#we misunderstood each other but my wish cries out STILL

[bakudekublogblog]

i'm sorry i dont think we're talking enough about the bkdk music video. they wrote a whole song full of yearning lyrics and holding hands and longing to be at each other's sides and miscommunicating but still wanting to be together, and then they put child actors in bkdk colors and hand them playing super heroes and holding hands. like bkdks were just given that. an official bkdk song and music video. hello????

[anonymousfiction211]

Give it time: ch2

A/N:

Some time ago I wrote this story about Loki seeing Steve flirt with you and getting jealous. It was fun to write it from Loki’s point of view. Here is what happened next, written from your point of view. While writing it I got the idea for another (and last!) chapter of the next day, written from Steve’s point of view. If you guys are interested. Hope you like it😉

Warnings:

Hurt/comfort 

Comforting Loki

He cried.

You had never seen Loki cry. Sometimes he would tear up and on a rare occasions a single tear would fall down his cheek. But now he was sobbing against your chest, holding you extremely tight. For a moment you feared he would forget that he could crush you like a bug, but after a while the sobbing died down a bit and his grip around you loosened. Able to move, you put a hand on his cheek. Loki averted your gaze and hid it in the crook of your neck.

‘Loki?’ you asked.

He didn’t react. You held him tighter and stroked his hair. Whispering in his ear that it was okay and everything would be all right. That you were here with him and you weren’t going anywhere. After a while Loki stopped crying, but didn’t try to move. He had drank a lot, not normal alcohol, Asgardian alcohol. Thor had warned you before the party that Loki might have one drink too many. It had been a while since he had any alcohol that could affect him. No wonder that he was emotional. And the whole situation with Steve didn’t help. You wished he would see that he had nothing to worry about.

‘Loki?’ you asked again.

Loki’s grip loosened more and he showed his face to you. His eyes were red and puffy, he looked heartbroken. And it broke your heart to see him like that. But you also were a bit relieved to see it. A relationship with Loki wasn’t always easy. He was very closed off and didn’t always show his emotions. The longer you were together, the more he started to relax and show you his true self.

‘It’s all right. Tell me what’s wrong’ you whispered to him.

Loki sat up right in the bed. You did the same and grabbed his hand. He let you hold his hand and squeezed in it.

‘Steve’ he said with a strained voice.

Not this again, you thought. The same argument the two of you had since the beginning of your relationship. Ever since Loki had learned that you and Steve had ‘history’ together, he became possessive and scared to lose you. It wasn’t even really history. When Steve woke up after being frozen you had helped him adjust to the modern world. The two of you had a strong bond and became inseparable. To help him with the new dating customs, the two of you went on a dinner date. After the date he walked you home and yes, the two of you kissed. You weren’t sure if it was because of the romantic setting, that you spend all your free time helping Steve, or that you actually like him. So, you were relieved when he came by the next day and told you that he didn’t know either.

Everything was new to him, Peggy was still alive and the loss of their possible future was something he hadn’t come to terms with yet. At that time, he needed a friend and the two of you decided that that’s what it was. Friends. After that you never talked about it and there were never any awkward moments. You actually had forgotten about it. When you started to date other guys, Steve was extremely supportive. Except when you started to date Loki. He thought you could do better. But after a few months of Steve seeing how happy you were with Loki, he let it go. He even tried to make an effort with Loki. Loki was wary of Steve at first, but that was just Loki being Loki. Unfortunately, Steve had told Loki about your ‘history’ before you and after that Loki couldn’t stand Steve. Loki insisted that Steve was interested in you, but you knew Steve better and that surely wasn’t the case.

‘Loki’ you sighed. ‘I told you time and time again, there is nothing happening. We don’t look at each other that way. You need to let this go. I swear we’re just friends’ you said.

Loki squeezed your hand tighter ‘It is’ he said. ‘I just passed him in the hallway, getting you your water. He flat out told me that he is interested in you’

‘What?’ you asked shocked.

‘He wants you, he told me’ Loki said.

‘That can’t be. You sure?’ you asked still shocked.

‘WHAT? Because the God of Lies is incapable of telling the truth?’ Loki snapped.

‘No! That’s not what I meant’ you quickly said. ‘But are you sure? What did he say? Maybe you.. you know.. misinterpreted it?’

‘He pretended to be worried about my state and said he thought he had to take you home. It told him that I will always take you home. He reacted by saying ‘Give it time’. I told you that he is madly in love with you. How can you not see it?’ Loki answered.

‘Maybe he meant that he would have if you had any more alcohol? Or that there will be a point in time where he takes me home, because you are on a mission or something?’ you tried to calm Loki down.

‘Are you SERIOUSLY defending him right now?’ Loki half yelled. He let go of you hand and looked angrily at you.

‘It’s just.. Steve is my best friend. And I don’t want to ruin that friendship, because you’re jealous at a stupid thing that happened years ago and meant nothing!’ you explained.

‘Don’t’ Loki said.

‘Don’t what?’ you asked.

‘Don’t act like I’m unreasonable or wrong here. I love you, but you are so naïve sometimes. He’s been shamelessly flirting with you, manipulating our fights, and manipulating me’ he said through gritted teeth. ‘So, don’t tell me that I misunderstood. Don’t try to justify his actions. My whole life people tell me that I misunderstood, that I’m out of line. I’m not!’ tears were starting to form in his eyes.

‘You mean because of your youth and competition with Thor?’ you asked. Thinking that maybe that was the real issue. Maybe he was projecting his feelings from then on some made up idea, because it is less painful.

‘I am referring to that, but this isn’t some made up idea. This is very real. I can’t believe you don’t believe or trust me in this’ he said.

‘Are you in my head?’ you asked.

‘Obviously’ he sarcastically said.

‘You know I hate it when you do that’ you snapped.

‘And I hate it when my girlfriend keeps hanging with her ex and is totally oblivious about his true intentions. Yet, here we are’ he snapped back.

There was a long silence. You were trying to find the right words. Loki’s face had gone blank and you had no idea what he was thinking, or is he was still in your head.

‘If it is really true that Steve has changed his mind and wants more than friendship, it doesn’t change the fact that I am with you. And that I love you. He can try all he wants, but I’m not leaving you. I have no interest in Steve that way. So, if you can’t trust him, trust me!’ you tried to convince him.

‘How can you promise me something like that. Maybe you change your mind after some time. I know being with me isn’t the easiest thing in the world and there is Captain America. The poster boy of goodness and everyone is falling for it. Steve isn’t always the gentlemen he advertises to be. I can’t believe that the only other person who sees that is Tony’ Loki ranted.

‘Because whenever I’m alone in bed and you’re on a mission, I can’t sleep. I keep thinking about you the whole day. Even tough you hide it, you care so much. Not just about me, but also Thor and the rest of the team’ you grabbed his hand and he didn’t pull away. You snuggled closer to him and laid your head on his shoulder. ‘You’re charming, funny and caring. And the day you decided to actively participate with the rest of the team was the day I fell hard for you. I love you, Loki, and I will always love you. That’s how I know I can promise you that’ you whispered to him.

Loki pulled you in his arms ‘I love you too. Please don’t leave me’

‘Never’ you said, snuggling closer against him. He laid down in the bed, still holding you close.

‘But I still feel uneasy about it’ Loki whispered.

You knew that this was not something that would go away in one night. ‘I’m not going to dump Steve as my friend, but I want you to be comfortable. So, I could talk to him tomorrow and keep my distance for a while, give us some time to figure something out. Maybe we can take some time off, go away for a weekend’ you said.

‘I would like that’ Loki said.

‘Now go to sleep, Lo. You feel better tomorrow I promise’ you said.

‘Maybe I should talk to Steve tomorrow?’ Loki said before you could fall asleep.

‘I think it’s better if I talk to him’ you said.

‘Honestly, I don’t think so. But if that’s what you truly want, we do it your way’ Loki mumbled. You kissed his chest and drifted off to sleep.

But if you knew how tomorrow would go, you would have done it his way.

Permanent tag list: @delightfulheartdream @the-best-phineas​ @theaudacitytowrite @pescadoavocado @theestorm

[faioula16]

For your sake (Basil x read x Ratigan) Chap2

Home sweet home

A strong familiar scent of cheese hit your nose. Ah yes Mrs. Dudson, your beloved mother figure was cooking as usual. You knocked a few times before the door opened slowly from the inside.

The old woman was left sock. "Y/N...my child, you're back!" She cried out happily and leads you inside as quickly as possible, pulling you into a warm embrace. "We missed you so much, it's been three months since our last talk...I bet Mr. Basil knew you would come. That little rascal didn't tell me in propose I know so. You lost weight....you weren't eating well enough, you're all wet and....and-" He blabbing was cut off once you both broke the hug and her expression turned in a terrified one once her glanced down to her hands that were covered with spots of blood.

"For goodness sake! What on earth happened to you!?" She asked in light panic while she helped you take off your ruined coat.

"A stray cat, that's what happened...fortunately I was able to escape" You explained before you let out an exhaustive sight as she helped you sit on the sofa near the fireplace. "Where is Basil by the way?"

"He's been out with his new partner for a job...he'll be back shortly...at least that's what he told me when I saw him this morning. But the most important thing now is to clean up your injury, give you fresh clean clothes and of course something to eat" You smiled as she walked up the stairs that leads to the up floor.

*Time skip*

"Pfew, another case is finally solved. Dear god what a day" Dawson commented tiredly yet you could hear a bit of humor in the tone of his voice as well.

"Right you are, dear Dawson, right you are" The Detective brushed off his coat from the dust while he was walking proudly beside his partner. "Do let the satisfaction make you put your guard down any time soon. Remember, we always have to expect the unexpected at all times"

"Hmm, by the way, you're speaking...it seems you still have plans for tonight...is there something you wish to tell me, Basil?" The kind doctor questioned in curiosity and closed his umbrella as the final drops of rain led against the rocked ground.

"I am afraid you misunderstood me, my friend. We both need plenty of rest until the next case that might come. However, never forget to-'

"Always watch out for any possible trouble" They both finished the proposal, a thing that made them looked at each other with a knowing smile before they continued on their way back home.

*Time skip*

Mrs. Dudson looked outside from the window to see Basil and his partner who were finally back. "Quickly Y/N dear, hide!" The old woman whispered all excited already helping you up from your seat.

"Wait, it's not that easy" You giggled in amusement and made your way to the kitchen.

Once Basil entered inside with Dc Dawson following behind him both greeted Mrs. Dudson politely, in return she welcomed them back in a relieved manner they were all well and unharmed. Basil however noticed she acted more cheerful than usual.

"Oh my, is that blood I see over here?" Dawson asked while pointing with his finger over the small trails of blood against the sofa's leathered back.  

There's when you came out from the kitchen slowly with a warm smile across your face. "Hey there, detective"

As soon as his ears perked the nostalgic sound of your voice he turned around to see you standing there with that smile....that smile he was lacking to see for so long and missed dearly.

His feet began to take steps towards you slowly but steadily as he had dropped his coat in the way, He stopped right before you with an unwritten expression while you both couldn't help but only stare, lost in each other eyes.

Your hand reached out to touch the side of his face but gasped as you felt his arms wrap around your waist and bringing you impossibly close against his body. You weren't able to control your actions either though when you found yourself hugging him back as tightly as he did with your face buried to his chest and your hands caressing his back.

His one hand moved up to be placed over the back of your head, which made you glanced up to him only for you to close your eyes and smile in bliss as you feel his slender fingers massaging you behind the ears.

A deep sight escaped from you, eyes still closed but eyebrows raised in surprise, relaxing right after you felt his lips planting sweet, tender kisses on your forehead. You giggle playfully and opened your eyes to see him staring down at you with your noses practically touching.

He moved his arms to pull you in an embrace once again, with his chin now resting upon your shoulder. "I've missed you so much..." Both of you managed to say at the same time witch made you chuckle.

[giulsherondale]

"Now she is so glad that we are fighting because we give her what she wants."

I loved how Serkan tried to calm down Eda when they meet Semiha. And he's so intelligent that he knows exactly that grandma is only waiting that Eda go mad and make mistakes. She enjoy seeing her angry and Serkan knows that. My smart baby boy.

"Serkan will be mine."

Balca make me laugh... Dear... Serkan will be your only in your dreams... Perhaps...

"Eda Bolat... Eda Bolat. See how beautiful you smile. This is what we must do in the office in front of your grandmother."

"Serkan..."

"I'm listening..."

"You make me angry."

"Great. That's exactly what I wanted. Therefore I asked to write so. So that you get a little angry, splash out the negative, fell on me and then calm down. But you're not as angry as I expected."

"Because before that, you had already done what I should have been more angry with."

"But still... It's nice to hear that right? Eda Bolat."

"Serkan are we going to talk about this now?"

"No. But face it, I know what I'm doing. Eda Bolat. Anyways... I think this should be our topic for discussion."

Honestly... How many times did Serkan said Eda Bolat? Too many... But... I'm not complaining... On the contrary I loved that. And Eda Bolat sounds actually really good.

"Your grandmother is now a partner of the company, came here and finally show her face, and she will take revenge on me for my father. She wants to bankrupt me, devide us and ruin my life. Right? She won't succeed, so calm down. She can't do that."

I'm not so sure about that but I love that Serkan is so determined and sicure about himself, and I think that he doesn't want to show his worries at Eda.

"She will do what she did to my parents Serkan. But I'm not strong as you."

In this exact moment Eda shoe us that she is only 23. I often forget this because she is so mature but she is actually so young.

"You are the one who destroyed my family."

Semiha broke the flower holder where Serkan has put Eda's flower. I'm so mad and broken. Maybe I read too much in this scene but I think that this is a metaphor to Edser love. So Semiha will destroy Eda and Serkan love.

Aydan and Ayfer are the duo that I didn't know I needed. They are so hilarious, love them.

"What is her problem?"

"The problem is of course me. She came because of me. She will heal my wounds, change, you see. It turns out that you blinded me... She said so."

"Serkan blinded you? She said that."

"Yes."

"So everyone can see that you are madly in love with me except you."

"If you scoff, then I'm leaving."

"Don't go."

"Serkan I'm taking about..."

"What are you talking about?"

"I thought... If I leave the company..."

"What?"

"If I move away from the company, she may change her mind."

"That's it... You quit?"

"I do not quit, but move away."

"I understand you very well."

"Then why are you looking at me like that? What?"

"In this life you can so easily give up on me, is that so?"

"I didn't say that. You misunderstood."

"Yes. Maybe I misunderstood you from the very beginning Eda..."

I felt so sorry for Serkan in this moment. Serkan has always fought for Eda and their love. And now he feels that she is abandoning him, and we know that everyone he loves, in his life abandoned him. My poor babe. Sorry but Eda this time you are sooo wrong.

"Try to understand me. Before you I was like a machine. I was a flesh and blood man who went to work. Then you came and touched my heart and a lot has changed for me. And then you abruptly removed your hand from my heart. I cannot be as automated now as I used to be. And without you I can't bear the burden on my heart. Eda... Let it be your grandmother or any other problem... If your hand is on my heart... Then I'm ready for anything."

THIS SCENE WAS HOTTT🔥

Serkan was so sad in this scene, because he thinks that when there will be a problem Eda will always run away from him. She is his air, he cannot live without her. And he wants to spend the new year night with her😍.

I think that everyone should listen to Leyla, if she doesn't trust Balca and Semiha there is a reason. I repeat we should all listen to Leyla.

Balca make me laugh pt. 2. She is completely crazy, she admits that she knows Serkan only for a few days and says to Semiha that she is not in love with him... But she is right because she is not in love... But now that I think about it she is right... Because she is not in love with him... She is completely obsessed with him. She is so cringe.

"Eda... Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm fine... Tonight I will have nightmares again."

"Nightmares? Why?"

"Because... When I was little my mother bought me a wishes bracelet."

"What is it?"

"On it there are figures, symbols, such as a star or a heart."

"Ah ok, got it."

"These are symbols of your desires. After my parents died, my grandmother came to pick me up, I told you. She wanted to take me to Mardin. At home she talked to my aunt, and I heard everything. I was very young but I remember. They were talking very loudly, I... I run away from home. I run away and began to run. I ran, I ran... There was a hill behind our house. I rolled head over heels from this hill... And when I fell... I broke my bracelet. Lost it. I cried, not because of my wounds, but because I had lost it. And then... In every nightmare I did, I did the same thing. I escaped from somewhere... I run, I run as if someone is following me. All the time I run away and I'm so scared to see the same thing."

"Come here. Come. The Eda Yildiz I know... Doesn't run from anything. So I'm sure you won't run away."

My poor baby Eda. She really has a tough life.

Honestly... The suits scene doesn't has any sense... But the chemistry was on fire🔥

"Serkan doesn't like to spend special days with everyone. Only with the loved ones."

That means not you Balca. So back off thank you.

Serkan face when he sees the throne😂

And obviously Serkan has a plans for grandma situation. I love my smart and calculating boy.

"One time, the most beautiful, the smartes and at the same time the woman who I liked the most told me that lemon reduces stress."

Loving and caring Serkan is the best.

"I'm not an easy target for you Mrs. Semiha. You will give your shares to Serkan and leave."

"So you decide when I have to leave Eda? The time I spend here depends on you."

"How does it depend on me?"

"Are you the lover of this Serkan Bolat?"

"No."

"You are interested in each other."

"We have a past. These are the connections of the past."

"There is nothing stronger than blood ties. In time you will understand this. You deserve better than Serkan Bolat."

"You know me very well. Bravo!"

"I'm trying to find out. I have great ideas for you."

"None of them interests me."

"Okay. I'll ask the questions differently. Are you interested in Serkan Bolat?"

"Let's say I'm interested. What will you do? What will happen?"

"Then I will not beat around the blush. If I notice that you have a relationship with Serkan Bolat I will destroy this holding. Neither his mom nor he himself can handle the failure of the firm. I will destroy their company, disgrace their name, reputation, everything. Overnight. If you don't believe me ask Alptekin Bolat. If he's able to answer you of course."

"Don't underestimate me. I'm not afraid of you Semiha Yildirim."

THAT'S MY GIRL🔥

"How do you understand that I'm interested in astrology? Are you too?"

"I'm interested in ASTRONOMY."

Serkan Bolat ended Balca.

"Eda come in."

"I won't Serkan. Grandmother moved in with us. She will drive me completely crazy. She is an unbalanced, very dangerous woman. Therefore do not be polite to her, just attack."

"Calm down."

"Grandma moved in with us. I'll stay with Ceren. I came to tell you something."

"Good. If you want we'll talk inside."

"No I won't come in. I'll tell you here."

"Okay. What do you want to say to me?"

"Serkan listen... We cannot be together. It doesn't work. We can't. I don't seem to able to. It's all the same, someday we will part. I'm bothering you. You are already tired. Grandma will tear us apart, she will do something."

"Eda..."

"What?"

"Stay here."

"What?"

"Stay here tonight."

"Serkan we cannot be together and you are saying 'stay here'?"

"Nothing will happen Eda. We won't spend the new year together so stay here tonight."

"Okay then. Last time..."

"Last time."

The cuteness of this scene, I was melting.

"We are going to look at the stars."

"I'm already looking at the most beautiful star."

Serkan bought chocolate for Eda. If that's not love I don know what it is. And obviously Balca has to interrupt the romantic moment.

"Eda? Are you okay?"

"Serkan? What are you doing here? It's not been 10 minutes yet."

"She lives close. Candles and all that... Are you comfortable?"

"I decided to take a bath."

"You did the right thing."

"If you leave, I'll come."

"Of course... Give me 10 seconds."

"Serkan... Can you hear me?"

"Okay... I'll remember this moment."

"Enjoy. Do not rush."

CUTE CUTE CUTE CUTE CUTE... TOO CUTE💞

The whole bust scene made mi laugh, but someone can explain to me why Serkan did not for once looked at Eda? I don't understand.

Serkan brings her the breakfast to bed. My caring babe.

"Small steps towards a big goal."

Eda's gift to Serkan is so beautiful. She has this unique capacity to make every gift unique and original.

We don't deserve Leyla, she is too pure and angelic for us. She helped Ferit with Ceren's gift.

Engin has organized all the wedding with just the two of them. I love himmm.

Sorry but we have to take a moment to speak about Kerem speaking in Italian... I'm Italian so when I listened to him speaking in Italian I fainted. He's so sexy🔥

I'm an Ayfer and Alexander stan.

Even Serkan can't stand Balca anymore. She really is a snake, she's worst than Selin. What kind of crazy person are you?

"Serkan where are you?"

"In the place where I should be. Next to you."

"Where have you been?"

"You are so beautiful."

This scene was so beautiful. His gift was so meaningful. There's this thing that I've always noticed, he really listened and pay attention to what she say or do. He never do something by casualties, he's so carefully about her. This is one of the many thing that I love about Serkan. And obviously this beautiful and romantic moment is ruined by the arrival of the police... Arghh grandma what have you done?!

[littlerockerao3]

Honestly I have so many requests for the prompt thing but the top one is 88

Thanks dear😘 here it is!

88. “After everything… I’d still choose you”.

Trigger warning: blood.

~ ~ ~

Theon has never wanted to unbuckle his seatbelt, open the door and get out of the car as the car is going, so bad until now: it’s not one of those nights were they don’t say a word, silent disappointment filling up the car, both of them staring ahead at the road. No. This is one of those nights were they yell at each other until they’ll come home and one of them will eventually lay on the couch and not get up from there until the morning comes. Though there’s no couch in their hotel room, just like there’s no button to roll down the window in this fucking Neolithic rental car, cause everything has to suck, especially when it’s supposed not to suck.

Things have been wrong for a while, Theon knows this. Theon knows so damn well he and Robb are just trying to postpone as much as they can what’s about to come anyway: he knows why none of them is brave enough to call it quits, five years is a lot. And he’s aware that the only reason why Robb won’t let go of him is because by now he’s used to have him around and picturing life without him would be weird, since it’s always been just the two of them, even before they got together. But Theon is fully convinced Robb deserves better than him.

They decided to go on this small trip, call it holiday if you like, on their own to see if a couple of days away from all the people they know could do them some good. To see if being stuck with each other for a while, in a place where they know no one, would make them realize if they still like being stuck with each other. But the thing is, it’s not working.

It’s not working cause the hotel they’re staying at looks like a place where the person living next door could be a serial killer and you could be their next victim. And you have to wait five minutes for the water to finally stop being brown when it’s flowing out the faucet and both Theon and Robb refuse to take a bath in there. It’s not working cause they haven’t washed since they arrived and they stink. It’s not working cause the car they rent is a piece of garbage they spent too much money on. It’s not working cause Robb has already bought a ticket to go back home and hasn’t bought one for Theon, instead. It’s not working cause Robb is still trying his best and Theon is still not doing anything.

“It’s not fair that all you do is drink and flirt with other people while I’m the only one trying to make things work between us!” Robb shouts. Theon snores: yeah, he drank a beer but that was all, and it’s not like he cheated on Robb right in front of him, he just winked at a few pretty people, that’s all. Though, he’s too tired to replay.

“It’s not fair that you treat me like shit, that you treat what we have like shit, especially when I try to convince you to let me in when you’re sad” Robb goes on, and on and on.

Theon rests his head on the windshield, “I don’t treat you like shit” he says, cause he knows he’s supposed to say something.

“Yes you do!” Robb yells, his eyes are staring at the road in front of him and his hands are holding onto the steering wheel so hard Theon fears he’s going to break it.

“First you tell me your feelings are none of my business, then you stay out all night, you don’t come back home until the morning and suddenly you bought us two tickets to go... here” he points at the dry, deserted road in front of them, reminding Theon how dumbly he acts when he’s drunk. To be fair, it wasn’t Theon’s idea to go on a small vacation, it was Patrek’s. But Patrek was just as drunk as Theon was that night.

“Then”, Robb goes on, “you keep pushing me out. You barely even touch me anymore, you don’t even want to hold hands”

“We’re not teens anymore Robb, holding hands is dumb” Theon sighs, but Robb just shakes his head.

“Claiming that showing affection towards each other is dumb is dumb. Listen, if you’d just let me in again, maybe we could-”

Theon cuts him off before he can finish because he’s seen this movie before, “What? We could what? Seriously Robb, you can’t always fix everything”.

“I know, but this is worth fixing!”

No it’s not. “Is it? Cause you said it yourself: you’re the only one trying. You’re the only one caring of what we have.”

Robb shakes his head once again. He’s so stubborn and Theon loves him so much. But it’s time to let him go.

“You do care about us, Theon. It’s been five years, you showed me sides of you that I-” sides that Theon himself didn’t even know he had. Robb is right but he can’t know this, he can’t know Theon is still in love and will always be. He can’t, cause if he doesn’t, then he’ll start looking for someone better than Theon, someone who might actually treat him right.

“You don’t know shit, okay?!” He yells, “Stop trying to depict me as this misunderstood redeemable asshole who deserves another chance. Trying to make me be a better person is not going to make you a better person”.

Robb’s eyes widen, his jaw clenches, his grip on the wheel tightens, and Theon knows he’s hurt him. And caught him by surprise.

“You seriously-Robb’s voice gets unbelievably loud at that “seriously”-think I’m doing this for myself?! That I’m still holding on to us, to you, because that would make me a better person?!”

Theon doesn’t answer, he doesn’t even know what to say. He just wishes Robb would leave him, cause he’s too much of a coward, and he loves this gorgeous red haired asshole too much, to do it himself.

“What is wrong with you? Do you seriously think so little of yourself?” There’s a crack on Robb’s voice, as he turns to face Theon for just a brief second, one tear sliding down his cheek.

“Do you really think the only reason why I care about you, why I’m working my ass off to make this work after five years, is because being kind is what good people are supposed to do?!”

Theon still doesn’t answer. He would like to cry too. But he won’t. Cause he’s too proud for that shit, he’s too much of a dick. He just let Robb keep on screaming.

“I care about you cause I am desperately in love with you, even after all these years. Because you are the best person I’ve ever had in my life. Because I’m fucking selfish and I don’t want the man I love to leave me!”

He’s sobbing now, Robb is sobbing. He rarely cries, when he does it’s because of Theon. It’s always because of Theon and that’s why Robb needs him to leave. But such words just don’t seem to want to come out Theon’s mouth.

“You don’t act like you care about us anymore. I know. Cause I know you and I know you think you’re not enough for me” Robb wipes a tear away from his face with the palm of his hand, “and yeah you’ve done some dumb shit over these years, especially lately. But I don’t care, I love you too much to care. Cause after all this time I can’t picture my life without you, with somebody other than you. I don’t want to. I don’t care what you think Theon, about yourself or us. Whatever happens, after everything... I’d still choose you.”

It’s in that moment that tears start dripping down Theon’s face as well, but he doesn’t notice it. All he can see are those flashing lights coming out of nowhere, then it’s all white and everything hurts as the car spins around. The sound of the crash is the loudest noise he’s ever heard, and he knows, he knows common sense would want him to use his arms and hands to cover himself but all he can do right now is extend his hand and try to grab Robb’s. He barely manages to touch his arm, to feel his tense skin against his fingertips, and there’s another crash.

Then it all stops.

Theon opens his eyes, then he wishes he never did. There’s blood all over Robb. He’s still breathing, but he’s bleeding. The windscreen is completely destroyed, splinters of glass scattered all around them, all around Robb. And Theon doesn’t realize how the fuck is it possible that Robb’s hurt and he’s not.

“Robb” he whispers, extending a hand to cup his face. There’s a deep cut on his forehead, it’s going to leave a scar that Robb’s going to hate and that Theon is going to kiss everyday, if things turn out to be just fine. Which he fear they might not.

“Robb, look at me” he pleads. He sees those gorgeous blue eyes slowly open and stare at him, his cut lower lip trembling.

“It’s going to be okay” Theon says, then rushes to grab his phone. It’s broken, but it’s still working. He holds Robb’s hand a little too tight as he’s calling the ambulance, but he doesn’t care: Robb hisses because of the pain and if you’re in pain it means you’re actually feeling something, right? He answers a few questions, he even lets go of Robb for a moment to see if there’s another car or person nearby that might be hurt as well. Then he hungs up and focus all his attention on Robb again.

“The ambulance is coming, baby” he says, “Talk to me, please”.

Robb makes an exhausted sound (why, why is he so hurt if Theon’s okay?), and his voice comes out raspy, “I love you”.

Theon shakes his head: no, this can’t be happening.

“Robb. Don’t talk like this, you’re not about to die. You’re twenty-four, for fuck’s sake” Theon cups his boyfriend’s face, kisses his nose, sobs a little.

“You can’t leave me, not like this” where the fuck is that ambulance?

Robb moves his head a little to gently brush his nose against Theon’s, “I love you and I’d always choose you, love. You’re the only one I want to be with”.

Theon fights a sob and presses his forehead onto Robb’s, “Then you better keep your eyes open and keep talking to me. Never thought I’d say this but I need you to be fucking stubborn and fight the urge to close your eyes”.

Robb laughs gently, then hisses in pain. “Maybe-”

“Maybe my ass, Robb. You’re not leaving me. I promise I’ll be a better man, a better friend, a better boyfriend, but you’re not leaving me. We’re staying together”, he kisses Robb’s cheeks, feels his lips touching the blood but tries not to mind it, cause he need to keep himself as close to Robb as possible.

When he hears the siren, he almost shouts in relief. He runs a hand through Robb’s hair and tries to smile at him, cause it’s almost over, soon he’s going to be okay. “I need you to stay strong just a few more minutes, okay baby? Just a few more minutes and then you’ll be okay.”

Robb’s hand rises slowly to cup Theon’s cheek, and Theon is quick enough to cover it with his palm. Please don’t leave me, I don’t want you to leave. I can’t imagine my life without you either.

“I love you” Robb says, so softly Theon can barely hear him, and presses a small, weak kiss on his lips.

Next thing Theon knows is that he’s in the hospital, Robb is nowhere to be seen and people keep asking him if he needs help. All that white around him is blinding and not comforting at all. He thinks that hospitals should be more colourful, to ease all the dramatic shit that happens in there. He thinks that if Robb doesn’t make it he doesn’t know what he’s going to do. How is he going to tell his family? How is he going to live without him? How could he care so little of his relationship with Robb? No, the truth is that he always cared, he always cared about Robb, but he’s never felt good enough for him. Now he doesn’t care if he’s n0t enough for him, he just wants to hold him, kiss him, hear his voice, go home with him, spend the rest of his life with him. If Robb doesn’t make it... Theon’s not going to make it either.

“Sir-”

He realizes he’s been curled in a ball on a chair, head between his knees, hands in his hair, only when the voice of the doctor causes him to jump back on his feet. He can only understand a couple words: lots of blood, concussion, glass, crash, lucky, alright, he’s alright, Robb’s alright.

