is and Daniel is your biological father.”

Rhys sat there momentarily in surprise but then came over to sit on the other side of you on the sofa, “Mom, I had no idea all that you had been through. Thank you for telling me this and I am surprised and shocked but Charlie will always be my father. And Riley and Henry are my sister and brother and that is really all that matters to me. But I would like to meet this man even just to say I saw him but only if you are good with that? I do not want you to be upset with me.”

“Rhys, you will not make me upset if you want to meet Daniel and he will probably be thrilled to see you. He has a lot of mental problems and unfortunately is living in a prison for criminally insane people. But we can go and see him if you wish whenever you want” you explain.

You pull your son into a hug, “I love you Rhys” and he responds, “Love you too mom.”

Meanwhile Riley and Henry are still sitting after hearing what happened to you.

“Mom, I love you too” Riley comes over and sits at your feet. Hugging your legs. You look at her and smile, “I love you too sweet girl.” Riley looks at Charlie, “Dad, love you too. And is there anything I need to know?” and Charlie smiles.

“Riley, I hate to say it but I am your dad and mom is your mom.” Charlie laughs which makes everyone laugh. You realize then that all is good with your family and have to thank Charlie so much for making you feel loved and supported through everything.

**********************************

You, Rhys and Charlie went to the prison to see Daniel. You were feeling anxious and Charlie could tell, “Sweetheart, I got you” he leaned in for a kiss.

“Thank you Charlie. I love you so much” you kissed Charlie again to relax you as you all headed into the building.

Charlie held your hand in his for the support you needed to get through this meeting with Daniel.

You were escorted into a room that looked like a lounging area with sofas and chairs. Rhys sat down and you could tell he was a bit nervous too. His one leg was bouncing and he was drumming his fingers on his thigh. You went and sat next to him and put a hand on his arm.

“Sweetie, you are nervous?” you asked and he nodded.

“I am but also a bit for you too mom. After what you told me what he did to you, I am worried for you too.” Rhys said.

“Your father is with me and I love how you are concerned for me but I am stronger now and have healed from what Daniel did to me. He can not hurt or scare me anymore. I love you sweetie and you are an amazing man. Thank you” you kiss his cheek. And then go and sit next to Charlie. He takes your hand in his and you smile at him.

A few moments later Daniel walks in with a guard at his side. You had not seen him in a while and he looked older than you remembered. He looked tired and not the asshole that had hurt you so many times and called you a whore and that your hatred needed to be beaten out of you. It was a different person that walked in and you felt so much stronger at this shell of a man who put your through hell.

Daniel was seated in a chair with cuffs around his wrists. He looked up at Rhys with confusion and uncertainty.

“Mr. Jones, I am Rhys and it is nice to finally meet you. I was told by my mother you are my biological father.” Rhys puts his hand out and Daniel just looks up at him unsure of what to do since his hands are cuffed.

Rhys puts his hand down and sits in the chair next to Daniel. Rhys talks to Daniel and Daniel just looks confused the entire time.

Both you and Charlie are in shock at the state of Daniel. He is not the same person who put you through terror and raped you so many times. But did give you Rhys even though deep down Charlie would always be Rhys’ father in all the ways that counted in your mind.

At one point Daniel looked over at you and his eyes seemed to brighten for a moment and he said, “Princess, is that you? You finally returned to me. I love you.” That shook you to the core and you looked at Charlie and he put his arm around you. You snuggled closer to Charlie for your sanity. He kissed the top of your head and that made you relax.

Rhys looked at you and then back at Daniel, “It was nice talking with you Daniel and take care of yourself.” Rhys got up and walked over to you and Charlie and hugged you. Daniel just sat there until the guard took his arm and helped him up.

Part of you felt bad for how Daniel seemed not like himself and just a shell. But part of you felt he deserved whatever happened to him.

Something hit you and you asked if you could talk to Daniel just for a moment alone and Charlie looked at you and asked, “Baby are you sure?” you nodded yes and he agreed. Charlie, Rhys and the guard left the room and you walked over to Daniel who was just standing there.

You look up at this man who raped you and beat you but you were determined to just say your peace.