His knees feel week and wobbly but the sudden relief is what keeps him standing: Robb’s alright. Robb’s alright.

“Can I see him?” He asks, though he’s already crying again. He lets the doctor guide him to the nearest room, open the door and let him in. Robb is staring at him: he’s all patched, he needs a shower and at least twelve hours of sleep but he’s smiling and he looks fine.

Theon runs a hand through his hair as he approaches him, “If you dared dying in front of me, I swear to God, Robb, I would have killed you”.

At the last “you” Theon’s voice cracks, as he plops down on the chair and starts sobbing, Robb’s hand gently caressing his hair.

“Shh, love”

“I’m so sorry”

“It’s okay”

Theon shakes his head, “It’s not. I only realized how much I want us to last only when I seriously could have lost you forever, I-”

“Theon” Robb says firmly. Theon raises his head, enough to look him in the eyes, those gorgeous baby blue eyes. “Shut the fuck up”.

He doesn’t know why that makes him laugh, but Robb is laughing too and that’s all he need to hear. He grabs his boyfriend’s arm with both his hands and start kissing those freckled, and now bruised, knuckles, whispering small “I love you”s.

“Say that to my face” Robb says, and Theon doesn’t need him to say it again: now he’s pressing small kisses on Robb’s lips, as gently as he can cause he’s scared he might hurt him, and the feeling of Robb’s hand touching him makes Theon feel safe, at home, with Robb where he belongs.

“I want to eat a huge breakfast tomorrow, I deserve it” says Robb, suddenly, causing Theon to stop kissing him.

“Of course, whatever you want” Theon replies, “Though we’ll have to look for a decent place, the food at the hotel fucking sucks”

Robb chuckles, wipes a tear away from Theon’s cheek and goes on talking, “Then I want to cuddle with you all day. Rent a movie, eat junk food. Call my mum and ask her how Grey Wind is doing... and maybe tell her I almost died, too.”

“We can do whatever you want, whenever you want. I’m not going anywhere” Theon grabs Robb’s hand, holds it tight.

Robb is still smiling and now so is he. Maybe he still thinks his personality is not enough for Robb, and that Robb deserves a better person. But nobody is ever going to love him as much as Theon does and that’s pretty much all Robb is asking. Which is good, cause they’re stuck with each other now. And always.

[trilliastra]

the adventures of detective wei wuxian and his husband

[Established relationship. POV outsider for the most part.]

-

1.

Jiang Cheng will never get used to seeing Lan Wangji in distress. Instead of his usual stoic expression, the man looks almost in pain himself, holding Wei Wuxian's hand tightly.

“He's an idiot.” Jiang Cheng comments, trying to hide his own worry. “He ran into the building like he's the fucking Superman.” And he saved a kid, Jiang Cheng thinks.

Lan Wangji barely looks up, already used to Jiang Cheng's own way of coping with Wei Wuxian's dangerous lifestyle. They've had many fights before as Lan Wangji often misunderstood brotherly banter with insulting.

Jiang Cheng doesn't know exactly what happened, but one day they met for dinner and Lan Wangji stopped glaring at him every time he nagged at Wei Wuxian, so he guesses they are fine now. Well, as fine as they can ever be.

“Hmn.” The other man assents, he brushes a hand over Wei Wuxian's cheek softly. “I'll lock him in the basement.” He says.

Jiang Cheng lets out a snort, surprised at Lan Wangji's attempt at a joke. “He'd find a way out.”

“Hmn.” They share a look of understanding. This is who Wei Wuxian is: impulsive, selfless, good.

“He's gonna be fine.” Jiang Cheng whispers, reaching out to take Wei Wuxian's other hand.

“Yes.” Lan Wangji takes a deep breath, rests his head against Wei Wuxian's chest. Jiang Cheng pretends not to see the tears. “He will.”

–

2.

Yang Hao rolls his eyes as Wei Wuxian laughs loudly. It should take more than just a quick brain and guts to become a detective.

It's ten past two, he hasn't slept in two days and his stomach is starting to hurt. Things would move much faster if only Wei Wuxian could get to the fucking point.

“And that's how we found they run an underground casino.” He keeps rambling, all exaggerated gestures and a lot of confidence. Yang Hao sighs – some people are so damn lucky to just stumble upon the right person at the right time.

To his left Li Qin is sighing dreamily, as Wei Wuxian keeps talking about how he is this close to solving the case if only he could have another day or two. He will get those days, Yang Hao is sure, because their boss loves him.

Thirty minutes later – or maybe two hours, he lost track of time by the time Wei Wuxian started on his brilliant plan to catch their guy – they are finally free to eat their lunch and Yang Hao all but runs away from the conference room before Wei Wuxian can catch up with him. The guy is adamant they must become friends, Yang Hao has no idea how Wei Wuxian hasn't noticed that he'd rather strangle himself before that happens.

He almost made it to his desk before his name is being called by that annoyingly happy voice. “Yang Hao!” He tries not to groan. “I forgot my lunch, do you want to go to granny’s restaurant at the corner together?” Wei Wuxian smiles, placing his hand on Yang Hao's shoulder.

“I have a date.” He lies, desperate to get the fuck away from him.

“Oh.” Wei Wuxian's smile falters for a moment, but he's soon back to his cheerful self. “That's great, man!” He pulls his hand back before shaking it in front of Yang Hao's face, the wedding ring shining in the light. “I wish I could say the same.” Wei Wuxian sighs, almost sad.

Yang Hao turns around to hide his grimace. Wei Wuxian talks, a lot, it's no secret that he's married, and happily so. It's sickening how much he talks about his partner. Yang Hao has never met her in person, but he imagines a saint of a woman to put up with all – that.

Or maybe she's just as bad as him. Yang Hao shudders.

“That's too bad.” He answers when he realizes Wei Wuxian is waiting for him to say something. “Next time, then?” He asks, just to be polite.

Wei Wuxian's smile grows and he is about to reply when Li Qin call his name. “Senior Wei! There's someone here to see you.” She gestures at a man dressed in a suit, long hair tied up. He's vaguely familiar and Yang Hao frowns, hoping this isn't related to their case. He can't put up with Wei Wuxian for another hour, especially without food.

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian calls, surprised. He all but runs towards the man and when they are close enough he leans in and – kisses him. What.

“You forgot your lunch.” He can hear the other man say, holding Wei Wuxian's waist. “We are going out.” He states and Wei Wuxian all but melts against him.

Yang Hao blinks, trying to process all the information. So Wei Wuxian's partner isn't a woman. And he is a Lan. As in the Lan Clan. As in Lan Wangji, the cold, intimidating, lawyer.

“Oh, Lan Zhan.” He looks up, still confused, as Wei Wuxian praises his husband. “You're too good to me.” His voice is so saccharine, Yang Hao wants to jump off the window, but Lan Wangji only smiles, albeit shyly, and takes Wei Wuxian's hand, pulling him towards the door.

“Aren't they the cutest?” Li Qin asks, happily.

Yang Hao groans and vows to apply for a transfer as soon as he can.

–

3.

“I'll call you later, mom.” Mei Xiang stops just outside the building, puts her phone back in her purse and reaches out for the compact mirror. She checks her lipstick again and takes a deep, nervous breath. I can do it, she tells herself.

She's been preparing for this since before she got into university. She is smart, qualified, and bold, just the perfect combination for a great lawyer. She can do it.

The Lan Clan is a legend and being employed at Cloud Recesses is a dream come true. She doesn't have an office and for now she's just another assistant, but Mei Xiang knows it's just a matter of time. She's ready to work her way up. Sleepless nights? She got that covered in university. Food? Cereal bars and dried fruits are her best friends.

Mei Xiang introduces herself to her colleagues with a smile and proceeds to get acquainted with her small desk in the corner of the large room. They are all working on some big case already and her direct supervisor says they will assign her a task as soon as Lan Xichen arrives.

Her desk is close to Lan Wangji's office, she notices. The open door allows her to watch him working, scribbling furiously as he checks one book or the other, occasionally he looks up to discuss something with Luo Qingyang, one of the senior lawyers. Mei Xiang sighs, that is one handsome man.

She can see the shining ring on his left hand and shakes her head. She participated in many lectures given by either Lan Wangji or his brother, and she's always admired the way he carried himself, his unwavering belief on doing what's right.

Mei Xiang smiles sweetly when he looks up and notices her watching him. She isn't one to defend adultery, but she knows how these things work for the traditional families – marriage of convenience is still common and she doubts Lan Wangji would ever go against his family on this matter.

Mei Xiang runs a hand through her hair, watching Lan Wangji look through his books. Her parents met through work, love can happen anytime, anywhere. If it happens it happens, she thinks, delighted, when he looks up again.

“Hello, Senior Wei.” Mei Xiang hears Luo Qingyang say as she leaves Lan Wangji's office. A man dressed in casual jeans and combat boots reaches out for her hand with a smile.

“Mianmian, you look absolutely dashing. How is your baby?” He asks, enthusiastic.

Mei Xiang frowns. She doesn't recognize him, and she thought she knew everyone who worked at Cloud Recesses – she made a very thorough research.

She watches as Luo Qingyang shows him something on her phone, probably a picture of her baby, and the man coos, always smiling, as he grabs his own phone and hands it to her.

“Wei Ying.” Lan Wangji calls, coming out of his office.

“Lan Zhan!” The man practically yells, which makes Mei Xiang startle, no one in the room looks up and she wonders if this is such an usual occurrence that they just don’t care anymore. “I was showing her that video of Sizhui playing with the rabbits!” He turns to Luo Qingyang. ���Isn't he the cutest?”

“Yes,” she laughs, “after my little Mianmian.” She adds, making the other man laugh.

“Wei Ying.” Lan Wangji stresses, holding out his hand.

“I'm coming, I'm coming.” The man laughs, waving goodbye at Luo Qingyang and taking Lan Wangji's hand as they walk together into the office. “I missed you, too.” She hears him say, leaning in to kiss Lan Wangji passionately before the doors are even fully closed.

“Damn,” she whispers, impressed.

Half an hour later, Lan Wangji's husband comes out of his office looking properly debauched, with the biggest smile she's ever seen. That doesn't look like a marriage out of convenience, so definitely, nothing is going to happen. Oh well, she thinks before straightening up her back and getting ready to conquer the world, his loss.

–

4.

After thirty years, she still loves the Monday morning rush. Since her daughter took over the kitchen, she started to love it even more.

Mei Hui loves talking to them and listening to their stories, serving good food that makes them forget about their problems for a few minutes. Over the years, she's had many regular customers, and one of her favorites is Wei Wuxian.

He's a whirlwind, loud and dangerous, but smart and genuinely kind. She's granny to him and her heart fills with joy every time he walks through the door.

He loves her lotus root soup – she long stopped taking offense when he says his sister's is better, she understands the power of love that makes any food taste like heaven – especially when a case has gone wrong. Mei Hui has spent many nights by his side as he eats the soup and cries.

Pork ribs are reserved for the amazing days – his words, not hers. Almost eight years ago, he ordered it for the first time, his grin so wide it took her breath away. It was also the first time she heard Lan Wangji's name.

Oh, those boys. She likes to think her late husband used to look at her like Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji look at each other.

She was invited to their wedding but couldn't make it due to an appendicitis – her health isn't what it used to be fifteen years ago – but Wei Wuxian showed her the pictures the next week, patting her back gently as she sniffed, deeply touched by his consideration.

But her favorite customer of all has to be the little boy. Lan Sizhui, Lan Yuan, oh, how she adores him. Mei Hui looks at the flowers and smiles as she reads the card again. It’s impossible not to love him.

Happy birthday, granny, it says, and she has to sit down to try and contain her glee. “Dad helped me write it.” Lan Sizhui had explained, earlier this morning, as he hugged her leg. Wei Wuxian was laughing, holding Lan Wangji's hand as they waited for their son. She asked if the boy wasn't going to be late for school and Wei Wuxian laughed, amused, as Lan Wangji frowned for a moment, but answered that it was fine, it was for a good cause. Oh, those boys.

Mei Hui loves Monday mornings, even more when she gets to see her favorite boys smiling, and so – so happy. As they should be.

–

5.

He is bleeding. Fuck, Lan Wangji is bleeding.

Su She watches Lan Xichen hold his suit jacket over his brother's wound and tries not to panic. This wasn't part of the plan, that – Xue Yang wasn't even supposed to have a gun! And that good-for-nothing just left in the middle of the chaos without looking back.

Xue Yang was supposed to take the papers while Su She distracted Lan Wangji, no one would get hurt, much less shot. Not that Lan Wangji didn't deserve it, the arrogant bastard, but Su She doesn't want to go to jail when he's this close to getting rich. Lan Wangji better live to watch Su She ruin everything that he owns.

“Wangji.” He hears Lan Xichen yell, shaking his brother to keep him awake. He hears someone saying help is coming and someone else says they called Lan Wangji’s husband.

Su She almost rolls his eyes as the other employees start running around like headless chickens, crying and praying for Lan Wangji's recover. Half of them hate the man just as much as Su She and the other half just want him to live so they can continue to make googly eyes at him. Pathetic.

“Lan Zhan!”

Great, this time Su She does roll his eyes as Wei Wuxian yells desperately, kneeling in front of his husband and taking his hand.

“Lan Zhan, please don't leave me.” He cries.

They are so ridiculous, flaunting their superior love story in front of everyone's faces. Every time they are around each other, it's like watching a fucking drama – nothing is ever going to be more staged than this. Well, he thinks, perhaps Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli's wedding, but Su She couldn't care less about them.

“Never –” Lan Wangji coughs just as the paramedics arrive. It takes Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng – and when did that other fucker get here – to separate Wei Wuxian from his husband.

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian's screams get more and more desperate and Su She decides it's time to leave. Any more of this disgusting shit and he's going to throw up.

–

He should've known Xue Yang was going to open his giant mouth eventually. The guy has always been a coward.

“ – you have the right to remain silent,” Wei Wuxian recites as two police officers drag Su She towards the car.

“He should've died.” He says, looking into the other man's eyes. When Wei Wuxian attacks him Su She only laughs.

–

+ 1

“It's snowing!” They get woken up by Lan Yuan jumping on their bed, laughing and screaming in delight. Lan Wangji smiles as he hears Wei Wuxian groan and burrow himself further under the covers. “Dad! Papa!”

“Yes.” Lan Wangji answers, sitting up and pulling Lan Yuan onto his lap. “Have you brushed your teeth?”

“Yes!” He quickly answers, eyes shining with glee. “And I dressed myself, see?” He opens his arms and kicks his legs in the air. He's wearing mismatched socks, Lan Wangji notices, smiling.

“So you did.” He praises, running a hand through the boy's hair. “We can play in the snow after breakfast.”

“Noooo.” Wei Wuxian whines. He got home late last night, again. “It's Saturday, we should stay in bed all day.”

Lan Yuan ignores him, turning to Lan Wangji again. “Can we make cookies too?”

“Sure.” He answers easily, dropping Lan Yuan on Wei Wuxian's back. His husband groans and their son laughs when he gets pulled into a hug.

“And hot chocolate?” Lan Yuan asks.

“One or the other.” Lan Wangji replies, heading to the bathroom.

“Cookies!” He hears his son reply in between laughter.

“Chocolate chip!” Wei Wuxian laughs with him.

By the time he comes out of the bathroom both Wei Wuxian and Lan Yuan are asleep again, holding each other and snoring softly. Lan Wangji shakes his head, amused, and walks back to the bed. He throws an arm over them and smiles, they can stay in bed longer, it's Saturday after all.

[lionofstone]

THE WITCH HAZEL TREE - PLAYLIST BREAKDOWN

I did this for the other books in the Spider Prince Trilogy series here so I thought it would be fun to go through the playlist for The Witch Hazel Tree as well! It’s fun to go through the playlist and explain what songs I choose and why

You can find The Spider Prince trilogy here. You can listen to the playlist on Spotify here.

Without further ado, the breakdown! This is long and there will be spoilers. 

1. Scared Of The Dark - Lil Wayne, Ty Dolla Sign 

Edna is, of course, scared of the dark. It’s something she mentions a few times, mostly through her internal monologue, and is something she feels highlights her generally fearful and anxious nature. It’s also something that she wants to overcome—and does, through the course of the book! 

I'm not scared of the dark I'm not running, running, running No, I'm not afraid of the fall I'm not scared, not at all Why would a star, a star ever be afraid of the dark?

^ She’s trying to convince herself (and others, especially the Spider Prince) that she isn’t afraid. Why would a star be afraid of the dark? This is something that kind of comes full circle, because by the end of the book she could express this sentiment genuinely 

There’s also some lyrics here that fit her & her friends: 

And I'm married to my pride, I ain't never, never cried

^ The Spider Prince

I got eyes like marbles, if I cry they sparkle

^ Edna (especially chapter 29) 

You know I can read your mind like I'm the author

^ ...Author 

I'm behind the trigger, what if I am the target?

^ Eddie 👀 

I just really like this song for the gang, what can I say? 

2. Golden - Harry Styles 

For these playlists, I tend to only choose songs that are, for the most part, from the main/pov character’s perspective. This song breaks that rule. It is much more from the perspective of the Spider Prince towards Edna. When they go to the sea, he tells her that her sparks are ‘the exact colour of the setting sun’... golden. 

You're so golden I'm out of my head And I know that you're scared

^ He is also very aware that she’s scared, and that she is, in one way or another, scared of him. But he finds her incredible and interesting, and always has. He wants to compliment her but keeps fumbling it. 

3. Least Favourite Only Child - Leanna Firestone 

This song! Man. It really captures the feeling of being misunderstood or, potentially, unwanted by your parents. Edna’s relationship with her family is rocky at best, and although none of these lyrics perfect fit her lived experience, the feelings are absolutely there. 

Guess I'm not that wild And I don't wanna stay Her least favorite only child

^ Edna has gone against her parents wishes quite dramatically, and even before then felt stifled by their expectations and rules. The way they limited her, intentionally or not, was probably a huge contributing factor to her anxiety. So, she’s ‘not that wild’, even in the moments where she wants to be. 

I just wanna feel different Than what I've felt before

^ Poor girl just wants to find her place and change her circumstances, and she’s been led to believe that the only way she’ll truly be able to is by breaking her curse. 

Also there’s quite a few questions in this song and I like that just because it means that Edna could sing along to at least some of it. 

4. This Side Of Paradise - Coyote Theory 

The Spring Equinox is here. Edna is overwhelmed, but surprisingly (at least to her), holding her own. Still, she needs a break. She goes to a clearing and sits by the fish. The Spider Prince joins her, and they have an emotionally honest conversation for the first time. 

So if you're lonely, no need to show me If you're lonely, come be lonely with me

^ They are both, in their own ways, unsure of themselves and their place, and are able to find comfort in being around each other and experiencing that together. At least until the Spider Prince messes it up. 

Are you lonely? Passion is crashing as we speak You seem so lonely You're the ground my feet won't reach So if you're lonely Darling, you're glowing If you're lonely, come be lonely with me

^ He asks her to call him Spi, giving her a right that no one but his best friend has. Edna is left floundering, a little, because of this. They’ve argued, and the moment has fallen apart because of it, and yet he had opened up to her and she still has a desire to further understand him. 

5. Gossip - Sleeping With Sirens 

This song is mostly here for the inexplicable Edna vibes it gives me. I really couldn’t explain why, but while I was outlining I heard this song and my mind went ‘Edna’ and here we are. 

I wanna live fast, I wanna die free My blood is pumping, why can't you feel my heartbeat?

^ I feel like this ties well to Edna at this point in the story. She’s been trying to live her life and not hold herself back. She’s also currently running, with Darling, away from the Heartland and towards some sort of safety. She’s overwhelmed and scared, she’s confused by the gold around the snowbird and concerned for Spi. 

I got that new sound, and when I come out I'll be your nightmare, I'm coming for you don't be scared

^ This is something that Edna feels about the new presence in the forest. Like it’s something new and difficult, something nightmarish, and she needs to convince herself not to be scared of it. 

6. Bud Like You - AJR

Edna & Author friendship!!! Edna knows that she can rely on Author, Eddie, and, by extension, Nuisance to come and support them in their endeavours against the Queen Mother. She suggests inviting them, and the others agree. Author, of course, agrees easily. She’s reliable like that. 

If I need a pick me up Would you come and pick me I could really use a bud like you

^ The sentiment of these lyrics is applicable here; Edna is asking for an assist and Author is there in an instant. 

7. Body - Mother Mother

Once again, this is more for the vibes than for the actual lyrics. Edna is feeling a pressure to do something but doesn’t know what. Eddie is in the Heartland, disguised as a spider; Author and Nuisance are fighters; Darling and Gretel are powerful witches; Pan is the king of Lockswood, even exiled. Edna, however, is tired. She’s tired of her curse, of her apparent inability to do anything about it. 

And take my hands, they'll understand Take my heart, pull it apart

^ Her hands, which she uses for her magic, are probably the first place she feels it. There’s also matters of the heart: Spi wants her to be less afraid of him and she’s sure how to do that, or what that would feel look like. 

She’s just feeling very useless and worried, which isn’t a new feeling for her, but it’s certainly an exhausting one. And then Natalie arrives, with Eddie as a prisoner, and Edna is left uncertain of what to do...

8. Clint Eastwood - Gorillaz 

Okay, I’ll be honest. This song doesn’t really fit anymore. Originally, Edna’s familiar was going to be able to talk to her, but I scrapped that pretty early on. This song was meant to represent a sort of conversation between them, with 2-D’s lyrics being Edna, and Del the Funky Homosapien’s being the snowbird.

I got sunshine in a bag I'm useless but not for long The future is coming on

^ ‘Sunshine’ as a reference to her golden sparks (the colour of the sunset), and the remaining lyrics about her finally realising her potential doesn’t have to remain untapped. 

Finally someone let me out of my cage Now time for me is nothin' 'cos I'm counting no age Now I couldn't be there now you shouldn't be scared

^ The snowbird’s reassurance to Edna. Being ‘let out’ and finding Edna, connecting to that ageless, familiar magic, and helping Edna to let go of her fear, as well as a sort of apology for not being there before. 

Like I said, the conversational elements were dropped from TWHT, but I still like the vibes of this song for Edna & her familiar. 

9. Human - Maggie Lindemann 

Prompted by the arrival of her familiar, Edna contacts her parents and discovered the truth about her curse: her parents got her cursed in exchange for her life, and lied about it for twenty years. This is a sort of desperate plea for them to understand how they affected her and made her feel lesser. 

And if you saw through my eyes you'd understand why I wish I was human I wish that I could say shit like you did

^ They have never really tried to understand her or the way she speaks, and she’s trying to get them to understand how difficult it is to not be able to speak the same way that others around her can 

You don't even know, you don't even know Nobody knows it like I

^ The realisation that they don’t understand and probably never will, and that even with their apologies, they aren’t really trying to understand. 

10. Body Talks - The Struts (feat. Kesha) 

Edna goes to Spi—someone who does understand her, both on a surface level by understanding her speech, and on a deeper one in that they understand each other’s inner workings and opinions, or at least they’re starting to. 

And he kisses her. 

Never underestimate the importance of body language. 

Two eyes like the sun Go ahead, keep your distance from me Soon you're gonna come

^ Edna is taking control and taking risks, trying her best to overcome her fears and assert herself. She wants to go to him, and so she does. He wants to kiss her, so he does. They’re learning together how to go for and get what they want. 

Your lips are a conversation That face is a song If it's my imagination Stop me if I'm wrong

^ But Spi still worries that she’s afraid of him, and she can’t yet say that she isn’t. The situation gets away from them. They leave off on a down note. 

11. Wondering - Olivia Rodrigo, Julia Lester 

After reading CATSP, my friend Vic suggested this as an Edna song and she was SO right, although maybe not in the way she expected. 

Following her conversation with Spi, Edna is plagued by questions of what that was and what she wants to it be, as well as wondering what would be different if she could undo her parents actions in the past, and who she would be without the curse. 

It's like nothing makes the questions go away What I'd give to see if the grass was greener

^ This is just. Peak Edna. Nothing makes the questions go away indeed, especially now that she knows there’s no guaranteed way to break it

If I could go back and change the past Be a little braver than I had And bet against the odds Would I still be lost?

^ If she could go back to that night with Spi, how would she approach it differently? Could she have? Or is this sense of being lost a necessary step that she needs to go through? 

Even if I woke up in my dreams Would there still be something I'm missing If I had everything, would it mean anything To me?

^ If she woke up in a world where she wasn’t cursed, would she still want him? She realises pretty quickly that it doesn’t really matter, because she wants him in this life. She loves him, and wants him to love her.

12. Feels Like Falling In Love - The XCERTS 

This song has a bit of a double meaning; yes, she’s falling in love, but also, in a metaphorical way, she’s learning to use her magic in new and powerful ways and that feels like falling in love with herself. Despite her curse, despite the years she’d spent feeling trapped and closing herself off from the world...she is powerful. And she loves it. 

And I've been running in, running in circles, in circles and wasting my, wasting my time Yeah it feels like falling in, falling in, falling in love

13. Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes 

This is just... the absolute peak of powerful songs in my mind. The gang are working together to sneak into the Heartland and rescue the Spider Prince, even if their plan is poorly constructed. Edna is feeling herself and is going to go get her man. As she should. 

And the feeling coming from my bones Says, "Find a home"

^ She’s making Lockswood her home! Ahh! 

14. I Don’t Know If I Should - Juli Strawbridge 

Seeing Spi again is a powerful thing in it’s own right. Edna is much more sure of herself this time around, but the scared, nervous person she was at the beginning of her journey is still a part of her. 

And you're moving with precision, our subtle collisions Piecing me together in your peripheral vision

^ They’ve been keeping each other close, in their peripherals, for a long time now. This is how they’ve started to build their relationship: carefully, nervously, slowly. 

I don't if I should like this but I do I don't know if I should keep on finding you I don't know if I should play along If these games don't mean right, if they don't mean wrong I don't know if I should like this but I do

^ Edna does like this. More than she thought possible. It’s new and scary, but she knows that it means something to her; it’s not right or wrong, necessarily, but is something. 

I don't know if I should still hang on If this leaves with the moon, if this dies with dawn

^ They make the decision together: this is worth hanging onto. Even when it’s scary and awkward and they don’t know what they’re doing. This isn’t going to die off, not before they give it a real chance to succeed. 

15. Bleed Magic - I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

Edna goes against the Wild Hunt with magic that shouldn’t work against them; surrounded by her golden sparks, she goes against them, and she wins. This song inspired that scene. 

You'll never know a single thing about me Until it's far too late

^ No one knew this sort of magic was possible, and even if Natalie had said anything to the Wild Hunt, they may not have fully believed it until they saw it themselves. Of course, by then it’s far too late. 

And nobody believes you now You're bleeding magic out somehow And nobody believes you now You're bleeding magic

^ Edna is overwhelmed by the sparks. They’re pouring out of her in a way that she can’t control. It really does feel like she’s bleeding magic...

16. She’s So Gone - Naomi Scott 

I feel like this one is pretty self-explanatory. She’s changed so much and doesn’t feel like the same person she was six months (or even a month) ago. 

Broke away Learned to fly If you want her back, gotta let her shine So it looks like the joke's on you 'Cause, the girl that you thought you knew She's so gone (she's so gone)

^ Edna left Fairy Hill, left her family, and become something new & impossible. She’s embracing what she’s capable of and learning that it’s so much more than she thought it was. 

Here I am, this is me And I'm stronger than you ever thought I'd be Are you shocked? Are you mad? That you're missing out on who I really am

^ This is specially directed at her parents, who don’t get to know, at least not immediately, what and who she is. 

17. you should see me in a crown - Billie Eilish 

Again, mostly vibes rather than anything super direct. Edna is embracing her power and her position within Lockswood. She’s part of the Autumn Court. Spi even calls her princess, which is loaded but doesn’t scare her. 

You should see me in a crown (you should see me, see me) Your silence is my favorite sound (you should see me, see me)

^ Edna is glad of her position and excited by her power. Also, she enjoys being able to make Natalie shut up. 

ALSO this song is a little bit from Winterbloom’s POV as well, as she takes her position as a princess as well. Winterbloom my love...

18. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) - Taylor Swift

THIS SONG. It is the peak of Edna/Spi. 

Pan is restored to the throne and rain pours through the Heartland. Spi takes Edna. to the witch hazel tree. He teases her, she flirts with him, and they begin the rest of their lives, unafraid. 

The best part is that this song could be from either of them POV wise :) 

And I don't know how it gets better than this You take my hand and drag me head first Fearless And I don't know why But with you I'd dance in a storm In my best dress Fearless

[tessxblxckthorn]

you’re more to me

@juulies and again: happy holidays love!! (2/2)

a short juke soulmate au cause meg wrote that she likes the trope so i thought why not... english isn’t my first language and I haven’t written in quite some time so please have mercy and enjoy! 

It took her an entire day to realise. Julie could see colors. Actual, vibrant colors. Not the dull, grey-ish colors she had seen her entire life but the bright red of the painted dahlias on her bedroom walls, the vivid blue of the Los Angeles sky, the deep violet of the string that was still braided into her hair from yesterday's performance in the Orpheum.

It had all been so chaotic that Julie hadn't had a minute to breath and, well, realise that she had met her soulmate. 

Her soulmate. 

Of course she knew about soulmates and that, after finding yours and having direct skin contact with them, you could see every beautiful color that exists. But she also knew that many people never, ever found theirs. Sure, her parents had been soulmates, but they were lucky. Flynn's parents weren't soulmates, Carries definitely hadn't been. 

While there were a lot of soulmate-couples, people just didn't want to get their hopes up just to never find theirs. So that's why, at the young age of 10, Flynn and Julie had stopped believing that they would eventually find their perfect match, simply because this wasn’t a perfect world. 

And now, at age 16, Julie was laying in her bedroom on her bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering how on earth she could’ve missed meeting her soulmate. Because that was what had happened, right? She must have bumped into them at the show or while running out on the street when she thought the guys had died...or stopped existing or whatever...or when she went home with her dad and Carlos or-

There was a loud bang coming from her closed door followed by a groan and a curse. 

“Come in!”, Julie called out, sitting up and pushing her messy hair out of her face. 

“Damn it”, Alex groaned and closed the door behind him. “Still haven't adjusted completely to being alive again, thought I could just materialize through the door.”

Julie laughed softly. “Yeah, I heard that.”

“Pretty sure your dad thinks we’re absolute weirdos now, Reggie just said good-bye in the kitchen and then jumped up before realising he couldn't poof out.”

Jup, that sounded like Reggie.

“Anyway, the boys and I wanted to drive back to the Orpheum, you wanna come?”

“Weren't you at the Orpheum this morning?”, Julie asked confused, while starting to fold her costume from yesterday's performance. 

“True, but...Lukethinkshemethissoulmatethere”, Alex muttered under his breath, looking at the, suddenly so interesting, blanket that was thrown over Julie's bed.  

Said girl froze up. Had she heard correctly? “Uhm Luke- he- what?”

Alex sighed and pushed his blond hair back, a habit he did a lot when he was anxious. “Ok, so- I mean- Luke- He- he can see colors now, like the kind of colors you can only see after you met your soulmate? And he can see the colors since this morning so he thinks he met them while we were back at the Orpheum to meet with Willie.”

“Oh…”, Julie said, dropping her hands that were still folding into her lap. No, it was stupid. Of course she hadn't thought or hoped her soulmate would be Luke. He was dead. Well, now he was alive again, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Luke Patterson couldn't be her soulmate. Eventhough, for some dumb, idiotic reason, her heart apparently had wished he was. 

“Yeah…”, Alex agreed, awkwardly fingering at the blanket. He wasn’t dumb, in fact, he was probably the most observant of the three boys and it wasn’t difficult to identify the way Luke looked at Julie. Not only at the performances but all the time. 

“Uhm- I- Flynn’s coming over so…”, Julie trailed off. “We’re having a girls night.” More like a “freaking-out-about-who-could-be-Julie’s-soulmate”-night or a “crying-over-the-fact-that-Luke’s-not-her-soulmate”- night. She hadn’t decided yet, but judging by the lump in her throat it seemed that the latter was more possible. 

“Oh ok. Yeah, sure.”

Julie nodded slowly. 

“Okayyyyy”, Alex scratched his neck. “Then I'm going to go now. With the boys. To the Orpheum.” She nodded again.

By the time he had closed her bedroom door again, after softly smiling at her with his annoyingly nice “I-know-what’s-going-on-and-you-can-always-talk-to-me-but-I-don’t-want-to-push-you”-look, Julie was fighting the tears. 

The last two hours, after she realized that she could see colors, she had spent thinking about every person that could or couldn't be her soulmate. It couldn't be anyone she actually knew, because she had had direct skin contact with all of them at some point before yesterday. All of them except Luke, Reggie and Alex. Not Alex, because he’s gay and terribly in love with this Willie she had yet to meet. Not Reggie, because he was like a brother to her and he still couldn't see colors. 

And not Luke, because he had met his soulmate this morning. And not last night like she apparently had, simply because she hadn’t left the house since then.

So it had to be some stranger, right? And still, everytime she thought about her soulmate, she thought about Luke’s piercing hazel eyes, his perfect smile and his soft brown hair and- 

“Oh my god”, Flynn shouted, slamming the door shut behind her. “You can’t just text me that you met your soulmate without any details!”

Julie flinched and instantly shushed her. “Flynn! No one else knows! Shut up!”

“Oh Julie, I’m not stupid. Ray and Carlos went grocery shopping and the boys just passed me, saying they want to go to the Orpheum or something? Whatever, I need the details!”, Julie's best friend threw her bag beside Julie’s desk and jumped onto her bed. 

“Who is it?”

“I don’t know.”

Flynn laughed loudly and then looked back to Julie. She went quiet. “No”, she said. “No, no, cause I thought I just heard that you said you didn’t know who your soulmate is but I must have misunderstood.” 

Julie sighed and layed back down next to Flynn. “You don't know? How can you not know? You met your soulmate, are able to see colors now and tell me you don't know who it was? How can you not know?”

“I don’t know.”

“Julie…” 

“Seriously, Flynn. I don't know, okay? And it's horrible! I didn’t even realize I’m able to see colors now till this morning. I don’t remember suddenly being able to see colors after touching someone, okay? It was all so chaotic yesterday. The performance. The boys missing. Then I thought the boys were gone. Then they weren’t. Then they nearly died of those jolts in the garage. Then they were suddenly alive again. Then I had to explain to my dad why the hologram band from Sweden is in the garage. It was all messy and chaotic and I must have missed it.” 

“Breathe, Julie.”

“I am breathing!”, Julie cried out, hiding her face in one of her pillows. 

She felt Flynn soothingly patting her shoulder. 

“So it isn't Luke?”, the girl said softly after a while. Julie choked and pushed down her tears. She shook her head, still buried in the pillow.

“But you thought he would be.” Julie went still and then shook her head again. “I guess I hoped it would be him.”

“Oh…”, Flynn mumbled and went back to rubbing her best friend's shoulder. While she had been against bonding with Luke and more one Team Nick, she knew that Julie had fallen for the ghost-boy. And, well, she’d mostly been against Luke because he was a ghost...which he wasn’t anymore.

“So did you tell the boys?”, Flynn asked hesitantly when Julie showed her face again and sat back against the headboard. 

“Nope”, she croaked and cleared her throat. “I wanted to think and then tell the boys. But then they were busy trying to find Luke’s soulmate.”

Flynn opened her mouth and closed it again. “Wait so Luke met his soulmate too? When?”

“This morning at the Orpheum apparently”, Julie answered bitterly.

“This morning? Is he sure?”, Julie shrugged. “I don’t know, that’s what Alex said.”

“Ok, so you haven’t talked to him or, you know, touched him? I mean, what if he only realized this morning he could see colors? Touching him-”

“would either dull or brighten the colors.”, Julie finished, looking at Flynn wearily. “I forgot about that part to be honest.” Flynn was beaming. “But, Flynn, I really don’t want to get my hopes up just to be disappointed again, okay? And who knows, maybe Luke found his soulmate already.”

“Nuh-uh, you gotta be optimistic, okay? Everyone can see the way you two look at each other!” Julie frowned slightly. God, how she wanted to believe Luke could be her soulmate...she just didn't want her heart to be crushed when reality set in.

“Anyway, we gotta change that topic because we can’t do anything about it right now. But before we start the Netflix marathon we gotta go to the kitchen or I’ll starve.”

Julie laughed and rolled her eyes but followed her friend.

The two girls were in the middle of topping off their tortilla chips platter with cheese when the front door was opened. 

“So, let me sup it up”, they heard Alex's confused voice. “You don't actually know you met your soulmate this morning, you just didn't realize before then that you could see colors? So you meeting and touching them also could’ve been yesterday. Which actually seems more plausible, if you think about-”, the blond boy stopped abruptly, Luke next to him, when he saw the girls sitting at the counter frozen up and...listening.

“But the only person you touched yesterday, other than us, is Julie so- ohhhh”, Reggie bumped into Luke and shut up when he saw their faces. 

There was silence for about five seconds in which everyone in the room realized what Reggies statement meant before Flynn hopped from her chair. “Reggie, Alex, you have to help me pick out a movie upstairs. Now.”

And Julie and Luke, still frozen up, were alone.

“So-”

“I-”, they started at the same time. Julie blushed. “You go first.”

Luke nodded awkwardly and walked towards her, sitting down on the chair opposite to her.

“I didn't realize it till today. I don’t know why i thought it might’ve been someone at the meeting with Willie today but I thought you couldn’t see colors and I didn’t want to get my hopes up, and-”, he was cute when he rambled, Julie thought, but stopped him from any more talking by reaching out and taking his hand that was on the counter in front of her. Every color in the room seemed to get even brighter momentarily and Julie gaped. Luke did too. 

“So, that was fool-proof.” Luke laughed lightly and slowly took her hand in his. Julie couldn’t stop herself from smiling.

“I didn’t realize it till this morning either. And i wanted to think first but then Alex told me you had met your soulmate this morning but i had to have met my soulmate yesterday so I thought- wait, did you just say you didn’t want to get your hopes up?”

Luke grinned but blushed. “I kinda thought it was obvious, you know, that you mean a lot to me.”

Julie’s heart seemed to beat faster and she squeezed his hand. “Well, apparently everyone but me realized it but...it’s mutual, Luke.”

The boy smiled widely and pressed a shy kiss to their joined hands. “Good to know.”

Julie swore she never smiled that hard ever before. 

[tomsrebeleyebrow]

together | ho x fem!reader

@allegra-soleil​ asked: Chérie, ma belle, that last blurb BROKE ME. Can I have something similar but with Haz? Cuz we both know he is more hot tempered, and would probably make things worse before making them better, yelling and crying later when he realizes he really fucked up💔 Maybe he was the jealous one? Feeling left out by your sudden friendship with Tom? Mercy, baba. Je t'adore💖💖💖

Warnings: MAJOR ANGST including language/swearing, harsh arguments, screaming, cries, insecurities, anxiety, lots of emotions tbh BUT FLUFF at the end because we want happy endings in this house, dammit!

Word Count: 4.2k

A/N: ALLIE. MY GORGEOUS ALLIE 💞 your request turned into an oneshot because, well, inspiration i guess? 😂🙄🙊 so this one is for you bae, an angsty as hell but with that fluffy ending we all want 🥰🥰🥰 love you girl and as always, stay safe sweetheart 💖💗

‘Stay safe, Cheer up’ blurb event  

masterlist | taglist | your support

Despite whatever people say, no human on Earth could escape the reality of how feelings work. No human was perfect, that was for sure. Not even Harrison. And now, the boy was massively experiencing jealousy at its best. Or maybe at its worse.

Which actually lead to now, when you tried to catch up your blond boyfriend as he stomped towards his bedroom, at Tom’s house.

“What was that just now?” you yelped as you were now both in the bedroom, Harrison facing away from you and not a single word addressed since what happened just before.

“What?” Harrison said with a harsh tone.

“The way you just addressed both Tom and I a minute ago, acting like a complete douchebag. Care to explain?” you asked again, slight irritation now audible in your voice.

“Oh sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt your private time with Tom!” scoffed Harrison while turning towards you, and your eyes widened at what you were looking at.

The face of your boyfriend displayed a look of mixed emotions you never knew was possible; anger, disgust, sarcasm and pure jealousy. His whole body screamed tension but the worst part must have been his voice, each word accentuated by the fakest playful tone of all time.

And that vision was almost scaring you.

“What are you saying, Haz?” you demanded with clear and proper authority, the need to know what was going on in your boyfriend’s mind being your main goal at the moment.

“What am I saying, you’re asking!?” Harrison sneered at you, “I’m just noticing that my own girlfriend looks like she’s having the blast of her life with my freaking best friend ever since we started the quarantine, is what I’m saying!”

Harrison’s voice got louder as the sentence kept going, each word heavy enough to weight more and more upon yourself.

“Are you joking right now?”

Now you were expecting anything, but that.

“I’m just by myself mostly all the fucking time like I don’t even exist in this house! But don’t mind me, really, it’s not like I’m your damn boyfriend in the story! So don’t waste your precious time with somebody like me and just go back to your dear Tommy to laugh and be lovey-dovey like two stupid kids!!”

“Are you out of your mind or what?!” you retorted before Harrison had the chance to continue, your ears still not believing what you just heard.

“If you wanted to go out with Tom Holland himself, you should have said no to me in the first place, instead of using me all this time to get closer to him-”

“What the actual fuck is wrong with you, Harrison?!” you shot, you voice getting as loud as Harrison’s one.

The back and forth argument kept getting worse, you two now becoming entire messes as both your faces were reddening at the same time your words got louder.

The scene definitely drew the attention of the other residents of the house, the first one being Tuwaine as the man was passing by and just stopped at the doorframe, not believing what was actually happening. Soon Harry followed, the screams loud enough to wake up the deaths or the neighbours next door, or even the entire neighbourhood.

“Oi guys, what’s up in there?”

And obviously, the next and last person to arrive was Tom.

“Why the fuck are you all screami-”

Just then, you simply exploded like a grenade that waited and took too much already on yourself. Your voice was screaming of anger now, but also distress and sadness, the rage definitely showing now from head to toes that you shocked all four boys, Harrison included.

“FUCK YOU HARRISON! JUST- FUCK YOU AND YOUR FUCKING DAMN ATTITUDE!” you raged and kept going in one breath, “I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HELL I DID TO DESERVE BEING TREATED LIKE A- LIKE A TOTAL SLUT BUT IF Y-YOU CAN’T TRUST ME ENOUGH OR EVEN BELIEVE IN THE LOVE I FEEL TOWARDS YOU, I-I JUST- AT LEAST FREAKING TALK TO ME BEFORE ACTING LIKE A FUCKING TOSSER Y-YOU DAMN BASTARD!!!”

That was it. You lost it, all your usual nice and sweet composure just vanished in a snap. But you felt hurt, badly hurt like you never once thought you would be that your feelings just washed over you that you had to scream as loud as possible.

You never had that kind of harsh arguments with Harrison, even knowing the boy was sometimes short tempered but right now, everything he said to you still resonated in your head. Every words. All of them. Even the degrading ones. Each of them were said with pure and bad jealousy, something you couldn’t imagine coming from Harrison.

In the end, even him was capable of hurting people.

Your face was now a red mess, your entire body tensed but at the same time shaking, and your eyes full or tears that soon started rolling down your cheeks when you finished screaming to his face.

Then a cold, tensed and awkward silence settled in the room. No one dared to say a word. And after a loud sob escaped your lips, you ran outside the room, not even glancing once more at the blond guy in front of you, nor at the other boys as you made your way past them. Your cries echoed in the hallway as you then barged inside the “office” room, slamming the door behind you with such violence it made everyone jump, locking it right after. Finally alone in your own despair, you slid your back down the door and sat against it, the back of your head slightly bumping onto the wooden door as you now let out your sobs openly.

“The actual fuck was that just now?!” Harry finally dared to speak, snapping out after what he just saw and heard. “Did you literally accused (Y/N) of cheating on you?!”

“Were you out of your mind to be rude to her like that?!” Tuwaine added, dumbfounded by all the argument.

Harrison was not moving, not a single inch. He was like petrified on the spot, now standing alone in his bedroom as his friends were still staying outside of it. But compared to a few minutes ago, his face now lost all colour, being as pale as if he saw a ghost.

He was completely shocked at himself.

“Mate” Tom addressed his friend, the tone of his voice calm even after being badmouthed by his own best friend, the one who just stood there like a lonely and wandering soul.

Not really expecting an answer from Harrison, Tom slowly walked inside the room, to then stand in front of his blond friend.

“That’s totally normal to get jealous, you know?” Tom began in his most understanding and serious voice, “But jeez, (Y/N) is like a sister to me! Never would I see her more than that!”

Tom’s words were making their way though Harrison’s brain, but the lack of reaction from him was getting really worrying.

“But mostly, I’d NEVER betray my best friend! Never, you hear me Harrison?” Tom insisted firmly. “And just now, you completely misunderstood everything and hurt (Y/N). And yourself.”

And at that moment, Harrison felt like the entire universe fell on top of his head. For good. He finally realised he badly fucked up.

* * * *

It’s been four days since the argument. The four longest and tougher days of Harrison’s life.

Since then, you’ve closed yourself into the office room, not wanting to be near or see your boyfriend after everything he said to you. You ate there, slept there and cried there. You just locked yourself in, as if wishing for everyone to forget you were even there. But that was impossible for Harrison.

When Tom somehow brought back his friend to himself, after being completely out of his mind like he never did, Harrison panicked and just wanted to rush back to you. Tom, Harry and (mostly) Tuwaine could hold him back, even when he started screaming your name for you to forgive him, pure agony in both his voice and written on his face.

After, Harrison was like an undead. His usual shining blue eyes were no more, but replaced by empty one, completely dull and lost into nothingness. His body was even too heavy for him to stand properly, as if everything he told you came back to him to just put the blame on him and only him, the guilt heavier like an entire building. He even lost his appetite and his sleep, not finding any purpose to any matter while being away from you after what he did. What he made you endure.

You didn’t want to see him anymore, and just kept ignoring him while he stood on the other side of the door for hours, pleading for you to open and talk about it together. Nothing. You never replied. If you ever needed something, you would simply ask to Tom, Harry or Tuwaine by text. But never Harrison. Never. And Tom would have to drag his friend away from the door as he would just start crying, desperately trying to open it or even bang his forehead on it on total despair.

That situation weighted on everybody else, too. The once joyful house became a pure living hell of agony, the air thick with tension all around. Being under lockdown for so long was already a pain in general, so nobody needed that kind of additional stress to make it worse.

It had to stop, but not any which way.

On the sixth day, Tom was cooking some lunch while Harry and Tuwaine were in the backyard, enjoying the beautiful weather that London was offering them. And Harrison was at the exact same spot he occupied since the incident, slumped onto the couch, head thrown on the back to fix the ceiling for hours.

“Hey, Harrison.”

The blond lightly glanced at Tom, his body not moving, as the brunette stood next to the couch with a tray in his hands.

“Do you want to bring this to (Y/N)?” asked Tom to his friend.

Harrison’s head slowly turned towards him at the sound of your name.

“She doesn’t want to see me anymore” whispered Harrison almost inaudibly, his eyes red and puffy after so many sleepless nights spent with cries.

“If you just force yourself into her like you did the past days, like a mad man, for sure she’ll just keep ignoring you...” sighed Tom, trying not to sound so done with his friend during that tough path he was going through. “Man up, be yourself and go.”

Still hesitant, Harrison looked between Tom and the tray in his hands a few times, before slowly sitting down properly on the couch. Tom nodded at him to encourage him a bit and after what seemed like the biggest effort of his life, Harrison finally stood on his own two feet, now facing Tom.    

“Come on and make up properly, idiot” ironically chuckled Tom, hoping to lighten the mood a little.

He held once again the tray out for Harrison to take, insisting. Gulping, the blond boy lifted his arms to soon grab the tray, hands still slightly trembling. Tom waited for his friend to calm down, knowing perfectly his mind was just a complete mess at the moment as so many scenarios of what was about to happen kept playing on and on, each of them at the same time.

Once he emptied his mind from the negativity invading him, Harrison took a deep breath in before holding the tray properly by himself. Tom gently patted his shoulder, another supporting move of his and moved aside to let his friend walk past him.

His steps were as light as a feather, not wanting to make too much noise on his way to the office room. Harrison’s heart was beating like crazy, each beat almost wanting to break through his ribs, the pain almost unbearable.

But there was no coming back. Not anymore. Harrison was so scared to mess everything up again, like he did when he started an argument that was not even supposed to exist. But he brought it up, like the dumbass he was sometimes. And now, he had to made up for all the abominations he said to you. So yes, Harrison was scared and even worse... he was scared to loose you.

Without realising it, the blond boy was now standing in front of the wooden door. That door that could be the epitome of your heart right now, completely closed and unknown to him, acting like a barrier to protect you from more sadness you may not be able to handle anymore. But Harrison had to make the first step to you because he was the one who caused all this.

He had to fix his mistakes, once for all and good.

“... (Y/N)?” the boy called in what sounded more like a whisper.

He clicked his tongue, sure you didn’t even hear him. After glancing at the living room and noticing Tom had left to join the boys outside, Harrison cleared his voice and tried again.

“(Y/N)... It’s... it’s me.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, you were curled up onto the couch that became your bed for almost a week. Your lack of sleep was beyond your own understanding, as not even a single one of your college projects managed to keep you awake at night. Your body has been aching and heavy, the simple fact of rolling over being painful to you. And the painkillers did nothing to your constant headaches that kept coming and going whenever they wanted. You were sad, hurt and now tired.

But out of nowhere, you caught a faint voice coming from the door. At first you were not really sure as your mind was rambling all over the place, but then you heard it again, and a bit clearer. That familiar voice you knew too well, that particular one you were trying to avoid at all cost since the argument.

Harrison.

Hearing it now awakened all your senses again, against your own will but you preferred to stay quiet, bringing your knees closer to your chest and hoping he would just go away.

“Please, (Y/N)... I-I’ve brought your lunch...”

You gulped, hiding your face into your knees. His once energetic voice was no more, sounding now more morose and... hurt. And somehow, it still saddened you a bit. The silence invaded the place again. Now you felt torn between two rather difficult choices: still ignoring him because the hurtful words he screamed at you that day were the cause of your sleepless nights, or... maybe confront him and see how it goes. Maybe.

“Fuck, what did I expect really... Of course you’re still angry at me, and you have all the rights to be” Harrison murmured along with a sigh.

Lowering his head, Harrison’s eyes fell on the lunch tray Tom kindly prepared to you and mindlessly inspected it. The smell was mouthwatering and the steak sure looked delicious, but Harrison couldn’t help but note you always liked your meat less cooked and with a lot of oregano. And regarding the sides, the boy was pretty sure you would leave the cucumber slices of the salad, as you liked more carrots instead.

All these little things, even the most insignificant ones, were part of your being. And Harrison learnt to know all of them by heart, and to cherish them. And so did you, ever since you started dating. The specific tea he loved to drink depending on how he was feeling, the vegetables he couldn’t look at - even after you desperately tried to cook them in many different ways -, what to do when he was feeling tired and grumpy, the movie he could binge-watch all the time, and so on...

Harrison loved you as much as you loved him.

And he had to fucked this up like a bastard to finally realise he just imagined the stupidest things ever, and hurt you in the end.

“... I’m the fuckin’ worst.”

As any chance of this door opening vanished into thin air, Harrison loudly sighed, badly depressed but still trying his best to contain his tears a bit more, and put the lunch tray down at the door to then walked away.

But after only taking two steps, two click sounds suddenly reached his ears which made him stop on his track, turning quite fast towards the door to see it... slightly opening. And that was when Harrison caught sight of you and his body froze, eyes wide open.

Through the half-open door, you were there, your entire frame partially visible but still. He was finally able to see you and notice how fragile you looked. Facial features slimmed down, dark circles and red eyes. You were a mess, just like Harrison was during the past few days. After what seems like hours of total silence, both your eyes finally met, hesitant at first but then, you slowly opened the bedroom door a bit more. The heart of Harrison started beating all over again, his lungs working fully as if he learnt once more how to breath.

“... Harrison.”

Oh, your voice. Hearing it after so long brought shivers down his spine.

“(Y-Y/N)... I-”

But words got suddenly mixed up in his mind as Harrison wanted to tell you so many things at the same time. How much he was sorry, how much of an idiot he was, how much he regretted, how much... he missed you. So much. But then, he remembered Tom’s advices.

“If you just force yourself into her... like a mad man... she’ll just keep ignoring you...”

Harrison had to think calmly, but most importantly wisely. So he decided to stay quiet waiting for you to speak first, if you ever did.

You’ve never seen Harrison this tense like he actually was. Never this... all over the place. Hair sticking in every directions, his stubble more visible than ever and baggy clothes. Well, you were pretty much the same anyway. But what saddened you more was the look in his eyes. His ocean eyes you loved getting lost into turned into two empty orbs, dull, deprived of any joy but tears, now.

“... We need to talk” you muttered in a low tone, your hand grabbing the door harder to get you some extra support, you hoped.

As you slowly lowered your body to take the tray off the floor, Harrison got quicker and grabbed it before you. This brought you two face to face, crouching with only the space of the tray between you, eyes locking for some seconds. No word spoken but only looks, and that was a lot.

You averted your eyes at the same time before getting up again, a bit awkwardly. Harrison followed you inside the office room while you closed the door right after him. Not paying too much attention at the mess around, he went to place the tray on the coffee table in front of the couch and stood there, not knowing what to do or if he could talk. Silently, you advanced to then sit on the said couch, pushing away the blankets and pillows you used to sleep on the side. You patted a few time the space next to you while looking at Harrison or, at least, trying to draw his attention as the boy was looking anywhere but at you, fidgeting with his fingers like a child who just did something stupid.

Well, maybe that was the case, actually.

Finally, Harrison heard the muffled sound of your hand against the couch and, after looking at you like he wanted your approval, slowly but surely walked and sat next to you. He brushed his thighs a few times, feeling his muscles stiff but still trembling. His heartbeat kept pounding on inside his chest, one foot slightly tapping in rhythm on the carpet. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to remain calm. But Harrison knew he had to speak first. After all, everything was his own fault.

“(Y/N), listen I’m-”

“I’m sorry...”

Harrison stopped and looked at you, mouth still open as he was not sure if he heard right. Now frowning, he noticed your head dropped as you were desperately fixing your knees, the grips of your hands on your sweatpants making your knuckles slightly turn white.

“I’m sorry, Harrison” you repeated once again, your voice trembling and just above a whisper. “I-I shouldn’t have insulting you l-like I did. You deserved it b-but I said such horrible things to you, instead of talking about it with you... I-I’m an idiot, I should have-”

“W-Wait (Y/N), what are you saying? I’m the one who has to apologise to you, not the other way around!” retorted Harrison, quite shocked and confused by your words.

“But I just got things worse, Harrison! A-And in the end, we were just screaming at each other a-and I-I-”

Your body started shaking again, your throat tightening as more words wanted to go out, soon followed by sobs. Your breathing became halting and tears were forming at the outside corners of your eyes, you couldn’t stop any of this as guilt kept growing inside of you during these days.

Harrison couldn’t handle seeing you like this anymore, nor hearing accusing yourself for what happened to you both. That was impossible, and it had to make it stop. He had to make you understand that any of this was not your fault. He had to comfort you as much as you needed to be.

So the boy slid from the couch, both knees on the carpet as he was now facing you. He pressed his torso against your knees, trying to be as close as possible to you, and put his hands on your thighs. The touch brought you out of your inner upheaval and your teary eyes met again.

“Listen, (Y/N)” began Harrison, gulping, “I’m the one who started all this mess whereas nothing of this would have happened, okay? I-I’m the stupid one here, the selfish one, the... jealous one who imagined horrible things because I got... I got insecure and lonely. I shut myself away enough to awaken the worst side in me. And like a complete asshole I accused you of... of cheating on me. You, the person I love the most and that loves me so much in return. The person I trust with all my heart. I just- I fucked up so bad a-and-”

Harrison didn’t notice the tears already rolling down his cheeks until now.

“I-I’m just the worst boyfriend- no, the worst human being ever-”

But then, your trembling but soft hands gently raised to wipe his wet cheeks with your thumbs making him stop spouting any more gibberish about himself. And it was like your touch instantly appeased him, like the best medicine that could exist and just closed his eyes, his breathing slowly calming down.

By instinct, his bigger hands raised to gently rest on top of yours and just leaned his face on your palms, appreciating the skin contact he missed since then. God did he miss your touch.

You both sniffled, forehead resting against each other as you leaned more towards the blond boy. The tears kept going for some time actually, neither of you really knowing for how long. But that was needed.

After some time spent in a rather calm silence, you parted from each other and you gently brushed your boyfriend’s wet cheeks with your thumbs again, a comforting smile now on your face.

“I think... we both messed up” you gently whispered.

A light smile appeared on Harrison’s face, the left corner slightly raising more like it always did when he was getting shy or embarrassed... or comforted.

“We did” replied the blond, a soft chuckle barely audible, “... well, mostly me.”

“Never hesitate to talk to me, alright Harrison?” you stated quite seriously but still with that kind tone of yours your boyfriend loved so much. “Even for stupid matters, I don’t care, just let’s talk about it. Promise?”

“I promise, love.”

You shared another smile, rosy cheeks and eyes still shining with the last few tears. But now, the atmosphere felt way lighter as any ounce of negativity washed away around you both. You kept the eye contact and your hands connected, a way to slowly treat that deep link between you both.

Then you gently brought Harrison’s face closer to you and left a light kiss on his forehead, the kiss lasting for a few seconds but Harrison made the most of it, his eyes closing again which let the last tears roll on his cheeks.

“I’m so sorry, love” Harrison whispered like he was in trance.

“I know, dear. I know. But we will go through it. Together.”

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[silverflame2724]

Ok. Since I'm a person who lives for angst, I had this scenario played out where WWX is asked by all his friends and family to come to a discussion conference since they believe that the cultivation world wants to say sorry to WWX. However, since most of them aren't forgiving just yet and still strongly resent WWX, I can easily imagine those people punishing WWX by physically and mentally torturing him in order to reduce him to the same condition he was in before he died. Once they let him go, he arrives at the conference only for most of the cultivators there to verbally degrade him without remorse. Wanting to end his suffering, he commits suicide in front of everyone there, leaving the people who love him, especially LWJ, JC, JYL and LSZ both enraged and heartbroken that they couldn't protect him

BTW, this is the anon who asked about you AO3 fic "Misunderstood." And I'm sorry if my prompt is triggering to you in any way

Ohhhh. My god. This is going to hurt so much.

(I am not triggered in any way, so don’t worry about that!)

I really, really hate putting Wei Wuxian through any form of torture. Which seems hypocritical of me because I’ve written many fics like that. I must warn you though, I’m not really good at torture scenes.

(Oh right, for those that don’t know, Wei Wuxian (in my Misunderstood fic) has two cores, one of resentful energy and one of spiritual energy. If one of his cores runs out of energy, his body starts to fade because those two energies are the only thing keeping him together (literally)!)

Nevertheless, *rubs hands together* Here we go!

___________________________

It happened about a week before the discussion conference.

Wei Wuxian had been having a nice drink by the inn near Lotus Pier when he suddenly felt very dizzy and collapsed into a dead faint.

When he woke up, it was to a room full of unfamiliar people staring down at him with sneers on their faces. And immortal deity binding rope was holding him down and his flute had been chucked off into a corner.

It would be difficult to get out of the rope binding him, but what many didn’t know was that he could still use resentful energy without any tools. It was harder to control them, sure, but he would still be able to escape. He didn’t know what these people were planning and he sure as hell did not want to find out.

Someone came up from behind and kicked him to his knees. His face burned in humiliation as they grasped a hand in his hair and forced him to look up.

“Do you know your crimes, Yiling Patriarch?”

At that, Wei Wuxian had blanked.

The men sneered and one brought out a discipline whip.

“Since you’ve forgotten, for every crime you’ve committed, for every life you’ve taken, you’ll take a lash from this. And don’t worry, we need you to be alive for this. We won’t be too rough.”

Ice flooded his veins as they named the people that had died during the Sunshot Campaign and Nightless City because of the Seal. His Seal.

So he didn’t move. Didn’t try to escape. Because it was true, wasn’t it? Those people died because of him. Even if he didn’t intend for it, he killed them.

If it was only that, it wouldn’t be that bad. He had been whipped before, he could handle the pain. His body was made of energy, so he didn’t bleed (though he could still feel pain) but that made the cultivators angry so they broke his fingers, sewed his lips shut when he got too loud, but he could endure it.

Then, they began to talk down to him and tell him how he didn’t deserve to come back to the cultivation world, how he was ruining the Jiang sect, how he was ruining Jiang Cheng and his Shijie, how everything he touched became ruined.