“Daniel, I just want to say that I am a stronger woman because of the hell you put me through. I do not hate you because you do not deserve that feeling. You raped me over and over and beat me but I healed from that. But you are nothing and will always be nothing. Yes you got me pregnant with Rhys but you are not his father and never will be and Rhys is a way better man than you. I am in a better place now and have moved on.” you took a breath and then walked away from Daniel.

“I love you Princess and we will always be a family no matter what you believe.” Daniel growled at you.

You turned to look at Daniel and he winked. You quickly left the room and found Charlie and Rhys and you all headed home to forget about Daniel forever.

Charlie pulled you close and kissed you and you smiled knowing life was now on the right track.

#adam driver #daniel jones x reader #Daniel Jones #charlie barber x reader #charlie barber #non con #candycanes19 #Dark fic by candycanes19 #the report movie #marriage story #Playing in the dark with no escape

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1-800-seo · 5 years

Text

domestic dad!kook

hi everyone I thought I’d post my crap here so here is my domestic dad!kook Drabble list thing?

involves: pregnancy, established relationship/marriage, kissing, hickies?, general tomfoolery, nothing major, dad!jungkook,

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* those damned blue lines

* you thought you wouldn’t see them so soon

* after all you had only been married eighteen months

* old relatives have been asking since day 1 when they’re gonna he seeing some lil jeons running around smh aunty karen

* you wondered how he would react

* he’d never shown any adverse reaction to children before but he was practically still a child himself

* the spiderman onesie you washed yesterday attests to that

* you decided to tell him at dinner

* he’d just had his first bite of tagliatelle when you accidentally blurted it out

* “IM PREGNANT”

* “what?” he replied snapping his head up with wide doe eyes

* “I-I found out this morning...I’m definitely pregnant. I know it’s soon, but we can make this work.”

* “What’re you on about? This is amazing baby, I finally get to be a dad!”

* “So you want this?”

* “Definitely, I’ve always imagined a family with you, it was just a matter of time. I’m so happy though baby, over the moon.”

* The smile on his face was beaming and the twinkle in his eye sparkled, he looked the epitome of happiness

* “I’m glad you want this then, it’ll be a wild ride but I’m glad it’s with you.”

* you reach out and squeeze his hand, as a fat tear of joy rolls down your cheek

* “I’m glad too, I know we’re young but it feels so right, so right with you.”

* he looks down, a tear dripping onto the table

* he wipes a few more and giggles

* “Tbh im surprised this didn’t happen earlier considering we go at it like rabbits”

* “KOOK” you cant help but laugh

* He is right lol

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One month 🍼

* “Where is my wife and my spawn~~~~~~”

* Jeongguk loudly sang as he burst thru the front door, arriving home from work

* “Wym spawn???“ You say as he pulls you into a bear hug and flops both of you on the couch

* “You know,, spawn, this baby, it’s my spawn hence why I’m calling it spawn like the superhero,, duh”

* he drops his hands down to your stomach and rest them their, flat palmed

* bowing his head so he is closer he says

* “I can’t wait to meet you Spawnie”

* Immediately you burst into a fit of laughter at the outrageous name

* “we CANNOT nickname our baby SPAWN, JEONGGUK”

* “Why not I think it’s well cool”

* he calmly replies proud smirk on his face

* “Is Spawn even a good guy?”

* “ummm”

* “wym ummm??”

* “well he’s kind of ambiguous in the comics”

* “OH GREAT WE HAVE A BABY NAMED SPAWN THAT IS OF AMBIGUOUS MORALITY”

* at that comment you both fell about laughing, your sides beginning to hurt at it all

* and that was how your unborn baby was nicknamed Spawn

—————————————————ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ

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Three Months 🍼

* “I can’t push the trolley, I’m pregnant”

* you said matter of factly

* “oh you’re just being lazy,, I mean I’m not saying I won’t push the trolley, but you’re really pushing the boat out, baby”

* “hehehe my plan worked, you fool, you may have suspected me, however you still fell right into my trap muhahahaha”

* you dramatically laugh and put your hands on your hips like a comical villain

* so anyways you skrt skrt around the shop

* and right next to the book section is you know what

* the BABY SECTION

* so far you actually haven’t looked their yet because you don’t know the gender

* but curiosity brings you snooping in the aisles

* Jeongguk returns from the bakery section, carrying croissants and hair swept into a messy top knot

* you stare at the many many many racks of children’s clothes

* tiny baby booties

* hats that kook could only fit on his fist

* so so smol baby-grows

* “ngl I’m kinda overwhelmed”

* “how come?”