Wei Wuxian gradually grew numb to that. He had heard the same words from Madam Yu and from the cultivators at Nightless City all those years ago. It was no different then than it was now. But the pain he felt from those words was no less.

The resentful and spiritual energy in his body was scrambling to patch his wounds up in the lapse of their attention. However, because it was focused on healing him rather than helping him break out of the ropes, he wasn’t able to do anything when they fed him something. Wei Wuxian began to grow dizzy. His body felt hot and sweaty. This.....

Oh. They fed me an aphrodisiac.

Wei Wuxian didn’t know what they were planning to do and he sure as hell did not want to find out.

So he gathered all the resentful energy in his body - which, from experience was not a good thing to do -, absorbing as much as he could from the emotions of the men in the room before letting it burst out in an explosion. The rope disintegrated and he bolted for the door.

But not before a few sent their swords at his back. The remaining resentful energy removed them and the spiritual energy frantically tried to heal his wounds but he still lost a lot of energy. He could feel his body fading already.

He pulled himself together nevertheless and bolted out the door. Looking around, he was relieved to see he was near Yunmeng. However, despite that, he could trust no one. So he kept silent through all the pain until he made it back to Lotus Pier.

The sounds of his shidi and shimei calling for help sounded fuzzy and far away. He hoped he would survive. He hoped he would not.

After all, wouldn’t his death make everything better?

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

When he woke up (on his stomach), it was to Shijie, Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan all sleeping by his bedside in what looked like the infirmary room. He shifted and then groaned in pain. Using energy as recklessly as he did must have put a lot of strain on his cores.

Instantly, three heads popped up.

“Wei Wuxian!” “A’ Xian!!” “Wei Ying?”

“Are you alright?” They asked in unison.

Wei Wuxian would have laughed at how in sync they were. He didn’t. He only gave them a strained smile that he hoped they would not notice and told them he was fine. They didn’t believe him, of course, and kept fussing over him for the rest of the day.

As they did this, Wei Wuxian swallowed quietly, remembering the parting words that were shouted at him.

“As long as you’re alive and well, we’ll never forgive you! Next time, we’ll go after your family and friends. All those bastards who dared to support you!

Wei Wuxian quietly contemplated his next moves. He didn’t want to leave his family and Lan Zhan and everyone else behind, but......what else was he supposed to do? As long as he’s alive, they might forever be in danger!

He swallowed a qi replenishing pill and forced his tears down.

I never wanted to come back in the first place. What was ghost!me thinking when he decided to come back? I......I don’t know anymore........

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

The discussion conference was held at Lotus Pier and Jiang Cheng and the rest had tried to convince him to go. After all, they believed that the cultivation world wished to apologize to him (and simultaneously ask for his help against the new evil).

That’s what they were hoping.

That’s not what happened.

Instead of an apology, they started blaming Wei Wuxian for their current predicament. They hurled abuse after abuse at him and Wei Wuxian just stood there with a blank face and took it silently.

That was, until, someone yelled, “Wei Wuxian, it’s all your fault for creating the Seal!!! If you hadn’t, we wouldn’t be in this situation! We’ve all suffered because of it. The Jiang sect is one of the only sects who hasn’t suffered. Shall we make them feel our pain? After all, your sect should pay for your crimes, should they not?”

Wei Wuxian let out the most heartbroken sob and stood in front of the cultivation world.

“If it’s life you want, then I will offer you mine.”

Jiang Cheng, Jiang Yanli, Lan Wangji and a few others cried out his name and reached for him, but Wei Wuxian simply reached deep into his cores and turned the energies against each other.

His cores cracked and shattered and Wei Wuxian began to fade right in front of everyone.

“NO!” Lan Wangji yelled out in an uncharacteristic display of emotion. He rushed forward and recklessly poured spiritual energy into Wei Wuxian. “No, Wei Ying, no. Don’t leave me! You can’t! No, no, no.”

The rest of his family and friends gathered around, trying to see what they could do to keep him alive, but.....his cores were gone, it was useless.

“I’m.....sorry.....” Wei Wuxian managed. “And thank you.....for everything.”

And then he was gone.

______________

Hmmm, I still feel a liiiiiiiiittle iffy on how this turned out (so I might edit it later) but I hope you enjoy, anon!

[maybeimamuppet]

dream a better dream

hello my little muppets!! happy wednesday!

this is a request fill for @erikascadys who requested sharkboy and lavagirl au! janis is lavagirl and damian is shark boy. and cady is just cady :))

i don't think i need any trigger warnings, but as always if I've missed one please let me know so I can add it!

anyway, please enjoy!

---

Cady has always been a dreamer.

Growing up in Kenya, it was nearly the only thing she could do to entertain herself. Sure, she had a few toys, or books to read, or lions to chase. But in terms of other humans, all she had were her parents and her dreams.

Her personal favorite dream first appeared one night when she was ten. Cady’s family had just gotten the news that her older brother, Rhys, had been killed in the line of combat. The only place Cady has as an escape from her grief is in her dreams.

She dreams of two people. Friends. A boy and a girl. The boy is part human, part shark. He has legs, but also fins. A human face, but shark teeth. And human hands, but sharp claws. In spite of everything, he seems kind. He cares for his shark friends and all the fish, carefully tends to the corals and feeds the seaweed and anemones. Cady cleverly dubs him Sharkboy.

The girl is very different. She’s made of lava and fire, with bright pink hair and the ability to shoot lava from her hands. Cady doesn’t know much else about her. She names her Lavagirl and leaves it at that.

-

Cady frantically writes her dream in her dream journal when she wakes up the next morning. She’s kept one since she learned how to write, detailing all her most precious dreams. She has a feeling this one is extra special.

“I’m going to the watering hole to take a bath!” She yells to her parents as she runs out of their tent. Her dad grabs her by the back of her shirt and scoops her up before she can make it out. “Hey!”

“Why are you suddenly so eager to take a bath?” Her dad asks, setting her down again.

“I’m not! I’m just excited for the day! I had a super special dream!” Cady says, bouncing up and down a few times. Her dad gives her a sad smile and ruffles her hair.

“Okay. Watch for crocs and hurry back for breakfast, binti.”

“I will!” Cady says, dashing out again.

-

After a quick but expert assessment, Cady dubs the small pool to be free of crocodiles and any other predators. The zebras wouldn’t be drinking here for so long, otherwise.  Cady leaps in with a small splash and opens her eyes under the water. She’s been trying to learn how to do that recently.

But someone else is there. She screams and pops her head back above the surface. The figure follows. “Sharkboy?”

“Yeah!” Sharkboy says. “Hi!”

“You’re real?” Cady asks in awe.

“Yeah, duh! I’m right here,” Sharkboy says.

“Whoa,” Cady whispers. “Um… can I finish my bath, please? Then we can get to know each other!”

“Oh! Yeah, sorry!” Sharkboy says, turning around and covering his eyes. Cady swims back down and finishes cleaning herself, then dries herself off and gets dressed. Sharkboy swims up and rests on the shore.

“I thought you were a dream,” Cady murmurs, tilting her head. Sharkboy shakes his head.

“Nope! Well, kinda. But everything that is, or was, or will be, began with a dream.”

“Huh,” Cady says, tilting her head. “Okay, do you wanna go play? I’ve never… I’ve never had a human friend before.”

“I’m not human,” Sharkboy says, smiling so she can see his teeth.

“Oh, right,” Cady giggles. “I’ve never had a shark friend before either.”

Sharkboy smiles wider. “Yeah, come on. I bet you’re pretty fast growing up out here.”

“Tag! You’re it!”

-

Cady shares her breakfast with Sharkboy, and they play together in between Cady’s chores. She learns his real name is Damian, and that he was a marine biologist with his mother. Their research base was destroyed in a storm, and he was practically adopted by the sharks. And now he searches the universe for his mother.

“I hope you find her,” Cady says genuinely. “We lost my brother a while ago. But he’s not coming back.”

“I heard. I’m sorry,” Sharkboy says. Cady shrugs.

“It’s okay. I miss him a lot, but my parents say he’s still with me. Anyway, you wanna come see the lions? They’re my favorite.”

Sharkboy nods and runs after her to help feed the lions their dinner. The sun is setting, painting the sky gold and orange and pink as it makes its way down for the day. Once the first stars are just beginning to twinkle for the night, a bright flash of pink light suddenly glows from behind them.

“Lavagirl,” Cady breathes when she turns around. Lavagirl smiles slightly and nods. Maybe that really is her name. “You’re real too!”

“Sharkboy, I need your help,” Lavagirl says. “You have to come with me. A great crisis is developing on the Planet Drool.”

Sharkboy nods and heads to her side. They begin to run off together, before freezing and turning back to Cady.

“Can you come as well, Cady?”

“Er… I would,” Cady stutters. “I’d really like to, but… I have homeschool tomorrow.”

Lavagirl nods in understanding, and they both turn back and continue running off. Cady doesn’t see them again.

—-

Until six years later. Cady’s parents have lost their funding and are forced to move back to America. Cady is both upset and excited. She’s sad to be leaving the only home she’s known, but eager to experience life in the west. And go to real school for the first time.

She starts at North Shore High three days after they move to Chicago. Her wishes for a happy American life are quickly dashed.

The building is massive and meandering, built of a labyrinth of hallways and classrooms that all look the same and packed wall to wall with other kids all shoving and pushing and yelling. Like sardines.

Sharkboy would like that, she thinks with a little smile. And he could use his navigation instincts to help me get around this place.

By some miracle she makes it to homeroom on time and plops herself in an empty seat near the front of the room. She looks up when it suddenly goes quiet and the teacher begins speaking.

“Hello class, I’m Ms. Norbury, I teach AP Calculus,” she begins. Cady looks up in relief and checks her schedule. This is her math teacher. “And we have a new student this year, I see. Caddy Heron?”

“Uh-it’s Cady,” Cady stutters quietly, raising her hand. “I used to be homeschooled.”

That gets a few snickers from people in the back of the room, and Ms. Norbury’s demeanor seems to change slightly. “That’s a fun way to steal from my union.”

“Oh! No, no,” Cady says immediately. “I grew up in Kenya, my parents are zoologists. Not many unions there.”

Much to her relief, Ms. Norbury relaxes slightly and gives her a kind smile. “In that case, welcome to North Shore. I saw you on my roster for the afternoon, I look forward to seeing what you can do.”

Cady gives her an eager smile back and nods as she gathers her things once the bell goes off.

—-

In her English class, she gets an assignment to write a short story about her favorite childhood memory. Cady thinks long and hard about which moment to choose. The time a lion broke into her tent and cuddled her all night? Or the time she got to see the city of Nairobi for the first time? Her first airplane trip?

Suddenly, it hits her. She had never had more fun as a kid than when she spent the day with Sharkboy. So Cady writes about that. What could go wrong?

As it turns out, reading the essay aloud in front of the whole class is what can go wrong. Cady eagerly volunteers to go first. Mistake one.

She looks up when she finishes reading, to the sneers and smirks of her classmates. And that’s before they start laughing out loud. One of them even throws a ball of paper at her.

“Sit down, Cady,” her teacher says gently. Cady sits down quietly back at her spot, trying to ignore the jeers of the other students. “Cady appears to have merely misunderstood the assignment. I asked for true stories. But that was a very well done work of fiction.”

“It is true!” Cady says, much louder than she’s spoken all day. Another paper ball hits her. Cady pulls her dream journal out of her backpack, where she also wrote about the day she got to spend with Sharkboy. “He said everything that is, or was, started with a dream. It’s true.”

Her teacher looks at her sadly and gives a slight head shake as the next kid gets up to read their essay. Cady doesn’t speak up again until the bell rings.

“Cady, a moment please,” her teacher asks quietly. Cady sheepishly heads over to her desk. “You have a real way with words. But you’re sixteen, in the eleventh grade. It’s time to stop dreaming, okay?”

Cady takes the pencil she had tucked behind her ear and scratches that down in her journal. “No dreaming. Got it. I-I’ll try harder.”

Her teacher looks at her sadly but nods, sending her off to her next class. Cady is pulling her schedule out of her backpack to check the room number when she’s suddenly knocked to the ground.

“Watch where you’re going, jungle freak,” the girl she’s bumped into spits.

“I’m sorry,” Cady says desperately. “I didn’t see you, I didn’t mean it-“

“I’m sure you didn’t. As payback… what is that?”

“My-my dream journal,” Cady says, clutching it to her chest.

“Can I see it?” The girl asks. Cady naively hands it over. The girl flips through it and laughs. “You’ll get an edited version tomorrow.”

“Wait, give it back!” Cady yells, trying to run after her. The girl’s two cronies block her path.

“Trust us, don’t mess with Regina. We’ll try to keep her from doing too much to it. But she can do a lot worse,” the blonde one murmurs.

Cady hollowly stops fighting them and steps back. The girls give her an apologetic look before they run after their friend.

————-

Cady cries herself to sleep that night. America is nothing like she thought it would be. She wishes she could be back in Kenya, where the only things around for miles to laugh at her were the hyenas. Or, at the very least, that she wouldn’t have to go to school tomorrow. Maybe there’ll be a bad storm. With tornados.

In her dreams, Sharkboy and Lavagirl make an appearance for the first time since she was eleven. She’d gotten little glimpses of their work on planet Drool, as they helped make it into the awesome planet of Cady’s dreams. They seemed happy.

But something is wrong, now. Cady can’t quite piece it together, but the scenes she can see clearly aren’t right. She wakes up with a gasp and runs to the window. A bright, clear day greets her mockingly.

“Guess I didn’t dream hard enough.”

—————

Cady trudges through the morning. Her parents are arguing over something or other, probably trying to get her father a job again. Cady’s mom asks her to come right home after school so they can all talk. Cady suddenly starts wishing something will happen at school so she doesn’t have to go home.

By lunch, the sky about matches her mood. Dark clouds block out any hint of blue that wanted to shine through, and loom ominously over the building. Her science teacher takes the opportunity to teach about tornados and their origins.

Regina strolls in casually about ten minutes after the bell, holding a bag that must be too small to carry all her books. Not that she cares.

Cady stands and goes to her desk, holding out a hand. “Give it back.”

“Ladies, is there an issue?” the teacher asks.

“Regina took my dream journal yesterday.”

“Ooh, a liar, too, how fun,” Regina titters.

“Regina, give Cady her book. It hasn’t even been a week and you’re already picking up the bullying again,” the teacher huffs. Something tells Cady that Regina had never set the bullying down in the first place.

Begrudgingly, Regina picks up her designer bag and roots through it. Cady thankfully takes her precious book back. But as she opens it to check that all her dreams are where they were before, she gasps in horror.

Every single page has been scratched out one way or another. Lipstick, black marker in swirly handwriting, even a few pages covered in letter stickers that spell out particularly cruel taunts.

“She ruined it!”

“Where’s your proof, you little freak?” Regina retaliates.

“That’s enough! Both of you will be reporting with me to the principal’s office after school. With your parents,” the teacher yells, trying to get her class back under control. It turns out to be a futile effort when the windows suddenly blow open with the force of the winds outside. “I do not get paid enough for this.”

Everyone ducks underneath their desks as papers start flying around the room, covering their heads and faces for protection. In her haste to get back to her desk, Cady accidentally drops the journal by Regina’s feet, who bends down to pick it up with a coy smirk.

Cady has curled up in a ball beneath her desk when there’s suddenly a thunderous crash accompanied by the sounds of breaking glass. Carefully, Cady peeks up above to see…

Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Evidently having entered through a new hole in the wall.

“I’m looking for Cady,” Lavagirl says, staring down Cady’s classmates. Everyone points to Cady’s desk in the far corner. Cady squeaks and ducks back down. Lavagirl makes her way over regardless, setting homework alight on her way. When she reaches her, Lavagirl lifts Cady’s desk off the ground with just one hand, revealing Cady curled in a frightened ball. “We need your help, Cady. Come with us.”

“Wh-what do I have to do?” Cady stutters, following after the girl made of fire.

“Just come with us, we’ll explain on the way.”

“Hi Cady!” Sharkboy says, waving eagerly. Lavagirl whacks him gently.

“I can’t go with you.” Cady says.

“Why not?”

“Be-because you’re not real! Both of you! You’re just a dream,” Cady says, trying to admit it to herself as well. “And-and you’ll be gone when I open my eyes.”

Cady squeezes her eyes shut for a moment.

When she opens them again, Sharkboy and Lavagirl are gone. Or so she thinks.

“We’re still here, Cady,” Sharkboy says from behind her. Cady screams and whirls around.

“If you want to stop The Darkness from destroying our worlds,” Lavagirl growls slightly. “You’ll come with us.”

“You should probably go with them,” Cady’s teacher squeaks, poking her head up from behind her desk. Cady nods.

“Okay. I-I’ll go with you.”

——————

“Where are we going?” Cady yells, trying to keep up with her friends. Creations? No, friends is much better.

“Planet Drool!” Sharkboy yells over his shoulder.

“It’s real?!”

“Yeah! We just punched a hole in your school, is it so hard to believe?”

“How are we getting there?”

“Enough with the questions!” Lavagirl demands. Cady suddenly notices the shark shaped rocket ship in front of them.

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Put on the goggles,” Lavagirl says, handing Cady a pair of electric blue ones. Hers are purple, and Sharkboy’s are pink. Cady doesn’t judge.

“So how do you fly this thing?” Sharkboy asks. Cady looks at him.

“You don’t know?”

“That’s our whole problem!” Lavagirl says angrily. Cady blinks at her a few times sheepishly before she slams her foot on a pedal. It reveals a green ‘GO’ button. Cady presses it, and they’re off.

Cady looks out the window at the tornados, before they’re suddenly in the atmosphere.

“How do you control it?!” Lavagirl yells at her over the roaring of the engines.

“It has an auto-pilot!” Cady yells back. Lavagirl smacks the button in front of her.

“Wow, you really thought of everything!” Sharkboy says happily.

“Er… not exactly,” Cady says.

“How the fuck do we land?!” Lavagirl says when she realizes.

“That’s the bit I forgot!”

“Well, there’s Neptune,” Lavagirl spits. “Hold on to your asses!”

Cady braces and shuts her eyes, clinging to her harness for safety. Luckily they don’t seem to crash too hard. The ground is almost… squishy.

The mouth of the shark-rocket opens for them to step out onto the surface of the planet. Cady looks out in awe at the world she’s created.

“Do you recognize it, Cady?” Sharkboy asks quietly.

“Not really,” Cady admits shyly. “I feel like I should, but I just… don’t.”

“It’s affecting you too, then,” Sharkboy says sadly. Lavagirl glares at him. “I thought she’d remember!”

“Remember what?”

“Your dreams,” Lavagirl says. “The whole fucking planet? Us? Your powers?”

“I’ve got powers?”

“More than any of us,” Sharkboy says. “Remember what I told you when we met? Everything that is, or was, or will be, began with a dream. And you dreamt us, and this whole place!”

“Every dream you ever had landed here,” Lavagirl says.

“Oh. Why-why is it so dark? I don’t have that many nightmares,” Cady says.

“It began yesterday. What’s the calculation, Sharkboy?” Lavagirl asks. Sharkboy pulls out a shark-shaped device. It’s beeping quietly and seems to be scanning the environment for something.

“About forty-five minutes,” he replies.

“Forty-five minutes until what?” Cady asks.

“Until the planet… is… destroyed,” Sharkboy says sheepishly.

“We didn’t pick you up to save you,” Lavagirl says, looking out over the darkening horizon. “We need you to save us.”

“Oh. How-how do I do that?” Cady asks anxiously. This is way more responsibility than she asked for when she started keeping a dream journal.

“The dream lair over there. That’s where your dreams are going bad,” Sharkboy says sadly. “We have to get you there and find out what’s happening to them. And hopefully reverse it.”

Sounds simple enough.

“We’ll have to travel through the Passage of Time, catch the Train of Thought, swim down the Stream of Consciousness, and skate across the Sea of Confusion. Because it’s frozen now. Nice going, Cady,” Lavagirl grumbles.

“Lava, don’t be mean! It’s not her fault,” Sharkboy admonishes. “We brought Cady here to put things back in order. We just have to stay positive! It’s not the end of the world.”

“It literally is, though!” Lavagirl yells from a ways away. She turns around and walks backwards away from them for a moment. “The planet is dying, come on!”

“What’s her deal?” Cady asks anxiously as she and Sharkboy run after Lavagirl. Suddenly, a groaning creak is heard, and they both turn around to find the shark rocket being swallowed by the Darkness. “Run!”

Everyone picks up the pace, until they’re suddenly on a platform moving rapidly towards a sort of carnival.

“How is this here if you’ve never been to a carnival?” Lavagirl asks.

“I read about them in books and stuff. I always wanted to go to one,” Cady says sheepishly. “I was, like, ten, give me a break!” Lavagirl shrugs and turns away from her with a huff. “Where is everyone? My dream planet shouldn’t be so lonely.”

“They’re stuck,” Sharkboy says, pointing to a roller coaster weaving around a tall mountain that looks remarkably like Kilimanjaro. “Trapped. Ms. Neverbury has everyone kind of held hostage.”

“How awful,” Cady says sadly. “My world was supposed to be fun.”

“Oh, it’s fun, alright,” Lavagirl chuckles sardonically. “Endless fun. Once you get on, you can’t get off.”

“Kids aren’t allowed to rest here, because if they rest, they sleep, if they sleep, they dream, and if they dream…”

“It takes power away from Neverbury. But we have a secret weapon to stop her,” Lavagirl says mischievously.

“Oh, good,” Cady says in relief.

“It’s you, dipshit,” Lavagirl huffs.

“Oh. You know, you’re a lot more rude than I remember!” Cady yells as Lavagirl rushes up to the coaster. “You’re very dismissive!”

“Get used to it!” Lavagirl yells back, reaching up a fist and floating up to the carts rushing around.

“Don’t mind her, she’s having a sort of… identity crisis,” Sharkboy says apologetically. “She’s usually pretty nice, but she’s scared, and she gets angry when she’s afraid.”

“Would you two shut up? We’re on a time crunch here!” Lavagirl reminds them, dangling upside down from the coaster.

“Oh, oops,” Sharkboy says. He does the same motion and joins Lavagirl above their heads, moving to stop the coaster. Cady tries it too, but she can only jump about a foot.

“Man, why can’t I do that?”

Luckily for her, there’s a ladder a few feet away. She’ll have to use that until she figures out how to jump the way her new friends do.

“Whoa,” she breathes as Lavagirl suddenly lands on the cart of the coaster, somehow perfectly steady even as it hurtles around the winding track. Everyone on the cart cheers in relief. Lavagirl hops down in front of it, causing sparks to fly as she attempts to stop it with one hand and shoots lava to weaken the tracks with the other. Sharkboy grabs onto the back and pulls, and their combined strength makes the coaster grind to a halt.

“Who knows where Neverbury is hiding?” Lavagirl demands. She tilts her head in confusion as everyone appears to have both hands raised. “All of you?”

“You’re all upside down,” Cady giggles from her position on the ladder.

“Oh.”

Suddenly, a booming voice echos around them. “Who is stopping my unstoppable fun?!”

Lavagirl gasps and shoots small jets from both hands to release the bars on all the kids, allowing them to fall gently to the ground and run to safety.

“Who is Neverbury?” Cady asks, hopping into the coaster herself and bringing the bar down for protection as it begins to move again. Sharkboy sits next to her, and Lavagirl stands on the front to coast along.

“She’s supposed to be the sort of protector here,” Sharkboy says. “Keep everyone safe. Be a light. But all she brings now is darkness.”

Cady is about to respond when she’s suddenly slammed backwards into her seat. She screams as the coaster suddenly rockets off, hurtling down the track at impossible speeds. Nothing is impossible here, she reminds herself.

“She’s taking us up!” Sharkboy yells. Cady clings to his arm in fright. She decides she’s not quite so interested in riding roller coasters anymore.

Cady peeks up from Sharkboy when they finally come to a blessed stop, letting out a little squeak of fright. Sharkboy gently pats her head to let her know it’s alright before he hops out of the cart. Lavagirl follows him, and Cady scrambles out once she can feel her extremities again.

A large robot has its back to them, fiddling with various buttons and levers to bring images up on the large screens in front of it. It yells something at whatever she sees before it turns to see them. Cady screams quietly. It looks a lot like Ms. Norbury. What I wouldn’t give to be in calculus class right now.

“Well well well, if it isn’t Sharkboy and Lavagirl,” the robot says. “What do you want? Why have you halted my endless fun and infiltrated my lair?”

“We don’t need permission from you, you circular bitch,” Lavagirl huffs.

“Man. Fiery today,” Neverbury huffs. She appears to notice Cady then. “Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met. I am Ms. Neverbury.”

“Um-hi,” Cady says anxiously.

“Why are you doing this to our planet? You’re supposed to be running it,” Sharkboy demands.

“You’re supposed to be running it,” Neverbury mocks. “I am running it, I do run it. Right into the ground. Er, those are my orders.”

Maybe Cady has less control here than Sharkboy and Lavagirl thought. Everything here is supposed to be under her command, but she would’ve never ordered something like this. “Who ordered that?”

“No school, no discipline, no rules,” Neverbury continues. Cady loves school. She loves rules. This is clearly the work of someone else. Not even childhood Cady would’ve done something like this. “And no dreaming.”

“Dreams can destroy you, can’t they?” Lavagirl asks coyly. “That’s why we have to stop you.”

“You and what army?” Neverbury scoffs.

“Guys,” Cady says quietly, pointing behind them. A series of electrical plugs appear to have come to life behind them, sparking ominously. That’s probably not good.

Sharkboy and Lavagirl snap to attention, doing a series of very sophisticated moves and fighting the plugs back. Lavagirl looks very eager to be demonstrating some rather violent tendencies.

“Hey Sparky,” she calls loudly, getting Neverbury’s attention. “Catch me if you can.”

Cady and Sharkboy watch as she sets her hands and feet alight and rockets herself upwards, to another metal platform higher up. Neverbury follows and winces as Lavagirl shoots jets of magma out of her hands.

Cady doesn’t quite know what to do. She was never much good at fighting. Sharkboy snaps back into his fights, punching out several of the plugs and grinding their circuits with his sharp teeth. Wanting to be helpful, Cady grabs a cord and tugs as hard as she can. Eventually, it gives, and Cady winds up on her behind looking up at a plug. It rattles rather ominously and gives chase, so Cady bolts. So to speak.

She runs as fast as she can, and being Kenyan, she’s still pretty fast. She turns to check that she’s lost her pursuer at one point, and finds the plug straining at the confines of its cord.

“Aww, are you a bit short?” She teases. “We’ve all been there. Come get me, loser!”

“Cady, stop trash talking, it doesn’t suit you,” Lavagirl yells, still fighting off Neverbury above them.

“Fine,” Cady huffs. She tips her head and coos quietly as the plug continues straining. Suddenly it appears to ‘look’ to its left and spies another plug. Cady watches in horror as it plugs itself in and gives itself more reach. “Ah, shuck!”

She runs again, but pauses when she hears crunching behind her. Sharkboy is jumping up

and down on the plug, smashing it to bits and stomping out any hint of current still running through it. He smiles at Cady when the last spark flies and fizzles out.

“You’re amazing,” Cady beams.

“You had to be scared of electricity?!” Lavagirl yells.

“I grew up in a tent, I don’t like it!” Cady yells back.

“Both of you shut up!” Neverbury yells. Lavagirl shoots a stronger jet at her face. Neverbury closes her eyes and drifts down slightly. Lavagirl relaxes, but Neverbury quickly pops back up. “Haha, pranked.”

“Good one,” Lavagirl huffs, grinding her heels in an attempt to get a good stance to continue fighting.

“Did you really believe you could stop me? Aww,” Neverbury coos.

Lavagirl kites her back down to Cady and Sharkboy. Sharkboy runs up to aid in the fight.

“I know we can’t,” he says threateningly. “But she can!”

They both point to Cady, who stands there uselessly. Neverbury laughs. Cady holds up her fists.

“Show ‘em what you’re made of, Cades,” Lavagirl huffs.

“What am I supposed to do?” Cady asks urgently. Lavagirl takes a moment to smack Sharkboy upside the head.

“I told you this would happen!”

“I thought she would remember!” Sharkboy defends, rubbing his sore spot.

“Remember what?!” Cady demands from the both of them.

Lavagirl is about to answer when she’s suddenly snatched up by one of Neverbury’s metal claws. Cady shrieks as the other claw grabs her by the foot and dangles her upside down.

“Your dream! Remember the dream,” Sharkboy yells at her.

“I don’t remember half my dreams!” Cady yells back. “That’s why I write them in my journal!”

“What part of your dream do you remember?” Lavagirl yells, trying to get free from Neverbury’s grasp.

“I remember this,” Cady says, feeling like she’s about to hurl. Keep it together. Sharkboy is grabbed by a third claw and brought up to their level.

“Where are you taking us?!” He demands.

“Oh, where all useless dreams go. The dream dump,” Neverbury shrugs. The three of them are suddenly dangled over the chasm below, and dropped.

“This is not what I signed up for!” Cady yells on her way down.

—-

They fall for who knows how long before thudding down onto a metal platform. It spits them back out, onto a sort of conveyor belt. At least they all made it.

“Cuckoo!” Sharkboy warns. Everyone ducks down to avoid being decapitated by a large bird. “At least we’re on the passage of time! Maybe it’ll take us to the dream lair!”

Cady looks around at the various clocks they’re surrounded by. Something isn’t right with them. They’re going backwards.

“It’s going the wrong way,” Lavagirl huffs. “Dream lair is that way, genius.”

“What is the dream lair?” Cady asks quietly.

“It’s where all the dreams that fuel the planet are stored,” Sharkboy replies. “But they’re being destroyed.”

“How?”

“That’s what we have to find out. Soon, even the two of us will cease to exist,” Sharkboy sighs, gesturing to himself and Lavagirl.

“Duck!” Lavagirl yells, pointing. Everyone hits the deck again to avoid a duck-shaped cuckoo. “Heh.”

“Cady, just out of curiosity,” Sharkboy asks as they warily stand once again. “Where is this dream journal?”

“Oh, good idea,” Lavagirl says, the first positive thing she’s said all day. “We can read it out loud and set everything back the way it was!” She adds in a whisper, “And maybe find out my true identity.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Where is it?”

“I… uh…,” Cady stutters, feeling around in her pockets. “I don’t have it. I must have dropped it during the storm.”

Lavagirl’s hair suddenly sets ablaze in anger, and she shatters the next cuckoo in a single punch. “I was really starting to think you were the answer, Cady.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Sharkboy grumbles protectively. “She’s just mad because she’s having an identity crisis and you didn’t fix it for her.”

“Shut up, Sharky!” Lavagirl yells. “Look who’s talking. You’re mad she didn’t make you… king of the ocean or whatever the fuck, with a giant fish army. Cady thought her dream world would be a happy place. We’ve all been had.”

“Guys!” Cady yells, interrupting their bickering. “End of the line.”

“Oh, shit,” Sharkboy says, as the end of the conveyor belt gets ever nearer. There’s nowhere to go but down. Lavagirl falls first, followed by Cady and Sharkboy.

Cady yelps in pain as she lands smack on top of Lavagirl, scrambling away to avoid any serious burns. Lavagirl buries her face in the dirt and groans. “I think you dislocated a few of my craters.”

“Sorry,” Cady says frantically. “Ow, you’re hot.”

“Thanks,” Lavagirl teases. “We gotta find a way out of here.”

The three of them stand and dust themselves off carefully, before setting off in an attempt to find an exit.

“I don’t think there is a way out of here,” Sharkboy says after a while. “And the Darkness is coming.” He appears to realize something, suddenly. “Wait! Cady, sit down.”

“Uh… okay,” Cady says confusedly, sitting down on a pile of calculus textbooks.

“Now dream,” Sharkboy commands. “What do you see?”

Cady closes her eyes carefully and tries to dream. “I see… a giant… Kälteen bar.” Both her companions look very unimpressed when she opens her eyes again. “I’m sorry, I’m starving! I never got my lunch.”

“For the love of magma,” Lavagirl huffs, massaging the bridge of her nose.

“Here,” Sharkboy offers, brandishing a… fish? Maybe? “Fresh sushi.”

“Blech, that’s not fresh,” Cady nearly-heaves. “I don’t even know if that’s sushi anymore.”

“Just a few weeks old,” Sharkboy shrugs.

“You want me to cook it for you?” Lavagirl asks, wrapping a fist around the poor… thing. When she pulls away, it’s been charred to a crisp. “Oops.”

“Er… on second thought, I’m not that hungry, it’s fine,” Cady says. “Let me try again.”

“Hey, um… if you happen to dream about, like, who I am… how I fit into this world,” Lavagirl murmurs. “That would… really be helpful for me.”

“Stop distracting her. Focus on the problem at hand,” Sharkboy insists.

“I can put her to sleep,” Lavagirl huffs. Sharkboy grabs her and pulls her away. “Come on, one punch?”

“She made us!”

“And where has that gotten us?!” Lavagirl roars. Cady backs away in fright, until she hits something with a metallic clang. She whirls around and looks up to see…

“Tobor!”

“Huh?”

“It’s Tobor! I tried to build him out of our old food cans and stuff when I was little,” Cady says happily. “But… I could never get him to work.”

“So here he is, forgotten in the dream dump,” Lavagirl says, finally seeming to calm down.

“He’s supposed to be very smart. Maybe he can help,” Cady says. “Tobor, wake up!”

“Yeees?” Tobor replies. Cady gasps in shock. That voice is… familiar.

“Rhys?” She asks, eyes brimming with tears. She hasn’t heard that voice since she was eight years old. She thought she had forgotten.  Tobor just gives her a wink. That’s all the confirmation she needs.

“Hello, Cady Heron.”

“You can answer anything, right?” Cady asks, wiping her eyes and looking up at Tobor’s large tin head.

“That I can. Whether it is correct is another matter entirely,” Tobor replies ominously.

“It can answer anything?” Lavagirl asks, unceremoniously shoving Cady out of the way. “Tell me something about me. Please.”

“Never heard you say please before,” Sharkboy grumbles under his breath.

“You are extremely bright,” Tobor says to Lavagirl. Her brow furrows, but she gets a slight grin as she tries to work out what that could mean. Sharkboy goes next.

“Hi Tobor! Am I king of the ocean?”

“No.”

“Damn it.”

Cady chuckles and pats his shoulder comfortingly before she goes to ask Tobor her question. “How do I save this planet?”

“The answer… is in your dreams,” Tobor says.

“You mean if I put her to sleep?” Lavagirl asks, brandishing what looks to be a tire iron.

“No, where did you even find that?!” Sharkboy says, wrestling her to take it and throwing it as far away from them as he can.

“No… at least, not here. Darkness is falling. Any dream of hers will become a nightmare. And you don’t want those becoming a reality,” Tobor continues. “But, if you go to the land of Kälteen bars… that’s where the good dreams are.”

“Oh, duh!” Sharkboy says, as if it should’ve been obvious the whole time.

“That’s where the answers are.”

“Can you take us there?” Cady asks Tobor.

“I would, but I have no body. I can’t move,” Tobor says sadly.

Lavagirl looks him up and down suspiciously. “You can move your eyes and your mouth.”

“I suppose that might work.”

Lavagirl and Sharkboy each take one of his eyes, and Cady climbs into his mouth. Suddenly, they detach from the large tin can that made up Tobor’s head a drift off to the land of Kälteen bars. What a day.

——

“Tobor, why didn’t you work when I built you?” Cady asks, drifting peacefully over what looks like a forest of brains.

“Some dreams are so powerful they become real on their own, like Sharkboy and Lavagirl. I, on the other hand, am still only a dream.”

“Oh.”

“Um…” Tobor says.

“What’s the matter?”

“Train of thought. I’m losing it.”

“Land of Kälteen bars,” Lavagirl huffs.

“No, I’m literally losing the train of thought,” Tobor says. “Down there.”

“Huh,” Cady says interestedly, looking down. “I never thought I had a train.”

“What did you think you had?” Sharkboy chuckles.

“I dunno,” Cady shrugs. “Maybe a race car. Doesn’t get too much use, but when it does it goes fast and needs frequent pit stops.”

Lavagirl chuckles at that, but stops abruptly and tries to cover it up with a cough.

“Well, since I do actually have a train… how do I keep it on track?” Cady asks anxiously.

“With your mind. You are easily distracted. Stay focused, and it will speed you directly to the land of Kälteen bars,” Tobor explains. “The rest is up to you.”

Cady and her companions jump down onto the train. Cady looks back at her old creation for a moment. “I’m sorry I forgot you.”

“Are you kidding? You’ve just saved me,” Tobor chuckles gently. “I’m free.”

“Cady!” Lavagirl yells. “Get your ass down here!”

Cady gasps and whirls around. Lavagirl has her head poking out the window of the engine car.

“What’s wrong?!” Cady yells over the roar of the train engine.

“We can’t control it!” Sharkboy says as he and Lavagirl frantically press every button and flip every lever they can reach. Cady joins in as if she knows what she’s doing.

“All you have to do is keep it on track,” she says. Sounds easy enough.

“There is no track!” Lavagirl reminds them. Cady freezes and looks out the window. She’s right.

“What do we do?” Sharkboy asks anxiously.

“Uh… scream?” Lavagirl says. “I don’t know.”

Sharkboy flips another lever, and the door opens. “Jump! It’ll be fine!”

He leaps out the door and is quickly blown off by a gust of wind. Lavagirl follows almost immediately. Cady is left alone on a crashing train. At least if she jumps she’ll crash with her friends.

Cady closes her eyes and leaps, hoping for a miracle. The wind blows her hair everywhere and stings her skin as she hurtles to the ground. Until it stops. Warily, she opens her eyes.

“A Kälteen bar!” She says happily, pushing herself upright. It tips slightly, so she puts her arms out for balance. “Whoa. In a river of milk. Huh. Um… do you guys know what it means when your train of thought… crashes?”

“Nothing good,” Lavagirl says, sounding remarkably chipper. “How much time, Sharky?”

“Twenty minutes,” Sharkboy replies anxiously. He takes a step forward to look around, but his foot suddenly sinks into a puddle of something. He yelps in surprise, but crouches down to inspect it. “Chocolate?”

“It must be the s’mores flavor,” Cady chuckles. “There’s marshmallows too.”

“Why Kälteen bars, though?” Lavagirl asks. “And not, like, cookies, or something?”

“I never had cookies as a kid,” Cady replies. “But we always had Kälteens. And I wasn’t really allowed to eat them, I ate a whole box in a row once and got sick, so my parents hid them and I could only get them if they gave them to me. They were a special thing.”

Lavagirl gives this a moment’s thought and nods. “Try to dream again. Lie down.”

Cady does, using a bit of marshmallow as a pillow. She closes her eyes, but the bar beneath her begins to shake. “It’s too shaky.”

“I hear it too,” Sharkboy says, listening around with his highly trained ears. Lavagirl raises a suspicious eyebrow at the two of them.

“Let me try.”

“No, Lava-“ Sharkboy says, but it’s too late. Lavagirl rests her head on the marshmallow, and the whole thing is suddenly charred. “Hothead.”

“Cady,” Lavagirl says suddenly. “When you dreamt up these giant bars… who did you expect to be able to eat them?”

Cady shrugs. “I dunno, I never really thought about that part.”

“Because if you dream giant bars, something has to be created to consume giant bars,” Lavagirl explains. The rumbling sounds get louder, suddenly, and everyone looks around for the source.

“Giants!” Sharkboy yells, pointing off to the left. He abandons ship again, followed by Lavagirl. Cady is so distracted looking at the giants that she nearly doesn’t make it off, leaping at the very last second before one of the giants chomps down on the Kälteen bar raft.

Luckily for them, they appear to land on…

“Hey, this was my ninth birthday cake! That thing was awesome,” Cady laughs. “Nice and springy.”

“Too much frosting,” Lavagirl grumbles, trying to brush herself clean.

Cady removes herself from her cake and turns around, watching the giants leave peacefully hand in hand. Sharkboy approaches her and rests a hand on her shoulder.

“Those giants look a lot like my parents,” Cady murmurs.

“They seem happy together,” Sharkboy nods. “Is that… another dream of yours?”

“Family,” Cady nods. “Hasn’t really been coming true lately.”

“Well, most dreams don’t come true on their own. You have to make them true,” Sharkboy says. “It takes a lot of work. Not easy. But it’s not impossible either.”

“Alright, we’ve had enough sweets, go to sleep,” Lavagirl huffs, joining them.

“I’ll try,” Cady says anxiously, laying down on the granola ground. Sharkboy gently plays with her hair to help her drift off while Lavagirl paces around.

Flowers begin to bloom around them as Cady dreams, and a shark-shaped motorcycle suddenly drives up. Sharkboy gasps excitedly and runs to check it out, so Lavagirl takes over his position by Cady’s head.

“Dream about me next,” she says quietly. “I need to know who I am. Dream of me as something good.”

A clap of thunder suddenly booms overhead, making Lavagirl whirl around. She looks back to Cady’s face and finds it pinched in concern. “She’s having a nightmare. Sharkboy, get back here!”

Sharkboy runs over and tries to shake Cady back awake, to no avail. Lavagirl stands and aims her hands carefully at Cady’s backside.

“Sorry Cady,” she murmurs, firing a jet of lava.

“Jesus!” Cady yells, her eyes snapping open as she leaps to her feet. “Ow! What the hell was that for?”

“You weren’t waking up,” Lavagirl shrugs sheepishly. Sharkboy kindly fires a jet of water to help cool her off. “Thanks Sharky. Cady… your nightmare… it was about me, wasn’t it?”

Cady tries to think. Surely that can’t be right. She can see bits and pieces, but can’t quite reach them enough to put them back together. “I don’t remember. I’m sorry.”

“Plug hounds!” Sharkboy suddenly yells, pointing to an ice cream hill above them. Neverbury makes her way to the top.

“I have the high ground!”

The hounds suddenly run towards them, stumbling down the hill. Cady and her friends run to the shark bike, but nothing happens when Sharkboy attempts to start the engine. Other than…

“Ah, fudge,” Cady says. “I forgot to dream of gas.”

“Oh my-“ Lavagirl says angrily, storming off in a huff to fight the hounds off. Sharkboy joins her. Lavagirl shoots a jet of lava at one, before she looks at her hands. “My powers are weakening.”

One of the hounds suddenly unravels, wrapping her up in tight confines while a few others zap at her toes. Sharkboy, on the other hand, is doing remarkably well, punching out several with a series of very elaborate karate moves.

He rips off a part to the shark bike to use as a staff, and takes out several more. Unfortunately, he doesn’t notice one that hasn’t quite been beat down rise to its feet, followed by another. They both shock him, causing him to fall to the ground with a pained moan.

“Hey! Leave my friends alone!” Cady yells, bending down and swiping some frosting onto her face like war paint. She’s in the middle of a battle cry when she also gets shocked and falls to the ground. It didn’t quite go to plan, but it did allow Sharkboy to escape his attackers and rush to her side.

“I don’t-I don’t have much fight left in me, Cades,” he pants.

“Where’s Lavagirl?” Cady puffs back. Lavagirl comes… flowing over, so to speak.

“What?” She asks when they both give her confused looks. “How else was I supposed to escape? Oh, don’t look at me like that, I’m literally made of lava. It’s up to you now, Cady.”

“Cady, you can dream us out of here,” Sharkboy realizes. “We believe in you, go on.”

Cady squeezes her eyes shut and tries her hardest to dream. Lavagirl quietly pleads for a lava bike behind her, and Sharkboy asks for a shark boat.  Cady opens her eyes to reveal…

“A banana split?” Lavagirl spits. “Seriously?”

“They’re really good!” Cady defends, crossing her arms over her chest protectively.

“Still hungry?” Lavagirl says threateningly, popping back into her human body and holding up a fist. “How about a knuckle sandwich?”

“Lava, chill,” Sharkboy says, batting her hands away from poor Cady’s face. “Look at it, it’s a banana split boat!”

“Then let’s split,” Lavagirl yells as another wave of plug hounds rounds over the hill. Cady helps Sharkboy push it into the milk river and start rowing just before the hounds reach them.

Once they’re steadily drifting down the river and being steered by Lavagirl, Cady and Sharkboy finally get to sit down on a swiss roll bench. “This is great, Cades. You’re starting to daydream. If you can keep this up, they’ll never get us!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! If you learn to dream with your eyes open, you don’t have to be asleep to dream,” Sharkboy explains. “You’ll be able to make anything happen at any time. You’ll be unstoppable.”

“Grool,” Cady says. She freezes suddenly. “I-uh… I meant to say great, and then started to say cool…”

Lavagirl bursts out laughing, a remarkably bright, clean sound. Cady likes it. She smiles back at her before scooping some whipped cream onto a finger to taste it. “Mm!”

“Sugar will give you nightmares,” Lavagirl says, already back to her typical brooding. Cady immediately spits out her mouthful before she swallows any. “How much time, Sharky?”

“Uhm… best not to ask,” Sharkboy says anxiously, checking his radar. “The lair of dreams is across the ocean of ice. We’ll have to travel there on foot. What did you see in your dream, Cady? Anything we can use?”

“I saw an object, shaped like… do you have something I can draw with?” Cady asks. Lavagirl holds up one of her fingers and shrugs.

“Sharky, come steer.”

Sharkboy takes hold of the cherry stem to steer their raft, and Lavagirl offers Cady her hand. Cady takes it gently and aims at one of the ice cream scoops. Lavagirl fires a jet of lava from it, letting Cady steer it around.

“A heart?” She asks, tilting her head when Cady finishes. Her eyes go wide when she puts it together. “The crystalheart!”

“It’s the treasure of the kingdom of ice, it can freeze anything!” Sharkboy says excitedly, coming to join them. The raft spins wildly until Lavagirl leaps to grab the cherry stem to keep steering. “Even time.”

“Wow,” Cady breathes. “I’ve only ever dreamt of freezing a moment in time.”

“And, even better,” Sharkboy says. “The ice kingdom is ruled by the ice princess. She’s said to be the most beautiful girl in the world.”

Lavagirl’s jaw drops open indignantly, and she fires some magma at Sharkboy’s bum.

“Ow! What the hell, man?” Sharkboy pouts, rubbing his sore backside.

“She is not! She’s cold and cruel and cares for nobody but herself! And you don’t even like girls,” Lavagirl accuses.

“Cady does!”

“I do?” Cady says in shock. She thinks for a second about her past crushes, and then shrugs. Lavagirl certainly doesn’t look too bad. “Eh, yeah, I probably do. Have you met her, Lavagirl?”

“No,” Lavagirl replies sheepishly. She puffs out her chest before continuing, “But I know we don’t get along! She’s ice. I’m fire. We must be enemies.”

“We need that crystal heart,” Cady says pleadingly. “But I’ll need you both to get it.”

Lavagirl sighs and lets go of the cherry stem. Sharkboy leaps to grab it so they don’t drift away too far. Lavagirl looks out off the edge of the raft and huffs. “I just hope this isn’t a trap.”

—————-

“Wow,” Cady breathes happily, looking around at all the beautiful crystal clear ice and powdery white snow surrounding them. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and clearly very intricate, but the air is barely chilly. Even in her thin flannel, Cady isn’t cold.

They approach a thin bridge, made of solid ice. Cady is a little apprehensive at the height, but carefully steps out onto it. Sharkboy follows. Lavagirl thinks about it, but pauses and hunches in on herself a bit just before she tries.

“I can’t go with you,” she calls. Cady and Sharkboy pause and turn around. “I’ll melt the bridge.”

“Can you chill enough to get across?” Cady asks, reaching a hand for her. Lavagirl looks at her feet, then back at her.

“I’d have to be asleep.”

“Try sleepwalking!” Cady calls to her. “You can do it!”

Lavagirl nods slightly and closes her eyes, shaking out some of the tension in her muscles before warily taking a few steps forward. She mumbles under her breath about… a dream of her own. To live on Earth. Someplace warm. And to be accepted.

“Oh no,” Sharkboy says suddenly, anxiously watching his best friend as she crosses the bridge. “No, Lava, don’t sneeze!”

He runs to block her nose with a finger, and breathes a sigh of relief when she relaxes again. He carefully removes his finger and takes a small step back.

“Achoo!”

Lavagirl sneezes, unleashing a rush of hot wind that blows Sharkboy backwards and off the bridge. He grabs onto it with one hand just before he topples all the way off to a certain doom. Cady runs to help him back up.

“Look,” she says quietly, gesturing to Lavagirl. She’s somehow still upright, but deeply asleep. She’s actually snoring quietly, which is remarkably cute. “She’s sleeping.”

Lavagirl sleepwalks towards them carefully, slowly, but isn’t melting the bridge. Cady watches her with a small smile. Until she looks behind her.

“They found us again,” Cady says, her heart sinking. “Lavagirl, behind yo-“

Sharkboy claps a hand over her mouth before she can finish her sentence. “If you wake her up, she’ll reheat. She can make it.”

Cady nods and clings to his arm in fright. “Come on, Lava.”

Sharkboy holds her back, feeling himself growing more tense. They’re all in danger, and his instincts are demanding he protect his best friend. “Lavagirl, they’re behind you!”

Cady frantically slams a hand over his mouth, and he covers it with his own hands in shame. But it’s too late. Lavagirl opens her eyes and looks behind her, bursting into flame when she sees the hounds closing in.

Cady and Sharkboy both scream in fright and run away, barreling for the other end of the bridge. Lavagirl follows them, the bridge melting and crumbling away beneath her feet as she goes.

“Come on, Lava, hurry!” Sharkboy yells. He and Cady both reach out to help her make it onto the platform holding up the castle, but yelp and quickly pull away as she burns them. They made it.

But the ground beneath them begins to crumble. The three of them whirl around.

“It’s a trap!” Cady yelps, instinctively shoving her friends behind her. A small pit suddenly forms from the ground that’s crumbled away, and Neverbury leaps out at them. Cady furrows her brow in thought. “This can’t be right. Someone-someone else’s dreams are in here.”

That’s the last thought she has before the world goes black.

—-

When she comes to, she’s suspended from the ceiling by a spring over a hole in the ground. Sharkboy is also hanging next to her, and Lavagirl is on the other side with her feet stuck in a block of solid ice.

“Welcome to the dream lair,” an ominous voice says. Ominous but… familiar, somehow. “I am the leader of this planet.”

“No you’re not!” Sharkboy yells, wriggling to try and get down. “Cady is!”

“Cady might have dreamed it originally,” the voice says with an airy titter. The large chair in front of them suddenly rotates to reveal none other than Regina George. “But I’m, like, so much cooler, wouldn’t you say? I… am Requiem.”

“How did you get so much power here?” Cady asks. “This is my world.”

Requiem pulls out a small book and holds it up to show them. Cady gasps in understanding.

“My dream journal! That’s why all my dreams are going wrong! You’re changing it!”

Requiem gives a quiet chuckle and sashays her way down in front of them. Sharkboy gasps and goes into a sort of Superman pose when he spies the tank of electric eels beneath them.

“Shocking, isn’t it Sharkboy?” Requiem hums. “Reminds me of… when an electrical storm blew apart your mother’s research lab.”

Sharkboy stops struggling for a moment and looks at her. “Where is my mother?”

Requiem flips through the journal to see if it says anything, and gives a particularly evil sounding chuckle when she finds the right page. “Check the bottom of the ocean.”

Sharkboy snarls at her and tries to get loose again. Requiem moves to Lavagirl. “And you. Once I figure out how to freeze the core of this planet, all your powers will disappear.”

“I have powers?” Lavagirl asks quietly. “What powers?”

Requiem doesn’t grace her with a response, walking to stand in front of Cady. “And last, but least. You. You thought you could escape fear by running to dreamland, hm? But fear exists in the one place you can never escape.” She hops a few times, and is suddenly floating at Cady’s eye level. “Your mind. I’ll show you the true meaning of fear.

“Anyway, for now, you must all leave. I have dreaming to do. Kisses!”

She blows them a mocking kiss with two fingers before they’re dropped, plummeting through the holes beneath them. Sigmund Freud would love it here, Cady thinks to herself.

——————

They land in a large bird cage. Lavagirl paces back and forth while Sharkboy sits next to Cady on the uncomfortable bricks they have for chairs. “If only I had my journal. Then I could turn everything back to the way it was.”

“My fire is dimming,” Lavagirl says quietly. Sharkboy looks at her sadly. He grabs one of the bars behind him and pulls as hard as he can. Nothing happens.

“My strength is fading too.”

“How much time is left?” Cady asks.

“Who cares?” Lavagirl huffs. “We’re never getting out of here.”

Cady frowns at her, but looks up in confusion when a quiet song can be heard. “That’s freaky.”

“Aww, hi La-La’s,” Sharkboy says, playing with the small bubble creatures. Lavagirl bats them away from her face angrily.

“Where did these come from? They’re so annoying.”

“Don’t listen to her, she’s just mad you’re not made of fire,” Sharkboy comforts the little things.

“They piss me off,” Lavagirl grumbles. “That song. Disturbing. It’s so high!”

“Sing louder. Higher,” Cady encourages them quietly. Lavagirl’s hair is on fire again, and she’s visibly tense. Sharkboy grabs her and pulls her close.

“You don’t want to be too close to her when she erupts,” he says quietly.

“Enough!” Lavagirl yells, firing lava out of both hands at as many La-La’s as she can reach. Inadvertently, she also melts them a way out.

“Nice progress, Lava! Much more control this time,” Sharkboy praises. Lavagirl grins at him sarcastically before she crawls out of the hole she’s made. Sharkboy and Cady follow quickly.

—————

“She’s asleep,” Lavagirl whispers to her friends beneath her. Cady crawls her way back up into the dream lair and tiptoes back over to Requiem. Ever so gently, Cady lifts her journal off of Requiem’s chest. She tiptoes back to her friends, and slides down the pillar holding the lair aloft.

“Okay, first things first,” Cady says, flipping through the pages. “A way out of here.” Suddenly, she finds the perfect page. “Oh, Lavagirl! You have a lava bike!”

“I do?” Lavagirl asks. The bike suddenly materializes next to her and she gives a delighted cackle. “I do!” She eagerly gets on and revs the engine. “Hehe, this is tits!”

“Chill out, babes,” Sharkboy chuckles.

“Even has fuel this time! Now, Sharkboy,” Cady continues, flicking through to another page. She quiets when she reads the first few sentences of it. “Your mother really is at the bottom of the ocean.”

“Oh,” he says quietly. Lavagirl takes his hand and squeezes it gently.

“She’s in a submarine, she’s looking for you! She has been since the storm,” Cady continues, looking up at him with a smile.

“Oh!” He says again. Lavagirl squeezes him one more time and smiles at him too. Sharkboy comes to read over her shoulder to figure out specifics of where it is. “I’ve gotta get back to Earth.”

“What does it say about me?” Lavagirl asks quietly. Cady flicks to yet another page.

“I’m not sure what this is.”

“I can figure it out!” Lavagirl replies, climbing off her bike and running over to them.

“Lavagirl, no, you’ll-“ Cady tries to warn, but it’s too late. Lavagirl grabs the book and turns it to ash. “Burn it.”

Lavagirl stares at her hands in shame. “What have I done?”

“Hey, it’s okay-“

“Why the fuck did you make me out of lava? Why? What fucking good am I?” Lavagirl yells, holding up glowing fists and with her hair on fire yet again. “Look at me! Why, Cady?!”

Cady looks at her sadly, and tries to follow as she storms off, but Sharkboy grabs her shoulder and pulls her back. “Let her cool off a little.”

Cady doesn’t listen, running over to where Lavagirl is sitting on a rock, head in her hands. “All I’ve ever wanted is to be good. I know I can be. I-I can feel it. But I destroy everything I touch.” She turns to Cady with tears in her eyes, boiling away into steam the second they touch her cheeks. “Why-why did you make me like this? I have-I have more potential.”

“I’m sure you do,” Cady says quietly. Lavagirl stands suddenly and turns around to see her.

“And why did you make us a team?” She continues, pointing to Sharkboy. “We’re nothing alike! I fizzle out when I touch water. When he’s near heat, he shrivels. We aren’t compatible!”

“You’re… really on fire,” Cady murmurs sheepishly.

“Yeah. I do that,” Lavagirl huffs. Sharkboy shoots some water at her to put her out. “Thanks, Sharky.” Sharkboy nods.

“No problem.”

“Maybe I really am evil. So far, everything sure looks that way,” Lavagirl murmurs, sitting down again. “Everything else you’ve dreamed has been right. Maybe I do need to learn to accept it.”

“That’s it!” Cady says. “Everything else I’ve dreamt has been right, the crystal heart!”

“We were captured last time,” Lavagirl sniffles.

“Because Requiem doesn’t want me to have it! That must mean it’s important, we must be able to use it to stop her!”

Lavagirl’s face suddenly splits into a wide smile, and she rejoins her companions.

“We have to get back to the ice kingdom!”

“We only have ten minutes left,” Sharkboy says. “We’ll never make it!”

“We can do it!” Cady yells, running off.

“How?!” Sharkboy and Lavagirl yell at the same time as they follow her.

Cady freezes in her tracks and turns back to look at them with a small smirk. “You’re Sharkboy and Lavagirl. You can do anything.”

—————

“This way,” Cady says, beckoning Sharkboy and Lavagirl over to a sort of slide into the ice palace.

“You had to pick ice?” Lavagirl grumbles.

“Hey, Kenya is really hot,” Cady defends. “Not my fault that’s where I wound up. I’m sure if my parents were studying penguins we’d be somewhere hot and you’d be having a better time right now.”

Lavagirl just crosses her arms and pouts. She’s remarkably precious, for a girl made of fire. Cady chuckles before turning back around, stopping just in time to avoid crashing face first into a tall ice pillar. Sharkboy is already looking up at the large heart shaped crystal floating above it.

“Is that what you saw, Cades?”

“Uhhuh,” Cady nods. “You’ll have to climb up there and get it. But it’s as delicate as a snowflake, so don’t drop it. And don’t touch it or you’ll freeze, use your claws.”

“Got it,” Sharkboy says, using his claws as a sort of ice pick to climb up the ice pillar. He makes it rapidly up the tower, but as he’s reaching for it, he loses his grip and slides back down. He ends up dangling from his fin a few feet off the ground. “You’re up.”

“Lava, can-“ Cady asks. Lavagirl raises an eyebrow at her. “Er… nevermind. Chew on some ice, it’ll help you cool off a bit.”

Lavagirl looks confused when Cady hands her a chunk of ice, but gnaws a bit off with her molars. “Hmm.”

Sharkboy removes his claw gloves and hands them to Cady to climb the pillar herself. It’s slower going for her, but she finds enough hand and footholds to make it to the top. Carefully, she puts on the gloves and reaches out.

“Hey, nice job, Cady!” Sharkboy calls up at her when she grabs it. Just then, he slips, and the crack caused by his fin splits the whole tower in two. It crumbles beneath Cady and she’s forced to drop the heart to save herself.

“I got it!” Lavagirl yells, lunging to grab it before it can hit the ground. She makes it, but is immediately frozen into a solid block of ice.

“Lavagirl!” Cady yells, sliding down what she has left to hold and helping Sharkboy out. She knocks carefully on Lavagirl’s forehead. “She’s frozen solid.”

Just then, a creaky rumbling echoes throughout the cavern as several ice golems rise from the ground and come to life. One with a large club looms over them threateningly and escorts them to a different room.

Once they arrive, they’re roughly shoved to the ground with a command to, “Kneel before the ice princesses.”

Princesses? Cady thinks. There’s more than one?

Sure enough, two girls in white dresses come out onto what appears to be a small stage, hand in hand. They look familiar too. An uncanny resemblance to Regina’s little minions back on Earth.

“You try to steal our crystal heart,” the one on the left asks gently. “Why?”

Cady is too distracted staring at the both of them to hear her. Why are they here? Sharboy nudges her gently to get her back into the moment. “Oh! Uh, we believe it can stop time. Long enough for us to defeat Requiem.”

“Our crystal heart cannot help you,” the other one says. “Only the two of us have the power to use it.”

“Then you can come with us!” Cady says.

“They cannot leave this castle. The crystal is the only thing that protects our kingdom,” one of the ice golems says.

“Please, princesses, we’re running out of time,” Cady begs.

“Perhaps we could… give it to you?” The first princess says. “But are you worthy to wield it?”

“I think so!” Cady chirps. “I hope so.”

“The crystal you stole was a decoy,” the second one says. A rumbling noise sounds off behind them, and several more ice pillars rise from the ground. “The real one is somewhere in this room. Choose the correct one, and you may take it with you.”

Cady and Sharkboy both turn around and look at all the crystal hearts glimmering above them. Sharkboy points to the one nearest them. “That one looks nice, pick that one.”

But Cady shakes her head and turns back to the princesses. “It’s around your hands. Tying you together.”

Sure enough, the gem dangling from what Cady originally thought to be a simple bracelet gives a magical glimmer, and the princesses give her a kind smile. She heads to stand before them politely.

“How’d you know?” Sharkboy asks in awe.

“Saw it in a dream,” Cady murmurs.