* he puts his hands round your waist and rests his head on your shoulders

* big soft comfy back hug

* “idk it’s a lot of responsibility, right? I can’t even begin to think about names never mind washing, clothing, feeding this tiny human being when it arrives”

* “baby, you have nothing to worry about, and I am positive you’re going to be the best most caring mother ever, and I have full trust in that.”

* He places a soft chaste kiss on the top of your head

* “thank you for always supporting me ggukie”

* “It’s my pleasure; we’re going to have the best baby ever, aren’t we Spawnie”

* You roll your eyes and kiss his cheek

—————————————————ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ

—————————————————

Four Months 🍼

* you were sat on the couch in your small apartment, small but sufficient

* Jungkook was painting the spare room and deconstructing old furniture you were selling on eBay

* You’re job was to arrange the business dealings and to look for new kid-appropriate furniture to reoccupy the spaces now blank

* It was fine by you

* saves you from getting up off the couch and getting all sweaty

* after a good few hours JK came out from the room, sweat on his brow and hungry

* hungry for something else tho 👀

* he stalks over to where you are sitting and kneels on the floor in front of your knees

* he rests his head on your lap, arms folded underneath it

* his eyes were dark, full of want

* “How’s it going baby? You tired?”

* “hmmm”

* he just stares back

* brows slightly furrowed

* soon enough he was peppering your face in warm kisses

* he flipped you over and sat you on his lap, hands resting on your waist

* his lips latched onto your neck and he sucked a flourish of purple and blue flowers under your jaw

* his lips were warm and supple on your skin

* it sent a shiver down your spine and goosebumps to your skin

* you found the hem of his black T-shirt and slid your hands under the fray

* you’re hands met the toned muscle of his stomach and the soft honey skin

* “looks like I can’t knock you up since someone already has, oh well, more fun for me”

* his hands fiddled with the fabric of your top

* you obliged and pulled it over your head

* you were met with his mouth hungrily crashing into yours as he searched for more and soon enough you were underneath him

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Six Months 🍼

* your belly was fairly noticeable by now and you couldn’t avoid the fact that you were pregnant

* people were starting to let you sit instead of them in public places

* you were getting more and more randos asking to touch your belly as well which wasn’t the greatest

* JK is always in protective dad mode™️ when this happens

* he’s ready to protect his babies

* one time when a sketchy looking old man asked to touch your belly JK immediately stood in between you and the guy

* he puffed out his chest and was hella macho

* Alpha Jungkook arises hehe

* ever since then he was more aware that people would be looking at you and more interested in you in general

* anyways

* he’s hella excited to be a dad

* his excitement is so pure and genuine it’s so sweet

* it’s like every day he gets more excited and you think by the full 9 months he’ll just be so excited he’ll be vibrating like a washing machine lol

* every night he kisses you and your baby good night

* “Night night baby jeon spawnie”

* without fail it makes you giggle

* his lil nose always brushes against your skin when he says it and it’s ticklish and comforting

* you can’t wait to meet your baby to see which of you they look like and in what ways

* will they have your double lidded eyes or his unique nose

* will they have his bunny teeth or your short stature

* either way they’ll be the most loved being in this world

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Seven Months 🍼

* it was time for the long awaited gender reveal

* you and him had decided that you would go alone to the appointment since he had work and then you would surprise Ggukie when he gets back

* you decided the way you would tell him was by dressing in either blue or pink

* you know you know,, not really breaking gender stereotypes, but it gets the idea over

* so that’s what you do

* you wear you’re best maternity day dress and do your makeup all güd

* it’s 5:30pm and he’s so excited to know

* he barges thru the door and basically and sprints to you

* he’s met with a baby blue clad wife, her hair adorned with a periwinkle ribbon

* immediately he knows and swoops you up into a bear hug

* “Jungkook? We’re going to have a little baby boy!”

* “I’m so happy! I feel like I’ve drank five red bulls,, we’re going to have a boy”

* When you pull away from the hug his cheeks have tears dripping down them and his eyes are wet

* “aww baby why’re you crying?”

* “because I’m just so happy, I can’t wait to see him, he’s going to be perfect, we’ll all be perfect”

* “you’re right kook, we’ll be perfect”

* “You don’t know how much I love you, you know?”