“Be aware, Cady,” the first princess says, more serious this time. They gently remove the necklace they had looped around their entwined hands and rest it in the palm of Cady’s. “If anything happens to the crystal heart, our entire kingdom will be destroyed.”

“I won’t let anything happen to it,” Cady says bravely. “I promise.”

“The crystal will now work, but we must stay here,” the second one says. “Good luck.”

And with that, they’re all tossed from the palace onto the frozen sea of confusion. Sharkboy and Cady have no choice but to push a still-frozen Lavagirl to their destination themselves.

—-

“We’re almost back to the dream lair!” Cady yells when she has it in her sights. “How much time do we have?!”

“Uh… we’re out of time!” Sharkboy yells back. “Ten seconds!”

Cady stops Lavagirl and hops off, standing on the frozen sea. She holds the crystal heart aloft. “Here goes nothing.”

The crystal gives a promising glimmer, but then… everything goes dark. Including the crystal.

“What happened?”

Sharkboy shrugs. “It didn’t work.”

“How could it not work?”

Suddenly, a crunching noise can be heard as Lavagirl finally frees herself from her ice cocoon. “Only the ice princesses can use it. I was trying to tell you.”

“There’s nothing,” Sharkboy says, staring at his shark radar. “No readings, no nothing.”

Suddenly, a small crack forms in the ice, revealing a melted chasm. Neverbury’s cackling laughter can be heard.

“Sharkboy, no!” Lavagirl says. “She’s baiting you.”

Sharkboy tenses, and clenches his jaw. “I can’t… resist my instincts!”

Before either of them can react, stop him, Sharkboy dives into the water in front of them and swims rapidly to the other side. Neverbury stands ominously above him. Sharkboy tilts his head in confusion as she tries to make a poorly timed electrical joke.

“Oh, fuck it,” Neverbury huffs. “Electric eels, eat up.”

“Sharky, no!” Lavagirl yells, lunging for him. Cady grabs her to hold her back. “Swim away! Run!”

Sharkboy tries, swimming as fast as he possibly can. But the eels are faster, and quickly surround him. Cady and Lavagirl watch in horror as he suddenly goes limp and sinks to the bottom.

“No!” Cady says, trying to touch the water. It’s still electrified, the current nearly melting off the rubber sole of her shoe. “Can-can he survive down there?”

“He can hold his breath,” Lavagirl replies, staring hollowly at the water. “But not forever. He’ll drown if I don’t save him.”

“No, I can’t let you go,” Cady says with a sob, clinging to her arm. “You’ll die too.”

Lavagirl turns to look at her, gently cupping her cheek with a warm hand and kissing her. She pulls away before Cady has time to process what’s happening. “He’s my best friend. I have to. We love you.”

With that, she turns back and dives into the water, swimming down to Sharkboy on the sea floor. Cady watches as she grabs him by a hand and hauls him back up to the surface. Cady helps lift them both back onto the shore.

“Sharkboy?” Cady asks frantically, trying to shake him awake. “Wake up, please! Come on, please, please please.”

She’s so distracted with Sharkboy that she doesn’t notice Lavagirl crawling away from the water before collapsing. She’s not breathing, and her fire has been extinguished.

Cady whirls around when she hears a rattling breath, and finds Lavagirl’s lifeless form. “No, no, no, Lavagirl, please! Not both of you!”

Neither of them wake. Cady frantically shakes them, crying harder than she thinks she ever has, but to no avail.

“I can’t do this without you!” She sobs. “What am I supposed to do now?”

Suddenly, the disembodied face and voice of Tobor appears. “What do you think you should do, child?”

“Dr-dream… a better dream,” Cady whimpers, holding the lifeless hands of both her friends.

“Interesting,” Tobor says kindly. “Explain.”

“I wanted all my dreams to come true,” Cady sniffles. “But… I only dreamed for myself. This whole place only exists because I wanted to escape my real world. But I should’ve dreamed to make my real world a better place. Selfish dreams shouldn’t come true.”

“You’re becoming a very good dreamer, Cady,” Tobor says. “You always were, monkey. Get it back.”

“What do you do?” Cady asks hollowly. “When your dreams have been destroyed?”

“Dream a better dream,” Tobor replies. “An unselfish dream. You can do it. I believe in you, monkey.”

“I love you,” Cady says as Tobor floats away. She never thought she’d hear her brother call her ‘monkey’ again. She needs to say it. Tobor winks at her, and then he’s out of sight.

Cady takes a deep breath, and squeezes both of the hands in her own. “Dream a better dream.”

Sharkboy suddenly snaps awake next to her, coughing some water out of his lungs. Cady tips him onto his side and pats his back to help. He looks at her thankfully before crawling over to Lavagirl.

“She knew this would happen,” Cady murmurs. “If she saved you. I couldn’t stop her.”

Sharkboy nods sadly, taking Lavagirl’s hand. It’s cool to the touch, for the first time since their creation. Suddenly, a bright light is visible from behind them. Sharkboy and Cady turn around to see Lavagirl’s volcano home glowing brightly.

“Lava,” Cady breathes. “We have to get her there.”

“I’ll go,” Sharkboy says. Cady grabs his arm to stop him. “I’m stronger, and faster.”

“No, I can’t let you go again. You’ll burn up,” she says desperately.

Sharkboy doesn’t listen, cradling Lavagirl’s body in his arms. “Are you sure this will save her?”

“It’ll do more than save her,” Cady agrees quietly. They have a stronger bond than they’ll ever have with her. She knows she can’t stop him now. She blinks, and Sharkboy is gone. She can faintly see a blue and pink blur running at inhuman speeds towards the volcano. Cady hunches in on herself and says a little prayer.

“I know who you are now, Lavagirl. You are not fire, or a simple flame. You are greater than that. Something more important, and so necessary. That is why you have to live. You are not destruction. You are not evil.”

Cady winces as she sees Sharkboy chuck Lavagirl into the mouth of the volcano, and watches in horror as he’s thrown back by the force of the eruption once she makes contact.

But then, she sees Lavagirl standing where he just was, and watches her hands suddenly glow bright like beacons.

“You are light.”

Cady closes her eyes as a bright glow rushes over her. Lavagirl has realized her true power. And so has Cady.

“Holy shit!” Sharkboy screams when she suddenly appears beside him. He holds a hand over his heart as he tries to get his breath back. “How-how did you get here so quick?”

Cady doesn’t answer that. “Hold off Neverbury. I’m off to deal with Requiem.”

“I’ll need my fish army,” Sharkboy says. Cady turns to look at the frozen ocean they were just on.

“I’ll unfreeze the ocean.” With a snap of her fingers, it’s done. “Good luck. I love you both.”

-

“I’ve become what you feared most,” Cady murmurs to Requiem’s turned back. “Requiem.”

Requiem whirls around in surprise. “How’d you get in here?”

“I’m the day dreamer,” Cady replies. “Able to dream with my eyes open.”

“Hate to burst your bubble here, dream girl, but I’ve read your little book,” Requiem says. “There’s not one dream you have that I haven’t already seen. So what do you say? Let’s blow the roof off this place.” She raises her arms, and suddenly they’re on what appears to be a battlefield. “May the best dream win.”

She sticks out a hand towards Cady, releasing a wave of piranhas. Cady winds up and sticks out her own hand, releasing a wave of…

“Bubbles? Come on,” she whispers. But, as the bubbles make contact with the chomping fish, they’re suddenly trapped inside and carried off with the wind. “Oh. I guess that worked.”

She winds up again, and blows a wave of butterflies towards Requiem. Requiem unleashes her own swarm of wasps.

“Wait!” Cady yells. All the bugs suddenly disappear. She puts a finger to her temple and closes her eyes. “Brain storm.”

Requiem looks at her in confusion before she puts the pieces together and looks up in horror. “Eww!”

Brains splat down to the ground all around her, and she puts her arms up to protect her head from the falling craniums. She screams when one lands in her hands and throws it as far as she can, wiping off the fluid on her cape.

“Brain… freeze!” She yells, lifting her arms to the sky. All the brains raining down pause in place before landing in the ground in a single sheet.

“Brain.. fart,” Cady replies with a giggle. Requiem’s head suddenly swells to roughly one hundred times the size it’s meant to be, and she leans from side to side in a ditch attempt to keep her balance. Before she knows it, she’s completely upside down resting on top of her hand. “Nice headstand!”

Requiem’s head deflates, and she lands back on her feet. She looks at Cady and gives her a quiet chuckle. “You’re afraid of me, aren’t you?”

Cady watches in horror as she moves her hands down her sides in a quick motion, and suddenly rockets off into the sky on a stone tower. Cady repeats the motion and rises to the same height on a pillar of her own.

“I used to be,” she says quietly. “But now I understand. Someone ruined your dreams, and now all you can do is ruin everyone else’s.”

Requiem scowls at her, and sends her tower even higher. Cady follows again. The air is getting a bit thin up here. Hopefully she won’t have to go any higher.

“We can create a better dream than this,” Cady pleads. “A better world. Don’t you see?” She snaps her fingers, and a makeshift bridge suddenly appears between each of their towers. Cady carefully walks halfway across it and reaches out a hand. “What do you say? Regina?”

Regina looks at her in shock for a moment, but slowly joins her on the bridge. She looks at her own hand, before inching it toward’s Cady’s.

Just before they touch, a creaking can be heard and the bridge gives way beneath them. Cady uses her day dreamer powers to sort of float, rushing quickly after Regina.

“Don’t let me fall!” Regina screams, covering her face so as not to see her rapidly approaching doom. Cady grabs her wrist and floats them gently to the dream lair.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Don’t ruin people’s dreams, Regina. Because you ruin your own, too. And then you’ll stop believing.”

Cady is suddenly tackled to the soft ground from behind. She screams, but looks up just in time to see Lavagirl before their lips are slammed together. Her warmth is back.

“Cady,” Lavagirl whispers against her lips. “I am light. Thank you.”

“You always were,” Cady replies, holding Lavagirl’s hips as she straddles her. “Nothing to do with me.”

Lavagirl kisses her again. “But now I know. So thank you.”

“Big deal,” Sharkboy teases. “The real news is what I am!”

“A pain in the ass?” Lavagirl asks, finally standing and helping Cady up.

“I’m king of the ocean!”

Cady giggles at their bickering.

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks for saving me,” Lavagirl says quietly, leaning in to kiss his cheek. There’s a quiet sizzle and flash of light when she makes contact.

“Ouch,” Sharkboy says, rubbing his cheek. At least he’s smiling.

“Everything will return to the way it was,” Regina says from behind them, joining the conversation. “You will be able to travel to Earth and back again as you wish.” She gestures to Sharkboy. “You can search for your mother.” To Lavagirl. “You can rule Earth’s lava realm.”

“And just what am I supposed to do?” Neverbury asks, appearing out of nowhere. “Now that you’re all… buddy buddy.”

“You can go back to being the good guardian of the planet,” Regina replies.

Neverbury cackles. “Oh, really? Keeping everything running? Making sure this loud, obnoxious world is a happy place?”

“Hey!” Cady says sadly.

“You’re dreaming.” Neverbury chuckles.

“I dreamt you,” Cady says boldly, letting go of Lavagirl’s hand and puffing out her chest at Neverbury. “And I can un-dream you.”

“You think you can just snap your eyes open and make me vanish?” Neverbury threatens. “Not so easy. I am the danger of dreaming. For every person who dreams up the lightbulb, there’s the one who dreams up the atom bomb. This is one dream you won’t be waking up from. I’m gonna put an end to this ridiculous tangent at it’s source.”

With that, she takes off towards Earth. Cady yelps and leaps out of the way. “Where did she go?”

“She’s headed to Earth,” Sharkboy says, tracking her on his radar.

“She’s going to try to destroy you in your sleep,” Regina says.

“In my sleep?” Cady asks quietly. “You mean I’m asleep?! All this time I’ve been asleep?!”

“No,” Lavagirl says calmly, coming over to her. “You’re dreaming, Cady.”

“With your eyes open,” Sharkboy adds.

“Make the dream real,” Lavagirl says, taking her hand again. “And you can live out your dreams on Earth. Just like you made us real.”

“Make it real,” Sharkboy commands gently. “You can do it.”

“Blink three times,” Lavagirl murmurs, gently cupping Cady’s face in her hot hands. “One.”

Cady listens. “Wait, but-“

“Two,” Sharkboy says. Cady blinks again.

“Will I ever see you again?”

Lavagirl kisses her one more time before letting her go. “Three.”

Cady blinks.

——

When she opens her eyes, she’s back on Earth, huddled under her desk in the science room. The teacher is trying to gather everyone to head to shelter from the storm, with the help of Ms. Norbury.

Ms. Norbury lifts the desk off of Cady. “Cady, get up! There’s a tornado heading our way!”

Cady scrambles to her feet and dusts herself off. “It’s not a tornado!” She yells over the gusts of the wind. “It’s worse!”

“Regina, wake up,” Ms. Norbury commands, tapping Regina at her desk. Regina snaps awake and winces at the large puddle of drool coating her desk. Gross.

Cady leads them to the gaping hole in the wall, created by Sharkboy and Lavagirl. That was a mere moment ago, but it feels like years. “Look!”

The tornado barreling towards them suddenly begins sparking, and Neverbury emerges from the cyclone before it dissipates into a simple thunderstorm.

“It’s Ms. Neverbury, from planet Drool! The one from my dreams!” Cady explains.

Ms. Norbury and the science teacher both look at it in confusion. “You mean… this is real? Your dreams are real?”

“Some dreams are so powerful they become real,” Cady says.

“I don’t believe it,” Ms. Norbury says.

“It’s literally right there!” Cady yells.

“No, yeah, I can see that!” Norbury replies. “What I can’t believe is… you dreamt me! As a big, round bad guy!”

“Sorry!” Cady says. “Kinda took on a life of its own!”

Ms. Norbury sighs before turning to the class, watching in horror as the storms grow again and Neverbury looms ominously just outside.

“Okay class, we’re just teachers,” Cady’s science teacher says. “And we are here to inspire the answers in you! And there’s some damn good inspiration outside. So, this is now a pop quiz. We need to defeat that lady! Any ideas?!”

Regina raises her hand, surprising everyone.

“Wow, Regina. Yes?”

“I can take her,” Regina says boldly, running outside.

“No, you can’t!” Cady yells, grabbing her hand and pulling her back in. “Not by yourself. We need another idea.”

“No dumb ideas, come on,” Ms. Norbury says.

“Maybe we can freeze her circuits,” Regina suggests.

“That’s literally the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard,” Ms. Norbury replies. “We’re in Illinois in August. Next?”

“No, that might work!” Cady says. “Regina, where are your friends?”

“Gretchen and Karen?”

“Yeah, where are they?”

“Uh… English, I think?” Regina says with a shrug.

“Then come on!” Cady yells, grabbing her hand and hauling her out the door. The English wing is on the other side of the school.

“I am in heels!” Regina yells.

“Take them off, then! This is kind of an emergency!” Cady yells back, breaking ahead. Regina pauses to snatch her shoes off before barreling after her.

The teacher looks up in shock as a very disheveled Cady and Regina suddenly slam the door open. Cady points at them and pants, “We need… Gretchen and… and Karen.”

They already seem to have known this was coming, and stand to join them. Regina says, “Take off your shoes now, save yourselves. Just come on.”

When they make it back to the science room, Cady reaches into her pocket.

“Those jeans are horrific, by the way,” Regina says. Cady waves her off as she pulls out the crystal heart.

“Is this yours?” Cady asks, holding it up to show Gretchen and Karen. They both look at it and each other in shock.

“I’ve only seen it in my dreams,” Karen says quietly, gently running a finger over it.

“Me too,” Gretchen murmurs.

“It can freeze anything,” Cady murmurs, looping it gently around their intertwined hands and fastening it.

“Even time,” they both say at the same time before looking at each other with a small smile.

“Let them out,” Cady commands. Everyone parts like the Red Sea to make way for them to get outside. “Do you know what to do?”

“Yes,” they say. “Stand back.”

Cady watches with a smile as they approach Neverbury casually and each hold up a hand. They still hold each other with one, and fire a beam of ice at Neverbury with the other. Neverbury freezes solid, and then shatters. Snow begins to fall around them.

Everyone cheers and runs outside to play in the magical snow, except for Cady.

“You’ve made me a great teacher today, Cady,” Ms. Norbury says.

“How did I do that?” Cady asks. “I punched a hole in the school.”

“A good teacher learns as much from her students as they learn from her,” Ms. Norbury explains. “You’ve awakened something in me. That being said, I’m going to start looking into a different career.”

“I don’t blame you,” Cady chuckles, before Ms. Norbury pushes her outside to join her peers. Cady heads out aimlessly, not really knowing who to join. Until she sees Sharkboy and Lavagirl standing with her parents. “Sharkboy! Lavagirl!”

“Hey!” They both say. Lavagirl catches Cady as she barrels into her and slams their lips together.

“Oh, um…” Cady says sheepishly when they break apart. “Mom, Dad, I’m bi.”

“After today, we’re just glad you’re alive,” her dad chuckles, ruffling her hair. Cady throws her arms around both of them, and smiles as they squeeze her tightly. They feel like a family for the first time in years.

—————-

epilogue

“The following story is true,” Cady begins. “It may have began as a dream, but as we all saw last month, when you let your dreams become reality, reality becomes a dream.

“Sharkboy and Lavagirl both live here now. Sharkboy rules the ocean as king, and is searching for his mother. He says his instincts tell him he’s getting closer every second, so he’ll find her soon. And Lavagirl lives with me. We just have to keep the heat on max.”

That gets a chuckle from everyone.

“She gets to live her dream too, don’t worry. She rules all of Earth’s volcanos, a source of light and life for all of us. Just from a distance. So… so she can be with me. My advice to you all is… dream your best dreams. Then work to make them real.”

The end.

---

hope you enjoyed!

I'm sorry it wasn't the most romantic, but i did my best to make it fit with the story. we'll be back on earth next week :))

thanks for reading!

lots of love,

ezzy

[duck-writer]

Aphrodite’s Broken Heart: Donald’s Slumber

You can read the first part Here 

Scrooge’s grip on Donald was like a vice, “He’s not waking up...why isn’t he waking up?”

“I placed him in a slumber,” Xandra answered.

He felt his eyes sting with emotion as anger began to rise. Never did he think he would feel this way about the Goddess of Adventure but he'll damn and curse any and all deities who dare hurt his family! His family had lost Della because of adventure. He had lost Della to adventure, and as much as he hated it and denied it, he cost Donald his twin.

Adventure was supposed to be he legacy and badge of honor, not the source of pain and heartache.

She didn’t flinch when Scrooge snapped his head at her and demanded the reason for her actions. Xandra began with, “It was his request."

Scrooge practically growled at her because he couldn't believe that. There wasn't any way that Donald would willingly allow himself to be kept from his boys. There was more to this, more she wasn't telling him!

Xandra could see how difficult it was for the older duck to accept it, so she did her best to explain. "The world's ability to love stems and originates from that heart. Not anyone's love would be strong enough to replace that of godly proportion. Donald's love is fueling the world's. I know it hurts, but it needed to be done. He did it for the world. He did it for his boys." The Three Caballeros were her heroes, and losing one of her champions was devastating. "He didn’t want the boys to see him without love...the love for them was the only thing that kept him going for over a decade. And now, that same love will keep the earth alive.”

"Wake him. Please." Scrooge pleaded quietly. "Surely it can't be that bad. We can find a way to fix this!"

"I'm sorry, Scrooge. The deed is done. There's no reversing it. There is...nothing to fix." Xandra told him sadly.

"I CAN'T LOSE HIM TOO!" Scrooge cried out. Xandra's eyes widened slightly. For all she's heard and seen of Scrooge, losing his composure or cool, wasn't really his style. At least, not with this much emotional pain. He looked at her pleadingly, "We've recently made amends...but there was still more...more..." He swallowed thickly as he blinked away the tears, "He's my boy! I needed to be there more for him. Please...as one of earth's best adventurers, I beseech you, help me save him!"

"I am sorry, Scrooge. But I will not undo Donald's last request."

~~~

Gyro looked at the machinery that Scrooge sent for him to bring the to manor. Fenton was pulling everything along, chatting but he only heard every other word. Scrooge’s tone was...different. For better or worse, depending on who you asked, Scrooge was unapologetically...Scrooge. Gyro had his moments of feeling light ire for his employer but it was mostly when his funding was affected. It didn’t last too long since Scrooge allowed him funding at all and didn’t try to tell him too much about what he could and couldn’t do...although asking him to make sure his intentions didn’t go evil every so often. Which they didn’t! They were mostly just misunderstood! Anyway, the point was, he knew how to pick his moments of when to address Scrooge about his projects and funding depending on his tone. Sometimes dealing with other board members put him in a mood. Certain dates did so as well. But he hasn’t heard the tone Scrooge had on the phone since....well, since the Spear of Selene.

“Are we not going through the front door Dr. Gearloose?” Fenton asked as he kept following the goose towards the back of the manor.

“Scrooge made the order. He wants a secure route.” Gyro answered.

“A secure route? Why? Is the front door of the manor not secure?” Fenton asked.

"I'm assuming this isn’t something the children know about and he wants to keep it that way,” Gyro spoke honestly but with a tone that he hoped Fenton would catch. He didn’t mind Fenton’s plucky attitude, at least not as much as he used to. But there was a time and a place and something in the pit of his stomach was telling him that whatever they were about to learn was on the somber side.

Fenton only paused for a moment to tilt his head before he began to understand this was a far more serious business matter than he initially thought.

As they approached a back door, they were greeted by Mrs. Beakley. She was a hard person to read, but given her background, it wasn’t too surprising. Though Gyro wished he could read more about what they were about to walk into.

“Follow me, please. And try not to make too much noise. The children are enjoying their television time.” Mrs. Beakley told them.

“So they don’t know...about whatever this is about?” Fenton asked quietly. Then followed up with, “What is this about, exactly?”

She sighed sorrowfully, and Gyro watched as Fenton’s eyes widened in a slight panic. Before he could accidentally make a scene that would make too much noise and call attention from the children, Gyro spoke, “These machines will need a proper energy source. I couldn’t bring it today, but they’ll need a generator.”

“Will they work properly tonight?” Mrs. Beakley asked as she led the way.

“Yes. Scrooge might see a spike in his energy bill though.” Gyro commented. He didn’t want to be blamed, or have their funding cut because of this.

“He won’t mind.” Mrs. Beackley said.

Both Gyro and Fenton stopped and shared a look with each other before staring at Mrs. Beakley as if she grew another head. She was very aware of what she said, so she added. “Come on. You’ll see.”

When they stepped into the room Mrs. Beakley showed them to, it wasn’t hard to spot Scrooge or the reason they were there. Scrooge was sitting next to a bed that had Donald resting on it. Or it looked like he was resting...but with how tightly Scrooge was holding his hand, it was clear something wasn’t right with the younger Duck.

“Set up the machinery as needed. Being mindful of the cords and the addition of the generator tomorrow.” Mrs. Beakley told them.

Gyro nodded and began setting up the machines. Working around Scrooge and not bothered by being ignored.

Fenton helped here and there but he was more focused on the duck lying in bed. He knew he should probably keep his mouth shut, but he couldn’t help but state, “He doesn’t look hurt. He’s not, is he?”

The machines began to boot up before Mrs. Beakley could answer. There was a heartbeat beeping, there was a rise and fall of Donald’s chest, and the numbers of other vitals popping up on screens. Fenton’s been in the hospital enough times to know what each number meant and for all intents and purposes...Donald was fine.

“My boy will be alright. He’s just...resting. He’s very tired and he’ll have his rest. But he’ll wake...he’ll wake soon.”

Fenton frowned lightly at the wording as well as the tone. It was...off somehow.

Before he could comment, however, Gyro answered Scrooge. “Of course he will.”

Gyro gave him a small stare, which Fenton’s recognized by now and kept quiet. After explaining to Mrs. Beakley what each machine did, adding information about a few others that were also set up but not connected to Donald directly, Fenton learned that one of them provided a warding barrier of some sort, while the other worked as a sort of power detector.

Mrs. Beakley walked them back out and once they reached the door and Fenton was sure they wouldn’t accidentally be overheard by anyone he asked, “What happened?”

Mrs. Beakley told them all she knew. Discovering Donald’s duties to the Goddess of Adventure, Xandra, what she’d asked of him, and what he’s given up.

“And the children do not know this?” Fenton asked with a frown.

“No.” Beakley shook her head. “Donald made an excuse about helping out an old friend and didn’t give a date of return. Scrooge is hoping to...fix this and hopes to spare the children of this knowledge.”

“He sounds...” Fenton didn’t really know what the proper term was.

“He’s been researching nonstop for a few days. Locked himself up, making excuses it was company business. The truth is too close, but he’s unwilling to accept it, no matter how glaringly obvious it is.”

“The truth?” Fenton echoed.

“Donald’s lost.” Gyro stated.

It was heated but unlike other times when hearing that tone, it wasn’t also laced with irritation. At least not with him or anyone nearby. The words hit Fenton a bit hard. “But...but he was...his vitals are fine! He’s alive and his heart and pulse are strong!”

“The heart beats to circulate the blood, the lungs inflate and deflate to allow him to breathe. He is alive...but he’s lost. The last time Scrooge was like this...” Gyro began.

It took a moment to realize, but Fenton felt his heart sink as he remembered Donald wasn’t the first twin Scrooge has ‘lost’. “But Della came back! Donald can come back too!”

“Scrooge will try,” Beakley stated.

Gyro nodded, “Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.”

She nodded and Gyro and Fenton began making their way out of the estate. Fenton kept eyeing Gyro, really unsure of what to say.

“How can we help?” Fenton finally asked.

“Honestly? There’s little we can do. We can use science to monitor him and make sure he gets the nutrients he needs but considering it was caused by something mythical, there’s little we can do to help Donald himself. That said...he won’t be able to keep this a secret from the rest of his family too much longer. The kids will be affected the most.”

“Pobre chiquitines.” Fenton muttered. It hurt to imagine their heartache.

~~~~~~~~

"I can fix this!" Scrooge insisted.

"I know you'll mean to try, sir. But the children are beginning to worry. About their uncle as well as you. You know them. They'll begin to investigate. It won't be easy...but it will be better if they hear it from you." Beakley told him gently.

His grip on Donald's hand tightened. Whenever his eyes hurt too much from his research and he couldn't read anymore, he would sit by Donald's side and watch his vitals. Holding his nephew's hand he would obsessively watch the monitors that were connected to Donald until exhaustion took hold and he had yet another restless sleep.

It was like losing Della all over again, yet with a new spin of heartache. Donald wasn't lost as Della had been. He was right in front of Scrooge...physically there, vitals strong, and he honestly was sleeping!

Yet...

"Organize a family meeting..." Scrooge mumbled.

Beakley nodded and went to inform everyone in the house.

Scrooge remained for a while longer. "You've got a lot of adventure stories to tell me, lad. I plan to hear them. Every single last one. And maybe join you and your friends on a Caballero quest if I may..." He tried to smile and feel some hope, but his smile quickly turned into a frown. "I should have tried harder, Donald. I'm so sorry...I'm going to fix this. I promise you I will!"  

He took a moment longer to simply watch Donald before he went to do his best to tell his family what happened. Their reactions were all as he expected. Varying in shock and anger and disbelief.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Despite the evidence she had about what happened, she just couldn't believe it. She refused to accept defeat! She was Della Duck! Between her and Scrooge, they would find something! They had to! Though Scrooge told her there wasn't any point in visiting any of the deities that remained on Ithaquack, she still had to try.

“I’m so sorry Della...but it’s simply not possible.”

“Don’t give me not possible! Do you guys even care?”  Della cried out, tears of frustration falling down her cheeks.

Selene sighed and gently brushed them away. “I won’t take that personally, for I know how much your heart aches. Storkules is beside himself as well...”

“Then help us! Do something!” Della begged.

“We simply cannot. Even if we wanted to. Not I, nor Storkules though he is more than willing, and not father. Even if he wanted. Which...he doesn’t. But the point is my dear...no god or goddess can undo the work of another deity.”

“This isn’t fair! I came back from the moon, from practically the dead, for my family! Not just my kids! I came back for Donald too. He’s my twin! My other half! This...this isn’t how it was supposed to go! Especially not for him! He gave up everything for my boys! Me coming back wasn’t just so I can get my time with my boys, but it was to make amends with Donald. And somehow help make up for everything he’s done and has personally given up for me and the boys!" She was panting after her burst of emotions. Sniffing a few times, she continued to beg Selene to understand her plight, "I’m hurting this bad....they’re hurting even worse! Can’t Xandra understand this?”

“We’ve spoken with her...”

“You have?” Della asked, a bit shocked.

“Of course. After father refused to help and then reminded Storkules as to why he can’t, my brother went straight to her. He asked, he begged, he threatened...”

“Threatened? Storkules?” Della was glad someone was doing something, but it was still strange to hear of sweet and friendly Storkules wanting to use force.

“For his Donald? Anything...”

“What did she have to say?” Della asked as she wiped her eyes, even if it seemed futile as more tears just kept appearing.

Selene sighed again, “It wasn’t an easy task to ask of him. But Donald was a hero. Not just an adventurer. He had a lot more to do under Xandra’s guidance. A lot more than what some of the adventures with your uncle have called for. In the end, she refused to hear my brother’s pleas and told him it was for the boy’s sake...and his as well.”

“That’s bull,” Della grumbled and crossed her arms.

Selene gave her a sympathetic smile, “Your brother was so full of love, Della. It fueled him as much as his anger did. He melded the two, and used his love to fuel his fury and wielded it like a weapon to protect his family. That...is the brother you remember. That is the Donald my brother and your boys know and love. That is not that Donald they will meet should we wake him.”

“Wha...I....but....”

Selene reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. “I’m sorry. I am. And though Donald without love wouldn’t immediately mean he’d be cruel...but he would be indifferent. I’ve only met him once since you two stopped visiting after your accident. And trust me, with Storkules, I’ve heard plenty of him in between and since...and even filtering out my brother’s feelings for him, he was an amazing person. Who cared. Despite how angry he could get at their actions of heroics and dangerous deeds, under it all...it was worry. Because he cared and loved those who did those dangerous heroics. All of that is gone, my darling. He won’t care if the boys are ill, or if they get hurt, he won’t care if they did well in an event or if accomplished something incredible...”

“That would hurt the boys.” Della relented.

“I know...and so did he. It was his choice, Della.”

“I won’t stop looking for a way to fix this!” Della declared, anger burning behind her desperation, along with love.

Selene smiled gently at her and repeated, “I know.” The doors to the pantheon opened and an exhausted, dirtied, bruised, dejected, and defeated Storkules stumbled through. Selene and Della watched him pass silently, before Selene added, “Trust me...you’re not alone.”

~~~~~~

Huey:

“I made this for you today,” Huey said as he placed the new sleeping mask on his uncle’s closed eyes. “Violet helped me with the elastic band. It’s really tricky. I remember you used to do it for me...I kinda wanna learn it to impress you when you wake up. But I also want you to be the one to help me master it. Violet says hi, by the way. She’s actually helping Webby research. I promised to join them later...I just had to check on you first. I’ve made sure all the monitors are working and calibrated. I’ll check them again before I go to sleep...we’re gonna find an answer. Ducks don’t back down! You taught me that...and there’s so much more. We’re gonna be hitting puberty soon and honestly, I want to learn to shave from you. No offense to Scrooge or Launchpad...I also just miss you, Uncle Donald.” ~~~~~~~

Dewey:

“And it was all so epic! But in the face of danger, I did the responsible thing!” Dewey exclaimed, but then he lost his confidence a bit as his shoulders sagged as he looked at his uncle’s unreactive and unmoving form, “At least I think I did. I uh...It’d be nice having you seeing me try to be responsible...so I’d know it was the responsible thing to do.” He closed his eyes and sighed before opening them again and pleading, “Please wake up Uncle Donald...” ~~~~~~~~~~

Louie:

It was late at night and Louie didn’t care if he looked like a baby at all. He was curled up to his Uncle Donald’s side, holding on tightly and hiding his face in his uncle’s chest. Small sniffles could be heard in the spacious room that didn’t feel as much as Uncle Donald’s room as his hammock on the houseboat.  Into the darkness and against his uncle’s form, he whispered, “If I promise to be good from now on, will you come back to us, Uncle Donald?”

[nonbinarybrainstorm]

Hi. Me again. If this is ok: KnockOut/Dreadwing (TFP) where KnockOut loves being taken by a big mech and Dreadwing needs to let off some steam. (Again, not romantic or fluffy; just two mechs having fun and easing stress with rough but consensual sex) (again, if I've asked for stuff outside of your rules page/I've misunderstood your rules page, I understand if you just ignore this; just let me know if I am annoying you with my asks in any way so I can change)

Enjoy!

Dreadwing’s anger was beginning to boil over and his plating feels tight on his protoform. What was worse than the failing state of the mechs around him was the wait, the wait for his chance to do something, anything. Vehicons left and right step out of his path as he stomps through the corridors, racking his processor for some way to alleviates his mounting stress. Then, in the corner of his optic, he sees a lithe red frame sneak into view. Turning to look at the mech, Dreadwing sees exactly who he expected: Knockout. Dreadwing doesn’t address him knowing that he didn’t have the mind for civility right now, let alone the intention to deal with whatever little plan knockout was cooking up now. Everyone thought that Starscream was the true screamer among the Decepticons which only goes to show how superior Knockout is to him, sliding through each tense encounter with ease and not an unskilled fighter at that. A skilled and strong mech who knows how to use every single one of his assets... 

The sharp calculations behind those blazing optics is clear as day met with carefully picked intonations and body posture, a whirling array of in-the-moment adjustment to observation and result. Without truly listening to the words, Dreadwing knows exactly what Knockout is after in the way he glides his hand through the air and drags his optics up and down Dreadwing’s frame. It is nothing of consequence nor is it anything he’d find… objectionable.

“You wish for me to frag you,” Dreadwing interrupts the tirade spilling from Knockout’s shapely lip plates, a solid statement without so much as a hint of a question.

Knockout huffs a soft laugh, almost embarrassed to be caught in his moves… almost.

“You understand me perfectly, Dreadwing,” Knockout praises him with dull optics, an obvious flirtation but there is no need for subtlety now, “So? Interested? You seem like you could use some… relief.”

There was no sense in denying it, the entire ship knew by now to not bother Dreadwing, not in the state he’s in now. Out of pride, he almost refuses but considers it, the chance to really feel and use that enticing frame in front of him.

“Very well,” Dreadwing nods and gestures for Knockout to follow him.

They walk into an empty set of quarters, deserted of any sign of life and Dreadwing locks the door behind them before picking up Knockout to set him on the berth. Knockout lets out a soft, annoyed sound at being handled so roughly and levels a withering look at Dreadwing.

“What? Not even an attempt at seduction?” Knockout crosses his arms.

“If you wanted seduction you should’ve gone to another mech, besides,” Dreadwing rests his hands on his hips casually, unbothered by Knockoout’s haughtiness as he opens his panels to let his spike pressurize, “we both know you didn’t come here for seduction.”

Knockout chuckles and runs a digit down the length of Dreadwing’s large spike appreciatively, “You got me there…”

Dreadwing kneels, moving Knockout’s hand out of the way, and parts Knockout’s legs to give him enough room to move in and lick over Knockout’s panels that open easily for him revealing Knockout’s valve to him. The lubricating mesh is pliant against his glossa as he pushes it past Knockout’s folds and runs it up to Knockout’s anterior node. Dreadwing’s lips meld over the pulsing node and he sucks gently, gaining a gentle gasp from Knockout. Looking up, he meets the burning light of Knockout’s optics that are watching him with a frenzied lust, all of whatever repressed emotions he’s had coming to the front and melting into a very apparent need, the need for release. Dreadwing pushes his glossa into Knockout’s entrance, circling it in a slow, languid motion, enjoying the feel of the soft mesh against his lips so much so, he can feel heat surge to his spike. His glossa is relentless but methodical in Knockout’s valve, making lubricant gush from Knockout as his calipers begin to loosen and heat rises in his frame. Knockout tugs away Dreadwing away from his valve, venting heavily as his plating pings with heat in time with the needy pulse of light in his optics.

“As much as I’m enjoying this,” Knockout tries his usual, sultry purr but it cracks with gasps and light static, clearly showing that Dreadwing is certainly having an effect on him, “I rather we get to the main event already.”

With lubricant staining his lips, Dreadwing rises to his pedes and faces Knockout, wiping away the mess with the back of his hand completely nonplussed.

“I’m not fond of harming my partners,” Dreadwing rumbles, tracing a line down Knockout’s thigh to feel it twitch under his touch, “even when they are so willing.”

His digits reach Knockout’s valve and sink into it slowly, feeling it give but still squeeze tightly around them and pulls them out slowly, dragging a hot vent from Knockout’s lips before slipping them inside again.

“You won’t be able to take me without discomfort like this,” Dreadwing moves his hand as he speaks, grinning at how Knockout pushes down against his fingers, “Been a long time Knockout?”

Knockout huffs and smirks, quickly curling his hand around Dreadwing’s stiff spike while running his thumb over the head, smearing pre-fluid over it with the motion.

“It must be the same for you if you can get so excited just from tasting my valve,” Knockout chuckles lightly and squeezes down on Dreadwing’s spike, earning a stifled grunt.

Dreadwing pushes Knockout onto his back and lines up the head of his spike with Knockout’s entrance.

“If you insist, then I’ll just have to go slow,” Dreadwing mutters as he balances himself on the berth and hooks his other hand under Knockout’s knee.

Knockout lets his legs fall open a bit wider with a self-indulgent grin, “Please…”

With a slow vent, Dreadwing pushes into Knockout, feeling the mesh of his valve give under the pressure of the broad tip of his spike, suppressing the shivers coursing through him along with his building charge. Knockout keens low as he lets his body relax, his sharp digits digging into the berth in his effort to stay as still as possible, the anticipation making his spark thrum in his chest. Dreadwing flexes his hand around Knockout’s calf as he shifts the leg in his hold higher as the ridge of the head of his spike slips into Knockout’s valve, the sudden change in width making him push in further and faster than he intended causing them both to gasp. He digs into the berth to steady himself, venting heavily in deep, slow puffs that cloud the air with steam as he reels himself in, restraining the urge to shove his spike the rest of the way into Knockout here and now. Knockout rocks his hips down, rolling them slowly to push himself further onto Dreadwing’s spike with a lascivious moan that draws Dreadwing in who leans in involuntarily as he grips Knockout’s hips tightly. Bearing his sharp fangs, Dreadwing drags them lightly over Knockout’s shoulder as he grinds into Knockout’s valve.

Knockout tilts his head to one side to let Dreadwing nip and lick at the warm cables filled with the hot energon rushing through Knockout’s lines. With the added stretch and stimulation, Knockout’s valve is wet and giving against the insistent press of Dreadwing’s spike, twitching around it as it fills him completely. Slowly rolling his hips into to Knockout’s, Dreadwing grinds slowly, groaning at how tight the slick, hot mesh of Knockout’s valve is around his spike. Knockout finds the sensitive seam at the cusp of Dreadwing’s wings and digs in his digits, feeling the deep growl Dreadwing makes through his entire frame. Dreadwing pulls back and adjusts his grip before giving one, hard, thrust into Knockout’s valve getting the slim mech to writhe on the berth with a cry, his hands digging into Dreadwing’s.

“Are you satisfied, Knockout?” Dreadwing smirks down at the flushed mech below him.

“Yes, yes, your spike is very big and stuffs my valve ever so nicely,” Knockout rolls his optics before settling them into a glare at Dreadwing, “Now will you just spike me already?”

“So impatient,” Dreadwing tuts but obliges Knockout with another deep thrust.

He works Knockout’s valve slowly, lubricant pushing past his spike with every thrust in, Knockout’s calipers tensing every time the head of Dreadwing’s spike brushes his ceiling node. Dreadwing increases the pace, panting heavily as he watches Knockout bite his lips to keep himself from crying out. Without slowing down, Dreadwing leans and brings one hand up to ease Knockout’s mouth open, meeting Knockout’s curious gaze impassively. Immediately, the suppressed sounds begin to make their way from Knockout’s intake as Dreadwing thrusts harder into Knockout’s hot valve.

“How can I know if I am pleasing you if I cannot hear you?” Dreadwing asks flatly which contrasts with the frantic movement of his hips bringing Knockout closer to the edge.

Knockout’s flushed face makes his grin far more wanton than he probably intended as he retorts, “What? Is that something you get off on?”

Dreadwing slows and lets his spike sink slowly into Knockout’s valve that makes Knockout cling to him with a low moan.

Their faces are very close now as Dreadwing softly rumbles, “Yes, I happen to like to know my partner is enjoying themself.”

“Ah,” is all Knockout can manage as Dreadwing grinds into his ceiling node while plucking at the seams at his hip.

Dreadwing thrusts slow and deep into Knockout who clings to him, his soft cries dragged from his intake with every move of Dreadwing’s hips. It’s almost painful for Knockout, to be so full of spike that his anterior node is practically bulging out, pulsing with aching need and yet the charge being built up is so slow and gradual he feels like he’s melting from the inside. Moans spill out from Knockout’s mouth as Dreadwing continues to slowly thrust into him, never breaking his torturous rhythm, feeling as the pleasure builds higher and higher within him at the slow drag of Dreadwing’s spike over his nodes. He can feel himself reaching overload steadily, gripping Dreadwing’s shoulders to grind himself down on that spike but Dreadwing’s sturdy hands have him locked into place. Too out of it to figure out how to free himself to ride that spike as hard and fast as he wants, as he needs, he’s left at the mercy of Dreadwing’s lazy yet relentless thrusts. Even as slowly as it had been building, Knockout’s overload still catches him off guard, his entire frame twisting in Dreadwing’s hands as he yells out Dreadwing’s name that’s all only heightened by the flood of transfluid he feels spill inside of him.

Knockout collapses against the berth, worn and panting heavily while finding he has to reset his optics in order to turn them back on only to find the very satisfied look on Dreadwing’s face. Spike still firmly inside his valve, Knockout can feel his pride contrasting with the rebuilding charge in his valve with every involuntary spasm of his hips in post overload. In a quick decision, he flips them over so Dreadwing is beneath him, spike still deep in his valve.

“I don’t think my desire has been satiated yet, how about you?” Knockout runs his hand down Dreadwing’s broad chest before pushing him down on the berth earning a low chuckle.

“I suppose I have time.”

[rosethornewrites]

Fic: and sings the tune without the words, ch. 2

Relationship: Jiāng Yànlí & Jīn Zǐxuān, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī & Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn

Characters: Jiang Yanli, Jin Zixuan, Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian

Additional Tags: Epistolary, Food, Music

Summary: An epistolary follow-up to “the thing with feathers.” Exchanged letters.

Notes: I’ve talked about yuanfen before, but it’s basically the chance or binding force that brings people or people and objects together, good and bad chances and potential relationships. It’s different than fate, which implies there’s a higher power of sorts involved. It doesn’t mean the people are meant to stay together. Lan Wangji feels it was yuanfen to meet Wei Wuxian again, particularly since he was calling his name despite the fact that he shouldn’t have known it, and he’s drawn to him in a way that makes him feel they will stick together in this lifetime. I love referencing Boya, whose friendship with Ziqi inspired the term “zhiyin,” or “to know the tone,” which has come to mean a close and sympathetic friend. According to the stories, when Ziqi died, Boya broke his guqin and refused to play it anymore. He’s well known for playing “High Mountains and Flowing Waters,” and so it is associated with Boya and zhiyin. They’re still 10 here, so despite what may appear to be romantic undertones, there’s no romance to these letters.

Previous fic in the series: “the thing with feathers”

Chapters: 1

AO3 link

—————

Dear A-Zhan,

I’m sorry it took me a little while to write to you. Something happened that was scary, but I promise I’m okay. Please don’t worry. 

I went to the training ground to watch a-niang and A-Cheng with their whips, and I had a bad episode—I guess that’s what a-niang and a-die call them? I don’t know if I ever saw a-niang use Zidian before, but in my episode she was whipping me with it and yelling terrible things, like that I would bring ruin on the Jiang sect.

A-Cheng said I fell and was moving like I was being whipped, and after they were afraid I wouldn’t wake up because it took two whole days for me to. Plus when I fell I hurt my wrist, which is another reason this letter took so long. I’m still not allowed out of the healing pavilion without an adult with me, so it’s super boring. 

When I told a-niang what I saw, she cried and promised she never raised Zidian at me and never would, but she told me before I was hurt she was angry with me because she misunderstood why a-die brought me home, and that she was really sorry. 

She’s been so kind to me that it’s hard to believe. But we had a long talk, and she said I’m an asset to the sect and could only bring the Jiang pride. She said she thought a-die loved my mama and wanted her as his wife instead, but learned he was grieving my baba and rescued me to raise me for him since they were sworn brothers. 

I don’t think it matters what happened before. I don’t remember it, and she’s my a-niang. She comforted me when I was scared, and she believed me about the yao. She said she would work to be worthy of my forgiveness even if I already forgive her. 

A-Die and a-niang have been telling me about my mama and baba. I guess a-niang and mama didn’t like each other a lot, which is kind of sad. But she said now she wishes she had tried to be friends with her, so she’ll do the next best thing and be good to me so mama can rest well. A-Die tells me a lot of stories about baba and it’s fun to hear them because some of them are when they were kids. He told me mama once shaved Lan-xiansheng’s beard while he was sleeping!

A-Jie keeps cooking me soup and A-Cheng made the servants move my bed and all my stuff back into his quarters. He said when Healer Kang lets me leave the infirmary, I shouldn’t be alone. A-Lian was so upset by what happened that she’s started sleeping in here. She says her gege shouldn’t be alone. She’s a bit of a blanket hog, not like you at all. 

It’s weird without you at Lotus Cove, I guess since I don’t remember a time without you here. So it’s like you’ve been here my whole life! I’ll have to get used to it. 

At least we’ll see each other in three months when I come to visit the Cloud Recesses for musical cultivation training. 

When I miss you I wind up playing “High Mountain and Flowing Water,” like you were when I woke up, and since I miss you a lot I play it a lot. There’s a song in my head sometimes, too, in bits and too soft to fully hear. 

I hope your trip back to Gusu went well, and that the bag of treats I packed was enough for the journey. A-Jie helped me put it together because she cooks the best. 

I hope this letter finds you well,

Jiang Ying

Dear A-Ying,

While it is nice to be back in Gusu, I wish I was there with you, that I could play music for you and help you. If you need me, I will ask shufu to let me return to Lotus Pier. 

Your episode sounds terrifying, but I am glad it has allowed you to talk with your mother more. She seemed to have trouble at first, like when she sometimes compared you and your brother. It seemed like a habit she was trying to break. 

But it is clear she loves you. That is important. Yu-furen was the one to insist on your adoption. I don’t know if you knew that. She is letting go of the past as well, but perhaps it’s harder to let go of guilt. 

I am glad you are learning more about your parents. I wish to learn about mine as well. My mother died when I was six, shortly before I met you in Yiling. The rattle drum had been a gift from her, and I gave it to you because your smile reminded me of her. My father has been in seclusion my whole life, so I also know nothing of him. I hesitate to ask shufu, because these things may be upsetting for him to discuss. 

Perhaps if I asked him, he would paint my mother, as Yu-furen did for you. I remember her still, but I worry her features will grow fuzzy in my mind. I know you understand, given what you have experienced, but it’s difficult to try to explain to shufu. 

Your sister’s soup is delicious, and I’m sure it helps you feel better. It is very kind for your brother to share his quarters with you, and I quite agree that you shouldn’t be alone. Your occasional nightmares were often very upsetting for you, and I’m sure your brother knows that and wants to help you however he can. I know I will rest easier knowing you have him with you at night. A-Lian may continue to find her way into your room even after you move from the infirmary. She loves you dearly and worries for your health. Perhaps keep a second blanket at the foot of the bed for these nights, so you won’t catch a chill when she steals the first. 

I miss you, as well. I keep expecting to hear your voice, even in the Cloud Recesses. I, too, have found myself playing Boya; I wonder if we play it at the same time. I feel that you calling for me, that my meeting you again, was yuanfen. I have felt thus since you first woke while I was playing “Gao Shan Liu Shui.” 

It is strange to be apart from you now. Three months seems like so long a time before your visit. I have been making a list of places you may enjoy when you come. 

The trip back was uneventful, but pleasant. It was nice to travel by boat in a more leisurely way, and I believe you would enjoy the trip as well. There was much to see on the river, in terms of the beauty of nature. I imagine you would be inspired to paint. 

Thank you for packing us snacks. I enjoyed them, as did xiongzhang and shufu. Please thank Jiang Yanli for us as well. I also was happy to see the small painting of bunnies you snuck into one of my qiankun pouches. It reminded me of eating spun sugar bunnies with you in the Yunping market. 

We made so many good memories, and when you come to Gusu we will make many more. 

I wish you good health and look forward to your next letter,

Lan Zhan

[serensama]

To Release #3

Jaehee needs to let MC go.

Years ago, I had asked the amazing @promiscuous-jalapeno to write a HC for me when I was too scared to write my own and she did an amazing job- tore me right up it did. I asked her shortly thereafter if she minded if I tried to do it and she was kind enough to encourage me. Nearly 4 years and I’ve finally done it. 

Trigger warnings: Character death, mentions of blood and aneurysm.

This is for my friend, my sister- Susana. I don’t know how to let you go. But one day I will. And one day I will see you again. Rest well until then dear one.

This is for my baby, my puppy Meiko- run free my little one. I know you’ll be waiting for me too. Keep Susana company and keep her safe until we catch up, okay? Good Boy. 

-       It was just a routine check-up.

-       It was the bane of her existence so of course she delayed it as far as possible because she hated doing it.

-       But Jaehee wouldn’t relent when she found out the last time she had a pap smear was over six years ago.

-       In amidst all the “I can’t believe you’ve been so irresponsible” or “You have to look after yourself” and “What were you doing before you started dating me?” she didn’t fail to hear what her girlfriend was truly saying, I love you and I want you to love yourself as much as I do.

-       Which, if she was being honest was half the reason she stayed away from those little metal contraptions of pain was because she loved herself… but she was arguing semantics with herself and that wouldn’t get her anywhere. Or get her girlfriend to stop prodding her to go and get it done.

-       So, Jaehee stopped nagging and just booked her in for an appointment.

-       MC could still remember the instant rage she felt at hearing her just make a choice for her, especially when it came to her own body. Yes she understood that Jaehee had done it coming from a place of good and only with the purest of intents- but it still pissed of her off to no end. She almost threw the dough she was kneading right in her pretty face. “Jaehee, I’m not a child-”

“Well you’re certainly acting like it.” “Urgh! Stop it! I know that I needed to get tested but I wanted to do this in my own time, with my own doctors and-”

“I booked it in with your doctor.” “That’s not the point!” “We can reschedule the appointments to later if you wish.” “Yes! I will reschedule the… wait… appointments?” “Of course, our appointments. You don’t think I would ask you to do something you’re so obviously worried  alone would you?” she asked wiping the sweat on her upper lip on the back of her arm, completely focused on finishing up the cleaning of the kitchen. Jaehee waited for a moment to see if she would answer before continuing with a disbelieving shake of her head. “You know me better than that. I may have booked you in without your knowledge but I was never going to force you into going. I just wanted to kick you into action is all. Your health is important to me. “… I know.” “I love you.”

“I know.” “That and no-one else makes cinnamon rolls as good as you can.”

“Ha, damn straight they don’t.”

-       At the very least when MC finally lay there ready to be examined, with her hands fisted under her ass and legs embarrassingly spread flush against the bed, she was comforted by Jaehee’s soft caresses of her shoulder and her kind, encouraging words whispered into her ear- MC knew she was not alone. A favour she fully intended to repay  once her girlfriend replaced her to be the one who was prodded and poked.

-       It was over within 15 minutes for the both of them.

-       She didn’t even know why she had kept putting it off. Yes it was awkward and uncomfortable but for the peace of mind it gave to Jaehee and the irreplaceable smile it drew upon her face, she’d do it again in a heartbeat. Well. In the next three years at least.

-       Life went much back to normal, day in and out at the coffee shop and then back home with her… she couldn’t ask for much more than that.

-       She had all but forgotten about the test until she got a call three days later. She remembered her doctor’s voice on the other line asking if she wanted to come in and the instead dread that filled her veins at her tone. Why would they call if it was all normal? Why would they ask to speak face to face if it wasn’t serious? MC couldn’t recall exactly what she said but she knew it was in the lines of “just put me out of my misery.”

-       But she couldn’t.

-       She said they results were inconclusive and abnormal results didn’t necessarily mean the worst, however further testing needed to be done.

-       Fine. More horrible tests. She could deal with that. She could. It was going to be fine.

-       MC had delayed telling Jaehee, she didn’t know how to tell her. Whenever she rehearsed it in her head it always sounded like she was already saying her goodbyes and the last thing she wanted was to give her a coronary because she misspoke.

-       It was only until the night before her next scheduled test that she finally gave in and told her. Just blurting it out without any preamble because no matter how she said it, her fear coloured her words.

-       Jaehee… took it very well.

-       Surprisingly well.

-       She sat there for a couple of minutes, eyes fluttering for a moment before blinking rapidly, as if her brain was catching up and processing everything MC had just said to her. “So… at the moment they aren’t sure what it is and need to do further tests to make sure they can treat whatever it is you may have properly, is that correct?” she asked clasping her hands together in a way that reminded MC of Jumin after Saeyoung and Yoosung had just told him that they took Elizabeth the Third to the wrong groomers and they had shaved off all her fur bar her head and tail- like he was trying to figure out how to fix their mistake but also find a way to kick their asses. Jaehee may not want to kick her ass but it was as if she was attempting to already plan how to fix this all for her… and most likely disappointed in her for not telling her sooner. “I’m sorry okay?” MC sulked, pressing her palms against the top of her thighs, fingers scrunched in the fabric of her dress. “I know I messed up by not telling you sooner I just… I didn’t know how to. I don’t even know what to think at the moment.”

-       Jaehee reached over, her dainty fingers curling around her own and giving them a reassuring squeeze. MC peered up from her lap and into her partner’s large eyes and returned her tentative smile. “Don’t apologise, I get it. I totally do. I’m not mad. You didn’t mess up- I just want to make sure I have all the details I need to help you. I’m coming to this a little later than you so I’m catching up and-” “Planning?” “Ah… yes. Yes I guess I am. Take the girl out of the Assistant role, but you can’t take the Assistant out of the girl.”

-       MC could understand that. Everyone reacted things differently and if Jaehee needed to gather information and plan for all possible contingencies then she would not deny her that. Herself- she much preferred to wallow and stress because that was all she could do.

-       Physical exam, Biopsy, Biopsy, Bloods and Physical exam, Imaging…

-       She was really getting over seeing her doctors and sitting in waiting rooms. Getting real sick of Jaehee calling off sick with her to sit with her at every appointment and asking all the questions she should be asking herself.

-       It was two weeks later after all the tests had come back, her hand in Jaehee’s, sat in two worn and uncomfortable armchairs that she received the news she had been dreading to hear. Stage 3. Spread to lymph nodes. Was Asymptomatic. Aggressive treatment for aggressive growth. Immediately. Shit. Shit.

-       She could feel the squeeze of Jaehee’s hand tighten with each moment that passed. MC glanced to the side to see a calm veneer painted upon her girlfriend’s face as she nodded along with whatever the doctor was saying, interjecting whenever appropriate to ask more questions or to clarify something she may have misunderstood.

-       MC on the other hand could barely talk, she believed she may have thanked the doctor and agreed to seeing them for a follow up and to start their treatment regime. She remembered picking up her bag and apologising to someone she ran into getting off the elevator. Recalled the feel of the cheap leather on the backseat of the taxi under her hands as she slid herself over to make room for Jaehee.

-       After moments of silence, Jaehee cleared her throat and looked out the window. “Um.. what did you want for lunch?”

-       And then she cried. Cried for her anxiety and her fear, cried for her frustration and her exhaustion, cried for herself and for Jaehee. She didn’t care that the driver kept looking up in his rear-view mirror to gawk at the sobbing mess she had become; all she could handle was the immense weight of what she was to face and the feel of her girlfriend’s hand slip into her own, the familiar feeling loosening up the shackles that were constricting her chest just that little bit. It was her turn to squeeze Jaehee’s hand.

-       Being at hospital sucked. Like… s u c k e d.

-       She hated that her friends couldn’t see her because they were afraid she’d get sicker and that Jaehee was taking even more time away from work to be with her. She was tired all the time and the room wouldn’t stop spinning, food tasted funny and she was just bored. MC was so used to running around from dawn till dusk, she was always talking to people and baking and laughing and… God, when was the last time she really laughed?

-       … When was the last time Jaehee had laughed?

-       She was always so calm and understanding it wanted to make her scream sometimes. But she kept quiet because… she just didn’t have any words.

-       The surgery and first course of treatment went well enough that the doctors were happy for her to leave. Even though she was being wheeled out, it felt like she was dancing. She was never so happy to see the crowded streets and being stuck in a traffic jam. It was so much better than sitting in a hospital bed feeling sorry for herself.

-       It was also better than watching Jaehee pouring over different journals and websites to better prepare of what may come in regards to her illness and other treatments which could help progress her rehabilitation. Or so she thought it would be, if the woman ever stopped.

-       Jaehee was no longer working, putting more and more responsibility on the assistant manager than she should have been. No more.

-       “Jaehee?” she called out from the sofa to her at the dining table, the woman looking so tiny amongst all the books that were open and the loose pieces of paper strewn about everywhere with her scribbled notes. Jaehee pushed up her glasses, something she hadn’t worn in the longest time and turned to face her. “Can we go to the coffee shop please? I’m really over just staying here doing nothing but watching daytime soaps. I can literally feel my brain rotting.”

Jaehee frowned and sat up, wincing as she stretched out the knotted muscles of her lower back and craning her neck side to side, loud cracks resounding in the air. “MC,” she began, the disapproval in her tone more than evident. “I don’t think that’s a great idea, you’re stabilised sure, but why should we take more risks than necessary?” she posed as she spun her body to completely face her.

-       MC took in the sight of her. Hair pulled back into a messy bun, fingerprints all over the lenses on her glasses; clothes rumpled with a coffee stain down her front from where she accidentally spilled it on herself earlier that morning as she multi-tasked between balancing the shop’s books and researching if there were any homeopathic remedies that would help with her aches and pains to work alongside her prescribed drugs. Jaehee was burning herself out and if she didn’t take care of herself soon, the next time they’d be in hospital would be for her and there was no way she’d allow Jaehee to get that sick and drained ever again. She made that promise when she first joined the RFA and not this illness- not even Jaehee herself- would make her break her promise.

-       “You took a risk on me and that paid off. You took a risk on the business with me… and that’s paid off… can’t you trust me about this again? It’s barely a risk at all. Just me in the corner with a book as you work.” She could see Jaehee’s resolve weaken as she gave her the best rendition of puppy eyes she could muster. Her beleaguered girlfriend pulled off her glasses and untied her hair, running her fingers through them as she let out a long, deep groan. “You’ll be the death of me, you know that right?” she grinned, the mirth not quite reaching her sleep deprived eyes.  

-       It took a while but they both learned how to adjust to their new normal. It took a little bit longer to get ready each day, making sure they had the right concoction of pills to last her until they made it back home and packing things like blankets, extra pillows or scarves to ensure her comfort at their cafe.

-       MC had tried multiple spots within their quaint little shop, however trying to find a location that was both comfortable and in the direct line of vision of her lovely girlfriend proved difficult. This chair was too hard. That chair too soft. This chair she couldn’t see Jaehee except for a tuft of hair- until finally, on their fifth day and a lot of back pain later, she sat in the large wingback chair by the window, just to the left of the register. Jaehee would began to place a reserved sign there so no one could take the seat away from  her beloved MC.

-       Jaehee was grateful that they could spend time together like this, even if it meant just stealing looks at MC every so often whenever she got the chance. At night they would come home and curl up on the couch, both wrapped up in a quilt with a cup of tea in their hands as they watched whatever movie played on the TV. It didn’t matter because she never paid attention to it, she focused on the feel of the woman’s body beside her.

-       Because it felt right to have her next to her.

-       Because it felt right to hear her muted laughter, or how she sometimes slurped her tea near the end of the cup or just to hear the breath go in and out of her.

-       … and because she knew all those things were beginning to fade.

-       Although she had not succumbed to any of the viruses that had been around during the winter season, she grew more lethargic, her once healthy body slowly diminishing in size and strength; the beat of her heart strained under the hand she pressed against her sleeping girlfriend’s chest at night to make sure she was still with her.

-       She had done that every night since they received the diagnosis. Every night.

-       But she held it together, she had to. She had to do it for MC, to show her that she didn’t have to worry about anything besides getting better. It didn’t matter if she was being torn apart inside, or if she was falling behind in her work at the shop, that she never slept anymore or wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and pretend this was just one long nightmare. It was for MC. She had to keep it together for MC.

-       She had gotten worse. There was… it had spread too much… too aggressive… too fast. It was all too much and again, MC accepted it all, no words to say.

-       That was when Jaehee decided upon the only correct plan moving forward.

-       She spoke to Jumin. He had agreed to buy the shop from her on the proviso that when MC was better that she buy it back from him and continue on as per normal.

-       That night, at home with a tub of ice cream, sitting alone on the floor of her living room did she allow herself a moment of weakness. From one tear free-falling from her eye to another, she allowed them to pool into the melting confection resting between her thighs. She had tried her best to stem the flow, reminding herself of the responsibilities she had and not to wallow but now that she allowed the dam of emotions open there was no stopping it. Jaehee bit down on her bottom lip and muffled cries eked through her teeth, racking breaths rattling through her chest as she dug the heels of her palms into her eyes- praying for her treacherous eyes to stop, just stop. Please.