* that was when you started crying tears of happiness too

* youd remember this moment forever

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Eight Months 🍼

* “I think it’s time to think of some actual names”

* “yeahhh people at work keep thinking I’m actually calling the baby Spawnie and then I keep having to explain why it’s called Spawn and i don’t particularly like explaining that Spawn is a play on sperm and that’s my sperm”

* “What goes ON at your work”

* “you don’t even wanna know babygirl”

* “ummm so I was thinking, something familial, i don’t want a western name tho so that rules out my side,, unless you want to call him Barry”

* “uhh no thanks babes”

* “yeahh they’d sound like the flash lol”

* “I don’t want none of that DC propaganda in my household thanks”

* “tru tru”

* “so what about your side of family? Can you think of any family who have named you like?”

* “What about Junseok? My great uncle is called Junseok and I think that’s cool, also it kinda looks like a combination of Namjoon-hyung and Jin-hyung’s names.”

* “Wow they’d love that, that’s a good idea actually.”

* “Jeon Junseok, has a good ring to it”

* “I agree”

* “It’s settled then until further notice”

* “It seems it is Mr Jeon”

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First Week Home 🍼

* The moment Junseok was in his little sunset coloured crib you burst into tears of relief

* you’d obviously been stressing post birth about the intricacies and once you’d got him home and settled it was like a weight of your shoulders

* he was home

* he was safe

* and you were both over the moon

* he had the smallest nose and the biggest doe eyes

* his dark hair swept across his delicate skin on his forehead

* you just knew he’d be the spitting image of his dad

* each following day with Junseok was amazing

* he was good for you

* slept so well

* settled into routine easily

* it’s as if you never had to worry

* and Jungkook was a life saver

* he was such an attentive father and husband

* always caring for you and Junseok

* every morning he’d bring you up a cup of herbal tea and bowl of granola

* and go check on the baby and if he’s awake change and feed him

* his paternity leave was a blessing

* it meant you actually got a lie in instead of Junseok waking you up

* “I can do the baby this morning, it’s ok”

* you say sitting up in bed

* “no no I’ll do it I’m used to getting up at this time for work anyway”

* “but you’ve been doing it all this week I feel bad”

* “Baby, rest, I want to do this, you deserve a rest after carrying the baby for nine months, I’m sure I can take care of him for a few mornings”

* then he gave u a sweet kiss and left to see his baby boy

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Eighteen Months 🍼

* you pulled on Junseok’s tiny yellow wellies as Jungkook put on his coat

* “where are we going seokie?”

* “P-p-p” Junseok tried his best to get out the letters

* “Yayyy we’re going to the park”

* “Me and your mum are going to meet uncle Jimin too, and you know what that means? You’re going to get spoileddd”

* “V tru, but why does he always spoil him? I mean it’s not a problem he gets free things and stuff, but do you reckon he’s compensating for something?”

* “Yeah as nice as it is I think he might be compensating for not being around as often as he’d like to, solo career going strong as all, you know how he loves kids, in his head he probably thinks he’s an absent uncle but in reality he’s ever present just away for an odd weekend, which is normal”

* “yeah I get that”

* “But it’ll be nice to see him anyway, we can ask him about his new single”

* “Oh I’ve heard that it’s pretty good”

* Junseok pulled at the hem of your coat, indicating he wants to leave

* So off you went

* the day was filled with jumping in muddy puddles and Jimin nearly falling in said puddles

* Junseok got all dirty so you had to go find a bathroom to clean him up at

* hence why you ended up at an ice cream parlour in winter

* despite the cold weather you enjoyed the ice cream nonetheless

* JK teases Jimin a few times because apparently Jimin’s white blond hair was vanilla ice cream and his was chocolate

* Jimin insisted his was bingsu however JK refused

* Junseok had a great time fluffing up uncle Jimin’s hair after that

* and so the day drew to an end

* you headed home

* Seokie sleeping in the car all the way there

* you gently took him into the house and the pair of you collapsed on the couch and immediately fell asleep

* it was the cutest thing

* and when you woke up you saw your two boys asleep so soundly

* and you thought to yourself how content with your life you were

* how lucky you were

* how much you love those boys

* and you’d do anything for them

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The End hehehe :)

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