-       … Someone.

-       Please make this all stop.

-       Jaehee had fallen asleep slumped over the coffee table, eyes sore and face puffy from crying and one hand sticky from having been submerged in thawed ice cream for half the night.

-       That was how MC found her, comforter wrapped around her like an adorable sleepy handroll. “Baby, did you sleep here all night? Is everything alright?” she asked her, the concern plain on her face. Jaehee fought with herself to not let her thoughts transfer to her expression, of course nothing was alright, it hadn’t been alright for a long time. However Jaehee was a fighter and so was MC, she would not admit defeat just yet.

“Oh yes, just a harder day at work than normal yesterday,” she lied as she slowly moved her way to stand up. MC grimaced at Jaehee’s sluggish and pained movements. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to come in yesterday and if that made you worry more. I’m much better today, I can go in-”

“That won’t be necessary we’re both staying home,” she replied matter-of-factly, side stepping around MC as she made her way to the kitchen to clean herself up. She heard the soft shuffles of MC’s feet patter behind her as well as a sound of confusion bubble within her throat. “Huh? What? No it’s fine, let me just clean up and we can go-” “We’re not. I sold the cafe.”

-       MC nearly fell down at the revelation. “You what?” she asked, sleep hoarse voice breaking as she leaned against the wall for support, not trusting her knees to keep her standing. Jaehee wiped her hands on a nearby dish towel and sighed, not really in the mood to discuss anything without having caffeine in her body. “I sold the shop to Jumin. This way I can stay home with you and we can go to the all the doctors’ appointments together and try to figure this thing out step by step.” Jaehee flicked on the kettle and began preparing two cups, far too tired to brew anything so she reached for the instant coffee.   “Jaehee-”

“Mm?”

“Stop.” “You don’t want coffee? Prefer tea?” “That’s not what I meant and you know it.” “I don’t understand-” “You need to get the cafe back from Jumin,” MC replied with more life in her voice than she had had for the last couple of weeks. Jaehee put down the teaspoon and braced herself against the countertop, head pressed against the cabinets lined along the wall. “You can’t stop living just because-” “Because you’re dying?” she yelled, not able to tear her eyes away from the spot on the wall. “I can’t change anything because you’ve resigned yourself to this without even a word for me? For yourself? How can you act like any of this isn’t driving you insane?! How can you stand there and just ask me to not do everything I can-”

-       MC stepped forward and opened her arms, encompassing Jaehee into her quilt covered embrace, her arms holding her as tightly as she was able. “I know… I know. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I don’t have the words. That I have nothing to say about what is happening to me. I’m sorry that I left you to speak and ask and do everything for me and also expect you to think of yourself,” she pulled away to see Jaehee’s with misty eyes and cheeks splattered with red. Delicately placing a hand against her cheek, MC pressed a faint kiss to the tip of her nose and breathed in time with her. “I know you’re busy looking out for me… let me… while I still can… let me look out for you.”

-       The shop was back in Jaehee’s name within the day.

-       As difficult as it was, MC managed to make it into work with Jaehee. Even as the days passed and she grew weaker, she still mustered the strength to smile at everyone who would stop and talk to her. She would ask for the gossip from regulars who she had learned so much about over the years. Jaehee would take frequent breaks to check up on her and to ask if she needed anything. MC would always just smile and ask for a new book from the stack their staff would always add to. Her heart full whenever their employees would come up at the start of the day and drop off another non-descript book for her to read or doodle over.

-       Some days were good, some days were… not good.

-       More and more often Jaehee would look over from serving a customer and MC was fast asleep, clutching a book to her like a child with their teddy.

-       Every passing day it took so much more out of her to get to her chair, to drink her coffee, to turn a page… to smile. To hide her pain. There were days she was so heavily medicated that Jaehee had begged for her to go back home or ‘for God’s sake please let me take you to the hospital!’

-       MC would always snap out of it enough to shake her head and reply, “Sorry Jaehee, I’m up to a really good part of the story. I need to finish it.”

-       Then one day she didn’t.

-       She had closed up shop, luckily it was a quiet day so she made the executive decision to finish up early. “Don’t worry baby, I’ll be just a minute.” She was wiping down the last table just beside MC and looked over with a tired smile on her face, to see MC sleeping soundly- with her latest book on the ground. Jaehee could feel her heart leap up in the base of her throat, her breath stolen away in an instant. Slowly but steadily she walked over to MC, deliberately clicking her heels loudly against the floor to wake her. When she reached her chair she let her hand hover over her face to see if she could feel her warm breath against her palm. She pressed her cheek. Shook at her- her body completely limp as it sank against the armrest.

-       Jaehee plummeted to her knees and dove into MC’s lap, the woman screaming into it as she allowed herself to cry, praying that her girlfriend would come back and lay her hands atop her head and run her fingers through her hair.  To touch her, hold her, god damn it just- anything. Wiping her face against the blanket that rested upon MC’s legs, Jaehee hiccoughed and spluttered, not caring if any passer-by happened to see her on the floor in tears. She swiped at her face haphazardly, knowing that her skin would be red and irritated from her lack of care. Fighting to regain her breath that continued to elude her, lungs burning, eyes stinging, heart cold.

-       On her hands and knees she moved to pick up the fallen book from the ground, eyes scanning for a title to see what were the last words that may have graced her consciousness.

“… I’m sorry I’ve left it to these pages Jaehee, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to say the words when you needed them. I may not have them still... but maybe you can find them now- somewhere in these last few diaries I have written for you. My thoughts. My fears. My dreams. My love for you.. Every hope. Every wish, It’s all here and all for you. The greatest part of my story. I love you.”

-       Jaehee squeezed her eyes shut and wailed, her cries filling the largely empty space, echoing back to her. Sitting back onto her haunches she tried to steady herself as best as she could, clutching the book to her chest like she had seen MC do countless of times. Perhaps if she held it hard enough, it would start to resemble the way it felt to hold her- and if she pushed the realms of her imagination- the way it felt to be held.

-       Jaehee couldn’t bring herself to read any of the 4 diaries MC had written. She couldn’t. She knew that MC meant them to be comforting, maybe even assist her in moving on- but she didn’t want to comforted, she didn’t want to move on. She had cordoned off MC’s chair and table, with a permanent ‘reserved’ sign to ensure no one would be able to sit where only she belonged. There, perched upon the table in a neat pile, were the books; gathering dust in between the weekly dusting that one of the staff members were tasked to do.

-       That was until half a year later, when one of the regular’s children had slipped under the velvet rope and sat in the chair, the young girl picking up on of MC’s books and tried to read her beautiful, looping script.  Jaehee had briefly looked up and had to double take, not even realising she had screamed out; scaring the child who shoved the book back into the pile of books frantically trying her best to not earn more of the “coffee-lady’s” ire. Her panicked efforts resulted in all the books falling to the ground- the loud thuds only punctuating the already silenced café.

The mother apologised to Jaehee feverishly, she had been speaking to her friend and didn’t realise that her daughter had wandered off- didn’t know the girl had gone to the place she had once spent so much time with MC just months before.

-       Jaehee pinched the sides of her nose and waved off the apology, bending down to apologise for frightening the little girl who had helped to bring joy to her girlfriend’s last months. Even though her nerves were frazzled, she knew that MC would be clucking her tongue disapprovingly at her, something that oddly enough made her smile. She had been doing that more often lately. Smiling at something MC had said or done instead of collapsing into a despairing heap.

-       Jaehee ran her hands along the arm of the chair and whispered her hellos and her apologies for letting someone disturb her spot before picking up the books off the ground. She went to reach for the last book which dropped open to a random page, the paper slightly crinkled from the fall. She could feel the tell-tale pin pricks in her nose and the corners of her eyes as her fingers cradled the back of its spine, balancing precariously on the curve of her fingers.

-       There on the top of the page was the recipe for her famous cinnamon rolls, something Jaehee had tried her best to replicate again and again when her lover was alive to no avail. No one made them better than MC. Jaehee sniffed as she found herself sitting into the long abandoned chair as she tearfully read the secrets MC had left for her on the page. The brunette paused to see a small note in the corner: “The reason mine were better was because I always made them for you. Now please, keep making them for me.”

-       Jaehee wiped the last remnants of her tears from her face and then nodded to herself. Moving to the kitchens she washed her hands and wrapped MC’s apron around her waist. Taking in a deep breath, she pushed up her sleeves and got to work.

[suffering-and-happy-about-it]

I’ll Be Good (Favored Ones, Part 6.)

Series description: Many things were surely fucked up in the year 2038, but no-one ever told anyone how all of it went down. What happened before a group of people left for Seattle to handle personal matters? Why did one girl refuse to leave all of it be? And why there were so many dead in the end?

Part Summary: Ever since the last bonfire, things seemed to be changing left and right so quickly you couldn’t process it. But one thing was for sure - there was something changing in your relationship with your mentor.

A/N: There are some clues about the bonfire scene, but you don’t get your small claws on it, at least... Not yet. Let’s keep it a mystery for now. Shall we?

Word count: 5 K

Tagging: @nemodoren @xxgoldenhour @missdictatorme​ @peakymarvels​ @davnwillcome​ @pickleriiick​ @jodiereedus22​ @gladiosamicitias​ @tamkashi​ @eternallyvenus​ @avengerssstuff​ @fangirl-inthe-us​

Series master list: H E R E

Joel Miller’s playlist for the bonfire occasions: H E R E

Late summer and early fall of 2037:

It took you a few more days to pick up enough courage and to go for a bow shooting lesson. It was the damned bonfire that you couldn't get out of your head. The feelings were brewing inside of you while you were confused to say the less. Who was even Joel Miller? You couldn't tell anymore.

There were times when Joel could confuse the living hell out of you. Like when he came to see you to your garage. Or that one evening. One thing, you knew for sure. Something had opened up inside of you. Suddenly, you felt opened up to imagine Joel not as a mentor, not as Ellie's father, yet you could see that he is a man. And a pretty handsome one for that matter. Every time he met you in Jackson, he gave you a small smile - once, he stopped by and asked about giving you a guitar lesson. Being surprised, you nodded.

Joel even gave you the tapes by A-Ha he promised he would lend you that night, so you listened to them at home. And these guys were talented as hell. It was a true joy to listen to their songs.

For the first time, you weren't excited about the lesson itself. Like, sure, you still wanted to learn how to shoot from a bow, but your mind was focusing solely on the realization you'll be there together for hours, alone, in each other's company. The idea of being alone with the man, maybe finding more about him, be allowed to talk to him without worries, that was awesome.

It was so strange, realizing something like that in the first place. For the first time, you've decided to have an afternoon lesson, so you had enough time to visit Eve. Ellie wanted to go there with you, but there were some things you didn't want Ellie to hear. You brought your lunch and all the necessary stuff with you, even the bow and the quiver, and a small flower of wild poppies into the dinosaur vase. When you arranged the flowers to look good, you sat down with the box on your knees, looking at the tombstone.

"I told you I'll be back pretty soon. It was just three days and holy hell, you wouldn't believe how much stuff went down, I swear." - You chuckled, looking at her name. Just like the first time you talked to her, this was helping you out a lot. It was somehow calming you down, having at least the feeling that Eve is there with you, listening to each word. - "The bonfire a few days back was... Great. I'm still kinda all over the place because all of it, and Jesus, you'd laugh so much if you'd be here now. I don't know yet, but I have the feeling that boy trouble is on its way. For the first time and for real this time." - A sigh came out of your lips as you played around with the veggies in your pasta salad.

"I can tell you'd be surprised... Maybe just halfway surprised it's about old Miller, huh? What can I tell you? I didn't know I have it in me. You'd probably tell me some of your lessons and tell me to listen to my heart, I know, I know. Why don't you answer me?" - You mumbled to the tombstone. It was childish to expect any kind of answer from the piece of stone, yet your heart didn't desire anything more than that.

"Oh, you're speechless, old-timer, I see. I'll try to sort it out. Maybe it's just a phase? It won't last too long for sure. I've probably just drunk too much... At least you're not on my mind that much lately. That's a good thing, right?" - With another sigh, you finished your lunch and packed the box into your backpack, remaining yourself to wash it later. - "Time I was on my way again. I'm probably late anyway. If anything happens, I come to tell you, don't worry." - You chuckled at the tombstone, climbing on your feet.

Then, you kissed the tips of your fingers, running them along with her name with a sad smile. Joel didn't like it when you came late to your sessions, yet you were already ridiculously late probably. As if that wasn't enough, just as you passed around the cafeteria, Ellie caught up with you with all of her things packed.

"What are you doing?" - You looked at her when she was trying to act unsuspiciously. There was this one small thing that happened at the bonfire - when you were sitting next to the old man, signing a song you didn't know at all, Dina was looking at you two. Suddenly, she turned her face at Ellie, saying a sentence Ellie remember by heart: They would be a nice couple.

Dina was drunk at the point, yet it made Ellie freak out. You and her old man in a romantic relationship? No way in hell. Yet as the days passed, the thought came up in her head more and more often. She wasn't all over the place, but it made her furrow.

"I'm coming with you. To look after you and to be your emotional support." - The green-eyed girl answered, making you stop to look her in the face with visible confusion. You loved Ellie - you did. But this was your chance to talk to Joel without being afraid someone hears you. And the reason she came up with was just dumb. Which the girl realized as soon as you scoffed happily.

"I'll be just fine with Joel. He had to put up with my ass for a month and a half already. I bet one more afternoon won't kill him." - The answer made Ellie sure she lost this battle due to bad arguments. Next time she would want to inspect the overall situation, it can't be a last-minute plan, but some well-thought reasons you won't be able to say a word against.

Dina was drunk, Ellie reminded herself inside her head. She probably has misunderstood the situation. She probably badly read the whole thing. Yet for a reason, you made Ellie worried she might be your number one for too long. Which resolved in her hugging you as her life mattered on it at the moment. Overwhelmed, you hugged her back, closing your eyes at that contact.

"I love you, baby." - She mumbled and clung onto you even tighter than before. Without a doubt, you nodded, closing your eyes for a moment. What on Earth was this for? Ellie suddenly seemed to be so gentle and vulnerable. It almost made you tell her to come along - Joel would be overwhelmed by joy, yet you didn't want to see the girl acting up. - "And I do love you back. Anything on Earth won't change that, sweet pie."

With that, you let her go, stepping a bit away. - "I need to get going. He'll be pissed if I leave him there for too long. See you later!" - You cried out happily, already walking backward in the direction of the gate.

As you suspected, he was already sitting there with an empty expression, watching the ground in front of him. Yet as soon as he saw you in the distance, he stood up, watching you coming closer with his thumb behind his belt. As you tried to catch your breath, your hands were already moving in a swift motion, telling him you want to say something.

"I'm so sorry. Eve was so damn talkative today and then Ellie wanted to talk too... I'm so sorry for making you wait." - Came out of you when you finally were able to at least somehow talk. - "How late am I?"

The man looked at his broken watch with a furrow, giving you a rather serious look after that. - "You're way past I don't give a damn. I told you I won't pressure you for a while now... But don't take advantage of that, yea?" - He answered, having you scoff playfully at the answer. He was impossible sometimes. Right after that exchange, he turned his face at you, having an honest smile there. - "We'll be droppin' our backpacks on the cabin, I have somethin' to show you. Special plans."

That made you excited. Joel never wanted to show you anything besides where the prize you were going for with your bow was. Maybe something moved in him at the bonfire too? Could that be? Well, it made you grin as you thought about it during the way to his sanctuary.

You've talked throughout the whole journey. You spoke about serious and not-so-serious stuff, laughing sometimes. And just as Joel told you, you both stopped at the cabin to put your stuff there.

To your surprise, his rocking chair was finally finished - naturally, you as the kind would you were, eagerly tried it to tell him if it's good. It sure as hell could be felt that Joel was a carpenter back in the day, as he told you before. To be honest, you never sat in anything more comfortable. With a hum, you closed your eyes, rocking yourself.

"This is enough for me, Texas. You can go do your stuff, you'll find me here once you're done, yeah?" - You waved your palm at him when you heard his steps stopping in front of you. Gently, you opened your eyes just to see Joel leaning towards into the terrace's railing, one of his thumbs was under his belt as usual, and he had a boyish grin on his face.

"You wish, youngblood. Get up your lazy ass and come, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity you don't wanna miss." - Joel scoffed, locking the door to the cabin, motioning his head in the direction of the woods. With a dramatic sigh, you got up and followed him.

"What is it? Did you find gold?" - You tried your guess, having the man shook his head. - "Oh, I know. The fountain of eternal youth. No? Hmm... I see! You've found some super-lab, am I right? No? Then what is it?" - There was a hundred other guesses you had inside your head, the boldest one including taking at least one article of clothing off.

"Patience," - "Is a virtue. I know, I know. I'm just fucking curious." - A giggle left your lips. It could be felt that you feel safe and contained, which was healing your soul, to be honest.

To your surprise, you stopped at an empty meadow inside the woods, about half an hour away from the cabin. Joel dragged you behind the tall grass, creating a small window for both of you to watch something. What did he mean by that? What were you supposed to see?

For the first hour, you've been excitedly watching your surroundings, but as you got bored, you started to chit chat with the man more and more - after an hour and a half of just sitting there, you sighed and laid down, looking at the darkening sky.

"Ugh, how long you plan on just sitting here?" - You mumbled tiredly, already feeling the air getting cold. You should've at least taken the sweatshirt from your bag - or he could tell you to take it.

"Have some patience and faith, will you? It can be gone already, but I don't think so since I checked on it yesterday." - Joel sighed, mumbling back to you. Your eyes rolled on their own - yet just as you wanted to mock Joel, a hind came out of the woods, looking around. Swiftly, you got yourself on your heels, trying to see the animal better.

It took you a moment to see what was the animal searching for. Just when it lowered its head to the smaller animal hidden in the bushes, your palm caught Joel's as you leaned in to see the scenery better. You didn't even realize you've done that. The man wasn't watching the hind and its cub, he first took in the sight of your nails gently sinking deeper into his skin as your lips opened in pure wonder.

It was such an innocent gesture made in the wave of spontaneous curiosity and wonder you've felt, but even that told Joel just enough. For example, you were trying to share this moment with him. You trusted him enough to catch his hand. It made the man relax a bit when he leaned with a smile to your shoulder.

You both had to stay as quiet as possible so you wouldn't scare the animal away. - "It's a small whitetail dear. I always thought they're only in Alabama, but I bumped into the hind a few days back. Seems like we made it on time." - Joel explained, having you turning your face at him. It shocked you a bit since you almost bumped your nose to his with how close he was. You've been staring at him for a moment, thinking about how good it feels. Yes, you thought about leaning in for the damn kiss, but you decided against it in the end.

The moment was already special as it was. With a startled look, you realized that you're holding his hand in yours. It was warm, a bit rough, but dry. Only your fingers were wet from the sweat. With a sorry look, you held it a bit tighter before letting it go. Yet he still was as close to you as before, just in case you'd like to tell him something.

The night was turning into night and even though it was getting colder and colder, you still sat there, watching the small deer trying to walk for the very first time. After a while, stars and the moon could be seen shining on the meadow below. Joel would tell you that you should go already, yet he couldn't bring himself to ruin such a moment for you. It could be felt you're believing in the small animal - whenever it fell, you bit your lower lip and furrowed, and when it looks like it's about to finally walk, you leaned in with childish excitement.

"I've never thought I'll see something like that." - A whisper came out of you when you were picking up the stuff from the cabin. - "It was one of the best moments of my life. Thank you." - You smiled, walking the known way to Jackson. Joel caught up after a while, having a smile on his lips as well.

"What you be doin' today?" - Joel asked when you saw the Jackson gates in the distance. You were so freaking late. But it seemed that Tommy was informed about your late arrival, so the patrol waved at you, as usual, letting you in. At the moment, your eyes widened.

"Jesus, I promised Ellie to hang out later today. I didn't know this will take too long. Wouldn't you mind..?" - You mumbled frantically, having a sad expression on your face. Joel already showed you he ain't the worst companion to walk you home and you were hoping that he'll walk you even that day, but this was changing the whole thing. What you've been even sorry for?

"Course not, youngblood. I was just curious, that's all. Tell her... I say hi. Would you do that for me?" - The man asked nervously when you walked backward away from him. At his request, you nodded, having a small smile on your lips before you went to pick your food up and to Ellie's place.

The first knock was ignored by her completely. You sighed, massaging your eyes. Was she even at home? Or was there some sneaking out planned later that you didn't know about? To see if she was there, you looked in through the window. Her TV was on, which was a good signal. So, you knocked again.

"Come on. Don't be pissed - I didn't know it will take this long today." - You told her through the door, leaning your forehead into the wood. Not a sound could be heard from the inside. Great. She was pissed. What on Earth were you supposed to do with a pissed girl?

Carefully, you opened up the door, kinda waiting for Ellie to be waiting for you with a pan in her hands, demanding answers. But when the house was silent and you closed the door again, you saw her snuggled up inside her and sleeping.

The following process was quick and practically noiseless - you ate the dinner quicky, brushed your teeth, took care of your hair, and put the pajama on before joining your best friend.

"Who's that?" - The girl mumbled from her sleep, not even bothering to raise her head from the pillow or to open her eyes.

"It's me. I promised you to stop by... But the lesson took way longer than I thought it will, babe." - You answered in a whisper, having the girl smiling sleepily in your direction. - "Don't worry about me. We'll talk in the morning." - A promise was made before you laid down to sleep as well. As usual, it didn't take Ellie too long before she snuggled up to your side.

It wasn't weird for her or you to do that. Ellie was usually seeking some safety in the still of the night - she did so because she often felt like the third week, so she wanted to at least comfort herself when she was sleeping. And you had no problem with it. It was the usual scenario after you fell asleep during the sleepovers. Mostly, you watched movies and since she was the first to doze off, you knew she'll snuggle after a while.

But you had some serious hard time falling asleep. Your brain was projecting you the whole evening, again and again, making you sure that there was something about the man. After some time, just before you fell asleep, you were glad that is was him with whom you could watch such a thing happening.

The next lessons were nice. Sometimes he helped you with the bow, even having competitions with you and winning all of them, other times he brought the guitar. When you were brave enough, you tried to learn something too, but most of the time, you listened to the man playing.

But even though you could be considered a musical anti-talent, you leaned one or two basic songs with Joel as your tutor. Let alone you breaking another string - this time it was on the guitar. You could be impossible sometimes too.

The fall was approaching quickly, maybe a lot quicker than you were realizing. The leaves started to fall and dressed in colorful coats, the air got thicker and colder, the nights were starting earlier - having you wearing boots and sweatshirts to the lessons.

Yet, in Joel's eyes, you were finally skilled enough to hunt. He let you start with the rabbits before getting into the bigger animals, having endless patience with you. Though the method of right and wrong, you learned how to make a small noise as possible, sneaking like a freaking ninja by the half of September.

"Get the elbow higher." - A sharp whisper hit your ears, but you didn't move an inch. You had the situation under control, having the rabbit just where you wanted it. Taking in the last breath, you steadied yourself and sent the arrow flying.

And to your surprised, it not only missed the target by at least one foot, but it also made the animal run away. All you could see on Joel's face was that I told you so attitude showing off. - "Will you ever learn to listen? I told you that your elbow was too low."

"I had it. It must be the air clearly, it's getting thicker. And the mist I'm front of my nose ain't helping either." - You mumbled and walked for your arrow. It was still usable, so you put it into your quiver.

"So now she's usin' air as an excuse, 'kay." - The old man chuckled mockingly, having you rolling your eyes. - "It's gettin' late. We'll do best if we head back for now. Come on, kiddo."

"Yes, sir. Where do you want to go next time? I heard there's this good place just an hour from here, we can have a competition who’s the better one." - You asked with a big smile. Something inside told you that what Joel was about to say was a thing you won't be happy about - the man quickly glanced at you, furrowing a bit at your words. For a long time, you walked in silence, both of you thinking about your stuff. Until the cabin appeared in the middle of the small meadow, you were both silent.

"You didn't answer my question." - A silent remark left your lips when you both were taking your backpacks on to walk back home. Joel stood in front of you for a while, his thumb behind his belt once again and he nodded at the statement of yours.

"About that... I don't think you need my help anymore. You're good on your own already, trust me, Jesse won't believe how good you are when you show the boy. Also, the weathers gettin' bad, so the circumstances aren't perfect either." - The man answered you finally, making the small smile disappear from your face. You walked closer to him, not quite grasping what was happening.

The sessions were over? That was what Joel was trying to say? Sure, you stopped coming there because of learning the skill a long time ago - you already figured the bow out. It wasn't exactly perfect, but you weren't to worst at it either. The lessons in the woods became more of a fun time with a friend, where you could get lost in the feeling of calmness. You were walking through the woods, side by side, sometimes being quiet the whole time, sometimes you discovered an interesting spot, sometimes you were just joking around.

And he didn't want that anymore. For a reason, it felt like a punch in your stomach. The blood slowly froze in your veins as you tried to figure the man's thoughts out. A tight feeling built around your chest. Sure, you liked the man, but there was no way in hell you'd act on your attraction to him. Did he finally notice the smirks and naughty looks coming from you pretty frequently? Or could he see behind your jokes? Did he found someone else to spend his afternoons with?

"So, I don't have to come next time is what you're trying to say?" - You spoke out loud finally, standing just a foot away from the man. You could feel the warmth coming out of his body, your ears heard the way he was breathing. It was insane.

"All I'm tryin’ to say is that you don't need me anymore. Sure, we can have some hunt from time to time, I would be glad if we would, but spendin' whole afternoons here? Come on. You sure have more things to do, don't you?" - Joel tried to make the whole situation lighter with a chuckle, looking at your confused face.

For you, it was one of those now or never situations. Nobody would know about this unless Joel would tell them. And you knew this man would take everything you'd try to do to the grave rather than humiliating you in front of everyone. You could just try to kiss him, right? No-one would hear about it. So you nodded at your confused thoughts, having the man watching you with confusion. It didn't feel right to leave the place until you'd do it at least once.

Shakily, you took in a deep breath before your fingers wrapped around his light jacket, pulling him closer than before. You made sure his lips met yours in the half before you closed your eyes and kissed him with pure passion. Joel didn't know what to do at all. He would never expect something so unplanned from a girl he knew for a fairly long time. The man honestly thought he get to know you well throughout the months you spent together, but obviously, this wasn't the case at all.

Would he kiss you back if you'd stay there a little longer? Would he put his hands somewhere on you if you'd wait just for one more second? Was he surprised - and was it a pleasant surprise? Those questions were left unanswered, because just as spontaneously as you started the kiss, you pulled away from Joel, having the man standing there with his eyes widened as he looked at you in a different light than before.

What the fuck had you done? Sure, in theory, this situation sounded nice, but also, in your mind was his direction way different than a surprised staring. You could hear your fastened heartbeat inside your head as you backed off from him, shaking your head with tears on confusion in your eyes. Your fucking cheeks were on fire, both your palms were shaking as you covered your mouth with them.

"Fuck... I mean... Fuck. I'm sorry, Joel." - You whispered before disappearing into the woods. You hadn't enough courage to look him in the eyes anymore - you saw him standing there for a long time after you left. That night, you ran directly to Ellie's house, knowing he won't be looking for your there. In case he would be even searching for you. First, she was working on one of her newest paintings, turning happily upon hearing you - just to see you stand there, looking like a piece of trash, crying heavily.

"Did something happened? Did that old jackass do something to you? I swear to God," - "I... It's... Eve." - You got out, figuring the lie on the spot. Ellie sighed softly, coming closer to hug you tightly. You knew your jacket will be covered in the rest of the paint from her shirt, but you were just glad to have the girl in your arms.

Meeting Joel on the meetings or in the dining room was humiliating. Every time you realized he's in the same room as you are, you felt flustered - all you could do usually was to watch the tips of your boots while biting your lip nervously - like a five-ear-old kid caught stealing. Sometimes, when you weren't looking, the man was watching you when everyone else spent hours talking about the patrol routes.

He wished to know what was the whole damn situation about in the first place. In his mind, the sudden kiss didn't make any sense at all. First, your unreadable reaction, then the kiss, after that you stormed out and now you pretended he doesn't exist? What did he do to deserve such a cold-hearted treatment? As far as Joel could tell, he was the innocent one in all of this.

Ever since the weird moment in front of the cabin, he saw you in a different light than before. Sure, you were still his daughter's best friend, you still were a serious lot younger than he was at the point - but you seemed to be opened about something... Joel didn't know what you were opened about, but there were some options. Yet as soon as you'd try to tell them, no matter how much he'd seem to be interested, he had to turn you down cold-heartedly.

To be honest with himself, he was interested. Ever since the bonfire, there was some kind of a small spark bothering Joel about you. He could feel it coming every time you were near - every time you scooped a bit closer on your hunting sessions, every time you greeted him in the downtown, it was there, not leaving until you left again. But what good would it bring? Starting something, no matter what could ruin many relationships, cause fires, and arguments. That was why it would be better for the man to turn you down rather than trying things out.

One night, he heard a knocking on his door. Joel almost missed it since he was in his small carpentering workshop, working on a new figure while listening to some folk songs. With a sigh, he closed the door and went to open it up. His back was drowned in a cold sweat as soon as he saw you standing behind the door with a helpless expression, hugging yourself. To his surprise, you both remained silent for a second even when he opened up the door, standing just two feet away from you. You nodded inside the house, biting your lips nervously.

"Will you let me in? We have a few things to talk about and... I don't want the whole neighborhood to hear." - A whisper left your lips. Joel groaned at defeat, carefully stepping aside to let you walk in. He checked if the only neighbor who he had hadn't seen you coming in before closing the door again. There were things to talk about indeed, yet Joel was hoping that as soon as the situation will be cleared up, you'll leave just as you came in a few seconds ago.